PMK's stand on alliance unacceptable, TN BJP says

CHENNAI: In deepening fissures in the NDA in Tamil Nadu, state BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan on Friday rejected as 'unacceptable' PMK's stand that its tie up with the combine was only at the "national level".

"BJP is not a state party and PMK is not a national party. Their stand that the alliance is confined to the national level is not acceptable" and such a stand was only to 'hoodwink' the people, she told reporters here.

Her remarks come days after former Union minister and PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss said his party was part of the NDA only at the national level and not in Tamil Nadu.

As regards the state, PMK has declared that it would lead to a separate front for the next year's sssembly elections.

"As far as we are concerned, we feel that we should fight polls together and there is a lot of time (for elections next year April-May)," Tamilisai told reporters here.

On February 15, PMK declared Anbumani Ramadoss as its chief ministerial candidate and invited "like-minded" parties sans AIADMK and the DMK to be part of the alliance to be led by it for the sssembly polls.

Tamilisai is the second senior BJP leader to criticize PMK's stand. Earlier, BJP national secretary H Raja had accused PMK of violating "coalition dharma" by deciding to lead a new front for the 2016 elections.

He had said his party's central leadership would take an appropriate step on PMK's "unilateral declaration."

BJP led the NDA in the state in the last Lok Sabha polls, but the alliance could manage to win only two seats — one each by BJP and PMK — out of the 39 with the ruling AIADMK bagging the rest.

MDMK led by Vaiko which was part of the NDA has recently quit the alliance.

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Nalanda Univ issue: Opposition parties slam BJP over Amartya Sen's quitting

NEW DELHI: Opposition parties on Friday slammed the BJP government over Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's decision to withdraw his candidature as Nalanda University Chancellor for a second term, saying "dumping" him from the post was a "shame" and a "sad day" for the university.

Sen, a Bharat Ratna awardee has withdrawn his candidature as the chancellor for a second term, saying the Narendra Modi government does not want him to continue in the chair, a contention rejected by the NDA government.

"Sen is a national treasure, and to be treated so shabbily is really unfortunate," Congress party spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said.

Another party spokesperson Sanjay Jha said "dumping" him from the university's chair was a "shame".

"So Modi sarkar discourteously dumps, humiliates India's proud Nobel laureate Sen out of Nalanda University. What a shame!," he tweeted.

Historian and Trinamool Congress MP Sugata Bose said it's a "sad day" for the university and noted that Sen did not want to be chancellor but was requested and persuaded by the then UPA government.

AAP leader Ashutosh also criticized the government, saying the incident shows that it (BJP) cannot tolerate any criticism.

"It is in the best interest of the country if the academia is kept out of politics," he said.

Industrialist Anand Mahindra also aired his view on the matter and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ask Sen to stay on.

"Would be a magnanimous and universally admired gesture if Prime Minister's office were to invite Sen to stay on at the university," he tweeted.

JD(U) sought President Pranab Mukherjee's intervention and urged him to seek explanation from the Modi government, which, it alleged, was increasingly "interfering" in the academia to "promote its ideology".

Sen, who has long been a critic of Modi, in a letter to the Governing Board of the University had said, "It is hard for me not to conclude that the government wants me to cease being the chancellor of Nalanda University after July, and technically, it has the power to do so."

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Coal auction to yield nearly Rs 1 lakh crore to states

NEW DELHI: Respective states will get nearly Rs l lakh crore, including royalty, over the next 30 years from 16 coal blocks sold so far through the ongoing auction, a top government official said on Friday. Besides, reverse auction for the power sector will result in benefits to the tune of Rs 37,050 crore to end-users by way of a cut in tariff, coal secretary Anil Swarup said.

The government has put on block 19 mines in the first tranche of auction. Companies such as Jindal Power, Hindalco and Ultratech and others have bagged 16 of them so far.

"The e-auction amount is Rs 83,662 crore. But these blocks will also entail an income to the states by why of royalty which comes to Rs 12,801 crore," Swarup told reporters. Madhya Pradesh will get Rs 39,900 crore, Chhattisgarh Rs 26,425 crore, Jharkhand Rs 14,498 crore, West Bengal Rs 13,210 crore, Maharashtra Rs 1,819 crore and Odisha Rs 607 crore, he said.

READ ALSO: Coal block auctions see aggressive bidding

On benefits to power consumers, he said: "This is also a huge amount (Rs 37,050 crore). Because this is getting lost ... most of the auctions have begun at zero ... But what we are forgetting is that it comes from a ceiling price of a particular level and comes down to zero and this is the value that will get transferred to the tariffs."

In the reverse auction, government sets a ceiling price that is representative of production cost of Coal India. The private sector companies, which are considered more efficient, are expected to bid at lower price.

For example, if the ceiling price is Rs 1,000 and the bidder bids Rs 800, then the benefit of Rs 200 is directly passed on to consumers. This would mean if the power is sold at Rs 3.50, out of which is Re 1 is cost coal and the same will become 80 paise because of pass through benefit of Rs 200. Thus the new price of power will be Rs 3.30 per unit.

READ ALSO: PAC summons officials over coal blocks to Reliance Power

In case the bids touch zero, meaning that the private producer is ready to pass on the benefit of coal extraction to power consumers, there would be a forward bidding. Under the forward bidding, the companies will be required to mention the price which they are willing to give to states.

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Cong to intensify protests against BJP govt on land ordinance

NEW DELHI: Stepping up its offensive against the Centre over the controversial Land Acquisition ordinance issue, Congress on Friday said that it will be staging a dharna at the Jantar Mantar here on February 25 to protest against the BJP government's "anti-farmer" move.

The announcement was made by Congress spokesman Ajoy Kumar, who said that party's vice-president Rahul Gandhi is expected to lead the stir.

Former rural development minister Jairam Ramesh will address a Kisaan Mahapanchayat on Sunday in Chauroli village of district Gautambudh Nagar, he said.

He had earlier addressed a similar Mahapanchayat at Bhatta-Parsaul, Mirzapur and Gharbara.

Party leaders have been saying so far that the Congress will take up the issues concerning the farmers of the country and "we will welcome any social organization or any individual joining the Congress party in such endeavours."

Congress has been maintaining that Land and Acquisition Bill introduced through ordinance, was not only anti-farmer but also "against the soul and spirit" of the Right to Fair Compensation Law.

Gandhian Anna Hazare, along with farmer's bodies, is scheduled to hold a two-day protest against the ordinance from Monday at the Jantar Mantar.

The veteran social activist had been sharply critical of the government's move to do away with the provisions of taking consent of a big majority of farmers before acquiring their land.

"Hazare can join our agitation", Kumar said, when asked whether the party would participate in the Gandhian's protest at the same venue on February 23, the opening day of the Budget Session of Parliament.'

The protest in Delhi is the culmination of the agitations being carried out at block, district and state levels. The event at Chauroli is being organised a day before the Hazare-led protest.

Chauroli is situated on the border of Mathura, Aligarh and Bulandshahr districts. Leaders close to Rahul Gandhi like Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot, Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda and former Sports Minister Jitendra Singh will also be joining the protest.

A press release by Uttar Pradesh Congress said that earlier also many 'mahapanchayats' have been organised at different places in Gautam Budh Nagar to raise the voice of farmers and the purpose of these panchayats is to "expose the anti-farmer and anti-poor policies" of the Modi government.

Hoping that this Kisaan rally will spread the movement of farmers toward western UP, UPCC spokesperson Dhirendra Singh said, "upcoming Budget Session of Parliament will be full of protests until the Modi government takes back this ordinance on land acquisition."

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Corporate espionage: Case gets murkier, govt says ‘no one will be spared’

NEW DELHI: The corporate-espionage scandal got murkier on Friday as confidential documents including an input for the upcoming finance minister's Budget speech were allegedly leaked in the whole operation.

Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said he wants the guilty to be brought to book and would comment only after the investigation is complete. "Let the investigation be over. No one will be spared," he said.

Three diaries recovered from the accused, who have been arrested, have led to the revelation. According to sources, there could be many important names and numbers in these diaries.

The crime branch probe has indicated that the accused were in possession of papers from other ministries as well.

They will be interrogated to ascertain the identity of other people involved.

READ ALSO: Cops arrest former journalist Santanu Saikia, energy consultant Prayas Jain

A Delhi court, meanwhile, sent four of the seven accused to police custody till February 23. Former journalist Santanu Saikia, energy consultant Prayas Jain along with Rakesh Kumar and Lalta Prasad have been sent to police custody.

The remaining three, Asharam, Ishwar Singh and Raj Kumar Chaubey, have been sent to 14-day judicial custody.

Earlier in the morning, the number of arrests in the case shot up to 7 with cops arresting former journalist Santanu Saikia and energy consultant Prayas Jain.

READ ALSO: How it unfolded, what was leaked

TOI had first reported about Prayas Jain being questioned in the case. Prayas Jain runs an oil and gas firm based in New Delhi and Melbourne. Saikia is associated with an energy portal indianpetro.com.

Santanu Saikia and Prayas Jain have been accused of buying the leaked documents, analyzing them and selling them off to business houses, police say.

READ ALSO: RIL, Essar executives among 4 quizzed for 'corporate espionage' in oil ministry

Blowing the lid off an organized racket allegedly linked to corporate espionage, Delhi Police had on Thursday reported arrest of five people involved in stealing official and classified documents from the Union petroleum ministry and supplying these to business houses, think tanks and lobbyists.

Among those arrested initially by the crime branch were two present and two former employees (both brothers), all of whom worked as multi-tasking staffers in the ministry located at Shastri Bhawan.

The arrests took place late on Wednesday night.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah spent Rs 13 crore towards air expenses

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah spent Rs 13,07,41,884 towards air expenses during his 18 month tenure. Using private copters and chartered planes for short visits, the Congress leader availed services from five different private companies between May 2013 to 31st November 2014.

Information also says that the Congress government do not own either a copter or a plane. RTI activist T Narasimhamurthy told TOI that he shall seek more information on the purpose of the air travel made by the chief minister.

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Govt mulling introduction of direct recruitment in LDC grade

NEW DELHI: The government of India is mulling reintroduction of direct recruitment in the lower division clerk (LDC) grade, as recommended by the third committee on cadre restructuring of the Central Secretariat Service (CSS).

The 3rd CRC, constituted in April 2013 after a Group of Ministers reviewed the matter and opposed phasing out of LDCs, has recommended in its report that direct recruitment in LDC grade be restored in a limited manner, along with a simultaneous reduction in direct recruitment in the assistant grade.

Stating that the government was considering the proposal, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) on Thursday sought the views of all Central ministries and departments, service associations and individual officers, on its merits latest by March 10. "In the changed IT environment, the intake of 200-250 (candidates) may be adequate to arrive at the sustainable number of about 2,000 LDCs and equal number of UDCs over the years with a combined strength of 4,000," the DoPT suggested.

The DoPT note futher said that to provide adequate promotional avenues to the newly recruited LDCs, percentage of intake of direct-recruit assistants may be reduced to 60% from the existing 75%, leaving 40% of the vacancies in the assistant grade to be filled up by seniority/LDCE quota from the UDC grade.

Incidentally, the note has listed the pros and cons of reintroduction of direct recruitment in LDC grade. Among the positive implications mentioned are more availability of manpower in the sections; less salary of LDC as compared to an assistant's; more continuity and institutional memory of LDCs as against outsourced staff; and lesser incidence of stagnation as directly recruited LDC can be promoted as UDC and assistant.

Of course, there are "cons" such as a return to officer-oriented system in Central Secretariat, maintenance of large cadre of LDCs to manually carry out routine office jobs when e-governance, paperless office and multi skilling is the norm; disappearance of savings shown in the first cadre restructuring of CSS; LDCs proving costlier than outsourced staff in terms of salary and benefits including pension contribution; and conflict of promotional opportunities between directly recruited LDCs and assistants.

Direct recruitment to LDC grade of Central Secretariat Clerical Service (CSCS) was stopped as part of first cadre review of CSS in 2003. Eighty-five per cent of the posts of LDC were then filled through direct recruitment quota. After implementation of the first cadre review, 85% of the posts of LDCs falling vacant every year would get abolished every year. The remaining posts were filled up by promotion from the erstwhile Group D employees.

This led to a substantial fall over the years in strength of LDCs in Central ministries/deparments, from the original level of about 5,300.

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Eye on Rs 3k cr biz, Chandrababu Naidu flies to Bengaluru

BENGALURU: With an eye Rs 3,000 crore of business in the defence and aerospace sector, Andhra Pradesh (AP) chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu flew down to Bengaluru to make the most of the ongoing Aero India 2015, threatening to eat into the state's share of aerospace business.

Pitching for AP with confidence, Naidu, whose government has cost Karnataka a few major projects from other sectors, including one from Hero Corp, said: "Andhra can be a major destination for defence and aerospace industry."

He said that the newly formed state aims to be among the top three in the country by 2020. Stating that the next decade belongs to India he said: "There is renewed optimism on investing in India. "The global community of investors will come here," he said.

If chief minister Siddaramaiah's speech at the inaugural of Aero India leaned heavily on how Bengaluru is already an aerospace hub, Naidu made a case for the newly formed state announcing that a a greenfield "aerotropolis" project in Vizag district spread over 7,500 acres.

Karnataka, which was the first state to have a separate aerospace policy, introduced last year, has been home to some of the best companies and several government agencies and an aerospace SEZ in north Karnataka besides an aerospace park in Bengaluru. But the state may not be able afford laxity.

"We've already received investment proposals from the defence PSUs like BEL, R&D units of DRDO and so on. Our government is also collaborating with the Singapore government to create a master plan for the new capital in the Vijayawada region, and it will have all hi-tech facilities," Naidu said, indicating the response from the industry and also sending a message and that AP is an investor-friendly state.

He said that the government has plans to attract mega projects and industrial parks in the area of defence manufacturing. "This will also include sub-segments of the defence segment like SMEs and component makers," he said, adding that AP plans to companies in the segments of air cargo, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and general aviation.

Stating that the aerospace segment in India (civilian and defence) segment is expected to attract investments over $50 million. "There is also likely to be $250 billion of defence equipment procurement by India in the next decade," he said.

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Congress gets govt notice to vacate headquarters at Delhi's Akbar Road

NEW DELHI: Urban development ministry has issued a notice to Congress to vacate its headquarters at Delhi's 24, Akbar Road.

Congress has confirmed the report and said that it has received government notice asking to vacate its headquarters.

Senior Congress leader Motilal Vohra told media that the party has replied to the notice and that they would intimate if the ministry makes any further query.

READ ALSO: I-T department issues notice to AAP, Congress over funding

Post-Delhi loss, voices of discontent on rise in Congress

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Swine flu toll rises, centre tells states to operate 24X7 helplines

NEW DELHI: Cabinet secretary Ajit Seth on Thursday urged state governments to ensure round-the-clock functioning of outbreak monitoring cells and necessary helplines as the number of people affected by swine flu in the country crossed the 10,000 mark.

Seth, while chairing a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee to review the swine flu outbreak in the country, also directed drug controllers of states to ensure availability of necessary vaccines, along with guidelines for vaccination and treatment protocol.

READ ALSO: 10 home remedies to avoid swine flu

"The cabinet secretary stressed that the states should ensure that the outbreak monitoring cells and necessary helplines function round-the-clock. The Drug Controllers should ensure availability of necessary medicines such as tablets, capsules and vaccines, along with guidelines for vaccination and treatment protocol," the Union health ministry said in a statement.

Till Wednesday, as many as 663 swine flu deaths had been reported from across the country while the number of people affected by it crossed the 10,000 mark even as the virus spread to new places like Nagaland.

READ ALSO: Four factors that gave the swine flu virus more teeth

Health secretary B P Sharma told the meeting that regular review of the situation was being done with affected states through telephone and video-conferencing and his ministry was assisting the states with required material.

Chief secretaries and medical heads of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi briefed Seth about the availability of drugs, testing kits, diagnostic labs, personal protective equipment (PPE), and masks in their respective states.

READ ALSO: Govt may regulate swine flu test prices across the country

"Maharashtra and Haryana have requested for some medicines to augment their emergency stocks. These are being supplied to them by the health ministry," the statement said.

Meanwhile, one more person died of the disease in Haryana on Thursday taking the toll to 18 in the state, while 11 new patients were tested positive of H1N1 virus in Punjab.

Swine flu had also claimed eight more lives in Rajasthan since yesterday, raising the state's toll to 191 this year.

The central government figures till Wednesday showed that 10,025 people have suffered from H1N1 virus so far this year, a new high in recent years.

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