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BJP will rule 10-20 years, party says at leadership meet

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karnataka-bjp

Bengaluru: The BJP, which stormed to power nationally last year, will rule India for 10-20 years, party president Amit Shah announced here on Friday as the party opened a meeting of its top leaders.

“This government has arrived,” Shah said to thunderous applause at the two-day meet, addressing 330 delegates including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The BJP will be in power for the next 10-20 years.”

Speaking in chaste Hindi, Shah also listed out the achievements of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Modi’s government since May 2014 on various fronts, including economy and foreign policy.

He said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had brought an end to the policy paralysis of the earlier Congress regime. “We have brought a new political culture.”

And after becoming the world’s largest political party, the BJP announced that it would train the over 15 lakh new members while further speeding up its nationwide membership drive.

Party leader Prakash Javadekar, who briefed the media about Shah’s comments, said the BJP had become the biggest party in the world with 9.25 crore members. “We will cross the 10 crore mark soon.”

Among those attending the meeting is party patriarch L.K. Advani.

As it was the executive’s first meeting after the BJP got a majority in the Lok Sabha, an upbeat mood marked the inaugural session at a star hotel in the city centre amidst tight security.

Javadekar pointed out that besides ruling world’s largest democracy, the BJP was in power in a dozen states — “including eight states where we are in power on our own and four in alliance with our partners”.

In his speech, Shah played down the BJP’s shock defeat in Delhi in February but quickly added the party’s Delhi unit needs to revive itself.

“The party president said we have had successes, and one failure in Delhi is not a big deal,” Javadekar quoted Shah as saying.

“He said such things happen. We should not get arrogant after victory and desperate after defeat.”

The Aam Aadmi Party routed the BJP in the February assembly election, winning 67 of the 70 seats. The BJP, which won 31 seats in 2013, could bag only three seats.

Talking about upcoming assembly polls in Bihar, Shah said the “jungle raj” was back in the state since the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) broke away from the BJP.

Riding high on becoming the world’s largest political party, the national executive began its meeting earlier to take stock of its 10-month rule and chalk out strategies to spread its wings in India.

The party’s Karnataka leaders honoured Advani, Modi, Shah and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the local style by crowning them with the famous Mysore petha (headgear), draping a shawl and garlanding them.

Modi inaugurated the meeting by lighting a lamp with the other three leaders on the dais. The meet was not open to the media.

Shah heaped praise on Modi’s corruption-free government. “The economy is looking up and prices have been brought under control as evident from decline in inflation.

“A number of policy initiatives and administrative measures have been taken to revive growth and improve infrastructure.”

The meeting will deliberate over various issues, including the controversial land acquisition bill which was stalled by the opposition in the Rajya Sabha.

The executive will also draw a plan to expand the party’s footprint in states like Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and the north-east region where its presence is minimal.

“The meeting will also work out strategies to capture power in Bihar where elections are due this year,” a party source said.

(IANS)

India to have largest Muslim population by 2050; Hindus to be third largest in world: Report

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indians-muslims

Washington: Hindus will become the world’s third largest population by 2050, while India will overtake Indonesia as the country with the largest Muslim population, according to a new study.

According to the Pew Research Center’s religious profile predictions assessed data released today, the Hindu population is projected to rise by 34 per cent worldwide, from a little over 1 billion to nearly 1.4 billion by 2050.

By 2050, Hindus will be third, making up 14.9 per cent of the world’s total population, followed by people who do not affiliate with any religion, accounting for 13.2 per cent, the report said.

The people with no religious affiliation currently have the third largest share of the world’s total population.

Muslims are projected to grow faster than the world’s overall population and that Hindus and Christians are projected to roughly keep pace with worldwide population growth, the report said.

“India will retain a Hindu majority but also will have the largest Muslim population of any country in the world, surpassing Indonesia,” it said.

“Over the next four decades, Christians will remain the largest religious group, but Islam will grow faster than any other major religion,” according to the report.

The report predicted that by 2050 there will be near parity between Muslims (2.8 billion, or 30 per cent of the population) and Christians (2.9 billion, or 31 per cent), possibly for the first time in history.

There were 1.6 billion Muslims in 2010, compared to 2.17 billion Christians.

“The number of Muslims will nearly equal the number of Christians around the world,” it added.

If the trend continues, Islam will be the most popular faith in the world after 2070, it said.

By 2050, Muslims will make up about 10 per cent of the Europe’s population, up from 5.9 per cent in 2010.

Over the same period, the number of Hindus in Europe is expected to roughly double, from a little under 1.4 million (0.2 per cent of Europe’s population) to nearly 2.7 million (0.4 per cent), mainly as a result of immigration, it said.

In North America, the Hindu share of the population is expected to nearly double in the decades ahead, from 0.7 per cent in 2010 to 1.3 per cent in 2050, when migration is included in the projection models. Without migration, the Hindu share of the region’s population would remain the same.

Buddhism is the only faith that is not expected to increase its followers, due to an ageing population and stable fertility rates in Buddhist countries, such as China, Japan and Thailand.

The projections considered fertility rates, trends in youth population growth and religious conversion statistics.

(PTI)

President gives nod to land ordinance

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Republic Day Pranab Mukherjee

New Delhi: The land acquisition ordinance, which the government could not get converted into a legislation in Rajya Sabha due to stiff opposition, was today re-promulgated, a day before it is to lapse.

President Pranab Mukherjee has signed the ordinance as recommended by the union cabinet on March 31, official sources said. The earlier ordinance is to lapse tomorrow as it has not been converted into a legislation during the first part of the budget session as required under the Constitution.

The fresh ordinance, which is the 11th by the Narendra Modi government, incorporates nine amendments that were part of the bill passed in Lok Sabha last month. It is pending before the Rajya Sabha where the ruling NDA coalition lacks the numbers to get it passed.

The pending measure, titled Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, that was passed in Lok Sabha sought to replace the ordinance that was promulgated in December.

The Opposition was not in a mood to oblige the government and, in fact, mounted a strong campaign against it. Led by Sonia Gandhi, the Opposition parties demanded the passage of the original land bill that was passed during the UPA regime.

To enable re-promulgation of the ordinance, the government last week got the Rajya Sabha prorogued.

Under the Constitution at least one of the Houses has to be prorogued for Government to issue an ordinance. Parliament is currently on a month-long recess after the Budget session started on February 23.

The land ordinance was among the six executive orders issued by the government in the inter session period. While five of them were cleared by Parliament, the land measure is stuck.

(PTI)

12-year-old Muslim girl wins Bhagwad Gita contest defeating 3,000 participants

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Maryam-Siddiqui-Gita

New Delhi: Twelve-year-old Maryam Siddiqui, a class VI student from Mumbai has won the first position at the ‘Gita Champions League’ contest, defeating 3,000 participants. The written competition based on the Bhagwad Gita was organized by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) in January.

A student of Cosmopolitan High School, Mira Road, Maryam had always been inquisitive about religions and read them during her free hours. “I have always been inquisitive about religions and I often read up on them during my free time. So when my teacher told me about this contest I thought it would be a good chance to understand what the book is about. My parents too supported my idea of participating in the contest,” said Maryam, according to a Times of India report.

Maryam has always had conversations based on religion with her parents and had studied material provided by Iskcon for almost a month before answering the 100 mark multiple choice question based test.

“Our family believes that one needs to respect and accept all religions. No religion preaches hatred or wrong,” said Maryam’s father, Asif Siddiqui.

Earlier in March, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had said that the government will introduce teaching of Bhagwad Gita in schools across the state from the coming academic session.

(Agencies)

Giriraj's comments in 'very bad taste', may file complaint: Nigerian High Commissioner

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O B Okongor

New Delhi: The Nigerian High Commission took strong objection on Wednesday to the racist remarks by Union minister Giriraj Singh in which he refereed to a Nigerian woman and demanded an apology for the “unacceptable” comments.

Acting High Commissioner of Nigeria O B Okongor said a complaint may be filed with the External Affairs Ministry as Singh’s comments were in “very bad taste”.

“We expect the minister to withdraw the comments and apologise to the Nigerian people. We will notify our government about the issue,” he said.

Singh kicked up a major row with his remarks as he wondered whether Congress would have accepted Sonia Gandhi’s leadership if she was not white-skinned.

“Had Rajiv Gandhi married a Nigerian woman and if she was not a white-skinned woman, would the Congress have then accepted her leadership?” the minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises told journalists in Bihar’s Hajipur on Tuesday.

His comments drew condemnation from political parties and various women leaders.

The Nigerian envoy said the High Commission would “notify” the Nigerian government about the minister’s comments.

Asked whether the High Commission would file a formal complaint with the Ministry of External Affairs, he said, “We need to file a complaint.”

(Agencies)

Modi reaches Bengaluru for BJP national executive meet

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Photo: PTI

Photo: PTI

Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Thursday on a three-day visit to attend the BJP’s national executive meeting, which got underway at a hotel in the city earlier in the day.

Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Bharatiya Janata Party’s national vice president B.S. Yeddyurappa and state unit president Prahlad Joshi received Modi after he landed at the HAL airport.

As hundreds of BJP cadres and supporters waited in the hot sun outside the airport to greet the prime minister, Modi suddenly alighted from the car and walked up to them, waving and smiling at them.

“We are humbled by Modi’s gesture to get down from his car and greet us in person. He is our party’s true leader and connects well with the workers,” an elated party worker told IANS.

Amid tight security, Modi drove to Raj Bhavan in a convoy, which was escorted by a fleet of police and VIP vehicles that blocked vehicular traffic on the 8-km route.

After resting for some time, Modi will drive to the Lalit Ashok hotel, two km from Raj Bhavan, to address party members in the evening.

On Friday, Modi will participate in the inaugural meeting of the party’s national executive at the same venue and later address a public meeting at the National College grounds.

“Modi will also attend the second day’s executive meeting on Saturday and address party members in the afternoon before lunch and leave for Delhi later,” a party official told IANS.

Though the national executive meeting is the first after the BJP came to power at the Centre in May 2014, it is the fourth time the meet is being held here after the first in 1993, second 1999 and the third 2008, when the party was in power in the southern state for five years.

“Modi will also interact with the BJP’s members in parliament and state legislatures on the margins of the meet and collect feedback from them on the people’s perception of the 10-month-old NDA government at the Centre,” the official said.

Keeping in view Modi’s penchant for his pet project Swachch Bharat Abhiyan (or Clean India Mission), the cash-starved Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) swung into action and spruced up some of the thoroughfares, roads and footpaths Modi will pass through during his stay in the city till Saturday afternoon.

In view of the presence of senior party leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, party president Amit Shah, union ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, M. Venkaiah Nadu, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, security has been tightened in the city, especially around the venues where Modi will visit.

(IANS)

Saina in quarters, Prannoy, Kashyap lose in Malaysia Open

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Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP

Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP

Kuala Lumpur: World No.1 Saina Nehwal reached the quarter-finals while men’s singles shuttlers H.S. Prannoy and Parupalli Kashyap suffered crushing defeats in the second round of the $500,000 Malaysia Open Superseries Premier at the Putra Stadium here on Thursday.

Olympic bronze medallist Saina registered a facile 21-13, 21-9 win in 30 minutes against Chinese qualifier Xue Yao in the second round of the women’s singles event.

In the last eight stage, the 25-year-old Hyderabadi, who currently trains under Vimal Kumar in Benagluru, will face World No.15 Sun Yu. The Chinese worked hard for her 21-17, 20-22, 21-17 victory over Malaysian Beiwen Zhang.

Prannoy, who jumped three places to be 14th in the World rankings on Thursday, lost 15-21, 14-21 in 52 minutes to five-time World champion Lin Dan of China.

World No.17 and Commonwealth Games champion Kashyap received a 10-21, 6-21 thrashing in 35 minutes at the hands of reigning World champion Chen Long of China.

In another heartbreak for India, leading Indian women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa lost 23-21, 8-21, 17-21 in 58 minutes to the Indonesian pair of Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii.

In the quarter-finals, World No.1 Chen will face Kento Momota, who crushed Hu Yun 21-6, 21-9. Two-time Olympic champion Dan awaits the winner between India’s Kidambi Srikanth and Chinese Tian Houwei.

(IANS)

IAF plane carrying 168 Indian nationals from Yemen lands in Kochi

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indians-yemen

Kochi: An IAF plane carrying 168 Indian nationals evacuated from Yemen landed in the government’s first major mission to rescue Indians stranded in the strife-torn nation.

The Indian nationals, including nurses and workers, among others, reached home by the special flight–Indian Air Force’s C17 Globemasters– bringing an end to their about a week-long ordeal.

The flight landed at 2 a.m.

The evacuees were welcomed at the airport by Kerala Minister for Diaspora K C Joseph, PWD Minister Ibrahim Kunju and Ernakulam District Collector M G Rajamanikyam.

They were part of as many as 350 Indians who yesterday reached at Djibouti after being evacuated on a Navy vessel from Aden, the seaport city of Yemen.

Parents of Jincy and Tincy, two nurses working with government hospitals in Yemen, are concerned about their elder daughter whose flight from Sana’a was cancelled even after a boarding pass was issued.

Talking to PTI from Kochi airport, mother of the nurses, Omana, hailing from Vadakkancherry of Palakkad district, said only Jincy, working in Aden, could reach home safely.

“We are happy that our daughter Jincy is coming back on the special flight. But we are concerned about the safety our elder daughter Tincy who is in Sana’a. We hoped that she would also be reaching safely tonight.

“Jincy could not come as the flight did not take off because of the last minute developments at Sana’a airport,” said Omana who came to the airport along with her husband Soman to receive their daughters.

A Kerala government official said the Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (Norka) cell would give Rs 2000 each to the people who returned from Yemen at the airport besides providing them free transportation facilities to reach home.

A spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry has said of 350 evacuees, 206 belong to Kerala, 40 are from Tamil Nadu, 31 from Maharashtra, 23 from West Bengal and 22 from Delhi besides other states.

Another Air Force flight with 190 Indians evacuated from strife-torn Yemen landed at Mumbai airport at 3.30 a.m. on Thursday.

The Central Railway is providing food and assistance with ticketing and is making arrangements for their further journey home.

The Indians were evacuated late on Monday night by INS Sumitra, which was diverted from its anti-piracy patrol in the region. It waited for hours to get local clearances as heavy fighting was reported in the city.

(PTI)

Two minor sisters kidnapped, gang-raped by 5 at gunpoint in Badaun

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rape-case

Badaun: Two minor girls, both cousins, were allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped at gun point by five persons in Jareef Nagar area here, almost a year after a similar incident in the district had stirred Uttar Pradesh and opposition had attacked the government over law and order.

The accused, two of them brothers, held the girls captive at gun point when they had ventured out of home for some work last night, Senior Superintendent of Police Saumitra Yadav said here today, adding the girls were gang-raped by them.

The accused were later nabbed by the villagers when the victims raised an alarm and handed over to police, the police officer said.

“A case has been lodged and the girls were sent for medical examination,” the SSP said. Their medical examination report is awaited, he said.

Last year, two cousins, aged 14 and 15, went missing from their house on the night of May 27 and their bodies were found hanging from a tree in the village in Ushait area the next day.

They were allegedly raped and hanged with a tree.

However, later, CBI in its probe said that the girls were neither murdered nor raped and had committed suicides. The case is sub judice.

(PTI)

Moment truly painful: IAS officer Khemka on 45th transfer in 24 years

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Ashok Khemka

Chandigarh: Terming his transfer as “painful”, whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who shot into limelight after he questioned Robert Vadra’s land deals in Haryana, said he tried to address corruption and bring reforms in state transport department despite “severe limitations and entrenched interests”.

“Tried hard to address corruption and bring reforms in Transport despite severe limitations and entrenched interests. Moment is truly painful,” 49-year-old Khemka said in a tweet a day after he was moved to Archaeology and Museums Department by the Manohar Lal Khattar government.

Meanwhile, Haryana’s Health Minister Anil Vij came out in Khemka’s support, saying he will talk to the Chief Minister regarding the officer “who had worked to weed out corruption during the previous Congress regime”.

Khemka has been transferred 45 times in his nearly 22-year long career, with the officer not occupying any post beyond few months.

When asked about the decision, Vij told reporters in Ambala, “I will talk to the Chief Minister regarding Khemka’s transfer.”

Vij, an outspoken BJP leader and Ambala Cantt MLA, said that he had always stood by Khemka, “who had worked to weed out corruption during the previous Congress regime”.

The BJP Government in the state had last night issued transfer and posting orders of nine IAS officers including Khemka with immediate effect.

Khemka, who was in November last year posted as Transport Commissioner and Secretary, Transport Department, has now been posted as Secretary, Archaeology and Museums Department and Director General, Archaeology and Museums, a posting considered as “low profile”.

The government did not mention any reason for his transfer. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s OSD Bhupeshwar Dayal termed it as an administrative matter.

However, Haryana’s Transport Minister Ram Bilas Sharma maintained that “transfer is not a punishment” and stressed that it was a “routine” matter.

“Transfer is not a punishment, a promotion or demotion. Transfer of senior officers is a routine matter. There is nothing special or extraordinary about it,” he said while replying to queries on the issue.

He said decisions are taken after the chief minister holds consultations with his council of ministers.

Notably, as Transport Commissioner, Khemka had refused to issue fitness certificates to over-sized trucks and trailers for carrying automobiles leading to a truckers’ strike in January.

Later, the truckers in Haryana withdrew their strike after the state government gave them one year’s time to get their vehicles modified as per the Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR), 1989.

Khemka, in a tweet then, had said that “60 per cent of road accidents due to overloaded and over-sized transport vehicles. Industry cooperation needed to stop this road menace.”

The Transport Minister denied that the move to replace Khemka as Transport Commissioner was related to his decision reagrading truckers.

“No. Nothing like that. It is a routine matter,” he said to a query on the issue.

In one of his tweets last week, Khemka while quoting Rabindranath Tagore had mentioned “If no one responds to your call, then go your own way alone”.

Earlier in 2012 when he was posted as Director-General of Land Consolidation and Land Records-cum-Inspector General of Registration, Khemka had brought land deals of businessman Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi, under the scanner.

During the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government, the official had cancelled the mutation of the multi-crore land deal between Vadra’s company Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd and DLF, terming it as illegal. However, the previous Hooda government gave clean chit to Vadra in the land deal.

Last week, Khemka in a tweet had said that his action in Vadra-DLF land-licence deal has been “vindicated in the CAG report..”

“Undue favours” to builders, including Robert Vadra’s Skylight Hospitality, by the Haryana Government during the Congress regime has come under attack from the Comptroller and Auditor General.

(PTI)

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