Congress' new strategy: TV debates are important, topics less so

The Congress may not have a slogan or tagline yet for the national elections, but its version of 'Mad Men' has begun work on how the party will be marketed for the national election.
 
The new Communications Department, created two weeks ago, is clear that it will not respond to attempts from the main Opposition party, the BJP, to brand the election as a choice between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi.
 
Instead, a meeting on Wednesday concluded that Congress spokespersons who appear on nightly television debates will steer the conversation away from personalities and towards landmark  reforms like its current attempt to legally entitle nearly 70% of the country to subsidized food.

Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury said the media is reading between lines that it is scripting. "It was never like thisanyway. We have no issues about who is compared to who. We have no insecurities or doubts. You are the ones who always hype it up anyway," she said.
 
Till earlier this month, the Congress had a "media cell." It was rechristened the "Communications Department" and Ajay Maken, a senior leader from Delhi and former Union minister, was chosen as its head. The new ensemble of spokespersons includes Priyanka Chaturvedi, columnist, blogger and district general secretary, Mumbai Youth Congress, and Rajeev Gowda, a professor from the prestigious business school, IIM-Bangalore.

Facebook and Twitter, to which the BJP was a relatively early adapter, can expect TLC  from the Congress. Press conferences will be streamed live on the party's website.
 
A research team will furnish facts and figures for television debates to spokespersons. The party has reportedly decided that it will now assign representatives to prime-time debates irrespective of the topic being discussed, a rationale loosely summed up as "better to have some say than no say." 
 
Sources in the Congress say that the party was impressed, even if reluctantly, by how BJP president Rajnath Singh held daily briefings with his spokespersons during the recent crisis triggered by LK Advani's hi-def resistance to the promotion of Narendra Modi as the campaign chief
.

Kedarnath cremation delayed as turf war erupts

New Delhi: The mass cremation of Uttarakhand flash floods victims is likely to be delayed with central forces refusing to assist the state government in performing the same. 

Reports said the state government had asked the central forces involved in rescue operations to assist in carrying out the last rites, especially at now-inaccessible-by-road Kedarnath and Gaurigaon, where over 800 bodies are stacked. 

With connectivity still being an issue in the Kedarnath axis, the state administration had asked the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to assist in the cremation of bodies of victims. 

The ITBP has rejected the request, saying it was not part of their mandate to dispose of the bodies. 

The issue also came up for discussion at Tuesday’s National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) meeting presided over by the Cabinet Secretary, a leading daily reported on Wednesday. 

"They have been asking us to cremate the dead also. We have refused and have asked them to get home guards and sanitation staff for the mass cremation. Our boys are not going to cremate the dead," an unnamed ITBP official was quoted as saying. 

Another official said their mandate was to rescue the stranded people, not cremating the dead. The local administration should do it, the official added. 

Meanwhile, former union home secretary VK Duggal, who is the nodal officer supervising the rescue operations from the Centre’s side, is reported to have given a standard operating procedure to the state government on the disposal of the bodies. 

Centre hints early nod for Bangalore Metro's second phase

Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday assured Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that the Central government would expedite work for Bangalore Metro's second phase, an official statement said. 

The assurance was given when Siddaramaiah called on Chidambaram, a Karnataka government release said. Siddaramaiah is in New Delhi to finalize the state's plan size ahead of the budget he presents on July 12. 

He would be meeting the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Montek Singh Alhuwalia on Wednesday. The second phase of Bangalore Metro will cover a distance of over 70 km and is estimated to cost over Rs 26,000 crore. The project is expected to be completed by 2018.

The release said Chidambaram also agreed to consider the state's request to have the central office of the Women's Development Bank in Mysore, located around 130 km from Bangalore. 

Siddaramaiah told Chidambaram that the state government was ready to provide land and other facilities needed for such an office, the release said.

Remembering darkest phase of Indian democracy when ‘Emergency’ was declared

It was on June 26 , 1975 when the independent India woke up, it realized that the free country was reduced to a tin-pot dictatorship as the then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, acting upon the advice of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, had declared a state of emergency under Article 352 of the Constitution of India.

The emergency period continued for 21-long-months and is considered as the darkest phase of Indian democracy by the political thinkers and critics. The emergency, which is apparently termed as a blot on the political history of free India, brought democracy to a grinding halt and all the fundamental rights, civil liberties and legal remedies guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of India were suspended by the Indira Gandhi government.

Prime Minister Gandhi defended her sudden decision to recommend for emergency citing threats to India’s internal and national security from neighbouring countries, economic crisis and political unrest.  However, her clarification failed to impress the critics and observers and she faced immense criticism from every corner.

Apparently granting extraordinary powers to herself after suspending the civil liberties and legal remedies, Gandhi launched a massive crackdown against the opposition parties and landed several big leaders into the jail. The political bigwigs who were sent behind the bars for protesting against the government included Jayaprakash Narayan, Raj Narain, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, Jivatram Kripalani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Satyendra Narayan Sinha, MK Stalin, M Karunanidhi and others.

Organizations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Jamaat-e-Islami along with some political parties were banned.

The period of emergency was also the black days for Indian Media. The freedom of press was suspended and media agencies like Doordarshan were apparently being used by the government for propaganda.

21 months later in March 1977 when the emergency was revoked and people got back their genuine powers granted by the Constitution, the countrymen voted out Indira Gandhi and the Congress government in the elections. This was for the first time when India saw a non-Congress government at the Centre.

Uttarakhand Flood: Sonia Gandhi to flag off relief material on Monday

Pushing the party machinery into the relief work for Uttarakhand flood victims, Congress President Sonia Gandhi will flag off relief materail from AICC headquaraters here on Monday while two senior leaders will be sent to oversee relief work in Dehradun tomorrow.

"Party treasurer Motilal Vora and AICC general secretary and incharge of Congress President's Office Ambika Soni are visting Congress Control Room in Uttarakhand to oversee relief operations and coordinate with PCC sending relief materials," party's Communication Department in-charge Ajay Maken said.

Vora said that he and Soni will leave for Dehradun tomorrow morning to oversee distribution of relief material that reach there from PCCs.

In a press release, Maken said both the leaders are going to further coordinate relief work and related logistics there.

The party set up a PCC control room at Dehradun to accelerate the relief work. AICC Secretary Sanjay Kapoor and the party's wing Seva Dal's chief Mahendra Joshi have already been sent to Dehradun to monitor the work.

Giving a blow-by-blow account of the rescue operations and relief work being carried out in Uttarakhand, the AICC release said 73,000 stranded pilgrims have been evacuated from Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Tehri and Pithoragarh. 2,000 people from Ghangria reached the camps and 500 were evacuated from Garunchatti in Kedarnath today.

Maken said that in addition to the Air Force, state government has also deployed helicopters that evacuated 400 people.

Martyr Lance Naik Hemraj's wife duped of Rs 10 lakh, accused surrenders

A man has been sent to judicial custody by an Agra court after he surrendered on charges of duping the wife of martyr Lance Naik Hemraj, who was beheaded by Pakistani soldiers earlier this year.

In April, the widow of Hemraj, Dharmvati was duped of Rs 10 lakh by the accused Harendra Singh, who had claimed that he was an army officer and sent by the Army Headquarters.

The accused convinced Dharmvati that it would be beneficial for her if she invests Rs 10 lakh in some scheme suggested by him. When she agreed to withdraw the amount from bank he went with Dharmvati and her family members to Kosi Kalan based bank from where he fled with the money, SSP R K S Rathore said.

"Rs three lakh cash, a car purchased from the cheated money, uniform of a soldier has been recovered from his possession," Rathore said.

According to the police, Singh has duped over a dozen families including Rs 3.5 lakh from a family in Allahabad, Rs 1.10 lakh from a martyr's family in Aligarh, Rs 50,000 from another family in Aligarh, Rs One lakh from Agra, Rs 60,000 from a family in Mahua, Rajasthan.

"To avoid arrest he has been living in Noida for sometime. Finding pressure of arrest from SWAT team as well as Kosi Kalan police, he surrendered in a court in Agra," Rathore said.

"The accused was taken on remand from the court for two day. During course of interrogation, he confessed to have committed aforesaid crime," he added.

A reward of Rs 10,000 has been declared for the SWAT team and police team of Kosi Kalan police station by DIG Agra.

Akhilesh Yadav directs officials to make UP 'mandis' world class

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today directed officials to chart out a project to improve facilities at state's 'mandis' and make them world class.

Akhilesh, who is also the chairman of Mandi Parishad, asked the officials to identify the areas which needed to be improved for making "radical changes" in the 'mandis' (a whole sale market where farmers sell their vegetables, food grains and other products).

The chief minister asked for setting up modern 'apna bazars' at 31 places, where, besides the availability of agricultural inputs, arrangements for folk culture, recreation and hand loom products should also be made for the benefit of farmers and their families.

The chief minister said that if required Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for running these 'apna bazars' should be considered.

Akhilesh, who was presiding over a meeting of Uttar Pradesh Rajya Krishi Utpadan Mandi Parishad, asked for equipping the 'mandis' with solid waste management, rain water harvesting and solar energy besides planting trees in the open land of mandis.

For those growing betel leaves in Bundelkhand area of the state, he directed for providing free transport facility to help them get better remunerative price for their product.

The chief minister said that it has been decided that under the Mandi Parishad run personal accident assistance scheme, an assistance of Rs 50,000 in the event of death.

In flood of grief, hope, miracles, heroism float

As rubble settles on the flood-ravaged plains and hills of Uttarakhand, thousands of pilgrims are being brought down and with them tales of hope, lucky escapes and heroism in the face of horror and grief.

And there are scores of such tales: of a professor who saved not only himself but a fellow pilgrim whose identity he might never know; of a family from Chittagong in Bangladesh that watched one of theirs being swept away, only to see him come out unscathed.

The Hero Sunil Kumar, an assistant professor of pharmacy from Bhiwani in Haryana, went down to the ground floor of the lodge in Gaurikund he was staying in with his family of seven to get some warm milk for his nephew. Just then the flood gushed in and swept him away. The athletic professor, however, managed to catch hold of an iron gate a few yards down, climbed up and jumped on to the railing of an adjacent building. Then he saw a hapless floating down. He lowered a leg to the man, who clung on to it and was saved. "I managed to drag myself up to the second floor and helped the person who was covered in mud. I did not even see his face clearly. The only thing I remember is that he touched my feet and thanked me for saving his life," Kumar said.

The flood caught Debanand Bashist, 65, of Chittagong unawares at Gaurimat and swept him away before he or his family of four could do anything. His family, on their way back from Kedarnath shrine, had given him up for dead when he resurfaced. "I do not know myself how I survived. The water just carried me around for several hundred meters. And then, all of a sudden, I was thrown out on firm land," Bashist recounted. "It is a miracle."

Husband held for stabbing woman 27 times: Police

Two days after a 22-year-old woman was stabbed 27 times in a deserted spot in Sector-41, Noida, police have arrested her husband on the charge of attempt to murder.

The arrest was made after Bharti Yadav, in her statement to a magistrate, said her husband, Shravan, attacked her "mercilessly" and was assisted by a friend. Police are on the lookout for the friend who has been identified but is said to be on the run.

Bharti alleged that her husband wanted to kill her because she had refused to give in to his demands for dowry.Bharti and Shravan married in 2012, but had been living separately for the last two months. After regular fights at home, Bharti had moved out and was living with her parents in Bhaupur.

On Thursday night, Shravan turned up in Bhaupur and took her for a drive, claiming he wanted to spend time with her. In his statement to police, Shravan had said he had stopped his SUV in Aghapur and stepped out to urinate when Bharti was attacked by two or three men.

But in her statement, Bharti said: "Shravan came over to my parents' house in his Tata Safari and insisted on taking me to the Sector-61 mall. Though I was tired, I agreed. On our way to Sarfabad (Shravan's house), Shravan asked me if I wanted to meet his brother and I agreed. But he took a detour, stopped at a deserted spot and got out saying he wanted to urinate. As soon as he stepped out of the car, he said he had seen some movement behind a tree. When I turned , he began stabbing me."

Police said Shravan stabbed her several times in the throat. His friend, who was at the spot before they arrived, held Bharti while Shravan continued to attack her.

Police question PM rural development fellow, partner on alleged Naxal link

A prime minister's Rural Development (PMRD) Fellow and his companion from Mumbai, a Congressman who was a former Zila Parishad president and a government medical officer are among ten persons booked for aiding Naxalites in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra in connection with two separate incidents.

Six of the 10 have been arrested, two are being traced and police are questioning PMRD Fellow Mahesh Raut from Brahmapuri in Chandrapur district and his "partner" Harshali Poddar from Virar, Mumbai. Police said they have refrained from arresting Raut and Poddar until there's "solid ground to act against them".

According to police, two of the arrested men are Naxals — Pramod Pungati and Sunil alias Bandu Hichami of the Gatta dalam. Their questioning made police bring in Raut and Poddar.

The Naxals were held from Koinvarshi village in Etapalli tehsil Friday in a special operation based on inputs provided by dalam member Shivaji alias Chaitu Pada, arrested earlier in connection with the murders of Lloyd Steel vice-president Jaspal Singh Dhillon, mining contractor Mallikarjun Reddy and Surjagarh village police patil Raju Sadmek earlier this month.

Raut and Poddar were spotted by police in Koinvarshi but were let off after they identified themselves as "researchers". They were later intercepted past midnight near Aheri while on a motorcycle. Police said one of the arrested Naxals revealed that Raut and Poddar were with them in Koinvarshi as part of a programme to go into the forest to meet senior Naxal leaders.

Poddar and Raut were have been under the police scanner for some time. Last month, Poddar, while accompanying Raut to the Etapalli hearing of Jindal Steel's proposed iron ore mining project near Surjagarh, was seen protesting against the project, police said.

"Our men spotted the two at Koinvarshi. They said they were from Tata Institute of Social Sciences and were doing some research work. We let them go. The two Naxals, who were collecting funds in the village, later told us that Poddar and Raut were also going to accompany them to the forest where senior Naxal leaders Narmada and Ramko were waiting. So, we intercepted their bike near Aheri and detained them for questioning," Superintendent of Police Suvez Haq said.

Gunmen kill 10 foreign tourists in northern Pakistan: police

Gunmen stormed a hotel in a remote part of northern Pakistan on Sunday and killed 10 foreign tourists, police and security officials said.

"Unknown people entered a hotel where foreign tourists were staying last night and opened fire," Ali Sher, a senior police officer in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan province, told Reuters. "They killed 10 foreign tourists and fled."

Sher said police had not yet established the nationalities of the victims but he had received reports that several were Chinese.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The gunmen fled after the attack, which took place in a remote mountain area at about 1 a.m. on Sunday, Sher said.

A senior government official said a large number of security personnel had been sent to the area.

"Since the area is very remote with no roads or transport, their bodies will have to be retrieved by helicopter," the official said.

Gilgit-Baltistan, which borders China and Kashmir, had been considered one of the more secure areas of Pakistan but has witnessed a spate of attacks by militants targeting members of Pakistan's Shi'ite minority in recent years.

It was the first time foreign tourists had been attacked in the province, which is famous for its natural beauty.

Uttarakhand floods: Rescue operations resume after brief halt

With warning of rainfall in the next two days in flood-hit Uttarakhand, IAF today pressed into service C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, which are customised for covert special operations and are capable of landing at makeshift and short runways, to evacuate stranded people from the state. 

The Army has deployed around 10,000 personnel for the rescue operations in the state, while IAF has deployed more than 50 choppers and fixed wing aircraft to save people stuck there for over five days now. IAF has so far flown around 150 sorties and evacuated over 1,400 people from places, including the worst-affected Kedarnath-Gaurikund axis. 

"The first C 130J aircraft landed at Dharasu (a landing ground only 1300 feet long) in the early morning today despite inclement weather. On landing, the aircraft defueled 8000 litres of fuel into an empty bowser which was airlifted yesterday from Sarsawa by a Mi 26 helicopter," a Defence Ministry release said here. 

This would help IAF to augment its efforts in that region as availability of more fuel would help in seamless operations of its choppers, it said. 

The C-130Js, three of which are dedicated for the rescue operations, have also been used to ferry people from Dharasu to Hindan air base near here. So far, over 300 people have been evacuated. 

IAF has also inducted additional personnel to help in smooth flight operations of the over 50 choppers and fixed wing aircraft operating in the hill state. 

It has also employed an Antonov-32 aircraft which will deliver engineering equipment of Border Roads Organisation to the nearest air field from where it would be airlifted by Mi-26, the world's largest helicopter, to help the road constructing body to repair roads. 

The Army has also successfully evacuated all the 500 pilgrims stranded in and around Gangotri, barring 25 people stuck near Gagariya on the Hemkund axis, the defence ministry said. 

"The 25 people will be evacuated at the earliest. Army troops, skilled in mountain rescue operations, have established contact with more than 1,000 people stranded in mountain folds in jungle Chatti between Gauri Kund and Rambara on the Kedarnath axis," it said. 

The force created history in Badrinath valley today when a heli-bridge was created at Govind Ghat to transport pilgrims across the Alaknanda River where choppers did shuttle service from either banks of the river as the temporary crossing made earlier had collapsed. 

Over nine Army helicopters have evacuated 350 people so far and search operations are on. 

"Early in the morning today, Army teams worked to prepare a helipad at jungle Chatti which facilitated evacuation from one of the most dangerous and inaccessible areas of Kedar valley. This helipad is now being improved to facilitate landing of Dhruv helicopters," the ministry statement said. 

Army columns have also successfully evacuated all the 45 children stranded at Pindari glacier in Bageshwar district, while search operations are on to link up with 10 to 12 people stranded at Sunderdhunga glacier. 

Army has so far evacuated 18,500 people and deployed 10,000 soldiers for rescue and relief operations in the flood-ravaged state. 

17-yr-old gangraped; policewoman among three others raped in city

A 17-year-old girl was gangraped and three other women, including a Delhi Traffic police head constable filed rape complaints in four separate incidents reported in the city in the past 24 hours.

The 17-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped by three men, all known to her, at a restaurant in Northeast Delhi's Jaffrabad area on Thursday evening. Police have arrested all three accused — Umar (21), Feroz (23) and Salman (22).

Police said the girl is a student at a government school and lives in Jaffrabad. On Thursday evening, the girl was walking in a nearby market, where she met Umar.

"She claimed Umar lured her to a restaurant in Jaffrabad, where four of his friends were already present. Three of them, including Umar, took turns to rape the girl and thrashed her when she resisted. Later, they threw her out of the restaurant and threatened to kill her if she informed anyone about the incident," a police officer said.

The girl went home and told her parents about it. A medical examination confirmed rape, police said.

In a separate incident, a 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her neighbour in her house in Northeast Delhi's Seemapuri area. The incident took place in the early hours of Friday and the accused, Imran (30) was arrested the same day. Police said, the girl was sleeping in her room when Imran barged into the house and raped her, while two of his friends waited outside. Imran's friends were also arrested, police said.

In another incident, a

33-year-old Delhi Traffic head constable filed an FIR at Southwest Delhi's Sagarpur police station, accusing her landlord of raping her for the last three to four years.

A fourth incident was reported from South Delhi's Saket area, where a 27-year-old woman was raped in a flat by a man who promised to provide her a job.

As Nitish Kumar woos Muslims, BJP makes copies of his Kutch speech

AS Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had his first interaction with his Muslim constituency, after the split with the BJP, at the opening day of three-day annual urs at Manersharif dargah Friday evening, the state BJP was getting ready to distribute one lakh copies of Nitish's 2003 Kutch speech praising Narendra Modi.

The copies will be distributed during the party programmes in 141 Assembly segments, contested by the JD(U) in 2010 Assembly elections, from 29 June to 2 July. The JD(U) had won 115 seats and later three more MLAs had joined the party.

The BJP has 91 MLAs in the present House. It had contested 102 seats.

Although CM House sources said there was nothing "unusual and political" about Nitish attending the annual urs at the dargah, it was obvious that the chief minister would not let go any such opportunity to keep Muslims in good humour in his now obvious bid to become "bigger leader of Muslims than Lalu Prasad".

Manersharif residents had nothing against the chief minister attending the annual urs giving message of peace and brotherhood, but they also demanded that the state government develop Jangali Mahadev, a place 8 km from Maner, which has the ashram of Shringi Rishi.

"The place has been observing Vishnu Mahayagna these days, it would have sent across a right message among Hindus if the chief minister also goes there," said Navin Kumar, a Manersharif resident.

BJP national spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain told The Indian Express: "We will expose pseudo secularism of Nitish Kumar. We will start playing up betrayal of mandate for the NDA right from Assembly segments contested by the JD(U) from June 29 to July 2."

"Nitish Kumar will have an experience of real Opposition. We will also tell people how he has now become friend of the Congress, fighting against whom he had come to politics."

Sushilkumar Shinde's remark on relief efforts in Uttarakhand disappointing

Describing as "disappointing" Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's statement that lack of coordination had hampered relief efforts in Uttarakhand, the BJP today asked who was to be blamed when both the Centre and the state were being ruled by Congress.

"The statement of the Home Minister is disappointing. At this time of peril, when the people affected by this calamity need to hear words of relief from the government, contradictory remarks are being heard," party vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters here.

"To say that there is lack of coordination among the agencies is very unfortunate in itself. Uttarakhand as well as the Centre have Congress governments, so who is being accused of?," he asked.Naqvi said that instead of taking steps to ensure better

coordination, the Centre was levelling accusations at the state government.

"If there is lack of coordination, then there was a need to correct it and provide relief to the people, those who are in pain and agony should be helped, instead of the government at the Centre accusing its state government," Naqvi said. Naqvi's comments came after Shinde admitted that there had been a "lack of coordination between government agencies engaged in rescue operations."He said locals have also been affected in Uttarakhand with entire villages swept away. Relief efforts should be made on war-footing to help them also.

Naqvi said a lot of people were dying of hunger and disease and claimed that attention was not being paid to this aspect. The BJP vice-president said rescue efforts should bemade on a war-footing, something which seems to be lacking. There have been reports that thousands have died and lakhs have been affected in the floods, he said, adding BJP President Rajnath Singh had asked workers from all BJP units, MPs and MLAs to contribute in relief efforts.

Volunteers bring a sense of relief to distraught survivors : Uttarakhand Floods

Amidst tales of unscrupulous shopkeepers fleecing the last dime out of hapless pilgrims, small groups of volunteers are trying to bring some succor to the distraught by providing them with water and food and collecting funds for flood victims.

The denizens were in strength at the Jolly Grant Airport and at the Sahastradhara helipad, handing out water bottles and serving food to those who have camped in the city as they wait for news of their near and dear ones.

They were also on the streets, collecting donation for the Chief Minister's Fund, contributing their mite to the collective effort to provide relief. Outside the Jolly Grant Hospital, some of them sit in a pick-up truck with bunches of bananas and water bottles for delivery to those rescued from flash-flood hit areas. Amidst the chaos which is the aftermath of a disaster, the volunteers were bringing a sense of calm to the rescue efforts.

As the friends and family of those missing rush from one official to another, chase every government vehicle and vent their spleen at what some condemned was the total absence of sensitivity on part of the administration, the volunteers were there, patiently waiting with a glass of water, or lime juice, and food.

"We have been here since morning. Me and my friends thought we should be a part of the effort," said Sumit as he went with his friends from room to room at the Jolly Grant Hospital, handing out water bottles and inquiring about the health of survivors admitted there.

Manning their stations from dawn till dusk, when the helicopters cease their sorties for the day, these volunteers are almost one with the harried numbers outside the airport in their agony and anxiety. One such group was made of volunteers sent by Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, which has set up a langar (community kitchen) outside Jolly Grant Airport.