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Archives for February 2018

Agra Muslims attempt ‘Tiranga Yatra’ to highlight grievances

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Agra: Muslims in Agra on Monday tried to take out a “Tiranga Yatra” but were held back at the Shahid Smarak, where they presented a memorandum to a district official, listing a set of demands and grievances.

The Tiranga Yatra was in response to a similar yatra last week by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

Over a 100 Muslims, comprising youth, senior community leaders, Ulemas and Maulvis, led by Shabana Khandelwal, gathered at the Shahid Smarak with the national tricolour. But senior police officials said due to Section 144 being in force, the procession could not be permitted.

Khandelwal told IANS: “Our Tiranga Yatra was non-political and through this we want to demonstrate our firm solidarity with the nation and our patriotism including our love for the national tricolour.

“For no rhyme or reason Muslims were being targeted and branded as being opposed to the national patriotic fervour. The Muslims have made tremendous sacrifices both during the Independence movement and after during the wars and in the national developmental process.”

The demonstrators shouted “Pakistan Murdabad”.

In their memorandum addressed to the President of India, they demanded fair treatment, and safety to Muslims and their institutions.

“In the name of ‘Vande Matram’, many people were pointlessly harassed. This should stop. Also in the name of ‘Love Jihad’ and cow slaughter, many Muslims have suffered.”

They demanded a judicial probe in the Kasganj incident and fair compensation to the family of Chandan Gupta, who was killed in sectarian violence in the Uttar Pradesh town last month.

(IANS)

Rahul meets two newly elected Congress MPs, MLA from Rajasthan

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New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday met the party’s two newly elected MPs and an MLA who won the bypolls in Rajasthan by trouncing candidates of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

They are Karan Singh Yadav, who won the Alwar Lok Sabha seat, Raghu Sharma, who won the Ajmer Lok Sabha seat and Vivek Dhakar who won from the Mandalgarh Assembly constituency.

The three were accompanied by Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot, senior party leader C.P. Joshi and several party leaders from Rajasthan.

Earlier in the day, Yadav and Sharma took oath as members of the Lok Sabha.

The Congress did not win a single seat in Rajasthan in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

The election to the three seats were held on January 29 and the results were declared on February 1.

The elections to the Lok Sabha constituencies were necessitated by the deaths of Sanwarlal Jat (Ajmer) and Mahant Chand Nath Yogi (Alwar).

The election in Mandalgarh was necessitated by the death of BJP MLA Kirti Kumari due to swine flu in August last year.

(IANS)

‘Promise toothpaste’: Actor Prakash Raj takes jibe at BJP over Modi rally

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Bengaluru: Actor Prakash Raj has taken a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government at the Centre, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Karnataka.

Prakash on Monday took to Twitter and wrote a cryptic message that said “Promise toothpaste sold in 2014” failed to bring smiles to “distressed farmers or jobless youth”.

“Promise toothpaste sold in 2014 (forget brushing the teeth) could not bring a smile on distressed farmers or jobless youth of my country. Do you believe Promise Toothpaste sold yesterday in Karnataka rally? Will bring it? Just asking,” Prakash tweeted.

Modi on Sunday launched a no-holds barred attack on the Congress as he addressed the people at the culmination of BJP’s 90-day long “journey to build a new Karnataka” rally, across the poll-bound state.

The BJP could take Karnataka to “new heights” with a focus on improving the lives of farmers and creating better infrastructure”, Modi said.

Sounding the election bugle, the Prime Minister urged people to throw the “corrupt and dynastic” Congress out of power in the state assembly polls due in late April or early May.

“There are still seven lakh homes in Karnataka which are in the dark with no access to electricity even years after Independence. Electricity will brighten their lives,” Modi said.

The Union Budget’s announcement of a suburban train network for Bengaluru could benefit nearly 15 lakh passengers, the Prime Minister said.

The party’s state unit had opened an online registry and used social media to personally invite the youth, techies, educated class and prominent citizens to the venue, assuring them of seating arrangements.

The “Nava Karnataka Nirmana Parivartana Yatra”, held with a view of bringing the BJP back to power in the state on the plank of transforming Karnataka through development, was led by its state unit chief and former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.

The BJP came to power on its own for the first time in 2008 but lost to the Congress after five years in the May 2013 assembly election.

(IANS)

Bengaluru: Students donning degree robes sell pakodas near Modi’s rally venue

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Bengaluru: A group of college students, donning degree robes and selling ‘pakodas’ to passers-by in a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks over job creation, were today whisked away by the police, hours before the PM’s rally here.

The students appeared near the Mehkri Circle, a few metres away from Palace Ground where Modi is scheduled to address the rally, in protest against his recent remarks linking pakoda (snack) selling and job creation.

On being asked about inadequate job creation in the last four years in a recent interview to a news channel, the prime minister had said that a person selling pakodas outside their (channel’s) television studio and earning Rs 200 a day should also be perceived as ’employed’.

The young students sold ‘Modi Pakodas’, ‘Amit Shah Pakoda’ and ‘Dr Yeddy Pakodas’, a reference to Karnataka BJP chief Yeddyurappa, to those passing by, including the BJP workers and visitors on their way to the rally.

The police later removed the degree robes of the protesting students and took them into custody.

(PTI)

CBI books billionaire Nirav Modi in Rs 280 cr cheating case

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Celebrity jeweler Nirav Modi has been charged by the CBI in a multi crore cheating case, said officials on Monday. Mr Modi has been accused in a Rs. 280 crore cheating case, related to the Punjab National Bank, according to CBI officials.

CBI has registered a First Information Report (FIR) for criminal conspiracy and cheating against Nirav Modi, his brother Nishal, wife Ami and Mehul Chinubhai Chowski of Diamond R and Stellar Diamonds, for causing a loss of Rs. 280 crore.

The FIR also names a bank official, Manoj Hanumat and a retired deputy manager, Gokulnath Shetty for abusing public position. The investigative agency has also filed cases against unknown bank officials for corruption.

On January 29, the Deputy General Manager of PNB, Avineesh Nepalia, of Mumbai branch complained to the CBI, saying that some of its officials were causing loss to the bank.

The bank claimed in its complaint that two of its officials had issued Letters of Understanding (LoU), without following proper procedure and skipping entries in the banking systems. Eight fraud LoUs amounting to Rs. 280 crore were issued for Hong Kong-based banks.

The billionaire was raided by Income Tax officials on January 31; his offices in Delhi, Surat and Jaipur were allegedly under I-T department’s scanner.

Mr Nirav Modi is the founder of $2.3 billion Firestar Diamond and counts among his clients several world renowned celebrities. Firestar in a statement said,”This matter has no affiliation, legal or otherwise with Firestar International Limited, which is the flagship enterprise of Mr. Nirav Modi.”

Mr Modi has designer jewellery boutiques across three continents – in London, New York, Las Vegas, Hawai, Singapore, Beijing and Macau. In India, Mr Modi has his stores in Mumbai and Delhi.

(Agencies)

All India Mahila Empowerment Party launches election campaign in Mysore

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Newly launched All India Mahila Empowerment Party’s (MEP), leader Dr. Nowhera Shaik kickstarted her party’s drive for the Assembly elections in Mysore, challenging the political bigwigs on her campaign.

Dr. Shaikh announced that MEP will be contesting in all the 224 assembly constituencies in the state, and said that the party will also contest elections across the lengths and breadths of India in the coming years.

Dr. Shaikh clarified that although her party’s name is All India Mahila Empowerment Party, however, her party is not only for women but for every gender and every religion. She said that her party’s objective is to get justice for everyone and remove the cancer of corruption and communalism from society.

Saudi and UAE move to end standoff in Yemen’s Aden

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UAE-backed southern separatists have taken over government buildings in Aden [Fawaz Salman/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have called on Yemeni government fighters and southern secessionists to focus their efforts on fighting Houthi rebels, in an apparent attempt to end a standoff between the two sides in Aden.

Emirati-backed separatists took over large parts of the southern port city earlier this week, including military bases, but stopped short of advancing on the presidential palace after clashing with pro-government forces and briefly surrounding the building while Prime Minister Ahmed bin Daghr and his ministers were inside.

The move exposed potential divides between Saudi Arabia, which finances and arms the Yemeni government, and the UAE, which is providing direct financial and military aid to the separatist Southern Transitional Council and its armed militia.

Yemeni government officials accused the Emirati government of deploying fighter planes to help the separatist fighters.

In a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency on Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition said Riyadh and Abu Dhabi shared “one goal and a shared vision for Yemen”.

“Saudi Arabia and the UAE have no ambitions but for Yemen to be a safe, stable, and able, Arab nation,” the statement said.

While stopping short of expressing support for the Yemeni government, which is based in Aden because the capital is under Houthi rebel control, the coalition called on both sides to focus on the goal of “defeating the Houthi militias of Iran.”

The separatists want greater autonomy for South Yemen, which was an independent state until reunification with the north in 1990.

They complain that the government has presided over rampant corruption and neglected southern regions.

The fighting in Aden has left at least 36 people dead and wounded more than 185 people since Sunday, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Arab coalition intervention
The UAE and Saudi Arabia intervened militarily in Yemen in March 2015 after Houthi rebels swept across the country and threatened to conquer the last government stronghold of Aden.

While the coalition and government fighters successfully fended off the Houthi takeover of Aden, years of air attacks have failed to dislodge the Houthis from much of the rest of the country.

The coalition’s stated aim of restoring President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s rule still seems distant, as the capital Sanaa remains under Houthi control.

The Saudis have indicated they want out of the war and have largely limited their campaign to bombing raids, but the Emiratis have also committed troops to the effort to defeat the Houthis.

Separatists, government forces, and the Houthis, are competing for control over Yemeni territory alongside al-Qaeda and the local affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group.

The war has severely damaged the country’s infrastructure with the UN warning that up to 8 million people are at risk of starvation and more than a million have contracted cholera.

Sexual assaults on young girls in India, Pak heartbreaking: UN

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United Nations: The recent incidents of sexual assault on young girls in India and Pakistan are “heartbreaking”, the spokesperson of the UN chief said, underlining that the world body is trying to address the issue through access to education and women empowerment.

He was responding to questions on recent incidents of rapes in India and Pakistan. In India, an eight-month-old baby girl was raped last week by her 28-year-old cousin in New Delhi, a shocking incident that outraged the nation.

While in Pakistan last month, a seven-year-old girl was brutally raped and murdered allegedly by a serial killer, triggering a national outcry. “I think these two cases you referred to are heartbreaking,” Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said while answering a question on UN’s advice for the two countries on this “vicious cycle”.

“What is clear is that no country on this planet is immune from the scourge of violence against women, violence against girls. We see it in all country, north, south, east and west,” Dujarric said. Through various programmes, through UN-Women, UNFPA [United Nations Population Fund], UNICEF [United Nations Children’s Fund] and others, the UN is working with governments to try to get messages through to communities to respecting girls, to respecting women, he said.

“It’s about equal rights. It’s about access to health. It’s about access to education. It’s about empowerment of women. Through a number of its development programmes, the UN is trying to face the issue,” said the spokesperson of the UN Secretary-General.

(PTI)

Mahadayi river dispute: Karnataka HC strikes down shutdown called on February 4

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Bengaluru: Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy clarified that there will not be any bandh on February 4. But he said that if anyone wants to protest it should be done in front of Freedom Park and nowhere else.

Several organisations had called for a Bengaluru Bandh on Febrarury 4 seeking a remedy for the Mahadayi dispute. The bandh date had clashed with the visit if Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bengaluru. This had left BJP leaders confused as they wanted to make sure that no such events disturb the PM’s visit. Clarification by the Home Minister has provided a major relief to the BJP leaders.

Reddy said that it is the responsibility of the state government to ensure proper security to the Prime Minister of the Nation. It is our responsibility to honour him and every precautionary measure will be taken for his pleasant visit.

Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Party President Vatal Nagaraj has assured that he is ready to take back the Bandh decision if BJP assures in advance of submitting a request to the PM.

(Agencies)

UP DG Homeguard ‘pledges’ to build Ram Mandir in Ayodhya

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Lucknow: Whipping up a controversy, an IPS officer of the director general of police rank has openly favoured the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya “at the earliest”.

Surya Kumar Shukla, DG, Homeguard, not only participated in an event on Ram Mandir organised at Lucknow University two days ago, but was also captured on camera taking a pledge to build the Ram Mandir.

The video of the 1982-batch Indian Police Service officer taking the pledge went viral on social and electronic media today.

“We Ram-bhakts, today, as part of this programme, take this pledge that at the earliest, the Ram Mandir be constructed. Jai Shri Ram,” the video showed him saying.

Many other people were also seen taking the pledge with him at the event, where slogans of “Jai Shri Ram” was raised.

Shukla, however, said he had done nothing wrong.

“I was taking a pledge to create an atmosphere of harmony. The video that has gone viral is an edited version and portions have been deleted deliberately to create mischief,” he said.

“It is misinterpretation… The matter related more to creating a peaceful environment for the construction of the temple rather than construction itself,” he said.

Shukla said there was a discussion at the programme that if Hindus and Muslims talk of temple construction in Ayodhya and a mosque at a distance from there, then the dispute will end.

The Supreme Court has suggested that a way should be found through talks, he said.

Commenting on the video, SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary termed it a violation of service rules by the IPS officer.

“Shukla is a public servant, and he is not supposed to take such a pledge at a public function,” he said.

(PTI)

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