Inspectors accused in mining scam still working in Lokayukta: CM

July 24, 2013

Inspectors_accusedBangalore, Jul 24: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said two police officers who are facing corruption charges in illegal mining cases are still working in the Lokayukta.

Disclosing this in the Legislative Assembly while replying to Mallikarjuna S Khuba (JD-S), the chief minister said police inspectors Nagaraj M Madalli and M Dharmendra, who had earlier worked in Bellary district, are facing the allegations of receiving bribe from mining scam accused Kharadapudi Mahesh of Hospet.

Nagaraj who is said to have received bribe while he was in the Hadagali police station, is now inspector at the Bagalkot Lokayukta office. Dharmendra, who had earlier worked at Bellary’s Hagari police station, is now inspector at Mysore Lokayukta office.

In a report submitted to the House, Siddaramaiah has also stated that IPS officer Sonia Narang too is facing allegations of encouraging illegal mining. Now she is commandant, first battalion, KSRP, Bangalore. He said that the government was considering action against her.

The Lokayukta, in his report, had stated that 787 officers including 191 police officers were party to the illegal mining. It has already been reported that IPS officers M N Nagaraj and Eshwarachandra Sagar are facing charges. For the first time, Narang’s name has been made public in this regard.

Action delayed

The chief minister admitted that there has been a delay in taking action against officials who colluded with those who were into illegal mining. But he hastened to add that his government was not responsible for it. The final report reached the government two years ago on August 27. But, there has been a delay in taking action against the guilty officials. A committee will be constituted to decide the course of action to be taken, after the conclusion of the legislature session.

He said that notices have been issued to the 198 officers who are facing bribery charges. The CID is probing five officers, while the Lokayukta has been investigating 98 others. The committee headed by police officer V S D’Souza has been able to identify 97 police personnel who had allegedly encouraged illegality. But, it has not been able to identify 94 personnel.

Replying to Eshwara Khandre (Cong), Siddaramaiah said that as per the Indian Bureau of Mines’ report of 2010, the state has 9,959 million tonnes of iron ore deposit. In the last three years, 7.65 crore tonnes of ore has been extracted and the royalty earned by the state was Rs 1,519.68 crore.

Special court may try cases

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah assured the Assembly that the government would consider the suggestion to set up a fast track court to try illegal mining cases.

Mallikarjuna Khuba (JD-S) and Basavaraj Rayareddy (Cong) pressured the chief minister to set up a special court. Siddaramaiah, who was not categorical in his reply, just said he would look into the suggestion.

He said the State has suffered a loss of Rs 16,000 crore due to illegal ore export. In addition, the tax evasion was Rs 2,000 crore. The government would try to recover the losses, he added.

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News Network
June 16,2020

New Delhi, Jun 16: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday said that he has been hospitalised after suffering from high-grade fever and a sudden drop in his oxygen level.

He tweeted to inform that he was admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH) here, a dedicated COVID-19 facility under the Delhi government.

"Due to high-grade fever and a sudden drop of my oxygen levels last night I have been admitted to RGSSH. Will keep everyone updated," Jain tweeted.

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News Network
June 19,2020

Jun 19: Ten Indian Army soldiers including four officers were released by the China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Friday capping three days of hard negotiations that followed the bloody battle at the eastern Ladakh’s Galwan valley on Monday.

The 10 jawans returned around 5.30 PM on Friday to Patrol Point 14 (PP-14) after Indian team leader Major Gen. Abhijit Bapat, the commanding officer of the Third Div made it clear to the Chinese that there couldn’t be any progress in the disengagement talks unless the soldiers were returned safely.

Asked to comment on the release of Indian soldiers, the Indian Army maintained silence. The force released a brief statement on Thursday stating that all its men were accounted for.

However, the extent of the brutal clash can be gauged from the fact that 76 Indian Army soldiers are still in the hospital out of which 58 soldiers have “minor injuries” and “should be back on duty within a week”, according to Army sources.

Return of the Indian soldiers has been the main point of negotiations for the last two days. The situation is now calmer at areas near PP-14 in the Galwan valley after the return of Indian soldiers even though large numbers of troops from both sides are still present in the area.

Meanwhile analysis of satellite images has revealed a large presence of Chinese troops in the northern banks of Pangong Tso, a disputed territory for years.

“In the past month, Chinese forces have become an overwhelming majority in the disputed areas (on the north bank of the 135 km long lake). Significant positions have been constructed between Fingers 4 and 5, including around 500 structures, fortified trenches and a new boat shed over 20 km further forward than previously. More structures appear to be under construction,” says a report published in the Strategist, the journal of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

“The scale and provocative nature of these new Chinese outposts is hard to overstate: 53 different forward positions have been built, including 19 that sit exactly on the ridge line separating Indian and Chinese patrols,” says the report, accompanied by satellite images showing overwhelming PLA presence.

The June 6 Corps Commander level meeting between the Indian and PLA armies did not result in a solution to the contentious muscle flexing by the Chinese on the shores of the Pangong lake. The meeting ended with the conclusion that more Lt Gen level talks between the two armies were needed to resolve such issues.

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News Network
May 6,2020

New Delhi, May 6: The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,694 and the number of cases climbed to 49,391 in the country on Wednesday, registering an increase of 126 deaths and 2,958 cases in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said.

The number of active COVID-19 cases is 33,514. A total of 13,160 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.

"Thus, around 28.71 per cent patients have recovered so far," a senior health ministry official said.

The total number of cases include 111 foreign nationals.

A total of 111 deaths were reported since Tuesday evening, of which 49 fatalities were reported from Gujarat, 34 from Maharashtra, 12 from Rajasthan, seven from West Bengal, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Punjab and Tamil Nadu and one each from Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, the ministry said.

Of the 1,694 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 617 fatalities. Gujarat comes second with 368 deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 176, West Bengal at 140, Rajasthan at 89, Delhi at 64, Uttar Pradesh at 56 and Andhra Pradesh at 36.

The death toll reached 33 in Tamil Nadu, 29 in Telengana, while Karnataka has reported 29 fatalities.

Punjab has registered 25 COVID-19 deaths, Jammu and Kashmir eight, Haryana six and Kerala and Bihar four deaths each.

Jharkhand has recorded three COVID-19 fatalities.

Meghalaya, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Assam and Uttarakhand have reported one fatality each, according to the ministry data.

According to the health ministry data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 15, 525, followed by Gujarat at 6,245, Delhi at 5,104, Tamil Nadu at 4,058, Rajasthan at 3,158, Madhya Pradesh at 3,049 and Uttar Pradesh at 2,880.

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 1,717 in Andhra Pradesh and 1,451 in Punjab.

It has risen to 1,344 in West Bengal, 1,096 in Telengana, 741 in Jammu and Kashmir, 671 in Karnataka, 548 in Haryana and 536 in Bihar.

Kerala has reported 502 coronavirus cases so far, while Odisha has 175 cases. A total of 125 people have been infected with the virus in Jharkhand and 111 in Chandigarh.

Uttarakhand has reported 61 cases, Chhattisgarh 59 cases, Assam 43, Himachal Pradesh 42 and Ladakh 41.

Thirty-three COVID-19 cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Tripura has registered 43 cases, Meghalaya has reported 12 and Puducherry nine, while Goa has seven COVID-19 cases.

Manipur has two cases. Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Dadar and Nagar Haveli have reported a case each.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR," the ministry said on its website.

State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it said.

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