New Delhi: The much-awaited national civil aviation policy that seeks to strengthen regional connectivity and tap the sector’s high growth potential was Wednesday cleared by the Union Cabinet.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the policy is a “game changer” and that the country’s aviation sector is poised to become the world’s third largest by 2022.

The policy has been finalised after nearly eight months since the Ministry came out with the revised draft in October 2015 and follows many rounds of deliberations with stakeholders. The NDA government had for the first time unveiled the policy draft in November 2014.

“NDA government clears India’s first ever integrated National Civil Aviation Policy. This will be a game-changer for the sector,” Raju said in a tweet.

In another tweet, the Minister said India would be the third largest civil aviation market by 2022. “To achieve this, we need right intentions, vision, planning and execution,” he added.

Significantly, India’s domestic air traffic market logged the fastest growth in the world for the 13th consecutive month in April. The market grew at nearly 22 per cent during the month.

“India’s domestic traffic soared 21.8 per cent, marking the 20th month of double-digit traffic growth and the 13th consecutive month it has led the domestic markets,” global airlines body, International Air Transport Association (IATA) had said last month.

Initially, the policy was expected to be finalised in the last financial year as certain proposals were to be in effect from April 1, 2016.

However, the government had been moving back and forth on the policy seeking to sort out the differences among stakeholders including on 5/20 norm.

In the run-up to the framing of policy, various provisions including the issue of international flying norm witnessed extensive debate, with legacy carriers opposing any changes to the rule, while start-up airlines frantically demanding its scrapping.

Significantly, AirAsia Berhad –a key stakeholder in AirAsia India had recently said that it was confident of the Government scrapping the norm.

“…the ruling (5/20 norm) is expected to be revoked along with a new National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) to be introduced in the near future, given massive lobbying against it,” AirAsia Berhad said in its 2015 annual report released yesterday.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: BJP Karnataka President B S Yeddyurappa has landed in a controversy after a video purportedly showing him telling a police official not to harass some Hindu youths in a murder case in Hassan district went viral.

“You have already arrested 14-15 Hindu youths. A few more are being tortured. Please don’t do such things in future. It won’t be nice, situation in Arsikere may get disturbed, peace may get disturbed,” he is seen speaking to Hassan district Superintendent of Police Rahul Kumar Shahapurwad in the video footage.

Congress Spokesperson Brijesh Kalappa, who posted the video on his Facebook, has accused Yeddyurappa of trying to “influence” the course of investigation into the murder case.

Kalappa also charged that Yeddyurappa was giving a threat to the SP, who was only trying to do his job. As a public servant, the BJP leader was doing a “wrong thing.” “It is a clear indication that Yeddyurappa wants to influence the course of investigation,” he alleged.

Violence had erupted in Arsikere following the murder of 24 year-old Emanuel Varun, who was stabbed to death on 29 May with some shops being attacked in the fallout of the incident. The video of the murder had gone viral.

Police said differences between two groups of youths had led to the murder and there was no communal angle to it.

According to police, Varun’s friend had differences with one of the arrested persons in the murder case regarding running of a gym in the town. When Varun and his friend raised the issue with another person, the latter’s friend allegedly stabbed him.

Eleven people have been arrested in connection with the murder and another 13 over the violence that followed the crime. Among those arrested, a few are said to be associated with Hindu groups.

“We have made all arrests based on the evidence available. We have the video footage of violent incidents in which the arrested accused participated,” the SP said.

A delegation of BJP leaders led by MLC Bhanu Prakash had met Shapurwad recently and complained that police had arrested a few innocent people in the case.

(PTI)

New Delhi: Polling is being held today in the crucial election to 27 Rajya Sabha seats in seven states, with a keen contest on cards in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Haryana.

While 30 of the total 57 seats in the current round of biennial elections to the Upper House have already been decided without a contest, the fate of candidates for the remaining 27 seats will be decided by this evening when the results will be announced.

Polling began at Assembly premises in the state capitals at 9 AM and will continue till 4 PM.

In Haryana, where polling is being held for two seats, Union Minister Birender Singh from BJP is assured of a comfortable win. Independent candidate R K Anand has got the backing of Congress and its rival INLD, making it an uphill task for media baron and BJP-backed Independent candidate Subhash Chandra.

In Uttar Pradesh, where elections are being held to 11 seats, interest is centred around a fight between former union minister Kapil Sibal and BJP-backed independent socialite Preeti Mahapatra.

Sibal will need the support of BSP, which has 12 votes more than necessary for the success of its own candidates Satish Chandra Mishra and Ashok Sidharth.

BSP supremo Mayawati has maintained suspense over her party’s support in Uttar Pradesh. But Sibal can draw heart from the fact that she has already extended backing for a Congress candidate in Madhya Pradesh by promising one vote required for senior Supreme Court lawyer Vivek Tankha, fielded by Congress.

Congress has 29 MLAs and needs the backing of five more to see Sibal through.The ruling SP has fielded seven candidates including Amar Singh and Beni Prasad Verma, who both rejoined the party recently, and Reoti Raman Singh. Its seventh candidate is, however, short of 9 first preference votes. SP has been promised backing by Ajit Singh-led RLD which has 8 MLAs.

The BJP has fielded Shiv Pratap Shukla, who is sure to get elected on its own 41 MLAs, and has offered 7 surplus votes to Mahapatra.

Karnataka, where four seats are up for grab, is poised to witness a battle between the ruling Congress and the JD(S). Union Minister Nirmala Seetharaman of BJP, who needs just one vote more than the party’s strength of 44, and former union ministers Jairam Ramesh and Oscar Fernandes of Congress are sure of victory.

With 122 members, Congress has a surplus of 33 votes after ensuring the victory of Ramesh and Fernandes. It has fielded former senior IPS officer K C Ramamurthy as its third candidate for which it requires 12 more votes.

With 40 members, dissidence-hit JDS is in an unenviable position as five MLAs have virtually raised a banner of revolt amid reports that they might indulge in cross voting to help Congress.

JDS needs five more votes for its candidate B M Farooq, a corporate personality, to sail through but is struggling to keep the herd together. Allegations of bribing JD(S) and Independent MLAs marred the polls in Karnataka though the Election Commission rejected demands for cancelling them.

In Madhya Pradesh, while ruling BJP, which has 164 votes, is assured of victory of its candidates M J Akbar and Anil Dave, a fight is on for its third candidate Vinod Gotia, who faces a tough challenge from Vivek Tankha of Congress, as he needs 10 more than the 48 surplus votes his party has.

A candidate in Madhya Pradesh needs 58 votes for victory. Tankha, whose party Congress has 57 votes, appears comfortably placed after BSP announced the backing of its four MLAs.

Rajasthan is another state where Congress, with 24 MLAs, has forced a contest by backing an Independent candidate Kamal Morarka. A candidate needs 41 votes to win.

With 160 members in Rajasthan Assembly, the BJP is certain of victory of Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, its Vice President Om Prakash Mathur, former RBI official Ram Kumar Sharma and Harsh Vardhan Singh, a member of the erstwhile Dungarpur royal family.

The fourth BJP candidate needs only four more votes to sail through, which the party expects to get from two MLAs of National Unionist Zamindara Party and three Independents.

In Jharkhand also, a close contest is possible where a united opposition can upset the ruling BJP’s calculations. But its first candidate and Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is sure of victory.

The BJP has 43 MLAs on its own and enjoys the support of six more MLAs of its allies.

JMM supremo Shibu Soren’s son Basant is pitted against BJP’s Mahesh Poddar. However, if Congress (6), RJD and rest of the opposition come together and back the JMM candidate, Basant can look at victory.

Uttarkhand, where election is only for one seat, Congress nominee Pradeep Tamta is set to sail through needing just two additional votes apart from his party’s 26 and ally PDF’s six.

(Agencies)

The Election Commission has declared that polling for four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka will be held as scheduled on June 11 at the state’s secretariat.

“In seven states, including Karnataka, the (biennial) election will be held on June 11 to fill the four seats in the Rajya Sabha, as the six-year term of the three outgoing lawmakers’ lapse on June 30,” said the poll panel in a statement here on Thursday.

As the number of seats (four) to be filled are more than the three falling vacant on June 30, owing to the retirement of the sitting members, one seat has been vacant following the resignation of (industrialist) Vijaya Mallya on May 4.

With five nominees, including three from the ruling Congress and one each from the BJP and Janatal Dal-Secular (JD-S) being in the fray, election has become inevitable.

The candidates are Oscar Fernandes, Jairam Ramesh and K.C. Ramamurthy (all Congress), Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman of the Bharatiya Janata Party and B.M. Farooq of JD-S.

Though the JD-S sought countermanding or postponing the polls by three weeks following a sting operation by two English national channels last week, showing that the seats were on sale as a quid pro quo for the votes of the nine independents and members of the regional outfits having one or two lawmakers in the assembly.

The lawmakers featured in the sting appeared to have indicated that funds for development of their constituencies were offered in lieu of their voting for a particular party candidate, although the ruling party denied the charge.

Each candidate requires 45 votes to be elected to the upper house of Parliament form the southern state.

In the 225-member legislative assembly, which is the Electoral College for the RS election, the ruling party (Congress) has 123 members, BJP 44, JD-S 40, independents 9, BSR-C 3, KJP 2, SKP 1, KMP 1, speaker 1 and nominated 1.

As Congress has 123 lawmakers, election of the two former central ministers (Fernandes and Ramesh) is certain, while its third nominee (Ramamurthy) will need 12 more votes, as the party will have only 33 surplus votes for him.

Similarly, with BJP’s 44 votes, Sitharaman is expected to sail through with one more vote from any one lawmaker of its regional allies BSR-C and KJP, which have five members in the lower house.

Farooq, however, needs five more votes to win as his party (JD-S) has only 40 lawmakers in the house and if all of them cast their votes to him.

With more than five JD-S ‘rebel’ lawmakers, including Zameer Ahmed and N. Cheluvaraswamy threatening to vote for the Congress third candidate (Ramamurthy), Farooq will find the going tough to reach the magical 45 figure.

Though all the three parties will be issuing a whip to its lawmakers to vote for their respective candidates, there are fears of cross-voting in the secret ballot exercise by some lawmakers of Congress and JD-S.

(IANS)

New Delhi: Five men were today sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court for gangraping a 52-year- old Danish woman at knife-point near the New Delhi railway station two years ago.

Additional Sessions Judge Ramesh Kumar awarded the jail term to convicts Mahender alias Ganja (25), Mohd Raja (25), Raju (23), Arjun (21) and Raju Chakka (30).

“For the offence of section 376 D IPC, all the convicts are sentenced to life imprisonment,” the judge said while pronouncing the order.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 83,000 each on Raju and Raju Chakka, Rs 93,000 each on Mahender and Mohd Raja and Rs 1,03,000 on Arjun respectively.

The court has held these five men guilty for the offences under IPC sections 376 (D) (gang rape), 395 (dacoity), 366 (kidnapping), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention).

Besides sentencing these convicts for the offence of gangrape, the court also awarded varying jail terms to them for other offences for which they were held guilty.

According to the police, the nine persons, all vagabonds, had robbed and gangraped the Danish tourist at knife-point on the night of January 14, 2014, after leading her to a secluded spot close to the Divisional Railway Officers’ Club near the railway station.

The sixth accused, 56-year-old Shyam Lal had died in February this year and proceedings against him were abated.

Three other accused in the case are juveniles and inquiry against them is in progress before the Juvenile Justice Board.

Before commencement of proceedings today, the convicts were taken out of the courtroom and were frisked by the police on the direction of the judge.

Special Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava had sought maximum punishment for the convicts ie. imprisonment till the remainder of natural life, saying the crime was committed in a barbaric and inhuman manner.

Legal aid counsel Dinesh Sharma, who represented the convicts, had sought leniency for them saying they belong to poor background.

The victim had come here on January 1, 2014, and stayed for a couple of days before leaving for Agra. After visiting several places, she returned to Delhi on January 13, 2014, and stayed in a hotel in Paharganj near the station.

The next day when she was returning to her hotel, she lost her way and had asked one of the accused for directions when the men waylaid and gangraped her.

During the trial, the accused had claimed innocence.

(PTI)

Washington: Questions related to religious intolerance and violence, minority rights and the restrictions on civil society organisations in India have followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the U.S. The issues featured prominently in the conversation between Mr. Modi and President Barack Obama, according to senior U.S. administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Responding to a question whether human rights issues came up during the talks, Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, however, said: “No, I do not believe the subject came up today in the discussions.”

In a related development, 18 members of the U.S. House of Representatives wrote to Speaker Paul Ryan, ahead of Mr. Modi’s address to the joint session of the Congress on Wednesday urging him to prioritise religious freedom in India during his meeting with Mr. Modi, “especially in light of ongoing violence and harassment against religious minorities, including Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and Sikhs”.

The group led by Republican Trent Franks and Democrat Betty McCollum, wrote: “Religious minority communities — including Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and Sikhs — have endured ongoing violence and harassment for decades in India, and continue to live in a climate where known perpetrators commit violence with impunity. It is in the best interest of the United States and India to reaffirm religious freedom as a shared value in this growing partnership, and ensure that conversation concerning justice and accountability for such horrific acts of violence continues.”

A U.S. official who briefed the media said these issues came up while the leaders discussed the rise of extremism. “While enhancing security measures, democratic freedoms must be protected. Issues related to the role CSOs, violence against minority communities were discussed in the context of the rise of extremism, and how this can be tackled in a democratic society,” the official said. The official said democracies have a particular challenge in dealing with extremism, as it has to deal with the problem without negating freedoms.

Just as Mr. Modi and Mr. Obama were concluding their discussions, the U.S. Congress Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission began a hearing on “the current state of human rights in India, challenges to fundamental freedoms, and opportunities for advancement” on Tuesday.

“…In spite of…constitutional protections, religious minority communities, including Sikhs, have experienced harassment and violence, often at the hands of Hindu nationalist groups, while impunity for the perpetrators of the violence persists. State-level “anti-conversion” laws allow government officials to decide whether conversions from Hinduism are legal – but choosing a religion is a private act that should not be subject to government regulation,” James P. McGovern, co-chairman of the Commission said.

Deposing before the Commission as a witness, Musaddique Thange of the Indian American Muslim Council said: “The Prime Minister who is able to tweet birthday greetings to prominent people, took months before he even addressed the attacks on five churches and a Christian school, and even then his words fell short of an unequivocal condemnation. Mr. Modi’s response to the campaign of forced conversions to Hinduism, launched by extremist organisations like Vishwa Hindu Parishad, was to challenge the opposition to support the anti-conversion law that is generally implemented in a way that seeks to curb conversions out of Hinduism.”

(Agencies)