Nasheman

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

You are here: Home / Archives for Nasheman

To accommodate maximum aspirants in boards, CM Siddaramaiah opts for power sharing

by

CM Siddaramaiah (Photo credit: IE)

CM Siddaramaiah (Photo credit: IE)

Bengaluru: Karnataka chief minister, Siddaramaiah, who has been dilly-dallying on the issue of nominating heads for state-run corporations and boards for fear of ruffling the feathers of disgruntled leaders, has, in consultation with Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, G. Parameshwara, finalized list of chosen leaders for these posts.

A list of 95 nominations to important boards and corporations has already been handed over to the party high command on Friday November 21. National president of the Congress, Sonia Gandhi, is expected to give her assent to these names in a couple of days, fulfilling the aspirations of 95 power-hungry politicians, who have been lobbying hard and vying with other leaders for these seats.

However, it is gathered that the term of these heads has been truncated to 18 months, as a compromise formula to accommodate maximum number of candidates. On expiry of the first 18 months, the present candidates will have to leave their posts to make room for fresh faces to be nominated by the party leadership again. The Congress government in the state has 42 more months of tenure, and during the last six months, everyone will be busy will elections. Therefore, the formula worked out presently is to share the next three years on prorata basis.

It is gathered that in tune with the high command directive, people who have been loyal to the party since long, and have worked in organizational positions successfully, have been given preference. Parameshwar said that the list includes 12 KPCC ffice bearers, six district Congress presidents, and leaders belonging to other backward castes. Current legislators, close relatives of leading Congressmen, those who fought in the last assembly election and tasted defeat, and those who recently migrated to the party have been left out as the central leadership’s stand on these candidates remained rigid, it is gathered.

The list it is said, has tried to strike a balance between all the castes and categories of leaders. Digvijay Singh and Rahul Gandhi reportedly expressed their approval for this list.

It is said that a list of about 1,500 members of boards and corporations has also been drawn. These members will be absorbed in about two weeks time.

Japan PM dissolves parliament ahead of election

by

Shinzo Abe

Tokyo: The lower chamber of Japan’s parliament was dissolved Friday in readiness for a general election, expected next month, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeks to consolidate his grip on power and reinvigorate his economic drive.

“In accordance with article seven of Japan’s constitution, the lower house is dissolved,” speaker Bunmei Ibuki told the chamber.

Ibuki’s move came after a mandate from Abe, who is going to the polls less than half way through a four-year term.

Abe said earlier this week that he wanted to ask for voters’ endorsement for his decision to postpone a sales tax rise after data showed an earlier hike had knocked the economy off its axis.

His cabinet is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting Friday afternoon to confirm the election will be Sunday, December 14.

“I’m fully aware that it’s going to be a tough election,” Abe told a meeting of businessmen Thursday afternoon in Tokyo.

“Through the election campaign, I want to clarify if the growth strategy we are pushing is right or wrong,” he said.

The last 24 months have seen two of the so-called “three arrows” of “Abenomics” fired — massive fiscal stimulus and a flood of easy money. A third “arrow” of structural reforms remains stuck in the quiver, a victim of the vested interests it is intended to undermine.

“The third arrow has never flown at all, facing resistance” from his own conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Kenji Eda, co-leader of the opposition Japan Restoration Party, said Thursday.

Banri Kaieda, head of the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan, also said: “We can’t have the (rich-poor) gap widen. We can’t give him a blank cheque for another four years.”

According to opinion polls conducted by the Asahi Shimbun Wednesday and Thursday, the Abe cabinet’s approval rate fell to 39 percent from 42 percent earlier this month.

His disapproval rate rose to 40 percent from 36 percent, making it higher than his approval rate for the first time since he took office in December 2012, the survey showed.

Abe has tried to cast the election as a referendum on his decision to delay the sales tax hike to 10 percent, after the first jump to 8.0 percent sent consumers scurrying for cover and took a huge bite out of GDP.

But the Asahi survey said 65 percent of voters were not convinced by his reasoning.

Most commentators agree that the election is a fig leaf to cover Abe’s attempt to consolidate his own position within his fractious LDP, and to fend off challengers in a party leadership election scheduled for September next year.

However, he also runs the risk of undermining his authority if his coalition’s majority is reduced too much.

(AFP)

Julian Assange: Swedish court rejects appeal to lift arrest warrant

by

Ruling means WikiLeaks founder still faces extradition to Sweden if he leaves Ecuador embassy in London

Assange

by David Crouch, The Guardian

Stockholm’s appeal court has rejected a demand by Julian Assange’s lawyers to lift the arrest warrant against him, leaving the WikiLeaks founder still facing extradition to Sweden should he renounce his asylum in Ecuador’s London embassy.

“In making this assessment, account must be taken of the fact that Julian Assange is suspected of crimes of a relatively serious nature,” the court said in a statement on Thursday. A Swedish prosecutor first sought Assange’s arrest four years ago following sexual assault and rape allegations, which he denies.

“There is a great risk that he will flee and thereby evade legal proceedings if the detention order is set aside. In the view of the court of appeal, these circumstances mean that the reasons for detention still outweigh the intrusion or other detriment entailed by the detention order.”

But the court also noted that Sweden’s investigation into Assange had come to a halt and prosecutors’ failure to examine alternative avenues of investigation “is not in line with their obligation – in the interests of everyone concerned – to move the preliminary investigation forward”. The ruling is expected to put pressure on prosecutors to find new ways to break the deadlock.

Per Samuelsson, one of Assange’s lawyers in Stockholm, said the court’s criticism of the prosecutor was aimed at her refusal to come to London to question Assange.

“This is crucial because the court said we were right in the wording, but not in the court’s actual decision,” he said.

After the ruling he had spoken to Assange, who was disappointed but confident that they would prevail in the long run.

“Swedish and international law is on our side,” Samuelsson said. “The ruling shows we are on the right track, but unfortunately the court of appeal did not have the courage to overturn the arrest warrant.”

Asked what he meant by the need to pursue “alternative avenues” of investigation, Niclas Wågnert, the appeal court judge in the case, told the TT news agency: “That’s a matter for the prosecutor. One way would be to interrogate him in London.”

Following a rejection of their demands by a lower court in July, Assange’s lawyers argued in submissions to the appeal court that a European arrest warrant issued in November 2010 was being employed as a “coercive measure” against him because it could not be carried out, thereby condemning him to “deprivation of liberty” in order to exercise his right to asylum.

The submission said that, rather than explore possible avenues to break the deadlock, the prosecutor had “violated the principles of consideration urgency, and effectiveness” by refusing to interview Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy and “hiding behind the arrest warrant” as an excuse.

Britain’s Foreign Office said last month it would “actively welcome” a request by the prosecutor to question Assange inside the embassy and would “do absolutely everything to facilitate” such a move.

The appeal court also rejected a demand from Assange’s lawyers for the prosecutor to hand over 200 text messages sent by the WikiLeaks founder’s accusers around the time of his alleged crimes.

Assange has always claimed he is innocent and that he would be prepared to face a Swedish court were it not for a threat that he would be extradited to the US for political crimes. Neither the US nor Swedish governments have responded to his requests for guarantees. Assange has not been charged with any crime, but is being investigated over allegations of rape and sexual molestation.

In response to the appeal, the Swedish prosecutors in the case, Marianne Ny and Ingrid Isgren, said they accepted there was “a temporary obstacle” to executing the arrest warrant, but that it was nonetheless essential to prevent Assange from evading justice. His presence in the Ecuadorian embassy was voluntary and so did not constitute a deprivation of liberty, they said, thereby nullifying defence arguments about disproportionality.

The text messages contained sensitive information about the two women in the case, they said, and information had previously leaked on to the internet and led to the women being harassed. There were, therefore, “grave reasons” to protect the messages, the prosecutors said.

Legal opinion in Sweden is sharply divided on the case, with some arguing that the deadlock must be broken, principally by the prosecutors travelling to London to interview Assange. Politicians are reluctant to be seen to put pressure on prosecutors, while public opinion has wearied of the case.

Mats Larsson, a columnist for Expressen, Sweden’s largest tabloid, argued last month: “Everyone is tired of the Assange circus … it is high time it was resolved.”

Justice after 13 years: 8 Muslim youths accused of links with SIMI acquitted by Kurla court

by

Tanvir Ahmed Ansari. Photo: YouTube Screenshot

Tanvir Ahmed Ansari. Photo: YouTube Screenshot

Mumbai: Eight persons, accused of having links with the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), were today acquitted by a local court for lack of evidence.

Those acquitted by the metropolitan magistrate’s court in suburban Kurla include Ehtesham Siddiqui and Tanvir Ahmed Ansari, who are also facing a trial in the July 2006 Mumbai train blasts case.

“The court acquitted all the eight accused after I argued that there was no evidence,” said their lawyer, advocate Sharif Sheikh.

He said Mumbai police had begun a crackdown throughout the city against SIMI on September 27, 2011, the day it was banned by the Centre under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

“Police raided an office in Kurla and claimed to have found some literature, photo of Osama bin Laden besides other material,” Sheikh said.

However, the court granted bail to all the accused as the copy of the notification in the official gazette had not reached the state home department on the day of ban.

Sheikh said that few minutes after all the eight accused were granted bail, police arrested them for allegedly shouting anti-national slogans in the court premises.

When the case came up for hearing, he argued that on the day of their arrest there was no notification, hence their arrest was bad in law.

“In the slogan-shouting case, police had produced only policemen as witnesses while no advocates or litigants were brought as witnesses,” said Sheikh.

The court acquitted all the eight persons in both the cases.

Karnataka-cadre IPS officer Rupal Kumar Dutta to lead 2G probe

by

cbi_headquater

Bengaluru: The Central Bureau of Investigation has appointed Rupal Kumar Dutta, additional director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to head the 2G spectrum scam probe. The decision came after Supreme Court’s order asking the CBI chief Ranjit Sinha to recuse from 2G scam investigation and prosecution.

Sinha attended the office on Friday, even though the demand for his resignation and suspension, even from some of his predecessors grew louder after the SC decision.

A 1981-batch IPS officer from the Karnataka cadre, Dutta is the overall in-charge of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the agency which is probing the 2G cases.

“As per the directions of the Supreme Court of India, Director CBI has recused himself from the investigation and prosecution of the case relating to 2G spectrum allocation. As directed, RKDutta, Additional Director, who is the senior-most officer of the investigating team in the case, will henceforth be overall in-charge of the case,” read the CBI statement issued on Friday evening.

SC bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu on Thursday refused to pass an elaborate order on the issue, stating that it would “tarnish” the “image and reputation” of the premier investigating agency.

The SC order has also put a question mark on Sinha’s continuation as the agency chief. Sources in the Home ministry stated that the best option for Sinha is to go on leave on his own, so that government may not have to initiate any action for his replacement. He is retiring on December 2, this year.

A panel including Home secretary, the secretary of the Department of personnel and the Chief vigilance commissioner recommended name of Sinha as the agency chief in 2012 after which he was appointed by the Prime minister.

Interestingly, the then opposition leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley had opposed the appointment and written a strong letter to Prime minister Manmohan Singh. “We must record our strong disappointment and disapproval of this act of the government,” the letter read.

After the enactment of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act in January this year the provisions of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946, which governs the functioning of the investigation agency, were changed including the requirement of consultation with the outgoing CBI director in the selection process.

According to the Lokpal Act, the selection of the CBI chief has to be done by a committee headed by the Prime minister, and comprising the LoP in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court judge nominated by him as members. As of now there is no recognized LoP in Lok Sabha.

Now, BJP led NDA government, which has largely remained silent on the issue may have to amend the act during the winter session of the parliament starting on November 24.

Dutta, a BTech from IIT Kanpur and MBA from Swinburne University in Australia, has held several important positions in anti-corruption, training and other divisions/zones of the CBI from 1988 to 1996 and 2000 to 2006.

He has also held the posts of Joint Director, DIG and SP. He has been associated with the investigation of a number of sensitive cases, including those entrusted to the Centre Bureau of Investigation by the Supreme Court and high courts that have ended in conviction of the accused persons.

Dutta has held various positions in Karnataka as Superintendent of Police (Karwar and Davangere), DIG Intelligence, Security Vigilance and Northern Range and IG North Eastern Range.

He has also served as Additional Director General of Police (Law & Order) and also as ADGP in Karnataka Lokayukta. Dutta has been awarded the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service.

Tunisian wins Muslim beauty pageant, calls for free Palestine

by

Computer scientist Fatma Ben Guefrache was announced the winner and received a prize which includes a gold watch, a gold dinar, and mini pilgrimage to Mecca.

Winner of the 2014 World Muslimah Awards Fatma Ben Guefrache (C) of Tunisia walks with children during the grand final in Yogyakarta. (Photo: AFP/Adek Berry)

Winner of the 2014 World Muslimah Awards Fatma Ben Guefrache (C) of Tunisia walks with children during the grand final in Yogyakarta. (Photo: AFP/Adek Berry)

by Channel News Asia

Prambanan: A Tunisian woman called for a free Palestine as she won a pageant exclusively for Muslims in Indonesia on Friday (Nov 21), seen as a riposte to Western beauty contests.

Eighteen finalists, who include a doctor and a computer scientist, paraded in glittering dresses against the backdrop of world-renowned ancient temples for the contest in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

Computer scientist Fatma Ben Guefrache was announced the winner and received a prize which includes a gold watch, a gold dinar, and mini pilgrimage to Mecca. “May almighty Allah help me in this mission, and free Palestine, please, please, free Palestine and the Syrian people,” the tearful 25-year-old woman said.

The 18 finalists were required to wear the Muslim headscarf and judged not only on their appearance, but also on how well they recite verses from the Koran and their views on Islam in the modern world. “We want to see that they understand everything about the Islamic way of life – from what they eat, what they wear, how they live their lives,” said Jameyah Sheriff, one of the organisers.

The World Muslimah Award first drew global attention in 2013 when organisers presented it as a peaceful protest to Miss World, which was taking place around the same time on the resort island of Bali.

While it remains popular in some countries, British-run Miss World has faced frequent accusations that it is degrading to women, and a round in which contestants pose in bikinis has been a lightning rod for criticism.

In an effort to appease hardliners, Miss World organisers axed the bikini round for the Bali edition, but the event still sparked demonstrations from Islamic radicals who dubbed it a “whore contest”.

Headscarves not scary

British contestant Dina Torkia said she hoped this year’s World Muslimah Award would not only provide a contrast to Western beauty pageants, but would also dispel prejudices against Islam. “I think the most important thing is to show that we are really normal girls, we are not married to terrorists. This scarf on my head isn’t scary,” she told AFP.

However the 2014 pageant has faced challenges, with seven finalists dropping out and others struggling with Indonesia’s complex bureaucracy to obtain visas. Most who pulled out did so because their families did not want them to travel alone, Sheriff said.

The Indian contestant missed her initial flight as she was being questioned by officials who were suspicious of a woman travelling alone and wearing a headscarf, although she managed to get on a plane later.

Others have gone to great lengths to take part in the fourth edition of the event, with Masturah Jamil quitting her teaching job in Singapore after her employer would not give her time off to participate.

Organisers hope to present positive role models for Islamic women around the world and the contestants, who are aged between 18 and 27, include a newly qualified doctor from Bangladesh.

But not everyone was enjoying the final rounds, with Britain’s Torkia saying her initial optimism had turned into disappointment. “I came into this competition hoping that I would leave with my faith increased, but so far it’s been a lot about promotion and media and looking nice,” she said.

Friday’s finale caps a lengthy process, which included an online audition followed by two weeks of events in Indonesia. During their time in Indonesia, contestants have visited orphanages and nursing homes, and had their pictures taken at Borobudur, a famous Buddhist temple close to Yogyakarta, Java’s cultural heartland.

The finale takes place on a stage against the backdrop of Prambanan, a ninth-century complex of Hindu temples on the island of Java that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hosting the event at a Hindu site was a conscious decision to show that Muslims are accepting of other religions, organisers said.

AFP/ec

No party may get majority in J&K, BJP to emerge on top in Jharkhand: surveys

by

BJP

New Delhi: No party may get a clear majority in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, an opinion poll by a news channel has claimed while two other surveys on Jharkhand polls show that BJP is likely to emerge on top in the state.

As per the opinion poll conducted by Hindi channel – News Nation India – in Jammu and Kashmir, none of the political parties is likely to get a clear majority.

The survey by the channel projected that PDP is likely to get 31-36 seats and emerge on top in J & K, followed by BJP with 23-28 seats in the 87-strong assembly.

It gives ruling National Conference 7-11 seats and Congress 8-12 seats.

In Jharkhand, the same channel’s opinion poll predicts that BJP may get majority in the 81-member assembly with 42-46 seats followed by JMM 14 to 18 seats.

Another opinion poll, by ABP News-Nielsen projected that BJP and its allies LJP-AJSU are likely to get around 37 seats in Jharkhand, short of the majority-mark.

BJP on its own is likely to get around 30 seats in the state while Congress, RJD and JD(U) are together likely to get 23 seats, the opinion poll projected.

As per the ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll, more than 80 percent of respondents have rated the performance of PM Narendra Modi as very good or good.

(PTI)

SC notice on BJP plea on its foreign funding

by

BJP

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday issued notice to the central government and the election commission on a BJP plea challenging the Delhi High Court order that the contribution to its coffers by the Indian subsidiary of an overseas-based company amounted to foreign contribution.

An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice H.L. Dattu while issuing notice on Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) plea, tagged it with an earlier Congress plea on the same issue.

The Delhi High Court had ruled that the funding for the Congress and the BJP by the Indian subsidiary of an overseas company amounted to foreign contribution which is prohibited and has urged the Election Commission (EC) and the central government to proceed against them.

(IANS)

U.S troops will deploy to Iraq without congressional approval: Pentagon

by

This Department of Defense photo shows US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey as he addresses questions from US military members during a town hall meeting in Baghdad, Iraq, November 15, 2014. AFP/DOD/ D. Myles Cullen

This Department of Defense photo shows US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey as he addresses questions from US military members during a town hall meeting in Baghdad, Iraq, November 15, 2014. AFP/DOD/ D. Myles Cullen

by Al-Akhbar

Some of the 1,500 new US troops authorized to “advise and train” Iraqi forces in their fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants will be deployed in Iraq within the next few weeks without waiting for Congress to fund the mission, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said leading elements of the US force would begin moving to Iraq in the coming weeks, even if Congress has not yet acted on a $5.6 billion supplemental request to fund the expanded fight against the militants who overran northwestern Iraq earlier this year.

Large swathes of land in Iraq have become ISIS strongholds as the extremist group, which declared a “caliphate” in the territory it seized in Iraq and Syria, drove Iraq’s army – the recipient of $25 billion in US training and funding since the 2003 invasion – to collapse.

Late October, the Pentagon revised its estimate of the cost of the US air war in Iraq and Syria, saying the price tag for the campaign against ISIS comes to about $8.3 million a day.

Since US airstrikes began on August 8, the campaign – which has involved about 6,600 sorties by US and allied aircraft – has cost the US $580 million, said Pentagon spokesman Commander Bill Urban.

In addition, the campaign, which has so far failed to stop ISIS from advancing, has also cost the Iraqi government $260 million.

Officials initially indicated they needed to get lawmakers to approve the funding for the troops deployment before the Pentagon could start the mission, but General Lloyd Austin, the head of US troops in the Middle East, recommended starting the effort using resources already available to him.

“The commander … can reallocate resources inside his theater as he deems fit. So he is going to .. try to get a jump start on this program,” Kirby told reporters, adding that congressional approval of the $5.6 billion was still needed to carry out the “more robust program.”

The Pentagon’s announcement came just days after US officials said some 50 troops had been sent to Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province in Iraq to establish an operation to “advise and train” Iraqi troops.

Kirby said Austin thought that starting the expanded mission sent a message both to Iraqis and other coalition partners.

“It sends an important signal … about how seriously we’re taking this,” Kirby said. “The sooner we get started, the sooner Iraqi units will improve … and the sooner we’ll get coalition contributions to that particular mission.”

US President Barack Obama, who was elected in 2008 largely due to his promises to exit Middle Eastern military entanglements – especially in Iraq – and avoiding new ones, announced plans last week to double the number of American troops in Iraq, approving an additional 1,500 forces to establish sites to “train” nine Iraqi military brigades and three Kurdish peshmerga brigades.

The move came almost three years after US troops completed their withdrawal from Iraq after a nine year occupation that left the country in turmoil.

Iraq ranked first out of 162 countries on the Global Terrorism Index, the Australia and US-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) said in a report published Tuesday, giving the country a score of 10 out of 10.

According to the report, 80 percent of the lives lost to terrorist attacks in 2013 occurred in just five countries – Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria.

The influx in terrorist attacks raises questions about the effectiveness of the US “War on Terror” launched by the Bush administration after the 9/11 attacks, which included the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The campaign failed to eliminate or even reduce terrorism, as the report showed a steady increase in the death toll over the last 14 years, from 3,361 in 2000 to 11,133 in 2012 and 17,958 in 2013.

On the contrary, the campaign in general and the US invasion of Iraq in particular served as a recruitment tool for terrorist groups, such as ISIS, as figures show that terrorism rose precipitously in Iraq since 2003.

Kirby indicated additional US troops would begin deploying to Iraq before the end of the year.

“You’re going to start to see initial elements of the 1,500 or so additional start to flow in the next few weeks,” he said. “I think certainly by the end of the calendar year you’re going to see a much more robust presence, not just by the United States doing this but by coalition partners as well.”

Some 3,500 US troops are believed to be on Iraqi land.

ISIS claims Erbil suicide bombing

The US-led anti-ISIS campaign has so far failed to stop ISIS from gaining ground, thus drawing criticism from many sides, including the president of the Iraqi Kurdistan autonomous region, Massoud Barzani.

On Wednesday, following a suicide bombing that hit the usually secure capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, Barzani accused Western countries of not providing enough heavy weapons to help peshmerga forces deliver a “decisive blow” against ISIS militants.

Later on Thursday, ISIS claimed responsibility of the suicide attack in an online statement.

“We breached all the security checkpoints of the agent Kurdistan government and reached the heart of the city of Erbil,” the statement said.

It identified the bomber as Abdul-Rahman al-Kurdi, indicating that he was an ethnic Kurd.

The bomber struck the main checkpoint on the way to the provincial government headquarters in the northern city just before noon on Wednesday, killing four people and wounding more than two dozen.

The bombing was the worst attack to hit Erbil since September 29, 2013, when militants struck the headquarters of the Asayesh security forces in the city, killing seven people and wounding more than 60.

In that attack, the Asayesh said a suicide bomber detonated explosives at the entrance to their headquarters, after which they killed four more would-be bombers before a fifth blew up an ambulance rigged with explosives.

Kurdish peshmerga forces joined the battle against ISIS in August after the extremist group targeted ethnic and religious minorities, took control of the country’s largest dam and moved within striking distance of Erbil, where many Western expatriates, including oil industry and aid workers are based.

(Al-Akhbar, Reuters, AFP)

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives