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SC dismisses PIL against CAG appointment
‘Haphazard human intervention’ led to Uttarakhand disaster
Maharashtra reinstates policeman who was assaulted by MLAs
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Panchayat Poll
Monsoon session from Aug 5
BJP banks on Modi to boost membership
Dhaka to hand over ULFA top gun Anup Chetia to India soon
MiG-21 crashes, pilot killed
BJP banks on Modi to boost membership
Trainee nun gang-raped
in Odisha; two arrested
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SC dismisses PIL against CAG appointment
New Delhi, July 15 Among the nine petitioners were former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami, ex-Naval Chief Admiral RH Tahiliani and former Secretary EAS Sarma. Appearing for the petitioners, senior advocate Fali S Nariman pleaded for the court’s intervention in the “important matter.” The PIL contended that the government did not follow any proper system for the appointment of the CAG. There was no selection committee, no criteria, no transparency and no call for applications or nominations. The process was entirely arbitrary and opaque and thus completely violative of the rule of law and several judgments of the SC, the petitioners said. Among the other grounds on which the appointment had been challenged is the fact that as Director General (Acquisitions) and Defence Secretary Sharma had cleared several controversial defence purchases which would now have to be audited and scrutinized by the CAG. “One of the defence deals that is a major source of embarrassment to the government involves the procurement of 12 VVIP choppers for the Indian Air Force from Italy. “This deal was cleared by Sharma in 2010 when he was the DG. This Rs 3,500-crore deal with an Anglo-Italian firm Agusta Westland has been investigated by Italy and Italian prosecutors have in their chargesheet stated that a kickback of at least Rs 350 crore was paid to middlemen to swing the deal in the company’s favour,” the petition had said.
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‘Haphazard human intervention’ led to Uttarakhand disaster
New Delhi, July 15 “Natural terrain conditions combined with climatic/weather conditions and haphazard human intervention made a ‘conducive’ environment for such a hazardous process to take place in this valley,” says the report penned by Dr Surya
Prakash, an associate professor at the National Institute of Disaster Management, which comes directly under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Among his many recommendations is that the area should now be studied from technical as well as socio-environmental point of view to propose suitable developmental activities and discourage improper constructions. Based on research and ground visits, Prakash’s account elaborates how the state received abnormally high rains attributed by the IMD to the fusion of westerlies with the monsoonal cloud system. The heavy precipitation resulted in swelling of rivers, both in the upstream as well as downstream areas. Apart from rainwater, a huge quantity of water was released from melting of ice and glaciers due to high temperatures during May and June. The water not only filled up lakes and rivers that overflowed but also may have caused breaching of moraine dammed lakes in the upper reaches of the valley, killing several hundred persons, thousands missing and trapping about a hundred thousand pilgrims, he says. This was followed by numerous landslides and erosion of slopes by the high velocity and volume of water loaded with sediments, stones, rocks and sand. Landslides and toe erosion by the river caused breaching of the roads and highways at many places and washed away several bridges. “The Alaknanda and its tributary Mandakini occupied their flood ways and started flowing along the old courses where human habitation had come up with passage of time (when the river had abandoned this course and shifted its path to the east side). Thus, the furious river destroyed the buildings and other infrastructure that came in its way.
Geomorphological study of the area indicates that the surface slopes consist mostly of glacial,
fluvio-glacial, or fluvial materials which are mostly unconsolidated and loose in nature. The area has been denuded to a great extent due to deforestation and tree cutting for road construction, building construction, mining, hydel projects etc. It has also resulted into increased surface flow and rise of river bed due to disposal of debris into the rivers,” he says.
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Maharashtra reinstates policeman who was assaulted by MLAs
Mumbai, July 15 According to police sources, the suspension orders of Suryavanshi have been revoked and he has been reinstated in service. The police officer was allegedly beaten up by Independent legislator Kshitij Thakur and Ram Kadam of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena inside the Assembly premises earlier this year. Suryavanshi, who was posted at the Bandra-Worli Sealink had stopped the car of Thakur for alleged speeding when he was going to the Assembly. Following an exchange of words, Thakur complained to the Speaker of the Maharashtra legislative council who issued a notice for breach of privilege to the officer. Suryavanshi was assaulted when he turned up at the Assembly building in response to the notice. The Mumbai went on to arrest Thakur and Kadam. However, the police officer was suspended after Thakur produced an mobile phone recording of Suryavanshi abusing him after flagging him down. Acting on pressure from elected representatives across political lines, the state government went on to suspend him for using language unbecoming of a police officer.
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Three die in violence during second phase
Tribune News Service/PTI
Kolkata, July 15 Burdwan alone accounted for the three deaths with Sheikh Hasmat, the husband of a CPM candidate, Monowara Bibi, being killed in a bomb attack at Jamuria in Madhudanga gram Panchayat, police sources said. Another man, Rajkuma Kora, was lynched after a bomb was thrown in the same panchayat area, they said. The third person, Kata Mullick, was killed in a bomb attack before the Hijjona panchayat office in Mangalkote area, the sources said. CPM candidate Siddhartha Banerjee for the Panuria gram panchayat was injured after being beaten up allegedly by ruling Trinamool Congress supporters, the sources said. A woman CPM candidate, Suptava Karpah, was arrested at Rayan on the charge of influencing voters, they said.
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Monsoon session from Aug 5
New Delhi, July 15 A decision to hold the session was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs chaired by Defence Minister AK
Antony. The Congress-led government at the Centre has been critical of the Opposition for disrupting proceedings of Parliament, including the crucial Budget session, and held them responsible for stalling the passage of food security Bill, aimed at providing a specified quantity of foodgrain to two-thirds of the people at subsidised rates. After vacillating for a considerable period, the Union Government promulgated the ordinance on food security that received assent from the President on July 5 and the Centre now has to bring a Bill to replace the ordinance and seek approval of Parliament within six weeks from the start of the session. Besides the Food Security Bill, the government is also planning to bring the Land Acquisition Bill, the insurance Bills and the Direct Tax Code.
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BJP banks on Modi to boost membership
New Delhi. July 15 According to Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morch president Anurag Thakur, the top 500 BJP/BJYM members, who enrol the maximum number of youngsters in the second phase of the membership drive beginning July 23, will be rewarded with a special audience with the chief of party's election campaign committee. Not just this, the party is also inviting suggestions from people and senders of 20 best ideas will also get a chance to meet Modi. Keeping in mind the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the second phase of membership campaign has a target of enrolling one crore new members.
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Dhaka to hand over ULFA top gun Anup Chetia to India soon
New Delhi, July 15 Top officials of India and Bangladesh are said to be working out the modalities for his repatriation now that the two countries have an extradition treaty between them. Reports from Dhaka say that Chetia has been moved from his current location in a Dhaka jail, suggesting that the process of moving him to India had already been initiated in Bangladesh. Chetia had sought political asylum in Bangladesh after his arrest in 1997 but decided to return to India after New Delhi initiated talks with the ULFA, of which he was the general secretary at one point of time.
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MiG-21 crashes, pilot killed
The aircraft had taken off with its Flight Lieutenant-rank pilot from the airbase for a routine training sortie and crashed while landing at the runway, officials said. Defence Ministry spokesperson in Jodhpur Colonel SD Goswami said a Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the reason behind the crash. There was no reported loss to civilian life or property, he said. Last month also, a MiG-21 plane from the same airbase had crashed but the pilots had managed to eject safely. The vintage MiG-21s have been in service for over 40 years now and they are expected to continue flying till 2018-19.
— PTI
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BJP banks on Modi to boost membership
New Delhi. July 15 According to Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morch president Anurag Thakur, the top 500 BJP/BJYM members, who enrol the maximum number of youngsters in the second phase of the membership drive beginning July 23, will be rewarded with a special audience with the chief of party's election campaign committee. Not just this, the party is also inviting suggestions from people and senders of 20 best ideas will also get a chance to meet Modi. Keeping in mind the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the second phase of membership campaign has a target of enrolling one crore new members.
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Trainee nun gang-raped
in Odisha; two arrested
Berhampur/Phulbani (Odisha), July 15 Jatindra Subhasunder and Jogendra Subhasunder, both cousins, were arrested while the third accused was still at large, Kandhamal district Additional Superintendent of Police Gobind Chandra Mallick said. The victim, who was being trained as a nun at the St Mary Convent in Chennai, received a call from a woman informing her that her mother was in a serious condition, the police said, quoting the FIR. After she alighted from the train at the Berhampur railway station in Ganjam district on July 5, she was picked up by the two cousins, who lived in her
village. — PTI
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Three persons, including the husband of a CPM candidate, were killed in violence during the second phase of the West Bengal panchayat elections today. The overall percentage of today’s polling in three south Bengal districts, Burdwan, east Midnapore and Hooghly, was about 70 per cent till 4.30 pm
Jodhpur, July 15