NEWS
DIGEST, MID-DAY
29 Aug 2018:17 Zilhajj 1439: Vol: 10, No:95
INDIA
Dissent is the safety valve of democracy, says
SC, puts activists in house arrest till Sep 6
New Delhi: In a major relief to 5 human rights
activists, who were arrested by Pune police probing alleged Maoist involvement
in the Elgaar Parishad meeting in Pune on the eve of the Jan.1 violence that
targeted Dalits at Bhima Koregaon, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the
police to keep them under house arrest till next hearing in the case. The court
will hear the matter next on Sept.6.Hearing the petition of Romila Thapar,
Prabhat Patnaik, Satish Deshpande and others, the apex court expressed its
anguish over the manner in which the 5 activists were arrested, saying the
dissenting voice in a democracy must not be crushed. “Dissent is the safety
valve of democracy. If dissent is not allowed then the pressure cooker may
burst,” said Justice Chandrachud.The court issued a notice to the Maharashtra
government and other parties and sought their replies by Sept.6.Reacting to the
Supreme Court verdict, Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir said the
Bhima Koregaon violence was a serious blow to the nation and
Constitution.Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court questioned the
Maharashtra government over the arrest of rights activist Gautam Navlakha and
said it will examine the legality of the state police’s action to arrest him
and the transit remand order to take him to a Pune court. Maharashtra Police
wanted to arrest Navlakha and take him to Pune in connection with an FIR lodged
there. During arguments, a bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel asked
the state police why were all the documents not translated from Marathi and
handed over to the court and Navlakha or his lawyers. It also wondered how the
magisterial court could have applied its mind to issue a transit remand order
without the translated documents.“Why the document carrying the grounds of
arrest was not translated from Marathi and not given to Navlakha,” it asked the
Maharashtra police and sought to know by when it could provide all the
documents to the court and Navlakha. indianexpress
SC order puts activists in house arrest till
Sep 6
'Dissent Is the Safety Valve of Democracy': SC
Says Activists to Be Under House Arrest
7 arrested belong to organisations identified
for links with Maoists: Pune Police to Centre
New Delhi :Facing flak from several quarters
for its crackdown on prominent left-wing activists, Pune police on Wednesday
said it was probing the linkages of the arrested individuals with the outlawed
CPI(Maoist).“What is under investigation in the instant case are the linkages
of these individuals with the CPI(Maoist), a banned organization operating with
the devious objective of overthrow of the democratic order and the support
provided by them to the CPI(Maoist),” Pune police said in a strongly-worded
letter to the Centre.In its report, the police also said that such individuals
cannot “escape responsibility for aiding and abetting the violent acts
committed by CPI(Maoist)’s underground cadres.”
‘As close to a declaration of an Emergency as
we will ever get’: Arundhati Roy reacts to raids
Writer and activist Arundhati Roy on Tuesday
reacted to the news of police raids at the homes of human rights activists in
multiple cities across the country. “It is as close to a declaration of an
Emergency as we will ever get,” the Booker-prize winning author said.On Tuesday
morning, teams of the Pune Police raided the houses of activists in Mumbai,
Ranchi, Hyderabad, Delhi, Faridabad and Goa. Among those whose houses were
searched are Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, Gautam Navlakha in
New Delhi, Sudha Bharadwaj in Faridabad and Stan Swamy in Ranchi. In Hyderabad,
raids were reported from the homes of Varavara Rao and his family members, and
two other activists, Kranti and Naseem. In Goa, Dalit scholar Anand Teltumbde’s
house was raided in his absence. Police reportedly took the keys from the
security guard and walked in.Some of these activists have been detained by
police. The raids are said to be connected to investigations into a public
meeting organised days before caste-related violence erupted at Bhima Koregaon
near Pune on Jan.1.scroll.in
NHRC issues notice to Maharashtra on
activists' arrests
New Delhi: NHRC has today issued notice to the
Maharashtra chief secretary and director general of police on the arrests of
five human rights activists – Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Varavara Rao,
Gautam Navlakha and Arun Ferreira – from different cities on Tuesday.Taking suo
motu cognisance of the arrests, the NHRC has said in a statement that media
reports suggest the Maharashtra police did not follow standard operating
procedure, “which may amount to violation of their human rights”.thewire
Arrest of activists shows ‘emergency-like’
conditions prevailing in country: Yashwant Sinha
Bengaluru:Ex Union Finance Minister Yashwant
Sinha today alleged “emergency-line” conditions are prevailing in the country
under the present regime and the arrest of five activists on suspicion of
Maoist links shows that any voice of dissent is not safe.“What happened
yesterday is the prime example of assault on freedom of speech and freedom of
the press,” he told reporters here.Sinha, who had served as minister in the
previous NDA regime but has turned into a bitter critic of Modi government,
alleged that there was a ‘conspiracy’ to silence criticism and suppress voices
of dissent.He said the arrests showed that people who voice dissent were not
safe and there were many ways to suppress dissenting voices.PTI
Activists’ arrested to divert attention from
Sanatan Sanstha: Prakash Ambedkar
New Delhi:Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar said
on Wednesday the arrest of five prominent activists and human rights lawyers
for their alleged Maoists links was an attempt by Maharashtra police to deflect
attention from the various cases involving the members of right-wing Sanatan
Sanstha.Ambedkar, the president of Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, said the state
police have found the role of Sanatan Sanstha in more “sinister” things such as
murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in August 2013.“However to distract
attention from its probe, police are trying to go after genuine activists,” he
said.“The latest move by the government will turn counter-productive in the Lok
Sabha elections. The government is already losing sympathy and these arrests
will further dent its image,” Ambedkar said.HT
PUCL, Amnesty, Oxfam condemn crackdown on rights
activists
Arrest Of Activists Condemned: Modi Govt Would
Have Arrested Even Gandhi, says Historian
Sanatan Sanstha ban proposal: Maharashtra to
send explosives haul case info to Centre
Maharashtra govt has found that the five
arrested in the explosives seizure case had links with Sanatan Sanstha
sympathizers and would send details to the Centre to ban the radical Hindutva
outfit, a police official said today.The state govt had sent a proposal to ban
the Sanatan Sanstha to the Centre in 2015. It decided to send the details so
that it can be added to the proposal, the official said.The Maharashtra ATS
probing the recent seizure of explosives, has so far arrested five persons -
Vaibhav Raut, Sharad Kalaskar, Sudhanva Gondhalekar, Shrikant Pangarkar and
Avinash Pawar. “During the investigation, it was found that all the arrested
persons had links with right wing Hindutva organisations and also with the
sympathisers of the Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS),” he
said. The social media accounts and online activities of the arrested also
suggest these links, he added.PTI
ATS conducts searches, traces 9 terror camps,
2 in Maharashtra
Mumbai: Special public prosecutor Sunil
Gonsalves submitted to a special court on Tuesday a list of persons who were to
be allegedly targeted by the accused arrested in the Nalasopara arms haul case.
Fuelled by anger against the Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed 'Padmaavat', they
had hurled a petrol bomb outside Bhanu Sagar theatre in Kalyan on Janu
28.Another petrol bomb was thrown at a cinema hall in Belgaum, Karnataka, where
the movie was being screened. There were no reports of any injury or
casualty.Police said the accused got training in making bombs and operating
firearms in various camps. On Sunday, ATS conducted searches at a farmhouse
near Jalna, where Pangarkar and the others allegedly tested firearms. Gonsalves
told the court that ATS has found nine such terror training camps, including
two in Maharashtra."7 training camps have been identified by the police
and probe for 2 more camps is underway," said the police.Seeking their
week-long custody, Gonsalves said they needed to be confronted with around 10TB
data they had seized from the accused. All bomb-making material, arms and
ammunition were from adjoining states like MP, UP and Karnataka and the accused
were needed to ascertain from where they were purchased. "We also need to
find out that apart from Pangarkar, where were funds coming from outside
Maharashtra for purchasing arms and ammunition," he said.In another
development, the special CBI court issued a production warrant against Kalaskar
in Narendra Dabholkar murder case. Kalaskar, during interrogation, had
apparently admitted to his involvement in the murder. On Tuesday, CBI sought
his custody, saying it needed to confront Kalaskar with the other accused,
including shooter Sachin Andure. In Aurangabad, Judicial Magistrate First Class
UP Devarshi on Tuesday rejected the bail application of Shubham Surale (23),
Ajinkya alias Golu Surale (22), both Aurangpura residents and Rohit Rege (20),
a resident of Dhawni Mohalla, who were arrested on August 22.
Right Wing Terror: ATS raids Jalna politician's
farmhouse for clues of bomb making
After the arrest of Shrikant Pangarkar, a former
Shiv Sainik from Jalna, Maharashtra ATS investigating a right-wing terror plot
has now turned its focus on another ex-corporator from the same town. ATS spent
5 hours searching the Jalna farmhouse of ex BJP corporator, now with NCP. The
agency has not released the name of the politician or arrested him yet. The
cops were looking for clues of bomb assembly, based on the interrogation of
Pangarkar. Ex-corporator's farmhouse in located in the interiors of Jalna
district, and cops believe that it may have been used not just to assemble
bombs but also for target practice by the suspected shooters of three
rationalists in Maharashtra and Karnataka.An ATS team, along with the bomb
detection and disposal squad, and dog squad, conducted a search of the property
for over five hours. Sources in the ATS said they were conducting further
investigation, and had seized certain items from the house and are also
questioning the owner.The farm house came up during Pangarkar's interrogation,
after which a team of from ATS's Aurangabad unit conducted the search.A senior
ATS official said farmhouse owner is being questioned to see if he is connected
to Pangarkar or Sachin Andure, who allegedly shot Dr Narendra Dabholkar.mid-day
Jamaat-e-Islami Reviews Kerala Flood Relief
Operations, Appeals to Intensify Relief Efforts
New Delhi:A delegation of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
leaders led by its Vice Presidents Nusrat Ali and T. Arif Ali visited the flood
affected areas of Kerala on August 23 and 24 to review the relief operations
carried out by Jamaat cadre and assess the situation in the state that has been
hit by massive floods, landslides due to heavy rains.13 districts of flood-hit
Kerala have been very badly affected leaving more than four hundred dead, tens
of thousands of houses submerged in water and lakhs were forced to shift to
relief camps.The Jamaat leaders visited Wayanad district, Malappuram, Aluva and
Mannam among the worst affected areas and assessed the damage done by the worst
flood of the century. Jamaat leaders also took into account the relief work
done by Jamaat cadres in the state so far.Organizations working under Kerala
Jamaat have done a commendable job. Especially IRW volunteers’ service even
reached those areas where the government machinery could not, like Adivasi colonies
etc. Hundreds of volunteers are actively engaged in relief activities risking
their lives.Relief activities were done in a systematic and planned manner.
Relief Camps hosting thousands of people have been running in Palakkad,
Panthalam, Eranakulam and Malappuram districts. Volunteers are actively taking
part in collecting and distributing material required for basic needs.Jamaat
also appeled for large scale aid and support by addressing press meets and
other platforms of mass media.caravandaily
Panel submits report on incidents of lynching
to GoM headed by Rajnath
New Delhi:A panel of senior govt officers,
which deliberated on the possibility of enacting a new law to check incidents
of lynching, has submitted its report to a Group of Ministers headed by Home
Minister Rajnath Singh, officials said on Wednesday.The committee of
secretaries, headed by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, held consultations
with a cross-section of society and other stakeholders before submitting its
report to the GoM.The GoM will now submit its recommendations to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi for a final decision, a home ministry official said.Though the
final outcome of the deliberations of the committee of secretaries is not known
immediately, but it is believed they have suggest for tightening the law by
inserting clauses in IPC and Code of Criminal Procedure through parliamentary
approval.The panel report will now be discussed by GoM whose members also
include External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Transport Minister Nitin
Gadkari, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Social Justice and Empowerment
Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot.The move came after nearly 40 people were lynched
in nine States in the past one year.PTI
FGM: Court should not decide validity of religious
practice on PIL: Dawoodi Muslim group
New Delhi: A group of Dawoodi Bohra Muslim
community members today told the Supreme Court that the courts should not
decide the constitutionality of a centuries-old religious practice of female
circumcision through the PIL route.The group said said female circumcision is
practised by a few sects of Islam including the Dawoodi Bohra community and the
validity of this be examined, if at all, by a larger Constitution bench.A bench
headed Chief Justice Dipak Misra, hearing a PIL filed by a Delhi-based lawyer
challenging the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) of minor girls of
the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, was told by senior advocate AM Singhvi that
the validity of a religious practice cannot be examined in a PIL
jurisdiction."The object of female circumcision (FC) and male circumcision
(MC) is a religious practice in Islam and they are related to purity
aspect," Singhvi, appearing for over 70,000 Dawoodi Bohra Muslim women,
told the bench which also comprised justices AM Khanwilkar and DY
Chandrachud.He said though male circumcision (MC) is followed by all sects of
Islam, FC is being observed by few sects including the Dawoodi Bohra community
and the validity of this be examined, if at all, by a larger Constitution
bench.He said that if the government would have brought a legislation banning
FC then it could have been challenged on the grounds of violation of Article 14
(right to equality), but this recourse, would not be available to the community
if the court decides to examine the validity of the practice.He also referred
to the apex court's judgement on right to privacy and said that the PIL
petitioner has been entering into private area of the community.Singhvi said
that no affected Bohra Muslim woman has come to the court challenging the
practice and to allege that it has harmed her emotionally and physically.The
advancing of arguments remained inconclusive and would resume on
Aug.30.outlookindia
Adani loses case in Singapore, goes to Bombay
High Court to stall DRI probe into it
Mumbai :Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL), the
flagship firm of the Adani Group, has moved Bombay High Court seeking to quash
all Letters Rogatory (LRs) issued by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence
(DRI) to other countries against a few Adani Group firms that are being probed
in connection with alleged overvaluation of Indonesian coal imports.An LR is a
formal request seeking judicial assistance from a foreign country in
investigating an offshore entity.AEL filed a writ on Tuesday against the Union
of India.This comes weeks after the High Court of Singapore ruled against Adani
Global Pte Ltd, which had moved the Singapore court, seeking a stay on a lower
court’s demand to produce crucial documents pertaining to coal imports from
Adani firms.The lower court of Singapore had served about 24 production orders
to Adani firms after it received an LR from DRI seeking mutual assistance to
obtain these documents pertaining to Indonesian coal imports for its ongoing
probe.Emails and phone calls to the official spokesperson of the Adani Group
did not elicit any response.Apart from the Adani Group, the DRI is probing at
least 40 companies including two companies of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group
(ADAG), two Essar Group firms and a few public sector power firms for alleged
overvaluation of coal imports from Indonesia pegged at Rs 29,000 crore between
2011 and 2015.Indian Express had reported on June 20, 2016 that three
state-owned banks declined to provide to the DRI information lying with their
overseas branches regarding transactions by leading power companies in
connection with the coal imports case.The banks had cited confidentiality norms
which prompted Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia to write to these lenders to
cooperate with the ongoing investigation. Subsequently, DRI issued LRs to
Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong seeking their help to access documents lying
with overseas branches of the state-owned banks relating to transactions by top
power companies that were under probe.indianexpress
Two years after demonetisation, Rs 107 billion
in banned notes still not returned to RBI
Indians have deposited almost all the currency
notes made illegal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016, the central bank said
in a report after a count that lasted nearly two years.Banks have received Rs
15.3 trillion ($217 billion), or 99.3% of the currency invalidated, the Reserve
Bank of India said in its annual report on Wednesday. An amount of Rs 107
billion has not yet been received by the RBI after the cash ban, the report
said.The government had initially estimated about Rs 5 trillion of the Rs15.4
trillion rendered worthless on Nov. 9, 2016 wouldn’t return to the system,
indicating that this was cash stashed away illegally to avoid tax.HT
Govt claims demonetisation achieved its
objective, Congress says lakhs lost jobs
New Delhi:Dismissing Opposition criticism
after RBI revealed that 99 per cent of 500 and 1,000 currency notes that were
rendered illegal in November 2016 has returned to the banking system, the
government on Wednesday said the decision of “demonetisation has achieved its
objective quite substantially”.Talking to reporters, Economic Affairs Secretary
S C Garg said objectives of the note ban, like checking black money, terror
financing, promoting digital transaction and weeding out fake currency notes
have been achieved. “I think demonetisation has achieved its objective quite
substantially,” he said in reply to a question in this regard.Garg also ruled
out any cash crunch in the country. “There is no cash crunch in any party of
the country,” said Garg.indianexpress
Finance Ministry Had Warned MHRD About
Choosing a Non-Existent Varsity as IoE
New Delhi: Coming on the heels of information
that the HRD ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office disagreed on various
pivotal matters before releasing the Institutes of Eminence (IoE) list, a fresh
report (on August 29) in the Indian Express has stated that the finance
ministry had warned the MHRD against giving the IoE tag to non-existent
institutes, saying that the illogical move would “hurt the education
ecosystem”.The HRD ministry had reportedly been cautioned against picking a
non-existent, or greenfield, institute at least a year before the controversy
regarding the list of six IoEs erupted. According to the Indian Express report,
official records accessed by the Indian Express under the RTI Act have revealed
strong objections were raised by the finance ministry but without success, “on
selecting an IoE ‘only based on intentions and a plan’.” Responding to the
‘greenfield category’ referred in the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) note
moved by the HRD Ministry early last year, the Department of Expenditure
reportedly wrote in February: “…for the private institutions which are yet to
be established, granting of the status of Institutions of Eminence based on
future plans is beyond rationale and is not supported. The laid down criteria
in this regard is highly subjective.”thewire
Congress party not involved in 1984 Riots: Anwar
NCP national general secretary Tariq Anwar,
who was the national president of Indian Youth Congress when the anti-Sikh
riots broke out in Delhi following Indira Gandhi’s assassination, insisted on
Tuesday that “the Congress as a party” was never involved in those riots even
though “some party leaders in their individual capacity got involved in
it”.Anwar also said then newly sworn-in PM Rajiv Gandhi had “give clear
instructions” to the Congress leaders, including him “to go out and help calm
down the situation” in the city even as “Rajiv ji himself visited many places
helping administration quell the riots”.Anwar asked why “those people who are
still targeting Rahul despite the fact he was only a school student when the
riots took place” and "those who continue to attack the Congress despite
then PM Manmohan Singh and then Congress president Sonia Gandhi publicly
apologising for the riots, conveniently choose not to ask the BJP leaders, including
PM Modi and L K Advani why they have not apologised for the Gujarat riots and
for the demolition of Babari masjid”. ET
4 J&K policemen killed in militant attack
in Shopian
New Delhi :At least four policemen were killed
in a militant attack in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, the police said
on Wednesday. The militants opened fire at the policemen at Arhama in Shopian
district, a police officer told PTI.“Terrorists in the afternoon fired
indiscriminately upon a police party at Arhama in district Shopian. Four
policemen sustained gunshot wounds and were evacuated to a nearby hospital for
medical attention,” a police spokesman said.indianexpress
India, Pakistan hold talks on Indus Waters
Treaty, first bilateral meet since Imran Khan became PM
Lahore :India and Pakistan today commenced
crucial talks on various aspects of the Indus Waters Treaty here, the first
bilateral engagement since Prime Minister Imran Khan took office. The first
round of the two-day meeting is being held at the National Engineering Services
Pakistan.The water commissioners of Pakistan and India are required to meet
twice a year and arrange technical visits to projects’ sites and critical river
head works, but Pakistan had been facing a lot of problems in timely meetings
and visits.Indian side is being represented by a delegation of the Indian Water
Commission led by Commissioner P K Saxena whereas Pakistan Commissioner for
Indus Waters Syed Meher Ali Shah and his delegation are representing Pakistan,
it said. Both the countries are expected to present their reports during the
talks. After the meeting, a joint notification would be issued.PTI
Imran Khan’s govt preparing proposal to
resolve Kashmir issue: Pakistan minister
Pakistani PM Imran Khan’s government is
preparing a proposal to resolve the Kashmir issue, a senior minister of the
country said, describing the draft as a “model for conflict resolution”. Minister
for human rights Shireen Mazari made the revelation during a TV talk show, but
she did not share the details of the proposal.“We will prepare the proposal
within a week and circulate it among all the stakeholders,” Mazari told the
anchor of the Urdu language news channel 24NewsHD earlier this week. She said
the proposal, which is a “model for conflict resolution”, would be presented
before the Cabinet and also PM Khan.“If the draft is approved, we will move
forward on it,” said Mazari, who is considered as close to the powerful
army.The army, which enjoys considerable influence over policy decisions in
Pakistan, has ruled the country for much of its life since it gained
independence 70 years ago. When asked about the status of the draft, she
responded,“It’s almost ready.”PTI
Deputy superintendent of Jammu prison sent to NIA
remand in connection with alleged terror plot
Jammu:A special NIA court on Wednesday sent
deputy superintendent of Ambphalla prison, Feroz Ahmad Lone, to nine days
custody of the premier investigating agency in connection with his alleged
connivance with a militant at Srinagar central jail to send Kashmiri youth to PoK
for arms training in terror camps.Lone, who was wearing sky-blue jeans and a
t-shirt and surrounded by four to five policemen, was produced before the court
here this morning. He, however, didn’t respond to any media queries and also
stumbled before entering the court. “Today, NIA produced him before a court
which sent him on a remand till September 6,” said an NIA official.HT
WORLD
Iran's currency crisis: Now it's two gold
coins to rent an apartment
Tehran:It’s the commodity which becomes a safe
haven at times of economic crisis. Now, with the crash of the rial, Iranians
are using gold for more everyday payments, most notably rent – but the
resulting price hikes are starting to affect the demographics of Tehran itself.
The currency began to slump in December, when Washington flagged that it would
withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal.That decline accelerated in May after US
President Donald Trump made a formal announcement that the US was pulling out
of the deal with world powers and reimposing economic sanctions on Iran.While
the offical rate peaked at around 45,000 rials to the dollar, this was only
available for a small group of importers and businesses, leaving most Iranians
to pay double that. On 29 July, in the runup to fresh US sanctions, money
exchanges in Tehran were charging around 100,000 rials for one dollar; within
24 hours this had increased to 110,000 rials.Iranians have traditionally saved
gold coins for major purchases such as wedding costs. That behaviour has become
more common, however, with the re-imposition of US sanctions in August, when
gold purchases hit a four-year high.Meanwhile one gold coin neared 40m rials,
although that rate has since decreased to 36m rials. Middleeasteye
Ready to abandon nuclear deal if needed:
Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/ready-to-abandon-nuclear-deal-if-needed-irans-ayatollah-ali-khamenei/articleshow/65594810.cms
Tehran: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei said Wednesday that his government should be ready to "set
aside" the 2015 nuclear deal if it is no longer in the country's national
interests."The JCPOA (nuclear deal) is not the objective, it is only a
means," he said in a meeting with the cabinet, according to his
website."Naturally, if we reach the conclusion that it is no longer
maintaining our national interests, we will put it aside."Khamenei said
talks should continue with Europe, which is trying to salvage the 2015
agreement despite the withdrawal of the United States. But he said the Iranian
government "must not pin hope on the Europeans for issues such as the
JCPOA or the economy"."We must examine their promises with
scepticism," he added. Khamenei reiterated that Iran would not engage in
any negotiations with the administration of US President Donald Trump, despite
his offer of unconditional talks. AFP
Iran arrests 'tens of spies working for govt
bodies'
The Iranian government has arrested tens of
people after accusing them of being spies working for foreign govts. Intelligence
Minister Mahmoud Alavi said on Wednesday that several suspects held dual
nationalities, but refused to specify which countries they belonged to."I
have repeatedly asked people to inform us if they know any dual national. The
intelligence ministry's anti-espionage unit has successfully identified and
arrested tens of spies in different governmental bodies," Alavi was quoted
by ISNA, a semi-official news agency, on Tuesday.Alavi did not specify the
exact number of people arrest, nor did he say when they were apprehended.Iran
does not recognise dual nationality, but does not routinely announce arrests or
charges of dual nationals.After Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's
comments about "infiltration" of Western agents in Iranian
decision-making bodies, the number of arrests of dual citizens has increased. Aljazeera
Israel threatens Iran
attacks over Syria deal
An Israeli minister on
Wednesday threatened to strike Iranian positions in Syria, hours after the
announcement of a Syrian-Iranian agreement under which Iran would rebuild
Syrian military forces. "Israel will not allow Iran to settle in Syria. We
will act with all our might against any Iranian position in Syria that
threatens the State of Israel," Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz
told the Israeli Public Broadcasting Authority. He said the Syrian-Israeli
agreement is “crossing the red line we have set”. Referring to Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad, Katz said that if he defended Iranian forces, "he would
bear the consequences immediately." On Monday, Iranian media said Tehran
and Damascus signed military and reconstruction agreements during Iranian
Defense Minister Amir Hatami’s visit to Syria. Israel frequently accuses Tehran
of exploiting the ongoing conflict in Syria -- where Iran supports the Assad
regime -- to establish a permanent military presence near Israel’s border.
Meanwhile, Katz described the policy of Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor
Lieberman on the blockaded Gaza Strip as “totally a failure”. "Israel
should take a strategic decision that would change the reality in the Gaza
Strip", he said. "I support a unilateral move on Gaza without
dialogue with Hamas, which would achieve three strategic objectives: complete
separation of Israel and Gaza in all civil issues and complete separation of
security and demography between Gaza, Israel, and the Palestinian
Authority," he said. While the third objective, he added “is to reinforcing
the policy of deterrence along the Gaza border”. "I do not believe in any
arrangement with Hamas, neither at the basic level nor at the operational
level," Katz said,” he said. Anadolu Agenc
US warns Syria, Russia on possible Idlib
offensive
US warned Russia and the Syrian regime against
any potential offensive on the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib."We would
hold them responsible and we would hold them accountable for that, most
especially for the use of chemical weapons,” State Deprtment spokeswoman
Heather Nauert said.“We would encourage Russia to make this point very clear to
Damascus, that that will not be tolerated," she added. Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned Friday that a possible military offensive on
Idlib would be a "disaster".“Preserving the de-escalation zone in
Idlib, Syria is important in both humanitarian respects and the fight against
terrorism," Cavusoglu said.Anadolu Agenc
Myanmar rejects UN findings in Rohingya
genocide report
Myanmar's govt has rejected a UN' report on
mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingya, which calls for Myanmar officials to
face genocide charges over their campaign against the Muslim minority.On
Wednesday, a senior spokesperson for the government denied the UN's findings,
calling the allegations false, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar
newspaper reported."We didn't allow the FFM (UN Fact-Finding Mission) to
enter into Myanmar, that's why we don't agree and accept any resolutions made
by the Human Rights Council," Zaw Htay said in the newspaper. Htay said
Myanmar has "zero tolerance for human rights violations", adding that
his country has an "accountability and responsibility framework regarding
human rights issues.""We shall take any action against violation of
human rights", Htay said. He also said the country has set up its own
Independent Commission of Inquiry in "response to false allegations by the
UN agencies and other international agencies". Aljazeera
UN chief urges Myanmar to ensure immediate,
full access
Washington:UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on
Security Council member states to urge Myanmar to cooperate in solving the
humanitarian crisis experienced by Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state. Guterres
described the situation as "one of the world’s worst humanitarian and
human rights crises" in an address to the Security Council."I ask
members of the Security Council to join me in urging the Myanmar authorities to
cooperate with the United Nations, and to ensure immediate, unimpeded and
effective access for its agencies and partners," Guterres said. His
remarks come one day after a UN fact-finding mission published a report that
said top military officials in Myanmar, including Commander-in-Chief Min Aung
Hlaing should be investigated for genocide.Facebook banned the accounts and
pages of Myanmar army officials Monday, citing they were spreading hate by
attacking the Rohingya Muslim population through social media. Guterres said
the Myanmar government has refused to work with UN human rights groups despite
repeated calls by the Security Council to do so.Anadolu
Israeli court recognises settlement on
privately owned Palestinian land
An Israeli court has for the first time
recognised as legal a settlement established on privately owned Palestinian
land in the occupied West Bank, court officials said on Tuesday.The settlement
of Mitzpe Carmit, close to Ramallah, was established in the late 1990s on land
owned by Palestinians who had title deeds recognised by the Israeli
authorities.The owners had appealed to the Israeli courts to have the settlers
evicted from their land. But the Jerusalem district court found the settlement
was legal as it had been created with the consent of the Israeli authorities
and that the settlers had settled there "in good faith" - without
knowing the land was privately owned.“The District Court today clearly stated
that whoever settled [the land] with the state’s approval and in good faith,
would not be evacuated. The injustice done in the evacuations of the Amona and
Netiv Ha’avot [outposts] should not be repeated,” said Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked.Today,
the settlement close to Ramallah is home to several dozen families.The ruling
may still be appealed, but if that fails, it may serve as a precedent for the
legal recognition of settlements established without permission from the
Israeli authorities or occupying land privately owned by Palestinians.
Egypt sentences 6 to death for terrorism
Cairo:An Egyptian court sentenced six people
to death for conducting a terror attack at a security checkpoint in north of
Cairo.The attack, which happened in 2016, killed a policeman, the official news
agency MENA reported.The Cairo Criminal Court also sentenced two defendants to
life in prison and four others to 3-15 years with the same charges.The
defendants were also charged with establishing a terrorist group.Egypt has been
experiencing anti-security attacks since former Islamist President Mohamed
Morsi was ousted by the military in 2013 and his Muslim Brotherhood group was
banned in 2014. Thousands of militants have been detained and hundreds were
facing trials. Morsi and some prominent figures of his group have received
final verdicts that varied from death to life sentences over charges of murder,violence
and spying.xinhuanet
Egypt says 20 militants killed in security
swoop
Cairo:At least 20 militants have been killed
in a wide-ranging security operation in the restive Sinai Peninsula and western
Egypt, according to the Egyptian military. A military statement said seven
militants were killed in an airstrike in a desert area in western Egypt. A
cache of weapons and explosives belts have been seized during the operation, it
said. Security forces also killed 13 militants in an exchange of fire in
central and western Sinai, according to the statement. A total of 18 militants
have also been rounded up during the operation, it added. The statement,
however, did not give details about casualties among security forces during the
swoops. Anadolu
FLASH
VIEWS & NEWS
Contrast ‘pre-nups’ with a conditional
‘nikahnama’:Flavia Agnes
Many friends of Sambhaji Bhide: Bhima Koregoan
riots accused enjoys massive social media following, including Tushar Damgude
‘Politicians Used My Son’s Death to Spark Muzaffarnagar
Riots’: thequint
Kushwaha’s new alliance theory can give
sleepless nights to NDA: SOROOR AHMED
Villagers Say Chhattisgarh Encounter Victims
Were Civilians, Including Children:Padmaja Shaw
Elgaar Parishad probe: ‘Experienced familiar
sense of helplessness,’ says arrested activist’s son
Statements and Protests Slam Government for
Subverting Democracy
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