New Delhi, January 29
Pranab Mukherjee, the UPA government’s man for all seasons, today assumed charge as the Finance Minister and declared that getting the Vote-on-Account passed in the coming session of Parliament would be his first priority.

Preparations for the Vote-on-Account were going on smoothly, he told reporters in his chamber at the North Block here.

He held a meeting with senior officers of the Finance Ministry and discussed the preparations on the interim General Budget. Mukherjee also interacted with senior officers of the Central Board of Excise and Customs and Central Board of Direct Taxes and was briefed on various issues.

Though there was an economic slowdown, the Indian economy was likely to grow at 7 per cent. India would bounce back as the fundamentals of the country’s economy were strong.

Mukherjee said the government was closely monitoring the impact of various measures in the packages announced recently to stimulate the Indian economy.

The finance portfolio is not new for Mukherjee. He had earlier been the Finance Minister from January 1982 to December 1984.

Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister, was given the additional charge of the Finance Ministry on Friday till the recovery of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who underwent a heart bypass surgery on Saturday.

Singh was holding the additional charge of Finance since November 30 when P Chidambaram was moved to the Home Ministry after the terror attack in Mumbai forced Shivraj Patil to resign to resign as the Home Minister.

Mukherjee is now expected to present the interim budget in the Lok Sabha on February 16. The next Parliament session would begin from February 12 and end on February 26.

The main trouble shooter of the government, Mukherjee heads nearly 50 GOMs and was recently named as the chief of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee.

New Delhi, January 29
Parliament today handed over to the Delhi police Rs 1 crore that was seized and deposited in the Speaker’s office in the cash-for-votes scam. A case has been registered and investigations have been handed over to the Crime Branch.

The decision to hand over Rs one crore currency notes was taken by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee who referred the matter to the Union Home Ministry, said Rajya Sabha secretary P.D. T Achary, under whose charge the cash was stored in Parliament House.

Achary later said, “It was a relief handing over the money to police as I had been keeping it since July 22."

Three BJP MPs, Faggan Singh Kulaste, Ashok Argal and Mahavir Bhagora spilled the cash on to the table of the Lok Sabha secretary general during the vote of confidence debate on July 22. They alleged that Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and Congress leader Ahmed Patel had tried to bribe them with this cash.

The Speaker then instituted a seven-member Parliamentary committee under Kishore Chandra Deo to investigate. While the committee suggested further investigations, the Opposition members dissented and alleged an attempt to save Amar Singh.

The Committee also recommended a probe by an "appropriate agency" into the role of certain persons, including Sanjeev Saxena, said to be an aide of Amar Singh, alleged broker Sohail Hindustani and Sudheendra Kulkarni, an aide of BJP leader L K Advani.

The Speaker had been urging the Home Ministry to investigate the case and take over the cash as evidence. He had set a one-month deadline which was going to expire shortly, Achary said.

The cash was sealed and handed over to ACP Rajendra Bakshi appointed the Investigating Officer by Rajya Sabha Secretary General P D T Achary. 

New Delhi, January 29
In the backdrop of Mumbai attacks, surveillance in the parliament will be upgraded with the installation of 300 hi-tech cameras in the high security zone. “We are procuring about 300 hi-tech cameras to be installed in the parliament complex as part of a drive to upgrade the security,” said a senior Lok Sabha secretariat official.

There are currently about 265 cameras installed in the complex. “These cameras were installed in 1980s. So, it was decided to replace them with the latest ones,” the official said, adding that more cameras would be installed to meet the present requirement. Three PSUs involved in installing the cameras had made a presentation on the functioning of the equipment for members of the parliamentary committee on security. — PTI

Bangalore, January 29
In remarks that may ruffle some feathers, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa on Thursday said that he would not allow growth of "pub culture" in the state, but at the same time also made it clear that people taking law into their hands would be dealt with firmly.

Condemning the attack on women allegedly by Sri Ram Sena in a Mangalore pub, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said that liquor shops should be opened in areas that were not near schools and places of worship. "I also believe that children who go to these places with the knowledge of their parents are mature enough to handle themselves," she said.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday had kicked up a storm when he slammed "pub culture" and said he was "against boys and girls walking hand in hand in pubs and malls".

Notably, Sri Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik was arrested in Belgaum on Tuesday and was later brought to Mangalore in connection with the pub assault case. The Mangalore police have sought his custody for interrogation.

“Muthalik has been given judicial remand today. The issue of his police custody will be decided tomorrow,” IGP (Western Range) AM Prasad told this reporter.

Prasad added that the court ordered police remand of nine people whose names figured in connection with the pub assault case. Those given police remand included Prasad Attavar, convener of Sri Ram Sena.

Meanwhile, the crackdown on its activists has made the Sena furious. Muthalik, a former Bajrang Dal and VHP activist, said the BJP government in the state had won the election on the “Hindutva” plank and, therefore, it had no right to curb the activities of the Sena.

Jeetesh Kumar, state joint convener of Sri Ram Sena, has demanded immediate release of Muthalik. Otherwise, said he, protests would be held at all the district headquarters of the state on January 30. “The state government will be solely responsible for the consequences resulting out of the proposed protest,” he warned.

The BJP government in the state perhaps would not have come down heavily on the Sena had there been no television footage of the incident. The footage, beamed by all the prominent news channels, created a nation-wide outrage and forced the state government to act.

Bangalore, January 29
AM Prasad, IGP (western range), today said he had not received any intimation about the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) coming to Mangalore to question Sri Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik.

Muthalik has been arrested in connection with attack on women customers in a pub in Mangalore. On Muthalik’s alleged role in the Malegaon blast, Prasad said the Maharashtra police would be able to answer the issue. 

Jaipur, January 29
Less liquor shops but more revenue. This is the new excise policy implemented by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, a Gandhian, whose hatred for alcohol is well known.

With more than 50 deaths in the past year in various hooch tragedies and an agitation against liquor shops and setting of breweries in the water-scarce areas, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the new policy that would bring a drastic cut in the number of shops but fetch a higher VAT.

The Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday evening decided that the number of country-made foreign liquor shops in urban areas would be reduced from 1,800 to 1,000. This would provide relief to people in the city as many of them had objected to the increasing number of such shops.

The Cabinet approved the increase in the bar licence fees of restaurants and hotels of different categories. It has also been decided that VAT at the rate of 20 per cent would be imposed on the country-made foreign liquor and beer.

It was decided that one per cent revenue (about Rs 22 crore) from the excise head would be spent on treatment of poor and social and economic rehabilitation of people engaged in making illegal liquor, displaying the adverse affects of boozing on public notice boards and on organising anti-liquor campaigns with the cooperation of non-governmental organisations.

It was also decided that the 29 groups formed for arranging “bhang” for such shops would be continued in the year 2009-10. The minimum sales price for the “doda post” farmers would be increased from Rs 50 to Rs 100 per kg in the next financial year and the maximum retail price would be reduced from Rs 621 to Rs 500 per kg.

The Cabinet decided that the present arrangement for giving contracts for country liquor would be decided through single privileged system and the contract for country-made foreign liquor would be decided on the payment of fixed licence fees, but for this fresh applications would be invited and successful applicants would be selected through lottery process.

Guwahati, January 29
The standoff between Assam Rifles personnel and a group of armed cadres of the NSCN-IM continued at Siroy village in Ukhrul district of Manipur after the Assam Rifles rejected Naga rebels' proposal to move with arms to another village instead of a truce-time designated camp.

Assam Rifles spokesman Major Samsher Jung said troops of the paramilitary force foiled an attempt by the NSCN-IM rebels, who were in truce with the Government of India forces, to set up a camp at Siroy village and would not move from the area unless the rebels shifted to any of the notified designated camps. The NSCN-IM has been in truce with the Government of India forces since 1997.

The standoff started on January 19 last when the Assam Rifles acting on an information regarding the presence of armed cadres of NSCN (IM) in Siroy village area, laid siege to the area blocking all entries and exit routes to the spot where the Naga rebels were holed up.

With the Assam Rifles jawans breathing down their necks, the NSCN-IM was forced to request for a safe passage to its cadres to move out of the area on January 23 last.

The Assam Rifles agreed to consider the request for a safe passage provided the NSCN-IM cadres moved with their arms to any other designated camps of the outfit.

“Unfortunately, the NSCN-IM has intimated that their holed up cadres would not move to any of the designated camps but to yet another village with their arms, ammunition and explosives. It was not acceptable to the Assam Rifles. The cordon of NSCN-IM cadres will continue till they either surrender their weapons and leave the area or move to any of the designated camps along with their weapons,” an Assam Rifles spokesman stated.

The NSCN-IM has three “camps taken note of by the government” in Manipur at Bonning in Senapati district, Ooklong in Tamenglong district and Phungchong in Chandel district. 

Hyderabad, January 29
In a bid to counter the impact of actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi, the Telugu Desam Party has unleashed the star power of another popular hero and NTR’s son, N Balakrishna, who launched his road shows today. Kicking off the mass contact programme from Hindupur in Anantapur district, once represented by his legendary father, Balakrishna vowed to restore past glory for TDP and bring the regional party back to power.

Balakrishna, who is also the brother-in-law of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, would actively campaign for the party ahead of the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh Assembly, due in April-May.

Amid lusty cheers from his fans and party activists, he got into a specially designed campaign vehicle and embarked on his maiden five-day long road show.

In the first phase, the 49-year-old actor would cover Anantapur, Kurnool and Mahaboob Nagar districts and address a string of roadside meetings en route. “I will leave no stone unturned to see that the party founded by my father is brought back to power,” Balakrishna told reporters before launching the road show.