SC rejects Yakub Memon’s plea against death penalty
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In a blow to 1993 Mumbai blasts accused Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed his plea seeking a review of his death penalty.
A bench led by Justice Anil Dave found no merits in the review petition filed by Memon, the lone death row convict in the serial blasts case.
The decision comes after extensive open court hearings conducted over a month in which Memon's counsel orally argued in detail against the death penalty imposed on him under TADA.
The court had also sought responses from Maharashtra Special Task Force and CBI on his plea seeking review of death penalty awarded to him.
The counsel appearing for Memon had said that neither the trial court nor the apex court gave special reasons for sending him to gallows.
“My entire conviction is based on retracted confessions of several co-accused,” his lawyer said.
The lawyer also alleged that Memon was convicted and then sentenced to death by the special TADA court even before the entire judgement was delivered, hence, his conviction was not valid.
The Supreme Court had earlier confirmed the death sentence awarded to Mr. Memon, the main accused (A-1), and brother of Tiger Memon (the mastermind and absconding key conspirator), holding him guilty of being the “driving spirit” in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts that killed 257 people.
The court had maintained that Pakistan played a major part in the blasts. “A careful reading of the confessional statements of the convicted accused exposes that a large number of the accused, including the absconders, received training in [the] making of bombs by using RDX and other explosives” in Pakistan, its judgement had said.
- In a blow to 1993 Mumbai blasts accused Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed his plea seeking a review of his death penalty.A bench led by Justice Anil Dave found no merits in the review petition filed by Memon, the lone death row convict in the serial blasts case.The decision comes after extensive open court hearings conducted over a month in which Memon's counsel orally argued in detail against the death penalty imposed on him under TADA.The court had also sought responses from Maharashtra Special Task Force and CBI on his plea seeking review of death penalty awarded to him.The counsel appearing for Memon had said that neither the trial court nor the apex court gave special reasons for sending him to gallows.“My entire conviction is based on retracted confessions of several co-accused,” his lawyer said.The lawyer also alleged that Memon was convicted and then sentenced to death by the special TADA court even before the entire judgement was delivered, hence, his conviction was not valid.The Supreme Court had earlier confirmed the death sentence awarded to Mr. Memon, the main accused (A-1), and brother of Tiger Memon (the mastermind and absconding key conspirator), holding him guilty of being the “driving spirit” in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts that killed 257 people.The court had maintained that Pakistan played a major part in the blasts. “A careful reading of the confessional statements of the convicted accused exposes that a large number of the accused, including the absconders, received training in [the] making of bombs by using RDX and other explosives” in Pakistan, its judgement had said.
Satyam Computer’s Rs 14,000 cr scam: Full text of B Ramalinga Raju’s letter to board
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A Hyerabad court on Thursday held the founder of Satyam Computer Services, which was once one of India’s biggest IT outsourcing companies, B Ramalinga Raju guilty in the country’s biggest corporate accounting fraud.
“It is with deep regret and tremendous burden that I am carrying on my conscience, that I would like to bring the following facts to your notice:
- A Hyerabad court on Thursday held the founder of Satyam Computer Services, which was once one of India’s biggest IT outsourcing companies, B Ramalinga Raju guilty in the country’s biggest corporate accounting fraud.The court is yet to announce the quantum of punishment in the case, the TV channels reported.Satyam Computer shocked investors in 2009 when its founder and former Chairman Ramalinga Raju said the company’s profits had been overstated for years and assets falsified in a fraud allegedly worth over Rs 14,000 cr according to the CBI.Following is the text of the letter Ramalinga Raju wrote in January, 2009 to the Satyam Computer Services board:
“It is with deep regret and tremendous burden that I am carrying on my conscience, that I would like to bring the following facts to your notice:
Manmohan coal scam case may not come up before 2018
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NEW DELHI: Those worrying about Manmohan Singh because of a trial court summoning him as an accused in a coal scam-related case can afford to relax. The former PM's appeal challenging the order appears to have gone into deep freeze and is unlikely to be heard by the Supreme Court at least in the next three years.
A bench of Justices V Gopala Gowda and C Nagappan had on April 1 'admitted' Singh's appeal, stayed the summons and all proceedings initiated by the trial court against the ex-PM and other accused.
The words 'admit' and 'grant of leave' on special leave petitions have special significance in Supreme Court procedures. Whenever the court finds that a substantial question of law has been raised by a petitioner requiring detailed hearing, which could span days together, it grants leave or 'admits' the petitions to be heard later without assigning a date.
While admitting special leave petitions of Singh and others, the bench said, "Since certain important substantial questions of law as well as the constitutional validity of Section 13(1)(d)(iii) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 are raised in the instant petitions, we are of the view that these matters require examination."
- NEW DELHI: Those worrying about Manmohan Singh because of a trial court summoning him as an accused in a coal scam-related case can afford to relax. The former PM's appeal challenging the order appears to have gone into deep freeze and is unlikely to be heard by the Supreme Court at least in the next three years.
A bench of Justices V Gopala Gowda and C Nagappan had on April 1 'admitted' Singh's appeal, stayed the summons and all proceedings initiated by the trial court against the ex-PM and other accused.
The words 'admit' and 'grant of leave' on special leave petitions have special significance in Supreme Court procedures. Whenever the court finds that a substantial question of law has been raised by a petitioner requiring detailed hearing, which could span days together, it grants leave or 'admits' the petitions to be heard later without assigning a date.
While admitting special leave petitions of Singh and others, the bench said, "Since certain important substantial questions of law as well as the constitutional validity of Section 13(1)(d)(iii) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 are raised in the instant petitions, we are of the view that these matters require examination."
India Inc rallies behind PM’s appeal to give up gas subsidy
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India Inc has rallied behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to give up cooking gas subsidies with industry leaders including Anand Mahindra, Anil Agarwal, Gautam Adani, Sajjan Jindal, Uday Kotak and Kishore Biyani making a personal appeal to their employees to give up subsidized LPG connections.
The Prime Minister, on Thursday had exhorted banks and industrial houses, along with their employees, to give up LPG subsidies voluntarily to benefit poor families.
The PM's call seems to have struck a chord among business leaders with many more expected to follow suit over the next few days. Earlier, this week,Tata Group and Reliance Industries asked their employees to give up their LPG subsidies.
The Prime Minister, on Thursday had exhorted banks and industrial houses, along with their employees, to give up LPG subsidies voluntarily to benefit poor families.
The PM's call seems to have struck a chord among business leaders with many more expected to follow suit over the next few days. Earlier, this week,Tata Group and Reliance Industries asked their employees to give up their LPG subsidies.
Indian IT key to Apple's business
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BENGALURU: Apple is secretive about almost everything it does. And among its best kept secrets is the work it does with Indian IT vendors. The vendors themselves are sworn to secrecy through stringent non-disclosure agreements. And since Apple is invariably among their most valued clients, they don't disclose a word about their relationship with the Cupertino-based iPhone and iPad maker.
Four large Indian IT companies - TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Tech Mahindra - and a relatively small vendor Exilant are the primary vendors. The five together provide a host of services to Apple.
Infosys is focused on customer care and supply chain. It works on SAP modules in material management, warehouse management. It is also involved in application development and maintenance of customer care applications including Apple Certified Server Engineer (ACSE), an industry certification to provide server-based solutions and troubleshoot issues related to server installations.
Tech Mahindra does work related to finance and product lifecycle management.
BENGALURU: Apple is secretive about almost everything it does. And among its best kept secrets is the work it does with Indian IT vendors. The vendors themselves are sworn to secrecy through stringent non-disclosure agreements. And since Apple is invariably among their most valued clients, they don't disclose a word about their relationship with the Cupertino-based iPhone and iPad maker.
But some of the secrets are spilling out. TOI spoke to some research firms and industry sources to put together details of which vendor does what for the $200-billion US consumer electronics brand.
Four large Indian IT companies - TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Tech Mahindra - and a relatively small vendor Exilant are the primary vendors. The five together provide a host of services to Apple.
Infosys is focused on customer care and supply chain. It works on SAP modules in material management, warehouse management. It is also involved in application development and maintenance of customer care applications including Apple Certified Server Engineer (ACSE), an industry certification to provide server-based solutions and troubleshoot issues related to server installations.
India's largest IT services player TCS is focused on customer relationship management. It also ports Apple's web applications into iOS-compatible mobile apps. Wipro does the master data management for its supply chain. It also provides advanced analytics for database marketing, retail marketing and web-based marketing.Four large Indian IT companies - TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Tech Mahindra - and a relatively small vendor Exilant are the primary vendors. The five together provide a host of services to Apple.
Infosys is focused on customer care and supply chain. It works on SAP modules in material management, warehouse management. It is also involved in application development and maintenance of customer care applications including Apple Certified Server Engineer (ACSE), an industry certification to provide server-based solutions and troubleshoot issues related to server installations.
Tech Mahindra does work related to finance and product lifecycle management.
Foreign donors of NGOs on government radar
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Taking forward its strategy of cracking down on NGOs receiving foreign funds and suspected to be involved in unscrupulous activities, the Centre has blacklisted dubious donors based abroad, putting them on money laundering watch.
Donors' list
Intelligence agencies have put together a list of 188 foreign donors who have a suspected track record. Sources said these donors are under scrutiny and if any wrongdoing is exposed, the NGOs will be stopped from receiving funds from them.
NGOs receiving funds from smaller countries have been under scrutiny of intelligence agencies for routing black money in India. "The money is being laundered to tax havens and then reaching the same source by showing it as funds to NGOs for obscure purposes," said an official explaining the modus operandi.
While several dubious NGOs have been under the lens of intelligence agencies, the focus now is to crack down on the donors who are using these organisations for money laundering. There is also a suspicion that some of these donors are funding these organisations to push their agenda and derail India's economic growth.
Dubious deposits
The list of donors has been shared with the Union home and finance ministries. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) are also probing the matter. While traditional tax havens like Switzerland, Mauritius and UAE and Thailand are among the top donor countries, frequent donations from smaller countries such as North Korea, Syria, Cuba, Tonga, Kyrgyzstan, Burkino Faso, Swaziland, Luxembourg and Malta have raised suspicions of large scale money laundering.
It's not just money laundering, but the home ministry in its report on Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) also red-flagged the issue of terror funding through these dubious foreign donors.
Home ministry data reveals that over 20 per cent of the foreign contribution is being made for doubtful purposes. These are activities other than the most common causes listed by the home ministry for foreign contribution like rural development, welfare of children, health, research, construction and maintenance of schools or colleges, awareness camps and religious purposes. "We need to know where this money is being used and need to coordinate with authorities of these countries and crackdown on some of these NGOs," a home ministry official said.
Notices issued The Narendra Modi government has been coming down hard on NGOs allegedly involved in stalling power and nuclear projects. Such NGOs have been issued notices to submit their returns of funding received from abroad. This has led to a faceoff between the government and activists who have made a counter-allegation that government actions against NGOs is to muzzle a voice of dissent that is exposing exploitation of tribal population due to these projects
Taking forward its strategy of cracking down on NGOs receiving foreign funds and suspected to be involved in unscrupulous activities, the Centre has blacklisted dubious donors based abroad, putting them on money laundering watch.
Donors' list
Intelligence agencies have put together a list of 188 foreign donors who have a suspected track record. Sources said these donors are under scrutiny and if any wrongdoing is exposed, the NGOs will be stopped from receiving funds from them.
NGOs receiving funds from smaller countries have been under scrutiny of intelligence agencies for routing black money in India. "The money is being laundered to tax havens and then reaching the same source by showing it as funds to NGOs for obscure purposes," said an official explaining the modus operandi.
While several dubious NGOs have been under the lens of intelligence agencies, the focus now is to crack down on the donors who are using these organisations for money laundering. There is also a suspicion that some of these donors are funding these organisations to push their agenda and derail India's economic growth.
Dubious deposits
The list of donors has been shared with the Union home and finance ministries. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) are also probing the matter. While traditional tax havens like Switzerland, Mauritius and UAE and Thailand are among the top donor countries, frequent donations from smaller countries such as North Korea, Syria, Cuba, Tonga, Kyrgyzstan, Burkino Faso, Swaziland, Luxembourg and Malta have raised suspicions of large scale money laundering.
It's not just money laundering, but the home ministry in its report on Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) also red-flagged the issue of terror funding through these dubious foreign donors.
Home ministry data reveals that over 20 per cent of the foreign contribution is being made for doubtful purposes. These are activities other than the most common causes listed by the home ministry for foreign contribution like rural development, welfare of children, health, research, construction and maintenance of schools or colleges, awareness camps and religious purposes. "We need to know where this money is being used and need to coordinate with authorities of these countries and crackdown on some of these NGOs," a home ministry official said.
Notices issued The Narendra Modi government has been coming down hard on NGOs allegedly involved in stalling power and nuclear projects. Such NGOs have been issued notices to submit their returns of funding received from abroad. This has led to a faceoff between the government and activists who have made a counter-allegation that government actions against NGOs is to muzzle a voice of dissent that is exposing exploitation of tribal population due to these projects
Government asked to share information on Lower Subansiri hydro plant
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The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the NITI Aayog (formerly Planning Commission) to disclose all the technical details about the 2,000 MW Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Project along the Assam border, rejecting the panel's resistance to share the specifications.
- The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the NITI Aayog (formerly Planning Commission) to disclose all the technical details about the 2,000 MW Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Project along the Assam border, rejecting the panel's resistance to share the specifications.The NITI Aayog had argued that the technical report shouldn't be disclosed as it would create confusion in the minds of public, and that its disclosure may fuel further agitation endangering the life of the locals.However, Information Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal observed the revelation of the expert's comments would enable all stakeholders to have informed participation at the stage of formulation of the policy itself and that "agitation is more likely to be fuelled by uninformed debate in the absence of authentic information".The Lower Subansiri Hydro Project, situated on the border of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, had been witnessing resistance from local residents. Though work on the project started in 2005, residents halted the construction in December 2011. In 2006, the Union power ministry had set up a joint expert committee, which reportedly expressed serious concerns about the dam construction at specific geologically and seismologically sensitive locations. The government further appointed the Thatte-Reddy Committee to study the downstream impacts.
IPL 2015: KKR (170-3) vs MI (168-3): Surya lights up MI bowlers at Eden
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Kolkata Knightriders got off to a winning start, chasing down 169 in their IPL 2015 league stage match against the Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday. Yusuf Pathan (14) and Suryakumar Yadav (46) took the hosts home with nine balls to spare. Robin Uthappa was the first batsman out, caught by Harbhajan at first slip off Corey Anderson.
Manish Pandey played some sparkling shots in his 24-ball 40, but was out trying to hit Harbhajan Singh over wide midwicket. Captain Gautam Gambhir rode his luck after he was dropped on 0, and scored a valuable 57 before pulling Bumrah straight to Rayudu at deep square leg.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians finished with 168-3 off 20 overs. Rohit Sharma (98) and Corey Anderson (53) batted brilliantly after KKR had reduced Mumbai to 37-3.
Aaron Finch was the first batsman out, skying Morne Morkel to Umesh Yadav at fine leg. Aditya Tare looked shaky, and was out off the last ball of Shakib Al Hasan's first over. Ambati Rayudu didn't last long either, out for a two-ball duck as he failed to cope with Morne Morkel's pace and bounce.
Kolkata Knightriders got off to a winning start, chasing down 169 in their IPL 2015 league stage match against the Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday. Yusuf Pathan (14) and Suryakumar Yadav (46) took the hosts home with nine balls to spare. Robin Uthappa was the first batsman out, caught by Harbhajan at first slip off Corey Anderson.
Manish Pandey played some sparkling shots in his 24-ball 40, but was out trying to hit Harbhajan Singh over wide midwicket. Captain Gautam Gambhir rode his luck after he was dropped on 0, and scored a valuable 57 before pulling Bumrah straight to Rayudu at deep square leg.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians finished with 168-3 off 20 overs. Rohit Sharma (98) and Corey Anderson (53) batted brilliantly after KKR had reduced Mumbai to 37-3.
Aaron Finch was the first batsman out, skying Morne Morkel to Umesh Yadav at fine leg. Aditya Tare looked shaky, and was out off the last ball of Shakib Al Hasan's first over. Ambati Rayudu didn't last long either, out for a two-ball duck as he failed to cope with Morne Morkel's pace and bounce.
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