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Archives for June 2018

5 killed in US newsroom shooting, suspect detained

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Five people were killed and two others injured when a man armed with a shotgun and smoke grenades stormed into the newsroom of a community newspaper chain in the US state of Maryland, prompting law enforcement agencies to provide protection at the headquarters of all American media organisations.

The suspect, identified as Jarrod W. Ramos, 38, was taken into custody after the targeted attack on Thursday at the office of the Capital Gazette located in Annapolis, reports The New York Times.

The attack has been deemed as the deadliest day for journalism in America in several years.

Ramos had a long history of conflict with the daily, which produces a number of local newspapers along Maryland’s shore.

He lost a defamation case against the paper in 2015 over a 2011 column he contended defamed him. The column provided an account of Ramos’s guilty plea to criminal harassment of a woman over social media.

“This person was prepared today to come in, this person was prepared to shoot people,” The Washington Post quoted Anne Arundel County Deputy Police Chief William Krampf said.

“His intent was to cause harm.”

The police said all of the victims killed were Capital Gazette employees: Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters.

Fischman and Hiaasen were editors, McNamara was a reporter, Smith was a sales assistant and Winters worked for special publications, according to the newspaper’s website.

Four of the victims died on the spot while the fifth was pronounced dead at the University of Maryland Medical Centre.

The shooting began at about 3 p.m. in the office building just outside of downtown Annapolis, The Washington Post reported.

Ramos entered the building with a shotgun and looked for his victims, the police said.

The police, who arrived at the scene within a minute of the reported gunfire, apprehended Ramos found hiding under a desk in the newsroom.

Gazette reporter Phil Davis described the scene as a “war zone” and a situation that would be “hard to describe for a while”.

After his arrest, Ramos refused to cooperate with the authorities or provide his name. He was identified using facial recognition technology, a law enforcement official told The New York Times.

President Donald Trump tweeted: “My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families,” CNN reported.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said: “The senseless attack on a Maryland newspaper today is sickening. God bless these journalists. We pray for them and their families tonight.”

Joel Simon, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said that violence against journalists was unacceptable.

“Newspapers like the Gazette do vital work, and our thoughts are with them amid this unconscionable tragedy,” he added.

The Capital Gazette, which has an editorial staff of 31 people, had a daily circulation of about 29,000 and a Sunday circulation of 34,000 as of 2014.

Commonly referred to as the Capital, the paper was founded in 1884 as the Evening Gazette.

The paper promotes itself as one of the oldest publishers in the country, with roots dating to the Maryland Gazette in 1727.

Modi remembers Narasimha Rao on his birth anniversary, Rahul silent

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday remembered former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao on his 97th birth anniversary though Congress President Rahul Gandhi gave the occasion a miss.

However, the Congress paid its respects to its leader. “We remember P.V. Narasimha Rao, India’s 9th Prime Minister, on his birth anniversary today. He was referred to as Chanakya for his ability to steer tough economic and political legislation through the parliament at a time when he headed a minority government,” the party said in a tweet.

In his tweet, Modi said: “Remembering our former PM Shri PV Narasimha Rao on his birth anniversary. Shri Rao is widely respected as a statesman who provided valuable leadership during a critical period of India’s history.”

“Blessed with immense wisdom, he made a mark as a distinguished scholar as well,” he added.

The ninth Prime Minister (1991-1996) Narasimha Rao was born on June 28, 1921.

UAE proposes to set up consulate in Hyderabad

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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday proposed to set up a consulate in Hyderabad.

This was conveyed by UAE Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in their meeting here.

Rao welcomed and consented for establishing of consulate. According to a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office, he directed Chief Secretary S. K. Joshi to allocate land and provide infrastructure for the consulate, so as to boost the cordial relationship between Telangana and UAE.

Recalling the cultural bonds between Telangana and UAE, he referred to the cultural bond, historical identity and business relationship with the Middle East.

Al Nahyan, who called on Rao along with a high-level delegation, was all the praise for the tremendous economic and social growth of Telangana. He complimented government of Telangana for introducing innovative and exemplary schemes for the people’s welfare.

Rao briefed on the initiatives taken on industrial policy, development on social aspects, education, medicine and establishing of infrastructure and how the state is encountering the impediments in emerging as ‘bangaru’ or golden Telangana.

Karnataka coalition panel to finalise new budget proposals

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The coordination committee of the Karnataka coalition partners will deliberate on the new state budget proposals on Sunday, said Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara on Thursday.

“The coordination committee of the JD-S and Congress will discuss on the weekend the proposals for inclusion in the state budget for 2018-19 Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy will present in the assembly on July 5,” Parameshwara told reporters.

The five-member committee, headed by Congress Legislature Party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as chairman, has Parameshwara and Congress state unit in-charge K.C. Venugopal, Kumaraswamy and Danish Ali of the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) as convener.

“As Ali is the convenor, he will decide on the time and venue of the meeting in consultation with the committee’s members,” said Parameshwara.

The committee will go through the report of the sub-committee set up by the coalition government on June 14 to draft a common minimum programme (CMP) from the poll manifestoes of both the coalition parties.

The five-member sub-committee has former Union Minister M. Veerappa Moily, state Revenue Minister R.V. Deshpande and Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar of the Congress and Public Works Department Minister H.D. Revanna of the JD-S and Chief Minister’s Economic Adviser S. Subramanya.

“The sub-committee has recommended some of the promises made in both the manifestos, including socio-economic and welfare schemes and farm loan waiver as part of the CMP,” said Parameshwara.

Kumaraswamy, who holds the Finance portfolio, will present the state budget for this fiscal (FY 2019) on July 5 in the 10-day monsoon session of the new Legislative Assembly, convened from July 2.

“The CMP will be implemented through budgetary allocations and its details will be spelt out in the state budget by Kumaraswamy,” said Parameshwara.

The coordination committee will also sort out differences cropping up between post-poll alliance partners on the budget and power sharing.

Congress MP, MLA call on Trinamool leader, fuel crossover talks

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Amid speculations that a number of Congress lawmakers were inclined to join West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress soon, sitting MP and former Union Minister Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury and a party MLA on Thursday met Trinamool Secretary General Partha Chatterjee.

Choudhury later said he had gone to discuss a grand alliance involving both the parties against the BJP in the state.

“We are considering forming a ‘mahajot’ (grand alliance). Congress and all others need to come together in Bengal to defeat the BJP,” said Choudhury, a sitting Lok Sabha member from Malda Dakkhin.

Asked whether he would be part of it, he said: “Yes, if Congress is there, I have to be there”.

But he ruled out participating in the July 21 annual martyr’s rally organized by the Trinamool.

Speaking on the same line, Congress legislator from Murshidabad’s Farakka Moinul Haq said: “The issue now is to defeat the BJP. We need to work towards that. We Went to Chatterjee to discuss that. We also talked about setting up a college in the name of late Congress leader Abu Barkat Ghani Khan Choudhury in Malda.”

Hasem is the late Congress leader’s brother.

However, state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury categorically said nobody has been authorized to hold any talks on any alliance.

“From our party, we have not authorised anybody to talk to other parties about any alliance. In our party, the issue of the alliance is decided by the high command. If any leader is doing that, he is doing it in his individual capacity. The party is not involved in this,” he said.

But Chatterjee kept the mystery.

“Lot of people meet me daily. Why talks about them (Abu Hasem and Haq) only? Others have also met me. Whatever we discussed, there should not be any speculation on that.”

Asked whether he would welcome Abu Hasem Choudhury, Chatterjee said: “If he wants to join us to be a party of the development initiatives taken by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he is welcome.”

He also gave a cryptic answer to a poser on whether Choudhury would be invited to the July 21 Trinamool meeting. “Lot of Khan Choudhurys would get invited in the July 21 rally.”

Political circles have been agog with rumours about five Congress MLAs – three from Murshidabad district, and two from Malda – toying with the idea of crossing over to the Trinamool soon. There is speculation they might attend the July 21 rally, or join Trianmool early next month.

Crime Branch to probe Kerala Malankara Church sleaze case

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The Kerala Police chief on Friday ordered a Crime Branch probe into the sexual exploitation of a woman by five priests of the Kottayam-headquartered Malankara Orthodox Church.

Director General of Police Loknath Behra directed the Crime Branch wing to probe into the allegations made by the victim’s husband, who belongs to the same church.

An online portal had first reported the story last week, following which tremendous pressure from several quarters, especially the social media, mounted on the Church, which was forced to announce an internal probe.

The husband has said one of the priest who first exploited his wife was blackmailing her. When she sought help from another priest, he too, threatened her and shared her contact with another fellow priest and in the end she came under the duress from at least five priests.

Although the church hierarchy preferred the matter be dealt with surreptitiously, trouble started when the National Commission for Women (NCW) took suo motu cognisance and wrote to Behra directing him to investigate the matter.

Later, former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan also wrote to Behra saying it was unfair that the Church was conducting the probe, as it would not be a “fair and free” investigation.

Instead the police should probe such a case, Achuthanandan said.

The Additional Director General of Police heading the Crime Branch was asked to constitute a special team to carry out the probe.

The victim, however, has not yet registered a complaint with any police station. Besides the husband has also handed over all documents of exploitation to the church authorities.

The Crime Branch will first conduct a preliminary probe on the veracity of the various news reports and will then probe whether the allegations are true, an informed source said.

Of maths, social media and youngsters’ struggles

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Learn how to resolve mathematical puzzles and paradoxes, mind-bending concepts and their surprising solutions; know how to put the pieces together to create a powerful social media presence; flick through the story of five youngsters who have to deal with extreme circumstances and learn how the consequences made these ordinary individuals extraordinary.

Finally, wade through a collection of “real stories for tough kids” that features crisp and easy to read biographies of 56 inspiring women.

The IANS bookshelf has all this on offer for its readers this weekend.

1. Book: Weird Maths; Authors: David Darling and Agnijo Banerjee; Publisher: Harper Collins; Price: Rs 499; Pages: 269

Is anything truly random? Does infinity actually exist? Could we ever see into other dimensions?

In this journey of discovery, David Darling and child prodigy Agnijo Banerjee draw connections between the cutting edge of modern mathematics and life as we understand it, delving into the strange — would we like alien music — and venturing out on quests to consider the existence of free will and the fantastical future of quantum computers.

Packed with puzzles and paradoxes, mind-bending concepts and surprising solutions, this is for anyone who wants life’s questions answered — even those you never thought to ask.

2. Book: The Essential Social Media Marketing Handbook; Author: Gail Z. Martin; Publisher: Rupa; Price: Rs 295; Pages: 235

It’s time to take the fear and frustration out of social media.

In today’s crowded marketplace, it’s harder than ever to rise above the noise and clutter. For millions of businesses, a savvy approach to social media is the secret to creating sustainable engagement with a profitable niche audience. Social media done right can build and strengthen your relationship with your customers, encourage brand loyalty, extend your influence, and expand your credibility.

Social media changed the world and its platforms have evolved to meet the world’s changing needs. You’ve got more choices than ever before in online video, web audio, tele-seminars and more, plus new ways to attract prospects, retain customers, and reach a bigger audience. The trick is learning how to put the pieces together to create a powerful social media presence that draws in your ideal clients around the clock and around the world.

By using the powerful strategies in “The Essential Social Media Marketing Handbook”, you will jump ahead of the competition and get to expand your visibility and influence as a leader in your industry.

3. Book: The Blue Moon Day; Author: Santhosh Sivaraj; Publisher: Invincible; Price: Rs 220; Pages: 213

Things were never the same for five ordinary individuals who were lost at crossroads and there was no way back. They had no other choice but to take a plunge into their deepest fears and leave the rest to destiny. The individuals were tested away from their comfort zones and it produced abstruse results — a PhD scholar fights to win a pizza-making contest and a tennis prodigy runs for his life on a war-torn, bloodied island.

Extreme circumstances and their consequences made these ordinary individuals extraordinary. Was the test imposed on them by someone? Or did they invite it on themselves? “The Blue Moon Day” questions an individual’s priorities, ridicules worldly routines and finally redefines happiness.

4. Book: Like A Girl; Author: Aparna Jain; Publisher: Westland; Price: Rs 799; Pages: 197

Do you ever get the feeling that girls have it less easy than boys? Have you been told to behave ‘like a girl’? That you should learn to cook and be nice and keep your legs crossed? Well, here are the stories of 56 women who broke the rules to forge new paths for themselves and others.

Adventurous and ambitious, they fought battles and legal cases. They won elections and matches. They climbed mountains and mastered science. Best of all, they never stopped chasing their dreams. The book features chapters on the like sof M.S. Subbalakshmi, Aruna Roy, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Leila Seth, Gauri Lankesh, and among several others, Sunita Narain and Kalpana Chawla. Read about them. Talk about them. Get inspired.

Some gain, some pain for realty under new taxation regime

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Amidst teething troubles and glitches in the implementation framework, the landmark reform of Goods & Services Tax (GST), ushering in a unified tax regime, has helped in speeding up real estate recovery and easing business transactions but has not lived up to its promise of providing significant price relief to consumers, even one year after its implementation.

Home buyers who had pinned high hopes on GST for reduction in property prices are disappointed as the overall cost of a property purchase has not come down — rather, in some cases, it has gone up.

The GST, which was introduced on July 1, 2017, has done away with multiple taxation of VAT, service tax, central excise duty, octroi, etc. In the pre-GST regime, the average tax burden on home buyers was about six per cent, though in some states, due to higher taxation, it was in double digits. However, in the GST regime, there is a single tax levy of 12 percent on the sale of under-construction residential property.

Though real estate developers are entitled to Input Tax Credit (ITC), against the purchase of construction material, yet its impact is said to be marginal in terms of tax relief.

Even in the affordable housing segment under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), where the effective tax under GST works out to be eight per cent, after taking into account one-third abatement towards cost of land, there is no significant cost benefit.

For states where the net taxation in the pre-GST regime was on the higher side, there is no additional tax liability on home buyers, even if there is no cost benefit.

The real problem is that the benefit of ITC is not accruing to home buyers in terms of cost reduction as it is not effectively passed on to buyers due to its complex nature and lack of clarity.

There is still no clarity on abatement available for land cost for calculating service tax on under-construction projects, thereby having major implications on the final price.

According to Anuj Puri, Chairman, Anarock Property Consultants, the ITC confusion goes beyond percentage of rebate to mode and tranche of rebate due to the complexity of calculating it.

Ramesh Nair, CEO & Country Head, JLL India, further elaborates on the complexity of ITC: “There are different tax computation methods for different projects/phases of the same project. Further, there is ineligibility of refund to developers under the inverted duty structure, considering inputs are procured at a higher rate of tax whereas output is charged at a lower tax rate.”

Thus, builders are seeking to simplify the tedious process for filing returns and are asking for a more structured mechanism for legal protection against defaults.

Real estate developers engaged in affordable housing are also not too happy with the benefit of price reduction through GST. Affordable housing crusaders like Pradeep Aggarwal of Signature Global call for either abolishing or at least significantly reducing the tax rate to push affordable housing and realise the “Housing for All” mission.

Luxury housing developers also complain that as the land cost component is quite high in this segment, there is no significant corresponding benefit.

There is a case for subsuming stamp duty on property transactions in GST to make it much more effective in terms of price benefit. However, property buyers are reaping rich benefit of investing in ready residential properties as there is zero GST and no development risk.

There is yet another glaring aspect of GST: That it is restricted to under-construction residential projects and is not applicable to ready-to-move properties or to the secondary market. This, according to Honey Katyal, CEO, Investors Clinic (a leading real estate marketing company), may discourage buyers to book under-construction properties despite the fact that buying a ready property is always expensive and the relative impact of GST is almost nullified in that case.

Notwithstanding these teething problems, the positive impact of GST on the real estate sector as a whole cannot be overlooked. GST has made the realty sector more streamlined and transparent, with tax predictability, thereby boosting investors’ sentiments, leading to a spurt in foreign investments. And there is the emerging asset class within real estate – warehousing, which has got a major push with GST.

A recent World Wealth Report by Capgemini reveals that key reforms like GST and RERA have proved to be a major driver for reviving real estate. After a gap of about eight years, the equity capital market is witnessing a return of realty IPOs. And, as the government sets out to refine the architecture and compliance process of GST to make it more robust, a HSBC report says that, in the coming years, GST will lead to greater formalisation.

The government’s attempts to finetune GST, particularly its new proposal to reduce GST on construction material from 28 percent to 18 percent, will have a major positive impact on property costs, thereby realising the long-term goal of making housing affordable.

Rani to lead Team India at Women’s Hockey World Cup

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 Experienced forward Rani will lead the 18-member Indian Hockey Team at the upcoming Hockey Women’s World Cup, slated to begin on July 21 in London, Hockey India (HI) announced on Friday.

Goalkeeper Savita will shoulder the responsibility of Vice Captain of the side which has been placed in Pool B along with hosts and World No.2 England, World No.7 USA and World No. 16 Ireland.

Another goalkeeper Rajani Etimarpu makes a comeback to the team after having been rested for the Spain tour.

India’s defence will consist of Sunita Lakra, Deep Grace Ekka, Deepika, drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur and youngster Reena Khokhar, who makes a comeback into the team. In the midfield, Namita Toppo, Lilima Minz, Monika, Neha Goyal, Navjot Kaur and Nikki Pradhan will hold fort.

India’s Captain Rani returned to the team during their Spain Tour and will again be leading her team’s forward-line. The ace-striker will be linking up with the experienced Vandana Katariya while Navneet Kaur, Lalremsiami and Udita will also provide them support in attack.

Commenting on the team selection, Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne said: “It was not an easy decision to select the 18-member team as all the core probables have worked really hard in the National Camp.”

“However, we feel that this 18-member team will be the best mixture to be successful at the Vitality Hockey Women’s World Cup London 2018,” Marijne added.

The Indian eves will kick-off ttheir campaign against England on July 21.

Indian Squad:

Goalkeepers- 1. Savita (Vice-Captain), 2. Rajani Etimarpu

Defenders- 3. Sunita Lakra, 4.Deep Grace Ekka, 5. Deepika, 6. Gurjit Kaur, 7. Reena Khokhar

Midfielders- 8. Namita Toppo, 9. Lilima Minz, 10. Monika, 11. Neha Goyal, 12. Navjot Kaur,
13. Nikki Pradhan

Forwards- 14. Rani (Captain), 15. Vandana Katariya, 16. Navneet Kaur, 17. Lalremsiami, 18. Udita

4 abducted by Jharkhand tribals, rescued

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Four security personnel deployed at former Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker and BJP Khuti MP Karia Munda’s house, who were kidnapped by tribals in Jharkhand on Wednesday, were rescued on Friday, police said.

According to the police, at 4 a.m., information was received that the abducted personnel have been kept at Putigarha village in Khuti.

They were taken hostage by villagers supporting the Pathalgadi movement, a rebellion against the government.

When security forces early on Friday entered the village, the abductors fled and the rescue operation was successful.

The four were abducted on June 27, by hundreds of villagers. A massive search operation was launched immediately. More than 2,000 personnel of the police and paramilitary forces were conducting combing operations.

Pathalgadi is an age-old tradition of tribals wherein they erect monoliths in the name of their ancestors on the borders of villages.

From September 2017, the tribals in Khuti had started using Pathalgadi as a form of protest against the Government of India by setting up a parallel administration.

The state government had failed to contain the parallel government run by the tribal Gram Sabha in parts of Khuti.

 

 

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