Archives for February 2019

Nasheman News :  A number of journalists’ bodies on Tuesday wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh complaining about trolling of some journalists on the social media in the wake of the Pulwama incident and sought action against the trolls.

“We would like to bring to your kind notice the vicious attacks on the social media directed against several mediapersons who have commented on the harassment faced by Kashmiri students and others following the dastardly killings of CRPF personnel in Pulwama,” read the letter written jointly by Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC), Press Club of India (PCI) and Press Association. 

It said that not only were the personal details of some of these mediapersons made public, several of them have been “bombarded by phone calls threatening violence, including sexual violence and other forms of repeated intimidation”. 

“While the government agencies rightfully rein in those who are spreading fake news and putting out potentially inflammatory messages, we urge the Union Home Ministry under your leadership to act with equal alacrity in identifying and booking those who have been targeting mediapersons and other individuals with hate messages,” the letter said.

“Such messages have the potential of inciting hatred and invariably leading to hate crime. Kindly look into this with the urgency it demands,” it added.

The journalists’ bodies also pointed out that the growing tendency to “demonise, hate and abuse people having different viewpoints” was a “deeply worrying trend” which goes against the basic tenets of democracy. 

Nasheman News : Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi will address her maiden public rally in Gujarat along with brother and party President Rahul Gandhi on February 28, signalling the intent to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah in their home state.

The mega rally to be held at Trimandir Ground, Adalaj, will follow the meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body, in Ahmedabad on February 28. The 51st CWC meeting, to be held just before the schedule of general elections is announced, will focus on strategising and preparing for the Lok Sabha polls.

The CWC meeting is being hosted in Gujarat after 60 years and the entire top Congress leadership – Rahul Gandhi, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress Parliamentary Party leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Priyanka Gandhi among others will brainstorm over the issues and roadmap for the Lok Sabha polls.

Besides Priyanka and Rahul, the rally will also be addressed by Sonia Gandhi, who last made a public speech in November last year in Telangana during the Assembly polls.

The Adalaj rally follows Rahul Gandhi’s February 14 address in tribal Lal Dungri village in Valsad district. This is the same village where his grandmother Indira Gandhi in 1980, his father Rajiv Gandhi in 1984 and his mother Sonia Gandhi in 2004 started and romped home to power.

Gujarat Congress MLA and party spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said the Adalaj rally will be the biggest in Gujarat in recent times.

“The preparations are in full swing for the rally which will be the biggest in Gujarat’s history. On the one hand, the resentment against Modi and the BJP is palpable in Gujarat and on the other, the enthusiasm among the people and party cadres is on an all-time high.

“This will be the first time that the people of Gujarat will witness Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi address from the same podium,” Gohil told IANS.

After being appointed as the General Secretary in charge of east Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka along with brother Rahul and fellow General Secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia held a road-show in Lucknow on February 11 and also interacted with party cadres.

Priyanka cancelled her maiden press meet as the Congress General Secretary in Lucknow on February 14 following the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were killed. 

Gujarat Congress chief Amit Chavda said the motive behind having the CWC meet and the rally in Gujarat was to send a strong signal to the BJP in Modi’s home state where the Congress in the 2017 Assembly polls gave a tough fight.

“Through the Adalaj rally, the entire Congress leadership will give voice to the people of Gujarat and the country whose aspirations have been crushed by the Modi government,” said Chavda.

“Buoyed by the good showing in the Assembly elections, the morale of the party will be further boosted by the presence of the entire top Congress leadership. This rally will signal the demise of the Modi government,” said Chavda exuding confidence of the Congress doing well in Gujarat. 

Blown away by the “Modi wave”, the Congress failed to win even a single seat in 2014 in Gujarat which sends members to the Lok Sabha.

A little over 15 km from Ahmedabad, Adalaj is famous for Rudabai Stepwell that was built in 1498 in the memory of Rana Veer Singh of the Vaghela dynasty. It is also famous for the expansive non-sectarian Trimandir temple.

The Trimandir is home to the idols of gods of Jainism, Shaivism, and Vaishnavism along with gods and goddesses from other religions.

Nasheman News :  An IAF pilot died on Tuesday after two Surya Kiran aircraft collided in the air and crashed while rehearsing near the Yelahanka airbase in Bengaluru where the ‘Aero India 2019’ air show begins on Wednesday.

The crash occurred on the outskirts of the airbase in the northern part of the city in an open field close to a residential area.

According to witnesses, the two aircraft that were rehearsing for the aerobatic display collided into each other in the air, thereby spiralling and crashing onto the ground below and exploding into fire, billowing thick black smoke in the sky.

Two pilots were seen ejecting out of the crashing aircraft using parachutes and got injured when they landed on the ground, said residents of a nearby residential locality.

“Two Hawk aircraft of Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team of IAF crashed at 11.50 a.m. while practicing for the air show. While two pilots ejected and were taken to a military hospital, a third pilot sustained fatal injuries,” an IAF statement said.

Karnataka Director General of Police and chief of Fire and Emergency Services M.N. Reddi said there were no injuries to any civilian on the ground. 

“No major damage to any houses in ISRO colony. Fire force has completely suppressed the fire,” he tweeted.

“A court of inquiry will investigate the cause of the accident,” IAF said. “One IAF pilot has unfortunately lost his life. Two others injured shifted to hospital but are said to be out of danger.” 

With the much-awaited five-day air show set to take place from February 20, the aircraft to take part in the flypast have been rehearsing at the airbase since February 14.

Tuesday’s collision is probably the first after the elite Surya Kiran unit was re-grouped in 2015 after a gap of four years but the show-stopping high-risk display flying arm of IAF has had its share of serious accidents. 

Surya Kiran, used as a mascot for the IAF to inspire youngsters to take up military aviation, is in its second avatar flying sub-sonic advanced jet trainers Hawk 132 that made an appearance in new livery four years ago after replacing jaded Kiran Mk II intermediate jet trainers. 

The Surya Kiran team with Kiran Mk II aircraft was wound up in 2011 but not before a series of accidents. 

In January 2009, Wing Commander R.S. Dhaliwal died in a crash near Surya Kiran’s home base Bidar in Karnataka. Another aircraft crashed in December 2007. In March 2006, yet another crash took place in Bidar killing two pilots. 

The British-origin Hawks are made in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). These are used to train pilots in advanced fighter flying skills. 

Surya Kiran returned to Aero India air show in Bengaluru in 2017 after a gap of nearly four years. 

Nasheman News :  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government is with the hard-working and honest people of the nation and in the past four-and-a-half years the BJP government under him has reversed the country’s downslide, besides changing the attitude of ‘sab chalta hai’ (everything is acceptable) and has been working for the betterment of all sections of the society.

Addressing a gathering at the Sant Ravidas Temple, Modi warned people with ill-gotten money and those involved in graft that they would not be spared. 

“Recently you have all seen that crores of honest tax payers from the middle class have been exempted from paying tax if their income falls within the Rs 5 lakh slab,” Modi said to rousing applause. 

It has been a good fortune of the people in the country that they have been blessed and guided by saints for ages, said Modi, who made his debut in the Lok Sabha from here in Uttar Pradesh in 2014.

He also said that he considered himself fortunate to be representing the constituency and to have come twice to the Ravidas temple in the past few years. 

“I had committed myself in 2016 that this place will be developed and when the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government took over in the state, I asked then to get a detailed project report (DPR) prepared,” he added.

In Shir Govardhan, addressing the followers of Guru Ravidas, mystic poet-saint of the Bhakti Movement, the Prime Minister said as part of the development the area will have a community centre, besides which a new route will be created to the temple. 

A 12-km road from the Benaras Hindu University (BHU) will be beautified and a bronze statue of the seer, who was born over six centuries ago, would also be installed. 

Modi also pointed out that his government’s mission of ‘sabka saath sabka vikaas’ has been greatly inspired by the values and teachings of Sant Ravidas.

Later, Modi also inaugurated a cancer hospital – Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya Cancer Centre – at the BHU where eminent industrialist Ratan Tata was also present. He also inaugurated the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital at Lahartara. 

Earlier, soon after his arrival at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport, where he was welcomed by Governor Ram Naik and Adityanath among others, he flagged off the world’s first diesel-to-electric converted locomotive and interacted with a group of “divyaangs”.

Taking strong economic action against Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack, India Saturday raised the customs duty to 200 per cent on all goods imported from the neighbouring country, including fresh fruits, cement, petroleum products and mineral ore.

The decision would significantly hit Pakistan’s exports to India, which stood at $488.5 million (around Rs 3,482.3 crore) in 2017-18 as it would drastically increase the prices of its goods here.

“India has withdrawn MFN (most favoured nation) status to Pakistan after the Pulwama incident. Upon withdrawal, basic customs duty on all goods exported from Pakistan to India has been raised to 200 per cent with immediate effect,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a tweet.

India has withdrawn MFN status to Pakistan after the Pulwama incident. Upon withdrawal, basic customs duty on all goods exported from Pakistan to India has been raised to 200% with immediate effect.

The two main items imported from Pakistan are fruits and cement, on which the current customs duty is 30-50 per cent and 7.5 per cent, respectively.

Slapping an import duty of 200 per cent effectively means almost banning the imports from Pakistan, official sources said.

India on Friday revoked the MFN status to Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack. The country invoked a security exception clause of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to withdraw this status. Both the countries are member of this organisation.

India can also restrict trade of certain goods and impose port-related restrictions on Pakistani goods.

Items which Pakistan exports to India include fresh fruits, cement, petroleum products, bulk minerals and ores, finished leather, processed minerals, inorganic chemicals, cotton raw, spices, wool, rubber product, alcoholic beverages, medical instruments, marine goods, plastic, dyes and sport goods.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in 1996, but the neighbouring country had not reciprocated.

Under the MFN pact, a WTO member country is obliged to treat the other trading nation in a non-discriminatory manner, especially with regard to customs duty and other levies.

In 2012, Pakistan had committed to giving the MFN status to India but retracted later due to domestic opposition. Instead of MFN, Pakistan said it was working on granting Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) status to India but that also was not announced.

Total India-Pakistan trade has increased marginally to $2.41 billion in 2017-18 as against $2.27 billion in 2016-17. India imported goods worth $488.5 million in 2017-18 and exported goods worth $1.92 billion.

During April-October 2018-19, India’s exports to Pakistan stood at $1.18 billion, while imports were $338.66 billion.

India mainly exports raw cotton, cotton yarn, chemicals, plastics, manmade yarn and dyes to Pakistan.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kgs of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Agencies

Nasheman News :  The Opposition on Monday created a ruckus in the Bihar Assembly demanding Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s resignation, two days after a special POCSO court in Muzaffarpur directed the CBI to investigate the involvement of Kumar and two IAS officers in the infamous shelter home rape case.

Legislators of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Left parties disrupted proceedings in both houses of the Assembly shouting slogans and demanding Nitish Kumar’s resignation.

While RJD spokesperson Bhai Virendra demanded a narco test of Nitish Kumar to confirm his involvement in the case, senior RJD leader and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi, who is also the leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, said, “After the court directed the CBI to probe chief minister’s role in suppressing facts, Nitish Kumar should resign.” 

Special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Court Judge Manoj Kumar had on Friday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the role of the Chief Minister as well as Muzaffarpur District Magistrate Dharmendra Singh and Principal Secretary (Social Welfare) Atul Prasad in the case. 

The order came on a petition filed by accused Ashwani, a self-claimed medical practitioner, demanding an investigation into the role of the three. 

According to a charge sheet filed in the case, Ashwani used to visit the shelter home to allegedly administer sedative-laced injections to the inmates before they were subjected to sexual abuse. 

The Muzaffarpur horror came to light in May 2018 when the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR based on a social audit of the shelter home conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. 

Following the FIR, police arrested Brajesh Thakur, a journalist-turned-social activist who headed the NGO that ran the shelter home, and other accused including his close aides and some government officials. The matter was handed over to the CBI in July last year. 

State Social Welfare Minister Manju Verma was also forced to resign following protests over reports that her husband and former Janata Dal-United legislator Chandreshwar Verma allegedly had close links with Thakur. 

Thakur has been shifted to a high-security jail in Patiala following a Supreme Court order, while the other accused are lodged in jails in Patna and Muzaffarpur. 

This month, the trial of the case was shifted to Delhi. 

Recently, the apex court also directed the CBI to probe allegations of sexual abuse at all such shelter homes across the state.