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JNU sedition row: Another student surrenders

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ashutoshkumar

New Delhi: Ashutosh Kumar, a student on the run in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) sedition case has surrendred before the Delhi police on Saturday.

Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, two of the students wanted in the sedition case had earlier surrendered on Tuesday night. Ashutosh has been sent to police custody for questioning.

Anant Prakash and Rama Naga are two more of the JNU students who are wanted by police after being a part of the pro-Afzal Guru event in univeristy campus raising anti-India slogans.

Kanhaiya Kumar, the President of JNU students union was arrested on February 12 and since then is in police custody. He’s lodged in Tihar jail with top security after a group of lawyers beat him up while being produced at the court. Deputy superintendents are supposed meet Kumar twice a day with his food being checked by additional inspector-general (prisons) Mukesh Prasad.

(Agencies)

Shiv Sena activist assaults woman cop

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Shiv Sena

Mumbai: A Shiv Sena member who was found violating traffic rules by a woman traffic constable was arrested after he abused, slapped and punched her.

The incident reportedly happened in Mumbai’s Thane where the constable found Shashikant Kalgude talking on his phone while driving. She was on duty under the Eastern Express Highway flyover near Nitin Junction when she noticed Kalgude talking on the phone and driving. She gestured him to stop, but he tried to drive away. He stopped when she came in front of the SUV.

Sources say that passersby did not intervene. Finally, it was an advocate, Pratik Pawar who stopped Kalgude and took him to the Naupada police station where the constable, who was bleeding badly, registered a case and the accused was arrested.

Meanwhile, Aadithya Thackery, the President of Yuva Sena, Shiv Sena’s youth wing tweeted the party’s statement saying that the incident was highly disgraceful and the accused was not a current member of the party.

(Agencies)

Smriti Irani resorted to ‘blatant lies’ in Parliament, says Rohith Vemula’s mom

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Radhika Vemula

New Delhi: Dalit student Rohith Vemula’s mother on Friday launched a scathing attack on HRD minister Smriti Irani, accusing her of resorting to “blatant lies” while talking in Parliament about her son’s suicide and that “life imprisonment” will not be enough for her and others “responsible” for his death.

Radhika Vemula, flanked by her other son Raja, said BJP will be “decimated to the ground” if Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not take any action against Irani and her ministerial colleague Bandaru Dattatreya who had written multiple letters to her seeking action against Rohith, alleging anti-national activities.

“Irani, this is not a small screen to act, this is real life. Bring out the facts, don’t fabricate them. How many parents you would like to suffer. Irani has lied multiple times while speaking on the issue in Parliament. Why has action not been taken against her?” she said in a news conference.

Speaking in Parliament, Irani had on Wednesday tried to deflect criticism and mounted a strident attack on the opposition accusing it of “politicizing” the PhD scholar’s death.

She had said that the committee which acted against Rohith had a dalit representative and that doctors were not allowed to revive him after he was found hanging.

Rohith’s brother Raja dubbed Irani’s comments as “blatant lies”, saying he reached the campus by 8.30pm and saw police and doctors where his body was kept.

“Even life imprisonment will not be enough for the ministers, vice-chancellor and the ABVP activists who were responsible for my son’s death. BJP will be decimated to the ground if Modi does not address the issues. We demand formation of an SIT to probe the case,” Radhika said.

Rohith’s friend Prashant, who was also expelled by the Hyderabad University, cited minutes of the executive council meeting of Hyderabad University, claiming that action was taken against them “in response” to communication from the HRD ministry to not allow the students to continue academic activities.

26-year-old Rohith was found hanging at a hostel room in the university on January 17, days after punitive action was taken against him and four other students for allegedly attacking an ABVP functionary.

Students and Rohith’s family have been alleging that Irani and Dattatreya had forced the university to take action against him and others.

The duty doctor at the University of Hyderabad on Thursday contradicted Irani’s claim that no doctor was allowed near the body to revive him.

Prashant said Irani must be punished for misleading the nation and giving a false statement in Parliament which is “an offence” under the Constitution.

(Agencies)

I was beaten up, injured in court before police, says Kanhaiya

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kanhaiya-kumar-jnu

New Delhi: JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar has told a Supreme Court-appointed lawyers’ probe panel that he was beaten up, pushed to the ground and injured by men in lawyers’ robes before the police, when he was brought to the Patiala House court premises on February 17.

“When the police brought me inside the court’s gate, a mob of men in lawyers’ robes attacked me. It appeared as if they were ready to attack and they were calling others also. I was assaulted.

“The police escorting me tried to save me but the police officials were also beaten up,” he said while narrating the sequence of events to the lawyers’ panel in a video shown on television channels today.

The panel of six advocates — Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Dhavan, Dushyant Dave, A D N Rao, Ajit Kumar Sinha and Haren Raval, had visited the Patiala House courts premises on February 17 after the apex court was informed that Kanhaiya was beaten up during his production before the magistrate.

In another instance when he was attacked, the police, who were there, did not do anything, he said.

After Kanhaiya narrated the incident to the panel inside the courtroom, Sibal called DCP Jatin Narwal and enquired from him about it.

“How did you allow the attack to take place inside court premises? Your men were there. What were they doing? How he (man who attacked Kanhaiya outside the gate of the courtroom) was allowed to come inside,” the panel members asked the DCP.

Responding to it, Narwal said, “he came with the escort party and entered the room adjacent to the courtroom.”

The panel members then called other police officials and asked them about the incident and they replied that the person who attacked Kanhaiya had claimed that he was his lawyer.

Kanhaiya told the panel that when he was assaulted, he fell down and sustained injuries and at that time he could not see what the police was doing.

To this, Sibal asked the DCP, “that means police was there and they did nothing.”

The student leader told the panel that the person, who had attacked him, had come to the adjacent courtroom and he had told his teacher about it.

“I told my teacher that this man was assaulting me and then the police asked that person    about his identity. He in turn questioned the policeman and asked him to show his I- card. That person left the place in front of the police and the police did nothing. He could have been apprehended there itself. I had told the police that this man had assaulted me,” he said.

On February 17, a bunch of rowdy lawyers had launched a brazen attack on Kanhaiya, journalists and others and also indulged in stone-pelting and hurling abuses on the panel of senior lawyers.

The panel members then asked Kanhaiya as to whether he could identify the policemen who were present there and the man who assaulted him.

He replied, “I can identify. I had told the police that this man had assaulted me and I want to file a complaint against him. He was the first person who had assaulted me at the gate.”

At this juncture, the panel members told the DCP, “His safety is your responsibility. Do not give excuses. This is unbelievable. You are now under Supreme Court’s order and not B S Bassi’s order.”

Kanhaiya told the panel that the persons who attacked him were “highly politically motivated persons.”

He said he had narrated the incident to the magistrate during the hearing.

“I told the judge that on the first day when I was brought to the court, there was no attack and everything was normal. I am a PhD student of JNU and I am being called a traitor…I have full faith in the Constitution of India,” he said.

His lawyers then told the panel members that magistrate had asked Kanhaiya to give a statement in writing.

On being asked by the panel as to whether he was attacked inside the courtroom where the hearing took place, the student leader said “No. Not inside the courtroom.”

The team of senior advocates, after taking stock of the situation at Patiala House Court, informed the apex court that there was serious threat to safety of Kanhaiya who was beaten and pushed by unknown persons in the court.

Kanhaiya is arrested in a sedition case for allegedly raising anti-India slogans inside the JNU campus of February 9.

(Agencies)

Kansas shooting: US gunman kills three

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Man goes on a shooting rampage in the US state before being killed in a gun battle with police.

Police search for a possible second shooter in the car park of Excel Industries in Hesston, Kansas [The Wichita Eagle via AP]

Police search for a possible second shooter in the car park of Excel Industries in Hesston, Kansas [The Wichita Eagle via AP]

by Al Jazeera

Three people were killed by a gunman and at least 14 others wounded in a series of shootings in the state of Kansas in the United States.

Sheriff T Walton said at a news conference on Thursday night there were “a number of crime scenes involved”, including the Excel Industries plant in Hesston, north of Wichita, which manufactures lawnmower products.

The suspect was fatally shot by authorities inside the Excel building where all three victims were killed.

Walton said the shooter stole a car before going on the rampage with an “assault-type” rifle.

The sheriff said a shooting also took place in the plant parking lot and two other locations nearby. He said the suspect travelled between the sites and fired from his car.

The scene at Excel Industries had been secured, he said.

“We want to get everybody identified. We’re working on that,” Walton said at the news conference.

The victims appeared to have been chosen randomly and the motive was unclear, he said, adding the man was apparently an employee of the plant.

The Kansas shooting comes less than a week after a man opened fire at several locations in Kalamazoo, Michigan, killing six people and wounding two severely.

Iran elections: Crucial polls a test for Rouhani

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After nuclear deal and the lifting of sanctions, voting will gauge reaction to political policies of Iran’s moderates.

iran_elections

by Al Jazeera

Iranians cast their ballots to elect new members of parliament and a council of clerics in elections seen as a referendum on President Hassan Rouhani’s rule.

An estimated 50 million people are eligible to vote on a pre-selected list of candidates during the polls on Friday.

The elections take place just a month after years of economic sanctions against the country were lifted.

Surveys indicated a higher turnout than at the previous parliamentary polls four years ago, but lower than the presidential contest that elected Rouhani in 2013.

Voting started at 8am local time (04:30 GMT).

Rouhani said he had reports of a high turnout, the official IRNA news agency reported.

“Election is a symbol of the political independence of a country. By voting people decide the future of their country,” Rouhani was quoted as saying after casting his vote.

The parliament, also known as the Majlis, has 290 members who are responsible for passing legislation in the country, approving the annual budget and international agreements, including the recent nuclear deal with the West.

Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons, reporting from a packed polling station in Tehran, described the vote as a litmus test for Rouhani’s signature move – the nuclear deal with the West and the subsequent lifting of economic sanctions that had strangled its economy.

“This whole business right now is colossal for Iran. This about the influence of Rouhani and his more moderate policies – reformist policies that he wants to bring through against the conservatives,” Simmons said.

The council of clerics, also known as the Assembly of Experts, is composed of 88 members who will pick the next Supreme Leader in case of a vacancy. Members serve for eight years.

The current Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is 76 and has a history of health issues, making the role of this elected body crucial.

Among the most prominent candidates are Rouhani and former President Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Hassan Khomeini, a reformist and grandson of the first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, was disqualified.

Last week, the Guardian Council – the electoral body under the Supreme Leader – disqualified almost half of the 12,000 candidates.

A total 6,229 were allowed to run including 586 women – or 9.4 percent of the total candidates.

Hopefuls only had one week to campaign from February 18 to last Wednesday, giving establishment candidates the advantage and party backing. Some 250 parties are registered.

An estimated 60 percent of Iran’s 81 million population is 30 years old or younger.

Among the the most pressing issues in the elections are the economy, foreign affairs, and human rights.

In 2015, the country faced 15.3 percent inflation. An estimated 25 percent of its youth are unemployed.

With the lifting of sanctions, Iran aims to improve its economy by producing an additional one million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in 2016, and return to the 3.5 million bpd level it produced before economic sanctions were imposed in 2011 and 2012.

Its move to increase oil production is a factor in the drop of oil prices in the world market, hurting other oil-producing countries including its main rival, Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, the country continues to engage in a high-stakes proxy war with Saudi in places such as Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, and relations between the two countries remain tense after the execution of Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-­Nimr and the storming of the Saudi embassy in Tehran in early January.

Freedom of expression also remains a major issue in Iran, with several journalists, artists, and other activists imprisoned.

The most prominent figure in the Green Movement, Mir ­Hossein Mousavi – who was a 2009 presidential candidate – remains under house arrest.

Iran ranks second to China in the number of death penalties. The latest figures from Amnesty International in July 2015 said 694 people were executed, although official numbers during the same period indicated 246 executions.

Mumbai beat Saurashtra to claim Ranji title

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Mumbai claimed their tenth innings victory in Ranji Trophy finals © John Michel, ESPN.

Mumbai claimed their tenth innings victory in Ranji Trophy finals © John Michel, ESPN.

Pune: Shardul Thakur bagged a five-wicket haul as Mumbai clinched the Ranji Trophy, defeating Saurashtra by an innings and 21 runs at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Friday.

This is Mumbai’s 41st Ranji Trophy title.

Thakur had figures of 5/26 as Mumbai bundled Saurashtra out for 155 runs in their second innings on the third day of the five-day match. The other Mumbai pacers also did well on a helpful pitch, with Balwinder Sandhu (2/21), Dhawal Kulkarni (2/34) and Abhishek Nayar (1/26) among the wickets.

Earlier, starting at the overnight score of 262/8, Mumbai rode on some fine batting by Siddesh Lad (88) and lower-order heroics by Sandhu (34 not out) before being all out for 371 in their first innings, a lead of 136 runs. Saurashtra had scored 235 in their first innings.

(IANS)

Siddaramaiah to declare luxury watch as state asset

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Siddaramaiah-watch

Bengaluru: Under attack from the Opposition over his luxurious watch, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddarmaiah on Thursday said he would declare it as a state asset and hand it over to the government.

“About the expensive watch I was wearing, which has been discussed almost everyday and reported in the media, I have this much to say that I will be declaring it as a state asset and deposit it with state secretariat,” he told reporters here.

(Agencies)

Movie Review: ‘Babanchi Shala’ is a good experimental effort

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Babanchi-Shala

Producer: Vilas Mane and Umesh Nathani
Director: R Viraj
Star Cast: Sayaji Shinde, Shashank Shende, Aishwarya Narkar, Kamlesh Sawant, Chhaya Kadam, Aarti More, Kartik Chavan etc
Genre: Drama
Verdict: AVERAGE

Plot: Babaanchi Shaala is the story of a father and a daughter and how they are separated by fate when the father burns his wife in a fit of anger and when he is sentenced and sent to jail. Then the story focuses on the relationship between a jailor and the prison inmates and the how the jailor tries to bring a change between the relationship of the prison inmates and his relatives in tandem with the society at large who always has reservations of accepting these prisoners back into the normal life. So the jailor then tries to build a bridge between them by devising a project named Babaanchi Shala and when he fails to get the Government’s approval for his project the jailor sets out on his own to work on this novel project.

Aces: Kudos to director R Viraj and also to the 1st time producers namely Vilas Mane and Umesh Nathani for making such a meaning film and all the actors too, headed by Sayaji Shinde, deserves a special mention for trying to give off their best.

Minuses: The oft repeated scenes, the slow pace of the movie devoid of any commercial aspects may prove to be a hindrance in its smooth sailing at the Box office turnstiles.

Last Word: The Marathi audience used to routine commercial fare may not accept this experimental film which will be appreciated more in film festival circuit and garner awards galore.

Movie Review: ‘Gods of Egypt’ is a spectacularly entertaining movie

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GODS-OF-EGYPT

Producer: Basil Iwanyk & Alex Proyas
Director: Alex Proyas
Star Cast: Nikolaj Coster- Waldau, Brenton Thwaites, Gerard Butler, Elodie Yung, Courtney Eaton, Chadwik Boseman, Rufus Sewell, Geofrey Rush and Bryan Brown
Verdict: GOOD
Genre: Action & Adventure

Alex Proyas a well – known Australian director has really made a mark, in his decade long career, with films like The Crow, Dark City, I, Robot and Knowing and now in his 6th outing Gods of Egypt he further asserts his directorial Prowess by taking up a semi – mythological history of the real to reel Gods of Egypt.

Plot: In this spectacular action – adventure inspired by the classic mythology of Egypt, the survival of mankind hangs in the balance as an unexpected mortal hero Bek (Brenton Thwaites) undertakes a thrilling journey to save the world and rescue his true love. In order to succeed, he must enlist the help of the powerful God Horus (Nikolaj Coster –Waldau) in an unlikely alliance against Set (Gerard Butler), the merciless God of darkness, who has usurped Egypt’s throne, plunging the once peaceful and prosperous empire into chaos and conflict. As their breathtaking battle against Set and his henchmen takes them into the afterlife and across the heavens, both God and mortal must pass tests of courage and sacrifice if they hope to prevail in the epic final confrontation.

Aces: The performance of the trio of male brigade of actors like Nikolaj Coster – Waldau, Brenton Thwaites and Gerard Butler, the costumes and the special effects.

Minuses: Too many sub plots and some mindless action hampers the smooth flow of the film.

Last Word: Gods Of Egypt is an entertaining film from mythological, action and adventure point of view.

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