Archives for September 2022

VARANASI: The district court here is expected to pronounce its orders on Monday on the maintainability of the plea in the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri case, sources said.-ADVERTISEMENT-Ads by 

Five women had filed the petition seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are claimed to be located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque.

The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee has said the Gyanvapi mosque is a Waqf property and has questioned the maintainability of the plea.

District Judge A K Vishvesh had last month reserved the order till September 12 in the communally sensitive matter.

Madan Mohan Yadav, a lawyer of the Hindu side, had claimed that the mosque was constructed after demolishing the temple.

The case is being heard by the district court following an apex court order.

Earlier, a lower court had ordered a videographic survey of the complex.

The survey work was completed on May 16 and the report was presented in the court on May 19.

The Hindu side had claimed in the lower court that a Shivling was found during the videographic survey of the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri complex but it was contested by the Muslim side.

Police Commissioner A Satish Ganesh had on Sunday said prohibitory orders have been clamped in the Varanasi commissionerate area and officers have been asked to interact with religious leaders in their respective areas to ensure that peace is maintained.

To maintain law and order, the entire city has been divided into sectors which have been allocated police force as required, he said, adding directives for flag march and foot march in sensitive areas have also been issued.

Checking has been intensified in the district’s border areas, hotels and guest houses, while an eye is being also kept on social media, the police officer said.

VARANASI: The district court here is expected to pronounce its orders on Monday on the maintainability of the plea in the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri case, sources said.-ADVERTISEMENT-Ads by 

Five women had filed the petition seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are claimed to be located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque.

The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee has said the Gyanvapi mosque is a Waqf property and has questioned the maintainability of the plea.

District Judge A K Vishvesh had last month reserved the order till September 12 in the communally sensitive matter.

Madan Mohan Yadav, a lawyer of the Hindu side, had claimed that the mosque was constructed after demolishing the temple.

The case is being heard by the district court following an apex court order.

Earlier, a lower court had ordered a videographic survey of the complex.

The survey work was completed on May 16 and the report was presented in the court on May 19.

The Hindu side had claimed in the lower court that a Shivling was found during the videographic survey of the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri complex but it was contested by the Muslim side.

Police Commissioner A Satish Ganesh had on Sunday said prohibitory orders have been clamped in the Varanasi commissionerate area and officers have been asked to interact with religious leaders in their respective areas to ensure that peace is maintained.

To maintain law and order, the entire city has been divided into sectors which have been allocated police force as required, he said, adding directives for flag march and foot march in sensitive areas have also been issued.

Checking has been intensified in the district’s border areas, hotels and guest houses, while an eye is being also kept on social media, the police officer said.

Bangladesh PM Sheikh HasinaBangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina (Photo | PTI)By Yeshi SeliExpress News Service
NEW DELHI: On a four-day visit to India beginning Monday, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hopes to enhance trade and strategic ties with New Delhi. Given strong political and diplomatic ties, she and her delegation are hoping to achieve a lot from the visit.

After landing in Delhi, Sheikh Hasina first visited the Nizamuddin Dargah. She later met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Draupadi Murmu tomorrow. On the last day of her visit, she will visit the dargah at Ajmer. Her delegation includes Minister of Commerce Tipu Munshi, Railway Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujan and Liberation War Minister AKM Mozammel Haq.

Sources said river water-sharing, long-term supply of fossil fuel from India, removal of anti-dumping duty on jute exports from Bangladesh, enhancing rail, road and waterway connectivity and border security management are some of the issues that are likely to come up for discussion. The last time Sheikh Hasina came to India was in 2019. Bangladesh today is reeling under the impact of Covid, inflation, food crisis and lower job rates. “This visit is critical for Bangladesh and the visiting delegation hopes to resolve some of the economic and political issues,” said a source.

Bilateral trade between Bangladesh and India has been increasing over time. In 2021, the volume was over $ 14 billion. India has provided duty-free market access to Bangladesh under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) arrangement, which helped Bangladesh to increase its exports. In 2021, Bangladesh’s export to India was about $2 billion. Sources say Bangladesh’s trade deficit with India is rising, and the country is yet to benefit from India’s large import demand, which it fulfils from the global market.
A joint study by India and Bangladesh has highlighted new means for cooperation through the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). This is expected to help realize opportunities in areas of trade, transport and investment connectivity.

Bangladesh is also hoping to get financial support from India under Lines of Credit arrangement in order to go ahead with developmental projects. India has extended $2 billion worth of assistance under LoC, out of which $1 billion has been disbursed. Development projects cover sectors like railways, roads and transport, power generation, petrochemicals, economic zones and ports and shipping among others. However, Dhaka says that in 2010, India had committed to lending about $ 7.86 billion under three LoCs. The funds disbursal is slow as a result of which the desired result hasn’t been achieved.

ON bangla PM’S Agenda

Several pacts, including a water-sharing deal for Kushiyara river
Talks on agreement on the Teesta river water-sharing dispute
Long-term supply of fossil fuel from India, removal of anti-dumping duty on jute
Offering prayers at the famous Khwaja Gharib Nawaz Dargah in Ajmer

BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has assured IT companies about a discussion on the estimated loss of Rs 225 crore due to rain and waterlogging in Bengaluru.-ADVERTISEMENT-Ads by 

He said that he will call and discuss the damages and compensation borne by them due to rain and waterlogging in the state capital.

“We will call the IT companies and speak with them related to the issues that they are facing due to waterlogging. We’ll also discuss the compensation and other related damages that have been caused due to rain,” Bommai told ANI. It comes after the IT companies asked the Chief Minister to solve the outer ring road issue.

Earlier on Monday, Bengaluru reeled under severe waterlogging, as incessant heavy rainfall lashed the city.

Waterlogging led to traffic jams and disruptions in the lives of normal people in several parts of Bengaluru including Koramangala. One of the locals said that waterlogging had taken place due to heavy rainfall, making driving very difficult.

“Too much rain has taken place. We woke up in the morning and saw that waterlogging had started. Water on the road had come up to the level of the divider. After that, we started pumping water out of the road and basement. My whole basement has got submerged under water,” a local resident told ANI.

Another local said that this situation happens yearly and they have to pump out water due to a poor drainage system.

“This happens every year, waterlogging takes place after the rain and we have to pump out water. There is no permanent solution. When the road was being made, the drainage system wasn’t prepared well. It leads to many difficulties for the public, many women have actually slipped and fallen into the water,” another local said.

Earlier in July, Karnataka suffered heavy floods due to rains, after which rescue missions and relief work had to be carried out. Chief Minister Bommai also had to seek financial assistance from the Centre. 

CHANDIGARH:  Last April-May, Arshdeep Singh was trending every time he had the white kookaburra in his hands. At the Indian Premier League (IPL), a grand stage where even the best in the world can wilt under pressure, the 23-year-old left-arm seamer was delivering yorkers for fun. Such was his precision considered the most difficult art to practice in the game that his economy rate in the end overs was better than that of even Jasprit Bumrah.

It was this outstanding ability that made Punjab Kings to retain him ahead of the last player auctions. And the possibility of pairing up with Bumrah at the end overs, where they could be terrorising batters at the T20 World Cup, was the reason why India picked him for the Asia Cup. Yet all it took was one dropped catch–that of Asif Ali in the 17th over of Pakistan’s chase against India at Dubai–for Arshdeep to face abuses on social media.

From being called accused of single-handedly costing India the win, Arshdeep was subjected to abuse by trolls.  During last year’s T20 World Cup, pacer Mohammed Shami faced a similar attack on social media, which led to Virat Kohli coming down heavily on the trolls. This time too there is an outpouring of support for Arshdeep with many former cricketers including Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Abhinav Mukund and Aakash Chopra tweeting in his support.

Punjab’s minister for sports and youth affairs Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer threw his weight behind Arshdeep and spoke to his mother in Dubai. Former Punjab CM Capt. Amarinder Singh on his Facebook page, “It’s unfortunate that Arshdeep Singh is being mocked this much for only dropping one catch…”

KABUL: A suicide bomber struck near the Russian embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday, killing two staff from the diplomatic mission and wounding several other people, the foreign ministry in Moscow said.-

In the first attack targeting a foreign mission since the Taliban seized power in August last year, the bomber blew himself up near the entrance of the embassy’s consular section.

“As a result of the attack, two employees of the diplomatic mission were killed, and there are also Afghan citizens among the wounded,” the Russian foreign ministry said.

Afghan interior ministry spokesman Abdul Nafy Takor gave AFP a different account, saying a suicide attacker was shot dead by Taliban guards at the Russian embassy.

An Afghan civilian was killed and several others wounded, he said.

As with other recent attacks, heavy Taliban security quickly sealed off the area and prevented media from filming nearby.

No group has so far claimed the attack on the embassy.

“Without any doubt, we are talking about a terrorist act, which is absolutely unacceptable,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists in Moscow.

Violence in Afghanistan has largely declined since the Taliban returned to power, but several bomb blasts — some targeting minority communities — have rocked the country in recent months, many claimed by the jihadist Islamic State (IS) group.

Last week, a suicide bomber struck one of western Afghanistan’s biggest mosques, killing at least 18 people, including an influential imam.

Cleric Mujib ur Rahman Ansari, who had called for those who committed even the “smallest act” against the government to be beheaded, was killed in that attack in the city of Herat.

Ansari was the second pro-Taliban cleric to be killed in a blast in less than a month, after an August 11 suicide attack targeted Rahimullah Haqqani at his madrassa in Kabul.

Several mosques across the country have been targeted this year, some in attacks claimed by IS.

At least 21 people were killed and dozens more wounded on August 17 when a blast ripped through a mosque packed with worshippers in Kabul.

IS has primarily targeted minority communities such as Shiites, Sufis and Sikhs.

While IS is a Sunni Islamist group like the Taliban, the two are bitter rivals and greatly diverge on ideological grounds.

Taliban officials claim that IS has been defeated but experts say the group is the main security challenge for the country’s current Islamist rulers.

By ANINEW DELHI: Delhi police have arrested a person, accused of stealing over 5,000 vehicles and being a supplier of illegal arms. The accused identified as Anil Chauhan was a class-1 contractor in the Assam Government, police said

According to, Shweta Chauhan, DCP Central District, the recent spurt in the supply of illegal arms in areas of Central Delhi had instigated Delhi police to curb these activities. A team of Special staff was given the responsibility to curb these activities. In compliance of the directions, the team of special staff contacted secret informers, and information was obtained from them.

Accused, Anil Chauhan was arrested in Delhi after receiving information about his arrival in Delhi by Special Staff under the jurisdiction of Deshbandhu road police station. One illegal country-made pistol, two live cartridges, and one stolen motorcycle were recovered from him.

During the course of the investigation, five more country-made pistols and a stolen car were recovered from him.

According to police, Accused Anil Chauhan had been previously accused in 180 criminal cases and had been convicted for 5 years in a criminal case registered in Nizammudin police station.

From 1997, accused Anil Chauhan is alleged to have stolen 5,000 vehicles and was arrested multiple times and sent to jail. The accused was a Class-I contractor in the Assam government.