English News

Vinay is the son of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s brother-in-law Surendra Kumar Bansal.
NEW DELHI: In more trouble for Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday arrested the son of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s brother-in-law in connection with the Public Works Department scam.
News Agency ANI confirmed that Vinay Bansal, the son of Arvind Kejriwal’s brother-in-law, was arrested by the ACB officials in connection with the PWD scam.
The ACB team had last year raided Kejriwal’s brother-in-law Surender Kumar Bansal’s residence and office.
The ACB also ordered an inspection of a Public Works Department (PWD) project as part of a probe into an alleged Rs 10 crore scam involving Surender Kumar Bansal.
The ACB action came after filing of three cases against Bansal and senior PWD officers in connection with the corruption allegation against them.
The investigating agency also questioned six engineers of the PWD in this connection.
The three FIRs were registered against Bansal and the PWD officers after it was discovered that the bills were cleared by different companies for different works.
The case involving Bansal, who died on 7 May, relates to a drain project and improvement of kerbs from Shani Mandir to Bakoli village up to Drain No. 6 on the National Highway—44.
The FIRs do not mention Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Kejriwal’s name, although complainant Rahul Sharma, Convener of NGO Road Anti-Corruption Organisation, has accused the Chief Minister of helping Bansal to get fake bills of around Rs 10 crore cleared.
The ACB had recorded the statement of Sharma on May 11.

Justice Chelameswar had recently courted controversy by holding a press conference along with other three senior most judges — Justices Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph — on January 12, in which litany of allegations were made against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.
New Delhi: Justice J Chelameswar, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court who retires on June 22, has declined an invitation from the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) for his farewell function citing personal reasons, SCBA office-bearers said.
Justice Chelameswar had recently courted controversy by holding a press conference along with other three senior most judges — Justices Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph — on January 12, in which litany of allegations were made against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.
SCBA president Vikas Singh said the bar body had met him last week to invite him for the farewell on May 18, which is the last working day of the Supreme Court before the summer vacation. “He declined the invite for the farewell function,” Singh told PTI.
He said the members of the executive committee of SCBA today once again tried to persuade him to attend the farewell function but the judge did not agree citing personal reasons.
The judge also told the members of the bar that he had not accepted a farewell earlier when he was moving out of the Andhra Pradesh High Court to another high court.
SCBA honorary secretary Vikrant Yadav said the senior most judge today met the members of the bar at his residence, had a chat with them but declined the invite for his farewell.
He said it is a tradition that when a judge is retiring during the vacation, a farewell is thrown on the last working day before the holidays.
Justice Chelameswar today did not come to the apex court for judicial work.
As a result, he also missed the traditional Wednesday lunch of the judges when one of them takes a turn to bring ‘ghar ka khana’ (home food) from his or her home state. This was the third consecutive Wednesday when Justice Chelameswar did not attend court.

President Ram Nath Kovind will visit the Siachen base camp in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday and interact with soldiers posted there.
NEW DELHI: Nearly a decade after APJ Abdul Kalam became the first President to visit the Siachen Glacier, President Ram Nath Kovind will visit the Army base came in the area on Thursday.
”President Ram Nath Kovind will visit the Siachen base camp in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday and interact with soldiers posted there,” a statement from the President’s office said on Wednesday.
Siachen is considered to be the highest battlefield in the world.
“He will be the first president to visit this camp since the visit of the then president APJ Abdul Kalam in 2004,” the statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
He will also visit the Kumar Post, it added.
Kalam, known as the ‘Missile Man of India’, had made history by becoming the first Indian President to visit the heavily militarised Siachen Glacier in the first week of April 2004.
From the Thoise airbase, the former President took a helicopter to reach the base camp situated at over 18,000 feet.
Siachen has been peaceful ever since India and Pakistan entered into a ceasefire in November 2003 but remains a treacherous terrain, and casualties are not rare here even in times of peace.
According to a statement made by the Government in Parliament in December 2015, 869 soldiers have lost their lives in the glacier because of climatic conditions.
Siachen has been militarised since 1984 when both countries raced to occupy commanding heights.

Kolianwali, a member of the SGPC and a close confidant of ex-chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, was reportedly not available at home when the officials reached his premises for the recovery on Tuesday.
As the state government is struggling with budgetary constraints to waive off farm loans of small land holders, Punjab Agricultural Development Bank (PADB) authorities have pasted recovery notices worth Rs 79 lakh at the gate of senior Akali leader Dyal Singh Kolianwali’s residence at Kolianwali village in Muktsar district.
Kolianwali, a member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and a close confidant of former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, was reportedly not available at home when the PADB officials reached his premises for the recovery on Tuesday.
The PADB has pasted three notices for the recovery of Rs 39 lakh, Rs 35.57 lakh and Rs 4.62 lakh, respectively (total amounting to Rs 79.20 lakh).
Besides Kolianwali, the defaulters also include his wife Amarjit Kaur and son Parminder Singh.
The bank officials pasted the notices in the presence of village ‘chowkidar’ (watchman) after they were told that Kolianwali was not at home, PADB Muktsar assistant general manager Ranjit singh said.
The cooperative department has swung into action in the wake of the Punjab cooperation minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa’s statement earlier that the state government would not budge from loan recoveries from the major defaulters, including the politically influential persons.
They have been conveyed to deposit the standing amount by May 23, failing which they would face arrest warrants.
Last week, the cooperative department had suspended an official of the PADB’s Malout branch for not drafting the recovery notices.
Meanwhile, Kolianwali was not available for his comments despite HT’ repeated phone calls and text messages.

Former US President Barack Obama, who forged the deal in association with others, said that Trump`s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, was “misguided.”
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear accord, unravelling the decision of his predecessor Barack Obama to stopp Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb. Economic sanctions, that were waived when the deal was signed in 2015, will now be reimposed on Tehran, said Trump.
“This was a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made,” Trump said at the White House in announcing his decision. “It didn`t bring calm, it didn`t bring peace, and it never will.”
He added that Obama’s foreign policy did not address Iran`s ballistic missile programme, its nuclear activities beyond 2025 nor its role in conflicts in Yemen and Syria.
The deal was worked out by the United States and five other international powers – UK, France, China, Russia and Germany – in 2015.
By abandoning the Iran nuclear deal, the US now risks conflict in the Middle East, upsetting Western allies and casting uncertainty over global oil supplies.
Trump said that he was willing to negotiate a fresh deal, but Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has already ruled it out and threatened unspecified retaliation if Washington pulled out.
Meanwhile, Iranian state television said on Tuesday that Trump`s decision to withdraw was “illegal, illegitimate and undermines international agreements.”
Renewing sanctions would make it much harder for Iran to sell its oil abroad or use the international banking system.
Despite US pulling out, the Iran deal is likely to be partially intact with five other signatories committed to it.
European allies have expressed regret Trump’s decision on Iran but Israel and Saudis supported it.
“The European Union is determined to preserve it,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said of the world powers` 2015 agreement with Tehran. “Together with the rest of the international community, we will preserve this nuclear deal.”
“I am particularly worried by the announcement tonight of new sanctions,” she added.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he regretted the decision and would work on a broader agreement covering Iran`s nuclear activity, ballistics programme and regional activities.
Israel praised President Donald Trump`s decision to pull the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal, with Israeli Prime Minister Benajmin Netanyahu saying that the deal was “a recipe for disaster, a disaster for our region, a disaster for the peace of the world.”
Saudi Arabia, a Sunni Muslim power that considers Shi`ite Iran to be its main regional foe, also hailed Trump`s decision: “Iran used economic gains from the lifting of sanctions to continue its activities to destabilise the region, particularly by developing ballistic missiles and supporting terrorist groups in the region,” said a statement carried on Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television.
Former US President Barack Obama, who forged the deal in association with others, said that Trump`s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, was “misguided.”
“I believe that the decision to put the JCPOA at risk without any Iranian violation of the deal is a serious mistake,” Obama said in a statement, referring to the acronym for the agreement worked out by the United States, five other world powers and Iran.
Obama said the Iran agreement significantly rolled back Tehran`s nuclear program and was a model for a possible deal Trump hopes to negotiate with North Korea to eliminate Pyongyang`s nuclear weapons.
“That is why today’s announcement is so misguided,” Obama said.
“Walking away from the JCPOA turns our back on America’s closest allies, and an agreement that our country’s leading diplomats, scientists, and intelligence professionals negotiated,” he said.
Former vice president Joe Biden said that he decision of US President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal would isolate America.
Meannwhile, oil prices pushed higher in early trading on Wednesday after Trump walked away from the Iran nuclear deal, a move that may curb the OPEC-member`s crude exports in an already tight market.

A woman in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh has alleged that she was sexually assaulted by the son of a BJP MLA.
A woman in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh has alleged that she was sexually assaulted by the son of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA. The woman has also alleged that she has been getting death threats since making the allegations against the BJP leader’s son.
According to the lawyer of the woman, Avdhesh Singh, some miscreants threatened her with dire consequences if she did not take the complaint back. “Goons came to her house and told her to take back the complaint or else they would kill her,” he said.
The woman had earlier sat on a dharna demanding action against the BJP MLA’s son, who she accused of sexually assaulting her.
This comes close on the heels of the Unnao rape case involving BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar. The incident grabbed headlines first when the alleged victim made an attempt to commit suicide outside the residence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Shortly after the incident, reports of her father dying in police custody in Unnao came to light. This led to massive outrage in Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country with calls for action against the accused BJP leader.
Though Sengar claimed innocence and alleged that he was being framed because of a dispute with the complainant’s family, the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further probe.
Later, sources in CBI said that the BJP leader might be made to undergo a potency test. He was also likely to be subjected to a lie-detector test as he was repeatedly changing his statements to the CBI.
In April, the ‘Y’ category security given to Sengar was removed following the outrage.
Sengar’s arrest came after the Allahabad High Court rapped the police for its inaction against the BJP lawmaker who was influencing the “law-and-order machinery”. “The disturbing feature of the case is that the law and order machinery and the government officials were directly in league and under the influence of Kuldeep Singh,” a bench of Chief Justice Dilip Bhosale and Justice Sunit Kumar had said.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reaffirmed on Wednesday that India will be the fastest growing major economy in 2018, with a growth rate of 7.4 per cent that rises to 7.8 per cent in 2019 with medium-term prospects remaining positive.
United Nations: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reaffirmed on Wednesday that India will be the fastest growing major economy in 2018, with a growth rate of 7.4 per cent that rises to 7.8 per cent in 2019 with medium-term prospects remaining positive.
The IMF`s Asia and Pacific Regional Economic Outlook report said that India was recovering from the effects of demonetisation and the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax and “the recovery is expected to be underpinned by a rebound from transitory shocks as well as robust private consumption.”
Medium-term consumer price index inflation “is forecast to remain within but closer to the upper bound of the Reserve Bank of India`s inflation-targeting banda of four per cent with a plus or minus two per cent change, the report said.
However, it added a note of caution: “In India, given increased inflation pressure, monetary policy should maintain a tightening bias.”
It said the consumer price increase in 2017 was 3.6 per cent and projected it to be five per cent in 2018 and 2019.
“The current account deficit in fiscal year 2017-18 is expected to widen somewhat but should remain modest, financed by robust foreign direct investment inflows,” the report said.
After India, Bangladesh is projected to be the fastest-growing economy in South Asia with growth rates of seven per cent for 2018 and 2019; Sri Lanka is projected to grow at four per cent in 2018 and 4.5 in 2019, and Nepal five per cent in 2018 and four per cent in next. (Pakistan, which is grouped with the Middle East, is not covered in the Asia report.)
Overall, the report said that Asia continues to be both the fastest-growing region in the world and the main engine of the world`s economy.
The region contributes more than 60 per cent of global growth and three-quarters of this comes from India and China, which is expected to grow 6.6 per cent in 2018 and 6.4 per cent in 2019, it said.
The report said that US President Donald Trump`s fiscal stimulus is expected to support Asia`s exports and investment.
The Asian region`s growth rate was expected to be 5.6 per cent for 2018 and 2019.
However, in the medium term the report said that “downside risks dominate” for the region and these include a tightening of global financial conditions, a shift toward protectionist policies, and an increase in geopolitical tensions.
Because of these uncertainties the IMF urged the countries in the region to follow conservative policies “aimed at building buffers and increasing resilience” and push ahead with structural reforms.
“While mobile payments are expanding sharply in such economies as Bangladesh, India, and the Philippines, on average Asia is lagging sub-Saharan Africa,” the IMF said, adding that the region should take steps to ensure it is able to reap the full benefits of increasing digitalisation in the global economy.

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) vice chancellor Professor Tariq Mansoor has said that the controversy over portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the varsity is a non-issue. Pointing that the portrait had been at AMU since 1938, he further said that the students protest in the campus had not no relation with the controversy.
Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) vice chancellor Professor Tariq Mansoor has said that the controversy over portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the varsity is a non-issue. Pointing that the portrait had been at AMU since 1938, he further said that the students protest in the campus had not no relation with the controversy.
“Jinnah’s portrait has been here since 1938. Jinnah’s portrait is at many places including Bombay High Court and Sabarmati Ashram. No one was worried about the portraits until now, I think it is a non-issue,” said Professor Tariq Mansoor.
The vice chancellor confirmed that the agitation by students had no relation to the Jinnah portrait controversy. He said that the students were protesting against people who had come to the campus to disturb peace on May 2.
“Students agitation had no relation to Jinnah portrait row, they were protesting against people who came to AMU to disturb peace on May 2. Spoken to chief secretary for a judicial inquiry into the incident, said the AMU vice chancellor.
The vice chancellor had on Tuesday issued a notice to the varsity students, and had blamed media for spreading lies. “A section of media channels are responsible for spreading lies,” he had said. Requesting the students to not fall for such information, VC Tariq Mansoor advised them to focus on the examinations.
Accusing a section of television channels, the university authority said, “As you all know, our beloved university is passing through a difficult phase, taking advantage of the present crisis, section of media especially some TV channels, armed with all kinds of half-truths, are constantly trying to create a very negative image of the university.”
The statement further added, “Dear students, we should not fall into the trap of some forces, which are bent on destroying the image of our Alma Mater and playing with your bright future.”
On Monday, the varsity examinations were deferred till May 12.

Over, 4,000 pilgrims safely returned to Gaurikund by the trek route after paying obeisance at Kedarnath despite bad weather.
Dehradun: Incessant snowfall since Monday night in Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath and Badrinath, coupled with rains and landslide in Lambagad disrupted pilgrimage to the Himalayan shrines, with the authorities preventing devotees from moving beyond Linchauli and Bhimbali.
However, as the weather cleared up towards the evening, the trek route to Kedarnath was opened for the devotees, Rudraprayag District Magistrate Mangesh Ghildiyal said.
Over, 4,000 pilgrims safely returned to Gaurikund by the trek route after paying obeisance at Kedarnath despite bad weather, he said, adding that over 400 pilgrims are still stranded at the shrine.
Nearly half a dozen Congressmen, including former chief minister Harish Rawat, the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Pradeep Tamta and local MLA Manoj Rawat were stranded at the shrine throughout the day as the weather was not conducive for flying choppers on which they were supposed to return, Rudraprayag SP Prahlad Meena told PTI.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat over phone to take a stock of the situation and offered all help in case of an emergency.
Continuous snowfall since morning at Kedarnath disrupted the yatra to the shrine for several hours. The pilgrims were asked to stay put at Linchauli and Bhimbali till the weather clears up, the SP said.?
The state disaster management authority here said snowfall at Badrinath has blocked the road at Kanchan Ganga.
Rubble from a landslide triggered by rains at Lambagad about 15 km from Badrinath kept the highway enroute the shrine blocked till 4 pm, with vehicles carrying pilgrims stranded on either side the boulders laying on the road, Chamoli district police said.
However, the route has now been opened and efforts are on to first let the vehicles stranded between Badrinath and Lambagad pass. After that vehicles, waiting in long queues near Joshimath, to go to Badrinath, will be allowed to move, it said.
The Rishikesh-Yamunotri national highway was also blocked by huge boulders falling from a hill at Dabarkot, leaving hundreds of pilgrims stranded for around four hours, a report from Uttarkashi said.?
Accompanied by supporters, Harish Rawat began his trek to the shrine on Sunday to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva and to test what he termed as the truth of BJP’s claims over reconstruction work carried out at Kedarpuri, the township around the temple.

Chhagan Bhujbal, 70, was granted bail by the Bombay High Court after it took into consideration his old age and deteriorating health on May 4.
MUMBAI: Hitting out at NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, who was recently granted bail by Bombay High Court in connection with a money laundering case, the Shiv Sena has said that the former’s arrest and subsequent incarceration was “fate’s revenge” against him for his attempt to put Bala Saheb Thackeray in jail when he was a minister.
Mocking Bhujbal, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said law and power are used many-a-time to settle political scores.
The acerbic remarks from Maharashtra’s ruling party came days after Chhagan Bhujbal, 70, was granted bail by the Bombay High Court after it took into consideration his old age and deteriorating health on May 4.
Bhujbal, an influential politician from Maharashtra, has been in jail since his arrest in March 2016.
Mocking the NCP leader, the Shiv Sena claimed that he desperately wanted to arrest Bal Thackeray around two decades ago when he was Maharashtra’s Home Minister.
Cases were filed against Bala Saheb for giving speeches and writing editorials in the name of ‘Hindutva’, the party said in an editorial in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.
“Chhagan Bhujbal’s imprisonment was the revenge taken against him by fate. He wanted to arrest Bala Saheb by any means. Our ally (BJP) was in power at the Centre then and it had sent additional police forces from other states to prevent any law and order problem,” the Sena editorial said.
The party went on to attack its coalition partner in the state and ally BJP, which, it alleged, had a secret alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar.
It said that Chhagan Bhujbal was in jail for two years on money laundering charges, while former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram, facing similar charges, came out on bail within eight days of his arrest (in March this year).
“Laws and power are often used to take political revenge,” the Saamana editorial said.
Chhagan Bhujbal, who handled the Public Works Department in the Congress-NCP government, was arrested in March 2016 after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) found in an inquiry that he allegedly misused his office in awarding contracts for PWD projects, causing a loss to the exchequer.
According to the Enforcement Directorate, Chhagan Bhujbal awarded contracts, including the one for the construction of a new Maharashtra Sadan – the state guest house – in Delhi to a private firm, allegedly in return for kickbacks for himself and his family.
The former Maharashtra deputy chief minister and his nephew Sameer Bhujbal channelled the ill-gotten money into shell companies, the agency alleged.
Chhagan Bhujbal started his political career with the Shiv Sena and was in the party for over two decades. He left the Shiv Sena in 1991 and joined the Congress.
Later, after Sharad Pawar decided to split from the Congress and form the NCP, the former PWD minister went along with him.