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Worst floods in Jammu & Kashmir in six decades
CM releases addl Rs 100 cr each for Kashmir, Jammu
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No govt funds yet for Rajouri flood victims
3 CRPF men stay atop tree for 16 hours
Poor show in bypolls a wake-up call for BJP
‘Calm’ Akhilesh says UP rejected communal forces
Major gains boost Congress morale
Gujarat CM suffers setback
In Assam, Cong, BJP, AIUDF share honours
Headless NHPC on downslide
Govt has created right atmosphere: President
Modi's first visit to Gujarat as PM
PM’s speech to be beamed live at Times Square
SC raps medicos helping parents to have baby boys
Illegal sale of Army weapons
Licence to real estate firms
Post-poll alliances legal, says Delhi HC
railway bribery case Premature retirement no ground to deny disability pension: AFT MoD orders probe into missing file
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Worst floods in Jammu & Kashmir in six decades Dinesh Manhotra & Majid Jahangir
Jammu/Srinagar, September 16 Up in arms against the reportedly hasty decision of the government to open the Secretariat, employees of the Jammu region are adamant not to resume duty unless the authorities provide a conducive living and working atmosphere. Instead of obeying the order, employees seem to be in the mood to confront their seniors. “When we were marooned and struggling to save our lives, no senior tried to know our whereabouts,” said a Secretariat employee on the condition of anonymity. He added, “It was second life for us because we reached Jammu after facing numerous hardships.” Employees of the Jammu region pleaded to political leaders to save them from the wrath of their seniors. Sources said a group of employees met Lok Sabha member and state BJP president Jugal Kishore Sharma on Tuesday and sought his intervention. “BJP leaders spoke to Chief Secretary Mohammad Iqbal Khandey, who assured them that he would adopt a lenient approach,” the sources said. Most employees based in Jammu demanded that ministers and senior bureaucrats should spend at least a couple of days in the Secretariat before asking them to resume duty. “Where will the government accommodate us?” asked an employee. He added, “Most hotels and buildings where employees have been accommodated are still marooned.” The employees had a reason to oppose the government’s decision. On the one hand the health authorities were issuing advisories and on the other the government was asking them to return to Srinagar. Government offices, including the Secretariat, housing the office of the Chief Minister and Cabinet ministers, were still inundated. Other major offices still submerged included the Divisional Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner’s office, the High Court complex, the police control room, the zonal police headquarters and office of fire and emergency services. “The offices will reopen on Thursday as the situation will improve. The water level is receding,” said Satish Nehru, Commissioner Secretary, Urban Development. He said the move to open offices and ask employees to report on duty was aimed at giving the sense that the government had started taking control of things. Most employees said they were keen to resume duty, but it would be possible only after there was no water on roads and office complexes were cleaned of slush. “I tried to reach my office at Lal Mandi today. One storey of the office is still under water,” said Mushtaq Ahmed, an employee of the Horticulture Department. Employees adamant on not rejoining duty yet
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CM releases addl Rs 100 cr each for Kashmir, Jammu
Jammu, September 16 The multi-disciplinary teams constituted to assess the flood losses were also working actively besides dewatering pumps had been installed at various places to drain out stagnant flood water from the Srinagar city. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is continuously monitoring the relief and rehabilitation operation, directed for close coordination among the critical departments of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), Flood Control, Urban Environmental Engineering Department (UEED), Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) and Fire and Emergency Services for ensuring speedy relief and rehabilitation of flood victims. The Chief Minister also directed to go for controlled cuts to drain out the stagnant water besides deploying maximum dewatering pumps. Chairing a meeting, Omar also asked Chief Secretary Mohammad Iqbal Khandey to streamline the mechanism of loss assessment. He appealed to the insurance companies to depute their teams in the flood-affected areas to settle the claims. At the meeting, it was announced that 100 tonnes of food grains had been rushed to Srinagar and Budgam districts during the last two days by the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Department besides 400 tonnes and 150 tonnes food grains had been distributed in Anantnag and Pulwama, respectively. About 162 trucks carrying LPG arrived in Srinagar in the last two days and work was on to replenish the petrol supply in the Valley. Nearly 40 lakh chlorine tablets have reached the Valley and the Chief Minister directed that these tablets should be distributed along with the relief material through CAPD, NDRF and other teams to all places. Nine lakh chlorine tablets have already been distributed in the flood-affected areas. The Bone and Joint Hospital in Barzulla, Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Hospital in Rainwara and Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Soura have resumed their functioning. The SKIMS in Bermina is still flooded.
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No govt funds yet for Rajouri flood victims
Rajouri, September 16 The district administration, under the supervision of Jatinder K Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri, Mubassir Latifi, Senior Superintendent of Police, Rajouri, and Saleem Malik, Additional District Development Commissioner, has been helping the flood victims. Meanwhile, to avoid misinformation about the distribution of relief/cash, Jatinder K Singh, Deputy Commissioner,Rajouri, today interacted with mediapersons, saying that he had not received any money or relief material from the state government so far. “From the Rs 1.8 crore district funds, the administration has given Rs 1.37 crore so far, which includes Rs 1.5 lakh each to kin of the 71 deceased and Rs 25 lakh to the Power Development Department for restoration of power supply, snapped due to the washing away of electric poles and transformers,” said the Deputy Commissioner. He said 3,048 houses in the district had been fully damaged while 6,206 houses had suffered extensive damage. A total of 480 domestic animals were killed while197 cattle sheds were fully damaged and 2,682 partially damaged, he said. He said 66 water mills were swept away in the floods while the paddy and maize crop had suffered 51 per cent loss. “As far as the damage to infrastructure is concerned, which includes health centres, schools, PDD sub-centres and wells, the loss was calculated at Rs 191crore. We have told the state government to provide Rs 90 crore for immediate restoration of essential services,” said the official. He further said whatever relief the district administration had distributed among the flood victims had been arranged from its own sources. The material distributed was provided by NGOs and industrial houses and included tents, bread, biscuits, clothes, plastic and cloth tarpaulins and ration. “Ration was provided to victims (35 kg to each family) at my own risk as I have no written directions from the government. Utensils and mattresses were distributed from the old stock as the administration has not received the items either from Red Cross or the government,” said Jatinder Singh. He advised the flood victims of Rajouri district not to visit the offices of the Deputy Commissioner, Sub-Divisional Magistrates and Tehsildars for relief. “The officials concerned will visit their place on scheduled dates to prepare the list of victims and the process will be completed by September 22,” he said. I don’t work on tweets: Deputy Commissioner
The Rajouri Deputy Commissioner, when asked by mediapersons about the Chief Minister’s assurance that free of cost ration would be provided to flood victims for six months, said: “I don’t work on tweets and press conferences. I work on written orders, and as of now, no such written order has been received (by me).”
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A start from scratch for families after return to flood-affected homes
Srinagar, September 16 “One can say we were lucky as our single-storeyed house with an attic, which was completely submerged, didn’t collapse. Several houses in the vicinity have fallen down like a pack of cards,” said Arshed Hussain, who returned to his residence near Kidney Hospital, Sonwar. He said their house had turned into a ‘mud ball’ and they had lost their belongings. “Though our house is concrete, it has turned into a mud ball. Cleaning it is an arduous task and obviously all our belongings have been damaged. We will have to start from scratch now,” he said. Another local, Mohammad Iqbal, managed to reach his Magarmal Bagh residence. “As I came to know that the place where my house is located has dried up, I rushed home only to find filth and mud filled in the ground floor. I was told to clean up my house immediately as the mud was still wet and removing it might get difficult once it dries up,” he said. However, the Directorate of Health in its directives to the flood victims said it was better exercise caution. “At many areas, carcasses have been found, making the flood-hit areas more prone to diseases. Therefore, it will be better if the victims delay their return. Moreover, cleaning houses that have not dried can give electric shocks in case power supply has been restored,” said an official of the Directorate of Health. He said the department had issued directives through the local radio station. Health Dept’s dos and don’ts
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3 CRPF men stay atop tree for 16 hours
Srinagar, September 16 He took refuge atop the tree in the compound of an office in Polo View area of Srinagar. He was saved after around 16 hours by a rescue boat commandeered by CRPF men. Recounting his ordeal, Tiwari said he climbed up the tree with two other CRPF men after the Jhelum breached its embankment near the CID headquarters on the night of September 6. “Around 10:30 pm, the water level in the compound started rising. Since it is a single-storey complex, we left our quarters and climbed up a tall tree to save ourselves,” Tiwari said. “The three of us were stuck atop the tree the entire night. CRPF men rescued us around 2:30 pm on Sunday with great difficulty,” he said. Eight CRPF men were posted that eventful night at the office in the Polo View area. Five of them ran towards the post office across the road while Tiwari and the other two men could not come out on time. Fearing death, the three climbed up the tree. “Several NDRF boats passed by us on September 7. We cried for help, but they did not rescue us. Men from our unit brought a boat and saved us,” Tiwari said. He thanked God for giving him a second life.
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US extends help
to flood victims
Work on Bailey bridge underway
Congress to rush in docs to state: Azad
Teachers’ exam put off
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Poor show in bypolls a wake-up call for BJP
Political observers see the results, particularly of Uttar Pradesh, as a message to Modi and Shah that water, power, roads, food prices and jobs are bigger issues than polarisation efforts and theories such as “Love Jihad”, which their star campaigner Yogi Adityanath chose to propagate in the run-up to the elections. The results are a personal blow to Shah, who became the BJP chief only after performing well in UP during the Lok Sabha elections. The drubbing will not make life easier for him or his mentor. Privately, party leaders agree that rather than hunting for hardliners such as Adityanath, he will need better poll planks for Haryana and Maharashtra. Sources say they are expecting the “sidelined seniors” to get more active in their criticism of Shah’s ways of functioning. The “sidelined seniors” may even find themselves in active campaigning roles to share the blame of failures, if any, in the future, they feel. The immediate after-effects of the results will be felt in Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly polls due in October. For one, the party’s allies, Shiv Sena to begin with, may now be able to wrest more seats from the BJP. It would be interesting to see what its mouth piece Saamna— which urged the BJP to “learn a lesson” and “self-introspect” on what went wrong after last bypoll results — has to say tomorrow morning. Senior party leaders, who did not wish to be quoted, agree that there will always be room for regional parties. “There is no way that a vast country like India with many regional intricacies can depend upon one factor,” a leader said, adding that local needs and concerns can be best addressed by regional parties. This is something that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, too, has been insisting. Even though in Haryana the BJP is going alone, the election results have given the BJP an opportunity to think and its allies more room for manoeuvring. The sources say the party may tweak its strategy for Haryana, keeping in mind the issue of local factors. Here the INLD and existing Akali Dal may prove useful. Interestingly, there is another angle to the BJP’s debacle. Political observers say though people voted for a single party in Parliament, they do not want Modi or Shah to get too comfortable or complacent. On a downward spiral
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‘Calm’ Akhilesh says UP rejected communal forces Lucknow, September 16 Later addressing mediapersons, he declared that the people of UP had rejected communal forces. Yesterday, he had tweeted about “drawing inspiration for 2017, no matter what the (poll) outcome”. SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhury said the favourable result was a victory of the Samajwadi ideology which decisively fought communal and divisive forces under the leadership of party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. Union Minister Uma Bharti blamed the BJP’s selection of candidates for the reverses in the state. The BJP came third in Charkhari in Mahoba district of Bundelkhand which Bharti had represented till four months ago. This is the only seat where the Congress candidate is a runner-up. The result did not signify the end of “Modi wave”, Bharti said, adding that it was time for the state BJP to introspect over the causes of the defeat. Gorakhpur MP and BJP’s star campaigner Yogi Adityanath, however, blamed alleged misuse of official machinery as the reason for the BJP defeat. “There has to be an analysis of how tickets were distributed. My not being allowed to campaign everywhere is also a factor. The BJP has won wherever I campaigned,” he claimed. BSP president Mayawati, who had decided not to participate in the bypolls, chose not to react to her arch rival’s impressive victory. Meanwhile, the BJP’s alliance partner Apna Dal MP from Mirzapur Anupriya Patel has demanded repoll in Varanasi’s Rohaniya Assembly seat where her mother and Apna Dal candidate Krishna Patel lost to the SP candidate. Patel said she had already lodged a complaint with the Election Commission regarding alleged tampering of EVMs in Rohaniya. “If the EC does not take note cognisance of my complaint, I will be left with no option but to approach the Supreme Court,” she said. The controversy surfaced when counting agents of non-SP candidates in Rohaniya boycotted the counting process alleging that the seals of EVMs had been tampered with. They came out of counting venue in Pahadia Mandi and resorted to a dharna, demanding re-polling in Rohaniya.
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In Rajasthan, Cong wins 3 seats, BJP 1 Jaipur, September 16 Congress candidates today wrested Nasirabad, Surajgarh, and Weir assembly seats, while the ruling BJP could retain only the Kota-South seat. As against an overall polling percentage of 75.67 per cent in assembly polls-2013, the bypoll in four assembly constituencies of Surajgarh, Weir, Nasirabad and Kota-South jointly recorded 65.27 per cent. It is 10.40 per cent less than the last elections. Had the percentage gone higher like assembly election in 2013 to 75.67 per cents, the BJP might have lost Kota-South seat as its winning margin in bypolls decreased from 49,439 votes (2013) to near half 25,707 in bypolls. Kota-South's polling percentage decreased from 74 per cent (2013) to 60.78 per cent. On remaining three seats where the Congress candidates won, the BJP had won Weir seat in assembly-2013, now it lost to Congress. — PTI
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Major gains boost Congress morale
New Delhi, September 16 The BJP contrarily lost most ground it had gained in parliamentary elections with the Congress describing the results as a “win for secular forces and a rejection of BJP’s politics of polarisation”. For the Congress, today’s results would prove a huge morale booster ahead of Assembly elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, J&K and Jharkhand. “These results will impact the atmospherics in all other states. Congress is a national party locked in a direct fight with the BJP in all four states,” said Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed, in charge of Haryana affairs. The spectacular bit about today’s results is six (three each in BJP ruled Rajasthan and Gujarat) of the seven seats the Congress took were with the BJP. The results came on a day PM Narendra Modi made his first official trip to home state Gujarat since he assumed control of Government. “It’s a bad omen for the PM but signals for the Congress are good. Modi wave has disappeared and BJP government’s anti-incumbency has set in. BJP’s honeymoon is over,” Shakeel Ahmed said terming the results as “anti-BJP” votes. Since Modi became the PM, 54 Assembly bypolls have been held. Whereas in LS, the BJP had a lead in 42 of these segments, in bypolls its lead was intact only in 21. Out of 33 seats for which results were declared today, 26 were with the BJP. It has retained just 13 losing eight out of 11 to SP in UP where Congress won no seat today. In Gujarat, out of nine seats (all were with BJP) that went for bypolls, the Congress has won three. These include Deesa which the Congress has been losing since 1997; and Khambhalia and Mangrol which the Congress hasn’t won since 2002. “The fact that Modi’s magic has waned even in his home states speaks volumes about Congress’ resurgence and people’s rejection of BJP,” said Manish Doshi, Gujarat Congress spokesperson. In the aforesaid Gujarat segments, the BJP had posted handsome leads in LS polls. In Deesa, BJP’s lead was 59,000 votes but Congress’ Govabhai Desai today won the seat by 10, 300 votes. Congress’ Meraman Goria won Khambalia by 1,256 votes though BJP’s LS lead from this segment was 20,000. BJP’s LS lead from Mangrol segment was 30,000 but Congress’ Babubhai Vaja today wrested this seat by 22,682 votes. In Rajasthan, too, the Congress won three of the six seats which were with the BJP. Most important win for Congress in Rajasthan is Surajgarh where it had received 17,000 votes in LS polls. Today it received 70,000.
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Gujarat CM suffers setback
Ahmedabad, September 16 An angry Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah, who too was in his home state, reportedly demanded an explanation from Chief Minister Anandiben Patel for the party’s reverses in the byelections. Patel in turn asked the party organisation, particularly state party president RC Faldu, to submit a report explaining the reasons for the party’s unimpressive show in the byelections. Though the BJP maintained its hold on the Vadodara Lok Sabha seat by winning it again by a margin of over 3.29 lakh votes, the party’s defeat in three of the nine Assembly byelections is considered to be a major setback for Patel. Modi had won the Vadodara seat by a record margin of over five lakh votes in the general elections, but had later quit in favour of the Varanasi seat. The byelections was the first major test for Patel since she took over the mantle from Modi in May this year, but has failed to measure up to the popular support Modi had been enjoying from the people in the state for the past 14 years. The outcome of the last two rounds of the byelections - when the Congress won three of the seven seats in the state Assembly bypolls held along with the Lok Sabha elections in May and three of the nine seats now - have breathed a new lease of life into the Congress that was almost decaying having being far away from power almost at all levels of administration for the past two decades or so.
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In Assam, Cong, BJP, AIUDF share honours
Guwahati, September 16 While the Congress and the AIUDF retained Lakhipur and Jamunamukh constituencies, respectively, the BJP bagged Silchar, official sources said. AIUDF’s Abdur Rahim Ajmal won the Jamunamukh constituency, defeating his nearest Congress rival by a margin of over 12,000 votes. The Congress nominee for Lakhipur constituency, Rajdeep Goala, retained the constituency for the ruling party. In Silchar, BJP’s Dilip Kumar Paul comfortably clinched the seat from the Congress.
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NE state capitals to be on rail map in 5 years: Gowda
Guwahati, September 16 At present, capital cities of Guwahati in Assam and Agartala in Tripura are connected through the railway, while capitals of the rest of the five NE states are not on the railway network. Gowda said the process of expanding railway connectivity to the entire NE region was going on and the state governments of the region were cooperating well. Regarding the ongoing railway projects, Gowda said the construction of the two new lines had already been completed connecting Dudhnoi (Assam) to Mendipathar (Meghalaya) and Harmoti (Assam) to Naharlagun (Arunachal Pradesh). These lines are expected to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a date convenient for him. Regarding problems of security and law and order typical of the NE region that may throw up hurdles in timely completion of the railway project, Gowda said, “Law and order is a subject dealt in by the state governments and I am optimistic that problems, if any, can be sorted out across the negotiation table.” Regarding the under-construction rail-cum-road bridge over the mighty Brahmaputra River in Dibrugarh district of Assam, Gowda said the bridge was expected to be ready for use by June 2017 as works were going on in the right speed. The ongoing projects under the Northeast Frontier Railway are worth about Rs 54,000 crore and all these projects are expected to be completed within next five to six years. Out of the amount, around Rs 20,000 crore has already been spent. These ongoing projects include 21 new lines, seven gauge conversions and six double tracks. The minister said the railway would complete the gauge conversion work on the Lumding-Silchar section of the NF Railway within six months beginning October this year. The present meter-gauge track along this section would be rendered out of use from September 30 next. The Railway Budget this year has allocated Rs 5,400 crore for the northeastern region. The minister today visited the busy Guwahati Railway Station, the biggest one in the region, to take stock of passenger amenities, catering services, conditions of platforms and safety measures. Expanding connectivity
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Headless NHPC on downslide
New Delhi, September 16 The process for appointing the head of the NHPC could get delayed further as the government is not satisfied with the names proposed to the appointment committee. The PSU has been without a fulltime CMD for almost four years now, which has resulted in its performance going down. Union Minister Piyush Goyal has blamed anonymous complaints about prospective candidates to the Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB). When asked why there has been a delay in the appointment of NHPC CMD, the minister said, “The question which you have raised about
NHPC chairman, we have inherited it. For the past four years we hadn’t been in power. After assuming power, we found that in the past the problems aggravated because there were anonymous complaints against the candidates suggested by the PESB for the post of (prospective) CMD,” the minister said. Although Goyal had recently said efforts were underway to appoint a new head at the NHPC, there are reports that the government is set to ask the PESB to start the selection process all over again rather than extending the period of validity of the names it proposed to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) earlier. This would mean that NHPC could remain headless for another six months as PESB procedures require it to advertise the vacancy all over again, conduct interviews and finalise a panel of suitable candidates before short-listing two. The CMD post fell vacant in January 2011. Since then, the company has been run with officials and bureaucrats holding additional charge, resulting in delays in decision-making and implementation of projects. Officials said though the name of NHPC Director (projects) JK Sharma is with ACC for approval as the new CMD, delays in getting vigilance clearance is preventing a decision. The validity of the current PESB panel ends on September 29. Sharma emerged as the second-choice candidate after NHPC director (finance) ABL Srivastava was denied vigilance clearance. No vigilance clearance to candidates
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Govt has created right atmosphere: President
The president, who abandoned his written speech for an extempore talk during the Indian community reception in this historic city of Vietnam, also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for accomplishing a wonderful trip to Japan from where, he said, hopes of substantial Foreign Direct Investment are expected to be ploughed into India in the future. "After the new government (led by Modi) came out with a massive mandate they also worked out...of course, it is too early to formulate cogent policies for the full five years and get it reflected in the plan document and other documents but the first budget presented by the new government outlines some of the crucial policies and there is substantially continuity and there is change (in policy) where it has been found necessary to do it. "One very positive aspect is that there is possibility of substantial FDI which was an important outcome of the Prime Minister's visit to Japan. And it is expected that in the next five years, investment from Japan would be around USD 25-35 billion. "Also, we had a very good interaction with the Australian Prime Minister during his visit to India in the last week. Our Prime Minister is expected to have detailed interactions with US President Barack Obama and therefore the international atmosphere is favourable and I am (also) visiting Vietnam at this juncture when two fastest growing economies – India and Vietnam – are also engaged in having cooperation and interaction," he said. He also praised Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the lone representative of the Modi cabinet on this four-day state visit, for taking steps for bringing down the prices of crude oil. — PTI
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Modi's first visit
to Gujarat as PM Ahmedabad, September 16 Addressing the party workers after his arrival at the Ahmedabad airport and later at a felicitation function organised in his honour by the state BJP, Modi said the recently launched Jan Dhan Yojana asking the banks to compulsorily open accounts of those from the weaker sections to help them economically marked the main difference between his and the governments of the past. Speaking in his usual style of involving his audience by throwing up questions, Modi pointed out that the banks existed and so did the common man before him becoming the PM. He pointed out that small farmers were always “exploited” by the rich money-lenders but none of the governments in the past thought about any such scheme to stop it. “Has not the Jan Dhan scheme helped the small farmers to wriggle out of the exploitation?” he asked. “This is the difference between my government and the governments of the past. I could see this but they did not,” Modi said. Rejecting all criticism of his government’s slow start, Modi said he himself was a “very small man” and always lived for people like him. “My dream is to do something for the weak and poor and when they rise, you can only wonder where India will be,” he said. It was Modi's first visit to Gujarat after taking over as the Prime Minister in May. He was given a tumultuous reception at the Ahmedabad airport where Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, her Cabinet colleagues, BJP president Amit Shah and a large number of BJP workers fans received him.
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PM’s speech to be beamed live at Times Square
Washington, September 16 His speech at the Madison Square Garden in midtown Manhattan, New York, on September 28 will be shown at Times Square with Indian American Community Foundation (IACF), organisers of the mega event, signing a memorandum of understanding in this regard with Times Square Alliance. The speech, shown live on the giant screens of the Times Square — considered to be the hub of the New York City — would carry English subtitles. For the audio, people can either dial a toll free number to listen the speech live or download an app on their smart phone, people familiar with the event said. Modi is scheduled to address a 20,000 crowd inside the Madison Square Garden for which nearly 40,000 people had applied from across the nation.
— PTI
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SC raps medicos helping parents to have baby boys
New Delhi, September 16 The Bench made the observation after counsel for PIL petitioners informed the court that some of the doctors were trying to justify helping parents, who already had two girls, to have a boy. Expressing concern over the falling ratio of girl child in the country and the lack of implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition on sex selection) Act, 1994, the SC directed the Centre and the states to file comprehensive status reports within four weeks. The status reports “must reflect the sincerity and responsibility” with which the issue was being treated by the governments, the Bench said in the order. Jammu and Kashmir was granted six weeks for submitting the status report in view of the flood situation. The PILs would come up for next hearing on November 25. The Bench put specific queries to Additional Advocates General (AAGs) Manjit Singh Dalal of Haryana and Ajay Bansal of Punjab, the states with very poor ratio of girl children. Both of them pleaded that the ratio had started improving due to the steps taken by the authorities. The court took note of the contentions by PIL petitioners, including NGO Voluntary Health Association of Punjab, that the Central Supervisory Committee had not met for 14 months now. Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves and advocate Sanjay Parikh pleaded that the states should be directed to follow the Kerala model to improve the sex ratio by putting in public domain all the births and deaths. On March 4, 2013, the SC had delivered a verdict issuing 11 guidelines for checking female foeticide and the falling ratio of girl children in the country, particularly in Punjab, Haryana and UP. |
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Guilty officers can’t face retrial, Centre tells SC
R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, September 16 The apex court was basically questioning the logic behind virtually letting off the personnel, holding high ranks, with censures, reprimands or a fine of Rs 500. The AG, however, said mere conviction was sufficient to ruin the career prospects of such personnel, irrespective of the quantum of punishment, and as such censures and reprimands should be viewed as sufficient penalty. Further, the guilty officers were entitled to buy non-service weapons from the ordnance depot and sell these to persons holding licence for keeping arms after taking permission from the area magistrate. The only offence committed by them was the sale of weapons without the magistrate’s permission. Unconvinced, the Bench said army officers selling weapons for a profit could not be taken lightly. It asked the AG to find out whether there was a provision in the Army to take separate departmental action against the guilty officers, in addition to the court martial proceedings. Most of the government departments and banks were taking action against guilty officials through departmental proceedings even if they had been acquitted by courts, the Bench pointed out. Rohatgi said he would do that. The Bench was hearing a PIL filed by advocate Arvind Kumar Sharma in 2007, pleading for a CBI inquiry into such illegal sales. The AG also contended that the SC had no power to order retrial of the convicted officers on the PIL which had not even made a plea to this effect. Further, the officers were not a party to the PIL. The case would now come up for hearing on October 14. At the last hearing on August 26, the SC had questioned the Army’s wisdom in not extending the probe to all nine commands. It said the court martial conducted against the officers was an “eyewash.” The argument
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Delhi HC rejects PIL against Vadra, other developers
Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, September 16 A Bench comprising Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice RS Endlaw delivered the judgment, citing four reasons for rejecting the petition. Firstly, the allegations of corruption against Vadra and others were based only on newspaper reports without any effort by the petitioner, advocate ML Sharma, to substantiate these. Secondly, the Delhi HC did not have jurisdiction to order a probe into the complaints pertaining to Haryana and Rajasthan. Thirdly, the Supreme Court had already refused to entertain a PIL on the same issue and while doing so it did not grant any liberty to the petitioner to file another petition in any HC. Fourthly, the fact that most of the persons facing the allegations were residents of Delhi and their companies were headquartered in the national capital was no ground for filing the case in Delhi as the cause of action did not originate from here.
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Post-poll alliances legal, says Delhi HC
New Delhi, September 16 “Post-poll alliances cannot be declared as illegal on the ground of being contrary to the manifesto...and it is not within the domain of this Court to legislate or issue a direction making the manifesto a legally binding document,” Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice RS Endlaw held. The PIL petitioner, advocate MK Pandey, had contended that political parties that contested against one another were adversaries and as such no party could form the government with the support of its pre-poll opponents. The HC, however, cited Supreme Court verdicts on the scope of the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951. “The provisions of the RPA place no fetter on the power of the political parties to make promises in the election manifesto and that it is not for the Courts to legislate what kind of promises can or cannot be made in the election manifesto.” The HC also cited the government’s contentions against placing a ban on post-poll alliances. If this was done, the only option in the event of a hung Parliament or Assembly would be to go for fresh election “which is not a feasible or a practical solution as elections are held at huge costs and the country can ill-afford such repeated elections”. The government had also argued that the PIL was in fact against public interest, the HC noted. |
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Bansal seeks exemption on health ground
New Delhi, September 16 Bansal’s lawyer Puneet Ahluwalia moved an application before Special CBI Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma saying the Congress leader is suffering from viral fever and would appear before the court on the next date. “He (Bansal) is suffering from viral fever. He will appear whenever the court directs him to come,” he said. The court, however, said it would hear the application at 11.30 am, as it will record statement of one other CBI witness, who has appeared before it. Bansal, who resigned as Railway Minister after the case came to light, was named as a prosecution witness in the case in which his nephew Vijay Singla is one of the accused along with suspended Railway Board member Mahesh Kumar and others. — PTI
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Premature retirement no ground to deny disability pension: AFT Chandigarh, September 16 The petitioner, Brig AK Chatterjee, had been commissioned into the Army in 1968 and in 2001 he had suffered an eye injury while deployed under Operation Rhino. Consequently, he was placed in permanent low medical category with 40 per cent disability. In 2004, he took premature retirement to avail of higher commutation benefit, but because of this, he was denied grant of disability pension. The Tribunal observed that there was no dispute that his injury was directly attributable to military service and, therefore, the only issue was whether he was entitled to disability pension or not, regardless of the reason of retirement. — TNS
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MoD orders probe into missing file New Delhi, September 16 The file is missing from the MoD. The process to issue a Request for Proposal Information (RFF) has been initiated, sources in the MoD said, adding that a serious view has been taken of the lapse on part of the officials handling the file. Disciplinary proceedings will be launched against officials who are found responsible for the lapses in the initial probe. A total of 123 Hawks have been ordered in two phases. The planes are manufactured in India by the Defence Ministry-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) with the help of kits and equipment supplied by the British firm, BAE systems. This is not the first time that a file related to key procurements has gone missing. Three years ago, a file related to US $20 billion deal to procure 126 multi-role combat aircrafts had gone missing from the MoD. It was found later by a passerby from a locality in New Delhi and handed over to the police. — TNS
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