Union Minister Javadekar defends cutting of trees for PM's rally
Mumbai: Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday defended cutting of trees for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's poll rally, saying such a thing was done earlier too, but more trees were also planted.
His remarks came a day after the opposition parties alleged that some trees on the campus of Sir Parshuram College in Maharashtra's Pune city were chopped on Monday for Modi's October 17 rally, which will be held on the college ground.
"Every time we cut trees, we plant more. It is a rule of the forest department," Javadekar told reporters here.
"And why is there so much fuss about cutting of trees for Modi's rally? Trees have been cut for rallies of others too, and for rallies of previous prime ministers. I wonder why there was no such awareness previously," he said.
On the issue of farmer suicides in Maharashtra, Javadekar said, "We inherited the issue from the previous (Congress-NCP) government."
"Farmers' suicides are happening only in five districts because there were no irrigation facilities," the minister said.
He also hit out at the NCP, blaming it for the current crisis in the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank. "The PMC bank crisis is a sin of the NCP," he said.
Following the discovery of an over Rs 4,000 crore scam at the bank, which has deposits of over Rs 11,000 crore, the Reserve Bank of India last month appointed an administrator over it, and capped withdrawals at Rs 1,000.
On Monday evening, the withdrawal cap was hiked to Rs 40,000, with the RBI saying that it will give relief to 77 per cent of depositors.
Javadekar also welcomed the BJP's demand of the Bharat Ratna for Hindu ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
The BJP's Maharashtra unit on Tuesday sought the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, for Savarkar in its manifesto for the October 21 state polls.
"We are happy that the manifesto has mentioned the demand that Savarkar and Phule duo (social reformers Savitribai Phule and Mahatma Phule) be honoured with the Bharat Ratna," the minister said.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
