PM announces Rs 125 cr relief for cloudburst victims

Latest Update News About India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday announced a Rs 125 crore relief packaged for the Leh cloudburst victims and said all houses destroyed by the natural calamity will be reconstructed within the next two-and-a-half months.

Singh, who arrived here on a day-long visit to take stock of relief and rehabilitation undertaken in the aftermath of flash floods in this mountainous region, said that the relief will be given from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.

The Indian Prime Minister said that houses destroyed in the Leh cloudburst will be rebuilt within the next two-and-a-half months and funds will not be a problem.

“Hospital, school, electricity connections and roads will be rebuilt and all rehabilitation works will be completed within the next two-and-a-half months and before the onset of winter. Funds will not be a problem,” he said.

Upset Shatrughan Sinha not to attend Bihar Day celebrations

Bollywood actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha Monday claimed he had not been invited by the Bihar government for the state’s first-ever Bihar Day celebrations and would not be attending the official event.

Sinha, a Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Patna Sahib, voicing his hurt at not being invited, said: “I will not attend Bihar Divas (Day) celebrations as I am not invited.”

The function is being held at Gandhi Maidan here in the evening.

However, state Principal Secretary in the human resource department, Anjani Kumar Singh, said the invitation has been sent to all MPs and legislators. “The government has invited people by publishing an invitation in all local dailies,” Singh said.

Former chief ministers Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Janshakti Party chief Ramvilas Paswan and some Janata Dal-United MPs are also unlikely to attend the celebrations.

Nitish Kumar will inaugurate the function in the evening here.

The state government has declared a public holiday to mark the day. “All government offices, including banks, will be closed to mark the celebration,” said an official in the chief minister’s office.

Rosaiah moves to official residence after ‘vaastu’ changes

More than six months after taking over as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, K. Rosaiah Monday moved to the official residence-cum-camp office at Begumpet here after its refurbishment as per ‘vaastu’ traditions.

Rosaiah, who had taken over as chief minister following the tragic death of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash on Sep 2 last year, entered the official residence at 8.46 a.m., the auspicious time fixed by vedic pundits.

The 77-year-old leader will now discharge his duties from the ultra-luxury residence-cum-camp office, which was built and inaugurated by Rajasekhara Reddy in 2005.

Rosaiah, who had been residing in his own house in Ameerpet area, moved only after the official residence was refurbished as per ‘vaastu’ traditions and advice by his family priests.

The devastating floods that hit the state a month after YSR’s death, the campaign by YSR’s loyalists to make his son the chief minister and the state-wide agitation over the Telangana issue had delayed Rosaiah’s plans to shift to the camp office.

Accompanied by some of his cabinet colleagues, state Congress president D. Srinivas and other leaders, Rosaiah performed ‘puja’ before entering the building amid the chanting of vedic hymns by priests.

Congress legislator Marri Sashidhar Reddy, who closely monitored the ‘vaastu’ alteration work, was also present.

Ministers and Congress leaders had been requesting Rosaiah to move to the camp office in view of public and security conveniences.

After assuming charge as the chief minister in 2004, YSR had got built the office-cum-residence and moved in on Jan 5, 2005 without any rituals.

YSR continued performing his duties from the camp office till his death in a chopper crash. His son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy and other family members vacated the building a couple of months ago.

One dead as water tank bursts in Mathura temple

One person was killed and five injured Monday when an overhead 40-ft water tank on a temple roof burst here, police said.

The water tank burst inside the premises of Khushali Baba temple in Jalalapur village of Chata tehsil in Mathura. The roof on which the tank was kept was being repaired.

“The water tank burst inside the temple today (Monday). One man died as he got buried in the debris. Five people were injured,” Deputy Superintendent of Police Babu Lal told IANS.

“After the tank collapsed there was a stampede in the temple. No one was injured in the stampede,” he said, adding that the tank was 40 ft in height.

Mayawati’s garland: Court dismisses CBI probe

Allahabad High Court Monday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a CBI probe into the gifting of a high-value currency note-garland to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.

Reportedly made of Rs.1,000-denomination currency notes valued at about Rs.21 lakh, the garland was presented to Mayawati here on the 25th anniversary of the Bahujan Samaj Party March 15.

Advani blogs against Kashmir’s autonomy

Opposing autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir and restoration of the pre-1953 status to the troubled state, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani has said the party won’t allow the constitutional clock to be turned back and vowed to get Article 370 completely abrogated.

“All that the country wants is to move forward to the complete abrogation of Article 370,” Advani said, referring to the constitutional provision that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir in India.

“The nation will not allow the constitutional clock to be turned back in respect to the state’s integration with India,” the veteran BJP leader blogged.

Before 1953, Jammu and Kashmir had a separate head called prime minister. The Supreme Court, the Election Commission of India, and the comptroller and auditor general had no jurisdiction over the state. Only three departments, defence, currency and foreign affairs were controlled by the Indian government.

Any Indian citizen wanting to visit the state had to acquire a special permit to enter Jammu and Kashmir.

However, the permit system was later abolished and gradually the clauses, which Advani called “separatist provisions”, were changed and the article diluted.

This, Advani wrote, “brought (Jammu and Kashmir) at par with other states in these matters”.

“When in the name of Kashmir’s autonomy, it is nowadays said that the dilution of Article 370 that took place post-1953 must be undone, it is all these wholesome provisions of the Indian constitution which are sought to be once again scrapped in their application to the state of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

“The nation’s clarion call to the powers-that-be is that India will never forget Shyama Prasad Mookerji’s sacrifice,” he said remembering the Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder who entered Jammu and Kashmir in 1953 defying the permit system. Mookerji was taken to a prison where he fell ill after a hunger strike. He later died.

Modi within his rights not to appear before SIT: activists

The notice issued by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for questioning in connection with the 2002 communal riots lacks statutory sanction and was not binding on him, according to activists representing the riot victims.

Mukul Sinha of the Jan Sangharsh Manch said: “Initially it was believed that the notice had been issued under section 160 of the CrPC (where police have the power to require attendance of witnesses) but now we learn that such is not the case.”

Sinha is representing the 2002 riot victims before the Nanavati-Mehta Judicial Enquiry Commission probing the Godhra train carnage and the communal riots that followed.

Narendra Modi did not appear before the SIT here on Sunday.

Former additional Director General of Police R.B. Sreekumar, who faced the Modi government’s wrath over his disclosures about the state government’s alleged tacit support to the riots, also feels that “the sort of notice issued by the SIT hardly serves the purpose of justice”.

“It has no legal value. Conducting a thorough investigation entails registering an FIR and issuing summons under the CrPC. Disregard of such a summons can invite arrest,” he added.

Controversy has been brewing over the role of the SIT with activists now urging the Supreme Court to reconstitute it.

The matter is slated to come up for hearing next month. Two public prosecutors in the Gulbarg Society massacre case, R.K. Shah and Naina Bhatt, had recently quit the case citing differences with the SIT.

Zakia Jafri, the widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was among those killed in Gulbarg Society, Ahmedabad, during the post-Godhra riots, had named Modi and 63 top politicians, police officers and government officials for their role behind the larger conspiracy in the 2002 communal riots.

Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Kalu Maliwad has challenged the earlier apex court order in this regard and the matter is slated to come up before the Supreme Court next month.

On March 11, the apex court-appointed SIT had summoned Modi to appear before it on March 21 for questioning over the communal violence at Gulbarg Society. The summons came in response to the case filed by Zakia Jafri.

Jafri was among the 69 killed in the 2002 Gulbarg Society riots in Ahmedabad.

Don’t open dolphinarium, PETA tells Jairam

Animal rights activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has written to Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh urging him to scrap plans to build a dolphinarium at the National Zoological Park here.

Dolphins, declared as India’s national aquatic animal last year and found in the Ganga river, are a rare species and the environment ministry estimates only 2,000 of them are left now.

PETA critisised the National Zoological Park’s proposal for a dolphinarium which is awaiting the environment ministry’s clearance, saying that dolphins are highly sensitive and complex animals who can’t survive in small tanks.

“Most captive dolphins die prematurely. When confined to small tanks they swim continuously in circles and the sonar waves they use to communicate with, bounce off cement walls and are useless reverberations,” said PETA’s Dharmesh Solanki.

In its letter to the minister, PETA has cited a study that says that more than 80 percent of captive dolphins died before the age of 20. In the wild, dolphins can live into their 40s and 50s. Most captive dolphins live to only half the age of wild dolphins, Solanki said.

“Wild dolphins live with natural family pods and have the opportunity to play, mate, and seek as well as choose their own food. Earlier this year, scientists studying dolphins’ high intelligence recommended that the animals be treated as ‘nonhuman persons’,” Solanki added.

“The oceans and their natural habitat must be protected and dolphins do not deserve to be jailed for life in small enclosures that, to them, are like bathtubs,” he further said.

Dolphins were once common sight in the Ganga, but they are rare today. They were found in large numbers a few years ago, but their number has come down drastically now due to fishing, poaching, sand mining and massive deforestation.

Train derails after Maoists blow up tracks in Bihar

A train derailed after suspected Maoist guerrillas blew up a railway track in Bihar’s Gaya district, police said Tuesday. No injuries have been reported.

The incident occurred late Monday.

According to police sources, eight wagons, including the engine, of the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani express derailed between Paraiya and Kastha railway station in Gaya-Mughalsarai section of East Central Railways, about 100 km from here.

“Eight bogies, including the engine, were derailed after Maoists blew up three to four feet of railway track during their 48 hour shutdown in seven states to protest against operation Green Hunt,” railway inspector general S.K. Bhardawaj told IANS over the phone from the accident site.

Repair and restoration work is underway, railway sources said.

A medical and engineering team are camping at the derailment site, sources added.

Rajdhani derails after Maoists blast track, traffic disrupted

The Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express derailed after Maoists blasted a railway track in Bihar’s Gaya district, leading to three trains being cancelled and 17 being diverted, police said Tuesday.

The incident occurred late Monday and no injuries have been reported.

According to police sources, eight wagons, including the engine, of the Rajdhani Express derailed between Paraiya and Kastha railway station in Gaya-Mughalsarai section of East Central Railways, about 100 km from here.

“Eight bogies, including the engine, were derailed after Maoists blew up three to four feet of railway track during their 48-hour shutdown in seven states to protest against operation Green Hunt,” Inspector General of Police S.K. Bhardawaj told IANS over the phone from the accident site.

Repair and restoration work is underway. It will take another few hours before traffic resumes, railway sources said.

A medical and engineering team are camping at the derailment site.

According to railway sources, three trains, including the Patna-Ranchi Janshatabdi, Gaya-Dehri On Sone and Patna-Dehri On Sone were cancelled because of the incident.

Furthermore, the routes of 17 trains, including the New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani express, were diverted from Mughalsarai to Patna instead of Gaya for its onward journey.

Police suspect Maoists were behind the incident after they recovered a pamphlet left by the rebels, claiming responsibility for the incident.

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