Month: February 2015

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and sought his intervention in ensuring visible improvement in the law and order situation in the city, saying it has deteriorated rapidly.

Kejriwal, accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, also discussed with Singh appointment of a new Chief Secretary for Delhi government as incumbent D M Spolia is set to retire tomorrow.

A special court Thursday concluded recording statements of prosecution witnesses in the money laundering case related to 2G spectrum allocation case against former telecom minister A. Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and others.

Central Bureau of Investigation Special Judge O. P. Saini recorded the statement of Enforcement Directorate Deputy Director Rajeshwar Singh, testifying as a prosecution witness in the case.

Special Public Prosecutor N.K. Matta told the court that ED does not wish to examine further witnesses in the case.

India will soon have satellites with superior earth observation capability, said space agency chief A.S.Kiran Kumar here Thursday.

“The future of earth observation relies on three factors – continuity and improvement of the operational constellation of satellites, sustained observation of all climate variables and global co-operation for comparing observation data,” the Indian Space Research Organisation chairman said while speaking at the International Conference on Climate Change and Disaster Management here at Kovalam.

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Yasin Malik Thursday termed the debate on the constitution’s Article 370, giving a special status to the state, a ploy to change the discourse while terming the 2014 assembly elections as “psychologically rigged”.

“For last three-four years, debate on Article 370 is raked up deliberately to change the Kashmir discourse of independence from India to centre-state relations,” he said at a press conference here.

The US Thursday described the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) agreement with India for co-development and co-production of defence equipment as a “commitment to our shared future” in bilateral ties.

Senior Pentagon official Frank Kendall, during a talk here, said the DTTI would strengthen bilateral military-to-military ties, re-energize defense industrial partnerships and expand regional cooperation.

Former Haryana chief minister Master Hukum Singh died in a private hospital here Thursday after a short illness, said an official spokesman. He was 89.

According to a Haryana government spokesman, Singh passed around 6 p.m. at the Medicity Medanta hospital here.

Earlier, in the day, state minister O.P. Dhankhar visited the hospital to enquire about the health of the former chief minister, and was told he was fine and had been shifted from the ICU to a general ward.

The AAP Thursday threatened to launch public protests if no action was taken by March 2 against people it accused of grabbing public land.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has asked authorities to free a water body on government land from the clutches of a land grabber at Biharipur near the National Highway 24.

An AAP delegation submitted a memorandum to this effect to the municipal commissioner. It said the land grabber was carving out plots of land in the area and selling them to people illegally.

(IANS)

Ahead of the famous Lathmar Holi Friday, when Barsana’s lathi-wielding women – “Huriyarins” – will burst into a riot of colours, raining their well-oiled batons on men, the battle against liquor shops has been won.

Threatening to boycott the Lathmar Holi, the Barsana women managed to force Mathura district administration to bow down before their demand to close liquor outlets in the holy town.

The Supreme Court Thursday said that a Dalit whose parents or grandparents embraced Christianity will get the benefits of reservation meant for Scheduled Caste if he converts to Hinduism.

“… we are inclined to hold that the appellant (K.P. Manu) after reconversion had come within the fold of the community and thereby became a member of the Scheduled Caste,” a bench of Justice Dipak Mishra and Justice V. Gopala Gowda said.

“Had the community expelled him, the matter would have been different. The acceptance is in continuum,” the bench said.

The BJP Thursday hailed Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu’s budget for 2015-16 calling it “reformist” and “revolutionary” while the Congress termed it “disappointing” and asked how the resources for the promised reforms will be raised. The Shiv Sena too was critical.

Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari told reporters: “This is the first time a reformist budget has been brought for railways.

“Latest technology will be used in railways to upgrade it and make it safe. The reforms in railways will also generate more employment and boost the Make in India programme,” he said.

A dream will finally come true for the Mumbai commuters with air-conditioned local trains being introduced, according to a railway budget 2015-16 announcement by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, a Mumbaikar.

Comprehensive trials of the proposed air-conditioned coaches for Mumbai’s crowded suburban sections are underway since the past couple of years, and the announcement was welcomed by most commuters.

The Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday welcomed the Railway Budget and said that it has been made by keeping the long term future in mind.

Raut, however, said that the Railway Budget, even though a good one, had failed to meet expectations completely.

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Gujarat Police to provide social activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband a list of documents needed from them in the ongoing probe in the misappropriation of public funds case, while has been filed against them.

According to reports, the apex court told the Gujarat Police that the accused are also entitled to have the list, which has already made available to the Supreme Court.