Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: A SpiceJet flight on way from Chennai to Kolkata had to be diverted to Bhubaneswar on Sunday after a 48-year-old passenger fell sick, officials said, adding that he later died.

Ashok Kumar Sharma complained of breathing problem soon after SpiceJet flight SG-623, a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, took off from Chennai and a medical emergency was declared, the officials said.

The pilot requested for an ambulance and a doctor on arrival which was made available, a SpiceJet spokesperson said. He was taken to a medical room at the airport soon after the plane landed, Bhubaneswar Airport Director S C Hota said.

Sharma was then rushed to a private hospital where doctors declared him brought dead, he said. The body has been sent to the Capital Hospital for postmortem.

Mumbai:  A 46-year-old mentally disturbed woman, who threatened to commit suicide by jumping from her eighth floor flat in suburban Andheri, was rescued by police and fire brigade personnel, an official said on Sunday.

She had earlier also tried to end her life, he said.

The woman locked herself in the house, located at Sai Krupa Society in Gundavali area, along with her 18-year-old son in the early hours of Saturday.

“When her son tried to open the door, the woman threatened to jump off the balcony of the flat. Their neighbours gathered on hearing the commotion. Her son alerted some relatives who in turn informed the police,” he said.

A police team from Andheri led by inspector Balwant Deshmukh then rushed to the spot and started talking to the woman to persuade her against the move as well as to distract her, while they tried to rescue her with the help of the fire brigade, senior police inspector Rajesh Kale said.

“While the police engaged her in talks, a fire brigade personnel broke open the door, allowing our staff to rush in and pin her down,” he said.

After being rescued, the woman was taken to a nearby hospital, he said, adding that she was mentally unstable and undergoing treatment.

Kale said according to the woman’s relatives, she had tried to commit suicide earlier also.

“She is from a well off family and has been staying in the building since last few years,” he said. “To save her life at any cost was our priority and we did that,” Kale added.

New Delhi: The ED has filed a criminal case to probe money laundering charges in an alleged corruption case involving London-based Rolls Royce that is said to have made a payment of over Rs 77 crore as commission to an agent to win contracts from PSUs HAL, ONGC and GAIL during 2007-11, officials said on Sunday.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has booked the case under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after going through a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR, which was registered in the case in July this year, they said.

Rolls Royce and its Indian subsidiary, Singapore-based Ashok Patni and his company Aashmore Pvt Ltd, and Mumbai-based Turbotech Energy Services International Pvt Ltd, besides unidentified officials of public sector units (PSUs) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and GAIL were booked by the CBI for criminal conspiracy and bribery.

The CBI complaint alleged that the total business of HAL with Rolls Royce was around Rs 4,700 crore between 2000 to 2013.

It is alleged that Rolls Royce paid Rs 18 crore to Patni as “commercial advisor” in the 100 supply orders of Avon and Allison engines’ spare parts to HAL between 2007-11, the bureau’s FIR stated.

The CBI action came after a five-year-long inquiry conducted by it. The inquiry was initiated on the basis of a complaint from the defence ministry that had received a letter about the engagement of Patni and his company by Rolls Royce.

The ED will probe if these alleged corrupt practices led to the generation of slush funds which were laundered to create personal assets, the officials said.

It will also investigate if the integrity pact was violated and kick backs were generated, they said.

Rollys Royce, after registration of the CBI case, had said it will not tolerate business misconduct of any sort and it is committed to maintain high ethical standards.

“No one currently working for Rolls-Royce in India played any part in these energy deals.

“India is an important market for Rolls-Royce and the company has a valued workforce of skilled people in the country,” a company spokesperson had said.

The CBI has charged that Patni was also engaged in direct contracts of Rolls Royce with ONGC and GAIL for the supply of spare parts.

Although contracts with ONGC and GAIL allowed services of an agent but it was mandatory to declare the name at the time of bidding, a condition violated by Rolls Royce, it said.

The company declared the name of its agent to the oil and gas sector behemoths in 2013, CBI alleged.

It is alleged that Roll Royce paid Rs 29.81 crore in 73 purchase orders from 2007 to 2011 for procurement of material and spare parts pertaining to the engines for ONGC, but the company declared it in 2013, it said.

Roll Royce also paid one million British pounds with regard to 68 purchase orders from GAIL for spare parts from 2007 to 2010, it said.

The company entered in an arrangement with Turbotech Energy Services International Pvt Ltd and another company, Infinity, also owned by Patni, to which extra commission was paid, but not declared to GAIL, the CBI said.

The total commission paid by Rolls Royce comes to the tune of Rs 28.09 crore during the period 2007-10 for supplies to GAIL, it alleged.

There was an alleged conspiracy by Rolls Royce Plc and its subsidiary Rolls Royce India Pvt Ltd to misrepresent the facts before HAL regarding the engagement of the agent in order to win contracts with the public sector unit with “deception”, it said.

The Indian Marine Gas Turbine unit of the HAL provides support in areas of inspection, spare parts, maintenance, equipment overhaul and assembly for industrial and marine gas turbines under licence from reputed manufactures.

The unit provides overhaul and repair of Avon and Allison engines for ONGC and GAIL for which spare parts are supplied by the energy division of Rolls Royce, it said.

The contract between Rolls Royce Power Engineering Plc and HAL was signed in June 2007, which was valid till December 2011, to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul services for units owned by the GAIL and ONGC under above licence from Rolls Royce.

“The purchase order condition specifically mentioned that Rolls Royce is not supposed to appoint any agent in India to promote this contract and no commission is payable to such agent,” the CBI FIR has alleged.

It is alleged that Rolls Royce violated the condition of purchase order and integrity pact by engaging Patni and his company as commercial advisor from 2007 to 2011, and paid a commission ranging from 10 per cent to 11.3 per cent for supply of spare parts for the Avon and Allison engines.

The commission amount comes to the tune of Rs 18.32 crore during the period from 2007 to 2011 for the 100 purchase order, the CBI FIR alleged.

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday said the Modi government is mum after “ruining the economy” and alleged that it is trying to hide the grim situation in the country.

Her attack came as the Modi government completed 100 days in office in its second term.

“The government is mum after ruining the economy. The companies are in danger, while trade is in doldrums,” Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

“Through drama, deceit, lies, and propaganda, they are trying to hide the country’s grim situation,” she said, using the hashtag ‘100DaysNoVikas’ (100 days, no development).

New Delhi: Taking a dig at the Modi government, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday “congratulated” it on 100 days of “no development”.

He alleged that there was a glaring lack of leadership, direction and plans to turnaround the “ravaged economy”.

The NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed 100 days after coming to power for a second consecutive term with a massive mandate.

“Congratulations to the Modi govt on #100DaysNoVikas, the continued subversion of democracy, a firmer stranglehold on a submissive media to drown out criticism and a glaring lack of leadership, direction & plans where it’s needed the most – to turnaround our ravaged economy,” Gandhi said in a tweet.

Guwahati: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that the Centre will not touch Article 371 which grants special provisions to the North East.

Article 370 was clearly temporary in nature but Article 371 is about special provisions in the North East and there is a vast difference between the two, Shah said while addressing the 68th plenary session of the North East Council here.

“After abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, there were attempts to misinform and misguide the people of North East that Article 371 would also be scrapped by the Centre”, he said.

“I have clarified in Parliament that this is not going to happen and I am saying it again today in the presence of eight chief ministers of North East that the Centre will not touch Article 371”, Shah added.

Courtesy: Vartha Bharati

The Chandrayaan-2s Vikram module has been located on the Lunar surface and it must have been a hard-landing, ISRO chairman K Sivan said on Sunday, in an admission that the planned soft-landing wasn’t successful. Yes, we have located the lander on the Lunar surface. It must have been a hard-landing, Sivan told PTI.

He said the lander rover Pragyan is housed inside it was located by on-board cameras of the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter. Asked if the lander was damaged during the hard-landing, he said: That we do not know.

Sivan said efforts to establish contact with the lander were continuing. India’s mission to soft-land on moon suffered a setback during the wee hours on Saturday, with ‘Vikram’ module losing communication with ground stations, just 2.1 km from the lunar surface during its final descent.

Considered as the most complex” stageof the country’s second expedition to the moon, the Lander was on a powered decent for a soft-landing when it lost the communication.

“Vikram Lander descent was as planned and normal performance was observed up to an altitude of 2.1 km. Subsequently, communication from the lander to ground stations was lost,” Sivan had said.

“The data is being analysed”, he had added at the Mission Operations Complex at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) here.

The successful landing would have made India the fourth country after erstwhile USSR, the US and China to achieve a soft-landing on the moon, also the first to launch amission to the unexplored south pole of the Moon.

The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter is healthy and safe in the Lunar orbit, an ISRO official said after the lander lost contact with ground stations minutes before the touchdown on Moon’s surface.

“The orbiter is healthy, intact, functioning normally and safely in the Lunar orbit,” the official told PTI.  The mission life of the 2,379-kg orbiter is one year. The orbiter payloads would conduct remote-sensing observations from a 100-km orbit.

Chandrayaan-2, a follow-on mission to the Chandrayaan-1 mission undertaken more than a decade ago, comprises an orbiter, lander (Vikram) and rover (Pragyan).

The orbiter carries eight scientific payloads for mapping the lunar surface and study the exosphere (outer atmosphere) of the Moon.

ISRO on September 2 successfully carried out the separation of lander Vikram (with rover Pragyan housed inside) from the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter.

The Vikram module, which was supposed to carry out various tests on the lunar soil, had completed the rough braking phase as planned and entered the phase of fine braking at an altitude of 2.1 km, when it lost communication.

‘Vikram’, named after Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, the father of the Indian Space Programme, was designed to execute a soft-landing on the lunar surface, and to function for one lunar day, which is equivalent to about 14 earth days.

The rover was to roll down from the lander explore the surrounding lunar terrain, a few hours after the planned soft-landing. The Chandrayaan-2 is a Rs 978-crore unmanned moon mission (satellite cost Rs 603 crore, GSLV MK III cost Rs 375 crore).

India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV MkIII-M1 successfully launched the 3,840-kg Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft into the Earth’s orbit on July 22.

The spacecraft began its journey towards the moon leaving the earth’s orbit in the dark hours on August 14, after a crucial manoeuver called Trans Lunar Insertion that was carried out by ISRO to place the spacecraft on “Lunar Transfer Trajectory.”

The spacecraft successfully entered the lunar orbit on August 20 by performing Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) manoeuver.

On September 2, ‘Vikram’ successfully separated from the orbiter, following which two de-orbiting manoeuvres were performed to bring the lander closer to the Moon

The SP chief, who was scheduled to meet party leader Azam Khan’s family today, claimed that the administration has said his visit could result in riots in Rampur

LUCKNOW

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav postpones trip to Rampur in Uttar Pradesh

Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav this morning postponed his visit to Rampur in view of prohibitory orders imposed in the city due to Muharram and Ganesh Chaturthi. He will be visiting Rampur on September 13-14. 

Addressing a press conference at the party office in Lucknow, the SP chief, who was scheduled to meet party leader Azam Khan’s family today, claimed that the administration has said his visit could result in riots in Rampur. 

“I have to visit Rampur after meeting party workers in Sitapur, Shahjahanpur and Bareilly. I have postponed the visit by two days. It has been rescheduled to September 13-14. No one can stop us from meeting people in a democracy,” Mr Yadav told reporters.

He said the administration has told the party that prohibitory orders were imposed in Rampur in view of Muharram and Ganesh Chaturthi due to community sensitivity.

However, Mr Yadav alleged that the Rampur district magistrate was “working at the behest of government as his tenure is going to end and he wanted an extension”.

“Fake cases were lodged against Azam Khan under pressure of the local administration,” he said, defending the party leader.

“I and the entire Samajwadi Party is with him and will fight at all levels and also explore ways for the legal fight,” the SP chief said.

He said, “Politically motivated” cases are being lodged against Azam Khan to finish off the university founded by him. They don’t want the university to run and students to have a bright future. Political forces do not want change in the lives of people.”

“In the political history, such a large number of cases have never been lodged against anyone. FIRs are being registered in matters that are 10-12 years old under pressure,” Mr Yadav alleged

Announcing the postponing of his visit, he said, “We have given detailed information regarding my visit to the administration. Now I will go there on September 13, and hope that the administration will have no problem.”