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2G scam : CBI submits status report on Maran in SC

The agency also said investigation against Essar Group was still on and it will take another two weeks to complete it.

CBI, which filed a fresh status report in a sealed cover about the progress of the investigation, said the preliminary inquiry on the alleged involvement of Maran in 2G scam has been completed and letters rogatory (LR) have been dispatched to Mauritius.

"The preliminary inquiry with regard to Maran has been concluded and FIR has to be registered against everyone. A few more days needed for the FIR and can be lodged by month-end," senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for CBI, told a bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly.

Venugopal said there was delay in filing the third charge sheet in the case as the investigation was still on against Maran and Essar Group for allegedly creating a front company, Loop Telecom, for "illegally" securing the licence for 2G spectrum.

Essar Group has denied allegations of wrongdoing in the scam contending Loop Telecom was not its front company and even had got a clean chit from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Venugopal, who read the portion of the status report about the probe on Maran's role, said CBI has written a letter to a particular company abroad and the follow-up will take place:

CBI on Wednesday submitted its status report on Dayanidhi Maran's alleged role in the 2G spectrum scam in the Supreme Court. According to the CBI sources, the agency told the Supreme Court that the probe against Essar-Loop company and DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran in the 2G case, is still on. An FIR against Maran would be filed by the end of this month
The JPC examining the 2G scam on Tuesday took exception to Finance Ministry's "attempts to supress facts" by not submitting to it the controversial internal note on the issue and decided to summon Finance Secretary R S Gujral for an explanation.
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A typhoon strikes Philippines

A powerful typhoon has struck the Philippines, triggering floods and cutting power in the capital Manila and throughout the main island, Luzon. Typhoon Nesat also forced the closure of the Philippine Stock Exchange and the US embassy, and the ground floor of Manila's main hospital was flooded. At least seven people have been killed, including several children.

As Nesat approached, the authorities ordered the evacuation of more than 100,000 people in central Albay province. Nesat made landfall just before dawn on Tuesday in the eastern Isabela and Aurora provinces on the Pacific coast.

The storm - with a diameter of 650 kilometre and wind gusts of up to 170 kilometre per hour made its way across Luzon. Many roads have been flooded and flights cancelled, and local media have urged people against non-essential travel.

There is waist-deep flooding in parts of the capital. The typhoon is expected to continue slowly across the country, before blowing across the South China Sea towards southern China on Thursday.

Mod puts on hold joint venture of MDL

Mod puts on hold joint venture of MDL -Government to bring out a policy on formation of JVS soon : Antony Describing the 26/11 incident as a watershed moment for the country’s defence establishment, the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony today said we have come a long way since then. Addressing the meeting of the Consultative Committee attached to his ministry here, Shri Antony said he had asked the Navy to prepare a comprehensive action plan for the security of our Island territories as well.

Shri Antony said the country’s defence policy is based on our own threat perception. He said a sensitive and dangerous neighbourhood has created a complex security environment. Added to this is international trade and energy requirements which necessitate that we have to ensure secure sea lanes of communication.

Giving details of the massive efforts that have been made by the government to beef up coastal security, Shri Antony said the capital expenditure for the Indian Navy and Coast Guard has been doubled in the past three years following the 26/11 tragic incident.

The Defence Minister did not agree with the suggestion that India should follow a policy of hot pursuit against Somalian pirates. Shri Antony said ‘that’s not our policy’. He said twenty Navies of the world are operating in the Gulf of Aden and India is also cooperating with them. He, however, emphasized that a joint effort under the aegis of the United Nations may yield better results.

The Defence Minister also informed the Members that the ministry had decided to put on hold the joint venture of Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) till a policy on JVs is put in place by the Government. Shri Antony said the ministry will study the complaints received from some private shipyards regarding the JV. ‘The issue needs to be fully examined and settled before any forward movement takes place on this front. He also said that JVs must compete for contracts and should not get them on nomination basis. Shri Antony said we are treading on a new path and we would like to ensure that transparency is maintained at all levels.

The meeting was attended among others by Shri Naveen Jindal, Shri Shivaji Adhalrao Patil, Shri Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, Shri Harsh Vardhan, Shri Lalit Mohan Suklabaidya, Shri Gopal Singh Shekhawat, Dr Janardhan Waghmare, Shri Balwant Alias Bal Apta, Shri HK Dua, Shri Ishwarlal Jain and Shri Piyush Goyal.

The Defence Secretary Shri Shashikant Sharma, Secretary Defence Production Shri Shekhar Aggarwal, Vice Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral RK Dhowan, DG Coast Guard Vice Admiral Anil Chopra, Senior officials of the Ministry of Defence, Navy and Coast Guard attended the meeting.

 

Delhi Metro system to get carbon credits

Delhi Metro has been certified by the United Nations as the first metro rail-based system in the world to get carbon credits. The carbon credits have been given to Delhi Metro for contributing to the fight against climate change by help reducing pollution levels in the city by 6.3 lakh tonnes every year.

Delhi Metro  helped remove more than 91,000 vehicles from the roads of Delhi daily. With nearly 20 lakh people taking the new age transport system every day, the Metro has helped reduce pollution and emission of green house gases as it is a completely non-polluting and environment-friendly system.

Odisha, the flood situation still alarming

Odisha, the flood situation remains alarming in most of the northern and coastal areas. Major rivers like Baitarani, Brahmani and Subarnarekha are flowing above the danger level and rising.

Five teams of National Disaster Response Force, NDRF, comprising 155 personnel have been deployed for rescue and relief operations. The relief teams have already started evacuating the marooned people to safer places.

Thousands of people are marooned. The situation in Jajpur, Kendrapada and Bhadrak districts, which were hit by the first-phase flood in the Mahanadi river system only a few days ago has worsened.

Blackmoney SC bench differs on Centre's plea on SIT

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Friday gave a split verdict on the maintainability of government's application seeking recall of the apex court order on constitution of an SIT to probe blackmoney cases.

The order was passed by a bench comprising justices Altamas Kabir and S S Nijjar on the Centre's plea for recall of the court's 4th July decision.

While justice Kabir pronounced his verdict in favour of the government, saying the Centre's plea was maintainable, Justice Nijjar refused to hear the application, saying it is not maintainable.

In view of the split verdict, the bench referred the matter to the Chief Justice for constitution of a larger bench to decide the maintainability of the Centre's plea.

The apex court had on 4th July recast the high-level committee, formed by the Centre earlier to track blackmoney stashed away abroad, by setting up a Special Investigation Team and making ex-apex court judges B P Jeevan Reddy and M B Shah as its chairman and vice-chairman respectively.

The others in the 13-member SIT are directors of CBI, Intelligence Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, Chairman of CBDT, Director General of Revenue Intelligence, Director General of Narcotics Control, Director of Foreign Intelligence Office (FIO) and Joint Secretary of Foreign Trade, besides the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) Director.

The apex court had recast the Centre's high-level committee expressing dissatisfaction over the pace of its functioning and saying the money stashed away reveal a degree of "softness of the State".

The Centre subsequently moved the apex court, seeking recall of its order.

But the apex court, before going into the merits of the Centre's application, had agreed to adjudicate whether it is maintainable as senior advocate Ram Jethmalani and others questioned its maintainability.

The Centre had in its recall application contended that the SIT was formed without being prayed for.

It has also questioned the Court's remarks that probe into the issue of black money stashed abroad was moving at a "laggardly pace".

During an earlier hearing, the Centre had also told the bench that the SIT set up by the apex court to probe and unearth black money needs to be scrapped as the investigating agency cannot function like a "super power."

Sensex tanks 704 pts global hammering

Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange at its biggest single-day loss in over 26 months, plunging 704 points, or 4.1 percent, to 16,361, today. The Sensex had lost 232 points at the day's high and fallen 749 points at the day's low. The Nifty at the National Stock Exchange plummeted 210 points, or 4.1 percent, to 4,924. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices slid 3.1 percent, each.  The BSE clocked a turnover of 2,805 crore rupees on its cash segment.

All the BSE sectoral indices ended in the red. The Realty index was the leading loser, sinking 5.7%. The Metal index plummeted 4.3%; the Oil and Gas and the Teck indexes plunged 4.1%, each; the Bankex, and the Auto, the IT, the Capital Goods and the Power indices tumbled about 3.8%, each; the Consuner Durables index slid 3.4%; the FMCG and the PSU indices declined about 2.6%, each; and the Healthcare index slid 2.2%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries tumbled 6.5%. Offshore oil services providers declined as crude oil prices fell. Aban Offshore, Great Offshore, SEAMEC, Jindal Drilling and Dolphin Offshore shed between 0.2% and 8%. Larsen & Toubro fell 4.9%, although the company tody said it has bagged a 700-crore rupee order in Oman.
Banking majors, ICICI Bank plunged 5%. SBI declined 4% on likely weak Q2 results as the bank's advance tax payment declined 14%.

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Delhi govt officials to face salary cut on failure to deliver service on time

Delhi govt officials to face salary cut on failure to deliver service on time

Govt officials in Delhi will no longer be able to delay services to citizens as a long-pending legislation seeking greater accountability in the public services delivery will come into force from Thursday.
Seen as a major reform in service delivery mechanism initiated by Delhi Government, the legislation fixes financial penalty in the range of Rs 10 to Rs 200 a day for failing to respond to citizens' plea within the stipulated time-frame.
Although Delhi Assembly passed the'Delhi Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services Bill' in March this year, its implementation comes close on the heels of Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement and demand for a Citizens' Charter for government departments.

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Government to bring back stranded Burmese fishermen

Government to bring back stranded Burmese fishermen

Thursday, 15 September 2011

New Delhi (Mizzima) – The Myanmar Fisheries Federation says the Burmese government has negotiated with the Indian government to bring back 135 Burmese fishermen who were adrift at sea and have been stranded in Port Blair in Andaman Island.

“Originally, the authorities planned to send them back to Burma via an Indian coast guard ship. But the plan was delayed, so Burmese authorities are negotiating to bring them back to Burma via airplane,” said Win Kyaing, the general-secretary of the fisheries federation.

Three Burmese fishermen who were stranded in India for 10 years after a storm at sea. Photo: Mizzima

He said that the exact date had not been set.

About five months after the Indian government informed Burmese authorities that the marine workers had been rescued by its navy following a storm, officials began plans to bring them back. Most of the fishermen are from Pyapon township.

Most of the workers were adrift on their tiger-shaped rafts after a sudden storm in the Gulf of Martaban in March 2011. A few others were stranded earlier in the year. The fisheries federation said that more than 480 fishermen are still missing.

“We have had no clues for a long time, so I think they will be placed on the list of the deceased,” a fisheries official said.

Because of the March storm, 3,600 rafts from Twante, Kawhmu and Kungyangon townships in Rangoon Region and Labutta, Pyapon, Dedaye and Bogalay townships in Irrawaddy Region were damaged. An estimated 16,268 fishermen were adrift at sea, according to the federation.

“The Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries gave the lists of the names of the fishermen [who are missing] to the relevant ministries of the countries located along the coast of the Indian Ocean,” said Win Kyaing.

Congress discusses strategy for upcoming UP Assembly polls

Congress today discussed the strategy for upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections scheduled early next year. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of the party president Sonia Gandhi.
Party sources disclosed that party has finalised the candidates on seventy seats while 28 other seats were also considered. The new list will be out in few days.-Congress declared the names of 73 candidates last month. Sources also said five new members Rahul Gandhi, Veerappa Moily, B K Handique, Girija Vyas and Mukul wasnik have been included in the Central Election Committee.

Nitish orders probe into Nalanda lathicharge

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a probe by AGP(headquarter) Rajyavardhan Sharma into the police lathicharge on locals in Nalanda and immediate suspension of policemen found involved in it.

"Legal action must be taken against those found guilty," he ordered and asked Director General of Police to view TV footages and take legal action against policemen found to be involved in it.

He also asked Sharma to visit the spot and submit a report immediately on the situation.

Meanwhile, Nalanda superintendent of police Jitendra Rana suspended a constable Vibhuti Jha and a homeguard Nageshwar Pandey in this connection.

Over 12 people, including some women, were injured in police lathicharge to disperse a mob which indulged in stone throwing, arson and road blockade near Noorsarai police station in the district on Wednesday demanding immediate tracing of judicial secretary (Panchayat) Reena Devi missing since 24^th August.

The women were brutally assaulted by the policemen when the irate mob gathered near Noor sarai police station.

The incident had occurred in the presence of DIG (central range) Vineet Vinayak and Rana.

Three Judges Appointed to the Supreme Court of India

Three Judges Appointed to the Supreme Court of India In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint (i) Shri Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya, Chief Justice, Gujarat High Court, (ii) Smt. Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, Judge, Bombay High Court, and (iii) Shri Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Chief Justice, Karnataka High Court, in that order of seniority, to be the Judges of the Supreme Court of India with effect from the dates they assume charge of their offices.

Justice issues of Kandhamal, Dalit Christian-at meeting of National Integration Council

Justice issues of Kandhamal, Dalit Christian demands raised at meeting of National Integration Council">[The following is an abridged version of the points raised by Dr John Dayal, Secretary General, All India Christian Council, at the meeting of the National Integration Council at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on Saturday, 10 September 2011. The Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, chaired the meeting moderated by Union Home Minister Mr. P Chidambaram. Mr. L K Advani, BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitely, Defence minister A K Anthony, chief ministers of Orissa and other States, leaders of the Congress and other parties, leading industrialists were among the Members of the NIC present.Mr. Prime Minister, Honourable Union Ministers, Honourable Chief Ministers, distinguished Membersfor the speedy recovery of the injured. Above all, we pray eternal peace and prosperity for India, our motherland.We ourselves are victims of a different sort of socio-political terror, the terror of communalism. Our data shows we are targetted across the country with at least one incident a day of hate-motivated violence at some town or village, in one state or the other. Some states are worse than others. Among the worst are Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, and districts such as Udaipur in Rajasthan. In many states, the local police and administration are  complicit. Often their actions and impunity blatantly encourage local violent elements. In Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh for instance, local police and administrative coercion and threatening of prayer services in homes, or house churches as they are called, almost immediately leads to acts of physical violence. Not every church has to be a large Cathedral. Jesus said “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I will be  there”. That is the basis of house churches, small Christian communities and Basic Christian Communities as they are called in the Evangelical, Episcopal  and Catholic denominations respectively.

Such targetting, intolerance and officially conducted  so-called “surveys” and demands for “registration” of churches must end forthwith. It does not happen with believers of other faiths, and it must Not happen with Christians.

Hate campaigns must also end. We have identified, as I am sure the governmetns' intelligence agencies must also have identified, the origin of such hate from  the headquarters of certain political groups who want India to be rid of its religious minorities, or wants them to live as second rate citizens. We are first class citizens, much  as everyone else, and seek our rights, the first of which is security so that we can enjoy that other right – freedom of faith and worship. Government must take urgent steps to train its police and administrative  personnel in the principles of secularism, and sensitize them on the needs of all minorities, and the Christian minority in particular.

The Targetted and Communal violence [prevention, reparation and justice] Bill  2011 drafted by the National Advisory Council seeks to ensure this. We still feel the Bill needs some fine-tuning on issues of protecting India’s federalism and the autonomy of States.. We also specifically seek Christian representation in the structures it envisages. We commend its early adoption by government and its enactment as law after checking the Constitutionality of every clause and sub clause.

It may come as a surprise to some, but our community also has its share and more of the poor and the deprived. The Dalit Christians are one such group. They must be restored their constitutional rights at the earliest as recommended by the Justice Rangnath Misra Commission. Other poor, specially among the tribals and the rural landless and fishermen,  must be identified and receive the assistance of the Government’s many schemes. For this it is important they first be identified. We have repeatedly demanded a Prime Minister’s Committee, on the pattern of the Justice Sachchar Committee set up for the Muslims,  to look into the socio economic and developmental status of the Christian community across the country. Such a  survey will help the Church generate its own development strategies. And it will help the government implement its secular agenda of development.

There must also not be any confrontation and conflict between the educational rights guarantees for minorities in the Constitution, and the new Right to Education Act. Across the country, our educational sector is facing harassment in recent months with local authorities trying to intimidate school managements.

In the drafting of the 12^th plan, we have suggested several measures for the uplift of those of my brothers and sisters who are deprived, in education, hostel facilities, employment and self employment. I commend those recommendations made to the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Planning Commission. They must form part of government policy and must be implemented.

I close with reflecting on the many lapses that have taken place in ensuring justice, rehabilitation and reparation to the Christians of Kandhamal district in Orissa.  Kandhamal saw an anti Christian pogrom in August, September and October 2008 and it seemed that the Connotation of India was not operative in that distant plateau in the centre of Odisha. Over 56,000 people were rendered homeless, over 5,600 housed destroyed, almost 300 churches torched, nuns raped. There was other and significant gender violence. According to our count, and the government differs, more than 90 persons lost their lives. Men and women lost livelihood and homes, jobs and fields. Children lost opportunities of education. Many villages banned the entry of Christians if they did not convert to Hinduism. Three years on, justice in the real terms remains a dream despite two Fast Track Courts which are known for witnessing the terrorizing of witnesses. Government aid for reconstruction was timid and small. The church helped out. But even then more than 2,000 houses remain unbuilt. It is shocking but many people have not been able to return home. Education, jobs, agriculture opportunities are missing. Even in the cases of murder, there has been no punishment in over 20 cases because the witnesses were scared or paid off. Sometimes  their terrorizing took place in court, as I have witnessed personally.

Justice must be done, Dear Prime Minister and Dear Chief minister of Odisha. We look to you for justice.I thank you for this opportunity to address the National Integration Council.”

All India Christian Council

RZ 61, 4th Floor, Palam Vihar, Sector 6, Dwarka, New Delhi 110075, Telefax – 011-25084561

Bopanna-Qureshi in US Open semi finals

The fifth seeded Indo-Pak pair of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi entered the semi-finals of the men's doubles event of the US Open defeating the British pair of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins in a gruelling three-setter on Friday.At the end of the 135-minute battle, the Indo-Pak Express prevailed with a scoreline reading 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 in their favour.The duo will now take on the Polish pair of Marcin Matkowski and Maruisz Fyrstenberg who defeated Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi on Thursday.It has been second year in a running that the pair of Bopanna-Qureshi has done well at Flushing Meadows, having reached the final the last time, eventually losing to the Bryan brothers.It was indeed a tough fight for the Indo-Pak duo but their winning percentage of 85 percent on first serves proved to be decisive.Although the winners made more unforced errors they also ensured that on half a dozen occasions, they were on the verge of breaking the British pair.But they were only successful on three occasions while the British pair only got four shots and converted three of them.

Two of the breaks they got were in the second set when Bopanna and Qureshi looked out of sorts.

Industrial Production Growth Rate

CBI arrests mining King Janardhan Reddy, Srinivas Reddy

Mining baron and former Karnataka Minister G Janardhan Reddy and Managing Director of Obalapuram Mining Company B V Srinivas Reddy on Monday arrested by CBI. CBI sought remand for further investigation amid allegations of mining irregularities being taken to place questioning.4.5 crore cash, gold seized;A 15-member CBI team from Hyderabad conducted searches at Janardhana Reddy's house and claimed to have seized Rs three crore in cash and over 30 kgs of gold, official sources alleged.

A sum of Rs 1.5 crore was also seized from the residence of Reddy's brother-in-law Srinivasa Reddy, who is also the Managing Director of the company owned by the Reddy family, they claimed.

"Janardhana Reddy and Srinivasa Reddy have been arrested under Prevention of Corruption Act ", CBI DIG P V Lakshminarayana, who is heading the team, told reporters in Bellary.

The arrests came in connection with the cases filed by CBI against the Reddy brothers in Andhra Pradesh, the sources said.

Even as the CBI team escorted the Reddys to Hyderabad, the agency continued searches at Janardhana Reddy's residence in Bellary and Bangalore.

PM, His-ministers declare their assets

PM, ministers declare their assets

Sep 4, The Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers have made their assets, liabilities and business interests of their spouses and dependents public. The details volunteered by the ministers were posted on the PM’s website.

The assets of Dr. Manmohan Singh and his wife are worth 5.11 crore rupees which include a residential house in Chandigarh and a flat in Delhi. The term desposits in various banks total about 3.22 crore rupees. The Prime Minister also owns a 1996 make Maruti 800 car. The declaration says that he has no agricultural and non-agricultural land.

Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath and his family tops the list with a networth of 263 crore rupees. This includes Kamal Nath and his family's business interests in 25 companies.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony has the least assets worth 1.82 lakh rupees while his wife owns assets worth about 40 lakh rupees.

Home Minister P Chidambaram and his wife have assets to the tune of 23.67 crores. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has assets worth 1.8 crore while Agriculture Minisgter Sharad Pawar has assets worth 12.45 crores.

AIR correspondent reports that the then Cabinet Secretary Mr K M Chandrasekhar had requested all the ministers to submit the details by August 31. The letter had drawn attention to the code of conduct for ministers and sought details of employment also of their spouses and dependents.