President Barack Obama sets campaign theme

OSAWATOMIE, KANSAS: US President Barack Obama delivered a sweeping indictment of economic inequality in the US on Tuesday, laying out a theme that will shape his re-election campaign next year.

While Republicans are looking to keep Obama on the defensive over the weak US economy, Obama has been attacking them for repeatedly refusing to allow tax increases on the wealthiest Americans as part of a plan to reduce the deficit.

Republicans, including presidential front-runnersMitt Romneyand Newt Gingrich, argue that any tax increases would stifle job-creation and have accused Obama of pursuing class-warfare.

Obama's appearance in the small midwestern town of Osawatomie, Kansas, came exactly four weeks before the Republicans hold their first nominating contest, the Iowa caucuses.

Recent polls show Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, taking the lead. He is the latest in a series of candidates to challenge Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who had been the presumed front-runner for most of the race.

The location of the speech had historic significance because it was where one of the most notable Republican presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, in 1910 called for a "square deal" for regular Americans.

Obama contrasted Roosevelt's efforts to break up monopolies and stop child labour, to the views of today's Republicans who believe the government is too powerful.

"Their philosophy is simple - we are better off when everyone is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules. Well, I'm here to say they are wrong."

Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said the President was desperately trying new slogans and messages to see what sticks "because he can't figure out how to sell his last three years of high unemployment and more debt."

Obama took aim at the Republicans, saying they would only return the same structures that led to America's economic downturn. The president conceded that the country is in the midst of a consuming re-examination on his watch, prompting national movements against both government spending and an economy that many feel disproportionately favours the elite. Mr. Obama went on the offensive about income equality, saying it distorts democracy and derails the American dream.

Responding to those who want to cut taxes and regulation in the belief success will trickle down, Mr. Obama said, "Here's the problem- It doesn't work. It's never worked."

Obama noted that Theodore Roosevelt was called a "radical, a socialist, even a communist" for putting forth ideas in his last campaign such as an eight-hour work day, a minimum wage for women, unemployment insurance and a progressive income tax.

Obama attempted to sum up the pain and peril for a society where the middle class is struggling. But he also called for individual responsibility. "In the end," he said, "rebuilding this economy based on fair play, a fair shot and a fair share will require all of us to see the stake we have in each other's success."

Obama also challenged the big banks that took bailouts from American taxpayers, pointing to "a deficit of trust between Main Street and Wall Street." He said banks that were bailed out had an obligation to work to close that trust deficit and should be doing more to help remedy past mortgage abuses and assist middle-class taxpayers.
SourceTimes of India

MP Navjot Sidhu creates scene at toll plaza

NELLORE: Maverick BJP MP and former Test cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu allegedly pushed a security guard at a toll plaza on Tuesday and forcibly took him away in his vehicle leading to protests from the guard's family and villagers who demanded action against the MP. Sidhu was on a tour of Nellore.

It all began when the guard, Chenchu Ramaiah, allegedly hurled a stick at Sidhu's car which whizzed past the Venkatachalam toll plaza at Tallampadu village in Doravarisatram mandal without showing any ID proof or payment of toll fee. This led to a crack in the windshield. An enraged Sidhu came back to the plaza, overpowered Ramaiah and another guard and bundled them into his vehicle!

Plaza manager Lionel intervened and tried to pacify Sidhu. But an unrelenting Sidhu pushed him aside and sped away; shocked by the development, the staff at the plaza shouted for help. Soon, locals gathered and ran after the MP's car.

Sidhu's car meanwhile zoomed towards Nellore where the MP was invited to attend a programme of Swarna Bharathi Trust, owned by senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu.

On receiving information, Gudur police rushed to the trust office and rescued the two security guards. Sidhu, however, had a heated argument with the policemen and asked them to register a case against the plaza staff for attacking him and his vehicle.

Senior police officers assured that they would take action after conducting an inquiry into the episode. Sources said police did not register a case against anybody following a request by Naidu.

Sidhu did not stop there, though. After attending the programme, he again reached the Venkatachalam toll plaza on his way to Tirumala in the evening where he found two lorries carrying a large number of cattle.

Sidhu jumped off his car and sat on a dharna on the national highway. He wanted the cops to take action against those involved in transporting the cattle to the slaughterhouse.

Meanwhile, sources said that hundreds of locals also gathered at the plaza and picked up a heated argument with Sidhu over his actions earlier in the day. As the melee continued, police rushed to the spot and tried to pacify the agitated MP. An hour later, Naidu, who was travelling to Chennai, also reached the plaza and tried to calm him down.

After failing to convince Sidhu, Naidu urged district SP Ramana Kumar to immediately send a team of senior officers to counsel Sidhu. Gudur DSP Suresh Kumar and inspector Srinivasula Reddy reached the spot and seized the lorries carrying the cattle. The SP also spoke to Sidhu and promised action against the cattle transporters under relevant Acts.

It was only then that Sidhu relented and left for Tirumala around 6 pm. Kumar told TOI that no case has been registered against Sidhu or the plaza staff.
SourceTimes of India

Deadly blasts at Afghanistan shrines killed 58

Kabul: Twin blasts at Afghan shrines killed at least 58 people on Tuesday with one massive suicide blast in Kabul ripping through a crowd of worshippers including children.

The blast in Kabul and another in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif came a day after an international meeting in Germany, meant to further efforts to end the Afghan war, 10 years after US-led forces drove the Taliban from power.

At least 54 people were killed in the huge explosion at the entrance of a riverside shrine in Kabul, where hundreds of singing Shiite Muslims had gathered to mark Ashura.

“Fifty-four are dead and 150 others are injured,” health ministry spokesman Ghulam Noorughli said.

A young girl, dressed in a green shalwar kameez that was smeared in blood, stood shrieking as she was surrounded by the crumpled, piled-up bodies of children.

“I was there watching people mourning (for Ashura) when there was suddenly a huge explosion,” witness Ahmad Fawad said. “Some people around me fell down injured. I wasn't hurt, so I got up and started running. It was horrible.”

Men and women at the scene sobbed as they surveyed the carnage, and screamed slogans denouncing al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either blast. An official speaking on condition of anonymity said it was believed the bomber had arrived with a group of Shi’ite pilgrims from Logar province, south of Kabul.

Separately, four people were killed in Mazar-i-Sharif when another blast struck a shrine in the northern city as crowds gathered for Ashura. It was not immediately clear whether Shi’ites were the target.

Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai, a police spokesman for northern Afghanistan, said the blast was caused by a bicycle bomb, adding that four other people were also injured. AFP

Five more people were also wounded by a motorcycle bomb in Kandahar, the Taliban's heartland.

SourceAhmedabad Mirror

Pawar slapgate: Anna says violence is justified

Ralegan Siddhi: Anna Hazare, while admitting on Tuesday that he ‘committed violence’ when he asked if Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar’s attacker slapped him only once, hit out at the minister, saying the reasons behind the anger should also be considered.

“But for the betterment of society, I do not consider this violence as wrong. Many politicians felt very bad about the slapping incident, many of them got very angry also,” Hazare said in a post on his blog.

He said people held the person who asked the question (Hazare) more guilty than the man, Harvinder Singh, who had actually slapped Pawar. The social activist said he had always maintained that he should not be compared with Mahatma Gandhi.

“I am not even eligible to sit at the feet of Mahatma Gandhi but his thoughts have influenced my life in a very small way, because of which I have been able to do some work in the field of rural development and non-violent struggle for the development of the country,” he added.

Hazare, recounting several instances, said poor farmers were committing suicide in Maharashtra and elsewhere, and they have been caned and shot in the recent past for demanding their rights.

“But this does not cause any anger in our agriculture-based country. This is unfortunate. Many farmers have committed suicide in Maharashtra. But this did not make any politician angry? This is unfortunate,” he pointed out.
SourceAhmedabad Mirror

Nirma to lose clearance for cement plant at Mahuva

The environment permission granted to Nirma Limited to construct a cement plant on a waterbody in Mahuva taluka of Bhavnagar is likely to be cancelled. According to sources, the Ministry of Environment and Forest is likely to file an affidavit before the Supreme Court to this effect.

In such a scenario, Nirma will have to give up its plans to but the plant in Mahuva. The final hearing of the case in Supreme Court will be held this week.

The Ministry of Environment will take into account two committee reports that supported the farmers claim that the detergent giant had procured environmental clearance from the ministry by making faulty representation that the land was a wasteland.


A media report quoting ruling BJP MLA Kanubhai Kalsariya, who has gone against the party and championed the cause of Mahuva farmers, stated: “The expert committee report has pointed out that the plant will disturb the ecological balance of Mahuva. We hope the ministry will withdraw the environment clearance given to Nirma.”

Long legal battle
The Gujarat government had allotted 268 hectare of land to Nirma for its cement plant in Mahuva. This upset farmers who had with great difficulty converted what was once a barren wasteland into a fertile farmland. They had persuaded the administration to construct four check dams (bandharas) to prevent fresh water from flowing into the ocean.

They contended that the plant would pose a threat to agriculture, animal husbandry besides causing irreparable damage to environment. The samiti claimed that the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) and Union environment ministry had wrongly given Nirma environment clearance.

Under the banner Shree Mahuva Bandhara Khetiwadi Pariyavaran Bachav Samittee, they filed a Public Interest Litigation before the Gujarat High Court through advocate Anand Yagnik in 2009.

After a long legal battle, a two-judge bench gave green signal to the plant on the condition that the consumer giant surrenders some 100 hectare of land which formed the water body. Kalsariya filed an appeal before the Supreme Court challenging the High Court order.

A seven-member Balu committee, which was formed after SC intervention, consisting of top scientists of the country concluded that the land allocated to Nirma for the cement plant was located on a waterbody. Earlier, the Vaishnai committee formed by the ministry had also arrived at the same conclusion.
SourceAhmedabad Mirror

Sibal’s moral policing: ‘Offensive’ tweets, FB posts will be removed

New Delhi: The Indian government will not allow social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to host “objectionable” content and will take steps to screen and remove these, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal said on Tuesday.

Sibal said this a day after representatives from Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Microsoft declined to remove offensive content.

Sibal said some of the content available on these sites could hurt the religious sentiments of a large section of communities in India. “Religious sentiments of many communities and of any reasonable person is being hurt because of content which is on the sites,” he told reporters here.

The minister said he had first met with officials of Facebook, Twitter and Orkut on September 5 to discuss the concerns of the government over objectionable pictures being posted on their sites by users.

The pictures, which were shown off the record, depicted Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a bad light, while some others were insulting to various religions.

“Nobody minds satirical image of any public personality but if you show a certain form of me... this is not acceptable. Even individuals should be protected,” said Sibal. The minister said these firms were hesitant to even share information relating to terrorist activities.

“They will have to give us data, then there will be actions taken. We will ask them to give information. Allow us time to deal with it. But one thing is sure we will not allow this kind of content,” Sibal said.

The minister said he did not want to speak to the press on this issue but was forced to do so after the New York Times reported that the government was trying to censor these sites, which was not true. “This is far from the truth. If someone does not wants to remove this kind of incendiary material then the government has to do something about it,” said Sibal.
SourceAhmedabad Mirror

Car enters Gujarati restaurant in the US

San Diego: California-based NRG Raj Patel would have never imagined that he would witness such an accident in his restaurant! Patel, owner of the Miramar restaurant at Artesia, saw a car suddenly entering into his restaurant at 2 pm on Friday. It literally plowed into a restaurant, hitting one customer who was walking out the door and two others who were seated. A third woman was pushed aside by the impact holding her knee in pain.

The interesting aspect is that none of the people involved were seriously injured. The driver, a regular customer at the Surati Farsan Mart, was stopping by to place an order for her daughter’s birthday. She accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brakes, she told the cops. She told the cops that she was shaken and felt awful about the incident. San Diego police said that the accident was under investigation, they were unclear if the driver will face any charges.

San Diego Police Department Lieutenant Jerry Hara said, “Looks like they probably stepped on a little bit of the gas pedal as well, causing the car to actually go into the restaurant.”

“When I first pulled it out, I was shocked, it was crazy-looking. Luckily, I am surprised nobody was hurt with all of the force of the impact,” said Patel. Damage to the restaurant is estimated at about $25,000.

World’s costliest car crash in Japan worth : $4 mn

The accident involved eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini and three Mercedes on a freeway in Japan



Tokyo: Speeding was identified as a possible cause on Monday of what is believed to be world’s most expensive ever car crash, when up to $4 million-worth of supercars ended up in a crumpled heap on a highway. Eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini, three Mercedes Benz – plus a Toyota Prius – were among the vehicles involved in the crash.

Police say they believe the accident Sunday took place when the driver of one of the Ferraris tried to change lanes and hit the median barrier. He spun across the freeway, and the other cars collided while trying to avoid hitting his car.

Video of the crash aired by NTV, a major national network, showed several smashed, bright red Ferraris cluttering the freeway. Even a used Ferrari in Japan can fetch $100,000 or more, meaning the total damage may be $1 million or more.

Police declined to comment on the total amount of damage, but said some of the vehicles were beyond repair. NTV quoted the driver of one of the tow trucks brought in to clear the scene as saying it was the most expensive crash site he had ever seen.

No one was seriously injured, but police in Yamaguchi prefecture said 10 people were treated for bruises and cuts. Police say 14 cars were involved altogether. The luxury cars were all in one place because they were being driven by a group of automobile enthusiasts on their way to nearby Hiroshima.
Source Ahmedabad Mirror

Civil Hospital Ahmedabadf lies under RTI, again

Govt has fixed Rs 26 per sq m for mechanised cleaning, while RTI reply states that it is Rs 36 per sq m; the authority states that no office space has been provided to cleaning company BVG, our picture below speaks for itself


The Civil Hospital administration has perfected the art of dodging questions and providing wrong information under RTI when it concerns mechanised cleaning on the campus. The mechanised cleaning project worth lakhs has been granted to Bharat Vikas Group India Limited.

Two more falsehoods perpetrated by the hospital authority has come to light after Mirror sought information on particulars about the deal with BVG for mechanised cleaning under the Right to Information Act.

Mirror had reported on October 22, ‘Civil Hospital gives wrong info under RTI’, about the hospital having dismantled one X-ray machine following adverse reports by AERB and CAG, yet in its RTI reply, it denied being pulled up for using old and unsafe devices.

Cost of cleaning

In an RTI application filed on August 25 to the hospital’s information officer, we posed certain questions: What is the rate fixed for mechanised cleaning? How much area will it cover? Are the loo, bathroom and walls of the wards been included in the carpet area? Who will pay for the electricity? If any office has been allotted to the company and if any rent has been fixed? If yes, give the details. If not, what steps have been taken to recover it?

According to the hospital authority’s reply on September 12, “The carpet area allotted for cleaning is 58,400.85 square metre and the rate fixed is Rs 36 per sq metre. Roads have not been included in the mechanised cleaning.”

This is in clear violation of the order issued by the Directorate of Medical Education and Research for mechanised cleaning on June 22. The DMER has fixed Rs 26 per square metre for mechanised cleaning at civil hospitals in Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamnagar and Surat.

Only an independent investigation can bring out the truth: if the hospital has paid an additional Rs 10 per square metre, amounting to Rs 5.84 lakh on the total carpet area, to the contractor or the amount has been siphoned off by vested interests.

When we asked Civil Medical Superintendent Dr M M Prabhakar why there was a difference of Rs 10 per square metre between the government order and the figure provided by Civil in the RTI reply, Dr Prabhakar said, “If this information is provided to you then it is false. It is possible that it is a printing mistake. I will have to check.”

No office provided

Regarding allotment of office space to BVG, the RTI reply states, “At present no order has been passed to allot an office to Messrs BVG India Ltd.”

A visit to Civil Hospital revealed that BVG personnel carry out their activities from a huge room allotted to them on the third floor of D9 block of main building. A manager who has been provided with a phone and desk space along with his administrative staff sit in the room surrounded by cleaning equipment.

Dr Prabhakar’s statement also nails the falsehood in the RTI reply. When we asked the Civil chief if office space has been provided to BVG, he said, “We’ve provided space to store the company’s equipment. But no rent has been taken. It is included in the contract.”

When asked, why was false information provided under RTI, Dr Prabhakar said, “If you want a reply, then you file another RTI!”

How BVG came into the picture

Mirror had reported on January 26, ‘Civil’s Rs 1 cr clean-up act’ about Maharashtra-based Bharat Vikas Group being roped in by the hospital to carry out mechanised cleaning on its premises from February 1. The spending on cleanliness was hiked from Rs 14 lakh to Rs 1 crore.

Subsequently, five government hospitals — Sir T General Hospital (Bhavnagar), GGS Hospital (Jamnagar), Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Civil Hospital (Rajkot), New Civil Hospital (Surat) and SSG Hospital (Vadodara) had decided to go for the expensive clean–up act for an annual expenditure of a whopping Rs 28 crore. from the same date.

Following this report in Mirror, ‘Five more govt hospitals go for costly clean-up’ on January 28, the costly cleaning pact was stayed. An investigation into the irregularities was ordered by Health Secretary Rajesh Kishore, after which the carpet area and the rate per square metre was revised.
Source Ahmedabad Mirror

FDI mess: OK, you won, govt to Oppn

New Delhi: Desperate to break the deadlock in Parliament, the government on Monday informed the opposition parties that it was willing to hold back the decision on FDI in retail sector.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that a final decision on the FDI issue would be taken only after consulting stakeholders and the Opposition, which insisted on a complete rollback and not just holdback.

Despite the victory, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury suggested the government convene an all-party meeting to convey its decision and then inform Parliament.

"I told Pranabda that he should pick up the threads where they were left the last time. Since he had promised to get back to the Opposition in the last all-party meeting, a similar meeting should be convened on Wednesday (December 7) in the morning where the government can clarify its stand," Swaraj told.

Asserting his party's demand for a complete rollback, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "The BJP has clearly stated in the all-party meeting that it wants a rollback. Let the government come out with a formal response."

Yechury too expressed similar views. “We continue to stick to our demand of unconditional reversal of the decision on FDI. Mukherjee told us that Government has decided to put the decision of FDI in suspension and wanted the Parliament session to continue," Yechury later said.

Sources in both the BJP and the Left parties insisted that since there are differences within the Union Cabinet as well as in Congress on the FDI issue, such informal communication may not be the last word.

UPA allies TMC and DMK have openly opposed the decision while NCP has suggested that it should go by the sense of the House.

On its part, Congress put a brave face on the issue. "The decision to allow FDI in retail is right. In democracy, sometimes you have to rework your steps....You have to take everyone along...", said party spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury.
Source Ahmedabad Mirror