Evening NEWS
DIGEST
18 March. 2017: 18 Jamadiul Akhir 1438:Vol:8, No:144
Yogi Adityanath as UP CM: BJP chooses far-right leader for Sabka Saath,
Sabka Vikaas in UP
Lucknow: Mahant Yogi Adityanath, the lead priest of Shri Gorakhnath
Mandir, is the new CM of UP. Adityanath’s elevation came as a shock for
political pundits, considering his far-right ideological stance. By choosing
him for the top job, BJP top brass has seemingly endorsed his Hindutva brand of
politics. According to experts, Adityanath would fail to work upon the
guidelines of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas as promoted by PM Modi.“By appointing
Adityanath as CM, BJP would be misreading the mandate. The landslide verdict
which BJP won was due to the promise of vikaas. People did not voted for
Hindutva. By appointing Adityanath as the CM, I see BJP returning back to the
’90s,” veteran journalist Rajdeep Sardesai said on India Today.Apart from his
political clout in eastern UP, Adityanath also remained a popular personality
in western UP, where communal tensions continue to prevail post-Muzaffarnagar
riots. During his campaign for the initial phases of elections, Adityanath had
reiterated that “Kairana has turned into Kashmir”, with “Hindus being forced to
flee similar to Pandits of the Valley.”Accusing the Akhilesh Yadav-led govt of
providing refuge to Muslim rioters, Adityanath had said, “Why are there no
riots in eastern UP? And why there have been 450 riots in western UP? Because
this govt has empowered goons of a certain community.”Despite his massive
electoral appeal, Adityanath was expected to be trailing in the race till
earlier in the day. However, the tides seemingly changed after he flew to Delhi
on sudden notice in the afternoon, for a high-level meeting with BJP head Amit
Shah. Aggrieved by pary not paying heed to their demand, the Hindu Yuva Vahini,
Adityanath’s cultural outfit, had decided to contest elections from the
Poorvanchal belt in UP. However, Adityanath’s intervention compelled the Hindu
Yuva Vahini to back down from the electoral race.Appointing Adityanath as the
CM involved a number of risks for the saffron party. Apart from creating
anxiety among the state’s 19% Muslim population, BJP could also end up
disenchanting the right-leaning liberals who sided with BJP considering PM
Narendra Modi’s poll plank of vikaas. Secondly, Adityanath’s skill as an
administrator has not been put to a test.Third, Adityanath also remains an
unreliable personality, who could resort to arm-twisting tactics, as seen in
the manner Hindu Yuva Vahini was used before the elections. Fourth, the party
could face dissent from OBC and non-Jatav Dalits, who could resent with the
appointment of a hardline Brahim as CM. It could nullify the social engineering
undertaken by Amit Shah over the past couple of years to shed the
Brahmin-Baniya tag from BJP. India.com
UP's next CM Yogi, a mascot of unapologetic Hindutva
Yogi Adityanath to take oath as CM tomorrow with Keshav Maurya and
Dinesh Sharma as his deputies
BJP names controversial leader Yogi for UP CM post
BJP, RSS Tussle Behind Delay In Picking UP CM
Maurya, Adityanath’ supporters stage demonstration as BJP decides UP CM
Supporters of BJP leaders Keshav Prasad Maurya
and Yogi Adityanath were seen staging demonstration outside party headquarters
in Lucknow where top leadership will be meeting this evening to decide the new
CM of UP. Supporters of both leaders
want them to be made CM even as various sources say that Manoj Sinha is the
first choice for the post.indianexpress
Deprived minorities will see growth under new UP govt: Naqvi
New Delhi:The central and the state-level schemes “stuck” in UP will be revived and “deprived minorities”
will see growth, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said today. After the
meetings of the Governing Body and General Body of the Maulana Azad Education
Foundation, an autonomous non-profit minority welfare institution under
Minority Affairs ministry, he said that BJP does “empowerment and not
appeasement”. A BJP govt is set to take charge in UP after an impressive win in
the Assembly elections by the party, which had not given to any Muslim
candidate. “Socio-economic development schemes of both the state and the Centre
were not getting implemented. PM’s 15-point programme was virtually shut down
(in the state) which provides for roads, education infrastructure and jobs,”
Naqvi alleged.PTI
Trivendra Singh Rawat sworn in as Uttarakhand CM , 4 ex-Congressmen in
cabinet
RSS sanskar & Shah ties get Trivendra Rawat CM chair
Mamata on EVM tampering row: Election Commission must call an all-party
meeting
New Delhi:In the wake of allegations of rigging of EVMs in recently
concluded UP assembly election, West
Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has said that
the Election Commission should convene an all-party meeting to discuss the
matter. "Whether one would accept or not is absolutely their choice. But
the Election Commission may call an all-party meeting. Let the issue be
discussed", Mamata said.When asked whether she was in favour of an
investigation into the charges of tampering of EVMs, she said, "I have
seen the Election Commissioner's version that there is nothing. But I have also
gone through a video tape of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in which he says
these EVMs can be tampered with."Banerjee showed journalists footages of
Swamy's video in which he talked about the possibility of voting machines being
manipulated.In the video clips, Swamy is seen saying that EVMs were made in
Japan, but ballot papers were used even there during elections because the
machines could be rigged to favour a certain outcome.IndiaToday
BJP MLA in UP proposes to change Islamic learning centre Deoband’s name
to ‘ancient name Devvrad’
Saharanpur:Deoband, known across the world as a centre of Islamic
learning, will be renamed as Devvrad after the BJP govt assumes power in UP,
newly-elected local MLA Brajesh Singh said.Invoking Deoband’s association with
Mahabharat-era, Singh said his first proposal in the legislative assembly would
be for restoring the original name of the historical place. Singh’s assertion
has not gone down well with Opposition leaders who have rejected the
suggestion, even as right wing organisations like Bajrang Dal have supported
it.Ex-MLA Mavia Ali said it would have been better had Singh focused on working
for the development of Deoband and ensuring district status for it instead of
getting into issues that divide people. Deoband is one of the 5 constituencies
in Saharanpur district of North UP with a sizeable Muslim population. PTI
OTHERS
Blow to tribes, Dalits, backward castes as Govt cuts funding for social
discrimination research centres
New Delhi: Govt has decided to stop funding research centres on social
discrimination at several universities, prompting accusations of shielding the
"Brahminical social order"."It's ironic that these centres,
which research Dalits, BR Ambedkar's philosophy, social exclusion and inclusive
policies like reservation, are being closed down when the University Grants
Commission is funding courses on Vedic studies," said N. Sukumar, Ambedkar
scholar and teacher of political science in Delhi University.These
"centres for study of social exclusion and inclusive policy" had been
envisaged under the 11th 5-year plan (2007-12) and subsequently started at 35
central and state govt universities. The
decision to fund them is usually renewed from plan period to plan period.Now,
prodded by the govt, the regulator has written to some of these universities
that it would stop funding these centres once the 12th plan ends on March 31
this year."I am directed to inform you that UGC will not provide financial
support to the centre after the end of XIIth Plan as per the order received
from MHRD (ministry of human resource development)," says the order,
issued by UGC undersecretary Sushma Rathore. The Telegraph has seen a copy of
the order, dated March 6, that JNU received on Monday. Ministry and commission
officials said the letter had gone to many of these universities that have
these centres and have not upgraded them to departments, which are permanent
establishments that receive uninterrupted non-plan funds from the regulator.
"Further, UGC will not be liable to the scheme of Social Exclusion and
Inclusive Policy after the completion of XIIth Plan in any matter of
functioning of the Centre; No communication whatsoever will be entertained or
solicited by UGC," letter says. Commission chairman Ved Prakash was
evasive when this newspaper contacted him."The letter says only funding
under the plan will stop, not non-plan (funding)," Prakash said and hung
up. The centres researching social exclusion hardly receive non-plan funds.A
text message to HRD ministry spokesperson Ghanshyam Goel brought no
response.Rathore's letter has hung a cloud over the future of the MPhil and PhD
scholars enrolled in these centres and the professors who teach them.Pramod
Kumar, the JNU registrar, confirmed that these teachers' appointments would be
valid only till March 31."Many who were on lien have returned to the
centres they came from. The students will be transferred to other centres;
we'll request teachers of related subjects to take them in," he
said.Sukumar, the Delhi University teacher, said the latest order had targeted
the centres researching social exclusion because they "question the
hierarchical Brahminical social order, and UGC doesn't want such questions
raised".He said the regulator should have strengthened these centres by
providing additional funds to their host universities so they could convert
them into regular departments.Kancha Ilaiah, director of the centre researching
social exclusion at MANUU, Hyderabad, said he had not received a similar letter
from the regulator.Told about JNU, he criticised the regulator's decision. Ilaiah
said these centres study marginalised communities such as tribes, Dalits,
backward castes and minorities, creating databases with details of their
landholding patterns, livelihood, health, education and the like."These
are used to tell the State where exactly to invest for these communities' uplift.
The public perception of this govt will change if it closes these centres; it
will not send out a good signal," he said. telegraphindia
UGC Cuts Funding For Social Discrimination Research Centres Across
Country
UGC to stop funds to centres studying social discrimination
New Uniforms For Rajasthan Govt Schools Are Suspiciously Similar to RSS
Uniform
In Sept.2016, the BJP-led Rajasthan govt
decided to change the school uniform for govt schools, reportedly to
better represent ‘Indian culture’ and so that children attending these schools
do not feel inferior to children going to private schools. State school
education minister Vasudev Devnani had said at the time, “The existing uniform
has become synonymous with the poor state of affairs in the govt schools over the years. Now, govt schools are
fast changing, progressing and have superseded private schools in many ways.
The colourful new uniform will boost the confidence of our students”.The
decades-old blue shirt with khaki shorts and skirts uniform was set to be
changed to yellow and blue or white and grey from the next school session,
April 2017. However, it now appears that the uniform that has now been decided
upon is not as colourful as the children may have been led to hope.A five-member
committee had been created by the govt
to decide the new uniform. On Feb.17 PTI reported that the new uniform
that the Rajasthan govt had decided upon
were to be light brown in colour. On March 17, Hindustan Times reported that
the new uniform was inspired by the new RSS uniform introduced last year.
Devnani has said that the new uniform will be a light brown shirt or kurta
paired with a darker brown shade for shorts or skirts and salwars. The bottoms
will be the same colour as the RSS’s trousers.Incidentally, the RSS’s decision
to change it’s uniform from khaki shorts to trousers was made in March last
year.THE WIRE
Court lifts ban, JNU students can now protest at Freedom square
‘Freedom Square’, a popular protest site at JNU, will be open again for
students with the Delhi high court on Friday lifting its earlier order
restraining students from protesting within 100 metres of the admin block.“What
would be the purpose of the protest if it was not visible and was held at some remote
corner,” Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said as he allowed students to protest in the
front garden and pavement of the administrative block with the conditions that
the exit and entry routes to the building not be blocked and decibel levels are
kept low.While modifying its March 9 order, the court said it was looking to
protect bonafide students of JNU and stressed that no outside organisation or
association be allowed to dictate how the varsity or its students should
function.The court said a large number of student protests at varsity only
indicates that “there is something wrong somewhere”. It made the observation
after JNU said in the past nine months there have been 92 protests in the
campus and these were disrupting the functioning of the varsity.During the
hearing, the court asked whether the JNU has ever introspected as to why so
many protests, almost 10 every month, were being held there only and not in any
other university. HT
No more deprivation points: JNU will lose its essence, say students
New Delhi: JNU is set to lose the most unique feature of its admission
policy — the deprivation point model — with the Delhi High Court Thursday
asking it to follow the 2016 UGC guidelines “without any deviation”. JNU’s
“deprivation point model” facilitates entry of students, especially women, from
backward regions. UGC guidelines do not mention the model and have recommended
giving 100% weightage to viva-voce marks and making the entrance test the sole
qualifying criteria for MPhil/PhD admissions. As of now, JNU follows a 70:30
ratio for written test and viva marks. After protests by students alleging
discrimination at the viva level, the university decided to alter the ratio to
80:20. However, with deprivation points on the verge of being scrapped, current
students — who made it to the institution on the basis of such affirmative
actions — said JNU would lose its essence if the diverse mix of caste, class,
region and gender ceases to exist.Chitra Saini, who is doing her MPhil in West
Asian Studies, has benefitted from the deprivation points model, not once but
twice. Hailing from Churu in Rajasthan, and born into a lower middle class OBC
family which speaks Hindi at home, Saini was completely thrown off by the
English questions in her entrance exam when she applied for BA in 3 languages
in 2011.
BJP govt in Gujarat mulls life in jail for cow slaughter, beef
transportation: HT
Ahmedabad:Cow slaughter and transportation of beef in Gujarat may soon
attract life imprisonment as the BJP govt
is preparing to come out with possibly the harshest law in the country
to “protect” cattle.Though a bill to this effect is yet to be tabled in the
assembly, the issue has already become the central theme of CM Vijay Rupani’s public
speeches amid speculations that the party will push for an early state
election. Buoyed by the BJP’s landslide victory in UP, the party believes that
enacting a stricter cow protection law will help consolidate votes in the
elections to be held in the backdrop of Patidar agitations for reservation in
govt jobs and colleges.“We had fought a
case in the Supreme Court to bring a law in Gujarat to save cows. Now, we want
to make this law stricter. We will introduce a bill in the ongoing budget
session of the assembly,” Rupani had said on March 12 in Junagadh at a function
organised by Swaminarayan Sect.A significant number of Patidars, or Patels – a
crucial vote bank of the BJP – are followers of this religious sect.Sources say
that the new bill proposes life imprisonment and fine up to Rs 1 lakh for the
offence. Besides, the vehicle can be confiscated permanently. Offence is also
likely to be made cognizable and non-bailable
Cow, its urine and dung on Rajya Sabha discussion menu
New Delhi: Cows are the only animal that inhale as well as exhale
oxygen; ghee made of cow’s milk contains 47%
oxygen;and “gaumutra (cow’s urine)” in sugarcane field will ensure
longer, thicker and sweeter sugarcane and yield more sugar, BJP MPs said in the
Rajya Sabha on Friday.The remarks were made during a discussion on a
private-member resolution moved, and subsequently withdrawn, by DMK’s T Siva,
seeking steps for protection of indigenous cattle breed. B K Hariprasad of the
Congress, who supported the resolution, said there should not be any
discrimination against buffaloes or bulls. Minister of State for Parliamentary
Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the govt could keep in mind the suggestions
offered by Siva.In resolution, Siva sought amendment in Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals Act, 1960, to exempt bulls from application of provisions that
restrict their utility and training for various purposes. Siva also batted for
saving diesel by “replacing tractors with cattle for…ploughing and
transportation”. Nine of 10 MPs who spoke on the issue supported Siva’s resolution.
Jairam Ramesh opposed it, saying the resolution was aimed at Jallikattu more
than protecting the indigenous breed of cattle and promoting organic manure, as
was made out by the DMK member. Basavaraj Patil, BJP MP from Karnataka, said,
“Ghee made of cow’s milk has up to 47% oxygen. Cow is the only animal which
takes oxygen and gives back oxygen.”He claimed that if a cow carcass is buried,
its “chemical action” is worth fertilizer amounting to Rs 8,000. indianexpress
'Gandhiji was a Jihadi of a non-violent kind, inspired by Islam and
imbibed that in his satyagraha'
Bengaluru:“Mahatma Gandhi was a Jihadi of a non-violent kind. Jihad in
Islam means 'struggle with one's own conscience’. He was inspired by Islam and
imbibed that in his satyagraha,”said Gita Dharampal, from South Asia Institute.
Presenting a paper at The Energy Resources Institute, on ‘Gandhi and Islam’,
Gita explained his efforts to bring Hindu-Muslim unity. “I want this paper to
provide answers to present concerns. Right from the cold war, the bombing of
Iraq, Afghanistan, oil politics, bombing of twin towers was all part of power
politics; and less to do with Islamic radicalism,” she said. Gandhiji had 4
agendas in mind - Satyagraha, Hindu-Muslim unity, abolishing untouchability and
the Swadeshi movement. He supported the Khilafat movement, which pressured the
British to let the Ottomon Caliph retain his power.“The Ottomon empire was a
Muslim one. Fall of this meant a fall for Islam and Muslims comprise one-fourth
of India's population. He joined the Khilafat movement, initiated by Indian
Muslims, to bring Hindu-Muslim unity,” Gita said.She spoke about Gandhi
attempting to maintain harmony between the two religions, especially with
regard to cow, an animal considered sacred by most Hindus." One can't kill
a Muslim to save the cow. A Hindu must urge the Muslim brother to save the
cow," she said. However the British disturbed this harmony by painting the
Mughal era as 'dark ages'. Gita said what Gandhi propagated was more of
contemporary Islam that became part of his spiritual struggle against violence.
DECCAN CHRONICLE.
2 missing Nizamuddin clerics in custody of Pakistani intelligence
agencies over links with MQM: Report
New Delhi: 2 Muslim clerics from Delhi who went missing in Pakistan are
"in (the) custody of Pakistan's intelligence agencies, over their alleged
links with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Altaf
Hussain",reported PTI today, quoting unnamed official sources.Syed Asif
Nizami and his nephew Nazim Nizami, the 2 Sufi clerics from Delhi's Nizamuddin
Dargah, went to Pakistan on March 8. They reportedly went missing from Lahore
airport, from where they were scheduled to fly to Karachi, a few days
ago."The personnel of an intelligence took both the clerics into custody
after getting them offloaded and shifted them to an undisclosed location for
investigation," the sources told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
"They are being interrogated for their alleged links with Altaf's partymen
in Karachi," the sources said, adding they will be freed if nothing is
established against them.The news comes in a day after external affairs
minister Sushma Swaraj said Pakistan's spy agency ISI likely abducted the two
men. She said the Pakistani "hosts" of the khadims were "under
pressure not to speak to Indian High Commission". Hussain, the self-exiled
leader of the MQM, has been living in London for the ast 24 years.
"Critics accuse Hussain of being a terrorist and fanatic. He has used his
base in the UK to dial up and dial down street violence depending on political
necessity, they allege," wrote British paper The Guardian, last year.TOI
Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah clerics in custody of Pakistan’s intel agency,
taken to undisclosed location
No private airline is ready to take Haj pilgrims to Mecca: Piyush Goyal
on Air India
Speaking at the India Today Conclave 2017 in Mumbai, Piyush Goyal,
Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable
Energy and Mines said that every big country needs a national
carrier.Responding to a question regarding disinvestment of Air India, Goyal
said that Air India played a key role in bringing Indians who were stuck in
Yemen back to the country during Operation Rahat in 2015.Hinting that the
govt has no plan to sell the national
carrier, Goyal said none of the private airlines would agree to operate Haj
flights to take muslim pilgrims to Mecca.He also compared Haj flights by Air
India as an example of 'Sabka saath, sabka vikas'. Earlier, Minister of State
for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said in a written reply in Lok Sabha Sabha that
the govt is not considering inducting
banks as strategic investors in Air India or privatising the airline.Comptroller
and Auditor General of India in a report earlier this month said that Govt may need to reassess amount of bailout funds
given to Air India because the state-run carrier has breached loan limits set
under a govt restructuring plan, causing its finances to be squeezed.businesstoday
Waqf tribunal constituted to look into disputes: AAP tells Delhi HC
New Delhi:AAP govt on Friday
informed the Delhi High Court that it has constituted a tribunal to prosecute
all disputes in respect of waqf property and waqf issues. The submission was
made before a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice V K Rao, which was
hearing a plea seeking setting up of a tribunal. The petition has also sought a
direction to enforce eviction orders which have already passed and awaiting
enforcement for last many years regarding 990 waqf properties illegally
encroached upon in the national capital.Acting on the plea, the counsel for the
Delhi govt said that on March 15 a notification regarding constitution of a
3-member Delhi Waqf Tribunal was issued. “Delhi Waqf Tribunal for determination
of any dispute, question or other matter relating to a waqf or waqf property,
eviction of a tenant or determination of rights and obligations of the lessor
and the lessees of such property under the said Act has been constituted,” the
govt said.The bench, however, asked govt’s counsel to file by May 29 its
response explaining as to why no action was taken despite the eviction
order.PTI
Malegaon Blasts Case: Omission in 2011 order allowed Lt Col Purohit to
stay in hospital ward of prison
Mumbai: Special court hearing Malegaon 2008 blast case has ruled that an
omission made in a 2011 order changed its meaning and impact allowing accused
Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit to remain in a hospital ward of the jail till
date. The observation is in connection with an application made by co-accused
Ramesh Upadhyay claiming that the omission was part of an ‘intentional
collusion’ between Purohit and the court staff. Upadhyay has claimed that the
words ‘for a limited specific period’ were altered in a 2011 order passed by
the court which led to Purohit being lodged in the hospital ward not for a
temporary period as was intended but a permanent one. The court, however,
dismissed Upadhyay’s plea seeking criminal action against the court staff
instead stating that “effective action can be taken or inquiry can be made in
respect of alleged misconduct on administrative side”.Last month, after
Upadhyay’s plea, the court had directed Taloja jail authorities to submit the
copy they had received of the order of April 30, 2011 regarding Purohit’s
hospital ward stay. “It is clear from the said copy that while conveying the
order to the jail authority the words ‘for a limited specific period’ were
omitted as well as second paragraph of the order was also not conveyed to the
jail authority,” court has observed.indianexpress
Ajmer blast:Quantum of punishment likely on March 22
Jaipur:The special NIA court here is likely to pronounce the quantum of
sentence in the Ajmer Dargah bomb blast case on March 22 after it continued to
hear arguments on the sentencing of the two convicts. Defence counsel Jagdish
Rana said the magistrate deferred the verdict and posted the matter for
Wednesday. The court had on March 8 convicted Bhavesh Patel, Devendra Gupta and
Sunil Joshi and acquitted others including Swami Aseemanand. Joshi has already
died..PTI
Samjhauta Blast: NIA court summons 13 Pak witnesses
Chandigarh:Panchkula Special NIA court on Friday summoned 13 Pakistani
witnesses in the 2007 Samjhauta Express bomb blast case to appear in court from
July 4 to 7. The blasts had occurred near Dewana railway station in Panipat
district of Haryana, killing 68 people, mostly from Pakistan, and injuring 12
on the intervening night of Feb.18 and 19, 2007. Rajan Malhotra, NIA’s counsel,
confirmed that the NIA court has summoned 13 Pak nationals, who were either
travelling on the train that fateful day or are family members of the victims,
to appear in the case. indianexpress
Guard against majoritarianism, says President
New Delhi:President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said the country “must
always guard against majoritarianism” and India needed a strong Opposition
standing guard. The President cautioned against over-centralisation of power,
and said a diverse country like India was best served by a parliamentary, and
not a presidential, system of governance where power is delegated. He asked
scholars and political scientists to analyse the consequences and long-term
implications of moving away from the classic tenets of a parliamentary
system.The President, speaking at an event in Mumbai, left people in little
doubt that his comments were in the context of BJP winning in UP and other
states, and PM Narendra Modi emerging as
the country’s most popular leader. Mukherjee said he was “extremely happy” to
hear Modi speak about the need for humility in the aftermath of his party’s
victory in the recent elections, where the PM said while elections are
determined on the basis of “bahumat”, or majority, the states will be governed
on the principle of “sarvamat”, or consensus. businessstandard
Hindu fundamentalism more threatening than Islamic terrorism: Guha
New Delhi:Describing BJP president Amit Shah and SP leader Azam Khan as
the most "dangerous politicians in the country," historian and author
Ramachandra Guha has cautioned that India needs to be vigilant against rising
Hindu nationalism. Speaking at the opening session of 5-day literary festival
'Spring Fever' late on Tuesday here, Guha said the country has witnessed rise
in Hindu nationalism post Partition and during Ram Janmabhoomi
movement."Rising of Hindu nationalism in the country is not new. It
happened immediately after Partition and during Ram Janmabhoomi movement, and
both were orchestrated by the RSS. It has severely affected the secular,
cultural and political fabric of the country, and I hope that the situation
shouldn't escalate to that level," said Guha.Guha also noted that Hindu
fundamentalism is more threatening than Islamic terrorism in India. "The
reason is within India, Hindus are 85 . I am terrified at the thought of Hindu
majoritarianism, because that is what we were not," said Guha, adding that
Islamic terrorism is a dangerous phenomenon in the global scenario.He said that
in the current context, however, Hindu fundamentalism was confined to a few
states.IANS
Centre should make law for construction of Ram Temple: VHP
Ranchi:A VHP leader on Friday said the Centre make a law for the
construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. “Hindu Samaj will not accept any more
delay in the construction of Ram Temple. Centre should make a law for its
construction,” VHP’s International Joint General Secretary Surendra Kumar Jain
told a press conference here. Ram Temple is the country’s “symbol of pride and
self-respect”, Jain said and claimed that ‘Jan Jagaran (awareness of people)
would start from March 28 to April 10 across the country and under the
programme meetings would be held in all the blocks of the country with active
participation of five crore people.PTI
Bombay HC seeks details of Bilkis Bano gangrape convicts from CBI
Bombay High Court has asked CBI to submit details of all the convicts in
the 2002 Bilkis Bano gangrape case related to the sentence prescribed to them
and the period they have spent in jail so far. A division bench of Justices V K
Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar had last year reserved its judgement on the
appeals filed by 11 persons convicted in the case and also the appeal filed by
the central agency seeking death penalty for three of them.The bench asked CBI
counsel Hiten Venegaonkar to submit the details of convicts, the sentence
awarded to them and the period they have spent in jail so far. “We want the
exact time period they (convicts) have already spent in jail pending trial and
till date,” the bench said.PTI
MP: Communal campaign on social media lands Nitesh Verma in jail for 3
years
Bhopal:In a first of its kind verdict, a Khandwa district court in
Madhya Pradesh has sentenced one person for 3 years in prison for inciting
communal violence on social media. The accused identified as Nitesh Verma has
also been fined Rs 2100.The incident was first reported three years ago when
the city started witnessing communal clashes after a derogatory post hurting
religious sentiments of the minority community went viral on social media. The
derogatory post was made from an account that featured the name of BJP leader
Amar Yadav who was also the chairman of the Khandwa Municipal Corporation at
that time.After violence erupted in the city Amar Yadav complained to the
police saying someone had created a fake Facebook account in his name and used
his picture before posting the derogatory comments and pictures.IT cell of the
Khandwa police investigated Yadav's complaint and reached Nitesh Verma through
the IP address of the computer that was used for creating the social media profile
through which the derogatory comments were made. indiatoday
UP: A Bulandshahr village tense after bid to hoist BJP flag on mosque
Meerut: Tension rose in a Bulandshahr village in UP after a group of men
who were celebrating BJP's victory in the state elections allegedly tried to
hoist the party flag on the roof of a local mosque on Wednesday night. Police
and PAC personnel have been deployed in the area; senior officials are
monitoring the situation.The incident took place at Chachrai village in
Jehangirabad block of Bulandshahr. Village has a population of 2,000 with
Hindus and Muslims in equal number. Mohsin Ahmad, a villager who was present
during the incident, told TOI,"It was around 9.30pm when a procession of
men with tilaks on their foreheads passed through the area beating on drums
celebrating BJP's win. A few of them stood in front of the gate of the mosque
and then began hoisting the flag on the roof of the mosque. Some of us objected
to this, which led to an altercation." timesofindia
Cops ‘beat’ Dalit to death for applying Holi colours on upper caste in
Jharkhand
Dhanbad:A 52-year old Dalit man was allegedly beaten to death by the
police for throwing coloured powder on an upper caste on Holi in Jharkhand’
Koderma district, victim’s widow said.The family of victim Pradeep Choudhary
said that the deceased, along with other villagers, had sprinkled abir
(coloured powder) on a local chowkidar Rajendra Yadav as a gesture of goodwill
on Holi.However, Yadav took exception to the action and called upon police to
teach the group a lesson. “Police started beating up Pradeep till he fell
unconscious. They then took him to the police station,” Pradeep’s widow Jashwa
Devi said.Jashwa claimed that she along with her brother rushed to the Satbarwa
police station but officials did not allow them to see Pradeep and instead
abused them over their caste.Jashwa said police eventually dropped Pradeep home
the next morning.HT
Muzaffarnagar riot victims attacked for objecting to harassment
Muzaffarnagar:6 Muzaffarnagar riot victims, two of them women, suffered
injuries after they objected to the alleged sexual harassment of some girls by
a group of youths who pelted stones at them at Palda village in the district.Police
said a complaint has been lodged against a dozen people. Two of them have been
identified as Gulab and Naeem, who are currently absconding.According to the
complaint lodged by one Iqbal, the youths were harassing some girls at Palda
village where the victims of the riots had been rehabilitated in 2013. When
they raised objections to the youths, they were pelted with stones and suffered
injuries.The injured persons, including two women, were shifted to hospital.PTI
Man kills sister in Odisha to appease Goddess Kali
Bhubaneswar: Murder stemming from superstition reared its ugly head
again in Odisha. Close on heels of recent murder of a girl during practice of
witchcraft at Jharsuguda, a man allegedly hacked his sister to death in
Balangir district on Wednesday to appease a village goddess.Police arrested the
accused Tripura Mallick, 47, from his house at Dangaghata under Balangir Sadar
police limits. "We are verifying the superstition angle behind the murder.
Neighbours claimed Mallick killed his sister to appease Goddess Kali. We seized
the sword using which he killed his 34-year-old sister Ranga Mallick," SP
(Balangir) Ashish Kumar Singh told TOI. TOI
Delhi blasts convict moves HC for quashing of money laundering case
New Delhi:Tariq Ahmed Dar, who was convicted in the 2005 Diwali-eve
serial blasts in New Delhi that had claimed 67 lives, on Friday moved the Delhi
High Court seeking quashing of a money laundering case against him. Justice SP
Garg issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and asked it to file a
response on Dar’s plea, who was recently granted bail by the trial court in the
same case. The trial court had allowed Dar’s bail plea noting that he was in
custody in the money laundering case for over 5 years which was 70% of the
maximum sentence of 7 years for the offence.The convict has urged the court
that unless he is found to have committed scheduled offence, he cannot be
prosecuted.PTI
Bengaluru terror case: ATS arrests Habib Miya in Tripura:
New Delhi: Gujarat ATS on Friday picked up a suspect from Tripura in
connection with the 2005 terror attack at Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of
Science (IISc). ATS identified the terror suspect as Habib Miya. A retired
professor was killed and four others were seriously injured in the attack.Eyewitness
accounts claimed that it was carried out by a lone gunman, who used an AK-47
and hand grenades. He was driven away in a white ambassador after the attack,
according to eyewitnesses. All metropolitan cities in southern states have been
put on high alert in the aftermath of the attack. indianexpress
NIA to chargesheet 8 from Kerala, TN for ‘IS terror plot’
1 million sign petition by RSS-backed body against triple talaq
New Delh: At least 1 million Muslims across India have reportedly signed
a petition to end the controversial practice of triple talaq. Reports say that
these include women in majority, who have signed the petition against the
divorce practice. In the past few months, many voices have come out against the
triple talaq issue. The petition has been floated by Muslim body Muslim
Rashtriya Manch (MRM) affiliated with RSS, say reports. The body has also
called for a national debate on triple talaq.“This is a problem of the
community and the stakeholders within the community as well as the
representatives from the state and the govt must come and sit together to start
a debate on this so that Muslim women can claim a human status,” body was
quoted as saying by Mail Today.india.com
Violent protests not terror, use least harmful measures: Israeli
counter-terror expert
New Delhi: A leading Israeli counter-terror expert has warned against
confusing violent protests with terrorism, and advocated the use of “least
harmful measures” to contain such agitations, including in J&K. Otherwise,
Prof Boaz Ganor said, there is a danger of the protesters being radicalised and
turning to terrorism. Ganor, who heads counter-terror studies at the IDC
college in Israel, also described surgical strikes as a “wise” option against
terrorism and cautioned that the next big security challenge for India would
emanate from the proponents of “global jihad”, especially Islamic State and
al-Qaeda.Without naming Pakistan, Ganor further said that Israel can learn from
India on fighting terror because this country has for years experienced
“organised terrorism” that is mostly “state sponsored”.Asked about the use of
pellet guns on protesters in J&K, Ganor said, “As a counter-terror expert,
I don’t see violent protest as terrorism. One needs to use all possible
measures to prevent violent protests… hopefully, with little damage, injuries
or killing. One reason is you don’t want to kill and secondly and importantly,
you will end up radicalising protesters using harsh measures and some of them
might turn to terrorism, which you don’t want. You need to use the least
harmful measures for those violent protests.”Asked about surgical strikes, like
the one carried out by the Indian Army across the LoC last September on
terrorist launch pads, as a viable counter-terror measure, Ganor said, “I think
surgical strikes are crucial… as effective counter-operational capability to
fight them. If need be, to kill them, destroy their camps. Hard power is
important.”Ganor, who is in Delhi to attend a counter-terror conference, said,
“Most terrorist organisations are embedded in society and they know that if
states go after them, there will be collateral damage…(But) surgical strike
also means wise strike, it doesn’t mean bombarding civilian areas, it means
pinpointed strike. Collateral damage is counter productive, it creates more
hatred and unites people to join militant groups against the states.”According
to Ganor, the next challenge for India, which is situated at the centre of the
Indian Ocean rim and is a mixture of cultures and religions, will come from
“global jihad”, especially Islamic State and al-Qaeda.With IS losing ground in
Syria and Iraq, the threat for India and its neighbouring countries has gone
up,said Ganor.Indian Express
Pak move to declare Gilgit-Baltistan as 5th state not acceptable:
Kashmiri separatist leaders
Srinagar;Any move by Pakistan to declare Gilgit-Baltistan as its fifth
province will not be acceptable, Kashmiri separatist leaders said today. In a
joint statement Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik said
J&K is a long-standing issue in the international forum, and the world
community has agreed to decide its political destiny through resolutions
acknowledged by the UN.“Unless and until the people of J&K are provided an opportunity to decide the
future course of the state through referendum, no division, alteration and
changes are acceptable,” they said.Rejecting any idea of merger of any part or
division of J&K to India or
Pakistan, they said “both India and Pakistan have no authority to alter the
geographical status of the state.”PTI
Why spend public money on providing police protection to politicians:
Bombay HC
Mumbai:There is no need for the state
govt to spend public funds on providing
police protection to political leaders because their parties are perfectly
capable of taking care of them, the Bombay high court said.“Why is the
taxpayer’s money being spent on former members of the legislature and their
relatives?” asked a division bench comprising chief justice Manjula Chellur and
justice Girish Kulkarni. Hindustantimes
Security at Taj Mahal stepped up after reports of possible terror
attack: ndtv
Agra blasts: Twin low-intensity explosions near Cantt railway station,
no injuries reported
60% of engineering graduates unemployed
Jat stir: Sec 144 imposed, internet services suspended in Haryana
WORLD
UN official resigns over Israel apartheid report
The head of the UN' West Asia commission, Rima Khalaf, has resigned over
what she described as the pressure to withdraw a report that was critical of
Israel.The report accused Israel of imposing an apartheid regime on
Palestinians. Lebanon-based Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA),
which comprises 18 Arab states, published the report on Wednesday and said it
was the first time a UN body had clearly made the charge. "It was expected
that Israel and its allies will exercise pressure on the UN secretary-general
to distance himself from the report and that they will ask him to withdraw
it," Khalaf said in Beirut on Friday. aljazeera
Death toll rises after US airstrike in Syrian mosque: observer groups
US warplanes struck a mosque compound in northwestern Syria Thursday,
killing dozens of people, observer groups and eyewitnesses said today.US
military officials confirmed the airstrike but said the target was a large
gathering of al-Qaeda militants meeting in a building that they said was across
the street from the mosque.At least 49 people were killed and more than 100
injured in the attack in the rebel-held village of al-Jina in Aleppo’s
countryside, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.The
targeted building was a center for Islam lectures that belongs to the mosque
and is part of the same compound, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and
eyewitnesses said. “If fighters were among those killed, they were attending a
religious lecture, not fighting or preparing to fight,” Rami Abdulrahman,
director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told ABC News.ABC News
Airstrike on Syrian mosque is war crime: Turkish Dy PM
Turkey's Deputy PM Numan
Kurtulmuş condemned the bombing of a mosque in northern Syria as a “war
crime”.An airstrike on a mosque in the village of Al-Jina, located west of
Aleppo city towards the border with Idlib province, killed 58 people at night
of March 16.“This is a crime against humanity, this is a war crime,” Kurtulmuş
said. Anadolu Agency
Moscow says US behind Syria mosque attack, not Russia
Syria: Rebels leave Al Waer district under evacuation deal
Scores of rebel fighters and their families have begun leaving the last
opposition-held area in the Syrian city of Homs, state media and witnesses say,
under an evacuation deal with the govt
expected to be among the largest of its kind.By midday around 100
fighters and their families had left the city, once known as the epicenter of
the 2011 uprising against President Bashar Assad. They were bound for a town on
the Turkish border after the latest in a series of local agreements in which
opposition fighters have relocated to the rebel-held north after months or
years under siege in the country's major cities. Green govt buses ferried the
fighters, who were carrying assault rifles, and their families from the
northern Al Waer neighborhood to Homs' western entrance, where they disembarked
and had some of their bags searched under the supervision of Syrian and Russian
military police. aljazeera
29 killed in pro-Houthi strike on mosque in Yemen
About 29 pro-govt soldiers were killed and 89 others injured when
missiles fired by Shiite Houthi gunmen struck a mosque in Yemen's northern
province of Marib on Friday, a military official told Xinhua.According to local
official, pro-Houthi forces fired ballistic missiles and struck the mosque
inside a military base of the Saudi-backed Yemeni govt forces in Marib. IANS
Iran pilgrims to join this year’s hajj: Saudi
Compiled and edited by Anwarulhaq (Released at: 2:35 PM)
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