Govt, Opposition pay tributes to former CM in Assembly – uday basu
uday@thestatesman.net 
Kolkata, 8 July
Towards the fag end of  his life Jyoti Basu was trying to build bridges with the Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and even went against his party-led government’s stand on the Singur small car project to support Miss Banerjee’s proposal of finding an alternative land for the project at Dankuni. 
Then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and his industry minister Nirupam Sen rushed to Basu’s residence to convince him that Miss Banerjee’s proposal was not feasible.  
The project eventually got scrapped and the acrimony between the ruling Marxists and Opposition Trinamul was exacerbated.  
On his birth centenary today Basu became both a unifying and a divisive force for the two sworn enemies. 
For, in his multi-faceted political career the ruling Trinamul found many things worth emulating which made its leaders share the same platform with the Marxists in the state Assembly to pay tribute to him. At the same time both the rivals recalled Basu’s "landmark” initiatives that brought out “glaring” differences between them as well. 
Assembly Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay said Basu was truly a national leader who “elevated” the CPI-M to the national level. Trinamul MP Sougata Roy said Basu had the qualities of a statesman for which Indira Gandhi used to seek his advice on momentous issues confronting the nation. 
Former Lok Sabha Speaker and expelled CPI-M leader Somnath Chatterjee recalled for Basu politics was “the best method of serving the people."  But, soon Trinamul leaders and the Marxists found in Basu ammunition to attack each other with.  
State minister Partha Chatterjee said Basu had criticised his party’s course of action in Singur. Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said at a party programme to mark the event that  Basu had shown Marxists were no enemies of democracy. “But, under the Trinamul regime even the state election commission is under attack,” he said.  He also said Basu had never sought to curtail freedom of the Press, while the new government was targeting the media and even discriminating against  a section of them.
CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said Basu had played a key role in the decentralisation of power through the panchayati raj system which “is being scuttled” by the Trinamul-government.
If the state government’s refusal to invite Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to the programme in the Assembly was a deliberate attempt to belittle him, the Trinamul-government also made it clear it would go up to a point to honour Basu and no portrait of his was garlanded at Writers’ Buildings in a marked departure from a trend the new government has begun. 
Playwright DL Roy, Nepali poet Bhanubhakta Acharya, Uttam Kumar and Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay will have the “honours” later this month.

statesman news service
New Delhi, 8 July
A Delhi court today deferred the hearing in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case as Dayalu Ammal, wife of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, and a key prosecution witness in the case, sought adjournment on the ground that she was unwell and also her petition seeking exemption from appearance was pending in the Supreme Court.
Special CBI judge O P Saini adjourned the matter taking into consideration the medical grounds cited by her.
However, the judge orally made it clear that simply because someone has moved a higher court is no ground for adjournment.The CBI opposed the application for adjournment on medical grounds and said earlier also Ammal had sought exemption on similar grounds. Ammal’s counsel submitted it is only a matter of some time till the Supreme Court decides on their plea for exemption from deposing as a prosecution witness.
The court then adjourned the matter till tomorrow when former Unitech’s official Kiran Sharma will depose as a prosecution witness. Karunanidhi’s daughter and DMK MP Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar, Managing Director of the TV channel, are facing trial in the case along with former Telecom Minister A Raja, DB Realty Ltd MD Vinod Goenka and others. The CBI had, in its charge sheet, discussed the routing of over Rs 200 crore as alleged bribe money from M/S Dynamix Realty to Kalaignar TV Pvt Ltd through M/S Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables.

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Bhubaneswar, 8 July
The Congress today urged upon the ruling BJD government to shed politicking over the Food Security Bill and implement it sincerely in the state. "Odisha is one of the poorest states in the country and incidence of malnutrition is very high. In this backdrop, the state BJD government ought to welcome the Food Security Bill, support it in parliament and implement it sincerely," said Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik.
The Naveen Patnaik government is going to save hundreds of crores as the current level of subsidy burden in providing rice at Rs 1 per kg to the poor will reduce with the Centre increasing its share of subsidy.“This saving should be used to give pulses to the poor through the PDS,” he said.
He ridiculed state BJD leaders who claimed that the Food Security Bill is nothing new as the state government has been providing 25 kg rice at Rs 1 per kg to BPL families.
“These people are ignorant of the Bill, it is much more than providing cheap rice, it includes nutritious food, cooked food and many other provisions,” remarked Mr Patnaik.
 “The UPA Government has been trying to create a regime of legal rights  ~ RTI, MNREGA and Right to Education Act and now the Food Security Bill for the less privileged section over food. Once the law is implemented, any authority responsible for allowing a person to be hungry can be held accountable and even punished under section 41 of the Act,” said the Congress leader.

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Cuttack, 8 July
Cuttack police today arrested five persons in connection with the murder of Keshab Behera, secretary of the Seikh Bazar puja committee. 
Police said the murder seems to be a case of  of gang war and linked to auction of shops and cycle stand , said police sources.
The accused have been identified as Biswantha Behera, Keshav Behera,  Debraj Behrea, Prakash Behera and Sk Laden.
 “It is suspected that Keshab was killed over the auction of shops at Chandi Mandir, which the associates of Kendrapara based gangster Tito wanted to gain control of,” said DCP (Cuttack), Praveen Kumar.
Behera was controlling the auction of shops at the place and cycle stands at the Bali Yatra as well as cricket fixtures at Barabati Stadium.
DGP Prakash Mishra said the murder was the outcome of gang rivalry. Two firearms and live ammunition have been recovered from the five arrested miscreants, he added.
 It may be recalled that the city was shocked at the daring broad daylight murder yesterday. Four miscreants had pumped bullets on Keshab Behera near his house and escaped.
Cuttack city was terror struck as miscreants committed another murder at Kalyan Nagar yesterday killing Maheswar Jena. In the third incident unidentified miscreants  had hurled bombs at a building near Balu Bazar.

Kolkata, 8 July: Kolkata Police suffered a major setback in the case of the death of young SFI activist Sudipto Gupta after the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) found that the driver, who drove the vehicle carrying the protestors, didn’t possess a driving license.  WBHRC, which ordered a probe, found that Mr Raja Das was driving the vehicle without any driving license.Mr. Rabindranath Samanta, registrar of WBHRC, confirmed that the full bench of the commission today concluded: “On 2nd April, the driver was driving the vehicle without driving license.”This conclusion further strengthens the speculation that Kolkata Police itself violates law.     sns

Jyoti Basu had termed the CPM&’s decision of not making him the Prime Minister a ‘Himalayan blunder’. His comment was not born out of unfulfilled personal ambition or thwarted expansion plans of the party. Instead, it was rooted in his attempt to tackle the romantics in the party, writes ROMIT BAGCHI

Jyoti Basu&’s persona is supposed to have assumed tragic grandeur of almost Hamlet-like proportions after the CPI-M&’s central committee (CC) rejected the plea by several regional satraps, including Mulayam Singh Yadav, to make him the Prime Minister after the 1996 Lok Sabha election threw up a hung Parliament.  Rumblings bordering on schism on the matter forced the CC to take recourse to voting to settle things out. The proposal was rejected by a 27-24 margin on 14 May 1996.
It is assumed that Basu had braced himself for taking up the challenge after a spell of procrastination. This view was reinforced by his later dubbing the decision of the party&’s decision-making body as an instance of bungling — ‘a Himalayan blunder’, as he famously termed it.
Initially, however, he was not eager to take up the gauntlet or, at least, he was caught in two minds. According to Asim Chatterjee, the Naxalite ideologue, Basu sounded singularly unenthusiastic about the prospect when the former met him on the night of 9 May to persuade him to accept the challenge in the interests of the Left forces in the country. Chatterjee quoted Basu as saying that it would be impossible to survive in the intrigue-tinged politics of Delhi. “There is no gentleman left in the camp except V P Singh. These parties are bereft of ideologies,” he had reportedly told Chatterjee. But as things progressed, he is believed to have reluctantly given in.
Now the question is — why did he criticise the CC&’s decision? It is something that stands out in his image as a stickler for discipline.
Those sympathetic to him defined it as an expression of his frustration with the possibility of expanding the party&’s influence beyond the confines of Bengal, Kerala and Tripura in the rest of the country, particularly the Hindi heartland, getting washed  away perhaps forever.
But, in retrospect, with over three years having passed since his demise (January 2010), it seems that his frustration principally stemmed from his failure to mould the party-bureaucracy enough in the direction of parliamentary democracy.
Jyoti Basu and the Leninist line of using all the parliamentary institutions and canons for a greater struggle with respect to the Communist movement in India are synonymous. He had remained enamoured of the parliamentary form of struggle since the beginning of his political career that began when he became a party whole-timer in 1940 after returning from London. He was among the very few CPI leaders who had shown the gumption to challenge the extremist line as propounded by B T Randive after the latter succeeded the moderate P C Joshi as the general secretary during the party&’s second congress in Kolkata from 28 February to 6 March 1948.
“I was part of the delegation from West Bengal and was one of those who raised questions about the political thesis adopted at this congress. Many of the mistakes made by Joshi had been rectified, but, in the process, there was a hint of recklessness which had crept into the party. We felt this would harm the party. I did not get a chance to speak at the congress, but sent a questionnaire to the secretariat. The provincial secretary of Bengal, Bhabani Sen, called a meeting of the state unit the following day and those of us who had raised questions on the political thesis were asked to apologise and the contents were read out at the party congress,” he wrote in his memoirs. Basu lashed out again at those professing Naxalism years later, in 1967, calling them reckless fools detached from the reality of the Indian scene. He was against underestimating the strength of the Congress and was for a united front and formation of an alternative government through parliamentary struggle.
“According to them (the Naxalites), the government (led by the Congress) had been totally alienated from the people and was being despised…This wrong assessment led them to believe that armed revolution was the only way out and it was just a matter of time,” he wrote.
Enraged by Basu calling them nincompoops of the quixotic variety, the hard-line Naxalites used to hurl choicest of invectives against him, ranging from ‘an illegitimate son of Khrushchev and Tito’ to ‘a docile dog of Imperialism’. Chatterjee wrote that Basu became a butt of ridicule for the Naxalites when the Ananda Margis attacked him at Patna station and his security guard was killed and he got slightly injured.  
“Saroj Datta, a front-ranking leader of the Left extremist movement, lampooned him, calling him a half martyr with his small finger scratched,” Chatterjee wrote. But Basu remained invincible in his conviction that the obsession with revolution was a kind of romantic tomfoolery. There are reasons to believe that he slammed the CC&’s rejection of the proposal to make him Prime Minister not because his personal ambition was thwarted or the possibility of expanding the party&’s influence was derailed; he did it because of his strong belief that the party-bureaucracy was caged in its romantic make-believe idea that revolution was around the corner and the party would propel things towards that ‘supernal’ consummation by getting into a position to control the Centre one fine day. Basu should have known that ‘there is no better or more blessed bondage than to be a prisoner of a hope’.

The writer can be contacted at romitbagchi@gmail.com

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Bhubaneswar, 8 July
 Persisting with the charge that the Odisha government was trying to ‘mislead’ people on holding of gram sabha&’s in Niyamgiri to decide on the bauxite mining project as directed by the Supreme Court, social activist Mr Prafulla Samantara today said ‘no government has the authority to call or issue dates for gram sabha meetings’.
“The Forest Right Act says that gram sabha shall be the authority to initiate the process of determining the nature and extent of individual or community forest rights or both. But in the present case the Odisha government has issued notices and fixed dates as well as arbitrarily decided that gram sabha&’s will be held in 12 villages,” Mr Samatara said at a Press conference here today.
The state government has not right to chose specific villages as the apex court has clearly said that the state government as well as the ministry of tribal affairs would assist the gram sabha for settling of individual as well as community claims.
Mr Samantara alleged that Odisha government was acting as per directions of Vedanta Aluminium Company to mine Niyamgiri hills. The government must withdraw notifications issued to hold gram sabha&’s in 12 villages and inform the villagers that they need to decide on dates to confer and decide on individual and community rights as well as religious rights over Niyamgiri hills.
Mr Samantara chided the government taunting those who raise objections to move to the Supreme Court. “The order is clear and the views of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs also expose the arbitrary decisions of the state government, said the social activist. The state government wants to ride roughshod knowing pretty well that people like me cannot afford to keep knocking at the doors of the Supreme Court repeatedly, he said.

Lalgarh, 8 July: A day after criticising the Centre over the serial blasts in Bodh Gaya, which left five people injured, chief minister Mamata Banerjee today squarely held the Congress-ruled Union government responsible for not curbing Maoists.
“How do Maoists sneak into our state if the Centre takes stern action against them? What is the Centre doing? What about central agencies, who usually interfere in state businesses, but do not take care of the safety and security of our country? The Centre is feeble, and so Maoists often launch attacks at their strongholds,” Ms Banerjee said at a public rally in Lalgarh in West Midnapore, which itself was once a Maoist base. 
“We are preparing a list of people who often indulge the rebels. If any such incident happens in our state, we will first take action against these people,” the CM said. Claiming her government&’s success in establishing peace in the area, she added, “Whenever I visit Lalgarh, many people try to scare me about Maoists. But I don’t care about them (Maoists). They are cowards and flee into forests after killing people.”    sns

press trust of india
Colombo, 8 July
National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon arrived today to hold crucial talks on the controversial 13th amendment on devolution of power in the Tamil-dominated northern province and a trilateral maritime security treaty with Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
During his visit, Mr Menon is expected to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa and other senior officials, according to External Affairs Ministry sources.
He is likely to pursue the Indian concerns on Sri Lanka’s move to dilute powers of the provincial councils, sources said.
Mr Menon’s visit to Lanka comes close on the heels of Mr Rajapaksa sending his younger bother Mr Basil Rajapaksa to New Delhi to discuss the matter.
Mr Basil, the Minister of Economic Development, met External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid in New Delhi and expressed his appreciation for the vast number of projects that are being undertaken by India in Lanka especially in the Northern and Eastern provinces.
During the meeting, Mr Khurshid conveyed India’s concerns on the 13th amendment and urged Mr Basil not to do anything to dilute its provisions.
Mr Menon is also expected to meet the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
Mr Shivashankar Menon, who has served in Colombo as the Indian High Commissioner in the past, is visiting Sri Lanka with a six-member delegation at the invitation External Affairs Ministry.

statesman news service
Kolkata, 8 July
CPI-M MLA from Pandabeshwar, Mr Gouranga Chatterjee, is free to lodge an FIR against those who assaulted him within the state Assembly on 11 December last year. Justice Dipankar Dutta of Calcutta High Court today granted him that liberty.
He can also lodge a complaint at an appropriate forum about alleged medical negligence towards him by doctors at SSKM hospital, where he went for treatment, and if such a forum upheld the charges, a writ petition can be moved against the  doctors.
Mr Chatterjee had moved a writ petition seeking the court’s intervention and action against the doctors who had declared him medically fit, but after which a private nursing home advised him to conduct a
CT-scan.
“The court has no jurisdiction to interfere into the matter,” said  advocate general, Mr Bimal  Chatterjee, who had opposed the petition. “The entire incident occurred within the state Assembly, where only the Speaker has the power to act,” it was further submitted.
Speaker Biman Banerjee said, “I would comment only after getting a copy of the order. What happened at SSKM Hospital is beyond my jurisdiction, but I acceded to the MLA&’s request when he wanted to get treatment at AIIMS.”

A special page on the social-networking site for devotees
press trust of india
Ahmedabad, 8 July
The 136th edition of Lord Jagannath’s "rath yatra" will begin from the 400-year-old Jagannath temple on 10 July amid tight security with a Facebook page started on the deity for devotees to worship and follow the yatra through the social networking website.
“The link for the Facebook page is there on the website. On the page, a photograph of Lord Jagannath’s temple has been posted allowing devotees to worship online,” a local priest said. As many as 18 decorated elephants and 101 bedecked trucks, readied after meticulous preparations, will take part in the procession, the priest said. Thirty-eight "akhadas" (local gymnasiums) will display tableau showcasing facets of Indian culture.
As per century old tradition, elephants will have the first glimpse of Lord Jagannath and would lead the procession through different parts of the city.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will perform the symbolic cleaning of the chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balram and their sister Subhadra, besides the roads on which they will start their journey from the temple, according to sources. The 14-km route of the procession will pass through communally-sensitive localities in the city, like Kalupur, Prem Darwaja, Delhi Chakla, Dariyapur and Shahpur. “Lord Jagannath’s rath yatra procession will begin on Wednesday morning from the 400-year-old Jagannath temple in Jamalpur. Lakhs of devotees participate in the procession which will pass through the old city before returning to the temple in the evening,” temple trustee Mr Mahendra Jha said.
“The rath yatra undertaken in Ahmedabad is a symbol of communal harmony over the years. The procession is attended by people from all communities. Even members belonging to minority community staying in old city participate in this rath yatra and eagerly wait to welcome the chariot,” Mr Jha said.
A delicacy prepared from 25,000 kg moong dal, 400 kg mango, 200 kg pomegranate and 200 kg jamun is served as “prasad” at the end of worship.
More than 10,000 policemen have been stationed at various points for intense patrolling.

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Bhawanipatna, 8 July
Peeved at poor power supply to the district, the Kalahandi bar association and citizens’ committee have threatened to launch a stir.
Sources said that a delegation of the association and the committee called on collector Mr Govind Chandra Sethi and apprised him of the situation. Drawing the collector&’s attention to the alleged indifference of the power distribution company, Wesco, they suggested that the administration should promptly intervene.
“Public resentment is brewing in Kalahandi over the poor electricity service. The problems like disruption of power supply without notice, low voltage and undeclared power cut persist irrespective of season” said the bar association president Mr Daitari Pradhan, lamenting that the situation has gone from bad to worse in the last couple of days. In the last three-four days, there has been power supply disruption of about 15 hours a day.
“The Wesco officials told us that it was due to breakdown of the main transformer in the town and due to fault in the grid. Normal life has been affected and business, banking activities are also hit,” said Mr Pradhan. The citizens’ committee president Mr Ramachandra Rath blamed the Wesco officials, particularly lack of proper maintenance, for the situation.
“It is ironic that while Indravati project here is generating 600 MW of power, the district itself is facing power supply disruption. We want a particular part of the power supply should be diverted for the district,” Mr Rath said.

statesman news service
Bangalore, 8 July
With the Congress under Chief Minister Siddaramiah, set to complete two months in office now, its achievement of regaining power in the state after a gap of near seven years, is slowly getting soured, thanks to the growing disaffection among a section of its leaders.
Even as Mr Siddharamiah gets ready to present his first budget as the state’s chief minister, he is confronted with problems in the form of a growing demand for greater coordination with his senior colleagues, at least where decision making is concerned.
Predictably, his spontaneous announcement of a host of social welfare schemes immediately on taking over the mantle of the state, has caused concern to a section of the seniors in the party; even his Cabinet colleagues.
This was because his announcements came even before he had formed his group of ministers. Accordingly, there was resentment in the party forum as the Cabinet colleagues felt "unwanted." It did not take long for the matter to reach the party’s Central leadership.
More important is the recent clamour for the induction of Mr G Parameshwar, as the deputy chief minister.
Mr Parameshwar who is the state unit president of the party was all set to adorn the chief minister’s chair but for the fact that he lost the election from Korategere, his constituency in Tumkur. At least his loyalists believed that.
They feel his detractors within the party sabotaged his chances otherwise he would have won easily. They still hope that he will get the deputy chief minister’s post at least, a view that the chief minister is unlikely to favour himself.
That the matter is not something that can be brushed aside is borne by the fact that at least 100 supporters and loyalists in the party made a strong plea to Mr Digvijay Singh, party’s senior leader who is in charge of Karnataka, to "do justice to Mr Parameshwar."
While Mr Singh has chosen against commenting on the growing demand, the matter remains alive, if senior leaders in the Congress are to be believed. While Mr Parameshwar has sought to alienate himself from such demands, he did write a letter to the chief minister and his colleagues to make sure that the promises made by the Congress party in its election manifesto, were fulfilled in the budget that Mr Siddamaiah is set to present on 12 July.
The chief minister’s constant refrain has been that the "budget will be fair to all."
Meanwhile , the coordination committee that the central leadership of the party is setting up for "better interaction between the party leaders and the government" is being seen differently by the leaders concerned.
Those close to Mr Siddharamiah see it as an attempt to checkmate him. Others feel that it is the ideal instrument to ensure the smooth functioning of the government with the panel also playing an advisory role. Nevertheless, signs of unhappiness that are surfacing could build up later if not immediately after the budget.

press trust of india
Imphal, 8 July
Normal life was affected in all the five hill districts of Manipur as a 36-hour general strike by a hill-based committee began here early morning today to press its demand for a separate ‘Kukiland’ by reorganising the state.
Official reports said markets, shops, business setups and educational institutions remained closed in most parts of the hills, particularly in the Kuki-settled areas of Senapati, Ukhrul, Tamenglong, Churachandpur and Chandel districts.
The strike called by the Kuki State Demand Committee (KSDC) began at 5 a.m.
Transport services between Manipur and neighbouring states were also cancelled as the two major national highways Imphal-Dimapur-Guwahati (39) and Imphal-Jiribam-Silchar pass through Kuki-settled areas, sources said.
A spokesman of the KSDC said after the 36-hour general strike they would impose indefinite economic blockade on all routes in the state, including the two national highways, till the Center and the state government initiated steps for holding talks with the KSDC.
Further agitations would be decided during the indefinite economic blockade, KSDC sources said.

South Africa have gained seven ratings points, lifting them to a total of 135
Agencies
Dubai/Mumbai 8 July
India moved a rung to second spot, ahead of England, in the latest International Cricket Council Test rankings issued today, while South Africa strengthened their position as the top side after the annual updating of the championship table.
England, who won their last two Test series against India, find themselves below M S Dhoni’s side on account of their less consistent performances in other recent series, against Pakistan (0-3), South Africa (0-2) and a tie in the away series against eighth-ranked New Zealand (0-0).
However, Alastair Cook’s team can reclaim the number two spot by winning the Ashes series, starting on 10 July in Trent Bridge, Nottingham. England need to win at least 3-0 to regain the second position.
The Proteas have gained seven ratings points, lifting them to 135, 19 clear of second-ranked India.
The annual update ensures that the table continues to reflect recent form, with past results being discarded.
At a recent ICC board meeting, it was decided that the annual updating of the Test, One-Day International and Twenty 20 International rankings would now take place on 1 May each year, rather than 1 August, since it aligned better with the current international calendar.
In another development, it was said today that India’s tour of South Africa later this year would start with the visitors playing Twenty20 and 50-over internationals against the hosts before taking them on in a three-Test series.
According to the schedule of the matches released today by Cricket South Africa, India will begin their tour with a Twenty20 tour match against an SA Invitation XI at Potchefstroom on 18 November to gear themselves up for the two-match Twenty20 International series between 21 November and 24 November.
The visitors will then plunge into the best-of-seven ODI rubber, to be held between 27 November and 15 December, prior to engaging the world’s top-ranked team in a three-Test contest from 26 December this year to 19 January, 2014.
The three Tests will be played at Kingsmead (Durban), Sahara Park Newlands (Capetown) and the Wanderers (Johannesburg).

statesman news service
Chennai, 8 July
DMK chief Mr M Karunanidhi launched a state-wide agitation today  demanding implementation of the multi-million rupee Sethusamudram Shipping Canal project.
Mr Karunanidhi led the agitation at Nagapattinam, while his son and DMK Treasurer Mr M K Stalin led the protests at Tuticorin. His daughter Ms Kanimozhi, and other senior party members led the protest at places like Cuddalore, Kanyakumari and Puthukottai.
However, Mr Alagiri, elder son of Mr Karunanidhi chose to stay away from participating in the protest. This was yet another occasion where a rift between Mr Alagiri and Mr Stalin was out in the open.
The party had adopted a resolution on 17 June to hold a series of protests against the ruling AIADMK’s demand to declare Ramasethu, which involves dredging as part of the project, as a national heritage, besides pressing for its immediate implementation.
The Sethusamudram project is aimed at constructing a shorter navigational route around India’s southern tip by breaching the mythological Ram Sethu bridging the southern tip of the country to Sri Lanka.
The project has been put on hold after petitions were filed in the Supreme Court opposing the demolition of Ram Sethu.
The Tamil Nadu government has pleaded with the Supreme Court that the project be scrapped as it would adversely affect marine biodiversity and the Centre be directed to declare Ram Sethu as a national monument.
Where on the one hand, DMK leaders were holding campaign in support of the project, fishermen came down heavily on the DMK stating that their proposed campaign is a mere political stunt for the upcoming Parliamentary elections and the shipping channel project will wipe out the livelihood of the fishermen besides causing ecological damages.

statesman news service
Bhopal, 8 July
Opposition Congress legislators, led by Leader of Opposition Mr Ajay Singh, walked to the Madhya Pradesh State Assembly here on Monday morning carrying an earthen pot, which, symbolically, contained the ‘achaar***’ (pickle) of all the still incomplete announcements made by Chief Minister  Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The anticipated stormy Monsoon Session of the Madhya Pradesh State Assembly began here today. Nonetheless, the House was adjourned on the first day without transacting any business after members paid homage to several deceased leaders and those dead in the recent Uttarakhand calamity.
The deceased leaders to whom homage was paid included MP State Assembly deputy speaker Mr Harvansh Singh, former MP deputy CM and Congress leader Mr Subhash Yadav, former Congress Union Minister slain recently by Maoists in Chhattisgrah Mr V C Shukla, former union minister Bhavna Chikhliya, former MLAs Mahendra Karma, Nandkumar Patel, Chandramani Tripathi, Kusumkant Jain, Gaurishankar Kaushal, Uday Mudaliyar, Anantram Verma and Suyyar Singh.
In another development, a delegation of Congress leaders reached the CBI office here on Monday to lodge a complaint of financial irregularity allegedly worth Rs 13.26 crore by the state government in the name of collecting money from all government primary schools of the state to make them lifetime members of the children’s magazine Devputra, published by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Congress MLA Dr Govind Singh, Leader of Opposition Mr Ajay Singh and other leaders also demanded from the CBI that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also be made a co-accused in the scam, as he had granted his approval to the payment to be made to the RSS magazine.  Dr Govind Singh had earlier lodged similar complaints with the MP Lokayukta Organisation and the State Economic Offences Wing.
The leaders alleged that  money had been given by the union to the state for purchasing schoolbooks for children. However, the state misused it and paid the money for purchasing the RSS magazine, which has not been delivered to schools.