|
|
|
|
|
Will insulate CBI from political meddling, Centre tells SC
No HC relief for Tytler in 1984 riots case
Mumbai truckload raids yield
Rs 10 crore
Anti-Maoist combing operation
launched in J’khand, Bengal
|
|
|
Home Secy tells CRPF to give befitting reply
Rain claims 6 more lives in UP; season toll 84
Admiral Gorshkov ready for delivery acceptance trials
Assam sounds heavy rain alert in 4 dists
Floods delayed political decision on Food Bill
ROAD ACCIDENT VICTIMS
BJP wants CBI probe into Jet-Etihad deal
Oil giant blames Assam bandhs for huge losses
Taliban must abjure violence
to join peace process: India
NHRC holds encounter killing by Assam cops fake
|
|||||||||
|
Will insulate CBI from political meddling, Centre tells SC
New Delhi, July 3 Further, the appointment of CBI Director would be done on the basis of the recommendation of a committee comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India or an SC Judge to ensure that the credentials of the agency’s chief were beyond doubt. Also, the CBI would be given financial autonomy. This would be achieved by making changes in the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act 1946, a Central law that governs the functioning of the agency. A Bill would be introduced in Parliament for the purpose. In an affidavit filed in the SC, the government said that under the proposed changes, suggested by a Group of Ministers (GoM) appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and approved by the Union Cabinet, it would cease to monitor CBI probe into offences committed under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988. The superintendence of the CBI in such cases “shall vest in the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC),” the government said in the 41-page affidavit. The CBI would have a separate Directorate of Prosecution under a Director who like the CBI Director would have a fixed tenure of two years. The Centre’s move comes in the wake of a May 8, 2013, order by the SC to enact law, if possible by July 10, to free CBI from all sorts of interference. The apex court passed the order while hearing a bunch of PILs seeking a special investigative team (SIT) to probe the alleged scam in the allocation of coal blocks to private companies. A three-member Bench headed by Justice RM Lodha had also taken exception to CBI Director Ranjit Sinha sharing the coalgate investigation report with the then Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and officials in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). However, the CBI would continue to be in the administrative control of the Centre, which would also retain its superintendence over the CBI in the investigation of crimes other than corruption. At the same time, both the CVC and the Centre would not have powers to direct the CBI “to investigate or dispose of any case in a particular manner.” The Centre would administer the CBI through a Director in DGP rank and all transfers in the CBI would be done on the decisions of a committee comprising the Director and two senior most CBI officers. The Accountability Commission, which would also include the Central Vigilance Commissioner as ex-officio member, would go into allegations of misbehaviour, incapacity, impropriety or irregularity on the part of CBI officers and employees. The government’s affidavit would come up for the consideration of the SC Bench hearing the coal scam case on July 10.
What the affidavit says
what the apex court said
|
|
No HC relief for Tytler in 1984 riots case
New Delhi, July 3 Justice SP Garg said the court was not inclined to stop further investigation in the case. However, he issued notice to the CBI and complainant Lakhwinder Kaur seeking their response by September 18 to Tytler’s appeal against the lower court order. In his appeal, Tytler has contended that the Sessions Court had erred in directing the CBI to examine specific witnesses ignoring the fact that it was the prerogative of the investigating agency to choose the witnesses it wanted to examine. “The settled position of law is that a direction for investigation can be given only if an offence is prima facie found to have been committed or a person’s involvement is prima facie established but direction to investigate whether any person has committed an offence or not cannot be legally given,” he contended pleading for quashing the Sessions Court’s order. The case pertains to the killing of three persons near Gurdwara Pulbangash in North Delhi on November 1, 1984, as part of the riots that took place following the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In December 2007, a magisterial court had rejected the CBI’s closure report against Tytler and ordered reinvestigation. But the CBI filed a closure report again on April 2, 2009, stating that it could not find any evidence against the Congress leader and this was accepted by the magistrate. However, Additional Sessions Judge Anuradha Shukla Bhardwaj ordered reopening of the case on a plea by some of the victims.
the incident |
|||
|
Mumbai truckload raids yield
Rs 10 crore
Mumbai, July 3 Officials said here today that the cargo comprising of mainly gold and diamonds, including rough stones, were being sent by jewellers and diamond merchants at Zaveri Bazaar to their counterparts in Gujarat. The cargo is collected at the end of the day by merchants and bundled into gunny bags and sent to different places in Gujarat via angadias, the traditional couriers employed in the trade. "This is an old practice of the diamond merchants, who send goods to Gujarat via the angadias," says Deputy Commissioner of Police Nisar Tamboli. He said this system has been in force for the past 15 years since the angadias transporting high value items feared being waylaid by criminals. Income Tax department officials were still evaluating the haul. "People who dispatched the goods are coming in to claim the cash and jewellery," Swatantra Kumar, Director General, Income Tax, told reporters here today. Kumar went on to say that it was not legal to transport huge amounts of cash via the angadias. "We are seizing the cash under the Income Tax Act," Kumar added. Senders and recipients of the money will now have a lot of explaining to do as they could come under the provisions of the money laundering laws.
|
|||
|
Anti-Maoist combing operation
launched in J’khand, Bengal
Kolkata, July 3 DGP, Jharkhand, and ADGP, south Bengal, today visited the area and ordered the intensifying of the combing operations in their respective areas. The West Bengal Government sealed its borders with Jharkhand and Bihar. Another combing operation was launched in Jangalmahal and Lalghar where the Maoists have started re-grouping. Jharkhand DGP Rajiv Kumar said there was no information about Maoist infiltration in the Dumka-Suri (Birbhum) areas. According to him, the Maoists, who had been flushed out from Jangalmahal, might be behind yesterday’s incident. The activists might have gone into their hideouts in West Bengal’s Birbhum-Bankura and Midnapore districts. Additional contingents of paramilitary forces were deployed at the vulnerable areas in both the states. Even while Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that both Lalghar and Jangalmahal had been freed from Maoists, some 45 companies of Central forces continue to be deployed at Jangalmahal. PTI adds from Ranchi: Security forces today combed the forests of Dumka and Pakur, officially declared as Maoist-hit districts in Jharkhand, but made no headway in tracking the Maoists down. Yesterday, Pakur and Dumka were officially declared as Maoist-hit taking the number of such districts to 20 of the total 24 in the state. "Securitymen have launched an operation to take strong action against the extremists," Anand Shankar, the adviser to Jharkhand Governor Syed Ahmed, said. "If necessary, assistance will be sought from the Centre," Shankar, who is in-charge of the state Home Department under President’s Rule, told reporters here. Yesterday's Maoist ambush on a police convoy near Kathikund in Dumka district bordering Pakur, about 400 km from here, would be investigated, he added.
Balihar laid to rest
Ranchi: Jharkhand Governor Syed Ahmed, DGP Rajeev Kumar and several senior government officials placed wreaths on the body of slain police officer Amarjit Balihar as buglers sounded the last post. After the ceremony, Balihar's body was taken to his home at Purulia Road and a church before being laid to rest. — PTI
Ramesh appointed Pakur SP
Ranchi: YH Ramesh was on Wednesday appointed the new police chief of Jharkhand's Pakur district, a day after his predecessor Amarjit Balihar was killed in an ambush by Maoists. Ramesh, a 2010 batch IPS officer, is posted as Tandua sub-divisional police officer in Maoist-hit Chatra district. — PTI
Home Secy tells CRPF to give befitting reply
New Delhi, July 3 Top sources said that the Centre has made it clear to the CRPF that it has to lead the operations and carry the state police forces along. “The CRPF has been asked to be more proactive,” a source said. The CRPF has been tasked to give a “befitting reply to the Maoists”. —
TNS
|
|||
|
Rain claims 6 more lives in UP; season toll 84
Lucknow, July 3 Four deaths were reported from Siddhartha Nagar district bordering Nepal. While three people succumbed to their injuries after the collapse of a wall, one person was hit by lightning. One death was reported in Sultanpur today and another from Barabanki district. As many as 136 villages are under water and four temporary shelters have been set up. As rainfall continues to lash many parts of the state, major rivers are flowing above the red mark. The weatherman said that similar conditions would prevail over the next 2-3 days. Some areas in eastern UP may receive heavy rain. The state has received surplus rain this monsoon. According to the weather office, nine places have received more than 25 mm rain during the past 24 hours. Twenty-five of the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh are reeling under floods due to incessant rain for almost a fortnight now. The worst is Farukhabad which has experienced 40.4 mm rain. As many as 90 villages in three tehsils have been affected by the waters of the Ganga, Ramganga and Kali Nadi. Sitapur has been the worst hit in terms of casualties where 14 persons have died and 2,500 persons have been evacuated to temporary shelters. The Ganga was maintaining an upward trend from Fatehgarh to Kanpur. It has breached embankments in Bijnore. The Sharda was flowing above the red mark at Palia Kalan in Lakhimpur Khiri. The Rapti is flowing full from Balrampur to Gorakhpur. The Burhi Rapti had crossed the danger mark in Siddharthanagar. The Quano has flooded low-lying areas in Gonda and Sant Kabir Nagar. The Ghaghra was above danger mark in Barabanki, Ballia, Ayodhya and Azamgarh.
No let-up soon
|
|||
|
Admiral Gorshkov ready for delivery acceptance trials
New Delhi, July 3 The damaged parts have been replaced and the ship is now ready to sail for delivery acceptance trials. The warship, re-christened INS Vikramaditya, was scheduled to be handed over to India in December 2012. Now the delivery deadline has been re-scheduled for the last quarter of 2013. The insulation system of all eight boilers on board the warship has been replaced with new ones. Three of the boilers had malfunctioned due to faulty insulation during sea trials in August-September 2012. Sources explained the fire-brick lining located on the inside of the insulation had come off. The "fire-brick" is a special ceramic which helps maintain optimum temperature in the boilers. Gaps can show wrong engine pressures and speeds, besides being hazardous. An official confirmed that the entire insulation was ripped off and new one installed. The warship has been given a final-coat of anti-rust paint on the portion that will remain submerged under water. The boilers on-board the ship power four engine shafts. Last year, a 500-member Indian Navy team on-board Admiral Gorshkov had reported to the Naval headquarters the problem with the warship's boilers, especially when it hit top speeds nearing 30 knots (around 55 kmph). India and Russia had signed a $2.3-billion (Rs 14,000 crore approx as per today's valuation) contract for refitting the aircraft carrier of the erstwhile Soviet Navy. The first contract was signed in 2004 when no other country was ready to sell such a technology to India. The malfunction notwithstanding, the warship continued to sail and undergo other trials like the landing and take off of MiG-29K fighters from its deck. In the meantime, the MiG 29-Ks have been inducted at a land base at Goa on May 11. The warship has already completed a 90-day sail and covered 11,000 nautical miles. Other than the boiler insulation showing problems at top speed, there were no other issues, Naval sources confirmed. In October last year, Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov visited India for the 12th annual meeting of the India-Russia inter-government commission on military technical cooperation where the matter concerning the delay in Gorshkov's delivery was discussed. Serdyukov had told the media, "We have given a revised time table. Sea trials shall resume in April next year. We believe the transfer (of the ship) will take place in the fourth quarter of 2013."
|
|||
|
Assam sounds heavy rain alert in 4 dists
Guwahati, July 3 At a high-level meeting by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi at his official residence, the government decided to issue red alert in Sonitpur, North Lakhimpur, Golaghat and Barpeta. "Red alert has been sounded in four districts of Assam following a report from the IMD that there might be rainfall of 488 mm in the next 3-4 days," an official release said. Gogoi discussed the continuing flood and erosion problem with Water Resources Minister Rajib Lochan Pegu and officials of departments concerned, and directed them to take all precautionary measures. He also asked those concerned to move the people living near the river banks to safer places. Meanwhile, the deputy commissioners of the four districts have been asked to make all-out preparations to meet any kind of eventuality, the statement said. Gogoi asked the Water Resources department to take up emergency protection works on a war footing. "As a long term measure, the Chief Minister asked the department to make a thorough study of the erosion problem and to rope in experts," it added. — PTI
|
|||
|
Floods delayed political decision on Food Bill
New Delhi, July 3 Highly-placed sources in the Congress said a decision on the manner in which the Bill was to be taken forward -- an ordinance route or through Parliament -- was the only aspect that needed to be fine-tuned otherwise the party was “determined” it was time to move forward. The party calculation was complete that having given political parties adequate time to build a consensus, there was still no certainty that the Bill could get a parliamentary nod in the next session. The logistics to call for a special session of Parliament when it is time for a monsoon session was not working well and now the Opposition that otherwise expresses support to the Bill faces a dilemma. Once the President promulgates the ordinance, the government has six months, a period in which it can replace it with a regular Bill and convert the executive decision into law through Parliament failing which the measure initiated by it will lapse. The Opposition could turn against the Bill to replace the ordinance from getting a parliamentary sanction only at its own peril since it would mean that it is standing in the way of the the government providing highly-subsidised foodgrain of a specified quantity to 67 per cent of the population. Now with the monsoon session so close, the government will be forced to move a Bill to replace the ordinance through which it would offer the Opposition with a ‘fait accompli’ situation.
|
|||
|
ROAD ACCIDENT VICTIMS
New Delhi, July 3 “It is the statutory right of a third party to recover the amount of compensation so awarded from the insurer. It is for the insurer to proceed against the insured for recovery of the amount in the event there has been violation of any condition of the insurance policy,” a Bench comprising Justices SS Nijjar and MY Eqbal. The apex court pointed out that Parliament had made third party insurance compulsory under the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 to ensure compensation to the victims of accident, fatal or otherwise. The Bench said it was clear from Sections 146 and 147 of the Act that under certain circumstances the “insurer’s right is safeguarded but in any event the insurer has to pay compensation when a valid certificate of insurance is issued notwithstanding the fact that the insurer may proceed against the insured for recovery of the amount.” The SC made the clarification while setting aside a Madras High Court judgment rejecting the victims’ claim to compensation as the driver was holding a licence for light motor vehicles for private use but was driving a commercial light motor vehicle at the time of the accident. The HC had set aside the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal’s order for a compensation of Rs 2.42 lakh. The HC had “committed a grave error of law in holding that the insurer is not liable to pay compensation because the driver was not holding the license to drive the commercial vehicle,” the apex court noted while directing the insurance company to pay the compensation awarded to the dependants of the person who had died in the accident.
|
|||
|
BJP wants CBI probe into Jet-Etihad deal
New Delhi, July 3 His senior colleague Yashwant Sinha today asked the government to order a CBI inquiry into the pact. “The manner in which the deal was concluded two days after the bilateral pact with the UAE was signed and assigning them 37,000 additional seats clearly indicates that these two private parties - Jet Airways and Etihad - were fully aware of what the government was going to do,” Sinha, a former Finance minister, was quoted as saying. For Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh, who has been ferociously canvassing for the agreement, termed it an “important deal”. “In terms of the FDI, it is bigger than any other deal this year. There are so many dimensions to it. Those opposing the deal are long on politics and short on facts,” he says. The question, therefore, is why has the Jet-Etihad deal generated so much controversy while in comparison the other foreign venture-AirAsia India-appears to be progressing smoothly? Government functionaries confirm that had the Jet-Etihad deal not been given a green signal, private carrier Jet Airways would have been doomed just like the Kingfisher Airlines. Significantly, however, the deal is not just being questioned on technicalities and gains for the stakeholders but issues regarding funding and security aspects. “The deal has not been done in the transparent manner to serve to best national interest,” sources say. They add that the association of widely respected industrialist Ratan Tata plus the fact that there are no bilateral involved makes Air Asia venture “cleaner and transparent”. As far as the Jet-Etihad venture is concerned, the FIPB last month decided to put the deal on hold since its “effective control” and “ownership” issues were not clear. Significantly, market regulator SEBI and competition watchdog Competition Commission of India had also wanted clarity on ownership from the domestic partner-the Jet Airways-to ensure that the foreign partner’s ownership remains in line with its 24% stake in the company’s equity capital.
|
|||
|
Oil giant blames Assam bandhs for huge losses
Guwahati, July 3 Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of the company SK Srivastava today said, “Numerous bandhs and blockades have severely affected our drilling and production activity in Assam. With 290 bandhs, blockades and obstructions by various organisations, the OIL suffered a loss of at least Rs 200 crore during the last financial year.” These bandhs and blockades, some of which were over petty issues, had a telling effect on OIL production. The crude oil output came down from 3.95 million tonne in 2011-12 to 3.71 million tonne in 2012-13. The monetary loss because of this had been around Rs 200 crore. The company operates in districts of Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Sivasagar. —
TNS
|
|||
|
Taliban must abjure violence
to join peace process: India
New Delhi, July 3 “We do understand the need for reconciliation in Afghanistan and we have repeatedly said we would welcome any effort towards reconciliation,” MEA spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told the media. However, the red lines drawn by Afghanistan and the international community for the reconciliation process must be strictly adhered to. The process should be transparent, Afghan-led and inclusive. It should include those ready to abjure violence. “We would be willing to see it includes all Afghan parties who are currently out of the mainstream but want to abjure violence and join the mainstream and this includes the Taliban,” he added. The spokesman’s comments came a day after External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, while addressing the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Brunei, stated that New Delhi recognised a role for the Taliban in the peace process in Afghanistan, a major departure from India’s earlier position that the outfit had no role to play in the attempts at reconciliation in the war-ravaged nation. Only yesterday, three Indians were killed in a Taliban suicide attack on a NATO supply company’s compound in Kabul.
|
|||
|
NHRC holds encounter killing by Assam cops fake
Guwahati, July 3 The rights panel has issued a show-cause notice to the Assam Government as to why the commission should not recommend monetary relief to the next of kin of victims Chandra Tokbi and Ananda Teron. The state government has been given six weeks to respond without fail. As per the intimation received in the NHRC from the Additional DGP, Assam, two extremists, Chandra Tokbi and Ananda Teron, were killed in an encounter with the police in the area of PS Bokulia, hill district of Karbi Anglong, Assam. The commission has found that the police version showing bullets to have been fired during the encounter from the weapons recovered from their person was not corroborated by an independent report from the ballistic expert. There was no report from the finger print expert to indicate that the weapons recovered had fingerprints of the victims or gun shot residue was taken from victims’ hands to indicate that they fired the weapons. The fact that the weapons had not been properly and individually sealed after the incident meant that their value as evidence was dubious. There was no proof that either Chandra Tokbi or Ananda Teron had handled or fired from the weapons because the police did not conduct the essential tests. The timings of the encounter in the early morning at 3.30 a.m. in the darkness also raised doubts about the genuiness of the encounter as no night vision devices were recovered from the bodies, nor the police reported that their team carried any. The autopsy report of Teron established that his left leg had a fracture with the dislocation of the femur. It is unlikely that a man of this sort of injury would have been on a hill engaged in an encounter with the police.
|
|
| 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 | |
Russian-built sea-borne aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov was ready for final trials before it is accepted by India. The warship left the Sevmash shipyard in north-west Russia today. The boilers of the 44,550-ton warship had malfunctioned during sea trials in August-September 2012.
The case pertains to the killing of three persons near Gurdwara Pulbangash in North Delhi on November 1, 1984, during the riots that took place following the assassination of the then PM Indira Gandhi