Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today accused BJP of spending “hundreds of crores” of rupees in an attempt to topple his government with the help of Governor, echoing allegations of his Himachal counterpart that BJP was trying to destablise Congress governments in states.
“BJP spent lots of money. They wasted hundreds of crores before the Bihar elections to topple the government in Assam.
They tried it by taking Himanta (Biswa Sarma) and other MLAs, but they could not do it,” Gogoi told a press conference here targeting the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had launched a blistering attack on the Congress leader during the recent poll rallies in Assam.
Sarma, once a trusted Congress minister of Gogoi who is presently in BJP, had almost garnered the support of 35 MLAs and tried the same tactics used in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand of shifting the base to BJP, he claimed.
“The Governor (Padmanabha Balakrishan Acharya) was also involved in this. Without his support how is it possible? That is why, the Centre is not appointing a permanent Governor in Assam. That is why they are appointing all RSS people as Governors,” Gogoi alleged.
He further said if the 35 MLAs, whose support was shown to be withdrawn from Gogoi’s leadership in front of the Congress High Command, had really shifted their allegiance to BJP, the government would have fallen instantly.
Gogoi also regretted his decision to trust Sarma during his tenure with the Congress.
“Yes, I trusted him a lot. He betrayed a simple man like me. Himanta and all his supporters were not original Congressmen. They come and go. Himanta was with ULFA, then AASU, AGP, Congress and now (a) BJP man,” he said.
Talking about the Uttarakhand crisis, the Chief Minister said the entire development is “just a murder of democracy”.
“You did it in Arunachal and now Uttarakhand. The government was to test its majority next day and you (Centre) toppled it. (This is) Hitler in India! This is dictatorial and a murder of democracy,” he alleged.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had accused the Modi dispensation of trying to “destabilise and topple” his government by using central agencies. He alleged the Centre has been destabilising Congress-ruled states one by one and cited examples of Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand where President’s Rule was imposed.PTI
The Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT) accompanied by Indian officials today headed for Pathankot in connection with the probe into the January 2 terror attack at IAF base.
The five-member Pakistani team led by Punjab’s Additional Inspector General of Police, Counter Terrorism Department, Muhammad Tahir Rai landed at Sri Guru Ramdas International Airport in Amritsar and left for Pathankot by road amid tight security.
JIT and National Investigation Agency (NIA) will take stock of the probe into the Pathankot terror attack today, officials said.
Punjab Police was escorting the convoy of the Pakistani team which also has ISI’s Lt Col rank officer Tanvir Ahmed, Lahore’s Deputy Director General Intelligence Bureau Mohammad Azim Arshad, Military Intelligence Lt Col Irfan Mirza and Gujaranwala CTD Investigating Officer Shahid Tanveer.
Police officials said they have diligently barricaded areas around the IAF facility .
“The district police has been informed about the visit and deployments have been done accordingly,” a senior police official said.
A large police contingent has been deployed in and around Dhangu village where the IAF base is located.
Meanwhile, Congress workers staged a protest near the air base against the visit by the Pakistani investigators.
Government has made it clear that the Pakistani team will have “restricted” access to the air base with the NIA taking them to a select areas where the over 80-hour gun battle led to the killing of at least four terrorists and seven security personnel.
Orange and blue coloured tarpaulin can be seen draping the interiors of the strategic facility, in an apparent indication of “visual prohibition” being put in place.
Investigators from India and Pakistan had met in Delhi yesterday. It is for the first time that that a Pakistani team has visited the country to probe a terror case.
The opposition parties have slammed the move with Congress saying that “unfettered access” given to Pakistan’s JIT by according an almost “red carpet welcome” raised serious questions on procedural propriety in relation to compromise on national security and likened it to an accused investigating himself.PTI
The Delhi High Court today sought the response of Delhi Police and a woman volunteer of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on a plea filed by its leader Kumar Vishwas seeking quashing of an FIR lodged against him for alleged offence of sexual harrasment.
Justice Sunita Gupta issued notice for July 21 to the police and the woman volunteer on whose complaint a magisterial court had on March 16 ordered registration of the FIR against Vishwas in the matter.
The FIR for alleged offences under sections 354 A (sexual harassment) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of a woman) of IPC was registered against Vishwas at Sarojini Nagar Police Station here in pursuance to the direction of the magisterial court.
In its order, the magistrate had observed that the accused had made “sexually coloured” remarks and made advances towards the complainant which required police probe.
During the hearing today, senior advocate H S Phoolka, appearing for Vishwas, claimed that allegations levelled against his client were false and the complainant woman had regularly made incorrect accusations against the AAP leader.
Phoolka said that police has initially probed the matter but they had not found any cognisable offence against Vishwas.
“The complainant (woman) has regularly stated against me in the media. She has filed a number of complaints against me.
The order passed by the trial court is wrong,” he said while seeking quashing of the FIR.
Phoolka also claimed that there were contradictions in the statement of the complainant and she had taken Vishwas’ name only in August last year.
Advocate C L Gupta, also appearing for Vishwas, claimed that allegations against his client were false and motivated.
The counsel for the police said that they had filed a status report before the magisterial court and that no cognisable offence was made out against Vishwas.
Police had on March 17 informed the magistrate that an FIR has been lodged on a complaint against Vishwas in the matter.
In the FIR, the complainant has accused Vishwas of making sexually coloured remarks towards her, alleging that he was “trying to exploit” her “physically” and had made advances towards her several times before in 2014 and 2015.
The woman had earlier claimed that she had approached the police but no action was taken against the leader.
In its status report filed before the trial court earlier, the police had said that during its probe, nothing was found to substantiate the allegations levelled by the woman against Vishwas to register any criminal case against him.PTI
The Indian women’s team paid the price for a dismal batting performance as it lost to England by two wickets in a thrilling group league encounter of the ICC World Twenty20, here today.
Batting first, India crawled their way to 90 for 8 in 20 overs after being put into bat. None of the Indian batswomen save for Harmanpreet Kaur, who scored 26 off 25 ball, tried to force the pace against English bowlers.
In reply, England middle and lower-order survived some nervy moments before getting past the finishing line in 19 overs with two wickets remaining.
With England needing 3 in the penultimate over, skipper Mithali Raj dropped an easy catch of Anya Shrubsole off Veda Krishnamurthy’s delivery and the very next ball was hit past the point fielder much to joy of the England dug-out.
The defeat, India’s second in three matches, also put a spanner on their chances of qualifying for the semi-final as West Indies and England both have two wins in their kitty.
India have one match left against West Indies which they have to win to have any outside chance whatsoever and depend on other favourable results.
Skipper Mithali tried to put up a brave front at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“We are in contention. If we win against West Indies, we will have to depend on other results. We realised it was difficult to score runs. We could have shown more application with the ball to pull us through.”
It was batting that again let India down as they failed to reach the three-figure mark once again after scoring 96 against Pakistan.
The Indian batswomen wasted the Powerplay overs once again with skipper Mithali (20, 33 balls) failing to hit boundaries.
In all, only eight boundaries were hit in the 20 overs by the Indian batswomen, which went a long way in them not being able to score 110-115, a total that could have been a challenging one.
Off-spinner Heather Knight (3/15) was the most successful bowler for England while Anya Shrubsole took two for 12.
While chasing, left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht (4/21) did her best to put brakes on the opposition scoring but with too few runs on the board, it was always a game that was slipping out of India’s grasp.
The top scorer for England was opener Tammy Beaumont (20) while Natalie Sciver was the second-best contributor with 19 runs.PTI
The Delhi High Court today sought response of ANI Technologies, which runs app-based cab service under the name of Ola, on its competitor Uber’s plea seeking Rs 49.61 crore as damages from Ola for allegedly interfering in its business by making fake accounts to book rides and then cancel them.
Ola denied the allegations made by Uber and told the court it has no intention of indulging in any of the actions attributed to it by its competitor.
In view of the submission made by Ola, Justice Vipin Sanghi directed Ola to abide by its statement and listed the matter for further hearing on September 14.
“Defendants (Ola and its subsidiary Serendipity Cabs) emphatically deny the allegations. Counsel for defendants states they have not done anything to interfere with plaintiff’s (Uber) business as alleged, or its system by making false accounts, bookings or cancellations… nor has any intention of doing so.
“Defendants, their agents and employees shall abide by this statement…,”the court said, and issued notice to Ola and Serendipity asking them to file their written statement, reply and submit documents within four weeks.
Uber was asked to file its rejoinder to Ola’s reply in another four weeks and the matter was listed for hearing on September 14.
Uber in its plea alleged that Ola’s employees have created over 93,000 fake accounts across India on Uber’s platform and were using them to make false bookings which were later cancelled and thus, causing loss to Uber which has to pay the cancellation charges.
It has claimed to have paid over Rs five lakh as cancellation charges and alleged that by making false bookings, Ola was “squatting” on cabs associated with Uber.
Ola, on the other hand, contended in the court that Uber’s plea is an “offshoot” of the contempt petition filed against it by Ola for allegedly not complying with court directions to phase out diesel cabs.
It also argued that Uber’s plea was based on assumptions that Ola’s employees were creating the false accounts to make bookings and then cancel them.
It also said Uber was not paying any cancellation charges as the customer is charged if he/she does not cancel booking within five minutes of making it.PTI
Ashish Nehra has contributed significantly to the Indian team’s recent success in the shortest format and the old warhorse says he is enjoying his role of a mentor in the fast bowling department.
India lost to New Zealand in the ongoing World T20 before turning it around against Pakistan and Nehra did his bit in both crucial games, taking a wicket each for 20 runs.
“I am enjoying it. My job is very important to pass my experience which I gathered in last 16-17 years to Bumrah, Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. I am sure I am helping them,” Nehra said on the eve of their match against Bangladesh.
Nehra said the mood in the Indian camp is good after a thumping win over old foe Pakistan.
“Our mood is good. The kind of cricket we are playing in the last two to three months, we are all happy and satisfied. Hopefully, we would like to take it forward even further the kind of fire power we have, if put to use, we will definitely win the game,” he said.
The left-arm pacer asserted that there is no room for complacency going into the remaining leagues games because the T20 format does not guarantee any team qualifying into the knockout stages even if they win three out four matches.
“This game, everyone knows, from day one – every game is a knockout game. There is a possibility that even if you win three out of four games, you still cannot qualify as the format is such that there is no room for complacency,” he said.
Replying to a query, Nehra said India is not taking Bangladesh lightly as they have been playing good cricket of late.
“Bangladesh have been playing goo cricket for the last two to three years. The way they have improved is quite amazing. We will not take Bangladesh lightly. We have to play to our potential if we have to beat them,” he said.
Asked for his comments on slower bowlers making an impact in the tournament so far, Nehra said more than that it depends on the type of wicket the match is being played.
“It depends where you are playing and what kind of situation you are in, because T20 is such of kind of format where the wicket definitely plays a big role. In Nagpur and Kolkata, slow bowlers came into play, and the match between England and South Africa saw sea of runs,” he said.
Nehra also defended his Delhi teammate Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina for not doing well in the last two games.
“They didn’t score in last two to three innings, and that is why you are asking this question, but before the WT20 tournament Shikar played a wonderful knock in the Asia Cup final which won him man of the match, and somebody like Rohit Sharma also has performed well,” he said.PTI
The Delhi High Court today told the DDCA it “cannot control” what ICC is saying over the issue of lack of completion certificate for the old house club of Ferozshah Kotla ground which may lead to shifting of the semi-final match of World T20 from here.
A bench of justices S Muralidhar and Vibhu Bakhru also clarified to the cricketing body that requisite clearances for hosting the match would be subject to the compliances and DDCA should talk to International Cricket Council (ICC) about it.
“We cannot control what the ICC is saying. You (DDCA) have to take it up with the ICC. You tell this to ICC. It has nothing to do with this court,” the bench told the counsel appearing for Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA).
Senior advocate Sandeep Sethi, representing DDCA, then told the bench he would withdraw the petition which sought a direction to South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) to issue the requisite certificate for the R P Mehra block.
Sethi also told the bench that DDCA would make appropriate representation on the issue after which the petition was “dismissed as withdrawn”.
Justice Mudgal, appointed by the high court to oversee the functioning of DDCA, has asked the cricketing body not to sell tickets of semi-final match for R P Mehra block, having a capacity of around 2,000, and that it be used only for the broadcasters and the media.
During the hearing, Sethi told the bench that ICC has taken an objection to it and is saying that if any of the blocks remain vacant then the semi-final match would be shifted to other venue.
“Justice Mudgal says that let it (R P Mehra block) be occupied by press and commentators only. We have no problem with it but the ICC says that if the block would not be entirely occupied then the semi-final match may be shifted,” Sethi told the court adding that media and commentators cannot fill the entire block.
When the lawyer said DDCA has no problem with what Justice Mudgal was saying, the bench said, “your only problem is the ICC.”
“We cannot give you the permission. It has to be in terms of the earlier order passed by this court,” the bench observed, adding DDCA cannot have the permission without all the requisite clearances.PTI
Superstar Aamir Khan is bowled over by the trailer of Swara Bhaskar-starrer relationship drama “Nil Battey Sannata”.
Directed by debutant filmmaker Ashwini Iyer Tiwari,
the film talks about a single mother who enrolls in the same school as her daughter to improve her academic performance.
“Saw Nil Battey Sannata. Inspiring, moving, uplifting! Great film! Outstanding performances! A must watch! Love,” Aamir, who is busy shooting for his upcoming release “Dangal”, posted on Twitter.
Also starring Ratna Pathak Shah and Pankaj Tripathi in prominent roles, the film is produced by Aanand L Rai and Ajay Rai.
“Nil Battey Sannata” is expected to release on April 22 along with its Tamil remake “Amma Kanakku”.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today laid bare the priority of the government, saying agriculture will have to grow “fastest” for the country to get rid of poverty and push the overall GDP expansion.
“If India is to grow and get rid of poverty, the agriculture sector has to grow the fastest… agriculture is critical to the economy,” Jaitley said at a seminar on the recently-announced Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) at Nabard here.
With two successive bad monsoons, the finance minister said a poor rainfall this year will put the “system to test”.
PMFBY, he said, will be rolled out in a “mission mode” from April to cover kharif or summer crop from this year itself.
The scheme has the potential to reduce distress in the farm sector and “end the scar of farmer suicides” affecting parts of the country.PTI
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