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2G hearing Tina Ambani outside Patiala House Court in New Delhi on Friday. — PTI
New e-mail policy to protect govt data from snoopers soon
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Security personnel patrol a street in Ayodhya on Friday. — PTI
Heritage sites facing neglect: CAG
BJP ready for discussion on five Bills listed for today
Soon, a party batting for united AP
Protest against bifurcation:
Employees of Andhra Pradesh secretariat from Seemandhra protest against the bifurcation of the state in Hyderabad on Friday. — PTI
India-China joint military exercise on November 4
Fuel adulteration: Centre’s views sought on CBI probe
UP considers amending law to check mining
2 killed, 35 injured in Vizag refinery fire
Truck mows down woman, daughter Delhi HC closes Tiwari’s option to give evidence
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I’m a housewife, have no role in ADAG firms: Tina Ambani
Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, August 23 She said she had no knowledge of any of the companies, be it RADAG, Zebra Consultant Pvt Ltd or Swan Consultant Pvt Ltd the files of which were shown to her in the court. Nevertheless, she identified her signature on some of the documents shown to her. When CBI prosecutor KK Goel asked her to identify the signatures of Anil on some documents, her senior counsel Harish Salve objected to this pointing out that Anil had already identified his signatures during his deposition yesterday. The judge accepted the objection. Appeared as a CBI witness in the court yesterday, Anil had denied that Swan Telecom, an accused in the 2G case, was a front company of RADAG for the purpose of getting telecom licence bundled with 2G spectrum. The CBI had refused to drop Tina as a witness in the case as Anil had not supported its case.
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New e-mail policy to protect govt data from snoopers soon
New Delhi, August 23 Making the announcement during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Communications and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said such a policy was “imperative in view of the security concerns that exist in other countries”. “What this will do is that our e-mail will be encrypted and that encryption will only be known to us. So, nobody else will be able to access it,” he added responding to a query on whether the government was considering installing its own servers to protect data relating to national interest to make it inaccessible to countries and interested parties. Sibal said for e-mails coming from outside India still had to rely on foreign servers. But to make the information flow safe, it has been decided that Indian Embassies abroad will only use NIC servers installed on their premises and directly linked to a server in India. Meanwhile, taking “note of disclosures by foreign media reports in June 2013 about extensive electronic surveillance programmes deployed by the US agencies”, he said the government was working on building better cyber and telephony infrastructure and security practices. According to the minister, violation of any Indian law relating to privacy of information of ordinary Indian citizens by surveillance programmes was “unacceptable” and India had conveyed its concerns to the US over reported monitoring of Internet traffic from the country.
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Ayodhya turns into fortress ahead of VHP yatra
Lucknow/Ayodhya, August 23 The usually overcrowded ghats of Ghaghra and the temple market in the Hanumangarhi area were deserted on Friday as Central and additional state forces took positions to prevent the VHP activists from entering the city. “Ten companies of the RAF and 12 companies of PAC have been dispatched to Ayodhya. The Faizabad SSP had also requisitioned for three additional SPs, 10 DSPs, 55 inspectors, 115 sub-inspectors and 900 constables. An additional 75 sub-inspectors and 400 constables have also been sent to Faizabad to further strengthen vigil,” IG Law and Order K Vishwakarma said. The yatra has six districts in its route -- Faizabad, Basti, Barabanki, Gonda, Bahraich and Ambedkar Nagar. BJP president Rajnath Singh called upon the state government to reconsider its decision to ban the VHP’s proposed yatra. Speaking at a BJP frontal organisation meeting in the city, he wondered how sadhus could pose a threat to law and order. According to unconfirmed reports, VHP head Ashok Singhal was put under house arrest in Allahabad and later escorted under heavy security to the Allahabad airport from where he reportedly boarded a flight to New Delhi. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today summoned MLAs from these districts to get a first hand report on the ground situation.
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Heritage sites facing neglect: CAG
New Delhi, August 23 Painting a truly dismal picture of India’s heritage, the national auditor’s report on “Preservation and Conservation of Monuments and Antiquities” lists dozens of cases where the country’s valuable heritage has been left to decay by the people responsible for its preservation. “One such horrifying case is of a site in Dharwad , Karnataka, where even Union Minister Jairam Ramesh’s intervention could not make the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) move,” the CAG says in its report tabled in Parliament today. It highlighted the “grossly inadequate fund-allocation” by the government to organisations like the ASI. It also slammed the ASI for disappearing sites, neglected stupa and encroached monuments in the country. While checking 1,655 monuments, CAG teams found 92 monuments missing. “The ASI had been misinforming Parliament for years by stating that only 35 of its monuments have gone missing,” the report says. In the Chandigarh circle, “kos” minars at Shahbad and Mujessar were found “missing”. The audit found that most of the Indus valley sites were encroached upon and neglected. “Many are unfenced and are being used as cremation grounds and public toilets,” it says. Even the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort are decaying for want of money. CAG auditors lament how the authorities responsible for the management of the Red Fort are unable to maintain its garden and make water channels operational. “This speaks of lack of priority on the part of Culture Ministry,” it says, adding that even the ASI could not give an overall assessment of requirement of funds for these monuments. The status of world heritage sites also did not bring about any change in the maintenance of the site as the audit found that these sites were not only ill-maintained, but also encroached upon. The report also compared the film shooting rates at ASI-protected monuments with those controlled by other agencies. It found ASI rates “absurdly low”. “While you may shoot for a whole day at Humayun’s Tomb or world heritage site of Hampi by paying just Rs 5,000, the Railways charged Rs 30000 to Rs 1 lakh per day, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation charged Rs 1 lakh per hour and the Delhi International Airport Limited charged Rs 5 lakh per four hours for film shooting on their premises. Even agencies like the CPWD and the NDMC charged up to Rs 50,000 per day for film shootings in their areas,” it says. The observations
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BJP ready for discussion on five Bills listed for today
New Delhi, August 23 The BJP, which criticised the Congress for stalling the Lok Sabha by "playing politics" on the Telangana issue, said it was ready for discussions on the listed Bills, including a legislation to protect the livelihood rights of street vendors and another to prohibit manual scavenging, tomorrow. For this session of Parliament, the BJP appears to be following a dual strategy-one for the Lok Sabha and another for the Rajya Sabha. Since the party does not want to convey the message that it was only interested in disrupting proceedings, it has been cooperating with the government in the Rajya Sabha while in the Lok Sabha it is aggressive, not allowing the UPA to have its way on several issues. Sources say unlike the perception that there was a disconnect in the party in two Houses, the BJP was, in fact, working in tandem toward a common goal-pushing the government on the back foot in the Lok Sabha and being cooperative in the Rajya Sabha. Though the Opposition cornered the UPA on the killing of five Indian soldiers by Pakistani forces and Defence Minister AK Antony's flip-flop on the issue and the missing coal block files, it has allowed normal functioning in the Rajya Sabha on most days.
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Soon, a party batting for united AP
Hyderabad, August 23 The ongoing mass agitation in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions against the division of the state could provide the platform for the protagonists of integrated state to launch a regional party ahead of the 2014 Assembly polls. A section of the ruling Congress leaders from Seemandhra, as Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions are jointly referred, are planning to float a party to strive for protection of the interests of the region. What provided credence to the speculation was that two Congress leaders, including a close follower of the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, made public statements stressing the need for a party that addresses the concerns of the people of Seemandhra who are strongly opposed to carving out separate Telangana state. The Congress legislator from the coastal city of Rajahmundry, R Suryaprakash Rao, predicted that a new regional party would take birth to fight for keeping the state united. Another MLA from Kadapa district G Veerasiva Reddy, considered a close confidant of the Chief Minister, has been repeatedly saying that there would be major changes in the political scene of Seemandhra after the ongoing session of the Parliament. Meanwhile, Congress veteran from coastal district of Prakasam Gade Venkat Reddy said that the party high command had committed a blunder by deciding to bifurcate the state. It is said that the Seemandhra Congress leaders are growing restive following a violent backlash in their regions against the move to split the state. A recent opinion survey, reportedly commissioned by the ruling party, projected a dim picture for the Congress. “The survey showed that the people of Seemandhra are very much enraged over the Congress’ decision to bifurcate the state. It predicted a complete rout for the party in both the regions. The Congress vote share has now come down to 10 per cent from 34 per cent in 2009,” a senior Seemandhra Congress leader said. Sensing that the electoral fortunes of the Congress are declining with each passing day, some ruling party leaders from Seemandhra have started holding confabulations over the possibility of floating a new regional party to retain their hold in the region. “At this stage, whoever revolts against the Congress high command and joins the pro-united AP agitation will be treated as a hero in Seemandhra,” he said.
Need for outfit
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India-China joint military exercise on November 4
New Delhi, August 23 The two Armies will conduct a 10-day exercise at Chengdu in China beginning from November 4. The location will be some 400 east of the Arunachal Pradesh. The Sikh Light Infantry will participate from the Indian side and the exercise will cover counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency tactics. In the past, Indian and Chinese forces had conducted two joint military exercises code named ‘Hand-in-Hand’ in Karnataka in December 2008 and in ‘Kunming’ in China in 2007. The exercises came to an abrupt halt in 2009 after Beijing refused a visa to a serving Indian General on the premise that he was posted in Jammu and Kashmir. Sources said the Indian and Chinese officials carried out a two days planning conference to work out details of the exercise. The exercise is the outcome of intense diplomatic parleys since the downslide in relations in 2009. India and China had announced in September 2012 about the resumption of joint-exercises. Defence Minister AK Antony and his Chinese counterpart General Liang Guanglie had conducted a dialogue and announced the resumption of military exercises.
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Fuel adulteration: Centre’s views sought on CBI probe
New Delhi, August 23 The petitioner, Seema Upadhyay, who is a member of Parliament from Fatehpur Sikri constituency in UP, has also sought an end to the sale of kerosene through the FPS and suggested transfer of the subsidy amount directly to the bank accounts of the poor people by making use of their aadhaar cards. “The profit going into the pockets of fuel adulterators, black marketers and mafias is mind boggling as the kerosene oil is sold by the oil refineries or their depots to the wholesalers @ Rs 14” while the diesel was priced at Rs 54 and petrol at Rs 74, the PIL contended. The petitioner also alleged the connivance of PDS outlet owners, officials of the civil supplies and octroi departments, the police and politicians, besides oil company officials in the racket. She said she had raised the issue in Parliament several times as the issue “is of all-India character affecting the teeming millions of India.
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Help prevent online abuse of kids: HC to Google, FB New Delhi, August 23 “Just because you are a foreign company, you cannot flout the law,” a Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice BD Ahmed and Justice Vibhu Bakhru remarked and asked the Centre to make the social networking sites to comply with rules. The Bench was not convinced by Google’s assertion that its websites had a dedicated cell and a team to deal with grievances round the clock though the name of the grievance officer had not been given. The High Court also sought the Centre’s response to the PIL petitioner and BJP leader KN Govindacharya’s contention that the Delhi police and the Indian Railways had created accounts on social networking sites in violation of the law barring them from doing so. According to the PIL, children below 18 years are opening accounts in violation of the IT Act and other laws. More than 80 million Facebook accounts across the world were found to be fake, it avers. It has also sought levying of taxes on the websites’ profits from their operations in India.
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UP considers amending law to check mining
Lucknow, August 23 The division bench had taken up two related PILs connected to the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal and the linked issue of rampant illegal mining in the state. According to the counsel for the state, some amendments in the UP Minor Mineral (Concession) Rules, 1963, treated as the 36th amendment were being contemplated and were likely to take shape within four weeks. Listing the matter after four weeks, the court directed the state government to ensure that no illegal mining takes place without there being a valid pre-environmental clearance certificate.
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2 killed, 35 injured in Vizag refinery fire
Hyderabad, August 23 The fire broke out in one of the cooling towers when welding work was in progress. Quoting eye witnesses, the police said loud explosion was heard before the fire engulfed the expansion phase (D Block) at the state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) refinery. A thick layer of smoke engulfed the area causing panic among nearby residents. They said they heard a massive sound from the scene and plumes of smoke billowed out of the area. Fire tenders from all over the city were pressed into service to control the fire. The injured persons were shifted to various hospitals, including the INS
Kalyani.
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Reliance ADAG Chairman Anil Ambani’s wife, Tina, today deposed in a Delhi court holding trial in the 2G scam case, contending that she had no role whatsoever in the functioning of the group.
Appearing as a prosecution witness, Tina also maintained that she had no association with any of the group companies of RADAG.
Hyderabad, August 23
