Gandhinagar: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday night demanded resignation of Congress veteran Ahmed Patel from the Rajya Sabha alleging his possible links to a suspected terrorist arrested earlier in the week from his home district of Bharuch. Ahmed Patel rubbished the charge.

Rupani, who also sought Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s clarification on the matter, was referring to Mohammed Qasim Stimberwala, one of the two alleged IS operatives arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad from Surat on Wednesday.

Stimberwala had resigned recently as an eco-cardiogram technician in the Sardar Patel Hospital and Heart Institute in Ankleshwar, which Patel had helped grow into a modern facility.

Patel was one of the trustees during the hospital’s formative years as a modern hospital and the only one in the entire Bharuch district with latest equipment and technology with facilities for heart surgery. He had resigned as a trustee in 2014 facilitating a new board of trustees to take over the facility.

The ATS, which picked up Stimberwala and Ubed Ahmed Mirza, claimed that they were planning to attack a Jewish synagogue in Khadia area of Ahmedabad and had even carried out reconnaissance of their target.

While Mirza was a practicing lawyer at the Surat district court, Stimberwala worked as a technician at the Ankleshwar hospital.

Rupani told reporters at the 9.30 p.m. press conference, which was delayed by more than three hours, that Stimberwala, caught by Intelligence Bureau and security agencies, was working at a Bharuch hospital where Patel had been a trustee and though resigning after UPA lost power, “still oversees in the working of the hospital”.

The hospital’s website has a list of eight trustees but Patel’s name does not figure in the list.

Rupani claimed that the “arrest of a person working in a hospital where Ahmed Patel was a patron gave rise to several questions as how did a terrorist get a job in a hospital having close links with Ahmed Patel? Who got him the job? Whether he was aware of their activities?”

“The questions arise because the terrorist had resigned or was to quit just two days ahead of his arrest. This arouses suspicion. We are not levying any allegations but we just want Patel and Congress to clarify. If people are convinced, then it is ok,” he said.

He went on to say that if the terrorists had not been caught, they would have carried out planned attacks on “Hindu religious heads and Jewish synagogue”. The ATS however has mentioned only a Jewish synagogue during its investigations and no Hindu religious heads, as Rupani alleged.

Ahmed Patel, in a series of tweets, said the allegations by the BJP were completely baseless.

“My party and I appreciate the ATS’s effort to nab the two terrorists. I demand strict and speedy action against them.

“We request that matters of national security should not be politicised keeping elections in mind,” he said and also urged: “Let’s not divide peace loving Gujaratis while fighting terrorism.”

One of the trustees, Jayesh Patel, clarified that Stimberwala had joined the hospital six months ago, after having worked with Wockhardt and a couple of other hospitals.

“He had resigned on October 4 and relieved on October 24 according to his service conditions. He had said that he was leaving due to a better opportunity,” he said.

(IANS)

New Delhi: In an indication that Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi’s much-expected elevation as party president may not take place before the Gujarat elections, the party on Friday said it has time till December 31 to complete the entire organisational election process and take a decision on the matter.

The party also said that Gandhi is not only capable of leading the Congress, but is also capable of leading the United Progressive Alliance and the country.

“The election process in the states is in advanced stage. We have to take a decision by the end of this year and we will do so at the appropriate time, and the election process will also be completed in due course,” said Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken.

“The deadline is till the end of this year,” he added on being asked why Gandhi was not being chosen as party president by October 31.

“We always believed that Rahul Gandhiji is our leader, he is our Vice President and he is capable of leading the Congress, the UPA and also leading the country,” said Maken.

“We have time till December 31 to complete the whole process and report it to the Election Commission. By that time the process will be over,” he added.

The Congress had earlier set a deadline to complete the organisational elections by the end of October.

(IANS)

On October 25, 2017, Mr Jayanna, 66 years old, the MLA of Kollegal was proceeding to attend the Diamond Jubilee celebration of Vidhana Soudha in the present of the President of India. Unfortunately, he fell in front of Vidhana Soudha and broke his right arm bone ( Humerus). This incident had happened at around 12noon. Immediately, he was rushed to HOSMAT Hospital. After necessary investigations. Mr Jayanna was taken up for the surgery.

On 26th October (today) Dr Thomas Chandy, Chief of Orthopaedic and Dr Ravishankar Senior Ortho Consultant, operated on him.

According to Dr Thomas Chandy Chief of Orthopaedic “. Mr Jayanna, underwent fixation of the broken (fractured) right arm bone (humerus) using 11 holed Plate and Screws. The surgery was done under Local Anaesthesia (Nerve Block). He returned to his room immediately after surgery. He is recovering in the room. He will be discharged in 2 days”.

New Delhi: A 30-year-old woman was shot dead in front of her husband and her two-year-old son in New Delhi Wednesday morning, police said. Priya Mehra, was travelling in a car along with her husband and son when she was shot at around 4.30 am in Shalimar Bagh in north-west Delhi, police said.

Her husband told the police he had borrowed money from someone and alleged that the lender was behind the killing as he was unable to pay the amount back.

He had borrowed Rs. 5 lakh in a high interest rate and as the debt grew into Rs. 40 lakh, he was finding it difficult to pay back.

“There were four assailants in a car, according to the deceased’s husband, and she was shot at twice,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Milind Mahadeo Dumbere said.

Mr Dumbere said no one has been arrested yet and the body has been sent to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital (BJRM) Hospital for autopsy.

The family was on the way to their house in Rohini from Kashmere Gate, when the woman was murdered.

(IANS)

Mumbai: A woman traveling in a local train in Mumbai filmed a man masturbating near her using her cellphone. Based on her video and security camera clips, the police arrested the man 24 hours later.

The woman filmed the 30-year-old man, identified as Krupa Patel, on Saturday. She was traveling in a compartment reserved for women.

“The accused, Krupa Patel, travelling in the adjoining coach unzipped his pant and indulged in an obscene act before the victim,” said a senior official with the railway police.

Multiple police teams were formed for the investigation, he said.

“After his identity was established, he was finally traced near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) station around 6 am today and arrested,” the official said yesterday.

The arrested man works as a daily wager and is from Odisha.

(Agencies)

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government’s attempt of online registration for loan waiver implementation has sent the authorities into a tizzy as names over 100 farmers have been found linked to a single Aadhaar number.

The state government had earlier stressed on online registration by farmers with their Aadhaar, which is a unique identification.

The government has said that the Aadhaar-based linking will avoid any duplication as well as fake accounts getting the benefit of the loan waiver.

A senior official from the Maharashtra cooperation department showed a list of potential beneficiaries of farmers having a common Aadhaar number, which has become a cause of concern for the government.

“We always thought that the Aadhaar number will be our key to check fake beneficiaries. Now, we don’t know how to address this challenge with so many farmers showing the same Aadhaar number. If we have to carry out a manual check, which will take weeks. The farming community is already agitated over the delay in implementation of the scheme,” the official said.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has called an urgent meeting with bankers today to address issues like this that crop up in the way of speedy implementation of the scheme.

Officials of some banks also admitted that the data they received from the online registration portal Aapale Sarkar – varies the data at their in their records.

The names of some farmers are missing and some do not match with the land size or type of loan.

“In many cases the principal amount and interest are not matching. It leads to suspicion. Unless the state officials have verified the account and its loan amount, we cannot consider that account for loan waiver,” a senior official of a leading public sector bank.

The state government had last week released a sum of Rs 4,000 crore under the first phase of the over Rs 34,000 crore farm loan waiver scheme.

Responding to the Opposition’s criticism against the online system of filling forms for availing the scheme, Fadnavis last week earlier said had that not been done, the banks would have mismanaged funds.

The Centre had earlier this year made Aadhaar mandatory for availing crop insurance policies.

As per the agriculture ministry’s directive, banks were asked to persuade farmers to furnish Aadhaar identification card at the time of sanction/renewal/ disbursement/inspection of the loan or on visit at bank branches.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday said the erstwhile Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan died a “historic death” fighting the British and called him a “pioneer” in the development of Mysore rockets in warfare.

“Tipu Sultan died a historic death fighting the British. He was also a pioneer in the development of Mysore rockets,” Kovind said addressing the legislators in the Karnataka assembly at a joint session to mark the diamond jubilee celebrations of Vidhan Soudha, the state legislative building.

Recalling the contributions of former Mysore and Karnataka rulers, soldier, politicians and scientists in the growth of the state and the country on the whole, the President spoke of Tipu, leading to a majority of the legislators breaking into loud applause.

The President’s words on Tipu Sultan come just few days after Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, had called Tipu a “brutal killer, wretched fanatic and mass rapist”, ahead of the state’s Tipu Jayanti celebrations to mark the erstwhile ruler’s birth anniversary on November 10.

The ruling Congress in the state began celebrating Tipu’s birth anniversary since 2015, which led to violent protests by the right-wing organisations in the Mysore region and other parts of the state. The BJP in the state has been opposing the celebrations calling Tipu “anti-Hindu and anti-Kannada”.

Known as the ‘Tiger of Mysore’, Tipu Sultan ruled the Mysore kingdom from 1782-1799 succeeding his father Haider Ali.

(IANS)