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Lokpal Bill: Civil society members submit documents to govt
Voters returning to Left Front, claims Bengal CM Buddhadeb
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Pak is factory of terrorism: BJP
Was Pak not in the loop? What about India’s Most Wanted?
Kashmir on alert after Laden’s death
Muted Muslim reaction to killing of Osama
Osama’s death will not help Indian cause
Security up at Wagah, Rajasansi airport
Arbitrators getting Rs 1.5 lakh per hearing
CM & missing chopper
ISRO builds country’s fastest supercomputer
Cash-for-votes scam: SC seeks status report from Delhi Police
NCDs will claim 52m lives annually by 2030
Naxals ‘forming base’ in urban M’rashtra
SC to decide on notice to army personnel,
HP land Act
SC notice to Centre, states on endosulfan
Pilots’ strike will not see another day, rules HC
Adarsh panel summons former CM Shinde
Fake encounter
HC: Tiwari should give blood sample
AIEEE Paper Leak
IPL row headed for larger SC Bench
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Lokpal Bill: Civil society members submit documents to govt
New Delhi, May 2 Accordingly, the civil society representatives submitted two documents to the government detailing the “principles and preamble” for the Bill. Senior lawyer Shanti Bhushan and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal made brief presentations on these two papers which, they said, were based on the main provisions of the UN Convention Against Corruption. The other civil society members include social activist Anna Hazare, former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde and eminent lawyer Prashant Bhushan. The panel’s civil society members had submitted their revised version of the Jan Lokpal Bill at the first meeting last month which, they suggested, could be the basis of their subsequent meetings.The government members, however, asked them first to elaborate on the principles and objects which, they felt, should be the starting point of their deliberations. “The civil society members on the joint drafting committee presented a document with respect to the objectives of the Bill as well as a document which enunciated the general principles underlying the bill,” HRD Minister and government representative in the committee Kapil Sibal told reporters after the meeting. “We will now study the documents submitted by them and give our response at the next meeting which has been scheduled for May 7. Today we only listened to them,” said another Cabinet minister who is also a member of the joint panel headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The 90-minute discussions, it was stated, were conducted in a cordial atmosphere and there was no reference to the controversies which had erupted with regard to the father-son duo Shanti and Prashant Bhushan after the last meeting. Both sides agreed to meet more frequently to expedite work on the draft Bill so that the committee is able to meet the June 30 deadline for finalising the proposed legislation. After May 7, the next meetings will be held on May 23 and 30. Government sources explained that instead of going in for a clause by clause discussion, the meetings should first focus on finding convergence on the broad principles after which the two sides can move to the next stage of drafting the Bill. For instance, it was explained, if their document lays down that the judiciary be subject to scrutiny by the Lokpal, the two sides will then focus on the pending Judicial Accountability Bill and whether it will be subsumed by the proposed legislation. Similarly, if the committee will also have to take a view to take a view on whether the Commission of Inquiry Act will be subservient to the Lokpal or else there will be duplication which can actually hamper investigations as it happened in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. In a bid to fast track the drafting of the bill ahead of June 30 deadline, the committee agreed to meet again on May 7, 23 and 30 to discuss the Bill. The committee may even meet on daily basis in June to keep with the deadline to help government introduce the bill in the Monsoon session, a member said.
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Voters returning to Left Front, claims Bengal CM Buddhadeb
Kolkata, May 2 Bhattacharjee today addressed several meetings in Bankura and Purulia districts where the elections would he held on the fifth phase of polling on May 7. In the fourth phase of the elections tomorrow, the polling will take place in 63 constituencies in Howrah, Hooghly, east Midnapore and some parts in Burdwan districts. The Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee addressed several poll meetings in west Midnapore and at several places in Burdwan and Purulia districts today. She said development of the Maoist-hit districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia was a must and her credentials as a performer were proved by the work she had undertaken for the region as the Union Railway Minister. Promising creation of 10 lakh jobs in the first two years of her government, she said, "Industries would be set up in a district where the Left Front has done nothing. But we will not acquire any farmland for the purpose...Let there be agriculture, let there be industry. But let the destructive CPM go," she said. Addressing an election meeting at Bishnupur in Bankura district, Mamata alleged, "In the name of joint operations against Maoists, common people are being tortured by the CPM. We will prove this after the elections if we are voted to power." Mamata had earlier alleged a nexus between the CPM and the Maoists and said the extremists' vote boycott call was designed to help the Marxists win the poll in the region. "The CPM believes that it can stay on in power by killing people. The people will not allow this. We will rescue democracy in the state," she said. Apparently referring to the alleged armed camps set up by the CPM in the region, she said, "I am telling the harmads (CPM armed cadres) not to help the CPM rig the election. Union minister Pranab Mukherjee also participated in the campaign in favour of the Congress-TMC alliance against the Left Front candidates yesterday. Both Mamata and Mukherjee were confident about the defeat of the Left Front in this elections. Both the leaders were sure of the formation of a new coalition government after 34 years of “CPM’s misrule” in the state. Meanwhile, chairman of Allahabad Bank G P Dua denied today that there were any irregularities in issuing the draft worth Rs 10 lakhs in the name of the TMC candidate as alleged by the state housing minister Gautam Deb. He said the bank authorities had not taken any action against any officer\ employee in this connection since the drafts were issued as per the banking rules and the RBI guidelines.
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OSAMA dead india’s concernS
New Delhi, May 2 In the coming days, New Delhi is expected to renew its campaign with the US and other major world powers, impressing upon them that the war against terrorism cannot be taken to its logical conclusion until the safe havens of terrorists in Pakistan are not destroyed. “If reports that Osama had been living in a two-storeyed mansion close to a military academy for almost 5 years are true, then Pakistan will have a lot of explaining to do,’’ one senior official said. India has for long been impressing upon the US and other major world powers that Pakistan continues to be the epicentre of terrorism, providing sanctuaries to international terrorist networks. The weak civilian government in Islamabad might not be in league with terrorist groups but the ISI and the Pakistan Army do influence the operations of jehadi groups who have taken refuge in the Pakistani territory and are carrying out attacks in India and other countries. Osama’s killing in a well-planned CIA operation about which even the Pakistani authorities were not informed in advance virtually confirms that the Americans too had stopped trusting the Pakistani establishment. Washington obviously had valid reasons for not trusting Islamabad. The Americans had repeatedly pointed out to the Pakistanis that Osama had taken shelter in Pakistan. However, every time, they raised the issue, Islamabad would vehemently deny his presence on the Pakistani soil. Just six months back, an unnamed NATO official had said that Osama was "alive and well and living comfortably" in Pakistan, protected by elements of the country's intelligence services. The official said Osama was not holed up in any cave and added that Taliban leader Mullah Omar was also in Pakistan. Islamabad quickly went into the denial mode, stonewalling yet again the attempt to track down the Al-Qaida chief. There are lurking fears that the Al-Qaida could unleash terror attacks the world over, particularly in India and the US, in retaliation for the killing of Osama. Strategic experts say that despite Osama’s killing, the operational structure of Al-Qaida is intact. Others like Ilyas Kashmiri, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Baddaruddin Haqqani could take charge of the Al-Qaida operations. Taking no chances, the authorities in India stepped up security across the country following the announcement of the killing of Osama by US President Barack Obama. Special security measures have been taken at The American Embassy and other major foreign missions in New Delhi. In the coming days, a special watch would be kept on ‘sympathisers’ and ‘followers’ of Osama in the country. However, a senior minister, who did not wish to be quoted, dismissed the speculation that the Al-Qaida enjoyed a good following in India. According to him, the killing of Saddam Hussein had sparked violence in some parts of the country because the deposed Iraqi President was a great friend of India and a pillar of the non-aligned movement (NAM). This logic could not be applied in the case of Osama.
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Manmohan hails Osama’s killing
New Delhi, May 2 Describing the killing as a significant step forward in the war against terrorism, the PM hoped it would deal a decisive blow to the Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. “The international community and Pakistan, in particular, must work comprehensively to end activities of all such groups that threaten civilised behaviour and kill innocent men, women and children,” he said in a statement. Official sources said the Americans had formally informed New Delhi about the killing of Osama in a late night CIA operation at Abbottabad, about 100 km from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. There is a speculation that the decision to postpone the PM’s visit to Afghanistan this week also had something to do with the CIA operation against Osama. Home Minister P Chidambaram, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and AK Antony were also quick to react to the death of the world’s most dreaded terrorist, who commanded the 9/11 mayhem in the US. In a statement, the Home Minister, considered a hawk in the Indian establishment, said New Delhi was gravely concerned over the fact that Osama’s killing took place “deep inside Pakistan” which only underlined the fact that terrorists belonging to different organisations had found sanctuary in Pakistan. “We believe that the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack, including the controllers and handlers of the terrorists who actually carried out the attack, continue to be sheltered in Pakistan,” he said and reiterated India’s demand that Islamabad should arrest the persons whose names had been handed over to Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik. Pakistan should also provide voice samples of certain persons who were suspected to be among the controllers and handlers of terrorists, he added. Foreign Minister Krishna spoke in a similar vein in his brief statement on Osama’s killing, describing it as a historic development and victorious milestone in the global war against the forces of terrorist groups. “The world must not let down its united effort to overcome and eliminate the safe haven and sanctuaries that have been provided to terrorists in our own neighbourhood. The struggle must continue unabated,” he added. Krishna said the operation in which the dreaded terrorist was killed had brought to end an almost decade-long search for the head of the Al-Qaida.
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Pak is factory of terrorism: BJP
New Delhi, May 2 The Congress has also demanded a similar action on the eastern side of Pakistan (bordering India). While the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj in her tweet called Laden “Humanity’s enemy number one”, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad described Laden as the most visible and dangerous face of global Jehadi terror. “We demand that all terrorists responsible for terror attacks from across the border be handed over to India. It is a litmus test for Pakistan. The Government of India must acknowledge this fact in all future talks with Pakistan,” Prasad said. The BJP spokesman said, “He was killed in Pakistan, almost in the backyard of its capital, Islamabad. This is the final confirmation of the hard fact that Pakistan remains the epicentre of global terror where terrorism and terrorists both are allowed to be encouraged and given shelter.” He further said that India is entitled to insist that perpetrators of 26/11 Mumbai attack must be handed over to it. “We have been saying that Pakistan gives shelter to terrorists to attack India. Those who conspired for the Mumbai attacks are still in safe sanctuaries...The Pakistan government has stopped taking any action against them,” said Prasad. Meanwhile, Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari has demanded a similar action on the eastern side of Pakistan. However, he refused to elaborate on whether such an action should be taken by the Indian Government or he expected the US to act on behalf of India. He said, “I am not willing to elaborate. We have been alleging the existence of terror network in Pakistan and we stand vindicated today.”
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Was Pak not in the loop? New Delhi, May 2 It is likely that Pakistan was informed at the last minute when the US choppers were already on their way to hit Laden’s hideout in Abbotabad, about 100 km from the Line of Control (LoC) with India. Indian civilian security agencies find it hard to believe that US choppers flew into the city, which is a military garrison and the authorities did not know about it. They also do not believe that the Pakistan air force radars - largely sourced from US and China - did not pick up any signals moving objects. Also, it is quite surprising that no policeman in the city drew the attention of his superiors about the explosion and crash of one of the choppers. It is a possibility that the US might have jammed the radars and hence the Pakistanis were caught unawares. “They can do it,” said a senior functionary. The EA-6B Prowler aircraft provide an umbrella of protection to ground troops by jamming radars, electronic data links and communications. It is possible that one these was pressed into service and was backed by airborne radars and positions locaters.
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What about India’s Most Wanted? New Delhi, May 2 Islamabad has, however, simply ignored India’s demand, claiming many of those named in the list have never even entered Pakistan. Some of those named in the Indian list are: Dawood Ibrahim, an Indian underworld don who was behind the planning and financing of 13 explosions in Mumbai in 1993 in which almost 300 people died. Ibrahim is wanted in connection with cases of arms supply, counterfeiting, drugs trade, funding alleged criminals, murder and smuggling. He is said to be living in Karachi. Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, co-founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), who masterminded the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks as also the attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001. He operates from Muridke town, near Lahore in Pakistan. Maulana Masood Azhar, leader of Jaish-i-Mohammad (JeM), man behind the attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001. He is also wanted for an attack on the J&K Assembly on October 1, 2001 in which 38 people were killed. He currently lives in and operates from Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Chhota Shakeel, a key associate of Dawood Ibrahim. Wanted for murder, extortion, kidnapping, blackmail of businessmen and film stars in India. He also lives in and operates from Karachi. "Tiger" Ibrahim Memon, accused of executing the 1993 Mumbai blasts. He is wanted in cases of murder, extortion, kidnapping, terrorism and smuggling arms and explosives in India. He is currently living in Pakistan. Wadhawan Singh Babbar, chief of Sikh group Babbar Khalsa International, which was involved in the insurgency in Punjab during the 1980s. He is wanted in over a dozen cases of sedition, murder and in connection with the assassination of Punjab's then chief minister Beant Singh. He lives in and operates from Lahore. Paramjit Singh Panjwar, leader of the Khalistan Commando Force. He is accused of trying to revive the Sikh insurgency in Punjab and is wanted in more than a dozen cases of murder, treason, conspiracy and arms smuggling. He lives in and operates from Lahore.
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Kashmir on alert after Laden’s death
Srinagar, May 2 The situation, however, remained normal and there was no visible impact on the routine life as educational institutions, government offices, business establishments and transport services were normal. “We were alert and there were no reports of any trouble… everything was normal,” a senior police official said here this evening. The people keenly watched the developments and reports about the killing of Osama and the related developments taking place the world over after the incident in the neighbourhood of Pakistan early on Monday. Soon after the reports this morning, all eyes were set on the situation in Kashmir as several residents, both migrant Pandits and Muslim majority members working outside the state, started queries from their friends and relatives about the situation. Separatist leaders chose to remain silent over the issue, though the moderate faction led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq issued a guarded statement condemning all kinds of terrorism, without any direct reference to the killing of Osama bin Laden. “The APHC condemns terrorism and feels that terrorism of all kinds is condemnable,” a statement of the Hurriyat Conference says. “It (terrorism) by any individual, organization or the government is a crime against humanity,” the statement added. It added that peace could not be maintained unless the basic causes of terror were identified and the governments played their role in addressing social, political and international matters in a positive manner. The statement also referred to the issues like Kashmir, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and the present political turbulence in the Arab countries, saying these posed a dangerous situation at the global level. These situations could be overcome by taking serious and realistic measures, the Hurriyat Conference spokesman opined. He added that the kind of approach against suppression sometimes takes the shape of terrorism and added that the APHC appealed to the heads of the governments of different countries at the global level to “identify the causes of unrest” at the global level and thereby, develop a positive thinking and approach to ensure a safe future. Condemning all kinds of terrorism, the hardline APHC chairman, Syed Ali Geelani has said the US was bent upon an anti-Muslim and anti-Islam campaign around the world. “If Osama has been killed, he will be a Shaheed,” Geelani said while commenting upon the reports about the death of Osama bin Laden. He added that Osama was a symbol of a resistance against the anti-Islam and anti-Muslim forces across the world.
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Muted Muslim reaction to killing of Osama
New Delhi, May 2 Most public places did business as usual even as TV channels kept on dishing out images of Osama’s eyes shut, grimacing with a contorted face and a visible bullet injury in the head. But scratch a little deeper and some of them would react, “Did he really exist. We have been told so many times about his death that we thought he died long ago,” quipped Rajya Sabha MP Mohammad Adeeb when asked about Osama’s killing. He, however, felt that people had become sick of terrorism. But JD-S general secretary Danish Ali articulated the predominant feeling among most Muslims: “He was created by the US. He survived in Tora Bora and had a free run of the entire Af-Pak region in full knowledge of the USA, Pakistan and even Afghanistan governments. He was killed now perhaps because he became expendable.” An Urdu Editor dismissed it with some disdain saying, “Osama was sent by the US to Afghanistan first to ostensibly fight the Soviets and then later to keep alive the spectre of terrorism. He was there to provide justification to George W Bush to attack and destroy Iraq and carry on his “war on terror. Now closer to the US elections, Barack Obama needs to capture and kill him to score a political point and that is why the operation was successful”. And so he noted that while no one in his vicinity has come forward to welcome the killing and capture of Osama, there also appeared to be business as usual in his locality. “Osama was no visionary. But for the first time he created a consciousness among the rather prosperous Arab youth or let us say the youth of the Muslim world that America is their enemy and the rulers in their respective states were only American puppets who also needed to be removed. In this sense, he has left an indelible mark in history,” said this journalist. Union Minorities Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid seemed to agree with this basic premise in so far as he felt that it might lead to further Anti-American sentiment among the Muslim youth. “It may have a far-reaching impact on the people on how they would look at the USA,” but the minister also noted that Osama was no Saddam Husain or Yaser Arafat with whom people cutting across religious or national identities, identified and were willing to come out on the streets to protest. Another Muslim bureaucrat also admitted privately that “he had become a cult figure whom anyone and everyone the world over knew and radical elements also admired”. After this, the terrorists across the border might mount more attacks against India and therefore the Indian government needed to be far more careful and cautious in the coming months, he felt. But as far as Indian Muslims were concerned, this was too distant an event to affect them directly. “When the Indian Muslims remain largely indifferent to events in Kashmir, how and why would they be agitated about Osama bin Laden being killed in Pakistan?” wondered another Muslim bureaucrat.
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Osama’s death will not help Indian cause
New Delhi, May 2 Laden has not been in the forefront of any planning in the past four years due to health reasons. The planning has been taken over by the Haqqani group in Afghanistan and the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) for India. The LeT works independently of the Al-Qaida. Hafiz Saeed and Illyas Kashmiri are two of its top leaders and the planners execute attacks through an army of foot soldiers like Ajmal Kasab. Kashmiri has interest in Afghanistan but is keen on India too. Director of the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) Brig Gurmeet Kanwal (retd) says: “Like the US, India needs to develop military capability to take out people like Hafiz Saeed, Dawood Abrahim or Maulana Masood Azhar.” The ISI is lying low due to internal strife and the restive Pak-Afghan border, it will not ignore India.
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Security up at Wagah, Rajasansi airport
Amritsar, May 2 The immigration authorities at the Attari-Wagah checkpost have been directed to check all passengers thoroughly. Security has also been beefed up at the Amritsar international airport. IG Himmat Singh said BSF battalions at the western frontier had been told to step up vigil.
— TNS
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Arbitrators getting Rs 1.5 lakh per hearing
Parsvnath Developers case
Chandigarh, May 2 And, they are just not willing to reduce the amount. An application moved by the Chandigarh Housing Board praying for a “reduction in the arbitral fee” failed to find favour with the arbitration tribunal this morning. The tribunal, comprising Supreme Court’s former Chief Justice G.S. Patnaik, apex court’s former Judge Justice D.P. Wadhwa and Punjab and Haryana High Court’s former Judge Justice Amar Dutt, dismissed the application. The proceedings started in the open conference hall of the UT Guest House at about 11 am. The Board claimed it was currently facing financial instability. Quoting an example, the Board said it has been burdened with a demand for Rs 328.48 crore by the income tax department. The hearing today also did not last for more than an hour. And for it, each of the three arbitrators will be paid Rs 1.50 lakh. Besides, their board, lodging and transportation, too, will be taken care of. The arbitration process started on December 18, 2009. The tribunal has held 21 sittings so far. Substantive proceedings are yet to commence. Rough estimates suggest more than Rs 1 crore was spent till December last as arbitration expenses by both the sides. Excluding the operating cost for today’s hearing, the expense incurred by the board solely on arbitration fee has been more than Rs 39 lakh. In all, nothing less than Rs 56.69 lakh were spent on the arbitration process by the board in just about a year till December 2010. At one occasion, the tribunal met twice in a day and charged separately for both the sittings. In fact, an order passed by tribunal on February 28 says in case of two sittings on any date of hearing, the arbitrators shall be charging for both the sittings. The board had sought rescinding of this order also. But, this plea too stands dismissed. Information gathered by The Tribune under the Right to Information Act makes it clear the process is leaving the housing board in a poor financial health. And, the failure of the PrideAsia project to rise is financially pulling the Board down. It is also believed the process is largely taking the housing board flats out of the common man’s reach. Available information suggests some of the housing board flats could have been priced much less. Only in December 2010, the board floated a scheme for allotment of 160 two-bedroom flats on a freehold basis under self financing housing scheme. It fixed Rs 50.65 lakh as the price for a ground floor residence and Rs. 47.39 lakh for a first-floor property. In response, an executive engineer-cum-CPIO has asserted that “arbitration is still going on”; and the arbitrators have so far been paid Rs 39, 88, 500. Initially, the tribunal comprised Justice Amar Dutt, Justice D.P. Wadhwa and Justice S.C. Agrawal. In December, Justice Agrawal expressed his inability to continue and has been replaced by Justice Patnaik. Justice Wadhwa is representing Parsvnath, while Justice Dutt is representing the board. Justice Patnaik is presiding arbitrator, nominated by the two arbitrators. The “fee of the arbitrators, boarding, lodging and transportation charges of the arbitrators are to be shared equally by both the parties”; and the board so far has “no such information on record” as to how much is eventually expected to be paid to each arbitrator. The board today declared it would hold 14 hearings spread over seven days from August, indicating financial burden of another Rs 21 lakh on it.
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CM & missing chopper
Guwahati, May 2 An Indian Air Force spokesman R Sahoo informed that two Mi17s helicopters carried out search for three hours from Tawang but had to be recalled due to bad weather. Sources informed that infra-red images taken by two of Sukhoi 30 aircraft yesterday detected something resembling an aircraft inside Bhutan. So aerial and land searches are now concentrating there. Satellite images recommended at least three places around Sela Pass to carry out search operation. Meanwhile, a meeting of the crisis management team held at Itanagar this morning which was attended, among others, by union ministers Mukul Wasnik and V Narayanaswami decided to intensify ground search operations in three certain areas - east of Sela Pass, Eagle Nest Wildlife Sanctuary and areas around Dirang with police, SSB personnel and civilian volunteers. The crisis management team has deputed a team led by Congress MP Takam Sanjoy to pitch its camp at Bomdila to oversee the ground search that would be conducted with advice from experts. “We are going to focus on the ground search operation in the core area comprising east of Sela Pass, areas around Dirang and Eagle Nest Wildlife Sanctuary. The supervisory team has the state IGP (vigilance), two ministers, one MLA, Assam’s forest minister Rockybul Hussain and some other young people. We are going to take help of the civilian volunteers as much as possible. We hope for the best,” Takam Sanjoy said. Inclement weather did not allow the IAF and Army choppers to conduct search operations on Monday too. Troops of Indian Army, the SSB and the ITBP are engaged in search operations while Bhutanese authorities are providing all possible help to search for the missing chopper inside their country. Meanwhile, monks all over Arunachal Pradesh are observing earthen lamp vigil, including in the centuries old monasteries at Tawang since Sunday praying for the safe return of Dorjee Khandu, a Buddhist by religion.
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ISRO builds country’s fastest supercomputer
COMPUTING DATA
Bangalore, May 2 The new graphic processing unit (GPU)-based supercomputer named “SAGA-220” (Supercomputer for Aerospace with GPU Architecture-220 teraflops) is for use by space scientists for solving complex aerospace problems. The supercomputer was inaugurated by ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, today. SAGA-220 has been fully designed and built at the VSSC using commercially available hardware, open source software components and in-house research. The system uses 400 NVIDIA Tesla 2070 GPUs and 400 Intel Quad Core Xeon CPUs supplied by the software major Wipro with a high speed interconnect. With each GPU providing a performance of 500 gigaflops and each CPU 50 gigaflops, the theoretical peak performance of the system amounts to 220 teraflops. The GPU system offers significant advantage over the conventional CPU-based system in terms of cost, power and space requirements. The cost of the supercomputer is about Rs 14 crore. The system uses an environment friendly technology and consumes only 150 kW of power. The system can also be scaled up to petaflops (one petaflop is equivalent to 1,000 teraflops). The supercomputer is 1.5 times more powerful than India’s fastest computer now and three times faster than ISRO’s current supercomputing capability. The existing supercomputer at VSSC has a speed of 70 teraflops. One teraflop is the ability to process one trillion mathematical operations in a second. According to an ISRO official, the new supercomputer will be used for advanced computational fluid dynamic (CFD) studies associated with building complex launch platforms, including a reusable launch vehicle. For Wipro, its collaboration with ISRO for building the supercomputer will underscore the capability of its Supernova range of supercomputers, offered in a partnership with US-based Z Research Inc. The company is said to be aiming to build a capability of up to 500 teraflops for ISRO. The fastest supercomputer in India now, at 132.8 teraflops, is Eka at the Computational Research Laboratories Limited (CRL), a subsidiary of Tata Sons Limited, at
Pune.
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Cash-for-votes scam: SC seeks status report from Delhi Police
New Delhi, May 2 A Bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and RM Lodha also issued notice to the Central Government, seeking its response to a plea for setting up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the scam. The Bench passed the order after a brief hearing on a PIL filed by former Chief Election Commissioner JM Lyngdo and 13 others. Among the other PIL petitioners are three ex-DGPs - Julio F Ribeiro of Punjab, BR Lall of Haryana and Prakash Singh of Uttar Pradesh - and former Chief of Air Staff S Krishnaswamy. Pointing out that the FIR itself was registered belatedly on January 27, 2009, the petitioners contended that the Delhi Police was “sitting over the investigation” due to the fact it was under the direct control of the government and that the whole affair involved “top political functionaries”. The Delhi Police was not doing anything despite the fact that a parliamentary committee had given a report against the “errant politicians”. The scam, which came to light after three MPs waved wads of currency notes in the Lok Sabha claiming it to be bribe for cross-voting, “shocked the conscience of the nation” that was watching it live on television, the PIL said. The PIL also cited other such instances in the past, including the 1993 JMM bribery involving Jharkhand Mukhti Morcha (JMM) MPs and the 2007 cash-for-question scam, which led to disqualification of eight MPs for taking money to raise questions in Parliament. Maintaining that all this had made the common man believe that “such cash for votes will continue to prevail in the system”, the petitioners contended it was necessary to restore people’s faith in parliamentary democracy. “The role of money, bribery and red tape vitiates the basic sanctity and purity of not only of the democratic processes and procedures, but also the Parliament as an institution,” the PIL said.
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NCDs will claim 52m lives annually by 2030
New Delhi, May 2 In 2008, 36.1 million persons died due to heart diseases, strokes, chronic lung diseases, cancer and diabetes etc. Around 80 per cent of these deaths occurred in low and middle-income countries. “The rise of chronic non-communicable diseases presents an enormous challenge,” WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan, launching the report ahead of the September’s UN Summit on NCDs, said. She added that in case of some countries, it would be no exaggeration to describe the situation as an impending disaster; a disaster for health, for society, and most of all for national economies. The Global Status Report provides global, regional and country-specific statistics, evidence and experiences needed to launch a more forceful response to the growing threat posed by chronic NCDs. It concludes that cardiovascular diseases account for most NCD deaths (17 million annually), followed by cancer (7.6 million), respiratory disease (4.2 million), and diabetes (1.3 million). These four groups of diseases together make up 80 per cent of all NCD deaths, and share four common risk factors: tobacco use, inadequate physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol and poor diet. About 30 per cent of the people dying from NCDs in low and middle-income countries are under-60 years of age and in their most productive period of life. These premature deaths are all the more tragic because they are largely preventable, the report states. It produces evidence to show that NCDs killed 63 per cent of people who died worldwide in 2008. This equals 36 million and nearly 80 per cent of NCD deaths occurred in low and middle-income countries, dispelling the myth that such conditions are mainly a problem of affluent societies. Without action, the NCD epidemic is projected to kill 52 million persons annually by
2030.
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Naxals ‘forming base’ in urban M’rashtra
Mumbai, May 2 Earlier this week, the Anti-Terror Squad of the Mumbai police scored a major victory with the arrest of Anjali Sontakke (42), a central committee member of the Maoist party who had been underground for the past 15 years. Sontakke, who went by a number of aliases like Angela, Sunita, Kavita and Sushma, worked overground in a number of professions, including that of college teacher, which allowed her to recruit like-minded people to the CPM, said the police. Sontakke is the wife of Milind Teltumbde, secretary of the Maharashtra unit of the party and was herself a member of the Golden Corridor Committee of the party, said Rakesh Maria, who heads the Mumbai unit of the ATS. According to the police, Sontakke is distantly related by marriage to Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of Babasaheb Ambedkar. Both Sontakke and her husband worked closely with Dalit organisations working to promote the ideology of Ambedkar, said the police. “The CPM is using Dalit organisations as overground outfits to recruit members to the party,” a senior police official said here. Prakash Ambedkar himself hit out at the Maharashtra Government for Sontakke’s arrest. “The police is making baseless statements against a highly qualified person,” Ambedkar, who heads the Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh, told a Pune newspaper. The arrest and interrogation of Sontakke and another woman who posed as her niece has resulted in a treasure trove of information for the police. Sources said the police had received leads on at least six to seven senior Naxalites.
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SC to decide on notice to army personnel,
HP land Act
New Delhi, May 2 According to Nirmal Singh, who was employed in the army, about 15 bighas of land was under his tenancy near Ner Chowk between Mandi and Sunder Nagar. Under the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, the landowner is entitled to get back 1.5 acres each from the tenancy holders or tillers. In his appeal, Singh said the landowner applied for resumption (taking back) of land under the Act on November 14, 1975 on which the Land Reforms Officer (LRO) passed an order on February 24, 1977 after pasting a notice on the door of his house in his hometown. Singh, however, claimed that he was not aware of the notice as he was serving in the army that time. His counsel, Anil Nag, argued that under law his client should have been served notice through the Commanding Officer, but this was not done. Significantly, Singh lost his case in the trial court, district court and the High Court. All the three courts had maintained that civil suit was barred under the 1972 Act and that the petitioner should have availed of other remedies by approaching the higher authorities. Nag, however, contended that this was not applicable when the principles of judicial procedure were not followed. In other words, the jurisdiction of the civil courts was open if the principles of judicial procedure were violated. Singh said he came to know of the takeover only after the mutation of the property in the revenue records on January 20, 1992 as he had retired by then.
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SC notice to Centre, states on endosulfan
New Delhi, May 2 A three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia also asked Solicitor-General Gopal Subramanium to be present at the next hearing on May 11 to assist the court. The Bench, which included Justices KSP Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar, passed the order on a PIL filed by CPM’s youth wing, the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). According to the petitioner, the government has failed to protect the fundamental right of the people to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution by allowing the indiscriminate use of the pesticide, which has been banned in more than 81 countries, including the European Union, Australia and New Zealand, and is being phased out in the USA, Brazil and Canada. “Because of its threats to the environment, a global ban on the use and manufacture of endosulfan is being considered under the Stockholm Convention,” the petition said.
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Pilots’ strike will not see another day, rules HC
New Delhi, May 2 “Wait till tomorrow, let the court decide,” Ravi said as the strike initiated by pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines affiliated with the Indian Commercial Pilots Association
(ICPA) entered its sixth day today. “I have already stated that there will be no talks with the pilots till they are on strike,” the minister said. “ A division bench of justices BD Ahmed and Beena
Birbal, while hearing a plea for initiation of contempt proceedings against the pilots, said, “You call off the strike, we will press the management to consider your demand. This strike will not see another day.” After hearing the pilots and the management, the court adjourned the matter till Tuesday. According to the agencies, during their arguments the counsel said the striking pilots “as of now” wanted the management to revoke de-recognition of the ICPA and reinstatement of its office bearers, whose services were terminated last week.“Whatever be the argument, it is a clear contempt. You first withdraw the strike,” the Bench said. The pilots also found no sympathy from
Ravi, who said he had resolved some of their issues with the AI management after a meeting held earlier. “If they (pilots) really wanted to go to the jail there is nothing much I can do,” he quipped.
Ravi, who briefed the Prime Minister on the issue, said he was satisfied with the way AI CMD Arvind Jadhav had handled the situation. “I am also part of the management. What should we do? Should we surrender before them (pilots)? They have even defied the court’s order,” he said. While the government is hoping that the Court’s Order would help resolve the issue, pilots say whatever is the decision tomorrow they would stick to their guns. Demanding pay parity with colleagues of erstwhile Air India, removal of the AI CMD and the CBI inquiry into alleged withdrawal of flights profitable routes, the ICPA pilots are on strike from last Tuesday.
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Adarsh panel summons former CM Shinde
Babus brazenly violated norms, says
MoEF The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests came to know about the irregularities in the Adarsh housing scam only after it was highlighted in the media, the Bombay High Court was informed today during which the counsel for the ministry took a strong stand against bureaucrats who brazenly and knowingly violated the norms. "These are not innocent people. They are bureaucrats and government officials who were well aware of regulations to be followed and environment clearances required before constructions," additional solicitor-general Darius Khambatta, appearing for the ministry, argued. A division bench of Justices Ranjana Desai and R G Ketkar, who was hearing a petition filed by Adarsh society challenging the MoEF's demolition order, was told by Khambatta that the union ministry was not aware about the brazen violations and came to know about them only through media reports.
Mumbai, May 2 Shinde, as chief minister, had accepted a proposal sent by Ashok Chavan, the then revenue minister between 2001-2003, recommending 40 per cent allotment of flats to civilians. Apart from Shinde, several other bureaucrats, who have been named as accused by the CBI in its FIR registered in January this year in connection with the scam, have also been summoned to depose before the commission. The witnesses include - Adarsh society's general secretary R C Thakur, former principal secretary of Urban Development department Ramanand Tiwari, Congress leader K L Gidwani, former collector of Mumbai, Pradeep Vyas and former under secretary of Urban Development department P V Deshmukh. The commission headed by retired High Court Justice J A Patil today began recording the evidence of Brigadier Deepak Saxena, who said that it is the Defence Estate Office (DEO) that maintains a register pertaining to all properties belonging to the Army. "I will have to check from which date the register is being maintained. Although there is no entry in the register regarding the plot where Adarsh society is standing, all other documents like Development Plans show that the land belongs to the Army," Saxena said. The commission will continue recording Saxena's deposition tomorrow.
— PTI
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Fake encounter
New Delhi, May 2 A Bench comprising Justices HS Bedi and CK Prasad dismissed the appeal filed by the police officers challenging the Delhi High Court verdict. On September 18, 2009, the HC had endorsed their conviction and sentence by the trial court. The convicts had shot down the businessmen, Pradeep Goel and Jagjit Singh, in broad daylight in the heart of Delhi - on the Barakhamba Road, near Connaught Place to be precise - on March 31, 1997. The policemen, led by encounter specialist Rathi, had mistaken Goel and Singh for some dreaded gangsters of Uttar Pradesh. The trial court had delivered the verdict on October 24, 2007. The other convicts are Inspector Anil Kumar, Sub-Inspector Ashok Rana, three Head Constables - Shiv Kumar, Tejpal Singh and Mahavir Singh - and four Constables-Sumer Singh, Subhash Chand, Sunil Kumar and Kothari Ram.
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HC: Tiwari should give blood sample
New Delhi, May 2 HC Joint Registrar Deepak Garg has sought the help of a Delhi Government dispensary for collecting the blood samples of Tiwari, Rohit and Ujwala. For the purpose, the Chief Medical Officer would be summoned for finalising the modalities on May 10. The DNA test would be conducted at the Centre for DNA, Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) at Hyderabad. Earlier, the SC had ruled that the DNA result would be kept in a sealed cover until the legal aspects of the paternity suit were decided by the HC. Only if the legal aspects necessitated a DNA the result would be made public. The SC had endorsed the DNA move, observing that Tiwari should undergo the test right away in view of his advanced age (85). If something happened to Tiwari, Rohit would be left with no avenue to prove his claim.
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AIEEE Paper Leak
Lucknow, May 2 Following CBSE additional secretary Karan Singh Saini’s complaint lodged at the Hazratganj police station yesterday, the STF has started investigation in the matter but is keeping the developments under wraps due to the sensitive nature of the case.
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IPL row headed for larger SC Bench
New Delhi, May 2 After hearing the case, a Bench, comprising Justices JM Panchal and Gyan Sudha Misra, today delivered a split verdict. As a result, the case would now be put up before Chief Justice SH Kapadia for referring it to a larger Bench. The dispute had arisen following a petition filed by former BCCI president AC Muthiah challenging an amendment made to the BCCI constitution allowing BCCI office-bearers to own IPL teams. The amendment pertained to clause 6.2.4 of the BCCI constitution.
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Dawood
Ibrahim behind the planning and financing of 13 explosions in Mumbai in 1993 in which almost 300 people died. Ibrahim is wanted in connection with cases of arms supply, counterfeiting, drugs trade, funding alleged criminals, murder and smuggling. He is said to be living in Karachi.
Wadhawan Singh
Babbar, chief of Sikh group Babbar Khalsa International, which was involved in the insurgency in Punjab during the 1980s. He is wanted in over a dozen cases of sedition, murder and in connection with the assassination of Punjab's then CM Beant Singh. He operates from Lahore.
Maulana Masood
Azhar, leader of Jaish-i-Mohammad, man behind the attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001. He is also wanted for an attack on the J&K Assembly on October 1, 2001 in which 38 persons were killed. He currently lives in and operates from Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
Chhota
Shakeel, a key associate of Dawood Ibrahim. Wanted for murder, extortion, kidnapping, blackmail of businessmen and film stars in India. In 2001, he accepted his involvement in financing Hindi films in an interview to a news magazine. He also operates from Karachi.
Hafiz
Mohammad Saeed, co-founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), who masterminded the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks as also the attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001. He operates from Muridke town, near Lahore.