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BJP and Congress in Karnataka lock horns over tweet on Modi

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BJP and Congress in Karnataka lock horns over tweet on Modi

Hubballi: A tweet by the Congress’ Karnataka unit making alleged disparaging remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and deleted later, on Tuesday sparked a war of words between the ruling BJP and its rival Congress, though PCC president DK Shivakumar expressed regret over the comments and called for civility in political discourse.

The tweet was deleted after Shivakumar expressed “regret” about it.

Addressing a party gathering here, state BJP chief Naleen Kumar Kateel made some sharp remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, which faced flak from senior party leader Randeep Singh Surjewala and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

“I have always believed that civil and parliamentary language is a non-negotiable pre-requisite for political discourse. An uncivil tweet made by a novice social media manager through the Karnataka Congress official Twitter handle is regretted and stands withdrawn,” Shivakumar wrote on the micro-blogging site.

Kateel, responding sharply to the deleted tweet, also trained his guns against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and referred to the ‘G-23’ controversy in the grand old party.

Shivakumar wanted the BJP to apologise for Kateel’s “unparliamentary” language against Rahul Gandhi.

Hitting out at Kateel, Surjewala, Congress General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka, said the BJP “is drunk with power and drugged with arrogance.”

Siddaramiah lashed out at Kateel and said he has “lost his mental balance” while JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy termed the BJP leader’s statement ‘cheap’ and asked leaders not to indulge in personal attacks.

Hitting out at Siddaramaiah, Kateel said Modi and the BJP stood for all sections of the society but alleged that the former CM worked only for the welfare of Muslims.

Stating that “things are in favour of BJP”, he said, the Congress and JD(S) have no future.

“The infighting in the Congress is to an extent that it will split into two by the next assembly election, while JD(S) which is a party of family politics is losing strength and infighting in their family is increasing and coming out in the open,” he charged.

I have always believed that civil and parliamentary language is a non-negotiable pre-requisite for political discourse. An uncivil tweet made by a novice social media manager through the Karnataka Congress official Twitter handle is regretted and stands withdrawn.

India’s Harbhajan Singh and Javagal Srinath among 18 cricketers awarded MCC life membership

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India’s Harbhajan Singh and Javagal Srinath among 18 cricketers awarded MCC life membership

London: India’s Harbhajan Singh and Javagal Srinath were on Tuesday awarded life membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), joining 16 other cricketers who were given the honour this year.

The MCC, based at Lord’s, is the custodian of cricket laws.

Harbhajan and Srinath both enjoyed fine international careers. Harbhajan is India’s third-highest wicket-taker in Tests, with 417 dismissals in 103 Tests and more than 700 plus international wickets across formats.

Srinath, currently an ICC Elite Panel Match Referee, is one of the greatest fast bowlers with 315 ODI wickets and 236 Test victims.

“Eight of the 12 Test-playing nations are represented within this year’s list, which includes some of the most recognisable names in the modern game,” said the MCC in a statement.

England’s leading Test run-scorer Alastair Cook, is joined by fellow countrymen Ian Bell and Marcus Trescothick, totalling more than 39,000 international runs between them.

A fourth England star, Sarah Taylor, returned to the field this year, appearing in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Charlotte Edwards Cup and The Hundred, and is recognised as one of the finest wicket-keepers of her generation.

Four South African legends have been awarded honorary life membership, with Hashim Amla, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis and Morne Morkel all receiving the honour. Kallis’s 13,289 Test runs puts him third on the all-time run-scoring list.

Woman batter Alex Blackwell and the stylish Damien Martyn of Australia are also included.

Ian Bishop, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan all represent West Indies. Bishop took 161 wickets in just 43 matches, while Chanderpaul is West Indies’ most capped Test player (164) and only seven players have scored more than his 11,867 runs.

Sarwan racked up 15 Test centuries, and his 291 against England in 2009 equalled the highest individual score by a West Indian on English soil by Sir Viv Richards in 1976.

Rangana Herath of Sri Lanka took 433 Test wickets in a career spanning almost two decades, and features in the top ten of all time wicket-takers.

Sara McGlashan is the sole New Zealander on the list, appearing over 200 times for the White Ferns over the course of a 14-year career and Zimbabwean allrounder Grant Flower has been recognised for his 10,000 international runs in 288 matches.

“Once approved by the MCC Committee, letters of invitation are sent to the individual to accept. There is no set number per year. Nominees can accept and be granted the honour at any time,” the statement added.

FabIndia withdraws Jashn-e-Riwaaz promo after right-wing backlash

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New Delhi: Clothing brand FabIndia has removed a promotional capsule about its new festive line after a backlash from right-wing groups.

While the brand was accused of “defacing” the Hindu festival of Diwali by naming its festive collection as Jashn-e-Riwaaz (celebration of tradition), the company insisted that it is not a Diwali collection, which will be soon launched under ‘Jhilmil si Diwali’ promo.

FabIndia was trolled on social media for what some said was unnecessarily uplifting secularism and Muslim ideologies in a Hindu festival, saying it hurt their religious sentiments.

After it put on Twitter the Jashn-e-Riwaaz collection on October 9, some social media users called for a boycott of the brand, making their campaign one of the top trends.

“We at FabIndia have always stood for the celebration of India with its myriad traditions in all hues,” a company spokesperson said.

“Our current capsule of products under the name Jashn-e-Riwaaz is a celebration of Indian traditions. The phrase means that, literally. The capsule is not our Diwali Collection of products. Our Diwali collection is called ‘Jhilmil si Diwali’ is yet to be launched.”

Jashn-e-Riwaaz is a phrase in Urdu, a language that was born in India.

The tweet, which went viral on Monday, said: “As we welcome the festival of love and light, Jashn-e-Riwaaz by Fabindia is a collection that beautifully pays homage to Indian culture”.

This was deleted after the backlash.

BJP Yuva Morcha President Tejasvi Surya was among those who slammed the ad in a post on Twitter.

“Deepavali is not Jash-e-Riwaaz. This deliberate attempt of abrahamisation of Hindu festivals, depicting models without traditional Hindu attires, must be called out. And brands like @fabindiaNews must face economic cost for such deliberate misadventures,” he said on Monday afternoon.

Author Shefali Vaidya, known for her views supporting right-wing, slammed FabIndia for ‘de-Hinduising’ festivals.

Soon hashtag #BoycottFabindia began trending.

FabIndia did not say why it removed the tweet.

The ethnic retail behemoth is not the first brand to face right-wing attacks and buckle under pressure.

Tata Group’s jewellery brand Tanishq was forced to withdraw an advertisement that showed an interfaith couple at a baby shower organised for the Hindu bride by her Muslim in-laws.

It withdrew the advertisement after trolling soon spread to physical threats to company employees and stores.

Clothing brand Manyavar too was at the receiving end when its advertisement featuring Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt in wedding attire, appeared to question an old tradition.

Established in 1960, FabIndia sources its products from villages helping to provide and sustain rural employment in India.

According to reports, the products are currently produced by over 40,000 artisans and craftspeople across India.

In 2019, a Holi ad by Surf Excel had received similar flak by certain groups, as it showed children of two different religions celebrating the festival of colours.

Farm ERP was recently nominated with 10 other brands on a global platform for Agri-Tech Excellence Awards 2021. It was the only Indian company among its global competitors.

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. The article will be attached to this email. Along with this, a few points that I’d like to mention for you to understand the brand are as follows
* FarmERP was recently nominated with 10 other brands on a global platform for Agri-Tech Excellence Awards 2021. It was the only Indian company amongst its global competitors.* FarmERP has expanded to over 30 countries by the year 2021.* FarmERP is a member of NASSCOM, GACSA, Sustainable Rice Platform, and GlobalGap.* FarmERP is a Microsoft Gold Partner.* FarmERP aims to target over 2M Acres of land in the coming 2 years.These happen to be a few out of many accomplishments that the brand has achieved over the years and I’m sure this has proved its credibility as a brand.

163 oxygen plants set up during second Covid wave in MP after shortage: CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan

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BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh has set up 163 oxygen plants, generating over 182 metric tonnes (MT) of the life saving gas per day so far, after facing scarcity during the second wave of coronavirus, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said.

“Now, 163 oxygen plants with a generation capacity of 182 MT per day have been started in different districts of the state,” Chouhan said in an official statement on Monday.

About 230 MT of medical oxygen will be generated daily when all 202 plants will become operational in the state, he said.

“The work on these plants was started after experiencing scarcity of the life saving gas during the second wave of coronavirus. The completion of the remaining 39 oxygen plants will be ensured by the end of this month,” the CM said.

At present, a collective storage facility of 360 MT liquid oxygen is available in government medical colleges of the state.

Apart from this, liquid oxygen tanks, having a capacity of 6 kilo litres each and collective capacity of 248 MT, are being set up in 34 district hospitals of the state, he said.

Also, 13,956 oxygen concentrators has been made available in government hospitals and 1,350 in medical colleges of the state, Chouhan said.

Besides, the Centre has also provided 3,860 oxygen concentrators, he added.

On Monday, Madhya Pradesh reported six fresh cases of coronavirus, raising the infection tally in the state to 7,92,690, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,523, health officials earlier said.

Centre asks States, UTs to focus on second Covid vaccine dose coverage

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NEW DELHI: Highlighting that the nation is close to administering a billion Covid vaccine doses, the Centre has urged states and Union Territories to focus on increasing the coverage of the second dose in light of adequate availability of shots.

The cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 inoculation drive has exceeded 99 crore.

The countrywide COVID-19 vaccination programme was launched on January 16 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Union government has also sought from the states suggestions in formulating new guidelines for international travel.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan reviewed the progress of vaccination with Health Secretaries and mission directors of national health missions in states and UTs, through a video conference on Monday, according to a ministry statement.

Bhushan highlighted that the nation is close to administering a billion doses and congratulated the states and UTs for their effort to vaccinate all citizens.

It was highlighted that a sizeable number of beneficiaries have not received their second dose of the Covid vaccine.

The states and UTs were urged to focus on the second vaccination dose, the statement said.

At the virtual conference, it was pointed out that many states have adequate doses to vaccinate those people who are awaiting their second jab.

The Government of India is in a position to provide additional vaccine doses to the states and UTs so that they can complete the task, it said.

They were also exhorted to accelerate the vaccination drive.

The states and Union Territories were advised to identify and prioritize districts having low coverage for focused action and explore requirements for mobilization efforts, addressing local challenges, need for additional Covid Vaccination Centres and improving access in rural areas, the statement said.

The Health Ministry has issued standard operating procedures over the last one year for international travel.

It is reviewing the guidelines in consultation with all stakeholders, including the Ministry of Home Affairs, Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of External Affairs.

The states and UTs were also requested to share their suggestion or feedback, the statement said.

Sri Lankan Muslims facing discrimination, harassment, violence: Amnesty International

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COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s Muslim minorities have suffered consistent discrimination, harassment and violence since 2013, culminating in the adoption of government policies explicitly targeting them, human rights group Amnesty International has said.

It asserts to trace the development of anti-Muslim sentiment in Sri Lanka, “amid surging Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism”.

The document cites “series of mob attacks committed with impunity”, forced cremation of Muslim COVID-19 victims, ongoing proposals to ban ‘niqab’ (face veil) and ‘madrasas’ (religious schools) and other such “discriminatory” measures, as steps consistent with harassment and violence on the minority group.

“While anti-Muslim sentiment in Sri Lanka is nothing new, the situation has regressed sharply in recent years. Incidents of violence against Muslims, committed with the tacit approval of the authorities, have occurred with alarming frequency. This has been accompanied by the adoption by the current government of rhetoric and policies that have been openly hostile to Muslims,” said Amnesty International, deputy secretary-general Kyle Ward.

“The Sri Lankan authorities must break this alarming trend and uphold their duty to protect Muslims from further attacks, hold perpetrators accountable and end the use of government policies to target, harass and discriminate against the Muslim community.”

The report says incidents of violence towards Muslims have risen in frequency and intensity since 2013, with a series of flashpoints in which attackers and those responsible for hate speeches have enjoyed impunity for their actions.

This escalating hostility began with the anti-halal campaign when Sinhala Buddhist nationalist groups successfully lobbied to end the halal certification on food items, which marks foods permissible for consumption by Muslims in accordance with Islamic scripture and customs.

After months of protests by Buddhist groups, Islamic clerics in Sri Lanka in 2013 had announced the withdrawal of ‘halal’ certification in the interest of communal harmony.

However, the Amnesty report said the campaign gave rise to a number of attacks on mosques and Muslim businesses and there was lack of accountability on nabbing persons responsible for these acts, signalling to others that acts of violence against Muslims could be committed with impunity.

The following year, anti-Muslim riots in the southern coastal town of Aluthgama began after a Sinhala Buddhist nationalist group held a rally in the town, the non-governmental organisation said.

“Here too, perpetrators of violence enjoyed impunity and authorities failed to deliver justice to victims,” the report said.

Referring to the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, the report said hostility towards Muslims increased markedly after the bombings which killed over 258 people.

The April 21, 2019 attacks were carried out by the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ), which has links to the ISIS, tearing through three churches and as many luxury hotels.

The deceased included 11 Indians and more than 500 people were injured.

The Amnesty report accused the current government, led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, of making the Muslim population a “target and scapegoat” to distract from political and economic issues.

“This was evident in the mandatory cremation policy on the disposal of the bodies of COVID-19 victims, which was implemented despite cremation being expressly forbidden in Islam, and a lack of scientific evidence to substantiate the claims that burying victims would further the spread of the disease.”

At the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in the island nation, authorities in May 2020 enforced a mandatory order to cremate the bodies of COVID-19 victims, denying minority communities, including Muslims, their religious rights.

The country had earlier come under intense criticism from rights groups, including the UNHRC, over the cremation order.

The order was reversed in February this year.

The Amnesty report criticised existing legislation in Sri Lanka “to target Muslims, including the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA),” which permits suspects to be detained without charge for up to 90 days, and without court representation.

This is in addition to the misuse of the ICCPR Act, a law intended to prohibit the propagation of racial or religious hatred, amounting to incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, it said.

Established in 1961, Amnesty International models its working on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and other international human rights instruments.

Dengue scare in India junior hockey camp in Bengaluru

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CHENNAI: As many as five athletes in the Sports Authority of India campus in Bengaluru were down with dengue over the last 10 days to two weeks. It is understood that at least four are junior hockey players, all of whom are in the core probables for the junior World Cup, to be held in Bhubaneswar from November 24.

Dengue tests were ordered for athletes after they complained of ‘fever and general tiredness’, according to an SAI source. Apart from the five positive cases, other tests returned negative.

“All of them have recovered now,” the source said.

“We took one athlete to a hospital as a precautionary measure but all of them are back and feeling fine now. There are no problems.” The mosquito-borne illness has been on the rise in the city and the SAI officials have never undertaken measures to keep it in check inside the premises.

To ensure there isn’t an outbreak, the authorities are fumigating twice every day. “We are fumigating the place twice every day. Apart from that, there are mosquito repellents available.” In 2020, men’s senior team goalkeeper, Suraj Karkera, had to be admitted to a city hospital after testing positive for dengue. Karkera was also staying inside the same campus when he contracted the illness. 

NIA gets 10-day custody of three accused in Mundra drug haul case

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AHMEDABAD: A special court here on Monday granted the National Investigation Agency (NIA) 10-day remand of three persons initially arrested in a case related to seizure of 2,988 kg of heroin at Gujarat’s Mundra Port last month.

The court of special judge P C Joshi remanded the accused, M Sudhakaran and Durga Vaishali – who allegedly ran Vijayawada-registered M/S Aashi Trading Company that had imported a consignment of ‘talc stones’ (which turned out to be drug) – and Rajkumar P, to 10-day NIA custody as sought by the central agency.

The accused, also booked under anti-terror act UAPA, were arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) before the case was transferred earlier this month to the NIA.

The case relates to the seizure of heroin, disguised as consignment of semi-processed talc stones originating from Afghanistan, which had arrived at the Mundra Port from the Bandar Abbas Port in Iran.

The three accused were booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, and the matter was being heard by a special NDPS court at Bhuj in Kutch district.

Soon after the case was handed over to the anti-terror agency by the Union Home Ministry, the probe agency moved an application in the Bhuj court, requesting custody of the three accused and transfer of documents to the NIA special court, which has its jurisdiction in Ahmedabad, special public prosecutor, NIA, Amit Nair said.

The accused have now also been booked the under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The trio was produced before the court, which granted their custody to the NIA after its submissions, Nair said.

On September 13, the DRI had detained two containers that had arrived at the Mundra Port from Kandahar in Afghanistan via the Bandar Abbas Port.

The declaration accompanying the containers claimed they had “semi-processed talc stones”.

However, on September 17 and 19, it was established that the two containers in fact contained heroin which was concealed in “the lower layers” of “jumbo bags” topped with talc stones.

Besides the trio, five more persons have been arrested by the DRI in connection with the single largest heroin haul in India so far.

The value of the seized drug was estimated to be nearly Rs 21,000 crore.

All eyes on BSY as he heads out on week-long campaign in hanagal and sindagi

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BENGALURU: The Bharatiya Janata Party will have to come up with something spectacular for an assured win in Hanagal and Sindagi, where the ground report is none too encouraging. While as a rule, bypolls almost always favour the ruling party, this time there is an underlying discomfort within the party, which is working doubly hard to pull off a win.

Former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, the star campaigner for the BJP, left for Chitradurga on Monday afternoon, and will halt in Shivamogga for the night. He is on a week-long campaign tour of the two constituencies. While his itinerary is not too clear, local leaders will decide on his day-to-day tour. He is to halt in Bagalkot on Tuesday night.

Yediyurappa will start his campaign in Sindagi, and the BJP is concerned about how effectively the veteran could be used in this constituency. He will then head to Hanagal. Former deputy CM Laxman Savadi is in charge in Sindagi, while Agriculture Minister BC Patil is in charge of Hanagal. Yediyurappa’s campaign will comprise mostly road shows and meetings, where big crowds are expected.

Though he is no longer the Chief Minister, the cadres at the ground level are still with him. Both the party leaders and rank and file will be watching him keenly, for any unspoken message he may attempt to send across. The tears that he shed when he celebrated two years in power are not likely to be forgotten anytime soon, say party insiders. It is also known that Yediyurappa is unhappy that the party has not accommodated son B Y Vijayendra in the ministry so far, but has not gone public about it.

“For over 40 years, Yediyurappa has been an ‘independent thinking’ politician, who has defied the party line and taken decisions independently, something Bommai is unable to do. Yediyurappa enjoyed a secular image, something not many other BJP politicians can boast of. He has a pro-farmer image, which is a plus,’’ said political analyst BS Murthy. “Surprisingly, it is this independent thinking politician whose words and actions will matter more than all BJP politicians put together.” 

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