Face of anti-tobacco campaign dies after battling cancer, but not before taking on ... - Hindustan Times

Sunita Tomar, who shot to prominence as the face of an anti-tobacco campaign, died after a long battle with mouth cancer in a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday, just two days after expressing her shock at BJP MP Dilip Kumar Gandhi's contention that there were no Indian studies to show tobacco caused cancer and other diseases.

Tomar, 28, died at the Tata Memorial Hospital at 4am, the Indian Express reported. Doctors treating her said they suspected she had suffered a relapse of mouth cancer.

Two days before she died, Tomar wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express her shock at the statement by Gandhi, chairman of Lok Sabha's Committee of Subordinate Legislations, that there are no Indian studies linking tobacco to cancer.

"Recently Dilip Gandhi, chairman of a parliamentary panel, wrote to the Health Ministry asking for the notification on bigger tobacco pack warnings to be kept in abeyance. I was shocked that people in such high posts can be so irresponsible," she wrote.

"Bigger warnings can probably save some innocent lives like mine. You have started to take people along in your Mann Ki Baat where you recently talked about de-addiction. I hope you will also take up the cause of tobacco," she added.

Pankaj Chaturvedi, head and neck surgeon at the Tata Memorial Hospital, where Tomar was admitted three days ago, was quoted as saying: "Sunita came to us three days back with breathing difficulty and weight loss. She had lost 12kg. We were suspecting a relapse. She was just 28 and mother of two young kids.

Video of the anti-tobacco campaign

"Though she is only one of the 10 lakh Indians who die every year because of tobacco, I am sure her campaign must have saved millions from picking up the habit. She made me promise that we will continue our battle and she also wrote a letter to PM Modi to share her personal tragedy," he said.

The Union health ministry postponed a decision to introduce new graphic health warnings that cover 85% of tobacco packages on both sides from April 1 based on the report of the parliamentary panel chaired by Gandhi, the MP from Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. Along with Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra is one of the major tobacco-growing states of India.

As part of the "Lives Bachao Size Badhao" public awareness campaign that pushed for larger and stronger pictorial warning on tobacco products, Tomar had collected 38,740 signatures through an online and offline petition for implementing the larger health warnings on tobacco packages. The petition was submitted to Union health minister JP Nadda last month.

During an appearance at the unveiling of the anti-tobacco campaign featuring her, Tomar had said she began using tobacco at the age of 22. Four years later, she developed a blister that was diagnosed as cancer, she said.

The wife of a driver, Tomar had to have an entire cheek and her jaw removed. She was treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Face of anti-tobacco campaign dies after battling cancer, but not before taking on ... - Hindustan Times

Sunita Tomar, who shot to prominence as the face of an anti-tobacco campaign, died after a long battle with mouth cancer in a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday, just two days after expressing her shock at BJP MP Dilip Kumar Gandhi's contention that there were no Indian studies to show tobacco caused cancer and other diseases.

Tomar, 28, died at the Tata Memorial Hospital at 4am, the Indian Express reported. Doctors treating her said they suspected she had suffered a relapse of mouth cancer.

Two days before she died, Tomar wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express her shock at the statement by Gandhi, chairman of Lok Sabha's Committee of Subordinate Legislations, that there are no Indian studies linking tobacco to cancer.

"Recently Dilip Gandhi, chairman of a parliamentary panel, wrote to the Health Ministry asking for the notification on bigger tobacco pack warnings to be kept in abeyance. I was shocked that people in such high posts can be so irresponsible," she wrote.

"Bigger warnings can probably save some innocent lives like mine. You have started to take people along in your Mann Ki Baat where you recently talked about de-addiction. I hope you will also take up the cause of tobacco," she added.

Pankaj Chaturvedi, head and neck surgeon at the Tata Memorial Hospital, where Tomar was admitted three days ago, was quoted as saying: "Sunita came to us three days back with breathing difficulty and weight loss. She had lost 12kg. We were suspecting a relapse. She was just 28 and mother of two young kids.

Video of the anti-tobacco campaign

"Though she is only one of the 10 lakh Indians who die every year because of tobacco, I am sure her campaign must have saved millions from picking up the habit. She made me promise that we will continue our battle and she also wrote a letter to PM Modi to share her personal tragedy," he said.

The Union health ministry postponed a decision to introduce new graphic health warnings that cover 85% of tobacco packages on both sides from April 1 based on the report of the parliamentary panel chaired by Gandhi, the MP from Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. Along with Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra is one of the major tobacco-growing states of India.

As part of the "Lives Bachao Size Badhao" public awareness campaign that pushed for larger and stronger pictorial warning on tobacco products, Tomar had collected 38,740 signatures through an online and offline petition for implementing the larger health warnings on tobacco packages. The petition was submitted to Union health minister JP Nadda last month.

During an appearance at the unveiling of the anti-tobacco campaign featuring her, Tomar had said she began using tobacco at the age of 22. Four years later, she developed a blister that was diagnosed as cancer, she said.

The wife of a driver, Tomar had to have an entire cheek and her jaw removed. She was treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

GCTOC Bill 2015: Gujarat Assembly clears stringent anti-terror Bill in third attempt - The Indian Express

Anandiben Patel in Rajkot on Wednesday. (Source: Express Photos)

The Gujarat Assembly on Tuesday passed a stringent anti-terror Bill retaining controversial provisions that had twice earlier led to a previous such Bill being rejected by the President.

The Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Bill 2015 makes only minor changes in the controversial Gujarat Control of Organised Crime (GUJCOC) Bill, including adding the word ‘terrorism’ in the name. However, it retains clauses such as permitting admissibility of evidence collected through interception of mobile calls of an accused or through confessions made before an investigating officer, in a court of law.

The Gujarat government, at the time led by Narendra Modi, first introduced the GUJCOC Bill in 2003, with the same clauses, including increasing the period to file chargesheet from 90 to 180 days, and laying down strict conditions for bail to be given to the accused. The Bill was rejected by then President A P J Abdul Kalam in 2004, demanding that the clause relating to interception of communication be removed. The NDA was in power at the time.

The state Assembly passed the GUJCOC Bill again twice after that, each time under Modi as CM. In 2008, it was without the clause objected to by Kalam. But then President Pratibha Patil also refused to clear the Bill, seeking more changes, including deletion of the provision allowing confessions before a police officer as evidence in court. The Centre had a UPA government then.

The Gujarat government, however, ignored Patil’s suggestions and cleared the Bill for the third time in 2009. This Bill is still pending clearance by the President.

The GCTOC Bill, while reintroducing the provision allowing interception of communication and retaining the one relating to confessions made before a police officer, only proposes that the officer concerned be of the rank of superintendent of police and above.

Minister of State for Home Rajnikant Patel, who tabled the GCTOC Bill, argued that the legislation was required for the safety and security of the residents of Gujarat, which shares its border with Pakistan. “Pakistan cannot win the war against India. We all know about terrorist activities in Pakistan. To protect every single citizen from the bullet of terrorists, we need to strengthen the law,” Patel said.

The Congress, which objected to the Bill, eventually abstained from voting on it.

While Gujarat has been relatively peaceful the past 10 years, the Bill’s ‘Statement of Objects of Reasons’ says, “It is noticed that organised criminal syndicates make common cause with terrorist gangs and foster macro terrorism, which extends beyond national boundaries. There is a reason to believe that organised criminal syndicates are operating in the state and… there is immediate need to curb their activities.”

Congress Abdasa MLA Shaktisinh Gohil objected that clauses in the Bill contradicted Central laws that do not allow an investigating agency to take confession and use it as evidence. “Besides, when the Union Act has fixed continued…

Face of anti-tobacco campaign dies after battling cancer, but not before taking on ... - Hindustan Times

Sunita Tomar, who shot to prominence as the face of an anti-tobacco campaign, died after a long battle with mouth cancer in a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday, just two days after expressing her shock at BJP MP Dilip Kumar Gandhi's contention that there were no Indian studies to show tobacco caused cancer and other diseases.

Tomar, 28, died at the Tata Memorial Hospital at 4am, the Indian Express reported. Doctors treating her said they suspected she had suffered a relapse of mouth cancer.

Two days before she died, Tomar wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express her shock at the statement by Gandhi, chairman of Lok Sabha's Committee of Subordinate Legislations, that there are no Indian studies linking tobacco to cancer.

"Recently Dilip Gandhi, chairman of a parliamentary panel, wrote to the Health Ministry asking for the notification on bigger tobacco pack warnings to be kept in abeyance. I was shocked that people in such high posts can be so irresponsible," she wrote.

"Bigger warnings can probably save some innocent lives like mine. You have started to take people along in your Mann Ki Baat where you recently talked about de-addiction. I hope you will also take up the cause of tobacco," she added.

Pankaj Chaturvedi, head and neck surgeon at the Tata Memorial Hospital, where Tomar was admitted three days ago, was quoted as saying: "Sunita came to us three days back with breathing difficulty and weight loss. She had lost 12kg. We were suspecting a relapse. She was just 28 and mother of two young kids.

Video of the anti-tobacco campaign

"Though she is only one of the 10 lakh Indians who die every year because of tobacco, I am sure her campaign must have saved millions from picking up the habit. She made me promise that we will continue our battle and she also wrote a letter to PM Modi to share her personal tragedy," he said.

The Union health ministry postponed a decision to introduce new graphic health warnings that cover 85% of tobacco packages on both sides from April 1 based on the report of the parliamentary panel chaired by Gandhi, the MP from Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. Along with Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra is one of the major tobacco-growing states of India.

As part of the "Lives Bachao Size Badhao" public awareness campaign that pushed for larger and stronger pictorial warning on tobacco products, Tomar had collected 38,740 signatures through an online and offline petition for implementing the larger health warnings on tobacco packages. The petition was submitted to Union health minister JP Nadda last month.

During an appearance at the unveiling of the anti-tobacco campaign featuring her, Tomar had said she began using tobacco at the age of 22. Four years later, she developed a blister that was diagnosed as cancer, she said.

The wife of a driver, Tomar had to have an entire cheek and her jaw removed. She was treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

SBI may offer stock options, recruit specialists to overhaul debt-heavy sector - Business Today

State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, may offer employee share options, recruit specialists and promote faster - radical changes that promise to shake up a bloated, debt-heavy banking sector.

State-run banks are under pressure to improve profitability and slash bad loans, creating a more agile sector to help fuel economic growth. For the government and the banks, that has put the focus firmly on one issue: people.

"The primary problem we have to solve in the banking sector is of performance and talent," Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said recently, noting the search for talent was more important even than banks raising capital to meet tougher international regulatory rules.

SBI enjoys greater autonomy than some of its smaller rivals, but even straight-talking Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya is wrestling with basic problems ranging from poor pay to the fallout of a 1990s hiring freeze that left state banks with a dearth of senior managers. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has dubbed 2010-20 the "retirement decade".

Like her counterparts, Bhattacharya is grappling with an inflexible recruitment system where mid-career hires of outsiders are unheard of. The country's public sector banks hire largely through a nationwide exam system, bringing in entry-level staff who rise through the ranks over years.

Bhattacharya, whose bank employs more than 215,000 people, is also working with the government to circumvent a 2013 court ruling banning state-run banks from campus recruitment at the country's elite universities, using contracts to pull in much needed specialists, and even consultants for specific expertise.

"Areas like credit, risk, human resources, IT of course, economic research, analytics: wherever we have specialised areas, we can get people laterally on a contract basis," the SBI chief told Reuters in an interview.

This is a departure for banks that long offered only the option of a job for life, offsetting low cash pay with a web of benefits like housing and a generous pension.

"We've flagged to the government that at least a portion of our recruitment we should be able to do from campuses. The government has assured us they are working on this," Bhattacharya said.

This should come as a relief to many in the sector who saw the ban - supposed to enhance democratic hiring - as emblematic of banks' struggles to meet private sector productivity targets while shackled by state constraints.

"They want efficiency, but they are tying our hands," fretted one senior official at a large public sector bank.

TEST CASE

Nearly two dozen state-run lenders dominate the domestic banking sector with more than 70 per cent share of loan assets, but they account for only a third of profits. Bad loan ratios are on average more than double those at private sector counterparts, after years of profligate lending, weak due diligence and government pressure to fund often risky infrastructure projects.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has promised greater autonomy for individual banks like SBI, and is also due to allow state-run banks to specialise. Recruitment could test its political will - not least radical moves like the share option scheme being debated by SBI's board.

"It has not yet fully gone through. But we are working on it," Bhattacharya said, adding, "Definitely in the next 12 months you'll see a lot of changes. That much I am quite sure."

The Modi government in February for the first time allowed private sector applicants for the chief executive officer role at five big public sector banks. Pay, the government said, would be "flexible" - a major break for a country that runs state salaries on a schedule.

Requirements around the age limit and the years of board experience could limit public sector candidates who would normally be first pick for a role. But cash could limit the quality of private sector candidates.

SS Mundra, who headed Bank of Baroda - the country's number-two lender - before becoming a deputy governor at the Reserve Bank of India, earned about US $40,000 in 2013-14, a twentieth of ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar's pay. Jiang Jianqing, chairman of state-controlled Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, took home around US $326,000 in salary, bonus and benefits.

"Compensation levels are on different planets," said a top executive at a large private sector bank.

For younger applicants, security may still sell it - at least for now.

"I want a secure job, an officer's job," said Ganesh Khatua, a university graduate preparing to sit for the bank test.

"I know public sector banks cannot offer the same salary as the private sector for experienced people. The ideal situation would be to switch over (in time)," Khatua added.



(Reuters)

Navy Sails Into Barrage of Bombs in Dramatic Night Rescue of Indians in Yemen - NDTV

10 developments in this story:

1. Amid bombing and fighting all around the port city of Aden, the rescue took place in total darkness, so much that "one hand had to feel for another" said sources.


2. The evacuees, including 101 women and 28 children, are being taken to the town of Djibouti - across the Red Sea on the horn of Africa - where the Indian Air Force's C-17s are waiting to fly them home.


3. The navy has released images of the rescued Indians on the helicopter deck of its ship INS Sumitra at the port city of Aden in Yemen.


4. There are around 4,000 Indians in Yemen. Nearly 750 have been rescued in the middle of Saudi air strikes aimed at forcing Houthi rebels to hand power back to President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.


5. 400 were rescued on Monday with the help of a local craft as India waited for clearance to dock its ships in Aden. Soon after it got clearance, the INS Sumitra, which had been waiting outside the Aden harbor, sailed in.


6. Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh is in Djibouti to oversee the evacuation efforts. Five diplomats are also stationed there to help.


7. The evacuation, code named 'Operation Rahat', involves naval and air force craft, two passenger liners - Kavaratti and Coral - and two Air India aircraft.


8. The planes are waiting at Oman's Muscat, in absence of clearance to fly to Yemeni capital Sana'a.


9. On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. The Saudi king assured him of full assistance in the safe evacuation of the stranded Indians.


10. Many countries, including Pakistan and China, have rushed their officials, aircraft and ships to evacuate their nationals.

Story First Published: April 01, 2015 09:16 IST

Debroy committee suggests corporatization of Railways - Livemint

New Delhi: A committee headed by economist Bibek Debroy has recommended corporatization of the railway board and separation of roles of policy making, regulation and operations suggesting that the ministry of railways be only responsible for policymaking.

In its interim report that has been put on the ministry’s website for feedback, the committee suggested forming an independent regulator for economic regulation and a railway infrastructure company that will own the railway infrastructure, thus de-linking both from the railways.

Bibek Debroy is a permanent member of the NITI Aayog.

“There should be clear division of responsibility between the Government of India and railway organizations. The ministry will only be responsible for policy for the railway sector and the parliamentary accountability and will give autonomy to the IR (Indian railways),” said the committee in its report.

The railway ministry had in September 2014 constituted this eight-member committee for the mobilization of resources for major railway projects and restructuring of railways under then railway minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda , who felt that the railway board had become unwieldy because of overlapping roles of policy formulation and implementation.

The Debroy committee’s recommendations lay down the direction of the reforms required to turn around the national carrier.

Independent regulator

While the need for an independent regulator for determining tariffs has been raised before, the committee proposes the setting up of a Railway Regulatory Authority of India (RRAI) statutorily, with an independent budget. A shift of regulatory responsibility from the government to an independent regulator is required as the private sector will only come in if there is fair and open access to infrastructure, the committee said.

“The independent regulator shall ensure fair and open access and set access charges; establish tariffs in cases where there the market fails to discover a price; and adjudicate disputes between the track-owning organization and the train operators; and between competitors. This will make fair and open access a reality and open up both freight and passenger trains, in competition with Indian Railways,” said the report.

This is crucial for providing a level-playing field to the private sector which has been reluctant to enter this sector.

The committee makes two other recommendations: to progressively phase out the practice of a separate railway budget by merging with the general budget and to ensure increases in passenger fares are accompanied by better passenger services and amenities.

Corporatization of railway board and decentralization

The committee recommends that the railway board function like a corporate board for railways. The chairman of the railway board should be like a chief executive officer, it said, and the composition of the railway board should be changed to five members (traction and rolling stock, passenger and freight business, human resources and stores, finance and PPP, and infrastructure) and two independent experts.

Suggesting decentralization of decision-making powers it says the head of each zone (general manager) must be fully empowered to take all necessary decisions without reference to the railway board.

“Within the revenue budget financial outlay, the zonal railways should have full powers for expenditure; re-appropriation and sanctions, subject to it meeting its proportionate earning target,” the report said.

The report also underlines the need for railways to refine it accounting practices.

Private sector participation

The larger thrust of the recommendations is to make the railways attractive for private sector participation.

Apart from creation of an independent regulator and corportization of the railways, the Debroy committee recommends that the railways move away from non-core activities like production and construction, leaving room for private entry. It suggests separation of rail track from rolling stock with two independent organizations responsible for these.

“Private sector participation can be implemented in the form of service contracts, management contracts, leasing to the private sector, leasing from the private sector,concessions, joint ventures and private ownership,” the report said.

Importantly, the committee has suggested the formation of a railway infrastructure company in the form of a special purpose vehicle that will own the railway infrastructure be created.

“The creation of such a railway infrastructure company makes the market for operating trains contestable,” the report said.

Cooperative federalism, social cost accounting

The Debroy committee seeks a reallocation of the social cost and to reduce its burden on the cash-strapped transporter. It recommends a cleaner bearing of the subsidy burden for national projects on a cost-sharing basis between the union government and state governments on the one side and Indian Railways on the other.

It further recommends financial assistance from state governments to the railways for uneconomic branch lines and suburban passenger services or joint ventures with state governments for suburban rail, some of which are non-remunerative and of social value to the people.

“Suburban railways should ideally be hived off to state governments, via the joint venture route. Until this is done, the cost of low suburban fares, if these fares are not increased, must be borne by state governments on a 50/50 basis, with MoUs (memoranda of understanding) signed with state governments for this purpose,” the report said.

Alternative funding

Most measures for tapping alternative sources of funding are already under active consideration of the ministry of railways.

Measures suggested include tapping multilateral funding agencies, take out financing by long-term funds, a long-term bullet bond or a zero-coupon bond and joint ventures with state governments for suburban rail. It also suggests leveraging railways’ assets to raise funds such as monetization of land.

The committee proposes to set up an investment advisory committee that will include experts, investment bankers and representatives of Sebi, RBI, IDFC and other institutions.

Malaysia denies pardon for jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim - Hindustan Times

Malaysia has rejected a petition seeking a royal pardon for jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is serving a five-year prison term for sodomy, court officials and his lawyers said on Wednesday.

The petition was filed by Anwar's family in February after his sentence was upheld by Malaysia's highest court. A pardons board said Anwar's sentence would be maintained but gave no explanation for the decision.

"We would definitely be appealing on the leave rejection, and we will be asking for further information as to what is going on," said Latheefa Koya, one of Anwar's lawyers.

Anwar, who once posed the greatest threat to Malaysia's long-ruling coalition, was found guilty of sodomising a former aide, a charge that he said was a politically motivated attempt to end his career.

He was head of a three-party opposition alliance that made stunning gains in the 2013 election, which for the first time raised the prospect of a genuine challenge to the coalition that has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957.

Anwar was the ruling party's rising star in the 1990s until he fell out with then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. His family and political party have voiced concern about his health and conditions in prison since his sentence was upheld.

His last legal option is to file a judicial review with the Federal Court. His lawyers said no decision had been made yet on such an application.

The rejection of the royal pardon came following a series of rallies organised by Anwar's People's Justice Party (PJP) after his imprisonment, although turnout was low at the latest rally last week.

Anwar's daughter, PJP member of parliament Nurul Izzah, was caught up in a recent crackdown by the government and police under Malaysia's Sedition Act. She was held in detention for one night for comments made in parliament that were deemed "contemptuous" of Malaysia's judiciary.

Navy Sails Into Barrage of Bombs in Dramatic Night Rescue of Indians in Yemen - NDTV

The Indian Navy sailed into a barrage of bombs in the dead of the night on Tuesday to evacuate nearly 350 Indians from war-torn Yemen after days of Saudi-led air strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

Let private players run trains, says Debroy panel - Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Bibek Debroy-headed panel set up to suggest ways to restructure railways has recommended drastic reforms such as allowing private players to run passenger as well as freight trains, producing coaches, wagons and locomotives and switching over to commercial accounting of railway functions.

The high-powered panel has also asked the national transporter to withdraw from welfare services such as running schools and hospitals and managing Railway Protection Force (RPF).

The committee suggested setting up of a government SPV (with a possibility of disinvesting in the future) to own railway infrastructure, and delink it from the railways. It suggested an Indian Railway Manufacturing Company to replace all existing production units and another holding company for railway stations.

It also suggested setting up a regulator - with statutory backing and independent of the railway ministry as well as the railway board - for fixing tariff, determining cost of service, managing track access, setting technical standards among other things, after private players were allowed to run freight and passenger trains. The panel said it could be called the Railway Regulator Authority of India (RRAI).

READ ALSO: From April 1, book your train tickets 4 months in advance

Railways limits one ticket per login in rush hour

The panel said the rail ministry should only determine policy and not indulge in day-to-day operations of the railways. The ministry should set policy for open access and the framework for the Railway Infrastructure Company, determine the policy for raising resources for social cost obligations, extending the railway network and offering on-budget and targeted subsidies to poor passengers who need them.

It also talked of one ministry of transport in the future.

The panel favoured detaching Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation from railways which was brought under it during the tenure of Mamata Banerjee as rail minister.

"The core function of Indian Railways should be the business of running trains," the panel said, suggesting pruning of group C and D staff as it found a shortage of personnel in the core, skilled operations of running trains.

The panel urged delinking of RPF from the railways, and handing over railway schools to Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan and pruning of railway medical services.

The panel suggested that for empowering zonal railways and making them autonomous, railway board should have no role to play in their day to day functioning while policy was determined by the rail ministry.

It said railway board must become like a corporate board for railways. The chairman should be like a CEO. He/she should not be the first among equals and should, therefore, have the power of final decision-making and veto (in case of divided view). The composition of the board should have member (traction and rolling stock), member (passenger and freight business), member (HR and stores), member (finance and PPP), member (infrastructure) and two outside, independent experts.

An individual should be appointed as chairman or member only if he/she possesses at least three years of service left. This clause should also apply to appointment as general manager.

Noting that the present railway board was saddled with excess manpower with a strength of 1,107 officers, the panel said it was not convinced about the need for a separate Railway Board Secretariat Services (RBSS) or the Railway Board Clerical Services (RBCS) and recommended that these be merged with the Central Secretarial Services.

In the revamped board, below the members, the committee recommended no more than a three-level hierarchy (additional members/advisors, SAG officers and SG/JAG officers).

The interim report said, "This committee will use the word liberalization and not the terms privatization and deregulation, as both of these two terms are apt to be misunderstood."

It clarified that the committee did not recommend privatization of railways, except in very specific non-core segments.

http://ift.tt/1CJjdtZ panel,Let private players run trains,Indian Railways

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SC refuses quota for Jat students in current session - Times of India

NEW DELHI: Jat students, who have appeared in various entrance examinations under OBC category and are waiting for the results will not get reservation benefit, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday.

The court clarified that no "vested interest" was created in favour of students during the last one year when OBC reservation for Jats was in force and they could not seek relief after it has struck down the Centre's policy to bring Jats under OBC umbrella.

A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Rohinton F Nariman said the court had earlier made it clear that all issues relating to Jat reservation would be subject to the final outcome of court proceedings and the students could not claim relief after its verdict.

The bench, which had on March 17 scrapped the Centre's controversial decision to grant Jat community reservation in jobs and educational institutions, dismissed a petition filed by a group of Jat medical students requesting the court to allow them to get benefit of reservation for admission in MD courses.

"No relief can be granted in any matter," the bench said while dismissing the plea.

The order has cleared the cloud of uncertainty on the status of other students who had appeared for entrance exams under OBC category and are awaiting results. UPSC has also delayed results of the mains examination for the coveted civil services after the court scrapped Jat reservation.

The Centre had on March 4 last year granted OBC status to Jat community of Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Bharatpur and Dholpur districts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The government took the decision despite National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) advising against grant of OBC status for Jats. The commission had said the community was not socially and educationally backward to be entitled for a share in 27% OBC quota in jobs and admission to educational institutions.

The UPA government's decision to grant OBC status to Jat community on the eve of general elections had drawn strong reaction from other backward class communities who viewed the grant of benefit to the new entrant as vote bank politics. But the NDA government had defended the UPA government's decision in the Supreme Court.

http://ift.tt/1uVrmZY refuses quota for Jat students,Jat Quota

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Too close for comfort - NewsHub.org

Indians stranded at a hotel in Sana’a are feeling cornered as the strife in Yemen is coming closer. They are getting increasingly anxious about their evacuation as the air strikes have become more frequent, and are occurring during daylight, and are much nearer to where they stay.

Till Sunday, air strikes had been taking place in Sana’a after dusk and continuing till dawn. Indians are now hoping that the Indian government will act soon to help them leave the strife-ridden country. What is worrying is that other than the air strikes, there could be combat on ground too. Ravi Kumar T., an engineer from Bengaluru, one among 150 Indians stranded at the hotel, said that while there were bombings before dusk on Monday, any moment ground forces could attack from Saudi Arabia.

He said, “After that, it will be very difficult to escape.” With no newspapers and no power most of the time, they do not know how to sift information from rumour. While an announcement was made last Friday that a ship had set out, there was no update on the vessel. Most disappointing to them was hearing that a plane had come to Sana’a but had to return to Muscat, Oman, as it was not allowed to land in Sana’a airport. “Indians went back from the airport,” he said. Another businessman from Bhatkal, Karnataka, did not respond to phone calls.

Also read: Knee strain sidelines Mitchell Starc for Indian Premier League start

Source: thehindu.com

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Gujarat Assembly clears anti-terror Bill in third attempt - The Indian Express

The Gujarat Assembly on Tuesday passed a stringent anti-terror Bill retaining controversial provisions that had twice earlier led to a previous such Bill being rejected by the President.

The Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Bill 2015 makes only minor changes in the controversial Gujarat Control of Organised Crime (GUJCOC) Bill, including adding the word ‘terrorism’ in the name. However, it retains clauses such as permitting admissibility of evidence collected through interception of mobile calls of an accused or through confessions made before an investigating officer, in a court of law.

The Gujarat government, at the time led by Narendra Modi, first introduced the GUJCOC Bill in 2003, with the same clauses, including increasing the period to file chargesheet from 90 to 180 days, and laying down strict conditions for bail to be given to the accused. The Bill was rejected by then President A P J Abdul Kalam in 2004, demanding that the clause relating to interception of communication be removed. The NDA was in power at the time.

The state Assembly passed the GUJCOC Bill again twice after that, each time under Modi as CM. In 2008, it was without the clause objected to by Kalam. But then President Pratibha Patil also refused to clear the Bill, seeking more changes, including deletion of the provision allowing confessions before a police officer as evidence in court. The Centre had a UPA government then.

The Gujarat government, however, ignored Patil’s suggestions and cleared the Bill for the third time in 2009. This Bill is still pending clearance by the President.

The GCTOC Bill, while reintroducing the provision allowing interception of communication and retaining the one relating to confessions made before a police officer, only proposes that the officer concerned be of the rank of superintendent of police and above.

Minister of State for Home Rajnikant Patel, who tabled the GCTOC Bill, argued that the legislation was required for the safety and security of the residents of Gujarat, which shares its border with Pakistan. “Pakistan cannot win the war against India. We all know about terrorist activities in Pakistan. To protect every single citizen from the bullet of terrorists, we need to strengthen the law,” Patel said.

The Congress, which objected to the Bill, eventually abstained from voting on it.

While Gujarat has been relatively peaceful the past 10 years, the Bill’s ‘Statement of Objects of Reasons’ says, “It is noticed that organised criminal syndicates make common cause with terrorist gangs and foster macro terrorism, which extends beyond national boundaries. There is a reason to believe that organised criminal syndicates are operating in the state and… there is immediate need to curb their activities.”

Congress Abdasa MLA Shaktisinh Gohil objected that clauses in the Bill contradicted Central laws that do not allow an investigating agency to take confession and use it as evidence. “Besides, when the Union Act has fixed chargesheet filing period as 90 days, where is the need for continued…

Malaysia rejects jailed opposition leader's petition for royal pardon - KDAL

Tuesday, March 31, 2015 8:57 p.m. CDT

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia has rejected a petition seeking a royal pardon for jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is serving a five-year prison term for sodomy, court officials and his lawyers said on Wednesday.

The petition was filed by Anwar's family in February after his sentence was upheld by Malaysia's highest court. A pardons board said Anwar's sentence would be maintained but gave no explanation for the decision.

"We would definitely be appealing on the leave rejection, and we will be asking for further information as to what is going on," said Latheefa Koya, one of Anwar's lawyers.

Anwar, who once posed the greatest threat to Malaysia's long-ruling coalition, was found guilty of sodomizing a former aide, a charge that he said was a politically motivated attempt to end his career.

He was head of a three-party opposition alliance that made stunning gains in the 2013 election, which for the first time raised the prospect of a genuine challenge to the coalition that has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957.

Anwar was the ruling party's rising star in the 1990s until he fell out with then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. His family and political party have voiced concern about his health and conditions in prison since his sentence was upheld.

His last legal option is to file a judicial review with the Federal Court. His lawyers said no decision had been made yet on such an application.

The rejection of the royal pardon came after a series of rallies organized by Anwar's People's Justice Party (PJP) after his imprisonment, although turnout was low at the latest rally last week.

Anwar's daughter, PJP member of parliament Nurul Izzah, was caught up in a recent crackdown by the government and police under Malaysia's Sedition Act. She was held in detention for one night for comments made in parliament that were deemed "contemptuous" of Malaysia's judiciary.

(Reporting By Trinna Leong; Writing By Al-Zaquan Amer Hamzah; Editing by Paul Tait)

Gujarat state assembly okays anti-terror law; Congress stages walkout - Economic Times

GANDHINAGAR: The state assembly on Tuesday passed the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime ( GCTOC) Bill, 2015, amid a walkout by the opposition Congress, a version of the earlier controversial bill that had not received Presidential nod and seeks to provide more powers to the state police.

If the bill gets presidential ascent and becomes law, it will empower the state police to keep anyone behind the bars for 180 days without filing charge sheet, admit "interception of wire, electronic or oral communications" as evidence in special courts, and most significantly shift the onus of proving innocence on the accused.

The bill was passed on the last day of the current session. The state government had passed a similar bill back in 2004 that was fashioned on the lines of stringent MCOCA of Maharashtra.

However, the bill failed to get the presidential ascent despite at least three attempts by the Gujarat government since then.

Undaunted, the state government rechristened the bill, juxtaposing terrorism with organised crime and retaining the controversial provisions on interceptions of the electronic communications. "It is also noticed that the organised criminal syndicates make extensive use of wire and oral communications in their criminal activities," says the bill.

Copyright © 2015 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.

Nearly 350 Indians evacuated from Yemen - Business Standard

Nearly 350 Indians were evacuated from Yemen's southern port city of Aden late on Tuesday, sources said.

Those evacuated included, 220 men, 101 women and 28 children. They were taken to the Indian Navy ship INS Sumitra.

Defence ministry sources said that the ship left Yemen late on Tuesday night.

The evacuated people will now be taken to Djibouti, a country neighbouring Yemen, and will be brought to India by air.

An official said that the ship "sailed into a barrage of bombs" to evacuate Indians

stranded there.

Under an operation named "Op Raahat", two warships -- destroyer INS Mumbai and stealth frigate INS Tarkash -- are on their way to Djibouti, a country located on the Horn of Africa in the Gulf of Aden.

The two warships and two passenger liners Kavaratti and Corals, which left from Kochi on Monday, will join course in the Arabian Sea and move as a composite group to Djibouti.

According to the external affairs ministry, nearly 4,000 Indians are stranded in Yemen.

SC notice to Advani, others on plea challenging dropping of charge - Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to L K Advani and 20 others, including Murli Manohar Joshi and Union minister Uma Bharati, on a fresh plea seeking restoration of conspiracy charges in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

Haji Mahboob Ahmed, a resident of Ayodhya who was examined as a witness in the case against Advani and others, filed the fresh plea. Ahmed is also a party to the original civil suit filed in the district court.

The Allahabad high court had on May 20, 2010 discharged Advani and the others of conspiracy charges. CBI filed an appeal on February 9, 2011, after a delay of eight months which it attributed to the "cautious approach" of those concerned with filing the appeal.

Appearing for Ahmed, senior advocate Kapil Sibal's request for issuance of notice to the respondents, including Advani and 20 others as well as CBI, was accepted by a bench of Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra though the appeal (Ahmed's) was filed after a delay of 1,680 days (since 2010 verdict). This petition, if heard by the court after condoning the delay, would keep the case alive politically though the UPA government did not appear to take mileage out of the case when it was in power for 10 years at the Centre.

Additional solicitor general Neeraj Kishan Kaul had earlier informed the bench that the CBI had filed an affidavit explaining the delay in filing appeal against the Allahabad HC judgment in April 2013 and the agency had nothing more to add. The CBI had told the SC on April 16, 2013 that everyone concerned with filing of the appeal against Allahabad HC 2010 judgment had adopted a "cautious approach".

The limitation period for filing the appeal expired on August 29, 2010 but CBI had moved the SC only on February 9, 2011, after a delay of eight months and the court had asked the agency to explain the delay as the counsel for the accused sought dismissal of the appeal on ground of huge delay.

Narrating the movement of files relating to filing of the appeal, the CBI had said, "The delay has been occasioned because everyone associated with the matter was cautious, keeping in mind the sensitivity involved in the matter and wanted to exercise due diligence in the matter." The counsel for the accused had sought dismissal of the CBI's appeal on the ground of delay.

The bench of Justices Dattu and Mishra told all the counsel that it would hear the matter both on the grounds of delay and on merit.

However, the case got a new twist with Ahmed's petition. Filed through advocates M R Shamshad and Farrukh Rasheed, the plea said, "The HC failed to appreciate the scope and nature of Section 120B of IPC (conspiracy). A reading of the section shows that the offence of criminal conspiracy is a separate offence by itself. In the present case, the charge of Section 120B IPC runs like a common thread in respect of each and every offence and in relation to each and every accused person.

"The HC in its February 12, 2001 order had ratified the consolidated charge-sheet which included the offence under Section 120B IPC against the eight accused persons in crime No.198/92 (the FIR against Advani and others) as well as other accused persons. Therefore, the finding of the HC in the May 20, 2013 judgment was erroneous."

In the next hearing, the court will hear the counsel for the accused and decide whether the eight-month delay on part of CBI and five years on part of Ahmed could be condoned and if conspiracy charge against the accused be restored.

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Cabinet okays re-promulgation of land ordinance - Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet on Tuesday cleared re-promulgation of the ordinance on land acquisition, moving in time to ensure that the new law does not lapse in the wake of lack of parliamentary approval.

The new ordinance will incorporate the nine amendments made in the land acquisition bill in Lok Sabha last month.

As per procedure, the Cabinet's recommendation will now go to the President for reissuing of ordinance.

The Centre is faced with a deadline of April 5 when the ordinance will lapse. Rajya Sabha was prorogued on Saturday to pave the way for the ordinance to be reissued since an ordinance cannot be issued when both Houses are in session. Parliament was convened in February.

The land law is stuck in a bitter confrontation between the government and the opposition led by Congress which also controls Rajya Sabha.

The Centre will make another attempt to get it past the upper House when Parliament reconvenes for the second leg of the budget session on April 20.

All eyes are on the government's efforts to win over some of the parties opposed to the new land bill since it is the only way to surmount the Rajya Sabha hurdle in its enactment.

Congress has made it plain that it would not relent its opposition, evident in its decision to hold a farmers' rally in the capital on the eve of resumption of Parliament to pile pressure on the government.

http://ift.tt/1qDCmFA ordinance,Cabinet okays re-promulgation of land ordinance

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Kannada will be medium of instruction till class 5 - Times of India

BENGALURU: The Karnataka assembly on Tuesday passed a bill to make Kannada the medium of instruction in all government and aided schools up to class 5. It also voted another piece of legislation to ensure students are taught Kannada as a subject from classes 1 to 10.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, was amended and tabled in the house as the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2015. The original act facilitates free and compulsory primary education in a child's mother tongue or Kannada. The amended legislation replaces the clause that mandates the government to provide primary education "as far as possible in mother tongue or Kannada"; it clarifies the medium of instruction will be Kannada.

The assembly also passed the Kannada Language Learning Bill, 2015, to ensure that all students in classes 1 to 10 are taught Kannada as a compulsory language in a phased manner from 2015-16. An officer not below the rank of deputy director of public instruction will ensure the implementation of the new language learning policy.

The bill making Kannada a compulsory subject covers CBSE, ICSE and international schools, too. Replying to the debate, chief minister Siddaramaiah said he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested him to bring a Constitution amendment that would enable the states to impart education in their respective languages. This is because sometimes laws enacted by the states do not stand scrutiny in courts.

"I am ready to lead a delegation of all CMs. I am going to raise the issue in the forthcoming National Development Council meeting,'' Siddaramaiah said. Opposition leader Jagadish Shettar said even if the assembly passes the bill, it will require the President's assent.

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Couple braves Yemen battle for son's wedding - Times of India

SALEM: Vignesh, 27, who is to get married on May 20, is relieved that his parents, who spent 35 years working in Yemen, have reached Salem safely at 4pm on Tuesday, amidst airstrikes conducted in Sanaa by a Saudi Arabia led coalition against Shia Houthis, a group of guerrilla fighters who have taken over key parts of Yemen, even ousting their president. His brother Vivek, 24, a mechatronics engineer, said that reuniting with his parents was the best graduation present.

B N Meenakshisundaram, 58, was a senior logistics manager in a private firm in Yemen while his wife Geetha, 54, was the corporate banking officer in a private bank.

"I lived in Yemen for several years and saw the country ravaged by internal war. However, the continuous air strikes which began a week ago, was something I'd never seen before. We spend every passing minute fearing for our safety," said Meenakshisundaram.

Close to 7,000 Indians, including 3000 nurses are stranded in the country. "Most people working in hospitals and private organisations have handed over their passports and educational certificates to their employers. Thus, it would be very difficult for them to return to India," he added.

It is learnt that Yemen's president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his fellow Sunni loyalists have fled. "We believe that Hadi escaped Aden in a boat. Iran has been supporting the Shia Houthi rebels. It's a fight for territory between Iran and Saudi Arabia in the region," Meenakshisundaram said. Due to the continuous air strikes, Gulf Air and Qatar Airways have stopped their operations to Yemen from March 24.

Talking about their return journey, Geetha said that airlines have hiked their fares, taking advantage of the situation. "Usually, a trip to India costs around $1000 but we spent more than $4000 for this trip," she said. The officials at the Indian embassy did not help us in any way until we reached Mumbai on Tuesday morning. "We started our journey from Sanaa on Saturday afternoon. We reached Istanbul on Sunday. Since we did not have the relevant visas to visit these countries, our return journey was very difficult. When we approached the Indian embassy for visas, the officials never helped us. Since Saturday, we have not had a proper meal," she said.

She also requested the Indian government to help stranded Indians to reach their home towns safely at the earliest.

When contacted by TOI, an official at the Indian embassy in Yemen said that the situation in the country was deteriorating very quickly. "We are doing our best to send Indians by air and sea," said an official.

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Gujarat anti-terror law unlikely to face central hurdle - Times of India

NEW DELHI: Even as the Centre said it would examine the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organized Crime Bill as and when the state sends it for presidential assent, senior home ministry officials indicated that its provisions being at variance with the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) should not be a stumbling block to its clearance.

"There is no central law at present to deal with organized crime. So there is no question of its being in conflict with a central legislation on the same subject, in violation of Article 254 of the Constitution. In any case, the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) already exists in the statute and was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2010 as constitutionally valid, which also observed that the scope and ambit of MCOCA was different from that of UAPA," a senior home ministry official said on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court had, while dismissing an appeal against a Mumbai HC order upholding constitutionality of MCOCA, said that MCOCA "principally deals with prevention and control of criminal activity by organised crime syndicate or gang within India and its purpose is to curb a wide range of criminal activities indulged in by organised syndicate or gang".

"The aim of UAPA, on the other hand, is to deal with terrorist and certain unlawful activities, which are committed with the intent to threaten the unity, integrity, security or sovereignty of India or with the intent to strike terror in the people," it had said.

The home ministry official said, "At most, a point to be raised while examining the proposed Gujarat law is how the circumstances have changed since the last two Presidents - A P J Abdul Kalam in 2004 and Pratibha Patil in 2009 - returned the bill." The reply to this, the officer added, was that there was now a new government at the Centre, with a tougher approach on security matters.

The bill passed by the Gujarat assembly on Tuesday retains controversial provisions including admissibility of evidence collected through telephonic interception and confessions made before a police officer. It also provides for extended detention up to 180 days before a charge-sheet is filed against the accused.

READ ALSO: President returned it thrice, but Gujarat passes MCOCA-like bill

The Gujarat government, in the 'statement of objects and reasons' on the bill, justified the need for a tough law against organized crime in view of the inadequate legal framework like penal and procedural laws and adjudicatory system, to fight organized crime.

Justifying the provision of telephonic interceptions, it said it was the need of the hour as organized criminal syndicates made extensive use of "wire and oral communication".

Former President A P J Abdul Kalam had in 2004 objected to Section 14 of GUJCOC (admissibility of telephonic interception as evidence) and returned the bill to the state government suggesting that the clause be dropped. The bill was sent yet again for clearance during Patil's tenure as president, but she too sent it back in 2009, seeking three amendments to bring it in conformity with UAPA.

She proposed deletion of a provision relating to confessions to a police officer; allowing the court discretionary power to give bail after hearing the public prosecutor; and another relating to powers of a special court to extend the period of detention from 90 to 180 days. "It should be amended in such a way as not to vest discretion entirely with the special court," the then home minister P Chidambaram had told reporters after the Cabinet advised Patil to return the bill.

http://ift.tt/W4ItcG passes MCOCA-like bill,Gujarat anti-terror law

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Babri ghost returns to haunt Advani - Calcutta Telegraph

New Delhi, March 31: The Supreme Court has asked BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi to say why the "criminal conspiracy" charge against them in the Babri Masjid demolition case should not be reinstated, on an appeal by an Ayodhya resident.

Haji Mehboob Ahmed, 72, a petitioner in the title suit, has filed the appeal against the 2010 Allahabad High Court order that upheld a 2001 trial court order dropping the conspiracy charge against Advani and 19 others.

A bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice Arun Misra issued notices to all the accused, who are also respondents in a similar appeal filed by the CBI in February 2013 against the May 2010 high court order.

Justice Dattu told senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for Ahmed, that he would have to convince the court why his appeal has been filed so late.

Ahmed told The Telegraph from Ayodhya that he had approached the Supreme Court because he was afraid the case would be diluted now that the BJP was in power at the Centre. (See chart)

During the brief hearing, additional solicitor-general Neeraj Kishan Kaul sought and was granted three weeks' time to argue on the merits of the CBI appeal against the BJP leaders.

When the appeal against the discharge of Advani and the others - Union minister Uma Bharti and Rajasthan governor Kalyan Singh among them - was filed in 2013, the UPA was in power at the Centre. Now, when the CBI is to justify that appeal, it is under a BJP government.

There are two sets of cases - one against Advani and others who were on the dais at Ram Katha Kunj in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, when the Babri mosque was demolished, and another against lakhs of unknown karsevaks who were in and around the disputed structure and were actually involved in the demolition.

The CBI had chargesheeted Advani and 19 others under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between classes), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505 (false statements, rumours etc. circulated with the intent to cause mutiny or disturb public peace) of the Indian Penal Code.

It had subsequently invoked the charge under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy), which was quashed by the special CBI court.

Upholding the special court's order, the high court had said the CBI at no point of time, either during the trial at Rae Bareli or in its revision petition, had ever stated that there was an offence of criminal conspiracy against the senior BJP leaders.

Besides Advani, Joshi, Uma Bharti and Singh, the others against whom the charge was dropped included Satish Pradhan, C.R. Bansal, Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Sadhvi Ritambhara, V.H. Dalmia, Mahant Avaidhynath, R.V. Vedanti, Param Hans Ram Chandra Das, Jagdish Muni Maharaj, B.L. Sharma, Nritya Gopal Das, Dharam Das, Satish Nagar and Moreshwar Save.

Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray's name was removed from the list of accused persons after his death.

Probe begins in Emirates, Etihad near-miss incident - The Indian Express

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has initiated an inquiry into Sunday’s near-miss incident involving two aircraft of Emirates and Etihad Airways over Mumbai airspace.

An Emirates and an Etihad Airways aircraft, flying in opposite directions, came in close proximity of each other over the Indian Ocean. This sparked off a collision alert warning in the two cockpits. The Emirates flight EK-706 was flying to Dubai from Seychelles, while Etihad flight EY-622 was enroute to Seychelles from Abu Dhabi.

Emirates said that “at no point was the aircraft, passengers or crew at risk”.

“All Emirates aircraft are equipped with onboard instrumentation so that crew are alerted in a timely manner of all surrounding traffic. The crew informed the authorities of the incident and later filed an Air Safety Report, which will be forwarded to Mumbai Air Traffic Control,” it said in a statement.

A spokesperson at Etihad Airways said, “Etihad Airways confirms that it is investigating the reported incident.”

India begins evacuating citizens - The Hindu

Operation Raahat launched; INS Sumitra enters Aden

After a delay in beginning the evacuation of Indians stranded in Yemen owing to intensified fighting in Aden, India on Tuesday night received permission to dock its vessel at the port of Aden to evacuate nearly 400 stranded Indians to Djibouti.

Since reports last came in, passengers were boarding a commercial liner at Aden which will reach Djibouti on Wednesday morning. Naval Ship INS Sumitra which was diverted from anti-piracy duty in the Gulf of Aden and anchored just off the Yemen coast has entered Aden to assist the evacuation operation that has been officially named “Operation Raahat”. There has been increased urgency for evacuation with mounting fears of a ground invasion by Saudi-led forces into Yemen to fight back the Houthi rebels in control.

Two more ships, the destroyer INS Mumbai and the frigate INS Tarkash have set sail from India, and would reach the Yemen coast by April 2, and are equipped to deal with several contingencies, officials said. Efforts to bring the Indians, mostly stranded in Sana’a and Aden, to safety are expected to be ramped up when Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs Gen. (Retd) V.K. Singh reaches neighbouring Djibouti on Wednesday. “We are in touch with the various (government and rebel) groups in Yemen. The problem is road travel is curtailed because they are fighting,” he told The Hindu. The other problem was that the Saudi forces were not extending bigger airflight windows to allow the evacuation flights to operate from Sana’a.

Officials say the Op. Raahat plan is to deploy all naval ships and four aircraft, including two IAF C-17 Globemasters and two Air India flights stationed in Muscat all together to launch a “composite” evacuation effort.

However, the relatives of Indians in Yemen say the government should have acted before the Saudi air campaign against rebels began on March 26.

“I would blame the government for its tardy response to the crisis,” said Bengaluru-based Shiva Kumar, whose brother Ravi Kumar had flown to Sana’a on March 12 on business when fighting broke out. Speaking over the telephone to The Hindu, he said that in addition to the approximately 4,000 Indian labourers, businessmen and nurses registered with the Indian embassy, there are “at least 5,000” illegal workers as well, who need to be evacuated.

Officials said they were aware of the difficulties being faced by Indians who had chosen to remain in Yemen.

Who are fighting whom?

• › Houthis:
  
  The rebel group controls nine of 21 provinces now


• › Saudi-led coalition:
  
  Here are some of those who are participating and what they are deploying:
  
  Saudi Arabia: 100 fighter jets, 150,000 soldiers and some naval units
  
  UAE: 30 fighter jets
  
  Bahrain: 15 fighter jets
  
  Kuwait: 15 fighter jets
  
  Qatar:10 fighter jets
  
  Jordan:6 fighter jets
  
  Sudan:3 fighter jets
  
  Egypt: naval and air forces involved.


• › Yemeni security forces:
  
  The military is now split as units that support Mr. Hadi, units that support the Houthis, and units that support a still-influential Saleh, who is in the Houthi camp for now


• › Popular Resistance Committees:
  
  Militia loyal to Hadi in his stronghold of south Yemen.


• › AQAP: Mr. Hadi and Houthis are fighting al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has staged several attacks in the country and is strong in the south. Active since 2009. AQAP has taken advantage of the power struggle.


• › IS: A new group of militants inspired by the Islamic State group has claimed major attacks, including suicide bombings which killed at least 142 people at Shia mosques in Sana’a.


• › U.S.: CIA drones have continued to target top AQAP leaders, but the campaign has suffered from Mr. Hadi’s absence. Last week, U.S. military advisers were withdrawn from a southern base as al-Qaeda militants seized a nearby city.

Who are the Houthis?

The Houthis are followers of the Shia Zaidi sect, the faith of around a third of Yemen’s population. Officially known as Ansarallah (the partisans of God), the group began as a movement preaching tolerance and peace in the Zaidi stronghold of North Yemen in the early 1990s.

After some protests pitted it against the government, the group launched an insurgency in 2004 against the then ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh that lasted till 2010. Their opponents view them as a proxy of Shia Iran. The group is hostile to the United States but has also vowed to eradicate al-Qaeda. They participated in the 2011 Arab Spring inspired revolution in Yemen that replaced Saleh with Abdrahbu Mansour Hadi.

Key dates to the Yemen conflict

• › September 21, 2014: Houthi rebels seize government and military sites in Sana’a after several days of fighting that killed more than 270 people. Rival groups sign a U.N.-brokered peace deal stipulating a Houthi withdrawal from the capital and formation of a new government.


• › October 9, 2014: Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has declared war on the Houthis, claims an attack in Sana’a in which 47 are killed.


• › October 14, 2014: The Houthis seize the Red Sea port of Hodeida, 230 km west of Sana’a, then move toward the centre without opposition from government forces but face fierce resistance from AQAP and its tribal allies.


• › January 20, 2015: Houthis attack Mr. Hadi’s residence and seize the presidential palace, and the President and Prime Minister resign two days later.


• › February 6, 2015: The rebels announce they have dissolved Parliament and installed a presidential council to run the country. The United States and Gulf monarchies accuse Iran of backing the Houthis. In the south and southeast, authorities reject what they brand a coup attempt.


• › February 21, 2015: Mr. Hadi flees south to Aden after escaping from weeks under house arrest and urges the international community to “reject the coup,” rescinding his resignation and subsequently declaring Aden the temporary capital.


• › March 19, 2015: Clashes in which at least 11 are killed force the closure of the international airport in Aden and Mr. Hadi is moved to a more secure location after an air raid on the presidential palace there.


• › March 22, 2015: The Houthis advance southwards, seizing the airport and a nearby military base in Taez, north of Aden and a strategic entry point to Mr. Hadi’s stronghold. Houthi leader Abdelmalek al-Houthi says the rebels have moved south to combat Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.


• › March 25, 2015: Mr. Hadi is again moved as rebel forces bear down on Aden, capturing a major airbase nearby just days after U.S. military personnel were evacuated from it.

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Gujarat anti-terror law unlikely to face central hurdle - Times of India

NEW DELHI: Even as the Centre said it would examine the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organized Crime Bill as and when the state sends it for presidential assent, senior home ministry officials indicated that its provisions being at variance with the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) should not be a stumbling block to its clearance.

"There is no central law at present to deal with organized crime. So there is no question of its being in conflict with a central legislation on the same subject, in violation of Article 254 of the Constitution. In any case, the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) already exists in the statute and was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2010 as constitutionally valid, which also observed that the scope and ambit of MCOCA was different from that of UAPA," a senior home ministry official said on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court had, while dismissing an appeal against a Mumbai HC order upholding constitutionality of MCOCA, said that MCOCA "principally deals with prevention and control of criminal activity by organised crime syndicate or gang within India and its purpose is to curb a wide range of criminal activities indulged in by organised syndicate or gang".

"The aim of UAPA, on the other hand, is to deal with terrorist and certain unlawful activities, which are committed with the intent to threaten the unity, integrity, security or sovereignty of India or with the intent to strike terror in the people," it had said.

The home ministry official said, "At most, a point to be raised while examining the proposed Gujarat law is how the circumstances have changed since the last two Presidents - A P J Abdul Kalam in 2004 and Pratibha Patil in 2009 - returned the bill." The reply to this, the officer added, was that there was now a new government at the Centre, with a tougher approach on security matters.

The bill passed by the Gujarat assembly on Tuesday retains controversial provisions including admissibility of evidence collected through telephonic interception and confessions made before a police officer. It also provides for extended detention up to 180 days before a charge-sheet is filed against the accused.

READ ALSO: President returned it thrice, but Gujarat passes MCOCA-like bill

The Gujarat government, in the 'statement of objects and reasons' on the bill, justified the need for a tough law against organized crime in view of the inadequate legal framework like penal and procedural laws and adjudicatory system, to fight organized crime.

Justifying the provision of telephonic interceptions, it said it was the need of the hour as organized criminal syndicates made extensive use of "wire and oral communication".

Former President A P J Abdul Kalam had in 2004 objected to Section 14 of GUJCOC (admissibility of telephonic interception as evidence) and returned the bill to the state government suggesting that the clause be dropped. The bill was sent yet again for clearance during Patil's tenure as president, but she too sent it back in 2009, seeking three amendments to bring it in conformity with UAPA.

She proposed deletion of a provision relating to confessions to a police officer; allowing the court discretionary power to give bail after hearing the public prosecutor; and another relating to powers of a special court to extend the period of detention from 90 to 180 days. "It should be amended in such a way as not to vest discretion entirely with the special court," the then home minister P Chidambaram had told reporters after the Cabinet advised Patil to return the bill.

http://ift.tt/W4ItcG passes MCOCA-like bill,Gujarat anti-terror law

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SC notice to Advani, Joshi in Babri demolition case - Deccan Herald

NEW DELHI: April 1 , 2015: DHNS

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to BJP leaders L K Advani, M M Joshi and others on a plea seeking restoration of criminal conspiracy charges against them in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case.


A bench of Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra sought response from the accused leaders including Union Minister Uma Bharti, Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh and the CBI within four weeks on an application filed by Haji Mehboob, a petitioner in the title suit representing the Muslim community in the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi case.

Haji Mehboob, a petitioner in the title suit representing the Muslim community in the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi case, contended that in view of the changed political scenario and the accused occupying high positions, the CBI may not seriously pursue the case.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate M R Shamshad represented Mehboob. They urged the bench to allow him to intervene in the case. The bench subsequently admitted the petition and fixed it for hearing after four weeks.

During a brief hearing, Additional Solicitor General N K Kaul submitted that the CBI would require some time to prepare its documents to show why the delay occurred in challenging the May 2010 order of the Allahabad High Court, which led to criminal conspiracy charges against the politicians being dropped.

Allowing a plea by the CBI, the bench said the agency has to satisfy the court on the question of delay and maintainability of its plea.

“Though the CBI is technically under the office of prime minister, for all practical purposes, the home minister is also an important authority. Due to this complete change in the political scenario, the entire litigation policy of the Central government and various statutory authorities have seen substantial change in their stand and attitude,” the petitioner contended.

There are two cases: One against Advani and others who were on a dais in Ayodhya in December 1992 when the Babri Masjid was demolished, while the other case was against unknown ‘karsevaks’ who were in and around the disputed structure. The first case was going on in Rae Bareilly while the second one was being tried in Lucknow.

The CBI had moved the apex court in 2011 against the Allahabad High Court’s order of May 20, 2010, dismissing its plea to revive the criminal conspiracy charges against top BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders, including M M Joshi, Kalyan Singh, Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore (now deceased), Vinay Katiyar, Sadhvi Rithambara and Mahant Avaidya Nath.

The court has to first decide the maintainability of the appeal in view of the 167-day delay in filing a petition against the order of May 2010.

The CBI had earlier contended that irreparable loss would be caused to the nation if the delay in filing an appeal was not condoned.

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Gujarat anti-terror Bill passed finally - The Hindu

Revisiting the disputed anti-terror legislation brought in by former Chief Minister Narendra Modi , the Gujarat Assembly on Tuesday passed the landmark Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Bill 2015.

The new Bill is a re-worked version of the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Bill (GUJCOC), 2003, which was earlier rejected twice by the President due to some of its contentious provisions.

The State government passed the Bill amid strong opposition from Congress members, who staged a walk out.

Citing past terror attacks in Gujarat, Rajnikant Patel, Minister of State Home, raised concerns over Pakistan’s attempts at cross-border terrorism, Gujarat’s vulnerable coastline and the proliferation of criminal gangs, while underscoring the need for a strong law.

“It is noticed that the organised criminal syndicates make a common cause with terrorist gangs and foster macro terrorism which extends beyond the national boundaries. There is reason to believe that organised crime syndicates are operating in the State and thus, there is immediate need to curb their activities,” the government has stated in the new Bill. Among the controversial provisions of the Bill is Clause 16, which makes confessions before police officers admissible in court.

GUJCOC was respectively returned twice to the State legislature in 2004 and 2008 by then Presidents A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil.

An undeclared Emergency: activists

Activists and members of civil society have flagged the draconian provisions of GUJCOC, which was passed by the State Assembly on Tuesday.

“This is an undeclared Emergency intended to muzzle dissent in the State. The government wants to spread fear and terror among activists, NGO workers and civil society persons with its stringent provisions. If there is no bail and period of probe is lengthened, it effectively means that a person can be detained for 180 days merely on the basis of phone records,” Gautam Thaker, general secretary, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Gujarat, told The Hindu.

The draconian provisions of the Bill include Clause 16 that stipulates that “a confession made by a person before a police officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police…shall be admissible in the trial of such accused, co-accused, abettor or conspirator.”

The Bill also provides for extension of the period of investigation from the stipulated 90 days to 180 days.

No bail

Furthermore, the legislation makes offences under the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Act, 2015, non-bailable. Clause 20 (4) of the Bill states, “Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, no person accused of an offence punishable under this Act shall, if in custody, be released on bail or on his own bond.”

The Bill makes “evidence collected through the interception of wire, electronic or oral communication” admissible in the court.

It provides immunity to the State government from legal action. Clause 25 of the Bill states, “No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the State government or any officer or authority of the State government for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act.”

Congress opposes

Strongly criticising the new Bill, Congress MLA Shaktisinh Gohil said the legislation went against nationally applicable criminal laws such as the National Security Act, CrPC and the Indian Evidence Act. He said the State government was not empowered to bring a law that contradicted national laws.

President Kalam had returned the Bill recommending the deletion of the clauses pertaining to confession in police custody, tapping phone and online communication, period of investigation and non-grant of bail.

However, Gujarat again passed the same Bill in 2009 for the third time, which is now pending with the President. The new Bill of 2015 retains the same provisions of GUJCOC.

“The intention of the government is only to play politics in the name of terrorism,” Mr. Gohil told The Hindu.

Some of the key features of the Bill:

1. Among the controversial provisions of the Bill is Clause 16 which makes confessions before police officers admissible in court. The section stipulates that “a confession made by a person before a police officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police…shall be admissible in the trial of such accused, co-accused, abettor or conspirator.”

2. The Bill also provides for extension of the period of investigation from the stipulated 90 days to 180 days.

3. It makes offences under the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Act, 2015, non-bailable. Clause 20 (4) of the Bill states, “Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, no person accused of an offence punishable under this Act shall, if in custody, be released on bail or on his own bond.”

4. The Bill also makes “evidence collected through the interception of wire, electronic or oral communication” admissible in the court.

5. It provides immunity to the State government from legal action through an ambiguous idea of “good faith.” Section 25 of the Bill states, “No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the State government or any officer or authority of the State government for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act.”

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