The Union Home Minister Shri P. Chidambaram presented the  Report Card of the Ministry of Home Affairs for October, 2009 here today.  Following is the text of the Minister’s statement:

“The highlight of the month of October, 2009 was the Assembly elections held in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana and Maharashtra. They were by and large peaceful. 298 Coys of CPMFs/SAPs/Border Wing Home Guards were deployed for the elections.  The sole incident that marred the peace occurred in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, in which 17 personnel of the Maharashtra police were killed.  The CPI (Maoist) was responsible for the attack on the police party.

2.         On October 5, 2009, I delivered the sixth Nani Palkivala Memorial Lecture at Mumbai.  In the course of that lecture, I appealed to the naxalites to abjure violence and pave the way for the State Governments concerned to talk to them on their demands and include them in the process of development and inclusive growth.  I also appealed to the leaders of civil society to prevail upon the naxalites to abjure violence and take the road of democracy and dialogue.

3.         I visited Jammu & Kashmir on October 13-14, 2009 primarily to attend the All India Editor’s Conference. I also met the Governor and the  Chief Minister.  Following my visit, we have identified a number of issues on which follow up action is being taken by the Central Government and the Government of Jammu & Kashmir.   We intend to follow up on the promise of “quiet talks, quiet diplomacy” with all shades of political opinion in Jammu & Kashmir.

4.         A sum of Rs.30 crore was released to Jammu & Kashmir as advance for payment of one-time cash compensation in lieu of appointment in Government service to the next of kin of persons killed by militants.  Sanction was issued for release of balance of Rs.5.3 lakh to J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, Srinagar.

5.         I visited Jharkhand on October 22, 2009.  I reviewed the development and social welfare schemes of the Government.  I was briefed on the security situation and the readiness of the State Government to hold elections to the Legislative Assembly.  The requirement of police personnel for elections was also discussed.  On my return, the Government recommended the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly of Jharkhand with effect from November 1, 2009.  The President of India issued a Presidential order to that effect on October 23, 2009.  The Election Commission of India has since announced that elections will be held between November 25 and December 18, 2009.

Disaster Relief

6.         On October 5, 2009, I accompanied the Chairperson, UPA, and the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and the Chief Minister of Karnataka, respectively, on an aerial survey of the flood affected areas of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.  The Prime Minister also visited Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.  Following the Prime Minister’s visit, the Government announced an advance of Rs.1000 crore each to the two States from the NCCF.  Central teams have been despatched to the two States to make an assessment of the damage due to the floods and submit their reports.

Internal Security

7.         We continue to remain vigilant against any terror threat or attack.  In Jammu and Kashmir, led by the Army and the J&K police, the security forces have been able to neutralize a number of attempts of potential militants to infiltrate into India.

8.         The most serious threats to internal security in October 2009 came from the CPI (Maoist).  I have already referred to the incident in Gadchiroli.  On October 6, 2009, the body of Francis Induwar, Inspector, Special Branch, Jharkhand police was found with his head severed in Khunti district, Jharkhand.  On October 20, 2009, two policemen of the West Bengal police were killed and the OC of Sankrail PS was kidnapped by the CPI (Maoist). On October 25, 2009, there was a serious incident in the NMDC mines area in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. Four members of a routine CISF patrol were killed and two injured in an IED explosion.   These killings were mindless, savage and cold-blooded murders.  On October 27, 2009, the CPI (Maoist) and their supporters in the PCPA held the Rajdhani Express with 1250 passengers hostage for nearly 5 hours.  In the last two days alone, there have been violent incidents in West Bengal (CPI(M) and Trinamool  Congress cadres shot dead); Jharkhand (2 school buildings blown up); Andhra Pradesh (Congress worker shot dead); and Chhattisgarh (1 SPO and 1 villager killed).  All these incidents, in my view, point to the nature of the challenge of the naxalites.  The violence must end.  The State – the Central Government and the State Governments – have a duty to end the violence.  It is with that objective that we have made a simple and straight forward appeal to the CPI (Maoist): “Halt the violence”.  These are three simple words, and I do not see why they should be subjected to tortuous interpretation and analysis.  On behalf of the Central Government I wish to say once again that the CPI (Maoist) should halt the violence and the Central Government would persuade the State Governments to talk to the CPI (Maoist) on all matters including their concerns on land acquisition, forest rights, industrialization and development.  I regret to say that the response so far has been disappointing.

9.         Lt. General (Retd.) Vijay Madan has been appointed as Interlocutor to hold talks with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM).

10.        Following the decision of the DHD(J) to lay down arms and move its cadres into designated camps, the stage has been set to hold talks with the DHD(J) as well as some other groups which have evinced their interest to hold talks.  It is proposed to hold talks with the DHD(J), UPDS and the NDFB (pro-talks).  In consultation with the Government of Assam, Shri P C Haldar has been appointed as the interlocutor.

11.        Union Home Secretary visited Guwahati on October 9, 2009 and chaired a meeting of State Home Secretaries and State Intelligence Chiefs of the North Eastern States.  He also visited Kohima, Nagaland on October 13-14, 2009 and reviewed the law and order situation in Nagaland.  During these visits, he also interacted with diverse sections of civil society.

CPMFs

12.        Sanctions amounting to Rs. 188.41 crore were issued during the month for various infrastructure works of the CPMFs as follows:

CRPF                           -           Rs. 94.79 crore

SSB                             -           Rs. 49.76 crore

AR                                -           Rs. 37.46 crore

ITBP                             -           Rs. 6.40 crore

13.        Sanctions amounting to Rs. 38.50 crore were issued during the month for acquisition of land for various establishments of the CPMFs as follows:

CRPF                           -           Rs. 31.13 crore

ITBP                             -           Rs. 3.97 crore

AR                                -           Rs. 2.64 crore

BSF                              -           Rs. 0.76 crore

14.        CISF will be deployed for security at BHEL, Ranipet.  198 posts have been created for this purpose.

Border and Coastal Security

15.        On the India-Bangladesh border, 20 kms of fencing and 30 kms of new roads were completed in the month of October 2009. Besides, 25 kms of fencing was replaced.

16.        On the India-China border, 196 kms of roads are in various stages of construction. 46.63 kms of formation works and 4.77 kms of surfacing works were completed in the month of October.

17.        Construction on the Naga – Jadhang road in Uttarakhand was started in October, 2009.

18.        Under the Border Area Development Programme (BAPD), Annual Action Plans have been received from 15 States. The first instalment amounting to Rs. 310.57 crore was released to 12 States, viz., Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

19.        M/s. GSL Goa and M/s. GRSE, Kolkata were required to supply, by June 30, 2009, 24 boats for coastal patrolling and security.  The supply was, however, completed in August, 2009. According to the schedule, they were required to supply 60 more boats during the period July 2009 to February 2010.  As against this number, they supplied 14 boats in September and 4 boats in October, totaling 18 boats.  It will be seen that there is slippage.  We have conveyed our concerns to the two shipyards.  They have informed us that 20 boats are ready for delivery.  Taking into account the original allocation and the readiness of the States to take delivery of the boats, a revised allocation order has been issued today.  Accordingly, the 20 boats have been re-allocated as follows:

States are being requested to take delivery immediately.  Efforts are being made to impress upon the two shipyards to deliver the remaining boats before February 2010.

Immigration

20.        On October 12, 2009, the Planning Commission gave in-principle approval for Rs.1,011 crore for the implementation of the Mission Mode Project on Immigration, Visa and Foreigners Registration & Tracking (IVFRT). The Project aims to develop a secure and integrated service delivery framework to enhance security and facilitate immigration, issue of visas and registration. The Project will be completed in September 2014 and would cover 169 Indian missions in foreign countries, 78 ICPs (Immigration Check Posts), 5 FRROs (Foreigners Regional Registration Offices) and all FROs (Foreigners Registration Offices) in the State/District Headquarters.

21.        Computerization and networking of 42 Immigration Check Posts (ICPs) is progressing satisfactorily.   The hardware has been delivered to 25 ICP sites and hardware and a local area network have been installed at 11 other ICPs.  139 e-Passport Reading Machines (e-PRMs) have been procured for installation at the Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai Airport ICPs.

Police Modernisation

22.        Under the Modernisation of Police Forces (MPF) Scheme, Rs.201.06 crore was released to the States in October 2009 against the total allocation of Rs.1187.50 crore for 2009-10.

23.        The Centre-State MoU for the CCTNS project has been signed by 34 States/UTs.  Only one State is yet to sign the MoU.

Other Policy initiatives

24.        Shri Raghu Raman has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer to implement the NATGRID project.  He was in the private sector and has agreed to accept this assignment until May 2011 when the project is expected to be fully implemented.

25.        On October 22, 2009, the Cabinet approved the National Policy on Disaster Management.  On the same day, the Cabinet also approved a proposal to strengthen Fire and Emergency services in the country under a Plan Scheme with an outlay of Rs 200 crore during the Eleventh Plan period.

26.        Following on the proposal made at the Chief Ministers’ Conference, we have approved a scheme for strengthening of special branches in the State with a total outlay of Rs 150 crore.  The scheme will be implemented by the State Governments with technical and financial support from the IB.

Census 2011 and National Population Register (NPR)

27.        Direct data collection for the National Population Register (NPR) is in progress in the coastal villages of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry. The biographical details of more than 20 lakh residents and biometric details of more than 1 lakh residents have been recorded.

28.        As regards Census 2011, field survey work for the preparation of geo-referenced enumeration blocks bas been completed  in 1100 wards out of 2018 wards in 33 capital cities.

States and UTs

29.        Rs 5.61 crore was sanctioned for the procurement of 337 new vehicles for the recently created 29 police stations and 9 sub-divisions of Delhi Police.

30.        Rs 1.73 crore was released to Dadra & Nagar Haveli for FY 09-10 under the MPF Scheme.

31.        The East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction (Amendment) Act, 2001 was extended to the Union Territory of Chandigarh by notification dated October 9, 2009.

32.        The powers and functions of the Central Government under the Delhi Municipal Act, 1957, save a few powers, were delegated to the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi by order dated October 26, 2009.  Thus, a long standing demand of GNCTD has been fulfilled.  The delegation of powers is in accordance with the recommendations of several committees appointed in the past.

33.        The Third Finance Commission for the Union Territories of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep submitted its report today. The report will be processed and appropriate decisions taken.

34.        Government has accepted the proposal of Government of Orissa to change the name of the State from “Orissa” to “Odisha” and the name of the language from “Oriya” to “Odia”.  A Bill in this regard would be introduced in Parliament.

The IPS cadre

35.        On October 15, 2009, the one-man committee on “Recruitment Plan (2009-2020) for the Indian Police Service”, headed by Shri Kamal Kumar, IPS (Retd.), submitted its report.  The report confirms my conclusion that there was grave neglect in determining the number of candidates to be recruited to the IPS in the Civil Services Examination during the four-year period 1999-2002, and that, as against the number of 85, only 36 candidates were recruited each year, resulting in a shortfall of 49 candidates a year or a total shortfall of 196 candidates.  The report has recommended that the annual recruitment between 2009-10 and 2019-20 be fixed at 130 and that a Limited Competitive Examination may also be conducted for 7 years to recruit an additional 448 candidates.  I have to regretfully point out that the damage can be repaired only over a period of 11 years.  I have directed that the report be processed expeditiously and placed before the competent authority for appropriate decisions.

36.        A Mid-Career Training Programme (MCTP) for IPS Officers has been approved at an estimated cost of Rs. 68.53 crore. Under the Programme, beginning January 2010, SP, DIG and IG-level officers would be imparted specialized training at premier Indian and international academic/training institutions.

37.        The following appointments were made:

Shri NK Tripathi, IPS (MP: 1974) : Special DG, CRPF

Shri PPS Sidhu, IPS (UP: 1975) : Special DG, BSF

Freedom Fighters

38.        The Minister of State, Shri Ajay Maken, visited Hyderabad on October 22, 2009 and held discussions with the Screening Committee of Eminent Freedom Fighters. This Committee was re-constituted recently to scrutinize pension claims relating to the Hyderabad Liberation Movement”.

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The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, inaugurated the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi today. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s address on the occasion:

“I am truly delighted to be back at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. I compliment Smt. Shobhana Bhartia for the dedication and commitment with which she has been organizing this event every year.

This year we will have an opportunity to hear the former President of the United States, George W. Bush who is a great friend of our country. We in India recognize the very important role he played in the fruition of the civil nuclear cooperation initiative. We are working now with our international partners to give a boost to our nuclear power programme. This will be an important contribution to our efforts to use cleaner fuels and thus combat climate change.

I mention this today because this day happens to be the birth anniversary of that great Indian scientist, visionary and nation-builder, Dr. Homi Bhabha. In concluding the civil nuclear agreement we sought to realize Dr. Bhabha’s dream of tapping the atom for the welfare of our people. It is only fitting that we pay tribute to Homi Bhabha’s genius at this leadership Summit.

In reflecting on what I should say today I was recollecting in my mind what my key messages were to you over the past five years that I have been regularly attending the Summit. I believe I had placed before you three related thoughts.

First, that our challenges in nation building are primarily at home. And that these are best addressed by ensuring sustained and inclusive economic growth and development. We do face external and global challenges. The global slowdown is a reality, rise of terrorism is also a reality and we have to face these challenges. But I sincerely believe that they are nowhere as daunting as the ones we face at home. If we get our house in order, if we can liberate each and every citizen of this free nation from the tyranny of poverty, ignorance and disease, there is no external challenge that we cannot overcome.

Secondly, I have said here before that our composite culture is based on our rejection of the notion of an inevitable clash of civilizations. Our philosophy of “vasudhaiva kutumbakam” has encouraged us to accept pluralism as the natural order of all civilized existence. Freedom, democracy, pluralism and secularism go together. You cannot have one without the other.

My third submission to you has been that we seek to live in peace with our own neighbourhood and with the world at large. We have always been and wish to remain good neighbours and good global citizens. I do believe our destiny is intrinsically linked with that of all our neighbours. We seek good relations with each one of them. I have repeatedly said that we see our security and prosperity in their progress and stability. We sincerely wish to resolve all outstanding issues with our neighbours through dialogue and in the spirit of partnership and friendship that should rightly characterize our relations.

As responsible global citizens we wish to be partners of all nations in humanity’s struggle for the preservation and protection of the environment and in giving meaning and substance to the notion of sustainable development. We will approach the international negotiations on global warming, climate change and carbon emissions as responsible global citizens. We will fulfill our obligations to nature and to humanity consistent with our commitment to the welfare and well-being of our people, and the poor of the world. Equally, we expect the developed nations, and those who have so far drawn unduly on nature’s bounty to bear their due share of the burdens as well. Ours is not an unreasonable stance. It is based on our worldview that the “whole world is one family” and on our commitment to the principles of inclusive growth and development.

These three messages are relevant to the theme of this year’s Summit as well. They will remain the three pillars on which the India of 2020 is built. 2020 is not far away. Our primary challenge in the next decade will be to sustain high rates of economic growth, to ensure that the growth process remains equitable, to invest in the education and health of every child and adult, to generate gainful employment, to build modern, efficient and environment-friendly infrastructure and to ensure that government and public services are efficient and responsive to our people’s needs and function transparently. We should aim to sustain annual growth rates of 9 to 10% per annum. We have to increase investments in physical and social infrastructure, paying particular attention to the needs of our agriculture and the transformation of our rural economy. The fact that our savings rate is as high as 35% of our GDP suggests that what I am saying, is a realizable goal. The challenge for political leadership, at the national, at the state and local levels, will lie in ensuring the realization of this outcome.

I submit to you that India cannot be built from Delhi alone. No doubt the Union government has an important developmental role, apart from its central role in providing national security. But with the growth of the market economy and with individual talent and enterprise being unleashed, no agenda for building a new India can any longer be imposed from Delhi. India lives in the States. The future of our country depends therefore a great deal on the quality of political leadership and of government at the State and at local levels. In this context, great importance attaches to the revitalization of the institution of the Panchayati Raj which was a dream of late Shri Rajiv Gandhi.

One of our biggest challenges remains the challenge of reducing regional disparities. Equally important is the challenge of ensuring the economic and social upliftment of our scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes, less privileged sections of society and religious and linguistic minorities. These challenges have to be addressed at every level of the policy pyramid.

Our Government launched a series of developmental initiatives since 2004. These initiatives are aimed at investing in rural and urban infrastructure, at guaranteeing minimum employment and generating maximum employment. These initiatives are aimed at improving access to and the availability of education and health care to all our citizens. These initiatives need to be carried for they seek to improve the productivity of our farm economy and the income of our farmers where 65% of our population depends on agriculture.

But for each of these initiatives to be successfully implemented we need pro-active and creative leadership at the State and district level. We need a more active civil society and media focus on the quality of governance at the State and district levels. Urban governance has to vastly improve to make our cities and towns meet the needs of a burgeoning urban population. We need a creative entrepreneurial class that can compete both at home and abroad without artificial props. A visionary national leadership alone cannot do much when the challenge of development is in the realm of policy implementation and where States must be active partners.

For us this challenge is compounded by the fact that our less developed regions are also the more populated ones. This has contributed to the persistence of poverty and to the problem of internal migration and it is also driven by sometimes law and order problems. In these States we need a forward looking, development oriented political leadership. We need a committed and pro-active civil service. We need an active civil society. We need a professional middle class. We need a combination of all these participants to transform our less developed regions and take them forward on the road to sustained development.

Sitting here in Delhi we can endlessly debate the qualities of national leadership. But real change in India will come when we get the right kind of state level and local leadership – a forward-looking, modern and compassionate leadership that strengthens the foundations of our great Republic. The focus of the debate on leadership for building a new India should, therefore, shift to the States.

While such domestic regional and local leadership will build the new India we aspire for, we also need in our region, in South Asia, an equally forward looking leadership. Each of our neighbours faces similar developmental challenges. Some of them face bigger existential challenges.

India seeks a neighbourhood of peace and progress. We wish our neighbours well. We would like to see them develop and wipe out poverty and overcome the burden of history and we would like to work with them to achieve these goals. India is always happy to extend a helpful and supportive hand to all our neighbours. We wish to see democracy take deep roots in all these countries so that the people of South Asia are truly empowered to take their destiny into their own hands.

We need a leadership in our region that can take a long term view and which has the courage to take bold decisions. We must not allow our past to limit our future. To paraphrase Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, we must not allow ‘narrow domestic walls’ to confine us to ‘the dreary desert sand of dead habit’. Instead we should dip into the ‘clear stream of reason’ and walk forward ‘into ever-widening thought and action’ so that we can build not just a new India by 2020 but a new South Asia.”

Pakistan’s Consul General in Chicago personally knew both David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, nabbed by the FBI for planning to carry out a major terror attack in India at the behest of LeT, the US authorities have claimed.

The FBI in its revised chargesheet filed before a Chicago court said the Consul General of Pakistan in Chicago personally knows both Rana and Headley alias ‘Daood Gilani’, as all three of them are from the same high school.

According to the website of the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, Dr Aman Rashid is the Consul General in Chicago. “On or about September 25, 2009, Rana spoke by telephone with the Consul General at the Pakistani Consulate in Chicago in an effort to obtain a five-year visa for Headley to travel to Pakistan.

It is clear from the email traffic unrelated to terrorist plotting that the Consul General knows Rana and Headley personally as all three attended the same high school,” the FBI claimed.

However, the affidavit, a copy of which has been obtained by PTI, does not say anything if the Consul General was aware or had any inclination of the terrorist connection of Rana and Headley.

Rana (48) and Headley (49) are not only residents of Chicago, but were product of same military school in Karachi.

American national Headley, whose assistance was sought by Lashkar-e-Toiba in planning a major terror attack in India, was helped by his Pakistani-Canadian friend Rana to obtain a visa for Pakistan so that he can travel to NWFP for training and meeting the LeT leaders, federal prosecutors have charged.

The chargesheet also indicates that LeT was planning to use Headley for a major terrorist attack in India. The transcripts of the taped conversations, both email and telephone, reveals that LeT was planning to use Headley for attack on a mysterious Indian actor ‘Rahul’ which Indian intelligence agencies say could be a code message.

Headley stated that he intended to travel to Pakistan in early October to meet with an unidentified LeT Individual ‘B’ and (Ilyas) Kashmiri, the FBI told the court. It said Headley had already travelled to Pakistan from late January to early March of 2009, during which he visited FATA.

While it does not mention to which high schools the three were students, the FBI told the court that postings to a Yahoo group of graduates of a military school located in the Pakistani town of Hasan Abdal (a group that refers to itself as ‘abdalians’) reflected that both Headley and Rana have participated in the group and referred to their attendance at that school.

Cadet College Hasan Abdal is located in the Hasan Abdal a historic city in northern Punjab of Pakistan, some 40 km north west of Rawalpindi. The town with a population of 50,000 is famous for Gurdwara Sri Panja Sahib, one of the most sacred places of Sikhism.

The affidavit says the Consul General knows Headley by a different name — Daood Gilani. In seeking a visa for Headley, Rana stated that he wished to obtain the visa for a white American named “Headley” who did not have any Pakistani background at all.

“When the Consul General suggested that Rana send his friend to the consulate, Rana explained that he had sent his friend elsewhere to take care of some unspecified business so that someone else would visit the Consulate,” the FBI says.

“It is clear from the foregoing conversation that Rana was attempting to deceive the Consul General into granting a visa for Headley without the Consul General knowing for whom the visa would be issued,” the FBI told the court.

Rana told the FBI that he was aware that Headley had been affiliated with LeT, he had received training from them and he had met Kashmiri, leader of Harkat-ul-Jihad-Islami.

Rana also said that he was aware that Headley communicated with LeT Individual ‘B’ and ‘A’.

In Rana’s chargesheet, the FBI named two LeT leaders, whose names have not been identified and are referred to as LeT Member ‘A’ and LeT Member ‘B’. The FBI said the identity of both the LeT leaders are known to the Government.

LeT Member ‘A’ is an individual with substantial influence and responsibility within Lashkar-e-Taiba, while Individual ‘B’ is associated with both LeT and Kashmiri.

The FBI alleged that Headley, Rana, Individual ‘B’ and LeT Member ‘A’ have frequently used coded language and changed their methods of communications in order to conceal the nature and content of their communications.

SOURCE: TIMES NOW