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Archives for May 2018

Congress objects to Modi’s warning, urges President to caution him

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The Congress has taken strong objection to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks against its leaders at a poll rally in Karnataka and has written to President Ram Nath Kovind urging him to caution Modi against “unwarranted, threatening and intimidating” language as it does not behoove him.

In the letter written on May 13 and released to the media on Monday, Congress leaders, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, referred to Modi’s speech in Hubli during the Karnataka Assembly election campaign in which he had warned the Congress against crossing boundaries.

“Hon’ble President may caution the Prime Minister from using such unwarranted, threatening and intimidating language against leaders of the Congress or any other party or person as it does not behove the position of the Prime Minister,” the letter said.

In his speech on May 6, Modi had said: “Congress leaders, listen with your ears open, if you cross boundaries, then this is Modi, you will have to pay for it.”

The Congress letter said that the words used by Modi were “menacing and intimidating with intent to insult and provoke breach of peace.”

It said that all Prime Ministers in the past have maintained immense dignity and decorum “in discharge of public or private functions/actions.”

“It is unthinkable that in our democratic polity, the Prime Minister as head of government would utter words which are threatening, intimidating in content and a public warning to the leaders and members of the main opposition party — Indian National Congress,” the letter said.

Apart from Singh, the letter has been signed by senior party leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Karan Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge, P. Chidambaram, A.K. Antony, Anand Sharma, Ashok Gehlot, Motilal Vora, Ambika Soni, Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh, Ahmed Patel and Mukul Wasnik.

The Congress leaders said that the President as the constitutional head of the union enjoys high duty and obligation to advise and guide the Prime Minister and his Cabinet.

“Admittedly, the Prime Minister is not expected to use menacing language even in the course of election campaign which tantamounts to using his powers and privileges as the Prime Minister to settle personal and political scores,” the letter said.

It said that the “threat held out” by Modi to the Congress leadership “deserves to be condemned”.

“This cannot be the language of a Prime Minister of a constitutionally governed democratic country of 1.3 billion people. Such discourse whether in public or private is unacceptable conduct.”

The party said it would not be cowed down by such threats.

Shashi Tharoor charged with abetment to suicide in Sunanda death case

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The Delhi Police on Monday filed a chargesheet in the mysterious death of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.

The chargesheet was filed before Metropolitan Magistrate Dharmender Singh under sections 498 A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.

Tharoor has been arrayed as an accused in the case.

Pushkar was found dead in a luxury hotel room on January 17, 2014.

CBI files chargesheet in PNB loan fraud case

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The CBI on Monday filed a chargesheet against some former and current bank officials and several others in the over Rs 13,000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case allegedly perpetrated by diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi.

The agency filed the chargesheet before a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court here.

The chargesheet is based on the first FIR the agency registered on January 31 against Modi, his wife Ami, brother Nishal and uncle Choksi along with some others following January 29 complaint to it by the Deputy General Manager of the PNB’s Zonal office in Mumabi.

The CBI later registered two more FIRs in connection with the case. Most of the accused in these cases are common.

So far, 19 people have been arrested in the case while Modi and Choksi are on the run. All of them will be named in the chargesheet.

It’s time to address online violence against women in India

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Online abuse is leaving Indian women feeling vulnerable and not empowered.

Among the top 20 countries in internet usage worldwide, India has the highest yearly growth rate of internet users. Easy access to the internet has enabled many people, especially women and other marginalised groups, to overcome traditional barriers and participate in the public sphere.

However, the violence women face in these virtual spaces has in many ways left them feeling vulnerable, not empowered. More so, if one identifies themselves as a woman from a minority religious, racial or ethnic background, a woman with disabilities, or a lesbian, bisexual or transgender individual. Online violence against women – that is, violence directed at women by virtue of their gender – violates their human rights and is thus an impediment to the attainment of gender equality.

Amnesty International India recently launched a campaign to address the issue of online violence faced by women in the country. It has been interviewing women who express their opinions online, documenting their experiences of being active on social media platforms and the violence they regularly face online.

At an event organised in New Delhi on April 24 as part of this campaign, Rana Ayyub, an award-winning writer and journalist, shared how she had received rape and death threats on platforms like Twitter and how, more often than not, her complaints to the platform fell on deaf ears.

“I have reported so many profiles on Twitter, but the platform seems oblivious to all these. In addition to the hate and abuse, there are fourteen fake profiles in my name and with my picture. I have reported those profiles, but they continue to exist, because, apparently, they are not against Twitter’s policies, or so I have been told.”

Kiruba Munusamy, an advocate in the Supreme Court of India, has also been very vocal about the intersectionality of abuse and violence online. “While the abuse and violence faced online is gendered, it gets even worse when the abuser finds out that the person posting her picture or opinion belongs to a ‘lower caste’. Comments on a short dress turn into comments on a woman belonging to a lower caste wearing them”, she told the audience at the event. Despite being a practising lawyer at the Supreme Court, Munusamy was advised by some officials not to take forward a case of online abuse that she faced on Facebook, and most of the comments received on her profile were deleted without her consent. Student activists like Shehla Rashid and celebrities like Swara Bhaskar have also faced an increased wave of abusive tweets and online abuse because they are vocal about issues they feel strongly about.

In 2017, Amnesty International polled 4,000 women in eight countries, including the UK and the US, and found that nearly 76 percent of women who had experienced abuse or harassment on a social media platform changed how they used the platform. Around two-thirds of women who experienced abuse or harassment on social media platforms said that they felt a sense of powerlessness after experiencing online abuse. Forty-one percent of women said that on at least one occasion, these online experiences made them feel their physical safety was threatened.

The situation is not very different in India. Kavita Krishnan, Politburo member of the CPI(ML) and Secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association, who has been on the receiving end of rape threats and misogyny, says that online violence needs to be taken seriously and it often has the potential to spill into physical abuse and violence. “Online abuse and it not being taken seriously emboldens people to verbally assault you. People have come up to me and told me I am of a bad character after fake news spread online of me questioning the potency of the PM and asking him to prove he is not impotent by sleeping with me.”

Abuse against women on Twitter and other platforms can also include “doxxing” which involves revealing personal information or identifying documents or details about someone, on an online platform, without their consent. In April this year, Rana Ayyub’s address and phone number, and an obscene video with her face morphed on it were shared online in response to a tweet that came from a fake account using her name. She feared for her safety and that of her family and filed a criminal complaint.

Women from academic circles are not spared of online vitriol, especially if their writings are not in conformity with the ideology of the abusers. Audrey Truschke, historian and author of the book, Aurangzeb, The Man and the Myth, told Amnesty International India “I mostly post about Mughal history, especially Aurangzeb. I also post about modern Indian culture and politics. I am regularly attacked, using sexist language, on the basis of my perceived race (white/Caucasian), and on the basis of my perceived religion (Christianity – sometimes specifically Catholicism or Evangelicalism – Judaism, and atheism). I stopped reporting sexist tweets to Twitter because they never did anything about it. Following Twitter’s change in policy about hate speech late last year, I again began reporting the worst of the sexist tweets, and, occasionally, Twitter does something about it.”

India already has laws that – while flawed – can be used to deal with online abuse. What needs attention is a better implementation of the same. This implementation needs to be coupled with non-legal measures to address the structural inequalities which stem in part from patriarchal notions of morality, lying at the heart of the online abuse faced by women. A starting point to address this gender-based abuse on online platforms can be asking these platforms to start following their own guidelines on “abuse and hateful conduct”, which, as research has shown, are flouted by the platforms themselves!

“If needed, Rahul will declare CM candidate in MP”

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Congress MP Kamal Nath at the Parliament in New Delhi on Dec 18, 2015. (Photo: IANS)

Newly-appointed Congress President in Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath says that it is not a practice in his party to declare a chief ministerial candidate in a poll-bound state. Rahul Gandhi will do so in the state, if the need is felt.

He also says that the people in Madhya Pradesh are angry with the “thuggery” of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government and the Congress is much better organised to defeat it in the assembly polls to be held later this year.

“Well, there is no doubt the time is short. But I am confident that we will be able to strengthen the party at the village level. This is a contest against the BJP’s organisational strength and their money power,” he said in an interview with IANS.

Kamal Nath, 71, who is MP from Chhindwara and has been elected to the Lok Sabha nine times, said that the decision about changes in the state unit should have been made “much earlier” in view of the coming elections but he was not going to look back and think why the decision was not made.

The former union minister, who was appointed Madhya Pradesh Congress chief on April 26, said he has no faction, has good relations with all leaders and does not have to strive to bring about factional unity.

Kamal Nath appeared to be keeping open the option of contestng the Assembly polls. “I have been fighting for 40 years. I am the longest serving MP.” Asked if party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia will contest, he said, “I don’t know”.

Asked about the party not declaring a chief ministerial candidate and if the appointment of Scindia as head of the Campaign Committee was a balancing act, he said: “Madhya Pradesh is a complex state and no one face can win you the election. You need several faces. And that’s what has been done.”

Asked if he would have liked the party to have declared a CM candidate, he said that the strategy varies from state to state.

“It is sometimes necessary, sometimes not necessary. Who did BJP have as a chief ministerial candidate in Uttar Pradesh? Who did they have their CM candidate in Uttarakhand. They never had a chief ministerial candidate. So, it depends,” he said.

On his earlier views in an interview that party should define in every state who the leader is, Kamal Nath said: “If a need is felt, the Congress President will declare one.”

Kamal Nath said his priorities as PCC chief will be to strengthen the party at the village level. “Election has become very localised. This we must understand.”

“Every section of society in MP is in distress, farmers, the youth, traders, the labourers, women. Never in the history of politics, has there been a situation where every section of society is against you. The people of Madhya Pradesh are simple and docile. They sometimes will accept being disappointed, but will not accept being thugged. The voters are feeling that they have been thugged,” he added.

Asked about the strategy to defeat the BJP with about seven months left for the polls, he said: “We have a strategy to strengthen the party at the grassroots level. There is a micro strategy which obviously is to be kept within our party.”

The Congress has lost the last three assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh to the BJP.

Kamal Nath alleged that all promises of BJP government have fallen flat.

“We are better organised this time and all the announcements and promises made by the BJP have fallen flat on their face. On the ground there is nothing. When every section of society is against them, then what is there,” he said.

“Organisationally we are better organised. Do you think we have been battling for this election for the last one year. It’s not that. We started much earlier maybe under a different PCC leadership. But everybody is working,” he added.

Answering a query about former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh and his role, he said: “Everybody is close with me, remember that. Make no mistake. Digvijay Singh has large organisational knowledge of the state. And he will need to be active. He has already announced that he is not for any post or position.”

Asked if wide acceptability was a reason for his appointment as PCC chief, Kamal Nath said, “Whatever the reason that Rahul Gandhi will tell you but the fact is this that I am one person who has very good relations with everybody. So for me it is not a challenge to bring unity to the party. I am fortunate that there is no need for me to do it. There already is unity.”

Kamal Nath said his contest is against the incumbent Chief Minister unless Prime Minister Narendra Modi turns it into one against him.

Asked if there were internal differences in the party with Scindia feeling that he has lost out, Kamal Nath said he did not think so.

He said Scindia was in Bhopal during a road show to mark fresh appointments in the state and they met every few days.

Bengal Left activist, wife killed in fire; CPI-M blames Trinamool

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In the wake of violence surrounding the West Bengal rural polls, a CPI-M activist and his wife were burnt to death in their house allegedly by a group of miscreants backed by the Trinamool Congress in South 24 Parganas district’s Namkhana, the Left party said on Monday.

Police also confirmed that the couple died in the fire but said the cause is still to be ascertained.

“The residence of Debu Das of Budhakhali Gram Panchayat in Namkhana was allegedly torched by the Trinamool Congress workers on Sunday midnight,” a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) member said.

Both Das and his wife were killed in the fire, a release issued by the CPI-M’s South 24 Parganas district Secretary Shamik Lahiri said.

The party also alleged that Das was threatened by Trinamool Congress candidate Amit Mondol and his associates of dire consequences earlier on Sunday.

The Left party urged the State Election Commission (SEC) to take appropriate actions against the accused.

“We are not sure how the house caught fire. It needs to be ascertained whether it was intentional or was caused by a short circuit. The bodies are being sent for autopsy,” an officer from Kakdwip police station said.

No one has been detained in the incident.

The polling, for electing 38,616 representatives across three tiers of state (rural) bodies that started at 7 a.m. and would continue till 5 p.m., was marred by sporadic violence and clashes between opposing political groups.

Call all-party meeting on Cauvery: Stalin

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DMK leader M.K. Stalin on Monday urged the Tamil Nadu government to call for an all-party meeting on Tuesday to discuss setting up of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and arming it with legal power.

Stalin’s demand comes after the Centre submitted the Cauvery Draft Water Management Scheme to the Supreme Court on Monday. Representatives of farmer associations would also be a party to the meeting.

In a statement issued here the DMK leader raising concerns about when the Centre would fully implement the scheme, said it was the Tamil Nadu government’s responsibility to stress that it would not accept anybody other than the CMB.

Stalin said the AIADMK government should call the meeting and stress its stand in the apex court on Wednesday, when it, along with other three southern states, has been called for a response on the scheme.

Treason petition in Pakistan court against Sharif

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A petition was submitted in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday to register a treason case against ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif following his controversial remarks on 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The petition, filed by political party Pakistan Awaami Tehreek’s (PAT) Khurram Nawaz Gandapur, stated that Sharif’s statement was against national security and state institutions. “Nawaz Sharif’s statement is tantamount to treason. Instructions should be given to register a treason case against him,” it said.

Federal Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal was also mentioned as a respondent in the petition apart from Sharif, the Express Tribune reported.

The former Prime Minister during an interview to Dawn on May 12 had admitted that “militant organisations were active in Pakistan” and “such terror strikes (26/11) could have been prevented”. At least 166 Indians and foreigners were killed in the bloodbath.

“Call them non-state actors, should we allow them to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai? Explain it to me,” he had said, in a clear reference to the Mumbai killings blamed on 10 Pakistani terrorists. One of them was caught and hanged.

“We have isolated ourselves. Despite sacrifices, our narrative is not being accepted. Afghanistan’s narrative is being accepted, but ours is not. We must look into it,” he added.

Later, Sharif faced a volley of criticism for his remarks. Opposition parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), launched a broadside against him, calling him a “security threat”.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz stalwart Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the former Interior Minister, did not endorse Sharif’s statement. He held India responsible for the delay in the trial of the Mumbai attack suspects.

Following this, a National Security Committee was also held to discuss Sharif’s “misleading” statement.

The top brass of military leadership, including Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Zubair Mahmood Hayat and Director General Inter-Services Intelligence Lt. Gen. Naveed Mukhtar attended the meeting, held at the Prime Minister House.

All eyes on counting of votes tomorrow

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The counting of votes for the Karnataka state Assembly elections dubbed to be a game changer for the ensuing general elections next year is slated to begin from 8 am in the morning tomorrow while the results of all 222 constituencies is expected before noon.

Karnataka considered to be a gateway to South India for the saffron party has roused enormous curiosity not only in the state but elsewhere across the country. Counting of votes stored in the Electronic Voting Machines(EVM) will commence in all the 38 counting centres according to the sources in election commission.

Every district has a minimum of one counting centre while they are in multiples in the following districts: Chitradurga-2, South Canara-2,Mysuru-2,Tumakuru-2 and Bengaluru-5.

All measures for tight security arrangements have been taken while 11,160 people are being deployed for the task of counting of votes.Each counting centre will have 20-23 counting tables and as usual postal ballot will be first taken into account for calculation.The returning officers will start the process of counting of votes in front of the polling agents of various parties and Independents.

Since the moment for counting of votes is fast approaching the heartbeat of the contestants is also said to be on a new high pondering over the results sealed in the ballot boxes for now.

The state has registered a record 72.36 percent polling which is said to be unprecedented while 222 BJP,221 Congress,201 JDS,18 BSP,19 CPI(M),14 NCP and 1,155 Independent candidates are trying their electoral luck this time.In all there are 2,655 candidates among whom 2,436 are men and 219 are women.

The state chief minister Siddaramaiah,former chief ministers BS Yeddyurappa of the BJP and HD Kumaraswamy of the JDS are the prominent leaders among many others while BJP MP B Sriramulu contesting from two constituencies has also given rise to many speculations on the possible outcome.

Chamundeshwari,Badami,Shikaripura,Ramanagara,Channapatna,Molkalamuru,Babaleshwara and Ballari city are among the high voltage constituencies wherein the going is said to be too tough for the rival contenders.

The poll campaign for these elections reached a new pitch with leaders of all prominent parties touring across the state multiple times. Rahul Gandhi after being crowned as the Congress president is facing his first battle after taking the mantle of the party .He toured all the districts of the state for a month.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi though entered the campaigning at a later stage made the impact felt and the BJP is pinning high hopes on the same.

It was either no better situation for the remaining party leaders.Despite his advanced age HD Devegowda,former prime minister travelled across the state to ensure that HD Kumaraswamy becomes the chief minister of the state once again.

But no one could match the political stamina of BJP strongman BS Yeddyurappa. He has been touring the state incessantly since two years and has virtually visited each and every constituency of the state.In that way he’s no challenge from any other party.

Although all the pre poll and exit poll surveys have projected mutually diverse results that has not changed the political leaders from continuing their confabulations to form the next government.But what the voter has in mind is yet to be known.

Hindusthan Samachar/Manohar Yadavatti

Modi government splurges over Rs 4,300cr in publicity: RTI

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The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has so far splurged a whooping Rs 4,343.26 crore only for advertisements and publicity through different media, it has been revealed under RTI, an activist said here on Monday.

Mumbai-based RTI activist Anil Galgali had sought details from the centre’s Bureau of Outreach and Communication (BOC) on all spend on advertisement and publicity in all media since the present government assumed office.

The replies provided by Financial Advisor, BOC, Tapan Sutradhar on the expenses incurred since June 2014, were a revelation on the massive spends, but owing to all-round criticism of the government, there was a small reduction — almost Rs 308 crore — in 2017, said Galgali.

As per the replies, from June 2014 to March 2015, the government spent Rs 424.85 crore in print publicity, Rs 448.97 crore on electronic media and Rs 79.72 crore on outdoor publicity, totalling to Rs 953.54 crore.

In the next fiscal 2015-16, the spending increased substantially for all media. These included, Rs 510.69 crore on print media, Rs 541.99 crore on electronic media and Rs 118.43 crore on outdoor publicity, or a total of Rs 1,171.11 crore.

In 2016-17, the expenditure incurred on print medium dropped (yet higher than the first year June 2014-March 2015), to Rs 463.38 crore, but for the electronic medium it increased over the previous year to Rs 613.78 crore, and catapulted to Rs 185.99 crore on outdoor publicity, totalling to Rs 1,263.15 crore.

The next year, April 2017-March 2018, there was a sharp drop in spending on electronic media over the previous year to Rs 475.13 crore and a significant drop in outdoor publicity expenses to Rs 147.10 crore.

The RTI replies also said that between April-December 2017 (nine-month period), the government spent Rs 333.23 crore on the print medium alone, with the total figure of last fiscal (April 2017-March 2018) coming to Rs 955.46 crore.

“A detailed analysis proves that after stringent criticism it attracted, especially from the opposition and on social media, over squandering of scarce public resources, the government finally cut down on its publicity expenditure this year by Rs 307.69 crore,” Galgali told IANS.

However, he pointed out that the total spending of last financial year is still significantly higher than the present government’s first year in office when it spent Rs 953.54 crore in just nine months in office.

He added that although it is okay for the government to spend on publicity wherever genuinely required, in case of excess expenses, reins must be tightened and the authorities must publicise all such expenditure on its websites.

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