Bankura: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said the Modi government did not understand the hardship faced by the people who were made “fakir” after demonetisation.

“Realising the people’s difficulties, Venezuala withdrew the decision on demonetisation, but the Modi government doesn’t listen to anyone. It is a deaf and dumb government,” she told a public meeting here.

“The common people understand the problem, but the Prime Minister does not. We don’t know when he will realise.

By that time the country will be in the grip of a femine,” she added.

“The people can’t withdraw their own money. We don’t know whether that is safe”, Banerjee said.

Slamming the Centre for promoting a digital economy, the TMC chief said, “they are saying buy this app, buy this mobile. Don’t listen to them. Else you will become fakir”.

She further hit out at Modi for dubbing himself a “fakir” and said that the Prime Minister used to describe himself as a “chaiwala” the before the Lok Sabha elections and claimed that now he has turned into a crorepati.

“What is the definition of fakir,” Banerjee asked.

“Money for the 100 days work should not be paid through Paytm in lieu of commission. From ATM to Paytm. Govt must stop taking commission. Centre cannot dictate people where to keep their money,” she said.

In an apparent reference to BJP, the chief minister alleged, “they are trying to divide the people in the name of religion when they cannot provide food to them. This will not be tolerated”.

She also instructed the state administration to deal with such attempts firmly.

“As long as I am alive, I’ll continue to work for the people. Political parties exist because of the people.

Without them we are nothing,” Banerjee said.

She said a water supply project “Jal Tirtha” worth Rs 1,100 crore had been taken up to irrigate 32,000 hectares of farmland in the district.

“We started a university in Bankura. We have launched health centres, polytechnic colleges and Karma Tirthas here,” she added.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: The appointment of Lt. Gen. Bipin Rawat as the next Army Chief came under attack on Sunday with the opposition parties criticising the move for the generally followed seniority norm having been ignored while the government defended the decision, saying he was “best suited” for the job.

The Congress and the CPI questioned Rawat’s appointment and termed it “unprecedented”.

“We would like to ask the Prime Minister what was the compelling reason why this supersession has taken place. Why the principle of seniority, which has held now for almost two decades, was not respected,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told a press conference here.

“Is it that these officers who have been superseded were unqualified in any manner or is it whimsical cherry-picking which has been done by the BJP-led government,” he asked.

The government, however, insisted that Rawat was “best suited” for the job.

“He was found the best suited among the Lt. Generals, to deal with emerging challenges, including a reorganised and restructured military force in the north, continuing terrorism and proxy war from the west, and the situation in the northeast,” a source in the Defence Ministry said.

The appointment of Lt. Gen. Rawat has ignored the seniority of Eastern Army Commander Lt. Gen. Praveen Bakshi and Southern Army Commander Lt. Gen. P.M. Hariz who have spent longer years in service.

Tewari said: “Not only is this supersession unprecedented, probably this has happened for the first time that three senior Generals (Commanding different armies) have been superseded”.

“It is not the first time this government has done this. The appointment or the non-appointment of a full-time Enforcement Director, the ad-hoc appointment in the CBI, which has been questioned by the Supreme Court, is an extremely serious matter which shows this government has scant regard for institutional integrity,” the Congress leader said.

“Why is there a delay in the notification for the next Chief Justice of India,” he asked.

Chief Justice T.S. Thakur is retiring on January 3. The government is yet to announce the next Chief Justice.

Similarly, the Communist Party of India also accused the Narendra Modi government of creating controversies over appointments on the top posts and advised that army should not be dragged into “controversies”.

“This has become controversial and all these are in public domain… it is unfortunate. The Army should not be drawn into controversy,” party leader D. Raja told IANS.

The Bharatiya Janata Party hit back at the Congress and the CPI for questioning the appointment, saying armed forces should not be dragged into political debate for political gains.

“We condemn the Congress’s repeated attempts at dragging the armed forces into political debate to suit its narrow political ends,” BJP spokesperson G.V.L. Narsimha Rao told IANS.

“There are some red lines that Congress and Left parties should not cross in national interest which is supreme. But the Congress has been guilty of doing it repeatedly for political purposes,” he said.

Lt. Gen. Rawat was commissioned in the Fifth Battalion of the 11 Gorkha Rifles in December 1978 from the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, where he was awarded the ‘Sword of Honour’.

He has commanded an infantry battalion along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), a Rashtriya Rifles Sector and an infantry division in the Kashmir Valley.

He also has vast experience in high altitude warfare and counter-insurgency operations.

(IANS)

Hyderabad: Five senior operatives of banned terror outfit Indian Mujahideen were today awarded death penalty by a special NIA court here in the February 2013 Hyderabad blasts case.

This is the first case that any operative of the IM has been convicted.

On December 13, the court convicted the five members, including IM co-founder Mohd Ahmed Sidibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal, Pakistani national Zia-ur-Rahman alias Waqas, Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, Tahaseen Akhtar alias Monu and Ajaz Shaikh, who are at present in judicial custody and lodged in the Cherlapally Central Prison here.

Eighteen people were killed and 131 injured in two deadly explosions in Dilsukhnagar, a crowded shopping area in the city, on February 21, 2013.

On November 7, the final arguments had concluded in the case before the NIA special court.

Since IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal, the prime accused in the case, is absconding, the trial was split up against him.

The court convicted Yasin Bhatkal and others under various sections of Indian Penal Code, Arms Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The NIA special court, after hearing the defence and prosecution’s arguments, pronounced the quantum of sentence.

According to NIA, Riyaz Bhatkal arranged for explosive substances and directed Asadullah Akhtar and Zia-ur-Rahman at Mangalore to receive the same.

After receiving the explosive materials and the money sent by Riyaz through hawala and money transfer channels, Asadullah Akhtar and Waqas reached Hyderabad and joined Tahseen Akhtar, who was already hiding there, it had said.

Together they prepared two IEDs after procuring the other required materials as well as two cycles for mounting the IEDs from Hyderabad, the agency had said.

After preparation of the IEDs on February 21, 2013, the accused mounted two bombs on two bicycles. They had planted them in two separate places in Dilsukhnagar which resulted in powerful explosions, it had said.

(PTI)

Bengaluru: Two-and-a-half-year-old Pakistani infant, Zeenia underwent a successful transplant for Hemaphagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), a rare disease in which bone marrow produces some abnormal cells which eat away the normal cells, resulting in high fever, low blood counts, liver and spleen enlargement at Bengaluru’s Narayana Health City hospital.

Meanwhile her eight-month-old brother, Rayan has become the youngest bone marrow donor in India by donating healthy bone marrow stem cells to his elder sister.

Calling it a potentially life threatening disorder, doctors said the only cure for this condition was bone marrow transplant. Zeenia was also diagnosed to have partial albinism since birth as well, they added.

“After we diagnosed the girl was suffering from HLH, we discovered that her brother was Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) match for her,” said Dr Sunil Bhat, Senior Consultant and Head of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant at Narayana Health City hospital.

“As the donor is just eight months old to collect the adequate dosage, he was required to undergo the donation process twice at a gap of only few weeks,” Dr Bhat said.

“By using small marrow extraction needles and with the assistance of a team of anesthetists and other members, we have successfully extracted enough marrow which helped cure Zeenia. Rayan has not only saved his sister, he also has the unique distinction of being the youngest marrow donor in India,” he added.

Doctors said the procedure was conducted in October and today Zeenia is cured of her “deadly disease” and ready to leave for Pakistan to lead a normal life. They have advised her parents about certain follow-ups that Zeenia needs to undergo after going back home.

The doctors also said Rayan was doing “exceptionally” well and fine.

Zeenia had earlier undergone treatment at an armed forces hospital in Rawalpindi.

Stating that there was “general fear factor” when they landed in India, Zeenia’s father Zia Ulla said his daughter was now fine and recovering.

“From the time we landed following immigration I would say it was a very pleasant surprise … everyone was very fine and friendly,” he said.

Expressing similar sentiments, Zeenia’s mother Farzeen said it was very difficult for them to decide on bone marrow donation from her eight-month old son. “Obviously both children are important for us. When we got to know that they are match siblings and it was a promising option, we decided to take risk,” she said.

(Agencies)