India

New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday landed in Japan's Hiroshima city to participate in the G7 Summit where he will also be having bilateral meetings with various world leaders.

In a tweet, the Prime Minister said: "Landed in Hiroshima to join the G7 Summit proceedings. Will also be having bilateral meetings with various world leaders."

He also attached the photographs of his arrival in Hiroshima.

Modi on Friday embarked on a six-day visit to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia to attend three key multilateral summits, including that of the G7.

While leaving for Hiroshima, the Prime Minister in a statement said: "I will leave for Hiroshima, Japan to attend the G7 Summit under the Japanese Presidency at the invitation of Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan."

He said it will be a pleasure to meet his Japanese counterpart again after his recent visit to India for the India-Japan Summit.

"My presence in this G7 Summit is particularly meaningful as India holds the G20 Presidency this year. I look forward to exchanging views with the G7 countries and other invited partners on challenges that the world faces and the need to collectively address them. I would also be holding bilateral meetings with some of the leaders attending the Hiroshima G7 Summit," the Prime Minister said.

Modi said that from Japan, he will be visiting Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

"This will be my first visit, as also the first ever visit by any Indian Prime Minister, to Papua New Guinea. I will host on May 22 the 3rd Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC III Summit) jointly with James Marape, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. I am grateful that all 14 Pacific Island Countries (PIC) have accepted the invitation to attend this important Summit."

He said: "FIPIC had been launched during my visit to Fiji in 2014, and I look forward to engaging with the PIC Leaders on issues that bring us together, such as climate change and sustainable development, capacity building and training, health and well-being, infrastructure and economic development.

"Apart from the FIPIC engagements, I look forward to my bilateral interactions with Papua New Guinea Governor General Sir Bob Dadae, Prime Minister Marape and some of the other PIC Leaders participating in the Summit," the Prime Minister said.

Commenting on his visit to Australia, the Prime Minister said: "I will be travelling to Sydney, Australia at the invitation of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. I look forward to our bilateral meeting, which will be an opportunity to take stock of our bilateral ties and follow up on our first India-Australia Annual Summit held in New Delhi in March this year."

He will also interact with Australian CEOs and business leaders, and meet the Indian community in Sydney at a special event.

--IANS
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Mumbai, May 19 (IANS) The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the CBI not to take any coercive action against Narcotics Control Bureau former Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede in the alleged Rs 25 crore bribery case pertaining to the arrest of actor Aryan Khan after the cruise ship drugs raid of October 2, 2021.

A vacation bench comprising Justice Sharmila Deshmukh and Justice Arif Doctor also said that prima facie, there was a legal bar under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Section 17A, mandating the probe to be completed within four months of the alleged offence that had occurred in 2021.

The high court also directed Wankhede to cooperate with the investigations and appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to record his statements, to which he agreed.

Since the notice was issued under CrPC's Section 41A, the judges restrained the CBI from any coercive action against Wankhede till Monday, May 22, when the matter would come up for next hearing, according to the IRS officer's lawyer Rizwan Merchant.

However, CBI counsel Kuldeep Patil opposed Wankhede's plea and said he should seek anticipatory bail.

When the court asked Wankhede why he didn't move the Sessions Court for bail, Merchant contended that he wanted to prevent the arrest of an IRS officer which could demoralise the entire force.

Wankhede had moved the Bombay High Court on Thursday, challenging the CBI FIR against him and five others, for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 25 crore from the kin of those arrested in the sensational raids on Cordelia cruiser, including Aryan, the son of Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan.

Of the four-month period, Patil argued, the duration starts from the date of approval from the Centre to conduct the probe against a public servant which was granted just recently, and felt that the probe would be hampered if Wankhede was protected from arrest.

Wankhede had earlier moved the Delhi High Court against the CBI but later withdrew his plea on May 17 and then moved the Bombay High Court here on Thursday.

Among other things, he had sought quashing of the CBI FIR against him, a fair probe and lodging a 'cross FIR' based on his complaint against NCB officers Vishwa Vijay Singh, Ashish Ranjan, and witnesses in the ship case, K. P. Gosavi and Sanvile D'Souza.

In his fresh plea here, Wankhede has claimed that he carried out the raids on the Cordelia Cruise ship under the specific orders of his seniors in the NCB including the Deputy Director-General Gnyaneshwar Singh.

The 2008 batch IRS officer contended that Singh was attempting to cover his own tracks and had been harassing him since the raids and did not stop even after he left the NCB.

The CBI FIR of May 11 was based on a SET report submitted by Singh into the Cordelia ship raid case which shot to global headlines.

After the raid, NCB claimed to have seized small amounts of different drugs, cash and nabbed 17 persons including Aryan Khan.

Later, when the former Nationalist Congress Party minister Nawab Malik - currently in jail in a different matter - and another witness Prabhakar Sail (who died last year) made allegations of bribes and extortion, Wankhede was taken off the case, and the probe was taken over by another NCB team, which gave a clean chit to Aryan Khan and others in May 2022.

In the latest case against him, Wankhede said that he had complete faith in the country's judiciary and the Central government to give him justice in the false case in which he was being implicated.

--IANS
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New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud on Friday told an advocate that he will not permit forum shopping.

A bench headed by the Chief Justice made this remark during the process of mentioning of cases. A lawyer mentioned a case even though the same case was mentioned the day before a bench headed by Justice K.M. Joseph. The lawyer submitted that this was a case of encounter.

The Chief Justice told the lawyer: "You went to Justice Joseph, today you are here. You can go to some other judge then. You can just pick and choose your judge. I will not permit forum shopping as the CJI."

"A message to the bar, you have a tough CJI and such practices will not be allowed."

In another incident during the mentioning of cases process, the Chief Justice pulled up a lawyer for not showing respect to a woman lawyer before him.

"What are you doing? There is a lady in front of you.. show some respect. Is this how you behave at home and outside? You are putting your arm around her to get the mike...," he said.

The Chief Justice refused to hear the lawyer's matter and told him to come back the next day.

--IANS
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New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) A Delhi court on Friday reserved its order on the cognisance of the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) supplementary charge sheet against former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and three others in connection with the excise policy case.

Arjun Pandey, Butchi Babu Gorantla and Amanadeep Dhal are the three others named in the charge sheet.

The court also reserved an order on the cognisance of Enforcement Directorate's supplementary charge sheet against Sisodia in the same case.

Special judge M.K. Nagpal listed the pronouncement of order on CBI's charge sheet on May 27, and ED's on May 30.

The CBI in its supplementary charge sheet has alleged that Sisodia had got certain emails fabricated through Zakir Khan, Chairperson of Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC), to manipulate the process of seeking comments/suggestions in connection with the liquor policy.

The probe agency has claimed that Sisodia was not happy with the recommendations of the expert committee report submitted on October 13, 2020, by former Excise Commissioner Ravi Dhawan and directed Rahul Singh, the new Excise Commissioner, to put the report on Excise Department's portal to get comments from the public and stakeholders.

The CBI has alleged that Sisodia "destroyed" a draft Cabinet note which was prepared by the Excise Department and put up before the Council of Ministers at the meeting held on January 28, 2021.

In the draft Cabinet note, the legal opinions of Ranjan Gogoi and K.G. Balakrishnan, both former Chief Justice of India (CJI), Mukul Rohtagi, senior advocate and former Attorney General of India, and others were obtained.

--IANS
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Lucknow, May 17 (IANS) Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav has finally agreed to support the Congress in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

This is a major shift in the SP stand since the party, till now, had vehemently opposed the Congress, terming it as a "B-team of the BJP".

Akhilesh has now backed West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chief Mamata Banerjee's statement for opposition unity at the national level, saying the party which is strong in a state should contest elections there.

The change in Akhilesh's stand is good news for the Congress which has been facing resistance from the SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh, and where the Congress remains in a dismal position.

The SP Chief said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and other parties also hold the same opinion.

Incidentally, Akhilesh had met Kumar last month in Lucknow to discuss opposition unity but Akhilesh had maintained a studied silence on the inclusion of Congress in the platform.

The West Bengal CM on Monday had said her party will support the Congress wherever it is strong. The TMC Chief, however, also sought support from the Congress in West Bengal, suggesting the grand old party should back regional parties wherever they are strong.

"Wherever the Congress is strong, let them fight. We will give them support, there is nothing wrong (in that). But they have to support other political parties also," Banerjee had told reporters.

Responding to a question on the Karnataka elections, Yadav said people are the winners in the state.

"The BJP always does politics of hatred, but it has been defeated by the public in Karnataka. People have voted against inflation," he said.

The SP Chief claimed that fake Aadhaar cards were used for casting votes in the Uttar Pradesh urban local body (ULB) elections and this also made the BJP's victory "fake".

"Officials were acting on the instructions of BJP leaders during the elections," Yadav added.

The BJP swept the Mayoral elections in Uttar Pradesh, winning all 17 Mayoral seats.

The SP Chief claimed that thousands of fake Aadhaar cards were found in Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj. A woman legislator of the ruling BJP visited polling booths and got fake votes cast, he claimed, without naming anyone.

In Chandauli, Yadav claimed, a transgender candidate won, but the result was changed. However, the actual result was restored after transgender people chased officials with sticks, he added.

"Votes were openly looted from Kannauj to Mainpuri. Just like transgender people saved democracy by picking up sticks in Chandauli, everyone will have to be ready to save democracy," he said.

--IANS
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Fatehpur, May 17 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the loss of lives due to a road accident in Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh in which nine people died after a speeding tanker hit an auto at Jahanabad in Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur district.

The PRO of Fatehpur Superintendent of Police, Rajesh Kumar Singh, said that several people were coming to Jahanabad in Fatehpur district in an autorickshaw from a wedding procession near Chilli Mod.

On the way, a speeding milk tanker hit the autorickshaw near Chilli Mod under Jahanabad police station area. Nine people travelling in the auto rickshaw were killed while several others were seriously injured in this accident.

The Fatehpur SP added that the post-mortem of all deceased people in the accident is being done who hail from different places in the district. The driver of the milk tanker ran away with his vehicle after the accident, but he has been nabbed and legal action is being taken against him.

Expressing grief over the accident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday tweeted: "The road accident in Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur is extremely sad. My deepest condolences to those who have lost their families in this tragedy. Along with this, I wish the injured to recover soon. Under the supervision of the state government, the local administration is fully committed in helping the victims."

He said that the next of kin of each of the deceased would be given a financial compensation of Rs two lakh each from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, while each of the injured would be given Rs 50,000.

Expressing grief over the road mishap, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Tuesday, "The loss of lives in the Fatehpur road accident is extremely sad. My condolences are with the bereaved families. District administration officials have been given instructions for immediate treatment of the injured. I pray to Shri Ram that the deceased rest in peace and give speedy recovery to the injured."

State BJP President Bhupendra Chowdhary said, "The news of many casualties in the road accident under Jahanabad police station area of Fatehpur district is extremely sad. The government has given instructions to the administrative officers of the district for proper treatment of the injured. May God give strength to the families of the deceased and provide speedy recovery to those injured in the accident."

--IANS
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New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) The Congress has shared a video of former party Chief Rahul Gandhi's visit to the Shakur Basti area in the national capital and interacting with the slum dwellers who narrated the fear of bulldozers razing their homes as well as issues such as price rise.

The Congress shared the video of Gandhi's interaction with women and other residents from the area on its social media accounts last week after his visit to the Delhi University PG Men's hostel.

Sharing the video on Twitter, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh wrote, "Listen to Rahul Gandhi's conversation with these women. See the truth of 'Amrit Kaal'."

In the video, women from the area can be seen narrating their problems of not having proper access to water, toilets and electricity with the Congress leader.

The women also informed Gandhi that they constantly live in the fear of their houses being razed by bulldozers.

Besides the fear of bulldozers and no proper basic facilities in the area, the women also talked about how tough it for them to run their houses due to price rise and they are even unable to buy or refill gas cylinders.

In the video, the Congress leader asked the group of women if the demolition drive issue from 2015 has now been resolved.

To his question, a women told him that it has been halted for the time being, but they keep on getting notices.

Gandhi had visited Shakur Basti area in 2015 during which he criticised the Central government and the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government over the razing of a slum cluster by the Railways and had assured the homeless that he would fight for them.

The Congress leader also interacted with the children of the area and also spoke with a lawyer, who had followed up the demolition case in the courts.

The lawyer informed the Congress leader that a PIL was filed in the name of Ajay Maken on Rahul Gandhi's instructions.

The PIL had led to a judgment that the residents would not be removed unless they are provided an alternative place to stay, the lawyer told Gandhi.

--IANS
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New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) Hours after arriving in the national capital on Tuesday, Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar, who delivered a thumping victory for the party in the southern state, met party chief Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence where deliberations have been going on to select a new chief minister.

Shivakumar, who had gone to the residence of his brother and party MP DK Suresh in the national capital on Tuesday afternoon, came to meet Kharge at his residence around 5 p.m.

His meeting with Kharge comes hours after former party chief Rahul Gandhi, party general secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala held a long discussion with the party chief to decide on the new Karnataka chief minister.

The meeting of the senior Congress leaders lasted for over one and half hours.

On Monday night, party sources had said that the Congress chief will decide on the next Karnataka CM after discussing the result of the secret ballot voting with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former party chief Rahul Gandhi. Sonia Gandhi is currently in Shimla.

On Monday, all the three observers for Karnataka had submitted their report to Kharge and the meeting of the party leaders lasted for over 5 hours.

Leader of Opposotion in the outgoing Karnataka assembly and former chief minister Suddaramaiah had arrived in the national capital on Monday afternoon through a special flight whereas state unit chief DK Shivakumar didn't come on Monday due to stomach infection.

Before leaving for Delhi from Bengaluru, Shivakumar said that the party is "God" to him.

"Ours is a united house. Our number is 135 and I am a party President. Congress party is my temple. The party is like a mother. I have done my job," Shivakumar stated.

"The God and mother know what to offer to the children. I am going to meet my God in the temple. I am going alone. The General Secretary had asked me to come there alone," Shivakumar stated.

Veteran leader Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar are vying for the top post.

Sources said that despite Siddaramaiah getting the majority, Shivakumar is not willing to budge. He is claiming that he had delivered the victory to the party and hence deserved the chief minister's post.

Congress had won 135 seats in Karnataka whereas ruling BJP managed to win only 66 while the JD-S, which was hoping to play the role of kingmaker, was reduced to 19 seats in the state.

--IANS
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New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) In a shocking incident, a DMRC maintenance supervisor, who was under heavy financial burden, allegedly murdered his wife and six-year-old daughter with a knife before taking his own life by hanging in the Shahdara area here.

The man also attempted to kill his 13-year-old son, who is now fighting for his life in a hospital.

The deceased were identified as Sushil, 43, his wife Anuradha, 43, and their daughter. The family resided in Shahdara's Jyoti Colony.

The sources said that all three victims were slit using a kitchen knife, which was found at the crime scene.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Shahdara, Rohit Meena said that as per preliminary investigation from the documents received at the spot, Sushil had mortgaged jewellery, taken loans and was under financial burden.

He said that Sushil's phone has been sent for forensic analysis, and further facts will be revealed with bank account and forensic analysis.

However, sources said that the accused had searched online for information on tying knots just before the gruesome act.

At the crime scene, authorities discovered the bodies of the three victims, while forensic teams are examining the area for further evidence.

Police said that Sushil was working as maintenance supervisor in Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) at East Vinod Nagar depot.

According to police, a police control room call was received at 12.04 p.m. in which the caller said that his colleague, Sushil didn't come for work on Tuesday and when he called him, Sushil was crying and told him that he had killed everyone.

Acting on the call, a police team rushed to the spot, where they found three bodies.

"Sushil was found hanging while Anuradha and her daughter had stab injuries and were dead on the spot. Sushil's 13-year-old son also suffered a knife injury and was rushed to a hospital," said a senior police official.

As per sources, in Sushil's house, on the second floor of the building, police also found a dog, who was locked on the stairs going to the terrace.

"When police broke through the house, the boy, who was lying beside her sister was still breathing and he was rushed to GTB hospital for the treatment where doctors said that he had chances of survival. The boy had placed a bedsheet on his neck and it had somehow saved him as it caused less loss of blood," said the sources.

The Forensic Science Laboratory teams are inspecting the crime scene.

"Prima facie, it appears to be case of murder, an attempt to murder and suicide. Further investigation is underway and teams are probing the incident from all angles," said the official.

--IANS
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New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) A 17-year-old boy was thrashed to death after he was caught stealing from a house at Delhi's Farsh Bazaar area on Tuesday, police said.

According to police, at 6.41 a.m a PCR call was received in which the caller said that they have caught a thief following which a police team rushed to the spot - Kanti Nagar in Farsh Bazaar area.

"A police team rushed to the spot where the boy was beaten by some persons. He was taken to hospital where he succumbed to injuries during the treatment at 11.11 am," a senior police official said.

"A case has been registered at Farsh Bazaar police station under appropriate sections of the Indian Penal Code and two persons identified as Kalim and Samir, have been arrested in the matter," the official added.

--IANS
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