Congress ineligible for LoP post, says A-G

Battle between Congress and BJP to intensify

The battle between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the post of Leader of the
Opposition is likely to intensify with Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi, on a reference from
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, holding that the Congress was not eligible for the status.
Mr. Rohatgi said the Congress lacked the requisite one-tenth strength of the Lok Sabha (55 in a
House of 545). The Congress, which has 44 MPs, has been demanding the post on the ground that it
would be undemocratic to deny the status to the largest opposition party.
Mr. Rohatgis opinion is not binding on the Speaker. The National Democratic Allaince has argued
that the Congress, when in power, had never conferred the position to a party which did not have the
requisite strength.
The Congress-BJP spat over the issue is not merely political. The Leader of the Opposition,
which is of the rank of a Cabinet Minister, is a member of panels that select candidates
for key Constitutional posts, including the Lokpal, Central Vigilance Commissioner
and members and chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission.

UN mission on LoC vital UN mission on LoC

inspires confidence
Despite Indias objections to the UN observer mission at the Line of Control UNMOGIP visiting
UN peacekeeping chief Herv Ladsous believes it must stay.
Speaking to The Hindu , UN Undersecretary-General Mr. Ladsous said the troops of
UNMOGIP, who have been stationed in Jammu and Kashmir for the past 65 years, are carrying out
an important role.
I think their very presence on that Line, to a certain degree, contributes to confidence. So one
should never lose that from your sight, he said. India has insisted that the UNMOGIP has outlived
its utility and has virtually ignored its mission. In May this year, the government went one step
further, sending a notice to the UNMOGIP asking the group to vacate its officially-allotted bungalow
in Delhi.
Suhasini Haidar
UN mission on LoC vital

ALGERIA-BLACKBOX
AIR ALGERIE
BLACK BOX FOUND

French soldiers on Friday secured one of the black boxes from the Air Algerie plane that went down
in restive northern Mali with the loss of at least 116 people, French President Francois Hollande said
on Friday.
Terrorism has not been ruled out as a cause, although officials say the most likely cause is bad
weather. AP

Will recover black money:Jaitley

The Lok Sabha on Friday passed the Finance Bill, 2014, by voice vote giving effect to
the legislative tax proposals in the Budget even as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
reiterated the Governments commitment to bring back black money from abroad.
I can assure that you don't have to wait for long to see that we have brought back the black money,
Mr Jaitley said while replying to the debate on the Finance Bill.
Our government has formed a Special Investigating Team (SIT), he said, adding, If the SIT
wants to take steps, the Government will give full cooperation.
Mr Jaitley said the government had received certain information from the French government
regarding accounts of Indians in a bank in Switzerland and also from tax haven
Lichtenstein.
Asserting that there was no jurisdictional issue over dealing with the menace of black money, he said
a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been set up and whatever information we have, we are
sharing with the Supreme Court. The Government will extend full support to the SIT.
Mr Jaitley said there was global opinion against money laundering and pressure was
building on tax havens to share information.
Mr. Jaitley said the NDA Government would not be a high-tax government as it intends to create
more jobs and give a fillip to the economy. A low tax regime will allow India to emulate the Chinese
market.

Court ruling mysterious: VS

The High Court judgment on evicting the encroachments in Munnar is mysterious,
Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has said.
Mr. Achuthanandan said in a statement here on Friday that Chief Justice Manjula Chellur, who
heard the arguments on three major encroachment cases eight months back, passed
the judgement just before being transferred out of the State. This sounds mysterious.
This was in favour of the encroachers. The government should go in appeal against the
verdict. If needed, he would move the Supreme Court, he said. During the tenure of the
LDF, the Cabinet had decided to evict encroachments, opened a special office at
Munnar, and appointed Suresh Kumar as special officer. As many as 92 illegal
constructions were demolished and 16,000 acres of land recovered in two months.

As many as 125 writ petitions were filed in the High Court in connection with the
eviction process. No verdict was passed against the government in any of the cases.
The court even refused to intervene in the eviction.

Bindra wins gold

Celebrated shooter Abhinav Bindra once again brought glory to India by winning the
10m air rifle gold in a pulsating competition at the Commonwealth Games here on
Friday. Bindra, the countrys first individual gold medallist in the Olympics, shot a
Commonwealth record aggregate of 205.3.