Narendra Modi – Page 21

New Delhi turns fortress to welcome U.S President

January 24, 2015 by Nasheman

Barack Obama’s car, dubbed the “Beast” lands in Delhi for the Republic Day celebrations.

Washington: US President Barack Obama will leave Andrews Air Force Base on Saturday evening for his highly anticipated three-day landmark trip to India on an invitation by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Obama will be accompanied by a sizable delegation that will include several top officials, as well as First Lady Michelle Obama, when he arrives in New Delhi Sunday morning, the White House has said.

The president will be joined in India by multiple members of his cabinet, influential business leaders and a host of US lawmakers, including Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader of the US House of Representatives during the trip.

Air Force One, the presidential aircraft that will fly Obama to India, will have a brief refuelling halt over Ramstein in Germany and will touch down in Delhi at 10 am on Sunday at Air Force Station, Palam.

On his arrival, Obama will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at about 12 noon at the majestic Rashtrapati Bhawan by President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Thereafter, he will pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi at the Rajghat at 12.40 pm and participate in a tree planting event there.

Obama will then join Modi for a restricted working lunch at the Hyderabad House and participate in a “walk and talk” with the Indian Prime Minister there at about 2.45 p.m, the White House said.

The two leaders will then have an expanded delegation level meeting, which is expected to last for about an hour. They will jointly address the press at about 4.10 pm.

Later in the evening, Obama is scheduled to meet embassy personnel and families at ITC Maurya Hotel at 7.35 pm. He will then drive down to Rashtrapati Bhawan to attend the state dinner with President Pranab Mukherjee at 7.50 pm.

On 26 January, Obama will participate in the Republic Day celebration as the chief guest along with the First Lady. Later, the Obamas will attend a reception with Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

In the afternoon, Obama and Modi will participate in a CEO forum roundtable and deliver remarks at a US-India Business Summit.

On January 27 morning, the US President will give an address at Siri Fort Auditorium. Although, it was earlier reported that the Obamas will leave for Agra to tour the Taj Mahal before their departure from New Delhi, however, according to government sources, Obama’s visit to Taj Mahal in Agra on January 27 has been cancelled.

(PTI and Agencies)

Former AAP leader Shazia Ilmi joins BJP

January 16, 2015 by Nasheman

Former AAP leader Shazia Ilmi (right) meets BJP chief Amit Shah on Friday.

New Delhi: Former AAP leader Shazia Ilmi Friday joined the BJP “for the rest of my life,” but said she is not keen on contesting the upcoming Delhi assembly elections.

“After being defeated in last assembly elections and subsequently in general elections, I don’t want to fight this election. However, I will follow the party’s instructions, but I want my party to respect my wish,” said Ilmi, a long-time associate of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.

She admitted she had had differences with the BJP and the Congress in the past.

“But in the last six months I have realised that the prime minister is doing a good job. The way he invoked Mahatma Gandhi’s name for the Swacch Bharat (Clean India) campaign is very impressive,” she said.

Ilmi had contested — and narrowly lost — the December 2013 assembly elections on AAP ticket.

Meanwhile, on the issue of alleged conversions carried out recently by some groups, Ilmi said she does not support “forced” conversions and that the BJP has nothing to do with the matter.

Ilmi joined the BJP a day after former Team Anna member and ex-Indian Police Service officer Kiran Bedi entered the ranks of the saffron outfit with the BJP saying that she will contest the February 7 assembly polls.

Karnataka: Congress leader Janardhan Poojary takes on Modi govt over ‘anti-farmer’ land ordinance

January 16, 2015 by Nasheman

Mangaluru: Criticizing the Narendra Modi-led NDA government for passing the latest ordinance to amend the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, former union minister and veteran Congress leader B Janardhan Poojary said that the BJP government was set on ruining the nation’s economy and lives of farmers by bringing the ordinance.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, he said that the former UPA government had brought an amendment to the Land Acquisition Act to prevent farmers from committing suicide. About 75 percent of people in the country, including farmers, live in rural areas. All the provisions in the ordinance related to rehabilitation and compensation are anti-farmer, he lashed against the NDA government for the ordinance which would harm the interests of the farmers.

Mr Poojary also criticised the Labour ordinance passed by the union government for depriving lakhs of labourers of benefits from the industries they worked for. The government is more keen on protecting the interests of the corporates. The BJP government will face a setback if they choose to go against the interests of the people, he warned, adding that the Congress had also suffered defeat when they failed in doing so.

He said it was the responsibility of Prime Minister to protect the interests of the people. There is a need for the BJP to contemplate on delivering the promises made by the party in its manifesto, he said.

When asked about the launch of a new Hindutva organisation formed by a Congress member in Puttur, Mr Poojary said that the organisation went against the secular principles of Congress party. Such activities can be called anti-party, he added.

BJP MPs spent crores of taxpayers' money at five star hotel: reports

January 13, 2015 by Nasheman

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government’s austerity polices have taken a hit after an RTI report claimed that many BJP MPs enjoyed their overstay at five-star hotels on tax-payers’ money.

The RTI report showed that till November 15,2014, 92 MPs, since their election, several of them from the BJP, have been living at the Ashoka Hotel in Delhi, in spite of being allotted the government accommodation, said an IBN Live report.

The report further claimed that the hotel bills is likely to be in crores.

According to the rules, the MPs should move into the residences within eight days of the allotment.

However, the BJP MPs in question have denied overstaying at five-star hotels and rubbished the report saying its data was outdated.

The latest RTI revelation contradicts the Modi government’s austerity policies. Last year, the Finance Ministry in order to cut down the unexpected expenditure by 10 percent announced a few austerity measures. The measures included orders to officials to avoid meetings at five-star hotels, restriction on ministers’ first class air travel to abroad among others.

(Agencies)

Delhi election Feb 7, result Feb 10

January 12, 2015 by Nasheman

New Delhi: Delhi will vote to elect a new assembly Feb 7, a year after the AAP government resigned after 49 days in power, and the votes will be counted Feb 10, it was announced Monday.

Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath said the last date for nomination of candidates will be Jan 21 and they could withdraw from the contest by Jan 24.

Delhi elected a hung assembly in December 2013 after which the Aam Aadmi Party formed a minority government headed by Arvind Kejriwal with Congress backing. Kejriwal resigned Feb 14, 2014.

The Delhi assembly was dissolved in November last year, after all three major parties – the BJP, the Congress, and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party – said they were not in a position to form the government.

Delhi has not had a chief minister since Arvind Kejriwal resigned after 49 days in office in February last year. His party has appealed to Delhi to give it a majority and Mr Kejriwal the chance to be chief minister for a longer term this time.

(IANS)

‘Claims of scientific proofs in Hindu scriptures amount to mockery of myths:’ Girish Karnad

January 11, 2015 by Nasheman

Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy, The Hindu

Bengaluru: Jnanpith Award-winning writer Girish Karnad has warned against picking out details and characters from ancient Indian mythology to argue that they are proof of scientific advance in ancient times.

Participating in a discussion organised by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) here on Saturday, the writer said that those who attempt to find proof of scientific advance in scriptures are indeed insulting and mocking mythical imagination.

Making an oblique reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who linked medical science to mythology recently by stating that the creation of Ganesha is proof of the existence of plastic surgeons thousands of years ago, Mr. Karnad said such claims amounted to mocking and falsifying the “mythical imagination and symbolism” of our ancient writers. Mythologies across the world were rich in such symbolisms, he added.

he said claims on 2,000-year-old texts providing answers to all present-day problems amounted to “freezing” ourselves in a historical past. He recalled that Gandhiji, who revered the Bhagavad Gita , said that only 33 shlokas in it were relevant to him. “We should pick what is relevant to us from our past and discard the rest,” he said.

On the Hindi film PK around which the discussion was organised, Mr. Karnad said the Rajkumar Hirani production showed a remarkable “rationalist courage”.

How Narendra Modi-led government in Delhi is choking Kashmir

January 8, 2015 by Nasheman

Photo: PTI

by Amanjeet Singh, Authint Mail

India’s new economic policies on Kashmir indicate that hard days may be ahead for people of the cash starved region.

Departing from its earlier stance, Narendra Modi’s BJP led government at the Centre has embarked on blocking schemes and subsidies which could have eased the sufferings of the state that was hit by a devastating flood in September last year.

Kashmir is reeling under darkness which causes immense sufferings, especially in winter when people are dependent on electricity to fight the biting chill.

However, while the urban areas are provided with 10-12 hours of power supply per day, the condition is even worse in rural areas.

The state faced the first disappointment in Delhi when the Centre turned down the request of funds by the state government for developing electricity infrastructure in the trouble-torn state.

Under Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Programme launched by former prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh in 2004, this year required additional funds to trim distribution and transmission loss.

A sum of INR 124 million was required and after lengthy discussion between officials of the state and central government, the state failed to get the additional assistance.

Kashmir is gifted with water resources to generate electricity, but the maximum share of electricity generated is transmitted to other parts of India in accordance with the pacts signed by the state and central governments. Omar Abdullah-led coalition government had pitched hard for returning of power projects to the state, but he failed to make a breakthrough.

The Power Development Department in Kashmir has been urging people to use electricity judiciously. While the load has spiked to over 1500 MW, the department is only able to provide 1100 MW and it has also accused the people of electricity theft.

Another disappointment for the people came on the New Year eve when the federal petroleum ministry reduced the quota of kerosene oil supplied to Kashmir. As per previous decision, every household used to get 4.48 litres of kerosene from the allocated 4.8 million litres per month to the state. However, under the new quota, a household will only get 3 litres per month.

The people of the state are dependent on kerosene for lighting up stoves and wood-powered chimneys extensively used in winter when the region is cut off from mainland India due to snow. The region is already facing shortage of kerosene with only 33 percent of the required amount being supplied. Being one of the major sources of heating and cooking in the state in tough winter conditions, this unprecedented move by the government of India will create more anger as their sufferings will grow.

The Modi-led government also waived off subsidy on transportation of wheat from the base camp in Jammu to Srinagar, creating difference in wheat prices between two regions of the same state. As subsidy was cut, wheat prices saw a hike of INR 200 in Kashmir with people forced to bear the additional cost which by previously born by federal government.

The proverbial nail in the coffin came when the Centre withheld the financial assistance of INR 440,000 million to rebuild the flood ravaged Kashmir. A proposal which was sent from by the state government to the Centre couldn’t made any headway even after four months since the flood hit the region.

While Modi has been making big promises in his speeches on developing Kashmir, but the reality on ground shows that his government has become indifferent to the needs of the people. In his speeches, he regularly talks of uplifting the economically deprived people, but these new decisions show that his promises are all talk and no meat.

Naming of Modi’s loyalist as chief of top Urdu university angers community leaders & activists

January 7, 2015 by Nasheman

by Mahesh Trivedi, Khaleej Times

Ahmedabad: The appointment of a Gujarat-based businessman who is seen as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face of ‘Muslim’ support as Chancellor of the prestigious Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), Hyderabad, has drawn sharp reactions from community leaders and activists.

Reacting to the announcement by the federal Ministry of Human Resource Development naming Zafar Sareshwala, CEO & MD of Parsoli Corporation Ltd. to the plum post, the Gujarat chapter of the All India Milli Council said that the decision was a mockery of the Urdu language as the new incumbent was not an Urdu scholar and had no notable educational background.

Abdul Hafiz Lakhani, council leader and editor of the first national Muslim Gujarati fortnightly, also said that the HRD ministry was out to saffronise education in the country and Sareshwala might now be used in the top minority university to achieve this goal of the Modi government.

Vadodara-based social activist J.S. Bandukwala, a retired physics professor of the famed M.S. University whose home was attacked by Hindu rioters in 2002, said that the appointment of a diploma holder in mechanical engineering to the hallowed post was made at the behest of the Modi government but the political appointee was a square peg in a round hole.

Pratik Sinha, who runs human rights organisations like the Truth of Gujarat and Jan Sangharsh Manch and has taken up the cudgels for the Muslim riot survivors, said Modi had rewarded a sycophant like Sareshwala for spreading lies in the country on his behalf during the Lok Sabha poll campaigns.

Gujarat High Court advocate Iqbal Masud Khan said he was surprised how a businessman with practically no background in education could be named the chancellor of a public-funded university.

“Such persons will not only spell the doom for the beautiful Urdu language but will also make the younger generation forget the contribution of Maulana Azad to the country’s freedom struggle and framing of a secular education policy as the federal education minister,” said Khan, who has fought the authorities to preserve heritage in the historical city of Ahmedabad.

Khan, a former newspaper journalist, also pointed out that Sareshwala was a staunch Tabligh Jamat member which, he said, had hidden sympathies with the notorious ISIS.

Shabnam Hashmi, managing trustee of the Act Now for Harmony and Democracy, described the appointment as ‘horrendous’ and said it was high time “the future generation was saved”.

Sareshwala, 51, had played a critical role in Modi’s attempt to reach out to the minorities, from organising conclaves for Muslim business leaders to facilitating kite-flying with actor Salman Khan during election campaigns.

Many say his credentials in business itself are dubious as his company Parsoli Group had faced the ire of the Securities and Exchange Board of India on several occasions.

But admits Sareshwala: “I don’t know much about MANUU. But I know that empowerment of a community is not possible without proper education.”

Modi under the influence of RSS: K Rahman Khan

January 5, 2015 by Nasheman

In this interview with Nasheman’s Editor Rizwan Asad, former Union Minister of Minority Affairs, talks about the failure of the Modi-led BJP government, to keep up their promises made during the elections. He alleges that Modi is under the influence of the RSS and so far has only followed the policies of the previous UPA government. On the question of the brewing dissent in the Karnataka Congress government, he brushed aside any such dissention, assuring that all is well in the state.

Modi government scraps rape crisis centres project

January 2, 2015 by Nasheman

WCD minister Maneka Gandhi had assured that the centres would be open by December. Photo: Hindustan Times

New Delhi: The much talked about “one stop crisis centre” — conceived in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya case and the Justice Verma report — has been scrapped by the NDA government. The project worth about Rs 200 crore was expected to provide medical, legal, police and emergency services to women in distress.

In June this year, the women and child development (WCD) ministry, headed by Maneka Gandhi had announced that one-stop rape crisis centres will be made functional by the year end in all districts of the country.

The centres were supposed to provide medical, legal, and police aid to women who are victims of rape and sexual assault.”These will provide short stay for the women in need and will be equipped with ambulance services which will reach women who need help. Funds, Maneka added, have been allocated for the project, partly from the Nirbhaya fund and the centres will be run by the central government,” The Indian Express had earlier reported.

According to TOI, “the plan has been shot down by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on the argument that the scheme was unnecessary and services could be provided through the existing infrastructure like hospitals and women police stations.”

“WCD ministry sources however pointed out that there were many scenarios when women who were stalked, molested, raped or experienced violence and could not or were not willing to go to a police station. “They require only shelter or counseling. The centre promises anonymity to the victim. It would have acted as an overnight shelter while making all the services of a hospital, police station, legal aid cell under one roof,’’ sources said. The cost of a centre was pitched at Rs 36 lakh,” the paper reports.