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RJD leader shot dead in Patna

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A Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the Bihar capital on Saturday, police said.

Dina Gope, who was also the husband of former Patna deputy mayor, was killed when he was returning home after attending a relative’s marriage, a police officer said.

Criminals used an AK-47 to kill him near his residence in Anushabad, he added.

The murder took place amid tightened security imposed here since Friday in view of RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s elder son Tej Pratap’s marriage on Saturday night.

Over 10,000 guests, including VIPs like Congress President Rahul Gandhi, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, were likely to attend the ceremony.

Brisk voting underway in Karnataka Assembly polls

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Voting began on Saturday on a brisk note across Karnataka to elect its 15th Legislative Assembly for a five-year term.

“Peaceful polling is being held in 222 of the 224 constituencies, including 36 segments reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SC), 15 for Scheduled Tribes (ST) under tight security,” an official told IANS here.

Denizens of Bengaluru were seen lined up outside polling booths from 6.30 a.m. to beat the rush in casting their ballots as voting began at 7 a.m.

Polling in Bengaluru’s Raja Rajeshwari (RR) Nagar segment has been postponed to May 28 following the voter ID cards case and countermanded in the city’s Jayanagar seat following the death of BJP contestant B.N. Vijaya Kumar on May 4.

In all, voting is being conducted across 26 of the 28 constituencies in the city.

During the initial hour of voting, there were reports of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) malfunctioning in some booths; power crisis in a polling station in Rajajinagar seat; voters names missing at few booths and women clad in burqa made to reveal their faces at a Belagavi polling booth — that led to a few hiccups.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Chief Ministerial face B.S. Yeddyurappa was among the first to cast his vote in Shikaripura segment in Shivamogga district of Malnad region.

The state has over 5.06-crore electorate, including 2.56-crore men, 2.5-crore women and over 5,000 who identify themselves as the third gender.

A total of 15.42 lakh voters, aged 18-19, have registered to cast their ballot for the first time.

Voting is being held in 58,008 polling stations of 30 districts across the state, with 600 of them as pink booths, manned by all-women personnel, and 28 ethnic booths.

Over 1.5 lakh personnel have been stationed across the state for the election, with paramilitary forces from 585 state and central companies at 20,826 polling booths, including 12,001 critical booths.

Voting will continue till 6 p.m. and votes will be counted on May 15.

Voting begins in Karnataka amid tight security

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Voting began across Karnataka on Saturday to elect its 15th legislative assembly amid tight security and heightened vigil.

“A single-phase polling began at 7.00 a.m. in 222 of the 224 assembly constituencies, including 36 reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SC) and 15 for the Scheduled Tribes (ST),” said an official.

Polling in Bengaluru’s Raja Rajeshwari Nagar segment has been postponed to May 28 in the voter ID cards case and countermanded in the city’s Jayanagar seat following the death of BJP contestant B.N. Vijaya Kumar on May 4.

The state has over 5.07-crore electorate, including 2.62-crore men and 2.5-crore women. New voters are 15,42,000 in the 18-19 age group.

Voting is being held in 58,008 polling stations of 30 districts across the state, with 600 of them as pink booths, manned by all-women personnel, and 28 ethnic booths.

IANS

How the urban working woman in India is smashing stereotypes

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Armed with an undergraduate degree in engineering, an MBA from IIM-Calcutta and the unstinted support of her tiger mom, Malini Parmar spent her 20s and early 30s climbing the “greasy corporate ladder”, as she calls it. Eighteen-hour workdays and travel four days a week were all par for the course at the IT major she worked in, compensated for by a salary that allowed her to spend on whatever she wanted, whether it was parties or a holiday to Peru. When she hit her mid-30s, she decided she was not married.

“I knew, even when I was 26, that adoption was how I wanted to build a family though I had no thoughts about marriage then,” says Parmar, at the office of Stonesoup, the waste management startup in Bengaluru she founded after quitting her lucrative job in IT. The 45-year-old is now a single mother of two girls she adopted from Odisha, who tell her “she is the best”. Parmar says she has always been dating and continues to do so, but when a proposal crops up, she weighs whether she would be happier single and married.


In Delhi, 29-year-old Kanika Tekriwal, too, is hard at work smashing multiple stereotypes. Her Marwari family expected Tekriwal to follow convention by getting married and having children. But they had not reckoned with the ambitions of Tekriwal who, at the age of 16, was using the business acumen usually associated with her community to launch her own aviation enterprise. “With a 20-hour workday, I don’t have the time or inclination for a relationship,” says the founder of Jetsetgo, India’s largest private plane charter platform with 24 aircraft exclusively on its platform and access to another 80 from various sources.

Rewriting The Playbook
In a country obsessed with marriage, the single woman had long been considered an anomaly. If she was below a certain age, the family’s collective energies would be devoted to getting her married. If she was older, a divorcee or a widow, she would be slighted, particularly during religious ceremonies where she would be considered inauspicious. “People tend to consider single women as incomplete or of dubious character,” says Binita Parikh, a 44-year-old communications professional based in Ahmedabad, who is currently working on a book on single (or independent, as she calls) working women in cities.

But this is 2018, and there is an increasing cohort of single, working women in our cities, who are unwilling to let their lives be dictated by norms set generations ago and have been liberated by the salaries they earn. Data illustrates the rise of the single Indian woman. In 2001, there were 51.2 million single women in theIn 2001, there were 51.2 million single women in the country. By 2011, this had leapt to 71.4 million, according to census figures. A Newsweek cover story back in the 1970s spoke of being single in the US: “…singlehood has emerged as an intensely ritualised — and newly respectable — style of American life. It is finally becoming possible to be both single and whole.” While that might take a while in India, the foundation is being laid.

Travel blogger Shivya Nath, who quit her full-time corporate job to see the world and now earns her living by writing about it in her blog, explains why she doesn’t want to get married. “I think it’s so important to question archaic traditions, and think about why we are doing what we are doing and if it is worth our money and time. It’s incredibly liberating to be an independent woman, who is responsible for herself financially and doesn’t need to rely on anyone else to make her choices,” says the 29-yearold, who has explored Guatemala and Ethiopia, among a host of countries. “The battle to fight patriarchal mindsets in India is a tough one, but every woman must be encouraged to fight it till she find her own bliss.”

Even for those women who want to get married, they do not view it as a race. “Sometimes, due to the external environment, you are under a lot of pressure to just get married. But with time you realise that if you have waited this long, you can wait a little moreand do it when you are happy about it,” says Mamta Sawhney, a 38-year-old Delhi resident, who is the vice-president of an NBFC startup. “I’ve seen so many marriages falling apart. So the notion that all people are happy after marriage is not correct either.”

For designer Ritu Ganguli, it is the freedom that comes with singlehood that she prizes above everything else. “You get to take your own calls. If I want to do something, I can just drop everything and do it, which is important for me as an artist,” says the 35-year-old. The Bengaluru resident, who graduated in languages and philosophy, experimented quite a bit with her career, punctuating it with breaks to study design. “My decisions do not hinge on anyone else,” says Ganguli, who plans to do a PhD in design.

Sumaa Tekur, a spiritual healer with her own firm, Golden Swan Healing, couldn’t agree more. “I love my single status. I try not to take it for granted. It’s amazing to be free but also responsible for oneself,” says the 39-yearold. Her only grouse? That marketers don’t seem to make products for households of one. “I don’t like to buy family packs of everything!”

Rise of a Consumer Class
Marketers are not entirely blind to this turning tide. According to a report from management consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG) , there are perceptible shifts in India’s social structure and these changes could catalyse the emergence of a large number of single women, with their own incomes and spending plans. “From 2001 through 2011, the average age at marriage rose from 22.6 to 28 for men and from 18.3 to 22.2 for women,” the report points out. “During that period, the number of single women over the age of 20 increased by 40%. So far, this remains largely a big-city phenomenon, but it has started percolating down to tier-2 cities.”
Abheek Singhi, BCG’s managing director, reckons that the purchasing power has also grown significantly in the last few years. “Women, especially single, are now influencing purchase decisions in typically male-centric markets such as automobiles and real estate,” he says.

As this market evolves, it could take some cues from China, where companies and marketers are tailoring strategies and campaigns to target a burgeoning market for single women — across categories such as fashion and apparel and personal care. While the Indian market may be some way away from reaching this size (Singhi reckons that despite the rise in the number of single women, the number of those who are working remains low), a foundation has been laid for more companies to target this emerging demographic.

According to Pinakiranjan Mishra, national leader, retail and consumer products, EY, the growing heft of women, including those who are single, can be seen in women-centric launches, the latest being the rollout of Jane Walker, the female version of Diageo’s iconic logo Johnnie Walker. “Even across categories such as footwear and apparel, the gender mix is changing and women consumers added will outnumber men,” he contends. Single urban women, with grow ing independence and incomes, could be a key target market for these products. “Women have traditionally been a neglected market, the arrival of free-spending single women will compel companies to change this outlook,” he adds.

The power of half a billion
Women at Work: Engaging, retaining and nurturing women in the workforce is now not just a diversity agenda, but a deep business imperative. It is not just women who need this, but India needs its women to participate more vigorously for the economy to grow to the full potential.

ET

Mohamad Mahathir sworn in as new leader of Malaysia

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REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin

by Al Jazeera

Mahathir Mohamad was sworn in as Malaysia’s next leader following his stunning election victory over the ruling coalition that had governed the Southeast Asian nation for six decades.

Dressed in traditional Malay dress, Mahathir took the oath of office at a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. Malaysia’s constitutional monarch, King Sultan Muhammad V, administered the oath.

At 92, Mahathir became the world’s oldest head of state.

As he was sworn in, fireworks lit up in the night sky across Kuala Lumpur.

Hundreds of Malaysians lined the road leading to the palace, waving party flags and cheering the veteran politician who previously ruled for 22 years until his retirement in 2003.

Addressing a news conference after the ceremony, Mahathir thanked supporters and said, “Right away, we will have to do a lot of work tomorrow.”

Mahathir’s alliance of four parties, the Pakatan Harapan or Alliance of Hope, trounced the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which had ruled the country since its independence from the British.

Voters appeared to punish defeated Prime Minister Najib Razak who has been embroiled in a massive corruption scandal for years and also implemented a highly unpopular sales tax.

Earlier in the day, Najib, who ruled Malaysia for nearly a decade, said he accepted the “verdict of the people”. He did not attend the swearing-in ceremony at the palace.

The opposition won 121 seats, one more than required for a simple majority, and BN has 79 in the 222-member parliament, according to official results.

Mahathir said he had been assured of support from a raft of parties that would give his government 135 members of parliament.

“This upset ranks up there with Brexit and the Trump election,” said Aninda Mitra, a senior sovereign analyst at BNY Mellon Investment Management.

Corruption downfall
Mahathir decided to take on Najib in the wake of the financial scandal and joined the opposition, with many old foes during his previous rule, to defeat him.

The US Department of Justice says $4.5bn was looted from the 1MBD investment fund by associates of the former prime minister between 2009 and 2014, including $700m that landed in Najib’s bank account.

Najib denies any wrongdoing.

Mahathir told reporters he will try to make the ringgit currency as steady as possible, and return the billions lost in the 1MDB scandal.

“We believe that we can get most of the 1MDB money back … We have to increase the confidence of investors in the administration,” he said.

The new government will also repeal a goods and services tax introduced by Najib, review foreign investments and abolish “oppressive and unfair” laws, he added.

What’s next?
Few had expected Mahathir to prevail against a coalition that has long relied on the support of the country’s Malay ethnic majority.

Khoo Ying Hoi, a professor of international and strategic studies at the University of Malaya, said the election “has proved to us that we moved beyond racial politics”.

“It’s really people power through the ballot,” said Khoo.

Mahathir joined hands with jailed political leader Anwar Ibrahim, his one-time deputy with whom he fell out in 1998, and together their alliance exploited public disenchantment.

Mahathir said one of his first actions would be to seek a royal pardon for Anwar. He said he would step aside within the next two years so Anwar could become prime minister.

Anwar’s wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, is to be deputy prime minister.

Al Jazeera’s Divya Gopalan, reporting from Kuala Lumpur, said Malaysians were still taking stock of the unexpected elections results.

“At the moment, there is a sense of euphoria here,” she said. “There has been disillusionment with the previous government with the rise in the cost of living, corruption allegations, so they feel like they have mobilised some kind of change.”

Iran: Israeli claims are ‘fabricated’ and ‘baseless’

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Israeli soldiers stand next to tanks at the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights [Ronen Zvulun/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Iran has denied Israel’s allegations that it launched rocket attacks on its forces in the occupied Golan Heights, calling the claims “fabricated” and “baseless”.

On Thursday, Israel launched a wave of attacks on what it called Iranian targets in Syria in response to alleged Iranian attacks that targeted the Israeli-occupied Syrian territory of Golan Heights for the first time. It was the most extensive military exchange ever between the two adversaries.

“The Zionist regime’s frequent attacks on Syria under fabricated and baseless excuses is a breach of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and in defiance of all international laws and regulations,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Bahram Qasem said.

Israel says it hit dozens of Iranian military targets, as well as five Syrian anti-aircraft installations in response to Iranian forces allegedly launching 20 rockets in the occupied Golan Heights.

Syrian state media reported that Syrian air defences had intercepted most of the incoming rockets over the capital, Damascus, but also confirmed that a radar station and a weapons storage site were struck.

Iranian state television reported that Syria had given a “crushing response”.

Qasem on Friday also condemned the international community’s silence over Israel’s attacks in Syria.

“Iran strongly condemns … [Israel’s] attacks on Syria. The international community’s silence encourages Israel’s aggression. Syria has every right to defend itself,” Iranian state TV quoted Qasemi as saying.

Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi, reporting from Tehran, said that it’s important to note what wasn’t mentioned in the statement.

“[There was] no specific reaction to the specific allegations by Israel that it hit a large numbers of Iranian targets inside Syria and no specific response to Israeli allegations that Iran was behind the cross-border fire that happened and that it was Iran who shot first, so they are still holding their cards close to the chest here in Tehran.”

‘Iran crossed a red line’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened with further action in Syria, warning that the Israeli military will attack any nation targeting his country including preemptive strikes.

“Iran crossed a red line; our response was appropriate,” Netanyahu said during a press conference.

“The Israeli army carried out a broad strike, a very broad strike against Iranian targets in Syria. I send a clear message to the Assad regime that our actions are aimed at Iranian targets inside Syria but if the Syrian army will act against us, we will act against it.”

WATCH: Israel responds after Iran ‘fires rockets’ at occupied Golan (2:43)
Israel has long warned of a growing Iranian threat inside Syria. The country’s Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said at a press conference that Israeli forces had destroyed nearly all of Iran’s military infrastructure in Syria on Thursday.

“They must remember that if it rains here it will pour over there and I hope that we finish this chapter and that everyone got the message,” Lieberman said.

Al Jazeera’s Basravi said that the Iranian foreign ministry was pushing a very different narrative with their statement.

“[The statement] also went so far as to suggest that Israel, as part of its strategic depth in Syria, was backing groups like the Islamic State and the al-Nusra front. We have had reactions like that from leaders in Iran in the past with regards to Israel’s involvement in the country.”

As tensions between Israel and Iran continued to rise, the United Nations, Russia, France, Germany and Britain urged the two countries to avoid any further escalation.

US Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an immediate halt to “all hostile acts” to avoid “a new conflagration” in the Middle East.

Israel has called on the UN Security Council and secretary-general to condemn Iran’s attack, but the Security Council remains deeply divided over Syria and is highly unlikely to issue a statement. As of Friday morning, no council member has asked for a meeting.

Israel and Iran have long fought each other through proxies, and with the new exchange, each seemed to be sending a warning that a direct clash between them could swiftly escalate.

‘India closely monitoring situation after US pulls out of Iran deal’

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In the wake of US President Donald Trump’s announcement to pull out of Iran nuclear deal, India is closely monitoring the situation, said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that India will take necessary measures to offset any adverse impact on its interests due to Trump’s decision to dump the Iran nuclear deal.

Countries having financial dealings with Iran are expected to be hit by the comprehensive sanctions.

India and Iran have robust economic and commercial ties covering many sectors. Iran is the third largest supplier of crude oil to India after Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Hindusthan Samachar/Shri Ram Shaw

Police machinery gears up for security measures to tomorrow’s polls

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a press conference here she disclosed that the law and order situation in the state is under control and adequate measures have been taken well in advance keeping the requirements in this connection.

In fact preparations for the polls has begun since January itself and several rounds of preparatory meetings have been conducted in this connection she informed.Even much before the notification was issued preparatory work has commenced she said.

Along with the state policemen central contingents and 585 Central Reserve Police units,Chattisgarh,Goa,Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu.Kerala and Telangana policemen are being deployed for providing security to the poll process.

In addition services of 22,000 Home Gaurds staff is being made use of while 82,157 cops are entrusted with the responsibility of providing security to the polling booths,told the state Police chief.

In addition the services of Fire Fighting Squad and Prison department is also being made use of while for the first time Lokayukta policemen are involved in providing security to the poll process.

All along the state borders help from the neighbouring states security personnel has been sought while CISF staff have been given the role of providing security to the Strong Rooms housing the EVMs’.

Hindusthan Samachar/Manohar Yadavatti

Congress petitions EC to disqualify Sriramulu

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The Congress today petitioned the Election Commission demanding that BJP candidate B Sriramulu be disqualified from contesting the Karnataka assembly elections over a video allegedly showing him trying to a bribe a former chief justice of India’s relative.

“We have requested the Election Commission to disqualify B Sriramulu from contesting the election,” senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal told reporters after meeting the poll panel.

Yesterday, the Congress released two videos, dating back to 2010, allegedly showing BJP leaders B Sriramulu and G Janardhana Reddy negotiating a bribe to a relative of a former chief justice of India to influence a verdict in a mining case.

Later, state electoral authorities directed channels not to air the videos.

The memorandum by the Congress to the EC states, “This clear-cut evidence relates to grave corrupt practices including attempting to bribe a Supreme Court judge. It goes without saying that even on a cursory viewing of this incriminating evidence, a clear-cut case for the cancellation of the candidature of B Sriramulu is made out for both the seats being contested by him in the upcoming Karnataka Elections.

We requested the EC to direct immediate disqualification of Sriramulu & direct CEO Karnataka to lift the injunction on Kanadda TV channels from showing the tapes

“In a forty-minute video that has been made public and broadcast widely in the regional Kannada media on the evening of May 10, 2018, it is clearly seen that the candidate B Sriramulu and been other individuals (identified as G Janardhan Reddy, Captain Reddy and Swamiji) are seen sitting with the son-in-law of a former Chief Justice of India. The discussions between them, as seen in the video and reported by the media, relate to the payment of money to the son-in-law to secure a favourable judgment of the Supreme Court for the Reddy brothers.Upon viewing the video, there can be no doubt as to the agenda of the meeting taking place,” the memorandum states.

Expressing displeasure at EC’s move to ban channels from airing the video, the Congress said, “Surprisingly, ECl/CEO Karnataka has proceeded to grant an injunction banning the Kannada Television Channels from playing the tapes instead of taking action against B Sriramulu. Needless to add that this order is neither in the letter and in the spirit of the Constitutional powers now is it warranted by facts and precedence brought out above.”

The Congress urged the EC “To take all such actions as may be necessary and required in law and direct immediate barring/disqualification of B Sriramulu from contesting Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018, and to take all such actions as may be necessary and required in law including direction for registration of offences against B Sriramulu, for violation of provisions of the Indian Penal Code, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988; and to direct CEO Karnataka, to lift any injunction on the Kannada television channels or other media from showing and playing the tapes.”

Withdrawing petition on CJI impeachment correct: Singhvi

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Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Friday hailed his party’s decision to withdraw the petition challenging Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu’s rejection of an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Dipak Misra.

“Good and wise decision of Congress not to pursue impeachment issue with Cong MPs in SC any further,” he tweeted.

Two Congress MPs withdrew their petition challenging Venkaiah Naidu’s rejection of the motion against Justice Misra on May 8 after the court refused to give details of the administrative order that led to setting up of a constitutional bench to hear the matter.

Rajya Sabha members Pratap Singh Bajwa and Amee Yajnik had moved the top court, alleging that Naidu’s rejection of the motion was politically motivated.

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