Centre will not respond to RTI pleas on Netaji

The Home Ministry of India  has decided not to provide any details about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. It will instead ask applicants to visit the website netajipapers.gov.in, launched by the NDA government in 2015, which contains declassified documents on Netaji’s life and death.

The Ministry took the decision a month after it goofed up in a RTI response that “Netaji died in 1945 in a plane crash in Taiwan”. Later, it had to issue a clarification that the reply was based on a “conclusion arrived at by the then UPA government in 2006”, and it was willing to examine any new facts if they came up in future. “Since all the files and documents pertaining to Netaji have been declassified and are in the public domain, we have directed officials not to frame any response and instead direct them to the website,” a senior Home Ministry official told media in New Delhi.

Girl loses life at gate of U.P. CM’s office crashes on her

A nine-year-old girl lost her life  as an iron gate came crashing on her in an under construction part of the ‘Lok Bhawan’ building, which houses the Chief Minister’s Office in Lucknow, following which a probe has been ordered.

A compensation of ₹1.5 lakh has been announced for the victim’s family. Kiran was playing when the gate fell on her, police said, adding that the child was rushed to a hospital where she died while undergoing treatment.

Following the incident, the U.P. Rajkiya Nirman Nigam (UPRNN) has constituted a two-member committee to probe the death and submit its report within a week. Directions have been issued for the deployment of a security guard at the place where the incident occurred. The UPRNN also announced a compensation of ₹1.5 lakh for the kin of the victim, who would be cremated at her native place in Lakhimpur.

The ‘Lok Bhawan’ building houses the CMO where Cabinet meetings are held. A portion of this building is under construction.

Kenneth Juster to be U.S. Ambassador to India

Kenneth Juster, deputy director of National Economic Council, will be appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to India.  An announcement of his appointment is in process, but it may not come before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first meeting with President Donald Trump on June 26. Juster has been a strong advocate of India-U.S. partnership, and was the co-chair of the U.S.-India High Technology Cooperation Group set up during the George W. Bush presidency.

“Pak can’t recall Gen Sharif from Riyadh”,

Pakistan cannot recall former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif from Riyadh as he has taken the command of the 41-nation Saudi-led military alliance against the Islamic State in his “personal capacity”, the country’s top diplomat is reported to have said.  Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan prime minister’s adviser on foreign affairs, said Gen Sharif was not sent by the government to lead the alliance and therefore cannot be asked to return. News reports previously said the 61-year-old was granted approval by the government to serve with the alliance for three years.

Pakistan claims to have shot down Iranian drone

Pakistan has shot down an unmanned Iranian drone inside its territory in southwestern Baluchistan province, Islamabad.  The Iranian Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) crossed over the border Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

“The drone was hit by Pakistan Air Force as it was unidentified and was flying at around 3-4 kms (1 to 2.5 miles) inside Pakistani territory,” it said. The ministry said Islamabad has informed Tehran of its action. Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has been the scene of armed clashes in recent months between Iranian forces and Sunni militants. Tehran in April protested to Pakistan over a cross-border raid by armed rebels who killed 10 Iranian guards in the restive southeast. In Sistan-Baluchistan, security forces also frequently clash with drug traffickers. The province lies on a major transit route for opium and heroin being smuggled from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.