Mumbai, Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt has left his residence at Imperial Heights building in suburban Bandra and is heading to the designated Tada court in Mumbai to surrender and undergo his prison term in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case. The actor is accompanied by his wife Manyata and director Mahesh Bhatt and is travelling in his car. The Supreme Court in its March 21 verdict awarded five year imprisonment to the 53-year-old actor for illegal possession of arms. On May 14, the apex court refused to grant him more time to surrender for undergoing remainder of the three-and-a- half-year jail term. On Wednesday Dutt's lawyer Subhash Jadhav informed the special Tada court that the 53-year-old actor wanted to withdraw his application filed a day before seeking leave to surrender before Yerwada jail in Pune instead of giving himself up in the Tada court here. He did not assign any reason for withdrawing the application. The actor will have to serve the remaining three-and-half years of a five-year sentence under the Arms Act for illegal possession of an AK-56 rifle at his Bandra bungalow about a month before the March 12, 1993 bomb blasts in the city in which 257 people ...
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Mumbai, Sanjay Dutt will surrender on Thursday before a special TADA court here to undergo his remaining jail term in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, according to his lawyer. The TADA court on Wednesday allowed the actor to withdraw his application seeking to surrender at Yerwada Jail in Pune. Sanjay Dutt had earlier filed a plea requesting the court to allow him to surrender in Pune, instead of special TADA court in Mumbai. Dutt had cited an apprehension of danger to his life "from vested interests and other fundamentalist groups and organizations". His application stated that he wanted to surrender directly either before the authorities of the Yerawada jail in Pune or Arthur Road jail, as on previous occasions when he was arrested and taken to Yerawada jail, he was "chased by the media and news reporters/journalists". He said that vehicles ferrying him to jail went at a speed of more than 120 kmph and "a minor error of judgment by the driver can lead to a fatal accident which can cost him his life". He also said he "apprehends a large presence of media and fans at the Tada court premises which increases security risks... as it becomes difficult to monitor each and ...
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Mumbai, Within days of the Janata Dal (United)'s vehement objections to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's projection as a prime ministerial candidate, the Shiv Sena, too, warned the BJP on the issue saying it has no veto on the selection process and other NDA allies will have to be consulted. "Narendra Modi could well be one of the BJP candidates for the PMship. But it's the NDA which will take the final call on the issue,'' said Saamna, the Sena mouthpiece, in an editorial on Wednesday. The Sena is the oldest constituent ally in the BJP-led NDA. Slamming the BJP for opening a can of worms on the issue of NDA's prime ministerial candidate, Saamna urged BJP bigwigs L K Advani, Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj to call an urgent meeting of the NDA to end the stalemate. "The UPA has been speaking in one voice on its prime ministerial nominee. They have stood behind Manmohan Singh, whatever may be the internal views of the UPA allies. On the other hand, everyone in the NDA is singing his or her own tune. This is not a good scenario. The BJP has every right to decide its candidate for PMship. However, the party can't install its prime minister on its own strength," Saamna ...
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Mumbai, Citing the drought crisis in Maharashtra, the BJP on Monday attempted to pin down the Prithviraj Chavan-led government over water usage for IPL games to be held in the state. During the Upper House proceedings, BJP legislator Chandrakant Patil sought permission to move an adjournment motion over the issue. While the motion was denied, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar had to make a statement on behalf of the government in the House. Patil claimed that watering of pitches and grounds used for IPL matches in the state required 60,000 litres of water. With opposition leader in the legislative council Vinod Tawde already having asked IPL organizers to reconsider holding matches in the drought-hit state, Patil on Monday turned the heat on the government. "The state must at least levy heavy charges on the water used for the IPL games at the matches. The collected money should be used for drought relief," Patil demanded. While disallowing Patil to move the motion, legislative council chairman Shivaji Deshmukh sought the government's response to the demand. Patil further put the government in a spot by reiterating that the Upper House had taken serious note of water ...
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Mumbai, Ending speculation about his future course of action, Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, 53, announced tearfully on Thursday that he would not seek any pardon and would surrender to the authorities within the four-week deadline prescribed by the Supreme Court. "The honourable Supreme Court has given me time to surrender and I will surrender in that time," said Dutt at an impromptu and emotional press conference held outside his residence at Imperial Heights, Bandra (West). "With folded hands I want to tell the media, the honourable citizens of the country, that when I am not going for a pardon then there can be no debate about it.... All I can tell you is I have not applied for a pardon. There are many other people who deserve a pardon," said a teary-eyed Dutt who was accompanied by his younger sister, MP Priya Dutt. Meanwhile, retired Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju made an impassioned plea to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking clemency for Dutt. Katju argued that the actor has already served jail time of 18 months and faced public ostracism, tribulations and indignities for 20 years. "It is alleged that Sanjay Dutt is a celebrity and granting him pardon will send a ...
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New Delhi, In a first-ever indictment of Pakistan as a promoter of terrorism, the Supreme Court on Thursday said the neighbouring country had breached the United Nation's mandate for every member country to prevent terrorists from using its territory to harm other countries. The court had in the past handled several cases relating to terrorism, including the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai in which the Pakistani hand was noticed by the apex court while awarding death penalty to the sole surviving gunman Ajmal Kasab. But never before had the court been so categorical and severe on Pakistan. Delivering judgment on the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, a bench of Justices P Sathasivam and BS Chauhan said some of the accused, upon arrival in Pakistan for arms training, were received by ISI operatives who took them out of the airport without observing any immigration formalities. "Pakistan, thus, took precautions not to bring its involvement on record," the bench said. There was no entry in their passports when they left Islamabad for Dubai, "meaning thereby, they (the accused) had a green channel entry and exit in Pakistan", the court said. "The events unveil the tolerance and ...
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Mumbai, Days after Mumbai observed the 20th anniversary of the 1993 serial blasts, the Supreme Court will on Thursday deliver its verdict on 97 convicts, including actor Sanjay Dutt and 11 others who were sentenced to death. Dutt faces six years in jail for possession of arms. The judgment is scheduled to be pronounced by a division bench of Justice P Sathasivam and Justice BS Chauhan. "We are awaiting the final verdict," advocate Farhana Shah, who represented many accused in the trial court and the Supreme Court, told TOI. As many as 257 people were killed and 713 injured in the serial blasts that rocked 12 locations in Mumbai on March 12, 1993, killed 257 people and maimed 713 others, besides damaging property worth Rs 30 crore. The fishermen's colony at Mahim Causeway, Bombay Stock Exchange, Zaveri Bazar, Plaza Cinema in Dadar, Century Bazaar in Worli, Hotel Sea Rock, Sahar Airport, Air India building, Hotel Juhu Centaur and a petrol pump opposite the Sena Bhavan were some of the places that were targeted. According to the CBI, fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim, along with Pakistant's ISI, engineered the blasts, and Tiger Memon and his brother Ayub were the main ...
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Mumbai, Continuing its crackdown on corruption in the government, the Bombay high court on Friday set a deadline of mid-April for the state to clear the entire backlog of files on graft cases awaiting its sanction for prosecution. A division bench of Justice A M Khanwilkar and Justice A P Bhangale, hearing a PIL filed last October by PrakashSheth, told the government that files up to 2011 should be cleared within two weeks and the rest within two weeks thereafter. Additional government pleader Aruna Pai submitted charts giving the break-up of cases pending sanction in 43 departments of the government. She said there are a total of 196 cases pending, of which 68 pertaining to trap cases by the anti-corruption bureau have been cleared till date. The judges had sought details of cases awaiting sanction till February 12 when the government issued a notification setting a deadline of three months for deciding on requests to prosecute officials in corruption cases as mandated by the Supreme Court's 1998 decision in the Vineet Narayan case. On being asked by the court as to the oldest file pending, Pai replied, "Of 2007.'' However, Sheth's advocate Rahul Kadam interjected, ...
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Mumbai.. Punjab, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana have been ranked at the top of the Well Being Index (WBI), while southern states, Gujarat and most of the north-eastern states emerged as the most secure ones for women in the Female Security Index (FSI). This was found by Tata Strategic Management Group which analysed multiple government sources and surveys to publish its 2013 edition of Well Being Index (WBI) and Female Security Index (FSI) for India here today. The states of Punjab, Delhi, HP, Haryana and Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh were ranked at the top of the WBI, while Chhattisgarh, Assam, Jharkhand and Bihar appeared at the bottom, Tata Strategic Management Group Chief Executive Raju Bhinge said. On the FSI, Hyderabad and Delhi were the lowest-ranked amongst the metro cities, while Chennai and Bangalore were at the top. Southern states, Gujarat and most of the north-eastern states emerged as the most secure for women, while Haryana, MP, Punjab, Delhi and Rajasthan states had the lowest ranking on FSI, Bhinge said. "The findings of WBI and FSI will be useful for entities working on improving overall well-being of rural and urban India and those ...
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Mumbai, British Prime Minister David Cameron arrived here on Monday morning on a three-day India visit during which will he meet captains of industry and hold talks with top leaders who are likely to seek more information on the VVIP helicopters scam involving an Anglo-Italian firm. Cameron is likely to be pressed for more information on the Rs 3,600 crore helicopter scam involving AgustaWestland during his meetings with the leadership on Tuesday. The helicopters, three of which have already been delivered, were manufactured in southwest England. The visit also comes in the wake of India taking steps to scrap the contract after Italian investigators probed allegations that aerospace group Finmeccanica, the parent company of AgustaWestland, had broken the law by paying bribes to foreign officials. Cameron landed here at around 8.30am and was received at the airport by minister of protocol Suresh Shetty and senior Maharashtra government officials. He is accompanied by a large delegation which includes CEO of top British corporates, vice-chancellors of reputed universities and senior Government officials, among others. "In Mumbai, Cameron's programmes include ...
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London, For an average middle class Indian, the cost of living can be daunting in two of India's most cosmopolitan cities - Mumbai and Delhi. But in a shocker, these two of India's most expensive cities have ended up right at the bottom of the heap, in a list of world's cheapest cities. Mumbai and Karachi are the joint cheapest locations in the world according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's "Worldwide cost of living index 2013" with New Delhi just one spot higher. Tokyo took the title as the world's most expensive city ousting Zurich which is now the world's 7th most expensive city. Japan's Tokyo and Osaka were the world's top two expensive cities followed by Sydney, Oslo, Melbourne, Singapore, Zurich, Paris, Caracus ( Venezuela) and Geneva. A comparative survey showed that buying a one kg loaf of bread in Tokyo is nine times more expensive in than in Mumbai and 8 times more than in Delhi. Buying a pack of 20 cigarettes cost three times more in Tokyo than in Mumbai and over two times more than in Delhi. Ironically, buying a bottle of table wine is more expensive in Mumbai $23.82 as against $15.95 in Tokyo. The Worldwide cost of living survey, which is ...
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Mumbai, Union minister for information & broadcasting Manish Tewari has assured the media and advertising fraternity that the industry views will be taken into full consideration while framing policies relating to the sector. Speaking at an award ceremony in Mumbai on Saturday night, Tewari listed out paradoxes associated with the media and entertainment industry—self regulation, skewed revenue model, imperfect audience measurement models, among others. He said "issues are contentious, no doubt, but if you delay decisions, situation will engulf you completely". The minister highlighted the need to create a statutory mechanism to address issues related to convergence across media, entertainment and telecom. He said "convergence across media, entertainment and telecom space, especially with digitization kicking in, is inevitable. Therefore, at some point in time there will have to be an over-arching statutory architecture to look into the issues." He, however, said that the self regulation of the content remained the preferred option but it had to be broad-based and balanced. Tewari said "freedom of speech should not extend to the right to offend and an individual's right ...
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Mumbai, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday hinted that he was open to the possibility of his party joining hands with cousin Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). The clear hint came in an interview to the party mouthpiece Saamna, Thackeray's first since his father Balasaheb Thackeray's death on Nov 17 last year and after he took over the reins of the party on Jan 17. Responding to a question on whether the cousins could come together, Thackeray said: "You cannot clap with one hand. Tell me, can you?" Pushing further, Saamna's executive editor and party MP Sanjay Raut asked whether this implied the two parties could join hands? "Why do you ask this question only to me? I am ready to reply. But for that you have to make us sit together, next to each other. Then you can ask the question to both of us. It depends on both sides," Thackeray said, hinting at the possibility of burying the hatchet with Raj. "More important than coming together, we have to first analyse why we drifted away... If we reunite, then for what purpose? Who is your main political opponent? Who do you want to destroy politically? And what direction should be taken for ...
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Mumbai, Legal experts say that the evidence left behind by the victim of the Delhi gang rape victim who lost her battle to survive the brutal crime appears to be the strongest and most crucial in the form of a dying declaration in the case to nail the accused. With the police having invoked the murder charge on Saturday against the six accused after Nirbhaya breathed her last in a Singapore hospital less than a fortnight after her brutal gang rape on a moving bus from which she was thrown out, it is now their task to expedite the filing of the chargesheet in the case and take it to trial, said lawyers. The police must set a deadline for completing the probe so that the trial takes off soon. Advocate Shrikant Bhat in Mumbai said, "Since the young woman is now no more, her death which was caused as a result of the brutal assault on her body attracts the murder rap and the law and the maximum punishment for it is death by hanging." He added, that what is crucial is that in this case since the victim was unable to speak due to crime and as reported, answered all the police questions in writing, it would form a critical dying declaration."Such a dying declaration would be very ...
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Mumbai, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray would attend Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday, while his cousin and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray has not been invited for the event. "Uddhav will not go to Gandhi Nagar. There has been no invitation from Modi for the function,'' a source close to the Shiv Sena leader said on Tuesday. Sources said Raj will fly to Gandhi Nagar in the morning and return in the evening. "Last week Raj rang up Modi to congratulate him on his victory. Modi then invited Raj,'' another source said. Uddhav was among the first Maharashtra leaders to congratulate Modi on his victory. In a statement, he had said Modi's victory was proved that Gujarat's people had reposed their faith in his leadership and development agenda. He said Modi had kept Congress away from office for the third time and urged the Maharashtra voters to vote out the Congress-NCP from the state. Uddhav had visited Ahmedabad in 2007 to support Modi during his fast on the Narmada issue. Raj's week-long Gujarat tour in August last year had strengthened his ties with Modi. He was Modi's guest and after returning to Mumbai, Raj ...
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New Delhi, India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) could visit Pakistan in mid-January to further its probe into the 26/11 Mumbai attack while a Pakistani judicial panel may visit India next week, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said here Saturday as he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to press him to visit Pakistan and his native village. "Whatever trust deficit was there, it was removed," he said of his talks with Indian leaders as he sought to do damage control over his reported remarks on the first day of his visit Friday. Malik, who also met National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, sought to deflect the negative publicity evoked by his purported comparison of 26/11 with Babri mosque's demolition with terror attacks and offered an investigation into the death of Kargil martyr Captain Saurabh Kalia. BJP leader Sushma Swaraj raised the plight of Hindu minorities in Pakistan at her meeting with Rehman and also expressed concern over "slow" progress in bringing to book those involved in the 2611 conspiracy. In an interview with NDTV news channel before his meeting with the prime minister, Malik said that the issue of judicial commission was discussed ...
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New Delhi, In a veiled attack on Pakistan, home minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Friday said the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai were the result of a neighbour's envy to India's economic progress and vowed to bring back all terrorists, including Dawood Ibrahim, to face trial here. He also said that the neighbour is still trying to weaken country's economy by pumping fake Indian currency notes. "We launched the economic reforms in 1991 and subsequently India had achieved rapid economic progress. But a neighbour became envious of our development. Soon, there were 13 blasts in Mumbai (in 1993)," he said. Shinde said all fugitive terrorists, including the 1993 Mumbai blasts mastermind Dawood Ibrahim, would be brought back to India and punished for their crime. "Not only Dawood but other terrorists sitting in safe havens will be brought back to India to face trial. We are working with some international organisations," he said. Last month, addressing the Interpol General Assembly in Rome, Shinde had said the masterminds of the heinous serial blasts are sitting in safe havens in Pakistan which has taken no action against them despite being provided with credible ...
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Mumbai, A week after a government white paper on irrigation gave Ajit Pawar a clean chit, the senior NCP leader was on Friday sworn in as Maharashtra deputy chief minister. Pawar, the nephew of NCP president and Union minister Sharad Pawar, was sworn in at Raj Bhawan here. Governor K Sankaranarayanan administered oath of office to Pawar in the presence of chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. Opposition Sena-BJP members, which have denounced the move, kept away from the swearing-in ceremony. The dramatic announcement of resignation of Pawar on September 25, in the wake of allegations of corruption in irrigation projects, had plunged the state's Congress-NCP government into a crisis with all other 19 party ministers offering to quit. Pawar, 53, had resigned after media reports alleged he had arbitrarily awarded irrigation contracts worth over Rs 20,000 crore when he was state's irrigation minister during 1999-2009, before he was elevated as deputy chief minister and handled the plum finance and energy portfolios. The white paper, presented by the irrigation department to the state Cabinet on November 29, had claimed a 28 per cent increase in irrigation potential in Maharashtra in ...
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Mumbai, A day after getting all powers to manage Shiv Sena, its executive president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday donned a new mantle -- that of the editor of party mouthpieces Saamana and Dopahar Ka Saamana. Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray, who edited the two newspapers till his death on November 17, is now 'founder-editor' of the dailies. Till Monday, Bal Thackeray's name continued to appear on the front-page below the masthead as editor of both the newspapers. Indicating his desire to keep a low profile, the name of Uddhav, the son of Bal Thackeray, appears only in the printline of the last pages of the two papers. Marathi broadsheet morninger Saamana was founded January 23, 1988, as a party mouthpiece to convey Thackeray's views to the Marathi masses. Hindi eveninger tabloid Dopahar Ka Saamana was launched Febraury 23, 1993, to woo north Indians settled in Maharashtra and take Thackeray's views to the national capital, a year before the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party combine captured power in Maharashtra. Over the years, Thackeray mastered the art of using the two newspapers columns -- through acidic edits, rare signed edicts and an occasional ...
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Mumbai, The Shiv Sena on Monday announced that all powers of party president would now vest with executive president Uddhav Thackeray. An announcement in party mouthpiece Saamna said the decision had been taken at a meeting of top party leaders at the Thackeray residence Matoshri. "All the powers of Shiv Sena Pramukh (chief) shall be with executive president Uddhav Thackeray. This has been decided in a meeting of Shiv Sena leaders," the statement said, in a development that was anticipated. Uddhav, 52, has been the party's executive president since 2004. He will now be de facto party president. His father Bal Thackeray had founded the party and led it for over four decades till his death on Nov 17. After Bal Thackeray's demise, a photograph with a sandalwood garland has been placed on the chair he regularly used. "The party's first meeting was held in 'Thackeray Durbar' (the room where the garlanded photograph of the late Shiv Sena chief has been placed) where all the leaders unanimously expressed confidence in Uddhav and decided to authorise him (Uddhav Thackeray) to fulfil the late Bal Thackeray's dreams," the statement said. Thackeray was accorded a public, ...
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