Nasheman News :  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government is with the hard-working and honest people of the nation and in the past four-and-a-half years the BJP government under him has reversed the country’s downslide, besides changing the attitude of ‘sab chalta hai’ (everything is acceptable) and has been working for the betterment of all sections of the society.

Addressing a gathering at the Sant Ravidas Temple, Modi warned people with ill-gotten money and those involved in graft that they would not be spared. 

“Recently you have all seen that crores of honest tax payers from the middle class have been exempted from paying tax if their income falls within the Rs 5 lakh slab,” Modi said to rousing applause. 

It has been a good fortune of the people in the country that they have been blessed and guided by saints for ages, said Modi, who made his debut in the Lok Sabha from here in Uttar Pradesh in 2014.

He also said that he considered himself fortunate to be representing the constituency and to have come twice to the Ravidas temple in the past few years. 

“I had committed myself in 2016 that this place will be developed and when the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government took over in the state, I asked then to get a detailed project report (DPR) prepared,” he added.

In Shir Govardhan, addressing the followers of Guru Ravidas, mystic poet-saint of the Bhakti Movement, the Prime Minister said as part of the development the area will have a community centre, besides which a new route will be created to the temple. 

A 12-km road from the Benaras Hindu University (BHU) will be beautified and a bronze statue of the seer, who was born over six centuries ago, would also be installed. 

Modi also pointed out that his government’s mission of ‘sabka saath sabka vikaas’ has been greatly inspired by the values and teachings of Sant Ravidas.

Later, Modi also inaugurated a cancer hospital – Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya Cancer Centre – at the BHU where eminent industrialist Ratan Tata was also present. He also inaugurated the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital at Lahartara. 

Earlier, soon after his arrival at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport, where he was welcomed by Governor Ram Naik and Adityanath among others, he flagged off the world’s first diesel-to-electric converted locomotive and interacted with a group of “divyaangs”.

Taking strong economic action against Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack, India Saturday raised the customs duty to 200 per cent on all goods imported from the neighbouring country, including fresh fruits, cement, petroleum products and mineral ore.

The decision would significantly hit Pakistan’s exports to India, which stood at $488.5 million (around Rs 3,482.3 crore) in 2017-18 as it would drastically increase the prices of its goods here.

“India has withdrawn MFN (most favoured nation) status to Pakistan after the Pulwama incident. Upon withdrawal, basic customs duty on all goods exported from Pakistan to India has been raised to 200 per cent with immediate effect,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a tweet.

India has withdrawn MFN status to Pakistan after the Pulwama incident. Upon withdrawal, basic customs duty on all goods exported from Pakistan to India has been raised to 200% with immediate effect.

The two main items imported from Pakistan are fruits and cement, on which the current customs duty is 30-50 per cent and 7.5 per cent, respectively.

Slapping an import duty of 200 per cent effectively means almost banning the imports from Pakistan, official sources said.

India on Friday revoked the MFN status to Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack. The country invoked a security exception clause of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to withdraw this status. Both the countries are member of this organisation.

India can also restrict trade of certain goods and impose port-related restrictions on Pakistani goods.

Items which Pakistan exports to India include fresh fruits, cement, petroleum products, bulk minerals and ores, finished leather, processed minerals, inorganic chemicals, cotton raw, spices, wool, rubber product, alcoholic beverages, medical instruments, marine goods, plastic, dyes and sport goods.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in 1996, but the neighbouring country had not reciprocated.

Under the MFN pact, a WTO member country is obliged to treat the other trading nation in a non-discriminatory manner, especially with regard to customs duty and other levies.

In 2012, Pakistan had committed to giving the MFN status to India but retracted later due to domestic opposition. Instead of MFN, Pakistan said it was working on granting Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) status to India but that also was not announced.

Total India-Pakistan trade has increased marginally to $2.41 billion in 2017-18 as against $2.27 billion in 2016-17. India imported goods worth $488.5 million in 2017-18 and exported goods worth $1.92 billion.

During April-October 2018-19, India’s exports to Pakistan stood at $1.18 billion, while imports were $338.66 billion.

India mainly exports raw cotton, cotton yarn, chemicals, plastics, manmade yarn and dyes to Pakistan.

At least 40 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kgs of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

Agencies

Nasheman News :  The Opposition on Monday created a ruckus in the Bihar Assembly demanding Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s resignation, two days after a special POCSO court in Muzaffarpur directed the CBI to investigate the involvement of Kumar and two IAS officers in the infamous shelter home rape case.

Legislators of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Left parties disrupted proceedings in both houses of the Assembly shouting slogans and demanding Nitish Kumar’s resignation.

While RJD spokesperson Bhai Virendra demanded a narco test of Nitish Kumar to confirm his involvement in the case, senior RJD leader and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi, who is also the leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, said, “After the court directed the CBI to probe chief minister’s role in suppressing facts, Nitish Kumar should resign.” 

Special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Court Judge Manoj Kumar had on Friday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the role of the Chief Minister as well as Muzaffarpur District Magistrate Dharmendra Singh and Principal Secretary (Social Welfare) Atul Prasad in the case. 

The order came on a petition filed by accused Ashwani, a self-claimed medical practitioner, demanding an investigation into the role of the three. 

According to a charge sheet filed in the case, Ashwani used to visit the shelter home to allegedly administer sedative-laced injections to the inmates before they were subjected to sexual abuse. 

The Muzaffarpur horror came to light in May 2018 when the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR based on a social audit of the shelter home conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. 

Following the FIR, police arrested Brajesh Thakur, a journalist-turned-social activist who headed the NGO that ran the shelter home, and other accused including his close aides and some government officials. The matter was handed over to the CBI in July last year. 

State Social Welfare Minister Manju Verma was also forced to resign following protests over reports that her husband and former Janata Dal-United legislator Chandreshwar Verma allegedly had close links with Thakur. 

Thakur has been shifted to a high-security jail in Patiala following a Supreme Court order, while the other accused are lodged in jails in Patna and Muzaffarpur. 

This month, the trial of the case was shifted to Delhi. 

Recently, the apex court also directed the CBI to probe allegations of sexual abuse at all such shelter homes across the state. 

Nasheman News :  Controversial BJP legislator Raja Singh on Monday called for removing Indian tennis star Sania Mirza as the brand ambassador of Telangana, calling her “Pakistan’s daughter-in-law”.

The Telangana Assembly member said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao must immediately remove Mirza as the brand ambassador in the wake of the February 14 terror attack in Pulwama that claimed the lives of 49 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers.

“We don’t need a Pakistani bahu as brand ambassador of Telangana,” said Raja Singh, who represents Goshamahal constituency in Hyderabad.

He feels that removing Sania Mirza, the wife of Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, as brand ambassador will send a strong message to Pakistan over its involvement in terror activities.

Raja Singh said when the Central government was taking a series of tough measures against Pakistan, the state government should also take the step to convey strong sentiments of the Indian citizens to Pakistan.

The BJP leader suggested that the state government could appoint any other player as its brand ambassador. 

“We have cricketer V.V.S. Laxman and badminton stars Saina Nehwal or P.V. Sindhu, who are also from Telangana and who have brought many laurels to the state and to the country,” he added.

Telangana had named Sania Mirza as the state’s brand ambassador in July 2014. Then BJP leader in Telangana Assembly K. Laxman had termed Mirza as “non-local” and “Pakistan’s daughter-in-law” questioning her credentials to represent the state.

Reacting to Laxman’s comment, the tennis ace had said that though married to a Pakistani, she would remain an Indian until the end.

Married to Shoaib Malik in 2010, Sania Mirza gave birth to a baby boy in 2018.

Nasheman News :  Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan on Sunday took digs at DMK President M.K. Stalin and Rajinikanth.

At the Rotaract Annual District Conference held here, Kamal Haasan said Gram Sabha is there for decades and only after he started holding such meetings in villages in Tamil Nadu that others started copying that.

The founder of MNM party was obliquely referring to DMK President M.K. Stalin and others holding Gram Sabha meetings.

“Are you not ashamed of copying from a small boy?” he said.

At another point, Kamal Haasan said he cannot be wearing a torn shirt, and even if his shirt gets torn in the Assembly, he would wear another shirt.

Kamal Haasan was obliquely referring to Stalin, who came out of the Tamil Nadu Assembly in torn shirt on 17.2.2018 when the AIADMK government led by Chief Minister K. Palaniswami sought vote of confidence.

Similarly, Kamal Haasan, when questioned about his bold decision to contest the Lok Sabha elections, said: “After oiling one’s body and slapping of thighs, one should not back out from the wrestling field saying he would come the next day.”

If that happens then one would become a laughing stock, Kamal Haasan added.

On Sunday, actor Rajinikanth announced his decision not to contest in the Lok Sabha polls. He also said he would not support any party.

Nasheman  News :  Two Youth Congress activists were murdered by alleged CPI-M workers in Kerala’s Kasargode on Sunday night, state Congress president Mullapally Ramachandran said. The Left party, however, denied any involvement.

The two Youth Congress activists – Krupesh, 19, and Joshy, 24 – were attacked by three assailants who came on motorcycles and seriously injured. While Krupesh breathed his last at the Kasargode district hospital, Joshy died while being taken to a hospital in Mangaluru in neighbouring Karnataka.

The Kasargode unit of the Congress has called for a dawn-to-dusk shutdown in the district on Monday to protest the murder.

Addressing the media at Kochi after hearing about the incident, Ramachandran said that this murder was a planned one executed by the goons attached to the CPI-M.

“Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who also holds the Home portfolio should explain this ghastly incident. This is not acceptable to the Kerala society… its high time that the CPI-M directs its cadres to lay down arms,” he said.

Kasargode district Congress president K. Hakkim told the media that the incident occurred near Periya near here.

“This is a Kannur model murder that was neatly planned and executed in the dark,” he alleged.

Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala told the media that the CPI-M is using power to eliminate its political opponents and this will be strongly opposed by the Congress.

But Kannur district CPI-M secretary M.V. Balakrishnan told the media that his party has no role in this incident.

“We strongly condemn this incident and our party has no role in this. We want the police to quickly arrest the people behind this,” he said.