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Imran wants written consultation with Shahbaz on appointment of two ECP members

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Islamabad, Apr 2 : Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has finally written a letter to opposition leader and president of the Pakistan Muslim League PML-(N) Shahbaz Sharif on the appointment of two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), asking him to suggest names in writing.

In a four-page letter, PM Khan has rejected all the objections raised by Mr Sharif in his previous letter over the ongoing consultation process through nominees and has also refuted the allegation that the government is in violation of the Constitution due to the delay in the finalisation of the names of the ECP members from Balochistan and Sindh, Dawn reported.

The language of the letter shows that Mr Khan still does not desire a face-to-face meeting with Mr Sharif; he has quoted a number of examples from the earlier court decisions and even a Quranic verse from Surah Baqrah in support of his argument that the consultation could be and should be done in writing.

?Written consultation is surely preferred,? writes Mr Khan in the letter. ?I again stress your good self to participate in the consultative process by giving your views in writing. In case you do not participate in the consultative process, the people of Pakistan and myself shall have no other option but to presume that you are evading the legal process, in which event further rights shall be reserved,? writes Mr Khan, without further elaboration.

In response to a letter written to him by Mr Khan’s secretary Azam Khan on March 26, Mr Sharif had opposed the prime minister’s act of consulting with him on the appointment of ECP members through nominees and termed the delay in filling the two vacancies a violation of the Constitution.

Mr Sharif, through a letter, had also conveyed his reservations over the delay in the appointment of the ECP members due to the apparent reluctance of the prime minister to hold a direct consultation with him. In that letter, he had suggested that three nominations each for the vacant posts of ECP members were against the intent and spirit of the Constitution.

To give Rahul befitting fight in Wayanad, BJP reposes faith in ally BDJS

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New Delhi, Apr 1 : BJP chief Amit Shah on Monday announced that NDA constituent leader Thushar Vellappally, president of Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), will be their nominee against Congress president Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad in Kerala.

The BDJS is a political party formed by leaders of influential but economically backward Ezhava community aiming to make inroads into Kerala’s bipolar political space, which was dominated by either Congress led UDF or CPI-M led LDF.

Set up by the social organisation Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, the BDJS in largely seen as the third front in the state.

“I proudly announce Thushar Vellappally, President of Bharat Dharma Jana Sena as NDA candidate from Wayanad,” BJP chief Amit Shah tweeted.

Mr Shah also wrote: “A vibrant and dynamic youth leader, he represents our commitment towards development and social justice. With him, NDA will emerge as Kerala’s political alternative”.

On Sunday, the Congress announced that Mr Gandhi, who is also contesting from Amethi in UP, will make Wayanad his second constituency.

Interacting with a private TV Channel on Sunday, BJP chief Mr Shah also has said: “I am not saying Rahul Gandhiji is moving to Kerala because of he faces a tough fight in Amethi this time, but this is the fact”.

In 2009 and 2014, Congress leader M I Shanavas had won the seat defeating CPI nominees on both the occasions.

The seat fell vacant in November owing to the death of Shanavas on November 21, 2018.

Nilambur, Wandoor and Eranad assembly segments under the Wayanad constituency have a sizable Muslim population.

The Muslim League also has strong presence. Another assembly segment Thiruvambady has almost equal number of Christian and Muslim population, say locals.

Among the Left partners, the Wayanad seat went to CPI and the party has already named P P Suneer, a state CPI executive member as the candidate. CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy has announced that the party will not withdraw candidate in favour of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and will fight the election with full might.

Thushar Vellappally was earlier named as candidate from Thrissur but the new decision was taken in the wake of Mr Gandhi contesting from Wayanad.

In the last few years, BJP Chief Amit Shah worked hard with leaders of state and Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) who took up the cause of Ezhava community.

In fact, the coming together of SNDP and BJP had in 2015-16 had unnerved both UDF and LDF leaders and even some case were slapped on SNDP.

BJP sources said here while Kerala Congress president V M Sudheeran had sought legal action alleging against the organisation for trying to divide society along religious lines, CPI(M) veteran VS Achuthanandan had filed a vigilance complaint seeking a probe into alleged irregularities of Rs 15 crore in the micro-finance scheme of SNDP.

Agencies

Money laundering case: First round to Robert Vadra

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New Delhi, Apr 1 : Special Judge Arvind Kumar on Monday granted anticipatory bail to Robert Vadra, the brother-in-law of Indian National Congress president Rahul Gandhi, in a case registered by the Directorate of Enforcement under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
ED had made allegations of money laundering in the purchase of a London-based property, which is allegedly owned by Mr Vadra, located at 12, Bryanston Square worth 1.9 million pounds.
Counsel for Mr Vadra submitted in the bail application that he was a law-abiding citizen and had appeared before the investigating agency as and when called.
ED had alleged that Manoj Arora, an employee of Mr Vadra’s Skylight Hospitality LLP, was a key person in the case as he was aware of his overseas undeclared assets and was instrumental in arranging funds.
Mr Arora, the ED submitted, arranged funds for Mr Vadra’s undeclared assets overseas and proceeds of crime were used to channel funds from the United Arab Emirates.
Ramifications
A First Information Report was lodged against Mr Vadra and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in the month of September last year for alleged irregularities in land deals in Gurugram at Haryana. Mr Vadra had faced allegations that his company, Skylight Hospitality, sold 3.5 acres of land in 2008 in Shikohpur village to realty major DLF at a rate much higher than the prevailing rate. Questions had also been raised over the purchase and subsequent sale of land by the company in Bikaner, Rajasthan, at a significant premium through a maze of transactions.
The business premises linked to Mr Vadra’s associates were raided during the probe and ED had asked him to be present for questioning in the alleged money laundering case.
Directorate of Enforcement submitted that the money laundering charge was lodged against Arora after his role came up during the probe of another case by the Income Tax Department involving absconding arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari under the provisions of a new law against black money and tax evasion.
ED side
ED had earlier submitted that Mr Vadra was not cooperating with the investigating agency so his custodial interrogation was required. Counsel for ED further submitted that it has information about various new properties in London which allegedly belong to Mr Vadra, including two houses of five and four million pounds each, six other flats and more properties.
Special Judge Kumar directed the ED to provide Mr Vadra all the documents seized from his office. Mr Vadra’s counsel had submitted that without providing the documents he has been questioned by the Investigating Agency.
The Judge passed an order to grant bail to Messrs Arora and Vadra with furnishing a surety bond of Rs 5 lac and a surety of the same amount. The court further directed them not to leave the country without its permission or not tamper with the evidence.

‘Not in race for PM’s post,’ says Mulayam Yadav after filing nomination from Mainpuri

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Mulayam Yadav,Mulayam Yadav PM post,Samajwadi Party
The Samajwadi Party patriarch won Mainpuri with huge margins in 1996, 2004, 2009, and 2014. Samajwadi Party has won the seat eight times, including bypolls, in a row since 1996. BJP could never win the seat.

Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, accompanied by his son Akhilesh Yadav, filed his nomination from Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri on Monday afternoon for the Lok Sabha elections.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, the 79-year-old founder of SP, ruled himself out of the prime ministerial race. When asked who is the PM candidate of the SP-BSP alliance, he said, “It will be decided after the polls”.

On the eve of Mulayam filing his nomination, Akhilesh Yadav in Saifai had said that Mulayam will win by the biggest margin of votes in the country.

Relations between Mulayam Yadav and Akhilesh have been frosty ever since the son took control of the party more than two years ago. Mulayam didn’t campaign for SP in the 2017 assembly polls and often admonishes Akhilesh in public. Last month, Mulayam appeared to criticise Akhilesh for delay in naming candidates for the parliamentary polls and also questioned his alliance with Mayawati’s BSP.

Congress as well as the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP-L) of Mulayam’s brother Shivpal Yadav are not fielding any candidate against the SP founder in Mainpuri. The BSP is fighting the elections together with SP, while BJP is yet to decide on a candidate against Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Mulayam Yadav won Mainpuri with huge margins in 1996, 2004, 2009, and 2014. Samajwadi Party has won the seat eight times, including bypolls, in a row since 1996. BJP could never win the seat.

Mainpuri is going to polls in the third phase, the notification for which was issued on March 28. The last date for filing nominations is April 4. So far, Mulayam Singh Yadav has been the only candidate who has filed nomination for the seat. The constituency largely has rural voters, with over 35% Yadavs.

Mulayam Yadav, who had been UP chief minister thrice, is still called ‘Mukhya Mantri’ by many in Mainpuri. He nurtured the constituency well and his ancestral village is part of this constituency. The village has a medical college, a medical research institute, an international cricket stadium, international all-weather swimming pool, two more stadia, airstrip, and more. During his term as UP chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav added the Agra-Lucknow Expressway to the list. The expressway passes through Mainpuri.

In 2009, Mulayam polled 3,92,308 votes (56.44%) and the first runner-up, BSP’s Vinay Shakya, was way behind with 31% vote share. Even during the Modi wave in 2014, when the BJP won 71 seats, Mulayam Singh Yadav won sailed through in Mainpuri. In fact, his vote share rose further. In 2014, Mulayam bagged 5,95,918 votes (60%) and his nearest rival, BJP’s Shatrughan Singh Chauhan, got only 23.14% vote share.

Samajwadi Party leaders say that because of BSP being an ally, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s vote share would go up further. If we combine the vote share of SP-BSP of 2014, it comes to a whopping 74%.

The constituency is now waiting for April 19, when Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, and Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh will hold a joint rally for Mulayam’s victory.

Apart from Mainpuri, Mulayam Singh Yadav had won parliamentary polls from Sambhal, Kannauj, and Azamgarh. In Mainpuri, he won four times (1996, 2004, 2009, and 2014); Sambhal twice (1998 and 1999); Kannauj once (1999), and Azamgarh once (2014). Twice he contested and won on two seats: In 1999 on Sambhal and Kannauj (later vacated); and in 2014: Mainpuri (later vacated) and Azamgarh.

Agencies

‘It’s Difficult For Bowlers When Dhoni Bats,’ Says Rajasthan Skipper Ajinkya Rahane

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Rajasthan skipper Ajinkya has hailed CSK skipper MS Dhoni for his performance in their match, where the two-time champions extended their momentum with a 8-run win in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
'It's Difficult For Bowlers When Dhoni Bats,' Says Rajasthan Skipper Ajinkya Rahane
MS Dhoni celebrates fifty vs Rajasthan at Chepauk in IPL 2019_Twitter

The Rajasthan Royals (RR) first had the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on the mat at 27/3 and again had the upper hand when they needed 25 off the last 12 balls. But the end result was an 8-run win for the CSK in their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter at the Chepauk Stadium here. Skipper Ajinkya Rahane made his displeasure known at the end of the game.

“As a batting unit we need to take the responsibility for this. We win as a team and we lose as a team. If we win the smaller moments in T20s we will do well. We have played well in the last three games and hopefully with some luck we’ll be able to turn it around,” he said after the match on Sunday.

In the match, MS Dhoni’s well-calculated half-century in challenging conditions turned out to be game-changer as Chennai Super Kings won their third match of the season with an eight-run defeat of Rajasthan Royals on Sunday. The pitch used in the previous match was a rank turner here but on Sunday it turned to be a different challenge for the batsmen since it was not conducive for stroke-play as the ball was stopping a bit.

Dhoni paced his innings beautifully, scoring unbeaten 75 off 46 balls to lead his side to a competitive 175 for five, seizing momentum from Royals bowlers who were off to an inspiring start. The Royals needed someone to play a Dhoni-like innings but none took that responsibility and they could manage 167 for 8, suffering their third defeat in as many matches

“When MS bats, it is very difficult for the bowlers. It was very hard for the bowlers to grip the ball after six overs, even the fast bowlers. But CSK bowled really well, they kept taking wickets,” he acknowledged.

The Royals skipper felt that RR lost the game in the last five overs.

“Very disappointed. We started off really well in the first ten overs, but what cost us were the last five overs,” he said.

Agencies

Facebook says removed 687 pages linked to Congress ahead of Lok Sabha Polls

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Facebook Inc said on Monday it was removing 687 pages and accounts linked to India’s main opposition Congress party, just days before voting begins in a general election, because of “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” on the social media platform.
Facebook,World news,Congress

The announcement marks a rare action from Facebook against a prominent political party in a country where it has more than 300 million users, the highest in the world. Image for representation.

Facebook Inc said on Monday it was removing 687 pages and accounts linked to India’s main opposition Congress party, just days before voting begins in a general election, because of “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” on the social media platform.

The announcement marks a rare action from Facebook against a prominent political party in a country where it has more than 300 million users, the highest in the world.

Facebook said its investigation found that individuals used fake accounts and joined various groups to disseminate their content and increase engagement. Their posts included local news and criticism of political opponents such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Facebook said.

“While the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our review found that it was connected to individuals associated with an INC (Indian National Congress) IT Cell,” Nathaniel Gleicher, Head of Cybersecurity Policy at Facebook, said in a statement.

Gleicher added that Facebook was removing accounts based on their behaviour, not the content they posted.

India’s staggered election, scheduled to begin on April 11, will end on May 19.

Two of the samples shared by Facebook were of posts that criticized Modi’s initiatives and called for supporting the Congress party and its president, Rahul Gandhi.

The social media giant also said it was removing 103 pages, groups and accounts, also for inauthentic behaviour, as part of a network which originated in Pakistan and was linked to employees of the Inter-Service Public Relations department of the Pakistani military.

Facebook has faced increasing pressure from authorities around the world, including the Indian government, to ensure its platform is not abused for political gains or to spread misinformation, especially ahead of elections.

Facebook has toughened up its rules governing political advertisements in India and many other countries to increase transparency.

Last week, Facebook removed a social media network in the Philippines and took the unusual step of linking it to a businessman who said he had managed the president’s online election campaign in 2016. It has taken similar actions recently against accounts in Russia and Iran.

Separately, Facebook said it had also removed another 227 pages and 94 accounts in India for violating its policies against spam and misrepresentation.

Agencies

Congress coined ‘Hindu terror’, labelled peaceful community as terrorists: PM Modi

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday revived his attack on the Congress-NCP alliance as well as Congress president Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Wardha in Maharashtra.
PM Modi,Narendra Modi,Lok Sabha elections 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election rally, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, in Wardha, Monday, April 01, 2019.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday targeted Congress over coining the term “Hindu Terrorism” without naming the Samjhauta Express blast case. Modi said Congress has insulted the peaceful Hindu community by labelling them as terrorists and will not be forgiven for that. He blamed the opposition party (Congress) for vote bank politics. He was addressing a public rally at Swabhimani Maidan of Wardha district of Vidarbha region while kicking off the BJP’s election campaign in Maharashtra.

With the speech, PM Modi has also made it clear that the party will play its old saffron card along with nationalism for election campaign, 2019.

“The term Hindu Terrorism was coined by Sushil Kumar Shinde, the then home minister. But a recent court verdict has made it clear that Congress insulted the country. It insulted the peaceful Hindu community that believes the world as one family. Those (Hindu community) who were blamed then have now woken up and Congress will be punished for this act,” Modi said this without mentioning the Samjhauta Express blast case verdict in which a local court acquitted RSS pracharak Swami Aseemanand and other three accused.Video Player is loading.

He then took potshots against Congress President Rahul Gandhi for his decision to contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala apart from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi seat.

“This is the reason he (Rahul Gandhi) didn’t dare to contest from a seat where we (Hindu) are in majority but chose to contest from a seat (Wayanad) where we are in minority,” he added.

Modi also said NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s decision to not contest this Lok Sabha election shows that he is aware of the ground reality. “His (Sharad Pawar) nephew (Ajit Pawar) is making plans to hijack the party and the family is currently facing rift over seat distribution,” the Prime Minister said.

Cricket Betting: A 35 year-old bookie nabbed and Rs 1.89 lakh betting money seized

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Bengaluru, Apr 1 : Police have nabbed a 35 year-old bookie and seized from him Rs 1.89 lakh betting money and two mobile phones during a raid conducted on his rented house in the City.
Police said on Monday that arrested Vishwanath was collecting betting money in advance (minimum of Rs 5000) and he was installing ‘Play 365’ app to their mobile phones and give them user name and password so that they can bet about winning team or losing team, players etc., on the ongoing IPL matches. He was arrested when he was collecting betting on Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Preliminary investigation has revealed that Vishwanath used to give thus collected betting money to another bookie Nitin and collecting 10 per cent commission. Police are on the look out to nab Nitin.

Agencies

Dozens killed as storm hits southern Nepal

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At least 25 dead and more than 400 injured as storm hits villages in a farming region south of capital Kathmandu.

Rescuers are struggling to reach villages in southern Nepal that were cut off by a rainstorm that has killed 25 people and injured hundreds more.

The storm swept through villages in a farming region of Bara and Parsa districts in southern Nepal, about 120km south of capital Kathmandu, on Sunday night.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli said he received a report of 25 people killed and 400 injured.

Police official Sanu Ram Bhattarai said people were crushed by falling walls of their own homes and other debris.

Bhattarai said police officers and soldiers from neighbouring areas reached the districts on Monday and were trying to reach the villages.

Police said cars were flipped by the high winds and passengers were killed in one bus that got blown off the highway. 

“The thunderstorm uprooted trees, electricity poles and telephone poles. Most casualties occurred after people were struck by them,” said Bhattarai.

Thunderstorms normally hit the country in the spring between April and May, but experts say Sunday’s disaster was unusually severe. 

‘Aim to defeat BJP’: Deve Gowda, Rahul Gandhi hold joint rally in B’luru to show unity

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This was the first political rally jointly held by the two parties since announcing a pre-poll alliance in 2018.

Coalition partners Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) led by their respective party heads, Rahul Gandhi and HD Deve Gowda, shared the stage at a rally in Bengaluru in an attempt to send a message of unity in their efforts to upstage the BJP government at the Centre.

The ‘Parivartana Samavesha’ rally held in the Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre on Tumakuru Road in the northern part of the city, was the first political rally jointly held by the two parties since announcing a pre-poll alliance in 2018.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi chose the occasion to remind his party workers that they should support JD(S) candidates and also stated that he expected the JD(S) to support his party. “I want to tell the Congress workers and leaders that they must support the JDS candidates wherever they are contesting and also expect the same from JD(S) workers. The aim of our two parties is to defeat Narendra Modi and BJP”, he said at the start of his address. 

Rahul’s speech in Hindi was translated to Kannada by Congress leader BL Shankar. His statement comes at a time when reports of disagreements between party workers of traditional rivals Congress and JD(S) have emerged from places like Mandya, Mysuru, Hassan, Tumakuru and Udupi. The party has warned its cadre to work in tandem with the JD(S) and ensure that the alliance wins the maximum number of seats in Karnataka.

Rahul also highlighted the Congress’ proposed minimum income scheme and claimed that it was the party’s ‘surgical strike on the poor’. “Modi said he’d give Rs 15 lakh to everybody. But I’ll tell you the truth. The government cannot put Rs 15 lakh in everybody’s accounts. But it can put Rs 72000 into the accounts of the poorest 20%. In five years, we will put Rs 3.6 lakh crore in the accounts of the poor. This is our surgical strike on poverty. 25 crore people will benefit and five crore families will get money deposited in the account”, he added.

JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda meanwhile said that regional leaders from across the country had come together to fight PM Modi. “For the first time in the country, all regional leaders had come together on May 23, 2018, when the coalition government was formed in Karnataka. This was to prove that this country is not a Hindu Rashtra as per the RSS vision,” he said. 

As per the pre-poll alliance struck between the two parties, Congress is fielding candidates in 21 constituencies while the JD(S) is fielding candidates in seven constituencies. There are a total of 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka. The JD(S) surrendered the Bengaluru (North) seat to the Congress after the party was not able to finalise a candidate. Congress leader Pramod Madhwaraj meanwhile is contesting on a JD(S) ticket from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru.

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy also spoke on the occasion. He defended the coalition government’s flagship farm loan waiver scheme. “We decided to waive loans worth Rs 45,000 crore. But Modi claimed that this was a lollypop scheme and that it had not benefited anybody, but I want to tell you that 44 lakh people are benefiting,” he said. 

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President Dinesh Gundu Rao and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also spoke at the rally which was attended by thousands of Congress and JD(S) supporters. All top leaders of the Congress and JD(S) were present at the rally which marks the beginning of the coalition’s campaign. 

Agencies

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