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New Delhi: Television anchor Arnab Goswami has reportedly resigned as the Editor-in Chief of Times Now. Arnab was not seen on his prime time show The Newshour in couple of days.
According to sources, he announced his resignation at an editorial meeting. He told his team that he will start something on his own.
(Agencies)
Jammu: Eight people were killed and 22 injured when Pakistan troops heavily shelled border hamlets and posts with mortar bombs along the International Border (IB) and the LoC in Samba, Jammu, Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu and Kashmir today.
Two women were killed and 13 others injured during shelling with 82 and 120 mm mortar bombs in Rajouri, Jammu, Poonch districts.
Army sources said two Pakistani soldiers have been killed opposite to Noushera sector along the LoC in Rajouri district. “Five people died and nine others were injured in the shelling in Ramgarh sector of Samba district today,” Deputy Commissioner Samba, Sheetal Nanda told PTI.
“One persons died due to shock during shelling in the same area taking the total of those killed to six,” she said. While three of the injured were given treatment in Ramgarh hospital, the rest were shifted to GMC hospital in Jammu, she said. The casulaties took place during shelling in Jarda and Rangoor camp villages along the IB in Ramgarh sector.
Along the LOC, two women were killed in firing and shelling by Pakistani troops in Panjgrian border hamlet in Manjakote belt of Rajouri district, Deputy Commissioner Rajouri, Shabir Ahmed Bhat said.
He said three army porters suffered injuries in the shelling in Noushera sector of the district and they have been hospitalised. Pakistani shells landed in Mendhar town of Poonch district, injuring three people, police said.
A total of 18 people, including 12 civilians, have been killed and more than 80 suffered injured in Pakistani shelling and firing along IB and LoC in Jammu since surgical strikes against terror launch pads by the Indian Army in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir.
(Agencies)
Bhopal: A day after eight SIMI activists were killed in an alleged police encounter following a daring prison break here, their families have decided to approach the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking a CBI probe into what they dubbed as “cold-blooded murders”.
“The families of the deceased have come to me and are weeping inconsolably for justice. We are going to move the MP High Court for a CBI probe into the entire incident,” lawyer Parvez Alam told PTI.
“It is surprising that the authorities are claiming that the accused climbed the 32 feet boundary wall of the jail. Is this possible?” he asked.
Police has claimed that the accused from the banned outfit were yesterday killed in an encounter hours after they escaped from the high-security Central jail where they had slit the throat of a security guard and scaled the wall using bedsheets between 2 AM and 3 AM.
Alam described the encounter as “fake” and said, “The TV grabs show police and ATS firing. There is no evidence that the accused fired.”
“This is a fake encounter and (these are) cold blooded murders,” Alam claimed.
He said Inspector General Yogesh Choudhary had last night told media that the accused made keys to open their lock up with tooth brushes.
“Can someone open the keys of high security Bhopal Central Jail that has earned an ISO certificate with keys made of tooth brushes,” he wondered.
“What lie these authorities are speaking,” he said.
“Our first course of action after the funeral of the accused killed in the encounter is to move the HC for justice,” he added.
The kin of the seven accused have already reached Bhopal to receive their bodies and take them to their place for burial, Alam said.
He said that no one has yet claimed the body of Mohammad Khalid, a resident of Solapur in Maharashtra.
Family members of accused Sheikh Mujeeb are taking his body to Ahmedabad, while Abdul Majid’s mortal remains are being taken to Mahidpur area in Ujjain district of MP, he said.
Bodies of the rest–Amjad Khan, Zakir Hussain, Mohammad Salik, Sheikh Mehboob and Aqueel Khilji– all hailing from MP’s Khandwa district are being taken to their homes, Alam added.
Yesterday, police had dismissed criticism over the encounter killing of eight SIMI activists near Bhopal, saying there was heavy exchange of fire in which they were felled after which four countrymade guns and some sharp-edged weapons were recovered from them.
Also, IG Chaudhary repeatedly maintained that all questions raised over the encounter were a matter of investigation as the series of events over seven hours between their escape and killing were still being probed.
This came soon after a controversy raged over the police action following the daring pre-dawn jail-break, as TV channels showed footage purportedly from the encounter site in which a policeman is seen pumping bullets into a man from close range after some unidentified person takes out what appears to be a knife said to be in a plastic cover and places it back.
Besides the veracity of the video, police is also probing how the SIMI terror suspects could lay their hands on weapons after their escape.
(PTI)
Visakhapatnam: India posted a massive 190-run victory over New Zealand in the fifth and final One-day International to clinch the five-match series 3-2 here today.
Brief scores:
India: 269 for six in 50 overs (Rohit Sharma 70, Virat Kohli 65; Trent Boult 2/52).
New Zealand: 79 all out in 23.1 overs (Kane Williamson 27; Amit Mishra 5/18).
(IANS)
New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) organised a sit-in at the varsity’s Administration Block on Diwali night to make a plea for stronger action in finding Najeeb Ahmed, who is missing now for the last 16 days.
The sit-in — light a ray of hope for Najeeb — saw close to 300 students from across the campus on Sunday, who turned up to express their solidarity with Ahmed and his grieving family.
Najeeb Ahmed, a university student of Mahi-Mandvi hostel in campus went missing on the intervening night of October 14-15 after being beaten by a 20-strong mob of students who had gone campaigning to his door for hostel elections.
“No violence will be tolerated in the campus, and against any student,” JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) Secretary, Vikramaditya Chaudhary said during the sit-in.
The sit-in remained peaceful and was an attempt towards reminding people of Ahmed and the apathy of JNU administration and the police in their willingness to find him.
“It has been so many days but my brother has not been found, what is the police doing, what is the JNU authority doing,” Sadaf Musharraf, Ahmed’s cousin said at the protest.
Every year, JNU students celebrate Diwali with a fanfare matched by the rest of the nation, but this year, the event was marked by a melancholic feel.
“We were not expecting such a turnout. Close to 300 students made it to the protest and registered their anger at the shameful attitude of the JNU administration,” JNUSU President Mohit Pandey told IANS.
“Tomorrow, (on Monday) we will again be protesting at the Ad-Block. We won’t relent until Najeeb is found,” he added.
(Agencies)
New Delhi: Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh on Monday said the repeated instance of prisoners escaping from jail across the country suggested a larger ‘conspiracy’.
“It is a serious issue. First SIMI activists fled the Khandwa Jail. Now they have fled from Bhopal jail. I have been reiterating that RSS activists and other similar organisations are behind the anti-Muslim riots in the country. It should be probed whether there is someone behind this or not,” Singh told reporters here.
Singh’ statement came hours after eight terrorists of the banned group SIMI escaped from the Bhopal Central Jail after killing a guard. Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhupendra Singh has confirmed the incident.
“The incident happened around 2 a.m. The terrorists used blankets and bed-sheets. They overpowered the two officers in charge and then opened the locks,” Arvind Saxena, Superintendent of Police (SP) told ANI.
“We have launched an extensive search operation in nearby areas as well the entire state,” he added.
For their escape, the prisoners chose Diwali night, when people across the country celebrate by bursting crackers. Following, Madhya Pradesh Government suspended five officials of the Bhopal Central Jail.
(Agencies)
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today created ripples by alleging that there is a “widespread” fear that the phones of judges are being tapped and said if it is true, then it is the biggest assault on the independence of the judiciary.
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad promptly denied the allegations, saying the independence of judiciary is fundamental and uncompromising for the Narendra Modi government.
Kejriwal claimed during his meetings with judges he has “overheard them telling each other that they should not talk on phones because they could be tapped”. The Chief Minister said when he told them the phones of judges cannot be tapped, “they retorted by saying that all phones could be tapped”.
“I don’t know whether it is true or not but there is a widespread fear. If it is true that phones are tapped then judges can be influenced…,” he said.
Addressing the golden jubilee celebrations of Delhi High Court here in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Justice of India T S Thakur also participated, he said even if there has been a wrong-doing by a judge then phone tapping should not be allowed.
“There are many other ways to gather evidence for wrongdoing, otherwise it will be the biggest assault on the independence of the judiciary,” he said.
Prasad, who spoke after Kejriwal, said, “I deny with all authority at command the allegations that phones of judges have been tapped.”
He said right from the prime minister to other ministers and the government, all have fought for the independence of judiciary and individual liberty and freedom of media during emergency.
“Independence of judiciary is fundamental, impeachable and uncompromising for the government,” he said.
Kejriwal also referred to the actions of judiciary as well as the executives which may take away the rights of the people.
“If any action of the executive snatches the power of the people, if any judicial interpretation of the Constitution takes away power of the people then it is not good for democracy,” he said.
(PTI)
Bhopal: All alleged eight SIMI activists, who earlier today allegedly fled from Bhopal Central Jail, have been killed in an encounter on the outskirts of Bhopal, according to reports.
Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhupendra Singh said all 8 alleged SIMI activists, who allegedly escaped from jail, killed in police encounter at Malikheda near Bhopal.
A high alert had been sounded following the alleged jail break, even as the Union Home Ministry sought a report from the Madhya Pradesh government.
While escaping the SIMI activists also allegedly killed security guard Ramashankar Yadav by slitting his throat, the police said.
“Eight inmates related to the SIMI escaped from Bhopal Central Jail between 2 to 3 a.m. today. They used their blankets to make a rope and crossed the bigger wall of the jail. They also killed one security guard Ramashankar Yadav. All of them were accused of various crimes such as bank robbery, murder, and sedition. Search operations are on to nab them as soon as possible,” Bhopal Inspector General of Police Yogesh Choudhary told reporters.
According to a police officer posted in Bhopal, the SIMI men “overpowered” two security guards who were exchanging their shifts at around 3 a.m.
According to some unconfirmed reports, six out of the eight escaped SIMI activists were identified as Sheikh Mujeeb, Muhammad Khalid Akil, Jakir Hussain Sadiq, Mohammad Salik, Mehaboob Malik and Amjad Khan. Three of those who escaped from Bhopal jail are the same who escaped from Khandwa prison in 2013. They were later caught by the Telangana police.
This was the second alleged jail break by alleged activists of banned SIMI in three years after the sensational escape by seven members of the group from a jail in Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh in 2013.
(Agencies)
Heavy shelling takes place in government-held areas while shelling of a school kills several children.
![Aleppo has been, for years, split between a government-held western sector and the rebel-held east [Reuters]](https://i0.wp.com/nasheman.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Aleppo1.jpg)
Aleppo has been, for years, split between a government-held western sector and the rebel-held east [Reuters]
Syrian rebels staged a counterattack in Aleppo with heavy shelling of government-held areas after weeks-long Russian-backed offensive against besieged districts held by rebels.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a British-based monitoring group, said rebel shelling had killed more than 15 civilians and wounded 100 others in government-held western Aleppo on Friday.
The SOHR added that hundreds of shells and rockets had fallen on various western neighbourhoods of the city as the rebels aimed to break a siege that government and allied militias imposed in the summer with aerial support from Russia.
Aleppo, Syria’s most populous city before the war, has for years been split between a government-held western sector and the rebel-held east, which the army and its allies managed to put under siege this summer.
“There is a general call-up for anyone who can bear arms,” a senior official in the Levant Front rebel group, which fights under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) banner, told Reuters news agency.
“The preparatory shelling started this morning.”
Syrian rebels also launched Grad rockets at Aleppo’s Nairab air base as part of the new offensive aimed at breaking the government siege of insurgent-held areas of the city, a rebel official and SOHR said on Friday.
The BM-21 Grad is a Soviet truck-mounted multiple rocket launcher which was developped in the 1950s.
Zakaria Malahifji, an official with the Fastaqim rebel group present in Aleppo, said bombardment of the air base was part of the new offensice and a number of rebel groups would participate in it.
“Today is supposed to be the launch of the battle,” Malahifji said. “All the rebel groups will participate.”
SOHR has also confirmed that Grad rockets had struck Nairab air base and also locations around the Hmeimim air base, near Latakia.
Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow, reporting from the Turkish city of Gaziantep, near the Syrian border, said “opposition fighters in Aleppo have been talking about this offensive for weeks and now they are saying that they began firing rockets at the airbase”.
“They have also targeted the west of Aleppo with more rockets and we are also hearing about a car bomb,” he said. “Opposition fighters are calling these battle ‘the mother of all battles’.”
Seperately, shelling by Syrian rebels killed several children at a school in government-held western Aleppo on Thursday, the monitoring group and Syrian state TV said.
The shells hit two neighbourhoods, Syrian state news agency SANA reported. Shahaba, where three children were killed and dozens wounded, and Hamdaniya, where three people were killed.
SOHR said six children under the age of 16 had been killed in the two attacks.
The attacks came a day after air raids on a school in a rebel-held village killed more than 30 people in Idlib, 50km away.
Wednesday’s air strikes hit a school in the Haas village in rebel-held Idlib, killing at least 36 people – including 22 children and six teachers – an attack that Western countries have blamed on the Syrian military and Russian air force. Moscow has denied involvement.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday slammed the Centre for sitting over the recommendations of the top court collegium for the appointment of judges to various High Courts, terming the move as amounting to paralysing and locking out the judiciary.
Telling the government that no attempt to paralyse the judicial institution would be tolerated, the bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice L. Nageswara Rao said all the courts on the ground floor of the Karnataka High Court were locked for want of Judges.
The Chief Justice pointed out that recommendations for the appointment of judges to the Allahabad High Court were pending with the government for the past nine months.
He said if the government had any problems with any name then it could send it back, but it cannot sit over it, pointing out that the High Courts were functioning at 50 per cent of their sanctioned strength.
“We had a situation when there were judges but no courtrooms, today we have courtrooms but no judges. Half of the courtrooms in Karnataka High Court are locked. You can as well have whole courts locked and close down Justice,” the Chief Justice said.
“It is not any body’s ego. It is the institution that suffers,” the Chief Justice told Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, reminding him that he was the leader of the bar and will have to play a constructive role.
“You want to lock out Justice?”, the Chief Justice asked Rohatgi, who said that non-finalisation of the Memorandum of Procedure was coming in the way of the government in clearing the recommendations.
At this, Chief Justice Thakur asked how then had the government cleared other names, pointing out that in the absence of a new Memorandum of Procedure appointments could be made on the basis of the old MoP.
As Attorney General Rohatgi said that the old MoP was contrary to the judgment of the court striking down National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) and that the object of the new MoP was to bring the appointment procedure under light, the Chief Justice said if you insist that MoP must be finalised before appointment (of judges) then we will sit in a constitution bench and make it clear.
Telling Rohatgi that he was the leader of the bar, Chief Justice Thakur said, “We expect some more positive and constructive role from you.”
The court directed further hearing of the matter on November 11, 2016.
(IANS)