L A T E S T      N E W S

Mayawati vows to prevent Modi from becoming PM

NEW DELHI: BSP supremo Mayawati on Friday said her party will make all-out efforts to prevent Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi from becoming the Prime Minister of the country.

She also dismissed the Third Front as a “weak front” and said the “country will not be benefited from it.”

“We will put our entire strength to prevent Narendra Modi from becoming the Prime Minister. It is in interest of the country to prevent the BJP from coming to power (in the next elections),” Mayawati told reporters outside Parliament. She claimed that minority community members were apprehensive about Modi.

“If Modi wins, it will give a boost to the communal forces in the country,” the BSP supremo said, adding BJP is not trustworthy as “it says something and does something else“.

On the six pending anti-corruption bills, she said though “we support the bills they should have come much earlier. Now the government, which itself is involved in deep corruption, is trying to change its image through the bills.” - PTI

SC to hear AAP's plea to dissolve Delhi Assembly

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on Monday the Aam Aadmi Party’s plea seeking a direction to the Lieutenant Governor to dissolve Delhi Assembly and hold fresh polls along with Lok Sabha elections.

The bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam said that it will hear the petition on February 24.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for AAP, said, “There is no possibility of any alternate government in Delhi and the Lieutenant Governor should have dissolved the Assembly.”

The joint petition filed on the basis of newspaper reports and documents available in public domain by AAP and Saurabh Bhardwaj, who was the Transport Minister in Kejriwal Cabinet, challenged the decision to impose President’s rule in Delhi on the recommendation of Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung alleging it was done to protect Congress leaders and former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit from corruption charges.

It contended that the February 16 order imposing President’s rule was with a motive to frustrate the ongoing investigation in those corruption cases in which FIR has been lodged by the Arvind Kejriwal government.

“Apparently, the motive behind not dissolving the Delhi Legislative Assembly and holding fresh election is to allow a political party, which had badly lost the Delhi Legislative Assembly Election, held in December 2013 and of which several important leaders including Ministers in central government and the former Chief Minster are facing serious corruption charges.

”....to govern the NCT of Delhi indirectly through the central government as the same party is presently in power in the Centre and also to frustrate the ongoing investigations in those corruption charges under the FIRs which were recently lodged by the Delhi Government.

“Thus, the aforesaid decision is not only arbitrary and illegal and in violation of the democratic rights of the citizens of Delhi but also malafide,” the petition has said.

The petition has said the order to impose President’s rule was “illegal, arbitrary and in violation” of Article 14 of the Constitution as after the resignation of Arvind Kejriwal government neither BJP nor Congress were in a position to form the government and they had already expressed their unwillingness in this regard.

It has further raised constitutional questions to keep the assembly under suspended animation by ignoring the categorical recommendation of the majority government of the NCT of Delhi for dissolving the House.

The petition has said that imposition of the President’s rule has denied the citizens of Delhi their democratic right to have an elected popular government.

“The aforesaid order also suffers from malice-in-law since whilst exercising the discretionary power, the constitutional authorities have failed to take matters into account which they ought to have taken into account and used this power for an unauthorised purpose,” the petition filed through advocate Kamini Jaiswal has said.

“While imposing President’s rule on the NCT of Delhi, the 5th Assembly of the NCT of Delhi has not been dissolved. The President of India while imposing President’s rule under Article 239 AB (1) of the Constitution vide the impugned order suspended operations of clause 3(a), 4, 5 and 6 of Article 239 AA which are special provisions with respect to Delhi and deal with powers of legislatures, council of Ministers etc.

“Apart from suspending some of the provisions of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, the order did not suspend the operation of the provision of clause 2 (a) of Article 239 AA which provides that there shall be a Legislative Assembly and thus, assumed power of legislatures, council of Ministers etc. without suspending Legislative Assembly,” It has said.

“In the present case, it was incumbent on the President, after assuming to himself all the powers of the Lt. Governor to himself, of course with aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, to exercise the power to dissolve the Assembly especially since there was no possibility whatever of the formation of any other government since other main political parties (viz. BJP and Congress) have already expressed their unwillingness and inability to form a government,” it has said. - PTI

Rajmohan Gandhi joins AAP

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) got a shot in the arm when Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and the first Indian Governor General C. Rajagopalachari, joined the party on Friday.

“The party is vehemently opposed to corruption and this is what I liked in it. There is a disparity between the rich and poor and this also reflects in poor.

“If a common man joins and also becomes a part of politics, then this is a welcoming step,” Mr. Gandhi, son of Devdas Gandhi said.

The 78-year-old Gandhi, who had contested against former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi from Amethi, has expressed his willingness to contest on a party ticket. The party, too has remained silent over the issue.

“I would like to contest elections, but it is upon the party to decide on this,” Mr. Gandhi said, but refused to comment on his preferred constituency.

He added that he was approached by the party, but declined to reveal who he was in touch with from AAP and when was he contacted to join the party. - PTI

Fresh row over 2012 troops movement near Delhi

NEW DELHI: A fresh controversy has erupted over the movement of two Army units near Delhi in 2012 with the then DGMO Lt Gen A.K. Choudhary saying there may have been “distrust” between the Army and government on the issue, a view rejected by the National Security Advisor (NSA) on Friday.

“There was misconception or there was perceptional difference or there may be distrust,” Lt Gen Choudhary said on Friday after he was quoted in an interview, saying that the then Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma had asked him to send the troops back as the government at the highest level was “worried” over this.

When asked about this, NSA Shivshankar Menon said there was no distrust between the Army and government.

“I don’t see there is distrust. How can I comment on something that I don’t see. Because I am a civilian, I work very closely with the Army everyday. I don’t see that,” he said.

The movement of the troops was a “normal” exercise, Lt Gen Choudhary said, and the government immediately “understood” the issue after he explained the matter to them. “But before that either there was misconception... or may be distrust.”

Asked by reporters whether there was any confusion in the government then over the troop movement, he shot back, “You ask them (Government).”

Pressed further whether alarm bells had rung in the government over the issue, he said, “I won’t say they were alarmed or not alarmed.”

He said there was daily interaction between the Government and the Army Headquarters and if at all there was any confusion then, they could have sought clarification in such meetings.

He said the government did get “a little excited” which was “uncalled for”. “I was only thinking that if there were inputs of this nature they (government) had thought about , they should have called us up and asked us for clarification. It would have finished at that point of time only.”

When Mr. Sharma sought an explanation from him as the government had no information about it, he told him that this is a “normal routine” exercise and “you need not worry about it at all and they understood it.”

The then Army Chief General V K Singh, whose relations with the government soured over the controversy on his date of birth, said Lt Gen Choudhary’s comments only confirmed the hand of a senior bureaucrat linked to Chandigarh in raking it up.

“It confirms who cooked up routine move to denigrate Army,” he wrote on his twitter post.

The then DGMO said it would be wrong to link the troop movement with Gen Singh’s decision to drag government to the Supreme Court over his date of birth row as such exercises are planned long in advance.

“Such training exercises are planned in advance. It is wrong to link it with any particular date. It has nothing to do with him (Gen Singh) going to court,” Lt Gen Choudhary said.

V.K. Singh had moved the apex court on January 16, 2012, which coincided with the movement of troop.

Lt Gen Choudhary termed the exercise as “very small”, something which happens round the year. “These exercises they keep on doing very often. Earlier also they have done, they don’t ask me. These are normal, routine exercises with the formation’s command. They don’t inform us, it’s not required,” he said.

He parried questions as to whether the concern in the government had to do with reports of “trust deficit” between Gen Singh and Defence Minister A K Antony and said such queries should be put to them.

He, however, appeared to blame the government for the row, saying if they were worried then they should have asked the Army.

“I cannot say what was in there mind when they received the information. When they asked me the next day, I explained it to them and it ended there... You should ask them if they were confused or what caused it,” he said.

Antony reiterated his earlier stand that it was a “routine training incident”, rejecting suggestions of a trust deficit between him and General Singh or any “alarm” in the government over the troop movement.

“You see you are still repeating the old questions,” he told reporters in Delhi.

“I said we got report from the army. It was a normal routine programme. It was routine, nothing wrong in it. That is the answer, written answer I gave to Parliament. It was a routine training incident.”

He said the Defence Secretary gave the same answer to the Parliament Standing Committee that the exercise was a routine training.

Lt Gen Choudhary had said the government was not required to be informed about the small troop movement. When the movement takes place over two—three days or longer or the formation of army units is near the border, the government needs to be told as it has to inform the neighbouring country.

He said army units involved in the exercise were not headed to Delhi but would pass through the national capital as prescribed under routes for their movement.

Lt Gen Chaudhary retired from the army recently and has been living in Patna. - PTI

Apps that help detect seizures, treat strokes

NEW YORK: These new apps on your smart phone may help you detect epileptic seizures and get better stroke treatment.

After several tests on people in India and Nepal, researchers have developed an epilepsy app that helps non-doctors determine if a person is having an epileptic seizure.

"It can often be difficult to determine whether someone is having an epileptic seizure. 

This app would help health professionals evaluate and make the diagnosis, especially when doctors are not available," said study author Victor Patterson, a neurologist from Belfast, Britain.

To create the app, the researchers asked 67 people questions about their seizures.

The most helpful questions/answers for predicting an epileptic seizure were then used to create an app.

The app was then tested on 132 people in India and Nepal and the results were compared to the diagnosis from a doctor.

The app was informative in 87 percent of people studied and agreed with the doctor's diagnosis in 96 percent of these cases.

In another study, researchers looked at a stroke app.

The app makes it easier and more efficient for doctors to manage care for their acute stroke patients.

Those who treat acute stroke patients often need to accomplish many tasks simultaneously.

"Not only do we need to deliver acute therapies such as intravenous tPA both safely and expeditiously, but also evaluate them for clinical trials, and mobilise appropriate resources toward these goals," explained Claude Nguyen of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

Nguyen first formed the idea for the app as a stroke fellow at University of Texas (UT) - brainstorming ways to utilise his passion in technology to improve stroke care.

He build features to help with quality improvement, ease communication and screen for clinical trials.

The app is now being used by physicians, nurses and research support staff at UT.

The studies would be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 66th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia April 26 - May 3. - IANS

Shahid Afridi hurts jaw in practice match

LAHORE: The Pakistan cricket team suffered an injury scare ahead of the Asia Cup when their flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi hurt his jaw during a practice match at the Gaddafi stadium.

“Although the injury is not a serious one, doctors have advised him to speak less for two days because the impact was on the jaw,” national coach Moin Khan said.

Afridi was hit near the jaw when trying to paddle sweep pacer Junaid Khan. The ball flew off the edge of the bat and hit his helmet’s visor which struck the jaw. Afridi was seen walking around with a big bruise on the right side of his face.

The former captain is expected to be a key player in Pakistan’s campaign in the Asia Cup to be held from February 25, and the World Twenty20 Championships from March 16, in Bangladesh.

The outspoken player had told reporters a day earlier that Pakistan stood a very strong chance of winning the two major events.

“I am looking forward to these events as we have very good sides and I am keen to play a major role in them,” Afridi said. - PTI