Archives for April 2017

Bengaluru: The Narcotics Control Bureau said it has arrested two persons involved in an illegal internet pharmacy business and has seized psychotropic drugs worth lakhs of rupees from them.

The NCB teams of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana raided on April 18 night a “clandestine and unregistered” call centre at Thanisandra that used to sell psychotropic substances and other prescription drugs through the internet to thge US, Australia and various European countries.

During the search, a large quantity of psychotropic substances like Alprazolam, Amphetamine, Diazepam, Clonazepam, Lorazepam among others were seized, NCB said in a statement.

It said two persons, Salim Pasha and Mohammed Suhail Ahmed, were arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act today after examination.

A large number of tablets of Sidigra, Zenegra, Aurogra, Ceniforce and Tadalafil, among others, were also seized from the call centre.

Some of these drugs are variants of Viagra.

The value of the seized psychotropic drugs is estimated to be Rs 16 lakh with the other drugs costing about Rs 40 lakh, the officials said.

(Agencies)

Vamshi Krishna

Hyderabad: Police today arrested a person from here for allegedly sending a hoax e-mail to Mumbai police about a possible aircraft hijack attempt.

“Vamshi Krishna has been arrested for sending the hoax mail to Mumbai Police Commissioner about the aircraft hijack threat. Some incriminating material has been seized from his possession,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Task Force) B Limba Reddy told PTI.

On April 16, the security at international airports in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai was put on maximum alert after the police forces of Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu and the CISF were informed about a possible aircraft hijack attempt.

CISF Director General O P Singh had then said that the security apparatus at these airports was put on “an enhanced alert and protocols have been stepped up”.

“The e-mail could eventually turn out be a hoax but till investigations conclude all security drills to thwart a hijack like scenario are being carried out at the three airports,” he had said.

The Mumbai police on Saturday night received an e-mail, sent by Krishna impersonating as a Hyderabad-based woman.

The woman claimed to have overheard six men telling each other that “all 23 people have to split from here and board flights in three cities and hijack planes”.

“The unidentified woman wrote in the e-mail that what she heard could be ‘true or not’ but she chose to inform the authorities as she felt it was her duty to do so as a citizen,” a senior officer earlier said.

The contents of the e-mail were shared by Mumbai Police with security and intelligence agencies and a meeting of all the stakeholders at these airports was subsequently convened with the input being declared specific and actionable, he said.

(Agencies)

Beijing: Upping the ante, China has for the first time announced “standardised” official names for six places in Arunachal Pradesh, days after it lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lama’s visit to the frontier state.

The state media here said the move was aimed at reaffirming China’s claim over the state. China claims the state as ‘South Tibet’.

“China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs announced on April 14 that it had standardised in Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabet the names of six places in ‘South Tibet’, which India calls ‘Arunachal Pradesh’, in accordance with the regulations of the central government,” state-run Global Times reported today.

The official names of the six places using the Roman alphabet are Wo’gyainling, Mila Ri, Qoid ngarbo Ri, Mainquka, B mo La and Namkapub Ri.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488 km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). While China claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, India asserts that the dispute covers Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war.

The two sides have so far held 19 rounds of talks with Special Representatives to resolve the boundary dispute.

China’s move comes just days after the Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, which was seventh since he fled from Tibet through Tawang and sought refuge in India.

During the 81-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader’s Arunachal Pradesh visit, China had warned India that it will take “necessary measures” to defend its territorial sovereignty and interests.

Commenting on the standardisation of the names of six places, Chinese experts said that it was a move to “reaffirm the country’s territorial sovereignty to the disputed region”, according to the daily.

“The standardisation came amid China’s growing understanding and recognition of the geography in South Tibet.

Naming the places is a step to reaffirm China’s territorial sovereignty to South Tibet,” Xiong Kunxin, a professor of ethnic studies at Beijing’s Minzu University of China, was quoted as saying.

Xiong said that the legalisation of the regions’ names is a part of the rule of law.

“These names have existed since ancient times, but had never been standardised before. Therefore, announcing the names is like a remediation,” Guo Kefan, a research fellow at the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences, said.

Standardising the names from the angles of culture and geography could serve as a reference or leverage when China and India negotiate border issues in future, Guo said.

“The South Tibet region is located alongside China’s southwestern border and India’s north-eastern border where Sino-Indian border disputes are cantered,” the report said.

It claimed that India “abruptly announced that it was officially designating the region as ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ but the Chinese government has neither recognised India’s occupation of the region, nor the legitimacy of the province”.

During the Dalai Lama Arunachal Pradesh visit, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who accompanied the Tibetan spiritual leader, had asserted that that Arunachal Pradesh is “an inseparable part of India”.

China had lodged a diplomatic protest with India over the visit and warned that it would have a negative impact on the efforts to resolve the border dispute.

After the nine-day visit of the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang had said that India should not use the Tibetan spiritual leader to undermine China’s interests.

(PTI)

New Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah has reassured senior party leader LK Advani that the party supports him even as the Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the CBI to put Advani, 89, Murli Manohar Joshi, 83, and Uma Bharti, 57, on trial after restoring the criminal conspiracy charges against them.

“The party is with you,” a news channel quoted Amit Shah as saying.

The report also said that according to sources, Shah called Advani on Wednesday evening after he finalised BJP’s strategy for handling the apex court verdict.

Top BJP leaders on Wednesday discussed the political and legal fallout of the Supreme Court verdict on the Babri mosque demolition that has come as a setback to the party’s sidelined veterans including Advani.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, union ministers Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and M Venkaiah Naidu were huddled for two hours at Modi’s residence but a senior party leader played down the meeting’s significance, saying it had a number of issues, including the Kashmir crisis, on its agenda.

A senior leader insisted that it was a pre-scheduled meeting.

It is understood that the apex court verdict and its implications — political as well as legal — were also discussed with the leadership exploring various options to deal with it.

Bharti, who had earlier in the day said she would go to Ayodhya on Wednesday night, cancelled her visit apparently after being advised by the party leadership.

Some BJP leaders said the party would not like the message to go out that the “heroes” of its most resonant Hindutva movement, spearheaded by Advani in early 90s, were tried for criminal conspiracy when it was in power at the Centre as well in Uttar Pradesh.

For the record, senior leader and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the party will study in detail the court verdict before offering comments.

Prasad asserted that BJP highly respects its leaders like Advani and Joshi.

The party has held the position that the demolition of mosque was not planned but a spontaneous act of agitating ‘kar sevaks’ and there was no conspiracy behind its razing on 6 December, 1992 at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

The uneasy relationship that Modi and Shah share with Advani and Joshi also does not help the party.

Many critics of the BJP leadership have alleged that the verdict suits the party’s interest as it gives them a reason not to consider either of two veterans for the post of the president or the vice-president.

Echoing this sentiment, RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who as Bihar Chief Minister had ordered Advani’s arrest during his ‘rath yatra’, alleged that it was Modi’s “well thought-out politics” to rule out Advani’s name for the President’s post.

Today’s court order that the trial be completed in two years means that a verdict in the case will come around the time of the next Lok Sabha polls due in 2019, and may result in bringing back BJP’s core issue of Ram temple construction into limelight.

How Advani and Joshi will react to the development in the coming days is also an issue in the party.

A couple of leaders said their criticism of the party leadership since Modi took over as prime minister and Shah as its chief did not cut much ice with either the cadres or the masses.

It could be different this time around as the Ram temple movement remains an emotive issue in the BJP’s core constituency.

The development has also given a chance to Hindutva outfits to pressure the government over the issue.

VHP international president Pravin Togadia demanded that the central government appeal against the court verdict and also take measures to pave the way for the temple’s construction.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: Sticking to their guns, pro- Kannada outfits today threatened they would not allow film “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion” to release under “any circumstances” unless actor Sathyaraj tendered unconditional apology for his “anti-Kannadiga” remarks.

‘Kannada Okoota’, an umbrella organisation of Kannada bodies, has announced ‘Bengaluru Bandh’ on April 28, the date of release of the most anticipated Indian movie of the year, to protest the remarks of Sathyaraj, who plays the key character of ‘Katappa’ in the epic fantasy.

“The remarks made by Sathyaraj against Kannadigas during the Cauvery row (a few years ago) had crossed limits of decency. We will not allow the film to be released under any circumstances,” Vatal Nagaraj, who heads Kannada Okoota, said.

Kannada activists would stop the release in every district, Nagaraj, also the leader of Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha, a Kannada outfit, said.

“There is no scope for the release unless and until Sathyaraj tenders an unconditional apology,” he said, adding, “The exhibitors will have to bear the consequences if they venture to screen the film.”

The organisations were not against the film as such, but opposed to Sathyaraj’s remarks, he said.

Nagaraj said Kannada activists would stage a protest march on April 28 in Bengaluru and have sought the support of Kannada litterateurs for it.

Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce President and Kannada activist Sa Ra Govindu said Sathyaraj had hurt the “self- respect” of Kannadigas and there was no going back on stalling the release of the film till he apologised for making “provocative anti-Kannadiga remarks.”

Karnataka Rakshna Vedike President Pravinkumar Shetty said the release would not be allowed to take place anywhere in Karnataka, as it involved “self-respect” of Kannadigas.

(Agencies)