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1 dead in fire at last ‘Shahi
Snan’
SURYANELLI RAPE
CAG auditing copter deal, report soon, says Vinod Rai
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Owaisi gets bail in hate speech case
State Cong leaders apprise Rahul Gandhi of problems
HC tells Modi to implement minority scholarship plan
assam
panchayat poll
For LoC, Army to procure new surveillance systems
SC upholds quashing of Dhanda’s appointment as PPSC chief
Dhule Firing
UP launches compensation plan for crime victims
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1 dead in fire at last ‘Shahi
Snan’
Lucknow, February 15 The fire broke out despite much-hyped fire safety measures and additional staff put in place by the mela administration after the Allahabad railway station stampede after the Mauni Amavasya Shahi Snan on February 10. The person who succumbed to burns suffered in the fire is yet to be unidentified. The fire in Sector 4 of the Kumbh Mela is believed to have started with a short circuit and gutted 10 tents in no time. “Two persons sustained minor injuries while the person who died was probably asleep and could not leave the tent in time,” said SSP (Kumbh) RKS Rathore. The Maha Kumbh mela that commenced on Makar Sankranti day on January 14 has witnessed several fire-related incidents. The most ghastly was the January 25 fires that left 19 persons seriously injured. Five have since succumbed to burns. During the stampede at the Allahabad railway station, 36 persons were killed and 39 admitted to hospital with injuries. Three of them are in a very serious condition. As a mark of respect to the dead, the "akharas" decided to take out their processions without fanfare today. Naga sadhus of various orders led the devotees in taking a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati. Meanwhile, the minister in charge of the Kumbh Mela, Mohammad Azam Khan has promised a probe into a violation of the Allahabad High Court order by Lucknow DIG Navneet Sikera. The court had ordered that no VIP vehicles could enter the bathing area till the end of the Kumbh mela, but the DIG brought his relatives and friends to the VIP bathing ghat in his official car during the Shahi Snan. The court has only allowed police cars on duty and ambulances inside the area.
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Absconding convict held in Karnataka
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 15 The third accused in the 17-year-old case, Dharmarajan was arrested by a five-member special team of the Kerala Police, Kottayam Superintendent of Police C Rajagopal said. Speaking to a TV channel from an undisclosed location a few days ago, Dharmarajan, who had gone into hiding after jumping bail, had alleged that Kurien was involved in the case as charged by the victim. After that, the special team of police personnel from Kottyam was set up to trace and arrest Dharmarajan, who had claimed in a TV interview that he was speaking from somewhere near Mysore. The case pertains to the alleged abduction and rape of a 16-year-old from Suryanelli in Idukki district in 1996. She was forcibly taken to different places and allegedly raped by several men. — PTI
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CAG auditing copter deal, report soon, says Vinod Rai
Mumbai, February 15 "CAG conducts audit of the defence ministry and we have done it in this case (AgustaWestland deal) too. It will come to your notice very soon. We are conducting the audit", he said during a question-answer session on the deal at a bankers symposium here. On the status of the audit report in the Rs 3,600 crore deal, Rai said, "Audit is under progress but don't know when it will be completed. I am not aware about the stage of audit". It is alleged that kickbacks to the tune of Rs 362 crore were paid to bag the contract. Referring to the spate of corruption issues, Rai said that things have changed and the silent majority can no more be bullied by the minority. "The myth that has been debunked is that of the silent majority. The majority is always silent because the minority feel that they have a mandate and they are exercising that mandate. They are more articulate and aggressive than the silent majority...... But, the times have changed....but, the so called people who have the mandate, are typical what I would call, bullies. The majority has to be consistent in their efforts to see the changes in the system," Rai, whose reports on scams has raised the hackles of the government, said in response to a question. The government auditor said compulsion of coalition politics in every democracy is leading to convenient deviations. The dominant culture of adjustment is prevalent... with honesty and integrity becoming the casualty," he added. The most oft repeated statement by the public officials over the large number of misdemeanours which have been reported are that the law would be allowed to take its own course. "It is unfortunate that this is exactly what doesn't happen and any number impediments are created in law taking its own course," he added. When asked whether he had any plan to join politics post-retirement, Rai quipped, "Is there any thing wrong in it?'" — PTI
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Owaisi gets bail in hate speech case
Nizamabad (AP), February 15 The First Additional District Magistrate (ADM) court in Nizamabad town allowed the bail plea of Owaisi on the condition that he would cooperate with the investigation officer. The judge also asked him to produce two sureties of Rs 10,000 each towards the bail. The voice of Owaisi, facing charges of sedition and waging war against the nation for his alleged “hate speech,” was earlier recorded on February 12. He has been lodged in Adilabad District Jail since January 9 in connection with another hate speech case registered at Nirmal town of Adilabad. Multiple cases have been registered against Owaisi for alleged hate speeches delivered by him in Nizamabad on December 8 and at Nirmal town on December 22 last year. — PTI
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Can’t lower guard against China: Arunachal Guv
Chandigarh, February 15 Stating this while delivering a special Panjab University Colloquium lecture here today, Governor of Arunachal Pradesh Gen JJ Singh (retd) stressed that we should continue to modernise and enhance the capabilities of our armed forces, improve border infrastructure and strengthen our intelligence agencies. He said that there has never been so much of “concentrated” development before in Arunachal as was taking place at present, with a four-lane highway connecting it with the rest of the nation expected to be ready next year and a rail link likely to be ready this year. While a forward airfield at Vijaynagar was activated recently, another 5-6 landing strips are expected to be activated in the near future. “These development works are aimed at the socio-economic uplift of the local people. Other advantages they offer are incidental,” he said. Listing out the challenges in bilateral ties, which include an unresolved boundary dispute, the Chinese perception of a US-India tie-up against it, potential for unrest in Tibet and the political and economic dimensions of two rising competitors, General JJ Singh said that the new Chinese leadership is giving greater importance to relations with India. He said that while bilateral trade was growing, measures were required to check the trade imbalance.
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State Cong leaders apprise Rahul Gandhi of problems
New Delhi, February 15 This issue figured prominently in Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s nine-hour-long meeting with Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) presidents and Chief Ministers of party-ruled states, called primarily to streamline the organisation ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The two-day meeting is also part of Rahul Gandhi’s strategy to acquaint himself with the health of the organisation in the states. This matter was also raised during Rahul Gandhi’s interaction with AICC office-bearers earlier this month about the challenges facing the party and the roadmap ahead. Today’s deliberations particularly focused on the health of the Congress organisation vis-a-vis its political rivals in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Delhi which are headed for Assembly polls this year. The two-day meeting with PCC chiefs and CLP leaders is part of Rahul Gandhi’s strategy to acquaint himself with the health of the organisation in the states. While his earlier discussion with Congress functionaries focused on organisational matters, today’s meeting also dwelt at length at the political situation in the states like the confusion over forging alliances and the challenge posed by the growth of regional parties. Speaking to mediapersons after the meeting, AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said, “The ambit of today’s meeting was much wider. Besides highlighting the organisational problems, the participants also drew attention to the key issues and challenges they face in their respective states.” The meeting also witnessed some fireworks with Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and PCC chief JP Aggarwal exchanging hot words. While Aggarwal pointed out that the functioning of the Delhi Government was creating problems for the party, the Chief Minister retorted that if would be better if they focused on their respective tasks. Madhya Pradesh leaders complained about Union ministers Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia meddling in PCC affairs. Urging Rahul Gandhi to hasten the decision-making process in the party, Andhra Pradesh leaders underlined the need to resolve the Telangana tangle at the earliest as the delay in taking a decision was creating problems for the party. Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan warned that the formation of Telangana would revive the demand for a separate
Vidharbha.
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HC tells Modi to implement minority scholarship plan
Ahmedabad, February 15 Rejecting the state government’s contention that the religion-based scholarship was discriminatory, the Five-Judge Bench refused to grant the government stay on its implementation for which the state would have to go back to the Division Bench which had referred the matter to the larger bench following a stalemate. By a majority verdict of three by two, the larger Bench ruled that the Central Government-sponsored pre-matriculation scholarships for poor students belonging to five minority communities, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis, was constitutionally valid and it could not be equated with any kind of religion-based reservation. The Modi government had refused to implement the scholarship scheme launched in 2008 under which the centre would pay 75 per cent and the state 25 per cent of the scholarship amount to the poor students at the pre-matriculation stage belonging to the minorities whose parents’ income was less than Rs 1 lakh per annum. The state held the view that any such financial assistance was discriminatory and, therefore, unconstitutional, while the Centre maintained the scheme was not discriminatory and was intended only to alleviate the minority communities. Deciding on a bunch of public interest litigations requesting the high court to direct the state to implement the scholarship scheme, justices VM Sahai, DH Vaghela and Akil Kureshi held it to be “affirmative action” and not discriminatory, while justices RR Tripathi and JB Pardiwala held the scheme to be discriminatory and violative of article 15(1) of the Constitution.
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assam panchayat poll
Guwahati, February 15 BSF DIG CL Belwa said BSF and armed Assam Police Battalion personnel posted at the counting centre at Hatsingrimari were compelled to open fire when the mob tried to storm into the government establishment with intention to disrupt the counting process. The official said three persons were killed in the firing while five others were injured. The mob also torched three vehicles, including a bus meant for conveyance of polling officials. The vehicle of the Sub-Divisional Officer was also burnt down by the group. Meanwhile, curfew was imposed in the area and vote counting was stopped for the time being.
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For LoC, Army to procure new surveillance systems
Chandigarh, February 15 These systems would be equipped with zoom sensors and have the ability to transmit information from an observation post to controllers located at a surveillance centre at least 25 km away, besides being operated remotely from the centre. Consequently, by deploying several systems in a networked configuration, a single surveillance centre would be able to observe a wide swath of area. Each centre would be able to control at least four observation posts. The Army's move to procure new systems comes in the backdrop of continued infiltration from across the LoC as well as frequent violations of the ceasefire agreement with Pakistan. The Army's requirements mandates that the surveillance system be equipped with a thermal imager camera that is able to observe and record images both during day and night, with the minimum detection range being 6 km during day and 3 km in the dark. The observation device would transmit images, both still and streaming either through radio link or optical fibre cable to the surveillance centre, where operators would have the ability to remotely control all functions of the observation post such as switching on the camera, panning, tilting, zooming and recoding.
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SC upholds quashing of Dhanda’s appointment as PPSC chief
New Delhi, February 15
A Bench comprising Justices AK Patnaik and MB Lokur held that Dhanda had no experience in administration and recruitments. The SC also asked the Punjab government to frame guidelines to prevent arbitrary appointments to such posts. The Bench dismissed Dhanda’s appeal challenging the HC verdict. The SC, however, cautioned the HCs not to entertain petitions by “trigger-happy litigants” in such matters. The HC had quashed the appointment of Dhanda, holding that the decision-making process was not transparent and objective and that no effort had been made to choose the best possible talent to discharge the Constitutional functions. The HC verdict had come on a PIL. The apex court, however, upheld Haryana government’s appeal against the HC’s guidelines for the appointment of Haryana Public Service Commission Chairman. The HC had suggested formation of a committee comprising the Chief Minister, Leader of Opposition and the Speaker, among others. The executive should be given “sufficient elbow room” in such appointments, the SC said.
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Dhule Firing
Mumbai, February 15 The apex court today issued a notice to the Maharashtra Government on a plea seeking an independent probe into the riots. Petitioner Nasir Ahmed lost his son in the riots. Recently there was a report that the local police had opened “excessive fire” in order to protect senior police officials. The report stated that Additional Superintendent of Police Akhilesh Kumar Singh and Deputy Superintendent of Police Monica Raut had ventured deep into the disturbed area without adequate cover and needed to be rescued. Another senior police official, Superintendent of Police Pradeep Deshpande, sustained injuries in the violence as well. While civil rights groups alleged the police had opened indiscriminate fire with the intention of killing protesters, video footage released subsequently showed policemen running riot damaging property belonging to members of the minority community. Two policemen who were seen running amok have been suspended and senior police officials are in the process of identifying others who may have participated in the violence.
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UP launches compensation plan for crime victims
Lucknow, February 15 IG (Law and Order) BP Singh said the maximum limit of compensation would be Rs 2 lakh for rape victims, Rs 1 lakh for victims of severe mental trauma caused by physical disability, Rs 1.5 lakh for victims of acid attack, Rs 2 lakh for murder and Rs 2 lakh for human trafficking. According to the new Uttar Pradesh Government scheme, the victim or dependents would have to submit applications to their respective district legal aid tribunal within 48 hours of the case. The tribunal would decide the issue in a time-bound manner within two month and fix the amount of compensation. While the notification for the scheme has been issued, the budgetary allocation would be made only from the next financial year, the IG said. The state has incorporated Section 357-A in the IPC to this effect. The tribunal would also be empowered to consider compensation in cases of dacoity, loot and theft. It would also be applicable in cases where the accused had not been identified. The compensation under the scheme would be available to people from all castes. Till date, the provision of cash compensation was restricted to victims of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
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One person was killed and five injured in a fire at the Maha Kumbh Mela grounds in the early hours of Friday where a sea of pilgrims had converged for a holy dip on Basant Panchami for the third and last ‘Shahi Snan’.
