Govt starts process for selecting next CBI chief

November 23, 2014

New Delhi, Nov 23: With little over a week's time left for CBI Director Ranjit Sinha to demit office, the Centre has started the process of selecting a new chief of the investigating agency.cbi

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has sought the names of senior IPS officers fulfilling the eligibility criteria to make a panel for the selection committee to choose the CBI director, official sources said.

Sinha's tenure ends on December 2.

The process for selection of the next CBI chief has been started by the DoPT, which acts as nodal authority for CBI, and the new appointment is likely to be made before the present incumbent tenure ends, the sources said.

According to the Lokpal Act, the CBI chief has to be appointed by the central government on the basis of recommendation of the selection committee headed by the Prime Minister, and comprising the Leader of Opposition (LoP) and the Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court judge nominated by him as members.

The Home Ministry will send the names of the IPS officers to the DoPT which will then send a panel of such officers formed on the basis of "seniority, integrity and experience in the investigation of anti-corruption cases" to the selection panel, they said.

The Supreme Court had on Thursday removed Sinha from the multi-crore 2G scam case probe while hearing a matter.

The government is also in the process of amending the Lokpal and Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Acts, 1946, to pave way for the CBI chief appointment as there is no recognised LoP in Lok Sabha, who is a member of the selection committee, they said.

Both the Lokpal and DSPE Acts are to be amended so that there is no requirement of "quorum" in the selection committee and the proceedings of the panel are not considered invalid due to absence or vacancy of a member, the sources said.

The Union Cabinet had on November 10 deferred a proposal moved by DoPT to amend the Lokpal and DSPE Acts. The changes in the legislations are to be approved by the Cabinet so that they are taken up in Parliament. The government is likely to bring a bill in this regard during the Winter Session of Parliament that begins tomorrow, they said.

Congress with 44 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha has emerged as the second largest party after BJP's 280 but fell short by 11 to stake claim for the LoP's post for which it requires a minimum strength of 55.

Earlier, the CBI director was being selected under the provision of the DSPE Act.

According to the Act, the Centre shall appoint the CBI Director on the recommendation of a panel consisting of the Central Vigilance Commissioner as Chairperson and Vigilance Commissioners, Home Secretary and Secretary (Co-ordination and Public Grievances the Cabinet Secretariat) as members.

However, after the enactment of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act in January, the provisions of the DSPE Act were changed including the requirement of consultation with the outgoing CBI director in the selection process.

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News Network
August 7,2020

Idukki, Aug 7: Several people lost their lives and dozens of tea estate workers are feared trapped under soil in Kerala’s Munnar after torrential rains triggered a massive landslide on today. 

As many as five bodies have been recovered and rescue workers are fighting inclement weather to remove the debris.

According to rescue workers, four lanes of quarters and a church are buried under mud and around 80 people are feared trapped.

Seven people have been rescued so far and shifted to the hospital.

Sources said a portion of Pettimudi came crashing down on the workers colony with a deafening roar in the wee hours of Friday.

As people were sleeping in the quarters, there was little time to escape.

Further, with the Periyavara bridge being washed away, it became all the more difficult for rescue workers to reach the spot.

The construction of a new temporary Periyavara bridge however, is underway.

The bridge was previously destructed during the deluge of August 2018. Later during the north west monsoons and the south west monsoon of 2019, it suffered damage again.

The present bridge, which got damaged on Thursday after Kannimala river levels rose, was constructed under the leadership of Coir fed.

Although a new concrete bridge has been constructed near the temporary bridge in Periyavara, vehicle  movement has not been possible because the authorities are yet to build its approach via road.

The new bridge is to be constructed at a cost of Rs 4.75 crore from Devikulam MLA S Rajendran's fund.

The entire area has been cut off from outside world and communication networks have also crashed.

Teams of Fire and Rescue personnel, NDRF, revenue officials, estate workers and police are struggling to conduct rescue operations.

Meanwhile, District collector H Dhineshan said a team of rescue personnel was sent to Pettymudy after he was briefed about the mishap and search operations to locate and rescue people are underway.

Facilities have been arranged at the hospitals nearby to provide necessary treatment facilities to the people being rescued.

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News Network
June 18,2020

New Delhi, Jun 18: With the highest single-day increase of 12,881 COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's coronavirus count has reached 3,66,946 on Thursday.

This includes 1,60,384 active cases and 1,94,325 cured, discharged and migrated patients, according to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

Meanwhile, with 334 deaths being reported due to the infection, the toll due to the virus stands at 12,237 in the country.

There is a big increase in the number of confirmed cases in the country today as compared to the recent days when the spike had been limited to under 11,000 cases.

Maharashtra with 1,16,752 cases continues to be the worst-affected state in the country with 51,935 active cases while 59,166 patients have been cured and discharged in the state so far. The toll due to COVID-19 stands at 5,651 in the state.

The number of confirmed cases in Tamil Nadu also crossed the 50 thousand mark on Thursday and reached 50,193. The national capital is the third-worst affected by the infection in the country with the count reaching 47,102 today.

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Agencies
January 16,2020

New Delhi, Jan 16: Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat on Thursday said that he supported a negotiated peace deal between the US and Taliban in Afghanistan.

Gen. Rawat was speaking along with other world leaders at Raisina dialogue organised by India's influential think-tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

Arguing that terrorism was going to stay in the world as long as states were going to use it against other states, he said it was important to prevent states from using terrorism as a "proxy war".

"The only way to deal with it was what the US did post 9/11," he said, adding that the war against terror was necessary.

However, now a peace deal with Taliban is required, Gen. Rawat said.

"It must be a negotiated peace deal so that the Taliban stops using terrorism," he added. Hinting that the US should maintain its presence in Afghanistan, the CDS said that though Afghan security forces are now equipped to fight back terror groups in Afghanistan but they still need support.

The newly appointed CDS officially confirmed that India has shifted its stance on Taliban. India has traditionally been opposed to the Pakistan-backed Taliban in Afghanistan. Thousands of Afghans were given refuge in India when they fled the country due to oppression and terrorism of the Taliban regime. India is in alignment with the democratically elected government in Kabul that the Taliban remains supported by Pakistan.

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