Jat reservation to stay

J. Venkatesan7 States will be benefited if the community is included in the OBC list

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay the Centre’s notification to include Jats on the Other Backward Classes (OBC) list. A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice P. Sathasivam and Justices Ranjan Gogoi and N.V. Ramana said: “We are prima facie satisfied and it cannot be contended that there is no material for taking such decision. Without expressing any further opinion on the same, we direct the respondent (the Centre) to file counter-affidavit within three weeks. Rejoinder/reply affidavit, if any, may be filed within two days thereafter.”The seven States where Jats will benefit by the notification are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar. The Bench after hearing senior counsel K. Parasaran and Additional Solicitor General K.V. Viswanathan, appearing for the Centre, said, “Any action taken pursuant to the impugned notification will be subject to the outcome of the writ petitions. On the next date of hearing, the Union of India is directed to produce the original records once again.” The petitioners, OBC Reservation Raksha Samiti, Ram Singh and several others, said the quota was contrary to the recommendation of the National Commission for Backward Classes.

AgustaWestland case: CBI rejects allegation of non-cooperation

PTI

Rejecting allegations of “non-cooperation”, the CBI has said that all documents related to AgustaWestland helicopter bribery scandal have been provided to prosecutors in Italy who are contesting the case there.

The agency refuted media reports which alleged that documents have not been provided to prosecutors in Italy which was hampering India’s case in Italian court.CBI spokesperson Kanchan Prasad said no document specifically mentioned by the Italian prosecution lawyer has been withheld or declined to be provided.“The documents have been provided expeditiously through proper channel by CBI in consultation with the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. The perceived non-cooperation of CBI is totally incorrect and far from truth,” she defended.The CBI, which carried out probe in India, had named 13 individuals, including former IAF Chief S P Tyagi and European nationals Carlo Gerosa, Christian Michel and Guido Haschke in the FIR as accused in connection with the bribery case.Italian agencies had arrested the then CEO of AgustaWestland Giuseppe Orsi for alleged bribe given to Indian middlemen to clinch the deal.The supply of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland had come under scanner after Italian authorities alleged that bribe money was given by the company to clinch the deal.

No quota, only equal opportunity

Smriti Kak Ramachandran

In a discernible difference in the way it proposes to address the aspirations of the reserved categories (SCs, STs, OBCs), the BJP has moved away from endorsing caste-based reservation to pushing for an ecosystem of equal opportunity in its manifesto released on Monday.Manifestos of all parties make explicit reference to quotas, but the BJP has restricted itself to empowerment and opportunity through widening the platform. This is in sharp contrast to the party’s 2009 manifesto, which stated that the BJP would “introduce education and job quotas on the basis of economic criteria for all economically weaker sections of society other than

Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, who will continue to enjoy quota benefits.”BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said: “Our idea of affirmative action is now being dealt with on a wider platform. We are talking of identifying 100 most backward districts for bringing them on a par with other districts.”The party in its manifesto talks of an enabling environment and equal opportunities. “Instead of pursuing identity politics and tokenisms, we will focus on empowering the deprived sections of society. Steps will be taken to create an enabling ecosystem of equal opportunity — for education, health and livelihood.”Madrasa modernisation

As evidence of its concern for the minorities, the BJP in its manifesto has outlined madrasa modernisation, empowerment of Waqf Boards and preservation of cultural heritage.“It is unfortunate that even after several decades of Independence, a large section of the minorities, especially the Muslim community, continues to be stymied in poverty. Modern India must be a nation of equal opportunity.”

Maoists seek legitimacy

Suvojit Bagchi

In July 2010, while negotiating a framework for peace talks with the government, Azad, central committee member of the Communist Party of India (Maoists), was killed, allegedly by the Andhra Pradesh Police, stalling the peace process and making Swami Agnivesh quit as interlocutor.In their latest initiative for talks, the Maoists, defining their movement as an “internal conflict and a civil war according to international laws,” hence want all veteran comrades in prison to be released by lifting all “false” cases on them or on bail. They should be allowed to meet our central committee to decide on a team to participate in the dialogue with the government.

In setting another condition, the party seeks legitimacy. Since the party was concerned over land reforms and self-reliant economic development, agriculture and industry, and committed to the sovereignty of the country and democracy and long-lasting peace for its development, the government should not have problems in accepting the mass movement as a legitimate one, Abhay, spokesperson of the party central committee, said in a statement.The party wants the ban on it and frontal mass organisations lifted. “The attacks on leaders and activists should stop,” the spokesperson said. Its another demand is punishment for the “killers” of Azad. The government should stop paramilitary and police aggression against people in rural areas under partial control of the Maoists. Besides, “…killing of mass organisation leaders in urban areas flouting international, national laws should be stopped. Judicial inquiries should be conducted into all those incidents,” Abhay said.There were at least five attempts, official and informal, by the State and the naxalites since the Telangana armed struggle in the mid-1940s, to strike a framework for a peace talk.

India’s northeast most neglected, says China

Ananth Krishnan

An article published by Xinhua says years of neglect has fuelled unrest in the region

As Assam and Tripura went to the polls on Monday, China's State-run news agency said in a commentary India's northeastern States were "the country's most neglected region."The article published on Monday by Xinhua, the official news agency of the Chinese government, said "years of neglect by the Indian government" had fuelled unrest in the northeastern states which border China.The "news analysis" article issued by Xinhua on the start of polling in Assam and Tripura curiously only identified "Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Nagaland" besides the two other States, as India's northeast.

It made no mention of Arunachal Pradesh, which China has territorial claims on and which is usually referred to by the Chinese State media as "south Tibet".The article said the northeastern states were India's "most neglected" region."Experts say that isolation and years of neglect by the Indian government have fuelled underdevelopment, occasional tribal unrest and insurgency in the region, thus hampering the overall growth of the northeastern states," it said, adding that "during every election, all the major political parties - the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - assure development of the region, plagued by unemployment and rampant corruption, but only time will tell whether the people trust the national parties anymore".The article, datelined New Delhi, said citing opinion polls that the BJP was "likely to get the maximum number of seats and likely to form the next government in India" and the Congress was "facing its worst-ever defeat" on account of corruption and rising inflation.India's elections are being closely followed by Chinese strategic analysts, who, however, point out that the outcome is unlikely to have any major impact on India-China relations as in the past both United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) governments had similar policies of engaging with China.Strategic affairs expert Lan Jianxue of the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS) told The Hindu earlier there would be no "dramatic change" to bilateral ties regardless of the outcome."If we look back at history, in 2003 the NDA Prime Minister Mr. Vajpayee paid a very successful visit to China and broke the ice between the two countries in some ways, after there were some difficulties in 1998 [following the nuclear test]," he said."After 2003 things changed for the better. China is already quite acquainted with Mr. Modi. Whether the next government is NDA or UPA or somebody else, I don't think it will have a huge impact

on China-India relations because the bilateral relationship is interest-oriented, not party-oriented."In the manifesto released on Monday, the BJP did not mention specifically ties with China but said it would improve relations with neighbours."The Congress-led UPA has failed to establish enduring friendly and cooperative relations with India's neighbours. India and its neighbours have drifted apart," the  manifesto said. "In our neighbourhood we will pursue friendly relations. However, where required we will not hesitate from taking strong stand and steps."Last month, the Chinese Foreign Ministry played down comments by BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi saying that China's claims on Arunachal Pradesh showed its "expansionist" mindset.The ministry here said the boundary dispute was "left over from history" and "complex and sensitive". "What is important is that China and India have both expressed many times their determination and desire to peacefully resolve the dispute through talks, dialogue and consultation," spokesperson Hua Chunying said."The fact that there have been no shots fired in so many years really shows that both sides have the desire and ability to maintain peace and stability on the border".The Chinese government in 2011 invited Mr. Modi to Beijing on a party-to-party visit, while Chinese enterprises have shown interest in investing in Gujarat. Energy firm TBEA has signed a Rs. 2,500 crore deal for an energy park in the state.Chinese analysts and business representatives have said they did not attribute too much importance to remarks made during the campaign, drawing a comparison with the United States election where candidates who often promise a hard line on foreign policy often moderate their stances when in government.Mr. Modi has made four visits to China, most recently to Beijing in 2011, when he told Chinese investors his state of Gujarat welcomed investment and would ensure transparency. He also

said then that he would promote closer economic ties between the countries and he believed India and China "will make Asia the centre-stage of the global economy".

India refuses to consider Khobragade episode as closed

PTI

PTIIgnoring the U.S. viewpoint, India has refused to consider the Devyani Khobragade episode as “closed,” saying there are “residual” issues which need to be addressed. File photo

Ignoring the U.S. viewpoint, India has refused to consider the Devyani Khobragade episode as “closed,” saying there are “residual” issues which need to be addressed.Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said India had made its expectations clear to the U.S. on the issue and hoped that it would be resolved.

“There are residual issues,” she told PTI in an interview when asked whether the Khobragade episode was a closed chapter as was being treated by the U.S. However, she refused to elaborate on what steps were needed from the U.S. to satisfy India.Ms. Singh said India had expressed its unhappiness over the filing of a second indictment against Ms. Khobragade for visa fraud. “We would have preferred that it [second indictment] did not happen,” she said.A 1999-batch IFS officer, Ms. Khobragade was arrested in New York on December 12 last — on charges of visa fraud and underpayment to her domestic help — and was strip-searched, triggering a row between the two countries. India retaliated by downgrading privileges of certain category of U.S. diplomats among other steps.Ms. Khobragade was released on a $250,000 bond and was later granted full diplomatic immunity, following which she flew back to India on January 10. She has since been transferred to the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.Though the first indictment against her was rejected by a U.S. court, prosecutors last month re-indicted her on visa fraud charges and accused her of “illegally” underpaying and “exploiting” her domestic maid.On whether the incident had affected relationship between the two countries, Ms. Singh replied: “To an extent, yes. But that is the strength of the relationship that in spite of having something like the Khobragade incident, you can sit down and talk to each other.”

Army successfully test-fires BrahMos missile

PTI

The Army on Monday successfully test-fired an advanced version of 290 km range supersonic cruise missile BrahMos as part of a user trial at Pokhran test range in Rajasthan.

The missile was launched by a mobile autonomous launcher deployed in full configuration with mobile command post at the ranges.“The launch was successful and the missile hit the designated target,” Defence Spokesperson Col S.D. Goswami said.Senior Army officials witnessed the launch and congratulated the operational team for its successful launch.Both the Army and Navy have already inducted the missile, developed by India in partnership with Russia

IRNSS-1B orbit raised

Special Correspondent

The IRNSS-1B satellite with its solar panels deployed is seen in a clean room at Sriharikota. Photo courtesy: ISRO

IRNSS-1B is India’s second navigation satellite. A total of seven satellites will form the IRNSS constellation.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday successfully boosted the apogee and the perigee of its navigation satellite, the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS-1B), by firing the propulsion system on board the satellite for seven minutes and a half from 5.35 p.m.Mission controllers at the ISRO’s Master Control Facility (MCF) in Hassan, Karnataka, gave the command for the propulsion system, called the Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM), aboard the IRNSS-1B to kick-start it. At the end of 450 seconds of firing, the satellite’s apogee was boosted from 20,630 km to 24,760 km and the perigee went up from 283 km to 299 km, said M. Nageswara Rao, Project Director, IRNSS.The IRNSS-1B is India’s second navigation satellite and it was put into its initial orbit of 20,630 km x 283 km by the ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C24) on April 4 evening. A PSLV had put the first navigation satellite called the IRNSS-1A into orbit on July 1, 2013. A total of seven satellites will form the IRNSS constellation. The ISRO will put into orbit two more IRNSS satellites before the end of 2014 and another three by the end of 2015, thus completing the constellation.ISRO scientists said India had become a member of the club of the U.S., Russia, Europe, Japan and China by building these satellites. While the U.S’ GPS, the Russian GLONASS and the European Galileo are global navigation satellites which can be used by anybody anywhere in the world with the help of a receiver, the IRNSS-1B forms part of the regional navigation system which will provide positional information to users only in India and the region extending 1,500 km from its borders. In aerial navigation, aircraft will use the IRNSS satellites when they are cruising, approaching an airport to land or during landing. During these phases, the aircraft will know their position and flight direction accurately. The satellites will help the aircraft land on runway with an accuracy of 20 metres.The IRNSS constellation will help ships navigate towards their destination through safe and short routes and in guiding them to enter harbours.

In land navigation, drivers of cars and trucks, with a receiver in their mobile phone, can reach their destination through the shortest routeIn defence, the IRNSS will help missiles in accurately reaching their targets — be it a town or installation. They help missiles in “way-pointing” towards their target. If there are hills on a missile’s flight path, it will help the missiles circumvent the hills with the information received from the IRNSS. Air-launched missiles will use these satellites to know where they are and head towards their targets.

HAL, IAF to draw up joint teams to deal with projects

Special Correspondent

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and its predominant customer, Indian Air Force, have decided to work out ‘joint plans’ to deal with the military aircraft projects that are on between them. The move is aimed at ironing out issues related to the projects and their prompt delivery. Project-specific plans and teams are expected to get under way in a month’s time, according to senior HAL officials.A HAL release on Saturday said the decision was an outcome of the half-yearly commanders’ conference held at the Air Headquarters in New Delhi on Friday.Top IAF commanders, officials of the Ministry of Defence and HAL’s top management reviewed the ongoing IAF projects being handled by the HAL, and the challenges related to them. The Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, was quoted as saying, “Hand-holding is important considering the challenges involved on the manufacturing and operational fronts.”HAL Chairman R.K. Tyagi suggested that a new, single group be formed to deal with foreign OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) on all matters of equipment bought by the three defence wings and other agencies. A successful example for this is Russia’s military commercial arm Rosoboronexport.

Currently OEMs supply products to multiple agencies such as the Air Force, the Army, the Navy and the Coast Guard but generally at different prices and terms.According to Mr. Tyagi: “There [can be] greater cohesion, understanding and mutual benefits when the OEMs are dealt with from one platform.” HAL makes or maintains 80 per cent of the IAF’s inventory.The conference discussed issues related to the fighter planes, namely the MiGs (21, 27, 29); Sukhoi-30 MKI, Mirage and Jaguar; trainer aircraft Hawk, Kiran and the recently acquired Swiss-made Pilatus; transport planes Avro and Dornier; helicopters Chetak/Cheetah, Cheetal and the Dhruv light helicopter, besides remotely piloted or unmanned aircraft and the target practice vehicle Lakshya, among others.

‘FIR against Centre on gas price invalid’

J. Venkatesan

The HinduAAP convener Arvind Kejriwal. File photo: Akhilesh Kumar

The first information report registered by the short-lived Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi against the Centre, Union Ministers and others in connection with the hike in gas prices is invalid in law but it cannot be withdrawn by the Lieutenant Governor. Giving his opinion to the Union Law Ministry at the instance of the Petroleum Ministry, Solicitor-General Mohan Parasaran said the February 11 FIR was liable to be quashed by the higher judiciary.Mr. Parasaran gave the Centre three options: filing a suit in the Supreme Court against the Delhi government under Article 31 of the Constitution; approaching the apex court for quashing the FIR, contending that the fundamental rights of those cited as accused had been infringed upon; and seeking remedy in the Delhi High Court under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code for quashing the FIR.

“In my view, the conduct of the Delhi government in giving a direction to the police to entertain and register this FIR on a policy decision by the Union government is not going to set a healthy precedent and poses a fundamental threat to the federal structure of the Constitution, baffling even a common man conversant with basic principles of law as to how the Central government can be subjected to the police powers of a State government. Also, the State government does not have any policing powers over the Central government or its functionaries or the Union Cabinet,” the SG said.The FIR was lodged against the present and former Petroleum Ministers, M. Veerappa Moily and Murli Deora; the former Director-General of Hydrocarbons, V.K. Sibal; and Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, among others.The then Chief Minister had on February 10 received a complaint under the caption ‘Complaint of corruption for investigation: collusion between Ministers of Central government and RIL’ from the former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian and others. They alleged corruption in the increase in gas price in 2007 to $4.2 per mmbtu in favour of Reliance.Mr. Parasaran said the FIR in the first place could not have been registered without a preliminary inquiry. But now “the only course of action I can suggest is to challenge the action of the Delhi government, including the registration of the FIR.” The appropriate agency that could register an FIR in this case was only the Central Bureau of Investigation “as it involves the Centre and its officers.”“In my view, only the courts can declare the FIR illegal or non-est or void or set it aside and it would not be open to the Central government to advise the Lt. Governor to treat the FIR itself as non-est.” Doing so would lead to far more complications “because the powers of the Lt. Governor in interfering in a matter like this and taking a decision mandating the police to treat an FIR as non-est could again be the subject matter of another PIL [petition],” Mr. Parasaran said.

Poll expenses calculation based on Supreme Court order, says Election Commission

PTI

The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday said it was following the guidelines set out in the Supreme Court order while calculating poll expenses of candidates and political outfits across the country, rejecting the allegations by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa who had called the methodology into question.The Commission’s clarification comes days after Ms. Jayalalithaa termed the norms of EC to calculate candidates expenses as a “mockery of democracy” and threatened to challenge it in a court.She had opposed the debiting of expenses incurred on campaign rallies organized by a party to the account of its candidate if he or she is introduced from the dais or his or her name is mentioned in the rally.The EC cited the Supreme Court judgment in Kanwar Lal Gupta Vs Amar Nath Chawala (AIR 1975 SC 308), which said expenditure incurred by the party, which can be related to the expenditure for promoting the prospects of any particular candidate or group of candidates, shall be accounted for by such candidate(s).It further cited its instructions in 2004, 2007 and 2014 and contended the contents of these provisions have also been incorporated in its Compendium of Instructions on EEM (January 2014), issued to all CEOs in January 2014.The State officials were only complying with the instructions of EC and the Supreme Court order, the release said.

Only 40 per cent of middle class has piped water connection: survey

Rukmini S

Not all of the Indian middle class has access to all amenities yet. According to latest data from National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), only 40 per cent of those in the middle class, comprising households with annual income above Rs. 88,800 annually (an estimate suggested by NCAER researchers), have piped water connections, and only 15 per cent get three hours of water supply every day. Just over half of such families have flush toilets and a similar percentage get 18 hours of electricity in a day.Non-agricultural labour is still the most common job for men in families earning between Rs. 88,801 to 1.5 lakh per year. For the richest 20 per cent population (above Rs. 1.5 lakh per year), however, salaried work becomes the most common occupation.By standard international definitions, like a consumption expenditure of more than $10 per day, India would have no middle class because everyone spending that much is in the top 5 per cent population of the country. Economist Nancy Birdsall, founding president of Washington-based Centre for Global Development, proposed a $4-$10 range for a class she described as the “catalysing class,” which in India is made up of 150 million people or 12 per cent of the population.“I think it’s more useful to go beyond the income data, and look at what we really mean when we talk about a global middle class,” said Dr. Sonalde Desai, senior fellow at the NCAER and professor of sociology at the University of Maryland. “This would means things like a college degree, fluency in English, white-collar jobs among others,” she said.The NCAER data shows that just 12 per cent of adult men in 2011-12 had a degree or diploma, only 8 per cent could speak fluent English and 14 per cent had some computer skills. Women had fewer skills than men in each of these categories.