Archives for September 2022

CHENNAI/NEW DELHI/BENGALURU/VIJAYAWADA/KOCHI: In one of their biggest joint operations against terror funding and terror activities, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday arrested 106 activists of the Popular Front of India (PFI) from 93 locations across 15 states, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi even as top officials met to discuss a likely ban on the organisation.

During the coordinated nationwide operation, which began at around 3:30 am, PFI Chairman O M A Salam, national general secretary V P Nasarudeen Elamaram and the organisation’s Delhi unit head Parvez Ahmed, among others, were taken into custody. Salam was picked up from his home at Kerala’s Malappuram, after the place was searched. Ahmed’s residence in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar was also raided.

Raids were also carried out in Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, West Bengal, Bihar and Manipur. The NIA said 45 of the total arrests were made by the agency. Even as the raids and arrests were underway, Union Home Minister Amit Shah met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and NIA Director-General Dinkar Gupta to discuss details of the case, the likely fallout and implications.

“While 19 accused have been arrested from Kerala, 11 have been arrested from Tamil Nadu, 7 from Karnataka, 4 from Andhra Pradesh, 2 from Rajasthan, 1 each from UP and Telangana,” an NIA statement read. Among the arrested leaders in Kerala were PFI’s state president C P Mohammed Basheer, national council member P Koya and senior functionaries Jaseer K P, Shafeer K P, E Abu Backer, E M Abdul Rahiman, Najumudeen, Sainuddeen T S, Yahiya Koya Thangal, K Muhammedali, C T Sulaiman, P K Usman, Karamana Ashraf Moulavi, Sadiq Ahmed, Shihas, Ansari P and M M Mujeeb.

The 11 PFI functionaries arrested in Tamil Nadu were identified as Syed Ishaaq, Advocate Khalid Mohammed, A M Idris, Mohamed Abuthahir, S Khaja Maideen, Yasar Arafat, Barakathullah, Fayaz Ahamed, M Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Mohammed Yousuf and A S Ismail. 

In Karnataka, the NIA, with help of local police searched suspects’ locations in Bengaluru and Mangaluru and arrested Anis Ahmed, Afsar Pasha, Abdul Wahid Sait, Yasar Arafath Hasan, Mohammed Shakif alias Shakif, Mohammed Farooq ur Rahman and Shahid Nasir.

Sources said documents, cash, sharp-edged weapons and large number of digital devices were seized during the raids. The NIA is investigating a total of 19 PFI-related cases, including five registered on Thursday. 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Shashi Tharoor may get a berth in the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body, regardless of the fate of the election for the party president post. The decision was taken when the Thiruvananthapuram MP met AICC interim chief Sonia Gandhi earlier this week

“Tharoor has always ensured he maintains a warm relationship with the Gandhi family even when he was with G23. The Gandhis too appreciate his potential and are aware of the harm he is capable of inflicting if he decides to leave Congress,” said a source, adding that Gandhis believe that the CWC berth is enough to keep Tharoor in good spirits.

The Gandhi family has also managed to convince Ashok Gehlot to step down as Rajasthan CM and hand over the post to bete noire Sachin Pilot. Gehlot is likely to resign around the AICC polls as per the agreement. Apparently, pressure tactics by the 71-year-old to make loyalist and Rajasthan speaker C P Joshi the CM did not work.

“Gehlot tried his best to convince Rahul that he can handle both the posts. However, Rahul made it clear it was not possible,” said a source. “Priyanka Gandhi too was adamant that Pilot be made CM,” he said. Rahul made this clear in Kochi when he mentioned the ‘one-man, one-post’ decision taken at the Udaipur Chintan Shivir.

“There is a feeling that Pilot was sidelined in Rajasthan Congress since Gehlot became CM for the third time in 2018. Pilot cannot be sidelined anymore as the Rajasthan assembly elections are due in December 2023. Moreover, Rahul’s padayatra will be in the state for 21 days. If the imbroglio in Congress continues, it will tarnish his yatra,” said a source close to Pilot.

Another source said Gehlot, in his ‘desperation’, is trying every trick in the book to ensure Pilot does not succeed him. “There are attempts from Gehlot camp to prolong his resignation until Diwali or till the December elections. However, this is not likely to succeed as Rahul would want the issue to be resolved before the yatra reaches Rajasthan during October-November,” said the source.

Rahul’s advice to new AICC chief

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said his advice to whoever becomes the new AICC head would be that it is not just an organisational post but an ideological one. “It (the post) is a belief system,” he told reporters in Kochi 

NEW DELHI: When Russian President Vladimir Putin met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the SCO Summit in Samarkand on Friday last, he said he would end the war in Ukraine soon.-ADVERTISEMENT-Ads by 

In less than a week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reaffirmed that Russia is considering ending the conflict. Erdogan, who was present at the SCO Summit and had a bilateral with Modi, said on Tuesday his impressions after talks with Putin suggest there could be an end to the war, beginning with the ceasefire.

In a related development, separatist leaders of Ukraine’s Russian-controlled areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia announced dates for a referendum to formally join the Russian Federation. Reports also suggest that Russia is mulling and swapping 200 prisoners with Ukraine. Turkey has been actively trying to find some middle ground.

“Together, we need to find a reasonably practical diplomatic solution that will give both sides a dignified way out of the crisis,” Erdogan told the opening session of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. During the SCO Summit, Modi had told Putin that “this was no era for war”.

“We will do our best to stop this as soon as possible,’’ Putin said in response. “The war will end when both sides feel that it is best that they can get out of it. A similar situation occurred in March when the two sides conditionally reached an agreement, but it didn’t go through because one side decided it could get a better deal,” said P S Raghavan, former Ambassador to Russia.

Meanwhile, the Russia-Ukraine conflict is likely to dominate the proceedings in the UNGA in New York this week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will address the UNGA on Wednesday to accelerate weapons and aid deliveries.

NEW DELHI: The Congress presidential election gained frenetic pace on Tuesday with party president Sonia Gandhi summoning general secretary in-charge of organisation K C Venugopal for an urgent discussion, and Ashok Gehlot calling a late-evening meeting of Rajasthan MLAs before his departure to Delhi for a meeting with the party president

Venugopal flew in from Kerala, where he was participating in the Bharat Jodo Yatra with Rahul Gandhi, to meet the Congress president at her 10, Janpath residence.

Sources said the two discussed the presidential election, nomination for which is scheduled to start from September 24. Venugopal called Gehlot after meeting Sonia Gandhi and asked him to meet her at Delhi on Wednesday.

Gehlot called a meeting of party MLAs at the chief minister’s residence at 10 PM on Tuesday where he told the MLAs that Sonia Gandhi has called him to Delhi on Wednesday for a meeting in connection with Congress president’s election and he will  accept her decision on the issue. He, however, added that he would present the next budget in the state and would lead the party to victory in the next assembly elections in Rajasthan. MLAs present at the meeting told TNIE that the chief minister indicated that he would continue to remain CM even after he becomes the Congress president.

Sources close to the chief minister said that after meeting Sonia Gandhi at Delhi on Wednesday, Gehlot will leave for Kerala to meet Rahul Gandhi. From there, he is expected to return to Delhi and stay here till the last day of nomination on September 30.

With the party’s Thiruvananthapuram MP, Shashi Tharoor, meeting Sonia Gandhi on Monday and expressing his desire to contest, the party high command has started preparing for a contest even as more state units adopted resolutions demanding return of Rahul Gandhi as the party chief.

Though Sonia Gandhi told Tharoor that there would be no official candidate, sources said that the leadership has made up its mind to field a loyalist who is likely to sail through with the help of the handpicked electoral college comprising 9,300 PCC delegates.

Gehlot is reportedly the first choice of the leadership as the official candidate. He, however, denies being a candidate saying that he will try and convince Rahul Gandhi to contest. Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, too, has said that he will try and persuade Rahul to return as party chief.

Meanwhile, about a dozen state units, including Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Odisha, Haryana, Maharashtra and Jammu Kashmir, have passed resolutions calling for Rahul to take the party reins. Senior Congress leaders such as P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh among others have demanded that the next president be chosen by consensus rather than contest.

The nominations for the election will be held from September 24 to 30. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 8 and the election, if required, will be held on October 17. The results will be out on October 19.

If the contest does take place, it will be after over two decades that the Congressmen will be voting to elect their president. The party last saw a contest for the post in November 2000 when Sonia Gandhi defeated Jitendra Prasada. Before that Sitaram Kesri had defeated Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot in 1997.

The new president will replace Sonia Gandhi who has become the longest-serving party president. She has been at the helm since 1998, barring the two years between 2017 and 2019 when Rahul Gandhi took over as the party chief.

Comedian Raju Srivastava died on Wednesday after over 40 days of hospitalisation here, said his brother Dipoo Srivastava.-ADVERTISEMENT-Ads by 

He was admitted to AIIMS Delhi on August 10 after experiencing chest pain and collapsing. 

“I got a call from the family about half-an-hour ago saying he is no more. It is really unfortunate news. He was fighting in the hospital for over 40 days,” Dipoo Srivastava told PTI. Raju Srivastava was declared dead at 10.20 am, according to hospital sources.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh extends condolences on the demise of comedian Raju Srivastava.

“Apart from being an accomplished artist, he was also a very lively person. He was also very active in the social field. I extend my condolences to his bereaved family and fans. Shanti!,” he tweeted.

Raju Srivastava was being monitored by doctors. Earlier, Raju’s younger brother shared a video message to reveal details about his brother’s health.

The 58-year-old was running on the treadmill in a gym when he complained of chest pain. He underwent an angioplasty the same day. 

He has been working in the entertainment industry since the late 1980s and received after participating in the first season of the stand-up comedy show “The Great Indian Laughter Challenge” in 2005. He has featured in films like ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’, ‘Aamdani Atthanni Kharcha Rupaiya’ and ‘Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon’ among others.

New York: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reiterated India’s deep commitment to multilateralism during his meeting with President of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly Csaba Korosi “discussed the criticality” of Sustainable Development Goals agenda for global progress.

“Delighted to meet @UN_PGA Csaba Kor si at UN headquarters. Congratulated him on his priorities for #UNGA77. Assured him of India’s fullest support. Discussed the criticality of SDG agenda for global progress. Shared Indian experiences in that regard. Reiterated India’s deep commitment to multilateralism, Jaishankar tweeted Monday.

Jaishankar, in New York for the high-level UN General Assembly session, began his hectic diplomatic week with a series of bilateral and multilateral engagements on the sidelines of the high-level session.

Official sources said that while issues such as UN reform and inter-governmental negotiations are more closely associated with the office of the President of the General Assembly, for India it is important that Korosi has a strong social development commitment, with focus on issues important for India as well as for the developing countries and global South.

Sources added that India believes that the global agenda should focus much more on the genuine, pressing needs of the international community, which currently are energy security concerns, food security concerns, fertilizer and health concerns, debt concerns and trade disruption concerns.

The sources stressed that there is a growing sense in the world that these issues are not getting their fair share of attention and expressed hope that the new UN PGA would focus on such issues.

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she doesn’t believe that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is behind the alleged excesses of central agencies in the state and blamed a section of the BJP leaders for misusing them to serve their interests.

Banerjee, who was speaking on a resolution in the Assembly against the excesses of the central probe agencies, urged the Prime Minister to ensure that the agenda of the union government and the interests of his party do not get mixed up.

The BJP opposed the resolution which was later passed by the Assembly.

“The present union government is behaving in a dictatorial way. This resolution is not against anyone in particular, but against the biased functioning of the central agencies,” Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, said.

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said such a “resolution against the CBI and ED” is against the rules and regulations of the Assembly.

The resolution was passed through division, with 189 voting in favour of it and 69 against.

Central agencies such as CBI and ED are probing into several cases in the state, in which senior TMC leaders are accused.