news in detail 23 may 2011

8/6/2019 News in Detail 23 May 2011

1/23

BJP: 2010 a nightmare for Singh regimeTOI,PAGE-12

New Delhi: As UPA-II celebrated its second anniversary, Opposition BJP on Sunday said the secondyear had been a nightmare due to the governments dismal track record in checking corruption,tackling economic challenges like price rise and in fighting Naxal violence.

The UPA has had a dismal track record in the last year. It was a nightmare for the government.A year which any government would love to forget. We fail to understand what is there for it tocelebrate, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said. It was a wasted opportunity forthe government as its credibility has hit rock-bottom, he added.

The BJP leader maintained that the Manmohan Singh government had failed in all areas ofgovernance. On the economic front, UPA-II had failed to check ballooning inflation and theinvestment environment in the country stood disturbed, Jaitley said.

Amid all these challenges, the ministers did not agree on several issues while UPA allies werebusy making money from corruption, the BJP leader said, adding, People do not remember the

Commonwealth Games for the games that took place but essentially for the corruption around thegames. TNN

Bhatta fire spreads to Gzb, epicentre is InayatpurDipak Kumar Dash TNN( TOI,PAGE-3)

Ghaziabad: Bhatta Parsaul in Greater Noida is still simmering after the farmers agitation. And nowthe fires are slowly spreading to neighbouring Ghaziabad. The epicentre this time is Inayatpurvillage. The issue is the same land acquisition for real estate. The UP government which is stillstruggling to douse the fires at Bhatta, has a new problem in hand.

Discontent is brewing among farmers who sold their land in 2005-2006 to a private developer ata meagre Rs 250 per square metre. They are now asking for a revised price of Rs 1,800 per square

metre. And they are threatening to go on the warpath if their demands are not met.Farmers alleged they had no option but to sell land to a private developer for setting up of theHi-tech City a residential township as the state government had issued a notification foracquiring land. The local administration is reaching out to farmers so that protests dont escalate.Farmers say they are still tilling the land sold to the private developers.

Former sarpanch of the village, Surender Nagar, said, The builder who purchased the land fromus had promised to give us the revised amount after taking possession of the land. But they arenow backtracking. Those selling lands adjacent to our villages are getting Rs 1,800 per squaremetre. We have been short-changed and are demanding a fair compensation.

They allege the government was forcing them to protest than asking the realtors to re-negotiatethe price. The developers who bought land from us at Rs 11 lakh per acre has sold it to anotherdeveloper at Rs 33 lakh per acre, even before carrying out development. So, we are entitled to therevised price, said another farmer.

SDM Ghaziabad SD Pal who met protesters at Inayatpur, said, We have held a fresh round ofnegotiations with the farmers. We told them that the protest was illegal and they should end the dh a r n a. We are open to negotiations and have asked them to meet the district magistrate andother representatives to place their demands.

Affected land owners have now decided to hold another meeting with the district magistrate onMonday. They said tension is palpable in adjoining villages of Raghunathpur, Dinanathpur,Sadiqpur Chir, Sheikhpur Kalan, Hasanpur and Arifpur. Villagers are angry with the price they gotfrom private developers.


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NOW, THE MONEY TRAIL

CBI to probe cash flow during Babri demolitionNeeraj Chauhan TNN( TOI, PAGE-7)

New Delhi: The CBI will probe the cash flow that went into the conspiracy to demolish BabriMasjid in December 1992 and also look into roles of at least 10 more people in the planning andexecution, even as the agency has in-principle decided not to file any fresh case on the basis of theLiberhan Commissions findings.

The decision was taken during a meeting between officials of the CBI and home ministry lastweek when the agency expressed its inability to file any fresh case in absence of evidence. It,however, agreed to look into details of some incidents as pointed out by the commission, admittingthat the effort may lead it to those who had financed the conspiracy.

We will have to examine what action can be taken against people who collected money ortransferred money and whether the money was accounted for or not, said a CBI official.

Though the agency had earlier asked the Income Tax department to provide details of the cash

flow, the trail went cold when the department expressed its inability to dig out old records. The I-Tdepartment has said they will check the records all over again and this has raised hopes of someleads, the CBI official said.

The home ministry, which handed over the commissions report to CBI in November 2009, is alsolearnt to have agreed on the agencys point that there was a need to investigate the money trailused for demolition of the disputed structure and who was given what responsibility during thedemolition.

The agency has indicated that it has some details of the roles of at least 10 persons for theirinvolvement at one stage or the other. These 10 will be in addition to those who had already beenchargesheeted by CBI like L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Sadhvi Rithambhara,Ashok Singhal and Giriraj Kishore.

The commission, which submitted its report after nearly 17 years of its constitution, indicted 68people including senior BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani for demolition of thedisputed structure. It had also recommended fresh investigations into their roles. The report,besides terming Vajpayee as a pseudo-secularist, had found all of them culpable for communaldiscord.


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DISAPPEARING ACT?

Did Mirwaiz meet ISI chief in Europe?

Hurriyat Leader Reportedly Took A Detour To Geneva For Audience With Pasha

(TOI ,PAGE-8)

Geneva/New Delhi: Moderate Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq may have had a secret meeting

with the head of Pakistan intelligence agency, ISI, Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha in Europe, although he denies it. The

Mirwaiz had gone to Brussels to attend a conference on Kashmir on May 3-4 and returned to Delhi on May 9. A

number of prominent Pakistani politicians and Kashmiris from Europe and the US supporting the separatist cause

attended it.

Sources in Geneva said he had travelled there from Brussels after the conference and reportedly met Pasha, who

had during that period left Pakistan for a mysterious destination after US operation in Abbottabad.

Pakistani media had reported Pasha, who had come under severe criticism for ISI being caught napping by the

Americans, had gone to the US on May 6 but later it was stated that he had gone to some undisclosed country.

Asked about the reports of his meeting with Pasha, Farooq denied even having gone to the Geneva and said, I

did not meet any ISI official during my trip to Europe. I met the political leadership from Pakistan who had come to

attend the (Kashmir) conference (in Brussels). I met leaders from Pakistan Peoples Party, PML-N and Maulana

Fazlur Rehman.

Farooq on Sunday held a rally in Kupwara area where he said the Hurriyat was ready for a peaceful and

negotiated settlement of Kashmir issue but the Centre has to exhibit seriousness by engaging the popular

sentiment at a political level.

The experiment of interlocutors has been a failure. If government is serious in finding a solution to Kashmir, they

have to engage with the sentiment and aspirations of people at a political level, Farooq said. PTI

Bhat ready to talk to India, Pak on Kashmir

M oderate Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Bhat on Sunday said his faction of the separatist amalgam is ready to talk to

India and Pakistan to solve the Kashmir issue. We offer talks to both India and Pakistan. We are willing to talk.

What is the other option to solve the Kashmir issue? India and Pakistan are nuclear powers and cannot go to war,

Bhat said while addressing a rally in Kupwara. He said the Kashmir dispute cannot be settled without a dialogue.

We intended to announce this yesterday in Srinagar, but it seems the J& K government is afraid of dialogue as

they put us under house arrest and imposed curfew in the city. TNN


4/23

Dawood puts off sons reception

Mateen Hafeez TNN(TOI,PAGE-8)

Mumbai: Fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim has postponed the wedding reception of hisson, Moin, next week. Dawood is busy trying to protect himself in Pakistan and trace the personwho fired outside his brothers house in Mumbai last week.

Sources close to the Dawood family in Mumbai said he has been going through a tough timesince al-Qaidas former chief Osama bin Ladens death. While India has demanded that DawoodIbrahim be handed over to them, a shootout outside the house of his younger brother, IqbalKaskar, has left the don puzzled. Kaskar was not present when the firing occurred but hisbodyguard, Arif Bael, was killed in the attack.

We have learnt that the nikah will take place as per the schedule on May 27, a Friday, a sourceclose to the Dawood family in Mumbai said. The wedding reception was to be held on May 28.However, due to the ongoing difficulties, Dawood has postponed the reception and a new date hasnot been fixed yet.

Dawoods Karachi home guarded by Pak Rangers

Mumbai: In a bid to protect himself in Pakistan, underworld don Dawood Ibrahim has postponedthe wedding reception of his son, Moin. Dawood, who tops the list of most wanted Indian fugitives,had escaped from Mumbai in 1984 and never returned to the city.

He lives in a 20,000 sq ft bungalow in Karachis Cliffton Road area. The bungalow is guarded byPakistani Rangers and monitored by the Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan.

Dawoods eldest daughter, Maahrukh was married in 2005 to Pakistans former cricketer, JavedMiya Dads son Junaid. His second duaghter was married this February. Dawood wanted to throwa big party for Moins wedding since it would be the last wedding of his children. But due to the

changing scenario, he is taking precaution, the source added.Moin will be getting married to Benazir, a Pakistanborn Canadian national. The nikah, saysources, will take place in a mosque to avoid any law and order problem. Earlier, it was saidDawood may bless the couple through videoconferencing. However, it is still not clear whether hehimself will attend the nikah


5/23

Centre rejects guvs recommendation to dismissBSY govt

TIMES NEWS NETWORK (TOI,PAGE-12)

New Delhi: The Centre on Sunday formally rejected Karnataka governor H R Bhardwajsrecommendation for dismissal of the B S Yeddyurappa government.

The decision was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs despite Bhardwaj standingby his controversial recommendation. Sources said UPAs lack of majority in the Rajya Sabha,among other things, was one of the factors that weighed with the meeting of the CCPA presidedover by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

However,the Centre has decided to issue an advisory to the state government to look into theissues raised by the governor in his report sent two days after SC quashed the disqualification of16 MLAs who had planned to vote against the BJP government in a trust vote last year.Centres decision came when BJP was gearing up for a confrontation over the governors refusal to

call the state assembly to session.While the BJP leadership was hopeful that the recommendation for President's rule will berejected by the Centre, it planned to launch a nationwide agitation if the UPA leadership had actedotherwise.

Bhardwaj has told the state government that he was awaiting the Centre's decision after whichhe would give permission to call the assembly session.

However, given the distrust that prevails between the ruling Congress at the Centre and the BJPgovernment in Bangalore, the BJP leadership is keeping up the pressure by continuing to demandrecall of the governor as Bhardwaj has been regularly trying to disturb the democratic system inthe state.

Sources close to Yeddyurappa said the chief minister, who arrived in the Capital on Sunday, willdiscuss strategy with party seniors to start a campaign for Bhardwajs removal. Bhardwaj isrefusing to call the assembly session on the pretext that he is awaiting a response from the Centre

on his report (which recommends Presidents rule in Karnataka). We cannot wait endlessly, asenior BJP leader from the state said.

Yeddyurappa is keen on proving his majority on the floor of the assembly after the recent SCverdict which quashed the disqualification of 11 BJP MLAs. Since these MLAs have pledged supportto his government, he claims to have the backing of 121 MLAs in the 224-member House.

Convening of the assembly session is important as only a vote-on-account for four months waspassed in March in Karnataka. Now, the budget has to be presented, a senior leader from thestate said.

Yeddyurappa is likely to meet senior BJP leader L K Advani, party president Nitin Gadkari, Leaderof Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley among others to chalk out strategy for building pressurefor Bhardwaj's recall. BJP has accused him of acting as a political agent of the Congress.


6/23

UPA's two-year rule a saga of betrayals, says BJP

Special Correspondent (Hindu,page-12)

Bangalore: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday termed the United Progressive Alliance government's

two-year regime as a saga of betrayals and said, its performance is thoroughly disappointing.

Addressing presspersons here, senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu said the UPA's performance isshameful and scamful. Indecision, inaction, incompetence, irreparable damage to the institutions were,

he said, the hallmarks of the UPA government, which has completed two years in office.

Not to speak of [the lack of] any positive achievements, it has failed miserably to live up to even thebasic expectations of the people. The UPA-II started its term with a flurry of announcements of 100-day

agendas. More than 700 days later, there is no mention of the agendas. There is a big disconnectbetween the rulers and the ruled, he said.

Bad governance'

Stating that the UPA regime is marked by bad governance, he observed that over 24 Bills had lapsed and20 other Bills were pending for the past five years. The Government suffers from a competence

deficit, he said.

Unfulfilled promises'

The list of unfulfilled promises is unending, he said, citing, among others, the right to food, physicalinfrastructure in rural areas, six-lane highways, nine-per-cent growth rate, the law on land acquisitionand rehabilitation, judicial and police reforms. The BJP leader said scams are stupendous and stunning,

involving thousands of crores of rupees. Some of them are the Commonwealth Games scam, involvingRs.70,000 crore, the 2G spectrum scam involving Rs. 1.72 lakh crore, the IPL scam, the S-Band

spectrum scam, the Adarsh Society scam involving Army and IAS officers and Ministers, and andshocking telephone-tapping to mobilise support and harass political opponents.

Farm sector neglected'

Corruption and inflation, he said, were two major achievements of the UPA-II government. The farm

sector had been neglected; it had failed to contain price rise, and the rise in food prices hurt the poor themost. He said petrol prices were raised several times under the garb of rationalisation.

He said the inexcusable goof-ups in the list, which the Home Ministry gave to Pakistan, of most-wanted terrorists had made India a laughing stock in the international community. It shows the

casual approach of the government in such a sensitive security matter. There is no political leadership toguide the government and hence there is a divergent approach between the party leadership and the

government.


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On the issue of black money, the BJP observed that there had been no action, despite repeated rebukesfrom the Supreme Court, against those who had stashed thousands of crores of unaccounted money

away in foreign shores. Certainly, their identities are to be made public. Why is the government so[actively maintaining] the secrecy [in an issue] for which after all the defaulters have to be prosecuted?

Why is the UPA government so keen and hell-bent on protecting the tax evaders?

He said Constitutional impropriety and step-motherly treatment was being meted out to non-UPA States.Democracy, he said, had been subverted by the misuse of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the

Income Tax department.

No safety study undertaken on Jaitapur project:

Justice Shah

Hindu,page-14

Lamenting the lack of public debate in India, the former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, A.P. Shah,said during the public hearing on the safety, viability and cost efficiency of nuclear energy here on

Saturday that the Jaitapur nuclear power project would be a catastrophe if all the safety concerns werenot addressed.

Lamenting the lack of public debate in India, the former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, A.P. Shah,said during the public hearing on the safety, viability and cost efficiency of nuclear energy here on

Saturday that the Jaitapur nuclear power project would be a catastrophe if all the safety concerns werenot addressed.

Justice Shah, who is heading a people's tribunal along with the Justice S.D. Pandit on the project, said:Enron was only a financial disaster, but this [Jaitapur project] would be a catastrophe. Unfortunately,there is no public debate in the country. Everything is hush-hush, he said.

Appalled after being pointed out that there was no safety study conducted by the Expert AppraisalCommittee (EAC), he said, There is a clear failure of undertaking a safety study. He suggested that the

EAC should send ask for another Environment Impact Assessment (EIA).

Deposing before the tribunal, Vivek Monteiro of the Konkan Bachao Samiti pointed out the procedurallapses during the granting of permission for the project. There has been no official critical interrogation

of the project done anywhere till now. Major safety factors are absent in the report, he said.

There is absence of the word reprocessing' in the 1,200-page report of the EIA. Since radioactivewaste management can span human generations, this must be taken into consideration, he said.


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Storage problem

Activists said that the amount of spent fuel produced by the project would be so much that it would have

to be stored safely for 2.5-lakh years. Long-term safe storage of radioactive substances has to beprovided for. The EIA does not talk about it, Dr. Monteiro said.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) is an important Ministry. If the sanction has beengiven by them, then the process is incomplete. Safety consideration should have come first, Justice

Shah said after hearing the deposition.

A researcher deposed before the tribunal citing case studies about the impact of nuclear projects onmarine life in the coastal areas. Even Debi Goenka, Executive Trustee of Conservation Action Trust,

said that the only condition put by the MoEF was that the temperature of the discharged water shouldnot exceed more than five degrees Celsius with respect to the temperature of the sea water.

Whereas the MoEF should also have stipulated that the absolute temperature of the mixed water should

not exceed 33 degrees Celsius at any point of time, because at this temperature, marine life would bedeprived of dissolved oxygen and would be unable to survive, he said.

Nobody has undertaken this study [on the impact on marine animals]. We are going to have six reactorswith substantial energy production, Justice Shah said.

Dr. Monteiro and Mr. Goenka said that the environmental clearance granted by the MoEF was only on

political and strategic considerations and not on environmental basis.

Mr. Goenka said that there were many inconsistencies in the EIA report. There was no independentappraisal of the project from important perspectives such as plant design and its safety. Dr. Monteiro

said that the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) had not approved the design and safety of theplant.

Justice Shah observed that the State government used brutal force to suppress the people. We willvisit Madban in July and submit our report by August, he said.

Though the authorities have opted not to appear before us, we will take into consideration their views,

he said, adding that after studying the depositions of various government bodies and organisations, thetribunal would send a questionnaire to the AERB and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited.

Report by August

Our report will be based on various aspects such as environmental issues, displacement, fishermen's

problems, repression by the government. By August, we will release the report after following the dueprocess, he said.

The Tata Institute of Social Sciences deposed before the tribunal and handed over a copy of its fact-finding report titled Refugees of development,' registering their opposition to the project.


9/23

When in power, people start making money,

Maran told U.S. Consul General in 2008Hindu,Page-1

The estranged DMK M.P. spoke about party's corrupt image & predicted its downfall; criticised

freebies'; praised Rahul Gandhi; was very downbeat' about United Progressive Alliance's electoralprospects

In a candid conversation with the American Consul General in February 2008, DMK Member ofParliament Dayanidhi Maran spoke of corruption in his party and the increasing anti-incumbency factor

in Tamil Nadu.

Consul General David T. Hopper, in a cable dated February 23, 2008 accessed by The Hindu throughWikiLeaks [142702: confidential], informed the U.S. State Department that Mr. Maran predicted that in

Tamil Nadu the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and its partners would lose about half of their [LokSabha] seats if things continue as they are. Further, talking about the increasing anti-incumbency

factor in the state, Maran alluded to the general impression that the DMK is especially corrupt, sayingwhen people get into power they lose concentration and start focusing on making money.'

The cable, which was coordinated with the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, explains that on February 15,2008 the Political Officer at the Chennai Consulate-General met with Mr. Maran for the first time since

he was sacked in May 2007 as the Union IT and Telecommunications Minister following a dispute withTamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi.

Mr. Maran also spoke about the perils of providing freebies. The problem when you come to power by

promising people free TVs, he is quoted as saying during the meeting, is that people soon forget theTVs you gave them and then ask what are you doing for me now?'

Mr. Hopper reported the estranged DMK M.P., who is now back as Union Textiles Minister, as being

very downbeat about the United Progressive Alliance's prospects in the 15th Lok Sabha election,observing that the UPA is in tough shape, especially after Gujarat. Surveying South India, Mr. Maran

also expected significant losses for the UPA partners. He was pessimistic about the Congress's

prospects in Andhra Pradesh, saying Chief Minister YSR Reddy's popularity is on the decline and thathe expects Congress to lose a substantial number of the 29 Lok Sabha seats it currently holds. But hewas quick to add that in both Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu the UPA's predicted losses stem from

failures of the DMK and Congress parties and not from effective opposition.

The Chennai consulate cable reported Mr. Maran as going on to assert that the opposition AIADMK in

Tamil Nadu and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh have floundered and that any UPAlosses will have nothing to do with Jayalalithaa (the AIADMK leader) or Naidu (the TDP leader).'


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Further, he acknowledged that the INC would likely pick up seats in Kerala at the expense of theCommunist Party of India (Marxist) but said the gains would not be nearly enough to offset UPA losses

in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Mr. Hopper, the experienced diplomat, noted that Mr. Maran's falling out with the DMK leadership was

in part due to financial reasons, and so his swipe at DMK corruption, although largely accurate, reflectssome sour grapes. Moreover, the Consul General pointed out in the cable, when in favour with DMKpresident and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, Maran joined in the TV and other give-away

schemes that helped the DMK win the 2006 state elections.

Interestingly, while the DMK M.P. was scathing about the DMK, he was all praise for Congress leaderRahul Gandhi, arguing that the Congress party needed to name him as its prime ministerial candidate for

the 2009 Lok Sabha election. Although he recognised that it would be a long shot, Mr. Maran contendedthat Rahul is the only chance they've got.

Rahul, Mr. Maran added, would benefit from the legacy of his father Rajiv Gandhi's popularity in South

India. The dynastic element of Rahul's elevation would play well down south, he remarked. If youhaven't noticed, we don't have much of a problem with dynastic politics down here. In fact, we seem tolike it.

The cable also reported Mr. Maran as saying that projecting Rahul as the Congress's candidate could

help motivate young voters, but he was being held back by his handlers, who were managing him tooclosely and keeping him cloistered. Rahul's big problem, Maran said, is that he doesn't get to see real

people.'

Consul-General Hopper, too sharp not to detect a subjective element in the insights provided by Mr.Maran on Mr. Rahul Gandhi, supplied this comment towards the end of the cable: His views on the

likelihood of Rahul Gandhi taking the reins in Congress are perhaps colored by his view of himself aspart of a new breed of young Indian politicians, playing a similar role in Tamil Nadu's DMK as Rahul

does for the Congress party. To the extent he sees Rahul going places, he is seeing a brighter future forhimself too.

By December 1, 2008, Mr. Maran was back in the DMK fold and in his grand-uncle M. Karunanidhi'sfavour. When it came to the 2009 Lok Sabha election, his prediction was off on Tamil Nadu where

money power played a huge role and the DMK bagged 18 seats against the AIADMK's 9, and theDMK front bagged 27 against the rival front's 12. Mr. Maran's pessimism was way off on Andhra

Pradesh where the Congress, led by a hugely popular YSR, took 33 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats. Hecompletely misread the role of the AIADMK leader, Ms Jayalalithaa, in creating the groundswell that

was in its early phases in mid-2009. But his prediction that the DMK was heading for a downfall onaccount of the corruption issue came true with a vengeance in the Tamil Nadu Assembly election of

mid-2011.


11/23

Maran called Karunanidhi's October 2008resignation threat a diversionary drama'

Hindu,Page-11

Spoke of DMK leader's attempted blackmail' on Sri Lanka, warned that the Congress will carry this

grudge and retaliate at the right time'

Less than a month before he was accepted back in the DMK fold in 2008, DMK M.P. Dayanidhi Maranreportedly told an officer of the U.S. Consulate General in Chennai that then Chief Minister M.

Karunanidhi's resignation threat on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue was a drama, meant to distractattention from Tamil Nadu's power crisis and the resultant popular anger, and, further, that his attempt at

blackmail' had alienated Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

A cable sent to the State Department under the name of Consul General Andrew T. Simkin, andaccessed by The Hindu through WikiLeaks (176372: unclassified, dated November 3, 2008), reported

Mr. Maran's candid observations along with Congress leader Peter Alphonse's assessment of what theDMK would do in the prevailing uncertain situation.

According to the cable, Mr. Maran, who had been stripped of his position as Union Minister forInformation Technology and Telecommunications by his grand-uncle Karunanidhi in 2007, agreed that

the Chief Minister's resignation threat was an idle one. Maran called it a drama' staged by Karunanidhi,noting that he too tendered his resignation despite his estrangement from the Chief Minister. Maran said

that Karunanidhi's main objective was to distract attention from the state's recent power outages, whichhave increased anger against the incumbent government to an all-time high.

Mr. Maran, the consulate cable reported, claimed Karunanidhi's attempt at blackmail' has alienated the

Congress high command, especially Sonia Gandhi. According to Maran, who despite having an axe togrind with Karunanidhi remains publicly loyal to the Chief Minister, Congress will carry this grudge

and retaliate at the right time.' As evidence of the hurt feelings, Maran alleged that Sonia Gandhirecently refused to meet with Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi, who is a DMK Member of Parliament.

Maran also said that a faction of the Congress Party leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, wishes to see

Tamil Tiger chief Prabhakaran dead in retaliation for killing Rajiv Gandhi, which drives a wedgebetween Congress and the DMK over Sri Lanka.

The cable set out the intriguing context in which these assessments were provided by the estranged

DMK MP, who is currently Union Minister for Textiles, and the Congress leader, who was defeated inthe recent State Assembly election by an AIADMK candidate. Tamil Nadu Members of Parliament had

agreed at an all-party meeting' on October 14, 2008 chaired by Mr. Karunanidhi to resign en masse ifthe Government of India failed to force a ceasefire in Sri Lanka by October 28. However, two days


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before the deadline, the DMK Chief Minister backed down following a visit from External AffairsMinister Pranab Mukherjee. The visit, coupled with several other actions by the central government

including summoning the Sri Lankan High Commissioner, engaging with Sri Lanka's Special Envoy,and agreeing to send humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka's Tamils appear[ed] to have mollified

Karunanidhi, who agreed to defer the decision. The cable added that the DMK Chief Minister, who

acknowledged that this issue has been going on for 40 years and we cannot expect it to be resolved infour days, announced a day later that the DMK had no difference of opinion with the UnionGovernment on the Sri Lanka issue.

Mr. Alphonse's take on what was happening, according to the Chennai consulate cable, was that

Karunanidhi would never have pulled the MPs from the UPA. He just wanted to show-up hispolitical opponents who expected the all-party meeting to be a routine one issuing a typical, toothless

hortatory resolution. The Congress leader's view was that the DMK has no option but to stick with theUPA and the Congress.

Mr. Alphonse, however, conceded that the resignation threat has put stress on an otherwise strong

relationship between the DMK and Congress because at the local levelthe Tamil Nadu Congresswas irritated that Karunanidhi appeared to be slipping back into his past tendency to be soft' on the

terrorist Tamil Tigers and the small Tamil Nadu political parties that support them.

Helped no doubt by these realpolitik assessments, the Chennai consulate sent the State Department an

overall comment that proved to be accurate: Karunanidhi's DMK and Congress are bound together bymutual self-interest. Karunanidhi needs Congress to remain Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and Congress

relies on the DMK to keep the UPA in power in New Delhi. As a result, it is no surprise that the politicaldrama Karunanidhi generated quietly concluded with no resignations after the Indian government took

sufficient steps to give him enough political cover to save faceSupport for the Sri Lankan Tamils hasnot become a burning issue with the public in Tamil NaduThe legacy of revulsion over Rajiv Gandhi's

assassination continues to loom large over Tamil Nadu.


13/23

Centre says no to President's rule in KarnatakaInd.Exp.,page-6

IN a major relief to the B S Yed dyurappa government in Kar nataka that also came as a snub to Governor H RBhardwaj, the Centre on Sunday night rejected his recommendation for imposition of President's rule underArticle 356 in the state.

A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took thedecision, rebuffing moves by the Karnataka Governor to escalate tension in the state by seeking theYeddyurappa government's dismissal in the wake of the recent Supreme court judgment quashing thedisqualification of 16 MLAs.

"The CCPA met today to discuss the Karnataka Governor's report and after careful consideration decided notto accept his recommendations," Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after the meeting.

The CCPA, though, will be writing to the Karnataka government, bringing to its notice issues mentioned by thegovernor. Chidambaram said an advisory would be issued in this context.

UPA leaders, however, contended that the Centre's refusal to go by the governor's recommendations wouldnot have any implication on his continuation in the state.

"There is no such implication. He made a recommendation and the Centre decided to reject it. That's all," asenior minister said. The BJP, however, is expected to up the ante against Bhardwaj's removal in the light ofthe Centre's rejection of his recommendation.

Bhardwaj has had a running battle with the BJP government in Karnataka and had made a similarrecommendation last year, though the event then was overtaken by a floor test in the state Assembly on hisdirection.

The CCPA had earlier met on Friday to discuss the issue but could not take a final view because of the absenceof important members, including NCP chief and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and DMK representative andTextiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran.

Earlier in the day, the BJP had warned it would go on a nation-wide agitation if the UPA government did notreject Bhardwaj's recommendation by Monday evening.

Hinting that his patience is running out, Chief Minister Yeddyurappa also appealed to the PM to reject therecommendation before embarking on his foreign trip on Monday. In the wake of the Supreme Court quashingthe disqualification of 11 BJP and 5 Independent MLAs by Speaker K G Bopaiah, the Governor had last Sundaymade his recommendation


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UPA credibility has hit rock bottom: BJP

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The BJP on Sun day alleged that the UPAs credibility has hit rock bottom and the second year of UPA-2 hadbeen a nightmare due to its dismal track record. The party said the UPA failed to check corruption, tackleeconomic challenges like price rise and failed in fighting Naxal violence.

Commenting on the UPA2s completion of its second year at the Centre, Leader of the Opposition in the RajyaSabha Arun Jaitley said: The UPA has had a dismal track record in the last year. It was a nightmare for thegovernment. A year which any government would love to forget. We fail to understand what is there for it tocelebrate. Mr Jaitley insisted that it was a wasted opportunity for the government as its credibility has hitrock bottom.

Mr Jaitley maintained that the Manmohan Singh government had failed in all areas of governance.

He said on the economic front, the UPA-2 had failed to check the high rate of inflation and the investmentenvironment in the country stands disturbed.

Sonia: Will demonstrate with action, not words

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On the completion of its two years in office, the Congress-led UPA government on Sunday promised to hithard against corruption and punish the guilty involved in scams.

With allegations of corruption being levelled against its government and MPs, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi jointly released the report titled Government of the UPA: Report to thePeople on Sunday night at the formers official residence.

The PM assured that the guilty in scams will be punished as the due process of law has already begun andsteps would be taken to prevent such scams in the future. In her brief remarks at the function, Mrs Gandhisaid, We will take the issue of corruption head on and demonstrate through actions, and not words, that wemean what we say. She lamented that unfortunately the track record of Opposition parties in taking actionagainst corrupt is no match to the Congress and the UPA. Touching upon the issue of governance andcorruption, Dr Singh said, The developments have caused many concerns among citizens to worry about thestate of governance and the pervasiveness of corruption. We will punish those that are guilty as the dueprocess of law has already caught up.

In his speech, Dr Singh also recalled the conjunction of several developments related to the 2G spectrum,procurement and contracting issues related to the Commonwealth Games and similar issues in stategovernments. He said many of these issues have surfaced because of our system of institutional oversightand a free press. He assured that the government will bring about systemic changes that would help inimproving governance and curbing corruption. The report card talks at length about the constitution of a GoMon corruption in January this year and the introduction of the whistleblower bill.

As one of the impediments felt in tackling corruption is lack of adequate protection to complainants, thePublic Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosure Bill, 2010 (whistleblower bill) hasbeen introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 26, 2010, it added.


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With a view to ensuring full compliance with United Nations Convention Against Corruption Convention, thePrevention of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials and Officials of Public International Organisations Bill 2011 hasbeen introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 25, 2011, it said. The report covers many specific sectors likeeconomic situation, agriculture, rural development, education, external and internal challenges.

2G scam `200cr deal papers come under scannerASIAN AGE-,PAGE-3The CBI has now started probing the authenticity of the agreement document (related to the transfer of `200

crores to the Chennai-based Kalaignar TV) provided by a company linked to telecom promoter Shahid Balwa

and Cineyug Films Pvt. Limited to the agency.

The CBI probe into the 2G spectrum scam has revealed that shares subscription agreement worth 200crores was allegedly executed between Cineyug Films Pvt Limited and three promoters of Kalaignar TV,including DMK supremo M. Karunanidhis daughter Kanimozhi, on December 19, 2008. Probe by the CBI hasestablished that Dynamix Realty Limited of Shahid Balwa transferred a sum of `200 crores in the accounts ofKalaignar TV, through the accounts of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Limited and Cineyug Films from

December 2008 to August 2009. The agency officials, however, could not trace the original papers of theagreement signed between Cineyug Films Pvt Limited and three promoters of Kalaignar TV.

Earlier, the TV channel had maintained that the payment of 200 crore was meant to be an investment thatwas returned following differences in evaluation over equity. Recently, representatives of Kusegaon Fruitsand Vegetables Limited and Cineyug Films pro

vided photocopies of the agreement document. The agency officials are examining the authenticity of thephotocopies of the agreement document as there is no images of stamp papers.A valid agreement needs to be executed on stamp papers, sources said.

The CBI officials during probe found that Cineyug Films Ltd transferred a total sum of `200 crore in thecurrent account (no.

733560561) of Kalaignar TV. The current account stands in the name of Kalaignar TV and the signatures ofMrs. M K Dayalu, Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar are appearing on the account's opening form, sources said.

The probe has already revealed that 200 crores paid by Dynamix Realty to Kalaignar TV was not a genuinebusiness transaction but it was in the nature of illegal gratification paid in lieu of the spectrum licencesgiven by former telecom minister A.Raja to Shahid Balwa's Swan Telecom, sources said. Earlier, the TV channel had maintained that the paymentof Rs. 200 crore was meant to be an investment that was returned following differences in evaluation overequity.

The CBI, however, in its supplementary charge-sheet said, The transfer of 200 crore to Kalaignar TVallegedly by a company linked to Balwa was a `quid pro quo' for Swan Telecom getting Unified AccessServices licence at a nominal price.

Rao faced Cong opposition on Israel: Advani


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ASIAN AGE,PAGE-4May 22: BJP parliamentary party chairman L.K.

Advani, who recently invited young American, at his residence in New Delhi after meeting them in

Dharamsala, said former PM P.V.

Narasimha Rao had faced opposition from his Congress colleagues on the issue of establishing diplomatic

relations with Israel as they feared this would affect their minority votebank.

Writing on the issue in his blog on Sunday, Mr Advani praised the former PM for establishing relations withIsrael which was fortified immensely during Mr Vajpayee's NDA regime. He recalled his visit to the US in1992 when some members of Jewish community asked him why India had not yet established full diplomaticrelations with Israel.

My party is fully in favour of full normalisation of relations with Israel. But we are not in power. The Congressparty, which has been in power for the longest period since Independence, is opposed to it, and so are theCommunist parties, Mr Advani replied had then told the Jewish group.

Upon his return to India, the senior BJP leader met Mr Rao and discussed this issue.

A nightmare, says Jaitley

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The BJP has described the UPA Government's second year in office as a nightmare and wondered what wasthere to celebrate for a Government which was mired in corruption and failed to tackle price rise and naxalviolence.

The UPA has had a The UPA has had a dismal track record in the last year. It was a nightmare for the

Government. A year which any Govern ment would love to forget. We fail to understand what is there for it tocelebrate, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said on the completion of two years of UPA-IIGovernment.

Claiming that the last year was a wasted opportunity for the Government whose credibility has hit rock-bottom, Jaitley said the Manmohan Singh Government had failed in all areas of gov failed in all areas ofgovernance.

The BJP leader said hat even as the UPA-II failed to check spiraling inflation and im prove the invest mentclimate the Ministers squabbled on several issues while others were busy making money from corruption.

People do not remember the Commonwealth Games for the games that took place but essentially for thecorruption around the games, he said.

The senior BJP leader mentioned a recent Time magazine article which stated that the 2G spectrum allocationscam was the second biggest after the Watergate scam. He was also critical of the role played by theinvestigative agencies like the CBI which, he alleged, were working at the behest of the Government.

Jaitley hailed the role of the Opposition, media and the judiciary forjumping into action to corner the corruptpractices in the UPA-II Government.


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The main Opposition also took a dig at the Government for failing to find a solution to the Telangana issue. Healso said the UPA regime has failed to combat Maoists and there is no progress in the fight against Naxalviolence. On the issue of Jammu & Kashmir, the BJP leader maintained that the Government was merelyindulging invarious adventures like forming groups to look into the issue and appointing interlocutors whohad failed in their job.

Scams take sheen offUPA's two-year rule

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Only TR Baalu represents from `strained' DMK

The UPA-II Government completed two years in office on Sunday but the celebration was overshadowed bytaints of scams, rising prices and decision-making paralysis.In the midst of all these, the Congress' strained tie with the DMK remained hot topic of the day with theDravidian party dispatching just TR Baalu for token participation in the celebratory dinner at the PrimeMinister's residence.

Except for All India Majlise-Ittihad al-Muslimin, all allies were represented in Sunday's function. Among theparties supporting the UPA from outside like Samajwadi Party (SP) and RJD had their representatives inMohan Singh and Lalu Prasad respectively.

However, no one from UP Chief Minister Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) attended the function. TheUPA Government's relation has soured with the BSP following Rahul Gandhi's visit to Bhatta-Parsaul and hisremarks on killings and rape in the two villages of Greater Noida during the anti-land acquisition agitation offarmers earlier this month.

Though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi put up brave faces and lauded theachievements of the Government, it was clear from their speeches that the issue of corruption weighedheavily on their minds.

In an obvious attempt to deflect criticism about paralysis of governance, Sonia Gandhi announced that theGovernment will pass the much-awaited bills on land acquisition, food security and Lokpal in the next sessionof Parliament.

As the coalition stepped into its third year in its second term, the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi released`Government of the UPA: Report to the People 2010-11' and promised to punish the guilty in scams andassured the people that it would demonstrate through actions and not words what it meant.

Singh asserted that the guilty in scams will be punished through due process of law and steps will be taken toprevent them in future. In her brief remarks at the release of the report, Gandhi said, We will take the issueof corruption head on and demonstrate, through actions, and not words, that we mean what we say.

The Prime Minister admitted that the issue of governance and corruption has been the focus of a great deal ofattention in 2010-11 and caused people to worry about the state of governance and the pervasiveness ofcorruption. From Page 1 These are legitimate concerns and the UPA Government is determined to takecorrective action. We will punish those that are guilty through the due process of law, the Prime Minister saidin the report which was released at a function at his residence to mark the second anniversary of UPA-II.

The Prime Minister recalled theconjunction of several developments related to the 2G spectrum,procurement and contracting issues related to the Commonwealth Games and similar issues in StateGovernment.


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He said many of these issues have surfaced because of our system of institutional oversight and a free pressand to that extend reflect the strength of the system.

Singh said, We have initiated a number of measures to bring about systemic changes that would help inimproving governance and curbing corruption and we hope to see quick results of these efforts. Later, talkinginformally to mediapersons, the PM, while talking about corruption, saidThere is no question of beingdemoralised. There have been a few aberrations but we are determined to fight it. The Prime Minister saidthe Government would leave no stone unturned in providing clean and effective governance.We will leave nostone unturned in our efforts at providing clean

and effective governance to the people, he said.

In the same vein, Sonia said the Government would ensure transparency, accountability and probity ingovernance. She congratulated Singh for completing seven years in office.

The report card emphasised that the terms of reference for the GoM on Corruption include fast-tracking of allcases of public servants accused of corruption and ensuring full transparency in public procurement andcontracts, including enunciation of public procurement standards and a public procurement policy andintroduction of an open and competitive system of exploiting natural resources.

Noting that India has ratified the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, it said, with a view toensuring full compliance with this Convention, the Prevention of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials and Officialsof Public International Organisations Bill 2011 has been introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 25, 2011.

The report also covers many specific sectors like economic situation, agriculture, rural development,education, external and internal challenges, railways and environmental issues.

Noting that food inflation was a major concern in the last financial year, the Prime Minister said hisGovernment took several measures to address the problem and continued its efforts in

2010-11 andintend to do more in the future.

Sonia said the National Food Security Bill was being finalised. She also said the Land Acquisition (Amendment)Bill and Lokpal Bill would be passed in the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

The PM evaded a question on the impending Cabinet reshuffle and said,You will hear when it takes place.Though the relations between the Congress and DMK have nosedived following the arrest of Tamil Nadu CM MKarunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi, Baalu was seated next to Sonia during the release of the report. And evenlater, the two leaders were seated side-by-side at the dinner table, indicating that there was still some scopefor improvement of relations in the future.

Rahul Gandhi maintained a low-profile in the function. He spent a long time talking first to Mumbai MP MilindDeora and then to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee before the function actually started. During release ofthe report, he was seated on the eighth row between Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni andSonia's political secretary Ahmed Patel.

All the Congress CMs like Sheila Dixit, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kiran Reddy, Prithviraj Chavan, OommenChandy and Ashok Gehlot were present in the celebration. Several Ministers, MPs and Congress office-bearersalso attended the function.

ADVANI'S BLOG `Cong feared Israel talks for minority votes'


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Pioneer,page-5Senior BJP leader LK S Advani on Sunday claimed that former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao was isolated

within the Congress over having diplomatic relations with Israel, as the grand old party feared it would af fect

their minority vote.

Advani wrote in his blog on Sunday, after returning from a trip to United States in 1992, he had called on Raoto share with the PM the sentiments of Jewish groups he met in that country.

After briefing him about my meetings with the American Jewish groups, I said, Narasimha Raoji, before yougo, take a bold decision on establishing full diplomatic relations with Israel.

He replied, I am all for it, but my party is not ready, Advani wrote in his blog.

Invariably, Advani said, Jewish groups would meet and ask him, We are friends of India. We want India tobecome a strong power and play a major role in world affairs. But why has your country not yet establishedfull diplomatic relations with Israel? My reply to them was, Advani wrote, My party is fully in favour of fullnormalisation of relations with Israel.But we are not in power. The Congress party, which has been in power for the longest period sinceIndependence, is opposed to it, and so are the Communist parties.

Advani said he tried con vincing Rao, saying India's policy towards Israel should not be trapped in thisimaginary apprehension over the reaction of some Muslims in India and After all several Muslim countriesare planning to open diplomatic relations with Israel. Egypt and Turkey have already done so.Even Palestinians want to coexist with Israel.

Advani also told Rao, Therefore, if something is in our national interest, we should explain it to people whomay be opposed to it and suggested the country's foreign policy should be immune to such falseconsiderations of domestic pressure.

He claimed that Rao agreed with him and formed a Group of Ministers to look into the matter and for evolvinga wider ownership of such a decision. The senior BJP leader praised Rao for keeping his word.

The GOM made a positive recommendation. Today India has normal relations with Israel, for tif iedimmensely during the six years of Vajpayee's NDA regime, Advani said. The former Deputy Prime Ministerrecently played host to a group of 61 Americans, including Jews, who were visiting India to meet the DalaiLama. They spent over an hour at our residence, learning how the BJP had contributed towards making Indiadevelop normal diplomatic relations with Israel, Advani said.

UPA regime is a saga of betrayals


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BY M VENKAIAH NAIDU

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The Congress-led UPA, now T popularly reclaimed by the people as Unethical Practices Alliance and Unfulfilled

Promises Alliance, at the Centre in its second stint has completed two years in office. To say the least, itsperformance is thoroughly disappointing. Not to speak of any positive and significant achievements, it has

failed miserably to live up to even the basic expectations of the people. People have given it mandate for a

second term in the hope of reaping benefits of the promises doled out by it during elections. Promises piled up

but remain unfulfilled -Ornamental time-bound agendas announced but remain unimplemented. The UPA-II

started its term with a flurry of announcements of 100-day agenda by several Ministers.

More than 700 days later, hardly Minister remembers those agendas. There has been a huge disconnect

between the rulers and the ruled.

The UPA-II regime is marked by absence of good governance. The list of unfulfilled promises is unending;right to food, right to education (only bill no political will), Bharat Nirman, physical infrastructure in ruralareas, six lane highways, nine per cent growth rate, law and land acquisition and rehabilitation, judicial andpolice reforms, natgrid to coordinated security, national commission to examine unorganised sector

entrepreneurs and progress report to the people from time to time -nothing has been fulfilled. Apart from thisover two dozen bills have been lapsed and 20 bills are pending for the past five years.

The head of the UPA, the Congress, is a divided house.Ministers have given up collective responsibility and blame each other for mis-governance.Cohesion and cooperation have become conspicuous more by their absence. The Ministers choose to adverselycomment on their Governments departments on a foreign soil.Minister reads speech of another country at the highest international forum. Ministers, including the PrimeMinister, are least bothered of the credibility of the institutions while taking critical decisions based oninaccurate facts and appoint a corruption case accused as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner and made apartisan appointment in Election Commission. The appointment of Prasar Bharati CEO who had to be removed,and appointment of NHRC Chairman, is no difference.The Government suffers from serious competence deficit.

The Government let down the nation by consciously selecting Ministers in key infrastructural ministries such asTelecom and Highways who were low on the integrity quotient. It has failed not only to take any steps infurthering the reform proposals but also in creating infrastructure of global standards, neither the flagshipschemes have resulted in le d any asset creation. Further, the nt interest rates have become so as highrendering our industry e non-competitive.

a The two fundamental n issues on which the UPA-II has e completely failed are corrup ti tion and price rise.d, C Corruption e. The UPA-2 has been the m most dishonest Governments in the history. It is irony that a ndistinguished economist ly believed to be the most honest a is heading the most corrupt as regime in theindependent o India. The 2G scam involving o a sum of 1,76,000 crore, per o haps the biggest scam ever ethat took place in the country, n is the biggest shame on the b UPA-II. Scams are stupendous g and stunning.The scams that n have seen the light are the scam of export and import of food grains involving thousands ofcrores of money, the CWG Scam involving 70,000 crores, the IPL scam, the S-Band spectrum scam involving

the PMO, the Adarsh Soceity scam involving senior army/IAS officers and Ministers and startling and shockingtelephone tapping to mobilise support and harass political opponents.

Inflation The biggest failure of this Government has been its sheer inability to contain the spiraling price riseof essential commodities. The rise has been so continuous and so steep that the common man is unable tohave even one-meal-a-day. The tremendous rise in food prices has hurt the poor the most.Price rise and food inflation is the comprehensive failure of economic policies including lack of foresight andproper planning, lack of leadership, sheer incompetence, massive corruption in export and import of foodgrains at all levels in Government.


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For almost three years we had a double digit inflation in the Wholesale Price Index.Fiscal consolidation is no longer the priority of the government. The prices of essential food items are skyhigh.The petrol prices have been increased 20 times in the name of rationalisation.

Neglect of agriculture sector The UPA's policies have been anti-farmer. It has totally neglected the agriculturesector Food items became cost lier and also scarcer. Farmers suffer on all counts. Thousands of farmers arecommitting sui cide. The MSP of the paddy has not been raised by the Centre for the last two years. Not evenone tonne of storage capacity is added in last seven years. There is no effort to implement Prof MSSwaminathan Commission's recommendations.

Security & Goof-ups Security of the country seems to be the least priority on Government's agenda. Ourdefense preparedness is suffer ing because the ministry cannot take decisive action. The inex cusable goof-ups in the list of most wanted' given to Pakistan by the Home Ministry have f made our nation a laughing gstock in the international comr munity. It shows the casual , approach of the Government on e such asensitive security matter.

There is no political leadership to guide the government and hence there is a divergent e approach betweenthe Party leadership and the Government.

. Even on important and sensitive issues like internal security and Maoists, the rul ing party is a divided house.

. Internal contradictions and lack of support between the e ministers and coalition part ners is forcing theGovernment to compromise e on the security of the nation.

The master minds of 26/11 are e still roaming around freely in Pakistani streets and our mine isters are busyhaving acade mic discussions with their Pakistani counterparts.

The threat of Maoist violence in several states and districts still remains. Nobody knows as to what is theGovernment policy towards Maoism! Black money The Centre is taking no action against those who havestashed thousands of crores of unaccounted money illegally in foreign shores despite repeated rebukes fromthe Supreme Court. Certainly their identities are to be made public. Why the government is so active inmaintaining the secrecy for which after all the defaulters have to be prosecuted? Why the UPA Government is

so keen and hell bent on protecting the tax-evaders?Constitutional impropriety and step-motherly treatment meted out to nonUPA States The only achievement ofthe UPA-II is misusing the constitutional institutions for political ends. The Congress party is adopting allunethical, extra constitutional and immoral method by misusing various institutions to further its politicalinterests, harass political opponents and also muster support as and when needed. The UPA Government hasused its intelligence and investigative agencies like CBI, Governors institution, income tax department tosubvert democracy and serve its own interests. The Congress wants to rule the country by misus ing the CBI,the Raj Bhavans etc. It has grossly misused the CBI in the State of Gujarat. It is misused to strike a deal withpolitical parties when the need arises. The divergent affidavits which are filed in the cases of the SP and theBSP leaders by the CBI are the clear evidence of it being misused for striking political deals.

The classic case before us is Karnataka Governor Shri Bhardwaj's repeated misadventures to oust thedemocratically elected popular Government in the State. The Congress partyled UPA at the Centre is the realSuthradhari (director) and the Governor Bharadwaj is only a pathradhari (actor) in this shameful drama. Thescript was written in Delhi and executived by Raj Bhawan in Bangalore.The history sheet of extra constitutionalism by the Governor makes him unfit to occupy a constitutional officeand the BJP demands that he should be recalled immediately in the interest of the State of Karnataka.

There is a huge discrimination in the management of economy towards the nonCongress States. The UPA doesnot tolerate non-Congress Governments in the States. It continuously discriminates against the non-CongressStates and extends step-motherly treatment on issues like natural calamities, power allocation and allotmentof coal, sanction of rail projects etc.


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In all it is like, One step forward, three steps backward and situation is awkward and the country is movingbackwards'.

BSY 24-hr ultimatum to Centre pays

YEDDYURAPPA WAS EXPECTED TO MEET CENTRAL LEADERS OF THE PARTY ON MONDAY

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Yeddyurappa-led BJP Government in Karnataka took the protest path against Governor Hansraj Bhardwaj fornot giving his nod to convene an Assembly session from June 2, the Centre called a meeting late on Sundaynight and rejected the view of the Governor that there was a Constitutional crisis in Karnataka.

The BJP on Sunday had set a 'final' 24 hour deadline to the Central Government to reject Bhardwaj's specialrecommending imposition of President's Rule in the State or face large-scale nationwide protests.

In a late night meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, presided over by Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh, discussed the Governor recommendation in the light of Home Ministry follow up report, andrejected the Governor's reccomendation for the Presidents rule in Karnataka.

Earlier, BJP senior leader Venkaiaha Naidu had told reporters in Bangalore, If the Centre does not act withinthe coming 24 hours, the BJP will be compelled to launch a nationwide agitation both against the CentralGovernment as well as the Governor. We will wait till tomorrow evening. Any further delay will be a negationof the people's mandate... it goes against the spirit of federal structure. We will not tolerate this, he added.

It may be recalled here that Bhardwaj has not given his nod to convene the Assembly session, something thatthe ruling party considers a deliberate attempt to create a constitutional crisis in the State.

Naidu alleged that in the last six days, the State Government was not allowed to function by the Governor andthe inordinate delay by the Centre (in action on his report) was also affecting the interest of the State and

people. He said the Karnataka BJP had already resorted to

demonstrations which have evoked a huge response, and warned the Centre against delaying actionbecause of its indecision, internal differences.

Accusing the Governor of virtually converting Raj Bhavan into C ongress Bhavan, he said, The place hasbecome the epicentre of political conspiracies.

Naidu also alleged that the script was written by some Congress leaders in Delhi and executed by Raj Bhavanin Bangalore. The history sheet of extra constitutionalism by the Governor makes him unfit to occupy aconstitutional office, and the BJP demands that he be recalled immediately. Meanwhile, the State BJP led byYeddyurappa and State president KS Eshwarappa continued protests in northern districts of Karnataka.

Hinting that his patience was running out, Yeddyurappa on Sunday appealed to Prime Minister ManmohanSingh to reject the Governor's report before going on his official foreign trip, beginning Monday.

I told the Prime Minister: take a decision before leaving abroad if you are to retain the respect that I have foryou, he said in the coastal city of Mangalore.

Manmohan Singh will leave on Monday on a six-day visit to Ethiopia and Tanzania.


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Yeddyurappa was expected to meet Central leaders of the party on Monday to discuss the issue. The party,which recently roped in all its Chief Ministers to seek recall of the Governor, feels that more efforts needs tobe taken to put pressure on the Central Government to ask Raj Bhawan to behave in the manner it issupposed to.

news in detail 23 may 2011

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