Kota: Newly appointed Rajasthan BJP chief C P Joshi on Monday attacked Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, alleging that the failure of his government to put up a strong legal team led to the acquittal of the accused in the 2008 Jaipur serial blasts case.
Joshi asked what was the reason and under “whose pressure he did not deploy even a single legal counsel” in the case.
On Wednesday, the Rajasthan High Court acquitted four accused who were convicted by a special court in 2019 for the serial blasts on May 13, 2008 in Jaipur that left 71 people dead and 185 injured.
Later, Chief Minister Gehlot had said the government would file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in this matter in the Supreme Court.
Joshi said the terrorists had at least 18 lawyers defending them “meanwhile, his AAG was not present there? Whose pressure was it”.
“When he had to save his government”, Gehlot deployed top lawyers, said Joshi who was on his maiden visit to Kota, a saffron bastion in Hadouti region, after assuming charge as the state BJP chief.
“Who were those he (CM Ashok Gehlot) wanted to please by not calling any counsel in the serial blasts case,” Joshi said.
Replying to queries, the BJP leader said Gehlot had been speaking against the Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh (RSS) to save his government and to please his party leaders in Delhi.
“Ashok Gehlot called doctors, who are revered by all, ‘gaddar’ (traitors). However, he had even called his own party colleague Sachin Pilot a ‘gaddar’,” Joshi said.
Gehlot also “supported demand for Khalistan”, he alleged.
During his recent visit to Kota, Gehot had alleged that 4-5 doctors who had links with RSS were behind the doctors’ stir against the Right To Heath Bill and had called them traitors.
Joshi was given a rousing welcome at several places by party workers. There was some commotion as three workers slipped from a crowded stage at the Kunhari petrol pump in the city but no major injury was reported.
Referring to Congress-in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa’s remark, Joshi said, “Those who gave a call to kill(Prime Minister) Modi have died and crores of people of the country are standing with him (Modi) as his strength.’
Joshi also refuted claims of factional fighting in the state BJP.
“Entire Rajasthan and country are now a bastion of the BJP and the lotus is blooming in almost every state,” he said.
At a meeting in Kota, Joshi called upon the party workers to keep up their enthusiasm till the state election later this year to dislodge the Congress government.
The people of the state would not forgive the state government that restricted several religious processions, Joshi said.
Meanwhile, former BJP state president Arun Chaturvedi said the state government should stop the pretense of providing justice to the victims and instead file a strong appeal in the Supreme Court in the Jaipur blasts case.
The government is doing politics of appeasement, he alleged.
The letter was sent a day after Bragg’s office acknowledged that they had issued the first-ever indictment of a former president. Officials have also indicated they are working with Trump’s lawyers to negotiate his surrender. Though the timing of both his surrender and arraignment hasn’t been finalized, they are tentatively planned for Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.
It’s uncharted territory for the legal system, the government and the country, which has never seen the indictment and prosecution of a former president. Though the precise evidence against Trump remains unknown, the case appears centered on hush money payments to a porn actress, Stormy Daniels, in 2016 to silence her allegations of a sexual relationship during Trump’s first presidential bid.
The indictment, which remains under seal, prompted a torrent of attacks from Trump’s allies, many of whom denounced it as a political witch hunt. While Trump himself has called for protests in the streets — and on Friday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) echoed that call — most House Republicans have instead vowed to train a microscope on the Democratic district attorney, requesting information and documents about the probe.
Bragg’s office used the letter to the lawmakers, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO, to respond to those allegations of political bias.
“Like any other defendant, Mr. Trump is entitled to challenge these charges in court and avail himself of all processes and protections that New York State’s robust criminal procedure affords. What neither Mr. Trump nor Congress may do is interfere with the ordinary course of proceedings in New York State,” the letter reads.
State judge Juan Merchan is expected to preside over the arraignment and may ultimately be called upon to preside over the criminal proceedings, according to a person familiar with the process.
Bragg’s office also used the letter to plead with Capitol Hill Republicans to encourage calm, accusing them of engaging in “unlawful political interference” in the same breath.
“We urge you to refrain from these inflammatory accusations, withdraw your demand for information, and let the criminal justice process proceed without unlawful political interference,” Dubeck wrote in the letter to Judiciary, Oversight and Administration Chairs Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), James Comer (R-Ky.) and Bryan Steil (R-Wis.).
“As Committee Chairmen, you could use the stature of your office to denounce these attacks and urge respect for the fairness of our justice system and for the work of the impartial grand jury,” she continued. “Instead, you and many of your colleagues have chosen to collaborate with Mr. Trump’s efforts to vilify and denigrate the integrity of elected state prosecutors and trial judges and made unfounded allegations that the Office’s investigation, conducted via an independent grand jury of average citizens serving New York State, is politically motivated.”
Trump dialed up his rhetoric Friday, taking aim this time at Merchan, the judge he anticipates would be presiding over his case.
“The Judge ‘assigned’ to my Witch Hunt Case … HATES ME,” Trump posted on social media, complaining about Merchan’s handling of the separate proceedings brought by the district attorney’s office against the Trump Organization, which Trump said Merchan treated “viciously.”
Bragg’s office suggested that the House GOP inquiries appeared to be functioning more as interference for Trump than as legitimate congressional oversight, a concern Dubeck said was “heightened” by some of the committee members’ own statements about their goals.
She cited Greene’s statement that “Republicans in Congress MUST subpoena these communists and END this!” as well as Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s (R-Fla.) call to scrutinize lawmakers who are “being silent on what is currently happening to Trump.”
From a legal standpoint, individual lawmakers’ comments and motives aren’t typically given weight when a congressional committee takes actions. Trump routinely pointed to the comments of individual committee members’ plans to make use of his tax returns in his failed efforts to block Congress’ effort to obtain them.
Greene called for Trump supporters to gather Tuesday in New York, indicating she would be there herself. “We MUST protest the unconstitutional WITCH HUNT!” she tweeted. Her tweet was a departure from her reaction a day after Trump first suggested that he could be arrested, when she told reporters on the sidelines of the House GOP retreat that she would not be going to New York.
As of Friday, though, there were no indications of significant street protests or organized activities centered on the courthouse. Bragg arrived at around 7:30 a.m., amid signs of significantly heightened security, with little other movement aside from a large media presence.
In her letter, Dubeck also provided some details about the federal funding Bragg’s office has used in connection with Trump-related matters — money that House Republicans have suggested could now be under threat because of the indictment. Additionally, House Republicans received a second document on Friday detailing federal grant money the office has obtained.
None of that federal grant funding, she noted, has been used in the current investigation. She said the office has spent approximately $5,000 of federal funds — funds that the district attorney’s office helped recover during forfeiture actions — on expenses related to the investigation of Trump or the Trump organization.
“These expenses were incurred between October 2019 and August 2021,” Dubeck noted, adding that most were used to support Bragg’s predecessor’s successful defense of its probe of the Trump organization before the Supreme Court.
A spokesperson for Jordan didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter from Bragg’s office. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y) said at an event on Friday that Republicans should “cease their intervention in an ongoing prosecution in a local prosecutor’s office.”
But House Republicans have already started laying some groundwork for a potential subpoena of the Manhattan district attorney, a move they haven’t publicly ruled out. They also appeared to make the case in their second letter to Bragg that they believe a subpoena would survive a legal challenge.
Comer, who noted that he hasn’t spoken with Trump recently, called the indictment a “political stunt” but said he needed more information before Republicans decided where to go next.
“I think before the next step we’ll have to see what, in fact, these charges were and then go from there,” Comer said in an interview on Friday.
Dubeck, in her letter, urged them to reach a “negotiated resolution … before taking the unprecedented and unconstitutional step of serving a subpoena on a district attorney for information related to an ongoing state criminal prosecution.”
Wesley Parnell contributed to this story.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
New Delhi: The Supreme Court directed the Centre on Wednesday to file a report on alleged attacks on Christian institutions and priests across the country as well as on the implementation of its earlier guidelines to curb hate crimes.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala directed the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to collate a report on the state’s compliance with the court’s guidelines and file the same before it.
The court passed the directions after the petitioner’s counsel, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, said nodal officers have been notified in every district but they are not registering cases, even though hate speeches have been delivered during rallies in Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and such news appear regularly on television and in newspapers.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati opposed the submission made by Gonsalves, saying it is “easy to make sweeping statements”.
The CJI then said, “Let the MHA file a reply…. We can keep this after two weeks.”
In 2018, the apex court issued a slew of guidelines for the Centre and states for dealing with hate crimes. These included fast-track trials, compensation to the victims, deterrent punishment and disciplinary action against lax law-enforcing officials. The court said offences such as hate crimes, cow vigilantism and lynching should be nipped in the bud.
The states shall designate a senior police officer not below the rank of superintendent of police as the nodal officer for the implementation of the guidelines in each district, the court had said, adding that these officers will set up a task force, to be assisted by a DSP-rank officer, for taking measures to prevent incidents of mob violence and lynching.
The state governments shall immediately identify the districts, sub-divisions and villages where instances of lynching and mob violence have been reported in the recent past, the court had said.
Former Karnataka chief minister and senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa’s house has been attacked by an angry mob in Shivamogga district on Monday.
According to reports, a large number of protestors belonging to the Banjara community are not happy with the state government’s recent decision to provide internal reservations in Schedule Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) community.
The decision was made on March 24 where a 6% internal quota for SC (Left), 5.5% for SC (Right), 4.5% for SC (touchable that includes the Banjara community) and 1% for others was recommended.
Many in the Banjara community feel that the decision would take away their SC status and hence demanded that the state government withdraw the decision with immediate effect.
Trump went on to do a dramatic re-enactment of DeSantis pleading for his endorsement in the 2018 Florida governor’s race. The former president said that after he grudgingly backed DeSantis, the candidate “became like a rocket ship” and prevailed in the primary and general election — and argued that had he not backed him, DeSantis would have never won.
The audience seemed game to stand for hours under the central Texas sun and listen to Trump’s litany of complaints. They and the event itself offered a vivid illustration of the fault lines that have quickly opened up in the very early GOP primary: in which fealty to Trump appears to be one of the main litmus tests for those running.
Indeed, rallygoers here in Waco expressed disappointment that DeSantis had not gone further in his defense of Trump as he stares down a possible indictment from the Manhattan district attorney.
Louise Negry from Lometa, Tex., said DeSantis “might be a traitor.”
Her friend, Renee Alaniz, agreed, referencing the Florida governor’s implicit mocking of Trump for being involved in an alleged hush money payment to a porn star (which has been the central issue in his potential indictment).
“His statement about the possible Trump arrest was a little questionable — quite a bit questionable. His choice to be so lax about it and not support Trump in any way,” Alaniz said.
Chris Blunt, who wore a t-shirt with an image of the Trump NFT he purchased last year, called DeSantis a “Trump clone,” and said the governor should be “dropping the Covid stuff and moving past it.”
“Trump likes to attack the person and not their character, but DeSantis is attacking Trump’s character and credibility,” Blunt said. “He needs to stop playing games because Trump is going to trounce you.”
DeSantis was not the lone object of scorn in Waco on Saturday night. Trump also railed against Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, who is investigating the $130,000 hush money payments to adult entertainer Stormy Daniels on Trump’s behalf. The jury in Manhattan had appeared to be wrapping up with the case and a decision on charges against Trump was widely expected to come last week. Now it does not appear any decision will come until at least early next week.
Trump framed the investigations into him and the “weaponization of our justice system” as “the central issue of our time.” And he claimed the “biggest threat” to the U.S. isn’t China or Russia but “high level politicians that work in the U.S. government like McConnell, Pelosi, Schumer and Biden.”
“You will be vindicated and proud the thugs and criminals who are corrupting our justice system will be defeated, discredited and totally disgraced,” Trump said.
Trump’s first 2024 presidential campaign rally came at a pivotal time. While Bragg closes in on a likely indictment — which would be a first for a sitting or former president — Trump is also facing legal scrutiny over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election as well as his handling of classified White House documents.
Trump, on Saturday, appeared to bet that he could turn the investigations into a political asset, casting himself once more as a victim of a federal government that was aligned against him.
“Our opponents have done everything they can to crush our spirit and to break our will. But they failed. They’ve only made us stronger,” he said.
The campaign and city of Waco had expected at least 15,000 people to attend Saturday’s rally. Wearing MAGA hats and Trump t-shirts, some waved official campaign signs saying “WITCH HUNT” and the entire crowd stood, hand to heart along with Trump, as a rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” sung by the “J6 Choir” played, set to a video of protesters storming the U.S. Capitol.
Trump ticked through a list of campaign promises that included mandating term limits, keeping “men out of women’s sports” and ending “the invasion at the Southern border.” And he once again vowed, without articulating how, that he would end the war in Ukraine and prevent “World War 3.”
But the focus wasn’t primarily on the issues facing America, it was on the many issues facing him.
The Trump campaign rolled out its Texas leadership team and endorsements for 2024 that included Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and twelve members of Congress, including Reps. Pete Sessions, the former NRCC chairman, and Roger Williams, chairman of the small business committee. Rep. Ronny Jackson — Trump’s former White House physician turned U.S. congressman from Texas — helped Trump’s campaign nail down endorsements and Trump personally called each, according to a campaign adviser.
Notably, Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz weren’t included on the list, although the adviser said they expect more endorsements and Abbott and Cruz have both mulled 2024 runs of their own.
Capitol Hill Trump allies like Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) warmed up the crowds with their own rally cries.
Greene told the crowd to stop letting people from “blue states” move into Texas, and — in what has been a major pivot for the GOP — told people to embrace ballot harvesting.
“We need to beat them at their own game and start harvesting ballots,” Greene said. “Except they’ll only come from legal registered voters who are U.S. citizens.”
Trump seemed pleased with Greene’s speech in particular, and on stage encouraged her to run for Senate.
Outside the venue, rallygoers wandered through a makeshift marketplace of Trump themed souvenirs that ranged from Trump and Melania Trump lifesize cutouts, MAGA bikinis and t-shirts with crude messages against President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. One vendor said he was close to selling out a t-shirt that read, “I was there, where were you? God, Guns, Trump, in Waco, Texas.”
Meridith McGraw reported from Waco, Texas; Alex Isenstadt reported from Washington, D.C.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Greater Noida: A one-and-a-half-year-old girl was attacked by a stray dog while she was playing outside her home in the Beta 1 area.
The child, luckily, was rescued by her grand-father who sustained injuries to his knees while trying to save his grand-daughter who was being dragged by the stray dog.
The incident has been captured on a CCTV camera.
The girl’s father, Ajay Pratap Chauhan, said the incident took place at around 4.30 p.m. on Thursday.
The girl’s grand-father, Chandra Naresh Singh, had served in the Indian Army, and fought in the Kargil War.
Local residents claimed this was not the first such incident to have taken place in the area.
Saying that they feel hassled over the stray dog menace, most have submitted that the authorities were not taking appropriate measures on sterilisation of the dogs, or shifting them to the zones marked for street dogs.
Patna: Manish Kashyap, a YouTuber wanted by the Bihar Police for allegedly sharing fake videos of “attacks on migrant workers in Tamil Nadu”, surrendered before the law enforcers in West Champaran district on Saturday, a statement said.
The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police has registered three cases against Kashyap and others on the charges of “indulging in spreading fake videos of migrants being killed and beaten up in Tamil Nadu on social media”.
The EOU has also frozen four bank accounts belonging to Kashyap.
“Kashyap, wanted by Bihar Police and Tamil Nadu Police in fake news matter of labourers issue in the southern state, surrendered before the police on Saturday fearing arrest and attachment of his belongings,” a statement issued by the EOU said.
“Six teams constituted by the EOU along with Patna and Champaran Police were continuously conducting raids on his locations at various places and hideouts since yesterday (Friday). He surrendered at Jagdishpur police station of Bettiah on Saturday fearing arrest and other legal action,” it added.
The EOU had on March 6 registered its first FIR in connection with the case and booked four persons, including Kashyap.
EOU sleuths have already also arrested Aman Kumar from Jamui in connection with its investigation into the first FIR. Those named in that FIR included Aman Kumar, Rakesh Tiwary, Yuvraj Singh Rajput and Manish Kashyap.
J S Gangwar, Additional Director General of Bihar Police (Headquarters), had told reporters last week that the EOU probe has found that 30 fake videos of migrants getting beaten up and killed in Tamil Nadu were widely shared on social media, spreading panic among the labourers and forcing them to flee the southern state.
The Tamil Nadu Police has also registered 13 cases to probe the matter.
Earlier, the Bihar government had also sent a four-member team of top officials to Tamil Nadu to coordinate with officers who were investigating the matter in the southern state.
New Delhi: Electric vehicle charging stations are also susceptible to cyber attacks and cyber security incidents like any other technological application, Parliament was informed on Thursday.
In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), which is mandated to track and monitor cyber security incidents in India, received reports of vulnerabilities in products and applications related to electric vehicle charging stations.
“The government is fully cognizant and aware of various cyber security threats and is actively taking steps to combat the issue of hacking,” Gadkari said.
He said as per the information reported to and tracked by CERT-In, the number of cyber security incidents during 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 is 2,08,456; 3,94,499; 11,58,208; 14,02,809 and 13,91,457, respectively.
Replying to a separate query, the road transport and highways minister said Rs 147 lakh was disbursed as compensation to victims of hit-and-run cases in current fiscal year till February.
The ministry has notified the Compensation to Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme, 2022.
It provides for increased compensation to victims of hit-and-run accidents, Rs 50,000 (in case of grievous injury) and Rs 2,00,000 (in case of death) including detailed procedure for availing this compensation.
Replying to another question, Gadkari said the ministry has set a higher target of 12,200 km for construction of National Highways during current financial year as compared to previous three financial years.
“The target of construction of NHs for financial year 2023-24 has not yet been finalized,” he added.
The minister informed that there are 19 projects costing Rs 21,864 crore which are delayed due to delays in land acquisition.
Hyderabad: 16 people, including eight children in Vinayak Nagar of Balanagar, were attacked by a street dog on Saturday evening.
Four children that included a three-year-old girl reportedly suffered serious injuries when the dog attacked them while they walking along the roadside.
Following the incident, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) teams rushed to the area and caught the dog after nearly two hours of struggle.
Telangana BJP national general secretary and the state in-charge, Tarun Chugh
Hyderabad: BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh on Sunday said ‘Aparadhis’ behave like ‘Satyagrahis’, taking an indirect dig to BRS MLC K Kavitha’s hunger strike regarding the women’s reservation bill on Friday.
In a statement, Chug said that Kavitha should cooperate with the Enforcement Directorate.
“It is wiser for Kavita to face the ED like any other accused and answer the questions. I appeal to the chief minister of Telangana K Chandrashekar Rao to refrain from orchestrating cheap polemics from the portals of Pragati Bhavan,” Chug said in a statement released on Sunday.
K Kavitha has been named as one of the accused in the Delhi liquor policy scam. She was questioned by the ED for nearly nine hours on Saturday in the national capital.
Chug said that the BRS leaders trooped into New Delhi as though the heavens had fallen. “Manish Sisodia holds rallies before going to ED, and Kavita is flanked by its top leaders,” he added.
Launching an attack on CM KCR and his family. Chug said that they looted Telangana during the last nine years. “As though that loot is not enough, the money-thirsty family descended on New Delhi to join the loot in connivance with Aam Aadmi Party leaders.”
