Copter DEAl: CBI man to attend trial in Italy
New Delhi: CBI has sent one of its investigating officers along with a Defence Ministry team to Milan for attending trial related to alleged corruption by AgustaWestland and Finmeccanica executives in clinching the VVIP helicopter supply contract. The Italian agencies are probing allegations of corrupt practices against top executives of UK-based AgustaWestland and its parent company Italy-based Finmeccanica in bagging the Rs 3,700-crore deal for supplying 12 helicopters to India. Sources in the agency said the Defence Ministry wanted a CBI officer in the team to assist it with the findings.
Bihargets 1,000 SSB MEN for anti-naxal op
New Delhi: The Centre has sent a fresh battalion, comprising about 1,000 personnel, for undertaking anti-Naxal operations in Bihar as part of a strategy to combat Maoist violence in the State. The squad has been drawn from the Paramilitary Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and will be deployed alongside the CRPF which is already present in the State. The unit has been trained in jungle warfare and counter-Naxal operations and after initial induction process in the State capital is over, it will be deployed in the interiors, a senior official said. Earlier this year, around 2,000 SSB personnel were deployed for the same task in Jharkhand.
Spot-fixing: Jiju denies charges
Kannur: Cricketer Sreesanth’s friend and alleged bookie Jiju Janardhanan on Monday denied the charges levelled against him in the IPl spot-fixing scam. He said that Sreesanth had nothing to with the scam. Speaking to mediapersons after reaching home at Thalassery in Kerala’s Kannur district on bail, Jiju also denied the charge that it was he who had trapped Sreesanth in the scandal and said that he was yet to understand why they were dragged into the case.