Archives for October 2022

Mumbai: Benchmark indices bounced back in early trade on Tuesday after falling in the previous trade amid positive trends in global equity markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 1,028.28 points to 57,817.09 in early trade. The broader NSE Nifty rallied 320.3 points to 17,207.65.

Among the 30-share Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Steel and Bajaj Finserv were the major winners in early trade.

Power Grid traded lower. Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul and Tokyo were trading higher. The US markets ended significantly higher on Monday.

The BSE benchmark had tumbled 638.11 points or 1.11 per cent to settle at 56,788.81 on Monday. The Nifty fell by 207 points or 1.21 per cent to end at 16,887.35.

Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude futures climbed 0.53 per cent to 89.33 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors turned buyers after remaining net sellers in the recent past and bought shares worth Rs 590.58 crore on Monday, according to data available with BSE.

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir’s Director General (Prisons) Hemant K Lohia was found murdered at his residence here, police said, asserting that his domestic help has emerged as the main suspect in the case.

Director General of Police Dilbag Singh described the incident as “extremely unfortunate” and said a manhunt had been launched to nab the domestic help identified as Jasir, who is absconding.

Giving details, Singh told PTI that the suspect had even attempted to set ablaze the body of 57-year-old Lohia, who was promoted and appointed as Director General of Prisons in the Union Territory in August.

Additional Director General of Police, Jammu zone, Mukesh Singh, who visited the house of Lohia at Udaiwala on the outskirts of Jammu, said the 1992-batch IPS officer was found dead on Monday night, with burn injuries on his body and his throat slit.

A preliminary examination of the crime scene indicated that Lohia must have been applying some oil on his foot which showed swelling. The killer suffocated Lohia to death and also used a broken ketchup bottle to slit his throat and later tried to set the body afire, he said.

The guards present at the residence of the officer saw the fire inside his room. They had to break open the door as it was locked from inside, the ADGP said.

He said the preliminary examination of the scene of crime points towards murder.

“The domestic help is absconding. A search for him has started,” the police officer said, adding forensic and crime teams inspected the spot.

J and K Police family expresses grief and deep sorrow over the death of the senior officer, he added.

JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) on Monday accused its former national vice president Prashant Kishor of working “on behalf of the BJP” and wondered about the source of funding for his much publicised ‘Jan Suraaj’ campaign.

JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan also berated Kishor’s statewide “pada yatra” and fulminated against his refrain that Bihar remains a laggard despite over a decade of Kumar’s claim of good governance.

“The people of Bihar know how much progress there has been under Nitish Kumar’s rule. We do not need a certificate from Prashant Kishor. Though like any other citizen he is free to take out a march or a demonstration,” the JD(U) chief told reporters.

He also said that “Kishor may give whatever name he chooses to his campaign but it does appear that he is working on behalf of the BJP. The type of publicity he is paying for raises the suspicion”.

“How many times do we see even well-established political parties putting out full-page ads? He did that for his pada yatra yesterday. Why I-T (income tax) department, CBI or ED are not taking note? The only possible explanation is that he is enjoying the backing of those ruling the Centre,” Lalan alleged.

An enigmatic figure who has worked with politicians of all hues, Prashant Kishor, who hails from Buxar district of Bihar, now claims to have given up professional political consultancy and devoted himself fully to transforming his home state through mass mobilisation.
His move, however, is viewed with skepticism by the state’s hard-nosed politicians who view the IPAC founder as a mercenary.

The JD(U)’s comment comes a day after state BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand issued a statement, calling Kishor a “political middleman” who had a “tacit understanding” with Nitish Kumar.

Notably, Kishor’s first claim to fame was his handling of Narendra Modi’s spectacularly successful campaign of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls which saw the BJP winning a majority for the first time.

A year later, he helped the Grand Alliance of JD(U), Lalu Prasad’s RJD and Congress pull off a stunning victory in Bihar assembly polls, bringing the BJP juggernaut to a halt.

Damodar Mauzo

Thane: Sahitya Akademi and Jnanpith award winner and eminent writer Damodar Mauzo on Monday said he too had a threat to his life following the killing of activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh but added that “no bullet can put an end to my thoughts”.

Mauzo, known from his progressive writing in Konkani and especially his novel ‘Karmelin’, was given security cover by Goa police in July, 2018 on intelligence inputs of the Union home ministry and the special investigation team probing Lankesh’s death.

Speaking at the jubilee celebrations of a book outlet here, he said, “I came to know at the time that I too was on the hitlist of some people after Gauri Lankesh’s death. But as an author, I do not need protection as it curbs my personal freedom.”

“It is four years and I have still not been shot. No bullet can put an end to my thoughts. I speak fearlessly,” the writer added.

He said it was wrong to say litterateurs must not be involved in politics, but added that “they must not indulge in party politics”.

Mauzo was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award in 1983 and the Jnanpith award in 2021.

Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her Bengaluru home on September 5, 2017, an incident that had hit international headlines and drawn widespread condemnation.

Ahmedabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday suspended its former spokesperson Kishansinh Solanki for “anti-party activities”, hours after he shared a selfie with Punjab Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Bhagwant Mann on social media.

Solanki, a BJP leader from Ahmedabad who served as a party spokesperson till around six months ago, has been suspended for six years with immediate effect, a statement issued by Gujarat BJP said.

Solanki on Sunday night shared a selfie with Mann on his Facebook page with the caption, “Thanks for birthday wishes @BhagwantMann ji @CMOPb”.

“Ahmedabad district’s Kishansinh Solanki is today suspended from the party for six years with immediate effect for anti-party activities by the order of state BJP chief CR Paatil,” the statement said.

Gujarat BJP spokesperson Yagnesh Dave said Solanki had been a part of the state BJP media team and served as a spokesperson but was not holding any post as of now.

“He was a convener of the BJP media cell and appeared in TV debates on behalf of the party before he was removed from the post around six months ago,” Dave said.

As per his Facebook profile, Solanki had also served as a national executive member of the BJP Kisan Morcha or farmers’ cell.

Mann and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal visited Gujarat recently for campaigning for the upcoming Assembly elections.

Union Minority Affairs minister Smriti Irani

New Delhi: The government on Monday clarified that there is no proposal under consideration to scrap the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

The clarification came in response to a media report that claimed that the Centre is likely to scrap the Ministry of Minority Affairs and merge it with the Social Justice and Empowerment ministry.

No such proposal is under consideration, the PIB Fact check clarified in a tweet, which was re-tweeted by Union Minority Affairs minister Smriti Irani.

New Delhi: The Ministry of Minority Affairs, established by the UPA government in 2006, is likely to be merged with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment by Central government

According to a report published in Deccan Herald, sources in the government have revealed that all their schemes of the ministry will be continued post merger

The Union government is of the view that the ministry was merely a part of the UPA government’s appeasement policy and no such separate ministry for minority affairs was needed. The government, therefore, wishes to make the ministry a part of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment again, said a source.

The Ministry, headed by Smriti Irani, also Minister for Women and Child Development, refused to comment on the matter.

Syed Naseer Hussain, Congress Rajya Sabha member, however, called it another attempt by the BJP at polarization in society. “A ministry separate from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment was set up to bring the minority communities to the mainstream and implement programs for their uplift,” the MP told sources.

Syed Tanveer Ahmed, secretary of Jamaat-e-Hind, said that abolition of the ministry was a move against the spirit of the Constitution of India as it will harm the human development index of the country, sources said. He urged the government to focus on granting more money to and strengthening the ministry for the welfare of the minorities.