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Sri Lanka PM claims victory over ex-president in polls

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Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s attempt to stage a comeback in parliamentary elections has ended in defeat.

Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said the vote had been one of the most peaceful in Sri Lanka's history [AFP]

Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said the vote had been one of the most peaceful in Sri Lanka’s history [AFP]

by Al Jazeera

Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s attempt to stage a comeback in Sri Lanka’s general election has ended in defeat as results showed the alliance that toppled him making decisive gains.

The ruling United National Party (UNP) was likely to fall just short of an outright majority but Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe should still command enough support to form a stable government.

“I offer my grateful thanks to all parties and individuals who worked untiringly during the election period to ensure victory for the people,” Wickremesinghe, 66, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Let us together build a civilised society, build a consensual government and create a new country.”

If confirmed, the outcome would be a triumph for President Maithripala Sirisena, who beat his former ally Rajapaksa in a presidential vote in January and called early parliamentary polls to secure a stronger mandate for reforms. Rajapaksa was Sri Lanka’s president for nine years until his January 8 election defeat.

Defeat for Rajapaksa will keep Sri Lanka on a non-aligned foreign policy course and loosen its ties with China, which during his rule pumped billions of dollars into turning the Indian Ocean island into a maritime outpost.

Victory over former mentor

With results from 18 of Sri Lanka’s 22 districts in, Wickremesinghe’s UNP had won about 105 seats in the 225-seat parliament.

A total of 196 seats are up for grabs in multi-member constituencies with a further 29 to be allocated by proportional representation in the 225-seat chamber.

Since his surprise victory over his former mentor, Sirisena has struggled to impose his authority over his United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) party and was powerless to prevent Rajapakse’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), from standing as one of its candidates.

Sirisena threatened to invoke his executive powers to prevent his combative predecessor from becoming prime minister, but Rajapakse was banking on a strong showing to force Sirisena to back down.

Rajapaksa was hailed a warrior king for defeating Tamil Tiger separatists to end a nearly 26-year civil war. But he is accused of using his popularity to take control of parliament, the courts, the armed forces and all government institutions.

He was also accused of widespread human rights abuses and of suppressing freedoms.

Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said the vote had been one of the most peaceful in Sri Lanka’s history. About 70 per cent of the 15 million registered voters voted in Monday’s elections.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said 35 people were arrested countrywide for election law violations.

The mood on the streets was subdued on Tuesday, with celebrations and street processions banned for a week after the polls under Sri Lankan election laws.

No survivors in Indonesia plane crash, officials say

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Search officials say all 54 on board Trigana Air passenger plane dead, as they find black box on the crash site.

The aircraft was also carrying about $470,000 destined for remote villages [AP]

The aircraft was also carrying about $470,000 destined for remote villages [AP]

by Al Jazeera

Search and rescue teams have found the flight recorder for a Trigana Air passenger aircraft that crashed in eastern Indonesia, killing all 54 on board, according to officials.

“At 1:40 local time the Trigana Air black box was found,” Transportation Ministry official Julius Arivada Barata told the Reuters news agency by text message on Tuesday.

Major-General Heronimus Guru, operations director at Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, told a news conference in the capital, Jakarta, on the same day that all passengers on the plane were dead and their remains were being put into body bags and recovered.

Officials have declined to comment on the cause of Sunday’s crash until the results of an investigation by the national transport safety committee, but Guru said the terrain in Indonesia’s easternmost province may have been a factor.

“There’s a possibility the aircraft hit a peak and then fell into a ravine because the place that it was found is steep,” Guru said.

Earlier, the National Search and Rescue Agency said the twin turboprop ATR-42-300 probably hit a peak on Sunday before crashing into a ravine in the Bintang Mountains district, about seven nautical miles from Oksibil.

ATR is a joint venture between Airbus and Alenia Aermacchi, a subsidiary of Italian aerospace firm Finmeccanica.

Plane was carrying money

There were 44 adult passengers, five children and infants and five crew on the short-haul flight from provincial capital Jayapura south to Oksibil town.

The aircraft was also carrying about $470,000 destined for remote villages, as part of an assistance programme. There was no suggestion the money was somehow linked to the crash.

Officials from Trigana were not immediately available to respond to questions from Reuters. The airliner has been placed on a European Union list of banned carriers since 2007 over safety or regulatory concerns.

All on board were Indonesian, officials said.

The aircraft made its first flight 27 years ago, the Aviation Safety Network says. Trigana Air Service has a fleet of 14 aircraft, aged 26.6 years on average, according to the airfleets.net database.

Trigana has had 14 serious incidents since it began operations in 1991, online database Aviation Safety Network says. Besides the latest crash, it has written off 10 aircraft.

Indonesia has a patchy aviation record, with other two major crashes in the past year.

In December, an AirAsia flight went down in the Java Sea, killing all 162 aboard. More than 100 people died in June in a crash of a military transport plane.

Modi announces Rs.1.25 lakh crore Bihar package

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Modi

Ara: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a Rs.1.25 lakh crore Bihar package to “change the face of Bihar”.

Modi inaugurated a national highway project in Ara town of Bhojpur district and said: “I am announcing a package of Rs.1.25 lakh crore. This package will change the face of Bihar.”

He said Rs.40,000 crore left from an earlier aid to the state will also be given, taking the total amount of central assistance to Rs.1.65 lakh crore.

He promised to “implement the package fully”.

“If we want to solve people’s problems then the only way ahead is development,” Modi said.

He questioned Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s anger when he had called Bihar “bimaru” (sick). “They say Bihar is not ‘bimaru’, and then they make demands…,” Modi said.

Modi also said: “I will change the destiny of the country.”

He said the central government was formulating special schemes to empower women and OBCs in the state of Bihar.

He spoke a few lines in Bhojpuri language and greeted the people.

Modi was earlier received at the Patna airport by Governor Ram Nath Kovind and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Modi laid the foundation stone of a four-lane road connecting Patna and Buxar in Ara, the district headquarters of Bhojpur, about 60 km from Patna.

All private schools in Ara were closed on Monday and Tuesday due to restrictions on plying of school buses on several route through the town and for security reasons.

The four-lane highway and other projects were approved by the previous Congress led UPA government.

Modi will later in the day address the Bharatiya Janata Party third parivartan rally in Saharsa district in flood-prone Kosi region.

He has already addressed two election rallies in Muzaffarpur and Gaya ahead of the forthcoming assembly polls.

(Agencies)

President Pranab Mukherjee’s wife Suvra Mukherjee passes away

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Suvra Mukherjee

New Delhi: She had always remained in the background, smiling graciously at invited guests from her wheelchair during events held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. First Lady Suvra Mukherjee, President Pranab Mukherjee’s wife of 58 years, died here on Tuesday, it was announced.

The first lady was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Army’s Research And Referral Hospital here two weeks back. President Mukherjee cut short his two-day visit to Odisha and returned to the national capital that evening itself. She was known to be suffering from a heart ailment.

“Suvra Mukherjee died after a cardiac arrest. She was on ventilator till the time of her death,” Army’s Research And Referral Hospital PRO Sanjay Kumar told IANS.

Married to Pranab Mukherjee on July 13, 1957, Suvra Mukherjee was an accomplished Rabindra Sangeet exponent. The couple have two sons and a daughter. Her son Abhijeet Mukherjee is a Congress MP from Jangipur, West Bengal, while daughter Sharmistha is an accomplished dancer and has joined the Congress party. Another son is Indrajit Mukherjee.

Suvra Mukherjee was born in Narail, Bangladesh, where her relatives still live.

During his state visit to Bangladesh in March 2013, President Mukherjee paid his first visit to his “sosur bari”, or in-laws’ house, where the couple were given the traditional welcome accorded to newly-weds, complete with conch-shells being blown and ‘uloo dhoni’ and ‘mangal deep’ aarti.

The grand family welcome at Bhadrabila village, some 9 km from Narail town, probably made up for the physical stress she had to endure, being wheel-chair bound throughout the trip.

She is not known to have accompanied her husband on a foreign tour after that.

Her ancestors had migrated to India in early 1950s after the 1947 partition.

In an interview to Times of India in July 2012, just after Pranab was named as the next president, Suvra told the daily that she and her husband had never had a fight.

“We are not like today’s couples. It’s not a lovey-dovey relationship and we don’t express our emotions overtly. It’s all in the mind and heart. We don’t really indulge in small love talk. At our age, it’s more about depending on each other wholeheartedly. His love for me is different. Every day, after his bath he comes to me, touches my forehead and recites some mantras. He does this every day of the year and yesterday was no exception. This is how he expresses his love. We’ve been married for 55 years and we haven’t fought for a single day!”

Being a music lover, her concern before shifting to the palatial 360-room Rashtrapati Bhavan was to find an appropriate place for her musical instruments, harmonium and tanpura.

In fact, her love for Rabindra Sangeet found a reflection in the melodies played by the Rashtrapati Bhavan band during the formal events, like At Home and dinner receptions for foreign dignitaries.

The band has begun interspersing usual melodies with well-known melodious Rabindra Sangeet numbers.

Bengali sweets, like sandesh, also made its entry into Rashtrapati Bhavan.

(IANS)

“My most favourite script is ‘Tere Jism Se Jaan Tak’ & I loved working for this film”: Nataliya Kozhenova

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Nataliya Kozhenova

After hearing the script of ‘Tere Jism Se Jaan Tak’ from distributor turned film maker Dhananjay Galani, Nataliya Kozhenova was so impressed & moved by the script that she immediately confirmed to work and gave a letter of intent to Dhananjay Galani to shoot the said script of ‘Tere Jism Se Jaan Tak’ with her as a leading Lady. Later on Dhananjay Galani signed her opposite Vinit Kakar & Shilpa Sharma and the films 2 Songs & major scenes have already been shot with Nataliya Kozhenova, Vinit Kakar, Shilpa Sharma et al. Present here with is the ad verbatim extract from the interactive session.

Tell me something about your character & about the movie ‘Tere Jism Se Jaan Tak’?

My Character in ‘Tere Jism Se Jaan Tak’ moves from positive to negative. Yes I like the movie and God Bless it want it to become a hit.

What kind of roles are you willing to do?

I am willing to do any kind of roles as being an actress I don’t have any reservations or even any restrictions whatsoever. Of course I am not ok with the role of a mother or such other roles.

How was it working with the director Raj Dayal?

Raj Dayal is a really nice director, he is very calm & patient. It’s very important to get an understanding with the team during shooting. So yes I think he is superb and this is all I can say.

Tell me something about the producer Dhanjay Galani?

Producer Dhananjay Galani is a nice guy but of course he is too much in hurry. But still I am really happy with him.

And what’s up next?

Who knows what’s up next? May be my producer Dhananjay Galani knows better. But of course I wish to do big projects. And it’s my dream to do 1 movie Arjun Rampal or Emran Hashmi. I pray to God that my dream will come true one day.

Nasheman.in interviews M S Sathyu

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M S Sathyu

Indian Cinema’s most acclaimed flimmaker Mysore Shrinivas Sathyu more popularly known as M. S. Sathyu hails from Mysore, Karnataka. Of late he has been chosen for the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowships for the year 2014 along with musicologist S. R. Janakiraman, classical singer Vijay Kichlu & musician Tulsidas Borkar. Present herewith is a telephonic conversation with him.

You & your films have bagged many Indian awards & International honours in your chequered career as a filmmaker. Would you feel free to throw some light on it?

Incidentally speaking I am known more as a leading Indian film director, stage designer & art director. And I am also best known for my most talked about directorial film ‘Garam Hawa’ (1973) which was based on the partition of India. Of late I have been chosen for the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowships for the year 2014 along with prominent musicologist S. R. Janakiraman, classical singer Vijay Kichlu & musician Tulsidas Borkar. And I have been previously awarded Padma Shri in the year 1975. That apart my best known work, ‘Garam Hawa’ (Scorching Winds), is one of the last cinema productions featuring 1950s Marxist cultural activists including Balraj Sahni & Kaifi Azmi. In fact ‘Garam Hawa’ had won several Indian National awards in 1974, including a National Integration Award. It was also invited for the competitive section at Cannes and was also the Indian entry at the Oscars and achieved a Filmfare award for “Best Screenplay”.

Would you like to say something about your Sangeet Natak Academy Award?

What can I say about it? They just put me on the fellowship that’s it.

What are your current activities related to theatre?

I had stopped doing anything but now I am planning to start my new production named ‘Anarkali’ for National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA).

What do you feel about the Indian Theatre in terms of quality & progress?

Well! Frankly speaking a lot of things are happening in Indian & Overseas theatre and a lot of new directors & new talents are coming but then unfortunately we are solidly lacking in play writing arena.

You have worked as a director, art director, cinematographer & writer in films & theatre. How do you manage? And which department do you love the most?

Yes Indeed I have worked in different departments in theatre & films. I like doing that and besides I am not a trained person, I apprentice myself and learn on my own. And I like everything and much more I am also a designer which I enjoy doing quite a lot. I design costumes, sets, theatre spaces and also design lighting. I mean these are mainly my greatest interests.

Now please tell us something about your much hyped movie ‘Garam Hawa’. And how did you plan it?

Oh! Honestly speaking everything just happened. Some destined acts creating things that sometimes you end up making good films. I did not plan anything I just tried to make an honest film which become a classic on its own merits. So you see one doesn’t plan such things, they just happens.

Please share your experiences about working with Kaifi Aazmi during ‘Garam Hawa’.

He put in lots of things while writing the dialogues. He gave very political aspects of it and came out much better.

How did you get associated with Indian People’s Theatre Association?

I used to do a lot of work in Mumbai in various theatre groups and that’s how I came to be associated with Indian People’s Theatre Association. That’s it.

Symbiosis Institute of Business Management all geared up for ‘Utthaan’

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utthaan

Bengaluru: Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Bengaluru is all geared up for Utthaan, an event organized by the Social Responsibility Committee of the college. The venture aims to promote positive relationships in underprivileged and orphaned children and encourage each child’s sense of individual worth, through a funfair organized at the SIBM-B campus.

The event also aims at fostering a learning environment for the children whilst providing a platform for them to showcase their innate talent and abilities to the outside world.

The Social Responsibility Committee wishes to begin this novel flagship concept starting this year in the hopes of making it an annual endeavour. The students of SIBM-B would also actively volunteer for the same and interact and engage directly with the under-privileged children at our campus so as to get a glimpse of life on the other side. UTTHAAN is a sincere effort from SIBM-B towards the society, thus projecting the institute as a socially perceptive one.

The events to be conducted during UTTHAAN are as follows:

  • TALENT SHOW
  • ART COMPETITION
  • FUN & LEARNING SESSIONS
  • STALL GAMES
  • MAGIC SHOW

Date: AUGUST 30, 2015

Time: 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Venue: SIBM Bengaluru, # 95/1, #95/2 Electronic City Phase- 1, Hosur Road, Bengaluru 560100.

‘Kaali Maa is depicted in lesser clothes than Radhe Maa’: Sonu Nigam

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Sonu Nigam

Mumbai: Mumbai Police said they have received written complaints against singer Sonu Nigam over his tweet about controversial godwoman Radhe Maa.

Nigam, in his tweet, had compared Radhe Maa to a Hindu goddess, said police. “Police received two applications against Nigam for his tweet regarding Radhe Ma a few days ago,” said deputy commissioner of police M Dahikar.

A complaint has been filed against singer Sonu Nigam at the Samta Nagar Police Station, Mumbai, by Ramesh Joshi, chairman of Dharma Rakshak Mahamanch for allegedly insulting Goddess Kali by comparing her to the self-styled godwoman Radhe Maa, ANI reported

Samtanagar and Sakinaka police stations received two applications against the singer, requesting police to file an FIR, for “hurting religious sentiments”. “Police haven’t filed any FIR against the singer yet,” Dahikar said.

Sonu Nigam called out the blatant sexism in the treatment meted out to Radhe Maa. He wrote on Twitter why there were different rules for men and women when it came to godwomen.

Sonu Nigam tweeted: “Just my 2 pence. Kaali Maa is depicted in lesser clothes than Radhey Maa. Interesting that this country wants to sue a woman for her clothes. Wanna sue, sue the followers… Sue YOURSELVES.. For making them God men and women. Setting different rules for men and women, not fair. Men Saadhus can walk naked. Dance embarrassingly, but it takes a rape charge to put them behind bars. So much for Gender equality?”

(Agencies)

Supreme Court receives anonymous threat letter, bars entry of law interns

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Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Delhi Police has beefed up the security at the Supreme Court after receiving an anonymous email which threatened to blow it up.

The Supreme Court has barred the entry of law interns to the court rooms for security reasons, according to media reports.

Earlier, Justice Dipak Misra, one among the judges who rejected Yakub Memon’s mercy plea, had also received a threat letter.

The Home Ministry has been informed about the anonymous email and intelligence agencies are on high alert.

Confirming the reports, a senior police officer told Hindustan Times that they have received such an email , but there are chances that it could be a prank.

Details are awaited.

(Agencies)

Egypt adopts controversial anti-terrorism law

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President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi approves law that shields police and punishes media for spreading “false” reports.

The law has met support from Sisi's supporters who demand a firm hand to restore stability in the country of 87 million people [EPA]

The law has met support from Sisi’s supporters who demand a firm hand to restore stability in the country of 87 million people [EPA]

by Al Jazeera

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has approved an anti-terrorism law that sets up special courts and provides protections to its enforcers.

The controversial law, published in the government’s official gazette on Sunday, sets a minimum fine of 200,000 pounds (about $25,000) and a maximum of 500,000 pounds for anyone who strays from government statements in publishing or spreading “false” reports on attacks or security operations against armed fighters.

Critics say the steep fines may shut down smaller newspapers, and deter larger ones from independently reporting on attacks and operations against armed fighters.

It also shields those applying it, such as the military and police, from legal ramifications for the proportionate use of force “in performing their duties.” The law also seeks prison terms for those found guilty of “inciting, or prepared to incite, directly or indirectly, a terrorist act”.

Dalia Fahmy, an assistant professor at Long Island University and a member of the Egyptian Rule of Law Association, told Al Jazeera that any media “that defies the national narrative, will be fined”.

“The law here is a system that is not protecting the citizenry, but rather protecting the state … it is becoming indicative of the consolidation of power in the hands of the executive,” Fahmy said from New York.

Sisi had promised a tougher legal system in July, after a car bomb attack that killed the top public prosecutor, the highest level state official to be killed in years.

Forming or leading a group deemed a “terrorist entity” by the government will be punishable by death or life in prison.

Membership in such a group will carry up to 10 years in jail.

Financing “terrorist groups” will also carry a penalty of life in prison, which in Egypt is 25 years. Inciting violence, which includes “promoting ideas that call for violence” will lead to between five and seven years in jail, as will creating or using websites that spread such ideas

Journalists will be fined for contradicting the authorities’ version of any “terrorist” attack.

Three journalists had already been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for “defaming” the country and supporting the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood movement.

The retrial of three Al Jazeera journalists – Baher Mohamed, Mohamed Fahmy and Peter Greste – was adjourned for a tenth time in Egypt on August 2.

Egypt is facing an increasing violence in North Sinai, where one armed group has pledged allegiance to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group. Cairo and other cities have also witnessed attacks.

Hundreds of members of the Muslim Brotherhood have been sentenced to death in mass trials since Sisi, a former army chief, overthrew President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

Many of them have won retrials, and Morsi himself, sentenced to death last June, has appealed his verdict.
At least 1,400 people, many of them supporters of Morsi, were killed in a crackdown on protests after his overthrow.

Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement, once the most influential grassroots organisation in the country, has been blacklisted as a “terrorist” organisation.

Though criticised by rights activists, the law has met support from Sisi’s many supporters who demand a firm hand to restore stability in the country of 87 million people.

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