Gauri Lankesh's sister to oppose CBI probe
Bengaluru, Dec 27 : Slain journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh'ssister Kavitha Lankesh Thursday came out against any move to handover the probe in the case to the CBI, saying the Special Investigation Team of the Karnataka police had made a lot of progress, arresting 16 suspects.
Kavitha said if the state government agreed to the CBI probe, she would seek to implead herself in the matter in the Supreme Court and oppose it.
Her comments come in the backdrop of the apex court recently favouring CBI probe into the murders of Gauri Lankesh, rationalist M M Kalburgi and social activist Govind Pansare if there was a "common thread" in these incidents which occurred over the last five years.
"The SIT led by IG B K Singh and investigation officer M N Anucheth did a brilliant work byarresting the accused in the case. It filed two charge sheetsalso. When there is so much headway, it does not make anysense to hand over the case to CBI," she told PTI here.
However, Kalburgi's son Sreevijaya said he was having faith in judiciary and whatever it did will be in the best interest of his family.
"We will go by whatever judiciary feels good. At the end of the day we want justice in the case," he said.
On December 11, a bench of justices U U Lalit and Navin Sinha of the Supreme Court had asked the CBI, already probing the killing of social activist Narendra Dabholkar, to inform it by January first week whether it would like to investigate the three other cases also.
It observed that one probe agency should investigate all the four cases, if prima facie it appears that there is a "common thread" in the murders.
Earlier, the Karnataka police in its status report told the top court that there appears to be an "intimate connection" between the murders of Kalburgi in 2015 and Gauri Lankesh in 2017.
Gauri Lankesh was shot dead in front of her house here on September 5, 2017 and the SIT has so far arrested 16 people for their alleged involvement in the killing while two others are still at large.
Some of the people arrested in the case are allegedly linked to Sanatan Sanstha and its allied outfit Hindu Janajagruti Samiti.
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ISRO, TIFR sign MoU for collaboration in space science, tech, exploration
Bengaluru (PTI): In a landmark event for India's space exploration programme, ISRO on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with TIFR for scientific collaboration in the domain of space science, technology, and exploration, the space agency said.
The signing ceremony took place at ISRO Headquarters here, and was presided over by the space agency's Chairman V Narayanan.
In a statement, ISRO said that this event marks a historical milestone, as it establishes the formal framework for scientific collaboration between ISRO and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, organisations that have shared an "umbilical" relationship in space sciences for over several decades.
"While TIFR played a critical role in the formative days of the Indian space programme through early balloon experiments and mission-specific partnerships like AstroSat, this MoU provides a structured multi-year collaboration in ground and space-based scientific exploration of the outer space," the space agency said.
ISRO Chairman Narayanan in his presidential address stated that this MoU bridges a critical gap in the formal framework for science collaboration.
He highlighted that India is entering an era where science extends to exoplanetary study and the development of several national capabilities.
Collaboration between ISRO and TIFR would facilitate the materialisation of the nation's target to achieve excellence in space science in the global arena.
Ganesh Pillai, Scientific Secretary, ISRO recalled TIFR's role as the "cradle of Indian space scientists," noting its pivotal contributions to the early day's of the country's space programme, which paved the way to TIFR's contributions to the AstroSat mission.
Jayaram Chengalur, Director, TIFR emphasised that the institute will leverage national space and ground-based technological capabilities to propose projects that translate fundamental scientific knowledge into tangible advancements aligned with national initiatives.
According to ISRO, this partnership significantly enhances India's might in space exploration by fostering a seamless pipeline between academic excellence and space infrastructure. By co-developing indigenous hardware and joint testing facilities, the MoU reduces dependency on foreign entities.
Furthermore, this collaboration ensures that joint activities will place India at the forefront of global fundamental space science, it added.
