21 December 2010Tuesday8 Dimapur The Morung ExpressNATIONAL

NEW DELHI, DECEM-BER 20 (PTI): Asserting that Congress will take cor-ruption head on, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday hailed as inspiring Prime Minister Manmo-han Singh’s assurance that he will take forward her five-point action plan to battle the menace.

“We will take corrup-tion head on and demon-strate it through our actions and not through words alone. I had made specific suggestions in this regard (in the speech on Sunday) and the Prime Minister, in his inspiring address on Monday morning, assured us that he will take them forward,” she said in her re-marks winding up the two-day Congress plenary here.

Gandhi said it was the duty of Congress workers to counter all the accusations levelled by the opposition, particularly the BJP, call-ing them as “blatantly base-less and completely un-founded”. “It is absolutely essential that we confront our political opponents ag-gressively,” she said, adding that the Congress-led UPA government has accom-plished a “great deal” in the last six and a half years and “we have every reason to be proud of our record”.

“This is a record that stands out distinctively when compared to what the NDA did during its time. Nothing can detract from our solid accomplishments. It is our duty to propagate them among the people”,

Take pride, we did better than NDA: Sonia to Cong

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20 (AGENCIES): Congress President Sonia Gandhi is still Italian in her mannerisms, speech and interests, despite her carefully erected Indian persona, according to an Indian Em-bassy cable leaked by online whis-tle-blowing website WikiLeaks. The confidential document titled “A gar-rulous Sonia Gandhi opens up to Ma-ria Shriver” summarises an hour-long conversation Gandhi had with Cali-fornia’s first lady on August 3, 2006 on women’s issues, Indian politics and some aspects of her private life.

“Deeply hurt by personal trage-dy, she (Gandhi) has erected a strong and stoic persona to prevent public access to her personal space. When-ever she spoke of the deaths of her husband and mother-in-law, she struggled to keep her emotions in check,” the document stated.

“Despite her carefully erected Indian persona, her basic Italian personality is clearly evident in her mannerisms, speech and interests. She presents an intriguing enigma of a warm private personality that re-mains concealed and is available only to her closest confidants and family members,” it said. Often detached and withdrawn when in public, a relaxed Gandhi also spoke at great length of her personal loss after the assassina-tion of her husband, former Indian

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.“At times suppressing her emo-

tions, she spoke about the compul-sions of political life, her parents’ objections to her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi and the sacrifices she and her family have made. Her comments and demeanor put the lie to cocktail party suggestions that she courts Manmo-han Singh’s job.” She revealed that after her mother in law’s death, Rajiv

Gandhi was under intense pressure to take up the political mantle of the Gandhi family, but both Rajiv and So-nia were intensely personal and had no interest in politics.

According to Gandhi, she urged her husband repeatedly to avoid pol-itics, but he insisted. After Rajiv Gan-dhi became Prime Minister, Sonia was determined to avoid the lime-light and “kept in the background.” She clarified that she accompanied her husband to official events, but re-frained from making political state-ments. After her husband’s assassi-nation, Gandhi withdrew, working only on a charitable foundation es-tablished in Rajiv’s memory.

In a candid revelation of her per-sonal political stance, Mrs. Gandhi stated that “the right 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, “whatev-er you decide, we will back you.” Gan-dhi provided personal insights into her life, saying that she travelled con-stantly all over India, often to remote areas to visit the common people, as “it is only by going out and interacting with people that we are in a better posi-tion to understand their problems and determine what they want.”

WikiLeaks: Sonia is still Italian in mannerisms

Congress President Sonia Gandhi (AP Photo File Photo)

the Congress president said in the presence of the Prime Minister.

She asked the party ac-tivists to launch nationwide ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’ to “ex-pose the BJP for its double-speak on the issue of cor-

ruption. There should be at least one public meeting in every assembly constitu-ency”.

Observing that sev-eral central flagship pro-grammes had been co-opted by non-Congress

governments ruling in different states under dif-ferent names, Gandhi said these state governments were “taking credit from our programmes”, which had been promised in “our manifesto”.

Directing party work-ers to expose this, she asked PCC chiefs to appoint mon-itoring committees to get systematic feedback on their implementation and submit assessment report every quarter to the AICC.

Bollywood actress Vidya Balan smiles in front of a poster to promote her film during a press conference ahead of the premier of her film “No One Killed Jessica,” in Ahmadabad on December 20. The film is scheduled to be released on January 7, 2011. (AP Photo)

LUCKNOW, DECEM-BER 20 (TNN): A survey re-port released by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry has shown that 70% women who migrate to Delhi in search of jobs and better education, belong to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. According to data provided in the survey, while UP ranked highest - with nearly 38% women leav-ing the state - Bihar came a close second with 32% wom-en leaving the state in search of better prospects.

Among other states that registered their presence in the survey were those from Rajasthan (12%) and Madhya Pradesh, where 6% women chose the national capital

over their native cities. Sec-retary general, ASSOCHAM, DS Rawat, said: “Out of the total 38% women migrants from UP who came look-ing for jobs in Delhi, 21% are employed in the organised sector, 65% in unorganised sector and remaining 14%, ac-cording to the survey, are still unemployed.’’

In Bihar as well, out of 32% women migrants, the majority of women, 64%, were working in the unor-ganised, while 28% and 8% women were in the organised sector and unemployed re-spectively.

The report’s findings were based on a random survey of about 1500 women in Delhi

and was conducted by AS-SOCHAM’s Social Develop-ment Foundation. Rawat added that the final findings of the survey were arrived at in six months, in September 2010. “This is not a routine annual exercise but a report-ing of social trends observed in the industry,’’ he said.

Among Rajasthan’s 12% women who migrated from the state, the difference be-tween the organised and un-organised sectors was lesser in comparison to UP and BIhar. While 33% women from the state were found employed in the organised sector, 56% were in the unor-ganised sector and 11% were unemployed.

The ASSOCHAM study also pointed to the trend of large percentage of women migrants working in the un-organised sector. Rawat said: “The highest number of unem-ployed migrant women - 20% of the women surveyed - were from Madhya Pradesh.’’ Aside from the trend of employment among women who leave their native states for Delhi, the AS-SOCHAM study showed that 46% of the women left their native places in search on jobs, only 7% of the total migrant had left for better educational prospects. The survey also cat-egorised 24% women as `oth-ers’, who migrated because of reasons other than seeking ed-ucation and job opportunities.

70% migrant women in Delhi hail from UP, Bihar: Survey

14-yr-old violated for a fortnightCHANDIGARH, DECEMBER 20 (TNN): A 14-year-old lured with the promise of marriage by a youth was raped by him and his three friends for a fortnight at various places in Hary-ana. The girl, who was lured away by the youth on December 5, was found near a residential colony in Panipat on Saturday. While one of the accused youths is on the run, police have ar-rested four persons, including the woman who helped one of the youths to rape the victim, at her home. Be-sides Panipat resident Sona Devi, oth-ers who have been arrested in the rape case registered at Safidon, include Moti, a youth living in the neighbour-hood of victim in Gangoli village, Kashmira and Virbhan, residents of Pilukhera in Jind district.

7 children killed as school bus overturns in UPAURAIYA, DECEMBER 20 (PTI): Seven children were Monday killed and several others injured when their school bus overturned near Rosanpur village in the district, police said. The school bus of Balvikas Vidya Peeth, Muradganj, was bringing the children to school when it met with the acci-dent killing three children on the spot, they said, adding that four others died on their way to hospital. The victims are in the age group of 8-12 years, they said. The driver of the bus was suspect-ed to be under the influence of liquor, police said. The injured have been ad-mitted to Saifai Ayurvigyan Sansthan and Auraiya District Hospital where condition of some of them was stated to be serious.

‘Not afraid of CBI, will cooperate in 2G probe’CHENNAI, DECEMBER 20 (PTI): Former Telecom Minister A Raja Mon-day said that he was not afraid of CBI and will cooperate with the agency which has summoned him for ques-tioning in connection with the 2G scam. “I am not afraid of CBI.I am a lawyer. As a lawyer, I will abide by the law. I will not evade the law,” Raja told reporters here. Dismissing as “rubbish” reports that he had applied for anticipatory bail, he said, “I am not an accused and there is no question of my applying for an anticipatory bail”. Maintaining that he has been cooperating with the CBI in its probe, he said, “CBI knows that Raja had been extending co-operation to it .I am a lawyer and I know what is law.” The CBI has sent a notice to Raja to appear before it for questioning in connection with the scam as also oth-ers including corporate lobbyist Niira Radia. Raja was served notice at his res-idence to appear before the agency for questioning. On Prime Minister Man-mohan Singh’s statement at the Con-gress plenary session today that “no guilty person will be spared”, Raja said he was not competent to comment on that. About his meeting with the DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Saturday, he said, “It was a meeting between a leader and a cadre. It is natural that cadre meet its leader”. Raja had earlier in the day undergone a routine health check-up.

Family blames PM’s security for man’s deathNEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20 (PTI): The family of a 46-year-old man on Monday alleged that he died of a heart attack as he could not be rushed to hospital on time due to blockage of roads to facilitate pas-sage of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cavalcade. Anil Jain died in an ambulance near Rajghat when he was being taken to a hospital at around 7:15pm last night. His son Deepak alleged that they were stuck in a traffic jam near Rajghat after traffic movement was stopped for the Prime Minister’s cavalcade to pass through. “We called up the Po-lice Control Room. They did not help us. They kept us asking us where we are. Had we not got stuck in the jam for 15-20 minutes, my father could have been saved,” Deepak said. The family resides in Shahdara.

Anil Jain suffered a heart at-tack on Sunday and was reportedly turned away from two hospitals where doctors told them they were not equipped to treat him. “We were on way to another hospital when we got stuck,” Deepak said. Admitting that traffic was blocked for ten min-utes at Rajghat for the movement of the cavalcade, police said they would investigate the matter. “We will look into the matter,” a senior police of-ficial said. This is the third such inci-dent in the past one year. In July this year, the parents of eight-year-old boy Aman Khan blamed the Prime Minister for their son’s demise. They alleged that Aman died as they could not take him to a hospital af-ter roadblocks were erected during Singh’s visit to Kanpur. In Novem-ber last year, a 32-year-old man died at the gate of a hospital in Chandi-garh as security for the Prime Min-ister’s visit hindered his access to timely medical treatment.

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20 (PTI): Congress on Monday described as a “masterstroke” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s “brave and ex-traordinary” offer to appear before the Public Accounts Committee in con-nection with the parliamentary body’s probe into the 2G Spectrum allocation. “I congratulate the Prime Minister for making an unprecedented brave and extraordinary offer of his readiness to appear before the PAC headed by BJP leader Murali Manohar Joshi. It is a masterstroke,” AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh told reporters here.

Singh, however, steered clear of

questions on whether the Prime Min-ister was “belatedly brave” as he could have made the offer earlier thereby saving the washout of winter session as also queries ponting out that even Congress President Sonia Gandhi had attacked Opposition for seeking his appearance before the JPC.

Seeking to counter the Opposi-tion clamour for Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into second gen-eration mobile telephony spectrum allocation scam, Singh today made an unprecedented offer of appearing be-fore the PAC, saying he has “nothing to hide”. “As Prime Minister of this great

country for the last six-and-a-half years, I may have made mistakes but I have tried to serve my country to the best of my ability. “I sincerely believe that like Caesar’s wife, the Prime Min-ister should be above suspicion and it is for this reason that I am prepared to appear before the PAC even though there is no precedent to that effect,” Singh said addressing the Congress plenary in Delhi on its concluding day.

While congratulating the Prime Minister for his “frank gesture”, Singh also stepped up attack on the BJP questioning why it does not trust in the political intelligence of its own

leader Murali Manohar Joshi, who heads the PAC.

“Does Arun Jaitley not have faith in the intelligence of Murali Mano-har Joshi,” Singh asked adding that the former may have differences with the latter. He also accused the main opposition party of wasting Rs 60-70 crore of taxpayers’ money by not al-lowing the Winter Session to func-tion. “Moreover, BJP members kept on taking their daily allowances of Rs 2000 despite not participating in Par-liament work during this time where-as Congress MPs decided to forego the same,” Singh said.

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20 (PTI): Launching a scath-ing attack on the BJP, senior Congress leader and Home Minister P Chidambaram Monday said the opposition party would not come to the power in the next decade and even after.

Addressing the Congress Plenary on the concluding day of the two-day conclave, Chid-ambaram said he had no doubt in his mind that in the next ten years, it would be a Congress or a Congress-led government that would rule Delhi. “To the BJP I would say, aap ka num-ber nahi aayega, (your number will not come) before the de-cade or even after. For the next ten years, we would be in the government,” he said amidst applaud from the audience.

The Home Minister said when the Congress party was in the government, it must set out its programmes, must pay

attention to inclusive growth, ensure health for all, assure education for all and must make every habitation live-able. Chidambaram said he was wondering why the BJP was so angry with the Con-gress and thought that there could be two reasons for it -- one was the “electibility” of the Congress and the “re-electibility” of Congress. “It is the Congress party alone which can govern the country for five years and go back to the people and ask for a man-date and get re-elected. The BJP had got one chance and failed. The BJP is envious of Congress party. It is the Con-gress party which knows how to govern and how to get re-elected and govern the coun-try for second term,” he said. The Home Minister said the BJP was envious of Congress because it was the Congress which can deliver growth.

‘PM offer to appear before PAC a masterstroke’

BJP won’t be in power in the next decade: PC HYDERABAD, DECEM-

BER 20 (TNN): TDP presi-dent N Chandrababu Naidu, who is on a hunger strike de-manding compensation for farmers affected by floods, was forcibly taken into custody and shifted to hospital in the early hours of Monday.

Naidu was arrested under Section 309 (attempt to com-mit suicide) of Indian Penal Code at 4.15 am amidst high drama. As per protocol, Naidu a Z plus category leader, could not be arrested without the NSG’s permission. But the protocol was overlooked by the police. Instead, the police got the ap-proval written on a plain paper signed by the state secretary legislative affairs. A heavy con-tingent of police personnel was deployed inside and outside the new MLA quarters where Nai-du was on fast for the last threee days. Though Naidu showed the police a report from Asian Institute of Gastroentreology which claimed that his blood sugar level was “78” and didn’t

require medical intervention, he was lifted forcibly and man-handled. When he resisted, the police tried to put him on a stretcher and in the process he fell down. His son N Lokesh was also manhandled. He suffered some minor injuries on his fore-head. The police also clashed with the women legislators.

Naidu who was admitted to NIMS hospital refused to take medical treatment and con-tinued his fast for the fourth day. The health minister D L Ravindra Reddy at a press con-ference however said that Nai-du’s health had improved after shifting him to the hospital. TDP politburo member N Ja-nardhan Reddy and K Yerrana-naidu however questioned the underlying contradiction in the minister’s statement. The left parties, Kisan groups and some pro-Telangana organisa-tions expressed solidarity with Naidu today. Ajit Singh and Bhim Singh of Jammu & Kash-mir Panthers Party called on Naidu. CPI general secretary

A B Bardhan called TDP lead-ers thrice and inquired about Naidu’s health. The TDP called for a state wide strike which has been by and large success-ful. CPI and CPM extended full support to the state wide strike. They are to hold a joint meeting in the evening to work out an action plan to intensify agitation from tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Naidu in a statement said his health was fine and he would continue his fast. He wrote an open let-ter to farmers asking them to fight against the government. When Andhra Pradesh was hit by JAL cyclone in September 2010, the state had been grant-ed only Rs 81 crore as against the demand for Rs 8036 crore. In 2009 when floods damaged crops, the state got only Rs 685 crore as against Rs 1000 crore, he said in his letter reminding the farmers of government’s apathy. All state opposition parties are to meet the gover-nor in the evening to submit a memorandum.

Naidu taken into custody, hospitalized