New Delhi, January 6
Truckers today claimed the strike called by them to press for their demands was total even as the government again said that strong action would be taken against the agitating transporters if they failed to resume the supply of commodities.

As the strike by the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), seeking a reduction of diesel prices by Rs 10 per litre besides other demands, entered the second day, reports also suggested that the agitation could collapse over the next few days as it had failed to win support from most drivers. An indication to this has also come from the fact that Asia’s largest wholesale vegetables market, Azadpur Mandi, is witnessing arrival of around 95 trucks everyday as against the normal figure of 110-120.

Reports suggested that the prices of essentials such as vegetables had not gone up as yet, but could surge if the strike continues as there were signs of panic buying.

Government has threatened to invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act if the strike is not called off soon and cancel permits granted to truckers.

Transport ministry officials have asked the state governments to implement available laws to ensure that there was no shortage of commodities. It also asked the states to draw a plan to ensure regular supply of essential commodities to the general public.

However, the transporters are adamant. “We are on nationwide strike and it would continue until our demands are met,” AIMTC president Charan Singh Lohara said. Incidentally, the government yesterday fully exempted service tax from certain taxable services provided to a goods transport agency (GTA) by their sub-contractors. These services include cargo handling, storage and warehousing, packaging activities and supply of tangible goods.

Meanwhile, the Indian Foundation of Transport Research & Training on Tuesday claimed that the strike may fizzle out in the next few days since many truckers are not participating in it. SP Singh, a senior official at the road transport research organisation, said, “Traffic on the highways was normal yesterday night. It's business as usual.”

Department of road transport and highways secretary Brahm Dutt on Monday said most of the truckers' demands were ‘unreasonable.’ There has been no impact of transporters’ stir in Northeastern states, Kerala and Bihar, Dutt said, adding that Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and the northern provinces of Haryana and Punjab have experienced limit effects.

New Delhi, January 6
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) today asked the Delhi police to inform it within six weeks the status of the magisterial enquiry into the September 19 Batla House shootout. The issue pertaining to a magisterial probe into the infamous encounter was earlier referred to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.

ACP (Vigilance, Delhi) made this admission before the NHRC, which has been enquiring into the sequence of events that led to the Batla House shootout. The commission had taken cognisance of the case on September 23, following a complaint in this regard by NGO Real Cause. The NGO had approached the NHRC on September 21, raising doubts about the Delhi police version.

The commission has now asked the Delhi police to apprise it of what happened to the magisterial probe issue referred to the Lt Governor of Delhi. The commission wrote afresh to the Delhi police after the latter submitted an interim report on the issue on November 19. The commission has, however, asked for specific details and said the submitted report was sketchy.

The ACP in the interim report told the commission that an FIR is this case was registered at the police station, Jamia Nagar. He said the case was initially investigated by the local police and on October 1, it was transferred to the Crime Branch which was a specialised agency. The report further mentions that on the request of the Crime Branch, a team of the CSFL inspected the scene of occurrence on October 13. The ACP further communicated to the NHRC that “the issue regarding the magisterial probe in the events relating to the incident was referred to the Lt Governor, Delhi”.

Bangalore, January 6
Long queue of cars on the road going by the Windsor Manor Hotel in Bangalore, a well-known landmark of the city, is a telltale mark of the fear psychosis that has gripped the Karnataka capital.

Ever since the terrorist strike in Mumbai’s Taj Hotel, the Windsor Manor has closed its gate to the visitors’ cars. Hotels, which are still allowing cars to be parked in their parking area, are doing so only after subjecting the vehicles to thorough checks.

Though, real terror incident has not taken place in Bangalore for a while, phone calls and e-mails have kept the city on tenterhooks. The IT sector in Bangalore, which has earned for the city the nickname of Silicon Valley of India, has been the major target area in these threats. Five major IT companies, including Infosys, Wipro, Accenture, had recently received e-mail threats.

Besides e-mails, threats were also issued to IT companies through phone calls. However, most of these threats later turned out to be hoaxes originating from various cyber cafes and PCOs in the city. Among the terror mails received by the IT companies, one mail is said to be “authentic”. The hoax calls, incidentally, had created problems in Bangalore on an earlier occasion also. Pranksters had a field day after serial bomb blasts rocked the city on July 25. They set off false alarms in schools, business establishments, including IT firms, police control room and even the royal palace in Mysore.

Yeddyurappa has been repeatedly asking the Centre for stationing of an NSG commando unit in Bangalore. It is believed that the presence of NSG unit in the city will go a long way in restoring the confidence of people engaged in business and industrial activities in the city and elsewhere in the state.

New Delhi, January 6
The government has constituted the Prime Minister’s global advisory council in pursuance of the announcement made by Manmohan Singh on the occasion of the Parvasi Bharatiya Divas in January last year.

The council is based on the idea that highly skilled overseas Indian community represents a vast untapped resource that can be harnessed as an input into national development processes in India. The council will be chaired by the Prime Minister. Its members will include External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, senior officials from the Government of India prominent overseas Indians. Some of the prominent people in the council include LN Mittal, Indra K Nooyi, Amartya Sen, Sam Pitroda and Shashi Tharoor.

The council will advise the government on how to facilitate a dynamic two-way engagement between stakeholders in India and the overseas Indian community. It will specifically focus on the promotion of business-to-business partnerships, creating appropriate institutional mechanisms that can leverage knowledge, skills and expertise possessed by the community for socio-economic development processes in the country.

New Delhi, January 6
Hemmed in by states wanting some kind of role to play in the National Investigative Agency (NIA), or challenging its very establishment, Home Minister P. Chidambaram today said that he would be writing to the states to remove all doubts and convey its true sense and context.

Talking to reporters at the conclusion of the Chief Ministers’ Conference here, the Home Minister said he would write to the chief ministers to allay fears about the NIA and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. “If they are still not satisfied, I am prepared to re-visit the law. However, NIA will not be ruled out,” he clarified.

"These laws were cleared by MPs from all states," the Home Minister said. At the meeting, several chief ministers raised the issues that certain sections of the NAI were a total infringement upon the rights of the states.

Meanwhile, Chidambaram said intelligence sharing between states had improved, adding that there would be security audit for all religious, strategic and defence installations.

He said the flow of intelligence between states had started and many states would create a separate intelligence cadre.

Chidambaram emphasised that there would be a separate security plan for northeastern states while Maharashtra would have a separate industrial protection force. The nation was looking to thwart any attack before it was carried out.

He said the issue of having a separate coastal command would come up in the forthcoming meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security.

On handing over the control of the Delhi police to the Delhi government, the Home Minister said he had received a letter only today and was not in position to comment.

Guwahati, January 6
The opposition in the Congress-ruled Assam today demanded a deadline to seal the Indo-Bangladesh border in the state to prevent cross-border movement of anti-social elements that are out to destabilise the country.

The Assembly today witnessed a heated exchange between the members of the treasury bench and the Opposition, particularly from the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), after the government failed to give answer to the question about the deadline for completion of the border fencing.

The opposition lambasted the government for not setting up adequate number of river police posts and facilitate floating border outposts along the border. Leader of the Opposition and AGP president Chandra Mohan Partway also demanded a detail statement about the border fencing done so far.

“Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram have also commented during their visit to the region after January 1 serial blasts in Guwahati that the porous border with Bangladesh has been a problem in tackling terror,” he said.

Leader of the Assam United Democratic Front Badaruddin Ajmal said: “The government is committed as per the clauses of the Assam Accord of 1985 to fence the Indo-Bangladesh border. If needed, an all-party delegation should be sent to New Delhi to apprise the Prime Minister of the situation.” Earlier, Assam Accord Implementation Minister Bhumidhar Barman informed the House that border-fencing work had run into the wall because of dispute over land between the two countries.

New Delhi, January 6
The BJP is visibly embarrassed by the unexpected desire of former Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat to jump into the electoral fray once again in the forthcoming general elections and possibly contest from the Jaipur Lok Sabha seat.

Shekhawat had hinted yesterday in Kota that he was seriously considering contesting the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. He had said that there was enormous pressure on him from the people for contesting the polls.

The former Vice-President may make history of sorts if he did that. So far no one who has held the office of the President or Vice-President has returned to the rough and tumble of the parliamentary or the Assembly polls. Shekhawat also mentioned other options saying, “If I opted for not contesting the Lok Sabha polls then I will launch countrywide campaign against corruption,” he said.

His reference to corruption, too, had a hidden message for his party.

The former state Chief Minister followed up his remark by saying “This reflected some lacunae in selection of the candidates.”

The former Vice-President’s desire to re-enter electoral arena has set tongues wagging in the BJP circles here. There are some in the party who think this is an attempt to have one other contender for the post of the Prime Minister besides LK Advani in case BJP/NDA is in a position to form the next government. They cite the fact that Shekhawat is known for his acceptability even among his political opponents. Publicly the BJP leaders avoided any comment on this except saying that he was a revered leader. But privately they admitted that this has come at the most inappropriate time for the party.

Already the party is struggling to dispel the controversy over the theft of Rs 2.6 crore cash from a safe vault in the party office. Then the RSS/BJP meeting held at Advani’s residence last week also developed into a major controversy with the media-reporting clash of personality between Advani and BJP president Rajnth Singh.

Mumbai, January 6
Deft moves by Maharashtra’s new Chief Minister Ashok Chavan brought about a virtual last minute rapproachment with Shiv Sainik-turned-Congressman Narayan Rane who was all set to announce his breaking away from the party today.

Rane is likely to meet party president Sonia Gandhi in the next few days. He later told a Marathi news channel that Chavan had invited him to join the Cabinet. The Chief Minister himself remained tight lipped as to the one-to-one meeting the two had on Monday.

Party sources said Chavan had wooed back Rane and persuaded him not to quit. Apart from berth in the Cabinet and state government bodies for Rane and his supporters, the sulking leader has been promised a greater say in the distribution of ticket in the coming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, according to sources.

Rane, who has been suspended from the party for hitting out at Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is expected to make amends. However, Rane even sounded conciliatory regarding his relationship with former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. “I have nothing personal against anyone. I had only spoken in the interests of Maharashtra,” Rane maintained.

With all mainstream parties facing a tough battle in the coming elections following the Mumbai terror attacks and the economic downturn, no one wants to upset their political calculations by taking in Rane. And building his own political party from scratch even in his backyard of Konkan would have been a tough task for Rane despite his famed organisational skills.

In the event, Rane seems to have decided to be satisfied with whatever is being dished out by the Congress party. Sources here say the party may withdraw its suspension of Rane after his meeting with Sonia.

Meanwhile, Rane’s foes within the Congress party have also decided not to needle him, at least for the moment. Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief.

Noida, January 6
An MBA student of Noida’s prestigious institution and resident of Delhi was gang-raped in Sector 71 here on Monday. Five persons have been arrested in this connection.

Superintendent of Police (City) AK Tripathi said: “One Amit Pawar, an MBA student, had lodged a complaint on Monday night stating that while he was going to Delhi from Great India Place with his friend in car, some youths on motorcycles intercepted them. When they stopped the car, they overpowered them. One of them took control of the car’s steering and took them to Sector 71 where they gang-raped the victim.”

“The police launched a manhunt and arrested five persons from Ghari Chowkandi village. They have been identified as Pushpender, Srikant, Sanjay, Sudhir and Gautam. Five others are absconding. Two motorcycles have been recovered from them. They confessed to have committed the rape. The complainant, too, has identified the accused. The girl has been sent for medical examination and medical report is awaited,” said Tripathi.

Sanjay, one of the accused, confessed before the media that he and the other accused had raped the girl. He said they assaulted the boy and raped the girl one by one. The accused claimed that in all 10 boys had raped the victim.

Chandigarh, January 6
The Editors Guild of India has expressed shock over the manner in which the Editor-in-Chief of the Karavali Ale Group, B V Seetaram, was handcuffed and paraded by the Karnataka police when he was being produced before a court in Udupi in connection with a defamation case.

The Guild has also expressed surprise at the way several police vehicles chased Seetaram's car in Karkala at night and surrounded him, especially when he had been available in his Mangalore office, according to a statement issued here today.

Seetaram has conveyed to the Guild that he apprehended serious threat to his life inside jail and has demanded protection. The Press Council of India has already sought a report from the Karnataka government on the threats faced by Seetaram. The Guild has reiterated that it is the duty of the Karnataka police to ensure that he comes to no harm.

Regarding criminal defamation cases against the media, the Guild has always held that most of the time the provision is misused by influential persons and the police. It has reiterated that the provisions on criminal defamation have to be repealed as they have become instruments of harassment of journalists.

New Delhi, January 6
The CBI today had a taste of its own drill, with the Supreme Court grilling it for its U-turn in the disproportionate assets case against former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family.

The apex court had on March 1, 2007, asked the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the alleged ill-gotten wealth of Mulayam Singh and his family members and submit a report to the Centre.

The CBI, however, filed an application on October 26, 2007, seeking modification of the court order to enable it to submit the investigation report directly to the apex court rather than the Centre. But the bureau took a U-turn in November last year, pleading for withdrawal of the 2007 application as it had no problem submitting the inquiry report to the Centre.

The petitioner opposed the CBI’s change of stand, stating it had been brought about by the new political equation at the Centre in the wake of Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi Party bailing out the UPA government in the July 22 confidence vote in the Lok Sabha.

Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam, counsel for the CBI, said the investigation was at a different stage now as Mulayam and his family members had provided their income tax returns and other voluminous documents. The next hearing will take place on January 27.