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Chin up, PM, Sonia tell party activists
Anna Hazare breaks fast as LS passes Lokpal Bill
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AAP’s activities right-wing Maoism: Gadkari
DGMOs’ meet: India to counter Pak with data
high-security plates
Two advocates elevated as Punjab & Haryana HC judges
Jessica lall murder
HC dismisses bail plea of American ship crew
Parliament adjourned sine die, may reconvene
UGC sets June deadline for varsity accreditation
PSU bank staff strike hits operations
uttarakhand rape
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Chin up, PM, Sonia tell party activists
Sounding poll bugle ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the PM, in a rare address to Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP), said while the recent defeats were disappointing, there was no cause for despair. He took a dig at the Aam Aadmi Party saying the Congress would never make promises that are “outside the realm of possibility” and “simplistic slogans won’t provide workable solutions”. Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP promised Delhi’s people things like free 700 litres water a day! Sonia, too, gave a morale booster to party MPs attributing the recent losses to Congress’ inability to fulfil people’s aspirations (in Delhi and Rajasthan) and its lack of unity and discipline (in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh). That said, she reminded them that for the 128-year-old Congress “no odd was insurmountable”. “While the results are disappointing we shouldn’t lose heart. There is another battle ahead ?in May 2014. Adversity always tests us and it is at such times that we must reaffirm our allegiance to secularism and inclusiveness,” Sonia said attacking the Opposition BJP for playing divisive politics and launching personal attacks on Congress leaders, including the PM. Importantly, today was the first occasion in nine years that the PM talked to Congress MPs at the CPP meeting which only Sonia addresses routinely. MPs saw PM’s engagement as an attempt to explain the government’s policies at a time when a majority in the Congress hold inflation responsible for the recent poll debacle. Top Congress leaders privately told TNS that the January 17 AICC session would discuss government’s economic policies and even call for the review of some. It is in this context that the PM’s address gains significance. Laying down the approach for the general elections, he mainly held out his government’s record as outstanding asking the party to project it better. “UPA’s record over the past nine-and-a-half years needs to be projected more effectively,” Manmohan Singh said distributing to MPs a booklet detailing UPA’s achievements from the RTI and MNREGA to the Right to Education. On inflation, however, the PM was defensive. “It’s true that the rate of inflation has increased but that’s mainly on account of food inflation. While we would want food prices to be low, we must remember that those who produce food gain from higher prices,” he said. Even on coal and 2G Spectrum scams he stood his ground saying, “We only continued with the system we inherited.” The PM asked the party to remember that the UPA actually changed the systems and both coal and spectrum were now being auctioned. Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill: Key provisions
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Anna Hazare breaks fast as LS passes Lokpal Bill
Mumbai, December 18 “On behalf of people of the country, the residents of Ralegan Siddhi and all others who took part in the agitation, I thank the authorities for passing the Bill,” Hazare said. He said social activists must now focus on spreading awareness about the institution across the country. “We must now work on making people aware of Lokpal so that they are able to understand and take benefit of the institution,” Hazare said. Thereafter, frail-looking but visibly jubilant Hazare waved the national flag presented to him by his supporters. He was flanked by former Army Chief General VK Singh (retd) and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi besides others. When asked about his take on the law, Hazare said it would not be able to eradicate corruption completely. “Fro the first time in India, a law is being created to control corruption. Though corruption cannot be removed 100 per cent, at least it will have a 50 per cent impact,” Hazare said. He hoped that Lokpal would be created before the code of conduct for the next Lok Sabha elections came into force.
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AAP’s activities right-wing Maoism: Gadkari
Nagpur, December 18 "AAP is doing a tamasha (drama) over the popular mandate and asking people to tell them the future course of action. Why AAP is not forming government in Delhi when the Congress has offered it unconditional support?.. AAP's activities are right-wing Maoism," Gadkari, also BJP Delhi In-Charge, told reporters on the sidelines of ongoing winter session of state legislature here. He alleged that people will soon get disillusioned with Aam Aadmi Party. "It seems the main job of the party and its leaders (is) only to attack others and make wild allegations," Gadkari alleged. Gadkari alleged that AAP is a “confused party of confused leaders”. “AAP is totally confused given the fact that when Congress extended its unconditional support to form government, the party sent a list of 18 conditions to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi," Gadkari said. He was referring to a charter of 18 demands the party had sent to both Congress and BJP seeking their views on points that are presumed to be against the interest of both the national parties.
— PTI
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DGMOs’ meet: India to counter Pak with data
New Delhi, December 18 New Delhi will counter Pakistan with figures of increased ceasefire violations. There will be specifics with dates to show increased activity along the LoC and the international boundary ahead of any major event in India, be it a sporting event, a political development or a cultural event in Jammu and Kashmir. The two countries had agreed on ceasefire in 2003, but it is followed more in breach, with either side accusing the other of unprovoked firing on villages and civilians along the 749-km-long LoC and the 198-km-long section of the settled international border in Jammu and Kashmir. Either country talks about a few hundred violations by the other every year. New Delhi alleges Pakistani troops fire from across the border in violation of the ceasefire whenever terrorists are to enter India. Firing is done to keep the Indian troops engaged so that terrorists can sneak in. The LoC is actually the 1949 ceasefire line between two forces that was renamed as the LoC following the 1972 Simla Agreement. Indian DGMO Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia will meet his Pakistani counterpart Maj Gen Amir Riaz on December 24 and both sides are expected to present their viewpoints on the issue. With international forces scheduled to withdraw from Afghanistan, India is apprehensive that “jihadis” will try to enter Kashmir. “We foresee a repeat of 1989 when the Soviet Union exited Afghanistan and trained fighters started entering Kashmir,” the Indian side maintains. The DGMOs are meeting for the first time since July 11, 1999, though both talk to each other over a special telephonic hotline every Tuesday. An understanding on DGMOs’ meeting was reached when PM Manmohan Singh met his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York in September. On agenda
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SC sends notice to 8 states, seeks reply
R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, December 18 A Bench comprising Justices AK Patnaik and JS Khehar issued notice to the officials of the Union Transport Ministry and the state transport departments on a contempt petition filed by MS Bitta, who heads an anti-terror front. Arguing for the petitioner, senior counsel Pinaki Misra said a number of companies that got the contract for manufacturing and marketing HSR plates were flagrantly violating the Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989, the HSRP Order 2001 and several SC verdicts, including the judgment delivered on February 7, 2012 in connivance with officials. The SC verdict had come on Bitta’s PIL. The contempt petition cited the violation of a vital security aspect relating to the permanent consecutive identification number (PCIN) on HSRPs. One of the companies that got the HSRP contract in several states was using a security code which indicated that it had manufactured more than 31 crore HSRPs “which is factually impossible as there are not even 15 crore vehicles in the whole of India”, it was argued. Further, a manufacturer was using three-four digit security codes against a two-digit code allotted to it. As a result, law enforcement agencies would not be able to track down stolen vehicles, the petitioner contended. Haryana, HP, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Bihar have allowed the HSRP scheme to be implemented by special purpose vehicles, which did not have the type approval certificate, a prerequisite for entering the HSRP business, it was alleged. Rules violated
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Two advocates elevated as Punjab & Haryana HC judges
Chandigarh, December 18 Initially the names of seven lawyers were recommended by the Punjab and Haryana High Court collegium for elevation as High Court judges, but Vinod Ghai, Girish Agnihotri, Gurminder Singh, BS Rana and Manisha Gandhi did not find favour with the Supreme Court collegium. However, the names of Palli and Sidhu were sent for reconsideration and cleared for elevation. While Sidhu is an Additional Advocate-General with the Punjab AG office, Palli is designated senior lawyer. With the elevation of the two advocates, the number of judges will go up to 47 against the sanctioned strength of 68. Due to shortage of judges, around 2 lakh cases are still lying pending in the High Court. Though a slew of measures were introduced to check pendency, including expeditious disposal of PILs, the issue remains unsolved in the absence of adequate number of
judges. — TNS
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Manu Sharma gets parole for PG exam
Justice Hima Kohli granted parole to Sharma from December 28 to January 5 after police filed a status report informing about his exam in post-graduation in Human Rights which will commence from December 30. Justice Kohli, however, made it clear that Sharma will appear in the examination centre in Delhi and not in Chandigarh. The court also directed the Tihar authorities to ensure the shifting of the examination centre. Sharma's counsel told the court that jail authorities had given many certificates to his client acknowledging his good conduct. Sharma, son of former Union Minister Venod Sharma, was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing Jessica Lall in 1999, and had moved the High Court seeking a month's parole to prepare for and appear in his second semester PG examination. In his plea, he had said he has to “prepare master thesis, field report, study report, case study report and select a guide as required for completion of the post graduation course”. Lall was shot by Sharma after she had refused to serve him liquor at the Tamarind Court restaurant owned by socialite Bina Ramani at Qutub Colonnade in south Delhi's Mehrauli. — PTI
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HC dismisses bail plea of American ship crew
Madurai, December 18 The crew members of the ship MV Seeman Ohio were arrested on October 18 by the Tamil Nadu Police after it was intercepted by the Coast Guard. They were booked under the Arms Act and the Essential Commodities Act. The ship crew was also accused of illegal purchase of diesel from local agents. Justice M Sathyanarayanan of the Madurai Bench granted bail to V
Selvam, who was arrested along with five others for illegally providing 1,500 litres of diesel to the ship. However, the anticipatory bail plea of
Munithevan, who was also accused in the supply of diesel, was denied by the judge. The captain of the ship, Dudinik
Valentyn, nine other crew members and 25 guards of the ship in their bail plea had alleged that the vessel was “asked to come to the port for taking shelter to escape from the cyclonic weather conditions in the Bay of Bengal. “On reaching the port, as many 25 officials from eight different agencies barged into the anti-piracy vessel and confined all 35 crew and falsely claimed... they intercepted the vessel on October 12”. The counsel for the crew contended that based on the Doctrine of Innocent Passage as envisaged in Section 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea-1982, no charge could be levelled against the crew.
— PTI The charge
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Parliament adjourned sine die, may reconvene
New Delhi, December 18 Parliament was scheduled to end its session December 20. Congress sources said this was done as an aggressive opposition was disrupting the business of the house since the winter session started Dec 5 and even the Lokpal bill was passed amid uproar. The move to adjourn the house two days before schedule came even as Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi suggested the house session should be extended to pass pending anti-graft Bills. Keeping that in mind, sources indicated both the houses might be reconvened if there was an agreement among political parties. They said the houses
were only adjourned indefinitely and not prorogued, so could be reconvened any time.
— IANS
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UGC sets June deadline for varsity accreditation New Delhi, December 18 In an order, the UGC has warned the institutions that those not complying with accreditation norms will not be eligible for its grants. The UGC had through a notification in January this year given six months to the institutions for accreditation in order to raise the quality of higher education. Currently, less than 10 per cent of all colleges in India are accredited. The accreditation was voluntary before 2013. The government made it compulsory in the wake of poor response from institutions. A large number of universities and colleges depend on UGC funds for their day-to-day functioning, including for paying staffers' salaries. HRD Ministry officials said 133 universities were eligible for accreditation, of which 88 were state universities, while seven were central ones. They said 22 deemed universities and 16 private universities were yet to apply for accreditation. As per rules, all higher educational institutions should get accredited after the passing out of two batches of students or completion of six years, whichever is earlier. Under the present rules, accreditation is valid for five years. It is mandatory for each accredited higher educational institution to apply for re-accreditation six months before the expiry of the five-year period. Word of caution
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PSU bank staff strike hits operations New Delhi, December 18 All members affiliated with nine bank employees and officers unions went on strike, United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) convener CH Venkatachalam said. Banks, including country's largest lender State Bank of India, have informed the customers well in advance about the likely inconvenience due to strike. General Secretary of National Organisation of Bank Workers Ashwini Rana said the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) held discussions with the UFBU on December 14 on wage revision. After deliberations, the IBA said they would be able to offer an increase of 5 per cent over the wage expenses. Since their offer was too low and not acceptable to the unions, it has been decided to go ahead with strike, Rana said. The wage revision of bank employees was due from November 2012. UFBU is an umbrella organisation of nine bank employees and officers unions. There are 27 public sector banks in country with employee strength of 8 lakh. There are 50,000 branches of these banks. — PTI
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The young officer from 17 Poona Horse, in the words of Brig Khwaja Muhammad Nasir, who was then a major and whose armoured column had been decimated, had stood like an insurmountable rock, refusing to yield even an inch and was solely responsible for the Pakistani defeat in that battle. To mark this day, a special remembrance and wreath-laying ceremony was held at Chandimandir with full military honours on December 16, where tributes were paid to 2/Lt Khetarpal by his course mates, who are anointed as the ‘Born to Battle’ course, commissioned as they were on June 13, 1971. A large gathering of his course mates from all the three services accompanied by ladies laid wreaths at the statue of the war hero. Officers recalled Khetarpal as a Good Samaritan who was always at hand to help anyone in distress. Handing over of Sikh Regiment baton
The serving and retired fraternity of the Sikh Regiment homed on to the lawns of the officers’ mess of 124 Infantry battalion (Sikh) Territorial Army adjacent to the India Gate in the Capital on December 14. The occasion was special, as not only was it time for the annual Saragarhi lunch, but it also marked the handing over of the Regimental Baton to the new Colonel of the Sikh Regiment, Lt Gen GS Shergill by incumbent Lt Gen Sumer Singh, amid the sounding of the regimental war cry of “Bole So Nihal Sat Sri Akal”. At a solemn ceremony, the baton was handed over to Lt Gen GS Shergill by Lt Gen Sumer Singh. The gathering included most of the serving senior officers of the regiment and a galaxy of veteran officers and ladies. Among them were the indomitable 94-year-old Col KC Manchanda, Vir Chakra recipient Brig Shamsher Singh and four former Colonels of the Sikh Regiment, Lt Gen PS Vadehra, Lt Gen SS Chahal, Lt Gen Devraj Singh and Lt Gen RS Sujlana. Saragarhi lunch is held in the honour of 21 soldiers from the 36th Sikh (now 4th Sikh), who held their post in North-West Frontier Province (now Pakistan) to the last man against an overwhelming force of 10,000 Afghan tribesmen in September 1897. All 21 soldiers were decorated posthumously with the Indian Order or Merit, then the highest gallantry award applicable to Indian soldiers. Torch rally in martyr’s memory
A torch rally to mark the martyrdom of Maj Amiy Kumar Tripathi of 19 Sikh has now become an annual feature. This year, the rally was flagged off in Lucknow on December 18 by Lt Gen GS Shergill, Chief of the Staff Central Command and Colonel of the Sikh Regiment. It will cover a distance of 400 km and culminate at Kushinagar, the officer’s native village on December 21. Maj Tripathi had died fighting terrorists in 2004 at Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir and was decorated with the Shaurya Chakra. He was then serving with the Rashtriya Rifles. Son of a former MLA in Uttar Pradesh, he was commissioned into the army in 1990. After his death, his family and well-wishers formed “SMAT” an acronym for Shaheed Major Amiy Tripathi, which organises a host of outdoor and cultural events, ensuring participation of maximum youth, with an ultimate aim of drawing inspiration from Maj Tripathi. The rally was flagged off from Sainik School, Lucknow, of which the slain officer is an
alumnus. (Vijay Mohan and Ajay Banerjee)
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Three more likely to be held soon
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, December 18 According to police sources, on the basis of information provided by the accused arrested in the case, three more names had cropped up and they might be arrested soon once police gathered all evidences against them. Investigating team in charge ASP Mamta Vohra refused to share details and said she still had time to complete the investigation. The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate rejected the bail plea of Ritu Kandiyal, who allegedly introduced the woman to JP Joshi, today. Joshi’s lawyers are planning to approach the HC after the sessions court rejected his bail plea on Tuesday.
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New Delhi, December 18
New Delhi, December
18
On December 16, 42 years ago, a newly commissioned officer 2nd Lt Arun Khetarpal had etched a tale of valour in blood, blunting a Pakistani armoured assault in the Shakargarh sector on the western frontier, for which he was decorated posthumously with the Param Vir Chakra, the nation’s highest gallantry award.