New Delhi:

The controversy over the CBI questioning Intelligence Bureau officer Rajendra Kumar in the Ishrat Jahan shootout figured in the consultative meeting of the home ministry on Tuesday with the BJP members stating that she and her associates killed in the incident were members of terror outfit Lashker-e-Taiba.

The issue was raised by BJP MPs Vinay Katiyar and Yogi Aditya Nath.

The BJP leaders alleged Ishrat Jahan was a terrorist as her name had figured in the website of LeT.

They said Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) move to prosecute Rajendra Kumar could breed ill-feeling among IB officials.

The BJP leaders said politicising the issue was wrong and made veiled reference to party leader Amit Shah being linked to the case.

He said Ishrat and her associates were members of LeT.

"She went to Faizabad and police is still making investigations about the family with whom she stayed," he said.

Mumbai college girl Ishrat Jahan, Pranesh Gopinath Pillai, Amjad Ali and Jishan Johar were killed by Gujarat Police in a shootout in Ahmedabad in 2004.

The CBI will file preliminary charge sheet in shootout case before the Gujarat High Court by July 4 and may seek more time to probe the conspiracy angle.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told the consultative committee meeting that the government has taken a series of steps to combat terrorism.

source:http://ibnlive.in.com

New Delhi, :

Congress President Sonia Gandhi flagged off trucks carrying relief material for Uttarakhand floods victims from the party's Delhi headquarters this morning.

She was flanked by her son and party vice president Rahul Gandhi as well as senior party leaders including Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

Meanwhile, rescuers have intensified their efforts to evacuate 10,000 people still stranded in flood and landslide affected areas of Uttarakhand.

The army, ITBP and NDRF will also launch a combing operation today in the affected areas to ensure that no one is left out in the devastated areas.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna had yesterday asked these agencies to initiate the combing operation.

The BSNL has opened toll free helpline numbers to trace the last location of BSNL mobile phones carried by tourists or pilgrims stuck in the hills. Helpline numbers are 1503 and 09412024365.

BSNL is also providing free phone facilities at all its telephone exchanges, telephone and control rooms at various locations to enable people to contact their families.

With Met Department predicting bad weather today, rescuers are making all out efforts to evacuate stranded people before any rain.

source:http://in.news.yahoo.com

New Delhi:

As Uttarakhand is trying to come to terms with the unprecedented devastation caused by flash floods and landslides, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party traded embarassing tweets on Monday.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari today hit out at the BJP Leaders of Opposition (LOP) Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley for not visiting calamity-hit Uttarakhand.

"H'onble LOP's have mindspace to critique govt proposals on CBI autonomy that are yet to be placed before SC but no time to visit Uttrakhand," he tweeted. Another tweet said, "Did anyone see LOP's in both houses express sympathy/visit disaster hit Uttrakhand This from a party that criticizes visits of. Cong leaders."

Replying to this, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj tweeted: "We did not go to Uttarakhand because Home Minister (Sushilkumar Shinde) made a public statement that our visit will hamper the rescue effort."

Shinde "went to the extent of saying that nobody including himself was allowed to land anywhere," added Swaraj.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was the only big BJP leader to visit the state.

Criticising the Government in Uttarakhand for not being "able to rise to the occasion", Swaraj tweeted that it ought to be dismissed for being "inept and incompetent".

She also targeted the UPA government at the Centre on the issue.

"Unfortunately, the Government in Delhi has also failed to provide the requisite leadership," she added.

This is the first time that the BJP has strongly and openly come out against the Vijay Bahuguna government on the issue of rescue and relief operations in the hill state.

Senior leaders of the main opposition had avoided any harsh comments and confined their demand to declaring the tragedy a national calamity.

"The truth is that I woke you up about the scale of tragedy when I spoke to Home Minister on 18th June and tweeted about this," she said.

Making a scathing attack on the Congress-led UPA government, she said the Opposition will not allow the government to get away lightly by accusing other parties of playing politics when they point out to the shortcomings of the regime.

"When we enforce accountability, you call it politics.We will not allow you this escape route to hide your failures," Swaraj said.

She maintained that the government has done nothing which it could claim credit for and all rescue operations have been done by Army, Air Force and ITBP at the cost of their lives.

The BJP leader said she salutes the efforts of the defence and paramilitary forces.

"What has your state government done? Nothing.The living are starving. The dead are being robbed. And you are patting your back.Those who cannot govern in crisis do not deserve to be in the government even for a day," Swaraj said.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Bhakta Charan Das told a news agency that he felt pity why "Sushmaji and Arun Jaitleyji", who are "responsible persons", couldn't discharge their responsibility and visited Uttarakhand.

Notably, there was still no clarity over the number of deaths in the flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, with a state minister on Sunday not ruling out an "estimate" of 10,000-plus and Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna putting the number of missing people at 3,000.

The incessant and intense rains that hit the hill state over three days from June 14 triggered flash floods and landslides, leading to hundreds of deaths and resulting in hundreds more going missing.

source:http://zeenews.india.com

New Delhi:

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh took a dig at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter saying "the VIPs should allow the administration to do their job in Uttarakhand instead of disturbing them with photo opportunity and doing politics".

Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party Saturday visited the hill state to meet Gujarati pilgrims stranded due to cloudburst and flash floods. "Modi is taking credit for people already evacuated by the administration and the troops," tweeted Digvijaya Singh.

Digvijaya Singh said that it was the biggest ever rescue operation undertaken in Uttarakhand with 100 helicopters and 10,000 troops, and more than 50,000 people have been evacuated.

source:http://ibnlive.in.com