Assam violence: More people injured in overnight clashes, death toll rises to 41

Guwahati:  Fear and uncertainty continues to grip Assam with more people being injured in overnight firing. Seven days of ethnic clashes have claimed 41 lives and have left nearly two lakh villagers homeless.

There have been fresh clashes and cases of arson and more people have been injured in ethnic clashes between minority Bangladeshi immigrants and Bodos. At least three people were injured in firing in Baksa district late last night.

1. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is scheduled to visit Kokrajhar today.  The Centre has asked the Assam government to catch the "ring leaders" who instigated violence in the state.
2. 13 columns of the Army have been deployed in Kokrajhar, Chirang, Dhubri and Bongaigaon. Idefinite curfew and shoot-at-sight orders are also in place in these four districts that are most affected by the violence.
3. The exodus of people from villages affected by the clashes continues. They are taking shelter at about 120 relief camps set up by the government.
4. Entire villages have emptied out after houses were burnt down. Buses, cars and schools were set afire too. In the last seven days since clashes began, nearly two lakh people have had to flee their homes. Over 10,000 people have reportedly escaped to neighbouring West Bengal.
5. The Army yesterday mobilised about 1000 troops to enforce peace in the areas. "The troops are also carrying out flag marches in these areas," officials said.
6. Trains were also targeted in the clashes and the entire North-East was cut off by rail for the last two days. But special trains will run today to help stranded passengers. The Army is helping to ensure that the tracks are clear. Union Home Secretary RK Singh said that 2,000 Central security personnel have been deputed to guard Guwahati-bound trains and railway tracks.
7. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi held a meeting of government officials in Guwahati yesterday to take stock of the situation. Assam's police chief J N Choudhury visited the violence-hit districts and met top security officers.
8. The situation had been tense since early July when two migrants were killed. Two more were killed on July 19, but police failed to identify the killers. On Friday last (July 20), four former Bodo Liberation Tigers men were killed. The Bodos retaliated by attacking migrants.
9. The BJP has alleged that illegal immigration from Bangladesh was responsible for ethnic and communal discord and has asked the government to seal the border with the neighbouring country.

Maruti runs out of Swift, DZire stocks as Manesar plant remains shut

Maruti Suzuki India on Wednesday said it has run out of stock of its two best-selling models, Swift and DZire, which are produced at the Manesar plant where it has declared lockout following violence last week.

The company has, however, not stopped bookings for these models.


"We do not have any stock of Swift and DZire at our factory. About 10,000 cars of both the models are on transit and that is the inventory at present," Maruti Suzuki India chief operating officer (marketing and sales) Mayank Pareek said.

When asked if Maruti would stop taking orders for these models, he said: "Our booking is going on and we will not stop it. We have informed the dealers and customers about the situation.

"We tell the customers that this is the current situation (about the production at Manesar) and if even after that, they want to book the car, then it shows the strength of the two brands."

Pareek was confident that customers will remain loyal to the company. "During the strikes in last year also, we did not stop booking. Our rivals are still offering discounts to attract customers, but we are receiving huge response to our cars without any scheme even in our crisis period."

He said at present Swift has a booking order of 55,000 units, while DZire has 65,000 bookings. Out of these, 80 per cent are for the diesel variants. There is no order backlog for SX4 and A-Star models, which are also produced at the Manesar plant.

Asked how long it could take to clear the backlog, Pareek said: "Assuming that production starts today, it will take us 4-6 months to clear the backlog depending upon the variants."

In Chennai, child dies after falling through hole in floor of bus

Chennai: In Chennai, a young child has died after falling onto the road through a hole in the floor of his school bus.

Angry eyewitnesses set the school bus on fire.

Kalmadi not allowed to attend Olympics opening ceremony

New Delhi: Suresh Kalmadi will not be allowed to attend the opening ceremony of the London Olympics and cannot leave the country till July 27.  Checking his plans, the Delhi High Court said that it "cannot remain a passive spectator." 

Mr Kalmadi is President of the Indian Olympics Association, but has agreed that the organisation will not be managed by him while he is being tried for corruption.  He spent close to a year in prison on corruption charges related to his term as the chairman of the Organising Committee for the Commonwealth Games, held in India in 2010.

The court said today that it could not stop Mr Kalmadi from attending the Games in his individual capacity - but by banning him from travel till the opening ceremony takes place, that's ruled out for the Lok Sabha MP.  His lawyer had argued that he would not be representing the government at the Olympics.  


Mr Kalmadi has been suspended by his party, the Congress.  Sports Minister Ajay Maken had urged him to voluntarily skip the opening ceremony.  Mr Kalmadi refused and suggested that Mr Maken resign instead. He pointed out that he remains the President of the Asian Athletes' Association and is also an elected member of the council of the International Association of Athletes Federation.  

An organisation of former athletes, many of who have represented the country, had written to the International Olympic Committee to cancel his accreditation.  

The High Court's verdict is based in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that said Mr Kalmadi should not be allowed to represent India in any way at the Olympics because he is being tried for corruption, and public money cannot be spent on him.  The petitioner also said that his presence at the opening ceremony would violate the code of ethics of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

On July 13, a special CBI court had allowed Kalmadi to go to London from July 26 to August 13 for the 2012 London Olympics.

Mr Kalmadi and 10 others have been charge-sheeted by the CBI for hiring a Swiss firm at inflated prices for timing and scoring equipment for the Commonwealth Games.  This allegedly cost the government 90 crores in losses.

Govt looking at LPG subsidy cut

The government is close to taking a decision on capping the number of subsidised LPG cylinders to "econonomically not weaker" sections to bring down the subsidies by up to Rs 10,000 crore annually, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas R P N Singh said today.

The government is also looking at partial decontrol of diesel, he said.
 
Singh said the government gives Rs 36,000 crore in subsidy on LPG and a lot of people who are "not economically weaker sections" and don't require them, take benefit, adding, the government is looking at reducing the subsidy on LPG by capping the amount (number) of cylinders given on subsidy.
     
Stating that the government is in an adavanced stage of taking a decision on reducing LPG subsidies, he told reporters on the sidelines of a function: "If we cap some cylinders, which do not infringe on the right of poor people who get subsidies, I think we can save Rs 8,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore just by capping the cylinders for the rich (restricting the number of subsidised cylinders for economically not weaker sections).
     
But he sounded cautious on the issue of raising prices of diesel, saying its a very delicate issue.
     
"If you try to raise the prices of diesel, it has a cascading effect on the economy. We are trying to work out a solution where it impacts the economy in the least manner but also brings down the fiscal deficit", Singh said.

The Minister, who earlier inaugurated the 17th refinery technology meet jointly organised by Centre for High Technology and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd, ruled out absolute decontrol of diesel in the near term.
     
"It's extremely difficult for us to absolutely decontrol diesel at the moment because it would impact the economy in a very, very serious manner," he said, but added that the government is looking at partial decontrol of diesel so that the impact on the people would be of "reduced magnitude".
     
He recalled that diesel was decontrolled in 2010 but the measure has not been implemented as the price of crude oil started rising.
     
Singh said the state-run oil marketing companies are bleeding and are having a "terrible time" because of the subsidy burden. The government wants to bring down the subsidies on kerosene, LPG and diesel in a way that does not impact the people in a major manner and takes away subsidies from people who do not deserve them.
     
On prices of petrol, the Minister said his personal opinion is that it should be like in the US, where petrol prices change every day, and different companies have different prices.