Centre rejects demand for more power to CBI chief
The Centre on Wednesday rejected the CBI’s demand to grant of ex-officio
power of secretary to its director and allow him to report directly to
the Minister-in-charge by telling the Supreme Court that it will create
new precedent and heartburn in similarly-placed organisations.
Holding the CBI as its “subordinate office”, the Centre rejected the
plea to give more power to its director, saying that it would be bad in
law if such demands are met which would result in “vesting unbridled
power in one authority”.
In a 23-page affidavit filed in the apex court, the government said that
although the Director is in grade and pay scale of the Secretary but
agency demand for ex-officio power cannot be granted as it would alter
the organisational relationship between the government department and
its subordinate offices.
“While considering the demands of a particular subordinate office like
the CBI, it has to keep in mind the issue of parity with
similarly-placed organisations and it is not desirable to create new
precedent which would create heartburn in similarly-placed
organisations.
“The mere fact of same pay scales does not alter the organisational
relationship between the Government departments and its subordinate
offices. Other central armed forces, central police organisations,
officers of the armed services many of whom may be enjoying similar pay
scales or even higher to that of the secretary to the government but
that does not alter the official procedure,” the affidavit said.
It said that if such demand by one organisation is acceded to by the
government, there will be similar demands raised by other subordinate
organisations.
“Government is accountable and answerable to Parliament and therefore
the right of the executive to run the government, subject to checks and
balances, cannot be taken away,” it said, adding, “Granting the
ex-officio powers of the secretary would run contrary to the rules and
affect the statutory scheme of governance.”
“The vesting of ex-officio secretary powers upon the CBI director is
strongly opposed as it will seriously jeopardise the scheme of checks
and balances envisaged in the governance as well as other deleterious
effects it is likely to have on the criminal justice system,” it said.
“This would not only be against the legislative intent of the DPSE Act
but also militate against democratic constitutional principles where it
is desirable that police or investigating agencies function under the
administrative supervision of the executive,” it said.
The government said the twin objectives of functional efficacy and
independence of the agency can be achieved without disturbing the entire
statutory scheme of governance.
It submitted that CBI director cannot be compared with Secretary RAW who
also was not allowed to submit files directly to the Minister.
It said that despite CBI being unable to even spend the allocated
amount, the agency has been delegated enhanced financial powers
equivalent to the DG, CRPF.
“These powers need to be exercised as the recent financial delegations
have been substantial and if put to use by CBI these would redress
issues of alleged red tape,” it said.
The government said that if given ex-officio power of secretary then the
director would be deciding on the appointment of public prosecutors
which would lead to dilution of the principle of separation between the
prosecuting agency and the investigating agency.
Don't force developing nations to review their voluntary emission cuts, says India
India, China and other countries in the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) group on Tuesday formally took the position that the new climate agreement must not force developing countries to review their voluntary emission reduction targets.
Setting itself up in direct confrontation with developed countries, the LMDC made it clear that it was not in favour of doing away with the existing differentiation between developing and developed countries when it came to taking responsibility for climate action.
The new agreement is to be signed by 2015 and the on-going talks in Warsaw are expected to draw out elements of this agreement. A general consensus has emerged that the new agreement would permit each country to volunteer its emission reduction target. The European Union (EU), backed by other allied groups, has demanded that there should be a process of reviewing targets of all countries and seeing if they collectively add up to the level that keeps global temperature rise below 2 degree Celsius. Any gap, the EU suggests, should then be distributed among all countries, rich or poor, based on several parameters which are sometimes called the Equity Reference Framework.
The U.S. wants similar consultations but only ‘peer pressure,’ and not compulsion, to convince countries to do more in case the global target is not met.
Both methods break the differentiation between the developed and developing countries and set up an agreement where it is best for developed countries to offer lower targets initially and then get the responsibility of filling the ‘emission gap’ distributed evenly among all nations.
Finance-technology link
It also allows the existing linkage between provision of finance and technology by developed countries to developing ones and the latter’s targets to be weakened.
The LMDC’s position on Tuesday officially countered these two proposals.
The LMDC said, “We do not see any role for a two-step process in the ex-ante process for review of efforts of developing countries.
Any framework which seeks to determine for developing countries what they should contribute in any future regime goes against the principle of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities based on historical responsibility.”
The LMDC noted that the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under which the new agreement is to be signed requires the developed countries, and not developing countries, to take the lead in fighting climate change .
“Flawed equity”
“The application of equity reference framework only uses the word equity but basically redistributes the burden of fighting climate change more on the shoulders of the developing countries,” said a delegate from the LMDC countries speaking to The Hindu anonymously.
The LMDC group plans to submit a more detailed proposal along the lines of this position in the next couple of days. Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, in an interview to The Hindu,had accepted that the circumstances of different countries had changed since the signing of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol and that the obligations under the 2015 agreement should be based on both the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and not just the latter.
The Union Cabinet, too, cleared the mandate for her and her team of negotiators to ensure that this happens at the Warsaw talks.
The LMDC statement on Tuesday reflected this position countering the predominant narrative from the EU and the U.S. that the emission cut obligations should be based on existing capabilities of the respective countries.
Consensus that new agreement would permit each country to volunteer emission reduction targets
The UNFCCC requires developed countries to take the lead in fighting climate change: LMDC
Tokyo trilateral to focus on civil nuclear issues
As elections approach, New Delhi is trying to put the finishing touches to its partnership with the U.S. and Japan, especially in areas of civil nuclear energy, and projects that will enhance its access to Myanmar and Afghanistan.
South Block is sending at least half-a-dozen officials for the fifth India-U.S.-Japan trilateral in Tokyo to be held on Thursday and Friday. The composition of the team suggests the issues that will be discussed.
All three countries are fielding their disarmament and nuclear energy experts in an attempt to push forward the stalled civil nuclear energy agreement with the U.S. Japan is a vital third leg because one of its companies will supply a crucial component for the American nuclear reactors. This requires an India-Japan civil nuclear agreement and Tokyo’s nod on the terms of liability in case of an accident.
But the main course at the talks will be third country projects. Having spent five hours at the October’s India-U.S.-Japan trilateral in broadly outlining projects, officials, during the fifth round in Tokyo, will try to “move concepts to a stage where they will consider concrete projects that can be done by the three countries,” said official sources.
The meeting will pick up the issue of a route starting from India and going through upper Myanmar to eventually touch Vietnam. The project has also been discussed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the previous two summits with Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Phnom Penh and Jakarta.
As all three countries have taken an interest in reconstruction of Afghanistan, proposals relating to high impact projects will also be considered.
Japanese assistance
Briefing newspersons after a meeting between Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and his counterpart Salman Khurshid, Koichi Mizushima of the Japanese Foreign Ministry said the two leaders touched on most bilateral issues, including the Dedicated Freight Corridor and the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor — the two multi-billion-dollar projects that are taking shape with Japanese assistance.
India plans to export 6,000 tonnes of rare earth chloride to Toyota Tsusho, marking its entry into the sector after a seven-year-gap during which China dominated the market.
The two sides also signed a Japanese Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) whose two main components are a $130-million loan to Tamil Nadu for quick implementation of infrastructure projects such as roads, power, water supply and sewerage, and $177.3 million for improving the education and research environment at the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad. The Japan Foreign Minister also pledged $150 million for Uttarakhand, which was badly hit by landslips triggered by heavy rains in June.
“Our work is guided by the spirit of pilgrimage common to the people of both countries. While Uttarakhand is a place for pilgrimage for people from all over India, pilgrimage in Japan began over 1,200 years ago when holy men called Hijiri would seclude themselves to practise spiritual austerity in the mountains. This shared idea of pilgrimage is the foundation of Indo-Japanese cooperation in Uttarakhand,” said a Japanese Government news release.
India, U.S., Japan are fielding their disarmament and nuclear energy experts to push forward the stalled nuclear pact
7 scientists, academics bag Infosys Prize
Seven scientists and social scientists have bagged the Infosys Prize for 2013, in recognition of their “outstanding contributions to research” in fields ranging from theoretical linguistics and archaeology to algebraic geometry and nanoscale electronics.
Ramgopal Rao, Institute Chair Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Chief Investigator, Centre of Excellence in Nanoelectronics, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, was awarded the prize for Engineering and Computer Science. The Humanities award was shared by Nayanjot Lahiri, Professor, Department of History, University of Delhi, New Delhi (for Archaeology) and Ayesha Kidwai, Professor, Centre for Linguistics, School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (for Linguistics).
The prize for Life Sciences was awarded to Rajesh Gokhale, Director, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi, and the prize for Mathematical Sciences given to Rahul Pandharipande, Professor, Department of Mathematics, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich.
Shiraz Naval Minwalla, Professor, Department of Theoretical Physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, received the award in the Physical Sciences category, while Aninhalli R. Vasavi, Senior Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, received the prize for Social Sciences.
The Infosys Prize, awarded annually by the Infosys Science Foundation, includes a cash award of Rs. 55 lakh, a citation certificate and a medal.
SC notice to States on fast-tracking of cases against politicians
‘Trial of influential persons must be monitored by designated Judge’
The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to all the States on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition, seeking speedy trial of criminal cases pending in various courts against politicians, bureaucrats and other influential persons.
A Bench of Justices A.K. Patnaik and V. Gopala Gowda issued notice on the petition filed by Virender Kumar Ohri. The court in 2004 issued notice to the Centre and sought the views of the Law Commission.
The Law Commission in its report said “the cases of influential persons in public life need to come up for special focus for the reason that the experience shows occurrence of long delays both in investigation and trial. This is because of the influence they can wield with the police and witnesses. Delays are also often caused by their prolonged abstinence from the court proceedings and the Police not taking effective steps to produce them in Court.”
Appearing for the petitioner counsel Prashant Bhushan said: “The trial of all the ‘influential persons’ should be monitored by the designated Judge of the concerned High Court. There should be a cell in every High Court whose duty shall be to collect information and particulars from all the subordinate courts in respect of cases involving influential persons. Top priority should be given to the Sessions cases especially those related to influential public persons which are more than 5 years old (or even less depending on the workload position). The High Court Committee concerned should bestow special attention to such cases and review the progress from time to time so that the trial concludes most expeditiously.”
The petitioner submitted that it appeared that the wheel of criminal justice system did not move at all and every strategy was being adopted to delay and frustrate the trial in such cases. State machinery was also being used to seek withdrawal of charges on absurd grounds. The petitioner sought a direction to all the States to ensure that the trial of influential persons was taken up and completed expeditiously under the supervision of the respective High Courts.
R. Banumathi appointed Jharkhand CJ
President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed the senior most judge of the Madras High Court, Justice R. Banumathi, as Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court.
The Supreme Court’s collegium has cleared her elevation in the middle of August and the Union government has taken three months to process and notify the appointment
Justice Banumathi, 58, entered the Tamil Nadu Higher Judicial Service in 1988 as a direct recruit district judge. She worked as District and Sessions Judge in Coimbatore and Vellore, and Principal District and Sessions Judge in Pudukottai, Madras, Tirunelveli and Salem. She also worked as Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Chennai. She was made a judge of the Madras High Court on April 3, 2003.
At the High Court, she dealt with many important cases, banning jallikattu (bull fight) and manjuvirattu (rekla race). In the case relating to the Natarajar temple at Chidambaram, she upheld the appointment of Executive Officer by the government.
SC panel to probe sexual harassment charge against retired judge
CJI says such cases cannot be taken lightly
Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam on Tuesday constituted a three-judge committee headed by Justice R.M. Lodha to probe the allegation of a woman law intern that she was sexually harassed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court in 2012.
The committee, which includes Justices H.L. Dattu and Ranjana Desai, held a meeting and discussed the modalities of conducting the probe.
In the morning, advocate Manoharlal Sharma drew the attention of the CJI to a report published in an English newspaper under the title ‘intern alleges sexual harassment by Supreme Court judge’ and sought suo motu action.
The CJI told him that he had seen the report and was aware of it.
In the afternoon, Attorney General (AG) G.E. Vahanvati told a Bench comprising the CJI and Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Shiva Kirti Singh that he was filing a writ petition based on the newspaper report, which was based on a blog written by the intern on November 9 in the Journal of Indian Law and Society .
The AG said: “sexual harassment is an extremely serious matter and the court must look into it. The report gave rise to speculation amongst the members of the Bar and the public and the truth of the allegations must be probed.”
The CJI told the AG, “As the head of the institution [judiciary], I am also concerned about it. I am anxious whether the statement is true or not. In the cases of sexual harassment, we cannot take it lightly. We are taking steps. The matter was also mentioned at 10.30 a.m. by Mr. Sharma and during the lunch recess, I discussed this with other judges. I have constituted a committee comprising three judges. The committee will go into the whole affair and find out the facts and prepare the report and from today [Tuesday] evening they are going to start their work.”
The CJI said, “First, the committee will find out the correctness of the statement. There are records about interns or advocates who are associated with judges.
Further entries are made about persons coming to the Supreme Court and the committee will go into all aspects. We have already framed guidelines.”
In his petition, the AG said: “allegations of sexual harassment are an extremely serious matter, more so when it concerns the highest judicial institution in the country and must receive prompt and immediate action. The matter should be properly investigated and the person who has made these allegations should be required to name the person and the matter be carried to its logical conclusion if the allegations are found to be correct. Equally if the allegations are unsubstantiated, then the law must take its course.”
The CJI told the AG that he was adjourning hearing on the petition by two weeks to await the outcome of the probe report.
CBI Director says no harm in legalising betting
‘No point in having a ban that cannot be enforced’
With betting in the Indian Premier League (IPL) estimated to be a Rs. 66,000-crore business, CBI Director Ranjit Sinha on Tuesday said there was no harm in legalising betting as there was no point in a ban that cannot be enforced.
When asked by senior journalist Shekhar Gupta on his views on legalising betting, Mr. Sinha, who was on a panel at a session titled “Ethics and integrity in sports — need for a law and role of CBI,” said there was no harm in legalising betting in the country.
“If we can have lottery in States, if we can have casinos at holiday resorts. If the government can declare schemes of voluntary disclosure for black money, so what’s the harm in legalising betting? Besides you’ll have enforcement agencies to look into it,” he said, adding that it was easy to call for ban than enforce it.
When informed by a delegate that officials of cricket bodies were termed public servants by the Supreme Court and could now be probed by the CBI and States’ anti-corruption agencies, Mr. Sinha said it was a revelation and he would not hesitate to probe cases of corruption if the need arose.
Dravid’s take
Earlier, speaking on the occasion, cricketer Rahul Dravid, who was special guest on the panel, said legalising betting was one subject on which the law enforcement agencies have to take a call. “I think if the law enforcement authorities actually do feel that legalising betting will lead to better governance and reduce corruption then I am all for it.”
Won’t help, says Sawani
When the question was posed to Ravi Sawani, chief of the BCCI’s Anti Corruption and Security Unit, he said legalising betting would in no way help reduce corruption in the game. Mr. Sawani said in each IPL game, legal bets from one exchange in the U.K. were about Rs. 440 crore, whereas for the IPL, bets worth Rs. 66,000 crore approximately were placed, including the bets placed by illegal betting syndicates. — PTI
Crores spent but Delhi unprepared for quake
Fear is mounting in the Capital following a series of tremors that shook Delhi in a span of three hours early on Tuesday morning.
The tremors – four measuring 2.5 to 3.3 on the Richter scale and eight measuring less than 2.5 – have also underlined how unprepared Delhi is despite crores being spent on disaster preparedness.
The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) and MCD engineers had carried out a survey in 2011 following a building collapse in Lalita Park of East Delhi that killed 71 persons.
Despite the survey finding that “a majority of 10,000 buildings in East Delhi are not quake-resistant,” nothing has been done on the report so far, NIDM head of the Geo Hazards Division Chandan Ghosh told The Hindu.
“The survey was like conducting a health camp. We found that retrofitting had to be done on a majority of them. We checked the design component, concrete, workmanship and parking space. Theoretically, societies at I.P. Extension have had retrofitting but in practical terms they fall short of the required standard,” he said.
Prof. Ghosh said if the design was okay, the construction process was found to be faulty. “The architect has drawn the design on the computer but the masons continue to work without the use of technology.”
Pointing out that Delhi has not experienced an earthquake measuring over five on the Richter Scale in the past 50 years, Prof. Ghosh said: “Delhi has only been receiving tremors. An earthquake of less than five magnitude will be described only as a tremor. In Singapore or Tokyo there is 100 per cent guarantee for buildings.”
He said a majority of the buildings in the country have not been designed and monitored as per the guidelines laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
“If we examine all the buildings we will be able to detect one fault or the other in all of them.”
Explaining the reason for East Delhi being a seismic-prone zone, Prof. Ghosh said East Delhi has alluvial soil. “When the earth shakes, loose soil which has water collapses. Inevitably, the buildings will also collapse. In such cases, construction has to be scientific. We have to use ground improvement technology, which in layman’s terms means strengthening the ground. But people are unaware of this technology.”
The NIDM, which falls under the Union Home Ministry and has an annual budget of Rs 7-8 crore, imparts free training to architects, town planners and engineers of government agencies.
Tuesday morning’s tremors and the accompanying ‘roaring noise’ created panic among people, with many rushing out of their homes.
Indian Meteorological Department director of seismology, R.S. Dattatreya, said though the series of tremors were rare, they were not unusual. “Such an event occurred in April 2003 too. The tremors were accompanied by very high sound as if a truck was passing by.”
Shaadi Bhagya scheme likely for all
The benefit will not be limited only to Muslims, says Siddaramaiah
The State government is planning to extend the Shaadi Bhagya scheme for women from all economically weaker sections of society after its earlier decision to restrict the benefits to Muslim brides attracted widespread criticism from the Opposition.
The government had announced Rs. 50,000 to poor girls belonging to the Muslim community at the time of their marriage.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that the government was considering extending the scheme to all sections living below the poverty line.
“The scheme will not be limited only to Muslims; the government is planning to extend it to all sections of society living below the poverty line,” Mr. Siddaramaiah told presspersonshere.
Muslims too opposed it
A section of Muslim leaders within the Congress has also opposed the scheme on the grounds that it was not in consonance with the tenets of Islam and that it would unnecessarily draw “negative attention”.
Koragas to get easy access to private hospitals
Soon members of the Koraga tribe in Dakshina Kannada could hope to avail health care in private hospitals without a long wait for approvals from health officials.
Though government releases cost of treatment directly to hospitals under an arrangement now, the institutions provide treatment only after obtaining approval from the government case by case. Approvals take time as District Health Officer (DHO) will have to approve them after receiving the documents such as scans. Under the proposed scheme, this can be done online.
This will become possible when authorities digitise data about them and issue smart cards under the Vinutana scheme. At present, smart card registrations, information verification and data compilations are on in full-swing as the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) struggles against time to meet its December-end deadline.
It will benefit nearly 1,206 families or 4,858 persons — who come under the community recognised as a Primitive Tribal Group — in the district. They can avail treatment at select private hospitals, the cost of which the department reimburses.
After the launch last year, KVG Hospital in Sullia joined the list of private hospitals to offer the scheme in September. This is in addition to the tie-ups with A.J. Hospital and Research Centre, Father Muller Hospital and College, Kasturba Medical College, Yenepoya Hospital (all in Mangalore); Abhaya Hospital in Belthangady; and City Hospital in Puttur.
Since the launch in April, 2012, a total of 53 persons from the Koraga community have availed this facility, with a total disbursement of Rs. 25.68 lakh having been approved so far.
Cutting the red tape
“This (the new system) allows the process of approval to be much faster. The DHO can see the scan online, and approve it immediately,” said Sabeer Ahmed Mulla, ITDP Project Co-ordinator. He said around 70 per cent of the information collected from the Koragas has been digitised so far, while smart cards have been distributed to 30 per cent of the Koraga population.
“Though the deadline is December-end, we may lag behind by 10 or 20 per cent,” he said.
Many Koragas do not have passport-size photographs, and we need to arrange for this, said Somshekhar, a tribal inspector. “Plus, with many documents not in order – including date of birth – we have had to verify all the information given.”
Mauritius Prime Minister to skip CHOGM
Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Chandra Ramgoolam has decided to skip the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). He told Parliament that his decision was taken in the face of absence of progress in Sri Lanka in respect of human rights, AFP reports. However, Mauritian Foreign Minister Arvin Boolell, who was at the CHOGM press conference here, said there was no “judgmental posturing” in this decision. “We [Mauritius and Sri Lanka] have excellent relations. I am here representing my Prime Minister,” he said. Mauritius will host CHOGM 2015. Earlier, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa inaugurated the Commonwealth Business Forum.
State to terminate Sabari rail line at Erumeli
Bid to avoid Periyar Tiger Reserve buffer zone
The government has decided to terminate the Angamaly-Sabari railway line at Erumeli instead of Azhutha to avoid the buffer zone of the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) and to reduce the cost of putting Sabarimala on the railway map.
An official notification said Railways had suggested avoiding the buffer zone while deciding the alignment of the proposed line. It had been pointed out that Azhutha was just one km away from PTR and was well within the buffer zone. Also, the terrain was hilly and involved deep cutting and required several tunnels. Erumeli had better road access to Pampa. Hence, the proposed line from Erumeli to Azhutha would be of use only to those pilgrims who would go to Sabarimala from Azhutha by foot.
A day after glitch, Mars craft orbit raised
After the scare it went through on Monday when it failed to raise the orbit of its Mars spacecraft to the required height, Indian Space Research Organisation succeeded in its renewed attempt in the early hours of Tuesday.
After the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore gave commands at 5 a.m., the spacecraft’s propulsion system fired for about 304 seconds and its apogee shot up from 78276 km to 118642 km as required, sending ripples of joy at the ISTRAC.
On Monday, ISRO activated both the primary and redundant coils in the spacecraft’s propulsion system, called the 440 Newton engine, to allow the flow of liquid propellants into the engine. This trial backfired and the flow stopped, resulting in the orbiter not reaching the required apogee.
On Tuesday, the primary and redundant coils were used separately or independently similar to the successful orbit-raising manoeuvres on November 7, 8 and 9.
The ISTRAC will try to raise the apogee again on November 16 and December 1.
FIR a must in cognisable offence
Registration of the First Information Report for cognisable offences is mandatory, and action must be taken against police officers for failing do so, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday .
Golden coating of Mahabodhi temple gumbad begins
Work for gold coating of the gumbad (vault) of world heritage Mahabodhi temple started here on Tuesday with the help of experts from Thailand.
A team, led by Thailand’s former Deputy Prime Minister General Pricha, arrived here from Bangkok on Monday with 2.90 quintal gold for the purpose, sources in the Mahabodhi Temple Management Committee said.
The 40-member team came with the gold packed in 13 boxes. More than two dozen commandos from Thailand have also come to provide security for the gold, Committee member Arvind Kumar Singh said.- PTI
