|
|
|
|
|
Govt mulls provisions for removal of CBI chief
AAP’s Dhir is Delhi Assembly Speaker
|
|
|
AK Ganguly quits law varsity post
HC reserves verdict in gang-rape case
Manmohan reiterates wish to visit Pak
news
analysis
Adarsh scam: Membership of 25 ‘ineligible’ members to be cancelled
After scrapping deal, India set for arbitration process with Agusta
Lookout notice against Ferreira
Police not shielding rape culprits, says Mamata
|
|
Govt mulls provisions for removal of CBI chief
New Delhi, January 3 A report card released today by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh before his press conference says the government is considering several measures for greater autonomy of the CBI in which one of the issues is providing provisions for removal of the director. The agency is probing several big-ticket corruption cases, including 2G, CWG and Coal allocation scams, which have proved to be an embarrassment for the government over the last three years. Last year, Law Minister Ashwani Kumar had to resign after it came to light that he along with officials of the PMO were involved in changing the "heart" of the agency's draft status report on the coal scam. In the Vineet Narain judgment, the Supreme Court had fixed the tenure of CBI director to be a minimum of two years so that the officer could work with independence. "The director, CBI shall have a minimum tenure of two years, regardless of the date of his superannuation. This would ensure that an officer suitable in all respects is not ignored merely because he has less than two years to superannuate from the date of his appointment," the Supreme Court had held in the order. The apex court had also said director can be transferred only in "extraordinary" circumstances with the approval of selection committee comprising Central Vigilance commissioner with the home secretary and secretary (Personnel) as members. In the report card issued before Prime Minister's third press conference in last 10 years, it has been mentioned that government is considering proposal for non-interference in CBI investigations. "Several measures for greater functional autonomy of the CBI are under the consideration of the government viz. appointment of director, the CBI on recommendation of a committee; provisions for removal of the director, CBI; director, CBI to be in the selection committee for selection of officers at the level of the SP and above in the CBI; non interference in CBI investigations," it said. The document also said government is planning to ensure three-month deadline for deciding on agency's request for sanction of prosecution, statutory provisions for Director (Prosecution) in the CBI and establishment of an accountability commission. "Autonomy in investigation is already guaranteed," it said. The government has already amended the CVC Act making it mandatory for CBI to present its charge sheets before the anti-corruption watchdog in the cases referred by it before filing them in the competent court, a move which is seen by the CBI as dilution of the powers of investigating officers. — PTI
|
|
AAP’s Dhir is Delhi Assembly Speaker
New Delhi, January 3 Dhir beat BJP MLA Jagdish Mukhi in the contest. Dhir got 37 votes as members of the Aam Aadmi Party, the Congress, the JDU and an Independent voted for him. Mukhi could secure only 32 votes, which included 31 votes from BJP members and one from the SAD. The Congress had issued a whip to its MLAs to support the AAP candidate. Public Works Department Minister Manish Sisodia proposed the name of Dhir for the post of Speaker and it was supported by AAP MLA Madan Lal. Later, six MLAs of AAP also proposed the name of Dhir and six others supported his candidature. Name of Jagdish Mukhi was proposed by BJP MLA Sahib Singh Chauhan and it was supported by saffron party MLA Naresh Gaur. Later, six MLAs of his party proposed his name and six others supported his candidature. The pro-tem speaker conducted voice vote twice following objections by BJP MLAs and Dhir was declared victorious.
|
||
|
AK Ganguly quits law varsity post
In a five-line letter, he said in view of the controversy prevailing over an allegation against his conduct, he did not want to remain in the university any further and embarrass the varsity authorities and the students. As such, he was resigning and the letter might be treated as his resignation from honorary professorship. The university authorities have accepted his resignation.
|
||
|
HC reserves verdict in gang-rape case
New Delhi, January 3 The HC passed an order to this effect after hearing the arguments of counsel for the convicts and the police for nearly four months. The court directed counsel for the convicts and the Delhi Police to file their written submissions by January 15. The trial court of Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna had sentenced the four to death on September 13, 2013 after holding them guilty of committing 13 criminal acts in a “beastly and hair-raising manner,” including gang-rape and murder. The trial court had rejected their pleadings claiming innocence. Gang-raped by six persons on a moving bus in Delhi, the victim had died in a Singapore hospital on December 29. One of the accused, Ram Singh, had committed suicide in Tihar Jail here in March 2013, while another, a minor, was tried by a Juvenile Justice Board and sentenced to three years in a correction home. While hearing the appeals, the HC examined the iron rods used by the accused to assault the girl and her male companion and the victims’ clothes. It also watched a CCTV footage of the bus.
|
||
|
Manmohan reiterates wish to visit Pak
New Delhi, January 3 He also confirmed that India and Pakistan were close to achieving a breakthrough on Jammu and Kashmir while Pervez Musharraf was at the helm of affairs in Islamabad, but that did not happen since the Pakistani leader had to make way for a new set-up. Asked about his much talked about proposal to visit Pakistan at his press conference here, he said he would very much like to go to the neighbouring country since he was born in a village that was now part of West Punjab. However, he hastened to add that he should visit Pakistan as the PM only when the conditions were appropriate to achieve solid results. “I thought of it may times, but ultimately I felt the circumstances were not appropriate for my visit. I still have not given up hope of going to Pakistan before I complete my tenure as the PM,” he added. Manmohan Singh, who was born in Gah village, has received several invitations from successive Pakistani leaderships to visit the neighbouring country. As recently as last month, Punjab province Chief Minister and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs’ younger brother Shahbaz extended him an invite to his country. Although the implementation of the Indo-US nuclear deal has not made much headway in the past five years, the PM described the inking of the pact as the best moment of his stewardship. “The best moment for me was when we were able to strike a nuclear deal with the US to end the nuclear apartheid which had sought to stifle the process of social and economic change and technical progress of our country in many ways,” he added. On the ongoing stand-off between India and the US over the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in an alleged visa fraud case, he said, “Our government attaches the highest priority to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries. There have been some hiccups recently, but I sincerely believe these are temporary aberrations and diplomacy should be given a chance to resolve the issue that has arisen.” The PM did not agree with a suggestion that India has not done enough to persuade the Sri Lankan government to address “genuine” problems of the Tamil population in the island nation.
|
||
|
news
analysis KV Prasad Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 3 Barring this rare flush, the “underrated politician”, who is not known to deliver a message with panache, retained his trademark “understated” style during his third-ever press conference, which otherwise seemed to serve little purpose. With just five months away from completing an unprecedented 10-year uninterrupted stint as the Prime Minister since the days of Jawharlal Nehru, Manmohan Singh’s statement and responses at the press conference were essentially reiterations of stated positions. The only news was that he ran himself out, announcing that he will relinquish the office at the end of his tenure this summer. What did the PM say that he has not said during the past few years since his government has come under attack on various count, least of it on allegations of corruptions. He apportioned the blame on to media, the CAG and other entities, accusing them of over stating facts that will be judged kindly by history. As for the other charge of being an “overrated economist”, he attributed the run-away inflation to international trends and changing domestic income and consumption pattern. Refusing to award any points for the work during the decade by his government, the PM left the task for later generations to assess, declaring he will emerge unscathed from all charges of inaction. In the same breath, he sought to gently push the envelope on framework and institutional work in various spheres, including education and improving overall health of the economy with inclusive growth as its hallmark while pointing out to the unfinished agenda of having a robust health care for all citizens. Yet, a stronger political message was left dangling as the Congress begins hunt for potential allies in the run-up to the General Election. The Prime Minister emphatically pronounced that the Congress had proved all doubting Thomases wrong by managing a coalition. The inherit message was that the Grand Old Party can be relied upon as it experiments with the unique division of labour between the executive and political authority.
|
||
|
Adarsh scam: Membership of 25 ‘ineligible’ members to be cancelled
Mumbai, January 3 Among those who face removal from the rolls of the society include controversial diplomat Devyani Khobragade, former Union Power Minister Suresh Prabhu, late Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly Babasaheb Kupekar, Abhay Sancheti, a close associate of BJP leader Nitin Gadkari, kin of several serving and retired bureaucrats and defence personnel. In addition, at least 22 benami flats have been identified in the society. Of them, the kin of former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan surrendered three flats to the government as soon as the controversy broke. Nine benami flats belonging to Sancheti held in the names of several of his employees have been identified by the commission. State government sources say criminal cases will soon be filed in these cases. No fresh cases will be filed against Ashok Chavan since the CBI has already filed an FIR against him, Chief Minister Prithiviraj Chavan had clarified on Thursday. The CM had also given a clean chit to former chief ministers Shivajirao Patil-Nilangekar, Sushilkumar Shinde and Vilasrao Deshmukh in addition to his Cabinet colleagues Rajesh Tope and Sunil Tatkare on the grounds that no criminality was revealed against them. Sources say, Mumbai district collector will issue show-cause notice to all the “ineligible” members as a precursor to cancelling their membership. Of the bureaucrats indicted by the Patil-Subramanyan Commission, all of them were already occupying flats allotted by the Maharashtra government when they applied for flats in the Adarsh Society. The Maharashtra government had set up a two-member commission to probe with 13 terms of reference. The findings made in the interim report indicated that the land on which Adarsh stood belonged to the state government. Moreover, it had illegally encroached into a road and a plot of land earmarked for a bus depot, the report said. More damning was the revelation that the part of the land on which the building stood came under the Coastal Regulation Zone II where construction was prohibited. The interim report also noted that necessary permissions of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests were not taken before construction. The commission also found that the height of the building was raised without permission from the high-rise committee of the Mumbai municipal corporation.
|
||
|
After scrapping deal, India set for arbitration process with Agusta
New Delhi, January 3 On January 1, the Ministry of Defence had cancelled the contract it had signed in 2010 with AgustaWestland for the supply of 12 helicopters at a cost of Rs 3,600 crore for ferrying top VVIPs like the Prime Minister and the President. In the same cancellation order, the MoD said it had appointed Justice BP Jeevan Reddy as its arbitrator. AgustaWestland in a statement issued in New Delhi said it “welcomes the appointment of an arbitrator”, saying it had requested the MoD on November 25 and December 4, 2013, for having arbitration. The company cited the MoD’s own press release on February 14, 2013, which said the tender process has been duly followed and added it will soon propose the names of the persons for the purpose of selecting the third arbitrator by agreement of the parties. On its part, the MoD has invoked a clause to encash the whopping 270 million Euro bank guarantee that helicopter maker AgustaWestland had paid when signing the deal. The money works out to almost Rs 1,700 crore and is close to 45 per cent of the entire Rs 3,600 crore deal We have initiated the process to encash the bank guarantee, an MoD official said. India has so far paid almost Rs 1,160 crore as the first installment to the copter maker and the payments were ‘frozen’ in February last year. Three of the copters had already been delivered before the contract was frozen after allegations of kickbacks surfaced in February last year. “The MoD is not going to lose any money. India will not lose any money,” a ministry source said amid concerns over the fate of the money already paid. AugustaWestland deal has bank guarantee which are in international and Indian banks. The ministry would soon take a call on the fate of three choppers. It is unprecedented that any defence deal had been scrapped midway during the acquisition under such circumstances, they said. India terminated with immediate effect the agreement, which was signed on February 8, 2010, on grounds of breach of “the Pre-contract Integrity Pact (PCIP) and the agreement” by the firm, the ministry had said yesterday. Controversy over the 2010 deal for the supply of 12 helicopters for Indian VVIPs erupted in February last year with the arrest of two top officials of the firm in Italy, triggering a political storm here.
|
||
|
Lookout notice against Ferreira
Mumbai, January 3 The notice was issued by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police, which is probing QNet for allegedly perpetuating a scam to the tune of Rs 425 crore. Ferreira is said to be a shareholder in the company. The EOW has so far arrested nine persons associated with QNet for allegedly adopting fraudulent practices to sell several goods to buyers. Acting on complaints from the public, the police have filed complaints under the Prize, Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978, against several people, including the former billiards champion. According to police, Ferriera told them that he was abroad when they contacted him last December. He also promised to contact them on his return to India. It is still not clear if Ferreira is back in India. The former billiards champion has been quoted as saying that there was no fraud in the operations of the company. According to Ferreira, the company had put out brochures advertising goods and there was no compulsion on anyone to buy their goods and services. The retired sportsman further added that he had no operational responsibility with the company and was merely a share-holder.
|
||
|
Police not shielding rape culprits, says Mamata
Kolkata, January 3 The CM expressed satisfaction that the police was inquiring in the right direction and had arrested all the criminals. She said a chargesheet would be filed soon. Meanwhile, state urban development minister Firhad Hakim, who is close to Mamata Banerjee, took exception to the Bihar government’s decision of sending the police officer to the victim’s family with financial aid. This is against the country’s federal structure, he said.
|
||
|
Ruckus in AP Assembly
Hyderabad, January 3 The state Assembly - which resumed its winter session after two weeks to discuss the AP Reorganisation Bill, 2013 - witnessed ruckus as Seemandhra legislators stormed the Speaker’s podium as soon as the House protested against bifurcation of the state. Thereafter, Speaker Nadendla Manohar adjourned the House for 30 minutes. There was no respite from the furor when the House reassembled, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House for a further hour. In the third attempt, Manohar decided to call it a day and adjourned the House. Members of the main Opposition TDP and YSR Congress Party demanded that their respective adjournment motions be taken up before the Question Hour, which was rejected by the Speaker. While the TDP moved the adjournment motion on the way in which both the central and state governments were handling the division issue, the YSRC wanted the House to pass a resolution, urging the union government to keep the state united. Meanwhile, Sridhar Babu, who belongs to Telangana, submitted his resignation from the Cabinet late last night after being stripped of the Legislative Affairs portfolio. “The decision to divest me of the Legislative Affairs portfolio by the Chief Minister is nothing but a plot to stall the bifurcation. The decision was taken just two days before the Assembly was to meet to take up debate on the crucial Telangana Bill,” he said. In a related development, five Congress MPs - Lagadapati Rajagopal, Harsha Kumar, V Arun Kumar, Sai Pratap and Sabbam Hari - from Seemandhra began a two-day fast in Hyderabad amid tight security in protest against the bifurcation decision. Meanwhile, normal life was paralysed in all 13 districts of Seemandhra with shops, business establishments and educational institutions remaining closed following a shutdown call against the bifurcation decision.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
New Delhi, January 3
Kolkata, January 3