Junior Digest

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita has taken voluntary retirement from the Indian Revenue Service (IRS), after serving for nearly 22 years in the Income Tax department.

Sunita, last posted as Commissioner of I-T in the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) in Delhi, had sought VRS earlier this year and an official order has now been issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the cadre controlling authority of the department, officials said.

The order, accessed by PTI, said her VRS would be effective from July 15.

“She will be able to enjoy her pension benefits as she has served over 20 years in service,” a senior official said.

However, sources close to the Delhi Chief Minister said, “Sunita feared of victimisation by the Centre amid the ongoing tussle between the AAP government and the BJP-led Union government on several issues, and hence she sought VRS.”

51-year-old Sunita, a 1993-batch IRS officer, had met Kejriwal, a 1995-batch IRS officer, during a training programme at Bhopal after which they decided to get married.

As per records, she holds a Masters degree in Zoology.

When Kejriwal contested against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi during 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Sunita had taken a long leave from office.

“She knew her service compulsions, so could not campaign openly for him. But as a wife, she took charge of the kitchen and fed party supporters, who had come to campaign for Arvind.

This was her way of backing her husband and also not breaking the service rules,” said a close aide of Kerjwal.

Incidentally, Kejriwal too had taken retirement from the service after a brief stint as an IRS officer.

@Agency report.

New Delhi : In a significant but surprise move, India today named senior goalkeeper PR Sreejesh as the captain of the national team for the Rio Olympics, removing long-standing skipper Sardar Singh.

Sreejesh, one of the finest custodians in world hockey at the moment, was rewarded after the team, under his leadership, ended up with a silver medal at the Champions Trophy in London, their best-ever result in the 38-year-history of the blue riband six-nation tournament.

The team played a brilliant final where they held eventual champions Australia to a goalless draw in the regulation time before losing in a controversial shoot-out.

Playmaker SV Sunil, who is also a key component in the team, has been named vice-captain. He was Sreejesh’s deputy in the Champions Trophy.

While there were rumours that Sardar’s axing was a result of his dip in form in recent times, Indian hockey team’s chief coach and High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans said the move to relieve the ace midfielder from captaincy was purely taken to free him from excess responsibilities.

“The philosophy behind changing the captain is that we felt people need to take more responsibilities on the pitch and off the pitch. Sardar was taking too much responsibilities because of which he was not performing at the level that is expected of him,” Oltmans told reporters during a gliterring fucntion organised by Hockey India to announce the men’s and women’s teams for the Rio Games.

“By changing the captain I belive Sardar will play a much better Olympic Games. Sardar took the decision (of him being removed from captaincy) very sportingly. He understands what’s required from him.”

Off the field too, Sardar had been going through tough times following allegations of rape after promising marriage were levelled against him by a British national.

Asked if Sardar’s off-field controversy bogged him down, the Dutchman reacted in affirmative.

“Of course those things did affect him,” he said, pertaining to the legal tangle that the former skipper finds himself pertaining to the rape allegation.

“For me, it is important that we perform as a team. We tried this combination of players in Champions Trophy and it worked for us. This is the time to fine tune our processes and I have complete faith in our processes. I believe in this group of players,” Oltmans said.

Oltmans also said that he believes in shared leadership.

“I need shared leadership. I need players who take responsibility on and off the field and that’s the reason I felt we need to change the captain. We changed the captain in the Champions Trophy and that’s worked out really well.”

“I believe at this moment this is the best solution for Sardar and the team. For me there is only one thing and that’s the team and individuals are part of the team.

@Agency report.

New Delhi : Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar today said that his Ministry will work to make students environmentally sensitive by adopting sustainable practices and low carbon lifestyle.

Observing that India played a “very important” role in the recent Paris Climate Change conference and arrival of a consensus for the agreement “would not have been possible” without it, Javadekar said that the world now must follow India and realise its climate commitments.

“Imparting the value system of sustainable practices to our students is one of our mission. As far as HRD Ministry is concerned, I believe future generation has to be ecologically sensitive.

“It (future generation) has to be ready with sustainable practices and low carbon lifestyle. That is what we will emphasise on and give through education,” Javadekar said during a conference on ‘Post-Paris Climate Change Action’.

Javadekar identified the role of HRD to make students aware and environmentally sensitive by adopting sustainable practices and low carbon lifestyle, an official statement later said quoting him.

“HRD will emphasis this aspect in contributing towards fullling the promises made in the Paris agreement,” it said.

He also termed India’s decision to upscale its solar energy target as a “game changer” at the summit and said that instead of following the earlier style of opposing the terms, India set out to propose alternative formulations at the summit.

“India played a very important role in the Paris agreement and without India it would not have been possible to arrive at a consensus. It was primarily because Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership who led from the front.

“Upscaling the target of renewable in solar from 20 GW to 100 GW, making addition of 60 GW of wind and 10 GW biomass and hydro, this was the game changer,” he said.

@Agency report.

London : An “emotional” British Prime Minister David Cameron today chaired his last cabinet meeting before handing over the baton to Theresa May who will assume charge tomorrow, becoming the UK’s second woman premier after Margaret Thatcher.

Cameron will cede power to 59-year-old May after visiting Buckingham Palace to resign tomorrow. May will become the UK’s second female Prime Minister after Thatcher whose tenure was from 1979 to 1990.

In one of the final tasks of his premiership, Cameron today gathered his top team for a final time.

The meeting was described as “emotional” by Culture Secretary John Whittingdale who said “there was a touch of sadness” to the Prime Minister and his ministers.

Cameron had announced he would be stepping down for a new prime minister to take the Brexit negotiations forward with the European Union a day after the June 23 vote in favour of Britain leaving the economic bloc.

“It was emotional but quite rightly we spent a lot of time on the Government business. But then we had a period in which people paid tribute to the extraordinary service the Prime Minister has given, led off by George Osborne and Theresa May our new prime minister. And then we looked forward to getting back to work,” the leading Brexit campaigner told Sky News.

Whittingdale said his Cabinet role was “entirely a matter” for Theresa May to decide on but said he was “very happy to continue” in Government if asked to do so.

@Agency report.

New Delhi : The Supreme Court today asked the Centre to frame rules to stop illegal transportation of cattle to Nepal within three months.

A bench of Justices J S Khehar and Arun Mishra asked the Centre to come up with the rules within three months after the counsel appearing for Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) sought six months time to frame them.

“Counsel representing MoEF submits that the draft rules have been prepared and will be notified within six months time. We direct the Centre that the rules be framed within three months,” the bench said.

The apex court said since states and Centre have already given their suggestions on the issue and agreed on various aspects of the matter, there should not be any delay in framing of the rules.

The bench also asked the Centre to hold a meeting with the states bordering Bangladesh to evolve a mechanism including some long-term measures to stop illegal transportation of cattle.

The court is hearing a PIL that alleged a large number of cattle is exported illegally to Nepal for Gadhimai festival held once in five years. The festival took place last on November 28-29, 2014.

The PIL, filed by animal rights activist Gauri Maulekhi, sought directions to the Centre and states like Bihar, West Bengal, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, which share border with Nepal, for putting in place a comprehensive mechanism to stop illegal trafficking of cattle.

Earlier, the court had asked the Centre and the states bordering Nepal to maintain tight vigil on the international border and ensure that no illegal transportation of cattle takes place for being sacrificed during the Gadhimai festival.

Seeking suggestions from all the states concerned and the Centre, it had hailed the efforts undertaken by them and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) on the issue. Besides arresting around 70 people, SSB had rescued nearly 2,000 animals from being illegally sent to Nepal.

The Centre had told the court that it cannot do anything to ensure that animals are not sacrificed in Nepal.

The bench had then said it also cannot pass any order regarding treatment of animals in the neighbouring country.

But it said it would pass a direction to prevent torture of animals while they are being taken to Nepal.

The petitioner had alleged that 5,00,000 animals are slaughtered over two days in the festival and over 70 per cent of these animals were brought illegally from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

@Agency report.

New Delhi : Former CBI Director Ranjit Sinha has been indicted by a Supreme Court-appointed panel which has held that prima facie there was an attempt to influence investigation into the coal block allocation scam.

The court also pulled up CBI for its sluggish probe in the coal scam that had taken place during the UPA government’s tenure and directed the agency to complete the investigation expeditiously.

The apex court, which is monitoring the probe into Coalgate, was today told by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi that the panel headed by former CBI special director M L Sharma has held that Sinha’a meetings with some of the high- profile accused in the scam prima facie indicated that there was an attempt to influence the investigation.

Rohtagi, who only had received an initial report of the panel for perusal on condition of maintaining its confidentiality, said that he had gone through the report which has found that the visitors’ diary at Sinha’s residence was genuine.

However, he said that the correctness of entries in the visitors’ diary can only be ascertained in the court of law through evidence.

“Unless there is evidence in court of law which says that the visitor’s register is genuine, we may not be able to proceed in the matter,” he said.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Sinha, refuted the allegation saying the entries in the register or the diary were dubious or fictitious as the former CBI director was not in the national capital on many of those days.

“There is not a single case where I (Sinha) have taken a decision contrary to the investigating officers in closing coal cases,” Singh said.

Taking note of the submissions, a bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur, Kurian Joseph and A K Sikri reserved its order for passing directions.

Rapping the agency for slow progress, the court said, “We have been telling you (CBI) time and again to complete the investigation. Every time you say we will do it within one month. Last time you had said that you will do it by June 30.

But still you have not done it. Please do it expeditiously,” the bench said.

During the hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGO ‘Common Cause’, said that as per the panel Ranjit Sinha’s visitors diary has been found to be genuine and it is clear that he met many coal scam accused which influenced his decisions.

@Agency report.

Chandigarh : Fuel pump owners in the country have demanded ‘one nation one rate’ for petroleum products in order to eliminate disparity in prevailing prices of petrol and diesel.

“We are demanding ‘one nation one rate’ for fuel so that there should be no disparity in prices of petrol and diesel in the states. This step will help in controlling prices of this essential commodity,” All India Petroleum Dealers Association President Ajay Bansal said here today.

He added that because of different VAT rates prevailing in states, there was a disparity in fuel prices, which vary between 60 paise and Rs 4 per litre in case of diesel and Rs 1 to Rs 7.50 per litre for petrol.

Bansal said maximum tax on petrol is levied by Tamil Nadu state, which is about 35 per cent while Goa imposes lowest rate of tax on the commodity.

In case of diesel, Haryana charges lowest tax while states like Rajasthan and West Bengal levy 20-24 per cent tax which is in higher tax slab, he said.

“We want the prices of fuel which is an essential commodity should be same throughout the country and states should build consensus on the same,” he said.

The association, which claims to be a national body representing more than 52,000 petrol pumps in the country has been holding meeting with chief ministers and state finance ministers to convince them to bring parity in retail price of petroleum products.

Bansal said: “We also demand that petroleum products be brought under GST to ensure one nation one rate.” But, he said, states are unlikely to agree on the same.

A delegation led by Bansal today met Punjab Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa in this regard and sought minister’s support on the issue.

Bansal said Dhindsa had assured the delegation to consider their demand to lower tax rate on petrol which was the second highest in the country after Tamil Nadu.

Because of high tax rate on petrol in Punjab, prices of fuel in the state is costlier by Rs 6 per litre in comparison to that of in Chandigarh.

“Uniformity in VAT rates will lead to cheaper petroleum products to consumers and growth in tax revenue. And it will also cause jump in sale of fuel pumps located in the border areas which are now on the verge of closure due to high tax rates,” said Punjab Petroleum Dealers Association President Sandeep Sehgal said here.

@Agency report.

Jamshedpur : Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das today appeared before local courts in connection with three cases related to violation of code of conduct during the 2009 Parliamentary and Assembly elections.

Das appeared before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, G K Tiwary, in connection with violation of code of conduct case during Lok Sabha polls in 2009.

A case was registered against Das, who was then BJP Jharkhand president, and 12 others for hoisting party flags and banners without permission from the district administration in Bistupur ahead of the visit of BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani in 2009.

The next date of hearing has been fixed as August 29.

The CM also appeared before the court of 1st Class Judicial Magistrate, S N Lamay in connection with two cases of violation of code of conduct during the Assembly polls.

While Das alone was made accused in one case, he was charged along with two others including Chandrasekhar Mishra, former East Singhbhum district unit President of BJP, in the other.

The case was registered for hoisting party flag and opening a party office without prior permission from the district authorities in Sidgora and Bagunnagar in November 2009.

@Agency report.

Beijing : An angry China today rejected as “null and void” the verdict of a UN-backed international tribunal which struck down its claims over the South China Sea saying Beijing has no “historic rights” in the disputed area.

China “neither accepts nor recognises” the ruling of a tribunal in the South China Sea arbitration established at the request of the Philippines, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

“The award is null and void and has no binding force,” it said in a statement minutes after the five judge tribunal appointed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration delivered its judgement striking down Beijing’s claims of historic rights over the area, strongly disputed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea (SCS) shall under no circumstances be affected by those awards. China opposes and will never accept any claim or action based on those awards, the statement quoted by state-run Xinhua new agency said.

“China has territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea,” said a separate statement titled ‘Statement of the Government of the People’s Republic of China on China’s Territorial Sovereignty and Maritime Rights and Interests in the South China Sea’.

“China is always firmly opposed to the invasion and illegal occupation by certain states of some islands and reefs of China’s Nansha Qundao (the Nansha Islands) (called by Philippines as Spratleys), and activities infringing upon China’s rights and interests in relevant maritime areas under China’s jurisdiction,” it said.

China’s strong reaction came after the tribunal struck a blow to its claims over almost all of the SCS, saying that its much touted nine-dash line has has no legal basis.

Striking down the core of China’s claims over the 90 per cent SCS based on historic rights, the tribunal ruled there was no legal basis for China to claim “historic rights” to resources within the SCS falling within its claimed nine-dash line, which is based on a Chinese map dating back to 1940s.

It concluded that “to the extent China had historic rights to resources in the waters of the SCS, such rights were extinguished to the extent they were incompatible with the exclusive economic zones provided for in the Convention” (UN Convention on the Law of Seas.

“The tribunal also noted that, although Chinese navigators and fishermen, as well as those of other States, had historically made use of the islands in the SCS, there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or their resources,” it said.

For decades China, which boycotted the tribunal questioning its legality, has been asserting that its emperors have discovered the islands hundreds years ago and have been exercising control over the area throughout the history.

But its claims came into conflict with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan as they hardly have exclusive economic zones (EEZ) provided by UNCLOS which Beijing declined to recognise. .

New Delhi : Three rainwater harvesting information centres that will recommend the type of conservation practices to be adopted and also train plumbers and masons in designing such facilities were launched today.

Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra launched one centre at RK Puram and simultaneously declared the other two open at Dwarka and Lajpat Nagar.

An NGO, working in the water sector, has partnered with the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to run the centres.

Mishra said that Delhi will have such centres in all the revenue districts this year. He described them as the outcome of a joint consultation between DJB and Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi.

“The rain centers will recommend types of harvesting based on relevant factors such as soil type, land usage, runoff water quality. There will be hands-on technical help in design and sourcing, training local plumbers and masons, capacity building, and it will also prepare and maintain local RWH (rain water harvesting),” Mishra said.

Water body DJB supplies approximately 900 MGD (million gallons per Day) of water from surface and groundwater sources in the national capital, which is further supplemented by groundwater withdrawal from private tube wells to the extent of around 150-200 MGD.

“Delhi receives an average annual rainfall of 611 mm.

This translates to about 66 per cent of the daily water supplied by DJB. Harvesting of a fraction of this rainfall would augment water supply considerably,” an official statement said.

@Agency report.

Beijing/The Hague : A UN-backed international tribunal today struck down China’s claims of “historical rights” in the strategic South China Sea, prompting Chinese President Xi Jinping to reject its ruling and asserting that Beijing will not accept the verdict “under any circumstances”.

Xi’s strong remarks came immediately after The Hague- based tribunal dismissed the core of China’s claims over the 90 per cent South China Sea (SCS), ruling that “there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights within the sea areas falling within the ‘nine-dash line'”, which is based on a Chinese map dating back to the 1940s.

In his meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, President Xi, also the General Secretary of the ruling Communist party and commander-in-chief of the military, said China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime interests in SCS will not be affected by the ruling under any circumstances.

Xi’s comments indicates China’s tough stand on the ruling by the five judge tribunal appointed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration which struck down Beijing’s controversial nine- dash line on the SCS claiming over 90 per cent of the area.

China “neither accepts nor recognises” the ruling of the tribunal in the SCS arbitration established at the request of the Philippines, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in Beijing.

“The award is null and void and has no binding force,” it said in a statement minutes after the tribunal delivered its judgement striking down Beijing’s claims of historic rights over the area, strongly disputed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the SCS shall under no circumstances be affected by those awards. China opposes and will never accept any claim or action based on those awards, the statement quoted by state-run Xinhua new agency said.

The tribunal concluded that “to the extent China had historic rights to resources in the waters of the SCS, such rights were extinguished to the extent they were incompatible with the exclusive economic zones provided for in the Convention” (UN Convention on the Law of Seas), it said.

“The tribunal also noted that, although Chinese navigators and fishermen, as well as those of other States, had historically made use of the islands in the SCS, there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or their resources,” it said.

For decades China, which boycotted the tribunal questioning its legality has been asserting that its emperors have discovered the islands hundreds years ago and have been exercising control over the area throughout the history.

But is claims came into conflict with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan as they hardly have exclusive economic zones (EEZ) provided by UNCLOS which Beijing declined to recognise.

While the Philippines filed the case in 2013, Beijing’s claims over the SCS are also contested by Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and Indonesia as well.

@Agency report.

New Delhi : A special court today fixed August 11 for consideration on framing of charges against a Ranchi-based company, its three directors and others in a coal scam case for allegedly misrepresenting facts to bag a Jharkhand coal block.

Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar put up the matter for the next date in the case in which it had earlier summoned the accused after taking cognizance of the CBI charge sheet against M/S Domco Pvt Ltd, its three directors Binay Prakash, Vasant Diwakar Manjrekar and Parmananda Mondal, chartered accountants Manoj Kumar Gupta and Sanjay Khandelwal and one Shukdeo Prasad.

The court fixed the matter for consideration after hearing the arguments on framing of charges from the counsel of CBI and the accused.

The CBI had earlier filed the charge sheet for alleged offences of cheating and criminal conspiracy under the IPC.

CBI has claimed in its charge sheet that Domco Pvt Ltd had applied to the Steel Ministry for allotment of a captive coal block to set up a pig iron plant of two lakh tonnes per annum capacity at Rairangpur in Odisha.

On the asking of the Ministry in November 2000, the firm had also submitted an application for allotment of coal block to the Ministry of Coal (MOC).

CBI said that on the basis of information and documents furnished, MOC proceeded to finally allocate Lalgarh (North) Coal Block in West Bokaro Coal Fields of Jharkhand in favour of the firm for their plant at Rairangpur.

It has alleged that during the probe, it was found that the firm, M/S Domco Smokeless Fuels Pvt Ltd had misrepresented to the Ministries of Steel and Coal on a number of counts.

@Agency report.

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a high-level meeting tomorrow to review the situation in Jammu and Kashmir which is witnessing violent clashes between security forces and protesters in the aftermath of killing of Hizbul Mujahideen’s poster boy Burhan Wani.

Ahead of the meeting, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today chaired a discussion with senior Union Ministers and officials during which it was suggested that security forces make “judicious” use of force and ensure smooth movement of Amarnath pilgrims.

According to official sources, the Prime Minister, who will return from a four-nation tour of Africa early tomorrow, will be given a detailed presentation on the prevailing situation in Kashmir Valley arising out of escalating protests following the killing of Wani on Friday.

As many as 23 people have lost their lives during the clashes. Unconfirmed reports put the death toll at 31.

Today’s meeting was convened to discuss the tense situation in Jammu and Kashmir was attended by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and NSA Ajit Doval, who returned a day earlier.

Chiefs of central security agencies briefed the Ministers about the steps taken to bring back peace and normalcy in the Valley.

All forces were asked to ensure security of Amarnath pilgrims and enhance vigil along the border to check fresh attempts of infiltration from across the border.

Sources said security forces were asked to ensure judicious use of force against protesting civilians.

Besides, stone pelters, who are mostly teenagers, have to be dissuaded by parents from indulging in stone pelting.

Parrikar told reporters that an overall assessment of security situation in Kashmir has to be done by the Home Ministry and Army was ready to provide any assistance like increasing force levels in any areas required.

The meeting was told that situation in Kashmir Valley was better today and steps are being taken to improve further tomorrow, sources said.

Earlier, the Home Minister reached out to opposition leaders including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Parliamentary leaders of all parties, and discussed the prevailing situation there.

During the telephonic conversation with Gandhi and National Conference leader Omar, the Home Minister discussed with them efforts to bring back peace and normalcy in Kashmir Valley.

@Agency report.