PM gives Bhopal GoM 10 days to file report

Amidst growing outrage over last week’s verdict on the Bhopal gas tragedy, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, stepped in on Monday and directed the group of ministers (GoM) headed by the Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, to report to the Union Cabinet within 10 days after assessing the “options and remedies available”.

Contrary to what has been reported so far — that the GoM under Mr Chidambaram was reconstituted following the trial court’s order in the gas leak case last week — the GoM was set up on May 26 while the Bhopal court order came on June 7. Therefore, its reconstitution had nothing to do with the Bhopal court’s verdict, said sources.Moreover, for all the chest-beating on the part of the BJP for the gas victims, it has now come to light that a BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government had rejected in 2008-09, a proposal to set up an empowered commission to look after the interests of those affected by the 1984 gas leak.

Sources told this newspaper that the proposal to set up such a commission had been made by the previous GoM headed by the senior Congress leader, Mr Arjun Singh since 2004. At present, Mr Singh himself is being slammed for his role in allowing the former Union Carbide Corporation chief, Mr Warren Anderson, to escape.

With the proposal for the empowered commission not passing muster with the BJP-led state government, the Centre was unable to push ahead with it, said sources. The Centre was chary of being accused of disturbing the federal structure if it went ahead with the commission without the state government’s concurrence.

“Not everybody agreed on the commission and, in particular, the then state government did not support it,” said sources. The state government reportedly took the plea that it would take care of the issues and thus no commission was needed.

Centre may hike prices of fuel today

Indications from various sources are mixed about the possible outcome of the much awaited meeting of the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) led by finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee on Monday.

While the three major oil refining companies and the ministry of oil and natural gas are certain that there could be deregulation of petrol prices immediately there is a strong view that the EGoM may not take any immediate decision on implementing the recommendations of the Kirit Parikh Committee.

Monday’s meeting will be a preliminary meeting to discuss the pros and cons of the recommendations in detail, they say. This section believes that this is not an opportune time to deregulate petrol and diesel prices, particularly when inflation is still high.

They will also have the freshly minted heroine Mamata Banerjee to contend with as she is part of the EGoM.

The Kirit Parikh Committee had recommended immediate deregulation in the price of petrol as it would not have a cascading affect on prices of commodities.

Centre warns of more rail attacks

With trains increasingly facing the threat of Maoist attacks, the Centre has alerted Naxal-affected states and the railways against such attacks and directed them to beef-up their security to the maximum level.

The Rajdhanis, which normally run at speeds ranging between 110 and 130 km have been asked to adhere to speeds of around 75 km when running through Maoist-hit areas. Speed restrictions were imposed on other trains, too, to reduce damage to the minimum in case of an attack.

The fresh home ministry alert has come in the wake of Monday’s targeting of the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express near Gaya by the Maoists who blasted the rail tracks.

Meanwhile, the Maoists killed two persons in Jharkhand and blew up railway tracks in four eastern states hours after they targeted the Rajdhani Express.

The Maoists are observing a shutdown in Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and three districts of Maharashtra to protest against stepped up anti-Naxal operations, price rise and arrests of some of their cadres.

Cabinet clears Bill to allow foreign varsities

In a major decision that is expected to open up the country's education sector to foreign educators and investment, the Union Government on Monday approved a bill to allow foreign education providers to set up campuses in India and offer degrees.

The Foreign Educational Institution (Regulation of Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010, was cleared by the Union Cabinet. The Bill is now expected to be introduced in Parliament during the ongoing budget session.

"This is a milestone which will enhance choices, increase competition and benchmark quality. A revolution larger than the one in the telecom sector awaits the education sector," Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said after the bill got the Cabinet's assent.

The bill is one of the major reforms bills of the HRD Ministry and seeks to regulate the entry and operation of foreign institutions, which will set up a campus and offer degrees in India.

A foreign university aspiring to set up a campus in India will have to deposit Rs 50 crore as corpus fund.

Provisions of Section 25 of the Companies Act will be applicable and these institutes will not be allowed to take the profit back and will have to spend the amount for further expansion of the institutions here.

Foreign education providers will be allowed to take part in other activities like consultancy projects. The profit generated from these projects has been exempted from Section 25 of the Companies Act and can be taken back by these institutes.

The bill has been delayed for the last four years owing to opposition from various quarters. However, last year it was referred to a Committee of Secretaries which brought modifications to certain provisions which had come under criticism.

Official sources stated that the proposed law prescribes eight-month time bound format for granting approval to foreign educational institutions to set up campuses. They will go through different levels of registration process during this period and will be finally registered with a government regulatory body.

The Union HRD Ministry has already clarified that quota laws will not be applicable to foreign universities setting up campuses in India. Though 100 per cent foreign direct investment through automatic route is permitted in the education sector since 2000, the present legal structure in India does not allow granting of degrees by foreign educational institutions here. The new law is expected to facilitate the globally-renowned institutes to
participate in India's higher education sector.

Three other reforms bills, which were slated to be taken up in the Cabinet, were deferred to the next meeting. These are -- Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, Educational Tribunal Bill and Accreditation Bill.

SP, BSP, RJD oppose Women’s Bill, LS adjourned

SP, BSP and RJD members today strongly opposed the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha, with one of them even trying to climb the Speaker’s podium, leading to adjournment of the House till lunch.

The Bill, slated to be introduced in the Rajya Sabha, created storm in the Lok Sabha soon after Speaker Meira Kumar welcomed a Croatian delegation and read out a reference on International Women’s Day.

The moment Kumar called for Question Hour, SP, BSP and RJD members trooped into the Well demanding quotas for OBC, Dalit and Muslim women within the proposed law to reserve 33 per cent seats in Parliament and State assemblies for the fair sex.

The Speaker refused to adjourn the House and carried on with the Question Hour. SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav gestured his party members to move forward and himself marched to the Well from the side of the treasury benches. Dara Singh Chauhan (BSP) and Lalu Prasad and Umashanker Singh (both RJD) followed Yadav.

At this moment, Mithilesh Kumar (SP) tried to climb the table placed in front of the Speaker prompting Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee to request Yadav to control his members.

On the SP chief’s directive, the members retreated a bit but stayed put in the Well and continued to raise slogans.

Govt confident of passing Women’s Bill

The Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 12 noon amid uproar over SP, RJD demand for implementation of Ranganath Misra Commission report on minority welfare.

Earlier today, the Government today expressed confidence over passage of Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament, saying though it did not want to “bulldoze” those opposing it, they should understand that equality was a fundamental right.

“I would say that it is a national resolve (to give 33 per cent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies). In all these 14 years, it has been waiting. A change has to come and this is the day the change will come,” Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily told reporters.

The Bill is slated to be taken up in Rajya Sabha today.

When asked if government would demand removal of members opposed to the Bill from the House, Mr. Moily said this was a hypothetical question.

“Our idea is not to bulldoze things. In a democracy, differences of opinion will be there, dissent will be there,” Mr. Moily said, adding that in a country of 600 million people, differences are bound to exist.

“I don't find fault in this but, at the same time, there are 600 million people and you are not in a position to get more than 18.5 per cent into legislatures. You cannot continue this kind of a domain. We need to provide them (women) the succour....Equality is a fundamental right,” he said.

The Law Minister said democracy required taking “appropriate decisions at the appropriate time”.

The Bill being brought in to coincide with the International Women's Day is expected to be approved without

any hitch with the Congress, BJP and the Left support and backing of some small parties and independents.

A Constitution amendment needs a two-thirds majority in voting requiring the support of 155 MPs in Rajya Sabha for its passage. The bill has clear backing of at least 165 MPs in the House with an effective strength of 233.

The opponents of the measure, BSP and SP, have 12 members each in Rajya Sabha while RJD has 4. Former premier H. D. Deve Gowda, whose JD(S) has 2 seats, said his party would give support if there is a OBC quota.

Centre unfazed by opposition to Women's Reservation Bill

The government on Sunday expressed the hope that the Women's Reservation Bill, 2008 would be passed in the current session of Parliament despite opposition from some political parties.

“I am expecting men and women to support me when I present the Bill in Rajya Sabha tomorrow [Monday],'' Union Law and Justice Minister Veerappa Moily said at a function here.

He said consensus among major political parties emerged after a lot of consultations but added that no single party could claim credit for it. The Bill has been pending for over a decade.

Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party has described the proposed legislation as “anti-Muslim and anti-other backward classes'' in its present form as it excluded women of these sections.

Terming the Bill “dangerous,'' SP chief Mulayam Singh suggested in Lucknow that women be given 50 per cent reservation in government jobs rather than a quota in Parliament and the State Assemblies.

The SP has called a meeting of its Rajya Sabha members for Monday morning to chalk out its course of action when the Bill is tabled.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal, too, has said it would oppose the Bill “tooth and nail and is “even prepared to be marshalled out.''

Describing the Bill as a “political blunder,'' RJD president Lalu Prasad said in Patna that it was a conspiracy hatched by both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress to suppress representation of women belonging to the Other Backward Classes, the Scheduled Tribes/Scheduled Castes and Muslim communities.

While there is a split in the Janata Dal (United) over the Bill with the Bihar Chief Minister extending support and party chief Sharad Yadav opposing it, the Bahujan Samaj Party has said it will not back the legislation in its present form.

Janata Dal (Secular) chief H.D. Deve Gowda, too, has said that his party will support the Bill only if there is reservation for OBC women.

But undeterred by these developments, Mr. Moily said: “After all, the country needs such legislation and with our best intentions, the political parties could not evolve a system where adequate representation was made available to women.”

He said the proposed constitutional amendment was the only “remedy'' to provide adequate representation to women.

“The people of the country, the women and Parliament will take the credit. There is no partition in this credit,” he said, when asked to react on the BJP's claim that it had first introduced the proposed legislation in the Lok Sabha but it could not be passed following stiff opposition.

Cancel Bt brinjal, AP tells Centre

The state government on Saturday requested the Centre to cancel the permission given by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) for commercial cultivation of Bt brinjal.

The agriculture minister, Mr N. Raghuveera Reddy, said that the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, had written to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the Union minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh, raising this demand. “We have requested that permission should be given only after a study of the objections that have come up from different quarters,” Mr Reddy said.

He said AP had earlier appointed a committee comprising the principal secretary of agriculture, the agriculture products commissioner, and vice-chancellors of agriculture and horticulture universities to study the issue.

“We can’t take up cultivation of a food variety based on research by private companies,” he said. “The state brought this issue to the notice of the Union environment ministry.”

Speaker pours cold T on quit letters

The Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker, Mr N. Kirankumar Reddy, on Saturday, rejected the resignations tendered by 129 MLAs on “technical grounds” terming them “not in order” as per the rules and procedures of the House.

This has brought to conclusion the resignation drama enacted by MLAs cutting across party lines following the announcement of the formation of Telangana by the Centre.

The move comes even as the Supreme Court is entertaining a public interest litigation seeking an order to the Speaker to accept the resignations pending with him.

Addressing a crowded media conference in the evening, Mr Reddy said he received resignation letters from 222 of the 294 MLAs almost a month-and-a-half ago. Of them, 92 members had withdrawn their resignation letters leaving 130 pending with him, he said.

The Speaker said that after consultations with several constitutional experts and after going through the relevant procedures, he found that 129 out of 130 resignations were not in the prescribed form envisaged by the Constitution and rules and procedure of the House.

“There is only one resignation letter which was in order,” he said. “I have decided to speak to the concerned member and take a final decision.”

Centre honours AP with top Padmas

The Apollo Hospitals Group chairman, Mr Prathap C. Reddy, and the former RBI Governor Mr Y. Venugopal Reddy, both from Andhra Pradesh, were awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the nation’s second highest civilian honour, on Monday.

Country has no labs to test toxicity of Bt brinjal

As the Centre goes about building public opinion on introduction of the controversial Bt brinjal, the country does not have the facility to test the toxicity or otherwise of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).

India does not have a Bt laboratory to test genetically-modified (GM) crop and the Centre’s support for Bt brinjal is based more on political considerations than science. In the absence of credible tests, public consultations will not help much.

“How can the Centre vouchsafe the long-term safety of people who consume Bt brinjal, when it does not have a Bt testing lab in the first place? Brinjal is not a staple food and I suspect that Bt brinjal is being pushed with ulterior motives for introduction of new genetically modified food crops in the country,” says the eminent geneticist, Dr Krishna Rao Dronamraju, who heads the Foundation for Genetic Research, Houston, USA.

The Centre is banking on the results of animal studies, which cannot always be extrapolated on human beings, says Dr Krishna Rao.

The physiology of human beings is complex as compared to that of animals. Several studies on animal models have failed when extrapolated on man. Moreover, there’s no guarantee that the nutritional value or taste will be enhanced by producing Bt brinjal.

Centre to call for 2nd round of T-talks

The Centre is planning to conduct another round of talks with all political parties of the state on the issue of separate Telangana after January 28.

Sources said the meeting was aimed at giving assurance that the process of consultation for forming the state was on and would continue.

There was also a plan to hold a meeting of employees, intellectuals and peoples’ organisations in February but this was given up because of the increased tensions in both the regions.

The joint action committee of Telangana has already announced that it would wait till January 28 to submit en masse resignations by all elected public representatives.

“Negotiations and consultations would be there in the process of formation of Telangana,” said Mr Madhu Yashki Goud, MP from Nizamabad. “We are not against talks.”

The Congress high command is working with a three-pronged strategy to sort out the issue.

For one, it is not willing to accept any ‘deadlines’. It would also take stern action on party representatives who press for their resignations. At the same time, it would continue dialogue with all the stakeholders.

Telangana MPs are likely to meet the Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Friday as he is holding a consultation process with different political parties in AP over the Telangana issue.