Did 2G scam compromise national security?

New Delhi:  The CBI has begun probing if the 2G spectrum scam compromised the country's internal security and would apprise the Supreme Court of its findings on March 15, the agency told a Delhi court on Tuesday.

"The issue of national security has also been raised by (Janata Party chief Subramanian) Swamy before the Supreme Court. CBI is presently examining the said matter and will file a progress report before the Supreme Court on March 15," the CBI told Special Judge Pradeep Chaddah, in its report.

The investigating agency made a plea asking the special court to discontinue proceedings before it. The court, however, listed the matter for further hearing on March 17.

The agency contended that it has already registered the case on the 2G spectrum allocation scam and was investigating it while an FIR in connection with the case was before another court of Special Judge O P Saini.

"CBI has filed a report regarding Swamy's apprehensions of threat to national security. It has been submitted in the report that matter is now pending before the Supreme Court," the court said.

CBI said it has begun probing the threat to country's internal security as per the concerns raised by Swamy, who had come to the court seeking a probe into the scam.

He had also sought the court's direction to appoint him as a public prosecutor to help the agency in probing the case and trying the accused.

Swamy, however, could not appear before it today as he was attending the 2G spectrum matter in the Supreme Court. His counsel Tarun Goomber asked the lower court to exempt him from personal appearance today, which the court allowed.

CBI had earlier told the court that it was not aware of the threat to national security posed by allocation of 2G spectrum to some telecom firms which subsequently off-loaded their shares to global firms with links to Pakistan.

"We (CBI) are not aware of the details of national security aspect as raised by Swamy in his application as a copy of the complaint by him is not available with us," CBI had said.

But, CBI filed its report on Tuesday as the court had specifically asked it earlier if their investigation also covered the national security aspect as raised by Swamy.

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Akhilesh Yadav arrested at airport

Amausi, Uttar Pradesh:  Akhilesh Yadav, whose father is Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, has been arrested at the Amausi Airport in Uttar Pradesh. (Read: Who is Akhilesh Yadav?)

Akhilesh, who is the President of his party's unit in Uttar Pradesh, was to lead a protest against Mayawati's Bahujan Samjawadi Party (BSP), which is in power.

He landed in Lucknow from Delhi, where he had been attending the Budget session of Parliament.

"He was immediately sent to jail and even not allowed by the police to talk to media," party spokesman Ashish Yadav told reporters.

The police claim he was arrested as a preventive measure to keep the peace in the state - Mayawati has enforced prohibitory orders, banning large crowds from gathering.

Soon after his arrest, a number of SP party workers gathered at the Hazratganj crossing to register their protest.

The police allegedly hit them with batons, and some people are said to have been injured.

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Pranab's son to contest West Bengal elections

Suri, West Bengal:  Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit Mukherjee has quit his job in the Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) to contest the forthcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal on a Congress ticket.
On Monday, his resignation was accepted by the SAIL board and he would be released in a day or two, according to sources in the public sector giant.
Though Abhijit, who held the post of General Manager (Corporate Social Responsibility) in SAIL, refused to comment on his political future, well-placed sources said he is expected to contest from Nalhati Assembly constituency in Birbhum district.

Birbhum is the home district of the Finance Minister and has remained a stronghold of the Congress long after it was replaced by Trinamool Congress as the principal opposition party in the state.    

Speculation over his joining politics was rife ever since he actively participated in some public welfare programmes in the district in the past three months.    

Political observers got a scent of his intention to join politics when recently, a branch of a public sector bank was inaugurated at Nalhati, which is widely believed to be an initiative of Abhijit, though the man himself was not present at the inaugural.    

Congress sources said Abhijit might start his election campaign from next Thursday or Friday at Nalhati.    

Tarun Ghosh, a close aide of Abhijit and the likely election agent for him, said, "Arrangement for his stay at Nalhati has been made. A draft programme for filing nomination by him has also been prepared by district Congress leaders."    

Though Nalhati at present is represented by Forward Bloc MLA Dipak Chatterjee, in the last Panchayet election Congress had a good showing there.    

Interestingly, local Trinamool Congress leaders took exception to the possibility of Abhijit's candidature, but soon they changed their opinion.    

According to Congress sources, the party may get three tickets in Birbhum as the alliance partner of Trinamool Congress. There are a total 11 Assembly seats in Birbhum.    

Hasan constituency, which is adjacent to Nalhati, is now represented by Congress.

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Tamil Nadu: FIR against Union State Minister Napoleon for bribing voters

Chennai:  A First Information Report (FIR) has been filed by the district administration against Union Minister of state, Napoleon, for bribing voters in Tamil Nadu.

Napoleon had allegedly distributed gifts at a private function at Tamil Nadu's Tirunelvelli district on March 2.

An FIR has also been filed against a Congress MLA, Vasantha Kumar, for distributing free school bags.

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Al Qaida, Lashkar-e-Toiba target World Cup

New Delhi:  India has received specific intelligence on terrorist groups Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Al-Qaida preparing to attack. A team of 10-16 terrorists is believed to have already entered India as a part of this mission.

The intelligence has been corroborated by Foreign Intelligence agencies. The US has warned Pakistan to prevent terrorists based there from staging these attacks.  

Gujarat , Maharashtra and all venues for World Cup matches have been alerted. The navy and the Coast Guard have also been warned.

Security agencies have also received information about a threat to the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai.

"We have tightened security and stadium will be taken over 36 hours in advance. All places near stadium like lodges have been combed. Many security vans have been installed at strategic places and are fitted with cameras. We are taking all steps to ensure rest of the matches are peaceful," Tamil Nadu DGP said.

India is going to play West Indies in Chennai on March 20.

Another team is expected to try and join the terrorists that have already entered the country.

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Somali pirates release 11 Indian sailors

New Delhi:  11 Indians captured along with their ship  have been freed by Somali pirates, after being held hostage for 11 months.

The sailors on ship RAK Africana were  picked up by a Spanish naval ship in vicinity (They are) safe," Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said on Twitter, noting that the negotiations for release of the Indians were "delicate" and "prolonged".

However, anxiety mounted today about the fate of 79 Indian sailors abducted by Somali pirates from an Egyptian ship as the deadline set for the execution of eight of the hostages expired today.
The concern over the plight and safety of the 79 Indians on board the Egyptian cargo vessel MV Suez, hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on August 2 last year was voiced in the Lok Sabha when the Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj raised the issue during Zero Hour.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna assured the House that the government was doing everything possible for their release. "We are doing all that we can. We are in touch with the ship owners. We are depending upon ship owners, as is done in most cases, to negotiate with the pirates," he said.

Not satisfied with the response, Swaraj led a walkout of BJP, Shiv Sena and Akali Dal members charging the government with showing "helplessness" in the matter.

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Yeddyurappa targeted over trust run by his son

Bangalore:  Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurapa has rubbished the allegations that he and his family had secured "illegal gains" through donations of Rs 27.18 crore made to a trust run by his son.

Responding to JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy's charges, Yeddyurappa said, "The institutions are run by few important persons including my son. So some important industrialists may have given donation for this institution. He made it very big. For that I don't want to comment anything. People of Karnataka know very well for last 10 years we are running that institution. Thousands of students are getting good education there, so I am not at all worried about these comments. It is left to Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy."

Kumaraswamy had alleged that the donations were made in the last two years by various persons and firms, some for favours. He even released documents at a press conference to "expose" Yeddyurappa's corruption.

But Yeddyurappa maintained that he was not connected with it. "He had already made these allegations. He felt Bangalore was not enough so he did this again in Delhi... PES is an educational institution. It does not belong to Yeddyurappa, nor am I connected with it. My sons and others have got together and set up this educational institution to help the people of Shimoga," Yeddyurappa said.

Kumaraswamy alleged that the Trust had been able to raise Rs 27.18 crore in the corpus donation by "misusing the office of the Chief Minister".

"The sons of the Chief Minister, by rendering official favours to the donors, had collected huge donations for the Trust," claimed Kumaraswamy who has been persistently targeting Yeddyurappa over allegations of corruption and nepotism.

JD(S) said in a statement that Kumaraswamy had released the documents in Delhi, copies of which were circulated in Bangalore also.

The Trust had received donations from developers and a public limited mining firm, which had given Rs 10 crore, among others, Kumaraswamy claimed.

It had also received donation of Rs 50 lakh from founder B Y Raghavendra, the Chief Minister's son and MP. Another son, B Y Vijayendra had donated Rs 10 lakh, he alleged.

Kumaraswamy charged that the Chief Minister and his family had favoured a developer and secured illegal gratification of more than Rs 14 crore, which included around Rs five crore to the Trust in return for protection against legal action for encroachment of government tanks and 'nalas' (canals) and for gross violation of norms for their projects.

Yeddyurappa also misused his office to favour the mining company, which had the same management as JSW steel, he charged.

As a result, JSW steel gained substantially, Kumaraswamy alleged.

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