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Indrani Mukherjea arrested for daughter’s murder in 2012

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Indrani Mukherjea

Mumbai: Indrani Mukherjea, wife of former TV honcho Peter Mukherjea, has been arrested in connection with the murder of her daughter in 2012.

Indrani was arrested by Khar Police last night following questioning over her alleged role in the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora in 2012.

Maharashtra’s Raigad police had found remains of Bora in a forest following which a murder case was registered against unidentified persons.

Indrani was produced before the Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate court, which remanded her in police custody till August 31, DCP (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni said today.

“The case being more than two years old where there isn’t any DNA sample of the deceased or appropriate remains of the body, police is only relying on co-accused’s confession,” an officer at Khar police station, who is part of investigation team, said on the condition on anonymity.

Indrani’s driver, a co-accused who was picked by the police few days back in connection with the murder, too was arrested yesterday.

During interrogation, the driver claimed that Indrani had killed Bora and that he had helped her in disposing of the body by dumping it in the forests of Raigad district, the officer said.

Raigad police had come across remains of an unidentified body, which they had disposed of without collecting DNA samples, the officer said.

Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria had interrogated Indrani at Khar police station yesterday.

The officer said they would take the two accused to the crime spot where the body was dumped.

(Agencies)

India urged to use close Israeli ties for Palestine

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Critics lament New Delhi’s fading pro-Palestinian stance at solidarity convention as Israel relations flourish.

Indian supporters of Palestine want their government to champion Palestinian statehood [Urvashi Sarkar/Al Jazeera]

Indian supporters of Palestine want their government to champion Palestinian statehood [Urvashi Sarkar/Al Jazeera]

by Urvashi Sarkar, Al Jazeera

New Delhi: Once a champion of the Palestinian cause, India should now use its deepening diplomatic relations with Israel to press for an independent Palestinian state, critics say.

Zikrur Rahman – a former Indian representative to Palestine – was one of 10 delegates at a Solidarity with Palestine convention last weekend, which was held to mark the first anniversary of Israel’s attack on Gaza.

“India does not have to sever its ties with Israel, but why should it give up its stand of supporting the anti-colonial struggle in Palestine?” Rahman told Al Jazeera.

“Palestine has never been detrimental to Indian national interest,” he said, adding India should use its position as the second-largest buyer of Israeli arms to pressure Israel to end its decades-old occupation of Palestine.

“All Palestine demands is 22 percent of historic Palestine. India should play a proactive role in supporting the demand,” said Rahman.

Patronage to neglect

Though India recognised Israel in 1950, diplomatic relations were established only in 1992.

“Prior to the 1990s, there was popular support, as well as official patronage for the Palestinian struggle. Members of the Congress and the left were vocal on solidarity platforms,” said journalist Sukumar Muralidharan, who has written extensively on India-Palestine relations.

“But these platforms lost their political backbone in the 1990s. Now it is only the left and some individuals from other parts of the political spectrum that still support the [Palestinian] struggle.”

Muralidharan traced the transition to the rightward political shift and rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 1990s.

“The 1990s were a period of unrest in Kashmir, and the BJP and the mainstream media, which had no time for complexity, began increasingly to see both Palestine and Kashmir under the rubric of Islamic militancy. Following [India’s] 1998 nuclear tests, there was a big expansion in defence budgets, and India began buying increasingly from Israel,” Muralidharan said.

Guns and butter

Military ties with Israel continued under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance as well. But the victory of the BJP in 2014 led to a decisive shift, with the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi giving clear indications of its desire to be a close ally of Israel.

India recently abstained from voting on a UN report that indicated the possibility of war crimes committed by both sides, especially Israel, during the 2014 Gaza assault – resulting in allegations of India having withdrawn its support for Palestine.

The Palestinian ambassador in India expressed shock and said the abstention was a departure from India’s traditional position, and the move was affected by India’s growing military ties with Israel.

The spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs could not be reached for comment.

The Indian government said in a statement, however: “There is no change in our policy of extending traditionally strong support for the Palestinian cause while maintaining good relations with Israel.”

Currently ties between India and Israel are extensive – spanning defence, agriculture, trade, infrastructure, water, technology, and culture.

Forgetting Palestine

Popular mobilisation in India on the issue of Palestine has sharply declined over the years. While there were protests and solidarity eventsin 2014 over the attack on Gaza, they were not widespread.

For members of the Palestine Solidarity Committee, organising the August 22-23 convention proved to be an uphill battle.

Satyam Varma, a member of the organising committee, described “threats and psychological pressure” to not hold the event, which was attended by about 350 people.

“We started receiving calls from law and enforcement agencies and right-wing organisations. Some callers wanted to know why we were supporting Palestine, others wanted to know if the organisers were Hindu or Muslim, and how many Muslims would attend,” Varma said.

Shweta Kaul, another committee member, blamed the media for not detailing the plight of the Palestinian people.

“Even educated people do not know about what is happening in Palestine,” Kaul said. “Much of the mainstream media has an ahistorical perspective of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Existing coverage tries to provide a ‘balanced’ picture, which misleads readers.

“We are organising this convention to build awareness about the situation in Palestine and why it needs India’s support.”

Flourishing ties

Israeli embassy spokesman Ohad Orsandi told Al Jazeera he was not aware of what was said at the two-day gathering.

“The Palestine solidarity convention was an Indian event, of which I do not have details. I do not see where Israel sits in this.”

Orsandi added: “Relations among India, Israel and Palestine is far from a zero sum game. India’s support for Palestine is not affected by its flourishing ties with Israel. This used to be joined in the past, but not any more.”

A Palestinian official in India, Yasser Dahlan, urged Indian officials to use their relations with Israel to promote the Palestinian cause.

“India was the first non-Arab state to recognise Palestine [Palestine Liberation Organisation]. We want India to play a positive role in putting pressure on its friend, Israel – with whose leaders it has a personal relationship – for a sovereign state of Palestine based on 1967 borders and on international agreements.”

Karnataka HC stays Sania Mirza’s Khel Ratna award

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Sania Mirza

New Delhi: The Karnataka high court today put a stay on ​Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award to be conferred to Sania Mirza after Paralympic athlete H N Girisha filed a plea against the same.

H N Girisha, a 2012 London Paralympics silver medallist expressed his displeasure over the way Sania’s name had been recommended by the Union sports ministry-appointed selection panel while over-looking his performances.

The Hassan-born high jumper, has also won bronze at the 2014 Incheon Asian Para Games.

Sania is currently ranked world number one in women’s doubles and created history by becoming the first Indian to win a women’s doubles Grand Slam title alongside Martina Hingis to clinch the Wimbledon trophy earlier this year.

Sania happens to become the second tennis player who has been recommended for this prestigious award. Earlier Leander Paes had been confered the honour way back in 1996 having achieved a bronze medal in the Atlanta Olympics.

(Agencies)

US court rejects Sikhs For Justice’s case against Sonia Gandhi

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Sonia Gandhi

Jalandhar: The Rights violation case against Sonia Gandhi was laid to rest in a United States court of appeals for the second circuit in New York. A dismissal order had earlier been passed by a district court in June last year and the court of appeal gave its decision on Tuesday.

“Upon due consideration whereof, it is hereby ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the judgment of the district court is affirmed,” stated the August 25 order of United States court of appeals second circuit.

Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) filed a lawsuit in 2013 under ATS and TVPA against Sonia Gandhi for allegedly shielding and protecting Congress party leaders who led death squads to kill people belonging to the Sikh community after the assassination of PM Indira Gandhi.

While Sonia Gandhi’s lawyer Ravi Batra said that Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), which had filed the case, was making false, reprehensible and defamatory allegations against India’s leaders and now the organization could rehabilitate itself by announcing that it would not seek to appeal this order to the United States Supreme Court, SFJ legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said that they would file a petition seeking rehearing ‘en banc’ requesting that all the active judges on the court rehear the case. The petition will be filed with the US Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit to challenge the summary order, Pannun said.

The order of August 25 held that “plaintiffs failed to plausibly allege that defendant (Sonia Gandhi) is liable for the anti-Sikh riots.”

A class action suit was filed in September 2013 by US based rights group SFJ and victims against Sonia Gandhi under Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) and Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) for shielding and protecting Congress party leaders who organized genocidal violence against Sikhs in November 1984. However, judge Brian M Cogan of district court of eastern district New York in his order pronounced on June 3, accepted the motion filed by Sonia Gandhi’s counsel seeking dismissal of the case. The appellant court has completely affirmed this order.

(Agencies)

Three BSF men, one civilian killed in Odisha Naxal attack

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Odisha Naxal attack

Malkangiri: Three BSF personnel and a civilian were today killed and six others injured when Naxalities ambushed a patrol of the paramilitary force and triggered a landmine blast in the jungles of this district in Odisha.

The patrol of the 104th battalion of BSF was near its Janbai base in Malkangiri district when Maoists ambushed it with a landmine blast and firing at around 7.30 AM, a senior official said.

“Three personnel, including an Assistant Sub-inspector, Head Constable and Constable have been killed in the ambush while the company commander Assistant Commandant Ashok Kumar is among the six injured,” he said.

Officials said a civilian was also killed during the ambush and senior BSF commanders have rushed to the spot. “The officer, who is injured, has lost an eye. He and others have been admitted to government hospital in Malkangiri,” they said.

Fresh reinforcements of the Border Security Force have been rushed in from nearby locations, they said. BSF is deployed in the area for conducting anti-Naxal operations and the squad, which went on patrol last night, was on a similar task when the ambush happened.

The explosion took place when the group of BSF personnel from Janbai base camp near the construction site of Gurupriya bridge reached Chintamdoli ghat after crossing Chitrakonda reservoir by a boat, Inspector In-Charge of Chitrakonda police station Pitabas Dharua said.

Soon after the landmine at the ghat went off, some Maoists present in the area also opened fire on the BSF personnel, he said, adding that the BSF men returned the fire. The six injured BSF jawans were immediately taken to the district headquarters hospital here, Inspector In-Charge of Malkangiri Police Station, R K Das said.

The condition of three jawans was stated to be critical, he said. The bodies of the slain jawans were being brought to the hospital for post-mortem, he said.

Senior police and BSF officials, including Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Mitrabhanu Mohapatra, visited the hospital and took stock of the situation.

(PTI)

Muslim population growth slows in India, still faster than others

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muslim

New Delhi: India’s Muslim population is growing slower than it had in the previous decades, and its growth rate has slowed more sharply than that of the Hindu population, the census on religious groups released by the Central government has revealed. However, the Muslim share in India’s population has grown faster than that of other religions between 2001 and 2011.

The decadal Muslim rate of growth is the lowest it has ever been in India’s history, as it is for all religions.

The Muslim population still grows at a faster rate than the Hindu population, but the gap between the two growth rates is narrowing fast.

India in numbers

India now has 966.3 million Hindus, who make up 79.8 per cent of its population, and 172.2 million Muslims, who make up 14.23 per cent. Among the other minorities, Christians make up 2.3 per cent of the population and Sikhs 2.16 per cent.

The Registrar-General and Census Commissioner released the data on Population by Religious Communities of Census 2011 on Tuesday evening.

The distribution of data is of the total population by six major religious communities — Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain — besides “Other religions and persuasions” and “Religion not stated”.

The data are released by sex and residence up to the levels of sub-districts and towns.

As has been the case since Independence, the rate of increase of the Muslim population is higher than that of the Hindu population as a result of higher Muslim fertility, higher child mortality among Hindus and a greater life expectancy among Muslims, demographers say. However, Muslim fertility rates in India are falling faster than among Hindus, Pew Research’s Future of World Religions report showed recently, and the Muslim community is expected to reach replacement levels of fertility by 2050.

Muslim sex ratio improves further

The data on Population by Religious Communities of Census 2011 show that between 2001 and 2011, Hindu population grew by 16.76 per cent, while that of Muslims by 24.6 per cent. The population of both communities grew faster during the previous decade, at 19.92 per cent and 29.52 per cent, respectively. As a long-term trend, say demographers, the communities’ growth rates are converging.

“This is completely along expected lines, and has been an ongoing process,” P. Arokiasamy, demographer and Professor at the International Institute of Population Sciences, Mumbai, told The Hindu. “With rising education and changing family expectations, declining fertility is an expected demographic phenomenon. It begins among better educated groups with better access to health care — as in India’s southern States — and then other groups catch up and converge,” Dr. Arokiasamy explained. In Kerala, for instance, the Muslim fertility rate (while higher than among the Hindus) is extremely low, especially compared with all communities in the northern States, he said.

The numbers show that the sex ratio among Muslims, already better than among Hindus, has further improved.

The sex ratio among Muslims now stands at 951 females for every 1,000 males, substantially better than 936 in 2001, while among Hindus, it is 939 females for every 1,000 males, a slight improvement over the 2001 value of 931. Assam remains the State with the largest Muslim population as a proportion (34.22 per cent) and saw the largest increase in the Muslim proportion between 2001 and 2011, followed by Uttarakhand and Kerala.

Growth rate

The growth rate of population in the decade 2001-2011 was 17.7%. The growth rate of population of the different religious communities in the same period was:

The Census data on religion comes after a significant delay; the 2001 Census data on religion was released in 2004 and the 2011 round results were expected in 2014. However, the numbers remained unreleased, even as a draft of the key data was selectively leaked earlier. The data comes in the backdrop of much fear-mongering over Muslims and their population, and RSS thinkers were quick to term the new data as proof of the end of Hindus, even while the numbers belie their claim.

(Agencies)

Modi appeals for calm in violence-hit Gujarat

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ahmedabad-violence

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today appealed for calm in Gujarat which has been witnessing violence since last night and invoked Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel to emphasise that violence benefits nobody.

He underlined that the government is committed to the welfare of all people and that all issues can be resolved peacefully through discussions.

“I appeal to all brothers and sisters of Gujarat that they should not resort to violence. The only ‘Mantra’ must be ‘Shanti’ (peace),” he said in a statement against the backdrop of violence in his home state after a Patel leader was arrested briefly last night.

While issuing the appeal in Gujarati on television, Modi said, “Gujarat is a land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel.”

Asking everybody in the state to make effort to take Gujarat to new heights of development, the former Chief Minister said, “Violence has never done good for anyone. All issues can be resolved peacefully through talks.”

He said it is only through development and by working together that people, especially the poor, can be served.

“Once again, I appeal to the people of Gujarat to maintain peace. Violence will never achieve anything… Everybody should respect democratic values,” he said.

Curfew has been clamped in parts of Ahmedabad, Surat and Mehsana districts and security stepped up in the wake of violence and state-wide bandh called by agitation leader Hardik Patel for today.

An uneasy calm prevailed in the state with RAF, BSF and SRP forces deployed along with police to ensure that no untoward incident takes place.

Members of Patel community indulged in arson and stone pelting and vandalised public property last night after the detention of Hardik, who is spearheading the agitation for inclusion of Patel community in OBC category for reservation.

More than 50 incidents of violence were reported from Ahmedabad city where buses, police posts and private vehicles were set on fire while police personnel were also attacked at some places.

(Agencies)

Siddaramaiah owns responsibility for BBMP debacle

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Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday August 25 accepted defeat in the BBMP election, and owned entire responsibility for the debacle.

Soon after realising that Congress had suffered defeat in the BBMP polls with BJP marching into the three figure mark out of a total of 198 seats, Siddaramaih said that Congress expected a simple majority in the BBMP, as BJP had ‘done nothing’ for the development of Bengaluru in the last five years of BBMP rule.

The CM called a press meet at his residence ‘Krishna’ soon after it was clear that BJP was heading towards victory.

When asked if he would resign as CM, he said this was not a referendum, so there was no need for anyone to resign. “Soon after the Lok Sabha elections, BJP lost badly in Delhi, but did Narendra Modi resign?” he questioned.

However, he said that the state government will fully co-operate with the BJP-led BBMP and provide all the required grants for the development of Bengaluru city.

Answering a query on cabinet expansion, he said it would happen soon, but did not give any time frame.

As per the current trends, out of 198 BBMP seats, BJP is leading / won in 100 seats, Congress in 76, JD(S) in 14 and others 8.

(Agencies)

BJP adamant on contesting 170 seats in Bihar

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bjp-bihar

Bhagalpur: A day after two of its allies said seat sharing in Bihar must conclude within a week, a BJP leader announced on Tuesday that his party will contest 170 of the 243 assembly seats.

“The BJP will contest nearly 170 seats, there is no question of anything less than that,” Ashwani Kumar Choubey, an MP and a former minister, said here.

Choubey was replying to statements from leaders of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) that the BJP must contest only 102 seats and leave the remaining 141 to its three allies.

“There is no one in the country to advise the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi about seat sharing within the NDA,” said Choubey, a votary of Hinduvta politics.

The third BJP ally, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) of former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, on Tuesday said the BJP should contest only 122 seats.

“They must distribute the remaining seats among its three allies to defeat the grand alliance of JD-U, RJD and Congress,” HAM leader Brishen Patel said.

Patel asked the LJP and RLSP to “behave gently” to ensure the defeat of the Nitish Kumar-Lalu Prasad combine.

The LJP and the RLSP on Monday expressed unhappiness over the delay in finalisation of seats among the BJP and its allies in the assembly elections.

“We want the seat sharing arrangement to be over and done before the election are announced in the first week of September,” LJP state president Pasupati Kumar Paras said at a press conference also attended by RLSP state presidnet Arun Kumar.

“It will provide enough time for candidates to campaign,” he said.

The LJP and RLSP are unhappy over the BJP slogan – “Abki bar Bhajpa sarkar”.

According to them, it was wrong to raise such a slogan as the next government in the state would be formed by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Paras said the BJP was delaying seat sharing though the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Janata Dal-United (JD-U) had announced their seat sharing and virtually given ticket to their candidates.

RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha says his party wants to contest from 67 seats. He said the LJP should get 74 seats.

BJP president Amit Shah announced earlier this year that his party wanted to contest and win 185 of the 243 seats.

The RJD and the JD-U have decided to contest 100 seats each, leaving 40 to the Congress and three to the Nationalist Congress Party.

(Agencies)

UK petition to arrest Netanyahu for Gaza war crimes reaches over 80,000 signatures

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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu © Sebastian Scheiner / Reuters

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu © Sebastian Scheiner / Reuters

by RT

A petition calling on the UK government to arrest Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes in Gaza when he arrives in London has garnered more than 80,000 signatures. But David Cameron’s government says no way: Netanyahu has diplomatic immunity.

The petition, posted on the UK government’s website, has already been signed by some 81,000 Brits. Its initiator, Damian Moran, claims that under international law, the Israeli prime minister can be detained when he comes to the British capital in September “for the massacre of over 2,000 [Palestinian] civilians” during the 51-day offensive by the Israeli Defense Force in Gaza last year. The number of signatures has doubled in the last two weeks.

If the petition garners 100,000 signatures by February 7, 2016, the UK parliament is required by law to debate it. However, Moran, the petition’s author, said he “doesn’t expect him [Netanyahu] to get arrested because of the universal jurisdiction laws.” He added: “It is a clear message to him that there’s a massive amount of people who don’t want him here.”

The UK government was required to provide an official answer to the petition as soon as it gathered 10,000 signatures. It replied: “Under UK and international law, visiting heads of foreign governments, such as Prime Minister Netanyahu, have immunity from legal process, and cannot be arrested or detained.”   “We recognise that the conflict in Gaza last year took a terrible toll,” the government statement added. “[A]s the Prime Minister said, we were all deeply saddened by the violence and the UK has been at the forefront of international reconstruction efforts.”   The UK recognizes Israel’s right to “take proportionate action to defend itself,” within the “boundaries of international humanitarian law” and British government condemns the “terrorist tactics” of Hamas, who “fired rockets on Israel, built extensive tunnels to kidnap and murder, and repeatedly refused to accept ceasefires,” the statement said. Like any state, Israel has the right to ensure its own security, as its citizens also have the right to “live without fear of attack,” it added, stressing that the UK is a close ally of Israel’s and the two countries enjoy an “excellent bilateral relationship.”

Israel’s embassy in London dismissed the petition as a “meaningless publicity stunt.”

The military action, Operation Protective Edge, was launched on July 8, 2014 against Hamas-ruled Gaza, and resulted in deaths of over 2,000 Palestinians, including 551 children. Sixty-six Israeli soldiers died in the operation.

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