NEW DELHI, Feb 17:
Preservation of Mahatma Gandhi’s belongings is important and any items related to him which are well preserved outside need not necessarily be brought back home, feel his kin.
“I don’t like the idea that everything belonging to Gandhiji should return to India. If something is well preserved outside India, these should be allowed to remain there. He was a universal human being,” says Gandhi’s 78-year-old granddaughter Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee.
She, however, does like a price tag to be put on Gandhiji’s belongings.
“All things belonging to Gandhiji are priceless and we’re putting a price tag on these. I don’t want a price tag to be put,” Bhattacharjee, whose book “Reflections Of An Extraordinary Era” hit the stands recently, told.
Her son Vinayak says Gandhi didn’t have many belongings as he lead a minimalist life and shunned material possessions.
“So it is a mystery from where all these ‘possessions’ are emerging. This said, if someone owns items said to be of Bapuji, he or she is free to do with it as he pleases. We can’t be so presumptuous to maintain that we know better,” he contends on the issue of auctioning of Gandhiji’s belongings.
“With this perspective, the auction process is actually quite useful in bringing genuine possessions into public and national ownership in the cleanest and most transparent way. The bigger issue is that, apart from letters, it is very difficult to prove that specific items were genuinely owned or worn by Bapuji.”
“Reflections Of An Extraordinary Era” is a translation of Bhattacharjee’s 2009 work “Asadharan Yug Ke Sadharan Din”.
Published by HarperCollins India, “Reflections Of An Extraordinary Era” has a foreword by Vinayak.
Bhattacharjee says “Reflections Of An Extraordinary Era” is about her memorable experiences with Gandhi when she was a child.
“It is not an academic research. It is for my children, It is about my little experiences with Gandhiji. My own spiritual journey is also reflected in the book,” Bhattacharjee, daughter of Gandhi’s youngest son Devadas and Lakshmi, says.
She remembers being part of Gandhi’s evening prayers in Delhi, visiting him at the Aga Khan Palace where he was put under house arrest along with wife Kasturba and his secretary Mahadev Desai, and later meeting him in Shimla during her summer break from school.
Gandhi’s Satyagrah, his efforts to end social disparities at Harijan Ashram, his compassion for anyone who came seeking advice, and his life as a family man, a parent and a grandfather are seen through the prism of a young Bhattacharjee’s impressions.
Asked if he plans to write a book on Gandhiji, London- based Vinayak says, “So much has already been written and I do not intend to write on Bapuji for the sake of it. If I have an unusual insight or perspective then I will consider it.”
In the foreword he mentions about the attitude of users and consumers of public service.
“A culture of tolerance of substandard services has crept into society (consider Railways). Instead, to effect change and improve service levels people need to demand better standards. A nation is run for its citizens and residents and a government’s first role is to look after the interest of its people. People in turn must act responsibly and should not accept poor service nor should they feel that their own activities do not affect the standard of living of others,” he says. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Feb 17: Industry body ISPAI today said that rates of internet and broadband services may go up under new licenses framework due to high entry fee proposed by Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
DoT has proposed to charge one-time entry of Rs 15 crore for a national level Unified Licence compared to Rs 30 lakh which companies pay for internet services at present.
“DoT has not done anything new as per the proposed format for Unified Licence regime. They are going ahead with option to continue the old licence format along with a new national level Unified Licence (UL) that will cost Rs 15 crore.
“If internet service providers opt for UL, then cost of internet and broadband services will go up,” Internet Service Provider Association of India’s (ISPAI) President Rajesh Charia told reporters.
In the new licencing regime, DoT should allow internet telephony which would lead to low cost call service that would benefit even rural area the country where illiteracy is very high.
“VoIP is widely accepted application. Foreign companies who are not registered with DoT are providing voice calling service both between Computer to Computer and Computer to landlines.
“They don’t even have licences. We pay annual charges to DoT and should be allowed to provide voice services across networks,” he said.
A DoT internal committee has recommended to allow ISPs with wireless broadband spectrum (BWA) to provide voice telephony service using these airwaves. In 2010, six private players including Reliance Jio Infocom, formerly Infotel Broadband, Tikona Digital and Augere had won BWA spectrum.
The committee has left it for higher authorities to decide if players who won BWA spectrum in 2010 should be asked to make additional payment of Rs 1,658 crore which was charged from telecom players till 2008 for providing mobile telephony.
The licence issued to mobile telephony operators for Rs 1,658 crore had 4.4 Mhz spectrum bundled with it but Government has announced to provide no spectrum with UL. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Feb 17:
Former Army Chief Gen V K Singh has shown disinterest in joining politics as he feels that the present system is such that good people may not enter it.
“I have a small mission – Reclaim India. I want to raise awareness among the people. Moreover, the present political system is such that good people may not enter politics. That does not mean, all those who are in politics are bad,” Singh told Rajat Sharma in India TV’s ‘Aap Ki Adalat’ programme.
“This country has given me the best for the last 42 years and I want to give something back to my country,” he added.
The retired general said there should be three requisites for a good politician — good image with no criminal case pending, capability and the motivation to serve the nation and society.
Asked why he had attended a rally with INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala, who is in jail on corruption charges, he said he did it to celebrate the birth anniversary of Chautala’s father Chaudhary Devi Lal.
“Devi Lal ji is the main figure who introduced Old Age Pension in Haryana years before other states started the scheme. He also waived tax on poor people’s bicycles. If Chautala was there because of his father, I can’t push him out,” Singh said.
He also said that he had no ambition to become a governor or ambassador.
“Had I wanted to become a governor or an ambassador, I could have stayed silent on the Tatra truck scam. Rs 26 lakh worth trucks were being sold to the Army for Rs 1 crore. Most of the bureaucrats, approaching retirement, agree to whatever they are asked to. I am not that sort of man,” Singh said.
He also said that he belongs to those group of men who are ready to stand up and fight injustice.
“There are two types of people — one who sit on bended knees and takes alms, and the other who stand straight with head held high, ready to fight injustice. I belong to the other group,” he said.
Asked about the report of a coup he had allegedly planned against the government in January last year, Singh said, “Today I can reveal that some bureaucrats and some army officers had planted this baseless news.
“These two units were part of routine mobilisation, and if you remember, there were some developments in Maldives six-seven days later. These units were meant to go there.”
The retired general also added that Indian Army, “will never carry out a coup, it will only defend the nation”.
In reply to a question over the controversial Technical Support Division (TSD) raised by the Army, he said it was set up in the wake of the Mumbai terror attack to keep watch on developments across the border.
“Like RAW, which never does research, TSD is neither technical, nor does it provide support, nor does it have snooping equipment. It was set up on operational directives of the Raksha Mantri to enhance Army’s capability. The process of setting up the TSD began before my tenure,” Singh said.
Asked whether the TSD was used for snooping on ministers and bureaucrats, he replied, “I don’t need to snoop on ministers and bureaucrats. I don’t give bribes, nor receive bribes.”
On the issue of an Army Major entering his residence, Singh said the officer came in his absence and entered his studies.
“First of all, he (the officer) came suddenly to my residence in the absence of myself and my family members. He asked my exchange staff to go away. He went to different rooms and even opened my computer in the study. It was then that my daughter came in suddenly. Then what will you do?” Singh said.
Lashing out at Pervez Musharraf, he said the former Pakistan president has been spreading lies about the Kargil conflict.
“He (Musharraf) has this habit of lying. First he said his Army was not involved in Kargil. Now it has been revealed, he had come 11 kms deep inside the Line of Control and spent the night. It means he has been telling lies all along,” he said.
On Musharraf’s claim that Kashmir could have been with Pakistan had then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif not gone to meet US President Bill Clinton during Kargil conflict, Singh said, “I can only say this much that while living presently in a nice house in England, he should stop daydreaming.”
The former Army chief also suggested that India should adopt a no-nonsense policy towards Pakistan.
“Pakistan never sincerely accepted our hand of friendship. We have to evolve a policy of how to deal with our neighbours. We should make Pakistan understand that if it does something wrong, we will hit back and if it behaves well, then we can be friends. Like a big brother, we need to give a tight slap, if it misbehaves,” Singh said. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Feb 17: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today requested the Centre to sanction a special economic package of Rs 7,565 crore to his State to tide over difficult financial situation.
Singh called on Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram in North Block, and told him that the 13th Finance Commission has “misjudged” committed liabilities of the state as a result of which the gap in HP’s committed liabilities in terms of pension, salaries and interest, which has been Rs 3,522 crore during the year 2012-13, will increase to Rs 4,043 crore during the year 2013-14.
Singh requested Chidambaram to restore the amount deducted in Special Central Assistance allocation of Rs 106 crore for the current financial year.
He demanded that all centrally sponsored schemes should be uniformly funded in the ratio of 90:10 for all special category states. He said that at present the funding under Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan was 65 per cent; 75 per cent for Mid Day Meal Schemes, Indira Awas Yojna, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and Swaran Jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna; Nutritional Component of ICDS 50 per cent and ambulance service under NHM is 20 per cent.
He said the provision in these services to Himachal is less in comparison to other North East states and requested the Finance Minister to provide funding in all these schemes on their pattern.
The Chief Minister requested the Centre to restore the special industrial package to the state till 2020 and told that discontinuation of special package of industrial incentive is adversely impacting the industrial growth and employment opportunities in the State.
The Finance Minister said the Central Government will provide liberal financial assistance to the state to expedite the development process in the state.
He congratulated the Chief Minister for taking over the reins of the State for record sixth terms “which is a matter of pride for the Congress and people of Himachal Pradesh”. (PTI)