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India, Russia may ink pact on more N-power reactors
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Apex court to hear PIL
Coalgate: Parakh ‘failed to explain’ decision reversal
Spurious liquor claims 22 lives in Uttar Pradesh
NITs double tuition fee to
Rs 70,000
Second wife entitled to alimony: SC
Now, a Chinese angle adds to Netaji mystery
India, Russia begin war games in R’sthan
CBI to probe fraud in defence resettlement schemes
Sold as junk, Chandigarh heritage furniture auctioned in US
Modi’s UP poll campaign
begins today
Gujarat Police raids Asaram’s ashram in Bihar; no trace of son
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India, Russia may ink pact on more N-power reactors
New Delhi, October 18 While there was no categorical announcement to that effect, efforts are on to complete the work between the companies concerned in time when Prime Minister Singh and Russian President Vladmir Putin sit down for the 14th annual summit on Monday. Briefing the media on the Prime Minister’s two-nation tour of Russia and China from October 20 to 24, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said here: “We hope to conclude specific contracts in the near future” not specifying whether it meant that it could coincide with the visit. The issue of supply of two additional nuclear power reactors has been pending as equipment suppliers including those from Russia have expressed concern over the Indian law on liability. India, sources in the government, said was working on an insurance cover and drawing parameters on the risk involved for suppliers, which if clinched, could pave the way for the agreement. New Delhi and Moscow has an inter-governmental agreement and the first plant at Kudankulam achieved criticality earlier this year while the second is expected to be ready by next year. The Foreign Secretary underscored that Russia and India have a longstanding relation that extends across areas like defence, space, high technology and that a number of agreements are expected to be signed in the areas of science and technology, energy efficiency and standards. Referring to the bilateral trade, she said, this year there has been a 24 per cent growth crossing $11.04 billion expressing the hope that the 2015 target of 20 billion could be achieved. From Moscow, Prime Minister flies directly to Beijing, his second visit in five years for a stand-alone bilateral engagement. Besides holding talks with China on a range of issues of regional and international issues, there is a likelihood of the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement being signed during the visit. On her part, the Foreign Secretary did not commit leaving any announcement to after a meeting between Prime Minister Singh and Li Keqiang while Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in Beijing that both sides were in close communication on the issue. The agreement, sources indicated, also aims to restrict the current practice of tailing of patrol units besides setting up additional points on the border for the two armies to meet and talk. On the issue of incursions by China and stapled visa to residents of Arunachal Pradesh, the Foreign Secretary said while border is an issue between the two countries which is being attended to by the two Special Representatives who have had 16 rounds of meeting. “Let us give them time”. pm’s MOSCOW visit
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Gold hunt: ASI begins excavation in UP fort
Unnao (UP), October 18 The excavation work was being carried out at the fort of Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh in Unnao's Daudiakala village in Uttar Pradesh by a 12-member team from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) led by its Deputy Director PK Mishra. Shobhan Sarkar, the seer who apparently had a dream that 1,000 tonnes of gold was buried in the remains of the fort, earlier performed "boomi pujan" and marked the points to be excavated by the ASI team. After this ritual. District Magistrate Vijay Kiran Anand formally kickstarted the digging work. As large crowds gathered around the fort, the district administration clamped prohibitory orders in Unnao to prevent any untoward incident. District Magistrate Vijay Kiran Anand said the excavation work would take at least a month to complete. Mishra told reporters that ASI began the excavation work on the basis of the findings of a report by GSI. To a query whether the decision for excavation was taken on the basis of the seer's dream, he said, "actually a report by the GSI suggested that there may be gold or silver there. On the basis of findings of the report we have started the excavation and results will come soon." A PIL, meanwhile, was filed before the Supreme Court seeking court monitoring of the digging work. A Bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam agreed to hear the PIL after the defects in the petition are removed. It, however, said the state government is there to take care of the process. The petition filed by advocate M L Sharma submitted that court monitoring is required in the case as the valuable resources might "vanish" and pleaded for an urgent hearing. BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi seized on the excavation work and took a dig at the Centre for its "gold hunt", saying it should focus on bringing back black money stashed in Swiss banks.
— PTI SC to hear Pil New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a PIL seeking its intervention to monitor ASI's digging work in Daudiakala village. Petitioner advocate ML Sharma pleaded with the court to monitor the excavation as the gold might vanish as it had happened in a case of similar digging work in Rajasthan. A Bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam, however, refused to accord out-of-turn priority to the case. — TNS metal hunt
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Apex court to hear PIL
New Delhi, October 18 A Bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam, however, refused to accord out-of-turn priority to the case and asked the petitioner, advocate ML Sharma, to first ensure that his petition was free of defects before pleading an early listing. Sharma pleaded with the court to monitor the excavation as the gold might vanish as it had happened in a case of similar digging work in Rajasthan. The ASI began digging the site today at the fort of Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh, a martyr of the 1857 revolt against the British rule, reportedly at the instance of Union minister of state for agriculture and food processing Charan Das Mahant.
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Stay above politics, President tells civil servants
Mussoorie, October 18 “While in service, you have to accord high priority to achieving the government’s objective of inclusiveness. This can be accomplished through determined implementation of the programmes to promote gender equality, education, health, rural development programmes and many social welfare schemes,” he added. Mukherjee said he shared the perception that bureaucrats face difficult situations spawned by political interference and advised civil servants to be patient and communicate to politicians what cannot be done. “For an efficient civil servant, the society, the nation and people are the focus of attention. Be fearless in your commitment to the social good,” said the President. Also present on the occasion were Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi, Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and PMO V Narayanasamy, and Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India, Secretary SK Sarkar.
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Coalgate: Parakh ‘failed to explain’ decision reversal
New Delhi, October 18 The agency, which is probing the entire gamut of coal block allocation from 1993 onwards, is expected to register more cases before October 29 when it would be submitting its status report before the Supreme Court. After registering 14 FIRs, the CBI is still probing three preliminary enquiries--for allocation of coal blocks between 1993-2004, 2006-09 and awarding of contracts for formation of joint ventures by government companies under the 'Government Dispensation Category' from 1993 onwards. Highly placed sources in the agency said that Parakh was examined before registering a case against Hindalco during which he was asked about the reasons for reversing the decision to reject the company's application. The sources claimed that Parakh could not explain under what circumstances he changed his own "considered" view and allowed Hindalco to get a pie in Talabira II and III coal blocks in Odisha which were allocated to PSUs--Mahanadi Coalfields and Neyveli Lignite and hence his name was included in the FIR. Parakh has held that there was nothing wrong with the decision as Hindalco was the first applicant and equally competent to get the coal block.
— PTI Jaitley targets pM Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cannot be kept out of the CBI probe into the controversial coal block allocation as he was the “competent authority” when the decision was taken, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said.
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Spurious liquor claims 22 lives in Uttar Pradesh
Lucknow, October 18 Soon, people started dying even as doctors wheeled in over a dozen sick persons to community health centres. Azamgarh superintendent of police Arvind Sen told IANS he had confirmation of 22 deaths though only nine bodies have been brought to the hospital for autopsy. He added that reports suggested villagers cremated the rest of the bodies earlier in the day. Though the locals claimed that 26 persons have dies, the district administration did not confirm it. Four policemen were suspended for deriliction of duty. Hooch claimed 12 lives in Azamgarh in 2008 while six people died in Soyepur village of Varanasi in 2010. However, despite the recurring hooch tragedies, neither the excise department nor the police have been able to nail the guilty or prevent such incidents. — IANS
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NITs double tuition fee to
Rs 70,000
New Delhi, October 18 The hike was approved at a meeting of the NIT Council which deliberated on the need to raise the resources of the institutes by way of hiking the annual tuition fee charged from students. The benefits from raised fees would flow back to students in terms of better infrastructure at
NITs. The hike will be implemented from the next academic session and will not be applicable to students belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The OBC segment students would, however, not be exempted and would be covered by the fee hike like all the other general category students. The NIT Council, which met under the chairmanship of Secretary, HRD Ministry Ashok Thakur, also decided to grant full tuition fee reimbursement from the next year to the top 10 per cent students in the JEE Mains, the entrance test for
NITs. The fee hike at the 30 NITs (including the ones in Jalandhar, Kurukshetra and Uttarakhand) follows the last year’s tuition fee raise by the IITs who had raised the fees from Rs 50,000 to Rs 90,000 a year. Dr GRC Reddy, Director of NIT Goa, said “The NIT Council had a choice to hike the annual fee up to Rs 90,000 but that would have been too much considering our fee is lower than that which was being charged by the IITs to begin with. The idea is to rationalise it a bit though we believe much of the education still needs to be subsidised by the government”. land shortage Even though it has been five years since 10 new NITs were set up (so that every state had one), at least three of them still don’t have land for own campus. Goa, Sikkim and Uttarakhand NITs fall in this category. The issue was raised by NIT Directors at Friday’s council meet and will again be flagged when the NIT Directors meet the President on November 7 and 8.
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Second wife entitled to alimony: SC
New Delhi, October 18 Interpreting the legal provisions on maintenance under Section 125 CrPC, a Bench comprising Justices Ranjana Prakash Desai and AK Sikri held that “there is a non-rebuttable presumption” that the lawmakers while passing the legislation had “intended to give relief to the woman becoming wife under such circumstances.” “If this interpretation is not accepted, it would amount to giving a premium to the husband for defrauding the wife. Therefore, at least for the purpose of claiming maintenance under Section 125 CrPC such a woman is to be treated as the legally wedded wife,” the apex court ruled. The Bench clarified that earlier SC judgments against payment of maintenance to the second wife would be applicable only to cases involving women who got married with full knowledge that the first marriage of the men concerned was still subsisting. “In such cases, she should know that second marriage with such a person is impermissible and there is an embargo under the Hindu Marriage Act and therefore she has to suffer the consequences thereof,” the SC Bench clarified. Pointing out that the preamble to the Constitution had highlighted the need for achieving social justice, the SC said “therefore it becomes the bounden duty of the courts to advance the cause of social justice. While giving interpretation to a particular provision, the Court is supposed to bridge the gap between the law and
society.”
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Now, a Chinese angle adds to Netaji mystery
Kolkata, October 18 Deepening the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, a new book claims the nationalist leader went to China after escaping into Russia. In his new book 'No Secrets' researcher Anuj Dhar says Netaji's elder brother and his closest associate Sarat Chandra Bose had written a front-page article in his newspaper 'The Nation' proclaiming that Netaji was in Red China in October 1949. A copy of the newspaper clipping is there in the book, which would be released next week in Kolkata, to support the claim. "It goes without saying that Sarat would not have published this in such a manner without being sure about it. The story quoted him claiming "that the Government of India were in possession of definite information that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was in Red China of Mao Tse-Tung". When asked why Subhas was not coming to India, Sarat Bose replied, "I don't think the time is ripe for his coming back home"," says the book.
— PTI
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India, Russia begin war games in R’sthan
New Delhi, October 18 India is an aspirant for becoming the sixth permanent member to the council which is seen as global-high table of decision making. Today, the India-Russia military exercise commenced in Rajasthan. Using the mechanised infantry, specialised troops carrying armoured vehicles, the two countries have tasked their soldiers to practice the ability to operate jointly as integrated forces. The 10-day long exercise ends on October 28 and is part of the annual exercise ‘Indra’. “It is aimed to improve defence cooperation between both armies and enhance their ability to operate as integrated forces in a well-coordinated manner at the tactical level, within the framework of UN peacekeeping operations,” officials said. After completing the engagement with Russia, an Indian Army infantry contingent from the 16th Sikh Light Infantry moves to Chengdu China for a joint exercise between the two armies. This will be codenamed ‘hand-in-hand’ and will mark the resumption of formal military exercises since the suspension of defence relations between the two countries in 2009. It will be conducted from November 4 to 14 making India one of the very few countries, who would have practiced with forces of the five UN Security Council members within one year. The Indian Army’s run of such high-profile exercises started in April when the British troops arrived for an exercise at Belgaum, Karnataka, for a month-long joint exercise. Code named ‘Ajeya Warrior’ it was to test the preparedness of both the armies to carry out joint counter-insurgency operations. In September, Paris hosted Indian Army for a joint exercise ‘Shakti’ in the French Alps. This was the second joint military exercise between the two countries. In the first week of October, Indian and US soldiers troops practised an amphibious war scenario - that is landing troops near a sea beach using specialised ships. The high five
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At Kasauli lit fest, humour sets ball rolling
Kasauli, October 18 As luminaries went down memory lane, every aspect of the personality of India's leading columnist and writer Khushwant Singh came to life even while he was not physically present due to poor health. His friends and admirers from across the border, lawyer and politician Aitzaz Ahsan Choudhry and well-known columnist Jugnu Mohsin, recalled their association with Khushwant who is considered very much their own writer and son in Pakistan. So much so that Mohsin, the writer of popular column 'Bush and Mush', shared how even ordinary mortals love to boast that they hail from the same village as
Khushwant. Choudhry, while talking of his book "The Indus Saga" remembered how the book that faced flak in both India and Pakistan due to its radical thoughts found support in the indomitable man. Indeed, no talk of Khushwant Singh can be complete without reference to scotch and women. So Vinod Mehta, former editor, Outlook, talked of his glad eye and of a particular incident when Khushwant bumped into model Katie Mirza at a party. But behind that non-serious façade that he held, there is a very serious man who shuts off everything after eight and retires to his reading and writing. The most outstanding attribute of Khushwant Singh, according to Mehta, is that he has thrived on the art of self-deprecation and taught the world how not to take oneself seriously. Indeed, Khushwant is a scholar, a great writer and a strong votary of Indo-Pak friendship. But above all, Mehta hailed him as a model human being who possesses the highest virtue of
cracking a joke. Similar thoughts were expressed by publisher David Davidhar who talked of the encouragement that Khushwant has -- over the years -- offered to young writers. Eminent theatre person Rani Balbir Kaur spoke of her association with Khushwant and how it was not a connection of sex and scotch, but of Sikh history and culture. Pakistan link & Greater Punjab Attended by a fair number of celebrities and eminent personalities like former Indian diplomat-turned-politician Mani Shankar Aiyar, many an interesting session embellished the first day of the festival. The theme of the festival "Greater Punjab" was amply reflected upon. First, Aitzaz Ahsan Choudhry spoke of his book "The Indus Saga" and how rivers sire and sustain civilisations. Expanding his argument, he dwelt upon how the Vedas, in essence, belong to Pakistan and the Mahabharata and Ramayana are Indian in ethos. Columnist Jugnu Mohsin spoke of the collective heritage while sharing how history books in Pakistan have obliterated the same. Yet the same, she asserted, lives through culture, customs and traditions. This gives her hope that the syncretic culture of both the nations will come to life again. She talked of the Malala effect and how Malala Yousafzai, the girl who was shot by the Taliban for advocating girls' education in Pakistan, has electrified Pakistan. She said that the people, by and large, were behind her and proud of the exceptional girl. Taking the theme of Great Punjab forward, author Rajmohan Gandhi whose book "Punjab: A History From Aurangzeb to Mountbatten" has been creating waves, too spoke of the shared legacy.
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CBI to probe fraud in defence resettlement schemes
Chandigarh, October 18 From available documents and court records, it has transpired that some retired officers indulged in malpractices by faking recruitment of ex-servicemen and collecting salaries in their name as well as falsifying documents and challans to show provident fund and service tax deposits with the exchequer, but in actual practice pocketing the amount. Under DGR schemes, retired officers can set up security agencies, coal loading and transportation agencies and national highway toll plaza management agencies and recruit ex-servicemen for their manpower requirements. These agencies are based all over India. Sources said Defence Minister AK Antony had approved the matter being handed over to the CBI about a month ago. “The matter has been referred to the CBI,” a reply by the MoD in response to a query under the Right to Information Act by a Delhi resident, Bijay Prakash Sharma states. The MoD, however, has declined to reveal the contents of the covering letter and enclosures on the grounds that these were confidential and could not be provided till the investigation is complete. Earlier, a Public Interest Litigation pertaining to the matter filed by two Delhi-based lawyers, Arvind Singh and Vipin Yadav, had averred that crores of rupees collected from reemployed personnel under the aforementioned heads have not been deposited with the government, even though receipts and “fake challans” for the same were issued to the individuals. Some of the persons associated with the filing of the PIL have claimed that the amount of money involved runs into several thousand crores rupees. Admitting the PIL that had sought a CBI inquiry into the matter, the Delhi High Court had, last month issued notices to the Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth, Defence Secretary RK Mathur, Finance Secretary, Labour and Employment Secretary and the Director-General Resettlement, Maj Gen Pramod
Behl. Foul play
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Sold as junk, Chandigarh heritage furniture auctioned in US
Chandigarh, October 18 Sample this: A dining table from the cafeteria of the PGI, which had been sold as junk, fetched $50,000 (Rs 30.61 lakh) at the auction held yesterday. The auction house had estimated its price in the range of $20,000-30,000. The firm auctioned seven lots of heritage items that included furniture from the PGI, Central State Library, MLA flats and College of Fine Arts etc and earned $1,67,132 (Rs 1.02 crore). Only a pair of lounge chairs failed to get a bidder. Le Corbusier’s cousin Pierre Jeanneret had designed chairs, tables, stools and racks for government offices in the late 50s. The furniture was replaced in the late 80s and early 90s. After tossing these heritage items in their backyards or stores, most of the UT Departments, unaware of their international worth, had auctioned these as a part of junk. In the past six years, a large number of Pierre Jeanneret-designed heritage furniture items have been sold at auctions across the world. UT’s Finance Secretary VK Singh said that it was very difficult to establish this as a case of theft. These items were sold as scrap in the 80s and 90s by the UT staff and city residents. The administration is not in a position to identify the persons responsible for selling these items as junk.
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PM releases book on art historian
New Delhi, October 18 Entitled “Indian Painting: Themes, History and Interpretations: Essays in Honour of Professor BN Goswami”, the book, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh noted, was a fitting tribute to the professor. The occasion was a double bonanza as the gathering also celebrated his 80th
birthday. Adding a personal note, Dr Singh said, “It’s a great honour and a privilege for me to have this unique opportunity to release this volume of essays in honour of Prof Brijender
Goswami. “I have of course no claim to have done anything in the field of art, but I do claim that I have known Brijender from his college days when we both were students in Hindu College, Amritsar, and later on in Panjab University college and still later on, when we both taught in the Panjab University.
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Modi’s UP poll campaign
begins today
New Delhi, October 18 There are no prizes for guessing some of his targets when he addresses his first rally in Uttar Pradesh to kick start his UP campaign programme. Jaiswal, the current head of the ministry, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who held the portfolio when the coal block allocations were made, are both facing the Opposition’s heat for their alleged role in the multi-crore coal scam. For Modi, who is making “corruption in the UPA government” and development as his key poll planks, Parakh’s revelations could not have come at a more opportune time. Kanpur is considered a Congress bastion and Uttar Pradesh is the state that the BJP is particularly keen on making an impression, considering the number of MPs it sends to the Lok
Sabha.
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Gujarat Police raids Asaram’s ashram in Bihar; no trace of son
New Delhi, October 18 A three-member team of Gujarat police assisted by their Bihar counterparts raided the ashram in Ariyari village, but were unable to find Sai, the police said. Asaram, 72, presently in jail in Jodhpur for allegedly raping a teenager, has been slapped with a fresh police case along with Sai on October 6, following a complaint of sexual assault against them by two sisters in
Surat. Meanwhile, in Delhi, Sai's aide Dharmesh, in-charge of Asaram's ashram on Ridge Road, was arrested on Friday in a joint operation by the Delhi Police and Gujarat Police. Yesterday, the Gujarat High Court granted conditional anticipatory bails to Laxmi, wife of self-styled 'godman' Asaram Bapu, and daughter
Bharati. Asaram clears potency test Reports of the second potency test conducted on Asaram on Friday came out positive, similar to the one obtained from Jodhpur last month, Gujarat police said on Friday.
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