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Myanmar: UN probe ‘can only aggravate’ Rakhine tension

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Aung San Suu Kyi’s security adviser dismisses UN investigation into alleged rape and killings of Rohingya Muslims.

More than 90,000 Rohingya have been forced to flee their homes since a crackdown in Rakhine state began in October [Simon Lewis/Reuters]

More than 90,000 Rohingya have been forced to flee their homes since a crackdown in Rakhine state began in October [Simon Lewis/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

A UN mission investigating allegations of rape, torture and killings of Rohingya Muslims would only “aggravate” troubles in Rakhine state, the security adviser of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi told diplomats.

Thaung Tun’s comments on Tuesday came less than a month after Myanmar declined to grant visas to three UN-appointed experts who would probe allegations of abuse against the minority by the armed forces.

“We dissociated ourselves from the decision because we found that it was less than constructive,” Thaung Tun told UN officials and diplomats.

“We feel that that mission can only aggravate the situation on the ground,” he said.

Aung San Suu Kyi and several high-level Myanmar officials have been painfully reluctant to address the Rohingya issue, and are often criticised for their failure to stem human rights abuses.

The north of Myanmar’s Rakhine state has been under lockdown since October, when the military launched a security operation in response to what it claims was an attack by Rohingya armed men on border posts, in which nine police officers were killed.

More than 90,000 Rohingya have been forced to flee their homes since the crackdown began, according to UN estimates.

A UN report in February said the campaign against the Rohingya, who were stripped of their citizenship in 1982, “very likely” amounted to war crimes.

Following the report, the UN adopted a resolution in March to set up an independent, international mission to investigate the alleged abuses. It stopped short of calling for a Commission of Inquiry, the UN’s highest level investigation.

Thaung Tun did not directly address the allegations outlined in the report, but said Myanmar had a “clear right to defend the country by lawful means” as it tackles “increasing terrorist activities”.

Myanmar officials say a domestic investigation, led by Vice President Myint Swe, a former lieutenant general, is sufficient.

Last week, Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, called on Myanmar to accept the mission, arguing that the “international community cannot overlook what is happening” in the country.

Human Rights Watch warned that Myanmar’s government risked getting bracketed with “pariah states” like North Korea and Syria if it did not allow the UN to investigate alleged crimes.

The UN investigators must provide a verbal update in September and a full report next year on its findings.

Burned to death

This week, Myanmar’s Ministry of Information escorted more than a dozen journalists to parts of Rakhine state.

Villagers told reporters about alleged abuses by troops in the area.

Rohingya women said their husbands and sons were arbitrarily detained and described killings and arson by security forces.

One villager, Lalmuti, told Reuters news agency that she found her father’s remains in a small pile of ashes in a house that had been set on fire.

She said her mother was later arrested when authorities deemed her complaint about the killings to be fabricated.

On Friday, Thura San Lwin, commander of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police, said some villagers had made what he said were erroneous claims and were subsequently charged and jailed for lying to authorities.

“The media said we torched houses and that there were rape cases – they give wrong information,” Lwin said.

Shastri gets his team, Arun back as bowling coach, Bangar assistant coach

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ravi shastri

Mumbai: Acceding to newly-appointed chief coach Ravi Shastri’s demand, the BCCI on Tuesday appointed Bharat Arun as the Indian cricket team’s bowling coach, ending days of confusion surrounding the position.

Arun was India’s bowling coach during Shastri’s previous tenure as Team Director and the latter had insisted on his appointment in his soon-to-start second stint with the Indian team.

The decision to appoint Arun, on a two-year contract, was taken after Shastri met the Committee of Administrators (CoA) and BCCI officials, including acting President C K Khanna and Secretary Amitabh Chaudhary.

“I was in England and was watching tennis (the Wimbledon). I was very clear in my mind what my core team would be, what you just heard is my core team,” Shastri said after Chaudhary announced the appointment in a press conference.

Arun is now likely to resign from the position of assistant coach in the IPL franchise of Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Besides, the BCCI also decided to retain Sanjay Bangar as assistant coach and R Sridhar as fielding coach till the 2019 ODI World Cup.

“Patrick Farhad also continues as physio…All of them are part of the team for two years until the closure of next World Cup,” Chaudhary said.

Arun’s appointment marks a complete u-turn for the BCCI, which had named Zaheer Khan as bowling consultant initially before clarifying that it was for specific overseas tours.

There is no clarity on Rahul Dravid’s position as batting consultant either.

“I have spoken to both the individuals and they are as good as three are four years ago, and they are fantastic cricketers. Their inputs will be invaluable, they will be on board when they speak to these authorities,” was Shastri’s cryptic response on queries regarding Zaheer and Dravid.

“All depends on their availability, it depends on individuals, the number of days they want to give but their inputs will be invaluable and they are most welcome,” he added.

Chaudhary, on his part, said there was never any confusion on Dravid and Zaheer despite the obvious flip-flops by the BCCI.

“At the first place I am absolutely clear that it is not a fiasco, once we appointed the head coach, obviously he had to think of his responsibility which come with that appointment, and it is very clear he wanted his core team. The other two (Zaheer and Dravid) are consultants,” he said.

Shastri thanked the Cricket Advisory Committee — comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman — for picking him for the high-profile job.

“I would like to thank the CAC because it is a privilege and an honour to be India’s coach. And I would like to thank the CAC for considering me worthy enough for the job,” he said.

The BCCI’s handling of Zaheer and Dravid’s appointment has come in for severe criticism with former CoA member Ramachandra Guha calling it “public humiliation” of the two stalwarts of Indian cricket.

Neither Zaheer, nor Dravid have yet spoken about the lack of clarity regarding their positions.

(PTI)

‘Didn’t know BJP got mandate to massacre minorities, Dalits’

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Ghulam Nabi Azad

New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday walked out of the Rajya Sabha after Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the BJP had got a mandate to rule, as BSP supremo Mayawati vociferously spoke against atrocities on Dalits and minorities in Uttar Pradesh and demanded a discussion on the issue.

Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad took objection to Naqvi’s remarks, saying the BJP had got a mandate to protect the poor, farmers, minorities and Dalits.

“When Mayawati tried to talk, she was told that we have got the mandate. We did not know the BJP has got the mandate for massacre of minorities and Dalits. We are not with this government,” an angry Azad said, and walked out of the House.

Other Congress members followed their leader.

Earlier, there was a din in the House as Mayawati spoke about “atrocities on Dalits” in Saharanpur of Uttar Pradesh.

She said “casteism and capitalism” have grown all over the country, particularly in the BJP-ruled states, after the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power at the Centre.

The Bahujan Samaj Party chief alleged that Dalits were being targeted and sought attention of the House over the issue.

Her remarks created ruckus and Mayawati threatened to resign if she was not allowed to speak.

“I will resign right away. I will come back and give my resignation,” she said and walked out of the House.

Naqvi said Mayawati has shown disrespect for the House and challenged the Chair. “She must apologize,” he said.

Amid noisy scenes, Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien adjourned the House till noon.

(IANS)

Will quit from RS today: Mayawati after Chair asks her to wrap up speech

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mayawati

New Delhi: An angry BSP supremo Mayawati on Tuesday said she will quit from the Rajya Sabha after the Chair asked her to restrict her impromptu speech on anti-Dalit violence in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

“I will resign from Rajya Sabha today,” a visibly anguished Mayawati shot back when Deputy Chairman P J Kurien asked her to wrap up her speech as she had exceeded the three minutes given to her to make her submission.

Mayawati, whose term in the Upper House is till April next year, argued with Kurien saying how can she be prevented from raising the issue about her ‘samaj’ (community) and the Dalits. “I have not finished. You cannot do this.”

“I have no moral right to be in the House if I am not allowed to put across my views on atrocities being committed against Dalits,” she said.

Kurien said she can only call for a discussion after giving a notice under rule 267 that seeks adjournment of proceedings to take up an issue and not make a speech to initiate a discussion.

A discussion can begin only after the Chair, on the advise of the government, accepts the notice and agrees for a discussion.

Kurien rose from his seat in an attempt to calm her down but Mayawati refused to agree saying she has no right to be in the House if she cannot protect the rights of her community.

“I am going to resign from the house,” she said and walked out of the House in a huff.

Her party colleagues led by Satish Mishra followed her but were back in the House soon to raise slogans against the alleged anti-Dalit policies of the government.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Mayawati was challeging the Chair. “She should apologise. She has threatened the Chair,” he said.

BSP members immediately rushed into the Well shouting “Dalit virodhi yeh sarkar nahi chalegi, nahi chalegi” (anti-dalit government will not be tolerated).

Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad briefly prevailed over them to allow him to make his submission. Azad said the government at an all-party meeting before the start of the Monsoon Session had agreed to discuss any issue that the opposition wants to raise in the house.

“Promise was made to us in the presence of the Prime Minister. You are going against that,” Azad said.

He said the Opposition led by Congress has given notices to discuss crisis facing farmers, anti-Dalit violence and lynching of minorities.

Responding to the barbs of the treasury benches to respect the people’s mandate, Azad said the government has got a mandate to protect the Dalits and minorities and for development.

“You didnt get a mandate to massacre minorities and Dalits,” he said adding the Congress was staging a walkout of the House in protest.

Congress members then walked out of the House. Soon thereafter, BSP members were back in the Well shouting anti-government slogans.

Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) said the government policies were pushing farmers to suicide.

Naqvi said the government was ready for discussion on any issue and the opposition should give a notice.

Kurien said the government was agreeing to having a discussion, so the opposition members should return to their seats and start it.

“Shouting slogan is no solution. We can discuss. The Chair is ready to allow discussion on all subjects. Let us start,” he said. But the opposition members remained unrelenting, forcing him to adjourn the proceedings till 1200 hours.

Earlier, Mayawati while elaborating on the incidents in Saharanpur, said the Dalits had agreed to the district administration’s order not to take out any procession or install a statue of Bhim Rao Ambedkar on April 14. But the followers of Maharana Pratap however took out a procession on May 5, she said.

Before she could complete, Kurien asked her to sit and called the next speaker, saying “you cannot monopolise”, angering Mayawati.

(PTI)

IDBI loan default case: Mumbai court orders attachment of Mallya’s accounts

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Vijay Mallya. Photo: Reuters

Vijay Mallya. Photo: Reuters

Mumbai: A special court has issued an order directing attachment of accounts beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya and his associates in the UK and Switzerland in connection with the IDBI loan default case.

The court last week also allowed the agency’s request for issuance of Letter Rogatory to the UK to assist it in the probe. The court has also directed issuance of LR to carry out investigations about those accounts.

According to the CBI, there were many commissions and omissions on the part of IDBI officials in the process of sanctioning and disbursement of loan of Rs 1,300 crore to Kingfisher Airlines (KFA).

According to the chargesheet, about Rs 260 crore was diverted by the KFA, while Rs 263 crore was used to pay salaries, tax deducted at source, income tax and loan instalments.

A part of the loan amount was also allegedly diverted by Mallya for his “personal expenses”, the agency had said. The CBI had said all the arrested IDBI officials were instrumental in sanctioning and facilitating disbursement of the loan.

The IDBI allegedly showed “undue favour” to KFA in the matter of sanction and disbursement of short-term loans of Rs 150 crore in October 2009 and Rs 200 crore in November 2009, and another corporate loan of Rs 750 crore in November 2009, the agency had said.

(PTI)

PAGE3CASTING IS A PAR EXCELLENCE PLATFORM FOR ASPIRING MODELS & ACTORS

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Pg3Casting

by Shaheen Raaj & Rizwan Asad

Praditya Agarwal, a former model in his own right along with his better half Sashi Bansal, who had no connection with modeling whatsoever; are doing a yeoman’s service since the last 2 years to be precise since the year 2015, through a casting & modeling agency, named Pg3Casting based in Bangalore, which they had both launched with a great fanfare.

Now 2 years down the line Praditya Agarwal, the Ceo of Pg3Casting, in a nostalgic mood avers, Since I was involved in the modeling arena myself once upon a time, I realized the trails & tribulations of an aspiring models. The main problem that they face is that they do not get the right platform to reach their main destination. And that is where our Pg3Casting comes in. Since the last 1 year we have got the feedback & testimonials that proclaim that Pg3Casting is indeed a par excellence platform for aspiring models & actors too.”

Taking a cue from Praditya Agawal his better half & business partner Sashi Bansal Coo of Pg3Casting explains further, “Of late Page3artist, a casting & modeling agency based in Bangalore, is indeed creating a lot of waves for having promoted innumerable aspiring male & female models. In fact a few of the male & female models including children have got placements in Zee Music, Sony MTV et al while some of them have also been a model for products of popular brands including endorsements.”

Praditya Agarwal takes over from Sashi Bansal by stating, “Intially when we launched Pg3Casting there were a lot of hiccups & stumbling block, and the fault was totally our own as on our website we use to give the complete address of the aspiring models including their so called email address. It was much latter we realized that the clients were hing the models & actors directly and nobody was coming to us. Even most of the models deserted us without informing us. This resulted in a situation that for practically 6 months we had no work at all and the office was almost on the brink of a closure. Then we took a firm stand and streamlined everything and within no time we were back into business and how? Today Pg3Casting agency is one of the most popular agency and both our clients in lieu with our models & actors are quite happy with us?
Taking a breather sashi Bansal chips in, “So when we were back into business our company specialized in Model grooming, Model Portfolios, Big Screen Casting, Small Screen Casting, Model Bookings, Fashion Shows et al. So you name it and we have the instant solution for your requirement. That apart our company Pg3Casting also deals in all kinds of commercial photography for shirts, trousers, jackets, shoes, Saree, jewelery, Designer wears including all kinds of apparels & products photography.”
Praditya Agarwal continued with his further nuggets on Page3Casting, That apart or company Pg3 Casting has a fully equipped studio, which also has its own rooster of professionals including make – up artists, photographers, image editors, videographer’s et al to fulfill all kinds of photographic & videographic requirements too.”

At present Page3artist has a data base of more than 50,000 actors & models which includes the aspiring as well as the professional ones, hailing from all over India. The company works effortlessly to place the artists & have been successful in launching many new faces.

Page3artist is now gearing up to add many more feathers to its illustrious cap and thereby cross many, many milestones in its chequered history.

www.page3artist.com
https://www.facebook.com/PageThreeArtist/
https://www.facebook.com/P3APS/

Demonetization: Govt refuses to give another chance to exchange old notes

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Black money

New Delhi: The Central government on Monday refused to give another opportunity to exchange demonetised currency notes of Rs 500 and 1,000 to those who couldn’t do it by the deadline of December 30, 2016, saying this would defeat the very objective of eliminating black money.

In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, Finance Ministry Under Secretary T. Narasimha said: “The very object of demonetisation and elimination of black money will be defeated if a window is opened for a further period as people in possession of the SBNs (specified bank notes) would have had sufficient time and opportunity to carefully plan the reasons and executed for not depositing the SBNs within the permitted period of December 30, 2016.

“Any number of ‘benami’ transactions and proxy users for the purpose of producing and depositing the old notes would then arise and the departments would have great difficulty in deciding any genuine case from the numerous bogus ones, it said, and sought dismissal of petitions seeking another chance.

The government on Monday also said that even possessing the demonetised currency notes was an offence.

The Union Finance Ministry’s stand came in response to the top court asking the Central government on July 4 to consider giving another opportunity to those who couldn’t exchange their demonetised currency notes.

Even in the earlier hearings, the government had resisted the suggestion to give another opportunity to people who could not deposit their demonitised currency notes by December 30 saying t hat it has taken a “conscious decision” not to extend the period except for NRIs, and security personnel posted in remote areas, which ended on March 31.

The government had also said it was not legally bound to come out with a fresh notification to grant grace period or window for depositing scrapped currency notes.

The top court is hearing a batch of petitions challenging the government’s decision not to allow the public at large to deposit demonetised currency notes till March 31 as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others as the window ended on December 30 last year.

The petitioner have also referred to Modi’s speech on November 8, 2016 and subsequent notification of the Reserve Bank of India, holding that people may deposit demonetised currency notes at specific RBI branches up to March 31, 2017 after complying with certain procedural requirements.

(Agencies)

Smriti Irani gets I&B, Urban development for Tomar

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smriti irani

New Delhi: Textiles Minister Smriti Irani was today given the additional charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry after M Venkaiah Naidu resigned from the Cabinet to contest the vice-presidential poll.

The portfolio of urban development, which too was with Naidu, was given to Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, the PMO said.

The BJP had yesterday decided to field Naidu as NDA’s candidate for the post of vice president.

(Agencies)

Director Madhur Bhandarkar’s Indu Sarkar Lands In A Soup

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indu sarkar

Director Madhur Bhandarkar, National Award winning filmmaker, certainly needs no special introduction. From a video cassettes library owner to filmmaking was not exactly a smooth sailing journey for him.

Yet apart from winning a lot of critical acclaim for his movies from Chandani Bar to Indu Sarkar, Madhur Bhandarkar has always been surrounded by controversies galore. So much so that it is rightly said that controversy is indeed the middle name of Madhur Bhandarkar.

Be that as it may be so Madhur Bhandar’s latest film Indu Sarkar is almost on the verge of release on 28th Jul, 2017 and right since the day the release date has been announced its controversial spell has begun. First it was the Censor Chief Pahlaj Nihalani in lieu with one of the Gandhi family’s member who had tried to put a full – stop over Indu Sarkar’s release with the objection that there are many incidents in the film which may taint the Gandhi family’s image and just when that controversy had ended, here comes another roadblock in the way of Madhur Bhandarkar and his film Indu Sarkar.

It so happens that now the Congress Party workers are raising a huge protest against Madhur Bhandarkar and his film Indu Sarkar mainly to stop the smooth sailing release of Indu Sarkar that too without any rhyme or reason whatsoever.

Since the Congress Party workers protest broke out yesterday Madhur Bhandar in a special media briefing has urged the Congress Vice – President to put a check on these so called protests stating that, “I am fighting on all the fronts right now and it’s a bit scary also – Congress Party Workers are protesting strongly against me and my film Indu Sarkar. Besides somebody is sending me legal notice, Jagdish Tytler wants a clear image in the movie and then censor board too. Please do something about it. I just hope that I go through all these obstacles smoothly and release the film on 28th Jul, 2017.”

Madhur Bhandarkar added further, “I have also requested Rahul Gandhi on Twitter to keep a check on his party workers who are protesting against my film. Lots of people have made documentaries on the Emergency. But Congress is rattled ever since the trailer is out. The higher authorities in Congress have to play a major role and hold a press briefing to say that they condemn such acts. Do you want to run a parallel censor? Some Congress party workers have distanced themselves from me ever since the trailer of the film has come out.”

Madhur Bhandarkar also made a reference to his 16th Jul, 2017 tweet when he had tagged the account of the Office of Rahul Gandhi on Twitter and wrote, “Dear Rahul Gandhi after Pune, I have to cancel today’s (Sun) press conference at Nagpur. Do you approve this hooliganism? Can I have my freedom of expression?”

Madhur Bhandarkar also requested the Congress President Rahul Gandhi to take action against the local Congress party workers, who are constantly sending threats to him regarding the release of his forthcoming film Indu Sarkar. So much so that he was forced to cancel the promotional activities of his film in Nagpur & Pune last week after receiving threats from the Congress party workers

Earlier on, Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam had penned a letter to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Chief Pahlaj Nihalani, asking for the movie to be screened for them before it is censored. The CBFC later suggested 12 cuts & 2 disclaimers in the film. Madhur Bhandarkar had been asked to remove words like RSS & Akali from the film Indu Sarkar.

The film Indu Sarkar features Neil Nitin Mukesh, Kirti Kulhari, Anupam Kher & Tota Roy Chaudhary. And it is set against the backdrop of the 1975 – 1977 Emergency Period, although it has characters inspired by the Late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Late son Sanjay Gandhi.

As of now Madhur Bhandarkar has been provided police protection amidst tight security.

Anwar Gargash: UAE not involved in Qatar hacking

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Minister dismisses report his country orchestrated hacking of Qatari official news agency accounts that preceded crisis.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed sanctions on Qatar on June 5 [Neil Hall/Reuters]

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed sanctions on Qatar on June 5 [Neil Hall/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

A UAE minister has denied his country’s involvement in the alleged hacking of Qatari official media accounts and news sites, which preceded the Qatar-Gulf diplomatic crisis.

Anwar Gargash, UAE state minister for foreign affairs, said on Monday that a report in the Washington Post newspaper suggesting that the United Arab Emirates arranged for the hacking, is “not true”.

“The Washington Post story is not true, simply not true,” Gargash said.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Qatari emir, had been falsely quoted in May as praising Hamas, the Palestinian group which governs the Gaza Strip, and saying that Iran was an “Islamic power”.

In response, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of supporting “terrorism”. Qatar strongly denies the allegations.

Qatar said in late May that hackers had posted the fake remarks by Sheikh Tamim, but several Arab Gulf media outlets refused to give credence to the denial.

The Washington Post reported that US intelligence officials learned last week of newly analysed information that showed that senior UAE government officials discussed the planned hacking on May 23, the day before it occurred.

The officials said it was unclear if the UAE hacked the websites or paid for it to be carried out, the newspaper reported.

The report did not identify the intelligence officials it spoke to for the report.

UAE’s denial

Yousef al-Otaiba, UAE’s ambassador to the United States, rejected the hack accusation in a statement, saying it was “false,” the Washington Post said.

“What is true is Qatar’s behaviour. Funding, supporting, and enabling extremists from the Taliban to Hamas and Gaddafi. Inciting violence, encouraging radicalisation, and undermining the stability of its neighbours,” Otaiba’s statement said.

The FBI was previously known to be working with Qatar to investigate the hacking.

The US state department has not officially responded to the Washington Post’s report.

Gargash also said on Monday that the UAE would not escalate the blockade on Qatar by asking companies to choose between doing business with it or with Qatar.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed sanctions on Qatar on June 5, accusing it of financing armed groups and allying with Saudi Arabia’s regional rival, Iran – allegations that Qatar denied.

On June 22, the Saudi-led group issued a 13-point list of demands, including the shutdown of Al Jazeera, limiting ties with Iran and expelling Turkish troops stationed in the country, as a prerequisite to lifting the sanctions.

Qatar rejected the demands, and the countries now consider the list “null and void”.

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