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Sahitya Akademi condemns killing of writers after activists stage protest

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Sahitya Akademi

New Delhi: The Sahitya Akademi on Friday condemned the killing of writers and urged those writers who had returned their awards in protest against its silence to take them back.

The appeal followed a meeting of the Akademi’s Executive Board, Krishnaswamy Nachimuthu, an Akademi member and a Tamil scholar, told the media here.

Writers march in protest

With black gags and arm bands, writers and their supporters held a solidarity march here ahead of the Sahitya Akademi emergency meeting to discuss the returning of awards by eminent authors in protest against “rising intolerance” in the backdrop MM Kalburgi’s killing.

Writers from different languages converged for the silent march carrying huge banners from Sri Ram Centre at Safdar Hashmi Marg to the Sahitya Akademi building, where they submitted a memorandum to the Akademi demanding that it pass a resolution pledging to take stern steps to safeguard the freedom of speech and right to dissent of the writers.

At least 35 writers from across the country had over the past few weeks announced their decision to return their Sahitya Akademi awards and stepped down from official Akademi positions to protest the “rising intolerance” in the country.

Akademi chairman Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari accepted the memorandum and said “it will be considered” in the meeting.

“The executive council of the Akademi should pass a resolution that it will take stern steps to safeguard the freedom of speech and right to dissent of the writers,” the memorandum said.

The protesters has also criticised Tiwari’s recent statements in which he dubbed as “illogical” the act of several writers returning their awards. They also called for a written apology from Tiwari against statements he had made about Akademi award winning writers having made gains from their award royalties.

“A delegation of 13 Hindi-Urdu writers had met the representatives of the Akademi on September 16 to demand for a ‘shok sabha’ but the Akademi denied to do so,” the memorandum said. The writers said if the Akademi does not conduct a condolence meet for Kalburgi in Delhi, they will demand Tiwari’s resignation.

The protest march was convened by five groups – Janvadi Lekhak Sangh, Pragatisheel Lekhak Sangh, Jansanskriti Manch, Dalit Lekhak Sangh and Sahitya Sanvad.

Eminent writers Keki N Daruwala, Geeta Hariharan, Anuradha Kapoor (former director National School of Drama), Shekhar Joshi and Javed Ali among others were part of the protest.

Called the getting together of writers as historic step in the literary history of the country, the protesters called for the Akademi to condemn in strong terms the killings of Kannada writer Kalburgi and other writers and rationalists and assure the writers that the Akademi would in these times of distress ensure the right to freedom of speech and expression.

“Tiwari has lost the trust of the writers. If Tiwari does not apologise and conduct a condolence meet for Kalburgi in Delhi, we will demand his resignation,” a statement by the writers said.

(Agencies)

Young Dalit writer attacked for criticizing caste system

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Dalit writer Huchangi Prasad, who was attacked in Davangere.

Dalit writer Huchangi Prasad, who was attacked in Davangere.

Davanagere: In a fresh case of upper caste atrocity against lower caste Hindus, a young Dalit writer was attacked by a group of Hindutva activists for his writings against the caste system perceived to be “anti-Hindu” at Davanagere in Central Karnataka.

The Thursday’s attack comes barely three months after the shooting of writer M.M. Kalburgi – barely 100 km away – and at a time when numerous writers across the country have raised their voice against rising intolerance.

According to the complaint filed by 23-year-old Huchangi Prasad, a journalism student at Davanagere University who had published a ‘controversial’ book a year ago, an unidentified man came to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe hostel at the university in the early hours, claiming that Mr. Prasad’s mother had been hospitalised following a heart attack.

Apparently in “shock”, the student followed the man who promised to take him to the hospital. Midway, in an isolated corner of APMC Yard, a group of eight to ten people ambushed him.

“They surrounded me and started to push me around. They said my writings were anti-Hindu as I talked about the caste system. They even put kumkum all over my face. They pulled out a knife and said they will cut my fingers off so I can never write again,” Mr. Prasad told The Hindu.

He pushed his way through the group and ran into the nearby woods, where he hid. Hours later, when sure that the group had left, he fled to the hostel. He later filed a police complaint.

Following the attack, police have registered a case against “unknown persons” under attempt to murder (IPC 307) and under sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The student had published his first book in April 2014 and had since then faced threats. The book comprised prose and poetry revolving around treatment of Dalits in the country.

At the book launch, Kannada writer K.S. Bhagwan — who has recently received threats — spoke inviting the ire of right-wing organisations who had filed a complaint for provocative speech at the local police station. Mr. Prasad had been threatened since then.

(Agencies)

Delhi’s AAP government supersedes Waqf Board, strips it of powers

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arvind-kejriwal

New Delhi: The AAP Govt has “superseded” the Delhi Waqf Board, transferring all its powers and duties to the Secretary (Revenue) in the city administration.

“In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 99(I) of the Waqf Act, 1995, the Government of NCT of Delhi hereby supersedes the Delhi Waqf Board with immediate effect for a period of six months,” said a notification issued by Revenue Secretary A Ambarasu on October 10, 2015.

Rana Parween Siddiqui, Chairperson of the Board, said she has “filed an appeal in the Delhi High Court seeking quashing of the notification. The court will hear the case on October 30.”

The notification has also stipulated that “in accordance with Section 99(2)(b) of the Waqf Act, 1995, all the powers and duties of the Board under the provisions of the Act will be exercised and performed by the Secretary (Revenue) Government of NCT of Delhi.”

“I received the notification on October 15 and stopped going to Waqf Board office,” said Rana who has also filed a writ petition in the High Court for notification of her election as Chairperson of Delhi Waqf Board by the Delhi Government.

Rana was elected as Chairperson of the Delhi Waqf Board in a meeting of members of the Board on January 20.

“There are a total of seven members of Delhi Waqf Board. At the time of my election, there were only six members out of whom four elected me as Chairperson of the Board,” she said.

However, her election was not notified by Delhi Government, against which she filed the petition in Delhi High Court.

The court in its order on April 29 had directed the respondent Delhi Government to maintain status quo vis a vis position of the Chairperson till further hearing.

“The notification issued by the government superseding Delhi Waqf Board despite the status quo order by the High Court is a clear case of contempt of court. I will move a separate application in the court regarding this, ” she added.

(Agencies)

Complainant to withdraw assault-case against Amit Mishra

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Indian cricketer Amit Mishra snapped during the preparatory camp for the forthcoming series against South Africa at National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru on September 23, 2015. Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar

Indian cricketer Amit Mishra snapped during the preparatory camp for the forthcoming series against South Africa at National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru on September 23, 2015. Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar

In a relief to Indian cricketer Amit Mishra, the woman who had filed a police complaint against him for an alleged assault, has decided to withdraw the case.

“Two days after lodging the complaint, I approached the police station and told them that I have in principle decided to withdraw the case,” the complainant told.

“I am waiting for Mishra to appear in the police station. We both will amicably withdraw the case. We were friends. We fought, and continue to remain friends here after,” she said.

Mishra was in Bengaluru last month for India’s pre-tour training camp when he had met the woman.

The police had asked Mishra to appear before them in a week’s time. Mishra was booked under the Indian Penal Code sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 328 (causing hurt with intent to commit an offence).

She clarified that that she has not taken the step under pressure.

“There was no pressure from any quarters, including the BCCI. I am surprised how the media picked up the case, which I have decided to withdraw,” she said.

(PTI)

Kohli’s 138 propels India to 299/8 in 4th ODI

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virat-kohli

Chennai: Virat Kohli’s 138 powered India to 299/8 in 50 overs against South Africa in their fourth One-Day International (ODI) at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Thursday.

Kohli, who scored his 23rd ODI ton, was involved in two 100-plus partnerships with Ajinkya Rahane (45) and Suresh Raina (53).

For the visitors, opening pacers Kagison Rabada and Dale Steyn took three wickets each, while Chris Morris picked up one.

(IANS)

WikiLeaks publishes first round of hacked CIA chief emails

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Former CIA Director John Brennan is said to have used the private email account ‘occasionally for several intelligence related projects’

John Brennan has been director of the CIA since 2013. The documents contained in the WikiLeaks cache are from 2008 and before. (Photo: Reuters)

John Brennan has been director of the CIA since 2013. The documents contained in the WikiLeaks cache are from 2008 and before. (Photo: Reuters)

by Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams

WikiLeaks on Wednesday began releasing documents from one of former CIA chief John Brennan’s non-government email accounts, which he is said to have “used occasionally for several intelligence related projects.”

Earlier this week an individual, claiming to be a teenager, alleged that he and two other people had hacked into Brennan’s AOL email account and uncovered files dealing with the CIA director’s security clearance application. The hacker told the New York Post that he used a tactic called “social engineering” that involved tricking workers at Verizon into providing Brennan’s personal information and duping AOL into resetting his password. The FBI and Secret Service are reportedly investigating the breach.

The unredacted documents published Wednesday include Brennan’s “National Security Position” form, which WikiLeaks says “reveals a quite comprehensive social graph of the current Director of the CIA with a lot of additional non-govermental and professional/military career details.”

Other documents in the dump cover topics including “challenges for the US Intelligence Community in a post cold-war and post-9/11 world;” “the conundrum of Iran;” and “forbidden interrogation techniques.”

Brennan, who defended the CIA in the wake of the Senate Torture Report, has been accused of “willfully [providing] inaccurate information and misrepresent[ing] the efficacy of torture.”

IMF: Saudi running on empty in five years

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Gulf kingdom could deplete financial assets within five years as it struggles with slumping oil prices.

The fall in oil prices has led to the Middle East facing export revenue losses amounting to $360bn this year alone [Mosaab Elshamy/AP]

The fall in oil prices has led to the Middle East facing export revenue losses amounting to $360bn this year alone [Mosaab Elshamy/AP]

by Abid Ali, Al Jazeera

Saudi Arabia could burn through its financial assets within five years, as the country grapples with slumping oil prices.

The Middle East’s biggest economy is expected to run budget deficits of 21.6 percent in 2015 and 19.4 percent in 2016, according the IMF’s latest regional outlook.

That means Riyadh needs to find money to meet its spending plans. Just like its oil-exporting neighbours, it plans to make substantial cuts to its budgets.

“For the region’s oil exporters, the fall in prices has led to large export revenue losses, amounting to a staggering $360bn this year alone,” Masood Ahmed, the IMF’s Middle East director, told reporters in Dubai.

There has been a trickle of evidence over the last few months that not all is well inside the kingdom.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency has withdrawn $70bn in funds managed by overseas financial institutions. Its foreign reserves have fallen by almost $73bn, since oil prices slumped, leaving it with $654.5bn.

But with a debt-to-GDP ratio of two percent, there is plenty of room for the country to borrow money to fund its growth.

The International Monetary Fund’s regional report also found that.

  1. Syria’s economy has contract as much as 60 percent since the start of the conflict.
  2. Yemen’s economy has slumped nearly 30 percent.
  3. Economic growth for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan could rise to 3.9 percent in 2016 from 2.5 percent this year.
  4. Oil prices are expected to average $52 a barrel in 2015 and could rise to $63 a barrel next year.
  5. With oil prices languishing around $50 a barrel, oil exporters need to diversify their economies to absorb millions of job seekers. “Achieving fiscal sustainability over the medium term will be especially challenging given the need to create jobs for the more than 10 million people anticipated to be looking for work by 2020 in the region’s oil-exporting countries,” Ahmed said.

Siddaramaiah hands over ex-gratia amount of Rs 30 lakh to PSI Jagadish’s family

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SI Jagadish

Bengaluru: An ex-gratia amount of Rs 30 lakh was handed over by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to the family of the slain police sub-inspector Jagadish on the occasion of the Police Martyrs’ Day in the city on Wednesday.

Siddaramaiah and Home Minister K.J George paid homage to PSI Jagadish and other martyred cops while participating in the annual Police Martyrs’ Day held at car grounds.

While handing the ex-gratia cheque to Jagadish’s wife Ramya and his father Srinivasaiah the Chief Minister has also said that the family would be entitled to receive further Rs. 20 lakh as part of the group insurance of police personnel.

Siddaramaiah has assured that he would personally make sure that the family receives all its dues including a monthly allowance to Ramya apart from drawing the salary of Jagadish till his natural date of retirement.

Srinivasaiah, Jagadish’s father was happy that his son’s culprits were booked by law, however, he expressed his anger saying that they do not deserve to live and should be awarded death sentence.

Jagadish (34) was stabbed to death on October 16 allegedly by burglars whom he was chasing at Nelamangala town in Bengaluru Rural district. The State police in coordination with the Maharashtra police nabbed two of the culprits accused in the case from Nagpur on Monday.

CM Siddaramaiah while complimenting the police teams for their efforts had announced cash award of Rs 5 lacs each yesterday for both the police teams.

(Agencies)

Urdu poet Munawwar Rana to meet Modi soon over writers returning awards

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Munawwar Rana

Lucknow: Urdu poet Munawwar Rana, who has returned his Sahitya Akademi award would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon.

“I got a call from PMO on Tuesday with a request to meet him the next day. As I was in Gwalior I said that it was not possible and the date and time should be fixed for some other day…On this I was told that it will take some time,” Mr. Rana said on Thursday.

Mr. Rana, a big name in contemporary Urdu poetry said that whenever Prime Minister would call him he would meet him and narrate his grief over the present scenario and would explain the reason behind his decision of returning award.

“I will meet the PM as a poet with reference to Ganga-Jamuna tehzeeb of the country. My intention is to live the life which I was born with,” he said.

On being asked if he will meet PM along with other litterateurs, he said, “Somebody goes with me or not is his or her personal choice, but if Modi calls me I will definitely meet him.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Rana evaded the question of accepting his award again if Prime Minister would request.

Mr. Rana had recently announced to give up his Sahitya Akademi award dramatically during a live TV debate over the killing of Kannada writer M M Kalburgi and lynching of a man in Dadri for allegedly consuming beef.

The Rae Bareli-born writer conferred the Sahitya Akademi award by the Modi government in 2014 for his book Shahdaba.

(PTI)

Modi lays foundation stone for Andhra capital Amaravati

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modi-amaravati

Vijayawada: History was made in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying the foundation stone for new state capital Amaravati near here.

Amid chanting of Vedic hymns by priests, Modi along with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu performed ‘puja’ and the associated rituals to formally lay the foundation stone of what is being promised a ‘world-class’ and ‘people’s capital’.

Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Tamil Nadu Governor K. Rosaiah, Assam and Nagaland Governor Padmanabha Acharya, central ministers M. Venkaiah Naidu, Ashok Gajapathi Raju Nirmala Sitaraman, Y.S. Chowdary and Bandaru Dattatreya also participated in the rituals.

Japan’s State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Yosuke Takagi and Singapore’s Second Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran also participated in the ceremony watched by thousands of people.

The prime minister unveiled a pylon. He flew into Uddandarayunipalem in Guntur district in a helicopter from Gannavarm Airport in Vijayawada, where he arrived by a special aircraft from New Delhi.

Naidu and central ministers received Modi at the airport. Modi was greeted by Naidu’s wife Bhuvaneswari, son N. Lokesh and daughter-in-law Brahmani when he reached the venue.

The prime minister went around Amaravati Pavilion, a special exhibition arranged to highlight the glorious dynasty of Amaravati and the plans to develop the world-class capital.

(IANS)

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