New Delhi: Nirbhaya’s brother is a pilot and parents Asha Devi and Badrinath Singh cannot stop thanking Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi for making it possible.

“Gandhi taught us never to quit attitude,” says Asha Devi. Nirbhaya’s brother was in Class 12 during the time of his sister’s death and was deeply affected by it. “Rahul Gandhi was the one who counselled him and motivated him to achieve something good in life to support the family. Rahul asked him to pursue a pilot’s training. The tragedy hurt my son but could not stop him,” she says.

Asha Devi reveals that her son initially prepared for Indian Army’s recruitment examination but later found it difficult.

In 2013, he enrolled into Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi, a government-founded autonomous institute in Rae Bareli — the Lok Sabha constituency of Rahul Gandhi’s mother and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

While pursuing his pilot training course, my son used to keep a track of the Nirbhaya trial, says Asha Devi.

“When he was studying, Rahul used to talk to him over the phone and during his 18-month pilot’s training course, he taught him to adopt a ‘never quit’ attitude. Even Priyanka Gandhi used to call us,” she said.

Badrinath Singh who works at the Indira Gandhi International Airport says his son has joined IndiGo Airlines and is already flying planes. “Gandhi helped us emotionally as well as monetarily and all on humanitaranian grounds. He asked us to keep this all in secret,” says the father.

Singh adds that he has nothing to do with Gandhi’s politics, “but the truth remains the truth, and we cannot thank him enough”.

Singh says that he has never flown in a plane and hopes that his first time will be the one flown by his son as pilot.

Singh’s another son is pursuing engineering in Pune.

‘Nirbhaya’ the victim of Delhi’s brutal gang rape was an aspiring physiotherapy student and a mentor to her two brothers. She had great ambitions in life and one of them was ensuring her brothers receive good education. Her life and dreams were cut short in December 2012, after she was brutally gang-raped. She succumbed to her injuries 13 days later.

She came to be known as ‘Nirbhaya’ (meaning fearless) in the days after her brutal gang-rape. The brutality of the crime was such that it shook the entire nation and triggered anger and protests on the streets.

All the six accused were later arrested. One of them died in jail while the rest four were convicted of the rape and murder and awarded death sentences. One of the accused, a juvenile, was convicted and ordered to remain in a correctional facility for three years.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today hit back at BJP chief Amit Shah for attacking his government for celebrating ‘Tipu Jayanti’ and accused him of making a ‘desperate attempt’ to communalise the situation ahead of the state Assembly polls.

A day after coming under fire by the BJP chief at a rally here, Siddaramaiah claimed the election had brought ‘tourists like Shah’ who display ignorance about the state.

“We celebrate birthdays of 26 leaders & builders of Nava Karnataka. AmitShah in a desperate attempt to communalise, picks on Tipu Jayanthi,” Siddaramaiah said in a tweet.

“Election is coming! It brings tourists like Amit Shah who display ignorance about our state and call Kannada Rajyotsava as ‘Karnataka Mahotsav’,” he claimed.

Flagging-off a 75-day state-wide ‘yatra’ spearheaded by BJP state mascot B S Yeddyurappa at a rally here yesterday, Shah had flayed ‘ Tipu Jayanti’ celebrations, accusing the Siddaramaiah government of practising ‘vote bank politics.’

“Yesterday was November 1. It was Karnataka’s formation day. Karnataka Mahotsav (Rajyotsava) celebrations had to happen with grandeur, but Siddaramaiah government had no interest in Karnataka Mahotsava, they are more enthusiastic towards celebrating Tipu Jayanti on November 10,” he had said.

In a series of tweets in Kannada, Siddaramaiah defended the ‘Tipu Jayanti’ celebrations.

“People of the state have accepted Tipu Jayanti. Tipu was a patriot. He was not against Hindus or any other community,” he said on Twitter.

Siddaramaiah also took a jibe at the state BJP leaders, alleging they had once described Tipu Sultan as a freedom fighter but had become ‘enlightened’ after learning lessons from Shah.

He claimed the BJP yatra was a failure on the very first day, proving that the people were not with the party.

The BJP has been opposing the event as it sees Tipu Sultan, the 18th-century ruler of erstwhile Mysore kingdom, as a ‘brutal killer’ and a ‘religious bigot’ who converted people to Islam.

Assembly elections are due in Karnataka early next year in which the BJP is hoping to capture power, unseating the government-led by Siddaramaiah.

Making history, the BJP had installed its first-ever government in the South in 2008 before losing power to the Congress.

(PTI)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought the government’s response to four petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act and linking of bank accounts and mobile numbers with the 12-digit biometric identification number.

The apex court did not pass any interim order in the matter saying that final hearing in all Aadhaar-related issues would start before another bench in the last week of this month and the Centre has already extended the deadline till December 31.

A bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan, however, said the banks and telecom service providers should indicate the last date of linking bank accounts and mobile numbers with Aadhaar in the messages sent by them to their customers.

“We make it clear that in the messages sent by banks and telecom service providers, the date of December 31, 2017, and February 6, 2018, shall also be indicated as the last date of linking Aadhaar with bank accounts and mobile numbers,” the bench said.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for one of the petitioners, referred to a recently filed affidavit by the Centre and said the government has said the deadline for linking Aadhaar may be extended till March 31, 2018.

The bench, however, said the petitioners can raise this issue before the court which would hear all Aadhaar-related matters in the last week of November.

“There is no doubt that these arguments need consideration. The matter is going to come up in the last week of November and the time (to link Aadhaar with bank accounts) has been extended till December 31,” the bench said.

On October 30, a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had said that a constitution bench would be constituted and Aadhaar-related matters would come up for hearing before it in November last.

Several petitions challenging the Centre’s move to make Aadhaar card mandatory for availing various services and benefits of welfare schemes have been filed in the apex court.

(PTI)

Chennai: Actor-filmmaker Prakash Raj on Friday supported actor Kamal Haasan’s views on “Hindu extremists”.

“If instilling fear in the name of religion… culture… morality is not terrorizing… then what is it. Just asking,” tweeted Prakash Raj, a popular name in the Kannada, Telugu and Tamil film industries.

In an accompanying post titled “To whomsoever it may concern”, Prakash Raj wrote: “If abusing and manhandling young couples on the streets of my country in the name of morality is not terrorizing… If taking law into hands and lynching people on slightest doubt of cow slaughter is not terrorizing… If trolling with abuse, threat… to silence even a slightest voice of dissent is not terrorizing… Then what is terrorizing… Just asking.”

His comment came after Kamal wrote in a Tamil magazine that earlier rightwing Hindus used to argue but without indulging in violence. But as their “cunningness” started to fail, they began to resort to violence.

“Extremism has spread into their camp as well,” said Kamal, who is said to be preparing for a political plunge. “This extremism is not a victory or progress to those who call themselves Hindus.”

(IANS)

Photo credit: Filmibeat

Bengaluru: Sandalwood actor Upendra announced the launch of his regional party named ‘Karnataka Prajnavantha Janata party’ at Gandhi Bhavan here today.

Earlier in August he had announced that he would be taking a plunge into politics. On Tuesday, he briefed the media about the party’s objectives and aspirations.

Addressing the gathering wearing khakhi uniform, Upendra stated that anybody willing to bring change in the society can join the party. The primary motto of the Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janata Paksha is to provide good education, health and infrastructure for the citizens.

“The party will contest from all the 224 constituencies in next year’s assembly polls but ruled out entering into a prepoll or post-poll alliance with any other party” he said.

“People in villages should not turn towards cities for better livelihood and they should get everything in their place itself,” he added.

Upendra reiterated that he wants to replace the modus operandi of the current day political system with ‘Prajakeeya’ which sincerely aims to create public servants rather than leaders who take the citizens for granted.

“We have around 50-60 candidates and I want to be their brand ambassador,” he added.

A website and mobile app will be launched on November 10 which will allow people to share their ideas and problems.

“The party will contest from all the 224 constituencies in next year’s assembly polls but ruled out entering into a prepoll or post-poll alliance with any other party” he said.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today directed the Centre to place before it details regarding 1,581 cases involving MPs and MLAs, as declared by politicians at the time of filing their nominations during the 2014 general elections.

The apex court asked the government to apprise it as to how many of these 1,581 cases have been disposed of within one year and how many have ended either in conviction or acquittal of the accused. A bench comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Navin Sinha also sought the details of criminal cases lodged against politicians from 2014 till date as well as on the disposal of these matters.

During the hearing, the Centre told the bench that decriminalisation of politics has to be done and it was not averse to the setting up of special courts to deal with cases involving politicians and speedy disposal of these matters.

It informed the bench that the recommendations of the Election Commission of India and the Law Commission favouring life-time disqualification of politicians convicted in criminal cases was under the active consideration of the government.

The bench directed the Centre to place before it the scheme for setting up of such special courts and also indicate the amount of funds that could be earmarked for the purpose. The apex court asked the government to place these details before it within six weeks and fixed the matter for hearing on December 13.

The ECI supported the plea seeking life ban on politicians convicted in criminal cases and said they have already made recommendations on this to the Centre. The top court was hearing petitions seeking to declare the provisions of the Representation of People (RP) Act, which bar convicted politician from contesting elections for six years after serving jail term, as ultra vires to the Constitution.

Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay has filed a PIL in the matter, while several others have come to the apex court as intervenors. The apex court had on July 12 pulled up the ECI for not taking a clear stand on a plea seeking barring of convicted politicians for life.

The Centre, in its affidavit, had said the prayer sought by the petitioner seeking life-time bar on convicted lawmakers was not maintainable and the plea should be dismissed. The petition has also sought a direction to the Centre and the EC to fix minimum educational qualification and a maximum age limit for persons contesting polls.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: Cooking gas (LPG) price was Wednesday hiked by Rs 4.50 per cylinder, the 19th increase in rates since July 2016 when the government decided to eliminate subsidy on it by raising prices every month.

Also, jet fuel or ATF price was increased by 2 per cent on firming international rates, the fourth straight increase in rates since August, according to price notification posted by state-owned retailers.

The price of non-subsidised LPG or market priced cooking gas has been hiked by Rs 93 to Rs 742 per bottle. At the last revision on October 1 the rate was hiked by Rs 50 to Rs 649 per bottle.

Subsidised LPG price has been hiked by Rs 4.50 per 14.2- kg cylinder to Rs 495.69.

The government last year had asked state-run oil firms to raise prices every month to eliminate all the subsidies by March next year.

Since the implementation of the policy of monthly increases from July last year, subsidised LPG rates have gone up by Rs 76.51 per cylinder. A 14.2-kg LPG cylinder was priced at Rs 419.18 in June 2016.

Every household is entitled to 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg each at subsidised rates in a year. Any requirement beyond that is to be purchased at market price.

Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) will now cost Rs 54,143 per kilolitre (kl) in Delhi, Rs 1,098 per kl more than Rs 53,045 previously, oil companies said.

This is the fourth consecutive monthly hike in ATF price, the last being 6 per cent (Rs 3,025 per kl) on October 1.

State-owned oil firms revise rates of LPG and ATF on 1st of every month based on average oil price and foreign exchange rate in the previous month.

Initially, the hike in LPG rate was Rs 2 per month which was doubled to Rs 3 from May this year. Today’s hike in the LPG price is sixth since the May 30 order of the oil ministry to raise rates by Rs 4 per cylinder every month.

There are as many as 18.11 crore customers of subsidised LPG in the country. These include over 3 crore poor women who were given free connections during the last one year under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna.

There are 2.66 crore users of non-subsidised cooking gas.

(PTI)