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Spectrum scam, IPL rock Parliament
Clean Chit to Tytler
Congress may have to rethink UP strategy
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IPL Post
Sleuths piece together Gupta’s designs
Honeytrap cases revisited
IPS officer held in Sohrabuddin case
Patil sworn in as R’sthan Governor
HPV Trials
No check on import of metal scrap
Heritage Haveli Case
Nitish endorses BJP decision on Soren
Cobalt-60 leak traced to DU
Compensation to victim's kin
M’rashtra mulls quota in housing for minorities
Gujarat Riots
Predicament of Meghalaya CM
Cases against Khushboo quashed
Ansari mulls changing time of Question Hour 26/11: Fresh evidence tabled
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Spectrum scam, IPL rock Parliament
New Delhi, April 28 While the Lok Sabha was adjourned twice until 2 pm on the twin issues, the proceedings of Rajya Sabha were affected, with the AIADMK, the Left and the BJP demanding government’s response to Raja’s involvement in the multi-crore scandal. In the Lower House, AIADMK members led by leader M. Thambidurai were on their feet demanding answers on Raja’s involvement in the scam when Speaker Meira Kumar placated them saying the matter would be allowed in Zero Hour. Though Question Hour passed off peacefully today after five days of disruptions, chaos returned when Zero Hour commenced with the BJP demanding a government response on Prime Minister’s explanation in the IPL row and the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the matter. AIADMK MPs on the other hand raised anti-Raja slogans, with the Speaker urging Thambidurai not to take the minister’s name. She adjourned the House twice due to disruptions. In Rajya Sabha too, the Opposition gunned for Raja, seeking information on the outcome of CBI probe into the alleged scam. When the House assembled, the BJP and the AIADMK raised the issue. The latter also sought dismissal of Raja, with party’s Rajya Sabha leader V. Maitreyan flashing copies of a news report, saying since the government authorised Raja’s phone tapping, it should come clean on his role in the scam. CPM’s Sitaram Yechury also wanted government response, while BJP members Venkaiah Naidu, Prakash Javadekar and SS Ahluwalia joined the AIADMK in voicing protests against Raja. Later, Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said: “Early this week, there was a report about phone tapping. The Home Minister said those were not authorised. Today, there is a news report which reflects authorised phone tapping (read Raja’s). The question is whether leaders of industries are involved in the allocation of portfolios by the Prime Minister. The allocation of 2G spectrum seems to be linked to this.” Amid protests, Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the House till 12 noon and threatened to shift the Question Hour if disturbances continued. He said he would rule on the issue later in the day.
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Clean Chit to Tytler
New Delhi, April 28 The BJP on their side, the Akalis today said they would seek a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Congress’ role in the massacre that left over 7,000 Sikhs dead. Tytler was yesterday cleared of his involvement in the riots by a Delhi court, with Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rakesh Pandit concurring with the CBI’s argument of “lack of evidence” against the accused. Hurt by the pronouncement in the case, Akali Dal MPs along with the BJP today moved a notice to Speaker of the Lok Sabha Meira Kumar for the suspension of Question Hour tomorrow. The notice, given by SAD member from Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal, voices the urge to suspend all business in the House to discuss issues arising out of Tytler’s exoneration. Harsimrat today said the Lok Sabha would have to discuss this issue of great public importance. “We need to debate the dubious role of central investigation agency, the CBI, in this case. How did they submit a closure report in the 25-year-old case against Jagdish Tytler, citing lack of evidence in the anti-Sikh carnage?” she asked, requesting the Speaker to stall the question hour.
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Congress may have to rethink UP strategy
New Delhi, April 28 Observers say it is not so easy for the Congress to suddenly start heaping praises on Mayawati — the favourite punching bag of Congress leaders. In the past, she been been labelled as “Daulat ki Beti” by Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh, “ Moortidevi” by Abhsihek Singhvi and “enemy number one of Congress in UP” by most party leaders in the Capital and in UP. She has been repeatedly accused of misutilising NREGA funds, building parks and statues with public money and ignoring development of the state. But political compulsions now demand that the Congress goes easy on Mayawati.
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IPL Post
Mumbai, April 28 He also questioned the logic behind his old friend Sharad Pawar making Modi IPL chief despite his "shady past."
"Modi has been replaced by another big shot industrialist....BCCI chief Shashank Manohar should be asked why names of Sunil
Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri or Ajit Wadekar were not considered for the post," he said in an editorial in party mouthpiece
'Saamna'. Thackeray also asked as to why "Pawar and others handed over the IPL reins to Modi despite his shady past."
"Pawar is a minister in the Union Cabinet and his party rules
Maharashtra. Despite having the police and intelligence agencies at their disposal, did they fail to know the shady past of
Modi?" Thackeray said. "The decision to hand over reins of the IPL to such a person is dubious," he alleged. He said Manohar could have suspended Modi much earlier.
"Manohar says the whole world knew about the IPL dealings but the Governing Council was kept in the dark," he said. — PTI
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Sleuths piece together Gupta’s designs
New Delhi, April 28 The scope of the probe has widened as Intelligence Bureau and Delhi Police officials believe that a top intelligence official posted in Islamabad could be sharing information with her. Investigators questioning her are trying to know if he knew her designs and was a party to the Pakistani intelligence conspiracy or just indiscreet in sharing the information. Official sources said they were also tracking a couple of Pakistani SIMs from which she would frequently receive calls. The hard disk of the computer she used in Islamabad has also been brought here besides her documents. Investigators are trying to ascertain her real motive and the exact information she could have shared with Pakistanis. She has reportedly claimed that she was spying for the Pakistani intelligence official, identified as Rana, not for money but due to her difference with her senior colleagues in the high commission and she wanted to settle scores with them. A senior police official said it could be a red herring. This is the first time that an Indian diplomat has been arrested on such serious charges and that too for sharing information with Pakistan, considered an arch enemy. PTI adds: During Gupta’s interrogation and earlier surveillance, the security agencies have zeroed in on a couple residing in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir who were in regular touch through e-mail and telephone with the arrested diplomat in Islamabad. The Rajouri-based woman had gone to Pakistan several times. Sources said a senior Army officer used to visit the Rajouri couple while he was posted in the region. He was related to the couple but his frequent visits to them had aroused suspicion of the security agencies.
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Honeytrap cases revisited
New Delhi, April 28 In early 1990s, an Indian Naval attaché posted in Islamabad is said to have fallen in love with a Pakistani woman who was working in the Pakistan Military Nursing Service at Karachi. The officer was questioned and forced to resign. His link with a top political family helped him escape. The official presented a case that he had recruited a woman spy. However, it was found that he was being blackmailed by the ISI. In 2008, a RAW man in Beijing was found having an affair with a Chinese woman. He is said to have passed on information when the India-China border talks were on. He was reverted. Almost 10 years ago, in 2000, relationship between a young diplomat with his Chinese language teacher, a woman, was frowned upon by the authorities. He was removed. Some four years ago, a RAW officer was recalled from Hong Kong for his relationship with a woman, who was believed to be a Chinese spy. The RAW officer was re-posted to Colombo after a break. The woman joined him there and began living with him, raising suspicions. He was then recalled to India. In another case, an IB official was forced to retire when his relationship with a woman US consular officer, who was an agent of the CIA, surfaced. His meetings with the woman were recorded on camera. A young IPS officer on deputation with the RAW was nabbed for his links with an air hostess. He was dealing with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the late 1980s. He was arrested and imprisoned for several years. The woman probably gleaned information from him on movement of LTTE boats which were caught by the Sri Lankan Army. India was unofficially helping the LTTE through the RAW Chennai office then headed by this officer.
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IPS officer held in Sohrabuddin case
Ahmedabad, April 28 CBI DIG P Kandaswamy said they have arrested Chudasama, the city crime branch DCP. He is accused of conspiring to kill Sohrabuddin. In 2005 when the episode took place, he was posted as SP in Valsad district in south Gujarat. This is the first arrest by CBI after the Supreme Court handed over the inquiry to the top investigating agency on January 12 to probe into the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin and bumping off his wife Kauserbi and an accomplice. Sohrabuddin was killed allegedly by Gujarat police with the help of their Andhra Pradesh counterparts in November 2005, claiming that he was planning to kill Chief Minister Narendra Modi. DIG DG Vanzara, IPS officers Raj Kumar Pandian (Gujarat cadre) and Dinesh MN (Rajasthan cadre) along with 11 other policemen are behind the bars in the case. The CBI had registered a case in February against Gujarat police officials under various sections of the IPC, including criminal conspiracy, murder and kidnapping. The state CID, which had earlier investigated and arrested 14 policemen, including three IPS officers, had filed a chargesheet against them in the court. The case has turned to be a major embarrassment for the Narendra Modi government in the Supreme Court, which slammed the Gujarat government's probe saying there were factual discrepancies in ATRs and the chargesheet. — PTI
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Patil sworn in as R’sthan Governor
Jaipur, April 28 Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court Jagdish Bhalla administered the oath of office to Patil at a simple function at the Raj Bhawan. A two-minute silence was also observed as a mark of respect to late Governor Rau. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, cabinet ministers and other senior state bureaucrats. Rau died due to a heart attack in New Delhi on Monday.
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HPV Trials
New Delhi, April 28 A report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health tabled in the Parliament today contained an admission to this effect from VM Katoch of the Indian Council of Medical Research. Asked about the DCGI (Drug Controller General of India) guidelines that disallow third phase trials of drugs or vaccines on children unless they have been conducted on adults, Katoch admitted that guidelines were not adhered to in the said case. The trials now stand suspended in India, with an internal ministry committee looking at the whether vaccine administration caused certain reported adolescent deaths in Andhra. The parliamentary panel, headed by Amar Singh, has now asked the Health Ministry to share with the committee the report of the inquiry, which is on. The panel also took an unkindly view to the fact that marketing of the said vaccines was also allowed without proper testing. It wanted a high-level investigating agency to probe the matter and asked the ministry to furnish reports on action taken in this regard. HPV vaccines in India are being marketed by pharma majors GSK and Merck Sharp and Dohme. The two Phase III trials suspended in the wake of reports of mortality were - the ICMR-PATH trials and the AIIMS-International Agency for Research in Cancer trial, commissioned by the WHO.
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No check on import of metal scrap
New Delhi, April 28 Scientists handling the radioactive substance recovered from Delhi’s metal scrap market have established beyond doubt that the said isotope was part of imported industrial waste. That, however, seems of little significance in the existing structure of laws governing hazardous waste management in the country. Metal scrap, until a year ago, was part of wastes listed as hazardous under the Hazardous Wastes (Management, Handling and Trans-boundary Movement) Rules. But these rules were amended in 2008 to exclude metal scrap from the category of hazardous wastes, making its import liberal and easier. Those seeking to import such scrap need to register only with the state pollution control boards, not the central authority. Admission to this effect came today from none other than Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, who said on the floor of Parliament that hazardous waste management rules were changed last year after several MPs, especially those from Gujarat, petitioned him saying metal scrap was technically not hazardous and its import should not be as strict as that of other hazardous wastes. “Last year we amended the rules to facilitate the import of metal scrap, which is no longer classified as hazardous in India,” Ramesh said. That could perhaps explain, to an extent, the easy entry of cobalt-60, which came as industrial metal scrap into India and landed in Mayapuri, affecting several workers. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre scientists today said the metal scrap market was extremely unregulated and disorganised not just abroad, but also in India.
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Heritage Haveli Case
Jaipur, April 28 In his order, Chief Judicial Magistrate (Jaipur district) Yudhisthir Sharma observed that since the matter was before the High Court, the issue could not be allowed to be raised. The beleaguered cricket honcho was dragged to the court for allegedly making purchase of two heritage havelis in the protected Amer Palace zone in 2007. The complaint was filed by Sandeep Bhatra on behalf of NGO Nagrik Morcha. In his complaint, Bhatra alleged that Modi and his wife Minal managed to purchase the two heritage havelis known as Chabron ki Haveli situated near the historical Amer Fort in Jaipur. “The havelis are part of the area, which was notified as protected by the state government in the year 1966, but both Lalit and Minal Modi managed to purchase them fraudulently through a company - Heritage City Construction Pvt Ltd - of which both became directors soon after the purchase,” the complainant alleged. According to the complainant, the company gave the address of its registered office as 125, Ashok Vihar Extention, Ward No. 16, Sanganer, but there is neither a single building in the entire colony nor a company by such name at the place mentioned in Sanganer. It was also alleged that Modi wanted to embezzle precious property adjoining Amer Fort and that Minal became a part of Amber Development and Management Authority (ADMA) in a surreptitious way without signing the memorandum of association. On the other hand, Modi’s counsel argued that the Anti-corruption Bureau of the state had investigated the matter and has filed a complaint. However, all investigations have been stayed by the high court and the entire matter is under the scanner of high court. Therefore, no fresh FIR can be entertained in the same matter. However, the trouble over the issue is not entirely over for Modi, as the state government is also mulling action against the couple as well as the officials involved in the sale of heritage property for just Rs 21 lakh. A probe report recently submitted by Jaipur Divisional Commissioner has also confirmed that the heritage havelis purchased by Modi were government property.
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Nitish endorses BJP decision on Soren
Patna, April 28 The coalition government of the JD(U) and the BJP has been ruling Bihar for more than four years. The JD(U) with its two MLAs is also a partner in the outgoing coalition government of Jharkhand having one ministerial berth. Now that its senior alliance partner, the BJP, has decided to pull out of the coalition with the JMM, the JD(U) will also go by the decision of its trusted ally in this regard, indicated Nitish. He was also critical of the UPA government at the Centre for destabilising the Jharkhand Government. Charging the Congress government with misusing the CBI for its political survival, Nitish said the UPA government should be renamed as the CBI government. Meanwhile, the stand taken by the RJD, which happens to be the main opposition party in Bihar, to abstain from voting over the cut motion to bail out the Congress-led UPA government has brought cheers in the ruling NDA camp here. “The RJD and the Congress have only vindicated our opinion about them that they remain to be the two sides of the same coin,” said newly appointed chief of the BJP’s Bihar unit Dr CP Thakur.
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Cobalt-60 leak traced to DU
New Delhi, April 28 The Cobalt-60 was in a "Gamma Irradiator", which was bought in 1968 from Canada and was not in use since 1985, the police said today, adding that it was bought by scrap dealers in Mayapuri through an auction in February this year. Gamma irradiators are used for radiation processing application. “We have traced the radioactive material to Delhi University's chemistry department. One of the equipment the scrap dealers bought was Gamma Irradiator," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range) Ajay Kashyap. The scrap dealers dismantled the equipment and in the process the lead covering on it pealed off, leading to radiation exposure, Kashyap said. "The equipment was in use till 1985 and after that it was lying in a room unused. In February, the university committee decided to sell it and the Mayapuri scrap dealers bought it through auction," he said. He said the four workers who are admitted to city hospitals were shown photographs of the equipment and one of them identified it. Panic gripped Mayapuri in the first week of April when 11 persons were admitted to hospitals after they were exposed to radiation. At one stage of investigations, it was suspected that the scrap material came from abroad. Some reports even suggested that the scrap originated from medical waste from a city hospital. Eleven sources of radiation were detected in the Mayapuri scrap market where Cobalt-60 was recovered this month. Cobalt-60 is a radioactive isotope of cobalt, which is a hard, lustrous, grey metal. It is used in cancer therapy machines and other medical equipment. Experts from the Department of Atomic Energy and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre have scanned all 800 shops in the scrap market and said that the locality was radiation-free. — PTI
Compensation to victim's kin
New Delhi: The Delhi Government on Wednesday announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of a man who died following exposure to radioactive material at a scrapyard in the city.
Rajender, 35, a worker at a shop in Mayapuri scrap market, had died due to multiple organ failure on Monday at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. “We have sanctioned Rs 2 lakh to the family of
Rajender. The government will also ensure proper education for his children," Health Minister Kiran Walia said.
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M’rashtra mulls quota in housing for minorities
Mumbai, April 28 The move, however, may not go down well with the Opposition Shiv Sena and BJP, who have threatened to hit the streets in case the government went ahead with its plan. The governing body of MHADA, comprising mainly of members from the ruling Congress and NCP, has cleared the proposal to create quotas in forthcoming housing schemes by the body. Notably, MHADA is scheduled to invite applications for nearly 50,000 flats in Mumbai city alone this year, according to sources. The authority allots flats in the low, middle and high income categories. At present, flats in all these categories are reserved under the categories of scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, physically-challenged persons, artists, accredited journalists and bureaucrats. In all, 49 per cent of the houses allotted by MHADA are reserved under various categories with the rest available under the general category list. The demand for creating a separate quota for minorities has been gathering steam after the Sachar Committee recommended special concessions for members of the community. The Opposition, Shiv Sena and BJP, are opposed to the move. Leaders of both parties said they may hit the streets after the modalities of the quota were announced.
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Gujarat Riots
New Delhi, April 28 The bench, which included Justices P Sathasivam and Aftab Alam, clarified that the public prosecutors had business to criticise judicial officers who were holding the trial despite pressure. “We know under what pressure they work. If public prosecutors were unhappy with the conduct of the proceedings, the only option they had was to quit.” The court also expressed unhappiness over the NGO, Citizen for Justice and Peace, talking about Special Investigating Team (SIT) chairman RK Raghavan insisting on the reinstatement of senior Gujarat cadre IPS officers Shivanand Jha and Geeta Johri, who had been taken off the team probing the riots cases. While the NGO has demanded reconstitution of the SIT alleging omissions and commissions by its members, the Gujarat government is against any change in the SIT. Amicus curiae Harish Salve informed the bench that he had to get clarifications from the SIT on the allegations levelled against its members. Raghavan was present in the court today. Posting the next hearing on the SIT reconstitution plea for May 6, the bench asked Salve to have the issues sorted out with the team by then.
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Predicament of Meghalaya CM
Guwahati, April 28 Whoever becomes the chief minister of the hill state has to remain focused on protecting his/her chair than concentrating on governance given that the state with a population of about 2.3 million has been governed by 11 different governments headed by nine chief ministers since 1998. The situation became worse since 97th Amendment to the Constitution in 2004 that ‘rightsized’ the state cabinets according to the number of total members in the Assembly. Meghalaya with a 60-member Assembly can now have a cabinet with maximum 12 members. Given that the sizes of the cabinets before the said Amendment used to be of about 30 members, the chief minister in Meghalaya often runs out of options to constitute a cabinet that can satisfy all. As a result, making a large number of lawmakers who have failed to make it to the cabinet, political secretaries has become an audacious practice. |
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Cases against Khushboo quashed
New Delhi, April 28 The Bench, which included Justices Deepak Verma and BS Chauhan, read out only the operative portion and the reasons for its conclusions would be known in a day or two after a copy of it is made available. Khushboo (39), who has played the lead female role in many a blockbuster film, welcomed the verdict, stating that her case had proved that the judiciary was on the side of truth and reasoning, irrespective of the fact whether the person seeking justice was poor or powerless. The actor had kicked off a major controversy by reportedly stating that it was okay if girls had pre-marital sex after safeguarding themselves against contracting diseases and getting pregnant. The cases were filed by several activists and organisations despite her clarification that she did not intend to lower the image of Tamil people or undermine their culture. |
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Ansari mulls changing time of Question Hour New Delhi, April 28 Ansari is slated to call a meeting of the Rajya Sabha’s Rules Committee within the next few days to take a final view on this proposal. A distressed chairman told the Rajya Sabha this morning about his proposal when Question Hour was again derailed by the Opposition. “The Chair has watched with great distress constant disruption of Question Hour in this session. If the Question Hour is that irrelevant, then the Chair exercises the right of invoking rule 38 and shifting the question hour and I shall give a decision on this in the course of the day,” he told the House today. This is not the first time that Ansari has expressed concern over the increasing instances of disruption of Question Hour. He had suggested in the first half of the ongoing Budget session that the Question Hour be shifted in order to maintain its inviolability. According to rule 38 of the Rules of Procedures and Conduct of Business of Rajya Sabha, the first hour of every sitting is set aside for asking and answering of questions. However, the Chairman has the right to direct otherwise. He had placed three options before the Rules Committee in this connection. These are: a) The sitting of the House should commence at 10.30 am, instead of 11.00 am, with Zero Hour submissions followed by Question Hour from 11.00 am to 12.00 noon; b) The House should take up Zero Hour submissions at the beginning, i.e. at 11.00 am, and Question Hour should be held from 11.30 am to 12.30 pm; c) The post-lunch session should commence with Question Hour beginning at 2.00 pm. The RS chairman is keen on effective use of the Question Hour by the House. He had amended the rules governing the conduct of Question Hour last December following which no starred question goes unanswered on account of the absence of the member in whose name the question is listed.
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26/11: Fresh evidence tabled Mumbai, April 28 The affidavits pertain to two witnesses, one of whom carried the bodies of two Pakistani gunman killed by security forces and the other who had witnessed killing of a civilian and a police constable by terrorists at Metro junction on November 26, 2008.The Court, which is expected to deliver verdict on May 3, accepted these documents yesterday.Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab and two Indians, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed are facing the trial.According to prosecution, these witnesses were not examined orally because of their formal character and instead their affidavits were filed to place on record certain facts.This is for the second time that the prosecution has submitted such evidences. Normally, the court does not accept evidence after closing the case and reserving the judgement. But if it finds that it cannot ignore such evidence then it may take on record documents submitted by prosecution, legal sources said. — PTI
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UP starts SMS alert on ration
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New Delhi, April 28
New Delhi, April 28
