EC to launch new norms to fill poll affidavits

New Delhi: The Election Commission is planning to introduce new and stringent norms for filing affidavits of personal assets and expenditure for candidates and political parties in the assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and other states next year.

The EC -- which has recently activated an election expenditure monitoring cell to curb the use of illegal money in polls with a senior Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer at the helm -- is mulling changes and new formatted affidavits after its experience in the recently concluded polls in Bihar.  The EC, according to sources, has also decided to involve the manpower and machinery of Income Tax department's investigation wing in all the upcoming polls as done during the Bihar polls after it found the maiden initiative to be very beneficial.

The EC, in consultation with the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), will introduce new and stringent measures in the new mandated "shadow expenditure registers" for candidates and political parties and new fields related to investments and others will be introduced for candidates to file details on their assets and liabilities in the affidavit, sources said. 

WikiLeaks: India faces bioterror threat, said cable

London:  US diplomats were concerned that India could be the target of a biological terror attack, with fatal diseases such as anthrax being released into the country before spreading around the world, according to diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.

The confidential cables revealed that a senior Indian diplomat told the US in 2006 that concerns about biological weapons were "no longer academic", adding that intelligence suggested terror groups were increasingly discussing biowarfare, the Guardian reported on Friday.

"(Diplomat) YK Singh reported that Indian intelligence is picking up chatter indicating jehadi groups are interested in bioterrorism, for example seeking out like-minded PhDs in biology and biotechnology," a cable from the US embassy in New Delhi sent to Washington said.

"He compared the prospects for nuclear terrorism ('still in the realm of the imaginary') to bioterrorism ('an ideal weapon for terrorism ... anthrax could pose a serious problem ...it is no longer an academic exercise for us')."

Sonia took Congress charge to fight resurgent BJP: WikiLeaks

London: It was the rise of the BJP and right-wing politics that "compelled" Sonia Gandhi to enter politics, despite much reluctance, the WikiLeaks revealed on Friday. 

The US cable of 2006 says: "In a candid revelation of her personal political stance, Mrs Gandhi stated that 'the right (wing) was becoming strong in India and Congress weak,' tipping her hand and 'compelling' her to enter politics to protect the Gandhi family legacy.  "She also revealed that her children were 'not keen' about the idea, but eventually told her, 'whatever you decide, we will back you.” 

The 2006 cable details Gandhi's meeting with Maria Shriver, the First Lady of California and wife of Governor Arnold Shwarznegger. It is titled 'A Garrulous Sonia Gandhi Opens Up to Maria Shriver'. 

This is the second WikiLeaks revelation to have hit the Congress party on a single day. Earlier in the day, a US cable quotes US Ambassador to India Timothy Roemer reporting that Rahul had said Hinidu extremism was more dangerous than Lashkar-e-Toiba. 

India and its Muslims get a thumbs up from US

WASHINGTON: In a rousing endorsement of the secular and nationalistic nature of India and its Muslim population, the United States has recognized and appreciated that a "vast majority" of them remain committed to the Indian state and seek to participate in mainstream politics and economic life, thus cutting down scope for recruitment by extremist organizations.

In an extensive commentary about India's 150 million plus Muslims (the second largest in the world after Indonesia, former US envoy to New Delhi David Mulford recorded in a cable (released by WikiLeaks) that "India's vibrant democracy, inclusive culture and growing economy have made it easier for Muslim youth to find a place in the mainstream, reduced the pool of potential recruits, and the space in which Islamic extremist organizations can operate." 

WikiLeaks: India's tough talk with US

New Delhi:  The latest WikiLeaks revelations expose the tough talk that took place between the United States and India post 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

A cable from a US diplomat in India quotes former Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon telling Richard Boucher, the then Assistant Secretary of State, "Let's not insult one another by telling a story that the Pakistan Army was not involved. They're either unwilling to take action, or incapable, or both; any way you look at it, they're involved."

India has repeatedly pointed to lack of progress in the trial of seven Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives in Pakistan who were arrested in connection with the 26/11 attacks on November 26, 2008, in which 166 people were killed.

The cable quoting Menon is one of about 3,038 US diplomatic cables sent from Delhi and leaked by the whistle-blower website. 

WikiLeaks is releasing a quarter million secret US documents and 5,087 records amongst these refer to India.

The cables, which date from 1966 up until the end of February this year, contain confidential communications between 274 embassies in countries throughout the world and the State Department in Washington DC. Of these, 15,652 of the cables are classified Secret.

Was ex-CJI Balakrishnan aware of Raja influencing judge?

Chennai:  Did former Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan hide the truth about A Raja trying to influence a Madras High court judge? 

In a rare disclosure, today, Supreme Court judge H L Gokhale issued a statement contradicting the former top judge, and said, "The former Chief Justice of India has stated in his press conference that in my letter I did not mention the name of any Union Minister having talked to Justice Reghupati over phone to influence him. I may point out that Justice Regupati's letter was already with him and in the second paragraph Justice Regupathi had specifically mentioned the name of minister Raja."

"What Justice Gokhale has said is the truth. That's what really happened. The majesty of law and truth will triumph. I stand vindicated," said Justice S Regupathi, Former Judge of Madras High Court.

The controversy centers around a criminal case in the Madras High court, which was being heard by Justice Reghupati in 2009 .

It was then that Reghupati wrote to Justice Gokhale, then the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, alleging that Raja had tried to influence him through advocate Chandra Mohan.

Justice Gokhale today released an extract from that letter, which he said he forwarded to Justice Balakrishnan and even got an acknowledgement.

The extract says: (Chandramohan) said that two persons, who are father and son, accused in a criminal case, are family friends of a Union Minister by the name Raja and that the petition filed by them must be considered favourably.

Balakrishnan had denied this, saying the report he received just mentioned a minister and no names were disclosed.

"When this incident was reported in the media, I sought for a report from the then Chief Justice of Madras High Court Justice Gokhale and he sent me a report wherein nothing was mentioned about any Union Minister having made a telephonic talk with Justice Regupathy to influence him," Balakrishnan had said.

Justice Gokhale clearly keen to set the record straight, says, "The continuity of the correspondence clearly shows that the incident related to Advocate Chandramohan and Minister Raja had been brought to the notice of the former CJI."

It is perhaps for the first time that the judiciary is questioning its own, whether its Supreme Court's observations against the Allahabad High Court, or, a sitting Judge contradicting the former Chief Justice of India.

2G scam: Telecom ministry begins issuing notices

New Delhi, Dec 14: The Indian telecom ministry on Tuesday started slapping show-cause notices to operators who were found to have benefited from former minister A Raja's questionable 2G spectrum allocation methods in 2008.

85 telecom licences are in line to for the notices. In addition, 69 others, identified by Trai for failing to meet their rollout obligations, are also being slapped showcause notices.

The entire process of issuing show-cause notices on around 200 license will be wrapped up within the next three days, a Department of Telecommunications(DoT) official was quoted as saying.

Operators would be given 60 days to respond to the notices after which each case would be dealt with individually.

The Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) had identified 85 of 122 licences issued in 2008 to be ineligible as companies mis-represented facts.

In addition, Trai wrote to the DoT on November 18, asking it to cancel 38 licences and legally examine another 31 others.

The companies which face the wrath includes Unitech (Uninor), Loop Telecom, Datacom, S Tel, Swan Telecom (Etisalat) and Sistema Shyam (MTS).