Kolkata: The Bengal unit of BJP on Wednesday removed Juhi Chowdhury from the post of general secretary of the party’s Mahila Morcha (women’s wing) following her arrest in connection with the Jalpaiguri child trafficking case.

The party also expelled her father, Rabindranarayan, from the state unit in which he was a committee member.

Juhi was arrested from near the Indo-Nepal border on Tuesday night. She had been absconding for the past 10 days, after the prime accused in the trafficking racket told the CID that she had promised to help them get favour from the Union government by using her clout in the central leadership in Delhi. The decision was announced by state BJP president Dilip Ghosh.

Ghosh, however, did not rule out the possibility of the party providing legal help to Juhi. Meanwhile, many in Bengal BJP feel she was removed in haste after the prime accused in the case made a statement on Tuesday that Juhi had accompanied her to Delhi and held talks with senior party leaders like Kailash Vijayvargiya, while she waited in an adjacent room.

“Bengal leadership had no option left before it than to remove Juhi from the party as names of our senior leaders are flashed in the media in connection with the child trafficking case,” said a senior BJP leader, requesting anonymity.

BJP workers said Vijayvargiya is set to visit Kolkata on March 9 to discuss with party members the child trafficking case and the alleged involvement of party leaders in it.

Some party leaders the removal as a damage control exercise to protect the entire state unit leadership from being grilled by the central leadership. “One of our state leaders, Joyprakash Mazumdar, was also arrested by police for his alleged involvement in a bribery case, but the party is yet to remove him from the organisation… Juhi’s act has embarrassed not only the state leadership, but also put the central leadership in a critical situation and our state leaders were virtually forced to remove her to save the entire party from future embarrassment,” said the senior BJP leader.

On Wednesday, Juhi was produced before a Jalpaiguri court, which remanded her to CID custody for the next 12 days.

(Agencies)

Tirunelveli: Upset over the Madras High Court order allowing Pepsi and Coca Cola to draw water from the Thamirabarani river for their bottling plants in this district for manufacturing soft drinks, a large number or persons today stood in knee deep water in the river to express their ire.

They also protested against the “laxity” on the part of the authorities in handling the case.

The protesters also shouted slogans against the state government for not taking necessary steps to prevent the carbonated water companies from drawing water from Thamirabharani, when the farmers in the state were facing acute water shortage for their farming activities.

The High Court today allowed the Cola majors to draw water from the Thamirabarani river for their bottling plants in Tirunelveli district for manufacturing soft drinks besides packaged drinking water.

The Court had in November last year banned the firms from drawing water from the river.

The soft drinks companies sought a direction on lifting the ban on the ground that they were using only the surplus water in the river.

The order has come even as a call by the Traders Federation in Tamil Nadu to ban sales of Coca Cola and Pepsi soft drinks came into effect yesterday with its President A M Vikrama Raja declaring drinks as ‘toxic’ for consumption.

(PTI)

New Delhi: Banks including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank began charging a minimum amount of Rs 150 per transaction for cash deposits and withdrawals beyond four free transactions in a month.

The charges would apply to savings as well as salary accounts effective from today, leading private sector player HDFC Bank said in a circular. The bank would also cap the third party cash transactions at Rs 25,000 per day, while cash handling charges would be withdrawn effective today, the circular added.

The move was seen in some quarters as aimed at discouraging cash transactions and furthering the digital payment drive. For the basic no-frills accounts, maximum four cash withdrawals would continue to remain free and there would be no fees for cash deposits.

In case of ICICI Bank, the charges are same as they were before the demonetisation move announced on November 8, while there is an increase in such fees in case of some others.

According to details on ICICI Bank website, there will be no charge for first four transactions a month in home branch while Rs 5 per thousand rupees would be charged thereafter subject to a minimum of Rs 150 in the same month. The third party limit would be Rs 50,000 per day.

For non-home branches, ICICI Bank would not charge anything for first cash withdrawal of a calendar month and Rs 5 per thousand rupees thereafter subject to a minimum of Rs 150.

For anywhere cash deposit, ICICI Bank would charge Rs 5 per thousand rupees (subject to a minimum of 150) at branches, while deposit at Cash Acceptance Machine would be free of charge for first cash deposit of a calendar month and Rs 5 per thousand thereafter.

ATM intercharge charges have also been re-introduced. At Axis Bank, the first five transactions or Rs 10 lakhs of cash deposits or withdrawals would be free and charged at Rs 5 per thousand rupees or Rs 150, whichever is higher.

It could not be ascertained whether the public sector banks have also begun imposing such charges. When contacted, a senior official said there has been no directive from the government to the banks regarding levy of such charges.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: The controversial steel flyover project has been cancelled by the Congress government on Thursday, according to media reports.

Bengaluru Development Minister K J George said that the steel flyover not to be constructed.

The 6.9-km steel flyover was to connect Basaveshwara Circle to Hebbal with an extension on Sankey Road up to LRDE complex.

The project was vehemently opposed by the civil society and commuters due its impact on greenery of the city. They argued that steel flyover is not required at the cost of 800-odd trees as the city is known for its trees.

Also, the opposition party leader BS Yeddyurappa had accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of taking Rs 150 crore as kickback for sanctioning the controversial steel flyover in Bengaluru.

(Agencies)

A meeting of Muslims in progress during anti-dowry campaign at Mahuadand in Latehar district, India, on Tuesday, February 28.(HT Photo/ Vishal Sharma)

Palamu: For the past few decades, one of the major social evils among the Muslim families in Jharkhand’s Palamu district was the practice of dowry system. However, now a unique social transformation is sweeping the Muslim mohallas in the region thanks to a massive campaign led by clerics and community elders.

According to reports, hundreds of families in Palamu are returning the dowry they had taken during their sons’ weddings. Over the last one year, around 800 families came out in the open about accepting dowry and have subsequently returned the money. To date, over Rs 6 crore in cash has been returned to the brides’ families.

This process kicked off once Haji Mumtaz Ali, a native of Pokhari village in Latehar, launched a campaign against dowry in April last year. Following his footsteps, the community elders waged a war against dowry, an un-Islamic practice plaguing the lives of thousands of families, especially the poor.

The ‘maulvis’, too, resolved not to solemnise ‘nikah’ where any exchange of dowry was involved.

“The success of our campaign against dowry is astounding. So far, over 800 grooms’ families in Latehar and Palamu districts have returned Rs 6 crore in cash to the brides’ families. More importantly, the marriages are now being solemnised without any exchange of money,” said Ali, who was busy preparing for a massive community meeting at Daltonganj on March 7.

“The war against dowry will eat up poor families like cancer till it is completely wiped out. There are still a few families who are yet to give up the evil practice. Earlier, the Muslim community did not pay dowry, but of late, dowry has become a part of marriages, in the process badly hampering the sanctity of this sacred bond,” Ali said.

“We will also devise a strategy during the next meeting to tackle such families,” he said.

“I feel proud to declare that what I had done earlier was wrong. To make things correct, I am returning the money. I will never demand or offer dowry in future,” said Salim Ansari, who returned the dowry.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: Cricketer Gautam Gambhir Wednesday came out in support of DU student Gurmehar Kaur, who is in the eye of a storm over free speech, even as Virender Sehwag defended himself after facing a backlash for ridiculing her.

Taking a strong stand, Gambhir asserted that mocking or “ganging up” on Kaur, a martyr’s daughter, for her views on the “horrors of war” was “despicable”. Freedom of expression is absolute and equal for all, he tweeted.

Gambhir’s views are in stark contrast to former cricketer Sehwag’s opinion on the issue. Incidentally, the duo opened innings for Team India for a long time.

Kaur has been subjected to intense trolling on the social media over her stance against RSS-backed students outfit ABVP and a video campaign advocating peace between India and Pakistan.

In a series of tweets, Sehwag defended himself, claiming that his social media post in reply to Kaur was an “attempt to be facetious” rather than one to bully anyone over their opinion, adding that agreement or disagreement was not even a factor.

“She has a right to express her views and anyone who threatens her with violence or rape is the lowest form of life. Everyone has a right to express their views without being bullied or threatened. Gurmehar Kaur or the Phogat sisters,” Sehwag tweeted.

Gambhir, in his statement, said he has utmost respect for the Indian Army, however, the recent events have left him with a sense of disappointment.

“We live in a free country where everyone is entitled to their opinion. If a daughter who lost her father puts up posts about the horrors of war with the intention of achieving peace she has all the right to.

“It is not an opportunity for everyone to show how patriotic they are and gang up on her to mock her. She is entitled to her opinion just as every other citizen is.

Everyone may or may not agree with it but mocking her for it is despicable,” Gambhir said.

Kaur, a student of Lady Shri Ram College, affiliated to Delhi University, is the daughter of Captain Mandeep Singh who was killed in a militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district on August 6, 1999, four days after Pakistani troops withdrew from Kargil.

(PTI)