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No respite for Salman yet
Hyderabad blasts: RS adjourned twice
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WB Twin Murder
No reinstatement claim after taking
VRS: SC
Case against Karunanidhi’s son transferred to AP
Fresh probe into Monica Bedi photo episode
Lava, hot gas clouds erupt in Arunachal, alert sounded
Toll climbs to 115
Manipur ultras ‘violating’ ceasefire rules
‘Corrupt civil servant is same as rights violator’
Now, Harry Potter series in Braille!
11 SPOs feared killed in ambush
Bhagalpur beating: NCM seeks report from govt
Low turnout at Jamshedpur election
SC may have woman judge soon
Liberhan panel report soon
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No respite for Salman yet
Jodhpur, August 29 Justice G.K. Vyas, who was to hear the actor’s bail plea as well as the revision petition against the order of the district and sessions court, asked Salman’s advocate to approach another bench, apparently because he was the counsel for the veterinarian who had conducted the post-mortem of the chinkara. Following Justice Vyas’ recusal, another bench of Justice H.R. Panwar heard the matter late in this afternoon and ordered the listing of the case tomorrow. “The court will hear our plea tomorrow”, Dipesh Mehta, a Mumbai-based lawyer who appeared on behalf of Salman, told mediapersons after coming out of the court. Salman, who was arrested on Saturday, is lodged in Central Jail here after losing his appeal in the district and sessions court of Jodhpur against his sentence in the chinkara poaching case handed out by the chief judicial magistrate on April 10. Sisters of Salman Alivera and Arpita were present in the court today in both the sessions.
— PTI
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Hyderabad blasts: RS adjourned twice
New Delhi, August 29 Deputy chairman K. Rahman Khan's reasoning that the minister cannot be present in both Houses and minister of state for parliamentary affairs, Suresh Pachouri, would make a reply instead, failed to pacify members. BJP members S.S. Ahluwalia and Rudranarayan Pani and TDP members rushed to the well of the House raising slogans. They pressed for a reply from the home minister. The deputy chairman asked the members to cooperate and said the blast issue was being discussed following suspension of question hour. Participating in the discussion soon after the House met in the morning, members from the Opposition parties demanded the resignation of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and asked the Centre to beef up intelligence and treat internal security on a par with defence. After putting aside question hour partially to allow members to speak on the subject, Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari said, “Such acts should be checked
with firm resolve.” The chairman said he had received several notices with regard to the blasts. He said in view of the seriousness of the issue, he was allowing one member
from each party to put forth his viewpoint on the matter. The House observed silence for a minute as a mark of respect to those who lost their lives in the blast. BJP member Sushma Swaraj said anti-terror laws should be strengthened to prevent such activities across the country. “The government indulges in pious pronouncements rather than taking concrete steps. Had security been tightened after the blasts near the masjid, the Saturday killings would not have taken place,” she said. TDP member Ravula Chandra Sekar Reddy said the Andhra Chief Minister should step down as the governmnent had failed to protect the lives and property of civilians. He called for an inquiry by a sitting judge of the High Court. Shiv Sena member Eknath Thakur said the Centre should send the strongest signal by hanging Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, dismissing the state government and restoring POTA. Samajwadi Party member Amar Singh said terrorist activities were on the rise across the country. He said even when intelligence agencies pointed out an imminent threat, no concrete steps were taken to prevent an attack. CPI(M) member Sitaram Yechury said anti-terror law was not the answer to check such incidents. He said Parliament was attacked when POTA was in force. JD(U) member Sharad Yadav said Bangladesh and Nepal were emerging as new centres of terrorism. The House was adjourned for a few minutes as more agitated members insisted on speaking on the issue.
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WB Twin Murder
Kolkata, August 29 The court also issued orders against 15 others, including Adhir’s wife Arpita Chowdhury, for their alleged involvement in the murder of Haniff Sheikh and his son Laltu, both running a hotel at Behrampore. The murders took place during a clash between Congress and CPM activists. The following day, around 50 persons were arrested. After a prolonged investigation, the police finally charge-sheeted 16 persons. But later they were acquitted by the Behrampore judicial magistrate’s court and released. After 18 months, the case was reopened in the special SDJM’s court at Behrampore following a petition filed by the police. After a two-month-long hearing of the case, the accused were found guilty and ordered to be re-arrested. Adhir and his wife were arrested from the MP’s residential bungalow in New Delhi. But were later granted bail by the High Court. But after 22 months of hearing, the Behrampore Court acquitted the accused. Yesterday, the police filed a fresh petition in the High Court. On the first day of hearing today, the division Bench of Justices A. Talukdar and Arun Bhattacharyya ordered the re-arrest of the MP and other accused. Reacting to the order, Adhir told mediapersons at his Behrampore residence that he would obey the High Court order and go to jail. He said he was not afraid of going to the jail but apprehended that Congress workers and supporters would be targeted by CPM activists in the district. The Congress working president Pradip Bhattacharyya said the party would take necessary legal steps against the judgment. Congress leader and advocate Arunabho Ghose said it was rare for a court to order the re-arrest of the accused before the full hearing on the appeal. External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and information minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi had been informed about the court decision.
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No reinstatement claim after taking VRS: SC
New Delhi, August 29 Moreover, courts cannot intefere with penalties like reduction in pay or pension imposed by the employer, unless it is found to be "shockingly disproportionate" to the charge, a Bench of Justices G P Mathur and P K Balasubramanyan, said. The apex court passed the ruling while setting aside orders of the Delhi High Court which directed reinstatement with all consequential benefits to a CRPF officer who had opted for a voluntary retirement. The official, S. S Ahluwalia, applied for voluntary retirement from July 1, 1993, but it was rejected by the authorities on July 12, 1993. He filed representations on July 30 and August 10, 1993 for re-examination of his case. The authorities by an order dated February 23, 1994, granted his plea subject to the condition that the disciplinary proceedings already initiated against him would continue. The government, thereafter, referred the case to the UPSC which directed that a penalty of 10 per cent deduction from his basic pension for a year should be effected as the charges against him in the inquiry stood established. A single judge of the high court and later a Division Bench ordered his reinstatement with all consequential benefits, besides quashing the penalty of 10 per cent deduction in his basic pension.
— PTI
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Case against Karunanidhi’s son transferred to AP
New Delhi, August 29 A Bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhan and V.S. Sirpurkar ordered the transfer yesterday after hearing senior counsel Arun Jaitley for the petitioner C. Suresh Kumar, who is a witness in the case. Kumar alleged that the accused was being accompanied to the court by state ministers and the witnesses in the murder case were being intimidated and that free and fair trial was not possible under such circumstances. Senior counsel Abhishekh Manu Singhvi, appearing for Azhagiri, however, contended that a false case had been filed against his client due to political rivalry and the witnesses as well as the complainant are AIADMK activists. The petitioner, seeking the transfer of the case from Madurai to any other court outside Tamil Nadu, cited an incident in which three persons were killed during an attack on newspaper Dinakaran and Sun TV office in Madurai allegedly at the behest of the main accused in the case. The apex court while transferring the case noted “We feel that the case should be transferred so that people have faith in the trial.” The apex court also directed the trial judge to conclude the trial as expeditiously as possible. — UNI
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Fresh probe into Monica Bedi photo episode
Bhopal, August 29 Refuting the allegations, jail minister A.S. Arya described the Opposition party's attack as "misleading and a move to derive political mileage, and malign the image and honour of a woman in the process". "An earlier probe, initiated after complaints in this regard by Monica's counsel, had confirmed that the allegations were untrue," he said. However, a fresh probe has been ordered after Congress made the allegations, the minister said. Addressing a press conference a week ago, state Congress general secretary Manak Agrawal had alleged that objectionable photographs of Bedi were clicked through secret cameras installed in bathrooms in the jail, where she was lodged while being tried in a fake passport case here. "The photographs were used to prepare indecent MMS of Bedi and circulated," he had alleged, making public some MMS before mediapersons, which he claimed to have acquired from a jail official. The cameras were removed after her counsel P.C. Vedi had raised the issue, Agrawal claimed. Demanding a probe into the matter and promising to make available all available proofs to support it, he had demanded Arya's resignation and action against erring officers.
— PTI
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Lava, hot gas clouds erupt in Arunachal, alert sounded
Kimin (Arunachal Pradesh), August 29 The phenomenon was first reported August 21 from the area where there was no human habitation. The nearest human settlement is located about a kilometre from the hill slope. “The debris found in the area was of different colours like black, green and brown. Some of the substances also appear like glass, besides burnt bricks and rocks,” the magistrate said. “Such was the intensity of the heat from the flying debris that a high tension power pole near the site of the occurrence melted, resulting in power disruption.” Residents in the area are panicking, with authorities sealing the area by deploying police and preventing people from going near the hill. “The site is lying dormant but not extinct, as the area continues to emit smoke and gas and also the nearby earth was found to be very hot,” said N. Nyori, a local administrator in Kimin. Experts from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) have visited the area and collected samples for laboratory tests at their headquarters in Kolkata. “This is some sort of a fumerolic activity which could be the beginning of some activity inside the earth. The molten magma has probably oozed out owing to rise in temperature of at least 1,000 degrees centigrade,” a GSI scientist said requesting not to be named. The laboratory test report is expected by the weekend. India’s northeastern region is considered by seismologists to be the sixth most quake prone belt in the world with Arunachal Pradesh - bordering China and Myanmar - listed in the seismic zone V category. “Evidence of volcanic eruptions some millions of years back has been found in a village named Lichi, about 15 km from the present eruption site.
— IANS
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Toll climbs to 115
Bhubaneswar, August 29 Official sources said the fresh deaths were reported from Koraput, Kalahandi and Rayagada districts. Of the total 115 deaths in the last 25 days, Rayagada accounted for 64 casualties, the sources said. While 50 persons succumbed to cholera and diarrhoea in Kashipur block of Rayagada, 14 others died in neighbouring Kolnara block of the district, the sources said. Seventeen people died of cholera at Thuamul Rampur block of neighbouring Kalahandi district, sources at the health department control room said. In Koraput district, eight deaths were reported in Laxmipur block, 20 in Dasmantpur and two each in Nandapur, Marthapur and Kudra blocks. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who visited the cholera- hit areas, has denied that the disease had assumed epidemic proportions at Kashipur and Dasmantpur and claimed that his government has effectively contained its spread by taking a lot of steps. The health administration attributed the outbreak of cholera in the backward KBK region to the food habits and lack of awareness among tribals. "People hesitate to come to hospitals for treatment adding to the casualty," health secretary Chinmay Basu said. The government, he said, had appointed volunteers to make people aware of a hygienic lifestyle and safe drinking water. The Chief Minister has ordered disinfection of water bodies in the affected areas, he said. The government's action in creating awareness came following a report by the Regional Medical Research Centre which said nearly 70 per cent of the drinking water sources in Rayagada district were infected with cholera bacteria.
— PTI
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Manipur ultras ‘violating’ ceasefire rules
Guwahati, August 29 The UMC stated that insurgent groups, which are in truce with the Indian government, have made life of people miserable in the state by resorting to threats and rampant extortion drives by gross violation of ceasefire agreement. The UMC statement pointed out that New Delhi had persuaded the Manipur government to give its nod to the mutually decided suspension of operation agreement between the Army and Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA), the outfit responsible for closure of the only LPG bottling plant of the IOC in the state. The UMC stated the Centre had deleted names of various militant organisations of Manipur from its earlier list of unlawful organisations, but that had hardly helped establishment of peace in the state where people were facing a serious challenge from extorting militant groups in truce. The NGO alleged that militant organisations in truce with Indian Army were engaged in the collection of illegal taxes on the arterial national highway-39, the lifeline for the people of the state while the centre has remained a mute spectator The UMC cried for harsh action from security forces against the militants groups in truce that are involved in rampant extortion, kidnapping and other illegal activities in the state. Meanwhile, people of Manipur are facing acute crisis of LPG cylinders following the shut down of the state’s only bottling plant at Sekmai in Imphal West district. All IOC staff in the bottling plant left the state after the KRA had demanded Rs 15 lakh from them. Needy people are forced to cough up about Rs 500 to 600 per refill of LPG cylinder in the black market in Imphal. Meanwhile, LPG tanker drivers have shown reluctance to lift LPG cylinders from Assam due to lurking threat from ultras on the way to Manipur. The truck and tanker drivers are often harassed along the NH 39 and NH 53 on way to Imphal by underground outfits by demanding ‘illegal tax’. The ultras sometimes resort to abduction of drivers for money.
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‘Corrupt civil servant is same as rights violator’
Dehra Dun, August 29 This way corruption at the bureaucratic level could be tackled effectively, he said while addressing the IAS officers attending the 12th in-service training programme on ‘Ethical Issues in Today's Administration’ at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussourie. The four-day training programme has IAS officers from Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, MP, UP, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Sikkim and West Bengal in attendance. ”A finely-crafted, workable, and well-publicised code of ethics will ring hollow if it is not supported by the behaviour of senior administrators. The importance of upper-level management in determining a department's ethics and overall quality cannot be overstated," he observed. The Governor said the government had been very seriously contemplating reforms to ensure transparent and responsive governance. In this regard the 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission has been specifically mandated with the task of identifying the main roadblocks in achieving this goal and also to suggest necessary changes in the existing system to place premium on moral virtues ensuring stability and harmony.
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Now, Harry Potter series in Braille!
Bhopal, August 29 The seventh and the final book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is being transcribed in Braille. The book, transliterated in English Braille, is not for sale and will be made available free for the visually-impaired by order. “The idea behind this is to ensure that the visually impaired children also get to read and enjoy the Harry Potter books like other children,” said N J Anthony, Member, Arushi. The book contains 1897 pages and will be released in 11 volumes, as the Braille takes more pages as compared to the printed version. Visually-challenged children say they are glad that they don’t have to depend on others to know about Harry Potter’s adventures. “Its a big favour for us, as the visually-impaired cannot read normal books. If the book will be released in Braille, the visually-impaired can read it themselves anytime,” said Rajendra Dhruvrey, a visually impaired boy. Members of Arushi say Harry Potter book in Braille is being introduced in India for the first time. Earlier, there were only audio CDs of the book available in the market which only few visually impaired children used to understand. Arushi has plans to publish the sixth book of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in Braille. The Harry Potter series of seven fantasy novels has been written by English author J. K. Rowling and is about an adolescent boy wizard named Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The story is mostly set at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school for young wizards and witches, and focuses on Harry Potter’s fight against the evil wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry’s parents as part of his plan to take over the wizarding world. Since the release of the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the United States) in 1997, the books have gained immense popularity, critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide, spawning films, video games and assorted merchandise. The seven books published to date have collectively sold more than 325 million copies and have been translated into more than 64 languages. The seventh and last book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released on July 21, 2007.
— ANI
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11 SPOs feared killed in ambush
Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh), August 29 The police said that 11
SPOs, local youth recruited to assist anti-naxal operations, three Chhattisgarh Armed Force constables and Jagargunda police station inspector Hemant Nandavi went missing after, the encounter around 1500 hrs. A team of 40 personnel, including
SPOs, encountered the rebels near Sarmetla, a remote village about 60 km from
Dornapal, Dantewada’s Superintendent of Police Rahul Sharma said. However, only 25 personnel returned to base. Additional personnel rushed to Sarmetla on foot as there is no motorable road in the area.
— UNI
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Bhagalpur beating: NCM seeks report from govt
New Delhi, August 29 NCM member Harcharan Singh Josh, who chaired a meeting with his colleagues on yesterday’s incident, said the commission believed Mohammad Aurangzeb was treated like an “animal and a slave” by police who joined the mob to punch, kick and drag him down a street after he allegedly tried to steal a gold chain. “We are writing to the Bihar Chief Secretary to send us a report immediately about the incident. Police acted brutally there,” Josh said after the meeting attended by NCM members Z Hasan and M D Bangalee. The commission has already issued notices to the Bihar police. — PTI
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Low turnout at Jamshedpur election
Jamshedpur, August 29 But the villagers of Phuljhor in Chankulia block near Jharkhand-West Bengal border and Hathibhinga village in Poktka block boycotted the election and not a single vote had been cast. The villagers boycotted the election protesting the lack of development work in their villages. However, contrary to the reports, people were seen casting votes in the Naxalite-affected areas including Baghuria village where the JMM MP Sunil Mahto was gunned down on March 4 last by the Maoists, sources added. Mahto's death necessitated today's polling.
— UNI
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New Delhi, August 29 At present, there is no woman judge in the Supreme Court and she will be the only woman judge if the proposal finally gets the nod from the government. The apex court has been without a woman judge since the retirement of Justice Ruma Pal in November last year. Even otherwise representation of women in the high courts and the Supreme Court has been dismal. For instance, in the Delhi HC out of 36 judges, only five or six are women. — UNI
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New Delhi, August 29 The commission, which was constituted within a fortnight of the demolition of the disputed structure on December 6, 1992, has incurred an expenditure of Rs 717.66 lakh till July 31, 2007, minister of state for home Sriprakash Jaiswal said in a written reply to a question from Shahid Siddiqui. The government had extended the tenure of the commission on 40 occasions since its appointment, the minister said. — TNS
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