A sex racket involving minors was busted by police in a surprise raid in Chhattisgarh Tourism Board’s motel near Raipur on Thursday.

Following a tip off, police raided the Pandwani resort situated in Abhanpur road, where they found a sex racket operating.

One of the girls, who was a minor, immediately jumped off the window but fell into police net. Three others, including a woman, were detained.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the resort register did not have any entry about the visitors and it was suspected that the motel is being used for immoral activities, allegedly at the behest of resort in-charge.

According to TI Abhanpur LP Jaiswal, the motel manager told him that they were hosting a seminar but on reaching there the lie was exposed. State tourism board managing director Santosh Misra said, “A termination notice to the private contractor is being issued.”

The incident has brought focus on pathetic condition that state owned motels are in, many of which are being run by private contractors or are lying closed in isolated places. Similar cases have come to light at Jagdalpur in Bastar in the past.

Pandwani resort was constructed in 2005 near Abhanpur where there is no tourism spot in the vicinity except for annual Rajim Kumbh mela which attracts a large number of people.

Having already crossed the fiscal deficit target in November, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday hinted at more cuts in spending so as to contain it within limits for the current fiscal, saying he does not believe in living on borrowed money.

“We’re trying to rationalise expenditure as far as the government is concerned because we do not want the government to live on borrowed money indefinitely,” he told a gathering of industrialists and planners here via video conferencing.

“The whole concept of spending beyond your means and leaving the next generation in debt to repay what we are overspending today is never prudent fiscal policy,” he said.

The additionally hinted spending cuts would be over and above 10 per cent that the government has already announced to meet the budgeted 4.1 per cent fiscal deficit target which was crossed in November itself, four months ahead of the end of the financial year on March 31.

Ahead of the Budget 2015-16 to be unveiled later this month, Jaitley hinted at a stable tax regime, saying that ‘no unfair effort’ will be made by states and the Centre to mop up revenues. Stating that the past ten years were a decade of missed opportunities, he said the government is determined to pursue the path of reforms.

“We could have been on the faster track if we had kept up the momentum from 1991 to 2004. But a series of indecisions and wrong decisions created a situation for us where we were almost missing the opportunity.

“But history has revisited that opportunity to us, and the present government is very determined to doggedly pursue a path of reforms and take India to a high growth trajectory,” Jaitley said, and sought the active co-operation of the industry and policy makers.

Taking objection to conduct of beauty contests in colleges and other educational institutions in Tamil Nadu, the Madras High Court has directed the state government to issue a circular banning such events in colleges and universities.

“It is not known as to how walking the ramp would benefit a student pursuing a course of engineering,” Justice T S Sivagnanam said, passing interim orders on a plea from one Lakshmi Suresh.

The judge directed the Secretary, Higher Education department and the Commissioner of Technical Education Department, to issue a circular forthwith to all institutions, Universities, Deemed Universities, and Colleges affiliated to various universities in the state “to ban or not to conduct any beauty shows or any programme to decide best looking male/female student in their Institution or in any event organised at Inter-College Level”.

The petitioner said her daughter, an engineering student, took part in ‘Ms Techofes contest’ conducted as part of the annual cultural event at Anna University’s College of Engineering at Guindy in February 2013.

The girl was not given the promised prize, she said, adding, a certificate of appreciation was given in which the signatures were forged.

The petitioner sought a direction to Dean, Central Engineering College, Anna University and President, Students Association and Arts Society and organisers of the Techofes to award her daughter with the prizes as assured and advertised and compensation of Rs. Five lakh for violation of her daughter’s fundamental rights and for treatment meted out.

“…Whether the university exercises due care and control over these programmes, whether any guidelines have been issued as to which authority of the university monitors the programmes and before deciding the issue of compensation, the matter of concern is whether all such an event to select the best looking female/male student is required to be conducted in a cultural event, that too organised by a century old engineering college established and administered by the government,” the judge said.

The judge then directed the University to file a counter and posted the matter on February 20.

The Karnataka High Court on Friday dismissed the interim prayer of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Pravin Togadia to stay the police ban on his entry into this city to attend a religious convention Feb 8.

Upholding the ban order imposed by city Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi on Togadia Tuesday, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer, however, observed that his petition was maintainable and he had the right to appeal in a higher court for relief.

The week-long ban from Feb 5-11 barred Togadia from entering the city and participating in public meetings or functions for seven days on the grounds that his provocative and inflammatory speeches would have grave consequences and cause breach of peace.

The VHP had invited Togadia to participate in its convention `Vishwa Hindu Samajotsava` in the city Feb 8.

Earlier, Togadia’s counsel B.V. Acharya told the court that banning his client`s entry into the city was against the fundamental right of a citizen and constitutional rights of freedom of speech and expression.

“The police commissioner did not have the authority to impose the ban, which was the prerogative of the state government in exceptional cases. The state or police cannot curtail the right to freedom of action,” Acharya told the judge during the hearing.

State advocate general Ravivarma Kumar, however, defended the ban on Togadia, as he was a “dangerous man who could disrupt communal harmony in the state through provocative speeches”.

Acharya also told the court that Togadia was ready to give an undertaking that he would not make any provocative speech and his address and presence could be video-recorded and produced in the court as evidence.

Law enforcing agencies in many states, including Karnataka, have registered 19 criminal cases against Togadia for allegedly making inflammatory statements and disrespecting the constitution in the recent past.

A day after an activist posted a video online of five men who allegedly gang-raped a woman, the window screens of her car were on Friday found damaged in Charminar area.

Police have registered a case in this connection and suspect it to be a mischief.

Sunitha Krishnan, chief functionary of a city-based NGO ‘Prajwala’, had posted a video on a social networking site of five youths, who had allegedly raped a woman, as part of a campaign to ‘shame the rapists’ and ensure punishment to them.

Sunitha said the nearly 8-minute video was shared with her on a mobile messaging service which she had posted online after editing it to one minute.

“We don’t know when it was shot. I came to office this morning. However, someone told me that the window screens of my four-wheeler were stoned. I lodged a complaint with police in this regard,” she said.

“I feel that someone is trying to intimidate me but I’m not going to get intimidated. Some more such videos will be posted online soon,” she said.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Charminar division) K Ashok Chakrawarthy said following a complaint they have registered a case under section 427 (mischief causing damage) of IPC and taken up investigation.

Sunitha had parked her vehicle at a college premises near the Charminar bus stop.

A police team visited the spot and found that the window screens of the vehicle were stoned, he said, adding, that they suspect it to be a mischief.

“It is a crowded area and 15 to 20 other vehicles were parked in the place. It is not possible for someone to throw a stone and run away. It seems to be a mischief…We are probing the matter,” the ACP said.

Backing beleaguered Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, a senior Bihar minister on Friday questioned the JD(U) leadership’s reported bid to replace Manjhi at Saturday’s state legislature party meeting and said such a move will prove to be “suicidal” for the ruling party.

“The removal of a ‘Mahadalit’ chief minister midway will prove suicidal for the JD(U) as such a move will amount to betrayal of faith of the people of Bihar in the present chief minister,” state Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh told reporter in Jamui district.

“I don’t understand as to why the JD(U) wants to prematurely remove him ahead of his term and commit suicide politically in the Assembly polls due later this year,” he said.

The Minister also defended the Chief Minister’s decision to declare tomorrow’s proposed Legislature Party meeting to discuss his removal as ‘unauthorised’ and said Manjhi has rightly exercised his authority as the leader of the JD(U) legislature party to schedule such a meeting for February 20.

Singh also backed state Education Minister Brishen Patel and Rural Development Minister Nitish Mishra for deciding against attending tomorrow’s legislature party meeting convened by the JD(U) national president Sharad Yadav.

All JD(U) members will attend the ‘official’ legislature party meeting called by Manjhi on February 20 next, the minister claimed.

The Agriculture Minister also came down heavily on the JD(U) national general secretary K C Tyagi for asking Manjhi to quit as he is only a nominated chief minister and not an elected one, saying that Tyagi was speaking in BJP’s language aimed at weakening the ruling party.

Meanwhile, Manjhi refused to take any questions from reporters at a college compound after his helicopter landed there.

After taking guard of honour by the district police, Manjhi spent about ten minutes before going back to the helicopter and flying off to the next destination.

The Delhi High Court on Friday rejected a plea for death penalty and enhanced the sentence for Vikas Yadav and his cousin Vishal from life imprisonment to 25 years without remission for the murder of Nitish Katara, a friend of Vikas Yadav’s sister.

The court also increased the jail term of another convict Sukhdev Pehelwan to 25 years, saying all of them will have to undergo rigorous imprisonment without any remission behind bars except for the additional five years awarded to the trio for destruction of evidence in the case.

A special bench of Justice Gita Mittal and Justice JR Midha also imposed a penalty of Rs. 50 lakh each on Vikas, the son of UP politician DP Yadav, and his cousin Vishal for the murder.

The judges turned down the plea moved by Nitish’s mother Neelam Katara and Delhi police seeking gallows for the three convicts.

Neelam Katara, who was present during the pronouncement of the order on sentence, later expressed disappointment over rejection of the plea for death penalty but was happy with the enhancement of the sentence.

“I will appeal against the order in the Supreme Court,” she said, adding that she does not require the compensation amount awarded by the court as she feels that no numerical value can be put on the life of her son.

The court, in its over 700-page judgement said that the time spent by Vikas in hospital (October 10, 2011 to November 4, 2011) shall not be counted as period already undergone by him in jail.

It also asked the Centre and the state government to conduct an inquiry into the convicts’ visits to the hospital during their stay in jail.

Vikas, his cousin Vishal Yadav and Sukhdev Pehelwan are serving life term for abducting and killing Katara, a business executive and the son of a railway officer, on the night of February 16-17, 2002, as they opposed the victim’s affair with Bharti, daughter of DP Yadav.

The court has been hearing arguments on the punishment to be awarded to the three convicts since April 2014.

The convicts had sought leniency in sentencing as well as exemption from death sentence saying they can reform and their act was not so brutal or gruesome that it deserved capital punishment.

On the other hand, the victim’s mother, Neelam Katara, and the Delhi Police had demanded death for the trio, terming their offence to be the rarest of rare.

The high court had on April 2, 2014, upheld the verdict of the lower court in the case by describing the offence as “honour killing” stemming from a “deeply-entrenched belief” in caste system.

The high court had dismissed the appeals of the convicts and kept pending two separate pleas of the state and Neelam Katara seeking death penalty for them.

Katara was abducted and killed by Vikas, Vishal and Sukhdev as they did not approve of the victim’s affair with Bharti because they belonged to different castes, the court had said.