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Archives for November 2016

India recalls three diplomats from Pakistan

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Photo: AFP

Photo: AFP

New Delhi: India today recalled three diplomats stationed at its High Commission in Islamabad after their identities were made public and Pakistan charged them with “spying”.

The diplomats, including First Secretary (Commercial) Anurag Singh, were named last week by Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria, who had alleged that a number of Indian diplomats and staffers were involved in “coordinating terrorist and subversive activities in Pakistan under the garb of diplomatic assignments”.

According to officials, apart from Singh, Vijay Kumar Verma and Madhavan Nanda Kumar left Pakistan by air today. The decision was taken as their security had been “completely compromised” by Pakistan with their names and photographs published and broadcast in the media there, they said.

India’s action comes within days of Pakistan recalling six of its High Commission officials here after their names were made public by another mission staffer Mahmood Akhtar, who was declared persona non-grata and expelled for running a spy ring last month.

Akhtar’s expulsion had triggered a tit-for-tat action by Islamabad, which also expelled an Indian High Commission official posted there.

(PTI)

Senior journalist Girish Nikam, 59, dies following massive heart attack

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girish-nikam

New Delhi: Senior journalist and TV anchor Girish Nikam died in New Delhi Tuesday following a massive heart attack. Nikam, 59, complained of uneasiness after a programme shoot in the studios and was taken to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital where he breathed his last, according to his associates.

He started his journalistic career with “Star of Mysore” in Mysuru and later shifted to Indian Express, Bengaluru. He had worked in other media organisations including India Today, Deccan Chronicle and News Today before doing programmes for Rajya Sabha TV. Nikam’s body is being taken to Bengaluru tomorrow for the last rites.

Prasar Bharati Chairman A Suryaprakash was among others who condoled the death of Nikam. Suryaprakash said Nikam was an extremely versatile mediaperson who traversed the worlds of print, television and social media. Vice President Hamid Ansari also condoled Nikam’s death saying he was a valued and respected member of Rajya Sabha Television.

Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venakaiah Naidu said he was saddened at the death of Nikam who had made great contribution to the profession of journalism. He also visited the RML hospital, where 59-year-old Nikam had breathed his last.

Rajya Sabha TV CEO Gurdeep Singh Sappal said his passing away was a huge loss for RSTV. “Girish was a voice of sobriety and compassion in the debates he conducted,” he said.

A release by RSTV said Nikam anchored ‘The Big Picture’ programme ever since its inception. His “understated style and rich content stood apart in the cacophony of prime time TV discussions”, it said.

(PTI)

Roshan Baig files Rs 10-cr defamation case against Shobha Karandlaje

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roshan-baig

Bengaluru: Karnataka Urban Development Minister Roshan Baig has filed a Rs 10-crore defamation case against BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje, charging her with making a ‘baseless allegation’ against him.

Baig, in the petition, said that Karandlaje had needlessly dragged his name in the RSS worker R Rudresh’s murder case. He said that Karandlaje is indulging in character assassination and damaging his public image, without ascertaining the facts.

(Agencies)

South Africa defeat Australia by 177 runs in the first Test

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Kagiso Rabada (centre) took 7-170 in the match and has 36 wickets at 24 apiece in nine Tests

Kagiso Rabada (centre) took 7-170 in the match and has 36 wickets at 24 apiece in nine Tests

by BBC

Australia slipped to a fourth successive Test defeat as South Africa won the opening Test of their three-match series by 177 runs in Perth.

Set a notional 539, the hosts were bowled out for 361 shortly before tea on the final day thanks to 21-year-old pace bowler Kagiso Rabada’s 5-92.

Usman Khawaja made 97 and Peter Nevill an unbeaten 60 for Australia, who lost 3-0 in Sri Lanka in August.

Victory was South Africa’s third in a row at the Waca, after 2008 and 2012.

It was completed without Dale Steyn, the world’s number two-ranked bowler who was ruled out of the series on Friday with a fractured shoulder.

Australia, 169-4 overnight, survived for 119 overs in total in the fourth innings on a pitch featuring large cracks.

However, their first-innings collapse proved costly, slipping from 158-1 to 244 all out in response to South Africa’s 242.

JP Duminy made 141 and Dean Elgar 127, putting on 250 for the third wicket in South Africa’s second-innings 540-8 declared.

The second Test in Hobart starts on Saturday and the final Test in Adelaide on 24 November.

Australia batsman Joe Burns will replace Shaun Marsh, who suffered a broken finger in Perth, for the second Test, while the uncapped Callum Ferguson has been added to the squad.

Ban on NDTV India an assult on Freedom of Press: Press Club Of Bangalore

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press-club-of-bangalore

Bengaluru: The Press Club here strongly condemned the 24-hour ban on NDTV India by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I & B) on charges of airing “sensitive information” while reporting on the Phatankot terror attack.

The protesting journalists also demanded the Centre that the one-day ban imposed on Hindi Channel NDTV India on November 9 should be immediately withdrawn.

Peshmerga in heavy gun battles with ISIL near Mosul

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Iraqi Kurdish forces assault town of Bashiqa, just 13km from ISIL-held Mosul, from two fronts as offensive continues.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces had kept Bashiqa surrounded for nearly three weeks before launching its overnight offensive [Reuters]

Kurdish Peshmerga forces had kept Bashiqa surrounded for nearly three weeks before launching its overnight offensive [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Iraqi Kurdish fighters are exchanging heavy fire with ISIL fighters as they advance from two directions on a town held by the armed group just 13km east of the city of Mosul.

The town of Bashiqa has been surrounded by Kurdish Peshmerga forces for weeks.

Monday’s push appears to be the most serious yet to drive the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) from the area, which is to the northeast of Mosul, the group’s last major urban bastion in the country.

Al Jazeera’s Mohammad Jamjoom, reporting from the frontline near Bashiqa, said “it was the biggest push yet to try to take control of Bashiqa since the battle for Mosul began”.

“The Peshmerga fighters are optimistic. They say there are only about 100 to 200 ISIL fighters left as well as possibly three very high ranking ISIL commanders,” he said before adding there was black smoke rising from the city and its surrounding areas, signaling ISIL’s tactic of burning tyres and oil to limit aerial vision and create suffocating smells.

There were also white plumes of smoke from US-led coalition air strikes over the city, he said.

“As far as civilians go, the Peshmerga fighters believe that most of the civilians have already fled the town.”

Kurdish forces launched mortar rounds and fired heavy artillery into the town on Sunday in advance of the offensive.

Al Jazeera’s Jamal El Shayyal, reporting from Erbil, said “as far as the Kurdish fighters are concerned, Bashiqa is the last remaining major area ISIL controls in the KRG, which is the semi-autononums Kurdish region of Iraq”.

“[Kurdish forces] are entering [Bashiqa] not only on the ground but from the skies as well. Bashiqa is also important to retake because it has a multicultural, multi-ethnic population, which includes Christians, Yazidis, Sunni Arabs, and many others,” he said.

“This is not only a fight against ISIL to retake these towns for the Iraqi government. There’s a sectarian side to this conflict where maybe getting these towns back will give some benefit to beating ISIL, as it will build a cross-section of society banded together.”

ISIL hits back

The three-week-long Mosul offensive has slowed down in recent days as Iraqi forces have pushed into more densely-populated areas of the city.

The Iraqi army has also been fighting in the district of Gogjali, east of Mosul.

The army is going house-to-house to secure some of the other districts taken in recent days.

However, Iraqi troops have been forced to retreat from the neighbourhood of Al-Karamah after ISlL fighters used a network of tunnels to surround them.

Elsewhere, two ISIL suicide attacks killed at least 22 people in cities 200km south of Mosul.

A fighter blew himself up in an ambulance packed with explosives at a checkpoint in Samarra. Ten Iranian pilgrims were among the dead in that attack.

Earlier, another bomber had blown up his vehicle on the outskirts of the city of Tikrit.

“The trajectory of suicide bombings is in correlation with how much closer the Iraqi army is getting to the centre of Mosul,” Elshayyal said. “The closer they get, the higher number of suicide and car bombings we will see.”

“Over the past few days, ISIL has been focusing all its efforts and fire power on maintaining its stronghold in Mosul. We even saw some videos of international journalists stuck for up to 24 hours as they and the forces they were embedded with were ambushed by ISIL fighters.”

2 Kannada actors feared dead, as action scene goes wrong

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uday-anil

Bangalore: Two Kannada actors are feared to have drowned when performing stunts during a movie shoot at Tippagondanahalli lake about 30 km from here today.

According to reports, three actors, Duniya Vijay, Anil and Uday jumped from a chopper into the lake during the shooting for a Kannada movie titled “Masti Gudi”.

A news footage showed two people jumping off a helicopter followed by another person.

While Vijay managed to swim to safety, the two others are missing. Police say the chances of finding them are slim.

Kerala government tells SC it favours entry of women of all age groups into Sabarimala temple

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sabrimala-temple

New Delhi: Kerala’s Left Democratic Front (LDF) government on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it favours the entry of women of all age groups into the Sabarimala temple, effectively changing the state’s position on the issue.

The Kerala government’s U-turn comes just months after it filed an additional affidavit in the Supreme Court in July, supporting the ban on women’s entry into the historic shrine.

“On being asked as to what is the stand of the state, senior advocate Gupta states that the state intends to place reliance on its original affidavit (2007) and not on additional affidavit…women of any age group should not be debarred from entry into the temple to worship the deity,” a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan said on Monday. The next hearing will take place on February 13 next year, the Supreme Court bench said.

The LDF in 2007 had been in favour of women’s entry into the temple, but the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) which took over from it took a contrary stance, citing temple tradition.

Senior advocate K K Venugopal, who represents the Travancore Devaswom Board (which manages the Sabarimala Temple) today told the bench that the state government couldn’t afford to alter its stand as per its convenience.

The Kerala government’s+ U-turn comes just days ahead of the start of the three-month-long ‘mandala pooja’ and ‘makaravilakku’ pilgrimage season at the Sabarimala temple on November 15.

Nearly four crore devotees throng the temple, dedicated to Lord Ayyappa, during the festival period.

The Supreme Court says may refer the issue to a constitution bench. The Supreme court on July 11 indicated that it may refer to a five-judge constitution bench the issue of the centuries-old practice of barring entry of women between 10 and 50 years of age in the Sabarimala temple.

The apex court observed that women are conferred rights under the Constitution and it would pass a detailed order in case the matter is referred to a five-judge constitution bench.

“A temple is a public religious place. You cannot refuse entry to a woman who comes there … It violates the rights of women. We understand the seriousness of issue. Every right needs to be balanced but every balancing has its own limitations…” the court remarked.

The apex court had earlier questioned the practice of barring entry of women to Sabarimala temple, saying it would test whether “faith and belief” could differentiate among persons of same denomination.

The management of the Sabarimala temple, located on a hilltop in the Western Ghats of Pathanamthitta district, had earlier told the court that the ban on entry of women aged between 10 and 50 years existed because they can’t maintain “purity” while menstruating.

(PTI)

Shiv Sena calls for Human Rights violation case against Karnataka police

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Shiv-Sena

Mumbai/Belagavi: The Shiv Sena today called for Human Rights violation case to be filed against the Karnataka police, for the “inhuman” treatment meted out to those taking part in a Black Day protest rally in Belagavi on Karnataka Rajyotsava Day on November 1.

“Karnataka police and political goons in the state have been terrorising Marathi people staying at the border. Like every other year, the inhuman treatment meted out to those observing Black Day by the police cannot just be condemned. A Human Rights violation case needs to be filed against the police,” the Sena said in an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamana.

It said that Maharashtra government should take the lead in filing the case.

In a veiled dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Sena said that those vying for an Independent Balochistan do not see the 60-year struggle of the people living at the border of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

“Where is Anna Hazare now ? If he would have fasted for justice to the Marathi speaking people, he would have earned the respect of the martyred,” it said.

It questioned under which law is Karnataka police committing atrocities against those who want to be a part of Maharashtra.

Youths and activists of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), a regional outfit in Karnataka, were arrested for taking part in a Black Day protest rally in Belagavi on Karnataka Rajyotsava Day on November 1.

MES leaders have alleged their activists are being beaten and tortured by Karnataka Police. MES observes Black Day on November 1, which is celebrated across Karnataka as Kannada Rajyotsava Day, the day on which the state was formed.

The MES wants 814 villages, where the Marathi-speaking population is dominant, to be integrated with Maharashtra. In its report 50 years ago, the Centre-appointed Mahajan Commission (under former Chief Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan) had recommended that these villages remain in Karnataka.

Maharashtra Government has been fighting the case in the Supreme Court for nearly 12 years to get Belagavi and adjoining areas back from Karnataka.

(Agencies)

NDTV India moves SC against Modi govt’s one day ban order

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ndtv

New Delhi: NDTV India today moved the Supreme Court against the government’s order banning its telecast for a day on November 9 for its coverage of the Pathankot terror attack.

The petition challenges the Constitutional validity of the government order, the channel said in filing to the stock exchanges.

In the filing, NDTV said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had directed stopping of transmission or re- transmission of its Hindi news channel, NDTV India for a day from 00.01 hrs of November 9, 2016 till 00.01 hrs of November 10, 2016.

“We now update that NDTV Ltd and others have filed a writ petition before the Hon’ble Supreme Court challenging the said order, inter-alia, challenging the constitutional validity of the said order and the provisions of law pursuant to which the said order has purportedly been passed,” the company said.

Sources said a senior advocate is likely to mention the matter tomorrow, a day before the channel has been asked to keep away from broadcasting.

On its website, NDTV has mentioned that it has challenged the government’s one-day ban.

NDTV has refuted the allegations and pointed out that other channels and newspapers reported the same information.

The ban has been widely condemned by journalists and editors with all press councils drawing parallels to the Emergency of the 1970s when basic constitutional rights including the freedom of the press were blatantly violated, the channel said on its website.

(Agencies)

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