Cops planted Vijender's car outside drug dealer's home: Boxer Dinesh Kumar

NEW DELHI: The drug scandal surrounding Vijender Singh on Tuesday took a new twist with one of his fellow pugilist Dinesh Kumar disputing the claims of Punjab Police even as the sports ministry explored ways to subject the star boxer to a heroin test despite NADA's refusal to do so.

Almost a month after the scandal broke out, Dinesh, an Asian Games silver medallist, claimed that Punjab Police planted Vijender's car outside the flat from where heroin was recovered.

Contradicting the Punjab Police version, Dinesh said that he and one of his friends had accompanied Ram Singh at the police station but the policemen asked them to go and leave the car behind which was later found at Zirakpur.

"Me and a fellow boxer Bunty accompanied Ram Singh to Fatehgarh Sahib police station in the car which the police claim was found outside the flat. When we reached there, the police told us that Ram would have to be questioned," Dinesh said.

"The policemen insisted that we leave the car at the station only. We objected to it and told them that the car was not ours and had to be taken back to Patiala but they forced us to leave the car at the station and told us to go back," he said.

The sports ministry, which had on Monday stepped in to clear the air by asking NADA to test the boxer, was waiting for a written response before deciding its future course of action.

The NADA, which is an autonomous body, is willing to conduct a regular out-of-competition dope test on Vijender but has expressed its inability to test the Olympic bronze-medallist for heroin citing World Anti-Doping Agency's protocol.

"We have not asked NADA to proclaim anything on his guilt but just conduct a test to find out whether he took heroin... the NADA has not conveyed anything to us in writing, let them do that first and then we will think of our stand," sports secretary P K Deb said.

Dinesh said after failing to retrieve the car, they headed back to Patiala only to find out later that the vehicle had been found in Zirakpur.

"We were stunned because the car was in police custody when we left. How it reached Zirakpur is a mystery to us," said the light heavyweight boxer.

Asked why he did not reveal these details when the controversy initially broke, Dinesh said, "We were scared given that Ram is still in police detention and the way Vijender is being maligned."

Vijender has been accused of taking heroin 12 times by the Punjab Police which has interestingly not conducted any test on the boxer due to his refusal to give hair and blood samples.

"People at NIS know that the car was in the campus and the police planted it in Zirakpur. I have spoken to Viju a few times, he is very low because he is innocent and is being maligned in the media," he said.

22.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sonia-PM relationship ideal model for future: Congress

NEW DELHI: Congress on Tuesday rejected its general secretary Digvijaya Singh's remarks that the model of two power centres has not worked well, asserting that a unique relationship exists between party chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"The relationship which exists between the Congress president and the Prime Minister today is unique and something which has never been seen before and perhaps this should be the ideal model for future also," Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters here.

Digvijaya Singh had recently dubbed the experiment of "two power centres" in UPA as a failure and suggested that Rahul Gandhi should not opt to nominate a Prime Minister if the party gets a majority in the next Lok Sabha polls.

"Personally, I feel this model hasn't worked very well. Because, I personally feel there should not be two power centres and I think whoever is the PM must have the authority to function," he had said.

To a question on Rahul Gandhi, Dwivedi said the Congress vice-president has made it clear that his priority is party organisation.

"Rahul Gandhi has said and as I and the party understand it, he has made it clear that now there is no question of the Prime Minister's post," Dwivedi said.

He also said the party will take a call later on the leadership issue after the Lok Sabha elections.

"Today, Manmohan Singh is the Prime Minister and everybody accepts him," he said.

Referring to the relations between the Prime Minister and the Congress president, he said unlike other political parties where the party chief and the government head share uneasy relations, in UPA the two have shared a good equation for a long time.

22.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

Markandey Katju to take up cases of those unjustly languishing in jails

NEW DELHI: Press Council of India (PCI) chairperson Justice (retired) Markandey Katju has teamed up with eminent citizens and launched an organisation to fight for those who are unjustly languishing in jails.

In a statement released here, the former Supreme Court judge said many such persons in jail belong to minorities who have been accused only on suspicion and on pre-conceived notions that all persons of that community are terrorists.

Whenever a bomb blast or such other terrorist event occurs, the police often are unable to trace the real culprit and often rushes to implicate youths of minority community on mere suspicion, Katju said.

He said it had been decided by a group headed by him, which included lawyer Majeed Memon, film producer Mahesh Bhatt and others to set up an organisation called 'The Court of Last Resort'.

He added an organisation founded in 1948 by eminent American criminal lawyer Erle Stanley Gardner had provided the idea.

Katju said the 'The Court of Last Resort' will examine the cases and find out whether there has been injustice. It may also apply for pardon, respite to the President or governor as the case may be, he said.

22.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

India, China working in tandem to prevent Taliban surge

NEW DELHI: With the US withdrawal from Afghanistan looming large, neighbouring countries are hedging against bad outcomes in that part of the world. The jitteriness is palpable, with Afghanistan's neighbours all tying up with each other in different combinations as they scramble to contain what many fear a Taliban surge supported by Pakistan and extremism/terrorism spilling over its borders.

China is teaming up with Russia and Pakistan on a trilateral on Afghanistan, and the first meeting is scheduled in a few weeks. This comes weeks after India, Russia and China sat down in Moscow to craft another trilateral dialogue whereby all the three countries would exchange information and coordinate positions on Afghanistan's future. The new trialateral allows Pakistan and China reaffirm their traditional ties, including showing India that their commitment to each other remains unalloyed.

The Moscow meeting was the beginning of a bilateral track between China and India, a surprising and significant development, given that India and China are generally believed to be on opposing sides of Afghanistan's "Pakistan divide". A bilateral talks between India and China on Afghanistan raised eyebrows within the Indian system since the request came from the Chinese side.

But it showed for the first time, that China too was hedging its bets regarding its "lips-and-teeth" relationship with Pakistan. Pakistan's ties with the Taliban show no signs of abating, despite Islamabad's own travails with them. None of the peace talks with the Taliban are going anywhere because Pakistan's ISI retains a stranglehold on them. And, Pakistan seems to be in a minority that believes the Taliban should be part of the power structure in Kabul.

China's worries are centred on their concerns in the Xinjiang province and the threat of jihadi spillover from Afghanistan.

But also China, like India, wants to protect its considerable investments in Afghanistan. In May China's CNPC will be extracting oil from its wells in northern Afghanistan. This could be the beginning of a resource boom for Afghanistan.

India has theoretically invested in Afghanistan's Hajigak mines, but security concerns persist. An India-China bilateral dialogue could be the precursor of a joint approach to securing their investments in Afghanistan.

22.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

Govt approves steps to fight Army's night-blindness in mechanized forces

NEW DELHI: With night-fighting capabilities being a major operational gap in the Army's capabilities to wage war round-the-clock, the defence ministry on Tuesday approved thermal imaging (TI) sights for main-battle tanks and infantry combat vehicles worth almost Rs 3,000 crore.

The Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC), chaired by defence minister A K Antony, also discussed revisions in the defence procurement procedure (DPP) but deferred the final decision on them till April 20. As earlier reported by TOI, with Antony pushing for greater indigenisation in the defence production sector after the VVIP helicopter scandal, the proposed changes in the DPP include provisions under which the "first right of refusal" would be with the domestic industry.

The armed forces will now first have to check with domestic public and private sector industry if they have the capacity and wherewithal to deliver a desired weapon system before looking for foreign options.

India's abject failure to build a robust defence industrial base, unlike China, means it still continues to import over 60% of its military hardware and software, which also makes it vulnerable to supply lines being choked in times of emergency.

As for the measures to fight night-blindness, the DAC approved the acquisition of around 2,000 TI sights for commanders of the T-72 tanks, which form the backbone of the force's mechanized forces, for around Rs 1,000 crore.

Around 1,200 TI-cum-day sights will also be procured, at a cost of Rs 960 crore, for the T-90S main battle-tanks. The Army has so far inducted around 800 of the 1,657 T-90S tanks contracted from Russia.

Similarly, another 1,780 TI-cum-day sights are to be bought for infantry combat vehicles, BMP-II and BMP-IIKs, at a cost of around Rs 860 crore. As reported by TOI last week, the Army is undertaking an ambitious programme to upgrade its entire fleet of over 2,000 BMPs with advanced weaponry and night-fighting capabilities.

The mechanised forces, which include 63 armoured corps regiments and over 30 mechanized infantry battalions, constitute a critical component of Army's preparedness for high-intensity, fast-tempo and short-duration battles of the future.

22.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

Muslim institute 'training girls for jihad', Mumbai Police memo reveals

MUMBAI: Mumbai Police has kicked up a controversy following its circular which says the women's wing of an Islamic organization is "brainwashing and training girls for jihad". The outfit has threatened legal action if no apology is tendered by the police.

The "internal circular" said the Girls Islamic Organization (GIO) of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, one of the country's largest Islamic organizations that runs 40 high schools and three junior colleges in Maharashtra, has been operating with the objective of "brainwashing college and school girls and train them for jihad".

"The group GIO is related to Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and it was established in Kerala. The purported aim of this organization is to make more and more Muslim women aware of their religion and the holy Quran. But the real objective of this organization is to brainwash school and college girls and train them for jihad," the circular, issued last month, says.

The document, meant for internal circulation, got leaked and has invited the wrath of Jamaat with its Maharashtra spokesman Mohammad Aslam Ghazi threatening to sue the police department if it does not apologise.

Ghazi alleged it was a deliberate attempt to tarnish the image of the socio-religious organization.

"The circular was leaked with vicious intentions. The allegations against GIO are false and baseless," he said.

"The Mumbai Police either has to prove the allegations or apologize for the error. Otherwise, we would sue them for defamation," said Ghazi, adding their organization worked for "peace, justice and to fight against prejudice of the state machinery".

Mumbai Police spokesman Satyanarayana Choudhary said "the circular was meant to be only for the department and not for public."

Earlier, Mumbai Police had got embroiled in a row over a poem by a traffic police inspector Sujata Patil published in an issue of the force's in-house journal 'Samwad' where she had described last year's Azad Maidan protesters as "snakes" and "traitors" whose hands should have been "chopped off". Amid threat of legal action and mounting anger of Mulim organizations, Patil had apologised in writing. The apology was published in the next issue of 'Samwad'.

22.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

PIL on sexual offences: SC asks Centre, states to respond

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Centre, states and Union Territories on a PIL seeking effective "preventive and protective" measures, including sentencing guidelines, in respect of sexual offence cases against women.

"Issue notice to respondents. Returnable within three weeks," a bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra said while issuing notices to the ministries of law and justice, women and child Development and home Affairs and also the states and Union Territories.

Senior advocate Indu Malhotra and others filed the PIL in the wake of the gruesome December 16 gang rape and assault of a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus, resulting in her death.

"At present, in India, there are no sentencing principles laid down for the offence of rape, as a consequence of which, as an academic notes, there is 'rampant disparity' across the country in the sentences which are awarded for offences involving similar aggravating and mitigating factors, the PIL said and sought framing of sentencing guidelines.

Section 376 (rape) of the IPC provides that a convict shall be "punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than seven years, but which may be for life, or for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine..." it said.

"Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction ... for directions to state government/UTs to ensure that police authorities maintain a register of sexual offenders...," the petition said, adding that it would help in devising effective protective measures against sexual offences against women.

It also sought that the "two-finger test" to ascertain the offence of rape be declared as "illegal, unconstitutional and violative of the right to life and privacy guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India".

The petition also said the state governments be asked to "devise and implement a uniform proforma for examining adult victims of sexual assault."

22.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rajnath justifies inclusion of Modi in top BJP body

AURANGABAD: BJP President Rajnath Singh today justified the induction of Gujarat strongman Narendra Modi in the party's highest decision-making body, claiming he is the "most popular" chief minister in the country.

"Modi has been made a member of BJP's parliamentary board as he is the most popular chief minister today," he told the media at Chikalthana airport here on his arrival for a two-day visit to drought-hit areas of Aurangabad and Jalna districts in central Maharashtra.

Asked why he had not appointed Modi in the board during his previous tenure as the party chief, Singh said "it was based on public feedback. The decision to include him in the parliamentary board too is based on feedback from people."

The BJP chief, who took charge late last year, yesterday released a list of his 74-member new team. The 62-year-old Gujarat CM was the sole BJP leader to be inducted into the 12-member Board.

To a question related to former President Nitin Gadkari and senior party leader Gopinath Munde, widely seen as rivals in Maharashtra, Singh said both are capable to lead the state and denied differences existed between the two.

The former UP chief minister said his party would provide all possible assistance to the people in the drought-affected Marathwada region.

Singh later visited the Sambhaji Raje Cooperative Sugar Factory at Chittegaon and then went to see fodder camps.

He also interacted with farmers of Pimpri and Bhakarwadi villages. In the afternoon, the BJP chief had meal at the residence of a farmer in Bhakarwadi.

22.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

Trouble mounts for Vijender Singh, sports ministry asks NADA to carry out test on boxer

NEW DELHI: In a bid to put an end to the drug controversy, the sports ministry on Monday directed the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) to immediately carry out dope tests on star boxer Vijender Singh, who has been accused of consuming heroin by Punjab Police.

Almost a month after Vijender's name surfaced in the drug scandal, the sports ministry stepped in to clear the air on the issue by subjecting the ace pugilist to dope tests.

In a communication sent to Director General of NADA, Mukul Chatterjee, the sports ministry has said that the reports in the media regarding alleged consumption of heroin by Beijing Olympic bronze medallist Vijender were disturbing and hence directed NADA to conduct a test on the boxer although its out-of-competition.

"Such reports in respect of a sporting icon are disturbing and may have a debilitating influence on other sportspersons in the country.

"It has, therefore, been considered necessary that NADA gets a test carried out on Vijender Singh for his reported use of heroin even out-of-competition," a press release isued by the the ministry said.

"The communication has asked NADA to carry out the test immediately under intimation to the ministry," the release added.

Vijender has denied having consumed heroin and could not immeditialy be reached for his comments on the latest development.

Punjab Police on Sunday claimed that Vijender had consumed heroin 12 times after procuring it from alleged drug smugglers including NRI Anoop Singh Kahlon.

"As per investigation conducted so far, Vijender Singh consumed the drug about 12 times and Ram Singh (his sparring partner) about five times," a Punjab Police statement had said.

Kahlon alias Ruby, the alleged Canada-based drug dealer, was arrested by police on March 3 and 26kg of heroin worth Rs 130 crore seized from his residence in Zirakpur on the outskirts of Chandigarh.

The Punjab police spokesperson said, "it has been established that boxers Ram Singh and Vijender Singh took heroin from Kahlon and his aide Rocky for personal consumption between December 2012 and February 2013."

22.44 | 0 komentar | Read More

CBI moves SC, seeks to drop certain charges against Abu Salem

NEW DELHI: The CBI on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking its permission to drop certain charges against gangster Abu Salem under Tada and Explosive Substances Act in view of its commitment to Portuguese government at the time of his extradition that he shall not be awarded death penalty or detained in custody for more than 25 years if found guilty.

Appearing before a bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam, attorney general GE Vahanwati said the government is committed to its assurance given to the Portuguese court and government and sought the apex court's permission to drop the additional charges framed against Salem by the trail court.

"The applicant (CBI) reiterates its commitment which was given to the Portugal government/court when Salem was extradited to India to the extent that he shall not be awarded death penalty and/or detained in custody for a period more than 25 years if found guilty," the application filed by the agency said.

"As a matter of fact, charges framed by trial court have been termed as additional charges by the Portuguese courts because of which the Portuguese courts have come to the conclusion that there has been a violation of rule of speciality. More so, the technicality on which the appellant has raised various objections/litigations/representations in India as well as in Portugal ..." the agency said.

22.44 | 0 komentar | Read More