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SAD not soft on radical elements, says BJP
Pawar rakes up 2002 riots to attack Modi
CRPF to go in for Rs 3,000-cr modernisation
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LS polls: Central agencies to keep hawk eye on unaccounted cash
Create security architecture with focus on Asia: NSA
AMU teachers’ body to boycott Mulayam visit
Every Hindu couple must
have 5 kids: VHP chief
UP rural job scam: CBI registers five cases
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SAD not soft on radical elements, says BJP
New Delhi, February 22 “We have not seen any softness (toward former militants) in any of the Akali Dal statements. For the BJP, militancy and internal security are the core issues of its ideology,” senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said. He was responding to a question by The Tribune on the saffron party’s stand on its Punjab ally’s attitude toward erstwhile militants and their memorials and sensitive matters pertaining to internal security of the country. This is the first time that the BJP’s top leadership has reacted on the issue which has been the cause of much controversy in the state. Jaitley was speaking at the joint press conference that he addressed along with senior party leader Sushma Swaraj a day after the last session of the 15th Lok Sabha ended. The ruling Akali Dal-controlled Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee’s Operation Bluestar memorial and their bestowal of the title “zinda shaheed” (living martyr) on Balwant Singh Rajoana, a convict in former Chief Minister Beant Singh assassination case, are the issues that the BJP has more or less stayed away from. After the flak it received, the Akali Dal too may have distanced itself from the controversial memorial project but clearly the BJP is well aware of the Badal family’s control over the SGPC and the Akal Takht. Explaining the reasons for the BJP’s ambiguous stance, sources said that the Akali Dal is among the few NDA allies that has stood by the BJP in all circumstances. So, the saffron party doesn’t want to rake up a tricky issue especially when all other inter-party matters are smooth and comfortable. Rahul’s anti-graft efforts ‘not genuine’
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Pawar rakes up 2002 riots to attack Modi
Pawar's remarks came as he questioned Modi's development model and his claim to change the face of the country. "Chief Minister of neighbouring state speaks about his development agenda....What is development?..It is bringing all round development in the lives of the poor and bringing smile on their faces," the Union Agriculture Minister said. "They speak of changing face of the country...but the entire country has seen how mass murders took place," Pawar said in a reference to the 2002 post-Godhra riots. Early this month, Pawar had said that there was no need for a debate once courts had ruled on Modi's role during the 2002 riots Responding to a query during a press conference in Kolhapur, the NCP chief had said, "If courts have given their verdict, then the question of holding a debate on it does not arise. We accept the court's order and there won't be any debate on it." There was also reports about Pawar meeting Modi but the NCP leader had denied it. Pawar today alleged that the Gujarat Chief Minister had ignored certain sections of society in his quest for power.
— PTI
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CRPF to go in for Rs 3,000-cr modernisation
New Delhi, February 22 The modernisation plan, which will be in place in the coming months, includes the procurement of latest weapons, technology and the installation of training facilities, which will give the force an edge over its adversaries. CRPF Director General Dilip Trivedi said: “For over past two years, we had been working on a modernisation plan of Rs 3,000 crore. The plan, meant for the next five years, was sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs and it was approved by a Cabinet Committee on expenditure.” As part of its modernisation, the CRPF is planning to procure UAVs designed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The CRPF has shown interest in two UAVs, Rustom I and the wheeled version of Nishant, which have been designed by the DRDO. “The trial for the UAVs is taking place. The problem now is that they do not have a smooth landing,” said the DG. He said the UAVs would be used in Chhattisgarh, which is a hotbed for Maoist activities. The CRPF, India’s largest central armed police force, is the main security force battling the Maoists in India’s “red corridor”. DRDO officials said: “The problem with Nishant at present is that it lands using a parachute and takes about five to six hours relaunch. We are developing its wheeled version, which will take only an hour to take off after refuelling once it lands.” Explaining some of the specifications of Nishant, the officials said it had a day and night camera and was meant for ‘battlefield’ reconnaissance and tracking of targets. The UAV is controlled from a ground control station. It spans across 6.64 metres, can fly for four hours and 30 minutes and can reach an altitude of 3.5 km. The Indian Army has already procured Nishant about six months ago.
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LS polls: Central agencies to keep hawk eye on unaccounted cash
New Delhi, February 22 The tracking of funds has been a major focus of the Election Commission to weed out the menace of money power in elections since 2010 when it was first implemented during the Bihar Assembly elections. More than 81 crore voters will cast their votes to elect the next Lok Sabha in April-May this year. The Central agencies will look at banks deposits, fixed deposits of huge amounts, sudden purchase of large volume of gold by traders for onward sale to clients, hawala, stocks, foreign funds and cash transfer. Sleuths of the Central agencies will be tasked to look out at specific movements. Transactions in banks and government regulated financial units are easy. A ‘filter’ can be set in the computerised network and it will automatically ‘red-flag’ the transactions to sleuths. The same system is adopted at stock markets and commodity exchanges. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Finance Ministry has been tasked to provide real time information to the EC on suspicious cash transactions in banks and to keep a close watch on the withdrawal of cash exceeding a specified limit. All airports in the country, major railway stations, hotels, farm houses, ‘hawala’ agents, financial brokers, cash couriers, pawn brokers and other suspicious persons engaged in movement of cash are to be kept under close surveillance by the Income Tax Department Central agencies like the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) will be working with the Election Commission of India to track money and drugs. The Enforcement Directorate will be tasked to track foreign exchange and sudden money transfers from known tax havens like Monaco, Cayman Islands or Mauritius, to name a few. The Central Industrial Security Force has been tasked to prevent movement of cash through airports and helipads and a standard operating procedure (SOP) has been developed which will be implemented by the Bureau of Civil Aviation, a body that is largely manned by the Intelligence Bureau. The Ministry of Civil Aviation will operate Air Intelligence Units (AIU’s) at all the airports. The agencies had a major success in the November 2013 Assembly elections when they seized Rs 58 crore unaccounted cash from political workers in five states. Under gaze
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Create security architecture with focus on Asia: NSA
Addressing the concluding session of the 16th Asian Security Conference organised at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses here, he said that in order to build the order, emphasis should be on the security essentials that have made the region’s phenomenal economic growth possible. Articulating the thought, he said, “The commons -- on the high seas, in air space and in cyber space -- should be safe and open to all lawful civilian users. That is why maritime security and freedom of navigation is so important and should be one of the first orders of business,” the institute release said. The NSA also described “openness about doctrines and defence, and increased military contacts” as prerequisites to blunt the edges of uncertainty. However, he said, confidence-building measures can only hold only till hard work was done to solve disputes by agreeing on a rule-based legal order. Highlighting the reasons for escalating uncertainty in the Asia-Pacific, the NSA said that a reason could be that the region is “a crowded geopolitical space, with the active involvement of several established, rising or re-emerging powers in its affairs.” The simultaneous emergence of several powers has also built pressure for a new equilibrium. Rapid economic growth in the past few decades has given several states in the region the means to militarily strengthen themselves. This is another factor that needs to be understood. “The Asia-Pacific as a whole is witnessing the greatest peacetime arms build-up in its history, possibly in world history,” he said.
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AMU teachers’ body to boycott Mulayam visit
Lucknow, February 22 AMU teachers’ association secretary Aftab Alam said the decision to oppose Yadav was taken at the AMUTA’s executive committee meeting today over the SP government’s role during the Muzaffarnagar communal violence which left 65 dead and approximately 50,000 homeless. Mulayam is coming to participate in a seminar. This will be the first visit by the SP leadership after Akhilesh Yadav took over as the Chief Minister in 2012. In a press release, AMUTA secretary Alam said the Samajwadi Party government had failed to swiftly respond to the communal violence. “It remained a mute spectator and abandoned its duty to provide security and protection to the people during the communal carnage. It is a recorded fact that a large number of people were forced to live in the relief camps, terrified and trembling with not even bare minimum facilities available to them,” said the release. The association accused the SP government of forcefully evicting the violence-hit from the relief camps. “Most shockingly Mulayam Singh Yadav has also opposed the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill”, said Alam. He also condemned the AMU administration for allocating the University’s Kennedy Hall for the seminar.
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Every Hindu couple must
have 5 kids: VHP chief
Bhopal, February 22 Addressing a press conference, he said it has become "imperative" for each Hindu couple to have five children each. The VHP convenor heaped praise on BJP's Prime Ministerial nominee Narendra Modi and attacked Congress President Sonia Gandhi over a number of things. Singhal said the VHP has nothing to do with the BJP but maintained that it would certainly support Modi in the next Lok Sabha elections. The VHP convenor had last night met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for over an hour here. Bhagwat is in a four-day visit to the city.
— PTI
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UP rural job scam: CBI registers five cases
Lucknow, February 22 The five FIRs which pertain to the time when the BSP government was in power implicate more than 20 IAS officers and close to 50 PCS officers as well as hundreds of other officers, including engineers and elected representatives. The first set of five FIRs are filed pertain to the districts of Gonda, Mahoba, Sonbhadra, Balrampur and Kushinagar. The HC had recommended probes for two more districts of Sant Kabir Nagar and Mirzapur which would soon be filed by the anti-corruption branch of Dehradun and Special Crime Branch of the CBI, respectively.
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Maid murder case: BSP MP’s bail plea dismissed 35 kg gold biscuits seized 2 knocked down by truck Baby found dead in pool 2 chain snatchers held MC makes Guinness record Two found guilty of rape 19-yr-old girl's body found
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Mumbai, February 22
New Delhi, February 22
