Shehla murder - Five lakh reward for informer

Saturday, September 17, 2011

The CBI today announced a cash reward of Rs five lakh for providing information about the murder of RTI activist Shehla Masood, who was shot dead outside her house in Bhopal last month.

On September 3, a case was registered against unnamed persons by the Bhopal unit of the agency, CBI sources said here.

Shehla was shot dead when she was going towards her car outside her residence in posh Koh-e-Fiza locality in Bhopal on August 16.

Madhya Pradesh Police could not figure out the motive but suspected she was eliminated by some powerful persons against whom she had filed RTI applications.

Shehla had earlier gone on a hunger strike in Bhopal in support of Anna Hazare’s cause. She was also involved in other causes, including wildlife conservation.

Her father Sultan Masood had said he expected no justice, being a “lower middle-class person”, and did not think that police were probing the case sincerely.

He had alleged that in January, Shehla had filed a complaint with the Lokayukta that she feared threat to her life from senior IPS officer Pawan Shrivastava.

Read Post | comments

Obama-Singh will meet again this year

The White House expects meetings between US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at different fora later this year, but has ruled out any bilateral talks between them next week in New York where they would attend the annual session of the UN General Assembly.

“We don’t have any bilateral meetings planned at this point,” US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters while briefing them on Obama’s agenda in New York.

“I think that it is our expectation that the President will be able to see — in his travels later this year,including to the East Asia Summit and other forums, he’ll have opportunities to engage with Prime Minister Singh,” Rhodes said last evening.

Obama would be travelling to New York for three days next week beginning Monday to attend the General Assembly session of the United Nations.Besides addressing the UN General Assembly, Obama would be meeting leaders of some countries.

Prominent among them are Libya’s Mustafa Abdul Jalil;Afghan President Hamid Karzai; Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff; Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda of Japan; Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and President Salva Kiir of South Sudan.

While the focus of his meetings and his remarks at the UN will be pressing global issues like Libya, Palestine,economic matters and the Middle East, the US President is expected to reiterate his position on the reforms of the UN Security Council and support India’s bid for its permanent membership.

“There’s been no evolution in the US position. We obviously have expressed our support for permanent membership for India…,” Rhodes said.

Read Post | comments

MODI'S 72-hour fast starts

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today began his three-day fast for “peace, unity and communal harmony” in the BJP-ruled state.

The BJP stalwart’s 72-hour fast under `Sadbhavna Mission’ coincides with his 62nd birthday. The venue, Gujarat University Convention Centre here – where a host of leaders from the BJP and its key ally Shiromani Akali Dal have arrived – has been put under strict vigil by the police.

On the eve of fast, Modi had issued a statement that was interpreted as his first sign of regret over the 2002 post-Godhra communal violence.

“Constitution of India is supreme for us. As a Chief Minister of the state, pain of anybody in the state is my pain. (Delivering) Justice to everyone is the duty of the state,” Modi had said yesterday.

Modi, in an attempt to reach out to the minority community, had said the state has realised that communal frenzy and casteism never helped anybody grow in the country and expressed “gratitude” to those who pointed out his mistakes in the last 10 years.

BJP leaders like L K Advani, Arun Jaitely, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Sahanawaz Hussain, Smriti Irani and Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Prem Kumar Dhumal, among others, were present when Modi began his fast.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, whose party Shiromani Akali Dal is a key member of the BJP-led NDA, was also present.

Leaders of Shiv Sena, BJP’s ally for over two decades, and emissaries of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha of AIADMK are also expected to come here to in support of Modi.

In response to Modi’s move, Gujarat Congress leaders Shankarsinh Vaghela and Arjun Modhvadia also started their fast on a footpath in front of Sabarmati Ashram.

Read Post | comments

India Ends With Another Lose In The Final ODI and a disappointing last ODI for rahul Dravid

India signed off their nightmarish tour of England without a win as they were spanked by six wickets in the rain-marred fifth and final one-dayer bringing a disappointing end to veteran Rahul Dravid’s illustrious ODI cricket career here.

Read Post | comments

India rebuffs China's objections to oil exploration

Friday, September 16, 2011

India on Thursday dismissed Chinese objections over its oil exploration projects in two Vietnamese blocks in the South China Sea, saying its cooperation with Vietnam was as per international laws and it would like the cooperation to grow. 

Noting that there was an active programme of trade and economic cooperation with Vietnam, External Affairs Ministry official Spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said cooperation in the area of energy, hydrocarbon as well as renewable energy was one of the important facets of it.

He was replying to a question on China asking India and other countries to refrain from oil exploration in maritime areas offered by Vietnam in the South China Sea, claiming it enjoys "indisputable sovereignty" there.

He said ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has been in Vietnam for quite sometime in offshore oil and natural gas exploration field and that they were in the process of further expanding cooperation and operation and Essar, a subsidiary of Essar oil Ltd, has also been awarded a gas block in Vietnam.

"This is one important area of cooperation and we would like this area of cooperation to grow. Our cooperation with Vietnam or with any other country for that matter in the world is always as per as international laws, norms and conventions," Prakash said.

He also reiterated India's position that New Delhi "supports freedom of navigation in South China Sea and hopes that all parties to the dispute would abide by the 2002 declaration of conduct in South China Sea."

The issues are expected to find a place in the Joint Commission Meeting, to be co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna along with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh, in Hanoi tomorrow.

China warns India on maritime explorations

The ongoing tension between India and China has taken a new turn with the Dragon nation issuing a warning to its neighbouring country asking it to refrain from any oil exploration in the disputed South China Sea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said that India should avoid any agreement with Vietnam in the area, saying that China enjoys an indisputable sovereignty in the region.

“Our consistent position is that we are opposed to any country engaging in oil and gas exploration and development activities in waters under China's jurisdiction,” she said in reply to a question that Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is planning to come up with exploration projects in two blocks that Vietnam claims.

The tension between China, Vietnam, Philippines and some other nations in the areas has flared up in recent times amidst allegations that Chinese navy is continuously encroaching their areas.

China’s warning came at a time when Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna is scheduled to visit Hanoi this week.

Just recently, Chinese troops had also entered Indian territory in the Leh region and demolished bunkers.

Read Post | comments