The Australian government says it is “gravely concerned” by apparent preparations for the executions of 10 drug smugglers.

A Filipino maid facing the death penalty after being convicted of drug trafficking was moved yesterday to an island prison in Indonesia where the execution will take place.

Mary Jane Veloso is among 10 drug smugglers whose planned executions last month were postponed due to last-minute appeals. The others are three Nigerian men, two Australian men, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, and a man each from Brazil, Ghana, France and Indonesia.

An armoured personnel carrier and a car were seen arriving at a port on Friday for the short trip to Nusa Kambangan, and prison officials said Veloso was inside the car. Tony Spontana, a spokesman for the Indonesian attorney general, confirmed that Veloso had been moved.

Warren Truss, the Australian deputy prime minister, said on Friday: “I am aware of growing concerns that these executions may now be being brought forward. The Australian embassy is endeavouring to gather as much information as they can so that we are better able to respond to the circumstances.

“Our position, obviously, hasn’t changed. We are appealing and will continue to appeal to the Indonesian government not to proceed with these executions. We abhor the drug trade but the death penalty is also unacceptable to Australians. That’s a message we have conveyed in the past and will continue to do so, so long as there’s hope.”

A spokesperson for Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop said she had “made contact with Indonesian foreign minister Marsudi to register her concern at recent developments, following her further written representation to her this week.”

“Minister Bishop has been informed that foreign minister Marsudi is attending the Asia-Africa conference and is unavailable to speak with her. Therefore, our embassy has lodged a formal request for a telephone call to take place.”
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Appeals have been exhausted for all but one of the 10, Raheem Agbaje Salami of Nigeria, who is awaiting the outcome of his request for a judicial review.

Salami’s lawyer confirmed on Thursday that the Nigerian embassy had received a letter asking it to go to Cilacap, the port closest to the execution site, on Saturday. Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte’s lawyer confirmed that the Brazilian embassy had received the same letter.
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“Based on experience from the previous execution, they’re going to tell them the date for the execution,” Salami’s lawyer said.

“Last time when we were asked to gather in the district prosecutor’s office we were then taken to Nusa Kambangan to tell the convict about the execution time,” he said. “And three days after that, they were executed.”

Indonesian officials have not said when the executions by firing squad will take place. Indonesia has vowed to go through with the executions despite various appeals from the countries of the convicted.

Veloso’s case has caused a public outcry in the Philippines. She travelled to Indonesia in 2010 where her godmother’s daughter reportedly told her a job as domestic worker awaited her. She alleges that her godsister provided the suitcase where the drugs were discovered when Veloso arrived at an airport in Java, Indonesia.

Her move to the island prison comes after Indonesia’s supreme court earlier this week turned down the final appeals by prisoners from France and Ghana.

The appeals for judicial review by Serge Areski Atlaoui of France and Martin Anderson of Ghana were rejected by Indonesia’s highest court in closed-door hearings on Tuesday, said Suhadi, the court spokesman and a member of the three-judge panel.

Lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran, two of the so-called “Bali Nine”, have lodged a new appeal in the constitutional court but the attorney general says the pair have exhausted their legal avenues and he will not recognise the latest action.

Spontana confirmed reports on Thursday that his office had sent letters to prosecutors advising them to prepare for the executions.

Asked if a date was set, he replied: “Up to tonight, not yet.”

The letters asked prosecutors to make preparations and were not the notification letters for the convicts themselves, he said.

The planned executions have soured relations between Indonesia and other countries. President Joko Widodo has vowed not to grant mercy to drug offenders because Indonesia is suffering a “drug emergency”.

In Paris, the French president François Hollande urged Indonesian authorities to grant clemency to Atlaoui, telling a news conference that executing Atlaoui “would be damaging for the relations we want to have with Indonesia”.

Jakarta executed six drug convicts, including five foreigners, in January, brushing aside last-minute appeals from Brazil and the Netherlands. More than 130 people are on death row in Indonesia, including 57 drug convicts.

Indonesia is required to give 72 hours’ notice of the executions.

The White House was forced to concede on Thursday that it killed two innocent hostages – one American, one Italian – in a drone strike that targeted an al-Qaida compound despite officials not knowing precisely who was in the vicinity.
White House admits: we didn’t know who drone strike was aiming to kill
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The deaths of Dr Warren Weinstein, a US government aid worker, and Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian aid worker, who were being held captive in the Afghanistan and Pakistan border region, have placed unprecedented pressure on Barack Obama’s secret program of targeted drone killings.

They mark the first time a US drone strike has inadvertently killed innocent hostages, and have forced the Obama administration to disclose an unprecedented amount of information about what would typically be a highly classified operation.

Among the most startling admissions was the fact the drone strike was authorized by a senior counter-terrorism official without any specific information about who was in the immediate area, which had merely been identified as a compound frequented by al-Qaida leaders.

Hours after Obama personally expressed his “profound regret” over the deaths, and announced an immediate review of the operation, his press secretary, Josh Earnest, said the victims’ families would be compensated, and gave unprecedented details about the intelligence that led to the operation.

Earnest said the compound was targeted based on “near-certain” intelligence that indicated it was being frequented by at least one al-Qaida leader, and that no civilians were in the area. Earnest said the review may raise “legitimate questions” that would force the administration to change its protocols for such operations.

Conceding that the operation was not ordered against any individual targets, Earnest said the administration only discovered later that the compound was occupied by Weinstein, La Porto and another American named Ahmed Farouq, who the White House says was a “leader” of the terrorist group.

Farouq was not, however, the target of the operation. The drone strike was not targeted at known al-Qaida members; instead, it was directed against anyone in the vicinity of what the US believed was a compound being used by the terrorist group.
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A second drone strike in January, which killed Adam Gadahn, another American who the US says had become an al-Qaida fighter, was also targeted at terrorist compound, without knowledge of who specifically was in the vicinity.

There was no specific authorisation to kill Farouq and Gadahn.

Earlier, Obama praised what he claimed was his administration’s exceptionally transparent response to the tragedy.

He did not mention the two American al-Qaida members in the statement from the White House, in which he sought to explain how his counter-terrorism strike could have take the lives of two hostages. Neither did he use the word “drone”.

“As president and as commander-in-chief, I take full responsibility of all of our counter-terrorism operations, including the one that inadvertently took the lives of Warren and Giovanni,” Obama said. “I profoundly regret what happened. On behalf of the United States government, I offer our deepest apologies to their families.”

Yet the president struck a surprisingly defiant tone, insisting that his administration had acted on the best intelligence available at the time and claiming that his decision to declassify the operation and initiate a review was a sign of American exceptionalism.

He said he had decided to make the existence of the operation public because Weinstein and Lo Porto’s families “deserve to know the truth” and “the United States is a democracy, committed to openness, in good times and in bad”.
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Weinstein was kidnapped by al-Qaida in 2011. Lo Porto had been a hostage of the terrorist group since 2012.

While Obama praised the transparency of the response, secrecy still surrounds the vast majority of drone strikes that one senator estimated in 2013 had killed 4,700 people.

This was only the second time, following a presidential speech that year, that Obama has acknowledged killing innocents. These have included a 16-year-old boy with US citizenship.

Critics have lambasted Obama for conducting a counter-terrorism war almost entirely in secret.

The American Civil Liberties Union in March sued the Obama administration for disclosure of critical legal documents underpinning what the administration calls its “targeted killing” program – including the criteria for placement on a list permitting the US to kill people, including its own citizens, without trial.
Giovanni Lo Porto, killed in US drone strike, was ‘incredibly loyal’ friend
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Obama’s admission regarding the deaths of Weinstein and Lo Porto is likely to intensify criticism of the president’s drone strikes, conducted by the CIA and the military’s Joint Special Operations Command. A recent analysis by human-rights group Reprieve estimated that US drone strikes intending to target 41 men had killed 1,147 people as of November.
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US officials insist the operations are “targeted” and cause minimal civilian casualties.

In his statement from the White House Obama, said intelligence indicated that “this was an al-Qaida compound, that no civilians were present, and that capturing these terrorists was not possible”.

He added: “And we do believe that the operation did take out dangerous members of al-Qaida.”

The White House said Ahmed Farouqwas a “leader” of the terrorist group, and also confirmed that it killed fellow al-Qaida member Adam Gadahn in a separate operation in January.

The two American al-Qaida members were not, however, deliberately targeted. Instead, the White House indicated they, too, were killed by accident. “Neither was specifically targeted, and we did not have information indicating their presence at the sites of these operations,” the White House said.

For years, Gadahn was al-Qaida’s premier American member – his nom de guerre was “Azzam the American” – and a fixture of its pre-social-media English-language propaganda. A former heavy-metal fan from California born in 1978, Gadahn joined al-Qaida around the turn of the century after physically attacking an Orange County imam for insufficient piety.
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Obama spoke with Weinstein’s wife, Elaine, and the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, on Tuesday. “As a husband and a father I cannot begin to imagine the anguish that the Weinstein and Lo Porto families are enduring today,” he said. “I realise that there are no words that can ever equal their loss. There is nothing that I can ever say or do to ease their heartache.”

But the president blamed the deaths of the innocent hostages on “the fog of war” and maintained that his response to the tragedy showed his administration’s transparency.

“What we did not know, tragically, is that al-Qaida was hiding the presence of Warren and Giovanni in this same compound. It is a cruel and bitter truth that in the fog of war generally, and in our fight against terrorists specifically, mistakes – sometimes deadly mistakes – can occur,” he said.

“But one of the things that sets America apart from many other nations, one of the things that makes us exceptional, is our willingness to confront squarely our imperfections and to learn from our mistakes.”

Weinstein’s wife Elaine said in a statement their family was “devastated” by the news of his death, and criticised the response of the US government to his abduction.

Elaine Weinstein stressed her husband’s captors “bear ultimate responsibility” for his death, but said the Pakistani government had treated his captivity as “more of an annoyance than a priority”, and described the assistance the family received from the US government as “inconsistent and disappointing”.

“We hope that my husband’s death and the others who have faced similar tragedies in recent months will finally prompt the US government to take its responsibilities seriously, and establish a coordinated and consistent approach to supporting hostages and their families,” she said.

Speaking from Palermo, where Lo Porto was from, his mother Giusy was quoted as saying she did not want to speak to reporters. “Leave me alone to my pain,” she told the Italian news agency Ansa. Her Facebook page was covered with photographs of Lo Porto from a happier time.

“Italy extends its deepest condolences to the family of Giovanni Lo Porto,” prime minister Renzi said in a statement. He had personally been informed of the news by Obama on Wednesday, just days after the two leaders met in Washington. “I express deep sorry for the death of an Italian, who has dedicated his life to serving others,” he added. Lo Porto’s family was notified of his death by Italy’s crisis unit.

In a separate statement, Obama’s press secretary, Josh Earnest, said the “uniquely tragic” nature of the operation was something the administration would do its best to ensure was not repeated. “To this end, although the operation was lawful and conducted consistent with our counter-terrorism policies, we are conducting a thorough independent review to understand fully what happened and how we can prevent this type of tragic incident in the future,” he added.

Dianne Feinstein, the senior Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, indicated that the oversight panel had known about the mistaken drone strikes for some time.

“The committee has already been reviewing the specific January operation that led to these deaths, and I now intend to review that operation in greater detail,” Feinstein said.

Despite the details released by the White House – a highly unusual move for a clandestine “counterterrorism operation” – important questions remain.

Although it is assumed Weinstein and Lo Porto were killed by a drone strike, it is not known precisely when or where it took place, or how many al-Qaida operatives or other civilians were killed in the strike.

The White House said only the operation took place in the operation that killed Weinstein and Lo Porto took place in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan in January.

The Wall Street Journal, which was first to break details of the operation based on details supplied by senior officials in Obama’s administration, said the operation was a drone strike against a compound in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

According to media reports on both sides of the border, there were five attacks in Pakistan in January and seven air strikes in Afghanistan.

Although not all of the Afghanistan strikes may have been by unmanned aircraft, the use of drones has increased sharply in the east of the country in recent months as militants have been pushed from their old sanctuaries in Pakistan.

The Obama administration’s decision not to publicly locate the operation in either Afghanistan or Pakistan is probably the result of a longstanding US practice of merging the border areas between the countries for counter-terrorism purposes.

The US has a UN mandate to conduct military operations in Afghanistan; that is not the case for Pakistan, where the US drone campaign is regarded as illegal by some critics.

Saifullah Mahsud, director of the Fata Research Centre in Islamabad, said he heard rumours months ago that two foreign hostages, including an Italian, had been killed by a drone strike at the end of January.

Pakistani government and security officials believe the strike took place on January 15 in Shawal, a thickly forested area of in North Waziristan, a longstanding trouble spot bordering Afghanistan.
One researcher who works in the tribal areas said they were killed in the same strike that targeted senior members of al-Qaida’s recently formed South Asia franchise.

“There is a limit to what the drone can see on the ground,” said Mahsud. “Incidents like these are bound to happen now and then if you don’t have intelligence on the ground.”

Shazad Akbar, a lawyer and anti-drone campaigner, said he believed the strikes took place in Pakistan and they “proved the CIA have no clue who they are killing”.

Even after 20 years of launch of mobile services in the country, around 55,669 villages do not have mobile coverage till now.

“It is estimated that there are about 55,669 villages in the country that do not have mobile coverage,” Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Asked if even after 20 years of launching the mobile services in the country, there are around 56,000 villages where mobile telephone service has not reached so far, the Minister said “Yes”.

Prasad said mobile service to uncovered villages in the country are likely to be provided in a phased manner over a period of five years with funding from universal service obligation fund (USOF).

“Detailed project report consisting of technical framework and cost estimates for Himalayan states (Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand) is under preparation,” he said.

The Minister added that providing mobile coverage to 8,621 uncovered villages in the North Eastern region has been included in the comprehensive telecom development plan for the region approved by the government.

Pathankot: Hundreds of serving and veteran officers on Friday celebrated bicentenary of the first battalion of Gorkha Rifles (1/1 GR) with vigour and zest at Pathankot.

Veterans, serving officers, junior commissioned officers and other ranks both from India and Nepal attended the event, a defence spokesman said.

Unit’s bicentenary celebrations commenced with a solemn memorial service in honour of the martyrs. Thereafter, a Guard of Honour was presented to Lt Gen Ravi Thodge, Colonel of the Regiment, the spokesman said.

He also addressed a Special Sainik Sammelan and released a befitting First day cover to commemorate the landmark occasion.

The Battalion was raised on April 24, 1815 from the remnants of Gorkha General Amar Singh Thapa’s forces who valiantly fought the British at the Malaun Fort near Shimla.

The raising of battalion signalled the birth of present day Gorkha Brigade, he said.

Veer Naris and Gallantry Awards winners were also felicitated during the event.

Over the last two centuries of the battalion’s existence, it has time and again proven it’s worth by gallant actions in various fields of battle across the world, through the two World Wars, the Indo-Pak wars and in the conflicts of the sub-conventional realm, he said.

The event was a reunion for erstwhile comrades-in-arms who travelled from across the globe to be together at this momentous once-in-a lifetime occasion, he said.

The spirit of bonhomie and espirit de corps was on display during the course of the reunion was emblematic of the strong ties forged between officers and men alike, in the face of adversity, baptised by fire and having yet emerged triumphant time and again, the spokesman said. PTI
PTI

New Delhi, Apr 24, (PTI) The number of HIV positive cases reported annually in the country has declined by 57 per cent to 1.16 lakh in 2011 as compared to 2.74 lakh in 2000, Lok Sabha was informed today.

Union Health Minister J P Nadda, in a written reply to a question, told Lok Sabha that “according to the assessment of performance of various schemes for prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS patients done by the government under National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), the HIV prevalence at national level has declined from 0.41 per cent in 2001 through 0.35 per cent in 2006 to 0.27 per cent in 2011”.

The minister said there has been no cut in the budgetary provision for NACP.

“There has been no cut in the funds for NACP. The budgetary estimates for 2015-16 is Rs 1,397 crore as against revised estimates of Rs 1,300 crore for the year 2014-15,” he said.

Speaking on financial assistance to the dependants of patients died of HIV/AIDS, Nadda said the government provides financial assistance as part of the general social security network.

“Widows of people who die due to HIV/AIDS are linked to the existing Widow Pension Scheme in states. Additionally, financial assistance is provided to children who are orphaned by HIV/AIDS in states of Delhi, Bihar, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujrat, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra,” he said.

The toll in the killer nor’wester in Bihar rose to 48 as reports of six more deaths came from the 12 ravaged districts today.

A report compiled by the state disaster management department on the Tuesday late night nor’wester said Purnia bore its brunt with a maximum of 32 deaths.

Seven lost their lives in Madhepura, three in Madhubani, two in Katihar, 2 in Sitamarhi and one each in Darbhanga and Supual, the report said.

Over 80 people were seriously injured in the storm and are being treated at various government hospitals, it said.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made an aerial survey of Bhagalpur and neighbouring storm hit area this morning and held a meeting with officials at Bhagalpur, CMO sources said.

He said there was no forecast about the storm which took the state by surprise and left a trail of devastation.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh would tour the affected districts by air tomorrow, Principal secretary to the disaster management department Vyas Jee said.

After telephonic talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chief Minister, the Centre had promised all assistance, official sources said.

Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi today expressed profound grief at the human casualties and damage to dwellings in Seemanchal and Koshi regions of the state.

He asked the state government to pay Rs 4 lakh compensation to family members of the victims immediately and take up relief and rehabilitation work expeditiously, a statement issued by Raj Bhawan said.

The Governor also asked the state government to restore transport facilities, electricity and communication network in the affected areas at the earliest, it said.

Vyas Jee said district magistrates of the affected districts have been directed to provide one quintal food-grain, Rs 1,800 for buying clothes, Rs 2,000 for purchase of utensils besides Rs 2,000 cash to citizens whose dwellings perished in the high velocity storm.

The DMs, he said, have been told to give priority to villages badly affected in the storm.

After an aerial survey yesterday, Kumar had said maize crops had been flattened and others severely damaged.

The affected districts are Purnea, Araria, Kishanganj, Katihar, Madhepura, Supaul, Saharsa, Bhagalpur, Samastipur, Darbhanga and Madhubani in north and north eastern parts of the state.

Chandigarh, Apr 24 (PTI) The first postal ATM in Punjab and Union Territory of Chandigarh was opened at General Post Office (GPO) here today.

“The ATM would fulfil the long pending demand of the public for ATMs in post offices. A total of 26 ATMs would be made operational in Punjab and Chandigarh this financial year,” Director Postal Services (Headquarters) Punjab and Chandigarh, Manisha Bansal Badal said after inaugurating the ATM.

The second postal ATM would be made operational in Amritsar GPO this month, she said.

The sector 19 post office of Chandigarh will have the second ATM in the first phase, she said, adding that the ATM facility will be available at other head post offices or post offices including Ropar, Ludhiana, Model Town, Ludhiana, Khanna, Jagraon, Patiala, Rajpura, Sangrur, Tarn Taran, Golden Temple, Bathinda, Faridkot, Moga, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Batala, Hoshiarpur, Dasuya, Jalandhar City, Jalandhar Cantt, Nawan Shahar, Kapurthala and Phagwara.

As many as 50 ATM cards have been issued to the SB Account holders by GPO Chandigarh and this facility could be availed by all the customers of post offices having core banking facility, Manisha said.

She said that more than 85,000 Sukanya Samridhi Accounts have been opened in Punjab Circle till date as a part of ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ campaign.

Girls born on or after December 3, 2003 are eligible for opening accounts under Sukanya Samridhi Yojana upto December 1, 2015.

With the launch of the postal ATM in the city today, customers will get all the facilities available in core banking like cash withdrawal, mini statement, fast cash, balance enquiry, PIN Chandigarh, fund transfer within own post office, Saving Accounts and transfer of funds to other accounts of post office, Manisha said.

A maximum of Rs 10,000 can be withdrawn at one time, she said, adding that with the launch of the ATM, all modern and core banking facilities have been made available at the post office

New Delhi/Jaipur, Apr 24 (PTI) Facing criticism for his “insensitivity” in going ahead with his speech at the rally where a farmer from Rajasthan committed suicide, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today acknowledged his “mistake” and tendered an apology, which was “rejected” by the family of the deceased.

The family of farmer Gajendra Singh, 41, who ended his life by hanging himself from a tree at a rally called by AAP on Wednesday, rejected the apology and demanded a CBI probe into the incident.

“I was to deliver an hour-long speech but I wrapped it up in 10-15 mins. I think that was my mistake. Probably I should not have spoken. If that has hurt anynone’s sentiments I would like to apologise,” an under-fire Kejriwal said.

He, however, insisted that the focus should not deviate from the “real” issues being faced by the farmers.

“I am guilty. Blame me. I feel the rally should have been called off. But please focus on the real issue of the farmers and desist from politicking. Whoever is guilty hang him but the focus of the debate should be on why the farmers are committing suicide,” Kejriwal said.

The Delhi CM had drawn flak for making a 20-minute speech at his Jantar Mantar rally even after the incident had taken place. Not even caring to reach the spot where Gajendra’s lifeless body had fallen after his death, Kejriwal had ranted against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of working for the “super rich”.

Senior AAP leader Kumar Vishwas had said the incident was an attempt to sabotage the rally and sully the party’s image, unwittingly implicating Gajendra Singh in a sinister plot to discredit his party.

In another comment considered “crass” by many, another senior AAP leader Ashutosh had said the next time anybody tries to commit suicide he would tell Kejriwal to rescue him.

“If Arvind had stopped his speech midway, there would have been a stampede-like situation. And why are we being blamed? What did the policemen do? Not even a single policeman moved despite repeated requests by the CM.

“The next time anyone tries to commit suicide, I will ask the Delhi CM to climb the tree and save him,” he said but later apologised for his remarks.

A veteran freedom fighter, who served in Netaji’s Indian National Army, died after a brief illness at his native Manethi village near here, his family said today. He was 92.

Nand Lal Bharti was a soldier of Netaji Subhash Chander Bose’s INA infantry, active during the Second World War. The freedom fighter was also imprisoned several times during his service with the INA.

Bharti died on the night of April 21 after a brief illness. The mortal remains of Bharti were consigned to the flames yesterday with full state honours in the village, about 30 km from from Rewari.

Policemen along with district authorities fired 21-round salute in the air as a mark of respect for Bharti.