CHANDIGARH: A day after his ministerial colleagues said that a probe will be ordered into alleged land scams during the previous Congress regime, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday said his govt would not act out of "vindictiveness" and that law will take its course.

Khattar also said that the announcements made by the previous regime and those which are in process of implementation, will be "reviewed" but made it clear that it does not mean that all the announcements will be discarded.

"We are not going to act out of vindictiveness, but in all the complaints, law will take its own course," Khattar told reporters after presiding over the first cabinet meeting.

His comments come a day after his ministerial colleagues Anil Vij and Capt Abhimanyu said that the new regime would order a thorough probe into the alleged land scams and not spare anyone, even if it was Robert Vadra or former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Reacting to a question whether the Robert Vadra case was on the priority list of his government, Khattar replied, "Our priority is to implement our agenda..."

He, however, said that wherever any discrepancies are found, where law has been violated, in the next cabinet meeting, these issues will be taken up.

When asked that before Haryana assembly elections the BJP raked up alleged land scams and talked about taking action, Khattar said, "Our language has not changed. We have not taken this out of our priority. Today was our first cabinet meeting and it is not that the second meet will take place after an year".

Stating that the announcements made by the previous Congress regime will be reviewed, Khattar said, "those which will be in the interest of people of the state, these will be continued, but where any discrepancy is found these will be reviewed and stopped, wherever such a need is felt." He said a list will be made and in next cabinet meeting, which will be held soon, a decision will be taken.

The Chief Minister said that a decision has been taken to stop the appointments that are in process for recruitments in government jobs with immediate effect.
"These too will be put under review process," he said.

He further said that all the re-employments made recently by the previous Hooda government, will be re-examined.

"In some cases persons have been given re-employment letters even before their retirement, for whichever motive these had been given, these will be re-examined," the Chief Minister said. -PTI

JAMMU: Seeking to replicate a Maharashtra and Haryana in Jammu and Kashmir too, the BJP on Monday ruling out any pre-poll alliance in the state said it will contest in all the 87 constituencies in the upcoming Assembly elections.

“We won’t be entering into any pre-poll alliance with any political party, as we are considering to field our candidates on all the 87 Assembly constituencies in the state,” BJP MP and party in charge for Jammu and Kashmir Avinash Rai Khanna told PTI.

He said the party would soon come out with its first list of candidates, as the Election Commission has announced the dates for the elections.

“Focus would be on the candidates who are capable to win, those who have a clean image and who can deliver. The party’s election committee will hold a meeting today to decide the names of the candidates,” he said.

Exuding confidence that the BJP would replicate its recent performance in Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Khanna said the party will win more than 44 seats.

“We will go beyond 44 seats and form the next government in Jammu and Kashmir,” said Khanna, who presided over a function at party office here.

The BJP leader said the party wants to strengthen democracy in the state and its main poll plank would be to provide corruption-free governance to the people.

“Our manifesto is clear, we will provide a corruption-free, fear-free and dynasty-free governance to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We want the people of the state to give us a chance and if we fail, they can throw us out after six years,” Khanna said. — PTI

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court in the black money case, naming three prominent businessmen including Pradip Burman, formerly of Dabur group.

Goa-based miner Radha S Timblo and Bullion trader Pankaj Chimanlal Lodhya were the other two businessmen named in the affidavit.

The Centre told the court that it had no intention to withhold names of persons who have stashed black money abroad and stated that information received from foreign countries will be disclosed in all cases where tax evasion is established.

Every foreign account held by an Indian may not be illegal, the Centre said, adding that names cannot be disclosed unless there is prima facie evidence of wrongdoing.

It also told the court that Switzerland has indicated willingness to provide information on black money in cases where probe has been done by IT department. -PTI

MUMBAI: Further softening its stand after BJP emerged as the single largest party in the Maharashtra Assembly polls, the Shiv Sena on Monday said it is ready to support any leader chosen by its estranged ally as the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

"On the day of Laxmi Pooja, (Devendra) Fadnavis met (Nitin) Gadkari and took his blessings. Later, Gadkari met the RSS chief and took his blessings. All these blessings are undoubtedly important, but the blessings of the people are the most important.

 "Shiv Sena is ready to support anyone who will take Maharashtra ahead with the blessings of the people," Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

The party says that though Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has the experience to don the mantle in the state, the final decision will be taken by the high command in Delhi.

"The final decision (over the CM's name) will be taken by the high command in Delhi, hence no point for the state leaders to think over this. Gadkari is well versed with the state and hence has a development vision for Maharashtra. On the other hand ,Fadnavis does not have the experience of being involved in governance," the party organ said.

We are happy that the BJP won the elections and rooted the corrupt Congress and the NCP out of power. The state will benefit from the oust of both these parties, it added.

BJP's central observers Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and J P Nadda will attend the legislature party meet in Mumbai tomorrow and elect the next Chief Minister of the state.

With no concrete talks having taken place between the BJP and the Sena over the allocation of portfolios, the Sena will have to wait for further clarity until the legislature party meet. — PTI

KOLKATA: Three top security chiefs, including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, will on Monday asses the progress of the probe into the October 2 blast in Burdwan.

Doval along with NSG DG Jayanta Choudhury and NIA DG Sharad Kumar flew in a IAF special aircraft to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport here and immediately left for Burdwan by a chopper.

State secretariat sources had said that Doval was likely to meet Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and senior state officials at the state secretariat on Monday.

The NIA had on Friday said that the arrested persons and their associates were members of terror group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, who were making IEDs to be transported to the neighbouring country for possible terror attacks.

Today's visit comes ahead of the Union government's decision to send a report to Bangladesh following a request from that country in this regard.

NIA DG had visited Burdwan and Murhsidabad on Friday last to review the investigation and evolve strategies regarding arrest of the absconding accused persons.

Three persons, including two women - one of them the widow of a suspected terrorist who died in the blast - were arrested and interrogated by the NIA. –PTI

MUMBAI: Shares of realty giant DLF slumped nearly eight per cent on Monday on concerns that the company may face probe by the new government in Haryana.

The fall in DLF shares, to as low as Rs 109.80 in morning trade at the BSE, follows a major plunge of 28 per cent in a single day earlier this month after a SEBI order barred the company and six others from accessing the capital markets for three years.

The Sebi order has been challenged by DLF before the Securities Appellate Tribunal which would next hear the case on October 30.

While the stock had recovered some lost ground last week after being hit by SEBI order, it fell further this morning after reports suggested that it may face probe in Haryana.

Hours after taking oath, two new ministers in Haryana yesterday said the BJP government would order a thorough probe into the alleged land scams and not spare anyone, even Robert Vadra or former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

DLF has a significant presence in Haryana and is credited with creation of India's largest township set up by a private player in Gurgaon on the outskirts of the national capital.

Notably, BJP and other parties had in the run up to the assembly polls attacked the previous Hooda government over the Robert Vadra land deal.

There have been reports about alleged irregularities in land dealings between Robert Vadra and DLF.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi while campaigning for BJP in Haryana had also kept the alleged land scams in the state at the centre of his attack.

The new ministers' remarks, however, drew sharp reactions from the Congress, which said that such statements show the arrogance of Haryana government. -PTI

NEW DELHI: Pradeep Burman's foreign bank account was "opened when he was an NRI, and was legally allowed to open this account", Dabur India said on Monday in an official statement.

Pradeep Burman is a member of the promoter family of Dabur India.

"The Burman family is committed to the highest standards of corporate governance and encourage ethical behaviour at all levels. We wish to state that this account was opened when he was an NRI and was legally allowed to open this account.

"We have followed all the laws and the complete details regarding the account have been voluntarily, and as per law, filed with the Income Tax Department, and appropriate taxes paid, wherever applicable. Therefore, it is unfortunate that every person having a foreign bank account is being painted with the same brush," the official statement said.

Pradeep Burman was once a whole time director of Dabur India but he does not hold any executive position in the company now.

Dabur India is a 130-year-old fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company that started its journey from erstwhile Calcutta and has around 200 plus products in its portfolio.

The company's stocks were trading at Rs.209.10 per share down 3.10 per cent at 2.45 pm in the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The central government Monday disclosed names of three people, including Pradeep Burman, who are holding bank accounts in foreign countries and are now under the lens of Income Tax authorities.-IANS

RAJKOT: City-based bullion trader Pankaj Lodhya, who has been named by the Centre in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court in the black money case, on Monday denied having a foreign bank account and said he was shocked to find his name in the list.

"I have no account in the Swiss bank. I have no foreign bank account. I came to know about this from media.... I am shocked," Lodhya told reporters here.

"I have declared all my wealth before the Income Tax department," he said.

Replying to a question on his future course of action, Lodhya said, "We will cooperate with all the authorities and legal procedure will be followed by us."

Lodhya is the owner of city-based Shreeji Trading Company, which is involved in bullion trading. It has business links in all major cities of the country for gold trading.
The firm offers wholesale delivery of bullion to domestic users like ornament manufacturers, goldsmiths, jewellers and semi-wholesalers.

The group, established 15 years back, has branch networks in Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Jaipur, Raipur, Indore and Bangalore, its website said.
It has two subsidiaries - Shreeji Ornaments Pvt Ltd and Shreeji Realty.

Lodhya's firm also started a spot precious metal online trading system called Shreeji Spot in 2008.

The central government today filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court in the black money case, naming three prominent businessmen Pradip Burman, formerly of Dabur group, Goa-based miner Radha S Timblo and Lodhya.

The Centre told the court that it had no intention to withhold names of persons who have stashed black money abroad and stated that information received from foreign countries will be disclosed in all cases where tax evasion is established. -PTI

NEW DELHI: The Central government is working hard to link mobile SIM with the Unique Identification (UID) number or Aadhaar, a senior official said in New Delhi on Monday.

"The prime minister (Narendra Modi) has directed us to link the SIM of the mobiles with the Unique ID. We are working on that issue and I am sure we will be able to resolve issues," said RS Sharma, Secretary of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology.

"The idea is the mobile should become a very, very strong factor in authentication and also a factor for getting information and transaction. If that happens, then it will an enable and empowering tool for the people of India," he said.

Sharma was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event oragnised by Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Communications and Information Technology Ministry.

He said the Secretary of the Department of Telecom is having deliberations with various departments to facilitate the work of linking mobile SIM with Aadhaar cards. This project is a part of the Digital India programme.

"The programme that has been envisaged by Digital India will boost more ecommerce in India. We are standing in the cusp of digital revolution," Sharma said.

Speaking about his recent visit to South Korea, Sharma said: "We went to South Korea to promote domestic manufacturing of electronics in the country."

"As you know, the government has come up with a policy that gives a lot of financial incentives - both in terms of taxes and also in terms of investment incentives to establish industry - both for individuals as also for clusters."

"So, we had gone to South Korea to meet with the industry leaders there," Sharma said.

"Specifically, we met LG and Samsung and number of other industrial leaders and we emphasised to them that it will make sense to produce in India not only for domestic market, which is so huge, but also to export from India to other neighbouring countries," he said.

Sharma added that the companies have all formulated groups "which will come here and they will interact with us". — IANS

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated tennis ace Sania Mirza for winning the season-ending WTA Finals women's doubles title, calling it a "proud accomplishment".

"Congratulations to @MirzaSania for the victory in WTA finals. This is yet another proud accomplishment!" Modi tweeted.

Sania was quick to thank the Prime Minister, saying, "@narendramodi Thank you very much Sir..humbled by your wishes."

Sania and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black ended the season and their partnership on a remarkable high by clinching a comprehensive triumph in the summit clash of the season finale yesterday.

Sania and Cara, making their debut at the year-end championship, prevailed 6-1 6-0 over Su-Wei Hseih of Chinese Taipei and Shuai Peng of China in a clash that lasted just about an hour. -PTI

Beijing: With India announcing the construction of 54 new border posts in Arunachal Pradesh, China today cautioned India to refrain from taking any action that may "complicate or exaggerate" the boundary issue.

"China's position on China-India boundary question is consistent and clear. We are committed to finding a solution to the boundary question with the Indian side through friendly negotiation as soon as possible and working together to safeguard peace and tranquillity along the border," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

"Pending the final settlement of the boundary question, we hope that the Indian side could refrain from taking any action that may complicate or exaggerate the question," Hua said in an e-mail response to a PTI query about 54 new Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force border outposts to be built along the Arunachal Pradesh border.

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as southern Tibet.

China's reaction is a trifle different from its reaction on October 15 to the plans announced by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju to build new roads along the boundary from Mago-Thingbu in Tawang to Vijaynagar in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh to match China's infrastructure development.

"There is a dispute about the east part of the China- India border. Before final settlement is reached we hope that India will not take any action that may further complicate the situation," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei said earlier while reacting to the road proposal.

"We should jointly safeguard the peace and tranquillity of the border area and create favourable conditions for the final settlement of the border issue," he had said.

Subsequently, officials from India and China held the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) meeting in New Delhi during which the two sides discussed a host of issues relating to the management of the boundary and maintaining of peace and tranquillity along the borders. -PTI 

Pheruman (Amritsar): Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said Shiromani Akali Dal will raise with the Centre issues pertaining to transfer of Chandigarh and Punjabi-speaking areas to Punjab.

Every Punjabi was equally concerned with these emotive issues of the state, which had been till now hanging in fire due to the "discriminatory" attitude of the successive Congress governments at the Centre, he said on the sidelines of a function here.

He said the SAD always stood for giving Punjabi-speaking areas, legitimate share of river waters and Chandigarh to Punjab.

Taking a dig at Congress, Badal said it "deliberately denied" Punjabi speaking areas and Chandigarh to Punjab, for which the brave Punjabis would never forgive.

Earlier, paying floral tributes to Shaheed Darshan Singh Pheruman, the Chief Minister said this great son of the soil had laid down his life while observing fast unto death for the sake of getting Punjabi-speaking areas and Chandigarh back to the state.

Regretting that none of the state governments had ever recognised the contribution of Pheruman, Badal said that from the next year a state-level function would be held annually to mark the death anniversary of this great martyr, who laid down his life for the sake of Punjab after 74 days of hunger strike. -PTI