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Dinesh Gundu Rao appointed KPCC working President

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dinesh gundu rao

Bengaluru: Dinesh Gundu Rao, who was among the 14 ministers dropped in the Karnataka cabinet reshuffle, was today made State working Congress President.

The announcement was made by AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi, who said party chief Sonia Gandhi has approved the move.

Son of former Chief Minister R Gundu Rao, Dinesh is a three-time MLA and has been national spokesperson of the party.

At present, Home Minister G Parmeshwar is also the PCC Chief.

There has been talk of Energy Minister D K Shiva Kumar likely to be made the PCC chief.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah yesterday dropped 14 ministers and inducted 13 members into his Council of Ministers in a bid to give a face-lift to his three-year old government.

Assembly elections in the state are two years away.

(Agencies)

Subhash Ghai institutes Lata Mangeshkar scholarship at Whistling Woods International

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Subhash Ghai

With his Film & Media Arts institute Whistling Woods International (WWI) entering its 10th year, and having had the success of it being rated as one of the 10 best film schools in the world, Founder & Chairman Subhash Ghai is delighted to announce a scholarship for meritorious yet indigent students in the name of Padmashri awardee Lata Mangeshkar ji.

The LATA MANGESHKAR SCHOLRSHIP will carry a 100% fee waiver for a 2-year / 3-year programme at Whistling Woods International.

Subhash Ghai and Meghna Ghai-Puri, President of Whistling Woods, accompanied by a few students, met Lata ji at her residence yesterday. The purpose was to invite her to receive the ‘2016 Whistling Woods Maestro Award’ for her legendary contribution to Indian Cinema, at its 9th Convocation on July 18, 2016. She gracefully accepted the invitation, and had all praise for the vision of Subhash Ghai & Mukta Arts in setting up of Whistling Woods International in 2001, as an institute of global standards in the education of the art, commerce and science of Cinema. As she said in her video message that she recorded for the institute, “I am honoured to receive such a prestigious award from a world-class institute like Whistling Woods International and I bless them for a great future.”

During this meeting, Lata ji also happily accepted a proposal from Meghna to institute an annual scholarship at WWI in her name. Lata ji said “I am deeply touched by this great gesture of Subhash ji, Meghna and their team. It’s an honour for me.”

Subhash Ghai added “It is our great honour to have Lata ji’s acceptance for our attempt to inspire the next generation of Indian filmmakers. This scholarship in the name of India’s pride and an institution for us all, Lata ji, will continue to benefit students for decades to come.”

Subhash Ghai also revealed that while WWI does provide scholarships to meritorious yet indigent students every year, this is the 2nd special 100% scholarship instituted in the name of a legend of Indian Cinema. Three years ago, Whistling Woods International had announced the DILIP KUMAR SCHOLARSHIP and over the past 3 years, three students have availed of this scholarship (2014 – Amit Hegde, 2015 – Rohit Valecha & 2016 – Amol Srivastava).

Whistling Woods International, currently has over 700 students in several schools (Filmmaking, Acting, Animation, Music, Media & Communication and Fashion & Design) at its Filmcity campus. WWI has collaborated with TISS for its degree courses and is privileged to host a YouTube Space, a Sony Media Lab & RedEducation, within its campus.

Egypt’s Morsi sentenced to life imprisonment over espionage charges

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morsi

Egypt’s Morsi sentenced to life imprisonment over espionage charges

by Adham Youssef

The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Saturday former president Mohamed Morsi to life in prison, along with two other defendants, in the “Qatar espionage” case.

Another six defendants received death sentences after the Grand Mufti argued that the “crime of the defendants are similar to that of treason” whose punishment should be death.

The presiding judge, Mohamed Shereen Fahmy, also sentenced Morsi to another 15 years for a different charge in the same case.

Fahmy employed several nationalist connotations while reading the court’s decision.

The session witnessed a heavy presence of security forces in the fortified Police Academy in downtown Cairo

Morsi and the other defendants are accused of leaking national security documents and information related to national security to Qatar during Morsi’s presidency.

Gulberg massacre: Ehsan Jafri’s firing provoked mob, says judge

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Ehsan Jafri

Ahmedabad: Ruling out any conspiracy angle in the 2002 Gulberg Society massacre, a special court on Friday said firing by former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, in which one person was killed, provoked and infuriated the mob that led it to the “killing frenzy”, but asserted that the firing cannot condone the acts of the mob.

“It was the private firing by Shri Ehsan Jafri that acted as a catalyst and which infuriated the mob to such an extent that it went out of control, the limited police force available there had no means to control or disperse such mob, which had gathered in large numbers post the incident of private firing,” special SIT court judge P.B. Desai said in his order.

“Shri Ehsan Jafri had perpetrated acts of firing from his weapon from different locations within Gulberg Society upon the mob, causing injuries and the death of one person, which in my opinion was the catalyst, which provoked the mob to such proportions that it went out of control and thus resulted into the killing frenzy, where a large number of innocent persons lost their lives,” the court said.

Rejecting the conspiracy angle, the court said it was “unnatural” that things turned “ugly” all of a sudden after 1.30 (on February 28, 2002) pm “as if some tap was turned on, which resulted in a flood of water and the carnage was perpetrated”.

The court, however, added that this fact cannot “in any manner excuse or condone the acts of the mob, which perpetrated the violence needlessly upon innocent men, women and children and hacked them to death and ensured that many others were burned to death in the carnage that followed such private firing.”

“The incidence of Gulberg society is in fact a culmination of a series of incidents, which happened at different time frames. Suddenly transgressing into this grave and heinous carnage which has resulted in the death of such large number of women, children and elderly,” it said while rejecting conspiracy theory.

“The carnage took place on account of a spontaneous gathering of a large mob on accounts of the news having spread that number of persons of the majority community have been injured/killed in a private firing by Shri Ehsan Jafri, which further resulted in the entire carnage taking place,” it said, while rejecting the conspiracy theory.

The court sentenced 11 convicts to life imprisonment in the case of burning alive of 69 people, including Jafri, in the 2002 post-Godhra violence.

The court also awarded 10-year jail term to one of the 13 convicted for lesser offences while 12 others have been given seven-year sentence each.

(Agencies)

Former cricketer Chetan Chauhan is NIFT chief

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Chetan Chauhan

New Delhi: Former cricketer and two-time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP, Chetan Chauhan, was today appointed as the Chairman of the prestigious National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).

According to a report in The Indian Express, Chauhan thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah for his appointment, and said that he had already held “a few informal meetings” at his new office.

Chauhan, a senior BCCI official, runs a cricket academy and a printing press while also holding the position of vice-president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA).

Speaking of how his time would be divided between all his commitments, Chauhan was quoted as saying ‘I will spend 60 per cent of the time in DDCA, 30 per cent at NIFT and 30 per cent in my business.’

The appointment of the chairman and non-official members of the Board of Governors of the NIFT are made by the President.

(Agencies)

First batch of women fighter pilots inducted into IAF

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Hyderabad: The Indian Air Force on Saturday inducted its first batch of women pilots, comprising three cadets into its fighter squadron.

Bhawna Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh, will undergo another six months of training in the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer before they start flying the fighter jets in regular missions like their male counterparts.

They graduated from the IAF academy in Dundigal in December and proceeded to specialised fighter training in the IAF establishment in Hakimpet in Andhra Pradesh.

Six female cadets were competing to become fighter pilots after the government, in a landmark move, approved an IAF plan in October to induct them as fighter pilots. However, only three female trainees were selected for the fighter stream.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was present to witness the passing-out parade at the Indian Air Force Academy in Hakimpet, Hyderabad.

First batch of women fighter pilots inducted into IAF

Hyderabad, Jun 18 (Agencies): The Indian Air Force on Saturday inducted its first batch of women pilots, comprising three cadets into its fighter squadron.

Bhawna Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh, will undergo another six months of training in the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer before they start flying the fighter jets in regular missions like their male counterparts.

They graduated from the IAF academy in Dundigal in December and proceeded to specialised fighter training in the IAF establishment in Hakimpet in Andhra Pradesh.

Six female cadets were competing to become fighter pilots after the government, in a landmark move, approved an IAF plan in October to induct them as fighter pilots. However, only three female trainees were selected for the fighter stream.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was present to witness the passing-out parade at the Indian Air Force Academy in Hakimpet, Hyderabad.

(Agencies)

Siddaramaiah gets Sonia’s green signal, cabinet reshuffle in a day or two

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siddaramaiah

New Delhi: Karnataka Cabinet is all set to be revamped in a day or two with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today saying he has got the green signal from the Congress High Command to drop some ministers and induct fresh faces.

 

“We discussed all names to be dropped and inducted with AICC President and Vice President Sonia and Rahulji. We have convinced them. High Command has authorised me to go ahead with the reshuffle,” Siddaramaiah told reporters here after the second round of consultations in as many days with the Congress Chief.

He said “the list will be prepared in a day or two and will be submitted to the Governor”.

Amid pulls and pressures for ministerial berths, the discussion held yesterday in connection with the much talked-about reshuffle had remained inconclusive.

Before the meeting, Siddaramaiah discussed the matter with Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.

Sources said that the chief minister has proposed dropping of at least 10-14 ministers from the Cabinet and inducting young legislators and senior Congress leaders in order to balance caste and regional factors.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President G Parameshwara and Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh were present in the meeting. Gulam Nabi Azad, who was in charge of Congress affairs in Karnataka in 2014, joined the deliberations later.

The exercise is being undertaken to tone up the government after Congress’ debacle in recent Assembly polls in four states, especially Assam.

Karnataka is the only major state where the Congress is in power after being recently ousted in Kerala and Assam.

“By tomorrow or the day after, I will prepare a list and submit it to the Governor, after which they will take oath,” the chief minister said.

Siddaramaiah, however, declined to comment on names and number of Ministers who would be dropped.

With 34 ministers, the Karnataka ministry is up to its full strength.

Indicating ministry reshuffle before the Assembly session next month, Siddaramaiah on Wednesday had sought cooperation from his council of Ministers.

Signalling that some ministers would have to take up party responsibility, he had said that the cabinet reshuffle would be done keeping the next Assembly elections in mind.

The talk about the ministry reshuffle had been doing the rounds for long but various reasons like drought and elections to local bodies, Council and Rajya Sabha have been cited for its deferment.

Siddaramaiah had earlier said that reshuffle would involve “dropping a few and inducting a few”, and yardstick for it is giving opportunity for new people.

Several “like-minded” Congress MLAs have held meetings and demanded reshuffle.

They had also sought dropping of “non-performing” ministers from the cabinet.

(Agencies)

Battle for Fallujah: Iraq retakes government HQ

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Commanders say forces met limited resistance from ISIL during push into centre of city which government lost in 2014.

It is believed that up to 90,000 civilians are still inside Fallujah [Nawras Aamer/EPA]

It is believed that up to 90,000 civilians are still inside Fallujah [Nawras Aamer/EPA]

by Al Jazeera

Iraqi forces have retaken the main government compound in the centre of Fallujah from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, top commanders say.

The government lost control of Fallujah in 2014, months before ISIL took Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, and swept across large parts of the country.

“The counterterrorism service and the rapid response forces have retaken the government compound in the centre of Fallujah,” the operation’s overall commander, Lieutenant-General Abdulwahab al-Saadi, told AFP on Friday.

The Iraqi flag is now raised on top of the building, symbolising government control.

Raed Shaker Jawdat, Iraq’s federal police chief, confirmed the advance, which marks a significant step in the nearly four-week-old offensive to retake the city in Anbar province.

“The liberation of the government compound, which is the main landmark in the city, symbolises the restoration of the state’s authority” in Fallujah, he said.

Both commanders said their forces had met limited resistance from ISIL fighters during the push into the city centre.

“This is a very significant development,” said Al Jazeera’s Omar Al Saleh, who has reported extensively on the conflict in Iraq.

“It is a big moral boost for Iraqi soldiers.”

Government troops and Shia units known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces are leading the campaign to retake the city from ISIL.

They are supported by US-led coalition air strikes.

“In different parts of Fallujah ISIL still remains,” said Saleh, “Iraqi forces still have a tough few days ahead.”

It is believed that up to 90,000 civilians are still inside Fallujah. And the clashes between the government forces and ISIL are causing casualties.

Al Jazeera’s Saleh said the death toll so far is based on estimates by medical sources from the city of Fallujah.

“They say it is in the hundreds,” he said.

Although the Iraqi government previously said it had a particular strategy to establish safe corridors for civilians in the city centre to leave,  many have been reluctant to go from fear of how they may be treated by the Shia units.

The humanitarian crisis in Iraq has been dubbed one of the world’s worst by the UN.

Since the beginning of the present conflict in 2014, more than 3.4 million people have been internally displaced and 2.6 million have fled Iraq.

India’s maiden entry into Hockey Champions Trophy final

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Hockey Champions Trophy

London: India reached the final of the Hockey Champions Trophy for the first time after Britain and Belgium played a dramatic 3-3 draw to finish below the Asian Games champions at the completion of the round-robin stage here.

In the summit clash on Friday, India will meet world champions Australia, who defeated them 4-2 in their last league match of the six-nation tournament on Thursday.

India got seven points with two wins, two losses and a draw. Germany and Britain ended with six points each and will clash for the bronze medal. Belgium had five points while South Korea bagged three points. Australia totalled 13 points with four wins and a draw.

India had won only one medal in the 36 editions of the Champions Trophy – a bronze in 1982.

But they are set to better that record, thanks to Belgium and Britain, who played out a dramatic 3-3 draw in the final match of the pool phase, a result which helped neither team.

Belgium took less than 40 seconds to take the lead against the home favourites, with Thomas Briels guiding a cross into the roof of George Pinner’s net.

The home team captain Barry Middleton levelled with a penalty corner deflection five minutes before half time.

Belgium’s Loick Luypaert gave his side a 3-1 lead with a brace of penalty corner drag-flicks either side of the break, putting the Red Lions within one goal of sealing their own place in the competition final.

However, Britain’s decision to replace their goalkeeper with an outfield player with six minutes remaining proved significant, with David Ames and veteran Middleton tying the match as the Belgians lost their discipline.

In the Australia-India clash, much of the match was closely contested although it were the Australians who went into half time with a 2-0 lead thanks to strikes from Trent Mitton and the day’s captain, Aran Zalewski.

The Kookaburras added a third through Flynn Ogilvie before India captain V.R. Raghunath pulled a goal back with a trademark penalty corner.

Australia restored the two goal advantage seconds later when Tristan White continued his remarkable tournament by scoring his third goal in three games.

A Mandeep Singh strike early in the fourth quarter gave India genuine hope. And they could have rescued the game were it not for Australian shot-stopper Tyler Lovell who made numerous saves.

In the other match match, Constantin Staib and Oskar Deecke scored twice each as Olympic champions Germany produced superb play to overpower South Korea 7-0.

The result was the title holders Germany’s biggest ever victory at a Champions Trophy, surpassing their 6-1 win over Spain in Karachi way back in 1981.

Staib started and finished the scoring with field goals. Tom Grambusch, Deecke (2), Timm Herzbruch and Marco Miltkau all scored in between as Die Honamas produced their best performance of the competition.

(Agencies)

Karnataka rules regressive, impossible to comply: Uber

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Photo illustration of logo of car-sharing service app Uber on a smartphone over a reserved lane for taxis in a street in Madrid

Bengaluru: US-based online taxi-booking app Uber has questioned Karnataka government’s new regulations for ride-hailing apps, terming them as “regressive” and “practically impossible to comply”.

It had written a letter to state Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, saying a few mandatory clauses like keeping a fleet of a minimum of 100 taxis, generating printed receipts and capping of charges are “unfortunately redundant and similar to the radio taxi scheme introduced by Karnataka way back in 1998”.

The mandatory clauses “are regressive in nature and not in line with our business model”.

Uber, which competes with the likes of Ola and Meru in India, requested the minister’s intervention on the matter.

“(Uber) would be grateful if you can kindly direct the authorities concerned to look into our submissions on mandatory clauses, which are not only regressive, but also practically impossible to comply with,” it argued.

Uber followed up the letter with another one on June 7, saying it had submitted all necessary documents required by the Transport Department to ensure compliance of some 100 vehicle rules for getting the licence.

“However, your office refused to accept our documents or even acknowledge our document submission,” it wrote to the Commissioner for Transport and Road Safety on June 7. “In view of this, we are submitting all the documents through Speed Post acknowledgment due today.”

Under the new rules, Karnataka has mandated ride-hailing start-ups to provide digital printers, install panic buttons and have taxi signage on their vehicles.

The company contended that it applied for a licence in Bangalore with all the required documents, but its application has not been accepted.

India, Uber’s third-largest market, continues to be strategically important for the company, which has committed to investing over USD 1 billion here.

“In Karnataka… we have committed an economic contribution of Rs. 99 crore towards creating livelihood opportunities to over 20,000 more driver partners in the next 5 years,” the letter said.

Making a case for its technology-led business model, Uber maintained that many state governments in India have realised its potential in creating livelihood opportunities for citizens.

“Uber is committed to working with the state governments to frame rules that are progressive and support innovation and champion ease of doing business,” it said.

This is not the first time the start-up, which is valued at over USD 60 billion, is facing issues with government regulations. It has had earlier run-ins with regulators across the world like France and the US as it competes with local taxi operators.

(Agencies)

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