Evening NEWS
DIGEST
6
Nov.2017: 16 Safar 1439:Vol:9, No:40
INDIA: Biggest data leak of
corporates in global secret tax havens
Paradise Papers: MoS Jayant Sinha, BJP MP RK
Sinha among over 700 Indians Identified in Global Investigation on Offshore
Dealings
New Delhi: A new international journalistic
investigation based on data leaks from Bermuda and Singapore based firms has
named and identified the secret offshore dealings of over 700 Indians,
including politicians Jayant Sinha (MoS, civil aviation ministry) and BJP Rajya
Sabha MP Ravindra Kishore Sinha, Bollywood personalities Amitabh Bachchan and
Dilnashin Dutt (Sanjay Dutt’s wife) and industrialists such as Vijay
Mallya.This investigation involving the scrutiny of over 13.4 million tax
documents from Bermuda’s Appleby and Singapore’s Asiaciti by nearly 100 media
groups was launched on the basis of a leak from an anonymous source to the
German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and was shared globally by the International
Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The organisation in India responsible
for the local-leg of reporting is the Indian Express.While the India portion
identifies a number of individuals and Indian corporates, the documents
themselves do not as yet point to any evidence of wrongdoing or
illegality.Crucially, this time around, when compared to the earlier Panama
Papers leak, a number of Indian companies also figure in the documents.
According to Indian Express, these “include firms in the Sun-TV-Aircel-Maxis
case; Essar-Loop 2G case; SNC-Lavalin in which Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan was named, then cleared; the
Rajasthan ambulance scam which has recently been routed to CBI and which names
a company called Ziquista Healthcare (Sachin Pilot and Karti Chidambaram were
early Honorary/Independent Directors of the firm respectively)”.Appleby’s
second-largest client internationally interestingly is an Indian company called
the Sun Group, founded by Nand Lal Khemka; the group has as many as 118
different offshore entities.In the Paradise Papers, the leaks come mostly from
offshore service providers like Appleby. As the Indian Express puts, Appleby
helps out with “offshore legal, fiduciary and administration services for
facilitating tax avoidance to concealing identity of beneficial owners;
round-tripping of funds and raising capital across numerous jurisdictions
including Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Isle of
Man, Mauritius and Seychelles”.Therefore, while wrong-doing or illegality
cannot be assumed it provides an interesting window into how Indian firms use
offshore havens to route money and carry out transactions.Take the case of the
Jindal Stainless Group. Indian Express reports that when a law firm approached
Appleby in 2013 to appoint two nominee directors on two Mauritius-based
companies of the Jindal Stainless Group (Jargo Investments and Vasava
Investments), the offshore service provider “decided against going ahead with
the appointments”.The reason? The “compliance manager of Appleby raised a red
flag that since the beneficial owner (Abhyuday Jindal) was of Indian
nationality and investments were being made in India, there is the risk of
‘round tripping'”.“We need to be careful on any potential round tripping issue
(it appears that the beneficial owner is from India and investments have been
made in India), as such we might need to ensure that the company has the
necessary approval from the revenue authorities in India,” the compliance
manager wrote in records accessed by the Indian Express.According to the
investigation, Ravindra Kishore Sinha, who founded the private security service
firm SIS or Security and Intelligence Services before becoming a MP, heads a
group which has two offshore entities.“According to records of the Malta
registry, SIS Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd (SAPHL), registered in Malta in 2008,
is a subsidiary of SIS. Sinha is listed as a minority shareholder while wife
Rita Kishore Sinha is a director of SAPHL. Records show that SIS International
Holdings Limited (SIHL), a company incorporated in British Virgin Islands, holds
3,999,999 shares in SAPHL while 1 share is with Ravindra Kishore Sinha,” the
report notes.In his Election Commission affidavit submitted during his
nomination for the 2014 Rajya Sabha election, Sinha allegedly made no mention
of this and his wife’s association with SAPHL nor did he did declare this link
to the Rajya Sabha after becoming a member. In his statement to the Indian
Express, Sinha notes that due to “prevailing regulation” in foreign countries,
he is required to hold “1 share each in these companies” and that “all
disclosures required to be made in my personal income tax returns, in respect
of my assets, have been made.”Jayant Sinha’s name appears on the list as a
result of his earlier disclosed work with the Omidyar Network; he was its
managing director in India.According to Indian Express, Omidyar Network
invested in a US company called D.Light Design which has a subsidiary in Cayman
Islands in the Caribbean Sea.“Records of offshore legal firm Appleby show Sinha
served as Director of D.Light Design — he did not mention this in his
declaration to the Election Commission when he contested Lok Sabha polls in
2014, nor to Lok Sabha Secretariat or the PMO as a Minister of State in 2016,”
the report notes.Sinha’s name appears on the list because D. Light Design took
a $3 million loan through its Cayman Island’s subsidiary from an investor based
in the Netherlands; Appleby’s records “mention a loan agreement dated Dec.31,
2012. Sinha was Director at D.Light Design when these decisions were taken”.
According to then Indian Express, on the global front, the investigation
exposes a Russian firm’s investments in Twitter and Facebook, ties between
Russia and US President Donald Trump’s billionaire commerce secretary Wilbur
Ross; secret dealings of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s chief fundraiser and offshore
interests of the Queen of England and more than 120 politicians, including
former Pakistan PM Shaukat Aziz.There
are also confidential details of offshore traces of spy planes purchased by UAE
and a Barbados explosives company of a Canadian engineer who tried to build a
“super gun” for Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and investment of millions of
dollars in medical and consumer loan companies by Queen Elizabeth II.The Wire/IndianExpress
Paradise Papers: Biggest data leak reveals
trails of India’s corporates in global secret tax havens
MoS Jayant
Sinha’s links with Omidyar in Appleby files
Fortis
boss got shares from firm whose stents he used
Paradise Papers: Names out in open; other
Indians in list
Paradise Papers: Security firm of BJP Rajya
Sabha MP Sinha linked to 2 offshore entities
Paradise Papers: Congress slams Centre on
black money, demands MoS Jayant Sinha’s resignation
Congress mounted a fierce attack against the
Narendra Modi Govt on Monday after
Minister of State Jayant Sinha’s name cropped up in the Paradise
Papers.Congress national spokesperson Randeep Surjewala sought an FIR against
Sinha and demanded his resignation.“Modi Govt has taken no action to unearth black money
stashed abroad in 41 months. They have also so far not made public names of
those who have stashed black money abroad,” he said.indianexpress
Multi-agency group on Panama leak to probe
Paradise Papers
New Delhi:A multi-agency group (MAG) will
probe into ‘Paradise Papers’ on financial holdings abroad that lists a number
of 714 Indian individuals and entities, PTI reported on Monday quoting official
sources. MAG is probing the Panama Papers leak as well. According to the sources
MAG, constituted in April last year to investigate the legality of money
stashed in offshore entities by Indians named in the Panama Papers, would probe
the latest disclosure made by ICIJ.The group comprises of officials from the
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Income Tax Dept, ED, Financial
Intelligence Unit and RBI among a few others. The panel will first “go through”
the details of income tax returns filed by the Indian individuals and entities
named and subsequently take action, in a case-to-case basis, the sources said.
“Obviously, notices will be issued once complicity of an individual or entity
is established,” a senior official said. indianexpress
Papers leak: Jindal Steel, Videocon, others
down up to 2%
OTHERS
30 children die in 48 hours at Gorakhpur’s BRD
Hospital, 6 due to encephalitis
New Delhi: Child deaths at BRD Medical College
in Gorakhpur have come back to haunt the UP Govt 3
months after a similar incident created a national uproar.BRD Hospital’s head
of dept.of community medicine Dr DK Srivastava said 30 children died within 48
hours. However, he said, the deaths did not take place due to lack of oxygen
like last time. “Out of the 30, 15 children were younger than one month. If
children younger than one month are not treated urgently, their mortality rate
increases. 6 kids died due to encephalitis, while the others died due to
various reasons,” Srivastava was quoted as saying by ANI.Encephalitis is the
swelling in the brain that leads to sudden high fever, headache, neck
stiffness, disorientation, coma, seizures, spastic paralysis and, finally,
death.In Aug.,over 70 children had died in a span of five days and the incident
had grabbed national attention after reports said the hospital faced a shortage
of oxygen supply at that time.Although state govt had denied the reports, the
then college principal, the in-charge of the neo-natal ward as well as clerks
and the pharmacist were sacked for negligence. An FIR was lodged against them,
as well as the supplier of liquid oxygen to the hospital.indian express
Gujarat HC issues notice to Election
Commission on EVMs, VVPATs
Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court issued a notice
to the Election Commission on a petition moved by Congress's state unit seeking
that EVMs and VVPATs that were found defective be sealed and not used in the
coming Assembly polls.A division bench of Justice Akil Kureshi and Justice AJ
Kogji issued notices to the EC, the state chief electoral officer, and the
central Govt through its Ministry of Law
and Justice on the petition moved by Gujarat Congress Committee.The bench asked
them to respond by Nov.13.In its petition, the Congress said that around 7 % of total 70,182 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit
Trail (VVPAT) units that were found to be defective during the first level
checks, along with defective EVMs and control units, should be sealed and not
used at any polling booth in the state.The petitioner also prayed for the court
to either direct the EC or itself set up an expert committee to look into the
defective machines to avoid any foul play.It also sought the court's direction
to the EC to use ballot papers as a way to avoid tampering with the
machines.PTI
Demonetisation forces 3 lakh companies to shut
shop, PM Modi says they were fraud: jantakareporter
PM Narendra Modi on Sunday mocked the closure of
3 lakh companies just the way he had made fun of people in distress in the days
after his note ban announcement. Conceding that 3 lakh companies had shut shot
after they were hit by his deminetisation decision, Modi accused them of having
committed fraud. Addressing poll rally in Himachal Pradesh, he said that over 3
lakh companies had shut down after demonetisation and a probe into 5,000 such
firms had found a fraud of Rs 4,000 crore while investigation against others
was on.“Imagine what will be the amount of fraud committed by 3 lakh
companies,” he said.Modi’s demonetisation announcement had caused the deaths of
close to 200 people, who largely died due to stress with many not able to
execute their wedding plans. jantakareporter
1 year of demonetisation: Acknowledge the
‘blunder’ and seek support for rebuilding economy, Manmohan tells PM
New Delhi:With Modi-led Govt gearing up to observe “Anti-Black Money Day”
to mark the first anniversary of demonetisation, ex-PM Manmohan Singh has called upon his successor
to “graciously acknowledge the blunder” and said the country should be placed
above all politics with an intention of reviving the economy.“I strongly feel
the time for politicking over demonetisation is over. It is time the PM graciously acknowledges the blunder and seeks
support from all to rebuild our economy,” Singh said in an interview to
BloombergQuint.
Hadiya willing to appear before SC on Nov 27:
NCW acting chief
Kottayam:Hadiya is in good health and waiting
to appear before the Supreme Court on Nov.27, NCWs chairperson in-charge Rekha
Sharma said today after meeting the Kerala woman at the centre of a nationwide
controversy after her marriage with a Muslim man.The meeting came amid
complaints from various Kerala- based Muslim bodies that the womans rights were
being violated in the confines of her home. 24-year-old woman is under the
protection of her parents following the orders of the Kerala High Court."I
just met Akhila - Hadiya. NCW was concerned about her well being. She is in
good health, she has not been beaten up or anything, she is eating her food and
she was smiling, she was happy," Sharma told reporters.Her health and
security was "OK", she said after meeting Hadiya at her family home
in Vaikom here, a week after the apex court directed her father to produce her
before it on Nov.27."Three policewomen are there. They are taking care of
her and her security is under no threat," Sharma said, showing the media womans
photo on her mobile phone."She said she is willing to go to court. She is
waiting for November 27. I am OK. I will talk to the court. That is what she
said," Sharma said.The NCW official refused to divulge details, as the
matter was subjudice, and said that she would meet "several such
women" who were "forced" to convert in Kerala, and a report
would be prepared.PTI
Kerala HC Grants police protection to interfaith
couple intending to get married
The Kerala High Court has ordered grant of
adequate police protection to a Muslim man and Hindu woman who intend to get
married. This was ordered in a review petition filed by the man, seeking to
recall an earlier order passed by the court dismissing the habeas corpus
petition filed by him. The review was sought on the ground that the woman was
made to disown him before the court under threat and coercion. The Muslim man
and Hindu woman wanted to live together as husband and wife, and had given
notice of marriage under the Special Marriage Act. At that juncture, the woman
was allegedly abducted and kept under confinement at the instance of her
parents. The man has filed a review petition, stating that the submission made
by the woman on Feb.23 was out of fear. It is alleged in the review petition
that the woman was kept under illegal confinement at a yoga centre namely
Sivasakthi Yoga Centre, Cochin, by her
parents. She was allegedly subjected to severe torture and harassment at the
yoga centre, in order to force her to withdraw from the relationship. It is
further alleged that there were attempts to characterize her as a mental
patient. On Feb.23, the goons from the yoga centre had allegedly accompanied
the woman to the court under the guise of her relatives and it was due to their
pressure and coercion that she had to disown the man before the court, alleged
the review petition. It is further stated in the petition that the woman had
adventurously escaped from detention and have joined the company of the man.
Their attempts to get the marriage registered are getting thwarted. livelaw
CIC says no to disclosure of records on Indian
complaint to UNSC on Kashmir
New Delhi:Disclosure of the present status of
India’s complaint to the United Nations Security Council 69 years ago on the
issue of invasion of J&K by
Pakistani tribesmen will “impinge upon national security”, the Central
Information Commission (CIC) has held.The transparency watchdog declined to
allow disclosure of records related to the issue of J&K , including the
efforts to free Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on the basis of the Indian complaint
to UNSC in 1948, sought by an RTI applicant from the PMO.RTI applicant
Omprakash Kashiram had sought to know from the PMO the action taken by the
Indian Govt from 1948 to 2016 for
reclaiming PoK from Pakistan on the basis of a complaint lodged with the United
Nations.He had also sought other details related to the issues pertaining to
‘Kabali’ (Pakistani tribesmen) terrorists who had entered into J&K in 1947 and the Pakistani Military.PMO
transferred the RTI application to the home ministry and subsequently to the
external affairs ministry.Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the
external affairs ministry said disclosure of the information would
prejudicially affect “national security interest”.“In addition, he (CPIO)
stated that the complaint lodged in the year 1948 with UN still remains to be
sensitive,” Chief Information Commissioner R K Mathur noted in his
order.Ironically, India’s complaint to the President of the United Nations
Security Council on Jan. 1, 1948, is in public domain and can be easily
accessed from its web site. hindustantimes
NC says didn’t get invite for talks with
Kashmir interlocutor, traders boycott meetings
Srinagar:Most trade bodies boycotted their
meetings with the Union Govt ’s newly appointed interlocutor for J&K ,
Dineshwar Sharma, who arrived in Srinagar on Monday even as some of the major
political players said they haven’t received any invitation for talks.The
opposition party, National Conference, has yet to receive an invitation from
Sharma, who is on a 5-day visit to the militancy-hit state. The Hurriyat
Conference, which has not shown any interest in the talks, hasn’t been invited
either by Sharma, a former intelligence bureau director on a maiden visit to the
state after his appointment as interlocutor.“There is always a formal
invitation for talks. We haven’t been invited and we are not going and knocking
on Mr Sharma’s door asking for appointment. Considering what happened to the
earlier interlocutors’ reports, this makes the whole process doubtful,’’ NC
spokesman Tanvir Sadiq told HT.
Pak welcomes US mediation to ease tensions
with India
Islamabad;Pakistan welcomes mediation by the
United States for easing its ties with India, foreign minister Khawaja Asif
said on Monday against the backdrop of the stalemate in relations between the
two South Asian rivals.Addressing the fourth round of US-Pakistan Bilateral
Dialogue - organised by private think tanks to improve bilateral relations and
work towards a resolution of the conflict in Afghanistan - in Islamabad, Asif
said Pakistan has always opted for comprehensive dialogue for a peaceful
neighbourhood, according to state-run Radio Pakistan. Asif did not provide
details of the way in which the US could mediate between India and Pakistan – a
suggestion that has persistently rejected by New Delhi, which insists that all
issues between the two sides should be handled only though a bilateral dialogue. hindustantimes
India’s influence in Afghanistan has created
chaos:Pak
India’s influence in Afghanistan has created
chaos in the war-torn country, Pakistan foreign minister Khawaja Asif said. “Pakistan
is against India’s intervention in Afghanistan,” Asif told media after fourth
round of Pakistan-US Track-II diplomatic talks in Islamabad, Geo reported.He
also emphasised the need for immediate removal of what he called terrorist safe
havens in Afghanistan, adding the US Afghan policy was damaging the
reconciliation process in the country.IANS
China says defence minister Sitharaman’s
Arunachal visit not conducive to peace: livemint
New Delhi: China has criticised a visit by defence
minister Nirmala Sitharaman to Arunachal Pradesh, saying her tour of “disputed
area” is not conducive to the peace and tranquillity of the region.The latest
Chinese comments come barely two months after New Delhi and Beijing decided to
move ahead with ties after a 73-day-long tense standoff on Bhutan’s Doklam
plateau.Sitharaman had, over the weekend, visited forward army posts in the
remote Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh bordering China. This was her first
visit to the region that was aimed at taking stock of defence preparedness in
Arunachal Pradesh along LAC, the de facto, but disputed, border between the two
countries. Sitharaman also tweeted pictures of her visit, including her meeting
with Indian Army officers.“As to Indian defence minister’s visit to Arunachal
Pradesh, you must be very clear about China’s position,” Chinese foreign
ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.
Akshardham Attack: Court denies police “main
conspirator” Rashid Ajmeri’s custody
Ahmedabad:Just a day after making it to the
front-page headlines as the “main conspirator” of the 2002 Akshardham Temple
attack, Abdul Rashid Ajmeri is buried somewhere between the 14th or 20th page
of newspapers today. Because the concerned court rejected the police custody
demand and sent him to judicial custody.Ajmeri, an Ahmedabad resident, was
arrested by the Gujarat Crime Branch officials at the city airport in the wee
hours of Saturday as the “main conspirator” of the 2002 Akshardham terror
attack.Ajmeri’s arrest took place just a day after PM Narendra Modi made a visit to the temple in
Gandhinagar. Fourteen years ago, at least half a dozen local Muslims including
Ajmeri’s own brother Adam Suleman Ajmeri were arrested for the attack. In 2006,
two of them including Suleman Ajmeri were awarded death penalty while four
others were given a life sentence by the trail court. The Gujarat High Court
also upheld the verdict of the trial court. However, in 2014, the Supreme Court
set aside the judgment and acquitted all the six convicts. The apex court had
then even pulled up the Gujarat police for implicating the innocents.On Sunday,
the police presented Rashid Ajmeri as the “main conspirator” of the same attack
before a special POTA court and sought his police custody, the court rejected
the request and sent him to jail. Also, the court allowed the Ahmedabad City DCB
to question him inside the jail, if required. caravandaily
Akshardham attack: Court rejects plea for
remand of alleged main conspirator:PTI
MP: HC grants bail to SIMI man serving life
term
Indore: The high court has suspended the jail
sentence of SIMI man Munroz and granted him bail by setting the bond at Rs 2.5
lakh and directing for depositing of 2 local solvent sureties of Rs 2.5 lakh
each. This order in Munroz's criminal revision appeal was released by division
bench of Justice SC Sharma and Justice Alok Verma, fixing the date for his
appearance before high court registry on Jan.8, 2018.The court in its order has
noted that since Munroz was granted bail and he never misused the liberty
granted to him, this application deserves to be allowed. Munroz also alleged
that the CD and pendrive seized from possession of the appellant were not the
same, which were later played before the trial court.According to him some CDs
having music were recovered from possession of the appellant, which were
replaced by the investigating officer.
Hamid Ansari, Nitish Lead Tributes to Syed
Shahabuddin
Patna: First Syed Shahabuddin Memorial Lecture
was held in Patna on Saturday. Eminent public figures including former Vice
President of India Hamid Ansari and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar attended the event.
Shahabuddin, late parliamentarian and former diplomat had been one of the
tallest Muslim leaders in the post independence India. He passed away at a ripe
age of 81 in March 2017.He represented Bihar’s Kishanganj constituency in Lok
Sabha. He was the editor of “Muslim India”, the most authentic research
journal, which highlighted Indian Muslim
issues. He had also led Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat. Nitish and others are seen
at first Shahabuddin Memorial Lecture in Patna on Saturday.The lecture was
delivered by ex-Foreign Secretary, Muchkund Dubey. Opening remarks were given
by ex-Bihar minister and Shahabuddin’s daughter Parveen Amanullah. The event
was moderated by journalist Iqbal Ahmed. Ansari, chaired the event.Afzal
Amanullah, Bihar’s ex-Cabinet Secretary and son-in-law of Shahabuddin, was also
present at the event.Caravan
Delhi: Mazar turned into a mandir at this
Rohini park
New Delhi : Near the entrance of a small
municipal park in Rohini’s Sector 9 is a priest preparing for the morning aarti
at a little temple-establishment.The board nearby reads: “Gurghere Wale Baba Ki
Marhi”. As walkers cross in front of the temple, they lower their head in
reverence. 5 months earlier, the place used to present a very different picture
— from the worshippers to the worshipped. For one, there wasn’t even a temple
here. In its place stood a mazar (mausoleum) of ‘Syed Guru Dhere Baba’.For the
last 20-odd years, 55-year-old Dilawar Khan used to visit the mazar to make
sure it was clean and taken care of.However, when he visited it on May 31 this
year, he was allegedly beaten up, the stone slab covering the mazar was broken
and the structure was turned into a temple for ‘Gurghere Wale Baba’.Recalling
the day of the incident, Khan says: “On the morning of May 31, I went to the
Mazar and found that the stone slab was partially broken. People present there
stopped me and beat me up.”He adds that around 30 men threatened him and told
him to leave the premises as the space belonged to a ‘Hindu Baba’.In his
statement to the police, Khan did not
mention he was beaten up.“I was scared,” he says, adding that he wasn’t able to
identify anyone in the mob. Pandit Jitendra Pandey is preparing to offer his
prayers. He pours ghee into the diya, takes cotton wick and lights it. “The
temple was constructed about five months ago and aarti is performed every
morning,” he says. He admits there was a mazar here before, but offers an
explanation. Pandey claims that the plot of land where the mazar was built is
actually a samadhi of Gurghere Baba, who lived in the area about 400 years
ago.The fear of being thrashed and being overpowered by the majority community
in the area is palpable among the Muslims of Rajapur, a nearby village, who
often visited mazar.Inhabited by thousands of Muslims from Bihar and West
Bengal, the village is just a kilometre from the park. Residents said that they
can’t fight because they’re scared.The Hindu
WORLD
Trump fulfils hidden threats against Prince
Al-Waleed
2 years after Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal
publically attacked then presidential candidate Donald Trump describing him as
a “disgrace not only to [Grand Old Party – the Republicans] GOP but to all
America”, Trump’s hidden threats to the prince have materialised.The prominent
Saudi billionaire was arrested on Saturday along with 11 princes and a dozen
former ministers in a new anti-corruption probe.The incident dates back to 2015
when the prince called on Trump in a Twitter message to “withdraw from the US
presidential race” because he will never win. At the time, Trump fired back
saying: “Dopey Prince @Alwaleed_Talal wants to control our US politicians with
daddy’s money. Can’t do it when I get elected.”Al-Waleed was part of a group of
investors who bought control of the Plaza Hotel in New York from Trump as well
as an expensive yacht. middleeastmonitor
Arrests could shake investor’s confidence in
Saudi
Saudi Prince, 7 others dead after helicopter
crash:The Duran report
A transport helicopter carrying Saudi Prince
Mansour bin Muqrin has crashed near the border with Yemen. Mansour bin Muqrin
and 7 other officials he was travelling with has died. Mansour bin Muqrin was
the son of former Crown Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz who was stripped of the
Crown Prince title by the current King, in favour of Muhammad bin Nayef in
2015. This year, Muhammad bin Nayef himself was removed as Crown Prince in
favour of the current Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.Mansour bin Muqrin, in addition
to supervising the building of schools, was the vice chief of the Assir region
which has come under frequent attack from Houthi rebels in Yemen.At the moment,
no one in Saudi Arabia nor Yemen is stating whether the crash was due to
mechanical failure or if it was shot down by Houthis.Two other possibilities
however do exist. Other factions in Saudi Arabia could have sabotaged the
flight, as the country is the midst of a great purge, led by Crown Prince bin
Salman (MBS). theduran
Saudi helicopter crash 'kills high-ranking
prince'
Saudi accuses Iran of potential 'act of war': aljazeera
Saudi Arabia has lashed out at Iran over the
firing of a ballistic missile towards Riyadh by Houthi rebels in Yemen, citing
evidence that Tehran was behind the attack and labelling it a potential
"act of war".A statement issued on Monday via the state news agency
SPA denounced the "flagrant military aggression by the Iranian-controlled
Houthi militias" and said that an examination of the debris
"confirmed the role of Iran's regime in manufacturing [this and a previous
missile] and smuggling them to the Houthi militias in Yemen for the purpose of
attacking the Kingdom, its people, and vital interests".The statement
accused Iran of violating the UNSC Resolution 2216, which prohibits states from
supplying weapons to Yemeni armed groups."Iran's role and its direct
command of its Houthi proxy in this matter constitutes a clear act of
aggression that targets neighboring countries, and threatens peace and security
in the region and globally," the SPA statement noted.
Nasrallah: 'It was not our wish for Hariri to
resign'
The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement has
called the resignation of PM Saad Hariri
a "Saudi-imposed decision".In a TV on the Hezbollah-owned Al Manar
TV, Hassan Nasrallah said that Hariri's resignation speech was "written by
Saudi"."It was not our wish for Hariri to resign," he said of
the sudden and unexpected move. "Even if he was forced to resign, the way
in which it was executed does not reflect Hariri's way in dealing with
things," Nasrallah added, questioning the text of Hariri's speech
broadcast during his visit to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Saturday."It
would have been better to allow him to go back to Lebanon, meet the president,
submit his resignation, and declare it from the palace," said
Nasrallah." The way in which it was delivered makes it clear that Saudi
Arabia meddles in Lebanon's internal affairs ... The tone was not at all
suitable. We need to discuss the Saudi element."He also demanded to know
the "real reason" behind the move, which he said Hariri owed to the
Lebanese people. aljazeera
Abbas makes unexpected visit to Saudi amid
regional shake-up
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be
landing in Saudi Arabia on Monday in an unexpected visit. Abbas’s arrival comes
at a time when the Middle East region is buzzing with shrill political
activities including the regime shake-up in Riyadh and the announcement of
Lebanese PM 's resignation from the Saudi capital. Abbas will meet Saudi King
Salman and the powerful Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman during his surprise
visit.Palestinian ambassador to Saudi, Bassam al-Agha, said Abbas' trip is
aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between the two states." ibtimes
Israel general calls to improve economic
situation in Gaza to avoid war
The Coordinator of the Israeli Govt Activities in the Territories, Major General
Yoav Mordechai, has called to improve the economic situation in Gaza Strip to
avoid future escalations. Israeli media reported Mordechai as saying that the
continuous deterioration of the situation in Gaza would accelerate the risk of
escalation between Israel and Hamas.“I therefore recommend that Israel supports
a large-scale process that will improve the living conditions of the civilian
population in the Gaza Strip,” he said.“The continuation of the current
situation in Gaza will make Hamas more extreme, and regardless of the debate
over Israel’s interest in which party controls the Gaza Strip, if no real
efforts are made to change the situation, we could reach a situation where the
most extreme people in Hamas have the greatest chance in the future to win the
authority there.” middleeastmonitor
Netanyahu: Palestinian sovereignty may not
work
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171106-netanyahu-in-london-palestinian-sovereignty-may-not-work/
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has eclared that Palestinian sovereignty may not
work, in remarks made during a visit to London.Speaking at Chatham House,
Netanyahu said that before establishing a Palestinian state “it’s time we
reassessed whether modern model we have of sovereignty, and unfettered
sovereignty, is applicable everywhere in the world”.According to Haaretz, “he
emphasised that for Israel ‘overriding concern is always security’, and
therefore other models of sovereignty should be studied.”At the same event,
Netanyahu described the demand for the removal of West Bank settlers as “ethnic
cleansing”, comparing settlers to Palestinian citizens of Israel.
Cameras to monitor Palestinians installed at
Al-Aqsa
Israeli police have begun placing new cameras
at the Council Gate of Al-Aqsa Mosque to monitor Palestinians’ entry and exit,
Safa News Agency has reported.Director of Al-Aqsa Academy for Science and
Heritage Sheikh Najeh Bkeerat said that Israeli police “are placing the cameras
to monitor the movement in and out of Al-Aqsa Mosque and to restrict the
movement of Jerusalemites, mainly in the Old City”.According to Safa, Israeli
Interior Minister Gilad Erdan said he was preparing a security plan to prevent
“Palestinian attacks” in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem. middleeastmonitor
Gunman massacres 26 worshippers at Texas
church: Trump says shooting “isn’t a
guns situation” but a “mental health problem at the highest level”
A man wearing all black and a ballistic vest
opened fire outside a small Baptist church in a tiny town in Texas, killing at
least 26 people and injuring 20 in the country’s most recent mass horror.US
President Donald Trump says the mass shooting at a Texas church “isn’t a guns
situation” but a “mental health problem at the highest level.”While no officials
have publicly questioned Kelley’s mental health, Trump said that “is your
problem here.” He offered no details.“This was a very, based on preliminary
reports, a very deranged individual. A lot of problems over a long period of
time,” Trump said when asked about the shooting.“We have a lot of mental health
problems in our country, as do other countries. But this isn’t a guns situation,”he
said.A US military official says the suspect identified in the mass shooting at
a Texas church was a former Air Force member.Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek
says records confirm that Devin P. Kelley served in Logistics Readiness at
Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico from 2010 until his discharge.TheHindu
Gunman massacres 26 worshippers at Texas
church
FLASH: VIEWS & NEWS
Ravish Kumar’s magnificent obsession: NDTV
anchor exposing in relentless riveting detail the shameful state of India’s
universities:Jyoti Punwani
Explore offshore links of political power
players: ICIJ
Democracy in jail: Over-representation of
minorities in prisons: Irfan Ahmad, Md Zakaria Siddiqui
Why Indian mobile users must take the
initiative to protest against linking their phones to Aadhaar:Ajaz Ashraf
Will Saudi become sick man of Middle
East?Khalil-AlAnani
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171003-will-saudi-arabia-become-the-sick-man-of-the-middle-east/
After making old cows unviable to maintain, MP
wants to force farmers to pay for them:Rohan Venkataramakrishnan
Mr. Modi are you ready to act against Benami
Sampatti holders:Amaresh Mishra
Slaughter of innocents:Searing eye-witness
accounts from genocide taking place under nose of Suu Kyi;DailyMail
Compiled and edited by
Anwarulhaq (Released at: 8:56 PM)
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment