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Police fail to locate Sahara chief; Roy urges SC to recall arrest order
Moily gives nod to field trials of GM crops
Six killed in Maharashtra factory blast
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Quit on my own: Admiral Joshi
Ex-soldiers praise Joshi
Redundant laws must go, Modi tells industry
Iran for better security ties with India
Fratricides, suicides return to haunt security forces in J-K
Media must act responsibly: Prez
President Pranab Mukherjee presents a plaque to Vinay Verma, Officiating General Manager, The Tribune Trust, in New Delhi on Thursday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal
India, Israel ink 3 security agreements
Govt committed to pension plan: Antony
Nariman opts out of Lokpal search panel
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Police fail to locate Sahara chief; Roy urges SC to recall arrest order
New Delhi/Lucknow, Feb 27 In Lucknow, a police team raided the house of Sahara chief Subrata Roy to arrest him, but failed to find him there. Contending that non-appearance was due to an error of judgement and was “neither intentional nor deliberate,” Roy pleaded with the SC to “condone” the lapse and save him from “irreparable loss and injury” arising from the arrest. Confronted with a difficult situation of having to choose between appearing in court and being with the dying mother, he had chosen to stay with the mother and now realised it was an error, Roy said in an application. He had hoped to get time from the court which was not possible with the almighty in the case of his mother, he reasoned. Assuring the court that he would present himself before it and “uphold the dignity and majesty of law,” he pleaded for a recall of yesterday’s order for his arrest and production in the court on March 4. A report from Lucknow said a team from the Gomti Nagar police station reached "Sahara City" around 4.30 pm to execute the Supreme Court warrant and conducted searches at Subrata's residence. Entry into and exit from the premises, which is spread in over 270 acre, was barred, but the police exercise did not yield fruit. "The team is there to execute the non-bailable warrant issued by the Supreme Court," said Circle officer, Gomti Nagar, VS Mishra. "We have searched the premises. Roy was not found there," Gomti Nagar SHO Ajit Singh Chauhan told reporters after coming out of the Sahara chief's residence. Asked whether the police searched Sahara hospital, Chauhan said Roy was also not present there. Additional Superintendent of Police, Trans Gomti, Habibul Hasan told PTI that police would do whatever it could to execute the NBW issued by the Supreme Court and produce Roy before the court on March 4, the deadline set by it.
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Moily gives nod to field trials of GM crops
Newly anointed Environment Minister Veerappa Moily has approved a decision taken by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) - the regulatory body for genetically engineered crops - in March 2013 to allow field trials for grains such as rice, wheat and maize “subject to approval by the GEAC and state governments”. The minister said he was not reversing the stand by his predecessor Jayanthi Natarajan on the issue but only clearing an issue that was pending for past one year for no apparent reason. “The file was pending in the minister’s (Jayanthi Natrajan) chamber for one year. We have no business to reject ongoing research and development,” he said in what is the most telling statement on the state of affairs in the MoEF during Jayanthi’s tenure. Moily has also called a meeting of the GEAC in March - a year after it last met and cleared the field trials. The GM field trials were held up after Jayanthi refused to approve the GEAC decision and wrote to the PMO saying they were not feasible since the issue was pending in the Supreme Court. Moily said since the GEAC was a statutory body, it was not under any embargo from the Supreme Court. “The earlier minister thought it (GEAC approval) was in conflict with SC pendency cases in the SC. But there were no such conflict. You cannot keep a decision taken by a statutory body pending,” he said.
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Six killed in Maharashtra factory blast
Alibaug (Maharashtra), Feb 27 The explosion took place around 4.30 pm at the Bhaimala village factory, 10 km from Alibaug town, they said. The bodies of six persons, mostly workers, were pulled out from the rubble of the crackers unit, which caught fire due to the explosion. Six fire tenders were rushed to the factory after the blast following which flames were brought under control. The deceased have not been identified yet and all the injured were admitted to the civil hospital here. — PTI
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Quit on my own: Admiral Joshi Consulted PM before accepting resignation: Antony
Admiral Joshi told a group of senior Naval officers today that it was his own decision to resign while Defence Minister AK Antony said he was sad at his resignation, describing him as a “very good man”. Antony said he was sad at the developments. He had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and consulted “everybody” before accepting the resignation of an “upset” Admiral Joshi. Admiral Joshi became the first chief of the Navy to resign over accidents involving naval vessels. He was slated to serve till August 2015. In
Mumbai, the Indian Navy today confirmed the death of two of its officers, who were on board the ill-fated submarine.
The bodies of Lieutenant Commander Kapish Munwal and Lieutenant Manoranjan Kumar were located in compartment three of the submarine. Fire and smoke had been noticed in the same compartment.
— TNS
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Ex-soldiers praise Joshi
New Delhi, February 27 The Admiral's decision to resign owning moral responsibility has set the bar high for his peers and successors to follow. Even though Admiral Joshi is not responsible for the faltering 30-years submarine construction plan, he had paid the price for operating an ageing fleet. The Admiral's resignation has also posed questions as to why the Ministry of Defence is not being revamped to work faster and remove bottle necks as this seems more of a case of delayed modernisation and lack of quality spares. Could the Defence Minister AK Antony have not accepted the resignation immediately and allowed Admiral Joshi to 'cool down'? The haste in accepting the resignation is raising more questions. A serving officer said: "Antony could have let the matter cool down." In the past, Antony showed great level of tolerance towards former Army Chief Gen VK Singh (retd), who embarrassed the government with his age row controversy and litigations. Lt Gen KK Nayyar, a former Vice Chief of the Indian Navy, who has the distinction of having commanded both the Western and Eastern fleets of the Navy, says: "It was a great decision." "It takes years to decide on small matters and the first-ever resignation by a Chief is decided within two hours," Vice Admiral Nayyar said. Within the Navy, officers are shocked. Lt Gen Mohinder Puri, who led the 8 Mountain Division into the Kargil war, and latter went on to become the Deputy Chief of the Indian Army, said "It is an excellent decision". The problem is that Admiral Joshi had to resign for the collective failure of the system.
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Redundant laws must go, Modi tells industry
New Delhi, February 27 Modi said redundant laws needed to be done away with. Modi was addressing traders, chartered accountants and industry at separate events here today. Modi cited importance of effective governance to illustrate the point that India had three major advantages - democracy, demographics and demand - but in the absence of determination, devotion and direction in the government, economic growth had slumped and there was a mood of despondency. He said there had been steep erosion in the independence of institutions. “Our first priority should be to get the system right again. We need to ensure that the institutions gain their credibility back and it is only then that the nation will progress”. On corruption, he said enhancing the role of technology was the best way of curbing it. “We keep talking about what will happen after corruption but why can’t we think about having no corruption at all. State must be policy driven and if this happens there is little scope on discretion, grey areas are minimised,” he said. Taking a swipe at the government, Modi said coalition compulsions could not be blamed for corruption. He underlined that those at the helm should adopt zero tolerance against corruption rather than indulge in blame game.
Slams Chidambaram Narendra Modi, bjp leader
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Iran for better security ties with India
New Delhi, February 27 Delivering the fifth RK Mishra Memorial lecture on ‘Foreign Policy-Towards Stability in West Asia’, he noted that Afghanistan would soon witness presidential elections, followed by the withdrawal of NATO troops. Zarif, who is on his maiden visit to India after becoming the Foreign Minister, will hold talks with External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and other Indian leaders tomorrow. The Iranian leader said India and Iran were in an advanced stage of negotiations for setting up the Chabahar Port that would provide a road link to India to transport its goods to Afghanistan and Central Asia.
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Fratricides, suicides return to haunt security forces in J-K
Jammu, February 27 After grappling with fratricidal killings and suicides among armed and paramilitary forces in the 90s, reconciliatory measures in the form of liberal leave to soldiers, yoga classes and recreational facilities have paid positive dividends, said a senior officer of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps. “In most cases, their problems back home, which they get to know through their mobile phones, act as a catalyst. They lose their balance of mind and go berserk. But, at the same time, staying connected with one’s family is everyone’s right,” he said.
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Media must act responsibly: Prez
New Delhi, February 27 “There is a need for self-correcting mechanisms to check such aberrations. The temptation to ‘dumb down’ should also be resisted,” he said addressing the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS). The President also gave away plaques to representatives of the newspapers, including The Tribune, which founded the INS in 1939 in New Delhi. Vinay Verma, officiating General Manager, received the plaque on behalf of The Tribune Trust. The INS today has more than 1,000 members who have publications in 19 languages with a combined circulation of 71 million copies. The President said the media has an important role to play in cleansing public life. To undertake this role, the conduct of the media itself should be above board. “It must be always kept in mind that ends and means are both important. The highest standards of ethics must be maintained at all times. Sensationalism should never become a substitute for objective assessment and truthful reporting,” he added. Mukherjee was of the view that gossip and speculation should not replace hard facts. Every effort should be made to ensure that political or commercial interests were not passed off as legitimate and independent opinion. The media, he said, was the watchdog of public interest. “It is inherent in the role of a watchdog that the media draws attention to what is wrong. But gloom and dark alone should not dominate news coverage. A conscious effort must be made to highlight the positive and inspire change for the better.” He called upon the INS and its members to remain a voice for justice and spokespersons for hope and reason.
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India, Israel ink 3 security agreements
New Delhi, February 27
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Govt committed to pension plan: Antony
New Delhi, February 27 Chairing a meeting of the top brass of the Services and senior officials of the MoD here last evening, Antony said the Finance Minister had clarified that the figure of Rs 500 crore made available for the scheme was
only “indicative”. For the first time, the government explained in writing what it means by OROP. An MoD statement said, “OROP implies that uniform pension be paid to the armed forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service irrespective of their date of retirement and any future enhancement in the rates of pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners.” One rank-one pension had been announced in the Budget by the Union Finance Minister. Ever since, retired soldiers have been asking the government to clarify how it defines OROP. This implies bridging the gap between the amount of pension of current pensioners and past pensioners. Future enhancements in pension will also be automatically passed on to the past pensioners. Antony directed the Controller General of Defence Accounts to initiate necessary steps in consultation with the three Services, MoD Finance and Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare to implement the decision.
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Nariman opts out of Lokpal search panel
New Delhi, February 27
Fali S Nariman declined the “honour” offered to him, finding fault with the manner in which the Lokpal was sought to
be constituted.
In a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office, he said he apprehended that the method would result in overlooking the most competent, independent and courageous candidates.
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Faced with imminent arrest, Sahara chief Subrata Roy today tendered an “unconditional apology” to the Supreme Court for not appearing in the court yesterday and pleaded for recall of the non-bailable warrant (NBW) against him.
In Lucknow, a police team raided the house of Sahara chief Subrata Roy to arrest him, but failed to find him there.
The government has started the process of appointing a new Navy Chief after Admiral DK Joshi resigned yesterday. Vice Admiral RK
Dhowan, Vice Chief of the Navy, was made Acting Chief after Admiral Joshi resigned owning moral responsibility for the accident on board the submarine INS Sindhuratna yesterday.
Observing that newspapers must act as conscience-keeper of the country, President Pranab Mukherjee today regretted that some publications have resorted to ‘paid news’ and other such marketing strategies to increase their revenue.
“There is a need for self-correcting mechanisms to check such aberrations. The temptation to ‘dumb down’ should also be resisted,” he said addressing the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS).
New Delhi, February 27
New Delhi/Mumbai, Feb 27