22
The Week That Was
INDIA IN NEW YORK FEBRUARY 14, 2014
US does a U-turn, Powell
to meet Narendra Modi
United States Ambassador to India Nancy Powell plans
to meet Narendra Modi, signaling a shift in America’s
stand towards the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed they
would meet but did not comment on the possible date of
the meeting.
UK admits to ‘advisory’ role
in Operation Blue Star
The British military’s role in the 1984 Operation Blue
Star to flush out militants from the Golden Temple in
Amritsar was ‘limited’ and ‘purely advisory,’ Britain’s
Foreign Secretary William Hague told the British parliament February 4.
Hague said the United Kingdom played no role in the
actual operation that took place at temple.
In a statement at the conclusion of an inquiry into
alleged British assistance provided by then British prime
minister Margaret Thatcher, Hague said, ‘The report concludes that the nature of the UK’s assistance was purely
advisory, limited and provided to the Indian government
at an early stage in their planning.’
An analysis of nearly 200 files and 23,000 documents
confirmed that a ‘single British military adviser’ traveled
to India between February 8 and 19, 1984, to advice
Indian intelligence services on contingency plans.
Terror accused links RSS chief to
blasts
Swami Aseemanand, accused in the bomb blasts in the
Samjhauta Express (February 2007), Hyderabad’s Mecca
Masjid (May 2007) and Ajmer Dargah (October 2007),
claimed that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan
Bhagwat had knowledge about the attacks.
A report in Caravan magazine quoted Aseemanand as
saying that Bhagwat, then RSS general secretary, told him
that the blasts should not be linked to the Sangh.
Aseemanand told Caravan that Bhagwat said of the
violence, ‘It is very important that it be done. But you
should not link it to the Sangh,’ a statement issued by the
magazine stated.
Aseemanand later denied granting an interview to the
magazine and RSS supporters protested outside its offices
in Mumbai and Delhi.
Special registration for overseas
Amarnath pilgrims
Non-resident Indians will now have a special registration
facility for the annual Amarnath Yatra starting June 28.
‘The registration facility has been specially established
as a good number of devotees living abroad undertake
this annual yatra,’ Naveen Choudhary, chief executive officer, Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, said.
The 44-day annual pilgrimage to the holy Himalayan
cave shrine of Lord Shiva in south Kashmir will conclude
August 10.
Third Front in the making?
In what could be the final step towards the formation of a
Third Front, an alternative to the Congress party-led United
Progressive Alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led
National Democratic Alliance, 11 political parties decided to
work as one block on a ‘common agenda’ in Parliament.
‘This is the first step after the October 23, 2013, meeting,’
Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav said.
The block includes the four Left parties, the Samajwadi
ADNAN ABIDI/REUTERS
Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, right, at a news conference in New Delhi, February 11. He took on Reliance, saying the
company was charging double for gas from the KG-D6 gas block. He said he had asked the Delhi Anti-Corruption Bureau to file
charges against Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani, then petroleum minister Murli Deora and current Petroleum
Minister M Veerappa Moily.
AAP loses majority after lawmaker withdraws support
The Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi was left teetering February 10 after Independent MLA Rambir
Shokeen withdrew his support, reducing the party’s strength to 35 in the 70 member Delhi assembly.
Fresh probes into closed, untraced, 1984 riot cases: AAP
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung has given consent to the Aam Aadmi Party government’s recommendation for a probe by a Special Investigation Team into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
AAP lawmaker Manish Sisodia said all those cases which were closed or shown untraced would be re-opened,
re-investigated and if the need arose, fresh reports would be registered. Besides this, he said, the SIT would also
inquire into allegations of destruction of evidence by the police.
Sheila Dikshit, cops in AAP’s line of fire
The Delhi government’s Anti Corruption Bureau filed a First Information Report, alleging cheating and criminal
conspiracy in a $14.5 million project to install street lights before the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Although the FIR does not name former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, a panel set up by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh to probe the scam had blamed her government and four Delhi municipal corporation officials.
Meanwhile, the Delhi police suspended seven policemen after they were shown accepting bribes in a sting operation conducted by a television news channel. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has directed an investigation in the
matter.
Party, the JD-U, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam, the Asom Gana Parishad, the Jharkhand Vikas
Morcha, the Janata Dal-Secular and the Biju Janata Dal.
Ishrat Jahan case:
Breather for Modi’s aide
India’s Central Bureau of Investigation lodged a second
chargesheet February 6 in the Ishrat Jahan extra-judicial
killing case against former Intelligence Bureau special
director Rajinder Kumar and three officers.
The chargesheet slapped murder and conspiracy charges
on them, but did not name former Gujarat home minister
Amit Shah, who was questioned by the agency in the case.
Fresh revelations in helicopter scam
One of the three alleged middlemen in the VVIP helicopter kickbacks scandal had reportedly advised top
AgustaWestland officials to ‘target’ Congress party President
Sonia Gandhi and her close aids to bag the $580 million
contract.
The revelation was made during the ongoing corruption
trial in an Italian court, the prosecutors presented a note
written in March 2008, by middleman Christian Michel to