Jammu, May 20 (PTI) Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his foreign visits, Congress today asked him to spell out how the country has benefitted from his tours as it questioned the decision to extend USD 1 billion to Mongolia.

Sarcastically describing Modi as “Maharaj” (King), Congress spokesman Raj Babbar said he “should come out with a white paper about the benefits and good things that have happened to India with regard to his foreign trips starting from Australia, Canada, Germany, China and Mongolia and Seoul now.”

Accusing the Prime Minister of practising “self-centred politics”, he said, “We should know how India has been benefitted from the foreign trips of the Prime Minister.

People of the country want to know that.”

Babbar said Modi is behaving virtually like a King and delivering sermons as if everything has happened in India because of him.

Without taking the name of Modi, he said, “my way or highway used to be the theory in the West where Mafias used to shoot and throw those persons on highway who did not agree with them.”

He is deciding who among the Ministers will speak on which issues despite being the Ministers of Particularly department.

Referring to comments of ruling NDA ally Shiv Sena that while Modi has given funds to Mongolia, farmers are starving in Maharashtra, Babbar said, “the PM has been given right kind of advice by the coalition partner.”

The Congress spokesman said, “he (PM) has given funds to Mongolia from the earning of the state exchequer of the UPA period. This government has hardly be able to generate resources till now”.

He added that “granting funds to Mongolia is a good thing.

But at the same time, the amount he has given to Mongolia is estimated at Rs 22,500 to Rs 30,000 per citizen. But in Maharashtra a farmer is forced to commit suicide for he fails to repay an amount of Rs 10,000 loan.

New Delhi, May 20 (PTI) In what is claimed to be the first such case in the world, Indian surgeons have removed a kidney tumour weighing 5.018 kg from a patient suffering from kidney cancer along with dissection of the lungs.

“The patient’s right kidney had bloated 35 times the normal size making it the world’s biggest ever kidney tumour on record as per the medical literature. The previous record was removal of a 2.5kg (5.5lb) tumour by doctors at Sir Gangaram hospital,” said Dr M D Ray, consultant at department of surgical oncology, AIIMS.

The patient, 66-year-old K L Das, a resident of Darbhanga who has been living in Delhi for last 25 years, had approached doctors at AIIMS with a huge mass in the right side of the abdomen with discomfort and heaviness.

“The mass was rapidly progressing for the last two and three months and the cancer had spread to the lungs. Surgery was the only option left before it spread to other parts of the body,” said Ray.

So, after a per-anesthetic check up, Das was operated on May 14 through a long incision of almost 25 cm from chest to abdomen, a procedure which is called thoracoabdominal incision in medical terms. Chest was cut open and a part of rib was taken out.

“The tumour was compressed to the inferior vena cava (IVC) which is the main vein of the body. The surrounding structure was stuck to the mass so that had to be separated and another important gland that is adrenal gland was spared.

“That gland is important for fluid electrolyte balance and metabolism of food. Also, it produces the sex hormone,” explained Dr Ray.

Ultimately the mass was removed along with the part of the lungs to which the cancer had spread. Chest and abdomen were closed separately and respiratory muscles were repaired.

“It was five and half hour long procedure. After the operation, the patient was in the ICU for a day after which he was shifted to a general ward. He is doing well. He will be discharged tomorrow,” Dr Ray added.

Mumbai, May 20 (PTI) The Bombay High Court today held that citizens have a fundamental right to good roads and it is the state government’s statutory obligation to provide roads which are free of potholes.

The observation was made by a division bench of justices A S Oka and C V Bhadang which passed a detailed order on a PIL highlighting the poor condition of roads in the state and incidents of motorists losing their lives due to potholes- ridden roads.

“It is high time that all concerned clearly understand that the right to have properly maintained roads is a part of fundamental rights guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India and in the event any loss is caused due to its violation, the citizens have a right to seek compensation,” the court said.

It directed authorities like BMC, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Mumbai Port Trust and others which have control over roads in the city to ensure that the potholes are repaired prior to the onset of monsoon and submit compliance report by July 6.

“All municipal corporations shall maintain all roads within its jurisdiction in good and proper condition. It shall be their responsibility to ensure that potholes and ditches are properly filled, and at the time of any repair work a board shall be displayed giving details of the name of agency doing the digging work and the time period within which the work shall be completed,” the court said.

The court further held that the authorities’ excuse every year that the roads are bad due to heavy monsoon cannot be accepted as every year the monsoon in the city is heavy.

The court also directed all civic bodies in the state, the MMDRA, MSRDC and Mumbai Port Trust to provide a mechanism to enable citizens to file complaints about poor condition of roads.

“The facility of receiving complaints shall be made throughout the year. Websites shall be designed in such a way that citizens can upload photos of the roads and also track their complaints,” the court said.

“Unless there is an effective mechanism provided to the citizens to file complaints they will not be in a position to enforce their constitutional as well as legal right to have well maintained streets,” the court said.

The court will hear the matter on July 10

New Delhi, May 20(PTI) Escalating his confrontation with the AAP government, Lt Governor Najeeb Jung today cancelled all appointments made by it in the last four days, asserting he was the sole authority in matters of ordering transfer and posting of bureaucrats.

In a letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Lt Governor challenged AAP government’s order to bureaucrats not to follow his directives without securing approval from the CM or any other minister, maintaining he has the power to decide on transfers and postings.

Jung also contested AAP government’s instructions to the officials to not route files through his office, saying he has been vested with power to decide on major policy issues.

In the letter, Jung explained constitutional provisions and norms laid down in Government of NCT of Delhi Act and Transaction of Business rules of the Delhi Government, and asked the AAP government to follow the rules and procedures.

Jung said orders pertaining to transfers and postings by AAP govt in the last four days were not valid as they did not have his approval.

In a directive on Monday, Kejriwal had asked the bureaucrats including the Chief Secretary to first consult him and other Ministers before acting directions from the LG.

Yesterday, both Kejriwal and Jung had taken their bitter fight to President Pranab Mukherjee, accusing each other of violating the Constitution and overstepping their respective jurisdictions.

Today, Kejriwal asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow the city government to function “independently” and accused the Centre of trying to run the Delhi administration through Jung.

In a letter to Modi, Kejriwal mentioned about the posting and transfers made by Jung and said the elected government must have a say in distribution of work to senior officials.

The appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as acting chief secretary last week had tgriggered a full-blown war between the AAP government and Jung with Kejriwal alleging that the LG was trying to take over the administration. Each side has since appointed some officials in senior positions which were declared void by the other.

A group of seven to eight persons allegedly assaulted three youths from Darjeeling over a trivial issue in Nathupur village of Gurgaon district on Saturday night.

Abhishek Rai, Sagar Rai and Dev Kumar Subba sustained critical injuries and had to be admitted to AIIMS Trauma Centre in New Delhi.

The incident was triggered after Abhishek threw a packet — containing garbage and broken glass — from the first floor of his residence into a dustbin kept on the roadside.

The packet missed the dustbin with shards of glass hitting some youths. This led to a minor altercation.

“We realised it was our fault and apologised for the act. After electricity supply was cut off at 9.30pm, a group of seven to eight persons, including the landlord’s son, came to our room and opened the door forcefully.

“We were beaten up with chains and a belt for over 30 minutes till we fell unconscious,” said Abhishek in his police complaint.

Sources said the Gurgaon Police were only pressed into action after a top Delhi Police officer reportedly showed special interest in the case.

“We have registered an FIR against eight persons under Sections 147, 148,149, 323, 452 and 506 of the IPC in DLF phase-2 police station and have held five accused. The rest will soon be nabbed,” said Deepak Saharan, DCP of East Gurgaon.

Nisha Singh Councillor of Ward 30 Gurgaon, have been taken to Bhondsi Jail at midnight…on a Saturday Night.

Her Crime :
She was filming demolition of slums which was underway in her ward, for which she is an elected representative.

Punishment till now :
Brutally beaten by police, hairs snatched, phone snatched and not given back till now and not produced to Magistrate till now.

Turn of Events
Detained by Police at 10:30 AM Friday
Kept in Custody without any charges till 2:00 PM Friday
Missing till 8:20 PM When she was brought in Civil hospital
Not Produced in front of Magistrate entire Saturday
Taken to Bhondsi Jail on Saturday Midnight.

AAP has released a Press release, for her immediate release

The Nepal earthquake disaster touched all of us, for the last few weeks Nepal’s citizens were doing their best to save the lives of those innocent people under the rubble, it was one of the most horrible natural disasters, thousands of people were killed, thousands are missing and thousands are injured, the score of people who are killed or missing is very heartbreaking. But no one knows that behind all these rescuing missions, there was a dog that decided to help people in need.

Ripley, the courageous rescue dog who did his best to help in saving the innocent, helped in rescuing many lives. But this hero, who helped in the rescuing missions, was once rescued a year ago. It all started when this courageous dog that was once a stray dog, and he was rescued and taken to the Sioux City Animal Adoption. When he arrived there, workers noticed that he is not a normal dog, he is more than that. They noticed that he had very high energy and very smart instincts; they believed that they can use his talents and it can be used for a good cause, like being a rescue dog

Ripley the hero dog had a good training that improved his talent more, so when the time came for the rescue, Ripley was sent to Nepal after the earthquake as a rescue dog. Surprisingly, Ripley spent over than 100 hours searching and crawling around to help people in need, he went to the places that it was very difficult for human rescuers to get in, and thankfully, Ripley was the one who discovered a 15 years old boy under the rubble, it was a miracle.

Ripley’s story is inspiring; thousands of stray dogs are living out there in the streets, if every one of them got a chance like Ripley to discover their bright side, the world will be a much better place

New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) With many regulatory officials and bureaucrats coming under the scanner of CBI and other agencies, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has put the blame on the “fundamentally defective” anti-corruption law, saying it did not distinguish between erroneous and corrupt decisions.

The Minister said the process has been initiated to amend this law to provide for a distinction that any punishment is meted out under the Prevention of Corruption Act for “a corrupt decision not merely for an erroneous decision”.

“… This Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988 is a pre -liberalisation era law. It’s fundamentally a defective law because it did not distinguish between an erroneous decision and a corrupt decision,” Jaitley told PTI in an interview.

He was replying to a question on action initiated by agencies like CBI against various bureaucrats and top officials of regulatory bodies like Sebi, including its former Chairman C B Bhave and some current officials.

In most of these instances, the cases have been later dropped against the officials under scrutiny, including in the case of Bhave, who were under the lens for decisions taken during their tenures allegedly to benefit some entities.

Asked whether the much-publicised initial action against these persons has affected the decision-making process, the Minister said the Act “put an erroneous decision at par with the corrupt decision and that is why decision making has become extremely difficult in government, post-1991”.

“Now, many governments have felt that need for changing it, but they were moving slowly on this. This exercise started in the UPA government. We are now completing the exercise. We have brought the amendment and the Cabinet has cleared it,” he added.

Jaitley hoped that the amendment bill would soon get through in Parliament.

It would provide for a “distinction that you punish people under that Act on a corrupt decision, not merely for an erroneous decision.”

Concerns have been raised that the working of Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India), other regulators and bureaucrats in key positions has got affected because of CBI launching various ‘preliminary enquiries’ into the decisions taken by them. .

Party takes stock of disaster preparedness

Darjeeling: The Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists (CPRM) has said that the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) needs to have an audit immediately.
In a central committee executive meeting held at the party office here yesterday, spokesperson of the CPRM, Govind Chettri said: “There should be an audit for the GTA and we should all know where the money for programmes like Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and school mid-day meals go”.

He also said that his party feels that this is the right time for a united movement for a separate state of Gorkhaland.

He appealed to all supporters of Gorkhaland to become one for the cause.

In the meeting, speakers also expressed concern over the safety of Darjeeling and said that the administration should take immediate action in case of any major natural disaster strikes Darjeeling like it did neighbouring Nepal.

“What if there is a major earthquake in Darjeeling? As it is, we are regularly getting aftershocks. What will happen to Darjeeling then? Is there any precaution taken by the administration?” Mr. Chettri said.

“Neither do MP’s from Darjeeling speak up for this, nor does the party in power here do anything,” he added.

He further said: “We live in India and yet it seems we are not living in India as the administration does not seem to be bothered about the safety of our hills. There is no disaster Management team for the hills as well.”

The meeting also discussed how the number of high-rises is constantly going up in the town, and how it is a threat to the people of Darjeeling.

“Steps should be taken to ensure safety of tea garden labourers too. The labourers live in places of great risk and if another disaster strikes, it will be the labourers who will be homeless first.” Mr. Chettri said.

The party said that it will hold a public meeting in Darjeeling soon.

“The date has not been fixed, but we will organize a public meeting soon,” said Mr. Chettri.