U-turn by Home Ministry on activist case

Jan 13, 2015: After a blame-game, the Union Home Ministry on Tuesday did a u-turn on the offloading of London-bound GreenPeace activist Priya Pillai and supported the Intelligence Bureau (IB) action of issuing a Look Out Circular (LOC) against her.

Sources cited “national security considerations” and purchase of Pillai’s ticket by the UK-arm of Greenpeace as the reasons for the issuance of LOC by the IB, which was initially contested by the Union Home Ministry saying the agency has no authority to issue such circulars.

Pillai, a senior campaigner with GreenPeace India, was to interact with British MPs on January 14 on “violations of human rights and environmental norms by Essar in Mahan coal mine areas”.

On Monday, top officials of the Home Ministry questioned the need for issuing an LOC against Pillai and IB’s authority in doing so. Though the incident took place on Sunday, Home Secretary Anil Goswami on Monday claimed that he did not have details about the incident and will be seeking a report.

Reversing its stand on Tuesday, sources said as per guidelines issued by the Home Ministry in 2010, an officer in the rank of Assistant Director in the IB is authorised to issue LOC for any individual based on inputs received against the person.

Interestingly, the whole of Monday, the Ministry was not clarifying whether the IB had the authority to issue an LOC.

Sources said LOC was issued on January 9, two days prior to her scheduled departure. One of the reasons cited was UK chapter of GreenPeace paying for Pillai’s ticket, which the authorities claimed violated the rules of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

Greenpeace India has to seek permission from RBI before receiving any foreign contribution following an order of the Home Ministry last year freezing the NGO’s funds over its campaign against corporates engaged in coal mining. Greenpeace India challenged the order in the Delhi High Court and the next hearing is on January 20.

Purchase of air ticket by the Greenpeace UK for someone working for its India chapter is amounting to receiving funds from abroad, sources said, adding no permission had been sought from the RBI in this case.

Asked about the ticket issue, Pillai told Deccan Herald the authorities are passing the buck. “They are raising trivial issues and coming up with several reasons two days after the incident. Tell us the real reasons,” she said.

Questions have also been raised in activist circles about authorities citing “national security considerations” to restrict some one’s movement.

(An edited version appeared in Deccan Herald on Jan 14, 2015)

ALSO READ: Mystery over offloading of activist

Mystery over offloading of activist

Mystery over offloading of activist

Jan 12, 2015: Mystery deepened over the offloading of GreenPeace activist Priya Pillai while she was to board a flight to London with Union Home Ministry on Tuesday saying that it did not authorise the issuance of Look Out Notice (LOC) against her.

Sources in Home Ministry said the LOC was issued by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) without any authorisation. Only investigating agencies like CBI and Police have the powers to issue LOC and if IB had to get an LOC, it had to go through the Ministry.

The Joint Secretary in charge of Foreigners Division, which clears such requests, has not given any authorisation for issuing an LOC against Pillai, they said. The Home Ministry officials are “puzzled” over IB’s move.

“I have no idea. Let me get a report. I shall seek a report,” Home Secretary Anil Goswami official said. When asked about GreenPeace’s allegation that government was trying to muzzle dissent, he said GreenPeace keep making allegations against the government and “this is one more allegation”. “What change it makes?” he added.

Questions have been raised over the move to offload her while she was board an Air India flight to London as it curtailed her right to free movement. According to Pillai, she was not given a reason for the Immigration officials’ action.

The Home Ministry officials also said that they are not aware under which rule the activist was offloaded and the cases against her. An LOC is issued is against absconders, those who have red corner notices issued against them and suspects.

“I am not absconding and I have no criminal convictions. Am I being banned from travel due to my political beliefs- is that democratic?” Pillai tweeted.

Syed Akbaruddin, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson, told reporters that the MEA has no role in immigration of Indian residents going out and coming in.

Pillai also shot off a letter to Home Secretary Anil Goswami seeking a “definitive answer” on the reason why an LOC was issued against her.

“If a Look Out Notice does exist in my name, please provide me with details of this circular along with information on the issuing authority and the reasons for it,” she said.

She also said that she was flying to London to give speech to MPs and she was not subject to bail conditions that would prevent her from travelling abroad. “Therefore if I am on a look out circular, it is because of my political beliefs. That would be fundamentally undemocratic,” she said.

Another official said the NGO could take the government to court over the matter. He reminded the court verdict in a case filed by Maneka Gandhi, now a Union Minister, in 1977 after her passport was impounded when she planned to go abroad for a professional engagement. The verdict went against the government as the apex court upheld the right to personal liberty.

(An edited version appeared in Deccan Herald on Jan 13, 2015)

ALSO READ: U-turn by Home Ministry on activist case

U-turn by Home Ministry on activist case

AAI wants to maximise non-aeronautical revenue

After registering losses over the past several years, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) wants to maximise non-aeronautical revenue to mop up money but Civil Aviation Ministry is not optimistic about its capacity to do so.

AAI Chairman R K Srivastava, who assumed office early this month, believes that adopting best global practices in the commercial exploitation of available assets would help in augmenting non-aeronautical revenue.

Srivastava has outlined his priorities in a message to his colleagues but the Ministry appeared to have thrown up its hands even before as it told a Parliamentary panel that AAI could “not fully harness” non-aeronautical revenue from parking, cargo facilities, hotels, passenger amenities and shopping “due to inherent constraints”.

AAI-run airports are likely to incur a loss of at least Rs 1,112.39 crore in 2014-15, a rise from Rs 1,087.48 crore incurred in the last fiscal. These figures could rise, as the allocated expenditure is not included in these calculations. It is to be seen whether the losses will surpass Rs 1,546.84 crore incurred in 2012-13.

Srivastava noted that maximising non-aeronautical revenue is the new global trend to make airports a self sustaining commercial enterprise. With the changing time and emerging global trends, the AAI is now expected to work as a commercial enterprise, he said.

“Many airport operators across the globe have augmented the share of their non-traffic revenue to the tune of 50 per cent or even more. This is certainly achievable, if the emerging trends in the country for the development of infrastructure by different wings of the government through monetisation of immovable assets and land available with government and its allied organisations are emulated and adopted,” he said.

He was of the view that the AAI needs to make concerted efforts for augmenting the business potential in the cargo business, which has not been exploited to its full potential. “The AAI needs to work out a new strategy to capture and develop its share of the market in the cargo sector,” he added.

However, the Civil Aviation Ministry does not appear to share this. The Ministry said airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, which are now running on PPP mode, had increased non-aeronautical revenue substantially, which is about 50 to 60 per cent of total revenue.

“Whereas, in AAI airports, non-aeronautical revenue even today is restricted to 16 per cent,” the Ministry was quoted in the report tabled in Parliament last month.

The main issue before the AAI is the difficulty in getting encorachment removed from its land, it said.

 BOX: AIRPORT LOSSES

Year	Loss
2010-11	Rs 895.39 crore
2011-12	Rs 1,101.84 crore
2012-13	Rs 1,546.84 crore
2013-14#	1,087.48 crore**
2014-15##	Rs 1,112.39 crore**

# Revised Estimates

## Budget Estimates

** Excludes Allocated Expenditure

SOURCE: MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION

 

Ex-diplomat’s take on Pak

Did Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif knew in advance and give his approval for the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts?

Yes, says Rajiv Dogra, who served as Consul General of India in Karachi for two years from 1992-94, in his new book ‘Where Borders Bleed’.

The 66-year-old former diplomat, who was also ambassador to countries like Italy and India’s permanent representative to UN agencies based in Rome, believes that India is keen “to clutch at the imaginary straws that they dangle” that terror is the work of non-state actors.

“We fall for that line because we find it convenient to be deceived,” he writes.

Recalling a meeting he had with a former Pakistan Supreme Court judge in 1994 in French chancery premises in Karachi, he claims that the then Prime Minister Sharif knew in advance about the Mumbai serial blasts.

“I had just walked into the splendid garden, when an eminent former judge of the Pakistani Supreme Court shook my hands and said quickly, but sotto voce, ‘The blasts in Bombay were done with the approval of PM Nawaz Sharif,” he writes.

When the “stunned” author asked how he knew about it, the former judge was quoted as saying, “A sitting judge of the Supreme Court, who should know, told me.”

Dogra said he had “no reason to doubt a man of his eminence”, as the former judge had a “sterling reputation” and it was out of question that such a man would make a comment on the basis of “half-baked information”.

The 1974-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer feels that successive Indian leaders have stopped reacting to provocation, resulting in criticism that they follow a policy of appeasement.

He also sought to debunk suggestions that Pakistani politicians do not have a say on vital strategic issues concerning India and it is ISI and Army that drive the hard-line agenda against India.

Dogra goes on to claim that Sharif knew that Pakistan soldiers were occupying Kargil heights when he welcomes then Prime Minister A B Vajpayee who made the historic Delhi-Lahore bus ride.

He also blames the United States for the spread of terrorism.

“America must bear some responsibility for the spread of terrorism in the world. It was the massive infusion of arms and money into Pakistan by America in the years starting from 1979 that led to Pakistan becoming a vast repository of weapons for jihadis against Soviet occupation of Afghanistan,” he writes.

(An edited version appeared in Deccan Herald on Jan 13, 2015)

Singapore sees an opportunity in smart city projects

Singapore sees a huge business opportunity for its companies in the Narendra Modi government’s plans to develop 100 smart cities across the country.

S Iswaran, Singapore’s Minister Second for Trade and Industry, has said that Singapore companies can contribute in building smart cities as they have a strong track record in urban solutions and infrastructure management.

“This is also what our companies are doing in other markets in China and ASEAN countries. This is what some of our companies doing here already,” Iswaran told a select group of journalists from India and Singapore here.

The government had announced the setting up of 100 smart cities across the country soon after it came to power in May 26. The first among these is being developed in Dholera, 110 km from Ahmedabad along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.

Trade between Singapore, the “largest trade and investment partner” of New Delhi among ASEAN countries, and India is “growing quite well” and valued at about 25 billion dollars, he said.

“There are new opportunities based on the initiatives of new government under Prime Minister Modi. We see this as a way for enhancing bilateral economic cooperation,” he said.

Iswaran had flown to Ahmedabad from Delhi in the inaugural flight of Vistara, a joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, on Saturday to attend the Vibrant Gujarat Summit.

Complimenting the joint venture, Iswaran said it is an “excellent addition” in bilateral economic ties between India and Singapore. “I think it is a very good development. It will give further momentum to the economic ties between the two countries,” he said.

Asked whether Singapore businesses still experience bottlenecks in dealing with India, he said in any emerging market, there are opportunities as well as challenges.

“This is not just specific to India. That is why our businesses and investors need to asses the opportunities and compare it with the risks associated with it,” he said adding the reality is that all governments will have to reconcile the challenges it faces.

Expressing confidence in Modi government, he said, businessmen, especially in Singapore are closely watching the agenda set by the new government. “They see an opportunity. The greater regulatory clarity, the greater the investment incentive is,” he said.

He said the Indian businesses in Singapore are growing.

“They came to Singapore not just because of what the Singapore market offers but significantly, they use Singapore as a platform through which they pursue opportunities in ASEAN, in larger Asia Pacific region. The core companies are around 5-6,000. It is a pretty good number,” he said.

(An edited version appeared in Deccan Herald on Jan 12, 2015)

Vistara to hit south Indian skies soon

‘Vistara’, the newbie on the Indian skies, will jack up their services from February 16 by adding more destinations, including from south Indian cities, besides increasing frequencies to the existing ones.

The airline, the joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines joint venture, is close to finalising its schedule beyond February 15, its top officials told Deccan Herald after the launch of its Delhi-Ahmedabad flight on Saturday. Vistara started its operations with a Delhi-Mumbai flight on Friday.

Vistara had consciously decided not to squeeze itself with more number of services in this fog season, for which the schedule has been cleared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) until February 15. The airline is operating from “late in the morning” and winding up “early in the night” to avoid disruptions during the fog.

With the DGCA now looking at post-fog season schedule, Vistara is aiming to finalise its choice of destinations.

At present, Vistara operates 11 services on Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Delhi, Delhi-Ahmedabad and Mumbai-Ahmedabad sectors.

“India is a big country and I can tell you some south Indian cities will be there among the new destinations. But I can’t tell you the destinations until I have the slots,” Vistara Chief Commercial Officer Giam Ming Toh said.

Phee Teik Yeoh, Vistara CEO, said, “without doubt, we will start going to other cities. We will have more from the existing (destinations) as well as new destinations.” Though he feels that one now sees on schedule is “just s tip of the iceberg”, he refused to cite which all cities will be added to the Vistara map.

Giam Ming said they decided to keep the operations “small” during the fog season. “We built a buffer for fog season. We can stretch the window after the fog season,” he said.

He said one has to keep in mind the ‘Route Dispersal Guidelines’ as an airline is mandated to operate a certain number of services to non-metros and under-served destinations when they operate to metros.

The airline’s fleet is also growing with two more expected by March and one in April, taking the total to six. Another three aircraft also will be added by the year-end.

On Ahmedabad being the third destination, Phee said they look at the potential market for deciding on it. Operating to a new destination involves a lot of factors and not a single variable that makes it work, he said.

(An edited version of the Ahmedabad datelined report appeared in Deccan Herald on Jan 11, 2015)

MHA cancels permission for Kerala org to collect fgn funds

Union Home Ministry has cancelled the permission granted to an organisation under the Catholic Church in Kerala to collect foreign contributions after a probe found that it violated rules.

The Kerala Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services (KCCRS) was found to have transferred “almost the entire” foreign contribution it received between May 2008 and February 2012 to another organisation ‘Jeevana Samridhi’, which does not have the required registration to receive such funds.

The KCCRS has transferred Rs 34,19,944 to ‘Jeevana Samridhi’ in Ernakulam district. ‘Jeevana Samridhi’ is neither registered under Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) nor received prior permission for receiving such money. The Kerala Catholic Bishop’s Council (KCBC), the apex body of Catholic Church in the state, recognises the KCCRS.

“The KCCRS had acted as a conduit for transfer of foreign contribution to Jeevana Samridhi,” the Foreigners Division of the Home Ministry said in its order.

The Ministry also said the organisation did not file the mandatory annual returns for 2006-07 and 2008-09 besides failing to furnish documents for 2012-13 within prescribed period. It had also “not maintained proper vouchers” for cash payments.

The FCRA registration of KCCRS was suspended on July 31 last year and given an opportunity to place on record its side of the story. In its reply, the KCCRS “accepted the violations” and “sought apology” from the Home Ministry before requesting that its registration be not cancelled.

However, the Ministry said it could not accept the request and invoked relevant section of the FCRA to cancel the registration of the Kochi-based organisation.

Last week, four American NGOs operating in India were restricted from receiving funds from abroad after the government found out that they were not adhering to laws relating to foreign contributions. It was found that the foreign funds for these NGOs were being remitted in personal accounts of a few individuals and not in bank accounts operated under FCRA Act as per law.

The Ministry has been sending show-cause notices and reminders to NGOs, which are not submitting returns on time and violating FCRA regulations.

According to the latest statistics, 82 per cent of over 45,000 NGOs with permission to receive foreign funds are yet to submit their accounts for 2013-14 though the deadline ended on December 31. Only 8,636 NGOs have submitted the details of foreign funds it received during 2013-14. These NGOs have received Rs 3,784.04 crore in the last fiscal.

As per the latest figures, NGOs received Rs 10,963.81 crore foreign contributions in 2012-13 as against Rs 11,544.75 crore in 2011-12. In 2010-11, such organisations received Rs 10,354.93 crore.

(An edited version appeared in Deccan Herald on Jan 10, 2015)

Son follows Father

Farooq Abdullah did it in 2002, so did his son Omar in 2014 after the defeat of their party National Conference in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.

One could not miss the similarity as the Abdullahs refused to continue as caretaker Chief Ministers on both the occasions and the state’s rein has fallen into the hands of the Governor.

 As archrival Mufti Mohammed Sayeed-led People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the single largest party, and BJP could not arrive on a consensus, Governor N N Vohra on Jan 9 issued a Proclamation under Section 92(1) of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir to impose Governor’s Rule in the state.

Only on Jan 7 night, Omar met Vohra to request him to relieve him as the caretaker Chief Minister. Omar, who met Vohra soon after return from his 12-day visit to London to attend to his ailing father, felt that the state needed a full-time administrator to deal with the situation along the border with Pakistan.

This meeting as well as the uncompromising stand taken by both PDP and BJP to stitch an alliance to form the government led the Centre and Governor to think about dealing with the situation. After a series of meetings and consultations, Vohra issued the proclamation of imposing Governor’s Rule.

Like in Omar’s case, the unending discussions between Congress and PDP in 2002 on government formation irritated Farooq, who refused to continue. “I have no moral right to stay in power after midnight tonight,” he had told then Governor Girish Chandra in 2002.

Then Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani tried to reason with Farooq, then an NDA ally, but he did not budge from his position. Soon after, Saxena imposed Governor’s Rule. However, Governor’s Rule in 2002 lasted only for 15 days, the lowest.

In 2008 also, the state came under Governor’s Rule after the fall of Ghulam Nabi Azad-led coalition government in the state. Since 1977, Governor’s Rule was imposed in the state six times.

The highest duration in the state without an elected government at helm was between January 19, 1990 and October 9, 1996 – a period of six years and 264 days. The years were marked by heightened militancy.

Jan 9, 2015

Noise pollution near airports may end soon

Complaints about sound pollution near airport may be a thing of past soon with Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) asking airports to conduct noise mapping study and develop an action plan to address the issue.

The aviation regulator has issued rules in this regard, saying the reducing the effect of aircraft noise on people and communities is one of main priorities of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

“Given the industry’s growth and the presence of population agglomerations near airports, large parts of population are still affected by aircraft noise,” the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) on noise management of aircraft operations at airports.

The DGCA wants the airport operators and airlines to adopt a “balanced approach” as suggested by ICAO to address aircraft noise which is based on reduction of noise at source, land use planning and management, noise abatement operational procedures and operating restrictions.

Airport operators has been asked to “carry out a noise mapping study around their airports”, including the areas directly under the flight paths, to assess the existing noise loads and the population affected within the various noise contours or maps using an internationally accepted noise model and actual data.

Following this, airport operators “should develop a Noise Management Action Plan based on the outcome” of the noise mapping study. The airport operator shall implement the same to reduce the noise generated from aircraft operations at airports, the DGCA said.

The operators should also develop a system of monitoring permissible noise limits prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board, State Pollution Control Board or any other authority in respect to a particular airport. They should take necessary corrective action against any deviation to prescribed noise limits.

Among the suggestions, the DGCA asked operators to use all operations runways on a fixed hourly basis in order to evenly distribute the noise generated during take-offs and landings. It will be the sole responsibility of the airport operator to identify the sensitive runways and the flight paths from community annoyance point of view, the CAR said.

(An edited version appeared in Deccan Herald on Jan 9, 2015)