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Archives for 2015

Lok Sabha adjourned for the day

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Lok Sabha

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha was on Friday adjourned for the the day within minutes of assembling as the opposition created a ruckus over the Lalit Modi issue and the Vyapam scam.

As soon as the house assembled in the morning, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said she had received adjournment motions from the opposition on the controversy about BJP leaders’ closeness with former IPL chief Lalit Modi and the Vyapam scam.

However, the speaker dismissed the adjournment motions and tried to proceed with the question hour. At this point the opposition members led by the Congress trooped near the speaker’s podium and shouted slogans.

Following this, Mahajan adjourned the house for the day.

Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Veerappa Moily moved motions on the Lalit Modi issue, while CPI-M member Mohammed Saleem and AAP’s Bhagwant Mann moved a motion against the Vyapam scam.

(Agencies)

Court rejects Teesta Setalvad’s anticipatory bail plea

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Teesta Setalvad

Mumbai: A sessions court in Mumbai rejected on Friday an anticipatory bail application filed by social activist Teesta Setalvad in connection with a case of alleged foreign donations to her NGO in violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

Setalvad, who was at the forefront of the campaign for the 2002 Gujarat riot victims, is likely to move the Bombay high court.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand on July 8 and raided their home and offices a week later. The agency is looking into whether Setalvad’s NGO Sabrang received funding from the United States-based Ford Foundation without government permission.

The Gujarat Police had recently said the social activist and her husband “misappropriated” funds meant for charity for personal expenses ranging from wine, earbuds to expensive mobile phone besides tampering with the evidence.

The CBI registered the case after the home ministry recently asked the agency to conduct a probe into the funding.

A bank account of the firm located in Mumbai was frozen on the instructions of the home ministry. Sources said certain documents were recovered by the agency, which they claimed appears to support the allegations.

Setalvad had earlier said the charges against her are baseless and she was fully cooperating with the CBI.

(Agencies)

Pro Kabaddi: Bengaluru beat Patna, Warriors edge past Pink Panthers

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bengal-kabaddi-league

Kolkata: A last ditch attempt from the defence ensured Bengal Warriors full points against title holders Jaipur Pink Panthers, while Bengaluru Bulls were runaway winners opposite Patna Pirates in two back-to-back games of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 2 at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here on Wednesday.

The locals won 28-26 in the match watched by a crowd of around 5,000 people.

Bengaluru on the other hand won 31-26 defeating the Pirates with ease.

The win propelled the hosts to the fourth position on the league, while the Panthers are a rung below with two back-to-back losses.

The win for the Bulls in the second match made sure they were in the third position with two wins from three outings.

With only seconds left on the clock, Warriors had to pin down the raider and they did so with some style bagging three points, and with it, the contest.

It was neck and neck in the first half, with the home team giving the defending champions a run for their money.

However, Jasvir Singh — the star raider for the Panthers — did much of the work for his team with his dashy movements and prolific leg-swings that helped the visitors open up a 15-12 lead at half time, as their owner Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan seemed content.

The second half was enthralling too as the Warriors made it a point to not budge an inch which reflected in their performance as former captain Nilesh Shinde clinched seven tackle points.

Warriors’ skipper Dinesh Kumar joined in the act getting important points for his side as he raided the opponent half and looked to salvage in desperation whatever points he could.

But it took a team effort from the Warriors in the dying seconds of the game to pull off the miraculous victory after being behind for much of the game.

In the second encounter, the man who made the difference for Bengaluru was Manjeet Chhillar, their captain and allrounder, who raided and defended with equal panache to clinch 4 raid points and 7 tackle points for his side and was adjudged the player of the match.

Earlier, former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly sang the national anthem in presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who inaugurated the city leg of the Kabaddi League.

“They have to take a bit of ‘panga’. We have won both the IPL and the ISL and I hope we win the kabaddi title too,” said Ganguly, expressing support for Bengal Warriors.

The prolific left-handed willower also batted for the success of the league and congratulated the official broadcaster for their efforts.

“I have not played kabaddi much, but I’ve seen a few matches. It provides a good platform for domestic players.”

Banerjee termed the sport her “favourite game”.

(IANS)

No discussion until Sushma steps down: Rahul Gandhi

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rahul gandhi

New Delhi: Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his “silence” on the Lalit Modi controversy, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said his party was against discussion until External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj steps down.

Claiming that Modi’s credibility is on the decline, Rahul said the Prime Minister should listen to the voices of the people of the coutry who are demanding an answer from him over controversies confronting the government.

“The Prime Minister had assured the country that he will not tolerate corruption. His words should carry weight. But he speaks in air, he speaks whatever comes to his mind, his credibility is slowly declining.

“We asked the PM what he thinks about Lalit Modi. We got no answer. We got no answer on the Vyapam scam, no answer on Chhattisgarh and no answer on Sushma,” he told reporters outside Parliament.

Rahul’s comments come against the backdrop of the stalemate persisting in both the Houses of Parliament with Congress-led opposition aggressively pressing for ouster of Sushma and Chief Ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the Lalit Modi controversy and Vyapam scam, which the government rejected.

He made it clear that there would be no discussion on the Lalit Modi controversy unless Sushma quits office.

“What we have said is that (there will be) no discussion without resignation. Sushma has done a criminal act. He (Lalit Modi) is a ‘fugitive’. You have signed it (the recommendation for grant of travel document). The High Commission does not know about it. The Indian government too in unaware of that,” he said and alleged that there were business links between the families of Lalit Modi and Sushma Swaraj.

(PTI)

The role of land, oil and ports in the Yemeni crisis

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Yemeni crisis

by Shoks Mnisi Mzolo, Cii Broadcasting

On the surface, the roots of the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Yemen as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to rain bombs on its southern neighbouring are hard to determine. The kingdom, whose military and their personnel are turning Yemen to a wreck, defends its involvement, in the violence and political strife gripping its neighbour, to its determination to stop an illegitimate government from taking over in Sana’a. Many have scoffed at not only the theory but also lamented Riyadh’s brutality that, in the name of pursuing rebels, has claimed thousands of civilian lives and displaced scores more while destroying infrastructure such as water tanks, schools and hospitals.

Without explaining the rationale behind the deaths directed at civilians, with the death toll now approaching 4,000, Riyadh claims its violence is meant to stop Houthi rebels, who staged a coup d’état earlier this year – that brought down then-President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government.

Scratching the surface, Prof Najib Ali Abdullah Alsoudi, an academic at the University of Ta’if, insists that it all boils down to money. In an interview with Cii, he dismissed the much-recycled pretext about ethnic or creed chasm or threat to the region’s security. Central to the political turmoil manifesting itself today is the rich kingdom’s thirst to economically subjugate the Middle East’s southern-most part, the professor said, going as far back as the 1960s.

King Faisal, a successor to deposed King Saud, was in charge of the oil-rich monarchy for the greater part of that decade. Imam Yahya, a king of Yemen, was succeeded by Imam Muhammad, also known as Sayf al-Islam al-Badr, in 1962. Their descendants’ struggle for control, by their countrymen or scions, revolved around Yemeni land and resources. Decades later, according to Alsoudi, Saudi Arabia is not keen to let go and is seizing Yemeni lands now.

The problem started when Imam Yahya’s impoverished then-monarch conceded to his neighbours, the professor said. “Imam Yayha was in a bad situation so he agreed to sign agreements, between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, that Najran and Aseer will be under Saudi as rental land for 20 years. When the 20 years finished, Ali Abdullah Saleh (then-president) he also re-signed the agreement between Yemen and Saudi,” Alsoudi added. That term came to an end last year, during Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi’s presidency. The then-incumbent turned down Saudi Arabia’s request to extend the land rental tenure. In a matter of months he was ousted and Yemen has been in the throes of the regional superpower’s bombs since then.

“After the revolution Yemeni people started talking about our land and the Saudi. So, the Saudi didn’t want the Yemeni people talking about that land. And, they want also, the Yemeni people to make Aden an international port. If Aden [were to become an] international port, that means Dubai and Jeddah will close already because all the ships will be coming to Aden because Aden is in the middle. So, if the ship is going to South Africa, it will stop in Aden,” the professor of in Arabic linguistics and Quranic studies pointed out.

The same goes for Australasia-bound ship and those headed for Asia, as far as Japan, among other destinations, Alsoudi explained. The UAE, which makes a fortune from the Dubai jackpot, would be one of the biggest losers if such a move passed and the kingdom the biggest winner given its landlord position. The two regional players, he added, have been at loggerhead over this with the impoverished Yemen finding itself in the middle.

With all of this in the background, Saleh, the former president, struck a relationship with Houthi. The latter was part of the 2011 revolution, among others. So, because of its role, Houthi is obviously no ally’s of the powerful kingdom. That said, its rise to power, not least after Hadi refused to extend the lease agreement, was bound to be solicit anger from Riyadh. Sadly, the Saudi military has since turned around and targeted civilians.

“[Saudi Arabia] don’t want to bring [our land] back,” as the academic summarised it, looking at some of the factors in the background. “They don’t want Yemeni people to take their oil from their land. We have a lot of oil… Saudi doesn’t want Yemeni people to take their oil and sell it to the world. They want us just to be poor people, a poor country. You know, in this [country] people eat leaves. Saudi has closed all the borders. We cannot receive any food [or aid]. I don’t know what’s wrong with that. I mean, we are Muslims, we are brothers. Why did the Saudi do that?”

Virat Kohli to lead India for Sri Lanka tour

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The BCCI national selection committee, along with Test captain Virat Kohli, right, and BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, second from right, at a meeting in New Delhi on July 23, 2015 to announce the squad for the three-Test tour of Sri Lanka. Photo: Facebook.com/IndianCricketTeam

The BCCI national selection committee, along with Test captain Virat Kohli, right, and BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, second from right, at a meeting in New Delhi on July 23, 2015 to announce the squad for the three-Test tour of Sri Lanka. Photo: Facebook.com/IndianCricketTeam

New Delhi: The BCCI’s national selection committee on Thursday made just one change to the Indian Test team for the upcoming three-Test tour of Sri Lanka, giving 32-year-old leg-spinner Amit Mishra a Test cap after four years.

Mishra, whose last of his 13 Test matches was against England at The Oval in 2011, earned a recall to the squad as a replacement for Karn Sharma, who fractured a finger in his left hand before the side’s recently concluded tour of Zimbabwe.

After returning to the Test team after two years in the one-off match against Bangladesh, Harbhajan Singh will continue his comeback in the five-day format in the series beginning on August 12. Singh and Mishra will act as support cast for lead spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Despite new Test skipper Virat Kohli’s backing of pace to get the job done even on sub-continent pitches — three pacers figured in the drawn game in Fatullah — Sri Lanka has always favoured spinners. Pakistan leggie Yasir Shah’s brilliant performance in the series win over the hosts would only have convinced chief selector Sandeep Patil and company.

Patil emphasised that fitness and form rather than age — Mishra is 32 and Harbhajan 35 — would influence the thinking of his panel. “The policy which the selectors have adopted in the last three years is to go by fitness and form…Karn has still not recovered from the injury. It is the same with Mohammed Shami,” Patil told a media conference. Shami has not played since he underwent knee surgery following the World Cup.

“Mishra was always in the scheme of things,” he said. The leg-spinner though has been playing ODIs, playing his last game in October. However, his Test career never took off, and the 43 wickets in 13 games at an average of 43.30 show he has not grabbed the few chances that came his way.

Kohli and Ravi Shastri will continue as captain and team director, respectively. Young Karnataka opener KL Rahul, who missed the Bangladesh Test because of dengue, is back as expected, especially after scoring a fine 96 in the first India A ‘Test’ against Australia A in Chennai on Wednesday.

Patil insisted that the squad — seven batsmen, a lone wicketkeeper, four pacers and three spinners — was chosen keeping the Sri Lanka conditions in mind. “Our job is to give the right combination,” was his comment when asked about Kohli’s focus on pace over spin.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has not been included in the team. On the possible inclusion of former opener Gautam Gambhir, Patil told a news conference, “No, he was not discussed.”

While Kohli has insisted on sheer pace doing the damage, MS Dhoni was unsparing about Umesh Yadav’s poor spell following the last ODI in Bangladesh, where India lost the series 1-2. Dhoni’s insistence on line and length rather than speed and waywardness seem to be sending some message. Patil said the senior leader had every right to air his opinion in public while acknowledging that change of guard will bring a different outlook. “Dhoni is entitled to his views,” Patil said.

The selection committee could not escape questions about the recent verdict of the Justice Lodha committee suspending IPL franchises Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings and the subsequent formation of a BCCI working group to study the ruling.

“Teams are not terminated, just suspended. We have formed a committee to look into it,” said BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur.

India team for Sri Lanka Tests: Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul, Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mishra, Varun Aaron, Harbhajan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav.

(Agencies)

Lokayukta scam case: two more held

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Lokayukta scam

Bengaluru: Two more accused have been arrested by the Special Investigation Team in the Lokayukta bribery case in the state.

M B Srinivasa Gowda(30), a journalist and a partner of the Biriyani Adda chain in Bengaluru, and his associate Shankaregowda(35), an RTI activist are the arrested.

They were arrested from a hotel in Rajajinagar in the city. They are the second and third accused respectively, and are both natives of Kolar district. They were arrested as per the information given by second accused Ashok Kumar, a realtor, who was arrested by the SIT on Tuesday.

Sources said that both Srinivasa Gowda and Shankaregowda, were assigned to gather information about corrupt officials and inform Ashok Kumar. Ashok Kumar, in turn, would call officials to extort money from them, sources said.

The Special Investigation Team also issued a notice to Ashwin Y, son of Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao, to appear in person before it within three days. Ashwin is the first accused in the extortion case.

Both the accused have been handed over to the SIT by Special Court Judge V G Bopaiah for interrogation till July 31 and were produced in the court by DCP Labhu Ram.

(Agencies)

Yakub Memon seeks stay of execution of his death sentence

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Yakub-Memon

New Delhi: Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, the sole death row convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking stay of execution of his death sentence scheduled for July 30.

Memon, in his petition said that all legal remedies have not been exhausted and he has also approached the Maharashtra Governor with a plea for mercy.

He had filed the mercy plea before the Governor immediately after his curative petition was dismissed by the apex court on Tuesday.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu had on July 21 rejected Memon’s plea saying that the grounds raised by him does not fall within the principles laid down by the apex court in 2002 in deciding the curative petition, the last judicial remedy available to an aggrieved person.

Memon, in his plea, had claimed he was suffering from schizophrenia since 1996 and remained behind the bars for nearly 20 years. He had sought commutation of death penalty contending that a convict cannot be awarded life term and the extreme penalty simultaneously for the same offence.

The apex court on April 9 this year had dismissed Memon’s petition seeking review of his death sentence which was upheld on March 21, 2013.

Memon’s review petition was heard by a three-judge bench in an open court in pursuance of a Constitution bench verdict that the practice of deciding review pleas in chambers be done away with, in cases where death penalty has been awarded.

The apex court, on June 2, 2014, had stayed the execution of Memon and referred his plea to a Constitution bench as to whether review petitions in death penalty cases be heard in an open court or in chambers.

Memon had sought review of the March 21, 2013 verdict of the apex court upholding his death penalty in the case relating to 13 coordinated bomb blasts in Mumbai, killing 257 persons and injuring over 700 on March 12, 1993.

(PTI)

BJP can’t cheat people now after promising ‘Acche Din’: Shiv Sena

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uddhav thackeray

Mumbai: Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray today took a dig at its ally and said that ground realities have remained unchanged despite BJP coming to power at the Centre, promising ‘Acche Din’.

“Even 50 years are not enough to clean up the mess created by the erstwhile government. But a lot has to be done in the next five years to fulfill the aspirations of people.

You (the BJP) had promised ‘Acche Din’ to people and thus cannot cheat them now,” Thackeray said in an interview in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.

To a question, Thackeray said that even though the governments have changed at the Centre and in the state, nothing much has changed on “ground”.
“Every morning when we open a newspaper, we keep reading the same news that once bored us…The thought which comes to our mind is that we used to read the same news before. Be it farmers’ suicide, protests of the unemployed people, crimes against women,” he said.

When asked to comment on Pakistani flags being raised in Kashmir, Thackeray said, “Haven’t seen it happen in a long time.” Replying to another query, he questioned the change the BJP has brought after allying with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir.

“What can I do? It is surprising. I do not have personal enmity with anyone but what stand did you (BJP) have on Mufti Mohammed Sayeed before (election)? How can you forget his style of politics ? If Kashmir progresses, it is good. But bringing in a change does not mean giving the state a big financial package. People there should be turned back towards India,” Thackeray said.

The Sena chief also reiterated his stand on freeing farmers from their debts and said they should be financially sound so that they can take new debts if they wish to, in future.

(PTI)

An interactive session with a media guy turned film director Rajesh Ransinghe

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Rajesh Ransinghe, a director of small as well as big screen, happens to be a very youthful, energitic & dynamic director. Incidentally speaking he had started of his career as a Videographer. And then he made a quick switch as a small screen megaphone wielder. This was almost more than 2 decades ago, when he had dabbled with the small screen shows, starting off with a biggest production house named Contileo films, like ‘Ankhen’ (his debut serial), ‘Aahat’, ‘CID’, ‘CID Bureau’, ‘Bhanwar’, ‘Koi Hai’, ‘Maharana Pratap’, Savdhaan India’, ‘Rishte’, ‘Fear File’ and last but not the least ‘Adalat’. All in all till this date almost 22,000 hours of work has been tucked under his directorial belt. And then his next big leap was in the big screen arena in the year 2010 when he had directed a Hindi film named ‘Rokkk’. And finally after almost half a decade he is ready with his 1st ever Marathi film namely ‘Janiva’.

Just recently the music of your 1st ever Marathi film ‘Janiva’ was released at the hands of Salman Khan. So was it on purpose to cash in on his ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ wave? That apart you were also conspicious by your absence in your own film’s music release event?

No sir, not at all and it was not intentional. I did not attend the music release function of my own film Marathi film ‘Janiva’ as I was busy shooting in Hyderabad and I didn’t feel right that I should leave the entire unit in a lurch just to attend the music release of my own film ‘Janiva’. And releasing the music was Salman Khan’s own choice as he wanted to bless Satya, the son of his best friend Mahesh Manjrekar. And Satya happens to be one of the 5 main leads of my film ‘Janiva’. That’s it.

Tell us something about your upcoming Marathi film ‘Janiva’

First & Foremost I would like to state that Renuka Shahane plays a major role of a lawyer in this film. Besides Satya is playing one of the 5 male leads, there is also Anuradha, Vaibhavi, Sanket, Dev Dutt, Kishore Kadam (also playing the role of a powerful lawyer), Kiran Karmakar, Indira Krishna, Atul Parchure & Usha Nadkarni with a special appearance by Mahesh Manjrekar. Incidentally speaking, we will all see the father – son team of Mahesh Manjrekar & Satya together for the 1st ever time in ‘Janiva’. Also for the 1st time ever, the very popular singer of Bollywood films Deler mehndi has rendered a Ganpati number in Marathi and he makes it a point to croon this number in every show he does whetheer in India or abroad.

How was your experiences on the sets with the seasoned actors like Renuka Shahane & Mahesh Manjrekar?

Renuka Shahane is fantastic. She took only 2 hours to okay the script which I had narrated to her. She even improvised so much on the sets that she exceeded herself 10 times more than what I had expected from her. When I had narrated the script to Mahesh Manjrekar, he had asked me who was the hero. I told him that I need a 17 year old college going boy and just then Satya entered the room. Eureka! I knew that I had found one of the main hero of my Marathi film ‘Janiva’. I immediately offered Satya the role and luckily for me I had both the father – son team on board of my Marathi film ‘Janiva’. Mahesh Manjrekar appears in the Ganpati number which has been crooned by Daler Mahendi, the Punjabi pop singer who is known both fort his racy Punjabi & Hindi numbers.

How come you convinced Deler Mehndi to sing for a Marathi film?

When I went to Daler Mehendi he clearly told me that he can sing only Hindi & Punjabi numbers and not the Marathi ones. But when he heard the scratch number in my voice he really got excited and said that he will certainly give it a try and when he actually belted out the number in the recording room, everybody was stunned including myself.

On a round up note how about giving us an insight into the subject matter of your Marathi film ‘Janiva’!

You see after selecting all the lead actors, 3 boys & 2 girls, I put them through an intense and a gruelling workshop session. And then the 1st 6 days of the shooting I made them to sit for 6 whole days in the courtroom just as a spectator doing nothing, just observing the senior actors in action which proved like a Master Class in acting for them. Now coming to the subject matter of my Marathi film ‘Janiva’. It certainly has an altogether different story which I can’t reveal it now. At the moment it is suffice to say how the college students are trapped by the law and how a powerful lady lawyer like Renuka Shahane fights with the system and saves the future of these college students. This kind of a subject matter will always have a youthful audience connect and the college going boys & girls will also identify themselves with these innocent boys & girls. By the way my debut Marathi film ‘Janiva’ will hit the marquee by the end of July, 2015.

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