NEW DELHI, Mar 6: Rahul Gandhi, who was the face of Congress campaign in Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, today owned responsibility for the party’s dismal performance which he termed as a “very good lesson” for him.
Appearing before the media as the election results were coming in, Gandhi said he took in his stride the poll outcome and expected victories as well as defeats in his efforts to improve the political system of the country.
“I own the responsibility for this…This is one of my defeats and I take it in my stride,” said the young Congress General Secretary who extensively toured Uttar Pradesh and addressed over 200 rallies during the month-long campaigning.
Gandhi said he was trying to “improve the political system” of the country and his work would continue irrespective of today’s electoral result.
“I expect to have victories along the way and I expect to have defeats…I take it in my stride. I think, it is a very good lesson for me,” he said, adding “I think it will make me think in detailed ways which I like to do.”
“I led the campaign, I led from the front and so it is my responsibility. We fought collectively, we fought well, but results have not been good,” Gandhi said.
He said the party had improved performance overall since 2007 but there was need to go further.
Noting that Congress had not done well in the whole of Uttar Pradesh, he said he was attempting to ressurrect the party in the state so that “we win there one day”.
On the reasons for Congress’ poor performance, the Congress leader said the fundamentals of Congress in Uttar Pradesh were weak and needed to be corrected.
“Organisationally we are not where we should be in UP. So that is where our lot of work is going to be,” he said.
Secondly, he said the mood generally was in favour of Samajwadi Party which is “apparent”.
He noted that he had told people that he would be seen on the roads and in villages. “I will continue that…I view my work as working for the people. I will do my work.” (PTI)
I own responsibility: Rahul
UP poll results below expectations for BJP: Gadkari
UP poll results below expectations for BJP: Gadkari
NEW DELHI, Mar 6: BJP today said the results of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections fell below its expectations even as the party geared itself to form governments in three other states.
“We are in a position to form governments in the three states of Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand…I am confident that this result will give strength to the BJP,” party president Nitin Gadkari told reporters here.
On the party’s failure in Uttar Pradesh, Gadkari said there was polarisation of votes between the SP and the BSP.
“BJP did not get the support we expected,” he said, adding that the people of Uttar Pradesh wanted to change the BSP government and so supported the Samajwadi Party.
He congratulated Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for the historic victory, as a government has been retained for the first time in the history of the state.
“We have created history in Punjab where for the first time the government has been retained,” Gadkari said while lauding Badal for the performance of the SAD-BJP combine.
He said the BJP was forming government in Goa too, and expressed confidence that the party would return to power in Uttarakhand.
“It’s a big victory for us in Goa. BJP was being blamed for being against the minorities. This time Catholic Christians also voted us.”
Refraining to make a comment on the leadership of the Congress campaign in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP chief said the results have given a “big shock” to the Congress.
“I do not want to make any comment on the Congress leadership but Congress party had made the elections a prestige issue for Rahul Gandhi. The results have come as a big shock for the party,” Gadkari said.
Referring to Congress defeat in Rae Bareli and Amethi, considered as tradition Congress strongholds, he said, “The performance of the Congress shows that the people in the state have voted against the party and it serves as an alarm for them.”
Lauding the “efficient” role played by the Election Commission in holding the elections, Gadkari said his party will analyse the results of of the five states especially of UP and try to address the shortcomings before gearing up for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. (PTI)
Congress performance in assembly polls ‘dismal’: Swaraj
NEW DELHI, Mar 6: Terming the “dismal performance” of Congress in the assembly polls as the “second consecutive defeat” of Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj today said Congress had made the elections a prestige issue.
“Congress and the media had created a big hype about Rahul Gandhi. Congress had made it a prestige issue. These results show that this is the second consecutive defeat for Rahul,” she told.
She said the mandate in the elections is against “corruption, price rise and communal politics” of Congress.
Asked about the BJP’s performance in the elections, she said the results were “not unexpected for us in Punjab and Uttarakhand, but we could not do well in UP as it has been a mixed bag for us. We could have done better in UP.”
The BJP leader reasoned that in UP there was a four- cornered contest and this has gone against her party.
“Wherever there is a three or four cornered contest, the voter rejects a party and has to choose one as an alternative. The voter in UP has decided to defeat BSP but it selected SP as its choice. That is why SP has crossed 190 seats,” she said.
Swaraj maintained that there is a need for serious introspection about why the BJP could not do well in UP and it will be discussed within the party.
The BJP Parliamentary Board is meeting this evening to discuss the poll outcome in all the five states. (PTI)
CBI arrests two lawyers and ex-Cong MLC on corruption charges
MUMBAI, Mar 6: The CBI today claimed to have unearthed a conspiracy of dilution of charges against the accused in the muti-crore Adarsh housing scam and arrested its own counsel and a former Congress MLC, who is already an accused in the housing case.
CBI stumbled upon the case with the arrest of an Income Tax lawyer J K Jagiasi who allegedly asked an Air India official, accused in one case, to pay a bribe of Rs 50 lakh for dilution of case, official sources said.
The Air India official approached the CBI and a trap was laid after which he was arrested on February 20. During his questioning, the sleuths were surprised to know that he had been approaching other accused, including former Congress MLC K L Gadwani, an accused in the multi-crore Adarsh scam, the sources said.
After a thorough probe, the CBI alleged in its remand note in the court that Jagiasi entered into a criminal conspiracy with Special public prosecutor Mandar Goswami, representing the agency in Bombay High Court on Adarsh case, for diluting the case.
According to the remand note, Jagiasi had approached Gidwani and his son Kailash and asked them to cough up Rs 1.25 crore for diluting the case against them.
The father-son duo paid Rs 1.25 crore out of which he had paid Rs 25 lakh to Goswami, the CBI remand note alleged.
Jagiasi was arrested in this case again last night and the CBI today arrested Gidwani and his son as well as its own counsel.
The CBI has booked all of them under prevention of corruption act. (PTI)
Congress stages hattrick in Manipur
IMPHAL, Mar 6: The Congress romped back to power in Manipur today for the third consecutive time with a clear majority, helped by a fragmented opposition.
In the poll results announced today for five states, Manipur came as the only solace for the Congress which clinched 36 of 52 seats in the 60-member house and was leading in five of the remaining eight seats.
Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh won from Thoubal and his wife O Landhoni Devi from Khangabok.
The Trinamool Congress, part of an 11-party Peoples Democratic Alliance which came into being very recently, sprang a surprise winning seven of the 48 seats it contested. It had a sole member in the outgoing House.
Other partners of the alliance together with the Trinamool Congress were able to secure only 16 seats.
The Manipur State Congress party won four, the Naga Peoples Front three and NCP and LJP won a seat each.
The BJP which contested 19 seats drew a blank.
The CPI, which was a former coalition partner of the Congress in the erstwhile Secular Democratic Front failed to win a single seat.
CPI candidate and Agriculture minister, Ph Parijat Singh, who had won from Lamlai four times was defeated by the Congress’ K Biren Singh. The CPI had contested 24 seats.
Senior Congress leader and Forest minister Th Debendra Singh won from Jiribam.
Social Welfare minister N Loren won the Nambol seat defeating former union sports minister Th Chaoba Singh of the Manipur Peoples Party.
Among two Congress ministers who lost were Minority minister Alauddin Khan from Keirao and Education minister D D Thaisi in Karong. (PTI)
No legal immunity for govt servant in criminal cases: SC
NEW DELHI, Mar 6: A public servant facing charges of corruption, cheating and other criminal cases in the discharge of his or her duties does not enjoy any legal immunity as no prior sanction is required for prosecuting such officials, the Supreme Court has ruled.
A bench of justices R M Lodha and H L Gokhale set aside the concurrent findings of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and a sessions court which had quashed the prosecution and summons issued to a Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Gurgaon.
Citing the apex court ruling in the Prakash Singh Badal (2007) case, the bench said, “The offence of cheating under Section 420 or for that matter offences relateable to Sections 467, 468, 471 and 120-B can by no stretch of imagination by their very nature be regarded as having been committed by any public servant while acting or purporting to act in discharge of official duty.”
While Section 420 relates to cheating, sections 467, 468, 471 pertains to forgery and 120-B applies in cases of criminal conspiracy.
In the present case the official was accused by Omkar, a transporter, of collecting Rs two lakh money from him after impounding his three vehicles and refusing to issue any receipt.
Based on Dhankar’s complaint, judicial magistrate, Gurgaon, on June 2, 2001 issued him summons to face trial under Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 161 (illegal gratification by a public servant) IPC.
On a criminal revision appeal filed by the official, the additional sessions judge quashed the summons and a single judge of the high court affirmed the order while dismissing Dhankar’s appeal.
Aggrieved, he filed the special leave petition in the apex court.
Allowing the appeal the bench citing its earlier ruling said in such criminal cases the official status “only provides an opportunity for commission of the offence”.
The apex court said section 197 CrPC which provides certain immunity for public servants cannot be invoked under all circumstances as it is subject to certain conditions.
“In view of the above legal position, the additional sessions judge and the high court were not right in holding that for prosecuting the respondent No 2 (official) for the offences for which the summoning order has been issued, the sanction of the competent authority under Section 197 CrPC is required.
“The view of the additional sessions judge and the high court is bad in law being contrary to the law laid down by this court in Prakash Singh Badal case (supra),” the apex court said. (PTI)
Michael Jackson files allegedly stolen by hackers
LONDON, Mar 6:A large number of music files of the late ‘king of pop’ Michael Jackson were allegedly stolen from record company Sony Music by computer hackers, sources familiar with the case said yesterday. Sony Music, a unit of Sony Corps, signed a deal with Jackson’s estate in 2010, the year after the ‘Thriller’ singer’s death, to release 10 albums covering previously unreleased material and his back catalogue. (agencies)
Racial divide runs deep in US schools, study finds
UNDATED, Mar 6: Black and Latino students across the United States are far more likely to be suspended than white students – and far less likely to have access to rigorous college-prep courses, according to a sweeping study released
today by the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.
The trove of data, collected from 72,000 schools serving 85 percent of the nation’s students, revealed tremendous disparities in the public school experiences of minority and white students.
Some of the most striking findings involved discipline: one in five African-American boys – and one in 10 African-American girls – was suspended from school during the study period, the 2009-10 school year.
Overall, African-American students are 3-1/2 times more likely to be suspended or expelled than their white peers. And 70 percent of students arrested or referred to law enforcement for disciplinary infractions are black or Latino, the study found. Other researchers have found that students who are repeatedly punished by being barred from campus are far more likely to drop out.
Academic opportunities also vary widely by race. Among high schools that serve predominately Latino and African-American students, just 29 per cent offer a calculus class and only 40 percent offer physics. In some school districts, those numbers are even more glaring. In New York City, for instance, just 10 percent of the high schools with the highest black and Latino enrollment offer Algebra II.
US Education Secretary Arne Duncan was careful to say that his department is ‘not alleging overt discrimination in some or all of these cases.’
(agencies)
Now, an accurate way to measure N2O!
WASHINGTON, Mar 6: Scientists claim to have developed a new tool to accurately measure nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas emitted during agricultural production.
An international team, led by Queensland University of Technology, says that the new state-of-the-art statistical approach would greatly improve estimates of global nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions by up to 65 per cent.
Prof Richard Conant, who led the team, said: “Nitrous oxide contributes substantially to total global greenhouse gas emissions and in some countries it’s a big part of total emissions.
“We’re providing a tool that has significantly improved the accuracy of measuring N2O. Our hope is that this information will enable developing countries that lack detailed measurements to keep better track of N2O emissions.”
Prof Conant said agriculture was responsible for about 20 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions globally, mostly from nitrous oxide from fertilisers, and methane generated by livestock. “CO2 still has the biggest effect on climate change. Nitrous oxide is more potent but there isn’t as much of it,” he said in a university release.
Prof Conant said the researchers, who analysed the proportion of fertiliser lost as nitrous oxide, used ground- breaking data on N2O emissions and found that the United States, Europe, East Asia and Japan accounted for nearly 50 per cent of global N2O emissions while Africa and Russia contributed 13 per cent of global N2O emissions.
The scientists said their research would help developing countries become more efficient in agriculture and increase food security, the ‘Global Change Biology’ journal reported.
“In agriculture, producers generally have been trying to increase yields and productivity, but we haven’t thought as much about externalities in terms of nitrogen pollution and greenhouse gases,” Prof Conant said. (PTI)
US has authority to kill American threats abroad: Holder
WASHINGTON, Mar 6: Asserting that the US faced tough threats from the American recruits of al Qaeda, a top Obama Administration has said the government has “clear authority” to kill its citizens abroad who are believed to be holding a terrorist threat.
“Given the nature of how terrorists act and where they tend to hide, it may not always be feasible to capture a United States citizen terrorist who presents an imminent threat of violent attack,” US Attorney General Eric Holder, said.
“In that case, our government has the clear authority to defend the United States with lethal force,” Holder said in his remarks at the Northwestern University School of Law, in Chicago.
Holder said the argument by some that the US President is required to get permission from a federal court before taking action against a US citizen who is a senior operational leader of al Qaeda or associated forces is not accurate.
“Due process” and “judicial process” are not one and the same, particularly when it comes to national security, he said, adding that the Constitution guarantees due process, not judicial process.
The Attorney General said the unfortunate reality is that US will likely continue to face terrorist threats that at times originate with its own citizens.
“When such individuals take up arms against this country—and join al Qaeda in plotting attacks designed to kill their fellow Americans—there may be only one realistic and appropriate response. We must take steps to stop them—in full accordance with the Constitution.
“In this hour of danger, we simply cannot afford to wait until deadly plans are carried out and we will not,” he said.
Holder said any such use of lethal force by the US will comply with the four fundamental war principles governing the use of force—the principle of necessity that requires that the target have definite military value, the principle of distinction that requires that only lawful targets may be targeted intentionally, the principle of proportionality of use of force and the principle of humanity that requires use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering.
“These principles do not forbid the use of stealth or technologically advanced weapons. In fact, the use of advanced weapons may help to ensure that the best intelligence is available for planning and carrying out operations, and that the risk of civilian casualties can be minimised or avoided altogether,” Holder said. (PTI)