Nasheman

India's largest selling Urdu weekly, now also in English

You are here: Home / Archives for News & Politics / India

Setback for Left, Congress, as BJP makes huge electoral gains in Northeast

by

Agartala/Kohima/Shillong: The BJP and its ally surged ahead of the Left Front in Tripura establishing a lead in 37 seats, while the Congress was ahead in Meghalaya, according to Election Commission sources.

In Nagaland, the ruling Naga People’s Front (NPF) was ahead in 15 constituencies. The BJP and its ally Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) were also leading in 15 seats.

Election in 59 seats for Tripura’s 60-member Assembly was held on February 18. Polling was countermanded in one seat due to death of a CPI(M) candidate.

The BJP was leading in 29 seats while its ally Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) was ahead in 8 seats.

The ruling CPI(M), which is power for the last 25 years, was ahead in 17 seats, according to the trends available.

BJP state president Biplab Kumar Deb and party MLA Sudip Roy Burman were leading in their respective seats of Banamlipur and Agartala. According to trends of 58 constituencies available in Meghalaya, the ruling Congress won two seats and was leading in 19 followed by the National People’s Party (NPP) in 14.

Chief Minister Mukul Sangma registered wins from both Songsak and Ampati constituencies. While the United Democratic Party (UDP) was leading in five, the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) was leading in four.

The BJP was leading in 5 constituencies. The Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) was leading in 2 seats while Independents were ahead in 6 seats. The Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) was leading in one seat. Polling for 59 seats of the 60-member Assembly was held on February 27.
In Nagaland, the BJP is ahead in five and the NDPP in 10 seats. Trends were available for 33 seats till 11 am. The National People’s Party was ahead in two seats and the JD(U) in one. Commenting on the trends in the three states, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said that it indicated to a new political direction and would have an effect on national politics as well.

“We are confident of forming government in all three states”, he said. BJP leader Ram Madhav said, “Seeing the early trends, I feel that in Tripura BJP is going to do very well. In Nagaland too, our alliance is doing very well and Congress is trailing in Meghalaya”. “The results of North East are going to be very good for the BJP,” he said.

(PTI)

Pak summons Indian envoy over ‘unprovoked firing’

by

Islamabad: Pakistan summoned India’s Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh for the second consecutive day today over the “unprovoked firing” by Indian troops across the Line of Control. Foreign Office said that Director General (South Asia & SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned Singh and condemned the “unprovoked ceasefire violations” by the Indian forces along the LoC on March 1 in Bhimber/Samahini Sectors.

The firing killed a civilian and injured his wife and son, it said, adding that Indian troops were using “heavy mortars”. Faisal said despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations. India carried out more than 415 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary so far in 2018, resulting in the killings of 20 civilians and injuries to 71 others, he said. He said this “unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed 1970 ceasefire violations.”

“The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws. The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation,” said Faisal.

Pakistan urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary.

He asked India to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate the latest incident and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary.

He also urged the Indian side to allow the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions. India maintains that UNMOGIP has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the Line of Control.

The Foreign Office yesterday summoned Singh and condemned the “unprovoked ceasefire violations” by the Indian forces in Kotli/Jandrot and Chirikot Sectors. It had summoned India’s deputy high commissioner on February 5, 15, 20, 22, 24 and 27.

(Agencies)

US court grants interim stay on debt collection against Modi’s Firestar Diamond

by

A special court on Thursday gave the CBI custody of Karti Chidambaram, son of Congress leader P. Chidambaram, for questioning till March 6 in the INX Media alleged bribery case, saying the matter is at an initial and very crucial stage that requires further investigation.

CBI Judge Sunil Rana gave the order after three hours of heated arguments between Karti’s lawyer and the CBI counsel, who pleaded for 14 days custody, saying he needed to be questioned thoroughly in “a serious finance corruption case” which is not a political witch hunt or vendetta.

“In view of the submissions made and the fact that the matter is at the initial stage of investigation, which is a very crucial stage and further as per the case diary and day-to-day report of the investigation, the claim of the CBI is based on the ground that there is a prima facie material showing the involvement of the accused and it requires further investigation,” the judge said in his nine-page order.

“In view of the facts and circumstances of the case, I am of the view that the police custody of the accused is necessary to confront the accused with documents, co-accused and to unearth the larger conspiracy and role of other accused persons involved in this case.”

Hence, the Judge said, it would be appropriate to grant further custody to the CBI of Karti for five days.

The investigating officer was asked to get the accused medically examined every 24 hours during the custody and Karti would be at liberty to seek the assistance of his counsel during the remand period.

Earlier, the prosecution contended that INX Media had received foreign investment to the tune of 26 per cent, including FDI, and in pursuance of criminal conspiracy it again approached the FIPB unit of the Finance Ministry and sought permission for the downstream investment.

“It is further submitted that such deceitful and fallacious proposal was favourably considered by the officials of the Ministry of Finance and was approved by the then Finance Minister (P. Chidambaram),” the Judge said, recalling the prosecution arguments.

The Judge disallowed Karti’s plea for home-cooked food but directed that he could be allowed medicines.

The INX Media had also received foreign investment of Rs 300 crore from August 22, 2007 to May 12, 2008 — which was in excess equivalent to Rs 300.7 crore. It was received from three Mauritius-based foreign investors.

Appearing for the agency before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta said Karti, who was arrested on Wednesday and sent to one day CBI remand, spent the whole night in the cardiac care unit of Safdarjung Hospital and came to the CBI only in the morning.

“He was only questioned for a few hours. It is amazing that despite no history of cardiac problem, doctors advised him to be in the CCU,” Mehta said.

He said one-day custody was not enough to question him and the CBI needed 14 days to interrogate Karti.

Mehta said investigation was at a crucial stage and custody remand of Karti was required to confront him with documents, co-accused and the trail of proceeds of crime as he was the ultimate beneficiary and the prime conspirator in monetary transaction involving huge sum of money.

The prosecutor accused Karti and his father, who was then Finance Minister in 2008, connived with each other to get Foreign Investment Promotional Board (FIPB) clearance for the INX Media, headed by murder accused Peter and Indrani Mukherjea, which was earlier accused of serious violations in receiving overseas funds.

The prosecution said Karti needed to be confronted with other accused, including his Chartered Accountant Bhaskar Raman, who is already in custody, and suspects in the case. There was need to travel to several cities for which 14 days custody would be required, he said.

He said Advantage Strategic Consultants, which is linked to alleged illegal payments, was virtually owned and controlled by Chess Management in which Karti is said to have stakes.

In her statement to a magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC, Indrani Mukherjea said she along with her husband had travelled to a hotel in Delhi where they had met Karti.

Mehta said the hotel stay and travel details of the Mukherjeas were available with the CBI.

He said the Enforcement Directorate had recovered a hard disk in which it found four invoices relating to the alleged payments. He said there was evidence of money shared at various foreign locations on 33 occasions.

Opposing the CBI plea, Karti’s lawyer Abhishek Singhvi said the agency had questioned him for 22 hours on August 23 and 28 and no summons were issued to him after that.

“Logical inference is that you (the CBI) have nothing to ask. That’s why you did not issue any summon for the last six months,” Singhvi said in the court.

He challenged the CBI plea on three grounds saying there was no flight risk, Karti was cooperating in the investigation and there was no threat of tampering with evidence.

“The whole issue of arrest is motivated and illegal and not justified. Non-cooperation does not mean that he replies to the agency in the way they want him to.”

“All the four invoices (payments) referred to, Karti was neither a shareholder nor a director nor connected with any of them. In two of them, there was no remittance, no receipt of money was found. With the other two invoices also, he had nothing to do,” Singhvi contended.

“How this bribe money travelled to these companies is a billion dollar question that the CBI should explain.”

He also argued that how a son could get paid for FIPB clearance through his father who had himself ordered a serious fraud investigation into the matter.

He alleged that Indrani Mukherjea made the confession under the compulsion of the CBI as she is in its custody in the case of the brutal murder of her own daughter.

To this, Mehta objected and said Indrani was not in the CBI custody but in judicial custody and she has given her statement that needed to be taken as an evidence.

(PTI)

12 Maoists, one policeman killed in Telangana gunfight

by

Hyderabad: In a major setback to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), at least 12 guerrillas were killed in a gunfight with police in Telangana’s Jayashankar Bhupalapally district on Friday.

A police constable also lost his life, police said and three personnel of the elite Greyhounds anti-Maoist force were injured.

The exchange of fire occurred in the forests near Venkatapuram village on Telangana-Chhattisgarh border in the early hours of Friday.

The Maoists received the big jolt in the joint operation by the police of the two states in Tadapalagutta-Pujarikamkedu region on the inter-state border.

The incident occurred when police, including Greyhounds personnel, launched combing operations in the forests following tip-off about the presence of Maoists.

They surrounded the guerrillas and asked them to surrender. However, the Maoists opened fire, forcing the police to retaliate. Some Maoists escaped deep in the forest.

Additional forces were rushed to the area to launch the combing operations. Senior police officers, including Jayashankar Bhupalapally district Superintendent of Police R. Bhaskaran, also rushed to the scene.

Some top leaders of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) including the banned outfit’s Telangana Secretary Haribhushan alias Jagan and another key leader Chukka Rao were suspected to be among the slain Maoists. The dead include six women cadre of the outfit. Haribhushan’s wife Samakka was also killed in the encounter.

Haribhushan had been heading the outfit since formation of Telangana State and he was carrying a reward of Rs 30 lakh on his head. According to police, he was an accused in at least 50 cases.

Sushil Kumar, a constable of Greyhounds was also killed in the gun battle. Three other police personnel were injured and they were airlifted to Bhadrachalam town. The bodies of Maoists were also shifted to the town for autopsy.

Five guns, including one AK-47 rifle, a scanner, a laptop and Rs 41,000 cash were recovered from the scene.

The CPI (Maoist) received the setback when it was trying to revive its activities in its former stronghold of north Telangana.

During last few weeks, there were reports about the presence of Maoists in the old Warangal and Khammam districts. Police said many had crossed over from neighbouring Chhattisgarh and were indulging in extortion and other illegal activities.

In December last year, eight Maoists of Chandrapulla Reddy Poru Bata, a splinter group of old People’s War, were gunned down by police in Bhadradri Kothagudem district.

This was the first major incident since formation of Telangana State in 2014.

The Maoist movement had considerably weakened in the undivided Andhra Pradesh since 2005 when the police launched massive operations and eliminated several top leaders following the collapse of the ceasefire and first-ever talks between then state government and the Maoists.

(IANS)

Bengaluru court rejects bail plea of Mohammed Nalapad in assault case

by

The bail plea of Mohammed Haris Nalapad, son of a Congress legislator NA Haris, has been rejected by a court in Bengaluru. 24-year-old Mohammad Nalapad, accused of severely thrashing a man at an upscale restaurant in Bengaluru, is charged with attempt to murder and has been in jail since last week when he surrendered along with six others.

The public prosecutor in the case said the bail was denied as the court thought the accused could influence the witnesses.

“Court expressed that there are going to be chances of witnesses getting influenced and the investigation getting coerced. Court has come to a conclusion that they don’t deserve bail. It is victory to justice and society at large,” Public Prosecutor Shyam Sundar told news agency ANI.

Earlier this month, Mohammad Nalapad allegedly walked up to a man who was having dinner at a cafe in the upscale UB City mall, with his bandaged foot on a table. Mohammad Nalapad allegedly asked him to remove it and “sit properly”. When Vidwath refused, he was attacked by the group and beaten so severely that his eyes were swollen shut and his clothes were blood-soaked. He had to be admitted to the ICU.

The incident has deeply embarrassed the ruling Congress just months ahead of elections in Karnataka. The party has expelled Mohammad Nalapad for six years and sacked him as the state unit’s Youth Congress general secretary.

The opposition in Karnataka has accused NA Haris of shielding his son, who was arrested two days after the incident. The BJP also accused the government of going soft on the accused.

Mr Haris, a two-time lawmaker from the Shantinagar assembly segment, last Tuesday tendered an apology in the state legislative assembly for the violent conduct of his son. He also put out a public apology last week and said, “Children make mistakes…we cannot disown or abandon them.”

(Agencies)

Army jawan gets life term in murder case

by

Muzaffarnagar: A court here has sentenced an army jawan to life imprisonment for killing a shopkeeper over some financial dispute in 2010, a prosecution lawyer said today.

Additional district sessions judge Poonam Rajput convicted army jawan Yogesh Kumar last evening after he surrendered. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on him.

Two persons – Akhilesh and Kamal – were also sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder case on January 30, while a non-bailable warrant was issued against Yogesh who had not appeared in the court.

Yogesh last evening surrendered in the court after which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. According to prosecution lawyer Ritu Choudhary, shopkeeper Tejpal was shot dead by the three men at Sisauli village here on November 5, 2010.

(PTI)

CBI allowed by court to interrogate Karti Chidambaram for one-day

by

New Delhi: Karti Chidambaram, arrested by the CBI in connection with the probe into the INX Media case, was today sent for one-day custodial interrogation by a Delhi court.

Though the CBI had sought 15-day remand for the custodial interrogation of Karti, duty magistrate Sumeet Anand granted a day’s custody, making it clear that he should be produced before the concerned special judge tomorrow at 2.30 pm.

Duty magistrate is a judge before whom an accused is produced when the concerned judge is not available or when any accused is produced after the regular court hours. In this case, the concerned special judge had left the court premises at around 4.30 pm, about 20 minutes before Karti was brought to the court.

46-year-old Karti, who was arrested in the morning at Chennai airport after he landed there from London, was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Sumeet Anand at around 4.50 pm when the CBI sought his custody to quiz him for unearthing the “total conspiracy” in the case claiming he was not cooperating in the probe.

During the hearing, CBI’s prosecutor V K Sharma told the court that Karti has not cooperated in the investigation and he has been repeatedly travelling abroad which “confirmed apprehensions” that “he will flee” from the country.

He alleged that one of the grounds for arresting Karti was that the CBI had recorded statement of Indrani Mukerjea, former Director of INX Media (P) Ltd, before a magistrate on February 17 in which she had said that Karti had “accepted one million dollars from INX Media” at the Hyatt Hotel here.

Opposing the CBI’s contentions, senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Karti, said it was a “bizzare” case and no grounds for arrest were made out. “It is a bizzare case at the threshhold. It is not a case of arrest, leave aside police custody or judicial custody,” Singhvi told the court while opposing the CBI’s remand plea.

He also argued that Karti was summoned twice by the CBI on August 23 and 28 last year and he was interrogated for 22 hours by the agency. Singhvi said, “there are no reasons given for the arrest. It is because you (CBI) want to show it to your bosses that you are doing some work.”

“Unlike others, I (Karti) am not ‘Hindustan leaver’ and instead I am ‘Hindustan returner’,” he said and claimed that Karti was cooperating with the CBI and the court might impose any condition while releasing him from the agency’s custody. “I (Karti) am not a fugitive,” Singhvi, who was assisted by senior advocates Dayan Krishnan and Mohit Mathur, told the court.

The CBI, in its remand plea, has alleged that Karti had not cooperated in the investigation by joining the same “until compelled to do so by the Supreme Court” and he “vehemently denied that he or his company had any interaction with INX Media on any matter including FIPB related matter despite evidence to the contrary”.

“Thus, Karti Chidambaram needs to be subjected to sustained interrogation for unearthing the total conspiracy hatched in the case and also to find out the details of overseas payments received by him from INX Media as a quid pro quo for influence exercised by him over the public servants to scuttle the punitive action required to be taken against M/s INX Media (P) Ltd for the illegal acts of receiving excess investment than the approved FDI and also for making of downstream investment without the FIPB approval.

For this purpose, his police custody remand for a period of 15 days is considered essential,” the remand plea said. The agency claimed that Karti’s “frequent” visits abroad has confirmed “apprehensions of his tampering with the evidence lying abroad against him and others in the form of secret note received from the Ministry of Finance”.

It said the “secret note” received from the Finance Ministry was also shown in a sealed cover to the apex court and the Madras High Court while objecting to Karti’s foreign visits and justifying the look out circular (LoC) issued against him.

At the outset, the court allowed the request of Karti’s lawyers to have an interaction with him inside the court room for 10 minutes, after which the proceedings resumed. When Karti was brought from CBI headquarters here to the Patiala House court premises and taken to the courtroom, he told waiting scribes, “It’s absolutely a political vendetta. I will be vindicated”.

Earlier in the day, Karti was taken into custody by a team of CBI officials at the Chennai airport on his return from the United Kingdom. The CBI had lodged an FIR on May 15 last year alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 when P Chidambaram was the Union finance minister.

It also alleged that Karti had received funds to the tune of Rs 10 lakh in the case. The case was lodged by CBI for alleged offences under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 420 (cheating) of the IPC and under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

CBI also alleged that Karti had also received money from INX Media to scuttle a tax probe. The firm was owned at the time by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who are currently in jail on charges of allegedly murdering Indrani’s daughter Sheena Bora. The Enforcement Directorate has also registered a money laundering case in the INX Media matter.

(PTI)

Kharge declines govt’s offer to attend Lokpal meeting as special invitee

by

New Delhi: Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has written to the prime minister, declining the governments offer to attend the meeting of the Selection Committee for Lokpal appointment as a special invitee.

The government had invited him to today’s meeting of the Selection Committee as a special invitee. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kharge has said that a special invitee invitation is a concerted effort to exclude the voice of the opposition in Lokpal selection.

As per the Lokpal Act, only the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha is a member of the Selection Committee and since Kharge is not the Leader of Opposition, he is not a part of the committee.

A special invitee invitation is a concerted effort to exclude the independent voice of the opposition altogether from the selection process of the most important anti-corruption watchdog, Kharge said in his letter to Modi.

“My mere presence as special invitee without rights of participation, recording of my opinion and voting would be a mere eyewash ostensibly aimed at showcasing the participation of the opposition in the selection process.

In these circumstances I must decline the invite as a special invitee to uphold the inviolability of the Lokpal Act 2013 as the current proceedings have reduced a sacred procedure to a political presence, he said in the letter.

(PTI)

MP bypoll: Congress wins Mungaoli, Kolaras seats

by

Bhopal: In a jolt to the ruling BJP ahead of Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh this year, the opposition Congress on Wednesday won bypolls to Mungaoli and Kolaras seats.

Congress candidate Brijendra Singh Yadav won in Mungaoli by defeating BJP rival Bhai Sahab Deshraj Singh Yadav by 2,124 votes, an official said. Yadav got 70,808 votes, while the BJP polled 68,684 votes.

In Kolaras, Congress party’s Mahendra Singh Yadav defeated BJP’s Devendra Kumar Jain by 8,083 votes. The Congress polled 82,515 votes and the BJP 74,432 votes.

Counting of votes began at 8 a.m. Kolaras in Shivpuri district and Mungaoli in Ashok Nagar.

Congress leaders, including party MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, congratulated the winning candidates and said it was the people’s victory.

(IANS)

Manjhi’s HAM exits NDA, formally joins Grand Alliance in Bihar

by

Patna: Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S) on Wednesday night formally joined the Grand Allince, hours after he announced its exit from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

“HAM-S has joined the Grand Alliance after the top leaders of the party took a decision to this effect,” Manjhi told at a joint press conference here, addressed along with former Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.

Manjhi also attacked the NDA and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is also JD-U president, over what he called “failure of law and order, prohibition policy and implementation of schemes for poor and marginalised”.

He also praised RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who is currently lodged in a jail in Ranchi following his conviction in two fodder scam cases.

“HAM-S will support the RJD and the Congress in the by-elections to one Lok Sabha seat and two assembly seats.”

The Grand Alliance in Bihar now consists of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and the HAM-S. Besides, it also has a strong backing of the Janata Dal (United) faction led by Sharad Yadav.

Tejashwi Yadav, who is Leader of Opposition in Bihar assembly, said the Grand Alliance will be strengthened with the joining of HAM-S. “We will be stronger now and better placed to defeat the NDA.”

Earlier in the day, Manjhi announced his party’s exit from the NDA and said it would join the Grand Alliance in the state.

He said: “My party has quit the NDA and we will join the Grand Alliance. HAM-S has parted ways with the NDA.”

Earlier in the day, Tejashwi Yadav and his elder brother and former Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav met Manjhi.

Former Chief Minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s wife Rabri Devi said that Manjhi was feeling suffocated in the BJP-led NDA and that her party would welcome him in the Grand Alliance.

“We will give him the honour and respect he deserves,” she said.

Manjhi had stepped out of the Janata Dal-United in 2015, formed HAM-S the same year and forged an alliance with the NDA ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls in 2015.

(IANS)

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives