The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Modi charisma still going strong in Gujarat
Cong gains of 2009 LS poll wiped out in recent Assembly showdown
Manas Dasgupta

Ahmedabad, December 21
Re-establishing that the “Modi Magic” is still going strong in Gujarat, the outcome of the 2012 Assembly elections has shown that the voters have voted differently in the parliamentary and the state Assembly elections.

Putting up an improved show in the 2009 parliamentary elections, the Congress had almost equally shared the Assembly segment-wise leads. Out of total 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the BJP won 14 while the Congress got 12. The recent Assembly elections, however, showed that the Congress has failed to make any significant gains from its situation in the last Assembly elections in 2007.

Though a few seats have changed hands, particularly because of the change of character and composition of many seats in the delimitation of constituencies, the BJP had been able to regain most of the Assembly segments it lost to the Congress in the parliamentary poll, despite the consolidation of the “Patel” votes under the banner of Gujarat Parivartan Party floated by former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel.

While Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s stronghold on the urban voters continued, the BJP has not fared badly even in the rural segment, particularly in constituencies that were clubbed with semi-urban areas in the delimitation. More surprisingly, the BJP also won seven of the nine seats where the Muslim votes were considered to be the decisive factors with the Congress conceding one of the two minority-dominated seats in Ahmedabad city itself.

The drought this year following scanty monsoon after seven consecutive years of good rainfall and the resultant suicide by at least 34 farmers in the Saurashtra region, seems to have cost the BJP seven seats in the Kutch-Saurashtra region where the “Keshubhai Patel factor” was also in force.

But the party succeeded in making up the loss in the central Gujarat region to take its tally to 115, just two short of the 2007 figure of 117 seats. The BJP bagged 35 out of 54 seats in the Kutch-Saurashtra region as against 42 out of then 58 seats in the region in 2007.

The region witnessed defeat of party bigwigs from all sides. State BJP president RC Faldu, his Congress counterpart Arjun Modhvadia, Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Assembly Shaktisinh Gohil, GPP general secretary Gordhan Jhadafiya and even the Agriculture Minister in the Modi cabinet Dillip Sanghani were defeated.

Even one of the two sitting members of the Lok Sabha the Congress had fielded in the Assembly elections lost in the region. Surprisingly, the BJP rebel Kanu Kalsaria, who successfully led a farmers’ agitation against the Modi government to force it reverse its decision on allocating cultivable land for a cement factory, and was considered to be a very popular leader among the farmers in Bhavnagar district, not only lost his own seat, the five other candidates he had set up under the banner of “Sadbhavana Manch” were all defeated.

The BJP’s hold on the tribal voters, who traditionally voted with the Congress till 2002, was evident again this time with the ruling party securing 18 of the 27 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes in the tribal belt from north to south Gujarat cutting across the central Gujarat regions. Two of the seats having about 85 per cent tribal voters, Dangs and Dediapada in south Gujarat were shared by the BJP and the Congress with one seat each. The Congress’ comparative better showing was in the north Gujarat region where helped by the dominant Thakore community, the party bagged 18 of the 33 seats while the BJP’s tally reduced from 24 in the last elections to 15 this time.

But the BJP made good its loss in the north by its improved performance in the south where it increased its tally by 10 seats. In the central Gujarat region also, Modi’s charisma resulted in gains for the BJP.

ALL-ROUND SHOW

BJP hold on urban voters still intact

Not fared badly even in the rural segment

Also won seven of the nine seats in Muslim-dominated areas

Preparations on for swearing-in

Preparations are afoot at the spacious Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad for Narendra Modi to take oath of office and secrecy as the Chief Minister of Gujarat on December 26. Modi submitted the resignation of the present ministry to Governor Kamala Beniwal at the Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar on Friday.

Congress winner dead

Savitaben Khant (42), a newly elected Congress members, died in a Vadodara hospital on Friday following brain haemorrhage. Soon after the results were declared on Thursday, Savitaben, who was elected from the reserved seat of Morva Hadaf, the Panchamahals district in central Gujarat, fell down. She was taken to a Vadodara hospital where she died Friday afternoon.

	House panel raps Rail Ministry for non-feasible projects Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 21 Parliament’s Railways Convention Committee has criticised the ministry for not consulting the Finance Ministry and Planning Commission before finalising big projects. Asking the Railway Ministry to desist from announcing non-feasible schemes which “mislead” people, the parliamentary panel, while taking note of the announcement of the Pradhan Mantri Rail Vikas Yojana (PMRVY) in the Rail Budget 2011-12, has said that the scheme was not even discussed with the Planning Commission before its finalisation. In its latest report, the panel has said that Railways should have discussed the scheme with the Finance Ministry and Planning Commission before its formulation and announcement in the Rail Budget 2011-12. The scheme envisages inclusion of 114 socially desirable rail projects under the scheme across the country and would require an additional funding of about Rs 5 lakh crore from the government over the next 10 years which would be a non-lapse-able fund. The panel has found that 114 socially desired projects whose survey reports have been updated are proposed to be included in the list of project under PMRVY. It has suggested that the Railways, being a big organisation, should not “mislead the people” by announcing schemes without any concrete basis and support. "The Railways should - while conceptualising large schemes involving huge expenditure - consult the Finance Ministry and Planning Commission which are nodal agencies of the government that supervise the overall development plans of the country," the panel said in the report. The committee has recommended that Railways must carry out a fresh exercise on re-prioritisation of projects with consultation with the Planning Commission and Finance Ministry so that it can be completed within a reasonable period. The 18-member committee headed by BJD MP Arjun Charan Sethi was, however, apprised by the Finance Ministry that the PMRVY was unrealistic and completely at variance with the ground reality. It was of the view that as a commercial organisation, the Railways, which has a separate budget of its own with an inherent freedom to formulate their policies, should manage its resources in such a way as to strike a balance between its commercial interest and social obligation of developing backward areas. The criticism Parliament’s Railways Convention Committee has said that Railways should have discussed the Pradhan Mantri Rail Vikas Yojana with the Finance Ministry and Planning Commission before its formulation and announcement in Rail Budget 2011-12
	Accreditation of technical courses must from Jan New certification authority coming up to inspect courses Aditi Tandon/TNS New Delhi, December 21 All technical courses being offered across India by private and government institutions and universities such as Punjab Technical University will have to be accredited from 2013. New technical institutions will have to seek accreditation of courses once they have successfully instructed two batches. Similar accreditation will be made mandatory for general academic courses. This decision has been taken by the Ministry of HRD pending the passage of a Bill that mandates accreditation of higher educational courses in India. Such accreditation is voluntary at present. The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, 2012, makes it compulsory for new colleges to accredit courses after six years of operation and get faculty and infrastructure assessed before starting operations. The ministry feels it must go ahead with the mandatory accreditation policy and has asked the UGC and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to notify regulations in this respect for general and technical courses, respectively. The notification is likely by next month. Till then, the government will set up a new accreditation authority — Indian Board of Accreditation (IBA) — which will accredit technical courses. “The IBA will become functional from February 1,” said HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju. At present, the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) under the AICTE is the sole accrediting body for technical courses. “At the NBA, close to 1,000 applications have been pending for accreditation. We are setting up the IBA to enhance capacity,” AICTE chairman SS Mantha said. India has 3,800 AICTE-approved engineering institutes; 3,700 management colleges, 240 hotel management institutes, 3,530 polytechnics and 60 applied art institutions. These colleges offer 60,000 courses. The NBA and the IBA will gradually take up the task of inspecting and assessing institutes for faculty and infrastructure, whereas the AICTE and the UGC will give up the inspection part. “One of the requirements under the Washington Accord is to keep the regulatory structures separate from inspecting structures,” Higher Education Secretary Ashok Thakur said. Once India meets these requirements, it can become a permanent member of the Washington Accord which means its top technical courses (being accredited) will become acceptable abroad. A first: Rules for distance courses The government will by March announce a framework to impart technical courses in distance mode. At present, no technical course in India can be imparted in open distance learning (ODL) mode. The new framework will apply to all technical courses, except architecture and pharmacy. Except the first degree post Class XII which would have to be regular, other courses would be allowed in ODL mode subject to conditions, the AICTE chief said. Over 3 lakh students today study ODL technical courses which are not AICTE-approved. IGNOU no longer distance learning regulator IGNOU is set to lose its tag as the apex regulator for open distance learning (ODL) courses which it regulates through the Distance Education Council (DEC) created under the IGNOU Act. The government has decided to revert the DEC to the UGC following court cases questioning the legality of IGNOU, a university imparting ODL courses in regulating similar courses by other universities. IGNOU Vice-Chancellor under the present law is ex-officio chairman of the DEC. The government will amend the law soon to correct this anomaly.
	Italian marines set to visit Italy for Christmas Centre takes ‘in-principle’ decision, formalities remain Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 21 The two Italian marines, facing murder charge in Kerala, are likely to be allowed to visit their country for two weeks for Christmas with the Centre in principle deciding to allow them to travel following a high court order. Only the “processes” are left that include signing of the final clearance order by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid. “In principle”, it has been decided that they will be allowed to travel back home for two weeks, say official sources. Asked if the stand taken by the government in the court was soft leading to the court allowing them to travel, Khurshid today said, “We took a very responsible and objective stand when asked by the court. We could not have taken any other stand. If a foreign government and its Foreign Minister present a document, a request and a guarantee to the court of our country, we can hardly say don’t take it seriously.” “On merits, the court has to decide. We are no one to decide and nor should we be deciding. If we had to decide, the matter would not have gone to court,” he said. He also said if India would not have taken this stand, it would have been in violation of the international understanding. The marines-Latore Massimilliano and Salvatore Girone-facing trial for allegedly killing two Indian fishermen off Alapuzha coast on February 15, were permitted by the Kerala High Court yesterday to go home for two weeks while asking for a bank guarantee of Rs 6 crore and imposing stringent conditions. The marines were arrested on February 19.
	No unilateral activity in South China Sea, says Khurshid Suggests strategic partnership with China Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 21 India today said it was not undertaking any unilateral activity in the South China Sea, while expressing its firm resolve to work for good, neighbourly and mutually beneficial relations with China. “There is no question of doing anything unilaterally in the South China Sea. The issue of sovereignty in the South China Sea should be sorted out by the countries concerned through an appropriate dialogue,” External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said at a press conference at the end of the two-day ASEAN-India commemorative summit. To a question on the recent warning by China to India to refrain from undertaking any unilateral activity in the disputed sea, he said India was involved in exploration activity in the blocks allotted to it by Vietnam in the disputed sea under an agreement signed between the two countries in 1988. “This is not something new... it’s a commercial arrangement.” He admitted that the South China Sea issue, against the backdrop of aggressive posturing by China, had been raised by several ASEAN leaders during their bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Khurshid said New Delhi believed that a good and wholesome relationship with China was not only good for the two countries but for all of Asia and the world. He even went to the extent of suggesting that India and China should become strategic partners. “There may be some issues on which we have differences, but they can always be sorted out.” Asked about the Maldives scrapping of the Male airport project awarded to Indian infrastructure major GMR, the minister said the matter was raised by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak during his meeting with Prime Minister Singh. The Malaysian Government-owned MAHB holds 23 per cent while GMR holds 77 per cent stake in the joint venture. Khurshid said India had asked for "an update" on Maldives’ side of the story.
	Rape victim breathing on her own: Doctors Infection sets in; showing signs of sepsis Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 21 The 23-year-old gang-rape victim is showing signs of both “improvement and deterioration” and has started breathing without the use of ventilator. Medical Superintendent (MS) of the Safdarjung Hospital Dr BD Athani said, “She has shown a mixed response. She has shown some signs of improvement and there are some signs of deterioration. She is off the ventilator at the moment. She is breathing spontaneously on her own.” Athani said she was taken off the ventilator at 12.30 pm yesterday till 2 am today and then again during early morning till 3.30 pm this afternoon. Explaining about deterioration, Athani said, “There are early signs of setting in of infection. These are signs of sepsis. That is a part of the blood culture and several others. We have sent a sample of her blood for a test.” Furthermore, the victim has begun speaking to her doctors. She asked for a glass of water and expressed her desire to see her mother. “We are allowing her to speak. We don’t want her to start conversing at this stage. No excessive talking is allowed at this point,” said the MS. Reporters asked the MS if the Delhi Police had recorded the woman’s statement. He said, “It (recording the statement) depends on her current state of condition, her state of health and we will ask her mother and we would definitely permit it.” He, however, refused to say whether a statement has been recorded or not. On Sunday, the victim was allegedly gang-raped in front of her male friend, inside a moving bus in Delhi. They both were beaten, stripped and then thrown out of the bus under a flyover at Mahipalpur. Doctors said the woman was conscious and her respiratory rate and pulse rate were normal.
	Criminal cases Don’t discard witnesses’ statements citing delay, SC tells judiciary Legal Correspondent New Delhi, December 20 The Supreme Court has advised the judiciary not to discard the statement of eye-witnesses to ghastly criminal assaults merely citing the delay on their part in reporting such incidents to the police. “A court has to keep in mind that different witnesses of such crimes react differently under different situations. Some witnesses get a shock, some become perplexed, some start wailing and some run away from the scene,” a Bench comprising Justices KS Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra held in a judgment. The SC said some witnesses might be frightened under certain circumstances and would start behaving “in a different manner and due to that, they may make themselves available to the police belatedly and their examination gets delayed.” Only some of the witnesses “have the courage and conviction to come forward either to lodge an FIR or get themselves examined immediately. Thus, it differs from individual and individual. There cannot be uniformity in human reaction,” the apex court explained further. However, the witnesses involved in such delays should explain the reasons for their initial inaction, the Bench held. The Bench came out with the ruling while setting aside the life sentence awarded to a murder accused on the basis of a delayed statement made by an eyewitness to the crime. The SC pointed out that the eyewitness had failed to explain the reasons for the two-day delay in reporting the incident to the police. “There is nothing in his testimony that he was under any kind of fear or shock. It is also surprising that he had not told his family members” that he had witnessed the crime and had also left his town in Maharashtra shortly after the assault without assigning any reason.
	Women breach security of Rashtrapati Bhawan Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 21 Only some lucky few in the country can claim of never having faced any sort of abuse — physical, verbal or emotional — ever in their lives, a fact which was evident from the way ordinary women today took to the streets, venting their anger against the inhuman Delhi gang rape that has shaken the nation. The National Capital erupted with a series of protests against how India, especially its law enforcement agencies, treat women suffering at the hands of uncouth men with a protester also managing to breach the security of the most well-protected place in the Capital: the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Swati, a young student, broke through the gates and entered the complex where President Pranab Mukherjee resides. “Why do we need any permission to speak to our own President? Does anyone ask the women for permission before raping them and harassing them? We are here to make our concerns heard, and for that we do not need any permission,” Swati said, after she was escorted outside by security personnel. As women activists and students determinedly marched toward Mukherjee’s Raisina Hills’ residence, stormed the gates and tried to break through, the extent of their anger was evident. With no women constables to stop them, activists managed to break through the barricades and run towards the South and North Blocks and reach the gates. The protesters later marched toward India Gate, where they were joined by men, housewives and children in a candle light vigil, later in the evening. If the march, which took place under the aegis of the Jawahar Lal Nehru University Student Union, the All-India Democratic Women’s Organisation, the National Federation of Indian Women and the Young Women’s Christian Association and events that followed is any indication it is quite evident that protests by women are acquiring a new purpose.
	Impact of Ganga Action Plan should be visible to all: House panel New Delhi, December 21 Noting that huge resources have been spent under various schemes for cleaning the Ganga river so far, a Parliamentary Panel has said that it is the time to see its impact. In its report, the Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests has noted that the initiative to clean Ganga started somewhere in 6th Five Year Plan under Ganga Action Plan (GAP). "Thereafter, GAP-II and some other schemes with different names were operationalised by the ministry but the end result is for everyone to see," the panel, chaired by T Subbarami Reddy, said. "Huge resources have been spent since 1995 on GAP and it is the time that impact of GAP should become visible to the public," the panel said. — PTI
	52% drop in empanelled ECHS hospitals Vijay Mohan/TNS Chandigarh, December 21 Eight years after the Ex-servicemen’s Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) was launched, large gaps continue to persist in its infrastructure and support services, with the number of empanelled hospitals available for in-house treatment falling drastically. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) had approved a list of 1,054 empanelled hospitals till March 2011 but the number is now down to just 507 hospitals or 48 per cent of the approved number. In case of the remaining 547 hospitals, the contract or agreement has expired and has not been renewed. Civilian hospitals were empanelled to take the patient load off service hospitals as well as make medical facilities available to the ex-servicemen closer to their place of residence. Ex-servicemen and their dependents requiring hospital admission are referred to empanelled civilian hospitals in case of non-availability of beds or facilities in service hospitals. The hospitals are initially empanelled for a period of two years. Civilian hospitals are empanelled at both military stations as well as non-military stations. Of the 1,054 hospitals, 601 are located at military stations i.e. cities or towns having significant military establishments in or adjacent to them, while the rest are in non-military stations with no service presence. While in military stations, ECHS subscribers have the option of treatment in service hospitals, in non-military stations, they have to rely on empanelled hospitals. In the absence of empanelled hospitals, aged and sick ex-servicemen and their dependents in non-military stations are being put to the inconvenience of undertaking long journeys to the nearest service or empanelled hospital. The ECHS caters to a population of around 35 lakh, including 11 lakh ex-servicemen and 24 lakh dependants. It has an annual operating budget of around Rs 1,000 crore. The scheme is also battling several other issues like shortage of medical staff, non-availability of medicines in polyclinics, timely release of payments to civilian hospitals and laboratories, and instances of inflated bills.
	RLD opposes quota in govt job promotions Lucknow, December 21 Union Minister Ajit Singh today said his party Rashtriya Lok Dal was not in favour of the constitutional amendment Bill for reservation in promotion. “Our party is not in its favour,” Ajit Singh, Union Minister for Civil Aviation, told reporters here when asked about RLD’s stand on the issue and whether the party was in favour or against the Bill. “Today most of the people admit that there is big problem in governance, it is being felt by them. If you say that merit is not needed in the governance then it will aggravate the problem. If you take out merit, then it is not in the interest of the country, society and common people,” he said. The minister said a number of sections of the employees feel that their interest were not being protected. “We are of the opinion that a way should be taken out by talking to all sections of the society so that deprived section get a chance to progress, but interests of other sections should also be protected,” he added. He said that there were a number of sections which were not getting benefit of reservation. “Second thing is that at some point you have to decide that if reservation has benefitted then how long you will continue with it and if it has not benefitted then why,” he said. “Even among Dalits there are sections who have not received benefit of reservation,” he said. “Before amending the constitution, any change should be made only after deliberating that differences are not created in the society,” Singh said. The minister said due to some amendments, the problem has been solved up to an extent. “There is some problem left on the issue of seniority and I am of the opinion that some solution can be worked out,” he said. — PTI
	Chargesheet against Saif for punching man Tribune News Service Mumbai, December 21 The Mumbai police has filed a chargesheet against actor Saif Ali Khan and two of his friends, Shakeel Ladak and Bilal Amrohi, for allegedly beating up South Africa-based NRI businessman, Iqbal Sharma, at the Taj Hotel earlier this year. The police said the chargesheet against the three was filed before the metropolitan magistrate's court yesterday. All of them have been accused of assault, an officer of the Colaba police station said. Sharma in his complaint in February had accused Khan of punching his face after he asked the actor and his friends to quieten down. Khan was accompanied by actors like Kareena Kapoor and her sister Karishma, Malaika Arora Khan and others at the Wasabi restaurant when the incident occurred, the first information report filed in the matter said. In his complaint, Iqbal Sharma said the fight broke out at Taj's Wasabi restaurant after he objected to the loud behaviour of the actor and those accompanying him. Sharma said when he asked the actor and his party to quieten down, he was told by Khan to sit in a library if he wanted silence. The argument soon got physical and Sharma said he was punched in the face.