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Cong leaders’ phones being ‘tapped’ by Centre: Karnataka Home Minister

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Bengaluru: Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy today accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of tapping phones of Congress leaders in the state ahead of the assembly elections due early this year.

“I have been saying since long that in Karnataka, phones of some people are getting tapped. We are aware how they are tapping,” Reddy said.

“Probably as elections are coming up, phones are getting tapped; it is wrong according to law,” he said, while speaking to reporters here.

Asked whether he was holding the central government responsible for the “tapping”, Reddy said, “Who else, if not them? Will we do it for ourselves? They are doing it.”

The minister, however, did not reveal the name of the leaders whose phones were being “tapped”.

Water Resources Minister M B Patil has also made a similar accusation against the central government in the past.

(PTI)

Dalits tonsured, paraded by Hindu Yuva Vahini activists for stealing cows

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Ballia: Two Dalits were tonsured and paraded in Rasra police station area here allegedly by Hindu Yuva Vahini activists on charges of stealing cows, the police said.

The two men were then arrested following an FIR filed on the complaint of one Pravin Srivastava, under Section 379 and 411 (punishment for theft) of IPC for allegedly stealing cows.

One of the two men later filed a police complaint saying the incident took place on Monday when some Hindu Yuva Vahini activists stopped them with two cows.

In a complaint to the police, Uma Ram alleged that his and Sonu’s heads were shaved off by Hindu Yuva Vahini activists. They were then paraded around Rasra town with tyres around their neck and placards with “hum gai chor hain” (we are cow thieves) written on those.

On Ram’s complaint, the FIR was lodged against a named and 15 unknown persons under section 342 (wrongful confinement), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

SP Anil Kumar said Deputy SP Avdhesh Chaudhary has been asked to investigate the matter.

(PTI)

Pakistan suspend defence, intelligence cooperation with US

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by Naveed Siddiqui, Dawn

Pakistan has suspended military and intelligence cooperation with the United States in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s allegation that Pakistan has given the US “nothing but lies and deceit” and suspension of security aid for Pakistan, Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan said while addressing a gathering at Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad on Tuesday.

Speaking during a seminar titled ‘Contours of Security Environment of Pakistan’, Khan said the US is facing defeat in Afghanistan despite spending billions of dollars. He alleged that the US is using Pakistan as a ‘scapegoat’ for its failures in Afghanistan.

“Pakistan does not want to put a price on its sacrifices but wants them to be recognised,” the defence minister said, adding that Pakistan will not allow Afghanistan’s war to be fought on Pakistani territory.

Khan also said that the US is busy in a blame game against Pakistan rather than providing it with assistance to secure the Pak-Afghan border.

The US Embassy in Islamabad said it had not been informed about the suspension of military cooperation by Pakistan.

“We have not received any formal communication regarding a suspension,” Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said, according to VOA news.

Answering a question during the seminar, the defence minister said that Pakistan took the right steps by blocking Nato supplies to Afghanistan in the aftermath of 2011 attack at Salala check post.

But Pakistan is not taking the same route after Trump’s recent tirade as it is a “leverage we want to use at the appropriate time”, he clarified.

The defence minister said Iran, China and Russia are as important to the region as the US and reaffirmed Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif’s statement signalling that the alliance between Pakistan and the US is over.

“This is not how allies behave,” Asif had said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal earlier this week. He maintained that Washington has turned Islamabad into a “whipping boy” for its failures in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon on Monday said that the US has told Pakistan what it must do if it wants Washington to resume paying out hundreds of millions of dollars in security aid.

“Our expectations are straightforward,” Pentagon spokesman Colonel Rob Manning told reporters.

“Taliban and Haqqani leadership and attack planners should no longer be able to find safe haven or conduct operations from Pakistani soil.”

Worsening relations
In the new year, Washington has increased pressure on Islamabad to “do more” in the fight against terrorism.

Washington has stated that the suspension of military aid, which came after Trump accused Pakistan of “lies and deceit”, is part of America’s South Asia strategy.

The development has followed in the aftermath of an increasingly terse back-and-forth between Washington and Islamabad since Trump announced the policy.

In Pakistan, the move has been seen as the first step to implementing Trump’s pledge to tighten economic restrictions on Islamabad.

Despite the tension, however, US and Pakistani officials remain in contact with each other. US Defence Secretary James Mattis on Friday said that the Pentagon was maintaining its communication with the Pakistani military establishment even after the suspension of military assistance.

Foreign Se­cre­tary Tehmina Janjua has said that Pakistan will continue to engage with Washington as far as possible, because America is not only a global power but also has a regional presence, and “for us it’s almost our neighbour”.

Karnataka minister Tanveer Sait gets threat call from gangster

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Bengaluru: Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait has complained to the police about receiving threatening calls and messages from the past four days from an associate of the underworld don, Ravi Poojary.

Sait complained that the person was demanding him to pay a ransom of Rs.10 crore and threatened to kill Sait if the money was not given.

The minister also wrote to the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy and other senior police officials about the blackmail and threat. He also demanded for a tight security cover. The complaint has been forwarded to the city cyber police. According to the investigation, the calls and messages are made by an international number.

The minister also revealed that this was not the first time he is receiving threatening calls from Ravi Poojary who is now said to be hiding abroad.

Few years back, former Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Affairs and Sports Abhayachandra Jain had also received similar threatening calls from Ravi Poojary.

Sait is provided with additional security and his mobile number is answered by his secretaries Ravi Kumar and Feroz. Investigations are in process.

(Agencies)

RSS, Bajrang Dal similar to terrorist groups: CM Siddaramaiah

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Chamarajanagar: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has made a controversial statement after he called the BJP, the RSS and the Bajrang Dal are similar to the terrorist groups.

Speaking to media at Chamarajanagar where he addressed the Sadhaneya Samevesha rally, he said: “In a way, even they are terrorist may it be BJP, RSS or Bajrang Dal, they are like extremists.”

Siddaramaiah made the comment in response to a question on the action taken against the Popular Front of India (PFI), after an NIA special court allowed alleged members of the organisation to be tried under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (charges of terrorism).

“PFI, SDPI, RSS, Bajrang Dal, VHP or any other organisation that creates unrest will not be tolerated,” he added.

(Agencies)

SC seeks Centre’s reply on plea against prayers in Kendriya Vidyalayas

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New Delhi: A plea claiming that all students of the Kendriya Vidyalayas, irrespective of their faith and belief, have to compulsorily recite a prayer based on the Hindu religion at the morning assembly, led the Supreme Court on Wednesday to seek the government’s response.

A Bench of Justices R.F. Nariman and Navin Sinha issued notice to the government on the plea which said that the morning assembly prayer was being enforced throughout the country in all the Kendriya Vidyalayas, which are also known as central schools.

The petition filed by Madhya Pradesh resident Veenayak Shah said the practise of prayer created obstacles in developing scientific temperament among students as the whole idea of God and religious faith is given immense priority and instilled as a thought-process among the students.

“Students as a result learn to develop an inclination towards seeking refuge from the almighty instead of developing a practical outcome towards the obstacles and hurdles faced in everyday life, and the spirit of enquiry and reform seems to be lost somewhere,” the plea said.

‘Prayer enforced on minorities, atheists’

The petition also said that since the prayer is being enforced, the parents and children of the minority communities as well as atheists and others find the imposition constitutionally impermissible.

Justice Shah also submitted before the court that the common prayer is a “religious instruction” within the meaning of Article 28 of the Constitution and should therefore be prohibited.

Article 28(1) of the Constitution says that no religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of State funds.

“A perusal of the prayer shows that it is based on Hindu religion and it is very different both in substance and form from the prayers of the other religious/non-religious orientations mentioned above.The issue that arises therefore is whether the state may impose the above mentioned “common prayer” on students and teachers throughout the country,” the plea said.

“Issue direction to respondents (Centre and KV) to forthwith discontinue any form of prayer from the morning assembly or otherwise in Kendriya Vidhalaya [Vidyalaya] Sangathans and to promote scientific learning among the students,” it said.

The Kendriya Vidyalayas are a system of Central government schools in India which were instituted under the aegis of the Ministry Of Human Resource Development.

The network expands to about 1,125 schools, ensuring a uniform curriculum and syllabus all over India, thus making it one of world’s largest chain of schools. These schools have been operational for over 50 years now.

(PTI)

‘What about Asaram Bapu?’: Tribunal restrains ED from taking over Zakir Naik’s assets

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Close on the heels of an embarrassment with quashing of its Red Corner Notice request by the Interpol, the Enforcement Directorate(ED) on Tuesday was pulled up by a judicial tribunal over its investigation against Islamic preacher and activist Dr Zakir Naik.

While restraining the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) from taking possession of attached immovable assets of Zakir Naik, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Tribunal laid bare certain discriminatory acts of ED. The Tribunal head Justice Manmohan Singh asked why ED took such action against Zakir Naik alone, and wondered if similar action was not necessary against Asaram Bappu. “I can name 10 babas who have properties worth more than Rs 10,000 each and they are facing criminal cases. Have you acted against even one of them? What have you done against Asaram Bapu?” the Tribunal asked the counsel for the ED.

Raising questions whether ED was being selective in acting against Dr Naik, the Tribunal’s chairman observed that the agency seems to have done nothing in the last 10 years about confiscating properties of Asaram but looked to act a lot quicker in this case.

When the charge sheet against Zakir Naik do not have grave allegations, what was the need for taking possession of his assets, the judge asked ED’s lawyer. The lawyer replied that Dr Naik had persuaded youth into provocative acts through his speeches, on which the Tribunal asked whether there was any proof that those youth had actually indulged in unlawful acts. He said ED was not able to produce evidence in the charge sheet that Zakir Naik had in his 2015 speech inspired the terrorist attack.

ED had in its own convenience ignored 99 % of his speech and highlighted one per cent. “Have you read the speeches attached to the charge-sheet? I have heard many speeches, and am not convinced that there is anything objectionable in them.”

(Agencies)

SC seeks Centre’s response on SIT probe into Kulburgi murder

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a response from the Centre on a plea by Uma Devi, the widow of rationalist M.M. Kalburgi, seeking a SIT probe into his murder.

Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud sought the response as Uma Devi demanded a coordinated probe in the killings of Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dobhalkar as the circumstance surrounding them were the same.

Kalburgi was killed on August 30, 2015 in Dharwad in Karnataka and Uma Devi has alleged that the probe by the Karnataka Police had not made any headway.

Uma Devi said the SIT must be headed by a retired judge of the apex court or a High Court. The notice has also been issued to the Central Bureau of Investigation, the National Investigation Agency and the Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa governments.

(IANS)

Gurugram journalists protest FIR against The Tribune

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Gurugram: Journalists here on Wednesday organised a silent protest against a FIR registered against journalist Rachna Khaira and The Tribune for exposing the flaws in the Aadhaar system.

The journalists gathered at the main gate of the Mini Secretariat located near Rajiv Chowk on Delhi-Gurugram Expressway and marched to Gurugram Deputy Commisioner Vinay Pratap Singh’s office where they submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“The breach (of Aadhaar data) was a threat to national security and violation of rights of citizens. The government must appreciate the efforts of the journalist and reward her instead of punishing her,” the memorandum said.

The journalists warned that if their demands were not met, they would stage further protests.

Journalists also demanded suspension and departmental action against the UIDAI officials who, instead of owning responsibility for their lapse, got the FIR registered against the Tribune and its reporter.

After a January 3 report by The Tribune over breach in Aadhaar data, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) registered an FIR against the newspaper and reporter Khaira.

The FIR invokes serious charges under the Indian Penal Code, IT Act and Aadhaar Act.

The UIDAI move has attracted widespread criticism from press bodies, the Editors Guild and journalists across the country.

(IANS)

SC to form fresh SIT to monitor probe into 186 anti-Sikh riot

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court today said it would constitute a fresh three-member SIT, to be headed by a former high court judge, to monitor probe into 186 anti-Sikh riot cases, that followed the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, in which investigations were closed.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra asked the Centre to suggest names today itself for its consideration and appointment in the proposed Special Investigation Team (SIT).

The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said the proposed committee will be headed by a former high court judge and consist of one retired and one serving police officer.

It also made it clear that the retired police officer shall not be below the rank of DIG at the time of his superannuation.

The apex court said the supervisory body, appointed by it has found that out of 241 cases, 186 cases were closed without investigation.

The apex court today perused the report of the supervisory body which was submitted before it in a leather box with number lock system.

(PTI)

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