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Houses adjourned for fourth day in a row
Trinamool MPs raise slogans demanding 24 subsidised LPG cylinders at Parliament House in New Delhi on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal Alok Joshi is next RAW chief |
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Adarsh society promoter dead
9 yrs on, justice eludes murdered whistleblower Dubey’s kin
J&K CM Omar Abdullah and BJP leader Arun Jaitley in Jammu on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Inderjeet Singh Jethmalani continues to target Nitin Gadkari
Single engineering entrance test process kicks off
BSP wants mining quota for OBCs
Aamir for probe in suspected honour killing
Never gave loss figure in 2G scam: CBI chief
Suicide bigger killer than death in action in Central forces
Telcos using 2G waves after SC verdict may have to pay up
Private, public ltd cos. can set up technical colleges
2 TV journos arrested for ‘extortion’
Maldives scraps GMR contract, India reacts sharply
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Houses adjourned for fourth day in a row New Delhi, November 27 In both Houses, the BJP, the Left and the TMC members kept agitating for the FDI move to be rolled back. The DMK demanded a discussion on the 2G Spectrum issue following fresh revelations by former auditor RP Singh who has disowned the 2G Spectrum scam loss figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore. In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Meira Kumar's repeated pleas to the agitating MPs of the BJP, the TMC, the DMK and the Left parties fell on deaf ears. She kept asking them to let the Question Hour run. She even appealed to the women MPs in the well: "The first question is on crime against women. Please go back to your chairs and let the House run. Ask questions," she said, with no one heeding. She adjourned the House until 12 noon. When the House reassembled, TMC member Saugata Roy read out a statement under Rule 199 explaining reasons for his resignation as a Central minister following TMC's withdrawal of support from the government. Alleging that his statement (laid on the table of the Lok Sabha) explaining his resignation had been severely edited, the former Minister of State for Urban Poverty Alleviation said the resignation came after the TMC withdrew support from the UPA following its decision to hike petrol prices, reduce the cap on LPG subsidy and finally permitting 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail. No business could be transacted in the Lok Sabha and it was finally adjourned for the day at 2 pm after running for a minute. The Rajya Sabha was adjourned following ruckus by Left, BJP and DMK members at 12 noon. In the Lok Sabha, Speaker of Hungarian parliament was watching from the gallery as MPs disregarded Meira Kumar's pleas to run the House. The BSP kept demanding dismissal of the UP government led by Akhilesh Yadav; the TMC sought rollback of FDI in multi-brand retail; BJP members were shouting "FDI vapis lo" and DMK members were flashing copies of a newspaper report carrying versions of RP Singh who has questioned the 2G Spectrum loss figures of Rs 1.76 lakh crore. The DMK has already given notices in both Houses of Parliament to discuss the matter in the light of RP Singh's insinuations that Public Accounts Committee chief MM Joshi tried to influence CAG to induct the loss figures.
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Alok Joshi is next RAW chief
New Delhi, November 27 The Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved Joshi's appointment as Secretary (RAW) for a period of two years or until further orders, whichever is earlier, the order said. Joshi will succeed Sanjeev Tripathi whose tenure ends on December 29. Joshi has served in the Intelligence Bureau and the Haryana Police with key operations in Nepal and Pakistan to his credit. — PTI
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Adarsh society promoter dead
Mumbai, November 27 A former member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council Gidwani, who had represented the Congress party in the past, was arrested last March in connection with the controversial project in which retired defence officials, bureaucrats and politicians got flats allotted to themselves at low
prices. He had secured bail earlier this year. Gidwani was admitted to hospital two days ago after he complained of breathing problems. In his submissions to the judicial commission probing the scam, Gidwani submitted that his contacts with politicians helped push the project through. Making his submissions to the JA Patil and P Subramaniam commission on Tuesday, Gidwani said politicians and bureaucrats known to him helped
in the allotment of the South Mumbai plot where the Adarsh housing society is located.
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9 yrs on, justice eludes murdered whistleblower Dubey’s kin
New Delhi, November 27 Today’s events coincided with the death anniversary of Satyendra, former Project Director of the National Highway Authority of India, who was killed on 27 November, 2003 for exposing corruption in contracts. His brother Dhananjay Dubey told the gathering today that no one had been brought to book in the murder case. “There can be no bigger travesty of justice than what has been done to my brother Satyendra Dubey, who laid his life for removing corruption. The irony is no one has been brought to books till date and even in the face of all this violation, we see a complete lack of political will to pass the Whistleblowers Protection Bill,” Dhananjay said. Dhananjay rooted for early passage of the Whistleblower Protection Bill as the gathering observed silence in the memory of those killed in the past for exposing corruption.
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Jaitley: UPA doesn’t want Parliament to function
Jammu, November 27 “The whole essence of democracy is voting-the will of the people and the will of sovereign. And for the government to contend that the issue must be talked about, but never voted upon is without any basis. Voting and democracy co-exist. They are not alien to each other. By raising such unreasonable and unacceptable arguments, the government is showing its intentions that it doesn’t want the session of Parliament to run,” Jaitley told reporters on the sidelines of a function here. Jaitley, who was in the town to pay tribute to former minister and his father-in-law Girdhari Lal Dogra on his 25th death anniversary, said the argument of the government that there must be a debate without a vote “has no basis”. Senior BJP leader said there were voting provisions in the regulations for the conduct of both Houses of Parliament. “Therefore, those regulations are not futile and they were not enacted without a purpose,” Jaitley said. On the strongly worded letter to BJP national president Nitin Gadkari by Ram Jethmalani wherein he had accused him of having a role in the CBI Director’s appointment controversy, Jaitley refused to get into a war of words with Jethmalani, saying he didn’t think that he (Jethmalani) deserved a reply anymore. Asked whether the BJP was lenient on Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha, who had also demanded resignation of Gadkari, he said, “We do not discuss all these issues.” To a question on the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, the BJP leader said, “Law must take its own course.” Earlier, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who was the chief guest at the function, paid tribute to late Dogra and described him a “real friend of the people and man of high stature”.
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Jethmalani continues to target Nitin Gadkari
New Delhi, November 27 The letter also attacks the Leaders of Opposition in two Houses of Parliament Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley for their opposition to the appointment of new CBI chief Ranjit Sinha. Daring the party to expel him, the noted lawyer said he was ready for the action. “If I am guilty (of making false allegations), they will expel me... I am ready for it,” he told the media here. “Gadkari incident (of facing allegations of corruption) has hit the image of the party... they will lose millions of votes... I am not responsible for their lack of wisdom,” he said. The BJP has yesterday issued a show-cause notice to Jethmalani, asking why he shouldn’t be expelled from the party. He, however, claimed the notice had not reached him yet.
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Single engineering entrance test process kicks off
New Delhi, November 27 The IIT alumni is still opposing the move and had met Raju a fortnight ago in this connection. The minister has, however, clarified that JEE Main (for admission to all central technical institutions, except IITs) and JEE Advanced (for further admission to IITs) would be held in 2013. Top 1.5 lakh scorers of JEE Main would qualify to take JEE Advanced test which the IITs would design. Other institutions such as the National Institutes of Technology will admit students depending on the merit list of the JEE Main. The JEE Advanced would be exclusively held for admission to IITs. The process of online application for the JEE Main commenced on November 8 and would end on December 15, the CBSE said. The result of the JEE Main-2013 would be announced on May 7 and the website for eligible candidates to register for the JEE Advanced would become functional on May 8, 2013. The CBSE today said several aspirants for the JEE Main-2013 had committed mistakes while filling their online registration forms. “The board will display particulars of the candidates on the JEE (Main) website in the second week of January, 2013, so that these candidates can rectify their incorrect particulars, except the change of examination cities and option for change of mode of examination from computer-based examination (online) to pen-paper-based examination (offline),” the board said in a statement. The CBSE said, “It is notified for information of JEE Main aspirants that they should periodically visit the website www.jeemain.nic.in for rectification of particulars.”
JEE-2013 DATES * Main test: Offline: April 7; online: April 8 to 23, 2013; result: May 7, 2013
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BSP wants mining quota for OBCs
Lucknow, November 27 When the Samajwadi Party (SP) government expressed its inability to accept the demand, the BSP staged a walkout followed by the BJP and the Congress. During question hour in the Vidhan Sabha, Leader of Opposition Swami Prasad Maurya said communities like Nishad, Mallah, Kevat, Bind and Machua make ends meet on activities like boating, fish-catching and trade of coarse sand that is found along the river banks. “If the government is sincerely concerned about the welfare of these castes, it should ensure that mining contracts are allotted to persons from these groups,” he said.
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Aamir for probe in suspected honour killing
New Delhi, November 27 In an alleged case of honour killing, Hakim was gunned down in his village on Thursday when he had gone to buy medicines for his eight months’ pregnant wife. Hakim was a participant in Aamir’s television show ‘Satyamev Jayate’ based on social issues. He appeared in one of its episodes dedicated to cast light on the increasing number of honour killings in parts of Uttar Pradesh. Aamir said he has requested police officials to provide protection to Hakim’s family members and punish the guilty. Hakim is survived by his 26-year-old wife and a daughter. “We have asked the police there to conduct a fair investigation into the matter so that the guilty is booked. We have requested them to provide security to his family members,” the actor said. Aamir said they were disappointed with the fact that they could not highlight Hakim’s story in the programme which might have averted the incident. “We had personally heard Hakim’s story but we could not show it in the programme. So we made him part of the audience. Now, I think had we shared his experiences, the incident might not have taken place,” said Aamir.
The case * Abdul Hakim (29) was gunned down at his village in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday.
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Never gave loss figure in 2G scam: CBI chief
New Delhi, November 27 Addressing mediapersons, Singh said his two-year tenure as the agency head started on a rocky note as immediately “we had the 2G scam monitored by the Supreme Court almost on a daily basis, the Aarushi Murder case, the Adarsh scam and the CWG on our hands. The entire CBI worked as a team and was able to produce results in all these cases, especially in 2G case”. The 2G was the biggest scam “because of the complications involved and the case was monitored by the Supreme Court”, said Singh, who demits office on November 30. On if the CBI had been able to arrive at any loss figures arising out of the 2G spectrum scam, Singh said: “No, we have not given any loss figures.” About the figures given in its charge-sheet, the CBI Director said the figure of Rs 30,000 crore was 3.5 times the indexed price of 2001. “But we had not termed it as loss. It was a notional figure,” Singh said. On the Arushi case, he said: “The decision in case may seem controversial but that is a call that an investigating agency has to take based on available evidence. I am happy to note that the magistrate concerned felt that there was enough evidence to take cognizance in the case and the trial is now going on smoothly.” “Soon after the charge-sheets were filed in the 2G case, the organisation had to face the heat of the Jan Lokpal and the Lokpal Bill. In the Jan Lokpal Bill, it had been suggested that the anti-corruption wing of the CBI should be merged with Lokpal, while in the Government Lokpal Bill it was proposed that Lokpal might be given a separate agency, suggesting that the CBI would no longer be involved in anti-corruption work,” the CBI Director said.
parting remarks * 2G biggest scam of my tenure
"No, we have not given any loss figures…. We had not termed it (Rs 30,000 cr) as loss. It was a notional figure."
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Suicide bigger killer than death in action in Central forces
New Delhi, November 27 During the same period, 49,188 personnel have proceeded on voluntary retirement or resigned, which works out to be about 1.5 per cent of force strength per year," Minister of State for Home RPN Singh told Lok Sabha in a written reply today. The causative factors, the minister said, in most cases were found to be generally personal and domestic problems such as marital discords, personal enmity, mental illness and depression among others. "In a few cases, the same could be owing to work related stress," he said. Singh said personnel were proceeding on voluntary retirement and resigning from service mainly due to various personal and domestic reasons including children or family issues, health or illness of self or family, social or family obligations and commitments among others, he said. The minister also said these personnel will also be given the status of ex-CAPF on the lines of ex-servicemen in order to boost their morale. "Giving status of ex-CAPF personnel to retired personnel of CAPF, which is expected to boost the morale of the existing CAPFs personnel and also expected to provide better identity, community recognition and thus higher esteem and pride in the society to the ex-CAPF personnel," he said. To another query, he said during 2012 (up to August 31) only 14 youths in Kashmir Valley reportedly joined militant groups. — PTI Over 417 men killed self * As reported by the Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles, 417 CAPF and AR personnel committed suicide/killed themselves from 2009 till date * Only 398 personnel laid down their lives in the service of the nation during this period * The causative factors in most cases were found to be personal and domestic problems such as marital discords, personal enmity, mental illness and depression
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Telcos using 2G waves after SC verdict may have to pay up
New Delhi, November 27 A bench of Justices GS Singhvi and KS Radhakrishnan said it would consider asking the operators to pay for using spectrum as they continued to operate because of delay in auction by the Centre. "Those licensees which were operating because of delay in auction must pay. They could not have operated if auction would have happened. We would ask the operators to pay for using spectrum after four months time," the bench said. "By virtue of the fact that the government was unable to hold auction as per the direction (February 2 judgement), operators were allowed to continue with the operation and they should pay at the price fixed now," the bench further said. The court, however, did not pass any order and said that it would consider the issue at the next date of hearing. — PTI
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Private, public ltd cos. can set up technical colleges
New Delhi, November 27 In response to a related query on the subject, Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor told Parliament that the decision had been taken by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in view of the lack of skills among the graduates being churned out by colleges. The new rule would be applicable from next year. “The AICTE has allowed from 2013-14 private limited or public limited companies/industries having a turnover of at least Rs 100 crore per year for previous three years to establish new technical institutions in engineering and technology, pharmacy, architecture, town planning, hotel management and catering technology,” Tharoor said in a written reply.
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2 TV journos arrested for ‘extortion’
New Delhi, November 27 The arrests on charges of extortion came following the registration of a case about 45 days ago on a complaint filed by Jindal’s company with the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch. Sudhir Chaudhary, head of Zee News, and Samir Ahluwalia, head of Zee Business, have been arrested, a senior police official said. Jindal had last month released a CD which purportedly showed footage in which the Zee journalists were trying to strike a deal with his company officials, telling them that their channel will not air negative stories of Jindal Group if the money is paid to them. Chaudhary had rubbished the allegations as “fabrication” and described it as “pressure tactics” to prevent the channel from doing such stories. — PTI
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Maldives scraps GMR contract, India reacts sharply New Delhi, November 27 "We call upon the Government of Maldives and all parties concerned to ensure that Indian interests in Maldives and the security of Indian nationals are fully protected. The Government of India proposes to monitor the situation in Maldives closely and is prepared to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of its interests and its nationals in the Maldives. The Government of India will continue to be seized of the matter," MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said in response to a question. He said the investment by GMR represented the single largest foreign direct investment in the history of Maldives. “The decision to terminate the contract with GMR without due consultation with the company or efforts at arbitration provided for under the agreement sends a very negative signal to foreign investors and the international community. The Government of India would continue to remain engaged with the Government of Maldives on this issue, and would expect that the Government of Maldives fulfill all legal processes and requirements in accordance with the relevant contracts and agreement it has concluded with GMR in this regard.” Earlier in the day, the Maldives Cabinet decided to terminate the agreement, which would cancel the largest FDI into Maldives. Maldives President Mohammed Waheed had recently termed GMR's airport project near Male a “bad contract”.
* The Maldives Cabinet cancelled the GMR contract group to develop Male Airport *
GMR had bagged the $500 million project during the regime of ex-President Nasheed and it had been hanging in balance ever since the regime change in
Maldives earlier this year
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Parliament remained dysfunctional for the fourth day in a row today with the Opposition continuing to demand a debate on FDI in multi-brand retail under rules entailing voting.
In both Houses, the BJP, the Left and the TMC members kept agitating for the FDI move to be rolled back.
New Delhi, November 27
Outgoing CBI Director Amar Pratap Singh today said the CBI had not arrived at any loss figures in the 2G Spectrum scam during its three-year probe while terming it the “biggest scam” of his tenure.
Addressing mediapersons, Singh said his two-year tenure as the agency head started on a rocky note as immediately “we had the 2G scam monitored by the Supreme Court almost on a daily basis, the Aarushi Murder case, the Adarsh scam and the CWG on our hands.
Low point in relations