The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

India can’t encash Agusta bank guarantee, says Italian court
New Delhi, March 18
An Italian court has barred it from encashing AgustaWestland’s bank guarantees worth over Rs 2,360 crore as part of the penalties imposed after scrapping of the scam-tainted Rs 3,600-crore VVIP helicopter deal.

Khurshid to lead delegation at N-summit
New Delhi, March 18
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will lead the Indian delegation at the third Nuclear Security Summit to be held at The Hague March 24-25. India is expected to focus on speeding up work on reducing gaps in the international architecture concerning nuclear security.

Mulism intelligentsia backs AAP
New Delhi, March 18
A group of Muslim intellectuals, including doctors, engineers and academicians, from across the country today pledged support to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party here today.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal with Muslim leaders during a conference in Delhi on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal

Contents of report accurate, say 1962 war veterans
Chandigarh, March 18
The leak of the closely guarded Henderson Brooks report detailing the reasons for India’s defeat at the hands of the Chinese in 1962 by an Australian journalist Neville Maxwell has kicked off an intense debate in military and security circles. While eyebrows have been raised in some quarters over “timing” of the leak, close to the polls, many former officers who had fought on the ground during the war and matched their war experiences with the available version of the report, are of the opinion that it is an accurate account of what had then happened.

Black flags greet Kirron on arrival in Chandigarh
BJP workers protest in front of the BJP office in Chandigarh on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Parvesh Chauhan Chandigarh, March 18
Disgruntled BJP workers waved black flags, shouted slogans and pelted eggs at actress and BJP candidate Kirron Kher on her arrival here today.

BJP workers protest in front of the BJP office in Chandigarh on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Parvesh Chauhan

Mulayam to contest from two seats
Lucknow, March 18
With a view to raising the morale of the Samajwadi Party (SP) cadre and leaders in its stronghold of Poorvanchal and to counter the Modi “wave” in the region, SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav will contest from Azamgarh along with his present constituency of Mainpuri in central Uttar Pradesh.

BJP’s fifth list today
May include Advani from Gandhinagar, Modi from Gujarat
New Delhi, March 18
BJP’s fifth list of candidates on Wednesday is expected to include the names of veteran leader LK Advani from Gandhinagar and prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi from one of the constituencies in his home state.

BJP workers protest ticket to ‘outsiders’
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 18
The anger over seat distribution reached the BJP headquarters today as party workers from Sonepat protested against the fielding of Ramesh Kaushik -- a former Congress leader who joined the saffron cadres few months back -- from the Sonepat Lok Sabha constituency.

The protesters also claimed that a section of top BJP leaders was deliberately fielding “unpopular and weak candidates” to ensure that prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi misses the 272-plus target in the Lok Sabha elections.

Amid reports that Congress leader Jagdambika Pal get the BJP ticket from the Domariyaganj Lok Sabha constituency, similar protests were reported from Uttar Pradesh. Soon after the BJP announced 53 UP candidates on Saturday, saffron workers protested against the “promotion of outsiders” in many constituencies of the state on the lines of Bihar when the list of candidates from Bihar was announced.

Meanwhile, Chandigarh also reported similar scenes against “outsider” Kirron Kher. Though BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar dismissed these protests as “routine”, “witnessed every time lists are announced”, sources say there is discomfort in the top leadership over the way cadres have taken to the streets opposing candidature in several constituencies. However, it shot down speculations of review of seats, saying that the “possibility did not exist”. Even while agitating supporters of state BJP secretary Pradeep Sangwan, whose claim to the Sonepat seat was shot down in favour of Kaushik, threatened to field their leader as an Independent candidate if the party did not concede to their demands, Javadekar assured the protests “will subside in a day or two”. Sangwan’s supporters claimed that a similar situation existed in neighbouring Rohtak, where party cadres were threatening to work against BJP Kisan Morcha president Om Prakash Dhankad being given the ticket instead of either the former BJP MLA Naresh Malik or Captain Abhimanyu. BJP’s Bhiwani Mahendergarh nominee Dharambir Singh, a former Congress minister who joined the party in March, is facing similar protests and is Haryana state president Ram Bilas Sharma -- one of the men responsible for drawing the contentious Haryana list.

The BJP list of seven candidates from Haryana includes three former Congress leaders. Former Union Minister in the UPA government Rao Inderjit Singh, who recently joined the BJP, has been fielded from his constituency Gurgaon in Haryana.

According to Sangwan’s supporters, General VK Singh would have been a better choice for Bhiwani-Mahendergarh. Singh is now being considered for a constituency in western UP or Rajasthan.

	AAP declares 7th list of 26 candidates Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 18 Sticking to its yardstick of fielding “clean and upright” candidates, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today withdrew two candidates for the Lok Sabha elections following allegations of them being tainted. Social activist Mahender Singh, the AAP nominee from north-west Delhi, and Khalid Parvez from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh withdrew their candidatures after the party informed them about the complaints against them, said party leaders. “Complaints regarding cases pending against Mahender Singh and that Parvez was a bank defaulter reached us. Both the candidates have quit the fray and will be campaigning for the party during the elections,” said a party source. The AAP today announced its seventh list of 26 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, taking the total number of seats announced to 266 minus the two constituencies where the party has now resumed its search for a suitable candidate. Among the names, including six candidates in Bihar, eight in Tamil Nadu, four in Uttar Pradesh and one each in Punjab, Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Puducherry, released today are anti-nuclear activist SP Udayakumar from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and lawyer Himmat Singh Shergill for the Anandpur Sahib seat in Punjab. For northwest Delhi reserved seat, the name of former Delhi Cabinet minister Rakhi Birla is doing the rounds. “As not much time is left, we could consider Birla for the seat if we do not find any honest choice,” sources said.
	India can’t encash Agusta bank guarantee, says Italian court New Delhi, March 18 An Italian court has barred it from encashing AgustaWestland’s bank guarantees worth over Rs 2,360 crore as part of the penalties imposed after scrapping of the scam-tainted Rs 3,600-crore VVIP helicopter deal. India has decided to file an appeal against the decision of the Italian court, a Defence Ministry spokesperson said today, while asserting that the government "will vigorously pursue all options" for encashment of the bank guarantees. India has already encashed bank guarantees of around Rs 240 crore deposited in banks in India, but it is yet to recover the bank guarantees deposited in banks of Italy. An Italian court in Milan had yesterday accepted a plea by AgustaWestland's parent company, Finmecannica, to stop India from encashing over Rs 2,360 crore (euro 278 million). "With this measure, the court granted the requests made by the companies of the Finmeccanica Group, recognising the manifestly abusive enforcement of the guarantees made by the Indian Defense Ministry, given the vagueness of the complaints made in relation to alleged breaches of contract," Finmeccanica said in a statement. "The Milan court confirmed the ruling made last January, prohibiting the payment of collateral of more than 278 million euros deposited in relation to the contract," it said. India terminated the Rs 3,600 crore deal on January 1 for procuring 12 VVIP AW-101 choppers for the IAF on allegations of payment of kickbacks and involvement of middlemen in the acquisition process by the Anglo-Italian firm. The Italian court had put a stay on India's effort to encash the bank guarantees in an earlier hearing on January 8. After the cancellation of the contract, India had also decided to go in for arbitration with the Anglo-Italian firm and the two sides have nominated their members in this regard. The Anglo-Italian firm has already supplied three copters to India and the delivery of the remaining nine was put on hold after Defence Minister AK Antony ordered a CBI probe into the corruption allegations after the arrest of Finmecannica's former CEO Guiseppe Orsi and AgustaWestland's former head Bruno Spagnolini in Italy in connection with the probe going on there. — PTI The VVIP copter scam * A Rs 3,600-crore deal was signed in 2010 for India to buy 12 top-end copters for use by VVIPs, including the President * Delhi cancelled the deal with Italian defence giant Finmeccanica in January over allegations of bribery and kickbacks * An Italian court has rejected a request by India to recover more than Rs 2,360 crore in bank guarantees.
	Khurshid to lead delegation at N-summit Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 18 External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will lead the Indian delegation at the third Nuclear Security Summit to be held at The Hague March 24-25. India is expected to focus on speeding up work on reducing gaps in the international architecture concerning nuclear security. India would also seek more concerted moves to check illicit traffic of nuclear materials, senior government officials said. The last two summits were held at Seoul in 2012 and at Washington D.C. 2010.
	Mulism intelligentsia backs AAP Ananya Panda Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 18 A group of Muslim intellectuals, including doctors, engineers and academicians, from across the country today pledged support to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party here today. Top AAP leadership put forward the party’s general position on issues concerning the Muslim community, including social security and safety, education, economic empowerment and equitable representation in legislature, executive and judiciary during a national conference on “Roadmap for Muslims”. The event was disrupted for a while early evening by protesters who raised anti-Kejriwal slogans. AAP’s top brass, including Prashant Bhushan, Manish Sisodia, Prof Anand Kumar, Prof Ajit Jha, Ashutosh, addressed the gathering. The former Delhi Chief Minister lashed out at both Congress and the BJP saying more than stability that was based on falsehood the electorate this time will vote on “security and justice”. “The politics of corruption and vote-bank politics on the name for stability won’t earn votes anymore. I’ve toured Gujarat and returned with facts that debunk Modi’s Gujarat model of development claims,” said the AAP chief. More than 300 members of four organisations — Muslim Education Social & Cultural Organisation -MESCO (group of medical doctors), Confederation of Muslim Education Institutions of India, Advancement of Mankind and Nationalism and Delhi and Uttar Pradesh chapters of Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys’ Association- today formally joined the AAP saying AAP has emerged as a “potential alternative to defeat corrupt and communal forces”.
	Contents of report accurate, say 1962 war veterans Vijay Mohan Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 18 The leak of the closely guarded Henderson Brooks report detailing the reasons for India’s defeat at the hands of the Chinese in 1962 by an Australian journalist Neville Maxwell has kicked off an intense debate in military and security circles. While eyebrows have been raised in some quarters over “timing” of the leak, close to the polls, many former officers who had fought on the ground during the war and matched their war experiences with the available version of the report, are of the opinion that it is an accurate account of what had then happened. “The contents of the report are accurate, though its just a staff duties’ compilation and of little value,” Maj Gen K Khorana (retd), who had served as a captain with 1 Sikh at Twang during the war, said. Though there is nothing outstanding in the report, one aspect that needs to be noted is that when the Army had asked for written directions from the government, no political aims and objectives were conveyed and only a military objective to ‘throw out the Chinese’ was given. The same was passed down the chain of command and there was total disconnect on the ground,” he added. “The contents of the report pertaining to the operations in the area where I was deployed in NEFA are totally correct, though I cannot comment on what happened at higher headquarters,” Brig Amarjit Singh Behl, who was airlifted from Agra to NEFA with his Para Field Artillery unit, said. “The operations of 7 Mountain Brigade, which we had supported, are correctly depicted, which indicates that it is an authentic report,” he added. Brig Behl, who was commissioned in 1961 and had spent seven months as a prisoner of war near Lhasa, recalled that while they were inducted to support an Indian offensive in that area, no one had expected China to launch an attack.” He, however, questioned the timing of the leak.
	Black flags greet Kirron on arrival in Chandigarh Rajinder Nagarkoti Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 18 Disgruntled BJP workers waved black flags, shouted slogans and pelted eggs at actress and BJP candidate Kirron Kher on her arrival here today. BJP workers, who were upset over Kirron getting the Chandigarh ticket and the sidelining of local party leaders, waved black flags as she made her way from Chandigarh Airport to BJP office ‘Kamlam’ in Sector 33. Then, some BJP workers — with black flags — interrupted her address to party workers and the media at the party office. Party workers pelted eggs at the car of Anupam Kher, Kirron’s husband, when he came out of the party office. Tight security arrangements had been made by the Chandigarh police at the BJP office and at the house of Kirron’s parents here. The police also rounded up four protesters. By giving Kirron the ticket from Chandigarh, the BJP had sidelined Chandigarh BJP president Sanjay Tandon, former MP Satya Pal Jain and former Union Minister Harmohan Dhawan.
	Mulayam to contest from two seats Tribune News Service Lucknow, March 18 With a view to raising the morale of the Samajwadi Party (SP) cadre and leaders in its stronghold of Poorvanchal and to counter the Modi “wave” in the region, SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav will contest from Azamgarh along with his present constituency of Mainpuri in central Uttar Pradesh. While the speculation of the party patriarch contesting from Azamgarh had been doing the rounds for more than a week, his brother and minister Shivpal Singh Yadav had denied it a few days ago. An SP press release issued by general secretary Ramgopal Yadav today confirmed the news. “On the demand of party workers from all the districts of Poorvanchal, the Samajwadi Party has decided to field national president Mulayam Singh Yadav from both Mainpuri and Azamgarh,” states the release. The timing of the announcement hints at an attempt to counter Modi influence in several districts of eastern UP and Bihar following the announcement of his candidature from Varanasi.
	BJP’s fifth list today May include Advani from Gandhinagar, Modi from Gujarat Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 18 BJP’s fifth list of candidates on Wednesday is expected to include the names of veteran leader LK Advani from Gandhinagar and prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi from one of the constituencies in his home state. The party’s state unit seems to have strongly recommended that Modi contests from Gujarat, keeping in mind the “demands of the people and party workers from the state.” The state unit has also suggested that Advani — the sitting MP — is re-fielded from Gandhinagar, thus dispelling all speculation about the constituency from where the veteran leader would contest in the elections. According to BJP leaders here, the state unit has finalised a panel of three names each for 25 of the 26 constituencies in the state. For Gandhinagar, the only name that will be given to the Central Election Committee will be that of Advani. No seat has been recommended for Modi though constituencies doing the rounds include Ahmedabad (East), Baroda and Surat. The final decision on Modi and Advani’s seats is expected to be announced by the Central Election Committee — called to finalise the candidates for Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh — tomorrow. After the red herring was raised by Advani against Modi’s candidature as the party’s PM candidate, there were reports that the state leaders were upset with the veteran. Even though Advani had openly expressed the desire to re-contest from Gandhinagar, speculations were rife that he could be moved to Madhya Pradesh and Modi fielded from Gandhinagar just as it happened in the case of another veteran —Murli Manohar Joshi. Considering that Advani is the only name in the panel for Gandhinagar, the decision seems to bear a clear stamp of the RSS.