N A T I O N

Six die as building wall collapses in Hyderabad
Hyderabad, July 23
Six persons, including two children, were killed when the rain-soaked wall of a building fell on two adjacent huts in the city today. Four members of a family and a couple died in sleep when the retaining wall of the building came crashing down on their huts, the police said. The incident took place between 1.45 am and 2 am. The dead included two children, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Malkajgiri zone) V Shivkumar.

A train on water-logged tracks in Mumbai. — PTI

Defence Secretary orders probe against Army’s legal top boss
Chandigarh, July 23
Days before his retirement, the Army’s top legal officer Judge Advocate General (JAG) Maj Gen PS Rathore is in a spot with the Defence Secretary directing that a time-bound inquiry be instituted against the illegal transfer of an officer in his department, allegedly at his behest.

Joshi, Maken on Cong poll panel
New Delhi, July 23
The Congress today brought in senior leaders CP Joshi and Ajay Maken into the party's high-power coordination committee headed by Rahul Gandhi for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. With their addition, the number of members of the committee, set up in November 2012, has gone up to eight.

Poverty ratio dips to 21.9%
New Delhi, July 23
Poverty ratio in the country has declined to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12 from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05 due to increase in per capita consumption, the Planning Commission said today while releasing the poverty estimates for 2011-12.

Won’t meddle in Afghan affairs: Pak
New Delhi, July 23
Emphasising that the Nawaz Sharif government was committed to making every sincere attempt to improve ties with India, Pakistan today denied New Delhi’s charge that it was seeking to gain strategic depth in Afghanistan after the withdrawal by NATO troops in 2014.

Heavy rain hits life in Mumbai
Mumbai, July 23
Heavy rain coinciding with high tide threw life in Mumbai out of gear with low-lying areas getting flooded across the city. Road and rail traffic were also affected due to heavy water-logging. “We have advised people against venturing out unless absolutely necessary. Relief and rescue personnel are on standby,” said an official of the Maharashtra Government’s disaster management cell late afternoon.

Relief to Lalu; SC to replace trial judge in fodder scam
New Delhi, July 23
In a major relief to RJD chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Supreme Court today virtually agreed to shift the trial in a 1997 fodder scam case against him to another court as the CBI judge hearing the case is a relative of Education Minister PK Shahi in the JD (U) government headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

’93 blasts case: SC rejects Sanjay Dutt’s plea
New Delhi, July 23
Actor Sanjay Dutt today failed in his final effort to get judicial relief as the Supreme Court rejected his plea against the five-year sentence awarded to him for illegal possession of firearms during the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts in which over 250 persons were killed and more than 700 injured. With this, Dutt has exhausted all his judicial options and cannot approach the apex court or any other court again challenging his conviction.

Six die as building wall collapses in Hyderabad
Suresh Dharur/TNS

People at the scene of the wall collapse following incessant rain in Hyderabad on Tuesday. — PTI

Hyderabad, July 23
Six persons, including two children, were killed when the rain-soaked wall of a building fell on two adjacent huts in the city today. Four members of a family and a couple died in sleep when the retaining wall of the building came crashing down on their huts, the police said. The incident took place between 1.45 am and 2 am. The dead included two children, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Malkajgiri zone) V Shivkumar.

The rescuers safely pulled out two children trapped in the rubble. Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), fire department, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) besides the local police were involved in the rescue operation.

GHMC Commissioner MT Krishna Babu said two families were staying in the huts for the past 10 years. The bodies had been recovered from the debris and the rescue operation was over.

Two NDRF teams comprising 100 personnel stationed at Hakimpe arrived at the scene within 45 minutes of the incident and began rescue works, Babu said.

The city has been witnessing incessant rain for the past three days. Around 3,000 buildings and structures in the city have been listed as vulnerable and weak.

Revenue Minister Raghuveera Reddy, who visited the scene, said an ex gratia of Rs 8.5 lakh to one family and Rs 6.5 lakh to another family would be paid.

This is the second such tragedy to hit the city this month. On July 8, 18 persons were killed when a two-storey hotel building collapsed in Secunderabad.

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy expressed grief over the deaths in the wall collapse.

He directed GHMC to ensure that the injured were provided best treatment.

Rain halts Mumbai

Heavy rain coinciding with high tide threw life in Mumbai out of gear with low-lying areas getting flooded across the city on Tuesday. Road and rail traffic were also affected due to heavy water-logging. “We have advised people against venturing out unless absolutely necessary. Relief and rescue personnel are on standby,” said an official of the Maharashtra Government’s disaster management cell late afternoon. — TNS

Defence Secretary orders probe against Army’s legal top boss
Vijay Mohan/TNS

Chandigarh, July 23
Days before his retirement, the Army’s top legal officer Judge Advocate General (JAG) Maj Gen PS Rathore is in a spot with the Defence Secretary directing that a time-bound inquiry be instituted against the illegal transfer of an officer in his department, allegedly at his behest.

The Defence Secretary, according to documents available with The Tribune, has asked the Vice-Chief of Army Staff to conduct an inquiry into the matter and submit a report to the Defence Ministry expeditiously for necessary action.

In a petition filed earlier before the Armed Forces Tribunal that came up for hearing today, Lt Col Mukul Dev alleged that the Maj Gen PS Rathore had been earlier responsible for his illegal transfer from the JAG branch to another branch dealing with land records, thereby damaging his career prospects and causing him harassment. The issue dates to when Maj Gen Rathore, who retires on July 31, was posted as a brigadier at the Command Headquarters.

“On perusing the documents of the case and the affidavit filed by the defence ministry conveying the Defence Secretary’s decision, the Tribunal today directed the ministry that the inquiry be commenced within this week and a compliance report in connection with the commencement of the probe be submitted on or before July 31,” Rajiv Manglik, the officer’s counsel told The Tribune.

The Tribunal had accepted Lt Col Mukul Dev’s plea in December 2012 and had directed suitable action against those responsible for his transfer. Following a contempt petition for non-implementation of the orders, the Army had repeatedly sought time to do the needful. In an affidavit filed before the court, the Defence Ministry had earlier claimed that an investigation was carried out but nothing was found against the said officers that indicated malafide on their part.

On perusing the records and files related to the case, the Tribunal, however, observed that no fresh investigation was carried out by the Army as directed.

Joshi, Maken on Cong poll panel

New Delhi, July 23
The Congress today brought in senior leaders CP Joshi and Ajay Maken into the party's high-power coordination committee headed by Rahul Gandhi for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. With their addition, the number of members of the committee, set up in November 2012, has gone up to eight.

It also inducted party general secretary Digvijay Singh and Union minister Jairam Ramesh in the party's sub-group on manifesto and government programmes headed by AK Antony, party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told PTI. Party ideologue Mohan Gopal, a special invitee to this committee, has now been elevated as a member.

This sub-group has P Chidambaram, Sushilkumar Shinde, Anand Sharma, Salman Khurshid, Sandeep Dikshit, Ajit Jogi, Renuka Chowdhary and P L Punia as members.

Rahul was elevated as the party's Vice President at Congress Chintan Shivir in Jaipur in January. His heading the committee was interpreted as a clear signal for his larger role in the party then.

Senior leaders Ahmed Patel, Dwivedi, Digvijay Singh, Madhusudan Mistry and Ramesh are other members of the coordination panel.

Rahul had announced the setting up of the coordination group and sub-groups with specific tasks at the party's Samvad Baithak on November 9 at Surajkund last year, saying that "with a year and half left for the Lok Sabha elections, both party and government will have to work cohesively together to ensure that we secure a renewed mandate". — PTI

Poverty ratio dips to 21.9%
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 23
Poverty ratio in the country has declined to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12 from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05 due to increase in per capita consumption, the Planning Commission said today while releasing the poverty estimates for 2011-12.

According to the Commission, in 2011-12 for rural areas, the national poverty line by using the Tendulkar methodology is estimated at Rs 816 per capita per month in villages and Rs 1,000 per capita per month in cities. This would imply that the persons whose consumption of goods and services exceed Rs 33.33 in cities and Rs 27.20 per capita per day in villages are taken to be above poverty line. The Commission said for a family of five, the all-India poverty line in terms of consumption expenditure would amount of Rs 4,080 per month in rural areas and Rs 5,000 per month in urban areas. The poverty line will vary from state to state.

The percentage of persons below the poverty line in 2011-12 has been estimated at 25.7 per cent in rural areas, 13.7 per cent in urban areas and 21.9 per cent for the country as a whole, a Planning Commission statement said.

The percentage of persons below poverty line in 2004-05 was 41.8 per cent in rural areas, 25.7 per cent in cities and 37.2 per cent in the country as a whole. In actual terms, there were 26.93 crore people below poverty line in 2011-12 as compared to 40.71 crore in 2004-05. This ratio for 2011-12 is based on the methodology suggested by the Suresh Tendulkar Committee which factors in money spent on health and education besides calorie intake to fix a poverty line. The Commission said the decline in poverty is mainly on account of rising real per capita consumption figures. During the 11-year period 1993-94 to 2004-05, the average decline in poverty ratio was 0.74 percentage points per year. It accelerated to 2.18 percentage points per year during the seven-year period 2004-05 to 2011-12.

Won’t meddle in Afghan affairs: Pak
Ashok Tuteja/TNS

New Delhi, July 23
Emphasising that the Nawaz Sharif government was committed to making every sincere attempt to improve ties with India, Pakistan today denied New Delhi’s charge that it was seeking to gain strategic depth in Afghanistan after the withdrawal by NATO troops in 2014.

“The strategic depth syndrome is rather misplaced...we must all adhere to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan and not prescribe any outside solution for stabilising the situation there,” Pakistan High Commissioner Salman Bashir said at a seminar on “2014: Way Ahead for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan”, organised by the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA). Afghan Ambassador Shaida Abdali, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman and strategic expert C Raja Mohan were, among others, who participated in the seminar.

Observing that Pakistan enjoyed a ‘very special relationship’ with Kabul, Bashir said Islamabad was mindful of the fact that a strong, independent and peaceful Afghanistan was in the interest of not only South Asia but the world as a whole. “It will be unfair and counter-productive if we visualise gloom and doom after 2014...we support an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led reconciliation process there,” he added.

India has often accused Pakistan of dictating to the Taliban the terms of peace talks with the Afghan government.

Heavy rain hits life in Mumbai
Shiv Kumar/TNS

Mumbai, July 23
Heavy rain coinciding with high tide threw life in Mumbai out of gear with low-lying areas getting flooded across the city. Road and rail traffic were also affected due to heavy water-logging. “We have advised people against venturing out unless absolutely necessary. Relief and rescue personnel are on standby,” said an official of the Maharashtra Government’s disaster management cell late afternoon.

The weather department has predicted heavy to very heavy rain over the next 72 hours. Apart from Mumbai, Konkan and Marathwada will receive very heavy rain, they say.

Train services on both Central and Western railways were affected as most trains ran late by 30 minutes. The Harbour line on the Central Railway was the worst hit with several trains being suspended for the day.

The police said roads in different parts of the city were closed to traffic because of flooding. High tides at 12.43 pm forced the civic authorities to shut drainage pipes that carry storm water into the sea.

Relief to Lalu; SC to replace trial judge in fodder scam
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, July 23
In a major relief to RJD chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Supreme Court today virtually agreed to shift the trial in a 1997 fodder scam case against him to another court as the CBI judge hearing the case is a relative of Education Minister PK Shahi in the JD (U) government headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it would either nominate another CBI judge to hold the trial or ask the Jharkhand High Court to shift the case pertaining to illegal withdrawal of Rs 35 crore from the Chaibasa treasury as part of the Rs 900 crore scam. However, this would be done after hearing the arguments of the CBI and the complainant, Lallan Singh, on August 6. Appearing for Yadav, senior counsel Ram Jethmalani said trial judge PK Singh had slated July 15 for delivering the judgment in the case even before the conclusion of arguments by the accused. “That is why we issued notice” on Yadav’s appeal, the Bench said.

’93 blasts case: SC rejects Sanjay Dutt’s plea
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 23
Actor Sanjay Dutt today failed in his final effort to get judicial relief as the Supreme Court rejected his plea against the five-year sentence awarded to him for illegal possession of firearms during the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts in which over 250 persons were killed and more than 700 injured. With this, Dutt has exhausted all his judicial options and cannot approach the apex court or any other court again challenging his conviction.

A trial court set up under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) had cleared Dutt of terrorism conspiracy charge in the blasts, but convicted and sentenced him to six years for illegal possession of arms.