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investment
scam
2 Dalit sisters raped, killed in UP
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SIT on black money to meet on June 4
Modi govt’s new law officers in SC soon
I have a plan for North-East, says VK Singh
Anonymous complaints delaying defence procurement: Rao
Gurjar takes charge
Pinaka rockets test-fired successfully
Woman dies as TC ‘pushes’ her off train
2 held for molesting kids at shelter home
Monthly diesel price hikes may continue
Custodial death: 3 police vans torched
Shutdown hits normal life in Telangana
AFT grants benefits to soldiers on career scheme
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investment scam R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, May 29 A Bench comprising Justices TS Thakur and AK Sikri said it was also ready to allow the group to raise Rs 4,298 crore by selling nine real estate properties in Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhavnagar, Jodhpur, Pune and Vasai. Further, the court was willing to defreeze bank accounts containing Rs 2,421.67 crore and let the group to mortgage part of its holdings in the Aamby Valley project near Mumbai. Arguing for Roy, senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan said his client was in judicial custody for the past 90 days since his arrest on February 28 and subsequent confinement in Tihar Jail (since March 4) for the group’s failure to return about Rs 20,000 crore to about 30 million investors through market regulator, SEBI, as directed by the SC. During more than three hours of hearing today, the Bench acknowledged the need for striking a balance between Roy’s fundamental right to personal liberty and his responsibility to repay the huge amount of money raised from the public under a fully convertible debenture scheme, subsequently declared illegal by SEBI. The court also remarked that Roy and the group would have face proceedings under the Income Tax Act if SEBI’s suspicion came true that most of the funds claimed to have been mobilised by the group from the public were nothing but black money. In that eventuality, the group’s liability might go up to a staggering Rs 70,000 crore, taking into account the penalty. According to SEBI, the group’s present liability stood at about Rs 35,000 crore. The Bench said it would issue two orders, one to defreeze bank accounts and sale of properties within the country and another on the plea for house arrest and sale of three overseas hotels – Plaza Hotel and Dream Downtown Hotel in New York and Grosvenor House Hotel in London. The first order may come in a couple of days, while the second would be subject to Sahara providing hotel details, particularly from the Bank of China which provided funds for purchasing the hotels. According to the group, it could raise about Rs 5,000 crore by selling the hotels. At one point, the apex court said Roy and two directors – Ravi Shankar Dubey and Ashok Roy Choudhary – would have to remain in jail until the group provided Rs 5,000 crore in cash and another Rs 5,000 crore in the form of bank guarantee. At this, Dhavan said this might result in the detention of his clients for one or two years pleaded with the Bench to relax the bail condition by placing them under detention in a guest house. No buyer was ready to visit Roy in jail for holding negotiations for purchasing the properties, he argued.
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2 Dalit sisters raped, killed in UP
Badaun (UP), May 29 “The postmortem report has confirmed rape of the two girls. The cause of death is hanging,” said Superintendent of Police Atul Kumar Saxena. The two girls, who were cousins and aged 14 and 15 years, went missing from their house Tuesday night and their bodies were found hanging from a mango tree at the village in Ushait area yesterday morning. The incident triggered protests in the area with villagers alleging police apathy following which an FIR was registered against seven persons. Katra outpost incharge Ram Vilas Yadav, constables Sarvesh Yadav and Chhatrapal Yadav were suspended following the incident. Other accused, including three brothers Pappu Yadav, Awadhesh Yadav and Urvesh Yadav and two unidentified persons are still at large, the police said. Of the seven accused, constables Sarvesh and Chhatrpal have been booked under Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy), while the three brothers and two others have been booked under Sections 302 (murder) of IPC and 376 (rape). The SP said constable Sarvesh and Pappu had been arrested. Hunt is on to nab the other accused. — PTI
NCW takes note
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Congress expels Kerala leader for calling Rahul ‘joker’
New Delhi, May 29 Coming out in support of Rahul, former minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, party spokesperson Meem Azfal and leader Rashid Alvi said any concerns should only be raised internally. "The remark was made out of frustration. It's very sad and I condemn it," Alvi said, while Afzal spoke of the need for articulating dissent and angst on various party platforms. Aiyar said the Congress had gained tremendously from Rahul's leadership. He also rejected Mustafa's comment that Rahul was a "joker" and should resign. Rahul and his advisers have been under attack ever since the Congress lost the recent Lok Sabha elections, recording the worst-ever tally of 44 seats. Although he along with party president Sonia Gandhi offered to resign at the Congress Working Committee meeting held post rout, the resignation offers were rejected. A senior leader said: "People do have issues with Rahul and they will have to be addressed."
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SIT on black money to meet on June 4
New Delhi, May 29 Officials said the Department of Revenue under the Finance Ministry has issued invite to all 11 members of the SIT after obtaining the consent of the Chairman and retired Supreme Court Judge MB Shah and Vice-Chairman Justice (retd) Arijit Pasayat for convening the meeting. The first meeting will be held on June 4 and all members have been asked to participate, official sources said. The government notified the SIT on May 27 after the Supreme Court had last week granted it one week to constitute the high-profile team comprising top bosses of country’s premier investigation, enforcement and intelligence agencies. — PTI
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Modi govt’s new law officers in SC soon
New Delhi, May 29 The proposal to appoint senior advocate Rohatgi as AG has been approved by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and would be placed before the Cabinet Committee on Appointments, official sources said. Rohatgi, one of the highest paid and most sought after lawyers in the SC, has been Additional Solicitor General (ASG) when AB Vajpayee was Prime Minister of the NDA government (1998-2004). He succeeds GE Vahanvati who has resigned as AG along with his team following the change of government at the Centre in the wake of the 16th Lok Sabha election. Confirming that the Modi government had taken his consent for the appointment, Rohatgi said minimising the number of government cases would be his priority. He said he would streamline litigation in the SC and ensure that superior courts were not flooded with frivolous and petty litigation. Efforts would be made to eliminate inter-ministerial and inter-departmental litigation. Rohatgi has been the counsel for the Gujarat government in several cases, including the 2002 riots and fake police encounters. His team of law officers is likely to include senior advocate Ranjit Kumar as Solicitor General and senior advocates Paramjit Singh Patwalia, Maninder Singh, L Nageswar Rao, Neeraj Kishan Kaul, PS Narasimha, Pinky Anand and Tushar Mehta as ASGs. At present, Mehta is the Additional Advocate General of Gujarat.
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I have a plan for North-East, says VK Singh
New Delhi, May 29 Singh said the government would focus on improving road infrastructure in the North East, including border areas, besides trying to ensure robust economic growth in the region. “I have a plan for overall development of the North East. We will try our best to address all the problems being faced by the region. There is tremendous amount of work to be done for the region,” the minister with independent charges said. The 63-year-old former Army chief said he had a fair idea about the region and would make sincere efforts to ensure that it progresses on a par with rest of the country. Singh has the experience of serving in the North East in different capacities as an Army officer. He was also the
GoC-in-C of the Eastern Command looking after the Eastern and entire North Eastern region. Singh said he would try to find a solution to complaints of harassment of people from North East in the Delhi and would also focus on addressing the sense of alienation among people in the region.
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Anonymous complaints delaying defence procurement: Rao
New Delhi, May 29 Rao, who was the MoS for Defence between 2006 and 2009, said the process of needlessly pursuing anonymous complaints would be reworked. The government, he said, would take steps to tackle issues where defence deals were stuck after the losing rivals sent complaints against the winning bidder in defence contracts. All this, he said, delayed acquisition for the armed forces which needed equipment urgently. Asked if the government was holding discussions in this regard, the minister said he was talking on the issue based on his previous experience in the Defence Ministry where military deals used to get stuck on basis of complaints. Rao said: “Procurement cases should be stopped only after charges are proved against the firms.” Rao, who took charge of the ministry today, will be handling Defence production a portfolio he held during his previous tenure in the ministry and famously pushed for indigenisation and openly backed the production of Arjun tanks.
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Javadekar promises fast clearance of infra projects
New Delhi, May 29 After assuming charge as Minister of State (Independent) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, he also said that he would take effective measures to conserve ecology. “We will give fast clearances to projects by preserving environment,” he said. Javadekar said the new initiative would bring transparency and speed-up the process of granting green signal to developmental projects. “It will ensure transparency in the application processes for environmental clearance and it would help online real-time monitoring and adherence to timelines for verification. It will also ensure stage-wise approval and compliance mechanism. It is a user-friendly application process,” the minister added.
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Need for level-playing field in aviation sector, says Raju
New Delhi, May 29 "We will strive to create a level-playing field for all players and make the aviation sector more people- oriented," he said after taking charge at the ministry headquarters in Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan here. Responding on airlines running in major losses, he said: "We will have to examine the reasons for these losses and then find ways to check them." Gajapathi Raju said he would discuss Air India's revival with the Prime Minister. "We will have to analyse the reasons for losses; is it competition or something else," he said. The new minister said that the government would take cognisance of the situation being faced by the cash-strapped sector which has seen airlines and private airport operators bleed in the recent past due to high fuel and interest costs. On the controversies surrounding the issue of new airline licenses the minister said: "There are controversies, but I would not like to start (talk) about controversies today."
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Pinaka rockets test-fired successfully
Balasore (Odisha), May 29 The rockets, which have undergone several tough tests since 1995, have been already inducted into the armed forces and the present trials were conducted with some improvements in the weapon system, defence sources said, adding some more tests are likely to be held. “Three rounds of Pinaka rockets were successfully tested from the proof and experimental establishment today at Chandipur,” about 15 km from here, they said. The rocket system is meant to neutralise large areas with rapid salvos. The system can fire 12 rockets in 44 seconds and neutralise a target area of 3.9 sq km. — PTI
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Woman dies as TC ‘pushes’ her off train
Jalgaon (Maharashtra), May 29 The TTE identified as Sampat Salunkhe, has been arrested, they said. A complaint filed with Jalgaon GRP by the nephew of the deceased, Ujjwala Pandey (38), alleged the victim tried to board an AC coach of LTT-Rajendranagar Patna Express when she was stopped by Salunkhe. As the train started moving, Ujjwala, with her 10-year-old daughter Palak, made an attempt to board it but was allegedly pushed out by Salunkhe. The victim lost her balance and fell into the gap between the train and the platform. Ujjwala’s nephew Rahul Purohit, who had come to see her off, raised the alarm and the train was brought to a halt. The victim body was later recovered from the tracks. Salunkhe, fearing public anger, hid inside the pantry car but an angry crowed dragged him out and handed him over to the police. The TTE has been arrested and sent for medical examination to ascertain if he was under the influence of liquor. — PTI
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2 held for molesting kids at shelter home
Mumbai, May 29 The police said Ajit Dabholkar (52) and his associate Lalita Tonde (35) were arrested earlier this week after a student complained of having been sexually assaulted by them. The police said the duo was running the shelter home under the Chandraprabha Charitable Trust (CCT) since 2002. The matter came to light when a Pune-based woman complained to the Children Helpline that two daughters of her maid were behaving unnaturally after coming home for vacation from the shelter. Dr Anuradha Shasrabuddhe, director, Dnyan Devi Childline, who first interacted with the children learnt of the abuse and complained to the police. The duty officer at the Karjat police station said, at least five children, including four girls, at the school had confirmed sexual abuse by the duo. The officer said Dabholkar and Tonde forced the children to have sex with them and the former allegedly committed unnatural sex with them. The investigators were also told that the duo filmed the children performing sexual acts among themselves. Ankush Shinde, Superintendent of Police, Raigad, said they were in the process of locating children admitted to the shelter since many of them have gone home for holidays. “We found two children at the shelter as they were not allowed to go home. They were forced to help construct the school building,” Shinde said. In all 32 children, mainly from tribal families, were housed at the shelter home during school days. It is not clear how many of them have been abused by the duo, Shinde said. The children disclosed the police that the couple threatened to feed them human excreta if they complained about the abuse to anyone. Both Dabholkar and Tonde have been remanded in police custody till June 5. The Maharashtra Government today announced that they would be tried by a special court.
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Monthly diesel price hikes may continue
New Delhi, May 29 The previous United Progressive Alliance government had decided in January 2013 to increase diesel prices in small monthly doses until the difference between the retail price and the cost of production is bridged. “There is no reason why the monthly increases should be discontinued. They will continue till under-recoveries (losses) on diesel are wiped out,” the official said. The next price revision is due on Saturday. State-owned Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp currently lose Rs 4.41 on every litre of the fuel sold. The loss, which is made good through government subsidy, has been on a declining trend since March, when it stood at Rs 8.37 a litre. The oil firms, which skipped the monthly hike in April, raised diesel prices by Rs 1.09 a litre soon after the Lok Sabha elections ended on May 12. Besides, losses on diesel have been coming down as the rupee strengthened against the dollar. Prospects of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance forming the government with a full majority helped the rupee to appreciate as foreign inflows increased on improved market sentiment. If the rupee gains to 56 to a dollar, all the losses will be wiped out and the fuel will be “automatically deregulated” (free from government control), the official said. Besides diesel, oil firms lose Rs 33.84 per litre of kerosene sold through the public distribution system, down from Rs 34.43 a litre last month. — PTI
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Custodial death: 3 police vans torched
Guwahati, May 29 A suspected militant belonging to the outlawed GNLA identified as Witson M Sangma passed away inside the Chokpot police station lock up on Tuesday night allegedly for want of medical attention. This comes close on the heels of another custodial death of Balsan Marak (20) at Tura district jail in West Garo Hills district allegedly due to torture. Rhe Garo Hills-based pressure groups led by Garo Students’ Union (GSU) have called for a dawn-to-dusk shut down on June 2 from demanding a CBI inquiry into the twin custodial deaths, one in Tura and another in Chokpot. The South Garo Hills police had arrested Witson M Sangma (35) from Chokpot on Tuesday for his alleged involvement with the
GNLA.
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Shutdown hits normal life in Telangana
Hyderabad, May 29 At the crux of the fresh row is the NDA government’s nod for an ordinance merging seven mandals in Khammam district of Telangana with the residuary AP to facilitate smooth execution of the Polavaram irrigation project across the Godavari. The transfer of nearly 200 Telangana villages to the successor state of AP has been an emotional issue in the region. The construction of the Polavaram project will lead to submergence of several of these tribal-dominated villages. In order to avoid any interstate dispute post-bifurcation, the Centre has okayed an ordinance for their merger with AP. Dubbing the move “gross injustice” to the people of Telangana, the TRS demanded its immediate withdrawal and made it clear that “not an inch of land in Telangana” would be allowed to be taken away. The bandh was total across nine districts in Telangana, while the impact in Hyderabad was partial.
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AFT grants benefits to soldiers on career scheme
Chandigarh, May 29 The SPC had recommended that MACP would be granted to Defence personnel on supersession after 8, 16 and 24 years of service and to offset stagnation, the affected personnel would be granted the next higher pay scale. The gazette notification for implementation of the scheme was issued by the central government on August 30, 2008 and the scheme came into effect from September 1, 2008. This was challenged by affected personnel on the grounds that since all other benefits relating to pay and allowances were applicable from January 2006, the date of implementation of the SPC, the same should also be applicable to MACP. The Bench comprising Justice VK Ahuja and Lt Gen DS Sidhu upheld the contentions of the petitioner and quashed the artificial cut-off date fixed by the government. — TNS
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New Delhi, May 29
Hyderabad, May 29
