The auto-rickshaw union is demanding a hike in the minimum fare.

The action by the Mumbai Auto-rickshaw Men’s Union (MAU) is taking place despite a minimum fare hike from Rs.11 to Rs.12 that was permitted by the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) last week.

Over 20,000 autos owing allegiance to the MAU went off the roads from midnight while the unions commanded by Congress, Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena opposed the strike.

Speaking at the chief ministers’ conference on internal security, he urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to bridge the gap.

“Whether it is the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Railway Protection Force or the Border Security Force, the centre’s unilateral activity is creating an atmosphere of distrust between the centre and the state… I urge Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to bridge the gap,” Modi told reporters.

“It is unfortunate that the present Union Government has failed to instill faith and confidence about our defence preparedness in the common man,” he said.

“The internal security of the country cannot be viewed in isolation as it is intertwined with the external security scenario and the armed forces play an important role in anti-infiltration and anti-insurgency which directly impinges on the internal security of the nation,” he added.

Asserting that there should be a trust between the Centre and the state governments on security, Modi said: ” Unilateral decisions by the Center must stop.”

The Gujarat Chief Minister also said that the armed forces of the country required ammunition and training in internal security, added that it is worrying that the country’s defence forces don’t have enough ammunition.

Modi also questioned the Central Government on why the recommendations of chief ministers had not been included in the Action Taken Report on ‘internal security’.

Modi has also written separately to the prime minister against the proposals to provide the central government-controlled Railway Protection Force (RPF) officers powers equivalent to state police officers; also amendments to the Border Security Force law to enable their officers to effect arrests in the hinterland, apart from existing powers to arrest border violators and cross-border smugglers.

Modi said these actions of the centre were creating an atmosphere of distrust with the state governments.

Accusing New Delhi of adopting a unilateral approach on issues concerning internal security, Modi said it must see the states as partners in maintaining national security.

“Internal security is too serious a matter to be treated as an arena for one-upmanship by the union government,” Modi said in his address at the conference.

However, he noted that the central government “after long, paid heed” to the states’ objection on creation of NCTC and has now decided to hold a separate meeting with the chief ministers on May 5.

“Let me draw your attention to the fact that the NCTC imbroglio is part of unsavoury episodes that have taken place since we (chief ministers) last met and the leitmotif of this episode has been the unilateral approach of the union government,” he said.

Modi said the state governments faced the brunt of problems related to internal security and hence must be seen as partners.

Citing examples of “non-consultative” approach of the union government, Modi referred to the amendment to the RPF Act, and said: “The union railway ministry has tried to create a state within state.”

He also referred to his letter to the prime minister detailing his concerns about the proposed amendment to the BSF Act, 1968.

PM’s Speech at the Conference of CMs on Internal Security

Following is the text of the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s speech at the Conference of CMs on Internal Security (Courtesy: PIB):

“I welcome you to this very important conference on Internal Security. This forum has proved its utility over several years as a platform to exchange ideas and to build consensus on the possible ways and means to strengthen our internal security apparatus.

Since we last met in February 2011, the internal security situation has by and large been satisfactory. I commend the efforts of the States and the Centre for their joint efforts to maintain peace, amity and harmony throughout this diverse land of ours.

But I am sure all of us would agree that much more is required of us. Serious internal security challenges remain. Threats from terrorism, left wing extremism, religious fundamentalism, and ethnic violence persist in our country. These challenges demand constant vigilance on our part. They need to be tackled firmly but with sensitivity. The forces behind them must not only be contained but should also be effectively rolled back.

This is undoubtedly a complex and onerous task. It is an endeavour that requires the united effort of us all both or two centres and in the states. Internal security is a matter in which the States and the Centre must work together, hand in hand, and in harmony.

Take for instance Left Wing Extremism. The year 2011 was a better year than 2010 in terms of the number of deaths caused by Left Wing Extremist groups. But we still have a long way to go, both in terms of including people in the affected areas in our growing economy and society, and in terms of providing them with adequate account of security. The so called “protracted people’s war” waged by Left Wing Extremists against the state and society continues to target civilians and security forces, and economic infrastructure such as railways, mobile communications and power networks. In the recent past, naxalites have also resorted to abducting foreign nationals.

I am glad that you are devoting a separate session this evening to Left Wing Extremism. Our holistic approach to the problem remains valid and necessary, paying simultaneous attention to security, development, good governance and perception management. In the last two years, the Integrated Action Plan has brought development to villages in the most backward and violence affected districts in our country. We have also extended the Plan from the original 60 districts to 78 districts. Given the inter-state ramifications of Left Wing Extremism, the Action Plan has been deliberated in detail with the seven affected states.

At the same time, we should work together to find better and more effective ways and means of implementing our holistic approach.

Like other internal security matters, we need joint and coordinated efforts to deal with the challenge of terrorism, whatever be its origin, whether internal or external, and whatever its motivation. This is a struggle in which we cannot relax. When we see turbulence in the region and growing factors of instability around us, we must strengthen our defences against terrorism. Today, terrorist groups are nimble, more lethal than ever before and increasingly networked across frontiers.

Accurate and timely intelligence is a prime necessity if we are to defeat terrorism, preventing it and countering it effectively. We have made some progress in this regard, strengthening our intelligence gathering apparatus and establishing NATGRID. The operationalising of four NSG hubs and NIA branch offices and MAC-SMAC connectivity are other instances. We will discuss the National Counter Terrorism Centre on May 5 in a separate meeting, as some chief Ministers suggested.

There is no question that the burden of the fight against terrorism falls largely on the States’ machinery. The Centre is ready to work with the states to put in place strong and effective institutional mechanisms to tackle this problem.

In Jammu and Kashmir there has been a perceptible improvement in the security and law and order situation. As a result, the state witnessed the highest inflow of tourists and pilgrims during 2011. The Panchayat elections were successful and were more proof of the people’s desire to be able to lead normal lives free from the shadow of violence and terrorism.

The situation in some of our North-Eastern states has, however, remained complex. There was some improvement in terms of incidents of violence, but there is no question that much remains to be done to restore calm and eliminate extortion, kidnapping and other crimes by militant or extremist groups on the pretext of ethnic identity. The pilferage of development funds by militant groups is hurting our efforts to improve the lives of the people of the region. Inter-factional clashes, such as those in Tirap and Changlang, are another source of insecurity.

The answers to these problems lie in strengthening the law and order capabilities of the states concerned and in reasserting and rebuilding normal democratic political and developmental processes. More proactive state police forces reducing reliance on central armed police forces would be a useful step forward. The Centre will continue to work with the states of the region to make this possible. I would hope that the implementation of infrastructure projects in the North-East will create conditions for the return of normalcy.

I am very happy that political processes of negotiation and dialogue are underway with several insurgent and ethnic separatist groups in the North-East that are committed to finding amicable solutions to their problems. These ialogues, which are being undertaken by the Ministry of Home Affairs in close consultation with the states concerned, are making steady headway.

The Centre will continue its support to capacity building and police modernisation efforts by the States. State governments are the primary responders in most internal security situations. We have extended the police modernisation scheme and we are continuing the Coastal Security Scheme and the Border Area Development Programme. I would urge the States and Ministry of Home Affairs to carry forward police reform and modernisation to their logical conclusion.

Before I close there is one other issue that I would like to put forward for consideration. No system or structure can be better than the people who man it. The internal security structures of India are no exception. It is therefore important that we find ways and means of improving not just the number but also the quality of our police personnel. I hope that your meeting will suggest new and innovative ways to address this issue and to make rapid progress in improving the conditions under which our personnel work. If we are able to do so, we would be repaying in some measure the dedicated and loyal service of our police and defence personnel which has helped us to make our country safer.

With these words I wish you well in your deliberations. I hope that this conference will make constructive and practical suggestions that will enable us to further improve internal security in India, strengthening the rule of law, and enabling every Indian citizen to realise his or her full potential in an environment of peace and security. That must be our common goal, and I look forward to working with you towards that end.”

She said if the Samajwadi Party was so keen to construct hospitals and colleges in the parks developed by her government to honour the leaders and social reformers, then it could start with Ram Manohar Lohia Park in Lucknow.

She was addressing a huge gathering of party workers at Bheem Nagri as part of the three-day Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations.

Mayawati also met party MPs and legislators to discuss strategies for the next Lok Sabha elections.

Additional Sessions Judge Surinder S Rathi dismissed Haryana resident Satbir”s plea against the magisterial court’s order terming it as non maintainable.

The ASJ held that the magisterial court”s order dated March 17 by which Singhvi’s name as a witness was dropped does not decide any legal right of the complainant (Satbir) and is an interlocutory order which could not have been challenged.

“The impugned order dropping Abhishek Manu Singhvi as a witness is an interlocutory order and the same could not have been challenged before me,” the judge said.

The court also held that the list of witnesses given by the complainant “does not contain any reference qua which Abhishek Manu Singhvi was sought to be summoned as a witness.

It also said before summoning additional witnesses, the magistrate should have recorded the complainant’s statement.

The court also noted Satbir’s argument that he had not made Sighvi a witness for sensationalising the matter and that he was moved by the pain he felt for loss of life of a youth during Hazare’s protest.

Metropolitan Magistrate Anil Kumar had in March dropped Singhvi’s name as a witness saying the Rajya Sabha member was made witness for “sensationalising” the matter.

Far from fearing a coup or instability after Friday’s public fiasco, the third of his line to rule North Korea will lead celebrations on Sunday to mark the centenary of the birth of his grandfather, the founder of the world’s only Stalinist monarchy, “Eternal President” Kim Il-sung.

The state that Kim inherited in December after the death of his father Kim Jong-il boasts a 1.2 million-strong military, wants to possess a nuclear weapon and to develop the ability to hit the United States with it – the aim, critics say, of the failed rocket launch.

Behind those ambitions are 23 million people, many malnourished, in an economy whose output is worth just $40 billion annually in purchasing power parity terms, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, compared with South Korea’s $1.5 trillion economy.

The puny size of the economy means development is not the answer, tying Kim into the “military first” policies of his late father Kim Jong-il who oversaw the development of the state’s nuclear and missile ambitions.

“For Kim Jong-un, opening North Korea means the end of a system that his grandfather and father fostered,” said Virginie Grzelczyk, a North Korea expert at Nottingham Trent University in Britain.

“Kim Jong-un is unlikely to be losing power over the launch, as the elite and the military need his legitimizing and mythical presence in order to pacify the North Korean population.”

The small scale of the economy is matched by North Korea’s limited diplomatic clout. It has few friends other than China, whose strategic interest is in keeping a buffer between it and South Korea which has U.S. military bases.

Even China sounded increasingly exasperated in the run-up to Friday’s rocket launch as Pyongyang ignored its pleas for restraint, despite aid pumped in by Beijing, and its diplomatic protection at bodies like the United Nations.

Without real weight in the international arena, Pyongyang is forced to rely on periodic rocket launches, nuclear tests and attacks on South Korea, such as the one in 2010 when it shelled an island, to remind the world of its existence, analysts say.

That is likely to mean sticking to the same script as in 2009, when North Korea followed a failed attempt to put a satellite into orbit with a nuclear test.

Intelligence satellite images showing a tunnel being dug at the site of two previous tests imply that it either wishes to remind the world of the possibility, so as to prompt a return to aid for disarmament talks, or is actually preparing for one.

“Internationally, now they have to do a nuclear test, preferably using uranium, just in order to show that they should be taken seriously,” said Andre Lankov, a North Korea expert at South Korea’s Kookmin University.

SOME LIES ARE TOO BIG EVEN FOR PYONGYANG

Pyongyang did depart from its previous practise when it publicly admitted on state television that the Unha-3 rocket had failed to deliver its weather satellite into orbit in time for Kim Il-sung’s birthday.

A 2009 launch that the international community said had failed was hailed as a success by North Korea, where the only news available to its people is from the state.

But to read into the announcement signs of new openness is to overstate the issue, most commentators on North Korea say. The presence of so many foreign journalists and the spread of cellphones, of which there are now more than a million, made it too risky.

“For all its habitual lying, the propaganda apparatus shies away from lies it can too easily be caught out on,” said Brian Myers, a North Korea expert at Dongseo University in South Korea.

In parallel with the short announcement on the rocket’s failure, North Korea continued to churn out reams of propaganda aimed at bolstering the legitimacy of Kim Jong-un and his claim to power based on his bloodline.

“The idea and feats Kim Il-sung performed in the 20th century have been fully carried forward and his glorious history continues uninterruptedly along with prospering Songun (military-first) Korea,” state news agency KCNA reported on Friday.

The anniversary of Kim Il-sung’s birth was supposed to usher in a “strong and prosperous” nation.

North Korea claimed that industrial output grew 2 percent last year, but according to United Nations data its economy is in fact the same size as it was 20 years ago after being devastated by a famine in the 1990s.

It appears to fund itself through exports of its mineral wealth to China, sales of weapons technology to states such as Syria and Iran as well as a variety of criminal enterprises such as narcotics and faking $100 bills.

Last June it was caught smuggling weapons to Myanmar, an income stream that has been cut off with that country’s opening.

Periodically, it confiscates the wealth of its own citizens as it did in a 2009 revaluation of its currency and a crackdown on hoarding of foreign currency, something it may need to do more of as financial sanctions bite and old allies, like Myanmar, halt their purchases.

A defector, surnamed Ryu, who entered South Korea in 2011 and is now living in Seoul, said there was simply no choice but to comply with the forced confiscation.

“There were so many who were beaten,” said Ryu, aged in his mid-40s, who declined to give his full name for fear of reprisals.

“People were at each other’s throats; there was no telling who would rat on you for having a secret stash of foreign cash.”

Chon Hyun-joon, an expert on North Korea at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification in South Korea, estimates that as much as $2 billion to $3 billion could have been raised, although other experts say the figure was lower.

Whatever the state of the economy, missile and nuclear weapons development will take priority for North Korea, experts say. Figures published in South Korean media suggest that $3 billion has been spent on the nuclear and missile programme over the years.

“Even Kim Jong-il admitted that the first rocket launch required millions of dollars,” said Kim Yeon-su, a professor at the National Defense University in Seoul.

“He said at the time the cost would be paid even at the expense of the North Korean people.”

(Additional reporting by Ju-min Park and Jeremy Laurence; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Daniel Magnowski)

In a major embarrassment for Washington at the Summit of the Americas attended by more than 30 heads of state, 11 U.S. Secret Service agents were sent home and five military servicemen grounded over “misconduct” allegations in a hotel.

Prostitutes were taken to the hotel, according to a Colombian police source.

The widening controversy was overshadowing a host of weightier topics at the two-day summit that began on Saturday.

“I had a breakfast meeting to discuss trade and drugs, but the only thing the other delegates wanted to talk about was the story of the agents and the hookers,” chuckled one Latin American diplomat in the historic city of Cartagena.

Locals were upset about the bad publicity for their city, and the scandal was raising eyebrows around the region.

“Obama’s guards expelled in Colombia over prostitution – shame the gringos think that Latin America is a brothel and they act like it too,” commented left-leaning Venezuelan political commentator Nicmer Evans via Twitter.

Obama’s rapprochement with the region – already undermined by the titillating headlines from Cartagena – also faces a rare display of unity among both leftist and conservative-run nations in Latin America in allowing communist-run Cuba at the next summit.

Argentina’s foreign minister said the final summit declaration was stalled over the issue of Cuba, with 32 nations supporting its inclusion in the next Summit of the Americas, but the United States vetoing that.

“We have decided not to participate in future ‘Summits of the Americas’ without the presence of Cuba,” said the leftist ALBA block of nations, founded by Venezuela’s theatrically anti-U.S. president, Hugo Chavez.

OAS UNDER STRAIN

Unlike at previous summits, backing for Cuba has also come from Colombia, Washington’s strongest ally in South America.

Sunday’s proceedings will add to strain on the Washington-dominated system of hemispheric diplomacy that is built around the Organization of American States but is struggling to evolve with changes in the region.

From Havana, Cuba’s former president, Fidel Castro, weighed in with a withering newspaper column about the OAS and its “guayabera summit” – a reference to the loose-fitting Caribbean shirts being worn by many heads of state in Cartagena.

Making no reference to the scandal, Obama tackled head-on accusations he had neglected Latin America while dealing with conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and other faraway priorities.

“We’ve never been more excited about the prospect of working as equal partners with our brothers and sisters in Latin America and the Caribbean,” he told business officials.

Obama also hailed the potential to boost trade between the “nearly a billion consumers” of North and South America.

The reality, though, is different: China has taken advantage of perceived U.S. neglect and is now the main trade partner for various countries, including regional powerhouse Brazil.

Running for re-election in November, Obama is also under pressure from domestic voters to show his foreign policies give priority to trade that creates American jobs.

Latin American leaders are also pressuring the United States for an overhaul of anti-drug policies, including possible narcotics legalization as a way to take profits out of the trade.

“Sometimes those controversies date back to before I was born,” Obama said wryly.

“And sometimes I feel as if in some of these discussions, or at least the press reports, we’re caught in a time warp, going back to the 1950s and gunboat diplomacy and Yankees and the Cold War, and this and that and the other.”

OBAMA FIRM ON DRUGS

Many in Latin America feel a new approach is needed to the drug war – and a shift away from hard-line policies – after decades of violence, in producer and trafficking nations like Colombia and Mexico.

But Obama was firm in rejecting calls to legalize either growing or consuming drugs. “I don’t mind a debate around issues like decriminalization. I personally don’t agree that’s a solution to the problem,” Obama said.

Colombian pop star Shakira brought a splash of showbiz to the proceedings by singing her national anthem at the start of the summit.

Missing from the OAS’ sixth such hemispheric gathering were Ecuador’s Rafael Correa, who is boycotting the event over Cuba’s exclusion, and Venezuela’s Chavez, who is undergoing cancer treatment.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff gave Obama an earful on U.S. expansionist monetary policy that is sending a flood of funds into developing nations, forcing up currencies and hurting and other rich nations’ competitiveness.

“The way these countries, the most developed ones, especially in the euro region in the last year, have reacted to the crisis with monetary expansion has produced a monetary tsunami,” she said, as Obama listened.

“Obviously we have to take measures to defend ourselves. Note the word I chose – ‘defend,’ not ‘protect,’” added Rousseff, whose government’s actions to curb imports have been decried as protectionism by some in the region.

The host, President Juan Manuel Santos, is using the summit to showcase Colombia’s new economic stability after decades of guerrilla and drug violence that scared off investors.

Although seeking to position himself as a regional mediator – particularly between conservative governments and the anti-American bloc led by Chavez – Santos nevertheless weighed in to support Brazil’s position in front of Obama.

“In some way, (they) are exporting their crisis to us via the appreciation of our currencies,” Santos said, referring to the damage done to local exporters as Latin American currencies gain strength. “I share President Dilma Rousseff’s anxiety.”

(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan, Laura MacInnis, Helen Murphy, Pablo Garibian, Mario Naranjo, and Luis Jaime Acosta in Cartagena and; Daniel Wallis in Caracas; Editing by Peter Cooney)

“I am still to come to terms with the assault and my subsequent arrest. Not only my family and I are apprehensive of our security, even other residents of the housing society are now scared,” Mahapatra said Saturday.

Mahapatra, who was attacked allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers late Thursday night, filed a police complaint and got the perpetrators arrested.

“In my complaint, besides mentioning about the assault on me, I have also said that I was compelled by the attackers to give a written declaration that I was a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) worker and circulated the cartoon at the party’s behest,” Mahapatra said.

Following his complaint, four people were arrested Saturday. However, within hours they were granted bail by a court as the charges levelled against them by the police were all bailable.

Reacting to the news of his assaulters getting bail, Mahapatra said: ‘I was made to spend a night (late Thursday-early Friday) in jail and was granted bail only on Friday evening, whereas those who assaulted me were released within hours of their arrest. I have nothing to say… People are seeing everything. They will decide.’

The issue of security was echoed by Mahapatra’s family.

‘I do not know why he was beaten up and arrested over a trivial issue. I am now very much concerned about the security of my family,’ said Jolly, Mahapatra’s wife.

‘Humour is a part of life and if I get similar mails again I will surely forward them,’ was the professor’s reply when asked if he would repeat the act again.

The collage of cartoons allegedly forwarded by Mahapatra includes the photographs of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Railway Minister Mukul Roy and uses some dialogues of Satyajit Ray’s detective masterpiece ‘Sonar Kella’, showing the duo discussing how to get rid of party leader Dinesh Trivedi, who was forced by the chief minister to give up the railways portfolio.

The arrest has evoked widespread condemnation from all quarters.

A statement issued here Saturday said that Jayalalithaa will attend the conference Monday and return in the evening.

Jayalalithaa has been a critic of many of the decisions taken by the central government on allocation of funds, power, formation of the National Counter Terrorism Centre and others.

She has been saying that the decisions of the central government would weaken the federal structure of the Indian polity.

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram will address the day-long Conference of Chief Ministers which will review the internal security situation in the country, said an official statement Saturday.

Though this is being branded as the annual meeting of the chief ministers on the internal security situation, there are bound to be references to the controversial proposal of setting up a National Counter Terrorism Centre in the country.

United Progressive Alliance partner Trinamool Congress, headed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is one of the most vocal opponents of the proposal which has miffed several opposition ruled states including Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Odisha.

They say the proposed anti-terror intelligence hub is an attack on federalism.

However, Chidambaram would hold a stand-alone meeting on the NCTC with the chief ministers May 5.

According to officials, police reforms and capacity-building with focus on ongoing and new initiatives will be high on the agenda of the meeting.

Other issues to be deliberated upon include strengthening of counter-terrorism capabilities and intelligence apparatus, Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS), issues related to Left Wing Extremism, border management, coastal security and Centre-State relations.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said his government would not touch the statues but utilise the surrounding open space of about 3,000 acres in Noida and Lucknow.

He said the government planned to build schools and hospitals in the space, a promise made by his Samajwadi Party (SP) in its election manifesto.

Warning of serious retaliation in the event of damage to the statues, Mayawati said the government would be responsible for any untoward incident.

Addressing media on the sidelines of a function here to mark the birth anniversary of Dalit icon Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the BSP supremo said the Dalits would not tolerate any harm to the statues of their leaders.

She said the state government should learn from her government which neither pulled down any statues or modified parks or other places which were dear to the leaders of the SP.