BSP president Mayawati

Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati on Friday said the ban on the Popular Front of India ahead of elections in some states was an act of “political selfishness” aimed at appeasing the RSS.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief said this decision was behind countrywide demands to also ban the RSS.

In a tweet in Hindi, Mayawati said, “After targeting PFI (Popular Front of India) in various ways across the country, the Centre has finally banned it along with eight of its affiliates before assembly elections and considering it a policy of political selfishness and appeasement of the Sangh, there is less of satisfaction and more of restlessness.”

In a related tweet, she added, “This is the reason why the opposition parties are angry and attacking on this issue considering the government’s intentions to be flawed and the demand for banning the RSS is also openly being raised that if PFI is a danger for the internal security of the country why should other organisations like it should also not be banned?

The Centre on Wednesday banned the PFI, which has allegedly been involved in a series of violence and has “links” with global terror groups like ISIS, along with several associates for five years.

The organisations which were also banned under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act include Rehab India Foundation, Campus Front of India, All India Imams Council, National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation, National Women’s Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala.

More than 150 people allegedly linked with PFI were detained or arrested in raids across seven states on Tuesday, five days after a similar pan-India crackdown against the 16-year-old group had led to the arrest of over a hundred of its activities and seizure of several dozen properties.

Kabul: A suicide bomber struck an education centre in a Shiite area of the Afghan capital on Friday, killing 19 people and wounding 27, including teenagers who were taking university practice entry exams, a Taliban spokesman said.

The morning explosion at the centre took place in Kabul’s Dashti Barchi neighbourhood, an area populated mostly by ethnic Hazaras, who belong to Afghanistan’s minority Shiite community.

The Islamic State group has carried out repeated, horrific attacks on schools, hospitals and mosques in Dashti Barchi and other Shiite areas in recent years.

Around 300 recent high school graduates, boys and girls, had come to the Kaaj Higher Educational Centre at 6:30 am to take practice exams, said one survivor, 19-year-old Shafi Akbary.

The facility helps students prepare and study for the entrance exams, among other activities.

About an hour into the session, the blast went off.

“First, we heard the sounds of a few gunshots at the main gate. Everyone was worried and tried to run to a different direction,” said Akbary, speaking to The Associated Press over the phone.

“Soon after that, a huge explosion occurred inside the centre.”

Akbary, who was unharmed, said he saw dozens of bodies and wounded people scattered around him.

“I was so afraid and couldn’t even move myself to help them. Later, other people ran inside and took us out,” he added.

Akbary said he has attended classes at the centre the past six months.

Khalid Zadran, the Taliban-appointed spokesman of the Kabul police who gave the casualty toll, said students were among the victims of the blast, but he did not specify how many.

He said education centres in the area will need to ask the Taliban for additional security when they host events with big gatherings like Friday’s exam prep.

Police have arrested a suspect who may have links to the attack, Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor said later. He was unable to provide any updates on the casualties.

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea by a political party which claimed electronic voting machine (EVM) were “controlled” by some companies and not the Election Commission, saying the court is not a place where everybody walks in just to get “some publicity”.

While rejecting the petition with a cost of Rs 50,000, the apex court said the election process under The Representation of the People Act, 1951 is monitored by a constitutional authority like the Election Commission (EC).

“Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) process has been utilized in our country for decades now but periodically issues are sought to be raised. This is one such endeavor in the abstract. It appears that party which may not have got much recognition from the electorate now seeks recognition by filing petitions!” a bench of Justices S K Kaul and A S Oka said in its order.

“We are of the view that such petitions must be deterred and thus dismiss this petition with costs of Rs 50,000 to be deposited with Supreme Court Group-C (Non-Clerical) Employees Welfare Association within a period of four weeks from today,” it said.

The top court was dealing with a petition filed by Madhya Pradesh Jan Vikas Party against the December last year verdict of the Madhya Pradesh High Court which had dismissed its plea raising the issue about EVMs.

The counsel appearing for the party referred to Article 324 of the Constitution which deals with superintendence, direction and control of elections to be vested in the Election Commission.

He asserted though Article 324 says everything has to be controlled by the EC, the EVMs are being controlled by some companies.

“Do you know how many people vote in parliamentary elections in the entire country? It is a huge exercise,” the bench orally observed.

It asked whether the petitioner wanted the court to monitor the exercise as to in what manner the EVMs should be used.

The counsel said the petitioner wanted some checks and balances should be there in this process.

He said the petitioner wants Article 324 be implemented in true spirit and everything should be controlled by the EC and not by some company. They only want a free and fair election process, the counsel said.

“It is not a place where everybody walks in just to get some publicity,” the bench observed, before junking the petition.

New Delhi: Delhi Commission For Women chairperson Swati Maliwal has written to the Central Bureau of Investigation seeking its intervention on the issue of the availability of child porn on Twitter.

The commission said it has identified 14 more tweets, apart from the ones it has already flagged, involving children in sexual activities.

In a letter to CBI Director Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, Maliwal has sought his urgent intervention by registering an FIR and the immediate arrests of those involved in the crime.

On September 20, the DCW chairperson had summoned Twitter India policy head and the Delhi Police Cyber Cell over tweets depicting pornography and rape videos of women and children on the micro-blogging site.

Some of the accounts engaging in such acts appeared to be running a racket, wherein they sought money for providing pornographic and rape videos of children, she had said.

In response, Twitter removed more than 20 tweets flagged by DCW from its platform and the Delhi Police registered an FIR under the Information Technology Act, the panel had claimed.

Senior officers of the Delhi Police, who appeared before the DCW on Friday, said they have set up eight expert teams and conducted raids across the country.

Three people have been arrested so far.

The DCW, however, termed the response of Twitter in the matter “casual”.

Ahmedabad: He may have invited Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to his house in Ahmedabad for a much-publicised dinner two weeks ago, but autorickshaw driver Vikram Dantani says he is a big fan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a staunch supporter of his party BJP.

On Friday, Dantani was spotted at a public rally of Modi, who is on a two-day Gujarat visit, in the Thaltej area of the city, donning saffron scarf and cap, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) trademark attire.

When confronted by media, Dantani said he had invited Kejriwal to his home during the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) town hall meeting in Ahmedabad on September 13 because he was asked to do so by leaders of an autorickshaw union.

Dantani hogged limelight when Kejriwal, the AAP convener, travelled to his home in his autorickshaw after accepting the dinner invite at the meeting.

“I invited Kejriwal for dinner because I was asked to do so by our union leaders. As soon as I offered to host him for a meal at my home, Kejriwal accepted it. I did not know it would become such a big issue. Otherwise, I am not at all associated with the party (AAP). I am not in touch with any AAP leader after that episode,” he told reporters.

The autorickshaw driver then went on to add that he was a big admirer of the prime minister and that he had always voted for the BJP.

“I came here (for the rally) because I am a huge fan of Modiji. I have been with the BJP since the beginning and always gave my vote to the BJP in the past. I am not saying this under any pressure,” said Dantani.

As part of the AAP’s campaign in Gujarat ahead of the year-end Assembly elections, Kejriwal held a town hall meeting with autorickshaw drivers here on September 13.

During interaction, Dantani urged Kejriwal to have dinner at his house, a proposal swiftly accepted by the Delhi CM.

That night, the AAP convener, who was staying in a five-star hotel, travelled in Dantani’s three-wheeler along with some local party leaders and reached his modest home in the Ghatlodia area, where they had dinner.

New Delhi, Sep 30: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea that alleged that the design of the national emblem atop the new Parliament building violates the State Emblem of India (Prohibition Against Improper Use) Act, 2005.

The apex court also did not agree with the submission that the lions there appear to be more aggressive, saying the impression depends on the mind of the person.

The petition came up for hearing before a bench of Justices M R Shah and Krishna Murari which observed that it cannot be said that the national emblem installed there is violative of the 2005 Act.

The petition, filed by advocates Aldanish Rein and Ramesh Kumar Mishra, had submitted that the lions portrayed in the national emblem appeared to be “ferocious and aggressive” with their “mouth open and canine visible”.

It had claimed that the change in the design of the State emblem is manifestly arbitrary.

The state emblem of India is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Emperor Ashoka which is preserved in the Sarnath Museum. The Lion Capital has four lions mounted back to back on a circular abacus.

Opposition members and activists have accused the government of distorting the national emblem by replacing the “graceful and regally confident” Ashoka lions with those having menacing and aggressive postures and sought immediate change.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 11 unveiled the national emblem cast on the roof of the new Parliament building and also attended a religious ceremony at the site.

New Delhi:Veteran actor Asha Parekh was on Friday honoured with the Dada Saheb Phalke award, the highest recognition in the field of Indian cinema.

Parekh, 79, was presented the award by President Droupadi Murmu during the 68th National Film Awards ceremony, held at Vigyan Bhawan here.

The veteran said she is grateful to receive the prestigious award a day before her 80th birthday.

“It is a huge honour to have received the Dada Saheb Phalke award. It makes me very grateful that the recognition comes to me just one day before my 80th birthday.

“This is the best honour I could get from the Government of India. I would like to thank the jury for the recognition that they have bestowed upon me, my long journey and fulfilling the journey in the film industry,” said Parekh, who is the recipient of the award for the year 2020.

Describing the Indian film industry as the “best place” to be in, the actor said she continues to be attached to the movies in her own small way even after 60 years.

“Our film industry is the best place to be in. And I would like to suggest to the youngsters who are in this industry to have perseverance, determination, discipline, and to be grounded, and I congratulate all the awardees tonight,” she added.

The five-member Dada Saheb Phalke Award committee — comprising Asha Bhosle, Hema Malini, Poonam Dhillon, Udit Narayan, and TS Nagabharana — selected Parekh for the honour.

Parekh, whose stardom was at par with male contemporaries Rajesh Khanna, Rajendra Kumar and Manoj Kumar in the 1960s-1970s, started her acting career at the age of 10 with the 1952 film “Aasmaan”.

In a career spanning over five decades, she starred in over 95 films that include titles such as “Dil Deke Dekho”, “Kati Patang”, “Teesri Manzil”, “Baharon Ke Sapne”, “Pyar Ka Mausam”, and “Caravan”.

She made foray into films as a child artist with 1952’s “Aasmaan” and went on to star in Bimal Roy’s “Baap Beti” two years later.

Parekh made her debut as a leading lady in Nasir Hussain’s 1959 movie “Dil Deke Dekho”, opposite Shammi Kapoor.

A director and producer as well, Parekh had helmed the acclaimed TV drama “Kora Kagaz” that aired in the late 1990s.

The screen legend was also the first female chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). She served from 1998-2001.

The actor came out with her autobiography, “The Hit Girl”, co-written by film critic Khalid Mohamed, in 2017.

She was also honoured with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award of the country, in 1992.

Last year, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2019 was conferred on Rajinikanth.