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Bishnoi-led HJC snaps ties with BJP

CHANDIGARH: Kuldeep Bishnoi-led Haryana Janhit Congress today snapped its three-year-old ties with the BJP ahead of the Assembly election in the state accusing it of "repeated betrayal", and decided to join hands with former Congress leader Venod Sharma's Jan Chetna Party (JCP).

The BJP, which had been giving indications that it was not averse to going it alone after the Lok Sabha poll success, hit back saying Bishnoi was "a general without an Army" and was suffering from "delusion of becoming Chief Minister".

Announcing the decision to break the alliance with the BJP, HJC-BL chief Bishnoi, younger son of former Haryana Chief Minister late Bhajan Lal, said the party which cared less for its own stalwarts like A.B. Vajpayee and L.K. Advani could not be trusted anymore.

"We tried our level best to keep the alliance working ... made sincere efforts .... They (BJP) are not ready to stick to the agreed alliance principles," Bishnoi said at a press conference here, adding that his party would join hands with former Union minister Venod Sharma's Jan Chetna Party (JCP) before the state poll, likely to be held in October.

BJP, however, refuted the charges that it betrayed the Haryana outfit. "We have never betrayed any ally ... We wanted him (Bishnoi) to understand ground realities ... He has left us acting like a B-team of Congress. He had six MLAs and all of them except him joined the Congress. He is a general without an Army," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said in Delhi.

The formal parting came after a bitter spat between the parties over seat-sharing and the chief ministerial nominee.

Bishnoi charged that "the BJP wants to weaken and wipe out the regional parties. They make use of regional parties to make themselves strong and later dump them".

He said there was no longer any "Modi Wave" and things are always different during the Lok Sabha polls and in the state polls. "We are going to people and let them decide what punishment they want to give to those who have betrayed us," he said.

The rift within BJP-HJC alliance, which was once described as "rock-solid", surfaced soon after the Lok Sabha poll results, as the Bishnoi-led outfit failed to win any of the two seats it had contested while BJP bagged seven out of eight constituencies it fought in the state. 

The rift widened due to differences over seat-sharing for the Assembly poll, with Bishnoi seeking 45 of the state's 90 seats and demanding that he be declared the chief ministerial candidate of the alliance, both of which the BJP has rejected.

At the press meet also attended by JCP chief Sharma and other HJC leaders, 45-year-old Bishnoi said, "Haryana is the land of Kurukshetra, the land famous for doing justice. The very basis of our party coming into existence (in 2007) was that we stood up to fight against injustice." 

"They betrayed (first Haryana CM) Bhagwat Dayal Sharma, Devi Lal, Chaudhary Om Prakash Chautala, Bansi Lal ... those who can ditch Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi (who are no longer part of BJP's highest decision making body) what can people expect of them? They cannot be trusted anymore," Bishnoi said.

"Betrayal is in the nature of the BJP," Bishnoi said, adding he served and cooperated with BJP from the "core of my heart for the last three years", but at the end "we were betrayed".

JCP chief Sharma made it clear that the HJC chief will be the chief ministerial candidate of the new alliance, and if voted to power, he will serve as CM for a full five-year term.

BJP spokesperson Hussain mocked Bishnoi's "delusion" of becoming the state's Chief Minister, and said the HJC leader was acting in connivance with Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The people of Haryana, he said, have decided to elect a BJP government.

"The BJP will fight the elections on its own ... and will form government after getting people's mandate. People have made it clear that they want a BJP government in the state," Hussain said at a press conference soon after Bishnoi's announcement of severing ties with BJP.

Hussain said the relations between the two parties had soured during the Lok Sabha polls itself when BJP rejected Bishnoi's proposal to field Venod Sharma as a candidate.

"He (Bishnoi) did not have candidates for two Lok Sabha seats. Where would he get people to fight Assembly polls? And he has delusion of becoming Chief Minister," he said.— PTI

Indian-American woman charged with foeticide in US

New York: A 33-year-old Indian-American woman, accused of neglect in the death of a newborn whose body was found in a restaurant trash bin, has also been charged with foeticide in the US.

Purvi Patel was initially charged with endangering the life of a newborn but St Joseph Superior Court, Indiana, allowed prosecutors to add the foeticide charge.

The infant's body was found outside a Mishawaka restaurant in July 2013 after Patel went to a hospital, The South Bend Tribune has reported.

Court documents allege Patel told medical staff that she had delivered a baby at home but believed that it was dead, but an autopsy ruled the infant was born alive.

Documents also allege Patel took drugs ordered from Hong Kong to try to abort the pregnancy.

Patel faces between six and 20 years in prison for foeticide and up to 50 years imprisonment for neglect of a dependent when she goes to trial, currently scheduled for September 29.

According to the report, Patel cut the umbilical cord herself and the baby was apparently alive when she dumped it. PTI

Indians to protest turban ban at FIBA meet in Seville

New Delhi: Members of Kalgidhar Society will be staging a protest demonstration against International Basketball Federation (FIBA) at the latter's 23rd World Congress being held at Seville in Spain tomorrow.

Drawing support from eminent sportsmen like athlete Milkha Singh, cricketer Bishen Singh Bedi and several other eminent personalities from all sections of the society, Kalgidhar Society had launched an online petition on Change.org against the discriminatory action against Sikh players of the Indian basketball teams at Wuhan in China and Doha in Qatar recently.

Sikh players were made to remove their turbans (patkas), an article of their faith, hurting their religious sensitivity and angering Indians. Launched on July 26, the petition addressed to FIBA has drawn support from over 53,000 persons from across the globe so far. PTI

CCI expands probe into Sun-Ranbaxy deal, seeks public scrutiny

NEW DELHI: Widening its scrutiny of the multi-billion dollar Sun Pharma-Ranbaxy deal, fair trade watchdog CCI has asked the two pharma majors to make public specific details of their proposed merger within ten days.

This is probably the first instance where the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has ordered a public scrutiny of a proposed merger and acquisition (M&A) deal to ensure compliance to fair trade regulations.

Sun Pharma and Ranbaxy, which had announced a $4-billion deal in April this year, were asked late last night to make public details of their proposed transaction in a “prescribed format” within 10 working days.

“The company has received direction vide letter dated August 27, 2014 under Section 29(2) of the Competition Act, 2002 from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) directing the company to publish the details of the proposed combination in the prescribed format within 10 working days from the date of the said letter of the CCI,” Ranbaxy Labs said in a stock exchange filing on Thursday morning.

In a similar filing, Sun Pharma also informed the stock exchanges that they “are in receipt of direction under Section 29(2) of the Competition Act, 2002 from the CCI directing Sun Pharma to publish the details of the proposed combination within 10 working days from August 27, 2014 in Form IV contained in Schedule II to the Combination Regulations”.

Under this section, if the CCI is “prima facie of the opinion that the combination has, or is likely to have, an appreciable adverse effect on competition, it shall... direct the parties to the said combination to publish details of the combination within ten working days of such direction...”

Such disclosure needs to be made “in such manner, as it (CCI) thinks appropriate, for bringing the combination to the knowledge or information of the public and persons affected or likely to be affected by such combination.”

Earlier, the CCI had sought specific details from the two companies before approving the proposed acquisition of Ranbaxy in an all-stock deal by Sun Pharma.

For the CCI, this is one of the biggest M&A deals and also the first major transaction from pharma sector and therefore its decision in this case could have larger implications.

In case the CCI finds the deal in the current form could hurt fair competition in the domestic pharma market, it can even direct the companies to divest some assets as a pre-requisite for approval.

The $4 billion-worth deal would create the fifth-largest speciality generics company in the world and the largest pharmaceutical company in India.

The combined entity would have operations in 65 countries, 47 manufacturing facilities across 5 continents, and a significant platform of speciality and generic products marketed globally.

The format prescribed by the CCI for filing the details for public scrutiny would require the two companies to give specific details of the combination in form of a summary.

Besides, it involves CCI inviting “comments/objections/ suggestions in writing, from any person adversely affected or likely to be affected by the combination”.

The comments can be on “an appreciable adverse effect on competition in the relevant market in India”. Those submitting the comments would also need to provide “supporting documents, how such a person is adversely affected or is likely to be affected by the combination”.

The rules prescribe that the CCI would not consider any unsubstantiated objections.

In April, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries announced it would acquire troubled rival Ranbaxy Laboratories in a $4-billion deal that includes $800 million debt. The transaction has valued Ranbaxy at 2.2 times its $1.8 billion revenue for 2013, or about Rs. 457 per share.

Last month, the deal was approved by leading stock exchanges BSE and NSE. The ‘no-objection’ from the two exchanges would allow the two companies to file their scheme of amalgamation with the High Court for further clearance of the deal.

Shares of both Sun Pharma and Ranbaxy were trading with modest decline in early morning trade on Thursday at the BSE. - PTI

Son falsely implicated in rape case, says Railway Minister Gowda

KOCHI: Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, against whose son the Karnataka Police registered a case of rape, on Thursday said his son has been “falsely implicated” in the matter.

“Law will take its own course. I will not interfere in the matter”, he said when asked about the complaint filed against his son Karthik by a small-time Kannada model and actress on Wednesday.

“It is a personal matter. It is a falsely implicated complaint. As a Minister I am here”, Gowda told reporters.

The woman had on Wednesday claimed that she is married to the Minister’s son. The claim came on a day when Karthik got engaged to another woman at a ceremony at Kushalnagar in Kodagu District on Wednesday.

Bangalore Police commissioner M.N. Reddi had stated that “the woman had filed the complaint at RT Nagar Police Station against Karthik Gowda, Sadananda Gowda’s son, for allegedly raping and cheating her”.

A case has been lodged against Karthik under IPC sections 376 (punishment for rape) and 420 (cheating), Reddi had said. — PTI

Modi launches Jan Dhan Yojana

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched Jan Dhan Yojana, a dream project that plans to provide at least one bank account to every household.

Launching the project in the Capital, as the NDA government completes 100 days on Thursday, Modi said, "If we want to get free from poverty, we need to end financial untouchability."

"When a bank account is opened, it is a step towards joining the economic mainstream," said the Prime Minister.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the scheme will be carried out on a mission mode.

Noting that 10 crore people do not have a bank account, the Finance Minister aims to cover 7.5 crore people under Jan Dhan Yojana by January 25, 2015.

At least 1.5 crore bank accounts will be opened on first day of Jan Dhan Yojana, said Jaitley. — Agencies

Tatra truck case: Court summons Tejinder Singh

NEW DELHI: Taking cognisance of CBI’s chargesheet, a special court on Thursday summoned Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh on September 1 for allegedly offering Rs 14 crore bribe to then Army Chief Gen V.K. Singh for clearing file pertaining to procurement of 1,676 heavy mobility Tatra vehicles.

Special CBI judge Madhu Jain took cognisance of the chargesheet and relied upon statements of former Defence Minister A.K. Antony, V.K. Singh and other witnesses whose testimonies were recorded by the agency during the probe.

“I have gone through chargesheet and statements of Gen (retd) V.K. Singh, Major Gen J.P. Singh the then military assistant of the COAS, A.K. Antony the then Defence Minister to and other witnesses, published Rajya Sabha debate dated March 27, 2012 in which Antony has stated in the upper house that Gen V.K. Singh had informed him about the bribe offered by Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh and other relevant documents.

“On the basis of material on record, there is sufficient ground to take cognisance of offence under section 12 (abetment of offence) of Prevention of Corruption Act ... though offence under section 7 (public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act) of PC Act was not committed in consequence of the said abetment and I accordingly take cognisance under section 12 of PC Act,” the judge said, while summoning Tejinder Singh as an accused on September 1.

During the arguments on consideration of the charge sheet, senior public prosecutor V.K. Sharma had told the court that there was sufficient evidence to take cognisance and summoned the accused.

The CBI in its chargesheet had alleged that in the month of August-September 2010, the file pertaining to procurement of 1,676 Tatra vehicles was pending before V.K. Singh, who is now a Minister of State of External Affairs and Minister of State in-charge of Department of Northeast Region.

The then Chief of Army Staff (COAS) was not convinced with the total projected requirement of the vehicles and it appeared to him that the requirement has been inflated, the agency had said, adding V.K. Singh had sought fresh opinion on the issue from different quarters.

In its charge sheet, the CBI alleged that Tejinder Singh met V.K. Singh in his office in South Block on September 22, 2010, and during the meeting, he offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore to V.K. Singh for clearing the file of Tatra vehicles by first week of October.

V.K. Singh got infuriated and asked Tejinder Singh to immediately leave his office and he, thereafter, intimated A.K. Antony about the whole incident of bribe being offered to him, the CBI had said.

“A.K. Antony, Raksha Mantri, in his statement in Parliament on March 27, 2012, and the one recorded under section 161 CrPC during investigation, has confirmed having been informed by Gen V.K. Singh about such offer of bribe made to him about one to one-and-a-half-year ago by Lt Gen(retd.) Tejinder Singh,” CBI had claimed in its charge-sheet.

“During investigation A.K. Antony admitted having been informed by Gen V.K. Singh with respect to offer of bribe by Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh for clearing the Tatra trucks purchase file,” the CBI had said in its nine-page charge sheet.

The CBI has arrayed 20 prosecution witnesses, including A.K. Antony, T.K.A. Nair, the then advisor to the Prime Minister, and V.K. Singh and the agency had filed a set of 18 documents along with the charge-sheet.

CBI has said in the chargesheet that according to V.K. Singh, when he had reported the incident about alleged bribe offer by Tejinder Singh, the then Defence Minister had “expressed shock” over it.

It had alleged that during the probe, the former Army chief had claimed to have recorded the alleged conversation between him and Tejinder Singh on September 22, 2010 but “the same was not provided by him (V.K. Singh) to the investigating agency despite efforts.” — PTI

Two Assam Rifles jawans killed in bomb explosion

IMPHAL: Two jawans of the Assam Rifles were killed and another injured when a powerful bomb exploded in interior Chandel district of Manipur, police said on Thursday.

The bomb exploded when the personnel of 3rd Assam Rifles battalion were patrolling near their post at Old Somtal area, about 70 km south-east of Impahl, on Wednesday, the police said.

While the injured was taken to the Army hospital at Leimakhong, about 25 km north of here, the bodies of the two deceased jawans were taken to Regional Institute of Medical Science and Hospital here for post-mortem, they said.

Meanwhile, major insurgent organisation United National Liberation Front in a statement claimed that their armed wing, Manipur People’s Army (MPA), planted the bomb to attack the security personnel. - PTI

Pakistan Rangers target Indian positions in Jammu

JAMMU: Pakistan Rangers again Thursday resorted to unprovoked firing at Indian positions on the international border in Jammu and Kashmir, an official said.

“Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked firing using small arms in the Pargwal area of the Jammu district,” a police officer said here.

The officer said three BSF outposts were affected due to the firing.

“Pakistan firing started at 11.50 p.m. yesterday (Wednesday) night for a brief period, but today (Thursday) morning at 4 a.m., Pakistan Rangers started firing again which continued till 5.55 a.m.,” the officer said.

The Border Security Force (BSF) troopers gave befitting reply, he added.

These two ceasefire violations occurred hours after the BSF and Pakistan Rangers held a battalion commander level flag meeting in the same border area to defuse tensions between the two sides. - IANS

Shah Rukh is Interpol’s 'Turn Back Crime' ambassador

LYON (France): Internationally-renowned Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has been roped in as an ambassador for Interpol’s “Turn Back Crime” campaign to promote awareness of how everyone can play a role in preventing crime.

SRK, said to be the first Indian to be made an ambassador for the global campaign, is lending his voice to help spread the message that all of society benefits when citizens respect law and fight crime. “It’s a very special honour to be a part of Interpol’s Turn Back Crime campaign as an ambassador,” said Shah Rukh.

“As Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘I shall not fear anyone on Earth. I shall fear only god. I shall not bear ill will toward anyone. I shall not submit to injustice from anyone. I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering, if I have to.

“We all should believe in this maxim and in whatever way possible resolve not to let unjust people who might threaten us with criminal activity make us fear them.

“Because I believe we can, we should, and we must stand together against the few who commit crimes against any human being, in whatever form or guise these crimes might take,” Shah Rukh said in a statement.

SRK joins actor Jackie Chan as an ambassador for the campaign, which has already garnered support from public figures including footballer Lionel Messi, Formula 1 racing drivers Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen in addition to law enforcement agencies around the world.

Interpol’s Turn Back Crime campaign is aimed at raising public awareness that organised crime is often involved in seemingly unrelated crimes. Drug trafficking, human trafficking, counterfeiting, cyber crime, kidnapping, crimes against children and corruption in sport are in fact often interconnected, with profits from one crime area used to fund another.

The Turn Back Crime campaign is aimed at helping the public better understand these issues and empowering them not to be duped by criminals when buying products or using the internet.

“Shah Rukh Khan has dedicated his life to making films which reflect the highest level of professionalism and commitment to bringing joy into the lives of hundreds of millions of filmgoers in India and around the world,” said Interpol secretary general Ronald K. Noble.

“We are honoured to have him as an ambassador for Interpol’s global Turn Back Crime campaign and we look forward to seeing how he puts his artistic talents behind this campaign,” the Interpol chief said.

The Turn Back Crime campaign is also reaching out to companies and policy—makers in a bid to form a united front against contemporary crime challenges, and to support the ongoing activities of the global law enforcement community. -IANS