April-2011-National

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Possession of Naxal literature is not sedition, rules SC
On April 15, 2011, the Supreme Court granted bail to civil rights activist Dr Binayak Sen, holding that possessing Naxal literature or visiting jailed Maoists did not amount to sedition.

“If Gandhi’s books were found in my house, would that make me a Gandhian,” said Justice C.K. Prasad.

Justice H.S. Bedi, who headed the Bench, clarified that the State could not slap sedition charges on Sen unless there was material to show that he was actively preaching or propagating Maoist ideals.

The Bench made the remarks in connection with the State government’s contention that Sen had visited his co-accused Piyush Guha 30 times in a jail and pamphlets and documents relating to Maoist activities were recovered from his possession.

The apex court said none of this amounted to seditious activities or waging a war against the State. Being a sympathiser did not make him guilty of sedition, the Bench felt.

In December 2010, the trial court had sentenced Sen to life imprisonment after convicting him for sedition and having links with Naxalites. He was convicted along with Naxal ideologue Narayan Sanyal and Kolkata businessman Piyush Guha.

Sixty one-year-old Sen, a child specialist who had studied medicine at the prestigious Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, has worked for 25 years in the tribal and Naxal-infested belt of Chhattisgarh. He is also the vice-president of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).

Chinese troops in PoK worry India
The presence of Chinese troops in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) has been causing anxiety to New Delhi, which has started strengthening infrastructure along the border.

Responding to media reports about the involvement of China’s PLA (People’s Liberation Army) troops in various infrastructure projects in PoK, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said that the government was seized of media reports on the subject. The Minister said India continuously reviewed and took all necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of its people, as well as the territorial integrity of the nation.

Another cause of worry for India is that China has been developing infrastructure in the border region opposite India in the Tibet and Xinjiang Autonomous Regions. This includes the Qinghai-Tibet railway line, with proposed extension up to Xigaze and Nyingchi, and development of road and airport facilities.

India has also started paying special attention to the development of infrastructure in the border areas opposite China in order to meet the country’s security requirements and also to facilitate the economic development in these areas.

Visit of Prime Minister Singh to Kazakhstan
On April 16, 2011, during the official visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Kazakhstan, India and Kazakhstan signed seven key accords, including one on cooperation in the civil nuclear energy field and another for joint exploration in the oil and gas sector, and condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and those who supported the menace.

The other five accords were: joint action plan for further strengthening strategic partnership (road map), MoU between the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and the Kazakhstan Computer Response Team, treaty on mutual legal assistance in civil matters, agreement for cooperation between the agriculture ministries of the two countries and an agreement between their health ministries.

Kazakhstan rolled out the red carpet for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who became the first top world leader to visit the Central Asian nation following the re-election of President Nursultan Nazarbayev for a fourth consecutive term. With his victory coming close on the heels of widespread pro-democracy protests in West Asia and North Africa, the Kazakh leader left no stone unturned to demonstrate his democratic credentials by inviting the envoys of nearly 50 countries to the Akorda Presidential Palace for the ceremony to accord welcome to Manmohan Singh, leader of the largest democracy in the world.

From India’s point of view, it is obviously the nuclear accord that is being considered the singular achievement of Manmohan Singh’s two-day visit. Under the Indo-Kazakh nuke accord, Kazakhstan would supply 2100 tonne of uranium to India by 2014. The umbrella nuclear accord envisages a legal framework for mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, including fuel supply, nuclear medicine, use of radiation technologies for healthcare, reactor safety mechanisms, exchange of scientific and research information, exploration and joint mining of uranium, design, construction and operation of nuclear power plants.

The agreement on cooperation in the oil and gas sector signed between the ONGC Videsh Limited and Kazakh national company Kazmunaigas gives effect to the transfer of participating interest of 25 per cent in the Satpayev Block from the Kazakh firm to the Indian company. The Satpayev exploration block, located in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea, covers an area of 1482 sq km and is at a water depth of 6-8 meters. It is situated in a highly prospective region of the North Caspian sea and is in close proximity to major discoveries.

Visit of Prime Minister of Thailand
On April 5, 2011, India and Thailand agreed to intensify their cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, education, tourism and culture and to aim towards doubling of their trade by 2014. The decisions were taken during the visit of Abhisit Vejjajiva, Prime Minister of Thailand..

The visit helped to impart a new momentum to the relations between the two countries.
The two sides also agreed to expedite the conclusion of negotiations on a bilateral Free Trade Agreement that would include goods, services and investment.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described Thailand as a close friend and a valued regional partner for India and noted that the two countries shared civilisation links and were maritime neighbours.

A joint statement, which was released after the summit meeting announced the establishment of a regular High-Level Dialogue on Defence Cooperation that would consider widening the scope of cooperation in the sector. This dialogue is expected to lead to a Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation and is part of India's burgeoning defence ties with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, South Korea and Japan.

In addition to taking a closer look at the ongoing exchanges between the armed forces, the dialogue would attempt to broaden the scope of cooperation to include the Defence industry and technology.

The summit meeting saw both sides agreeing to intensify “coordinated patrolling”, which would be aimed at sanitising the busy but narrow and vulnerable Malacca Straits. Ever since the September 11, 2001 attacks, naval ships from both countries jointly patrol their respective stretches to foil any piracy or disruption of shipping through the deliberate disabling of a ship.

On the security side, the two Prime Ministers resolved to improve sharing of intelligence, develop more effective counter-terrorism policies and increase interaction between law enforcement agencies. In this respect, they decided to expedite discussions on some of the building blocks, such as the Extradition Treaty, the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in Civil and Commercial Matters.

CWG Scam
On April 25, 2011, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Suresh Kalmadi, Member of Parliament and former chairman of the Organising Committee (OC) of the Delhi Commonwealth Games (CWG). The CBI has charged him with criminal conspiracy to buy timing, scoring and result (TSR) system from a Swiss company at an inflated cost of R141 crore.

The CBI has alleged that this cost the government Rs 95 crore extra. "Investigation has revealed that the OC committee for short-listing prospective bidders for TSR was constituted by selecting handpicked officials who favoured the Swiss company while members of the tenders evaluation committee were coerced and threatened to disqualify other bidders".

The CBI had earlier arrested former OC secretary general Lalit Bhanot and director general V.K. Verma in the case.

2G Spectrum Scam
Five corporate honchos, including Unitech’s Sanjay Chandra and Reliance ADAG’s Gautam Doshi, were arrested on April 20, 2011, and sent to jail after a Delhi court dismissed their bail plea saying they might tamper with evidence and even flee to avoid prosecution in the “highest magnitude” 2G Spectrum allocation scam.

The court also rejected the bail plea of co-promoter of Swan Telecom Vinod Goenka and Reliance ADAG’s Surender Pipara and Hari Nair.

“A bare perusal of the facts of the case and the allegations in the charge-sheet make it out a case of the highest magnitude and gravity and there is enough incriminating material on record against the accused.” The court also dealt with the arguments of defence lawyers that they be granted bail “ipso facto” (by default) as they were not arrested during the probe. The court, however, concurred with CBI’s apprehension that the accused might tamper with the evidence “by trying to win over witnesses.

On April 25, 2011, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) named DMK Member of Parliament Kanimozhi as a co-accused in the supplementary charge-sheet filed by it before the special CBI court in the 2G Spectrum case.
Kanimozhi has been charged under Section 7 and 11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), which relates to acceptance of alleged gratification.

Besides Kanimozhi, Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar, and Karim Morani of Cineyug Films (Pvt) Ltd were also charge-sheeted.

CBI disclosed in the charge-sheet that Rs 200 crore connected with the 2G Spectrum had travelled from DB Realty to Kalaignar TV which has Kanimozhi, Dayalu Ammal and Sharad Kumar (MD Kalaignar TV), with 20, 60 and 20 per cent shares in the channel, respectively. Answering the question as to why Dayalu Ammal, wife of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Karunanidhi has been left out in the charge-sheet, while the other two stakeholders of the channel (Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar) have been charged, CBI said that “Dayalu Ammal does not have a single signature on any paper that we have come across. All the papers, wherever required, have been signed by Sharad Kumar. She cannot understand any language besides Tamil and we had a hard time questioning her. Under such circumstances, it is highly unlikely that she could have been part of the conspiracy”.