Archives for 2017

Kolkata: Tibet does not seek independence from China but wants greater development, Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said here Thursday.

China and Tibet enjoyed a close relationship, though there were occasional “fights”, he said at an interactive session organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

“The past is past. We will have to look into the future,” he said.

He stressed that Tibetans wanted to stay with China.

“We are not seeking independence… We want to stay with China. We want more development,” the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people said.

The Dalai Lama said China must respect Tibetans culture and heritage.

“Tibet has a different culture and a different script… The Chinese people love their own country. We love our own country,” he said.

Holding that no Chinese “understand what had happened in the last few decades”, he said the country had changed over the years.

“With China joining the world, it has changed 40 per cent to 50 per cent of what it was earlier,” he said.

The Dalai Lama also referred to the ecological significance of the Tibetan Plateau and recalled that a Chinese ecologist had said its environmental impact was like that of the South Pole and the North Pole.

“The ecologist called it the Third Pole,” the Buddhist leader said.

The Dalai Lama said, “From Yangtze to Sindhu rivers, major rivers … come from Tibet. Billions of lives are involved. Taking care of the Tibetan Plateau is not only good for Tibet but for billions of people.”

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Friday summoned the Superintendent of Parappana Agrahara Jail in Bengaluru to appear before it with the fingerprint records of Tamil Nadu’s late Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa in connection with affixing of the thumb impression on poll documents, said a lawyer.

The prison official will have to appear before the High Court on December 8, V.Arun, the lawyer for P.Saravanan, the DMK candidate for the Thirupparankundram assembly constituency in the by-election held, if she had taken an Aadhar card, had also asked the Central government to produce the Aadhar card details of Jayalalithaa if any, he said, adding that the fingerprints of Jayalalithaa with the Bengaluru jail and with the Central government if she had taken an Aadhar card would be compared with those in the poll papers.

Saravanan had approached the court to cancel the election of AIADMK’s A.K. Bose from the Thirupparankundram Assembly constituency in the by-election held last year, raising doubts on affixing of the thumb impression by Jayalalithaa, also the AIADMK chief, in his poll documents.

Jayalalithaa was lodged in the Parappana Agrahara prison after she was convicted in a corruption case by the trial court in 2014 but later let out on bail.

In September 2016, she was admitted to Apollo Hospital for illness. In October 2016, she had an inflamed right hand as she had undergone tracheostomy and had to affix her left thumb impression in the poll documents submitted by the AIADMK candidate.

As per the Representation of People Act, a candidate contesting on behalf of a political party has to submit Form B, where their party leader has to authorise the candidate to contest under the party’s election symbol.

The by-polls in Aravakurichi, Thanjavur and Thiruparankundram assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu were slated for November 19, 2016 and the ruling AIADMK candidates had submitted their papers on October 28, 2016 to the Returning Officers.

The thumb impression of Jayalalithaa was attested by a government doctor – P.Balaji, Professor of Minimal Access Surgery, Madras Medical College.

In his comments, Balaji said: “Since the signatory has undergone tracheostomy recently and has an inflamed right hand, she is temporarily unable to affix her signature. Hence she has affixed her left thumb impression on her own in my presence.”

Dr Babu K. Abraham, working in Apollo Hospitals, signed as a witness.

Tracheostomy is a medical procedure whereby a direct airway is created by an incision in the windpipe enabling a person to breathe directly without the use of nose or mouth.

Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital with fever and dehydration on September 22 and died after over 70 days in December.

(IANS)

Jaipur: The body of a 40-year-old man was found hanging from the outer walls of Nahargarh Fort here on Friday morning, with the message “‘Padmavati’ ka virodh” – in protest against the film “Padmavati”.

The message, written on the stones near the fort wall adjacent to the body, read, “Hum putle nahin jalate….latkate hain” (we don’t burn effigies, we hang them).

“It is early to comment on it as the matter is under investigation. The identity of the man, around 40-years-old, is yet to be ascertained,” Satyendra Singh, DCP Jaipur (North), told IANS.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Padmavati” has been mired in controversies since its shooting started. Activists of the Karni Sena, a Rajput community, besides other groups have been protesting against the movie, claiming the film “distorts” historical facts.

“They are trying to defame queen Padmavati by distorting historical facts. It is not acceptable,” an activist of the Karni Sena said.

Activists of the Karni Sena earlier this month vandalised a theatre in Kota, Rajasthan, over reports that it was showing a trailer of “Padmavati”. A Karni Sena leader threatened actress Deepika Padukone, who plays the lead in the movie, with physical harm.

The release of the movie, earlier scheduled for December 1, has been deferred.

(IANS)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today refused to accord urgent hearing on a plea filed by the father of a Kerala-based woman, who converted to Islam before marrying a Muslim man, that interaction with the woman be conducted in- camera.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said that it will deal with this plea on November 27 itself when the woman would be brought before it for interaction.

The counsel for Ashokan K M, the father of the woman, sought an urgent hearing on his plea saying that it would become infructuous if the earlier order mandating open court interaction is not modified. The apex court had on October 30 directed that the woman be produced before it on November 27 for an interaction in open court.

Asokan referred to the communally sensitive nature of the case and sought in-camera interaction on some grounds including that radical elements could jeopardise the safety and privacy of his daughter and the family.

The top court had on August 16 said it would speak to the woman in-camera before taking a final decision on the matter. It has later modified the order saying “We may further add that this court shall speak to her not in camera but in open court.”

The apex court had earlier observed that the free consent of a major to marriage has to be ascertained amid an assertion by National Investigation Agency (NIA) that an indoctrinated person may be incapable of giving free consent to marriage.

The NIA had referred to “psychological kidnapping” and said that an indoctrinated person may be incapable of giving free consent. It had also alleged that there was a “well-oiled machinery working in Kerala” indulging in indoctrination and radicalisation and 89 such cases have been reported.

The NIA had claimed that this was a case in which the woman was indoctrinated and hence the court could invoke parental authority even if she was a major. The counsel for her father had earlier claimed that Shafin Jahan, the alleged husband of the woman, was a radicalised man and had links with persons who used to recruit for ISIS.

The woman, a Hindu, had converted to Islam and later married Jahan. It was alleged that the woman was recruited by Islamic State’s mission in Syria and Jahan was only a stooge. Jahan had on September 20 approached the apex court seeking recall of its August 16 order directing the NIA to investigate the controversial case of conversion and marriage of a Hindu woman with him.

He had moved the top court after the Kerala High Court had annulled his marriage, saying it was an insult to the independence of women in the country.

(Agencies)

Ahmedabad: Patidar leader Hardik Patel on Wednesday declared his support for the Congress in the upcoming Gujarat elections, saying the party had accepted the demand for reservation for the Patel community.

The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader told reporters here that the Congress will include the extension of reservation benefit to the Patel community in its election manifesto.

The Congress, which has mounted a hectic campaign to dislodge the long-ruling BJP in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, has been wooing Hardik, who has been spearheading the Patidar stir, for quite some time.

Elections in Gujarat will be held on December 9 and 14.

(PTI)