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Baghdad ‘astonished’ by report of Iran moving missiles to Iraq

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(171209) — BAGHDAD, Dec. 9, 2017 (Xinhua) — A screen shot taken on Dec. 9, 2017 shows Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announcing the full liberation of Iraq from the Islamic State (IS) militants in a televised speech in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Saturday officially declared full liberation of Iraq from the Islamic State (IS) militants after Iraqi forces recaptured all the areas once seized by the extremist group.(Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry has said it was “astonished” by a report that Iran had moved ballistic missiles to armed groups in Iraq.

The Ministry confirmed on Sunday that all Iraqi state institutions were committed to the Constitution that states that its territory should not be used as a base or passage for any operation targeting the security of any other state, Xinhua news agency reported.

The western media reported earlier that Iran had given ballistic missiles to allied Shiite militias in Iraq and was developing the capacity to build more there.

The Ministry’s statement came a day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called up Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

According to a statement by Abadi’s office, Pompeo renewed his country’s support for a strong, stable and prosperous Iraq in accordance with the Strategic Framework Agreement which was signed (in 2008) by the two countries.

US cancels $300 mn aid to Pakistan over terror groups.

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The US military has announced that it was cancelling $300 million in aid to Pakistan over what it calls Islamabad’s failure to take action against militant groups, a new blow to worsening bilateral ties between the two countries.

“Due to a lack of Pakistani decisive actions in support of the South Asia Strategy, the remaining $300 million was reprogrammed,” Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kone Faulkner said in a statement on Saturday.

“We continue to press Pakistan to indiscriminately target all terrorist groups,” Faulkner said, adding that the $300 million aid, which had earlier been suspended, would be now aimed at spending on other “urgent priorities” due to “a lack of Pakistani decisive actions” in tackling the issue.

The move, which needs to be approved by US Congress, is part of a broader suspension announced in January when Washington had announced that it was cutting almost all security aid to the Islamabad, reports the BBC.

Saturday’s announcement comes before US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s scheduled visit to Pakistan this week and meet the country’s newly-elected Prime Minister, Imran Khan.

The US State Department has criticised Pakistan for failing to deal with terrorist networks operating on its soil, including the Haqqani network and the Afghan Taliban with President Donald Trump also accusing Islamabad of deceiving Washington while receiving billions of dollars.

Washington has long complained that Pakistan provides a safe haven to militant groups, including the Afghan Taliban, Haqqani Network and Al Qaeda, allowing them to carry out cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has denied these claims.

Since 2002, Pakistan has received over $33 billion in US assistance, including $14 billion in Coalition Support Funds, a US Defence Department programme to reimburse allies that have incurred costs in supporting counter-insurgency operations.

(IANS)

Gun owners becoming more politically active in US: Study.

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Buyoed by an absence of a tighter gun control policy despite increased mass shootings, more and more gun owners in the US are joining the political process, not only in voting but in donating money to candidates and contacting elected officials, researchers have revealed.

According to a study by University of Kansas political scientists, gun owners have increasingly become more politically active.

Conservatives seem to have done a better deal at realising this trend and seeking to politically mobilise gun owners in campaign ads and other actions.

“Part of the reason majority opinions on gun control legislation aren’t turning into policy is that gun owners are a very strong political group who hold a lot of weight and hold a lot of influence despite being a minority in American politics,” said Abbie Vegter, a graduate student in political science.

Vegter collaborated on the research with political science professors Don Haider-Markel and Mark Joslyn. The team presented their findings as part of the American Political Science Association’s annual meeting in Boston on Sunday.

In the study, the researchers examined the political behaviour of gun owners versus non-gun owners in presidential election years from 1972 to 2012.

“Our major conclusion establishes gun owners as a distinct social group, and we see how that social group influences their likelihood of participating in politics,” Vegter said.

The researchers are still exploring what has driven this shift in attitude among gun owners, whether it was in response to past gun control legislation at the state level or a reaction to certain candidates who were elected who had stronger views about gun control.

“There are a couple of lessons. For individuals, especially individual gun control advocates, in order to make a difference, you need to match this level of mobilisation and participation,” Vegter said.

“There is also a lesson there for politicians who I think traditionally have not seen gun owners as a political group to be addressed,” she added.

The findings could be key in determining why major gun control legislation in Congress has remained elusive, even after mass shootings such as Newtown in 2012 and others, even when a majority of people tend to support stricter gun laws.

65 LS members, 29 RS members yet to declare assets By Nivedita Singh

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New Delhi Sixty-five members of the Lok Sabha and 29 of the Rajya Sabha are yet to declare their assets and liabilities, a reply to a query under the RTI Act has revealed.

Out of the MPs belonging to the lower house, 61 have not furnished their details since 2014, while four recently came to the house through by-elections, the Lok Sabha secretariat said in a reply to activist Rachna Kalra, who had put a query under the Right to Information Act.

“As on August 14, 61 Members of 16th Lok Sabha have not yet furnished declarations of their ‘Assets and Liabilities as per the Members of Lok Sabha (Declaration of Assets and Liabilities) Rules, 2004’.

“Further, four new Member of Lok Sabha who had recently been elected to Lok Sabha in bye-elections are also to furnish the declarations of Assets and Liabilities. They have 90 days time to furnish the same from the date of their taking oath/Affirmation,” the reply reads.

Among those who have not filed their details in the Lower House of the Parliament are nine members from Indian National Congress (INC) and seven from Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

Four members each from All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJSP) are also yet to declare their assets.

The list also includes three members from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and two members each from Shiv Sena, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Janata Dal (United) and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), YSR Congress Party, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), National People’s Party (NPP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (JKPDP), All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), All India NR Congress (AINRC) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) account for one member each who have not given the details of their assets and liabilities.

In the Upper House, under the Members of Rajya Sabha (Declaration of Assets and Liabilities) Rules, 2004, “current elected members are required to furnish the details of assets and liabilities, within 90 days from the date of taking oath or making affirmation in the Council of States”.

As on August 9, “the requisite declaration of Assets and Liabilities is awaited from 29 members of Rajya Sabha”, another RTI query revealed.

Six members each from BJP and INC were among the members who are yet to declare the assets.

Three members each from RJD, AITC and TRS are also on the list along with two members each from BJD and JD(U).

[IANS]

Bangladeshi Hindus celebrate colourful Janmashtami in Dhaka

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Chittagong: A man dressed as Vasudeva carries a child dressesd as Lord Krishna as they participate in a Janmashtami procession on the eve of the festival in Chittagong of Bangladesh’s Andarkilla on Sept 2, 2018. (Photo: IANS/bdnews24)

Bangladeshi Hindus took to the streets of Dhaka on Sunday to celebrate Janmashtami, an annual festival that marks the birth of Krishna, revered as the eighth avatar of the ten incarnations of Vishnu.

The religious celebration is a public holiday in Bangladesh, where a procession is held in the capital, Efe reported.

Participants re-enact passages from Hindu holy scripture using props, body paint and costumes.

Some youngsters dress up to resemble Krishna and are carried through the crowd like a deity.

The procession traditionally winds its way from the Dhakeshwari Temple into the streets of Old Dhaka.

(IANS)

Kerala requires Rs 30K cr for rebuilding

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Alappuzha (Kerala) Flood -battered Kerala needs Rs 30,000 crore to rebuild, Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said on Monday.

“We require Rs 20,000 for capital expenditure and Rs 10,000 for revenue expenditure,” Isaac told IANS, adding it would be raised through various means, including cash and kind.

The capital expenditure would go into rebuilding roads, bridges, buildings, while the revenue expenditure would meet the compensation towards agriculture crops besides damage caused to homes and the Rs 10,000 to every family who were devastated by the floods.

“Rs 6,000 crore is expected in cash to come through the various public contribution, besides another Rs 4,000 crore will be in kind through various centrally sponsored schemes like the The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 and National Rural Livelihood Mission, programmes,” Isaac said.

For raising the other Rs 20,000 crores, Isaac said the state would approach the Centre and pressurise them to give the nod for borrowings and such modes.

On Monday, Isaac launched a special lottery, with each ticket costing Rs 250. The draw would be held on October 3. It is expected to raise around Rs 100 crore.

[IANS]

Hardik declares his will as fast enters ninth day

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Gujarats Patidar agitation leader Hardik Patel, whose fast entered the ninth day on Sunday, declared his will if he breathed his last, even as he sent back a government medical team in protest against the police baton charge on his supporters who came calling during the day.

Tens and scores of his supporters are being detained across the state almost on a daily basis to prevent them from coming to Ahmedabad to express solidarity with the fasting youth leader whose weight and haemoglobin levels are falling.

On Sunday, a posse of police force posted outside his home, where he is fasting, prevented scores of supporters from meeting him by raining batons on them.

The supporters were seen going helter and skelter as the police batons hit them. Registering his strong protest over this, Patel sent back a government medical team which came to examine him, like everyday.

The 25-year-old Patel leader, on August 24 evening, had given up drinking water though his health appeared deteriorating till a religious leader of the Patidar community got him to at least consume water.

The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader is on fast to press for his demand for reservations to the Patidars, loan waiver for farmers and release of his aide Alpesh Kathiria, who is in jail on sedition charges.

He, meanwhile, declared his will and made his parents Bharat Patel and Usha Patel his heirs, besides a gaushala in his native village Chandranagar in Ahmedabad district.

Hardik Patel stated: “I have been fasting against the BJP government since August 25. My body is becoming shrill and suffering from pain, disease, infections and internal injuries. In these circumstances, my soul can depart from this body at any time so I decided to declare my last wish.”

Accordingly, Hardik’s close associate and Morbi convener Manoj Panara informed reporters that if anything happened to him during this indefinite fast, Rs 30,000 out of his total bank deposits of Rs 50,000 in a private bank will be given to his parents and the remaining money will be donated to the ‘Gaushala’ near his native village.

Patel has expressed his wish to distribute 30 per cent income of his yet-to-be published book, ‘Who Took My Job’, to his parents and sister and 70 per cent to the families of 14 Patidar youths who had lost their lives allegedly in police firing during violence in quota agitation in August 2015.

His last desire is to donate his eyes after his death.

Several political leaders have been meeting Patel. On Sunday, former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Majhi, Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda and Gujarat NCP legislator Jayant Bosky, were among those who called on the quota leader.

Defence Minister visits forward areas in J&K

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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday visited forward posts in the frontier district of Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir, and interacted with the troops deployed along the border.

She was accompanied by the Army chief General Bipin Rawat, and was received by Lieutenant General, Ranbir Singh, Northern Army Commander and Lieutenant General, A.K. Bhatt, Chinar Corps Commander, Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said in a statement.

“She was briefed by the commanders on ground as regards the operational preparedness and counter infiltration grid.

During her interaction with the troops, she lauded their round-the-clock sharp vigil along the Line of Control (LoC), high morale and professionalism.

“She also exhorted them to remain alert for any eventuality to defeat nefarious designs of hostile forces,” the statement said.

“Later on Sunday, she along with the General Rawat interacted with Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik at Raj Bhavan in Srinagar and discussed the overall prevailing security situation in Kashmir Valley,” it noted.

Delhi orders restoration of over 2.5 lakh ration cards

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The Delhi government has ordered the restoration of 2.53 lakh ration cards in the national capital and warned officers that they will be ‘personally responsible’ for starvation deaths of eligible beneficiaries.

Between July and August, the Delhi government claimed that over 2.50 lakh ration cards were cancelled allegedly by Delhi’s Food Commissioner, despite strong objections by the Food and Civil Supplies Minister Imran Hussain.

In a circular issued last week, Hussain ordered officials to immediately restore the cancelled cards.

“The Minister by virtue of powers conferred by the TPDS (Targeted Public Distribution System) Control order, 2015 to the state government has accordingly directed that the FSOs (Food and Supply Officers) of circles shall immediately restore the deleted 2,53,178 ration cards,” the circular read.

In the circular, Hussain also said that non-compliance of the directions “shall invite stringent disciplinary action against the FSO/FSI (Food and Supply Inspector)”.

“Any death occurring in Delhi due to starvation/non-availability of ration to the otherwise eligible beneficiaries whose card has been cancelled without proper verification, shall also invite criminal action besides disciplinary action against the concerned FSO/FSI for which they shall be personally responsible,” it said.

Kamdar’ Modi destroyed India’s economy: Kapil Sibal

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Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Sunday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the “so-called kamdar” had destroyed India’s economy with no jobs and no solutions to rising unemployment.

Sibal’s comment comes in continuation of the war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, as Modi on Saturday lashed out at the UPA government for generating bad loans and leaving behind a legacy of non-performing assets.

“Uninformed allegations make for good sound bytes; only evidence of Modiji’s frustration. The so-called kamdar has destroyed India’s economy. No jobs and no solutions in sight,” The Congress leader tweeted, taking a jibe at the Prime Minister who prides in calling himself a “kamdar”, or a relentless worker.

Sibal said the ruling BJP was the biggest non-performing asset (NPA) of the country.

(IANS)

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