With the Supreme Court dismissing PIL seeking independent
investigation over the death of the CBI Special Court judge Justice B.H. Loya, the Bharatiya Najanata Party
has demanded that the Congress party should apologise to the nation.
Addressing a Press conference here today Senior BJP leader and Union HRD Minister, Sri. Prakash
Javadekar said finally the truth had trumped in Justice Loya case, and the Congress party should apologise
for misleading nation on the issue.
While dismissing the PIL on Thursday, the Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak
Mishra, Justice A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud ruled that the judge died of natural causes and that
the petition was a serious attempt to scandalise and obstruct the course of justice. The bench termed the
argument that a single man was controlling the entire judiciary as scandalous. The judges further said
they had a duty to protect the judicial officers and this petition was an attempt to launch a frontal attack
on the judiciary itself.
It may be recalled here that Justice Loya, who was probing alleged fake encounter case of
Sohrabuddin Sheik, died of cardiac arrest in December 2014. BJP President, Sri Amith Shah was one of the
accused in the case.
Referring to a remark by the bench that “political battle should be fought on political field” Sri
Javadekar said it proved that the case a was a politically motivated one orchestrated by Congress. The
verdict was a slap on the face of Congress. The Congress President Rahul Gandhi led delegation of over
150 MPs to Rashtrapati Bhavan to demand an independent probe. It was an attempt to influence the
judicial process. The Congress leader also misled the MPs.
By carrying out a concerted campaign the Congress party turned the case of natural death into a
“mysterious death”. It wanted to turn the needle of suspicion on BJP chief Sri Amith Shah. It was a
conspiracy to implicate him. The Congress party, which was not in the position to face BJP politically, tried
to take on it through other means. If the Congress would not stop pursuing negative politics its strength in
Lok Sabha would shrink further in the next election, he added.
The State BJP General Secretary, Kum. Shobha Karandlaje, who was present in the briefing, said
the Congress party hatched a conspiracy against BJP chief. Sri Rahul Gandhi should apologise before
coming to Karnataka for electioneering, otherwise it would boomerang on him.
On the mysterious accident involving a lorry and Union Minister, Sri Ananthkumar Hegde’s car, she
demanded a thorough enquiry to unearth the truth
“Candidates can spend 28L on Poll in karanataka assembly” says EC
Who will contest assembly poll karnataka,Can spent 28L on poll says Election commision on turesday,
However the EC said there was no upperlimit in spending in by political parties.
All applicants are required to outfit their accounts of expenditure within 30 days of the presentation of results.
“Every single political party candidate for the Legislative Assembly elections are required to keep up everyday records of all polls costs and present the records to the Commission within 75 days of the completion of election. Such records will be transferred on the site of the Commission for open review,” he said.
The commission will select appoint expenditure observers and assistant expenditure observers for every constituency.
Control room and a complaint monitoring centres with 24-hour toll-free numbers will be operative during the whole election process.
Trump to bring up Japan’s abductees with Kim
US President Donald Trump has said he’d bring up Japan’s sensitive abductees issue when he meets North Korea top leader Kim Jong-un in an upcoming historic meeting.
Trump’s warning comes after the US and allies threatened to take action after a suspected gas attack in Syria [Carlos Barria/Reuters]
“I suspect Trump will raise the subject if there is a meeting. Of course, his priority will be the three American hostages held by North Korea,” Xinhua news agency reported quoting Douglas Paal, Vice President for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“There have also been reports from North Korea that the regime believes the abductees question has been settled, so expectations for concrete results are low even though emotions still run high,” said Paal.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe concluded his two-day working visit to the US on Wednesday. During a meeting with Trump, Abe scored a major win when Trump promised he’d bring up the issue during the upcoming historic meeting with Kim.
The issue has been ongoing for some 40 years.
“Trump should raise the issue of Japanese abductees with Kim, but in the context of a broader, lasting peace in the region,” said Troy Stangarone, senior director at the Korea Economic Institute, a Washington-based non-profit policy research institution.
“While the focus of the upcoming talks will be denuclearisation, if there is to be a sustainable peace in the region afterwards, North Korea will need to resolve issues such as the abductees in addition to denuclearising,” Stangarone told Xinhua.
Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West said that it would not be difficult for North Korea to address the abductees issue.
“It should be easy for North Korea to address the abductees issue. So I would anticipate progress there,” he said.
(Ians)
Panneerselvam meets 15th Finance Commission Chairman
Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Thursday met N.K. Singh, Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission, in New Delhi and put across the state’s views on the latter’s Terms of Reference (ToR), an official said.
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Pannerselvam arrives to pay his last respects to political commentator Cho Ramaswamy at his residence in Chennai on Wednesday. PTI Photo (PTI12_7_2016_000269A)
The Deputy Chief Minister, who also holds the Finance portfolio, led a delegation of 40 parliamentarians from the AIADMK, including Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M. Thambi Durai. He also handed over a memorandum signed by Chief Minister K. Palaniswami.
The state government’s major concern is the use of 2011 census data by the 15th Finance Commission, which is disadvantageous for Tamil Nadu when it comes to allocation of funds by the central government.
According to the Tamil Nadu government, the state has controlled population growth and therefore, share of funds by the Central Government based on 2011 census data will be less as compared 1971 census figures.
The delegation wanted the Commission to balance the need for fiscal transfers to less developed states with the growing aspirations of better performing states.
Singh assured the visiting delegation that the Commission would give the state a “careful consideration”, said a statement from the Ministry of Finance.
“A progressive state like Tamil Nadu which has contributed greatly to India’s prosperity would certainly receive the Commission’s careful consideration. Commission’s visit to the state of Tamil Nadu was finalised for end of September,” said Singh in the statement.
“Fiscal needs of each state will be individually assessed and their special characteristics will be kept in view,” Singh added.
(IANS)
Chandrababu Naidu on day-long fast to protest injustice to Andhra
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who turned 68 on Friday, began his day-long fast to protest what he calls the injustice being meted out to the state by the Central government.
Naidu launched the ‘Dharma Porata Deeksha’ hunger strike at Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium in Vijayawada. The fast, which began at 7 a.m., will conclude at 7 p.m.
State ministers Kala Venkat Rao, D. Umamaheswara Rao, Nara Lokesh, Kollu Ravindra, MPs and state legislators and leaders of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) joined him in the fast at the massive programme organised by the state government.
Naidu garlanded statues of Mahatma Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar, Jyotirao Phule and N.T. Rama Rao before reaching the stadium.
The TDP chief was blessed by Hindu, Muslim and Christian religious leaders before he began the fast. Prominent freedom fighters also called on Naidu to extend their support.
Naidu’s fast is to demand the Centre to accord special category status to the state and fulfil all commitments made at the time of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to carve out Telangana state in 2014.
Last month, the TDP pulled out of BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to protest its refusal to give special status to the state. Naidu alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gone back on the promises he made in 2014 elections.
Naidu has appealed to people to observe the fast against the Central government’s attitude, instead of celebrating his birthday.
TDP leaders say this is the first time in the country’s history that Chief Minister of a state is observing fast on his birthday.
Expressing solidarity with the Chief Minister, leaders and workers of TDP and various organisations are observing the fast across the state. State ministers were also on hunger strike in their respective districts.
(IANS)
Karnataka’s richest Congress nominee worth Rs 700 cr
The ruling Congress party’s richest nominee for the ensuing state Legislative Assembly polls D.K. Shivakumar has declared assets worth over Rs 700 crore, as per the poll affidavit filed on Thursday.
According to the nomination papers filed at the Kanakapura Assembly segment in Ramanagara district, about 55 km from Bengaluru, Shivakumar, 55, declared his income and assets and that of his wife, Usha’s, to be Rs 730 crore.
The state’s Energy Minister’s income and assets have nearly tripled since the 2013 assembly elections, when he had declared assets valued at Rs 251 crore.
Through the affidavit, Shivakumar declared cash and bank deposits worth Rs 95 crore, immovable assets including commercial buildings and land valued at over Rs 635.8 crore and gold, diamonds and silver valued at over Rs 1.5 crore, among other assets.
In addition, he also disclosed the assets and income of his daughter Aisshwarya to be over Rs 100 crore.
The Congress leader was raided by the Income Tax (IT) Department in August, 2017 for alleged tax evasion.
Over 100 IT sleuths had raided Shivakumar’s aides and kin at over 60 locations in the state, and in Delhi and Chennai, and seized several documents and cash.
A special court in March granted Shivakumar conditional bail after the IT Department had found the Minister allegedly destroying evidence in three tax evasion cases.
Weapon snatched from bank guard in J&K, recovered from ‘miguided youth’
A group of unidentified attackers snatched the weapon of a bank guard in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district and fled on Thursday but it was later recovered from “miguided youth”, police said.
The unarmed assailants overpowered the guard of a J&K Bank branch in Pinjora village of Shopian and took away his 12-bore, cartridge-firing gun, a police official said.
According to police, the local police swung into action and started “meticulous investigation” and on “basis of accurate human and technical inputs, the boys were identified”.
“However, police decided to adopt a humane approach as the boys involved were found to be only misguided youngsters from the village.
“Parents and senior citizens of the area were contacted and the search for boys was carried out. The said gun was recovered and boys were let off after proper counselling,” said police, adding that the general public hailed police for a “people-friendly approach and assured cooperation in maintaining peace in the otherwise militancy-affected area”.
Iraq Says Its Air Force Carried Out “Deadly” Air Raid Against ISIS In Syria
The strike against the jihadists was conducted on Haider al-Abadi’s order “because of the danger they pose to Iraqi territory,” a statement said.
The Iraqi air force on Thursday carried out a “deadly raid” against positions of the ISIS group in neighbouring Syria, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s office said.
Queen Elizabeth II wants son Charles to lead Commonwealth
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II has asked Commonwealth leaders gathered at Buckingham Palace for the opening of a major summit to appoint her son Prince Charles to succeed her as their head.
She said it was her “sincere wish” that Prince Charles takes over “one day”, as she opened the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) attended by 53 member countries in London on Thursday, the BBC reported.
The Queen said that her son should follow her and lead the organisation which her father, King George VI, founded after the end of the British Empire.
The role is not hereditary and will not pass automatically to Charles, the Prince of Wales, on the Queen’s death. The Commonwealth leaders will make a decision on the succession on Friday, No 10 Downing Street said.
“It is my sincere wish that the Commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity for future generations, and will decide that one day the Prince of Wales should carry on the important work started by my father in 1949,” she told the leaders.
Over 100 officers and soldiers from the Coldstream Guards were in honour guard outside the venue, wearing scarlet tunics and bearskins, as a 53 gun salute marked the formal opening.
Issues under discussion at the two-day summit included ocean conservation, cyber security and trade between the countries.
Prime Minister Theresa May told the leaders the summit would “take on some of the 21st Century’s biggest questions”.
Speaking in the ballroom, which was decorated with the flags of the 53 nations, May said: “There have been difficulties, successes, controversies, but I believe wholeheartedly in the good that the Commonwealth can do.”
She also thanked the Queen for hosting the event, calling her a “steadfast and fervent champion” of the Commonwealth.
The ceremony was attended by 46 Commonwealth heads of government, out of the 53 member states, with the remaining attendees being Foreign Ministers.
In his speech, the 69-year-old Prince said: “For my part, the Commonwealth has been a fundamental feature of my life for as long as I can remember, beginning with my first visit to Malta when I was just five years old.
“The modern Commonwealth has a vital role to play in building bridges between our countries.”
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry and Prince William were among the other royals in attendance.
(IANS)
Pakistan calls India’s claims on surgical strike ‘baseless’
Pakistan on Thursday rejected as “false” and “baseless” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claims of having launched a surgical strike on terrorist camps in Pakistani territory.
At an interactive session at the Central Hall Westminster in London, Modi said on Wednesday that Islamabad was informed about the 2016 surgical strike before this was made known to the media.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal told the media that the claims about the surgical strike by the Indian military was a “lie” and “repeating it doesn’t turn it into the truth”.
India said its special forces conducted the surgical strike across the Line of Control (LoC), which divides Jammu and Kashmir between the two countries, on September 29 and inflicted heavy casualties on terrorists preparing to infiltrate into Indian Kashmir.
In a veiled message to Pakistan, Modi said in London that “antics of those exporting terror and trying to backstab us will not be tolerated” and “they will be answered in a language they understand”.
Spokesperson Faisal said: “Repeating a lie doesn’t turn it into the truth… It is the other way around and India is backing terrorists in Pakistan.
“The whole world knows who the terrorists are and who their head is. Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav is a proof of Indian state-sponsored terrorism,” he said.
(IANS)