After MP, Rs 2,000 notes without Gandhi’s image found in Bengaluru
Bengaluru: A few days after people in Madhya Pradesh found Rs 2000 notes without Mahatma Gandhi’s image, similar notes were found in Anekal on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
It is said that when a local withdrew Rs 24,000 from his bank account, he was in for a shock when he noticed that Gandhi’s image was missing from few of the notes. Of the 12 notes the person received, many were blank on one side. It was only after he went to pay his house rent that he found the mistake in the notes. The man’s ordeal was not over, as when he went to the bank to exchange the notes, they too turned him away.
Bank officials alleged that the man had gone to the RBI office in Bengaluru to exchange the notes, but the man argued that he was given the notes at the bank; finally after a heated argument, bank officials exchanged the notes after checking CCTV footage and verifying serial number of the notes.
While some felt that they were fake notes, bank officials said that they were genuine notes but the mistake was a result of defect in printing.
(Agencies)
Sex racket case: Absconding Meghalaya MLA arrested
Shillong: Independent Meghalaya MLA Julius Dorphang, who was wanted in connection with a sex-racket case involving a 14-year old girl here, was today arrested from his hideout in neighbouring Assam, the police said.
The arrest came a day after a look out notice was issued and the state police sought cooperation from their counterparts in neighbouring states.
“We have arrested Dorphang and he was brought here. He will now face trial,” East Khasi Hills district SP M Kharkrang told PTI.
The arrest was made from a place which he used as a hideout, he said, without divulging details.
In fact several raids were conducted within the state and even several places in Assam where the legislator frequented till yesterday morning but the raids were futile.
A joint raid was also conducted at Hatigaon area on Thursday where the surrendered ULFA leaders are running their offices but they did not find him there.
Dorphang, who had co-founded an armed organization until he surrendered in 2007, went into hiding after the police booked him under section 366 (A) of the IPC and registered section 3 (a)/4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) and under section 5 of the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA) against him.
The sex racket came to light after an employee of a guest house owned by senior Congress leader and Home Minister H D R Lyngdoh’s son was arrested for trafficking of the 14-yr-old victim last month.
The victim was rescued from near the guest house and brought to the police station where she named all those involved in sexually exploiting her. Five of the eight people, including four women, named in separate FIRs have been arrested till date.
On January 4, the court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Dorphang, following which the manhunt began.
(PTI)
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas kicks off in Bengaluru
Bengaluru: The 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas or Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Day got off to a colourful start here on Saturday, with the young Indian diaspora from across the world connecting with their motherland and discovering its wonders.
“With 65 per cent of the Indian population being under 35 years, it’s a great opportunity for the young diaspora to foster friendship, discover the country’s hoary tradition and rich culture and identify with its ethos,” said Karnataka’s Industry Minister R.V. Deshpande at the inaugural session of the three-day event.
Lauding the contribution of the young Indian Diaspora worldwide, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel said the American business magazine Forbes had listed about 30 Indians below 30 years as super achievers and game changers in 20 industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, finance and sports.
“It’s a matter of pride and honour that Chief Executives of Google, Microsoft and PepsiCo are India-born Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella and Indira Nooyi. President-elect Donald Trump has named South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, daughter of Indian immigrants, as the US Ambassador for the United Nations,” said Goel.
About 400 young Indian diaspora participated in the a Youth Pravis Bharatiya Divas (PBD) at the inaugural session on “Role of diaspora in the transformation of India”.
Suriname Vice-President Michael Ashwin Adhin and Minister of State for External Affairs General V.K. Singh also addressed the gathering on the occasion.
Being held for the first time in Karnataka at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre on the city’s outskirts, the three-day event has drawn about 1,800 NRIs from 72 countries to redefine their engagement with their motherland.
Besides, about 5,400 delegates from across the country are also attending the mega event.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will officially inaugurate the event on Sunday and deliver the keynote address in the presence of Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Costa as the chief guest.
Celebrated every alternate year since 2015 in the second week of January, the biennial event commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa on January 9, 1915 and provides a common forum for addressing issues concerning the Diaspora, especially NRIs and PIOs.
About 10 plenary sessions are being held over the next three days on various topics, including two on start-ups and disruptive innovations and investment opportunities in Karnataka.
President Pranab Mukherjee will confer Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards and delivery the valedictory address on Monday.
Other Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar, Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javedkar, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers H.N. Ananth Kumar and Niti Ayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant are among those who will address the gathering at the plenary sessions.
Chief ministers of seven states are also attending the event.
The state’s Kannada and Culture department has organised cultural shows in the evenings to entertain the delegates for all the three days.
(Agencies)
Only 1 in 100 sexual assaults in Karnataka ends in conviction
Bengaluru: The New Year’s eve sexual attacks against female revellers in Bengaluru may have generated nationwide outrage, but most such cases end up with no punishment: No more than one in 100 cases registered in Karnataka under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) — “Assault on women with intention to outrage her modesty” — ended in a conviction in 2015, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.
Nationwide, one in 10 such cases ended in conviction, 10 times better than Karnataka’s record.
In 2015, of 5,112 cases registered under Section 354, only 69 (1.3 per cent) ended in conviction. Of the 9,118 persons arrested in these cases, only 107 (1.2 per cent) were convicted.
Across India, 82,422 cases of sexual assault were registered, of which 8,408 (10 per cent) ended in conviction. Of 101,571 persons arrested for these attacks, 11,342 (11 per cent) were convicted.
While the number of cases under this section rose by 92 per cent from 42,968 in 2011 to 82,422 in 2015, conviction rates declined from 16 per cent in 2011 to 10 per cent in 2015.
Maharashtra reported the most sexual assaults (11,713), followed by Madhya Pradesh (8,049) and Uttar Pradesh (7,885) in 2015.
The rise in cases registered can be correlated to the change in laws — which were tightened, possibly leading to higher reporting — after the 2012 gangrape of a physiotherapy student, now widely known as Nirbhaya, which sparked nationwide protests and outrage.
In 2015, 8,685 cases were registered under Section 509 of the IPC — “Insult to modesty of women” — of which no more than 870 (10 per cent) resulted in conviction, a drop of 33 percentage points from a 43 per cent conviction rate in 2011.
Under this section, 9,870 were arrested across India, of which 1,108 were convicted (11 per cent).
In Karnataka, of 154 cases registered under Section 509 in 2015, no more than seven (5 per cent) ended in a conviction. Of the 163 persons arrested in these cases, nine (6 per cent) were convicted.
(Agencies)
Writer M. Rasheed passes away at 90
Kozhikode: Writer M. Rasheed passed away at his daughter’s residence in Salem on Friday following a heart attack. He was 90.
(Agencies)
Mamata seeks Modi’s ouster, ‘national govt’ under Advani
Kolkata: Locked in a bitter feud with the Centre over demonetisation, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today sought resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and mooted a “national government” headed by BJP veteran L K Advani, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley or Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
The TMC supremo, who has declared an all out war against the Modi dispensation over demonetisation and arrest of her party MPs in chit fund scam, sought President Pranab Mukherjee’s intervention to “save the country from Narendra Modi”.
“All opposition parties should forget their differences and come together to save the nation. “It’s high time the President intervened and saved the country. That person (Modi) can’t lead the nation. He should step down. There should be a national government,” she said, suggesting the names of Advani, Jaitley and Singh to replace Modi.
She appreciated Mukherjee’s yesterday’s statement that demonetisation could lead to a temporary slowdown of the economy. “I have never seen such a vindictive government at the Centre. They are breaking age-old institutions like the Planning Commission and others. They are breaking the backbone of the government,” she told reporters.
The Chief Minister claimed West Bengal had lost Rs 5,500 crore following demonetisation and accused the Centre of “letting loose a reign of terror” on Opposition parties. A combative Banerjee also dared the BJP leaders to “touch her” when she visits the party-ruled Jharkhand.
“Two of my ministers and party leaders will visit Jharkhand and meet the tribal whose land has been forcibly taken away by the state government. After they come back and give me a report, I will visit Jharkhand. They (BJP) have said they will beat me up, If I visit a BJP-ruled state. I want to see if they can even touch me,” Banerjee said.
Her comments followed BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya’s recent warning to the TMC to “mend its ways or face consequences” after a string of attacks on party offices and leaders following the arrest of Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Trinamool Congress’ leader in the Lok Sabha, in a chit fund scam case.
Vijayvargiya had wondered whether TMC MPs and even Mamata Banerjee would be able to go around the country and enter New Delhi if his party started protesting against them.
(PTI)
Burkha-clad girl molested in Bengaluru’s KG Halli
Days after the Kammanahalli molestation incident, another girl was sexually assaulted by a man in KG Halli in the early hours of Friday.
The burkha-clad girl was walking towards the bus stop when the accused followed her and sexually assaulting her. The victim sustained injuries on her lips, tongue and hand when she tried to resist the attacker. The accused fled the scene when a stray dog started howling.
(Agencies)
Veteran actor Om Puri passes away at 66
New Delhi: Bollywood thespian and renowned name in the Hindi film industry Om Puri passed away this morning, reports Times Now. He was 66 years old.
According to initial reports, the cause of his death happens to be a heart attack. The critically acclaimed Bollywood veteran suffered a cardiac arrest on Friday morning, tweeted ANI.
Om Puri was last seen in Pakistani film ‘Actor In Law’ which came out in 2016. The entire Bollywood fraternity is shocked and saddened by his sudden demise.
Puri was married to Nandita Puri in the year 1993. However, the separated in 2013, together they have a son named Ishaan.
(Agencies)
CBI wants me to implicate Kejriwal, says ex-aide
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s former Principal Secretary on Thursday said he had sought voluntary retirement after alleging harassment by the CBI.
Rajendra Kumar alleged that the Central Bureau of Investigation was pressurizing him to implicate the Chief Minister in the alleged wrongdoing he (Kumar) is accused of.
The CBI denied the allegations as “absolutely baseless”.
Reacting to Kumar’s statement, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal tweeted: “CBI raids my office, pressurizes officer to implicate me… Why are you so scared of us, (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji? Chill.”
A sombre Kumar told reporters outside his residence: “I tender my voluntary retirement (VRS) request to the government from the services.
“It was a very difficult decision and I have taken (it) with a very heavy heart… There are many other ways to work for public welfare and I will seek those.”
He said that despite coming from a very poor family, the government gave him an opportunity to study in a prestigious school and also let him serve in the government for 27 years. “I am obliged for that.”
A 1989-batch IAS officer of Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory cadre, Kumar was accused of abusing his official position in awarding Delhi government contracts worth Rs 9.5 crore to private firms during 2007-2014 when the Congress ruled Delhi.
“I will stay in the public service forever till my last breath that is my determination,” Kumar said. “And no hurdle can distract me.”
Asked if the CBI pressurised him to name Kejriwal in the case, Kumar said: “Whatever I have said is the exact truth and I stand by it.
“I have already written in my VRS the main aim of the government (whichever it may be) was to put pressure on me to incriminate certain people, including Chief Minister Kejriwal,” he added.
A CBI statement said: “The allegation, which incidentally has come up after filing the chargesheet, that witnesses and accused were threatened by CBI officers to implicate a political functionary is absolutely baseless and denied.”
The allegations against Kumar were made by a former Delhi government official, Ashish Joshi, after he fell foul of the Kejriwal government that took office in February 2015.
Joshi had alleged that Kumar misused his position to award government contacts to private firms when he was with departments of education, IT and Health.
Kumar was arrested on July 4, 2016.
The case hit national headlines after Kejriwal alleged that the CBI raided his office in December 2015. The CBI denied intruding into Kejriwal’s office and said it was looking for evidence against Kumar.
After remaining in custody for 23 days, Kumar was granted bail on July 26. He has consistently denied the accusations against him.
According to CBI officials, Kumar, as chairman of Delhi Transco Ltd, allegedly facilitated a contract worth Rs 40.16 lakh to Endeavour Systems to develop a comprehensive management information system in 2009 without going through any tendering process.
As Secretary in the health and family welfare department of the Delhi government, Kumar also allegedly awarded a Rs 2.43 crore manpower project to Endeavour Systems in November 2010.
Similar allegations were made against him in other areas as well.
Kejriwal has always maintained that the CBI raid on his office was meant to target him and not Kumar.
(IANS)