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Suryanelli sex scandal
Left bastion Tripura goes to polls today
Assam violence toll mounts to 19, CM assures probe
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Govt ready with draft Bill to empower IIMs
Four Veerappan gang members to be executed
Rights group condemns Afzal’s hanging
Terror threats loom over V-Day celebrations
Pro-Telangana stir set to revive later this month
K’taka finally gets Lokayukta
2G: CBI to send tape to CFSL for voice test
Petrol, diesel prices may go up
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Kurien meets Vice-President Ansari, explains his stance
KV Prasad/TNS
New Delhi, February 13 The Left has been holding demonstrations in Kerala with CPM Politburo member Brinda Karat urging Ansari, who is also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, to oust Kurien especially when the House is expected to debate a Bill to replace the ordinance amending criminal laws to deal with sexual assault against women. The victim’s mother had recently written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi echoing similar views. After the meeting with Ansari, Kurien told The Tribune that he explained to the Chairman how he was not an accused in the case, which has now been remanded to the Kerala High Court by the Supreme Court. He said his name did not figure in the FIR initially, but cropped up two months later in 1996 through a private complaint. Identifying Kurien as “Baji” through a picture in a newspaper, the victim alleged he too had assaulted her. The allegation surfaced before the 1996 general election, Kurien claimed adding that the complaint was probed on three occasions by Inspector General-level officers — one under the Congress-led United Democratic Front government and two under the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) — and was cleared each time. “Besides the police inquiry, the allegation against me has been scrutinised twice by the Supreme Court and in the first instance found the case fit for discharge and subsequently confirmed the discharge given by the High Court.” When the apex court cleared his name in November 2007, the LDF led by VS Achutanandan did not deem it necessary to file a review or revision petition then, he added. Asserting that the demands for his removal appeared driven by political considerations, he charged the CPM with trying to reopen the complaint on the basis of the main case and conspiring with some activists to oust him from the position. The attempt to use a statement by the main accused had no legal value even as there were independent witnesses and official travel log books that recorded his movement as a minister in Kerala, including on the day of the purported incident, he added. Deputy chairman’s
defence
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Left bastion Tripura goes to polls today
There are 11,98,970 male voters and 11,56,476 female voters. Polling will be held in 3041 polling stations. Total number of candidates in the fray is 249, including 14 women candidates. As many as 259 companies of paramilitary force personnel have been deployed in the state to ensure that the election passes off smoothly. The main contest is going to be between the ruling Left Front’s major constituent CPM and the Congress. Both the parties have gone on an over drive to make inroads among the voters. Both the parties have even resorted to door-to-door campaigns in many parts of the state. One of significant aspects of Tripura electioneering was people from various villages coming out on the street in a procession holding flags of the party they are going to support in the polls. Music and satirical melodies have been a dominant component of the electioneering. The Left Front has left no stone unturned. The CPM has made it a point to engage all its top leaders, including Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat, Sitaram Yechuri, Biman Bose, Md Salim, etc. during the campaign. The opposition Congress, however, banked massively on the charm of Rahul Gandhi to attract voters during the last two days of electioneering. Rahul attended six massive election rallies in the state giving the much-needed boost to party’s electioneering. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi failed to hit the campaign trail for various reasons. The Left Front is contesting the polls on the plank of peace, stability and the development it has ushered in the state during the last 20 years. The Congress has tried to lure voters with promises like rice at Rs 1 per kg to the BPL families, at least one job to every needy household, old-age pension, unemployment allowance to unemployed, implementation of Central pay-scale for state employees, free computers to brilliant students, bi-cycles to girl students etc.
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Assam violence toll mounts to 19, CM assures probe
Agartala, February 13 Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today admitted that there were lapses on part of the government in providing adequate security for holding of panchayat polls that was opposed by Rabha tribe bodies in the area. Gogoi, who also holds the Home portfolio, said, “I take full responsibility for failing to provide adequate security. There were some lapses and we had no prior information.” He said already eight columns of Army had been deployed in the area while the strength of deployment of police and paramilitary forces too had been increased in the area. He said a judicial enquiry will be constituted to probe the matter and the state government will also seek a CBI enquiry. “The situation is under control now. The last incident of violence was reported last night,” Gogoi said. Out of the 19 deaths, 13 were killed in police firing in poll-related violence and six others were victims of subsequent ethnic violence. Over 100 houses were torched, while nearly 30 policemen and equal number of civilians have injured in the violence. Curfew has been clamped in Krishnai and Mornoi areas in Goalpara district and shoot-at-sight orders are in place. Gogoi has rushed four Cabinet ministers to the violence-hit areas to monitor the situation and to prevent further escalation. The Chief Secretary and Director General of Police are also keeping a close watch over the affairs.
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Govt ready with draft Bill to empower IIMs
New Delhi, February 13 Being autonomous societies functioning on the basis of memoranda of understanding signed with the Ministry of HRD, the IIMs don’t have powers to grant degrees unlike Central universities, IITs and deemed universities, which are all set up by an Act of Parliament or State Legislatures. Bringing the 13 IIMS under the purview of Parliament has now become urgent considering growing global competition in the field of management and the impending entry of foreign education providers into India. These are expected to offer tough competition to local B-schools, whose diplomas are not recognised abroad. “Internationally, the PGDMs being offered by the IIMs are non degrees. That’s a huge handicap. That’s why IIM directors approached the ministry earlier asking to come under a legislative umbrella to be able to grant degrees. We have evolved a draft which IIM directors have consented to. We will take it forward,” said Ashok Thakur, Secretary, Higher Education, today. IIM Ahmedabad Director Sameer Barua said he had not seen the consensus draft yet. Barua has been raising concerns around institutional autonomy to the IIMs in respect of their administrative and financial powers. HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju today clarified: “The IIM Council being proposed under the IIM Bill will only be a coordinating body and a forum for discussions. It will not have the kind of powers the IIT Council has under its Act.” Concerns raised by the IIMs are also valid. Picture this -IIMs of Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata have become independent of government funding and raise their own money. Once the Bill is finalised and passed as it is, all IIMs will have to subject their accounts to the CAG audit and maintain a separate account to keep the money received from the Centre and other sources, including endowments. The IIM Bill, as proposed, doesn’t address the role of states in the IIMs even when in many states these institutes have come up with the active support of the state government. The Ahmedabad IIM came up on contributions by an industrialist, free land donated by the state and some operational cost from the Centre. Raju said he would meet all IIM directors at Kozhikode after the first leg of the budget session of Parliament to evolve a consensus around the Bill.
The
IIM bill
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Mughal Gardens set to open from tomorrow
New Delhi, February 13 Inspired by the Mughal era, the gardens, spread over 154 hectares of land, boasts of 33 medicinal and aromatic plants, 250 bonsai plants, 120 celebrated variety of roses, 55 variety of seasonal flowers and around 5,000 trees belonging to 160 species. To add a sense of coolness and purity, there are indigenous trees and shrubs, musical fountains, water channels and ponds built all across the gardens. The main attraction of the Mughal Gardens this year is the ‘dahlias’ in different colours which number more than 2,500. A floral wall of dahlias more than eight feet in height can be seen encircling the circular garden. The gardens also attracts different species of birds, most of which are migratory. “The Presidents’ Estate is home to around 91 species of birds which includes great number of francolin, peafowl, quail and peacock,” Nigam Prakash Semiwal, officer on special duty (horticulture) at Rashtrapati Bhavan The visual appeal of the Mughal Gardens has been remarkably enhanced this year by the combination of yellow and white colours, which dominates the colour scheme of the flowers. There will be special days when the gardens will be exclusively opened for certain sections of society. While farmers will have their exclusive day on March 18, differently-abled persons and those who are visually challenged can visit the Mughal Gardens on March 19. The security forces personnel will have their day on March 20. Though the overall lawns of the Rashtrapati Bhawan have a fleet of more than 150 gardners to look after them, the grandeur of the sprawling Mughal Gardens is the result of meticulous efforts put by 35 special gardeners. A spiritual garden along side Mughal Gardens with 40 varied varieties of plants from different religions like Rudraksh, fig, date palm etc remains the best attraction for visitors.
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Four Veerappan gang members to be executed
Bangalore, February 13 The four accused - Gnanprakasham, Simon, Meesekar Madaiah and Bilavendran - were sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in January 2004 in connection with the killing of 21 policemen in a landmine blast at Palar in Karnataka near the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border in 1993. They were sentenced to undergo life imprisonment by a Mysore court. But the government moved the Supreme Court, which awarded them the death sentence. Their mercy pleas have been pending since 2004. A division bench of Justice YK Sabharwal and Justice BN Agrawal had converted the life imprisonment of convicts to death sentence and dismissed the convicts’ appeals against the order of conviction passed by a special TADA court in Karnataka. Gagandeep said an inmate at Belgaum prison would carry out the executions. “He is ready,” the ADGP said about the executioner. The Hindalga jail at Belgaum, built by the British in 1923, has three gallows.
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Rights group condemns Afzal’s hanging
The WGHR also condemned the indiscriminate and arbitrary use of state power for imposing capital punishment to Guru covertly, denying his family a last visit and refusing to hand over his body to his family. The group said death penalty embodied the idea of retribution which is as violent as the offence for which one is convicted, and is contrary to all civilised ideals of criminology and constitutionalism. During the second inter-governmental peer review of India's human rights (also known as the Universal Periodic Review) in May 2012, the UN Human Rights Council made 169 recommendations to the Government of India out of which 11 related to the abolition of death penalty and the adoption of an official moratorium on death penalty. None of these were accepted by India. "We are concerned against India aligning itself with the small minority of nations which favour death penalty. On November 21, 2012 a resolution was passed by the UN General Assembly's Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) on 'Moratorium on the use of the death penalty' by a record 110 votes but India voted against the motion," the coalition said in a statement.
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Terror threats loom over V-Day celebrations
Mumbai, February 13 The police said a number of locations, including Mumbai's beaches and the bandstand at Bandra which are popular hangouts for young people will have tight security. “We are combing all hotels and lodges in Mumbai as part of the security reparations,” a spokesman for the Mumbai police said. From Sunday night searches have been carried out at different places in Mumbai with Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh himself overseeing operations, sources said. “We do not want a repeat of the bomb blast at German Bakery on Valentine's Day eve three years ago," a police official said. Scores of young people, mainly students from India and abroad, lost their lives following the blast in Pune. The establishment which closed down following the attack re-opened only recently. Investigators are also grappling with anonymous phone callers who claim to have seen suspicious people at various places in Mumbai. One caller has been regularly calling the control room warning of an impending terror attack in Mumbai by six persons specially sent to the city for the purpose, the police said.
LeT threat
The police says it is taking the threat by Pakistani terrorist outfit LeT to avenge the hanging of Guru seriously Investigators are also grappling with anonymous phone callers who claim to have seen suspicious people at various places in Mumbai
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Pro-Telangana stir set to revive later this month
Hyderabad, February 13 The Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC), a conglomeration of several pro-Telangana political and social groups, has chalked out agitation programmes for the coming days. They plan to hold protests against the alleged delaying tactics being adopted by the Centre after holding out a promise of an early solution to the imbroglio. To begin with, a “Sadak Bandh” (road blockade) will be organised on the busy Hyderabad-Bangalore National highway for 24 hours on February 24. As a prelude to the agitation programme and to mobilise public support to revive the movement, the committee leaders led by TJAC chairman Prof M Kodandaram, set out on a two-day “Bus Yatra” covering the region yesterday. The road show would see public meetings being held all along the route, including Shamshabad (where the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is located), Shadnagar, Thimmapur, Wanaparthi and Gadwal before culminating in a public rally at Alampur in neighbouring Mahabubnagar district. During the proposed road blockade, thousands of pro-Telangana activists are expected to hold protest meetings at various points along the highway, cook food and organise cultural programmes. Stating that the road blockade would signal the re-launch of the statehood movement with a more vigour, Prof Kodandaram said: “The agitation will essentially target the Congress and will not stop till the UPA government introduces a Bill in Parliament for bifurcation of the state.” He said the purpose of the bus yatra was to sensitise people on the road blockade which he termed as the main event.
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K’taka finally gets Lokayukta
Bangalore, February 13 Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar recommended Rao’s name after consultation with the Speaker of Karnataka Assembly, chairman of the Legislative Council and Leaders of Opposition in both houses of the legislature. Rao (75) would be sworn in as the Lokayukta tomorrow by the Governor. The appointment of the Lokayukta has been mired in controversy ever since the resignation of Justice
Patil. Although the government had recommended the appointment of Justice S R Bannurmath immediately after Patil’s departure, it was rejected by the Governor on the grounds that his name was embroiled in a number of controversies. Justice Patil’s predecessor Justice Santosh Hegde had set an example when he nailed the then CM BS Yeddyurappa in his report on illegal mining.
Decision opposed
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2G: CBI to send tape to CFSL for voice test
New Delhi, February 13 The conversation, which took place in September and October last year, was recorded by an agency other than the CBI, sources said. A preliminary inquiry in the case has already been registered. A senior official said the agency was in the process of sending the tape to the forensic laboratory to test the voices of AK Singh and another individual, believed to be the managing director of a corporate house. The two were purportedly discussing ways to weaken the 2G case. Voice samples of both suspects were taken yesterday. The CBI has removed Singh from the case and its Director Ranjit Sinha has informed the Supreme Court and the Law Ministry about the decision.
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Petrol, diesel prices may go up
New Delhi, February 13 State-owned oil firms are losing Rs 1.32 a litre on petrol as international oil rates have firmed up during the last two weeks. They intend to pass on most of the losses to consumers at the next review due on February 15. Also, diesel prices may be increased by 40-50 paise a litre in line with the freedom given by the government last month to raise its rates in small dozes every month till such time that the Rs 9.22 a litre loss is completely wiped out. Petrol price was last revised on January 18 when the price was cut by 30 paise a litre in Delhi.
— PTI
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I was sexually abused, says Anoushka Shankar New Delhi, February 13 The 31-year-old sitarist said this in an online campaign ‘One Billion Rising’ that demands an end to sexual violence this Valentine’s Day. "As a child I suffered sexual and emotional abuse for several years at the hands of a man my parents trusted implicitly. Growing up, like most women I know, I suffered various forms of groping, touching, verbal abuse and other things I didn't know how to deal with," she said. — PTI
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Agartala, February 13
New Delhi, February 13