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Top Jaish commander killed in J-K
Vigilance gives clean chit to Ranike
Cong stand on 2G vindicated: Tewari
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MiG-21 crashes in Gujarat
Illegal arms: Assam Guv wants houses searched
Kejriwal names his outfit Aam Aadmi Party
Jethmalani flays BJP attack on govt over CBI chief
Aadhaar cards will help govt target beneficiaries
Karnataka Govt not bidding for royal carriage
No to HRD’s request for subsidised LPG
Joint PG medical entrance begins
Was made to sign on 2G audit report: CAG ex-official
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Top Jaish commander killed in J-K
Srinagar, November 24 The militant, identified as Shoaib alias Yasir Tunda, was the divisional commander of the outfit and was carrying a reward of Rs 10 lakh. Inspector General of Police SM Sahai said Yasir’s killing was a major achievement. “Shoaib, a Pakistani, infiltrated into Kashmir in 2002 and was operating in and around Rafiabad, Kupwara and Sopore under various names - Showket, Shazeb, Yasir. His killing is a major achievement for the police and security forces,” Sahai told the Tribune. A police officer in north Kashmir said the militant was involved in the killing of PDP zonal president Ghulam Mohammad Mir in 2008 and National Conference worker Ghulam Mohidin Bhat in Rafiabad, besides other subversive activities. “Yasir took over the command of the JeM in north Kashmir in March 2011 after the death of chief commander of the group Sajjad Afghani, alias Qari Hammad, who was killed along with his bodyguard in an encounter at Foreshore Road on the outskirts of the city,” he added. The JeM outfit is headed by Moulana Masood Azhar, who was released in exchange of passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane in 1999. Giving details of the encounter, the police said Shoaib was hiding in the house of Ali Mohammad Bhat. He fired at the Special Operation Group of the J&K police and men of the Army’s 22 Rashtriya Rifles when they went to search the house of Ali Mohammad Bhat last midnight. The police and the Army personnel retaliated and shot him dead inside the cupboard he was hiding in. Sub Inspector Dilraj Singh of the police’s Special Operations Group, Bhat’s son Aashiq Hussain and a relative of the Bhats were wounded in the incident. The police claimed to have recovered a Kalashnikov rifle, a pistol and ammunition from the slain militant. This is the second killing of a top militant commander in Chatloora since 2008, when Hafiz Nasir, chief operational commander of Lashker-e-Toiba, was killed in a shootout that also claimed life of Lt Col M S Kadam.
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Vigilance gives clean chit to Ranike
Amritsar, November 24 It has been learnt that out of a total of 24 offenders, the vigilance has divulged details about six through vernacular dailies and posted their details on its official website. An award of Rs 20,000 has been announced for anyone who would help trace the absconding accused. The vigilance has put the entire blame on Sarabhdyal and his accomplices. Confirming that a challan sans the name of the former minister or any of his family members was ready and will be presented in court on Monday, SP Vigilance Bureau, Amritsar Range Opinderjit Singh Ghuman said: “Nothing concrete came out during the questioning of the former minister on the basis of which his direct involvement could be established. Sarabhdyal was the key person who siphoned off the money through forged accounts and amassed huge wealth running into crores”, he said. Vigilance Bureau DSP Naresh Sharma said during investigation the embezzlement of around Rs 3.19 crore out of discretionary funds, Rs 75.25 lakh of Border Area Development Funds and about Rs 20 lakh under Shagun scheme by Sarabhdyal and his associates has been established. During investigation, it was revealed that Sarabhdyal used to keep an eye on the cheques valued above Rs 5 lakh. The minister did not have any inkling about the missed cheques. Even as the Vigilance Bureau has nabbed around 21 persons involved in the scam, the investigation are far from conclusive. “So far, we have arrested 21 persons against FIR No. 285, dated June 25, 2012, registered with Civil Lines police station in which Sarabhdyal’s direct involvement came to surface. A clear picture will emerge only after Sarabhdyal’s associates, who acted as fake sarpanches and siphoned off the money, are nabbed. We have released notices in prominent vernacular dailies which are generally read in the rural belt. The information is also there on our website”, he said. The six fake sarpanches, who are at large, have been identified. They are: Harwinder Singh, who withdrew Rs 11 lakh through forged identity as sarpanch of gram panchayat Dhaddal; Inderbir Singh, who withdrew Rs 24 lakh after posing as sarpanch of gram panchayat Jheeta; Gurmeet Singh, who posed as sarpanch of gram panchayat Kotla Dal Singh and withdrew Rs 22 lakh; Kirpal Singh, who withdrew Rs 12 lakh with fake identification as sarpanch of gram panchayat Chak Mukand; Maninderjit Singh who embezzled an amount of Rs 14.50 lakh by posing fake sarpanch of gram panchayat Ramuwaal and Preetam Singh, who posed as sarpanch of gram panchayat Mandiala and withdrew Rs 5 lakh. Apart from them, the Vigilance is searching for 18 others who had adopted the same modus operandi. Sarabhdyal had accumulated assets worth over Rs 2.5 crore from the embezzled amount. He had bought two properties in Amritsar -- a 500 square yard house at Rani Ka Bagh for Rs. 1.2 crore and a 216 sq yd plot at Ranjit Vihar for Rs 18.5 lakh. Two years later, he bought another property in Chandigarh for Rs 1.1 crore in September. He became a shareholder after investing over Rs 20 lakh in Riseland School and Verpal School and invested Rs 4.75 lakh as FDR and in mutual funds.
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Cong stand on 2G vindicated: Tewari
Chandigarh, November 24 While addressing mediapersons, Tewari said the government had always maintained that the figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore was highly miscalculated. RP Singh had put the loss figures at Rs 2,645 crore only. He said “sensational figures” given by the CAG had fuelled distrust. He demanded that political parties making allegations should be made answerable. The general public too needs to see through the divisive forces at work in spreading mistrust. Tewari said there were several questions that the CAG chairman should answer. Tewari said a public debate on 2G could correct the perspective in the general public. "Let there be a public debate. Let CAG come and answer because these mythical and sensational figures have derailed India's story in last two years. The 2G report has made public discourse extremely vitiated," Tewari said.
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Kutch, November 24 However, there were no casualty in the mishap. The pilot received minor injuries in the incident and was admitted to the Bhuj Military Hospital. The IAF has ordered an inquiry into the crash. According to eyewitness and range forest officer Atul Dave, there was no fire in the plane when the Bison came down. — PTI
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Illegal arms: Assam Guv wants houses searched
Guwahati, November 24 The Governor held a meeting with the state Chief Secretary NK Das, Additional Chief Secretary Jitesh Khosla, DG of Assam Police JN Choudhury and other senior officials of the state to discuss the situation in the communally sensitive BTC area in the wake of recent killings despite heavy presence of security personnel. The Governor instructed the state administration to constitute peace committees at the village level so that people’s coordination could be elicited in restoring peace in the area that is still haunted by the communal riots between Bodos and immigrant Muslims in July. The Raj Bhawan here wants that an atmosphere of peace must prevail in the BTC at this time of the year to allow the people to harvest their paddy crop which is the main source of livelihood for the people in the area.
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Kejriwal names his outfit Aam Aadmi Party
New Delhi, November 24 The party’s formal launch will be on November 26 - the day that the Constitution of India was adopted in 1949. Kejriwal invited all citizens to take part in the official launch ceremony at Jantar Mantar - a process that he termed “the making of history”. The Congress promptly objected to the phrase "aam aadmi". “The words ‘aam aadmi’ are synonymous with the Congress not just since 2004 but since 1885. Nobody can hijack, skyjack or bicycle-jack the intrinsic relationship between the Congress and the 'aam aadmi',” Union Minister Manish Tewari asserted. AAP leader Manish Sisodia rejected the observation saying that the phrase has not been coined by the Congress. “We are not using their party symbols or slogan,” Sisodia retorted. The BJP appeared dismissive of the new effort. “Many such parties have been launched. Let us wait and see,” a senior party leader said. Members of the newly-formed party said there would be no place for dynastic politics, a dig perhaps at the Congress. They said they were ready to field candidates in 2014 but the first test would be the Delhi Assembly elections. Kejriwal said that common men, women and children would form the party. “They are not politicians. They are the people who are fed up of corruption and price rise. Our vision is to bring swaraj (self-rule) in this country,” he said.
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Jethmalani flays BJP attack on govt over CBI chief
New Delhi, November 24 "I regret that this criticism is a result of complete ignorance of relevant facts and has been instigated by a most undesirable rival who had to withdraw his petition before the CAT yesterday as a result of the appointment," Jethmalani said in a letter to BJP president Nitin Gadkari. His statement came a day after Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Sushma Sinha and Arun Jaitley wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding that the decision regarding the appointment of Ranjit Sinha as CBI Director be "kept in abeyance", he alleged that BJP's criticism of the government was "instigated" by the "most undesirable rival" of Sinha. "I was astonished to read that the BJP has attacked the Prime Minister and the Congress party for what the party calls the fast tracked appointment of Ranjit Sinha as the Director of the CBI," the veteran Parliamentarian said. "I regret that this criticism is a result of complete ignorance of relevant facts and has been instigated by a most undesirable rival who had to withdraw his petition before the CAT yesterday as a result of the appointment," he added. Jethmalani’s comments were welcomed by the Congress with Information and Broadcasting Minister saying he rarely agreed with the eminent lawyer but this was one occasion when he was in complete agreement with him. This is the second time within a month that Jethmalani has embarrassed the party leadership.
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Aadhaar cards will help govt target beneficiaries
New Delhi, November 24 The government’s goal is to rapidly roll out cash transfers across the country for as many government schemes and benefits as possible within the next year. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is heading the national committee overseeing the roll-out of the plan which will meet on Monday. Cash transfers are programmes that transfer cash directly to poor households with or without conditions. The purpose of a cash transfer includes providing monetary benefit for a specific purpose such as education through a scholarship or for healthcare through a medical assistance programme. These can also be used for direct income support such as old age income support through pension and employment support through benefits. In addition, they also provide direct subsidy for specific products such as food, fuel, agricultural inputs, electricity, books among others.
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Karnataka Govt not bidding for royal carriage
Bangalore, November 24 The auction will be held at 1 pm local time (6.30 pm IST) today. “We have not received any order from the government regarding participating in the auction. It is all over now,” said a top official of the state-run Mysore Palace Board. Karnataka Chief Secretary SV Ranganath, who is chairman of the board, remained incommunicado. “There is no way we can ascertain whether the carriage really belonged to the royal family of Mysore,” said TS Subramanya, Deputy Director of the board. He added that there were also other “practical problems” that prevented the government from taking part in the auction. While the brochure of the auction house claims the carriage features in one of the paintings kept at the famous Mysore Palace, Subramanya says the carriage featuring in the painting is not exactly the same as advertised by the auctioneer. “It is 60 to 70 per cent similar,” he added. Medical Education Minister and in charge of Mysore district SA Ramdas had first announced that the Mysore Palace Board would take part in the auction. “It is important for our heritage. Our officials will bid for it and bring it back,” Ramdas had said. The minister, however, is in Gujarat now from where he will return to Bangalore on Sunday. The proposal of bidding for the carriage, which has been given the price tag of £70000 to 1 lakh by the auction house, was examined by the finance department. The source is not aware of the advice given by the department. It is, however, certain that no serious effort has been made by anyone in the government to acquire the artifact described by the auctioneer (Historics at Brookland) as “a work of art”.
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No to HRD’s request for subsidised LPG
New Delhi, November 24 In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State Shashi Tharoor said, “Petroleum Ministry has turned down our request to allow supply of subsidised LPG cylinders for the mid-day meal programme beyond the cap. The request has not been agreed to.” Raju said if Finance Ministry did not provide additional support, the HRD would have to meet the same from its own resources. “We cannot allow the quality of midday meals to be affected,” he said. Former HRD Minister Kapil Sibal had written to his petroleum counterpart for the relaxation.
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Joint PG medical entrance begins
New Delhi, November 24 Over 95,000 candidates have registered to take the computer-based admission test for postgraduate medical courses. The test will be conducted over 11 days between November 23 and December 6 at 51 test centres across 33 cities. “Before a candidates is allowed into the testing venue, he needs to produce a valid admit card with attested photo, SMC or MCI registration certificate, as well as an authorised photo ID. All candidates are asked to store all their personal belongings outside the testing room, before being physically frisked and scanned with a metal detector. Finally, their digital image and fingerprint are captured, and they are assigned a specific workstation for the test,” said Dr Bipin Batra, Executive Director, NBE. Every testing venue is physically and electronically monitored throughout the testing process, from the time candidates arrive, through the duration of the test, until they leave the venue. Around 800 cameras are also installed to record both audio and video during the test. All candidates who showed up on time with the requisite documentation on the first day completed their tests successfully.
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Was made to sign on 2G audit report: CAG ex-official New Delhi, November 24 Singh, who headed the CAG team that audited the 2G spectrum allocation, maintained that he had never put the figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore in his draft report. "They (senior CAG officials) told me that this is the final report and asked me through a written order to sign on it. So I followed the instruction and I signed the report," Singh told PTI. He claimed "there was no opportunity to show one's difference of opinion." "I am their field office. I prepared the report. Why I removed those figures I explained. I gave them the reasons for the removal and thereafter submitted it to the higher authorities. This is their report and their responsibility. They again put those loss figures. What can I do in this?" To a question whether he had differed on the figures quoted in the CAG's final report, he said it was not a question of difference. "I had removed these figures from my report. Why I removed these figures from my report I had explained. But they did not agree to my explanations and they incorporated those figures in the final report. “And they told me that this is the final report and asked me through a written order to sign on it. So I followed the instruction and I signed the report," Singh said. — PTI
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New Delhi, November 24
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