Nasheman

India's largest selling Urdu weekly, now also in English

You are here: Home / Archives for 2018

Archives for 2018

Reddy and Sommanna’s Controversial statements cost party bypoll loss

by

BJP leaders alleged that the statements given by two of the BJP party member cost them heavily in the bypolls held on November 3 and utmost care would be taken to avoid such mistakes in the forthcoming elections.

BJP sources on Thursday, November 15  told that BJP would have won in Jamakandhi and Ballari constituency if two of its leaders had not given any controversial statement just few days ahead of the elections. Former minister Janardhan Reddy and V Sommanna hurt the feelings of the people as a result of which BJP lost the bypolls.

Janardhan Reddy’s statement about the death of former CM Siddaramaiah’s son and V Sommanna’s statement that Sriramulu will be the next Chief Minister resulted in the division of votes of people belonging to Kuruba and Lingayat community informed sources.

PTI

 

Kerala HC rejects anticipatory bail appil of activist Rehana Fathima

by

The Kerala High Court Friday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of activist Rehana Fathima, who had made an attempt to enter into Sabarimala when the temple was opened for monthly puja in October after the Supreme Court order allowing entry of women in the age group of 10 and 50 into the Lord Ayyappa shrine.

The activist was booked by the police in Pathanamthitta on the basis of a complaint filed by Radhakrishna Menon alleging some of her Facebook posts hurt religious sentiments.

She was booked under Section 295A of IPC (outraging religious feelings).

Anticipating arrest, she moved the high court seeking anticipatory bail.

Dismissing the bail plea, the court directed that the police can take appropriate steps in the case.

Fathima, a model and activist who was part of “Kiss of Love” movement in Kochi in 2014 against alleged moral policing, was among the two women who had reached the hilltop on October 19 but had to return before reaching the sanctum sanctorum following massive protests by Ayyappa devotees.

Fathima and Hyderabad-based journalist Kavitha were taken to the hills with heavy police protection.

Meanwhile, the high court has granted bail to six people arrested for allegedly attacking police and preventing devotees at Nilackal, near Pamba, when the temple doors were opened for monthly puja last month.

Several journalists were attacked by devotees when the temple was opened for six days on October 17 for the first time after the Supreme Court order.

On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, headed by then chief justice Dipak Misra, lifted the centuries-old ban on the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine but a section of devotees is protesting the decision.

PTI

Over 100 suspected Rohingya arrested in Myanmar

by

According to the UN, more than 700,000 Rohingya fled a sweeping army crackdown in Myanmar in 2017 [AP]

Myanmar immigration authorities arrested more than 100 suspected Rohingya on board a boat off Yangon, officials said, raising fears of a fresh wave of dangerous voyages after a 2015 crackdown on people smugglers.

The boat carrying 106 people was stopped some 30 kilometres south of Myanmar’s largest city and senior police officials were on the way to investigate them, Kyaw Htay, an immigration officer from the Kyauktan township, told Reuters news agency.

“It’s possible that they are from Rakhine. Like in previous years, it is possible they are Bengali from Rakhine,” Kyaw Htay was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Many people in Myanmar refer to the Rohingya as “Bengali”, implying they are undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh.

More than 700,000 Rohingya fled a sweeping army crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state last year, according to United Nations agencies.

The Rohingya said soldiers and local Buddhists massacred families, burned hundreds of villages, and carried out gang rapes.

UN-mandated investigators have accused the Myanmar army of “genocidal intent” and ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar has denied almost all of the allegations, saying security forces were battling “terrorists”.

Attacks by Rohingya armed groups calling themselves the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army preceded the crackdown.

Officials and aid workers told Reuters last week that dozens of Rohingya in Myanmar and Bangladesh had boarded boats to try to reach Malaysia in recent weeks, after the end of the monsoon rains in early October.

Observers warn that because the smuggling routes to Thailand have been disrupted and the journey is treacherous and expensive, more and more Rohingya are opting for a cheaper and shorter trip along the Bay of Bengal coast south to Yangon.

Aye Mya Mya Myo, a lower house legislator for Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party from Kyauktan, posted pictures of a rickety boat crammed with women wearing headscarves, men and children on Facebook.

Will UN’s Myanmar ‘genocide’ accusation amount to change?

On some images, police officials kept watch over squatting people from the boat.

She said there were 50 men, 31 women and 25 children on the boat.

It resembled vessels the Rohingya typically use to escape the apartheid-like conditions in Rakhine, where they are denied free movement and access to decent education and healthcare.

For years, Rohingya on both sides of the border have boarded boats organised by smugglers in the dry months between November and March, when the sea is calm. The perilous journey to Thailand and Malaysia, often undertaken in overcrowded vessels, has cost many lives.

Thailand cracked down on the trade after discovering a series of mass graves in 2015, leading to a crisis when smugglers abandoned their human cargo and left boats adrift in the Andaman Sea.

Meanwhile, Myanmar’s neighbouring country, Indonesia, said it is ready to help resolve the Rohingya crisis.

“Indonesia is ready … to help the Myanmar government to create a conducive condition in the Rakhine State, where freedom of movement should be respected,” Indonesian President Joko Widodo was quoted by the country’s Antara news agency as saying, at the sidelines of a regional summit in Singapore on Friday.

Aljazeera

India has Rs 1,500 cr bank guarantee on offsets in Rafale deal

by

 India has secured a bank guarantee for about Rs 1,500 crore from Dassault in the Rafale jet deal as a safeguard against any violations of the offset policy prepared in accordance with the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP), a leading financial daily said on Friday.

A special clause in the deal, which mandates that five per cent of the total offset value be kept as a buffer in case of non-performance, was invoked after officials insisted that the safeguard was needed to protect interests, it added.

According to The Economic Times, this was in line with similar provisions that are in place when it comes to direct government defence deals with the US.

The 185 million euro bank guarantee has been deposited and will remain valid for seven years, the report said citing people familiar with the deal.

This is in addition to the “letter of comfort” given by France that would underwrite the sale of 36 Rafale fighter jets.

The government had told the Supreme Court earlier this week that there was no sovereign guarantee from France in Rafale deal but there was a letter of comfort.

The report said that the Defence Ministry would reserve the right to cash the bank guarantee if it feels that the offset guidelines have been violated or that the French manufacturers have not executed them in the quantum promised.

It said that the special clause was put in place as per the 2013 DPP that mandates that the vendor shall be required to furnish a performance bond equal to five per cent of the offset obligation, which is required to be fulfilled during the period of the main procurement contract.

The report said that offsets have been a part of most major defence deals since 2006 but the ministry has faced major problems in implementing the offsets policy, mostly due to the large quantum to be discharged and a rigidity of rules that do not give flexibility to foreign vendors.

It said that the US companies Lockheed Martin and Textron have been slapped with penalties for failing to meet offsets.

These penalties were recovered from the five per cent bank guarantees that had been secured at the time of the contracts.

The deal to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to France in 2015.

The Indian Negotiating Team (INT) held 74 meetings in 12 months from May 2015 to April 2016, including 48 internal meetings and 26 meetings with the French side and the proposal was presented to the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) thrice for getting approvals on various aspects of negotiations.

The proposal to purchase the fighter jets under an inter-government agreement (IGA) was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in August 2016.

IANS

Andhra bars CBI officials from entering state without permission

by


In an unprecedented move, THE Andhra Pradesh government has barred the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from conducting raids or carrying out investigations in the state without its permission.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government issued the orders withdrawing ‘general consent’ to CBI officers to exercise jurisdiction in the state to investigate corruption charges against officials of central government and private persons.

The move by THE Chandrababu Naidu government came amid the continuing crisis in THE CBI in the wake of allegations of corruption against its director Alok Verma by his deputy Rakesh Asthana.

The Principal Secretary (Home) in Andhra Pradesh, A.R. Anuradha, issued the orders dated November 8, exercising powers under Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946,

The state government on August 3 this year had issued orders giving its general consent to the CBI to exercise its powers and jurisdiction in the state. The same has now been revoked as per Section 6 of the DSPE Act.

It is under this Act that CBI exercises its jurisdiction in states. The state governments every year issue notifications to give ageneral consent’ to the investigating agency to probe corruption cases.

Official sources said the move was necessitated by the fact that CBI had lost its credibility and integrity in the wake of recent developments.

The latest move by the TDP government is seen as another flash-point between the state and the Centre after TDP pulled out of BJP-led NDA in March this year.

TDP President and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had been accusing the Modi government of misusing central agencies to target TDP leaders for demanding special category status to the state.

There have been a series of Income Tax searches at the offices and residences of TDP leaders in recent weeks. TDP leaders had also voiced the apprehension that the Centre could use CBI and other agencies to target top leadership of the party.

Following the recent developments in CBI, Naidu had targeted Modi government for what he called damaging the credibility of the premier investigation agency.

Naidu, who is trying to mobilise all opposition parties to form a front against the BJP, alleged that Modi was weakening the central institutions.

IANS

Congress does not want to credit people for choosing ‘chaiwala’ PM: Modi

by


Exploiting to the hilt Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s recent remarks that a “chaiwala” became PM because of Jawaharlal Nehru’s commitment to democracy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday attacked the Congress saying it was not ready to credit people for this but only a dynasty.

He challenged the Congress to appoint someone from outside the Nehru-Gandhi family as party President for five years. He would then accept that Nehru had built a democracy legacy.

“Do a little thing, if you respect democracy. If a chaiwala or Modi became the Prime Minister because of your faith in democracy, policies, role in constitution and due to Nehru, make any good Congress leader the President of your party for at least five years.

“I will accept that Nehruji had such a commitment to democracy that has led to a dedicated Congress leader becoming the President of the party,” Modi said at a public meeting in Chhattisgarh’s Ambikapur.

The Prime Minister’s attack came after Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s remarks while re-launching his book “Nehru: The Invention of India” on November 13 that a chaiwala became the Prime Minister because of Nehru’s policies and institution-building that provided for a democratic framework.

Modi said it will be good for the country if a person outside from the Nehru family became President of the Congress.

“I know it will be good when the country gets out of dynasty politics. But, they are not ready to give credit for this to the 1.25 crore people of this country that a chaiwala became the Prime Minister. They do not want to give credit to BJP and Modi. This is the result of their undemocratic thinking. For this too, they want to give its credit to Nehru,” he added.

India revokes 25 NRI men’s passports over marital discord

by

 
The Indian government has revoked the passports of 25 men living abroad for abandoning their spouses in India, a Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) official said on Friday.

Of these, eight were recommended by the Ministry while the rest involved cases where the state police sought the action.

“We keep receiving such complaints where Non-Resident Indians have been held accountable for abandoning their wives. The action taken depends on priority,” the official said.

Apart from revoking of passport, in some cases the police also has the authority to issue Look-Out-Circulars (LoC).

In criminal matters involving NRIs, the LoC can be issued by the investigating agency in cognisable offences when the husband from overseas is deliberately evading arrest.

It could also be that he is not appearing in the trial court despite non-bailable warrants and other coercive measures or that there is likelihood that he will leave the country to evade trial or arrest.

An inter-ministerial body dealing with matrimonial disputes headed by WCD Secretary Rakesh Srivastava with members from Home Ministry and the External affairs takes the decision of issuing the LoC after the case is scrutinised by the National Commission for Women (NCW).

 

IANS

Mother Cauvery statue comes under fire on social media

by

Environmentalists in Mysore are seeing red over the proposal of the JDS-Congress coalition government’s proposal to build a 125 ft statue of ‘Cauvery Mata’ expected to cost Rs 1,200 crore at the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) reservoir in Mandya district.

While Mysoreans call it a project which is disturbing the heritage of the area, Twitterati have called it a shameful waste of money and cheap politics played in the name of the Cauvery.

“This entire project at the cost of heritage is unnecessary. KRS is not just a tourism site but it also has a heritage value, something like Disney land to overshadow this is unacceptable,” said Sudhir CS, an advocate from Mysore.

Supporting the advocate, wildlife warden Rajkumar D in Mysuru expressed concern over any kind of construction projects around dams that could damage the ecology and said that it needs to be checked if that kind of permission could be granted. Others like environmental engineer Dr K S Lokesh said the move was a good one if executed scientifically and with a sustainable plan in place. However, he said that he had his doubts if this would be the case.

Twitterati mostly expressed displeasure over this project with some of them terming it a political game.
Though Karnataka Minister D K Shivakumar, clarified that the statue of mother Cauvery will not be built from the government funds but through a private-public partnership model, social media was sceptical.

 

 

Cybersecurity conference to discuss attacks on governments, industries

by


Speakers at the AVAR 2018 international cyber security conference will discuss advanced persistent targeted attacks on governments and industries to security for smart cars in the Internet of Things (IoT), said a city-based cyber security major.

India’s K7 Computing will host and organise the three-day conference in association with CERT-In (India’s Computer Emergency Response Team), the company said in a statement issued here on Friday.

It said the 21st Association of the anti-Virus Asia Researchers International Conference, popularly known as AVAR, will be held between November 28 to 30 in Goa.

The theme this year will be “The Dynamic Security Ecosystem”.

AVAR 2018 will provide a platform for 67 speakers from 25 different international security companies to present 41 cutting-edge cybersecurity topics.

“We strongly believe in spreading awareness on the need for wide adoption of cybersecurity solutions to protect data and devices,” J. Kesavardhanan, MD and CEO, K7 Computing, said in the statement.

“AVAR gives us a great opportunity to drive our cybersecurity mandate, bringing the industry together to discuss and develop an advanced roadmap to curb cyber threats.”

Sanjay Bahl, Director General, CERT-In, said: “AVAR is an important technical platform to bring the global cybersecurity industry together to discuss and brainstorm on the technical way forward to deal with the evolving threat landscape.”

IANS

Sabarimala protests: Gender activist Trupti Desai still at Kochi airport

by

Gender activist Trupti Desai and six other women, who arrived here on Friday to visit the Sabarimala temple amid strong protests by Hindu activists, were still at the airport after almost eight hours.

Desai and her group reached Kochi from Pune at around 4.45 a.m.

Angry Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Sangh Parivar activists protested outside the airport, forcing her to remain inside.

When Desai arrived, there were just 100 protesters. The number has now increased to over thousands who have taken position at every entry and exit gate both inside and outside the airport.

Top state BJP leaders have also arrived at the airport.

BJP spokesperson Shoba Surendran said: “We have to tell her to go back as we will not allow her to go out from here. Desai has got all the support from atheists like our Chief Minister who is determined to see that a lady gets to visit the temple.

“She is nothing but an activist who has scant respect for the tradition of Sabarimala. So it’s best that (Pinarayi) Vijayan sees that she is packed off from here at the earliest.”

Despite pleas from the police, Desai said she would not return without visiting the Lord Ayyappa shrine.

Meanwhile, speaking to the media from the Nilackal base camp near the Lord Ayyappa shrine, state Minister for Devasoms (that looks after temples) Kadakampally Surendran said the activist arrived in Kochi after she wrote to the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers of Kerala and Maharashtra.

Senior police officials from Ernakulam district along with others from the district administration and Airport Authority were speaking to Desai, trying to persuade her to return to Mumbai.

Prior to her arrival, the activist wrote to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan requesting for police protection right from the time she steps out of her plane at Kochi on Friday till she takes her return flight out of the state.

The temple is scheduled to open on Friday at 5 p.m. for two months.

The temple town has witnessed protests by Hindu groups and temple tantri since the September 28 Supreme Court verdict that allowed women of all ages to enter the temple that hitherto banned girls and women aged between 10 and 50.

The apex court on Tuesday refused to stay its earlier verdict.

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives