WELLINGTON: New Zealand on Monday agreed to repatriate an alleged Islamic State militant and her two young children, who have been detained in Turkey since February.
The decision follows a bitter dispute with Australia over which country needed to shoulder responsibility for the woman, who had been a dual citizen of both countries until Australia stripped her citizenship under its anti-terrorism laws.
The woman and her children were arrested when they tried to illegally cross from Syria into Turkey, according to Turkey’s Defense Ministry. Turkey identified her only by her initials, S.A., while New Zealand media say she is Suhayra Aden, who was 26 at the time of her arrest.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said New Zealand had taken into account its international responsibilities and could not remove citizenship from anybody if it left them stateless.
“I made very strong representations to Australia that she should be permitted to return there. Her family moved to Australia when she was 6 and she grew up there before departing for Syria in 2014 on an Australian passport,” Ardern said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Australia would not reverse the cancellation of citizenship.”
Australian Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said the woman lost her citizenship as a result of her own actions, and that ending citizenship for dual nationals engaged in terrorist conduct was an integral part of Australia’s response to terrorist threats.
“The government’s first priority is always to protect the Australian community,” Andrews said in a statement.
Ardern said the safety and wellbeing of New Zealanders was the government’s paramount concern. She said there had been extensive planning with the police and other agencies.
“I can assure people great care is being taken as to how the woman and her young children are returned to New Zealand and how they will be managed in a way that minimizes any risk for New Zealanders,” Ardern said.
Authorities declined to say when the family would be repatriated, citing legal and security concerns.
Ardern said anybody suspected of being associated with a terrorist group should expect to be investigated under New Zealand laws, although the case remained a matter for the police.
New Zealand police confirmed an investigation was underway but declined further comment on whether the woman would face any criminal charges.
Rajya Sabha adjourned till 12 noon, Lok Sabha till 2 PM
NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha proceedings were on Monday adjourned for almost an hour after opposition parties continued their protests over various issues including snoop gate and farm laws.
Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said members are being prevented from raising issues of public importance.
“We are becoming helpless day by day,” he said before adjourning the proceedings till 12 noon.
The Lok Sabha also witnessed disruptions by opposition members and was adjourned till 2 PM. The House ran for nearly 30 minutes taking up some questions during the Question Hour when Speaker Om Birla adjourned the proceedings till 2 PM amid continuous din.
Soon after the Upper House paid glowing tributes to the martyrs of the Kargil war and congratulated Mirabai Chanu for winning a silver medal in Tokyo Olympics, slogan-shouting opposition members trooped into the well of the House.
Amid a din, Naidu said he has not allowed notices under rule 267 by opposition leaders including from Mallikarjun Kharge and K C Venugopal (both Congress), Tiruchi Siva (DMK), TMC’s Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Elamaram Kareen (CPI) and others as the issues they want to raise are being discussed in the normal course of time.
Rule 267 provides for setting aside of the business of the day to take up discussion on the issue being sought to be raised.
Naidu did not mention the issues the MPs wanted to raise under rule 267.
He said important public interest issues have been allowed to be raised through zero hour and special mention but “the house is not able to perform its duty. Members they are denied an opportunity.”
“We are becoming helpless day by day,” he said.
Since the start of the monsoon session of Parliament last week, zero-hour mentions which members could not raise because of disruption pertained to wide-ranging issues including Covid vaccine, need for time-bound completion of Covid vaccination, unemployment due to the pandemic, problems of students availing higher education, hike in petroleum product prices, freedom of the press, killings of Indians in South Africa and sharing of Cauvery waters between states.
“All these important issues could not be discussed because of this situation,” he said, referring to the disruption being caused by the opposition MPs.
“We are becoming helpless. People should know what are the important issues admitted, members were present, they want to speak but they were not permitted by few.”
Soon after he adjourned the proceedings till 12 noon.
Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls: Samajwadi Party to hold series of meeting to woo Brahmins
LUCKNOW: With an eye on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the Samajwadi Party will be holding a series of meeting of intellectuals as part of its Brahmin outreach programme. The BSP has already started a series of ‘prabuddh sammelans’ (intellectual meets) under the leadership of its Brahmin face and party general secretary Satish Chandra Misra from Ayodhya.
Unlike the BSP, SP Prabudh Sabha had been working with the people since the past one year. The Parshuram peeth led by former party MLA Santosh Pandey had also expressed the desire to hold such meetings and the party president has given a go ahead, Chaudhary said.
There is a lot of anger among the people over the continued “harassment” of Brahmins and others and also alleged atrocities during the BJP government, he said, adding that the people will be made aware that they will get justice only under the SP led government in the state.
Senior Brahmin leaders including former speaker of the state Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey, president of the intellectuals cell Manoj Pandey, Sanatan Pandey and others will be chalking out the party’s strategy on these sammelans.
The leaders will also be launching tours and conferences in different parts of the state to connect with the upper castes before the coming elections and apprise people of the works done by the party during the government led by it .
Earlier, BSP chief Mayawati had announced a campaign from Ayodhya to reach out to Brahmin voters and urge the community not to be “misled” by the BJP. Mayawati had claimed that the people from the “upper castes” were repenting voting for the BJP in the last state elections and said their interests will be safeguarded if her party comes to power.
Karnataka reports 1,001 Covid infections, daily case fatality rate goes up
BENGALURU: Karnataka on Sunday reported 1,001 new Covid-19 infections and 22 new deaths, and compared to the previous day, the Covid-19 Case Fatality Rate (CFR) for the day increased from 1.56 per cent to 2.19 per cent.
In the state, Haveri and Bagalkote have the highest CFR with 19.23% and 19.05% respectively, in the last seven days. Meanwhile, the day-wise positivity rate decreased from 1.21 per cent to 0.68 per cent. This took the total tally to 28,94,557 and 36,374, respectively.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru reported 165 cases and 3 deaths. There were 1,465 discharges in the state and 293 in the capital, which took Karnataka’s total recoveries to 28,34,741. Active cases in the state stand at 23,419, which includes 8,215 cases in Bengaluru. The total Covid tests done in the day were 1,46,988.
Country saw 4.2 lakh Covid deaths till July 25: Centre
HYDERABAD: The number of Covid-19 deaths in the country as of Sunday was 4,20,551, as per the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The data used for the study was obtained from the Civil Registration System (CRS), the Health Management Information System of the Mo-HFW and a nationally representative survey that was undertaken for the study by CVoter, an organisation that is known for its polling surveys. Nearly 1.4 lakh people participated in the survey. As per the pre-print paper, the researchers took the help of journalists and NGOs to obtain the CRS data from the government, as it is still not available in the public domain.
COVID-19 India Update:India adds 39,361 fresh cases, 416 deaths
NEW DELHI: With 39,361 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 3,14,11,262, while the daily positivity was recorded above three per cent after 35 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.
The COVID-19 death toll climbed to 4,20,967 with 416 fresh fatalities.
The active cases have increased to 4,11,189 and comprise 1.31 per cent of the total infections.
The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.35 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.
An increase of 2,977 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
As many as 11,54,444 tests were conducted on Sunday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 45,74,44,011.
The daily positivity rate has increased to 3.41 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.31 per cent, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,05, 79,106 while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, the data stated.
Cumulative vaccine doses administered so far has reached 43.51 crore under the nationwide vaccination drive.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.
It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.
The 416 new fatalities include 123 from Maharashtra, 67 from Odisha and 66 from Kerala.
A total of 4,20,967 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,31,552 from Maharashtra, 36,374 from Karnataka, 33,911 from Tamil Nadu, 25,043 from Delhi, 22,750 from Uttar Pradesh and 18,073 from West Bengal.
Rahul Gandhi drives tractor to Parliament, says ‘brought farmers’ message’
NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday drove a tractor to reach Parliament in protest against the three farm laws.
“As per the government, farmers are very happy and those (protesting farmers) sitting outside are terrorists. But in reality, farmers’ rights are being snatched away,” he added.
Gandhi was accompanied by Congress MPs, who raised slogans against the farm laws and the Centre.
Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 last year against the three newly enacted farm laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.Farmer leaders and the Centre have held several rounds of talks but the impasse remains.
On Sunday, while calling the farmers of Jind (Haryana) revolutionaries, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait had hailed the decision of carrying out a tractor parade in protest against the Centre’s farm laws on Independence Day.Addressing media near a protest site in Delhi, Tikait had said carrying out a tractor rally is not a ‘bad thing’, and driving tractors with a national flag increases the spirit of nationalism in people. On Thursday, several Congress leaders, including former party president Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest against the Centre’s farm laws in front of the Gandhi statue in the Parliament premises.Congress also held protest marches in different states seeking a Supreme Court-monitored probe into allegations of surveillance using Pegasus spyware.
BS Yediyurappa breaks down after resigning as Karnataka CM
BENGALURU: Karnataka’s Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday announced his resignation at the end of his speech at the celebrations of his government completing two years of governance. A teary-eyed BS Yediyurappa said he would submit his resignation to Governor Tawarchand Gehlot post-lunch.
“With your permission, I have decided that post-lunch I will go to Raj Bhavan and submit resignation as Karnataka’s Chief Minister. I am not sad. I am happy that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and JP Nadda gave BS Yediyurappa additional two years despite breaching the 75-year-old cap. Words are not enough to thank them. I appeal that all of us should work together to build the party,” BS Yediyurappa said announcing his resignation from the dais.
Soon after he visited the Raj Bhavan to submit his resignation. Yediyurappa has been asked to continue as caretaker CM until the BJP’s parliamentary committee takes a call on the next Chief Minister. Speaking to the media after submitting his resignation, BS Yediyurappa said his resignation was voluntary and nobody has coerced him to step down.
BS Yediyurappa made a fiery yet emotional speech at the event celebrating his government’s 2nd anniversary. “At a time when there were no cars, I remember cycling to places to work for the party. We built the party when there was no one to do it,” he recalled
“It has been an honour to have served the state for the past two years. I have decided to resign as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. I am humbled and sincerely thank the people of the state for giving me the opportunity to serve them,” BS Yediyurappa tweeted after submitting his resignation to the Governor.
Tokyo Olympics: Mirabai Chanu wins silver in Weightlifting Women’s 49kg category
Tokyo: Mirabai Chanu ended India’s 21-year wait for a weightlifting medal at the Olympics by clinching a silver medal in the 49kg category to open the country’s account here on Saturday.
The 26-year-old lifted a total of 202kg (87kg+115kg) to better Karnam Malleswari’s bronze in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. With this, she exorcised the ghosts of the 2016 Games where she had failed to log a single legitimate lift.
The gold went to China’s Hou Zhihui with an effort of 210kg (94kg+116kg) , while Aisah Windy Cantika of Indonesia took home the bronze with an effort of 194kg (84kg+110kg).
Considered her weakness in the run up to the marquee event, Chanu attempted 84kg in her first snatch attempt. The Manipuri took her time and cleanly heaved the barbell.
She lifted 87kg in her next attempt and raised the weight to 89kg, which was one 1kg more than her personal best of 88kg that she had lifted at the national championship last year.
However, she was unable to better her personal best and settled for 87kg in the snatch event only behind leader Zhihui, who created a new Olympic record with an effort of 94kg.
The Chinese lifter also holds the world mark (96kg) in the category. In the clean jerk, Chanu, the world record holder in the section, lifted 110kg and 115kg in the first two attempts.
However, she was unable to raise 117kg in her final attempt but it was enough to fetch her a medal and open India’s account. The diminutive Mannipuri broke down after realising that she has secured a medal and hugged her coach in jubiliation.
She later broke into a dance too to celebrate the historic podium finish.
Tokyo Olympics: Sensational Saurabh fires his way into finals as topper, Abhishek Verma misses out
Tokyo: The sensational Saurabh Chaudhary fired his way into the finals of the men’s 10m air pistol event by topping the qualifications with a mind-blowing performance in the Tokyo Olympics here on Saturday.
Abhishek Verma, the other Indian in the fray, was also in contention to make the cut after staging an excellent rally, but two eights in the final series dashed his hopes. He finished 17th with 575.
Appearing in his maiden Olympics, wunderkind Chaudhary shot a total of 586 in the qualifications, including a perfect 100 in the fourth series following back-to-back 98, to march his way into the eight-man summit showdown, which comprises a world-class field.
Even as Chaudhary went about his task in his typical composed manner, his roommate and friend Verma, battled hard at the Akasa Range.
Chaudhary, an Asian Games and Youth Olympics gold medallist, started in an excellent fashion, shooting 10 out of 10 before slipping in the second part of the first series.
The 19-year-old multiple World Cup gold-medallist then rallied from the 19th place, in a field of 36, to inch closer to the top eight qualifying spots.
Once inside the safe zone, Chaudhary continued to sizzle and scored a perfect 100 with a 10 out of 10 after back-to-back 98s, making his way up to the top of the highly competitive field comprising multiple world and Olympic champions in Chinese shooters Pang Wei, Zhang Bowen and Serbian Damir Mikec.
Korean legend and four-time Olympic champion Jin Jin Jongoh could not make the finals.
Verma started with a 94 and and after being behind, got his act together and continued his march up the leaderboard until two 8s and as many 9s in the last series did him in.
In the 10m air pistol qualification, each shooter fires six series of 10 shots each with the top eight qualifying based on cumulative scores.
Chaudhary and Verma have been by far the two best air pistol shooters in the world over the past three years, with both taking turns to be world number one.
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