DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 (PAGE 9) Coal scam Kumbh Mela begins, lakhs of 27 die in stampede at Court orders framing of devotees converge for holy dip Godavari ‘Pushkaram’in AP TRIMBAKESHWAR/NASHIK, "This is not a common dip but of people who have come here charges against Koda, 8 others RAJAHMUNDRY, July 14: July 14: one of immense faith which wash- from different parts of the country NEW DELHI, July 14: es away all the evils and brings took a dip at Kushavart teerth At least 27 pilgrims, 13 of Simhastha Kumbh Mela, the good luck," said Jayant Shikhre, (pond) located near the temple of them women, died and 20 others Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, ex-Coal largest congregation of any faith in chairman of the Sangh. Lord Shiva. injured in a stampede at a major Secretary H C Gupta, former Jharkhand Chief Secretary Ashok the world held after every 12 years, The festival, known as the Around 80 lakh to one crore bathing spot on the banks of the Kumar Basu and six others were today ordered to be put on trial by today began with the traditional largest peaceful gathering, occurs people are expected to be in Godavari river where a huge a special court on charges of corruption, criminal conspiracy and hoisting of flags as tens of thou- once in 12 years as per Hindu cal- Nashik during the three auspi- crowd of devotees had gathered cheating in connection with a coal block allocation scam case. sands of sadus and other people endar and is marked by participa- cious days of 'Shahi Snan' and on the opening day of Besides them, Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar ordered fram- took a holy dip in Kushavart and tion of 'sadhus' from different around 25-30 lakh in ‘Pushkaram’ festival here today. ing of charges against two public servants, Basant Kumar Ramkund in Godavari river here. denominations (akhadas), and Trimbakeshwar. A major religious event held Bhattacharya and Bipin Bihari Singh, Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd In Trimbakeshwar, Union lakhs of devotees. Kumbh is also The sudden appearance and once in 12 years, hundreds of (VISUL), its director Vaibhav Tulsyan, Koda's alleged close aide Home Minister Rajnath Singh and known for the religious pomp and disappearance of Godavari river people drawn from different parts Vijay Joshi and chartered accountant Navin Kumar Tulsyan. of the state had converged on the The court ordered framing of charges against these nine accused river bank to take dip in the river for offences under various sections of IPC, including 120B (crimi- on the auspicious occasion. nal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) and under relevant provisions of The tragedy struck between the PC Act. Bodies of victims lie near a bathing ghat following a stam- The court has now fixed July 31 for formal framing of charges 7.30 AM and 8 AM and most of pede that took place during Godavari Maha Pushkaram, in and directed all the accused to remain present in the court on that the victims were elderly people. Rajahmundry on Tuesday. (UNI ) Rajahmundry Sub-Collector day. 144 years. water was not available for those Vijaya Ramaraju said the bodies "I have ordered framing of charges against all the accused... Put Kanchi Shankaracharya who were in the queues. up for formal framing of charges on July 31," the judge said. The had been shifted to Rajahmundry Government Hospital and the Jayandra Sarswathi was among The pilgrims said they were case pertains to the alleged irregularities in allocation of Rajhara injured taken to a nearby hospital the spiritual leaders who took the waiting since early hours to enter North coal block in Jharkhand to Kolkata-based VISUL. “So far 27 have died ...Most sacred bath. the ghat. These accused were summoned for alleged offences under sec- of the dead are elderly women,” The ‘Pushakaram’ is a similar Meanwhile, Telangana Chief tions 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 420 (cheating) and 409 Ramaraju said. to the ‘Kumbh Mela’ performed Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, (criminal breach of trust by public servants) of IPC and under provi- The victims had been waiting alongside rivers elsewhere in the YSR Congress president Y S sions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. since early hours and some of country and taking holy dip is the Jagan Mohan Reddy, Andhra Earlier on May 29, the CBI had told the court that Koda, Basu and them were tired as they had trav- main ritual of the religious event. Pradesh Congress president N two other accused public servants conspired with each other to some- elled long distances to reach here. Several pilgrims complained Raghuveera Reddy, his party col- how favour VISUL in the coal block allocation despite the fact that The official said there is a that gates were not opened to league and MP Chiranjeevi and a State Government had initially recommended two other firms for it. possibility that the deaths were enter the ghat which led to the number of other leaders condoled It had alleged that Basu, who had attended the meeting of screen- Devotees taking holy dip in Godavari river on Tuesday. caused due to suffocation. stampede, and that drinking the deaths in the stampede. (PTI) ing committee, insisted that VISUL should be recommended for the Andhra Pradesh Chief allocation. (PTI) state Women and Child Welfare colourful processions. from the place of its origin at Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Vyapam scam minister Pankaja Munde were the The festival will last for Brahmgiri in Sahyadri mountains who was on the spot to take the India to seek rights for chief guests while Chief Minister almost a year, according to a to Trimbakeshwar adds a blend of holy dip, expressed profound Devendra Fadnavis presided over release issued by the faith among lakhs of followers, grief at the tragedy and is person- CBI team meets a function at Nashik. Trimbakeshwar Purohit Sangh. especially those who come here ally monitoring relief and rescue developing Iranian gas field The Mela will see the spectac- On the occasion of flag-hoist- and take a holy dip during this operations. NEW DELHI, July 14: An oil ministry official said ular 'shahi snan' (royal bath), ing at Trimbakeshwar, a Naval auspicious transition known as A visibly disturbed Naidu, MP Chief Sec, DGP when seers and sadhus of various monitoring the situation from the lifting of sanctions would also chopper showered rose petals on Kumbh, said Rajiv Gangaputra, NEW DELHI, July 14: Buoyed by Iran's historic mean oil refiners will have to 'akharas' (sects) take dip in river in the sea of humanity that has gath- who belongs to a clan earlier control room, said, “This is very nuclear accord with world clear USD 6.5 billion in past large numbers following colourful ered for the mega event. authorised to take care of the unfortunate and shocking. I have The CBI team probing the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh powers to end sanctions, India dues on purchase of Iranian oil. procession, at Trimbakeshwar on After the ceremony, thousands Peshwa's temple here. (PTI) come here many times to review today met Chief Secretary Anthony JC de Sa and DGP Surendra will ask Tehran for rights to Since February 2013, August 29, September 13 and 25. arrangements to ensure smooth Sinh to discuss logistical support for carrying out investigation of develop ONGC-discovered Indian refiners like Essar Oil Nearly three lakh sadhus are conduct of the event. But some the massive recruitment and admission scandal. Farzad-B gas field in the and Mangalore Refinery and expected to be in Nashik and ‘Aks’ gave me my French problems cropped up in execu- CBI sources said Joint Director R P Agarwal, accompanied by Persian Gulf even as it prepares Petrochemicals (MRPL) have Trimbakeshwar for the religious tion.” another senior officer, held a meeting with the two top officials of to pay USD 6.5 billion in past been paying in rupees to UCO gathering. beard permanently: Amitabh The Chief Minister also the state administration. oil dues. Bank 45 per cent of their pay- Kumbh Mela is celebrated at announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 In order to carry out the large-scale investigation, the agency Indian firms have so far ment due on purchase of crude four places in the country depend- MUMBAI, July 14: lakh for the family of the will require logistical support from the state government, including shied away from investing in oil from Iran. The remaining ing on the positions of planets and deceased and said, if necessary, setting up offices, for which the meeting took place today. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s debut film “Aks”, a 2001 super- Iran for the fear of being sanc- has been accumulating, pend- stars. When Jupiter and Sun are in he would would remain in Sources said the team will be based in Bhopal through the natural thriller, completed its 14 years and its lead star Amitabh tioned by the US and Europe. ing finalisation of a payment zodiac sign Leo (Simha Rashi), it Rajahmundry for the next 11 probe. Bachchan recalled how he started sporting his French beard per- The same was deterring New mechanism. is celebrated in Trimbakeshwar, days. The 40-member CBI contingent headed by Joint Director R P Delhi from claiming rights to They had last year paid Nashik. manently after doing this film. Earlier in the day, Naidu, Agarwal had got down to work yesterday and held discussions invest nearly USD 7 billion in nearly USD 3 billion in six Besides, the Kumbh Mela is Bachchan, 72, who played a cop in the film, said after the film, accompanied by his wife and with Sudhir Sahi, head of the Madhya Pradesh police's Special the biggest gas discovery ever installments through a limited also held at Haridwar, Allahabad he decided to keep his famous beard. son, had taken the holy dip, Task Force (STF), which had investigated the scam before the cen- made by an Indian firm abroad. payment channel following (Prayag), Nashik and Ujjain. “14 years! AKS!! the film... These days you only read about where the river is full in its tral agency took over the probe under instructions from the But with Iran and six world start of nuclear talks between According to the Hindu mytholo- your time in past times... FACT !! It was only after making of expanse. Supreme Court yesterday. powers sealing an accord to the West and Iran. The out- gy, the drops of elixir fell from the ‘AKS’ that I decided to keep my french beard .. permanently !! Godavari ‘Pushkaram’, the Agarwal, a 1986 batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre IPS officer, is curb the Islamic Republic's standing has since climbed to 'kumbha' (pitcher) carried by gods BADUMBAA,” he posted on Twitter. ritual of taking holy dip in the posted as Joint Director, anti-corruption department, at the CBI nuclear programme in return nearly USD 6.5 billion. Of this, (produced after the sea was Aks revolved around two characters — Manu Verma river, is observed once in 12 Headquarters. for ending sanctions, India is Essar Oil owes about USD 3.5 churned) at these four places and (Bachchan) and Raghavan, a shadowy killer, played by Manoj years, but this time it is consid- A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu had making a renewed pitching for billion and MRPL USD 2.5 bil- bathing in the river there during Bajpayee. ered auspicious from astronomi- on July 9 transferred the probe of all Vyapam cases, including the rights to develop 12.8 Trillion lion. The rest USD 500 million this period 'cleanses' one all the Though the film did not do well at the box-office, it was well cal point of view as it is ‘Maha related deaths, to CBI. (PTI) cubic feet of gas reserves is to be paid by Indian Oil Corp sins. received by critics. (PTI) Pushkaralu’ which comes once in ONGC Videsh Ltd had found in (IOC). (PTI) 2008. "We have been in negotia- tions with Iran over develop- ment of Farzad-B gas field. Now that sanctions will ease, we expect Iran to give us the developmental rights," OVL Managing Director Narendra K Verma said here. Also, the easing of sanc- tions would mean India can freely buy crude oil from Iran. Sanctions had meant that New Delhi could import no more than 9 million tonnes of oil this fiscal, the same volume it had shipped from Iran in 2013-15. "We have just heard of the deal but we have not seen any details of when the sanctions will be lifted. We are awaiting more details to decide on crude purchases," a top official with a refiner which buys Iranian oil said. Donate money for AAP: Kejriwal NEW DELHI, July 14: Claiming that AAP had run out of cash, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today appealed to the public to pitch in with money to help run the party’s daily expenses, indicat- ing that its donations had taken a major hit. Kejriwal justified his public appeal saying that AAP does not intend to fill its coffers adopting “wrong means” and would like to be steadfast in its vow to practice honest politics. “After government forma- tion (in Delhi) whatever cash the party had is over. We need money to run the party, for its day to day expenses. “You may say he’s a strange CM. Asking for money even after becoming the CM. But this is the difference. If I had to earn money using wrong means I could have and there was no need to appeal. But I don’t intend to take that route of cor- ruption,” Kejriwal said. Incidentally, the AAP faced charges of accepting funds from dubious sources during the heat- ed electoral campaign earlier this year. “The public funded us, we never took any money under the table. We gave a record of every rupee we got,” he said. Kejriwal urged people to chip in even if the amount is as low as Rs 10. “Give us because even your Rs 10 would help us practice honest politics.” (PTI)