Lokpal Bill in advanced stage of finalisation: Govt

NEW DELHI, Apr 5: The Lokpal Bill, seeking to check corruption in high public offices, is in the "advanced stage" of finalisation, the Government has said without setting a time-frame for its introduction in the Parliament.

In a letter to ‘Gandhian Satyagraha Brigade’, the Union Personnel and Public Grievances Ministry said, "...It is the endeavour of the Government to introduce it in the Parliament the Lokpal Bill which is in the advanced stage of finalisation."

The Centre in the letter, a reply to a representation made by the brigade, a group of veteran Gandhians, said the Bill is in accordance with the commitment given by the Government in its National Common Minimum Programme.

Addressed to S D Sharma, General Secretary of the brigade, the letter, however, said it was "not feasible" to indicate an "exact time-frame" for introduction of the Bill as the recommendations made by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, including those regarding Lokpal, are presently under consideration.

Angry over the delay in introduction of the Bill, which has been in the pipeline for 40 years, the brigade today staged a dharna here.

"Governments down the years have been hoodwinking people in this matter. We will go on a fast unto death protest in Delhi if the legislation does not come through," said Omkar Razdan, a member of the brigade. (PTI)

CBI court dismisses bail application
of Barak missile scam accused

NEW DELHI, Apr 5: A CBI court today dismissed the bail application of Barak missile scam accused Suresh Nanda and his son Sanjeev Nanda, who were arrested on charges of trying to bribe an Income Tax official for fudging with their account books.

On March 8, 2008, the CBI registered a case against Arms dealer Suresh Nanda, Sanjeev Nanda, Nanda’s Chartered Accountant (CA) Vipin Shah, Income Tax Deputy Director Ashutosh Verma and other unknown persons under Sections 120-B, 201, 204, 218 of the IPC and various provisions under the Prevention of Corruption Act on the allegation that they had entered into a criminal conspiracy for the purpose of manipulating the report of Income Tax investigation to show undue favour to Suresh Nanda and his associates by abuse of official position by public servants for obtaining pecuniary advantage.

The CBI alleged that Verma had conducted searches at the premises of Suresh Nanda and his associates in February 2007. During the searches, the recovery of a large number of incriminating documents against Suresh Nanda and his associates, related to the evasion of Income Tax as well as their involvement in the Defence deal and other related matter, was found.

The CBI also alleged that, however, Verma had shown the report prepared by him to Nanda’s CA Vipin Shah on his (Verma’s) laptop and carried out the necessary changes in the report as per the directions of Suresh and Sanjeev Nanda for diluting the same as well as destroying the incriminating documents, before submitting them to his senior officer, in lieu of huge pecuniary advantages.

CBI Special Judge Indermeet Kaur Kochar heard the detailed final argument in the bail application of all the accused. After looking into the seriousness of the matter, the court dissmissed the bail application of all the four alleged accused.

All the accused are in judicial custody till April 11. (UNI)

Gujarat poised to become ship building
hub by 2015, says Modi

VADODARA, Apr 5: Terming Gujarat ports as the "gateways to the country", Chief Minister Narendra today said that the state is poised to become the ship-building hub of the country by 2015.

Modi was speaking on the occasion of 45^{th National Maritime Day which coincided with the 27th Gujarat Maritime Board foundation day here today.}

^{He said private investment in port infrastructure was to the tune of Rs 17,000 crores till date while investment commitments were expected to go up to Rs 20,000 crore by 2011.}

^{Modi said the profit development has got a massive thrust in terms of creating infrastrucutre and awareness to achieve maritime excellence in last seven years.}

^{The maritime board in Gujarat was formed in 1981. The state witnessed a steep rise of 145 metric tonnes in cargo export in 2008 as compared to 41 metric tonne in 2000.}

^{"The voyage of first Indian steamship S S Loyalty marked the rise of nationalism but what is commendable is the spirit of Gujarati seafarers and maritime community, which bring prosperity to the nation," the Chief Minister said.}

^{Gujarat also has development goals for new ports at Dholera, Khambhat, Sutrapada, Mahuva, Bansi Borsi, Simar, Mithi virdi, Bedi, Maroli, Positra and Porbandar, he said adding it will generate largescale employment opportunities for the youth here. (PTI)}

S C Mishra resigns as SFDC chief

LUCKNOW, Apr 5: Satish Chandra Mishra, senior BSP leader and close aide of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, has resigned as the Chairman of the State Film Development Council (SFDC).

Mishra submitted his resignation yesterday and it has been accepted by Mayawati, official sources said today.

As Chairman of SFDC, Mishra enjoyed the status of a cabinet minister.

Though he has not cited any reason for his resignation, sources said that Mishra put in his papers to represent the party in the on-going legal cases in different courts.

A cabinet rank person may have problems in appearing before courts, sources said. (PTI)

K’tka would approach SC on Hogenakkal: Krishna

NEW DELHI, Apr 5: Former Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna has said the state would approach the Supreme Court on the Hogenakkal issue and he was not "concerned" whether the DMK will get upset or the ruling UPA coalition will get affected by the move.

"We can always go to the Supreme Court you know, so that protection is there for every state," he told CNN-IBN.

Asked if the Central leadership would allow the Karnataka unit of the party to go ahead with the move, the former Governor of Maharashtra, who has made a comeback into state politics said, "....If it comes to that, we have no other alternative".

"...We are not really concerned whether the DMK is going to be upset or it is going to have an impact on the Central Government, all that we are concerned is how does this project affect Karnataka in terms of the water sharing agreement between Karnataka and the Tamil Nadu," he said when asked whether the Congress will risk upsetting the DMK which is a coalition partner at the Centre.

The central leadership of the party, however, had adopted a cautious approach yesterday saying the state units of the party in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were free to take their own stands in the matter.

The party apparently adopted cautious approach on the issue in view of the coming Assembly elections in Karnataka. (PTI)

Rail roko for speedy implementation of project

COIMBATORE, Apr 5: The Puthiya Tamizhagam today said it would stage a rail roko on April 10 demanding speedy implementation of the Hogenakkal drinking water project.

"When Karnataka had agreed to the project in 1998 for supply of drinking water to Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts in Tamil Nadu, raising objection at this juncture would create unnecessary tension between the people of both states, Puthiya Tamizhagam president Dr K Krishnasamy told reporters here.

He condemned the attacks on the office of the Tamil association and Tamil cinema houses and also a tamil daily in Bangalore.

Attributing the problem to the failure of successive DMK and AIADMK governments in implementing the project, he said the rail roko in Coimbatore and Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border areas was meant to draw the Centre’s attention to the problem and seeking its intervention for the speedy implementation of the project.

He also flayed the attitude of the Cpi-m "who remained silent" and that of the Congress and BJP leaderships.

His party would extend "total support" to Tamil Nadu government’s decision to go ahead with the drinking water project at the border town of Hogenakkal, Krishnasamy said. (PTI)

IC temporarily calls off relay fast at BESU

HOWRAH, WB, Apr 5: An association of students at Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) has temporarily called off its relay fast today and vowed to resume the agitation if its demands are not met.

"The relay fast before the Vice-chancellor’s office demanding withdrawal of police from the campus has been temporarily called off", a spokesman of the Independent Consolidation (IC) said but did not gave any reason for the withdrawl.

However the IC, at loggerheads with the CPIMs student wing ‘Students Federation of India’, will resume the stir at a later date if its demands are not addressed, he warned.

"We are not withdrawing our stir, just deferring it for the time being," the spokesman asserted.

West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi who met the BESU Teachers’ Association (BESUTA) yesterday had asked them to apprise the one-member inquiry panel of their views about the situation in university.

The panel, headed by former Vice-chancellor Sparshamoni Chatterjee is expected to visit the campus on Monday.

A majority of BESUTA members had earlier held Vice-Chancellor Dr Nikhil Ranjan Banerjee responsible for the March 19-20 clashes among students that left seven injured and led to the present impasse with a section of students and teachers opposing posting of police in the campus.

The IC had earlier called for a class boycott till Friday demanding withdrawl of police present in the campus for over two weeks, cancellation of all cases against students and the announcement of student body election. (PTI)

BJP Minority Morcha holds national
executive to woo Muslims

HYDERABAD, Apr 5: The two-day national executive of the Bharatiya Janata Party Minority Morcha began here today, with its leaders giving a call to the Morcha activists to get the party closer to minorities and pave the way for its return to power at the Centre under the leadership of BJP Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani.

Inaugurating the conclave, being held for the first time in this historic city, former BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu said the party needed more leaders from the minority communities. "Anybody wedded to the ideology of nationalism and having necessary qualities of leadership will have ample opportunities to rise in the party."

Appealing to the activists not to have a self-defeatist belief that the BJP could never win the support of minority communities as propagated by its political opponents, he said many spoke against fielding Morcha president Shahnawaz Hussain in the Bhagalpur Lok Sabha by-election, saying that he would not win the votes of either the Hindus or Muslims. Mr Hussain proved them wrong by securing enough votes of both the communities.

Presiding over the executive, Mr Hussain said the ruling Congress had constituted the Sachar Committee on the eve of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. The report was only a reflection of the pitiable condition of Muslims in the country during the long rule of the Congress, he claimed.

The Sachar Committee had found that the government in power was the biggest encroacher of Wakf lands, but the government was not ready to return it to the Muslim community.

The BJP-led NDA would come back to power at the Centre to ensure that all Wakf lands under occupation were freed and given back to the Muslim community, he asserted.

Former Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptullah opined that the Sachar Committee had not said anything new about the backwardness of the members of the minority community. As a Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan, she was concentrating on improving the condition of Madrasas and imparting modern education to students studying in them.(UNI)

Court rejects Nanda bail plea

NEW DELHI, Apr 5: A Delhi Court today rejected the bail plea of arms dealer Suresh Nanda, his son and two others in a case of manipulating evidence on alleged kickbacks received by him in defence deals.

Rejecting their bail applications, Additional Sessions Judge I K Kochar said, "investigations are at an initial stage and releasing reports at this point of time may hamper the probe."

The four accused — Suresh Nanda, Sanjeev Nanda, their chartered accountant Bipin Shah and Income Tax Deputy Director (investigation) Ashutosh Verma — were arrested on March 8 in a raid at a Mumbai hotel . (PTI)

India planning to introduce Visa on arrival for tourists

SINGAPORE, Apr 5: With the the aim of increasing tourist arrivals, India plans to introduce Visa on arrival facility for foreigners, Tourism Minister Ambika Soni said here today.

The proposal, if endorsed by the Home Ministry, can be implemented with regard to certain select countries on pilot basis, she told reporters after inaugurating the incredibleindia@60 cultural extravangaza.

"One of our thrust areas is to get Visa on arrival but there have been concerns. We feel the Home Ministry could introduce it on a trial basis," Soni said.

Soni said Visa on arrival was "one sure way" for facilitating tourist arrivals into the country and expressed confidence that the Government would implement the scheme once the work on major airports was done.

"It can be introduced to visitors from some countries to begin with," Soni said adding that her Ministry was also pushing for permits to visit North East.

"We can access many areas which could not be done earlier," she added.

Elaborating her "Vision Plan" for the future, Soni said 20 destinations have been identified in way of a pilot project which she felt would greatly help State Governments.

She said these included a trail followed by the British from Calcutta to Varanasi along with wildlife and river trails.

Noting that the tourist arrivals touched five million last year, Soni said in India’s case it was not just in numbers that it was competing.

"In India we have to put in place infrastructure, budget hotels, accommodations etc," the minister said.

Soni emphasised that the Tourism Ministry’s thrust project for the coming year would be identifying the 20 destinations "so that India can be a short haul destination too for a tourist."

She said the coming Commonwealth Games had posed the need for 150,000 rooms and 20,000 guides. She added that 15 monuments in Delhi would be lit for 2010 games.

"We have only in recent years developed tourism as tourists want it," Soni noted adding that garbage disposal was one major headache.

She said vigorous efforts were also on to stop vandalism of monuments. "We have increased watch and stop campaigns around monuments and have involved school children and youth to stop people from defacing monuments," she said.

Asked if India was considering opening casinos to promote tourism, Soni felt that it was not Centre’s call but how each state would view it.

"It has to be a decision by each state, they have to take into account fallouts, public opinion etc" she added.

Soni felt that something dramatic like setting up casinos needed time so as to sensitise the people.

The minister was very upbeat about the growth of rural tourism in the country.

"We are developing rural tourism in a big way, the synergy between rural tourism and international shopping festivals is big," she said adding that a lot of social goals are woven in our tourism expansion.

Citing the example of families in Kerala who had made available a clean room with bathroom for 40 pounds a night to foreign tourists, Soni said this had helped small families earn money.

So rural tourism was real a boon, she added.(PTI)