Centre prevaricates over Telangana

NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES

The Times of India reports that P C Chacko, Chief of the JPC probing the 2G scam has said he could not see any incriminating material in the finance ministry's note to the PM on the 2G scam. Home Minister Chidambaram and Finance Minister Mukherjee had working difference on the controversial note.

The Statesman reports the CBI is still probing the role of Anil Ambani as part of its investigation into the 2G scam adding that he has not been given a clean chit yet.

Mail Today says that much to the relief of her party and her government, Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi made her first public appearance yesterday after her surgery two months ago. The paper adds that it may serve to end the government's policy drift on politically sensitive issues such as corruption, 2G scam and Telengana.

The Pioneer, under the headline, "Centre prevaricates over Telangana", writes that even as TRS Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao chose to take his party's fight to the national capital by staging a dharna at Rajghat, Centre said it is not an easy decision and it needs more consultations to resolve the issue.

Hindustan Times reports a Defence Ministry probe that has blown the lid off a 1500 crore rupees land scandal in Jammu & Kashmir wherein private parties were allowed to buy more than 200 acres of land near sensitive military installations, saying this could have serious security implications.

The Tribune writes that during Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia's meeting with the PM, Dr. Manmohan Singh opined that the plan panel must clarify the poverty line issue before the controversy rakes up further.

"Indian Navy springs deafening surprise on Somalia pirates" under this headline, the Pioneer says the Indian Navy has gone non-lethal with a vengeance with use of alarm and imported long-range acoustic devices with language options to successfully stun the brigands into submission.

The Asian Age writes that in an important ruling, a three-judge HC bench has said that the police is well within its rights to take sample fingerprints and specimen handwriting of an accused without prior permission from a magistrate and this is admissible as evidence.

And finally, The Statesman reports that another glass ceiling has been broken in the Indian Army with a mother of two, Shanti Tigga, becoming the first woman jawan.