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Lanka says sorry to Modi, Jaya over article
National Herald case: HC notice to Swamy
Curfew relaxed for 8 hours in Saharanpur
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Modi’s push for self-certification of documents
Roy can strike property deals from Tihar: SC
Jaguar crashes near Bhuj; pilot ejects safely
OROP under consideration, says MoS
Insurance
Bill
Cong forms screening panels for poll-bound states
Modi to visit Nepal tomorrow
India, Russia plan pact for ‘mini’ BrahMos missile
Goyal promises reforms in power sector
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Lanka apologises to Modi, Jaya over ‘derogatory’ article New Delhi, August 1 The article had triggered a storm in India with political parties going to the extent of demanding snapping of diplomatic ties with Colombo. “An article titled ‘How meaningful are Jayalalithaa’s love letters to Narendra
Modi?’ had appeared on our website along with a graphical portrayal of the Prime Minister of India and the Chief Minister of Tamil
Nadu. The article which had been published without appropriate authorisation and not reflecting any official position of the Government of Sri Lanka or Ministry of Defence and Urban Development has since been removed,” the Lankan Government said after India strongly took up the issue with the Rajapaksa government in Colombo. The article had appeared on the website along with a graphical portrayal of Modi and Jayalalithaa. It triggered an outrage with AIADMK members raising the issue in Parliament and BJP allies in Chennai calling for severing of diplomatic relations with the island nation. Jayalalithtaa also urged Modi to seek unconditional apology from Lankan Government over the article. MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said New Delhi acted with alacrity as soon as it came to know about the article. "We activated diplomatic channels and our High Commissioner took up the matter with the Lankan authorities. We were told action would be taken," he said.
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National Herald case: HC notice to Swamy
A bench of Justice VP Vaish posted the next hearing for August 5. Appearing for Sonia Gandhi, senior advocate Kapil Sibal sought a stay on the summons asking them to appear in the trial court on August 7. The High Court, however, said this was not necessary at this stage as it would hear the case two days before August 7. Swamy sought time to respond to the petitions, contending that these had been filed without any intimation to him. Similar petitions have been filed by other Congress leaders, including party treasurer Moti Lal Vora who is also a director of Young India which has acquired 99 per cent of the ordinary shares of the Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) which was publishing the National Herald in English, Navjivan in Hindi and Quami Awaz in Urdu. In her petition, Sonia Gandhi has contended that Swamy’s complaint was politically motivated to malign her. Besides Sibal, senior advocates AM Singhvi, Haren Raval and Ramesh Gupta appeared for the Congress leaders. Asking them to appear before the court on August 7, Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati Manocha had said there was prima facie evidence against all the accused, including Congress leaders Oscar Fernandes and Vora. The Metropolitan Magistrate has also summoned Sam Pitroda, who has been adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on infrastructure and innovation, and former journalist Suman Dubey, who was close to the Gandhi family. According to Swamy, the alleged fraud amounts to Rs 2,000 crore. He said the Gandhis had formed Young India in 2010 with 38 per cent share each to take control of Rs 2,000 crore worth of assets of AJL. In the 20-page order, the magistrate said all the accused persons had allegedly acted in consortium with each other to achieve the “nefarious purpose.” The magistrate, however, clarified that the guilty of the accused would be determined only after the trial.
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Curfew relaxed for 8 hours in Saharanpur
Saharanpur, August 1 The relaxation in curfew was given from 10 am to 6 pm under strict vigil of security forces. It was relaxed yesterday from 10 am to 4 pm. Markets in the town were abuzz with activities as people came out to buy eatables and essential goods. However, all colleges and schools remained closed. They are expected to reopen on Monday. Three persons were killed as communal clashes broke out in Saharanpur over the construction of a hall in a gurdwara on last Saturday. The police have arrested 56 persons, including the former councillor of the Municipal Corporation (then Municipal Council) of Saharanpur, Mohram Ali, alias Pappu, who allegedly incited the crowd after delivering a hate speech near the Kutubsher police station on last Saturday. Sources said Sikhs did not allow the local police to depute security personnel near the controversial under-construction hall of the Gurdwara Singh Sabha. Later, they set up a post outside the gurdwara on the road. Senior advocate HS Phoolka visited the gurdwara and advised the Sikhs that they should not undertake the renovation work of their damaged shops till the investigations by various agencies, including insurance companies and the State Revenue Department, were not completed. He said the renovation work might cause a hurdle in getting compensation. Besides asking the Commissioner of the Meerut zone to conduct inquiry into the violence, the UP Government has also formed a committee headed by senior SP leader Shivpal Singh Yadav. The panel is expected to visit Saharanpur soon.
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Pune landslide: Toll climbs to 70
Mumbai, August 1 District officials said eight persons were rescued, while more than 100 were still believed to be trapped under the debris. Local residents told authorities that the number of people in the hamlet could be around 300. State government officials said heavy rain was hampering rescue efforts with earthmoving equipment getting stuck in
mud and becoming non-functional. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today announced financial aid of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of each of the victims. The state government will provide relief from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Meanwhile, the authorities conducted mass funerals of the victims. Many of the survivors had lost almost all their
relatives in the disaster and were too numb to carry out the last rites of
the deceased. Officials said they were planning to relocate Malin or rehabilitate residents elsewhere as the area was prone to landslides. Officials from the geological department visited the site and are due to submit a report to the state government. Following the Malin disaster, the authorities have identified two villages nearby and one in neighbouring Junnar that could be hit by landslides. “We are considering relocating all three villages. However, residents are resisting the move as they depend on the local community for their livelihood,” an official in
the rehabilitation department said.
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Roy can strike property deals from Tihar: SC
New Delhi, August 1 They would be allowed to have two clerical staff and a technical person from 6am to 8pm for 10 working days from August 5 for the purpose. The Delhi Government would notify the conference room as a jail premises during the period. All three would be lodged in the conference room, instead of in jail no. 2, on all these days. A Bench headed by Justice TS Thakur, at the same time, reminded them that they would be granted only interim bail upon fulfilling the bail condition and therefore would have to soon come out with a firm plan to refund the entire Rs 25,000 crore their group companies had collected from small investors if they had to avoid going behind the bars again. SEBI said the group's liability stood at about Rs 39,000 crore after taking into account the interest. The Income Tax Department informed the Bench that it had made a tax demand of Rs 10,049 crore from the Sahara group after it claimed that it had refunded over Rs 17,000 crore to the investors in cash. A sample survey among 800 such investors showed that they had not invested in the group and as such all funds purportedly raised from the market was nothing but black money, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta contended. At this, Roy's senior counsel Harish Salve pleaded that no way market regulator SEBI and the I-T Department could hound his client simultaneously. If the I-T Department's version was correct, then Sahara had not raised any money from the market and this removed SEBI from the picture. Nevertheless, his client was sticking to his stand that the funds had come from investors, he said.
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Jaguar crashes near Bhuj; pilot ejects safely
AHMEDABAD, August 1 There was no casualty on the ground, though the plane crash created panic in the village. An official spokesperson of the Defence Ministry confirmed the accident and said a court of inquiry had been ordered to investigate the cause of the crash. The aircraft had taken off from the Bhuj airbase, the district headquarter of Kutch, but crashed within about 30 kilometre on the north of Bhuj. Eye-witnesses said as the aircraft hit the ground, people of Bibber and other nearby villages rushed to the accident site. "The wreckage of the IAF plane is totally charred," Gagubha Jadeja, deputy sarpanch of Bibber village, said. He claimed that a deep crater was formed due to the impact of the sharp fall of the plane as it hit the ground and burst into flames.
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OROP under consideration, says MoS
New Delhi, August 1 In a written reply to Maj Gen BC Khanduri (Retd.) in the Lok Sabha, Rao assured that the principle of ‘one-rank one-pension’ for the armed forces
had been accepted by the government. He said the modalities for implementation were discussed with various stakeholders. “It will be implemented once the modalities are approved by the government,” he said. On July 30, the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement had wrote a letter to the Defence Minister and also chiefs of the three services saying the delay in implementing the OROP was a cause concern. A copy of the letter was also sent to newly appointed BJP president Amit Shah.
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Lt Gen KJ Singh takes over as Western Army commander
Chandigarh, August 1 Singh’s predecessor Lt Gen Philip Campose has moved to Army Headquarters as Vice-Chief of the Army Staff. On assuming charge, Lt Gen Singh visited the Sarva Dharma Sthal in Chandimandir and paid homage to martyrs at the Veer Smriti war memorial. He also inspected a guard of honour which was presented by 63 Cavalry, his parent regiment, which he has commanded. He was Colonel of 63 Cavalry and 83 Armoured Regiment. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Lt Gen KJ Singh was commissioned in June 1977. In a career spanning over 37 years, he has served in counter- insurgency areas, including Nagaland, Manipur and Punjab. He was also part of the United Nations Peace Keeping Force in Angola. He has commanded a T-90 Armoured Brigade and served as Additional Director General of Perspective Planning at Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army). He has held instructional appointment at the School of Armoured Warfare and Higher Command Wing of the Army War College. The officer has been decorated with the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal twice and is also the recipient of the United Nation Force Commander’s citation and Chief of Army Staff’s Commendation for bravery. He was awarded Commandant’s Medal in the Higher Command course and the Col Pyara Lal Medal in National Defence College Course.
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Insurance
Bill Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 1 The government had deferred its plans this week to introduce the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008, to enable members to go through it. Nine parties — led by the Congress in the Rajya Sabha — submitted a notice to move a motion that the Bill be referred to a Select Committee. The Bill was introduced by the Manmohan Singh government in the Rajya Sabha suggesting increase in FDI cap. It was scrutinised by the Standing Committee, which submitted its recommendations in December 2011. Since then, the Bill remained pending and the Modi government decided to take up with further amendments. CPM leader Sitaram Yechury told The Tribune that the Modi government had made 11 amendments to the Bill pending before the House and hence it was a new piece of proposed legislation that needed oversight by a committee. The notice for motion has been given by the Congress, NCP, TMC, Janata Dal (United), Samajwadi Party, BSP, DMK, CPI and CPI (Marxist). As Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tries to introduce the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, the Opposition will seek a ruling on the motion and force a vote.
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Cong forms screening panels for poll-bound states
New Delhi, August 1 While former Lok Sabha MP PC Chacko has been renamed as head of the screening panel for Haryana (he has chaired the state’s screening committee for LS polls also), Congress general secretary in charge of communications Ajay Makan has been appointed chairman of the committee for J&K. Mallikarjun Kharge will chair the panel for Maharashtra and former MoS for Defence Jitender Singh will head the screening committee for Jharkhand. Importantly, the Congress does not seem to have preferred any experimentation as it has renamed Chacko as head of the screening panel in Haryana and reappointed Jitender Singh for the crucial ticket selection job. This even when the party lost nine out of 10 LS seats in Haryana and 78 out of 80 in UP (where Jitender was the screening panel chief). Sources said screening panel chiefs only act on the advice of state leaders while finalising tickets and could not be held directly responsible for dismal performance. Most leaders blame the poor party performance on a Narendra Modi wave. Besides the chairman, all screening committees have four members each, including state general secretary in charge, chief minister or Congress legislature party leader as the case may be and the state party chief. Haryana screening panel has among members general secretary Shakeel Ahmed, CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, state chief Ashok Tanwar and former Tamil Nadu MP Manick Tagore. In the J&K panel, besides general secretary Ambika Soni and state chief Saifuddi Soz, Congress secretary Shubhankar Sarkar is also a member. The Maharashtra panel has general secretary Mohan Prakash, AICC secretary Deepak Babaria, CM Prithviraj Chavan and CLP Leader Manikrao Thakre. In the Jharkhand panel, the members include AICC secretary Suraj Hedge, state general secretary in charge BK Hariprasad, CLP Leader RP Singh and state chief Sukhdeo Bhagat. Party leaders said the polls would be a real test of the NDA government’s popularity. “These elections are going to be tough not just for us but also for the BJP,” said a Congress leader.
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Modi to visit Nepal tomorrow
New Delhi, August 1 This will be the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Nepal in 17 years. Former Prime Minister IK Gujral was the last one to travel to the neighbouring nation in June 1997. Modi will hold talks with his Nepalese counterpart Sushil Koirala on Sunday on a range of issues. The two countries are expected to sign agreements in sectors such as power. India may also announce an increase in its economic assistance to Nepal. Modi will hold talks with leaders of various political parties. The PM will also address Nepal’s Constituent Assembly, becoming only the second foreign leader after former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to do so.
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India, Russia plan pact for ‘mini’ BrahMos missile
“We are hoping to sign a tripartite agreement between the DRDO, NPOM lab and BrahMos Aerospace during the planned visit of Russian president in December,” BrahMos chief Sudhir Mishra said in an interview. Soon after taking over as CEO of the India-Russian joint venture on Friday, he said the mini version of the BrahMos missile will have a speed of 3.5 mach and carry a payload of 300km up to a range of 290km. In size, it will be almost half of the present missile, which is around 10 metres long. Mishra said once developed, the missile could be integrated with different platforms including submarines and the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) being developed jointly by the two countries. The new BrahMos CEO said he was expecting that the missile would be inducted into the services by 2017 and “there would be a huge market for the new missile in India, Russia and friendly foreign countries” Mishra said the air-launched version of the BrahMos missile was under progress and the first test-firing is expected to take place by either the end of this year or the beginning of the next year. “We have already modified our missile system in terms of its weight and size. The Su-30MKI is undergoing modification so as to carry the strike weapon in its belly in partnership with the HAL,” he said. The Indo-Russian joint venture firm was set up in 1998. — PTI
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Goyal promises reforms in power sector
New Delhi, August 1 In his reply to the debate on private member’s resolution in the Rajya Sabha over power shortage, Goyal said, “I can assure this House that we are committed to providing 24/7 power to every home and to every industrial and commercial establishment, irrespective of the state and irrespective of the government in any state”. Pointing out that he had inherited a highly faulty and complicated system, Goyal said the government was working to address power deficit through a three-pronged strategy.
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New Delhi, August 1
New Delhi, August 1
SC wants refund plan
New Delhi, August 1