Govt Censors Broadcast Regulations

Putting away a controversial move by the I&B ministry to gag TV News Channels. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday assured that nothing would be finalised without "the widest possible consultation with all the stakeholders and eliciting their different points of view on the proposed changes".

TV editors welcomed the assurance and said they were looking forward to the complete withdrawal of the issue.

In a "throwback to the Emergency" the ministry sought to curtail freedom of the press by proposing a regulation that would make it mandatory for news channels to show authorized feed in the event of designated emergencies.

With opposition parties adopting the media cause as their own, the move attracted widespread criticism for the proposed amendments to the Cable Network Regulations Act.

Channel representatives met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and BJP leader LK Advani on Tuesday.

News editors continued to receive unanimous support from Prakash Karat (CPM), the Amar Singh (SP) and Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP).

Advani said that the proposed curbs, which could be prone to misuse, should not be imposed by the government, but added that it was imperative that TV channels evolved a code of self-regulation to ensure that anti-national elements and terrorists were not able to take advantage of the freedom of media in the country.

The News Broadcasters Association has already evolved a detailed code of self-regulation.

Amar Singh said, "I personally believe there should be a provision that can prevent enemy nations from accessing sensitive information pertaining to the national interest. This could be an issue of debate. However the kind of provision the government has proposed in its note sent to the cabinet secretariat can violate freedom of the press."

The CPM cautioned the UPA government against taking any "hasty" steps to regulate content in the electronic media and said it was necessary to have "co-regulation" through an independent body. In a letter, the CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said until then, no steps should be taken to empower the government and the administration to regulate news channels.

Speaking in support of the news channels, Paswan said, "We are not in favour of giving such power to bureaucrats. I feel news channels are capable of regulating themselves."

2 Million Take Holy Dip in Ganga Confluence

Hoping to rid themselves of bad karma nearly two million pilgrims and sanyasis took the holy dip at the Allahabad Sangam on the occasion of Makar Sankranti on Wednesday, a group of Sadhus boycotted proceedings to demand clean water for the Snana, which was conducted amid elaborate security arrangements.

Downplaying the boycott district officials later feigned ignorance of the boycott but added that no untoward incident was reported during the Snana which was peaceful.

Men, womn, boys and girls thronged the ghats that reverberated with the chants of Bam-Bhole and Har-Har Gange.

Pilgrims from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, arrived at Sangam and took the holy dip at the confluence of river Ganga, Yamuna and mythological Saraswati.

Elaborate security arrangements were put in place for the day. Teams of ATS, STF, army trained QRT units, RAF and PAC personnel along with bomb disposal squad continued to man the area through Wednesday evening.

The state vice-president Hindu Jagran Manch, Neeraj Dwivedi confirmed that hundreds of saints and activists did not participate in the holy dip on Wednesday to press for adequate and clean water in the river Ganga.

He lamented that despite directives only 700 cusec water flowed in the river on Wednesday as against 2,500 cusecs sought by the manch.

No Elephants in RD Parade

Bejewelled elephants that carried in the children receiving the bravery awards during the Republic Day Parade will be missing this year on. The Defence Ministry says the pachyderms are being omitted as they posed security threats and added to the parade becoming repetitive.

”Over a period of time the parade has become very monotonous and repetitive, so we have decided to omit the elephants to try and make the parade concise and compact,” a defence ministry official was quoted as saying by IANS.

“Considering the security readiness required for the whole time period of the parade, the timing has also been reduced to ease pressure on the security apparatus,” the official added.

This year the recipients of the bravery awards will ride on military vehicles.

Act Against Guilty in Satyam Fraud: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said he was "not too concerned" about Satyam Computer fraud in the long run as India has very deep strength in Information Technology but called for strict action against the guilty that he said " should be punished."

"On the one hand, the strength that we have in IT is a very deep strength. So with a long term view ... in a long term perspective, I am not too concerned about Satyam development," Gandhi replied to a query on how concerned he was about the Satyam Computers scam.

"On the other hand there have been activities that are unlawful and they should be looked into and the guilty should be punished," Gandhi added.

Congress earlier said that the ruling UPA has made a distinction between Satyam, the company and its founder Ramalinga Raju and acted in a proactive and decisive manner to bail out the beleaguered company.

"We (the government) made a distinction between Satyam and Raju ... We acted in a decisive and proactive manner as IT is a showcase industry of the country to the world," party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters.

The AICC had earlier also said that it favours "every step" to unearth the "massive fraud" behind the Satyam Computers terming it "a serious national issue".

J&K Cops Net Prize Catch

In a massive success for security agencies policing the northern border state of Jammu and Kashmir, a top terrorist and one of the founders of Hizbul Mujahideen Mohammad Ahsan Dar was arrested from the Bandipora district. Dar is known to be a key aide of Hizb boss Syed Salahuddin.

According to deputy inspector general of police, North Kashmir, Abdul Gani Mir, Dar was co-ordinating activities of Lashker-e-Tayyeba, Hizbul, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.

Acting on intelligence that said Dar had returned from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and was coordinating the activities of various terror outfits, police arrested him in the wee hours while he was trying to sneak into Sumbal area from his home town Pattan.

Dar, a self-styled chief commander of Muslim Mujahideen, did not resist or attempt o evade arrest, Mir said.

The DIG said Dar had parted ways with Hizbul Mujahideen following differences with the top brass of the outfit and founded Muslim Mujahideen in 1992. He, however remained close to Salahuddin, who heads the United Jehad Council, an amalgam of terrorist outfits active in the state.

Dar, who is in his 50s, was arrested in 1993 and released in 1999 after six years in detention, Mir said, adding he had also visited Pakistan and has remained in close contact with ISI and other Pakistani agencies. He has been regularly receiving funds from them.

According to preliminary investigations, Dar had infiltrated into the valley and was active since last 2007.

He was responsible for various attacks on security forces and was trying to give a fresh impetus to terror activities in the state and the rest of the country.

Terming Dar as a "prize catch", Mir said an identity card in the name of Mohammad Altaf, a teacher, was recovered from him. "It is a big success for Jammu and Kashmir Police that we have nabbed him," he added.