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Bengaluru: Mohammed Nalapad Haris, who was arrested for assaulting a youth in a pub on February 17, moved Karnataka High Court on Monday demanding his bail which was rejected by the 63rd Sessions Court.
The court has revealed that the case will be heard on March 7.
Mohammed Nalapad and six of his friends were arrested after brutally trashing a 24 year old youth Vidwath. Vidwath was admitted at Mallya Hospital in a severe condition.
(Agencies)
New Delhi: The BJP has done it in abundance in Tripura — be it the number of seats or the number of candidates with serious criminal cases and the worth of assets, an analysis of the self-sworn affidavits of the newly-elected legislators showed on Sunday.
As many as 10 (29 per cent) out of 35 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs face criminal charges. Of these 10, eight face serious criminal cases such as attempt to murder or causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty, among other charges.
In comparison, one out of 16 MLAs of CPI-M (6 per cent) and one out of eight MLAs of Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (13 per cent) have declared serious criminal cases against them, an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) showed.
Overall, there has been a 100 per cent rise in the number of legislators with criminal cases as compared to 2013 assembly elections.
In 2013, six out of 60 MLAs (10 per cent) had declared criminal cases against them. In 2018, the percentage has risen to 20 per cent (12 out of 59 MLAs). Also, there were five out of 60 (8 per cent) MLAs with serious criminal charges against them in 2013, which has now risen to 10 MLAs out of 59 or 17 per cent.
In terms of wealth, 15 out of the 59 newly-elected MLAs are crorepaties (those with declared assets worth one crore rupees or more). In 2013, the number of crorepati (multi-millionaire) candidates was eight or 13 per cent.
Also, 13 of the 35 BJP MLAs (37 per cent), one out of 16 (6 per cent) from Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and one out of eight (13 per cent) MLAs from IPFT have declared assets valued more than one crore rupees.
The top three MLAs with highest assets are from the BJP. They are Biplab Kumar Ghosh, Pranajit Singha Roy (both have total assets worth more than Rs 5 crore) and Dilip Sarkar (assets worth more than Rs 4 crore).
(IANS)
New Delhi: A special court here today granted bail to RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti and her husband in a money laundering case.
Special Judge Arvind Kumar granted the relief to Bharti and her husband Shailesh Kumar, who appeared before the court in pursuance to summons issued against them, on a personal bond of Rs two lakh with a surety of a like amount each and directed them not to leave the country without prior permission of the court.
The two had moved bail applications. During the hearing, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposed the bail plea of the accused, saying they indulged in a “very serious” economic offence.
“Persons on such a post are committing such kind of activities which are totally against the nation,” ED counsel Atul Tripathi said.
The court asked if the probe agency had arrested the couple during the case investigation to which the ED replied in the negative.
This prompted the court to ask ED, “Why do you now want the court to take them in custody?”
The court had on February 8 issued summonses against Bharti, her husband and her firm Mishail Packers and Printers as accused in the case after taking cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the ED.
The ED had on December 23 filed its final report against Bharti and her husband Shailesh Kumar.
The agency had earlier attached a Delhi farmhouse of the couple in connection with its money-laundering probe.
The farmhouse, located at 26, Palam Farms in south Delhi’s Bijwasan area, was attached provisionally under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
It belonged to Bharti and Kumar and was “held in the name of M/s Mishail Packers and Printers Private Limited”, the central probe agency had said.
“It was purchased in 2008-09, using Rs 1.2 crore involved in money laundering,” it had alleged.
The agency had raided the farmhouse and a few other locations in July last year as part of its probe against two brothers — Surendra Kumar Jain and Virendra Jain — and others, who were alleged to have laundered several crores of rupees using shell companies.
The Jain brothers, currently on bail, were arrested by the ED under the PMLA.
The ED had also arrested Rajesh Agrawal, a chartered accountant who had allegedly mediated and provided a cash amount of “Rs 90 lakh to the Jain brothers in advance so as to invest in M/s Mishail Packers and Printers Pvt Ltd as share premium”.
One of the firms that the arrested duo dealt with was Mishail Printers and Packers Pvt Ltd, according to the ED.
Bharti and her husband are alleged to have been directors in this firm in the past.
“The company, M/s Mishail Packers and Printers, was registered at 25, Tughlak Road, New Delhi till the shares were bought by Bharti.
“It was only during 2009-10 that the address was changed to Farm no. 26, Palam Farms, VPO Bijwasan, New Delhi. Bharti and Kumar were the directors of the company during the relevant period,” the ED had said.
The ED had alleged that the Jain brothers, Agrawal and the daughter and son-in-law of the former Bihar chief minister were the “key persons behind the laundering of Rs 1.2 crore”.
(PTI)
Hafsa Khanum, a Class IX student of Govt Urdu School, Nagawara has won the science essay competition conducted by the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology(KSCST), IISc Campus, Bangalore. She was awarded the certificate on the National Science Day held on 28th February at J.N Tata Auditorium.
Although the school has been functional for the past 28 years, this is the first time that a student of this school has participated in a competition and won.
Bengaluru: The state government on Friday initiated its all universal health coverage scheme, “Arogya Karnataka.” All the present plans, for example, Vajpayee Arogyashree, Yeshaswini, Rajiv Arogya Bhagya and others would be brought under the newly launched scheme.
Ten government hospitals in the state have been chosen for executing the scheme in the first phase – KC General Hospital, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research and Victoria Hospital, all in Bengaluru; Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences, Mandya; McGann Institute of Medical Sciences, Shivamogga; Wenlock region doctor’s facility, Mangaluru; Karnataka Institute of Medical Services, Hubballi; Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences, Kalaburagi and Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Sciences, Ballari. All the administration clinics including public community centers would be secured under the plan by December 31.
The recipients will get a health card once they approach government clinics for treatment. The health card is issued based on the Aadhaar or ration card.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who propelled the plan, said that issue of health card would be a nonstop procedure and thus individuals require not hold up in line to get it.
He added that patients need to first approach a government hospital for treatment. “They will be reffered to private hospital empanelled under the scheme if treatment isn’t available in government clinics.”
Health Minister K R Ramesh Kumar said that dialysis, CT scan and MRI facilities would be made accessible in all Taluk clinics and henceforth patients need not approach private hospitals to avail these facilities.
(Agencies)
In a major breakthrough in the journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh murder case, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) carried out its first arrest on Friday afternoon.
KT Naveen Kumar, 37, who was arrested on February 18 by the Bengaluru police for illegal possession of bullets, has been named as the first accused in the case.
The SIT arrested KT Naveen Kumar, of Maddur in Mandya, after informing a magistrate’s court in Bengaluru that it had found evidence of his involvement in the murder of Gauri Lankesh in the course of the investigation of the illegal arms case for which he was arrested on February 18.
The SIT initially sought a warrant for the arrest of KT Naveen Kumar in the case – shortly after he was remanded to judicial custody in the illegal arms case – by citing voluntary statements given by a few of Kumar’s friends about his links to the Gauri Lankesh murder.
The SIT gave the court a sealed copy of a confession statement given by KT Naveen Kumar about his involvement in the murder.
Gauri Lankesh, 55, was shot down with a 7.65 mm country made pistol in the drive way of her home in west Bengaluru on the evening of September 5, 2017.
Lankesh, the Editor of “Lankesh Patrike”, was shot dead by an unidentified man wearing a helmet while the suspect who rode the motorcycle was also not identitfied.
Investigations by the SIT has unearthed CCTV footage of a man conducting a recce of the home of the journalist a few hours before her killing. The physical structure of the man found conducting the recce in the CCTV footage has a close resemblance to that of Kumar.
The Karnataka government had set up the SIT to probe the journalist-activist’s killing.
(Agencies)
Lucknow: Tension prevailed in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday when a boundary wall of a religious structure was found razed.
Angry people protested the demolition in Bangarmau area this morning, but district civil and police officials reached the spot and pacified the protesters. A meeting of the ‘Peace Committee’ in the district was also called.
The wall has since been reconstructed in presence of Superintendent of Police Pushpanjali and other senior officials. Things are “normal” now, an official told IANS.
The police suspects the wall was razed late Friday night or early Saturday morning by inebriated youths celebrating Holi. Police said there were no eyewitnesses to the demolition.
Extra police has been deployed on the Bilhaur bypass in Bangarmau after the incident.
(IANS)
Dhaka: The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature have launched an action plan to prevent Rohingya deaths from wild elephant attacks at a refugee camp that lies between Myanmar and Bangladesh.
At least 10 refugees, including young children, have been killed in such incidents at the Kutupalong Rohingya refugee camp, bdnews24.com reported.
The camp located along the migratory route between Myanmar and Bangladesh is used by the critically endangered Asian elephants, the UNHCR said in a statement on Friday.
The “tusk force” will install watch-towers at key lookout points around the settlement and organise an Elephant Response Team to raise an alarm if elephants enter the camp.
The programme will also set up elephant routes and corridors so refugees know what areas to avoid during an incident. It will also implement an awareness campaign regarding the risks.
The project is part of wider initiatives by the organisations to mitigate the environmental impact of the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.
(IANS)
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)
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)