SC rejects Gujarat govt’s plea on fake encounters report

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January 9, 2019

Rejecting the Gujarat government’s plea, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that the final report of the Justice H.S. Bedi Committee on 24 alleged fake encounter cases from 2002 to 2006 in the state be given to parties that approached the court.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it would decide later on whether to accept or reject the final report of the Justice Bedi Committee on encounter cases.

The Supreme Court was hearing two PILs filed in 2007 by veteran journalist B.G. Verghese and poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar, seeking a direction for a probe by an independent agency or the CBI, so the “truth [about the encounters] may come out”. Verghese passed away on December 30, 2014.

The bench, which was on Wednesday hearing a plea to make the Justice Bedi Committee’s report public, did not accept the Gujarat government’s contention that the final report not be given to Akhtar and Verghese’s counsel as it may prejudice matters against persons it might have named in the report.

The Supreme Court bench, also comprising Justices L. Nageswara Rao and S.K. Kaul, granted the Gujarat government and the counsel of Akhtar and Verghese four weeks to file their responses to the report submitted by Bedi, who was appointed the chairperson of the committee, which was appointed by the Supreme Court to probe the encounter cases.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had asked Bedi, a former apex court judge, whether he had shared his final report with other members of the panel.

The Supreme Court had asked the monitoring authority to place before it preliminary reports relating to the alleged fake encounters between 2002 and 2006 in Gujarat, purportedly showing a pattern that people from the minority community were targeted as terrorists. These reports were submitted periodically.

Suspected Pak spy monitoring Army units in Arunachal arrested

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January 9, 2019

A man suspected to be a spy of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has been arrested in Arunachal Pradesh’s Anjaw district, near the India-China border, Indian Army sources said.

The accused has been identified as Nirmal Rai, a resident of Sadiya in Assam’s Tinsukia district, the sources said. State Director General of Police (DGP) S.B.K. Singh, when contacted, said Rai had been working as an Indian Army porter at Kibithu and Dichu, two border posts along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Rai was arrested on January 6 by Indian Army personnel and handed over to Arunachal Pradesh Police a day after, the DGP said.

“Rai belongs to a Nepali community. He worked at a burger shop in Dubai between 2016 and 2018 before moving to Kibithu,” he said, adding that more details in the case will be available after interrogation. Army sources told PTI that Rai was under surveillance for over a month due to his suspicious behaviour.

Rai was probably trained and recruited by a Dubai-based handler of ISI, an Indian Army official said.

“He was involved in passing on sensitive information on location and deployment of Army units, weapon profiles and artillery guns at Kibithu, as well as infrastructure development along the LAC,” he said on condition of anonymity.

A smartphone has been seized from the possession of Rai, the official said, adding that the arrest was made under provisions of Official Secrets Act, Section 120B of the IPC for criminal conspiracy and section 72 of the IT Act for breach of privacy.

Left’s relations with TMC ‘bitter’, to skip Jan 19 rally

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January 9, 2019

Left parties will not attend the opposition rally convened by the TMC in Kolkata on January 19 as they share a “bitter” relationship with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party, CPI General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy said Wednesday.

The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) has called a “federal front” rally of opposition parties on January 19 in the West Bengal capital.

“As our relations are bitter with Mamata Banerjee and TMC in West Bengal, the Left cannot participate in that meeting,” Reddy told agencies.

“We have decided to avoid that meeting,” he said.

“If other parties want to participate, we have no objection. But as far as we are concerned, we are prepared to have some sort of a joint platform (of opposition parties) at the national level, but at the state level, in West Bengal, we cannot do it,” the CPI leader said.

Meanwhile, describing the Union cabinet’s decision to grant 10 per cent quota to economically weaker sections from the general category as an “election jumla”, Reddy said the step will open a Pandora’s box.

He said that if the government was serious, it should have convened an all-party meeting as it was an issue of national importance, and not a party one.

“Once 10 per cent is given, many upper castes will not be satisfied with this; they will demand more. Ultimately, there will be no reservation,” the CPI General Secretary claimed.

Educational and social backwardness is a criterion for reservation and not economic backwardness, as per the Constitution, he argued.

Reddy said the constitutional amendment bill to provide 10 per cent reservation in jobs and educational institutions to economically backward section in the general category cannot be rushed through Parliament.

He added the decision was an election ‘jumla’ (gimmick) by the BJP-led government to gain electoral benefits in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

IAS Shah Faesal resigns to protest ‘unabated killings’ in Kashmir

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January 9, 2019

Shah Faesal, the 2010 batch IAS topper, Wednesday said he has decided to resign from the Indian Administrative Service to protest the alleged unabated killings in Kashmir and marginalisation of Indian Muslims.

He made the announcement in a Facebook post.

“To protest against the unabated killings in Kashmir and lack of any sincere reach-out from the Union government; the marginalization and invisiblisation of around 200 million Indian Muslims at the hands of Hindutva forces reducing them to second-class citizens; insidious attacks on the special identity of the J&K state and growing culture of intolerance and hate in the mainland India in the name of hyper-nationalism, I have decided to resign from IAS,” he said.

CJI nominates Justice AK Sikri on panel to decide CBI Director Verma’s fate

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January 9, 2019

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has nominated Justice A K Sikri, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court after him, to be part of the high-powered selection committee which will decide the fate of CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma.

The apex court sources said that Justice Sikri will be a part of the selection committee which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.

The selection committee comprises the Prime Minister, the CJI and the leader of the single largest opposition party.

Since the CJI was a part of the bench and author of the Tuesday’s verdict which reinstated Verma as the CBI Director, he opted himself out of the panel’s meeting which was ordered to be convened within a week.

Verma’s two-year tenure as CBI director ends on January 31.

Rose McGowan’s felony charges to be reduced

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January 9, 2019

rose American actor-activist Rose McGowan’s drug possession charges will be reduced to a misdemeanor.

The ‘Planet Terror’ star was charged with felony possession in February 2017, but she has agreed to plead no contest in her upcoming court appearance on January 15 in Loudoun County, a leading magazine reported.

Earlier in March 2018, the star asked a judge to dismiss her case but he refused to do so.

Jim Hundley, McGowan’s lawyer said, “The Commonwealth and Ms McGowan have reached a plea agreement in her case. The Commonwealth has agreed to reduce the current felony charge to a misdemeanor of possession of a controlled substance.”

He further added, ” Ms McGowan will enter a plea of no contest to the reduced charge when she appears in court on January 15, and the Commonwealth will recommend a sentence that requires Ms McGowan to pay a fine.”

Addressing the actor, Hundley said, “Accepted this agreement in order to spare her family, her friends, and her supporters the emotional strain of a criminal trial. The agreement brings this ordeal to an end and allows her to focus all of her energy on what matters most to her – creating a better world. Ms McGowan will comment on the day of the plea.”

The 45-year-old star was arrested for felony possession in 2017, while she was travelling from United flight. An airport employee allegedly found two bags of white power on her which later turned out to be cocaine.

Kylie and Travis can’t wait for Stormi’s first birthday

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January 9, 2019

American reality star Kylie Jenner and her beau rapper Travis Scott is super excited for their daughter Stormi’s first birthday.

Barely weeks left for her first birthday, the baby has already started getting birthday gifts. Kylie took to her official Instagram handle to share an adorable video of Stormi where she is sitting on a couch with a ‘Louis Vuitton’ handbag.

“Daddy dropped off a new chair for Stormi and omg this girl threw the bag over her shoulder I can’t,” the reality star captioned the video.

Earlier, she dropped another video, “p.s. already wrapping Stormi’s bday gifts, “I’m too excited.” she wrote on her Instagram story.

Baby Stormi Webster will celebrate her first birthday on February 1.

Earlier, the 21-year-old star claimed that she is been thinking about Stormi’s first birthday since June and she thought of having a “super magical unicorn theme” party, but unfortunately North West and Penelope Disick beat her to it.

Earlier in July, Jenner topped Hopper HQ’s Instagram rich list for 2018 with a price tag of a whopping 1 million USD for a single post.

Here’s why Jana Kramer does not breastfeed her son Jace

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January 9, 2019

American actor-singer Jana Kramer reveals that she tried breastfeeding her 4-week-old son Jace but it did not work for any of them.

The ‘One Tree Hill’ star is contentiously being asked that if she is breastfeeding her son or not?

Being a supportive husband, American footballer Mike Caussin said, “You’ve got to do what is best for you and what is best for your child’s health. And what’s best for Jace is to be formula fed,” an online portal reported.

Alluding to the trolls that criticised the star last time when she gave birth to her first child, Kramer said, “I tried so hard the second time around because I didn’t want to get re-shamed.”

She further added, “I had two of my girlfriends over at my house, right after Jace, trying to get milk out of my boob, and I’m just like, bawling my eyes out and Michael’s like, ‘Why are you doing this?’ And I said, ‘Because everybody’s telling me what I need to do.”

She went on to add, “My girlfriend’s were pressing on my boob trying to get milk out,” she told Us. “So I was like, ‘OK. I’m stopping. I’m done.”

Her husband, the retired NFL player, Mike Caussin added now that Jace is drinking formula, everyone is happier.

The couple tied the knot in 2015. Further, prior to Caussin, the singer has been linked with American actor Scott Eastwood, Brantley Gilbert, Johnathon Schaech.

Developing economies must get ready to cope with possible turbulence: World Bank official

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January 9, 2019

There is an urgency for emerging markets and developing economies to get ready to cope with possible turbulence, a top World Bank official has said as she called on the governments to concentrate more on their debt management practices and accelerate the pace of reforms.

Kristalina Georgieva, the World Bank’s CEO, said the global growth is moderating from 3 per cent to 2.9 per cent in 2019. That is still a robust growth performance.

“But what we see happening are troubling signs in terms of international trade and manufacturing activities,” she said.

“In this more challenging environment, there is an urgency for emerging markets and developing economies to get ready to cope with possible turbulence and to build fiscal and monetary space, to build policy buffers,” she said in a conference call with journalists on the occasion of the release of the Global Economic Prospects report.

She said the governments have to concentrate more on their debt management practices, especially in countries where this is already a serious concern.

“They need to use borrowing to fund development needs, to use borrowing for productive purposes and they have to work with creditors on transparency and sustainability of lending practices,” she said.

Georgieva will serve as the interim President of the World Bank after Jim Yong Kim departs the international financial institution on February 1.

Urging countries to accelerate reforms, Georgieva said from the Bank’s perspective, this is particularly critical for investing in human capital, lowering barriers to higher investments and boost positivity and make sure that they are integrated into the world economy in a way that helps them to expand and grow.

One of the issues of concern she said, is that the Bank’s main focus on poverty reduction is correlated to strong, steady, and equitable economic growth.

Noting that the majority of low-income countries would be impacted, she said that they would be hard-hit by a sudden weakening in a trade or by global financial conditions worsening.

“What I mean by that is situations in which financial flows go into the direction of safer locations and that makes both access and costs for countries more difficult, less favourable,” she said.

Govt eyes about $1 bn from Air India sale

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January 9, 2019

The government is eyeing around $1 billion (about Rs 7,000 crore) from the sale of national carrier Air India in the next financial year, a government official said.

The government will initiate the process of strategic disinvestment of Air India in the second half of 2019-20 and in between it would work towards selling some of its subsidiaries and monetise assets.

Air India has a debt burden of Rs 55,000 crore. In November last year, a ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had approved transferring Rs 29,000 crore debt to a special purpose vehicle (SPV) — Air India Asset Holding Company.

“We are eyeing $1 billion from the sale of Air India,” the official told agencies.

After a botched attempt to sell Air India in May last year, the Jaitley-led panel in June decided to scrap the stake sale plan for the time being. It was decided to infuse more funds into the carrier and cut down debt by raising resources by selling land assets and other subsidiaries.

The government had initially planned to offload 76 per cent equity share capital of the national carrier as well as transfer the management control to private players. The buyer was required to take over Rs 24,000 crore debt of the carrier along with over Rs 8,000 crore of liabilities.

However, the stake sale failed to attract any bidders when the bidding process completed on May 31.

In August 2018, the government had received Parliament nod for Rs 980 crore equity infusion in Air India under a “turnaround plan”. Earlier this month, Parliament approved a further Rs 2,345 crore equity infusion into the airline.

The ministerial panel has already cleared the strategic sale of Air India’s ground handling subsidiary, Air India Air Transport Services. Plans are afoot for selling another subsidiary, Air India Engineering Services.

The proceeds from the sale of subsidiaries and land and building assets would go to the SPV and will be utilised towards lowering the debt burden of the airline.

The national carrier had in September last year invited bids to sell its properties located across India.