PM wants scholarship scheme for farmers' children successfully implemented in Karnataka: CM Bommai
New Delhi(PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked the Karnataka government to implement the recently launched state education scholarship scheme for farmers' children successfully so that it can be replicated in the rest of the country, Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai said on Thursday.
Bommai, who met the prime minister here, told reporters after the meeting that Modi also appreciated the state government's move to set up a panel to scrutinise government tenders, giving a plot for homeless people as well as the implementation of the New Education Policy.
The Karnataka chief minister is on a two-day visit to the national capital.
"The meeting with PM Modi was positive. Discussed in detail many issues especially related to administrative steps taken in the last 100 days after taking over as chief minister," he said.
Bommai said the prime minister "appreciated" the steps taken in the last 100 days, especially a scheme to provide education scholarship to children of farmers.
"He (Modi) asked the state to make this programme successful as it will help to replicate it in other states," he said.
In September, the state government came out with a scholarship scheme for the children of farmers to pursue class 11 and 12 as well as higher education.
Further, Bommai said Modi appreciated the state government for bringing in transparency in the public tendering process and said it should be implement it in each department of the government.
While discussing in detail the implementation of the New Education Policy in the state, Modi said there was a need to create awareness among teachers and students about the new policy.
The prime minister also asked the state government to bring changes in the Amrut (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) Scheme to meet the needs at the gram panchayat level, Bommai said.
Modi further appreciated the state scheme to give a plot to homeless people for construction of houses and suggested implementing it in phases at the gram panchayat level.
The prime minister also suggested the state to integrate this scheme with the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to address the challenges, the chief minister added.
When told that banks were not keen to provide loans to SC and ST women, Modi assured him that a direction in this regard will be given to banks to empower vulnerable women of this section, Bommai said.
During the meeting, the chief minister informed that the state government has plans to frame a new policy on R&D, employment, electric vehicles, renewable energy and aerospace.
To which, Modi said Karnataka has always been a forward looking state and asked the state government to be ahead in these sectors, Bommai said, adding that the prime minister also emphasised on the need to encourage R&D in less budget.
"He (Modi) gave several suggestions. He was satisfied with the work undertaken in 100 days. He asked us to do good work with confidence," Bommai added.
The chief minister said Modi has agreed to grace four programmes to be held in the state in December.
On Wednesday, Bommai had met BJP National President J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
