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Bhatt did not attend meeting with Modi, says ex-DGP
DGCA to conduct audit of safety measures at helipads
In Kerala govt hospital, ‘mass C-sections done to suit holiday plans’ of gynaecologists
Maharashtra govt, anti-Jaitapur protesters on collision course
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Bal Thackeray attacks Rane over ‘contract’ remarks
15 AP districts hit by unseasonal rains
2G scam
Judiciary needs greater accountability: Experts
Govt clarifies on rules of seniority for ex-servicemen
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Bhatt did not attend meeting with Modi, says ex-DGP
Ahmedabad/New Delhi, Apr 23 Bhatt had alleged in his affidavit that at the meeting, Modi had instructed officers to allow Hindus to "vent out their anger" during the clashes, and wanted Muslims to be "taught a lesson". "He (Sanjiv Bhatt) was not present in that particular meeting held with the Chief Minister and other high-ranking officials. I have told this to the Special Investigation Team (probing the riots) during my deposition," K Chakrabarthi, the then Director General of Police, said. Meanwhile, in Delhi, the Congress stepped up attack against Modi saying victims will not get justice as long as he is the Chief Minister of Gujarat. "As long as Narendra Modi is the Chief Minister, the victims cannot get justice there," party general secretary Digvijay Singh told reporters. The CPM demanded immediate investigation of Modi's role in the 2002 post-Godhra riots and his prosecution following accusations by a senior state police officer. Noting that the affidavit filed by Bhatt had alleged that Modi had "instructed senior police officials in a meeting not to act to protect Muslims from violence", the party said the statement "confirms the culpability of the Chief Minister in the pogroms". "There should be no further delay in the investigations into the role of Narendra Modi and initiating steps to prosecute him," the CPM Politburo said in a statement. Predictably, the BJP came to Modi's defence. "From what I know of Narendra Modi personally, I cannot even imagine that he would have supported post-Godhra rioters. The court will itself decide on the PIL or affidavit that this person has filed," former BJP president Rajnath Singh said. Bhatt was posted in the Intelligence Department when India saw its worst communal riots since the Partition, which claimed the lives of 1,200 people across Gujarat. In his affidavit to the apex court, Bhatt says that he attended a meeting on February 27, 2002 - after the Godhra train burning incident earlier that day - during which Modi asked police officers to be "indifferent" to rioters and to the calls for help from the areas under attack. He has further stated that he had attended the meeting on the day of Godhra train burning incident as he was asked to accompany the DGP by the state control room. Bhatt, posted as the DCP at the State Intelligence Bureau during the 2002 riots, said he had attended the meeting along with the DGP. — PTI
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DGCA to conduct audit of safety measures at helipads
New Delhi, April 23
“We are thinking of conducting an audit of readiness of safety measures at heliports, basically those situated in the remote areas...In Tawang, the first fire-tender reached the spot after quite a long time,” Director General of Civil Aviation EK Bharat Bhushan told mediapersons here today on the sidelines of a function of Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited (PHHL). The Mi-172 helicopter, carrying 23 persons, crashed in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang area on Tuesday after it caught fire just before it was to land at the helipad located at an altitude of 11,000 feet, bordering China's Tibet region. The first fire-tender reached the spot after 45 minutes, which, officials feel led to heightened casualties. Bhushan said the Voice Data Recorder of the ill-fated chopper had been recovered and sent to Mumbai for decoding. Rejecting Arunachal Pradesh government's claims that PHHL was responsible for the crash as their helicopters were not airworthy and not maintained as per the DGCA guidelines, Bhushan said the 14-year-old helicopter that crashed in Tawang had the ‘Certificate of Airworthiness’ valid till this year-end.
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In Kerala govt hospital, ‘mass C-sections done to suit holiday plans’ of gynaecologists
Alappuzha (Kerala), Apr 23 After a preliminary probe, the district medical officer (DMO), KM Sirabudeen, recommended suspension of three gynaecologists and the superintendent of the hospital, official sources here said. The probe by the DMO confirmed the allegation that as many as 21 caesarian sections were performed on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of the “mass caesarians”, allegedly to suit “holiday” plans of the gynaecologists, the sources said. Such a large number of operations were performed without taking into account basic factors like bed-strength in the state-run hospital, where mostly less privileged sections come for treatment. Health experts said the number of caesarian sections performed every year in Kerala far outstrips the limit set by the WHO. While the UN health agency has fixed caesarian sections not to exceed 15 per every 100 deliveries, it is as high as 45 in Kerala, a public health expert said here. The Kerala Government would set up a high-level experts’ team to conduct a detailed inquiry into the issue. The matter came to light after relatives of some women complained that 21 caesarian sections were performed within two days earlier this week so that the three doctors in the gynaecology department at the Cherthala taluk hospital could keep off duty during the Easter holidays. They alleged that some of these cases involved women who could wait till next Sunday for normal delivery. The operations were advanced without bothering about available facilities, which allowed only a handful of deliveries or caesarian procedure to be performed on a day, they alleged. The government has a string of holidays since Thursday, ahead of Easter. But there are restrictions on doctors and paramedics in government health services being absent from duty on holidays. Youth and women outfits of all major political parties had come out in protest against the incident demanding firm action against doctors for serious negligence on their part. Located in a densely populated coastal town, the Cherthala hospital is heavily relied upon by less privileged sections of society like fishermen and coir workers. — PTI
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Maharashtra govt, anti-Jaitapur protesters on
Mumbai, April 23 According to sources, the Maharashtra Government is determined not to let the protesters reach Jaitapur on Monday as the situation is tense following police firing and a Ratnagiri bandh called by the Shiv Sena earlier this week. The government has imposed prohibitory orders in Ratnagiri, according to SP Ratnagiri Pradeep Raskar. “We will not let the protesters reach Jaitapur as there can be a breach of peace,” Raskar said. Meanwhile in Tarapur scores of people who had come for the rally were taken into custody, the police said. However several NGOs, which are spearheading the rally say the protests will continue with people joining the route all along the Konkan coast. Government officials said, “We are negotiating with the rally organisers to get them change their schedule in view of the law and order situation in Ratnagiri.”
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Bal Thackeray attacks Rane over ‘contract’ remarks
Mumbai, April 23 “Were Rane counting the money when Sena was offered Rs 500 crore to oppose the Jaitapur nuclear plant. People who know Rane won't find the allegations surprising. The same person had alleged that some Congress leaders had connection with Pakistani terrorists after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks,” Thackeray said in an editorial of the party mouthpiece Saamana. Rane had also criticised senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel and refused to work under the then Chief Minister Ashok Chavan saying it was his “insult” to work under him, he said.
— PTI
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15 AP districts hit by unseasonal rains
Hyderabad, April 23 Crops such as paddy, chilly, groundnut, maize and tobacco suffered extensive damage in 15 districts of the state, according to the Disaster Management Department. The monetary assessment of the loss was yet to be done. Officials of the Department today briefed Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy about the losses caused by hailstorms and rains between April 15 and 22. — PTI
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2G
scam
New Delhi, April 23 On this, the CBI assured the court that the documents would be supplied to the accused by April 30. “A Raja, Sanjay Chandra, Shahid Balwa, Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt Ltd and Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd have filed the application seeking supply of deficient documents... Senior public prosecutor submits that deficient documents would be supplied by April 30,” the court said. The court has now fixed April 25 for scrutiny of documents and extended the remand of all the accused till then. The court had earlier on April 20, dismissed the bail plea of five corporate honchos - Sanjay Chandra, MD of Unitech wireless (TN) Ltd; Gautam Doshi, Group MD of Reliance ADAG; Vinod Goenka, co-promoter of Swan Telecom; and Reliance ADAG’s Surender Pipara and Hari Nair, who have been named as accused in the chargesheet. The court had dismissed their bail plea saying they may tamper with evidence and even flee to avoid prosecution in the “highest magnitude” 2G spectrum allocation scam. The agency, in its first chargesheet, running into about 80,000 pages, had said Raja conspired with top bureaucrats and corporate honchos to cause a loss of Rs 30,984 crore in the allocation of 2G spectrum. Besides these corporate leaders and Raja, former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, Raja’s personal secretary RK Chandolia and Shahid Usman Balwa have also been named as accused in the chargesheet. CBI had also named Swan Telecom, Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Private Ltd and Reliance Telecom in its first chargesheet in the case. — PTI
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Judiciary needs greater accountability: Experts
New Delhi, April 23 Chidambaram said the judiciary could not find solution to each and every problem, particularly those relating to law and order arising from Naxalite activities in some states. The executive and the legislature, as long as they enjoyed people’s mandate, should be left alone to deal with such problems “through trial and error.” The Home Minister specifically pointed out the SC verdict mandating that the public transport in Delhi should be run only on compressed natural gas (CNG), instead of petrol and diesel. What would happen if the prices of CNG soared or there was a sudden short-supply of this commodity, he wanted to know. Justice Verma echoed somewhat similar sentiments stating that the ceiling and demolition drive in Delhi should not have been implemented under SC monitoring. Justice Kuldip Singh, who delivered the keynote address, said that at least the Chief Justice of India should be appointed through selection and not by seniority. The focus of his address was on transparency and accountability within the judiciary, particularly in the Collegium system of appointments of Judges. Justice Verma, who spoke later, endorsed these views. The eminent jurists were addressing a function organised by the Dr KN Katju Memorial Committee, where the topic of discussion was “What ails the Indian Judiciary?” Dr Katju, an eminent lawyer, was the third Union Home Minister during the tenure of Jawaharlal Nehru.
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Govt clarifies on rules of seniority for ex-servicemen
New Delhi, April 23 The Department of Personnel and Training, has issued a circular on April 13 to finally include instructions about seniority of Emergency Commissioned officers and Short-Service Commissioned officers who join the civilian government after January 29, 1974. In its earlier order on July 1986, consolidated instructions on seniority were issued but the instructions were not included on seniority of post-January 1974 Emergency Commissioned officers and Short-Service Commissioned. This led to confusion among the former soldiers and also to their counterparts who were direct entries to the civilian bureaucracy. Since then various references have been made by various ministries and departments regarding determination of seniority of officers released from forces to join the civilian service after January 29, 1974.
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Nithyananda film: Stay extended Hazare's nephew joins Congress CWG scam: Two granted bail Puducherry Oppn
calls for bandh
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Sanjiv Bhatt (left), who was posted as the DCP at the State Intelligence Bureau during the 2002 riots, in his affidavit to the SC, has stated that he had attended a meeting in which Gujarat CM Narendra Modi had asked police officers to allow Hindus to vent their anger
