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BJP LS nominee walks on backs of students, apologises
SC notice to Centre on defence land scams
SC to hear plea for distinct identity to Sikhs
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Mumbai rape: Fresh charge framed for repeat offence
Meghalaya gang rape: Six get 10-year jail
Chief Justice gives away national photography awards
No FIR for now in Sunanda case, inquest to continue
Telugu actor held for drug trafficking
Rhino killed in Kaziranga; second in six days
India, Russia to ink deal for anti-tank ammunition
Withdraw Aadhaar orders: SC to Centre
Joining poll fray is like getting raped, says TMC candidate
IM operative Waqas wanted to make
phone-triggered bombs
Permanent PF account number from October
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BJP LS nominee walks on backs of students, apologises
The video clip which showed him walking on the back of students at Maharshi Dayanand Updeshak Mahavidhyalaya, went viral on social networking site and WhatsApp, creating a furore across the country. The BJP candidate defended himself saying that “the boys forced me to walk over them to check their physical fitness". "Initially I refused to walk on their backs, but they demanded it repeatedly, after which I walked over their backs," Kundariya said. However, he apologised for his act and said, "I did not want to hurt anyone's sentiments and I apologise if anyone is hurt by my behaviour," Kundariya said. Rajkot Congress MLA Indranil Rajyaguru condemned Kundariya's act and said, "The BJP has become arrogant and it is unfortunate that its Lok Sabha candidate is involved in such activities." Maharshi Dayanand Updeshak Mahavidhyalaya manager Ramesh Mehta termed such demonstrations as "routine" and said that these are organised by youths regularly. “The programme is called 'bridge', where a bridge is made by a group of youths bending down and someone is asked to walk on their backs to show their physical and mental strength. Youths who took part in the event were in the age group of 20 to 25 years. They had demonstrated similar demonstrations in the past," Mehta said.
— PTI
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SC notice to Centre on defence land scams
New Delhi, March 24 A Bench comprising Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it was "worried" over the serious allegations in the PIL, filed by NGOs, the Common Cause and the Centre for PIL, and as such required its consideration. The petitioners have cited recent land scams relating to Sukna Lake, Adarsh Society, Jammu and Kashmir, Jodhpur, Lohegaon, Pune and Kandivli (Mumbai). "Considering the magnitude of the corruption, irregularities and mismanagement and the possible involvement of high-ranking Defence officials and other authorities, a court-monitored probe by the CBI or a special investigation team (SIT) is required," the petitioners contended. Several reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had highlighted huge losses arising from misuse of defence properties, the petitioners' advocate Prashant Bhushan contended. "The rot in the management of defence land that works to the advantage of certain vested interests and to the detriment of public interest is the antithesis of people's constitutional rights under Articles 14 and 21," the PIL pleaded. The petitioners also sought a directive to the Centre to take over the defence land and properties being commercially exploited or under the unauthorised use of private parties and ensure that the revenue generated was put to proper use. A broad-based expert committee should be constituted to recommend comprehensive systemic reforms in the management of such land and buildings and formulate fresh norms for their use after undertaking an extensive public consultation, the petition pleaded. The PIL
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SC to hear plea for distinct identity to Sikhs
New Delhi, March 24 A Bench comprising Justices RM Lodha and Kurian Joseph passed the order on a petition questioning the logic behind including Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists in the laws meant exclusively for Hindus. According to the petitioners, Birendra Kaur and Rohit Garg, the Anand Marriage (Amendment) Act 2012, notified in June that year, had solved only the problem of registration of marriages by Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists. Earlier, they had to register their marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act 1955. For other matters relating to succession, adoption, divorce and maintenance, people professing these three faiths still had to resort to the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 and the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act 1956, they contended.
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Mumbai rape: Fresh charge framed for repeat offence
Mumbai, March 24 The three men have already been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the case related to gangrape of an 18-year-old telephone operator -- which had taken place in the same premises about a month before the phogtojournalist's gangrape in August last year. According to prosecution, this qualifies them for punishment under the amended section. The additional charge was framed under section 376 (e) of IPC, which was introduced after the December 16 Delhi gangrape case for a repeat offence, after the sessions court today accepted the prosecution's application in this regard. However, the three common convicts -- Kasim Bengali, Vijay Jadhav and Mohammed Salim Ansari -- while pleading not guilty, refused to sign the copy of the charge document, stating that they were yet to go through the judgement in the telephone operator's case. During the proceedings, Principal Sessions Judge Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi also rejected the defence plea to stay the trial. The defence lawyer sought the stay, saying that his clients wanted to move the Bombay High Court, challenging the court's order to frame the additional charge based on the application filed by the Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam. The court, however, said that the accused can challenge the order even during the further trial.
— PTI
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Meghalaya gang rape: Six get 10-year jail
Shillong, March 24 They raped an 18-year-old girl on the night of Decemebr 13, 2012, in Williamnagar. The court, headed by ad hoc judge ND Sangma, pronounced the sentence. All six have also been fined Rs 5,000 each and, upon default, would further undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months for the offence punishable under section 376(2)(g) read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The court also imposed a sentence of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for one year along with a fine of Rs 1,000 each and, on default, to further undergo RI for one month for the offence punishable under Section 323 read with Section 34 of the IPC. "I further sentence all of you to undergo RI for one month along with a fine of Rs 500 each and, in default, to further undergo RI for 15 days for the offence punishable under Section 341 read with Section 34 of the IPC," Sangma pronounced in his judgment. The judge said all these sentences shall run simultaneously, and the fines, if and when deposited, shall be paid to the rape victim through her parents. Ten others in the case are juveniles and will be dealt with by the Juvenile Justice Board in Williamnagar, the district headquarters of East Garo Hills, Sebastian said. The girl was gang-raped near a school when she along with two of her female friends was on her way home after attending a festival in Williamnagar. The six were convicted for gang rape, causing hurt and wrongful restraint, and acts done by several people in furtherance of common intention. There has been a lot of hue and cry over the gang rape, with the state government and police accused of not taking action against the guilty. "The sentencing of the six would surely create hope for women and children who have been longing for justice," said Civil Society Women's Organisation president Agnes Kharshiing. Meghalaya, on an average, registers 257 criminal cases per month. Crimes against women and children rose 23 per cent in 2013 over 2012.
— IANS The case
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Freak showers hit wheat crop in Punjab, Haryana; growers grim Bathinda/Karnal, March 24 What’s worse is that the meteorological department has predicted rain accompanied by hailstorms in the next 24 hours. Wheat harvesting normally starts by March end or first week of April month. Last season, wheat arrivals picked up from April 10. Rains today lashed several parts of Punjab and Haryana including Faridkot, Ferozepur, Mohali, Bathinda, Amritsar, Rajpura, Karnal and Hisar. Major damage was reported from fields in Bathinda and Mansa where farmers had just irrigated the crop. However, Bathinda Chief Agriculture Officer Rajinder Brar denied reports of major damage. “A total 2.5 lakh hectare area is under wheat in Bathinda. The late crop sown over nearly 1.5 lakh hectares after harvesting cotton is ready in December and has no threat from the winds and rain. However, the wheat grown after paddy harvesting in October-November is more likely to get affected by today’s rains. The silver lining is the wind velocity was not high,” Brar said. Farmers across the region disagree and have reported major losses. “Loss of yield following incessant rains is massive. Water-logging between 50 per cent and 100 per cent has been reported in and around the villages of Goniana Mandi,” said Jagtar Brar, a progressive farmer from Mehma Sarja village. He said wheat varieties such as HD 2967 that gained growth with early grain-filling were the worst affected. “Maximum damage happened where wheat plants had acquired weight and height amidst irrigation of fields just before the rains. The dense canopy of wheat plants was responsible for flattening the crop,” Brar added. Dr Randhir Singh, a senior scientist at the Directorate of Wheat Research at Karnal, said heavy rain along with high velocity winds or hail leading to water-logging could affect yield. Abrupt rise in temperature will also lead to production losses. He advised farmers to drain out excessive water from the fields. “This is a crucial time for the wheat crop as it is in grain-formation stage and rain at this stage is not He said the current weather conditions were conducive for yellow rust attack and advised farmers to spray propiconazole, tebuconazole or tridemephome wherever yellow rust occurred. Dr Randhir Singh also cautioned against ‘Black Tip’ and ‘Karnal Bunt’ outbreak if prevailing weather conditions continued. “We can expect a good yield only if there is a gradual increase in temperature without heavy showers, hail or high velocity winds.” Darshan Sidhu, a farmer with nearly 35 acres of land in Bathinda’s Rampura village, said wheat plants with dense canopy could not withstand rains coupled with winds. “Weather experts predict unclear climate in the coming days. Farmers must take expert advice to save their crop,” he said. He said apart from yield reduction, grain quality would also take a hit following today’s rain. (With PTI inputs) Harvesting hit
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Chief Justice gives away national photography awards
New Delhi, March 24 Awards were also conferred in the special mention category for both amateur and professional segments. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Justice said due to the daunting sphere of piracy in the domain of photojournalism, professional photographers must be aware of their lawful rights in order to flourish as professionals in their field. While copyright protection did exist, it was necessary for the photojournalists to register their copyrights for enforcing their rights in case there were instances of infringements. Elaborating further, he stated that the perusal of this process by photojournalists would not only protect their work, it would also register their copyrights making it easier to track down potential infringers and enable them to obtain a license legitimately for their creative work thereby avoiding the hassle of litigation. The Chief Justice said photography had become an integral part of human life and thus could no longer be considered an affluent hobby. In the professional category, the ‘Best Professional Photographer of the Year 2012-13’ has been given to J. Suresh, a renowned photographer and photojournalist who has made commendable accomplishments in social, environmental and wild life photography. Special mention awards (professional) have been given to Atul Yadav, Dinesh Shukla, Chauhan Pravinsinh R, Sudipto Das and Dipayan Bhar. In the amateur category, the ‘Best Amateur Photographer of the Year 2011-12’ has been given to Kingshuk Chakravarty, a computer science researcher. Special mention awards (amateur) have been given to Sandipan Majumdar, Alok Avinash, Asis Kumar Sanyal, Devendra and Avijit Roy.
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No FIR for now in Sunanda case, inquest to continue
"From the circumstantial evidence collected so far and from the statement of witnesses, there is no reason for us to proceed in any other fashion so we are carrying on our inquiries under Section 174 CrPC," the police commissioner told reporters here. Inquest proceedings under Section 174 CrPC were initiated in the Sunanda case according to which a Sub-divisional Magistrate inquires into the death of a woman if she dies within seven years of her marriage. In this case, on January 21, a sub-divisional magistrate had directed Delhi Police to investigate the murder or suicide angle in the case after autopsy report has cited the death as "sudden and unnatural" while the cause of death was mentioned as poisoning. The police can file an FIR in this case if it finds any foul play but until then the inquiry will go on under section 174 CrPC. Investigators were banking on the viscera report from CFSL to get definitive lead on the nature of the poison and establishing its quantity but the report has failed to do so. The viscera report hints toward drug poisoning and its findings are still inconclusive to file an FIR in the case, according to the police. "The CFSL report has not been able to give much headway into the probe. It rules out poisoning and hints toward drug poisoning," said a senior police official associated with the probe. Investigators will now take the opinion from the panel of doctors from AIIMS which had carried out an autopsy to shed light into findings of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) report. The SDM has also been informed about the CFSL report. Sunanda, 52, was found dead in a 5-star hotel in South Delhi on the night of January 17, a day after her twitter spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar over an alleged affair with Tharoor. In a report to the police, the SDM, who had recorded the statements of Sunanda's brother, son, Tharoor and his staff, had said that no family member suspected any foul play in the death.
— PTI
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Telugu actor held for drug trafficking
Hyderabad, March 24 Actor Nanduri Uday Kiran (29) and Nigerian national Rotimi Olusola Kehinde were nabbed by the East Zone Task Force sleuths when they were allegedly transacting a drug deal, they said. Rotimi, who came to India on a business visa, developed local contacts and indulged in trafficking of narcotics drugs in Bangalore and Hyderabad after procuring drugs from one Hakeem, a Sudanese national residing in Delhi, a police official said. The drug was procured for Rs 1,500 per gram and sold for Rs 3,000 per gram depending on the need of the customer, the official said adding "he (Nigerian) met Uday Kiran alias Bobby and supplied him the drugs", police sources said. Uday Kiran acted in films like 'Parare', 'Rakshakulu', 'Yuvarajyam' and 'Facebook'.
— PTI
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Rhino killed in Kaziranga; second in six days
Kaziranga, March 24 Upon hearing gunshots on Saturday night, forest guards yesterday launched a search operation and found the carcass of the rhino near Gobrai Camp under Kohora Range here, a source said. The security forces saw a boat on a river inside the park with a freshly cut rhino horn, an axe, a 303 rifle, food items and some clothes, the sources said. On seeing the forest guards, three poachers started exchanging fire for about 20 minutes before they were seriously injured and jumped into the river to escape. Two of the poachers were suspected to have been killed and a search was launched to recover their bodies and to apprehend the third one who escaped, they added. The rhino horn recovered from the boat was suspected to have been sawn off from the slain rhino but investigations are on. This is the eighth rhino to be killed this year and second in a week when a male adult rhino was shot dead and its horn taken away by poachers on March 19. Meanwhile, the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti activists barged into the office complex of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden, Assam in this regard here today.
— PTI 3 poachers shot
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India, Russia to ink deal for anti-tank ammunition
New Delhi, March 24 The Cabinet Committee on Security headed by the Prime Minister recently cleared the proposal to acquire 66,000 tank shells from Russia and the deal in this regard is expected to be inked in next few days, Defence Ministry sources told PTI. Under the deal, Russia will also do transfer of technology on the production techniques of the specialised tank ammunition to the Ordnance Factory Board, which will produce it indigenously, they said. Faced with shortage of weapon systems, the Defence Ministry has decided to form JVs with the Russian manufacturers to produce them in India like the rockets for the Smerch multi-barrel rocket launcher systems. The severe shortage of tank ammunition was first highlighted by former Army Chief Gen V K Singh in a top secret letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in March this year which later found its way to the media.
— PTI
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Withdraw Aadhaar orders: SC to Centre
New Delhi, March 24 A Bench comprising Justices BS Chauhan and J Chelameswar also directed the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which had issued the cards to about 600 million people so far, not to share the biometric information such as iris and fingerprints with any agency without taking the consent of the card holders concerned. The Bench passed the order while hearing an appeal filed by UIDAI challenging a Bombay High Court directive asking the authority to share the biometric details of Goa residents with the CBI to help the investigation agency to crack a criminal case involving the gang rape of a seven-year-old girl in a school toilet at Vasco last year. As Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran got up to argue for UIDAI, the Bench said it was receiving a number of letters stating that the government was insisting on the Aadhaar card for providing services despite the apex court’s order against making the card compulsory. “You issue instructions withdrawing the notifications making the Aadhaar card mandatory for availing of services,” the Bench told the SG, who also represented the Centre. “We have already passed an order. Why are you not implementing it?” At this, the SG said: “I will ensure that necessary instructions are issued.”
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Joining poll fray is like getting raped, says TMC candidate
Kolkata, March 24 Asked if he was enjoying his time as a contestant from the Ghatal Lok Sabha seat, his hometown in West Midnapore district, Dev, in an interview to a Bengali tabloid, said, "Enjoy....! It's just like being raped 'yaar'! You can shout or you can enjoy. (Laughs) That’s it. What more than that? Anyway when I have come (into politics), let me do the work".
— PTI
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IM operative Waqas wanted to make
phone-triggered bombs New Delhi, March 24 He was involved in blasts that took place at Jama Masjid in Delhi (September 2010), Varanasi (December 2010), Mumbai (June 2011), Pune (August 2012) and Hyderabad (February 2013). Investigators said Waqas had once informed Yasin Bhatkal that he knew how to make hydrogen peroxide-based improvised explosive devices (IED). Yasin was arrested by the police near the India-Nepal border in August last year. Waqas told the police that he was recently tasked by IM chief Tehseen Akhtar, alias Monu, to visit Ajmer and coordinate preparations by three alleged IM terrorists for carrying out a terror attack. On Saturday, he was caught by the Delhi Police special cell as soon as he alighted from a train at the Ajmer railway station. Three other suspected terrorists from Rajasthan, identified as Mahruf, Waqar Azhar (alias Haneef) and Shaquib Ansari (alias Khalid), were arrested on Sunday. "Mahruf and Waqar are engineering students from Jaipur and Shaquib runs a printing business," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav. The police said Waqas worked at the mobile phone repair shop of Kamruddin at Hanuman Chowk in Mumbai. "He learnt mobile phone repairing because he wanted to detonate bombs using mobile phones," said a police officer. The police said the interrogation of Waqas and the other three men had not so far hinted at any particular target, place or person. "We have not come to know about any target so far, nor any personality or any place," he said. The officer said Mahruf, Waqar and Shaquib were brought to Delhi and remanded in police custody till April 2. Waqas had already been remanded in police custody for 10 days.
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Permanent PF account number from October New Delhi, March 24 After getting UAN, a subscriber would not be issued new PF account number on joining a new employer. It will provide relief to the workers in organised sector who frequently change jobs. The UAN would be one account number which would be allotted to a subscriber for various schemes run by the EPFO for his or her entire service period. — PTI
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Rajkot, March 24
New Delhi, March 24