New Delhi: An 18-year-old man was arrested in east Delhi for allegedly snatching mobile phones to purchase expensive gifts for his girlfriend, police said on Monday.

The accused has been identified as Kaif, a resident of Sunder Nagari in Delhi.

According to police, on Thursday, he along with his friend snatched one Vaibhav Jha’s phone while he was on a call and fled away. They were riding on a scooter.

On Friday, police laid a trap after receiving a tip-off that Kaif would come near Sunder Nagari to sell the snatched mobile phone. They apprehended him as soon as he was spotted, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Rohit Meena said.

Kaif disclosed that his girlfriend is fond of expensive gifts which is why he used to snatch phones from pedestrians in the Shahdara and northeast Delhi area to sell them to an unknown person at a good rate, police said.

Two mobile phones and one scooter were recovered from his possession, police added.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Ministry of Defence over the delay in payment of arrears of One Rank-One Pension (OROP) to eligible pensioners of the armed forces and sought an explanation from the secretary concerned for issuing a communication extending the timeline for payments fixed by the court.

On January 9, the top court granted time till March 15 to the Centre for payment of total arrears of OROP. But on January 20, the ministry issued a communication that the arrears shall be paid in four yearly installments which has been challenged by a group of ex-servicemen.

Observing that the sanctity of the judicial process has to be maintained, a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud asked the Ministry to “set its house in order” and directed the secretary to file a personal affidavit explaining his position.

“We gave you an extension till March 15 for payment of arrears. Now in the face of our orders of January 9, how can you issue a communication that you will pay the amount in four equal installments? Why shouldn’t we proceed against your secretary? In the face of our order, how can you pass an order by an administrative circular extending time…

“You tell your secretary that we are going to take action against him for issuing that communication. The sanctity of the judicial process has to be maintained. Either the secretary withdraws it, or we are going to issue a contempt notice to the Ministry of Defense and that will be very serious,” the bench also comprising justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala said.

The top court said the ministry had no business to take the law into its hands and issue unilateral communication to extend the time for payment.

“We have fixed March 15 and you had no business to say that the money will be paid in installments. Here you are not fighting a war. Here you are fighting against the rule of law. Set your house in order. This is not the way the ministry of defence to go about it,” the bench observed.

At the outset, Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman told the court that the ministry should be given time to carry out the exercise as per the court’s order.

“We have already started to comply with the order. This can be heard in the second or third week of April when we will be able to file better compliance,” the ASG said.

Venkataraman submitted that out of 22 lakh pensioners, the government has already given money to eight lakh pensioners amounting to Rs 2,500 crores.

“By March 31, we plan to make a one-time payment to family pensioners. We are not trying to withhold it. We just want to make the payment in a staggered manner,” he said.

The apex court was hearing an application filed by the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM) seeking payments of arrears in one installment instead of four installments.

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the army personnel, asked how could the government unilaterally modify the deadline set by the court.

“When this court passed an order how can the department reserve the right to modify it? Four lakh pensioners have passed away in the interregnum and they cannot claim the pension. They will never get the benefit,” he said.

The bench then directed the secretary to file a personal affidavit on the issue.

“We direct the secretary concerned in Defence Ministry to file a personal affidavit explaining circumstances in which such unilateral decision to extend the time for payment was made inspite of clear direction of this court,” the top court said in its order.

The bench also warned the ASG that interest at the rate of 9 percent will be imposed if arrears are not cleared by March 15.

The apex court posted the matter after the Holi vacation.

The top court had earlier asked the Centre to ensure that all arrears are paid expeditiously to the pensioners of the armed forces and that there is no further delay.

The government had moved the top court in December 2022, seeking an extension of time till March 15, 2023 for the payment of arrears of OROP scheme to all eligible pensioners of the armed forces.

This was the second extension given by the top court to the Union government to pay the arrears after it had first moved the top court in June, last year and sought three months to compute and make payments in accordance with the March 16, 2022 verdict of the top court.

The top court’s 2022 verdict came on the plea filed by the Indian Ex-servicemen Movement (IESM) through advocate Balaji Srinivasan against the Centre’s formula.

It had said in terms of the communication dated November 7, 2015, the benefit of OROP was to be effected from July 1, 2014 and the communication states that “in future, the pension would be re-fixed every five years”.

“Such an exercise has remained to be carried out after the expiry of five years possibly because of the pendency of the present proceedings,” the bench had said, adding, “We accordingly order and direct that in terms of the communication dated November 7, 2015, a re-fixation exercise shall be carried out from July 1, 2019, upon the expiry of five years.

“Arrears payable to all eligible pensioners of the armed forces shall be computed and paid over accordingly within a period of three months,” it had said.

Bhubaneswar: Surveys have indicated gold reserves in Odisha, Mines Minister Prafulla Kumar Mallick said in the assembly on Monday.

The surveys, conducted by the Geological Survey of India and the state Directorate of Mines and Geology, have indicated gold reserves in at least three districts — Deogarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj, he said, replying to BJD MLA Sudhir Sama.

The areas where these gold deposits are likely to be present are Dimirimunda, Kushakala, Gotipur and Gopur in Keonjhar district, Joshipur, Suriaguda, Ruansila and Dhushura hill in Mayurbhanj district, and Adas in Deogarh district, he said.

The first surveys in these areas were conducted by the Directorate of Mines and Geology and the GSI in the 1970s and ’80s, but the findings were not made public. A survey was again conducted over the last two years by the GSI, the minister said.

NEW  Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking bail in the excise policy case.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submissions of senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Sisodia who is presently in CBI’s custody, and agreed to hear the plea today at 3.50 PM.

The top court initially observed that the jailed AAP leader has remedies under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to move the Delhi High Court for bail and seek the quashing of the FIR.

A special Delhi court on Monday remand in the excise policy case to allow the agency to get “genuine and legitimate” answers to questions being put to him for “a proper and fair investigation”.

Korba : A courageous woman fought off a wild boar to save her 11-year-old daughter at a farmland in Chhattisgarh’s Korba district, forest officials said on Monday.

While her daughter remained unhurt, the woman died of serious injuries suffered in the face-off with the animal, they said.

The incident took place on Sunday in Teliyamar village under Pasan police station limits when the woman, identified as Duvashiya Bai (45) and her daughter Rinki went to a nearby farm to fetch soil, said Pasan forest range officer Ramnivas Dahayat said.

As per preliminary information, when the woman was busy digging soil with a pick-axe, a wild boar suddenly reached there and charged towards her daughter, he said.

Duvashiya confronted the animal with the pick-axe in a desperate bid to save her child, the official said.

In the struggle, the woman managed to kill the wild boar but she also suffered serious injuries leading to her death, he said.
No harm was reported to the girl, the official said.

Soon after being alerted, forest personnel reached the spot and the woman’s body was sent for post-mortem, he said.

The family of the deceased was provided an instant relief amount of Rs 25,000 as part of the compensation given in cases of attack by wild animals. The remaining compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh will be given after the completion of necessary formalities, he added.

New Delhi: Security on Monday morning was beefed up at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg here as the Aam Aadmi Party has called for a protest against the arrest of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia by the CBI in the excise policy case.

A senior police officer said heavy security arrangements have been made on the stretch — DDU Marg — in central Delhi where both the BJP and the AAP headquarters are located.

Traffic in the central part of the city is also likely to be affected during the day.

Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai said the party will mark the day as a “black day” and will hold protests across the country against the arrest of Sisodia.

“In Delhi, we will stage a protest at BJP’s national office at 12 noon,” he said.

The CBI on Sunday arrested Sisodia in connection with alleged corruption in the now-scrapped excise policy relating to the sale of alcohol.

Sisodia’s arrest, one of the highest-profile actions against an opposition leader, comes after that of Satyendar Jain, Delhi’s then health minister, in June last year. Both ministers have led what the Aam Aadmi Party describes as the successful transformation of Delhi’s education and health services, contributing to the party’s popularity and continued electoral success.

Police on Sunday had detained 50 people, including AAP MP Sanjay Singh and minister Gopal Rai, who were protesting near the CBI office.

Bhavnagar: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday assured farmers in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governments in Punjab and Delhi will buy their onions by sending a train so that they do not have to face losses amid the prevailing situation wherein this kitchen staple is fetching low prices from traders.

Several farmers from Bhavnagar district met Mann at the circuit house here and urged him to find a solution to their problem as prices have hit rock bottom due to a bumper yield.

Talking to farmers outside Bhavnagar circuit house to understand their issue, Mann asked AAP’s Gujarat unit president Isudan Gadhvi to take details from farmers so that the party can raise this issue in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in the upcoming Parliament session next month.

“I am also a farmer’s son so I understand your pain. Please do not destroy your crop. I will inquire about onion demand in Punjab and Delhi and then lift the stock from here. We will send a train to transport your onions,” said Mann.

According to Nikulsinh Zala, one of the farmers who met Mann, onions grown in Bhavnagar are known for their top quality but farmers are not getting the fair price due to the monopoly of wholesale traders.

“We met Mann to discuss the issues being faced by farmers of Bhavnagar due to low prices of our produce. Mann asked us to have patience and assured us that both the Punjab and Delhi government would buy our onions and send a train here to transport it to those states in the coming weeks,” Zala told reporters.

“Punjab CM assured that both the AAP governments in Punjab and Delhi will send a train to Bhavnagar to procure onions grown here. He requested us to have some patience and not to throw away our produce. Mann also assured that all the five AAP MLAs will raise this issue in the Assembly during the ongoing Budget session,” said another farmer, Mohan Makwana.

A few days back, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat, Shaktisinh Gohil, had raised this issue claiming that farmers are getting only Rs 2 per one kg of onions at APMCs due to bumper yield.

“Onion-growing farmers of Bhavnagar and other parts of Gujarat are in great trouble. They are hardly getting Rs 2 per one kg of onion. I urge both – the Centre and the Gujarat government – to immediately announce Minimum Support Price (MSP) for onions. As a relief, the government should also announce subsidies for the farmers hit by low prices,” the national spokesperson of Congress had said.