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Sreesanth, Chavan banned for life for IPL spot fixing
Sreesanth, Chavan banned for life for IPL spot fixing (IANS) / 13 September 2013 Rajasthan Royals cricketers S. Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan have been banned for life on Friday for their involvement in the spot fixing scandal in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Amit Singh and Siddharth Trivedi, who too have been found involved in the scandal, have been handed down bans for five years and one year respectively. The bans were announced by the disciplinary committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Young left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh has been let off with a warning while Ajit Chandila’s case will be taken up later. “Sreesanth and Chavan have been banned for life for their involvement in the spot fixing scandal. Amit Singh has been banned for five years while Siddharth Trivedi for one year. Harmeet Singh has been let off with a warning for not reporting to the authorities that the bookies had approached him,” BCCI vice-president Niranjan Shah told IANS. BCCI president Narayanaswami Srinivasan chaired the meeting with vice-presidents Niranjan Shah and Arun Jaitley, who were the other members of the panel. “The evidence was different against each of the accused. The decision of the disciplinary committee is binding. Since the decision is about the players, it need not be ratified by the annual general meeting or any other body,” Jaitley told reporters. The cricketers were caught in the IPL scandal and chief of BCCI’s anti-corruption unit Ravi Sawani recommended ban on them in his report submitted to the board last month. Sawani, a former chief of the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption unit, was asked to investigate the alleged involvement of Sreesanth, Chavan and Chandila in conceding a pre-determined number of runs per over in exchange for money during the IPL’s sixth edition which concluded recently. Continue reading
Peace prospects ride on weapons talks, says Kerry
Peace prospects ride on weapons talks, says Kerry (AP) / 13 September 2013 US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that prospects for a resumption in the Syrian peace process are riding on the outcome of US-Russian talks aimed at securing Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal that lurched into a second day. As American and Russian chemical weapons experts huddled in a Geneva hotel to haggle over technical details that will be critical to reach a deal, Kerry and Lavrov met a distance away with UN-Arab League envoy Lakdar Brahimi to examine political developments and plot a new international conference to support the creation of Syrian transitional government. Kerry, flanked by Lavrov and Brahimi, told reporters at the UN in Geneva after an hour-long meeting that the chances for a second peace conference in Geneva “will obviously depend on the capacity to have success here … on the subject of the chemical weapons.” Brahimi also met privately with Kerry at a Geneva hotel on Thursday to explore ways to resume international negotiations last held in Geneva in June 2012 aimed at ending the Syrian civil war. Lavrov said it was “very unfortunate that for a long time that the Geneva communique was basically abandoned.” Kerry and Lavrov announced they would meet again in New York toward the end of the month to try to fix a date for second conference. When the talks began on Thursday, Kerry bluntly rejected a Syrian pledge to begin a “standard process” by turning over information rather than weapons — and nothing immediately. The American diplomat said that was not acceptable. “The words of the Syrian regime, in our judgment, are simply not enough,” Kerry declared as he stood beside Lavrov. “This is not a game.” The talks were the latest in a rapidly moving series of events following the August 21 gas attack on suburbs in Damascus. The US blames Syrian President Bashar Assad for the use of chemical weapons, although Assad denies his government was involved and instead points to rebels engaged in a 2-year-old civil war against his government. President Barack Obama began building a case for support at home and abroad for a punitive military strike on Assad’s forces, then changed course and asked Congress to give him explicit authority for a limited strike. With the campaign for lawmakers’ building to a vote — one that he might well lose — Obama said on Tuesday he would consider a Russian proposal calling for international control of Assad’s chemical weapons and their eventual destruction. Obama dispatched Kerry to Geneva to hammer out the details of the proposal even as he kept alive the possibility of US military action. “We believe there is nothing standard about this process at this moment because of the way the regime has behaved,” Kerry said on the opening day of talks. The turnover of weapons must be complete, verifiable and timely, he said, “and, finally, there ought to be consequences if it doesn’t take place.” Lavrov seemed to contradict Kerry’s negative view of Assad’s offer to provide details on his country’s chemical arsenal beginning 30 days after it signs an international convention banning such weapons. Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations said that as of Thursday his country had become a full member of the treaty, which requires destruction of all chemical weapons. The Russian said the initiative must proceed “in strict compliance with the rules that are established by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.” That suggests Russia does not agree with the US that this is an exceptional case and that Syria should face tougher standards than other countries. “We proceed from the fact that the solution to this problem will make unnecessary any strike on the Syrian Arab Republic, and I am convinced that our American colleagues, as President Obama stated, are firmly convinced that we should follow a peaceful way of resolution to the conflict in Syria,” Lavrov said. The distrust in US-Russia relations was on display even in an off-hand parting exchange at the news conference. Just before it ended, Kerry asked the Russian translator to repeat part of Lavrov’s concluding remarks. When it was clear that Kerry wasn’t going to get an immediate retranslation, Lavrov apparently tried to assure him that he hadn’t said anything controversial . “It was OK, John, don’t worry,” he said. “You want me to take your word for it?” Kerry asked Lavrov. “It’s a little early for that.” They were smiling at that point. Shortly after making their opening statements, the two went into a private dinner. Assad, in an interview with Russia’s Rossiya-24 TV, said his government would start submitting data on its chemical weapons stockpile a month after signing the convention. He also said the Russian proposal for securing the weapons could work only if the US halted threats of military action. At a meeting in Kyrgyzstan of an international security grouping dominated by Russia and China, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Syria’s efforts have demonstrated its good faith. “I would like to voice hope that this will mark a serious step toward the settlement of the Syrian crisis,” Putin said. Even as diplomacy took center stage, word surfaced that the CIA has been delivering light machine guns and other small arms to Syrian rebels for several weeks, following Obama’s statement in June that he would provide lethal aid to the rebels. White House National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said the administration could not “detail every single type of support that we are providing to the opposition or discuss timelines for delivery, but it’s important to note that both the political and the military opposition are and will be receiving this assistance.” Continue reading
Four men given death sentences in India gang rape
Four men given death sentences in Delhi gang rape (Agencies) / 13 September 2013 A judge sentenced four men to death on Friday for the fatal gang rape of an Indian student on a bus last December, triggering applause inside the packed courtroom. Here is a timeline of the major events leading up to sentencing on Friday of four adults for the fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus last December. December 16, 2012: The physiotherapy student goes out for an early evening screening of the “Life of Pi” at a cinema with her male friend at an upmarket shopping mall in south Delhi. Unable to track down a taxi or auto rickshaw, they are tricked onto a white private bus at around 9:00pm which they believe will take them back home. Inside, a group of six draw the urtains, beat up and rob the male friend and then take turns in raping the girl as the bus drives around the capital. After more than an hour, the bloodied young couple are dumped by a main road leading to the international airport, narrowly avoiding death when the gang try to reverse over them with the vehicle. December 17: Police open a case and begin viewing CCTV footage from cameras fitted outside hotels, offices and government buildings. They identify a white bus with a missing wheel cap and “Yadav” written on both sides. The driver of the bus Ram Singh is arrested. Inside the vehicle, the seats and curtains have been washed. Police say forensic experts find strands of hair belonging to the victim and some of the attackers in the bus. December 18: Fuelled by wall-to-wall television coverage and front-page newspaper articles, large numbers of women, students and other protestors hold demonstrations as the rape victim battles for life on a ventilator. December 22: Police use batons, water cannon and tear gas on angry crowds who gather at the India Gate memorial in the heart of the city and outside the president’s official residence. All six accused have now been arrested and remanded in police custody. The government sets up an inquiry to suggest ways to enhance women’s safety in Delhi. December 24: Two Delhi police officers are suspended for failing to halt the bus at checkpoints designed to stop suspicious vehicles. Roads across central Delhi are blocked as protests continue. December 26: The gang-rape victim is airlifted to Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital after her condition deteriorates in Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi. In one of many operations, doctors in India remove her intestines which were damaged when she was violated with an iron bar. December 29: The woman dies from organ failure in Singapore, spurring more protests in New Delhi. January 28, 2013 : The Juvenile Justice Board declares one of the rapists is a minor, sparking a fierce debate about the criminal justice system for under-18s and demands for him to stand trial as an adult. February 2: The five adult accused are charged with a string of offences, including murder, gang-rape, kidnapping and robbery. They are sent to judicial custody in Tihar Jail. Three weeks later, the juvenile is charged with the same offences. March 11: Ram Singh, the main accused and a public hate-figure, is found dead in his cell after an apparent suicide. His family and lawyer allege murder. March 21: India’s parliament completes the passing of a tougher rape law which includes a provision for the death sentence if the victim dies. It also provides for a minimum 20-year prison sentence for gang rape. August 31: The juvenile suspect is found guilty of rape and murder and sentenced to three years in a correctional facility — the maximum possible sentence for the teenager under Indian law. September 10: The four adult suspects — Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and Pawan Gupta — are found guilty of all charges. The judge says they committed a “cold-blooded” murder. September 13: The court sentences to death Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Kumar Singh. Judge Yogesh Khanna told a court in the Indian capital that the case, which sparked widespread anger against the treatment of women in the country, fell into the “rarest of rare category”, which justified capital punishment. “In these times when crimes against women are on the rise, court cannot turn a blind eye to this gruesome act,” he said. As the courtroom burst into applause, the father of the 23-year-old victim told reporters that he was delighted with the sentence. “We are very happy,” said the father, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his late daughter. “Justice has been delivered,” he told reporters inside the court, flanked by his wife and sons. His wife said that her daughter’s “wish has been fulfilled at last”. One of the men, Vinay Sharma, broke down in tears as the sentence was announced, according to an AFP correspondent. All four suspects were teary eyed as they entered the cramped room to hear their punishment after they were convicted on Tuesday of a string of charges including murder and gang rape. There had been a huge clamour for the four — Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, and Mukesh Singh — to be executed for their attack on the physiotherapy student and her male companion on December 16. After prosecution lawyers argued on Wednesday the gang were guilty of a “diabolical” crime, the victim’s mother had implored the judge to hand down the death sentence. Police in riot gear maintained a heavy presence outside the court on Friday with the road leading up to the complex barricaded off. India had an unofficial eight-year moratorium on capital punishment until last November, when the only surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks was executed. Weeks later, a Kashmiri was hanged over his role in an attack on parliament a decade ago. During Wednesday’s hearing, defence lawyers argued Judge Khanna should resist “political pressure” and instead jail the gang for life, citing the youth of their clients, who are all in their teens or 20s. The gang’s relatives had also been pleading for their lives to be spared ahead of the announcement. Handing down his verdict at the end of a seven-month trial Tuesday, Khanna found the men guilty of the “cold-blooded” murder of a “helpless victim” whose fight for life won her the nickname of Braveheart. Feelings have been running high in a country disgusted by daily reports of gang rapes and sex assaults on children. A total of 1,098 cases of rape have been reported to police in Delhi alone so far this year, according to figures in The Times of India on Friday. That represents a massive increase on the 450 recorded in the same period last year, although campaigners say the rise reflects a greater willingness by victims to come forward after the December bus attack. Since the convictions, newspapers have printed graphic details of the onslaught against the student, including of the internal injuries she suffered while being violated with a rusty iron bar before being thrown naked off the bus. Her injuries were so severe that she died nearly a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital. Before her death she had briefly regained consciousness, telling family and friends of her desire to see her attackers burn to death. Lawyers for the men have already said they will appeal the convictions in the Delhi High Court, which will spell years of argument and delays in India’s notoriously slow legal system. In appeal, the defence is likely to advocate lesser sentences for some of the gang, and argue it was a “spur of the moment” crime and not premeditated. There was widespread anger after a juvenile who was convicted last month for his role in the attack was sentenced to just three years in a correctional facility — the maximum allowed by law. The gang all lived in and around Ram Dass Camp, an unauthorised slum in southern Delhi where former neighbours had called for their execution. “They deserve the harshest punishment… Reform is out of the question,” said Maur Singh, a one-time neighbour who promised to hand out sweets in celebration if the judge sent them to the gallows. Rattled by the mass protests, the government rushed through new anti-rape laws and ordered the trial be held in a special fast-track court. Continue reading
