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People lobby for Padma awards: Ramdev

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baba-RAMDEV

New Delhi: Yoga guru Baba Ramdev sparked off a controversy on Saturday by saying lobbying for Padma awards is a known fact and those with political clout get it.

Ramdev said ‘politically influential people are successful in getting the awards.’

“The whole world knows that all awards from Padma Bhushan to Padma Shri are given to good people for their achievements but people do lobbying to get this award,” said Ramdev on the sidelines of an event.

Earlier this year, Ramdev had declined any Padma award for him after reportedly being considered by the government for the honour.

(IANS)

Tragic end of Salman Khan's bodyguard who died alone

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Ravindra Patil, key witness of the 2002 hit-and-run case which involves Salman Khan, where one man was killed and four other injured.

Ravindra Patil, key witness of the 2002 hit-and-run case which involves Salman Khan, where one man was killed and four other injured.

Mumbai: Ravindra Patil was once superstar Salman Khan’s side-kick, a young police officer assigned to protect Bollywood’s heavy-weight.

But fate took a cruel turn after the actor’s infamous 2002 hit-and-run case.

Actor Salman Khan’s conviction is perhaps a posthumous vindication for Ravindra Patil, the former’s bodyguard who consistently maintained until his death that it was Khan behind the wheel that night.

The Mumbai sessions court on Wednesday convicted the actor of killing one person and injuring four others in the 2002 hit-and-run case.

Patil was a Mumbai police constable who had been assigned as Khan’s bodyguard and was sitting beside the actor when he ran over five sleeping pedestrians, one of whom succumbed to his injuries.

The landmark judgment is not just a victory for the victims, but also in a way for Patil, who many feel had been let down by the judiciary and the state.

It was Patil who lodged an FIR (first information report) against Khan, and in his statement to the earlier court which heard the case, said he had warned the actor to drive slowly since he was in an inebriated condition.

However, Khan did not heed the warning, Patil had said.

Although, Patil was the one to file the case against Khan he mysteriously went missing in 2006.

It has been reported that Patil was under tremendous pressure to change his statement.

He had gone into hiding in order to avoid Khan’s lawyers and also alleged harassment from within the police force.

But Patil did not change his statement till the last day.

Ironically, Patil was arrested in 2006 for failing to appear as a witness and sent to prison.

In November that year he was sacked from the police force.

A witness was suddenly at the receiving end of it all. Life was dealing this grand witness blows after blows while Salman Khan delivered hits after hits at the box office.

Less than a year later, in August 2007, Patil was found on the streets and admitted to hospital where he died in October.

He had been suffering from tuberculosis for two years, and his family had abandoned him.

Indian tabloid Mid-Day reported that Patil had told a friend two days before his death that he was saddened by the treatment he had been subjected to.

“I stood by my statement till the end, but my department did not stand by me. I want my job back, I want to survive. I want to meet the police commissioner once.”

As the bodyguard battled for life the actor and police department choose to look the other way.

(Agencies)

IPL: Mumbai Indians climb to fourth spot with win over CSK

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Mumbai Indians

Chennai: Mumbai Indians jumped to the fourth spot in the Indian Premier League (IPL) standings with a crucial six-wicket victory over hosts Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in a group league match at the M.A Chaidambaram Stadium here on Friday.

With the win, Mumbai climbed to the fourth spot with 12 points from 11 matches. CSK despite the loss stayed at the summit place with 14 points after 11 games. It was CSK’s first loss at their home ground in this year’s IPL.

Chasing 159 to win, Mumbai got a smooth start with opener Parthiv Patel (45) and Lendl Simmons (38) combining effectively to get them to a strong position.

It looked doomed for the home team as Mumbai were looked set to cruise to a comfortable victory with no CSK bowler managing to trouble the openers.

But just when it seemed all over for CSK, spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2/17) struck twice in the 11th over to jolt the Mumbai march.

They made further inroads when the dangerous West Indian power hitter Kieron Pollard (1) was run out in the next over.

Mumbai then found it difficult to get going. Skipper Rohit Sharma (18) and Ambati Rayadu (34 not out) tried to build a partnership to keep Mumbai’s run-making process ticking.

But Rohit was dropped in the 16th over by du Plessis off the bowling of Bravo after getting fooled into making an expansive shot and getting beaten by a slower delivery.

The miss could have jeopardised CSK’s hopes of a victory. But the budding 39-run partnership was broken in the 18th over by Bravo when he again flummoxed Rohit into a false stroke to be caught in the deep by Suresh Raina.

Hardik Pandya (21) came to the crease and showing no signs of nerves struck three lusty sixes off left-arm spinner Pawan Negi’s 19th over to inch Mumbai closer to victory. The bowler went for 25 runs to extinguish CSK’s chance to win.

Earlier, league leaders Chennai Super Kings (CSK) posted a fighting total of 158 for five on a slow and low pitch.

CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat. They were on the offensive from the very start with opener Dwayne Smith (27) and Brendon McCullum (23) threatening to cut loose with aggressive shots.

But three quick wickets of McCullum, Suresh Raina (10) and Smith halted their progress

Faf du Plessis (17) and Dhoni (39 not out) resurrected their innings and gave them a necessary platform to accelerate in the slog overs in the sluggish pitch.

After du Plessis’ dismissal in the 16th over, Dhoni along with Pawan Negi (36) helped CSK post a fighting total.

Negi eclipsed Dhoni in power hitting, taking just 17 balls for his useful knock, studded with four boundaries and a six while Dhoni took 32 balls for his 39, hitting two fours and two sixes.

(IANS)

US's NSA labeled Al Jazeera journalist a member of Al Qaeda

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Al Jazeera Islamabad bureau chief Ahmad Muaffaq Zaidan put on watch list after years of reporting on terror groups

Ahmad Muaffaq Zaidan

by Common Dreams

The U.S. government labeled Al Jazeera journalist Ahmad Muaffaq Zaidan a member of al Qaeda and put him on a watch list of suspected terrorists, new reporting by the Intercept has revealed.

Zaidan, a Syrian national who serves as Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in Islamabad, Pakistan, was put on a watch list by the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2012, according to agency documents leaked in 2013 by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Among those documents are a PowerPoint slide from an NSA presentation which shows Zaidan’s face, name, terror watch list identification number, and a label that states he is a “member of Al-Qa’ida” and the Muslim Brotherhood. It also says he “works for Al Jazeera.”

As a journalist, Zaidan spent years reporting on the Taliban and al Qaeda, conducting several interviews with senior leaders in those groups, including Osama bin Laden.

“To assert that myself, or any journalist, has any affiliation with any group on account of their contact book, phone call logs, or sources is an absurd distortion of the truth and a complete violation of the profession of journalism,” Zaidan told the Intercept.

“For us to be able to inform the world, we have to be able to freely contact relevant figures in the public discourse, speak with people on the ground, and gather critical information. Any hint of government surveillance that hinders this process is a violation of press freedom and harms the public’s right to know.”

Read more at the Intercept.

WHO declares Liberia Ebola-free

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With no new cases reported in 42 days, WHO says West African nation is now free of disease that killed 4,700 there.

ebola

by Al Jazeera

Liberia has been declared free from Ebola after no new cases were reported for over a month, the World Health Organisation has said.

Peter Jan Graaf, the head of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency, urged vigilence until the worst-ever recorded outbreak of the virus was extinguished in neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone.

No new cases were reported in 42 days – twice the maximum incubation period for the deadly disease.

“We’re proud of what we collectively managed to do but we need to remain vigilant,” he said. “The virus is not yet out of the region and as long as the virus is in the region we’re still all of us potentially at risk.”

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said that Liberia’s completion of the WHO’s benchmark for the end of an Ebola epidemic should not lead to complacency.

“We can’t take our foot off the gas until all three countries record 42 days with no cases,” said Mariateresa Cacciapuoti, MSF’s head of mission in Liberia.

She urged Liberia to step up cross-border surveillance to prevent Ebola slipping back into the country.

A total of 11,005 people have died from Ebola in the West African countries of Liberia, neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone since the outbreak began in December 2013, WHO reported.

At least 4,700 of those have been in Liberia, where the outbreak peaked between August and October, with hundreds of cases a week, sparking international alarm.

Helped by the visible US military presence, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s government launched a national awareness campaign to stem the infectious disease, which is spread by physical contact with sick people.

Heightened surveillance

The UN Special Envoy on Ebola, David Nabarro, said this week that Liberian authorities had pledged to maintain heightened surveillance for at least a year after being declared Ebola-free on Saturday.

Nabarro suggested that, even though fewer than 20 new cases were reported in Guinea and Sierra Leone last week, it could take months to get to zero.

International aid organisations were forced to step in as the Ebola outbreak ravaged the region’s poorly equipped and understaffed healthcare systems.

MSF – which was highly critical of the slow response by the United Nations and western governments – opened the world’s largest Ebola management centre in Monrovia, with a capacity of 400 beds.

According to the WHO, a total of 868 health workers have caught the virus in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone since the start of the outbreak, of whom 507 died.

International Medical Corps (IMC), a charity that ran two Ebola clinics in Liberia, appealed for international support in rebuilding the healthcare system there in the wake of the virus.

“Now is the time to build on the momentum we have generated to strengthen the Liberian health system … and change attitudes to keep the people of Liberia safe long into the future,” said Anouk Boschma, IMC’s acting country director in Liberia.

Hosni Mubarak sentenced to three years in jail for corruption

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The former president of Egypt and two sons are also handed fines over embezzlement during his rule.

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was accused of ordering the killings of hundreds of people during the 2011 Arab Spring that resulted in his ouster.

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was accused of ordering the killings of hundreds of people during the 2011 Arab Spring that resulted in his ouster.

by Al Jazeera

An Egyptian court has sentenced ousted president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons to three years in prison for embezzlement.

Mubarak and his sons Alaa and Gamal were present in the caged dock on Saturday, wearing suits and sunglasses.

They had already been sentenced to three years on the same charges but an appeal court overturned the verdict and ordered a retrial.

The trio were also fined $16m.

Mubarak’s lawyers may try to appeal the verdict, the AFP news agency reported.

Supporters shouted in anger as Judge Hassan Hassanin announced his verdict and it was not immediately clear whether it will include time he has already served since his country’s 2011 revolt.

Some of those backing Mubarak wore T-shirts emblazoned with the former leader’s face. They waved and blew kisses as the 87-year-old entered the courtroom, according to the Associated Press.

Omar Ashour, a lecturer in Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, told Al Jazeera the sentencing would be seen as “nothing” by Egyptians who protested to end Mubarak’s rule.

“When we see the series of brutal abuses that happened under Mubarak in his 30-year reign, it will be seen as nothing, especially when we look at the trial happening now of former-President Mohamed Morsi,” he said.

“It tells you that there is very high politicisation of the judiciary.”

The corruption case, dubbed by the Egyptian media as the “presidential palaces” affair, concerns charges that Mubarak and his two sons embezzled millions of dollars worth of state funds over the course of a decade.

The funds were meant to pay for renovating and maintaining presidential palaces but were instead allegedly spent on upgrading the family’s private residences.

Mubarak was sentenced to three years, his sons to four in the case, prior to having the verdicts overturned.

The heaing, at a police academy on the outskirts of Cairo, took place in the same courtroom where Egypt’s first freely-elected president, Mohammed Morsi, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last month.

Karnataka HC to pronounce verdict on appeal filed by Jayalalithaa on Monday

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Jayalalithaa

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court will pronounce on May 11 its verdict on the appeals filed by former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa and three others challenging their conviction by the trial court in the disproportionate assets case.

“The Special Vacation Single Bench of Justice CR Kumaraswamy is constituted to sit in Court Hall No. 14 at 11:00 AM on Monday – the 11th May 2015 – for pronouncement of Judgment (in the appeals),” a high court notification said here tonight.

Special Court Judge John Michael D’Cunha had on September 27 last year held the AIADMK supremo and three others guilty of corruption and awarded four years jail term, due to which she attracted disqualification as an MLA.

The Judge had also slapped a fine of Rs 100 crore on her and Rs 10 crore each on three other convicts.

Challenging this, the four had filed appeals in the high court where a special bench was set up on the directions of the Supreme Court while granting her bail on December 18 last. The apex court had directed the high court to decide the appeal within three months.

Justice Kumaraswamy, who heard the appeals, had reserved the order on March 11 after defence counsel filed their replies challenging written submissions made by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, the original complainant in the case.

DMK General Secretary K Anbazhagan, on whose petition the assets case was transferred to Bengaluru from Chennai, had moved the Supreme Court challenging the appointment of G Bhavani Singh as Special Public Prosecutor by Tamil Nadu government for the appeals.

The Supreme Court had on April 27 cleared the decks for pronouncement of the judgement in the case. It held as “bad in law” the appointment of Singh but ruled out fresh hearing in the appeal against her conviction.

After the apex court order, senior advocate BV Acharya was appointed Special Public Prosecutor by Karnataka government and he had on April 29 filed a written submission in the high court praying for dismissal of appeals filed by Jayalalithaa and others.

Apart from Jayalalithaa, her close confidante Sasikala and the latter’s relatives Sudhakaran, erstwhile foster son of the AIADMK leader, and Elavarasi were also convicted.

They were charged with amassing wealth beyond known sources of their income during 1991-96 when Jayalalithaa was Chief Minister for the first time.

(Agencies)

Only 5-6 people held hostage in Chhattisgarh: Police

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Chhattisgarh

New Delhi/Raipur: Hours after reports of around 500 people being held “hostage” by Maoists in a Chhattisgarh village surfaced on Saturday, a senior police officer said such reports were a “fiction created by the media”.

“Reports of 400-500 people being held are a fiction created by media,” Inspector General (IG) of Bastar I.G Kalluri told mediapersons.

He said: “only five to six people have been held by the Maoists. We are negotiating with them to free the people”.

Meanwhile in Delhi, the home ministry also denied a hostage-like situation in the state.

“There is no hostage-like situation there. We have got the report that some labourers have gathered there at a construction site,” home ministry spokesman Kuldeep Singh Dhatwalia said.

“We are in constant touch with the officials from Chhattisgarh”, he added.

Earlier, media reports said around 500 people were on held captive by Maoists in Chattisgarh’s Marenga village when they were on their way to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Dantewada district.

Marenga is 350 km from Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur and 150 fm from Dantewada.

(Agencies)

CAG pulls up Defence Ministry on ammunition management in Army

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Pinaka: Army's multi barrel rocket launcher system

Pinaka: Army’s multi barrel rocket launcher system

New Delhi: Public accounts watchdog CAG today pulled up the Defence Ministry on the issue of ammunition management in Army, saying acute shortage of ammunition was a serious cause of concern directly impairing the operational readiness of the force.

“While availability of authorised stock against War Wastage Reserve (WWR) to meet the expected duration of operation formed the basic criteria for ensuring the operational readiness of the Army, we found during the review that against the WWR of 40 (I) days, the availability of ammunition was only in 10 per cent of the total types of ammunition held (March 2013).

“Further, in 50 per cent of the total types of ammunition, the holding was ‘critical’ i.e., less than 10 (I) days,” the Comptroller & Auditor General of India said in its report tabled in Parliament today.

The CAG said it observed that the overall holding had been continuously depleting over the years and was more prominent in high calibre ammunition, adding the percentage of high calibre ammunition, which was critical, ranged up to 84 per cent during the five years period of audit.

“To tide over the persistent acute shortages, the AHQ had set (1999) a minimum threshold of MARL (Minimum Acceptable Risk Level) 20 (I) days to be achieved first. We found that even after 15 years, the threshold of MARL could not be achieved. The acute shortage was a serious cause of concern directly impairing the operational readiness of the Army,” It said.

According to CAG , the inability of OFB to meet the demand of Army was a major cause for shortage of ammunition.

“OFB, which had a limited production capacity vis-a-vis the requirement of Army, accepted the targets for supply of ammunition covered under the Roll on Indent in mutual consultation with AHQ. It however, failed to supply the accepted quantities, and there was shortfall in 54 to 73 per cent types of ammunition.

“Shortfall in production capacity by the OFB was further compounded by high rate of RFR. In 71 out of 123 instances examined during audit, the percentage of items returned for rectification ranged from 20 to 100 per cent,” the CAG report said.

“We found that due to manufacturing defects ammunition worth Rs 1,618 crore was lying rejected in depots. Further, ammunition worth Rs 814 crore was declared unserviceable within shelf life due to its poor quality,” the report said.

“Overall serviceability state of the ammunition revealed that 17.5 per cent of total quantity of ammunition held was lying in segregated, repairable and unserviceable condition (March 2013). During the period covered in audit, ammunition worth Rs 3,578 crore was lying in segregated condition, due to delay in timely investigation.

“Further ammunition worth Rs 2,109 crore was lying in repairable condition due to routine failure of OFB in supply of repair components,” the report said, adding timely sentencing and repair of these ammunition would have improved the serviceability state of ammunition holding.

“Given the persistent shortfall in availability of authorised reserves, (Defence) Ministry should devise an objective and realistic mechanism, duly considering the capacity of ordnance factories, availability of budget and inescapable requirement of the Army to ensure that the operational requirements of the Army are fully met,” the CAG said in one of its several recommendations on the issue.

(PTI)

FIR against MP Pratap Simha for allegedly threatening Mangaluru journalist

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Pratap Simha

Pratap Simha

Mangaluru: A complaint has been lodged against Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha for having allegedly threatened a Mangaluru-based journalist.

The complaint has been lodged at Kadri police station here by journalist Shreyas, resident of Boluvar in Puttur taluk, currently working for a city-based news portal.

With regard to the 2002 hit-and-run case, in which noted cine actor Salman Khan was convicted of culpable homicide among other charges by the sessions court on Wednesday, the columnist-turned-politician Pratap Simha had uploaded a post on his Facebook timeline in support of the actor who’s contribution to the industry and needy “outweighed his unintentional but terrible mistake.”

In the post, he also batted for introduction of the proposed Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2014 to put stringent traffic norms into place.

The complainant Shreyas said that he had conversed with the MP in this regard and sought his statement over a phone call. He had also made a news report on the subject quoting the MP, which was published in the news portal he worked for. He had also quoted a few critics of Pratap Simha.

However, on learning of the news article, MP Pratap Simha is alleged to have threatened the journalist and also used filthy language over phone.

In this regard, a complaint was lodged by the journalist on Friday, and an FIR was registered by Kadri police subsequently on Saturday morning.

Memorandum

On Saturday, a delegation of mediapersons, including the complainant, submitted a memorandum to Dakshina Kannada Additional Deputy Commissioner demanding appropriate legal action against the Mysore-Kodagu MP for his misbehaviour and life-threat to a journalist.

A similar memorandum was submitted by the delegation to Mangaluru City Police Commissioner on Saturday.

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