According to Thomas Zdechovsky, one of the MEPs whose name is part of the team that visited Kashmir on the invite by Indian-origin Madi Sharma, the MEPs were invited by the IINS.

NEW DELHI: The European Parliament members who visited Kashmir in their “unofficial capacity”, were reportedly invited by the International Institute for Non-aligned Studies, which has a Delhi address.

The International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies (IINS), which calls itself a think-tank for the Non-Aligned Movement, cites its head office address on the website as “A-2/59, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi 110029, India.”

Its Twitter account is @iinsNAM and its email address is iins@iins.org.

According to Thomas Zdechovsky, one of the MEPs whose name is part of the team that visited Kashmir on the invite by Indian-origin Madi Sharma, the MEPs were invited by the IINS.

Articles tweeted by @iinsNAM are written by its staff, and published by the little-known New Delhi Times, which is a part of the Srivastava Group.

The address of New Delhi Times too is “A-2/59, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi 110029, India”.

New Delhi Times says about itself: “New Delhi Times is a part of Srivastava Group, started under the leadership of Dr G.N. Srivastava in 1995, with the purpose of providing real news in Hindi and English from the capital of India to the world.

“Our website provides a glimpse of news updates from all over the world. The website is useful to professionals, students, researchers and the common man. It covers a variety of topics ranging from politics to the economy, foreign policy to investment and sports to culture.”

Zdechovsky, in a statement, said: “My schedule and also flights to India were different from the rest of the delegation and I didn’t visited Kashmir (sic). A crucial part for me was meeting with Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi which I was supposed to have already in August, but the meeting then was cancelled at that time because Mr Modi had to urgently travel to Iran because there was a hijacked boat with many Indians on the board.

“The meetings with other officials now were just held around the same time.

To my knowledge, the other MEPs were invited by the International Institute for Non-aligned Studies but I am not aware about the particular arrangements with the other MEPs.

I have always supported an open dialogue with India. Among the topics which I discussed with officials during my visit was economic cooperation, innovations, the situation in healthcare or fighting poverty.”

His spokesperson Jitka Fialova said: “I would add just the fact, that Mr Zdechovsky is a member of centric European peoples party, whose members are also Angela Merkel, J.C. Juncker or Ursula von der Leyen.”

Later, she posted a clarification from the MEP: “Sorry for sending you misleading information, the trip in August was cancelled from another reason, I, unfortunately, mixed more things together. Sorry for this.”

Indira Gandhi served as the first and only woman Prime Minister of India from January 1966 to March 1977 and again from January 1980 until her assassination in October 1984.

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday paid tribute to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her death anniversary.

“My tributes to my grandmother & former PM, Smt Indira Gandhi Ji on the anniversary of her martyrdom.”

Several Congress leaders including party interim president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh amongst others also paid homage to Indira Gandhi at the Shakti Sthal in New Delhi.
My tributes to my grandmother & former PM, Smt Indira Gandhi Ji on the anniversary of her martyrdom.

Paying homage to Indira, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee applauded the former Prime Minister’s leadership during the 1971 war.

“Homage to former Prime Minister Indira Ji on her death anniversary. We remember her great contribution to the nation and also her leadership during the 1971 War,” she tweeted.

Homage to former Prime Minister Indira Ji on her death anniversary. We remember her great contribution to the nation and also her leadership during the 1971 War

Mamata was referring to the 1971 war when East Pakistan was liberated and the territory later came to be known as Bangladesh.

Indira Gandhi served as the first and only woman Prime Minister of India from January 1966 to March 1977 and again from January 1980 until her assassination in October 1984.

Indira was assassinated by two of her own bodyguards at her official residence at Akbar Road on October 31, 1984.

On the directives of Imran Khan, PTI Senator Faisal Javed had contacted Sidhu and extended the invitation.

ISLAMABAD: Former Indian cricketer and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has accepted Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s invitation to attend the opening ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor on November 9.

According to a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) press release, Sidhu thanked the Pak Prime Minister for inviting him to the inauguration.

“I’m grateful to the prime minister for inviting me to the historic inauguration of Kartarpur Corridor,” he was quoted as saying.

On the directives of Imran Khan, PTI Senator Faisal Javed had contacted Sidhu and extended the invitation

Sidhu said the Sikh community all over the world look forward to visit the holy shrine associated with their spiritual leader Baba Guru Nanak.

“The Kartarpur Corridor agreement sends a positive message to millions of Sikhs around the world,” he is quoted as having said by the Pakistani media.

The Sena, which won 56 seats in the October 21 Assembly polls, claimed its tally now stood at 61 with the support of five more MLAs.

MUMBAI: Shankarrao Gadakh, an NCP-backed Independent MLA in Maharashtra, on Monday offered support to the Shiv Sena, which is pushing for an equal share in power with ally BJP in the next government.

The MLA from Nevasa in Ahmednagar district made the announcement after meeting Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at his residence here. Gadakh’s father Yashwantrao was a former NCP leader.

“I represent a rural area where problems are more complicated. If I have to solve people’s issues, it is better to stay with the party which is going to form the government. Hence, I visited Mumbai today and extended support to the Sena,” he said.

The Sena, which won 56 seats in the October 21 Assembly polls, claimed its tally now stood at 61 with the support of five more MLAs.

The BJP and the Shiv Sena, with 105 and 56 seats respectively in the 288-member House, are busy wooing the 13 Independent MLAs in the state to give themselves an upper hand during discussions for formation of the next government.

In a related development, two Independent MLAs – Ravi Rana (Badnera in Amravati district) and Kishor Jorgewar (Chandrapur) – have declared support to the BJP.

The Sena has demanded a written assurance from the BJP for implementing “equal formula for sharing of power”, which could possibly include equal division of the chief ministerial tenure.

Speaking to a news channel on Monday, Sena leader Sanjay Raut said, “We will see how they do not share the post of Chief Minister. Both the parties agreed on 50:50 power-sharing formula. There is no need to explain it in detail.

Mishra, a former AAP MLA who was disqualified as member of the Delhi’s Legislative Assembly, hit back saying he had only posted pictures of children but ‘they are seeing them as Muslims’.

NEW DELHI: Former AAP MLA Kapil Mishra, who recently joined the BJP, on Monday drew flak on social media over a controversial tweet which the RJD alleged was stoking communal hatred, but he maintained that he was trying to raise awareness on the need for population control.

The tweet was later taken down by Twitter for violating its guidelines.

“If you want pollution to come down, then you should reduce these firecrackers and not the ones burst on Diwali,” Mishra tweeted tagging a photograph of an elderly man with a skull cap and several children along with women in burqa, waiting in a queue.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) hit out at Mishra, accusing him of comparing “Muslim children to pollution” for his “petty politics” and stoking acrimony in society.

Mishra, a former AAP MLA who was disqualified as member of the Delhi’s Legislative Assembly, hit back saying he had only posted pictures of children but “they are seeing them as Muslims”.

“If the picture would have been of a Hindu family, would they have reacted in the same manner,” he tweeted.

One of the social media users, who lashed out at Mishra, said: “one should not stoop down to such a level just for a ticket that it is event difficult to get up”.

There was also a hashtag in support of Mishra which was trending for some time.

Mishra, however, said he is only advocating population control but is being abused and threatened on phone and social media for his tweet.

“There is so much fear after one tweet. What will these people do when the population control law comes in place, ” he tweeted referring to criticism on social media.

Incidentally, the shed above the erected old borewell where Sujith was stuck is completely covered without even a peephole.

In heartbreaking news coming in wee hours of Tuesday morning, 2-year-old Sujith, who was trapped inside a borewell, has been declared dead after 80 hours of non-stop rescue efforts. Tamil Nadu Revenue Principal Secretary J Radhakrishnan confirmed the news at 2.15 am.

At around 1 am on Tuesday morning, a heavy police force was deployed at the rescue spot. While the drilling work was still going on, ministers and the higher officials held a serious discussion near the borewell site

Speaking to the press, Radhakrishnan said, “We observed a stench emanating from the borewell at around 9.30 pm. It was confirmed that Sujith is no more. We found his body to be highly decomposed and dismembered.”

Incidentally, the shed above the erected old borewell where Sujith was stuck is completely covered without even a peephole. Doctors were brought into the shed at around 2 am. In the meantime, digging work was stopped all of a sudden.

Radhakrishnan said that the complete report on the exact situation will be released soon.

The toddler had fallen into a 600-feet borewell in front of his house on Friday night while playing with cousins. While Sujith was initially spotted at a depth of 27-feet, he later sunk as low as 100-feet.

Gehlot said that an environment of fear, distrust and violence has developed in the country due to which mob lynching incidents are on the rise.

JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said the entire country is worried about the rise in cases of mob lynching on the suspicion of cattle theft and asserted that such incidents should not happen.

Responding to a question on mob lynching at an event at Hingonia cow shelter here, Gehlot said, “Cow is like mother. Every Hindu considers it as mother. It is our duty to respect the feelings but a religion will neither accept nor teach taking someone’s life on the basis of suspicion.”

He said, “An environment of fear, distrust and violence has developed in the country due to which mob lynching incidents are on the rise. The entire country is worried about it.” Gehlot said that such incidents should stop and that the state government would make all efforts to curb them.

He said that BJP leaders have a duty to give such a message just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi had once said that people engaging in such activities are anti-social elements. “I believe mob lynching incidents will stop if the message is clear from the leaders of BJP, RSS and VHP,” he said.

Shivakumar, who landed in Bengaluru on Saturday, received a warm welcome from his supporters.

BENGALURU: Congress leader DK Shivakumar on Sunday said that party president Sonia Gandhi standing by him when he was arrested is a message for the whole country that the party stands by its workers.

“Sonia Gandhi is my leader and she has given me strength. She has stood with a party worker. It is not only DK Shivakumar. This is a message to the entire country

Shivakumar said that the party will stand by all its workers in the hour of need.

“I never expected or asked for people to come out in support for me. However, people across the country supported me and showed their faith and love. I pray to God to give me strength so I can show them my gratitude and live up to their expectations,” he added.

The Congress leader had, on Saturday, said that he will fight for justice.

Shivakumar, who landed in Bengaluru on Saturday, received a warm welcome from his supporters. He was released from Tihar Jail on October 23 after Delhi High Court granted him bail in a money laundering case.

Shivakumar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on September 3 and was sent to judicial custody till October 25.

The alleged money laundering case was registered against him by the ED in September last year, based on a complaint filed by the Income Tax department in which it had alleged tax evasion and hawala transactions amounting to crores.

The saffron party formed the government in alliance with the newly formed Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) led by Dushyant Chautala, who took oath as Khattar’s deputy.

CHANDIGARH: Manohar Lal Khattar took oath as Haryana chief minister for the second time on Sunday and will lead the BJP-JJP coalition government in the state.

JJP leader Dushyant Chautala took oath as the deputy chief minister.

Haryana Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya administered oath at a ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan here on Diwali day.

BJP working president J P Nadda, Punjab Governor V P Singh Badnore, former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, Union ministers Krishan Pal Gurjar, R L Kataria, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal were present on the occasion.

The BJP had on Friday sealed a deal with the JJP to form the next government in Haryana after the saffron party fell short of six seats from the majority mark.

In the 90-member assembly, a minimum strength of 46 MLAs is required to form the government.

On Saturday, Khattar along with Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Haryana BJP President Subhash Barala and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader Chautala met Haryana Governor Narain Arya and staked claim to form the government and gave both partys’ letters to him.

After staking claim, Khattar said, “We met the governor. I handed my resignation which he accepted and he told me to continue as interim chief minister. He invited us to form the new government and on Sunday CM and Deputy CM will be sworn-in in the afternoon. I will be the Chief Minister and Dushyant will be the deputy CM. We have the support of 57 MLAs (40 BJP, 10 JJP and 7 independents).”

Earlier His name was proposed by five-time MLA from Ambala cantonment and state health minister Anil Vij and MLA Kanwar Pal and was seconded by the rest of the MLAs. 

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and BJP general secretary Arun Singh were present in the meeting.

“We will form a stable and honest government with the support of JJP and independent candidates,” said Prasad.

The saffron party will not take the support of controversial Haryana Lokhit Party legislator Gopal Kanda. “We are not be taking any support from him (Kanda),’’ said Prasad.

Meanwhile, sources said that in the new Haryana cabinet, there will be six ministers of the saffron party, one Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant and two ministers (one cabinet rank and one minister of state) from JJP and Ranjit Singh Chautala, an Independent who left the Congress after he was denied a ticket and won. He is the son of the former chief minister and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala.