Cabinet discusses black money issue

A day after the government came under attack from the Supreme Court over black money stashed abroad, several Ministers on Thursday voiced concern over the issue at the Union Cabinet meeting here but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made it clear that the details could not be disclosed.

The Ministers noted that the government was facing the flak from virtually all quarters and the impression was gaining ground that the government had something to hide on the issue, sources said.

At the meeting, Dr. Singh pointed out that the government could not disclose the names about whom it had information regarding accounts in foreign banks as it was bound by various treaties.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government had received information about the black money accounts in foreign banks as per international treaties and if this is revealed, no government would share such details in future, the sources said.

It was emphasised that the information was shared purely for taxation purposes and the government intends to do the same without making public the names of account holders or other details, the sources said.

Mr. Mukherjee said he would soon hold a press conference to clear the air on the issue.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the government for withholding information on black money stashed in foreign banks, saying it is not just limited to tax evasion but a “mind boggling crime” amounting to “theft” and “plunder” of national wealth having security ramifications.

Hours later, the Prime Minister said “some information” about black money accounts had been provided to India “for use in the collection of due taxes. We cannot use the information for any other purposes and that information cannot be made public” as the country cannot violate the obligations under international treaties.

Source http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1105247.ece

Kiran Kumar Reddy meets Sonia, discusses Telangana

On the eve of the release of the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee report on Telangana, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and is understood to have discussed the political situation in the state.

Mr. Kiran Reddy arrived here on Wednesday morning to participate in Thursday’s meeting convened by Home Minister P. Chidambaram to discuss the contents of the report of the committee.

He met Ms. Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence for over an hour and is understood to have discussed the political situation in the state arising out of the Telangana statehood demand.

Andhra Pradesh is waiting with bated breath for the release of the report, which is understood to have dwelled into the demands for a separate Telangana state as well as a united Andhra Pradesh.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister is believed to have briefed the Congress president about the elaborate security arrangements made by his government to thwart any violence.

Violence had erupted last year in the Telangana region after the Centre decided to hold wide-ranging consultations with all stakeholders on the statehood demand.

Ahmed Patel, Gandhi’s political secretary, was also present at the meeting.

The issue of Congress MPs and MLAs threatening to resign from their posts if the committee did not recommend a separate Telangana state is also believed to have come up for discussion.

However, there was no official word on what transpired at the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Congress High Command has asked all party MPs from Telangana to be in the capital today for consultations.

The MPs accompanied by PCC chief D. Srinivas are expected to meet Finance Minister and senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee later in the day. The MPs may also meet other senior leaders of the party on Wednesday and Thursday.

Source http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1034849.ece

India tests two nuclear-capable missiles

The Indian military successfully tested two short-range nuclear-capable missiles from a facility in the east of the country Wednesday, a defence research official told AFP.

The domestically-developed Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missiles were tested as part of a routine exercise at the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur-on-sea in the state of Orissa, S. P. Dash, the range director, said.

The Prithvi-II missile has a range of 350 kilometres (220 miles) and can carry a conventional or nuclear payload.

The weapon was last tested from same launch site on September 24 this year, when it failed due to technical problems.

"Prithvi-II missile had proved its robustness and accuracy repeatedly during many trials earlier," a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) official told the Press Trust of India news agency.

The drill followed a test on Tuesday by Pakistan, which successfully fired a medium-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile.

Source http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hZWwgxXKq-xyyATt15lp26iRPhbA?docId=CNG.554ed2d754090c2eb6a68e72accf76bb.91

Opposition protesters at assembly held

Dozens of opposition leaders and activists were arrested for the second consecutive day on Tuesday when they marched to the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly in Hyderabad, demanding that the government address the problems of farmers. There was tension in the high security area as protesters, including legislators, tried to advance towards the assembly building.

Led by Leader of Opposition and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) N. Chandrababu Naidu, legislators of TDP, Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India-Marxist walked to the assembly from the Goshamahal police station, where they had spent the night in police custody following their arrest Monday.

Leaders and activists of the opposition parties and some farmers' organisations too joined the one kilometre march. As the protesters tried to move towards the assembly gate along with the legislators, police pushed them back. As a mark of protest, they squatted on the road but were arrested.

Inside the assembly, opposition parties stalled the proceedings and encircled the speaker's podium forcing Deputy Speaker N. Manohar to adjourn the house. The members, including those belonging to the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), were demanding that the government provide immediate relief to farmers who suffered crop losses during recent rains.

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) legislators also stalled the proceedings demanding the government to withdraw all the cases booked against students during the agitation for separate Telangana state. The government had Monday announced withdrawal of petty cases.

Naidu, who spent the night along with 70 legislators in the police custody, has threatened to launch an indefinite fast from Friday if the government failed to announce a package for the farmers.

Naidu Monday staged a sit-in on the road in front of the assembly building to lodge protests on the "indifference" of the Congress government towards the problems faced by farmers.

Source http://www.hindustantimes.com/Opposition-protesters-at-assembly-held/Article1-638169.aspx

School teacher missing after complaint of harassment

A school teacher has gone missing after being accused of sexually harassing five girl students and police conducted raids in Haryana and Chandigarh on Monday to nab him, police said. Sham Bahadur Thapa, a music teacher at the Army Public School, was booked on Sunday for allegedly sexually harassing

Class 5 students on the basis of a complaint from school principal N R Baberwal.

"We received a complaint against Thapa from the school principal here. We raided his house in Sector 25 (in Panchkula) late on Sunday but did not find him there. We are raiding various places in Haryana and Chandigarh in search of the accused teacher," a police official said.

"Thapa's mobile phone has been put on surveillance and we are hopeful of arresting him soon. We would record the statements of victim students, their parents and the school authorities."

Baberwal registered the first information report (FIR) after he got complaints from the parents of five female students against the music teacher. The school authorities suspended Thapa with immediate effect.

Army Public School, which is over 25 years old, is situated at Chandimandir army cantonment area here, around 10 km from Chandigarh.

Source http://www.hindustantimes.com/Army-Public-School-teacher-missing-after-complaint-of-molestation/Article1-634919.aspx

Parliament adjourned without business for 12th day

Both houses of Parliament were adjourned Monday, again without conducting any business, as the stalemate over appointing a joint parliamentary committee to probe the alleged scam in 2G spectrum allotment continued for the 12th day. The government's every effort to break the logjam has yielded no result and question hours in both houses of parliament were derailed again with an unrelenting opposition persisting with its demand that a parliamentary panel probe the controversial second generation telephony spectrum allocation in 2008.

There were moments of peace, but these were very brief. Speaker Meira Kumar asked Lok Sabha members to join her in congratulating Indian sportspersons for their best ever medals tally in Asian Games in China.

However, as soon as she finished reading out her felicitation for the Indian medal winners at the Asiad, opposition MPs trooped near her podium and started shouting slogans "We want JPC". The speaker then adjourned the house till 12 noon.

When the house resumed the sitting at noon, the sloganeering continued and deputy speaker Karia Munda ordered the adjournment of the Lok Sabha till Tuesday.

Scenes in the Rajya Sabha were no different as the upper house was also adjourned soon after it met after the weekend. Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the house to meet again at noon and then for the rest of the day when MPs met at 12.

This is the 12th successive day of the Nov 9-Dec 13 winter session that parliament has not transacted any significant business and both houses have witnessed adjournments barely minutes after meeting.

There is no end in sight to the deadlock as the opposition has rebuffed the government's every request to it to give up the demand for a JPC probe into the scandal.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Sunday spoke to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Sushma Swaraj and L.K. Advani and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury to break the logjam.

But the opposition leaders refused to give up their JPC demand even as the government maintained its stance that such a panel was "not possible" to inquire into the allegations.

The two houses had some 125 working hours scheduled in the first 11 days of the session.

According to the PRS Legislative Research, the Lok Sabha has met for only 5.4 hours in 12 days of the session, which is only nine percent of the scheduled time.

The opposition, which has united over the 2G issue, and the government are blaming each other for the wasted parliament time that has also cost the national exchequer over Rs.90 crore.

Source http://www.hindustantimes.com/Parliament-adjourned-without-business-for-12th-day/Article1-632225.aspx

Yeddyurappa bends, says 'ready to obey' BJP

After striking a defiant note for days, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa on Tuesday said he would abide by the decision of the BJP high command on him. "Whatever decision our national leaders are going to take about me, I am going to obey their orders," he told reporters here this morning.

"Today, I am going to meet all our national leaders and I am going to explain the situation in Karnataka, We are facing Zila panchayat elections within a month," he said.

Asked if he would step down, the chief minister said, "I have not committed any mistake. I will meet the central leaders. Whatever they say, I will obey. But so far no body has asked my resignation".

The chief minister said he had discussed the "political situation" in Karnataka with senior leader Arun Jaitley and would meet other central leaders today.

Yeddyurappa is likely to meet BJP leader Nitin Gadkari later in the afternoon to discuss the crisis.

He maintained that the central leadership has not asked him to step down, adding that he had ordered an inquiry into the alleged land scams by a retired high court judge Justice B Patmaraj.

Yeddyurappa, who is claiming to have the support of 110-120 MLAs, said all community people were supporting him.

Top party leaders, including LK Advani, MM Joshi and Rajnath Singh are understood to have decided that the Chief Minister's continuance has become untenable and that he should be told to make way.

The Chief Minister has, however, kept the party guessing on his moves.

Yeddyurappa has reportedly told the party leadership that his removal might harm the first-ever BJP government in the South, for whose formation he had played a key part.

Yeddyurappa has earlier deputed a team of his loyalists, including Home Minister R Ashok, a prominent Vokkaliga leader, Higher Education Minister VS Acharya, a probable to replace the Chief Minister in the event of his exit, and some others to Delhi to persuade the party against change in leadership.

Source http://www.hindustantimes.com/Yeddyurappa-bends-says-ready-to-obey-BJP/H1-Article1-629837.aspx