The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Khobragade episode not closed yet: India New Delhi, April 6 India has refused to consider the Devyani Khobragade episode as “closed”, saying there are “residual” issues which need to be addressed. Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said India had made its expectations clear to the US on the issue and hoped that it would be resolved. "There are residual issues," she told PTI when asked whether the Khobragade episode was a closed chapter as was being treated by the US. However, she refused to elaborate further on what steps were needed from the US to satisfy India. Singh said the US interlocutors were conveyed India's expectations on the issue and expressed unhappiness over the filing of second indictment against Khobragade on charges of visa fraud. "We would have preferred that it (second indictment) did not happen," she said. A 1999-batch IFS officer, Khobragade was arrested in New York on December 12 last and was strip-searched, triggering a row between the two countries with India retaliating by downgrading privileges of certain category of US diplomats among other steps. Khobragade was released on a $250,000 bond and was later granted full diplomatic immunity following which she flew back to India on January 10. She has since been transferred to the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. Though, the first indictment against her was rejected by a US Court, prosecutors last month re-indicted her on visa fraud charges and accused the diplomat of "illegally" underpaying and "exploiting" her domestic maid. The US State Department has officially said: "This has clearly been a challenging time in the US-India relationship. We expect and hope that this will now come to closure and the Indians will now take significant steps with us to improve our relationship and return it to a more constructive place." On whether the incident had affected relationship between the two countries, Singh replied: "To an extent, yes. But that is the strength of the relationship that in spite of having something like the Khobragade incident, you can sit down and talk to each other." The Foreign Secretary said as strategic partners both the countries were interacting with each other "too closely" on a number of issues and that their will be "differences" in such a relationship. — PTI
	Fire on INS Matanga, no casualty reported Mumbai, April 6 A fire broke out today on board naval ship Matanga which was undergoing repairs at the dockyard here but no casualty was reported in the incident. This is the 14th mishap involving a naval vessel in the last 10 months, including INS Sindhurakshak submarine which sank at the Mumbai harbour on August 18, last year, killing 18 personnel on board. The fire broke out onboard INS Matanga, an ocean-going tug capable of towing two large vessels out of the harbour, during welding on the ship, Navy officials said. Fire tenders were rushed to douse the flames and the extent of damage caused to the ship was being assessed, they said. No casualty took place in the incident and a Board of Inquiry has been ordered to investigate it, the officials said. "Around 3 pm today, there was a minor incident of smouldering and smoke observed on board Indian Naval Ship Matanga which is undergoing repairs at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai. "The private firm working on board was carrying out steel welding in the Sewage Treatment Plant compartment when insulating material in the adjacent compartment started smoldering and emitting thick smoke," a Defence spokesperson in Mumbai said in a statement. — PTI Inquiry ordered The fire broke out on board INS Matanga, an ocean-going tug capable of towing two large vessels out of the harbour, during welding on the ship Fire tenders were rushed in; the extent of damage is being assessed A Board of Inquiry has been ordered to investigate it, officials said.
	BJP stoking communalism to trap voters, says Akhilesh Sambhal, April 6 Accusing the BJP of intentionally raking up communal issues ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today asked the people not to fall in its "trap". "The big leaders of the BJP are misleading the people and are intentionally stoking communalism. — PTI
	7% growth must to become 3rd largest economy: Montek Lalit Mohan Tribune News Service Dharamsala, April 6 India was overhyped vis-a-vis China by Western countries in terms of economic growth. While China has been growing at an average rate of 10 per cent for the past about 30 years, India has just managed to grow by 7 per cent in the past decade. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission of India, said this in an exclusive interview with The Tribune at Dharamsala yesterday. He was here to deliver a lecture at Central University, Himachal Pradesh. When asked as to why the Indian economy, which was once being considered on a par with China, was now being written off by foreign investors, he said initially the Western countries had the perception since India was a democracy it would be easier for them to deal with it. However, democracy in India is not functionally organised for achieving desired growth. Many corporates like Samsung are entangled in legal battles in small courts over trivial matters. This hampers the investment scenario. Moreover, the GDP of China is four times that of India. “India can be the third biggest economy in the world after the US and China, if it maintains a growth rate of 7 per cent till 2035,” he said. When asked if the policies of the present UPA government were guided by NGOs, he said that was not true. He, however, said NGOs were instrumental in getting implemented some important legislations. He said the MNREGA scheme had replaced many other welfare schemes being run by the government and the real financial burden on the government for implementing the scheme was around Rs 6,000 crore. Regarding the food security scheme, he said instead of covering 67 per cent of the population under the scheme, it should have provided benefit to just 30 per cent of the most deprived sections of society. “I had even conveyed my views regarding the scheme to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi,” he said. On the Land Acquisition Bill and its impact on industrial growth, he said, “I feel we have gone a little overboard over forming regulations regarding the Bill. However, the previous regulations for land acquisition were bad and not in favour of farmers.” He said environmental clearances were the real factor behind slow growth in the past two years. On the criticism he had to face for not including people earning Rs 32 per day in BPL category, he said by earning Rs 32 per day a family of five can earn about Rs 4,000 per month.
	special to the tribune UK mints coins from colonial-era Indian silver found from shipwreck Shyam Bhatia in London Newly minted silver coins released this week in the UK are a reminder of the colonial booty extracted from India in the years leading up to Independence. Like the Kohinoor diamond taken from Maharaja Dalip Singh, there is no dispute about the Indian provenance of the quarter-ounce silver coins released by the British Royal Mint. The coins were forged from bullion on its way to London from Kolkata in 1941 when the ship carrying the silver, the SS Gairsoppa, was torpedoed by a German submarine off the Irish coast. Some 70 years later, a US marine exploration company, Odyssey, discovered the shipwreck and recovered silver ingots that have now been forged into 20,000 commemorative coins. The External Affairs Ministry of India has so far made no effort to stake a claim to even a portion of the recovered bullion, even though there is no shortage of political and legal experts who say all the silver belongs rightfully to India. CPI's Sudhakar Reddy had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year, saying: "The silver that was recovered from the SS Gairsoppa was carrying the riches to England from India in 1941 when a Nazi torpedo struck. Hence how can Britain be the rightful owner?" India, Reddy added, "must assert and leave no stone unturned, including moving the International Court of Justice," to recover the bullion estimated to be worth $38 million (more than Rs 200 crore). The CPI urged the PM to "intervene immediately by writing a strongly worded letter demanding return of the hauled silver and also to raise the issue in appropriate international forums". "Odyssey which claims to have invested its own money in finding the ship has no moral and legal authority to split the profits - 80 per cent of the silver's value for itself and 20 per cent for the British government," Reddy wrote. Reddy's argument is supported by the country's best legal minds, such as advocate MT Nanaiah, who was quoted last year as telling the Karnataka media, "India has a right to the silver as it inherited the rights and liabilities of the British India government. The issue of the Kohinoor diamond is still out there. Whatever belonged to the British India government belongs to the Indian government now. It is the exclusive property of India and should be returned. How the present Indian government approaches the issue is another matter." Similarly, Supreme Court advocate KV Dhananjay was quoted as saying: "At the time the ship sank, the Government of India was under the control of the British Parliament. However, the Parliament gave up all control and dominion over the territory of India and the affairs of the government and people of India by passing the Indian Independence Act, 1947. "Effective the midnight of August 14, 1947, the British Parliament relinquished all control over the Dominion of India. So, any excess cargo that is discovered later would become the property of the government of India." Meanwhile in London, the Royal Mint's director of bullion and commemorative coin Shane Bissett said: “The traditional Britannia coin design, Philip Nathan's elegant portrayal of a windswept Britannia looking out to sea, is the perfect image for the coins struck from the SS Gairsoppa's long-lost cargo. India must stake claim, say experts British Royal Mint, government-owned firm, released silver coins from the colonial booty extracted from India in the years leading up to Independence Some 20,000 commemorative coins have been forged from silver recovered from wreck of ship, the SS Gairsoppa, which was torpedoed by a German submarine off the Irish coast when it was on its way to London from Kolkata in 1941 Experts believe India has a right to the silver as it inherited the rights and liabilities of the British India government.
	BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, wife booked New Delhi, April 6 BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and his wife Anamika Gautam were today booked by the Delhi Police on a court direction after the duo allegedly demanded Rs 2 crore from a person for Lok Sabha campaigning. The case was registered on the direction of Metropolitan Magistrate Dheeraj Mittal. The Magistrate on April 3 directed SHO of Tuglak Road police station here to "register an FIR and investigate the matter, as per law". The court, however, made it clear that registration of an FIR, "does not imply that the police will immediately arrest the accused persons". When contacted, Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) S B S Tyagi, confirmed the development. "An FIR has been registered after a court order in this case. We have to verify the allegations made in this matter from the complainant," Tyagi said. The Magistrate ordered registration of case while hearing a petition filed by Delhi-based Sandeep Sharma. — PTI
	BSF men escape 2 Maoist blasts Malkangiri (Odisha), April 6 A group of BSF personnel had a narrow escape when two explosive devices planted by Maoists went off in the Kalimela area of Malkangiri district in Odisha today. The explosions took place within a short interval. — PTI
	32 Lankans living in India on list of banned LTTE remnants Colombo: Thirty-two Sri Lankans residing in India are among 422 individuals named by the Sri Lankan Government as members of the banned LTTE offshoots. Sri Lanka last week banned LTTE and 15 other Tamil groups for their alleged terror links and prohibited its nationals from making any contacts with them. — PTI