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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Lokpal bill okayed, CBI can't grill Indian Army


Only two MPs didn’t attend the session, according to an Indian TV. Under the approved bill, the armed forces of India cannot be held accountable by government-controlled Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Opposition parties boycotted the vosting session, while there were 247 votes for and 178 against the bill. India s prime minister earlier warned opponents of the key anti-graft bill that they risked unleashing "chaos and anarchy" as he sought to push the divisive legislation through parliament on Tuesday. Premier Manmohan Singh spoke during a heated debate on the draft law, which was branded too weak by opposition parties and veteran activist Anna Hazare who launched a hunger strike Tuesday to demand the bill be redrafted. Parliament was convened for a special three-day session devoted to the new legislation which would create an independent "Lokpal" or ombudsman to probe corruption among senior politicians and civil servants. The main points of contention focus on the ambit of the ombudsman s office and its powers of investigation. The government bill offers only limited jurisdiction over the prime minister and requires the ombudsman to put any criminal probes in the hands of the government-controlled Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Hazare and a number of opposition parties want the ombudsman s office to have its own, independent investigative team. But Singh insisted that such a move would be tantamount to creating a separate, unelected executive that was unaccountable to parliament or the Indian people.

Iran warns oil blockade if sanctions imposed


The warning came from Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi on Tuesday. The threat was reported by the state news agency IRNA as Iran conducted navy wargames near the Strait of Hormuz, at the entrance of the oil-rich Gulf. "If sanctions are adopted against Iranian oil, not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait of Hormuz," Rahimi was quoted as saying. "We have no desire for hostilities or violence... but the West doesn t want to go back on its plan" to impose sanctions, he said. "The enemies will only drop their plots when we put them back in their place," he said. The threat underlined Iran s readiness to target the narrow stretch of water along its Gulf coast if it is attacked or economically strangled by Western sanctions. More than a third of the world s tanker-borne oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz. The United States maintains a navy presence in the Gulf in large part to ensure that passage remains free. Iran is currently carrying out navy exercises in international waters to the east of the Strait of Hormuz. Ships and aircraft dropped mines in the sea Tuesday as part of the drill, according to a navy spokesman. Although Iranian wargames occur periodically, the timing of these is seen as a show of strength as the United States and Europe prepare to impose further sanctions on Iran s oil and financial sectors. The last round of sanctions, announced in November, triggered a pro-regime protest in front of the British embassy in Tehran during which Basij militia members overran the mission, ransacking it. London closed the embassy as a result and ordered Iran s mission in Britain shut as well. Tehran in September rejected a Washington call for a military hotline between the capitals to defuse any "miscalculations" that could occur between their militaries in the Gulf. An Iranian lawmaker s comments last week that the navy exercises would block the Strait of Hormuz briefly sent oil prices soaring before that was denied by the government. While the foreign ministry said such drastic action was "not on the agenda," it reiterated Iran s threat of "reactions" if the current tensions with the West spilled over into open confrontation.

The G show (Day 13)