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Adarsh scam: Probe panel faults politicians, govt rejects findings
Delhi deadlock: 80% voters want AAP to form govt
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Released from Togo, sailor returns home
cheating
case
Assam bandh against land pact paralyses life
First pilot of LCA says he feels absolutely great
Constables tapped phones: Gujarat Cong
Two tainted MLAs among 12 new R’sthan ministers
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Adarsh scam: Probe panel faults politicians, govt rejects findings
Mumbai, December 20 Chief Minister Prithiviraj Chavan, who tabled the report by the commission in the Maharashtra assembly in Nagpur, said the Cabinet had rejected the findings. The two-member judicial commission, led by former Bombay High Court judge JA Patil, has passed strictures against senior Maharashtra politicians, including former chief ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushilkumar Shinde, Ashok Chavan and sitting ministers in the Cabinet. Tabled seven months after it was submitted by the commission to the state government in April, the 670-page report called the scam a “shameless tale of blatant violation of statutory provisions, rules and regulations. It reflects greed and favouritism on the part of some people who were associated with the Adarsh society. It is a sad story of unscrupulous greed of some persons closely connected with the Adarsh society.” The commission noted that the procedure to provide membership to the Adarsh Society was “arbitrary and lacked transparency, leaving scope for nepotism and favouritism”. Former assembly speaker Babasaheb Kupekar, former secretary Ramanand Tiwari, former Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner Jairaj Phatak, serving bureaucrats Pradeep Vyas, PV Deshmukh and Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade were named in the report. The commission said 22 flat owners in the society were benaami holders and came under the ambit of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan told the assembly that the state Cabinet had accepted the judicial commission’s interim report filed in April 2012, which said that the land on which Adarsh society was constructed belonged to the state government, not to the Ministry of Defence. However, the Cabinet decided to reject the findings of the commission, Chavan said. The government also held that the membership to the society was not exclusively reserved for Kargil war heroes or their survivors. After the Cabinet’s rejection of the commission’s findings, the Opposition staged a walkout. The BJP has announced protests across Maharashtra, demanding that Ashok Chavan be prosecuted.
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Voters will fight 2014 elections: Modi
Lucknow, December 20 Addressing his fifth ‘Shankhnaad rally’ in the state, the first after the Congress’ debacle in the Assembly elections at the Khajuri grounds on the outskirts of Varanasi, Modi said the people were aggressively looking for a change. In his hour-long address, Modi claimed to be spelling out his vision at the behest of some Congress leaders who always wanted to know what he would do. “Now the time has come to deliver and not only let your intentions known,” he said. Admitting that the BJP was indeed a “chor” party as charged by the Congress, Modi quipped that it had stolen Congress’ peace of mind. Hitting out at the Congress for making irreverent remarks about his humble origins as a “chai-wallah”, Modi said like students who fervently prayed before examinations, the Congress chanted poverty-alleviation and “aam admi” before an election and hoped to get through while it had no respect for those who worked their way up. Modi said it was an insult to the people of Uttar Pradesh to state that they decided who would rule in Delhi. “The fact is that the people of UP have to progress if India is to develop, they need to be employed if India has to be economically strong, people in UP need to be fed if India has to come out of malnourishment,” he said. Guaranteeing the future to the youth of the country, Modi said it was in their hands to bring about a Congress-free country. Earlier, BJP national president Rajnath Singh said for the Congress, Mizoram proved to be a consolation prize.
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Delhi deadlock: 80% voters want AAP to form govt
New Delhi, December 20 This inference is based on the feedback that the party has been collecting through SMSes, interactive voice response system, party website and social networking sites since it sought a referendum on Tuesday though an open letter on whether or not the AAP should accept offer of the Congress and form the next government. Party leaders have said the party has received an overwhelming response as it received around six lakh communications till Friday. "We are doing it by contacting people and asking them what they want. We are holding public meetings in wards and tomorrow and day after we would have the last leg of our "Jan Sabhas and then we would do what people would decide. So far, the response is in our favour," said AAP senior leader Manish Sisodia. "People say many of the promises made by the AAP in its manifesto are achievable and so it should clinch the opportunity and begin its fight towards system change," he added. The AAP's political detractors along with the Congress and the BJP had poked fun at it saying its promises, such as providing 700 litres of water free-of-cost to every household and reducing power tariff by 50 per cent, among others, are unrealistic. "Many of the issues we are talking about such as free-of-cost water, regularisation of unauthorised colonies and doing away with the facility gap between government and private schools and CAG audit of power discoms can be done in the first few months is what 80 per cent are saying," added Sisodia, who has been elected from Patparganj. "The distribution of 25 lakh pamphlets that we printed is almost complete and we are receiving an encouraging response. There are teams in constituencies which are working on a war footing," said AAP member Bipul Dey. According to Shankar Thakur of Badarpur, the AAP should accept the challenge as the performance now will eventually decide the party's future course and withdrawal of support by the Congress will only give AAP the upper hand.
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Released from Togo, sailor returns home
Mumbai, December 20 James was released yesterday after India persuaded the authorities in Togo to release him on compassionate grounds for performing the last rites of his 11-month-old son who died on December 2. James' family had mounted pressure on Indian authorities for his release over the past few weeks and his wife Aditi had even met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to request him to plead his case with the authorities in the west African nation. "What has happened in the last five months is past and gone. I have come here as I have some work left as a father, I have some duties as a father. So, please respect that," he told the media at the airport. He thanked the Prime Minister, his office, Indian High Commissioner in Accra and Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam for securing his freedom. "Whatever happened in the past is past. But justice has prevailed just because of the good intervention of the Prime Minister's office and honourable President of Togo," he said. Capt James was under arrest in Togo for allegedly aiding the pirates who had attacked and looted his Marshall Islands-flagged ship MT Ocean Centurion on July 16. He was arrested when he had gone to register complaint about the piracy. James' infant son Vivaan died from septicemia following intestinal gangrene on December 2 when he was still incarcerated. His family had kept the toddler's body in a morgue and waited patiently for the distraught father's return for his funeral so he could see his only child one last time. —
PTI
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Ganguly’s case fit for Prez reference: AG
New Delhi, December 20 The Law Ministry and the Home Ministry are already in agreement that prima facie a case can be made out against the former Supreme Court judge, sources said here. The matter was referred to Attorney General Vahanvati for his view on the government's stand as part of the laid down procedure. In his opinion, to be forwarded to the Home Ministry soon, the AG is learnt to have said that there was sufficient evidence against the former SC judge and it was a fit case for a Presidential reference. The stand of the Law Ministry and the AG are based on the report of the three-judge SC committee which went into the allegations of the law intern. The Home Ministry will now take a final view on the issue. —
PTI
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U'khand rape case: ‘Victim’ surrenders, sent to custody
Dehradun, December 20 The woman has been booked for making a sleazy CD of Joshi with the help of her supporters to allegedly blackmail him. Joshi had registered a complaint against her and two other persons at the Vasant Vihar police station under sections 355 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 65 of the IT Act. The woman had been directed to surrender on Thursday, but she had got a day’s extension after she complained of ill health. Earlier, she had approached the High Court to avoid arrest and the court directed her to surrender before the local court within a week, which ended on Thursday. On being asked if police would seek her remand, Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Ram Singh Meena said: “She has been in constant touch with the investigating team so we don’t need to take her in remand.” Meanwhile, police produced joint secretary Suman Singh Valdiya and another accused Neeraj Chauhan before the court to seek their police remand, but the court deferred the hearing to January 2. At present, both are in judicial custody. Meanwhile, Director General of Police BS Sidhu said three more persons were suspected to be involved in the case and the police would arrest them soon. He said the investigating team had finished 90% of the investigation in the case.
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cheating
case
Chandannagar (WB), December 20 Purba Kundu, ACJM of Chandangar Sub-Divisional Court, remanded Ghosh in police custody in a complaint of cheating registered by Shankar Manna on April 27 . Manna had complained that he had invested Rs 70,000 in two installments to tours and travels wing of Saradha chit fund company but the company later closed down. On the basis of this complaint, the police today sought to interrogate Ghosh who was CEO of Saradha media wing. Another executive of Saradha tours and travels, Somanth Datta was also remanded to jail custody for 14 days on the basis of the same complaint. — PTI
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Assam bandh against land pact paralyses life
Guwahati, December 20 Life was virtually paralysed in eastern Assam’s tea and industrial belts with all education institutions, government offices and financial institutions remaining closed during the bandh hours. No vehicle operated on the arterial NH-175 connecting eastern Assam to western Assam along the southern bank of Brahmaputra River. The bandh also affected life in Barak valley in southern Assam where all government offices, financial institutions, educational institutions did not operate during the bandh hours. However, there was mixed response to the bandh in Guwahati city. All market places in the city remained close, but government offices, education institutions and financial institutions functioned as usual. The public transport system in Guwahati city was thrown out of gear. The BJP, whose MPs in the Rajya Sabha failed to prevent the tabling of the ratification Bill for India-Bangladesh Land Boundary pact, called for the bandh against the bill and promised that the party MPs would oppose the Bill during voting in Parliament. There have been vociferous protests in Assam against the India-Bangladesh land swap pact that was signed in Dhaka during the last visit of the Prime Minister. Many organisations in Assam have opposed the pact apprehending that it would facilitate handing over of Assam’s land to Bangladesh while Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi claims that Assam will get back the land which is in adverse possession of Bangladesh in view of the land swap pact.
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Auction house Christie’s makes a sizzling debut in India
Mumbai, December 20 “I believe that the success of tonight's sale is auction at its best. The art spoke for itself, the room was full of interested and sophisticated people,” its chief executive Steven Murphy told mediapersons after the four-hour auction late last night. He promised this will encourage the UK-based house to come back to India next December or sooner with an auction. Gaitonde's untitled work on canvas completed in 1979 stole the show with intense bidding between three parties over phone and online. Bids sprinted to Rs 13 crore within minutes of starting and as the auctioneer kept egging on the bidders for more, the bids kept shooting up by Rs 50 lakh at a time. There was a thunderous applause when the Rs 20 crore-mark was breached but the auctioneer was not done yet and kept on urging the bidders for more before hitting the hammer at Rs 20.5 crore. The buyer is an unnamed, US-based person. Adding the buyer's premium to it, the total amount for Gaitonde's piece works out to a staggering Rs 23.7 crore or $3.79 million that surprasses the USD 3.4 million fetched by SH Raza's painting 'Saurashtra' in June 2010 at an auction in London. With a total of Rs 102 crore or USD 16.3 million, this was the second highest auction of Indian contemporary art works for Christie's after the London show three years ago. —
PTI
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Kaveri could power next LCA series: Antony
Bangalore, December 20 In a press conference here, which followed a function where LCA powered by American GE 404 engine was given the initial operational clearance (IOC) making it compliant with the requirements of the IAF for a battle ready aircraft, Antony said, “We have not abandoned the Kaveri engine project yet.” The Defence Minister said while the LCA Mk 1 and Mk 2 varieties would be powered by the American GE 404 and GE 414 engines, respectively, Kaveri engine could be used to power the next LCA series. He said the IAF would have two squadrons and four squadrons each of LCA Mk 1 and Mk 2, respectively. There would still be requirement of more planes as the IAF would eventually require about 200 planes to replace the entire MiG 21
fleet. Kaveri engine, being developed by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment
(GTRE), a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) lab in
Bangalore, was supposed to power the LCA initially. However, Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), also a DRDO lab handling the LCA project, opted for the American GE engine as wait for Kaveri engine
continued. Antony, who spoke at length on the necessity of indigenisation in his speech in the IOC function, emphasised it once again. He talked about the aircraft carrier being built at Kochi, the next edition of the Arjun Battle Tank and Astra missiles being developed locally. The success of the LCA project had shown the world that India was capable of making a modern aircraft, Antony said and added that the success would also give a big boost to the indigenisation efforts in the country.
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First pilot of LCA says he feels absolutely great
Bangalore, December 20 What is your feeling now that the LCA has got IOC paving the way for its induction in the IAF? I feel absolutely great! I am extremely humbled to note that our pioneering efforts have resulted into a key national product - one that we can all be proud of. Can you describe the mood of the people, including yourself, when the first flight-test of the LCA was successful. I believe Lockheed Martin had warned against the flight-testing of the plane saying there could be a serious accident. Frankly, very few outside the original Team LCA believed in our capability to successfully make the LCA and test fly it. It was indeed a big surprise that we did it and, that too, in style with absolutely incident-free First Phase of Flight Testing involved LCA TD1. I was accorded a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fly the first flight. After all how many test pilots the world over get to fly the first flight of a prototype? The feelings associated with such an occasion are beyond any words. Were you nervous when you flew the LCA for the first time? Of course I was nervous. After all one does not test an unknown modern flying prototype regularly. On top of it, it was the fact that the last aeroplane we had manufactured and test flown was the HF-24 Marut way back in the 1960s. However, once I sat in the cockpit of the LCA TD1 and commenced preparation, my entire attention was devoted to carrying out the defined tasks to ensure success of the first flight. Do you think the time taken by the LCA to get the IOC - almost 13 years since its first flight - is too long? Yes, I definitely think so. However, one has to also factor in the fledgling nature of our aviation industry. Hopefully, the next fighter aircraft programme will be much shorter.
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Army’s field exercise concludes
Sriganganagar/Abohar, December 20 36 RAPID, a cutting edge formation of the Bhopal-based Strike Corps, validated new concepts and refined existing battle procedures as prevalent in the 21st century battlefield milieu. As many as 15,000 troops of the division participated in the exercise, which included more than 100 armoured class vehicles among other advanced artillery and air defence equipment. A high degree of integration was achieved with the Indian Air Force while undertaking specialised operations, which included an air-borne assault and a special helicopter-borne operation. Lt General Amit Sharma, Strike Corps Commander, reviewed the tactical drills and manoeuvre of the division as per the theatre plans. The concluding phase of the exercise was witnessed by Lt General Ashok Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (Army Commander), Southern Command, praised the troops for achieving a high degree of operational efficiency in executing the stated mission.
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Constables tapped phones: Gujarat Cong
New Delhi, December 20 Gujarat Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia and state Congress Legislature Party leader Shankar Singh Gohil upped the ante against Modi making the details of alleged conversations between Shah and Gujarat Intelligence Bureau Deputy Commissioner of Police Girish Singhal public. They sought FIRs against Modi and Shah. “From a police inspector to a constable everyone was involved in illegal phone tapping in the state. The Chief Minister was snooping on BJP leaders as well as his political rivals in the Congress,” Modhwadia alleged revealing a letter from a former Director General of Police that mentions rampant illegal phone tapping practices in the state. The letter, which the state Congress got under the RTI Act, was written on April 21 2005 by the then Gujarat DGP who stressed the need for guidelines against arbitrary phone tapping. A copy of this letter, which Gohil distributed today, says: “Officials of inspector, sub-inspector levels have also indulged in phone tapping in flagrant violation of the rules.” The guidelines were never framed. The Congress leader said: “Shah on the directions of Gujarat CM got the movement of the female victim of ‘snoopgate’ tracked not just within the state but in Karnataka and Maharashtra. There is evidence in the form of voice recordings which can be forensically examined. “The state-level probe panel which Modi has set up in the matter cannot investigate the range of allegations against the CM. He has violated the central laws and ordered surveillance of the victim outside Gujarat. Only a Central panel can go into these points.”
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Two tainted MLAs among 12 new R’sthan ministers
Jaipur, December 20 Of those sworn in today by Rajasthan Governor Margaret Alva in Raj Bhawan, nine are in the cabinet rank and the rest are Ministers of State with independent charges. GC Kataria, a former Home Minister during in previous term of Raje, is accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case of Gujarat in which CBI has filed a supplementary charge sheet against him early this year. A Mumbai court has granted him an anticipatory bail. Kataria has been inducted as Cabinet Minister. BJP MLA Rajendra Singh Rathore, also inducted as a cabinet minister, was arrested and sent to jail by CBI in connection with the Dara Singh fake encounter case. A Jaipur court later discharged him in a controversial order even before charges were framed against him. Others sworn in as cabinet ministers are - Kalicharan Saraf, Kailash Meghwal, Sanwar Lal Jat, Prabhu Lal Saini, Gajendra Singh Kheenvsar, Yunus Khan and Nandlal Meena. All of them are former ministers. The three new MoS with independent charge are Arun Chaturvedi, Ajay Singh and Hemsingh Bhadana. Raje (60), who led BJP to
a landslide victory in Rajasthan Assembly polls, was sworn-in as the Chief Minister for the second time on December 13. BJP has won 163 of the 200 seats. —
PTI
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