In 20 years, 124 Army men held guilty of rights violations in Jammu & Kashmir

JAMMU: As many as 124 Army personnel, including 41 officers, have been found guilty of human rights violations and awarded exemplary punishments in the past 20 years in Jammu & Kashmir.

"As many as 124 personnel, including 41 officers, found guilty of these violations were expeditiously tried by Army courts and awarded exemplary punishments ranging from dismissal from service without any service benefits to imprisonment (during last over 20 years)," PRO, ministry of defence, Northern Command, Lt Col Rajesh Kalia said on Monday.

During the past 20 years, 1,524 allegations of human rights violations against Army personnel serving in Northern Command have been received, Lt Col Kalia said.

"Each and every allegation was enquired into by an independent and autonomous body and 42 of these allegations were found to be true," he said.

In his message on the eve of Human Rights Day on Monday, Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra, GOC in C, Northern Command directed all troops in Jammu & Kashmir to ensure Zero Human Rights violations during conduct of counterterrorist operations.

The Indian Army has one of the finest record for ensuring that human rights of its citizens are protected and the importance given to human rights is evident from the fact that a human rights branch at the Army headquarters has been functioning since March 1993 and such branches exist in formations up to Brigade and Sector level.

"There are a few ongoing cases which are being closely monitored, ensuring Rule of Law and proceedings as enunciated by the Army Act," Lt Col Kalia said.

"Anyone found guilty shall face the law. This amply demonstrates that all cases of alleged human rights violations are thoroughly investigated and personnel found guilty are promptly punished," the defence PRO said.

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Sysco to buy US Foods for $8.2 billion including debt

The author has posted comments on this articleReuters | Dec 9, 2013, 07.47PM IST

HOUSTON: Sysco Corp said it would buy rival US Foods Inc for about $3.5 billion and assume about $4.7 billion in debt to cement its position as the biggest US food distributor, driving up Sysco's shares 30 percent before the bell.

Shareholders of US Foods, owned by affiliates of private equity firms Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and KKR & Co, will own about 13 percent of Sysco after the closing of the deal, which will create a company with revenue of $65 billion.

"Combining and maximizing the significant strengths of two outstanding companies is certain to be of tremendous advantage in supporting our customers," US Foods chief executive John Lederer said in a statement on Monday.

Sysco and US Foods distribute foods to restaurants, hotels, hospitals, schools and other institutions.

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and KKR acquired the former US Foodservice from Dutch grocer Ahold for $7.1 billion in 2007.

Sysco said the deal is expected to add to earnings immediately after closing, expected in the third quarter of 2014.

Goldman Sachs & Co is financial adviser to Sysco, while Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Arnall, Golden & Gregory LLP are legal advisers. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP are legal advisers to US Foods.

Sysco shares were trading at $44.50 before the bell after closing on Friday at $34.31 on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Assembly elections: PM congratulates Vasundhara Raje, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Raman Singh

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated BJP leaders Vasundhara Raje, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh on Monday, for the victory in assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Singh called up Raje, who is set to become chief minister of Rajasthan, and wished her well, PMO sources said.

Raje led BJP to an emphatic victory in the assembly elections, ousting Congress from power.

The Prime Minister also called up Chouhan and Raman Singh to wish them well, the sources said.

Chouhan, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, spearheaded BJP in retaining power in the state for the third consecutive time with an increased tally in the assembly.

Raman Singh, chief minister of Chhattisgarh, also led his party in retaining power.

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Justice Ganguly case: PIL filed seeking direction to Bengal govt on state's rights panel

KOLKATA: A PIL was filed on Monday before the Calcutta high court seeking direction to the West Bengal government to take necessary steps to ensure that people did not lose faith in the West Bengal human rights commission in the wake of the Supreme Court's indictment of its chairman Justice Ashok Kumar Ganguly.

The petitioner prayed before the court that it direct the state government to "take all necessary steps to ensure that the people of West Bengal do not lose faith on the WBHRC as a neutral, impartial and balanced institution," in view of former Supreme Court judge Justice Ganguly's indictment.

A committee of three judges of the apex court had indicted Justice Ganguly for "unwelcome behaviour" and "conduct of sexual nature" towards a woman law intern who made a complaint alleging of sexual harassment.

The petitioner Ramaprasad Sarkar, an advocate, also prayed that direction be passed on the state to bring before this court all documents and records pertaining to the matter and after perusing the same, the court may pass necessary orders.

Sarkar said that the matter is likely to come up before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Joymalyo Bagchi on Thursday.

Justice Ganguly, who retired from the apex court more than a year ago, was accused by the law intern of sexually harassing her in a hotel room in Delhi last year.

He had strongly denied the charge. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who had chosen Ganguly as chairman of the WBHRC after taking over the reins of the state in 2011, has written two letters on consecutive days last week to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking removal of Justice Ganguly as the head of the commission.

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Dalai Lama not to attend Nelson Mandela's funeral ceremony

DHARAMSHALA: Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama will not attend the funeral ceremony of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela in South Africa where he has been denied visa.

The Dalai Lama, who is currently away for a winter sojourn, has no plans to attend the ceremony and he has also not applied for visa clearance, joint secretary at the Lama's office, Tenzin Taklha confirmed on Monday.

The Tibetan leader was denied visa to travel to South Africa in 2009. The South African government admitted the decision was taken to avoid undermining relations with China, which reacts angrily to any country hosting the Dalai Lama.

The secretary said Dalai Lama had written to the family of Mandela expressing deep sadness.

The Tibetan leader said he will personally miss the South African leader, who he had hoped to meet again and for whom he had great admiration and respect.

Reports said over 100 world leaders would be joining the 80,000 people expected to cram into the FNB stadium in Soweto on Tuesday for a sweeping, emotional tribute to their inspirational first black president.

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India, Lanka enjoy unbreakable bonds, Indian envoy says

COLOMBO: India and Sri Lanka are linked by an unbreakable historical bond as they share a common religion in Buddhism, the Indian high commissioner here said on Sunday.

Y K Sinha was addressing a gathering at the opening of the Indian Gallery at the Temple of Tooth, the foremost place of Buddhist religious worship in the central town of Kandy on Sunday.

Sinha's comments on Indo-Lanka friendship come amidst prevailing heartburn in Sri Lanka over the decision by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to stay away from the CHOGM summit held here last month.

"Perhaps the greatest son of the Indian subcontinent and India, Lord Buddha binds our two countries together - our religious ties, our ethnic ties, our linguistic ties are unbreakable, perhaps unmatched in any other part of the world," Sinha said.

Sinha said the man who brought Buddhism to Sri Lanka, Arahat Mahinda were born in Patna in Bihar.

India-Sri Lanka ties have been further cemented by Arahat Mahinda's Janmabhoomi (land of birth) and Karmabhoomi (land of work) which was Sri Lanka, he said.

The majority Sinhalese are unhappy that Singh had stayed away from coming to Colombo owing to domestic political compulsions in Tamil Nadu with Sri Lanka under international pressure over its human rights record during the last phase of the brutal three-decade civil war in 2009 in the island's Tamil-dominated north.

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Good governance matters, India Inc on assembly poll results

NEW DELHI: Results of four state elections are giving a strong message that government and political parties need to ensure good governance and provide corruption free rule, industry leaders said on Sunday.

"Congress has been shown the door for poor political leadership and unconvincing approach to corruption," said businesswoman Kiran Mazumdar Shaw in a stern message as the poll results pouring in showed rout-like situation for the party in at least three states.

Industry chamber Assocham said: "Election results in the assembly elections have thrown a clear message: It is the quality of governance which matters at the end of the day".

Impressed with Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) "amazing" debut, Shaw said, "people want corruption free politics based on transparency and responsibility".

She tweeted that AAP and Arvind Kejriwal and have walked the talk on clean politics and tasted success as a result.

According to Assocham, all credit goes to Indian voters who have solely voted for governance brushing aside the traditional issues of caste and religion.

Political party that delivers on governance would actually remain relevant, it noted.

"Certainly, the voter may not understand the complexities of economics, but he/she reacts rather strongly if his/her purchasing power is curtailed by inflation," Assocham secretary general D S Rawat said.

PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that inflation has definitely played on voters mind, as there has been price rise in vegetables and essential commodities, leading to a paradigm shift in voters mindsets.

"As an industry body, we urge the winning parties to take steps for generating employment by boosting industrial growth. This can be done by giving tax holidays and financial reforms" the association's executive director Saurabh Sanyal told PTI.

Meera Sanyal, banker and supporter of AAP, said the election has proved that there is no TINA (There is No Alternative) factor. So, AAP has proved that there is an alternative, she added.

Going by the election results so far, in Delhi, AAP and BJP are leading in most of the seats.

While BJP is heading for huge victories in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, it is a close race in Chattisgarh between BJP and Congress.

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Delhi election results 2013: AAP's rise a matter of concern for both BJP, Cong: Rudy

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Sunday said the rise of Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi is a matter of concern for it as much as for Congress and maintained it could have won clear majority had it not been a three-cornered fight.

BJP general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy said his party could have done even better if it had taken certain timely steps.

"In Delhi, space has been given to a local outfit - Aam Aadmi Party. There could be other reasons. BJP failed to position a chief ministerial candidate at the right time. The national channels also projected that national parties are unable to deliver. But BJP should be able to form government," he said.

Rudy conceded that rise of AAP is a matter of concern for both BJP and Congress.

"Regional manifesto is setting the national agenda. This is what happened in Delhi. A great churning is taking place. AAP votes should actually have come to BJP. Then it would have been a landslide victory for BJP," he said.

Deputy leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad said AAP has put up good performance in Delhi but had it not been in the fray his party would have done better. He was, however, confident of a clear majority for BJP in Delhi.

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Mizoram assembly election verdict to come on Monday

AIZAWL: The fate of the Congress government in Mizoram will be known when votes polled for the assembly elections held on Nov 25 are counted on Monday, officials said here on Sunday.

Over 81 per cent of the total of 690,860 voters exercised their franchise across the state to elect a new 40-member assembly and government.

"The counting of ballots would be done across eight districts from 8am on Monday. Postal ballots would be counted first, followed by the votes recorded in EVMs (electronic voting machines)," an official of the state election department told reporters.

The results would decide the fate of 142 candidates, including six women.

Chief minister Lal Thanhawla, also the state Congress chief, is contesting from two constituencies - Serchhip, his home turf, and neighbouring Hrangturzo - while opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) chief Zoramthanga is trying his electoral fortunes from Tuipui East, bordering Myanmar.

The main poll battle in the mountainous state is between the ruling Congress and opposition coalition Mizoram Democratic Alliance, comprising the MNF, Mizoram People's Conference (MPC) and Maraland Democratic Front (MDF), all regional and local parties.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has little base in the state, Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) and the Nationalist Congress Party also contested, fielding candidates on many seats.

Of the 40 assembly seats, 39 are reserved for tribals and one is for general category.

During the last assembly elections held in December 2008, the Congress won 32 seats, the MNF three and the MDF one. The MPC and ZNP got two seats each.

The MNF, which ruled the state for 10 years till 2008, is the principal opposition party.

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At least eight explosions bombings kill 30 in and around Iraqi capital Baghdad

BAGHDAD: At least eight explosions tore through predominantly Shia Muslim areas in and around Baghdad on Sunday, hitting crowded market places, commercial districts and even a car repair shop in a string of bombings that killed at least 30 people, officials said.

The attacks are part of a wave of violence that has washed across Iraq since a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in April.

Since then, the bloodshed in the country has reached heights unseen since the country teetered on the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for today's attacks, but insurgent groups frequently target civilians in markets, cafes and commercial streets in Shia areas in an attempt to undermine confidence in the Shia-led government and stir up Iraq's already simmering sectarian tensions.

The deadliest attack took place in the mostly Shia neighborhood of Baiyaa, where a car bomb exploded inside a mechanic's shop, killing seven people and wounding 14 others, police said.

Another car bomb in a commercial street in downtown Baghdad killed four more people, while in the eastern Ghadeer district another car bomb near a government tax office killed six people and wounded 22, authorities said.

In the Husseiniyah neighborhood, a car bombing near a restaurant killed three people and wounded 13. Another car bomb near a small market in Baghdad's Shia slum of Sadr City killed two, while a blast in a crowded marketplace in the primarily Shia neighborhood of Amil killed five more.

One bombing struck the Sunni neighborhood of Radhwaniya, hitting a row of shops and killing two people and wounding eight, police said.

Also, an off-duty army officer was killed when a sticky bomb attached to his car exploded as he was driving near his house in Madain town, just south of Baghdad, police said.

Saad Maan Ibrahim, an Interior Ministry spokesman said today's attacks bear the hallmark of al-Qaida's Iraqi branch.

"Al-Qaida terrorists have been attacking soft targets because they are not able to confront our security forces," Ibrahim said. "They want to send a message that they are still strong."

Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures for all attacks. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to media.

At least 120 people have died in attacks in Iraq so far this month, according to an Associated Press count.

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