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Maldivian President ends Emergency

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Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen on Thursday lifted a widely denounced state of Emergency after a period of 45 days, stating that the situation in the atoll nation had returned to normal.

“Upon the advice of the security services and in an effort to promote normalcy, the President has decided to lift the state of Emergency,” President Yameen’s office said in a statement.

The President’s international spokesperson Ibrahim Shihab said all departments had been notified.

The state of Emergency was declared by Yameen on February 5 for a period of 15 days due to a “threat to the national security” following a Supreme Court ruling ordering the release of detained opposition leaders including self-exiled former President Mohamed Nasheed.

It was extended via a resolution of Parliament on February 20 for 30 days following a request by the President.

During the 45-day state of Emergency, the government said day-to-day activities of the citizens had not been affected and tourists could continue to visit the island nation.

Meanwhile, several members of Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) detained under Emergency powers were released without charge, the Maldives Independent reported.

MDP Vice President Mohamed Shifaz, former MP Ilyas Labeeb and several council members were arrested in the build-up to the March 16 mass protest after police alleged there were plans to overthrow the government by inciting unrest and violence in the capital.

With constitutional due process rights suspended, the detainees were not informed of charges or taken against them. Their release came ahead of the expiry of the 45-day state of Emergency on Thursday night.

According to the opposition, around 60 people were arrested since the declaration of Emergency on February 5. The Emergency was widely condemned internationally including by the US and India.

(IANS)

Aussie women beat India in T20I Tri-Series first match

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Australia dominated with both bat and ball to defeat India by six wickets in the first match of the women’s Twenty20 International (T20I) Tri-Series here on Thursday.

Asked to bat first, India made 152/5 in their 20 overs.

Opener Smriti Mandhana was the highest scorer for the hosts with 67 runs off 41 balls.

Her 72-run stand with Mithali Raj gave the innings a strong platform, but the other Indian batters were not equal to the task.

Anuja Patil scored 35 runs off 21 deliveries lower down the order to help add some late momentum to the Indian innings.

Ashleigh Gardener and Ellyse Perry were the most successful among the Australian bowlers with a couple of wickets each.

Delissa Kimmince also bagged a wicket when she dismissed Patil with the last ball of the 19th over.

In reply, the Australians romped home with 11 deliveries to spare.

They suffered an early scare when opener Alyssa Healy was bowled by veteran Indian pacer Jhulan Goswami in the very first over.

Goswami dealt yet another blow when she bowled Gardener in the third over to leave the visitors in a spot of bother at 29/2.

However, opener Beth Mooney and Elyse Vilani added 79 runs between them to bring the Australian innings back on track.

Mooney was the highest scorer for the visitors with 45 runs off 32 balls before being dismissed by Goswami in the 13th over.

Vilani, who scored 39 runs off 33 balls, followed Mooney back to the pavilion just six deliveries later when she was caught and bowled by Poonam Yadav.

However, the Australians were well in sight of victory by then and skipper Meg Lanning scored 35 runs off 25 balls to finish the job in style.

Goswami finished as the most successful among the Indian bowlers with figures of 3/30.

Brief scores:

India: 152/5 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 67, Anuja Patil 35; Ashleigh Gardener 2/22, Ellyse Perry 2/31) vs Australia: 156/4 in 18.1 overs (Beth Mooney 45, Elyse Vilani 39, Meg Lanning 35; Jhulan Goswami 3/30).

(IANS)

Anna Hazare Gets Permission For Protests

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Delhi Police on Thursday gave permission to social activist Anna Hazare to start a protest campaign at Ramlila Maidan here from Friday, police said.

“We have granted permission after checking all security aspects and making adequate arrangements,” said a police officer.

Hazare and his supporters will first visit Rajghat from Maharastra Sadan to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.

He will also visit Shahidi Park to pay tribute to martyrs and then proceed to Ramlila Maidan where he held a massive protest and hunger strike against corruption in 2011.

Hazare has said that farm issues would be among those taken up during the current agitation.

Linking Congress To Data Scam Diversionary Tactics: Rahul

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Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the Modi government had for years lied about the fate of 39 Indians killed in Iraq and was now diverting public attention from it by alleging that his party had links with a firm accused of misusing personal data of Facebook users.

“Problem: 39 Indians dead; Government on the mat, caught lying. Solution: Invent story on Congress and data theft. Result: Media networks bite bait; 39 Indians vanish from radar. Problem solved,” Gandhi said in a tweet.

Gandhi’s remarks came a day after Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad accused the Congress of compromising national security by roping in political data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica to run its 2019 election campaign.

The Minister alleged that the firm had been found involved in data manipulation and warned that any attempt to misuse social media to influence India’s electoral process would not be tolerated.

PTI

PMLA case: Ex-HP CM Virbhadra Singh, Wife Get Bail

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A special court today granted bail to former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, his wife and three others in a Rs seven crore money laundering case.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar granted the relief to Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh, who were present in the court in response to the summons issued against them on the last date of hearing. The court also granted bail to Universal Apple Associate owner Chunni Lal Chauhan, besides other accused Prem Raj and Lawan Kumar Roach.

All the accused got the relief on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and one surety of the same amount each. During the proceedings, ED counsel Nitesh Rana opposed their bail plea, seeking judicial custody for them.

The court, however, granted them bail considering they were not arrested by the ED during the investigation. The court had on February 12 issued summons against the accused saying there was “prima facie” enough evidence against them.

The Enforcement Directorate had charge-sheeted 83-year-old Singh, accusing him of projecting around Rs seven crore “proceeds of crime” as agricultural income in connivance with his wife and others and had invested the sum in LIC policies.

PTI

Yeddyurappa Promises To Increase Wages Of Pourakarmikas

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State BJP President B S Yeddyurappa on Wednesday promised pourakarmikas that if he is voted to power he will increase their wages from the present Rs 17,000 to Rs 30,000.

Addressing the gathering at a convention which was organised by Pourakarmikara Samudaaya Vedike Yedyurappa said that he has received a list of demands from the Pourakarmika forum and all those demands will be fulfilled as soon as BJP takes charge of the state government.

He also mentioned few of the demands by the forum which includes: equal pay for everybody, regularise all 20,000 workers and not just 4,000 of them, permanent houses, permitting pourakarmika to contest in elections, free medical check-ups, improved health care and bonus of Rs 25,000 for all workers on Ambedkar Jayanti every year.

PTI

Journalist murder: Supreme Court Closes Proceedings Against Tej Pratap In Murder Case

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The Supreme Court today closed proceedings against former Bihar minister Tej Pratap, son of jailed RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, in the murder case of a Siwan-based journalist.

The apex court had asked the CBI to investigate allegations relating to media reports featuring photographs and videos that showed Pratap, former Bihar health minister, along with two absconding accused, Mohd Kaif and Javed, who are presently in judicial custody in the Rajdeo Ranjan murder case.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud considered the submission of Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi that CBI has not found any incriminating material against the RJD leader.

The bench ordered the closure of proceedings against Tej Pratap and gave the slain journalist’s widow the liberty to get her plea revised if some incriminating material surfaces in the future.

PTI

Israel moves to strip 12 Palestinians of Jerusalem residency

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The bill will only worsen the difficult conditions for the 420,000 Palestinians living in occupied East Jerusalem, who are treated as foreign immigrants by Israel [Ammar Awad/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Under a recently enacted law, Israel’s Interior Minister Aryeh Deri has expressed his intentions to strip the residency status of 12 Palestinians in Jerusalem, accusing them of being involved in “terror”.

The law, passed two weeks ago, gives the interior minister the power to strip the residency documents of any Palestinian on grounds of a “breach of loyalty” to Israel.

It will also apply in cases where residency status was obtained on the basis of false information, and in cases where “an individual committed a criminal act” in the view of the interior ministry.

Four of the 12 are affiliated with the Hamas political movement. They were the subject of a controversy in September 2017 when Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that Israeli authorities had no right to strip them of their residency on “breach of loyalty”, after a 10-year legal battle.

When the four were elected to the Palestinian Authority’s legislative body in 2006, Israel’s then-Interior Minister Ronnie Bar-On revoked their Jerusalem residency status, claiming a “breach of loyalty” for being members of a foreign parliament and of Hamas.

They were deported with their families to the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.

But last year, the Supreme Court ruled that the interior minister does not have the power to do so after a petition was filed by rights groups.

In response, the Israeli government enacted the bill two weeks ago, giving the minister the legal means to strip the residency documents of any Palestinian whom he deems a threat.

Fadi al-Qawasmi, a lawyer for the four parliamentarians, said Deri might not be able to prove that the four men were implicated in a “breach of loyalty”, particularly because the law is vague.

“When they revoked their residencies [10 years ago], they did not prove that they had committed a violation. How will they put them on trial retroactively?” al-Qawasmi told Al Jazeera.

The lawyer added that since the parliamentarians have no legal residence in any other country, the interior ministry may be forced to give them a special legal status, even if they were deported to the occupied West Bank.

‘illegal under international law’
In addition to the four Hamas parliamentarians, the interior minister is also considering revoking the residency status of other Palestinians in Jerusalem involved in carrying out attacks against Israelis, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.

Rights groups have blasted the new law as racist and illegal.

“East Jerusalem is considered occupied territory under international humanitarian law (IHL) – like all other areas of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip – and its Palestinian residents are a protected civilian population,” Adalah, a Palestinian rights group in Israel, said.

“It is therefore illegal under IHL to impose upon them an obligation of loyalty to the occupying power, let alone to deny them the permanent residency status on this basis,” the statement read.

Status of Palestinians in Jerusalem

Despite Israel’s claims that occupied East Jerusalem is part of its “eternal, undivided” capital, the Palestinians who are born and live there do not hold Israeli citizenship, unlike their Jewish counterparts.

Palestinians in the city are given “permanent residency” ID cards and temporary Jordanian passports that are only used for travel purposes. They are essentially stateless, stuck in legal limbo – they are not citizens of Israel, nor are they citizens of Jordan or Palestine.

The new bill will only worsen the difficult conditions for the 420,000 Palestinians living in occupied East Jerusalem, who are treated as foreign immigrants by the state.

Since 1967, Israel has revoked the status of at least 14,000 Palestinians.

Deri, the interior minister, who was, in the past, convicted of bribery, fraud and “breach of trust”, says this law would allow him to protect the “security of Israeli citizens”.

Karnataka High Court orders State Govt to resolve ‘Bisi oota’ workers’ demands, after MEP files writ petition

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Taking cognizance of the writ petition filed by MEP’s Dr. Nowhera Shaik, the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday, ordered the State Govt to resolve the grievances of ‘Bisi Oota’ workers and take corrective measures.

Dr. Shaik said that the High Court has admitted her petition and issued a notice to the state government and also directed the state government to resolve the grievances of Bisi Oota workers and take corrective measures before next date which 4th April 2018.

All India Mahila Empowerment Party, which is supporting the protesting workers of the Bisi Oota Scheme had filed a writ petition against the govt of Karnataka, regarding the plight of the workers. The petition number is: 6926/2018 and is titled Nowhera Shaik vs State of Karnataka.

MEP says that the workers associated with the scheme are only paid Rs. 1000. The party had filed a PIL asking for a minimum wage of Rs. 15,000 per month and has also demanded that the workers get a permanent job, among other benefits.

Last month MEP’s President Dr. Nowhera Shaik had met the protesting Mid-Day Meal Scheme Workers and assured them of all the help.

Dr. Nowhera Shaik thanked Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice BM Shyamprasad. She also thanked Bisi oota’ workers for their fight.

Congress Compromising National Security By Hiring CA For 2019 Campaign: BJP

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Amid allegations of misuse of personal data for political purposes by social media giant Facebook, the BJP on Wednesday hit out at Congress accusing it of compromising national security by reportedly roping in political data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica (CA) to run its 2019 election campaign.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that CA had been found involved in data manipulation and warned that any attempt to misuse social media to influence India’s electoral process would not be tolerated and the government would take necessary legal action.

“Any covert or overt attempt to misuse social media including Facebook to influence India’s electoral process through undesirable means will neither be tolerated, nor permitted,” Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said at a press conference.

He said that CA — the agency which hired by the Congress to run its 2019 campaign — is accused of using bribes, sex workers to entrap politicians and stealing data from Facebook.

“Abuse of social media including Facebook cannot be allowed to impact the fairness of elections. In the wake of recent data theft from Facebook, let my stern warning be heard across the Atlantic, far away in California,” the senior BJP leader said.

Accusing Congress of depending upon data manipulation and theft to win votes, Prasad
also asked the Congress whether it depends on data theft, and found manipulation ability the sole criteria to hire CA.

“These days, there is lot of news about CA and how it has been involved in data theft, psychometric analysis, data manipulation and subversion of democratic processes. Can the Congress deny that,” he asked.

Citing media reports, the BJP leader also asked the Congress to clarify whether now-sacked CA CEO Alexender Nix has met several opposition leaders to design the the UPA’s electoral strategy for the next Lok Sabha elections.

“How many times did Rahul Gandhi and Nix meet and what did they discuss? What is the CA’s role in Rahul Gandhi’s social media presence,” he asked.

“It is a matter of grave concern for crores of online users in India that online data and browsing patterns are being used for such means. I want to specifically warn the Congress that the nation will not tolerate any kind of data theft or manipulation in India,” he said.

The Minister also sought to know from the “Grand Old Party” as to how much stolen data from CA was in posession of the Congress and how much data of Indian users had been handed over to the firm by the party.

Alleging that CA had been found using illegal means of data manipulation to subvert the democratic process in Kenya, Prasad said that the Congress had been aligning with such forces to divide the society to win elections.

“We have seen this in Gujarat. We are seeing what they are doing in Karnataka,” he said.

Prasad said the government was in touch with the US Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice to assess the privacy violations of Indian users.

“We will also summon the company and Facebook to assess the data theft of Indian users and will take strictest action,” he warned.

(IANS)

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