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NORTH IN NEWS
JAMMU

JAMMU, SATURDAY 21, DECEMBER 2013

Indian merchant ship captain

Sunil James reaches India

new deLhi, dec. 20: Indian merchant ship captain Sunil

James, who was freed from Togo jail after being arrested for
allegedly aiding pirates, reached India on Friday. James arrived at
the Indira Gandhi International airport here today morning and will
reach Mumbai by afternoon. James had stopped at Togo to report
an attack on his ship MT Ocean Centurion by pirates when he was
arrested July 31, along with two other crew members, for allegedly aiding the pirates. India was in touch with Togo authorities to
secure on compassionate ground the release of the sailor whose
family wanted him to conduct the last rites of his 11-month-old
son. James's family had been seeking his release so that he could
return home for the last rites of his 11-month-old son Vivaan who
died Dec 2 of septicaemia in a Mumbai hospital. The sailor's 31year-old wife Aditi and others in the family wanted James to conduct the last rites of his son whose body is lying in a hospital
morgue since the toddler's death.External Affairs Ministry
spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin yesterday said James and another
Indian sailor, Vijayan, have begun their journey back to India.

South Sudan conflict: 2 Indian peacekeepers SBI, HDFC slash home loan rates
killed, ONGC may recall officials
Juba, dec. 20: As violence and unrest continued
unabated in South Sudan, two
Indian peacekeepers were
killed and one was injured on
Thursday when attackers
stormed a United Nations
base in the world's newest
country where civilians had
taken refuge. Some reports
had earlier said that three
Indian peacekeepers were
killed. Confirming the news,
Additional
Directorate
General
of
Public
Information, IHQ of MoD
(Army) tweeted this morning:
Sub Dharmesh Sangwan and
Sub Kumar Pal Singh were
"killed in crossfire protecting
Dinka Tribes from hundreds
of Armed Rebels," said another tweet. Rebels from the second-largest ethnic group, the
Nuer, stormed the base in
Akobo in Jonglei state, targeting civilians of the majority
Dinka ethnic community.

India's External Affairs

Ministry spokesperson Syed
Akbaruddin also tweeted:
"Bad news from UN Mission
in South Sudan (UNMISS). 2
Indian peacekeepers lose their
lives at Akobo in Jonglei
State. RIP" About 1500-2000
rebels attacked the base where
43 Indian peacekeepers were
present along with six UN
police advisers and two civil-

ians. Meanwhile, Oil and

Natural Gas Corporation
Videsh Ltd chairman has said
that if the need arises, he
would recall officials from
South Sudan.
The United Nations
Mission in South Sudan
(UNMISS) said about 30
South Sudanese had sought
shelter from the turmoil
plaguing areas of Akobo

County. The UNMISS, in a

statement, strongly condemned the attack. UN
Secretary-General Ban Kimoon said he was "appalled"
to learn of the attack on the
UNMISS base in Akobo and
demanded that the government and opposition forces
respect the rights of civilians
and ensure their safety and
security. The UN has said
there were reports of more
casualties but did given any
further details. The mission
said it is doing everything possible to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the
assault on the base and secure
the safety of its personnel
who remain there. South
Sudan has been in turmoil
since President Salva Kiir
accused his ex-deputy Riek
Machar of mounting a coup.
The unrest, which broke out
on Sunday, has killed some
500 people so far.

Majority wants Aam Aadmi Party govt in Delhi: Survey

new deLhi, dec.

20: With the political deadlock continuing in Delhi,
thousands of respondents to
a new survey want Arvind
Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) to form government here. As per the
ABP News-Nielsen survey,
the results of which were
released on Friday, 80% of
local voters in Delhi want
AAP to from government.
According to the ABP
News-Nielsen survey, when
asked whether Arvind
Kejriwal should form government in Delhi, nearly
80% supported the move
while 19% opposed it.

When asked should there be

re-election in Delhi, 64%
respondents said no, while
33% said yes.
The survey also asked
people to respond whether
they will vote for Kejriwal
again in the event of a repoll? Interestingly, 64%
people said they will choose
AAP and Kejriwal while
28% voters said they won't.
Importantly, 74% people, who responded to the
survey, had voted for AAP
in the Assembly election
held on December 4 in
Delhi, and 64% of them said
they will re-elect Kejriwal's
party in re-election. The

Singapore starts
deporting Indian nationals
Singapore, dec. 20: Singapore on Thursday started
deporting 52 Indian nationals for their role in the December 8
riot, the city state's worst street violence in 40 years. Sixteen of
the men were interviewed by the state-appointed Committee
of Enquiry (COI) into the riot in the Little India area, a report
The Straits Times said. The riot was sparked by a fatal accident
involving an Indian national. The 53 had allegedly obstructed
the police or failed to obey police order to disperse during the
riot, in which 39 Home Team officers, including policemen
were injured and 25 police and Singapore Civil Defence Force
vehicles damaged. They were deemed to have posed a threat
to the safety and security of Singapore, conditions that allows
the authorities to deport them from entering the country again
under the laws such as Immigration Act.
Twenty-eight Indian nationals were arraigned on riot
charges and would have their cases heard in court on Monday.
Meanwhile, police have warned 200 other South Asian workers who were at the scene of riot. Police have issued advisories
to the 200 to obey the law and would be allowed to remain in
Singapore and work. Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam has
stressed that the repatriation of the 53 became judicial rather
than administrative matter.
Under the Immigration Act, the government could ask an
individual to leave once it has been determined that he acted
contrary to Singapore?s interests or acted in a manner prejudicial to public security or safety, stressed Shanmugam. Earlier
this week, a civil group had questioned the "arbitrary deportation" of these people, citing the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants. The repatriation
is done in groups.A Bangladesh national was also being
deported. Some 400 South Asian workers rioted when the 33year-old. Indian National, Sakthivel Kumaravalu, was killed in
the accident with a bus on the night of December 8.

results implied that 10%

voters will reject AAP in a
re-poll.
When the people were

asked to share their opinion

whether Kejriwal will be
able to keep his promises,
only 29% of them said that

AAP chief will not be able

to deliver what he had
promised in his party's election manifesto. Much to
AAP's relief, 59% people
were sure that AAP will
keep their promises, while
12% people were undecided. The survey was conducted to gauze people's
mood after the assembly
elections in Delhi threw a
hung verdict. While the
main opposition party, BJP,
fell short of numbers despite
emerging as the single
largest party, AAP too
announced to sit in the
opposition as it got only 28
seats. The Congress, which

was ousted from power,

later offered to give outside
support o AAP to form government here to end the
political stalemate and to
avert a re-poll here. Caught
in a strange situation, AAP
said that it will hold public
rallies across Delhi and ask
voters to tell whether it
should form a government
with the Congress support or
not. AAP leaders and MLAs
have started the process of
public consultation and are
holding rallies in every constituency to get the opinion
of voters. The party said it
will announce the results of
the survey on Monday.

Maharashtra Cabinet rejects

report on Adarsh Housing scam
MuMbai, dec. 20:
The Maharashtra Cabinet
on Friday rejected the report
of an inquiry commission
headed by a retired judge on
Adarsh Housing Society
scam. The Maharashtra
government tabled the
Adarsh inquiry commission
report in the Assembly
today.
Reacting to
Maharashtra governments
move, Shiv Sena leader
Subhash Desai accused the
state government of running
away from truth as Ashok
Chavan would get exposed.
The state government had in
January 2011 set up the
commission headed by a
retired judge to inquire into
allegations that the land
where the Adarsh building
stands belongs to the
Ministry of Defence, that it
was reserved for war widows and veterans, and
bureaucrats and ruling
politicians flouted norms
while granting permissions
and in return they were

alloted flats.
Four former chief ministers -- late Vilasrao
Deshmukh, Ashok Chavan,
Shivajirao Patil-Nilangekar
and now union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde -besides politicians and
bureaucrats were examined
by a two-member commission that probed various
aspects of the scam involving the 31-storeyed building
in south Mumbai.
The commission, in its
interim report, said that the

land belonged to the state,

and was not reserved for
anybody. Later, in April this
year, it submitted its final
report. In January 2011, a
two-member commission
comprising retired judge,
Justice JA Patil and former
chief
secretary
P.A.
Subramanian was set up and
it submitted its report to the
state government in April
this year.
Meanwhile, the CBI is
likely to seek a review of
Maharashtra Governor's

order refusing to grant sanction for prosecution of former Chief Minister of the
state Ashok Chavan in the
multi-crore Adarsh housing
scam.
Highly placed sources
in the agency said that the
13-page
reply
of
Maharashtra Governor K
Sankaranarayanan
was
examined and the CBI was
now planning to seek a
review in light of the
grounds on which the permission was declined.

Fog cripples train, flight Govt files review petition

services in Uttar Pradesh in SC on gay sex verdict

Lucknow, dec. 20:

Fog has disrupted railway
traffic and flight schedules in
Uttar Pradesh, officials said
on Friday. According to the
railway authorities, more than
76 trains were running behind
their schedule due to fog and
poor visibility.
The trains that were hit by
the fog are Farakka Express,
Barauni Mail, Gomti Express,
Shatabdi Express plying
between Lucknow and New
Delhi, Begampura Express,
Shaheed Express, duplicate
Punjab Mail and PrayagLucknow passenger.

The worst hit was

Sadbhavana Express, running
late by 22 hours, and
Guwahati-Delhi
Special
which was 18-hours behind its
schedule. The Northern
Railway has also announced
cancellation of 16 major trains
between Dec 21 and Dec 30.
These trains include KanpurPrayag passenger, PrayagFaizabad
passenger,
Sultanpur-Lucknow passenger and Lucknow-Kanpur
Memu.
Regional Met
Director J.P Gupta, however,
said the fog would subside
considerably in the next two

days. He also said the drop in

night temperatures would stall
"for a while".
But the weatherman also
said the fog would be severe
in the last week of December
and during the beginning of
the new year. Air traffic too
was disrupted due to the fog.
A Jet Airways flight between
New Delhi and Lucknow
and an Indigo flight between
Lucknow and Mumbai was
cancelled Thursday.
An airport official told a
news agency that the fate of
these and other flights
Friday was uncertain. The
unrelenting cold wave continued in Uttar Pradesh,
mainly due to the 'pachua'
breeze at 10 km an hour,
intensifying the cold wave in
many parts of the state. The
Met Office said Western
Disturbances were likely to
aggravate cold wave conditions in the state in the next
few days.

new deLhi, dec. 20:

The government on Friday
filed a review petition against
the Supreme Court's decision to
uphold Section 377 of the
Indian Penal Code which criminalises homosexual relations
between adults. Confirming the
move, Union Law Minister
Kapil Sibal on Friday tweeted:
The review petition contended that the December 11
judgement of the apex court
setting aside the Delhi High
Court verdict decriminalising
sexual intercourse between
same sex of consenting adults
is "unsustainable".
The Centre's petition settled by Attorney General GE
Vahavati sought that oral arguments be heard in an open court
before disposing of its review
petition. The review petitions
are generally decided in chamber hearing.
In the petition filed through
advocate Devdutt Kamath, the
Centre has taken 76 grounds to

contend that the judgement

passed by Justice GS Singhvi
(since retired) and Justice SJ
Mukhopadhaya "suffers from
errors apparent on the face of
the record, and is contrary to
well-established principles of
law laid down by this court
enunciating the width and
ambit of Fundamental Rights
under Articles 14, 15 and 21 of
the Constitution." While setting aside the July 2, 2009
judgement of the Delhi High
Court, the apex court had held
that Section 377 (unnatural sexual offences) of the IPC does
not suffer from the vice of

unconstitutionality and that the

declaration made by the High
Court is legally unsustainable.
Overturning a 2009 Delhi High
Court judgment decriminalising
homosexuality,
the
Supreme Court on December
11 upheld Section 377 of the
Indian Penal Code which classifies gay sex as a crime.
However, the court left it to
Parliament to amend the section if needed. The union government had expressed "deep
disappointment" over the verdict and said it was considering
all options to restore the Delhi
High Court order.

new deLhi, dec. 20: Two biggest housing

financiers SBI and HDFC on Thursday cut home loan rates
by up to 0.4 percent for new borrowers, a day after the
Reserve Bank kept its key policy rates on hold. Women borrowers would get an additional 0.05 percent concession on
card rates, SBI, country's biggest lender, said in a statement.
SBI home loans will now be available under two slabs-under Rs 75 lakh and above Rs 75 lakh. SBI loans of up to
Rs 75 lakh would be available to fresh borrowers at 10.15
percent against the existing rate of 10.50 percent. For women
borrowers, the rate of interest after an additional concession
of 0.05 percent would be 10.10 percent for home loans of up
to Rs 75 lakh. With regard to loans of above Rs 75 lakh, the
new rate would be 10.30 percent. For women borrowers it is
10.25 percent. The new SBI rates would be effective from
tomorrow. Country's largest housing finance company
HDFC cut rates by 0.25 percent. "This is a limited period
offer and is valid for all new applications submitted before
January 31, and first disbursement taken by February 28,
2014," HDFC said in a statment. The new rates for HDFC
home loans of up to Rs 75 lakh will be 10.25 percent as
against the existing 10.50 percent. The Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) in its monetary policy review yesterday kept
short-term lending rate unchanged at 7.75 percent, while the
cash reserve ratio (CRR) remained at 4 percent. In October,
SBI had reduced interest rates on loans for car and consumer
durables and also decided to lower processing charges to
cash in on the festival season demand.

Woman gang-raped and

thrown out of truck
kanpur, dec. 20: A 45-year-old woman was
allegedly gangraped by four men in a moving truck and
later thrown out of the vehicle in Bhognipur here, police
said Friday. The incident took place on Naubasta bypass
here when the woman had boarded the truck which offered
to drive her to Bhognipur. Soon, three men joined the driver and took turns to rape her. The woman lost consciousness and was later thrown out on the street while the
accused fled from the spot, police said. The woman was
found lying on the road when onlookers informed the
police and the victim was taken to a hospital, they said. The
police has registered a case against the three accused however, they claim that the woman and the accused have a history of disputes. The woman has been sent for medical
examination and further investigations are on, they said.

'Gantantra Rath' to encourage

people to vote ethically
cuttack, dec. 20: To encourage voters to exercise their franchise and vote in an ethical manner, the
Cuttack district administration here has launched
'Ganatantra Rath' (Chariot of Democracy). The chariot
would move across all the 14 blocks of the district asking
people to come out in large numbers to vote for a vibrant
democracy Prepared by the district election office, two
chariots rolled from the district headquarter here after a
colourful flag-off yesterday. The chariots would camp for
at least two days in a block spreading awareness on registration of names in voters' list and how to cast vote in
Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). Setting the chariots
roll, ADM Laxmikant Mohanty said all information pertaining to voters' list and EVM could be obtained from the
personnel accompanying in the chariots. He said the main
aim of the campaign is to encourage the young and new
voters to vote in large numbers during elections.
Concerned over a low turnout of voters in booths during
elections, the CEC has started similar awareness campaigns across the country. The campaign has already
yielded encouraging results during polls to five states last
month. The Cuttack district administration is also planning
to make all the 2,171 polling booths of the district as disabled-friendly so that the disabled persons, who shy away
from exercising their franchise, would turn up to ensure
better polling percentage in the district.

Protests continue outside

US consulate in Hyderabad
hyderabad, dec. 21: Protests continued near the
US consulate here for the second consecutive day Friday
against the ill-treatment meted out by the US authorities to
Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York. Tension
prevailed and vehicular traffic was disrupted in the busy
Begumpet area as activists of the main opposition Telugu
Desam Party (TDP) were stopped by police from marching
towards the consulate. Scores of TDP activists, including
former minister T. Srinivas Yadav, were arrested by police.
The TDP leader demanded that the US government immediately tender an unconditional apology for the incident. The
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also staged a
protest near the consulate, condemning the humiliation
meted out to the Indian diplomat. The protesters were
stopped by police when they tried to remove barricades and
advanced towards Paigah Palace, housing the consulate. The
protesters raised slogans against the US and carried placards
condemning the ill-treatment meted out by US authorities to
Devyani, a senior diplomat serving in the Indian Consulate
General in New York. They also set afire an effigy of US
President Barack Obama. The Left parties and their affiliated students' organisations had Thursday tried to lay siege to
the consulate. Dozens of protesters were arrested by police.

Minor girl charges 5 constables with rape, 2 held

chandigarh, dec. 21: Two Chandigarh police
constables have been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a
teenage girl for months after threatening her with dire consequences, police said on Thursday. According to police, the 17year-old girl has lodged a complaint against five constables,
three of whom are now absconding. Sources said that some
three months back, the victim had called police following a
dispute with a relative. But of the constables who had
answered her call, one allegedly started harassing her on the
pretext of recording her statement. The victim further alleged
that the constable in question also took her in a vehicle and
raped her at gunpoint. In her complaint filed yesterday, the girl
also alleges that four of the accused's colleagues, too, joined
him later to continually sexually exploit her for weeks.