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JPC meet on 2G scam today, vote on draft report likely
Sudipta accuses politicians, bureaucrats of blackmail
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Cop who offered Rs 2,000 to hush up Delhi child rape identified
Police ‘botched up’ rape case; Delhi court orders inquiry
Aarushi Case
Khurshid to visit Kazakhstan for
meet on Afghanistan
Tulsi powers fight against fluoride-contaminated water
M’rashtra traders shut shop against new local tax
3 Naxals held in Chhattisgarh
Justice JS Verma was judiciary’s conscience keeper
CRPF housing target runs short by 35%
Andhra hopes for river dispute solution after tribunal’s visit
Coast Guard DG to review op readiness
Unseasonal rain claims 25 lives in Andhra Pradesh
Don't put me in Kasab's cell, Jundal to HC
Rs 5.35 lakh snatched from petrol pump manager
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JPC meet on 2G scam today, vote on draft report likely
New Delhi, April 24 The meeting has been convened to adopt the controversial draft report which gives clean chit to the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister. With the 30-member JPC split through the middle with 15 members from Opposition parties against the draft report, the meeting is expected to be all the more stormy as the BJP and the Left members are all set to take on chairman PC Chacko of the Congress for what they say is an incorrect report and one which does not have the deposition from the Prime Minister or Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. The Congress is depending upon the lone Samajwadi Party member to bail it out on the draft report, which the main accused Raja says is one-sided and in which he has not been given a chance to present his side of the story. He had written to Chacko on Monday blasting the report and sending a point-by-point rebuttal to the accusations and claiming that the Prime Minister was in the know of every decision taken by him. As a precursor of things to come at the JPC meet tomorrow, BJP member Yashwant Sinha today wrote to the Prime Minister asking him to appear before the panel, saying his silence will “confirm” his involvement in the 2G scam. The letter comes in the backdrop of Raja telling the JPC that he took major decisions after consulting the Prime Minister. In the letter, Sinha has said, “Is it not time Mr Prime Minister that you speak on these issues by appearing before the JPC?” Sinha, who is a member of the JPC probing the 2G issue, in his latest letter to the Prime Minister said, “You had said in your letter of April 2 (to Sinha) that you had nothing to hide. Your deafening silence on the allegations made by your own colleague in the Cabinet completely disapproves the stand you had taken.” Chacko has ruled out calling the PM or the Finance Minister before the committee to depose on the 2G scam. Country’s highest auditor, CAG has put the loss to the exchequer from the scam at Rs 1.76 lakh crore. Sinha said the Prime Minister should appear before the JPC as the allegations levelled by Raja “constitute a set of serious allegations of your personal involvement in the 2G scam”. “Your silence will confirm the worst fear of the people of India that you were fully involved in the 2G scam and if Raja is guilty, so are you,” he wrote. Sinha points out, “Under the leadership of your party member PC Chacko, the JPC is facing the risk of a complete stalemate, if not total destruction.” In a written statement to the JPC, Raja said, “I took no unilateral decisions. Every major decision of mine was taken after consultation first with the DoT officers and thereafter with the Hon’ble PM, FM (Finance Minister P Chidambaram) and EAM (then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee who was heading a GoM on vacation of spectrum)”. Sparks expected to fly
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Sudipta Sen to be produced in Kolkata court today
Kolkata, April 24 To protect them against any attack by defrauded depositors, agents etc., they have been kept in police lock-up under heavy security. The state government has received a copy of the letter written to the CBI by Sudipta just before he absconded from the city on April 10. The letter named some political persons, bureaucrats and police officials, who allegedly blackmailed him and tried to force him to commit suicide. Copies of the letter were also sent to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor MK Narayanan. The 18-page letter reached the Bidhannagar police commissionerate, which was now handling the Saradha chit fund scandal. However, neither Commissioner Rajiv Kumar nor Deputy Commissioner Arnab Ghosh were ready to make any comment on the letter. The Chief Minister held a closed-door meeting with senior party colleagues and officials on the case. After the meeting, senior minister Partha Chatterjee read out a statement holding the CPM and the UPA2 government responsible for the present crisis. Chatterjee refused to make any comment on Sudipta’s Sen’s letter. He also could not give any assurance on re-payment of money deposited by thousands of poor depositors with the chit fund company. Sudipta’s letter reportedly contained a list of the people who had been blackmailing and cheating on him during his “business” operation in West Bengal and Assam. The list included names of two TMC MPs and a Congress minister in Assam.
Mamata announces
Rs
500-cr relief fund
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced to create a Rs 500-crore relief fund for the poor and helpless depositors. The money would be realised from the people through taxation. Accordingly, an Assembly session would be called soon. She, however, did not elaborate any further. The CM said the money would be distributed among the genuinely needy depositors on the basis of recommendations of the judicial commission, which was yet to start hearing in the case.
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Karnataka poll: Cong promises laptops, interest-free farm loans
Mangalore, April 24 Interest-free loans up to Rs two lakh and on three per cent interest up to Rs five lakh, establishing a Rs 1,500-crore natural calamity relief fund and supply of three-phase quality power for eight hours continuously per day were among the highlights of the manifesto, released by senior Congress leader and Defence Minister AK Antony in Bangalore today. The manifesto talked about providing free laptops to all PUC students and making Kannada the medium of instructions compulsory and teaching English as a subject from the first standard. It promised total implementation of the Food Security Act and offering Re one per kg of rice up to 30 kg for below-poverty-line ration card holders. A one-time loan waiver to SC/ST/OBC/women/child/fisheries and minorities development corporation, and carrying forward unspent budgetary allocations of special component plans were also promised to woo the weaker sections. The manifesto also promised establishing fast-track courts to try terrorism-related cases and heinous crimes on women and children, and constitution of a state-level committee under the chairmanship of a retired High Court judge to look into cases of detention of individuals in terrorism related cases. The manifesto also promised establishing statutory state agricultural prices commission and district committees, with members from among farmers, and giving 75 per cent subsidy for solar energy-run irrigation pump sets up to 10 HP. The party also promised to develop a greater Bangalore interconnecting second Tier cities around the capital, and review existing structure of Bangalore city corporation and make it administratively viable. Union Ministers Mallikarjuna Kharge, M Veerappa Moily, Rahman Khan, K H Muniyappa and Jitendra Singh and senior Congress leaders Ambika Soni and Oscar Fernandes, former Chief Minister N Dharam Singh, besides Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Siddaramaiah, were among those present at the function. Wooing game
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Cop who offered Rs 2,000 to hush up Delhi child rape identified
New Delhi, April 24 The Vigilance Wing which is investigating the allegation has identified a constable with the help of the father of the victim, they said. However, the constable's identity was not revealed by police saying a vigilance inquiry was on in connection with the incident. On April 19, the child's father had alleged that the day before a "policeman came and asked me to come out. He told me nothing will happen by involving public. He told me that you should take care of the child and be with her". "Public would not help you and he also handed me Rs 2,000 and left. He said I should cover my pocket expenses from this money," the victim's father alleged. Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar had on Monday said that there was a delay in identifying the two policemen -- one in uniform and another in plain clothes -- who offered money to hush up the case as the father of the victim could not come to the police station because he was in hospital. Kumar had said that personnel from the Gandhi Nagar station will visit the father in AIIMS in batches to enable him to identify the culprits. "As soon as they are identified, they will be suspended from service and a vigilance inquiry will follow. On the basis of vigilance inquiry a regular departmental enquiry would be conducted," Kumar had said. Meanwhile, a Delhi court today issued fresh warrant for producing before it Manoj Sah, the main accused in the gangrape case. He was not produced before the court today as the warrant issued yesterday could not be served to authorities in Tihar jail where the culprit has been lodged in judicial custody after he was brought from Muzaffarpur in Bihar. Metropolitan Magistrate Rakesh Kumar, who was presiding as duty magistrate because of holiday, asked the Tihar Jail authorities to produce him tomorrow before the concerned court.
— PTI
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Police ‘botched up’ rape case; Delhi court orders inquiry
New Delhi, April 24 Additional Sessions Judge Nisha Saxena directed DCP (north east) to inquire the role of investigating officers in a rape case against the accused who were acquitted once and then retried in another criminal case without police having collected any concrete evidence. "I feel the way and the manner in which investigation was conducted in the instant case in utter disregard of law, calls for inquiry into the actions of concerned police officials to ascertain if it was motivated or was due to complete lack of knowledge/competence," the court said. The prosecution case originates from an FIR lodged in 2006 on the complaint of a woman that she was raped by three men - Vinod, Suresh and Brahmpal. She said that on the pretext of helping her financially, Vinod, a milk supplier, took her to a jungle in Usmanpur here on March 17, 2006 where he and the co-accused raped her.
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Aarushi Case
Ghaziabad, April 24 The CBI investigation officer (IO) AGL Kaul told the court of Special CBI Judge S. Lal that his superior officer Neelabh Kishore did not allow him to arrest Nupur
Talwar. Kaul was answering questions raised by defence counsels why he did not arrest Nupur Talwar if she was found guilty of destroying evidence after Rajesh Talwar "killed" Aarushi and Hemraj. Defence lawyer Manoj Sishodia said the IO had said that the agency conducted the narco test of the Talwar's compounder Krishna Aug 12, 2008, and arrested him Aug 13, 2008. The agency had recovered a pillow from Krishna's room Aug 14, 2008, which had Hemraj's blood, as confirmed by the Hyderabad-based Central DNA and Fingerprints Department (CDFD). The agency submitted CDFD's report before the court, which indicated Krishna's involvement in the double murders. But when the same report was used by the defence before Allahabad High Court in a revision petition filed by Nupur Talwar, the agency - after more than a year - overturned its views and sought a report from the CDFD which said that the articles which were tested had been interchanged due to a "typographical error". The defence counsel asked Kaul why a touch DNA test was not conducted of the bloody palm print on the wall leading to the terrace of Talwar's apartment in Noida, where the murders occurred. The counsel said the Talwars had requested for a touch DNA test to be done in any foreign country for which they were willing to pay. The test was not carried out. The IO told the court that Rajesh Talwar had found Aarushi and Hemraj in a "compromising position". Enraged, he first hit Rajesh Talwar with a golf club. He then hit Aarushi with the club and proceeded to slit their throats with a surgical instrument. Shishodia, who cross-examined Kaul, told IANS: "CBI officer Vijay Kumar had earlier admitted that the agency conducted a sound test in Aarushi's room. No sounds could be heard in the other room (Rajesh and Nupur Talwar's)." The hearing was adjourned for April 26. Aarushi, 14, was found murdered at her parents' Noida residence May 16, 2008. The body of Hemraj was found the next day on the terrace of the house.
— IANS
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Khurshid
to visit Kazakhstan for meet on Afghanistan
From Kazakhstan, he will fly to Moscow to co-chair the inter-session meeting of the Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC) on April 29 with his Russian counterpart and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. The meeting on Afghanistan is the third such ministerial-level interaction which would see the participation of 14 countries in Afghanistan's neighbourhood and 16 others nations which have been extending support to the embattled nation to stand on its feet. Among other things, the participants would hold political consultations on various confidence building measures (CBMs) which could be taken in Afghanistan when foreign troops leave that country, officials said. Six CBMs were endorsed at the Kabul ministerial meeting last year, including on counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics, trade and commerce and investment opportunities, infrastructure and education. India had taken the lead in promoting trade and commerce in Afghanistan by organising an investment conference in Delhi last June. This was the first time that New Delhi hosted a meet to promote investment in another nation. Afghanistan's neighbours participating in the meeting in Kazakhstan are: Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan. The Istanbul Process was established in November 2011 with the initiative of Turkey and Afghanistan. At the IRIGC meeting in Moscow on April 29, the two sides will discuss the entire gamut of bilateral relations in terms of trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation, in the run up to the full-fledged session of the 19th IRIGC in the Russian capital, expected to be held before the regular annual summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, towards the end of the year. regional security on agenda
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Tulsi powers fight against fluoride-contaminated water
Hyderabad, April 24 Trials are underway to decontaminate drinking water using tulsi (Indian basil) leaves and experts say the results are very encouraging. The process, developed by Rahul Kamble, assistant professor of environment sciences at the Sardar Patel Mahavidyalaya at Chandrapur in Maharashtra is being adopted in Nalgonda, one of the worst fluoride-affected areas in the country. The process is simple. All one needs to do is boil a handful of fresh tulsi leaves and add it to water. A handful of leaves is enough to decontaminate about 20 litres water. To test the efficacy of this simple experiment, water samples having different fluoride concentrations were treated with Tulsi leaves. It was found that when 75 mg fresh leaves were added to 100 ml water with a fluoride concentration of 5 ppm (parts per million), nearly 95 per cent fluoride was removed in 20 minutes. “We collected water from a bore well in the worst-hit village of Yellareddygudem and dropped 200 leaves of tulsi into the sample. After a few hours, the fluoride concentration came down to a safe level of 1.2 ppm,” a laboratory assistant working on the Nalgonda project said. Fluoride levels in drinking water in 48 out of 59 blocks of Nalgonda district are much higher than the maximum permitted concentration of 1.5 parts ppm. Around 25 lakh people in the district are affected by fluorosis which causes dental and skeletal decay. District Collector Mukteswara Rao said the results were encouraging. A massive campaign would be taken up to encourage people to grow tulsi (Ocimum tenuiflorum) plants in their backyard. When the fluoride-contaminated water was treated with tulsi leaves, it was found that tulsi absorbs fluoride in water and releases calcium in its place. The state government is keenly watching the trials in Nalgonda district so that it replicate the experiment in other fluorosis-affected districts such as Anantapur, Warangal, Prakasam and Kadapa. In all, Fluorosis is prevalent in 20 districts of the state. Across India, 196 districts, spread over 19 states, are facing the problem of high fluoride content in the water. Meanwhile, the Sardar Patel Mahavidyalaya presented the study at the Indian Science Congress and is planning to carry out the experiment on a larger scale. As the method is safe and has no side effects, it is advised to drink water stored with few tulsi leaves. Referred as the “Queen of Herbs", tulsi is the most sacred herb of India and is known for its amazing array of health benefits. Tulsi is rich in anti-oxidants and renowned for its restorative powers. Miracle herb
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M’rashtra traders shut shop against new local tax
Mumbai, April 24 However, several small shopkeepers have chosen not to participate in the strike thus minimising inconvenience to common people. Traders opposed to the LBT say it could foster corruption as tax inspectors can arbitrarily accuse anyone of hiding the total turnover of his or her business. “This law will cause immense harassment to traders and result in another inspector raj in
Maharashtra,” Mohan Gurnani who heads the Federation of Associations of
Maharashtra, which represents more than 750 different trade associations in the state. The Maharashtra Government is, however, determined to ensure implementation of the
LBT. “The LBT, which will be paid by customers, are levied only on some goods. Even this will be phased out when the Goods and Service Tax is implemented,” Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan told reporters here.The traders, who took out a march on Monday and a car rally on Wednesday, have threatened an even bigger march on Friday. While the LBT has been introduced in different parts of the state earlier, it will come into force in Mumbai on October 1.
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3 Naxals held in Chhattisgarh
Raipur, April 24 Those arrested were identified as Leelaram Usendi (30) and Sawan Singh Dhruv (52), the official said. The police party was on a combing operation in the region when they got tip off about the presence of ultras there, following which it rounded them up, he said. In another search operation, Ganga Ram Korram (45) was arrested from forests of restive Benur police station area of Narayanpur district today during combing operations. Korram admitted to being involved in Maois movement during interrogation, he said. The arrested cadres were involved in several incidents of loot, arson and murder, he said.
— PTI
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Justice JS Verma was judiciary’s conscience keeper
The present collegium system of judges appointing judges in the high courts and the Supreme Court was the result of a 1993 judgment he wrote for an apex court bench. Until then, the executive had a say in the appointment of judges for the HCs and the SC. Justice Verma had also authored the 1997 SC judgment in the Visakha case to protect women at work places against sexual harassment. In the verdict, the SC had issued guidelines for dealing with such complaints. As a judge of the Supreme Court, he was instrumental in devising an in-house mechanism for going into allegations of misbehaviour against HC and SC judges and adopting resolutions asking judges to declare their assets. Senior advocate Pravin H Parekh, who has been president of the SC Bar Association, said Justice Verma was fiercely independent and practised what he preached. It was Justice Verma, who had directed the CBI to directly report to the SC on its probe in the Jain Hawala case without taking instructions from its political masters, Parekh recalled. In this case, the SC had empowered the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to monitor the functioning of the CBI so that the agency’s investigations were free from any political interference. “Apart from judiciary, Justice Verma had his own views on several issues, including social and political,” Parekh said. Echoing similar sentiments, senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan said Justice Verma was not only an outstanding Judge, but was also articulate. Unlike many other judges, he spoke his mind even if it meant offending the government. As NHRC’s chairman during November 1999-January 2003, he passed several orders on the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat that in a way resulted in the apex court intervention to prevent investigations into the riots cases from getting derailed. Even at 80, Justice Verma worked overtime to meet stiff one-month deadline set by the Centre for making suggestions on the changes required in law to effectively deal with crimes against women in the wake of the gruesome gang rape and murder of a physiotherapy student in Delhi in December 2012. The government had appointed Justice Verma head of a three-member committee that reviewed the existing laws and came up with amendment proposals that have mostly been approved by Parliament. Justice Verma was the 27th CJI and had held office from March 25, 1997 till January 18, 1998. He had his schooling at Venkat High School, Satna, Madhya Pradesh. He had done his B.Sc, L.L.B. from Allahabad University. Beginning his legal career in 1955, he was appointed a judge of the Madhya Pradesh HC in June 1973 and the Chief Justice of the HC in June 1986. He was shifted to Rajasthan HC in September 1986 before being elevated to the SC in June 1989.
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CRPF housing target runs short by 35%
Chandigarh, April 24 In the last three years, only 2,291 houses could be constructed against the target of building 3,570 houses at various locations across the country, according to officially available information. The CRPF possesses land in 23 cities and town. Some of the land has been recently acquired, where construction of houses, barracks and other infrastructure is under way. According to sources, CRPF authorities and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) have blamed the various construction agencies, particularly the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) for delaying the execution of work, which has resulted in the shortfall in targets. Functioning under the Ministry of Urban Development, the CPWD is primarily responsible for undertaking construction work of office and residential buildings, roads and bridges as well as other infrastructure related projects for the Central government organisations. Sources said a meeting is now scheduled on May 1 between the CPWD, the MHA and central armed police forces (CAPFs). Status reports pertaining to their projects have been asked for from the CPWD, which would be reviewed. Chief engineers dealing with construction work for CAPFs have been particularly asked to be present. Earlier, while attending a CRPF function during his tenure as the union home minister, P Chidambaram had announced that the Central government had approved the construction of 8,826 new houses for the force. Housing is an important issue as the CRPF, said to be the world’s largest paramilitary force with 210 battalions, is in the process of expanding and is raising new battalions. Lagging behind
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Andhra hopes for river dispute solution after tribunal’s visit
Srikakulam, April 24 The tribunal under the chairmanship of Justice Sharma along with other members V M Chaturvedi, Ghulam Ahmad, D V Sharma, C S Vaidyanadhan and others, carried out a field survey by visiting villages of the Vamsadhara river belt in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha on Tuesday and Wednesday. A high-level committee of AP officials including district joint collector P Bhaskar and E C Muralidhar explained to the tribunal that the AP government which began construction of the reservoir and flood flow canal under phase II, was forced to suspend the works due to Odisha government's objections.
— PTI
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Coast Guard DG to review op readiness
Chennai, April 24 He is slated to call on Chief Minister Jayalalithaa during his three-day visit, a Coast Guard statment here said. Vice-Admiral Thapliyal, a navigation and direction specialist, would also review the ceremonial parade at the Coast Guard Air Station here tomorrow, it added. He took over as Director-General of Coast Guard in February this year.
— PTI
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Unseasonal rain claims 25 lives in Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad, April 24 He said 12 persons were injured in Warangal, Khammam and Krishna districts. Rains damaged paddy, maize, jowar, groundnut crops in 46,290 hectares and horticulture crops like mango, vegetables, chillies, banana, watermelon, musk melon and betelvine in 24,128 hectares. Around 1133 houses were also damaged due to the rain. Livestock also suffered injuries and an assessment of the damage was in progress, the official said. In its forecast for the next three days, the meteorology department said rain or thundershowers might occur at a few places in state.
— PTI
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Don't put me in Kasab's cell, Jundal to HC
Mumbai, April 24 Jundal has been lodged in Arthur Road prison in central Mumbai. His cell was earlier occupied by Kasab, the lone arrested terrorist of 26/11 attacks, before he was executed at Pune's Yerawada jail. “The applicant (Jundal) has been kept in solitary confinement since six months. Due to this he is depressed and thus not able to think clearly. Like all under-trials Jundal should also be kept in the common barracks and allowed certain privileges,” the petition pleaded.
— PTI
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Rs 5.35 lakh snatched from petrol pump manager
Jaipur, April 24 "After snatching the bag, the miscreants fled on a motorcycle," he said. Efforts were on to identify and arrest the accused, he added.
— PTI
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New
Delhi, April 24
New Delhi, April 24