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Kejriwal names 6 MLAs for ministry
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Intern may file police complaint against Ganguly
Cong divided over support to AAP
BJP ready with ‘one note, one vote’ slogan for Modi-for-PM campaign
CBI files closure report in Barak missile deal
Gay sex: NGO seeks stay on SC verdict
Upgrade to IAS: UPSC exam must for state officers
Ishrat case: CBI may not name Amit Shah in chargesheet
No let up in militancy in Assam’s Bodo heartland
HC asks Telugu actors to return Padma Shri
Beni flays UP Govt, demands CBI probe
BSF Director General Subhash Joshi offers a sweet basket to BSF jawans before leaving for Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah border to hold meetings with Pakistan Rangers on various border management issues on Tuesday. PTI
Fishing trawler sinks after collision with Navy warship
35-yr-old trader shot dead in UP
Sparks in wheels; Dreamliner grounded
Trainer jet goes missing in M’rashtra
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Kejriwal names 6 MLAs for ministry
New Delhi, December 24 Besides Sisodia, Cabinet will include Rakhi Birla, the giant killer who defeated PWD minister Rajkumar Chouhan, Somnath Bharti, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Girish Soni and Satendra Jain. However, party sources said there could be changes before the team is finalised. Kejriwal may be sworn in as chief minister at an oath-taking ceremony in Ramlila Maidan. Kejriwal held discussions at his residence here with party leaders including Sisodia. Meanwhile, Kejriwal is understood to have decided to pick up senior IAS officer, Rajendra Kumar as chief minister's principal secretary. As AAP today got down to the business, party faced an early embarrassment of rebellion in its ranks. Vinod Kumar Binni walked out in protest from a meeting at Kejriwal’s residence on finding his name missing in the list. Binni was considered an important leader in the party. He had defeated senior Congress leader AK Walia. Woes of AAP with 28 MLAs in its kitty appear compounding as the Congress with eight MLAs, which pledged outside support to the Kejriwal-led government, is also facing trouble within over the decision to support the Kejriwal government. Party workers are protesting the decision of extending unconditional support to it after AAP reiterated its commitment to act against ministers in the earlier Sheila Dikshit Ministry found to be involved in corruption. Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Secretary DM Sapolia today met Kejriwal and discussed about the official bungalow to be allotted to him. However, Kejriwal refused the bungalow, sources said. The sources said Kejriwal also held talks about various departments and their functioning. Kejriwal also released a video justifying his decision to form government. In the two-minute video, AAP founder leader said that AAP put query before 26 lakh people in Delhi. “A majority of the people told us to form the government and prove that we can deliver. They told us to run the government for as long as we could. We bow to the people's decision”, he said.
Kejriwal says no to bungalow
After refusing to take security cover, Arvind Kejriwal, who is set to become Delhi CM, has refused to shift to a government bungalow. Sources said Kejriwal is likely to shift to a flat somewhere near Delhi Secretariat at I P Estate in Central Delhi. The ministers in Kejriwal's Cabinet may also not accept government bungalows entitled to them. — PTI
‘Unwell’ Hazare to skip Kejriwal’s swearing-in
* Anna Hazare is yet to receive an invitation for the swearing-in ceremony of the Arvind Kejriwal-led government in Delhi but would not attend even if he got one owing to ill-health *
"Nahi, abhi letter nahi aaya (No, the invitation has not come yet)," Hazare said, when asked if he has received any invitation from his former protege for attending the oat- taking ceremony *
Kejriwal has requested Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung to allow him to take oath at the Ramlila Maidan on December 26, where Hazare had launched his movement for the Jan Lokpal in 2011
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Intern may file police complaint against Ganguly
New Delhi/Kolkata, Dec 24 “Those who have been spreading rumours and politicising the issue, are doing so out of prejudice and malice to obfuscate the issue and escape scrutiny and accountability," the intern wrote on her blog on Legally India. Her comments came a day after Justice Ganguly had written an eight-page letter to Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam, denying that he had sexually harassed the intern and alleging there was a "palpable design" to malign him because of the judgements he had given against "powerful interests". Indicating that she may lodge a police complaint, the intern said,"I request that it be acknowledged that I have the discernment to pursue appropriate proceedings at appropriate times. I ask that my autonomy be respected fully." The intern said that any one claiming that her statements were false was showing disrespect not just to her but also to the Supreme Court. "I would like to state that I have acted with utmost responsibility throughout, keeping in mind the seriousness of this situation," she said. In Kolkata, Justice Ganguly said he would not comment on the intern's response. "I don't want to say anything on the matter. I have no reaction," he said on being asked by PTI about the intern's rebuttal. Mounting pressure on the judge, Trinamool Congress asked him to step down as chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) on moral grounds. "What he has written to the Chief Justice of India, P Sathasivam, is his business. It is not our political demand but a demand for decency and justice that he should step down on moral grounds", senior TMC leader and party MP Saugata Roy said. A group of lawyers and retired judges today took out a protest march in Kolkata demanding the sacking of Justice Ganguly as chairman of the WBHRC. An SC panel had indicted Ganguly by holding that the intern’s statement had prima facie disclosed "an act of unwelcome behaviour (verbal/non-verbal conduct of sexual nature)" by the judge on December 24 last year. — PTI
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Cong divided over support to AAP
New Delhi, December 24
Party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi's remarks came a day after scores of Congress supporters held a demonstration outside the DPCC office in protest yesterday against the party's decision to extend outside support to AAP to form the government in Delhi. Ever since the AAP decided to form a government in Delhi with Congress support, the leaders of the Congress have been repeatedly emphasising that their support to AAP is not unconditional. Sections in the party view that supporting the AAP, which is hitting out at the Congress day in and day out and threatening to book its leaders and ordering probes against them, makes the party look poor in peoples' eyes. Moreover, there is a view that the Congress was caught napping as the leaders, who favoured supporting the AAP to form government, were of the belief that Kejriwal will avoid staking claim to power. Reflecting the unease within the party over the move to support Arvind Kejriwal's party Dwivedi said, "There is also an opinion that perhaps the decision to support the AAP in this manner was not correct. Some people feel this." A senior party leader said that even if Congress had to support the AAP, it should have done like the Left did for UPA I forcing its say in programmes and policies of the government. "Their argument is that Delhi voters have not given their support to the Congress to the extent that even the Leader of Opposition will not be from the Congress. We were placed at the third position. Perhaps, it would have been appropriate for the Congress to say that it is not our responsibility to form or not form a government. "Voters did not expect this from us. Whoever has to form a government should do it with support from whomsoever they want to. We will keep playing the role of an opposition in the limited circumstances and will keep raising our voice against people's problems, for development works and wherever there is any injustice. We will keep playing our role as a responsible party," Dwivedi said. The Congress general secretary, however, at the same time said, "Since now a proposal (to support AAP) has already been made, we have to carry on with that as well. Perhaps we will have to find out a middle path." — PTI
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BJP ready with ‘one note, one vote’ slogan for Modi-for-PM campaign
New Delhi, December 24 After its electoral victories in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the BJP decided to launch "Modi for PM" campaign and reach out to people with "one note, one vote" slogan through its website "India 272.com" - 272 is the number of seats required to be in majority in the Lok
Sabha. With the "one note, one vote" slogan, the party aims at seeking votes and donations ranging between Rs 10 and Rs 1,000 from people across the country. At a meeting of the BJP Central Committee here, its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi decoded the ease with which the party could hurtle towards majority wresting power from the Congress-led
UPA. BJP spokesman Prakash Javdekar said nearly 10 crore new voters had been added since the last general elections were held and the BJP would bridge the gap it failed to during the last elections. "The BJP is confident of winning 272 seats on its own. As results of the four states proved, the BJP has become symbolic with good governance and leadership," Javdekar said. The leaders divided the 120 days into a 60-day period for preparation and the next 60 days of intensive campaign with accent of enrolment of new voters during January, probably taking a leaf from the AAP that adopted the tactic in the run-up to assembly polls to gain ground in Delhi. The party decided that its Manifesto will have local flavour and its "crowd sourcing" resulted in 50,000 suggestions from people. However, it denied following AAP strategy of involving people.
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CBI files closure report in Barak missile deal
New Delhi, December 24 The agency filed a closure report before Special CBI court in Patiala House saying replies received from foreign countries do not substantiate the allegation of kickbacks levelled against the state-run company Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), former Samata Party officials Jaya Jaitley and RK Jain, Fernandes and Kumar. CBI sources said judicial requests were sent to the United Kingdom, UAE, Mauritius, Germany and Israel seeking details of financial transactions and other details of accused persons involved in the case. They said Israel, in its reply to Letter Rogatory, denied making any payments to clinch the deal. The country also refused to give any details citing confidentiality. Sources said replies from other countries did not corroborate allegations levelled against IAI and other accused mentioned in the FIR. The CBI said it did not find proof on the allegations levelled during the sting operation carried out by Tehelka. It was alleged that Fernandes' associate Jaya Jaitley and others had received a bribe of Rs 2 crore in Rs 1,150 crore Barak missiles deal in 2000. — PTI
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Gay sex: NGO seeks stay on SC verdict
New Delhi, December 24 The foundation, which was instrumental in getting the section diluted by the Delhi High Court to exclude consensual homosexual acts among adults, has filed a review petition pleading for a recall of the SC verdict. It has also prayed for hearing of its petition in the open court, instead of the usual practice of disposing of such pleas within the judges’ chambers without giving any chance for making oral arguments. The government has already moved the SC seeking a review of its judgment. “The impugned verdict has caused immense prejudice to all adult persons, in particular the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, at the risk of prosecution under criminal law and require immediate relief,” the foundation said. The apex court verdict had ignored the fundamental rights to liberty and privacy guaranteed under the Constitution, the foundation said. “Insofar as it criminalises consensual sexual acts in private, Section 377 of the IPC falls foul of the principles of equality and liberty enshrined in our Constitution” and as the protector and guarantor of people’s fundamental rights, it was the bounden duty of the SC to strike down any law that ran counter to such rights, the Centre has contended in its review petition.
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Upgrade to IAS: UPSC exam must for state officers
New Delhi, December 24 The selection of state services officers into the three All-India Services - Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS) - was so far being done on the basis of review of their seniority and Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs). The Ministry of Personnel recently changed the rules for promotion from state services. The move was opposed by some states, including Tamil Nadu. The selection to IAS, IPS and IFoS from state services will be made through a 1,000 marks four-stage process, including a written examination and interview. Under the new norms, a state civil services officer will have to face the written examination comprising two papers - on aptitude test; and general studies besides state-specific questions. In addition, there will be an interview and assessment of the ACR by a board for such officers. “A final merit list shall be prepared taking into account the marks obtained in four components i.e. written examination, length of service, assessment of ACR and interview by all candidates,” the new rules said. There will be a third written paper on essay, comprehension and precis only for non-state civil services officers in addition to two papers, they said. The weightage of written examination would be 30 per cent, length of service 25 per cent, ACR 25 per cent and interview 20 per cent, they said. An officer should have eight years of “Group A” service in a state for all categories and must be less than 54 years of age. But there is no cap on the number of attempts. The rules leave it to the authorities to consider bringing down the maximum age for taking the examination by interested candidates. “The scheme could be reviewed after its implementation for three years,” the rules said. The Personnel Ministry had in May written to all states seeking their views on making changes in existing rules to select officers from states for Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS). — PTI
The new norms
* State civil services officers will now have to face a
written examination comprising two papers * Successful candidates will face an interview and their ACR will be assessed by a board *
The final merit list will be based on the marks obtained in four components - written exam, length of service, assessment of ACR and interview
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Ishrat case: CBI may not name Amit Shah in chargesheet
New Delhi, December 24 CBI sources said they have gathered enough evidence about the role of IB officers in the conspiracy behind the encounter but there are contrary views on whether sanction from the Home Ministry is needed to prosecute Special Director Rajinder Kumar (now retired), and three other officers - P. Mittal, MK Sinha and Rajiv Wankhede. One view holds that since Kumar was in active service at the time of the alleged crime, sanction for his prosecution is needed from Home Ministry, which is the cadre controlling authority, they said. Another opinion was that since he retired from service in July this year, the agency could go ahead with its charge sheet without any need for a sanction to prosecute, they said. The agency does not want to go ahead with a half-baked case, hence the matter has been referred to Law Ministry for clarity, they said. Sources said that as far as the role of the said officers in the alleged conspiracy was concerned, the agency had gathered enough evidence against them. They added that if the Law Ministry felt that a nod from the Home Ministry was needed before filing the supplementary charge sheet, CBI would send a request seeking sanction to prosecute the said officers. However, if the Law Ministry feels otherwise, the agency would go ahead with its supplementary charge sheet which is ready with all the corroborative evidence in place, they said. — PTI
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No let up in militancy in Assam’s Bodo heartland
Guwahati, December 24 The tumultuous days of 1990s and early 2000s, when militancy was at its peak phase in Bodo heartland in Assam, culminated into Bodo Peace Accord signed in 2003 with Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT) ultras and the government of India. The accord led to formation of the BTC under the amended Sixth Schedule of the Constitution is now being ruled by Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), a political party formed by the leaders and members of the now disbanded BLT. However, the Peace Accord was not all encompassing as another formidable militant group National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) still remained at large “fight” for a “sovereign Bodoland”. However, a split occurred in the NDFB after the outfit under the leadership of self-styled chairman Ranjan Daimary allegedly detonated the serial blasts in Assam on October 30, 2008, in which about 100 persons were killed and over 400 injured. The NDFB which was preparing to hold talks with the Government of India then expelled the faction led by Daimary and renamed itself as NDFB (Progressive). The NDFB (P) started formal negotiation with the government of India in 2009 with Daimary and his followers still remaining at large. The cadres and leaders of the NDFB (P) led by Govinda Basumatary are now lodged in truce-time designated camps.
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HC asks Telugu actors to return Padma Shri
Hyderabad, December 24 Disapproving the way the honorific titles are sought to be exhibited for partisan publicity purposes, the court observed that the two actors were found “misusing” the titles in the film, “Denikaina Ready” (Ready for Anything). The names of the two actors along with their Padma Shri tags were shown during the film credits. The bench, comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyothi Sengupta and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar, told the counsel of the actors to surrender their titles. The ruling was given while hearing a plea by senior BJP leader N Indrasena Reddy, who wanted the court to cancel the titles awarded to these two actors. The court observed that Mohan Babu, a veteran actor-producer, and Brahmanandam, a popular comedian, should surrender the awards gracefully. The controversy erupted when the recipients carried the title of “Padma Shri” as prefix in the credits of the controversial film released last year. The movie, which had kicked up a row for allegedly hurting the sentiments of the Brahmin community, was produced by Babu’s actor-son Manchu Vishnu, who also played a lead role in it. The petitioner alleged that both the senior actors used prefix of “Padma Shri” to their names in the credits of the movie. “As per Article 18 (1) of the constitution, the award does not amount to a title and cannot be used as a suffix or prefix to the award winner’s name on letterheads, invitation cards, posters and books among others,” the petitioner said. The petitioner, a former state BJP president, had filed a petition in the high court, seeking directions to the Centre recommending annulment of the Padma Shri award presented to Mohan Babu and Brahmanandam in 2007 and 2009, respectively, for misusing them. The union government, film producer and the two actors have been named respondents.
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muzaffarnagar riots Tribune News Service
Lucknow, December 24 “If the Uttar Pradesh government has nothing to hide then it should recommend a CBI probe, else the chief minister should resign,” Verma said. Accusing the state government of failing on the relief and rehabilitation front, Verma said it seemed that the government was not interested in restoring peace in the region. He also announced to provide shelter, blankets, clothes and food to the riot victims living in camps under his ministry’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund. Verma said his ministry would make steel enclosures that could be dismantled when the inhabitants would return home. With a view to saving relief camp inmates from cold, Verma said his ministry would provide five steel-sheet camps measuring 30 square feet each to people. He said instructions had been issued to distribute warm clothes.
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BSF chief arrives in Pak for talks
Attari, December 24 The five-day meeting commenced at Lahore from today. The delegation includes DG special (western command), Chandigarh, Rajdeep Singh, besides IGs of four frontiers Punjab, Jammu, Rajasthan and Gujarat and an IG rank officer from the BSF headquarters at New Delhi. The delegation was welcomed by sector commander Satluj Rangers Pakistan at the zero-line. The delegation would discuss various issues pertaining to border management, including drug trafficking, infiltration, smuggling of arms and counterfeit Indian currency, besides inadvertent border crossings and construction along the international border. Joshi is scheduled to hold discussions with his Pakistani counterpart Major General Rizwan Akhtar, DG Pakistan rangers, Sindh. The delegation will return on December 28.
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Fishing trawler sinks after collision with Navy warship
New Delhi, December 24 This is the fourth mishap involving a naval warship this year including INS Sindhurakshak accident where the vessel sank inside the Mumbai harbour after an explosion in its torpedo section. INS Talwar collided with an unlit fishing trawler near Ratnagiri coast in Maharashtra around 2130 hours last night in which all the 27 occupants of the civilian vessel fell in the sea, the officials said here. All the persons in the trawler were pulled out by INS Talwar and dropped on the shore after being provided required medical attention, they said. Four of the civilians, who are fishermen, suffered minor injuries in the mishap, sources said. The Navy has ordered a Board of Inquiry to ascertain the reasons behind the incident, sources said. — PTI
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35-yr-old trader shot dead in UP
Bareilly (UP), December 23 A hunt had been launched to nab them, the police said. — PTI
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Sparks in wheels; Dreamliner grounded
Kolkata, December 24 The pilot, who observed the sparks immediately reported to the Air traffic Control as per the normal practice in such situations, the officials added. Though the passengers were deplaned normally after the plane taxied to the parking bay, Air India engineers and technicians were rushed to the aircraft immediately and the aircraft was grounded for check and repair. Air India's Dreamliner fleet has in past also reported several glitches. Earlier this month, while replying to a member's question in the Lok Sabha Civil Aviation minister Ajit Singh has said that the Dreamliner fleet suffered 136 "minor" technical problems between their delivery since September last year and November this year. He had said that the Air India was constantly in touch with Boeing on the issue of technical reliability of these new aircraft. PTI
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Trainer jet goes missing in M’rashtra
Mumbai, December 24 The aircraft is owned by the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udaan Akademy, Rae Bareli. The ATC tried to contact pilot Suhel Ansari but both the aircraft and the pilot remained untraceable, sources said. — PTI
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Sensing an anti-Congress wave in the electorate, the Bharatiya Janata Party today announced a 120-day countdown to reaching 10 crore families directly and replicating a 1977-type post-Emergency campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
After its electoral victories in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the BJP decided to launch
"Modi for PM" campaign and reach out to people with "one note, one vote" slogan through its website "India 272.com" - 272 is the number of seats required to be in majority in the Lok
Sabha.
