New Delhi, July 21
The Union Cabinet today gave its clearance for bringing in a new legislation to deal strictly with benami transactions or property purchased in someone else's name, mainly through black money.

The Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the tabling in Parliament of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Bill, 2011 to replace the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said, "The Bill contains elaborate provisions dealing with the definition of benami transaction and benami property, prohibited benami transactions, consequences of entering into a prohibited benami transaction and the procedure for implementing the benami law."

She added that the properties held by a coparcener in a Hindu undivided family and property held by a person in fiduciary capacity are excluded from the definition of benami transaction. A coparcener is an individual who holds property inherited from an ancestor, while a fiduciary is an individual who holds property in trust.

A statement issued on bringing the new legislation said, “Further, properties acquired by an individual in the name of spouse, brother or sister or any lineal ascendant or descendant are benami transactions, which are not prohibited. Consequently, they are not subject to penal provisions.”

Benami transactions are a major source of black money and the government is under intense pressure to deal strictly with such transactions. According to the proposed Bill, if "any person enters into a benami transaction in order to defeat the provisions of any law or to avoid payment of statutory dues or to avoid payment to creditors, the beneficial owner, benamidar and any other person who abets or induces any person to enter into such benami transaction, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to two years and shall also be liable to a fine."

"A benami property shall also be liable for confiscation by the adjudicating authority after the person concerned has been duly heard," the statement said.

The word ‘wife’ needs to be replaced with the word ‘spouse’ and property purchased in the name of certain other family members is to be allowed under the Act. All this would come in for a change as per the new legislation, which would be put up for clearance by Parliament.

Seeking to recover taxes worth thousands of crores of rupees, the Cabinet also approved a Bill to get Customs show-cause notices revalidated after they were held invalid by Supreme Court on "technical grounds". It cleared a Bill to amend the Customs Act, 1962 to get specified customs officers recognised for assessment of import duty. Such a recognition to these customs officials would be from retrospective effect.

As a consequence of the amendment bill, to be introduced in the ensuing session of Parliament next month, government would be able to recover customs duty worth several thousands of crores, Soni said after the meeting. "Officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence will alone have issued notices involving customs duty to the tune of over Rs 7,500 crore...Also tax evaders will not get benefited at the expense of exchequer on a mere technical ground," she said.

A large number of show cause notices were held invalid by the Supreme Court on the ground that they were not issued by 'proper officers'.

The government also gave its nod for accepting international regulations for the prevention of air pollution emanating from ships, as proposed under a 1997 protocol of the International Maritime Organisation.

The regulations, also known as MARPOL Annex VI 'Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from ships', deals with air pollution emanating from ships. According to the regulations, limits have been set on sulphur oxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from ship exhausts and deliberate emissions of ozone depleting substances have been prohibited.

Moreover, Annex VI includes a global cap of 4.5% m/m on the sulphur content of fuel oil and calls on the IMO to monitor the worldwide average sulphur content of fuel, the statement said. The convention, was revised in July, 2005, and it entered into force on July 1, 2010.

(With PTI inputs)

New Delhi, July 21
Volunteers of India Against Corruption (IAC) who today began a referendum on the Lokpal Bill from Chandni Chowk, the parliamentary constituency of represented by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, received a tremendous public response in favour of the Bill.

The referendum was initiated from Kapil Sibal’s constituency as he was the government’s face on the issue. Team Hazare expects to cover the entire constituency by Sunday.

Activist Arvind Kejriwal said volunteers would be approaching around seven lakh households in the constituency. "Our volunteers will visit houses, leave the questionnaire and collect it two days later. There will be eight questions, including whether the Prime Minister should be brought under Lokpal," he said.

Volunteers began distributing the two-page forms around 10.30 am and continued till evening. Nearly 20,000 forms were distributed of these among residents of Nimri Colony area, Wazirpur, Adarsh Nagar, Dhirpur, Paschim Vihar north and south, Rampura, Shakurpur, Inder Lok and Model Town-III. They were welcomed with tea, snacks, and enthusiasm.

The form has eight questions with four choices each and includes views of Anna and the government. Respondents are required to indicate whether they support Anna’s viewpoint or the government.

Kejriwal said if the people voted for the civil society version, they would ask Sibal whether he would go by the party high command or people's wishes.

Chandipur (Orissa), July 21
India today successfully test-fired its surface-to-surface quick reaction tactical missile "Prahaar", which has a range of 150 km. Prahaar is capable of carrying different types of warheads and will be operated by the Army as a battlefield support system.

"The test firing was conducted successfully at 8.20 am today. Prahaar with a capability to strike targets at 150 km, comparable to ATACMS missile of the US, fills the vital gap between multi-barrel rockets and medium-range ballistic missiles," DRDO spokesperson Ravi Gupta said.

The missile will be helpful in filling gaps between Pinaka multi-barrel rockets with 40 km range and Prithvi ballistic missiles with ranges between 250 and 350 km.

The uniqueness of the missile with a payload of 200 kg is that "in one salvo, six missiles can be fired at multiple targets in all directions covering the entire azimuth plane".

The missile system developed by the DRDO in less than two years will provide the Army a cost-effective, quick reaction, all-weather, all-terrain, highly-accurate battlefield support tactical system.

The 7.3-m-long missile with a 420 mm diameter weighs 1,280 kg and goes to a height of 35 km before striking its target at 150 km in 4 minutes and 10 seconds.

"The missile equipped with state-of-the-art high-accuracy navigation, guidance and electro-mechanical actuation system with latest on board computer achieved terminal accuracy of less than 10 m," he said.

Prahaar is capable of being launched from the road mobile system, which can carry six missiles at a time and can be fired in salvo mode. During the test, the flight path of the missile was tracked and monitored by various radar systems and electro-optical systems located along the coast of Orissa.

An Indian Naval ship located near target point in Bay of Bengal witnessed the final event. The missile was developed by DRDO scientists with support from the Indian industry and quality assurance agency MSQAA. — PTI

New Delhi, July 21
The Delhi Police today issued summons to Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh to appear before it for questioning in cash-for-vote scam of 2008 and he is likely to be confronted with Sanjeev Saxena and Suhail Hindustani, already in police custody in the case.

According to a senior crime branch police official, Amar Singh has been asked to present himself before the inter-state cell of the Delhi Police at Chanakyapuri around 11 am tomorrow in connection with allegations by Sanjeev Saxena, his former aide, and Suhail Hindustani, a BJP activist, that they were given Rs 1 crore by Singh to distribute between three BJP MPs in lieu of their absence during the voting for no-confidence motion against the UPA-1 government on July 22, 2008.

"There are serious allegations against Amar Singh and we have called him tomorrow to confront Sanjeev and Suhail to reach exact chain of events," the official said. Whether Amar Singh would be arrested or not would be decided only tomorrow after the questioning, he added.

Meanwhile, a city court today remanded Suhail Hindustani along with Sanjeev Saxena in one-day police custody after the Delhi Police plead that the duo needed to be confronted with Amar Singh tomorrow.

Speaking to the media before his arrest yesterday, Hindustani had alleged that the case was crystal clear and that money was provided by Amar Singh on instructions from Ahmed Patel of the Congress to save the government. He had even demanded a narco analysis test of the two leaders along with his own to verify if he was telling the truth or not.

The case relates to an incident of July 22, 2008, when BJP MPs waved currency notes in the Lok Sabha during a no-confidence motion against the then UPA government, alleging that three of their MPs, Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora were given money by Sanjeev Saxena at the behest of Amar Singh to vote in favour of the government. Amar Singh had denied his role in the matter and the case was lying in the cold baggage until the Supreme Court recently pulled up the Delhi Police for its lackadaisical attitude.

New Delhi, July 21
Sticking to his stand that he can’t be forced to undergo a DNA test, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister ND Tiwari today took another adjournment in the paternity suit filed by Rohit Shekhar, who claims to be the biological son of the veteran Congress leader.

Tiwari filed an affidavit stating that he was not in a position to give his blood sample for the DNA test in view of poor health even as his counsel sought an adjournment of the hearing by Justice Gita Mittal of the Delhi High Court citing a personal health problem.

Senior counsel PS Patwalia, appearing for Rohit, however, pleaded that Tiwari be forced to give his blood sample and that strong action be taken against him for defying high court and Supreme Court orders.

As the HC adjourned the hearing for July 28, Rohit, 31, said that he was feeling litigation-fatigued and dejected due to the frequent delays in getting justice.

The HC had first asked Tiwari to subject himself to a DNA test seven months ago and this ruling was subsequently confirmed by a Division Bench of the high court and apex court after rejecting his contentions that he could not be forced to give his blood sample as he was a freedom fighter and rendered public service for over 60 years.

Rohit said it was unfortunate that Tiwari was persisting with the same arguments that had not found favour with the high court as well as the Supreme Court. He said he felt like withdrawing the case due to the tension associated with the protracted legal battle and his own indifferent health. Further, the case was badly hurting him financially, he said.

New Delhi, July 21
Corruption, a handle used by the BJP to lambast the Congress-led UPA government, has now started singeing the accuser. While the BJP’s strongman in the south, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, is facing the heat after his name appeared in the Lokayukta’s report on illegal mining, fingers are bring raised at party’s men in the cash-for-vote scam.

While Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hedge is expected to officially submit his hard-hitting report that also names Yeddyurappa’s ministers and several of his ministers shortly, the BJP, understandably, was not inclined to entertain any demand to remove the CM.

BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said, “We will leave some issues (resignation) to him.” The Karnataka Lokayukta Act is very clear. It gives full freedom to the Lokayukta to report fearlessly. After that the state government has a right to accept or reject it. The state government will act according to the law. Each and every point raised in the report will be responded to by the state government,” he added.

Countering the Congress demand for Yeddyurappa’s resignation, Javadekar said, “A report by Lokayukta sought the sacking of Delhi minister Rajkumar Chauhan. But it was rubbished by the Sheila Dikshit government. The recommendations by the Shunglu committee, which was set up the Prime Minister, met the same fate. The Congress has no right to talk about Lokayukta reports.”

The BJP, which welcomed the arrest of Amar Singh’s aide Sanjeev Saxena in the cash-for- vote scam, has now been put on the back foot after the arrest of party activist Sohail Hindustani.

There’s also a possibility of former aide of LK Advani Sudheendra Kulkarni being arrested in the scam. Javadekar, however, complained that the Delhi police seemed to be targeting the whistleblowers. He said: “if an unbiased investigation is conducted, the real culprits will be behind bars within 15 days.”

The Congress, meanwhile, is feeling quite relieved.. Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmad said: “Yedyurappa and his ministers have been held directly responsible in the Lokayukta report. The Congress did not wait for the submission of CAG and Shunglu committee reports to seek the resignation of Telecom Minister A Raja and Games’ panel chief Suresh Kalmadi.”

On cash-for-vote scam, Ahmad said: “Sohail Hindustani is a BYJM activist. A Parliamentary committee has already given its report. Now the current investigations are being. conducted under the Delhi High Court’s supervision. We will wait for the court’s reaction.”

Kolkata, July 21
The “new Bengal” will get its full shape within the next two years with the people of the state enjoying better lives and better opportunities, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced at the Martyrs’ Day rally held here today.

The Chief Minister said within two months of the party coming to power, it had resolved many problems like the Singur, Jangalmahal (Maoists insurgency) and the Darjeeling (Gorkhaland) issues. She promised that in the next two years, at least 10 lakh new jobs would be created and free educations, subsidised rations and hospital facilities would be available to all. Mamata further stated that the state government would build hospitals in every districts and would also set up upgraded engineering institutes, colleges and universities in every town of the state.

While placing the 60-day report card of her government’s activities, the CM said she had already ordered recruitment of 46,000 teachers, setting up of a new state secretariat at Siliguri for North Bengal districts with the sanctioning of Rs 200 crore as special aids for various development works, special package for workers at the tea gardens and several development programme at Maoists-infested Lalghar, Jangalmahal and Jhargram. 

New Delhi, July 21
The CBI today told a Delhi court that former Telecom Minister A Raja had approved the grant of dual technology 2G spectrum licences to his favourite telecom firms like ADAG’s Reliance Communication and others a day before inviting applications for it.

Opening his arguments on framing of charges before Special Judge OP Saini, special public prosecutor UU Lalit said Raja had given in-principle approval for grant of 2G licences to Reliance, HFCL and Shyam Tele link on September 18, 2007, a day before his ministry officially opened the scheme on September 19, 2007, for grant of these licences.

A day later as Tata Teleservices applied for the 2G spectrum licence on September 19, 2007, the Telecom Ministry deliberately sat over its plea, he added.

“On September 19, 2007, the press note for the approval of dual technology was issued, but a day earlier on September 18, 2007, itself, Raja had granted in-principle approval for dual technology for Reliance, HFCL and Shyam Tele link,” said Lalit.

Lalit said had the Tata Teleservices’ application for dual technology licence been approved, the priority for “Raja’s favourites” would have been affected.

Meanwhile, a CBI special court allowed the I-T Department to interrogate Raja in connection with the 2G scam. Judge OP Saini gave the go-ahead for the interrogation of Raja, Swan Telecom director Vinod Goenka, promoter Shahid Balwa and Reliance Group executives - Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara. — Agencies

New Delhi, July 21
A day after a youth committed suicide here for creating Telangana, passions ran high today with Telangana supporters attacking Andhra Bhawan here, abusing the Resident Commissioner and assaulting a senior official of the state government.

Protesting against the Andhra Bhawan refusal to allow the entry of the body of M. Yadi Reddy, who committed suicide yesterday by hanging himself from a tree to protest Central delay in creating Telangana state,

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) MLA Harish Rao, also the nephew of TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, forcibly entered the Bhawan premises near India Gate and confronted the Officer on Special Duty (OSD).

Chander Rao, assaulted him, slapping him a couple times in full public glare with the News Channels’ TV cameras relaying live the assault. After that Rao reportedly broke a couple of window panes and then walked out of the premises.

Guwahati, July 21
A Jet Airways flight with 134 passengers on board narrowly averted a mid-air collision today. Jet Airways Flight No 9W 2280 from New Delhi to Guwahati was probably flying over Patna when it abruptly lost control, leading to chaos inside.

“First the flight abruptly turned right and then began to plummet. We thought it would crash. There was chaos and people were screaming inside,” Caushik Bezboruah, chief executive officer of News Live, a satellite TV channel from Guwahati, said.

“I heard people crying, some praying on top of their voices. It was a chaotic situation for close to a minute before the pilot took control,” added Bhaskar Sharma, director of News Live. Both Bezboruah and Sharma were seated in the emergency exit row of the plane.

Soon after, the pilot announced that another plane was approaching from the opposite direction and was inside the “safe zone”.

The incident took place around 11.35 am. The Jet Airways flight landed safely in Guwahati around 1 pm. “No one was injured,” Sharma said. — IANS