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Anna backs Kejriwal’s demand
for probe against Vadra
I can handle negativity, says Vadra as Congress, BJP spar
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Bank clearance not enough in property purchase: SC
Pantry car staffer arrested for molesting girl on train
‘Consider local factors while adopting genetically modified organisms’
Stranded rhino under expert care
Many Mumbaikars learn to live with leopards
30% villagers don’t seek treatment due to poverty
ISRO to launch 14 comm satellites by 2017
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Anna backs Kejriwal’s demand
for probe against Vadra New Delhi/Ralegan Siddhi, October 6 Coming out in support of Arvind
Kejriwal, Anna Hazare in Ralegan Siddhi today questioned why the Congress was fearing a judicial probe if they were sure that the charges were false. "Many Congress leaders say that these allegations are only because of electoral compulsions and are baseless. We say that if the allegations are untrue, why don't they order a judicial probe into these. And if these turn out to be false, file a defamation case against
Arvind. The truth will be out," he said. Hazare said that when they had raised allegations against 15 "corrupt" ministers earlier, the government had noted that there was no case in them. "Now, two of the ministers are out. The coal scam is out. The whole country has seen it," he said. Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal pushed ahead with his campaign for next year’s Delhi Assembly elections by launching a “bijli-paani satyagraha” today. A defiant Kejriwal restored an electricity connection, which was disconnected for non-payment of dues, to the household of a daily-wage earner in south Delhi’s Khanpur locality. “Bijli-paani satyagraha has started in Delhi. Stop paying electricity and water bills till the Delhi Government withdraws tariff hikes. Let us unite and fight corruption. This is the first step. If they disconnect power, people in large numbers will reach the spot to reconnect it,” said the activist-turned-politician addressing a crowd at Tigri Colony this morning. The protest will continue tomorrow and people, led by IAC members, will burn electricity bills in 114 municipal wards. “If the government doesn’t roll back the hike, we’ll surround Sheila Dikshit’s house on November 4,” Kejriwal said. Cong defends Vadra New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday rejected demands for a probe against Robert Vadra in the wake of allegations by civil society activists Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan that he was favoured by realty major DLF. “An inquiry into what? Is a business transaction between two private entities duly reported to the statutory authorities illegal? Is it a crime?" party spokesman Manish Tewari said. —
PTI
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I can handle negativity, says Vadra as Congress, BJP spar
New Delhi, October 6 DLF insisted that its "business relationship" with Vadra or his companies had been conducted in individual capacity as per the "highest standards of ethics and transparency" and that it had "not received any undue benefit from any state government or any government authorities in any part of India". DLF said in a statement that no unsecured loans were provided by it. Arvind
Kejriwal, who levelled allegations against Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, at a press conference here yesterday, said he was ready to face defamation case if his charges were proved untrue. He had alleged that property worth Rs 300 crore was given at throwaway prices by DLF to companies owned by Vadra with an unsecured interest free loan of Rs 65 crore from given by the realty firm. Without getting into specifics of the allegations, sources close to Vadra quoted him as saying that he "can handle all the negativity". Apparently suggesting that he had seen worse situations, he stated, "(I) lost people I loved.. what can be worse.” Congress leadership continued to come to Vadra's defence. Transactions between two private individuals could not be questioned on the basis of "implied act of corruption", Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in Mumbai. The AICC, too, came in support of the 43-year-old businessman married to Priyanka Gandhi, with party spokesman Manish Tewari rejecting demands for a probe into the matter asking "an inquiry into what?" BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad told reporters in Jaipur, "It is the expectation of people of the country that the matter should be investigated. It should also be probed what benefits the Congress state governments in Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi gave to Vadra." Chidambaram said what he had gathered was that these transactions were between two private individuals and they had been disclosed in the appropriate income tax and other returns. "...Nobody has alleged any quid pro quo or any corrupt motive, beyond that I cannot say anything," he added. "I am not aware of the rightness or wrongness of the allegations .... transactions between two private individuals cannot be questioned on the basis of certain imputed or implied act of corruption," the Finance Minister said. —
PTI
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Bank clearance not enough in property purchase: SC
New Delhi, October 6 If the property in question belongs to someone facing inquiry under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators Act (SAFEMA), the chances are that you will be deprived of your newly acquired possession. A Bench comprising Justices RM Lodha and Anil Dave made the clarification while dismissing the petition of Winston Tan and another who had challenged the government taking possession of their flat in Bangalore which they had bought by raising a loan from Vijaya Bank, which had assessed the validity of the transaction from legal and other angles. The registrar had also given a clean chit stating that the flat was free from encumbrances. The petitioner had bought the property from a couple, Mohammed Ismail Shabandari and Fathima Kauser Ismail, who had been served notice by the Enforcement Directorate under SAFEMA. After inquiry, the competent authority passed an order in June 2005 under Sections 7(1) and (3) of SAFEMA forfeiting the flat and declaring that the forfeited property “stands vested in the Central government” free from all encumbrances. It was held in the order that the flat was not acquired by Ismail and Kauser “out of legal earnings.” A single-judge Bench of the Karnataka High Court quashed the June 2005 order pointing out that Winston Tan had purchased the flat from the couple on February 2005 - before the forfeiture order. The Central government and the competent authority challenged this before the Division Bench of the high court and won the case, prompting Winston Tan and another to approach the Supreme Court. In the judgment, the SC noted that “it is true that the appellants had obtained encumbrances certificates from the Sub-Registrar prior to purchase. It is also true that the appellants had obtained loan from Vijaya Bank. It is a fact that sale consideration to the tune of Rs 26 lakh was paid directly by the bank to the vendors. “But unfortunately, these facts are of no help to the appellants as the sale in their favour was affected after notices under Section 6(1) were issued to the vendors. Such sale has no legal sanction. The sale is null and void on the face of Section 11” of SAFEMA. Further, the flat “is deemed to have been vested in the Central government on or about December 8, 2003, when the first notice under Section 6(1) was issued and served,” the SC ruled.
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Pantry car staffer arrested for molesting girl on train
Lucknow, October 6 The shocking incident occurred inside the Rajdhani Express while it was passing through Chandauli on Friday night. When the girl raised an alarm, co-passengers came to her rescue and the pantry car staffer, Mohammad Sheikh (24) was arrested on charges of attempting to outrage the girl’s modesty. The man, who was apparently in an inebriated condition, was handed over to the GRP at Mughalsarai where a criminal case has formally been lodged. The girl, originally hailing from Gaya and a student residing in Delhi, told the police that several pantry staffers had been moving around the washroom area in an inebriated state. This is the third incident of molestation on trains in Uttar Pradesh in less than a week. A PIL has been filed at the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court seeking direction for deployment of women commandos in trains and an inquiry by an independent agency against the IAS officer arrested and subsequently out on bail on charges of attempted rape inside a moving train. The PIL is likely to come up for hearing on October 8.
When shame thrives
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‘Consider local factors while adopting genetically modified organisms’
Hyderabad, October 6 This was the unanimous decision of the member countries at the sixth Meeting of Parties (MOP-6) to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety held here as part of the UN convention on biodiversity. The five-day meeting concluded on Friday with a call to the nations to involve indigenous and local communities before formulating policy decisions on adopting genetically modified organisms. The meeting decided to set up an international ad hoc expert committee to decide on economic considerations of the people involved. “The group will meet in the inter-session period and submit their report by the next COP MOP, after two years. The group will consist of 40 members from five regions of the world,” said MF Farooqui, Special Secretary in the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.
Biosafety meet ends
The five-day sixth Meeting of Parties (MOP-6) to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety held in Hyderabad as part of the UN convention on biodiversity concluded on Friday with a call to the nations to involve the indigenous and local communities before formulating policy decisions on adopting genetically modified organisms
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Stranded rhino under expert care
Guwahati, October 6 "This will be the first time in India that a rhino is planned to be airlifted by an IAF chopper, " Chand said. — PTI
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Many Mumbaikars learn to live with leopards
Mumbai, October 6 "People, particularly women and young girls, go behind the shanties to answer nature's call and that is when things get dangerous," says Ganpat Agre, a resident of the slum. He remembers the day in July when little Sanjana slipped a little away from the shanties. "It was early in the morning and her mother was there with her when the leopard came out of the jungle and dragged her away," Agre says. After searching for several hours, all that police and forest officials could find was Sanjana's severed head, the rest of her body was eaten by the big cat. According to wildlife experts, leopards usually prey on small animals apart from dogs. They are shy of people and retreat at the first sign of human approach. "In the dark, a leopard may not be able to distinguish between a small child and an animal and thus, may have dragged away the girl," says Sunil Limaye, Chief Conservator of Forests. He adds that the Forest Department regularly traps leopards straying into human habitation and relocates them elsewhere. However, the risk to people from wild animals living in the areas near the Sanjay Gandhi National Park located between the crowded cities of Mumbai and Thane can never be completely removed, say forest officials. Slums surrounding the national park measuring 100 sq km have huge amounts of garbage dumped nearby. The garbage attracts dogs which, in turn, attract leopards. With omnipresent threat from the quadruped, residents are coming up with various methods to safeguard themselves from a leopard attack. At the Indira Nagar slum at Borivali East in western Mumbai, residents bang spoons on plates and create a racket when they suspect that a leopard is in the vicinity. Several housing colonies that have come up on the border of the national park here have installed CCTVs to monitor movements of the animal.
No room for beasts
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30% villagers don’t seek treatment due to poverty
New Delhi, October 6 Even more disturbing fact is that around 30% population in rural India does not seek any treatment when sick due to financial constraints. About 47% and 31% of hospital admissions in rural and urban India, respectively, were financed by loans and sale of assets and almost 60% of total health expenditure in India was paid by the common man from his own pocket in 2009. Azad said India was embarking on a target of achieving Universal Health Coverage for all during 12th Plan period and everyone will be entitled to comprehensive health security in the
country. It will be obligatory on state’s part to provide adequate food, appropriate medical care, safe drinking water, proper sanitation, education and health-related info for good health. The state
will be responsible for ensuring and guaranteeing Universal Health Coverage for its citizens.
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ISRO to launch 14 comm satellites by 2017
Bangalore, October 6 The proposed 14 spacecraft are aimed at raising transponder capacity
and introducing new generation broadband VSAT systems and Ka band systems. These satellites would bridge the gap between the demand and supply of the transponders.
PTI
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UP ex-Guv dead 5 labourers killed Book fair from Oct 8 4 rescued from trafficker Flight returns to Chennai
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A day after levelling allegations against businessman Robert
Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, for amassing land assets worth Rs 350 crore, Team Kejriwal today continued its open attack on Vadra.
Caught in a controversy over allegations that he was favoured by realty major DLF, Robert Vadra today broke his silence saying he can "handle all the negativity" even as the Congress and the BJP sparred over the issue.
More than three months after seven-year-old Sanjana Thorat was dragged into a forest by a leopard, life seems to have returned to normal at the Shankar Tekdi slum at Mulund in suburban Mumbai. Residents go about their chores in the urban squalor during the day, though nightfall brings its own worries.
Healthcare costs are pushing people to sell assets and sometimes to not seek treatment at all. The World Health Statistics, released by the WHO recently and quoted by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad attending a conference on “Responsible medicines for all” in The Netherlands, say 39 million Indians are pushed to poverty because of ill-health every year.
