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An air strike by Saudi-led coalition near Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah killed at least 14 civilians, including seven children, medics and witnesses say.
A Saudi-led coalition air strike has killed at least 14 civilians, including seven children in Yemen.
The missiles hit a housing compound in the rebel-held city of Hodeidah.
Party hoppers are having a good time as political parties have thrown principles and ideologies to the wind in search of strong candidates to beat political rivals. It will actually be defector versus defector in several constituencies.
Within 48 hours after six-time Congress MLA from Afzalpur in Kalaburagi district Malikayya Guttedar joined the BJP, the grand old party hit back by netting senior BJP leader from the same constituency — M Y Patil. Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, who has vowed to ensure the defeat of Zameer Ahmed Khan in Chamarajpet, has poached senior Congressman Altaf Khan.
M Y Patil, a two-time MLA from Afzalpur, quit the BJP and joined Congress in Bengaluru on Monday. Congress is almost certain to field him against Guttedar.“I have been fighting against Guttedar’s illegal liquor and sand business in Afzalpur for the past 30 years. I am hurt by BJP’s decision to give ticket to Malikayya Guttedar,” M Y Patil said. He joined the Congress in the presence of KPCC president G Parameshwara. “I rejected the BJP’s offer to make me an MLC,” he added.
The search of Deve Gowda for a candidate to “teach a lesson to Zameer Ahmed Khan,” who quit the JD(S) and joined the Congress recently, ended on Monday with Gowda netting Altaf Khan, a Congres ticket aspirant from Chamarajpet constituency. Speaking on the occasion Altaf Khan accused Zameer of betraying Deve Gowda and the JD(S). “I will expose the shady deals of Zameer and how he made `300 crore out of it,” Altaf said.
‘Chotu Sachin is more popular than lambu Bachchan’
Vowing to defeat Zameer, the well-built Altaf said, “You (Zameer) are just four-and-a-half feet, I am six-and-a-half feet. I will crush you.”An angry Zameer hit back within a few minutes, “Altaf has mocked me as a four-and-a-half foot short man. What is the height of Sachin Tendulkar? How tall is Amitabh Bachchan? Isn’t Sachin more popular than Bachchan,” Zameer countered.“No Muslim from Karnataka could beat me. I will win even if former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir is fielded against me,” Zameer declared.
‘I WILL CHOP MY HEAD off IF DEFEATED’
Hitting out at JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda, Zameer said,”I will chop my head and place it at his (Gowda) feet if I am defeated in Chamarajpet.” He also challenged Altaf to prove his charge of `300 crore illegal deals. “I am ready for a CBI probe in this regard,” he said. Replying to a question, Zameer said the Congress high command will give ticket for all the seven JD(S) rebel MLAs who joined it recently.
After Facebook and Twitter, Google has cracked down on malicious cryptocurrency mining extensions on its Chrome platform.
Until now, Google Chrome’s web policy permitted cryptocurrency mining in extensions as long as it is the extension’s single purpose and the user is adequately informed about the mining behaviour.
“Unfortunately, approximately 90 per cent of all extensions with mining scripts that developers have attempted to upload to Chrome Web Store have failed to comply with these policies, and have been either rejected or removed from the store,” James Wagner, Extensions Platform Product Manager, said in a blog post late Monday.
“Starting today, Chrome Web Store will no longer accept extensions that mine cryptocurrency,” he added.
Existing extensions that mine cryptocurrency will be delisted from the Chrome Web Store in late June.
Extensions with blockchain-related purposes other than mining will continue to be permitted in the Web Store, Google said.
Over the past few months, there has been a rise in malicious extensions that appear to provide useful functionality on the surface, while embedding hidden cryptocurrency mining scripts that run in the background without the user’s consent.
These mining scripts often consume significant CPU resources, and can severely impact system performance and power consumption.
“This policy is another step forward in ensuring that Chrome users can enjoy the benefits of extensions without exposing themselves to hidden risks,” Wagner said.
Late last month, Twitter confirmed to block cryptocurrency-related ads on the platform.
In January, social media giant Facebook banned all ads promoting cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and ICOs.
Four members of a Pakistani Christian family were shot dead in Quetta city, the police said on Tuesday.
On Monday night, unidentified armed men intercepted a vehicle the family was travelling in and opened fire, Quetta Police spokesperson Mohamed Ramzan told Efe news.
The attack comes a day after Pakistani Christians, who are a mere 2 per cent of the population, had celebrated Easter Sunday.
Attacks against the Christians have been frequent in Pakistan.
In December 2017, a week before Christmas, two suicide bombers had stormed into a packed church in Quetta and killed 10 and wounded at least 44, in an attack claimed by the Islamic state.
In March 2016, the Taliban targeted Christians celebrating Easter in a park in Lahore killing 71 people.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi arrives in Shimoga, the hometown of state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa, on Tuesday. After his well-attended public meetings in Hyderabad-Karnataka, Mumbai-Karnataka, Coastal Karnataka and South Karnataka, the star campaigner of the party would be travelling across Shimoga, Davanagare and Chitradurga districts in central Karnataka on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Mysuru : AICC President Rahul Gandhi speaks during his Janashirvada Yatra in Srirangapatna town on Sundday. PTI Photo by Shailendra Bhojak(PTI3_25_2018_000158B)
BJP chief Amit Shah has already addressed a public meeting in Shimoga. The Congress has now taken the battle directly to Yeddyurappa’s door by bringing party supremo to Shimoga. After landing at Hubli airport, he will take a helicopter ride to Shimoga in the morning.
He will participate in a roadshow in the central Karnataka town before entering the neighbouring district of Davanagere. He is scheduled to address public meetings at Honnali, Harihara and Davanagere before evening.
Davanagere is a stronghold of Lingayats and a powerful section has backed Siddaramaiah government’s decision to accord minority status to them.
On Wednesday, Congress president will fly to Holalkere in Chitradurga district, another Lingayat stronghold. Amit Shah addressed a mega public meeting at the same place a month ago.
From there, Rahul Gandhi will fly to Tumkur to meet the 111-year-old seer of Siddaganga Mutt Shivakumara Swamy, a revered Lingayat pontiff.
The Supreme Court (SC) today agreed to hear the Centre’s urgent plea seeking a stay on its ruling that changed certain provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The hearing is scheduled for 2pm. The Chief Justice of India has constituted a special bench to hear the petition. This bench will comprise Justice AK Goel and UU Lalit, the judges who last month made the ruling on the SC/ST Act.
The Centre yesterday filed a review petition in the SC against its March 20 ruling that there would be no automatic arrest on any complaint filed under the SC/ST Act. Its petition came even as a Bharat Bandh called yesterday to protest the SC ruling turned violent in parts of India, resulting in the deaths of nine people.
Dalit groups, the Centre and several opposition parties believe the SC ruling dilutes the SC/ST Act. The SC last month ruled that instead of an immediate arrest in a case of alleged harassment, a preliminary inquiry must first be conducted by police within seven days of an incident before taking any action.
Speaking for the Centre, Attorney General K K Venugopal told an SC bench headed by Justice A K Goel today that there is an emergency situation in the country as thousands of people have come out on the streets to protest the changed provisions of the Act. Therefore, he said, it is necessary to stay the verdict to maintain law and order..
The Supreme Court (SC) today agreed to hear the Centre’s urgent plea seeking a stay on its ruling that changed certain provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The hearing is scheduled for 2pm. The Chief Justice of India has constituted a special bench to hear the petition. This bench will comprise Justice AK Goel and UU Lalit, the judges who last month made the ruling on the SC/ST Act.
The Centre yesterday filed a review petition in the SC against its March 20 ruling that there would be no automatic arrest on any complaint filed under the SC/ST Act. Its petition came even as a Bharat Bandh called yesterday to protest the SC ruling turned violent in parts of India, resulting in the deaths of nine people.
Dalit groups, the Centre and several opposition parties believe the SC ruling dilutes the SC/ST Act. The SC last month ruled that instead of an immediate arrest in a case of alleged harassment, a preliminary inquiry must first be conducted by police within seven days of an incident before taking any action.
Speaking for the Centre, Attorney General K K Venugopal told an SC bench headed by Justice A K Goel today that there is an emergency situation in the country as thousands of people have come out on the streets to protest the changed provisions of the Act. Therefore, he said, it is necessary to stay the verdict to maintain law and order.
Justice Goel, who wrote the verdict on the SC/ST Act last month on behalf of a bench comprising himself and Justice U U Lalit, said that he had no problem in hearing Centre’s review petition today itself but said that the case has to be decided by the same bench that delivered the verdict.
However, senior advocate Amrendra Sharan, who assisted the SC as Amicus Curiae, told the court that an SC order cannot be stayed because of law and order problems and it is for the government to take steps to control th situation.
According to government sources, the decision to petition against the top court’s ruling was taken after a discussion among the ministries of law and social justice. The social justice ministry filed the review petition.
n yet another act to curb terrorism, the US State Department has amended the “designation” of Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba to include its aliases so that the entire network falls within the ambit of American sanctions.
A press release from the US State Department said, “The Department of State has amended the designation of Pakistan-based terrorist organization Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT) to include the aliases Milli Muslim League (MML) and Tehreek-e- Azadi-e Kashmir (TAJK). The aliases have been added to LeT’s designations as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224.”
The modus operandi of these terror organisations is to change their names every time an organisation is put under international sanction. LeT, is an organisation that operates from Pakistan and directs its attacks against India. Its chief Hafiz Saeed, a globally designated terrorist, is yet to be brought to book by Pakistan.
According to the press release, apart from amending the list, seven other individuals have also been “designated” terrorists. “Concurrently with today’s State Department actions, the US Department of the Treasury designated seven members of the MML central leadership body for acting for on behalf of LeT: Saifullah Khalid, Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi, Muhammad Harris Dar, Tabish Qayyuum, Fayyaz Ahmad, Faisal Nadeem, and Muhammad Ehsan”, the statement said.
Terrorism designations “expose” and “isolate” organisations and individuals, and “deny” them access to the US financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of US agencies and other governments.
Efforts are made to improve the counter-terrorism cooperation between India and the US wherein these designations “seek to deny LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks.”
According to the statement, “Among other consequences of the designations, LeT’s property and interests in property subject to the US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group.”
Hafiz Saeed has changed the name of his organisation from LeT to a so-called ‘philanthropic’ organisation Jammat-ud-Dawaa till it was banned and they had to come up with another name called Falah-e-Insaniat. According to US findings, to avoid sanctions, LeT has repeatedly changed its name over the years. In January 2017, LeT began operating under the name Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir. LeT has engaged in terrorist activities under this name, including inciting terrorism, as well as recruiting and fundraising.
In August 2017, LeT chief Hafiz Saeed created the MML to serve as a political front for the group. LeT members make up MML’s leadership and the so-called party openly displays Saeed’s likeness in its election banners and literature.
Explaining the reasons for constant updating of the listing, Ambassador Nathan A. Sales, the Coordinator for Counter-terrorism at the Department of State, noted that it has to be done so that these organisations do not “circumvent” the sanctions and “deceive” the public.
“Today’s amendments take aim at Lashkar e-Taiba’s efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character. Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The United States supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence”, he said.
Formed in the 1980s, LeT was responsible for the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India that killed 166 people, including six Americans, and has killed dozens of Indian security forces and civilians in recent years. LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, holding public rallies, raising funds, and plotting and training for terrorist attacks.
Motherson Sumi (MSS), via its 51% owned subsidiary SMRPBV, has executed the transaction documents for the proposed acquisition of Reydel Automotive (Reydel; all cash deal). Prima facie, the deal is favorable as: (a) businesses & customer profiles of both companies are complementary. In fact, the acquisition will bolster MSS’ capabilities; (b) valuations at ~0.1x CY17E EV/sales & ~2x CY17E EV/EBIDT (~5-6x for SMRPBV) render it value accretive (similar to SMR in 2009) given RoCE of ~25%; and (c) capex needs of ~USD30mn indicates adequate FCF. We revise down FY20E EPS ~4% to INR15.3 to factor in lower growth across business. However, we upgrade to ‘BUY’ post the recent stock price correction with revised TP of INR375 (earlier INR 404).
Reydel buy: Key takeaways:
· Reydel a strategic fit: The acquisition provides MSS access to a diverse set of capabilities (versus SMP) in similar line of products (cockpit modules, instrument & door panels, consoles, etc). Also, it widens its customer base. Post the acquisition, revenue share from Renault/PSA to rise to 8%/5% from 5%/1% currently. Similarly, MSS will gain access to Indonesia, Croatia, Philippines, Morocco and Argentina where currently it has limited presence.
· Valuations attractive: At USD201mn, Reydel will be acquired at attractive valuation of EV/sales of ~0.1x and EV/EBIDT of ~2x (EBIDT of USD68mn, net cash at USD53mn). Management indicated that Reydel’s capex need will be well funded by its operations. Ample cross leverage opportunities for MSS and Reydel on best practices, accessing new locations and new platforms. Management indicated that it has been mulling the Reydel buy since a year and has the support of all the latter’s customers.
Outlook and valuations: Well placed; upgrade to ‘BUY’
We like MSS’ strong India franchise (~65% market share; >50% RoCE) as well as SMR (~25% market share; >40% RoCE). We expect SMP to also follow this trajectory driven by revenue traction and lower capex. We estimate 28% FY18-20E EPS CAGR. Post the recent correction, we upgrade to ‘BUY’ from HOLD with TP of INR375 (India business 30x, SMR: 20x, SMP/PKC: 18x FY20E PER). At CMP, the stock trades at 21x FY20E PER.
With anger sweeping Tamil Nadu over the NDA government’s failure to set up a Cauvery Water Management Board (CMB), the ruling entire AIADMK launched its day-long hunger strike on Tuesday. The protest began at 8 am, will conclude at 5 pm.
The entire AIADMK Cabinet will participate in the strike. Chief Minister K Palaniswamy and his deputy O Panneerselvam launched the hunger strike in Chennai, while other ministers and party leaders led protests in districts across the state.
According to the list released by the party, senior ministers Dindigul C Sreenivasan (Forest), KA Sengottaiyan (School Education), P Thangamani (Electricity), D Jayakumar (Fisheries) and SP Velumani (Municipal Administration) among others will head the fast organised at different locations.
The party has nominated seven functionaries from Puducherry including MLAs to observe fast in the neighbouring union territory on the issue.
Senior party leaders, heads of various wings, MPs and MLAs were also named in the list released by the party.
The AIADMK, which had initially announced that the hunger strike programme will be held on 2 April, subsequently postponed it by a day.
The protest will be held on Tuesday in all 32 districts of Tamil Nadu, besides in Puducherry, urging the Centre to constitute CMB and Central Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC).
AIADMK is reportedly also considering moving a no-trust motion in Parliament against the NDA government. Senior AIADMK leader M Thambidurai said on Monday that his party would consider moving a no-trust motion in Parliament against the NDA government if Congress supported it.
On the rival front, the DMK has demanded that Palaniswamy convene a meeting of his Cabinet and pass a resolution condemning the central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Cauvery issue.
Meanwhile, the rival TTV Dhinakaran camp has challenged the ruling dispensation to criticise Modi during the hunger strike.
Dhinakaran aide V Pugazhenthi had said last week that the chief minister and his deputy should speak out against the Centre. “The fast should not be a mere eyewash,” he had said.
Amid protests across Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a contempt plea of Tamil Nadu against the Centre on 9 April on the Cauvery issue.
The Supreme Court bench, comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said,”We understand Tamil Nadu’s difficulty of not getting water. We will resolve the issue.”
Tamil Nadu’s stand is that the Centre must constitute the CWMB and CWRC. In its 16 February judgment, the apex court had raised the 270 tmcft share of Karnataka by 14.75 tmcft and reduced Tamil Nadu’s share of Cauvery water.
The apex court granted six weeks’ time to the Centre to formulate a scheme to ensure compliance of its 465-page judgment, which modified the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal award. Following the verdict, Tamil Nadu has been urging the Centre to set up the CWMB and CWRC to ensure it received its due share of water from the inter-state river.
Minister of state (MoS) for External Affairs General VK Singh, who brought back the mortal remains of 38 of the 39 Indians killed in war-torn Iraq, said that Indian embassy did not have any record of the 40 Indians captured by the terror group ISIS in Iraq in 2014 as they had gone there through illegal travel agents.
Addressing reporters at Amritsar in Punjab, the Union minister said had the government had any information about these people being in danger, it would have rescued them as it had done in case of over 45 Indian nurses in 2014.
Thirty-nine of the 40 Indian labourers were killed by the terror group, while one of them managed to escape posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh. Out of the 39 killed, 27 hailed from Punjab, four from Himachal Pradesh, six from Bihar and two from West Bengal.
The bodies of the Indians were brought back on Monday in a special aircraft and handed over to their relatives or local authorities in Amritsar, Kolkata and Patna.
Talking to reporters, VK Singh emphasised that both the state and Central governments should work collectively to check illegal travel agents.
“We have told each state that law and order is their responsibility and they should catch illegal agents in their respective states and take action against them… We do not want anybody to go abroad illegally. We want people to go legally so that we have their record,” he said.
The minister also said it was not possible to ascertain when the Indians were killed.
“But we were told that it could be about one year (ago). But it is very difficult to say whether it is more than a year or less than a year (ago),” he said.
To a question, VK Singh said that the Iraq-based Martyrs Foundation had advised against opening of the caskets.
“The Martyrs Foundation has told us that the way toxic contents were found (from where the mortal remains were taken out) and the way all this was done (embalming of bodies) when you open the casket it may pose danger and that is why they said it is better not to open it,” he said.
Asked how they were killed, the Union minister, a former Army chief, said that some of the people were killed by bullets.
“When tests were conducted (on mortal remains) it was found that some persons were killed by bullets and however, in some cases, it is very difficult to say as to how they were killed,” he said.
To a question on jobs being demanded by the kin of the victims, the minister said the union external affairs minister had already told them to provide detailed information about persons who were eligible for jobs.
The minister was also criticised for his reported “insensitive” remark comparing the demand for compensation to the families of 39 Indians killed in Iraq to demanding “biscuits”, and said it was “heartless, shameful and reprehensible”.
Also Read: Not like biscuits: VK Singh criticised for comment on 38 Indians killed in Iraq
“This is not like distributing biscuits, I do not have like a box of money in my pocket that I’ll just declare the compensation right now, this matter concerns people’s lives,” he responded when asked whether he can give an estimate of the compensation the families will receive.