Mumbai  (IANS) A Mumbai man, who spent around three years in a Pakistan jail, has been released and will return home on Tuesday, an activist said here.

“Yes it’s really a great news. Hamid Nehal Ansari has been released from jail and will be handed over to India at the Wagah Border later this afternoon,” Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) General Secretary Jatin Desai told IANS.

Ansari’s family members, including father Nehal and mother Fauzia, a large number of India-Pakistan friendship activists, officials and political personalities will be present at the border to welcome him.

Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activist and former legislator Krishna Hegde, who helped the family in the past few years, said they had gone to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi to complete the formalities and secure his repatriation.

Pakistan had alleged that Ansari, 33, an engineer, was an “Indian spy” who illegally entered the country, and accused him of involvement in anti-state crimes, forging documents, and jailed him.

For the Ansari family, it was an ordeal since November 2012 when he left the country for Kabul for employment and then was reported “missing”.

He reportedly became friendly with a Pakistan girl on social media and reached Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to save her from a forced marriage.

On November 12, 2012, Ansari crossed over from Afghanistan border in Jalalabad to Peshawar in Pakistan where he was nabbed by Pakistan intelligence.

Later, a military court sentenced him to three years in jail.

New Delhi (IANS) The Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12 p.m. on Tuesday after opposition and treasury benches faced-off over the Rafale fighter jet deal.

Soon after the House met, the Congress, AIADMK and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) members started sloganeering.

The Congress demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 36 ready-to-fly Rafale fighter jets deal with France while accusing the government of lying before the Supreme Court on the matter.

The AIADMK members wanted Karnataka to take back its proposal to construct a dam across the Cauvery river at Mekadatu, while the TDP raised several issues related to their demand for special status to Andhra Pradesh.

Both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress members exchanged heated arguments with the opposition seeking an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi while the other demanding the same from Congress President Rahul Gandhi for misleading the House and the nation on the defence deal.

As the din continued, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan tried to conduct the question hour. She sought cooperation from the members but they did not relent.

She then adjourned the House till noon.

Association for Democratic Reforms analysed the total income and expenditure incurred, all over India, by the National Parties during FY 2017-18, as declared by the parties in their IT Returns submitted to the ECI. The National Parties include Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC).

Refer to the complete report, attached herewith, for top sources of income and top items of expenditure of the National Parties.

Submission of audited reports by the National Parties

·         The due date for submission of annual audited accounts for the parties was 30^th Oct,’18.

·         AITC, CPM and BSP submitted their audit reports on time while CPI submitted after one day, NCP submitted after 20 days and BJP, 24 days after the due date for submission.

·         As on 17^th December, 2018, INC has not yet submitted its audited reports to the ECI, more than 48 days after the due date for submission.

Party	Due date for submission: 30th Oct,’18
Date of submission	Delay in submitting their report
AITC	24th September,’2018	–
CPM	9th October,’2018	–
BSP	12th October,’2018	–
CPI	31st October,’2018	1 day
NCP	20th December,’2018	20 days
BJP	24th November,’2018	24 days
INC	–	48 days (As on 17-12-2018)

Total Income and Expenditure of National Political Parties for – FY-2017-2018

·         BJP declared a total income of Rs 1,027.339 cr during FY- 2017-18, but spent only 74% (Rs 758.47 cr) of the total income while BSP’s total income was Rs 51.694 cr of which the party spent only 29% (Rs 14.78 cr).             ·         NCP is the only party to have spent more than its total income during FY- 2017-18. While declaring an income of Rs 8.15 cr, the party spent Rs 8.84 cr, an                        excess of Rs 69 lakhs.

Comparison of total income of National Parties between FY 2016-17 and 2017-18

·         Between FY 2016-17 and 2017-18, the income of BJP decreased  by 0.67% (Rs 6.93 cr) from Rs 1034.27 cr during FY 2016-17 to Rs 1027.34 cr during FY 2017-18.

·         Between FY 2016-17 and 2017-18, the income of BSP decreased  by 235.78% (Rs 121.88 cr) from Rs 173.58 cr during FY 2016-17 to Rs 51.694 cr during FY 2017-18 while the income of NCP decreased  by 111.47% (Rs 9.085 cr) from Rs 17.235 cr during FY 2016-17 to Rs 8.15 cr during FY 2017-18.

All sources of income declared by National Parties: FY 2017-18

•       6 National parties collected 86.91% (Rs 1,041.80 cr) of their total income from Voluntary contributions for FY- 2017-18.

•       During FY- 2017-18, out of the 6 National Parties, only BJP declared receiving an income of Rs 210 cr from Contribution through Electoral Bonds. 

•       Rs 714.57 cr was income generated through other contributions by National parties during FY- 2017-18. 

Recommendations of ADR

·   The Supreme Court gave a judgment on September 13, 2013 declaring that no part of a candidate’s affidavit should be left blank. Along the same lines, we recommend that the Election Commission India impose rules that no part of the Form 24A submitted by political parties providing details of donations above Rs 20,000 should be left blank.

·   Full details of all donors should be made available for public scrutiny under the RTI. Some countries where this is done include Bhutan, Nepal, Germany, France, Italy, Brazil, Bulgaria, the US and Japan. In none of these countries is it possible for 75% of the source of funds to be unknown.

·   According to the Finance Bill, 2017, Section 13A of the IT Act was amended to state that tax exemption will be given to registered political parties “Provided also that such political partyfurnishes a return of income for the previous year in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (4B) of section 139 on or before the due date under that section.” Thus, any party which does not submit its IT returns on or before the due date, their income should not be tax-exempted and defaulting parties should be derecognized.

·   Those parties not following the ICAI guidelines for auditing of reports should be scrutinized by the IT department.

·   The National political parties must provide all information on their finances under the Right to Information Act. This will only strengthen political parties, elections and democracy.

New Delhi (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Monday held Sajjan Kumar and five others guilty in a 1984 anti-Sikh riot case and sentenced the Congress leader to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life.

The court asked Sajjan Kumar to surrender by December 31.

A bench of Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel overturned a trial court judgement that had acquitted the Congress leader.

“In the summer of 1947, during partition, this country witnessed horrific mass crimes where several lakhs of civilians, including Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus were massacred,” the bench said.

“Thirty-seven years later, the country was again witness to another enormous human tragedy. Following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, on the morning of October 31, 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards, a communal frenzy was unleashed.”

“For four days between November 1 to November 4 of that year, all over Delhi, 2,733 Sikhs were brutally murdered. Their houses were destroyed. In the rest of the country too, thousands of Sikhs were killed,” the bench observed in its 203-page order.

The court said: “A majority of the perpetrators of these horrific mass crimes, enjoyed political patronage and were aided by an indifferent law enforcement agency.

“The criminals escaped prosecution and punishment for over two decades.

“It took as many as 10 Committees and Commissions for the investigation into the role of some of them to be entrusted in 2005 to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), 21 years after the occurrence.”

The court convicted the Congress leader under various counts of Indian Penal Code (IPC) including murder, criminal conspiracy, wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot, mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house and injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class.

The CBI had filed an appeal challenging the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar and said that the trial court “erred in acquitting Sajjan Kumar as it was he who had instigated the mob during the riots”.

In October, the High Court reserved its order on the pleas challenging that trial court judgement on Sajjan Kumar but convicted the other five accused in the case related to the killing of five people in Delhi Cantonment area following the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.

The HC Division Bench upheld the trial court April 30, 2013, judgement convicting five other accused — former councillor Balwan Khokhar, former legislator Mahender Yadav, Krishan Khokar, Girdhari Lal and Retired Captain Bhagmal — for their involvement in the case.

The five convicts have also filed appeals against their conviction.

Sajjan Kumar and five others were tried in the case involving the killing of five Sikhs — Kehar Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Raghuvender Singh, Narender Pal Singh and Kuldeep Singh, who were members of the same family — by a mob in Delhi Cantonment’s Raj Nagar area following the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.

The case against Sajjan Kumar and others was registered in 2005 on a recommendation by the Justice G.T. Nanavati Commission.

 

New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) The Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12 p.m. on Monday after the opposition created a ruckus in support of various demands.

Soon after the House met, AIADMK and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) members trooped near the Speaker’s podium and started sloganeering.

The AIADMK members raised the Cauvery water issue while the TDP demanded special status for Andhra Pradesh.

The Congress members were seen sloganeering against the government for misleading the apex court on the Rafale deal. They were countered by the Bharatiya Janata Party, who demanded an apology from Congress President Rahul Gandhi as the Supreme Court has given a clean chit to the government in the case.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan urged the agitating members to allow the Question Hour to progress but the members continued with their protest.

Amid the din she adjourned the House till 12 p.m.

 (10:22) 

New Delhi, (IANS) Residents of the national capital woke up to a foggy morning on Monday with the minimum temperature touching 6.2 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season’s average.

“There was shallow fog in the morning along with haze and mist. The sky will remain clear with no chances of rainfall,” an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said.

The humidity at 8.30 a.m. was 94 per cent.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi continued to breathe under ‘very poor’ air quality with index being at 321. The major air pollutants were PM 2.5 and PM 10.

The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 22 degrees Celsius, season’s average while the day’s minimum will remain around 6 degrees Celsius. 

Sunday’s maximum temperature settled at 22 degrees Celsius, a notch above season’s average, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 7.2 degree Celsius, a notch below the season’s average.

 

Vijayawada (IANS) The South Central Railway has cancelled over 50 trains in coastal Andhra Pradesh in view of severe cyclonic storm Phethai, which is set to hit the coast near Kakinada on Monday afternoon.

Many trains from Vijayawada to various destinations in coastal Andhra were suspended as a precautionary measure.

The Visakhapatnam-Guntur Simhadri Express, Guntur-Visakhapatnam Simhadri Express, Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada Ratnachalam Express, Vijayawada-Visakhapatnam Ratnachalam Express, Narsapur-Nidadavolu Link Express and Nidadavolu-Narsapu Link Express were among the trains cancelled.

Passenger trains between Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Guntur and Bhimavaram were also cancelled.

Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) passenger trains between Vijayawada and destinations like Rajahmundry, Kakinada Port, Tenali, Bhimavaram, Guntur and Machilipatnam, MEMU trains between Rajahmundry and Visakhapatnam, Visakhapatnam and Kakinada Port, Tenali and Guntur, Visakhapatnam and Rajahmundry, Rajahmundry and Bhimavaram, Bhimavaram and Nidadavolu, Rajahmundry and Narasapur and Narasapur and Guntur were also cancelled.

The other cancelled trains include Kakinada Port-Kotipalli Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) passenger, Kotipalli-Kakinada Port DMU passenger, Machilipatnam-Gudivada, Bhimavaram-Rajahmundry, Nidadavolu-Bhimavaram, Ongole-Guntur passenger trains.

Vinod Kumar Yadav, General Manager, South Central Railway directed officials of divisions likely to be affected to be prepared to handle any emergency situation.

Helplines were opened at Vijayawada, Guntur and Guntakal station for round-the-clock monitoring of the situation.

 The Congress is trying to sabotage the country’s security preparedness by raking up the Rafale deal issue, despite the Supreme Court ruling that there was no need for a probe, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar said here on Saturday.

Javadekar, who is here to participate in the 31st annual convocation ceremony of the Goa University, said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was willing to have a discussion on the Rafale fighter aircraft purchase in Parliament, but blamed the Congress for demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe without discussion.

“This is nothing but sabotage of our security preparedness. We have already said that Rahul Gandhi owes an apology to the nation, to the defence forces and Lok Sabha also,” Javadekar told the media on the sidelines of the convocation ceremony.

“The Supreme Court has clearly exposed the falsehood of Congress and also gave a clean chit to the deal by saying that no further enquiry was needed. Still if the Congress persists with the issue, the only conclusion is that it wants to stop the deal which will weaken the security preparedness of the country,” the Union Minister said, adding that the Congress had delayed the purchase of the fighter jets for seven years and was now blocking the efforts of the National Democratic Alliance government.

IANS

 Sri Lanka’s disputed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned on Saturday, seven weeks after he was appointed in a surprise move that sparked a political crisis in the island nation.

The former strongman signed his resignation letter, surrounded by his party members at his official residence in the capital, television footage showed. 

Rajapaksa’s resignation is likely to bring to an end a nearly two-month-long power struggle and will pave way for a new government to be established under President Maithripala Sirisena.

Sri Lanka plunged into political turmoil when Sirisena abruptly sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on October 26 and replaced him with former President Rajapaksa. 

Wickremesinghe is now expected to return to office on Sunday. “The President has agreed to swear in Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister tomorrow at 10 am,” his United National Party’s spokesman Harin Fernando told the BBC.

Fernando said this would end the political deadlock, remarking that the the country and its economy had suffered “huge damage” since the crisis began 50 days ago.

Rajapaksa’s son, Namal, said his father had quit to ensure national stability.

IANS

A bomb exploded in a mall here early on Thursday but there were no casualty as the complex had not opened for business for the day, Manipur police said.

The bomb went off at 5 a.m. in Vishal Mega Mart in Chingmeirong, shattering the glass facade and damaging some portions of the building. 

Some armed insurgents might have hurled a Chinese-made hand grenade to extort money from the owner, police sources said. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast.

The blast followed the kidnapping of five labourers who were set free subsequently after people threatened to launch a mass agitation. 

IANS