1. Questions raised over bravery of police officer who shot 26/11 terrorist:-
Mumbai:
Maharshtra police officer Vishwas Nangre-Patil is all set to receive
the highest gallantry award- the President Police Medal for Gallantry
for his actions during the siege of Taj hotel on the November 26, 2008.
Patil is expected to be honoured by the Ministry of Home Affairs for his
bravery during the 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks.
'Patil led ill-equipped and ill-prepared men and shot a terrorist
in battle inside the Taj Mahal Hotel. It was an act of exceptional
courage, even by the standards of those days', the meeting of Ministry
of Home Affairs committee which appraises awardees concluded on Tuesday
in New Delhi.
However, five years after the most gruesome terrorist attack on
Indian soil, questions have been raised over the validity of rewarding
Patil with the medal.
An investigative report published in Firstpost
points at several discrepancies in the account given by the ministry.
It points at possible foul-play and political lobbying by the ruling
political party.
On the morning of November 27, 2008 Nangre-Patil was accompanied by
Sunil Kudiyadi and men from reserves between hotel's south and north
wing. Nangre-Patil, according to High-Level Enquiry Committee quoted in
the report
“showed remarkable grit and courage in trying to engage the terrorists
from a lower level position on the staircase”. The terrorist had taken
an advantageous location at hotel's staircase which allowed them to fire
and throw grenades with ease. Patil injured one terrorist in the gun
battle that ensued at this particular staircase.
The report points at several inconsistencies in government’s
official account. According to intercepts,between the terrorists and
their handlers across the border, not even a single terrorist was killed
during the time Patil was inside the hotel, thus raising serious
question
marks over the claim of Patil shooting a terrorist.
The report further elaborates that baring one injury incident,
located away from the location where Patil and his men were holed up; no
other injuries were inflicted on the terrorists. The single incident
too was a result of a terrorist shooting his foot accidentally.
Later, Patil accompanied by Rajyavardhan Singh, then on deputation
to the Intelligence Bureau, and Hemant Nagrale made their way to the
control room. The three were able to track the movements of the
terrorists on television screens connected to the CCTV cameras installed
inside hotel. Patil was warned that the LeT team was moving towards the
control room. Patil and his team decided to leave the control room-
'leaving behind his men to face the attack'- raising further questions
to successfully lead his men.
This is not the first instance when Patil was considered for the
top medal. He was considered for the Police gallantry award in 2009 but
the decision was withheld on the basis of concerns over the quality of
evidence. It is being alleged that Patil's father-in-law may have played
a role in reconsidering Patil's name for the top award. Madhukar Mule,
is a prominent Nationalist Congress Party politician.
2.
Aam Admi Party to sweep out corruption: Announces broom as its election symbol :-
New Delhi: Arvind
Kejriwal's Aam Admi Party will contest the upcoming 2014 elections from
Delhi with broom as their party's symbol. The symbol was approved by
the Election Commission on Wednesday.
"With this, the party has crossed the second milestone (after its
registration) on its way to cleaning up the polity of the country," the
party said in a statement.
With the 'broom' which symbolises dignity of labour, the party
hopes to clean the filth which has permeated our government and our
legislature. The country needs a clean sweep of its corrupted main
stream political parties, it said.
AAP said it was happy that the Election Commission has allotted the
party a reserved symbol of 'Broom' for all the 70 assembly
constituencies of Delhi.
A week after its launch in December last year, Arvind Kejriwal
led-Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had approached Election Commission for
registration.
AAP national secretary Pankaj Gupta had submitted the papers regarding registration to the election commission.
The party got registration from Election Commission in March this year.
AAP would formally launch its election symbol in a public event on August 3.
3. Narendra Modi-for-PM’ to be a reality by September? :-
New Delhi: After a long wait Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) may finally announce Narendra Modi
as its Prime Minister candidate for the upcoming general elections
scheduled to take place in May 2014, by the end of September, this year.
According to television reports, the announcement may come as early as by the end of August to give Gujarat Chief Minister
a six-month window to work on his poll campaign. The party will like to
make the most of Modi's popularity and will announce him for party's
top job before the notification of the assembly elections, expected
around September 21.
BJP and RSS chiefs Rajnath Singh and Mohan Bhagwat are scheduled to
meet on Saturday to finalise party's blueprint for the upcoming
elections. It is being said that the decision to anoint Modi as an
official nominee for the post of Prime Minister may be taken during this
meeting. Though a formal announcement may came as late as September.
