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Patna on boil, stir by students continues
Finally, Justice Yadav transferred to Uttarakhand
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Rajasthan reverts to old quota system Gujjars back in OBC category Jaipur, February 10 Following the Rajasthan High Court order upholding the 50 per cent ceiling on reservation, the state government has reverted Gujjars to the OBC category in the state.
Hearing on Rathore’s appeal postponed
India-Russia pact on Gorshkov soon
Farm Land Ownership
France looking at
India’s request to lift turban ban
SC’s no to early hearing on Bofors
New mediator for Naga talks
Agni-V to be ready by next year
Complaint against Raj Thackeray for hate speech
Nooriya tests positive for drugs
Avalanches in Siachen kill three
jawans
SC Sinha is NIA Director-General
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Patna on boil, stir by students continues
Patna, February 10 The students thrashed the owner of a private coaching institute, vandalised property and tore banners and posters of other institutes in the area. Former MP Pappu Yadav was arrested after he went to meet the students at Bazar Samiti locality here to express solidarity and also criticised Tuesday’s police action against them. Yadav submitted a memorandum to Bihar Governor Debanand Konwar demanding that all coaching institutes be closed. The Patna district administration held a meeting with student leaders to redress their grievances amid continued tension, a day after one student, Sachin Sharma, was killed in firing by a security guard of a coaching centre. Several other students were injured in clashes with police Tuesday as over 1,000 students rampaged to protest alleged cheating by the coaching institutes. Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan visited the injured students in Patna Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday and announced that his part’s student wing will observe a protest day across the state on Thursday against police action on students. Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and Congress leaders also condemned the police action against students. The state government has announced an ex gratia of Rs.1.5 lakh for Sharma's family. Patna SSP Vineet Vinayak on Wednesday said police staged a flag march to maintain law and order here even as protests spread to nearby towns of Barh and Ara. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has asked Patna District Magistrate Jitendra Prasad to probe allegations of malpractices against coaching institutes and assured students that action would be taken against these institutes if they are found guilty. — IANS
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Finally, Justice Yadav transferred to Uttarakhand
Chandigarh, February 10 Available information suggests that Justice Yadav has been asked to join the high court at Nainital by February 24. Justice Yadav is on leave since her name has been surfaced in the scam in August 2008. The transfer order came just a day after the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association took up the issue and decided to call upon the President of India and the Union Law Minister to convey concern on “grave miscarriage of justice” following the submission of a closure report by the CBI. The CBI stated it could not go ahead in the matter following the denial of sanction for Justice Yadav’s prosecution. The scam had surfaced in August 2008 with the misdelivery of Rs 15 lakh at the residence of another judge with similar name Justice Nirmaljit Kaur. The CBI, investigating the case, has already stated in its closure report that “Justice Nirmaljit Kaur had nothing to do with the same”; and the money had, in fact, been demanded by Justice Yadav. Expressing concern over the way the scam was being wrapped up, a former Supreme Court Judge and three former Chief Justices of the high courts, too, had only recently asked the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to clear the air surrounding the rip-off. They had also sought “full disclosure” of the report by a three-Judge committee, set up by the CJI to look into the scam. Former Judge of the Supreme Court Justice Kuldip Singh, former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court Justice RN Aggarwal, former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court Justice SS Sodhi, and former Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court Justice MS Gujral signed the letter. Addressed to the CJI, the letter says: “A committee was set up by you, comprising Chief Justice HL Gokhale of the Allahabad High Court, Chief Justice K S Radhakrishnan of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court (now Judge of the Supreme Court) and Justice Madan B Lokur of the Delhi High Court, to hold an in-house inquiry into the scam… The committee submitted its report on December 6, 2008.” The committee asserted: “On the basis of material it cannot be said the money was meant for Justice Nirmaljit Kaur. We are satisfied that the amount of Rs 15 lakh was wrongly delivered at the residence of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur and that it was actually meant for Justice Nirmal Yadav and not for anybody else. The committee, therefore, has concluded that there is substance in the allegation; and the misconducts disclosed are serious enough for initiation of proceedings for the removal of Justice Nirmal
Yadav.”
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Rajasthan reverts to old quota system
Jaipur, February 10 The government said it had provisionally modified the reservation system in recruitments and admissions in view of the high court order that indicated Gujjars, Rebaris and Gadia-Lohars would have to wait longer for the 5 per cent quota under the Specially Backward Class category as promised by the government, though they would continue to get reservation under the OBC category. As per the modification, the SCs would get 16 per cent, the STs would get 12 per cent and the OBCs would get 21 per cent reservation in the government jobs and educational institutions in the state. The state government order modifying the reservation to pre-July, 2009, status should remain in force till the High Court passes any further order or judgment on the petitions that challenged the Reservation Act of 2009. The Act that came in force in July, 2009, had granted 5 per cent separate quota to the Specially Backward Classes (Gujjars, Rebaris and Gadia-Lohars) and 14 per cent to the Economically Backward Classes (EBCs), taking the total reservation in Rajasthan to 68 per cent. In the case of G Sharma versus the state of Rajasthan, which challenges the reservation limit being extended to 68 per cent to accommodate the Specially and Economically Backward Classes, the HC had passed two interim orders on October 12 and November 4 last, asking the government to maintain the maximum limit of 50 per cent quota in the state jobs educational institutions. These orders had forced the government to put on hold implementation of the Reservation Act passed in the aftermath of violent Gujjar agitations of 2007 and 2008. Meanwhile, it is to be seen as to how the Gujjars react to the decision. It was some time back that Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla had urged the state government to freeze recruitments in the government sector till the reservation issue was settled in the court.
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Hearing on Rathore’s appeal postponed
Chandigarh, February 10 Rathore, who reached the courts in the morning with his wife Abha and advocate ND Sharma, appealed to the judge to put off the case for a few days, as his lawyer, being injured, was not in a position to take up the matter. ND Sharma was also injured on Monday when Rathore was attacked by a youth outside the court premises. While saving Rathore, he was hurt on the hand and had received 11 stitches. The accused, identified as second-year student of the National Institute of Technology, Ahmedabad Utsav Sharma, attacked Rathore with a knife while he and his wife, Abha Rathore, were proceeding towards their car to have lunch. Rathore received cuts on the cheek and the neck. The CBI had filed a counter-appeal for the enhancement of sentence for former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore in the ongoing Ruchika Girhotra case on February 4 and February 8 was fixed for taking up the appeal. This was to be simultaneously heard with the appeal filed by SPS Rathore against his conviction. Earlier, Rathore had filed an appeal against his conviction in the case by a CBI special court in Chandigarh on January 13. Judicial custody for Utsav Utsav Sharma, who attacked former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore in front of the district courts on Monday, has been remanded in judicial custody till February 24. His bail plea is slated to come up for arguments before the court on Thursday. Utsav had attacked Rathore with a knife outside the district courts on Monday. During the hearing, parents of Utsav Sharma and some acquaintance were present in the court.
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India-Russia pact on Gorshkov soon
Bangalore, February 10 Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, during his two-day visit to India last week, had said an additional agreement between Russia and India would be signed to pave the way for handing over of the carrier to India. The Russian official, however, refrained from mentioning the issue of price, which would be the central focus of the new agreement. He simply said the agreement was about modernisation of the ship. Talking to the TNS today on the sidelines of the International Conference on Electronic Warfare
(EWCI) underway here, Vice-Admiral RK Dhowan, deputy chief of the Naval Staff, said the additional agreement would cover “all outstanding issues between India and Russia with regard to the aircraft carrier”. Asked what he meant by “outstanding issues”, Dhowan said the new agreement would be primarily pertaining to the “cost of the carrier”. The ship, rechristened INS
Vikramaditya, was bought for $974 million but the Russian shipyard Sevmash hiked its costs for the repair and refit work to an additional $2.9 billion in 2007. The Defence Ministry had earlier indicated it was willing to pay $2.2 billion amid objections from the official auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General. The discussions between the two sides apparently concluded during November last year when a “mutually agreed” final price for the carrier was worked out. The Navy’s admission today of signing a new agreement with Russia for acquiring the aircraft carrier is also an indication that the government has made up its mind to pay an enhanced price for the Soviet era aircraft carrier which was originally named
Baku. The ship has displacement capacity of 45,000 tons. It has maximum speed of 32 knots and an endurance of 13,500 nautical miles (25,000 km) at a cruising speed of 18 knots. Back in 2004, Russia decided to sell the ship to India but th wrangling over its cost had delayed its transfer to the Indian Navy. On the progress on the front of the indigenous aircraft carrier being manufactured at the Kochi shipyard, Dhowan said work was going on satisfactorily and the ship was expected to be rolled out in 2014.
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Deletion of Prez kin’s names ordered
Amravati (Mah), February 10 The order by Sub Divisional Officer (SDO) Ashok Amankar, in quasi-judicial authority, came on a petition by one Kishore Bansod, who had claimed that the Shekhawat clan had allegedly got their names included in the land title. The Rashtrapati Bhawan in Delhi declined to comment on the issue. Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi also said that he would not be in a position to react without knowing the details of the case. In a recent order, the SDO had directed that the entry relating to the names of six persons belonging to the Shekhawat family be deleted from the official land records. The six respondents in the case include, President's husband Devisingh Shekhawat, five of his relatives, the local Revenue Inspector and village 'Talathi', a lower-level official who maintains land records. Meanwhile, Rajinder Shekhawat, son of President Pratibha Patil and Congress MLA, today denied his family had been accused of land grabbing in Maharashtra. "The order of Sub Divisional Officer was that a fresh measurement of the land will take place...believe me, there is no such issue of land grabbing," Shekhaw said. — PTI
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France looking at
India’s request to lift turban ban
New Delhi, February 10 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had given a memorandum to French President Nicholas Sarkozy on this issue when they met last in November last year on the margins of the Commonwealth Summit and the memorandum was being considered, diplomatic sources said today. The ban on wearing of turban in schools in France has been agitating the Sikh community since March 2004 when the French Parliament passes a law banning all ostentatious religious symbols and signs in public places, such as schools, hospitals and town halls. The Sikhs have given several representations to the Indian Government to take up the issue with the French authorities. The issue was also highlighted by the Sikhs from France during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) celebrations last month.Meanwhile, France is believed to be going through the recommendations of a cross-party panel of 32 law-makers that had been asked to investigate whether women in France should be allowed to wear the head-to-toe Islamic veil.
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SC’s no to early hearing on Bofors
New Delhi, February 10 “It is not possible to give preference to your appeal unless there is something urgent,” a Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan told advocate Ajay Agrawal, the petitioner who sought urgent hearing. Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium opposed the plea, arguing that it was a criminal case, not public interest litigation. Agrawal said the apex court had issued a notice to the CBI on the appeal about five years ago but the hearing was yet to take place. The CBI was interested in protecting the accused, not prosecuting them, he said. Further, the CBI had moved an application before the trial court for withdrawal of the case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, the main accused in the pay-off case. The advocate had filed the petition against the May 31, 2005, High Court verdict as the CBI failed to appeal against it within the mandatory 90 days.
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New mediator for Naga talks
New Delhi, February 10 Former Home Secretary K. Padmanabhaiah, the previous interlocutor, had been engaged in peace talks with the Naga insurgent group since 1999. These deliberations turned out to be inconclusive, though the Centre maintained that some forward movement had taken place in resolving the Naga problem. The last meeting between New Delhi and the NSCN (IM faction) representatives, which ended in a stalemate, was held in Zurich last March. Subsequently, the UPA government decided to discontinue with Padmanabhaiah, who had held more than 50 rounds of talks with NSCN (IM) representatives.
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Agni-V to be ready by next year
New Delhi, February 10 This means India would induct a long-range nuclear warhead into its arsenal and gives itself the long-overdue “second strike” defence capability. India is pledged not to undertake any first nuclear strike. The upcoming Agni-V would have a range of about 5,500 km and simultaneously, systems are being developed to make the missile “mobile”. Meaning it would be capable of being fired from a truck-mounted launcher or rail wagon-mounted launcher. The Agni-V would not be Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), that has range of 7,000 km or above, in the classic sense, but would be close enough.
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Complaint against Raj Thackeray for hate speech
New Delhi, February 10 Metropolitan Magistrate Jitender Mishra would record the statements on February 16 of advocate Ashish Rai and his four collegaues before taking congnisance of the complaint against
Thackeray. The complaint seeks to prosecute the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
(MNS) leader under various provisions of IPC dealing with attempting to wage war against the nation, promoting enemity between classes, statements against national integration and public peace. Citing newspaper clippings, the complaint alleged the MNS leader, in his public speech at Dombiwali in Thane, said, “If demand for separate Maharashtra arises, I will not be responsible.”
— PTI
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Nooriya tests positive for drugs
Mumbai, February 10 “We received Nooriya’s drug report from the forensic lab today and she has tested positive for consumption of narcotic substances like morphine and cannabis,” Additional Commissioner of Police RK Padmanabhan said. A 27-year-old beautician, Nooriya, on January 30 was driving towards her home at Colaba in south Mumbai, when she lost control over her Honda CRV vehicle and hit a bike and a police jeep. A traffic police sub-inspector Dina Nath Shinde and one more person Afzal Shaikh were killed in the accident.
— PTI
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Avalanches in Siachen kill three
jawans
New Delhi, February 10 "The jawans were killed in two avalanches that hit the southern glacier and the base camp of Siachen today," an Army spokesperson from Srinagar told PTI over phone.The incident comes two days after an avalanche hit Gulmarg, killing 17 Army men at a military base there.After heavy snowfall early this morning, the two avalanches were reported in quick succession around 9.30 am. —
PTI
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