16:18 The Hindu’s reports on Rafale is contempt of court: AG:
Update: The government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that documents related to the Rafale aircraft deal have been stolen from the Defence Ministry and threatened The Hindu newspaper with the Official Secrets Act for publishing articles based on them.
An investigation into the theft is on, the attorney general said on a day the newspaper published another article on the fighter jet deal. The bench, also including Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, was hearing a batch of petitions seeking a review of its December 14 verdict dismissing all the pleas against the deal procured by India from France.
Former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and advocate Prashant Bhushan, who had jointly filed a petition, alleged that the Centre suppressed crucial facts when the apex court decided to dismiss the batch of PILs against the Rafale deal in December.
When Bhushan referred to an article written by senior journalist N Ram in The Hindu, Venugopal said the write-ups were based on stolen documents.
An FIR has not been registered so far into the theft of documents pertaining to Rafale deal, he added. He said the first write-up by Ram appeared in The Hindu on February 8 and Wednesday’s edition had another article aimed at influencing the court’s proceedings. This amounted to contempt of court, he said. The newspaper published the documents by omitting the word ‘secret’ on top, he said, seeking a dismissal of the review petitions and raising objections to Bhushan’s arguments based on the The Hindu’s articles.
The bench sought to know from the Centre what it has done when it alleges that the stories are based on stolen material. Advancing his arguments on behalf of Sinha, Shourie and himself, Bhushan said said the top court would not have dismissed the plea for an FIR and probe had critical facts not been suppressed.
Venugopal said the documents relied upon by Bhushan were stolen from the Defence Ministry and an investigation into the matter was underway. At this point, the chief justice said hearing Bhushan did not mean the top court was taking on record the documents on the Rafale deal.
He also asked Venugopal to tell the court what action had been taken on theft of documents on the aircraft deal. The AG submitted that the documents on the deal relied on by the petitioners were marked secret and classified and are therefore in violation of the Official Secrets Act.
The attorney general also told the Supreme Court that the Rafale case pertains to defence procurement which cannot be reviewed judicially. Referring to the aerial combat with Pakistan last week, he said the country needs the Rafale jet to defend itself “from F-16 fighter planes that recently bombed us”.
“Without Rafale how can we resist them,” he said, adding that two squadrons of Rafale fighter jets are coming in flyaway condition. The first one will be in September this year, Venugopal said. — PTI
Image: N Ram, chairman of the Hindu group
16:03 Scared of people who wear vermillion on forehead: Siddaramaiah: Former Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Tuesday made a controversial statement about people wearing vermillion (tilak or tikka) on their foreheads.
Addressing an event in Bagalkot’s Badami, he said, “I am scared of people who wear long tikas with kumkum or ash.”
He had pointed to a man who was wearing a ‘tikka’ in the crowd and made the remark.
Wearing vermillion on the forehead is an ancient Hindu practice.
In January, Siddaramaiah had lost his cool and was caught on camera furiously snatching a mike from a woman, in the process of which her ‘dupatta’ also fell.
However, clarifying the incident later he said, “It was an accident, there was no bad intention. I know her for 15 years, she is just like my sister.”
Siddaramaiah is a sitting MLA from Badami constituency in Karnataka.
— ANI
15:41 Oppn uniting to remove Modi, Modi working hard to remove terrorism: PM : Bubbling with confidence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that he was not afraid of Pakistan, thieves or the corrupt thanks to the blessings of 1.25 crore people of the country.
Launching a blitzkrieg on his political opponents, Prime Minister Modi said that they were uniting to remove him, but he was working hard to remove terrorism.
“They are uniting to remove Modi, and Modi is working hard to remove terror. Terrorism, poverty, corruption must be removed from the country and I am working with this target only,’ he said while addressing a public rally here.
“After 30 years, a complete majority government has been formed at the Centre in Delhi. Modi is a reason of trouble for many others. Hence, day and night they are working to remove Modi,” he said.
Attacking Chief Minister HD Deve Gowda led Congress-JDS government in the state for not implementing the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme (PM-KSNS), he said: “Some governments think that in their state if farmers get Rs 2,000 in their account, they will start chanting Modi’s name. That is why Karnataka government and remotely controlled Chief Minister (HD Kumaraswamy) had not sent us the list of the state’s farmers. We gave financial help to farmers across the country but couldn’t to the farmers in Karnataka. No farmer of the state will forgive the state government,” he said.
“They are perturbed because Modi is directly depositing money directly in the bank accounts and no one would be able to take anything from it. This is the truth of the ‘Mahamilawat’ (adulteration) of corrupt and dynastic people,” he said.
“I want to tell them if they will become a wall between farmers and the Central assistance, the farmers will destroy this wall. For the vote, they take names of farmers and poor but forget them after getting votes. They don’t fulfill their own promise and are creating hurdles in the public welfare work of others,” he said. — PTI
15:08 Terrorist hideout busted in Kashmir’s Shopian : In Jammu and Kashmir, a terrorist hideout was busted in Shopian district’s Kungnoo village, in a joint operation by Shopian Police and the army’s 44 Rashtriya Rifles. Substantial recoveries of incriminating material and other items recovered. Investigation is on.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan army Wednesday targeted dozens of forward posts and villages with artillery guns along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri and Poonch districts, officials said.
The intense shelling and firing from across the border continued throughout the night in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri district, while it started in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch in the early hours of Wednesday, they said.
Officials said the Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively, and the exchange of heavy fire caused panic among the border residents.
However, there was no report of any casualty on the Indian side, they said. Pakistan had resorted to cross-border firing at Nowshera and Sunderbani in Rajouri and Krishna Ghati in Poonch on Tuesday as well.
14:54 Indore gets cleanest city tag for third year in a row; Ambikapur, Mysore among top rankers: Indore was adjudged India’s cleanest city for the third straight year in the central government’s cleanliness survey announced on Wednesday. The second and third positions in the category were grabbed by Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh and Mysore in Karnataka.
The Swachh Survekshan awards 2019 were conferred by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony in New Delhi.
While the New Delhi Municipal Council area was given the ‘Cleanest Small City’ award, Uttarakhand’s Gauchar was adjudged the ‘Best Ganga Town’ in the central government survey.
The ‘Cleanest Big City’ award has been bagged by Ahmedabad, while Raipur is the ‘Fastest Moving Big City’. Ujjain has been the adjudged the ‘Cleanest Medium City’ and Mathura-Vrindavan bagged the tag of the ‘Fastest Moving Medium Cities’. Top-ranked cities received a statue of Mahatma Gandhi as a memento for their work towards cleanliness.
Swachh Survekshan 2019 covered all urban local bodies in the country, making it the largest such cleanliness survey in the world.– PTI
14:29 Rafale documents stolen from Defence Ministry: Govt tells SC it will act:
Certain documents pertaining to the Rafale fighter jets deal were stolen from the Defence Ministry and a probe has been initiated into the matter, the Government told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Attorney General (AG), KK Venugopal made the submission during the hearing on review petitions filed by various parties against its December 14, 2018, judgment in which it had refused to order a probe into the deal to procure 36 Rafale fighter planes from France.
“We are dealing with defence purchases which involve the security of the state. It is a very sensitive case,” he told the apex court adding that the Centre is considering the invoking the Official Secrets Act on this issue.
The Supreme Court last month allowed for an open court hearing of the Rafale review petitions.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan told the SC that we have also made a supplementary affidavit based on reports by The Hindu’s Narasimman Ram. CJI Ranjan Gogoi said, “We don’t want any supplementary stuff. We have read what all you have given us.”
Venugopal in his submission said note files were stolen and one of the national dailies, had published it. “We are dealing with defence purchases which involves security of the state. It is very sensitive case,” he said.”Due to this other countries may be hesitant in doing deals as they feel they will have to pass through all media attention, public domain and court proceedings,” the Attorney General said.
On January 2, petitioners in Rafale fighter jet deal case — Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie, both former Union Ministers, and Prashant Bhushan, a noted lawyer — had moved the apex court for review of its Rafale judgment of December 14. They had asked for recalling of the judgement and had also sought an oral hearing in the open court for their review plea. — PTI
13:37 The violent toll of Hindu nationalism in India: A populist Prime Minister has legitimized India’s more militant groups, and targeted attacks against religious minorities are on the rise, reports the New Yorker. Read the report here.
Image: Pehlu Khan was lynched to death.
13:16 At Rahul-Deve Gowda meeting, JDS asks for 10 seats in K’taka : JDS chief H D Deve Gowda Wednesday demanded Congress President Rahul Gandhi give his party at least 10 seats to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka.
Gandhi met Deve Gowda for seat-sharing talks at the latter’s residence in New Delhi. The meeting lasted around two hours. AICC’s general secretary in Karnataka K C Venugopal and JDS national general secretary Danish Ali were present at the meeting.
“Gandhi discussed about seat sharing in Karnataka. This is the first such discussion between the two parties. There are 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Earlier, I had asked for 12. At the meeting, I requested Rahulji to give at least 10 seats to the JDS,” Deve Gowda told reporters.
Gandhi will take the final decision after taking inputs from Ali and Venugopal, he said. Ali said the seat-sharing arrangement will be announced by March 10. — PTI
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, JD-S chief HK Deve Gowda, AICC’s general secretary in Karnataka K C Venugopal and JDS national general secretary Danish Ali at the meeting today. Pic: ANI
12:43 Modi offers chadar at Ajmer Sharif : In Ajmer, BJP’s Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on behalf of PM Narendra Modi offered a ‘chaadar’ at Ajmer Sharif dargah on the occasion of the 807th Urs.
12:35 SC reserves order on Ayodhya title dispute: The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its order on the issue of referring the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case to the court-appointed and monitored mediation for a permanent solution.
The court asked the parties concerned to suggest the name of a mediator or panel of mediators.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said, “We intend to pass the order soon.”
The bench had on February 26 had suggested an amicable resolution in the case through mediation and reserved its order for March 6.
The bench, which also comprised Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer, had told the parties, We’re seriously giving a chance for mediation.”
During today’s hearing, Justice Bobde said, “It’s about sentiments, about religion and about faith. We are conscious of the gravity of the dispute.
“There need not be one mediator but a panel of mediators. When the mediation is on, it should not be reported on. It may not be a gag, but no motive should be attributed to anyone when the mediation process is on,” he said.
Justice Bobde said, “We have no control over what happened in the past, who invaded, who was the king, temple or mosque. We know about the present dispute. We are concerned only about resolving the dispute.”
On February 26, the bench had said, We have suggested to the parties that during the interregnum a court-appointed and court-monitored mediation with utmost confidentiality could be initiated to bring a permanent solution to the issues raised in the cases.
Even if there is only one per cent chance, it should be explored,” Justice Bobde had said emphasising for mediation in the matter.
While Muslim side and Nirmohi Akhada from the Hindu side in the case agreed for mediation, the counsel appearing for deity Ram Lalla Virajman, Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha and Mahant Suresh Das were opposed to it saying court-appointed mediation had failed on earlier occasions.
— PTI
12:04 Not concerned about what Babur had done: SC on Ayodhya case: The Supreme Court Wednesday said it was conscious of the gravity of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute and the outcome of mediation on the body politic of the country.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said the case was not only about property but also about sentiment and faith.
“It is not only about property. It is about mind, heart and healing, if possible,” the bench also comprising Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer said.
“We are not concerned about what Mughal ruler Babur had done and what happened after. We can go into what exists in the present moment,” the bench said. The apex court is considering whether the dispute can be settled through mediation. The top court had asked the contesting parties to explore the possibility of amicably settling the decades-old dispute through mediation, saying it may help in “healing relations”.
Fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among the three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. — PTI
11:43 VK Singh’s proposal to count casualties in air strikes: Tie Oppn to planes:
A belligerent VK Singh tells news agency ANI that the next time India conducts an air strike, Doubting Thomases in the opposition should be tied to the IAF jets and dropped at the location of the strike so that they can count the casualties. “Agli baar jab Bharat kuch kare toh mujhe lagta hai ki vipakshi jo ye prashna uthate hain, unko hawai jahaz ke neeche baandh ke le jayein, jab bomb chale toh vahan se dekh lein target, uske baad unko vahin par utar dein, uske baad vo gin le aur wapas aajayein,” he said.
The Union Minister’s comment comes after the opposition raised questions on the opacity on the number of casualties in the Balakot air strike. The government has offered no numbers on the deaths, except for the MEA statement on a ‘large number of casualties’ in the air strike on the Jais-e-Mohammed terror camp in Pakistan. BJP president Amit Shah’s figure of 250 deaths remains unsubstantiated.
VK Singh also hit out at senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh for terming the ghastly Pulwama terror attack an “accident” and asked him whether the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was a terror incident or just an “accident”.”With due respect, I would like to ask Digvijaya Singh Ji, was Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination an accident or a terror incident? Let him answer this first,” VK Singh, who is Minister of State for External Affairs, had said.
11:16 Digvijaya Singh dares PM to file case against him: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to file a case against him over allegations from BJP leaders that he was an anti-national and a Pakistan supporter.
In a series of tweets, Singh, who stirred a controversy on Tuesday by referring to the Pulwama terror attack as an “accident”, questioned why calling the attacks a “durghatana” prompted Modi and three Union ministers to term him anti-national.
“The tweet over which you and your ministers called me a Pakistan supporter and an anti-national was posted from Delhi where police are under the Union government. If you are brave, file a case against me,” he tweeted.
Singh said that Modi and his ministers levelled several allegations against him and even expressed their intentions of filing a sedition case. “What action has Modi taken over intelligence failure in the Pulwama terror attack? He is yet to tell the country who is responsible for it. Does Modiji hold anyone responsible for this or not? Has he asked for a clarification from the NSA, IB or the RAW chief?” he asked.
Singh also re-tweeted a video that shows Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya describing the terrorist attack as a “big accident”.
“Would Modiji and his ministers like to say something about Mauryaji?” Singh asked. — PTI
10:56 Rahul meets Deve Gowda to embroider alliance for LS polls: Congress President Rahul Gandhi met former Prime Minister and JDS leader HD Deve Gowda in Delhi this morning. The two leaders held discussions on the issue of seat-sharing in Karnataka for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
On March 3, Deve Gowda had said that they had agreed to join hands with the Congress to revive secular forces. The two parties will finalise seat-sharing very soon, he had said.
Earlier, on February 28, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy had said that if the Congress and JDS alliance won at least 20-22 seats in the state, then a Kannadiga could once again become the next Prime Minister of the country.
There are 28 Lok Sabha seats at stake in Karnataka, out of which the BJP currently holds 16 seats, while the Congress and the JDS hold 10 and two seats, respectively. — ANI
Image: Congress president Rahul Gandhi at HD Deve Gowda’s residence in New Delhi today. Pic: ANI
10:24 Indian-origin woman dentist killed in Australia, body found in suitcase:
A 32-year-old Indian-origin woman dentist has been found dead with stab wounds in Australia, days after she went missing from Sydney’s busiest area under mysterious circumstances, police said on Wednesday.
Preethi Reddy’s body was found stuffed in a suitcase in her car parked in an eastern Sydney street, New South Wales Police said.
Her ex-boyfriend has also died in a road accident that appeared deliberate, they said.
Reddy was last seen waiting in line at McDonald’s in George Street on Sunday, the police said.
On Tuesday, the police found her car parked in Strachan Lane in Kingsford. Inside the car, they found her body in a suitcase, according to media reports.
Her body had been stabbed numerous times. She and her ex-boyfriend stayed in a hotel in Market Street in Sydney’s CBD on Sunday, officials said.
Reddy was attending a dental conference in St Leonards at the weekend and last spoke to her family at around 11 AM on Sunday.
She told them that she would head home after breakfast, and when she failed to return, her family contacted police.
NSW Police described Reddy’s disappearance as “out of character” and said there were serious concerns of her welfare.
Her work colleagues said they were “terrified” and had been unable to sleep since her disappearance.
“It’s devastating, and this is completely out of character,” dental assistant Chelsea Holmes of Glenbrook Dental Surgery was quoted as saying by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. — PTI
09:35 Fire breaks out at Delhi’s CGO complex, 24 fire engines rushed in:
A fire broke out at a building that houses government offices in central Delhi this morning.
The fire broke out on the fifth floor of the Pandit Deendayal Antyodaya Bhawan at CGO Complex.
24 fire engines have been rushed to the location in central Delhi.
09:10 Pompeo played ‘essential role’ in deescalating Indo-Pak tensions: State Dept:
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo played an “essential role” in de-escalating tensions between India and Pakistan last week, according to a top State Department official.
Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14.
India launched a counter-terror operation in Balakot on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 and captured its pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to India on Friday.
State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino, during his bi-weekly news conference on Tuesday, said: “Secretary Pompeo led diplomatic engagement directly, and that played an essential role in de-escalating the tensions between the two sides”.
“We continue to urge both sides to continue to take steps to de-escalate the situation and that includes through direct communication. We believe strongly that further military activity will exacerbate the situation,” he said.
Palladino also reiterated America’s call for Pakistan to abide by its UN Security Council commitments to deny terrorists sanctuary and block their access to funds.
Pompeo made the diplomatic efforts over phone from Hanoi where he was present to attend the North Korea summit with US President Donald Trump, he said.
“He (Pompeo) spoke with leaders in both countries, and that included the Indian Minister of External Affairs (Sushma) Swaraj, National Security Advisor (Ajit) Doval, and Pakistani Foreign Minister (Shah Mehmood) Qureshi,” Palladino said. — PTI
08:20 ‘Very closely’ following reports of F-16 misuse by Pak, says US:
The United States is “very closely” following the reports which have claimed that Pakistan misused American-made F-16 fighter jets against India in the recent aerial confrontation between the air forces of the two countries, a top State Department official has said.
The Indian Air Force on Thursday displayed parts of an AMRAAM beyond visual range air-to-air missile as evidence to “conclusively” prove that Pakistan deployed US-manufactured F-16 fighter jets during an aerial raid targeting Indian military installations in Kashmir after India’s anti-terror operation in Balakot.
Pakistan has said that no F-16 fighter jets were used.
The US State Department has said that America is seeking more information from Pakistan on the potential misuse of American-made F-16 fighter jets by it against India in violation of the end-user agreement.
“We’ve seen those reports and we’re following that issue very closely,” US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino told reporters at his biweekly news conference on Tuesday.
He was responding to questions that Pakistan has violated the end-user agreement on F-16 that it procured from the United States.
“I can’t confirm anything, but as a matter of policy, we don’t publicly comment on the contents of bilateral agreements that we have in this regard involving US defence technologies nor the communications that we have with other countries about that.
“So, we’re taking a look and we’re going to continue to take a look. I’m going to leave it at that,” Palladino said.
AMRAAM missiles allow a fighter pilot to target an enemy aircraft that is beyond visual range, in day or night, and in all-weather conditions. They have an autonomous guidance capability, which allows the pilot to manoeuvre immediately after the missile’s launch. — PTI
Image: Indian Air Force officials display a wreckage of AMRAAM air-to-air missile that they say was fired by a Pakistan air force F-16 fighter jet during a strike over Kashmir on Wednesday. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters
00:09 Congress has ‘secret understanding’ with BJP: Kejriwal:
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday claimed there are ‘rumours’ that the Congress has a ‘secret understanding’ with the Bharatiya Janata Party and asserted that his Aam Aadmi Party is ready to fight the ‘unholy alliance’.
Kejriwal’s comments came in response to the Congress’ announcement that it will not form an alliance with the AAP in Delhi for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
‘At a time when the whole country wants to defeat Modi-Shah duo, Cong is helping BJP by splitting anti-BJP vote. Rumours r that Cong has some secret understanding wid BJP (sic),’ he tweeted.
‘Delhi is ready to fight against Cong-BJP alliance. People will defeat this unholy alliance,’ Kejriwal added.
The AAP alleged that the Congress is ‘helping’ the BJP in winning elections.
“They just want to help the BJP win elections and the AAP to be defeated. It seems that central leadership is under pressure to help the BJP in the country. They just want to win polls by putting the Army in the front,” senior party leader Gopal Rai told reporters.
Asked why the AAP wanted an alliance with the Congress, Rai said, “All leaders of grand alliance wanted that the votes of opposition parties are not divided.
“We are in-principal against the Congress over several issues…but we wanted to drink this poison (alliance with Congress) for the country,” he said.
He said the Congress is fielding its candidates where opposition parties are in a strong position, be it in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Rai announced that the AAP will contest the Lok Sabha elections on issue of full statehood and exuded confidence that the party will win all the seven seats.
Following a meeting with Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday announced that they will not form an alliance with the AAP in the national capital for the upcoming general elections.
He said it seems there is ‘undeclared alliance’ between the BJP and the Congress.
“The Congress was of late playing hide and seek. After today’s meeting between Sheila and Rahul Gandhi, it is clear that the Congress’ stand goes against the country’s mood.
“Not only in Delhi, the Congress is going against the country’s mood in other states as well,” Rai said.
The country wanted parties to put their individual ambitions in the back seat and fight together, the AAP leader also said.
“For the Congress, party comes before the country.” Rai added. — PTI
Source: Rediff