Archives for January 2021

The move is part of preventive vigilance to check corruption at locations where public dealing takes place, they added

NEW DELHI: The CBI conducted surprise checks at 20 Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns in Punjab and Haryana on Friday after getting a number of complaints regarding alleged irregularities, officials said.

The move is part of preventive vigilance to check corruption at locations where public dealing takes place, they added.

The action started jointly with vigilance teams of the FCI at about 20 locations in the two states, the officials said.

NEW DELHI: The coronavirus-induced suspension of scheduled international passenger flights has been extended till February 28, aviation regulator DGCA said on Thursday.

“However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation added.

Scheduled international passenger services have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But special international flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under bilateral “air bubble” arrangements with selected countries since July.

India has formed air bubble pacts with around 24 countries including the US, the UK, the UAE, Kenya, Bhutan and France.

Under an air bubble pact between two countries, special international flights can be operated by their airlines between their territories.

The DGCA circular also said that the suspension does not affect the operation of international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by it.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader’s remarks come after the Ghaziabad administration gave an ultimatum to the agitating farmers to vacate the UP Gate protest site by Thursday midnight.

NEW DELHI: AAP leader Sanjay Singh on Thursday said the party stands with farmers agitating against the Centre’s contentious farm laws and its leaders will “voluntarily” court arrest if the police will try to forcibly remove peasants from protest sites.

He said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal spoke to Bharatiya Kisan Union’s (BKU) national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait who told him that the water supply to the UP Gate protest site in Ghaziabad had been cut.

The Rajya Sabha MP further said the party would raise the issue in Parliament.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader’s remarks come after the Ghaziabad administration gave an ultimatum to the agitating farmers to vacate the UP Gate protest site by Thursday midnight.

However, Tikait remained adamant, saying he would commit suicide but won’t end the stir.

So far, three farmer unions have withdrawn their protest against the Centre’s farm laws over the violence in Delhi on Republic Day that left a protester dead and nearly 400 police personnel injured.

Singh said the AAP stands with the protesting farmers.

“If there is violence against farmers and the police try to forcibly vacate the protest sites, the AAP will intensify protests and AAP leaders will even voluntarily court arrest,” he said.

Tikait told Kejriwal that the water supply to protest sites has been cut and toilets have been removed, the senior AAP leader said.

“AAP will raise the issue in Parliament,” Singh said.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at various border points of Delhi, including Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding the repeal of the new farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops.

NEW DELHI: Noida Police has registered FIR against eight people including Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and six journalists–Rajdeep Sardesai, Mrinal Pandey, group editor of National Herald, Zafar Agha, chief editor of Quami Awaz, and editors of The Caravan magazine Paresh Nath, Anant Nath, Vinod K Jose for allegedly misreporting, provoking, and spreading communal disharmony during the clashes between the police and protesting farmers on Republic Day.

The FIR has been registered under various sections of Indian penal code (IPC) dealing with sedition and for promoting enmity between different groups, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace, incite violence, and criminal conspiracy.

The complainant Arpit Mishra, a 35-year-old resident of Noida, accused them of broadcasting offensive, misleading and provocative news that the police had killed a protestor driving the tractor. The accused also retweeted news in question through their social media handle, the FIR further says, which was lodged at Sector 20 police station.

“The complaint is being examined and action as per the law is being taken,” said a press statement by the Noida Police.

The FIR says that the accused acted in a prejudiced manner which jeopardised national security and public safety.

“As part of a conspiracy, the accused planned riots in the national capital with intention to kill public servants and incite violence….It is known fact that despite provocative activities by rowdy elements and injuries to large number of police personnel, the police force acted with restraint and control the violators with professional efficiency,” the complainant in the FIR says.

Sardesai, consulting editor with India Today group, on January, 26 tweeted that a farmer Navneet Singh was allegedly killed in police firing during the tractor rally. However, Police said the farmer died after his tractor overturned.

“The accused in a well-planned manner conspired with each other to spread the wrong information about the death of a farmer in police firing. It was intentionally done to incite riots at large scale and create tension among communities. The riots and tension certainly affect countries along the international border…because of their tweets protestors reached Red Fort and installed their religious and other flags where the national was hoisted,” the FIR also says.  

KOLKATA: Indian cricket board chief Sourav Ganguly’s health condition is stable and he had a good sleep on Thursday night, while doctors are planning to carry out requisite medical examinations on him on Friday, a senior official of the hospital where he is admitted said.

The former India captain underwent another angioplasty on the previous day.

Two more stents were implanted to clear his clogged coronary arteries.

“Sourav Ganguly’s health condition is stable. He had a good sleep at night. All his vital parameters are normal. Doctors will carry out necessary tests on him in the morning.”

“Senior doctors will carry out a thorough checkup following which a decision will be taken whether to move him to another ward

The 48-year-old cricket icon was in the ICU on Thursday night following the angioplasty conducted by a team of doctors including noted cardiologist Dr Devi Shetty and Dr Ashwin Mehta.

His oxygen support has also been removed, the official said.

Ganguly was hospitalised on Wednesday for the second time in a month due to his cardiac condition.

He had suffered a mild heart attack earlier this month and was diagnosed with Triple Vessel Disease.

He had undergone an angioplasty procedure during which a stent was inserted to clear a blocked artery.

The farmer leaders who have been named in the FIRs will also be asked to surrender their passports.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police will issue look out circulars against farmer leaders who have been named in FIRs registered in connection with the violence that broke out during farmers’ tractor parade in the city on Republic Day, officials said on Thursday.

The farmer leaders who have been named in the FIRs will also be asked to surrender their passports, they said.

The decisions were taken following a series of meetings chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah since Tuesday when the large scale violence took place in the national capital during the farmers tractor rally, an official from the Home Ministry said.

Shah has been continuously monitoring the situation in Delhi and held meetings even late in the night on Wednesday and again early on Thursday, the official said.

Directives have been given to the Delhi Police to take immediate actions against the accused farmer leaders, he said.

A look out circular is issued against an accused from preventing for travelling abroad.

The Delhi Police has registered 25 FIRs, including against over 30 of the 40 farm union leaders who were involved in talks with the central government.

Thirty-seven farm union leaders, including six spokespersons of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), have been named in an FIR registered at the Samaypur Badli police station, in Outer Delhi.

The six SKM spokespersons who have been named are Jagjit Singh Dallewal, president, BKU (Sidhupur); Balbir Singh Rajewal, president, BKU (Rajewal); Darshan Pal, president, Krantikari Kisan Union; Rakesh Tikait, president, BKU; Kulwant Singh Sandhu, general secretary, Jamhoori Kisan Sabha; Yogendra Yadav, president, Swaraj Party India.

Others who have been named in the FIR are Boota Singh Burjgill, president, BKU Dakaunda; Nirbhai Singh Dhudike, president, Kirti Kisan Union; Ruldu Singh Mansa, president, Punjab Kisan Union; Inderjit Singh, president, Kisan Sangharsh Committee among others.

One of the FIRs, on the Red Fort incident, names Punjabi film actor Deep Sidhu and Lakhbir Singh Sidhana alias Lakha Sidhana, gangster-turned-politician and president of the Malwa Youth Federation.

The Delhi Police on Wednesday had alleged that farmer leaders made inflammatory speeches and were involved in the violence during the tractor parade by agitating farmers that left 394 of its personnel injured, as it warned that no culprit will be spared.

Addressing a press conference here, Delhi Police Commissioner S N Srivastava said farmer unions did not follow conditions set for the rally that was supposed to be held from 12 PM to 5 PM with 5,000 tractors and accused them of betrayal.

Tens of thousands of farmers broke barriers to storm the national capital on Tuesday, their tractor parade to highlight their demands dissolving into unprecedented scenes of anarchy as they fought with police, overturned vehicles and delivered a national insult hoisting a religious flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort, a privilege reserved for India’s tricolour.

The action against the farmer leaders came as Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava alleged that several of them made inflammatory speeches and were involved in the violence.

NEW DELHI: A day after violence during the tractor parade, the Delhi Police has named 37 farmer leaders, including Rakesh Tikait, Yogendra Yadav and Medha Patkar, in an FIR that mentioned charges of rioting, criminal conspiracy and attempt to murder among others, officials said.

The action against the farmer leaders came as Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava alleged that several of them made inflammatory speeches and were involved in the violence.

Police said that the role of farmer leaders will be investigated in connection with the violence that left 394 security personnel injured and a protestor dead.

So far 25 FIRs have been filed, they said.

According to the FIR registered at Samaypur Badli police station against unknown persons, the protestors robbed the official pistol with 10 rounds of ammunition along with two tear gas guns during the violence.

The farmer leaders named in the FIR include Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav, Darshan Pal, Gurnam Singh Chanduni, Rakesh Tikait, Kulwant Singh Sandhu, Satnam Singh Pannu, Joginder Singh Ugraha, Surjeet Singh Phool, Jagjeet Singh Dalewal, Balbir Singh Rajewal and Harinder Singh Lakhoval.

Those found guilty would be punished strictly, an official said.

The FIR mentions multiple IPC sections, including 307 (attempt to murder), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 353 (assault/criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 120B (Punishment of criminal conspiracy).

In one of the FIRs, a Delhi Police cop claimed that some protestors tried to kill him by ramming their tractor into the barricades.

A police official claimed that number plates of some tractors were hidden during their rally.

Addressing a press conference, Shrivastava claimed farmer unions did not follow conditions set for the rally that was supposed to be held from 12 PM to 5 PM with 5,000 tractors and accused their leaders of betrayal.

He alleged that some farmer leaders like Satnam Singh Pannu and Darshan Pal gave inflammatory speeches.

Thereafter protesters broke barricades.

By January 25 evening, it became clear that they were not keeping their words.

They brought forward the aggressive and militant elements who occupied the stage and delivered provocative speeches, he said.

The farmer leaders alleged that “anti-social” elements had perpetrated the violence to “torpedo” their peaceful agitation against the farm laws as part of a “conspiracy”, and demanded a probe.

According to police, 394 police personnel were injured while 30 police vehicles and 428 barricades were damaged in the violence.

DTC driver Praveen Kumar suffered injuries in the riot and was admitted at ESIC Model Hospital, Basaidarapur, it said.

The FIR said that the protestors and their leaders, with their pre-planned objective of not following the mutually agreed route and the timing of the commencement of the so-called parade of the protestors and disrupting the Republic Day parade, resorted to the incident.

Their gathering was also in violation of the COVID-19 guidelines.

Police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse the protestors.

However, the mob started throwing back the tear gas shells towards the police, the FIR stated.

The national capital witnessed clashes between protesters and police during the tractor parade by farmers on the Republic Day to press their demand of repealing three new agri laws.