New Delhi, January 12
Lal Krishan Advani’s message of “empowering the young India to build a stronger India” has literally fired the BJP brass into action. So, it is no longer about just spreading the word that NDA’s prime ministerial candidate has a website that attaches importance to the youth. It is now about attaching actual worth to the youth by awarding them “samman patras” and even garlanding them to convey that they are special. The idea may well here be to ‘counter Congress’ especially the ‘Rahul Gandhi effect’.

No wonder, the BJP is going all out to see that Advani matches up to the youth, especially “technologically”. Come tomorrow and the party’s youth wing will launch a nationwide campaign to publicise Advani’s website. They plan to put the publicity material on Orkut and Facebook as well. Going a step further, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) has fashioned a unique software, featuring electoral details of all the young voters from the constituencies where the BJP wields influence.

In all, they have zeroed in on 14 crore young voters below 25 from 3,000 segments, where the BJP is either in power or hoping to come to power. The software is part of the party’s innovative campaign — Nav Matdata Samman Samaroh (New voter felicitation programme). Close to 50,000 BJP workers are involved in running the campaign. “It is a component of our Yuva Jodo Abhiyaan. We are felicitating the young voters and making them take the pledge of their “responsibility to vote”. The software has names, addresses, backgrounds of all the young voters from 3000 constituencies. Our workers are meeting them all,” said BJP youth wing’s national president Amit Thakkar. The campaign will end in February. According to the data, LK Advani’s Lok Sabha constituency has 2, 72, 649 young voters. “We are targeting them to take our leader’s message to them,” Thakkar said.

The message encompasses Advani’s five-point agenda for the youth — helping them realise their potential, promoting health, employment, patriotism and volunteerism among them. All this is well publicised on Advani’s website — www.lkadvani.in — where the leader even beckons the youth to share their stories of volunteerism. “I urge the youth to write to me about their activities and these shall be publicised on my website,” Advani says on his web space.

The BJYM will from tomorrow publicise the website around schools and colleges. They have the stickers ready, bearing details of the website and Advani’s message. “The stickers have been dispatched across India. We will paste them where ever the young get together,” Thakkar said.

Jaipur, January 12
Former Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who created a flutter in the BJP by declaring his plans to contest Lok Sabha polls if his health permitted, today denied that he was aspiring for the prime minister's post. “I had never said I am aspiring for the post and it is a creation of the media,” the BJP leader said when asked whether he was in the race for the top job.

Shekhawat said that during his recent visit to Kota he had only stated that since people had approached him to contest the Lok Sabha poll, he would consider it and all depended on his health. “I shall contest the election and there is no ambiguity about it as the people want it and I shall honour their wishes, but it also depends on my fitness,” he said, adding “he was not going to approach (anyone) for a ticket to contest and shall contest from any constituency as per the wishes of the people".

Shekhawat had created a flutter when he said he had plans to contest Lok Sabha polls if his health agrees amid media speculation that his move was aimed at challenging BJP's prime ministerial candidate LK Advani. On his allegation of corruption against the previous Vasundhara Raje regime, the former Vice President said he had written a letter to CM Ashok Gehlot asking him to probe Congress’ charge during its poll campaign that the Raje government was involved in a Rs 22,000 crore scam. — PTI

New Delhi, January 12
In its 800th anniversary year, the venerated University of Cambridge today announced the launch of the Manmohan Singh scholarship programme for undergraduate Indian aspirants.

Beginning this year, up to 10 students wanting to pursue undergraduate courses at Cambridge University would benefit from the 1.5 million pound fund set up for the programme, Vice-Chancellor Prof Alison Richard told the press.

“In the next two-three years, may be we are able to take more than 10 students, or may be less, depending on the need of the students undertaking studies there, because this is a need-based programme,” she said.

Pointing out that it was a matter of pride to announce Manmohan Singh scholarship, which would now be part of University of Cambridge's future forever, the Vice-Chancellor said coming years would see the growing and multiplying of the relationship with India. “The Nehru Trust in India looks after all the scholarship programmes of the university for Indian students and this will be part of that.”

The scholarship programme is across the board and not just for any specific discipline, field or subject, she said, adding it was hoped that with time the fund might swell so that intake of students also rises.

Stressing that outstanding academic performance and potential in a student were the only criteria for selecting students to courses at the University of Cambridge, Richard said in the past decade the number of students coming from India to the university had doubled.

“While there was a 50 per cent increase recorded in undergraduate courses, for the postgraduate courses the number had doubled, which was a very welcome trend as its speaks about the cosmopolitan culture we value.”

Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge has a total strength of 18,000 students, 12,000 of them for undergraduate courses and the rest for postgraduate ones, she informed. “Of these, 220 are from India where 70 are pursuing undergraduate courses.” Commenting that Cambridge education “was not for everybody” but only for high achievers, Richard said the university's outreach programme was mainly through its former alumni who “are our best ambassadors”. — UNI

New Delhi, January 10
Amid reports of the Barack Obama administration planning to appoint a special envoy for India and Pakistan, outgoing US Ambassador David C Mulford has said Washington should not “insert” itself as a “referee” between the two South Asian countries.

“I think the two sides (India and Pakistan) should be encouraged but the United States should not insert itself as the manager or the referee of the process,” Mulford said in a TV interview.

When referred to reports that a special envoy might be appointed by the incoming Obama administration, he said, “that issue is going to be addressed by other people. I don't think that is going to happen.”

He, however, said, “I think the foreign policy which has encouraged both the sides to talk without inserting United States in the middle has been the right thing to do. The Bush approach has been successful. It has produced good results.” The Ambassador’s comments came in the midst of reports that the next US administration may appoint former diplomat Richard C Holbrooke as a special envoy for India and Pakistan.

Describing Kashmir as a “very special problem” which has to be solved by India and Pakistan by themselves, Mulford said he had spent five years de-hyphenating the relationship between the two countries.

Mulford said there are “sensitivities” involved in the Kashmir issue. “But accepting that although the United States pushed both the sides and although the peace initiative bore results, this is a problem for India and Pakistan to solve.” — PTI

New Delhi, January 12
British foreign secretary David Miliband is arriving here on a three-day visit tomorrow to express solidarity with India over the Mumbai terror attack.

During his visit, Miliband will meet External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram. He is also expected to call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The UK envoy is also scheduled to hold talks with a group of young Parliamentarians on climate change and security issues.

An External Affairs Ministry release said, “India and the UK have strategic partnership. Bilateral relations have grown to cover diverse areas of interaction.

The investment and trade dimensions provide the main foundation of bilateral links which are supplemented by common endeavours in education, science and technology and research cooperation.”

Miliband will also visit Mumbai where he will address meetings at the Hotel Taj Mahal and Hotel Trident, sites of the Mumbai terror strikes.

Last month, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, during his unscheduled visit to New Delhi, categorically singled out the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as being responsible for the terror attacks in Mumbai that claimed nearly 180 lives.

Mumbai, January 12
Lakhs of people queued up outside HDFC Bank branches in Mumbai to buy application forms to apply for flats under a subsidised housing scheme mooted by the Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority (MHADA). According to MHADA officials, five lakh application forms for 3,863 flats have nearly been sold out.

“We have printed five lakh forms to be distributed on the first day itself and will print more in the coming days,” said HK Javale, managing director, MHADA. The scheme opened today would close on January 30. Javale said his office had been receiving inquiries from scores of people ever since the scheme was announced in December last.

The flats on offer are scattered across the city - from Dahisar in the western suburbs to Pratisksha Nagar in central Mumbai and in Versova. Flats on offer include schemes for people in the economically weaker sections, middle-income group and high-income group.

Application forms are priced at Rs 100 each and applicants would have to pay Rs 10,000 for applying for houses under the economic weaker sections. Those applying for houses in up market Versova would have to pay Rs 1 lakh on application.

While the MHADA flat at Versova are priced at around Rs 55 lakh for houses measuring 900 sq ft, commercially priced properties of the same area cost more than a crore of rupees.

Only in July last, the MHADA released 873 houses at Malvani in suburban Malad for people of the lower income group. More than two lakh people applied for the flats measuring just 180 sq ft. However, these properties haven’t been handed over to the winners yet.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has sparked off a controversy saying 80 per cent of the flats be reserved for Marathi-speaking people. According to the MHADA rules only people domiciled in Maharashtra for 15 years or longer are eligible to apply for the flats.

However, Thackeray said such a rule would result in lakhs of migrants, who have made their homes in the outskirts of Mumbai, applying for the flats. “Only Marathi people should be given 80 per cent of the flats,” Thackeray wrote.

The results of the lottery would be announced later in the year, according to MHADA officials.

New Delhi, January 12
The government does not see any conflict of interest in HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh and former Nasscom president Kiran Karnik, who are directors on the board of Satyam’s competitors, being on the troubled company’s board.

“There is no conflict of interest,” Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta said today when asked whether there could be a clash of interest in Parekh joining the Satyam board.

Karnik, who was nominated to the board of Saytam Computer Services by the government on Sunday, is also a board member of the Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), a company promoted by disgraced Satyam Founder B Ramalinga Raju.

Karnik past-president of the Nasscom, is also a director on the board of EXL Services, a business process outsourcing (BPO) unit having direct competition with the Satyam BPO.

Similarly, Parekh is on the board of WNS Global Services, another rival of Satyam BPO.

The spokespersons of EXL Services and WNS Global Services confirmed that Karnik and Parekh continue to be on their respective boards.

“It is up to the government and the Company Law Board to take a call on this matter,” WNS Global Services spokesperson said.

In addition to Parekh and Karnik, the government on Sunday appointed past presiding officer of the Securities and Appellate Tribunal C Achutan as a member of the new board of Satyam to steer the company out of the crisis. — PTI

New Delhi, January 12
Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav today demanded that Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta be sacked. Holding Gupta responsible for his failure to detect the fraud of Satyam’s magnitude, the acting convenor of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) said the government “was yet to punish those who need to be punished for the Satyam fiasco.”

He then dared the government to prevent another Satyam-like fraud — this time involving a massive diversion of public money amounting to Rs 500 crore to two sick private sector companies.

Yadav was referring to Bajaj Hindustan Limited (BHL), a public sector firm which, he alleged, had diverted its funds by way of unsecured loans to two sugar companies, namely - Basti Sugar and Govindnagar Sugar Ltd.

Yadav said, “Senior people from BHL were made managing directors of the two sick companies after which the controlling rights and shares of the two listed sugar mills were transferred to a private company called Phenil Sugar Ltd. Once this exercise was over, BHL gave Rs 500 crore to the sick firms.”

New Delhi, January 12
The Congress views the Samajwadi Party’s (SP) unilateral announcements of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh as a ploy to mount pressure on the UPA government to meet its “non-political demands”, including special favours for a leading corporate house.

Clearly in a flap over SP general secretary Amar Singh’s attempts to link its seat-sharing talks in Uttar Pradesh with corporate issues, senior Congress leaders threw up their hands in despair, admitting they have never dealt with an alliance partner like the SP before.

“We have never dealt with such parties which seek to settle corporate rivalries politically,” remarked an AICC office-bearer, adding that as far as the SP is concerned, the contentious issues go beyond the UP seat-sharing discussions.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi today met UP party unit chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi today to discuss the status of its alliance with the SP, while Digvijay Singh, AICC general secretary in charge of UP, had a long session with Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi in this connection.

The party has taken a conscious decision not to react to the SP’s pressure tactics and will instead try to wear it out, as the Congress believes the SP needs this alliance in Uttar Pradesh because it has more at stake.

“The SP will ultimately come around… it has 40 seats in UP while we have nine...clearly they have more to loose,” said a Congress leader.

Patna, January 12
The political crisis in Jharkhand has further deepened even after Shibu Soren formally resigned from the post of Chief Minister on Monday.

After three days of political drama, ‘Guruji’ finally put in his papers to Governor Syed Sibte Razi at Raj Bhawan in Ranchi. The outgoing CM also informed the Governor about his party’s decision to appoint Champai Soren as his successor in anticipation of the support from other UPA MLAs. But the political drama did not end with Shibu’s resignation and nomination of Champai Soren by his party (JMM).

The other UPA constituents - the Congress, the RJD and some Independent MLAs have not only refused to accept Guruji’s protégé as the next Chief Minister but they want their own nominee for the top post. Former Chief Minister Madhu Koda, who also happens to be the chairman of the UPA in Jharkhand appears to be the front runner in the race from that side.

Koda has been organising the meeting of UPA MLAs other than the JMM to stake his claim. But the JMM with 17 MLAs is equally adamant to have Champai Soren as the CM. The party has made its stand clear to all concerned that being the largest constituent of the UPA in Jharkhand, it had legitimate claim on the Chief Ministership and the party MLAs were not ready to support any other party or MLA for it.

Meanwhile, Madhu Koda has called a meeting of all UPA MLAs at the Chief Minister’s residence late this evening to apprise Shibu Soren about his (Koda’s) popularity among the UPA as well as Independent legislators.

Koda has been claiming the support of 25 MLAs, where as, the JMM has only 17 party legislators. But the meeting is unlikely to resolve the issue. With both sides appearing equally firm on their respective stand, the impasse can end only with the intervention of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

The AICC president would certainly not like to have a divided UPA in Jharkhand at the time when the Lok Sabha polls are near. Shibu Soren also seems to be aware of his utility for the Congress at this hour. Therefore, he is waiting patiently for a word from the AICC headquarters.

Perhaps, the game plan of Shibu Soren and his party to put Champai Soren, his trusted protégé as the Chief Ministerial candidate, is to keep the top post ‘reserved’ for Guruji as and when he returns to the Jharkhand Assembly by winning the byelection from the Jamatara assembly constituency.