My presidential ambitions are mere speculations: Narayana Murthy

New Delhi: Founder-Chairman of Infosys, Narayana Murthy on Friday said that it was all media speculation and he was not in the race to become the president. 

“It was mere speculation and anyways it was decided by others and not by him,” he told while talking to a news channel.

In an exclusive interview to a TV news channel on Thursday, Murthy said it will be a great honour for him, but might be premature to comment further.

The Infosys founder, when asked if he would like to be as President of India, if he is elected unopposed like Dr Kalam, said: “Well, I think, it is not for me to comment on these issues. There are elders, there are experts, there are people who have decision making power and therefore it is not proper on my part to comment on this.

However, to another question asking him whether he would accept the offer if all the parties suggest his name, Murthy said it will be a big honour for him to add value to the country.

“Of course I'll be very happy. But, that, I think, you know, is in the realm of speculation that is not for me to comment on. And that is perhaps too early right now. It still has another nine months to go.

Advani’s Yatra mired in cash-for-coverage scam, Congress takes potshots

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday condemned the alleged attempts to bribe journalists covering LK Advani’s yatra and claimed that it has vindicated its stand that the BJP venture was not against corruption but had a “hidden agenda.”

“The attempt to bribe joBJPurnalists is very unfortunate and condemnable. We have always been saying that the Yatra was not against corruption. Whenever Advani has taken out a yatra there has been a hidden agenda," party spokesman Rashid Alvi told reporters here.

Noting that Advani took out the Somnath-Ayodhya Rathyatra in 1990 to capture power at the Centre, he said that when the BJP-led NDA was in power, the party “just forgot about the issue.”

There have been allegations that certain local journalists at Satna in Madhya Pradesh were given currency notes of Rs500 each in an envelope after a press conference by local BJP leaders on the yatra, but the state BJP unit has denied it.

Advani has said he will ask Madhya Pradesh party chief to inquire into the matter.

PM says RTI should not hamper government work

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said a critical look must be taken at the RTI Act and concerns on it discussed and addressed. But he asserted that there would be no dilution of RTI Act. 

“The Right to Information should not adversely affect the deliberative processes in the government,” he said addressing a two-day annual convention of the Central Information Commission here.

“We must take a critical look at it. There are concerns that need to be discussed and addressed,” he stressed.

There have been demands for amending the transparency law by certain sections of government who feel it is “transgressing” into their functioning.

The prime minister highlighted the need to strike a balance between disclosure of information and the limited time and resources available with public authorities.
Amendments to the RTI Act and exemptions given to security agencies from making disclosures under it are expected to be debated at the conference being attended by information commissioners.

Another concern that has been raised is that the Right to Information could end up discouraging honest, well meaning public servants from giving full expression to their views.

Singh made it clear that there “will be no dilution of the RTI Act. We wish to make the Right to Information an even more effective instrument for ensuring transparency and accountability in administration”.

The prime minister said legislation for protection of whistleblowers would be enacted in the next few months to help prevention of violence against those who seek to expose wrongdoings in the public administration.

Accusing the government of being “scared” of the RTI Act, the BJP slammed the prime minister’s statement favouring a “critical look” at the transparency law and warned that any attempt to dilute the act would be opposed across the country.

“Is the government scared now of the RTI Act? The government wants to turn its back towards the Act. The government, which has already lost its credibility, fears that it will be nowhere if this Act survives for a long time,” said BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

He claimed the prime minister was siding with the rhetoric of such organisations which are seeking exemption from the transparency law.

Wall Street Journal hit by circulation scam; Rupert Murdoch's top aide quits

London: Rupert Murdoch's media empire, recently hit by the UK's phone hacking scandal, suffered another setback after one of its senior-most European executives resigned in the wake of an alleged circulation scam at the Wall Street Journal.

Nick Davies of The Guardian , whose series of reports blew the lid off phone-hacking and other unethical news-gathering practices at News of the World, on Thursday reported the circulation scam at WSJ, a flagship newspaper of Murdoch's News Corporation.

Andrew Langhoff, the European managing director of WSJ's parent company, Dow Jones and Co in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, resigned on Tuesday. Dow Jones and Co was bought by News Corporation in 2007.

Dow Jones said in a statement that Langhoff stepped down "because of a perceived breach of editorial integrity".

The Guardian, however, reported that it found evidence that the WSJ had been channelling money through European companies in order to secretly buy thousands of copies of its own paper at a knock-down rate, misleading readers and advertisers about the WSJ's true circulation .

Terming the scheme 'bizarre' , the report said that the scheme included a formal, written contract in which the WSJ persuaded one company to cooperate by agreeing to publish articles that promoted its activities, a move which led some staff to accuse the paper's management of violating journalistic ethics and jeopardizing its treasured reputation for editorial quality.

Internal emails and documents suggest the scam The Guardian reported, was promoted by Langhoff. The highly controversial activities were reportedly organized in London and focused on WSJ's European edition, which circulates in the EU, Russia, and Africa.

Three day ‘rail roko’ begins in Telangana, 124 trains cancelled

Hyderabad: TRS leader K Chandrashekhar Rao was taken into preventive custody even as the three-day ‘rail roko’ movement over the Telangana agitation began on Saturday.

His daughter and son KTR Rao are also in preventive custoday.

In view of the rail roko campaign, 124 trains were cancelled. Several protesters were detained for trying to block tracks.

Telangana Congress MPs on Friday asserted that they would participate in the 'rail roko' scheduled to be held in the region for three days from Saturday in support of the separate statehood demand, despite appeals from the party not to do so.

While DGP Dinesh Reddy has warned Telangana activists against disrupting rail services or damaging property, the state government has received reports that Telangana activists may resort to violence if stopped.