Pakistan today confirmed that it had shared intelligence with India on possible terror strikes in Gujarat ahead of Maha Shivratri festival.
“Sharing of intelligence among various nations of the world is a routine practice and this happens around the world.
However, this time it was somehow leaked to media. But this showed Pakistan’s commitment to fight terrorism,” Pakistan Prime Minister’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said in response to a question on whether Pakistan had provided intelligence to India on impending terror strikes.
According to Indian media reports, Pakistan’s National Security Advisor Lieutenant-General Naseer Khan Janjua passed on the intelligence warning to his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on Saturday following which NSG special forces were deployed to Gujarat to back up state police.
Intelligence inputs from Pakistan of a possible 26/11-style fidayeen attack on religious sites and processions in Gujarat during Maha Shivratri celebrations yesterday and today prompted authorities to order a massive mobilisation of state police personnel and National Security Guard (NSG).PTI
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said Karti is being targeted only because he is his son but “the real target is me” and rejected as “malicious and totally false” allegations that he has undisclosed assets abroad.
Chidambaram also said that if the Government is of the view that Karti has alleged undisclosed assets he would ask it to make a list in this regard and his son will voluntarily execute any document necessary to transfer such assets to it for a nominal consideration of Rupee 1.
He was reacting to a recent media report about the alleged investments of Karti in real estate across the world.
“A few days ago, a news report was published containing wild and reckless allegations against my son, Mr Karti Chidambaram, and by implication against me. It was obvious to everyone that it was a planted story.”
“If the Government is of the view that Mr Karti Chidambaram has undisclosed assets, I would ask the Government to make a list of such alleged undisclosed assets. Mr Karti Chidambaram will voluntarily execute any document necessary to transfer those assets (allegedly undisclosed) to the Government for a nominal consideration of Rupee 1. Let the Government become the owner of the alleged undisclosed assets.
The media report alleged that Karti has built a huge empire for himself in different parts of the world by making investment in real estates and engaging in other business activities in 14 countries and that this had come to light through documents recovered during raids by Enforcement Directorate and investigation wing of Income Tax in the Aircel-Maxis scam.
“I am issuing this statement on behalf of all the members of my family. We know that Karti is being targeted only because he is my son and the real target is me. I understand the political motive behind the accusations and the timing of the story. I have nothing but pity for those who make these false accusations. Ultimately, truth will prevail,” Chidambaram said in a statement.
He said Karti runs a legitimate business, apart from managing inherited property, adding he has been an income tax assessee for many years.
Chidambaram also said that Karti has duly and regularly filed his income tax return, including a statement of assets and liabilities, every year and that the assessments have been completed upto Assessment Year 2013-14 by the Income-tax department..PTI
The one-man judicial commission of inquiry that went into the 2013 Muzaffarnagar communal riots has concluded intelligence failure and laxity on the part of police led to the violence that left 62 people dead but is silent on the role of the Akhilesh Yadav government in the conflagration.
The Justice Vishnu Sahai Commission, whose 700-page report was tabled in the state assembly today, also accused the media of putting out exaggerated reports and spreading rumours that fuelled violence.
Referring to the case lodged against BJP MLA Sangeet Som and 229 others in connection with uploading “objectionable” video on YouTube, the commission said it was of the view that under article 20(2) of the Constitution, which says no person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once, no other penal action could be taken against them.
Similarly, penal action could not be taken against the then BSP MP Qadir Rana and others for using objectionable language at Fakkarshah crossing on August 30, 2013, it said.
BJP has, meanwhile rejected the Sahai panel report as “incomplete” and demanded a CBI inquiry into the riots.
“The inquiry report tabled in the Assembly is a mix of of several semi-truths,” BJP Legislature Party Leader Suresh Khanna said in a statement issued here.
He alleged that it was one-sided and did not highlight real culprits, reason, cause of provocation and how it spread.
UP Minister Azam Khan also targeted the media for the riots, saying “Media had a big role in over-exaggerating the riots. In America you can’t show dead bodies and bloodshed.”
The commission said polarisation along communal lines following the murder of two young men by a youth from minority community in Kawal town on August 27, 2013, was the trigger behind the riots.
It said failure of the intelligence unit was an important reason behind the violence.
The panel said the riots took place as the the then Inspector of intelligence unit Prabal Pratap Singh failed to give exact figure of people going to attend a Mahapanchayat at Mandaur. The Hindus, particularly Jats, returning from the Mahapanchayat were allegedly attacked by the minorities, fuelling tensions further.
The proceedings of the Mahapanchayat were not recorded and there was laxity on the part of the then SSP Subhash Chandra Dubey, due to which violence spread to Saharanpur, Shamli, Baghpat and Meerut, the panel said. Apart from the killing of 62 people, the riots saw thousands rendered homeless in these districts.
The panel also agreed with the suspension of the then Senior Superintendent of Police Dubey and departmental action against him. It questioned the then District Magistrate Kushal Raj Sharma’s decision of not videographing the proceedings at Mahapanchayat.
Though the report did not mention anything against the Akhilesh Yadav government, leaders of opposition parties said the Chief Minister cannot escape the blame as law and order was a state subject.PTI
El Nino – a phenomena which sparks global weather extremes – could be transporting and spreading waterborne diseases such as cholera thousands of miles across oceans, with significant impacts for public health, a new study has found.
Researchers from the University of Bath in UK found that illnesses caused by waterborne bacteria reported in Latin America seem to be moving in tandem with when and where warm El Nino waters make contact with the land.
El Nino describes the unusual warming of surface waters along the tropical west coast of South America. These events tend to occur every 3-7 years; something many suggest have become more regular and extreme in recent years, as a result of climate change.
Most significantly, drawing on new data derived from whole genome sequencing of bacterial strains, they suggest there are links between organisms that are causing illnesses in Asia with those that emerge in Latin America.
Over the past 30 years, coinciding with the last three significant El Nino events in 1990/91, 1997/98 and 2010, new variants of waterborne pathogens emerged in Latin America.
These included a devastating cholera outbreak in Peru in 1990, leading to over 13,000 deaths, as well as two instances in 1997 and 2010 where new variants of the bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus led to widespread human illness through contaminated shellfish.
“Through our findings we suggest that so-called vibrios – microscopic bacteria commonly found in seawater – can attach to larger organisms such as zooplankton to travel oceans,” said lead author Jaime Martinez-Urtaza, from the University of Bath.
“Numerous previous studies have shown how such vibrios bind to and use these larger organisms as a source of energy and through this mechanism, we suggest, they are essentially able to piggyback to travel such enormous diseases, driven by ocean currents,” Martinez-Urtaza said.
“The effects of El Nino events and their impacts on local weather, fisheries and the risk of more extreme meteorological events are already well-documented,” he said.
“Now understanding the role the ocean currents are also playing in transporting these disease has huge significance for public health campaigns in those countries,” he said.
“An El Nino event could represent an efficient long-distance ‘biological corridor’, allowing the displacement of marine organisms from distant areas,” said Craig Baker-Austin from the UK Cefas Weymouth laboratory.
“This process could provide both a periodic and unique source of new pathogens into America with serious implications for the spread and control of disease,” said Baker-Austin.
The study was published in the journal Nature Microbiology.PTI
Intense Russian air strikes battered rebel bastions across Syria today, a monitor said, just hours before a midnight deadline for a landmark ceasefire in the country’s five-year civil war.
With the ceasefire due to take effect at 2200 GMT, US President Barack Obama has warned Damascus and key ally Moscow that the “world will be watching”.
Both President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the main opposition body have agreed to the deal — which allows fighting to continue against the Islamic State group and other jihadists.
The agreement brokered by Russia and the United States marks the biggest diplomatic push yet to help end Syria’s violence, but has been plagued by doubts after the failure of previous peace efforts.
Members of the 17-nation group backing the process were to meet in Geneva today to work out further details of the so-called “cessation of hostilities”, which is then expected to be endorsed by the UN Security Council, diplomats said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said Russia and the regime had launched a wave of attacks on non-jihadist rebel areas ahead of the deadline.
“It’s more intense than usual,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Russia launched air strikes in Syria last September saying it was targeting “terrorists” but critics have accused Moscow of hitting rebel forces in support of Assad, a longtime ally.
The Observatory said there had been Russian strikes overnight on rebel bastions including the Eastern Ghouta region outside Damascus, the north of Homs province and the west of Aleppo province.
There were at least 26 air strikes on Eastern Ghouta including 10 on its main city of Douma which was facing heavy regime shelling, he said.
One Douma resident told AFP that “the bombing is very heavy” while another described “very big explosions” in the city.
Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted Moscow would continue targeting “terrorist groups”.
“The decisive fight against them will, without doubt, be continued,” Putin said in televised remarks.
“We understand fully and take into account that this will be a complicated, and maybe even contradictory process of reconciliation, but there is no other way,” Putin said.
The intensified attacks prompted Turkey, a key supporter of opposition forces, to express worries over the viability of the ceasefire.
Dalit student Rohith Vemula’s mother today launched a no holds barred attack on HRD Minister Smriti Irani, accusing her of resorting to “blatant lies” while talking in Parliament about her son’s suicide and that “life imprisonment” will not be enough for her and others “responsible” for his death.
Radhika Vemula, flanked by her other son Raja, said BJP will be “decimated to the ground” if Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not take any action against Irani and her ministerial colleague Bandaru Dattatreya who had written multiple letters to her seeking action against Rohith, alleging anti-national activities.
The proposal to set up India’s first rail auto hub in Chennai announced in today’s Railway Budget will provide a big support to the automobile industry, facilitating transportation of vehicles from manufacturing plants to respective destinations, say carmakers.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu while presenting the budget for 2016-17 today in Parliament said, “To capture the automobile traffic, we will soon inaugurate India’s first rail auto hub in Chennai.”
Reacting to the announcement, Hyundai Motor India Ltd Senior Vice-President (Sales & Marketing) Rakesh Srivastava told PTI, “Last mile connectivity, reduced logistic costs and time, (are) addressed in one big infrastructure move enabling mass transportation of vehicles with the Auto Hub at Chennai giving a big support to the auto industry.”
Expressing similar views, Renault India Operations Country CEO and Managing Director Sumit Sawhney said India’s first rail auto hub in Chennai will facilitate transportation of cars from manufacturing plants to respective destinations as the city is “a growing automobile hub and is being regarded as ‘Detroit of the East'”.
Welcoming the proposal to develop rail side logistics parks and warehousing in PPP mode, he said, “This is indeed a welcome move as it will bring in significant efficiencies and reduction in logistic costs for many automobile OEMs in and around the Chennai region, including us.”
In his speech, Prabhu said inadequacy of warehousing and transportation facilities was also one of the causes that kept potential customers away from the railways.
“In order to complete the chain of transportation, it is proposed to develop rail side logistics parks and warehousing.
These logistic parks and warehouses would be created in PPP mode to bring the required efficiency and investment but also help attract greater traffic to the railways,” the minister said.
He further said, “With the coming in of TRANSLOC, the Transport Logistics Company of India, we will be witness to a paradigm shift in our role as a national logistics provider.
The focus will be on providing last mile connectivity for freight business and significant reduction in logistic costs.
At least 10 goods sheds will be developed by TRANSLOC in 2016-17.”
Nissan India Operations President Guillaume Sicard said the announcement to create a rail auto hub in Chennai is a clear demonstration of the government’s commitment to the Make in India initiative.
“Chennai is one of major auto hubs in India and needs efficient and cost-effective infrastructure and logistics support. Now, with the rail auto hub, it will be a much-needed shot in the arm for economical, timely and efficient transportation of our cars to the port and will aid our export strategy immensely,” Sicard said.
Nissan India is one of the largest exporters of passenger cars and has reached the landmark export figure of six lakh cars recently.
“We welcome all initiatives to provide better and efficient infrastructure,” Sicard added.PTI
Maharashtra Postal Circle is hosting the 31st All India Postal Table Tennis Tournament 2015-16 which will be held from 25.02.2016 to 29.02.2016 at Mumbai University Sports Pavilion, Marine Lines, Mumbai – 400 020. This is the first time All India Postal Table Tennis Tournament is being held in Mumbai. Last year the tournament was hosted by West Bengal Circle.
Around 142 players (including 47 women) from 16 postal circles (except Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, North-East, Orissa, and Uttarakhand Postal Circles) are participating in the tournament.
The 31st All India Postal Table Tennis Tournament 2015-16 will be inaugurated by Shri Kamlesh Mehta, International Table Tennis player and recipient of Arjuna Award at 10.00 AM on 25.10.2016.
The valedictory function will be held at 04.00 PM on 29.02.2016. Shri Dilip Vengsarkar, Former Captain of Indian Cricket Team will be the Chief Guest.
Renowned Table Tennis players from Maharashtra who were honoured with Shiv Chhatrapati Awards viz Smt. Divya Deshpande, Ms. Ashlesha Bodas and Shri Mahendra Chiplunkar are invited as chief guests to witness the final matches on 26.02.2015 (Men and Women Championship), 27.02.2016 (Women and Mixed Doubles) and 28.02.2016 (Men Doubles) respectively.
The remission granted to Sanjay Dutt besides other concessions like parole are as per the prison manual rules, says a former TADA court judge who had sentenced the Bollywood actor to five years’ imprisonment in 2007 in the Mumbai serial blasts case.
Dutt is slated to walk out of Yerawada prison near Pune on February 25 after getting remission (reduction) of sentence.
According to the Maharashtra Home Department, he was given remission on account of the good conduct.
“Like any other citizen, Dutt is also entitled to these concessions,” said Pramod Kode, who retired as a judge of the Bombay High Court.
As a special TADA court judge, Kode presided over the 1993 Mumbai blasts trial which went on for 14 years.
Dutt was granted concessions not because he is a celebrity but as per the rules, Kode said.
The frequent parole or furlough availed by Dutt had come in for criticism.
Dutt also has the right to carry out his duties towards his family within the legal parameters, Kode told PTI.
The former judge said he wasn’t aware about Dutt’s conduct in the prison. “But I feel his conduct must have been good, otherwise the jail authorities would not have granted him such concessions,” he said.
According to Kode, the court awards sentence to a criminal to remove the criminal instincts in him or her. But the law also provides for concessions like temporary release on parole to enable the prisoner to carry out family duties and other obligations.
Kode had convicted 100 accused in the blasts case, 12 of whom were awarded death penalty (the Supreme Court eventually upheld the death only for Yakub Memon).
Dutt was sentenced to five years for illegal possession and destruction of an AK-56 rifle. The rifle was a part of the cache of weapons and explosives smuggled into India by the blasts conspirators.
His release on February 25 will be 103 days ahead of the end of his full prison term. Before the Supreme Court upheld his conviction in 2013, he had spent 18 months in jail during the investigation and trial phase.PTI
Rahul Mukerjea was also allegedly facing threat from his step mother Indrani which he had conveyed to his father Peter Mukerjea through an email sent about a year before the murder of his girlfriend Sheena Bora.
CBI which is probing the murder of Bora has attached this conversation in the supplementary charge sheet which mentions that Peter knew that his wife Indrani has allegedly issued threats to his son Rahul and her daughter from her first marriage Sheena, sources said.
Fearing threats, Sheena and Rahul had taken a backup of all the mails, messages, documents for safekeeping, they said.
In the mail dated April 13, 2011, Rahul told Peter, “On several occasions, we have received threats from Indrani…I have protected myself and Sheena by documenting mails, history, conversations and messages included.”
He wrote that he had put these for safekeeping and threatened to make them public “should anything happen to either Sheena or me”, the mail alleged.
CBI has alleged that Peter was actively involved in the conspiracy to murder Sheena which was hatched by Indrani, her second husband Sanjiv Khanna and driver Shyamvar Rai who all have been arrested by the agency.
Peter was also told by Rahul that he was not sure if messages coming from his father’s phone were actually sent by him or not.
Rahul had accused his father of allegedly using the email accounts of Indrani and Khanna’s daughter Vidhie to send mails to Sheena, it alleged.
“Please also remember that you yourselves involved young Vidhie in all of this by using her email account to send emails in the first place and by giving her the phone when Sheena wanted an explanation from Indrani,” he said in the mail.
Rahul had told Peter that Indrani was “bad-mouthing” him and also pressuring a media company where he was trying.
“After all the things your wife has said about me, and all the threats she has made, and after all the attempts she has made to disrupt my progress, telling a load of lies about me and trying to have me thrown out from my flat. Then also pressuring the (media company) people,” he had told Peter in his mail which has been attached by CBI in the charge sheet.
CBI had mentioned in the supplementary charge sheet that both Peter and Indrani wanted separation of Rahul and Sheena who were in a relationship.
The agency has submitted the charge sheet, running into 500 pages and listing 52 witnesses.
“We have mentioned in the charge sheet that the process of separating Sheena and Rahul had started since 2009 and as they did not budge, the duo (Indrani and Peter) planned to kill her,” a CBI official said.
Peter was arrested on November 19 for his alleged role in the murder conspiracy. He was in CBI custody for two weeks. Indrani is the prime accused in the case.
On November 19, CBI had filed a charge sheet against Indrani, Khanna and Rai for murdering Sheena and disposing of her body.
As per the charge sheet, Indrani and Peter were unhappy with Sheena and Rahul’s relationship, and they had told their friend Pritul Sanghvi that ‘this relationship was not correct’.
Sheena (24), Indrani’s daughter from an earlier relationship, was allegedly strangled in a car by Indrani on April 24, 2012 and her body was burnt before it was dumped in a forest in adjoining Raigad district.PTI
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