|
 |
| L
A T E S T N E W S |
Black money: Don't blackmail us, Cong tells Centre
NEW DELHI: Stung by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's remarks on the black money issue,
the Congress today asked the Modi government to stop "blackmail" tactics and dared it to come out with full information, saying the party is above individuals.
A day after Arun Jaitley's remarks that disclosure of names of those holding illicit foreign accounts will embarrass the Opposition party, party
General Secretary Ajay Maken said the government should desist coming out with "half truths" and "selective leakage".
"Congress is not going to be blackmailed under any such threat ... Do not try to blackmail us. Stricter possible action should be taken against whoever is involved in it but that should not be inspired by vindictiveness and it should also not be half truths," he told reporters.
The issue of black money has led to a war of words between the ruling BJP and Congress.
The Modi government, which promised to bring back black money stashed by Indians in foreign banks, toed the line of UPA regime by informing the Supreme Court on October 17 that it cannot disclose such details given by countries with which India has double taxation avoidance
agreement (DTAA).
As the Congress accused the BJP government of "practising
hypocrisy" on the issue, Jaitely yesterday said, "The names (of black money account holders) will be public shortly... I can assure you there is no embarrassment I (BJP) will have when all the names are disclosed. There is some embarrassment the Congress party will have because of those names".
Reacting sharply to Jaitley's remarks, Maken said, "There is no need to blackmail
the Congress. Whatever names they have, they should reveal and act as they have a government. They should not try to blackmail us.
"We also tell them not to limit the declaration of names only to 136 individuals. We want to tell the BJP and the Prime Minister that half truth is not the truth. They should not go for selective and vindictive leakages. They should come out with all the names."
Maken also recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Lok Sabha election campaign, had said that if the black money is brought back, each citizen will have Rs 15 lakh, while Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was then BJP President, had promised to bring back black money within 100 days.
"Do not mislead people about names. People of the country are not going to get into this trap of names. People of the country are waiting that when will the government bring back black money.
Hundred days have already passed and it is to be 150 days. So not not a single penny has come.
"People of the country, including me, are waiting for Rs 15 lakh to come into their accounts as was promised by Modi ji," he said.
Dismissing Jaitley's remarks, AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh accused Jaitley of "bluffing", while Youth Congress chief Rajiv Satav wondered what is stopping the Finance Minister from naming those people.
— PTI
Asian Games medal protest
International body suspends boxer Sarita Devi
NEW DELHI: L. Sarita Devi has been provisionally suspended by boxing's international governing body for rejecting her Asian Games bronze medal at the podium following her controversial semifinal loss in Incheon.
AIBA announced on Wednesday it was also barring coaches Gurbaksh Sandhu, Sagar Dhayal and Blax Iglesias Fernandes and India's chef de mission Adile Sumariwala from its events until further notice.
AIBA says the case has been sent to its disciplinary committee for review and the boxer and officials "will not be allowed to participate in the AIBA Women's World
Boxing Championships" at Jeju, South Korea, later in the year.
The disciplinary case against Devi, who protested against the scoring in her semifinal bout with a South Korean boxer, commenced within hours of the medal ceremony in the women's
60-kg class. — AP
Four-year-old sexually assaulted at Bangalore
school
BANGALORE: A four-year-old child studying in nursery of an international school in north Bangalore was allegedly sexually assaulted by unidentified persons on Tuesday.
The police have registered a case on the basis of a complaint filed by the parents of the child and are investigating the identity of the accused.
The incident involving a student at Orchid International School came to light on Tuesday after the close of
the school at 12 noon, when the child told her parents that a man had beaten her at school. The child was taken for a medical examination and doctors reported that the child had been assaulted.
Angered by the incident and concerned over the safety of their wards, students’ parents gathered at the school on Wednesday morning to lodge their protest. Police
Commissioner M.N. Reddi who visited the school said a case had been
registerd under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and investigations were on to identify the attacker.
An administrator of the school tried to pacify parents on Wednesday morning by issuing a statement that children are safe in the school. The administrator stated that no outsiders had entered the school.
This is the third incident of sexual assault on a child at schools in Bangalore in recent months. In July the police arrested two gym instructors at Vibgyor International
School for sexually assaulting a five-year-old child and in August a 63-year-old teacher at a school in south Bangalore was arrested for attacking a nine-year-old child. — PTI
IAF grounds entire Sukhoi-30 fleet for safety checks
NEW DELHI: India has grounded its entire Sukhoi-30 fleet, and each aircraft is undergoing a thorough technical check following a recent crash near Pune.
The fleet of about 200 twin-engine Su-30s would be back in air only when they are cleared by the technical review.
"The fleet has been grounded and is undergoing technical checks following the latest accident in Pune. It would be back in air only after a thorough check," IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Simranpal Singh Birdi said.
He did not specify what were the specific technical aspects that the force is looking into.
The grounded fleet represent almost a third of the country's fighter fleet.
The IAF is down to 34 combat squadrons, as against an authorised strength of 44. Each squadron has up to 18 fighter planes.
Last week, a Sukhoi-30 MKI had crashed in a field near Pune, and preliminary findings had suggested a technical problem in the fly-by-wire system as the cause and not human error.
In a press statement, the IAF had named the pilots as Wing Commander S Munje and Flying Officer Anup Singh.
"The SU 30 MKI Aircraft accident is under investigation.
A Court of Inquiry is in progress to ascertain the actual cause of accident," he said.
Incidentally, one of the two pilots was involved in a previous Su-30 crash too.
This was the fifth accident involving a SU 30 MKI since 2009 and the fleet has at least been grounded twice earlier. — PTI
Pak violates ceasefire along IB in Samba dist
JAMMU: After a brief lull of three days, Pakistan on Wednesday again resorted to firing from across the International Border (IB) in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir in yet another act of ceasefire violation.
“Pakistan Rangers resorted to small arms firing at Narainpur BoP along IB in Ramgarh sector of Samba district at around 1030 hours,” Ramgarh Station House Officer (SHO), Satesh Kumar said.
Confirming the ceasefire violation, a BSF spokesman said Indian troops had retaliated to the Pakistani firing in brief exchanges.
“There was no loss of life or injury to anyone in the firing,” the spokesman added.
The latest ceasefire violation comes 72 hours after the last instance of firing from across the border by the neighbouring country’s troops on the night of October 19 in Pargwal sector of Jammu district.
Pakistani troops had also violated the ceasefire on October 17 and 18 by resorting to firing on BoPs in the Makwal and Allah mahi Da Kothay (AMK) areas of Jammu district.
Before that, the ceasefire was violated twice on October 17 along the Line of Control (LoC) in Hamirpur sector of Poonch district. Ceasefire violations also took place on
October 16 night.
In firing from across the LoC in the Saujian-Kirni-Shahpur belts of Poonch on
October 15, a seven-year-old boy, Riyaz of Kuiyian Gotirian village, was injured.
The IB and LoC in Jammu region have witnessed heavy firing and mortar shelling by Pakistani troops since
October 1 which has left nine persons dead and over 95 injured, including 13 security men.
Around 30,000 people have fled their homes to avoid the shelling, leaving 113 hamlets deserted in the border areas. — PTI
Security beefed up in Kashmir ahead of PM's visit
SRINAGAR: Security has been beefed up here and across the Valley as separatists called for a general strike tomorrow against the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in strength and are conducting random checking of vehicles at dozens of places in the city and elsewhere, a senior police officer said.
Special checking points have been set up at various places in the city including entry and exit points as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order.
The move was aimed at foiling any attempt by militants to strike in the city ahead or during the Prime Minister's visit, he said.
The Prime Minister yesterday said he would spend Diwali, the festival of lights, in flood-hit Srinagar.
"Will be in Srinagar on Diwali, 23d October & will spend the day with our sisters & brothers affected by the unfortunate floods," Modi tweeted yesterday.
This will be his fourth visit to Jammu and Kashmir since taking charge as Prime Minister in May.
While the announcement of the Prime Minister generated hope among the flood survivors of a comprehensive package from the
Centre to rebuild their lives, two factions of Hurriyat Conference have called for a general strike and peaceful protests against the visit of the Prime Minister.
"The Government of India acted as the mute spectator amid worst-ever floods in Kashmir and did nothing to mitigate the sufferings of the affected on
ground ... we will not allow anyone to rub salt into our wounds," hardline faction of Hurriyat led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani said in a statement.
It said when Modi had not even felicitated Muslims on Eid, his celebrating Diwali in the Muslim-majority state is "unacceptable".
Shabir Ahmad Shah led faction of Hurriyat Conference also called for a general strike tomorrow and asked people to hold peaceful demonstrations against Modi's visit.
— PTI
Delhi school principal's daughter commits suicide
NEW DELHI: A principal's daughter committed suicide by hanging herself at her
house located on the campus of a prominent school here, the police said
on Wednesday.
The body of 29-year-old Anjana Saini, daughter of D.R. Saini, principal, Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram, was found at their home Tuesday night. Her body was spotted by family members who informed the police.
Saini, who worked in Gurgaon, was depressed for the past few months.
"A suicide note was recovered from her room. In the note, she has not held anyone responsible for the suicide," a police official told IANS.
Her post-mortem examination will be conducted at the All- India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here. — IANS
Five-year-old Indian treks up to Everest base camp
PATNA: The parents of five-year-old Harshit Saumitra, the youngest climber to reach the base camp of Mount Everest, are trying to register their son's name in
the Guinness Book of World Records and the Limca Book of Records.
"We will try to get Harshit Saumitra's name in the Guinness Book of World Records and
the Limca Book of Records for becoming the youngest climber to reach the base camp of Mount Everest," his father Rajeev Saumitra told IANS over telephone Wednesday, five days after he achieved the feat.
The family is currently visiting their native village Jogiyara Pator in Bihar's Darbhanga district.
The father said Harshit Saumitra's pictures of reaching the base camp, video clippings and his birth certificate would be sent to the Guinness
Book of World Records and the Limca Book of Records offices.
"I am confident that Harshit's name will get into both the records," he said.
Rajeev Saumitra claimed that his son, a Class I student of GD Goenka School in New Delhi, broke the previous record held by seven-year-old Aaryan Balaji, also an Indian, who reached the base camp in 2012.
He said Harshit completed the trek to the base point at an altitude of 5,380 metres despite heavy snowfall in the wake of the cyclone 'Hudhud'.
He also said Harshit climbed the nearby Kalapathar peak which is at a height of 5,550 metres. The peak is higher than the highest peaks of three continents
— Mount Blank (4,810 m) in Europe, Vison Massif (4,810 m) in Antarctica, and Punack Jaya (4,884 m) in Australia.
Rajeev Saumitra said Harshit was felicitated with the Nepal Bharat Friendship Society on his feat.
An upbeat Rajeev Saumitra announced he would set up a Harshit Foundation to lend a helping hand to the less privileged and children from weaker sections of society.
"The foundation's thrust would be to support and help poorest of the poor students for education, health and sports," he
said. — IANS
|
