Sex chats...

“The chat was suggestive enough to prove the case against the businessman. He was confronted with the chat after his arrest,” said the police officer. The businessman is married. Although the two men who have allegedly had sex with the 16-year-old have been arrested under the controversial Section 377, which criminalises homosexuality and is currently being debated at the Supreme Court, POCSO is more applicable to these cases since they involve a minor engaged in a sexual relationship with an adult.

According to POCSO, a child is any person under 18 and addresses sexual exploitation and abuse of minors. Sex with a minor constitutes statutory rape. POCSO also provides for mandatory reporting of sexual offences against a minor and if one who has knowledge of a child being abused does not report the case, they can be punished with six months’ imprisonment or fine.

The police confirmed that they are “trying to track more IDS” using the teenager’s phone. “Just on the basis of the chat no one could be arrested, but if the chats suggest that they met earlier and indulged in illegal sexual intercourse, then action will be taken,” said the police. landing of the flyovers is bitumen road. Due to heavy rains, they have washed out and that has created issues,” said Saunik.

PWD officials said that they have invited tenders for the concretization of a four-kilometre stretch on the Sion-panvel highway. Work to concretize two lanes is expected to start next week. “We are carrying out repairs currently. We will start the work to make the road concrete. We have invited tenders and will open them on Wednesday. Once it is awarded, the work on concretization will start immediately,” said CP Joshi, secretary (roads), PWD.

Joshi said that the stretch would be converted from asphalt to concrete by December 2018. attacks against differently-abled go unchecked in TN. Recently a 17-year-old girl, who cannot hear, was raped and killed in a village in Sivaganga district. Now, an 11-year-old child with hearing impairment had been abused,” said TARATDAC state general secretary S Namburajan.

“Rape itself is a heinous crime but repeated rape of a differentlyabled child calls for a death sentence,” tweeted political commentator Sumanth Raman.

Paattali Makkall Katchi founder, Ramadoss, condemned the abuse and urged the parents to spend quality time with their kids so that such attacks are avoided. “Parents should also impart sex education to their children.”

Randeep Surjewala, the chief spokesperson of the Congress, claimed that the government has given a ‘license to kill’ with impunity by abetting mob frenzy. “The SC has aborted this license,” he said.

The BJP did not comment on the order.

The courts directed the states to formulate a compensation scheme for victims of mob lynching within a month. Compensation will be determined on the basis of the injury sustained or loss caused either to the victims or their families. Medical expenses will also be accounted for.

The court’s order was welcomed by a senior lawyer. “Civilisation and mob lynching cannot exist together. Mob lynching is an anachronism in the civilized society. This kind of rumour mongering and mob lynching should be stopped. So it is a very welcome step by the apex court,” senior Supreme Court advocate Amarendra Sharan said.

But not everyone was convinced the measures mentioned to tackle fake news and rumours would work.

“By extending the power to nodal officers to control dissemination of ‘offensive material’, the court is effectively using vague and ambiguous standards, which it frowned upon in it’s ruling in Shreya Singhal (striking down 66A of IT Act on vagueness and overbreadth),” said Ananth Padmanabhan, fellow at Centre for Policy Research. hit by numerous disruptions.

Both are demanding special category status for Andhra Pradesh, following its June 2014 bifurcation, which would entitle the state to special central grants and other incentives.

The Congress’s decision to join the fray makes it a bigger battle against the Bjp-led government as other parties like the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Samajwadi Party and Aam Aadmi Party are expected to support the party.

The NDA held a separate meeting to discuss its floor strategy.

The second half of the Budget session was washed out as TDP and YRSCP moved notices of no-confidence almost on a daily basis, but they could not be taken up for debate. The Opposition accused the BJP of prompting the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam,tamil Nadu’s ruling party, to persist with its own demands, leading to chaos and adjournments.

According to the rules, a notice of no-confidence motion can be moved only in the Lok Sabha with support of at least 50 MPS. The Speaker can allow debate if the House is in order; at the end, voting takes places. Parties have the right to serve fresh notices if the previous one is not taken up due to adjournments and disruptions.

In 2003, the Congress had moved a no-confidence motion against the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, but it was defeated by a big margin. Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge announced that the party would raise issues such as women’s safety, perceived dilution of the scheduled castes/ scheduled tribes act, Governor’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir, and the unfulfilled demand for special status to Andhra Pradesh.

The Congress, which was wiped out in Andhra Pradesh in the last Lok Sabha polls, hopes that its support for a special package h will help it regain ground in the state. Andhra Pradesh assembly elections are slated to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls next year. ensure remunerative price to farmers in the wake of increased overheads. However, the farmers didn’t get the assured price as the milk dairies moved court against the decision. Since then the procurement price has witnessed a consistent fall due to excess production and a fall in the price of skimmed milk powder in international market.

The farmers have alleged that dealers, wholesalers and distributors are paid commissions ranging between Rs 6 to 9 per litre, besides the home delivery charges levied on the consumers. Shree Naik of State Milk Distributors and Transporters Sangh said that this was innaccurate. “Commissions to wholesalers range from Rs 3 to Rs 7, depending on the brands. But we have various overheads to look after, besides the one month’s credit given to the consumers,” said Naik.

Experts say there are losses being weathered by private brands and dairies. “The milk powder stock has piled up to 60,000 metric tonnes for the want of demand in the international market. Against the production cost of Rs 240 per kg, the selling rate has fallen to Rs 120,” said Arun Narke, ex-president of Indian Dairy Association and director of brand Gokul. He however admitted that some private brands have been buying milk at the lowest procurement price in the absence of any government regulation.

The state hopes to address concerns and resolve the issue on Thursday, when all the stakeholders will meet. “After various measures including a subsidy on export of milk powder, the milk dairies have increased the procurement price by Rs 3 from July 21. Gradually, it could be increased to Rs 5 per litre. This would help in correcting the gap,” said Kiran Kurundkar, secretary, dairy development and fisheries department. in-charge of the communication department, stays on as a permanent invitee.

The significant omissions include former general secretaries Digvijaya Singh, Janardan Dwivedi, CP Joshi, BK Hariprasad, Mohan Prakash, Mohsina Kidwai and Sushil Kumar Shinde besides Karan Singh, Oscar Fernandes and RK Dhawan.

Congress chief ministers, including Punjab CM Amrinder Singh, and state chiefs such as Kamal Nath and Sachin Pilot, have not been included as per norm. They will, however, be a part of the extended CWC and attend the body’s first meeting on July 22 along with the heads of Congress legislature parties in the states.

As per the Congress constitution, 12 of the 25 CWC members have to be elected by delegates to the All India Congress Committee (AICC), the party’s central assembly, and the rest are appointed by the party chief. The committee also has permanent and special invitees without any restriction on the number.

The party’s 84th plenary session in March that ratified the election of 48-year-old Gandhi election as the Congress president also authorised Gandhi to reconstitute the CWC.

Younger leaders also find representation among special invitees. The list includes Jitin Prasada, Deepender Hooda, Arun Yadav and Kuldeep Bishnoi besides the heads of party frontal organisations.

The CWC has six women. There are three Muslims and five Dalits in the panel.

Among the states with high representation are Maharashtra (5), Uttar Pradesh (4) and Haryana (4). While Jammu and Kashmir has two members, the Northeast is represented by three members. Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have not been represented. “The new CWC is an ideal blend of experience, maturity and youthful energy. This CWC will prove to be a catalyst for transformation of the Congress and driving the party to victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,” Surjewala said.

APART FROM GANDHI, HIS MOTHER AND PREDECESSOR SONIA GANDHI AND FORMER PRIME MINISTER MANMOHAN SINGH, THE 23MEMBER CWC INCLUDES SENIOR LEADERS, OFTEN REFERRED TO AS THE ‘OLD GUARD’ IN PARTY CIRCLES, LIKE MOTILAL VORA, AHMED PATEL, GHULAM NABI AZAD AND AK ANTONY