Nasheman News : An Indian Air Force (IAF) Jaguar crashed on Monday morning near Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh but the pilot safely ejected from the jet.

The IAF has ordered a court of inquiry to probe the accident, an official spokesperson said. The aircraft was on a routine mission from Gorakhpur.

Nasheman News : The Editors Guild of India on Monday condemned the way some journalists were stopped from entering the Sher-i-Kashmir stadium in Srinagar during the Republic Day function, calling it “shocking” and a “state-sponsored” attack on press freedom.

“The Editors Guild condemns the arbitrary manner in which several senior journalists of Jammu and Kashmir were denied entry into the stadium in Srinagar to cover the Republic Day function on January 26.

“It is shocking that many of them were stopped from entering the stadium to perform their professional duty in spite of their possessing entry passes issued by the state government’s Information Department,” it said in a statement.

The Guild demanded an inquiry into the incident and termed the lapse “an unprecedented state-sponsored attack on press freedom”. 

“It (Guild) also seeks an assurance from the government that such reprehensible acts would not be repeated. If necessary, a fool-proof and non-discriminatory system of issuing entry passes to journalists to help them perform their professional duty in high-security areas must be introduced at the earliest,” the statement read. 

The incident was decried by many journalists in Srinagar who took to the streets later carrying placards that read “Journalism is not a crime”. 

Nasheman News :  An 18-month-old toddler died after falling from the escalator at a Bengaluru Metro station onto the main road 50 feet below, an official said on Monday.

“The child, Hasini, succumbed to injuries after she fell from a moving escalator at Srirampura Metro Station on Sunday at around 8 p.m.,” a spokesman for the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corp Ltd (BMRCL) told IANS.

The child, who was with her grandfather, suddenly slipped and suffered head injuries. She was rushed to a state-run hospital where she died.

“It is an extremely unfortunate incident. It is advised that all parents take extra caution while using the Metro facilities with their children,” Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy told the media.

Triggering another row over the selection of Bharat Ratna awardees, yoga guru Ramdev has said that while Mother Teresa, being a Christian, had been conferred the award, no Hindu saint till now had received the nation’s highest civilian honour.

“They have given Mother Teresa this award as she was a Christian, but they will not give to other seers as they are Hindus. It is a crime to be a Hindu in this nation?” Ramdev said while speaking to reporters at the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj on Sunday. Teresa was conferred the Bharat Ratna in 1980.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee, late singer Bhupen Hazarika and late social activist Nanaji Deshmukh were conferred the Bharat Ratna this year.

The yoga guru, however, said he was not in favour of discrimination on the basis of religion. “Is contribution of Maharshi Dayanand and Swami Vivekanand to India lesser than that of the actors and politicians? All these saints who have contributed so much must also be conferred with the Bharat Ratna,” he said.

Ramdev has become the latest to criticise the government over the award. Last week, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge had slammed the Narendra Modi government for conferring the award to a ‘singer’ (Hazarika) instead of spiritual leader Shivakumara Swami.

The Assam Police have registered a case against \Kharge over the remark.

Meanwhile, Ramdev also echoed the views of Hindutva outfits like VHP on the construction of the Ram Temple, saying the possibility of a quick judgment by the Supreme Court was bleak and the Centre should take initiative.

“Either the Supreme Court or the government should do something for the construction (of Ram Temple). There aren’t many possibilities of a quick judgment by the court. So I think that the government should take an initiative.” he said.

Agencies

A Delhi court on Monday granted regular bail to former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Yadav and others in connection with a money laundering case in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) scam. However, Lalu Prasad will continue to stay in jail over the fodder scam cases against him.

Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj of Patiala House Court granted the relief to the accused on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and one surety of like amount each and scheduled the next hearing for February 11.

The court also directed the accused to surrender their passports and asked them not to leave the country without prior intimation.

Welcoming the order, Tejashwi Yadav told reporters, “We are confident of getting justice. We trust the judiciary.”

Alleging that they were being framed by the BJP in the case, Tejashwi said even Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati have come under the scanner of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) ever since the duo joined hands ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

On January 19, the court had extended the interim bail granted to the three which ended today. The case relates to alleged money laundering in granting the operational contract of two IRCTC hotels to a private firm.

Hours after he said that “hands that touched Hindu girls” should be eliminated, Union Minister for Skill Development Ananth Kumar hit a new low while addressing a Congress leader as “a guy who ran behind a Muslim lady”.

The fresh communal remark, this time against Karnataka Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao, came after the latter condemned Hegde’s provocative statement and questioned him about his achievements as a minister.

Responding to Rao, Hegde chose to drag his marriage to a Muslim woman into the public discourse.

Hegde had fuelled a controversy yesterday while addressing a meeting of Hindu Jagaran Vedike – a youth organisation of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad — where he said, “If a hand has touched a Hindu girl, then that hand must not exist.”

Known for his inflammatory statements, Hegde had further said that Hindu youths should not become sacrificial lambs, but be dominant like tigers and elephants.

Responding to the Union minister’s remarks, Dinesh Gundu Rao questioned Hegde’s achievements as a minister. “It is deplorable that such people have become ministers and get elected as MPs,” Rao said on social media.

The criticism did not go down well with Hegde, who responded by saying, “I shall definitely answer this guy @dineshgrao’s queries, before which could he please reveal himself as to who he is along with his achievements? I only know him as a guy who ran behind a Muslim lady.”

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has threatened to quit after a Congress MLA said former CM Siddaramaiah is their CM.(AP)

The friction in the uneasy alliance between the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) in Karnataka escalated today with chief minister HD Kumaraswamy threatening to quit and accusing Congress MLAs of ‘crossing the line’.

“…If they want to continue with the same thing, I am ready to step down. They are crossing the line”, when asked ‘Congress MLAs are saying that Siddaramaiah is their CM’,” media quoted him as saying.

rovocation for Kumaraswamy seems to be the statement of a Congress MLA on Sunday that former chief minister Siddaramaiah should have got one more opportunity.

Congress MLA S.T. Somashekar who said that development work in Bengaluru city had slowed down under the coalition regime and road development in the city is not progressing like it did when Siddaramaiah was Chief Minister.

The Congress sought to play down the friction with deputy chief minister G Parameshwara saying Somashekar was expressing his opinion

Karnataka Dy CM on ‘Congress MLAs say Siddaramaiah is their leader”: Siddaramaiah has been best CM. He is our CLP leader. For the MLA, he (Siddaramaiah) is the CM. He has expressed his opinion. What is wrong in that? We are all happy with him (Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy).7

The seven-month-old Kumaraswamy government has faced multiple challenges since it came to power last May. The latest threat came earlier this month after the opposition BJP allegedly tried to lure away Congress MLAs to topple the government.

Agencies

Nasheman News : Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray’s son Amit got married to fashion designer Mitali Borude in a traditional Maharashtrian style wedding ceremony, here on Sunday afternoon.

The wedding was attended by the who’s who of politics, corporate world, film industry, sports, glamour and of course close family members at a five-star hotel.

Raj and his wife, Sharmila, were seen warmly greeting guests who included his cousin and Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray, wife Rashmi and their son Aditya, another cousin brother Jaidev Thackeray and his family members, and other of the Thackeray clan.

Incidentally, Amit and Mitali, both childhood friends, were betrothed on December 11, 2017, which happens to be the wedding anniversary of Raj and Sharmila.

A steady stream of high-profile guests were seen at the power-packed wedding starting with Governor C.V. Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Maharastra Minister Pankaja Munde and many more.

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, who is a close aide of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, was also there to bless the young couple.

Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar, his nephew Ajit Pawar, and their families also marked their presence.

Bharat Ratna and cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar was present with his wife sporting a typical Maharashtrian attire, and also renowned singer Asha Bhosle.

Industrialist and philanthropist Ratan Tata, actor Aamir Khan, Ritesh Deshmukh, yesteryear actress Sulochana and many big names from the Marathi film world also attended the festivities.

Raj’s daughter Urvashi and his daughter-in-law Mitali had some time ago launched their own fashion label, “The Rack”.

Later this evening, a mega reception has been organised in Mumbai by the family.

Nasheman News : Dubbing the opposition as a “corrupt house”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said in the last four years, people in Delhi have made him a “chowkidhar”.

“As long as I am there in Delhi, I will not allow any kind of corruption and will not allow the nation’s unity and integrity to be destroyed,” said Modi, addressing a mammoth rally of his party workers here.

After inaugurating the meeting of the state Yuva Morcha, he said: “My friends in the opposition are bankrupt when it comes to development of the nation. All they have is hatred against Modi. Their day begins by abusing Modi and ends by again abusing Modi. All I wish to tell them is ‘you may abuse me, but please don’t mislead the farmers, youth and the poor’ and don’t destroy the great nation and its progress,” said Modi.

“The opposition is destroying agencies like the CBI, armed forces, police, CAG and even the Election Commission as all these organisations are wrong for them, while they (Congress) are right. 

“Recently, the entire nation was amused to watch a press meet on foreign soil which was one that hit badly at the democratic ethos of our country, when the Election Commission came under attack. Seen was a ‘top-most leader’. They even undermine our nation on foreign soil,” said Modi and added that the Congress party will have to answer for this.

“Elections will come and go, but the nation will always be here. The opposition should stop disrespecting institutions,” added Modi.

Speaking against both the ruling CPI-M led government and the Congress-led opposition in Kerala, Modi said the cultural ethos of Kerala has been destroyed.

“The issues in Sabarimala was watched across the country and saw the way the CPI-M was disrespecting all aspects of Kerala’s culture. Why is the CPI-M undermining our culture? The Congress here also is no different, as they say one thing in Delhi and another here. None of these two parties have any respect for gender justice,” said Modi.

The Prime Minister pointed out that so many ministers of the Left government in Kerala had to resign due to corruption.

“For the Congress led UDF, the solar scam was there. For the Congress, solar is used for scam, while we use solar for development of the nation. The Congress here made ISRO scientist S. Nambi Narayanan, a spy and used the case to settle political scores amongst themselves, while we honoured him with a Padma award. We really value science,” added Modi.

He urged his party workers to work to save the culture of Kerala and to help build a new India and a positive India.

Modi arrived at Kochi around 2 p.m on Sunday and after inaugurating a crucial petrochemical project, he reached Thrissur.

He returned to Delhi, soon after addressing the party workers at Thrissur.