India on Friday strongly condemned the terror attack on the Chinese Consulate in Karachi that claimed the lives of at least six people.

“India strongly condemns the terrorist attack on the Chinese Consulate in Karachi this morning,” the External Affairs Ministry said in statement.

“We condole the loss of lives in this dastardly attack,” it said.

Stating that there can be no justification whatsoever for any act of terrorism, it said: “The perpetrators of this heinous attack should be brought to justice expeditiously. Such terrorist attacks only strengthens the resolve of the international community to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.”

Two policemen and three suspected militants were killed on Friday in an exchange of fire between a security guard and unidentified assailants near the Chinese Consulate in Karachi, police said.

IANS

Reiterating that the Congress is playing into the hands of anti-national forces along with the NC and the PDP, Jammu and Kashmir unit of the BJP Thursday said Governor Satya Pal Malik foiled their “sinister design” by dissolving the state assembly.

The governor dissolved the assembly Wednesday night, hours after the PDP staked claim to form government with the backing of rival NC and the Congress.

“Congress is playing into the hands of anti-nationals. The Congress along with the NC and the PDP conspired against the democratic forces. The governor has foiled their sinister design,” BJP state president Ravinder Raina told reporters here.

Following the BJP charges, J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president G A Mir Thursday asked the BJP to either apologise or make public the evidence on its allegations.

Lauding Malik’s decision to dissolve the assembly, kept in suspended animation since June 19 after imposition of the Governors Rule, Raina said the conspiracy was against nationalistic forces, but it failed.

Raina said the whole conspiracy was hatched against the people of Jammu and Ladakh regions at the behest of Congress bosses in Delhi, but their designs have been exposed, he added.

Raina said the masterminds of the whole conspiracy were Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Ghulam Nabi Azad and other senior state leaders of the party.

“This has also come to the notice that the Congress party has conspired along with other anti-National forces on the directions of Pakistan,” he added.

Raina said the NC and the PDP on behest of the Congress tried to sabotage the grass root level democratic process in the recent civic body polls, but miserably failed.

He said their grassroots workers were about to contest the civic body polls, but they boycotted it in the name of protecting Article 35 A of the Constitution.

Raina said the democracy has been strengthened in the state of by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

PTI

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday paid tribute to Guru Nanak Dev on the occasion of his birth anniversary and said the first Sikh Guru taught the path of truth, righteousness and compassion.

Recalling his inspiring thoughts, Modi said Guru Nanak was committed towards eradicating injustice and inequality from society and believed in the power of education.

“Shri Guru Nanak Devji taught us the path of truth, righteousness and compassion. He was committed towards eradicating injustice and inequality from society,” the Prime Minister tweeted.

“He also believed in the power of education. We bow to him on his ‘jayanti’ (birth anniversary) and recall his inspiring thoughts.”

Guru Nanak was born in November 1469 at present day Nankana Sahib, Punjab, Pakistan, near Lahore.

IANS

 Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday said that he and President Ram Nath Kovind will jointly lay the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor project in Dera Baba Nanak area of Gurdaspur district on November 26.

“Happy to share that I’ll be joining President Ram Nath Kovind ji in laying foundation stone for Kartarpur Corridor to International Border at Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur, on November 26. It will be a great moment indeed for all devotees of Sri Guru Nanak Dev,” the Chief Minister tweeted.

The Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to develop the corridor from Gurdaspur in Punjab to the International Border (IB) to facilitate the passage of pilgrims to the Kartarpur Sahib gurudwara in Pakistan as part of the 550th birth annversary celebrations of the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev, next year.

However, the Centre clarified that India’s decision was not in response to any proposal from Pakistan.

The resolution was passed after many weeks of internal consultations and preparations within the government.

The gurdwara is significant for the Sikh community since Guru Nanak Dev spent 18 years of his life in Kartarpur till he died in 1539.

It is located around 2 km from the IB between both countries and can be seen from the Indian side.

IANS

The Congress on Friday distanced itself from senior leader C.P. Joshi’s statement that “only Brahmins know and can talk about Hinduism” with party President Rahul Gandhi saying his remarks were against the ideology of the party and he should apologise for it.

He also warned party leaders to refrain from making any statements which may hurt sentiments of any section of the society.

“C.P. Joshi’s statement is against the ideals of the Congress party. Party leaders should refrain from making any statement which may hurt any section of the society,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

“Respecting the principles of the party and sentiments of its workers, Joshiji would definitely realise his mistake. He should express remorse for his statement.”

Gandhi’s remarks came after a video of Joshi surfaced on Thursday in which he is heard saying that only pandits and brahmins knew about Hinduism and were learned enough to speak about it.

“Does anyone know what is the caste of Uma Bharti? What is the caste of Sadhvi Ritambhara? In this country, if anyone knows about religion, it is the pandits and the brahmins,” Joshi is heard saying in the video.

IANS

Sugar factory owners cum political leaders arrived at Chief Minister Kumaraswamy’s home office Krishna on Thursday to attend a meeting with regard to the payment of dues to sugarcane growers.

Reportedly, Congress leaders S R Patil, Anand Nyamagouda, Shrimant Patil, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Satish Jarkiholi, Balachandra Jarkiholi and BJP’s Murugesh Nirani all sugarcane factory owners arrived to attend the meeting

It is gathered that ahead of this meeting sugarcane factory owners had held a private meeting at a city hotel to discuss the stand they need to take in CM’s meeting.

PTI

Trouble has been brewing in the Kerala unit of the Janata Dal (S) – the third largest ally of the CPM-led government, prompting the party president to intervene.

JD (S) National President and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda has called his three legislators to Bengaluru on Thursday to meet him at 8 p.m.

The three include Mathew T. Thomas, State Minister for Water Resources, former State Minister C.K. Nanu and K. Krishnankutty.

While Thomas continues to remain in the state, both Nanu and Krishnankutty have already left to meet the party chief.

The present impasse began when the Pinarayi Vijayan government completed its two-and-a-half years in office.

According to a section of the JD (S) owing allegiance to Krishnankutty, there was an agreement that Thomas would relinquish the ministership in Krishnankutty’s favour once the government completed the half-way mark of its 5-year term.

However, this claim has been refuted by the Thomas camp.

While Nanu remained aloof for a while, Krishnankutty has now managed to swing him to his side, and both are travelling together to meet their national president.

IANS

 The Congress on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for using Governor Satya Pal Malik to dissolve the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly “illegally and unconstitutionally”.

“We strongly condemn the way the Governor illegally and unconstitutionally dissolved the Assembly.

“The Governor has toyed with the Constitution and it was done at the behest of the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO),” Congress leader Manish Tewari told the media here.

The former Union Minister questioned as to why Malik did not dissolve the House in the last six months after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in June withdrew support to the Mehbooba Mufti-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) coalition government.

“For the last five-six months, the BJP tried its best to garner support by indulging in horse trading. But when its conspiracy failed to yield any result, it got the Governor to dissolve the Assembly just after the PDP, National Conference and the Congress staked claim to form the government,” Tewari said.

Earlier in the day former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram also targeted Malik saying parliamentary democracy was “outdated” for the BJP-appointed Governor.

“As long as no one staked a claim to form government, Jammu and Kashmir Governor was happy to keep the Assembly under suspension. The moment someone staked a claim, he dissolved the Assembly. Parliamentary democracy standing on its head.

“The Westminster model of democracy is outdated. Like in all other matters, it is the Gujarat model that has appealed to the J&K Governor,” Chidambaram tweeted.

The party also ridiculed the Governor’s defence on Wednesday, when he maintained that “the grand alliance” of PDP, National Conference and Congress was an “opportunistic” one.

“It is unfortunate that the Governor is talking more like a BJP spokesperson than a governor. We strongly condemn his action and demand that elections are held at the earliest for the sake of democracy,” said party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.

In a dramatic development, Malik late on Wednesday dissolved the Assembly after the three parties staked claim to form the government which was followed by People’s Conference leader Sajad Lone making a rival claim to power with the backing of BJP and rebel PDP MLAs.

IANS

 The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday welcomed the Centre’s decision to approve construction of a corridor up to the Punjab border to facilitate the journey of pilgrims to the historic gurdwara Katarpur Sahib in Pakistan.

SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal thanked the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the decision taken at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

“We are grateful to the Modi government for this historic decision. The 70-year-old demand of the Sikh community to have a corridor to offer prayers at the gurdwara has been finally acceded to,” Badal, flanked by his wife and Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, told the media in New Delhi.

The construction of the corridor will be undertaken by India from the border town of Dera Baba Nanak to the international border with Pakistan.

The government has decided to urge Pakistan to construct the remaining part of the corridor in its territory.

The gurdwara, which is significant for the Sikh community since the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev, spent 18 years of his life in Kartarpur till he died in 1539.

The All India Sikh Students’ Federation also on Thursday welcomed the decision.

Federation President Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad said: “The recent decisions by the Pakistan government to open the corridor and the Indian government to build the corridor respectively is commendable and praiseworthy.

“These decisions will gradually and eventually lead towards long lasting peace. Both the governments should work on the corridor together and send the message of peace in the world, which would be in coherence with the teachings of Sri Guru Nanak dev ji.”

Guru Nank’s 550th birth anniversary will be celebrated next year.

The Punjab Assembly had passed a unanimous resolution on August 27 seeking uninterrupted opening of the corridor.

 Bihar opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday demanded the name of the Union Minister who interfered in the CBI probe in the fodder scam case that landed his father and former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad in jail.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader alleged that the minister was keen on meeting the Central Bureau of Investigation chief and was also directing top officials in the matter.

Speaking to reporters here, the former Deputy Chief Minister asked the Centre and the CBI to reveal the name of the person who “used to ask to bring confidential files related to the case to his residence and was taking interest in chargesheets and arrests”.

IANS