Snooping: HC rejects Sharma’s plea to file FIR against Modi

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April 2, 2014

Gujarat High Court Wednesday rejected suspended IAS officer Pradeep Sharma’s plea seeking direction to lodge FIR against Chief Minister Narendra Modi in a case of alleged snooping of a woman by former state Home Minister Amit Shah on behest of one ‘Saheb’.

Justice G R Udhvani, while rejecting the plea, observed that there are alternative remedies available and asked him to approach the magisterial court.

The court said that the petition is not maintainable under Article 226.
Article 226 contains the provision for filing a petition before the Gujarat High Court.

Pradeep Sharma had earlier approached Sector 7 police station of Gandhinagar but police had refused to file the FIR.

Sharma had also approached Gujarat DGP PC Thakur and Gandhinagar SP Sharad Singhal to intervene and ask the police to file an FIR, but the efforts did not yield any results.

He had then approached the High Court and contended that police cannot refuse to file an FIR, as per a Supreme Court’s recent direction.

Earlier, two investigative news portals Cobrapost.Com and Gulail.Com had alleged that Gujarat state functionaries snooped on a woman architect and Sharma.

Following the revelations, the Gujarat government had formed a commission under the chairpersonship of former High Court Judge Sugnya Bhatt to inquire into the issue.

Sharma is facing six criminal cases of corruption in Gujarat. The 1984-batch IAS officer claimed he was being victimised by the BJP government in Gujarat.

Tarun Tejpal’s daughter joins Twitter war over alleged rape case

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Afternoon Voice

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April 2, 2014

Tehelka founder Tarun Tejpal, who is in jail, is now at the center of a war on social media over CCTV footage from a five-star hotel in Goa where he allegedly raped a younger colleague last year.

Mr. Tejpal’s defenders say the footage contradicts the young woman’s version of what happened inside an elevator on two nights in November last.

In a series of tweets, Mr. Tejpal’s older daughter Tiya hit out at journalists who, she alleged, were discrediting her father’s supporters.

Among the supporters she counted filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and journalist Manu Joseph, who have highlighted discrepancies based on the footage from a camera outside the elevator where Mr. Tejpal allegedly assaulted the journalist. There was no camera inside the elevator.

“Usne such bola toh WOH BHI rapist. wow! Discrediting @seemamustafa or manu joseph or anurag kashyap or anyone who has an opinion is the going strategy apparently,” tweeted Tiya Tejpal. The 26-year-old was a close friend of the woman who has alleged rape.

The row erupted after Anurag Kashyap posted on social networking site Facebook, “I have seen the CCTV footage too and none of what the girl says about Tarun Tejpal is true.”

Manu Joseph, whose article in the latest issue of Outlook newsmagazine gave a detailed analysis of the footage comparing it to the woman’s story, issued a statement saying he was being accused of running a campaign to save Mr. Tejpal.

“I decided to write the story because I thought it was an important story to attempt,” he said, revealing that he had met the woman for his story.

A court has rejected the CCTV footage as evidence that could help Mr. Tejpal’s case.

Congress candidate Imran Masood, who threatened Narendra Modi, granted bail

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Afternoon Voice

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April 2, 2014

Imran Masood, the Congress party’s candidate from Saharanpur who was arrested on Saturday for threatening “to chop Narendra Modi” into pieces, was today granted bail by a local court.

Imran’s remarks had created a furore, and were frowned upon by his party vice-president Rahul Gandhi. He used an election rally in Saharanpur on the day Imran was arrested to express his disapproval of the hate-speech.

“A few months ago, our candidate used harsh words for the opposition candidate. That’s not our tradition. No matter what the Opposition says about us, we always respond respectfully, said Mr. Gandhi.

“We want to engage in politics of love. We’ll defeat anger with love,” he added.

Imran is the nephew of former union minister Rashid Masood, who had earned infamy last year after becoming the first parliamentarian to lose his membership of the Rajya Sabha because of his conviction in a corruption case.

A criminal case was registered against Imran on March 28 after a video of him threatening to “chop Modi to pieces” went viral on the Web. Clarifying his comments, he told, “I meant that I would teach him a lesson.”

An FIR or First Information Report accused Imran, 40, of violating the election code of conduct, but it was not clear when and where the comments were made.

First Narendra Modi, now LK Advani joins Uma Bharti’s ‘non-orators’ club

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Afternoon Voice

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April 2, 2014

The BJP’s Uma Bharti, who has been forced to offer multiple clarifications after saying Narendra Modi is not a good orator, now says she had made the same observation about party patriarch LK Advani.

“I had earlier also said that Advaniji is not a good orator. It should not be taken in a negative way. It was an assessment. My comment on Modi has been distorted by the media,” she said in Jhansi, the constituency in Uttar Pradesh from where she is contesting the general election.

What she meant as a correction could bring more trouble for the firebrand leader, who has spent two days defending these comments she made on Monday: “Vajpayeeji was a good orator. People say that there has been no orator like him in Indian politics. If you have paid attention then you would know that Modi is not a good orator. People go to his rallies not to listen to his speech but to tell him that they want him to change this country and that they stand by him.”

On Tuesday, she issued a statement saying she had not criticised the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate; she had been quoted out of context as part of a “conspiracy to portray that BJP leaders have differences.”

Atal Bihari Vajpayee is the only BJP leader to have held the post of Prime Minister. Mr Advani was his deputy for four years, but could not make it to the top post after his party lost the 2004 and 2009 elections. Opinion polls give Mr Modi a good chance at making it to the top post this time.

Mr Vajpayee is renowned for his oratory, both in Parliament and outside. In 2011, Mr Advani had said that he suffered from an inferiority complex due to the oratorical skills of Mr Vajpayee.

“I had told Atal Bihari Vajpayee in early 1970s that I have developed an inferiority complex due to your speeches,” he admitted.

The commodification of women under human traffic

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Afternoon Voice

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April 2, 2014

Girls for sale! Price rate from two to 75 thousand rupees! The high school and college going girls in demand! Yes! It is the realistic shameful dark cruelty exists in the main stream of silicon city Bangalore, not in the out rated locality but in the lime light of the city performed by the high society educated girls who sell their bodies just for the sake of money. The pimps easily make transactions just with a telephone call and the customers are facilitated with the spot delivery of girls belonging to esteemed institutions.

The activity is not a recent one. In the early monarchy, the prostitution was legal and a family was treated under the name of ‘Devadasi’, which was commercialised during the reign of British. The red light area Kamathipura in Mumbai is still well known for the sale of girls. Kolkata and New Delhi were the centers of such commodification. But now the garden city Bangalore has become the centre of selling girls through big rackets. What makes the students get attracted towards prostitution?

Concubide is the only trader, who receives huge sum of money within hours. Are not the girls well fed by their homes? Why not! These girls are far away from their homes, which are well furnished with their needs of education. But these girls being away from their homes easily get attracted towards the horrible things like drugs and boozing which are out of their budget that can be easily fulfilled by such extra earning. Can’t this brutality be prevented?

Certainly yes, an education about the criminal activities like drug mafia and human traffic, which drags the girls into destruction, must be provided by the government. Further, stringent rules must be framed against the criminals for pushing girls into prostitution. The brutal pimps must be strictly arrested. The darkness which is swallowing a number of girls must be eradicated through the light of law by strengthening the judicial and social system.

Pramesh Jain

BEST made Mumbaikars BeBus

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Afternoon Voice

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April 2, 2014

Commuters had to face huge inconvenience on account of the illegal strike called by BEST employees.

Mumbaikars had to bear the brunt of the BEST bus strike as they had to commute in suburban trains, hire autos and taxis to reach their office. Most of the commuters had to shell out more money while commuting in autos and cars.

Autorickshaws and taxi drivers made the most out of the strike as they started overcharging commuters. On the other hand, many passengers had to face huge hardships as auto rickshaws and taxis were refusing fares. Some passengers had come together to share cabs for reaching their offices in business districts of Bandra, Andheri and Lower Parel. Passengers had to stand in scorching heat for many hours to board autorickshaws and taxis.

BEST drivers and conductors have been protesting against the new computerized scheduling system. As per reports, almost all of the 3500 buses were standing idle inside depots and only 10 buses came on the roads. Further, only a handful of workers reported for duty yesterday. The Bombay High Court has said that the strike called by drivers and conductors is illegal and asked them to report for work.

As per officials, nearly half of the BEST staff had agreed to the new scheduling system by Monday. However, the remaining ones decided to go on flash strike in protest.

BEST workers’ union leader Sharad Rao, who held a press conference said the strike will “continue” as workers are upset with the management and are opposed to the new computerized scheduling system. He said other unions, including those in BMC and autorickshaws, may support the stir from Wednesday.

The new schedule has been worked out by Trapeze, the Canadian firm that has been engaged by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking to help it to rework its systems towards reducing losses. The new schedule is expected to cut losses by Rs 32 crore.

For a staffer on a long route bus, it could take more than an hour and a half to complete a single trip. According to the new chart, even if he has just half an hour of duty to be completed for the day, he would have to make the trip before calling it a day,” an employee explained.
The unions that went on strike are against the 12- to 13-hour work schedule for 20% staffers; they are demanding that the earlier manual system of scheduling be reinstated.

The unions are also demanding that BEST revoke the recent suspension of 11 workers, against whom action was taken for opposing the schedule.
Kishore Shah a FY Bsc student from Kandivali said, “There can always be a better way to resolve this issue than just go on strike without prior notice. We acknowledge the services of best workers but they should be aware of their social responsibility. Several school going students having exams had tough time while reaching schools.”

Amol Patkar a BPO employee from Malad said, “There were no buses in the morning. Even if there are buses – they do not schedule the buses properly which results in loss to the corporation. They should close down and hand over the business of running bus to private operators.”

BEST general manager Om Prakash Gupta had appealed workers to join duty yesterday evening failing which punitive action will be taken against them.

Uddhav Thackeray’s claim ‘joke of the year’: Sharad Pawar

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Afternoon Voice

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April 1, 2014

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday trashed Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray’s claim that he blocked his entry into the NDA, dubbing it the “joke of the year” made out of “frustration”.

“I will say this is the joke of the year,” Pawar retorted sharply, reacting to Uddhav’s assertion that the NCP boss and Union minister had sent feelers to him to join the Opposition alliance.

“I knew intimately late Balasaheb Thackeray. He was a mature person. I feel sorry that the person, who has taken the responsibility of running an organisation set up by Balasaheb Thackeray, his level of thinking is this… Making irresponsible statements. That’s the reason that his organisation, day by day, is going down,” Pawar said.

The NCP president said nobody took Uddhav seriously and so “the question of my taking him seriously does not arise”.

“We (NCP and Congress) have been continuously working progressively together. We are defeating them. We are running a government here (in Maharashtra). That’s why they have become frustrated and that’s why they are making this type of statement,” Pawar said.

Uddhav had, in an interview published in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ and during an interaction with a TV channel, said he and other leaders of ‘Mahayuti’ (Grand Alliance) in Maharashtra, including BJP’s Gopinath Munde and RPI’s Ramdas Athavale, had thwarted attempts by the NCP veteran to join NDA.

“There is total confusion in their minds, they are unable to do any progressive work for the people of the state and that’s why the only one programme they have taken is to make this type of irresponsible statements and try to achieve something they will never achieve,” Pawar said.

Actor Salman Khan ‘awestruck’ by Congress nominee Gurudas Kamat

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Afternoon Voice

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April 1, 2014

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has extended his support to senior Congress leader and Mumbai North West candidate Gurudas Kamat for his various “qualities” as a politician and for his “magnanimity”.

Salman has in a recorded message appealed to voters to support Kamat because “good work can be done only by a good person. What’s a good person?..One who takes a stand on things, which Kamat takes…Then you raise your voice for it, which also Kamat does, and to forgive who may have wronged you, which is rarely seen in politics and the one who works for the people, not for himself, which he does in plenty”.

Interestingly, one of Kamat’s rival in the fray is Salman’s good friend and actor-filmmaker Mahesh Manjarekar who is contesting on MNS ticket.

Salman said in his message that Kamat’s passion is infrastructure and result-oriented development.

“I believe that a politician should be a social worker, and that social work only is politics. Kamat is basically a social worker who has chosen to do this good work through the medium of his party,” Salman said.

The actor, who in the past had campaigned for Congress candidates in Mumbai, said Kamat’s biggest hobby and passion is that infrastructure should be there and development should happen fast.

“Many people talk about development but very few people can get results. I know Gurudas Kamat has all these qualities,” the actor said.

Apart from Manjarekar, Kamat’s other rivals are Shiv Sena veteran Gajanan Kirtikar, television actress Rakhi Sawant who is contesting as Rashtriya Aam Party candidate, and Samajwadi Party nominee actor Kamal Khan.

Shiv Sena will continue to oppose anti-national Muslims: Uddhav Thackeray

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Afternoon Voice

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April 1, 2014

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said that his party will do everything to keep the Congress and NCP out of power in Maharashtra and in the other parts of the country.

Uddhav said, “My focus is just to defeat the Congress-NCP combine, nothing else. We will do everything to keep them out of power.”

The Shiv Sena chief also expressed his displeasure over former BJP chief Nitin Gadkari’s recent meeting with his cousin and MNS party chief Raj Thackeray, which triggered speculation of a secret deal between the two parties ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

“Yes, I am upset with Nitin ji but there’s no enmity,” Uddhav said adding, “I don’t want to comment on his meeting with Raj.”

Further clarifying on his ‘vyapaari’ comments in party mouthpiece ‘Saamna’, he said that Gadkari himself says he’s a businessman so there is nothing wrong in saying so.

Speaking about his cousin Raj, Uddhav said, “When he (Raj) quit Shiv Sena, he blamed me. So would he have returned with just a phone call from my side?

Uddhav also categorically stated that his joining hands with MNS has nothing to do with this elections, in an apparent reference to latter’s claim that MNS was close to sealing a deal with the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

“Whether we will come together or not has nothing to do with this elections,” he added.

Shifting the focus to his late father and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, Uddhav said, “We will always miss Balasaheb but I will work hard to ensure that his absence is not felt politically.“

Meanwhile, in Saamna’s latest issue, Uddhav has said that Shiv Sena will continue to oppose the “anti-national Muslims” who do not respect the country’s laws and create problems for people.

“Like my father Bal Thackeray, those Muslims who consider India their motherland, respect the laws of this country, don’t ignite riots and live amicably, we have nothing against them – as far as the others, they have no right to live in India,” Thackeray wrote in his party journal.

When asked about how Hyderabad-based Muslim leader Akbaruddin Owaisi was spewing venom against Hindus by threatening to wipe out the majority (Hindu) community in 15 minutes, Thackeray cited the example of his father.

“Though he was the only Hindu ‘Hridaysamrat’ (Emperor of Hindu hearts), Bal Thackeray never said he would annihilate the Muslims in 15 minutes. Can somebody dare to speak in this fashion (like Owaisi) among the Pakistani Hindus? Under such a situation, it is up to the Hindus to decide who will protect them,” Thackeray said.

Ahead of competitors by at least a lakh votes: Mayank Gandhi

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Afternoon Voice

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April 1, 2014

AAP leader Mayank Gandhi said its chief Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation as Delhi Chief Minister would not affect the party’s poll prospects, even as the party candidate from North West Mumbai parliamentary seat claimed to have an edge over his competitors in the Lok Sabha elections.

“It was a legitimate political decision. The country at this time needs institutional reforms. We quit the national capital for larger institutional games,” Gandhi said.

He also denied that the party would bear the brunt of Kejriwal’s decision to resign from chief ministership of Delhi in just 49 days.

Gandhi said that they choose to go back to the people only for reforms. “Should the country wait for 5 more years for a Jan Lokpal? It was better we resigned from government and came back with a strong mandate and pass a strong anti-corruption law,” he added.

The AAP leader has been fielded against sitting Congress MP Gurudas Kamat from North West Mumbai in the LS elections. Also, he will be facing Kamal Khan of the Samajwadi Party, Mahesh Manjarekar of the MNS and Gajanan Kirtikar of the Shiv Sena in the poll ring.

But he claimed to be in a favourable position over other contestants on the prestigious seat.

“From an internal survey that we have done, I am ahead of my competitors by atleast 1,00,000 votes. More than half of the people we spoke to, favoured the Aam Aadmi party over other candidates,” he said.

The 55-year-old social activist leader also slammed the media and said that objectivity in reporting was absent in the country.

“Media has been the pillar of democracy. There has to be an objectivity in media reporting. That is missing,” he felt.

To a query on who will AAP support to form the government after the Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi said, “Though a formal discussion hasn’t taken place as yet, we may decide to support a party based on certain conditions like Jan Lokpal and corruption issues.”

However, he was quick to add that this was his personal opinion.