ACHR welcomes SC verdict on death sentence
Guwahati: The Asian Centre for Human Rights on Tuesday welcomed the judgment of Supreme Court commuting the death sentence to life imprisonment for 15 death-row convicts on the grounds of inordinate delay and mental illness. “This makes India to move an inch towards being an abolitionist state and India must now consider abolition of death penalty once and for all,” ACHR Director Suhas Chakma said in a press release today. The judgment will impact 414 death row convicts who remained in various prisons at the end of 2012. The maximum number of death row convicts at the end of 2012 were in Uttar Pradesh with 106 followed by Karnataka (63), Maharashtra (51), Bihar (42), Delhi (27), Gujarat (19), Punjab (16), Kerala (14), Tamil Nadu (12) while Assam, Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh each had 10 death row convicts, Chakma said. “Out of the 414 death row convicts 13 are women. Maharashtra had maximum with five followed by Delhi (four); Punjab (two); and one each in Haryana and Karnataka,” he said. In a landmark verdict that can come as a relief to many death row convicts, the Supreme Court today held that death sentence of a condemned prisoner can be commuted to life imprisonment on the ground of delay on the part of the government in deciding the mercy plea. (PTI)
Urban bodies elevated to corportation, municipalities
Agartala: On the statehood day of Tripura on Tuesday, Agartala Municipal Council was elevated to the status of a corporation, a minister said. “Not only Agartala Municipal Council has been promoted, 10 other nagar panchayats in the sub-divisions were also upheld,” Tripura Urban Development Minister Manik Dey said. When Agartala Municipal Council was elevated to the status of a municipal corporation, ten nagar panchayats became municipal councils to provide better civic services to the people, he added. Under the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya, which were Union Territories were elevated to the status of full-fledged states on Jan 21, 1972. Agartala, now having a population of about five lakh is spread over 76 sq km and is the second largest city in north eastern region of the country after Guwahati. Agartala Municipality, the oldest in the region, came into being in 1871 when the state was ruled by Manikya kings. The princely state of Tripura merged with the Indian Union on Oct 15, 1949. (PTI)
Crude bomb hits seven children in Tripura
Agartala: At least seven children, aged between 3 to 5, were injured in a crude bomb blast at an Anganwadi centre on Tuesday . Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Tapas Deb said the children were playing behind the centre at Indiranagar village of Melaghar in Sepahijala district of West Tripura when the bomb went off suddenly at the septic tank around 1015 hours. “Splinters of the bomb hit the children causing serious injury on their faces.They were immediately rushed to Melaghar hospital. They were later released,” Mr Deb said. Police have started investigation into the incident but nobody has been arrested yet. (UNI)