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Draft Lokpal Bill in RS welcome, says Anna Hazare Cong blocking passage of Bill, alleges BJP
Ordinance on gay sex not now, says Shinde
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Onion farmers block supplies as prices crash
Shivraj Chouhan sworn in as MP CM
Candidate selection has begun, says Soni
New Delhi, Kabul to deepen defence ties
IMA passout Afghan Guv watches his son with pride
BSF being recast to guard border with Myanmar
Woman killed in human sacrifice ritual
SC: No 7-yr bar in dowry death cases
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Draft Lokpal Bill in RS welcome, says Anna Hazare Ralegan Siddhi/New delhi, December 14 "I will call off my fast as soon as the Bill is passed by the Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha endorses it and the President signs it into a law," Hazare told reporters, shortly after Rahul Gandhi made a strong pitch for passing the Bill, describing it as a "very, very powerful instrument" in the fight against corruption. Hazare said several of his expectations from the legislation have been met and expressed satisfaction over the bill which was presented in the Rajya Sabha yesterday. “I am satisfied with whatever I have seen of the draft Bill and so I welcome it," he said. The Gandhian, who is observing his fourth fast for anti-corruption ombudsman, said some issues he wanted to be incorporated into the bill might have been left out but he was not disappointed. “If I try to impose my view on Parliament, it will be wrong. Parliament has its own place of prominence, it doesn't matter if 2-3 things have been left out," he said. Hazare expressed satisfaction over the selection process of the Lokpal which would be appointed by a collegium that would include an eminent jurist selected through consensus by its other four members--the Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India. He said bringing the Prime Minister within the purview of the Lokpal and both CBI and CVC under its control were good steps. Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal today said the Gandhian was being misled on the Lokpal issue as the Bill the government seeks to pass does not fulfil his demands and will create a "jokepal". In a series of tweets, Kejriwal expressed surprise that how Hazare could accept the Lokpal Bill that was tabled in the Rajya Sabha yesterday. He reasoned that this Bill does not contain any of the three most important provisions that the Jan Lokpal Bill espoused by Hazare and his team contained. "I m really surprised. How can Anna accept sarkari Lokpal Bill? Sarkari lokpal is a "jokepal". Who is misguiding Anna?" Kejriwal tweeted. Kejriwal, who in 2011 was with Hazare, also tweeted that "None of the three conditions which were agreed upon when Anna broke his fast in August 2011 are there in this jokepal." The government yesterday brought the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill to the Rajya Sabha in an amended form. The AAP leader tweeted “So why did Anna agree for such a jokepal? Which forces are misleading him? I am really sad," he tweeted. — PTI I am happy with the amended legislation presented in the Rajya Sabha and will call off my hunger strike the
moment it is enacted. I am really surprised. How can Anna accept sarkari Lokpal Bill? Sarkari Lokpal is a jokepal. Who is misguiding
Anna?
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Ordinance on gay sex not now, says Shinde
Bangalore, December 14 "Not now. Our (Congress) vice-president and president have already spoken on the issue. I am with them," Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters on the sidelines of a function here. Shinde was responding to a query whether the government would opt for the ordinance route to nullify the apex court judgment which had overturned a landmark Delhi High Court verdict decriminalising consensual sex among gay adults. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi were quick to come out against the Supreme Court order giving vent to their disappointment over it. Rahul Gandhi had said he agrees with the Delhi High Court. "I personally believe that these are matters of personal freedom. I think, I would agree more with the High Court verdict," he had said. Taking a clear stand, Sonia Gandhi too had said she was disappointed that the apex court had reversed the Delhi High Court judgment. — PTI
Natgrid being set up
Bangalore: The National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid) being set up by the central government across the country would act as a deterrent against terror attacks, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Saturday. — IANS
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Cong blocking passage of Bill, alleges BJP New Delhi, December 14 Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley charged Congress has been shifting its stand on Lokpal Bill quite often and the party is not serious about passage of the Bill. "The government seems to have changed its heart again on the Lokpal Bill.... The Bill should ideally have been passed in Rajya Sabha yesterday itself. We reiterate our stand that it should be discussed and passed on Monday. If Congress and its allies do not allow the House to function, then we are ready to pass it without a debate," Jaitley said. — PTI
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Onion farmers block supplies as prices crash
Mumbai, December 14 According to the state police, spontaneous protests broke at the Lasalgaon and Pimpalgaon markets today after groups of farmers who came with their onion crops found prices at new lows this year. Farmers are now demanding that the government allow onions to be exported without any minimum export price. On the other hand, customers are cheering the fall in onion prices.
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Shivraj Chouhan sworn in as MP CM
Bhopal, December 14 54-year-old Chouhan was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav at a ceremony held at Jamboree ground here, shortly after noon. The entire BJP top brass, including its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, party chief Rajnath Singh, veteran L K Advani and senior leaders of its allies Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal attended the swearing in ceremony, amid tight security arrangements. Known for maintaining a low-profile, Chouhan led the BJP to win an impressive 165 seats in 230-member legislative assembly reducing Congress tally to just 58 from 71 in 2008. Banners, posters, flags and pamphlets carrying Chouhan pictures were put alongside roads, markets and the venue. The oath-taking ceremony was attended by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, among others. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parriker and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal also attended the function. — PTI
Rice at Rs1/kg for poor
Shivraj Singh Chouhan started his third innings as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister by signing an order for providing rice at Rs one per kilogram to the poor announced in BJP's poll manifesto and vowed not to allow any new liquor shop in the state
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Candidate selection has begun, says Soni
Chandigarh, December 14 In Chandigarh today, senior party leader Ambika Soni said the party has already begun process of selecting the candidates for the next General Election. While feedback from the party leaders across the states is being sought besides observers are being sent to all the states, major thrust will be on winnability and clean image of the candidates, she said. She, however, skipped the question when the party would announce PM candidate. She said the party president has already made it clear that the announcement will be made at the appropriate time. The elections are three-four months away. There will be announcement before it, she added. On being asked about reasons for the defeat in recent Assembly polls, especially in Delhi, she said no one expected that the party would perform so badly. The results were shocking and the party high command was already in introspection mode. She, however, ruled out that the defeat was due to the lack of connectivity with the people. All major policies of the government were based on the feedback of the common man. Soni asserted that General Election would be a challenging job and the party was gearing up for all possible challenges. She also made clear that former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal would be the undisputed candidate from Chandigarh Parliament seat.
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New Delhi, Kabul to deepen defence ties
New Delhi, December 14 A joint statement issued at the end of visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s engagements in the capital said India would assist Kabul through enhancement in training and meeting the equipment and infrastructure needs of Afghanistan National Security and Defence Forces that would increase their operational capabilities and mobility. Referring to yesterday’s meeting between Karzai and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the statement said the two leaders also agreed to expand opportunities for higher military education in India for Afghan officers. In a brief interaction with the media today, Karzai said he and the Indian PM were in full agreement on ‘all issues’, including the terms he has set for signing a Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the US, which has sparked unprecedented tension between Kabul and Washington.
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IMA passout Afghan Guv watches his son with pride
Dehradun, December 14 On a visit to Indian Military Academy, Lt Gen Musa Khan was part of the delegation of military officers from Afghanistan, who trained at the Dehradun IMA during the 1970s and early 1980s. As many as 37 men had trained at IMA during the US-Soviet Cold War when both the super power vied for toe-hold in the strategically vital country. India was firmly in the Soviet bloc and Afghans were trained between 1974 and 1982. Lt Gen Musa Khan was one of among those trained. He was then part of part of 66th regular course at the IMA and passed out from the academy in 1980. It was also a great day for Lt Gen Khan, who today witnessed the passing-out parade of his son Abdul. He was accompanied by his wife Biwi Fatima and other sons, Rehman and Ahmad. While asserting that the training he got from here was of immense help while fighting Russians, Lt Gen Musa Khan asserted India and Afghanistan kept a long history of bondage and can have better military ties in the near future. An 11-member Afghan delegation was in IMA today to witness the parade and had came to encourage 52 Gentlemen Cadets from their country who passed out from the academy today. One of the passing out Afghanistan Gentlemen Cadet, Mir Nasratullah Nazer from Kabul, said the visit of senior army officers came as big morale booster for them. Afghan delegation is on a week-long visit to India and will have an interaction with the Defence Minister and the Army Chief General Bikram Singh in New Delhi on December 17.
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BSF being recast to guard border with Myanmar
Chandigarh, December 14 Two new posts of Special Director General (SDG) are being created at the apex level, one to shoulder responsibility for the management of the Indo-Myanmar border and the other to handle internal security deployments. In official hierarchy, the post of the SDG is the second senior-most in the force being equivalent to a senior Lieutenant General or and IAS/IPS officer in the Higher Administrative Group Plus scale. The BSF already has two SDGs responsible for the Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Bangladesh borders. The BSF will take over the management of the Indo-Myanmar border from the Assam Rifles, which comes under the operational control of the Ministry of Defence and is the only para-military force to be led by officers from the Army. India’s 1,643-km-long eastern-most IB, in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) own report, has been termed as “extremely porous”. The Assam Rifles, with its primary responsibility of conducting counter-insurgency operations in the north-east, has just 15 out of its 46 battalions deployed on border guarding duties. The BSF proposes to raise 41 battalions for guarding the Indo-Myanmar border. With locals in certain areas resisting, a project to fence the border has been hanging fire for quite some time. According to the MHA, a Free Movement Regime up to 16 km across the border as well as hilly and inhospitable terrain, which grossly lacks basic infrastructure, is being exploited by various Indian insurgent groups. The situation facilitates easy cross-border movement of militants as well as trafficking of illegal arms and narcotics. Sources said that under the SDG, four Frontier Headquarters headed by officers of the rank of Inspector General, each, having several sector headquarters that would control various battalions, would be raised for manning the Indo-Myanmar border. To cater to its additional requirement, the BSF would raise 41 new battalions. Each battalion has a strength of about 1,200 personnel. Myanmar shares its borders with four states - Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and
Mizoram.
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Woman killed in human sacrifice ritual
Thane, December 14 DSP Anil Kumbhare today said the accused were arrested last night. The victim, whose headless body was found last month, has been identified as Kalawati Ramasrey Gupta, a resident of Santacruz in Mumbai. The anti-superstition bill, championed by the slain rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar, was passed by the state Assembly yesterday. — PTI
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SC: No 7-yr bar in dowry death cases New Delhi, December 14 “There can be no gainsaying that no case can possibly be made out under Section 306 of the IPC (abetment to suicide) read with Section 498A of the IPC (harassment for dowry) after a marriage has crossed the seven years’ period; it is only the statutory presumption that stands removed, thereby also shifting the onerous burden from the shoulders of the accused to that of the prosecution,” a Bench comprising Justices TS Thakur and Vikramajit Sen ruled. This was so because, in reality, cases under 498A were being filed only after the marriage had become irredeemable, the Bench noted. “It would be illogical to contend that law expects that on the first demand of dowry, prosecution under 498A has to be commenced. In the Indian idiom, where it is often spoken that on her marriage a daughter ceases to be a member of her parents’ family and may return to it only as a corpse, the reality is that only when it is obvious that the marriage has become un-redeemably unworkable that the wife and her family would initiate proceedings under Section 498A IPC,” the apex court observed. “The bride endures the ill-treatment and taunts till then knowing that the marriage would be undermined and jeopardised by running to the police station,” the SC said. Though the “salutary statutory provision” was being misused widely on the advice of lawyers, the judiciary was alive to the situation, it said. }There can be no gainsaying that no case can possibly be made out under Section 306 of the IPC (abetment to suicide) read with Section 498A of the IPC (harassment for dowry) after a marriage has crossed the seven years' period; it is only the statutory presumption that stands removed, thereby also shifting the onerous burden from the shoulders of the accused to that of the prosecution~ sc bench
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Bhopal, December 14
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