Archives for 2017

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Kapil Mishra today submitted documents to the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) to back his allegations that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had delayed the probe into a Rs 400 crore tanker scam.

A day after he said he had witnessed Kejriwal take Rs 2 crore from Health Minister Satyendra Jain in another case, Mishra alleged that the investigation into the tanker scam that dated back to Sheila Dikshit’s tenure as chief minister was repeatedly delayed and influenced by Kejriwal and “his two men”.

Mishra said he had shared all the evidence related to the tanker scam with the ACB. “I told the officials how Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal deliberately delayed the report and how public money was misused.”

“Also, I told them how Kejriwal along with his two men affected the tanker scam probe. The government also tried to shield Sheila Dikshit time and again. ACB will call me again for a detailed investigation,” he told reporters after the meeting.

Mishra, who was sacked as minister on Saturday, also demanded a lie detector on his allegations that he was an eyewitness to the Rs 2 crore exchanging hands between Kejriwal and Jain. He said that a lie detector test be conducted on all three.

Mishra has claimed Jain had told him in a private conversation that he had “settled” a Rs 50 crore land deal in favour of a relative of the chief minister.

Mishra further said that he has sought an appointment with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Rs 2 crore allegations.

The bombshell prompted calls from the BJP and Congress for Kejriwal’s ouster, but AAP stood solidly behind its leader, insisting there was no merit in the allegation. The tanker scam relates to alleged irregularities in the hiring of private tankers to supply water.

(Agencies)

Lucknow: SP leader Shivpal Yadav today said his brother Mulayam Singh Yadav will head a secular front to be formed by him, days after he asked Akhilesh Yadav to hand over the reins of the party back to his father. Shivpal had said recently that the secular front would be formed if Akhilesh Yadav did not hand over the reins of the party back to his father Mulayam in three months.

“For social justice, a secular front will be formed. Netaji (Mulayam) will be its National President,” Shivpal told reporters in Etawah, the bastion of the Yadav clan. The warring uncle of Akhilesh made the announcement after a meeting with Mulayam at a relative’s house in Etawah.

Shivpal held discussions on forming the new secular front with them. He, however, did not explain what the new front would do – whether it would contest polls against the SP or strengthen it by bringing socialists under one roof.

(Agencies)

New Delhi/Bengaluru: Water level in major reservoirs in south India including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu has reportedly decreased and stands at 4.68 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) as on May 4, as per the latest data released by the Union Ministry of Water Resources on Friday.

There are 31 reservoirs located in the Southern part of the country under the Central Water Commission (CWC) and have a total storage capacity of 51.59 BCM; however, at present it is only 4.68 BCM, which amounts to a mere 9%.

The storage during corresponding period of last year was 13% and the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period was 20%.

The states having better storage than last year for the corresponding period are Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.

States having lesser storage than last year for the corresponding period are Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: Young Rishabh Pant smashed his way to a brilliant 97 while Sanju Samson scored a fluent 61 to guide Delhi Daredevils to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Gujarat Lions and keep the hosts afloat for a play-off berth in the ongoing Indian Premier League, here Thursday.

Electing to field, Daredevils bowlers leaked runs as Gujarat rode on skipper Suresh Raina (77) and Dinesh Karthik’s (65) half-centuries to post 208 for seven.

Later, Pant and Samson showed their batting class to enable Daredevils’ overwhelm the target with consummate ease, reaching 214 for three with 15 balls to spare.

By virtue of this win, Rahul Dravid’s boys have managed to stay in the play-off race garnering eight points from 10 games to hold on to the sixth position in the standings with four matches still to play.

Last year’s third-placed team, Gujarat, on the other hand, are out of the play-off reckoning along side Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Chasing the stiff target, Daredevils were off to a blazing start but soon they were dealt a blow in the form of skipper Karun Nair who edged one to Karthik off Pradeep Sangwan with the scoreboard reading 25-1 after three overs.

Sangwan yielded too many runs in his next over with Rishabh Pant at his attacking best, clobbering the bowler for two huge hits over the fence and a four to pick up 17 runs of the fifth over.

Thereafter, it was a one-way traffic as young Pant displayed his hitting prowess to find boundaries and sixes at will to register his fifty in 27 balls with the help of two fours and five hits over the fence.

Pant and Samson went hammer and tongs from the word go as the duo didn’t spare a single Gujarat bowler to help Delhi race to 100 in just 9.1 overs.

The duo looked in murderous form as they notched up 100- run partnership for the second wicket in just 46 deliveries.

Pant showed he could be the next big thing in Indian cricket as he dealt in fours and sixes to take Daredevils forward in the company of Samson, who too showed his hitting prowess.

Samson matched his partner Pant stroke for stroke as he smacked Ravindra Jadeja for two consecutive sixes in the 12th over to bring down the equation to 56 runs off the eight overs.

With the run rate under their control, Samson went for a big shot only to give a straight forward catch to James Faulkner at cover off Jadeja’s bowling.

But the dismissal hardly had any effect on Pant as he continued his onslaught to produce one of the best innings of IPL 10.

But luck didn’t favour Pant as he was dismissed just three runs short of his maiden IPL century, when he nicked a Basil Thampi delivery to Karthik behind the stumps with Daredevils needing just 30 runs off 32 balls to win.

Shreyas Iyer (14 not out) and Corey Anderson (18 not out) finished off the proceedings for Daredevils by stitching an unbeaten 35-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Earlier, skipper Raina and Karthik struck fluent half- centuries to set the foundation for a huge score.

Coming in to bat no. 3, Raina played fluently to score 77 runs off just 43 balls with the help of five boundaries and four sixes and together with Karthik added 133 runs off just 78 balls for the third wicket.

Sent into bat, Gujarat didn’t have the best of the starts as they lost two wickets in quick succession.

Brendon McCullum (1) was the first to depart caught by wicketkeeper Pant in the last delivery of the second over and then Dwayne Smith (9) was run out in the very next delivery of the same over.

Thereafter skipper Raina and Karthik joined hands and the duo mixed caution with aggression to take Gujarat forward.

The duo rode on their luck, especially Raina, as they brought up 100-run partnership off just 60 balls.

Raina was lucky to have survived in the seventh over when he was dropped by Marlon Samuels off the bowling off Mohammed Shami.

But Karthik was at his attacking best as he smashed Amit Mishra for a six and a four. He was harsh with left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem as he smacked the bowler for two sixes and one four to pick up 18 runs off the 12th over.

But an over later an in-form Raina departed as he fell prey to an unnecessary mix-up.

Gujarat were dealt a double blow in the next over as, Karthik too perished, caught by Anderson off the bowling of Pat Cummins in the first delivery of the very next over.

Jadeja smacked Anderson for two consecutive sixes in the final two deliveries of the last over to take Gujarat past the 200-run target.

(PTI)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the death sentence of the four convicted in the sensational December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder of Delhi’s Nirbhaya.

SC confirmed findings of the trial court and Delhi High Court against the four convicts in the case.

Justice Dipak Misra observed in its order that it’s a story of ‘some different world’.

“It’s a barbaric incident. Taking the serious injuries, the severe nature of offence committed by the convicts, we are upholding the sentence,” said the order said.

The top court said that the nature and manner of the crime devastated social trust and falls in ‘rarest of rare’ category warranting death penalty.

“Victim’s dying declaration is consistent; it has been proved beyond doubt and corroborated.

“Aggravating circumstances outweigh mitigating circumstances in the case; offence created ‘tsunami of shock’.”

Tears were seen in the eyes of Nirbhaya’s mother during the verdict and the entire courtroom clapped when the judgement was read out.

The 23-year-old paramedic was brutally assaulted and raped by six persons in a moving bus in south Delhi and thrown out of the vehicle with her male friend on the night of December 16, 2012.

She was not only raped and beaten, but was also ‘violated with a metal rod.’

“It appears to be that a rod was inserted into her and it was pulled out with so much force that the act brought out her intestines… That is probably the only thing that explains such severe damage to her intestines,” a doctor from Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital where the woman was undergoing treatment had told the media.

A P Singh, lawyer for one of the convicts, said that justice had not been done and that he would file a review petition after reading the order. “The convict can’t be hanged for sending a message to the society; the order violated basic human rights,” Singh asserted.

The Delhi High Court, in its verdict on March 13, 2014, had observed that their offence fell in the rarest of the rare category and had upheld the death sentence awarded to them by the trial court.

The trial court had also awarded death penalty to the four convicts. Prime accused Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide in his cell in Tihar jail in March 2013 and proceedings against him were abated.

The woman had undergone multiple surgeries, where portions of her intestine, which had turned gangrenous, were removed. Doctors had said that only five percent of her intestine had been left inside her when she arrived at the medical facility. She had died in a Singapore hospital on December 29 that year.

The four convicts — Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Kumar Singh — had approached the Supreme Court against the high court’s order which had confirmed the death penalty awarded to them by the trial court.

During the hearing, advocates A P Singh and M L Sharma, representing the four convicts, had said they should be given a chance to reform and considering the mitigating factors, the court should not award them death penalty. They also raised questions about the evidence collected by the police in the matter.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: A 22-year-old ad film actor from Bengaluru was killed in an early morning road accident at Natrampalli in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore district today, police said.

Rekha Sindu was killed on the spot when the driver of the car she was travelling “dozed off” and rammed the vehicle into the median, Natrampalli police said.

The incident happened on the busy Chennai-Bengaluru highway and three other occupants of the car, including the driver, sustained injuries, police said.

The victim was on her way to Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, in an apparent case of mistaken identity, some reports claimed that another Kannada actor, Rekha Krishnappa, was the one who was killed in the mishap, prompting her to issue a clarification.

Krishnappa, also seen in some Tamil TV serials, said she was in Sringeri.

“I am all fine guys…..at present in Sringeri sharada peeta temple,” she wrote on her Facebook page and also put up a video.

(Agencies)