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Cong not politicising terror: PM
BJP willy-nilly backs govt
K’taka to set up commando units to fight terror
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EC notice to Vasundhara
Rajasthan
Mizo voters go the ‘pastor way’
Hotels, malls ordered to take security steps
INTACH proposes to restore Taj Hotel
Terror tale leaves widow shattered
Burney donates blood for Mumbai victims
FBI begins assessment
Australian team in Mumbai
I happened to be at Taj by chance: Verma
Risk assessment of Taj begins
Muslim body refuses to bury terrorists
Husain’s healing touch
PC: Terrorism a threat to the
very soul of India...
Mumbai limps back to normal
‘Missing’ man: ATS gets HC notice
Rs 40 lakh paid to bandh
loss fund, says BJP, Sena
SC acquits Haryana man of rape charge
Uproar in Orissa Assembly over sex scandal
Nepal conduit in fake currency case held
Mishap averted at airport
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Cong not politicising terror: PM
Hanumangarh, December 1 Seeking cooperation of all political parties in fighting the problem of terrorism, the Prime Minsiter said people should rise above religious and linguistic differences to fight the menace of terrorism. He assured the gathering that the Congress would never indulge in politicising terrorism and hoped that all political parties would join hands to combat terror. Adding that the countrymen should think above religious, linguistic and regional differences, Manmohan Singh said, “ It is time to prove that no matter whichever state we are from, whichever religion we belong to, whatever is our language and whatever our customs and practices are, we are
first Indians.” He criticised the state BJP government and alleged that it was not implementing the schemes launched by the Centre properly due to which development works were not taking place in all areas of the state. He said the Congress believed in secularism and did not believe in dividing the society on communal lines. He lashed out at the BJP for playing with the sentiments of the people by raking religious issues. Dr Manmohan appealed to the people of this desert state to vote for for the Congress so as to accelerate the pace of development, which would bring prosperity for all sections of the society. He promised that if voted to power, the Congress government would work for the upliftment of the poor people and bring about a qualitative change in the lives of the people of this state. This was the first election rally addressed by the Prime Minister in Rajasthan ever since electioneering began a couple of weeks back. A programme was chalked out last week to host few rallies of Dr. Manmohan Singh in the desert state. But, due to the terror strikes at Mumbai, the schedule was changed. After addressing the public rally here, Dr Manmohan left for Jaipur to address a selected group of people, including advocates, teachers, executives, chartered accountants and other professionals, on invitation of the state body of
the Congress. The state body of the party had decided not to hold Prime Minister’s public conference at Jaipur as people were showing less interest in attending the rallies during the campaigning. Even the top brass of the BJP had failed to attract huge crowds.
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BJP willy-nilly backs govt
New Delhi, December 1 The party fielded its most successful spin doctor general secretary Arun Jaitley to face the media at the party headquarters. But even he had a hard time replying to probing questions from the media. Though last night, BJP leaders Jaswant Singh and Vijay Kumar Malhotra would not be seen standing with the government on the issue of terrorism, Jaitely willy-nilly welcomed the government’s announcement of its intent to strengthen anti-terrorism laws as well as set up a federal investigative agency for the sole purpose of investigating terror related crimes. He said, “It will be a step in the right direction,” adding, however, “A federal agency without the law will be toothless”. Simultaneously, the party spokesman was visibly at a loss over the government decision to make home minister Shivraj Patil accountable for the Mumbai terror attack. A visibly apologetic Jaitley said, “Mere changing of persona would not make any fundamental difference. What is needed is to abandon the soft policy toward terrorism.” Asked why the NDA government of which Jaitely and his party the BJP were leading lights never held anyone accountable for the Kandhar surrender to terrorists, he shrugged it off saying “even in Israel, hijacks take place. What is really needed is a tough policy. But here you are consciously soft on terrorism.” Incidentally, Jaitely pointed to a glaring lapse on the part of the security and intelligence agencies. He disclosed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was scheduled to be present at a media awards function in Trident Hotel on November 29. For this purpose, he said the hotel should have been thoroughly checked and sanitised before November 26 evening when terrorists captured it and wondered what kind of sanitisation was done by the Special Protection Group (SPG). He felt this obviously demonstrated lack of coordination between various security and intelligence agencies.
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K’taka to set up commando units to fight terror
Bangalore, December 1 A meeting held by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa with captains of the industry here on Saturday had seen the industrialists complaining loudly about the poor state of the security situation in Bangalore. Similar fears have been expressed from other quarters as well following the Mumbai incident. DGP R. Srikumar today announced setting up of three crack commando units in the state to fight terror. Acknowledging the feeling of insecurity prevailing among the citizens in the wake of the terror attacks in Mumbai, the DGP said three platoons of commandos were being raised in the state. Each platoon would have 30 commandos with the personnel drawn from the State Reserve Police, Rapid Action Force and the Anti-Naxal Force, Srikumar announced in a press conference. The commandos would be given modern equipment including AK-47 assault rifles and bullet proof jackets, he said. Yeddyurappa, too, held a meeting here today on the issue of internal security. This time it was an all-party meeting on the issue. Two important events in the city - one of which is now underway and the second just concluded - were also affected by the incidents in Mumbai. The two-day international space expo held here on November 29 and 30, would have seen better participation of experts as well as public had there been no terrorist attack in Mumbai. Alan DeLuna of United Space Alliance of USA said he spurned suggestions of cancelling his trip to Bangalore because of the Mumbai incident. “After all, we did not tell people to stop visiting our country after 9/11,” he said. The three-day conference on aerospace medicine starting here today was supposed to be attended by Defence Minister A K Anthony and Indian Air Force chief F H Major. But they failed to attend the event. Central Air Command chief P V Rajkumar, who substituted the IAF chief in the function, said Major could not come as he got “pressing national duties” in hand.
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PM: Use RTI to expose corruption in Raje govt
Jaipur, December 1 Addressing an election rally at a local college here on Monday, he sought a clear mandate for Congress in the state elections. He charged the state government of either misusing or not using massive union government funds sent for improvement in school education, irrigation and general development. "I call upon you, residents of this glorious state, to seek details under the RTI Act from the BJP where has it spent Rs 1,700 crore sent for development of Jaipur alone?" he said, asking the residents to vote for Congress to ensure corruption-free governance with overall development. Despite huge grants being doled out for sprucing up education, several schools in Hanumangarh were lying closed, claimed the PM, adding he has information that National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme — ensuring 100 days employment to rural people - was also not being properly implemented in the state. Regarding the slowdown, he said the Congress was the only political party in the country possessing the experience and ability to deal with ‘such complex economic crisis’. The PM recalled that in the 90s, the then Congress government at the Centre had succeeded in facing critical economic circumstances and said his government would also succeed in keeping Indian economy less affected by the global meltdown. “India was strong enough to tide over the present crisis,” said Manmohan, predicting 7.5 per cent growth for the next fiscal year. He sought vote for development and peace, while calling all political parties, communities and groups to overcome barriers of caste, color, religion, region and language to collectively fight against terrorism. "This is not the time to play politics over those killed in the Mumbai," he said at the beginning of his speech, while paying tributes to martyrs.
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Rajasthan
Bikaner, December 1 In Bikaner, one of the biggest betting centres of the country, the bookies are expecting a hung assembly. They are predicting 90 seats for the Congress, 85 for the BJP and 25 seats for other parties and independents. In Jaipur, the state capital, the punters are betting on the prospects of the Congress. They are hopeful that the Congress will get a clear majority by getting 102 to 110 seats after the December 4 polls. In Jodhpur, another big trading centre, the bookies are staking claims that the BJP will get 100-plus seats in a 200-member house and are valuing it at Rs 6 while for the Congress, the rates are as low as Rs 1.50 here. For the punters investing on the BJP, if this party gets 100-plus seats, for every invested Re 1 one will get Rs 6 while for th Congress supporters, it will be only Rs 1.50 if it comes to power. Sources in Bikaner revealed that bookies were also playing the money game on the chief ministerial candidate of Congress Ashok Gehlot and chief minister Vasundhara Raje. Ashok Gehlot’s victory would fetch bookies 20 paise against Re 1 while his defeat has been staked at Rs 32 for every Re 1. Likewise the defeat of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has been staked at Rs 50 as against the victory, which would give a return of 10 paise. There are reports that this betting game is also being played in other parts of the state like Ganganagar, Ajmer, Fatehpur, Sikar, Pilani, Kota, Jaiselmer, Mandawa, Nawalagarh, Chirawa, Churu, Rajgarh and Nagaur where thousands of people are putting stakes on both the parties. Interestingly, the terror attack on Mumbai, if seen in the context of the recent Jaipur blasts, seems to have not affected the betting game in the desert state where electioneering is in its last stage. The bookies have not been deterred by straining relations with Pakistan even as this state shares the international border with the neighbouring country. A few people with whom this correspondent interacted just after the Mumbai terror strikes were sceptical about the prospects of the Congress but going by the investments being made by the punters on the Congress, it does not seem to have affected the poll scene. The interest of the traders/businessmen in the betting game in Rajasthan cities could be judged from the fact that almost every shopkeeper in Bikaner has invested money in this illegal game-the amount may be in hundreds or thousands or even in lakhs. According to an estimate, the turnover of this illegal trade could be more than Rs 50,000 crore in the desert state and elsewhere in the country.
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Mizo voters go the ‘pastor way’
Aizawl, December 1 The December 2 polls will witness a triangular fight from three major formations - the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), led by Chief Minister Zoramthanga (64); the largest opposition Pradesh Congress, led by former Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla (66); and the three-party United Democratic Alliance, led by former Chief Minister Brig (retd) T.Sailo (86). The MNF is fielding 39 candidates, leaving one seat to its partner the Maraland Democratic Alliance, while two nominees from another ally the Mizoram Congress Party are contesting on the MNF tickets. The Congress is fielding 40 candidates, while the UDA has 38 candidates of which two are represented by the Zoram Kuthnathawktu Pawl, a farmers’ forum that is part of the alliance. The rest 36 seats are divided between the Mizoram People’s Conference and the Zoram Nationalist Party. With candidates from smaller parties like the Lok Janshakti Party (33), Bharatiya Janata Party (9), Lok Bharati (4), Janata Dal (United) (2), National Congress Party (6) and 12 Independents, there are a total of 206 hopefuls in the race to the 40-member Assembly. Political analysts as well as opinion polls conducted by local media have predicted a hung Assembly. However, this pre-poll season missed all the traditional election frenzy - no public rallies, door-to-door campaigns, community feast or singers-enriched road shows. Journalists interviewed candidates and their supporters on television with the MPF monitoring all public meetings. — UNI
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2nd line of HIV treatment set for five-fold expansion
But that alone may not help considering drug resistance testing -- which allows doctors to detect patients in need of second-line treatment -- is prohibitively expensive and does not ensure complete coverage. Each test costs Rs 15,000 and is currently being done only at three locations including the National AIDS Research Institute, Pune, and the TB Centre, Chennai. The National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) admits to the challenge of early diagnosis of HIV-infected persons in need of second line ART. “We are working on cheaper technologies, but right now the cost of viral load testing is huge. We can’t detect the entire infected population due to the costly testing,” Dr B.B. Rewari, ART in charge at NACO, today told The Tribune. The government further admits to the mounting challenge of paediatric HIV -- currently 35,000 children are registered with the ART centres across India; 13,000 of these children are on ART. Here, too, diagnosis is the big question. The existing test for adults does not work for infants as it shows mothers’ antibodies till the first 18 months of age, thus delaying treatment. The only way to know the exact HIV status of an infant is through a test called DNA PCR. It is alarming that this kit is not yet approved for commercial use in India. It can only be used for therapeutic and research purposes thus denying medical experts their only chance of screening every infant born for HIV. The only company manufacturing this kit has not yet applied to the drug controller for its commercial use apparently because such use is limited and hence not business-worthy. The government, it is learnt, is now trying to develop new options to DNA PCR to screen as many children as possible. But till that happens, NACO is upbeat about the latest move of extending second-line treatment, so far available only in Mumbai and Chennai, to 10 locations in India including Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi; School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata; PGI, Chandigarh; Gandhi Medical College, Hyderabad; RIMS, Imphal; and a centre at Karnataka. While that sounds heartening, another distressing fact is that more than two out of three HIV positive people still lack access to treatment. Nearly 40 per cent of those now contracting the virus are women. And unless the women take a lead, there is little chance that the HIV epidemic will be halted any time soon. In rural India less than half of women have heard of HIV, let alone awareness of protection. Kaushalya, the coordinator of Positive Women’s Network, today said, “There is a need to unite HIV positive women to strengthen women’s voice at all levels. A collective voice will ensure their involvement in intervention programmes for effective
implementation.”
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Hotels, malls ordered to take security steps
Guwahati, December 1 The government has directed all these commercial establishments to enforce the security ‘dos and don’ts’ with immediate effect to escape stringent punitive actions that includes the cancellation of trade licences issued by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC). SSP Pradip Chandra Saloi informed that there were 131 hotels and guest houses in the city, including 10 hotels, bracketed in the star category. The government has asked all hotels, lodges, shopping malls and cinema halls to install door-frame metal detectors at all entry points and equip in-house security staffs with hand held metal detectors. The police officer informed that all commercial establishments had been asked to install CCTV cameras with minimum eight hours of continuous recording facility to record the movement of each visitor within the premises. Star-category hotels had been instructed to put the baggage of their guests through the X-ray machines. All vehicles entering the premises of these establishments have to be scanned thoroughly using under-body mirrors before they are allowed to park. The hotel and guest houses in the city have been asked to collect copies of photo-identity proofs of all the guests, besides information about other personal details. In case of cinema halls, no body will be allowed the leave the hall while a show was on except in the event of serious medical emergency. No person will be allowed to go inside a cinema hall or a shopping mall with any kind of bag. The cinema halls have to be thoroughly checked using under-chair mirror after every show.
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INTACH proposes to restore Taj Hotel
New Delhi, December 1 Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) said it had the expertise to bring the heritage hotel to its original attractive shape. INTACH chairman S.K Misra has written a letter in this regard to Ratan Tata, chairman of Taj Group of Hotels. “We are involved in restoration and conservation of activities of hundred-year-old monuments like forts and palaces. We can restore the original beauty of the hotel,” Misra said. The hotel that overlooks the harbour stands as a symbol of Indian affluence and sophistication. With distinctive onion domes and pointed arches, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel combined Moorish and Byzantine design with European ideas. Terrorists attacked the heritage hotel on November 26 and hurled grenades causing fire at several places in the hotel. “We are pained at see the hotel being subjected to attack by terrorists. We want to assure the Taj Group that we have the capability to repair and conserve the old grandeur of Taj Mahal, Mumbai, if given a chance to us,” Misra said. — PTI
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Terror tale leaves widow shattered
Lucknow, December 1 The 22-year-old Hidaytullah, who was to get married on the auspicious occasion of Eid-ul-Azha on December 9, was killed on the fateful Wednesday night when terrorists attacked the popular Leopold Cafe in Mumbai's Colaba area. The resident of Bakoli Kalan village here, fell victim to the terrorist's bullet while attending his duties at the Cafe, where he was an employee. "My son had gone to Mumbai in the month of April and we had decided that this Eid-ul-Azha, we would solemnise his marriage," said 60-year-old Khatoon, adding the entire village was waiting for her son's marriage. However, destiny had other plans and the widow had to witness the last rituals of her son. "Sehera kee tamannaa thee, janazaa nikala gaya" (I had wished my son's marriage, but got to see his funeral), Khatoon said before she broke into tears. The deceased was the only earning member of the family, as his father had died some years back. — PTI
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Burney donates blood for Mumbai victims
Mumbai, December 1 Pakistan’s former federal minister for Human Rights and expert advisor in the UN Human Rights Council at Geneva, Burney, who arrived in terror struck Mumbai in the wee hours of Sunday, wasted no time in showing his solidarity with India in its war against terrorism. “They are beast of jungles and killers of humanity,” was Burney’s instant reaction about the terror carnage in Mumbai that left 183 dead. Asked whether he found it ironic that he had come from the same country from where terror groups had rained death, Burney, who was leaving for Karachi, said “I do not consider them from any country. They (militants) got what they had deserved and now I want their masters also to meet the same fate...for me India is as much my country as Pakistan is.” Burney went to Jaslok hospital and donated blood for the victims of the recent shoot out, an incident that changed the dimension of terrorism in India.
— PTI
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FBI begins assessment
Mumbai, December 1 The team arrived in the city yesterday and was in a day-long meeting with the director general of police (DGP), Mumbai commissioner of police and senior officials from the Crime Branch. The team is in the process of examining evidence and remnants of explosives gathered from the targeted places and the methodology used by the militants, official sources said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation would be investigating the case from their side as six American nationals were killed in the attacks. It was not immediately clear whether the FBI
has also registered a case in the matter as they had done in the hijacking of Indian Airlines’ IC-814 plane in 1999 which carried a US national - Jennir Moorie.
— PTI
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Australian team in Mumbai
Mumbai, December 1 A team member met DGP A.N. Roy around 11am and then straightaway left for the Cafe Leopold at Colaba, which became one of the first targets of the terrorists, during the worst ever terror attacks on the metropolis. The team also visited Taj, Trident hotels and Nariman House. Sources said the team came here to study the modus operandi of the terrorists and would assist the local police in connection with the attacks on Australian victims.
— UNI
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I happened to be at Taj by chance: Verma
New Delhi, December 1 Eyebrows were raised after Verma and Reitesh Deshmukh, actor-son of the Chief Minister, accompanied the CM as he visited the hotel yesterday. Deshmukh also faced criticism from a section of the media, which said he had gone on a 'picnic’, along with son, and Verma. Downplaying his visit, Verma said, “Let me clarify that the Chief Minister did not invite me as I have never been even formally introduced to him. It was just that I happened to be with Riteish at that time, whom I know very well.” He also said he had “no intention” of making a film on Mumbai terror strikes.
— PTI
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Risk assessment of Taj begins
Mumbai, December 1 "In the early hours of December 1, the security authorities handed over control of the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers back to the Taj group," Indian Hotels, the company that owns the Taj said. According to the company, some areas of the Taj have been sealed "either due to the continuing security investigations or for safety reasons." The risk assessment includes a structural survey on the building which was built in 1903.
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Muslim body refuses to bury terrorists
Mumbai, December 1 The council is likely to send out a message to all the cemeteries in India that none of the bodies should be buried on Indian soil. In 2003, a Pakistani national was killed in an encounter and was buried in a cemetery in Mumbai. This time, however, some of the Muslim bodies have decided not to allow the burial of the terrorists considering the gravity of the terror attack. Congress MLA Bhai Jagtap said that some Muslim organisations had approached him demanding that the terrorists should not be buried in any cemetery in India. The council authorities have handed over a letter to the Marine Letters Cemetery, where the bodies were supposed to have been buried.
— PTI
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Mumbai, December 1 Renowned artist M.F. Husain, whose three paintings were pride of the lobby of the heritage hotel for last eight years and destroyed during the terrorists’ 59-hour siege, has announced he would paint fresh ones for the hotel. “I have decided to paint a series of paintings condemning the attack. I am sure someday the Taj will regain its glory and I hope to show these paintings there,” the nonagenarian painter told a newspaper here from Dubai. “It would also be my personal tribute to Taj staff members who laid down their lives for others,” he said. Husain also had a word of praise for the Tatas, owners of the Taj. “He (Tata Group chief Ratan Tata) and his father Jamshedji have always been great patrons of art and culture. I laud Tatas for what they have done for the nation while most other businessmen have only been interested in furthering their interests,” praised Husain.
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PC: Terrorism a threat to the
very soul of India...
New Delhi, December 1 Speaking to reporters at his North Block office, he said: “This is a threat to the very idea of India, the very soul of India that we know, that we love -- a secular, plural, tolerant and open society. I have no doubt that ultimately the idea of India will triumph.” Chidambaram, 63, who succeeds Shivraj Patil and comes back to the ministry after two decades, when asked about his first stint that included major policy decisions over Punjab militancy as compared with today’s security situation, he said: “I am older and wiser today”. He started his brief interaction with the Press saying he recognised that there was a sense of anguish and deep shock among the people of India. “Like everyone I have heard the anguished voice of India over the last few days, all parties have conveyed that there will be unity of purpose in dealing with the situation.” I welcome the sense of purpose displayed at the all-party meeting summed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said. On his first day as home minister, Chidambaram met national security adviser M.K. Narayanan, home secretary Madhukar Gupta and senior officials of the ministry. He said in the next day or two he would familiarise himself with various issues pending in the ministry and sought cooperation, help and support of the people of India, state governments and various organisations. To a question as to how he would go about implementing the decisions announced by the Prime Minister at yesterday’s all-party meeting, he said he would address these questions during a press conference later this week. The Prime Minister had announced the setting up of a federal investigative agency, four NSG hubs in different parts of the country and having a legal framework to tackle terrorism yesterday.
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Mumbai, December 1 The first signal of normalcy came when a couple of hours after the operation at the Taj was over on Saturday, Jehangir Art Gallery, a stone’s throw away from the landmark hotel, was thrown open for art aficionados. Yesterday, Cafe Leopold, where the terrorists started their bloody campaign, opened its doors to customers. Government and corporate offices, courts, schools, and colleges have also opened, and lakhs of Mumbaikars have resumed their daily routine. Local trains were running full this morning, indicating that the city’s denizens, though traumatised, have started a new day. There was also a flurry of political activities in the state following the resignation of the Union home minister Shivraj Patil yesterday. More cacaphony followed in the political circles, after deputy chief minister R.R. Patil stepped down early today after demands from several sections for the resignation of Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and his deputy in the aftermath of the carnage. The CM is slated to hold a press conference within a couple of hours, but sources said it will be about police reforms. President Pratibha Patil will be arriving in the city in the evening. She will visit the hospitals where the victims injured in the attacks are recuperating. — PTI
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‘Missing’ man: ATS gets HC notice
Indore, December 1 A division bench comprising justices S.S. Samvastar and S.K. Waghmare has directed the Mumbai ATS to file its reply in a week's time. Ramswaroop Patidhar, Dilip’s brother, in the petition had said his sibling was picked up between the intervening night of November 10 and 11 from Indore and since then he was missing. Dilip, a resident of Shanti Vihar colony, was a tenant of Ramji, an accused in the Malegaon blasts who went absconding. The Patidhar family came to know that Dilip was taken away by the ATS officials when they went to a local police station to file a ‘missing’ complaint, the petitioner's counsel Dipak Rawal said. "We have named the Maharashtra government and some Madhya Pradesh's police personnel as the respondents in the petition," he said, adding his client's family even petitioned the state police's top-brass officials in connection with the case. — PTI
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Rs 40 lakh paid to bandh
loss fund, says BJP, Sena
New Delhi, December 1 The deposits have been made in compliance with the July 23, 2004, verdict of the Bombay High Court on a PIL filed by one B.G. Deshmukh and other residents of Mumbai, seeking compensation for the “unconstitutional” bandh enforced in that city by the two parties. The apex court had earlier directed the two parties to first deposit the compensation with the Maharashtra government to enable to consider their appeals against the high court order.
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Todi remanded in judicial custody
Kolkata, December 1 But the two other accused, Ashoke’s brother Pradip and their relative Anil Sarogi, did not appear before the court today and hence the court ordered that they should be arrested and brought before the court without further delay. The next hearing of the case will be held on December 12. The other accused police officials, Ajoy Kumar, DC(DD), Sukanti Chakraborty, assistant commissioner, and Krishendu Das, sub-inspector at Lalbazar, however, earlier surrendered before the court and they spent one day in jail custody and now they are out on bail. The Todi family members and others were allegedly involved in the suicidal death of the young Muslim boy Rizwanur who had fallen in love with the Todi daughter, Priyanka, whom he married under the Special Marriage Act on August 18, 2007, which the Todi family did not approve of. The influential businessmen then approached senior policemen at Lalbazar for getting their daughter back to the family. Accordingly, the policemen allegedly tortured Rizwanur mentally and physically, which forced him to commit suicide. His body was found on the railway track near Dum Dum on September 22, 2007, according to the CBl inquiry report submitted to Chief Justice S.S.Nijjar of the Calcutta High Court. Ashoke Todi, his brother Pradip and the relative Anil Sarogi against whom the non-bailable arrest warrants were ordered at the CBI’s special court of the CMM on September 22 for their involvement in the suicidal death of Rizwanur, along with several others including three senior police officials at Lalbazar, so long had been evading arrest by making prayers at the Calcutta High Court and subsequently in the Supreme Court. But recently, the Supreme Court’s division bench ordered that they should appear before the CBI court at CMM by December 1, a directive with which the accused had complied.
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SC acquits Haryana man of rape charge
New Delhi, December 1 “Circumstances on which the trial court and the high court had relied to hold the accused guilty by no stretch of imagination can be determinative of the fact that the accused was responsible for the commission of rape” in the March 1993 case, an apex court Bench held. The Bench, comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and Mukundakam Sharma, said even if it was accepted that the chappals and utensils of the deceased, Balwinder Kaur, alias Rani, daughter of Lal Singh, were found in the fields of the appellant, the body was found at another place. In view of this, the judgment of the trial court of Additional Sessions Judge, Jagadhri, affirmed by a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court “cannot be maintained and are set aside. The appeal is allowed. The appellant, who is in custody, shall be released forthwith unless required to be in custody in connection with any other case,” the apex court ordered.
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Uproar in Orissa Assembly over sex scandal
Bhubaneswar, December 1 Stepping up their campaign against revenue minister Manmohan Samal, Congress members trooped into the well as soon as the house assembled for the day, demanding a statement on the matter by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Speaker Kishore Mohanty’s repeated appeals to the members for maintaining order in the house and allowing proceedings during the question hour went unheeded as the opposition camp made it clear that they were not satisfied with the statement given by Samal on the issue on November 29. As noisy scenes prevailed, the Speaker adjourned the house for 30 minutes and called leaders of all political parties to his chamber to sort out the issue. While the Chief Minister was away in Delhi, Samal in his statement on November 29 had refuted the allegation about his involvement in the sex scandal but admitted having helped a woman from Bhadrak for her stay in Delhi where she had gone recently to contact guests for a cultural function.
— PTI
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Nepal conduit in fake currency case held
New Delhi, December 1 Abdul Gani used to get the fake Indian currency notes (FICN) from Nepal and pass it on to Sudhakar Tripathi, the cashier of the State Bank of India at Dumaria Ganj, said the CBI today. Tripathi would then replace the genuine notes kept in the currency chest with the fake ones and make a killing of lakhs. The CBI has already arrested Balram Mishra, alias Bullu Pandit, from Motihari in Bihar in this connection. This year alone, the CBI seized fake currency worth Rs 5.51 crore across four states — Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Karnataka -- and registered 13 cases, it added. — UNI
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Mishap averted at airport
Kolkata, December 1 Fortunately, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) stopped the aircraft at a distance on the runway and guided it through a taxi-way to the apron.
— UNI
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Ex-Bihar Speaker dies Child abducted by elephant, rescued Top Naxal killed
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New Delhi, December 1
