22 January 2011Saturday8 Dimapur The Morung ExpressNATIONAL

MUMBAI, JAN 21 (AGENCIES): The deep striking warfare and stra-tegic capabilities of the In-dian Navy got a major boost Friday with the induction of the third fleet tanker, the state-of-the-art INS Deep-ak, which will be followed by a similar one in nine months. The Italian-built tanker will enable warships operate for prolonged peri-ods on the high seas without returning to harbour for re-plenishment or refuelling.

A fleet tanker is as much useful to warships as mid-air refuellers are for fighter jets for extending their op-erational range. Defence Minister A.K. Antony who flew in from New Delhi, commissioned the ship at the Naval Dockyard here.

‘It is a great moment for the Indian Navy,’ Antony said, adding the year will see more acquisitions and com-missionings to strengthen the maritime security (of India). The defence min-ister said India’s contin-ued presence in the Indian Ocean waters necessitates pursuing ‘our strategic and diplomatic interests’.

‘A ship such as Deepak, with an ability to sustain the Indian fleet at sea for prolonged periods, is a vital asset to ensure Indian Na-vy’s continuous presence in our area of interest,’ Anto-ny said in his short speech before unveiling the ship’s name plaque, to formally induct the INS Deepak into the Indian Navy.

The 175-metre long and 25-metre wide ship has a capacity to carry 17,900 tonnes of cargo, including 15,500 tonnes of fuel. It can refuel five ships at a time with a fueling speed of 1,500 tonnes per hour. The earlier two tankers - INS Jyoti and INS Aditya - could refuel at the speed 300 tonnes per hour. The new tanker has

Indian Navy strenghtens far-reaching capability

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 21 (PTI): Thousands of se-curity personnel will fan across the national capital in the run-up to the Repub-lic Day celebrations to keep a tight vigil over the city to ensure that no untoward incident takes place.

Elaborate security and traffic arrangements have been made for the Republic Day parade on January 26 and its full dress rehears-al this Sunday, Satyendra Garg, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), told re-porters here today.

“All arrangements have been made. 150 companies (15,000 personnel) from paramilitary and other state forces will be deployed besides Delhi Police per-

sonnel. Another 1,500 traf-fic policemen will also be on streets,” he said. A mas-sive ground-to-air security apparatus has been put in place for the parade.

Snipers will be deployed at high-rise buildings while around 100 CCTVs will keep a tight vigil on people’s movement between Raj-path and Red Fort, the route of the parade which show-cases India’s military might and cultural diversity. Mo-bile hit teams, anti-aircraft guns and sharpshooters of National Security Guards will be deployed at various places while paramilitary and Delhi Police comman-dos will keep a close watch.

A multi-layer secu-rity ring has already been

put in place at Rajpath, where President Pratibha Patil will unfurl the trico-lour and take the salute of marching contingents. In-donesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will be the chief guest at the pa-rade, which will also be at-tended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the country’s top political and military brass. “A special emphasis is being laid on anti-sabotage checks, ac-cess control measures and intelligence coordination. The entire route of the pa-rade will be covered by spe-cial security and anti-ter-ror arrangements.

“Elaborate air defence measures, including de-ployment of anti-aircraft

guns, have also been taken to check intrusion of air space,” a senior police of-ficial said. Besides the air defence measures, helicop-ters of the Indian Air Force will hover around Rajpath and all along the route of the parade.

Patrolling in crowded market areas has been in-tensified and checking and frisking in Metro, railway stations and bus termi-nals tightened. Security at the IGI airport was also strengthened in coordina-tion with the CISF.

Checking and frisking have also been intensified at all entry points with po-lice setting up barricades to keep a vigil on all those en-tering the capital.

MUMBAI, JANUARY 21 (AGEN-CIES): Defence Minister AK Antony Friday said if there was any reduction of security forces in Jammu and Kashmir it would be of paramilitary troopers as there was no proposal from “people who work on the ground” to reduce military personnel in the troubled state.

“There was some confusion. The an-nouncement that was made was about

paramilitary forces,” Antony told report-ers onboard INS Deepak, a fleet tanker he commissioned earlier in the day.

He said the Defence Ministry had received no proposal for reduction in military personnel in the state. “At the present we don’t have any such proposal. People who are working on the ground, they will recommend (such proposals).”

Echoing what Army Chief General VK Singh had said, Antony asserted that the security grid - the Unified Command - in Jammu and Kashmir should take any such decision. The ground working force, he said, “In Jammu and Kashmir is the Unified Command. They have not recommended (any reduction),” he said.

Antony said there was no contra-diction in this regard between the De-fence Ministry and the Home Ministry that had earlier this month announced a 25 percent cut in security forces in Jammu and Kashmir. They were talk-ing about the security forces and not the Army, he said.

‘No proposal to reduce military in Kashmir’

Defence Minister AK Antony

state-of-the-art aviation fa-cilities and can operate var-ious types of helicopters.

With a full-load dis-placement of 27,500 tonnes, the 175-metre long ship is also equipped with four AK-630 guns and has a chaff launcher system for close in defence and electronic surveillance equipment with endurance of 10,000 nautical miles at a speed of 16 knots. The ship has been built by Italian company Fincantieri in a record time of 27 months after the April 2008 signing of the contract worth 159.32 million euros.

Indian Navy Chief Ad-miral Nirmal Verma, prais-ing the ship said the force was ‘very proud’ of the tank-er that ‘is vastly different from her predecessor and brings with her a host of im-pressive capabilities to the Indian Navy, in the form of her modern refueling and

replenishment equipment, her state-of-the-art bridge and flag bridge, and her two operations rooms’. The ship has elaborate medical facilities and large storage spaces that add to her versa-tility to undertake a variety of missions over and above those of a fleet tanker.

Its induction, Verma said, would add ‘significantly to the Indian Navy’s ability to conduct and sustain opera-tions distant from our coast, a factor that is central to the navy’s ability to protect and promote India’s maritime interests and national secu-rity in today’s world.’

The commissioning of the tanker is part of In-dian Navy’s endeavour to strengthen its blue-water capabilities and protect the nation’s geo-strategic and economic interests from the Strait of Hormuz to the Strait of Malacca.

INS Deepak has indigenous weapons, communication equipment and electronic surveillance system out-sourced from Indian com-panies. The ship has had its share of controversy with the Comptroller and Au-ditor General of India last year critcising the govern-ment for alloting the con-tract to the Italian firm that has allegedly used inferior-grade steel in the manufac-ture of the tanker.

The CAG, in August 2010, said the original Re-quest for Proposal (RFP) had a mandatory stipula-tion requiring the use of ‘DMR 249A or equivalent grade steel’ in the construc-tion of the tanker. ‘Fincant-ieri’s proposal was stated to be compliant with the RFP conditions. However, the firm proposed to use DH 36 steel in place of DMR 249A steel,’ the CAG said.

Tight security in Delhi ahead of R-Day

Tribal dancers from Madhya Pradesh state stand near their tableau during a press preview of various tableau participating in the Republic Day parade, in New Delhi on January 21. Twenty-three tableaus from 13 Indian states and 10 Indian government ministries will participate in the Republic day parade showcasing their cultural heri-tage, arts and development. (AP Photo)

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 21 (AGEN-CIES): Delhi has earned the dubious dis-tinction of being the most unsafe metro in the country, topping the list in number of crimes as well as in atrocities on women and children.

According to latest government statis-tics, Delhi accounted for 13.2 per cent of a to-tal of 3,43,749 crimes reported in 35 mega cities across the coun-try in 2009 followed by Bengaluru (9.4 per cent) and Mumbai (9.1 per cent). Among cit-ies, the Crime in India 2009 report prepared by National Crime Re-cords Bureau (NCRB) said, the capital also reported 23.8 per cent (404 out of 1,696) of total rape cases and 38.9 per cent (1,379 out of 3,544) of cases of kidnapping and abduction of women.

The city also reported 15.2 per cent cas-es (104 out of 684) of dowry deaths and 14.1 per cent cases (491 out of 3,477) of moles-tation. “The highest crime rate of 16.0 was reported by Delhi as compared to national average of 2.1 against children,” the report said. According to the report, total number

of crimes have shown an increase of 12.4 per cent in 2009 when it reported 66,75,217 cases as against 59,38,104 in 2008.

28,49,025 people were arrested under IPC crimes and 49,02,606 under special and local laws. Overall, 77,51,631 people were arrested under IPC and SLL crimes,

it said. “46.5 per cent of the arrestees be-longed to 18-30 years reflecting the drift of younger people tak-ing to crimes. A large chunk of juveniles (64.1 per cent) be-longed to the poor families whose an-nual income was up to Rs 25,000. The share of juveniles hailing from middle income group (Rs 50,000-Rs 2,00,000) was 12.8 per cent,” the report said.

Uttar Pradesh reported the highest inci-dence of violent crimes accounting for 11.9 per cent of total violent crimes in the coun-try (27,414 out of 2,30,500) followed by Bihar with 10.2 per cent (23,485) and Maharashtra with 9.2 per cent (21,257). UP reported 14 per cent (4,534 out of 32,369) of total murder cas-es in the country and 14.3 per cent (4,141 out of 29,038) of attempt to murder cases, it said.

Delhi tops among metros in crimes, atrocities on women GHAZIABAD, JANU-

ARY 21 (TNN): A special CBI court rejected on Fri-day Rajesh Talwar’s appli-cation seeking annexures submitted by the CBI along with its closure report in the Aarushi murder case. It will hold the next hearing on January 25. In a setback to the doctor couple, special judge Preeti Singh rejected Talwar’s application. The court observed that there is no provision under the law to give him the case diary or documents as he is not in the category of accused yet. Earlier, heated exchanges between the counsel for CBI and those appearing for par-ents of murdered teenager Aarushi Talwar took place in a special court here today after the agency protested their plea for copies of docu-ments submitted by it along with the closure report, ac-cording to PTI. “These (doc-uments) cannot be supplied. Uttar Pradesh police arrest-ed him and hence technical-ly or legally he is an accused till the court discharges or acquits him,” CBI counsel R K Saini said.

He quoted a number of Supreme Court judge-

‘PM misleading country on issue of black money’SHIMLA, JANUARY 21 (TNN): BJP nation-al vice-president Shan-ta Kumar on Friday ac-cused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Cabinet colleagues of misleading the coun-try on the issue of black money stashed in secret bank accounts in Swit-zerland and other tax havens and avoiding the issue of its recovery un-der some political pres-sure. In a statement issued here on Friday he said that the UPA government was de-liberately avoiding the issue despite the fact that the Swiss govern-ment wants to return the illicit money and had even conveyed it to India. “India is delib-erately avoiding the is-sue by not fulfilling the necessary conditions and completing codal formalities required to acquire the money”, he alleged.

He said that when he went as a member of the Indian Parlia-mentary delegation to participate in the UN General Assembly in October last year, Swiss representative Mithias Bachman had told him that the Swiss govern-ment was committed to return the money as it considers this amount to be “stolen money”, besides it had signed and ratified the UN Convention against corruption.

Asserting that the Swiss representative had also clarified that his government had started returning the illicit amount to the originating countries, Shanta Kumar, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, claimed that Bachman had made it clear that the return of illicit money stashed in Switzerland depended solely upon the politi-cal will of the concerned country.

AARUSHI MURDERCourt rejects Rajesh Talwar’s plea for copy of closure report

ments besides those of the Allahabad High Court to buttress his argument. Saini said nothing beyond the closure report, which has already been given to Rajesh Talwar, should be provided. He also said that the FIR was filed by Talwar against his servant Hemraj who was found dead. The Talwars had on January 11 filed an application seek-ing all documents submit-ted by the CBI in support of

the closure report. Talwar’s counsel Satish Tamta ob-jected to his client be called an accused.

“It is not right to call my client an accused at this stage. The court had ob-served last time that nobody is an accused at this stage. We are here in the capacity of first informant. To say that they have given wrong infor-mation is incorrect. We are not demanding copies of the case diary,” he said. “What

we want is documents like CFSL reports so that I can help the court. It is such a big double murder, how can the case be closed. I don’t want the case closed. I am asking for the documents in the in-terest of justice.” He accused the CBI of an uncoopera-tive attitude. Meanwhile, Fatehchand Sharma, coun-sel for three servants who were also arrested in the case supported CBI and said Rajesh is an accused like them and hence should not be given any docu-ments. “The court should order further investigation and direct the CBI to file a chargesheet,” Sharma said. The court after hearing the matter for nearly half an hour adjourned the matter till after lunch.

Aarushi was found mur-dered in her room with her throat slit at her residence on May 16, 2008. The body of Hemraj was found on the terrace the next day. In its closure report, CBI held Rajesh as the prime suspect but said it had insufficient evidence to file a chargesheet against him. The CBI con-clusions were trashed by Rajesh and Nupur.

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 21 (CNN-IBN): For the first time in the history of Indian Army a serving Lieuten-ant General has been found guilt in a scam. In an unprec-edented court-martial of a high-ranking serving offi-cer, Lt General PK Rath was found guilty on three counts in the Sukna land scam case on Friday. Lt Gen Rath was found guilty after a General Court Martial proceeding, headed by Presiding officer Lt Gen IJ Singh, in Shillong. He has been found guilty of wrongfully granting a no objection certificate and a MoU to a private real estate developer. The sentencing is on Saturday.

Lt General Rath was GoC 33 Corps when he granted a NoC and signed the MoU. He was indicted earlier by a Court of Inqui-ry. Another senior Army officer and former Military Secretary, Lt General Avad-

hesh Prakash, is also an ac-cused in the land scam case.

At the heart of the scam is 70 acres of land at Sukna in Darjeeling district of West Bengal. A NOC from Army is needed for any land next to a military installa-tion. The land scam came into the open in mid-2008 and the names of Lt Gen Rath and Lt Gen Prakash figured among the senior army officers who influ-enced the decision to issue the NOC to a Siliguri-based private builder to construct an educational institution on a 70-acre land adjacent to the Sukna military sta-tion in Darjeeling.

The private builder floated a trust - Agarwal Geetanjali Education Trust - to set up an affiliate school of the prestigious Mayo College in the area. Major General Ramesh Halgali was the whistleblower in the case.

Lt Gen Rath found guilty in Sukna land scam

BANGALORE, JANU-ARY 21 (PTI): As the fric-tion between his govern-ment and Governor H R Bhardwaj intensified, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa Friday demanded an “un-conditional” apology from him for making certain re-marks against his ministry which he said had insulted the people of the state. Yed-dyurappa, who has also con-vened a Cabinet meeting here tomorrow to discuss the fresh developments, said, “For his remarks, he (Bhardwaj) should tender an unconditional apology. He has insulted the people of the state.” “There is a need to take certain decisions. I have called a Cabinet meeting to-morrow”, an angry Yeddy-urappa told reporters be-fore attending the BJP Core Committee meet, which would discuss the Gover-nor’s latest outbursts. It is

learnt that the government is mulling adopting a resolu-tion demanding immediate recall of the Governor.

Launching fresh on-slaught on the BJP govern-ment, Bhardwaj had yester-day likened the state cabinet resolution asking him to drop proceedings on a complaint seeking permission to pros-ecute Yeddyurappa over al-leged land scams to a “thief admonishing the police”, evoking sharp protests from the BJP. The state Cabinet had on Wednesday passed the resolution asking the Governor to drop the pro-ceedings to prosecute Yed-dyurappa and Home Minis-ter R Ashok on a complaint with him, saying such a move was nothing short of a “farce and colourable” exercise on his part. The fresh provoca-tion for BJP came from Bha-radwaj’s “ulta chor kotwal ko dante” remark yesterday

that mocked at the Cabinet resolution.

Dashing off a letter to the Governor last night within hours after Bhardwaj’s snid-ing remarks, an angry Yeddy-urppa accused him of having “lowered the dignity of the Chief Minister, the entire cabinet and thereby the vot-ers”. Yeddyurappa today said a delegation of BJP Central leaders and MPs from the state would meet President Pratibha Patil on January 24 at Rastrapathi Bhavan. “The delegation will bring to the notice of the President the conduct of the Governor and demand his recall”, he said. The Chief Minister al-leged that the Governor had asked him to dissolve the Assembly. The state BJP is also holding a meeting of its Core Committee and its executive today to chart out its future course of plans to take on the Governor.

BSY demands unconditional apology from Governor

Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernendez looks on during the launch of Samsung’s advanced range of split air condi-tioners in Hyderabad. (AP Photo)