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Archives for July 2018

Telugu film critic arrested for hurting religious sentiments

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Hyderabad police have arrested Telugu film critic Kathi Mahesh for making derogatory comments against Lord Rama and Sita.

Banjara Hills police took him into custody late on Monday. He would be produced before a magistrate later on Tuesday.

Mahesh, who also acted in a few films, was booked by the police two days ago on a complaint lodged by leaders of Hindu Janasakthi alleging that he made the offensive comments during a debate on a television channel.

A case was registered against him for hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity and hatred.

Angry over Mahesh’s remarks, activists of some right-wing Hindu organisations on Saturday tried to attack him when he was at the office of a news channel in Banjara Hills.

Mumbai bridge crash: Railway Minister orders probe

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Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday ordered an inquiry soon after a portion of a foot overbridge crashed on the Western Railway tracks in Mumbai, injuring three persons.

“Part of road overbridge has fallen on tracks near Andheri Station impacting rail traffic. Directed officials to speed up repair work and rapidly restore traffic in close coordination with other departments.

“I have also ordered an inquiry by Commissioner of Rail Safety,” Goyal tweeted.

A portion of the Gokhale Bridge, on S.V. Road, which connects Andheri East and Andheri West crashed on at 7.30 a.m following heavy overnight rains.

The crash has affected Mumbai’s lifeline — the suburban train services.

Mumbai bridge crashes on rail tracks, 5 injured

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A section of a foot overbridge here caved in over the Western Railway (WR) tracks during Tuesday morning’s peak hours following incessant rain, leaving five persons injured, and creating a scare among the commuters, an official said.

The crash has affected Mumbai’s lifeline — the suburban train services, which ferries around eight million commuters daily.

The injured, who include one woman, have been admitted to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s R.N. Cooper Hospital in Vile Parle, a BMC official said. One of them is critical.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Heavy overnight rains and waterlogging in many areas is suspected to be the cause of the crash of the structure, known as the Gokhale Bridge, on S.V. Road, which connects Andheri East and Andheri West.

There were no immediate confirmation whether the injured were commuters or pedestrians. Rescue operations continued to save those believed to be trapped under the debris.

Work was also on to remove the debris from the WR tracks which blocked services in both directions, hitting hard the Mumbai commuters bound for their offices.

According to WR spokesperson C.N.K. David, the portion of the bridge crashed at around 7.30 a.m. on the the southern-end of the Andheri platform numbers 7-8.

The falling bridge damaged a portion of the platform roof, blocked the railway lines and damaged the high-tension electric wires and overhead power equipments, he added.

“The restoration work is in full swing and we hope to resume normal train services in the next few hours,” David said.

The WR said trains were being operated between Goregaon-Virar on the northern side and Bandra-Churchgate in the southern direction, besides Harbour Line from Bandra-CST, and several long-distance trains were rescheduled.

The Commissioner of Railway Safety will investigate the incident which has triggered a blame-game between the WR and the BMC.

While the WR said the bridge belongs to the BMC, the latter said the crash took place on the railway portion which was the WR’s responsibility for repairs and maintenance.

With several lakhs of commuters stranded all over the network, the civic transport body BEST deployed 40 additional bus services between Goregaon-Bandra to clear the rush.

The cascading effect was also seen on the Western Express Highway, the main S.V. Road, Link Road and other arterial roads with traffic jams all over.

As a precautionary measure, Mumbai police have stopped all traffic above and below the bridge till the green signal from the railway authorities.

Mumbai’s Dabbawalas have suspended all their tiffin box deliveries on Tuesday on the Western Railway routes but would continue on other routes.

US aims to reduce Iran’s oil revenue to zero

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The US State Department has spelled out a campaign of “maximum economic and diplomatic pressure” to drive Iran towards negotiating a “better” deal to replace the Iran nuclear deal.

State Department Director of Policy Planning Brian Hook told reporters on Monday that Iran is not a “normal” country and must meet 12 demands in order to be relieved of US sanctions.

“Normal countries don’t terrorize other nations, proliferate missiles and impoverish their own people,” Hook said.

“This new strategy is not about changing the regime, it is about changing the behavior of the leadership in Iran to comport with what the Iranian people really want them to do,” he said.

The State Department said new sanctions, which it described as “snap back” sanctions, will begin on August 4, targeting Iran’s automotive sector and its trade in gold and other key metals.

The second set of sanctions will snap back on November 6. This set will target Iran’s energy sector, focusing on petroleum-related transactions, plus transactions with the central bank of Iran.

The move comes two months after US President Donald Trump announced US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

International pressure
US officials called on countries to cut all imports of Iranian oil when it re-imposes sanctions on Tehran.

It called on allies in Europe, Asia and the Middle East to adhere to the sanctions with the aim of pressuring Iran into negotiating a new agreement.

Hook said he planned to meet with European allies Britain, France and Germany at the end of the week to discuss Iran. He also said he and senior Treasury Department officials would visit Gulf states “in the coming days.”

Hook told reporters that the goal of the United States was to get as many countries as possible down to zero Iranian oil imports.

“Our goal is to increase pressure on the Iranian regime by reducing to zero its revenue on crude oil sales,” Hook said.

“We are working to minimize disruptions to the global market but we are confident there is sufficient global spare oil capacity.”

Hook said more than 50 international firms have already announced their intention to leave the Iranian market, especially in the energy and financial sectors.

“We have been clear with countries and companies around the world that we are bringing severe economic pressure on Iran until the regime changes its destabilizing policies,” Hook said.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman promised Trump at the weekend that he would raise oil production if needed and that the country has 2 million barrels per day of spare capacity to boost output, the White House said.

In a tweet on Saturday, Trump said the extra Saudi oil would help offset a decline in supply from Iran.

He was not specific on whether the additional two million barrels was a per-day figure – but worldwide daily demand is nearing 100 million bpd.

Tharoor moves anticipatory bail plea

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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is an accused in the suicide case of his wife Sunanda Pushkar, on Tuesday moved an anticipatory bail plea in a sessions court here.

Additional Sessions Judge Arvind Kumar listed the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.

The court has also sought response of the Delhi Police on Tharoor’s plea.

On June 5, the court took cognisance of the charge-sheet filed by the police in the case.

The 62-year-old parliamentarian from Thiruvananthapuram has been asked to appear before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal on July 7, the next date fixed for hearing in the case.

Pushkar, 51, died under mysterious circumstances in a hotel room in south Delhi on January 17, 2014, days after she alleged that her husband was having an affair with a Pakistani journalist.

INX case: HC extends Chidambaram’s interim protection from arrest

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The Delhi High Court on Tuesday extended interim protection from arrest to senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram in the INX Media case till August 1.

Justice A.K. Pathak directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) not to take any coercive action against Chidambaram till August 1, the next date fixed for the hearing.

Meanwhile, the CBI sought more time to file a response on Chidambaram’s anticipatory bail plea as they may require to conduct the custodial interrogation of the accused.

On May 31, Delhi High Court granted interim protection from arrest to Chidambaram in the INX Media case till July 3.

His son Karti was arrested on February 28 for allegedly taking money to facilitate Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media in 2007 when his father was the Union Finance Minister in the UPA government. Later, Karti was granted bail.

On May 30, a special court granted interim protection to Chidambaram from arrest till June 5 in the Aircel-Maxis deal case.

Earlier, the court granted interim protection to Karti Chidambaram from arrest till July 10 in the Aircel-Maxis deal case.

The CBI and ED are investigating how Karti Chidambaram managed to get a clearance from the FIPB in the Aircel-Maxis deal when his father P. Chidambaram was the Finance Minister in 2006.

CRPF trooper foils weapon snatching attempt in Srinagar

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A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper on Tuesday foiled a weapon snatching attempt here, police said.

Three persons using chilli powder attempted to snatch away the weapon from the CRPF trooper in Humhama area near the Srinagar International Airport, a police officer said.

“After their attempt failed, they escaped,” the officer added.

Senior Gujarat Congress MLA joins BJP, to be made minister

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Accusing Congress President Rahul Gandhi of playing caste politics and ignoring the aspirations of senior leaders, veteran Gujarat Congress MLA and prominent Koli community leader Kunwarji Bawalia on Tuesday quit as a legislator to join the ruling BJP. He will be sworn in as a minister in the evening.

A four-time MLA from Jasdan and former Lok Sabha member from Rajkot in 2009, Bawalia handed over his resignation to Speaker Rajendra Trivedi. He subsequently went to the BJP’s “Shree Kamalam” state headquarters and met the party’s state President Jitu Vaghani and two other cabinet ministers to join the party.

The Koli community leader, who has been sulking ever since the December 2017 elections for being ignored for any key party position, said: “Gandhi has been playing caste politics at the cost of the aspirations of senior party men and even the state Congress leadership was doing the same.”

“This has been playing on my mind for some time since I was unable to carry out public welfare works without interruption because of internal politicking in the party.

“On the other hand, I had been watching how Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the national level and Chief Minister Vijay Rupani at the state level has been working for public good,” he told reporters after joining the BJP.

Welcoming Bawalia, State BJP chief Jitubhai Vaghani said: “Such a senior leader from the Koli community, he is president of the All-India Koli Samaj, would be big a asset for the party.

“This is why Chief Minister Rupani has decided to induct him as a minister today (Tuesday).”

“He will be sworn in at 4 p.m.,” Vaghani added.

Bawalia said: “Narendra Modi had sentimental relations with me and often told me that the BJP was on the lookout for sincere leaders like me. And the way he is running the government at the national level, he is wedded to development of the country. Ditto Vijay Rupani in Gujarat.”

His resignation comes days after another leader from Rajkot, former legislator Indranil Rajyaguru, quit alleging that the Congress leadership ignored the aspirations of several party seniors.

Rajyaguru had unsuccessfully contested Gujarat Assembly elections in December 2017, against Vijay Rupani.

The richest MLA from Gujarat, Rajyaguru had vacated his safe Rajkot East constituency to taken on the chief minister.

Mumbai trains hit as bridge part crashes

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A portion of a foot overbridge crashed on the Western Railway tracks, hitting the suburban train services here during Tuesday morning peak hours, an official said.

Heavy overnight rains and waterlogging in many areas is suspected to be the cause of the crash of the structure, known as the Gokhale Bridge, on S.V. Road.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties as search operations were launched by the Fire Brigade and other rescue agencies.

Work was on to remove the debris from the WR tracks which blocked services in both directions, hitting hard the Mumbai commuters bound for their offices.

Mumbai’s Dabbawalas have suspended all their tiffin box deliveries on Tuesday on the WR routes, but would continue on other routes.

Pakistan condemns suicide attack in Afghanistan

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Pakistan on Monday condemned a terror attack in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad city that killed 19 people, including Sikhs and Hindus.

Afghan public health officials said 20 people were injured in the explosion that occurred outside the compound where Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was holding meetings on Sunday. He was not harmed.

The slain Sikhs were scheduled to meet Ghani.

“We are distressed and grieved at the loss of precious human lives. We express our deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives and pray for early recovery of the injured,” Pakistan Foreign Ministry said.

The attack came a day after Ghani ordered Afghan security forces to resume offensive operations against the Taliban following the expiration of the government’s 18-day ceasefire.

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