HEAD LINE:

• Pak won.t act under pressure, will conduct own probe: Gilani (IE)

LEAD:

On a day the Samajwadi Party (SP) once again dared the Congress by releasing a list of five more candidates for the Lok Sabha polls from UP, the Congress put up a brave face and tried to play it cool. Confident that the SP would return to the negotiating table as stakes are high for it in UP (even though the state is equally important for them), the Congress leaders maintained that the move had little to do with the UP and more to do with other issues. These include the disproportionate assets case against party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, spectrum issue and gas supply to Dadri plant. The SP also wants land for office in Delhi and a share of seats in Maharashtra and some other states. .Most of these are not political issues.we cannot face the liability of a scam. We don.t want to close shop,.. said a Congress leader. Congress. UP in-charge Digvijay Singh and state unit chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi to discuss the next move. .All options are open, including of adjustments, talks, alliance and withdrawal,.. Singh said. He admitted that the spirit of seat-sharing was diluted .to some extent.. with the SP.s unilateralism. Even as the alliance showed up cracks, the SP inducted former UP state Congress unit vice-president Mohammed Aslam Khan. Former union minister Ajay Singh and Rajendra Yadav, too, joined the party. It has decided to field sitting member Kirti Vardhan Singh from Gonda. The Congress wanted the seat for rebel SP member Beni Prasad Verma. (HT)

• Jaipur: Former vice-president Bhairon Singh She-khawat, who created a flutter in the BJP by declaring his plans to contest Lok Sabha polls if his health permits, on Monday denied that he was aspiring for the PM.s post. "I had never said I am aspiring for the post and it is a creation of the media," the octogenarian leader said when asked whether he was in the race for the PM.s office. Mr Shekhawat said that during his recent visit to Kota he had only stated that since people had approached him to contest the Lok Sabha poll he would consider it and all depended on his health. "I shall contest the election and there is no ambiguity about it as the people want it and I shall honour their wishes but it also depends on my fitness," he said, adding "I am not going to approach (anyone) for a ticket to contest and shall contest from any constituency as per the wishes of the people". Mr Shekhawat had created a flutter when he said he had plans to contest Lok Sabha polls if his health agrees amid media speculation that his move was aimed at challenging BJP.s prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani. On his allegation of corruption against the previous Raje regime, the former vice-president said he had written a letter to CM Ashok Gehlot asking him to probe the Congress. charge during its poll campaign that the Raje govt was involved in a Rs 22,000 crore scam. (AA)
• While debating the new anti-terror laws passed in Parliament last month, Home Minister P Chidambaram acknowledged the need for a .fair balance. between respecting human rights and tough laws to deal with terror. That counter-terror measures can hurt individual rights is no idle concern. The 19-month incarceration of Binayak Sen shows why. Dr Binayak Sen, a graduate of CMC Vellore and a practising doctor, was arrested on May 14, 2007 in Bilaspur under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Safety Act as well as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code. He is accused of conspiring with, and being a conduit between Naxalites. Chhattisgarh Director General of Police Vishwa Ranjan admits that Sen is not a .Naxal terrorist hiding in the forests. but accuses him of giving .logistical support. to the Naxals charges that Sen vigorously denies. His trial began on April 30 last year and 38 prosecution witnesses have so far been examined. (IE)
• NEW DELHI: Describing the Mumbai terror attacks as .direct strikes. on India.s economic development, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday called for heightened security to protect the hydrocarbon assets from acts of sabotage. Inaugurating the five-day international oil and gas conference and exhibition Petrotech 2009, Mr. Mukherjee said: .The unpardonable Mumbai attacks only underscore the risk all countries face from economic sabotage, irrespective of whether these acts are authored by States or merely carried out by so-called non-State actors.. Stressing that the crucial hydrocarbon sector was even more vulnerable to terrorist attacks, he said: .Energy security concerns are central to our national interest and an important aspect of our economic diplomacy; efforts to protect these assets had to be a global undertaking, rather than of individual countries. (HINDU)
• Bangalore: The grim environment in the IT industry turned grimmer on Monday with Wipro Technologies disclosing that in June 2007, the World Bank had banned it from bidding for its contracts till 2011 because the company had offered shares to the bank.s employees during its US IPO in 2000 which the bank termed ..improper benefits... The disclosure, which pushed Wipro stocks down nearly 10% on the Bombay Stock Exchange, came after the World Bank decided to publish names of all companies that it had barred from contracts. Last month, the World Bank disclosed that it had imposed an eight-year bar on Satyam Computer from its corporate procurement program for providing ..improper benefits to bank staff... The bank has also barred Hyderabad-based Megasoft Consultants for a period of four years on the grounds that it ..participated in a joint venture with bank staff while conducting business with the bank... (TOI)
• Hyderabad: The clock was re-set as a new, govt-appointed board took charge at Satyam on Monday morning. The board members Deepak Parekh, Kiran Karnik and C Achutan met in the Satyam headquarters and hunkered down to take stock. They spent about six hours speaking to various senior employees and took two major decisions to appoint new auditors and to hire a new chief executive and new chief financial officer. This implies that acting CEO Ram Mynampati has been stripped of his responsibilities, apart from ceasing to be a Satyam director after the govt superseded the company.s board. The change of guard in the Satyam boardroom was evident when the trio addressed a packed press conference later in the afternoon. All three were dressed in dark suits and addressed the press from a podium that is used to seeing IT executives in open-necked shirts and chinos. (TOI)

MANMOHAN SINGH & GOVT

PM Manmohan Singh on Monday directed Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar to .coordinate the approach of the govt. on the Satyam issue, following the revelation of a Rs. 7,100-crore accounting fraud by the IT major.s erstwhile chairman B. Ramalinga Raju. Dr. Singh reviewed the .developments. with SEBI Chairman C.B. Bhave and senior Finance Ministry officials on the .further steps. that need to be taken. .The PM is closely following the developments,. PMO sources said. Top industry leaders also met the PM and discussed the fallout that the corporate fraud would have on the global image of India Inc. The former CII president, R. Seshasayee, CM.s chief mentor Tarun Das and Gujarat Ambuja chairman Suresh Neotia were among the industrialists who met Dr. Singh. In a quick move to salvage the image of Indian industry, the CII has set up a special task force on corporate governance headed by Naresh Chandra, former Cabinet Secretary and India.s Ambassador to the U.S. (HINDU)

BJP

The BJP has termed Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.s reaction on illegal Bngladeshi immigrants as .too late in the day. and said the UPA govt was indulging in vote bank politics on the issue. .It is curious to learn that when only four months are left of the UPA govt, Mr Chidambaram is finding Bangladeshi infiltration a concern for national security and causing demographic change,. said BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.(IE)

• New Delhi: The BJP.s prime ministerial candidate, L K Advani, on Monday unveiled an ambitious .Mission Young India., listing .education. and .employment-intensive economic growth. as his govt's priorities if voted to power in the next elections. Addressing a function in Bangalore, he announced the launch of a national service mission .ek kaam desh ke naam,. wherein he exhorted young minds to "undertake voluntary activities across the nation". Advani also dwelled on the .spirit of voluntary service.. .Is it not possible, by revamping programmes like NCC and NSS, to channelise the enormous energy of our students and youth to achieve goals such as Swachcha Bharat (clean India), Swastha Bharat (healthy India), Saakshar Bharat (literate and educated India), and Surakshit Bharat (secure India),. he said. (IE)
• LUCKNOW: The BJP organised a demonstration here on Monday against the Mayawati Govt and demanded a CBI inquiry into the murder of the PWD engineer in Auraiya last month. The .Pradesh bachao, jail bharo. agitation of the BJP, which was launched on New Year.s Day, entered its third phase on Monday with several senior leaders of the party courting arrest in different parts of UP. The BJP has also been agitating in protest against alleged extortion by Bahujan Samaj Party functionaries to raise funds for CM Mayawati.s birthday on January 15. (HINDU)

CONGRESS

The Congress on Monday said it favours "every step" to unearth the "massive fraud" behind the Satyam Computer but steered clear of the question whether it wanted a CBI probe. The AICC dismissed Opposition charges that party leader and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy played "godfather" to promoters of the controversial software firm. "I think Mr Reddy has done everything according to law," Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan told reporters asking BJP to instead "check the record of TDP chief and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu."(AA)

STATES

JHARKHAND

Outgoing Jharkhand CM Shibu Soren won't let go of his chair yet. He is now apparently considering fighting another election on the trot to secure a berth in the state legislature even as he put in his papers in the national capital on Monday. For this, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) president has actually got a seat freed BJP MLA from Jamtara, Bishnu Prasad Bhaiya, 45, has stepped aside so that Soren can contest from there. Whether the loyal friend.s sacrifice would be of any use at this juncture remains to be seen. Soren has been at the helm of affairs since August 27 and the Constitution requires him to win an Assembly seat to become a minister within six months. Soren, who has time only till February 27, can think of trying his luck again only if the Election Commission holds the Tamar bypoll by then. This political drama comes amid Soren.s formal announcement of JMM legislator Champai Soren as his successor.(IE)

RAJASTHAN

The Rajasthan police on Monday registered a criminal case against former CM Vasundhara Raje and five others in connection with the infamous Deendayal Upadhyay Trust land scam case in compliance with a court directive, while accusing all of them of cheating, criminal conspiracy and breach of trust. According to the police sources, the first information report (FIR) was registered at Gandhi Nagar police station here after receiving the orders of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate H.S. Sisodia passed in this regard on Friday. The Special Public Prosecutor had assured the court that its directions .will be carried out in toto.. Police sources said the Crime Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department would probe into the matter. The controversial case pertains to allotment of 7,693 square metres of land at a prime location in the Civil Lines area here to the trust, headed by Ms. Raje, at a concessional 5 per cent rate of the then prevailing market price in July 2006. (HINDU)

UTTAR PRADESH

The Supreme Court on Monday granted four weeks time to UP CM Mayawati to respond to the CBI claim that there was ample evidence to prosecute her in a disproportionate assets case registered against her five years ago. Filing a petition in the top court for quashing of the criminal proceedings against her, Ms Mayawati alleged that the case was registered against her due to political reasons. UP.s additional advocate general Shail Kumar Dwivedi told a bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan that the matter should be deferred for hearing for four weeks so that he could file a counter to the affidavit filed by the CBI. The investigating agency in July last had responded to the top court notice stating that there was sufficient evidence to show that Ms Mayawati amassed wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income. The CBI, which had registered a DA case against the BSP chief in 2003, alleged the assets shown by her in the Akbarpur parliamentary constituency were worth over Rs one crore whereas the assets increased to over Rs 50 crores in her declaration papers submitted during the 2007 Assembly polls. (AA)

WEST BEGAL

With Lok Sabha elections around the corner, a sizeable section of the top leadership of the CPM in Bengal have begun building up pressure for bringing Somnath Chatterjee back to the party fold. CPI(M) leader and state Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Subhas Chakraborty.s confidential letter to Biman Bose, the party.s West Bengal state secretary, emphasising the need to reinstate Chatterjee has brought matters to a head. The letter sent to Bose last week, hails Chatterjee.s indispensibility in national politics and goes on to stress his credentials as a veteran parliamentarian and a legal expert as an asset to the party. The letter also highlights that Chatterjee had refrained from criticising the party publicly or indulging in anti-party activities after his expulsion. .The Speaker also attended several functions sponsored by the state Govt and party forums,. the letter mentioned. (IE)