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Dangal star Zaira Wasim posts apology for ‘offending people’

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Zaira Wasim

Mumbai: Zaira Wasim, who played the childhood of Geeta Phogat in the Aamir Khan movie Dangal has put up an apology on social media, for “offending and displeasing people”. Zaira also asked not to project her as a role model for Kashmiri youth.

After her meeting with the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, she was trolled in social media. Mehbooba Mufti had appreciated Zara and spoke to her about the native Kashmiri’s interest in creative endeavours. Her post led to several speculations ranging from whether her account was hacked, or whether she had received threats.

Zaira Wasim’s entire letter goes as follows:

This is an open confession/apology. I know that many people have been offended and displeased by my recent actions or by the people I have recently met. I want to apologise to all those people who I’ve unintentionally hurt and I want them to know that I understand their sentiments behind it especially considering that what had happened over the past 6 months but I hope people can also understand there are certain circumstances that emerge which one cannot control and I hope people still remember that I’m a just a 16 year old girl and I hope you treat me accordingly. I’m sorry for what I did but it was not a deliberate decision and I really hope people can forgive me.

There are few more things which are very important and I want to clear them as well. The first and foremost thing is that I am being projected as a role model for Kashmiri Youth. I want to make it very clear that I do not want anyone to follow in my foot steps or even consider me as a role model. I’m not proud of what I’m doing and I want everyone, especially the Youth to know that there are real role models out there whether they be in this time or in our history.

To even consider me as a role model would be disgracing them and their disgrace would be OUR DISGRACE! I do not wish to start an argument here, this was a just a mere confession from my end which I really wanted people to know. May Allah bless us and guide us.

(Agencies)

Congress beats Akhilesh to it, announces UP alliance

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akhilesh

Lucknow: Prospects of a “grand secular alliance” in Uttar Pradesh today brightened with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav saying a decision on tying up with the Congress will be taken in a “day or two”.

“Decision on alliance (with Congress) will be taken in a day or two,” he said, buoyed by the Election Commission’s order recognising him as the President of Samajwadi Party and allowing him to retain the ‘bicycle’ symbol.

He was responding to a question on the possibility of tying up with Congress to crush communal politics during an informal chat with mediapersons at his residence here.

SP general secretary Ramgopal Yadav, a close aide of Akhilesh, expressed hope of a grand secular alliance to fight elections in the state.

Ramgopal said the final decision regarding forging an alliance with Congress will be taken by Akhilesh, but he expressed hopes that it will happen.

“It is Akhilesh Yadav who will decide on the alliance. But I am hopeful it will happen,” said Ramgopal, who has been a staunch supporter of Akhilesh during the intra-party tussle.

Giving enough indications that Congress was willing for such a tie-up, its spokesman and former Union minister RPN Singh was among the first to hail the EC order, saying it showed that Akhilesh enjoyed “90 per cent support” in the organisation as also among SP legislators.

With the poll process set in motion after the issue of notification today, hectic efforts are underway to hammer out such an alliance, with Congress being offered 90 to 100 seats by the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party, which is also trying to rope in Ajit Singh’s RLD as a junior partner.

Congress General Secretary incharge of Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ramgopal Yadav from SP were said to be resolving some disputes over certain seats.

Uttar Pradesh has 403 Assembly constituencies where Akhilesh’s party would be contesting the majority of seats and was likely to have RLD as a junior partner in Western Uttar Pradesh, which was once a stronghold of Ajit Singh.

The three parties will have to race against time to finalise the seat arrangements in the next few days as the western Uttar Pradesh, where Ajit Singh enjoys some influence, goes to polls in the first two phases on February 11 and 15.

Samajwadi Party sources said the list of its party candidates will be released in a day or two.

There were reports that the three parties would come out with a common minimum programme.

Leaders from the three parties insist that the main task in Uttar Pradesh is to stop the Narendra Modi-led BJP from coming to power.

In the 2015 Assembly elections in Bihar, Congress had joined hands with JD(U) and RJD to form a grand alliance, which caused a major upset for BJP-led NDA which had won 31 of the 40 seats in 2014 Lok Sabha polls in Bihar.

(Agencies)

Trump: Cut sanctions on Russia for nuclear arms deal

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Incoming US president says weapons should be reduced, weeks after joining Putin in call for nuclear expansion.

[Reuters]

[Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Donald Trump, the US president-elect, has told a British newspaper that he will offer to end sanctions against Russia in return for a nuclear arms reduction deal with the Kremlin.

In an interview with The Times of London published late on Monday, Trump said he wanted nuclear weapons arsenals of the world’s two biggest nuclear powers – the United States and Russia – to be “reduced very substantially”.

“They have sanctions on Russia – let’s see if we can make some good deals with Russia. For one thing, I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially, that’s part of it,” Trump was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

However, on December 22 Trump tweeted that the US must “greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until the world comes to its senses regarding nukes”. Around the same time, Russian leader Vladimir Putin also called for the strengthening of “strategic nuclear forces”.

In Monday’s interview, Trump said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an alliance formed to counter the military power of the former USSR, has become obsolete.

NATO has not been “taking care of terror”, he said.

Trump also criticised Russia for its intervention in the Syrian war, describing it as “a very bad thing” that had led to a “terrible humanitarian situation”.

The interview was conducted by Michael Gove, a Conservative Party member and prominent Brexit campaigner who is known to be close to Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News.

In Moscow, members of parliament gave a mixed reaction to Trump’s statement on the sanctions imposed by the Obama administration on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.

Konstantin Kosachev, head of the upper house of parliament’s international affairs committee, was cited by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying getting the sanctions annulled was not a goal in itself and not worth making security concessions.

But another Russian senator, Oleg Morozov, was quoted by the same agency as saying that Moscow would be ready to discuss the issue of nuclear cuts, something he said Russia itself favoured.

Russian connection

News of Trump’s plan came as the outgoing US intelligence chief said that Trump lacks a full understanding of the threat Moscow poses to the US.

Director of Central Intelligence, John Brennan’s message on national television came five days before Trump becomes the nation’s 45th president, amid lingering questions about Russia’s role in the 2016 election.

“Now that he’s going to have an opportunity to do something for our national security as opposed to talking and tweeting, he’s going to have tremendous responsibility to make sure that US and national security interests are protected,” Brennan said on Fox News, warning that the president-elect’s impulsiveness could be dangerous.

“Spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests,” Brennan said.

Questions about Trump’s relationship with Russia have dominated the days leading up to his inauguration.

Retired General Michael Flynn, who is set to become Trump’s national security adviser, has been in frequent contact with Russia’s ambassador to the US in recent weeks, including on the day the Obama administration hit Moscow with sanctions in retaliation for the alleged election hacking, a senior US official said.

After initially denying the contact took place, Trump’s team publicly acknowledged the conversations on Sunday.

“The conversations that took place at that time were not in any way related to the new US sanctions against Russia or the expulsion of diplomats,” said Mike Pence, the incoming vice president, also in an appearance on Fox News.

The contact, as Obama imposed sanctions, raised questions about whether Trump’s team discussed – or even helped shape – Russia’s response.

Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, unexpectedly did not retaliate against the US for the sanctions or the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, a decision Trump quickly praised.

“Great move on delay (by V. Putin) – I always knew he was very smart!” Trump tweeted.

Trump has repeatedly called for a better relationship between the US and Putin’s government.

“I think he has to be mindful that he does not have a full appreciation and understanding of what the implications are of going down that road,” Brennan said.

Massive protests against Jallikattu ban in Tamil Nadu

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jallikattu

Chennai: Thousands of people on Monday took to the streets in Madurai’s Alanganallur town in Tamil Nadu protesting a ban against Jallikattu, the ancient and popular bull-taming sport that marks the Makar Sankranthi celebrations.

The protesters, including both men and women, have assembled in the town well known for conducting Jallikattu.

A large contingent of police personnel has been deployed in the town to prevent any violent incidents.

Meanwhile, Jallikattu was held defying then Supreme Court’s ban on it in Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu. In some places, rekla or bullock-cart races were held.

However, as Jallikattu was not allowed to be held, people hoisted black flags on their homes and shops remained closed at Alanganallur.

This time the sport was held in places traditionally not associated with Jallikattu so as to avoid the police preventing it.

Speaking to reporters here, Union Minister of State for Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan said the event should not be seen as defying the Supreme Court order but as an expression of people’s feelings.

He said organisations like PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) will submit the pictures taken on Monday to the Supreme Court and demand a ban on it.

Radharkrishnan felt that the apex court should not take into consideration such pictures as it is just a protest and nothing more.

In Jallikattu, a bull vaulter is expected to hang on to the bull’s hump for a stipulated distance or hold on to the hump for a minimum of three jumps made by the bull.

The Supreme Court in May 2014 banned the conduct of Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu. The court also held that bulls cannot be used as performing animals either for Jallikattu events or for bullock-cart races in the Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra or elsewhere in the country.

Ever since the ban order, people have been demanding that the central government take necessary legal steps to allow conduct of the sport.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on January 9 urged the central government to promulgate an ordinance enabling the conduct of Jallikattu/bull-taming sport during the Pongal festival.

But that did not happen, and led to protest demonstrations at several places across Tamil Nadu, culminating in a massive protest at Alanganallur.

(IANS)

Issues within Karnataka BJP weakening it further: Sadananda Gowda

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D V Sadananda Gowda

Bengaluru: Karnataka BJP is facing problems due to issues created by its senior leaders and it has resulted in embarrassment for the party before the public, said Union Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation DV Sadananda Gowda in a press conference in the state capital on Monday.

Speaking to the reporters he said, “A meeting of BJP leaders called by RSS on January 17 in Bengaluru will discuss present issues created by its leaders and will try its best resolve them immediately. If BJP is continuing with these issues then it will weaken the party further in the future.”

The leaders who involved in the issues haven’t learned lessons from their past experience and they have been continuing with the same attitude. For the time-being, BJP high command is busy with upcoming assemble elections and will hear the issues of Karnataka BJP once elections process gets completed, he added.

(Agencies)

I am a born Congressman, this is my ghar wapsi: Navjot Singh Sidhu

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Navjot Singh Sidhu

New Delhi: Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday officially joined the Congress Party, weeks ahead of the Punjab assembly elections. He was felicitate by Congress leader and former Union Minister Ajay Maken. On Sunday, Sidhu met with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who then tweeted out an image of the two of them together, signalling his welcome to the party.

“I am a born Congressman… I am just returning to my party,” Sidhu, said, at a press conference this morning. He is likely to contest the upcoming Punjab assembly elections from the Amritsar East constituency.

“Bhaag baaba Badal bhaag, kursi khaali kar, Punjab ki janta aati hai (run Badal run, vacate your chair, the people of Punjab are coming), Navjot Singh Sidhu said, adding that the upcoming elections are a battle for the honour of Punjab. “Punjab, which was known as the Wheat Bowl of India, has been reduced to a poor state due to the apathy of political parties…

He also spoke about the issue of drugs, saying it was a reality in Punjab that the lives of youth are being destroyed. “You can’t have ostrich mentality of burying your head in the ground and think it doesn’t exist… Films are being made on the misery of Punjab, Congress will wipe out drug menace from Punjab,” he said.

On the Akali Dal, Sidhu said the party has now been reduced to dynasty politics. “Akali Dal was a pious movement once but has now reduced to a dynasty.”

Sidhu also clarified on his relation with Captain Amarinder Singh, saying there was no reason why two people who have differences cannot sit across a table and discuss an issue when two nations can. “I am ready to work under anybody. The Congress high command decides. My goal is the people of Punjab, it’s not an individual’s battle.”

AICC in-charge of Punjab Asha Kumari was also present at the press conference held at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi.

(Agencies)

Richest 1% own 58% of total wealth in India, reveals Oxfam study

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mukesh ambani jio

Davos: In signs of rising income inequality, India’s richest 1 per cent now hold a huge 58 per cent of the country’s total wealth — higher than the global figure of about 50 per cent, a new study showed today.

The study, released by rights group Oxfam ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting here attended by rich and powerful from across the world, showed that just 57 billionaires in India now have same wealth (USD 216 billion) as that of the bottom 70 per cent population of the country.

Globally, just 8 billionaires have the same amount of wealth as the poorest 50 per cent of the world population.

The study said there are 84 billionaires in India, with a collective wealth of USD 248 billion, led by Mukesh Ambani (USD 19.3 billion), Dilip Shanghvi (USD 16.7 billion) and Azim Premji (USD 15 billion). The total Indian wealth in the country stood at USD 3.1 trillion.

The total global wealth in the year was USD 255.7 trillion, of which about USD 6.5 trillion was held by billionaires, led by Bill Gates (USD 75 billion), Amancio Ortega (USD 67 billion) and Warren Buffett (USD 60.8 billion).

In the report titled ‘An economy for the 99 per cent’, Oxfam said it is time to build a human economy that benefits everyone, not just the privileged few.

It said that since 2015, the richest 1 per cent has owned more wealth than the rest of the planet.

“Over the next 20 years, 500 people will hand over USD 2.1 trillion to their heirs –- a sum larger than the GDP of India, a country of 1.3 billion people,” Oxfam said.

The study findings showed that the poorest half of the world has less wealth than had been previously thought while over the last two decades, the richest 10 per cent of the population in China, Indonesia, Laos, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have seen their share of income increase by more than 15 per cent.

On the other hand, the poorest 10 per cent have seen their share of income fall by more than 15 per cent.

“Due to a combination of discrimination and working in low-pay sectors, women’s wages across Asia are between 70-90 per cent of men’s,” it said.

Referring to the Global Wage Report 2016-17 of Indian Labour Organisation, the study said India suffers from huge gender pay gap and has among the worst levels of gender wage disparity — men earning more than women in similar jobs — with the gap exceeding 30 per cent.

In India, women form 60 per cent of the lowest paid wage labour, but only 15 per cent of the highest wage-earners. It means that in India women are not only poorly represented in the top bracket of wage-earners, but also experience wide gender pay gap at the bottom.

It also said that more than 40 per cent of the 400 million women who live in rural India are involved in agriculture and related activities. However, as women are not recognised as farmers and do not own land, they have limited access to government schemes and credit, restricting their agricultural productivity.

The study also said that the CEO of India’s top information firm earns 416 times the salary of a typical employee in his company.

In the US, by contrast, billionaires have frequently chosen to cash out of their businesses, and their wealth has not lasted so long.

In Asia, Singapore and India have a high number of multi-generational billionaires and a lot many people across the globe, including India, will transfer wealth to their heirs in the next 20 years, the study said, while pushing for a need to establish a system of inheritance tax.

It also referred to the world’s largest garment companies that have all been linked to cotton-spinning mills in India, which routinely use the forced labour of girls.

“There are evidences against cotton-spinning mills of India, which feed into the world’s largest garment companies, using forced labour. As per ILO, there are 5.8 million child labourers in India,” it added.

In many parts of the world, corporations are increasingly driven by a single goal — that is to maximise returns to their shareholders.

In the UK, 10 per cent of profits were returned to shareholders in 1970 and this figure is now 70 per cent.

“In India, the figure is lower, but is growing rapidly, and for many corporations, it is now higher than 50 per cent. In India, as profits have been rising for the 100 largest listed corporations, the share of net profits going to dividends has also increased steadily over the last decade, reaching 34 per cent in 2014/15, with around 12 private corporations paying more than 50 per cent of their profits as dividends,” it said.

The report also said the local air pollution caused by burning coal causes around 100,000 premature deaths per year in India.

“South-East Asia and India have both substantial coal power development plants and large populations without access to electricity. While coal provides 75 per cent of the nation’s electricity, many areas with the densest concentration of coal plants also have the lowest rates of electricity access,” it said.

It asked the Indian government to end the extreme concentration of wealth to end poverty, introduce inheritance tax and increase the wealth tax as the proportion of this tax in total tax revenue is one of the lowest in India.

“Indian government must eliminate tax exemptions and not further reduce corporate tax rates. Governments must support companies that benefit their workers and society rather than just their shareholders,” Oxfam said.

“Indian government must crack down on tax dodging by corporates and rich individuals to end the era of tax havens. Government must generate funds needed to invest in healthcare and education. The government must increase its public expenditure on health from 1 per cent GDP to 3 per cent of GDP and on education from 3 per cent of GDP to 6 per cent,” it added.

(Agencies)

US lifts 20-year economic embargo on Sudan

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Trade and financial sanctions to end after Sudanese government makes efforts to improve regional security.

The lift in economic sanctions is anticipated to improve US-Sudan relations [Reuters]

The lift in economic sanctions is anticipated to improve US-Sudan relations [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

The United States has announced the end of a 20-year economic embargo on Sudan, lifting trade and financial sanctions in an effort to foster ties with the Sudanese government.

The announcement made by outgoing President Barack Obama’s administration on Friday comes after an executive order to permanently repeal a range of sanctions as a result of Sudan’s efforts to improve security in the region.

For the first time in two decades, Sudan will be able to receive imported goods and services from the US, as authorised by the US Department of the Treasury.

The lift will also release frozen Sudanese property and assets held in the US, and permits the trade with the oil and gas industry in Sudan.

Following talks to improve cooperative relations, the move is expected to tackle concerns including enhanced accessibility for aid groups, and efforts to end the Darfur conflict.

“Sudan has long expressed a desire to get out from under sanctions, as well as other restrictions that the United States has imposed on Sudan going back 20 years,” a senior US administration official told reporters.

“Over the past two years, we have looked for a way to engage with Sudan in a way we could overcome some of the lack of trust of the past,” he said.

While it is still unclear what US President-elect Donald Trump’s stance is on the embargo lift, Sudan welcomed the decision.

Gharib Allah Khidir, spokesperson for the Sudanese foreign ministry, said: “this step represents a positive and important development for the course of bilateral relations between the United States of America and Sudan, and is the natural result of joint efforts and long and frank discussions”.

However, some US sanctions tied to Sudan’s “state sponsor of terrorism” title remain in place, including a ban on weapons sales and restrictions on Darfur-related sanctions remain in effect.

Darfur has been engulfed in a deadly conflict since 2003, when ethnic minority tribes took up arms against the government, accusing it of marginalising the region.

Washington’s outreach will still be limited, as the US is unlikely to engage directly with Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.

Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, which he denies.

Former Punjab Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala passes away

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Surjit Singh Barnala

Chandigarh: Former Punjab Chief Minister, Union Minister and Governor of Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and Andhra Pradesh Surjit Singh Barnala died here on Saturday following a brief spell of illness. He was 91. Barnala, who ruled Punjab from 1985 to 1987, was admitted to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) recently where he breathed his last on Saturday.

Governor of Tamil Nadu (1990-91 and 2004-2011) and Andhra Pradesh (2003-2004), he was the first governor of the then newly-created state of Uttaranchal (now Uttarakhand) from November 2000 to January 2003.

He also held additional charge of Governor in Orissa (now Odisha). He was also Lt governor of Andaman and Nicobar and Pondicherry (now Puducherry).

Union Agriculture Minister in the Janata Party government of Morarji Desai (1977-1979), he held the portfolio of Chemicals and Fertilizers in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1998.

Born on Oct 21, 1925 in Ateli village (now in Mahendergarh district of Haryana), Barnala did his graduation in law from Lucknow before entering politics.

He remained member of the Punjab assembly and Lok Sabha.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal condoled the death of Barnala and recalled the services rendered by him as Tamil Nadu Governor, Punjab Chief Minister and Union Minister.

Badal said that the former Chief Minister was an able administrator and a fine human being with qualities of head and heart.

(IANS)

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