Tuesday, April 26, 2011

CBI ARRESTS SURESH KALMADI


LEAD LINKS ON THE LATE SRI SATHYA SAIBABA




The readers may avail the following links  for wide information of late Sri Sathya Saibaba. Celebrities,devotees throng to have final "dharshan" of the Guru.

Puttaparthi has to witness an estimated five laks devotees from both from homeland and from overseas to pay homage to the parted soul.

Forward the message to your near and dears.




Evacuees get home visits of five hours


Tuesday, April 26, 2011

No-go zone entry after Golden Week OK'd; animal cull begins

Kyodo
FUKUSHIMA — The government will allow those who evacuated from the 20-km radius no-go zone around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant to visit their homes for up to five hours, officials said Monday.
News photo
Recovery on track: A bullet train from Tokyo passes a disaster waste dump near Sendai on Monday as shinkansen services linking the two stations resumed for the first time since March 11. KYODO PHOTO
The announcement was made as prefectural officials were preparing to cull dying livestock in the fallout-contaminated area.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said at the Diet that he would like to see the evacuees' visits begin after the Golden Week holidays through early May. The details were explained to municipalities in the 20-km hot zone, which was legally designated as off-limits last week.
The temporary visits will be limited to five hours to keep radiation doses to 1 millisievert or less. Only one person will be allowed to return per household, excluding those under 15 years old and the elderly.
The government has also decided to ban them from bringing out food and farm animals. Authorization to remove cars and pets is still being discussed, officials said.
Residents, especially those who left immediately after the nuclear emergency began in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, have been clamoring to get back to their homes to collect belongings.
The government ordered residents in the 20-km hot zone to evacuate and told those within 20 to 30 km of the plant to stay indoors or leave voluntarily.
Last Thursday, the government announced that household representatives will be allowed to visit their homes for up to two hours on condition they move into the 20-km hot zone on buses and in groups accompanied by local authorities. They will also have to wear protective clothing and carry dosimeters and undergo radiation screening afterward.
In Fukushima Prefecture the same day, six prefectural workers in protective outfits entered the 20-km hot zone to begin the process of culling starving livestock.
While there is no legal stipulation on slaughtering livestock in the area, the prefectural government decided to kill the animals for public health reasons, local officials said.
According to a livestock hygiene service center in the prefecture, the culling operations will be focused on Minamisoma's Odaka district, where 887 cows, 80 horses, about 6,200 pigs and around 260,000 chickens were raised as of October.
The Odaka district was struck by the massive tsunami on March 11, which destroyed or swept away some of the 91 livestock barns in the area.
The prefecture will only cull animals that are on the verge of death and attempt to get the owners' permission, if possible, the officials said.
But contacting the owners is expected to be difficult because the residents were scattered helter-skelter by the evacuation order. Last week, the central government upgraded the evacuation order to include a legally enforceable ban on keeping residents out.
Meanwhile, Kan said Monday he will lay out a plan to mend Japan's tattered public finances, although sizable spending increases will obviously be needed to rebuild the Tohoku region.
"When we discuss the second extra budget in fiscal 2011 for full-scale reconstruction, I'd like to also set a course for fiscal consolidation," Kan said in a session of the House of Councilors audit panel.
Kan and other Cabinet members said the government would most likely need to rely on issuance of government bonds when they draw up the second extra budget, unlike the first one, which was drafted without new borrowings.
Courtesy:Japantimes

Gujarat riots: SIT submits final report in SC


Updated on Monday, April 25, 2011, 15:24

Zeenews Bureau 


New Delhi: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing the Naroda Patia, Naroda Gam and Gulbarg Society massacre cases of 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat, on Monday submitted its final report before the Supreme Court. 

While there was no word on the contents of the SIT report, its submission holds significance in view of the affidavit filed in the SC by IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt. 

Bhatt, who was a deputy commissioner of police in the state intelligence bureau at the time of riots, blamed Narendra Modi in the affidavit for the communal carnage. Bhatt said the chief minister wanted Muslims to be taught “a lesson” for the Godhra train burning that left 59 Kar Sevaks dead and that Hindus should “be allowed to vent their anger”. 

Bhatt had also cast doubts over the Supreme Court-appointed SIT. 

In his affidavit, Bhatt said after the February 27, 2002 Godhra train burning Chief Minister Modi at a meeting, in which he (Bhatt) was present, said that “this time the situation warranted that the Muslims be taught a lesson to ensure that such incidents do not occur ever again”. 

Bhatt in his affidavit said he had told the SIT that Chief Minister Modi took the position even though he was cautioned that bringing the bodies of the Kar Sevaks to Ahmedabad coupled with a bandh call given by BJP could spark communal riots and Gujarat police were not adequately equipped to deal with such a situation. 

Bhatt said that Modi responded by saying “the bandh call had already been given and the party (BJP) had decided to support the same, as incidents like burning of Kar Sevaks at Godhra could not be tolerated”. 

Bhatt filed his affidavit in the context of the petition filed in the Supreme Court by Zakia Ahsan Jafri, widow of a former Congress MP who was burnt to death with many others at the Gulberg Housing Society by a mob. 

He said that despite his telling the SIT that the post-Godhra riots were orchestrated at the instance of Modi, it did nothing to investigate the angle and chose to turn a blind eye to it. 

In the Godhra train coach burning, 59 Kar Sevaks returning from Ayodhya were killed after fire engulfed the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra railway station on the morning of February 27, 2002. The incident sparked widespread anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat.
 
http://www.zeenews.com/news702212.html

Kanimozhi, 4 others chargesheeted; Dayalu Ammal listed as witness



Jiby Kattakayam


Kanimozhi
NEW DELHI: The CBI on Monday chargesheeted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's daughter and Rajya Sabha member M.K. Kanimozhi along with four others for “criminal conspiracy and receiving illegal gratification” in the 2G spectrum case.

Ms. Kanimozhi, a 20 per cent stakeholder in Kalaignar TV Pvt. Ltd., is the second DMK politician chargesheeted by the CBI after the former Union Telecom Minister, A. Raja. The others who figured in the supplementary charge sheet filed in a special court here are Kalaignar TV director and 20 per cent equity holder Sharad Kumar; Asif Balwa and Rajiv Aggarwal, directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables; and Cineyug Films director Karim Morani.
The five accused, along with Mr. Raja and DB Realty co-owners Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka, have been indicted for alleged involvement in the transfer of Rs. 200 crore from the DB Realty group to Kalaignar TV between December 2008 and August 2009 by “following a circuitous route” through Dynamix Realty, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Ltd. and Cineyug Films.

Taking cognisance, Special Judge O.P. Saini, in his order, said he was “satisfied that there was enough incriminating material on record to proceed against the accused persons.” He issued summons to Ms. Kanimozhi, Mr. Sharad Kumar and Mr. Morani to appear before the court on May 6. Production warrants were also issued for Asif Balwa and Rajiv Aggarwal for Tuesday (April 26).

Various business dealings between DB Realty and Green House Promoters, owned by Mr. Raja's close aide, Sadiq Batcha, who was recently found dead under mysterious circumstances in Chennai, also find a mention in the charge sheet.


Sharad Kumar
The charge sheet noted that the transactions between DB Realty and Kalaignar TV began on December 23, 2008, a week after Swan Telecom received Rs.3,228 crore from Etisalat Mauritius and Rs. 381 crore from Genex Exim Ventures on December 17, 2008, through the offloading of 45 per cent shares in Swan Telecom.

As for the 60 per cent stakeholder in Kalaignar TV, Mr. Karunanidhi's wife Dayalu Ammal, the CBI said the minutes of a Kalaignar TV Board meeting, dated July 27, 2007, had come to its attention in which she stated that “she could not be expected to give any attention to the company's affairs” in view of her “old age, deteriorating health and non-understanding of any language other than Tamil.” Her name now figures in the list of witnesses furnished by the agency.

The charges against the accused persons come under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code read with Section 7 (public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act) of the Prevention of Corruption (PoC) Act. Alternatively, Section 120B read with Section 11 (public servant accepting bribe from persons concerned in the business being transacted by such public servant), and Section 12 (abetment of Section 7, 11 offences) of the PoC Act have also been imposed.
The first charge sheet in the case was filed on April 2 in which nine persons and three companies were named. On Monday, counsel for Mr. Raja opposed the filing of the supplementary charge sheet without giving a copy to the other accused.

CBI Senior Public Prosecutor A.K. Singh rebutted the defence submission noting that Section 173 (8) of the Criminal Procedure Code entitled the CBI to further investigation and that filing the supplementary charge sheet was an exercise of the Cr.PC provision in which the accused could have no say.

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Courtesy:The Hindu

Monday, April 25, 2011

Suresh Kalmadi arrested; formal announcement this afternoon


Updated: April 25, 2011 13:24 IST




New Delhi:  Suresh Kalmadi  has been arrested - a formal announcement is likely this afternoon - for allowing and in some cases inducing corruption in the Commonwealth Games that were held in India in October last year.

Mr Kalmadi was interrogated this morning by the CBI for the fourth time about a slate of contracts that saw the most expensive firms being hired for equipment and services.  These include conspiring with a Swiss firm that supplied the Timing-Scoring-Results System (TSR) for the Games at exorbitant rates.

Mr Kalmadi served as the Chairman of the Organising Committee that has been drenched in corruption charges.  Team Kalmadi was allegedly in the habit of handing out contracts to firms that provided equipment or services at exorbitant rates; reasonable bids from other firms were allegedly ignored.

Several of Mr Kalmadi's closest aides have already been arrested- including Lalit Bhanot,  who served as the Secretary General of the Organizing Committee and V K Verma who was its Director General.



While Mr Kalmadi's own role has long been suspect, the CBI believes it finally has enough evidence to prove his corruption.  "Better late than never," was the official response of the BJP to the news of Mr Kalmadi's arrest.  In November, Mr Kalmadi, who is a heavyweight Congress politician from Pune, was fired as the Secretary of the Congress Parliamentary Party.

The Queen's Baton Relay which kickstarted the Games was held in London in September 2009. A London-based firm named AM Films was hired by Mr Kalmadi to provide taxis, portable toilets and massive public TV screens for the ceremony. Mr Kalmadi sanctioned transfers of huge amounts of cash to AM Films and its owner, Ashish Patel, even though there was no signed contract.  Mr Kalmadi later told NDTV that because London officials had requested equipment at the last minute, he did not have the time to process a contract. AM Films charged phenomenal amounts for its services.  The financial track record of Mr Patel proved to be dubious.  And then emails surfaced that showed Mr Kalmadi's close aides instructing Mr Patel for what rates to charge the Committee.  

A team from the CBI has reportedly met with Mr Patel in London, and is encouraging him to turn approver.  It has also discovered that three other bids made by other UK firms for the Queen's Baton Relay function were forged - most likely in an attempt to prove that due process had been followed in considering offers from a series of companies.

Mr Kalmadi's associates had first said that AM Films had been suggested as a potential contractor by the Indian High Commission in London.  It was soon proved that the emails brandished by the Organizing Committee to prove this were doctored.


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Story first published:


Courtesy:NDTV

Manmohan to visit Puttaparthi PTI


Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit Puttaparthi on Tuesday to pay his respect to the late Satya Sai Baba.
He will leave in the morning and return the same day after paying his homage to the spiritual leader who died on Sunday, official sources said.
Expressing “deep and profound sadness” over Baba’s death, the Prime Minister had on Sunday said that he was a spiritual leader who inspired millions to lead a moral and meaningful life even as they followed the religion of their choice.
“Sri Sathya Saibaba as a preacher of the highest human values was an iconic figure for over five decades. He endeared himself to the people through various institutions, with headquarters at Prashanthi Nilayam, that promoted egalitarian values, education and public health,” Dr. Singh said.
Courtesy:The Hindu

Childhood friends offer a glimpse into early days



Ravi P. Benjamin


PUTTAPARTHI: Before the world at large witnessed and believed the unsual powers of Sathya Sai Baba, it was his childhood friends who stood testimony to his out-of-the-world deeds. For many of his contemporaries and childhood friends, he was a prodigy and a cut above the rest.


Though Ratnakaram Satyanarayana Raju-turned-Sathya Sai Baba is the last of the five siblings of Pedda Venkama Raju and Eeswaramma to leave this material world, he still has several childhood friends in Puttaparthi. They recollect the days of their friendship with Sai Baba as the happiest phase of their lives.

“We were close friends like any high-school or higher secondary school friends nowadays and we used to meet almost every day on the Chitravati river bed outside the village,” Keshappa (82), who retired as a school headmaster. “I am very fortunate to be associated with Sathya Sai, who became a God to millions across the globe.”

Many other contemporaries, including Ramalingamaiah (79), Susheelamma (80), Shakuntala, Laxmidevamma and Jayamma, too were in a state of shock when The Hindu approached them for some glimpses into the Sai Baba's early life.

“Association with Sathya Sai was thrilling in every respect. He had his band of 5-6 close friends and I was among it. He used to recite slokas in Sanskrit melodiously and continuously,” Mr. Ramalingamaiah explained while dwelling on the past.

After reaching the banks of the Chitravati river, Sathya Sai first used to scale a ‘kalpavriksham' (a tree) and meditate there for some time. “He produced mangoes many a time and gave them to us. We savoured those sweet fruits. He also used to produce ‘laddus' as ‘prasadam' after taking some sand in his hands,” Mr. Keshappa recollected.

Even though Sathya Sai started giving discourses to groups of his believers in his early 20s, his friends kept in touch with him when he entered the 40s and they used to meet regularly. But there came a gap once Sai Baba became famous. “He used to invite us and present us with new clothes and would speak affectionately on his birthdays every year later,” Mr. Keshappa said.

Sathya Sai also had 3-4 girls as close friends whom he used to meet on the Chitravati bed when they went to fetch water. “Once, when we were heading for a percolation pit on the river bed for water Sathya Sai told us to remove sand at the point we were standing, and we found abundant water there,” recollected Ms. Susheelamma.

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Courtesy:The Hindu



What the future holds for Sathya Sai Trust



B. Chandrashekhar & Sharath Srivatsa
Amid reports of divergences, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy issues clarification

No differences between the Trust and family members, says Geetha Reddy
Baba has put a system in place and it will continue: Congress MLA

HYDERABAD: The passing of Sathya Sai Baba has thrown up certain questions about the future of the spiritual and service activities managed by the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust. The fate of the properties of the spiritual guru, estimated to be worth anywhere between Rs. 40,000 crore and Rs. 1.5 lakh crore, remains to be determined.

Since its founding in 1972, the Central Trust has run free schools and hospitals, a university and spiritual centres. It undertakes development and philanthropic work across 165 countries with money received as donations from an estimated 30 million devotees.

The Trust had Sai Baba as Chairman. K. Chakravarthi is the Secretary and R.J. Ratnakar is one of the members. The latter is the son of Sai Baba's younger brother, the late Janaki Ramaiah.

Sai Baba's demise has left a vacuum as he was the guiding spirit all along. There was discipline and a certain sense of awe among the Trustees in carrying out tasks entrusted by ‘Swami.' The question now is whether it would continue in the same manner, asked a staunch follower who runs businesses in Puttaparthi.

“It's quite natural that the flow of funds is bound to slow down drastically after the Baba. The future of his good work in the education and healthcare space depends largely on how the existing funds are managed,” says K.A.N. Moorthy, former chairman of Serifed, who hails from Puttaparthi.

Amid reports of divergences between members of the Trust and the family, the Andhra Pradesh government on Sunday sought to clear the air. Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy clarified that the Trust had been asked to continue its activities as was done when the Baba was alive. “Baba still lives with us and all the matters of the Trust are in order. There'll be no change. The Trust will continue to function the way it did earlier,” he told mediapersons.
Major Industries Minister Geetha Reddy said: “It is a matter of pain that people are speculating on the Trust's activities. There are no differences between the Trust and family members.”

Congress MLA M. Shashidhar Reddy said the Trust had assured the government that it would function as it had functioned so far. “Baba has put a system in place and it will continue.”

Ever since the Baba took ill, there were rumours about a possible takeover of the Trust by the Andhra Pradesh Government due to a rift between a Trust member and Baba's family members. Hence, the trustees were asked to refrain from making any statements.


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courtesy:The Hindu

Tokyo toy museum joins relief operations


Monday, April 25, 2011

News photo
Early Christmas: Chihiro Tada, president of the Tokyo Toy Museum in Shinjuku Ward, joins some of the 100 volunteers who helped pack a collection of free toys in the Yotsuya district to give to children in disaster-hit areas of eastern Japan. YOSHIAKI MIURA

By MIZUHO AOKI

Staff writer
Thousands of colorful donated toys from Japan and overseas were brought to the Tokyo Toy Museum in Shinjuku Ward on Sunday to be packed by nearly 100 volunteers for distribution in the disaster-hit Tohoku region.
About 9,800 brand new toys, packed in sets of 100, have been donated by 55 companies in14 countries, including toy makers Bandai Co., Margarete Steiff GmbH from Germany and Kapla from France.
"We want to bring not only toys but also playing environments to shelters in the Tohoku region," said Chihiro Tada, head of the Good Toy Association. The association runs the museum, which is dedicated to low-tech, electricity-free toys.
After considering what they can do to help the people in Tohoku, Tada and his staff decided to support the area in the only way they knew how — by sending toys and reviving the joy of low-tech simplicity.
The toys included the classic wooden building blocks that the museum likes to promote.
Enlisting other toy professionals, museum staff and toy consultants, Tada will start by taking the red, toy-filled boxes to shelters in the stricken cities of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, and Rikuzentakada, Iwate Prefecture, starting Wednesday.
His team plans to visit five shelters in three days and to repeat the journey once a month for at least a year, visiting different places each time, Tada said.
Each toy set is made of pink and brown floor mats and about 45 toys, including building blocks, card games, drawing kits and stuffed toys.
Tada plans to take the sets to each shelter and create a colorful playing space in any room available so he can teach them how to play.
"For children, toys ares like food. Children need nutrition for their body and also for their heart. They need to have both," Tada said. "So delivering children toys and supporting their playing is as equally important as providing food."
Tada, who is also chief director of the museum, went to Kessennuma and Rikuzentakada in early April to study what the children there really need.
He was hesitant at first to spread out the colorful floor mats and toys in a room where elderly people were sleeping, but he soon realized that the sight of kids playing energized the worn-out adults.
"They began to get up and see the kids playing. Some began tossing around beanbags," Tada said.
Some old ladies even began sewing a little bag to put the beanbags in and looked very happy, Tada said.
One of the ladies was quoted by Tada as saying, "If this helps, then I will help you at any time."
"It was then that I realized that the scene of children playing gives energy to adults," Tada said. "I think playing sometimes has a a more positive impact than counseling. As for mental support, what we can also do is ask them to help us. Give them something to do."
Courtesy:Japantimes

KHAP PANCHAYAT (KANGAROO COURT) AND HONOUR KILLING


Stamp out 'barbaric' khap panchayats, rules SC

 

April 19, 2011 21:01 IST

Terming 'khap' panchayat as illegal and honour killing as "barbaric and shameful", the Supreme Court on Tuesday said these should be stamped out "ruthlessly" and asked states to suspend district magistrates and SPs concerned if they failed to act against the offenders.
A bench of justices Markandeya Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra said in a judgement that the new trends of kangaroo courts, honour killings, "khap" panchayaths in northern India [ Images ] and "katta" panchayats in Tamil Nadu were barbaric and illegal, the perpetrators of which required the harshest punishment.

"We have in recent years heard of 'khap panchayats' (known as katta panchayats in Tamil Nadu) which often decree or encourage honour killings or other atrocities in an
 institutionalised way on boys and girls of different castes and religion, who wish to get married or have been married, or interfere with the personal lives of people," the ruling noted.

"We are of the opinion that this is wholly illegal and has to be ruthlessly stamped out. There is nothing honourable in honour killing or other atrocities and, in fact, it is nothing but barbaric and shameful murder. Other atrocities in respect of personal lives of people committed by brutal, feudal-minded persons deserve harsh punishment," Justice Katju said writing the judgement.
The apex court asked the administrative and police officials to take strong measures to prevent such atrocious acts.

"If any such incidents happen, apart from instituting criminal proceedings against those responsible for such atrocities, the State Government is directed to immediately suspend the district magistrate/collector and SSP/SPs of the district as well as other officials concerned and chargesheet them," the bench said.

The apex court said the government should proceed against such officials departmentally if they do not prevent the incident despite having prior knowledge.

"If they failed to promptly apprehend the culprits and others involved and institute criminal proceedings against them, as in our opinion they will be deemed to be directly or indirectly accountable in this connection."
"Only in this way can we stamp out such acts of barbarism and feudal mentality. Moreover, these acts take the law into their own hands, and amount to kangaroo courts, which are wholly illegal," the bench said.

The apex court said copy of the judgement shall be sent to all chief secretaries, home secretaries and director generals of police in all states and union territories for circulating the same to the district magistrates and SSPs for compliance.

CASTE IN INDIA



Excerpts from the article : Love Commandos Against Honour Killings http://www.sacw.net/article1608.html

Discrimination on grounds of caste is banned under Indian law, but still persists in arranged marriages.


The highest castes are Brahmins. The lowest, once known as untouchables, are Dalits. Movement between castes is not possible, and the Indian government still defines a number of castes just above Dalits as "other backwards castes".
Though ancient Hindu scripts, the Vedas, make little mention of caste, the codification appears to have developed over thousands of years.

Khap panchayats, the local caste councils, issue rulings on who may or may not marry.

Caste councils also take into consideration the complex gotra system, an ancestral system under which people are allotted to a certain lineage at birth. Unlike the caste system, those in the same gotra are barred from marriage

Egypt: Mubarak to be moved to Cairo military hospital



The former Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, is to be moved to a military hospital in Cairo after a doctor declared him well enough to travel.
He has been in hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh since falling ill during questioning about corruption allegations and protesters' deaths.
Prosecutors said the 82-year-old was supposed to go to Tora prison hospital, but it was not ready to receive him.
The military council that took power in February is under pressure to try him.
Mr Mubarak's two sons, Gamal and Alaa, along with a number of senior officials and business figures close to him are already being held at Tora prison.
Condition 'stable'
For the past two weeks, the former leader has been in a private wing of a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh after being admitted with heart problems.
But the public prosecutor, Abdul Maguid Mahmoud, said Mr Mubarak was now fit enough to be transferred to the Mazraa hospital at Tora prison.
He will first be moved to a military hospital in the capital, the International Medical Centre, and then to the prison hospital once proper preparations have been made. The facility is not equipped with intensive care facilities that could deal with any sudden deterioration of his heart condition.
Once there, Mr Mubarak will face questioning over allegations of corruption, including charges that his government supplied gas to Israel at below market prices.
He will also be questioned about his role in ordering the violent response to anti-government protests, in which more than 800 people died.
The prosecutor's office cited a doctor's report as saying Mr Mubarak could be moved without endangering his health, as long as he was given appropriate medical treatment.
An official source cited by the state news agency Mena said he could be transferred to the military hospital with 48 hours.
The BBC's Jonathan Head in Cairo says many Egyptians doubted that the country's new military rulers would be willing to hold the man many soldiers regard as a war hero to account for the abuses of the old regime.
But the incarceration of his sons, many of his closest associates and now Mr Mubarak himself may push those doubts aside, he adds.
Courtesy:BBC News