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Audio clip of CM Vijay Rupani allegedly admitting BJP’s bad condition in Gujarat goes viral

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Ahmedabad: If an unverified audio clip is to be believed, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani sounds tense and is heard admitting that the condition of the BJP is bad in the state.

The leaked audio clip which is making rounds in the social media is a conversation between Vijay Rupani and Naresh Sangitam from Surendra Nagar. Rupani is heard saying it has become very difficult to woo the Jain community in the area.

He further adds that Prime Minister called him to say that he made a Jain the CM even though they are only 5 percent of the population.

Even in a television interview earlier, Rupani did not deny the fact that he will have a difficult time in the polls. However, he seemed confident that BJP rule will retain in the state as people from Gujarat are aligned with the BJP’s ideology and not of the Congress.

The following is an English translation of the conversation:

Naresh: Yes, sir! Jai Jinendra.
Vijay Rupani: Namaskar. Jai Jinendra.
Vijay Rupani: Naresh bhai, we don’t have to fight within ourselves, we must regain our form. Because, there is only one Jain chief minister in the entire country.
Naresh: Absolutely.
Vijay Rupani: Narendra bhai had called me, he said, there are not even five percent Jains in Gujarat, still we made a Jain the CM. Are the Jains of Surendra Nagar ready to support us?
Naresh: Yes, why not?
Vijay Rupani: Our condition is bad here, mine is even worse.
Naresh: We will not let your condition deteriorate. We will support you.

(Agencies)

Jaitley indicates merger of 12 per cent, 18 per cent GST slabs

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New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said achieving a 10 per cent GDP growth rate is challenging and will depend on how the world is moving.

Speaking at the HT Leadership Summit here, he said India has done well by growing at 7-8 per cent during the last three years. To scale to 10 per cent rate is “very challenging” and it will not depend on domestic factors only but on how the world is moving, he said.

On reforms, he said India has structurally reformed and there is no finishing line in reforms. Jaitley said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) started with different tax rates and they have rationalised rates on many items.

Going forward, future rationalisation of rates would depend on revenue collections, he said, indicating the merger of 12 per cent and 18 per cent rates into one while keeping a “thin” line of luxury and demerit items in the top 28 per cent band.

Currently, the GST has four rates of 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent. The finance minister said a cogent GST mechanism has been developed and no country in the world has 5 per cent tax rate.

(PTI)

Syria: 80 people killed in just over 24 hours

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A wounded boy in a hospital in Douma after an air raid on the rebel-held town of Misraba in Eastern Ghouta [Bassam Khabieh/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

At least 80 people have been killed in just over 24 hours in suspected Russian and Syrian government shelling in the eastern and southern parts of Syria.

The majority of those killed were civilians.

In the eastern province of Deir Az Zor, suspected Russian warplanes hit al-Shaf’ah village on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River on Sunday, killing about 51 people.

Four others were killed in an attack on the village of al-Darnaj, also on Sunday, raising the death toll in the province to 55.

Deir Az Zor province is one of the final Syrian redoubts of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) after the armed group was pushed out of its main strongholds, including Raqqa and Deir Az Zor city.

Meanwhile, in Eastern Ghouta, a district just outside the capital Damascus, at least 25 people were killed in alleged Russian and Syrian government shelling on several opposition-held areas on Sunday.

The attacks targeted a local market in the residential neighbourhood of Misraba, where 16 people were killed. At least nine others were killed in shelling on the neighbourhoods of Medyara and Douma.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group, the figure of 25 includes five children and three women.

Deal violated
Eastern Ghouta has consistently been targeted despite being listed as a “de-escalation zone”, where military activity is prohibited under an agreement endorsed by Turkey, Russia and Iran, which was signed in September.

But due to its strategic location near the capital, where the government of President Bashar al-Assad sits, the attacks there have not halted, in violation of the agreement.

Fadel Abdul Ghany, head of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, said Eastern Ghouta was the main target for the Syrian government now.

“The regime is not interested in de-escalating. After they took back Aleppo, they went to Deir Az Zor, and now it’s Ghouta. It’s their main target now,” Abdul Ghany told Al Jazeera.

Since the implementation of the agreement, at least 250 people have been killed in suspected Russian and Syrian government air raids in the district, according to medical centres and civil defence workers.

The armed opposition in Eastern Ghouta has managed to keep Syrian government forces at bay during the war. In turn, the government has imposed a siege on the area to pressure the armed opposition, causing a humanitarian crisis, with severe shortages of food and medicine.

Under the so-called “de-escalation zones” agreement, opposition groups and government forces are required to halt hostilities, including air raids, for a period of six months, to protect civilians living in those areas.

More than 2.5 million people are believed to be living in the zones, which include, fully or partially, Eastern Ghouta and the provinces of Idlib, Homs, Latakia, Aleppo and Hama.

Syria’s conflict evolved from a violent government crackdown on protests against the president in 2011 to become a devastating war that has drawn in world powers, including Russia and a US-led international coalition.

Russia has led negotiations on finding a solution to the conflict since its game-changing military intervention on the side of al-Assad in 2015.

Congress releases final list of candidates for Gujarat polls

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New Delhi: The Congress today released its final list of 14 candidates, besides leaving two seats for its allies, on the last day of filing of nominations for the second phase of Gujarat assembly elections. The party had late last night released its third list of 76 candidates.

In the fourth and final list of candidates, the party released 14 new names, besides changing its candidate for Manjalpur constituency where Chirag Zaveri has been fielded in place of Purvesh Borela. The Congress also kept two seats of Morvahadaf (ST) and Vaghodia for the Bharatiya Tribal Party, headed by former JD (U) MLA Chhotubhai Vasava, which has allied with the party.

The Congress has entered into a seat-sharing agreement with Vasava’s newly-formed party giving it five seats in the Gujarat assembly polls. Vasava, a tribal leader and MLA from Jhagadia in Bharuch district, floated a party after a split in the JD(U) and will contest from the seats of Jhagadia, Dediapada, Mangrol, Morva Hadaf and Vaghodia.

The Congress, which has been seeking to dislodge the BJP from power in the western state, earlier announced the names of 86 candidates in two phases. The Congress has been out of power in the crucial state for over two decades.

The polling for the two-phase election to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly will take place on December 9 and 14 and votes will be counted on December 18. Eighty-nine seats of Saurashtra and South Gujarat region are going to polls in the first phase, while the remaining 93 seats in central and northern region would go for polls in the second phase.

(PTI)

Jignesh Mevani to contest as Independent with Cong’s support

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Ahmedabad: Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani today announced his decision to contest the Gujarat polls from the Vadagam (SC) seat of Banaskantha district as an Independent candidate with outside support of the Congress.

The moves come after sitting MLA Manibhai Vaghela said the state Congress asked him not to contest the polls from the seat “as a part of an agreement” with Mevani. Vaghela said the Congress has given an indirect support to Mevani for Vadgam seat, reserved for a Scheduled Caste (SC) candidate.

“The party has asked me not to contest from the Vadgam seat this time. Though Mevani will contest the polls as an Independent, he will have Congress’ support. Thus, there won’t be any Congress candidate on this seat,” Vaghela told PTI.

Mevani today announced that he will file his nomination as an Independent candidate for the Vadgam seat. In a message posted on social media, the face of the Dalit agitation in Gujarat claimed that he decided to jump into the poll battle after being “persuaded” by youth and numerous agitators.

He even requested other opposition parties as well as aspiring independents not to file their papers. “Since the ruling BJP is our key enemy, I request aspiring candidates of other parties and independents not to file their papers, so that we can have a direct battle with the BJP. This is people’s battle against dictatorship and we will continue our fight after winning this election,” he said.

Mevani will be in a direct contest with BJP’s Vijay Chakravarthi. Earlier this month, Mevani had a meeting with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi during the latter’s visit to south Gujarat. After the meeting, Mevani had said that the opposition party gave him an assurance that more than 90 percent of his demands will be incorporated in its manifesto.

Stopping short of declaring an open support to the Congress after the meeting, Mevani had said that he would ask his community members to defeat BJP in the Gujarat polls. Mevani, who has been critical of the ruling BJP in the state and shot to fame after the Una Dalit flogging incident last year, had discussed 17 demands of his community in the meeting with Rahul Gandhi.

The Dalit leader maintained that he had no plans to join any political party. Of the three young caste leaders, OBC leader Alpesh Thakor has already joined the Congress, while Patidar community leader Hardik Patel recently announced his decision to back the opposition party after accepting its proposed reservation formula.

The 182-member Gujarat Assembly will go to the polls in two phases – on December 9 and 14. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.

(Agencies)

SC dismisses plea by Bengaluru woman claiming to be Jaya’s daughter

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(Photo: PTI/File)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a petition of a woman who claimed to be the daughter of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

A bench of Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta also refused to allow the plea of the woman to conduct DNA test for the purpose of proving her parentage.

Senior Advocate Indira Jaising, who appeared for the woman, had also sought cremation of Jayalalithaa as per Hindu rites since she was an Iyengar Brahmin. The court, however, said the petitioner is at liberty to approach the high court.

(Agencies)

Bhumi Pednekar Talks About Breaking Stereotypes At IFFI 2017!!!

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by FAIZAN RIZWAN & SHAHEEN RAAJ

Bhumi Pednekar has been breaking stereotypes even before the release of her debut film, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, which was highly acclaimed and won her the Filmfare award for “Best Debut Female”. The actress next chose films like Toilet: Ek Prem Katha & Shubh Mangal Savdhan both of which talked about unconventional subjects.

At IFFI2017, the young actress spoke extensively about women and breaking the stereotypes in a candid conversation with movie buffs & her fans, at a special Master – class.

Bhumi expressed, “Being overweight was linked to being depressed for a long time and I was happy that a film like Dum Laga Ke Haisha changed that thinking.” Post Dum Laga Ke Haisha I was offered around 24 scripts but the roles offered weren’t good enough for me to even consider. I waited for the right opportunity and the perfect script. I grabbed films like Toilet: Ek Prem Katha & Shubh Mangal Savdhan because they were important roles written for an actress. I feel myself lucky if I can make a difference to even one life through the films that I do.”

During the Q&A session, Bhumi Pednekar displayed some more views.

To the question of whether she would like to do films that carry a social message, she replied positively and said that as an individual you cannot avoid your responsibilities.

She also added that she loves her country from a very young age and given a chance she would like to do films with social messages in the future too.

To the question of what kind of stereotypes she would like to break in personal life, She responded that she would like to get rid of gender differences; even today, “ghar ka chiraag” is understood by the boy.

Responding to another question, she said, the characters in her film were progressive by thoughts & not by clothes.

The 48th edition of IFFI is being held from the 20th Nov 2017 to 28th Nov 2017, in Panjim, the beach state of Goa.

Heera Group’s Dr. Nowhera Shaikh to join Indywood’s Billionaires Club

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Over 50 billionaires and tycoons from 100 plus countries, including Heera Group’s Dr. Nowhera Shaikh, are expected to join an exclusive Billionaires Club spearheaded by NRI industrialist Sohan Roy’s Indywood.

The launch of the club will be held as part of Indywood Film Carnival and is expected to give a boost to foreign direct investment in entertainment sector in the country. The launch will be held at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad on December 1.

According to Sohan Roy the club is a novel initiative and aims to attract tycoons, investors and corporates from across the world to the entertainment industry in India.“There are a lot of opportunities in the entertainment sector especially movies, animation and graphics. The Indian film industry according to a report prepared by Deloitte-Indywood is expected to grow at 11 per cent CAGR reaching $3.7 billion by 2020. In the coming years, the volume of foreign direct investment will play a decisive role in conceiving and implementing mega projects. Billionaires Club is a new step in this direction to educate movers and shakers about the vast opportunities in the sector and how it can be tapped effectively,” he said.

Roy said the Indywood consortium will produce 1,000 movies in the next five years and many of the mega film projects would be produced by renowned billionaires and investors. “The Indian film industry is the largest in the world in terms of number of films produced with around 1,500 to 2,000 movies being produced every year in more than 20 languages. Despite this, the Indian film industry’s gross realisation has been substantially lower than its global counterparts,” said Roy.

Egyptian air raid kills ‘terrorist’ mosque attackers

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Wounded people are evacuated from the scene of the mosque attack on Friday [The Associated Press]

by Al Jazeera

The Egyptian army says an air raid killed some of the attackers involved in Friday’s massacre when at least 305 people died in a bomb-and-gun attack on a mosque.

In a statement late on Friday, army spokesman Tamer Rifai said the Egyptian air force chased down the assailants who, according to officials, arrived in four 4WD vehicles and carried out the attack during noon prayers.

“The air forces chased the terrorists and discovered and destroyed a number of vehicles that were involved in carrying out the brutal terrorist attack … Those on board were also killed,” Rifai said.

The massacre occurred in Bir al-Abed, a town in North Sinai province.

The mosque – about 40km west of el-Arish, the provincial capital of North Sinai – was frequented by followers of Sufism, a more mystical form of Islam.

No group has claimed responsibility, but according to a statement on Saturday from Egypt’s public prosecutor, the attackers were carrying a flag representing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS). The government declared a three-day period of mourning for the victims.

Egyptian state media MENA said 120 people were also wounded in the attack.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi condemned the assault, which he described as “criminal” and “cowardly” in a televised statement on Friday.

He said the attack “will not go unpunished”.

“The armed forces and the police will avenge our martyrs and restore security and stability with the utmost force,” Sisi said.

Egypt has for years battled an armed, anti-government campaign on the rugged and thinly populated Sinai Peninsula. The campaign has gained pace since the military overthrew democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in mid-2013.

In 2014, following a suicide bombing that killed 33 soldiers, Sisi declared a state of emergency on the peninsula, describing it as a “nesting ground for terrorism and terrorists”.

Previous attacks in Sinai mostly aimed at security forces and members of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority.

However, mosques in North Sinai’s Sheikh Zuweid town have also been hit.

The Bir al-Abed mosque was an easy target because it was outside the province’s main cities.

The mosque may also have been targeted because it was attended by members of the Sufi sect, who are considered infidels by armed groups such as ISIL.

In 2016, ISIL fighters released images purportedly showing the execution of a 100-year-old Sufi religious leader, whom they accused of “witchcraft”.

Timothy Kaldas, a professor at Nile University in Cairo, told Al Jazeera that Friday’s assault “fits the pattern of ISIS attacks”.

“Potentially, it’s another attack against Sufis in northern Sinai. Potentially, it’s retaliation for tribes co-operating with the state in the crackdown on ISIS,” he said.

Kaldas said ISIL has been “more willing to target civilians, as we saw with a lot of attacks on the Egyptian-Christian community in the past year”.

Rallies by Jats, BJP MP: Mobile Internet services suspended in Haryana

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Chandigarh: The Haryana government has suspended mobile Internet services in 13 districts for three days, apprehending law and order problem in view of two public rallies by a Jat body and ruling BJP’s Kurukshetra MP on November 26.

MP Raj Kumar Saini, who was opposing quota for Jats, had announced a “Samanta Maha Sammelan” in Jind while All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti national president Yashpal Malik had also announced a rally in Rohtak district’s Jassia on the same day.

Internet services on mobile networks, except voice calls, in the districts of Jind, Hansi, Bhiwani, Hisar, Fatehabad, Karnal, Panipat, Kaithal, Rohtak, Sonipat, Jhajjar, Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri shall remain suspended for three days until the midnight of November 26, an official order said yesterday.

The order, which came into force yesterday, was issued by Additional Chief Secretary (Home Department) S S Prasad. “The order is issued to prevent any disturbance of peace and public order in the jurisdiction of state of districts as mentioned…,” it said.

It said there was a likelihood of tension, danger to human life and property, disturbance of public peace and tranquility in Haryana by protestors and anti-social elements during the two public rallies on Sunday. Yesterday, a group of Jats who were opposing Saini’s rally at Jind clashed with the police and blocked the Jind- Chandigarh National Highway in Jind.

The police had to resort to mild lathi-charge to disperse the protesters and the highway was cleared for normal movement of vehicular traffic after a while. Jat leader Sandeep Bharti, who led the protesters, was demanding cancellation of Saini’s rally.

Bharti alleged that Saini was known for his anti-Jat rants and accused him of spreading communal hatred by making inflammatory and derogatory statements against the community. Officials said the situation remained tense in Rohtak and Jind.

(Agencies)

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