Archives for 2021

Amethi (UP): An FIR was registered against the principal of a government school here Wednesday for allegedly forming a separate queue of Dalit children while serving them midday meal.

The FIR was registered against Kusum Soni, Principal of primary school in Gaderi in Sangrampur area, under relevant sections of the SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act after the matter was reported to District Magistrate (DM) Arun Kumar.

When the matter came to his knowledge, he ordered a probe by Basic Siksha Adhikari (BSA), who suspended the principal.

The DM had received a complaint against Soni for discriminating against kids on the basis of their caste during mealtime by making them stand in separate queues.

A detailed probe is on in the matter.

Dhaka(AP): An international representative of ethnic Rohingya refugees was shot to death in a camp in Bangladesh by unknown gunmen late Wednesday, police said.

Mohibullah, who is in his 40s, was a teacher who emerged as a key refugee leader and a spokesman representing the Muslim ethnic group in international meetings. He visited the White House in 2019 for a meeting on religious freedom with then-President Donald Trump and spoke about the suffering and persecution faced by Rohingya in Myanmar.

That same year, he was bitterly criticized by Bangladeshi media after he led a massive rally of 200,000 refugees to mark the second anniversary of the crackdown by Myanmar’s military that caused about 700,000 Rohingya, including Mohibullah, to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.

The unidentified attackers shot Mohibullah at the Kutupalong refugee camp at Ukhiya in Cox’s Bazar district, said Naimul Haque, an commander of the Armed Police Battalion in Cox’s Bazar. He was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead.

No groups claimed responsibility and it was not clear immediately who was behind the attack. Human Rights Watch called Mohibullah a vital voice for the Rohingya community.

He always defended the rights of the Rohingya to safe and dignified returns and to have a say in the decisions concerning their lives and future. His killing is a stark demonstration of the risks faced by those in the camps who speak up for freedom and against violence, Meenakshi Ganguly, the rights group’s South Asia director, said in a statement.

Mohibullah’s death undermines not only the struggle of Rohingya refugees for greater rights and protection in the refugee camps, but also their efforts to safely return to their homes in Myanmar. Bangladesh authorities should urgently investigate Mohibullah’s killing along with other attacks on Rohingya activists in the camps,” she said.

Amnesty International urged Bangladeshi authorities and the U.N. Refugee Agency to work together to ensure the protection of people in the camps, including refugees, activists and humanitarian workers from both the Rohingya and local community, many of whom have shared concerns about their safety.

His killing sends a chilling affect across the entire community, said Saad Hammadi, Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigner.

Overall, Bangladesh has been sheltering more than 1.1 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar after previous waves of persecution. 

Ahmedabad: The remnant of cyclone Gulab has turned into a depression, moved into the Gulf of Kutch and is likely to further intensify into a cyclonic storm in the Arabian Sea, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday.

Due to this weather system, heavy rains were witnessed in Gujarat’s Saurashtra region in the last 24 hours.

The IMD has predicted heavy rains in the state’s coastal districts over the next two days.

“Yesterday’s well-marked low pressure area over south Gujarat region and adjoining Gulf of Khambhat moved west-northwestwards and emerged into the Gulf of Kutch, concentrated into a depression and lay centred there at 5.30 am today,” an IMD release said.

“It is about 50 km east-northeast of Devbhoomi Dwarka (Gujarat), 90 km east-southeast of Naliya (in Kutch) and 340 km east-southeast of Karachi (Pakistan),” the release said.

It is very likely to move west-northwestwards and intensify into a deep depression over northeast Arabian Sea off north Gujarat coast during the next 12 hours, the weather department said.

“It is then very likely to move further west-northwestwards and intensify into a cyclonic storm during the subsequent 24 hours. Thereafter, it is likely to continue to move west-northwestwards towards Pakistan-Makran coasts, moving away from the Indian coast,” the IMD said.

Heavy rainfall is expected for the next two days in the coastal districts of Jamnagar, Porbandar, Dwarka and Kutch, it said, and asked fishermen not to venture into the sea.

Due to the present weather system, Junagadh, Amreli, Dwarka, Jamnagar and Rajkot districts received heavy rains in the last 24 hours, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said.

In the 24-hour period ending at 6 am on Thursday morning,Visavadar taluka in Junagadh district recorded 292 mm, Lilya in Amreli district received 141 mm downpour, while Khambhaliya and Kalyanpur in Devbhumi Dwarka distric got 140 mm and 135 mm rainfall, respectively, it added.

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma on Thursday expressed disgust over party workers’ protest outside Kapil Sibal’s house after he raised questions over the functioning of the Congress and asked AICC chief Sonia Gandhi to take strong action against those involved.

Asserting that differences of opinion and perception are integral to a democracy, Sharma, who along with Sibal is part of the ‘Group of 23’ which last year had written to Gandhi seeking organisational overhaul of the party, said intolerance and violence is alien to the Congress values and culture.

“Shocked and disgusted to hear the news of attack and hooliganism at Kapil Sibal’s house. This deplorable action brings disrepute to the party and needs to be strongly condemned,” Sharma said in a series of tweets.

He asserted that the Congress has a history of upholding freedom of expression. Those responsible must be identified and disciplined, Sharma said.

“Urging Congress president Smt Sonia Gandhi to take cognisance and strong action,” he said in a tweet.

Hours after he raised questions over the functioning of the Congress, Sibal on Wednesday came under attack from several quarters with party workers also protesting outside his house here.

In the wake of several Congress leaders quitting the party and its Punjab unit in turmoil, Sibal has demanded that an immediate meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) be convened and wondered who in the party was taking decisions in the absence of a full-time president.

Sibal said at a press conference that the G-23 grouping is “not a Jee Huzur 23” and will continue to put forth the views and will continue to repeat the demands.

Carrying ‘Get Well Soon Kapil Sibal’ placards and raising slogans against Sibal, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) workers had protested outside his Jor Bagh residence, saying they were “hurt” by his remarks.

The protesters raised slogans against Sibal, asking him to “leave the party”.

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel

Raipur: As the suspense over the possibility of change in leadership in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh continues, the political heat appears to be once again escalating in the state after over a dozen Congress MLAs reached Delhi on Wednesday.

The political circle in the state was abuzz with speculation that the legislators have gone to express their support to Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

However, the MLAs who have reached the national capital said their visit was linked with the proposed tour of former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to the state.

“Around 15-16 party MLAs have reached Delhi and are staying at different places. Rahul ji’s visit to Chhattisgarh is proposed. We wanted to convey a request to Rahul ji through our state in-charge P L Punia ji that he should extend a little the duration of his tour so that all the MLAs could get benefit of it,” said Brihaspat Singh, the party MLA from Ramanujganj seat of state.

“We have come to Delhi just to make this request and we will speak to Punia sir on Thursday in this regard. Our visit should not be seen in other way,” he told PTI over phone from Delhi.

When asked whether their visit was aimed at expressing support to Baghel, Singh said, “Our party has 70 MLAs (in the 90-member state assembly), of whom 60 legislators had last time told everything to Punia ji. When there is blessing of the high command, support of the MLAs and the chief minister is working well, then no such issue (of leadership change) exists.”

He also denied the alleged tussle between Baghel and state health minister T S Singh Deo and said that both the leaders had recently shared the stage and exchanged sweets. He also said that they respect each other.

“The situation in Chhattisgarh is not similar to Punjab. The high command of any party would not put the entire government at stake just to make one leader happy…,” he said without naming anyone.

Singh, considered as close to Baghel, was embroiled in a controversy in July this year when he alleged that there was a threat to his life from Singh Deo. However, the MLA, who hails from Singh Deo’s home turf Sarguja, later withdrew the claim.

The demand for a change of guard reared its head after Baghel completed two and a half years as chief minister in June 2021. Singh Deo camp claimed that the high command in 2018 had agreed to hand over the post to him after the government completed half its term.

Congress in-charge of the state P L Punia has time and again denied that any such deal was struck in 2018 when the party came to power by dislodging the BJP.

The Congress high command summoned both Baghel and Singh Deo to Delhi in August to resolve the feud.

It appeared that Baghel had won this round when he told reporters upon return that party leader Rahul Gandhi had agreed to visit the state ‘on his invitation’, and those talking about rotating the CM’s post were promoting political instability.

As many as 54 out of 70 Congress MLAs had visited Delhi separately when Baghel was in the national capital, in an apparent show of strength on his side.

While both Baghel and Singh Deo have desisted from saying anything about the leadership issue since then, the feud has not abated.