Archives for 2018

Panaji, As Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar was in favour of buying Sukhoi SU-30MK1, which were cheaper and as good as French Rafale jets, then why did Prime Minister Narendra Modi strike an expensive deal for the latter aircraft, Goa Congress spokesperson Ramakant Khalap said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference at the state Congress headquarters here, Khalap also said that the mystery of Rafale deal was embedded in a geographic triangle of Paris, Delhi and Goa, and said now that the ailing Chief Minister was on his feet, he should be answering queries related to the controversial deal.

“In Rajya Sabha in July 2015, he had said that the agreement for 126 aircraft is being withdrawn and negotiations for 36 aircraft will be started. Prior to that in February 2014, he had said that instead of Rafale, Sukhoi SU-30MK1 be purchased because they are as good as Rafale and cheaper than Rafale. This was the view expressed by Manohar Parrikar in his capacity as Defence Minister of India,” Khalap said.

“This is to Mr. Parrikar… Now that he is moving around, the press would be fully justified in asking for a personal meet-up with him. He can throw more light on the issue,” the former Union Minister of State for Law said.

Khalap, while accusing the Central government of lying to the Supreme Court of India, said that the key to the Rafale mystery lay in three geographical regions.

“So we have Delhi, we have Paris and we have Goa. A triangle, which perhaps holds the mystery of this Rafale aircraft. If no JPC (joint parliamentary committee) is formed (for probe into Rafale deal), the future of the present NDA will be written in perhaps French letters, in the French language,” Khalap said.

Islamabad,  An FIR was lodged here on Tuesday against five persons, including the security guards of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, for violently assaulting a TV cameraman a day earlier.

Footage on Monday showed Syed Wajid Ali, the cameraman of Samaa TV, lying on the ground outside the parliament building after a security guard allegedly shoved him for coming in Sharif’s way while recording him, reports Dawn news.

Another guard was then seen rushing towards the cameraman and kicking him in the face. 

The guard, as per the footage, then escapes the scene in one of the vehicles of protocol.

The cameraman, who lost consciousness due to the kick, was shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims). 

According to doctors, Ali had sustained injuries on his lip, where he was administered three stitches, and on his head. 

Sharif, while speaking to the media, described the incident as unfortunate and assured that “every measure will be taken in accordance with the law”, Dawn said.

The former leader regretted the incident but claimed that the assaulted cameraman had first hit his guard with his camera.

“That is no way (to behave),” Sharif said. “(But) the cameraman had hit the guard on his forehead with his equipment.”

Ranchi,  A herd of rampaging elephants have killed five people in the last one week in Jharkhand’s Pakur, Jamtara and Dumka districts, forest officials said on Tuesday.

The fifth person was trampled to death late on Monday in Pakur by the herd that has 22 elephants.

According to forest department officials, Amanuwal Hembrom, 30, a resident of Khhassa village was one of the members in a group that had been trying to chase the elephants away.

A mob on Tuesday blocked the national highway in Pakur demanding action and compensation.

The herd has been rampaging through the Santhal Pargana region. 

They had first entered Jamtara district and trampled three people to death on different days. Later the herd entered Dumka where one person was trampled to death.

The herd also includes baby elephants, who have wrecked havoc — standing crops and houses have been damaged by the herd, a forest official said.

In Jharkhand more than 700 people have been killed by elephant herds since the states creation in 2000.

New Delhi, A day after being convicted and sentenced to life-imprisonment in an 1984 anti-Sikh riot case, Sajjan Kumar on Tuesday resigned from the primary membership of the Congress.

The former Lok Sabha member in a letter to Congress President Rahul Gandhi said he was resigning from the party with immediate effect, said party sources. 

Elected thrice to the Lok Sabha from the Outer Delhi constituency, the latest being 2004, Kumar had being sidelined by the party since 2009 when he was denied ticket to contest the general elections following allegations of his involvement in the riots which the High Court on Monday described as “crime against humanity”. 

While Kumar on the day refused to interact with the media, his lawyers said they were in process of approaching the Supreme Court against the conviction by the Delhi High Court. 

Meanwhile, Gandhi who is said to have accepted Kumar’s resignation, refused to comment on the convicted leader. 

Addressing the media in Parliament complex, Gandhi said his press conference was about the Narendra Modi government and farmers loans issue. 

“I have made my position on the riots very clear, this press conference is about the farmers,” replied Gandhi when asked to comment about Kumar. 

Barring Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who welcomed Kumar’s conviction, Congress leaders mostly have refrained from commenting on the issue saying the conviction should not be “politicised”. 

Facing intense attacks from the Centre’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and ally Shiromani Akali Dal, the Congress also raked up the 2002 Gujarat riots to target the saffron party and Modi who was then the Gujarat Chief Minister.