AHMEDABAD/GANDHINAGAR: The 2002 Gujarat riots returned to haunt Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday when a Supreme Court-appointed investigation team summoned him for questioning on March 21. The Congress immediately asked him to step down.
According to Special Investigation Team (SIT) chief R.K. Raghavan, the move to question Modi follows an order from the Supreme Court on April 27 last year.
That followed a petition from Zakia Jaffri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jaffri who was killed in the riots, and advocate-activist Teesta Setalvad on the wider conspiracy surrounding the 2002 communal frenzy.
That petition had named Modi, who was chief minister when widespread violence directed at the Muslim community broke out in February 2002 after the burning of a train at Godhra that left 59 Hindus dead. The violence, which raged intermittently for weeks, left hundreds dead.
The Supreme Court bench had referred the petition from Jaffri and Setalvad to the SIT with directions to look into it.
Rights activists and Modi critics have consistently argued that the violence could not have gone on the way it did in Gujarat in 2002, but for a tacit green signal from the highest in the administration.
The SIT summons led the Congress to demand that Modi should step down as the chief minister.
Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari said: "What has happened today should have actually happened many, many years ago. A chief minister of Gujarat and his government presided over the worst massacre of minorities that independent India has witnessed in the last 62 yuears.
"It is perhaps for the first time that a sitting chief minister has been summoned to appear before a SIT on mass murder. It would be appropriate that he should step down before appearing before the SIT."
But Tiwari quickly added that "it would be too much to expect" from Modi to do so.
Eight years after the post-Godhra riots, Modi suffered the ignominy of being the first-ever chief minister of any state to be called for questioning in connection with a criminal complaint after he and his administration were accused of aiding and abetting riots in one area here.
SIT chief Raghavan dismissed as hypothetical a question whether Modi is legally bound to appear before the SIT.
Zakia in her 100-page complaint alleged conspiracy by Modi and 62 others, including his Cabinet colleagues, senior police officials and senior bureaucrats.
Gordhan Zadaphia, Ashok Bhatt, P C Pande, who were the home minister, health minister and the city police commissioner at the time of the riots were also named in the complaint.
There was no immediate reaction from Modi or the state government.
"I hope that justice will be given to us... It has been a long journey. I am very happy that Modi has been summoned," Zakia said.
Raghavan said the SIT will submit its report to the Supreme Court on its investigation into some of the riot cases by the end of April.
He was evasive whether the SIT probe will come to an end once Modi responds to the summons. "Possibly yes, not necessarily," he said.
"We have examined a number of witnesses who have given evidence and levelled allegations against Modi as well. We have to post that evidence to Modi...We are giving a chance to him to respond to the allegations and get responses."
Raghavan said the SIT has "almost come to the end of the inquiry".
"So we have naturally to ask Modi as to what he thinks of the information we have collected," he added.
SIT has already recorded statements of number of persons named in Zakia's complaint which include, Zadafia, BJP leader I K Jadeja, former IPS officer R B Sreekumar, social activist Teesta Setalvad, IG Shivanand Jha, some senior police officers and political leaders.
The Supreme court had in April last year asked the SIT to look into the complaint of Zakia.
The SIT which was constituted by the apex court to investigate the Godhra train carnage case and eight other post-Godhra riot cases, was directed by the SC to examine a complaint by Jaffery and submit report in three months.
In July last year, the Gujarat High Court dismissed a petition challenging the probe by SIT against Modi and 62 others for their role during the 2002 riots.
Former BJP MLA Kalu Malivad (one of the 62 people named in the complaint) had filed a petition in the Gujarat High Court demanding a stay on investigations by the SIT with regard to Zakia's complaint.
The High Court had dismissed the petition saying as the SIT is directly working under the supervision of the Supreme Court no relief can be granted in this matter and dismissed the petition.
India 'close friend' but Pak 'conjoined twin', says Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: In a delicate balancing act, President Hamid Karzai on Thursday described India as a "close friend" while referring to Pakistan and Afghanistan as "conjoined twins."
In remarks apparently aimed at assuaging Pakistan's concerns about the Indian presence in Afghanistan, Karzai said his country would never allow its soil to be used for activities directed against any of its neighbours.
"India is a close friend of Afghanistan but Pakistan is a twin brother of Afghanistan. We are more than twins, we are conjoined twins. There is no separation, there cannot be a separation," he said in response to a question during a joint news conference with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
At the same time, Karzai, who was here on a two-day visit, made it clear that India and Afghanistan have "very close friendly relations."
Noting that he had provided details of the cooperation between the two countries to Gilani, Karzai said: "India has gone out of its way to help Afghanistan with reconstruction and to offer Afghan youth education in India."
"Afghanistan will not allow its territory to be used against any one of our neighbours, in particular against Pakistan. And we hope the same will reflect towards Afghanistan that Pakistani territory will not be used against Afghanistan," Karzai said.
Pakistan's top leadership, including Gilani and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, have often spoken of concerns related to India's presence in Afghanistan.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik has alleged that Indian elements were directing terror attacks on Pakistan from Afghanistan.
However, Karzai said Afghanistan would act "if there is any information of any country, not only India, using Afghan territory against a neighbour."
He also said Pakistan should be aware that there cannot be peace and stability within its territory "without a stable and peaceful Afghanistan."
"The bottom line is that Afghanistan does not want any proxy wars on its territory. It does not want a proxy war between India and Pakistan (or) between Iran and the US.
"It does not want any big or small country, neighbour or far, to engage in any activity against another nation in Afghanistan," Karzai said.
In response to a question, Gilani acknowledged that he and Karzai had discussed Afghanistan's demand for the handing over of senior Afghan-Taliban leaders recently arrested in Pakistan, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy of Taliban chief Mullah Muhammad Omar.
Gilani said Pakistan is yet to decide on Afghanistan's demand. "We have our own judiciary and they are quite active. We are looking into the (matter) and consulting legal experts too. We will sit with them and discuss about it and get back to (Karzai)," Gilani said.
Pakistan's offer to train the Afghan army and police was discussed during the Afghan President's meeting with his counterpart Asif Ali Zardari yesterday, Karzai said.
"There were a range of offers made to Afghanistan, some of which are new to us, some of which our Defence Minister already had information about. We will continue to talk about these issues," he said.
Karzai said Afghanistan had accepted some of Pakistan's offers for military cooperation, including the "supply of ammunition and some equipment."
He said there would be more detailed discussions between the two governments on "further steps."
The Afghan President, who was visiting Pakistan for the first time since his re-election, said while replying to a question on the reconciliation process in his country that the "Taliban are really a factor in the whole of the region."
The Taliban's role in the process of reintegration and reconciliation in Afghanistan was discussed with the Pakistani leadership, Karzai said.
The two sides also discussed the "extremely significant role" of Saudi Arabia in this process, he said.
Karzai said he had informed the Pakistani leaders about the details of Afghanistan's request to Saudi Arabia to "participate in facilitating peace and stability" in the country and the region.
Besides Zardari and Gilani, Karzai met the powerful army chief, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani
Sarkozy asks wife Bruni to end holiday with lover: Report
LONDON: Miffed at the rumours of her reported extra-marital affair, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is said to have asked his wife Carla Bruni to cut short her holiday in Thailand with her alleged lover, a British newspaper reported on Thursday.
Sarkozy has reportedly chartered a plane to ensure that Bruni came home, 'The Sun' reported.
According to reports, Bruni, 43, was holidaying in Thailand with Benjamin Biolay, a mop-haired pop star six years her junior. The pair are old friends.
Swiss newspaper Tribune de Geneve yesterday reported that Bruni's holiday "was cut short by Nicolas Sarkozy himself".
"The president chartered a plane to bring his wife back to Paris," the Sun quoted the newspaper as saying.
It also said that Bruni has been living with the singer since her return to Paris.
It is rumoured that Sarkozy, 55, is having his own fling with Environment Minister Chantal Jouanno and their romance started when she comforted him while Bruni was in Thailand.
A spokesman for Jouanno, meanwhile, said she was "scandalised by this rumour".
Earlier, French newspaper Journal du Dimanche reported: "The presidential marriage is breathing its last."
Sarkozy and Bruni married in early 2008 after a three-month romance.
Meanwhile, Elysee Palace has confirmed that Bruni "will not be travelling to Britain" along with Sarkozy during his visit to the country on Friday.
Govt to consult all before bringing Women's Bill in LS
The stand-off over Women's Reservation Bill ended on Thursday with government announcing that the proposed legislation would be brought in the Lok Sabha only after consultations with all sections.
During the meeting, "some sort of assurance was sought on the progress of the Constitution Amendment Bill (Women's Reservation Bill) before bringing it to the Lok Sabha. Government will complete the process of consultations with all concerned," Mukherjee said in a statement in the Lok Sabha after his discussions.
"I think, this assurance would assuage the feelings of all members and the business would be conducted smoothly," he said, when the House re-assembled after two adjournments on the issue.
The stand-off over the bill prevented normal functioning of the Lok Sabha for the last four days as those opposed to it have been disrupting the House. "I would like to inform members that it has been agreed to conduct smooth business of the House for the remaining period," Mukherjee said. "I would request colleagues to help the Chair to conduct normal business," he said.
The statement by the Leader of the House came at 2 PM after two adjournments following uproar over the bill. Normalcy was restored soon after and discussion on General Budget, which had got delayed because of acrimony, was taken up.
Earlier, after his meeting with Mukherjee, Sharad Yadav said the government had assured those opposing the bill that all sections of the House will be consulted before bringing the measure in Lok Sabha.
Switzerland ready to help India on black money issue
Switzerland has changed its attitude on tax havens and is ready to give assistance to India on the issue of black money stashed in its banks, a former lawmaker has said.
"Under international pressure, Switzerland has changed its attitude concerning tax havens and is ready to give assistance in this regard to India," said Rudolf Strahm, a former MP who held the post of Federal Price Regulator till recently.
India and Switzerland are currently renegotiating the bilateral double taxation treaty, which would help the Indian authorities to seek details of Indians who have secret Swiss bank accounts.
While there is no official figure on the huge amounts of unaccounted money kept in Swiss banks, a petition moved by former Law Minister Ram Jethmalani and others claims that the amount involved is around Rs 70 lakh crore.
The Swiss government has already signed about 20 bilateral agreements with 20 countries on double taxation, Strahm said.
"There is a process of change of attitude in Switzerland concerning this capital from abroad," Strahm, a former MP of ruling Social Democratic Party who is on a visit to India, said.
Strahm said the Swiss government has declared that it will give official assistance to countries on the issue of tax evasions.
"We are prepared for discussions with other countries on the issue. It is up to those countries to negotiate with the Swiss government," Strahm said.
"I think the tax havens in Switzerland will change and will be corrected. In the last two years, we have very strong philosophy inside the government towards the question of tax evasions," he said.
Strahm is on 11-day visit to India during which he proposes to highlight the advantages of the vocational education and training programmes in Switzerland which have immensely helped meeting its industry requirements.
He said the Gujarat government has evinced interest in adopting such vocational education model which combines education and practical training.
Asked about black money in Swiss banks from this country, he said India too can enter into an agreement with Switzerland on double taxation.
Business News
Swiss data theft affects 24,000 A/cs: HSBC
Geneva: HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, said a theft of data by a former employee affected up to 24,000 Swiss client accounts, dealing a hefty blow to the reputation of its private bank.
"The theft, which was perpetrated by a former IT employee about three years ago, involves approximately 15,000 existing clients who had accounts with the bank in Switzerland before October 2006," HSBC said in a statement.
On top of that, up to 9,000 accounts that had been closed in the past were affected. These accounts often were not big enough to be eligible for private banking services, the bank said. It has 100,000 clients in Switzerland.
HSBC shares were down 0.4 per cent at 1034 GMT, just underperforming the European banking sector .SX7P.
The controversy comes at a sensitive time for the secretive sector -- which serves rich clients -- with countries sometimes using stolen client data to chase tax evaders, a practice one Swiss lawmaker has likened to bank robbery.
Swiss banking giant UBS has seen billions of Swiss francs of client money gush from its wealth management operations amid repeated blows to its reputation from a high-profile US tax case and massive writedowns that forced it to accept a government bailout in the crisis.
Germany's Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, raised the bar in the fight against tax evasion further last month, saying Berlin was prepared to pay for stolen data on potential tax cheats at an unnamed Swiss bank.
HSBC said in December that an ex-employee had stolen data from its Swiss private bank's headquarters in 2006 and 2007, but said to the best of its knowledge fewer than 10 clients were involved.
HSBC "unreservedly apologized" to clients for the threat to their privacy on Thursday, but said Swiss authorities said they will not support the use of the stolen data to answer requests from foreign authorities about tax issues.
Falciani is also reported to have attempted to sell the data to Germany for 2.5 million euros ($3.39 million), which tax investigators there estimated could rake in 100 million euros for German coffers.
Alexandre Zeller, CEO of HSBC's private bank in Switzerland, said Falciani transferred data onto a computer other than the one the bank issued him and fled to neighboring France while under investigation.
Data theft risk was endemic to the business, Zeller said, adding that the bank had already added protection against this with USB keys and other technologies.
"We will always have new threats and we always have to invest more to ensure the IT security is all it can be," Zeller said. "At the end of the day, whatever you do, the human factor will remain. Private banking is a business of trust."
The stolen client information is limited to accounts in Switzerland, excluding ex-HSBC Guyerzeller accounts.
RBI can't help govt on record borrowing
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India cannot buy back government bonds through open market operations (OMO) to help manage record federal borrowing in 2010/11, a central bank deputy governor said on Thursday.
"We could do OMO in a situation where economy was slowing down and inflation was on a decline. We can't use this channel to create liquidity now," Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn said.
India is budgeted to borrow a gross 4.57 trillion rupees ($100 billion) in 2010/11, up from 4.51 trillion rupees in the current fiscal year, and Gokarn had earlier on Thursday said the borrowing is unlikely to be a huge challenge.
Food inflation eases to 17.81 pct
New Delhi:The food price index rose 17.81 per cent in the 12 months to Feb. 27, while the fuel price index was up 11.38 per cent, the government said on Thursday.
The rise in the food price index was marginally lower than an annual rise of 17.87 per cent in the previous week.
India's primary articles price index was up 15.08 per cent year-on-year as on Feb. 27.
India's annual wholesale price inflation picked up to 8.56 per cent in January, compared with 7.31 per cent last December.
Sports News
Germany beat England 4-1 in semis, on course of WC hat-trick
New Delhi: Olympic champions Germany are on course of a historic hat-trick of World Cup titles as they scored a facile 4-1 victory over England in a high-voltage semifinal match here on Thursday.
Germany, who won 2002 and 2006 World Cups, were the dominant side in the clash of two European powerhouses and they made England play a catch-up game by taking a 3-1 lead by the half time.
For the Germans, who were unbeaten so far in the tournament, Jean Marco Montag (sixth minute), Oliver Korn (11th), Martin Haner (31st) and Linus Butt (60th) scored while European champions England pulled one back through Richard Smith in the 19th minute.
Germany dominated the first half with more scoring chances and by forcing four penalty corners. Matthias Witthaus was impressive upfront, making several dangerous runs into the England striking circle.
England, who were playing in their only second semifinal in a World Cup after 1986 at home, got just one penalty corner in the first half.
England tried to come back after the breather and they had more attacks with James Tindall making some fine moves inside the opposition striking circle though it was the Germans who scored the only goal of the second session.
The double defending champions will take on the winner of the other semifinal match between Australia and the Netherlands.
Germany took lead in the sixth minute with Jean Marco Montag's drag-flick hitting the roof of the net as England goalkeeper James Fair just got his stick at the ball.
Germany made it 2-0 with a terrific goal five minutes later. Oliver Korn deflected the ball into England goal from close range off a hard hit from outside the striking circle.
England pulled one back in the 19th minute from their first penalty corner with Richard Smith cleanly pushing the ball to the right of German goalkeeper Tim Jessulat.
Three minutes after the England goal, Matthias Witthaus almost made it 3-1 but his shot off the rebound of a drag-flick from Jan-Marco Mnotag was saved by goalkeeper James Fair.
Germany then produced a fine variation in their penalty corner conversion and made it 3-1 three minutes from the breather from their fourth penalty corner. Martin Haner flicked the ball high up into the England net.
England made several attacks in the second session but failed to give the finishing touches.
On the other hand, Germany scored from the only penalty corner they got in the second session. Linus Butt slammed a rebound off a penalty corner by his captain Maximillian Muller in the 60th minute into the England net.
England could have reduced the margin in the 65th minute but Alastair Wilson's shot from close range was blocked by Germany goalkeeper Tim Jessulat.
IPL 3 seeks to rediscover season 1 magic
Forced to shift tent to South Africa due to security fears last year, the Indian Premier League returns to the country promising a heady mix of cricket and entertainment with last season laggards Kolkata Knight Riders taking on defending champions Deccan Chargers in the tournament opener here tomorrow.
The opening ceremony preceding the first match at the D Y Patil Stadium will see top international performers Lionel Ritchie, UB40 and Bjorn Agan, besides Bollywood star Deepika Padukone, give a rocking start to the 45-day event.
A spectacular fireworks display is to follow after which the debris from the field would be cleared to set the stage for the opening clash between the no. 1 and no. 8 teams of the second edition.
Day two of the IPL will see two legends of the game crossing swords with each other at the famous Brabourne Stadium in South Mumbai. The Sachin Tendulkar-led Mumbai Indians would kick off their campaign to make up for indifferent displays in the first two seasons against 2008 winners Rajasthan Royals captained by Australian Shane Warne.
As was the case in the first two seasons, some international stars, busy with their international commitments for their home countries, would be missing from action in the initial stages of the tournament.
Those teams would have to use the other players in their roster intelligently to pick up points and gain early momentum in the race to the top. In IPL 3, the players have the added incentive of the players' auction ahead of IPL 4 to look up to as most of them would go under the hammer for the next season that would see an additional two teams in action.
The players would be aware that a top class display in this season would increase their demand from the IPL franchises at the auction and fetch higher prices. This time around, three more centers have been added to witness IPL action Ahmedabad, Cuttack and Dharamsala while Deccan Chargers will not play their seven home matches strictly at home in Hyderabad but in Navi Mumbai, Nagpur and Cuttack.
The 2.5-minute strategic breaks would be another important factor with both the fielding and batting sides given specific overs to take them. The bowling side captain can opt to take them anytime between overs 6 and 8, while the batting team skipper has a wider time frame to decide between the 11th and 16th overs. This short period in the fast-paced game provides not only some rest for the players but also gives the teams' an opportunity to rework their strategies as per the situations. The opening clash under lights will see Adam Gilchrist, the retired Australia wicket keeper-batsman, revisit the venue that he lit up with his pyrotechnics two years ago.
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