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[] | 2016-08-26T13:29:16 | null | 2016-08-10T00:00:00 | An IED went off at about 9 am near off a BSF camp at Moirangpurel area, injuring a seven-year-old girl Tinoi in Imphal East district. | 7-year-old injured in IED blast targeting BSF camp in Manipur | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Ftwin-blasts-rock-manipur-explosions-near-bsf-camp-manipur-university%2F20160810.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2015/jun/04lead4.jpg | en | null | 7-year-old injured in IED blast targeting BSF camp in Manipur | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 10, 2016 14:48 IST
A child was injured in an IED explosion near a Border Security Force camp while a low-intensity blast caused panic near the Manipur University gate in Imphal East and Imphal West districts respectively.
A senior police officer said an improvised explosive device went off at about 9 am near off a BSF camp at Moirangpurel area, injuring a seven-year-old girl Tinoi in Imphal East district.
In the second blast near Leisang Hiden Lake, about 200 metres from Manipur University gate, a low-intensity IED blast caused panic in the area at around 12.35 pm but there was no injury or casualty as of now, a police officer of Imphal West district said.
The back-to-back blasts come at a time when security forces have stepped up vigil ahead of Independence Day. Underground outfits operating in the entire northeast have given a call for boycotting Independence Day celebrations, said an officer of the state home department.
On Monday last, two BSF personnel were injured at Kangpokpi area in Senapati district. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/twin-blasts-rock-manipur-explosions-near-bsf-camp-manipur-university/20160810.htm | en | 2016-08-10T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/60ba527e75620a7201a6f17730fcdf1b845b9dd0e893fad50adae449bab18f7f.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:37:20 | null | 2016-08-02T00:00:00 | Three Parliamentarians, including Bharatiya Janata Party's Maheish Girri, have asked the Lok Sabha Speaker to send Aam Aadmi Party MP Bhagwant Mann to a 'rehab centre', alleging he comes to the House 'intoxicated'. | Send Bhagwant Mann to drug rehab, Lok Sabha MPs write to Speaker | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2F-send-bhagwant-mann-to-drug-rehab-lok-sabha-mps-write-to-speaker%2F20160802.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/jul/28lead2.jpg | en | null | Send Bhagwant Mann to drug rehab, Lok Sabha MPs write to Speaker | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 02, 2016 21:36 IST
Three Parliamentarians, including Bharatiya Janata Party's Maheish Girri, have asked the Lok Sabha Speaker to send Aam Aadmi Party MP Bhagwant Mann to a "rehab centre", alleging he comes to the House "intoxicated".
AAP's Sanjay Singh reacted to the July 27 letter saying "personal attacks" have become all too predictable from BJP leaders. This came on top of an ongoing House committee probe into Mann's Parliament House videography issue.
"We would be grateful that Mann be sent on a rehab centre for drugs/alcohol deaddiction by the Lok Sabha on Lok Sabha expenditure and it is only after that he should be allowed to attend proceedings of Lok Sabha," the letter, also signed by Shiromani Akali Dal MP Prem Singh Chandumajra and suspended AAP MP Harinder Singh Khalsa, said.
A copy of the letter, addressed to the committee on breach of the security of Parliament House, was sent to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Girri said.
The MPs alleged that it is "common knowledge in the Parliament" that Mann remains under the influence of intoxicants or liquor and does not attend Parliament proceedings without being intoxicated.
"Such conduct of Mann is quite unbecoming of the MP who is a chosen representative of people and is considered a role model of his constituency. This reflects very poorly and denigrates the seat of a Member of this august house," it said. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/-send-bhagwant-mann-to-drug-rehab-lok-sabha-mps-write-to-speaker/20160802.htm | en | 2016-08-02T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/33c19de2c5be1a9db9796a083a136f91f45895dcf19ff2d1d27ee6bc01679e72.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:38:41 | null | 2016-08-04T00:00:00 | The death toll in Bihar floods today mounted to 64 with over 33 lakh people spread across 13 districts affected by the deluge. | Bihar floods: Toll mounts to 64, over 33 lakh affected | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fbihar-floods-toll-mounts-to-64-over-33-lakh-affected%2F20160804.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/04bihar01.jpg | en | null | Bihar floods: Toll mounts to 64, over 33 lakh affected | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 04, 2016 20:03 IST
The death toll in Bihar floods on Thursday mounted to 64 with over 33 lakh people spread across 13 districts affected by the deluge.
Purnia district has witnessed 26 fatalities, followed by 15 in Katihar and eight in Supaul, while the figure stood at five in Kishanganj district and four each in Gopalganj and Madhepura. Araria and Saharsa have accounted for one death each.
IMAGE: Flood victims move to safer place in Katihar district of Bihar. Photograph: PTI
Over 33 lakh people spread over 5.10 lakh hectares in 13 districts (Purnia, Kishanganj, Araria, Darbhanga, Madhepura, Bhagalpur, Katihar, Saharsa, Supaul, Gopalganj, Muzaffarpur, East Champaran and West Champaran) have been affected by the floods, the Disaster Management Department said in a statement.
Standing crops in 164 lakh hectares have been damaged with the value of loss being currently assessed, it said, adding a total number of 13,839 houses and hutments have been damaged in the floods causing a loss of Rs 264.10 lakh even as the assessment for damage to public properties was underway.
The flood situation continued to be grim with the Ganga flowing above danger mark at Kahalgaon near Bhagalpur, while rivers Ghaghra-Darauli, Koshi-Baltara and Koshi flowing above the danger mark in Siwan, Khagaria and Katihar districts respectively.
IMAGE: People wading through the flood affected area at Ijra Village in East Champaran. Photograph: PTI
The state government has pressed into service 1,333 boats for rescue and relief works, even as 6.41 people trapped in the flooded areas have been evacuated to safer places and 460 camps set up where 3.78 lakh displaced people have been sheltered. 58 camps have been set up for sheltering cattle.
A total of 224 medical teams have been deployed for treatment of the sick in the flood-hit areas, the disaster management department release said.
The state government has made arrangements for food and related materials comprising 7,551 quintal flattened rice, 1,333 quintal jaggery, 9.27 lakh litre kerosene oil, 54,955 polythene sheets and 2.15 lakh food packets for distribution among the flood-ravaged people. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/bihar-floods-toll-mounts-to-64-over-33-lakh-affected/20160804.htm | en | 2016-08-04T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/4169d55dca26c6cd5fa2f3133846bbea4c46d7f60c82076ee44be5ab4bb3e902.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:36:29 | null | 2016-08-05T00:00:00 | The Democratic presidential nominee has gained a whopping 15 per cent national lead owing to the recent gaffes made by her Republican rival. | Clinton's lead over Trump grows in new national polls | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fclintons-lead-over-trump-grows-in-new-national-polls%2F20160805.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/05clinton1a.jpg | en | null | Clinton's lead over Trump grows in new national polls | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 05, 2016 09:29 IST
The Democratic presidential nominee has gained a whopping 15 per cent national lead owing to the recent gaffes made by her Republican rival.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has gained a whopping 15 per cent national lead over her Republican rival Donald Trump, according to a latest poll.
Due to the recent gaffes made by Trump after the conclusion of two back-to-back conventions last week, Clinton now has the support of 48 percent of the potential voters as against Trump’s 33 percent, a new McClatchy-Marist poll said.
The poll conducted by Marist Institute for Public Opinion in New York said last month Clinton’s lead was 42-39 advantage over Trump.
“This is coming off the Democratic convention, where a bounce is expected,” Lee Miringoff, director of the institute said.
In another poll released by The Wall Street Journal/NBC News, Clinton was shown at a lead of nine points over Trump. In the previous NBC News/The Wall Street Journal poll, Clinton had an advantage of five percentage points over Trump.
According to the latest poll, Clinton enjoys a significant advantage among women (51 per cent to Trump’s 35 per cent), African Americans (91 per cent to 1 per cent), all non-white voters (69 per cent to 17 per cent), young voters (46 per cent to 34 per cent), and white voters with a college degree (47 per cent to 40 per cent).
Trump leads among white voters (45 per cent to Clinton’s 40 per cent), seniors (46 per cent to 43 per cent), independents (36 per cent to 32 per cent) and white voters without a college degree (49 per cent to 36 per cent).
The two candidates are running close among men at 43 per cent for Clinton and 42 per cent for Trump, the poll said.
According to RealClearPolitics, which keeps track of all major national polls, Clinton’s average lead over Trump now stands at 6.8 percentage points.
Image: : A Hillary Clinton supporter wears a campaign pin during an event at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds. Photograph: Sara D Davis/Getty Images | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/clintons-lead-over-trump-grows-in-new-national-polls/20160805.htm | en | 2016-08-05T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/169ea3d43fb5d4ae377ea29c2c1f5c3ab103a010169f8ca40b28613acb8cdc5d.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T22:51:55 | null | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | Jignesh Mevani of Dalit Samiti on Monday said the PM paid only lip service instead of reining in the cow vigilantes. | PM didn't do enough for Dalits in his home state: Mevani | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fpm-didnt-do-enough-for-dalits-in-his-home-state-mevani%2F20160830.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/30mevani.jpg | en | null | PM didn't do enough for Dalits in his home state: Mevani | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 30, 2016 02:29 IST
Una Dalit Atyachar Ladat Samiti, a Dalit organisation formed after the last month's Una flogging incident, said on Monday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not do enough to address their problems.
Modi would visit Gujarat’s Jamnagar district on Tuesday to inaugurate Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation Yojna. Modi had not done enough to ensure safety and well-being of the Dalits in his home state, the organisation said.
Jignesh Mevani of Dalit Samiti on Monday said the PM paid only lip service instead of reining in the cow vigilantes.
“Instead of staging protests during Modi’s visit, we want to register our protest by asking under what circumstances the so-called gau rakshaks became so fearless in Gujarat and in the country under his rule. Modi claimed he is angry over the Dalit thrashing incidents. But what’s the use of such statements when the Dalits are still being targeted?” he said.
He was referring to an attack on some Dalits while returning from a protest rally in Una town of Gir-Somnath district on August 15 in the wake of thrashing of seven Dalit youths at Mota Samadhiyala village on July 11.
“I want to ask him if he ever bothered to visit the home of a Dalit man subjected to atrocity or a Dalit woman subjected to rape,” Mevani said.
He alleged that the community still faces discrimination ‘right under the nose of the government’. He demanded agricultural land for the Dalits, so that they can give up traditional occupations like skinning the dead cattle or cleaning sewer lines.
“If Adanis and Ambanis can get thousands of acres of land for business, why Dalits are not given small piece of land to ensure they live a respectable life?...our agitation will not stop till our demands are met,” said Mevani.
IMAGE: Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, right, being honoured by Ambedkar Mahasabha in Lucknow. Photograph: PTI Photo | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/pm-didnt-do-enough-for-dalits-in-his-home-state-mevani/20160830.htm | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/873e8cc6b77aa4ad14bf86bcdb22bad763fb50ae8147b97c9cb7350c9bea055c.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:25:29 | null | 2016-08-15T00:00:00 | Hundreds of passengers at the John F Kennedy International Airport were on Monday evacuated from at least two terminals following reports that multiple shots had been fired in one of the US' busiest airport, triggering scenes of panic and chaos. | Panic grips JFK airport as reports of shots prompt evacuation | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Freports-of-shots-at-new-yorks-jfk-airport%2F20160815.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/15jfk1.jpg | en | null | Panic grips JFK airport as reports of shots prompt evacuation | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 15, 2016 14:55 IST
Hundreds of passengers at the John F Kennedy International Airport were on Monday evacuated from at least two terminals following reports that multiple shots had been fired in one of the US' busiest airport, triggering scenes of panic and chaos.
The Port Authority, which manages the city's airports, in an initial update said police had received reports of shots fired at Terminal 8 at JFK at about 9:30 pm local time on Sunday (7am IST), apparently near the departure area.
Just half an hour later, at about 10:15 pm (local time), Terminal 1 at New York's main airport was also "closed" after "additional" calls of shots fired were received.
The Port Authority said "the terminal was evacuated out of an abundance of caution" and there was "substantial presence" of New York Police Department at the John F Kennedy airport and LaGuardia airports as an investigation was launched.
Hundreds of travellers were evacuated from the terminals and several flights in and out of the airport were cancelled and diverted as a precautionary measure.
There were scenes of panic as authorities asked people to lie down and then asked them to evacuate.
However, after conducting a thorough search, police gave an all-"clear" and said emergency calls over shots at the airport were "unfounded".
"All terminals searched & cleared.Negative results. All affected terminals will resume operations shortly. No shots were fired," New York Police Department Chief of Special Operations Division Chief Harry Wedin tweeted.
Wedin said in an earlier tweet that police officials from New York City and the Port Authority, which also operates and manages airports in New Jersey, were clearing the departure areas at Terminal 1 and 8 at JFK.
"There is nobody shot. It appears that no shots have been fired," he said.
A preliminary investigation also showed no indication that shots were fired.
"Preliminary investigation does not indicate shots were fired at JFK. There are no injuries. At this time no gun shells or other evidence of shots fired has been found," the Port Authority said in a statement on its Twitter handle.
It also said that travellers should contact their carriers. It was not immediately known if there were any injuries or arrests as part of the incident.
Image: Members of the Port Authority Police Department stand guard at Terminal 8 at John F Kennedy airport in the Queens borough of New York City. Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Reuters | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/reports-of-shots-at-new-yorks-jfk-airport/20160815.htm | en | 2016-08-15T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/0530bc3430f222907be4ff62e5e97999400f676ce87d1a6353e505ea4ac762fc.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:32:09 | null | 2016-08-10T00:00:00 | The woman whose lone fight against the establishment all these long years has only the state machinery to keep her safe from the public whose cause she championed all this while. | Anger in Manipur over Irom Sharmila's decision | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Fspecial%2Fanger-in-manipur-over-irom-sharmilas-decision%2F20160810.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/10irom1.jpg | en | null | Anger in Manipur over Irom Sharmila's decision | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 10, 2016 09:37 IST
The woman whose lone fight against the establishment all these long years has only the state machinery to keep her safe from the public whose cause she championed all this while.
Rediff.com contributor Chitra Ahanthem reports on Irom Sharmila's decision to break the world's longest hunger strike and its aftermath.
IMAGE: A day to remember: Irom Sharmila breaks her 16-year fast with a dab of honey in the glare of the media. Photograph: PTI
When it came to the moment where Irom Sharmila was to break her 16-year-old fast in the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences complex, a few metres away from the hospital room where she had been kept in custody, it was an emotional moment, one she described as "a moment I will never forget in my life."
She asked for honey, which she put in her palm that she looked at for a long while, the tears streaming down her face even as she haltingly brought her face near to it.
As the cameras went into a frenzy, she took a drop of honey from her palm and put it in her mouth, making a face as she felt the taste.
Much before the moment of breaking her fast, unending drama unfolded at the complex of the court of the chief judicial magistrate (Imphal West). The first part of the drama was, of course, the media frenzy which swooped down to get the best pictures and visuals of Irom Sharmila being taken inside the court.
The frenzy was such that she had to be physically lifted inside the court complex by women personnel of the state police once she alighted from the ambulance that had brought her.
Inside the court room, when Lamkhanpau Tonsing, the chief judicial magistrate (Imphal West), brought up the case of the State of Manipur vs Irom Sharmila, she stood up and in a determined voice reiterated her decision to stop her 16-year-old fast, mentioning that her fight against the imposition of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act would continue, but that she had decided to change her strategy by breaking her fast and making a foray into politics.
When she was told that she would have to plead guilty to the charge of suicide against her, she said, "How can I plead guilty if I am not wrong?"
Sharmila also sought the magistrate's permission to address the media. Her only rider was that the media be seated in a room so she could speak to everyone. She was then asked to furnish a personal bond following which the proceedings went on for more than an hour as witnesses were still to depose.
At some point of time, two batches of four people who were involved in criminal cases ranging from murder to being caught with arms in their possession were also brought into the packed court room while medical and police personnel gave their testimonies.
When a restless Irom Sharmila requested a speedy process, the defence lawyer asked her in a curt demeanour, "Do you want to be free today or do you want to come back another day?"
When Sharmila replied, "I want to be free today," he shot back, "Then you will have to wait for all of this to be over."
By the time the court was in the process of preparing the formalities of freeing Irom Sharmila, it had been agreed that she would address the waiting media.
The second act of the drama unfolded as she was brought before the media which literally pounced and stepped on one another to be in 'breaking news' mode.
She was to speak while seated on a bench with 'table' that had been literally assembled from its old broken version placed before her. The 'table' had mikes and recorders placed on it, but in a matter of a few seconds, everyone was climbing and leaning on it, making the 'table' groan and creak ominously besides tilting towards Sharmila.
Seated beneath the table and less than an arm's length from Irom Sharmila I could not hear the few sentences that she was able to speak while the assembled media nearly came into blows.
Irom Sharmila had to be whisked off, which meant that thanks to the media behaviour, her freedom and the moment of her fast coming to an end was postponed some more.
'If the public is angry with my decision and resent it, you can kill me like Gandhi and Jesus Christ was killed. Let my blood wash away all their dark emotions and negative feelings.'
The third act of the drama was when representatives of women's groups in Manipur, who have rallied around Irom Sharmila every time she was released every year, started venting their anger and unhappiness over her decision.
'She should have continued her protest.'
'She should have consulted us.'
'She should have thought about the struggle that we have undertaken against AFSPA before she even took her fast.'
By this time, journalists reporting the story had taken the brief address Irom Sharmila had given to the media and taken it out of its context. Her statement that she would want to contest elections against Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi and that she would repeal AFSPA when she became chief minister was reported as 'I want to be chief minister and repeal AFSPA.'
By 3 pm, the next act had moved to the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences where security was tight but the media throng was a bit more organised. News then started to trickle in that the formalities for Irom Sharmila's release were being completed and she would address the media.
So she came, appearing in public for the first time without the nasal tube that had been her constant companion for the past 16 years. Surrounded only by the media and security personnel, she first addressed the gathering repeating that her fight against AFSPA would continue and that breaking her fast was a change in strategy.
"I am a true revolutionary. I do not want to be kept on a pedestal. Sixteen long years, I have been given the name Iron Lady while everyone else stays content that I am on my fast," she said.
"Many are saying that politics is dirty, so why should I take it up? I ask you this -- can politics be dirty on its own? Isn't society a part of the dirt associated with politics?" she asked.
"If 20 like-minded people emerge as candidates for the elections, we can bring about a change. I want to contest the elections against Chief Minister Ibobi. I want to be CM so I can repeal AFSPA," she added.
IMAGE: Journalists thronged to listen to what the Iron Lady had to say when she broke her fast.
Many of them asked her to repeat the act of breaking her fast so they could get 'proper visuals' and 'proper bytes.' Photograph: PTI
Commenting on her earlier statement that she had not got the kind of support that she was expecting for her cause, Irom Sharmila said, "Every year when I am set free for sometime, people come to greet me. It is like I am a spectacle to be seen with curiosity and then forgotten. When I first started my fast, the public said I was insane to do it. These long years, I remained cut off from everybody. I have to be free now."
Her statements included the following:
'If there had been a massive public support over my fast, AFSPA would have been repealed then. The narrative of my fast has in fact been misinterpreted. While I was fasting till the time AFSPA would be repealed, it is being described as an indefinite fast.'
'The martyrdom of Irom Sharmila is not what I want. I have become akin to Abhimanyu caught in the chakravayuh, unable to find a way out. If the public is angry with my decision and resent it, you can kill me like Gandhi and Jesus Christ was killed. Let my blood wash away all their dark emotions and negative feelings.'
'I do not want to be seen as a goddess. I am human and I want to be treated like one.'
In response to media queries on her future course of action, including where she would stay, Irom Sharmila replied that she would not go back to her house as she wanted to honour her earlier promise to her mother that she would come back only after AFSPA was repealed.
"I want to stay at an ashram, but it will take a few days to take a final decision," she said.
Asked what she had to say to the people of Kashmir who have been protesting against AFSPA, she said, "Let the people of Kashmir get their right to self determination."
For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Irom Sharmila had this to say: "His governance deals with violence and his only concern is for the happiness index of nations. He is a native from the place of Gandhi. Why cannot he govern with non violence?"
"Are you a woman in love?" one journalist asked. "Isn't that a matter of my personal choice?" she responded. "Isn't that normal?"
When it came to the moment of Irom Sharmila breaking her fast, there was no one to do the honour of the symbolical act of offering her the honey even though she had announced her desire for young students to be present when she broke her fast.
When she did beak her fast she did it alone just as she was alone when she first began her fast in 2000. The only difference was the media scrum that asked her to speak in Hindi and English or repeat the act of breaking her fast so they could get 'proper visuals' and 'proper bytes.'
The last bit of the drama is yet to unfold even as this report is being written. When Irom Sharmila was being escorted to the home of a former health official under whose care she had been (the official has since retired), angry residents of the neighbourhood stormed the ambulance she was in and forced her to change her plans.
Last heard from sources, she was being escorted to the JNIMS to stay under police protection, free at last from the State, but not free from the anger of the public.
What irony that the woman whose lone fight against the establishment all these long years has only the state machinery to keep her safe from the public whose cause she championed all this while.
REDIFF RECOMMENDS | http://www.rediff.com/news/special/anger-in-manipur-over-irom-sharmilas-decision/20160810.htm | en | 2016-08-10T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/07c83b30ed9837a2a2589c6216dac28d1adbaae4e8aabd2bcc227d7a4ef284ab.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:34:40 | null | 2016-08-07T00:00:00 | A young Muslim woman was fired from her job at a dental clinic for wearing a hijab | US: Muslim woman fired from new job for wearing hijab | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fus-muslim-woman-fired-from-new-job-for-wearing-hijab%2F20160807.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/07hijab.jpg | en | null | US: Muslim woman fired from new job for wearing hijab | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 07, 2016 15:22 IST
In a case of alleged discrimination in the United States, a young Muslim woman was fired from her job at a dental clinic for wearing a hijab as her employer wanted to keep a "neutral environment" in office.
Najaf Khan, who was hired as a dental assistant at Fair Oaks Dental Care in Fairfax County, Virginia, said she was fired from the new job because she wore a Muslim head scarf to work.
"I was really upset. The day that it happened, I was devastated," Najaf told NBC Washington.
She did not wear the hijab for her interview or on the first two days of employment. On the third day, she chose to wear it because Najaf felt that she would stay at the job and wearing it was part of her spiritual journey.
At work that day, she said the owner of Fair Oaks Dental Care, Dr Chuck Joo, told her to take off the hijab.
Joo told her that they wanted to keep a "neutral environment" in office. The employer asked her to remove it because the Islamic head scarf would offend patients and he wanted to keep religion out of the office.
Khan said Joo gave her an ultimatum -- she could continue wearing the scarf and be fired or work without it.
"When I said that I would not compromise my religion for that, he held the door open for me and I walked out," Khan said.
Joo was quoted as saying that open displays of religion are not allowed at his business because he wants to keep it neutral. If his employees want to wear a hat, it must be a surgical hat for sanitary reasons, Joo said.
Reacting to the case, the Council on American Islamic Relations said, "No employee should face termination because of his or her faith or religious practices. We call on Fair Oaks Dental Care to reinstate the Muslim employee and to offer her reasonable religious accommodation as mandated by law."
Najaf said she would likely refuse an offer to return to the dental office.
"I was astonished because he (boss) had been saying I had been doing so well. I received an email Friday morning (July 29) saying how much positive enthusiasm I was bringing into the dental office," she told Fox News. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/us-muslim-woman-fired-from-new-job-for-wearing-hijab/20160807.htm | en | 2016-08-07T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/ca8130312230173eb632d26662f1e63a05c7b311c0f687a768346e9c69564d10.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:34:23 | null | 2016-08-05T00:00:00 | 'Number two' in the cabinet Nitin Patel has emerged as a strong contender. | BJP to announce Gujarat's next CM today | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fbjp-to-announce-gujarats-next-cm-today%2F20160805.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/05lead3.jpg | en | null | BJP to announce Gujarat's next CM today | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 05, 2016 01:22 IST
The name of the next Chief Minister of Gujarat to succeed Anandiben Patel would be announced on Friday even as Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah held intensive deliberations with party leaders to finalise the candidate.
BJP's parliamentary board accepted Anandiben Patel's offer to resign on Wednesday at its meeting in Delhi, paving the way for appointment of a new chief minister to lead the party in 2017 assembly polls.
A meeting of party MLAs and office-bearers will be held on Friday evening at the BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar where the next CM would be announced, said state BJP president Vijay Rupani, who is also the state transport minister.
"Apart from Amit Shah, all the party MLAs, office bearers and our observers Nitin Gadkari and Saroj Pandey will remain present at the meeting," said Rupani, after holding a long discussion with Shah at latter's residence.
Shah, who arrived in the morning, has been busy holding meetings with state BJP leaders and ministers at his house.
Among others, he met state BJP in-charge Dinesh Sharma, national joint general secretary (organisation) V Satish, party treasurer Surendra Patel, education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and former state BJP chief R C Faldu.
Health Minister Nitin Patel, considered to be the front-runner for the job, was also present during Shah's meeting with Rupani.
When asked by reporters whether he would accept the post of CM, Patel evaded a direct answer but said, "Whoever is chosen by the party, we all will work together."
Dinesh Sharma, who arrived on Wednesday, engaged in hectic parleys with BJP leaders and ministers on Thursday. It is believed that he apprised Shah of his observations.
The names that are doing the rounds for the post are 'number two' in the cabinet Nitin Patel, Union Minister Purshottam Rupala and Assembly Speaker Ganpat Vasava, a tribal leader.
Rupani's name also came up early on, but he indicated on Wednesday that he was not in the race as he was happy with his current job. After this, Nitin Patel has emerged as a strong contender. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/bjp-to-announce-gujarats-next-cm-today/20160805.htm | en | 2016-08-05T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/45633c47d73f70751f289d563804226107e8ad5719b6942335af80d246deaec4.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:31:39 | null | 2016-08-09T00:00:00 | On the occasion of her breaking the world's longest hunger strike, Rediff.com reproduces this 2011 feature on the activist and her life. | The tragedy of being Irom Sharmila | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Frediff-archives-the-tragedy-of-being-irom-sharmila%2F20160809.htm.json | http://www.rediff.com/news/2011/dec/15sharmila1.jpg | en | null | The tragedy of being Irom Sharmila | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 09, 2016 19:13 IST
Irom Sharmila, the iconic activist who had not eaten a morsel for 16 years in protest against alleged army atrocities in Manipur, ended her epic fast on Tuesday.
After 16 long years, she is ready to take a different route to this goal. She has said that she will contest elections as an independent candidate.
On the occasion of her breaking the world’s longest hunger strike, Rediff.com reproduces this 2011 feature on the activist and her life.
IMAGE: Irom Sharmila arrives at the chief judicial magistrate's court in Imphal, where she is produced every fortnight. Photograph: Chitra Ahanthem
The Iron Lady of Manipur, who has been on hunger strike for 11 years against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, is an ordinary woman fighting an extraordinary struggle, finds Sumit Bhattacharya.
On the cloudy morning of November 30, as you sit in a car outside the chief judicial magistrate’s court in Imphal, the capital of Manipur, Delhi band Imphal Talkies N the Howlers’ song India, I see blood in your hands (external link) can play as the soundtrack:
India, have you ever crawled down enough to smell the soil of Kashmir...
India, have you ever heard of a lady named Sharmila?
Since November 4, 2000, Irom Chanu Sharmila has been on hunger strike against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Manipur. The AFSPA, applicable only in Kashmir and the northeast, gives India’s central forces sweeping powers including shooting anyone on suspicion of militant activity.
The government re-arrests Sharmila, 39, every year -- the maximum permissible term for attempted suicide, the charge she is arrested under. A fluid mixture of vital nutrients is pumped into her nose in her hospital ward prison cell to keep her from dying.
November 30, she is being produced in court, a fortnightly ritual in which she is asked questions -- including whether she wants to continue her fast -- and sent back to the hospital.
As the ambulance comes to a halt in front of the magistrate’s office, nine police commandos with AK47s get off from the Gypsy piloting it. Inside the new Tata ambulance sit a couple of constables, and Sharmila.
She is wearing a pink phanek, the sarong worn by almost every Manipuri woman. A grey shawl is wrapped around her, and from its depths emerges a tube that goes into her left nose. She looks at you, smiles, turns her head away quickly. It hurts to look at the tube, forget having it on for 11 years.
She gets off the ambulance and walks into the courtroom, where one of her brothers and people from her Just Peace Foundation sit with her in a huddle.
Interviewing Irom Sharmila involves a bureaucratic process that is too long for your stay at Imphal. So you are here to speak to her. But though you are the only journalist, you don’t want to intrude. This is the only time she gets with people close to her.
As she emerges from the courtroom, you request a Manipuri friend to ask Sharmila a question in the local language: What does she think of the politics of blockade, which has crippled Manipur as rival tribal groups fight over the proposed demarcation of the district and the government does precious nothing?
Sharmila walks up to you, and says in clear English: “I think the government is really deaf -- regarding governance.”
The nails on her big toes are long, light yellow. Her hair is thick black. She is pale. Impossibly thin. But frail she is not, her voice insists.
“The people, their suffering, our suffering, is known by the government and even then they won’t change... Misgovernance is the root cause of suffering,” she says, fiddling constantly with a piece of bare skin hanging loose from her chapped lips.
She looks into your eyes when she says: “They have no sacrifice.”
IMAGE: No one -- not even one of her many supporters -- has filed a PIL on the blanket ban on visitors to Irom Sharmila. Photograph: Chitra Ahanthem
On November 2, 2000, in Malom, Imphal, an Assam Rifles team was marching on Tiddim Road, which connects Imphal with Myanmar, when a bomb exploded in front of them. In return, according to eyewitness accounts, the paramilitary troopers killed 10 people who were standing at a bus stop.
Among them was a 62-year-old woman, and an 18-year-old boy who had won the National Bravery Award for children from the President.
When local newspapers published graphic images and banner headlines the next day, Sharmila took her mother Shakhi Devi’s blessings to fulfil what she said was her beholden duty. ‘Ima(mother), I am going to do something for the whole nation,’ is all she is supposed to have told her mother.
The next day she began her fast against the AFSPA, which gives soldiers immunity from prosecution for murder. Three days later, she was arrested.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the AFSPA will be replaced with ‘a more humane law’. Okaying the AFSPA for one more year, Home Minister P Chidambaram said he shared Sharmila’s ‘disappointment’. India’s new anti-corruption icon Anna Hazare has promised to visit her and support her cause.
She is at the centre of a strong women’s movement against militarisation of Manipur that is spearheaded by the Meira Paibis (literally ‘women with torches’) and Apunba Lup.
But in a country where angry public interest litigations have been filed about a Hollywood actor kissing a Bollywood actress, no one -- not even one of her supporters -- has filed a PIL against the blanket ban on visitors to Sharmila.
IMAGE: I n her hospital ward prison, Irom Sharmila reads books, writes, does yoga. Photograph: Chitra Ahanthem
“The security mania around Sharmila is insane,” says Babloo Loitongbam, at whose organisation, Human Rights Alert, Sharmila was an intern before she started her fast. “There is no precedent for it, except during the time of (the arrest of) Jayaprakash Narayan, and that too just for a few months. And this for a lady who has never killed a fly.”
Others recount an incident in the hospital ward when there were lots of ants on Sharmila’s bed. She was not bothered. ‘They are only ants, what will they do except bite,’ she is supposed to have said.
“She is a deeply spiritual person far removed from petty politics,” says another person who has known Sharmila personally over the years. “She will never ask for anything. Even the police who guard her respect her and love her.”
“She is an ordinary person undertaking an extraordinary struggle,” says Loitongbam. “She is very quiet, and extremely determined.”
In 2000, when they were gathering testimonies of victims of human rights violations for an ‘Independent People’s Inquiry into the Impact of AFSPA in Manipur’, Sharmila, Loitongbam says, “was the only person never absent for a single day.”
A case that moved her deeply, he says, was that of Mercy, a village headman’s daughter-in-law, who was -- according to a police case -- raped by Central Reserve Police Force personnel while her father-in-law and husband were held at gunpoint.
Sharmila gathered eyewitness accounts, statements, facts about the incident as part of her work.
IMAGE: Irom Sharmila's mother Shakhi Devi, left, has not met her youngest daughter for over 11 years. On right is Sharmila's brother. Photograph: Chitra Ahanthem
Irom Sharmila comes from a family of strong women. Her mother gave birth to nine children including Sharmila, the youngest, at 44.
Sharmila’s paternal grandmother Irom Tonsija Devi, who died in 2008 at age 105, fought in the second Nupi Lan (also called Nupilan or Nupi Lal) or 1939 women’s war against the British Raj. Sharmila’s father Nando Singh, a state government veterinary department clerk, died in 1989 of cancer.
Those who know Sharmila say she was an average student, and she was always interested in famous people -- Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King.
‘After completing school, Sharmila joined a course in journalism in the early ‘90s,’ writes Deepti Priya Mehrotra, author of Burning Bright: Irom Sharmila and the Struggle for Peace in Manipur,’ began writing articles and poetry, and worked with social organisations like the BlindSchool for Children, and Universal Youth Development Council. She attended seminars and workshops, coming close to several women’s organisations. In 1998 she attended a course in nature cure and yoga. In October 2000, she took up a month-long internship with Human Rights Alert.’
Alone in her hospital ward, Sharmila still does yoga. She is allowed to walk in the corridor too. She still writes poems and, rarely, statements she wants to transmit. She loves to read.
After she reads a book, she donates it to the Imphal Public Library, which has gathered a shelf of her books over the last 11 years.
IMAGE: Irom Sharmila with the soft toy Desmond Coutinho sent her. Photograph: Chitra Ahanthem
Sharmila is allowed and enjoys being written to, and quite a few people send her books. Some write to her too. Like Desmond Coutinho, the Zanzibar-born, Goan origin, European Union-passport holder man who caused a huge flutter in her life early this year.
Coutinho and Sharmila had exchanged letters -- among the things he sent her were a teddy bear and a Radha-Krishna painting -- and he fell in love with her even without meeting her. When he travelled to Imphal to meet her, he was seen by many as an ‘Indian agent’ out to kidnap Sharmila away from her struggle.
When the eastern Indian daily The Telegraph published an interview with Sharmila in which she said that she loved Coutinho and that her supporters did not allow him to meet her, it caused a furore in Manipur. Local groups burnt copies of the newspaper and banned it from the valley till the newspaper apologised.
Coutinho sat on a 36-hour fast to be allowed to meet Sharmila during the one-day window she gets every year outside her prison.
‘The man in charge of her supporters never relented and never gave permission for us to say our farewells,’ he told the Asian Window.
“Coutinho was insensitive to the cultural nuances, it was unfortunate,” says Babloo Loitongbam, who is a key person in Sharmila’s Just Peace Foundation. “Our position is that this is entirely her private matter, she is free to decide what she wants to do... Once AFSPA is removed... She is absolutely free to decide whether she should marry anyone.”
Coutinho did not respond to Rediff.com’s e-mails. Some said he does not want to put Sharmila in any more discomfiture.
Back at the Imphal courthouse, you realise you can get one more question in before the police commandos intervene. She seems taken aback by the question.
“What do I miss the most?” she repeats, as if no one has asked her that. Her eyes widen. She tries to say something, then laughs.
“Let it be,” she says, still laughing, before she gets back into the ambulance in one swift motion. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/rediff-archives-the-tragedy-of-being-irom-sharmila/20160809.htm | en | 2016-08-09T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/01c0ca14b0f682e48af23d27c165b8494fe023a0a9a79028e3a6ce534a9ef42a.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T16:51:17 | null | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | An ACB official probing the case said Dikshit has been asked to reply to 18 written questions within the next two-three days. | Tanker scam: ACB gives questionnaire to Sheila Dikshit | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Ftanker-scam-acb-gives-questionnaire-to-sheila-dikshit%2F20160828.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2013/nov/10lead11.jpg | en | null | Tanker scam: ACB gives questionnaire to Sheila Dikshit | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 28, 2016 21:47 IST
Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was on Sunday ‘examined’ by the Anti-Corruption Branch in connection with her alleged involvement in the multi-crore rupees tanker scam besides being handed over a set of 18 written questions which she has to reply to within the next few days.
A team of ACB officials visited Dikshit’s residence in Nizamuddin area and examined her for around 15 minutes with regard to procurement of 385 water tankers by the Delhi Jal Board in 2012 when she as the Delhi Chief Minister headed the body.
A top ACB official said the agency is planning to question Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Water Resources Minister Kapil Mishra who had formed a fact finding committee to investigate the alleged scam last year based on whose report the probe agency had started its investigation.
Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party had accused Kejriwal and Mishra of delay in sending the report of the fact-finding committee to the ACB.
“A team of officials also examined her apart from handing her the questionnaire,” ACB chief Mukesh Meena said. There are allegations that the government lost revenue in excess of Rs 400 crore due to alleged financial bungling in procurement of the tankers.
An ACB official probing the case said Dikshit has been asked to reply to 18 written questions within the next two-three days.
Dikshit, who has been anointed Congress’ chief ministerial nominee for Uttar Pradesh assembly polls slated for early next year, questioned the timing of the probe and said she conveyed to the ACB that she cannot reply to questions immediately.
“I told the investigators that I cannot answer any one of them (questions) soon as decisions were taken about four years ago. I do not remember all the details. They said I can take time to reply to the questions,” she said.
Rejecting the allegations, Dikshit said all decisions regarding procurement of the tankers were taken by a board comprising a number of top bureaucrats, DJB board members, officials of the civic bodies and representative of opposition BJP. She also criticised the Aam Aadmi Party government for making ‘baseless allegations’.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government had in June last year constituted a fact-finding committee to go into alleged irregularities in procuring some 385 stainless steel water tankers by the DJB. The Delhi government in June this year sent a report of the fact finding committee to Lt Governor Najeeb Jung following which an FIR was registered in case.
The ACB had then said it would question Dikshit in connection with the allegations. Dikshit had all along been maintaining that there was no corruption in the procurement of tankers and that the allegations were ‘politically motivated’.
After ACB examined Dikshit, Water Resources Minister Mishra alleged that the probe agency’s visit to her residence was a ‘mere formality’ and it is under pressure to save the former chief minister.
Mishra also accused BJP of ‘shielding’ Dikshit and demanded that she be arrested in connection with the scam.
‘I am the complainant in the case. ACB had summoned me to its office and I was questioned for over four hours in presence of over a dozen officials. There was cross questioning and interrogation and I was made to sign a statement then and there only,’ Mishra said in a statement.
‘But, on the other hand, they did not call Dikshit but went to her place and did not conduct any interrogation. They stayed there for twenty minutes, had tea, handed over a list of questions and left,’ he added.
Mishra has been accusing BJP of ‘shielding’ Dikshit in the case.
“This visit is a mere formality. Four separte cases of corruption are pending against Dikshit and still this kind of fear to act against her. The BJP is shielding her and the ACB is under pressure to save her,” he added. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/tanker-scam-acb-gives-questionnaire-to-sheila-dikshit/20160828.htm | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/95221f4b29da5f073e068e4689990dad4ca7f480495abb3552db19ccbcedc74d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:33:42 | null | 2016-08-09T00:00:00 | Here's a recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours. | REWIND: India in the last 24 hours | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fpix-rewind-india-in-the-last-24-hours%2F20160809.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/08rewind015.jpg | en | null | REWIND: India in the last 24 hours | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 09, 2016 13:41 IST
Here's a recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours.
A man takes out school bags from a bus which fell into a river after 50 children were rescued by locals during rains, at Bijolia in Rajasthan's Bhilwara on Monday. Photograph: PTI
A Kolkata police officer salutes West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as she leaves for Tripura at Howrah near Kolkata on Monday. Photograph: PTI
Jitendra Depuriya, a member of a vigilante group established to protect cows, hugs a cow, they claimed to have saved from slaughter, in Agra. Photograph: Cathal McNaughton/Reuters
The National Disaster Response Force tries to locate the remains of swept away vehicles using a Eco Source Sensor in Mahad on Monday. Photograph: PTI
Police try to stop National Conference MLAs and MLCs protest march against civilian killings in Srinagar on Monday. Photograph: S Irfan/PTI
Former Bahujan Samaj Party's Other Backward Class leader Swami Prasad Maurya with Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah after joining the latter's party in New Delhi. Photograph: Shirish Shete/PTI
A Kanwariya dressed as Lord Shiva takes part in a religious procession during the holy month of Shravan, in which devotees fast and worship Lord Shiva for the happiness of their families in Agartala. Photograph: Jayanta Dey/Reuters
Devotees whisper wishes in the ears of Nandi at the Shiva temple during the holy month of Shravan in Patna on Monday. Photograph: Amrit Jai Kishan/PTI
Security jawans conduct security checks during the 31st day of curfew and strike in Srinagar on Monday. Photograph: S Irfan/PTI
A combination photo shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP members looking at the vote counting panel during the voting on the GST bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday. Photograph: PTI
People carry their belongings as they wade through the flooded banks of River Ganga after heavy rains in Allahabad. Photograph: PTI | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/pix-rewind-india-in-the-last-24-hours/20160809.htm | en | 2016-08-09T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/cb09c3bb2c81fd1fd259c8dfa45626876306e6a0d810c0e63212bdf6288074dd.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T18:52:45 | null | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | John Kerry, US Secretary of State, who is here for the 2nd Indo-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue, said his country would want its civil nuclear cooperation with India to take shape in setting up of reactors. | India-US to advance talks on building six nuclear reactors | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Findia-us-to-advance-talks-on-building-six-nuclear-reactors%2F20160830.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2013/apr/18lead2.jpg | en | null | India-US to advance talks on building six nuclear reactors | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 30, 2016 23:35 IST
India and the US on Tuesday agreed to move forward on building six nuclear reactors and discussed ways to enhance cooperation in the field of atomic power and space.
John Kerry, US Secretary of State, who is here for the 2nd Indo-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue, said his country would want its civil nuclear cooperation with India to take shape in setting up of reactors.
"We have agreed now to move forward on six WestingHouse nuclear reactors which will provide energy for six million Indians, not to mention the enormous number of jobs (it will create).
"Our civil nuclear cooperation will bring affordable clean energy to tens of millions of Indian households as we move closer in the use of safe, modern latest generation nuclear power," Kerry said.
Under the Indo-US nuclear cooperation agreement signed in October 2008, two US companies would build 12 atomic reactors, each with a capacity of 1000 MWs.
However, the US has often raised concern about hurdles faced by American companies over a series of issues.
Its major concerns like the liability clause in the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 has already been addressed and talks between the WestingHouse Co, which will build six reactors, and the Indian side are on, sources said.
The two sides are also cooperating in the field of space. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/india-us-to-advance-talks-on-building-six-nuclear-reactors/20160830.htm | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/16c6d38f44b73fc0cf64337466c85ede2b890ee77cfaa86f5a6db607e2c30d42.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:20:32 | null | 2016-08-19T00:00:00 | United States Congressman's father is convicted of making illegal donations to his son's campaign coffers. | Ami Bera's father, 83, sentenced to year in prison | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fami-bera-father-83-sentenced-to-year-in-prison%2F20160819.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/may/11bera.jpg | en | null | Ami Bera's father, 83, sentenced to year in prison | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 19, 2016 09:18 IST
US Congressman's father was convicted for making illegal donations to his son's campaign coffers.
Rediff.com's Ritu Jha reports from California.
Babulal Bera, US Congressman Ami Bera's 83-year-old father, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison by Judge Troy Lynne Nunley of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, August 18.
Babulal Bera was charged with making an excessive contribution to his son's campaign and also with making campaign contributions in other people's names.
The octogenarian was not taken into custody, the court clerk at the Eastern District of California in Sacramento told Rediff.com
The court ordered Bera to surrender to the authorities on November 18.
A chemical engineer, Bera came to the US from Gujarat in 1958.
Judge Nunley also ordered that Bera, on his release from prison, be placed on supervised release for 36 months.
He was also ordered to pay a special assessment of $200 and a fine of $100,000.
Court documents stated that Bera utilised people across the country on a repeated basis and over the course of two elections to help his son Dr Bera, a candidate for a seat in the United States Congress representing California Congressional seats District 3 (2010) and District 7 (2012).
Dr Bera currently represents California's Congressional District 7 and is seeking re-election in November.
The court documents stated that Dr Bera received funds which were illegal contributions provided by his father.
Babulal Bera did not merely reimburse relatives who wanted to contribute, the court documents stated. He reached out to individuals in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Illinois among other states, and encouraged them to participate in his scheme.
He recruited bundlers to whom he provided as much as $25,000, and encouraged them to bring others into his scheme. In doing so, the court documents stated he was exerting considerable influence over members of his community and making them complicit in his crime.
Bera Sr orchestrated at least 130 improper contributions, the documents stated.
Between May, 11, 2009 and August 20, 2010 Bera and his wife Kanta Bera contributed $225,000 to his son's campaign committee. Beginning 2009 until 2010 they in full or part reimbursed contributions others made either in the form of funds or through a third party.
Congressman Bera has denied any knowledge of his father's actions.
After the sentencing, Dr Bera released this statement: 'This is one of the most difficult moments my family has ever experienced. My dad is 83 years old and my mom is 82 and Janine (the Congressman's wife Dr Janine Bera) and I are worried about both of my parents.'
'Of course, I'm absolutely devastated and heartbroken for how today's decision will impact our entire family,' the Congressman added. 'But my father has accepted what he did was wrong, he's taken responsibility, and I love him more than words can express.'
Reacting to Babulal Bera's sentencing, Robert Longer, California Democratic party delegate and legislative director for the Communications Workers of America, asked Congressman Bera to "resign immediately. He is unfit to serve."
"He knew what was going on," Longer alleged, "and let his 83-year-old father take the fall for him. How can he let him do this?"
"My first thoughts when I learned about it months ago," Longer said, "was that there was no way in my mind that Dr Bera was not involved in this."
"Dr Bera is a smart man. I know him personally and have had him at my home. I have worked with him and know he is a sharp and an intelligent man," Longer added. "In my mind there is no way at all that he had no idea that his father was engaged in illegal activity. So what I am saying is he is complicit."
Babulal Bera's sentencing may impact the vote in November. Dr Bera faces Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, a Republican, in the November 8 election.
'The District Court gave thorough and thoughtful consideration to the arguments of both parties in imposing sentence,' Acting United States Attorney Phillip A Talbert said in a statement. 'That sentence, which is significant given this defendant's age, sends a clear message that campaign finance crimes are serious offenses that will result in real consequences.'
'In imposing the sentence recommended by the government, the court balanced the serious nature of Bera's offence with the defendant’s advanced age and associated health issues. The court said the defendant's conduct was calculated and cuts to the heart of the integrity we expect of elections,' Talbert added.
'Mr Babulal Bera knew the law when it came to campaign contributions, but he tried to beat the system using straw donors,' Monica Miller, special agent in charge of the FBI's Sacramento field office, said in a statement.
'His sentence,' Miller added, 'demonstrates that the US government takes these crimes seriously and will spare no effort to defend the integrity of the electoral process which is the foundation of American democracy.'
IMAGE: Kanta and Babulal Bera with their son United States Congressman Dr Ami Bera. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/ami-bera-father-83-sentenced-to-year-in-prison/20160819.htm | en | 2016-08-19T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/abfb097e3c491ed013042dfc77d933fc0fa5c44dc2aac003712031017ee7d2b4.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:08:33 | null | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | RSS ideologue and former BJP general secretary K N Govindacharya talks about commemorating the deaths of naga sadhus and sants who were killed in police firing on November 7, 1966. | 'We want to pay respects to gau rakshaks who faced bullets' | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Finterview%2Fwe-want-to-pay-respects-to-gau-rakshaks-who-faced-bullets%2F20160826.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/25cow.jpg | en | null | 'We want to pay respects to gau rakshaks who faced bullets' | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 26, 2016 11:59 IST
'All gau-bhakts, of whichever ideological shade, party or banner, anybody and everybody is entitled to participate in the commemoration.'
'Most importantly, the programme has to be totally peaceful.'
On November 7, 1966, the Delhi police fired upon Naga sadhus who were marching from the Red Fort to Parliament to demand enactment of a law to ban cow slaughter. The police opened fire when the agitators broke the police cordon and entered Parliament.
To mark 50 years of the police firing, the Goraksha Andolan, founded by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue and former Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Kodipakkam Neelamegacharya Govindacharya, has organised a day-long event in memory of those killed in the incident.
Though newspapers widely reported the number of deaths in the police firing at six, it was strongly contested by Hindu organisations which believe that more than 200 sadhus and sants were killed that day.
Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com spoke to Govindacharya, image, below, who despite being the founding father of Goraksha Andloan, said that he will be attending the event in his individual capacity.
You are commemorating the deaths of sants and Naga sadhus who died in the 1966 police firing in 2016. What is the significance?
This is not the first time that we are organising a meet to remember the gau rakshaks (cow protectors) who were killed in 1966. Every year, big and small programmes were organised in Delhi's Ramlila Maidan to remember those who were killed.
For five-six years continuously Jagadguru Shankaracharya Madhavashramji Maharaj, who has his ashram in Old Delhi, along with the Godhan Sangh used to take the initiative for organising this commemoration.
Since 2016 is the 50th year of this brutal killing, it was decided that we should call all those individuals, groups and organisations together and hold a commemoration programme that will include some kind of havan, japam, moksha deepam.
We want to pay respects to the gau rakshaks who died.
But those who opposed cow slaughter and sought a ban on it did not die in police firing only in 1966. Before that too cow slaughter has been opposed continuously in India. So, this year's commemoration is nothing new.
You have said that more than 200 people died in the police firing. Do you have their names or list or any proof to substantiate your claim?
It was published in some newspapers at that time that around 249 sadhus and sants were killed in the police firing. This was the figure quoted in some newspapers during those days. I am not sure about the number (of deaths in the police firing).
Are you going to invite members of the Bharatiya Janata Party to be part of this commemoration?
All the gau-bhakts, of whichever ideological shade, party or banner, anybody and everybody is entitled to participate in this commemoration. But one has to act according to the discipline of the committee that is organising this event.
Most importantly, the programme has to be totally peaceful.
In the recent past there have been many violent attacks on Dalits and Muslims by cow vigilantes...
I won't like to comment on that. I wouldn't like to join this issue at all at present.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi too has made a statement against the violent cow vigilantism...
Again... I won't like to join this issue as well at present.
Would you be inviting the prime minister to this event?
I have not yet thought about it but I am not the organiser of this event. I will be participating as an individual.
Image: Members of a gau-rakshak group are pictured with cows they claim to have saved from slaughter in Agra. Photograph: Cathal McNaughton/Reuters. | http://www.rediff.com/news/interview/we-want-to-pay-respects-to-gau-rakshaks-who-faced-bullets/20160826.htm | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/6800b9e6bb8db788d81629218820d7c8df0a9db74788cb38873f42990197bd7a.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:32:48 | null | 2016-08-09T00:00:00 | Three more persons, including the main accused in the Bulandshahr gangrape case, have been arrested | Bulandshahr gangrape: Three including main accused arrested | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fbulandshahr-gangrape-three-including-main-accused-arrested-%2F20160809.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2014/sep/04rape.jpg | en | null | Bulandshahr gangrape: Three including main accused arrested | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 09, 2016 01:22 IST
Three more persons, including the main accused in the Bulandshahr gangrape case, have been arrested, taking the total number of those nabbed in connection with the incident to six, a police official said on Monday.
Declining to give details, he said that all the three accused were picked up by the police during raids.
Among them was the main accused Salim Bawariya, he said, but did not disclose the place from where the arrests were made.
These arrests are in addition to three persons picked up earlier.
Director General of Uttar Pradesh Police Javeed Ahmed had earlier said, "The names of other accused are almost clear and efforts are on to arrest them."
A group of dacoits had brutally raped the woman and her 13-year-old daughter at gunpoint after dragging them out of a car in Bulandshahr on NH-91 when they were travelling with their family from Noida to Shahjahanpur on July 29.
Later, another police official said the three accused were arrested from Meerut, after a week-long chase.
Uttar Pradesh Police had earlier arrested--Naresh (25), Bablu (22) and Rais (28)--and detained a dozen others after launching a massive hunt for the bandits suspected to be behind the crime.
Earlier, the Allahabad high court had sought to know from the Uttar Pradesh government on why the investigation in the gangrape case be not handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Directing the state government to file its reply by August 10, a division bench of Chief Justice D B Bhosale and Justice Yashwant Varma also sought a report on status of probe in the case, including the "criminal antecedents, social background and political affiliations, if any", of the accused persons.
The court has taken suo motu cognisance of the July 29 incident when a group of criminals waylaid a car, carrying six members of a Noida-based family on their way to Shahjahanpur in western Uttar Pradesh, and sexually assaulted a minor girl and her mother after dragging them out of the vehicle.
The Lucknow bench of the high court also sought within a week an appropriate reply from the Uttar Pradesh government on a PIL seeking a direction for a CBI probe into the case.
A division bench of justices Amreshwar Pratap Sahi and Vijay Laxmi passed the order on the PIL filed by NGO We the People through its general secretary Prince Lenin.
The court has listed the matter for further hearing on August 22.
The court had asked the petitioner to file details of the alleged irregularities in the case.
The petitioner filed a supplementary affidavit on Monday entailing therein the alleged lapses in the investigation and the factors which had led to the filing of the petition showing lack of confidence in the probe process.
The incident had sent shock waves across the country, rocked Parliament and led to widespread criticism of the law-and-order situation in Uttar Pradesh.
Apparently rattled by the outcry, senior minister in the Samajwadi Party government Azam Khan had remarked that he suspected a "political conspiracy" behind the incident, evoking widespread condemnation.
The Allahabad bench also sought to know from the state government whether it had any policy to ensure proper policing of the highways passing through the state and ensure safety and security of those who used these roads.
"When a person pays toll tax on a highway, he does not do so merely for using the road. After collecting the toll tax, the state becomes duty-bound to ensure safety and security of the payers," it remarked.
The court also added "We are not going to dispose of this petition at an early stage. We are going to monitor the investigation in the case. The investigators better take note and ensure that the perpetrators of the crime are brought to justice". | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/bulandshahr-gangrape-three-including-main-accused-arrested-/20160809.htm | en | 2016-08-09T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/8b9a67d109836384c556de7ffb4b44c977d9251b4a0f4c0bed3e7785772f223a.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:22:09 | null | 2016-08-18T00:00:00 | Suhag has filed an affidavit in Supreme Court, accusing the minister of trying to scuttle his promotion to the appointment of army commander. | Army Chief accuses Gen VK Singh of trying to block his promotion | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fvk-singh-tried-to-block-my-promotion-army-chief%2F20160818.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2014/aug/01suhag1.jpg | en | null | Army Chief accuses Gen VK Singh of trying to block his promotion | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 18, 2016 15:51 IST
This is the first time that a sitting army chief has spoken out against his predecessor.
In an unprecedented step of a serving army chief taking on one of his predecessors, General Dalbir Singh Suhag has alleged that he was “sought to be victimised” by General V K Singh (retired), now a Union minister, with the sole purpose of denying him promotion as army commander.
Gen Dalbir Singh made the allegation in an affidavit filed by him in his personal capacity while responding to a petition moved by Lt General Ravi Dastane (retd) who had alleged “favouritism” during his selection as the army commander.
“I was sought to be victimised by the then COAS with the sole purpose of denying promotion to the appointment of army commander. False, baseless and imaginary allegations of lapses were levelled against me in the show cause notice (of May 19, 2012),” Gen Dalbir Suhag said. V K Singh is currently the Minister of State for External Affairs.
“Despite their being no evidence against me at the Court of Inquiry, the show cause notice was issued malafidely,” he said, adding that, “no material whatsoever of attendant circumstances was provided to me. The show cause notice issued, beside suffering from vagueness, was premeditated and also against the principles of natural justice”.
Dalbir Suhag was placed under a discipline and vigilance ban by the then COAS V K Singh in 2012 for his alleged “failure of command and control” after a Court of Inquiry was ordered into an operation carried out in Jorhat, Assam on the night of December 20-21, 2011 by the 3 Corps Intelligence and Surveillance Unit.
Dalbir Suhag, who was the then General Officer Commanding of the unit, said that the imposition of DV ban upon him and issuance of show cause notice by the then COAS “was illegal and premeditated”.
“It is thus established that I was victimised for extraneous reasons by the then COAS and hence the illegal imposition of DV ban by the then COAS could not be made the basis by the apellant to challenge my appointment as GOC-in-C, Eastern Command. In fact, it is the answering respondent who is the victim and not the appellant, as is sought to be made by him,” he said.
The affidavit further said, “The passing of directions for initiating administrative action against me after about one month of having already finalised the Court of Inquiry smacks of a motivated, biased, arbitrary and malicious intent to punish me which the then COAS executed apparently as planned by him”.
Regarding the Jorhat operation, Dalbir Singh has said in his affidavit that “on that day, I was away on part of annual leave and rejoined duty on 26 Dec 2011”.
Dalbir Singh’s promotion as GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, with effect from June 15, 2012 was cleared by General Bikram Singh who had reversed the DV ban after V K Singh had retired on May 31, 2012.
Dastane has alleged in his plea that he was eligible to be the army commander but was denied the opportunity by General Bikram Singh who had favoured Dalbir Singh despite the fact that he was under a DV ban at the relevant time.
The ministry of defence, in its affidavit filed earlier in the apex court, had rejected Dastane’s contentions and had also censured the manner in which V K Singh had placed Dalbir Singh under DV ban. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/vk-singh-tried-to-block-my-promotion-army-chief/20160818.htm | en | 2016-08-18T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/b2845da9319580ca6529f7320848aad64a3404c4ab43b68927ad645fc1966693.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:25:17 | null | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | In the stone-pelting, SSP Doda, one SHO, one sub-inspector and two other police personnel were injured.
| Kashmir fire spreads to Jammu; 47 hurt in violence | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fkashmir-braces-for-friday-violence-mobile-services-snapped-curfew-imposed%2F20160812.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/12clashes1.jpg | en | null | Kashmir fire spreads to Jammu; 47 hurt in violence | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 12, 2016 22:21 IST
IMAGE: Police personnel chase away stone throwing youngsters during clashes in Srinagar on Friday. Photographs: PTI Photo
A magistrate, a senior superintendent of police and three other police officers were among 47 people injured on Friday as stone-pelting incidents spilled over from Kashmir to Jammu region where violence took place in Doda district.
Meanwhile, the authorities extended curfew to many areas of Kashmir and snapped mobile telephony as part of a bid to foil a march called by separatists.
In the valley, more than three dozen incidents of stone pelting were reported from different districts including Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian, Baramulla, Sopore, Kupwara and Bandipora, a police spokesman said.
35 people were injured in these incidents and the ensuing clashes after Friday prayers.
The violence spread from Kashmir to Jammu region with a mob turning violent after Friday prayers in Doda where some Muslim groups had called for a bandh and a protest march in ‘solidarity’ with the people of Kashmir.
“After Friday prayers, a mob turned violent and attacked the police party that was deployed in the town to maintain law and order and started pelting stones on them,” Deputy Inspector General of Police (Doda Range) Nisar Ahmed said, adding 12 people were injured in these.
“A duty magistrate who was there on the duty with the police was hit on head with the stones,” he added.
In the stone-pelting, SSP Doda Zahid Naeem, Station House Officer Uday Wazir, Sub-Inspector Kulbushan and two other police personnel were also injured.
To disperse the mobs, police used cane charge and lobbed teargas shells, leaving six protesters injured.
IMAGE: Masked youth throw stones at police during clashes after they defied curfew to protest against the killing of 57 civilians, in Srinagar on Friday.
In Kashmir, one protester was hit by tear gas shell in the head during clashes in Tangmarg area of Baramulla district. He was admitted to a hospital in Srinagar and his condition is stated to be critical, a police official said.
At least 12 people were taken to Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences Soura for treatment after they were allegedly thrashed by security forces during clashes in Ganderbal area of central Kashmir, the official said, adding all the injured were discharged after first aid.
“After Friday prayers, miscreants assembled at various places and tried to disrupt the vehicular movement. At most of the places the miscreants started pelting stones on moving vehicles, police and security force deployments,” the police spokesman said.
Police and security forces exercised utmost restraint despite severe provocations at a number of places, the spokesman said, adding many police and security force men were injured during these clashes.
At Arhama, Ganderbal, miscreants assembled on road and pelted stones on security forces. While tackling the situation six persons were injured, he said.
The spokesman said at Dooru, Tangmarg, about 300-400 miscreants assembled on road and pelted stones on police and security forces. Two persons were injured, one of whom was shifted to Srinagar, he added.
“At Uttrsoo, Anantnag, miscreants pelted stones on police and security forces. While dispersing the mob, four persons suffered minor injuries and were discharged after first aid from the hospital,” the spokesman said.
IMAGE: An injured youth being shifted to SMHS hospital after a clash between the security forces and protesters at Budgam in Srinagar on Friday.
Meanwhile, curfew was extended to many parts of Kashmir on Friday and severe restrictions were imposed in rest of Valley to thwart the march to Eidgah called by the separatists.
Curfew was in place in entire Srinagar district, Anantnag town, Shopian town, Baramulla town, Awantipora and Pampore towns of Pulwama district, an official said.
He said curfew was also imposed in Ganderbal town, Budgam, Chadoora, Magam, Kunzer, Tangmarg and Pattan areas of the Valley as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order.
Last Friday saw intense clashes between protestors and security forces at many places in the Valley after the congregational prayers. The clashes left three people dead and several hundred others injured.
The separatists had called on people to assemble at Eidgah in old city for paying tributes to those killed during the ongoing unrest.
Normal life remained affected in the Valley for the 35th consecutive day due to the curbs imposed by the authorities and separatist-sponsored strike against the killing of civilians in the security forces action.
As many as 55 people, including two cops, have died and several thousand others injured in the clashes between protestors and security forces.
Schools, colleges, business establishments, petrol pumps and private offices remained closed while public transport remained off the roads. The attendance in government offices and banks was also thin, the official said.
The mobile telephony services were snapped across telecom operators, except postpaid services of state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, at midnight as a precautionary measure to curb rumour mongering.
Mobile Internet services continued to remain snapped in the entire Valley.
The separatists have extended the shutdown call in Kashmir till August 18 and as part of the protest programme has asked the people to hold ‘referendum’ march at La Chowk on August 13 and 14. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/kashmir-braces-for-friday-violence-mobile-services-snapped-curfew-imposed/20160812.htm | en | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/760600cd7b96c1466ba8b502016a159ff860c26dd0083bc78e281e68da0101e4.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:21:49 | null | 2016-08-18T00:00:00 | Former Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily, a senior leader from Karnataka, said he has already conveyed his unhappiness to the state's home minister and would be 'questioning' Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too on the issue. | In Amnesty sedition row, it's Congress in New Delhi vs Karnataka Congress | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fin-amnesty-sedition-row-its-congress-in-new-delhi-vs-karnataka-congress%2F20160818.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/18amnesty1.jpg | en | null | In Amnesty sedition row, it's Congress in New Delhi vs Karnataka Congress | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 18, 2016 12:25 IST
The Amnesty sedition row has caused fissures in the Congress party with its Central unit criticising its Karnataka government for filing the sedition charge, saying it is “illegal and improper” and intended “only to silence the protest or resistance”.
Former Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily, a senior leader from Karnataka, said he has already conveyed his unhappiness to the state’s home minister and would be “questioning” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too on the issue.
“I talked to the Home minister of Karnataka. I told him, how it can happen? You know the sedition charge should be filed for conspiring and waging war against the nation and in fact it cannot be just invoked against mere sloganeering.
“And here in this case, filing the case against Amnesty International, particularly the case of sedition, I think it is illegal and improper and I think this is only to silence the protest or resistance. It amounts to violating the freedom of speech,” he said in Karan Thapar’s ‘To the Point’ programme on India Today.
Moily said the state home minister had “explained” to him that it is not intended like that and they are yet to investigate it.
“Of course, police have no option but to register a FIR against those who have been named in the complaint. But that doesn’t mean, just because the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad has filed a complaint on these charges, I don’t think the police is entitled to repeat it in their FIR without a proper investigation, particularly a charge like sedition, which is a very serious offence,” he said.
To a query, Moily said, “I will be questioning (the chief minister)” and request him to make an inquiry in this matter and that it should not happen again.
He said sedition charges are very easily and very casually being slapped in the country.
“I think it is the primary duty of the union home ministry to send the circular with regard to the sedition charges. How it should be filed and there should be proper guidelines. Otherwise anybody with a political motive or to put down the any dissent opinion in the democracy... It is against to the contrary to the highest value of democracy,” he added.
Image: Police stop ABVP activists at a protest against Amnesty International India in New Delhi. Photograph: PTI | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/in-amnesty-sedition-row-its-congress-in-new-delhi-vs-karnataka-congress/20160818.htm | en | 2016-08-18T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/b6f3d9a10a35fa266d0ce64d2dcbb3ba62b70ecd754dee384f9229ce022ddee1.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:17:10 | null | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | According to reports, several victims of the group have told the police that they were detained by the self-styled cow vigilantes, robbed, tortured and also sodomised by Satish. | 2 weeks after being booked, Gau Raksha Dal chief Satish Kumar arrested | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fgau-raksha-dal-chief-satish-kumar-arrested%2F20160821.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/08lead3.jpg | en | null | 2 weeks after being booked, Gau Raksha Dal chief Satish Kumar arrested | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 21, 2016 11:04 IST
The Patiala police on Sunday arrested Gau Raksha Dal chief Satish Kumar after he was booked on charges of abduction among other sections and mainly in connection with a social media video showing organisation members brutally thrashing and harassing people in the name of 'cow protection'.
Later in the day, he will be produced before the local District Magistrate court.
Kumar had been absconding ever since he was booked on August 8 under Section 377- Unnatural offences.
A case under sections 382 (having made preparation for causing death), 384 (committing extortion), 341 (wrongfully restraining any person), along with sections 148 and 149, of the Indian Penal Code was also registered, police said.
According to reports, several victims of the group have told the police that they were detained by the self-styled cow vigilantes, robbed, tortured and also sodomised by Satish.
The development came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had strongly rebuked cow vigilantes, saying most of them are 'anti-social' elements who are running 'shops' in the name of cow protection.
In his first comments on the violence against Dalits by cow vigilantes, Prime Minister Modi also asked the state governments to prepare dossiers on the so-called cow protectors as 80 percent of them do illegal activities at night and become cow protectors in the day.
"The people, who are troubled by the unity of the society, are in the name of 'gau rakshaks' attempting to create friction the society. I urge my fellow countrymen to be aware of such 'gau rakshaks'," he said. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/gau-raksha-dal-chief-satish-kumar-arrested/20160821.htm | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/b15b4fd5075b9b6c7f7229ab116747b88c62a26a62dab4bcd9062c7ef3aeefc1.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:29:35 | null | 2016-08-11T00:00:00 | Kurien adjourned the House till noon.
| Samajwadi Party protests in Upper House; forces 3 adjournments before noon | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fprotests-in-upper-house-force-3-adjournments-before-noon%2F20160811.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2015/dec/04rajyasabha.jpg | en | null | Samajwadi Party protests in Upper House; forces 3 adjournments before noon | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 11, 2016 13:39 IST
Samajwadi Party on Thursday forced three adjournments of Rajya Sabha in pre-noon session alleging discrimination by the Centre in releasing funds for Uttar Pradesh.
Slogan-shouting SP members trooped into the well of the House demanding an assurance from the Centre that it would release the share of Uttar Pradesh shortly.
Janata Dal-Untited members too trooped into the well charging the Centre with not implementing the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Bima Yojana (crop insurance scheme) in flood-hit Bihar.
Deputy Chairman P J Kurien first adjourned the House for 15 minutes and then till noon as uproarious schemes continued. The House was adjourned for the third time soon after it reasembled at noon.
Ram Gopal Yadav (SP) gave a notice under rule 267 seeking suspension of business to discuss the alleged discrimination against Uttar Pradesh, while Sharad Yadav (JD-U) gave a similar notice to raise non-release of funds for Bihar.
Soon after listed papers were laid on the table, Yadav said Uttar Pradesh chief minister and chief secretary have written several letters to the Union government seeking release of the state's share of funds.
Listing out schemes under which funds have not been released, he said Rs 1,425 crore for scholarship for 8 lakh SC/ST and OBC students had not been released, while Rs 4,742 crore compensation for hailstorm-hit areas was yet to come.
Out of Rs 2,780 crore sanctioned for UP from the Central Road Fund, only Rs 219 crore had been released so far, he alleged, adding that not even half of the money allocated under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana has been released, leading to stalling of projects.
Also, money under Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, higher education as well as scholarship for minorities and other backwards too had not been released, he said.
"If the Centre does not give an assurance that the due funds will be released in 2-3 days, the House will not be allowed to function," he said.
While Sharad Yadav (JD-U) said similar discrimination was being meted out to Bihar, his party colleague Ali Anwar Ansari said 2,300 villages in 14 districts were under water but the crop insurance scheme was not being implemented there.
Pramod Tiwari (Congress) raised a case of daring heist in a moving train when Rs 5 crore out of Rs 340 crore cash being sent to Reserve Bank of India from Salem in Tamil Naidu was stolen.
He asked how the cash transfer was being done without security and alleged complacency of RBI officials in the loot.
Soon after SP leader Yadav completed his submission, his party members trooped into the Well raising slogans against the government.
JD-U's Ansari after making his brief statement too joined them in the Well.
Kurien asked members to return to their seats and promised to allow them raise the issue so that the government could react.
But the members remained unrelenting. SP members also urged Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who was present in the House, to join them in the Well saying he represents Uttar Pradesh in Rajya Sabha and should stand in solidarity.
As the din continued, Kurien adjourned the proceedings for 15 minutes.
No sooner the House met after the brief adjournment, slogan-shouting members of Samajwadi Party again trooped into the Well.
A helpless-looking Kurien read out the names of 15 members who had to make their Zero Hour mentions.
"I am expressing my inability and apologies to them (members who were to make Zero Hour mention)," he said, as the members could not read out their statements amidst the vociferous sloganeering.
Kurien then adjourned the House till noon.
A similar scenario again prevailed when the House met for Question Hour at noon with SP members raising slogans alleging discrimination by the Narendra Modi government against the state of Uttar Pradesh.
As the disruption showed no signs of abating, Chairman M Hamid Ansari adjourned the House for half-an-hour till 12.32 pm.
When the House met at 12.32 pm, similar scenes were witnessed with Samajwadi Party members entering the Well again and raising slogans against the Modi government for "discriminating" against Uttar Pradesh.
They alleged that the UP budget was not being released by the Centre.
Uttar Pradesh goes to polls early next year.
All pleas by Chairman Hamid Ansari to allow the Question Hour went unheeded as SP members continued to raise slogans like "Uttar Pradesh ke saath bhed bhaav karna band karo" (Stop discrimination against Uttar Pradesh) and "UP budget jaari karo" (Issue UP budget).
Asking the members not to raise slogans, Ansari then adjourned the House till 2 pm, the fourth time on Thursday. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/protests-in-upper-house-force-3-adjournments-before-noon/20160811.htm | en | 2016-08-11T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/440c713d50504576ffbc02ffb070667bb7df34b393ed997e726f5763d2859f1f.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:35:41 | null | 2016-08-05T00:00:00 | On the night of December 16, 2012, Ram Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Mukesh and a juvenile had gang raped a girl in a bus and beaten up her 28-year-old male friend, who was with her. | HC refuses to lift ban on Nirbhaya rape documentary | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fhc-refuses-to-lift-ban-on-nirbhaya-rape-documentary%2F20160805.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2015/mar/05nirbhaya1.jpg | en | null | HC refuses to lift ban on Nirbhaya rape documentary | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 05, 2016 18:03 IST
Delhi high court on Friday refused to interfere with the ban on a controversial BBC documentary, 'India's Daughter' on the December 16 gang rape case, saying the issue of its telecast was pending before the trial court which was competent to deal with it.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath also did not go into the validity of an advisory issued by the Centre against telecast of the short film, saying that it was only an advice to private TV channels and the documentary was not shown because of the restraint order of the trial court.
"So far as the judicial orders of March 3 and March 4, 2015 (banning telecast of the documentary) are concerned, since the matter is pending before the competent court of law and more particularly the investigation is still in progress, the interference by this court either under Article 226 or under Article 227 of the Constitution is not warranted," the bench said.
The court also said, "It is apparent from facts borne out from the record that the advisory dated March 3, 2015, was a mere advice to the private TV channels. It appears to us that the documentary in question has not been telecast on account of the restraint order passed by the competent court of law.
"We, therefore, decline to enter into the various contentions advanced by the petitioners regarding the validity of the advisory issued by the ministry of information and broadcasting."
The decision came on the PILs by three law students seeking lifting of the ban on the documentary, which was shot inside Tihar Jail, on the ground that it was "a look at the mindset of one of the convicted rapists".
The bench disposed of the petitions while leaving it open to the trial court to proceed with the matter by following the due process of law and also granted liberty to the law students or any other aggrieved party to work out other remedies under the law.
On the night of December 16, 2012, Ram Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Mukesh and a juvenile had gang raped a girl in a bus and beaten up her 28-year-old male friend, who was with her.
While the girl succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012 at a Singapore hospital, the victim's friend, suffered grievous hurt in the incident.
The juvenile accused was on August 31, 2013 convicted and sentenced to three years in a reformation home, while four others were handed down death penalty.
The counsel for Delhi Government had earlier told the bench that video of the documentary was available on the Internet and no one's fundamental right was affected due to this.
The documentary was made by Leslee Udwin and was broadcast by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It was banned by the government after its contents, including the interview of one of the rapists who showed no remorse, triggered outrage.
Udwin had claimed that she took permission from the then Director General of Tihar Jail Vimla Mehra to interview Mukesh in prison for BBC. Police said it is probing the matter.
The Information and Broadcasting ministry had on March 3 advised all news channels not to carry the story related to the interview of one of the convicts in the gangrape case.
The trial court had restrained airing or broadcasting the documentary in March last year.
The police, in its application filed before the trial court, had said that Mukesh Singh, the driver of the bus in which the girl was gangraped, has made insulting, malicious and derogatory statements about women.
They had said if the interview is telecast, it might lead to widespread public outcry and serious law and order problem as had happened in the aftermath of the gangrape case.
Police had registered an FIR in the matter and thereafter obtained an order from the court restraining the media from broadcasting, publishing or transmitting the interview. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/hc-refuses-to-lift-ban-on-nirbhaya-rape-documentary/20160805.htm | en | 2016-08-05T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/78ea5a6c904e45daab5788e148234da220f52be40f15d059d9e014304ef07ea0.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:26:02 | null | 2016-08-14T00:00:00 | The four-year-old Labrador and her handler Bashir Ahmed War laid down their lives to prevent an infiltration bid by terrorists in north Kashmir. | Valiant dog 'Mansi', handler awarded for fighting militancy | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fvaliant-dog-mansi-handler-awarded-for-fighting-militancy%2F20160814.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/14dog.jpg | en | null | Valiant dog 'Mansi', handler awarded for fighting militancy | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 14, 2016 15:18 IST
The four-year-old Labrador and her handler Bashir Ahmed War laid down their lives to prevent an infiltration bid by terrorists in north Kashmir.
‘Mansi’, a four-year-old Labrador and a member of the army’s tracker dog unit, has become possibly the first canine to have been selected for a posthumous war honour, after she and her handler Bashir Ahmed War laid down their lives to prevent an infiltration bid by terrorists in north Kashmir.
Mansi was on Sunday honoured with the ‘Mention of Despatches’ certificate. Her name will appear in the Gazette of India for making supreme sacrifice for the nation.
War, her handler and a resident of Kupwara, was also posthumously awarded the Sena Medal as he died fighting for the nation while challenging a group of infiltrating militants in Tangdhar, 150 kilometre from Srinagar.
The duo had had a successful season last year with three kills to their credit. They were involved in the killing of a terrorist at Kaisuri ridge in Tangdhar area, followed by the gunning down of two militants on July 21 last year.
Mansi and War, of the 160 Territorial Army, were gunned down by infiltrating terrorists in August last year when they were posted in the dense forests where terrorist from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir made an infiltration bid in Tangdhar sector.
Part of the Army’s Tracker Dog unit, Mansi sensed a movement and started pulling War towards an area in the high mountainous jungles where the clouds where low.
As Mansi started barking at the intruders, she got shot by an enemy bullet, something which was enough to provoke her handler who started firing relentlessly at the intruders, besides calling for reinforcement.
War wanted to avenge the death of his canine friend whose care he had been taking since she joined the tracker unit.
Death could not part them, as War also soon fell to the enemy bullets, but not before the reinforcements had arrived and an operation mounted to kill the infiltrators.
Maintaining the highest tradition of Indian army, “when a dog is injured on the battlefield, the army jumps into action in much the same way as it would do in case of an injured soldier. Here we had two casualties -- the handler as well as the dog,” recalled a senior officer.
Mansi’s body was recovered and after documentations and post-mortem, a wreath was laid on her body. The mortal remains of the valiant friend of the army were laid to rest at her unit lines at Trehgam in north Kashmir.
Dogs have been the unsung heroes in the war against terror in Kashmir and have helped the army eliminate many dreaded militants. Their bravery has won them battle honours, ranging from the Chief of Army Staff’s commendation cards to the General Officer Commanding’s commendation cards.
Dogs attached with different counter-insurgency units have varied responsibilities in Kashmir. For example, trekker dogs are meant to help troops in anti-insurgency operations, guard dogs are responsible for guarding garrisons during the nights, while infantry patrol dogs help in bomb and IED detection.
-- Photograph is used for representational purposes only | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/valiant-dog-mansi-handler-awarded-for-fighting-militancy/20160814.htm | en | 2016-08-14T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/9dbe4eed2a197f4118e3b3f6cf379779df39d98e84752a180b7a82d4bf1edb6c.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:32:52 | null | 2016-08-10T00:00:00 | The racket came to light when the police were tipped off that a kidney transplant operation had been scheduled on July 14 at the privately-run Hiranandani Hospital where donor and recipient were not related. | Kidney racket: 5 doctors from Mumbai's Hiranandani Hospital arrested | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fkidney-racket-5-doctors-from-mumbais-hiranandani-hospital-arrested%2F20160810.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2013/nov/30lead1.jpg | en | null | Kidney racket: 5 doctors from Mumbai's Hiranandani Hospital arrested | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 10, 2016 03:16 IST
The Mumbai police on Tuesday arrested the chief executive officer and four other doctors of the L H Hiranandani Hospital in connection with an alleged kidney racket which came to light last month.
Mumbai Police's spokesperson DCP Ashok Dudhe said the five doctors were arrested on Tuesday evening.
CEO Dr Sujit Chatterjee, medical director Dr Anurag Naik, Dr Mukesh Shetye, Dr Mukesh Shaha and Dr Prakash Shetye were arrested under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, he said.
The racket came to light when the police were tipped off that a kidney transplant operation had been scheduled on July 14 at the privately-run Hiranandani Hospital where donor and recipient were not related.
The operation on Brijkishor Jaiswal, the recipient, was stopped as police found that the woman who was donating him the kidney was not his wife, contrary to the papers submitted by the duo.
The woman had pretended to be his wife only to be able to donate the kidney to Jaiswal, according to the police.
The police then started probing if anybody else had received kidney using similar subterfuge and if the hospital authorities were involved. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/kidney-racket-5-doctors-from-mumbais-hiranandani-hospital-arrested/20160810.htm | en | 2016-08-10T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/0bb52f8b447e342a51d61c40fa334f37ca5d31d1e67cba78e7a83ab39211a00b.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:26:18 | null | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | A R Rahman will be the second Indian artiste to perform at the UN General Assembly after M S Subbulakshmi. | A R Rahman to perform at UN on I-Day | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fa-r-rahman-to-perform-at-un-on-i-day%2F20160812.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/12subbulakshmi.jpg | en | null | A R Rahman to perform at UN on I-Day | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 12, 2016 18:30 IST
A R Rahman will be the second Indian artiste to perform at the UN General Assembly after M S Subbulakshmi.
IMAGE: M S Subbulakshmi, the legendary singer, performs at the UN General Assembly in 1966. Photograph: UN Photo/PAS
A concert by Oscar-winning composer A R Rahman will be held at the United Nations on August 15 to mark the golden jubilee of Carnatic vocalist M S Subbulakshmi's performance at the UN.
Rahman, only the second Indian artiste after Subbulakshmi to perform at the UN, will pay tribute to the legendary Carnatic vocalist at the world body's iconic General Assembly.
Subbulakshmi had been invited by then UN Secretary-General U Thant and the then Chef de Cabinet C V Narasimhan to perform at the UN in 1966.
The concert aims to 'perpetuate the memory of not only one of the greatest musicians India had ever produced but that of a greatest soul who lived a life of philanthropy and goodwill for all humanity,' S S Badrinath, chairman emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya, the trust that is supporting the event, told the media.
The trust plans to create a Chair for Music in Subbulakshmi's name at an American university, its president S V Acharya said.
The concert promises to be the high point of the Independence Day celebrations, which will include a flag-hoisting ceremony on Monday morning and India's Consul General in New York Ambassador Riva Ganguly Das ringing the closing bell at NASDAQ, a tradition for many years now.
IMAGE: A R Rahman. Photograph: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/a-r-rahman-to-perform-at-un-on-i-day/20160812.htm | en | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/87042095d12cd3598b83e06227c40cd59a31790818a40ac7384d942832dc4394.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:28:20 | null | 2016-08-14T00:00:00 | The 44-year-old iconic rights activist, who suddenly finds herself friendless and faces a hostile response from her supporters, acknowledged that people were unhappy with her decision to break her fast and enter politics. | No change in decision to enter politics: Irom Sharmila | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fno-change-in-decision-to-enter-politics-irom-sharmila%2F20160814.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/14irom.jpg | en | null | No change in decision to enter politics: Irom Sharmila | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 14, 2016 11:52 IST
Days after she ended her epic 16-year-long fast, Manipur’s ‘Iron Lady’ Irom Sharmila on Sunday said there is no change in her decision to take a plunge into politics, notwithstanding the opposition to it and hoped to make a “new beginning” in her campaign for the repeal of the contentious Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in the state.
The 44-year-old iconic rights activist, who suddenly finds herself friendless and faces a hostile response from her supporters, also acknowledged that people were generally unhappy with her decision to break her fast on Tuesday and enter politics.
The decision did not go down well with the civil society groups as well as the general public who have kind of abandoned her.
From her family to close friends and even neighbours, Sharmila faced protests by locals and also reported threats by some militant groups and ironically has returned to the same hospital which had been her home for 16 years.
“Yes, I want to become chief minister. If I am chief minister I can repeal the most unpopular AFSPA,” the feisty activist said emphatically when asked whether there is any change in her mind to take an electoral plunge following strident opposition to her move.
Assembly polls in Manipur are due in 2017.
“If people do not support me, I will go my own way,” she said but at the same time expressed confidence that she will have the backing of the public for her electoral bid.
Sharmila also disagreed with a suggestion that without any support of any political party it will be fruitless to turn to politics.
She has been campaigning doggedly for scrapping AFSPA clamped in the northeastern state after 10 civilians were killed by security forces in 2000.
“To end fast is not the end of my movement. There will be a new beginning,” Sharmila said.
Sharmila gave up her fast after a local court gave her bail on personal bond in a case of attempt to suicide under which she was arrested.
“People wanted me to continue the fast but I decided to end the fast. People may not be happy... It is up to them. Change of my mind (to end the fast) was due to lack of people’s support to my movement,” she said.
Sharmila said she will go wherever she wishes if people continue to be hostile to her but did not elaborate.
“I may go to a place and I will... as l desire,” an unfazed Sharmila said.
She also said people were having high expectations from her in continuing with her fast but added it is their problem if they did not approve of her decision to end the fast.
Sharmila replied in the negative when asked if she deviated from her campaign because of love and whether it was true if she was planning to get married.
There is widespread speculation that she may tie the nuptial knot.
Sharmila also said she was not bothered about any threat to her life following her decision to end fast and contest the elections. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/no-change-in-decision-to-enter-politics-irom-sharmila/20160814.htm | en | 2016-08-14T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/501b3e1de5ab90809c8c89eba32208d97cd049f266ce2a76fc9f2fb543d6c0d9.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:33:45 | null | 2016-08-08T00:00:00 | With Lone's death, the number of people killed in the unrest in the Valley, which entered the second month on Monday, reached 55, including two police personnel. | 55 deaths in a month, Kashmir continues to rage | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Ffifty-five-deaths-in-a-month-kashmir-continues-to-rage%2F20160808.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/08kashmir1.jpg | en | null | 55 deaths in a month, Kashmir continues to rage | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 08, 2016 11:51 IST
A youth injured during clashes on Friday succumbed at a hospital in Srinagar on Monday, taking the death toll 55 in Kashmir where curfew continued in many areas in the wake of violent protests since the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani in an encounter a month ago.
Amir Bashir Lone, a resident of south Kashmir’s Shopian district, succumbed to injuries at SKIMS hospital on Monday morning, a police official said.
He said Lone had received pellet injuries on his head during security forces’ action against protesters on Friday.
With Lone’s death, the number of people killed in the unrest in the Valley, which entered the second month on Monday, reached 55, including two police personnel.
Many parts of Kashmir, including several areas of summer capital Srinagar, continued to remain under curfew for the 31st day on Monday.
Curfew remains in force in six police station areas of Srinagar -- Nowhatta, Khanyar, Rainawari, Safakadal, Maharajgunj and Batamaloo -- on Monday as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order, the official said.
He said curfew was also in force in two towns of Budgam district -- Chadoora and Khansahib -- and Anantnag town.
The official said restrictions were in force in other areas of the Valley.
“Restrictions on assembly of four or more people continue to remain in effect in rest of the Valley,” he said.
There were reports of the army being called to maintain law and order in Sopore township of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. However, a police spokesman denied it.
“The army has not been called in but it is patrolling the peripheries of the town,” the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, normal life in the Valley remained affected for the 31st consecutive day due to the curbs imposed by the authorities and the separatist sponsored strike.
Schools, colleges, business establishments, petrol pumps and private offices remained closed while public transport remained off the roads.
The attendance in government offices and banks was also thin, the official said.
Mobile internet services continued to remain snapped in the entire Valley where the outgoing facility on prepaid connections is also barred.
The separatist camp has extended the shutdown call in Kashmir till August 12 and has asked the people today to block all roads around Civil Secretariat Srinagar, deputy
commissioners’ and Tehsil offices and ensure that no employee is able to join duty.
Kashmir has been rocked by violent protests after Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on July 8.
Image: Protesters hold sticks as they shout slogans during a protest in Srinagar against the recent killings in Kashmir. Photograph: Danish Ismail/Reuters
PLEASE READ: | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/fifty-five-deaths-in-a-month-kashmir-continues-to-rage/20160808.htm | en | 2016-08-08T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/12d9fb8a85d95d798ca905a4dc20f1512a1791d543ec1c57ea38f8bdaaf5dee5.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:24:47 | null | 2016-08-16T00:00:00 | The 'World Culture Festival' extravaganza organised by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living on Yamuna has 'completely destroyed' the riverbed, an expert committee has told by the National Green Tribunal. | Art of Living event 'completely destroyed' Yamuna floodplains, NGT told | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fart-of-living-event-completely-destroyed-yamuna-floodplains-ngt-told%2F20160816.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/mar/11aol-fine.jpg | en | null | Art of Living event 'completely destroyed' Yamuna floodplains, NGT told | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 16, 2016 20:57 IST
The 'World Culture Festival' extravaganza organised by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living on Yamuna has "completely destroyed" the riverbed, an expert committee has told by the National Green Tribunal.
The committee observes that entire floodplain area used for the main event site i.e. between DND flyover and the Barapulla drain (on the right bank of river Yamuna) has been completely destroyed, not simply damaged. The ground is now totally leveled, compacted and hardened and is totally devoid of water bodies or depressions and almost completely devoid of any vegetation.
"The area where the grand stage was erected (and the area immediately behind it) is heavily consolidated - most likely with a different kind of external material used to level the ground and compress it. Huge amount of earth and debris have been dumped to construct the ramps for access from the DND flyover and from the two pontoon bridges across the Barapulla drain," the expert committee, set up by the NGT, told a bench headed by Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar.
The tribunal had directed the seven-member expert committee headed by Shashi Shekhar, Secretary of Ministry of Water Resources, and senior scientists and experts from National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, IIT, Delhi and other agencies to inspect the site of the World Culture Festival held in March this year.
The committee, in its 47-page report, has said that due to the three-day event, the floodplain has lost "almost all its natural vegetation" like trees, shrubs, tall grasses, aquatic vegetation including water hyacinth which provides habitat to large number of animals, insects and mud-dwelling organisms.
"These organisms were rendered homeless, driven away by intense activity and many were consigned to graves under the debris. This is invisible loss of biodiversity which cannot be easily assessed and most may never be able to return. Far more significant changes are expected in the micro-organisms which are critical to ecosystem functioning," it said.
The report further states that construction of ramps and roads, alteration of water bodies and flattening of the ground has completely damaged the diversity of habitats.
"The physical damage in the floodplain and its wetlands include a change in topography which has a direct bearing on the diversity of habitats. Construction of ramps and roads, filling up of water bodies and levelling of the ground together with compaction have almost completely eliminated the natural physical features and the diversity of habitats," the report said. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/art-of-living-event-completely-destroyed-yamuna-floodplains-ngt-told/20160816.htm | en | 2016-08-16T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/2c1716f1bc3c84cccc60126ac655e355a575ea41483213e09eea4083907686b2.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:30:41 | null | 2016-08-11T00:00:00 | In all, 170 bathing ghats have been readied in Kurnool, Guntur and Krishna districts for the Pushkaram. | 3 crore devotees to take holy dip during Krishna Pushkaram festival | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fkrishna-pushkaram-3-crore-devotees-to-take-holy-dip-in-12-day-festival%2F20160811.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/11krishnapushkaram.jpg | en | null | 3 crore devotees to take holy dip during Krishna Pushkaram festival | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 11, 2016 15:40 IST
Krishna Pushkaram, the 12-day festival that comes once in every 12 years, begins on Friday with over three crore devotees expected to take a holy dip in the river across Andhra Pradesh.
About 3.5 crore people are expected to take a holy dip in river Krishna in three districts of Andhra Pradesh but over 80 per cent of this crowd will be performing the rituals in Vijayawada, the hub of Krishna Pushkaram every time.
Having successfully completed the interlinking of rivers Godavari and Krishna through the Pattisam Lift Irrigation Scheme, the state government now wants to embark on the next step to link river Krishna with Penna.
"We have interlinked Godavari and Krishna and now we have to extend it to Penna and later to Somasila. The ultimate objective is to make AP drought-free by the next Pushkaram," Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said.
In all, 170 bathing ghats have been readied in Kurnool, Guntur and Krishna districts for the Pushkaram.
A daily 'harati' programme will be organised at Ibrahimpatnam near Vijaywada, where the Godavari flows into Krishna. A host of cultural programmes involving top artistes have been lined up at various places.
The unique feature of Krishna Pushkaram this year is that its technology-driven.
The government machinery is making extensive use of various information and communication technology tools for effective crowd management and provision of facilities for the lakhs of pilgrims who throng the bathing ghats every day.
While the state government launched a website krishnapushkaram.ap.gov.in containing exhaustive information about the event, a GPS-based mobile application has also been launched for people to obtain information on ghats, the rush, bus services, etc.
Led by Krishna District Collector Babu A and Chief Minister's Joint Secretary P S Pradyumna, officials have developed a software application Kaizala, in collaboration with Microsoft that will act as an interaction tool between the multi-disciplinary teams that have been deployed for Pushkaram duties.
Krishna is one of the 12 large perennial rivers in the country. It originates in Mahabaleswar in Maharashtra and merges in the Bay of Bengal at Hamsaladeevi in Krishna district after traversing Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
"We have over 60,000 staff deployed for Pushkaram duties and communicating will become easier and quicker with this single application.It also has an inbuilt location-tracking system for monitoring deployment and movement of staff," Babu said.
For the first time in the country, the administration has also introduced child tracking services to easily locate children in case they go missing.
"We will tag every child entering a bathing ghat with a waterproof band that will have their mobile phone number. In case a child goes missing, the tag will help in easy identification of the child and the parents," Babu added.
The police department, according to Director General of Police Nanduri Sambasiva Rao, has installed 1400 closed-circuit television cameras at all vantage points for crowd and traffic management.
"We are also deploying 25 drones for live recording at all ghats. In all, 31,401 police personnel, including officers, will be on duty to ensure smooth conduct of the festival," the DGP said.
Besides CRPF personnel, policemen from neighbouring Karnataka, Odisha and Chhattisgarh were also deployed for bandobust duties.
A helicopter is being kept on standby for use in emergency.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams will provide free food to one lakh people while the Akshaya Patra Foundation will cater to another three lakh pilgrims every day during the 12-day festival, according to Pushkaram special officer B Rajasekhar.
The Railways, on its part, will be running 646 special trains from different places to Vijayawada while the AP State Road Transport Corporation will ply 2500 special services.
In Vijayawada city alone, over 700 city buses will be in operation to ferry pilgrims to bathing ghats free of cost. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/krishna-pushkaram-3-crore-devotees-to-take-holy-dip-in-12-day-festival/20160811.htm | en | 2016-08-11T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/6033cbd5ab0e7598d491869452e17c1082232753c86d89b785da320d5a393bbb.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:24:14 | null | 2016-08-17T00:00:00 | India's breakthrough in countering a 'dirty bomb'. | 'India's nuclear assets are very well protected' | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Findias-nuclear-assets-are-very-well-protected%2F20160817.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2012/mar/20nuke01.jpg | en | null | 'India's nuclear assets are very well protected' | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 17, 2016 08:42 IST
Also: India's breakthrough in countering a 'dirty bomb'.
In this new world order where the entire globe is threatened by terrorism, the fear of the use of 'dirty bomb' or an explosive laced with radioactive material is genuine.
A new technology developed by scientists at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai almost eliminates a big source of this threat.
In an interview with Pallava Bagla, BARC Director K N Vyas enlists what India has done to contain and minimise this threat of 'dirty bombs.'
Lately, there is a lot of concern among people about these things called 'dirty bombs.' What is this 'dirty bomb' and should people in India fear that? How is it different from nuclear weapons?
Let me just clarify one thing, a 'dirty bomb' is not an atomic device, but it has a tendency to harm human beings in the same way as all radioactive products do.
We use radioactive products like cobalt-60 for cancer therapy etc. Now, if one wants to create a nuisance, one may take this radioactive material used for medical purposes and put it into say TNT (trinitrotoluene), or some sort of an explosive device, and then whenever that explosion occurs, the radiation would spread.
So there is a bomb in which you place some radioactive material to make it a little more 'dirty'?
Yes.
Bombs are dirty, but this becomes dirtier.
Yes, so it is like this: Typically when you make some bomb and then you want to cause damage, you try to put some nails inside. So that they fly off and harm more number of people.
These radioactive materials are similar to that. They are put in the bomb and when it explodes, the whole area may get contaminated (with radiation).
The contamination can spread further. If there is very high wind (at the time of explosion or sometime later), then maybe the contamination will flow along with the wind, and as a result of that, the contamination will spread further.
But people must realise that while this 'dirty bomb' carries radioactive material, it is not an atom bomb.
So the explosion capability or the damage caused is considerably lower than what you find in a typical atomic bomb explosion like that of, say, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
For terrorists, the issue is not so much about creating a mushroom cloud, but to create a scare. How concerned should Indians be? Are Indian nuclear assets well protected?
See, basically nuclear assets in India are, in my opinion, very well protected. (The) ministry of home affairs is also taking very active interest in the protection of these things.
And then we have our BARC safety council, which is responsible for tracking the radioactive material being imported by various agencies in India, or distributed by BARC, for example.
So, as such, the possibility of radioactive materials getting into the hands of undesirable people, I personally feel, is relatively remote.
In addition to that, based on the directive of the MHA, we have made all over India locations where any radioactive material, if it is passing through the area, can be detected.
If any such incident takes place in the vicinity, we will be able to detect it, and correspondingly alert the authorities for taking corrective action.
So, what you are saying is that there is a group of people who are trained to look after instances of the use of a 'dirty bomb'? You can come to a conclusion fairly soon, if a 'dirty bomb' is used. Is that correct?
Yes, definitely.
So we have a radiation monitoring setup and also people who are trained, who can go to locations and figure out if there is a 'dirty bomb'?
Yes. Yes.
Can Indians be rest assured that if a 'dirty bomb' is used, you will track it and contain it? It that correct?
Once again, let me just make it clear. All over India,we have many locations, if there is a spread taking place, we will come to know.
But, let us say, if that particular place is 500 km away from that place where we have kept this particular monitoring station, definitely it will be difficult.
But at the same time, all the entry points, like airports, seaports etc we have put the detectors, so that an entry from anywhere, we'll be in a position to immediately verify and then confiscate the material if it is an unauthorised material.
People are not so worried about the nuclear material, which lies in the custody of nuclear scientists. They are more worried about nuclear material which lies in hospitals, in industrial units, like cesium and cobalt-60.
Is there something, which you have done to make cesium less susceptible to be used as a 'dirty bomb'?
See typically, cesium is being used in a form of a salt. Now, as you know, salt, supposing it is encased in a stainless steel capsule, it can easily be dispersed outside.
But just a couple of years ago, a programme was started and last year we made vitrified cesium into pencils.
Vitrified, meaning it is put in a form of a glass?
Yes, so supposing when you do glass pouring. Molten glass is poured into a particular shape, so molten glass is mixed with the cesium material and then it is put into a matrix of glass.
So, like other countries, where it (cesium) is used in powder form and you can mix it in water and use in a sprayer and spread over a city that is not possible to do in glass matrix since glass does not dissolve in water?
If you have this technology, this particular technology has been mastered very recently in India. So, in future whatever pencils will be generated for cesium, we propose that we will encase it in a glass matrix.
So we have found a technological solution for what could be a problem of creating a dirty bomb. Is that correct?
Correct.
So, here we have done something, which would protect our citizens against a 'dirty bomb'.
Yes, we have. I would say it's quite a novel idea which has been used by us and the world has taken note of that. That, yes, this is a genuinely good idea. And we hope that, in the rest of the world the same philosophy is continued and adopted.
But lay people will not get to know that a radiation incident has happened?
No, it won't be like this. The Government of India has taken steps to identify which are those locations. And the number of locations will still increase with time.
And there is you can say 24 hours vigil, so the moment there is any such incident using a 'dirty bomb,' we will be in a position to know.
REDIFF RECOMMENDS | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/indias-nuclear-assets-are-very-well-protected/20160817.htm | en | 2016-08-17T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/f0909a16e9f4545ff84e9af1e1b83655c0df0f8c5c47046efec7654a0670c472.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:12:09 | null | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | His tweet came after media reports said that he took a U-turn on his remarks. | Stand by every word I said about RSS: Rahul | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fstand-by-every-word-i-said-about-rss-rahul%2F20160825.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/jul/23rahul.jpg | en | null | Stand by every word I said about RSS: Rahul | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 25, 2016 19:43 IST
Dismissing suggestions that he had made a U-turn on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s role in killing Mahatma Gandhi, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday insisted that he stood by ‘every single word’ said by him.
‘I will never stop fighting the hateful & divisive agenda of the RSS. I stand by every single word I said,’ he tweeted.
His tweet came after media reports said that he took a U-turn on Wednesday when he told the Supreme Court that he did not ever blame the RSS for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi but had only said that a ‘few individuals in the organisation’ were responsible for it.
Before Rahul’s tweet, Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said in the morning that wisdom had prevailed upon the Congress vice president.
‘Good, Rahul finally admitted before Supreme Court that the RSS is not accused in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
‘Wisdom has prevailed. It may be a U-turn but a good turn. The RSS a patriotic organisation. RSS - Ready for Self Service anywhere any time (sic),’ Naidu tweeted.
Rahul on Wednesday chose to set the records straight by telling the top court that he had never blamed the RSS as an institution for killing Mahatama Gandhi but persons associated with it were behind the assassination.
He buttressed his stand by citing paragraphs from his affidavit filed in the Bombay high court, while challenging the summons issued to him as an accused for his alleged defamatory statement in a 2015 election rally in Maharashtra.
Senior advocate and Congress leader Kapil Sibal, appearing for Rahul, cited the affidavit filed before the high court saying he had only accused certain people of the RSS and not the organisation as the killer of Mahatma Gandhi.
‘I never made the statement that RSS killed Mahatma Gandhi but persons associated with the RSS killed him,’ the senior advocate had told the Court.
Earlier on Thursday, Congress leader Digvijay Singh had dismissed suggestions that Rahul has made a U-turn in the Supreme Court on the RSS and said the party vice president stands by his assertion that the person who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi was from the organisation.
‘No U-Turn by Rahul Gandhi on RSS. He stands by what he said. Person who killed was from RSS. It is the Ideology of hate and violence which killed Mahatma Gandhi,’ the Congress general secretary said in a series of tweets.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party raked up past cases of rape and murder involving leaders of Congress to wonder if Rahul Gandhi can be linked with these heinous crimes.
The party also accused Gandhi of speaking lies to target RSS as it asked him why the United Progressive Alliance government did not take any action against the Hindutva organiation during its 10 years in power.
"Those living in glass houses should not throw stones at others. Will Rahul Gandhi be liked with the rape and murder of the Dalit woman Bhanwari Devi or killing of Naina Sahni because those accused of these crimes were from the Congress?
"The truth is that RSS has only grown in strength despite attempts by likes of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi to target it. It just shows Rahul Gandhi's ideological bankruptcy and we do not take him seriously," BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.
Party spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said, "Gandhi's "face saving verbal gymnastics after a surrender in Court on RSS won't help. False bravado and bluster no substitutes to truth." | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/stand-by-every-word-i-said-about-rss-rahul/20160825.htm | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/f01b8576be153501193c4518ac15508aabe77adf150b06356b93e060fee0eb00.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:36:51 | null | 2016-08-03T00:00:00 | The Council of Islamic Ideology raised serious concerns over not including verses about jihad in the proposed syllabi for public educational institutions. | Mullahs in Pakistan want jihadi verses in school syllabus | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fmullahs-in-pakistan-want-jihadi-verses-in-school-syllabus%2F20160803.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/03lead4.jpg | en | null | Mullahs in Pakistan want jihadi verses in school syllabus | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 03, 2016 02:59 IST
An Islamic religious body in Pakistan has demanded the government to include Quranic verses about importance of jihad in the proposed school curriculum.
The Council of Islamic Ideology raised serious concerns over not including verses about jihad in the proposed syllabi for public educational institutions.
The CII chairman Maulana Muhammad Khan Sheerani said that that the Federal Education and Professional Training Ministry should include the verses about importance of jihad in curriculum.
The council also asked the four provinces to make the teaching of the Holy Quran as a compulsory subject from grade 1 to 12.
The issues of verses about jihad and teaching of Quran was raised when the government presented a draft of proposed curriculum before the CII, which is constitutional body, to suggest measures for implementation of Islam in the country.
According to CII sources the members of the religious body were not happy to leave an important topic like jihad out of teaching course being set for students.
"484 verses of jihad are mentioned in the Quran but they were deliberately not included in the syllabus so students could not be taught about it," CII member Maulana Zahid Qasmi told media.
Image: A Pakistani School boy reads a passage from his book. Photograph: Reuters | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/mullahs-in-pakistan-want-jihadi-verses-in-school-syllabus/20160803.htm | en | 2016-08-03T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/6483c1e9960aceb41af141b5b7e1f0255856eb4a1b5c388101c809f36516b65e.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:14:22 | null | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | On the Islamic State-style video sent by the ULFA-I to TV news channels, the DGP said it was the first time that such a video has been received.
| Assam cops seek help from Arunachal to rescue abducted son of BJP leader | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fefforts-on-to-rescue-abducted-bjp-leaders-son-ulfa-assam%2F20160823.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/22ulfa.jpg | en | null | Assam cops seek help from Arunachal to rescue abducted son of BJP leader | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 23, 2016 17:46 IST
The Assam Police has sought the help of their Arunachal Pradesh counterparts to secure the release of Kuldeep Moran, son of a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, who was abducted by the Paresh Barua-led anti-talk United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent on August 1 from that state.
Assam Director General of Police Mukesh Sahay said on Tuesday, “As soon as we learnt about Kuldeep’s abduction in Arunachal Pradesh, we filed a case at Nakhung police station in Changlang district of that state from where he was kidnapped.”
“As the incident happened in Arunachal Pradesh, we will have to act only through their police. They are hopeful of securing his release. The main focus of the security forces and intelligence agencies is his safe release,” he said.
On the Islamic State-style video sent by the ULFA-I to TV news channels in which Kuldeep is purportedly shown surrounded by a group of armed masked terrorists, the DGP said it was the first time that such a video has been received.
“Its authenticity and contents are being investigated,” he said about the video in which Kuldeep, son of BJP’s Tinsukia Zilla Parishad vice-president Lakheswar Moran, is heard appealing to Assam Chief Minister Sarbanda Sonowal, his uncle and Sadia BJP member of legislative assembly Bolin Chetia, and his parents to secure his release from the kidnappers.
In the video, Kuldeep also expressed the fear that his life was in danger as he could be caught in a crossfire between the kidnappers and security forces.
He also said he was being moved from place to place.
Asked if ULFA-I was responsible for the kidnapping as claimed by the insurgent outfit, the DGP said, “It is more or less confirmed.”
On reports of ULFA-I’s subversive activities increasing in Upper Assam and recruiting of fresh cadre, the state police chief said, “We are alert and are carrying out operations against them. We have zero tolerance to insurgency. We have been tackling them since the last 30 years.”
He also informed that an umbrella organisation of ULFA-I, National Socialist Council of Nagaland -Khaplang and some Manipur-based terror outfits were mainly active in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Myanmar.
A ransom of Rs one crore has been demanded from his MLA uncle Bolin Chetia and Kuldeep’s mother and wife on Monday appealed to the ULFA-I through the media to release him, saying they do not have the finance to make the payment.
Stating that he had received a phone call from the ULFA-I regarding the ransom for his nephew’s release, Chetia told reporters today that paying that amount was not possible for him and that he did not endorse the idea of paying ransom money.
Chetia also said that he had apprised the chief minister about the kidnapping and the ransom demand and it was for him to take necessary action.
The ULFA-I had in a recent release admitted to have abducted Kuldeep. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/efforts-on-to-rescue-abducted-bjp-leaders-son-ulfa-assam/20160823.htm | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/adb6a742628f3eff63cde515e9c82a8f20edc2984bbe2c2692c519bc95c99c16.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:32:54 | null | 2016-08-10T00:00:00 | 'The viral video from Una aroused something that Hindu chauvinists and cow-botherers never take into account: Numbers.' | Will gau rakshaks inspire a cultural revolution? | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Fcolumn%2Fwill-gau-rakshaks-inspire-a-cultural-revolution%2F20160810.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/jul/27cows1.jpg | en | null | Will gau rakshaks inspire a cultural revolution? | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 10, 2016 11:04 IST
'The viral video from Una aroused something that Hindu chauvinists and cow-botherers never take into account: Numbers,' says Mitali Saran.
Indian society has an absurdly high tolerance for suffering -- one's own suffering, as much as that of others -- and our tolerance for casteism is Exhibit A.
It must require a mind-bending fatalism to accept imposed deprivation, hardship, and humiliation as your lot, for thousands of years.
It also requires dehumanising emotional callouses to violently maintain the pecking order so that the lowly never get too big for their boots. This stuff we do very well.
Some people say that caste is a sophisticated social mechanism, too subtle for the rootless heathen to understand. It's certainly too subtle for me.
All I see is a grotesque rationalisation of cruelties that would curdle your eyeballs; socially approved torture and murder; and a billion pollution certificates. All that tends to kill my interest in the subtleties.
Dalits can still be murdered over Rs 15, as a couple was in Mainpuri. They are still raped and destroyed for sport. They are still locked into the most unpleasant and most necessary jobs, freeing up higher caste Hindus to pour scorn on them for doing those jobs.
Just recently, an institute in Ahmedabad conducted a social experiment. It advertised jobs for sanitation workers, and said it would give preference to high-caste Hindus.
The invitation alone, the very idea being floated, was met with so much rage, threat, and physical violence, that the director had to go into hiding.
That there hasn't yet been a caste revolution in this country is inexplicable. But it's something to hope for. It would restore my faith in natural justice if the tireless promoters of exclusivist Hindu nationalism were to cause the complete cave-in of exclusivist Hindu culture.
I like to think that that process has begun, and that the Sangh Parivar's naked, unelected, anti-Constitutional push to saffronise India has started it.
The July 11 atrocity, in which four Dalit men were beaten and paraded half-naked in Una for skinning a cow, wasn't particularly special. Another day, another violent humiliation.
The fact that the assailants themselves posted a video of the assault on social media tells you everything you need to know about how such an event makes normal, social sense to both oppressor and oppressed.
It's the ancient message that the top of the caste pyramid constantly sends down the line: This is how it has always been, and this is how it will always be; we can mess you up anytime we feel like it, so behave.
It's the message that the Sangh Parivar is thrilled to finally be openly drilling into India with government backing: Don't allow the promise of 'economic development' confuse you about who you are.
From the time the Bharatiya Janata Party government took office at the Centre, its representatives have either silently allowed, or openly encouraged, cultural and religious vigilantism -- the Gujarat Animal Husbandry Department has actually called for volunteers to be the eyes of the government's in monitoring the beef ban, and it has gotten a healthy response.
There is great support for 'ancient Hindu values' from people who have a voice, and money, and power, and a very personal interest in maintaining the status quo.
But this time, the viral video from Una aroused something that Hindu chauvinists and cow-botherers never take into account: Numbers.
Upper caste Hindus are a tiny minority in this country and are vastly outnumbered by Dalits. This time, Dalits staged huge protests: They refused to work, dumping cattle carcasses in front of government buildings instead.
The fact that the media reported these protests somewhat anaemically only tells you what castes tend to dominate the media, and what they fear.
Could it be that in its zeal to reinforce the tenets of its most beloved fantasy -- a Hindu nation bristling with temples and a ridiculous obsession with pollution and cows, and textbooks designed to dumb kids down -- the Sangh Parivar and its affiliates, including the central government, could provoke a cultural revolution from the inside?
Can you imagine what would happen if Dalits all over the country refused to work at their traditional jobs, or refused to accept scorn and revulsion on account of their jobs?
What if the hundreds of millions at the bottom of the caste pyramid rejected caste en masse?
We should all be rooting for it -- rooting for the day, some day, when the large majority of suffering Indians will decide that they are, literally, done taking shit.
That would make a hell of a viral video.
REDIFF RECOMMENDS | http://www.rediff.com/news/column/will-gau-rakshaks-inspire-a-cultural-revolution/20160810.htm | en | 2016-08-10T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/2f39ac3739113a6fb999252f718eb8a55344cb67ea17851d96076e4e398f7695.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:30:29 | null | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday met the family of Indian prisoner Hamid Nehal Ansari, who was attacked at least thrice by inmates in a Peshawar jail, and assured them of all possible help. | Sushma Swaraj meets family of Mumbai engineer lodged in Pak jail | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fsushma-swaraj-meets-family-of-mumbai-engineer-lodged-in-pak-jail-%2F20160812.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/11jail.jpg | en | null | Sushma Swaraj meets family of Mumbai engineer lodged in Pak jail | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 12, 2016 02:50 IST
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday met the family of Indian prisoner Hamid Nehal Ansari, who was attacked at least thrice by inmates in a Peshawar jail, and assured them of all possible help.
Swaraj last week had directed the Indian high commissioner in Pakistan to seek consular access to Ansari.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said India has again "strongly" taken up with Pakistani authorities security of Ansari in the wake of reports that he was attacked inside the jail.
"On August 5, we have again strongly taken up the matter of security of Hamid Ansari while he is in the custody of Pakistani authorities. This was done specifically in the light of reports that he was attacked again in prison in which he is lodged.
"We have reminded the government of Pakistan of its responsibility to ensure his security," Swarup said adding "We have also conveyed that according to our understanding since his sentence of three years is already over he should be released and repatriated to India at the earliest."
Swaraj met the family of Ansari and assured that government will keep pursuing his case with Pakistan.
Ansari, a Mumbai resident, was arrested in 2012 for illegally entering Pakistan from Afghanistan reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online. He had suffered injuries after he was attacked by inmates in the Peshawar Central Prison recently.
Ansari, 31 was sentenced to three years imprisonment by a military court for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card.
Ansari's lawyer lawyer Qazi Mohammad Anwar told Peshawar high court bench on Thursday that his client was attacked at least thrice by jail inmates in recent months.
Anwar also told the court that Ansari had been kept in a death cell with a hardened criminal awaiting execution for a murder.
Ansari was attacked and injured three times over the last couple of months and shifted to the hospital for treatment, the counsel said. He said even the head warden would subject him to brutality and slap him on a daily basis without any reason.
Ansari had gone missing after he was taken into custody by intelligence agencies and local police in Kohat in 2012 and finally in reply to a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother, Fauzia Ansari, the high court was informed on January 13 that he was in custody of the Pakistan Army and was being tried by a military court. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/sushma-swaraj-meets-family-of-mumbai-engineer-lodged-in-pak-jail-/20160812.htm | en | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/597047187a132cd5a0b77b9267287441f20d5df51df110c1d86c9ef661c82fc5.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:41:35 | null | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | The museum has the former President's belongings including clothes, books, souvenirs and citations presented to him by various institutions and organisations. | People's President inspires visitors at Delhi memorial | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fpeoples-president-inspires-visitors-at-delhi-memorial%2F20160801.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/01kalammemorial01.jpg | en | null | People's President inspires visitors at Delhi memorial | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 01, 2016 16:16 IST
A giant video screen displaying thoughts and images associated with former President APJ Abdul Kalam greets visitors at a new memorial here dedicated to the 'Missile Man' whose noble spirit seems to pervade the space.
'Kalam Memorial', situated on the rear side of the busy Delhi Haat at INA, is already getting a steady stream of visitors two days after it was inaugurated by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Here, young and the old alike can get a feel of the humble life he lived, earning him the sobriquet of 'People's President'.
IMAGE: A bust of Dr Kalam sits above a copy of his immensely popular autobiography 'Wings of Fire'. Photograph: Twitter
The memorial fronted with an open courtyard has a running verandah around it, and metallic plaques bearing an image of Kalam and a timeline of his life journey adorn the walls, painted in vibrant red from the outside.
The museum, among its prized possessions, has the former President's belongings which include his clothes, books, souvenirs and citations presented to him by various institutions and organisations.
It has huge panels on walls charting his life from Rameswaram, where he was born in 1931, to his ascension to the country's top post. A special panel recalls his experience of interacting with his teacher and how the flight of birds proved to be one his inspirations for delving into rocket science.
IMAGE: Visitors are enthralled by the life and times of Dr Kalam presented in an interactive format across the memorial. Photograph: Twitter
A special video containing tributes of children for Kalam has also been mounted on a screen.
"I think it's a good initiative and unlike many other memorials where it just sounds like a lip service, here you can actually feel his (Kalam's) presence, his spirit, and people could do well to visit the place," said Ramesh Tahiliani, an advertising professional, who visited the museum on Sunday.
"The INA Delhi Haat is already cultural landmark and now this would be an added attraction," he said.
Besides a bust of Kalam in the 'His Passion for Music' section, a special life-sized sculpture of the 'Missile Man' surrounded by children has been installed at the focal point of the memorial.
IMAGE: A couple clicks a photograph with a statue of Dr Kalam and several children. Photograph: Twitter
Neel Indriya Das who made the fibre bust said, "I never got a chance to meet him in person, but I feel privileged to have made this bust. It is my tribute to him."
The memorial also houses paintings on Kalam, from oil paintings to sketches and text art, all contributed by several youngsters.
A souvenir shop has also been put up selling coffee mugs, t-shirts, plaques and other merchandises celebrating the legacy of Kalam, who endeared himself to one and all. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/peoples-president-inspires-visitors-at-delhi-memorial/20160801.htm | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/2d4aca42749fab5bbf75db22b7d6cad8c36bc82ce7c15f7460fcbec20932f0d9.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:28:25 | null | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | Donald Trump on Thursday repeatedly accused President Barack Obama of founding the Islamic State group. | 'Obama is the founder of Islamic State': Trump's fresh salvo | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fobama-is-the-founder-of-islamic-state-trump%2F20160812.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/11trump.jpg | en | null | 'Obama is the founder of Islamic State': Trump's fresh salvo | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 12, 2016 04:34 IST
Donald Trump on Thursday repeatedly accused President Barack Obama of founding the Islamic State group, refusing to take back a patently false allegation even when questioned about the logic of his position.
A day after lobbing the attack against the president during a rowdy rally, Trump pressed ahead during a round of interviews.
The Republican presidential nominee brushed off conservative radio commentator Hugh Hewitt's attempt to reframe Trump's observation as one that said Obama's foreign policy created the conditions in Iraq and Syria that allowed IS to thrive.
"No, I meant he's the founder of ISIS. I do," Trump said, using another acronym for the extremist group that has wreaked havoc from the Middle East to European cities.
Hewitt asked Trump if he would acknowledge that Obama hates the Islamic State, noting that the president is "trying to kill them."
Over the past two years Obama has organized a broad coalition of countries and launched more than 10,000 U.S. airstrikes to defeat IS.
"I don't care," the billionaire businessman replied. "He was the founder. The way he got out of Iraq, that was the founding of ISIS, OK?"
In a later speech to homebuilders in Miami, Trump said his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, would be given "the most valuable player award" by IS.
"Her only competition is Barack Obama," he said. He later added of Clinton, "Oh boy, is ISIS hoping for her."
The Republican presidential nominee in the past has accused his opponent, Clinton, of founding the militant group. Shifting the blame to Obama, he said "crooked Hillary Clinton" was actually the group's co-founder.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton admonished Trump, saying anyone who would "sink so low" should never be president.
"No, Barack Obama is not the founder of ISIS," Clinton tweeted.
"Anyone willing to sink so low, so often should never be allowed to serve as our Commander-in-Chief."
Islamic State was founded in 2013, months after Clinton left the state department. It was born out of the terror group Al-Qaeda in Iraq that grew in strength in 2006 following Republican president George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003.
The group flourished with Obama's withdrawal of US troops from Iraq in late 2011. Republicans said Obama was slow to recognize the threat when he said in 2014 that the Islamic State was a "JV", junior varsity team even though they gained ground in Syria and Iraq.
IMAGE: Donald Trump speaks at the National Association of Home Builders event at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach in Miami, Florida. Photograph: Eric Thayer/Reuters | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/obama-is-the-founder-of-islamic-state-trump/20160812.htm | en | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/c525eabae5cbb61681a0ab984f9823b372b8736cd52e8280731feda105723143.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:39:36 | null | 2016-08-03T00:00:00 | Naidu said Shah is not in race to the new CM as party wants him to continue as national president. | BJP accepts Anandiben's resignation; Shah to pick new CM | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fbjp-accepts-anandibens-resignation%2F20160803.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/03anandiben.jpg | en | null | BJP accepts Anandiben's resignation; Shah to pick new CM | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 03, 2016 15:15 IST
Setting in motion the process for picking a new Gujarat chief minister, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday gave its go ahead to incumbent Anandiben Patel to resign and authorised its president Amit Shah to pick her successor in consultation with the legislature party.
The legislature party meeting is likely to be held on Friday after Shah reaches Ahmedabad on Thursday.
Patel will tender her resignation to the Governor on Wednesday, senior party leader M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters after the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting held at the prime minister's residence.
The board appointed Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and party general secretary Saroj Pandey as central observers for the legislature party meeting in which the new leader will be formally elected.
Shah, who is an MLA in the Gujarat assembly, will also attend the meeting.
Patel's successor will be among the party's MLAs, Naidu asserted.
He also rejected reports that Shah can replace Patel, saying the party needs his leadership at the national level as he has taken it to "great heights" and led it to many successes.
No name of her successor was discussed in the board's meeting, he said.
"The Parliamentary Board gave its approval to Anandiben Patel's wish to quit. She had wished to be relieved of her responsibility as she would turn 75 soon. She has set up a great precedent for lakhs of party workers. It put on record her very good work as the chief minister and as a minister earlier," Naidu said.
She has been in the state government for over 18 years which, he noted, is perhaps unprecedented for a BJP leader. Patel, meanwhile, issued advertisements in newspapers in Ahmedabad listing the works done during her two-year tenure.
Naidu said Shah will hold consultations with the legislature party before the new leader is elected.
"Our president is also an MLA. He will be present in the meeting. He will hold consultations following which the successor will be decided," he said.
A party source said the board has authorised Shah to pick the chief ministerial nominee.
Asked about reports that Shah is a contender for the top post, he asserted, "Such a question does not arise. He is the party president and going to remain party president. The party needs his leadership at the national level. There is no such discussion at all."
Nitin Patel, the number two in the state's cabinet, and Gujarat party chief Vijay Rupani, who is also a minister, are seen as the front-runners to succeed Anandiben Patel.
Photograph: PTI | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/bjp-accepts-anandibens-resignation/20160803.htm | en | 2016-08-03T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/7d4e56220361d0ef79fccf6f25c9dc14ec2f3f4ad0b3ffb8301bce3f77d2b34b.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:17:41 | null | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | The incident which occurred on August 11, involving SpiceJet Hyderabad flight from Chennai (SG 511) and Emirates' Dubai-bound Brisbane flight (EK 433), is currently being investigated by the aviation regulator, DGCA sources said. | Spicejet-Emirates mid-air mishap averted | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fspicejet-emirates-mid-air-mishap-averted%2F20160821.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/money/2013/aug/07spice1.jpg | en | null | Spicejet-Emirates mid-air mishap averted | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 21, 2016 14:22 IST
A mid-air mishap was averted due to an auto generated warning after a SpiceJet aircraft came in close proximity of an overflying Emirates plane in the Indian airspace.
The incident which occurred on August 11, involving SpiceJet Hyderabad flight from Chennai (SG 511) and Emirates' Dubai-bound Brisbane flight (EK 433), is currently being investigated by the aviation regulator, DGCA sources said.
Earlier this month, a mid-air collision between two IndiGo planes, carrying over 225 passengers and crew, was averted over Dhaka airspace after the pilot of one of the flights steered away his aircraft to a safe distance when they came perilously close to each other.
According to sources, SpiceJet flight SG 511 was cleared for 34,000 ft and advised to standby to climb further.
"However, SG 511 climbed above the permitted level without clearance. It was then asked to maintain 35,000 ft but the aircraft overshot by a 1,000 ft, a level that EK 433 was maintaining," they said.
This forced the Emirates flight to climb further and increase separation, with both the aircraft receiving TCAS alert, sources said.
TCAS monitors the airspace around an aircraft for other aircraft equipped with a corresponding active transponder, independent of air-traffic control, and warns pilots of the presence of other transponder-equipped aircraft which may present a threat of mid-air collision.
"Emirates can confirm that flight EK433 Brisbane to Dubai on August 11, whilst in Indian airspace, received indications of proximity traffic. The flight crew correctly followed the on board system guidance to remain clear, following which they reported the occurrence to Air Traffic Control.
"At no time were passengers in any danger. The safety of our passengers and crew as always is our top priority," Emirates said in a statement.
However, according to SpiceJet sources, the ATC instructed it to climb and maintain 36,000 ft due to traffic at 37,000 level but "while passing flight level 35,000, ATC instructed the pilot to stop climb. By that time the aircraft had climbed to 35,400 feet. Our flight descended back to 35,000, and during which SpiceJet aircraft got descend resolution advisory."
Sources at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said that the incident is being investigated and would soon be handed over to the Airprox Investigation Board.
As per the International Civil Aviation Organization, airprox is defined as a situation which, in the opinion of a pilot or air traffic services personnel, the distance between aircraft as well as their relative positions and speed have been such that the safety of the aircraft involved may have been compromised.
All the airprox incidents are probed by AIB constituted by DGCA and these investigations are reviewed at DGCA, headquarters for their completeness and process for implementation of recommendations, he said.
Airprox is a situation when two aircraft come dangerously close to each other.
As many as 17 airprox incidents, where two or more aircraft came close to each other while mid-air, were reported till July 10, the government had said in Parliament on August 4. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/spicejet-emirates-mid-air-mishap-averted/20160821.htm | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/c8478a2698e6195aff2d1cd7fdbd24f7ad3d39bb989d0458be7c8a1940f1d112.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:17:37 | null | 2016-08-22T00:00:00 | Five cases, including that of sedition, have been registered against three top Baloch nationalist leaders in Pakistan for allegedly backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's supportive words on Balochistan in his Independence Day speech. | Pak books Baloch leaders for supporting Modi's I-Day speech | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fpak-books-baloch-leaders-for-supporting-modis-i-day-speech%2F20160822.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/16baloch.jpg | en | null | Pak books Baloch leaders for supporting Modi's I-Day speech | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 22, 2016 17:39 IST
Five cases, including that of sedition, have been registered against three top Baloch nationalist leaders in Pakistan for allegedly backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's supportive words on Balochistan in his Independence Day speech.
Brahamdagh Bugti, Harbiyar Marri and Banuk Karima Baloch were booked under sections 120, 121, 123 and 353 of the Pakistan Penal Code at five police stations in Khuzdar area in the restive province following complaints, a senior police official said on Monday.
The sections relate to "concealing design to commit offence punishable with imprisonment", "waging or attempting to wage war or abetting waging of war against Pakistan", "concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war", and "assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty".
The complainants have alleged that Bugti, Marri and Baloch had 'supported' Modi's speech, Acting District Police Officer Khuzdar Muhammad Ashraf Jatak said.
On August 15 from the historic Red Fort, Modi said that people from Balochistan had thanked him for highlighting the atrocities by the Pakistani state on the people of Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Pakistan has said Modi crossed the "red line" by talking about Balochistan and asserted it will "forcefully" raise the Kashmir issue at next month's the United Nations General Assembly session.
India and Pakistan have been engaged in a war of words over Pakistan and its Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's statements on the situation in Kashmir, which has been witnessing unrest following the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani on July 8.
Following Modi's supportive words for the people of Balochistan, protests against him were held in Balochistan, with large numbers of tribesmen coming out on the streets in Dera Bugti, Khuzdar, Quetta, Chaman and other parts of the province.
In retaliation, Afghan protesters also held rallies at the friendship gate at the Chaman border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan and the gate has been closed indefinitely by Pakistani authorities after the angry Afghan protesters burnt a Pakistan flag and pelted stones at the gate.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri in a speech last week alleged that the Indian government "fully supports the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan".
Zehri's speech came days after a video showing exiled Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti appreciating 'support' given to the Baloch people by Modi began circulating on social media. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/pak-books-baloch-leaders-for-supporting-modis-i-day-speech/20160822.htm | en | 2016-08-22T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/5a2ee521a3b453ecdd011023c7a1c5de311392cc561942e3d548a9d3460ccc8f.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:25:25 | null | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | Passage of the long-pending Goods and Services Tax bill and a unanimous resolution on Kashmir were the highlights of the 'highly productive' Monsoon session of Parliament which was adjourned sine die on Friday after 20 sittings. | Monsoon session ends: 7 things you should know | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fmonsoon-session-ends-7-things-you-should-know%2F20160812.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/12lead2.jpg | en | null | Monsoon session ends: 7 things you should know | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 12, 2016 14:35 IST
Passage of the long-pending Goods and Services Tax bill and a unanimous resolution on Kashmir were the highlights of the "highly productive" Monsoon session of Parliament which was adjourned sine die on Friday after 20 sittings.
Here are highlights of the Monsoon session:
1) The session witnessed Aam Aadmi Party leader Bhagwant Mann being barred from attending the Lok Sabha after he filmed and uploaded a video of Parliament complex on social media, an episode which is being probed into by a Parliamentary Committee set up by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. The Lok Sabha Speaker said an inquiry committee has been constituted to go into various issues of uploading of footage of Parliament complex on social media by Bhagwant Mann. The Committee is seized of the matter, she added.
2) While the House lost over 6 hours and 33 minutes of time due to interruptions followed by forced adjournments, it sat late for over 18 hours to discuss various important issues. Rajya Sabha deliberated for more than 112 hours during the 20 sittings, the Lok Sabha sat for 121 hours.
3) While 13 legislations were passed by the Lok Sabha, the Upper House approved 14 laws.
4) Besides the GST Constituional Amendment, the key bills which were passed include Benami Transactions (Prohibition) bill, Taxation laws (Amendment) bill, Factories (Amendment) bill, Employee's Compensation (Amendment) Bill and the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) bill.
5) As many as 59 elected, re-elected and nominated members joined the Rajya Sabha.
6) The Lok Sabha took up 4 discussions, including on violence in Kashmir, price rise, sustainable development goals and atrocities against Dalits. The Rajya Sabha held an "animated debate" while considering and passing the Constitution (122nd
Amendment) Bill, 2014, to pave the way for rollout of a new indirect tax regime, Goods and Service Tax.
7) Both the Houses passed a unanimous resolution on prevailing situation in Kashmir Valley. It earnestly appealed to all sections of the society in Jammu and Kashmir, to work for the early restoration of normalcy and harmony and unanimously resolved to restore the confidence among the people in general and youth in particular. It also resolved there can be no compromise with the country's unity, integrity and national security.
Image: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lokh Sabha. Photograph: TV GRAB/PTI Photo | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/monsoon-session-ends-7-things-you-should-know/20160812.htm | en | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/8f3cbe11c866ca1ff802f2d0f9b34e63325e24cf2b7ce08f8433e388e56733d1.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:17:55 | null | 2016-08-22T00:00:00 | 'To love all Indians is to love India in reality.'
'To love the lines on a map is to love a symbol,' says Aakar Patel. | 10 ways of loving India | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Fcolumn%2Ften-ways-of-loving-india%2F20160822.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/15i-day.jpg | en | null | 10 ways of loving India | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 22, 2016 10:41 IST
'To love all Indians is to love India in reality.'
'To love the lines on a map is to love a symbol,' says Aakar Patel.
How many ways can you love your country?
Actually being Indian is the first way, by which I mean holding an Indian passport. In my case, three passports. This is because Indians are required to get advance visas for most countries, and I travel a lot. So I have to carry with me two expired passports which have long term valid visas.
I have never really worked outside India much, but I know there are some Indians who have kept their passports even though their entire working life has been spent abroad.
The music conductor Zubin Mehta is one such person. Amnesty International's Secretary General in London, Salil Shetty, is another.
Mehta for many years led the New York Philharmonic and was the only member of the group required to queue up for a visa when they travelled but he chose to retain his Indian passport.
The second way that India can be loved is by loving Indians. I mean all Indians.
Those of your faith but also those of different faith and different caste and different language.
Those with whom you agree and equally those with whom you do not.
Those who eat meat, of any sort, and those who do not.
To love all Indians is to love India in reality.
To love the lines on a map is to love a symbol.
The third way to love your country is to learn its languages, as many as you can. Gandhi said all Indians must learn Hindustani in both the Devanagari and Perso-Arabic script. I have taught myself to do both, but I do not agree that all Indians should learn Hindustani.
The fourth way to love India is to understand its classical music and its poetry. This comes mostly in adulthood because Hindustani music is mature and its mood is not joyous but melancholic.
It is not possible to truly understand this country and its people if one does not understand what Khayal and Carnatic are and why they are rendered in the way that they are, with the singers' eyes closed.
I know many poems by heart, like Shelley's Ozymandias, but the one that moves me most every time I read or listen to it is Nag daman, by Narsinh Mehta (who wrote Gandhi's favourite song Vaishnav Jan).
Nag daman is about how the boy Krishna battles the snake Kalia but does not kill him. It does not embarrass me to say that I am often moved to tears when I hear this poem, especially when it is set to simple music.
The fifth way to love India is to love its food. This is not to say that you must hate the food of others.
I am open and some years ago on a visit to Vietnam, I ate snake and dog on the same day in Hanoi. I enjoy Japanese food a lot, but the food I prefer is Indian.
Above all I like the food of the peasant Patidar, which is a thick bajra roti (called Rotlo in Gujarati) and a vegetable with some garlic chutney. I eat it most days for lunch and I could eat that every day for the rest of my life.
The sixth way to love your country is to read and know its Constitution.
India has one of the longest Constitutions in the world but what I mean is knowing the opening bits, the Preamble and what it signifies, and what the Fundamental Rights promised to us actually mean.
It is one of the greatest documents on earth and should be absorbed by more Indian citizens.
The seventh way is to honour those who serve.
To me the teacher is more important than the sportsman. The sporting victory promotes a nationalism that is hollow and one that inevitably wanes. I do not hate sportsmen, but I do not hold their contribution as being of any great significance.
The eighth way I love India is by paying my taxes. I do not take any pride in doing this because it is what I have to do.
But most Indians do not pay their income tax. Of these, most are not required to because they are either poor or they are exempt. I am not referring to them.
I ask those Indians of the upper class and middle class who cheat on their taxes: Do you love India? You will say yes. I say no.
The ninth way to love your country is by empathising with its people.
To feel the pain of the marginalised and the weak.
To be hurt when Dalits are hurt, to be humiliated when Adivasis are humiliated, to feel ashamed when Muslims are persecuted, as they often are in our country.
This empathy is the same sentiment as loving India.
The last way in which we can love our country is to be open to its contradictions and its differences.
Imposing a uniformity on such a vast place, whether a uniformity of language, of religion, or of personal law, of food preferences, or of music, is to me to not love this country in whole.
These to me are the principal ways we can love our country. To me, everything else is incidental.
You may disagree with and perhaps dislike this view and even hate me for it. But I will love you just the same.
Aakar Patel is Executive Director, Amnesty International India. The views expressed here are his own.
You can read Aakar's earlier columns here.
IMAGE: Students of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad school in Jodhpur celebrate Independence Day. Photograph: PTI Photo | http://www.rediff.com/news/column/ten-ways-of-loving-india/20160822.htm | en | 2016-08-22T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/40e575627a941d8df521aa323c761279fb75a5bed2d96a904a6aceb3689a1f0d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:40:55 | null | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Gulam Nabi Azad approached leader of the house Arun Jaitley, saying that he is accompanying Sonia Gandhi to Varanasi on Tuesday. | Introduction of GST Bill shifted to Wed on Congress' request | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fintroduction-of-gst-bill-shifted-to-wed-on-congress-request%2F20160801.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2014/oct/07modi-jaitley.jpg | en | null | Introduction of GST Bill shifted to Wed on Congress' request | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 01, 2016 21:39 IST
The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax Bill in Parliament has been shifted from Tuesday to Wednesday at the request of the Congress party. R Rajagopalan/Rediff.com reports from New Delhi.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Gulam Nabi Azad approached leader of the house Arun Jaitley, saying that he is accompanying Sonia Gandhi to Varanasi on Tuesday.
After Jaitley spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the tabling of the bill was shifted, according to highly-placed sources.
With the GST bill set to be tabled in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, the BJP issued a whip to its members asking them to be present in the house for the next three days during which the party expects the legislation to be passed.
Party sources said the whip has been issued in connection with the key reform bill, which has been high on the government's agenda but stalled by Congress over some provisions.
The BJP-led NDA lacks a majority in the Upper House but has managed to get support of several regional parties on the GST bill.
To bring Congress on board, the government last week cleared changes in the constitutional amendment bill, including doing away with the additional 1 per cent tax by producing states and compensating all states for any revenue loss in the first five years post the GST roll out.
The main Opposition party, which has the most numbers in the Rajya Sabha, has indicated softening of its stand but made no categorical assurance of its support so far.
BJP parliamentary party is also meeting on Tuesday and senior ministers may brief the members about the bill and other important issues on the agenda in the coming days. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/introduction-of-gst-bill-shifted-to-wed-on-congress-request/20160801.htm | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/63d8b56b7e3e3d588488895fe613933be9817c9478090735c129de7c67cb4f67.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:40:24 | null | 2016-08-02T00:00:00 | The vice president met Leader of the party in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, P Chidambaram and Deputy Leader of the party in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma, among others and discussed various points regarding the key tax reform legislation.
| Rahul meets Congress leaders to chalk out strategy on GST | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Frahul-meets-congress-leaders-to-chalk-out-strategy-on-gst%2F20160802.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2011/nov/25rahul1.jpg | en | null | Rahul meets Congress leaders to chalk out strategy on GST | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 02, 2016 14:14 IST
As the government circulated copies of the draft Constitution Amendment Bill to bring Goods and Services Tax among MPs, top Congress leaders got into a huddle to chalk out the party’s strategy on Tuesday ahead of its consideration and passage in the Rajya Sabha.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi met Leader of the party in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Deputy Leader of the party in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma, among others, in Parliament House and discussed various points regarding the key tax reform legislation.
Congress sources said Gandhi will hold another round of discussion on the issue after which Sharma will meet Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to put across the party’s point of view.
“Rahulji held discussions with top party leaders on the GST Bill and discussed the party’s strategy,” Kharge said after the meeting.
Another top Congress leader said the draft bill has just been circulated and the party leaders will react only after studying it in detail. “The draft of the bill has just come and let us study it first,” the Congress leader said.
There were strong indications that the most far-reaching taxation reform in independent India would be supported by Congress and all other major political parties.
The government has said talks are on with major political parties to build a consensus on the measure before it is taken up for consideration and passage in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
“We would list the bill for consideration tomorrow in Rajya Sabha. We have talked to all parties and the prime minister had said at the beginning of this session that GST is in the interest of all. We hope the GST Bill will be passed with consensus,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters after BJP Parliamentary Party meeting. At the BJP meet, Jaitley also briefed the MPs about the bill.
The Goods and Services Tax Bill, which has been in the making for over a decade, entails introduction of a single indirect tax regime across the country.
According to top government sources, a fresh round of talks will be held on Tuesday with the main opposition Congress.
Jaitley had on Monday held consultations with Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma.
He had also met Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Sitaram Yechury, besides some other leaders. Later, along with Anant Kumar, he met Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
The government, the sources say, is keen to bring about four key amendments in the Constitution Amendment Bill which will include the scrapping of 1 per cent additional tax provision and grant of more powers to states for providing them full compensation for a period of five years.
The key Congress demand for rephrasing of the language for setting up of dispute resolution mechanism in the GST Council has also been agreed to by the government. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/rahul-meets-congress-leaders-to-chalk-out-strategy-on-gst/20160802.htm | en | 2016-08-02T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/24bda862c4ba37fa866d6d1f4733478f095ab5e0c7b3de05f3d282333dc662de.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:18:45 | null | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | While Pusarla Venkata Sindhu was aiming to earn a gold for her country in the Rio Olympics, back home thousands of kilometres away many were, shockingly, fighting to stake claim over her. | Rio laurels trigger ownership battle for Sindhu, some Google her caste | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Frio-laurels-trigger-ownership-battle-for-sindhu-some-google-her-caste%2F20160821.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/21sindhu1.jpg | en | null | Rio laurels trigger ownership battle for Sindhu, some Google her caste | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 21, 2016 11:58 IST
While Pusarla Venkata Sindhu was aiming to earn a gold for her country in the Rio Olympics, back home thousands of kilometres away many were, shockingly, fighting to stake claim over her.
Even as she gave her best and tried to outrun two-time world champion Carolina Marin of Spain, netizens were busy searching for her caste-identity on Google.
First pointed out by one Vivekanand Nagarajan on his Facebook wall, and later verified by Google Trends statistics, the data suggests that many Indians were more curious about "pv Sindhu caste" over the last week than they have been about her live match scores.
When one typed 'pv' on Google search, the suggestions that came up automatically were pv sindhu, pv sindhu match, pv sindhu wiki and pv sindhu caste.
Most of the searches were made from Vijaywada (Andhra Pradesh), Secundarabad (Telangana), Vishakapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Hyderabad.
Coach Pullela Gopichand's wasn't spared as well. Many sought to know his caste credentials as well.
National newspaper The Hindu, on Saturday, reported that while Andhra Pradesh claimed Sindhu was their ‘ammayi’ or daughter, Telangana residents branded her as their “bidda” with some even posting images of the player carrying the traditional Bonam at the recent Bonalu festival in Hyderabad to justify their claim.
The paper went on to say that people looked up her caste also because her parents had a love marriage, a situation where caste differences are often ignored. Sindhu was born and brought up in Hyderabad but her mother belongs to Vijayawada.
After her match, the Andhra Pradesh government announced a slew of rewards, including a cash award of Rs 3 crore. "We will give her 1,000 sq yds of house site in the state's new capital Amaravati and also a Group-1 officer post in the state government. She can choose the post she wants," Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced.
Not to be outdone, the Telangana government announced a cash reward of Rs 5 crore. "There is a need to encourage sports personalities. Like Sania Mirza, who brought laurels by winning several tournaments after encouragement by the government, we hope Sindhu will also bring many laurels by winning many more tournaments in the future. She is coming to Hyderabad on August 22. The Cabinet has decided to accord her a grand reception," Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao told reporters.
However, Sindhu's parents had the final word on the matter.
Seeking to lay the matter to rest, Sindhu's mother Vijayalakshmi said her girl is an Indian first.
"Let us all enjoy this moment of triumph and look forward to a golden finish and not engage in a debate," she said.
Photograph of PV Sindhu: PTI Photo | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/rio-laurels-trigger-ownership-battle-for-sindhu-some-google-her-caste/20160821.htm | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/eb38e23dfac43408336c172df3f077653178dfc7ffc5903ae20716012e9eff3f.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:37:13 | null | 2016-08-03T00:00:00 | The House witnessed heated exchanges between Congress and Samajwadi Party members. | Uproar in Rajya Sabha over UP gang rape | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fuproar-in-rajya-sabha-over-up-gang-rape%2F20160803.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/jul/27rs.jpg | en | null | Uproar in Rajya Sabha over UP gang rape | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 03, 2016 13:52 IST
Rajya Sabha on Wednesday witnessed heated exchanges between Congress and Samajwadi Party members over recent instances of rape in Uttar Pradesh, particularly the gang rape of a mother and daughter in Bulandshahr, with the government saying law and order was a state matter but the incidents were highly condemnable.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Rajni Patil (Congress) said the number of incidents of rape and other atrocities against women was on the rise and there was an urgent need for the House to take note and discuss the issue.
She mentioned the gang rape of a mother and her minor daughter when they were travelling from Noida to Kanpur.
As other Congress members joined in, Jaya Bhaduri Bachchan, a SP MP from UP, likened the Congress raising the issue with ‘crocodile tears’ and ‘torture’ and asked them not to do politics over the issue of atrocities and crime against women.
She said she had given notice for discussing the issue several days ago but the notice has not yet been accepted.
“I do not care which part of the country the incidents have taken place. I want to discuss. I do not want to politicise,” she said.
Ambika Soni (Congress) immediately shot back saying it was a minister of the SP government in Uttar Pradesh who was playing politics over the incident.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the ghastly incident, whether in Uttar Pradesh or any other part of the country, needs to be condemned in strongest terms and strictest action taken against culprits.
Maintaining that law and order is a state subject, he said expressed hope that the UP government would act strongly in the case.
“We are ready for discussion on women's security. Please give notice, we will discuss it,” he said.
As the Congress members continued to raise the issue and SP members vociferously reacting back, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said the matter raised was very, very serious and every member was seeking a discussion. “No problem. Please give notice,” he said.
Tapan Kumar Sen (Communist Party of India-Marxist) said a notice for short duration discussion on the issue was given a few days back and it is pending in chairman’s office.
Kurien said a discussion could be held on security of women and atrocities against them. “I assure it. There is no problem... Government has said it is ready for discussion,” he said asking members to resume their places.
Naresh Agarwal (SP) said Jaya Bhaduri Bachchan had given a notice under rule 176 for short duration discussion on the issue almost a month ago.
Uttar Pradesh government, he said, had taken a prompt action in the Bulandshahr incident which has been appreciated by the whole country.
“If politics is played on the issue, we will also politicise,” he said.
Satish Mishra (Bahujan Samaj Party) sought to counter him saying the main accused has not been arrested in the incident.
“If there is a notice, it will be examined. There will be discussion,” Kurien said.
He forcefully asked members to resume their places and allow the listed business to be taken up, following which the House took up business.
Image used for representational purposes only. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/uproar-in-rajya-sabha-over-up-gang-rape/20160803.htm | en | 2016-08-03T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/fab4524fb9e3d5c51755762415da9ef3c9eb2a5c17786a6bdf46661648e697dd.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:39:23 | null | 2016-08-04T00:00:00 | A British national and a student of a Canadian University have been arrested for their alleged involvement in Bangladesh's worst terror attack at a cafe in Dhaka last month that killed 22 people, including an Indian girl. | Briton among 2 arrested over Dhaka cafe attack | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fbriton-among-2-arrested-over-dhaka-cafe-attack%2F20160804.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/jul/02dhaka2.jpg | en | null | Briton among 2 arrested over Dhaka cafe attack | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 04, 2016 17:58 IST
A British national and a student of a Canadian University have been arrested for their alleged involvement in Bangladesh's worst terror attack at a cafe in Dhaka last month that killed 22 people, including an Indian girl.
Hasanat Karim, a Bangladeshi-British citizen, and Tahmid Hasib Khan were arrested on Wednesday and booked under the Code of Criminal Procedure's Section 54, which allows arrest without warrants on grounds of suspicion, police said.
A Dhaka court on Thursday remanded them to police custody for eight days.
The two were dining at the Holey Artisan Bakery at the time of attack and rescued by security personnel. Islamist militants killed 22 people during the attack on July 1.
Tahmid, 22, was detained from the Bashundhara residential area and Hasanat, 47, from Gulshan, bdnews reported.
Their families, however, had been maintaining that the two did not return since July 2, after being rescued from the cafe, the report said.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack and released photos of the five attackers who were killed during the assault on the restaurant.
Law enforcers, however, said home-grown militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh was responsible for it.
After the end of siege, 32 people, including 13 rescued hostages were taken to the detective branch office for de-briefing. All of them were released, except for Hasanat and Tahmid, their families claimed.
Both Hasanat's father AR Karim and Tahmid’s father Shahriar Khan told the media on several occasions that their sons are yet to return and that they suspect they were in police custody.
Until now, the police had been evading questions about their whereabouts, but said that they were probable suspects.
In a media briefing on Tuesday, Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque said that Hasanat’s role was still not clear.
"His background and his behaviour on that day inside the cafe evoked suspicion. We are trying to gather concrete evidence against him. We can take him in custody whenever it’s necessary," said Hoque.
Hasanat's family claimed that he along with his wife and kids had gone to the restaurant to celebrate his daughter’s birthday.
Hasanat was relieved from his teaching job at NSU in 2012 on allegations of involvement with banned group Hizb-ut Tahrir.
Tahmid, whose father is a businessman, studies at a university in Canada. His family said that he had come to Dhaka a day before the attack and had gone to the cafe to hang out with his friends. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/briton-among-2-arrested-over-dhaka-cafe-attack/20160804.htm | en | 2016-08-04T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/58eac3cd7f2bd712bf5b959e2f43dcbb82eafb5cda9b48de81f403f1fb0ac673.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:29:08 | null | 2016-08-10T00:00:00 | Police, however, clarified that the incident, which happened late on Monday night, had nothing to do with 'cow vigilantism' as suspected. | Andhra Pradesh: 8 arrested for thrashing Dalits trying to skin dead cow | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fandhra-pradesh-8-arrested-for-thrashing-dalits-trying-to-skin-dead-cow%2F20160810.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/jul/20live-una.jpg | en | null | Andhra Pradesh: 8 arrested for thrashing Dalits trying to skin dead cow | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 10, 2016 19:25 IST
Eight persons were on Wednesday arrested by Allavaram police in East Godavari district for allegedly beating up two Dalits who were trying to skin a dead cow.
Police, however, clarified that the incident, which happened late on Monday night, had nothing to do with "cow vigilantism" as suspected.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed anger over the incident and warned that anyone trying to disturb law and order would be sternly dealt with.
He reviewed the incident with Director General of Police (in charge) N Sambasiva Rao and Additional DGs R P Thakur and A B Venkateswara Rao in Vijaywada on Wednesday evening.
He directed the DGP to take strong legal action against the culprits.
Chandrababu warned that stern action would be initiated against anyone attacking Dalits.
He directed East Godavari district Collector to take care of the medical expenses of the two injured. He also asked the Collector to immediately give them Rs one lakh each.
The arrested persons belonged to Kamanagaruvu village and were not "gau rakshaks", as suspected, a senior police official from Amalapuram said over phone.
The cow of U Narayana Rao and Gangadhara Rao went missing a couple of days back. As they were searching for their cattle, they found the two Dalits near a burial ground at Sudhapalem village, trying to skin a dead cow.
Suspecting that the two killed the cow, the villagers of Kamanagaruvu allegedly beat them up.
The cow had actually got electrocuted and its owner had engaged the two Dalits for burying it.
The Dalits sustained severe injuries and were admitted to the Amalapuram hospital.
Narayana Rao, Gangadhara Rao and others were on Wednesday arrested and booked under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the police official said.
IMAGE: A videograb of the infamous Una incident which saw several Dalits beat up by cow vigilantes. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/andhra-pradesh-8-arrested-for-thrashing-dalits-trying-to-skin-dead-cow/20160810.htm | en | 2016-08-10T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/56770e119f6846241bfd4fa85b5959f6b625ebadbba3819b3fe1f425f4398807.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:25:04 | null | 2016-08-16T00:00:00 | By undertaking medical mercy missions, the Indian Air Force will win immense political and national goodwill. | Why not use IAF's fighter fleet for organ transport? | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Fcolumn%2Fwhy-not-use-iafs-fighter-fleet-for-organ-transport%2F20160816.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/may/13lead1.jpg | en | null | Why not use IAF's fighter fleet for organ transport? | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 16, 2016 11:03 IST
By undertaking medical mercy missions, the Indian Air Force will win immense political and national goodwill, explains Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
Sitting far away from home shores as I do now, the heart aches to hear and read the media rambling about the ongoing travails of the Indian Air Force as a system, the shenanigans of the politico-bureaucratic nexus and the supposed wrongdoings and vulnerabilities of our equipment procurement processes.
Be that as it may, perhaps now is the time to refocus on the strengths of the service and how better it could serve the nation and its people in the years ahead.
The existing IAF doctrine does talk of missions such as aid to civil power and casualty evacuation.
Recently, we saw IAF choppers in action in Uttarakhand fighting forest fires, an altogether new role for the service. Nothing, indeed nothing, is beyond the pale of possibility when one talks of employing national air power.
Two recent events have contributed to this particular article -- the first being an unplanned exposure this author had to the tremendous leaps taken by the Indian medical fraternity in handling highly-advanced organ transplants, such as those of the heart, lungs, eyes, kidneys and other critical body parts.
The civic consciousness and expertise in heart transplants are remarkable in cities like Chennai and Kochi, some excellent pioneering work having been done by some highly-dedicated doctor-support staff teams in these 'golden heart' cities.
The second contributing factor is what the Norwegian air force did recently -- flying across a heart-lung machine at supersonic speeds to a patient 450 km away, reportedly cutting down on the critical time factor available to 25 minutes from several hours otherwise by road.
Fortunately, the F-16 fighter had a convenient external hold to transport the equipment. For critical organs, the space required would be considerably lesser of course.
Some veterans would recall (though this example should only be taken as one to illustrate the availability of space in a fighter and not otherwise) the considerable space even in a MiG-21 gun bay that was ingenuously exploited by some occasionally to transport valuable cargo such as frozen pomfrets to parched palettes in the interior hinterland, from their fresh catchments in the Bay of Bengal!
Newer fighters such as the Su-30 would have much greater wherewithal in this context, with an additional cockpit to boot.
I learnt from my recent experience at Chennai that a harvested human heart needs to be inside the recipient within three hours.
There are a whole slew of other key activities that need to be gone through before a heart is transportable, such as cross matching of the donor-receiver blood, assessment of receiver lung capacity to accept the heart, time frames to convey the organ from the donor ICU to the nearest airport etc.
These other intangibles often lead to many a useful organ going abegging in our country.
Also, currently the radius of action for acquiring a donor organ is limited by the speed of the chartered aircraft -- normally, in India, a Beechcraft type -- or an even slower helicopter.
Thus for a heart transplant in Chennai we could have donor hearts being brought in from maximum Mumbai or Hyderabad at best. But if we had a high speed fighter jet at our service -- like indeed demonstrated by the Norwegians -- the envelope expands dramatically, perhaps even to areas such as Delhi, Calcutta or Ahmedabad.
Of course, the harvesting drill would need honing by the concerned organisers so that no time is wasted. Another key aspect is that of cost. Presently, only the affluent could afford a heart transplant in India.
But should we be able to bring in IAF fighter/transport/helicopter assets into the equation, many a dire situation could be salvaged, especially for the underprivileged and marginalised sections of society.
The political and national goodwill that would accrue from such humanitarian efforts would be intangible and out of proportion to the manpower and other operating costs for the IAF.
Needless to say, operational priorities would reign supreme, the medical mercy missions being undertaken only when they permit.
It may be pertinent to mention that a heart transplant in Chennai costs Rs 20 lakh (Rs 2 million) today with an additional Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) for the air charter.
In New York, the same could cost $2.6 million (around Rs 20 crore/Rs 200 million) and a similar amount for post operative care! For outsiders, there is a near two year wait period too, something which most patients would not have the luxury of.
Besides, it has been established recently at international symposia that Indians are a reasonably homogeneous race as far as chances of organ rejection are concerned, as compared to the Americans or Europeans. Koreans and Japanese, of course, are the best for homogeneity.
In every way therefore any Indian wishing to have a serious organ transplant procedure should only look at India.
In the developed world one sees an altogether nuanced approach of the establishment and civil society to social issues and human rights. It would surely take India a while to get there.
I saw a video at a small Chennai hospital that said, 'We are soon going to be in a global visa-free regime. The HEART will be the visa.'
Indian medical tourism has come of age and coupled with the immense cost differential between the West and us, makes India even more attractive as a destination to treat sophisticated medical ailments.
Every citizen has a role to play in enhancing this reputation even further. The armed forces medical establishment and organs such as the Air Force Wives Welfare Association and the Army Wives Welfare Association need to be energised to address local requirements in organ transplants and to coordinate with the operational staff and leadership.
Besides the Athithi devo bhava tradition and the leapfrogging economy, our country would only get stronger in this field in the future.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a 10-year-old Siberian girl to Chennai to get an Indian heart! Pakistanis have been coming to India for a while now for heart, kidney and eye transplants.
My suggestion to rope in the IAF's fighter fleet to beat the time frame conundrum involved in major organ transplants should be seen in this light.
Technology is advancing by leaps and bounds, but there still would be occasions when human ingenuity and cooperation could help things along.
We are soon going into an era where in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles would be used to transport human organs across large distances. Some Chennai doctors are already working on this concept.
Then again, can you imagine the diplomatic pay off, of an Indian heart being flown to Karachi or Dhaka or Colombo in an IAF fighter to save a life in one of these countries? | http://www.rediff.com/news/column/why-not-use-iafs-fighter-fleet-for-organ-transport/20160816.htm | en | 2016-08-16T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/4ff8b7ddccd7af09bf9c875d9c4252a36c5f8287ac9115e951342541468674b0.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:26:49 | null | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | When Vijila Sathyanath (AIADMK) rose to speak on her zero hour mention, DMK members, led by Tiruchi Siva and Kanimozhi, objected to it, saying she should not be allowed to raise the matter as their notices on the same issue were disallowed earlier.
| Dravidian parties spar in Rajya Sabha over river issues | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fdravidian-parties-spar-in-rajya-sabha%2F20160812.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/12rajya.jpg | en | null | Dravidian parties spar in Rajya Sabha over river issues | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 12, 2016 14:40 IST
Tamil parties All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had a face-off in Rajya Sabha on Friday after the former raised the issue of construction of check dams by Andhra Pradesh on Pallar river flowing it the state.
When Vijila Sathyanath (AIADMK) rose to speak on her zero hour mention, DMK members, led by Tiruchi Siva and Kanimozhi, objected to it, saying she should not be allowed to raise the matter as their notices on the same issue were disallowed earlier.
AIADMK members were immediately on their feet to support their party colleague, with senior member A Navaneethakrishnan even walking up to the Chair demanding that Sathyanath be allowed to complete her submission.
Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said the chairman has allowed her zero hour mention and so she has been permitted to speak.
Amid protests from DMK members, she said Andhra Pradesh has constructed check dams on the river without the permission of Tamil Nadu.
Siva said he had given a special mention notice on Thursday on Cauvery management board but it was disallowed on the grounds that the issue had already been raised in the House in the current session.
He said he had raised the issue of check dams on Pallar river through a Zero Hour mention which was also not allowed. So the same rule should apply to the AIADMK member’s notice which should not be accepted.
“My notice was not accepted,” the DMK member said, as his AIADMK counterparts protested vociferously.
At one time, Kurien even warned of action against Sathyanath for unruly behaviour after she had completed her three-minute submission.
“Vijila, I will take action against you. Don’t do like this,” he said.
To Siva, Kurien said it is the prerogative of the chairman to allow an issue to be raised. “You cannot comment on the decision of the chairman.”
Mukul Roy (Trinamool Congress) sought a review of the process of appointing election commissioners alleging the poll body’s role during the recent assembly elections in West Bengal had raised doubts about its impartiality.
He said the way 76 officers, including the commissioner of Kolkata, were transferred by the Election Commission ‘without any bases’ had ‘raised doubts if (the) Election Commission was carrying out a political vendetta’.
The poll body, he alleged, was ‘autocratic’ during the assembly polls and was bent upon ‘ringing death knell in West Bengal’. He sought a review of the way appointments are made to the Election Commission.
Shwait Malik (Bharatiya Janata Party) raised the issue of security lapse at the Attari on Indo-Pak border saying arms and other unwanted items were being smuggled into India because of lack of scanners at the check post.
Also, of the 231 CCTV cameras at the check-post, only 13 were working when he visited Attari, Malik said, adding none of the 18 boom barriers were working.
Image used for representational purpose only. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/dravidian-parties-spar-in-rajya-sabha/20160812.htm | en | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/4e46de35ae107fb90e1c12da514c3ce9e5489b19909ef2631bc1dbabe152be4d.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T12:51:51 | null | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | As Myanmar sets out on a new path after decades of military rule, India on Monday promised whole-hearted support to it in 'every step' of its journey as the two countries resolved to deepen ties and actively cooperate to combat terrorism and insurgent activities in the region. | At every step 1.25 billion people of India will stand by Myanmar: PM | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Findia-pledges-full-support-to-myanmar%2F20160829.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/29myanma01.jpg | en | null | At every step 1.25 billion people of India will stand by Myanmar: PM | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 29, 2016 17:07 IST
As Myanmar sets out on a new path after decades of military rule, India on Monday promised whole-hearted support to it in "every step" of its journey as the two countries resolved to deepen ties and actively cooperate to combat terrorism and insurgent activities in the region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held extensive talks with Myanmarese President U Htin Kyaw, in first top level engagement with the new government of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, and conveyed India's full support to Myanmar's internal peace process.
The two sides inked four MoUs to boost cooperation in areas of connectivity, medicine and renewable energy, besides resolving to deepen ties in a range of other sectors, including agriculture, banking and power.
Reading out a statement to media, Modi later said both sides recognised that each other's security interests are closely aligned and that both countries agreed to work together to combat terrorism and insurgent activities in the region.
"We recognised that our security interests are closely aligned. And, we agreed on the need to remain sensitive to each other's strategic interests and concerns.
"To this end, President and I agreed to work together for the safety and security of our people. And, actively cooperate to combat the common challenges of terrorism and insurgent activity in our region," Modi said, with Htin Kyaw by his side.
Myanmar, considered one of India's strategic neighbours, shares a 1,640 km long border with a number of northeastern states including militancy-infested Nagaland and Manipur. India has been raising with Myanmar the issue of several northeast militant outfits having training camps in that country.
Referring to new Myanmarese government's agenda of ushering a all round growth and development in the country, Modi said, "Let me assure you that at every step of the way 1.25 billion people of India will stand by you -- Both as partners and as friends."
Reassuring India's support to Myanmar, Modi said India wants to take the relationship to "new heights", adding "A bright future for Myanmar is not just your objective. It is also our aspiration."
The prime minister said both sides have also agreed to work towards a long-term and a mutually beneficial arrangement for trade in pulses.
Calling Myanmar a "bridge" that connects India with South East Asia, Modi said "our discussions today have enabled us to evolve a road map and an action agenda for our cooperation."
The Myanmarese president on his part said his government wants to strengthen ties with India.
China has been increasing its footprint in Myanmar and making huge investments in several major projects.
Prime Minister Modi said two agreements signed today will facilitate the construction and upgrading of 69 bridges and the Kalewa-Yargi road section of the India- Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway project.
It is Htin Kyaw's first visit abroad after assuming charge of the top office and Modi told him that India was deeply honoured that he has chosen India for his first State visit abroad.
"Buddhist principles of 'metta' or loving kindness and 'Sarva Pantha Sambhava' (equality of all religions) define our ways of life," said Modi, while complimenting maturity of Myanmar's leadership and commitment of its people to democracy.
Modi said he has also conveyed to the President India's full support to the peace process initiative under the '21st Century Panglong Conference'.
Talking about intensity of bilateral ties, Modi said its extent and depth are shaped by a robust development cooperation partnership, which has a strong "people first" philosophy.
"India's nearly 2 billion dollar development assistance is touching the lives of the common man of Myanmar. Our engagement is supporting projects in connectivity, infrastructure, capacity building education, healthcare and many other sectors," he said.
Giving example of India's assistance, he talked about the Kaladan project and said its port and waterway segment were nearing completion later this year.
"In April this year, we took the small step of supplying power to Tamu in Myanmar. I have told the President that we are willing to substantially scale up our supply of power," the PM said.
Talking about cultural ties, he said it is a "key centrality" in the foundation of the ties.
"I am happy that our partnership is restoring Ananda temple in Bagan in Myanmar.
"We are also ready to restore other historic monuments and pagodas, which were damaged in the earthquake which hit Myanmar just last week," he said.
IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Myanmar President Htin Kyaw address a joint media briefing, at Hyderabad House, in New Delhi. Photograph: PIB | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/india-pledges-full-support-to-myanmar/20160829.htm | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/43949c17fb6e1226301162e1b11367bf37228b7e90f950e444e401e1878f57d5.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T06:50:04 | null | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | Canadian-Bangladeshi Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and his two associates were killed during an encounter at the militants' hideout. | Security forces kill mastermind of Dhaka cafe attack | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fsecurity-forces-kill-mastermind-of-dhaka-cafe-attack%2F20160827.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/27dhaka.jpg | en | null | Security forces kill mastermind of Dhaka cafe attack | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 27, 2016 11:46 IST
Bangladesh police on Saturday raided a militant hideout on the outskirts of the national capital, killing Dhaka cafe attack ‘mastermind’ Canadian-Bangladeshi Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and two other Islamist extremists.
“The gunfight erupted on Saturday morning after police started raiding a building at Naraynganj’s Pikeparha,” Counter-terrorism Unit’s Additional Deputy Commissioner Sanowar Hossain was quoted as saying by the bdnews24.com.
The unit’s chief Monirul Islam earlier said the raid was conducted upon information gleaned from an arrested operative of the banned Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh.
Police spokesman Jalaluddin confirmed that Tamim Chowdhury was among those killed on Saturday morning during the raid, the second major clampdown after the nine suspected Islamist terrorists were killed in the capital last month.
A joint team from Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit, police headquarters and district police cordoned off the house since morning on information that a group of militants were staying there, superintendent of Narayanganj police Mainul Haq was quoted as saying by The Daily Star.
As the security forces tried to enter the house, the criminals opened fire from inside, he said.
Chowdhury, 30, was identified by police as the mastermind of the country’s worst terror attack on July 1 at a cafe in Dhaka that killed 22 people, including an Indian girl.
According to the investigators, he had accompanied the five attackers from their Bashundhara flat to Gulshan, Dhaka and left the area after bidding them farewell just before the cafe siege began on July 1.
The investigators also found his involvement in the Sholakia attack on the July 7 Eid day that killed four people, including two constables, an attacker, and a local woman.
Chowdhury was also the mentor of the nine militants who were killed in a police operation at Kalyanpur on July 26.
According to police, Chowdhury used to stay in Canada and might have developed a network of financiers abroad before coming to Bangladesh in 2013.
Police had announced Tk 2 million reward earlier this month for information leading to Chowdhury’s arrest.
Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the cafe attack.
Investigators earlier identified Chowdhury as the leader of Neo-Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, which analysts said was inclined to IS.
The police chief had earlier said that Dhaka alerted Indian security agencies against Chowdhury’s possible intrusion to the neighbouring country as a nationwide manhunt was underway to track him down at home.
Chowdhury’s family hails from the northeastern Bangladesh district of Sylhet and his father Shafi Ahmed Chowdhury, who was a mariner, immigrated to Canada in the early 1970s.
Image: Policemen stand guard along a road leading to the Holey Artisan Bakery and the O'Kitchen Restaurant after gunmen attacked it in Dhaka. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/security-forces-kill-mastermind-of-dhaka-cafe-attack/20160827.htm | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/56d796f28e505a68f6dea69034a3adef2ce4a8085a79c70968220e361d63e675.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:20:43 | null | 2016-08-19T00:00:00 | The Speaker, responding to pleas by DMK's KN Nehru, who was not among those suspended since he was not present in the House on August 17, made it clear that there was no reviewing of his decision to suspend the agitating DMK legislators for a week. | TN speaker again rules out revoking suspension of DMK MLAs | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Ftn-speaker-again-rules-out-revoking-suspension-of-dmk-mlas%2F20160819.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/19dmk.jpg | en | null | TN speaker again rules out revoking suspension of DMK MLAs | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 19, 2016 12:49 IST
Tamil Nadu Speaker P Dhanapal on Friday once again ruled out reconsidering the suspension of Dravida Munnetra Kazagham MLAs on Wednesday for allegedly creating a ruckus in the House, even as the suspended legislators continued to protest the action.
Led by Opposition Leader MK Stalin and DMK Deputy Leader Durai Murugan, the suspended DMK MLAs staged a ‘model assembly’ session outside the House.
The Speaker, responding to pleas by DMK’s KN Nehru, who was not among those suspended since he was not present in the House on August 17, made it clear that there was no reviewing of his decision to suspend the agitating DMK legislators for a week.
“I was very patient that day and had to finally take action,” he said about his decision to suspend the MLAs, even as DMK found support from allies, Congress and Indian Union Muslim League, who also sought revoking the suspension order.
Seven of the nine non-suspended DMK legislators, who were not present in the House on Wednesday, along with Congress and IUML members subsequently staged a walkout.
Dhanapal had on Thursday refused to revoke the en masse suspension of 80 DMK members. The suspended members had staged a protest outside the House and their colleagues inside twice staged a walkout over the issue.
Later, speaking to reporters , Stalin said the suspended MLAs had held a ‘model assembly’ where they were informed in advance that only people’s issues should be discussed and nothing else.
The ‘model assembly’ was led by Durai Murugan as ‘Speaker’, he added.
Stalin reiterated his demand for live broadcast of assembly proceedings, saying that will help in identifying on who “committed mistakes.”
Image: M K Stalin along with other DMK legislators during a protest outside the Tamil Nadu assembly in Chennai on Thursday, a day after they were suspended for a week for creating ruckus in the House. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/PTI | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/tn-speaker-again-rules-out-revoking-suspension-of-dmk-mlas/20160819.htm | en | 2016-08-19T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/98ca4af1c89292811b997138aac3135a79da4ce2770902d9b159e96f8eb29402.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:36:01 | null | 2016-08-06T00:00:00 | 'An inquiry is underway to establish the cause of the fire,' Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a statement.
| Explosion, fire kills 13 at bar in northern France | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fexplosion-in-northern-france%2F20160806.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/06francefire01.jpg | en | null | Explosion, fire kills 13 at bar in northern France | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 06, 2016 16:22 IST
A fire, apparently sparked by birthday cake candles, tore through a bar in northern France early on Saturday, killing at least 13 people in the nation's deadliest blaze in a decade.
Through the shattered front windows of the bar in Rouen melted stools and scorched liquor bottles were visible, as tearful mourners hugged each other and brought flowers to the scene of the tragedy.
Most of the dead were between 18-25 years old, with one person among the six injured still fighting for their lives. Authorities said the bar was crowded with young partygoers.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls expressed "deep sadness at the tragedy that claimed 13 young lives."
Local prosecutors described the blaze as accidental, but an investigation is underway to pinpoint the cause of the flames.
"There wasn't an explosion, it was candles used for a birthday party," a senior police official told AFP.
The flames ignited the polystyrene ceiling of the basement room where the celebrations were taking place, putting off a toxic mix of gasses that poisoned the victims, police said.
The blaze started at around midnight at the Au Cuba Libre bar in the city centre, and the firemen were at the scene by 00:20 am (0350 IST).
"A fire broke out in a bar in the city centre of Rouen this evening, according to an initial investigation, 13 are dead and six are injured, and more than 50 firemen attended the scene," Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a statement.
One of the injured was in a critical condition, the secretary general of the Seine-Maritime prefecture Yvan Cordier told AFP.
The blaze in Rouen was France's deadliest since September 2005 when an apartment building fire in the Paris suburb of L'Hay-les-Roses killed 18 people.
France has not seen such a high death toll in a night spot fire since a November 1970 blaze claimed the lives of 146 people, the majority of whom were their early 20s.
Jittery France is on edge after a series of recent attacks by Islamic State-affiliated jihadists, including the killing of a priest in nearby Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.
"I was afraid that it was another attack, but right away I was told that it was an accident," witness Rachid Ahmaymi, 36 told AFP. "Still I didn't sleep last night and have come back to hear the latest news."
IMAGE: View of the bar in Rouen, France, where a fire killed 13 people and injured another six, the interior ministry said in a statement. Photograph: Clotaire Achi/Reuters | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/explosion-in-northern-france/20160806.htm | en | 2016-08-06T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/d6e2b0a5725caf444b26651d21b7b6e06ddaa2bce23b62f3f715445fd0968d6c.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:41:54 | null | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | The Defence Reasearch and Development Organsiation has, in an attempt to give India's lawmakers 'a first-hand account of huge work undertaken by the agency', begun rolling in weapon systems manufactured by it outside the Parliament. | Tanks and missiles enter Parliament complex | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fpix-tanks-and-missiles-enter-parliament-complex%2F20160801.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/01drdo1.jpg | en | null | Tanks and missiles enter Parliament complex | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 01, 2016 23:22 IST
In a unique move, the country's defence assets like Main Battle Tank Arjun and BramHos missile will be on display in Parliament complex on Wednesday to make the MPs aware about the country's defence preparedness.
The Defence Reasearch and Development Organsiation is attempting to give India's lawmakers 'a first-hand account of huge work undertaken by the agency'.
A 3-day long exhibition, to be inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on August 3, will display numerous state-of-the-art defence technologies, products and systems developed by the DRDO.
Among the systems on display would be the BrahMos missile, the Arjun main battle tank, airborne early warning and control system, the multi-barrel rocket launcher Pinaka, a remotely-operated vehicle, a NBC recce vehicle, a wheeled armoured platform, the laser ordnance disposal system, the Varunastra torpedo, the Mobile Automatic Robotic System and various type of radars.
During the exhibition, the DRDO will also organise a virtual reality display of the Main Battle Tank Arjun, BrahMos missile and the Light Combat Aircraft-Tejas.
The defence ministry recently cleared acquisition of weapons and systems worth over Rs 2 lakh crore designed and developed by the DRDO.
Images: Weapons systems, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organization, on display at Parliament House to mark the completion of 70 years of independence. Photographs: Shahbaz Khan/PTI Photo | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/pix-tanks-and-missiles-enter-parliament-complex/20160801.htm | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/e0650df176e6fd5beb992f1369b1af6ee1bcd6119dd724324c1c54003e9703a2.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:26:57 | null | 2016-08-15T00:00:00 | As India celebrates its 70th Independence Day, take this quiz to find out how much you know about Independent India. | Are you a patriot? Take the Independence Day Quiz | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Findia-turns-70-take-our-independence-day-quiz-here%2F20160815.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/15iday1.jpg | en | null | Are you a patriot? Take the Independence Day Quiz | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 15, 2016 07:41 IST
As India celebrates its 70th Independence Day, take this quiz to find out how much you know about Independent India. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/india-turns-70-take-our-independence-day-quiz-here/20160815.htm | en | 2016-08-15T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/0c4820d032994d42d99738b914914cef380b025d17df950ce1c1aab6fa1ebdf9.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T04:52:12 | null | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | LA photographer Laura Izumikawa has come up with a way to make parenting a little more fun. While her little tot naps, Izumikawa dresses her up as pop culture figures. | PHOTOS: Taking napping to adorable levels! | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fphotos-omg-this-is-too-cute%2F20160830.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/29nap1.jpg | en | null | PHOTOS: Taking napping to adorable levels! | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 30, 2016 08:19 IST
This the cutest thing you’ll see today.
Whether she’s dressed as a member of the rock band Guns N Roses or as Beyonce, four-month-old Joey Marie Choi is an internet sensation -- and she has no idea.
Los Angeles photographer Laura Izumikawa has come up with a way to make parenting a little more fun. While her little tot naps, Izumikawa dresses her up as pop culture figures, ranging from everyone from superstar Beyoncé to Sia.
And these pics are so adorable that Izumikawa has raked up over 30,000 followers on Instagram.
Keep scrolling for the baby dress-up magic.
Sha na na na na na na na knees knees?????? #Guns 'n' Roses
This costume really deserved a gold medal, didn't it?
All the single babies! Beyonce has nothing on this cutey patootie.
The tiniest sushi chef there ever was.
Even Joey wasn’t immune to the Pokemon Go! craze.
Mad Max, the movie, was one crazy drive. And Joey seemed to be up for such a drive. FURIOSA!!
Mini ninja ready to strike.
Didn't have a chandelier but I did find a wig. #Sia. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/photos-omg-this-is-too-cute/20160830.htm | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/383d624274d9da35fea64e99a0f5aa3c92c94ea36a130e2e43df5f9af5ca95db.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:40:57 | null | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition challenging the discharge of Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah in Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. | Relief for Amit Shah as SC refuses to reopen Sohrabuddin case | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Frelief-for-amit-shah-as-sc-refuses-to-reopen-sohrabuddin-case%2F20160801.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/01shah.jpg | en | null | Relief for Amit Shah as SC refuses to reopen Sohrabuddin case | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 01, 2016 14:58 IST
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea against the discharge of Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, questioning the locus standi of petitioner Harsh Mander, a social activist, in the matter.
"Rejected," a bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and Ashok Bhushan said after nearly a half-an-hour hearing on the plea filed by former bureaucrat Mander challenging the Bombay high court order which had upheld the discharge of Shah by the trial court in the case.
"When the person is genuinely aggrieved then the issue takes a different colour but when the person is not remotely connected and wants to revive the case then it is a different matter," said the bench, while giving relief to Shah.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Mander, said, "Public must get the feeling that nobody is above the law".
To this, the court said it does not consider anyone "above the law".
Sibal said, "The CBI has filed the charge sheet but I am unable to understand why did they turn turtle. Even his (Sohrabuddin) brother who filed the case against Shah withdrew his case later."
He said that it is a high profile case which was transferred from Gujarat to Maharashtra and added that justice to the people of India should be done.
At the outset, the bench questioned the locus standi of Mander in the case.
Sibal cited some earlier judgments of the apex court and said any member of society can have a locus in the case.
He said that the high court should not have dismissed Mander's application and could have taken suo motu cognizance of the issue.
He said, "The CBI has filed a charge sheet and had made Shah accused number 16. It is a case of murder."
Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Shah, cited various judgments of the apex court and questioned the locus of Mander in the case.
He said, "This court has already held that if one is not connected with the case, he cannot interfere with anyone's trial."
Salve further said, "It cannot be a case that if State is not going to file an appeal, I will file the appeal."
He also said this court has held that a third party cannot be allowed to interfere in the trial unless it is an aggrieved party.
In the petition, Mander had sought quashing of the December 30, 2014 order of a Mumbai sessions court giving clean chit to Shah in the case.
The petitioner had questioned the findings of sessions court which was endorsed by the high court exonerating Shah in the Tulsiram Prajapati killing case, holding that there existed "no case" against him and that he had been implicated for "political reasons".
Mander had approached the Bombay high court against the sessions court order. The high court had dismissed the plea in March this year.
Sohrabuddin, a gangster was killed by Gujarat police along with his wife Kausar Bi in 2005, when Shah was the Home minister of Gujarat.
Tulsiram, an aide of the gangster and an eyewitness to the encounter, was also killed allegedly by the police in 2006. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/relief-for-amit-shah-as-sc-refuses-to-reopen-sohrabuddin-case/20160801.htm | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/9eb6146a2e8abd0f389fa08359bfbc1fb857b18fdcb76d53f93f093bb878bc2f.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:26:48 | null | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | The resolution asserted that the House 'is of the firm and considered view that there cannot be any compromise on unity, integrity and national security. | Lok Sabha adopts Kashmir resolution; 'will restore confidence of youth' | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Flok-sabha-passes-resolution-for-peace-in-kashmir%2F20160812.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/12loksabha.jpg | en | null | Lok Sabha adopts Kashmir resolution; 'will restore confidence of youth' | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 12, 2016 14:00 IST
Voicing concern over prolonged curfew, violence and loss of lives in Kashmir, Lok Sabha on Friday unanimously passed a resolution, appealing for urgent steps to restore order and peace in the valley while asserting that there can be no compromise with the country's integrity and security.
In the resolution read out by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, the House appealed to all sections of the society in Jammu and Kashmir to restore the confidence among the people in general and youth in particular.
The House "conveys its deep sense of anguish and concern over the loss of lives and critical injuries caused by the deteriorating situation," it said.
Amid thumping of desks by members from all sides, the resolution asserted that the House "is of the firm and considered view that there cannot be any compromise on unity, integrity and national security.
"It is equally an imperative that urgent steps are taken to restore order and peace for the alleviation of the sufferings of the people," it said.
The resolution was read out by the Speaker after opposition parties suggested that she instead of Home Minister Rajnath Singh should propose it.
Earlier, leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that the House pass a resolution on Kashmir where the situation was turning complex and was deteriorating by the day.
The House should appeal that the whole nation is united on the issue, Kharge said which was promptly agreed to by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
Earlier Congress chief whip Jyotiraditya Scindia was seen having some discussions with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Home Minister, apparently over the issue of adopting the resolution.
Earlier this week, the Rajya Sabha too had passed a resolution expressing its serious concern over the prolonged turbulence, violence and curfew in the Kashmir valley.
The Lok Sabha adopted the resolution unanimously shortly before the monsoon session was adjourned sine-die by the Speaker.
IMAGE: Earlier in the week, the Rajya Sabha had also passed a similar resolution expressing its serious concern over the prolonged turbulence, violence and curfew in the Kashmir valley. Photograph: PTI | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/lok-sabha-passes-resolution-for-peace-in-kashmir/20160812.htm | en | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/69f2469a8c23befbcec103ab881921181482018f26708825fa606ed8704943ed.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:39:08 | null | 2016-08-03T00:00:00 | While the plane was in the air, the woman fell asleep. She woke up to find Kunam sexually touching her. | 58-yr-old Indian held for sexually assaulting woman on US flight | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Findian-held-for-sexually-assaulting-woman-on-us-flight%2F20160803.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/03flight.jpg | en | null | 58-yr-old Indian held for sexually assaulting woman on US flight | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 03, 2016 13:20 IST
A 58-year old Indian man has been charged with sexually touching a woman sitting next to him on a flight from Los Angeles to New Jersey.
Veerabhadrarao Kunam, a resident of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh is charged by the complaint with one count of abusive sexual contact.
He appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Joseph Dickson on Tuesday in Newark federal court and was released on a $50,000 (Rs 33.5 lakh) secured bond.
The charge carries a maximum potential penalty of two years in prison and a $2,50,000 (Rs 1.67 crore) fine.
Kunam was arrested on July 30 when his flight arrived at Newark and was taken into federal custody by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
According to the complaint, Kunam was seated next to a woman who occupied a middle seat on a flight from Los Angeles to Newark.
While the plane was in the air, the woman fell asleep. She woke up to find Kunam sexually touching her.
Upon noticing Kunam touching her, the victim alerted her male travel companion who traded seats with her and confronted Kunam.
The accused allegedly told the victim’s travel companion that he wanted everyone to forget about the incident and offered to buy the travel companion a drink for any trouble he may have caused.
The travel companion declined Kunam’s offer and alerted a flight crew member about the incident. A member of the flight crew then moved Kunam to another seat and instructed him not to return to his original seat.
He allegedly told the flight crew member that he would not touch the victim again.
The federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over all sexual abuse cases that occur on aircraft in flight in the United States.
A spokesperson of the airline said in a statement that the plane’s crew was ‘alerted to reports of a disruptive individual who was accused of inappropriately touching a fellow passenger’.
“Our crew is trained for such situations, and they immediately moved the individual in question to another seat, monitored him to ensure he did not move from his seat, and alerted law enforcement, who was waiting for the aircraft when it arrived at the New Jersey airport,” he said.
Image used for representational purposes only. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/indian-held-for-sexually-assaulting-woman-on-us-flight/20160803.htm | en | 2016-08-03T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/7ee24b4b2604b925db214e069e7b1cf85f9926c8166cd13881ddc928e2a59590.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:59 | null | 2016-08-24T00:00:00 | The apex court also said that children below 18 years should not be allowed in the Dahi Handi event. | Dahi Handi height can't exceed 20 feet, SC rejects appeal | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fdahi-handi-height-cant-exceed-20-feet-sc-rejects-appeal%2F20160824.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2015/sep/06govinda1.jpg | en | null | Dahi Handi height can't exceed 20 feet, SC rejects appeal | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 24, 2016 17:30 IST
In a blow to the organisers of the famous Dahi Handi festival, Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to modify its order capping at 20 feet the height of the human pyramid in the ritual observed during 'Janmasthmi' across Maharashtra.
"No, we are not modifying it for the time being," a bench comprising Justices A R Dave, U U Lalit and L Nageswara Rao said while declining the plea of a Mumbai-based organisation that capping of the height of human pyramid would take the "adventure" out of the festival which has become a "popular and competitive" sport in the western megapolis.
The court, on August 17, had refused to relax conditions put by the high court like barring youths below 18 years of age from participating in Dahi Handi festival in Maharashtra and capping the height of the human pyramid at 20 feet.
At the outset, the bench did not agree with the contention that the festival had the colour of popular sport and there should be no cap on the height of the pyramid in view of the fact that the court has already barred youth below 18 years of age from taking part in it.
"Has it (festival) brought any medal in the Olympic? I belong to the city (Mumbai). I would have been happy if it had brought any medal," Justice Dave said, adding that this ritual sometimes caused serious injuries to participants, particulary in organs like the spinal chord.
The counsel for Jogeshwari-based 'Jai Jawan Krida Mandal Govinda Pathak' said the highest height of the human pyramid at 43.79 feet has found mention in the Guinness Book of World Records and capping it would be "unfair".
More than 1500 organisations are looking in anticipation at this court as the capping of the height would take away the competitiveness from the sport, he said.
However, the bench asked the counsel: "you cannot give assurance on behalf of other 1499 organisations that due care would be taken. Moreover, it has been claimed that 1500 people got injured in this function last year. Is it correct? How many people got injured last year."
Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Maharashtra, said, "as a matter of fact, risk factor is there in every sport" and there was no data on record with regard to the number of injured persons.
In the forenoon, the fresh plea seeking modification of the order relating to cap of 20 feet height of human pyramid, was mentioned by the organisation, saying it was urgent as the festival was to be held on Thursday. The bench instantly agreed to hear it at 12.30 pm.
The organisation said now that youngsters below 18 years of age have been barred from participating in the Dahi Handi ritual, the cap on the height of the human pyramid should be relaxed as adventure is part of every sport.
The Supreme Court had earlier refused to relax conditions put by the Bombay high court like barring youths below 18 years of age from participating in the ritual of Janmashtami festival in Maharashtra and capping the height of the human pyramid at 20 feet.
The bench had, however, suspended the operation of two directions passed by the high court to regulate the Dahi Handi festival.
One of the directions, suspended by the apex court, related to amending the existing law to bar children below 18 years of age from participating in dangerous performances like being part of the human pyramid of Dahi Handi festival.
The second direction of the high court, which was also suspended, related to the part of the order which makes it mandatory for the organisers to apprise the authorities 15 days in advance about various aspects such as place of celebration, its timing and personal information, including the birth certificates, of participating 'Govindas' on the ground of paucity of sufficient time.
The Supreme Court had on August 10 revived a plea challenging a Bombay HC order restricting the height of human pyramids to 20 feet for Dahi Handi ritual, saying it needed to hear the PIL petitioner before passing any order.
The court had sought reply of Swati Sayaji Patil, a social worker, who had filed a petition for initiation of contempt proceedings against Maharashtra government in high court for failure to comply with the HC order.
The Maharashtra government had earlier approached the apex court seeking clarification on its 2014 order by which it had stayed the high court decision banning participation of those below 18-years in a popular Dahi Handi ritual.
The high court had on August 11, 2014, while hearing a petition filed by Patil, ordered that the height of human pyramids should not exceed 20 feet and that children below the age of 18 should not be allowed to participate. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/dahi-handi-height-cant-exceed-20-feet-sc-rejects-appeal/20160824.htm | en | 2016-08-24T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/a15fa658e07557fac5f0087e3abfc671a44bd5088fee73aa873569e4fdb7de18.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T16:51:25 | null | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | The decision has been taken as it would lead to opening another front, diverting the party's energy from the campaign, AAP sources said. | AAP won't act against 'troublesome' lawmakers before Punjab polls | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Faap-wont-act-against-troublesome-lawmakers-before-punjab-polls%2F20160828.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2015/feb/14sisodia-dycm.jpg | en | null | AAP won't act against 'troublesome' lawmakers before Punjab polls | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 28, 2016 20:54 IST
Over the past one month, the Aam Aadmi Party has been facing trouble from its four rebel lawmakers, but the party has decided against sacking them ahead of the Punjab assembly polls to avoid opening ‘another front’.
The decision not to take action against them has been taken as it would lead to opening another front which would mean diverting the party's energy from the campaign, AAP sources said.
The party had removed rebels like Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, but sacking the lawmakers would mean ‘freedom’ from the ambit of the anti-defection law.
Its MP Bhagwant Mann is in the dock for making a video of the Parliament complex and live-streaming it. He has also been accused by suspended AAP MP Harinder Singh Khalsa of coming to the House drunk, causing embarrassment to the party. Mann has refuted the charge of alcoholism.
Dharamvira Gandhi, another suspended MP from Patiala, has announced formation of an alternative political front at a time when the AAP is putting all its energy to wrest Punjab from the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition in the state assembly polls scheduled early next year.
The two MPs were suspended from the AAP for anti-party activities after they criticised its leadership for expelling Yadav and Bhushan.
“Why should I resign from the party? Let them throw me out. As an MP, I have obligations towards the voters of my constituency,” Gandhi had said at the launch of the front last week.
In Delhi, the party is facing a peculiar situation. A former minister Asim Ahmed Khan, sacked over alleged graft charges, claimed that he and his family are facing ‘death threats’ from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and some other partymen.
In another instance, its Timarpur MLA Pankaj Pushkar, who is known to be close to Yadav, has moved breach of privilege notice against Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for ‘misleading’ the Delhi legislative assembly.
“The party does not want to make another Binny and create trouble for itself. We have learnt lessons from it,” said an AAP leader.
Vinod Kumar Binny won from Laxmi Nagar in AAP’s debut assembly polls in December 2013. He was later expelled from the party and joined the BJP. He contested against Sisodia in the 2015 assembly polls.
“Why do we expel them? They want us to do that. Expelling them from the party will not only free them from the party, but they will be able to join another political outfit.
“We don’t intend to give any chance that would increase the strength of the BJP or any other party in the Delhi legislative assembly,” said another AAP leader.
The rebels have to toe the party line in the assembly and the Lok Sabha.
Pushkar and Khan have not even been suspended for their actions.
“Technically they still remain the members of the party despite their rebellion. So, they have to abide by the party whip. The moment they violate the whip, or join any other party political party, they will stand disqualified,” said another AAP leader.
Talking about Pushkar, the leader said, “He opposed the education policy of the Delhi government, but when the bill was put to vote, he had to vote in its favour. Isn't this a U-turn that he is opposing a particular issue, but votes in favour of it.”
Pushkar, however, said, “I have never embarrassed the party, but have raised pertinent questions. I abide by the party whip, but it is also my duty to raise the issues concerning people.” | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/aap-wont-act-against-troublesome-lawmakers-before-punjab-polls/20160828.htm | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/09f3151db7f152b5127adf3154bedbc95a78298869afeae9571312df73e5224d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:18:15 | null | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | Jaitley said security forces need not use force if the protests are peaceful. | Jaitley appeals to Kashmiri youth to shun violence | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fjaitley-appeals-to-kashmiri-youth-to-shun-violence%2F20160823.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/22live2.jpg | en | null | Jaitley appeals to Kashmiri youth to shun violence | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 23, 2016 00:11 IST
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday appealed to youth in turbulent Kashmir to shun violence and at the same time said security forces will have to act in self-defence if they are attacked.
Stating that a political solution to the problem in Jammu and Kashmir will have to be fond soon within the Constitutional parameters, Jaitley said security forces need not use force if the protests are peaceful.
"But if they bring weapons, explosives (and) attack security forces... come in thousands and pelt stones on security forces, this constitutes an attack and security forces will have to act in self-defence," he told Aaj Tak news channel.
At an event in Jammu on Sunday, Jaitley while acknowledging that the situation in Kashmir is "serious" asserted that there can be no compromise with those indulging in violence and described stone-pelters as "not satyagrahis but aggressors" who target police and security forces.
"I want to appeal to the youth of this country who have strayed on wrong path, that they should leave the wrong path as they will otherwise be a loser in the end," he said.
Jaitley also blamed Pakistan for not just training and funding terrorists but also for instigating the youth in KashmirValley.
"Security forces cannot lower their guard (against terrorists)," he said, adding, "Those who live by the gun, (will) perish (by the gun)."
On possible solution to the problem, he said separatists and terrorists will have to be isolated while needs of the common citizens in the Valley addressed compassionately.
"We have to take along the common citizen of KashmirValley. There cannot be any scope for any injustice to the public at large but at the same time there is also no room for any compassion for terrorists," he said.
On talks with Pakistan, he said the present government as well as the previous ones were of the view that dialogue with the neighbour has to continue but the issues to be discussed will be decided by the ministry of external affairs.
Jaitley said armed separatists receive "weapons, training as well as funding from Pakistan with a view to destabilise the country... there is evidence to this effect." | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/jaitley-appeals-to-kashmiri-youth-to-shun-violence/20160823.htm | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/b154cc7986bcad657385c04d0256a67abc930ccc92e99703426b2368199079f4.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:38:33 | null | 2016-08-02T00:00:00 | A 29-year-old woman from Bihar, suspected to have links with the alleged recruitment of youths from Kerala to Islamic State, is being questioned in Kerala's Kasaragod by the state police after being taken into custody from New Delhi. | Bihar woman arrested for alleged connection with Islamic State | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fbihar-woman-arrested-for-alleged-connection-with-islamic-state-%2F20160802.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/02is01.jpg | en | null | Bihar woman arrested for alleged connection with Islamic State | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 02, 2016 17:52 IST
A 29-year-old woman from Bihar, suspected to have links with the alleged recruitment of youths from Kerala to Islamic State, is being questioned in Kerala's Kasaragod by the state police after being taken into custody from New Delhi.
The woman, identified as Yasmin Ahmed, was arrested by a special team of Kerala police from Indira Gandhi International airport in Delhi when she was about to leave the country for Kabul on Sunday, police said.
She allegedly had close connections with Abdul Rashid, a native of Kasaragod, who is the prime suspect behind the 21 missing youths from the state.
She was brought in Kasaragod on Monday and produced before a local court after detailed interrogation, a senior police official said.
"We took her into custody from New Delhi and brought her here yesterday. She was charged under various sessions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). A court here later remanded her to judicial custody," said Kanhangad Deputy Superintendent of Police Sunil Babu.
The woman is suspected to be the second wife of Rashid and is believed to have played a key role in the alleged recruitment of state youths to Islamic State, the official added.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, referring to reports that some Keralites had joined Islamic State, had informed the assembly on July 11 that 21 persons were missing from the state.
Among them, 17 were from Kasaragod and four from Palakkad as per preliminary information available, he had said.
As per media reports, these people had gone to Syria and Afghanistan and were in Islamic State camps, he said. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/bihar-woman-arrested-for-alleged-connection-with-islamic-state-/20160802.htm | en | 2016-08-02T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/72be2ec27f8a37a26e7b7ff8c65911d0d2f3a0cb78e44f6411c8aec458a89072.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:17:35 | null | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | Chirag and Ketan asked Hardik to stop 'boasting' only about his 'imprisonment' or else they would reveal some of the 'darkest secrets' related to the agitation. | Hardik used quota stir to become crorepati, say ex-aides | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fhardik-used-quota-stir-to-become-crorepati-say-ex-aides%2F20160823.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/jul/15hardik.jpg | en | null | Hardik used quota stir to become crorepati, say ex-aides | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 23, 2016 10:55 IST
Chirag and Ketan asked Hardik to stop 'boasting' only about his 'imprisonment' or else they would reveal some of the ‘darkest secrets’ related to the agitation.
Patidar quota stir spearhead Hardik Patel used the agitation as a tool to satisfy his ambition to emerge as a leader and has become a ‘crorepati’ (millionaire) within one year of launching the movement, two of his former aides have claimed.
Hardik's former close associates -- Chirag Patel and Ketan Patel -- have levelled these allegations against him in an open letter addressed to him, indicating fissures in the agitation launched by Patidars to seek OBC status and qualify for reservation in government jobs and education in Gujarat.
In the letter, Chirag and Ketan alleged that the 23-year-old Hardik has become a crorepati within one year of launching the Patel quota agitation.
The two, core members of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, which started the movement under the leadership of Hardik, on Tuesday made the letter public.
‘Your ambition to become a leader, selfishness and urge to be wealthy has caused huge damage to the community as well as to our agitation,’ alleged the PAAS leaders.
‘People of our community very well know that instead of helping kin of those who lost their lives during our agitation, you and your close friends are living a lavish life. You and your uncle Vipulbhai bought expensive cars from the donations collected to help the martyrs and to fund the agitation,’ said the letter.
‘Normally, people find it difficult to make both ends meet after going to jail. But, it is exactly opposite in your case as you have become a crorepati after going to jail,’ Chirag and Ketan claimed.
Hardik has moved to Udaipur, Rajasthan after being granted bail by the Gujarat high court last month in two sedition cases lodged against him in Ahmedabad and Surat. One of the conditions for granting bail was that he would stay outside Gujarat for the next six months.
Hardik or his associates have not yet responded to the charges made in the letter. He was in jail for almost nine months. Along with him, Chirag and Ketan were also behind bars for almost eight months as they are co-accused in the sedition case filed by Ahmedabad Police following large scale violence in Gujarat after their mega rally in Ahmedabad on August 25, 2015.
Recently, Hardik formed a new team and sidelined Chirag and Ketan, spokespersons of PAAS. Both of them accused Hardik of dictatorial style of working, which according to them, has ruined chances of getting reservation for Patels.
‘Because of your dictatorial approach, our dream of getting reservation has been shattered. For your personal gains, you have been boasting in the media only about your imprisonment. You must not forget, we also went to jail,’ they said.
Chirag and Ketan asked Hardik to stop behaving in such a manner or else the duo said they would reveal some of the ‘darkest secrets’ related to the agitation. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/hardik-used-quota-stir-to-become-crorepati-say-ex-aides/20160823.htm | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/dc39b89c8524dd0472f4177322e8cd2f34bf151071720daad062f016038e4e4d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:02 | null | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | Dave, who was the bureau chief of a Gujarati newspaper called Jai Hind, was stabbed at 9 pm, while he was writing a story. | Journalist murdered at newspaper office in Gujarat | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fjournalist-of-local-daily-stabbed-to-death-in-junagadh-office%2F20160823.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/23dave.jpg | en | null | Journalist murdered at newspaper office in Gujarat | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 23, 2016 13:13 IST
A journalist was allegedly murdered by some unidentified persons at the office of a newspaper he was working with in Gujarat’s Junagadh district.
Kishore Dave, 53, was stabbed to death at the office of a Gujarati daily at Vanjari chowk around 9.30 pm on Monday, Superintendent of Police Nilesh Jajadiya said.
Dave was the bureau chief of the newspaper which is published from Rajkot, he said.
“He was stabbed six-seven times with knife. From injury marks, it appears that personal enmity could be a reason behind the murder,” Jajadiya said.
Dave’s body was sent for postmortem and police have launched a probe into the murder after registering a case against unidentified assailants at Junagadh B division police station. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/journalist-of-local-daily-stabbed-to-death-in-junagadh-office/20160823.htm | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/3bb0e44b34b9cf04d7b78907ecd388db7a95eacec17f8125c5641f286b74084e.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:22:56 | null | 2016-08-17T00:00:00 | JR through his art is paying a playful tribute to the Olympians who have trained day and night to achieve success and are nothing short of superheroes! | PHOTOS: When the Rio Olympics inspired art | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fpix-when-the-rio-olympics-inspired-art%2F20160817.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/17rio1.jpg | en | null | PHOTOS: When the Rio Olympics inspired art | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 17, 2016 10:41 IST
Rio de Janeiro has been taken over by giants.
A massive high jumper floats over a high rise building, while a colossal figure glides gracefully into the seawater.
These gigantic renderings are the work of French art photographer JR, who is famous for plastering huge black-and-white photographs onto street scenes around the world.
Invited by the International Olympic Committee, JR through his art is paying a playful tribute to the Olympians who have trained day and night to achieve success and are nothing short of superheroes!
He has set up three such “sculptures” so far, pasting his photographs onto scaffolding at iconic spots around the city.
Take a look at these artworks, which blew us away!
Emerging from the sea: Here's French triathlete Leonie Periault, rising out of the Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro. Even though she's not in Rio this year, her presence has been felt thanks to this black and white giant rendering of her.
Ready to take the plunge! In his second piece, which is situated near the Olympic park and village, a diver is suspended in motion, arms spread wide and poised to plunge into the Atlantic from the end of a pier.
Leap of faith: His third piece is a tribute to Sudanese high jumper Mohamed Younes Idriss making a larger-than-life leap over a 20-storey building. The Sudanese, the artist, said was unable to participate in the Olympics owing to an injury. "But he still came to Rio and jumps over a building in Flamengo," the artist posted on his Instagram feed.
All photographs: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Please don't miss Rediff.com's Olympic coverage HERE | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/pix-when-the-rio-olympics-inspired-art/20160817.htm | en | 2016-08-17T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/6f36eb6965ab37484ae650b44241034cdc110ed50fdba2af2e3f7ba17e0811bc.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:18:37 | null | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the IS extremist group was the 'likely perpetrator' of the bomb attack in Gaziantep. | 'IS bomber' kills at least 50 at Turkey wedding | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fdeadly-bomb-attack-rocks-turkey%2F20160821.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/21turkey1.jpg | en | null | 'IS bomber' kills at least 50 at Turkey wedding | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 21, 2016 15:26 IST
At least 50 people were killed and 94 more wounded in an attack possibly carried out by a suicide bomber on a wedding party in the Turkish city of Gaziantep near the Syrian border, officials have said.
The explosion is the latest attack to have rocked the key NATO member in a horrific year that has seen a string of strikes blamed on Kurdish and Islamist militants as well as a bloody July 15 botched coup.
Gaziantep governor Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement that 50 people had been killed and 94 wounded in "an abhorrent terror bomb attack on a wedding".
A previous toll had put the number of dead at 30.
"We condemn the traitors who organised and carried out this attack," he said, vowing that those responsible would be "brought to account".
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the IS extremist group was the "likely perpetrator" of the bomb attack in Gaziantep.
Erdogan said in a statement there was "no difference" between the group of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen whom he blames for the failed coup bid, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) "and Daesh (IS), the likely perpetrator of the attack in Gaziantep".
"Our country and our nation have again only one message to those who attack us -- you will not succeed!" he said.
Mehmet Erdogan, a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker for Gaziantep said it was not clear who was responsible for the explosion but there was a "high possibility" it was a suicide attack.
The lawmaker added that it was the type of attack that could have been launched by the Islamic State group or the Kurdistan Workers' Party.
The explosion took place in the Sahinbey district of the city which is said to have a large number of Kurdish residents, fuelling speculation of Islamic State jihadist involvement. Reports said the wedding had a strong Kurdish presence.
"Initial information suggests it is Daesh (IS) who did this," Gaziantep MP for the AKP, Samil Tayyar, was reported as saying by Dogan news agency.
He added: "It is an area where many of our Kurdish brothers live."
The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party said its members had been present at the wedding which was also attended by many women and children.
"The aim of terror is to scare the people but we will not allow this," said Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek, who also represents Gaziantep in the Turkish parliament, adding that a suicide bombing was the likely cause.
A major city lying just 60 kilometres north of the Syrian border, Gaziantep has become a hub for Syrians fleeing the civil war in their country.
But as well as refugees and opposition activists, there have long been fears it was home to a significant jihadist presence.
Images from the scene showed bodies covered in white sheets while distraught relatives of the victims were comforted in the street. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/deadly-bomb-attack-rocks-turkey/20160821.htm | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/b941fbba84b47f531425554525c326828606fe50a9d13d3c4f585be0de1c9007.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T16:50:21 | null | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | Curfew from the south Kashmir town was briefly lifted on Saturday morning after remaining in force for 49 days. | 25 injured in fresh clashes in Kashmir, death toll rises to 68 | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Ffresh-clashes-in-kashmir-25-injured-death-toll-rises-to-68%2F20160827.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/27jk1.jpg | en | null | 25 injured in fresh clashes in Kashmir, death toll rises to 68 | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 27, 2016 21:36 IST
At least 25 people were injured in fresh clashes between protesters and security forces in Kashmir on Saturday even as the death toll in the ongoing unrest in the Valley reached 68 amid curfew in many parts of the region.
IMAGE: Citizens hold posters and shout slogans to protest against the killing of civilians, in Srinagar. Photograph: Umar Ganie
Police recovered the body of a youth from River Jhelum at Sangam in Anantnag district on Saturday morning, a police official said.
He said locals alleged that Shahnawaz Khatana had drowned in the river on Friday when security forces chased a group of stone-pelters in the area.
With this death, the toll in the ongoing unrest in Kashmir has gone up to 68.
A police spokesman said barring five incidents of stone pelting in Anantnag, Shopian and Bandipora districts, the overall situation in the Valley remained peaceful and under control.
"The stone pelting incidents were reported from Barbugh, Hillow, Kadgam in Shopian, Sangam in Anantnag and Watpora-Potshah in Bandipora," the spokesman said.
He said some miscreants in order to disturb the situation assembled on roads and allegedly pelted stones on police and security force deployments.
While the spokesman did not mention the number of those injured in the clashes, police sources said at least 25 people sustained injuries during incidents at these places.
Authorities had to reimpose curfew in Anantnag town and adjoining areas in view of violent protests in Sangam area, the official said.
Curfew from the south Kashmir town was briefly lifted on Saturday morning after remaining in force for 49 days.
Curfew remained in force in entire Srinagar district and two south Kashmir towns of Pulwama and Pampore to maintain law and order in view of the separatist plans to march towards the headquarters of Army at Badamibagh in Srinagar.
He also said restrictions on assembly of people were in force in rest of the Valley to maintain law and order.
IMAGE: Police arrest Separatist leader and Chairman of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani after he defy his house arrest and took out a protest march towards Army Headquaters in Badami Bagh to protest against the killing of civilians in Srinagar. Photograph: PTI Photo
Hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani was taken into preventive custody as he tried to defy house arrest in order to march to the Army headquarters for handing a letter to the General Officer Commanding asking the forces to "vacate Jammu and Kashmir".
Violent protests have been going on for the past 50 days in the Valley following killing of Hizbul Mujahideen 'commander' Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on July 8.
Normal life remained paralysed for the 50th consecutive day due to curfew, restrictions and separatist sponsored strike.
Shops, private offices, educational institutions and petrol pumps remained closed while public transport continued to be off roads.
The attendance in government offices and banks was also affected, the official said.
Mobile Internet also continued to remain suspended in the entire Valley, where the outgoing facility on prepaid mobiles remained barred.
The separatist camp, which is spearheading the agitation in the Valley over the civilian killings during the protests against Wani's killing, has extended the strike call in the Valley till September 1. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/fresh-clashes-in-kashmir-25-injured-death-toll-rises-to-68/20160827.htm | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/e951032c42e93aadfb9b4fd3b189198a7e3c45b62e40e1618a6a93a0d2fc8717.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:26:17 | null | 2016-08-13T00:00:00 | The Indian position has never been correctly articulated by successive governments, says security expert Ajay Sahni. | 'Modi has put Islamabad on the mat' | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fmodi-has-put-islamabad-on-the-mat%2F20160813.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/13lead1.jpg | en | null | 'Modi has put Islamabad on the mat' | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 13, 2016 12:01 IST
The Indian position has never been correctly articulated by successive governments, says security expert Ajay Sahni.
Welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's strong assertion at the all-party meeting on the atrocities being carried out on the people of Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir by Pakistan, security expert Ajay Sahni on Saturday said the statement squarely puts Islamabad on the mat.
Speaking to ANI, Sahni said the statement coming from the Prime Minister itself, is important, both for international discourse and domestic discourse.
"It is for the first time at this level that we have had a very clear statement on what is essentially the Indian constitutional position and essentially the position that should have been articulated by the Indian State, even in view of the UN Council Resolution," he said.
"It is very important that the Prime Minister has chosen himself to put up a statement and I think it will have two crucial consequences; one, it will result in a better informed national-international community because the world has always accepted the Pakistani position that has always been very aggressively articulated," he added.
The security expert insisted that the Indian position has never been correctly articulated by successive governments.
"The second thing is even within Kashmir, people are not adequately aware of the actual history and the actual legal and constitutional position of PoK. Consequently, I think the statement is important, both for international discourse and domestic discourse on the subject and it very squarely puts Pakistan on the mat which is important because it has never been done before," he said.
"The time has come to expose Pakistan's brutalities on the people of Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir," said Prime Minister Modi on Friday as the government launched a fresh offensive against Islamabad for igniting the latest unrest in Kashmir.
"When we talk about Jammu and Kashmir, then we should talk about four regions -- Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir," he said.
Addressing the media after the all-party meeting, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, "I have assured all the political parties that every suggestion, which they have put forward to bring normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir would be taken into consideration."
Singh quoted the Prime Minister as saying that the time has come for Pakistan to answer the world on atrocities against the people in Balochistan and the PoK.
During the four-hour-long meeting, which comes in the wake of continued unrest in Kashmir after the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani on July 8, some of the opposition parties also asked the government to take a few immediate confidence-building measures like putting an end to the use of pellet guns and relaxing AFSPA in some parts of the valley.
Kashmir has been on the boil for more than a month with thousands injured and more than 50 killed during protests against Wani's killing. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/modi-has-put-islamabad-on-the-mat/20160813.htm | en | 2016-08-13T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/b1f61ba732329553481f1bc4d7dcac689798469e2d528e3742484131c297d7a9.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T14:50:15 | null | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | An Indian man who is serving a three-year sentence in Pakistan for illegally entering the country faces 'threats' to his life in prison, Pakistan Human Rights Commission has said and asked the government to ensure his safety. | Pak HRC asks government to ensure safety of Indian prisoner | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fpak-hrc-asks-government-to-ensure-safety-of-indian-prisoner%2F20160826.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/11jail.jpg | en | null | Pak HRC asks government to ensure safety of Indian prisoner | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 26, 2016 20:09 IST
An Indian man who is serving a three-year sentence in Pakistan for illegally entering the country faces "threats" to his life in prison, Pakistan Human Rights Commission has said and asked the government to ensure his safety.
Hamid Nehal Ansari, 31, a Mumbai resident, was convicted in February in Kohat, a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
Ansari went missing in Pakistan in 2012 where he had allegedly gone to meet a girl he had befriended on the Internet, authorities last month admitted that he has been in army custody and facing a trial in military courts.
"The former, a young Indian engineer, illegally entered Pakistan because he wanted to help an internet friend, a young girl, and was arrested in 2012. The authorities denied any knowledge of him for a long time and eventually disclosed that he was tried by a military court and sentenced to three years' imprisonment," HRCP Secretary General I A Rehman said.
He said the Peshawar high court is hearing his petition for the inclusion of the pre-trial period of detention in Ansari's imprisonment term, but now concern has been raised about "threats" to his life in prison.
"The government must ensure his safety and it will be proper to start preparing for Ansari's repatriation to India," he said.
According to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, 56 cases of enforced disappearances occurred in January this year, 66 in February, 44 in March, 99 in April, 91 in May, 60 in June and 94 in July. That is, 510 cases in the last seven months, or an average of 72.86 cases per month.
In reference to the report the commission said, "No review of disappearances can be complete without taking notice of the plight of Hamid Ansari..."
The commission has said although many more instances of enforced disappearance are not reported, the number of cases received by the commission is high enough for the government to abandon its complacency.
"The government of Pakistan should take a fresh look at the problem that has caused endless agony to thousands of families over the last many years," Rehman said, adding the government cannot pretend to be ignorant of the fact that enforced disappearances is still a major human rights issue in Pakistan and that a thorough reappraisal of the efforts to solve it is overdue.
The commission has also decided some 480 cases this year. Of them 111 were dropped for not being enforced disappearances and 372 persons were traced - 189 persons said to have returned home on their own.
The commission however does not tell where these people were during the period they could not be traced by their families.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan had issued instructions for such people to be interviewed so that those responsible for their disappearance could be identified and punished. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/pak-hrc-asks-government-to-ensure-safety-of-indian-prisoner/20160826.htm | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/1407625f12daaced2aff792e576ae4264fd29349f0055464787be6a48f693520.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:28:11 | null | 2016-08-13T00:00:00 | Wang and Swaraj also discussed issues relating to annual BRICS summit which will be hosted by India in Goa in October.
| Chinese foreign minister meets PM Modi, Swaraj; discuss NSG, Masood Azhar | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fchinese-foreign-minister-calls-on-pm-modi-holds-talks-with-swaraj%2F20160813.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/13modiwang.jpg | en | null | Chinese foreign minister meets PM Modi, Swaraj; discuss NSG, Masood Azhar | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 13, 2016 23:40 IST
India on Saturday raised with China its blocking of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar's banning by the Untied Nations as well as Beijing's opposition to India's NSG membership bid for which the two sides agreed to have a meeting soon between their top disarmament officials.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, during their talks, also decided to put in place a new mechanism at the level of Foreign Secretaries to discuss various aspects of bilateral ties which have witnessed strain in the recent past.
Swaraj also conveyed to Wang, India's concerns on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir during the three-hour-long discussion including over lunch.
They reviewed the situation on the border and discussed further steps to strengthen peace and tranquillity.
Earlier in the day, Wang also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a number of issues were discussed during the 20-minute-long meeting.
"Lengthy discussion were held on India's NSG membership. Swaraj outlined importance of meeting our clean energy goals in the context of COP-21. India offered to discuss any technical issues China may have. It was agreed that the DGs of Disarmament of the two countries would meet soon," official sources said.
China had scuttled India's bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) at the plenary meeting of the 48-nation grouping in June on the grounds that it was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, evoking a strong reaction from India.
India had said China was the only country that put a road block to its NSG membership.
Swaraj also raised the issue of China blocking India's efforts to get JeM chief Azhar, mastermind of the Mumbai and Pathankot terror attacks, banned by the UN.
"China's technical hold on listing of Masood Azhar in the UNSC 1267 Committee was also taken up. China was urged to revisit its technical hold in line with its own professed zero tolerance towards terrorism," the sources said.
They said the situation on the border was also reviewed and further steps to strengthen peace and tranquillity were discussed.
"A new mechanism at the level of Foreign Secretaries agreed to discuss ties," the sources said.
The sources said the issue of South China Sea was not brought up by China in the talks.
They said Swaraj and Wang focussed on bilateral issues, regional and global developments besides preparations for the BRICS summit which will be held in Goa in October.
In his call on with Modi, Wang briefed him on G20 Summit to be held in China in September.
"The Prime Minister conveyed his greetings to Chinese President Xi Jinping," the sources said.
They said overall, the discussions between the two sides were held in a "positive, constructive and open spirit,” adding that the progress in bilateral ties was reviewed, as also "challenges on some recent issues".
The sources said there was a positive assessment of expanding investments during the talks as well the need for more cooperation in the infrastructure sector was emphasised.
The two sides also talked about the need for easier visas, greater tourism and expanded cultural, academic and civil society interactions.
Regional and international issues including implications of Brexit, situation in the KoreanPeninsula, UN Security Council and forthcoming summits of G20, East Asia and BRICS figured in the talks between Swaraj and Wang.
Wang had arrived in Goa on Friday on a three-day visit to India. He had met Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and discussed about preparations for the BRICS summit.
IMAGE: The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China Wang Yi spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday as part of a three-day visit. Photograph: PIB photos | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/chinese-foreign-minister-calls-on-pm-modi-holds-talks-with-swaraj/20160813.htm | en | 2016-08-13T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/c06dd8eb29f98e8784974f40c03c9ac98f7bdb1279f885c78ca18e06caa98118.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T16:51:46 | null | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | On the occasion of Vijaya Dashami, which will fall on October 11, the RSS workers will wear the new pants along with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. | RSS bids goodbye to khaki shorts, starts sale of its new uniform | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Frss-bids-goodbye-to-khaki-shorts-starts-sale-of-its-new-uniform%2F20160829.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/29rss1.jpg | en | null | RSS bids goodbye to khaki shorts, starts sale of its new uniform | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 29, 2016 21:38 IST
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is set to replace khaki shorts, its trademark attire for 90 years, with brown trousers from October 11 and the sale of the new dress has already been launched with each piece costing Rs 250.
According to sources, around 7 lakh trousers are to be provided in the first phase to the members of RSS, which is the ideological mentor of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The RSS will formally adopt the new ‘Ganavesh’ (uniform) from Vijaydashami, the organisation’s foundation day that falls on October 11 this year.
“Around 2 lakh full pants have already reached offices of organisation in various states that is being provided to all its members,” head of the RSS’ communications department Manmohan Vaidya said.
The trousers will replace the knee-length khaki shorts that members of the RSS, the BJP’s ideological mentor, have worn for the last 90 years.
Aditya Chowdhary, a RSS worker, said with changing times, the right wing organisation has opted for a new look.
“There are a lot of things in our uniform. Initially, we used to wear leather belts, but later it was changed after a Jain saint objected to it. Similarly, we used half pants, and now we have changed the length to full keeping in mind the changing times. I have come to buy the new uniform. I have seen the look in photographs and it looks good,” said Chowdhary.
Another Sangh worker Amit Raipade said he is excited to experiment the new look.
“The old uniform was also comfortable, but the new uniform has been brought keeping the changing times in mind. We are excited with the new change,” said Raipade.
The decision to switch to the brown trousers was taken in March this year at the annual meeting of the organisation’s highest decision-making body, the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha.
The Sangh has announced that it would do away with its traditional trademark ‘khaki’ knickers that it has used for over nine decades and replace them with the brown trousers, that would be matched with white shirt, black cap, brown socks and bamboo sticks.
The new full pants have been stitched in different parts of the country, but the raw material has been bought from the textile town of Bhilwara in Rajasthan, the sources said.
The new uniform that will be sported by all RSS members at the annual Vijaydashami celebrations will see a sea-change in the uniform and the organisation is preparing for the transition.
-- With inputs from ANI | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/rss-bids-goodbye-to-khaki-shorts-starts-sale-of-its-new-uniform/20160829.htm | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/cd8d2fe6659f00f701e32c7032aedf20bfe76825a4e90c12c8d651f84da6af0b.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T18:50:24 | null | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | He said that over the years, India has conveyed the message of friendship, cooperation, debate and discussions through the institutions of higher learning. | Universities should be bastions of free speech, debate: Prez | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Funiversities-should-be-bastions-of-free-speech-debate-prez%2F20160828.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/27lead4.jpg | en | null | Universities should be bastions of free speech, debate: Prez | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 28, 2016 00:07 IST
President Pranab Mukherjee has said that universities and institutions of higher learning must be bastions of free speech and expression and debates should be encouraged.
At the first convocation of the Nalanda University on Saturday, he said the varsity reflects an idea, a culture which flourished for 1,200 years before it was destroyed in the 13th century.
He said that over the years, India has conveyed the message of friendship, cooperation, debate and discussions through the institutions of higher learning.
"Dr Amartya Sen in his book The Argumentative India has correctly pointed out that debate and discussion is the ethos, a part of Indian life which cannot be done away with. Universities and institutes of higher learning are the best forum for debates, discussions, free exchange of views... such an atmosphere should be encouraged," Mukherjee said.
He said the modern Nalanda should ensure that this great tradition finds new life and vigour within its precincts.
"Universities must be bastions of free speech and expression. It (Nalanda) must be the arena where diverse and conflicting thoughts contend. There should be no room for intolerance, prejudice and hatred within the spaces of this institution. Further, it must act as the flag bearer for co-existence of multiple views, thoughts and philosophies," he said.
Mukherjee asked the students, who passed out of the varsity on Saturday, to progress in life, leaving behind "all narrowness of minds and constricting thoughts".
The ruins of the ancient university are located close to the new campus. The MoU on the establishment of Nalanda University has so far been signed by 13 East Asia Summit participating countries and four non-EAS countries.
Taking about the historical importance of Nalanda University, Mukherjee said it was a melting pot of Indian, Persian, Greek and Chinese cultures.
"Ancient Nalanda is known for high level of debates and discussions. Though the main subjects of study were Buddhist texts, importance was also given to critiques of Buddhism by various schools, study of Vedas and beyond," he said.
Mukherjee gave away gold medals to two students and 12 post graduate degrees at the convocation.
He also laid the foundation stone of the 455-acre permanent campus of the university in the foothills of Rajgir.
It will be built with the help of "green technology".
"I understand that Nalanda University is striving to be a net zero energy, zero emissions, zero water and zero waste campus, a first of its kind in India. By adopting a net zero energy goal as early as 2013, the university has attempted to link its historical legacy to urgent contemporary issues of environmental sustainability," he said.
Till now, the classes were being held in a makeshift campus near the Rajgir bus stand.
The School of Historical Studies, the School of Ecology and Environment Studies and the School of Buddhist Studies, Philosophy and Comparative Religions are operating in the varsity.
IMAGE: President Pranab Mukherjee watches a model of Nalanda University campus after foundation stone laying ceremony at Rajgir, Nalanda on Saturday. Photograph: PTI Photo | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/universities-should-be-bastions-of-free-speech-debate-prez/20160828.htm | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/487250a7ec6ece2a16b9e8c58f638f5e944fc12d6592d246f65bf1d7706a1461.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:23:03 | null | 2016-08-16T00:00:00 | Bihar became the first non-NDA state and overall second after the BJP-ruled Assam to pass GST bill. | After Assam, Bihar assembly passes GST bill | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fafter-assam-bihar-assembly-passes-gst-bill%2F20160816.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/17bihar.jpg | en | null | After Assam, Bihar assembly passes GST bill | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 16, 2016 17:27 IST
Bihar on Tuesday became the first non-National Democratic Alliance state to ratify the Constitution Amendment Bill on the goods and services tax after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar counted virtues of the tax reform.
With all the major parties in the state including Janata Dal-United, Rashtria Janata Dal, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party in favour of the tax legislation, the House approved the GST bill through a voice vote.
Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist MLA Mehboob Alam opposed GST and staged a walkout. The CPI-ML has three MLAs but only Alam was present.
After ratification by the legislative assembly, the GST bill was introduced in state's Upper House. Passage of the GST by Bihar legislative council is a mere formality after its ratification with consent of all major parties in the state.
Bihar became the first non-NDA state and overall second after the BJP-ruled Assam to pass GST bill.
The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014 on the GST has already been passed by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
The GST Bill, seen as single biggest tax reform after Independence, needs to be ratified by at least 15 state legislatures out of a total of 29 before the President notify GST Council which will decide new tax rate and other issues.
The central government has set a deadline of April, 2017 for its rollout.
Intervening in the discussion on the GST Bill piloted by Commercial Tax minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar highlighted virtues of the new tax legislation.
The chief minister said he has been in support of the GST from the beginning as it was beneficial for a consumer state like Bihar and has been in favour of it when it was piloted first during the United Progressive Alliance time in 2006-7 by then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Counting virtues of the GST, Kumar said it would bring transparency in tax collection and distribution among the Centre and the states.
In addition the new tax reform would enable a state to earn a handsome portion from the service tax which earlier used to be an exclusive source of earning for the Union government. The state would have its share from service tax on telecom, railway, bank and power among others which would bring handsome cash to us, he said.
The GST would bring parity between manufacturing and consumer states and also do away with expenses on maintaining checkposts on state borders.
The GST Council to come up for implementation of the GST will have 67 per cent weightage against 33 per cent of the Centre.
To pass any resolution in the Council a minimum of 75 per cent support of members, Centre and states, would be needed which is an assurance that states concern cannot be ignored.
But, besides lauding the GST, Kumar also expressed certain concerns which he said would be stand point of the state during process of formulation of laws on the GST.
The Bihar chief minister said although he was against capping on the rate of the GST, it should be the concern of both the Centre and the states to keep the tax rate at a reasonable level to prevent it from having an inflationary effect.
Kumar said the state has wholeheartedly supported the GST in principle but would place its standpoint in the GST Council during formulation of laws by the Centre and the state for its implementation.
The first concern of Bihar would be that small traders upto Rs 1.5 crore should be taxed only by the state and they should not be brought under the Centre's domain.
In addition, for trade above Rs 1.5 crore, the machinery to collect the GST should be the exclusive right of the state and the Central Commercial Tax department need not interfere in it in any state.
The state machinery would collect GST on trade above Rs 1.5 crore and would honestly give the due share to the Centre and retain its own.
"We are against Central Commercial tax department opening office at district level and officials of both state and the Centre conducting raids for tax realisation from traders which would result in their harassment," he said.
Besides, Information Technology arrangement developed for implementation of the GST needs to be well integrated with banks, railways, telecom and power to help the state realise its share of service tax on these services, he added.
Kumar said he has held talks with his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee on the GST and how to protect interest of states during implementation of the new taxation system.
Survey suggests that there are more than six crore mobile phone users in Bihar besides Railway passengers and unloading of railway freight would generate handsome revenue to state, he said.
Earlier, after introducing the GST bill, Commercial Tax Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav listed benefits of the new taxation law and also hailed the chief minister for being an important force for the GST legislation.
Leader of opposition Prem Kumar thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for the initiative to make GST operational.
Congress Legislature party leader Sadanand Singh said it was the Congress which first introduced the GST which could not be passed during the UPA regime due to opposition from BJP-ruled states.
CPI-ML MLA Mehboob Alam opposed GST Legislation which he said symbolised "tax terrorism" introduced on behalf of capitalist oriented World Bank and International Monetary Fund. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/after-assam-bihar-assembly-passes-gst-bill/20160816.htm | en | 2016-08-16T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/2af10d09f864166e7789a3c63f46ed5d9f43fa9baa658c23016af8743cc4246d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:22:51 | null | 2016-08-17T00:00:00 | Blaring music. Manic shoppers. A foreign brand launch. | Music, malls, shopping: I-Day vignettes | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Fcolumn%2Fmusic-malls-shopping-i-day-vignettes%2F20160817.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/17desh.jpg | en | null | Music, malls, shopping: I-Day vignettes | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 17, 2016 19:44 IST
Blaring music. Manic shoppers. A foreign brand launch.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf on a special day in the nation's history.
Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com
"So how did you spend Independence Day?" a friend asked.
"With cotton in my ears," I said.
He was astonished, but that was the truth. I did spend the day with cotton stuffed in my ears.
For the last three years, politicians in the central Mumbai area where I live have decided that citizens in the vicinity don't have a right to spend a quiet Independence Day.
So they set up huge speakers and play deafening music from 7 am till lunch time every August 15.
Thanks to them I missed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's third speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort. I just couldn't hear Modi on television as the blaring music from outside drowned the PM's words out.
I even tried shutting the balcony door and all the windows, but the loud music refused to subside. I couldn't hear the PM's speech. My loss, entirely.
The songs played, you ask. The standard Bollywood patriotic fare one hears every year: Kar Chale Hum Fida from Haqeeqat. Mere Desh ki Dharti from Upkar. Lata Mangeshkar's evergreen Aey Mere Watan le Logon.
The only recent number to join the patriotic hit parade was India Wale from the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Happy New Year. Has Bollywood bid goodbye to patriotic songs, I wonder.
The loud music is not reserved for Independence Day. The speakers are switched on festival days as well.
When I once complained about the noise to a policeman, he asked me firmly "to bear it for a day. After all, it is celebration time, so please adjust."
I have now adjusted and made my peace with the noise. Thanks to the cotton buds, no complaints at all.
*****
Our freedom fighters issued many calls to boycott foreign goods and embrace swadeshi.
Ironically, on the day on which the British left our country 69 years, young Mumbaikars flocked to H&M, the Swedish apparel store that debuted in Mumbai over the weekend.
A day before H&M opened its doors in a midtown mall, the youth brigade had lined up outside, waiting to enter the store -- a scene reminiscent of the overnight queues for iPhones in the US.
Can anyone counter such an onslaught by foreign brands on our millennials' mindspace and promote Make in India or swadeshi?
Later that day, an ad on telly caught my attention. 'Hair oils have cancer causing mineral oils, cold drinks are aerated, cosmetics have chemicals and so do food items. Products of foreign companies are dangerous for us and our country,' the ad declared.
Hooked, I stayed on to find out which Indian company had the stomach for this fight, and no prizes for guessing, it was Ramdev and his Patanjali range of products.
'Adopt Patanjali as its aim is charity and patriotism,' Ramdev said, and for once I couldn't but agree with the yogi.
*****
Independence Day is a terrific time for shoppers, especially when it peaks on a long weekend as it did this year.
If being a mall rat -- with its innumerable sales -- tires you out, online stores offer all the discounts you want and more.
Despite all the hungama online, interestingly, I found the shopping malls doing brisk business on Independence Day.
Missed the I-Day sales? Worry not! R-Day sales are just 5 months away.
*****
An acquaintance, a Modi bhakt, asked why I was so quiet on my WhatsApp group, why I was not posting anything against the government.
"What is the point?" I asked.
"There has to be a healthy debate in a democracy," he said, "and we are missing that on the group because you are not saying anything these days."
While I was critical of Modi's policies, I told him, the bhakts felt I was criticising India, which was never the case.
"But that is a fact. If you criticise the prime minister of India, then you are criticising India."
To him, I quoted the philosopher Schopenhauer who once said: 'Every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud, adopts as a last resource pride in the nation to which he belongs. He is ready and happy to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority.' | http://www.rediff.com/news/column/music-malls-shopping-i-day-vignettes/20160817.htm | en | 2016-08-17T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/83b378727460c9aa01761808056efef6ff46600dde18d98158d952abf6a2e13f.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:28:07 | null | 2016-08-15T00:00:00 | Against the backdrop of recent attacks on Dalits, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday said freedom can never be for the few and asked Indians to aspire for a country where ideas are not 'crushed violently' by the forces of hate and mediocrity. | Freedom can never be for the few: Rahul | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Ffreedom-can-never-be-for-the-few-rahul%2F20160815.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/15lead6.jpg | en | null | Freedom can never be for the few: Rahul | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 15, 2016 12:56 IST
Against the backdrop of recent attacks on Dalits, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday said freedom can never be for the few and asked Indians to aspire for a country where ideas are not "crushed violently" by the forces of hate and mediocrity.
"When the forces of darkness threaten this liberty for some of us, as we saw in recent times, we must remember that freedom can never be for the few -- it has to be for everyone. Every human being in India has the right to dignity and the freedom to live and express themselves freely," he said in a message on Independence Day.
Gandhi said Indians are honour-bound to aspire to a country where nobody lives in fear and "where ideas flow freely and are not crushed violently by the forces of hate and mediocrity. We must insist and fight for this truth, at all times."
Rahul hoisted the national flag at the party headquarters here for the first time since he took over as the Congress Vice President three years ago.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who usually hoists the tricolour at the party office, was yesterday discharged from a private hospital.
Senior party leaders including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, A K Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma were present on the occasion.
Rahul said the generation which earned us the hard earned freedom is no longer with us but the Constitution is their precious gift.
"It embodies the values, principles and ideals for which they fought, values they hoped would guide our brave young country. Now it is up to us."
Rahul's remarks come against the backdrop of attacks on Dalits as also on Muslims by cow vigilantes in the recent past. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/freedom-can-never-be-for-the-few-rahul/20160815.htm | en | 2016-08-15T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/6c4f31ca056d42c2bbe57a58dcc7db1171ad5570e97e24fdc891f09df22192b2.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:29:49 | null | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | Deputy Chief Minister N China Rajappa and a host of other ministers also took a holy dip on the occasion. | 12-day Krishna Pushkaram river festival commences in Andhra Pradesh | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fkrishna-pushkaram-river-festival-commences-in-andhra-pradesh%2F20160812.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/12naidu.jpg | en | null | 12-day Krishna Pushkaram river festival commences in Andhra Pradesh | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 12, 2016 11:50 IST
The Krishna Pushkaram river festival that comes once in 12 years began with traditional gaiety in Vijaywada on Friday.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his wife Bhuvaneswari joined Kanchi seer Sri Sri Jayendra Saraswati in taking a holy dip in river Krishna at Durga ghat in Vijaywada at the start of the 12-day festival.
After the stampede on the opening day of Godavari Pushkaram at Rajamahendravaram last year, the chief minister stayed away from any fanfare this time and the Durga ghat was closed for common people for the inaugural event.
Deputy Chief Minister N China Rajappa and a host of other ministers also took a holy dip on the occasion.
Vijayawada wore a festive look as lakhs of pilgrims arrived in the city and headed for various Pushkar ghats to take the holy dip.
Devotees swarmed the hill shrine of Goddess Kanaka Durga, the presiding deity of Vijayawada, and offered special prayers.
This being an auspicious Friday in the month of Sravana, women conducted Varalakshmi vratam, a traditional ritual, with devotion.
The replica temple of Lord Venkateswara at Swarajya Maidan also attracted scores of devotees.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams and Akshaya Patra Foundation have made arrangements for free food supply to four lakh pilgrims in all every day.
Police deployed drones to keep a vigil at all Pushkar ghats while the government administration is using mobile applications to monitor every aspect, including crowd management, related to the event.
Krishna Pushkaram is conducted in Srisailam, Guntur and Krishna districts of AP where the river flows.
In all, 170 bathing ghats have been readied for the event in which a total of 3.5 crore devotees are expected to take part over the 12 days.
Vijayawada city alone is expected to witness a crowd of about 25 lakh per day.
IMAGE: M Chandrababu Naidu and his wife pay obeisance at the river Krishna as part of the 12-day festival. Photograph: ANI/Twitter | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/krishna-pushkaram-river-festival-commences-in-andhra-pradesh/20160812.htm | en | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/bc8debd99575b45e8066095dfea9e4e7b1f457d74e96291bcaaa642de1add386.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:36:15 | null | 2016-08-05T00:00:00 | Dey, a veteran crime reporter, had planned a book, titled 'Chindi -- Rags to Riches', wherein he was going to write the stories of 20 gangsters with humble origins. | Journalist J Dey was killed for calling Chhota Rajan 'chindi', says CBI | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fjournalist-j-dey-was-murdered-for-writing-book-on-underworld-says-cbi%2F20160805.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2011/jun/27jdey2.jpg | en | null | Journalist J Dey was killed for calling Chhota Rajan 'chindi', says CBI | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 05, 2016 22:30 IST
The Central Bureau of Investigation on filed a supplementary charge-sheet against gangster Chhota Rajan in the J Dey murder case, claiming that he had the journalist murdered because Dey's articles and a planned book portrayed Rajan as 'chindi' (a small fry).
The 300-page charge-sheet was filed at the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court in Mumbai.
Dey, a veteran crime reporter, had planned a book, titled 'Chindi -- Rags to Riches', wherein he was going to write the stories of 20 gangsters with humble origins.
"Dey was going to expose the fake patriotic mask used by him (Rajan) to secure himself and to accumulate wealth for his family. The book was to have that Rajan had no concern for those who made him big," the charge-sheet says.
The book was also to portray Dawood Ibrahim, Rajan's friend-turned-foe, as being superior to him.
Dey was planning to write another two books before leaving journalism, and he had met several people for these book and visited Philippines and other countries.
Rajan, who was reportedly hiding in Malaysia, had called Dey for a meeting but the journalist refused, CBI says.
In an intercepted conversation after Dey's death, Rajan "declared" Dey as "traitor" and his rival journalist Jigna Vora, an accused in the case, now on bail, as the one who instigated the murder, CBI says.
Rajan's henchmen who executed the murder conspiracy in Mumbai used to contact the gangster using international SIM cards which were activated only after midnight, it says.
The charge-sheet has statements of 41 witnesses. It names Ravi Ram Rattesar, earlier shown as a witness, as an accused, because he was found to be a key link between Rajan and other accused and had supplied some 20 SIM cards at Rajan's instructions, said a CBI officer.
A transcript of conversation between Rajan and Vora is also a part of the charge-sheet.
Forensic reports showed that the recorded voice sample of Rajan matches with the voice in the conversation, it says.
Last month, adjourning the hearing, the MCOCA court had said it would go ahead with framing of charges as per the charge-sheet earlier filed by Mumbai police's crime branch if the CBI failed to do so by August 5.
Rajan was arrested at Bali airport in Indonesia on October 25 last year and deported to India.
He is facing around 70 cases in Maharashtra, all now handed over to CBI.
Dey was shot dead in suburban Powai on June 11, 2011.
The first charge-sheet filed in 2011 names Satiah Kaliya, Abhijeet Shinde, Arun Dake, Sachin Gaikwad, Anil Waghmode, Nilesh Shendge, Mangesh Agawane, Vinod Asrani, Paulson Joseph and Deepak Sisodia (all arrested).
Another charge-sheet was filed against Vora the next year. She is accused of instigating Rajan against Dey owing to professional rivalry.
Agency sources said during the course of investigation which took off from where Mumbai Police had stopped, CBI interrogated Rajan, took his voice samples and forensically matching them with his intercepted conversation relating to the murder.
Giving details of their probe, the sources said in New Delhi that in the proposed book there were articles, including the one titled 'Rajan's men are off to pilgrimage', that had irked Rajan who believed that these write-ups gave a picture that the South-East Asia based gangster was losing grip over his gang while Ibrahim was given a much grandiose depiction.
The sources said Rajan also allegedly tried to convey a message to Dey to adopt a balanced narrative of Mumbai underworld giving him due respect and stop lauding Ibrahim as he suspected that Dey was writing positive portrayal of Ibrahim while he was being shown as weaker don.
CBI spokesperson R K Gaur said, "Advanced and scientific techniques were adopted and Voice Sample of accused was also taken. Sufficient evidence has also emerged to establish that Global Roaming SIM cards were arranged by the accomplice of accused to the members of Organised Crime Syndicates." | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/journalist-j-dey-was-murdered-for-writing-book-on-underworld-says-cbi/20160805.htm | en | 2016-08-05T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/bab1f745a7a14ff1b72f02e9ccaaaf26b5f2ad14866309f2d5336c170a648457.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:31:54 | null | 2016-08-09T00:00:00 | On that day, Sheikh Abdullah, political anchor of J&K's accession with the Indian Union, was unceremoniously removed from power and put behind bars; causing a tectonic emotional breach and setting off disastrous fault lines between Srinagar and New Delhi and its effects continue to this day, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik. | Why August 9, 1953 casts a dark shadow over Kashmir | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Fcolumn%2Fwhy-august-9-1953-casts-a-dark-shadow-over-kashmir%2F20160809.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/08valley.jpg | en | null | Why August 9, 1953 casts a dark shadow over Kashmir | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 09, 2016 08:31 IST
On that day, Sheikh Abdullah, political anchor of J&K's accession with the Indian Union, was unceremoniously removed from power and put behind bars; causing a tectonic emotional breach and setting off disastrous fault lines between Srinagar and New Delhi and its effects continue to this day, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
It was on this fateful day, August 9 in 1953 that the Indian State sowed the proverbial wind in Kashmir and the country continues to reap the whirlwind for the past 63 years.
Precisely, on the night between August 8 and 9, 1953 Sheikh Abdullah, political anchor of J&K's accession with the Indian Union, was unceremoniously removed from power and put behind bars; causing a tectonic emotional breach and setting off disastrous fault lines between Srinagar and New Delhi.
Down that fateful line today, the latest unabated bloody flare up in the Valley, following Burhan Wani's killing on July 8, is a grim reminder that the accumulated anger and simmering alienation, now with a sharper hostile edge, are not going to go away unless addressed concretely.
Over the past six decades the situation has got compounded for want of meaningful engagement, pushing farther the goal posts on both sides.
In 1953, New Delhi's indefensible action to oust and imprison someone who then was the local face as well as the tallest symbol of the accession of the country's only Muslim-majority state, against the (communal) run of events on the subcontinent, turned out to be a bad bargain in the long run: Undermining India's moral legitimacy in its Kashmir case for the sake of a questionable political gambit to artificially force the pace of the state's 'integration' with the Union and 'managing' (manipulating?) its local affairs.
Ironically, with this one fell swoop J&K's Constitutionally guaranteed special status was rendered hollow and reduced to fiction; as if to match Pakistan's unabashed annexation of the so-called 'liberated' Kashmir across the Line of Control, with the Islamabad-based Kashmir affairs secretary enjoying over-riding authority to hire and fire the notional 'president of Azad Jammu & Kashmir'.
On this side of the LoC, one of the architects of the accession, Sheikh Abdullah, had come to be seen by New Delhi as a stumbling block in the 'process of integration,' in less than six years' time. His forced exit virtually wrote the epitaph to his celebrated role as a 'patriot.' Overnight he became a 'traitor.'
Locally, the message was loud and clear: Time for a 'Kashmiri-Indian' to rule this state was over; now on only 'Indian-Kashmiri' would get that accreditation. And it has been so ever after.
Even Sheikh Abdullah returned to his downsized throne 22 years later only after his 'conversion.'
As history would show, this miscalculation virtually gifted Pakistan an unearned opening for its proxy presence on this side of the LoC after its near eclipse from the arena in the turbulent fallout of the (1947) tribal invasion.
Sheikh Abdullah's arbitrary overthrow, perceived as a brazen assault on the popular local sentiment he symbolised, resulted in intractable complications on the ground as well as vitiating the external dimension of the Kashmir dispute to India's disadvantage.
Accumulated discontent, since 1953, occasionally burst into the open, over one immediate issue or the other. The latest being the post-Burhan Wani upheaval.
The familiar pattern has been that after dousing the flames of unrest New Delhi invariably goes to sleep, letting the grass grow under its feet; until the next round of firefighting.
As a result, the emotional/political distance between Kashmir and the rest of India has been growing in inverse proportion to the considerably shortened physical travelling time between Srinagar and New Delhi by road, air and now partly by rail too.
On the other hand, the almost defunct symbolism (between 1947 and 1953) of the decrepit 'Srinagar-Rawalpindi road', the Valley's only surface link with the rest of the world till 1947, resonates louder after each round of this cyclic unrest; lately in its strident 'Azadi' mode.
Till he was alive, Sheikh Abdullah's unrivalled leadership across the spectrum served both, as the sword arm and the shield of Kashmir's popular politics.
After his demise on September 8, 1982, the disintegrated legacy is claimed (or usurped) by political actors across the democratic divide -- mainstream and separatists. Even so, none of his successors from within the Abdullah dynasty and their rivals has been able to replace him effectively.
They can only float over the crest of an occasional wave of unrest but cannot control it.
Sheikh Abdullah alone had the capability and ability to contain/neutralise the toxic effects of post-1953 alienation or that of his own misrule. Credibility with legitimacy of moral authority was the USP of his leadership that went into his grave along with his body.
Not that he had forgiven those who tormented him from 1953 to 1975 and consigned him to 22 years in the political wilderness. His autobiographical account leaves nothing to doubt on that score. Yet he chose to retain his own vital stakes in that forgettable past.
Between 1947 and 1953, Sheikh Abdullah was exhibited on the world stage as the living symbol of India's moral legitimacy in Kashmir. His towering personality at the local level dwarfed every other feature on the political landscape.
However, the inverted logic of '1953' dictated loss of that moral high ground.
No doubt that Sheikh Abdullah's relationship with New Delhi towards the fag end of his first innings (1947 to 1953) was fouled by mutual distrust over various issues including that of the demarcation of Centre-state relations in the context of India's commitment to the Maharaja on greater internal autonomy for his state.
Even so, the Delhi Agreement of 1952, formalising a broad framework of distribution of powers between Srinagar and New Delhi was concluded with Sheikh Abdullah at the helm.
The job done, Sheikh Abdullah found himself thrown behind the bars shortly thereafter.
Over six decades later, today, the political appeal of the accession as well as the 'autonomy' has drastically diminished, almost vanished. In 1947, the accession of the Muslim-majority J&K state was convincingly acclaimed as the logical culmination of the 'affinity of ideals' -- democracy and secularism versus Pakistan's two-nation theory.
The political landscape has since changed -- beyond recognition.
Now there is a head-on collision between forces spearheading Kashmiri discontent and those perceived to be conniving in New Delhi's callous unresponsiveness, irrespective of the ideological complexion of the regime at the helm. Sheikh Abdullah was able to maintain that tricky balance between steam letting and explosion of anger.
Generational changes between 1953 and 2016 were accompanied by gradual withdrawal from committed positions at both ends of the game, stridently after Sheikh Abdullah's demise in 1982: New Delhi brazenly backtracking from its committed position on restoration of the usurped (greater) autonomy and the dominant sentiment in the Valley moving away from its emotional commitment on the accession.
The first generation with Sheikh Abdullah in the lead found itself entrapped in a vicious situation after 1953. Sheikh Abdullah led a 22 year-long largely peaceful but very effective political resistance demanding 'plebiscite' (1953 to 1975) until the Kashmir Accord that enabled his return to power but left estranged local aspirations dissatisfied for want of any substantial concession in return.
The succeeding (leadership) generation either acquiesced or found itself helpless to check New Delhi's growing shadow over the local political landscape until it became the ultimate deciding factor.
Erosion of the state's constitutional autonomy was now matched by corresponding political encroachment on the ground at the expense of the public standing of the local political class.
The deteriorating equation reached its logical conclusion by the time the third generation (post-1990s) arrived on the scene. By that time even the remnants of the political 'auto-cut' of the Sheikh Abdullah era had also ceased to function.
It was the reversal of all that had happened between 1947 and 1953 when the tribal invasion from Pakistan was resisted with popular local support and unarmed Kashmiri staked their lives to stem the advance of Pakistani invaders until the arrival of Indian forces.
The third generation of the post-1990 era found itself on a totally opposite course: Groups of Kashmiri youth flocking to Pakistan and returning with weapons after getting arms training across the Line of Control. Something that was unimaginable even till a long time after '1953'.
Even a major historical tragedy like 'August 9, 1953' remains shrouded in mystery. Who played what role and why is not yet fully revealed because the dramatis personae were reluctant to part with the full facts known to them. Even Sheikh Abdullah's own account is less than convincing.
Yet the event will go down in Kashmir history as a political watershed, for better or worse.
ALSO READ | http://www.rediff.com/news/column/why-august-9-1953-casts-a-dark-shadow-over-kashmir/20160809.htm | en | 2016-08-09T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/85201924c3cf5932f927d729b51271682dbef2e51b0c773b1dc60aac69c4dcbe.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:42 | null | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | India has hit back at China over its assertion that deployment of the BrahMos cruise missile in the Northeast would have 'negative influence' on stability along the border, saying that assets deployed by it within its territory are of no concern to Beijing. | Not their concern, says India on Chinese bother over BrahMos missiles in northeast | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fnot-their-concern-says-india-on-chinese-bother-over-brahmos-missiles-in-northeast%2F20160823.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/jun/21lead3.jpg | en | null | Not their concern, says India on Chinese bother over BrahMos missiles in northeast | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 23, 2016 21:19 IST
India has hit back at China over its assertion that deployment of the BrahMos cruise missile in the Northeast would have 'negative influence' on stability along the border, saying that assets deployed by it within its territory are of no concern to Beijing.
Triggering a war of words, PLA Daily, the official publication of People's Liberation Army, had on Monday warned that India's move could lead to “counter-measures” from China.
On Tuesday, top Indian Army sources told television news channel NDTV: "Our threat perceptions and security concerns are our own, and how we address these by deploying assets on our territory should be no one else's concern."
On August 3, the government had sanctioned induction of additional BrahMos supersonic missiles to be deployed in the Eastern sector to ramp up its capabilities along the border with China.
Defence sources had told the Press Trust of India that the government had cleared the fourth BrahMos regiment at a cost of over Rs 4,300 crore.
The regiment consists of around 100 missiles, five mobile autonomous launchers on 12x12 heavy-duty trucks and a mobile command post, among other hardware and software, sources had said.
The missile was under test by the Army and last known test of the missile in the Eastern sector was done in May, 2015.
The steep-dive attack cruise missile can hit enemy targets hidden in the shadows of mountains.
The Indian Army has already inducted three regiments of BrahMos in its arsenal. All are equipped with Block-III version of the missile. The land-attack version of BrahMos has been operational in the Indian Army since 2007.
The fire-and-forget BrahMos has the capability to take on surface-based targets by flying a combined hi-lo trajectory, thus evading enemy air defence systems. Fire-and-forget missiles do not need further guidance after launch.
Monday's report in the PLA Daily said: "India deploying supersonic missiles on the border has exceeded its own needs for self-defense and poses a serious threat to China's Tibet and Yunnan provinces."
It also warned India of increasing competitiveness and confrontation in the ties between India and China.
The article also said that other steps taken by India to increase its capabilities along with Indo-China border, such as the deployment of UAVs and Su-30 combat jets were part of a policy of "counterbalance and confrontation".
It also added that the missile range of Brahmos, which is 290 kilometres, "cannot threaten China’s deep zones".
Photograph: Ministry of Defence | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/not-their-concern-says-india-on-chinese-bother-over-brahmos-missiles-in-northeast/20160823.htm | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/25f1c2ed3e6f3cc0f16bdad2b461f68d0f76f8b0ea7a803bf8f4f2515d73ec32.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T14:50:26 | null | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | A Muslim woman, who was divorced by her husband through a phone call from Dubai, has challenged the Muslim practices of polygamy, triple talaq (talaq-e-bidat) and nikah halala, leading the Supreme Court to seek response from the Centre on her plea on Friday. | SC seeks Centre's response on triple talaq | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fsc-seeks-centres-response-on-triple-talaq%2F20160826.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2010/aug/06sd1.jpg | en | null | SC seeks Centre's response on triple talaq | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 26, 2016 18:12 IST
A Muslim woman, who was divorced by her husband through a phone call from Dubai, has challenged the Muslim practices of polygamy, triple talaq (talaq-e-bidat) and nikah halala, leading the Supreme Court to seek response from the Centre on her plea on Friday.
Talaq-e–bidat is a Muslim man divorcing his wife by pronouncing more than one talaq in a single tuhr (the period between two menstruations), or in a tuhr after coitus, or pronouncing an irrevocable instantaneous divorce at one go (unilateral triple-talaq).
Nikah halala refers to the marriage of a woman with another man who subsequently divorces her so that her previous husband can remarry her.
While dealing with the plea of the 26-year-old woman from Kolkata whose husband divorced her by saying talaq thrice over telephone from Dubai, a bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, issued notice to ministry of minority affairs and others.
The court tagged the petition, filed through advocate V K Biju, with a bunch of other pleas which are scheduled to come up for hearing on September 6.
Petitioner Ishrat Jahan has sought a declaration from the court that Section 2 of Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 was unconstitutional as it violated fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14 (equality), 15 (non-discrimination), 21 (life) and 25 (religion) of the Constitution "in so far as it seeks to recognise and validate talaq-e-bidat as a valid form of divorce".
"My husband and his relatives are constantly attempting to drive me out of my matrimonial home," Jahan said, adding that her four children were also forcibly taken away from her.
"The petitioner does not have any support as her parents are residing in Bihar. She is surviving with her sister's help. The police are also not making any effort to trace her children," the petition said while seeking urgent directions from the court for her and her children's protection.
On June 29, the apex court had agreed to examine the issue and said that a divorce through 'triple talaq' among the Muslim community was a "very important matter affecting a large section of people", which has to be tested on the "touchstone of the constitutional framework".
The apex court had taken suo motu cognizance of the question whether Muslim women faced gender discrimination in cases of divorce or due to other marriages of their husbands and urged Chief Justice of India to set up a bench to examine the issue.
Subsequently, various other petitions including one by triple talaq victim Shayara Bano were filed challenging the age-old practice of 'triple talaq' among the Muslim community.
All India Muslim Personal Law Board and Jamiat-e-Ulema had defended triple talaq and said it was part of Quran- dictated personal law which was beyond the ambit of judicial scrutiny. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/sc-seeks-centres-response-on-triple-talaq/20160826.htm | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/6a54c852700e0f4d66bb5b848ed48ebf030e477667d1d894870468304a387a24.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:12:37 | null | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | Rajnath Singh repeatedly tried to calm her by tapping her when journalists asked questions about her role in dealing with the current unrest. | Mehbooba loses her cool at press meet, leaves with Rajnath Singh still seated | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fmehbooba-loses-cool-at-press-meet-leaves-with-rajnath-singh-still-seated%2F20160825.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/25mehbooba.jpg | en | null | Mehbooba loses her cool at press meet, leaves with Rajnath Singh still seated | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 25, 2016 18:54 IST
Confronted by tough questions, an angry Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday brought to an abrupt end a joint press conference with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh when her stand on ongoing protests were compared with her position during the 2010 unrest.
Singh, who was seated next to the chief minister on the dais, was seen making gestures to pacify Mehbooba who took on a reporter when reminded about her opposition to use of force and locking up of separatists in 2010 when rival National Conference leader Omar Abdullah was the chief minister.
"Muje kya bolenge yeh Sir. maine inke bachon ko bachaya hai Task Force se (What can they tell me. I have saved their kids from Special Task force)," Mehbooba, who lost her cool, retorted with an abrupt "thank you, now you can have a cup of tea".
The 57-year-old Mehbooba was visibily irritated when a reporter asked her about her stand during 2010 agitation and quoted her interviews in which she had questioned the then government led by Omar Abdullah for using force against children and arrest of Hurriyat leaders.
The reporter while posing a query about her stand during the ongoing unrest in the Valley also made an observation that she and Omar had only changed places it seems.
Mehbooba replied, "this is wrong analysis. In 2010, there was a fake encounter in Machil where three civilians were killed. After that there was rape and murder allegations in Shopian..."
When other reporters wanted to chip in with supplementary questions and clarification, she shouted back "let me complete first and continued "this time an encounter took place in which three militants were killed, how is government responsible for that.
"People came on streets, we imposed curfew. Did the children go to army camps to buy toffees (candy)? Was the 15-year-old boy, who attacked the police station at Damhal Hanjipora (in south Kashmir), going there to get milk. Don't compare both the things. People had genuine anger that time (2010)," she said.
The 2010 protests were triggered by killing of three youths by Army in a fake encounter in Machil sector of north Kashmir. This case was initially handled by Jammu and Kashmir Police which registered a case against 11 armymen.
The then government led by Omar Abdullah ordered an enquiry and in record time of two months, all the 11 army personnel were chargesheeted. The case was later handled by the military court.
The army convicted seven soldiers, including two officers, and sentenced them to life imprisonment for a staged killing of three Kashmiri civilians and passing it off as an anti-militancy operation for rewards and remunerations.
In Shopian, two women Neelofar and Aasya, were found dead and it was alleged that they had been raped and murdered.
After a thorugh enquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation, it was found that they had drowned in a stream and the allegations of rape, levelled by Mehbooba (who was leader of opposition), was found without any basis after medical examination of one of the victim showed that she was a virgin.
On the deaths in the ongoing protests, Mehbooba said, "Today 95 per cent who have been killed are youngsters belonging to poor families. They were killed in retaliation for attacking security camps... The situations of 2010 and present cannot be compared."
She again claimed that 95 per cent of people want to resolve the Kashmir issue through political means and dialogue but five per cent people were resorting to agitation.
When asked for reasons for prolonged curfew for past 48 days, she justified saying that five per cent miscreants were planning to make children and youngsters "as shields" for carrying out attacks on security camps.
"These miscreants want to get our children killed or blinded," she asserted.
Finding her loosing her cool, Singh stepped in with a smile to tell the reporters that they can continue their discussion with the chief minister later.
"I am for resolution of Kashmir issue. There should be dialogue. But by resorting to stone-pelting and attacking the camps, no issue will be resolved. We are not sidelining the issue. We want resolution," she asserted.
Photograph: S Irfan/PTI | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/mehbooba-loses-cool-at-press-meet-leaves-with-rajnath-singh-still-seated/20160825.htm | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/36857d94d554a3a2c959a7b436b10a796dc41fe6be91a1f082c7f8ef5cd23ded.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:27:04 | null | 2016-08-14T00:00:00 | Stunning photographs have captured the Perseid meteor shower that has delighted stargazers across the world. | Perseid meteor shower illuminates the night skies around the world | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fpix-perseid-meteor-shower-illuminates-the-night-skies%2F20160814.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/14stars1.jpg | en | null | Perseid meteor shower illuminates the night skies around the world | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 14, 2016 11:27 IST
Stunning photographs have captured the Perseid meteor shower that has delighted stargazers across the world.
The annual spectacle, which takes place in July and August and is the result of particles falling from the Comet Swift-Tuttle, reached its peak this weekend.
Forecasters at NASA predicted that this outburst would reach double the normal rates of meteors for August 11 and 12. The last Perseid outburst, in which more meteors than usual appear, occurred in 2009.
Here’s a glimpse of the meteor shower!
A Perseid meteor streaks across the sky above the desert pine trees in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, Nevada. Photograph: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
The sights have delighted stargazers across the world. The annual display, known as the Perseid shower because the meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus in the northeastern sky, is a result of Earth's orbit passing through debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle. Photograph: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
A meteor streaks past stars in the night sky above medieval tombstones in Radmilje near Stolac, south of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Photograph: Dado Ruvic/Reuters
The "Milky Way" is seen across the sky in the early morning hours during the Perseid meteor shower in Ramon Crater near the town of Mitzpe Ramon, southern Israel. The red cloud was caused by a person walking in front of the camera during the long exposure, while a car with its tail lights on drove behind the photographer. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters
The peak of the Perseid meteor shower was on Friday night, when there also happens to be a darker-than-usual sky forecast. This image is taken from above the hoodoos named Thor's Hammer and the Three Sisters in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Photograph: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
A composite image of satellites, planes and comets across the night sky under stars that appear to rotate above CorfeCastle in Corfe Castle, United Kingdom. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/pix-perseid-meteor-shower-illuminates-the-night-skies/20160814.htm | en | 2016-08-14T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/80658a5aa0fbb4880528b2ee1c504f7dc77b10497a93e2b5e8abf2f8dd763691.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:13:16 | null | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | In a faux pas, NSG Chief R C Tayal on Tuesday claimed his men defused an Improvised Explosive Device recovered from high-security DRDO Bhawan after 'no other agency' could handle the situation, but it later turned out to be a bomb of World War II vintage. | NSG boss claims his men defused IED in Delhi... turns out it was WW-II bomb | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fnsg-boss-claims-his-men-defused-ied-in-delhi-turns-out-it-was-ww-ii-bomb%2F20160823.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/23lead2.jpg | en | null | NSG boss claims his men defused IED in Delhi... turns out it was WW-II bomb | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 23, 2016 21:02 IST
In a faux pas, NSG Chief R C Tayal on Tuesday claimed his men defused an Improvised Explosive Device recovered from high-security DRDO Bhawan after "no other agency" could handle the situation, but it later turned out to be a bomb of World War II vintage.
Speaking to media persons at an event to inaugurate the newly constructed building of the Anti-Hijack unit of the elite National Security Guards in the presence of Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Tayal created a flutter when he said a team of NSG's bomb disposal squad recently defused the IED found at the sensitive DRDO Bhawan.
However, according to the daily report of the Union Home Ministry, three 120 mm shells of World War II vintage were found on April 14 when labourers were engaged in excavation work in the compound where construction activity was going on.
NSG's bomb disposal squad later took them to the banks of river Yamuna where the only live shell of the three recovered was defused.
With a touch of bravado, Tayal hailed the NSG bomb disposal squad as the "number one", saying when "no other" agency could handle the situation, it was his men who defused the IED.
NSG later issued a statement claiming that one of the shells was taken to Manesar where it was destroyed under controlled conditions.
The NSG has a special bomb disposal squad which not only assists its counter-terror and counter-hijack commando units during operations, but also helps neutralise high-level bomb threats involving IEDs and cleverly concealed explosives.
The squad had lost its Commanding Officer Lt Col Niranjan EK while he was sanitising a terrorist's booby-trapped body at the Pathankot airbase which was attacked early this year.
The elite force had come under criticism over its handling of the Pathankot IAF air base attack after its operation to neutralise the terrorists stretched to 82 hours. Its claim of six terrorists being involved in the assault had also come under question as the bodies of only four perpetrators could be found.
Tayal on Tuesday said his commandos had eliminated the Pathankot terrorists "within half-an-hour" after they "established contact" with them.
Whatever time was taken to conclude the operation, was spent in locating the terrorists who had sneaked into the air base on the intervening night of January 1 and 2, he said.
Tayal said challenges and engagements for the force are going to rise in the future and the NSG was prepared to meet any challenge. The stunning claim by the NSG chief about IED having been recovered from the high-security DRDO Bhawan sent alarm bells ringing in the defence ministry.
The reporters on the defence beat were also surprised as recovery of an IED at DRDO headquarters was a serious breach of security and had a possible terror angle.
The DRDO and the Defence Ministry immediately got back, saying it was not an IED but a vintage Unexploded Ordnance which was found by construction workers engaged in excavation for the foundation of a new building at the Metcalfe House in North Delhi.
The DRDO in a statement said the incident happened in April and the Delhi Police, NSG, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) were immediately informed for necessary action.
"On advice of MHA, NSG lifted the ordnance from the site for safe disposal at their ranges. The area is now safe and construction of the building is in progress," the statement said. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/nsg-boss-claims-his-men-defused-ied-in-delhi-turns-out-it-was-ww-ii-bomb/20160823.htm | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/fe1c4fb46f233fcde1337989c73f2e0375ebed08ba4e3de88afd2eff4afd48df.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:40:01 | null | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | She said the BJP needs a fresh face in the state before the 2017 elections. | Anandiben decides to quit; BJP Parl Board to take call on new Guj CM | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fgujarat-cm-anandiben-patel-resignation%2F20160801.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2012/dec/05sd2.jpg | en | null | Anandiben decides to quit; BJP Parl Board to take call on new Guj CM | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 01, 2016 21:13 IST
In a surprise move ahead of Assembly polls, Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, who is in the midst of several challenges, on Monday decided to step down, saying it was time for new leadership to take over as she is soon going to turn 75.
During Patel's over two-year-old tenure, the Bharatiya Janata Party for the first time in the post-Narendra Modi era in Gujarat has faced multiple challenges including defeat in rural areas in the civic polls, a powerful agitation by Patel community for OBC quota and the ongoing Dalit unrest over the flogging incident after the skinning of a dead cow in Una.
Patel took to Facebook to request the party leadership to relieve her of the post though speculation has been rife for quite some time that she is on the way out. Elections are due in later part of 2017.
BJP President Amit Shah said the party's Parliamentary Board will decide on the replacement for Patel, who wrote a letter to him offering to resign. Patel will turn 75 on November 21 and is the first woman chief minister of Gujarat.
"She has requested the party to relieve her of her post. I will place the letter she has written to me before the Parliamentary Board and it will take a decision," Shah told PTI in Delhi.
An unwritten age bar of 75 has been set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the BJP leaders to hold positions in state and central governments. A minister in the BJP government since 1998, Patel succeeded Modi as Chief Minister on May 22, 2014.
"For the last some time there has been a tradition in the party that those who attain the age of 75, voluntarily retires from the post. I will attain the age of 75 in November," Patel said in the Facebook post.
"Two months ago I had requested the party to relieve me from the post and on Monday also through this letter, I request the party to relieve me of the post," she said.
"I am asking the party to relieve me two months in advance as the new chief minister will require the time to work, when the state is going to face elections in 2017 and an important event like Vibrant Gujarat Summit to be held in January," Patel said.
"It (the rule of 75) is a good thing and it will give a chance to young leaders to come up," she added.
Congress claimed Patel has decided to step down due to pressure from the top leadership of BJP, which is "losing ground" in the state and also termed the move as an indication of the saffron party's defeat in the polls.
Senior Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela said the offer came due to BJP high command's diktat while Ahmed Patel, Sonia Gandhi's political secretary, tweeted that her resignation is an indication of BJP's "sure defeat" in 2017.
The move by Patel came a day after thousands of Dalits converged in Ahmedabad on Sunday and took out a rally where they were called upon to ‘send a strong message’ to the Gujarat government ahead of the 2017 assembly polls.
Soon after Patel went public with her offer to quit, Shah said she wanted her replacement to get adequate time to prepare for Vibrant Gujarat summit to be held in January 2017 and the assembly polls later next year.
He said Patel had twice offered to resign and also broached the issue in the party’s National Executive meet in June and wrote to him again today morning.
Referring to reasons, including that she will turn 75 in November, cited by her to quit, he said she has set a ‘good’ precedent.
“She has requested the party to relieve her of the post. I will place the letter she has written to me before the Parliamentary Board and it will take a decision,” Shah said.
“She has said that if a new person has to be brought in, then he should get time. Gujarat elections have to take place and there is also Vibrant Gujarat summit, which has been a long tradition, to be held in January. She said if Vibrant Gujarat has to happen in January, then new person should get the opportunity now,” he said.
Asked about the replacement for Patel, he said the parliamentary board will decide on the new chief minister.
The Dalit uprising after the Una trashing incident had also dented the image of party.
The Congress and other opposition parties have unleashed a nationwide attack on the BJP and its dispensations at the state and the centre over the issue.
Patel had faced an upset with the BJP faring badly in the rural civic body polls in December 2015 and the opposition Congress making gains at the cost of the saffron rival.
She also had to face the fierce Patel community quota agitation, one of the factors which contributed to the BJP losing in rural local body polls, while retaining urban areas.
It has become an unwritten convention in BJP that those turning 75 have to quit the posts they are holding, which saw Najma Heptulla quitting the Union Cabinet after she was reportedly sounded to do so on attaining the age bar.
Earlier, a couple of ministers in Madhya Pradesh including BJP veteran Babubal Gaur and Sartaj Singh were dropped from the state cabinet by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan due to age bar.
In 2014, when the Modi government came to power, the age limit had apparently come in the way of ministerial berths for old guards like L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Shanta Kumar and Yashwant Sinha.
The BJP government in the state has also been under attack over flogging of Dalits in Una village by cow vigilantes. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/gujarat-cm-anandiben-patel-resignation/20160801.htm | en | 2016-08-01T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/8da6785511f22553e7cf265b9bc6b3b9a9a90947b5f46c0c6701147c15e2b7e6.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:32 | null | 2016-08-24T00:00:00 | US States Department spokesperson Mark Toner said he could not agree that nobody knew about human rights violations in PoK before Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the same. | US raises concerns over human rights violations in PoK | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fus-raises-concerns-over-human-rights-violations-in-pok%2F20160824.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/apr/14pok-protest.jpg | en | null | US raises concerns over human rights violations in PoK | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 24, 2016 15:20 IST
The United States State Department has expressed concern over human rights violation in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, maintaining that it has always been urging parties in Pakistan to settle their differences ‘peaceably and through a valid political process’.
US States Department spokesperson Mark Toner said that he could not agree with the view that nobody knew about human rights violations in PoK before Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the same in recent times.
”Sure, Well, I would respectfully beg to differ. We do have concerns about the human rights situation there, have reported it for several years in our Human Rights Report, and we’ve obviously -- are always urging all parties in Pakistan to work out their differences peaceably and through a valid political process. And with respect to Kashmir, our policy there is well known,” he said.
The prime minister, in his concluding remarks at an all-party meeting to discuss the flare-up in Kashmir in the wake of the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, had said ‘Pakistan forgets that it rains bombs from fighter planes on citizens of its country’.
”Time has now come that Pakistan will have to answer to the world about the atrocities being committed on people in Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” he had said.
Speaking from the ramparts from the historic Red Fort on the occasion of the nation’s 70th Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi signalled a distinct hardening of posture against Pakistan, by raising human rights violations in Balochistan and PoK.
The PM said the people of PoK and Balochistan had thanked him for flagging the human rights abuses by Pakistan’s security forces.
The prime minister’s comments were criticised as ‘crossing a red line’ by the Pakistan government, a charge New Delhi has rejected. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/us-raises-concerns-over-human-rights-violations-in-pok/20160824.htm | en | 2016-08-24T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/574f399e0d1960ded0aa5a06f09f1913863948de964d58d63d4915a4a18e74f6.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T14:52:33 | null | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | The state assembly on Tuesday passed two bills to skirt the Supreme Court directive for their eviction within two months. | UP ex-CMs may breathe easy, no eviction from bungalows | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fup-ex-cms-may-breathe-easy-no-eviction-from-bungalows%2F20160830.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2012/jan/13bjp1.jpg | en | null | UP ex-CMs may breathe easy, no eviction from bungalows | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 30, 2016 19:20 IST
Former Uttar Pradesh chief ministers need not have to vacate their government bungalows with the state assembly on Tuesday passing two bills to skirt Supreme Court directive for their eviction within two months.
The Uttar Pradesh Ministers (salaries, allowances and miscellaneous provisions)(Amendment) Bill, 2016 which provides for this facility to former chief ministers for life, was passed by a voice vote.
The bill was introduced after the apex court on August 1 directed six former UP chief ministers to vacate their official bungalows in the state capital in two months and pay the rent at market rate for the period falling under unauthorised occupation.
“A government residence shall be allotted to a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, at his/her request, for his/her lifetime, on payment of such rent as may be determined from time to time by the Estate Department of the state government,” the statement of objects and reasons of the bill says.
The bill also revises salaries and allowances in view of price rise and escalation in cost of living.
It provides that chief minister and ministers, minister of state with independent charge and minister of state shall be entitled, throughout the term of his office, a salary of Rs 40,000 per month while the deputy minister will get a salary of Rs 35,000 per month.
The other bill -- The Allotment of Houses Under Control of the Estate Department Bill, 2016, -- seeking to regulate the allotment of government accommodation under the control of the estate department to employees and officers of the state government, employees association, political parties, officers of All India Service, MLAs, MLCs, trusts, ministers, chairman and deputy chairman of Legislative Council, speaker and deputy speaker of Legislative Assembly, justices and journalists, was also passed by the House.
The ex-CMs who were to be affected by the apex court’s directive include Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajnath Singh, Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and Congress leaders ND Tiwari and Ram Naresh Yadav. All of them are living in government bungalows in Lucknow.
Earlier, Suresh Khanna and Radha Mohan Das Agarwal (both BJP) suggested sending the proposed legislation to the select committee to deliberate on certain amendments. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/up-ex-cms-may-breathe-easy-no-eviction-from-bungalows/20160830.htm | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/a471af554459ce767f5d5ec919fd1e52e8f24a5b91dfa29515e6595894c35ff3.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:15:41 | null | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | A censor is seated inside me now. He is testing every word that is born within me. His constant caution that a word may be misunderstood so, says Murugan. | I have a censor in me now: Tamil writer Perumal Murugan | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fi-have-a-censor-in-me-now-tamil-writer-perumal-murugan%2F20160823.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/23perumal.jpg | en | null | I have a censor in me now: Tamil writer Perumal Murugan | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 23, 2016 17:26 IST
While Perumal Murugan has emerged from a self-imposed literary exile with a new book of poems, the Tamil author who was forced to publicly renounce writing after protests against his novel 'Madhorubagan' (One Part Woman), says he now censors his own characteristic realistic style.
"A censor is seated inside me now. He is testing every word that is born within me. His constant caution that a word may be misunderstood so, or it may be interpreted thus, is a real bother. But I'm unable to shake him off. If this is wrong let the Indian intellectual world forgive me," Murugan said after his new anthology was released in New Delhi on Monday.
In December 2014,a dismayed Murugan had declared in a Facebook post that the writer in him was dead. He described the subsequent period as "nightmarish".
"Between December 2014 and June 2016 I couldn't so much as scratch a line in the first three months. As though the fingers of my heart had become numb. I couldn't read a thing," the author said adding that it was then he realised the full meaning of the Tamil phrase 'nadaipinam', 'a walking corpse'.
The dark period, he said, ended in 2015 when he spent a few days at a friend's house in a room stacked with books.
"With nothing to do I lay dazed night and day. I wallowed in a dark hole without the urge to see or talk to anybody. But as I ruminated over my existence, there came a certain instant when the sluice gates were breached. I began to write. I chronicled the moment when I felt like a rat, dazzled by the light, burrowing itself into its hole," Murugan said.
The poems that emerged after that stay finds place in his just released anthology 'Kozhayin Paadalkal,' (Songs of a Coward.) "As I started to write, I began to revive little by little, from my finger nails to my hair. It was poetry that saved me," he said.
In July this year, the Madras high Court dismissed a plea seeking prosecution of the author and ban of his "offensive" book in Tamil, besides forfeiting all the copies of its English translation "One Part Woman" saying there was nothing obscene in the book.
Commenting on the judgment, Murugan said, "The learned judges have also said that 'Perumal Murugan should be able to write and advance the canvas of his writings'. The last word of the verdict -'Write' - sounds to me both as a command and as a benediction."
Murugan also expressed his gratitude to writers from Tamil Nadu and other parts of the country and the world who extended their support to him.
"Across the country voices were raised in support of freedom of expression and against intolerance. It is those voices which have brought me here today. I accepted this invitation to speak here only to express my gratitude to those voices," he said in a statement that he read out in Tamil followed by a translated version that was also read out. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/i-have-a-censor-in-me-now-tamil-writer-perumal-murugan/20160823.htm | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/ffef3883eab9ae2b6fcc8e10d0bd012aa4e3a9570d327cfd2493ac6430f779db.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:26:27 | null | 2016-08-15T00:00:00 | Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday turned emotional as he paid his last respects to Pramukh Swami, the religious head of the Swaminarayan sect, saying he has lost a fatherly figure. | Modi breaks into tears while mourning his 'mentor' | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fmodi-breaks-into-tears-while-mourning-his-mentor%2F20160815.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/15modi1.jpg | en | null | Modi breaks into tears while mourning his 'mentor' | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 15, 2016 16:41 IST
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday turned emotional as he paid his last respects to Pramukh Swami, the religious head of the Swaminarayan sect, saying he has lost a fatherly figure.
Pramukh Swami taught me things that even my political guru did not teach me," the prime minister said.. Photograph: ANI
Recalling his close association with Pramukh Swami, who passed away last Saturday in Sarangpur, Gujarat, Modi called him his "father" as he was twice overcome by emotions during his 20-odd minute long speech made at a temple where Swami's mortal remains have been kept.
"Many of you might have lost a guru, but I have lost a father," Modi said, as he paused for nearly a minute to overcome the swell of emotions.
Calling him a "combination of grandeur and divinity," the prime minister said he knew Pramukh Swami from the time when he was not a public figure and showered praise on him for bringing about reforms in the "saint" culture.
The mortal remains of the head of Bochasanvasi Akshar Purushottam Sansthan (BAPS) Swaminarayan Sanstha, Pramukh Swami Maharaj have been kept at the temple till August 17 to enable devotees and citizens to get a final glimpse.
Modi also paid floral tributes to the departed soul.
Recalling a few instances of his "close association" with Pramukh Swami, Modi said Swami once asked him to address a gathering of saints of the Swaminarayan sect at a temple in Ahmedabad upon which he'd express his surprise, saying what were they (saints) going to gain from him.
The prime minister was twice overcome by emotions during his 20-odd minute long speech made at a temple where Swami's mortal remains have been kept. Photograph: NarendraModi/Twitter
"When I said this to Pramukh Swami, he said, no, the saints should know about the social reality as they have to work to take the society in the right direction," Modi added.
The Prime Minister also recalled Yogiji Maharaj, who initiated Pramukh Swami into Swaminarayan sect, and said the latter established an example on how a disciple should be.
"We have known Pramukh Swami as a guru. But looking at him, one also understands how a disciple should be," Modi said, as he recounted an instance of how Pramukh Swami fulfilled the desire of his guru by constructing the Akshardham temple on the bank of Yamuna river in Delhi.
"Long back, while strolling on Yamuna river bank, Yogiji expressed desire to Pramukh Swami to have a temple constructed on Yamuna bank. It was a desire informally expressed. After he passed away, as a disciple, Pramukh Swami constructed Akshardham to fulfil his desire," Modi said.
Modi said after he became the (Gujarat) Chief Minister, Pramukh Swami would ask him for the videos of his speeches which he'd listen and call him up to say that "you should not have used these words (referring to certain words used in his speeches)."
"(Pramukh Swami) taught me things that even my political guru did not teach me," the Prime Minister said.
"Pramukh Swami always demanded grandeur and did not compromise on it. But as a saint he was divine," Modi said. Photograph: ANI
Modi said Swami also knew a lot of things about him through intuition, as he recalled an instance of being called by him to Akshardham temple in Delhi during the time of its construction.
The prime minister said Pramukh Swami knew he had no money in his pocket and asked a disciple Brahmbihari Swami to pay him the money.
"I actually had no money in my pocket at that time," he said.
Modi further recalled how he received a call from Pramukh Swami -- and his mother -- in 1992 when he was at Srinagar airport in Jammu and Kashmir after unfurling a tricolour amidst tense situation at Lal Chowk.
The prime minister further said, "Swamiji assured 'Swaminarayan will do all good'. I was amazed in receiving his call and his caring words amidst such tension. The other call that I had received that day was of my mother."
Modi also remembered how two years ago he managed to persuade Swamiji to take food when he received a call from his disciples that he had given up on eating and his health was deteriorating.
"He accepted my request and I was told that he has started taking food. Such was the bond that we shared," the prime minister added. "He always demanded grandeur and did not compromise on it. But as a saint he was divine," Modi said.
Modi said some time back, he talked to him over telephone even when he was not able to speak properly.
The prime minister said his words "must have consoled him."
Modi also said how former President A P J Abdul Kalam termed him as a main element in the direction of achieving the vision of 2020.
"He (Swami) may not be with us today, but his presence will be felt by us all. We will continue to uphold the tradition set by him," said the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, thousand of devotees of Pramukh Swami Maharaj continued to throng Sarangpur for a glimpse of his mortal remains from across Gujarat. Swami will be cremated at Sarangpur on Wednesday. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/modi-breaks-into-tears-while-mourning-his-mentor/20160815.htm | en | 2016-08-15T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/150f689766e9464dc2b086729558e03adfe7b8ee31cb2774174a2a5d0ac11612.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:20:47 | null | 2016-08-18T00:00:00 | Naidu accused Congress of speaking in different voices on strategic matters and also of being 'callous' on sensitive issues. | Naidu dubs Chidambaram's remarks on Kashmir as 'political opportunism' | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fnaidu-dubs-chidambarams-remarks-on-kashmir-as-political-opportunism%2F20160818.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2012/sep/17bjp1.jpg | en | null | Naidu dubs Chidambaram's remarks on Kashmir as 'political opportunism' | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 18, 2016 16:58 IST
Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday dubbed Congress leader P Chidambaram’s remarks on Kashmir as “political opportunism” and said they reflect a wish to unsettle an elected government.
Chidambaram, in a statement, had said Congress, National Conference and, if willing, People’s Democratic Party should come together to find a solution to stop the violence and a path forward that would bring hope, peace and prosperity to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Congress wants to unsettle a democratically elected government. What do you mean when you say Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and PDP come together. There is a democratically elected government in the state, you are suggesting to unsettle it in order to get some political benefit,” Naidu told reporters.
Naidu accused Congress of speaking in different voices on strategic matters and also of being “callous” on sensitive issues.
He said while Congress has sought to distance itself from recent statements of Chidmabaram and other leaders, Kapil Sibal and Salman Khurshid, they have been its think tank for several years.
Naidu said it appears that Congress is at odds with its “lawyers brigade”, on which its relied heavily when it was in power.
He also hit out at former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, saying he seemed to be speaking in frustration forgetting what had happened when he was in power when more than a hundred people were killed.
He claimed Congress was “consistently inconsistent” with regard to Pakistan and also Jammu and Kashmir. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi echoed the sentiments of the people, even then Congress tried to find faults with it, he said.
“What is surprising and shocking is why Congress leaders are aiding and abetting Pakistan, which is aiding, abetting and funding terrorism,” Naidu claimed. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/naidu-dubs-chidambarams-remarks-on-kashmir-as-political-opportunism/20160818.htm | en | 2016-08-18T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/a4fb60e873be4c007d4a00486cf39b5dde3e832068adc9df3fc67847f2ac6715.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:23:16 | null | 2016-08-17T00:00:00 | The survivors and the bodies were found near Kendo island of the Sunderbans on Tuesday. | West Bengal: 8 missing fishermen dead, 3 rescued by Coast Guard | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fwest-bengal-8-missing-fishermen-dead-3-rescued-by-coast-guard%2F20160817.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/feb/19sathiyamoorthy.jpg | en | null | West Bengal: 8 missing fishermen dead, 3 rescued by Coast Guard | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 17, 2016 11:31 IST
Eight fishermen from Sunderbans in West Bengal, who went missing following the August 8 cyclonic storm and heavy rains in deep sea, have been found dead while three of them were rescued in a joint operation by the Indian Coast Guard and its Bangladesh counterpart.
The survivors and the bodies were found near Kendo island of the Sunderbans on Tuesday, Sunderban development minister Manturam Pakhiram, who is camping in the area, said.
Efforts were on to bring them to Kakdwip on Wednesday, he said.
The fishermen had ventured to the seas in four trawlers to catch Hilsa on August one and after inclement weather struck them on August 7-8, 31 fishermen went missing, West Bengal Fishermen Association chairman Joykrishna Halder and secretary Bijon Maiti said.
Five fishermen were found dead and three rescued on Sunday. Two of the survivors were rescued in Bangladesh waters, the minister said.
Indian Coast Guard and its Bangladeshi counterpart navy were scouring the seas to trace the 12 fishermen, who are still missing.
Two Indian fishing boats had drifted to the Bangladesh side, an earlier report had said.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Sunday announced Rs 2 lakh ex gratia to the kin of each of the dead fishermen.
The government, she said, would pay for the treatment of the rescued fishermen. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/west-bengal-8-missing-fishermen-dead-3-rescued-by-coast-guard/20160817.htm | en | 2016-08-17T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/f4848c0f053c7b934b5e97b44237d59a145a0d57c2d1b8b2b2688feaee8e3bc2.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:02:49 | null | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | The Indian Air Force headquarters in a reply said, 'The information sought vide your RTI application is not available at this HQ.' | MoD, IAF have no record on Agusta deal! | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Frti-revelas-mod-iaf-have-no-record-on-agusta-deal%2F20160825.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/apr/27chopper.jpg | en | null | MoD, IAF have no record on Agusta deal! | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 25, 2016 18:23 IST
It may appear strange but the Indian Air Force has claimed it does not have records related to controversial VVIP chopper deal with AgustaWestland which was later scrapped following allegations of bribery.
The IAF and the Defence Ministry are primary holders of the information sought through a Right to Information query. The ministry had referred the matter to Central Bureau of Investigation for a probe after alleged corruption surfaced in the Rs 3,600-crore deal.
Under the Right to Information Act, an application was filed with the defence ministry seeking complete records related to the deal, including price negotiations and file notings.
In addition, the applicant had also sought information related to meetings of the Price Negotiation Committee on the deal, cancellation of the deal, first estimate of the helicopters provided by AgustaWestland, specific additions sought in the helicopters which increased the cost and deliberations which allowed lowering of flight ceiling and cabin height.
The application was transferred by the defence ministry on June 16 to Indian Air Force to furnish the information in accordance with the transparency law.
An application is transferred under Section 6(3) of the RTI Act when the public authority does not have any or a part of information sought by the RTI applicant.
The Indian Air Force headquarters in a reply said, ‘The information sought vide your RTI application is not available at this HQ.’
Surprisingly, several details of the deal were referred to by Defence Minster Manohar Parrikar during a debate on the issue in the Lok Sabha on May 6.
The CBI, which is probing the case, had collected many records during investigation, but as per norms, copies of necessary documents were left with the concerned ministry or the department from where they had been collected.
According to Right to Information Act, the ‘information’ is defined as ‘any material in any form...’ which is held by or is under the control of a public authority.
The CBI had registered a case against former IAF chief S P Tyagi along with 13 others, including his cousins and European middlemen, in connection with alleged bribery in the 2010 deal for 12 AgustaWestland helicopters for VVIPs.
The former Air Chief is accused of reducing the flying ceiling of helicopters from 6,000 m to 4,500 m (15,000 ft), which facilitated AgustaWestland to be in contention for the deal. Otherwise the company did not qualify for submission of bids.
Tyagi has denied the allegations and claimed that the change of specifications, which allowed AgustaWestland to be in contention, was a collective decision in which senior officers of Indian Air Force, Special Protection Group, National Security Advisor and other departments were involved. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/rti-revelas-mod-iaf-have-no-record-on-agusta-deal/20160825.htm | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/79542cb8e6efb53ca13529d3ed1495e20b8f8d8a5a6edb3b914aeeadd45430f7.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:28:32 | null | 2016-08-11T00:00:00 | Assange is wanted in Sweden in relation to a 2010 rape allegation, which the Australian national denies. | Assange to be questioned at Ecuador's embassy in London | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fassange-to-be-questioned-at-ecuadors-embassy-in-london%2F20160811.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/11assange1.jpg | en | null | Assange to be questioned at Ecuador's embassy in London | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 11, 2016 18:03 IST
Swedish prosecutors investigating a rape allegation against Julian Assange will question the WikiLeaks founder at the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he has been holed up since 2012, in a possible breakthrough to the four-year impasse.
The Ecuadorean attorney general delivered a document agreeing to a request by the Swedish authorities to question Assange at the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he has been hiding out since the 44-year-old sought political asylum from Ecuador four years ago.
“In the coming weeks a date will be established for the proceedings to be held at the embassy of Ecuador in the United Kingdom,” a statement issued in Ecuador to the ‘Guardian’ said.
It adds: “For more than four years, the government of Ecuador has offered to cooperate in facilitating the questioning of Julian Assange in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, as well as proposing other political and legal measures, in order to reach a satisfactory solution for all parties involved in the legal case against Julian Assange, to end the unnecessary delays in the process and to ensure full and effective legal protection.
In line with this position, Ecuador proposed to Sweden the negotiation of an agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, which was signed last December and which provides the legal framework for the questioning,” the statement said.
“Ecuador’s foreign ministry reiterates its commitment to the asylum granted to Julian Assange in August 2012, and reaffirms that the protection afforded by the Ecuadorian state shall continue while the circumstances persist that led to the granting of asylum, namely fears of political persecution.
Assange is wanted in Sweden in relation to a 2010 rape allegation, which the Australian national denies.
He has fought against being extradited to Sweden, saying he fears he would then be transferred to the US to face charges on WikiLeaks’ activities.
In 2012, while on bail, he claimed asylum inside the Ecuadorean embassy in central London after the UK Supreme Court had ruled the extradition against him could go ahead.
A United Nations working group had ruled in February that Assange was being arbitrarily detained.
However, the UK foreign office has called for the UN decision to be reviewed, saying Assange was staying in the embassy voluntarily and that the UK had a legal duty to extradite him to Sweden.
Scotland Yard had scaled back its multi-million-pound security presence from the Ecuadorean embassy last year, saying the operation was “no longer proportionate”.
The round-the-clock vigil on Assange had reportedly cost the force around £11.1 million (Rs 96 crore).
Image: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the balcony of the Ecuadorean embassy in London. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/assange-to-be-questioned-at-ecuadors-embassy-in-london/20160811.htm | en | 2016-08-11T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/cb05624a0ac14458adff2e2439e73b8f51298e4d2592e215f3b48c458ae2b5f0.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:18:05 | null | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | The Ganga has crossed the danger mark in West Bengal, Bihar and neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh where Yamuna river is also in spate, while heavy rainfall has created a flood-like situation in some parts of Rajasthan where six persons have died so far. | Ganga above danger mark in Bihar, West Bengal and UP | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fganga-above-danger-mark-in-bihar-west-bengal-and-up%2F20160821.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/21ganga1.jpg | en | null | Ganga above danger mark in Bihar, West Bengal and UP | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 21, 2016 21:08 IST
The Ganga has crossed the danger mark in West Bengal, Bihar and neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh where Yamuna river is also in spate, while heavy rainfall has created a flood-like situation in some parts of Rajasthan where six persons have died so far.
IMAGE: A boy jumps from submerged electric poll in the flooded water of river Ganga in Allahabad on Sunday. Photograph: PTI Photo
In Uttar Pradesh, Ganga is flowing above the danger mark at Fafamau (Allahabad), Mirzapur, Varanasi, Ghazipur and Ballia while Yamuna is flowing above the red mark at Chillaghat (Banda) and Naini (Allahabad) and Mohna (Jalaun).
Similarly, Sharda river is flowing above the danger mark at Palliakalan (Kheri).
Vast areas in several villages of Malda district in West Bengal have submerged, affecting a population of nearly 20,000, even as heavy to very heavy rain in districts of southern parts and in the Sub-Himalayan region of are predicted for Monday, triggered by a low pressure.
Additional District Magistrate, Malda, Kanchan Chowdhury said the rise in the water level of the river was due to the release of 10 lakh cusecs of water from the Sone dam in Uttar Pradesh.
Heavy to extremely heavy rainfall and created flood like situation in Rajasthan with Baran, Pratapgarh, Chittogarh and Jhalawar districts as the worst affected. The water level in Chambal river in Dholpur crossed the danger mark on Sunday.
IMAGE: People shift to a safer place after their houses submerged with water of River Ganga in Allahabad. Photograph: PTI Photo
Six persons of a family died when a portion of their house collapsed in Baran district of Rajasthan on Saturday.
A total of 33 people were airlifted by Air Force on Sunday from two locations in Pratapgarh district while 24 others were airlifted from Baran on Saturday.
Several others are also stranded and rescue operations are on. "Three persons are trapped at an island in Parvati river. They had gone for fishing in the river but suddenly the water level in the river rose. Efforts are on to rescue them," Baran Collector SP Singh said.
In Bihar, National and State Disaster Response Force have been deployed and Army has been put on alert as the rising water level of Ganga has created flood like situation in all the districts situated along the banks of the river.
Ganga and six other rivers were flowing above danger mark in Patna, Bhagalpur, Khagaria, Katihar, Siwan, Bhojpur, Buxar and Hajipur districts, a disaster management department statement said. | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/ganga-above-danger-mark-in-bihar-west-bengal-and-up/20160821.htm | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/cb4afdbf2fd4ae50073bc8abf7a999898253924492e132f54521a9d54bc7a277.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:20:39 | null | 2016-08-18T00:00:00 | Nagla Fatela, the village Prime Minister said had finally got electricity, is still without power, as are 1,282 other habitats in this UP district. Now, officials are scurrying to realise Modi's claim. | After PM's blooper, power being rushed to Nagla Fatela | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fafter-pm-blooper-power-being-rushed-to-nagla-fatela%2F20160818.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/17nagla.jpg | en | null | After PM's blooper, power being rushed to Nagla Fatela | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 18, 2016 09:16 IST
Nagla Fatela, the village Prime Minister said had finally got electricity, is still without power, as are 1,282 other habitats in this UP district. Now, officials are scurrying to realise Modi's claim. Sahil Makkar reports.
On ground zero, a flurry of activities has been taking place for the past two days.
A contractor has begun installing meters, the state electricity department is inspecting the newly-laid low-tension cables and a central government team is monitoring the overall work.
However, no one knows exactly when this village of nearly 3,000 people will finally get to see illuminated houses.
The contractor, the state and the central officials tell Business Standard they were completely taken by surprise when Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned the name of this village during his Independence Day speech on August 15.
The PM said, "It takes three hours to reach Nagla Fatela in Hathras but it took 70 years for electricity to reach here."
The PM is partially correct in his statement as only the infrastructure has been laid in the village under the Centre's ambitious Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana scheme to electrify rural villages.
'Last-mile connectivity', which means connecting the houses with the electricity poles, is still missing.
The contractor is yet to install electricity meters in nearly 300 houses and without these, the state government will not supply electricity.
An official on the ground said on August 15, he was asked to be present in a different village and distribute sweets on account of Independence Day.
He was stunned when the PM mentioned Nagla Fatela in his speech.
"We had to rush to this village soon after and start the electricity current in the newly laid low-tension wires. This was the first time the electricity current was released in the wires. We did this to show the media that electricity has reached -- media persons had arrived before us," he related, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to journalists.
Nagla Fatela is among 1,282 villages in Hathras, chosen for electrification under the central scheme.
The contract for electrification was awarded to Ghaziabad-based Accurate Transformers.
Sanjay Singh, project manager with the company, says they have completed the infrastructure work in almost 150 villages and have asked the state government to inspect the work in 20-odd.
The contractor is supposed to pay the inspection fee to the state electricity department before the inspection is undertaken and a certificate is issued.
"The inspector from the electricity department has surveyed Nagla Fatela and we are in constant touch with them," he says, and adds that supply is still pending in those 20-odd villages for which the contractor has paid the inspection fee.
The villagers, however, are not pleased with the response.
They say the same infrastructure was laid eight to ten months earlier and they were promised electricity during Diwali.
"Nothing has moved since then," says Sovran Singh Verma, a retired school teacher.
It seems the villagers will have to wait one more month before the village is finally connected to the grid and the other formalities are complete.
Till then, they will have to illegally draw electricity from the agriculture feeders on the periphery of this village to light their homes.
These feeders are supposed to be for operating tubewells in the fields, where villagers mostly grow vegetables and paddy.
The latter have been illegally drawing electricity for two decades, paying a fixed monthly fee to the state government to avoid prosecution.
There are also some who do not want electricity in this village, where rains have created numerous artificial puddles in the absence of a drainage system have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
They fear being over-charged and think loose electricity wires will kill their cattle, the only source of livelihood.
Image: People of Nagla Phatela watching the Independence Day celebrations for the first time. Photograph: @PMOIndia/Twitter | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/after-pm-blooper-power-being-rushed-to-nagla-fatela/20160818.htm | en | 2016-08-18T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/43ef9e6be0c2f02f02de986173e782fc6e11f13e1bc372be44b173a169bb2459.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:17:57 | null | 2016-08-22T00:00:00 | The United Liberation Front of Asom has kidnapped the son of a Bharatiya Janata Party leader from Assam and demanded a ransom of Rs. 1 crore. | ULFA kidnaps Assam BJP leader's son, demands Rs 1 cr as ransom | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fulfa-kidnaps-assam-bjp-leaders-son%2F20160822.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/22ulfa.jpg | en | null | ULFA kidnaps Assam BJP leader's son, demands Rs 1 cr as ransom | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 23, 2016 08:54 IST
A Bharatiya Janata Party leader's son has been kidnapped from Assam's Tinsukia district with the Paresh Barua-led United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent releasing an Islamic State-style video that purportedly shows him surrounded by armed and masked militants and appealing to Chief Minister Sarbanda Sonowal to secure his early release.
The video, aired by local TV channels today, shows BJP leader and Tinsukia Zilla Parishad vice-president Lakheswar Moran's son Kuldeep, who was allegedly abducted by the group on August 1, pleading to Sonowal, his uncle and Sadiya BJP MLA Bolin Chetia and his parents to secure his release.
Surrounded by five masked men pointing their rifles towards the kneeling young man in a jungle area, Kuldeep is seen looking at a video camera and narrating his plight -- about his deteriorating health, about the danger to his life as he could be caught in a crossfire between his kidnappers and security forces and about being moved from place to place.
Meanwhile, Sonowal tonight appealed to the abductors to release him on humanitarian ground.
"I appeal to the abductors to release the boy as a humanitarian gesture. Our government believes that violence will achieve nothing and we are committed to the peace process," he told PTI.
MLA Chetia said he had received a phone call from the anti-talk ULFA-I faction demanding Rs one crore ransom for his nephew's release, adding paying that amount was not possible for him and he also did not endorse the idea of paying ransom.
Kuldeep's mother and wife had earlier appealed to the ULFA-I to release him saying they do not have the finances to pay the ransom.
Assam and Arunachal Pradesh police are carrying out search operations to rescue Kuldeep from his abductors.
IMAGE: A video footage leaked on media showing Kuldeep Moran in the custody of ULFA militants. Photograph: PTI | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/ulfa-kidnaps-assam-bjp-leaders-son/20160822.htm | en | 2016-08-22T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/34971c1440e39af80d996840b2648ae0de2450e14da995efe3015af5f75e3857.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T14:51:42 | null | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | People were seen wading through knee-deep water in several areas. Commuters, too, had a hard time as vehicular traffic crawled on the roads clogged with long tailbacks.
| PHOTOS: Rains paralyse Gurugram again; water-logging in Delhi | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fpix-rains-paralyse-gurugram-again%2F20160829.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/29rain1.jpg | en | null | PHOTOS: Rains paralyse Gurugram again; water-logging in Delhi | null | null | www.rediff.com | August 29, 2016 19:20 IST
Heavy rains lashed parts of Delhi and the National Capital Region on Monday evening resulting in water-logging and traffic jam at several places.
People were seen wading through knee-deep water in several areas. Commuters, too, had a hard time as vehicular traffic crawled on the roads clogged with long tailbacks.
This is the second incident this season that the people of Delhi have been victims of continuous rainfalls leading to heavy traffic. The first incident was that of Gurugram, where flooding occurred making vehicles remain stuck for hours on an end and caused a lot of inconveniences.
Vehicles make their way through floodwaters on a street after heavy rainfall in New Delhi. Photograph: PTI
Many places including Hero Honda Chowk, Sohna Road, Manesar, Udyog Vihar, old Gurgaon Road and a few areas in New Gurgaon experienced heavy traffic snarls on Monday. Photograph: PTI
People returning from Delhi to Gurgaon reported that the traffic was moving very slowly. Photograph: @bimbrahw/Twitter
The road behind the British School in the Chanakyapuri area is reported to have completely submerged. Photograph: @Xvishu/Twitter | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/pix-rains-paralyse-gurugram-again/20160829.htm | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/503db5f34142ce640b378e35a8b7b2436b59e9fd6b5fe03a6311e9f8a159cbd5.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:12:27 | null | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | Here's a recap of the events from the past 24 hours. | REWIND: India in the last 24 hours | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Fpix-rewind-india-in-last-24-hours%2F20160826.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/26rewind1.jpg | en | null | REWIND: India in the last 24 hours | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 26, 2016 11:49 IST
Here’s a recap of the events from the past 24 hours.
A girl dressed up as Hindu Lord Krishna performs during Janmashtami festival celebrations marking the birth of Lord Krishna, in Ahmedabad. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters
Vegetable dealers gather with their boats laden with vegetables at a floating vegetable market at Dal Lake in Srinagar. Photograph: S Irfan/PTI
A devotee breaks a clay pot containing curd as others form a human pyramid during celebrations to mark Janmashtami in Mumbai. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal feeding baby rhinos rescued during the recent floods at Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation Centre at Kaziranga National Park. Photograph: PTI
A vehicle submerged in a flooded area in Allahabad. Photograph: PTI
Members of All India Students' Association and Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union shout slogans during their protest in connection of JNU rape case at Police Headquarters in New Delhi. Photograph: PTI
Women carrying firewood on their heads as they cross a river in Latehar district, Jharkhand on Wednesday. Photograph: PTI | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/pix-rewind-india-in-last-24-hours/20160826.htm | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/6a07fb8f331f27fb44f860d33e4e9ecf5e713b94cbdf106c437b79bbf1abb91d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:18:35 | null | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organisation, blamed for last month's failed coup to topple President Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, has infiltrated' India, according to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. | Terror group behind coup has 'infiltrated' India, warns Turkey | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rediff.com%2Fnews%2Freport%2Ffeto-has-infiltrated-india-warns-turkey%2F20160821.htm.json | http://im.rediff.com/news/2016/aug/21lead2.jpg | en | null | Terror group behind coup has 'infiltrated' India, warns Turkey | null | null | www.rediff.com | Last updated on: August 21, 2016 21:38 IST
Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organisation, blamed for last month's failed coup to topple President Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, has infiltrated" India, according to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Asserting that FETO is "secretive transnational criminal network" with presence around the world, Cavusoglu said, "Unfortunately, FETO has also infiltrated India through associations and schools."
In an interview to Press Trust of India after holding talks with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj, the Turkish Foreign Minister also said, "I have already taken up this issue with my counterpart."
The visiting minister said, "In all countries where FETO has a presence, we ask them to take immediate actions to remove them from their territories."
Asked for a response to the minister's comments, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said the Indian side is "sensitive" to Turkish concerns and Indian security agencies were "looking into" Ankara's demand for closure of associations connected with FETO which were carrying out illegal activities.
Asserting that terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations constitute a threat to India and Turkey, Cavusoglu said, "Therefore, exchange of information regarding these threats and bilateral and multilateral cooperation and solidarity against terrorism is crucial."
"This is what both Turkey and India are focused on," he said.
Talking about last month's coup attempt, the visiting dignitary said that a clandestine faction led by FETO within the Turkish Army attempted to stage a coup on July 15 to overthrow the democratically elected government.
"We appreciate the prompt support to our democratically elected government by my Indian counterpart, External Affairs Minister Swaraj," Cavusoglu added.
More than 240 people died and over 1,500 others were injured as a fallout of the failed coup.
Erdogan had blamed US-based cleric Gulen for the attempted coup last month. Gulen currently lives in self-imposed exile in the US.
The Turkish minister also expressed concern over the situation in Syria, maintaining that his country was directly impacted by every dynamic of the conflict there.
He also asked the international community to work together to bring about the much-needed political transition in Syria.
"This is not only a prerequisite to end the conflict, it is also essential to effectively fight terrorism," the minister asserted.
Representative Photograph: Reuters | http://www.rediff.com/news/report/feto-has-infiltrated-india-warns-turkey/20160821.htm | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.rediff.com/69fdcf55a7c42499fb11a8715452704732ab30c2ea90b6aa35ff9a8cb781a834.json |
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