It says the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs had sent in a set of over 40 questions last October to the state department seeking clarification on the deal in the wake of perceived ‘contradictions’ in the opinions of the two countries on the implications of the 123 Agreement.

While the US side has held that the 123 Agreement was in full conformity with the Hyde Act, the Indian side has argued that the Hyde Act is not relevant to India-US nuclear trade and only the 123 Agreement is, it says.

It quotes a report in The Washington Post on May 9 which says that, “the US state department has asked lawmakers to keep secret its answers to their queries about the agreement, fearing that public disclosure may torpedo the deal.”

“The only interpretation of the gag order is that if made public, it would contradict what the Indian government’s spokespersons have been saying and buttress what the Left has stated all along — the 123 Agreement is in full conformity with the Hyde Act and the Hyde Act provisions are built into the various clauses of the 123 Agreement. That is the only explanation for this unusual gag order,” it says.

PSU is best

Another article titled ‘Public Sector Dominance Continues’ hails the performance of public sector insurance companies year after year to argue that in spite of such a good performance, there is a campaign that the public sector has faltered and its performance is not satisfactory for the year 2007-08.

... contd.