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Adarsh land belongs to state govt, not Army: Panel
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Yet another shocker for Congress
JPC on 2G to seek another extension
Supercomputers: India pitches for the big boys’ league
Agni V to be test-fired today
Selection of Panjab varsity VC set to be delayed
Assam cop is longest barefoot runner
Restrictions will violate right to report, Media tells SC
Rape
at children's home
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Adarsh land belongs to state govt, not Army: Panel
According to the judicial commission of inquiry, the Ministry of Defence failed to establish its
claim towards the title of the plot of land on which Adarsh Housing Society was built. On the other hand, the Maharashtra Government provided adequate documents to
claim ownership.
Mumbai, April 17 The panel comprised of former Bombay High Court Judge JA Patil and former Maharashtra Chief Secretary P Subrahmanyam. The panel was set up by the government in January 2011 shortly after the scandal came to light. Its terms of reference included ownership of the plot of land, violations of CRZ regulations and the procedures adopted in granting clearances to the building. According to the panel, the Ministry of Defence failed to establish its claim towards the title to the plot of land in which the society is located. On the other hand, the state government provided adequate documents to claim ownership. "Their claim stands established (under) the provisions of Section 294 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966 which came into force on August 15, 1967. There is no evidence to show that on that date the land in question was occupied by anybody....," the panel noted. The panel also took into account submissions made by RC Thakur, chief promoter, Adarsh Society, that the project was proposed prior to the Kargil War. According to the promoter, thus there was no question of constructing flats to house only the heroes and kin of martyrs of the war. Thakur submitted that the Adarsh Society was formed in 1994 and registered on September 28, 2004.The panel noted that there was neither a government resolution nor a notification issued by the state government providing reservation of the land for the defence personnel or Kargil War heroes. "At the time of the argument, the counsel for Ministry of Defence, Government of Maharashtra or even Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society uniformly submitted that there was no such reservation. Thus, there is no difficulty in recording a negative finding on terms of reference with regard to reservation for housing defence personnel," the report stated.So far, 14 people have been accused in the scandal. Nine, including prominent bureaucrats, have been arrested.
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Chidambaram confident of NCTC breakthrough in May 5 meeting
New Delhi, April 17 “Don’t jump the gun… I am hopeful that the NCTC would become a reality in agreement with the states after the May 5 meeting,’’ he told reporters when asked if the CMs of some Opposition-ruled states could veto the Centre’s proposal on the matter. At the CM’s meeting on internal security yesterday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi were very vocal in opposing the setting up of the NCTC. Chidambaram said it was unfortunate that some states harboured mistrust against the Centre. “The Central government is willing to step back, if a state or states are willing to accept more responsibility,” he said. The minister said it was wrong to say that all states were critical of the Centre’s role and policies. "There is no way the states can fight terror or militancy or Naxalism without the support of the Centre. And we never said the Centre can do it without involving the states.’’
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It is unfortunate that some states harbour mistrust against the Centre |
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MCD
Poll Analysis Faraz Ahmad/TNS
New Delhi, April 17 Simultaneously, the latest victory has boosted BJP morale with successive victories in Punjab, Goa and now in Delhi. A much-delayed review of the UP elections, the party’s prospects and the political strategy for the coming days are all expected to come up for an informal discussion among RSS sahkaryavah (general secretary) Suresh (Bhaiyaji) Joshi, senior BJP leaders, including LK Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi, Rajnath Singh and Gadkari in the next two days, sources say claiming further that future planning will have to take into account the future of Gadkari. An energetic Gadkari today predicted an early demise of the UPA government. He said, “The people have rejected the Congress in UP, Goa, Punjab and now in Delhi. The results indicate people’s antipathy towards the Congress. It will meet the same fate in the Assembly polls and the General Elections. ” Insiders say the Delhi results have boosted Gadkari’s morale. Ever since the party’s dismal performance in UP followed by the bungling of the Rajya Sabha elections, a dominant section in the BJP has publicly attacked Gadkari. Before the UP elections, Gadkari getting a second term was a near-certainty. A final decision on holding a national council meeting, which could amend the BJP constitution to make way for this, is now considered a formality. But after Rajya Sabha polls, all top leaders started attacking him. Even the Sangh took note of it. Sources said Gadkari got a dressing down from another senior RSS leader Suresh Soni.
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Yet another shocker for Congress
New Delhi, April 17 Widely seen as a semi-final before next year’s Delhi Assembly elections, to be followed closely by the Lok Sabha polls in 2014, the Congress and the BJP had invested considerable time and energy in these elections, which were much more than gaining control over the Capital’s Municipal Corporation. While today’s result is a setback for the Congress in Delhi, what is more worrisome is that the otherwise low-key civic election was converted into a referendum on the performance of the scam-ridden Congress-led UPA government instead of the Sheila Dikshit government that has been in power for a record three terms. It was not local issues but corruption and price rise that dominated this election and the Congress was perceived to be guilty on both counts, with the UPA being embroiled in a series of scams and scandals. The Congress leadership will have to act fast to change this perception, failing which it will find itself in deep trouble both in the Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal and next year’s polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi, as also the General Elections. East Delhi MP and Sheila Dikshit’s son Sandeep Dikshit admitted that the party fared poorly because the focus of the campaign was on national and not local issues. The Congress, predictably, played down its defeat, saying these should be seen only as civic polls and nothing else. “MCD polls should only be seen as MCD polls,” party spokesperson Rashid Alvi said after the declaration of results. He, however, drew comfort from the past results when the Congress performance in the civic elections had no bearing on the subsequent polls. “Last time, BJP won the MCD polls, but the Congress came to power in the Assembly elections. It went on to win all seven Lok Sabha seats,” Alvi said. Congress leaders privately admit that today’s verdict confirms the party is slipping fast on the popularity charts. This has been the overwhelming message from the string of countrywide elections held in recent months. The Congress failed to unseat the incumbent Akali government in Punjab, lost Goa to the BJP, was unable to make a mark in Uttar Pradesh and just about managed a wafer-thin majority in Uttarakhand. This was followed by its disastrous performance in the Andhra bypolls where it lost to the TRS and YSR Congress. The rout is of concern as the state had sent 33 MPs to the Lok Sabha in 2009. The Congress was unable to oust the Shiv Sena-BJP combine from the cash-rich Bombay Municipal Corporation in the civic polls, also dominated by national issues. Although Congress president Sonia Gandhi has set up a three-member committee headed by Defence Minister AK Antony to look into the reasons for the party’s dismal performance in the recent elections and suggest corrective steps, the cadres remain demoralised over the overall drift in the party.
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JPC on 2G to seek another extension New Delhi, April 17 Before that, the JPC will have to seek replacement of five committee members who have retired or opted out, including two chief ministers Akhilesh Yadav and Vijay Bahuguna from Lok Sabha and SS Ahluwalia, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Praveen Rashtrapal, said the JPC chairman. The committee which examined former Telecom secretary and former CVC PJ Thomas, has still a long list of witnesses including former Telecom minister A Raja and his Telecom secretary Sidharth Behura, currently facing trial in Tihar jail. Behura, who was due to appear before the committee on April 11 but failed to do so, has again sought time and the committee has agreed to allow him to appear at his convenience, said the JPC chairman. Now that the list of former Telecom secretaries is almost exhausted, the JPC is ready to ask former TRAI chairmen, beginning with Pradeep Baijal, to appear before the committee. About the same time, it will take a call on whether it will ask former and present Attorney generals and former and present ministers to testify. In the meantime, the opposition insistence on P Chidambaram’s testimony also seems to be waning.
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Supercomputers: India pitches for the big boys’ league
New Delhi, April 17 The PM has already given an in-principle approval to the project and committed approximately Rs 5,000 crore for advancing the country’s supercomputing capabilities — a tactical move that would not just ensure it a spot among global leaders but also provide much-needed strategic edge against neighbours like China, whose supercomputing potential is giving the policy-makers jitters. Conceived by the PMO and nurtured by the Planning Commission, the supercomputing initiative is, in fact, designed to ward off the challenges India faces from across the border. With red flags being raised by experts and potential users over China’s fast-evolving capabilities, it seems that the government may agree to spend an extra Rs 6,000 crore to take the project beyond the petaflops level, catapulting supercomputing into the category of receivers of big allocations like defence, atomic energy and space. Kumar, who has been pitching for enhancing India’s supercomputing capabilities, said today that he had already asked the expert committee headed by Prof N Balakrishna of the IISC for further proposals to strengthen the programme so that by the end of the 12th Plan, country’s supercomputing capability could be enhanced significantly to secure its strategic interests and national aspirations as a global science leader.
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Agni V to be test-fired today
New Delhi, April 17 The test fire of the missile will be conducted tomorrow from a test range in Wheeler island off the coast of Odisha. Preparations have reached their last stage to conduct maiden flight of the missile, Defence Ministry officials said. DRDO Chief VK Saraswat had recently said the missile is being integrated at various facilities for the test launch, which will be witnessed by military officials and other agencies which participated in its development. Only the US, Russia, France and China possess the capability to operate an ICBM. The DRDO plans to conduct more such tests of the missile over the next one year after studying and analyzing the parameters achieved in each subsequent trial. On the timeline fixed for fully developing Agni V, Saraswat had said another one year of testing will be involved. In November last year, the DRDO had successfully test fired the 3,500 km range Agni IV missile giving muscle to India's deterrent capability against the military adversaries.
— PTI
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Selection of Panjab varsity VC set to be delayed
New Delhi, April 17 The Chancellor’s office had recently written to the Ministry seeking this clarification to ensure transparency in the selection of the next VC after some objections were raised about the constitution of the search committee he had earlier set up. “Our only purpose in seeking this clarification from the Government was transparency. Our query is very specific. We will follow the Ministry’s advice, whatever it is,” sources in the Chancellor’s office said today. The Ministry, meanwhile, in its clarification to the Chancellor, is expected to say that the UGC Regulations 2010 (regarding appointments) apply to Panjab University. “The UGC Act is a Central Act, and will have precedence over the Act of the specific university. The 2010 regulations had given the respective universities six months to conform to the laid down standards. We do not know whether Panjab University has conformed. But we will clarify the issue to the Chancellor and leave the rest to him. The UGC Act will apply in case of Panjab University,” top Ministry sources said. In case, these regulations apply to Panjab University VC’s selection, the Chancellor may have to reconstitute the Selection Committee for the appointment of the next VC considering the incumbent RC Sobti is set to retire in July. As per the UGC norms, a selection committee must essentially have a nominee of the university concerned; a nominee of the UGC and one of the Chancellor. The nominee of the university would then have to be elected by the University Senate. The search committee which Chancellor Hamid Ansari, also the Vice President of India, constituted earlier comprised Justice Leila Seth, former Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court as chairperson; noted Hyderabad based scientist Dr P Rama Rao and former Ambassador IS
Chadha.
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Assam cop is longest barefoot runner
Guwahati, April 17 Abhijit Baruah, who hails from Jorhat in Upper Assam, created the feat January 30 this year when he started his run at 3.56 pm and ended it at 3.56 pm the following day, covering a total of 156.2 km distance. On May 28 last year, Abhijit — also a black belt in karate and kickboxing — had run 150 km in 26 hours and 31 minutes and entered his name in the Limca Book of Records. Chandrasekhar Tiwari, one of the Indian representatives of the Guinness World Records, supervised the run by Abhijit. "The Guinness World Records authority in India called me up and informed that I am officially certified for the record. I am very happy to have scored the record. It was my dream from early years to do something great and today I have done that," said Abhijit while talking to IANS on Tuesday. The Assam Government announced an award of Rs.2 lakh to Abhijit, and the cheque for the amount was handed over to him by Congress MLA from Jorhat constituency Rana Goswami Tuesday. Abhijit thanked his friends and the Jorhat district administration for the achievement. On January 30, about 100 volunteers including those from district administration and other clubs in Jorhat kept sweeping the 10-km stretch on the National Highway (NH) 37 in Jorhat district where Abhijit completed his run. The young man had bagged several gold, silver and bronze medals in many national-level martial arts competitions.
— IANS
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Restrictions will violate right to report, Media tells SC
New Delhi, April 17 “Just as ordinary citizens cannot be prohibited from discussing, blogging and sharing their opinions on court proceedings, the media cannot be prevented from reporting” such developments, counsel Prashant Bhushan pleaded with a five-member Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia. The apex court is hearing the views of media organisations and legal experts on the need for clamping restrictions on reporting court proceedings in order to protect the interest of litigants.
— TNS
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Rape
at children's home Shahira Naim/TNS
Lucknow, April 17 Passing the orders on the criminal PIL, Justices Amar Saran and Ashok Srivastava also restrained the government from reinstating the suspended colluding employees. According to the order, the services of such employees should “ordinarily not be revoked or the employee reinstated on the mere ground of delay or on other minor grounds”. The order authorised only the Principal Secretary (Women and Child Development) to “revoke the suspension order in the most exceptional circumstances for reasons to be recorded in writing”. It also urged the state government to consider issuing a suitable government order to this effect. While a peon on contract Vidhya Bhushan Ojha has been fired and jailed as the main culprit, two more women employees have been suspended and jailed for conniving with the rape and seven more have been suspended for either ignoring or opening colluding with the culprit. In a startling revelation, the order quotes the magisterial inquiry report submitted to the state government on April 8 which admits more than three rapes. “The report finds sexual abuse of seven girl-child inmates by the suspended and presently jailed daily wager chaukidar (watchman) Vidya Bhushan Ojha,” reads the report. The HC order notes that “other employees have either facilitated (or at least overlooked) the immoral acts of Ojha, sometimes even after being eye witnesses of this grave crime. Their indifference or active concealment is tantamount to their virtual connivance in the crimes of Ojha”.
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Boy brings pistol to shoot principal
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New Delhi, April 17
Probe Findings
