Army Maj in dock for marrying Canadian
New Delhi: An Army Major is in the dock for marrying a Canadian national without clearance from the force. The Army has initiated an inquiry against the officer after it came to light that he had married the Indian-origin Canadian national without getting clearance from the Service. The Major, who was till recently posted with the elite National Security Guards, is facing the inquiry for marrying the Indian-origin woman in 2010, a year after she was granted Canadian citizenship.
Ministry failed on afforestation front
New Delhi: Despite a continuous fall in forest cover in the country over the years, the Environment Ministry has failed to effectively implement its afforestation programme to meet the challenge, an official document has revealed. Under the ambitious National Afforestation Programme (NAP), the ministry in 2011-12 had given its approval for generating forests in 139528 hectares of degraded forests in the country. However, notwithstanding warnings by a government body about the shrinking forest cover, the ministry headed by Jayanthi Natarajan, could give approval to only 55529 hectares in 2012-13 for generating forests. It is around 80000 hectares less than the previous year.
CPI: left block will be kingmaker in 2014
New Delhi: A strong left block in the next lok Sabha would play a key role in the formation of a non- Congress, non-BJP Government after the 2014 polls, the CPI said on Thursday. The party would go in for state-specific alliances and seat adjustments in the general elections so as to ensure the emergence of "a strong left block in the new lok Sabha that can play key role in the formation of a non-Congress, non-BJP government in the post-poll period", CPI General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy told a press conference here.
Babu refutes CBI’s charges on Assets
New Delhi: IAS officer Manoj Agarwal, who has been charged by the CBI for amassing assets disproportionate to his known source of income, has refuted the allegations saying all the assets have been duly mentioned in Income Tax returns and the case was registered in a "malafide manner". In a statement to PTI, Agarwal, a 1990-batch officer from West Bengal cadre, said, "My wife is an independent Income Tax (I-T) assessee since 10 years prior to our marriage and was owning properties well prior to her marriage with me". He said all the movable and immovable assets have been disclosed by her and duly accepted by the I-T department.
MEA: No decision on PM attending CHOGM
New Delhi: No decision has been taken so far on whether the Prime Minister will attend the CHOGM meet in Sri lanka on November 15-16, External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday, asserting it will be taken after considering all aspects including "national interest" and "international obligations". "A process has been set in motion to arrive at a decision on this matter.”
We are taking into consideration all aspects our national interest, our foreign policy priorities and our international obligation. That process has not reached its culmination...," the MEA spokesperson said.