India Today-Karvy opinion poll has predicted that incumbent Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is the top choice for the CM’s post. 33% of the respondents have rated Siddaramaiah as their top choice, while BJP’s Yeddyurappa is at second place with 26% respondents voting for him. The JD (S)’s HD Kumaraswamy has emerged third best choice for CM with 21% respondents voting for him.
As per the opinion poll, several factors are in favour of Siddaramaiah, who is fighting anti-incumbency in a state that has not given any government a second term in a long time. Supreme Court’s recent verdict in the Cauvery river sharing matter was in favour of Karnataka. The recent ruling reduced the amount of water that Karnataka used to to released for Tamil Nadu. 49 % of the respondents have said that the SC verdict would benefit the Congress, while 34% have said to no to it. 17 % have also opted for ‘don’t know’ or can’t say.
Every time Congress president Rahul Gandhi visits Karnataka he visits temples. 42 % of the respondents feel that this has benefitted the Congress while 35% have said no to it.
Assad Ally Hezbollah Does Not See ‘Total War’ Over Syria In an interview,
Lebanon’s Hezbollah does not believe the latest Syria crisis will spiral into a direct US-Russia conflict or a wider all-out war, its deputy leader said in comments published on Friday.
The heavily armed and Iranian-backed Shia movement has been a vital military ally of President Bashar al-Assad in the seven-year-old Syrian war.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters in Beirut, Lebanon March 15, 2018. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/Files
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“The conditions do not point to a total war … unless (US President Donald) Trump and (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu completely lose their minds,” he said.
Trump has threatened strikes against Assad’s forces after a suspected gas attack on a rebel town where dozens of people died, and a Russian envoy has voiced fears of a wider conflict between Washington and Moscow.
The threat of confrontation between Russia, the Syrian state’s key ally, and the West loomed after Trump said on Wednesday missiles “will be coming” and lambasted Moscow for standing by Assad.
Trump has tempered those remarks since and even as he consulted allies Britain and France, there were signs of efforts to prevent the crisis from spiralling out of control.
The White House said “no final decision has been made” on Syria after Trump met his national security team on Thursday.
ISRAELI STRIKE
Damascus with its main backers, Russia and Iran, have accused rebels and rescuers of fabricating reports of the Douma attack and Washington of seeking to use it as a pretext for attacking the Syrian army.
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told Congress on Thursday he believed there had been a chemical attack, but added shortly after there was no decision on launching military action.
Asked about possible spillover into Lebanon, Qassem said: “If the assault on Syria has a very limited scope, then it’s expected that reactions from the concerned sides in Syria will be tied to the Syrian arena.”
Iran’s expanding power in Syria has caused deep alarm in Israel, which has mounted air strikes in Syria against what it describes as Hezbollah and Iranian targets.
Tehran has threatened to respond to an air strike on a Syrian military base on Monday which it blamed on Israel, as did Damascus and Moscow.
Qassem said the strike, which killed seven Iranians, was an assault “on both Syria and Iran that has consequences which I do not know the limit of now”.
Hezbollah, which last fought a major war with Israel in 2006, would not open a new front against its arch-foe from Lebanon, he said. “But the resistance is ready for surprises.”
Hezbollah does not expect Israel to launch a war for now but is prepared for one, Qassem told Reuters in an interview last month.
RCB vs KXIP: Bangalore Eye First Win of the Season
Bangalore’s Bowling Conundrum: Assisted by India’s 2011 World Cup winning duo of Gary Kirsten and Ashish Nehra as batting and bowling coaches, Kohli could also think of letting Corey Anderson have bowl, given the small size of the Chinnaswamy stadium. Umesh Yadav and Woakes shared five wickets between them on Sunday, and would like to continue their form. Much was expected from the spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar, but they couldn’t weave their magic, claiming just one wicket for 77 runs in 56 balls. In-form New Zealand pacer Tim Southee may also get a chance to swing his arms, considering his reputation as one of the best new-ball bowlers in international cricket today.
Congress’ First List Finalised, Siddaramaiah to Contest From Chamundeshwari : Karnataka Assembly 2018
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao will meet Janata Dal (Secular) leader Deve Gowda today, but said the meeting has “nothing to do” with upcoming elections in Karnataka. Sources in the Congress, meanwhile, claim that the high command has asked Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to pick between Chamundeshwari and Badami seats, denting his plan to contest from two seats.
Congress’s first list of candidates has been finalised. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will contest from Chamundeshwari while no decision has been taken yet on Badami seat. The party has decided that Siddaramaiah’s son Dr. Yatheendra will contest from Varuna. Children of PWD Minister H C Mahadevappa, Home minister Ramalingareddy and Kolar MP K H Muniyappa will also contest the upcoming Karnataka assembly polls.
BJP to announce Candidates list will be on April 15
The State BJP President B S Yeddyurappa on Friday announced that the second and the last list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls would be declared on April 15.
BJP had declared first list of 72 candidates on April 8. The party is yet to declare contender for the remaining 152 Assembly.
Addressing columnists here at Denissons Hotel, he said that BJP leaders had a point by point exchange about the candidates till 2 am on Friday.
“Another round of discussion will be held in New Delhi on April 15 and the list for the rest of the seats will be declared that day,” he said.
Amnesty slams Pakistan military courts over death penalties
Amnesty International has slammed Pakistan’s military courts for violating UN principles and international fair trial standards in imposing death sentences.
Amnesty International’s report — Death Sentences and Executions 2017 — released here on Thursday, expressed concern that Pakistan’s military courts “were run by military officers subordinate to the military chain of command — and who had no formal legal training — in breach of the UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary”.
“The charges against the defendants were not made public and those convicted did not have the right to appeal to civilian courts,” it said.
The report said that Pakistani military courts also sentenced civilians to death and added that its special courts “whose proceedings did not meet international fair trial standards imposed death sentences”.
Pakistan’s Field General Court Martial (FGCM) in April 2017 sentenced Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav to death on charges of espionage and sabotage.
India has denied that Jadhav worked for Indian intelligence agencies or that he has worked in Pakistan. The Amnesty report did not specifically mention Jadhav.
“People continued to be sentenced to death or executed for crimes that did not involve intentional killing and therefore did not meet the threshold of ‘most serious crimes’, as prescribed by Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights,” the report said.
Amnesty said that Pakistan carried out more than 60 executions in 2017, imposed over 200 death sentences and there were more than 7,000 people on death row.
During 2016, Pakistan executed at least 87 people and imposed more than 360 death sentences, according to the report.
Briefing reporters, Amnesty International Senior Director for Law and Policy Tawanda Mutasah said that death penalties have dropped steeply since a peak in 2015 when 326 people were executed.
CM Siddaramaiah poses 10 questions to Yeddyurappa : Twitter War
The war of words between chief minister Siddaramaiah and BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa is getting intense on the social media day by day in poll-bound Karnataka.
On Thursday April 12, B S Yeddyurappa criticized Congress government led by the BJP and tweeted, “The Congress govt in Karnataka has failed miserably on all fronts. 10 Percent CM Siddaramaiah has nothing to go to the voters except his misrule and misgovernance. The state is in dire need of a govt which can fulfill the aspirations of 6.5 Cr Kannadigas.”
Siddaramaiah was quick to reply to the BJP chief reminding him of corruption charges against him when he was the chief minister. He tweeted, “Big words from the man who turned Karnataka into the most corrupt state, Bengaluru into garbage city & ordered goli bar on farmers. Other than baseless allegations what do you have to offer the 6.5Cr Kannadigas?
Manika-Mouma clinch silver in women’s doubles TT : CWG
Indian paddlers Manika Batra and Mouma Das clinched the silver medal in women’s doubles category at the 21st Commonwealth Games here on Friday.
The Indian duo was outplayed 0-3 (5-11, 4-11, 5-11) by Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu of Singapore in the gold medal clash. Unforced errors and some aggressive game from Singapore kept India on the back foot throughout the match.
Right from the start, Indian paddlers never looked in the contention as Manika and Mouma failed to match the skill and tenacity of the their opponents.
In all the three games, Mouma and Manika were outclassed in every department.
In the other match, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Pooja Saharabudhe lost the bronze medal match 1-3 (13-15, 7-11, 11-8, 7-11) to Ho Ying and Lyne Karen of Malaysia.
The Indian duo, however, put up a fight but failed to match the pace of their opponents.
IPL 2018: Chawla praises spin sensation Markande
Experienced Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) spinner Piyush Chawla on Friday praised Mumbai Indians’ leg-spinner Mayank Markande who has taken the Indian Premier League (IPL) by storm in the first few matches.
Mumbai Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar bowld by Rajat Bhatia during the Mumbai Indian vs Kolkata Knight Riders match no. 53 of Pepsi IPL-6 Played at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
7 May 2013 – day/night (20-over match)
Markande, picked out as Mumbai’s surprise package, has taken as many as seven wickets in two matches.
“I have seen him for the first time. I think he is doing very well and I wish him luck,” Chawla told reporters on the sidelines of a promotional event.
Markande, who has got an excellent wrong ‘un, is the purple cap holder — given to the bowler with most number of wickets — now and almost bowled Mumbai to victory in the opening two matches against Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively.
While the Punjab tweaker, 20, returned figures of 3/23 against CSK, he was superb against Sunrisers on Thursday with taking four wickets and leaking just 23 runs.
Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, who was also present, opined that spinners with variation are quite a handful in the shortest version of the game and are more successful.
“As an off-spinner, if you’re getting turn and you have quite a good variation that really makes a difference in T20 format. That’s why the spinners are very successful in this format,” said Yadav who is now a regular in the Indian team setup.
KKR take on SRH at the Eden Gardens on Saturday, looking to bounce back after a five-wicket defeat at the hands of CSK on the road.
EC to hear 20 AAP MLAs in office of profit case on May 17
The Election Commission on Friday announced that it will grant an oral hearing to the 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs in the office of profit case on May 17.
The Commission, in a letter on Friday, has invited the 20 legislators who were earlier disqualified in the office of profit case as well as petitioner Prashant Patel to appear before the Commission “either in person or through authorised legal representative” at 3 p.m. on this date.
The hearing would be conducted in presence of Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat and Election Commissioners Sunil Arora and Ashok Lavasa.
The EC’s decision came after the Delhi High Court on March 23 set aside the disqualification of the 20 AAP MLAs on the grounds that no oral hearing was given to the MLAs before disqualifying them as legislators of the Delhi Assembly and hence there was violation of natural justice.
Quashing the Central government’s notification disqualifying the AAP MLAs, the High Court had directed the Election Commission to hear the matter afresh.
A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Chander Shekhar had observed that the Election Commission’s recommendation against the legislators was “bad in law” and “vitiated”.