No forward steps on Telangana without assembly nod

THE GOVERNMENT sought to cool tempers in Andhra Pradesh over the Telangana issue, saying there can be no forward movement on the statehood issue until the state assembly passes a resolution.

The developments in Andhra Pradesh were discussed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and state Chief Minister K. Rosaiah was advised about steps to defuse the situation.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told a delegation of Congress MPs from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions that the Telangana issue will not be discussed in the Lok Sabha till the assembly passes a resolution.

The MPs, who wanted the government to “clarify” its position on the proposed Telangana state, said they were given an assurance that the statehood would not be discussed in the Lok Sabha until the Andhra Pradesh assembly passes a resolution.

“He (Mukherjee) assured us that the resolution has to come from the state assembly first. Till then, there cannot be a discussion of the issue in the Lok Sabha,” senior Congress leader and Andhra Pradesh MP K.S. Rao told reporters.

Rao said they wanted an early clarification from the government to prevent division among people of different regions in the state.

Congress leaders are also hopeful that the sine-die adjournment of the assembly will help defuse the political upheaval in the state.

Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said the state assembly has been adjourned sine-die and there will not be an assembly resolution for the present.

Ahmed admitted there were divisions in the Andhra Pradesh Congress on Telangana. “There is no consensus. There are two views.”

He said the Congress was not wavering from its commitment on the formation of a new state, but the government has to wait for the assembly resolution before taking the process further.

Congress MPs from Telangana have also sought to build pressure on the leadership against any change in its stance for forming the new state.

M. Jagannath, Congress MP from Nagarkurnool in Telangana region, who met Sonia Gandhi last week as member of delegation, said she told them that the decision to form a new Telangana was taken in the greater interest of the nation.

“Madam (Gandhi) asked us to cooperate with the party and government in formation of a separate Telangana state,” he said. ***

Delhi assembly passes new excise bill with stringent fines

DRINKING IN PUBLIC places in the national capital will now invite a hefty fine, and in addition if you are a nuisance then a three-month jail term will be slapped, according to a new bill passed recently.

The Delhi legislative assembly passed the ‘The Delhi Excise Bill, 2009’ which will ensure strict punishment for those producing spurious liquor and a stringent fine for those consuming liquor in public places.

“Under the new bill, mixing noxious substance with liquor is punishable with death or life imprisonment and fine upto Rs.10 lakh in case death is caused as a result of such an act,” said an official statement.

“In case of disability or serious hurt the imprisonment would be between six years and life imprisonment with fine upto Rs.500,000. These offences are bailable in the existing act and involve imprisonment upto three years and a fine upto Rs.2,000,” the statement added.

Earlier this year, the national capital witnessed several deaths due to spurious liquor.

“For consumption of liquor in public place, the present punishment fine upto Rs.200 has now been made more stringent,” the statement said.

After the new bill is notified, the consumption of liquor in public place would invite a fine upto Rs.5,000, consumption of liquor in public place resulting to nuisance would result in imprisonment upto three months and fine upto Rs.10,000. Facilitating drinking or assembling of unsocial elements on the premises of liquor establishment would result in imprisonment upto six months and fine upto Rs.50,000, it said.

***

Mumbai and Shanghai to be boomtowns of post-

Recession World

CONFIDENCE LEVELS among senior business executives in Mumbai and Shanghai are so high that they are leaving their counterparts in New York and London far behind, with significant implications for the post-recession global economy.

With India having emerged relatively unscathed from the recession, more than 90 percent of senior business figures in Mumbai are more confident now than at the beginning of the year, according to a study published recently.

Ever more remarkably, 92 percent of Mumbai’s business bosses are confident in the economic outlook for the next 12 months, says the study by the Londonbased international law firm Eversheds.

The findings of the research, conducted among 600 senior executives in London, Mumbai, New York, Shanghai and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), show that “the world order for financial centres is changing”.

“This is potentially very significant. When you have 90 percent of respondents in Mumbai and Shanghai saying they are very confident about the future, and only 22 percent saying so in London, it feeds into the plans people will make,” said Eversheds chairman Alan Jenkins.

“Indian business are confident and are looking to the future, making plans for both within India and globally. I don’t get the same sense in London,” he told IANS. Jenkins said there will be “considerable pressure” on London’s place as the preeminent centre for global financial services in 10 years’ time.

“There are real question marks about how financial services are going to grow in London. Executives in London complained of levels of regulation and volume of litigation, whereas those in Mumbai spoke about high levels of business taxation as the main barrier to growth.”

According to the Eversheds research, 87 percent of business leaders across the globe said that the recession has significantly changed the structure of the world economy and that established financial centres face a growing challenge from the emerging economies of the East.

The ‘Boom or Gloom’ research reveals that the majority of business leaders are more confident than at the start of 2009.

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But when it comes to confidence in the economy over the next twelve months, there is a clear East-West divide. More than 90 percent of business leaders in Shanghai and Mumbai are confident in their economic outlook over the next year, while only 22 percent in London and 35 percent in New York were able to say the same.

The ‘confidence gap’ is even more significant in how the respondents perceive their own economic performance: in Mumbai and Shanghai more than half the respondents feel their national economy is performing considerably better when compared to the global economy, whereas in London and New York this was only around a third.

The Eversheds chairman said a high-level government report in India has singled out all-round infrastructure development as the key challenge in efforts to develop the city as “even more of a leading financial centre”. ***

Akbar and potatoes bound ancient Incas to Indians

THE ANCIENT INCAS shared an eclectic bond with India - a deep admiration for Mughal emperor Akbar and secrets of growing potatoes.

One of the most enduring cultural icons, historical chroniclers and feted scribe of Peru, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, a 16th century Latin American intellectual, wanted to interview Mughal emperor Akbar on his world views, but could not make it to India because of the great distance between the two countries, said the deputy chief of the Peru mission, Carlos Yrigoyen.

“Garcilaso, who was of royal Spanish and Inca descent, wrote about the traditions, sites and legacy of the 500-year Inca civilization, his mother’s faith, in one of the first historical chronicles of Peru, ‘Los Cometarios Reales’ (The Royal Comment) as a dossier for king Charles I of Spain. During his lifetime, he read voraciously about Mughal India and the reigning emperor Akbar, expressing in public and among friends a keen desire to interview the emperor,” said Yrigoyen in an interview. Yrigoyen delivered a 45-minute lecture on “Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, First Ambassador of Peru in the World,” at the Instituto Cervantes in the capital Monday to commemorate 400 years of the publication of the “Royal Comments”. It is part of a bilateral initiative between the two countries.

“Garcilaso, born in 1539, knew what was happening around the world. But unfortunately, his dream of meeting Akbar remained unrequited, whereas one of his peers, French traveller and writer Pierre Oliver Mal Herbe, who visited India in the late 16th century, managed to interview Akbar. Herbe died around the same time as Garcilaso,” the deputy chief of the Peru mission said, explaining the ancient ties between the Incas, Mughals and the Suryavanshi (rulers) of India and their shared spiritual ideas.

Garcilaso’s mother was an Inca princess and his father was a Spanish nobleman. He was sent by his parents to study in Spain and in the course of his literary career “brought the Inca and Spanish culture - that of the conquered (Incas were wiped out by the Spaniards) and conquerors (Spanish) on a common ground”, the envoy said.

“He bridged the colonial and the cultural divide,” Yrigoyen said.

Apart from his dream to meet Akbar, the Incas, according to Garcilaso, were the “original inhabitants of Peru”, and both India and Peru worshipped the sun and

“shared secrets about growing potatoes, which was first grown by the Incas”.

“The Incas gave potatoes to the world and to India. They cultivated more than 200 varieties of potatoes which the Spanish traders brought to India. The Central Potato Research Institute in Shimla works closely with Peru in improving the breeds and yield. The ancient Peruvians were also known for their flutes- 32 varieties of them - a musical instrument associated with the Indian deity Lord Krishna,” he said.

Garcilaso’s interpretation of the plight of the Incas and “the people who spoke the Quechua language, the tongue of the Incas spoken widely in Peru, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Argentina,” was similar to that of Indians under colonial rule, Yrigoyen said.

“Both the great races were colonized. India was colonized by the British and the Incas were colonized by the Spanish. In fact, once upon a time, both India and Peru were the vice-royalties of Spain. The ethnic settlers of Peru were known as Indios or Indians - because Christopher Columbus mistook it for India when he was trying to find a new sea route to India,” he said. Narrating an interesting slice of history, Yrigoyen said: “If one digs a tunnel from the sanctorum of the Sun Temple at Konark in Orissa, it will emerge to touch the spire of the sacred sun temple of the Incas in Coscothe ancient capital of the Incas in Peru”.

Tributes paid to martyrs of parliament attack

IT WAS ON December 13 eight years ago that the Indian Parliament was the target of an audacious terror strike in which nine people lost their lives while repulsing the attackers and saved the parliamentarians inside. But a memorial function held at the same place on the anniversary of the attack saw only 11 MPs joining in.

Only 11 MPs, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, P.C. Chacko and E.M.S. Nachiapan of the Congress and M.B. Rajesh of the

CPI-M, were present at the ceremony, sources said.

Anti-Terrorist Front chief M.S. Bitta criticised the fact that very few MPs attended the event. “Only 11 parliamentarians had gathered today in the Parliament House to remember those who embraced martyrdom to save their (MPs’) lives,” he said.

Also present were Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari and Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.

Officers and staff of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats joined the leaders to pay tributes to those who died in that attack, which brought India and Pakistan almost to the brink of a war in 2001.

“A blood donation camp was organised in which a large number of officers and staff from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats, officers in the office of Lok Sabha speaker and allied agencies donated blood,” a parliament statement said.

In the attack Dec 13, 2001, five heavily armed gunmen said to be PakistanisIslamabad denies the charge - stormed the Indian parliament and opened indiscriminate fire, killing nine people instantly.

The victims included five Delhi Police personnel, a woman constable of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), two parliament security attendants and a gardener. A journalist who was injured died later. All five terrorists were shot dead. A year later four terrorists, including convicted Afzal Guru, were arrested for the attack and were found guilty after trial. Guru, who is said to be a Jaish-eMohammed militant, was the only accused to be awarded the death penalty. The sentence has been stayed as his mercy petition is pending. He is in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.

Bitta demanded that Guru be hanged immediately.

“Till Afzal and Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab are not hanged, the martyrs and their families will not get justice,” Bitta told reporters at the India Gate war memorial.

India successfully tests nuclear-capable missile Dhanush

INDIA SUCCESSFULLY tested a nuclearcapable ballistic missile Dhanush from a warship in the Bay of Bengal, an official said recently.

Dhanush, the naval version of the Prithvi missile, was launched from INS Subhadra that was anchored about 35 nautical miles offshore from the test range of Chandipur in Balasore district, 230 km from Bhubaneswar.

The missile, which has a range of 350 km and carries a nuclear warhead of about 500 kg, was fired at 11.31 a.m. All the operations for the launch were carried out by Naval personnel.

“It has met all the mission objectives. All the events occurred as expected and were monitored by the range sensors. It was a textbook launch and a fantastic mission accomplished,” the official said.

V.K. Saraswat, scientific advisor to the defence minister, and director general and secretary, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), was on board the ship during the mission.

Prithvi is part of India’s ambitious integrated guided missile development programme launched over 20 years ago.

Dhanush (meaning bow), which was tested several times in the past, is designed and built by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

It was first test-fired on April 11, 2000 from the Chandipur range.

US Army accepts a second Sikh with turban and beard

THE US ARMY has agreed to accept a second Sikh, Captain Tejdeep Singh Rattan, with his Sikh identity intact after an eight month long campaign by a Sikh advocacy group.

Rattan, a military dentist, had refused to remove his ‘dastaar’ (turban) or shave his hair as a condition of joining the military, announced the Sikh Coalition.

The group had launched a campaign calling on the Army to accept all Sikhs after two Sikhs, Captain Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi and Rattan were refused entry into the military unless they removed their turbans and shaved their beards.

The Army agreed to accept Kalsi in October. The US Army’s acceptance of Kalsi and Rattan marks the first time in 23 years that the Army will accept Sikh recruits who maintain their articles of faith, the group noted.

While whole heartedly applauding the Army’s action, the Sikh Coalition said it remains concerned that Kalsi and Rattan received individual accommodations to Army policy and there has been no change in the overall policy excluding Sikhs from service. But individual accommodations for Kalsi and Rattan have significant implications for Sikh employees, the group said noting the Army is America’s largest and most prominent employer.

“Ending discrimination in the US Army sends a message to all other employers, both private and public, that discrimination against Sikhs who maintain their articles of faith is not acceptable,” it said.

Though Sikhs have approached several police and sheriff’s departments for jobs, they are often told that if Sikhs cannot serve as US soldiers, they cannot serve as police officers either.

Most importantly, over the long-term, equal participation of Sikhs in all of society’s institutions, including the Army, will go a long way towards reducing the prejudice Sikhs often face in schools and on the streets.

The Coalition said over the coming year, with the community’s active support and in collaboration with other Sikh organizations, it will continue to work with the US Army to ensure all Sikhs may serve without individual exemptions.

“We are encouraged that the Army has expressed its willingness to review its general policy of excluding Sikhs from service,” it said thanking House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Howard Berman for his help in the resolution of Rattan and Kalsi’s cases.

Muslims construct Hindu temple in Bihar

IN A RARE EXAMPLE of communal harmony, Muslims are constructing a Hindu temple in a Bihar village. Three decades ago, Hindus constructed the tomb of a Muslim saint in the same village.

Mohammad Fakhrul Islam, a resident of Kadarabad village in Begusarai district, about 125 km from here, donated about 2,700 sq ft land for construction of a Hindu temple.

Two Muslim villagers, Mohammad Hashrat and Mohammad Wasi, along with other Muslims, began constructing the temple at Kadarabad ghat.

“Muslims have laid the foundation of the new temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva in the village,” Hashrat told IANS.

“We will construct the temple to send a strong message of harmony,” Wasi said. A police officer said some Muslims of the village are constructing the temple despite protests from within the community.

“A few people from within the community opposed them but they went ahead with the construction of the temple,” the officer said. Islam said nearly 30 years ago, some Hindu villagers constructed the tomb of a Muslim saint in the same village.