Former Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa booked under POCSO, faces allegation of sexual assault 2
Karnataka’s former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa faces an FIR under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). The FIR has been filed against the former CM for allegedly assaulting a minor girl. As per the FIR the alleged offence took place on February 2 in Bengaluru and the FIR was filed by a police station in the city.
Based on the complaint filed by the victim, the police registered a case under POCSO and 354 (A) against BS Yediyurappa. The FIR alleges that the victim was sexually harassed when she went to seek help on February 2. The victim had sought help in a case related to another alleged sexual assault on her.
The FIR claims that the senior BJP leader allegedly sexually assaulted the victim after dragging her inside a room. When the victim ran out of the room, she complained to her mother about the alleged assault. Based on the mother’s complaint, the senior BJP leader was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and 354 (A) of the Indian Penal Code.
The victim alleged in the FIR that she was allegedly sexually harassed when she went to seek help related to an incident in which she was raped by others. So far no response has come from BS Yediyurappa or his family on the allegations.
National Investigation Agency | Image : Representative/ PTI
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a fresh chargesheet naming four more accused and adding charges against one accused in the Pune ISIS arms and explosives seizure case, the agency said on Thursday. With this, a total of 11 accused have been charge-sheeted by the NIA in the July 2023 case relating to the seizure of arms, explosives, chemicals and ISIS-related literature.
The supplementary chargesheet was filed before a special court on Wednesday. The four accused charge-sheeted have been identified as Md Shahnawaz Alam, Rizwan Ali, Abdullah Shaikh, and Talha Liyakat Khan. Additional charges have been filed against Shamil Nachan, who was among the seven accused charge-sheeted earlier by the anti-terror agency.
Shahnawaz Alam, who had escaped from detention after being apprehended during a bike theft in the Kothrud Area of Pune, was arrested by the NIA on November 2 last year for his association with the arrested and absconding accused in the ISIS case. He was taken into custody and his DNA matching was carried out with the DNA samples taken from the clothes seized earlier by the agency. As per the NIA, all the accused were members of the proscribed terrorist organisation, ISIS, and were involved in the plans to unleash terror in and around Pune in Maharashtra, as part of a larger conspiracy to promote the terror activities of the outfit, NIA investigations had revealed.
“It was also found that the accused persons were in touch with their foreign-based handler via secret communication apps. They were also raising terror funds by carrying out armed robberies, and thefts and were also receiving money from their handlers for carrying out their nefarious designs,” the NIA said in a statement. “Investigations also showed that these men had undergone IED fabrication training at Kondhwa in Pune and had even conducted a controlled blast. They had recced the areas of Western Ghats for potential hideouts, besides checking out important places for carrying out terror attacks in various metro cities across Maharashtra and Gujarat. The accused had even engaged in firing practice while preparing themselves for terrorist strikes,” the agency said based on its findings.
During investigations, the NIA said, it had recovered handwritten notes taken by the accused at the time of their IED fabrication training. A drone, clothes and a knife used during the ‘bayath’ (pledge), taken in the name of the Khalifa of ISIS, were also recovered.
Besides Shamil Nachan, the others named in the original chargesheet were Md Imran, Md Yunus Saki, Kadir Dastgir Pathan, Seemab Quazi, Zulfikar Ali Barodawala and Akeef Nachan.
Centre approves transfer of Air India Bhawan to Maharashtra government for Rs 1,601 crore 5
The Centre on Thursday sanctioned the transfer of the Air India building in Mumbai from AI Assets Holding Company Ltd to the Maharashtra government for a sum of Rs 1,601 crore.
As part of the agreement, the Maharashtra government has decided to forgo Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) dues amounting to Rs 298.42 crore that would have been owed by AI Assets Holding Company Ltd, as confirmed by the DIPAM.
“GoI has approved transfer of Air India building, Mumbai of AI Assets Holding Company Ltd to Government of Maharashtra (GoM) at consideration of Rs 1601 cr. GoM has agreed to waive dues of Rs. 298.42 cr, which would have been otherwise payable by AIAHL to GoM for this transaction,” DIPAM said in a post on X.
Earlier, AI Assets Holdings Ltd, a state-owned entity established to oversee Air India’s debt and assets following its acquisition by the Tata Group in January 2022, declined a prior offer from the Maharashtra government for office accommodations within the Air India building.
Acquiring the Air India building holds significant strategic value for Maharashtra, especially considering its proximity to ‘Mantralaya’, the state government’s administrative headquarters established in 1955.
Under the Air India divestment plan, the government assumed the airline’s debt of approximately Rs 45,000 crore along with all non-core assets, which encompassed around 111 properties, including office buildings and housing colonies.
These assets were estimated to have a total value of Rs 14,718 crore, as outlined in a government statement released in 2021.
New Delhi: Farmers gather at Ramleela Maidan; to hold 'Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat' today 7
Farmers in large numbers were gathered at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan to hold ‘Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat’ today. Samyukt Kisan Morcha leader also called the Bharatiya Janata Party an “anti-farmer”. Samyukt Kisan Morcha has called for a one-day Delhi Chalo, in which all the organizations related to the front are gathering at Ramlila Ground in Delhi. Thousands of farmers have arrived.
Farmers taking part in the Mahapanchayat said that the stage proceedings will start from noonon Thursday. Darshan Pal, SKM leader said that ever since they first came to Delhi (in 2020 Kisan Andolan), they have expanded their network. “We have made laws for how we have to work,” he said.
“Today’s Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat is being organized because we want to tell the people of the country that the BJP government has betrayed us. Today we are trying to show the anti-farmer face of BJP in the entire country. Till now people are facing problems in reaching here. We were also given permission two days ago and many conditions were imposed. we condemn this. We want to tell you that ‘Delhi ab Door nahi hai,” he added. On security arrangements, DCP Central M Harsha Vardhan told ANI that the police have made elaborate arrangements to ensure that law and order are maintained.
“The organising group has also given a written undertaking in which there are various points relating to maintaining law and order. A lot of farmers have come and it is an ongoing process. But we are hopeful that it will be under the limit of what the SKM leaders have told us. Sufficient forces are available with us. We are trying that without any law and order disturbance and with minimal traffic disturbance everything happens,” he said. Notably, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has appealed to farmers and workers to make the ‘Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat’ on March 14 massive and peaceful. As per the report, preparations are in full swing to ensure massive participation and make the event politically significant and successful, the SKM said in a press release.
The Mahapanchayat will adopt Sankalp Patra or Letter of Resolution to intensify the fight against the pro-corporate, communal, dictatorial policies of the Modi Government, to fight to save farming, food security, livelihood and the people from corporate loot. “In the context of the forthcoming general election to the Lok Sabha, the Maha Panchayat will declare the future plan of action of how to intensify the ongoing struggle to achieve the genuine demands of the farmers as well as the workers,” the press release stated.
SKM appealed to all the Mass and class organisations and unions of workers, students, youth and women to join the Mahapanchayat. The Delhi Police had issued the NOC for conducting the Mahapanchayat at Ramlila Maidan on March 14 and arranging parking space and other basic amenities like water, toilets, and ambulance with the support of the Municipal Administration of Delhi.
SKM expressed its pleasure and welcomed the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Chaduni group of farmers to join the Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat. The efforts of the six-member committee to coordinate with the Kisan organisations for greater issue-based unity and rally maximum farmers against the anti-farmer, anti-worker policies are continuing. “SKM strongly protests against the surrender of the Modi Government before the Developed European Countries and signed the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Free Trade Agreement,” the press release said.
The SKM alleged that this agreement would destroy the home market and the people’s livelihood massively.
Incredible momentum in India-US defence relationship, says Pentagon official 9
There is a paradigm change and incredible momentum in the US-India defence relationship which is now defined more by the overall trajectory rather than by differences on key issues, a senior Pentagon official has said.
The remarks by Siddharth Iyer, Director for South Asia, Office of the Secretary of Defense (Policy), Department of Defense, came at a roundtable on the future of the US-India Defence Partnership with a focus on technology collaboration and maritime strategy.
The roundtable was organised by The US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum and CUTS International, a non-profit body on trade relations.
“Incredible amount of progress (in India-US relationship) has been made not just in the last two years, but even the last 12 months. I think that just sort of underscores the degree to which there’s incredible momentum and the relationship now is defined more by the pace and the sort of overall trajectory rather than by differences and divergences on key issues,” Iyer said.
“The overall paradigm of the relationship I think has changed, particularly from the perspective of the Department of Defense where I think historically security and defence cooperation has traditionally been viewed as an area sort of too sensitive or traditionally lags other areas of cooperation,” Iyer said.
According to Iyer, there are three areas of significance in the defence relationship.
“The first of course is technology cooperation which is pretty deep…Another area that I think for people who have watched this relationship over the decades where there’s been sort of tremendous upward momentum has been in the area of operational sort of engagements between our militaries,” he noted.
The final area of growth in the partnership has been in the scope and texture of our high-level bilateral engagements, he said.
”At least from the outside, it’s apparent that there’s just a very high frequency of engagements between our senior leaders, from the President, Prime Minister, our national security advisors and cabinet officials. It would be hard to find a month in the calendar year when there’s not a high-level exchange, and then probably at least a handful of mid-level exchanges between our governments,” Iyer said.
Ryan Holliway, Political-Military Officer from the Department of State said America’s partnership with India is one of the most consequential relationships it has in the world.
”We see this strategic partnership as a crucial pillar of a free and open Indo-Pacific and the 21st century,” he said.
“In a general sense, our exchange of global and strategic issues has never been deeper or more sensitive than it is today, which is a testing out to the close partnership at all levels of our government,” he added.
The launch of the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology or iCET last year has the potential for a quantum leap in the U- India relationship, said Pradeep Mehta, secretary general of CUTS International, “It’s a platform to accelerate our strategic conversions and policy alignment. The initiatives under the ICET are substantially complimenting defence and security as the vital pivot of India’s ties with the US and the success of it was evident during the midterm review held at the level of the Deputy national security advisors in early December of 2023. … The scope has been expanded to cover many other sensitive areas,” he said.
“This shows and underscores the degree of cooperation and trust in the long way that we have come. I agree that the aim of India-US Technology Corporation is to harness talent, accelerate technology advancements, and broaden the innovation base through co-research and co-development, making a supply chain resilient with an overall intent to strengthen the multifaceted strategic partnership,” he said.
“It’s an opportune moment for our relationship,” Mehta said.
Maharashtra BJP's list of 20 candidates includes Gadkari, Piyush Goyal; eight new faces 11
Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal, and former state minister Pankaja Munde figured in the BJP’s list of candidates for 20 out of 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra on Wednesday.
While Gadkari was renominated from Nagpur seat, commerce minister Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North) and Pankaja Munde (Beed) were among eight fresh faces in the list. Pankaja replaced her younger sister and sitting MP Pritam Munde. Gadkari’s name had not appeared in the BJP’s first list, prompting Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray to give him an open offer to contest as the opposition’s candidate.
Another new face in the second list was state forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar (Chandrapur). Besides, all Union ministers from Maharashtra were given tickets again.
The party replaced Jalgaon Lok Sabha member Unmesh Patil by fielding local leader Smita Wagh. Anup Dhotre replaced his father and sitting Akola MP Sanjay Dhotre in the list. From Pune, the party fielded former mayor Murlidhar Mohol. The seat is vacant since the death of incumbent BJP MP Girish Bapat. MLA Mihir Kotecha was fielded from Mumbai North-East, replacing current MP Manoj Kotak.
"Why did it take more than 4-years to implement CAA?", asks Congress' Jairam Ramesh 13
The Congress on Wednesday questioned why it took the Centre more than four years to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and one month ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Speaking to ANI during the Maharastra leg of the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said that granting citizenship based on religion is against the constitution.
“We are raising the issues of farmers, youth, women & labourers. What are BJP’s issues? What are PM Modi’s issues? He does not talk about the 10 years of injustice…They have only one weapon in this election, & that is polarization…The CAA rule is made after 4 years and 3 months…Now that only a month is left for the elections, they are giving a dose of polarization…” “He (PM Modi) is showing the dream of Viksit Bharat (developed India) and Amrit Kaal,” the Congress leader said, taking a dig at PM.
Soon after the implementation of the CAA rules, INDIA bloc leaders hit out at the Modi government and expressed opposition. “Tamil Nadu & West Bengal governments have said (CAA will not be implemented). We were against CAA because giving citizenship based on religion is against the Constitution. This has been challenged in the Supreme Court as well…Why did it take them 4 years and 3 months to implement it?…,” the Congress MP said.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at the Modi government on the CAA notification and alleged that this was just a gimmick ahead of the general elections and as soon as anyone applies for citizenship under CAA the person will fall under the “illegal migrants”. “Central Government implemented CAA yesterday, I am doubtful of its legality. There is no clarity from the Government over this. This is just a gimmick ahead of the elections. In 2019, names of 13 Lakh Hindu Bengalis, out of the total 19 Lakh, were removed from the list in Assam in the name of NRC. Several people died by suicide,” she said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) only “creates division” and would not be implemented in the southern Indian state. “The BJP government’s divisive agenda has weaponised the Citizenship Act, turning it from a beacon of humanity to a tool of discrimination based on religion and race through the enactment of CAA. By betraying Muslims and Sri Lankan Tamils, they sowed seeds of division,” Stalin said in a statement on X.”
On March 11, the Union Home Ministry notified the rules of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule. The CAA rules, introduced by the Narendra Modi government and passed by Parliament in 2019, aim to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants–including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians–who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
Haryana special assembly session today; newly elected CM Saini to prove majority in house 15
Amid political turmoil, the Haryana Assembly is set to hold a special session today where the newly elected Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini will prove his majority in a floor test. Nayab Singh Saini, the Lok Sabha MP from Haryana’s Kurukshetra, met Governor Bandaru Dattatreya on Tuesday to formally stake claim to form the government in the state, replacing his predecessor, senior BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar.
He took oath as the Haryana CM at a swearing-in ceremony in Raj Bhawan, Chandigarh. Four BJP leaders Kanwar Pal Gujjar, Jai Parkash Dalal, Moolchand Sharma, and Banwari Lal took oath as ministers in the Haryana cabinet.
Also, one independent MLA Ranjit Singh was administered oath by Governor Bandaru Dattatreya. Former Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar was also present. The newly elected CM said that the BJP-led government in the state has the support of a total of 48 MLAs adding that the Speaker has been urged to conduct the floor test on Wednesday
“I want to thank PM Modi, party president JP Nadda, Union HM Amit Shah, and other senior leaders of the party for giving me this responsibility. We will work for the development of the state. We have asked the Speaker to conduct the floor test tomorrow at around 11 am, in the Vidhan Sabha. We have informed the Governor about the support of 48 MLAs,” CM Saini said. After the collapse of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) alliance and the subsequent resignation of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, former CM Khattar said that the demand of the JJP leaders over the Lok Sabha polls seat allocation may have led to the split of the alliance.
Manohar Lal Khattar said, “The demand of the JJP leaders over the Lok Sabha polls seat allocation may have led to the collapse of the alliance. The 10 seats in the state were won by the BJP. The JJP leaders must have talked to the central leadership. There is nothing official but they (JJP) have decided that they will fight the Lok Sabha seats separately and accordingly the decisions have been made.” An influential figure within the OBC, or Other Backward Classes, community, Nayab Saini is the BJP’s Lok Sabha MP from Kurukshetra and was appointed the party’s state boss in October last year. He is also a close confidante of Khattar, whose second (consecutive) term ends this year.
Earlier, CM Khattar on Tuesday resigned from the state Chief Minister hours after the BJP alliance with the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) broke. The JJP led by Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala had 10 MLAs in the Haryana Assembly. Manohar Lal Khattar submitted his resignation letter to Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had won all 10 parliamentary seats while JJP, which had contested the elections in alliance with AAP, could not put up a fight on 7 seats it contested.
The BJP has 41 MLAs in the 90-member House, in which the majority mark is set at 46.
CAA implementation ahead of LS polls 'dirty vote bank politics' of BJP: Arvind Kejriwal 17
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act ahead of the Lok Sabha polls was a ”dirty vote bank politics” of the BJP and asserted that people want this law to be repealed. With this law, the BJP-led government at the Centre has opened the floodgates for the arrival of a large number of poor minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh into India, he said at a press conference.
”There are 3.5 crore minorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The BJP wants to spend the money of our people in settling poor migrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh by giving them houses and jobs here,” charged Kejriwal, who is also the Aam Aadmi Party national convener.
He claimed that the BJP stands to gain in the coming elections as poor minorities from the neighbouring countries settling in India will become its vote bank. Implementation of the CAA ahead of the Lok Sabha polls was a ”dirty vote bank politics” of the BJP, Kejriwal said.
The country demands scrapping of CAA, he said and asked people to vote against the BJP if the law is not repealed.
The Citizenship Amendment Act seeks to grant citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.
The electoral bonds were introduced with the Finance Bill (2017). On January 29, 2018 the Narendra Modi-led NDA government notified the Electoral Bond Scheme 2018. The bonds will be issued in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 100,000 and Rs 1 crore (the range of a bond is between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 crore). These will be available at some branches of SBI. A donor with a KYC-compliant account can purchase the bonds and can then donate them to the party or individual of their choice. Now, the receiver can encash the bonds through the party’s verified account. The electoral bond will be valid only for fifteen days. The electoral bonds will not bear the name of the donor. Thus, the political party might not be aware of the donor’s identity.
Today, the Supreme Court rejected the State Bank of India (SBI)’s request for an extension of time until June 30 to disclose the information on the purchase and redemption of electoral bonds to the Electoral Commission of India (ECI) and asked it to furnish the details before the end of business hours on March 12. SBI is directed to disclose the details by the close of business hours of March 12, 2024.
A five-judge Constitution Bench presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, which went into the aspects of the electoral bonds scheme, said that the “submissions of SBI indicate that the information” which was directed to be disclosed “is readily available” with the bank and therefore there was no reason for further extension as sought for.
BJP is the most powerful and richest party in the present time. The political donation decreases the allocation income of the company. So, such payment without approval by the general meeting is illegal. Political parties get huge donations but there is no accountability. The corporate wants the political donation to be kept a secret. All these secret deals are hidden corruptions. In the recent past the RBI and EC had raised red flags pointing out the legality of the scheme. Still the government proceeded with the scheme and got the nod of the parliament in the form of a money bill which again is unlawful. The opposition did not object to such a scam because they were finding some benefits for themselves.
The beneficiary of 95% electoral bonds is the ruling party. Any scheme which provides undue advantage to one political party that too to the ruling party is corruption. The media houses are already in the hands of political and business mafias. A corporate who acts as the patrons of ruling party privilege won’t raise any objection on such issues. As media and opposition do not take up the issue in the public domain the people are mostly unaware of the murkiness of the electoral bonds. The electoral bonds have all the features required to transform it into a major scam or corruption scandal.
An electoral bond is like a promissory note that can be bought by any Indian citizen or company incorporated in India from select branches of State Bank of India. The citizen or corporate can then donate the same to any eligible political party of his/her choice. The bonds are similar to bank notes that are payable to the bearer on demand and are free of interest. An individual or party will be allowed to purchase these bonds digitally or through cheque.
SBI says that both of these sets of sealed covers are kept as they are, and that it did not try to track who donated to which party by opening the envelopes. In other words, these two sets of envelopes represent two ‘silos’ of information that have not been matched with each other. The Supreme Court, however, has asked SBI to do exactly that — come up with details of who donated to which party and how much.
