The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

INS Kuthar damaged in mishap, probe ordered

New Delhi, July 13
In yet another naval mishap, a warship suffered damage while operating in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands territory prompting the force to order a detailed investigation into it.

INS Kuthar — a Khukri class corvette — suffered damage while entering the harbour of a naval base in Andamans and is undergoing repairs there, sources said here.

It is the 15th reported mishap involving naval personnel and assets after the sinking of the Russian-origin submarine INS Sindhurakshak in August last year in which all the 18 personnel on board were killed.

The latest mishap occurred at a time when the warship was returning after operating in rough weather.

A Board of Inquiry (BoI) under a senior officer has been ordered, they said.

The warship INS Kuthar is understood to be part of the fleet of the Vishakhapatnam-based Eastern Naval Command, which is in-charge of operations in Bay of Bengal and areas beyond it.

The spate of accidents in the Navy resulted in the resignation of former Navy Chief Admiral DK Joshi, who took moral responsibility of the accidents and sought voluntary retirement from the maritime force on February 26.

Recently, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley in written answers told Parliament that the Navy is conducting a number of Board of Inquiries into the mishaps involving the assets of the force.

The major mishaps include last year's sinking of INS Sindhurakshak on August 14, fire on board aircraft carrier INS Virat on September 22, fire on board INS Konkan on December 4 and accident of INS Talwar with a fishing trawler. - PTI

EC notice to Chavan in paid news case

Ashok Chavan

New Delhi, July 13
In fresh trouble for former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, the Election Commission today slapped a show cause notice on him for failing to lodge his election expenses as per law in a paid news case and asked him why he should not be disqualified.

Setting a 20-day deadline to respond to the notice, the commission said he has "failed to lodge his account of election expenses in the manner required by the (Representation of the People) Act and rules." The EC, on the directions of the Supreme Court, had issued a notice to Chavan in May last to appear before it in connection with the case of alleged expenses made by him during the 2009 Maharashtra Assembly polls which were categorised as "paid news".

If Chavan is disqualified by the EC, it may have an impact on his Lok Sabha membership also though the issue relates to his contesting the Assembly polls.

The EC order said a candidate who is declared disqualified by the commission under Section 10 of the RP Act "incurs disqualification for contesting further elections to any House of Parliament or State Legislature for a period of three years, "and also for continuing as member of any such House if he is already a sitting member from the date of the order of the Election Commission and not from the date on which he contested the election or was elected at such election."

"Therefore, the resignation of the respondent from the membership of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on 22nd May, 2014, has no effect or impact on the continuance of the present proceedings before the commission and the proceedings shall continue unabated until logical conclusion thereof," paragraph 70 of the EC order said.

CBI to look into NDA meeting for VVIP copters purchase deal

New Delhi, July 13
After recording statements of three Governors in connection with the alleged bungling in purchase of VVIP helicopters, the focus of CBI’s probe into the Rs 3,600 crore deal has shifted to meetings held in this connection in 2003, when the previous NDA regime was in power, and it may go through the records of meetings held in November that year.

Official sources said the agency would be probing every aspect of the case to corroborate the statements made by former Governors of West Bengal and Goa — MK Narayanan and BV Wanchoo, respectively — and Governor of Andhra Pradesh ESL Narsimhan, who claimed that a decision to decrease the flying altitude was taken in principle in 2003.

Sources did not rule out the possibility of recoding statement of CBI’s own Special Director Anil Kumar Sinha, a 1979 batch IPS officer of Bihar cadre, as he was the then Inspector General in the elite Special Protection Group, a force which guards the Prime Minister of the country.

After completing the formalities of examining Narayanan, Narsimhan and Wanchoo, the CBI decided to see whether any such decision was taken in principle during the 2003 meetings.

During extensive recording of statement, Wanchoo, who resigned as Goa Governor on July 4, told the CBI about a meeting held by top officials of the Prime Minister’s Office in 2003 in which it was decided in principle for having a “realistic operational requirement” after consulting elite SPG, the sources said here.

The CBI will also approach the Air Headquarters and the then Air Chief, Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy, on a letter from the then PMO asking for taking a realistic approach and ensure competition in purchasing helicopters for flying the VVIPs including the President and Prime Minister of the country. The helicopters form a part of VVIP squardon maintained by the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Wanchoo (63), who was the chief of SPG from 2004 onwards, put in his papers after he received a call from Union Home Secreatary Anil Goswami conveying the Government’s wish that he submit his resignation. Narayanan, 80, who was the National Security Adviser till 2010, demitted his office on June 30.

All the three Governors were part of March one, 2005 meeting in which a decision was taken to reduce “service ceiling” (the altitude at which a helicopter can fly) from the 6,000 meters to 4,500 meters and all of them told the CBI that the meeting reiterated in principle decision taken in the 2003 meeting which had been taken keeping in mind to encourage competition as well as change the rules framed for purchasing VVIP chopper in 1970s, the sources said.

The CBI registered a case against former IAF Chief SP Tyagi along with 13 others, including his cousins and European middlemen in the case.

The allegation against the former Air Chief was that he had reduced flying ceiling of the helicopter so that AgustaWestland company was included in the bids. Tyagi has refuted the allegation against him.

However, this decision was taken in consultation with the officials of SPG and the Prime Minister’s Office including Narayanan and Wanchoo.

The reduction of the service ceiling — maximum height at which a helicopter can perform normally — allowed the firm to get into the fray as, otherwise, its helicopters were not even qualified for submission of bids.

The CBI claims the parameters regarding the height at which the helicopter can fly as well as the flight evaluation were changed in a manner that enabled AgustaWestland to clinch the deal vis-a-vis its competitor Sikorsky. — PTI

In-depth investigation

The CBI will probe every aspect of the case to corroborate the statements made by former Governors of West Bengal and Goa — MK Narayanan and BV Wanchoo, respectively — and Governor of Andhra Pradesh ESL Narsimhan, who claimed that a decision to decrease the flying altitude was taken in principle in 2003

The CBI will also approach the Air Headquarters and the then Air Chief on a letter from the then PMO asking for taking a realistic approach and ensure competition in purchasing helicopters for flying the VVIPs, including the President and Prime Minister

Govt tightens screws on NGOs

New Delhi, July 13
Tightening the noose around NGOs, trusts and charitable institutions, government has empowered senior Income Tax officials to cancel registrations of these entities if they fail to carry out the objectives for which they were formed.

“Commissioner level officials can now cancel the registration of NGO, trust or charitable institutions if it is not carrying out objectives for which it was formed,” Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman RK Tiwari said

Explaining the provisions incorporated in the Budget 2014-15 documents, he said giving loans to relatives of the trustees would constitute violation of the Section 13D of the Act and attract penal provisions, including cancellation of registration.

The Finance Bill has laid down four grounds for the cancellation of registration of trusts following which they would not be entitled for any tax benefit.

As per the new provisions, the registration of a trust could be cancelled if “its income does not ensure for the benefit of general public; it is for the benefit of any particular religious community or caste (in case it is established after commencement of Act); any income property of the trust is applied for benefit of specified persons like author of trust, trustee etc; or its funds are invested in prohibited modes”.

Under the present norms, the registration of a trust can be cancelled if “the activities of a trust or institution are not genuine; or the activities are not being carried out in accordance with the objects of the trust or institution”.

The decision to tighten the norms for NGOs comes against the backdrop of recent reports of the Intelligence Bureau raising questions about the working of such trusts, especially those obtaining funds from abroad. — PTI

Rakesh Garg named new Telecom Secy
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 13
Putting to rest speculation as to who would take over as the Telecom Secretary following the retirement of MF Farooqui last month, the government today appointed Rakesh Garg as the secretary of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Garg, a 1980-batch IAS officer, is currently the Principal Secretary in UP.

In some other appointments, which bear the stamp of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government also announced that Rajan B Katoch will become the Heavy Industries Secretary.

Garg’s appointment comes after two weeks of Farooqui retiring as the DoT Secretary on June 30 after 15 months at the post. Following Farooqui’s retirement, the Ram Sewak Sharma, who is the secretary of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, was given additional charge of the DoT for three months or till the appointment of the new secretary, whichever is earlier.

Claim to be juvenile to escape law, Lashkar tells cadres

Srinagar/New Delhi, July 13
Declare your age below 18 years if you are caught by security personnel — this is a new diktat from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit sent to its cadres in
Jammu and Kashmir.

Details of this LeT tactic were given by arrested Mohd Naveed Jutt, alias Abu Hanzala, who was subjected to the age determination test as he had claimed to the interrogators that he was 17 years old, official sources said.

After sustained questioning, Jutt, whose age turned out to be 22 years, said his ‘masters’ across the border had instructed him to give his age as 17 years.

Jutt said the LeT top brass had been telling the recruits, who are mainly school dropouts or having criminal background, that they should behave as someone who is below 18 years so that they are tried under the Juvenile Justice Act and not the normal Indian Penal Code.

The maximum punishment under Juvenile Act is three years. Jutt, a resident of Multan in Pakistan arrested by the police in the third week of last month in South Kashmir, said he had come along with six boys in October, 2012, through the north Kashmir’s Keran sector, the sources said.

The son of a retired Army driver, Jutt, was trained in various madrassas owned by Jamaat-ul-Dawa (JuD), a front organisation for the LeT.

He said during the training, Lashkar top brass used to look for talent and then classify them into areas where they would be operating, the sources said, adding linguistic courses were held for the Lashkar trainees who were taught Chechen, Syrian and Iraqi language.

Jutt is accused of killing many policemen in south Kashmir and carrying out sensational attack on the Army and polling parties and making an assassination bid on a ruling National Conference (NC) MLC from Wachi, Showkat Ganaie.

After initial training, Jutt underwent “Daura-e-Sufa” (training cadre for religious indoctrination) at Maksar Aksar Camp in 2009, the sources said. — PTI

New diktat

Recruits have been told to behave as someone who is below 18 years, if they are caught by security personnel, so that they are tried under the Juvenile Justice Act and not the normal Indian Penal Code

The maximum punishment under Juvenile Act is three years

After sustained questioning, Jutt, an arrested Pakistani, whose age turned out to be 22 years, said his ‘masters’ across the border had instructed him to give his age as 17 years

Treat juvenile rape accused on par with adults, says Maneka

Chennai, July 13
Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi today favoured treating juveniles accused of heinous crimes like rape on par with adult offenders.

She said according to the police, 50 per cent of all sexual crimes were committed by "16-year-olds who know the Juvenile Justice Act so they can do it." "But now for premeditated murder, rape, if we bring them into the purview of the adult world, then it will scare them," she said.

Former WCD Minister Krishna Tirath during the previous UPA regime had proposed that juveniles above 16 years guilty of heinous crimes be treated on par with adult offenders.

The move was however opposed by various NGOs and National Commission of Protection of Child Rights which stated that such a proposal was against child rights. — PTI

Books row: ICSE’s chief executive suspended

New Delhi, July 13
The Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations has suspended its chief executive and secretary Gerry Arathoon on charges of promoting textbooks written by his wife without seeking its approval.

The council conducts the ICSE and ISC examination and has some 1,800 schools affiliated to it. The decision of the council has been emailed to all school heads while Arathoon has been given 15 days time to reply back to the council. Under the council’s rules, every official must inform the council and take its approval before starting sales of books if it has been written by officials or relatives.

Council Chairman Fr Jose Aikera said they were awaiting Arathoon’s response before they decide on the next course of action. Anita, Arathoon’s wife, had authored two textbooks of classes IX and X. The books were published last year and Arathoon has allegedly not informed the council about this. — PTI

IAF scrambles jets as Turkish plane sparks alert

Jodhpur, July 13
The Indian Air Force today scrambled fighter planes from air base here after two passenger aircraft sought to enter Indian territory from Pakistan side using similar identification codes, sparking a security alert.

Two MiG-21 fighter aircraft were sent from Jodhpur air base to investigate a Turkish Airlines plane over Jaisalmer this morning when it repeated an identification code, which is unique to any aircraft, given by a commercial passenger plane that had entered Indian airspace before it. However, the Delhi-bound passenger plane was later allowed to proceed after its credentials were verified, IAF officials said.

The first aircraft entered the Indian territory using its identification code and doubts were raised when the second aircraft gave out the same code, an IAF spokesperson said.

Two MiG-21 Bison aircraft were sent to intercept the aircraft and it was allowed to proceed towards its destination only after the fighter jets verified its credentials. Sources said the airliner from was on its way to Delhi after flying over Pakistan. — PTI

AI flight to Doha takes off after 18-hr delay

Mumbai, July 13
A Doha-bound Air India Express flight with 59 passengers onboard departed from Mumbai for its destination after a delay of almost 18 hours due to non-availability of flight crew, the Airlines said in Mumbai.

The flight was scheduled to take off yesterday at 3.55 PM. It took off today at 10.44 AM, an Air India Express spokesperson said.

The spokesperson attributed the inordinate delay to a technical glitch as well as flight duty time limitation (FDTL) norm.

"The flight got delayed due to a snag and by the time our engineers fixed the problem, the flight and cabin crew had exhausted their flight duty hours under the DGCA's FDTL norm. So we had to arrange a new set of crew," he said.

"We had offered them dinner but they refused to get down from the aircraft. With no option, we served them snacks and also a heavy breakfast in morning," the spokesperson said.

There were 69 passengers on board the flight yesterday, but ten of them took flights of other airlines. — PTI

Telangana rejects joint force for Hyderabad

Hyderabad, July 13
The Telangana Government has dismissed the suggestions of the Home Ministry to form a joint force comprising police of the new state and residuary Andhra Pradesh to control the law and order in Hyderabad and set up a special cell to deal with hate crimes there.

The K Chandrasekhar Rao government, which is at loggerheads with the Centre over Polavaram Bill, has sent a missive to the Home Ministry rejecting its proposal to set up the joint force comprising policemen from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for maintenance of law and order in Hyderabad and Cyberabad.

“The common capital area is an integral part of Telangana state. There cannot be any joint force in the common capital area as law and order is a state subject and the police officers of another state cannot have any jurisdiction here,” Principal Secretary (General Administration Department) of the Telangana government, Ajay Mishra conveyed to the Home Ministry in a communication.

Following the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad has been made the joint capital of the two states for 10 years and their Governor has been entrusted with the responsibility of maintenance of law and order in Hyderabad. On June 4, the Home Ministry sought the opinion of the Telangana government on the proposal for amendment of the Business Transaction Rules of Telangana.

Opposing the move, Telangana Rashtra Samiti leader in Lok Sabha Jithender Reddy said they have already raised the issue with Home Minister Rajnath Singh who promised to review it.

He said it will be “gross injustice” to people of Telangana if such overwhelming power is given to the Governor. “We will oppose it tooth and nail and cannot allow this to happen,” he said.

The Telangana government has also rejected the Ministry’s proposal to set up a special cell headed by an officer not below the rank of IGP in both the Commissionerates and with a senior officer in the office of Ranga Reddy district to deal with hate crimes and crimes related to extortion or any other specified crime and ensure speedy trial.

“An officer will be designated in the office of the Director General of Police to deal with issues mentioned,” the Telangana government letter said. There have been reports of spurt of alleged hate crimes and extortion calls in Hyderabad and its adjoining areas following the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. The reports suggested that most of the victims had roots in Seemandhra region. — PTI

Rave party busted in Hyderabad, 26 held

Hyderabad, July 13
The Cyberabad Police today busted a rave party and arrested 26 persons, including 12 women, after raiding a poultry farm premises at the Shamirpet area here.

Acting on a tip-off that a rave party was being organised, a police team raided the farm in the Turkapalli area of Shamirpet on the city outskirts in the early hours and found the participants allegedly indulging in obscene dance acts, Shamirpet Police Station Inspector TN Babji said.

As many as 26 persons, including 12 women - three from Mumbai and one belonging to Kolkata, were arrested in connection with the rave party, the inspector said.

The police were in the process of producing them before a local court, the official said, adding that the 14 men arrested are businessmen from various parts of Hyderabad.

One of the organisers, identified as Ranjan, is absconding while his woman accomplice, who was part of organising the rave party, is among the 12 arrested women, he said.

The police also seized over Rs 2 lakh, several cellphones and four 4-wheelers from the party site, Babji said.

Another senior police official said some liquor bottles were seized from the premises, but no narcotic drugs were found there. Further investigations were on. — PTI

NCP MLA to join Shiv Sena
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service

Mumbai, July 13
NCP MLA Deepak Kesarkar today said he would join the Shiv Sena after formally quitting his party.

Kesarkar, who represents the Sawantwadi constituency, had rebelled against party chief Sharad Pawar ahead of the General Election over the question of campaigning for Nilesh Rane, then Member of Parliament and son of state Industry Minister Narayan Rane of the Congress. He was among several NCP leaders from the region who had submitted their resignations to Pawar after being asked to support the younger Rane.

Kesarkar had asked the local party men to work for Shiv Sena’s candidate Vinayak Raut who went on to win the Ratnagiri or Konkan seat by a margin of 1.5 lakh votes.

Kesarkar today said he would be submitting his resignation to the speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly in next few days and would formally join the Shiv Sena.

“I will continue my fight against Congress leader Narayan Rane and his autocratic style of functioning,” Kesarkar told reporters.

The MLA’s decision to join the Shiv Sena comes after the Congress and the NCP indicated that they would jointly fight the forthcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra.

Assam’s Baksa district tense as 4 bodies found

Guwahati, July 13
The Army has been kept on standby as tension mounted in Assam’s Baksa district where bodies of three more persons kidnapped by suspected NDFB (S) militants were retrieved from the Beki river today.

The police fired in the air to disperse a mob holding a protest against the kidnapping in violation of indefinite curfew which has been clamped in the Salbari sub-division and the Anand Bazar area. Baksa Deputy Commissioner Vinod Seshan said, “We have recovered three more bodies this morning from Beki river. We do not know the type of injuries these bodies bore. The details will be known after investigation.”

Bodies of all four who were kidnapped on Friday night by suspected NDFB (Songbijit) militants, including two teenaged boys, have now been found. The first body, bearing a cut mark on the head, was recovered last evening from the river in Barpeta district.

The bodies recovered today were identified as those of Ataur Rahman (27), Rubul Amin (45) and Saddam Ali(13), while that of Bakar Ali(13) was found yesterday. The four were among seven lemon traders who had gone to Labdanguri market in Baksa district from the adjacent Barpeta district.

The family members and villagers in Barpeta district, from where the four hailed, have refused to conduct the last rites demanding that Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi visit the area to address their grievances.

The police fired in the air to disperse a mob protesting against the kidnap ignoring the curfew at Anand Bazar area, Seshan said, adding “police had to use force as the people violated the curfew and refused to leave the place.”

The state government last evening replaced the Baksa Superintendent of Police Nimbalkar Vaibhav Chandrakant and appointed 10th Assam Police Battalion commandant Mojibur Rahman in his place. — PTI

Bihar ex-minister’s son lynched for stealing car

Samastipur, July 13
Bihar’s former Animal Husbandary Minister Ramashray Sahni’s son Rajiv was lynched and his accomplice injured by a mob for allegedly stealing a vehicle in Samastipur district.

The incident took place last night when 37-year-old Rajiv and his accomplice Rajaram Kewat went to Asimchak village allegedly to steal a pickup van, Superintendent of police Babu Ram today said.

A mob overpowered the two and beat them resulting in the death of Rajiv. Kewat sustained severe injuries and is in an unconscious state in a hospital, Ram said.

Rajiv had been arrested and jailed for similar crimes in the past, the SP said, adding, he was a member of a gang of vehicle lifters, the details of which are under investigation. — PTI

Toilets for women: Govt to rope in PSUs

Chennai, July 13
As part of efforts to ensure safety of women, public sector units (PSUs) are being roped in to build toilets, a priority area for NDA government, Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi has said.

“We are getting hold of people, the PSUs to come and build toilets (for use by women). It is a priority of this government,” she said on the sidelines of a function. Asked if PSUs were being asked to pitch in across the country, she said, “Yes”, adding, it was part of measures to ensure women’s safety and the specifics were being worked out. PSUs would assist the project as part of their corporate social responsibility initiatives. — PTI

Club refuses to let in dhoti-clad judge, triggers row

Chennai, July 13
The refusal of entry to a dhoti-clad Judge of the Madras High Court at a club here has stoked a controversy, with political parties, including the DMK, condemning the incident, as the CPI (M) vowed to take up the issue in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, which is in session, tomorrow.

DMK chief M Karunanidhi and TNCC president BS Gnanadesikan said the government should step in to remove any kind of dress code in public functions.

Karunanidhi said “vaetti” (dhoti) was a symbol of Tamil culture and it was ‘condemnable’ that one was barred entry at a public function for wearing the traditional attire.

“To prevent recurrence of such incidents, the government should suo motu advise (the concerned) on removing provisions on the dress code for persons attending functions in public,” Karunanidhi said in a statement today.

Madras High Court Judge Justice D Hariparanthaman was denied entry into the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association Club recently for wearing dhoti.

When he alighted from his official car at the club premises to participate in a book release function organised by TS Arunachalam, a former Chief Justice of the High Court, some staff of the club told him that he could not enter the premises wearing dhoti as they had instructions from the office-bearers not to allow anyone in the premises who violated the club’s dress code.

The judge has termed the incident as “unfortunate”. Gnanadesikan said it was “regrettable” that a High Court Judge was denied entry for wearing dhoti.

“It is not important who went there wearing dhoti, but a rule barring the entry into a club (for a dhoti-clad person) in Tamil Nadu is unacceptable,” he said.

CPI (M) Floor Leader in the state Assembly, A Sounderrajan, said the party would take up the matter in the House tomorrow by calling for a motion. — PTI