Archives for 2018

The petitioner submitted that the statement by Rahul Gandhi had hurt Amit Shah’s sentiment and tarnished the image of the party.

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha leader filed the petition against Rahul Gandhi.
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A local court on Wednesday issued summons to Congress president Rahul Gandhi for allegedly making a controversial statement against his BJP counterpart Amit Shah.

Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate Ajay Kumar Gudia, who had reserved the order after hearing a petition in this regard on November 28, directed that summons be issued against Mr Gandhi.

In his petition, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) leader Naveen Jha alleged that Mr Gandhi had made the statement against Mr Shah on March 18 during the national convention of the Congress.

The BJYM is the youth wing of the BJP.

The petitioner submitted that the statement had hurt his sentiment and tarnished the image of the party.

Earlier this year, the same SDJM’s court had rejected the petition of Naveen Jha, an executive member of Jha

He appealed before the court of Judicial Commissioner Navneet Kumar against the rejection order. Ajay Kumar set aside the SDJM’s order and directed the lower court to hear the petition again.

An IndiGo flight from Mumbai to Lucknow via Delhi was grounded after a woman passenger alerted the Mumbai Airport authorities of an alleged bomb threat on Saturday,

official sources said.The passenger, identified as Uma Narayan Kannadasan, 41, who was travelling to New Delhi on a GoAir flight G8-329, approached an IndiGo check-in counter and informed officials that there was a bomb on the airline’s flight 6E 3612, an airport source said.She also provided photos of some people claiming they were behind planting the bomb and could be “a threat to the nation”.The CISF immediately escorted her to the Airport Police Station and she was subjected to sustained questioning in the matter.

Meanwhile, the airport authorities declared the bomb threat as “specific” and a detailed search of all passengers was carried out.However, the IndiGo claimed in a statement later that the woman passenger “was found to be in a mentally unsound state”.Nevertheless, the airline said it had reported the matter to the authorities and implemented the normal security protocol and the flight departed after an hour’s delay, 

By : Pramesh S Jain

Temple tragedy,11 Dead, 82 Hospitalised After Eating Prasad in Karnataka .
As many as 11 people died and 82 were hospitalised after consuming religious food offering prasad at a temple in Karnataka’s Chamarajnagar district today, police said.
A district official claimed that some toxic substance may have got mixed with the religious offering being served at the Kichu Maranda temple in Sulivadi village, resulting in the tragedy.We have collected samples and sent them to a laboratory for analysis,” he said. 
The ailing have been hospitalised in hospitals across Chamarajnagar and Mysuru districts, and many of them are on ventilator support.
According to a witness, devotees decided to eat the rice-based offering although it was smelling of kerosene.Soon afterwards, they complained of stomachache and began vomiting,he added. 
The deceased belonged to Bidarahalli, Melathur and Doddani in Maratahalli hobli of Kollegal taluk. 
There are also reports that a few crows were found dead after consuming the leftover prasadam from the devotees’ plates.
Ex gratia announced:
The government has announced compensation of Rs.5 lakh to the family of the deceased. Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy rushed immediately to the KR Hospital from Chennai as he been to Chennai to see and enquire health condition of Siddaganga Seer in Chennai and he said it is a inhuman act done by miscreants and a probe was ordered and two people have been taken into custody.

The hospital expenses would be borne by the government He even expressed shock over the incident, and directed the authorities to ensure that the affected people receive proper medical treatment. I came to know about this while I was returning from Belagavi. Spoke to district authorities. At first I did not realise how serious it was.Our MLA, Puttaraju, went to the spot. There are reports that the food was deliberately poisoned. It is being tested. Action will be taken against whoever is behind this inhuman act,” Mr Kumaraswamy said.He further added that the concerned program officer is monitoring calls at 108 call centre and coordinating services of ambulances. The Karnataka CM also added that commissioner has instructed ADC Mysore to provide services of private ALP ambulances. Two senior officers are on way from state headquarters to coordinate and supervise activities he added. 
Police said the religious offering was distributed after the temple’s foundation-laying ceremony.Doctors think the toxin could be pesticide,” said an officer, adding that an investigation will confirm how the toxic substance entered the food. 
The district authorities confirmed 10 deaths and feared the toll could increase as some of the patients were critical. Chamarajanagar SP Dharmendra Kumar Meena and IGP Sharath Chandra said 68 people had been hospitalised in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts.They were given a rice preparation as ‘prasadam’ around noon, and a few of them immediately started throwing up. Soon, almost all those who had eaten it were taken ill he added. 
IGP,Southern Range,Sharath Chandra confirmed that two suspects has been taken into custody identified as Gowdruchinnatti,a member of the temple’s administration and manager Maadesh have been taken into custody for questioning.There was a dispute between people in the village regarding the installation of the Gopura.The suspicion is that they could have mixed the poison due to this It may be pesticide.The doctors at the hospital said that it could be a possibility.We are trying to find out who did this and why.The samples have been sent to FSL lab he added.
The cops have stepped up security as thousands of friends and relatives of the victims have thronged the hospital. The authorities have sent the food samples to forensic laboratory and are awaiting reports. With the government directed to shift the patients to Hospitals in Mysuru, the authorities have shifted them to private hospital in Mysuru.

Senior Congres leader Mallikarjun Karge is an angry man. Kharge says that they will summon Attorney General, CAG over ‘Lie’ to SC that PAC saw Rafale report. The 29-page ruling by the bench of the Chief Justice of India mentions pricing details of the Rafale being shared with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India which, in turn, shared its report with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). But Mallikarjun Kharge, who chairs the PAC, says no such report has come to him yet and “neither does the CAG know about it”. This is a twist in the tale.

BJP MP Subramanian Swamy has responded to this and says, “PAC Chairman Mallikarjun Kharge saying he has not got CAG report then we have to take his word, he should file affidavit or review petition in court saying I did not receive and the committee has not examined it.”

Says Kharge, “Govt lied in SC that the CAG report was presented in the house and in PAC and PAC has probed it. The government said in SC it is in public domain. Where is it? Have you seen it? I am going to take this up with other members of PAC. We will summon AG and CAG.”PAC Chief Mallikarjun Kharge said, “CAG does not have their comments and there is no report” and he is not aware of any report, “neither does the CAG know about it”. He said he asked “the Deputy CAG today” since there was a PAC meeting in the afternoon.Asked about it, Union Minister Arun Jaitley said: “I think whatever are the contents of the verdict in terms of the procedural details or the direction which has been given, that’s not a subject matter of our comment.”If something is required to be done in that regard, he said, “I think the lawyers will examine it and do the needful”.On Page 21, in Para 25 of the judgment, the bench states: “The material placed before us shows that the government has not disclosed pricing details, other than the basic price of the aircraft, even to Parliament, on the ground that sensitivity of pricing details could affect national security, apart from breaching the agreement between the two countries. The pricing details have, however, been shared with the Comptroller and Auditor General and the report of the CAG has been examined by the Public Accounts Committee. Only a redacted portion of the report was placed before Parliament, and is in public domain.”

This is epic as far as photos go. Mamata Banerjee who dethroned the mighty Communists of Bengal, is more left than the left itself. She goes to the wedding of the century where the high and mighty of power and pelf arrive in their finest. The entrance exudes opulence. India, nay, the world hasn’t seen a union of this scale. She is aware of the details and the devil’s dwelling therein. But she makes a point with flat chappals. A point so poignant that blunts a thousand Jimmy Choo pointed heels piercing the bloody red carpet.

Mamata Banerjee in plastic flip flops is not what Communist wet dreams are made of. Mamata Banerjee in plastic flip flops entering through the gilded gates of world’s second most expensive residence is. Half the people in the hall were wearing on their bodies what municipal bodies in Bengal don’t spend in a year. Mamata Banerjee walked into that hall in a beguni-border Dhaniakhali sari. 100 Marx for Kolkata Communism.

Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani’s daughter Isha tied the knot with Ajay and Swati Piramal’s son Anand on December 12. The evening was a glittery one at the Ambanis’ 27-storey residence in the heart of Mumbai, Antilia. And as Altamount Road saw a stream of VVIP guests on Wednesday evening, dressed in the finest of their ethnic and formalwear, the solitary Mamata Banerjee stood out from the crowd.

The chief minister, surrounded by a sea of extremely well-dressed people, cut quite an impressive figure dressed in her plain white saree and plastic chappals. Mamata is known for her plain cotton sarees and the simple chappals. No one remembers seeing the Trinamool Congress leader in anything but her trademark cotton saree and chappals ever since she entered politics. And since 2009, Mamata has stuck to a special kind of handloom sarees – the Dhaniakhali sarees.

In the past 9 years, the weavers of Hooghly’s Dhaniakhali have spun many sarees for Mamata, from before the time she became the a chief minister.

Mamata prefers her custom-made sarees, that have come to be called ‘Mamata Sarees’ now, with thin stripes all over the body and a narrow border. The handloom sarees that Mamata wears are a little longer than the usual ‘twelve-arm-length’ sarees that are the norm. Crimson and red are a big no for Mamata. The chief minister sticks to lighter shades, mostly white and grey.

Mamata Banerjee’s Spartan lifestyle is well-known in the political arena. When former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Mamata, the then Central Railways Minister at her Harish Chatterjee Street home in Kolkata, he is said to have been quite stunned. The year was 2000.

In 2014, when Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally in Ghatal in West Bengal, he famously took that dig at Mamata’s chappals: “The slippers that Mamata Banerjee wears have ‘Made In China’ tag on them. We want to change that to ‘Made In India’.”

Over the past four years, political equations have changed. What hasn’t changed is Mamata Banerjee’s way of dressing. Even at a billionaire’s wedding, with a star-studded guest list, Banerjee knows how to make a loud statement without saying anything.

News agencies

Relief for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Supreme Court says no evidence of ‘favouritism’ in deal.

India’s top court has ruled there was no wrongdoing in the government’s awarding of the contract in a multibillion dollar warplane deal with France, handing a boost to Narendra Modi’s ruling party months before a general election.

The Supreme Court on Friday declined demands to order a court-monitored probe into graft allegations around the controversial defence deal.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress party have been at loggerheads over the $8.7bn deal to buy 36 Rafale planes from France and a decision to pick Reliance Defence as a domestic partner.

Opposition parties, including Congress and the Left, say India overpaid for the planes and are also questioning why tycoon Anil Ambani’s Reliance, a private firm with no experience in the defence sector, was awarded the contract instead of the state-run manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics.

Rival political outfits have protested across the country against what they allege is a “corrupt” deal favouring one of India’s richest industrialists.

Congress party chief Rahul Gandhi had previously raised the matter in parliament and attacked Modi and Ambani in several election rallies, accusing them of duping the nation.

Court ‘satisfied’

Prior to Friday’s ruling, India’s Supreme Court had sought details in sealed envelopes from the government over the multibillion dollar deal.OPINION

The case was heard by a three-judge bench, headed by newly-installed Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.

“We are satisfied that there is no occasion to really doubt the process, and even if minor deviations have occurred, that would not result in either setting aside the contract or requiring a detailed scrutiny by the Court,” the court ruling said.

Ranjan Gogoi added that scrutiny “will have to be made keeping in mind the confines of national security”.

“We do not find any substantial material on record to show that this is a case of commercial favouritism to any party by the Indian Government,” the ruling stated.

Renewed focus on the deal could have had political consequences for the right-wing government in New Delhi. The BJP welcomed Friday’s ruling.

“We stand vindicated today,” said BJP spokesperson Zafar Islam. “The false propaganda of the opposition has been rejected by the top court. This should set the matter to rest. This is a big political victory for the ruling party and a loss of face for the opposition which has been needlessly gunning for the Prime Minister.”

The Supreme Court has clearly stated that it is outside their jurisdiction to probe into the #RafaleDeal. We continue our demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee to investigate the #RafaleScam. 

The people of india: India needs to know the truth on Rafale

The lawyer who argued the case for the petitioners seeking a probe into the deal, disagreed with the court’s decision.

“We feel the ruling is incorrect,” said Prashant Bhushan. “We were not seeking to rescind the deal, we only sought a probe. The judges have just accepted what the government said lock, stock and barrel without dealing with our concerns. We will file a review of this ruling.”

Opposition wants parliamentary probe

The opposition Congress party has said it will aim to keep the pressure on the government and continue to press for a parliamentary probe.

The contest for next year’s elections appears to be tightening with the ruling BJP failing to win a mandate in 5 recent state elections. Indians have become increasingly frustrated with the economic situation in the country.

Former French President Francois Hollande, who approved the deal when he was in office, created a stir in September when he revealed that the Narendra Modi government in New Delhi forced the French firm Dassault Aviation to choose Ambani for the deal.

“We had no choice. We took the partner that was given to us,” Hollande was quoted as saying in an explosive interview to French investigative news service, Mediapart.

Modi’s BJP and French firm Dassault denied the allegations.

Meanwhile, caught in a political storm over the Rafale fighter aircraft deal, Ambani’s Reliance sent defamation notices amounting to millions of dollars to several Indian opposition politicians and media outlets.

Aljazeera