Yoga guru Baba Ramdev Saturday criticised the Congress party for nominating cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar to the Rajya Sabha, calling it a ploy to distract public attention.
“Congress, which is a sinking ship, denied him (Tendulkar) the Bharat Ratna but is nominating him to the Rajya Sabha as a tactic to distract the media and people from issues such as black money and corruption,” said Ramdev at a press conference here.
“If inducting cricketers and celebrities in parliament can bring back black money back into the country, I request the people in power to induct every cricketer and celebrity,” he said.
He claimed that political pressure was being put on Tendulkar from several quarters to accept the nomination.
On his decision to join hands with activist Anna Hazare to fight corruption, Ramdev said “political forces” were questioning his decision.
“Some corrupt corporates and political leaders are not comfortable with us coming together. So, they keep questioning our unity,” he said.
“Neither Anna Hazare nor me claimed that we were going to unite our two campaigns. But we’ll keep coming together whenever needed just like we have planned for June 3,” he said.
Ramdev said there was no rift between him and Hazare, and that their “frequencies matched”.
He said just and equitable institutions needed to be put in place of corrupt institutions. For this, he would keep a fast along with Hazare at Jantar Mantar on June 3.
During the press meet, Ramdev also announced his itinerary for the thrid part of his Bharat Swabhiman Yatra. He said the journey would start May 1 and end June 3 with the fast at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
“During the ‘yatra,’ people in power will try to malign me, which is expected. But when that happens, I request the media to also hear our side of the story so that the complete picture can come out in the public,” he said.
After a gap of six months portals of famous Himalayan shrine Kedarnath today reopened for pilgrims. The temple, situated in Rudraprayag district at a height of 3,584 meter, was reopened at 0715 hours in the morning according to ‘mahurat’, sources said.
The ‘mahurat’ was decided on Mahashivrati at Ukhimath area on February 20. The head priest of the temple, Rawal, performed the ‘Abhishek’ after openeing of the doors, sources said. Thousands of pilgrims flocked the temple after opening of the doors.
The Chardhams, comprising the shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri in Garhwal Himalayas reopen for pilgrims in April-May every year after remaining closed for nearly six months during winters as the area remain snow-bound during the period. The annual Chardham yatra is considered as a backbone of the thriving religious tourism in the state that attracts nearly 15-16 lakh pilgrims every year from home and abroad.
Delhi’s anti-corruption ombudsman Manmohan Sarin today advocated the need for social boycott of the corrupt and rued the “indifference” of the silent majority towards the menace.
“Unless people condemn, despise, and excommunicate the dishonest, the corrupt will continue to enjoy status and respect in society”, Sarin said speaking at the launch of ‘Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre Helpline’ by Transparency International India.
“The indifference of silent majority is the real cause of corruption. Till you are not personally affected by corruption, you look the other way”, he said. The Lokayukta lamented that complicated laws and lengthy judicial procedures help the corrupt to go scot free.
“Corrupt people go scot free due to long time of trial and I have no hesitation in saying that the truth is that people with money get away”, he said. “Laws are complicated and are not citizen friendly which gives an opportunity to authorities for corrupt practises”, he said. He asked the media to run a sustained campaign against corruption. “The media should not stop at just one report.
It has to be a sustained campaign against wrong. It is the duty of media”, he said. Advocating administrative and financial autonomy for Lokayukta office, he said that in states where the Chief Minister is not included under Lokayukta, the Lokayukta does not face any problem. “States where the Chief Minister does not come under Lokayukta Act, there is no problem faced by the Lokayukta”, he said.
He said that instilling moral and ethical values in people at young age can help in tackling corruption. “The fall in moral values in society is also to be blamed for rising corruption.
We should catch people young and give them moral and ethical values”, he said. The toll free helpline number of ‘Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre’ by Transparency International India will inform citizen about their legal rights, provide legal assistance and equip them to take action on cases of corruption that they have been victims of.
“A victim of corruption can call our helpline and take legal advice from our lawyer. After that if they need any assistance in drafting complaint and approaching the right department, our team will help them”, P S Bawa, Chairman Transparency International India said. Transparency International India is the accredited India chapter of the international civil society organisation based in Berlin.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan today said that actress Rekha and cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar “deserved” to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
“In each session of Parliament, President nominates few set of people for Rajya Sabha from the fields of art, film etc.
It is an honorary position. Whoever nominated for this (Rajya Sabha) are deserving people (sic),” Big B told reporters at an event held for promotion of his soon-to-be-released film, ‘Department’. “I remember even (actress) Nargisji was nominated for Rajya Sabha,” he said.
However, the nomination of the maestro to the Upper House seems to have not gone down well with actor Sanjay Dutt. “It is an honour to be in Rajya Sabha. I am a die-hard fan of Sachin…he is a pride…jewel of India. But I am not happy that he is a Rajya Sabha member….he should have been the way he is,” Dutt said.
When asked if being a parliamentarian will be too demanding for Rekha and Sachin, Bachchan said, “It is their personal decision…leave it to them”. Meanwhile, filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, who was also present on the occasion, evaded direct reply on the issue, saying, “I have no idea about cricket and politics”.
ISRO has said the indigenously built Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1), launched on April 26, has been placed in its final Polar Sun-synchronous Orbit of 536 km height.
“PSLV-C19 had placed RISAT-1 in a polar orbit of 470 km X 480 km. As planned, on April 27-28, the satellite propulsion system was used in four orbital manoeuvres to raise the height of the orbit of RISAT-1 to 536 km,” ISRO said in a statement here.
The satellite is now in its final orbital configuration and in good health. In the coming days, various elements of the C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar will be tested and calibrated as a prelude to payload operations, it said.
“As compared to the optical remote sensing satellites that depend upon sunlight, the Synthetic Aperture Radar of RISAT-1 transmits its own radar pulses (at 5.35 GHz) to study the objects on Earth. This facilitates (i) cloud penetration and (ii) imaging even without sunlight. For RISAT-1, imaging sessions around both 6 AM and 6 PM have been chosen,” it said.
The 1,858 kg RISAT-1, whose images will facilitate agriculture and disaster management, was launched on board the PSLV-C19 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, around 90 km from Chennai.
The Amnesty International has appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take steps for immediate release of all protesters arrested in connection with the anti-Koodankulam Nuclear plant agitation and drop “false” charges against them.
Amnesty International members also referred to S.P.Udhayakumar, PMANE convenor’s charge that the Indian authorities had “failed” to respond satisfactorily to several site and safety concerns raised by an independent group of experts.
They expressed “dismay” that officials belonging to the Home Ministry searched Udhayakumar’s home and that police had “harassed” shop-keepers who were in solidarity with the protesters.
“The charges against the protesters constitute a deliberate attempt by the authorities to silence them despite the fact that the protests had been peaceful,” the letter to the Prime Minister said.
Amnesty International members who have signed the letter include senior functionary Peter Cattan of Switzerland. A copy of the letter was released to the press here today.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday hinted at an impending hike in fuel prices saying that there is need for such an exercise to balance the effects of the spiralling oil import bill.
“With imports accounting for about 80 percent of our crude supplies, the spiralling prices of crude in the international market have put a severe strain on our import bill,” Singh said in a speech while inaugurating a refinery here.
“We also need to rationalize prices and at the same time ensure that the poor and needy are shielded from the effects of such a rationalization,” he said.
The prime minister’s comments came in the wake of demands by oil marketing companies (OMCs) which say they either be allowed to raise petrol prices or the government should compensate them for the underrecoveries. The OMCs say their inability to raise prices from Dec 16, 2011 to March 31, 2012 has resulted in total under-recovery of Rs.2,287 crore.
“The challenges we face on the energy front are formidable. We need adequate supplies of energy at affordable prices. Domestic sources of crude oil and gas are inadequate to meet the growing demands of our rapidly expanding economy,” he said.
India also needed to conserve energy and there was “no room for inefficient and wasteful usage of fuel”, said the prime minister.
The 60 Years of Queen Elizabeth’s reign will be celebrated in Britain with Rajasthani touch.
The 11-member Jaipur Maharaja Brass Band will perform in London June 2 and 3 rubbing shoulders with famous artists like Elton John in presence of heads of several states and world renowned personalities.
“The organising committee of these events examined our previous international performances over the past ten years and selected the Jaipur Maharaja Brass Band to perform at London,” the band’s group leader Amrit Hussain said.
“It is a very big event and we are unable to express our happiness in words. We expect to enthrall the audience and our aim is to give a taste of Indian music to the international audience with Indian and Rajasthani traditional music with a mix of Western instruments,” he added.
The band will use a mix of traditional Indian and Western instruments to perform popular Bollywood, jazz, pop and self-composed music, making it the first group from India to perform at such an event, Hussain claimed.
He said over the past nine years, the band has performed at about 600 concerts in 40 countries. It has participated in prestigious music festivals like Sziget (Hungary), Paleo (Switzerland), and Pori Jazz Fest (Finland).
Originating from Jaipur, the city of the maharajas, the band consists of seven to eight musicians, a female traditional Rajasthani dancer and a juggler or fire eater. They play a range of traditional brass instruments, including trumpets, trombones, tubas, clarinets, tabla, base drum and saxophones and perform traditional dances.
Amrit said that roots of the Indian brass band music go deep into the subcontinent’s colonial past.
“Introduced in the middle of the 18th century by the British, thousands of brass bands play at carnivals, national or religious festivals and local marriage celebrations across the country. In Rajasthan alone, there are over 2,000 brass bands performing regularly,” he added.
“We have tried to include in our team the best performers out of the 2,000-odd brass bands,” he added.
In a move to curb corruption in government offices, Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda has given his consent to an ordinance to set up special courts which will have the power to seize/attach properties of corrupt officials.
“Chief Minister Munda has given his approval to set up ‘Jharkhand special court ordinance 2012′. The ordinance has been sent to the governor for notification,” an official of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) told IANS Saturday.
The special courts will issue notices within 30 days of the petition against the tainted officers.
To fight corruption in government offices, Jharkhand has already formulated the Right to Services Act and the Electronic Delivery Services Act.
India’s nominee, Justice Dalveer Bhandari, a sitting judge of the Supreme Court, has been elected to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the first time an Indian has managed to get this key international post in over two decades.
Bhandari secured 122 votes in the United Nations General Assembly against 58 for his Filipino rival, Syed Akbaruddin, the spokesperson of the external affairs, said here.
In simultaneous elections Friday at the UN headquarters in New York, Bhandari also secured an absolute majority in the Security Council.
In the election to the ICJ, a primary judicial organ of the United Nations, commonly referred to as the World Court, Bhandari was locked in a fierce contest with Justice Florentino P. Feliciano of the Philippines.
Bhadari takes the place of Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh of Jordan who resigned from the Asia-Pacific region seat at the end of 2011.
An eminent legal luminary, Bhandari will serve the remainder of the term 2012-18. India was last represented at the ICJ more than two decades ago.
The 64-year-old Justice Bhandari has variegated experience in international law and is well-versed with the working of the UN. Bhandari has been on India’s apex court since 2005 and has served in the higher Indian judiciary for over two decades. He will retire in September this year. He served as the chairperson of the Delhi Centre of the International Law Association for several years.
Bhandari is also a member of leading international academic and legal bodies and is closely associated with a large number of committees dealing with various aspects of international law such as: human rights, biotechnology, sustainable development, securities regulation, trade, nuclear weapons, non-proliferation and contemporary international law and space.
Acknowledging his outstanding contribution, the Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, US while celebrating its 150 Years (1859-2009) selected Bhandari as one of its 16 most illustrious and distinguished alumni.
In New Delhi, the Supreme Court Thursday had refused to quash Bhandari’s nomination as a judge for the ICJ.
Established in June 1945 by the charter of the United Nations, in The Hague, Netherlands, ICJ’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorised United Nations organs and specialised agencies.