Live! Mayawati: Fast-track MLA rape case
January 20, 2011
We close our Live! bulletin for the day. But before you go, here's an quick look at what made the news today
CB-CID chargesheets 'rapist' BSP MLA
Reddy: No rollback in petrol prices
CBI: FIR in Adarash scam next week
CWG OC: Bulk of payments to Aus firms made
SC pulls up Teesta for mailing UNHRC
Sports min: Aus CWG payments in 10 days
3,000 Chinese in India by 'mistake'
9/11 mastermind killed Daniel Pearl: report
Burn-a-Quran Florida pastor barred from UK visit
Arizona shootout accused indicted
Mel Gibson faces 4 years for belting ex
Tragic hat-trick for Aamir: Peepli out of Oscars
Aus firm to sueCWG OCfor unpaid bills
ED slaps notices on Rs 360-cr IAS couple
ISI did not treat Mullah Omar: Pak envoy
Defence Minister A K Antony today said there would be "no cover-up" in disclosing names of people who have Swiss bank accounts as the government is committed to bring back all the money stashed abroad.
"We are determined to find the truth. That effort is on and we will not cover-up anything," he said.
Antony was responding to queries about reports suggesting that black money related to defence deals was lying in banks in Switzerland.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister had said there was "no instant solution" to bring back black money stashed in foreign banks and that information with Government cannot be made public due to treaty obligations.
His comments came close on the heels of the Supreme Court pulling up the Government for withholding information on black money stashed in foreign banks, saying it is not just limited to tax evasion but a "mind boggling crime" amounting to theft and plunder of national wealth having security ramifications.
The apex court made the observation while hearing a petition filed by noted criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who along with some retired bureaucrats and police officers, approached it seeking directions to the government to take steps to bring black money to the tune of one trillion dollars stashed in foreign banks back to the country.
Just in: CB-CIDfiles chargesheet against Banda BSP MLA Purshottam Dwivedi accused of raping a minor.
While UP CM Mayawati has still not expelled the MLA from the party, she finally came on record to say the allegations against the victim were false and the case should be fast-tracked. She has also suspended the Banda jailor and the assistant superintendent of police and two other police officers in the case.
17:28 Sarkozy blooper that would have made Palin proud: Ina slip-up that would have done former Alaska governor Sarah Palin proud, French President Nicolas Sarkozy today startled, and amused, an audience of Alsatian farmers by referring to their region as "Germany".
Alsace, on the western bank of the Rhine, has been French for most of the last 350 years and part of France since 1945. The independent.co.uk reports that the President immediately recognised his blooper.
Pointing at his head, he said: "Now you see why I am putting a lot of money into programmes on dependency."
Read: Sarah Palin thinks Africa is a country which has a President of Africa
17:15 Reddy: No rollback in petrol prices: New Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy today ruled out any increase in diesel prices, even though oil companies are losing Rs 7 per litre on sales of the transport fuel.
There is no proposal on the anvil for an increase in prices of diesel, Reddy said after taking charge of the new ministry.
Asked about deregulation of diesel prices, which Cabinet had said in June, 2010, would take place in due course, Reddy said, "I don't think anybody can take such long-term decisions."
He, however, indicated that there will be no rollback of the price hikes in petrol seven times since its deregulation in June, 2010.
For the Live! blog on the Cabinet reshuffle last evening, go here
Also read Renu Mittal's take on the reshuffle
17:07 CBI: FIR in Adarash scam next week: News from the Adarsh scam.
After receiving flak from the Bombay High Court for a tardy probe into the Adarsh Society case, the CBI today said it was all set to register an FIR next week, which will name some retired army officials and a few politicians.
The CBI, which had registered a preliminary enquiry into the scam in November last year, was pulled up by the High Court on Tuesday for delay in registering FIR in the case.
Even as Australian firms owed money during the Delhi CWG threatens to sue the Organising Committee, the OC said today that bulk of the payment has been made to Australian firms. The OC added that 'some amount' (as yet undisclosed)was held back because of under performance. The final payments to vendors were to be released only after complete reports from functional heads are received and analysed.
Three important updates this morning on the outstanding dues to Australian firms during CWG.
1.Australian firm Howard and Sons has decided to sue the 2010 Commonwealth Games organisers over unpaid bills. The Australian Commonwealth Games Association has said that the CWG still owes "a six-figure sum" which was due two months ago. The CWG OC owes money to 14 Australian firms.
2. Foreign minister SM Krishna who is in Australia was told by his counterpart Kevin Rudd to ensure that payments were made at the earliest, a shameful and embarrasing positionfor Krishna toface.
3. New Sports minister Ajay Maken said payments would be made in 10 days.
Just in: The Supreme Court today pulled up Teesta Setalvad, Secretary of the Mumbai-based Citizens for Justice and Peace, for sending a mail addressed to the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investations Team to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. SIT is probing the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Setalvad has submitted an unconditional apology to the SC.
Chief Minister Narendra Modi had appeared before the SIT for questioning in March 2010. He had been summoned in connection with a petition filed by Zakia Jaffrey, widow of Ehsan Jaffrey, the Congress MP, who was murdered in a riot at Ahmedabad's Gulburg Society on February 28, 2002. As many as 69 other people died in the riots at Gulburg Society.
What the Obamas got in the first year of presidency is worth several kings' ransoms. Here are the details; no pictures unfortunately.
From Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah: The King is by far the most generous foreign leader, gifting Obama, his wife and daughters nearly USD 190,000 in luxury gems.
A ruby and diamond jewellery set, given by the king to Michelle Obama, was worth USD 132,000.
A marble ornament adorned with miniature gold palm trees and camels, and a Jaeger-LeCoultre brass clock.
Obama's daughters, Sasha and Malia, each received diamond earrings and necklaces worth more than USD 7,000.
Top White House aides were also on the receiving end of King Abdullah's generosity, collecting watches, bracelets, cufflinks and pens valued at between USD 5,000 and USD 9,000.
It's been four since Madeleine McCann vanished, whileholidaying with her parents in Portugal in May 2007. Her parents launched a worldwidesearch to find her, but every single 'promising' lead so far, has been a dead end.
Now the dailymail.com reports that a girl looking like Maddie was spotted in Dubai with a man "identical" to an artist's impression of the suspect. He was last seen close to the holiday home where she vanished in Portugal.
16:05 Hrithik waxed at Madame Tussauds: Bollywood hottie Hrithik Roshan became the fifth Bollywood star to have his wax statue unveiled at the world-famous Madame Tussauds museum in London.
"I was stunned when I saw my wax figure," said the 37-year-old actor after unveiling the wax figure. Other Bollywood stars whose wax statues adorn the ornate museum are that of Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Salman Khan.
Hrithik who was accompanied by parents, father Rakesh Roshan, mother Pinky, grandfather J Om Prakash, wife Suzanne and their two sons, dedicated the honour to his family.
Tweet break.
BJP'sSushma Swarajtweets: Prime Minister says hes not an astrologer to predict on prices.True, Prime Minister is not an astrologer, I wish he were a good Economist.
Reference point: After the Cabinet reshuffle last evening, the PM was asked if the changes would help inflation. The PM replied, he did not know, since he wasn't an astrologer.
Former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri tells Barkha Dutt: General Kiyani was fully on board when India and Pakistan almost signed off on Kashmir agreement.
Reference point: American journalist Steve Coll had written in the New Yorker. that the two countries "were close to a deal' and it was "huge'. Kasuri went on record to say that if people found out the truth, they would never believe how close the two countries were to agreement
Former diplomat M Bhadrakumar's interesting take on the one-eyed Mullah Omar'ssudden illness...
Taliban supremo Mullah Omar's heart attack and the complications following his cardiac surgery couldn't have come at a more delicate point. If the unconfirmed news is true, a new element of uncertainty has appeared. Apart from the Pakistani military and ISI, virtually no one can speak authoritatively as to the 'locus of power' within the Quetta Shura.
After the death of Mullah Rabbani from cancer in 1997, Taliban haven't had a proper number two figure as such. Omar was always a figurehead but he was useful - almost priceless - for the ISI to build up the mystique of the Taliban and a lot of effort was put into the making and projection of Omar's personality.
In the backdrop of the increasing embarassment to India over outstanding millions due to Australian firms during the Delhi Commonwealth Games, India's new Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Ajay Maken said payments would be made in 10 days.
Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna assured the Australian government that he would take up the matter of non-payment of dues to companies for Commonwealth Games-related work after the issue featured in his talks with his counterpart Kevin Rudd.
Perry Crosswhite, the CEO of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association has said that his organisation is one among the 30 or 40 bodies whom the Delhi CWG organisers owe money.
After news yesterday of an acid attack on an Afghan journalist,a Vietnamese journalist says her colleague suffered severe burns after an intruder broke into his house, doused him with chemicals and set him on fire while he was sleeping. Le Hoang Hung, 51, suffered burns on about half his body following the attack early Wednesday.
Mai said he covered a variety of topics and that the attack could have been revenge.
15:20 Swiss open new probe against 'WikiLeaks banker': News from the WikiLeaks investigations.
Prosecutors in Switzerland have opened a new criminal probe against the Swiss banker who claims to have handed WikiLeaks details of rich tax cheats. Rudolf Elmer was arrested for questioning late yesterday. Pellegrini said in a statement that the new probe centres on Elmer's trip to London on Monday at which he gave two data CDs to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. It is unclear if Elmer is still being detained or has been released again.
China today said that the three Chinese citizens, who were arrested in India without valid travel documents recently, were "tourists" and entered the Indian territory by "mistake".
"In recent days three Chinese tourists crossed over to Indian border by mistake along the India-Nepal border. They were detained by Indian police," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
(BJP President Nitin Gadkari is in China today on a goodwill visit, the first-ever by a head of the party, to interact with the country's top leadership on a host of issues, including India-China relations.)
Haiti's political crisis deepened after aides to Jean-Claude Baby Doc Duvalier said he intended to return to power. Duvalier issued a statement denying the remarks by his aides yesterday, but did not rule out a political role in the country he was ousted from 25 years ago.
Duvalier's surprise return late Sunday has stoked further turmoil in Haiti, which struggles to recover from a devastating earthquake and resolve the political crisis triggered by the tainted vote in November.
14:56 Vote for the man with the sexiest eyes: This is a poll you will love doing.
Rediff.com serves up Bollywood's hottest male stars and asks you to choose: Who has the best abs? The sexiest eyes? The hottest lips? Cast your vote for who you think is the best!
Rediff.com's Ganesh Kumar reports thateactivist Medha Patkar, along with 200 others, was detained by the Nirmal Nagar police station at Santacruz after they blocked the Western Express Highway this morning.
Traffic movement near the highway was affected for a good two hours. Patkar and local residents were protesting the demolition of their homes for an SRA project in Golibar in Santacruz.
Residents were claiming that their homes were demolished 'illegally and in an unjust manner'.
The slum development project has been mired in controversy after a number of residents started opposing the redevelopment. There are allegtions that the land belongs to the airforce but there are no records of the same.
Patrick Cockburn writes an enlightening piece in the independent.co.uk that we believe is essential reading. He says that when a natural disaster happens, we watch from afar, transfixed by dramatic news reports. But the picture may be far from accurate.
More details from the earlier post on the muder of Daniel Pearl.
The Washington Post report says that Khalid Sheik Mohammed - the self-described mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks, who is being held at the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - said at a military hearing in 2007 that he killed Pearl. But there have been lingering doubts about his involvement, and the United States has not charged him with the crime.
According to the new report, the Washington Post says, that US officials have concluded that vascular technology, or vein matching, shows that the hand of the unseen man who killed Pearl on video is that of Mohammed. The report also says Mohammed told the FBI that a senior al-Qaeda operative advised him to take control of Pearl from his original kidnappers.
Read the report(Incidentally, Pearl's widow Marianne was in Mumbai last week for the India Today women's summit. Angelina Jolie essayed her character in the film based on the Pearl story, A mighty heart.)
An Indian-origin carer bullied her millionaire boss and swindled him out of more than £40,000, a court ruled yesterday. The dailymail.co.uk reports that Kumari Murphy, 57, claimed her employer 'a Sotheby's jewellery expert who conducted the auction of the Duchess of Windsor's gems in 1987' had even promised to leave his £2.3million home to her.
Also read a similar story from the life of legendary actress Devika Rani: The tragedy of the Roerich estate
Only in glorious India...
The story of how two star Indian police sniffer dogs are well, in the doghouse. And it has little do with their career graph --the two bitches recentlyhad a litter -- and are now in disgrace for their act.
Police in Chhattisgarh have suspended the bitches' trainers for dereliction of duty. The dog handlers said a lack of proper enclosures or kennels at the squad's headquarters was to blame, reports the bbc.co.uk.
A US pastor who had threatened to burn a Quran on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US has been barred from visiting Britain.
Florida pastor Terry Jones had planned to address a right-wing group, England is Ours, and join it for meetings and demonstrations from Feb. 9 to Feb.16.
Read: Who is Terry Jones?
After embarrassement and shame over CWG OC Suresh Kalmadi's non-payment of dues to Australian firms, Indian foreign minister SM Krishna faced rejection.
Australia today refused to concede to India's repeated requests for revoking a ban on Uranium sale, saying Canberra remains steadfast on its policy of not selling yellowcake to NPT non-signatories.
Krishna raised the issue of Uranium sale with Australia for a second day during his meeting with his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd, who said his country's stand remains unchanged.
Rudd acknowledged India's clean record on nuclear proliferation, but maintained it was Australia's national policy to not sell Uranium to NPT non-signatories.
The figure is mindboggling even to an India familiar with scams, because its the takings of a couple. An astounding Rs 360 crore!
The Enforcement Directorate has served notices to suspended Madhya Pradesh IAS couple -- Arvind and Tinu Joshi -- for alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act.
The move comes after the submission of a 7,000-page appraisal report by the Income Tax department to Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary Avni Vaish and Lokayukta P V Naolekar, in which their worth has been valued at a whopping Rs 360-crore.
Remember the 2009 arrest of excise commissioner PK Ajwani in Mumbai? CBI sleuths had to use a counting machine for the stacks of notes at his residence. In comparison, the amount was a trifle. Just Rs 5 crore in cash and valuables. Read the Ajwani story
13:15 'Silvio worse than sex-mad Caligula': More juicy news from the Sun, which incidentally, is the UK's best-selling tabloid.
The paper reveals that Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi, who is facing a sea ofsex charges, is now being called worse than Italian emperor Caligula, who was infamous for being sex mad. Berlusconi is still clinging to office, despite a trust vote in hisfavour last month.
Leaked police phone tap evidence lifted the lid on Berlusconi's "bunga bunga" parties, at which he allegedly had sex with prostitutes under the legal age of 18.
Italy's opposition party called said the revealations from the tapes "made Caligula look like a prude", while anotherMP saidBerlusconi's antics were worsethan Dante's Inferno.
Hollywood star Mel Gibson is set to be charged with hitting ex-girlfriend stunner Oksana Grigorieva -- and could face four years in jail, reports the sun.co.uk.
The Sun report says: Prosecutors were said to be likely to file a domestic violence allegation against the 55-year-old performer. The Braveheart and Lethal Weapon actor has been accused of breaking two of Oksana's teeth at the home they shared in Malibu, California, in January last year.
Oksana, 40, said the actor apparently hit her, while she was holding their baby and that she was scared for her life and her daughter's as well.
Tragedy avoided here.
A fire broke out in the AC coach of the Guwahati-bound Rajdhani Express, but was detected and brought under control, railway officials said here today. The fire broke out in the first-class air conditioned coach of the Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express before Sahibabad railway station at around 10 pmyesterday. As the train left New Delhi railway station at about 9:47 pm, a train guard noticed the flames near the coach following which he alerted the station master and the train driver, who then halted the train.
Preliminary investigations reveal that the fire was caused due to brakes touching the wheels of the train. The fault was corrected after which the train resumed its journey.
Some unfortunate, but expected news.
Aamir Khan's Peepli Live, India's official entry to the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film this year, is out of the race with the movie failing to make it to the final nine.
Produced by Aamir Khan, the film was selected from 27 movies including Raajneeti and Udaan to represent India at the Oscars. Aamir had won an Oscar nomination for his 2001 film Lagaan. His Taare Zameen Par (2007) also returned empty handed from the Oscars.
The dailymail.co.uk reports that Britain accepts more non-European immigrants than any other EU country except Spain. The latest annual figures showed immigration from Asia, Africa and the Americas running at 307,000, against 284,000 received by Italy and the 238,000 who went to Germany.
The break-up of the figures for Asian immigrants were not available.
Lara Duttatweets: Little bit of Tennis Trivia for tennis fans, @Maheshbhupathiscored his 600th win on tour today!! :-) .
Lara and Mahesh will get married on February 19.
R Rajagopalan tweets: Green Minister Jairam Ramesh to perform on Friday carnatic concert at Thiruvaiyaru Thyagaraja festival organised by GK Vasan.
12:02 Food inflation falls to 15.52%: Just in: Food inflation falls to 15.52 per cent for the week ended January 8 from 16.91 per cent in the previous week. The government held several meetings over the last two weeks in an attempt to gain control over spiralling prices, buoyed by the ever-rising onion prices.
Yesterday, in the aftermath of the Cabinet reshuffle, PM Manmohan Singh was asked whether the changes would bring about a control in prices. Singh replied that he had no idea because he was not an astrologer.
This news should bring that elusive smile to his lips.
12:00 China's Hu says 'lot to be done on human rights': Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is in the US, as you read this, has acknowledged that "a lot still needs to be done" in China over human rights. Hu was speaking at a joint news conference with US President Barack Obama on the first full day of his state visit to the US, reports bbc.co.uk.
Asked to justify China's human rights record, Hu said China had "made enormous progress recognized in the world". Obama said he saw China's "peaceful rise" as good for the United States.
Here's a gullible alert for Obama. China has gone back on its promise to not issue stapled visas to travellers from Arunachal Pradesh, despite assuring the PM to the contrary.
As for human rights, 2010 Nobel Peace prize winner Liu Xiaobo, remains firmly in jail, cut off from the rest of the world.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna today assured the Australian government that he would take up the matter of non-payment of dues to companies for Commonwealth Games-related work after the issue featured in his talks with Kevin Rudd.
According to reports, the Australian companies are preparing a lawsuit against the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee which allegedly owes millions of dollars to the firms. Australian Foreign Minister Rudd took up the issue with his counterpart Krishna during their bilateral talks today and the latter promised to deal with the issue on his return to New Delhi.
"It has been brought to my notice and I would go back to India and take it up with the Ministry of Sports," Krishna told a joint press conference after the meeting. Krishna could not give a time frame on how soon the matter would be resolved, but said it will be dealt with as soon as possible after his return to India.
The four men imprisoned for killing Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl were not present during his beheading, but were convicted of murder because Pakistani authorities knowingly relied on perjured testimony and ignored other leads.
The results of the Pearl Project, an investigation carried out by a team of American journalists and students and spanning more than three years, raise troubling questions about Pakistan's dysfunctional criminal justice system and underscore the limits US officials face in relying on Pakistani authorities.
The four men convicted in the killing did help kidnap the American journalist, according to the investigation. But it says forensic evidence known as "vein-matching" bolsters the confession of al-Qaida No. 3 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the professed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, to having killed Pearl.
If you haven't watched it yet, watch it now -- A Mighty Heart. The Angelina Jolie film in the aftermath of Pearl's abduction and murder.
11:12 Aus firm to sue Kalmadi for unpaid bills: Embarassement ahead for India's foreign minister SM Krishna, who is in Australia. Here's why.
Australian firm Howard and Sons has decided to sue the 2010 Commonwealth Games organisers over unpaid bills. The Australian Commonwealth Games Association has said that the CWG still owes "a six-figure sum" which was due two months ago.
Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is now expected to discuss the millions allegedly owed to Australian firms for Commonwealth Games work during talks today with his Indian counterpart SM Krishna.
"The Australian government is concerned to ensure that outstanding accounts relating to contracts for the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games with Australian firms are settled," Rudd's spokeswoman said.
Perry Crosswhite, the CEO of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association has said that his organisation is one among the 30 or 40 bodies whom the Delhi CWG organisers owe money.
Just in: Australian firms likely to sue CWG OC Suresh Kalmadi and his cronies for unpaid bills tantamount to a breach of contract.Delhi CWG owes Aus$3,00,000 to firm Howard and Co.
Developing
Possibly the biggest international news affecting India is the report that Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar had a heart surgery in a Karachi hospital with the assistance of Pakistan's spy agency the ISI. However, Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, says the says the report has 'no basis whatsoever'.
"Sometimes intelligence tips received by professionals turn out to be wrong," the Dawn quoted Haqqani, as saying. "Such reports are fabricated by those who want to give Pakistan a bad name,' he added.
Haqqani recalled that US intelligence sources had reported in 2001 that Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was receiving dialysis treatment in Pakistan, but the report turned out to be incorrect.
Good morning and welcome to a 'reshuffled' India. For the Live! coverageofall the news ofPM Manmohan Singh'scabinet reshuffle,check this out.
Meanwhile, before we begin, the top 10 stories made the headlines today.
-- PM shuffles same old pack (The Times of India)
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shuffled his team on Wednesday, in a modest exercise focused on economic ministries that did not involve any dismissals, although a few ministers were downsized. Three were elevated to cabinet rank.
-- Plunder, not tax evasion, SC tells govt (The Times of India)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday cut through the Centre's approach equating money plundered from India and stashed offshore with tax evasion and sought speedy action against those guilty of the ''mind-boggling crime''.
-- Portability: 1 in 6 wants to change service provider (Hindustan Times)
More than one out of six mobile phone subscribers (17.6%) want to switch over to another telecom company. Given India's mobile subscriber base of more than 700 million, it could mean that up to 120 million people want to switch
-- Civic chief wants illegal floors demolished (Hindustan Times)
A day after the Bombay high court pulled up the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for illegal structures in the city, municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar has asked civic officials to demolish additional floors that developers are building without the civic body's consent
-- Get state in order PC tells Bengal CM (Hindustan Times)
It was a day when West Bengal politics played out in full swing in New Delhi, with both chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and a Trinamool Congress delegation meeting home minister P Chidambaram over the Maoist issue.
-- Don't need NOC from Omar, says BJP (The Indian Express)
That's the BJP's response to J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's plea not to "precipitate' the situation in the Valley by going ahead with the plan to hoist the Tricolour at Srinagar's Lal Chowk on Republic Day
-- Mullah Omar treated in Karachi with ISI help(The Times of India)
Elusive Taliban leader Mullah Omar, one of the world's most wanted terrorists, was treated in a Karachi hospital with the help of Pakistan's spy agency ISI after he suffered a heart attack
-- South Sudan on its way to breaking free (The Times of India)
South Sudan achieved the simple majority needed to secede in its independence referendum, partial preliminary results showed on Wednesday, with many counties still to report
-- Deadly Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever outbreak in Ahmedabad; 3 die(DNA)
First victim, 30-year-old Ameena Momin, died on January 3.
-- Lift ban on uranium sale to India, Krishna urges Rudd (The Hindu)
External Affairs minister SM Krishna met his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd today even as he again made a strong pitch to lift ban on uranium sale to India insisting that nuclear power is necessary for energy starved developing countries
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