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Bhullar
case
India yet to decide on Lanka vote at UNHRC
Pact with Russia on Kudankulam III & IV units soon
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Legal luminary KTS Tulsi nominated to Rajya Sabha
Death case: Ambala Army hospital told to pay Rs 4 lakh
Parrot solves Agra murder mystery
I want an India where women feel safe, says Rahul Gandhi
Paswan all set to re-align with BJP
BJP demands apology from Khurshid
Ball in govt’s court on pre-poll surveys: CEC
India, S Arabia ink defence pact
Russia honours BrahMos chief
Govt to provide best facilities to forces, says PM
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Bhullar
case R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, February 26 Appearing for the Centre, Attorney General GE Vahanvati assured a four-member Bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam that Bhullar would not be sent to the gallows, pending disposal of the mercy plea as well as his wife Navneet Kaur’s petition in the SC. The Bench, however, pointed out that anyway the hanging could not take place as it had stayed it. The other members of the Bench were Justices RM Lodha, HL Dattu and SJ Mukhopadhaya. The AG said the Home Ministry was processing the mercy plea in the light of Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung’s views against executing Bhullar as the convict was suffering from mental illness. Asked about the Centre’s stand on the latest medical report on Bhullar, the AG said Bhullar could have been executed immediately after the SC verdict last year, but did not do so in view of his health condition. Appearing for Kaur, senior advocate KTS Tulsi took exception to the two-week adjournment, contending that it was a long period. At this, the Bench asked the Centre to take a decision on the mercy plea as fast as possible and posted the next hearing for March 10. Besides his mental status, Kaur has also cited the over eight years of delay in the rejection of his mercy plea by the President as the reason for reducing his sentence to life term. Bhullar was given capital punishment for his role in the September 1993 blast in which nine persons were killed and 25 injured, including the then Youth Congress president MS Bitta. He was tried under the anti-terror law, TADA.
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India yet to decide on Lanka vote at UNHRC
New Delhi, February 26 “Wait till the vote actually takes place,” Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh told reporters here today. Observing that the voting issue was a ‘complex process’, she said New Delhi would have to study the text of the resolution and take various other factors into consideration before finalising its stand. Her statement came a day after the Lankan government rejected the call by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay’s for the establishment of an international inquiry mechanism to further investigate the alleged human rights violations by Colombo during the war against the LTTE. India had voted against Lanka at the UNHRC both in 2012 and 2013, upsetting Colombo. The issue may also figure during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s meeting with Lankan President Mahinda Rajapkasa in Myanmar early next month on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit. Alleged atrocities committed on Tamils in Lanka during the final phase of the conflict in 2009 have become an emotive issue in Tamil Nadu. Political parties in the state have demanded that India must vote against Lanka at the UNHRC this time too.
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Pact with Russia on Kudankulam III & IV units soon
New Delhi, February 26 “We hope we will be in a position to sign an agreement very soon on units III and IV,” Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said in response to a question here. Her remarks came as visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin met top Indian leaders to discuss bilateral matters, including civil nuclear cooperation, and international issues. It is understood that top officials of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Russia’s state atomic energy agency Rosatom are currently holding negotiations in Mumbai on the proposed agreement.
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Legal luminary KTS Tulsi nominated to Rajya Sabha
New Delhi, February 26 Sources in the government said Tulsi's name was cleared recently to fill the lone vacancy in the nominated category of eminent persons. Recently, the UPA Government had nominated Sachin Tendulkar and actor Rekha to the Upper House. Tulsi said it was a great opportunity to speed up the judicial process and address the root cause of inordinate delays in the disposal of cases in the country. He said once criminal justice sped up most problems would be resolved. He said "so much of defamatory stuff is said. A Chief Minister gets up and levels charges because by the time defence is proved it can take 10 years..." He added that he expected to take oath on March 6. Born in 1947 at Hoshiarpur, Punjab, Tulsi graduated with Honours in Political Science from Panjab University and completed his Bachelors in Law in 1971, when he was enrolled as a member of the Bar of Punjab and Haryana High Court. During 1973-76, besides practising, he also worked as a part-time lecturer in law and authored two books, including Tulsi Digest of Accident Claims Cases and Goswami and Tulsi's Landlord & Tenant Cases. In 1976, he was appointed a reporter of the Indian Law Reports (Punjab Series). From 1980 onwards, as a special prosecutor against terrorists in Punjab, Delhi and Assam he practised criminal law and accepted responsibility of prosecuting 'A' grade terrorists, including the cases of Operation Black Thunder, attempt on the life of JF Rebeiro, Talwara Bank Dacoity case, etc., according to information on his website. In 1990, he was appointed as Additional Solicitor General of India, and represented the state before more than 10 Constitution Benches of the Supreme Court, in several important cases, including the constitutional validity of the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, cases arising out of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the Bombay Blast case, the Calcutta Bomb Blast case as well as important cases against various terrorist organizations such as JKLF, LTTE, PWG, etc. Among the cases that brought him legal fame was the successful prosecution in the case on behalf of the victims of Uphaar cinema hall tragedy. In 1994, Tulsi was elected President of the Criminal Justice Society of India. He holds the position till today.
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Death case: Ambala Army hospital told to pay Rs 4 lakh
Ambala, February 26 AK Sardana, president of the consumer forum, told the hospital to also pay 9 per cent interest on the amount from the date of institution of complaint till actual realisation and Rs 10,000 as cost of litigation to the complainant. According to the complaint filed with the forum by Rajesh Sharma, an Indian Air Force employee and a resident of Ambala City, his wife Poonam (23) had been taken to the sub-medical centre at Air Force Station there after she complained of pain in the abdomen on August 10, 2003. She was referred to Military Hospital, Ambala Cantt, on the same day. There, her condition deteriorated, but the medical staff on duty did not pay any attention. Eventually, she died. Rajesh blamed negligence on part of the hospital staff for his wife’s death.
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Parrot solves Agra murder mystery
Lucknow, February 26 On the night of February 20, Neelam Sharma, wife of the editor of a local Hindi daily, was at her residence under the New Agra police station area. Her husband and other family members had gone to attend a wedding at Firozabad. The only other person present in the house was her aged father-in-law. On returning home from the wedding at 12.40 am, her husband found that Neelam and their German Shepherd “Toughie” had been knifed to death. Valuables and jewellery had also been stolen. A case was registered at the New Agra police station. It was Neelam’s pet parrot which finally led to the murderers -- her husband’s nephew Ashutosh Goswami and Ronnie Massey, the son of Ashutosh’s landlord. They jointly committed the crime knowing well that other family members had gone to a wedding. The duo has confessed to the crime and have been put behind bars. All the stolen items have been recovered from their possession. According to the deceased’s husband, the parrot had witnessed the murder from his cage. So terror struck was it that it had given up food
since that day. It was behaving abnormally and was trying to hide in Ashutosh’s presence.
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I want an India where women feel safe, says Rahul Gandhi
Guwahati, February 26 Responding to various questions and suggestions put forward by women participants in the interactive session about empowerment of women, Rahul said, “I want to see women in all powerful places in the state Assemblies, in Parliament even in the position of Prime Minister (generating a peal of laughter among the women present) as you are more intelligent, have more patience, hardly show your anger. You have better leadership quality.” Rahul, who became an instant hit with the women groups as soon as he sat among them immediately after his arrival, said he was in favour of increasing the women’s reservation in Parliament and legislative Assemblies to 50 per cent from the present 33 per cent. “Women are more intelligent than men, more capable than men. Yet we spend our whole time in this country every day disrespecting them,” he said. Earlier, NSG personnel had a harrowing time when Rahul embarked on a 65-km journey by road from Nagaon in Central Assam to Tezpur meeting people and shaking hand with them all along the route. Before embarking on the road show, he visited the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati to seek blessings of the presiding deity, Ma Kamakhya and interacted with students of Don Bosco University on way to Guwahati airport where he took a chopper to Nagaon town. Thousands of people were lined up on either sides of the road from Nagaon to Tezpur to greet and have a glimpse of Rahul who stood at the front doorway of his luxury SUV. The road show by the Congress vice-president brought traffic in parts of the arterial National Highway 175 to a standstill for hours. Rahul also had a brief stopover at Hanhchora village near Samaguri to have a look at the handicraft products of the women of the village dominated by the Scheduled Caste community.
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Paswan all set to re-align with BJP
New Delhi, February 26 The LJP's parliamentary board that met today authorised Paswan to take a final decision in this regard. "The LJP parliamentary board has passed a resolution that all steps should be taken in the interest of the party and if an alternative alliance is to be firmed up, party chief Ram Vilas Paswan should take the decision," said his son Chirag Paswan, who heads the parliamentary board. He told reporters that there was a "deadlock" on the issue of alliance between the RJD, Congress and LJP. To a question whether LJP would tie up with the BJP, he said that "all options are now open for the LJP.” The LJP chief said members in the parliamentary board were of the opinion that the option of going with the BJP should also be kept open. "We had our grievances with the RJD for a long time. I had even gone to meet Lalu Prasad in jail. But soon after he was out, RJD leaders started saying LJP should be given three seats. That is why we left it to the Congress to decide the seat sharing. I waited for months, but there was no decision. "They assumed that the LJP is nothing, it is irrelevant. If one takes 25 seats (RJD) and the other 15 (Cong). It means they do not treat the LJP as part of the alliance...That is why the party has authorised me to explore a new alternative,” Ram Vilas Paswan said. — PTI
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BJP demands apology from Khurshid
New Delhi, February 26 BJP leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “The comment is not only regrettable but shameful, coming from a person who is the Foreign Affairs Minister of India. It is a new low. I can understand their desperation, but let me ask Sonia Gandhi does she approve of this comment. Khurshid should apologise for the kind of language he has used against Modi.” Amid reports of the Centre bringing ordinances on two anti-corruption Bills, the party said it would lodge a protest with President Pranab Mukherjee, if that route was adopted.
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Ball in govt’s court on pre-poll surveys: CEC
New Delhi, February 26 He said the Election Commission would look into the allegations levelled by a TV news channel after a purported sting operation that "exposed" 11 agencies which conducted opinion polls. "As far as opinion polls are concerned, the Commission took a view, not today but 10 years back -- in 2004 -- after they held an all-party meeting. They made their recommendations. Subsequently also, they collected the views of different political parties. The ball is in the government’s court," Sampath said. The EC had in its recommendation called for restriction on opinion polls for a specified period during the election process. He was asked as to what course of action the Election Commission would take on the claims made by a TV channel which did a sting operation on some polling agencies. "We will certainly look into the matter. The legal action that needs to be taken will be duly examined," Sampath said. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a workshop organised for the AIR and Doordarshan correspondents — PTI AAP demands regulatory mechanism Decade-old EC advice
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India, S Arabia ink defence pact
New Delhi, February 26 It also envisages exchange of
defence-related information, training and cooperation. — TNS
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Russia honours BrahMos chief
New Delhi, February 26 The award, the highest Russian honour bestowed on foreign citizens, was conferred on Pillai by the President of Russian Federation Vladimir Putin for his great contribution towards strengthening of friendship between India and Russia. During the award ceremony at the Russian embassy here, Pillai briefed the Russain Deputy PM on the latest achievements and progress the joint venture has made in the recent years. — PTI
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Govt to provide best facilities to forces, says PM
New Delhi, February 26 After laying the foundation stone for the Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences (CAPFIMS), Singh said men and women of these Forces — CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB, Assam Rifles and NSG — work in very adverse conditions, often at considerable risk to their lives. "The Institute exemplifies our Government's commitment to provide the best possible facilities to the Central Armed Police Forces," he said here. The Central Armed Police Forces personnel are deployed in some of the most difficult places in the country including the Left-Wing Extremism affected States, the North-Eastern States and J-K. — PTI
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IAF’s Veiled Vipers fly high
Operating the US-made C-130J Super Hercules special missions aircraft, the squadron has had an eventful journey it was formally raised at Hindon in February 2011, having set a world record by landing on the world’s highest airstrip and making unprecedented landings during disaster management operations. The IAF had received the first C-130 in December 2010 and it was formally inducted into service in February 2011 and by the end of the year, all six aircraft contracted for had arrived in India. Specially equipped to support the Special Forces, the four-engined turboprop grabbed global headlines when it landed at the 18,600 feet high Daulat Beg Oldie unpaved advance landing ground in north-east Ladakh close to the Line of Actual Control, becoming the heaviest aircraft to land at that altitude. The daring sortie also had immense strategic significance. The C-130 also played a key role during relief operations after devastating flash floods wrecked parts of Uttarakhand in June 2013. Besides training for special operations, the squadron has also been undertaking communication and logistic missions across the country, including far off places like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.’
Andaman Command set
for boost
The Tri-Services Andaman & Nicobar Command is likely to be get a boost, with a major asset allocation and infrastructure development plan being formulated with an eye on capability development for the future and developing security situation, especially in the South East Asian Region. The plan is expected to be reviewed by the Army Chief, Gen Bikram
Singh, who is currently on a visit to Port Blair. The Andaman & Nicobar Command is the first and
only joint command in the country. Gen Bikram Singh, who is also the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee was briefed on the current security situation and future challenges in that theatre by Air Marshal PK Roy, Commander-in-Chief of the Command.
Antony in farewell mode
Defence Minister AK Antony, is in a farewell mode. On February 25, he hosted a hi-tea for the public relations wing of the Ministry of Defence. The wing has middle-level officers from the three services and also professionals from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting with the senior most being a Joint Secretary rank official — all on deputation to the MoD. At the hi-tea, hosted at IAF’s Akash officers’ mess, Antony had a chat with the officers who project the image of the ministry and the three services in the eyes of the public. The same wing produces the Sainik Samachar, a bimonthly magazine carrying news and features about the services that is more than 100 years old and was started by the British. The public relations wing of the MoD itself dates back to the pre-Independence era. (Vijay Mohan and
Ajay Banerjee)
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New Delhi, February 26
Ban opinion polls: Cong to EC