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DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD I CHANDIGARH I DELHI I KOLKATA I LUCKNOW I MUMBAI I NAGPUR I PUNE I VADODARA

TheIndianEXPRESS
JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
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INTERNATIONAL

Protests in Bangladesh as court declares Jamaat-e-Islami illegal (P16)

Edit & Op-ed OUR BANKER AND THEIRS

by Pratap Bhanu Mehta

PAGES 14, 15
YOUR 4 PAGE WEEKLY ENTERTAINMENT FIX

PM URGES CONSENSUS ON REFORM, IF ONLY HIS PARTY FOLLOWED LEAD

The Scene Stealers

EVERY FRIDAY WITH The Indian EXPRESS

Sport PAGE 28 India reach semis of Womens Junior WC

NATIONAL NETWORK BJP NOT IN A HURRY TO NAME PM CANDIDATE, SAYS RAMAN SINGH CBI CLEAN CHIT TO RAJA BHAIYYA IN DSP MURDER CASE

NEIGHBOURS IMMEDIATE PRIORITY

RENUKA PURI

Dont need govt nod for probe we monitor: SC

JUDICIARY Order takes on govt position on questioning top officers in coal case
UTKARSH ANAND
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 1

FDI NORMS EASED IN RETAIL, TELECOM

CABINET CLEARS FRESH BOOSTERS FOR ECONOMY IN BATTLE AGAINST CAD

Mandatory 30% local sourcing norm in multi-brand retail eased, to apply only in first engagement 100% FDI in single-brand retail; 49% by automatic route, 49%-100% through FIPB

RETAIL

Cap raised to 100% from 74%; up to 49% through automatic route, beyond that via FIPB Up to 49% FDI in petroleum refining allowed by automatic route from the earlier approval route

TELECOM

SUJATHA SINGH assumed charge as foreign secretary Thursday. The neighbourhood was her priority, she said.

Spot Exchange suspends trade, govt orders probe

QUICK TAKES

No Telangana Bill this session, may take six months: Shinde

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 1

NEW DELHI: The National Spot Exchange Thursday suspended most trades on its platform, prompting the government to order an enquiry by the commodity regulator Forward Markets Commission, while SEBI began a separate probe amid a crash in shares of two listed group companies. P 21

Business as Usual
By UNNY

EVEN as the BJP urged the government to bring the Bill for creation of Telangana state in Parliaments monsoon session, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde made it clear on Thursday that this was unlikely to happen. No, not in this session. I do not think it will come so soon. Maybe by next session. Usually, it takes eight to nine months. But, we will try to do it at the earliest, may be five and a half months to six months. Maybe earlier than that, said

All options open Shinde, while replying to a question. The monsoon session is scheduled to start from August 5. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj is learnt to have asked the gov-

ernment to bring the Bill in the monsoon session at the allparty meeting on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Congress faced rebellion from its coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema MLAs, with many submitting their resignations. This may affect the partys plan to get the state to initiate the process by passing a resolution in the assembly. If the proposal comes from the state, it would be good. But if it does not come, other options are open. We will discuss and move forward according to the constitution, said Shinde.

TELANGANA DOMINO SOME CONG MLAS RESIGN INDEFINITE BANDH IN DARJEELING

PAGE 7

N AN order that could trigger another confrontation between the judiciary and the government, the Supreme Court Thursday said that the CBI did not require the sanction of the government to pursue a court-monitored investigation such as the 2G case. Why a sanction is required to investigate? It is a court-monitored investigation, you can go ahead and probe, said a bench of Justices G S Singhvi and K S Radhakrishnan, referring to the 2G case. You dont need permission anymore... It is made clear that the CBI is conducting investigation... under the supervision of this court and hence requirement of sanction will not come in the way with respect to investigation of anyone... In a court-monitored investigation, you are not required to get sanction under Section 6A. The courts position may have a direct bearing on the Centres battle in the coal blocks case to hold on to its power to decide whether the CBI can be allowed to interrogate top officers. The government has refused to make any exception to the rule which requires the CBI to approach it for sanction to investigate officers at the level of joint secretary or above, as provided under Section 6A of the Delhi Police Special Establishment Act.

Replying to the query by a threejudge bench led by Justice R M Lodha on why the CBI should approach the government for sanction to investigate, the government has said that this authority could not be taken away even in a court-ordered or court-monitored investigation and that the extraordinary powers of the apex court under Articles 32 and 142 were not adequate. The Centres argument will be heard by this bench on August 6. The clarification by the 2G bench on Thursday came after senior lawyer K K Venugopal, appearing for the CBI, said that the agency needed to get sanction under Section 6A in the Aircel-Maxis case. Seeking time to finalise the chargesheet in the matter, Venugopal said the CBI had to wait for government approvals. Atonepointoftime,theinvestigation was quick but now it is getting tardy... After our first final order in February 2010, there was no impediment on investigation and you could probe X,Y, anyone. In a court-monitored investigation, you are not required to get a sanction under Section 6A, the bench said. The court then gave the CBI two months to file a chargesheet in the case, in which former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran is accused of forcing Chennai-based telecom promoter C Sivasankaran to sell stake in Aircel in 2006 to Malaysian firm Maxis.

PETROLEUM POWER

49% FDI allowed in power exchanges through automatic route from the earlier FIPB route

FINANCE

FDI cap in credit information

firms increased to 74% from 49% depositories under automatic route

Up to 49% in stock exchanges,

DEFENCE

FDI cap stays at 26%, CCS may consider higher investment in state-of-the-art tech on case-tocase basis

INSURANCE: No decision on raising FDI from

26% to 49%

CONTROL: Definition of control widened for the purpose of M&As involving overseas firms, providing greater clarity to foreign investors. Revision will be prospective. Definition of control has been uncertain in, for example, the Jet-Etihad deal RAIL TARIFF AUTHORITY: In-principle approval to establish first-of-its-kind body that will suggest the level of tariff for both freight and passenger fares taking into account input costs and market conditions

REPORT, PAGE 21

Bhutan subsidy: MEA, oil Change in RTI Act gets ministry in blame game nod, parties exempted
AMITAV RANJAN
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 1

A RED initiative appears in todays edition of The Indian Express. These pages are an initiative of the marketing solutions team of The Indian Express Group and contains content paid for by advertisers. These pages should be read as advertisement.

Power & Energy

THE recent bump in traditionally smooth ties between India and Bhutan has escalated into a war of words between the petroleum and external affairs ministries, with the former blaming the foreign office for issuing an explicit directive that led to a cut in the subsidy on kerosene and cooking gas sold to the Himalayan kingdom. But the MEA has said that the petroleum ministry had misinterpreted its communication and jumped the gun on cutting the subsidy. The communication received from MEA (on May 23) was very clear and there was no scope for ambiguity, says a petroleum ministry letter of July 31 to the MEA.

The communication clearly stated that the supply arrangements for all petroleum products, including kerosene and LPG, to Bhutan should be revised to ensure that these take place on commercial, self-sustaining basis and does not involve any subsidy from the MEA, says the office memorandum quoting the MEAs May 23 letter. Responding to the directive, state-run Indian Oil Corp implemented commercial rates for kerosene and LPG from July 1. The move came ahead of the second round of voting in Bhutans parliamentary polls and snowballed into a diplomatic incident, with some analysts seeing it as New Delhi punishing the then Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) government in
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, AUGUST 1

THE Cabinet Thursday approved amendments to the Right to Information Act (RTI) to ensure political parties are not categorised as public authorities, a move that nullifies the directive of the Central Information Commission (CIC) to bring them under the transparency law. The CIC had in June held that six national parties the Congress, BJP, NCP, CPM, CPI and BSP were substantially funded indirectly by the government and had the character of a public authority, compelling them to share information under the RTI. It had directed parties to appoint public information officers for the same. The order had made India only the third

country in the world after Poland and Nepal to bring political parties under the ambit of the transparency law. The Cabinet observed that the CIC had made a liberal interpretation of Section 2(h) of theRTIAct,leadingtoanerroneous conclusion that political parties were public authorities. It was also pointed out that bringing political parties under the Act was never visualised when the law was made. The Department of Personnel and Training, the nodal department for implementing the RTI Act, in consultation with the law ministry, moved the amendment, which now specifically says the definition of public authority does not apply to political parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

Mizoram Industries Secy puts govt tag on own company, signs deal with another firm
ADAM HALLIDAY
AIZAWL, AUGUST 1

IZORAM principal secretary, Industries, P C Lallawmsanga allegedly floated a company, Mizoram Direct Marketing Ltd (MDML), misrepresented it as wholly-owned by the state government, and went on to sign a business deal with another company. He was suspended on Thursday and barred from leaving

PAGE ANCHOR

Aizawl without permission. While MDML was reportedly registered in March, the issue only came to the governments notice last month. On Thursday, the Mizoram government disowned the company and put up a disclaimer on the official website of the Chief Ministers Office. According to the government note, Lallawmsanga signed an MoU with Chennai-based RMP Infotec Pvt Ltd on December

Company used Mizoram govt domain name, carried photos of governor, chief minister

10, 2012, purportedly on behalf of the Mizoram government, without any authorisation. A top official involved in the investigation told The Indian Express that a clause in the MoU authorised RMC Infotec to nominate any company it chooses to work with MDML after it was registered. On March 11, 2013, MDML was reportedly registered under the Companies Act with Lallawmsanga as its director. Its registered

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