Legalising betting like 'enjoying rape': CBI chief Ranjit Sinha regrets statement after backlash

CBI Director Ranjit Sinha today expressed regret for his comments comparing the legalizing of betting in sports to 'enjoying rape', after a huge public backlash.

"I regret any hurt caused as same was unintended and inadvertent. I reiterate my deep sense of regard and respect for women and commitment to gender issues," Mr Sinha said today, stopping short of an apology in his third clarification since the controversy erupted yesterday.

India's top investigator was at a panel discussion in Delhi on Tuesday evening, trying to argue that if the state could not stop betting it should at least legalise it and earn revenue, when he drew the bizarre analogy, "If you can't prevent rape, you enjoy it." (watch CBI's chief's comment)

He tried to explain later that he "just used a proverb to make a point," but his use of the word 'proverb' for the distasteful comment did nothing to stop the deluge of outrage on social forums.

The CBI issued a clarification late last night and Mr Sinha tried to defend himself again today, saying, "I gave my opinion that betting should be legalized and laws cannot be enforced. That does not mean that laws should not be made. This is as erroneous as saying that rape is inevitable and one should lie back and enjoy it."

The CBI chief's epic blunder inflamed the social media and enraged many at a time the nation's rape debate - triggered by the fatal gang-rape of a medical student in a moving bus in Delhi last December - has been dominated by calls for sweeping changes not just in laws but in mindsets.

"The CBI director has rendered himself unfit to hold this office. Such an irresponsible and insensitive comment is simply inexcusable," tweeted Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.

"Unbelievable!" tweeted noted Bangladesh writer Taslima Nasreen.

CPI-M leader Brinda Karat said the CBI director should be prosecuted. "If the CBI director who is in charge of several rape investigations can trivialize it, it gives a very wrong message. He has no right to continue in office," Ms Karat said.

Tea set worth Rs. 1.5 crore owned by this BJP leader

Shivpuri:  Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashodhara Raje Scindia owns a dinner set worth more than Rs. 1.5 crore.

That's listed by the parliamentarian in her disclosure of assets that she has filed along with her nomination papers for the Madhya Pradesh elections.

The state votes on the 25th of this month.

Ms Scinda, who belongs to the former royal family of Gwalior, is currently a Member of Parliament but is now running for the state legislature from the constituency of Shivpuri.

Nitish Kumar an arrogant Chief Minister, says Narendra Modi in Chhattisgarh

Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh:  Narendra Modi today unpacked a litany of accusations against his political rival, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who he described as arrogant.

At an election rally in Chhattisgarh, which votes for its next government this month, Mr Modi configured an image of Mr Kumar as an uncaring chief minister "whose body language suggested happiness" after last month's serial blasts in Patna which preceded a massive rally held by the BJP leader.

Mr Modi, who is the BJP's candidate for Prime Minister, was not harmed in those explosions.  Six people were killed and 83 injured; the BJP has attributed the terror attack to the "gross criminal negligence" of Mr Kumar and his government. 

In June, Mr Kumar pulled the trigger on a 17-year alliance with the BJP over its decision to give Mr Modi the starring role in its campaign for the national election. After the Gujarat riots of 2002 in which more than 1,000 people were killed, Mr kumar distanced himself from Mr Modi, describing him as a polarizing leader.

In Chhattisgarh, the BJP and chief minister Raman Singh are seeking a third consecutive term in power. Mr Modi used a Naxal attack in the state in May in which several Senior Congress leaders were killed to compare and contrast the Chhattisgarh chief minister's performance to that of Mr Kumar's.

"Dr Raman Singh met the victims, instituted an investigation to look into the shortcomings of the government."  He added, "When the Bihar Chief Minister was questioned on the blasts, his arrogance was evident. See how an empathetic Chief Minister behaves and how an arrogant Chief Minister behaves."

Body of one of four missing ad execs found in river near Pune

Pune:  The body of one of four young advertising executives, who had been missing since Friday, has been found in a river near Pune.

The police said 28-year-old Chintan Buch's parents had identified his body.

The police believe that the car which the four co-workers were traveling in fell into the Neera River, 40 kms from Pune on the highway to Bangalore. Divers are searching the river today.

The three men in the silver Hyundai i-20 were headed to a holiday in Goa. En route, they were going to drop their female colleague to her family home in Kolhapur.

Their families reported them missing after their cellphones were unreachable.

The group was last seen on security cameras on Saturday morning as their car passed through a toll plaza near Pune.

The three people who have yet to be found are Pranav Lele, Sahil Qureshi and Shrutika Chandvani.

Rahul Gandhi responds to 'heckler' at a rally of Sarpanches in Jammu

Jammu:  Rahul Gandhi today faced a heckler as he addressed a gathering of village leaders in Jammu and Kashmir.

At a rally of Panches and Sarpanches - or village heads - the Congress vice president was speaking about the empowerment of local leaders, when he was interrupted.

"We are with you. But we demand that the state government gives us rights. We have been hearing about getting powers for the last three years, since we were elected, but we haven't got anything, all this is fraud. No one listens to us," a Sarpanch from the crowd shouted at Mr Gandhi.

The Congress leader paused in the middle of his speech to respond to the heckler. He said, "I have come here to listen to you. Why would I have come here if I did not want to listen to you? You have to fight. You have to put pressure on the state government. We are with you."

Omar Abdullah's National Conference rules the state along with the Congress.

The man who interrupted Mr Gandhi was Parikshit Singh, Sarpanch of Ramnagar. He later explained his action, "Many of our Sarpanches were killed by militants. No Sarpanch was given security but an MLA has been given the security of 50 guards. They did not let our voice reach Rahul Gandhi."

The Panches and Sarpanches were elected three years ago in historic Panchayat elections held after a gap of more than three decades in the state lacerated by militancy.

But since that milestone for grassroots democracy in Jammu and Kashmir, these leaders have been struggling for their rights, demanding more powers for local governance, while facing constant threats from militants.

Rahul Gandhi said to these leaders today, "Your future is most important to me. I will keep coming here and continue to fight for your rights till you get your dues."

Modi has enough security, Rajiv Gandhi didn't get even a sub-inspector: government

New Delhi:  The government and the main opposition party, the BJP, feuded openly today about whether security for Narendra Modi, who is running for Prime Minister, should be upgraded.

"I want to tell the NDA (the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance) that Rajiv Gandhi wasn't given the security of even a sub-inspector when they were in power. Maybe that's why he lost his life," said RPN  Singh, junior Home Minister.

The BJP-backed National Front government was in power when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991.

A glut of bomb blasts targeted a rally held by Mr Modi in Patna last month. Six people were killed and 83 injured in the explosions which ended before Mr Modi arrived at a large public park in the heart of the city to address tens of thousands of supporters.

Mr Modi is guarded by the Gujarat police and the National Security Guard, whose commandos are offered to chief ministers seen as high-risk targets like J Jayalalithaa.

After the Patna blasts, the BJP said that Mr Modi should be guarded by the elite Special Protection Group which handles the security of the Prime Minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her children.

Today, Mr Modi's party said it did not want to get into the specifics of what sort of protection should be offered to the 64-year-old prime ministerial candidate, but said the onus is on the Centre to work out the details.

"Our Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi must be given full security. He is a prime terrorist target and the government knows this - still they are not doing anything," said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.

After Mr Modi was declared the BJP's choice for prime minister in September, central intelligence agencies warned that different groups were prepping to target him, and therefore any state visited by him for election rallies or other meetings should be on high alert and ensure that the leader is given maximum security.

After the bomb blasts in Patna, the Centre decided that when he travels, his security arrangements will be closely coordinated between central intelligence agencies, the Gujarat Police and National Security Guard commandos who escort him, and the government of the state that is hosting him. This Advanced Security Liaison or ASL is similar to how the PM's security is handled.

Chinese businesswoman sentenced to death for cheating investors

BEIJING: A Chinese businesswoman was sentenced to death on November 5 for cheating investors of an "extraordinarily large" amount of $200 million, the second such case this year in the country.

The Inner Mongolia autonomous regional higher people's court in north China upheld the verdict of the Erdos intermediate people's court that sentenced 42-year-old Su Yenyu to death in January this year.

Su's personal wealth has been confiscated. She was accused of cheating investors of 1.23 billion yuan ($200 million) using high returns as bait, personally misappropriating 552 million yuan, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

"The amount of the fraud was extraordinarily large and caused significant damage to both the country and the people. In such cases the death penalty is mandatory," the high court said.

Su began her "illegal" fundraising in 2006, using the funds to invest in restaurants, health clubs, coal mines and farms, even buying lottery tickets worth 20 million yuan.

She burned all documents relating to her business between 2006 to October 2009.

She surrendered to police on September 20, 2011. Ren Wenxiang, a man who supported Su's endeavours, was sentenced to five years for fraud and fined five lakh yuan.

In May, a businesswoman in southeastern China was sentenced to death on charges of stealing $100 million from investors.

Erdos, an emerging city surrounded by vast grasslands, has made a fortune from large reserves of coal and natural gas in the past decade.