News on India

Government sets up committee to address pay grievances of armed forces NEW DELHI, Sept 27: Faced with unprecedented refusal from the three service chiefs to implement the “discriminatory” pay scales recommended by the 6th Pay Commission, the Government today set up a high level ministerial committee to address their grievances. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will head the three-member committee that includes Defence Minister A K Antony and Finance Minister P Chidambaram to go into the concerns of the armed forces who have complained that the Pay Commission had put them at a disadvantage vis-a-vis civilian bureaucracy. Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor, Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and Air Chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major who together command 1.5 million defence personnel, had come together on the issue and decided not to implement the revised pay scales from October one as was being done in the case of other 3.5 million Central government employees. However, the Services have now decided to accept the revised pay scales for the moment and submit their salary bills to the Defence Ministry on Monday. The three-member committee was constituted following a direction from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is currently abroad. In Thiruvananthapuram, the Defence Minister said the grievances of defence services personnel over pay scales would be settled soon and they would be “getting their pay in new scales by Diwali”. “We are taking up the issue seriously. We hope we would be able to find a solution to the issue. All of them would be getting their pay in new scales by Diwali,” Antony told a press meet. The recommendations of Pay Commission is by and large an improvement from the previous commission. “Still there were some issues, and we would be making serious efforts to solve them,” Antony said. Asked how he viewed the reports that angry service personnel were declining to draw their pay, he shot back claiming “nothing like that, these are media reports.” The armed forces had yesterday refused to accept the revised pay scales and did not submit the salary bills for October. However, the defence forces have now agreed to accept the pay scales with the existing “anomalies”, but would wait for a decision of the Mukherjee committee. Consequently, all defence personnel would receive new pay along with 40 per cent arrears on October 1. “All personnel of the armed force will receive the new pay and arrears on October 1. And the draft notification in this regard will be submitted by the three forces to Defence Ministry by Monday morning,” the government said. The armed forces have been vociferously protesting against the “anomalies” in the CPC notification issued late last month and have been knocking the doors of the top political leadership of the country for resolving the four “core issues” they had with the revised pay scales. While Antony has personally taken up the cause of the defence personnel and written a letter to both the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister on the issue, the Navy chief too had presented their grievances to the PM earlier this month. The armed forces have been demanding that the government restore 70 per cent “extant pensionary weightage” to jawans by deferring the CPC recommended 50 per cent weightage on the last salary drawn by them before retirement. This has been accepted in principle. Defence forces also wanted the government to place the Lieutenant Colonels and their equivalent in the Navy and Air Force in Pay Band-4 (Rs 37,400-67,000), a privilege extended to their civilian counterparts by the CPC, instead of Pay Band-3 (15,600-39,100). They also wanted the government to restore Grade Pay parity between the middle rung defence officers from Captain to Brigadier with their civilian and paramilitary counterparts. The last “anomaly” the defence forces point out in CPC is the creation of a new Higher Administrative Grade Plus pay scale in which the civilian and police Director Generals have been placed. The Services want the government to accord the ‘Plus’ status to their Lieutenant Generals too, who have been placed in a lower Higher Administrative Grade under the CPC. (PTI)

Jamia Nagar encounter ‘riddled with holes’ NEW DELHI, Sept 27: A fact-finding team comprising eminent lawyers, academicians and civil rights activists who conducted a spot study of the September 19 Jamia Nagar police encounter, has said the police version of the incident was “riddle with holes” and sought an inquiry by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court into the entire episode. A report prepared by the team consisting of representatives of Janhastakshep (A People’s Intervention Group) and People’s Union of Democratic Rights (PUDR), which was released here last evening questioned the Delhi Police’s claims that those arrested and killed in Jamia Nagar were masterminds of various serial blasts in the country. A succession of organisations such as the HUJI, SIMI and the IM have already been held responsible by police of different States for the blasts in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi and the bomb scare in Surat. “How come Atif suddenly becomes the new mastermind of all the blasts after a succession of other masterminds such as Abu Bashir, Tauqeer among others. His name was not included in the sketches of the Delhi Bombers released by the police,” Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan said while briefing mediapersons. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has also issued notice to Delhi Police seeking a report on the September 19 Batla House encounter at Jamia Nagar. Preliminary Conclusions by Janhastakshep convenor Dr N D Bhattacharya said, the claim of police that they had learnt the involvement of these youths behind the Delhi Blasts, just before the time of their arrest, is clearly false. In that case, Inspector Mohan Sharma and his team from the Special Cell would not have entered the premises at all, and certainly not without bullet proof vests, Bhattacharya said. “The Police version of two people escaping from the building is quite unbelievable given the location of the building and police cordoning off the area,” Prashant Bhushan said. The subsequent picking up of Zia ur Rahman, son of the building’s caretaker, and of Shakeel and others on the pretext that they were also involved in this conspiracy “is highly dubious and smacks of vindictiveness against individuals who came out with statements and evidence that contradicted the police version”, the report said. Saquib Nisar, who the police claim provided logistical support for the serial blasts in Ahmedabad and the bomb scare in Surat, was taking an MBA examination from July 23 to July 28, 2008. Copies of his admit card and exam sheets signed by the examiners are available, the report added. PUDR and Janhastakshep, which have sent a joint memorandum and their report to the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, demanded that random arrests and harassment of residents of Jamia Nagar and students of Jamia University since the Delhi blasts and particularly after the alleged encounter must stop immediately. Both the organisations said It was very unfortunate and disquieting that significant sections of the mainstream media, particularly the electronic media, has been uncritically amplifying the successive absurd stories and concoctions of the police, built only on supposed confessions made before the Police. This has been encouraging rapid communalization and polarization of the Indian society, the report added. (UNI)

Another CEO thrashed in Noida NOIDA/NEW DELHI, Sept 27: The India head of a US-based software firm was dragged out of his car and viciously beaten up in Noida, four days after workers lynched another top executive in the area, forcing Indian Inc to warn Saturday of a backlash if authorities did not provide security in the industrial region of Uttar Pradesh bordering Delhi. Kashir Dwivedi, 37, chief executive officer (CEO) of Expedience e-solutions India Ltd, was waylaid Friday night on a road while he drove his car to a Sai Baba temple. The company he heads has its global headquarters at Houston, Texas. Speaking to IANS, a rattled Dwivedi said: “I left my office in Noida Sector 63 around 9.30 pm. Four men in a Tavera overtook my (Honda Civic) car and stopped it ahead of me in such a way that my car got trapped. “They tried to open my car doors. Since they had got automatically locked, they brought out an iron rod from their car, smashed open the window and dragged me out on the road. “They tried to pick me up like a sack of potatoes and push me inside their car. I resisted and kept rolling on the road to avoid them, shouting for help. “By this time, a crowd had assembled. So the men fled. Before that, one of them hit me on the head with the iron rod. I lost consciousness for a while.” When he regained consciousness, Dwivedi called his wife on the mobile telephone, who rushed him to the nearby Kailash Hospital. He was under observation in the hospital through the night and discharged Saturday. A resident of Sector 61 in Noida where his office is located, Dwivedi said he was scared to return to work although there has never been any labour trouble there. “This city seems unsafe,” said his wife Madhu. Police said they were doing their best to track down the four attackers. The brazen attack came four days after Lalit Kishore Choudhary, 47 and CEO and India head of Graziano Transmissioni India, was lynched by workers sacked earlier. Choudhary was beaten to death and some of his colleagues were seriously injured in that attack while the police, according to company executives, did not turn up despite repeated phone calls. Stunned by the second murderous attack in just four days, India Inc reacted with horror Saturday. Industry leaders said investment would be pulled out of Noida, a sprawling region bordering Delhi, if the Uttar Pradesh administration failed to improve the law and order situation. “This is most unfortunate. It shows that the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh has completely collapsed,” said Sajjan Jindal, president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham). “Recurrence of such attacks will completely ruin the reputation of Uttar Pradesh. Whatever investment is lined up for the state will be withdrawn,” he said. “If the confidence of the investors has to be restored, the state should ensure law and order so that industrial units may work without any fear,” added Aditya Ghildyal, president of the Association of Greater Noida Industries Association. (IANS)

Dilip Kumar in hospital, improving NEW DELHI, Sept 27: Thespian Dilip Kumar, who was admitted to Apollo Hospital here Thursday due to complications resulting from an urinary infection, is stable now, hospital authorities said Saturday. “His condition is stable and one need not worry about anything. He is in the ward,” an official at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital said. The 86-year-old actor was admitted to the hospital Thursday after his condition worsened. “He is improving and we are keeping a strict watch to avoid any complications,” the official added. The actor is known for his landmark performances in films like Devdas, Madhumati, Ganga Jamuna, Mughal-E-Azam, Shakti and Karma. (IANS) One film old, popular Imran is swamped with offers MUMBAI, Sept 27: The popularity of Imran Khan, who is just one film old, has soared so much that he says he has been “reduced to doing interviews in cars, in the shower, anywhere” and is being offered huge amounts of money to just show his face at parties. “I’m now reduced to doing interviews in cars, in the shower, anywhere...thanks to the promotion of ‘Kidnap’. I’m also being offered ridiculous sums of money to just attend functions, parties and events,” Imran told IANS. “I’m really surprised by the lengths people are willing to go to get stars into their orbit. I’m offered unheard of money to simply attend parties, have a drink, hang around and leave in 10 minutes,” he added. Nowadays Imran’s schedules are so choc-a-bloc that he hardly gets time to meet his girlfriend Avantika or read scripts. He doesn’t deny his rumoured remuneration of a whopping Rs.120 million per film, but says he doesn’t choose films on the basis of money alone. “Money is not the criterion. It’s what I’m comfortable doing. After ‘Kidnap’ and ‘Luck’, it’s only Aamir’s ‘Delhi Belly’ I’ve said yes to,” he said. And although he has been flooded with offers to endorse products, he hasn’t accepted any yet. “I just can’t identify with any product that I’m asked to endorse. It’s not about not doing cigarette and alcohol ads. That, of course, goes without saying. I won’t even endorse clothes or drinks that I don’t use. “I recently had a big Delhi garment industry offering me an endorsement. But I don’t wear their clothes. How can I ask other people to wear them? I’ll endorse the products that I use,” Imran said. The already busy actor now has another task on his hands. Imran has to deal with the damage caused to his car in an accident Thursday. As he was being driven to the venue of the rehearsals for Abhinay Deo’s Delhi Belly, a speeding vehicle bumped into his car from behind, damaging the bumper and scratching the paint. “There was some damage to the car. This happened right in front of Tulip Star hotel. Vehicles came to a standstill and we got down from our cars. But I was in a hurry to reach my rehearsals. So we exchanged addresses and I’ll be taking up the matter with him later,” Imran said. Though he desperately needs a holiday, Imran’s tight schedule forced him to decline Sanjay Dutt’s invitation for a vacation in Africa. “Sanjay Dutt has gone on a safari to the jungles of Tanzania and Congo. He asked me to come along but here I am battling publicity interviews, rehearsals and a damaged car. Tough luck,” Imran said. (IANS)