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New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu for the next 10 days to ameliorate the plight of farmers.
The apex court has asked Tamil Nadu to approach the supervisory committee for release of Cauvery water in line with a tribunal’s order.
The Supreme Court has directed the supervisory committee to decide Tamil Nadu’s plea in 10 days from today.
(Agencies)
Meerut: In yet another heart-rending incident, a woman ran from one hospital to another with her daughter’s body and was forced to spend a night outside the emergency wing of the district hospital with the dead child after ambulance drivers allegedly refused to take them to their village as it was in another district.
It comes just days after the disturbing incident reflecting hospital apathy in Kanpur, where a man was allegedly made to take his ailing son on his shoulders from one department to another by the doctors and the child finally died.
Two-and-a-half-year-old Gulnad, a resident of Baghpat district, was suffering from a viral infection and undergoing treatment at P L Sharma government hospital but on Thursday night, her condition deteriorated and doctors referred her to Lala Lajpat Rai Medical College (LLRMC) Hospital here.
Her mother Imrana took her to the LLRMC hospital where doctors declared her brought dead.
Imrana alleged that for two hours she pleaded with the hospital ambulance driver to take the body to her village Gauripur but he refused, saying he is not allowed to travel to other districts.
Expecting help from district hospital authorities, Imrana took the body to the district hospital in a private ambulance after paying Rs 200 but there also she was denied ambulance service.
Imrana claimed that she requested the doctors at the hospital for hours to get ambulance service and when she contacted the hospital ambulance driver, he refused to go to her village stating that it is in another district while private ambulances demanded Rs 2,500 for the journey which she did not have.
According to Imrana, she, with her daughter’s body on her lap, spent the night outside the emergency wing of the hospital.
The next morning, some people present there chipped in and hired a private ambulance to take the body to her village.
Meanwhile, District Magistrate, Meerut, Jagatraj Tripathi said, “This incident has not come to my notice yet. But I will order an investigation into it.
“Whoever is found guilty will be punished. I’ll ask the chief medical officer, the additional director that these type of incidents should not happen,” he added.
In similar shocking incidents in Odisha, a man was forced to carry his dead wife on shoulder after being denied a hearse by the hospital authorities while another had to walk miles carrying his seven-year-old daughter’s body as the ambulance transporting them allegedly left them midway.
(PTI)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court today quashed criminal proceedings against cricketer M S Dhoni for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by portraying himself as God on a magazine cover.
A bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi granted the relief to Dhoni after noting that the trial court in Karnataka erred in summoning the cricketer without following the due procedure of law.
“We interfere with the order of the High Court and quash the proceedings including the summoning order against the accused… we have taken note of the complaint and the offence alleged while passing this order” the bench said.
On September 14, last year, the apex court had stayed the criminal proceedings against Dhoni on a complaint lodged for allegedly portraying himself as Lord Vishnu on a magazine cover page.
The court had also stayed the operation of the order of Karnataka High Court which had refused to stall the criminal proceedings against him.
Dhoni had filed the Special Leave Petition challenging the Karnataka HC order. The complaint, filed by social activist Jayakumar Hiremath, had alleged that Dhoni was seen on the cover of a business magazine as Lord Vishnu, holding several things, including a shoe in his hands.
Taking cognisance of the complaint, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) had directed registration of a case against Dhoni under section 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) along with 34 (common intention) of the IPC.
(Agencies)
Mumbai: Days after Union Ministry of Home Affairs suspend a Joint Secretary and his subordinates for the online renewal of Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik’s NGO, the colleagues of the victims petitioned Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi to convey that great injustice had been done to the honest officers.
The Joint Secretary, G.K. Dwivedi, a 1993 batch IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh cadre was suspended along with two Under Secretaries and a section officer on September 2 for alleged dereliction of duty.
One of the officers Kumar Alok who met the Home Secretary said, “We rate him as an officer of highest level of integrity, he has implemented so many projects including the merger of PIO-OIC card that was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Madison Square in U.S in 2014.”
Another official said that the online system, through which Dr. Naik’s NGO — the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) licence was renewed does not have any provisions for “red-flagged” NGOs.
“There is no manual interface. While the red flagging is manual, the renewal of licence is electronic. Great injustice has been done to him but we believe in the system that it will be corrected,” said a senior home ministry official.
It is learnt that Mr. Dwivedi had written on several occasions to the National Informatics Centre, the government’s web services organisation to upgrade the software to reflect the NGOs, which had adverse reports against them or had been sent inspection notices.
“He is a victim of his own reforms. This online system to weed out corruption from FCRA wing was spearheaded by him. Had everything been renewal, this goof up would have never happened,” said another official.
Dr. Naik’s IRF was sent an inspection notice on August 8 and the automatic renewal of licence was done on August 19. Another official said that one of the suspended Under Secretary — Deepak Kumar had also sought transfer from the FCRA wing on several occasions owing to the risks involved with the division.
The Home Ministry had switched to an online renewal system for FCRA registered NGOs earlier this year and the idea was to reduce the human interface after several complained of bribes sought by officials to renew their licences.
(Agencies)
More than 300 people evacuated amid fears of forced demographic changes around the capital.
![More than 300 people were evacuated from the besieged Damascus suburb of Moadamiyeh on Friday [Reuters]](https://i0.wp.com/nasheman.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Moadamiyeh.jpg)
More than 300 people were evacuated from the besieged Damascus suburb of Moadamiyeh on Friday [Reuters]
Buses carrying more than 300 Syrians left the besieged Damascus suburb of Moadamiyeh on Friday, in the first stage of a deal that will enable the government to retake control of the rebel-held area.
In the first stage of the deal, 303 people, including 62 gunmen who agreed to lay down their arms and accept a presidential amnesty deal, were bussed out of the area and taken to the nearby government-controlled town of Horjelah, according Syrian state news agency SANA.
The Moadamiyeh agreement comes just a week after a deal was struck in neighbouring Daraya that brought about the full evacuation of the suburb, a move heavily criticised by the international community as forced displacement.
Those who left Moadamiyeh on Friday were originally from Daraya, having fled heavy bombardments earlier in the year.
“The heroic acts of the Syrian army in Daraya led to the achievement in Moadamiyeh,” Alaa Ibrahim, the governor of rural Damascus, told Syrian state TV.
Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Gaziantep on the Turkey-Syria border, said the concept of “forcing deals on local populations” has been criticised by the United Nations and the international community as something “that would give the government precedent to continue starving its own population into surrender”.
The UN’s Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura voiced concern that the Daraya agreement was part of a larger strategy by the government to empty rebel enclaves and that it may soon be extended to other areas.
There are “indications that after Daraya we may have other Darayas,” he told reporters in Geneva on Thursday.
“There is clearly a strategy at the moment to move from Daraya” to other besieged areas “in a similar pattern”.
Jan Egeland, the UN humanitarian chief, said the UN humanitarian task force for Syria had “failed the people of Daraya”.
The UN has underlined that it was not consulted on the Daraya deal, and described the evacuation of the suburb as a forced displacement.
In the second stage of the Moadamiyeh deal, rebels who refuse to hand over their weapons will be forced to leave the suburb, probably to rebel-controlled Idlib province.
It was not clear when the second stage would be implemented or when government security forces would take over control of the suburb.
The deal was reportedly reached on Tuesday in a meeting between Moadamiyeh’s local council, government officials and Russian military officers at the army’s 4th Armoured Division headquarters in the mountains on the southern outskirts of Damascus.
“It wasn’t a negotiation or a conversation, it was a threat,” Moadamiyeh-based media activist Dani Qappani told Al Jazeera. “They basicallly told us: ‘Either surrender or we burn Moadamiyeh.'”
“They know the situation here. There’s little to no food or medical supplies,” said Qappani, adding that residents of the besieged suburb could not hold out much longer.
“Once they finish evacuating people of Daraya who are living here, they’ll try to begin the process of surrendering arms and dismantling the revolutionary establishments inside the city.”
In the second stage of the Moadamiyeh deal, rebels who refuse to hand over their weapons will be forced to leave the suburb, probably to rebel-controlled Idlib province.
It was not clear when the second stage would be implemented or when government security forces would take over control of the suburb.
The deal was reportedly reached on Tuesday in a meeting between Moadamiyeh’s local council, government officials and Russian military officers at the army’s 4th Armoured Division headquarters in the mountains on the southern outskirts of Damascus.
“It wasn’t a negotiation or a conversation, it was a threat,” Moadamiyeh-based media activist Dani Qappani told Al Jazeera. “They basicallly told us: ‘Either surrender or we burn Moadamiyeh.'”
“They know the situation here. There’s little to no food or medical supplies,” said Qappani, adding that residents of the besieged suburb could not hold out much longer.
“Once they finish evacuating people of Daraya who are living here, they’ll try to begin the process of surrendering arms and dismantling the revolutionary establishments inside the city.”
The Delhi Police on Saturday booked former Aam Aadmi Party minister Sandeep Kumar on charges of rape at the Sultanpuri Police Station in New Delhi. Kumar has reportedly reached the DCP office in Rohini, New Delhi to surrender.
Meanwhile, the woman who lodged the complaint against Sandeep Kumar has been taken for a medical test. She alleged in her complaint that the CD was made after Kumar became a minister. The woman claimed she had gone to meet Kumar for his help in getting a ration card. She was asked to wait at the minister’s office and then offered a cold drink which was allegedly spiked, the sources said.
After she lost consciousness, she was allegedly raped. The woman claimed she did not know a CD had been made, they said. Sanjay Singh, Joint Commissioner (Northern range), said that the victim’s statement was being recorded.
A case under IPC section 376 (rape) has been registered, police said.
The Aam Aadmi Party suspended its MLA and ex-minister after a raging controversy over an ‘objectionable CD’ which showed him in a compromising position with a woman. Earlier this week, Kumar, who handled the Women and Child Welfare ministry in the Delhi government, was sacked from the cabinet.
“In a high-level meeting held on Saturday morning, the party suspended primary membership of Sandeep Kumar,” AAP’s Delhi convenor Dilip Pandey told the media. A further decision on terminating him from the party will be taken later, he added.
The 36-year-old MLA from Sultanpur Majra said he was targeted for being a Dalit. Speaking to reporters, Kumar had said, “Like Eklavya was pulled down,when people from our community rise, some plot is hatched to destroy us.” He also said that “plot was hatched” ever since he installed Dr. Ambedkar’s statue and it was happening because “he is poor and Dalit.” He alleged the tape was fabricated.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders met police chief Alok Kumar Verma on Thursday and asked him to conduct an inquiry against the Kumar. A senior police officer said that after the inquiry, he could be booked under Section 354C (voyeurism) of the Indian Penal Code.
(Agencies)
Banner: M A Entertainment & Trinity Films
Producers: Ali Unwala & Mudal Unwala
Director: Anwer Khan
Star Cast: Arbaaz Khan, Jimmy Shergill, Devanshu, Pooja Chopra, Bruna Abdullah, Maushami Udeshi, Zarina Wahab, Vijay Patkar et al
Music: Avishek Majmudar & Badri Lacewala
Director Anwer Khan’s earlier debutante outing in Four Two Ka One, not to be confused with SRK’s earlier film one Two ka Four, was nothing much too rave about or rather Anwer Khan’s totally forgettable directorial debut, that was almost half a decade ago. And now with his latest offering Yea Toh Two Much Ho Gaya he has religiously albeit blindly followed in the footsteps of his directorial Guru namely the late Man Mohan Desai so much so that he has even named his identical twin brothers character as Man (Jimmy Shergill) & Mohan (again Jimmy Shergil). Need I say anything more?
The scripted scenario kicks off with Man (Jimmy Shergill) having a great time with his girl friend Mina (Bruna Abdullah) in Thailand. So what if, as he claims, he had gone there to become something. Never mind! Mohan (again Jimmy Shergill) lives with his mother (Zarina Wahab) in a village in India and he does not have any work except fighting off people with his lath (Bamboo Stick) and even he too is romancing with his girl friend Tina (Pooja Chopra) much to the chagrin of her brother Chaudhary (Murli Sharma) who in turn is having a rollicking affair with another village woman (Mausami Udeshi). In Thailand Man has an altercation with the Don Mack’s (Arbaaz Khan) brother (Devanshu), beats him black & blue and clicks a selfie with him and sends it to the don. Then Man leaves Thailand and comes to India. While to escape a rape charge Mohan leaves India and lands up in Thailand and thence begins a rollicking journey of fun & frolic.
Kudos to director Anwer Khan for packing in every commercial potboiler ingredient to make Yea Toh Two Much Ho Gaya a real mass entertainment splash. Which bears the typical MKD films stamp in each & every scene or rather frame of the film. So go ahead watch the film leaving your brains behind at home a la the Govinda – David Dhawan flicks.
Performance wise Jimmy Shergill & Vijay Patkar, both in their career best 1st time ever dual roles of their career, steal your heart. Next in line Arbaaz Khan has made tall claims that this film will prove to be a turning point of his career. Really! Yea Toh Two Much Ka Bhi Much Much ho Gaya!!! While amongst the girls Pooja Chopra gives a lively performance added with a lot of spunk, Bruna Abdullah cannot act for nuts as Jimmy Shergill keeps reminding her constantly in the film in the garb of her Hindi diction and Maushami Udeshi too seems to be the die – hard fan of Bruna Abdullah in the histrionics department.
Tail Piece: All said & done Yea Toh Two Much Ho Gaya is a well – intentioned film for the masses.
New Delhi: CBI today carried out searches at the residences of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and a sitting UPSC member along with 18 other locations in a case of alleged irregularities in acquisition of land in Gurgaon in which farmers were cheated to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore.
CBI sources said besides Hooda’s residence, premises of the then Principal Secretary M L Tayal, UPSC member Chattar Singh, both former IAS officers, and a serving IAS SS Dhillon were also searched by the team.
“In an ongoing investigation, CBI carried out searches at 20 locations in Rohtak, Gurgaon, Panchkula and Delhi in connection with alleged irregularities in the purchase of land from farmers in Gurgaon,” CBI Spokesperson R K Gaur said.
The agency had registered the case last year in September on allegations that private builders in conspiracy with unknown public servants of Haryana Government had purchased around 400 acres of land from farmers and land owners of village Manesar, Naurangpur & Lakhnoula, District Gurgaon at throw away prices, showing the threat of acquisition by the government, during the period August 27, 2004 to August 24, 2007.
It is alleged that in this process, initially, the Haryana Government had issued a notification under the Land Acquisition Act for acquisition of land measuring about 912 acres for setting up an Industrial Model Township at Villages Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnoula in Gurgaon.
After that, all the land had allegedly been grabbed from the land owners by private builders under the threat of acquisition at meagre rates, CBI had said after registration of the case.
It is alleged that an order was also passed by the the competent authority i.e. the Director of Industries on August 24, 2007 releasing this land from the acquisition process and the land was released in violation of the government policy, in favour of the builders, their companies and agents, instead of the original land owners.
The CBI has alleged in its FIR that in the said manner, land measuring about 400 acres whose market value at that time was above Rs 4 crore per acre approximately totalling about Rs 1,600 crore approximately was allegedly purchased by the private builders & others from the innocent land owners for only about Rs 100 crore.
It was alleged that a loss of Rs 1,500 crore was caused to the land owners of village Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnoula of Gurgaon.
(PTI)
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today issued its second attachment order for assets worth Rs 6,630 crore against beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya as it seized his farmhouse, flats and FDs in connection with its money laundering case against him and his associates.
The agency had recently expanded the probe in this regard as it took over investigation into the alleged loan default of Rs 6,027 crore availed from a consortium of nationalised banks led by SBI, a case also taken over by CBI recently.
The fresh action is an aftermath of the new case.The total attachment made by the agency in this case has now shot up to Rs 8,044 crore as it had attached assets worth Rs 1,411 crore few months back.
The provisional attachment order, issued under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), said it has ordered for seizing a farm house in Mandwa in Alibaugh worth Rs 25 crore, multiple flats in Kingfisher tower in Bengaluru worth Rs 565 crore, fixed deposits of Mallya with a private bank to the tune of Rs 10 crore and shares of USL, United Breweries Limited and Mcdowell Holding company, jointly held by the liquor baron and UBHL and his controlled entities, worth Rs 3,635 crore.
“The total attachment under today’s order is worth Rs 4,234.84 crore but the present market value of these properties and assets is Rs 6,630 crore approximately,” the agency’s order said.
The agency alleged these assets were the “proceeds generated out of criminal activity” of the alleged default of bank loans as it claimed Mallya “criminally conspired” with Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) and United Breweries Holdings Limited to obtain funds through the consortium of banks and out of this total amount, the principal fund of Rs 4,930.34 crore “still remains unpaid.”
“In addition, huge number of shares were also being held in the name of various other group companies controlled directly or indirectly by Mallya. Hence, it appeared that even though sufficient funds were available with the promoters of KFA– Mallya and UBHL– they had no intention to make payment towards the bank loans from the consortium banks.
“They deliberately and intentionally kept the huge number of shares approximately worth Rs 3,600 crore pledged with UTI Investment Advisory Services Ltd and other financial institutions without substantial underlying liabilities and thus kept the consortium in dark,” the ED said in the order, accessed by PTI.
(PTI)
New Delhi: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Friday told the Supreme Court that “personal laws cannot be re-written in the name of social reforms.”
Submitting its response in connection with the ongoing matter on the ‘triple talaq’ issue, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board said, “Personal laws cannot be challenged as violative of Part III of the Constitution.”
“When serious discords develop in a marriage and husband wants to get rid of wife, legal compulsions and time consuming judicial process….in extreme cases husband may resort to illegal criminal ways of getting rid of her by murdering her. In such situations Triple Talaq is a better recourse,” AIMPLB told the apex court.
“Marriage is a contract in which both parties are not physically equal. Male is stronger and female is a weaker sex. Securing separation through court takes a long time deters prospects of remarriage,” it added.
The AIMPLB further said that polygamy as a social practice is not for gratifying men’s lust, but it is a social need.
“Muslim women have right to divorce under Khula practice. Issues of Muslim Personal Law are raised in the Supreme Court are for Parliament for decide. The Uniform Civil code is a directive principle and not enforceable. The personal laws are protected by Article 25, 26 and 29 of the Constitution as they are acts done in pursuance of a religion,” it added.
The apex court had last week issued notice to the Central Government on the plea of a Muslim woman challenging the Constitutional validity of ‘triple talaq’ to end a marriage.
The petitioner Ishrat Jahan has sought a declaration from the apex court, saying that Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, was unconstitutional as it violated fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14 (equality), 15 (non-discrimination), 21 (life) and 25 (religion) of the Constitution.
In her petition, Jahan has asked whether an arbitrary and unilateral divorce through triple talaq can deprive the wife of her rights in her matrimonial home as also her right to have the custody of her children.
A batch of petitions is being heard by a bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and notices have already been issued to the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and others.
However, this is not the first such type of petition that has been presented before the Supreme Court as Uttarakhand-based Shayara Banu and the Rashtrawadi Muslim Mahila Sangh through its president Farah Faiz have raised similar queries.
On July 29, the apex court had favoured a wider debate on the petitions challenging the validity of triple talaq.
All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) president Shaista Ambar has demanded abolishing of the triple talaq system.
Talaq-e-bidat is a Muslim man divorcing his wife by pronouncing the word “talaq” more than once in a single tuhr (the period between two menstruations) or in a tuhr after coitus or pronouncing an irrevocable instantaneous divorce at one go (unilateral triple-talaq).
The Centre has set up a high-level committee to review the status of women in India and according to reports has recommended a ban on the practice of oral, unilateral and triple talaq (divorce) and polygamy.
(Agencies)