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A T E S T N E W S |
Kejriwal alleges 'quid pro quo' between Cong and SP
NEW DELHI: Social activist Arvind Kejriwal on Monday alleged that there was a “quid pro quo” between the Congress, which is supporting Salman Khurshid on his NGO’s controversy, and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav who is facing a disproportionate assets case in Supreme Court.
On Uttar Pradesh government’s probe into the alleged irregularities of
Dr Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust run by Khurshid and his wife Louise, Kejriwal said the Minister and the father-son duo of Yadav and Akhilesh will bail out each other.
“There is enough evidence building up but the question is who will conduct an investigation. Akhilesh Yadav? A case of disproportionate assets is pending against his father Mulayam Singh in Supreme Court. Who will appoint the government lawyer against Mulayam? The Law Minister will do.
“Now Khurshid will save Mulayam Singh and Mulayam’s son will save Khurshid,” he said addressing IAC activists on the fourth day of their protest at Parliament Street demanding Khurshid’s resignation.
Kejriwal presented a disabled person who alleged that he was not provided any help as claimed by the NGO.
“Why is the Congress defending Khurshid’s NGO? What is the relationship? Is it Khurshid’s NGO or is it the Congress party’s NGO? The party is definitely involved somewhere,” he said.
Khurshid has denied the allegations of irregularities in his NGO.
Levelling fresh charges against Khurshid, Kejriwal alleged that one Pankaj Kumar from Mainpuri whose name figures in the list of beneficiaries did not get any help from the NGO.
“The document given to government says he has been provided with a hearing aid. But he has problems in his legs.
He was not given any hearing aid,” Kejriwal claimed in the presence of Kumar.
Kumar also said he had not received any hearing aid though he did not need it. “I have problems with my legs and not ears,” he said.
Vivek Yadav, an activist from Mainpuri, claimed that they had searched for beneficiaries in the locality of Dewar block but they could not locate two names
— Santosh Kumari and Sasi Mohan — who were provided with
wheelchairs.
The name of another beneficiary Dayaram, who had an eye surgery and is not a handicapped person, also figures in the list, he alleged.
Kejriwal alleged that Congress workers are searching for the beneficiaries named in the list provided by Khurshid but they were unable able to find them as the beneficiaries do not exist.
The activist also claimed that he had spoken to one of the officers whose signature has been allegedly forged by the NGO and asked him to join his group.
“The officer now says he does not remember what exactly happened. This is UP politics. One by one all evidences are being erased. Give ten more days and there will be no proof.
The enquiry has already been done. Why we need one more enquiry?” Kejriwal said. — PTI
Coalgate: CBI registers two fresh cases
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered two fresh cases against two companies for alleged forgery and cheating in connection with its probe in the coal block allocation scam and carried out searches in 16 locations, including Delhi and Hyderabad.
The agency has booked an infrastructure and a steel company on charges of forgery and cheating while applying for captive coal blocks, CBI sources said.
The agency, after registration of cases, launched search operations spread across 16 locations in Hyderabad, Satna, Secunderabad, Vishakhapatnam, Jaipur, Rourkela and Delhi on the premises of these companies, they said.
They said the companies allegedly misrepresented their net-worth to claim eligibility for getting coal blocks.
The new cases pertain to coal block allocation during 2006-09 in which the CBI had earlier registered seven FIRs in connection with the probe. — PTI
Pak teen Malala sent to Britain for treatment
ISLAMABAD: Teenage rights activist Malala Yousufzai, shot in the head during an assassination attempt by the Taliban, was on Monday sent to Britain for treatment as she needs "prolonged medical care", the Pakistani military said. The 14-year-old, who has been in the intensive care unit of the Armed
Forces Institute of Cardiology since Thursday, was flown to Britain in an air ambulance provided by the United Arab Emirates, the statement said.
The decision to shift her outside Pakistan was made by a board of civil and military doctors that has been supervising Malala's treatment.
Malala needs "prolonged medical care" and the decision to shift her to Britain was made "with the consent of Malala's parents", the statement said.
The government will bear all expenses for Malala's treatment abroad, the military said.
No details were provided by the military about her condition.
Earlier in the morning, the air ambulance provided by the UAE landed in Rawalpindi and was stationed at the military airbase at Chaklala, located a short distance from the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology.
On Sunday, the doctors treating Malala had said she was in a stable condition and making "steady and satisfactory progress".
She was successfully taken off the ventilator for a short while before being reconnected to "avoid fatigue", officials said.
Pakistan's ambassador to the UAE Jamil Ahmed Khan said the royal family of the emirates had arranged the air ambulance for Malala. Visas were specially arranged for the aircraft’s crew and six doctors.
Malala has been on ventilator since she was shifted from Peshawar to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi on Thursday after doctors removed a bullet lodged near her backbone.
She was shot in the head and neck.
The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Malala was targeted for backing Western ideals and a secular government.
The shooting of the teenager has been denounced round the world.
Pakistani authorities have offered a reward of Rs. 1 crore for information that leads to the capture of Malala’s attackers.
People across Pakistan have been offering prayers for Malala's recovery. — PTI
Law student gang-raped
on Bangalore University campus
BANGALORE: A 21-year-old student of National Law School of India University here was allegedly raped by a eight-member gang inside the adjacent Jnanabharathi campus of Bangalore University,
the police said on Monday.
The second-year student, staying in the university hostel, in her police complaint said the incident took place when she had went out with her
boyfriend, who works with an IT firm here, on Saturday night.
When they were walking in the wooded area of the campus, the group of inebriated men attacked them and forcibly took them into deep forest, she alleged in her complaint.
The victim said the gang then demanded money from her boyfriend, who told them that he had kept his wallet in his car. After sending him to bring the wallet along with one of its members, the gang sexually assaulted her.
The victim’s boyfriend sighted a beat constable as he was nearing the car and approached him for help, following which the gang member accompanying him fled from the scene. Though he along with
the police searched for the girl in the area, they could not find her.
Around midnight the boyfriend got a call from the girl, saying the gang had dropped her back near the hostel after raping her.
The complainant was sent to a hospital where she was medically examined,
the police said, adding that the medical result is awaited. The victim is in stable condition. — PTI
Three naval personnel killed in chopper crash
PANAJI: Three naval personnel, including two officers, were on Monday killed when their Chetak helicopter crashed while landing at Dabolim naval base here.
“All three personnel on board have died in the crash which took place at about 1000 hours. A board of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the causes behind it,” a Navy spokesperson said in Delhi.
The chopper, which was flying from Mumbai to Bangalore, was making a scheduled refuelling halt at ‘INS Hansa’ naval air base here, he said.
The rotor of the helicopter broke while landing, Navy sources said here, adding that the chopper then caught fire.
Civilian flights from the airport here were likely to be delayed as the chopper had crashed on the runway, they said.
This is the first crash involving a naval helicopter this year. The Navy operates more than 60 of the ageing Chetak and Cheetah helicopters and has been looking for their replacement.
The force has recently issued a tender for procuring 56 twin-engine light utility helicopters from foreign vendors.
— PTI
Opposition-backed shutdown hits Bihar
PATNA: Trains were blocked and trucks and buses were off the roads in Bihar as a daylong shutdown called by opposition parties to protest the killing of three people in police firing last week came into effect on Monday. Workers of opposition parties blocked railway tracks and forcibly stopped
trains at various stations to enforce the shutdown against the firing in Madhubani on Monday that also injured over a dozen people. Trucks and buses too remained off the road in the state, police said.
The parties supporting the state-wide shutdown include the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Janshakti Party, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party as well as the Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML).
"Several long route trains as well as passenger trains were stopped by bandh supporters and the road traffic was badly hit across the state," a police official said.
Trains were forcibly stopped at major railway stations like Patna, Gaya, Jehanabad and Darbhanga, police said.
According to East Central Railway zone officials in Hajipur, about 20 km from here, thousands of passengers were stranded at various railway stations.
Workers of opposition parties blocked railway tracks in Nalanda, Gaya, Jehanabad, Darbhanga, Hajipur, Bhagalpur and Saharsa districts, disrupting train services, an official said.
Besides, traffic was disrupted on national and state highways at various places. In Patna, busy roads like Ashok Rajpath, Exhibition Road, Bailey Road and Fraser Road were blocked by the shutdown supporters, police said.
All private schools and colleges in the city remained closed in view of the strike.
Additional director general (police headquarters) Ravinder Kumar said additional police forces were deployed in several areas to avoid any untoward incident during the shutdown.
Two youth were killed on Friday and over a dozen people injured after police opened fire at an irate mob in Madhubani town. Another youth injured in police action on Saturday died on Sunday.
The town has been simmering since a headless body was found almost a fortnight ago. The family members of a missing youth, Prashant Kumar, claimed that the body was his and demanded that it be handed over to them -- but the police remained unrelenting.
Hundreds of people joined the family members in pressing the demand. But when police still refused to give in, the mob turned violent and indulged in violent protests on Friday and Saturday.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident and transferred the district magistrate and superintendent of police with immediate effect. — IANS
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