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Varanasi fight not a battle of prestige,
but one to save nation, says Kejriwal
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Punjab among only 6 states that will meet target in 2015
Gallantry awards not a matter of right, rules AFT
Govt declines info on Lokpal aspirants
Got no special favours from Modi: Adani
‘Bhaag Milkha...’ wins big at IIFA
Japan, US back UN move to stop sexual violence in Delhi
Day-to-day trial in CWG case as per SC verdict NIA records statements of Mumbai attack witnesses Haryana agrees to limit construction in Aravalis Celebrities in MNREGS list for demo: Goa Govt Maya attacks Mulayam over PM
ambitions SIMI activist arrested by MP ATS sleuths
TMC calls Modi ‘Butcher of Gujarat’ Saradha
scam
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Varanasi fight not a battle of prestige,
but one to save nation, says Kejriwal
Varanasi, April 27 “Modiji brought me to Varanasi. And this is not a battle of prestige, but one to save the country from corrupt forces like the BJP and the Congress,” Kejriwal told IANS after his hectic and back-breaking campaigning in the temple town. In Amethi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded Kumar Vishwas against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Asked whether it was purely out of electoral reasons that he decided to contest in Varanasi, Delhi's former Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal said: “It is not so... Wherever the Aam Aadmi Party enters once, it maintains an everlasting tie with that place and its people. We have come to Varanasi and we will never leave it.” Varanasi will go to the polls May 12. The contest between the Gujarat chief minister and Kejriwal is the most keenly-watched contest, in which the former seems to have the upper hand. Both the leaders filed their nomination papers accompanied by large numbers of supporters and their cavalcades. Modi's road show - a day after Kejriwal's - was joined by thousands, sending out a strong signal of his popularity. Besides Modi, Congress' Ajay Rai is another contender. Asked about the number of seats AAP was hoping to muster in the house of 543, Kejriwal said: “We will get what people will give. I am not worried about the results. “Imagine you seeing news on TV and coming to know that both Modiji and Rahul Gandhiji got defeated. “The Congress will be destroyed and BJP will cease to exist,” he added. As to why the over a-year-old party did not wait for the 2019 General elections, Kejriwal answered: “People said we should have contested 30 seats (in Lok Sabha) and gradually taken the graph higher, but that is conventional politics. "Had we waited till 2019, the country would not have been there,” he said. Perhaps, the biggest challenge for Kejriwal is to justify his resignation from Delhi's chief ministership to the voters of Varanasi. “You have only one point against me that I resigned from the post of Delhi Chief Minister. But I did no corruption whereas Modiji is the agent of Ambani. “All I have to do is to convince people, and they are getting convinced,” Kejriwal told IANS. “The comparison is between the one who resigned, and the one who is looting the country,” he said. After running the Delhi government for 49 days, Kejriwal and his Cabinet quit the government over the defeat of the anti-graft Jan Lokpal bill by the BJP and the Congress in the Assembly. Despite all the challenges in the Hindu holy city, Kejriwal is confident of winning against Modi. “My political assessment is that the BJP will not get more than 160 seats and Modi will not become Prime Minister. BJP's president Rajnath is waiting for the right opportunity.”
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Child mortality Millennium Development Goal Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 27 The few states that will buck the national trend to meet the target are Punjab, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Goa. The two worst performers in the country will be Assam and West Bengal that will achieve the reduction of child mortality goal as late as 2032 and 2022 respectively. Published in the latest issue of the Indian Journal of Pediatrics, the research titled “Trek to MDG 4: State of Indian states” shows that according to current trends, the infant mortality rate (number of child deaths per 1,000 live births) of India would be 37 in 2015. “The overall progress of most Indian states towards achieving MDG 4 is presently unsatisfactory,” said Dr VK Paul, head, pediatrics, AIIMS, and lead author of the study. In 1990 — taken as the base year for evaluating progress towards MDG (which warranted two-thirds reduction in child mortality rate from 1990 figures) — India’s IMR was 80. The last-measured IMR (as per government data) is 42. Importantly, rural IMR MDG target will be harder to achieve than urban, mirroring difficulties in public health access for children in rural India.
Among the states, Tamil Nadu is the only one that has already reached the MDG target on child mortality while the following will achieve their respective targets in 2015 -- Punjab will achieve IMR of 23, one point lower than its MDG target of 24; Karnataka will achieve the IMR of 26, two points lower than its MDG target; Maharashtra will attain IMR of 21, two points lower than the target; Odisha will achieve IMR of 46, three points lower than the MDG target of 49 while Goa will achieve its projected MDG target of 8 by 2015. In Punjab, the IMR was 61 in 1990. India bears the highest burden of child mortality in the world with 1.65 million under-five child deaths every year — 23 per cent of the global burden of 7.18 million deaths. According to current projections, Madhya Pradesh will reach its IMR MDG target in 2017; Gujarat, Himachal and UP in 2018; and Haryana and Bihar in 2019.
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Gallantry awards not a matter of right, rules AFT
Chandigarh, April 27 Observing that there was nothing to suggest that the processing of the citation suffered from any irregularity, the Tribunal said the petitioner was not unfairly denied any award despite his strong individual perception be being worthy of a decoration. The petitioner’s grievance was that he was not awarded the Shaurya Chakra for his actions while serving with 5 Sikh Light Infantry in Doda in Jammu and Kashmir, where he had shot dead three terrorists in counter-insurgency operations. He had contended that though he was recommended for the Shaurya Chakra by his commanding officer, his citation was rejected by higher authorities. He claimed that despite having a better operational profile, he was superseded and had lost out on promotion to the rank of Subedar Major by just one mark. He claimed that apart from killing terrorists, he had earlier been seriously wounded in a mine blast during Operation Parakram in 2002 and had been declared a battle casualty. The petitioner contended that had he been awarded the gallantry award for his actions in counter-insurgency operations, he would have got four additional credit points and would have got promoted.
Subedar wanted Shaurya Chakra
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Govt declines info on Lokpal aspirants
New Delhi, April 27 The DoPT said the selection process for appointment of the chairperson and members of the Lokpal is under consideration of the competent authorities, as per the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act. "The name of persons, their references/letters etc. can't be disclosed as the information sought is exempted under Section 8(1)(J) of the RTI Act, 2005," it said in reply to a question asking details about persons who have applied to be chairperson and members of the Lokpal. The section exempts publication of information which relates to personal information and the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual. The government, however, gave names of eight persons chosen for appointment as chairperson or members of the Search Committee during a meeting held in February 21 this year. Those selected then included Justice (retd) K T Thomas (Chairperson) and seven members - Kaki Madhava Rao (former IAS officer), F S Nariman (legal luminary), Prof Meenakshi Gopinath (educationist), M L Kumawat (former Director General of Border Security Force), H K Dua (senior journalist and Rajya Sabha member), S Y Quraishi (former Chief Election Commissioner) and Prof Mrinal Miri (RS member). In a setback to the UPA government, Thomas and Nariman subsequently refused to be part of the search panel.
— PTI
Reply to RTI query
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Got no special favours from Modi: Adani
New Delhi, April 27 The $8.7 billion ports-to-energy Adani Group began acquiring land near the coastal town of Mundra in Gujarat way back in 1993 and only one-third of a total landbank of 15,946 acres was acquired when Modi was Chief Minister, he said. “Not a single acre has been taken from any farmer... We went to Kutch when no one looked there and acquired only barren and dessert-like land that was not suitable for agriculture,” Adani told PTI in an interview here. Adani used the land to build India's biggest port, which loaded and unloaded a record 100 million tons of cargo in the year that ended on March 31, and the nation's biggest coal power station in the private sector, he said, adding that his group did not buy land at cheap rates to sell it to make profits. "When we began acquiring land at Mundra in 1993, (Chief Minister) Chimanbhai Patel charged us 10 paisa per square meter. (BJP government led by) Keshubhai Patel (in 1995) charged us Re 1 per sq mt and Shankersinh Vaghela (led Rashtriya Janata Party) in 1996-07, charged Rs 1.5 per sq mt.Under Mr Modi, we got some 5,000 acre of land at an average of Rs 15 per sq mt rate,” he said. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has in his political meetings used alleged largesse to industrialists like Adani to attack Modi. At a recent rally, Gandhi claimed that Modi had given Adani land for Re 1, the price of a toffee. AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal too has alleged a nexus between Modi and industrialists like Adani and Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani.
— PTI
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On Telangana, Sonia attacks TRS, says Congress firm on new state
Hyderabad, April 27 “Despite the hurdles, we went ahead with the decision to make Telangana state a reality. We needed to convince other parties. We had to go through so much of trouble that I just cannot explain”, she told an election rally at Chevella on the city outskirts. Explaining how the opposition parties had sought to play politics with the sensitive issue, she said, “Leaders of other parties would say one thing on one day and something entirely different the next day….. Many said the Congress would not give statehood. But now we have delivered it.” The Congress president alleged that the main opposition Telugu Desam Party and YSR Congress had tried to stall the Telangana Bill in the Parliament. “But, the Congress had decided not to compromise in any way on delivering statehood for Telangana”, she told the gathering. Assailing Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and its chief K Chandrasekhar Rao for “doublespeak”, she said that TRS’ “dual face” was there for all to see. She accused the KCR, as the TRS chief is known in political circles, of being opportunistic and self serving. “Power should not go to unethical people,” she said.
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‘Bhaag Milkha...’ wins big at IIFA
Tampa Bay (US) April 27 Farhan Akhtar, 40, who hosted the ceremony with Shahid Kapoor, bagged the best actor trophy for his powerful portrayal of Singh in the sports drama. Deepika Padukone, 28, nominated in the best actress category for three of her films, won the award for 'Chennai Express'. The Flying Sikh, who attended the awards gala, got a standing ovation as the biopic on his life received the best picture honour. Director Mehra handed him the award, saying, "I don't deserve this." Milkha, who was actively involved during the filming of the biopic, got emotional and said, "I am thankful to IIFA for bringing me here and giving me respect. I have cried three-four times in my life... Whenever I see the film I cry. When I was sitting here now I was in tears seeing the love and recognition the film got." 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' also won in the best story category along with best supporting actress for Divya Dutta, who played the role of Milkha's sister. Deepika's 'Ram-Leela' co-star Ranveer Singh handed her the best actress award for her performance in Rohit Shetty's blockbuster. "2013 was a lucky year for me and I think I have proved 13 is not an unlucky number. I thank my parents as they allowed me to pursue my dream. I left home with one suitcase when I was 18-year-old. I think I have a long way to go but I do feel I am on the right path," Deepika said after receiving the award. Deepika was also honoured with the best entertainer of the year award, which was handed to her by Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey. Akhtar said he got the strength to play the legendary character on screen because of Milkha. The actor-director received the trophy from his father Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi. "I have received awards for this film before but this is the first time I am getting the award in the presence of Milkha Singh. I am extremely honoured to receive the award," Akhtar said in his acceptance speech. Mehra was short of words to express his feelings after taking home the best director gong. Veteran actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha was given the Lifetime achievement award for his outstanding contribution to the Indian cinema. Hollywood star John Travolta, best known for his films like 'Pulp Fiction', 'Grease' and 'Saturday Night Fever', received the 'Most Popular All time International star in India' award. Rishi Kapoor bagged the best actor in a negative role award for 'D Day'.
— PTI
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Japan, US back UN move to stop sexual violence in Delhi
New Delhi, April 27 An initiative of UN Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, the programme spans 17 cities in developing as well as developed countries aims to prevent sexual violence in urban public spaces. "UN Women and partners want to see every city in the world safe and free of violence for women, girls and for all," UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka said. "This contribution from Japan and the US is important to build a safe and inclusive city in New Delhi, where women and girls can live a life free from violence, and can exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms, including their right to the city," said John Beed, Director of the USAID Mission in India. The programme builds on an ongoing partnership with the Government of Delhi, UN agencies and civil society organisations. "We will empower women and provide them with innovative safety measures to prevent violence, and also engage with men and boys for transformative action," said Rebecca Tavares, representative, UN Women's office. The US and Japan are actively engaged with UN Women in promoting women's security and empowerment worldwide.
— PTI
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Day-to-day trial in CWG case as per SC verdict New Delhi, April 27 This follows the Supreme Court direction to complete cases involving lawmakers within a year. The court said the ongoing trial in the case, in which the accused had been charge sheeted for "illegally" awarding a contract to install 'Timing, Scoring and Results' (TSR) system for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, causing a loss of over Rs 90 crore to the exchequer, will go on a daily basis as Kalmadi is a sitting MP. Special CBI judge Madhu Jain referred to the apex court's March 10 judgement in which it had set a time frame of one year for lower courts to complete the trial in criminal cases involving sitting MPs and MLAs. The apex court had also directed that all such proceedings must be conducted on a day-to-day basis. "As per the Supreme Court March 10, 2014 order, the case shall now be taken up on a day-to-day basis as Suresh Kalmadi, accused number one, is a sitting MP of the Lok Sabha," the special CBI judge said. The court is presently recording the statements of CBI witnesses in the case. The trial in the case
had commenced in February last year. The court had earlier put Kalmadi and nine others on trial in the case and had invoked charges of criminal conspiracy, forgery, cheating and other offences against them that entail the maximum punishment of life imprisonment. The court had framed charges against Kalmadi, who was sacked as CWG Organising Committee (OC) chairman, and other accused, including OC secretary general Lalit Bhanot, for offences punishable under the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly causing a loss of over Rs 90 crore to the state exchequer. — PTI
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NIA records statements of Mumbai attack witnesses New Delhi, April 27 The statements were recorded with the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Department of Justice over a period of nearly 10 days, official sources said, adding this is the first time that such cooperation took place between India and the US in the case. Due to non-disclosure clause entered with FBI, NIA did not name the witnesses whose statements have been recorded but India had been pressing for questioning of wife of Pakistani-American Headley's wife Shahzia Gilani and other friends. Headley, a 53-year-old Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist is at present undergoing 35 years of imprisonment on various counts, including involvement in the conspiracy to carry out the audacious attack in Mumbai that left 166 people dead. Besides Headley's wife Shazia, India had made request for questioning of Portia Peter and one more female friend and Tahawuur Rana, alleged to be an accomplice of Headley in the Mumbai terror strike. The witness statements will help NIA to substantiate charges filed before a Delhi court in 2012 against top Lashkar-e-Taiba commanders alleged to have been involved in organising the 26/11 plot. India had requested for statements of witnesses from the US in 2010 under a mutual legal assistance treaty but the process got stalled as America refused thye presence of Indian investigators during the recording of the statements. The matter was resolved after discussions between the two sides. India believes that Rana, Shazia and others have a lot of information and through their interrogations more light may be thrown on the conspiracy hatched to carry out the worst terrorist strike in India and role of those behind it.
— PTI
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Haryana agrees to limit construction in Aravalis
New Delhi, April 27 According to sources, Haryana has agreed to demarcate the Mangarbani grove as a ‘no-construction zone’ and to limit construction to 0.5 per cent in the natural conservation zone (NCZ). The NCZ comprises the ecologically fragile Aravalis, as well as forests, rivers, lakes and water bodies that are considered the lungs of the National Capital Region (NCR). As per the present norm, there is a capping on construction at 0.5 per cent in national conservation zone. However, there was a move to allow more construction in the garb of ‘recreational activity’ in the NCZ despite the capping. It was feared by environmentalists that under the garb of tourism, real estate promoters would construct tourist complexes, adventure parks and resorts in the natural conservation zone. However, there were major objections from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Delhi government and the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to construction activities in green areas. The PMO has directed the urban ministry to sort out the various objections to the proposal and send a compliance report to it.
— PTI PMO’s concerns
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Celebrities in MNREGS list for demo: Goa Govt
Panaji, April 27 The name of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was also in the list, which contained names of the MNREGA workers from Chimbel village near Panaji. However, the Goa Government's Rural Development Agency (RDA), the nodal agency for implementation of this Central scheme, today said there were no payments to bogus beneficiaries. "The names of these celebrities were registered during the training process for the officials connected with the implementation of this scheme, and subsequently these names were dropped," RDA said in a release here. No job cards were issued in the name of any such celebrity and hence the issue of payment to a bogus worker did not arise, it said. These names were registered when officials were being trained on how to fill the job cards in 2008, it said. But GPM convener Yatish Naik told PTI that this was an eye-wash. "Kindly check the central government's website for the scheme. These names still appear there and they have been given registration number too, which means that they are eligible for job cards," he said. No scam: Officials
The Goa Government's Rural Development Agency, the nodal agency for
implementation of this Central scheme, on Sunday said there were no payments to bogus beneficiaries. The names of these celebrities were registered during the training process for the officials connected with the implementation of this scheme, and subsequently these names were dropped, it said.
— PTI
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Tampa Bay (US) April 27
Picture this — projected rural IMR in 2015 will be 40 — six points higher than the MDG target of 34 by 2015. Correspondingly urban IMR will be 24
as against the MDG target of 20 in 2015 — four points lower.