China wants India to block Dalai Lama’s Dharamshala meet

BEIJING: China on Thursday made a direct request to India for blocking the proposed six-day meeting organised by the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala from November 17 to discuss the future of Tibet.

“The Indian government has made solemn commitment about not allowing any anti-China activities on its soil. We hope that the commitment will be implemented,” Qin Gang, the foreign ministry spokesman said at a press conference on Thursday.

Anyone who participates in the meeting being organised by the Dalai Lama will not be liked by the Chinese people, he said. The Chinese government is against anyone trying to split the nation or raise such an issue in the international arena, he said.

The statement is aimed to put pressure on the Indian government, which may find it difficult to block the meeting in view of the vast support enjoyed by the Dalai Lama the world over.

India had earlier accepted China’s request to check pro-Tibet protestors demonstrating against the Olympic Games torch relay and trying to march to Tibet from Dharamshala in July and August. Chinese leaders had eagerly praised India’s efforts in this direction. They want New Delhi to act directly against the Dalai Lama this time, which is obviously going to put New Delhi in a spot.

Diplomats on the two sides are engaged in tough negotiations that may involve a trade-off if New Delhi agreed to take measures to stop the Dalai Lama from holding the meeting. But any sort of agreement has been made difficult because of the Arunachal Pradesh issue.

The Chinese foreign ministry recently challenged external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee’s claim that Arunachal is an integral part of India. Qin said on Tuesday that Mukherjee’s statement was contrary to historical facts as China does not accept the MacMohan Line and the border between the two nations has not yet been demarcated.

The Dalai Lama invoked article 59 of the Tibetan Charter that empowers him to call a ‘Special Meeting’ to discuss the future course of action as his envoys returned empty handed after secret meetings with Chinese government representatives. The past few weeks has seen the Tibetan leader complaining that he had “given up” on China and that his “faith in the Chinese government is thinning.”

The “special meeting” to be held in Dharamshala will be attended by past and present members of the cabinet in his government-in-exile, past and present members of the Tibetan parliament in exile, representatives of non-government organisations and intellectuals interested in the Tibetan issue.

 

60,000-crore spectrum scam

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has demanded an enquiry into what it claims is a Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion) financial scam involving the manner in which 2G spectrum was allocated by the Union ministry of communications.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the CPI(M) said that the United Progressive Alliance government had given away scarce spectrum at a fraction of the market price leading to heavy revenue losses to the nation.

‘It is now clear from the sale of shares by Swan and Unitech that more than Rs 60,000 crore has been lost to the national exchequer by giving away scarce spectrum at a fraction of the market price. The CPI(M) is shocked that the United Progressive Alliance government, instead of addressing the huge scam that has taken place on the allocation of the fourth licence in 2G mobile services has taken the position that nothing needs to be done,’ the statement said.

‘For the release of the fourth licence and the spectrum required, the Communications ministry adopted a completely inexplicable principle of ‘first come first served’ for allocating the licence as well as a licence fee based on 2001 price. These 2G licences were priced at 2001 levels, allegedly to keep the costs low for the consumers. However, this was not ensured through the licence terms and conditions. As a result, the parties who had secured these licences have sold or are selling their shares at huge profits,’ the CPI(M) has claimed.

The CPI(M) has raised questions over the deal between the United Arab Emirates’ telecom operator Etisalat and Swan Telecom, and Unitech and Talenor (of Norway).

‘Swan Telecom bought a licence for 13 circles along with the necessary 2G spectrum for a paltry Rs 1,537 crore (Rs 15.37 billion). Subsequently, it has sold 45 per cent of its stake to Etisalat for $900 million, taking its book value to $2 billion. This is without putting up any infrastructure, let alone starting operations,’ the CPI(M) statement alleges.

The statement goes on to say that the ‘Unitech-Talenor deal is no different. Unitech, like Swan, had not spent a single paisa for executing its licence. It has now sold 60 per cent of its stake to Talenor for Rs 6,120 crore (Rs 61.20 billion) while paying only Rs 1,651 crore (Rs 16.51 billion) as licence fee. The government has actually got only one-sixth of what it would have got, had it gone through a fresh auction route — a loss of Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) to the exchequer on Swan and Unitech licences alone.’

Claiming that the total loss to the exchequer of giving away 2G GSM spectrum in this manner, including to the CDMA operators, amounts to more than Rs 60,000 crore and is ‘one of the biggest financial scams’ in the country, the Left party has expressed surprise at the UPA’s handling of the situation.

The CPI(M) said that the government needs to look into why scarce national resources were given away at throwaway prices to private parties who have profited immensely from this move. The Leftists have demanded that the government should either invoke fair trade practice/anti-monopoly sections or look at other operative sections of the licence to see how this can be prevented. ‘If no other recourse is available, it must levy a windfall tax on such speculative transactions,’ the CPI(M) said.

The Leftist have also said that the issue of allotting 3G licences too should be done in a transparent manner.

The CPI(M) also alleged that one telecom company was reportedly ‘using the difference of revenue shares between different applications — mobile, long distance and Internet — to under-report its earnings, seriously impacting the government’s revenue share’.

The CPI(M) said that an enquiry should be held in this affair and measures must be taken so that such a situation does not recur.

 

Death tolls 60

he death toll in the serial blasts that rocked Guwahati and upper Assam in the morning, reached 50 with more injured succumbing to the injuries in the hospitals. People, who browsed for ‘NE News’ or ‘Assam News’ in the morning, got a rude shocker, as terrorists carried out 11 blasts in Guwahati, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar and Barpeta. In Guwahati, Dispur Road, Pan Bazar, Fancy Bazar and Ganeshguri Flyover have been targeted.

The impact of the serial blasts was so high that people and vehicles both charred beyond recognition. The dead bodies were seen lying here and there. Over 200 people were injured in the blasts. They are being treated in various hospital. Forensic experts believed that IDE and RDX of high intensity were used to trigger the blasts. The blasts were carried out in a planned manner and Assam government failed to prevent the blasts even though it was repeatedly warned by the Centre.

Although ULFA’s involvement in the serial blasts in Assam is suspected, the intelligence sources believe that Bangladesh-based HuJI could be behind the blasts. The recent communal clashes between local Assamese and Bangladeshis are being attributed to the serial blasts in Assam. Some Islamic terrorist organizations may have carried out the blasts to seek revenge. However, nothing can be said at the moment, as the investigation is still going on. The recent Assam blasts shook the nation, which just celebrated Diwali two days ago.

As expected, Union Home Ministry, Prime Minister and many other leaders have condemned the serial bomb blasts in Assam. Union MoS for Home Shakeel Ahmed tried to take a swipe on BJP and other Sangh Parivar groups even though he was asked about Assam bomb blasts. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi looked lost to find words, while the AGP demanded the immediate resignation of the government.

The BJP, which has been gunning for the head of the UPA government on the issue of terrorism, is on a defensive after the Mumbai ATS proved the Saffron angle to Malegaon blasts. The blame game, which began a few months ago, is not on its peak and no political party is trying to address the real issue. They are just worried about their vote banks. In such a situation, it won’t be surprising, if we witness more terror attacks in the country over the next few months.