NEW DELHI, June 19:
The Income Tax department has issued notices to former CBI Director AP Singh and his wife in connection with the probe into a case against Delhi-based meat exporter Moin Akhtar Qureshi for alleged tax evasion.
The investigation wing of the department has asked Singh, who is at present a member of Union Public Service Commission, and his wife to furnish details pertaining to their personal finances and transactions.
The notice has been issued under Section 131 of the IT Act (powers regarding discovery, production of evidence) and Singh and his wife have been asked to provide details of their Income tax returns, high-value transactions, credit card information and bona fide data on properties and assets owned since 2009.
Besides, the two have been also asked to provide details of their foreign visits in the past three years, sources said.
While the former CBI chief was not immediately available for comments, sources close to him said he would be sending the relevant information soon to the tax authorities.
The former CBI chief’s name was first linked to the case after the IT department found that an office property taken on rent by Qureshi’s firm was owned by Singh’s mother. The said property is located in a posh location in the national capital.
The department, sources in the Income Tax department and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said, is also in possession of telephonic and other mobile phone-based communication between Qureshi and Singh.
“The notices have been issued as Singh’s financial details are required in the interest of the investigation,” sources said.
A Doon school alumnus, 57-year-old Qureshi has been under the IT department’s scanner for several months now for alleged tax evasion with sleuths claiming that the turnover of his companies was ‘under-reported’.
In a series of searches by the IT department at various premises purportedly linked to Qureshi, tax sleuths so far claim to have frozen Rs 20 crore in cash and jewellery along with deposits in bank accounts. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, June 19:
The Supreme Court today agreed to give early hearing on a plea challenging appointment of Army Vice Chief Dalbir Singh Suhag as the next Army Chief and directed listing of the case in the second week of July.
A bench headed by Justice Vikramajit Sen advanced the hearing of the case from September to July after it was submitted that Lt Gen Suhag is to take over the charge from August 1 and the controversy over his appointment needed to be settled before that.
The court was hearing a plea filed by Lt Gen Ravi Dastane alleging favouritism in the selection of Lt Gen Suhag as the next Army Chief.
Earlier, the Centre had justified the appointment and had submitted that the alleged lapses which were made as grounds to impose disciplinary ban on the Lt. Gen Suhag by then Army Chief Gen V K Singh between April and May 2012 were “premeditated”, “vague” and “illegal”.
Gen Singh, who is a now Minister of State in the NDA government, had placed Lt Gen Suhag under a disciplinary and vigilance (DV) ban.
The ban was imposed for alleged “failure of command and control” in an operation carried out by an intelligence unit working directly under him when he was Dimapur-based 3 Corps commander.
In its last days in office, the UPA-II government had named Lt Gen Suhag as the Army Chief to succeed incumbent Gen Bikram Singh when he retires on July 31.
The Ministry of Defence, in a recent affidavit filed in the apex court registry, has said, “The alleged lapses observed by the then COAS, as reflected in show cause notice, were premeditated and issued in utter disregard to the legal provisions governing the court of inquiry, principles of natural justice….The lapses were vague, based on presumptions and legally and factually not maintainable.” (PTI)

LONDON, June 19:
Waste coffee grinds could be turned into a sustainable fuel to power vehicles, scientists have found.
Oil can be extracted from coffee grounds by soaking them in an organic solvent, before being chemically transformed into biodiesel via a process called ‘transesterification’, according to researchers from the Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies at University of Bath.
As part of the study, the researchers made biofuel from ground coffee produced in 20 different geographic regions, including caffeinated and decaffeinated forms, as well as Robusta and Arabica varieties.
“Around 8 million tonnes of coffee are produced globally each year and ground waste coffee contains up to 20 per cent oil per unit weight,” said Dr Chris Chuck, Whorrod Research Fellow from the Department of Chemical Engineering.
“This oil also has similar properties to current feedstocks used to make biofuels. But, while those are cultivated specifically to produce fuel, spent coffee grounds are waste. Using these, there’s a real potential to produce a truly sustainable second-generation biofuel,” Chuck said.
The research found that there was a reasonably standard composition and little variation in the relevant physical properties of the fuels, irrespective of the source. (PTI)

KOCHI, June 19:
Vice Admiral Surinder Pal Singh Cheema today assumed charge of the Southern Naval Command as its Commander-in-chief.
Prior to assuming charge, he laid wreath at the war memorial and took salute at the ceremonial parade at INS Garuda.
The Admiral, who was commissioned into the Indian Navy on January 1, 1977, is a graduate of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasala, Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and College of Naval Warfare, Mumbai.
A specialist in missile and gunnery, he spent majority of his time on afloat and operational appointments. He has had the distinction of being the Commanding Officer of five frontline ships – the missile boat INS Nishank, Mauritian Coast Guard OPV Vigilant, the missile corvette INS Khanjar, the stealth frigate INS Trishul and the prestigious Aircraft carrier INS Viraat.
His appointments ashore include the Commandant of the Naval Academy and Commanding Officer INS Mandovi. He also has the unique distinction of winning both the Lentaigne (Best Dissertation) and Scudder Medals (First in overall order of merit) while undergoing course at DSSC.
The new appointment is a unique distinction being his third Command as a Commander-in-Chief since being promoted to C-in-C grade on August 31, 2012, a Naval press release said.
Prior to this, he has been the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee as also the Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Forces Command – a Tri-Services Command responsible for all nuclear forces of the country. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, June 19:
Congress workers here were in a joyous mood as they celebrated the birthday of party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, who turned 44 today.
Although Rahul is not in Delhi and travelling abroad, his absence did not deter party supporters from marking their leader’s birthday with fanfare.
Led by Jagdish Sharma, party supporters cut a birthday cake weighing 44-kg while hundreds of them gathered between Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s official residence at 10, Janpath, and the AICC headquarters on 24, Akbar Road, amidst the beating of drums and bursting of crackers.
Huge cut-outs of the Congress Vice President were displayed on vehicles and party workers also distributed saris among poor women on the occasion.
This was the first celebration by Congress workers outside the party office after the crushing defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, in which it recorded its worst-ever tally of 44 seats.
The birthday celebrations this time are being held at a time when his stock seems to have fallen within the party with his style of functioning having come under attack from a number of senior leaders. Many have obliquely attacked his style of functioning by targeting his advisers.
Sharma, who had soon after Lok Sabha polls demanded that Priyanka Gandhi should be brought in to play a bigger role in the party side by side with Rahul to revive its fortunes, today demanded that leaders like Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar and MS Bitta should be honourably rehabilitated in the party so that it may grow.
Meanwhile, Youth Congress chief Rajiv Satav wished the Congress Vice President on Twitter while some other supporters and party leaders greeted him over the phone.
A year before, when Rahul’s 43rd birthday was being celebrated, there had been a growing demand within the party for him to assume a larger role. To be precise, the call was for the party to declare him as its prime ministerial nominee for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Only six months before that, in January 2013, he had become the party Vice President. (PTI)