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Pure PoliticsTWEET-O-METERThe Best Political Tweets Only in ET
Ahmed Patel @ahmedpatel While our farmers are struggling through the on-going agri distress,govt’s decision to hike MSP of imp crops by just Rs 50 is akin to mocking
Lalu Prasad Yadav @laluprasadrjd Advani Ji proved that our concerns regarding anti-democratic elements & ac-tivities being sponsored & promoted by union govt are correct.
digvijaya singh @digvijaya_28 He has already taken care of Sushma ji and Vasund-hara ji. This is the Gujarat Modi Development Model ! My way or the Highway !
Arvind Kejriwal @ArvindKejriwal Advani ji is correct in say-ing that emergency can’t be ruled out. Is Delhi their first experiment?
Shahnawaz Hussain @ShahnawazBJP Its high time tht Jungle Raj is removed from Bihar & the hardworking Biharis get a govt tht brings good governance to the state. #BJP4Bihar
Prashant Bhushan @pbhushan1 Apart from being a crass and crude abuse of funds the Kejriwal ad on TV is sexist and projects women as servants of their hus-bands. Shocking
Abhishek Singhvi @DrAMSinghvi One Modi brought happi-ness to bjp; anr bringing grief. Wl first one Hv same long term impact as second one?
ZAH
ID
Our Political Bureau
New Delhi: The Central Bu-reau of Investigation (CBI)has registered a preliminaryenquiry (PE) against Hima-chal Pradesh Chief MinisterVirbhadra Singh and his fam-ily members for allegedlyamassing wealth dispropor-tionately to his known sourc-es of income.
The preliminary enquirywill probe Singh’s unex-plained income of .̀ 6.1 crorewhen he was serving as minis-ter of steel in the UPA govern-ment between 2009 and 2011.
Officials said the PE isagainst Singh, his wife Pratib-ha, son Vikramaditya, daugh-ter Aparajita and an LICagent, Anand Chauhan.
They said it is alleged thatSingh, while serving as minis-ter, has invested .̀ 6.1 crore inlife insurance policies in hisand his family members'names through Chauhan.
A PE is the first step to exam-ine veracity of a complaint orsource information receivedby the agency, and if prima fa-cie allegations are found true,further probe is carried out byconverting it into an FIR, alsoknown as regular case.
During verification, the agen-cy also found that the incomeshown by Singh as agricultureincome was inflated and the ap-ple orchard in the name of‘Srikhand orchard’ cannotproduce such income. It is alsoalleged that in the revised In-come Tax return from 2009-11,
Singh inflated his income toprove that he had earned themoney from his orchard.
The money is alleged to havebeen later used to buy insur-ance policies through Chau-han, who allegedly earned a2% commission.
The PE, the officials said, isthe offshoot of their probe in-to a diary found during theraid conducted at New Delhiin 2010 on Ispat Industries.
CBI RegistersPE AgainstHimachal CM
New Delhi: Non-governmental or-ganisations will soon have to startfurnishing details of foreign fundsreceived and utilised by them for‘civil rights advocacy’, a new cate-gory created by the home ministryto ascertain whether NGOs are us-ing funds specifically for issuessuch as human rights, democraticrights, natural resources and reli-gious discrimination.
In addition to this, every NGO inthe country will have to put out de-tails on its website within a week ofgetting foreign contribution of anyvalue while banks will have to re-port all such receipts to the govern-ment within 48 hours of the trans-fer from abroad.
These requirements are part ofthe proposals under an exercise ini-tiated by the Prime Minister’s Of-fice to tighten monitoring of NGOs.
A fortnight after ET first reportedon June 4 the planned move onPMO’s instructions to amend theForeign Contribution (Regulation)Rules (FCRR), 2011, the home min-istry has put in public domain theproposed changes to these rules fol-lowing the Intelligence Bureau’sinputs to it to “improve oversightand increase transparency” in theworking of the NGO sector in India.
As per existing norms, NGOs arerequired to inform the governmentthrough their annual returns un-der 55 heads of ‘purposes’ for whichforeign aid has been received andutilised by them. There was a 56th‘purpose’, ‘of activities other’ thanthe 55 purposes. The home ministryhas created a new category of such
‘purposes’, Civil Rights Advocacy,increasing the total number of pur-poses to 84.
Under the new category, NGOswill have to specify whether theyreceived any funds and utilisedthem for purposes such as “hu-
criminal justice system, commu-nication strategy etc”.
The ministry has created yet an-other category, ‘Research’, underwhich NGOs will have to specifyspending of foreign funds on re-search, seminars, conferences,publications and lectures. “The ef-fort is to ascertain specifically forwhat a NGO is getting foreign fundsand what is it being spent on ratherthan leaving it uncertain,” a seniorhome ministry official said.
The government has a provisionto act against an NGO if any falseinformation or concealment ofmaterial facts comes to light. Theministry had earlier suspendedGreenpeace India’s foreign fund-ing saying the NGO derailed theMahan coal project and would in-dulge next in “protest-creation” totarget eight other plants, poten-tially impacting 40,000 mw of pow-er generation.
That also reflects in another pro-posed change in FCCR rules in theform which has to be filled up on-line for registration or renewal of li-cence for NGOs. The governmenthas introduced a new declarationthat NGOs must make that the for-eign aid received by them will notbe used for any activities “detri-mental to national interest, likelyto affect public interest, or likely toprejudicially affect the security,scientific, strategic or economic in-terest of the state”, leaving it to thediscretion of the state to determinea violation.
NGOs will have to also submit de-tails of any social media account onFacebook or Twitter that it is oper-ating, an apparent effort to keeptabs on social media campaigns.
Tighter Norms for NGOsto Track Foreign Funds
FOR CLOSE MONITORING OF NGOS MHA creates a new category, ‘civil rights advocacy’, to ascertain whether NGOs are using foreign funds for specific purposes or not
on the same day. Mitra was dischargedon December 27 and again returned tohospital on February 11 following com-plaints of ‘uneasiness’ and ‘loss of ap-petite’, and ever since, has been in thehospital. His medical reports claimedthat he suffers from ‘hypertension’ andhence, needs to be under ‘observation’.
Mitra has been occupying the VIProom of Woodburn ward, which is an
Kolkata: West Bengal cabinet takes upfor discussion the new Chit Fund Billon Friday, when West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee’s go-to manand West Bengal transport ministerMadan Mitra would complete sixmonths in judicial custody for his invol-vement in the alleged Saradha scam.
Of the six months, Mitra has spentjust one month in jail, and for the rest,he has been wrapped in luxury, beingtreated like a VIP. The state transportand spots minister — a portfolio he stillholds — has spent most of his time inthe comfort of the Woodburn ward ofthe state-run SSKM Hospital.
According to the logs of the state cor-rectional services, the minister was re-manded to judicial custody on Decem-ber 19, 2014. He complained of chestpain and was admitted to the hospital
AC room with all kind of facilities. Hegets home cooked food and the freedomto use communication devices; hisroom — described as the party office ofMadan Mitra — is mostly filled withparty men. Insiders even claim that hecontrolled the civic polls in his constit-uency from the hospital. And eventhough, there are two guards postedoutside his room, they do not have anycontrol over visitors and his party men.
The CBI, that’s probing the Saradhascam, had sought a report from Aliporecentral correctional home on the min-ister’s stay in jail, which will be submit-ted to the Alipore court, said people fa-miliar with the matter.
The Opposition raised the issue in thestate assembly, asking minister of statefor correctional services HA Safwi tocome clean on Mitra’s stay in jail. Safwi,however, said it is not possible to ‘drag’the minister to jail if he isn’t ‘dis-charged’ from the hospital.
Mitra Enjoying Jail as VIP in AC Hospital
New Delhi: In a significant develop-ment that could have positive bearing onproposed Indo-Japan civil nuclear deal,Tokyo is likely to change its policy to al-low reprocessing of spent nuclear fuelfrom Japanese-made reactors.
In what could be a major shift in Ja-pan’s nuclear non-proliferation strate-gy, Tokyo for the first time has ap-proved reprocessing of nuclear fuel bya country using Japanese-made reac-tors, official sources said from Tokyo.
Since the 2011 Fukushima tragedy, Ja-pan had concluded civil pacts with sixcountries including Jordan, Russia, Tur-key and Vietnam, but has not approvedreprocessing of spent fuel generated byJapanese-made nuclear reactors.
Indo-Japan civil nuclear deal has re-mained elusive despite several roundsof negotiations since 2010 and Naren-
dra Modi’s maiden trip to Japan as PMlast year and his personal chemistrywith his counterpart Shinzo Abe.
Bilateral negotiations, re-launchedpost Fukushima last September, got mo-mentum after Modi became the PM withJapan as one of his foreign policy priori-ties. Japan has been consistent on its po-
In a First, Japan May Allow Indiato Reprocess Spent Nuclear Fuel
Push for Civil Nuke DealSINCE FUKUSHIMA tragedy in
2011, Japan had concluded civil
pacts with six nation but has not
approved reprocessing of spent fuel
JAPAN SUGGESTS India to submit
an annual report detailing the
amount of plutonium generated
through reprocessing
CANADA AND INDIA has
agreed for a tracking method
of nuclear fuel
JAPAN SEEKS GUARANTEEthat India won’t divert
extracted plutonium for
military use
JAPAN WANTS guarantee
on no civil nuclear tests
TOKYO WANTS a
termination clause in the
pact for automatic end of
bilateral nuclear coop if
India conducts test
Change in RulesACCORDING TO THE NEW RULES, banks will
have to report all foreign funding to the govt
within 48 hours of the transfer from abroad
NGOS WILL HAVE to
submit details of social
media account on
Facebook or Twitter
MHA HAS CREATED ANOTHER category,
‘Research’, under
which NGOs will
have to specify
spending of
foreign funds on
research, seminars,
conferences,
publications and
lectures
CHANGE IN FCCR RULES
PROPOSED: online filing for
registration or renewal of licence
GOVT MAY ACTagainst an NGO if any
false information or
concealment comes
to light
New Delhi: With the month of Ra-madan beginning on Thursdayacross continents, Muslim-majoritynations have the flexibility of orga-nising yoga sessions on Internato-nal Yoga Day on June 21 after break-ing their fast and Iftar.
Several Muslim majority nationsacross the Gulf, Central Asia, NorthAfrica and Southeast Asia that willwitness mega events on the Interna-tional Yoga Day organised by localIndian embassies have the option toparticipate after their Iftar (break-ing their fast) as the day falls duringthe Ramadan period, senior govern-ment sources told ET.
Ten of the 57 Organisation of Is-lamic Conference countries did notco-sponsor the UN resolution last
year to declare June 21 as the Inter-national Yoga Day. The list includesPakistan and Saudi Arabia.
However, some sessions are beingorganised even in these countries,including Pakistan and Saudi Ara-bia, sources said, adding, yoga ses-sions will be organised indoors by In-
dian missions in thesecountries. Palestine isnot a UN memberstate and thereforecould not co-sponsorthe resolution. But the world’s big-
gest Muslim nationIndonesia, NorthAfrican states of Mo-rocco and Tunisia, Ni-geria, Jordan andCentral Asian coun-tries have witnessedenthusiasm leadingup to June 21, diplo-
matic sources pointed out. Thesecountries are oblivious to the contro-versy within India, whether asanasare Islamic or not, sources claimed.
Several sessions will be organisedacross Indonesia, the world’s big-gest archipelago. Malaysia, though,will witness fewer sessions. Similar-ly, another Southeast Asian statewith Muslim population — Brunei— may not have many sessions.
Even embattled Afghanistan willalso see yoga sessions with gurusparticipating from here. However, inHerat and Kandahar, sessions by theIndian consulates will be held in-doors due to security concerns.
Indian missions in several Mus-lim-majority nations have alreadyheld mega events this month andthere’s a great deal of enthusiasm,sources claimed. As many as 10,000people participated in a yoga ses-sion in Dubai recently.
Yoga Sessions After Iftar in Muslim Nations
Muslimnationsacross theGulf, CentralAsia, N-Africa& SE Asiahave showedenthusiasmleading to June 21
AN
IRB
AN
sition on India’s non-NPT status andtougher safeguards on reprocessing ofspent fuel supplied to Indian reactors. In-dian position has also been clear as itconsiders NPT as discriminatory, offi-cial sources said, adding India hassigned nuclear deals with NPT signato-ries like USA, Canada and Australia.
UNDER PMO’S DIRECTIVE
These require-ments are partof the propos-
als under an exercise ini-tiated by PMO to tightenmonitoring of NGOs
FUND DETAILS ON WEBSITE
NGOs will haveto put out details on its
website within a week of getting foreign contri-bution of any value
VIRBHADRA TWEETS
Me & my fam-ily are target-
ted out of politicalvendetta by NDA govtand it's part of witch-hunting being manip-ulated by Dhumal
INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY
man rights, caste/religious dis-crimination, tribal/indigenouspeople’s rights, democraticrights, public accountability, is-sues regarding natural re-sources, climate change, cyber se-curity, internet freedom,
To probe Virbhadra’sunexplained incomeof .̀ 6.1 cr as ministerof steel in UPA govt
Product: ETNEWDelhiBS PubDate: 19-06-2015 Zone: DelhiCapital Edition: 1 Page: ETDCECO User: jjain3010 Time: 06-18-2015 22:48 Color: CMYK
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