1. To Tackle Drug Menace, UN Offers Help to Punjab Govt
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has offered to assist the Punjab government in dealing with drug problem in the state. UNODC officials Friday said that they have sought an appointment with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and the response from the government so far is “positive”.
Sergey Kapinos, UNODC Representative for South Asia, told The Indian Express that his office has initiated contact with the new government in the state regarding the issue. “Punjab has huge potential to become a model state for not just India but perhaps South Asia on how to develop and implement state-of-art policies and interventions to address the drug problem,” Kapinos said, adding that the drug problem in Punjab is “very serious”.
We are ready to render every needed assistance in drug prevention in Punjab based on best international practices and availability of very effective tools developed by UNODC. I can assure that such cooperation will be result-oriented and very effective.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. 4 Congress MLAs Join Ruling BJP in Manipur
In a jolt to the Congress in Manipur, four party MLAs, including Y Surchandra Singh and Ngamthang Haokip, joined the ruling Bhartiya janata Party (BJP) on Friday. The other two are O Lukhoi and S Bira. The MLAs were inducted into the party fold in the presence of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and state unit president K Bhabananda.
The move comes a day after 23 out of 25 Congress councillors in the Itanagar Municipal Council (IMC) joined the BJP in presence of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and BJP state President Tapir Gao in Itanagar and two days after 65 Congress leaders joined the BJP along with their supporters ahead of the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) election. After the Assembly elections in the state, Congress MLAs Th Shyamkumar Singh and Ginsuanhau had joined the BJP.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. ED Files Money Laundering Case in Narada Sting
A fresh central flank has been opened in the Narada probe with the Enforcement Directorate starting a money laundering case against the 13 accused, most of whom are Trinamool Congress leaders.
The entry of the second central agency, which came a day after BJP president Amit Shah ended his tour of Bengal, has spread concern in the TMC that the scope of the investigation might be widened beyond the specific payoff case. The directorate has described its move as "routine", ruling out any link with Shah's visit.
The Narada tapes that show people resembling prominent Trinamool leaders accepting money are already under the CBI scanner following a Supreme Court directive. The CBI has lodged a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and is investigating whether bribes had been taken. The ED has lodged the case under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
(Source: The Telegraph)
4. Hawala Operator Held in Bribery Bid Case Against Dhinakaran
The Delhi police, which is investigating an alleged attempt by AIADMK (Amma) leader TTV Dhinakaran to bribe unnamed Election Commission officials to retrieve the party’s ‘two leaves’ symbol, has arrested a hawala operator in the national capital for allegedly handing over ₹1 crore to co-accused Sukesh Chandrashekhar, a high-profile conman. The Chandini Chowk-based hawala operator, Nathu Singh alias Naresh, was arrested on Thursday night, taking the number of arrests in the case to four.
On Friday, a team of the Delhi police, which is in Chennai, continued questioning Dhinakaran and his associate Mallikarjuna – both of whom are under its custody – and conducted searches at the premises of suspected hawala operators.
(Source: The Hindu)
5. IAS Officers to Adopt Families of Security Personnel Martyred in Action
IAS officers around the country have volunteered to adopt families of security personnel who have lost their lives in anti-Naxal and anti-terror operations, to ensure that their children get a good education and other family members get timely financial assistance.
“An association of IAS officers from across the country decided that each of them will adopt one family of the security personnel (defence, central armed police forces and state police) who died in such action and support them for 5-10 years. The adopted family would preferably be from the state (cadre) to which the officer belongs. The officer will not be required to provide any direct financial assistance to the adopted family, but support and handhold its members on a sustained basis so that they live with a sense of security and assurance that the country is taking care of them in their hour of crisis and tragedy," said Sanjay Bhoosreddy, honorary secretary of the Indian Civil and Administrative Service (Central) Association.
(Source: Times of India)
6. No Talks With Separatists: Centre to SC
The spectre of a violent and unmoving political deadlock is hanging heavy over Kashmir after the Centre told the Supreme Court today that talks could not be held with separatists outside the constitutional framework.
The Supreme Court offered to direct the suspension of the use of pellet guns by the security forces in the Valley for two weeks if an assurance was given that there would be no violence and stone-pelting. The court described as "most worrisome" the involvement of students, children and women in the protests.
In the top court, attorney-general Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Centre, rejected an appeal by the Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association for a unilateral ceasefire and resumption of talks with separatist leaders like Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
(Source: The Telegraph)
7. Man Lands at IGI, Claims to be ISI Agent, Seeks Refuge
“Hello, I am an ISI agent. But I don’t wish to continue any further and want to remain in India,” a passenger told a help desk at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport on Friday after arriving on an Air India flight from Dubai.
The claim sent the security at Terminal 3 into a tizzy, with intelligence agencies being immediately alerted.
“Instead of heading towards transfer area, from where he had to catch a flight to Kathmandu, he approached the helpdesk. He said that he is an ISI agent and doesn’t want to work anymore. Security agencies and Intelligence Bureau officials were informed and they are interrogating him,” an airport source told HT.
Sources said that there is a possibility that he is lying, but officials are checking his passport details to know where he travelled in the past few months.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. BJP on Talent Hunt for Dynamic Faces
The BJP is hunting for new faces to reach out to the "New India" that the party hopes to address with its growing mandate in new regions across the country.
While the thrust on inducting new and young members into the party is something that Narendra Modi has been talking about since he became the prime ministerial candidate in 2013, his call for inducting new, young people to articulate the party's ideological and political message at the BJP's last executive in Bhubaneshwar has created a buzz in the party circles.
PM Modi has also mentioned this at a couple of parliamentary party meetings recently.
(Source: Times of India)
9. Petrol Pump Racket in UP: Tampered Dispensers Give Out Less Fuel, Installed in More than 80% Pumps
Uttar Pradesh authorities on Friday discovered that several petrol pump owners in Lucknow have been siphoning off over Rs 200 crore per month from customers by means of a chip-based device that dispenses less fuel when activated.
An initial probe by the UP Special Task Force (STF), which raided seven petrol pumps on Thursday, stated that around 80 percent pumps across the state were dispensing less fuel than what was being charged to the customer.
The task force on Friday arrested 23 people, including four petrol pump owners and an electrician, and filed as many as seven FIRs. More arrests are expected to take place.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
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