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It’s time for speedy trial in all rape cases: Activists
Jagan case: CBI names Srinivasan in chargesheet |
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Burqa diktat by BJP for Modi rally raises brows
Seemandhra to get majority of rich temples
Cong: BJP, SP responsible for Muzaffarnagar violence
Prez for action plan to combat NCD epidemic
'84 riots: Sikh group secures summons to Sonia Gandhi
Now, Asaram accused of cheating devotees
SC commutes death penalty of man who killed wife, 2 sons
Pak envoy meets NSA over
PM-Sharif talks in New York
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It’s time for speedy trial in all rape cases: Activists
New Delhi, September 10 Terming the case as a “stellar case of investigation, prosecution and justice”, experts today called for institutionalising it to bring closure for all victims of sexual violence whose plight may not have attracted the kind of public outrage as this case did. “Even as we speak, so much is happening across India in terms of non-implementation of the new Criminal Law Amendment that came about after the Delhi gang rape. Rapes of Dalit women in Haryana continue and the recent Mumbai gang rape accused told the police they raped at least four rag-pickers in the same mill complex in the past. The Delhi case is classic as it attracted unbelievable response and rightly so. You had the best evidence, a fast-track court and responsive police machinery, but let’s not forget that there are millions of cases that don’t hit headlines. We have become so used to reacting to extraordinarily brutal crimes that other forms of violence seem routine to us. This must change,” said Madhu Mehra, member of the Working Group on Human Rights in India and the UN. Across the spectrum, activists -- from former police officers such as Kiran Bedi to senior lawyers such as Vrinda Grover, called for institutionalising the change that the Delhi gang rape case inspired. “It is time for reflection. We must ask ourselves whether the changes in anti-rape laws we demanded have been institutionalised so as to ensure justice for all victims of sexual violence. In the Delhi case, there was strong evidence both of rape and consequential death. We hope same priority as accorded to this case in terms of setting up a fast track court, appointing a special public prosecutor and delivering time bound justice, will now be accorded to other cases,” Vrinda Grover, senior Supreme Court lawyer said. Human rights leaders such as Kavita Krishnan, who have long worked with sexual violence victims, said their fear was that the Delhi case might literally become the rarest of the rare in terms of public and system response. “We only hope every case is treated with the same urgency as this one,” she said, with Karuna Nundy, another lawyer, demanding that a routine be made of this example. “States must establish fast-track courts for hearings in all rape cases and special public prosecutors must be appointed wherever required. Even today, 23,000 cases are pending waiting for justice and our judge to population ratio remains one of the poorest in the world. This is the occasion to reflect on larger issues,” Nundy said. With expert opinion bordering on the cautious, the political class asked why it took a fast-track court eight months to deliver justice in an “open and shut case”. “Even an open and shut case such as this one has taken so long to be closed. Even now, the sentence is awaited,” CPM leader Brinda Karat said, while BJP’s Sushma Swaraj, a known votary of death sentence for rapists, sought the harshest punishment for the four guilty. On the other end of the spectrum, former top cop Kiran Bedi said the Delhi case had become a perfect case study for the criminal justice system in India. “It’s a case of excellent investigation, excellent prosecution and timely justice. It must be taken to police academies in order to train personnel in how to best investigate crimes and how to seal cases with indisputable forensic evidence even when you have enough at hand in the form of witness statements,” she said.
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Jagan case: CBI names Srinivasan in chargesheet
The CBI, which is probing the disproportionate assets case, filed three separate charge sheets in the special CBI court, detailing the “quid pro quo” investments made by India Cements and Penna Cements in Jagan’s business ventures in return for the favours doled out by the Congress government headed by late YS Rajasekhar Reddy during 2004-09. The chargesheets were filed against India Cements, Penna Cements and Bharathi Cements, naming their promoters and key officials among the accused. India Cements was listed among the accused in a First Information Report filed in 2011 and Srinivasan was interrogated by the CBI teams twice in the past in connection with the case. According to the CBI, the Chennai-based company had invested Rs 140 crore in Jagan’s firms. In return, the company received favours including additional allocation of waters for its cement plants and extension of the limestone lease. Two separate GOs were issued in 2008, making enhanced water allocations for the cement units located in Nalgonda and Ranga Reddy districts. While the allocation for Nalgonda plant was enhanced from three lakh gallon to 10 lakh gallon per day, the same was raised from three lakh gallon to 13 lakh gallon per day for the plant in Ranga Reddy district. India Cements figures among the 74 accused named by the CBI in the illegal assets case. It has been accused of criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, falsification of accounts and criminal misconduct. It is also alleged that Jagathi Publications, which owns “Sakshi” Telugu daily and a television channel of the same name, as on March 31, 2010 had a paid-up capital and share premium of Rs 844.129 crore and India Cements holds Rs 40 crore worth shares in the company, subscribed at a uniform premium of Rs 350 per share even before the Jagathi Publications commenced its commercial operations. The CBI also alleged that Penna Cements, a company formed in 1991, had invested Rs. 68 crores in Jagathi Publications and Carmel Asia, owned by Jagan, in return for preferential land allotment. Bharathi Cements, the third company to be charge sheeted today, is owned by Jagan. He had acquired the company from Dalmia's and huge tracts of limestone mining land was allotted to the company. However, the CBI has not named the Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah in the charge sheet. Lakshmaiah, who held irrigation portfolio in the YSR Cabinet, was questioned by the CBI last year with regard to the water allocations made to India Cements. The CBI has so far filed eight chargesheets in the Jagan case. Two more chargesheets would be filed in a couple of days, a CBI counsel told reporters. Jagan, the 40 year old industrialist turned politician, has been in Chanchalguda Central Jail here for the last 16 months following his arrest in the illegal assets case. However, his party alleges that he had been falsely implicated in the case by the ruling Congress as part of political vendetta. Jagan’s fledgling party is supporting the ongoing the mass agitation in Seemandhra against the UPA’s decision to bifurcate the state.
Made investments in Jagan firms
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Burqa diktat by BJP for Modi rally raises brows
Jaipur, September 10 The BJP, however, claimed that the direction by its minority cell has been "misunderstood" and no distinction had been made on the basis of religion. Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh asked if BJP was trying to enforce a "dress code" or playing "vote bank politics" by asking Muslims to attend its meetings wearing 'burqas' and skull caps. "Whether it is a dress code or vote bank politics is a question which the media should ask the BJP," he said in a tweet. The BJP claimed that the instruction was that any woman wearing burqa should not be stopped from entering the venue as, it alleged, was done at a Congress rally citing security reasons. "People were allowed to attend the (BJP) rally in their traditional dresses whether women were wearing burqa or jeans or men had "topi, safa, pagri" as headgear did not matter," said party spokesperson Jyoti Kiran. Earlier, launching the BJP campaign in poll-bound Rajasthan, Narendra Modi today said the country should be rid of the Congress rule to make it corruption free and devised a political alphabet to take a jibe at the ruling party over a spate of graft cases. "A for Adarsh Ghotala, B for Bofors Ghotala, C for Coal ghotala, D for Damad ka ghotala (corruption)..this is the new ABCD..which the Congress adopted to introduce a new book of alphabets for children," Modi said. “Corruption is Congress' ornament, a gift, and one who does more corruption, gets promotion in the party,” he said. — PTI
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Seemandhra to get majority of rich temples
Seemandhra, as Rayalaseema and the coastal Andhra regions are together known, will bag temples famous for their religious significance, architectural grandeur and huge revenues. Standing tall among them is the world-famous Tirumala at Tirupati in Chittoor district of Rayalaseema. One of the richest shrines in the world and compared with Vatican City, it draws about 70,000 devotees every day. The Lord Venkateswara temple, believed to have been constructed in 1570, annually earns about Rs 2,000 crore, mostly through the daily offerings by devotees. Endowments department officials said Seemandhra will get 16 of 19 major temples whose annual income is above Rs 10 crore each. With an annual income of Rs 60 crore, Sri Varaha Narasimha Swamy temple at Simhachalam near the coastal city of Visakhapatnam in the Andhra region occupies the second position. The other major revenue earning temples include Sri Durga Malleswara Devasthanam in Vijayawada. Located atop Indirkiladri Hills, the Kankadurga temple attracts thousands of devotees every day. Sri Bhramrambha Mallikharjuna temple on the banks of the Krishna river at Srisailam in Kurnool district, is also famous among devotees. Srikalahasti temple near Tirupati, one of the important ancient Shiva temples of south India, attracts a large number of devotees. Most of the people who visit Tirupati also have "darshan" at Srikalahasti. Sri Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Swamy temple of Annavaram in coastal district of East Godavari is famous for hundreds of marriages performed daily during the marriage season. Draksharama or "garden of grapes" temple near Kakinda in East Godavari district and the Kotipally temple a few kilometres away are the other major temples, which will go to Seemandhra. Gnana Saraswati temple at Basara in Adilabad district of the Telangana region is visited by a large number of pilgrims, especially for the "Akshara abhyasam" ceremony for children before they start their formal school education. Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy Devasthanam in Vemulawada of Karimnagar district is another famous temple of Telangana. However, the biggest in terms of revenues will be Lord Lakshminarasimha Swamy temple at Yadagirigutta in Nalgonda district, about 60 km from Hyderabad. The shrine atop a hillock is famously known as 'Telangana Tirupati' and is visited by thousands of devotees every day from all parts of the state. This temple is famous for marriages and "vahana puja" or rituals conducted on new vehicles. — IANS
Big gain
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Cong: BJP, SP responsible for Muzaffarnagar violence
Lucknow, September 10 “A government which cannot protect the life and property of its citizens, especially those belonging to the minority communities, should not remain in power” said Mistry while condemning the state’s government’s role in preventing the communal violence in Muzaffarnagar. He was speaking to reporters at UPCC headquarters after a meeting with Congress frontal organisations. Incidentally, when BJP poster boy Narendra Modi’s close aide and fellow Gujarati Amit Shah took over as BJP’s UP in charge, Mistry had expressed the fear of BJP attempting to polarise votes in UP before the Lok Sabha elections by adopting the Gujarat model. “Let me explain what the Gujarat model means. Any natural incidence involving members of the two communities is purposely projected as a case of clash between two communities. The violence is left to simmer for 2 or 3 days for proper polarisation before the administration steps in,” said Mistry. Another fear that he expressed from his Gujarat experience is of bodies’ being taken out in processions in the rural areas to further surcharge the atmosphere and create more tension. “I pray to God that this is not allowed to happen in UP,” he said. According to Mistry much before the post-Godhra riots, the BJP government had perfected the model in virtually every major city of Gujarat between 1992 to 1995.
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Prez for action plan to combat NCD epidemic
New Delhi, September 10 NCDs are the leading cause of mortality globally and in the Southeast Asia Region (SEARO) of the WHO where each year around 7.9 million people die due to NCDs making up 55 pc of all deaths. Inaugurating the Joint Session of the 31st Meeting of Ministers of Health and the 66th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia here today, the President flagged concern around the NCDs and abysmally low health expenditure in the region. “It is a matter of concern that South East Asia region registers the lowest total expenditure on health as a percentage of gross domestic product (3.8%) and per capita total expenditure on health as per World Health Statistics 2009, with 84.4 per cent out of pocket expenditure,” he said in the presence of Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Dr Nafsiah Mboi, Health Minister, Indonesia, Santosh Chowdhary, Minister of State for Health and Dr Margaret Chan, DG, WHO. The conference will be attended by health ministers of all the 11 SEARO countries -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste and India. The region has more than 27 per cent of global disease burden due to Non-Communicable Diseases with hypertension also being on the rise, especially among the youth with the President calling for a prevention plan today. “A detailed Regional Action Plan should be drawn and adhered to in order to control the NCD epidemic,” he said urging for a healthcare delivery system which is accessible to all in the region by way of implementation of the proposed universal health coverage. Health improvements in SEARO region are important considering it houses 1.79 billion people, 26.4 per cent of the global population with 46 per cent people below poverty line. “A significant portion of the disease burden in this region, more than 28 per cent arises from communicable diseases, maternal and perinatal conditions and nutritional deficiencies which are closely knitted with poverty. Evidence also indicates direct out-of-pocket payments for access to care that can push households into poverty and a significant proportion of payments going towards the purchase of medicines,” President Mukherjee said.
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'84 riots: Sikh group secures summons to Sonia Gandhi
New York, September 10 A class action suit against Sonia Gandhi was filed by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a US-based human rights group, along with victims of the November 1984 under Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) and Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA). SFJ legal counsel Gurpatwant S Pannun said federal court Judge Brian M Cogan's order further directs the hospital and security staff to give summons and complaint to Sonia Gandhi personally in the hospital. Sonia Gandhi is currently in the US for regular medical check up. Sixty-six-year-old Gandhi, who had undergone a surgery in the US for an undisclosed ailment on August 5, 2011, had flown there for a check-up in February and again on September 2 last year. — PTI
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Now, Asaram accused of cheating devotees
Mumbai , September 10 According to officers at the Samarth police station in Pune district, 20 persons have filed complaints of cheating against Asaram after they were not allotted houses by the Shri Hari Om Seva Sanstha. The body had allegedly floated a scheme in the year 2006 under which devotees were to be allotted a 2500 sq ft plot to construct houses at a place called Kelgaon. As per the complaint filed with the police, each applicant had to deposit Rs 70,000 as advance to the trust after which the house plots were to be allotted. In all, 500 plots were to be allotted to devotees, the police complaint stated.
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SC commutes death penalty of man who killed wife, 2 sons
New Delhi, September 10 A Bench comprising Justices SJ Mukhopadhaya and Kurian Joseph also noted that the convict had planned the crime as he was unable to maintain his family with his meager income as a tailor in a cloth shop. Further, he had no prior criminal record and “it can be safely said that he is not likely to be a menace, threat or danger to society.” After stabbing his wife and two sons and killing them instantly while they were sleeping at night in July 2008, he also attacked his daughter with the same weapon. When the weeping child asked him about the reason for attacking them, he gave her water and took her in his lap before stifling her with a pillow.
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Pak envoy meets NSA over
PM-Sharif talks in New York New Delhi, September 10 The meeting came amid speculation about the possibility of bilateral talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York on the margins of the UN General Assembly. Informed sources said Bashir and Menon discussed the broad agenda for the meeting between their leaders on September 29 as also the state of relations between the two countries. They are understood to have noted that the tension between the two countries, triggered by the killing of five Indian soldiers on LoC last month, had come down. Pakistan has been insisting that the meeting between the two PMs must take place in the interest of peace and good neighbourly relations. India has, however, made it clear that the meeting could take place only if Islamabad promised to address New Delhi’s concern over cross-border terrorism from across the border. While returning from St Petersburg on Saturday, Manmohan Singh stated that he would have to factor in "certain harsh realities" like India being affected by terror before arriving at a "final decision" on meeting
Sharif.
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NRHM scam: CBI files fresh case
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Lucknow, September 10
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Hyderabad, September 10
