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THE POLITICALTHEATRE
SERIOUS, SOLID POLITICS: GOING BEHIND THE SCENES & DECODING THE POWER MATRIX FOR YOU
THE ECONOMIC TIMES WEDNESDAY 16 MAY 2007

Vajpayee asked to decide on NDA prez nominee

UPA HAS UPPER HAND, SUSHMA OPPOSES KALAMS CANDIDATURE

56,000 votes in the electoral college. On her part, Ms Mayawati is yet to respond to the attempts of the UPA to cosy up to her. VEN as the Left on Tuesday appeared But it is certain that she will not back a Conto be getting reconciled to the prospect gress-sponsored Dalit candidate. The expecof backing a UPA nominee, the NDA tation in the Congress is that Ms Mayawati has authorised former prime minister A B Va- will not be averse to the idea of supporting a jpayee to take a final call on the Oppositions Brahmin candidate as it is in line with her current upper caste outreach. strategy in the presidential election. Ms Mayawatis emergence as a major player Although there was little progress on the issue, there were significant strands available appears to be prompting the Left to abandon its on Tuesday. The decision of the Lucknow Raj plans to foist its nominee to the top post. The Bhawan not to grant sanction for prosecution CPM, which refrained from naming its candiof Ms Mayawati in the Taj corridor case is be- date, was banking on a good performance by ing interpreted as part of a larger strategy to Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh. Ms Mayawatis support for the UPAs canensure the BSPs support for the UPA nominee. Ms Mayawati commands the support of didate could push the SP to the rival side. The
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SP and its friends TDP, AIADMK, AGP and INLD command the support of over one lakh votes. But there are clear signs of the UPA still enjoying an edge in the July polls. The NDA, which kicked off the exercise to select its nominee, did not zero in on any name. Although it has decided to field its candidate, it would rather wait for the UPA to unveil its plans. At the meeting of the NDA leaders, Sushma Swaraj opposed suggestion to back the current incumbent. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has been supporting Mr Kalams case. Suggestions at the meeting ranged from fielding A B Vajpayee this was made by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to backing a woman can-

didate. At the end, NDA leaders agreed to entrust the responsibility of finalising the alliances strategy on Mr Vajpayee. Earlier in the day, Mr L K Advani, while addressing the BJP parliamentary party meeting, said the NDA will have its candidate in the July polls. He told the participants at the meeting that all of them should work for the candidates victory. A section is pitching for vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. While there is agreement that he could be a formidable contender, not many are enthused by his campaign managers. As of now, the political pointsmen is a light weight JD(U) MP Digvijay Singh and a Delhi-based former associate of the late Pramod Mahajan.

CHINTAN BAITHAK
Suggestions at the meeting ranged from fielding A B Vajpayee this was made by Mamata Banerjee to backing a woman candidate

THE AUTHORITY: Vajpayee

US agrees to get uranium New buildings must be quake-resistant for India from NSG
Bharti Jain
NEW DELHI

DISASTER MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES WANT EXISTING STRUCTURES RETROFITTED TOO

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THE US will tackle the job of convincing the other 44 nations in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to amend laws giving exemptions to India, while India will concentrate on negotiating a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Even as the two countries get ready to continue the 123 negotiations in the Indo US civilian nuclear deal next week, when Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns comes to India, both sides agree that the three set of negotiations should continue side by side. ``All three are tied to each other. We have to do all three together, said a source. India is now talking to the IAEA and it is understood that on the NSG front, the US will convince the nuclear group countries. ``A lot depends on what the US does with the NSG, said a source who added that it is up to the US to deliver the NSG which has to amend laws to allow international civilian nuclear trade with India. Sources in the establishment said that the deal is doable. But both sides are yet to resolve the main issues. The problem with the 123 agreement is that it has to be finalised as a legal text and India is clear that it will not accept a ban on testing as a legally binding commitment and restrictions on access to reprocessing technology . In next weeks round of negotiations on the 123 agreement, Mr Burns will negotiate with foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and special envoy on the nuclear deal Shyam Saran to work out a legal text that is acceptable to both sides. India has also reiterated in talks that it cannot accept anything that constricts Indias strategic programme and its indigenous three-stage nu-

FORWARD MOVEMENT: Burns & Menon clear programme. And the US has made it clear that it has obligations to the US Congress and that it cannot change its domestic laws to accommodate Indian requirements. Sources said that at this stage in the negotiations both sides have clearly understood each others limitations and that the only way now is to work around the limitations. ``We have to find something that works for the both of us, said a source. The talks have also acquired a sense of urgency with both sides acknowledging that the deal has to be completed as soon as possible. The US, after Mr Menons meeting with Mr Burns in Washington last month, had said that a final settlement on the 123 agreement is likely to be ready by the end of this month when Mr Burns visits India.

NOT ONLY would a new set of building bye-laws make it mandatory for all new constructions to be earth-quake resistant in cities located in the seismic zones, but even existing structures of national and public value including stock exchanges, RBI offices in Mumbai and Delhi and power projects will have to be retrofitted on a priority basis to withstand quakes, according to the earthquake management guidelines drawn up by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The earthquake guidelines, prepared painstakingly by the NDMA after exhaustive consultations with more than 300 experts drawn from various fields, are to be unveiled by home minister Shivraj Patil at an event organised by the NDMA here on Wednesday. The guidelines, which go into all aspects of earthquake management, stand on six pillars: earthquake-resistant construction of new structures, selective seismic strengthening & retrofitting of existing priority and lifeline structures, regulation and enforcement, awareness and prepared-

ness, capacity development through updating of educational curriculum, training and R&D; and emergency response. The NDMA has set June 30, 2007, as the benchmark for compliance with fresh earthquake-resistant building codes, modified techno-legal regime and revised town planning that will make it mandatory for all builders and developers to incorporate earthquake-resistant features in their construction plans. As many as 24 states have already endorsed the model building bye-laws that require all new constructions to be earthquake resistant in Zone I to Zone V, more so in the more vulnerable Zone III, IV and V, where the new building and townplanning bye-laws would have to be followed with immediate affect. Zone V is seismically most vulnerable and covers states in the north-east as well as Andamans and Nicobar Islands; Zone IV comes next and runs through Delhi, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir; and Zone III, though comparatively less quake-prone, houses Mumbai as well as Gujarat that witnessed a devastating quake in 2001. As for the structures that are already up

and running, the NDMA guidelines call for a structural safety audit, preferably by a third party, and accordingly prioritise the buildings that are to be retrofitted so as to withstand quakes. While prioritising of buildings to be retrofitted will be a prerogative of the state governments, the NDMA has drawn up an illustrative priority list that includes important government offices like Rashtrapati Bhavan, central and state secretariats, RBI, stock exchanges, historical monuments, airports, power and hydel projects, dams, as well as lifelines structures like hospitals, schools and key educational institutions like IITs and IIMs, besides multi-storey residential and commercial complexes. Aware that construction of earthquake-resistant structures and retrofitting of existing buildings will require special expertise, the NDMA guidelines recommend updating of the existing curriculum at engineering and architecture colleges, ITIs, etc to incorporate studies on earthquake design and construction technology. For enforcement of earthquake-resistant laws, the state government and state disaster management authorities would

be required to adopt model techno-legal framework and model town planning bye laws that are technically rigorous and conform to globally accepted norms. The NDMA guidelines suggest licensing and certification of professionals such as engineers, architects, masons/artisans in the construction industry by the state governments, facilitated by MoES and the professional bodies such as Institute of Engineers, India and Institute of Architects, India. Besides structural safety, the NDMA guidelines for earthquake management call for awareness and preparedness involving multi-media public campaigns at the district, state and national level in high-risk cities and towns on how to mitigate and manage earthquakes. The last pillar would involve institutionalisation of emergency response in the event of earthquakes. This would clearly spell out the role of each arm central government and ministries, state departments, district administration, police and dedicated National Disaster Response Force battalions and how to ensure coordination among these arms.
bharti.jain@timesgroup.com

Shilpa gets apex court Gujarat probe relief from moral police moving in
Our Political Bureau
NEW DELHI

NL1

r iu I I
Dt. 11.05.2007

Tender Notice No.

COSIOTIO7-08108

Sealed tenders are invited for and on behalf of the President of India by the Controller of Stores , BBS for supply of the following materials. _________ Cost of SI. Tender Opening EMD Tender No. Brief description of materials Qty. Date Rs. No, Re. ________ _________________________________ 61 40/200614200 (i) Cable PVC insulated , flexible Copper conductor As per 150/18.06.07 6,900!PVC sheathed etc. (ii) PVC insulated multi stranded T.S. copper cable etc. (iii) PVC insulated multi stranded copper cable single core etc. as per 1.8 62 50/2005/8099 Dual Bank Battery Chargerwith twin bank low maintenance As per 500/20.06.07 23,440lset lead acid cells etc. details as parTS. N.B. (I) SI. No. 61 Railway reserves the right to procure from the firms having credentials of supplying same/similar items. (ii) SI. No. 62 Railway reserves the right to procure full/bulk quantity from the ROSO approved sources . The last date of issue of Tender form : One day before opening date. The last date and time of receipt of tenders : Up to 15:00 hrs . of opening date. Date and time of opening of tenders : At 15:30 hrs. of opening date . 1. (a) Tender documents can be obtained from OS (General) of COS/E .Co.R Office , Western Annexe Building. Rail Vihar, Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar-23 against money receipt issued by the Asstt. Chief Cashier/E .Co.R/ BBS after realization of money personally. By post sending a money order for Rs.501- for each tender towards postal charges , in addition to cost of tender documents & drawings , duly furnishing full mailing address. Out station firm may send the money order to the O.S.(G) Office of the Controller of Stores/E.Co.R!C.S.Pur/ Bhubaneswar-23 clearly mentioning the tender No., description & Allocation. Money order should reach to this office 15 days before schedule date of opening of tender, Railway administration shall not be responsible for any delay anywhere of any type. (b) NSIC registered firms can obtain tender documents free of cost except drawings and postal charges on submission of latest NSIC certificate. NSIC registered firm should ensure that necessary postal charges are accompanied with the requisitions Rs. 50/- extra for sending tender by post. (C) Cost of tender documents and drawing to be paid by cash/money order only. Cash to be remitted before 12.30 Hrs. on working days except on Saturday. The same is not refundable. (d) Regarding Offers through fax Refer special conditions at annexure-G of the above tender notice , (e) Tender and drawing are not transferable, (1) For detailed description refer tender schedule. (g) The offers of the firms received without TENDER DOCUMENTS whether purchase directly from the office of the Controller of Stores or downloaded from the Website along with cost of tender documents as applicable will not be entertained and will be rejected summarily. (h) Tender document can be downloaded from the website www.eastcoastrailway.gov.in. The cost of the tender document is to be attached with the offer in the form of DD/Railway money receipt , (DO to be drawn in avour of FA & CAO/ECoR/Bhubaneswar or Railway money receipt issued by Asstt !Chief Cashier/ ECoR/C.S.Pur , Bhubaneswar) in case of tender document downloaded from website. (I) Railway Administration shall not be responsible for any delay/difficulties/inaccessibility of the downloading facility for any reason whatsoever. Tenders will also be accepted by post. However Railway shall not be responsible for any postal delay. In case of any discrepancy between the tender documents downloaded from Internet and the master copy available in the office , the later shall prevail and will be binding on the Tender(s). No claim on this account will be entertained. For cost of tender document Allocation No :Z-652. (j) Wherever all or most of the approved firms quote equal rates and CARTEL formation is suspected . Railway reserves the right to place order on one or more firms with exclusion of the rest without assigning any reasons thereof. (k) Firms are expected to quote for a quantity not less than 50% of tendered quantity. Offers for quantity less than 50% of tendered quantity will be considered unresponsive and liable to be rejected in case CARTEL formation is suspected. Railways , however , reserve the right to ord er on one or more firms any quantity. (I) Names of those firms who quote in CARTEL are likely lo be deleted from list of approved sources. (m) Wherever CARTEL formation is suspected among approved sources , the purchaser reserves the right to place orders on part-Il sources and new sources beyond limits of 15% and 5%. (n) Tenderers/firms who are found to be indulging in changing/adding or deleting the contents of the tender documents will be liable to face necessary action as per extant rules , which could be removed from the approval list , banning, suspens ion of business dealing etc. (o) (i) Tenderer to give consent in a mandate form for receipt of payment through ECS/EFT. (ii) Tenderer to provide the details of Bank A/c in line with RBI guidelines for the same. These details will include Bank Name , Branch Name & address , Account type . Bank A/c No. and Bank & Branch Code as appearing on MICR cheque issued by Bank . (iii) Tenderer to attach certificate from their bank certifying the correctness of all above mentioned information (as mentioned in para (ii) above). (iv) In case of non-payment through ECS/ EFT or where ECS/ EFT facility is not available , payment will be released through cheque. All communications other than the offer such as Telegram/Telex/Fax should be clearly addressed to Controller of Stores , East Coast Railway, Bhubaneswar - 751023 duly mentioning tender No. and due date of opening. 2. The sealed tender with tender No., Opening date written on the envelope to be deposited in the tender box placed in the OFFICE OF THE CONTROLLER OF STORES, E.Co. RLV. WESTERN ANNEXE BUILDING, RAIL V IHAR , CHANDRASEKHARPUR , BHU BANESWAR -23. 3. If the date of opening happens to be a BANDH OR HOLIDAY the tender will be opened at the same time on the following working day . SPECIAL CONDITION: Annex ure-G Regarding offer through FAX: i) Offer received through FAX may be considered in case of procurement of items through proprietary article certificate & single tender only subject to the firm submitting post confirmation copy on their letter head duly signed by the authorized person as per the tender conditions within ten working days from from the date of opening. ii) However , for other type of tenders i.e. for Bulletin, Limited and Advertised/Open Tenders etc., offers received through FAX and found in the tender box at the time of opening of Tenders and complete in all respects and duly signed by the authorized signatory should be treated as in time offer subject to the firm/firms submitting post confirmation copy duly signed by the authorized person as per the tender conditions conditions within ten working days from the date of opening. iii) All other offers received by FAX not covered in Pars (i) & (ii) above shall be treated as invalid, The offers received by FAX as covered in Para (ii) above shall be deemed as unresponsive in case the confirmation copy is not received within the lime stipulated in Para (i) above, iv) No purchase order shall be issued against the FAX offers without receipt of the confirmation copy of the same. v) It shall be the sole responsibility of tenderers to ensure that the offers submitted by FAX are dropped in appropriate tender box in seated cover/covers and within the prescribed time and date. The Railways shall not be responsible in any way for any delay in dropping the FAX offers in the appropriate tender box.
______ __________

______

HAPPY: Shetty

IN A reprieve to actress Shilpa Shetty, the Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the proceedings by a Rajasthan court against her on the kissing controversy involving Hollywood star Richard Gere. The apex court also issued notices on her petition seeking transfer of all cases related to the controversy to Mumbai. While staying the proceedings, a bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan also stayed the order of the court in Rajasthan that restrained Shetty from going overseas. Shetty on Monday had moved the apex court seeking the transfer to a court in Mumbai all criminal proceedings initiated against her in connection with the row created after Gere kissed her. While seeking the quashing of criminal cases registered against her in the judicial magistrates courts in Jodhpur, Ghaziabad and Mundawar (Alwar), Shetty had also sought a stay on proceedings until the transfer plea was decided. In her petition, Shetty claimed that the April 15 incident was wrongly projected by the media resulting in the filing of private complaints before the magistrates in Jodhpur, Mundawar and Ghaziabad by some local lawyers. Shetty apprehended that she might be served with summons or warrants by the magistrates and hence sought the transfer of the cases to the court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Mumbai, where she lives. The kissing incident during an AIDS awareness programme at the Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar in the national capital last month had sparked strong protests in several cities.

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Our Political Bureau

NEW DELHI

EAST COAST RAILWAY(CON)

NOTICE INVITING TENDER Tender NoUce No.: CAO/CON/BB S/TP/2007-08/OT/03-04, Dt.: 27.04i007
For and on behalf of the President of India, Chief Engineer/Con-Il , East Coast Railway,invites sealed Tendersin prescribed tender forms for the under mentioned works:Tender NotIce Name of the work Quantity Approximate EMD Cost of Tender No cash Value (Rs.) (Rs.) Document CAOJCON/BBSI Manufacture and supply of 52 Kg. i) T-090 (M) 12, 884 Nos. 62, 86, 000/10,000/. 2, 0001TP/2007-OWOT/03 Fish Plates,60 Kg. 1 mtr. Long (Sixly two lakhs (Ten (Two Dtd. 27.04.2007 FishPlates and 1 mtr. Long ii) T-5916 410 Nos. eighty six thousand thousand Grooved Fish Plates to ROSO thousand only) only) only) Org. NO.: T-090 (M), T-5916, Ill) T-5851 328 Nos & T-5851 respectively. i)T.696 to699 CAO/CON/BBS/ Manufacture andsupply of 25, 7 1 00 , 1 0,000/1,00W TP/2007.0 T/04 Combination Fish Plates, 580 Sets (Twenty Ave (One (Ten Dtd. 27.04.2007 (52/60) Kg. and (52KgJ9OR) to Lakhs thousand thousand RDSO Org. No.: T-696 to 699 ii) CSO 1900 & 1901 seventy one only) on ly) artdCSO- 1900 & 1901 l74Sets thousand only) The prescribed Non-Transferable Tender forms are obtainable on any working day between 10.00 His, and 18.15 Hrs. troui the office of the Dy Chief Englneer/Cor /Gonoral, C-52/G, Rail Vihar, Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar -751023 on remittance of cost of Tender Forms (non-refundable) either by Crossed DD drawn in favourof FA & CAO/Cor/East Coast RalwayiBBS on any naticnaVscheduled
_______________ __________ ______ _________ _______

__________

If the date of opening happens to be a BANDH or Holiday,the tender will be opened at the same time on the following working day. Tender document is also available in the Website www.eastcoastrallway.gov.ln till the closing time of tender selling and can be downloaded and used as tender documents for submitting the offer. Separat e Demand Draft towards the cost of tender documents as mentioned at Cot. No.6 shall have to be enclosed in addition to earnest money while submitting the tender,otherwise, the tenderwill be summarily rejected. RailwayAdministration shall not be responsible for any dalay/difflcultles/inaccessibdity of the downloading facility for any reason whatsoever. Tenders will also be accepted by Post, However, Railway shall not be responsible for any Postal delay. In case of any discrepancy between the tanderdocuments downloadedfrom Internet and the mastercopy available in the office,the later shall prevali and will be binding on the Tenderer(s). No claim on this account will be entertained. Notes: 1. Cost of Tenderdocument should be deposited underAllocation No. P-1443104 a Postal Order or Cheque towards cost of Tender Forms will not be accepted. a Sale of Tender forms will commence one month prior to the date of openingof tender. 4. The sealed tenderwill onl y be deposited in the tender box placed in the office of the Dy. Chief Engineer/Con/General,C-52/G, Rail Vihar,Chandraseldiarpur, Bhubaneswar -751023. S Tendersshould be submitted In sealed covers, super scribing the TenderNotice number,descriptionof materials and due date of opening on the cover without fail. The Tenderors should submit their offers in proper tender documents. The offers without tender documents will not be considered y rejected. and summaril For the above works the Tenderers should satisfy the followIng eligibility criteria:Tender NotIce No. Eligibility Criteria CAO/CON/BBS/TP/2007-08/OT/03 I Tenderers whose names are appearing in the Fish Plates category (for the specific tern) in the Otd. 27.04.2007 latest Master list of vendors issued by Quality Assurance (Civil), Directorate of RDSO and also CAO/GON/BBS/TP/2007-08/OT/04 forthe specific drawlngtherein are onlyeU ble to quote. The status of the firm shall be reckoned I as on the date of tenderopening arid noithereafter unless there a case of downgradin hemovaV DId. 27.04.2007 suspensionbanning.

. . liT11

PR-245/C

ExecutIve Englneer/Con/TP Bhubaneswar

OLDING that investigations being conducted by the Gujarat government were proceeding in the right direction, the Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved for May 17 its order on the plea for a CBI probe into the fake encounter killings of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi. A bench of Justices Tarun Chatterjee and P K Balasubramanyan said it would pass appropriate orders on Thursday, but asked the Centre whether it was advisable to order a CBI probe at this juncture. It appears the investigation has been set afoot and is going in an apparently correct direction. Is it advisable to take it out and entrust to the CBI, the bench asked attorney-general Milon K Banerjee. The bench further said the investigation is going on reasonably and vigorously. We will like to have your views. The apex court made the observation while dealing with the arguments of Banerjee who submitted that the investigations should be entrusted to an independent investigating agency or the CBI as police personnel from Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan were also allegedly involved in the fake encounter. Quoting newspaper reports, Banerjee said that the Gujarat police was not being extended proper cooperation by one of the state government concerned and as such the probe should be entrusted to the CBI or some other independent investigating agency. The attorney-general contended that the Gujarat government cannot be expected to deal with the investigations in a fair manner as several important evidence relating to the killings had been destroyed and one of the key eyewitness (Tulsiram Prajapati) had been eliminated. So you want both? But we cant have both, the apex court remarked, when Hafeez Ahmed, counsel for Rubabuddin Sheikh, brother of the deceased, argued that the CBI should take up the investigation and DIG Rajnish Rai who has been removed from the investigation should be re-inducted. The court also clarified that it did not in any manner direct the Gujarat government to re-induct Geeta Johri to head the investigation. Ms Johri was present in the court. We only asked why she has been removed. Because it was suggested by Mr Gopal Subramaniam (Additional Solicitor General),the bench said after Ahmed complained that the apex courts poser on Geeta Johris transfer was used by the Gujarat government to remove Rai from the investigation and bring back the former. Arguing that the CBI should step in, Ahmed pleaded that Rai should be brought back into the investigation under the supervision of Geeta Johri. It was then the bench remarked that the plea for a CBI inquiry and re-induction of Rai cannot go together. The bench appeared to be disinclined to the suggestion of the attorney-general who wanted the apex court to monitor the entire investigations. Is this our business? we have other work to do, the bench said.

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