Top 10 news today: Crowds get last glimpse of APJ Abdul Kalam, Praveen Togadia attacks Narendra Modi, Salman Khan effigy burnt, more
Minutes after the gates of 10, Rajaji Marg were thrown open to the public, utter chaos reigned as a massive crowd advanced in waves to get a last glimpse of former President A P J Abdul Kalam, leading to a stampede like situation and laying bare the administration’s ill-preparedness.
Chaos reigns as thousands throng Rajaji Marg for last glimpse of APJ Abdul Kalam </br><br>
Minutes after the gates of 10, Rajaji Marg were thrown open to the public, utter chaos reigned as a massive crowd advanced in waves to get a last glimpse of former President A P J Abdul Kalam, leading to a stampede like situation and laying bare the administration's ill-preparedness. The woes of people, especially women and the elderly, waiting for hours in unbearable humid conditions, were aggravated by serpentine unorganised queues, with no clear demarcation or barricades being put up. The gun-carriage carrying Kalam's body reached the residence at around 2.30 PM. Till 4 PM, it was out of bounds for the general public as VVIPs including President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi trooped in and out. (PTI)
(28/07/2015)
Praveen Togadia attacks PM Narendra Modi over "saree, shawl" diplomacy with Pak </br><br>
Terming India's policy towards Pakistan as a "failure", VHP chief Praveen Togadia today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should put an end to the "saree, shawl" diplomacy following the Gurdaspur terror attack and exhibit a "strong will" like Indira Gandhi to deal with it. "Diplomacy of saree, shawl and mango is enough for now. India should stop all dialogue with Pakistan and start preparing to teach a lesson to the country, which is sending AK 47-armed Jihadists for carrying out attacks," Togadia told reporters. Condemning yesterday's terror attack in Punjab's Gurdaspur district, he said "India's foreign policy with regard to Pakistan has failed. India's failure in punishing the plotters of Mumbai attacks encouraged them (Pakistan) to carry out more attacks in our country." Taking a jibe at the Modi government, he said VHP had confidence that under the BJP rule, Dawood Ibrahim will be brought back to India and punished "but Dawood was not brought to India instead Pakistan sent more terrorists to spread terrorism." Describing Indira Gandhi as a leader with a "strong will", the VHP leader said Modi should show same determination while dealing with Pakistan. (PTI)
(28/07/2015)
Bharatiya Kautilya Sena burns effigy of Salman Khan </br><br>
Activists of Bharatiya Kautilya Sena today burnt an effigy of Bollywood star Salman Khan here for his tweets on Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon, which he later retracted.
The Kautilya Sena activists gathered here and burnt effigy of Salman. They later handed over a memorandum to the District Magistrate demanding legal action against Salman.
Salman had created a storm by describing Yakub Memon, the Mumbai blasts convict scheduled to be hanged on July 30, as innocent but was forced to withdraw his tweets and tender unconditional apology following outrage from political parties and social media. (PTI)
(28/07/2015)
Gurdaspur attackers came from Pakistan on July 26-27 </br><br>
The terrorists who created havoc here yesterday had crossed over from Pakistan on July 26-27 night using Ravi river and they had more targets, the probe has found even as images surfaced today showing three heavily-armed men in Army fatigues walking on a road.
Analysis of the two GPS machines recovered from the three slain terrorists showed that the details of the routes and targets had been fed into these on July 21, sources in Punjab Police said here tonight.
"The initial data gathered from Global Positioning System (GPS) shows that the three terrorists started from a safe house in Gharot in Shakargarh, Pakistan on late Sunday night and crossed over to Bamiyal town in Pathankot, which is close to the international border," a source said.
The terrorists entered India on the intervening night of July 26 and 27 and used Ravi river to cross over, the sources said. "This route of rivulets along the border was used by them as the security apparatus here is inadequate," the source said, adding from Bamiyal, they walked down to Amritsar-Jammu highway.
Punjab Police chief Sumedh Singh Saini said the terrorists had taken the route from Dhussi Bandh (Ravi river) right along the International Border to the railway track where they planted bombs and then came to Dina Nagar. The bombs were detected on time and defused.
"As per their GPS system, they first planted bombs on railway track before snatching a car from a civilian and then gained entry into the police station of Dina Nagar," he said. (PTI)
(28/07/2015)
Supreme Court sets up three-judge bench to decide Yakub Memon's fate </br><br>
A three-judge bench was set up in the Supreme Court to decide the fate of Yakub Memon, the lone death row convict in 1993 Mumbai blasts case, after a two-judge bench was divided on his plea seeking stay of his execution scheduled on July 30.
In the wake of disagreement between Justices A R Dave and Kurian Joseph on the issue, the matter was referred to Chief Justice of India H L Dattu, who constituted a larger bench of Justices Dipak Misra, Prafulla C Pant and Amitava Roy to decide the destiny of Memon who will turn 53 on Thursday.
The new bench will on Wednesday have the task of deciding whether to stay the death warrant issued by TADA court in Mumbai on April 30 and go into the merits of Memon's petition which has claimed that the warrant was issued even before he exhausted all legal remedies before the court.
Uncertainity for Memon aggravated today, as Justice Dave dismissed his plea without staying the death warrant while Justice Kurian differed and favoured a stay. (PTI)
(28/07/2015)
Goa Police 'crack' Louis Berger bribery case; quiz ex-Minister </br><br>
Goa Police today claimed to have cracked the Louis Berger bribery case and established the money trail as it quizzed former PWD Minister Churchill Alemao whose name has cropped up in the scandal.
Crime Branch, probing the case, said they have managed to track the route through which the bribe money was brought to India.
Police also issued summons to former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, during whose tenure the scandal involving Louis Berger, a US consultancy firm, took place.
"We have been able to find out exactly how the money was brought to India and how much was brought," a senior Crime Branch official said declining to divulge more detail.
Crime Branch has already arrested A Wachasunder, a senior official who headed the controversial JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) water project in Goa that is at the centre of the pay off case.
Earlier in the day, police quizzed Alemao in connection with the case. Tenders for the project were issued when PWD was under Alemao. (PTI)
(28/07/2015)
Nation pays homage to APJ Abdul Kalam, funeral on Thursday in Tamil Nadu </br><br>
The powerful and the commoners, jostled to offer their last respects to late A P J Abdul Kalam today as President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders cutting across political divide led the nation in paying homage to a leader who rose from humble origins to occupy the top office.
Long queues of people, especially school and college students, were seen through the day at 10, Rajaji Marg residence of Kalam in Lutyen's Delhi waiting for their turn to have a last look at the mortal remains of the person who had asked them to dream big and came to be hailed as the "People's President".
A seven-day national mourning was observed in honour of Kalam, whose last rites will be performed in his birthplace Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu on Thursday morning in accordance with the wishes of his family headed by his elder brother
Muthu Mohammed Meeran Marraikar (99). He would be given a state funeral with full military honours.
Both the Houses of Parliament adjourned for two days after paying glowing tributes while the Union Cabinet met to pass a resolution hailing his services to the nation.
Mukherjee, Hamid Ansari, Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and a host of dignitaries received the mortal remains of Kalam at the Palam technical area as the body was flown from Shillong to Guwahati en route Delhi by the Air Force. (PTI)
(28/07/2015)
11 killed as heavy rains lash Gujarat </br><br>
Incessant rains lashed Gujarat today, causing death of 11 persons in various rain-related incidents, affecting normal life and prompting the MeT Department to issue warning to fishermen against venturing into sea.
The downpour since yesterday disrupted normal life even as the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Reserve Police (SRP) teams were dispatched to Banaskantha in North Gujarat in the view of flood-like situation.
As per the information given by the Disaster Control Room and police, of the 11 deaths due to rain-related incidents, four were reported from Banaskantha district, three each from Rajkot and Patan districts, and one was from Sabarkantha.
"At least four persons were killed in Banaskantha district when the jeep in which their were travelling was washed away in heavy flow of rain water," State Disaster Control Room official Bhavesh Varshaj said.
He said three rain-related casualties were reported from Rajkot and Patan districts each and one from Sabarkantha. (PTI)
(28/07/2015)
9 killed, 10 injured in building collapse in Thane district </br><br>
At least nine persons were killed and 10 others injured after a four-storey building housing 20 families collapsed in Thakurli in the district. The building 'Matruchaya', built 35 years ago, collapsed last night at Cholve village, following which rescue operations were launched by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), fire brigade officials and civic authorities said today. Kalyan Tesildar Kiran Surwase said that till now nine bodies have been pulled out of the rubble. Rescue operations have been hampered due to continuous rains, District Disaster Management Control Room in-charge Jaideep Visave said. At the time of collapse, 20 families were inside the building. Santosh Kadam of Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) said that some more occupants could be still trapped beneath the debris. (PTI)
(28/07/2015)
Swati Maliwal takes charge as DCW chief </br><br>
Swati Maliwal today took charge as the Chairperson of Delhi Commisson for Women (DCW), along with three other members, a day after their appointments were approved by Lt Governor Najeeb Jung. Maliwal and the entire DCW staff paid homage to former President A P J Abdul Kalam who passed away last night. Sitting on her chair next to a sketched photograph of Kalam, Maliwal said, "Kalam ji is no more which is a very huge loss to the country. Unfortunately, I never had a chance of meeting him but he has always been my inspiration." "Kalam ji never wanted a national holiday after his death, infact he wanted people who love him to work extra and so, we today will be in office till late and continue with our work," she said. Maliwal further said her aim is to strengthen the DCW, but at the moment she wants to utilize the powers which are already with the commission. "None of the mandate of DCW were followed during the previous regime (when Barkha Singh Shukla was the chairperson). We have the mandate to visit places like protection homes, GB Road and Tihar Jail etc and give recommendations for the betterment of condition of women. "Very few visits were undertaken in the past and there has been no study on the lacunas of DCW. So in next three months, we will work within the powers the Commission already has," she said. (PTI)
(28/07/2015)
