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Indian police arrest Dalit activists amid criticism

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Police in the Indian state of Maharashtra on Wednesday arrested five Dalit activists on charges of inciting violence earlier this year, drawing criticism from community leaders.

The arrests of the Dalit writers and activists – Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, and Surendra Gadling – were made in connection to clashes between unprivileged caste Dalits and privileged caste groups in Bhima Koregaon, central Maharashtra, and ensuing protests in January. Two people were killed in the violence.

Dalits, who have suffered thousands of years of exclusion and extreme poverty, are at the bottom of India’s Hindu caste hierarchy.

“They have been arrested under the Unlawful Activities Act and charges under the Indian penal code,” Pawar said.

In January, Dalits from across Maharashtra took to the streets to protest against a January 1 attack on the community during the 200th-anniversary celebrations of the Battle of Bhima-Koregaon.

During that battle in 1818, unprivileged-caste Dalits sided with British colonial forces to defeat privileged-caste rulers.

‘Inflammatory speeches’
The police are probing the connection of those arrested on Wednesday to “inflammatory speeches” at an event in Pune on December 31, 2017.

“They want to instil fear in the hearts of Dalit leaders,” Prakash Ambedkar, an activist and grandson of Bhimrao Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian constitution and a Dalit icon, told Al Jazeera.

A statement by People’s Union for Civil Liberties called the arrests “vindictive and arbitrary”.

Ashok Kamble, the leader of Dalit group Bhim Army, said Wednesday’s arrests were a “pressure tactic”.

“Dalit groups have no funds, but we are committed to fighting oppression. We can’t be bought, that’s why the state uses such tactics against us,” he told Al Jazeera.

Activists point to how right-wing privileged-caste leaders, with links to the ruling party, have yet to be arrested – despite cases filed against them for the January 1 attack on Dalits.

India is home to about 200 million Dalits, many of whom complain about continued social discrimination despite the outlawing of caste-based discrimination by parliament in 1955.

Hindus are traditionally grouped into various castes and membership is determined by birth.

Aljazeera

Light intensity earthquake jolts J&K

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A light intensity earthquake occurred in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday with no report of any casualty or damage to property.

An official of the MET department said the earthquake, measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale, struck at 12.21 p.m.

“The epicentre of quake was on the Kashmir-Xinjiang border,” the official said.

Sharad Yadav will retain official residence but not draw allowances: SC

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Rebel JD-U leader Sharad Yadav will continue to occupy his official accommodation here as the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to interfere with a Delhi High Court order allowing him to retain the official bungalow on Tughlaq Road here.

Permitting him to stay in the official accommodation, the vacation bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Ashok Bhushan took on record the statement by senior counsel Guru Krishna Kumar that Sharad Yadav won’t draw any allowances till the matter was decided by the High Court.

The top court also said that the division bench of the High Court will decided the issue, listed for hearing on July 12.

The court said this as senior counsel Ranjit Kumar, appearing for Janata Dal-United Rajya Sabha member Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, said that due to the pendency of the matter, the election to fill two vacancies caused by the disqualification of Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar was not taking place.

The High Court while refusing to interfere with his disqualification by Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu as JD-U member of the Upper House had by an interim order allowed him to continue to stay in the official residence until his plea against his disqualification was decided.

The High Court had also allowed Yadav to draw allowances and perquisites.

Thursday’s order came on a petition by JD-U’s Rajya Sabha member Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, who challenged the Delhi High Court order.

Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar were disqualified as Rajya Sabha members after they rebelled against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s decision to join hands with the BJP-led NDA after snapping ties with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress.

“Kaala” Not Release in Karnataka fans reach Tamil Nadu to see Film.

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Superstar Rajinikanth’s movie, Kaala, has released worldwide and Thalaivar fans are celebrating it like a festival. However, the scene in Karnataka is entirely different as the film is unofficially banned in the state.

Few pro-Kannada outfits protested against the release of the film because of Rajinikanth’s comments on Cauvery issue. It is reportedly said that many distributors and theatre owners have chosen not to release the film.

This has enraged Rajinikanth fans in the state, who were knocking at the empty ticket counters today. However, the fans have now decided to cross the border and go to neighboring states to watch the film.

Speaking to India Today, few fans in Bengaluru said they will travel all the way to Hosur (a city near Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border) to watch Kaala.

This is not a new phenomenon for Tamil cinema fans. When Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam was banned in Tamil Nadu, fans from the state went all the way to Andhra Pradesh and Kerala to watch the film.

Earlier, the Karnataka High Court told the state government to give protection to the theatres releasing Kaala, but it looks like no theatre owner has come forward to release the film.

Notably, a pro-Kannada group stormed into a distributor office and damaged the properties. They also trashed the posters of Kaala and hit them with slippers.

Directed by Pa Ranjith, the film has Eswari Rao, Huma Qureshi, Nana Patekar and Samuthirakani in lead roles. Santhosh Narayanan has composed the music for the film.

14 Congress and 9 JD(S) MLAs sworn-in as Karnataka cabinet ministers; 7 berths still vacant

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The JD(S)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka was expanded on Wednesday, with the induction of 25 legislators as cabinet ministers including 23 from the alliance partners and one BSP MLA and an Independent.

Of the 23 from the alliance, 14 are from Congress and 9 from Janata Dal-Secular (JD(S)).

Governor Vajubhai R. Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers at Raj Bhavan.

Yesteryears Kannada cine actress and legislative council member Jayamala of the Congress is the lone woman minister in the 27-member ministry.

N. Mahesh of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was also sworn in. The BSP is a pre-poll ally of the JD(S). With him, BSP has a minister for the first time in south India and outside its home state of Uttar Pradesh.

Independent R. Shankar, who supported the alliance, was also inducted as a cabinet minister. Leaving the Congress for denying a ticket to contest in the May 12 assembly election, Shankar defeated former Congress legislator K.B. Koliwad from Ranebennur in Haveri district.

Besides Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) and Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara of the Congress, senior leaders and several legislators of both the alliance partners and senior officials were present at the hour-long ceremony.

The 14 ministers of the Congress and nine of the JD(S) took oath in Kannada and in the name of either god, Allah, 14th century Kannadiga social reformer Basavanna and parents.

The Congress ministers were R.V. Deshpande, D.K. Shivakumar, K.J. George, Krishna Byre Gowda, Shiva Shankar Reddy, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Priyank Kharge, U.T. Abdul Khader, Zameer Ahmed Khan, Shivanand Patil, Venkat Ramanappa, Rajasekhar Basavaraj Patil, Puttaranga Shetty and Jayamala.

U T Khader is the sole face in the cabinet from the coastal region. JD(S) leader B M Farooq who was expected to get a berth was not given any portfolio in the first round of the cabinet expansion.

The JD(S) ministers are H.D. Revanna, Bandeppa Kashempur, G.T. Deve Gowda, D.C. Thammanna, M.C. Managuli, S.R. Srinivas, Venkatrao Nadegouda, C.S. Puttaraju and S.R. Mahesh.

The state can have a 34-member cabinet, or 15 percent of the 225-member legislative assembly, including one nominated, as per Constitutional norms.

The coalition partners agreed to share the posts in the ratio of 21 for the Congress, including the post of Deputy Chief Minister and 11 for JD(S), including the chief minister.

Of the seven vacancies left, five are for the Congress and two for the JD(S).

“Kumaraswamy will allocate the portfolios to all the ministers in consultation with the leaders of the respective parties. The list will be sent to the Governor for notifying the posts,” a senior official told IANS here.

The cabinet expansion took place 14 days after Kumaraswamy and Parameshwara were sworn-in on May 23, and 12 days after the Chief Minister won the floor test on May 25 by voice vote, as the opposition BJP staged a walkout in protest against their “unholy alliance”.

Revanna is the second son of JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda and elder brother of Kumaraswamy. He represents Holenarsipur assembly segment from Hassan district.

Priyank is the son of Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge from Chittapur in Kalaburgi district.

Deshpande, George, Shivakumar, Byre Gowda, Kharge, and Khadar were ministers in the previous Siddaramaiah-led Congress government, while Revanna, Kashempur and G.T. Deve Gowda were ministers in the previous JD(S)-Congress and JD(S)-BJP coalition governments from 2004-06 and 2006-07

We Will Give a Steady and Productive Govt For Next 5 Years : H D Kumarswamy

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Alleviating fears over the survival of the JD-S-Congress coalition government, Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday said the union accomplices would give a steady government for the following five years.

“I might want to tell the skeptics that we will give a steady and productive government, which will last its full five-year term. May there be no uncertainty about it,” he told correspondents in the wake of leading the principal meeting of the extended bureau here.

Miffed over media investigates the lifespan of the government because of deferral in cabinet expansion and distribution of portfolios, Kumaraswamy said as the May 12 election hurled a hung Assembly, the alliance needed to shape the government after the three-day BJP government ended on May 19.

“Framing a coalition government and choosing ministers for the service require significant investment as we need to do justice to every one of the partners and in sharing the cabinet posts as alliance partners,” he said.

Looking for a breathing time to settle down and get the official machinery splitting, the Chief Minister said he and Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara have been working extra minutes from the day they assumed office on May 23 to address governmental issues.

“I have effectively guided authorities to go to the issues identified with potholes in Bengaluru and help works in rain-hit areas over the state,” said Kumaraswamy.

Underwriting Kumaraswamy’s perspectives, Parameshwara said the coalition government would be dependable and responsible to the public in providing services.

“There is no perplexity or uncertainty about the capacity of the government. The Chief Minister will allocate the portfolios for every minister, including me, in a day or two and everyone will begin their works,” he said.

Conceding that there was disgruntlement in a portion of the legislators left out for the cabinet extension, Parameshwara, who is additionally the Congress’ state unit President, said their worries would be tended to and offered chance to serve in different ways.

“In spite of the fact that there are five-six bureau billets empty to be filled by our party, the Congress has only 22 posts for its officials, including me, as the state bureau can have just 34 ministers, with 12 from the JD-S, including its Chief Minister,” illuminated Parameshwara.

The Congress and JD-S are planning to suppress the preparing protests in both the parties by guaranteeing their officials of making them chairman of the different statutory boards and corporations with cabinet rank.

U T Khader is sole minister from Two Districts.

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U.T.Khader is won in the recent Legislative Assembly elections from Udupi and Mangaluru districts now become the sole minister from the two districts after receiving a ministerial berth in the cabinet of the new JD(S)-Congress coalition state government.

BJP showed its dominance by winning the 12 positions of the 13 positions in the two undivided districts during the recent Legislative Assembly elections. By gaining victory in Mangaluru constituency (former Ullal constituency), former minister U.T.Khader saved the honour of Congress in Karavali.

After facing decisive defeat in Karavali, the Congress party leaders are hoping to resurrect the party through Khader’s responsibilities as Minister of city development and Housing.

Political observers have opinioned that the Congress leadership has displayed its faith in Khader by giving him an important ministerial berth in the cabinet instead of the newly elected MLC Harish Kumar who is also the president of D.K.district Congress president and MLC Ivan D’Souza, who is the opposition leader in the Legislative Council.

Law graduate

U.T.Khaser, who is a law graduate, entered the arena of politics through N.S.U.I. group. He became N.S.U.I district chief secretary in 1992-94, district president in 1994-2000 and state vice president in 2000-2001.

He has served as Ullal Block Congress president in 2001, as Akhil Bharat Congress Seva Dal Instructor and K.P.C.C. secretary in 2002, and as the state additional chief organizer of Congress Seva Dal in 2003.

Political path

U.T.Khader’s father U.T.Fareed was the MLA of Ullal constituency in 2004 and after his death on February 6th 2007, U.T.Khader contested in the by elections held the very same year and won, thereby entering the legislative assembly for the first time. After this, he has never looked back. He again won in the 2008 state elections and became a people popular MLA in his 5 year term. Later, he won in the 2013 state elections and was given the ministerial berth of Health and Family Welfare in the Siddaramiah led state government cabinet. He also simultaneously served as the district in-charge minister of Kolar district. In the cabinet reshuffle of 2016, his ministerial berth was changed to Minister for Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department.

In the last five years he has successfully delivered his service and gained honour under two different portfolios has been provided with a new important portfolio of City development and Housing. Previously, Vinaya Kumar Sorake of Karavali, handled the ministerial berth of city development and housing in 2013-2016.

Secrets to success for India’s budding entrepreneurs and start-ups

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India is blessed to be the third-largest start-up economy in the world. Unfortunately, there is a curse that comes with that blessing. That is, as indicated in a 2016 report issued by the IBM Institute for Business Value and Oxford Economics, 90 per cent of Indian start-ups fail within five years.

The question is what can be done to reduce the number of failures? What are the secrets to success for India’s budding entrepreneurs and its business start-ups? There are many. But, based upon research findings and my own experience as an entrepreneur, I would like to highlight a critical few.

The IBM/Oxford report cited the lack of innovation as the primary reason for failing start-ups. A 2017 report by KMPG India and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) cited innovation, along with scalability and digitisation, as one of the three pillars for building a sustainable business.

So, what does an entrepreneur do to innovate? Here is the surprising answer that Vivek Wadhwa, a noted American IT researcher, academic, writer and entrepreneur, gave in an article in the Washington Post on April 30: “In a video-conference hosted by Indian start-up website Inc42, I gave Indian entrepreneurs some advice that startled them. I said that instead of trying new things, they should copy and steal all the ideas they can from China, Silicon Valley and the rest of the world.”

Wadhwa goes on to explain that the reason that Silicon Valley is the international leader and hotbed for information technology is that there is considerable “knowledge sharing” as engineers move from company to company. He observes that tech giants such as Facebook and Apple borrow and build on the ideas of others.

The KPMG/CII report makes a similar point on innovation, stating: “Not all innovation is radical or breakthrough. Innovation can also be incremental, yet small materially significant changes to the current operating model or products or services.”

I would extend that even further to recommend that the focus for entrepreneurial innovation should be encompassing — considering potential improvements in the areas known as the 7 P’s of services marketing: Product, Pricing, Place, Promotion, People, Process and Physical Evidence.

In addition, based upon my experience as an entrepreneur who took an information technology firm, the QSS Group, that I purchased in 1994 for $45,000 and one employee — me — to sales of over $300 million and 3,000 employees when I sold it to Perot Systems in 2007, I would offer the following advice that I gave in the keynote address to the participants at US-India Start-Up Forum sponsored by American Bazaar in Mumbai, in February 2017:

* Believe in yourself and your business. Pursue your end goal with drive, determination and a passion to succeed.

* Find and focus on your niche market. Figure out early on who will be your target customer segments and key customers within those segments and build your business model around them.

* Deliver quality products and services that exceed customer expectations. Merely satisfying your customer is not good enough. They need to receive the unanticipated in order to become loyal. This is as true for the neighborhood kirana stores as for Apple and Google.

* Surround yourself with talented people. Pay them well. Listen to them. Learn from them. And work closely with them. Remember, business is a team sport and not an individual one.

* Have no fear of failure. India is a market where investors have little tolerance for failure. But fear can be crippling. Put your faith in your plan and yourself and carry on.

While the strategies and tactics will differ given the nature of the business, I believe that addressing those five factors, along with the need for ongoing innovation, are cross-cutting and can be used by an entrepreneur to provide the framework for becoming successful in any start-up line of business.

There is no single formula for success, however, and the future is promised to no-one. Therefore, I will close with this final thought.

In a commencement address at Stanford University, Steven Jobs advised the graduates: “Your time is limited; so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”

For budding entrepreneurs and owners of start-ups, I would modify Jobs’ advice and say: “Your time is limited; so don’t waste it trying to emulate someone else’s business. Don’t be a mere ‘me too’ business. Don’t be a clone. Find your inner entrepreneur. Chart your own path. Create a mission, vision and set of values that are unique to your enterprise. In other words, make it your journey. By doing so, you will define those secrets to success that will enable you to grow your small business of today into the big business of tomorrow.”

UAE diplomat elected Vice-Chair for UNGA session

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The UN General Assembly (UNGA) has unanimously elected Hessa Al Ateibi, Third Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the UAE, as Vice-Chair of the Economic and Financial Committee during its 73rd session.

The Committee addresses topics relating to sustainable development, science, technology and innovation, globalization, eradication of poverty and development and humanitarian assistance.

In this capacity, Al Ateibi could be tasked by the Chair of the Committee to facilitate the negotiations and discussions on UN processes.

The Assembly also elected Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, as President for the 73rd Session of the Assembly which will begin in September.

Dubai-based Indian threatens to kill Kerala CM

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A Dubai-based Indian man threatened to kill Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan leading to his getting fired from his job.

Krishnakumar S.N. Nair, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) supporter, in a Facebook video on Tuesday said that he would soon travel to Kerala to carry out the act, Khaleej Times reported on Thursday.

“I am a former RSS worker. I am going to be active again. I am resigning my job here and returning to Kerala. I am staying in Dubai. I will be in Kerala for two to three days with an aim to kill. I am least bothered how my life is going to end. If we decide to kill a person then we need to finish the job,” he said in the four-minute video.

Nair, who used to work as a senior rigging supervisor at the Abu Dhabi-based Target Engineering Construction Company, also hurled abuses at Vijayan and commented about his caste.

He was terminated with immediate effect on Wednesday for the provoking post in an inebriated condition at the company accommodation.

He will be flying to Kerala as soon as all formalities are over.

“I have lost my job. I am ready to face any action. I remain an RSS supporter. I seek forgiveness from Pinarayi Vijayan and all politicians,” Nair apologised on Wednesday.

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