President Pranab Mukherjee ..... beginning new chapter

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Pranab Mukherjee elected India's 13th President

Vishwa Mohan |TNN | Jul 22, 2012, 04.42PM IST 

NEW DELHI: UPA presidential candidate and former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee got the magic figures (around 5.18 lakh worth of votes) to become new President of India. He got the required number during the ongoing counting of votes at Parliament House here on Sunday.

The formal announcement to this effect will be made soon by the Election Commission of India after completion of the counting process.

Mukherjee got the required numbers during the counting of votes of Maharashtra. Though counting of votes of 15 more states are still awaited, it will only have academic value.

As expected, the UPA constituents and its key supporting parties like SP, BSP, RJD and others had supported Mukherjee. Besides, he also got the support of opposition parties like Shiv Sena and JD(U). Mukherjee defeated the BJP-backed presidential candidate P A Sangma. The former NCP leader Sangma got his votes mainly from the MPs belong to BJP, BJD, SAD and AIADMK.

Among MLAs, he got votes mostly in BJP-ruled states like Goa, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Interestingly, the BJP-ruled Karnataka witnessed cross-voting during Presidential poll. Ongoing counting shows that over a dozen BJP MLAs might have voted in favour of Pranab Mukherjee who got 117 votes.

Sangma got 103 votes in the state. Mukherjee got the overwhelming support of Parliamentarians (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs) in the President's election securing a vote value of 3,73,116. He got the remaining vote value (1.36lakh) to reach the magic number (majority mark of 5.18) lakh) from the MLAs who cast their votes in his favour. Sangma, on the other hand, managed to get a vote value of only 1,45,848 in the counting of votes of MPs.

His vote value increased to over 2.2 lakh when votes of MLAs of BJP-ruled states counted. A total of 748 MPs voted in the election on July 19. Of the total votes, Mukherjee got 527 votes while Sangma got 206. Fifteen votes including that of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav were invalid. Counting of ballots began amidst tight security in Parliament House here in the presence of authorised representatives of both Mukherjee and Sangma at 11am.

First trend came around 1pm after counting of votes of all MPs. Authorised representatives if both the Presidential candidates inspected the seals of the ballot boxes and the counting began after ascertaining that they were not tampered with. As many as 95 per cent of the 4,896 electors -- 776 MPs and 4,120 MLAs -- had exercised their franchise on Thursday at the polling centres set up in Parliament House and 30 other states and Union territories with assemblies.

All the ballot boxes from the states had reached Parliament House by Saturday and were kept in a strong room. The vote of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had been declared invalid by the Election Commission on the ground that he violated the code of secrecy by revealing his ballot. Yadav had initially voted for Sangma and then tore the ballot paper when he realised his mistake.

26/11 Mumbai terror attack ..... Pakistan's delaying tactics amid threat from its hawks

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India 'open' to allowing Pak panel to cross-examine 26/11 witnesses

Vishwa Mohan |TNN | Jul 18, 2012, 02.48AM IST

NEW DELHI: A Pakistani court's decision rejecting findings of an inquiry commission, which visited India in March in connection with 26\11 probe, on Tuesday saw an upset New Delhi to consider whether the panel be given a second chance, allowing it to cross-examine witnesses in Mumbai.

Indian officials indicated New Delhi is open to the idea, although it was up to Pakistan to come out formally on the next course of action after a court held that panel's report cannot be considered as witnesses in India were not cross- examined.

Though the eight-member Pakistani panel, comprising defence lawyers and prosecutors, had pitched for cross-examining four witnesses when it visited Mumbai in March, Indian authorities refused permission saying this was not part of the agreement between the two nations.

The visiting panel had recorded statements of the witnesses — additional chief metropolitan magistrate R V Sawant Waghule, investigating officer (IO) Ramesh Mahale and two doctors who conducted post-mortem of the victims and nine Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists killed during the Mumbai carnage.

It is unclear why India did not insist on a 'cross-examination' clause earlier knowing fully well Islamabad's attempts to dodge a serious probe. Officials admitted New Delhi failed to anticipate that the panel's visit could be held infructuous for not having cross-examined witnesses.

The Pakistani Commission submitted its report to an anti-terrorist court trying seven Mumbai attack accused, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Zarar Shah and others, for masterminding the carnage.

Unhappy over the Pakistani court's ruling that the report of the panel has "no legal value" as it did not cross-examine witnesses in Mumbai, Indian home secretary R K Singh said, "Our belief is that the evidence collected by the Commission is of evidential value". He said New Delhi would seek a copy of the court ruling.

"After we go through the judgment, we will discuss with the Pakistan government as to what they propose to do about it," Singh said. The home secretary, however, did not elaborate, saying it would be premature to anticipate anything at this juncture.

The decision to send the Pakistani Commission to India was first taken during the home secretary-level talks between the two countries here in March, 2011. Islamabad, however, took one year to send its panel after delays due to several not very convincing reasons.

A section within the home ministry believes had Pakistan raised the issue of cross-examination when the agreement was being drafted, India would have agreed for it under provisions of the CrPC. Section 290 (Execution of Foreign Commission) has a specific provision allowing such a panel "examination of witnesses in relation to criminal matters".

Even Pakistani law has similar provisions. "Not raising the issue at the stage of agreement might be a part of Pakistan's delaying tactics on 26\11 trial which has been lingering on without any success for the last over three years," said an official. The 26\11 terror attack by 10 Pakistani Lashkar terrorists left 166 people dead in November, 2008.

Nine of the terrorists were killed by security forces, while Ajmal Kasab was the lone gunman, who was nabbed and is lodged in a Mumbai jail. Pakistan arrested seven LeT terrorists following international pressure.

Islamabad had contended that charges against the LeT operatives, including Lakhvi, Shah and others — lodged in a jail in that country — were based on Kasab's statement in Mumbai. This was why it was necessary to submit the magistrate's and the investigating officer's statements to the anti-terror court........................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEyLzA3LzE4I0FyMDEyMDA=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Incentive to join mainstream ...... we should not expect the Maoists to come forward ... the scheme is, however, good enough for foot soldiers to explore new opportunity

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Centre hikes cash award for surrendered Maoists by 15 times

Vishwa Mohan |TNN | Jul 14, 2012, 04.02AM IST

 Although all Maoist-affected states give incentives to Maoists who surrender, the Centre's move to increase its share will help cash-strapped states to pursue the surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy more vigorously.

NEW DELHI: As part of its reward and punishment tactics in containing Maoist insurgents, the Centre sharply hiked its contribution to the cash award for those who surrender with such Red ultras now likely to receive between Rs 3 to 5 lakh for coming over ground.

In a bid to nudge states into following suit, the Centre increased its share of the financial contribution for cash awards by 15 times from the existing Rs 10,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh as one-time grant for Naxalites surrendering without arms and by 7.5 times -- from Rs 20,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh -- for ultras with weapons.

"The aim of the surrender policy is to wean youth as well as hardcore Naxalites who have strayed into the Naxal movement and now find themselves trapped," said an official.

Increased financial assistance would help ensure that these Naxalites do not find it attractive to rejoin the movement. Incentive tied to weapon Maoists who surrender with 'arms' may even be able to get more by way of one-time financial assistance, depending on the kind of weapons handed over to the security forces. 

This means a Maoist can receive monetary incentive of Rs 5 lakh if he or she surrenders with a light machine gun (LMG) or sniper rifle and Rs 3 lakh if the weapon is an AK-47 rifle. This is irrespective of whether Maoists come over ground with 'looted' police weapons or those procured from elsewhere.

Besides the one-time grant, the Centre will continue with its policy of giving a monthly stipend of Rs 2,000 for such surrendered Maoists for 36 months. The home ministry shared details of its decisions with states during a meeting on Friday chaired by Ajay Chadha, special secretary, internal security.

The meeting discussed 'ways and means' to continue anti-Naxal operations with enhanced precautions in situations where Maoists use villagers, including women and children, as 'human shields' during an encounter with security forces.

This is pertinent keeping in view the allegations leveled by human rights activists after the recent Chhattisgarh encounters.

Although all Maoist-affected states give incentives to Maoists who surrender, the Centre's move to increase its share will help cash-strapped states to pursue the surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy more vigorously. At present, different states offer varying 'financial packages' to Maoists who surrender.

The central move to increase its share will also help states in devising a uniform incentive policy for Maoists who want to surrender with or without arms. Guidelines announced by the home ministry last year offered an additional incentive of Rs 15,000 for each AK-47/56/74 rifle, Rs 25,000 for rocket propelled grenade/sniper rifle, Rs 5,000 for a frequency communication set and Rs 3,000 for a pistol or revolver. 

"There was a need to review the existing surrender policy with bigger financial incentives. Since states had been asked to enhance the incentives, it was essential for Centre to offer the money as its share," said an official. An immediate grant of Rs 1.5 lakh for a Maoist is placed in a bank as a fixed deposit which may be withdrawn after completion of three years, subject to good behaviour as certified by authorities...............http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JQ0gvMjAxMi8wNy8xNCNBcjAwMzAw&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Purulia Arms Drop case ..... test of diplomacy over law of the land

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Purulia case: India downgrades ties with Denmark for Kim Davy rebuff

Vishwa Mohan |TNN | Jul 13, 2012, 12.55AM IST 

Kim Davy is wanted in India for the air-dropping of sophisticated arms – including AK-47 assault rifles — and ammunition in West Bengal’s Purulia district on December 17, 1995.

NEW DELHI: Stepping up its protest against Denmark for its refusal to extradite Purulia arms drop accused Kim Davy, India has decided to further scale down bilateral ties. The government has instructed its ministries and departments not to entertain Danish diplomats.

Sections in the government see the Danish "cussedness" over Davy's extradition as an expression of racism. "All arguments including those forwarded by Danish legal firms have failed to convince Denmark. It is against all civilized norms... It's like giving protection to a terrorist... It smacks of racism," a top government official said.

Davy is wanted in India for the air-dropping of sophisticated arms - including AK-47 assault rifles — and ammunition in West Bengal's Purulia district on December 17, 1995. The huge cache of arms has been held responsible for the proliferation of illegal, sophisticated firearms in Bihar and eastern UP leading to bloody gang wars.

India's decision to downgrade diplomatic ties came after Copenhagen's refusal to appeal its high court's verdict rejecting Davy's extradition in the Supreme Court.

The move came after New Delhi's repeated attempts to convince Denmark about contesting the lower court's verdict failed. Government sources said New Delhi not only shared with Copenhagen the opinion of three top Danish law firms that found enough ground for appeal but also offered to put Davy in a 'special jail' keeping concerns of courts of that country in mind if the accused is extradited to India.

They said the Danish courts were not considering the merits of the alleged crime but were laying emphasis on India's prison conditions and human rights issues. Sources said that a fresh circular had been issued directing senior officials not to meet or entertain any Danish diplomat posted in India.

"We'll see what more can be done to further scale down diplomatic ties with Denmark," said as senior official. The circular was issued around 11 months after the external affairs ministry's advisory, which had emphasized that India must reciprocate Denmark's non-cooperation in refusing to contest its lower court's verdict in Davy's extradition case.

The finance ministry had, subsequently, issued a communique that all agreements and projects with Denmark be finalized only after consultation with the external affairs ministry. The case against Davy relates to an incident on December 17, 1995, when an AN-26 aircraft dropped sophisticated arms - including AK-47 assault rifles — and ammunition in Purulia district at the dead of night.

The crew of the aircraft consisted of five Latvian citizens and a British national Peter Bleach, who were all arrested. Davy, however, managed to escape. The Latvians were released from prison in 2000 after a request from Russian authorities while Bleach was given presidential pardon in 2004 following a request by the UK government.

Though the Danish government had in April 2010 agreed to extradite Davy, the accused appealed against the decision in the city court which ruled against the extradition in November 2010. The Danish government appealed against the city court's decision in the high court. The high court in June last year upheld the city court order against Davy's extradition.

Later, India asked Denmark to appeal it further in its Supreme Court. But the Danish authorities refused to do so. They reportedly conveyed to India that the prosecutor was not under the control of the Danish government..................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEyLzA3LzEzI0FyMDEzMDA=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Bureaucrats' privileges come under scanner

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Centre tightens norms for babus' foreign junkets

Vishwa Mohan |TNN | Jul 11, 2012, 02.57AM IST 

NEW DELHI: Tightening the screw on foreign junkets of bureaucrats, the Centre has come out with new guidelines seeking more details of proposed visit of 'babus' if they want to get mandatory government clearance for going abroad.

Under the guidelines, the bureaucrats will not only have to give details of the "sponsoring authority" and all information relating to expenditure of the proposed visit but also submit a "write up" if they are supposed to attend a conference/seminar in foreign countries.

Officers will have to comply with it irrespective of whether they intend to go abroad on personal or official visit. The expenditure details which are supposed to be submitted include air fare and approximate costs of food and lodging.

All these information need to be passed on to the concerned ministries at least 15 days before the scheduled visit. Though these guidelines will be meant for all bureaucrats across the country, the Centre to begin with has circulated it for officers of the Delhi and Andaman Nicobar Islands Civil/Police Services (DANICS and DANIPS).

The home ministry had on June 26 sent an 'office memorandum' (OM) comprising these guidelines to chief secretaries of Delhi and A&N Islands, administrators of Daman & Die and Lakshadweep and Delhi Police commissioner.

The new guidelines came in the backdrop of a note from home secretary R K Singh who in April wrote to all central ministries mentioning how the government had come across instances where officers at different levels had been in touch with foreign nationals or embassy staffers of other countries for being nominated for courses abroad.

Asking all senior officers not to mingle with foreigners working with different embassies or high commissions, Singh, in his note to secretaries on April 3, had said, "Such contacts give an opportunity to foreign service nationals and embassy officers\staffers (some of whom may be intelligence operatives) to cultivate sources within the government and\or push their agenda."

Although the provision to disclose 'details' of foreign visits are there in the service rule books of bureaucrats, the new guidelines will help the government in getting complete information in advance before sanctioning the journey.

The June 26 OM had stated that the government had to form the guidelines to regulate the issue of foreign visits as it was found that officers are often submit "incomplete" information and that too very late for getting "cadre clearance regarding ex-India visit\leave".

The OM, which is to be sent to all states for guiding regulation of foreign visits of officers, says that before forwarding any proposal to the concerned ministry, the state\UT administration should verify it in accordance with the extant guidelines issued by the central government.

It says: "Only those proposals which conform to the said guidelines should be forwarded to the ministry after due certification". On proposed visit of officers to attend any conference\seminar abroad, the guidelines want the bureaucrats to submit a write up as to how the conference\seminar is going to benefit him or his organization. The officers will also be required to submit his\her "report" once they come back after attending such conference or seminar.

"Such move will help government in regulating whether officers who are given clearance for foreign visits had actually gone for the purpose stated by them or for something else", said an official. He added that a mechanism to scrutinize other details will also be put in place in view of the new guidelines so that it could check any unnecessary contact of bureaucrats with foreigners as stated by the home secretary in his April note..................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTIvMDcvMTEjQXIwMTMwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Maoists threats ..... Ultras know how to keep governance at bay

http://t.co/W3po4r8z

Railways seeks security to lay lines in Naxal-hit areas

Vishwa Mohan |TNN | Jul 10, 2012, 01.41AM IST 

NEW DELHI: Facing serious threat from Maoists in the construction of a railway track in the mineral rich zone of Chhattisgarh, the railway ministry has written to the home ministry seeking immediate deployment of paramilitary force at Dalli Rajhara-Rowghat area in the state where 95 km of rail line is to be laid to cater to the nearby industrial belt comprising Bhilai steel plant and other industries.

Amid constant disturbances to the project from the ultras, Railway Board chairman Vinay Mittal on July 5 wrote to home secretary R K Singh seeking security for construction of the railway line whose contract was finalized almost three years ago.

Mittal wrote, "Owing to the security problems and non-availability of land free of any encumbrances, the execution agency of the first contract is already threatening to abandon the contract. Continuation of this trend is also likely to impact the second contract."

Out of the total 95 km to be linked by rail, contract for earth work, bridges and other structures have been awarded in two parts. Though the first contract was finalized in November 2009, the threat from Maoists has virtually put construction work on hold.

The first major obstruction came in March last year when earth moving equipment and machinery was set ablaze at Keoti by the Naxalites.

The Centre has, meanwhile, decided to deploy 3,000 paramilitary personnel (mainly from the BSF) to guard nearby mining projects and the rail construction site. The BSF personnel will provide security to transport ore slurry through the Naxal-hit area to Bhilai steel plant, which may have to stop production in three to four years if new source of iron ore is not found.

State-owned SAIL had sought five battalions (5,000 men) of paramilitary forces to guard the Rowghat iron ore mines spread over 2,030 hectares in Kanker and Narayanpur districts, but the home ministry has decided to provide three battalions initially on a priority basis.

The steel company had received environment and forest clearances way back in 2009 for developing the prolific mines, located in the Bastar region of the state, but could not make much progress because of Maoist activities.

The security problem is so acute that Australian consultancy firm Hatch Associates, appointed by SAIL to prepare a detailed project exploration report, could not move ahead. The development of the mines would also require felling of around 1.5 lakh trees. Mittal, in his letter to the home secretary, said tree cutting would only be possible once security cover was provided. 

Encounter with Maoists ...... use of villagers as human shield is as reprehensible as killing innocents .... CRPF's excuse can't be taken as truth

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Chhattisgarh Maoist encounter: It was 'a chance encounter,' CRPF says

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Jul 3, 2012, 05.59PM IST 

In its report to the home ministry, the CRPF has claimed that it was "a chance encounter" and the troop had no option but to retaliate the fire from naxal side.

NEW DELHI: In its report to the Union home ministry on the encounter which left a number of villagers killed in Chhattisgarh last week, the CRPF has claimed that it was "a chance encounter" and the troop had no option but to retaliate the fire from naxal side when it was moving to the area to take action against Ultras on the basis of specific intelligence inputs.

The CRPF claimed: "As per intelligence inputs, approximately one military company of Naxals (over 100 Ultras) in the Silger area was stated to be present".

It said there was also information of Naxals training camp in the area and therefore the operation was planned for that particular liberated zone of the Maoists.

The paramilitary force in the report, submitted to the ministry on late Monday evening, has narrated the sequence of events and highlighted that the mass gathering in the area had nothing to do with any festival - as claimed by civil rights activists - and the naxals had actually planned it in advance to launch offensive against security forces.

One-page note of the paramilitary force, accessed by the TOI, said: "On the basis of intelligence input, the operation was planned for Silgar general area. The encounter, however, took place near village Sarkaiguda approximately 3 Kms away from Basaguda when the troops were on their way to Silger, which clearly shows that it was a chance encounter".

Narrating the event, the force said:" the firing was suddenly started by the Naxals after observing presence of troops in the area. In this firing, six CoBRA/CRPF personnel got bullet injuries. The troops had to retaliate the fire in a tactical manner".

The CRPF has claimed that though the troops were equipped with sophisticated weapons, they exercised maximum restraint.

It said:" Presence of people from four different villages in the midnight in jungle area strengthens the fact that there seems to be mass gathering of prominent Naxals leaders along with their Jan Militia members to plan offensive against security forces".

Meanwhile, the state police has already started investigation into the incident which left 17 persons including three dreaded Maoists killed during encounter..............http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTIvMDcvMDQjQXIwMTUwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom