Archives for 2018

Panaji: The Goa government today filed a brief summary of arguments before the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal in Delhi amidst its dispute with Karnataka over the diversion of the river’s waters.

The hearing on Goa’s arguments against Karnataka’s proposed dams on the river will be heard in the first week of February.

Senior Counsel Atmaram Nadkarni, representing Goa before the tribunal, said a brief summary of arguments had been filed which runs into three volumes comprising 531 pages.

“The summary of arguments have been prepared topic wise. The first volume contains the case and pleadings of the state of Goa, along with excerpts of the evidence on hydrology placed by Goa through its witnesses,” Nadkarni explained.

The second volume contains arguments and submissions on the environmental aspect and the evidence placed by Goa on marine wild life, marine ecology and environmental flows, he said.

“The third volume contains specific arguments on various legal issues such as non-compliance of Karnataka to various statutory provisions and the international law on river disputes and diversion of water,” he added.

Nadkarni said Goa’s case was essentially to challenge the construction of 12 dams by Karnataka on the Mahadayi river and also oppose Karnataka’s proposal to divert Mahadayi waters to the Malaprabha reservoir.

He said Goa opposed these moves as it would result in a complete aquatic, marine and terrestrial ecology disaster and also deprive Goa of water for drinking, irrigation and industrial needs.

(Agencies)

A BJP legislator from Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh has landed himself in hot water after stating that once India becomes a “Hindu rashtra”, only those Muslims will stay in the country who assimilate into the Hindu culture.

“There are a very few Muslims who are patriotic. Once India becomes a Hindu rashtra (Hindu nation), Muslims who assimilate into our culture will stay in India. Those who will not are free to take asylum in any other country,” Bairia MLA Surendra Singh told reporters on Saturday night.

He also claimed that by 2024, India would become a Hindu nation. Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an “avatar purush” (reincarnation of a deity), Singh said, “As the RSS completes 100 years in 2025, by 2024, India will become a Hindu rashtra. By the grace of god, India is going to be a global superpower thanks to the leadership of Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Not only will India become a ‘vishwa guru’, it will also become a Hindu rashtra by 2024.”

Taking a jibe at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the BJP MLA said, “There are two sets of values in Rahul Gandhi – one is Italian, while the other one is Indian… He can never become the torchbearer of the Indian thought.” He said the Gandhi scion could coin any slogan to become the prime minister of the country, but he lacked the strength and values to make India strong. “His (Rahul Gandhi’s) is a mix of Indian and Italian culture,” Singh said and claimed that the Congress chief was not aware of what India and Indianness were all about.

(PTI)

Bengaluru: The war of words between Karnataka and neighbouring BJP ruled Goa over the Mahadayi river water sharing dispute, has worsened with Goa planning to file a contempt petition before the Supreme Court and the Mahadeyi Water Dispute Tribunal against Karnataka for allegedly resuming work on a canal at Kankumbi on a Mahadeyi tributary “in violation” of the apex court order.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah termed as ‘reprehensible,’ the alleged abusive words used by Goa water resources Minister Vinod Palyekar against Kannadigas, a charge dismissed by the latter. Palyekar had reportedly used the abusive words on Saturday when he visited the site where Karnataka is allegedly constructing a canal.

“The abusive words used against #Kannadigas by @BJP4India Irrigation Minister from Goa are reprehensible to say the least. However we hold no grudge against the people of Goa. We will continue to strive to secure drinking water from #Mahadayi for our people,” Siddaramaiah said in a tweet.

The abusive words used against #Kannadigas by @BJP4India Irrigation Minister from Goa are reprehensible to say the least. However, we hold no grudge against the people of Goa. We will continue to strive to secure drinking water from #Mahadayi for our people.

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) January 14, 2018

Last year, the apex court had ordered Karnataka to stop work on the construction of the canal at Kankumbi, which was aimed at diverting water from the Mahadeyi tributary. Goa now claims they have photographic evidence to prove that the work has begun. The Goa Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma has written to his Karnataka counterpart over the ‘ongoing work’ on the tributary, which he said was in violation of the Supreme Court order.

Karnataka, which has locked horns with Goa on sharing Mahadayi water, is seeking release of 7.56 tmcft water for the Kalasa-Banduri Nala project. This project is being undertaken to improve drinking water supply to the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad and districts of Belagavi and Gadag.

(Agencies)

A 15-year-old girl in Haryana, missing since last week after she left home for tuition classes, was found dead on Saturday with 19 severe injuries to her body and signs of unspeakable torture. Her liver and lungs had been ruptured and an object had been jammed into her body, doctors said.

Amid horror at the brutality of the crime, Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar said one of the attackers had been identified and would be arrested soon.

The Class 10 student, from a village in Kurukshetra, went missing on Tuesday. Her mutilated, half-naked body was found near a canal about 100 kilometres away, in Jind. It was covered just by a torn shirt, and there were wounds on her face, neck, lips and chest. She was believed to have died two days earlier.

“The body had many injury marks, the private parts were mutilated and there were lot of internal injuries. Signs of sexual assault are visible and looks like three-four people were responsible, a hard and blunt thing was inserted inside her, signs of drowning also found,” said a doctor in PGI Rohtak, SK Dattarwal.

He said it was apparent that the girl had struggled to escape but was gagged, and someone sat on her chest.

The girl’s father hit out at the administration. “My daughter was kidnapped and raped. She was tortured… If administration had done its job well, an incident like this would have never happened,” he wept.

The assault has been compared to the Delhi gang-rape in which a 23-year-old medical student — who came to be known as Nirbhaya — died after being gang-raped and tortured on a moving bus in December 2012.

Two special investigation teams led by senior officers have been set up to investigate the schoolgirl’s rape, said the police in Jind.

The body of another girl, 11, was found in a village in Panipat on Sunday, the police said.

The girl was allegedly kidnapped on Saturday evening when she had left her house to throw garbage in the village dump. She was raped and strangled, the police said.

Rahul Sharma, superintendent of police, Panipat, told news agency Press Trust of India that two men in her neighbourhood had been arrested.

Last month, a six-year-old girl was raped and killed in the state’s Hisar district. She had also been tortured with a stick.

(Agencies)

The Nasheman Weekly’s Editor-in-Cheif Mr. Rizwan Asad has been selected for the prestigious Asian Arab Awards by the Asian Arab Chamber of Commerce Award. The Asian Arab Awards is nominated by the Jury from more than 21 countries and Mr. Asad was chosen for the landmark service given to the cause of Journalism in India with the publication of The Nasheman Weekly.

Asian Arab Chamber of Commerce (AACC) is focusing on strengthening economic, commercial and cultural relations between Asia and Middle East continent. To deepen this economic engagement, the governments of India and various countries have established institutional mechanisms and entered into agreements aimed at providing added impetus to trade and investment flows between the various continents. AACC is the platform to facilitate all these engagements.

The organization is being run by a consortium of National and international professionals under the guidance of an eminent board of senior bureaucrats, professionals and Industrialists globally.

“IETO is one of the unique organizations in India with presence globally and which is exclusively facilitating business with the global region fulfilling the need of providing common platform for interaction with focus on the needs of the business community. We will have discussion around the key focus areas like growth of MSME’s, Procurement of technologies, Import Export opportunities and Educational, R&D programs and cultural exchange in various sectors bringing this gap,” noted HRH Princess Fay Jahan Ara, President of the AACC.