Supreme Court pulls up Centre for being 'casual' in 2G case

NEW DELHI: Ticking off the government for being "very casual" in handling the 2G case, the Supreme Court on Monday said withholding of even 0.1 per cent of spectrum, licences for which were cancelled, will not be acceptable.

A bench of justices GS Singhvi and KS Radhakrishanan also directed the Centre to file a fresh affidavit within two days explaining why all the 2G spectrum was not put on auction on November 12.

"Government is very casual in dealing with the matter," the bench said while turning down an affidavit filed by an under secretary-level officer on the matter and directed that it must be filed by secretary of department of telecom (DoT).

"This affidavit cannot be accepted. It has been filed by under secretary officer. Our earlier order clearly said that affidavit must be filed by secretary-level officer. This is a deliberate action on the part of DoT," the bench said.

"On earlier occasion the court had unequivocally rejected affidavit filed by an under secretary. It is unfortunate that the same mistake has been done again. Needful should be done within two days," it said.

The court said that it would hear Centre's stand on auction on Monday but made it clear that withholding of spectrum from being auctioned would not be acceptable.

"Keep in mind that withholding of spectrum, even 0.1 per cent would not be acceptable," the bench said adding that it was never told earlier that the entire 2G spectrum would not be put on auction.

"At no point of time this court was informed that the auction was only for 800 and 1800 MHz band," the bench observed.

It was contended before the court that government has not complied with the apex court's direction and it has withheld 136 MHz spectrum out of 431 MHz in 1800 band.

The apex court had on February 2 cancelled 122 licences for 2G spectrum and directed the government to allocate the natural resource by auction.

The government had received on November 12 bids worth Rs 9,224.75 crore on the opening day of auction for 2G mobile phone spectrum that drew scant interest due to high base price. The government was hoping to net a minimum revenue of Rs 28,000 crore in the auction.

There was no bidder for pan-India airwaves for which the government had set a base or bid start price of Rs 14,000 crore. Demand was concentrated in select circles like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh (East) and Uttar Pradesh (West).

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Justice Katju reacts to TOI report, asks Prithviraj Chavan to probe Facebook user's arrest

NEW DELHI: Press Council chief Markandey Katju has asked Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan to inquire in to the wrongful arrest of a woman for protesting against a bandh following Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's death.

Reacting to a TOI report that had said that a woman had been arrested for protesting against the shut down in Mumbai on the occasion of Thackeray's death on social networking site facebook Katju said it was "absurd" to say that protest would hurt religious sentiment.

Katju said that the arrest was a criminal act since under sections 341 and 342 it is a crime to wrongfully arrest or wrongfully confine someone who has committed no crime.

"Hence if the facts reported are correct, I request you to immediately order the suspension, arrest, chargesheeting and criminal prosecution of the police personnel (however high they may be) who ordered as well as implemented the arrest of that woman, failing which I will deem it that you as chief minister are unable to run the state in a democratic manner as envisaged by the Constitution to which you have taken oath, and then the legal consequences will follow," he added.

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CPM not to back Mamata's no-turst motion, Congress says it has numbers

NEW DELHI: Virtually rejecting Trinamool Congress' appeal to support a no-confidence motion to be brought by it, CPM on Monday said such a move would only help the government cover up all its "wrong" policies.

"A no-confidence motion (in Lok Sabha) will only help the government cover up all wrong measures it has taken and claim parliamentary mandate, as it has the numbers to defeat such a motion," CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said here.

He said the Left leaders would talk to the opposition parties urging them not to move such a motion but go in for some other steps to arraign the government on a whole range of issues.

"I hope the opposition will come to an understanding to put the government in the dock," Karat said.

In the same vein, his senior party colleague Sitaram Yechury said, "If the no-confidence motion is moved, we would want it to be carried. Otherwise, the government will take it as an endorsement of all its anti-people policies for the rest of its tenure. We don't want to give such a certificate to the government."

Noting that a no-confidence motion would "not be issue- specific", he said the Left-sponsored motion entailing voting, to oppose FDI in multi-brand retail, would be "a much better strategy to defeat the government's move."

He said many parties like Samajwadi Party, which had participated in the nationwide strike in September to protest FDI in retail, would support such a motion and not a no-confidence vote. "(SP chief) Mulayam Singh Yadav had himself courted arrest during that protest."

Yechury said the CPM and other Left parties would decide their stand on the basis of the "real situation in Parliament ... whether they (Trinamool) are able to muster a majority (on no-confidence). Otherwise, it will be helping the government and providing an escape route to it.

"The track record of Trinamool Congress shows that they say one thing but do something else. So, we will have to wait and see," he said.

Last week, CPI, CPM, RSP and Forward Bloc had jointly decided to move motions under voting rules in both Houses of Parliament to reject the government's decision on the matter. Rule 184 of Lok Sabha's Rules of Business and Rule 167 in Rajya Sabha entail voting after discussion on a matter.

'Govt has number to prove majority'

Unfazed by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerejee's plans, Congress today said the government will prove majority in Lok Sabha even if a no-confidence motion is brought or any other resolution on FDI in retail issue taken up under a rule entailing voting.

"We are fully confident of numbers and will prove majority on the floor of Lok Sabha when ever any such motion comes. We have more than 272," party spokesperson Sandip Dikshit told reporters.

At the same time, he insisted government has no plan to seek a confidence vote on the issue as it had done during the UPA I on the issue of India-US nuclear deal in 2008 when Left parties had withdrawn support from it.

"The situation is now different from that in 2008 when doubts had been raised about the majority of the government as some parties had withdrawn support. This time there is no such situation," he said.

Dikshit said 54 MPs are required to sign any proposal to bring a no-confidence motion and indicated that Banerjee, whose party has only 19 members ion Lok Sabha, may not find support among parties for her move to bring the no-confidence motion.

While Dikshit, who spoke from the party podium refrained from attacking Banerjee, information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari, speaking separately, took a dig at her saying that never in the history of Parliament a party with 19 members has pushed for such an action.

"This is a peculiar situation that in the history of Parliament a 19-member party is talking of a no-confidence motion," Tewari told reporters.

The minister rued that Banerjee is reaching out for support on her party's motion to even those opposition parties "which she has fought for the last 30 years."

"I hope she will reintrospect and reconsider her decision seriously because till three months back she was part of this government and TMC ministers were part of it," he at the same time said.

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CPM not to back Mamata's no-trust motion, Congress says it has numbers

NEW DELHI: Virtually rejecting Trinamool Congress' appeal to support a no-confidence motion to be brought by it, CPM on Monday said such a move would only help the government cover up all its "wrong" policies.

"A no-confidence motion (in Lok Sabha) will only help the government cover up all wrong measures it has taken and claim parliamentary mandate, as it has the numbers to defeat such a motion," CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said here.

He said the Left leaders would talk to the opposition parties urging them not to move such a motion but go in for some other steps to arraign the government on a whole range of issues.

"I hope the opposition will come to an understanding to put the government in the dock," Karat said.

In the same vein, his senior party colleague Sitaram Yechury said, "If the no-confidence motion is moved, we would want it to be carried. Otherwise, the government will take it as an endorsement of all its anti-people policies for the rest of its tenure. We don't want to give such a certificate to the government."

Noting that a no-confidence motion would "not be issue- specific", he said the Left-sponsored motion entailing voting, to oppose FDI in multi-brand retail, would be "a much better strategy to defeat the government's move."

He said many parties like Samajwadi Party, which had participated in the nationwide strike in September to protest FDI in retail, would support such a motion and not a no-confidence vote. "(SP chief) Mulayam Singh Yadav had himself courted arrest during that protest."

Yechury said the CPM and other Left parties would decide their stand on the basis of the "real situation in Parliament ... whether they (Trinamool) are able to muster a majority (on no-confidence). Otherwise, it will be helping the government and providing an escape route to it.

"The track record of Trinamool Congress shows that they say one thing but do something else. So, we will have to wait and see," he said.

Last week, CPI, CPM, RSP and Forward Bloc had jointly decided to move motions under voting rules in both Houses of Parliament to reject the government's decision on the matter. Rule 184 of Lok Sabha's Rules of Business and Rule 167 in Rajya Sabha entail voting after discussion on a matter.

'Govt has number to prove majority'

Unfazed by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerejee's plans, Congress today said the government will prove majority in Lok Sabha even if a no-confidence motion is brought or any other resolution on FDI in retail issue taken up under a rule entailing voting.

"We are fully confident of numbers and will prove majority on the floor of Lok Sabha when ever any such motion comes. We have more than 272," party spokesperson Sandip Dikshit told reporters.

At the same time, he insisted government has no plan to seek a confidence vote on the issue as it had done during the UPA I on the issue of India-US nuclear deal in 2008 when Left parties had withdrawn support from it.

"The situation is now different from that in 2008 when doubts had been raised about the majority of the government as some parties had withdrawn support. This time there is no such situation," he said.

Dikshit said 54 MPs are required to sign any proposal to bring a no-confidence motion and indicated that Banerjee, whose party has only 19 members ion Lok Sabha, may not find support among parties for her move to bring the no-confidence motion.

While Dikshit, who spoke from the party podium refrained from attacking Banerjee, information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari, speaking separately, took a dig at her saying that never in the history of Parliament a party with 19 members has pushed for such an action.

"This is a peculiar situation that in the history of Parliament a 19-member party is talking of a no-confidence motion," Tewari told reporters.

The minister rued that Banerjee is reaching out for support on her party's motion to even those opposition parties "which she has fought for the last 30 years."

"I hope she will reintrospect and reconsider her decision seriously because till three months back she was part of this government and TMC ministers were part of it," he at the same time said.

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Yeddyurappa apologizes to LK Advani

DAVANAGERE: A day after BJP went offensive against him, former chief minister BS Yeddyrappa went a step backward by apologizing to BJP patriarch LK Advani.

Yeddyurappa, who is all set to quit the party, apologized to Advani after participating 'kalasarohana' of Sri Ranganatha swamy temple at Kunkova village, Honnali taluk in Davanagere district on Monday.

Yeddyurappa on Saturday made anti-Advani slogans by stating "down down Advani", today he retracted and maintained that it was it was "slip of the tongue" and accidently spelt Advani name while making anti-Ananth Kumar slogans.

"Both Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani are like my two eyes. I should not have made remarks against Advani. It's a big mistake and I regret for it. I was upset on Ananth Kumar as he was responsible for my down fall by bad mouthing against me with Advani. Accidently Advani's name was spelt along while making anti-Kumar statement. I apologize for it," Yeddyurappa told reporters.

Yeddyurappa in the same district had said that when he was in jail for 24-days last year, Advani said that the BJP government led by him was number one in corruption in the country, which hurt him badly. "Advani, who had visited Bangalore when I was in power, had leveled corruption charges against me. When I was in jail, Advani let me down," the former CM said.

He also leveled charges against Kumar alleging that he had sold the government-owned hotel Ashok in Bangalore for just Rs 1,000 crore and also was involved in Rs 18,000 crore HUDCO scam.

Yeddyurappa's statement was taken seriously by the BJP. Although the party remained silent against Lingayat leader, despite his series of BJP bashing, it officially for the first time launched attack on him on Sunday by stating the party came to power on ideology, not by efforts of any individual.

Directed against Yeddyurappa, senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said that people everywhere always support ideology, not individuals. "Even in Karnataka people will stand with," he said. Maintaining that BJP has given all the support to Yeddyurappa, Naidu said if Yeddyurappa wants to form his party it is his choice. Upset with BJP, the former CM is all set to launch Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) on December 9 at Haveri, about 350km from Bangalore.

Meanwhile state BJP president K S Eshwarappa in Bellary said the question of dissolving assembly would not arise at all as the BJP would complete its full term. "I don't see great number of BJP legislators or MPs joining KJP. Only handful of them might go. This any way won't affect functioning of the government. BJP government will complete its full term," he said. Attacking Yeddyurappa, Eshwarappa in Chitradurga said that the former CM should know that he is just a MLA, not chief minister anymore and should follow protocol.

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Foreign ministry to keep tab on Savita case

NEW DELHI: Following Indian ambassador to Dublin Debashish Chakravarthi's meeting with Ireland deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Ireland, the foreign ministry here briefed Savita Halappanavar's husband Praveen about details of the probe being carried out by the Irish authorities.

Halappanavar was also assured that the external affairs minister Salman Khurshid was closely following developments in the case and the Indian Mission in the Dublin had been directed by him to continue to regularly keep him ( Halappanavar's husband) abreast of developments and provide all necessary assistance.

Sources said that a senior MEA official conveyed deep regret about the sad demise of Halappanavar.

"The senior official briefed Mr Halappanavar of the details of discussions in Dublin and New Delhi between Indian and Irish officials," said an official.

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Gaza violence: India calls for direct Israel-Palestine talks

NEW DELHI: "Deeply concerned" at escalation of violence between Israel and Palestine, India on Sunday asked both sides to exercise maximum restraint and avoid taking any action that may further exacerbate the situation.

India also said it was necessary that direct talks begin between the two sides without any further delay.

"We are deeply concerned at the steep escalation of violence between Israel and Palestine, focused around Gaza, that threatens the peace and security of that region," the official spokesperson in the ministry of external affairs said on the violence in Gaza.

He also said, "It is, therefore, imperative that the situation be de-escalated urgently as the region is already undergoing turmoil. We urge both sides to exercise maximum restraint and avoid taking any action that may further exacerbate the situation."

"It may be mentioned that an emergency meeting on Palestine was held at the UN Security Council on November 14 under India's presidency to send a strong message from the council to those concerned to de-escalate the situation and to stop the violence immediately."

It is also necessary that direct talks begin without any further delay between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) leading to a comprehensive resolution of the Palestinian situation, he said.

The Israeli army and militants in Gaza are continuing to trade fire for the last five days with no signs of abating and the casuality in the strikes has reached 55, including 52 Palestinians.

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World travel in pursuit of influence: Barack Obama 50 not out, Manmohan Singh 47 not out

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama will reach a half century this week in terms of countries he has visited as head of government following his landmark trips to India's south east Asia neighborhood, taking in first-time stops in Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia.

When President Obama meets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Phnom Penh on the sidelines of the Asean gathering — their eighth encounter by one count — they can also compare notes on their world travels in course of their continuing economic and geopolitical outreach.

Singh, who has had a four-year headstart over Obama at the helm of government, is batting on 46 not out in terms of countries visited, with a much slower strike rate. Cambodia will be the 47th country he would have visited as Prime Minister. For Obama, Cambodia would be the 50th.

Obama could become the first US President to strive for a century although no American president has gotten anywhere close.

George Bush and Bill Clinton, both of whom served two terms in the White House, hold the joint record, having visited 74 countries each. Together they visited 94 different countries accounting for 85 per cent of the world population, though China and India would account for 50 per cent of that.

US presidential travel has come a long way since Woodrow Wilson traveled by ship and spent more than six months in Europe in the aftermath of World War I. Teddy Roosevelt was the first US president to travel abroad; he and his wife went to Panama in 1906 to visit the Panama Canal.

However, Ulysses Grant, the 18th president, went on a world tour after he left the White House in 1877, including stops in what were then Bombay, Agra, and Calcutta, before going on to Rangoon and Bangkok on his way to China.

The first presidential trips by airplane were the four World War II conferences, three attended by Franklin Roosevelt (in Casablanca, Tehran, and Yalta) and one by Harry Truman (Potsdam).

US presidential international travel increased dramatically in the 1990s after the introduction of the souped up Air Force One, a Boeing 747 with 4000 square feet of space that could also serve as a command and control center, an air wing of the White House.

India is headed in a similar direction with the upgrading of Air India One as an "office-in-the-sky" with the acquisition of three new business Boeing jets (BBJ) with special protection suit (SPS).

Both President Obama and Prime Minister Singh have exchanged one state visit each to New Delhi and Washington DC respectively, but there is no second visit on the horizon just yet. Officials say Washington might want to wait till after India's general election to ramp up ties, while attending to more pressing matters.

Meanwhile, Singh will continue to meet Obama on the sidelines of numerous multilateral engagements, having done so some half-dozen times already, with the possible pow-wow on the margins of Asean being the latest.

PM Manmohan Singh's foreign trips (including bilateral and multilateral visits):

Cambodia, Iran, Mexico, Brazil, Burma, South Korea, Russia, Indonesia, Singapore, Maldives, France, South Africa, USA, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Canada, Bhutan, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand, Egypt, Italy, United Kingdom, Oman, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Uganda, Nigeria, Philippines, Finland, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Mauritius, Laos and Netherlands.

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India expects stability in its relations with China: Anand Sharma

PHNOM PENH: India expects continuity and stability in its relations with China, its largest trading partner, after the once-in-a-decade leadership change in the Communist nation, commerce minister Anand Sharma said today.

Replying to a question on the change of leadership in China and whether he foresaw its impact on relations with India, the commerce and industry minister said he expected "continuity and stability in the bilateral ties".

Sharma is accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Phnom Penh for the ASEAN and East Asia Summits.

However, he refused to pre-judge whether the new Chinese leader Xi Jinping was a conservative. Xi was appointed as the General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China this week and is expected to become Chinese president next March.

Speaking ahead of a meeting between Singh and the outgoing Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, Sharma said the Indian Prime Minister is expected to seek larger investments from China, particularly in the National Manufacturing and Investment Zones being set up in India.

"The meeting between the Prime Ministers will cover all issues," Sharma said.

The meeting between Singh and Wen, who have met a number of times during the last few years, could be their last as China has replaced its old guard with a new set of leaders.

Sharma said that in the past, India has flagged, both at meetings at Prime Minister level and Commerce Minister level, the issue of a "fair trade balance" and market access for India in IT and pharmaceutical sectors.

"But it doesn't mean these are the only issues. We consider China as an important partner, largest trading partner," Sharma added.

China is India's largest trade partner but the trade deficit between the two economies has ballooned to USD 23 billion in China's favour in October this year, as India continues to import more than what it exports to the country.

India and China have a set a target of taking their total trade to USD 100 billion by 2015. The total bilateral trade reached a high of USD 73.90 billion last year but the figure dropped to USD 55.6 billion in the first 10 months of this year, a drop of 8 per cent.

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Over lakh villagers form human chain for rights in TN

UDHAGAMANDALAM: About one lakh people from 20 villages in Gudalur assembly constituency formed a 100 km human chain seeking protection of their rights of trade and property coming under Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) area.

Uniting under the banner of 'Gudalur Constituency People's Right to live and protection Committee,' the villagers, including tribals, women, students, children, members of different NGOs and leaders and cadres of political parties, joined hands from Gudalur and formed the chain through more than 20 villages and back.

Their major demands are withdrawal of extension of MTR area, which would affect trade and business, relaxing Sec.17 of the Forest Act, barring sale and purchase of property coming under the area and depriving development works and also protect the areas from the proposed elephant corridor.

Prominent among those participated were DMK Local MLA, Dravidamani, AIADMK town secretary Raja Thangavelu and also local leaders of BJP, PMK, Viduthalai Katchi, police said.

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