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2 killed in Taliban attack in Afghanistan

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Afghan police officers stand guard at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan September 13, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail – RC1B57AD2BE0


Two civilians have been killed and 19 others injured after Taliban militants mounted a mortar attack in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar, an official said on Wednesday.

The incident occurred in Hafiz Goddi area in Bati Kot district at round 5.30 p.m. on Tuesday. All injured were shifted to a Jalalabad hospital, a government statement said.

The Talibans have intensified attacks against security forces across the country after they launched their 2018 offensive late on April, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Afghan civilians continue to bear the brunt of armed conflicts with more than 3,430 civilians killed and over 7,000 injured in conflict-related incidents in 2017, UN figures said.

Lalu gets parole, to attend son’s marriage

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Jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Wednesday secured five days parole to attend his elder son’s marriage in Patna on May 12.

The parole was granted following consultations between the jail administration and the Home Department. Lalu Prasad had sought five days parole to attend Tej Pratap’s wedding.

The former Bihar Chief Minister is being treated at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) here after he was brought here from the AIIMS in New Delhi on May 1.

He is likely to leave for Patna by air on Wednesday evening.

The RJD leader has been convicted in four fodder scam cases since 2013 — the latest being the Dumka treasury case in which a CBI court sentenced him to 14 years in jail.

Modi wave takes BJP to resounding victory – says Ravishankar Prasad

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Bengaluru infrastructure will be BJP top priority

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister for IT, Law and Justice, Sri. Ravishankar Prasad has
said, if voted to power, improving infrastructure in Bengaluru city will be party’s priority.
Addressing press conference here today he said – he is proud of IT doyens of Bengaluru, who made the city one
of the best global IT hubs. But at the same, the IT growth has not been supplemented by the infrastructure. The declining
infrastructure has left a serious dent. The IT innovation has been overtaken by burning lakes and extreme pollution. The
BJP will work on extending metro network and signal free corridors. Besides, an IT cluster will be developed at
Devanahalli to reduce the stress on the city.
Sri Prasad said – Prime Minister Sri. Narendra Modi led NDA Government began Digital India program. It is
nothing but digital inclusion of rural India. Our aim is to make IT infrastructures available across the regions. We have
launched BPO schemes for small towns across India. In Karnataka to BPO schemes are being launched in places such as
Mysore, Manipal, Mangaluru, Udupi, Kalburgi, Tumkur, Sringeri, Chikkamagaluru, Hospet, Hubli and Vijayapur. This will
strengthen the eco-system of Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. In our manifesto, we have promised to launch as many as 60
Namma BPO centre. The Centre Government will also join hands with State Government to accomplish the task.
He said – our manifesto is a transformative and we will transform Karnataka into a major developed state of
India. Karnataka needs good governance, good delivery and good monitoring. The people of Karnataka need a double
barrelled engine (Government) to lift the State from the sorry state of affairs. The Centre Government is anyway double
barrelled. If there is a synergy between two governments, he said, the development would be faster.
On the series of rallies address by Sri. Narendra Modi, he said, the reverberation created by his blitzkrieg is
taking the BJP to resounding victory. It is pulpable that the people of Karnataka have decided to march on the path of
development, which is the mantra of BJP.
Referring to Prime Minister’s statement at Chitradurga rally against the attitude of Congress towards local
heroes, the Union Minister lambasted Congress for its pseudo secularism and vote-bank politics. The Congress regime
preferred Tipu Sultan over Chitradurga yesteryear king Madakari Nayak and Onake Obavva, who fought the tyrannous
army of Hyder Ali (father of Tipu Sultan). No political party seeks to ignore the legacy and pride of local heroes but
Congress did so due its vote-bank compulsion.
On the eve of elections, he said, the debate on secular and communal politics has come to the fore once again.
The Congress president, Sri Rahul Gandhi must spell out his stand on Triple Talaq issue. It is a question of gender justice,
gender dignity and gender equality. Interest of crores of women is involved in it. The Congress chief should know that
Triple Talaq has been regulated or banned completely in as many as 21 Islamic countries. The BJP led NDA Government
passed the Triple Talaq Bill in Lok Sabha but the Congress and allies continue to prevent the passage of it as they have
majority in Rajya Sabha.
Referring to Congress regime’s red-carpet welcome to declared absconder, Vijay Eshwaran, who cheated
thousands of innocent investors of their money to the several crores of rupees, the Union Minister said Chief Minister Sri
Siddaramaiah has not responded to BJP’s question so far.
He said – he is not interested to know what gift the CM received from Vijay Eshwaran but he wants to ask why
Chief Minister gave red-carpet welcome to a person under the scrutiny of Congress led UPA Government for several
cases of economic offences. The companies floated by the conman duped nearly 2 lakh investors. Although, investors
filed barrage of complaints, the Siddaramaiah led Congress Government refused to file FIR against the promoters.
BJP national spokespersons Dr Sambit Patra and Sri. G. B. L. Narasimha Rao; BJP national media convenor Anil
Baluni; BJP state spokespersons Dr Vaman Acharya and Sri. Ashwath Narayan were present.
– S.

Trump to announce decision on Iran accord on Tuesday

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US President Donald Trump said that he would announce his decision on whether Washington will pull out of the Iran nuclear accord at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, media reports said.

“I will be announcing my decision on the Iran deal tomorrow from the White House,” he tweeted on Monday afternoon.

Trump is weighing whether to continue waiving sanctions on Iran’s energy and banking sector that were lifted as part of the 2015 agreement in exchange for curbs on Tehran’s nuclear programme, reports CNN.

Tuesday’s announcement will be the most consequential national security decision of Trump in the last 15 months since he took office as the US President.

Trump excoriated the agreement – signed among Iran and the 5+1 Group consisting of the US, Russia, China, France, the UK and Germany – even before winning the 2016 election, as the “worst deal ever” and promised to tear it up on his first day in office.

One European diplomat said it seems fairly clear that the administration will walk away from the deal, and described the chances that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the deal is formally known, will continue intact as “very small”.

“It’s pretty obvious to me that unless something changes in the next few days, I believe the President will not waive the sanctions,” the diplomat told CNN.

“And that will have various consequences that I think we have yet fully to understand and spell out.”

The implications of a US departure from the agreement aren’t clear yet, but analysts have warned that it would send a message to other nations, particularly North Korea, about the reliability of the US as a negotiating partner.

According to the deal, which was former President Barack Obama’s signature foreign policy achievement, the West would end three decades of sanctions and isolation of Tehran that had crippled the country’s economy and fueled domestic impatience with its clerical leaders, reports The New York Times.

In return, Iran agreed to ship roughly 97 per cent of its nuclear fuel out of the country, and forgo production of nuclear fuel, even for ostensibly peaceful purposes.

In the 28 months since the arrangement went into effect, international inspectors have said they have found no violations – apart from minor infractions that were quickly rectified.

Under the deal, the restrictions on research and development in Iran’s nuclear program would begin to lift after a decade.

After 15 years, Iran would be able to produce as much fuel as it wanted – though never for the purpose of making weapons.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson have come to Washington in recent days to bring pressure to bear on Trump to keep the US in the accord.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has warned that the US will quickly regret it if it abandons the nuclear accord, at the same time that he reiterated his opposition to negotiating a new pact.

NIA gets 10 day custody of Pakistani militant

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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has got 10 days custody of Pakistani militant namely Zabiullah alias Hamza and is questioning him, officials said on Monday.

Zabiullah, a resident of Pakistan’s Multan, had escaped during a gunfight with security forces at Halmatpora in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupawara district on the intervening night of March 20 this year, the agency said.

On March 20, during a joint cordon and search operation by police, army and paramilitary forces, terrorists hiding in the forest fired at the security forces. During the exchange of fire, five terrorists were killed while three army personnel and two police personnel were killed. Four security personnel were also injured.

Police registered a case but the case was handed over to the NIA which re-registered the case on April 17 and took up the investigation on Union Home Ministry’s order.

Zabiullah, 20, had been arrested by Jammu and Kashmir police on April 6.

“He was taken into custody by NIA on May 4 in this case. He has been produced before the NIA Special Court, Jammu on May 5 and remanded in 10 days NIA custody,” the agency said.

“During initial questioning, accused Zabiullah revealed that he had come into India fully armed in March, along with five other LeT cadres, with the aim to carry out large scale attacks on Indian security forc”s,” it said.

Zabiullah has identified the five terrorists killed in March 20 gunfight as Pakistani nationals namely Darda, 22, from Lahore; Shuram, 26, from Multan; Faidullah, 20, from Gujranwalan; Ummar,19, from Sindh and Kari, 19, from Peshawar.

Manmohan attacks Modi for “Economic mismanagement”

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Bengaluru: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh today launched a scathing attack on the Modi government for its “disastrous policies” and “economic mismanagement”, and said the country was facing crises that were avoidable.

Singh attacked the government over a series of banking sector frauds, saying the money swindled almost quadrupled from Rs 28,416 crore in September 2013 to Rs 1.11 lakh crore in September 2017. “Perpetrators of these frauds meanwhile escape with impunity. The economic mismanagement of the Modi government, and I say this with great care and responsibility, is slowly eroding the trust of the general public in the banking sector,” he said.

“Our nation today is experiencing difficult times. Our farmers are facing an acute crisis, our aspirational youth are not finding opportunities, and the economy is growing below its potential,” Singh told reporters here. He said the “unfortunate truth” was that each of these crises was “entirely avoidable”.

“It pains me to see how rather than standing up to all these challenges, the governments response has been to stifle dissent when deficiencies are pointed out,” he said. Noting that economic policy has a significant impact on the lives of people, he said it was essential that those tasked with decision making pay careful attention to policies and programmes and not act on mere whims and fancies.

“India is a complex and diverse country and no one person can be the repository of all wisdom,” he said in an apparent dig at Modi. He said every time an answer was sought for any of the “disastrous policies” of the BJP government, “all we hear is that the intentions are virtuous”.

Singh said the intentions of the Modi government which it claimed were good, had resulted in “massive” losses for the country. “Its lack of reasoning and analysis is costing India and our collective future.” The former prime minister said under the UPA governments the growth rate averaged 7 per cent. It was 8 per cent at one point of time despite turbulent global conditions, he said.

The NDA government, he said, clocked inferior growth rate despite a favourable international climate and low oil prices. In fact, growth rate under the NDA is lower in spite of the change in the methodology to determine it “which paints a rosier picture than reality”, Singh said.

According to Singh, two “major avoidable blunders” of the Modi government had been demonetisation and hasty implementation of GST. He said the losses the economy suffered due to these blunders had severely hurt the micro, small and medium enterprises and resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.

Besides, exports as a share of the GDP plunged to a 14 year low at a time when the global economy was reviving and exports of other Asian nations like Vietnam were growing substantially, he said. Singh said petrol and diesel prices were at a “historic high” despite a fall in international crude oil prices because the Modi government had chosen to levy “excessive” excise duty.

“Instead of passing on the benefits of low prices to the people, the Modi government has punished the people,” he said.

(PTI)

SC transfers Kathua gangrape case to Pathankot

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court today vacated the stay on the trial of the Kathua gangrape and murder case and transferred it outside Jammu and Kashmir to Pathankot in Punjab. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra directed that the trial in the case should be held in-camera and ordered that the trial be fast-tracked and conducted on a day-to-day basis to avoid any delay.

The top court also said the trial would be in accordance with the provisions of Ranbir Penal Code, applicable in Jammu and Kashmir. The apex court said the trial must be fair to the accused as well as the victim’s family.

It also ordered continuation of security to the family members of the victim, family friends and lawyer representing them and directed translation of statements and records of the case from Urdu to English and also . “The security provided to the juvenile accused will continue,” a bench also comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra said.

The victim, an eight-year-old girl from a minority nomadic community, had disappeared from near her home in a village close to Kathua in the Jammu region on January 10. Her body was found in the same area a week later.

(PTI)

Alliance with SP after seat adjustment: Mayawati

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Bengaluru: An announcement on an alliance between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh will be made once the two parties figure out a seat sharing arrangement, BSP supremo Mayawati has said.

“There is some time for the Parliament elections. Once the elections are near and seat adjustment has been figured out, you will get to know,” Mayawati told a news channel.

Asked whether the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was “frightened” with the likely alliance, she said it was obvious for them to be so.

“Communal forces of the BJP and the RSS will not like it when secular forces unite, organise and progress further,” said Mayawati who was in Karnataka to campaign for the Janata Dal-Secular for the May 12 Assembly elections.

Replying to a question, she said the BSP has never been, nor would be pressurised by parties like the BJP or Congress.

(IANS)

BJP loot in the name of fuel, collected taxes in crores: Rahul Gandhi

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New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the BJP government of “loot” in the name of “fuel” by collecting Rs ten lakh crore in taxes on petrol, LPG and diesel and not passing on the benefit of falling international crude price to the common people.

“The BJP government collected 10,00,000 crore in taxes on petrol/LPG/diesel since 2014. Yet, no relief in prices for our citizens,” he said in a tweet.

Gandhi shared a one minute forty two seconds long video on Twitter, saying “this video shows the truth about fuel prices under PM Modi”.

The video shows that “despite international crude oil prices dropping up to 67 per cent in four years of Modi government, petrol, diesel prices are skyrocketing”.

The Congress chief said that increasing prices of fuel were a symbol of the failure of the central government.

“The government that promised ‘Achhe Din’ is silent. Let’s rewind BJP’s stand on petrol-diesel prices. Increasing petrol prices are symbol of failure of central government. People are angry and it will have negative impact on other sectors.”

In the video, Rahul alleged that more than Rs 50,000 crore in taxes was collected every year but the government was not reducing the petrol prices.

“After coming to power, the Modi government has looted common people of Rs 10,00,000 crore by taxing gas, diesel and petrol. Since 2014, Modi government increased central tax on petrol by Rs 8.78 litre, diesel by Rs 10.37 litre.”

Gandhi’s video says that the people friendly Congress government in Karnataka has reduced state tax on petrol by Rs 3.11 litre, diesel by Rs 1.03 litre in the last five years.

“At least 18.11 crore LPG customers suffering under the greedy Modi government. Subsidized LPG cylinder Rs 491.35 in Delhi, Rs 427 in Bengaluru (due to reduced taxes in Karnataka). Non-subsidized LPG cylinder Rs 635.5 in Delhi, Rs 622.5 in Bengaluru (due to reduced taxes in Karnataka),” shows the video.

It further shows “BJP is cruel, they loot in the name of fuel”.

The Congress chief added that he would lead a protest against these prices in Kolar on Monday noon.

(IANS)

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