NEW DELHI, Nov 22: Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee’s dinner for leaders of all political parties tonight ahead of.....more

DMK chief sees
personal vendetta
behind Seer’s arrest

CHENNAI, Nov 22: DMK president M Karunanidhi today suspected either political motive or personal vendetta behind......more

India-ASEAN ties can
turn into beneficial
partnership: Natwar

GUWAHATI, Nov 22: Asserting that India-ASEAN relations had the potential of turning into a mutually beneficial.....more

SRINAGAR, Nov 22: The misery of the people in the Kashmir valley, reeling under the......more

Mulayam accuses
Congress leaders of
trying to topple his Govt

JHANSI, Nov 22: Accusing some Congress leaders, including Union Ministers, of hatching a conspiracy to topple his.....more

India’s naval academy
taking shape in
picturesque Ezhimala

KANNUR, Nov 22: India’s prestigious naval academy in Kerala is taking shape as construction activity for various........more

Somnath’s dinner for leaders of political parties cancelled

NEW DELHI, Nov 22: Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee’s dinner for leaders of all political parties tonight ahead of the winter session of Parliament has been cancelled following BJP’s inability to attend it in view of their protest agitation against arrest of Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswatii.

BJP conveyed to the speaker that its party leaders were observing a fast in protest against the Sankaracharya’s arrest and therefore would not be able to attend the dinner, BJP’s deputy leader in Lok Sabha Vijay Kumar Malhotra said.

"I spoke to the Speaker and conveyed to him our regrets as all of us are observing 24-hour-`upvas’ (fast) on the Sankaracharya issue," he said.

However, the all party meeting slated for tomorrow morning to evolve a consensus on ensuring smooth functioning of parliament in the upcoming winter session from december one will be held as scheduled, Parliament sources said.

Confirming that the party had earlier agreed to attend the dinner tonight, Malhotra said the decision had to be taken on account of the developments arising out of the Pontiff’s arrest.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, BJP president L K Advani, BJP leader in Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh, Rajya Sabha deputy leader Sushma Swaraj, BJP chief whip S S Ahluwalia and himself were invitees from BJP, Malhotra said.

The Speaker has held separate meetings with leaders from Congress, BJP and other political parties to elicit their views on ensuring smooth functioning of both Houses of Parliament.

The meeting slated for tomorrow will be presided by Rajya Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi along with senior party leaders had assured Chatterjee of full cooperation at a meeting convened by him.

The meeting is part of the exercise by the Speaker to get all political parties to ensure a smooth Parliament session in the light of the fact that much of the two previous sessions marked disruptions and stormy scenes.

However, the BJP even while assuring full cooperation said it would raise issues in an "aggressive, assertive and offensive" manner in both the Houses.

"We want to place our views as the Government is doing things which is not to our liking and we don’t approve of it," Malhotra had said after the meeting between top BJP leaders and the Speaker. (PTI)

DMK chief sees personal vendetta behind Seer’s arrest

CHENNAI, Nov 22: DMK president M Karunanidhi today suspected either political motive or personal vendetta behind the November 11 arrest of Kanchi Seer Jayendra Saraswati in the Sankararaman murder case.

At a press conference here, he claimed that views emerging in the wake of the Seer’s arrest and the treatment being meted out to him pointed to personal vendetta.

Mr Karunanidhi who had welcomed the action on the Acharya saying that all were equal in the eyes of the law, did a volte face by saying "there is some personal vendetta behind the arrest of the Seer."

The Acharya could have been given due respect befitting his status while going through the legal procedures in relation to the case, he said adding that "my view is the same as that of the Prime Minister on the treatment being meted out to the Seer."

Mr Karunanidhi claimed that even while welcoming the action taken by the Tamil Nadu Government in the Sri Varadaraja Perumal Temple manager murder case, the DMK and the other opposition parties had pointed out to delay in the action.

"The murder had taken place in September. But the action has come two months later," he pointed out.

Mr Karunanidhi said the State Government had explained the delay in cracking down on the Sankararaman murder case as the time taken for investigation.

He welcomed the Rs five lakh solatium announced by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to the kin of Sankararaman.

Mr Karunanidhi said the BJP and other Hindu organisations like the VHP were only "doing their duty" in protesting against the arrest and the treatment being meted out to the Acharya.

"But this should not lead to any communal disturbances," he said.

Even while praising the action of the special task force in eliminating the elusive forest brigand Veerappan, the DMK, as well and other opposition parties, had raised several questions about the authenticity of the encounter, he claimed.

"So far, those questions have not been answered," he said.

He recalled that he had already pointed out that the Jayalalithaa Government had negotiated with Veerappan in the past over the kidnapping of officials, given him arms and soft pedalled on the deployment of STF personnel as per the brigand’s demand.

Veerappan was surely not eliminated in an encounter, he contended. (UNI)

India-ASEAN ties can turn into beneficial
partnership: Natwar

GUWAHATI, Nov 22: Asserting that India-ASEAN relations had the potential of turning into a mutually beneficial partnership, External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh today said the north-east region could become a bridge in building this association due to its strategic location.

"The scope of engagement between India and ASEAN has intensified over the years. We became dialogue partners in 1995 and summit partners in 2002. This partnership needs more depth and substance and north east has an important role to play," he said inaugurating conference on `north east -India’s gateway to ASEAN’ at the IIT campus here.

The minister pointed out that north east region had rich natural and human resources and these can provide tremendous opportunities for entrepreneurs to invest here and contribute in taking forward the economic relations with ASEAN region.

The first India-ASEAN car rally, to be flagged off by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh later today, would surely promote socio-economic cooperation between the people and business community as it has turned the focus of nations towards infrastructure development.

The rally has negated the misconception that north east was landlocked, hampering its development, and it showed that the region has a fantastic trade potential, Singh said.

Even former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who mooted the idea of this rally last October, should not have thought that it would become such a major event which would have significant role to play in trade, tourism and people-to-people contact between India and ASEAN, he said.

ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong said this was the first time that the south east Asian countries were giving undivided attention to frontier areas and the car rally has provided a great opportunity to open up the boundaries.

Insisting that the rally was only first of the many public initiatives that would be taken up in strengthening India-ASEAN relations, he said the north east should focus on 5 ts — trade, tourism, training, transportation and technology — to carry forward its quest for economic development.

Yong also hoped the rally would prove as a catalyst for north east’s quantam leap towards economic development and prosperity.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi listed the rich potential of the state and the region and emphasised that their was great scope for promoting trade and tourism in the area. (PTI)

Tempers rise as acute power cuts hit
freezing Kashmir valley

SRINAGAR, Nov 22: The misery of the people in the Kashmir valley, reeling under the severe cold, has been compounded by the acute power crisis with the ruling PDP and the opposition NC maintaining a stoic silence.

People are grappling with ten-hour power cuts daily and power breakdowns every 30 minutes to one hour. They are angered by the fact that the areas where senior PDD officials reside are not facing any such crisis and are getting

The angry populace say the scheduled power curtailment announced by the pdd has not been put into practice and officials of the Power Development Department (PDD) give flimsy excuses for the power cuts.

The cold weather has also resulted in rains at Zojila and Gumri since early this morning resulting in traffic being stopped on the 434-km-long Srinagar-Leh National Highway due to the slippery road at Zojila Pass.

A traffic police spokesman told UNI that the vehicle which left Srinagar for Leh and Kargil today was stopped at Sonamarg following the rains. "The road has become slippery due to the rains and we dont want to take any chances," he said adding that the vehicle will be allowed to proceed only after the weather impproved.

The highway closes to traffic from November one every year. However, due to wet weather this year, traffic was allowed from Leh, Kargil and Srinagar on alternative days to avoid any tragedy.

Meanwhile, there have been reports of daily protests against the Government in almost all parts of the Kashmir valley but people say the administration has turned a deaf ear to their pleas.

A retired PDD official Ghulam Rasool criticised the power department for its mismanagement and not a single official of the PDD was punished because of political links.

He also flayed the main opposition National Conference (NC) for maintainig a "criminal" silence over the issue. "They should play the role of a responsible opposition party and take up this issue of public importance," he said.

Another person from Indira Nagar locality in the cantonment area said it was surprising that posh Peerbagh locality, where senior officers of the PDD reside, received 24 hours power supply. Even when the Zainakote power grid was damaged during Ramzan power supply there was not affected, he said.

He said the Chief Engineer of the Power Department, who is a close relative of a ruling party leader, admitted during a television interview that Peerbagh had no power shortage as digital metres were installed there.

"Why this discrimination against us... We too have digital metres," he said.

People in other areas parts of the Valley too have complained that the areas where senior officials of the PDD reside are being given regular power supply while nearby areas are being neglected.

The power crisis has also affected tourist inflow with several visitors cutting short their visit to the Valley.

The crisis has also affected the newspaper and news agency offices besides small and medical scale industries operating in the Kashmir valley.

Meanwhile, the upper reaches of the Kashmir valley received fresh snowfall since last evening resulting in further cold weather.

The holy Amarnath cave, Sheshnag, Mahaguns and Pissu Top in south Kashmir and upper reaches in the north Kashmir, including some border areas also experienced snowfall since early this morning. (UNI)