Dawn – Altaf disbands MQM’s Karachi organising committee

Karachi, 21 May 2013. In an apparent reaction to ‘hooliganism’ during his speech on Sunday morning, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on Tuesday night disbanded his party’s Karachi Tanzeemi (organising) Committee.

The decision was made following observations and recommendations made by public and party workers during a general workers meeting held at MQM’s head-quarters Nine-Zero, said the party’s official website.

In the wee hours of Sunday, charged workers of the MQM had roughed up members of the Rabita (coordination) Committee, some lawmakers-elect as well as some journalists, during a telephonic address by Hussain from London.

Later, a press release issued by the MQM said Hussain had strongly taken notice of what it called ‘violation of discipline’ by some elements among the party workers. He condemned the act of certain individuals against members of the coordination committee and other office-bearers and asked them to submit a written apology at Nine-Zero within 24 hours. Otherwise, he said, they would not be considered as MQM workers.

Another general workers’ meeting of the party has been scheduled for Saturday, in which some more important decisions will be taken.

According to sources, few more changes in MQM’s top posts are expected in Karachi as well as London.

Hussain said a new system will be introduced under which no office-bearer would be able to remain on a particular party slot for more than three years.

The MQM chief also appealed to all those senior party workers who have been inactive for a while to rejoin the party for the sake of the nation and the party’s cause.

http://dawn.com/2013/05/22/altaf-disbands-mqms-karachi-organising-committee/

The Tribune – After route change, Personal Rapid Transport System (PRTS) tenders open today

Perneet Singh, Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 20. Fresh tender bids for the state government’s ambitious personal rapid transport system (PRTS) project will be opened tomorrow.

The Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) had invited fresh bids in view of the alterations in the PRTS route following apprehensions by heritage lovers that the then design may take a toll on the walled city’s architecture and its historic landmarks.

Sources said the PIDB had invited bids for the project through an advertisement dated February 22, 2013.

They said the last date for receiving the bids was April 26, which was later extended till May 21. This means it may take another few months for the work to begin on the ground.

Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal said the tenders will be opened tomorrow and the work will be awarded after a comparative analysis of the bids, which may take a month or so. He said the due process had to be followed once the PRTS route was changed.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had laid the foundation stone of the project amid much fanfare in December 2011, but the project has made a little headway ever since.

In July last, The Tribune had highlighted the concerns of the heritage lovers that the project will eclipse the view of the holy city’s landmarks like the Jallianwalla Bagh and the Golden Temple. The government later changed the route plan from the railway station to the Golden Temple.

Altered route

Under the new plan, the guideway for the PRTS will not enter the walled city through Hall Gate. Instead, it will take a left turn towards Chitra Cinema and get into the city through Rambagh Chowk

From there, it will pass through Bijliwala Chowk to reach Katra Jaimal Singh before heading towards the Golden Temple

There is also a plan that the guideway will span across the approach road to the Jallianwalla Bagh and the Golden Temple to facilitate the clear view of these landmarks

The height of the guideway will be raised to 30 feet on both these stretches, as against the height of 20 feet in other sections of the route

Similarly, the other route from the Inter State Bus Terminal to the Golden Temple will pass through Maha Singh Gate to reach the Saragarhi Parking before heading towards the Golden Temple

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130521/punjab.htm#6

The Tribune – Police pats itself for ‘peaceful’ polling

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 20. The Punjab Police today claimed it had been able to conduct the panchayat samiti and zila parishad elections “successfully” and that it was a “great achievement” that there was not a single case of use of firearms or fatality.

C S R Reddy, Additional DGP, Election Cell, made this claim at a press conference, chaired by state police chief Sumedh Singh Saini, here today. Reddy claimed that elections to panchayati raj institutions held in the state in 2005 and 2008 had witnessed incidents of murder, attempt to murder and use of weapons.

He said only 18 incidents of violence had been reported yesterday and that re-polling had been ordered in just nine booths. Reddy claimed the police had been successful in curtailing violence because it had set up election cells in all districts, deputed personnel at the booth level, created 638 mobile parties and had a reserve force in place as part of its second response team.

On the Lambi violence, Saini said Congress activists had set some vehicles ablaze and that action was being taken in this regard.

He indicated that cases of violence during electioneering were a result of personal feuds. He said PPP’s Jaspreet Singh Jassa, who was killed in Adampur, Bathinda, became a victim of a gang war between “habitual criminals.”

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130521/punjab.htm#2

The Hindu – Special Representatives to ensure Depsang-type incidents don’t reoccur

India, China keen to take the relationship forward in new spheres

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, 20 May 2013.  India and China expressed a strong desire to resolve pending issues and take the relationship forward in new spheres, such as civil nuclear energy, during two rounds of discussions here on Sunday evening and Monday morning between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

The interaction, taking place against the backdrop of a mini-security blanket around a portion of Lutyens’ Delhi to thwart attempts by Tibetan exiles to stage protests, attracted worldwide attention, coming as it did after a three-week face-to-face standoff between troops of the two Asian giants.

A joint statement, however, did not mention Tibet, a staple of joint communiqués China issues with every country. India had last done away with the inclusion of the T- word in 2010 and officials maintained there was no need to bring in Tibet when Beijing was aware of New Delhi’s stance about the region being an inalienable part of China.

In restricted and delegation-level discussions totalling three hours, the two leaders decided to entrust the task of ensuring incidents like Depsang do not reoccur to the two Special Representatives (SRs), who have also been asked to speed up work on demarcating and delineating the border by trying to achieve closure on the second of the three-stage process of resolving the border question.

“We also took stock of lessons learnt from the recent incident in the Depsang sector, when the existing mechanism proved its worth,” explained the Prime Minister in a media statement.

Mr. Li said both sides “believe we need to improve the border mechanisms that have been put into place and make them more efficient…and the two sides should continue to advance the negotiations on the boundary question and jointly maintain peace and tranquillity in the border area.”

India could not get its way with an upgraded joint mechanism on trans-border rivers to ease its concerns at construction activity on the Chinese portion of the Brahmaputra. But both sides signed a pact — among the eight agreements inked — to increase the frequency of exchange of hydrological data.

There was some progress on the economic front — an area that Beijing maintains is the centre piece of the visit from its point of view — with China holding out the promise of addressing India’s complaints about market access for its three exporting mainstays of IT, pharmaceuticals and food products.

Besides seeking to resolve the issues of border, water and trade through further discussions, the two leaders set milestones for the future by listing new areas of cooperation such as civil nuclear energy and seamless connectivity between Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar. They also sought to bring back to the table areas of cooperation, agreed upon with the previous Chinese leadership of Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, such as maritime security, ocean-bed research and tackling non-traditional security threats.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/special-representatives-to-ensure-depsangtype-incidents-dont-reoccur/article4732310.ece?homepage=true

The Tribune – Pranab voices concern over India lagging behind in higher education; Confers doctorate on Afghan President Karzai at LPU

Vibha Sharma, Tribune News Service

Phagwara, May 20. President Pranab Mukherjee today voiced deep concern over the flight of bright young minds from India for “better quality higher education” abroad and the country’s lost position in the field.

Pitching for the revival of India’s “lost glory” in the area of higher education, Mukherjee urged academic institutions to take the lead in providing education conforming to international standards.

Speaking at the third convocation ceremony of Lovely Professional University, a function which was also attended by Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Mukherjee regretted the fact that there was not a single Indian university among the top universities in the world even though there was a time when the country was known as a hub of world-class universities with the likes of Nalanda and Takshashila that attracted scholars from all over the world.

The President said these famed universities continued to function as an outstanding system until about 1200 AD and from there on, India lost its position to other countries.

“And today, we do not have any top-ranked university. The ancient Indian universities attracted students from all over the world but today, many bright young minds from India go abroad for better quality higher education.

It will be our undoing if we cannot draw our students to seek higher education in their own country. How we can revive the lost glory of our higher education system is a matter of deep introspection,” he said.

He urged Indian universities to create at least one centre of excellence with some out-of-box thinking and innovative research that can turn theoretical knowledge into a marketable product. Underlining the need of vocationalisation of education, he said: “There cannot be progress without innovation, research and development.”

Mukherjee also conferred an honorary degree on Afghanistan President at the convocation – the first honoris causa degree awarded by the Punjab-based private university with nearly 30,000 on-campus students.

He also awarded gold medals and degrees to qualified students.

Terming education as a tool that can significantly shape the minds of the youth, the President also urged universities and other institutes of higher learning to take the lead to start a sustained programme for meeting contemporary moral challenges.

“The recent rise in crimes against women and children is a cause for deep concern. It not only calls for effective measures for their safety and security but also underlines the need in us to sit back and introspect and find ways to arrest the moral degradation in our society,” he said.

He also pointed out that the shortage of faculty had hampered India’s efforts to improve the standard of education and urged for immediate corrective steps.

Meanwhile, Karzai, who was the chief guest at the convocation, praised India for its help in the betterment of Afghanistan. India, as a friend of Afghanistan, had made immense contribution in the uplift of its youths, he said adding that the country had “contributed $ 2 billion from the hard-earned money of its tax-payers for the betterment of Afghanistan.”

He also lauded India’s fast growth in industry, technology and economy. “India is on the path of progress and prosperity. It is one of the greatest civilisations on earth. The power and energy you (students and youths) generate is good for India and beyond,” Karzai, who is here on a three-day visit, said.

Highlighting the need for development of education, especially higher education, in Afghanistan, he said India had 2,000 Afghan students studying in its various universities. Karzai also apologised to Mukherjee, the Government of Punjab and LPU students for having come late. “My plane broke down, thankfully on the ground,” he said, evoking peals of laughter.

The Punjab CM urged the LPU management to open an institute for talented, poor students of border areas.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130521/main4.htm

BBC News – Imran Khan’s PTI ‘wins revote’ in tense Karachi

Karachi, 20 May 2013. Imran Khan’s party has won its first National Assembly seat in the Pakistani city of Karachi after a partial re-run of voting following rigging fears, unofficial results show.

The revote also saw the PTI take two provincial assembly seats, reports say.

The news came after Mr Khan blamed the murder of a senior party figure on Karachi’s dominant party, the MQM, which has denied any involvement.

Thousands of MQM supporters rallied in the city to denounce Mr Khan.

The general elections on 11 May handed an emphatic victory to Mr Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.

They ensured that Mr Khan’s party became Pakistan’s third-largest electoral force.

The vote also marked the first transition of power between democratically elected governments since the creation of the state of Pakistan in 1947.

‘Baseless’

On Monday, MQM protesters burned an effigy of Mr Khan, and attacked his character and Western lifestyle from his days as an international cricket star.

Khan supporters held a separate demonstration in the city. The party has urged the British government to take action against MQM leader Altaf Hussain.

He runs his party, and effectively Karachi, from his headquarters in north London where he has been based for more than two decades.

The election gave the MQM 16 out of 19 National Assembly seats in its stronghold, Karachi.

Sunday’s re-run took place amid tight security in 43 out of about 200 polling stations across Karachi’s upmarket NA-250 constituency – the MQM boycotted the partial re-run.

The latest results show that Dr Arif Alvi of the PTI polled 77,000 votes and that the MQM’s Khushbakht Shujaat was the runner-up with more than 30,000 votes.

Once confirmed, it will be the PTI’s only National Assembly seat from Sindh province.

The party also appears to have won two provincial assembly seats from Karachi. Voting for these seats was also completed on Sunday.

Tensions peaked at the weekend over the killing of PTI vice-president, Zahra Shahid Hussain, who was shot dead outside her home by gunmen on a motorcycle.

Her funeral was on Sunday, the day repolling was held with a heavy police and army presence.

MQM spokesman Mohammad Anwar dismissed the accusations by Imran Khan, telling the BBC his comments were the “groundless, baseless” accusations of a man who had suffered a bitter, unexpected loss in the election and accused him in turn of behind the killing.

The MQM (Muttahida Quami Movement) is supported mainly by Muslim Urdu-speaking people whose families moved to Sindh province at the time of the partition of India in 1947.

Correspondents say that the party is seen as a perpetrator – as well as a victim – of violence in Karachi.

Since the 1980s, it has won every election it has contested there.

The projected victory for the PTI in this final assembly seat will not change the big picture in the city or in the country, correspondents say.

However, it will give the PTI an influential foothold in Pakistan’s commercial capital, something the MQM will see as a major setback, particularly after results show that the PTI got the most votes in the city after the MQM.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22593284

The Tribune – Violence rocks Badal turf as 65% vote in panchayat polls; Re-poll at 8 booths; Highest polling in Mansa; Lowest in Gurdaspur

Sanjeev Singh Bariana, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 19. Burning of vehicles in the constituency of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday was one of the scores of sporadic incidents of violence across the state during elections to 22 Zila Parishads and 146 Panchayat Samitis.

The state recorded 65 per cent voter turnout amid rampant incidents of alleged booth capturing and skirmishes in Muktsar, Faridkot, Moga, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Gidderbaha, Patiala and some other places. Highest polling in the state was recorded in Mansa (72 per cent) and lowest in Gurdaspur (52.81 per cent).

The Election Commission has ordered re-polling at eight booths that witnessed booth capturing. State Election Commissioner SS Brar, said “Re-polling will take place at eight booths of six polling stations, which witnessed booth capturing. These are Ropana (Muktsar), Kothe Maluk Patti (Faridkot), Churriwal Chisti, Ojhanwali and Kanha Ram (all in Fazilka) and Indergarh (Moga). Re-polling will be held on May 20 and counting is scheduled for May 21.”

Five cars and a motorcycle were torched in Mann village during a clash between Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) workers in the CM’s home constituency, Lambi. A mob led by Pawanpreet Singh ‘Bobby’ Badal, ex-OSD to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, entered a polling booth in the Government School in Mann village and allegedly “captured” it after locking the door from inside. Furious Opposition workers burnt cars outside.

Booth capturing by SAD activists was also reported at Jheurheri village.

In one of the major incidents of poll-related violence in Ferozepur, a group of Akali workers allegedly beat up Congress candidate Harbachan Singh (60) and his son Punjab Singh in a school in Mohan ke Uttar village. The Congress alleged the Akalis captured five polling stations set up in the school.

Stones were also pelted by some persons. Over 18 persons were injured in minor clashes in Patiala district.

Booth capturing was reported from over a dozen villages in Samana, the home constituency of Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra.

In Fatehpur, villagers boycotted the polls following police inaction over the death of a local youth. In Nabha, three persons were injured, one of them seriously, after SAD and Congress supporters locked horns.

Polling in all 23 zones of the Zila Parishad and 201 Block Samitis in Gurdaspur district was reported to be peaceful, although Congress leaders claimed politicians of the ruling SAD-BJP combine indulged in electoral malpractices in several zones.

Elections for 21 Zila Parishad and 176 Block Samitis in Amritsar and 13 Zila Parishad zones and 128 Block Samiti zones in Tarn Taran concluded with minor scuffles and verbal duels in several villages in the border districts. A scuffle was reported between SAD factions from Bhagwanpur village near Bhikhiwind.

Barring stray incidents of violence at a village in Khanna Block in which five persons sustained injuries and another incident at Seekhan village in Malaudh where an Akali Panch was attacked, polling for 25 Zila Parishad zones and 12 Blocks in Ludhiana remained peaceful.

Polls in Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Nawanshahr remained peaceful with no reports of violence.

Stray cases of violation of the poll code were reported from certain places, including Wariana village where BSP and SAD workers got into a verbal duel. The presiding officer at Lalian Kalan village in Kartarpur, Shinderpal Singh, was found to be working in an inebriated condition in the morning.

Polling also remained largely peaceful in Bathinda and Mansa districts where 71 per cent and 72 per cent voting was reported. Minor trouble was reported from Teona village in Bathinda district where a PPP candidate raised objections when he was stopped from moving near a booth by the police in the morning.

Bathinda village boycotts poll

Continuing their boycott of the state government in protest against the pollution caused by Bathinda refinery, over 1,300 voters of Kanakwal village here did not exercise their franchise on Sunday.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130520/main2.htm

The Tribune – Copies of FIRs on websites soon

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 19. Copies of the FIRs will soon be available on the Internet. For, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has turned down the objections raised by the States of Punjab and Haryana before allowing a petition filed in public interest for uploading copies of the FIRs on official websites.

As the petition filed by advocate Ajay Jagga came up for hearing, the Chandigarh Administration even made it clear that the copies would be uploaded on the website from June 1.

During the course of hearing, the Haryana Government claimed that loading the FIRs on the net was not free from problem. Punjab too claimed difficulty in the process by expressing apprehension that defamation proceedings could be initiated in case the FIR was quashed. The Bench, however, refused to accept the contentions by asserting that the accused were being forced to even approach courts for copies of the FIR.

In the petition, Jagga had also sought directions for providing the copies of the FIRs to the accused straight away on an application moved to the police station or the trial court concerned.

Jagga claimed the directions would be of great help to the economically weaker and “depressed part of the society”, who were unaware of the technical procedures to avail a copy of the FIR.

Jagga added: “In many cases, the police officials concerned show reluctance to provide a copy of the FIR and insist that the accused should themselves come in the police station to obtain a copy of the FIR.

“In that eventuality, the chances of having been arrested are prominent, which results into jeopardising the right of life and personal liberty of the said named person as in that eventuality, without even getting a chance to move to the concerned court to avail the concession of anticipatory bail, the said persons are straightaway arrested…”

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130520/punjab.htm#17

The Asian Age – PM talks tough to Li on Ladakh intrusion

Parul Chandra, Asian Age Correspondent

New Delhi, 20 May 2013. Doing some tough talking with visiting Chinese Premier Li Kequiang on Sunday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh raised the issue of the recent incursion by PLA troops in Ladakh’s Depsang area, and emphasised the need for “peace and tranquillity” along the undemarcated Line of Actual Control.

Mr Li arrived earlier on a blazing Sunday afternoon for a three-day visit, his first trip abroad as Premier.Sources said two other issues flagged “upfront” by the PM at the “restricted” hour-long meeting, with only a few aides present, were India’s concerns on water flows of trans-border rivers and the need to address trade imbalances.

This was followed by a dinner attended by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Leaders of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley and CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat.

The PM stressed the need for a swifter resolution of the vexed boundary issue in a “firm but constructive manner”, the sources said.

The Chinese PM, in turn, is learnt to have raised the Dalai Lama’s presence in India and what Beijing sees as his political activities here. Mr Li was, however, firmly told India respected the Dalai Lama as a spiritual leader, and that he did not have any political rights here.

Sunday’s discussions set the stage for the longer format of delegation-level talks Monday, where the incursion and the boundary question are expected to dominate the discussions.

http://www.asianage.com/india/pm-talks-tough-li-ladakh-intrusion-095

The Tribune – Take gradual steps to boost India ties: Kayani tells Nawaz

Islamabad, May 19. In the backdrop of Nawaz Sharif’s positive remarks on ties with India, powerful Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has suggested Pakistan’s Prime Minister – designate to take gradual initiatives with utmost caution for improving relations with New Delhi, a media report said today.

Kayani made the suggestion when he called on PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, set to become Prime Minister for a record third term following his party’s victory in the May 11 polls, at his brother Shahbaz Sharif’s home in Lahore yesterday.

The News daily quoted its sources as saying that Kayani wanted the new government to take gradual initiatives with utmost caution to improve relations with India as this alone “may lead to lasting peace in the region”.

Kayani ensured that Sharif “knew the exact situation on the ground with regard to Pakistan-India ties in the backdrop of developments over the last decade” as Sharif did not have first-hand experience in view of his absence from power, the report said.

In Kayani’s view, the relationship between Pakistan and India “demands a comprehensive strategy for addressing the geopolitical challenges which have cropped up over the years” since Sharif’s last tenure as premier.

There was no official word from the PML-N or the army on the meeting.

Before the elections, Sharif had made some surprisingly positive statements on ties with India which many thought may not have gone down well with the Army, the News said.

The PML-N chief had said he is keen on resuming the India-Pakistan peace process that was interrupted in 1999 by then Army Chief Pervez Musharraf, who ousted Sharif’s government in a military coup.

The report said Kayani called on Sharif to congratulate him on the PML-N’s success in the general election and informally talked “about all national security issues”.

He informed Sharif that the new premier and his Cabinet would be given a briefing on all important internal and external national security challenges after their swearing-in.

The armed forces are “fully behind the democratic government and had worked hard for ensuring democracy”, Kayani was quoted as saying. (PTI)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130520/main4.htm