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Delhi High Court sends legal notice to Arnab Goswami in theft case

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arnab-goswami

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has issued a notice to Arnab Goswami for the breach of employment contract and the misuse of intellectual property of Times Now. Goswami is the former Editor of Times Now, a channel owned by the Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd (BCCL) .

BCCL, India’s largest media house that also publishes the Times of India, The Economic Times, Navbharat Times and a host of other properties, had recently filed a criminal complaint against Goswami, stating that audio tapes played during two stories aired on Republic TV – on Sunanda Pushkar and Lalu Prasad Yadav – were ‘procured and accessed’ by Goswami and Prema Sridevi (a former Times Now reporter) while they were still employed by Times Now.

During its launch on May 6, Republic TV carried an ‘expose’ on Lalu Prasad Yadav, where phone conversations between the former Bihar Chief Minister and Shahabuddin, while the latter was still in jail, were aired.

Another ‘expose’ was done by Republic TV on May 8 in which the audio of conversations between Prema Sridevi and Sunanda Pushkar and their domestic help Narayan were aired.

BCCL’s internal inquiry indicated that both these ‘exposes’ used material that were procured and accessed by Goswami and Sridevi as employees of Times Now. The duo had admitted that the audio of the conversation with the late Sunanda Pushkar and their domestic help was in their possession for the last 2 years.

MK Anand, CEO of Times Now says that “the management discovered these thefts only when it was aired on Republic TV. It is sad that a man of his stature has turned into a thief and stolen content from Times Now to launch his own channel. This obviously was well planned since he used both these stories in the first three days of the launch.”

BCCL has accused Arnab and Prema of willfully and deliberately using Times Now intellectual property and sought prosecution under section 403 and other sections of the IPC for criminal misappropriation of property and violation of certain sections of the Information Technology Act.

Section 66B of IT Act stipulates that anyone who “dishonestly receives or retains any stolen computer resource or communication device knowing or having reason to believe the same to be stolen computer resource or communication device,” shall be punished with up to three years’ imprisonment or fined up to Rs 1 lakh, or both.

Arnab Goswami quit Times Now last November and launched ‘Republic TV’.

(Agencies)

Manchester attack probe widens with arrests in Libya

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Suspect’s father held in Tripoli says ‘everything was normal’ with his son days before, as UK police make eight arrests.

Manchester attack

by Al Jazeera

Police made arrests in the UK and Libya as the investigation into a suicide bomber who killed 22 people at a Manchester concert venue packed with children focused on tracking down a network of accomplices who authorities fear could strike again.

The father of the suspected bomber, identified as Salman Abedi, 22, told the Reuters news agency in the Libyan capital on Wednesday that he had last spoken to his son some five days ago by phone and “everything was normal”.

Ramadan Abedi, who was detained by a Tripoli counter-terrorism force during the interview, said his son Salman had told his family that he was heading on pilgrimage to Mecca.

“I spoke to him about five days ago … there was nothing wrong, everything was normal,” Abedi said.

The suspect blew himself up on Monday night at the Manchester Arena indoor venue at the end of a concert by US pop singer Ariana Grande attended by thousands of children and teenagers.

The attack was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) armed group.

Abedi also said he was sure Salman had not been a member of ISIL.

“Salman doesn’t belong to any organisation,” he said. “The family is a bit confused because Salman doesn’t have this ideology, he doesn’t hold these beliefs. We condemn these terrorist acts on civilians, innocent people.”

Police in Tripoli also arrested a brother of Abedi. A spokesman for the local counter-terrorism force said younger brother Hashem Abedi was arrested on suspicion of links with ISIL and was suspected of planning to carry out an attack in the Libyan capital.

A man arrested on Tuesday, one day after the attack at the was reported by British and US media to be Abedi’s other brother.

Manchester police, meanwhile, made several new arrests.

“We currently have eight people in custody in relation to Monday’s attack,” Ian Hopkins, chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, said in a statement on Thursday.

“The arrests have taken place in Manchester, Wigan and Duneaton, and we are now carrying out associated searches in relation to those arrests at a number of addresses,” he added.

Earlier, interior minister Amber Rudd said the bomber had recently returned from Libya. Her French counterpart Gerard Collomb said he had links with ISIL and had probably visited Syria as well.

Rudd also scolded US officials for leaking details about the investigation into the Manchester attack before British authorities were ready to go public.

The bomb used in the attack appeared to contain carefully packed shrapnel and have a powerful, high velocity charge, according to leaked photographs from the investigation published by the New York Times.

“We are furious. This is completely unacceptable,” a government ministry source said of the images “leaked from inside the US system”.

Hopkins, the Manchester police chief, said the leaks had “caused much distress for families that are already suffering terribly with their loss”.

The Manchester bombing raised concern across Europe.

Cities including Paris, Nice, Brussels, St Petersburg, Berlin and London have suffered attacks in the last two years.

The 22 victims in Manchester included an eight-year-old girl, several teenage girls, a 28-year-old man and a Polish couple who had come to collect their daughters.

Britain’s official threat level was raised to “critical”, the highest level, late on Tuesday, meaning an attack was expected imminently.

The Manchester bombing was the deadliest attack in Britain since July 2005, when four British Muslim suicide bombers killed 52 people in coordinated attacks on London’s transport network.

Rudd said up to 3,800 soldiers could be deployed on Britain’s streets, taking on guard duties to free up police to focus on patrols and investigation. An initial deployment of 984 had been ordered, first in London and then elsewhere.

Soldiers were seen at the Houses of Parliament, May’s Downing Street residence and at the London police headquarters at New Scotland Yard.

NATO troop increase plan draws criticism in Afghanistan

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NATO set to discuss sending more soldiers to Afghanistan, but many in Kabul fear such a move could prolong war.

(Photo: File/Wikimedia Commons)

(Photo: File/Wikimedia Commons)

by Al Jazeera

As NATO allies converge in Brussels for a key summit, one topic on the agenda will be a potential increase in the number of troops in Afghanistan – a move met with strong opposition by many in Kabul.

The military alliance began considering a troop increase earlier this month after it received a request from army chiefs for more soldiers to help in the fight against the Taliban, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said.

The prospect of a troop surge might have drawn considerable support in Brussels and Washington, but in Kabul the situation is different.

“They are thinking of sending soldiers … They [the soldiers] will not do anything,” Sher Mohammad Karimi, a retired four-star general in the Afghan National Army, told Al Jazeera.

“If they are advisers, then it’s OK.”

Afghan defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish agreed, saying that local forces needed better equipment and training.

“What we need now is bombing planes and also modern engineering technology,” he told Al Jazeera.

Since NATO’s combat mission in Afghanistan formally ended in 2014, Taliban attacks have intensified and Afghan military and civilian casualties have risen.

NATO already has more than 13,000 troops in Afghanistan, including around 7,000 US and 500 British military personnel, who are training the Afghan armed forces to eventually take over the country’s defence and security. The US has an additional 1,500 soldiers conducting assist missions directly under Pentagon command.

Stoltenberg has insisted that a potential troop increase would not mean a return to combat operations.

The discussion of a NATO troop increase in Afghanistan comes as Trump considers a plan to send at least 3,000 troops to Afghanistan in an effort to put enough pressure on the Taliban to come to the negotiating table.

According to The New York Times, Trump was expected to make a decision at Thursday’s summit in Brussels regarding a troop increase, but that has been delayed after some within the administration expressed concern over sending more troops.

Some Afghans fear a foreign troop increase by either NATO or the US could actually prolong the war.

“Increasing foreign troops in Afghanistan is like putting more wood on the fire,” an Afghan resident told Al Jazeera.

“If they increase troops in Afghanistan that would provoke Pakistan, Iran and Russia. Neighbouring countries would increase their support for the Taliban, and more Afghans will be fighting each other.”

In February, General John Nicholson, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, told Congress that he would need an extra “few thousand” troops to make gains against the Taliban and break what he called a stalemate against the armed group’s fighters.

At the height of the US combat mission, there were an estimated 100,000 troops in Afghanistan.

“I don’t think anybody here is under the illusion that [a troop increase] is going to end the war,” Al Jazeera’s John Hendren, reporting from Kabul, said.

“The Trump administration here is that would bring the Taliban to the bargaining table, but there is a lot of concern in Afghanistan that this surge is really going to be, at best, a half-measure.”

‘Pay more, do more’

At the Brussels meeting, the alliance is also expected to officially join a US-led coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) armed group in Iraq and Syria.

The decision is mainly political because all 28 NATO member states are already individually part of the coalition, with some only taking part in support roles.

It comes on the back of pressure from Trump, who has urged NATO members to do more in the fight against ISIL.

Trump is also expected to urge NATO members to increase defence spending to the target of two percent of a country’s annual gross domestic product, as they agreed in 2014.

Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from Brussels, said that Trump “certainly wants NATO members to pay more and do more”.

Only five members currently meet the target: Britain, Estonia, debt-laden Greece, Poland and the US, which spends more on defense than all the other allies combined.

“I think you can expect the president to be very tough on them, saying, ‘Look the U.S. is spending 4 percent. We’re doing a lot,'” US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters on Air Force One.

Many are sceptical about this arbitrary bottom line that takes no account of effective military spending where it is needed most. Germany would have to virtually double its military budget and spend more than Russia.

The allies hope the US president will unequivocally state his support for NATO’s mutual defence pledge, known as Article 5.

BCCI invites application for India team coach

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bcci

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has invited applications for coach of the national team.

The term of present India coach Anil Kumble will come to an end on June 18.

“The BCCI would like to call upon interested candidates to apply for the position of ‘Head Coach’ for Indian cricket team (Men),” BCCI Acting Secretary Amitabh Chaudhary said in a statement on Thursday.

“The process has been initiated since the term of the current coach Anil Kumble concludes with the Champions Trophy. Present head coach Anil Kumble will be a direct entry for the process,” he said.

The three-member Cricket Advisory Committee of the BCCI comprising former India stars Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman will interview the interested candidates and and assess their presentations.

The entire process will be overseen by a nominee of the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA).

“Interested candidates should send their applications by e-mail on or before the May 31,” the statement added.

(IANS)

J Dey murder: Chhota Rajan believed scribe had crossed limit

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Chhota Rajan

Mumbai: Gangster Chhota Rajan, the prime accused in Jyotirmoy alias ‘J’ Dey’s killing, had told an acquaintance that the journalist had grown close to his arch rival Dawood Ibrahim and “crossed his limit”.

This was disclosed in a recorded conversation between Rajan and Manoj Shivdasani, a friend of another accused in the case, Vinod Chembur (now deceased).

Shivdasani today deposed before the special court in Mumbai, where prosecution played a tape of the conversation between him and Rajan.

“He has identified his voice and Rajan’s voice in it,” special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said.

In one such recorded conversation, Rajan had purportedly referred to Dey as a rascal and said “Dawood se mila hua hai” (Dey has grown close to Dawood).

Rajan purportedly said that Dey had “crossed the limit”.

He had also mentioned the name of arrested journalist Jigna Vora.

Dey was shot dead in suburban Powai on June 11, 2011.

Rajan talked with Shivdasani over phone after Dey’s death.

The court on August 31 last year had framed charges against Rajan.

According to a supplementary charge sheet filed by the CBI, Rajan had the veteran crime reporter killed because he was miffed with some articles written by him, and also because a book being written by Dey portrayed him as a ‘chindi’ (petty) criminal.

The book, “Chindi–Rags to Riches”, was to be about 20 gangsters who rose from humble origins.

Rajan was arrested at Bali airport in Indonesia on October 25, 2015, and deported to India.

The first charge sheet filed in the case in 2011 named Satish Kaliya, Abhijeet Shinde, Arun Dake, Sachin Gaikwad, Anil Waghmode, Nilesh Shendge, Mangesh Agawane, Vinod Asrani, Paulson Joseph and Deepak Sisodia (all arrested) as accused.

A charge sheet was filed against Jigna Vora for allegedly instigating Rajan against Dey owing to her professional rivalry with the scribe.

The 55-year old gangster, once a close aide of fugitive terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, was brought to India to face trial in over 70 cases of killing, extortion and drug smuggling in Delhi and Mumbai.

He was recently convicted in a fake passport case by a special court in Delhi.

(Agencies)

Three Pakistani Nationals Arrested With Aadhar, Voter ID Cards in Bengaluru

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prison

Bengaluru: Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB) police arrested three Pakistani nationals including a lady on Wednesday night at Kumaraswamy layout in the state capital. The three members arrested after they found staying in Bengaluru without necessary documents, permission and others. The arrested were residing in the area for the last 9 months and managed to get identity cards including Aadhar, voter identity cards issued by the government to Indian citizens after necessary verification of their documents, CCB sources said.

Three Pakistani nationals have been identified as Kiron Gulam Ali, Shamsheer Shamsuddin and Sameera Abdul Rehman. The trio were reportedly arrived from Pakistan via Nepal and the purpose of their stay in Bengaluru is yet be known. CCB and Kumaraswamy layout police investigating the case and further details are yet to be known. Meanwhile, Bengaluru city police commissioner informed that a Kerala resident was also arrested by the police last night along with the Pakistanis.

(Agencies)

Former Karnataka Minister Gets Clean Chit in Alleged Sex Scandal Case

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h-y-meti

Bengaluru: Crime Investigation Department (CID) gave clean chit to former Karnataka state minister, close alley of chief minister Siddaramaiah, HY Meti in an alleged sex scandal. In its eight page investigation report, CID informed the state government on May 17 that the CD which showcases HY Meti allegedly having sex with a woman is fake and there is no proof to prove the allegation except fake edited CD.

CID didn’t get true copy of the sex tape and it completed its investigation based on edited tape which contains the visuals of former minister having intercourse with a woman at a government guest house in the state. The CID also stated that there was a political motive behind the video to destroy political image of former minister.

(Agencies)

I-T summons Lalu’s daughter and husband in benami land case

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lalu prasad yadav

New Delhi: The Income Tax Department has issued summonses to RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s MP daughter Misa Bharti and her husband in connection with its probe in Rs 1,000 crore alleged benami land deals and a tax evasion case.

The development followed the arrest of chartered acountant Rajesh Kumar Agrawal by the Enforcement Directorate on May 22. Agrawal is alleged to have aided in llegal transactions involving Lalu’s kin.

Officials said the department has asked Bharti, a Rajya Sabha member, and her husband Shailesh Kumar to appear before the investigating officer (IO) here in the first week of June.

The department had on May 16 searched multiple premises of about two dozen entities connected to this case and seized documents and computer hardware.

They said the summonses to Bharti and Kumar are part of the investigation and their statements will be recorded.

The couple are alleged to have links with a firm– Ms Mishail Packers and Printers Private Limited– which is suspected to have entered into benami deals for purchase of a farm house in Delhi’s Bijwasan area.

Certain other property deals are also under the scanner of the taxman, they said.

I-T department officials had said they will apply provisions of the newly enacted Benami Transactions Act, 1988, which became operational from November 1 last year, in this case. The law provides for a maximum punishment of seven years in jail and a fine.

The action under this new law will be over and above the legal proceedings under the Income Tax Act, 1961, which relates to charges of domestic tax evasion.

Tax department officials had said Lalu’s kin held some of the properties under their scanner in a ‘benami’ way. Benami properties are those in which the real beneficiary is not the one in whose name the property has been purchased.

The RJD chief, however, sought to put up a brave face after the raids, saying he was “not scared at all” and will continue to fight against “fascist forces”.

“BJP mein himmat nahi hai ki Lalu ki awaz ko daba sake…

Lalu ki awaz dabayenge to desh bhar me karoron Lalu khare ho jayenge… Main gidarbhabhki se nahi darne wala hoon (BJP does not have the courage to stifle my voice… If it tries to silence one Lalu, crores of Lalu will come forward. I am not scared of empty threats),” he had said in a series of tweets after the search operation.

The BJP had also accused Prasad, Bharti and his two sons Tejashwi and Tej Pratap, both Bihar government ministers, of being involved in corrupt land deals worth over Rs 1,000 crore, and asked the central government to probe one such transaction in Delhi.

Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had alleged that these transactions were a case of “quid pro quo”, suggesting that money was paid in return for favour, as they dated back to the period when Lalu was the railway minister, and dared Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to take action against him.

Lalu’s RJD is a constituent of Bihar’s ruling coalition led by Kumar.

Lalu’s official residence was the address of the owners of the firms allegedly floated by his family members, Ravi Shankar Prasad had said.

(Agencies)

Babri case: CBI court summons Advani, Joshi on May 30

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Babri Masjid demolition

Lucknow: A special CBI court in Lucknow, conducting day-to-day hearing of the 1992 Babri demolition case, on Thursday asked BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Uma Bharti and Murli Manohar Joshi to appear personally before it on May 30.

The court refused exemption from personal appearance to Advani and Union Water Resources Minister Bharti.

The BJP leaders had moved court seeking exemption from personally appearing in court for the hearing of their role in the conspiracy to raze the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.

While the conspiracy charges against the trio were dropped by a special CBI court in 2001, and later upheld by the Allahabad High Court (HC) in 2010, the apex court in April had ruled that the BJP leaders, and some Shiv Sena and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders will have to face trial for their alleged role in the conspiracy to demolish the mosque. The CBI had also pressed for the charges.

The Supreme Court had asked the Lucknow-based special court to conduct day-to-day hearing, frame fresh charges within a month, and wrap up the case within two years.

Five accused had surrendered before the court earlier this week while a Shiv Sena leader surrendered on Wednesday. All have since been granted bail.

(IANS)

Chopper with Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis crash-lands in Latur

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Devendra Fadnavis

Latur: A chopper with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis onboard crash landed in Latur district on Thursday. All 6 people including the CM escaped unhurt.

“Our helicopter did meet with an accident in Latur but me and my team is absolutely safe and ok. Nothing to worry,” tweeted Fadnavis.

A CMO official said that chopper carrying Maharashtra CM developed snag during take-off in Latur.

In Latur, Fadnavis launched a ‘Shivar Samwad Sabha’ to reach out to farmers in the state and address their issues. The four-day initiative is being launched amid the rising resentment among farmers across the state over delay in procurement of tur this year.

Nearly 4,000 elected representatives of the party will participate in the campaign and hold meetings with farmers at various locations.

According to a press release issued by the BJP yesterday, the party’s representatives, including MPs, MLAs, zilla parishad members and corporators, will engage in a dialogue with farmers to know about their issues and take their feedback on various decisions taken by the government in the last two-and-half years. Each leader will hold four meetings everyday.

On day one, Fadnavis met farmers in Latur district of Marathwada region, while BJP’s state unit president Raosaheb Patil will interact with the cultivators in Nandurbar district in North Maharashtra.

Other leaders like Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil will meet farmers in Kolhapur, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar in Chandrapur, Education Minister Vinod Tawde in Ratnagiri and Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde in Beed.

The chief minister, during his speech at BJP state working committee’s meeting last month in Pimpri Chinchwad near Pune, had announced that the party will hold the ‘Shivar Samwad Sabha’ in the state.

(Agencies)

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