Coal case: Apex court suspends summons to Manmohan (Lead)

New Delhi, April 1 (IANS) In a relief to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, the Supreme Court on Wednesday put on hold the summons issued by a special court in connection with the allocation of 15 percent share in the Talabira II coal block to Kumar Mangalam Birla owned Hindalco.


 The apex court bench of Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice C. Nagappan suspended the summons by the special court holding trial of coal scam cases as senior counsel Kapil Sibal, questioning the March 11 order summoning Manmohan Singh, asked where was the act of illegallity.

 Posing a number of questions, Sibal said: "Is it illegal to allocate mines? Is it illegal to choose private parties to allocate the mines?" Sibal asked where was the illegality.

 Can the prime minister not review the decisions of the steering committee and balance the competitive public interest by allocating a part of Talabira II to Hindalco?

 Sibal said that the guidelines for the allocation of the coal blocks were not statutory in nature and the prime minister can any time take decisions bypassing the guidelines.

 While suspending the summons issued by the special court, the court issued notice to the CBI on a batch of petitions challenging the March 11 order.

 The court also issued a notice to the central government on a writ petition by Kumar Mangalam Birla who challenged the constitutional validity of a section in the Prevention of Corruption Act.

 Besides the summons to Manmohan Singh, the court also put on hold  the summons against industrialist Kumar Manglam Birla, former coal secretary P.C. Parakh, D. Bhattacharya and Hindalco.

 Manmohan Singh on March 25 moved the apex court to contest the special court's March 11, 2015, order directing him to appear before it for granting a share in the combined Talabira II and Talabira III coal block in Orissa to Kumar Mangalam Birla-owned Hindalco in 2005.

 The special court trying coal block allocation scam cases on March 11 summoned Manmohan Singh, Birla, Parakh and Bhattacharya for offences of criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

 The court summoned Manmohan Singh, Birla and Parakh after it rejected the closure report by the CBI.

President greets people on eve of Mahavir Jayanti

New Delhi, April 1 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday greeted the nation on the eve of Mahavir Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Lord Mahavir, the last Tirthankara (saint) of the Jains.


 Mahavir Jayanti will be celebrated on Thursday.

 In his message, Mukherjee said: "On the occasion of Mahavir Jayanti, I extend greetings and good wishes to all my fellow citizens and in particular, members of the Jain community."

 "When the world is faced with multiple challenges, the philosophy and teachings of 'ahimsa', truth and compassion enunciated by Bhagwan Mahavira hold great significance. Let us on this auspicious day resolve to ceaselessly strive for harmony and amity in our country and across the world," said the president.

Opposition candidate leads in Nigeria presidential poll

Lagos, March 31 (IANS) Muhamadu Buhari, nominee of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) political party, is leading the Nigerian presidential election by two million votes over incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, after 51 percent of the votes have been counted.


 So far, Buhari has garnered 8.5 million votes, while Jonathan got 6.5 million due to the low turnout in southern Christian states such as Imo and Abia, two of his major electoral bases, Efe news agency reported.

 The Independent Electoral Commission of Nigeria (INEC) delayed the announcement of the results on Monday night after having counted the ballots of only 18 states, half of the total electorate, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), where the capital city of Abuja is located.

 The INEC is set to announce official results of the presidential elections on Tuesday.

 Although Jonathan took a slight advantage initially, Buhari managed to take the lead by two million votes after winning several key states.

 According to Nigerian electoral law, the winning candidate should get at least 51 percent of the popular vote, and at least 25 percent within 24 of the 36 states.

Rajnath visits Bangladesh border, talks to enclave dwellers (Lead)

Siliguri/Tin Bigha (West Bengal), March 31 (IANS) Home Minister Rajnath Singh, on a two-day visit to West Bengal, surveyed the India-Bangladesh border and visited border enclaves in Cooch Behar district on Tuesday.


 Although scheduled earlier, Rajnath Singh's visit to the border came a day after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a charge sheet before a Kolkata court said the terrorists involved in the Burdwan blast had conspired with Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh to overthrow the government in Dhaka.

 Besides holding talks with officers of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), the home minister said a letter to the Mamata Banerjee government has been sent for acquiring land for fencing parts of the border that remain unfenced.

 "It was a cordial meet with BSF and BGB officers. Besides visiting the border, the visit was also to enquire about the problems that our BSF personnel may have. I was here also to look into how the border area development works is progressing," Rajnath Singh told media persons.

 The home minister met BGB officers at Panbari border outpost before heading towards the Tin Bigha corridor, a strip of land leased to Bangladesh to allow access to its Dahagrama-Angarpota enclaves.

 "The visit was also aimed to gather information about the enclave dwellers," Rajnath Singh said after visiting a Bangladeshi enclave in Balapukhri in Cooch Behar and taking stock of the ground reality in the area ahead of the implementation of the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh.

 Implementation of the LBA, agreed between the two nations in 1974, will lead the exchange of enclaves.

 While Bangladesh has 51 enclaves in India, there are 111 Indian enclaves spread over four districts of Bangladesh along the Cooch Behar border.

 Though not allowed to talk to Rajnath Singh, the Bharat Bangladesh Enclave Exchange Coordination Committee (BBEECC) -- an organisation fighting for the rights of the enclave dwellers -- said it submitted a memorandum to the home minister.

 "While the BSF allowed us inside the security zone, those accompanying Rajnath Singh prevented us from meeting him. We, however, managed to give a memorandum of our demands concerning the enclave dwellers," committee convener Diptiman Sengupta said.

 Rajnath Singh also said a proposal has been sent to the West Bengal government for acquiring land for fencing the unfenced border.

 "We have submitted a proposal for land acquisition to the state government. If it is accepted, then the entire unfenced border will be fenced," he said.

Six killed in bomb attack in Ira

Baghdad, March 31 (IANS) At least six people, including four Iranians, were killed on Tuesday when a bomber targeted a bus carrying Shia pilgrims north of Iraq's capital, Baghdad.


 Police confirmed that six people were killed in the terrorist attack that took place in the Iraqi town of Taji, 20 km north of Baghdad, Press TV reported.

 The bus carrying Shia pilgrims was returning from the holy city of Samarra when it came under attack by the suicide bomber, who detonated his explosives as the pilgrims were getting off the vehicle at a gas station.

 Nobody has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, but it bears the hallmarks of similar assaults by Islamic State militants, who currently control parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria.

Falcao equals Colombia's goal-scoring record

London, March 31 (IANS) Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao has equalled Colombia's national scoring record with his 24th goal for his country.


 The 29-year-old, at Manchester United on a season's loan from Ligue 1 club Monaco, drew level with former forward Arnoldo Iguaran's record by converting a penalty in a 3-1 win over Kuwait on Monday, reports bbc.com.

 It was his third goal in two friendly exchanges in the Middle East, having netted two in Thursday's 6-0 win against Bahrain.

 Falcao has four goals in 22 games for United so far this season.

 Colombia, who are warming up for the Copa America to be played in Chile in June, took the lead with a stunning volley in the 22nd minute.

 Mesaed Al Enezi, Kuwait's defender equalised at the stroke of half-time, before substitute Edwin Cardona and Falcao clinched the victory for Jose Pekerman's side.

 Falcao's loan deal at United, worth 265,000 British pounds per week, expires at the end of the season, when the club must decide whether to take up a 43.5 million pounds option to buy him.

Iraqi forces recapture government headquarter in key city

Baghdad, March 31 (IANS) Iraqi security forces on Tuesday retook control of Salahudin's provincial government compound and several presidential palaces from the Islamic State (IS) militants in the provincial capital city of Tikrit, a security source said.


 The troops, backed by allied Shia and Sunni militias and covered by US-led coalition and Iraqi aircraft, made significant advance during the past 24 hours, after they seized the government compound, which includes the provincial government building, in the southern part of Tikrit, some 170 km north of Iraq's capital Baghdad, the source told Xinhua news agency on condition of anonymity.

 The troops later pushed to the north on the western bank of the Tigris river and seized several presidential palaces of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, the source said.

 There are a total of 76 palaces, smaller villas and artificial lakes and date orchards, most of them built near the Tigris river, stretching from northern Tikrit to Saddam's village of Awja, 12 km south of the city.

 The troops continued their slow advance and came closer to the central part of the city, he said.

 The security forces also made progress in albu-Obeid district in southwestern Tikrit and are expected to reach the IS-held western city of al-Zuhour district, he added.

 "At least nine personnel of the security forces and Hashid Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation, have been killed and 18 others wounded in the battles in Tikrit," the source said citing initial medical reports.

 On Monday, the troops reportedly retook control of the main hospital building, which is part of the government compound, and took new positions in the surrounding area as they headed toward the central part of Tikrit.

 Late on Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced that the Iraqi forces started the final phase to liberate Tikrit and the rest of the northern parts of Salahudin province with the assistance of the international coalition air support.

 The battles to free Tikrit from IS militants were stalled for about two weeks as the militants planted thousands of bombs and booby-trapped dozens of buildings and cars.

 Since March 2, some 30,000 Iraqi troops and thousands of allied Shia and Sunni militias have been involved in Iraq's biggest offensive to recapture the northern part of Salahudin province, including Tikrit and other key towns and villages, from IS militants.

 Large parts of the province have been under IS militant group's control since last June, after bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and the group.