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Over 23% polling in Telangana by 11 a.m.

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Hyderabad Over 23 per cent polling was recorded by 11 a.m. in Telangana Assembly elections on Friday, official said.

According to information reaching the election authorities in Hyderabad, 23.17 per cent of over 2.8 crore voters have cast their votes in the first four hours.

The polling, which began on a dull note at 7 a.m. has picked up in the last two hours. Long queues of voters including women were seen especially in rural areas.

Chief Electoral Officer Rajath Kumar said the polling has so far been peaceful and smooth.

Polling was underway in all the 119 constituencies — 32,815 polling stations spread across 31 districts — in the first full-fledged elections in India’s youngest state.

In some polling centres, the process started late due to technical glitches in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the poll official said.

Of the total electorate, nearly half are women eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the political fortunes of 1,821 candidates including Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao and his 14 cabinet colleagues.

Rajath Kumar said polling will continue till 5 p.m. except in 13 Left Wing Extremism affected constituencies, where it will end an hour early.

Over 50,000 security personnel, including 18,860 drafted from neighbouring states and central forces, were deployed as part of the massive security arrangements.

Over 1.50 lakh polling personnel were on duty to conduct the polling process. As many as 55,329 EVMs and 39,763 control units were arranged for the polling.

For the first time, Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) were installed across the state. The authorities have arranged 42,751 VVPATs, which are attached to the EVMs and will display for seven seconds the choice made by the voter.

The elections were expected to be a close contest between ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which is contesting all seats on its own, and the opposition Congress-led People’s Front that includes Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Communist Party of India and Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS).

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is contesting all seats on its own, is the third key force in some constituencies.

The Bahujan Left Front led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are also contesting majority of the seats.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is contesting eight seats in Hyderabad.

The TRS had opted for dissolution of Assembly in September, eight months before its term was to end.

(IANS)

Australia reach 57/2 at lunch on Day 2 of Adelaide Test (Lead)

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Adelaide Australia lost both the openers before reaching 57/2 at lunch on Day 2 of the opening Test against India at the Adelaide Oval here on Friday.

Usman Khawaja (21 not out) and Shaun Marsh (1 not out) headed back undefeated at the interval as the hosts trailed by 193 runs to the visitors’ first innings total of 250.

The Indian response came quite early in the Aussie innings, with a brilliant inswinger from veteran pacer Ishant Sharma cleaning up Aaron Finch in the very first over for a third-ball duck.

Thereafter, the other opener Marcus Harris (26) and the in-form No.3 Khawaja struck a 45-run stand for the second wicket.

The partnership went on smoothly as both the batsmen looked at ease while facing the pace trio of Ishant, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.

But Harris’ troubles of reading off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was evident from the time the tweaker came in to bowl before eventually falling to the same bowler after a decent start.

Earlier, Australia took just one ball to wrap up the visitors’ innings for the overnight score of 250.

Pacer Josh Hazlewood got the last man Shami (6) caught behind on the very first ball to deny the visitors any addition to the overnight score.

For the hosts, Hazlewood shone with three wickets, while fellow quicks Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins took two scalps each. The spinner Nathan Lyon also bagged a couple of wickets.

Earlier on Thursday, India were reduced to 19/3 before centurion Cheteshwar Pujara’s gritty 16th Test ton (123) anchored the innings to 250/9 at stumps.

Pujara, however fell to a brilliant run out on the last ball of the opening day.

Brief Scores: India 250 (Cheteshwar Pujara 123, Rohit Sharma 37; Josh Hazlewood 3/52, Pat Cummins 2/49) vs Australia 57/2 (Marcus Harris 26, Usman Khawaja 21 not out; Ishant Sharma 1/9).

(IANS)

Congress MP from Bihar Maulana Asrar-ul-Haque Qasmi dead

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Patna Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP from Bihar’s Kishanganj, Maulana Asrar-ul-Haque Qasmi, passed away early on Friday following a heart attack. He was 76.

According to district officials, he died at the Kishanganj Circuit House. He will be buried at his native Tarabadi village.

Qasmi was a noted Islamic scholar and a popular face of the party in the state, particularly in Seemanchal comprising Kishanganj, Purnea, Araria and Katihar districts.

He won the Kishanganj seat on a Congress ticket in the 2009 general elections after five consecutive failures. He retained the constituency in 2014 despite the Narendra Modi wave in Bihar and across the country.

He had defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Dilip Kumar Jaiswal by a margin of over 1 lakh votes in 2014.

He was a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and also a founder member of the All India Milli Council.

(IANS)

We shouldn’t have let India wriggle out of hole: Starc

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 Australia pace spearhead Mitchell Starc feels they had India on the mat and should not have allowed the control to slip towards the end of day one of the first Test at the Adelaide Oval here on Thursday.

India were reduced to 127/6 by the 50th over before Cheteshwar Pujara hit a 246-ball 123 to bail out the tourists, helping them reach 250/9 at close of play.

The pace trio of Starc (2/63), Pat Cummins (2/49) and Jose Hazlewood (2/52) shared six wickets, while spinner Nathan Lyon accounted for another two.

“I thought we bowled really well for four hours, probably pretty well for another hour and probably got it a bit wrong at the end there,” Starc told reporters after the first day’s action.

“Cheteshwar Pujara batted a lot of time. He’s someone who likes to absorb pressure and bat a long time, and credit to him he scored a fantastic hundred today.

“I think if you asked us at the start of the day if we’d take losing the toss and India being 9 for 250 at stumps I think we’d bite your arm off.”

Asked about the wicket, which Pujara said was difficult to bat on, Starc commented: “You can’t judge a wicket until both teams have had a crack. One good day isn’t going to win a series. It’s going to go a long way to helping win a Test but it’s nothing to win a series.

“I think we’ve planned and prepared really well for this week and had a lot of vision to look at, and how India have played in the past.

“They did go quite hard (at the ball) but we bowled exceptionally well for the first four hours, especially when the ball got soft and stopped moving around, the scoreboard never got away from us,” Starc said about keeping the run-rate under control.”

Cummins effected a brilliant run out to dismiss Pujara on the last ball of the day.

Talking about the run-out, Starc said: “It was a special moment for him, especially after a long day in the field. It was a good little effort from him.

“Usman Khawaja 3.0 isn’t it? He’s on fire,” Starc said.

“He’s made a huge effort over the last nine months I guess and it’s showing in his batting and now it’s showing in his fielding. A great catch and probably one he’ll keep bringing up now as well, so a great effort from him.

“It was a great catch and hopefully he’s going to have a great couple of days with the bat as well,” said the pacer.

Starc also shed light on his change of action that has helped him generate movement with the Kookaburra ball.

“I’ve been sort of tweaking a few things and trying a few different things with David Saker, looking at perhaps how I bowled in 2015 throughout that World Cup and trying to perhaps get over my front leg a bit more.

“Little things have worked and hopefully the swing that I’ve got the last couple of weeks hangs around for the summer.

“Just little changes and little cues I used to have that I probably went away from or unknowingly went away from. But it’s nice to see the ball moving around and I think we’ve all been preparing brilliantly for this Test series with a little period off after the Shield game.”

Starc hoped to be more consistent with the ball in the coming days.

“Between the batters and bowlers, our preparation’s been fantastic, so it’s one good day out of a long series. So hopefully, personally I can keep swinging the ball around and being that bit more consistent than I have been in the past,” he added.+

IANS

Outrage over Indian police officer’s killing by ‘cow vigilantes’

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Subodh Kumar Singh was killed when far-right Hindu groups clashed with police in Uttar Pradesh on Monday.

A police officer walks next to the spot where Singh was killed by a mob in Bulandshahr [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]
A police officer walks next to the spot where Singh was killed by a mob in Bulandshahr [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]

The killing of a police officer by so-called cow vigilantes, belonging to far-right Hindu groups, has triggered outrage in India.

Local media reported on Wednesday that Yogesh Raj, the main suspect behind the violence, is absconding and remains to be arrested.

Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was killed on Monday when villagers, many of them members of far-right Hindu groups, clashed with police in Uttar Pradesh state’s Bulandshahr district, about 100km from the Indian capital, New Delhi.

The villagers were protesting the alleged inability of police in Chingrawathi village to stop cow slaughtering, claiming that animal carcasses – including of cows – were found in the area. A police outpost was torched, while a young man, who was allegedly part of the mob, also died in the rioting.

The police officer’s killing following a cow-slaughter protest was the first-of-its-kind in India, where Muslims and low-caste Dalits have been frequently attacked over the issue in the past.

Accused releases video

Four men have been arrested so far in connection with the killing of Singh, while more than two dozen people are facing charges, including of rioting and destroying property. Seven Muslims, including two minors aged 11 and 12, were also charged by the police for cow slaughter.

A video purportedly showing the moments leading to the killing of the police officer appeared on Wednesday.

While police said they were still looking for Raj, from the Hindu right-wing group Bajrang Dal, reports on Wednesday said he had issued a video, claiming innocence and making contradictory statements over the incident.

Raj claimed he was not present at Chingrawathi, where the violent protests broke out over the alleged cow slaughter in the nearby Mahaw village of Bulandshahr district.

Raj, instead, claimed he was at a police station in Syana, a hamlet near Bulandshahr, where he said he had gone to register a report about the incident.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh police hinted at a “conspiracy” behind the violence since it occurred as tens of thousands of Muslims gathered for a religious event in Bulandshahr.

‘No word on police officer’s killing’

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a hardline Hindu monk known for his anti-Muslim remarks, called a meeting in state capital Lucknow on Tuesday.

At the time of the incident, Adityanath was touring the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh to campaign for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of local assembly elections.

An investigation into allegations of cow slaughter was ordered by Adityanath, but local reports said he did not address Singh’s killing in the Lucknow meeting.

“The UP Chief Minister directed officials for a thorough probe in the incident. Instructions were also issued to take stringent action against people involved in cow slaughter,” a senior government official told reporters after the meeting.

Adityanath is expected to visit Singh’s family on Thursday, Indian news agency ANI reported.

A special investigation team has been formed by the Uttar Pradesh government to investigate the cause of the violence.

India: Village mourns death of man killed in cow-related lynching

Meanwhile, the slain officer’s family has also allegeda police conspiracy and demanded justice for his killing.

Singh was part of the team that initially investigated the infamous 2015 lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq, a 52-year-old resident of Bisara village, over allegations of cow slaughter in a district neighbouring Bulandshahr.

Cow vigilantism

India’s Hindu majority regards cows as holy and their slaughter is banned in most Indian states.

Hindu vigilantes often roam the roads in northern India to protect cows, frequently resulting in assaults against India’s Muslim population – some 14 percent of the country’s 1.3 billion people.

In recent years, there have been a string of deadly attacks on Muslims and low-caste Dalits over cattle slaughter and beef consumption.

According to data analytics site India Spend, almost 80 cases of cow-related violence were reported in India between 2012 and 2017.

At least 39 people have been killed in such violence since 2014 when the Hindu nationalist BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, came to power.

As India heads to crucial elections in the coming months, including the national elections due early next year, many fear such polarising issues will continue to be raised by the Hindu far-right to mobilise voters.

Aljazeera

Bollywood Round Up 2

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Filmmaker Sriram Raghavan & Writer Shridhar Raghavan Enthralled The Audiences
 
Talented duo of Siblings namely filmmaker Sriram Raghavan & writer Shridhar Raghavan enthralled the audiences at IFFI Goa 2018 with anecdotes from their years of growing up together in Pune & their journey through the film industry.
Speaking about how they fell in love with cinema, Sriram said, “As a kid I loved movies, that’s the only escape I had”, to which Shridhar added that, “We grew up in Pune next to the Apollo & Alankar cinema halls where we would watch all kinds of films from the past & the present, Hindi & Hollywood. One time I bunked school for 6 months and just watched films. Much like how kids do today using torrents.”
On being asked why it took him 17 long years to make his 1st ever feature film after passing out of the Film  & Institute of India (FTII), Sriram said that, “Hindi cinema in the 90’s wasn’t the kind of films I wanted to make. Also I took time finding out my voice. My critical faculty was much better than my writing ability & hence I didn’t like anything I wrote.”
To the amusement of everyone in the hall, Shridhar added that. “With Sriram screenwriting is like Kamasutra. He tries every position & angle.”
A lot of discussion revolved around his latest thriller, Andhadhun, a film that’s still running to packed houses. Asked about the ending Sriram was cryptic as always. He asked the audiences to telling him what they felt. Shridhar felt that what one thought of the ending revealed a lot about how they looked at the world & human nature. The primarily young student filmmaker community in the audiences asked the duo multiple questions on their writing & filmmaking process, which the siblings answered in detail.

Rs 3,719 cr assistance given to Kerala, Nagaland, Andhra

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 The Centre on Thursday approved additional assistance of Rs 3,719.07 crore to Kerala, Nagaland and Andhra Pradesh that were affected by floods, landslides and cyclone over the past few months.

From the National Disaster Response Fund, Rs 3,048.39 crore will be provided to Kerala, Rs 131.16 crore to Nagaland and Rs 539.52 crore to Andhra Pradesh, said a Home Ministry statement.

The decision was taken in a committee meeting chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and senior officers of the three ministries attended the meeting.

Heavy security in Ayodhya on Babri demolition’s 26th anniversary

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Heavy security in Ayodhya on Babri demolition's 26th anniversary
Heavy security deployment has been made in this temple town in Uttar Pradesh on the 26th anniversary of the razing of the 16th century Babri mosque by a Hindu mob.

Major roads have been barricaded and vigil has been stepped up around the disputed site. People visiting the temple of Ram Lalla, that was set up hurriedly on the ruins of the mosque, are being frisked thoroughly.

Checking of vehicles at all entry points has been enhanced. Special teams are monitoring entry of outsiders into the town.

Police teams are patrolling sensitive areas and prohibitory orders have been clamped barring the assembly of five or more people.

A district official told IANS that while the ‘darshan’ of Ram Lalla is allowed like all days, crowds have been asked not to raise any slogans.

Bomb disposal and dog squads have been spotted at major thoroughfares.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Iqbal Ansari, the lone Muslim litigant in the Ayodhya dispute, has said that he has received a threatening letter.

According to him, the letter writer has asked him to withdraw his claim in the court or else he will be eliminated. Police have increased security at Ansari’s house.

IANS

Bollywood Round Up

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A Candid Chat With Varun Dhawan & David Dhawan
 
It is a lesser known fact that David Dhawan started his journey as a filmmaker with editing and the latter is a craft he enjoys more than any other. That his actual name is Rajinder & David was a name fondly given to him by a Jew family in Kolkata, is another trivia. The In-Conversation session titled, “Dha-One”, featuring David Dhawan & his superstar son Varun Dhawan was full of such lesser-known facts surrounding the Dhawan family, a candid recollection of David & Varun’s journey in films and the changes in the film industry from the duo’s point of view. The massive DMK auditorium at Kala Academy failed to contain the huge swarm of Varun Dhawan’s fans who did not stop cheering, whistling & expressing their love for the young icon.
While recollecting his foray into the world of acting, Varun Dhawan was quite vocal about his love for films of darker shades. The actor was all praise for films like Dhobi Ghat, Black Friday & Badlapur. Varun said, “I would have given my right arm to be launched by Anurag Kashyap”, to which David quipped, “Thank God, not!” The senior Dhawan further added, “When I learnt that he had auditioned for Dhobi Ghat, I suggested him to give up the idea and instead do ‘proper’ Bollywood cinema. Later, when Karan (Johar) told me that he is casting Varun in a lead role in his film, I thought ‘what can be better than this?’ I asked Varun to step on his shoulder and take the leap.”
Using the example of the blockbuster film Amar Akbar Anthony, David said, “The scene where the brothers collectively donate blood to their mother still attracts applause. The idea is impractical, but cinema is all about what you make the audience believe. You’re selling dreams, at the end of the day.”
While speaking about what drew him to acting, Varun said, “I always wanted to be the funny guy in the group. I dreamt of owning a channel and do talk shows. I used to be obsessed with improvised  comedy.”
The session moderated by Rumi Jaffery then touched upon varied facets of the Dhawan family, including Varun’s brother Rohit Dhawan who is also a filmmaker, the bonding between the brothers, their mother & the times of growing up.
When asked if he was nervous about his debut film, Student Of The Year (SOTY), Varun surprisingly dismissed the notion. He said, “We all (Varun, Alia & Siddharth) were debutante actors. So Student Of The Year (SOTY) was all Karan’s headache. I knew that if the film did not do well, the blame would be all on Karan. I was stressed in the true sense for the 1st time ever before the release of Main Tera Hero. That was my first solo hero film. I was desperate to convince the audience that I’m their hero who can laugh, cry, dance & romance, be funny & do everything that a hero does.”
The actor said he is very excited about his upcoming film, Kalank, and that he is eager to see how the audience receives him & the film.

Pak-India trade much below full potential of $37 billion: World Bank

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 The current level of trade between Pakistan and India is valued at a little over $2 billion, but it could be as high as $37 billion if both neighbours agree to tear down artificial barriers, the World Bank said in a report.

The report, “Glass Half Full: Promise of Regional Trade in South Asia”, was released here on Wednesday.

The bank also estimated Pakistan’s potential trade with South Asia at $39.7 billion against the actual current trade of $5.1 billion, Dawn online reported.

In order to achieve the real potential of regional trade, the bank suggested the removal of unnecessary non-tariff barriers within the region, increase people to people contacts, improve road and air connectivity and liberalize trade within South Asia.

Sanjay Kathuria, lead economist and author of the document, talking to the media at the World Bank office here said trust promotes trade, and trade fosters trust, interdependency and constituencies for peace.

In this context, he added, the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor by governments of Pakistan and India would help minimise trust deficit, the daily reported.

For realising the trade potential between Pakistan and India, Kathuria said the two countries should start with specific products facilitation in the first phase.

Calling connectivity a key enabler for robust regional cooperation in South Asia, Kathuria said Pakistan had least air connectivity with South Asian countries, especially India.

Pakistan has only six weekly flights each with India and Afghanistan, 10 each with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and only one with Nepal, but no flight with the Maldives and Bhutan.

Compared to this, India has 147 weekly flights with Sri Lanka, followed by 67 with Bangladesh, 32 with the Maldives, 71 with Nepal, 22 with Afghanistan and 23 with Bhutan.

Kathuria said reducing policy barriers, such as eliminating the restrictions on trade at the Wagah-Attari border, or aiming for seamless, electronic data interchange at border crossings, will be major steps towards reducing the high costs of trade between Pakistan and India.

He added that the costs of trade were much higher within South Asia compared to other regions.

World Bank Country Director for Pakistan Illango Patchamuthu said the country was sitting on a huge trade potential that remained largely untapped. “A favourable trading regime that reduces the high costs and removes barriers can boost investment opportunities that are critically required for accelerating growth in the country,” he said.

IANS

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