|
|
|
|
|
Guwahati molesters must face fast-track court:
Women’s panel
Alka Lamba, a member of women commission, brings the molestation victim (L) to a news conference
in Guwahati on Saturday. — PTI
Vice-presidential
poll |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
A Profile
AFT upholds JCO’s sentence for cowardice in fratricide case
Plan panel told to plug MNREGA gaps
Soon, an Indian mission to Mars
LTTE’s anti-India posture continues; govt extends ban
India-EU free trade pact by year-end: German envoy
URINE INCIDENT
Govt confident of meeting
SC deadline on 2G auction
Adarsh scam
|
|
Guwahati molesters must face fast-track court: Women’s panel
Guwahati, July 14 The three-member team of Wangchuk Syiem, social activist Alka Lamba and Hiron Moni Phukon on Saturday met the victim and Assam Director General of Police JN Choudhury, city SSP and the Kamrup (metro) deputy commissioner to take stock of the progress in the case. They also went to the pub the victim visited before the incident, the crime scene and spoke to people there. Briefing the media in Guwahati on Saturday evening, Alka Lamba said, “We have met the victim and spoken to her in detail. She is 20 years old and is in shock and needs time, counselling to come out of the trauma. The victim says she went to the bar with her friends for a birthday party at around 7.30 pm on Monday night and came out around 9 pm. She was allegedly tormented by a group of persons standing in front of a wine shop near the bar after they opposed attempts to videograph them. While the victim was tormented on the street, her friends managed to escape.” Lamba said the attackers inflicted burn injuries on the victim with a burning cigarette and she needed medical aid. “We are not happy that the girl’s medical report is still in hospital. This is definitely a lapse on the part of the police. The DGP has assured us corrective steps and the arrest of all the remaining seven identified culprits soon,” she said. The police have so far arrested four accused. Appealing to the public to help arrest the accused at large, the NCW team expressed concern over the late arrival of the police. The team will meet CM Tarun Gogoi tomorrow.
Journalist instigated mob?
RTI activist Akhil Gogoi on Saturday alleged that a local TV journalist had instigated the mob that assaulted and stripped the victim. Demanding the journalist's arrest, Gogoi presented video footage of Monday's incident and said he was equally guilty of the assault. The TV channel's managing editor, Zarir Hussain, termed the allegations as false and motivated
Another Molestation case
Sibsagar: A teenaged girl was allegedly molested by Army jawans in Assam's Sibsagar district, the police said on Saturday. The girl had gone to a forest to collect firewood where she was attacked. On hearing her cries, nearby villagers rushed to the spot and managed to save her.
— PTI
|
|
Contest on the cards as BJP says no to Ansari
Anita Katyal/TNS
New Delhi, July 14 The decision not to give a walkover to the ruling coalition was taken at a marathon meeting of the BJP core committee at party president Nitin Gadkari's residence this evening. Senior leaders LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Ananth Kumar participated in the meeting. BJP sources said its strategy for the August 7 vice-presidential poll would depend on UPA key ally Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's next move. The principal Opposition party is confident that Mamata would not support UPA's choice Ansari since his candidature was endorsed by the Left in 2007. Mamata, who is still smarting over Pranab Mukherjee's candidature for the President's post, is keeping everybody guessing. Not only has she not revealed how her party will vote in the presidential election, she has not said anything on Ansari either. Hoping that the Trinamool chief will name a candidate for the Vice-President's post, the BJP trategy is to endorse her choice just as it did in the case of presidential candidate PA Sangma whose name was first proposed by the AIADMK and the Biju Janata Dal. By doing so, the BJP would succeed in drawing attention to the disarray in the UPA ranks. The BJP would like to hit back at the ruling coalition after it was able to secure the support of two important NDA allies, the Shiv Sena and the Janata Dal (U) for its presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee. However, if the Trinamool chief fails to field a candidate for the Vice-President's post, the BJP expects its partners to name somebody of their choice. JD(U) president Sharad Yadav is being mentioned as a probable contender as this will ensure that the NDA presents a united face. Waiting for Mamata’s
decision
A BJP core committee meeting was held at party president Nitin Gadkari's
residence Rejecting PM's appeal to support Hamid Ansari as the Vice-President, it decided to contest the
poll The decision on NDA candidate will depend on the next move of UPA ally Trinamool
Congress JD (U)'s Sharad Yadav and BJP's Jaswant Singh are the probable contenders from the NDA side
|
||
|
Scholar-diplomat Ansari set to emulate Radhakrishnan
KV Prasad/TNS
New Delhi, July 14 Fifty-five years after Dr Radhakrishnan was offered a consecutive term as Vice-President, scholar-diplomat Ansari is all set to emulate the illustrious philosopher-statesman to hold the second highest constitutional office in the country. Dr Radhakrishnan was elected in 1952 as the first Vice-President and then held the office between 1957 and 1962. A career diplomat, who served the country with distinction, Ansari was a surprise choice in 2007. Left parties, then supporting the UPA Government from outside, suggested his name which found favour from the ruling coalition leaders. He emerged triumphant in a three-way contest with the Opposition BJP fielding former Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptullah and the Samajwadi Party-led coalition sponsoring the candidature of Rasheed Masood. Ironical as it seems, this time Ansari found support from the SP that even a few weeks ago opposed his candidature for the July 19 presidential election on the grounds that the top constitutional post should not have a bureaucrat. While Pranab Mukherjee pipped him to be the UPA candidate for the presidential polls, the Congress leadership preferred to offer Ansari a second term both as a measure of their immense appreciation of his work and impressive persona. In his capacity as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Ansari made an innovative attempt to shift the Question Hour to the first hour after lunch instead of traditional first hour after the House assembles at 11.00 am each day. However, his effort to save the Question Hour ran aground and status quo was restored. The tenure was also marked by two unusual happenings. In March 2010, he summoned Marshalls into the House to evict protesting members before the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed. In December 2011, he abruptly adjourned the Rajya Sabha at the stroke of midnight after inconclusive debate on the Lokpal Bill. While some political formations criticised these actions, Ansari gained respect from a wide section of polity for the dignity and grace with which he conducted the proceedings of the House. Known for his exemplary manners, at official banquets that he hosts, Ansari makes it a point to see off not only the visiting dignitary in whose honour the event is held but till the last invitee departs. Ansari worked in the Indian Foreign Service between 1961 and 1999 having served in various missions, including Baghdad, Rabat, Jeddah and Brussels. He also served as Head of Indian Missions in Australia, Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Permanent Mission of India in United Nations, New York. Having retired from the diplomacy, Ansari turned to academia serving as the VC of Aligarh Muslim University besides being associated with the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Before being elected as Vice-President, he held the office of Chairman of the National Minorities Commission.
|
||
|
AFT upholds JCO’s sentence for cowardice in fratricide case
Chandigarh, July 14 The sentence had been awarded by a summary general court martial (GCM) to the JCO for alleged cowardice and failing to act appropriately in the incident in which a lieutenant colonel was shot. The AFT, in its order this week, observed that the response of JCO Sub Jaibir Singh showed cowardice in the face of the enemy wherein he, all along, focused and concentrated merely on self-preservation and had not taken any action to neutralise the jawan who shot the officer. There were at least 50 armed persons at the post within 100m of the site of the incident and he could have ordered these troops to take action against the jawan. By his inaction, he has displayed cowardice and these facts have been amply proved by the testimony of not only prosecution witnesses but also the defence witnesses, the AFT said. The evidence on record clearly establishes that during the incident in which Lt Col Saket Saxena was shot, the JCO did not take any action to control the situation. This was despite the fact that he was the second
senior-most person on the post and was also the platoon commander of the jawan who had shot the lieutenant colonel, the tribunal observed. On October 31, 2006, jawan Suresh Chandra Behera, while posted with Delta Company of 28 Rashtriya Rifles, shot and killed Lt Col Saket Saxena, the Officer Commanding of the Company, and
continued firing intermittently thereafter. A court of inquiry had held the JCO blameworthy for the lapses and he was tried under relevant Sections of the Army Act. His trial had concluded in April 2007 and his appeal against the order before the Chief of Army Staff was rejected in 2009. Then, he sought judicial redress against his trial, contending that the charges against him were false and that there were procedural lapses during his trial.
|
||
|
Plan panel told to plug MNREGA gaps
New Delhi, July 14
Making it clear that he was not "fully satisfied" with the way the scheme is working, he noted the problems like delayed payment to workers under the government's flagship and said these should be addressed at the earliest. "The MNREGA story in numbers is a story worth telling. The scheme scores high on inclusiveness. No welfare scheme in recent memory has caught the imagination of the people as much as MNREGA has," Singh said. "...(But) statistics do not tell the whole truth," he said while releasing 'MNREGA Sameeksha’, a collection of research studies conducted on the programme under which Rs 1,10,000 crore have been spent to pay wages to 1,200 crore people. Singh said he was "surprised to hear from (Rural Development Minister) Jairam Ramesh that concurrent evaluation processes are not in good shape". He referred to the "gaps" highlighted by Ramesh and Planning Commission member Mihir Shah that need to be fixed. Concurrent evaluation is the assessment of the impact of the scheme while it is implemented, without waiting for annual or any other periodic audit.
— PTI
|
||
|
Soon, an Indian mission to Mars
Mysore, July 14 "A lot of studies have been done on the possible mission to Mars," Secretary in the Department of Space and Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation K Radhakrishnan told reporters here. "We have come to the last phase of approvals," he said. "And I am sure that, maybe soon, we will be hearing an announcement on the Mars mission." According to ISRO
officials, a significant amount of work on the planned Mars mission has been completed and scientific payloads have
been shortlisted. The project report for the Indian Mars orbiter mission has been submitted for government approval. The mission envisages launching an orbiter around Mars using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
(PSLV-XL). The orbiter will be placed in an
orbit of 500x80,000 km around Mars and will have a provision to carry nearly 25 kg of scientific payloads on-board. The tentative scientific objective for the Mars mission will be to focus on life, climate, geology, origin, evolution and sustainability of life on the planet,” according to ISRO. Scientific payloads have been shortlisted by ISRO's Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS) review committee. Baseline, solar array and reflector configuration of the satellite have been finalised, the Bangalore-headquartered space agency said.
— PTI
|
||
|
LTTE’s anti-India posture continues; govt extends ban
New Delhi, July 14 "The LTTE continues to adopt a strong anti-India posture as also continues to pose a grave threat to the security of Indian nationals, it is necessary to declare the LTTE as an 'unlawful association' with immediate effect," the Home Ministry notification issued by Joint Secretary Dharmendra Sharma said. The LTTE was banned in India in the aftermath of the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. The organisation was also defeated and virtually decimated by the Sri Lankan forces in 2009 when its supremo V Prabhakaran was also eliminated. The Home Ministry said
pro-LTTE groups continue to foster a separatist tendency among the masses and trying to enhance the support base for the LTTE in India, particularly in Tamil
Nadu. — PTI
|
||
|
India-EU free trade pact by year-end: German envoy
New Delhi, July 14 “The proposed FTA is very broad...covering all sorts of areas. It will transform the dynamics of trade between the two sides,” he said at a press conference here. Steiner, who was hitherto the German Government’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, presented his credentials to President Pratibha Patil yesterday. He said that Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma had recently held talks with EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht to finalise the terms of the FTA. “Germany is India’s largest trading partner in the EU. We have set a trade target of 20 billion Euros between our two countries by the end of 2012. However, it is still much below the potential of the two countries,” he added. Describing India as an “anchor of stability in Asia”, the German envoy said this was one of the main reasons why Berlin had begun inter-governmental consultations with New Delhi last year. The next round of these consultations will be held next spring in Germany. “India and Germany are a terrific match for all weathers.”
|
||
|
Child panel slams Visva Bharati for naming victim
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 14 Taking the law as the base, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights today wrote to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) and the Press Council of India (PCI) to generate awareness in the mass media against naming of children involved in crimes. The commission said, “Visva Bharati has issued a press release disclosing the identity of the child. It is against Section 21 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000.”
|
||
|
Govt confident of meeting
SC deadline on 2G auction
New Delhi, July 14 “Therefore, as of now the government doesn’t intend to approach the Supreme Court for seeking another extension of the deadline,” he said. While cancelling the licences given in 2008 by the then Telecom Minister A Raja at 2001 prices on first-come, first-served basis, the SC had directed the government to auction these by June 2, 2012.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
The
National Commission for Women team probing the assault and molestation
of a young woman on the street of Guwahati on Monday night demanded
constitution of a fast-track court to try and punish the culprits within
six months. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has set a 48-hour deadline for
the Assam Police to arrest the remaining seven accused in the case.
We have come to the last phase of approvals. I am sure that, maybe soon, we will be hearing an announcement on the Mars mission.
In a notification, the Home Ministry said the activities of the LTTE are detrimental to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India and there is a continuing strong need to control all such separatist activities by all possible means.