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Lokayukta to leave probe to govt

June 29, 2015

Bengaluru, Jun 28: Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao on Sunday decided to request the State government to appoint an independent agency to probe the allegation of demand for bribe from Bengaluru Urban Zilla Panchayat executive engineer Krishnamurthy by some people at the Lokayukta office.Justice Y Bhaskar Rao

Justice Rao had on Friday entrusted the investigation to Bengaluru City’s Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) M Chandrashekar, who also heads the CCB. However, Chandrashekar on Saturday wrote to the Lokayukta to reconsider the decision citing some reasons.

Subsequently, Justice Rao has decided to request the State government to appoint any independent agency to probe the matter, an official release from the Lokayukta said.

The decision comes following opposition to a CCB probe from civil society and various quarters. Upa Lokayukta Subhash B Adi had also said that only a CBI probe was appropriate.

Though the release from the Lokayukta did not mention the reasons cited by Chandrashekar, it is said that the IPS officer decided not to take up the probe to ensure that there is no conflict of interest.

According to sources, in 2010, the Lokayukta police had arrested Chandrashekar’s father-in-law, who was then special deputy commissioner in Bengaluru, on charges of accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000 for land conversion.

The Lokayukta police are yet to file a charge sheet in the case. Thus, to avoid any conflict of interest, Chandrashekar decided not to probe the case, sources added.

The Lokayukta had ordered a probe by the CCB following a report by Sonia Narang, Superintendent of Police (City), Lokayukta. The report stated that the staff had demanded Rs 1 crore from the executive engineer inside a hall right next to the chamber of the Lokayukta and threatened to raid him if he fails to pay the money.

The incident of demand for bribe took place on the second floor of the Lokayukta office on May 5. Narang’s report states that the executive engineer had received messages on his mobile number asking him to call the sender of the message.

“When he called up that number, a person, who identified himself as Krishna Rao, told him that Joint Commissioner, Lokayukta, has asked him to come to the Lokayukta office,” said the report.

“When he asked about the reason, he was told that there were complaints against him. He asked (executive engineer) to come to the Lokayukta office on May 5, 2015,” it added.

Narang, in her report, has stated that the matter needed to be thoroughly investigated into since the mobile numbers and other details were available.

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News Network
March 11,2020

Mar 11: Thirteen of the 22 rebel MLAs in Madhya Pradesh have given an assurance that "they are not leaving the Congress", senior party leader Digvijaya Singh said on Thursday while expressing confidence that the Kamal Nath-led government in the state will win a floor test.

"We are not keeping quiet. We are not sleeping," Singh told PTI, a day after Congress leader from the state Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress and 22 MLAs submitted their resignations from the assembly in Madhya Pradesh.

Scindia was offered the post of Madhya Pradesh deputy chief minister but wanted his nominee, Singh said. However, Kamal Nath refused to accept a "chela", he said.

Scindia, he said, could have been a Congress nominee to the Rajya Sabha but "only Modi-Shah" can give a Cabinet post to the "over-ambitious" leader.

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News Network
February 9,2020

New Delhi, Feb 9: Calling India a "long-standing friend", Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for visiting his country in the aftermath of last year's Easter Sunday terror attacks and outlined that New Delhi has always helped Colombo in its fight against terrorism.

In a joint press briefing with PM Modi, Mahinda Rajapaksa said he hopes that India will continue to help Sri Lanka fight terrorism.

Mahinda Rajapaksa expressed his gratitude to PM Modi for the neighbourhood first policy and the priority India gives to Sri Lanka.

"We had agreed that our cooperation is multifaceted and priority is given to a number of areas including security, economy, culture and social sectors. Part of our discussions centered on cooperation with regard to the security of the two countries. India has always assisted Sri Lanka to enhance our capacity, capabilities in intelligence and counter-terrorism. We look forward to getting continued support in this regard," he said.

"I thank the Prime Minister for visiting Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday terror attacks that provided us with immense strength to come to terms with the tragedy. We also appreciate Prime Minister Modi's $400 million line of credit to enhance the economy of Sri Lanka and another $50 million line of credit for fighting terrorism," he added.

The Sri Lankan president urged PM Modi to consider further assistance to expand housing projectS all over Sri Lanka to benefit people from rural areas.

"The Prime Minister and I discussed how Sri Lanka and India can work together in the field of economy. India is among the world's fastest growing economies. I discussed with PM Modi how Sri Lanka could benefit from certain economic sectors where India is in a strong position," he said.

Concluding his statement, Mahinda Rajapaksa said, "India is our closest neighbour and a long-standing friend. The close historical links...provided a solid foundation to our ties."

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Agencies
August 8,2020

Idukki, Aug 8: Nine more bodies have been recovered from the landslide ravaged Pettimudi near Munnar in Idukki on Saturday. With this the death toll in the tragedy reached 26. Around 40 are feared to be still trapped under the debris or washed away.

The rescue operation by NDRF and Fire and Rescue Services that was stopped by Friday evening due to poor light and bad weather resumed by Saturday morning.

Horrifying scene prevailed in the area as relatives of the missing people screamed around in search of their beloved ones. As it is nearly 48 hours since the incident happened, the chances of recovering missing persons alive from the debris is becoming bleak. Three of the bodies recovered on Saturday could not be identified till evening.

Kerala Revenue Minster E Chandrasekharan, who visited the area on Saturday, said that search operation would be carried out until all the missing are recovered.

It was by around 11.30 pm on Thursday that landslide had hit the Nayamakkad estate of Kannan Devan Hills and Plantations. Settlement clusters of plantation workers where 83 persons were staying were reduced to debris as the huge rocks came bulldozing. Five of the residents were reported to be not in the spot while the mishap occured.

Meanwhile, heavy rains led to floods at many parts of the state. Red alert has been issued at Idukki, Malappuram and Wayanad districts for Sunday also. A total of 11,446 persons of 3,530 families were shifted to relief camps across the state, of which major chunk is at Wayanad.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that water level at most dams is increasing swiftly.

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