SC issues notice to Salman Khan in black buck hunting case
New Delhi: The Supreme court on Tuesday issued a notice to Bollywood actor Salman Khan on Rajasthan government’s plea challenging a High Court decision which had stayed his conviction in a black buck hunting case. A bench headed by Justice S J Mukhopadhaya asked Khan, who was sentenced to undergo five-year jail term by a trial court, to file his response within four weeks. The state government approached the apex court against the order of Rajasthan High Court which had, on November 12 last year, stayed his 2006 conviction in the case and paved way for him to apply for a British visa. Under British immigration rules, any person convicted for more than four years is not eligible for a visa. Since the actor was convicted for five years, he was denied visa by the UK Embassy. The passports of Indian convicts are stamped with the word “convict.” Black buck is a protected animal and its hunting is a punishable offence. Khan was convicted and sentenced to one-year and five-year prison terms in separate cases of poaching of two Chinkaras at Bhawad and one black buck at Ghoda Farm (Mathania) on the intervening night of September 26-27, 1998 and September 28-29, 1998 respectively. The actor had approached the High Court in 2007 seeking a stay on his conviction by a trial court so that he could file a fresh application for a British visa. Besides Khan, actors Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam were accused of poaching near Jodhpur during the shooting of the film ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’. (PTI)
Govt to make Karnataka hunger-free: Minister
Bangalore: Karnataka would be made a hunger-free state while laying stress on the ambitious Re 1 per kg rice scheme “Anna Bhagya”, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said on Tuesday. “Our challenge is to make Karnataka a hunger-free state,” he said at a function to release a book on Anna Bhagya at the Vidhan Soudha, the state secretariat here. Referring to the skepticism expressed in different quarters, including the opposition, over efficacy of the scheme when it was introduced, he said, “the government proved it was possible to do it.” Rao Government has taken all measures to overcome the glitches in implementation of the scheme. He said an ‘Anna Bhagya Adalat’ is conducted at each of the fair price shops on the 7th day of every month to look into the grievances of beneficiaries. On every first week of the month foodgrains have to be made available at ration shops, he added. The government is purchasing foodgrains from various places, and the central government is giving only two lakh metric tonnes of foodgrains and three lakh MT was being provided by the state, Rao said. (PTI)
Police use force to disperse candidates for Fire Dept exam
Srinagar: Thousands of candidates who had gathered at Indore Stadium here on Tuesday to appear in a recruitment test for Fire and Emergency Department protested against authorities for ‘mismanagement’ in conducting the exam, following which police used force to disperse them. Around 10,000 candidates were called to appear in the written test for the appointments in the Fire and Emergency Services Department at the stadium. However, the irate candidates alleged that exam authorities did not have proper arrangements to accommodate all of them due to shortage of space, which resulted in a mess. The candidates alleged authorities in the department of being “irresponsible” and “unprofessional”. “The situation went out of control and police was forced to swing into action,” a police spokesman said, adding it also led to traffic snarls around the area. An aspiring candidate, Shabir Ahmad claimed, “The venue was very small to manage the huge number of candidates which resulted in the mess. The department should have made adequate arrangements.” (PTI)