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New Zealand Open:Manu, Sumeeth and Praneeth knocked out

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New Delhi, May 2 : India’s Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy in men’s doubles while B Sai Praneeth in men’s single lost their matches in second round of the New Zealand Open in Auckland on Thursday.
In men’s singles 12th world rank Lin Dan took 37 minutes to defeat Praneeth 21-12, 21-12. Dan has now 2-0 record against Praneeth. The duo last played in 2017.
While in the men’s doubles also it was heartbreak for Indian pair after being edged out by Malaysia’s 7th seed Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong 21-17, 21-19 in 60 minutes. The Indian pair has 2-2 record against the Malaysian’s.
Earlier, on Wednesday Indian campaign ended in women’s single as Olympic medallist Saina Nehwal and Anura Prabhudesai both crashed out in the first round.

Hamas-Islamic Jihad delegation visits Egypt to discuss truce with Israel

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Gaza, May 2 : A delegation, including Islamic Hamas movement and Islamic Jihad movement, on Thursday left Gaza Strip through Rafah border to Egypt to discuss the understanding of the truce with Israel, according to officials of the two movements.
Khader Habib, the leader of Islamic Jihad, told Xinhua that the visit is upon to the call of Egypt to discuss the improvements of the Palestinian situations and the understandings of truce with Israel.
Habib accused Israel of trying to shirk its obligations on the understandings to break the blockade that has been imposed on Gaza Strip since 2007, adding “Israel is responsible for any escalation will be launched in the Strip.”
Egypt, the United Nations and Qatar have been in talks for several months between the Palestinian factions in Gaza and Israel to promote the truce following the protests of March 30, 2018 rallies demanding the lifting of the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip since mid-2007.
Meanwhile, Bassem Na’im, the leader of Islamic Hamas movement, said “Israel is looking for any justifications to shirk its obligations on the understanding to break its blockade, what was committed to the United Nations and Egyptian mediator.”
Na’im added “the Palestinian people will not allow Israel in any way to continue its blockade against them or keep its shirking from the understandings to install the truce, under pretexts of flimsy.”
The Hamas and Islamic Jihad delegation is going to Egypt following field tensions with Israel after weeks of relative calm.
The Israeli army announced on Thursday that two rockets were fired from Gaza Strip toward the Israeli cities, with no injuries or damages reported.
No Palestinian factions claimed the responsibility for the shells.
The rockets were fired from Gaza in response to the Israeli air strikes that targeted a Hamas post in northern Gaza strip.

Millions missing from electoral roll in India’s elections

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Activists say millions of people registered to vote in India’s elections find names removed from the list.

Watchdog organisations say around 120 million voters appear to be missing from the electoral roll as elections continue in India.

They accuse some politicians of deliberately leaving out their rival parties’ supporters

But a new app is making it easier for voters to get back on the list.

‘Cultured Families Should Keep Kids Away From Priyanka,’ Warns Smriti Irani

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Amid hectic campaigning in her parliamentary constituency,  Minister Smriti Irani hit out at Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and claimed that people should keep their children away from the latter.

Irani was reacting to news of a viral video of a group of children raising slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Priyanka’s presence. While the authenticity of the video hasn’t been verified, Irani said, “She makes children abuse. She asked children to abuse the Prime Minister. You cannot use children for political campaigns. What will children learn out of this? I will ask all cultured families to keep their children away from Priyanka Gandhi. I am happy that the family which claims to be cultured stands unmasked.”

Talking to media, Irani said that the Congress was fighting a losing battle in UP. “We gave such a chase to Congress President that he had to literally run even after SP-BSP pledged support on this seat. This is not a fight between BJP & Congress, this is a genuine fight between people & a ‘lapata sansad’.”

Irani’s jibe was directed at Rahul Gandhi who is contesting from Amethi as well as Wayanad in Kerala.

Earlier, while addressing a gathering in Rae Bareli, Priyanka had taken a veiled dig at both the Prime Minister and the UP Chief Minister and said, “The Prime Minister did not get time to visit a single village of his constituency during five years. Had he talked to
farmers about their lives, he would have come to know what name the farmers have given to stray animals around them.”

To this, Irani said, “This is her real face. She is disrespecting a prime minister and a state chief. She denigrated Gorakhnath math adhyaksh (Yogi Adityanath). Will she do the same in Gorakhpur?”

As to Priyanka’s role, Irani said the former was standing in for her brother who had already ceded ground in Amethi. “Priyanka is not a candidate, in fact, her very presence here is recognition of Rahul’s incapacity,” she said.

Agencies

I am more concerned for Hindus than Modi is: Kejriwal

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New Delhi, May 2 : Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said he is more concerned for Hindus than Mr Modi is.
In an interview to a news channel, Mr Kejriwal said,”Mr Modi doesn’t love Hindus, but actually hates Muslims and gets them killed. People are targetted for speaking against Mr Modi. I want to ask if you are a party of Hindus, what have you done for Hindus?
Have the BJP people arranged for school admission of even one Hindu child? Have BJP people even provided employment to one Hindu youth in these years? Did BJP people get even one Hindu child admitted in a hospital for treatment? Kejriwal did it.”
”Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) even admitted Hindu students in schools. They even provided employment to Hindu youth. AAP even helped in the medical treatment of Hindu kids. I am more concerned for Hindus than Modi is. Modi does not think about Hindus,” he said.
”What does Mr Modi do? Modi kills Muslims. And after killing Muslims he says I care for Hindus. You hate Muslims, you don’t love Hindus. We love Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains,” Mr Kejriwal said.
Expressing displeasure at Congress’ refusal to form an alliance with AAP, he accused the latter of ‘cutting anti-BJP votes’.

Agencies

PM Modi’s zero tolerance policy resulted in global terrorist tag for Masood Azhar: Govt

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Addressing the media, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also slammed the opposition parties for their stand on the declaration.

PM Modi, Zero tolerance policy, Global terrorist, Masood Azhar

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley jointly addressed a press conference on Thursday where they praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “persistent efforts” behind the designation of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UNSC.

“We would like to highlight the fact that the zero tolerance policy for terrorism by the PM has borne fruit. This is something this government will draw attention of the people of India to,” Sitharaman said at the press conference in New Delhi.

“In every opportunity the PM had during his bilateral meetings and in multilateral fora, (raised) the need to recognise Pakistan as the land where, as per publically available data, has more than 35 declared terror organisations are located.

“Azhar’s name as the leader and mastermind of several attacks has all been recognised. But it is the persistent effort taken by this government under the leadership of PM which has brought this result for us today,” she added.

“The outcome of persistent measures taken by MEA under the leadership of PM and the PM’s own visits have resulted in this,” Sitharaman said.

Addressing the media, Jaitley slammed the opposition parties for their stand on the declaration.

“The whole country is praising the government and the PM. When the country wins, every Indian wins but it is unfortunate that some friends in the opposition think that if they join in this victory they might have to pay a political price for it,” he said.

He also took a jibe at the claims by the opposition that they carried out “invisible surgical strikes” when they were in power.

“When we succeeded after 10 long years, they reacted by saying that there is no big deal. India’s tradition was that all parties were united when it came to the country’s foreign and defence policy but in the last few days have witnessed attempts at breaking this tradition,” he said.

Calling the Congress a “fringe organisation”, Jaitley said that “Congress blackmails institutions and if the institutions do not agree with them they tarnish the institutions”.

He also said that Congress comes out with frivolous complaints and puts unnecessary pressure on Election Commission.

“Model Code of Conduct does not encroach into free speech. It is subject to free speech; both have to exist together harmoniously,” he said.

“How can calling for votes in the name of nationalism violate MCC? Has Article 19-1(A) been deleted from the Constitution? Is MCC a substitute for free speech? The answer is no. The MCC is subject to free speech. It doesn’t shrink free speech,” Jaitley added.

Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar was on Wednesday declared as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee 1267.

The proposal was recently moved by France, UK and the US but was blocked by China.

Beijing lifted its “technical hold” on Wednesday just over a week after Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in China, thus making it a huge diplomatic win for India.

Syed Akbaruddin, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said that Azhar’s listing is a significant outcome for India because “we have been at it for several years”.

“The first effort was made in 2009. More recently, we have been persistent, diligent and, in a subterranean manner, making all our efforts towards this goal. Today that goal stands achieved,” he said.

Masood Azhar is the chief of JeM, which carried out a series of terror attacks on India including the 2001 Parliament attack, the January 2016 Pathankot terror attack and the September 2016 Uri terror attack. The most recent attack was the 14 February Pulwama terror attack which killed 40 CRPF personnel.

Agencies

Afghans call for ceasefire as huge peace summit wraps up

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Afghan officials called for a ceasefire Thursday as a huge peace summit wound down in Kabul after thousands of delegates spent days discussing possible conditions for a peace deal with the Taliban.

This week’s “loya jirga”, or grand assembly, saw more than 3,000 religious and tribal leaders, politicians and representatives from across the country gather under tight security to discuss the possibility of peace. 

The Taliban, who were not at the talks, are this week separately meeting in Doha with US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in a bid to make a dealwith Washington that could see the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.

While the full results of the summit may not be announced until Friday, several committee leaders said they wanted to see an immediate pause in violence, which has continued apace across Afghanistan even with various peace summits taking place.

“Every day, Afghans are being killed without any reason. An unconditional ceasefire must be announced,” said Mohammad Qureshi, head of one of the jirga’s many committees. 

Huge swathes of Afghan society worry that if the US does make a deal with the Taliban, the militant Islamists would try to seize power and undo advances in women’s rights, media freedoms, and legal protections.

The Taliban has steadfastly refused to talk to the Afghan government, which it views as a puppet regime. 

That means that even if the US and the Taliban can agree to a deal to end the war and a timetable for an eventual troop withdrawal, the insurgents must still forge some kind of accord with Afghan politicians and tribal elders before an enduring ceasefire could kick in.

“We don’t want such a peace that women’s rights are not respected, freedom of expression are not ensured, elections are not held,” committee member Faizullah Jalal told the summit.

Several delegates also rejected Taliban and opposition calls for an interim government when President Ashraf Ghani’s term expires this month.

“It is you who will show the government the way towards peace and the government will do what you demand,” jirga chairman Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf said.

“No one will impose anything on you.”

Several opposition figures had boycotted the assembly, complaining it amounted to a political rally for Ghani, but Sayyaf said the summit was not aimed at supporting any particular candidate for the September presidential elections. 

The loya jirga is a centuries-old tradition in Afghanistan that has been convened at times of national crisis or to settle big issues.

Agencies

Hyderabad’s iconic Charminar damaged as portion of minaret falls off

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A chunk of the stucco work detached from the granite slab on the minaret facing Mecca Masjid side and fell off late on Wednesday, sending panic among the people around the monument.

A chunk of the stucco work detached from the granite slab on the minaret facing Mecca Masjid side and fell off late on Wednesday.(PTI file photo)

Charminar, the symbol of Hyderabad, has suffered damage as a piece of lime stucco work on one of its minarets fell off following unseasonal rains, officials said on Thursday.

A portion of the stucco work detached from the granite slab on the minaret facing Mecca Masjid side and fell off late on Wednesday, sending panic among the people around the monument.

Police cordoned off the area where the debris fell. A large number of onlookers gathered near the monument.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had undertaken restoration work on the monument sometime back. While the incidents of lime plasters peeling off are not new, the latest damage raised new concerns about the safety of the iconic structure.

Charminar was built in 1591 by Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah, the fifth king of the Qutb Shahi dynasty.

The 428-year-old edifice, stands at a staggering 160 feet from ground level. It has four minarets after which it is named.

Agencies

Cyclone Fani likely to cross Odisha : IMD

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The “extremely severe” cyclone Fani is about 450 km from Puri and likely to cross the Odisha coast tomorrow afternoon, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday.

“The extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani over west central Bay of Bengal moved north-northeastwards with a speed of about 15 kmph and lay centred at 0530 hrs IST of May 2 over west central Bay of Bengal about 450 km south-southwest of Puri (Odisha), 230 km south-southeast of Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and 650 km south-southwest of Digha (West Bengal),” the IMD said in its bulletin.

According to the weather office, the storm is very likely to move north-northeastwards and cross the Odisha Coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali, around Puri, during May 3 afternoon with a maximum wind speed of 170-180 kmph. 

The IMD has advised fishermen not to venture into sea along and off the Odisha coast till May 4.

The sea condition will remain “phenomenal” in west central Bay of Bengal and off the north Andhra Pradesh coast till tomorrow and the northwest Bay of Bengal off Odisha and West Bengal till May 4, it said. 

The Met office said that sea conditions are likely to be very rough to high off north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, along with and off south Andhra Pradesh coasts till May 4.It has said that the storm may cause damage to kutcha houses, weak structures, standing crops and plantations. 

The bulletin suggested evacuation of people from coastal areas and appropriate regulation of rail and road traffic. It asked people in areas expected to be affected to remain indoors and termed as “unsafe” movement in motor boats and small ships.

“Heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely at a few places in the districts of Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Khordha, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Jagatsinghapur, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Balasore Kandhamal, Rayagada, Angul, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj (in Odisha),” it said.

Isolated extremely heavy rainfall is likely in the districts of Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghapur, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Balasore and Mayurbhanj, the IMD said.

In view of the cyclone, the East Coast Railway has cancelled 103 trains plying through coastal districts of Puri, Bhubaneswar, Gunpur, and Vishakhapatnam including Silcher-Trivandrum Express (12508), East Coast Express (18645), Howrah-Chennai Mail (12839), Duronto Express (12246), and Amaravati Express (18048). Bangalore Cant-Guwahati Express (12509) from Bangalore on May 2 will run on a diverted route via Vizianagaram-Titilagarh-Jharsuguda and Visakhapatnam-Amritsar Hirakud Express (18507) from Visakhapatnam on May 3 will run via Vizianagaram-Titilagarh and Sambalpur. According to the East Coast Railway, a special train will start from Puri on Thursday and go towards Shalimar in Kolkata.

The train, with reserved and unreserved coaches, will have stops at Khurda Road, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jajpur Kendujhar road, Bhadrak, Baleswar and Kharagpur. Two more special trains will start from Puri today for Howrah. The stoppages will include Khurda Road, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jajpur, Kendujhar Road, Bhadrak, Balasore and Kharagpur.

The Ministry of Defence has authorised the proactive deployment of resources from the Navy and Coast Guard for succour at the time of need. It is monitoring the developing situation in the East Coast and has asked the Navy and Coast Guard to provide assistance with minimum reaction time, an official statement said.

The Coast Guard has deployed 20 teams, it said. In Bhubaneswar, preparations are underway by the Odisha Fire Services in view of the cyclonic storm. Around 50 teams of six members each are on alert in the city. A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team has arrived in Ichchapuram in Andhra Pradesh.

Agencies

Opposition not celebrating moment of great pride: Arun Jaitley

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hailed the listing of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council (UNSC). At the same time, he also attacked the opposition accusing them of not celebrating the major diplomatic win for India.

“The listing of Masood Azhar by UNSC is a big victory for India and its diplomacy. Azhar and his organisation had been trying to target India for decades. Azhar could not be declared an international terrorist thrice in the past due to a technical hold. But India’s influence, its diplomatic pressure and recent developments brought together many countries who wanted Azhar to be declared an international terrorist. And China was forced to remove its technical hold,” Jaitley said at a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday.

It is a matter of great pride for the country as well as the Narendra Modi government, he added.

Slamming the opposition, Jaitley said, “If India wins, all Indians win, but unfortunately, some friends in opposition feel they may pay a political price if they join the celebration. They had questioned the airstrike on terror strongholds in Balakot and claimed that ‘we also carried out an invisible surgical strike’.”

India was trying for this for a decade and the opposition demeans the country’s victory by calling the listing as insignificant, Jaitley said.

The 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UNSC on Wednesday announced the designation of Azhar, leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), over its ties to Al-Qaeda.

The US, France along with the UK had moved the proposal to designate Azhar as a “global terrorist” in UNSC in February, just days after the deadly Pulwama terror attack.

The JeM has claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF soldiers and led to a spike in military tensions between India and Pakistan.

China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the UNSC, was the sole hold-out in the 15-nation body on the bid to blacklist Azhar, blocking attempts by placing a “technical hold” and asking for “more time to examine” the proposal.

Agencies

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