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Punish cops who botch up probe, SC tells states
Prithvi-II with strike range of 350 km test-fired
Influx of people becoming unmanageable, says AAP
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LeT ‘luring’ victims: Cong, BJP in war of words
Those contacted in Muzaffarnagar not riot-hit: MHA, cops
Three SP workers held for assault on toll staff
Grounds for my removal untenable, claims Ganguly
Clamour against HC allowing telcos’ audit by CAG
BJP to run ‘Modi cafes’ to target youth
Cong discusses Lok Sabha candidates for Himachal
Logjam in House over Telangana
bengal
gangrape case
adarsh
scam
8 yrs after conviction, Major reinstated with full benefits
Assam gets 17 permanent police pickets
Deputy mayor in Bihar caught with call girls
Flight delays: DGCA to set up monitoring cell
10 hurt in clash
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Punish cops who botch up probe, SC tells states
New Delhi, January 7 “Each erring officer must suffer the consequences of his lapse...Accordingly, we direct the Home Department of every state government to formulate a procedure for taking action against all erring investigating/prosecuting officials,” a Bench comprising CK Prasad and JS Khehar held. The apex court issued the directive while upholding the acquittal of a rape-and-murder accused due to major lapses in the investigation and prosecution. The accused, Kishanbhai, had been charged with brutalising a six-year-old girl in Gujarat in 2003 and subsequently chopping off her legs from the dead body to remove anklets worth Rs 1,000. He had been sentenced to death by the trial court, but the high court acquitted him, prompting the state government to come in appeal to the SC. “We feel crestfallen, heartbroken and sorrowful. We could not serve the cause of justice to innocent child. We could not even serve the cause of justice to her immediate family...We have declared the accused-respondent innocent by upholding the order of the HC giving him the benefit of doubt,” the Bench lamented in the 46-page judgment written by Justice Khehar. The SC also advised the prosecuting agencies to apply their independent mind and seek further investigation wherever necessary to remove the shortcomings in the probe. It should be ensured that the evidence gathered during the investigation “is truly and faithfully utilised.” It directed the Home Department of every state to constitute a standing committee of senior officers of the police and prosecution departments to identify major mistakes committed in criminal cases and make them part of the course content for training and refresher programmes for such officials. The committee should review the course content every year on the basis of fresh inputs. The training programme should be put in place within six months. This would ensure that those handling sensitive matters “are fully trained to handle the same.” A copy of its verdict should be sent to all the states within a week, the SC said.
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Prithvi-II with strike range of 350 km test-fired
Balasore (Odisha), January 7 The launch was part of a user trial by the Army. Describing the trial of the sophisticated missile as a "complete success", Integrated Test Range Director MVKV Prasad said the launch conducted by the specially formed Strategic Forces Command (SFC) met all parameters. The surface-to-surface missile was test fired from a mobile launcher in salvo mode from launch complex-3 of the ITR at Chandipur near here at about 0948 hrs. "The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the entire launch activities were carried out by SFC and monitored by the scientists of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of training exercise," sources said. "The missile trajectory was tracked by DRDO radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations located along the coast of Odisha," they said. "The downrange teams onboard the ship deployed near the designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal monitored the terminal events and splashdown," they said. Inducted into India's SFC in 2003, Prithvi II, the first missile to be developed by DRDO under India's prestigious IGMDP (Integrated Guided Missile Development Program) is now a proven technology, a defence source said. "The launch was part of a regular training exercise of SFC and monitored by DRDO scientists," the source said. Prithvi is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1,000 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twine engines. The last user trial of Prithvi-II missile was successfully carried out from the same base on December 3, 2013. — PTI |
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Influx of people becoming unmanageable, says AAP
New Delhi, January 7 Be it a state or a Union Territory — Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa — the influx of supporters is so large that the party’s available manpower is unable to handle it. “The rush of people is becoming unmanageable. We decided to discontinue the fee for membership so that the process doesn’t require too many hands to manage,” said a senior member of AAP at the Delhi party office. Volunteer Sujata Rai confirmed that around 1,000 persons registered themselves today. According to AAP national executive member Dinesh Vaghela in Gujarat, people are flooding the 30 local units of AAP. Similarly, the momentum is
building up in Goa and Daman and Diu. “The overwhelming support to AAP is making the cry for change loud and clear. A total of 90,000 persons have already registered in Gujarat while in Goa — within a short time — the party’s membership has reached nearly 2,000,” said Vaghela. On the three-term stint of BJP’s Narendra Modi, he said, “Gujarat is waiting for change, but till now, people did not have an alternative. Development is limited to a few corners and the welfare of the common man is being neglected. People are tired of corruption but Modi spent over Rs 45 crore in a court case to stop the Lokayukta for 11 years. It is this kind of dictatorship that people will end in the coming election.” People from all walks of life are joining the rookie party. Many Gandhians have joined its ranks in Gujarat while in Goa, singer-composer Remo Fernandes and activist Oscar Rebello have joined AAP.
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Corruption, atrocities against women, worry NRIs
New Delhi, January 7 Some participants from the US expressed their unhappiness over the inhuman treatment meted out to Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York on December 12 in an alleged visa fraud case. Inaugurating the event, being attended by more than 1,000 PIOs from different parts of the world, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi called for deepening the engagement between the new generation of ‘Pravasis’ and their Indian counterparts. “It is my wish that Indian youth and their diaspora counterparts come together in developing social networks, which would lead to partnerships in trade, industry, entrepreneurship and social work.” This, Ravi said, would lead to the creation of wealth and employment which would benefit the masses at large. “Our goal should be to build a strong global connect of youth for this purpose.” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will formally inaugurate the meet tomorrow. The Chief Ministers of different states are also scheduled
to address the delegates to seek investments in their states. This year’s
theme is ‘Engaging Diaspora; Connecting Across Generations’. Addressing the meet, Minister of State (Independent) for Youth Affairs and Sports Jitendra Singh said the government was in the process of introducing a new national youth policy with a view to empowering the youth of the country to achieve their full potential. The policy would focus on developing the youth into a productive force by providing them the right education and skills. Vayalar Ravi also released on the occasion a report on youth ‘Realising the Dream of a Progressive and Inclusive India-A Youth Perspective’, brought out by FICCI. The report looks at how the Indian labour market is transforming into one which is far more educated and better skilled and how the reversal in migration trends are adding to the experience and expertise available in the market.
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LeT ‘luring’ victims: Cong, BJP in war of words
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh said the report has lent credence to Gandhi’s remarks on riot victims at an election rally in October last, which had invited flak from opposition parties. “If this information is correct that some people from LeT had gone to relief camps to lure refugees, then it proves right what Gandhi had said,” Singh told reporters. According to a media report, two Haryana clerics arrested last month for their suspected links to Lashkar-e-Toiba, and another LeT operative, had allegedly visited Muzaffarnagar relief camps and sought to recruit men to their module. Targeting the BJP, union minister Manish Tewari said, “Those who believe in the politics of polarisation, who believe in the politics of communalism should become cognisant of the damage which they do to the idea of India”. However, the BJP demanded that the home minister explain the “facts”, terming the present situation as “unacceptable”, “This shows how well-entrenched the network of LeT and other such outfits supported and funded by Pakistan are in UP...What action they have taken on their own. It is a national issue. Nobody is nabbed, nobody is traced. This is unacceptable,” party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said. Now the UP government and the Centre must answer, he said, adding the BJP had sought to know from the Centre as to what action it had taken on its own after Gandhi had spoken about it. SP leader Naresh Agarwal said Muzaffarnagar had become a “political pawn” for many parties but added that he was not aware of the facts of the case. The Delhi Police should do what it should but let there be no politics over it, he said. — PTI
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Those contacted in Muzaffarnagar not riot-hit: MHA, cops
New Delhi, January 7 “There are no evidence or intelligence inputs suggesting that the ISI had approached the riot victims,” a senior Home Ministry official said. Though he agreed with the Delhi Police that two suspected LeT operatives had met two persons in Muzaffarnagar, he denied that they were the riot victims. There were media reports that suspected LeT terrorists had approached Muzaffarnagar riot victims to recruit men to their module. The Delhi Police said the terror group was allegedly trying to recruit riot victims through religious preachers. Mohammed Shahid and Mohammed Rashid, a maulvi and an imam at separate mosques in Nuh district of Haryana respectively, were arrested in December and have been reportedly in contact with people in Muzaffarnagar. “We have found that some people who stay in Muzaffarnagar were in contact with them,” said Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) SN
Srivastva.
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Three SP workers held for assault on toll staff
Lucknow, January 7 SP’s frontal organisation Lohia Vahini’s district in charge Suresh Singh Yadav has been arrested for the Kanpur dehat incident of January 4. Yadav and Vahini district president Lakhan Singh Yadav and his associates allegedly attacked the employees at Bara-Jod toll plaza in Kanpur dehat. They were shown brandishing weapons and issuing life threats to the toll manager. In another incident, two persons were arrested by the Auraiya police. On December 28, husband of the SP’s Ajitmal block pramukh had attacked employees of Mohari toll plaza in Auraiya. — TNS
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Grounds for my removal untenable, claims Ganguly
Kolkata, January 7 Justice Ganguly's resignation, handed over by him to West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan on Monday, has been accepted, sources said today. The former Supreme Court judge had been under pressure to quit as the WBHRC chief in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct levelled by a law intern. In his resignation, 66-year-old Justice Ganguly rebutted the allegations against him. “I would like to affirmatively say that the allegations which are appearing against me in the media both electronic and print are unfounded and baseless and I deny the same,” he said. Justice Ganguly’s decision to quit came close on the heels of the Union Cabinet on Thursday last approving a proposal for sending a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court on the issue, which was seen as a step towards his removal as the WBHRC chairman. “The purported recommendation to the Hon’ble President for my removal, are based on grounds, which, in my opinion, are untenable and misconceived,” Ganguly said in the letter, which he read out to PTI over phone. “However, to obviate any further controversy and to ensure happiness of my family and having regard to the fact that I headed the high office of a judge and presently holding the post of chairman of WBHRC and being humbly of the view that I have lived up to the expectation of both, I have decided to resign from the post of chairman of the Commission with immediate effect,” the former SC judge said.— PTI
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Clamour against HC allowing telcos’ audit by CAG
New Delhi, January 7 Industry bodies FICCI and ASSOCHAM came out with adverse reactions to the Delhi HC order with the latter while expressing its disappointment pointed out that the court had erred in treating the accounts of telecom licensees as the accounts of the Central Government. Telecom sector watchers said the judgement may open a Pandora’s box and lead to similar demands for other sectors as well. Reacting to the order, Sidharth Birla, president of industry lobby FICCI, said, “As far as audit through CAG is concerned, we believe the CAG was constituted to be answerable to Parliament only in respect of businesses which are owned by the government". “Therefore, to my mind, there is no place for Comptroller Auditor General interfering into a private company’s books,” Birla said. The Delhi High Court ruled yesterday that the CAG can look into the receipts of the private telecom firms as they have revenue sharing arrangements with the government. Reacting to the order, ASSOCHAM spokesperson said the industry body and industry were disappointed with the judgment. “ASSOCHAM most respectfully believes that the Hon’ble High Court has erred in treating the accounts of telecom licensees as the accounts of the Central Government and, therefore, being eligible to the CAG audit,” he said. “This will not only lead to duplication of efforts but will also be against the maker-checker principle”, added the ASSOCHAM. Experts pointed out that the judgment could have wider impact on other sectors as all companies’ revenues are linked to the Consolidated Fund. The telcos have a revenue-sharing arrangement with the government, under which these pay the national exchequer more than Rs 20,000 crore annually. Private telecom companies are required to pay three to eight per cent of their revenue as spectrum usage charges, depending on how much spectrum they use. The companies are also required to pay to the government six to eight per cent of their revenue as licence fees. The government is concerned about the loss of revenue to it because of understatement of revenues by telecom operators for which CAG was asked to carry out the audit of Bharti Airtel Ltd, Vodafone India Ltd, Idea Cellular Ltd, Tata Teleservices Ltd and Reliance Communications Ltd (R-Com). However, the operators then approached the Delhi High Court saying private companies fell outside the jurisdiction of the public auditor.
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BJP to run ‘Modi cafes’ to target youth
New Delhi, January 7 Ahead of the General Election, the BJYM will select campus ambassadors in higher-education institutions who will then run “Modi cafes” to spread awareness about the party’s ideology and its PM candidate Narendra Modi. BJP’s preliminary investigations into the Delhi elections have sprung up some startling results. One of those is that several Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members -- the student wing of the party’s ideologue, the RSS -- and their families and supporters voted for the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP in the Assembly election in December 2013. According to a senior Rajya Sabha member of the party, the BJP did not do well as expected in the National Capital because many ABVP and also RSS supporters voted for AAP. “They went by the idea -- Kejriwal for CM and Modi for PM -- without realising AAP’s national design,” he said. Around 2.5 per cent BJP votes were transferred from its kitty to AAP in the recently-held polls. However, the percentage was far greater in core BJP areas -- almost 5 to 6 per cent,” a senior party functionary said. He said that the party was, in fact, compensated by Gujjar and Jat voters in the outer Delhi region. In next 100 days, the BJYM -- youth wing of the BJP -- will run the campus ambassador programme to ensure that young voters get connected to the party’s ideology. BJYM president Anurag Thakur said the BJYM would appoint campus ambassadors in 523 universities and around 12,000 colleges across the country. The ambassadors will start operating “Modi cafes” from Basant Panchami (February 4) where they will interact with small groups over tea.
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Cong discusses Lok Sabha candidates for Himachal New Delhi, January 7 Party sources said AICC general secretaries Madhusudan Mistry and CP Joshi, in charge of ticket survey process of the party for LS elections, held a meeting today with Himachal CM Virbhadra Singh and state Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, seeking their opinion on the matter. The CM and Sukhu reportedly submitted separate lists of candidates for the Lok Sabha segments in the state, with Virbhadra Singh proposing his wife Pratibha Singh's name as the lone probable candidate for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat. The Congress high command is, however, said to be considering more options from the Mandi segment that Pratibha represents in the LS currently. The central leaders have drawn up their own independent panel of candidates in which they are said to have included names besides Pratibha from Mandi. From the Hamirpur LS segment, currently represented by former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal's son Anurag Thakur, Virbhadra Singh has recommended the name of Rajinder Rana, an Independent MLA from Sujanpur who has associated himself with the Congress. Other names proposed by Virbhadra from Hamirpur include former minister Ram Lal Thakur, who has lost this seat thrice, and former All India Mahila Congress chief Anita Verma. She has also lost elections for this seat in the past. Himachal PCC chief Sukhu is, however, learnt to have proposed the name of state Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri from Hamirpur. For the Kangra seat, currently held by BJP rebel Rajan Sushant, Virbhadra Singh has proposed the name of former MP Chander Kumar only. It is, however, learnt that the central leadership is also considering the names of Raghuvir Singh Bali (son of minister GS Bali) and Suresh Choudhary for this seat. From Shimla, Virbhadra has proposed the names of sitting MLA from Rohru Mohan Ram Bragta; Minister in Virbhadra's cabinet Dhani Ram Shandil; and minister Gangu Ram Musafir.
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Logjam in House over Telangana
Hyderabad, January 7 For the fifth consecutive day, the special session of the winter session was adjourned without transacting any business. Pandemonium prevailed in the House with legislators from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions, jointly referred to as Seemandhra, storming the Speaker’s podium and raising slogans in support of their demand to keep the state united. Members of the YSR Congress Party, headed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, have been the most aggressive lot while Seemandhra members from the ruling Congress agreed for a debate on the AP Reorganisation Bill, 2013, to voice the concerns of the people of Seemandhra region. After two spells of brief adjournments amidst the din in the morning, Deputy Speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who was in the chair, adjourned the House for the day at 1.40 pm as furore showed no signs of subsiding.
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bengal
gangrape case
New Delhi, January 7 The father, who was accompanied by CPM leaders Sitaram Yechury, Brinda Karat and Shyamal Chakraborty, submitted a memorandum to the President at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here, seeking his immediate intervention to expedite action against the culprits as well as certain police, hospital and local administration officials. In the memorandum, he narrated the sequence of events since the day his teenaged daughter was first raped and thrown in a field, raped again after she lodged a complaint with the police and then burnt to death. Citing negligence on the part of the police and the hospital authorities, he also explained how the policemen “hijacked” the girl's body and tried to cremate her and so that no forensic tests could be carried out. The President is understood to have given a patient hearing to the father and assured him that his complaint would be forwarded to the Union Home Ministry, CPM sources said. “Following my daughter's death on December 31, 2013, I had sent a letter requesting for a forensic test, but no forensic test has been done even 12 days after she was set afire," the letter said. Earlier in the day, the father also met NCW chairperson Mamata Sharma and submitted a memorandum demanding stiff action against the perpetrators. The NCW also wrote to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and made a strong pitch for suspension of erring police personnel and order an inquiry against those who had allegedly ill-treated the family of the girl who was gangraped and murdered. “We have written to the Chief Minister demanding that the police officials who ill-treated the girl's family be suspended and an inquiry be initiated against them,” NCW chairperson Mamta Sharma said. — PTI
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adarsh
scam
Sources close to Ashok Chavan said that in the letter, he has objected to the Commission reneging on its assurance to hear his side of the story. "The report is bad and great injustice has been done to me. Before indicting me, the Commission did not hear my contention. This, despite it being specifically brought to its notice that if it was passing strictures against me, then as per Section 8 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, I should have been heard," sources quoted Ashok Chavan as saying in the letter to the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary JS Saharia. "The concerned were aware that, as per the Act, if the reputation of a person is likely to be prejudicially affected by an inquiry, the commission shall give him a reasonable opportunity of being heard and produce evidence in his defence," the sources said. "The government will take note of the letter. It has also received representations from a section of bureaucrats indicted by the inquiry Commission," a Mantralaya official said. In its report, the Commission observed that while Ashok Chavan cannot be said to have favoured or obliged the Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society by allowing civilians to become members, his approval of non-deduction of 15 per cent recreational ground while calculating floor space index (FSI) cannot be treated as an innocent act. "We are not concerned with the legality or otherwise of the said decision. It may be legal and justifiable...However, this decision when followed by the grant of membership and allotment of flats to his close relatives becomes indicative of quid pro quo," the Commission said in its report. Sources close to Ashok Chavan said, "There is no connection between him and the then state government's decision to reduce the width of the proposed 60.97m Captain Prakash Pethe Marg near the Adarsh Society. It was entirely an Urban Development Department-related matter and there was no role of Ashok Chavan as the then Revenue Minister." The Maharashtra Government had, on December 20, rejected the Commission's report on the Adarsh scam, tabled in the state Legislative Assembly. However, after Rahul Gandhi's intervention, the government this month decided to partially implement the panel's recommendations, which the Opposition has alleged, favours politicians while putting the onus only on bureaucrats. — PTI
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8 yrs after conviction, Major reinstated with full benefits
Chandigarh, January 7 A general court martial (GCM) had in 2005 tried Major Ran Singh Dudee on four counts of intent to defraud and acts prejudicial to good order and military discipline, and cashiered from service besides awarding him three years of rigorous imprisonment. The officer was reinstated in service this week. Holding the findings of the GCM “unacceptable” and “warranting interference by the Central Government”, an order passed by the Ministry of Defence has annulled the GCM proceedings and quashed the penalty imposed on grounds of their being “illegal and unjust”. The order, while holding the trial to be time-barred, also observed that there was no wrongful gain to the officer nor any conclusive evidence of collusion to get land allotted. Major Dudee had approached the District Collector at Saugor in Madhya Pradesh in 2000 for allotment of 8.64 hectares of government land for building a building a war memorial to his brother, Sepoy Hawa Singh of 9 Jat, who had died in the 1971 Indo-Pak War. Land was allotted by the civil administration after following due procedure and 9 Jat, then based near Saugor, was made the owner and title holder of the land, according to the District Collector’s testimony. The Commanding Officer (CO) of 9 Jat had authorised Major Dudee to collect all necessary documents and take necessary decisions. In 2001, Major Dudee wrote to the District Collector stating that since the battalion was moving out shortly, the land be handed back to the government for setting up an “immortalisation trust”. The District Collector again certified that the land was given back and no allotment stood in the name of the applicant. In 2002, the CO wrote to the District Collector seeking cancellation of the allotment, stating that building a war memorial was never intended. This was followed by several anonymous complaints against Major Dudee. A court of inquiry and a separate investigation by a magistrate found the complaints to be baseless and infructuous. This was followed by a second court of inquiry, based upon the findings of which disciplinary action was initiated.
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Assam gets 17 permanent police pickets
Guwahati, January 7 The Assam Government has decided to set up 17 permanent police pickets in vulnerable remote areas of the district to prevent further ethnic violence. The decision comes after a three-member fact-finding ministerial team, headed by senior minister Rakibul Hussain, visited the violence-affected Bokajan sub-division of the district. The police pickets would be instrumental in checking movement of illegal arms and ammunition within the district bordering Nagaland, a senior police official said. IGP (Law and Order) SN Singh is camping in the district to supervise the security measures.
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Deputy mayor in Bihar caught with call girls
Patna, January 7 "Srivastava was caught along with two call girls in a hotel room," a police official said. According to police officials, six persons, including Gaya's deputy mayor, were arrested in connection with a sex racket when police raided a hotel near Frazer Road in the heart of Patna. They were taken to the Kotwali police station for questioning. It is for the first time in Bihar that a deputy mayor has been arrested in connection with a sex racket. Gaya is about 100 km from Patna. Last month, the Gaya police busted a thriving sex racket at a salon running on premises owned by Mohan Srivastava. Srivastava, however, denied ownership of the premises where the alleged sex racket was going on. He later admitted that the premises belonged to his wife but claimed he has nothing to do with the property. — IANS
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Flight delays: DGCA to set up monitoring cell
A total of 247 flights have been cancelled due to fog since December 17 last year, including 119 on a single day late last week. Sources said the cell comprising officials and representatives of Indian carriers would daily monitor the fog situation and take quick decisions to help airlines mount flights to clear the backlog of stranded passengers. The meeting also reviewed the deployment of pilots trained to operate the Instrument Landing System under Category III when the runway visibility range (RVR) is around 75 metre. Under CAT-II and CAT-I conditions, the RVR is around 150-200 metre and 550 metre respectively. The airlines have already been instructed to deploy adequate number of CAT-III trained pilots to operate flights to and from Delhi during fog. — TNS
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