Archives for 2023

KALABURAGI: The helicopter, carrying former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, encountered a landing predicament on Monday morning in the outskirts of Jewargi town when plastic sheets and pieces of tarpaulin, began flying in the air as the chopper approached the landing spot. 

The garbage items reduced visibility of the pilot, who decided to postpone the landing for a few minutes. The chopper hovered over the spot and landed after authorities removed the items. 

Yediyurappa arrived in Jewargi to participate in a roadshow as part of the Vijay Sankalpa Yatra. From Jewargi, he went to Afzalpur and to Aland in the same chopper.

At night, the former CM is scheduled to arrive in Kalaburagi by road, and will fly to Yadgir district on Tuesday.

CBI says Rabri fixed her own questioning date
CBI, which was under attack from RJD leaders and workers for questioning former chief minister Rabri Devi in the alleged land-for-job scam, after finishing its task disclosed Rabri herself had fixed the date for questioning. The CBI officials statement came as a surprise, particularly for those RJD leaders crying foul over the questioning. Although there were reports that Rabri was co-operating with CBI officials, the officials’ revelation may help bring down the curtain on the entire episode. Her son and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, however, jibed the CBI frequent vists to their residence.

RJD minister attacks Centre on Agniveer
Bihar cooperative department minister and senior RJD minister Surendra Yadav started a controversy by calling Agniveers ‘Hijro Ki Fauz’ recently. The minister was, in fact, not targeting the job seekers but the Central government which decided to make appointment of soldiers for a limited period in Army. Yadav said that the country will have an Amry of eunuchs after eight and half years. Taking a shot at minister’s remark, BJP said that it only demonstrated the minister’s mental instablity. “Even people from Nepal joined our Army and formed Gurkha units,” they said.

Need panel for alliance coordination: CPI-ML
The demand for setting up coordination committee of grand alliance in Bihar is growing over the time. Close on the heels of Congress’ demand for setting up coordination committee, CPI-ML raised the issue at its meeting held in the state capital recently. The Left party stressed the need of coordination committee to discuss certain issues related to grand alliance, which consisted of seven parties. The same demand was earlier made by HAM chief and former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi. CM Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, however, have maintained silence.

NEW DELHI: The maiden joint military exercise ‘Frinjex-23’ to be held between the Indian Army and French Army at Pangode Military Station, Thiruvananthapuram, on March 7-8 will see a new format. 

The Indian Army said in a statement, “It is for the first time armies of both the nations are engaging in this format with each contingent comprising of a Company Group each from the Thiruvananthapuram-based Indian Army troops and French 6th Light Armoured Brigade.”

The exercise is aimed at enhancing interoperability, coordination and cooperation between both forces at tactical level. The scope of the exercise involves the establishment and operationalisation of a joint command post to secure an envisaged area for undertaking joint humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, establishing an Internally Displaced Population (IDP) camp and moving disaster relief material.

“The Joint exercise will further cement defence cooperation with France which is a key aspect of the overall Indo-France strategic partnership,” the Army said. There is an institutionalised format of military exercises between the three services of the two countries, namely Exercise Shakti (Army), Exercise Varuna (Navy) and Exercise Garuda (Air Force).  On the military front, various staff courses, training programmes etc. also take place regularly. Cooperation in defence is the cornerstone of the India-France strategic partnership. 

The two countries established a Ministerial level Defence dialogue starting in 2018. The Indian armed forces have been operating French defence equipment for long. This includes the Jaguar, Mirage-2000 and Rafale jets. 

LUCKNOW: While distributing laptops to 82 beneficiaries of Mukhyamantri Bal Seva Yojana, presenting prize money to meritorious girl students and sports kits to 20 Mahila Mangal Dals under the Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao Yojana, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, on Monday, claimed that sensitive approach of governance was strengthening the social dynamics in Uttar Pradesh.

He attributed the change to initiatives like Mukhyamantri Bal Sewa Yojana and Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao Scheme. Embarking upon a four-day visit to his constituency Gorakhpur, CM Yogi said that the state government commenced the Mukhyamantri Bal Seva Yojana for all those children who had lost either or both of their parents during the pandemic.

Under Mukhyamantri Bal Seva Yojana, Rs 4,000 per month is given as scholarship to those children whose parents, either one or both, died due to the pandemic while Rs 2,500 per month is given to those children of general category who lost their parents due to other reasons during the pandemic. Under this scheme, the state government has added a new feature under which laptops are given to the students studying in class 9th or above.

Encouraging the children to forget those trying times and move forward for starting the life afresh, CM Yogi said it was imperative to move forward. “Though no one can ever fill the void created by the loss of parents but life is all about moving ahead. Make the help being extended by the government a tool to gather your life and move ahead with courage,” said the CM. The CM said that ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ scheme was helpful in making the daughters strong.

GUWAHATI: Conrad K Sangma was sworn in as the chief minister of Meghalaya on Tuesday.

He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Phagu Chauhan at a ceremony at the Raj Bhawan in Shillong. Prestone Tynsong of the National People’s Party (NPP), which Sangma heads, was sworn in as Deputy chief minister and some others as ministers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president JP Nadda, Union home minister Amit Shah, and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma were among the dignitaries present.

This is Sangma’s second term as the chief minister. The NPP had emerged as the single largest party in the elections by bagging 26 of the state’s 60 seats. Sangma has 45 MLAs with him and he will head a coalition government that has BJP and some regional parties as constituents.

Meanwhile, after the event in Shillong is over, Modi, Shah, Nadda and Sarma would leave for Nagaland for the swearing-in ceremony there. Neiphiu Rio will take oath as the chief minister for the fifth time.

The BJP is an ally of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and they went to polls after striking a seat-sharing deal. The NDPP had won 25 seats and BJP 12. The state has a 60-member House.

The BJP, which has two MLAs in Meghalaya, got one ministerial berth. It’s AL Hek will serve for two and half years and Sanbor Shullai for the remaining two and half years.

Two Deputy CMs Apart from Prestone Tynsong, Sniawbhalang Dhar of the NPP also took oath as Deputy chief minister.

LAHORE: Police in Pakistan said officers on Sunday attempted to arrest former prime minister Imran Khan, who is battling several legal cases as he pressures the government for early elections.

However, Dawn reported that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman dodged arrest as Islamabad Police showed up at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore with court summons to take him into custody for his persistent absences from Toshakhana court hearings.

According to the latest reports, Islamabad police on Sunday reached Khan’s Lahore residence to arrest him in the Toshakhana case but returned after assurance from his legal team that he will appear before the court on March 7.

Earlier, Islamabad police said in a tweet, “A team of Islamabad police has arrived in Lahore to arrest Imran Khan to comply with the court orders.”

“Imran Khan is reluctant to surrender — the Superintendent of Police had gone into the room but Imran Khan was not present there.”

The arrest warrant was issued after Khan failed to appear before the court in a corruption case on February 28. Khan is accused of failing to declare gifts received during his time in office, or the profit made from selling them.

Government officials must declare all gifts but are allowed to keep those below a certain value.

The vice chairman of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, told reporters in Lahore: “We have received the notice from Islamabad police — the notice does not contain any order for the arrest.”

“We will consult our lawyers and follow the legal process”.

Pakistan’s courts are often used to tie up lawmakers in tedious and long-winding proceedings that rights monitors have criticised for stifling political opposition.

Khan, who was shot during a rally last year, has attempted to disrupt politics in the South Asian nation since he was forced out of office in a no-confidence vote in April.

He has been pushing for early polls due no later than October by holding protests, pulling out of parliament and dissolving the two provincial assemblies his party controls in a bid to force the government’s hand.

The nation of more than 220 million is in dire economic straits with runaway inflation, scant foreign exchange reserves and stalling bailout talks with the IMF.

To pull the country out of its spiral, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is battling to revive the next tranche of a USD 6.5 billion loan deal sketched with the International Monetary Fund in 2019.

PARIS: Kylian Mbappe became Paris Saint-Germain’s all-time top scorer with his 201st goal for the club as the Ligue 1 leaders warmed up for their crunch trip to Bayern Munich with a 4-2 win over Nantes on Saturday.

The France superstar had equalled Edinson Cavani’s previous record mark of 200 goals with a brace in last week’s win at Marseille and went one better by netting in stoppage time at the Parc des Princes.

PSG had earlier squandered a two-goal lead, with Lionel Messi putting them ahead and a Jaouen Hadjam own goal making it 2-0 inside 17 minutes before Nantes fought back to draw level.

Ludovic Blas pulled one back for the visitors and Ignatius Ganago equalised, but Mbappe set up Danilo Pereira to put PSG back in front on the hour mark and then claimed his record-breaking goal late on.

Mbappe reached the record in just 247 appearances since signing from Monaco aged 18 in 2017.

Uruguay star Cavani needed 298 games, and seven years, to establish the previous record in 2020.

The 24-year-old Mbappe was handed a trophy by the club after the game to mark his record in an on-field presentation.

“I play to make history and I have always said I wanted to make history in France, in the capital of my country, in my city, and I am doing that. It’s magnificent, but there is still a lot to be done,” Mbappe, who finished the game as captain, told broadcaster Canal Plus.

“For me, as a native Parisian, this is special. If someone had said to me I would score the goal to beat the record while wearing the captain’s armband, I would not have believed it.”

The result saw PSG open up a lead of 11 points at the top of Ligue 1 before nearest rivals Marseille play on Sunday, and before the Qatar-owned club go to Bayern for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday.

PSG trail 1-0 from the first leg against the Bavarians and failure to progress to the quarter-finals in Europe would put a major dampener on the end of their season.

Hakimi watches from stands
Injured Moroccan star Achraf Hakimi watched from the stands at the Parc des Princes a day after he was charged with rape following accusations made by a 24-year-old woman.

Neymar was also a spectator and will not be back for the match against Bayern, while centre-back Presnel Kimpembe is set to miss the remainder of the season with an achilles injury.

Coach Christophe Galtier lost two more defenders to injury in the second half against Nantes, with skipper Marquinhos and stand-in right-back Nordi Mukiele both having to come off.

Before the game there was a minute’s applause for Just Fontaine, the legendary former France striker who scored 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup and who passed away on Wednesday aged 89.

Fontaine also coached PSG, leading them to promotion to the top tier of French football in 1974.

The Parisians went ahead in the 12th minute, with Messi turning in a deflected low cross from Nuno Mendes to score his 13th Ligue 1 goal this season.

The unfortunate Hadjam’s own goal had PSG cruising, but a Blas shot that surprised Gianluigi Donnarumma just after the half-hour mark brought Nantes back into the game and Cameroonian forward Ganago’s header made it 2-2 before the break.

PSG had also blown a two-goal lead in their last home game against Lille a fortnight ago before recovering to win 4-3, and they repeated the feat here with Mbappe playing a starring role.

His assist was headed in by Danilo to make it 3-2 just before the hosts were awarded a penalty for a foul on Mukiele, only for a VAR check to rule that the contact had taken place outside the box.

It looked like Mbappe would be made to wait for his record before he struck right at the end with a finish on the turn.

Earlier Lens missed the chance to climb above Marseille into second place as they drew 1-1 at home to northern rivals Lille, for whom Canada star Jonathan David grabbed the equaliser.

BENGALURU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested an absconding accused in the sensational Praveen Nettaru murder case. According to informed sources, the NIA arrested accused absconder Thufail MH – the District Head of Popular Front of India (PFI) ‘Service Team’ (Hit Team) and former PFI district secretary, Kodagu — from his house in Amruthahalli in Bengaluru on March 4 late evening after setting up a decoy.

The NIA had earlier announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for information leading to the arrest of Thufail. He was among the 20 accused chargesheeted in the Nettaru case by the NIA in January. Thufail, along with Musthafa Paichar, Masud KA, Kodaje Mohammed Sherif, Abubakkar Siddik and Ummar Farook MR, was absconding. 

The accused are members of the banned PFI and had planned and executed Nettaru’s murder to “to create terror, communal hatred and unrest in society and to further its agenda of establishing Islamic rule by 2047”, the NIA had stated in the chargesheet.

According to the NIA, Thufail had “played a significant role in PFI’s larger conspiracy to murder leaders of a particular community. He had also provided shelter and safe harbour to the three assailants in the Nettaru case at Ashiyana Residency of Koppa village, Mysuru district, who had recced and then hacked Nettaru to death.”

Thufail was accused in the Prashanth Poojari murder case registered in Kushalnagar Rural police station and also a case of attempt to murder VHP leader Ganesh. 

PFI had formed hit squads: Central agency

NETTARU — BJP’s Yuva Morcha leader — was murdered allegedly by PFI embers on July 26 last year in Bellare village in Dakshina Kannada district in full public view. Initially, the Bellare police registered an FIR and were investigating the case, but later the state government handed over the case to NIA.

The Central counter terrorism agency had stated in the chargesheet that the PFI, to further its agenda of establishing Islamic rule by 2047, had formed secret teams called ‘Service Teams or Killer Squads’ to carry out killings of its ‘perceived enemies’ and targets.

“These Service Team members were given arms as well attack training, and training in surveillance techniques in order to identify, list out and to mount surveillance on leaders belonging to certain communities and groups. These Service Team members were further trained to kill identified targets, on the instructions of senior PFI leaders,” NIA had stated.

The chargesheet had further stated that PFI leaders and members had held meetings in Bengaluru, Sullia town and Bellare village to avenge the murder of Kalanja Masood. The head of District Service Team, Mustafa Paichar was instructed to recce, identify and target a prominent member of a particular community. The PFI members, as per instructions, recced and identified four persons and among them was Nettaru, the NIA stated.

Kalanja Masood, a 19-yearold boy, was fatally attacked by a gang of eight members on the night of July 19, 2022 in Vishnunagara of Kalanja village. He was a resident of Mogral Puthur in Kasargod. He was shifted to a hospital in Mangaluru, where he later succumbed to his injuries. The accused are: Mahammed Shiyab, Abdul Basheer, Riyaz, Mustafa Paichar, Masud KA, Kod a j e Mo h amme d Sherif, Abubakkar Siddik, Noufal M, Ismail Shafi K, K Mahammad Iqbal, Shaheed M, Mahammad Shafeek G, Ummar Farook MR, Abdul Kabeer CA, Muhammad Ibrahim Sha, Sainul Abid Y, Shekh Saddam Hussain, Zakiar A, N Abdul Haris and Thufail MH.

They have been chargesheeted under Sections 120B, 153A, 302 and 34 of the IPC for criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity between different groups, murder, acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention, Sections 16, 18 and 20 of the UAPA, 1967, and Section 25(1) (a) of the Arms Act.

COIMBATORE:  A day after holding talks with Tamil Nadu government authorities over the brewing migrant workers issue in Chennai, the official delegation from Bihar visited knitwear hub Tirupur on Sunday to check on the safety of workers from the northern state after fake videos claiming attacks on the workforce had led to panic among them.

Led by Bihar Rural Development Secretary D Balamurugan, the four-member team expressed satisfaction over the steps taken by Tamil Nadu government and the Tirupur district administration to ensure safety and protection of the workers.

They discussed the issue with the officials including District Collector S Vineeth and Police Commissioner Praveen Kumar, representatives of textile industry and contractors who bring in workers from other states, Balamurugan said.

The delegation also interacted with the workers and told them not to believe in rumours and fake videos, after which they regained their confidence, as many of them considered the information coming from them to be true, the senior officer said.

“We are satisfied by the steps taken by Tamil Nadu government and the district administration in ensuring safety of the workers to allay the fears from their minds,” he said.

These confidence building measures have brought the situation to normalcy, the delegation said.

More than 1.7 lakh migrant workers are employed in Tirupur in readymade garment manufacturing and allied industries, district officials said.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday had reassured his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar that all migrant workers are safe and the police of the southern state registered cases against two journalists, including the editor of a Hindi daily for spreading rumours.

The issue of fake claims on attacks in Tamil Nadu on migrant workforce snowballed into a political slugfest between the ruling DMK and the BJP.

The saffron party targeted the Nitish Kumar-led regime in Bihar, which dispatched an official team for fact finding.