07 July 2019:
03 Dhul Qadah 1440:Vol: 11, No:239
INDIA
Karnataka crisis live: Plane that flew MLAs to
Mumbai belongs to firm linked with BJP RS member
New Delhi:The chartered plane that had flown
10 dissident MLAs of Congress and JD(S) flew from Karnataka to Mumbai Saturday
night belongs to a company associated with Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a Rajya Sabha
member of BJP, company sources said on Sunday. “It is a charter operation and
the aircraft is chartered regularly by various people,” a top official of the
company told PTI requesting anonymity.Meanwhile, Mumbai Congress workers
gathered outside Sofitel Hotel, where rebel MLAs are staying, to protest
against BJP’s undemocratic move of poaching Congress-JDS MLAs of Karnataka,they
said.They alleged that democracy is being slaughtered and said they won’t
tolerate horse trading. Congress on Sunday also issued a circular to all party
MLAs in Karnataka calling Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting on Monday.
The circular also mentioned that strict action will be taken against MLAs on
failing to attend the meeting. Earlier in the day, 2 Maharashtra BJP leaders —
Prasad Lad and Mohit Bhartiya — were spotted inside a Mumbai hotel where 8 of 13
Karnataka MLAs who resigned on Saturday are staying.There is no word, however,
on whether 2 had met any of 8 MLAs. When asked about the political situation in
Karnataka, Prasad Lad, who is Maharashtra BJP vice president and an MLC, told
ANI: “I know about it only through media. I am busy with the party membership
drive.”Meeting of BJP leaders is underway at Yeddyurappa's residence. BJP
leaders and Yeddyurappa loyalists are in a meet.indianexpress
Karnataka political crisis: Kharge sees BJP’s
hand in MLAs resignations
Bengaluru:A day after 12 MLAs of ruling
JD(S)-Congress alliance submitted their resignation letters, former Union
Minister and veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge sees the role of BJP
Central leaders in the development and efforts to topple the Karnataka .BJP had
been making all-out efforts to engineer factions to bring down JD(S)-Congress in Karnataka by shifting MLAs to Mumbai,
Kharge told media in Bengaluru . “How it is possible to arrange a special
flight to Mumbai without the support of BJP’s Central leaders,”he asked.Kharge
said BJP leaders, such as Home Minister Amit Shah, had been making efforts to weaken
non-BJP State govts. BJP had been making attempts to destabilise the West
Bengal govt. “Where is democracy in the country?” “Central led by BJP has no confidence in democracy. In
nearly 13-14 States such as West Bengal, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur,
Bihar, Jharkhand, BJP engineered defections,” he alleged and added that BJP had
been making efforts to topple HD Kumaraswamy govt since it was formed. thehindu
Kharge frontrunner for Congress president,
Sachin Pilot also in race
With Rahul Gandhi’s resignation as Congress
president following the debacle in the Lok Sabha elections, many leaders are in
the race to grab the top party post. Among these, former opposition leader
Mallikarjun Kharge has emerged as the top contender, reports suggest. Kharge’s
name was also mentioned in the past month, but he rejected the reports saying
he is not in the race. The septuagenarian leader said that Gandhi is an
appropriate choice in the party who could lead the Congress. On the other side,
Punjab CM and senior party leader
Amarinder Singh has voiced for young party chief. Reports said that he supports
a leader who has a mass public following like of Gandhi. They said that there
could be 3 vice-presidents in the party, giving the platform to young leaders.
Other reports said that Rajasthan Deputy CM Sachin Pilot could also emerge as a dark horse
to take over the top post. Earlier in a day, Congress leader Jyotiraditya
Scindia resigned from post of All India Congress Committee (AICC) general
secretary.After his resignation, Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora quit the
post and recommended a 3-member panel to lead the state Congress for the
upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls. Both leaders tendered their resignation,
citing Congress’ poor performance in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls. After BJP-led NDA registered a massive win
over Congress and framed govt for the second consecutive term, many party
leaders resigned from their posts across the country. The poll results dented
the Congress which is currently headless following the resignation of Gandhi.
The charge of the interim president was given to senior leader Motilal Vora.
NewsX
Multiple FIRs against Subramanian Swamy for
alleging Rahul Gandhi consumes cocaine
New Delhi :A day after Rahul Gandhi was
granted bail in a defamation case, Chhattisgarh Police have lodged a complaint
against BJP’s MP Subramanian Swamy for allegedly making false remarks against
the Congress leader. This was followed by another FIR in Barbanki by Congress
workers.indianexpress
Budget revealed govt’s intention to
‘aggressively’ push privatisation: Railway union
New Delhi:Stating that Union Budget has
revealed the intention of the to go
ahead “aggressively” towards corporatisation and privatisation of railways, the
National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) has said its affiliates are
going to launch massive protests across the country against the move. Finance
Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech proposed that railways should
use Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for faster development, rolling
stock manufacturing and the delivery of freight.“Budget reveals the govt’s
intentions to aggressively proceed towards corporatisation and
privatisation.“In order to convey the strong protest of the rail workforce.
NFIR directs all its affiliates to arrange massive protest demonstrations and
rallies wearing protest badges from 10th to 13th July all over Indian Railway,”
said a letter from NFIR general secretary M Raghavaiah to general secretaries
of all railway unions. Railways will need Rs 50 lakh crore between 2018 to 2030
to complete the sanctioned projects, Sitharaman said while presenting the
Budget.PTI
Centre open to 100% stake sale in Air India
New Delhi: may be willing to completely exit loss-making
Air India during sell-off process, although a final decision will be taken by a
panel of ministers, a top official indicated.“A general feeling is that if
people want to have full (control), let them have it. But I will be able to
tell you only when a specific decision is taken.My personal view is that I do
not see any conflict for govt,” dept of investment and public asset management,
(DIPAM) secretary Atanu Chakraborty said. Recently restarted the process to
sell Air India after putting it on hold last year due to poor response,
although volatility in crude prices was cited as the reason. While Niti Aayog
had proposed the sale of entire stake, the had offered 74% stake to a strategic investor,
which was seen as one of the reasons for low interest level.TOI
Over Rs 5,400cr spent on EVMs for Lok Sabha
polls
New Delhi: More than 60 per cent of around Rs
9,000 crore spent by the government towards Lok Sabha elections 2019 has been
on the procurement of EVM and VVPAT units. The direct expenses on Lok Sabha
polls have been Rs 2,019 crore in three financial years, the second major
expenditure head after the money spent on the procurement of EVMs. The
"other" miscellaneous expenditure head constituted a third major
component of the poll spend with Rs 1,317 crore. According to budget provisions
for 2019-20, the government has allocated Rs 1,000 crore in the current
financial year for clearing pending bills for the expenditure incurred in the
Lok Sabha polls. But, the consolidated expenses, including the previous two
years' expenditure towards the conduct of the general elections, were to the
tune of Rs 8,966 crore. The expenditure includes acquiring EVMs, issuing voter
identity cards and other expenses in the last two financial years. Since
2017-18, the government spent over Rs 5,400 crore on acquiring EVMs, a major
share of poll-related expenditure booked in three years in run up to the Lok
Sabha polls. The expenditure on EVMs includes procurement of ballot units,
control units and VVPATs by the Election Commission.
Aadhaar may replace PAN but is an ‘alternative
for now’
New Delhi:Aadhaar, 12-digit unique identity
number, can potentially replace the permanent account number assigned to
taxpayers but for now, biometric ID will only serve as an alternative, 2 officials said on Saturday. Those who do not
possess PAN can file their tax returns by quoting Aadhaar number, finance
minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her budget speech in a move that’s expected
to improve tax compliance in the country. Until now, it has been mandatory to
provide PAN details in tax returns. The budget has made a beginning by
initially making it an alternative to PAN, and depending on the response of
taxpayers, it can replace PAN, one of 2 officials said on condition of
anonymity. Sitharaman spoke about the interchangeability of PAN and Aadhaar in
her budget speech. HT
Duty imposed on newsprint unfortunate:
magazines’ body
New Delhi :A day after 10 per cent customs
duty on newsprint was announced in Union Budget, the Association of Indian
Magazines (AIM) called it “highly unfortunate”, and a “double whammy for print
media”. The duty “on paper used by newspapers and magazines…is highly
unfortunate”, AIM said. It also said, “this is a double whammy for print media,
which is going through unprecedented crises due to declining revenues, caused
by the prevailing macroeconomic conditions”. AIM urged the “to withdraw” the duty announced and “help the
print media industry, which serves millions of readers by disseminating
information and knowledge”. There was no customs duty on newsprint until now.
Most large newspaper groups in India import newsprint, as it costs cheaper than
domestic newsprint. The customs duty on uncoated paper used for printing of
newspapers and lightweight coated paper used for magazines have also been
increased from zero to 10 %.indianexpress
PNB reports Rs 3,805 crore fraud by Bhushan
Power & Steel
PNB has said it has reported a
borrowing fraud of Rs 3,805 crore by Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd to RBI.“It
has been observed that the company has misappropriated bank funds, manipulated
books of accounts to raise funds from consortium lender banks,” the bank said
in a stock exchange filing. “At present, the case is at NCLT [Tribunal] which
is in advance stage and the bank expects good recovery in the account.”
Supreme Court our only hope says family of
paralysed Assam man declared a foreigner
Guwahati:Every time someone from the family
goes to meet him, they promise to bring him back home soon. But for now, the
Supreme Court remains the only ray of hope for the family of Azizul Hoque, a
partially paralysed man from Assam’s Nagaon district languishing in a detention
camp for declared foreigners since 2017. Hoque even made it to the draft
national register of citizens list in 2018 but was part of the recent list of
exclusions.“The SC will give us justice,” said Nazirul Islam, Hoque’s brother
who does odd jobs for a living. The family stays in Singiapathar village of
Nagaon district in central Assam.On Wednesday, the SC, after accepting Hoque’s
petition issued notices to the state and
the Centre.According to Nazirul Islam, the problems for Hoque started in 1997,
when for the first time the name of 41-year-old featured on the voters list but
with a “D” next to it. He had been marked a suspected illegal immigrant, a
doubtful voter.As the proceedings of the case started in the foreigners
tribunal in Nagaon, Hoque appeared for a couple of times in the beginning. In
2011, he was declared a foreigner ex parte after he failed to appear.
Responding to a question put up by MP Shashi Tharoor, minister of state for
home G Kishan Reddy said 63,959 people have been declared foreigners ex parte
in Assam out of a total number of over 1,00,000 declared foreigners.One night
in March 2017, Hoque was picked up by Police and taken to detention centre in
Tezpur. “We told police he is physically challenged and cannot even walk
properly, but they expressed inability to help,” Islam said. Family decided to
approach the foreigners tribunal for a review of ex parte ruling and
subsequently the High Court after the tribunal rejected the review.HT
Another extradition setback for India as UK
refuses to deport Indian-origin murder accused couple
London:Even as embattled liquor tycoon Vijay
Mallya was granted permission to appeal against his extradition order in the UK
High Court, India suffered another setback as its extradition request in a
murder case was turned down by a court here.The 63-year-old former Kingfisher
Airlines boss welcomed a second chance to disprove the case of fraud and money
laundering amounting to an alleged Rs 9,000 crore against him, as the High
Court granted him leave to appeal on the grounds of the prima facie case
presented by the Indian authorities.Meanwhile on the same day, July 2, Chief
Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot of Westminster Magistrates’ Court handed down her
judgment in a case involving an Indian-origin British citizen Arti Dhir and her
husband Kaval Raijada, wanted in India for the murder of their adopted
11-year-old boy Gopal and his brother-in-law. Judge Arbuthnot, incidentally the
same judge who had found a prima facie case against Mallya in her ruling in
favour of extradition in Dec.2018, “discharged” Dhir and Raijada on human
rights grounds under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. PTI
Proposal
to give proxy voting rights to overseas Indians held back for ‘further study’
New Delhi:The is learnt to have withheld its plan to
introduce a fresh bill in Parliament to extend the facility of ‘proxy voting’
to overseas Indians, pending “reconciliation” of varied views on the issue.A
similar bill had lapsed following the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha last
month. It was passed by the lower house but was pending in Rajya Sabha.Sources
in the said that the Law Ministry
proposal came before Union Cabinet on June 24 where it was decided that it be
held back for “further study”.“The proposal will move forward after various
views are reconciled,” a senior functionary said.There have been demands from
various parties to extend similar facility to domestic migrants who are unable
to vote when elections are held in their native places as most cannot afford to
travel or miss work.PTI
Muslim Officer from MP Wants to Change his
Name for Remaining Safe from Mob Lynching
Bhopal:Extremely concerned over the rising mob
lynching incidents in the country, a Muslim bureaucrat in the Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh wants to change his name for
remaining safe from ‘violent crowd’. In a series of tweets on Saturday, senior
officer Niyaz Khan, who also describe himself as a novelist, expressed his fear
for the safety of Muslim community in the country. Opening up about how he has
been looking for a new name of himself so he can hide his Muslim identity, Khan
said it is a must if he wants to save himself “from the sword of hate”.“The new
name will save me from the violent crowd,” he said.He mentioned how he can
easily get away from hate and violence as his appearance don’t make him look
like a typical Muslim – who don an Islamic cap, wear a kurta and have a beard –
by telling the crowd a fake name.He said, however, that is not the case with
his brother. “If my brother is wearing traditional clothes and has beard he is
in most dangerous situation,” Khan said.Caravan News
Delhi: 5 more teenagers arrested in Hauz Qazi case
New Delhi: 5 more teenagers who were involved
in the Hauz Qazi vandalism were caught from the Lal Kuan area on Saturday,
taking the number of arrests to 17. Police say that 4 of them were found to be
minors while one is an adult. Police are ascertaining their previous
involvements as well. Sources say that all of them are in the age-group of
17-20. They were identified from videos by some of the residents whom the cops
showed the videos for verification. During interrogation, the youths had
revealed that they were called by one of the accused who was caught earlier and
had joined the group in pelting stones at the temple after being asked by the
others. They even broke down a shutter at the entrance of the temple and then
entered the houses of some of the residents of the area to terrorise them. Cops
had met some of the resident welfare associations and asked them to identify
the youths from their locality who had joined the protests on Monday and hand
them over to the police for a probe. Police officers say that a strict warning
has been issued to residents to prevent them from shielding the suspects.Meanwhile,
MWAs and different traders associations deployed volunteers on the road outside
their shops to manage the traffic in order to avoid unauthorised parking.“We
have asked volunteers to help maintain a single lane for vehicles passing
through the area so that there are no instances of confrontations which could
lead to violence,” said M Nafees Ahmed, a resident of the area. Since
Wednesday, the police have been holding meetings with clerics from the local
mosques and madrasas around Lal Kuan and asked them for help to identify the
miscreants from CCTV and mobile phone footages. TOI
Deoband’s ulemas criticise ‘Shri Ram’ bricks
used for construction of drains
Meerut: Deoband’s ulemas have criticised the
use of bricks with ‘Shri Ram’ written on them, for the construction of
drains.The clerics were reacting to a viral post as there were some pictures of
bricks reportedly being used for drains in an unknown location in
Uttarakhand.“It is the duty of every Indian to respect other religions and
their followers. This kind of use of bricks is wrong and must be criticised in
the strongest language. agencies must
take adequate steps to stop this sacrilege,” said Qari Izhaaq Gora, a patron of
Madrassa Jamaat Dawat-Ul-Muslimeen. “We also demand strict action against those
who have hurt religious sentiments,” he added.Echoing Gora’s sentiment, Mufti
Yadilaahi Qazmi, president of Tanzeem Abna-E-Madaris said, “This kind of work
has hurt our feelings as deeply as those of our Hindu brethren. An inquiry must
be set up to hold those responsible for this insensitive work.”Interestingly, Deoband’s
ulemas found support from none other than Bajrang Dal. West UP convenor of
Bajrang Dal Balraj Dungar said, “We support Deoband in this regard.”TOI
MP DGP
blames ‘increasing independence of women’ for rise in fake abduction cases
Madhya Pradesh’s DGP VK Singh has said that
fake kidnapping cases are increasing because girls and boys interact more often
at present, ANI reported on Sunday. “A new trend which we see under Section 363
[IPC] is the increasing independence of women,” the police chief said at a
press conference in Gwalior on July 4. “They go to school and college. The
increasing independence of women is a reality of today’s society. In this
scenario, their interaction with boys is a reality. The girls leave homes in
such situations and then a kidnapping case is filed.” Section 363 of IPC deals
with the criminal offence of kidnapping.“Criminals from neighbouring states
have set up base here,” Singh added. “There is also the traditional reason –
criminal tribes who come here. We have to control this.”State Home Minister
Bala Bachchan parried a question by reporters about Singh’s comments. “In our
review meeting, the govt’s intentions were made clear that if crime is
committed under any police station, then staff including seniors will be held
responsible,” NDTV quoted him as saying. “We are committed to a safer MP and to
protecting our citizens.” BJP said Singh’s remark was irresponsible. “He should
avoid such general and irresponsible statements,” said party spokesperson Rahul
Kothari. “He is the chief of the state police. We are witnessing crime against
women on the rise, they are not able to control it..They should concentrate on
how to prevent kidnapping and crime against women instead of giving such
statements.” According to NCRB, 7,237 cases of kidnapping were registered in MP
in 2016, and in 69% of those cases the victims were girls.scroll.in
NIA Questions Greater Kashmir Editor Over
Articles in Newspaper
New Delhi: In a first of its kind development,
NIA has been questioning the editor-in-chief of a prominent daily from Kashmir,
Greater Kashmir, for over a week about some of the articles published in his
newspaper.The editor is being questioned about pieces that appeared in his
newspaper during the agitation in 2016 after Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan
Wani was killed in an encounter, PTI quoted officials as saying.Though the news
agency refrained from identifying the newspaper or the editor by name, The Wire
can report that the editor concerned is Fayaz Kaloo.He was also reportedly
asked about his trips abroad, including to Dubai.A well known media and
business personality, Kaloo is the president of the Kashmir Editors
Guild.thewire
J&K: Rise in drug use sends alarm bells
ringing
Srinagar :Doctors in Kashmir have raised an
alarm after the number of drug users in the Valley has significantly increased
over the past two years. Aggravating the situation is quickly changing pattern
of drug consumption in the Valley, with doctors coming across an increasing
number of abusers using synthetic drugs like heroin.“We have never seen such a
situation. The number of drugs addicts has doubled. The disturbing trend is
that at present, we have 11 patients admitted, and nine of them are heroin
addicts. It is very alarming and something needs to be done to tackle this
problem,” Dr Yasir Hassan Rather, who heads the drug de-addiction centre in
Srinagar’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital, said .According to official data,
the de-addiction centre has witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number
of patients visiting hospital’s Out Patients Department (OPD) since 2016. In
2016, hospital saw 489 patients, which increased to 3,622 in 2017 and then
5,113 in 2018. As far as Indoor Patients Dept (IPD) is concerned, hospital
officials say the trend is equally disturbing:in 2016, hospital’s IPD
department admitted 207 patients for drug abuse, which increased to 374 in
2017.In 2018, number almost doubled to 624 cases.indian expres
India talks tough with Canada on Khalistan
Toronto:India has informed Canada that there
is little hope for improving frosty bilateral relations if Ottawa doesn’t address
New Delhi’s concerns about the burgeoning activities of Khalistani operatives
and organisations, people familiar with developments said. The message was
conveyed by external affairs minister S Jaishankar when he held a bilateral
meeting with his Canadian counterpart, Chrystia Freeland, on the margins of the
G20 Summit in Japan on June 28, the people said.People familiar with
developments in both countries described the meeting as amicable, but said
Jaishankar had made no bones about India’s concerns about efforts by
Canada-based activists and groups to revive the Khalistan movement and the
perceived failure of Ottawa to take a clear stand on the matter. The matter
also figured when Canadian high commissioner Nadir Patel paid a courtesy call
on Jaishankar on June 19 and the external affairs minister clearly laid out
Indian’s concerns on the Khalistan issue, the people said.There was no comment
on the matter from Indian and Canadian officials though a person, who didn’t
want to be identified as he wasn’t authorised to speak to the media, said the
issue had been brewing for a long time and India’s concerns could no longer be
swept aside. There was no official readout on the Jaishankar-Freeland meeting
from both sides. Official Twitter handles of both countries had tweeted about
the meeting in a positive manner, though Jaishankar himself tweeted that he
looked forward to “building an even more substantive relationship that reflects
both our interests and concerns”.Officials from both sides, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, acknowledged that bilateral ties have largely stagnated
since PM Justin Trudeau’s visit to India in Feb.2018, which was hit by several
controversies, including one over the presence of a man convicted of terror
charges at an official reception.HT
Khalistan movement getting support from
ISI-backed Muslim community in UK:Indian Army veteran
An Indian Army veteran has claimed that
Khalistanis, the secessionists demanding a separate homeland in the sovereign
territory of India, are getting support from Pakistani Muslims in Britain and
Canada.He is also of the opinion that some Gurdwaras in these countries are the
facilitators of the so-called movement and they have been pumping huge money
and material to keep it alive."The major inflow of funds is coming from
Canada and UK. In UK, a large Muslim community from Pakistan lives and this is
a very vociferous community," said Major General (Retd.) Dhruv C. Katoch.
"These people are also in touch with ISI of Pakistan. They are trying to
create a sort of movement within the UK, so basically the foreign funding or
the foreign support comes from the two countries," he added.ANI
Nepal Denies Tibetans' Request To Hold Dalai
Lama Birthday Celebration
Tibetan
community in Nepal called off plans to mark the birthday of their spiritual
leader the Dalai Lama after their request for a public celebration was rejected
over security concerns, a official said
on Sunday. Dalai Lama turned 84 on Saturday and his followers in Nepal had
hoped to celebrate occasion in the capital, Kathmandu, but communist rejected
their request. China, which regards Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist, has been
increasing its influence in Himalayan nation that is home to about 20,000
Tibetans. Nepal is a natural buffer between China and India and is considered
by New Delhi as its natural ally, but China is also making inroads by pouring
aid and infrastructure investment into what is one of the world's 10 poorest
countries.Reuters
PM Modi assures Jamia V-C of aid in setting up
of medical college
New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi met Jamia Millia
Islamia V-C Najma Akhtar and assured her of all assistance in setting up a
medical college-cum-hospital during her tenure.She briefed PM Modi on academic
and research activities in the university and also informed him about the
centenary celebrations of Jamia next year, varsity said.Ms Akhtar sought a
special grant-in-aid for the celebrations.PM assured the VC that her request would be
looked into favourably, it added.PM emphasised on the aims and objectives of
education for his as he spoke highly
about the high standard of academic and research activities of the university,
the varsity said.PTI
Japanese encephalitis, toll rise to 49 in
Assam
Guwahati:With the number of deaths this year
due to Japanese Encephalitis (JE) increasing to 49 and number of positive cases
reaching 190, Assam on Saturday
initiated several emergency measures to tackle the situation.State health
minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed all districts except Kokrajhar are at
present affected by the disease. Leave of all doctors and paramedical staff has
been kept on hold with immediate effect till September 30.The state , however,
didn’t term the situation as alarming. “On average, nearly 100 deaths due to JE
are reported across the state. In 2015, the figure was as high as 135, but in
2017 it came down to 87 deaths,” Sarma said.He informed that 12.8 lakh blood
sample slides have been collected to test for the outbreak of JE-related fever
and diagnostic kits provided to all district hospitals and medical colleges.HT
WORLD
Intra-Afghan summit for talks with Taliban
under way in Qatar
Doha:Dozens of high-profile Afghan politicians
and civil society activists, including women, are meeting with the Taliban in
the Qatari capital for an intra-Afghan summit that seeks to find lasting peace
in war-torn Afghanistan.The two-day summit, sponsored by Qatar and Germany,
began early on Sunday and is being attended by a delegation of about 50
high-profile Afghan citizens."The meeting is aimed at further pushing the
intra-Afghan negotiations for peace," former Afghan envoy to Pakistan,
Omar Zakhilwal, who is attending the summit, told Al Jazeera. Zakhilwal said
the summit "complements" the ongoing United States-Taliban talks,
also being held in Doha.As the meeting was under way, Taliban fighters on
Sunday killed at least eight people and wounded more than 50 civilians in a car
bomb attack in Afghanistan's Ghazni province. An Afghan official attending the
summit said issues such as women's and minorities rights will be discussed at
the summit. He did not provide the details of the agenda. However, Moscow has
hosted 2 intra-Afghan meetings so far. In February, senior Afghan politicians,
including former President Hamid Karzai, met a Taliban delegation in the
Russian capital and discussed, among other issues, the adoption of a new
constitution and an interim .The two groups, bitter former foes, were also seen
praying and dining together during the talks in Moscow. Meanwhile, the seventh
round of US-Taliban peace talks in Doha, that began on June 29, have been
paused for two days to allow the intra-Afghan summit to take place, a Taliban
spokesman told Al Jazeera."No talks will take place tomorrow and the day
after," Suhail Shaheen said on Saturday. "The talks between US and
the Taliban will restart on Tuesday." Despite the ongoing efforts to end
the 18-year Afghanistan war, a number of deadly attacks have taken place across
the country recently.aljazeera
Quebec education minister: Malala can teach
here if she removes headscarf
Quebec Education Minister Jean-François
Roberge said in a tweet Friday that if Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai
wanted to teach in Quebec, it would be an honour, but like in other “open and
tolerant countries, teachers can’t wear religious symbols while they exercise
their functions.”Roberge noted that’s the case in France, where the two were
photographed together. They were taking part in planning meetings to discuss
education during G7 in France this coming Aug. Roberge’s tweet was in response
to a question by reporter Salim Nadim Valji over Twitter who asked, “Roberge,
how would you respond if Mme Yousafzai wanted to become a teacher in Quebec?”
The question came after Roberge posted a photo with Yousafzai to Twitter; in
the caption, he said it was nice to meet her to discuss access to education.Montreal
Gazette
Sudan Muslim Brotherhood ‘supports’ military
council, opposition agreement
Observer-General of Sudan’s Muslim
Brotherhood, Awadallah Hassan has announced his support for the agreement
reached between the ruling military council and the Sudanese opposition.Sudan
News Agency (SUNA) quoted Hassan as saying: “We support any agreement that
preserves the country and we are optimistic that the future will be better if
people agree to respect democracy and renounce the method of exclusion and
secret agendas.”“We will peacefully extend our hands to cooperate with everyone
in order to establish a country that we will be proud of,” Hassan added.Observer-General
called on all parties to promptly find solutions to the problems facing the
country and make concessions for the sake of security and stability. He called
for the participation of all parties to provide opinions and ideas to
contribute to this goal.The eastern Sudanese city of Al-Qadarif and the central
city of Madani have witnessed “marches of joy” following the announcement of an
agreement between the military council and the Forces of Freedom and Change
earlier this week.Yesterday, hundreds of people marched in several
neighbourhoods of the capital Khartoum, celebrating the signing of an agreement
to form a sovereign council and a transitional civilian.The agreement has been
seen as a breakthrough after direct negotiations between the conflicting
parties collapsed in May, with both parties accusing the other of wishing to
dominate the bodies of the authority proposed for the transitional
period.middleeastmonitor
Sri Lanka on alert as Buddhist monks meet over
Prez vote
Police lined up on the streets of the Sri
Lankan highland city of Kandy and the army was on standby, as hardline Buddhist
monks gathered for their first big assembly since a spate of deadly bombings
targeting churches and hotels on Easter Sunday.Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, the
influential head of Buddhist nationalist group Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), has called
for as many as 10,000 clergymen from across the country to attend the meeting
on Sunday. The group said the gathering will decide who to back in the
presidential elections later this year in the Indian Ocean island nation where
Buddhists make up about 70 percent of the population. The rest include ethnic
Tamils, who are mostly Hindus, and Muslims.Later in the day, monk, who has
faced allegations of inciting violence against Muslims, will address the
gathering.Muslims have become fearful of a backlash, especially from groups
such as BBS that are leading te campaign against Muslim hardliners.aljazeera
US sent message to Iran after drone downing,
warning of limited strike: Iranian official
Dubai:US conveyed a messgae to Iran warning of
a limited stike against the country after its unmanned drone was shot down in
the Gulf, Iran's civil defence agency chief Gholamreza Jalali was quoted as
saying by the Fars news agency on Sunday.“After the downing of its intruding
drone, US told us through diplomatic intermediaries that it wanted to carry out
a limited operation,” said Jalali who is also a senior commander of Iran's
elite Revolutionary Guards.“But Iran's response was that we regard every operation
as the beginning of the war.”A day after the drone was downed in the Gulf,
Iranian officials told Reuters on June 21 that Tehran had received a message
from US President Donald Trump through Oman after the drone was downed warning
that a US attack on Iran was imminent. Iranian and US officials denied the
report.Reuters
Iran set to exceed uranium enrichment limit in
2015 nuclear deal
Iran has announced it will begin enriching
uranium beyond the limit set in its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers
"in a few hours". The move on
Sunday was part of an Iranian effort to press Europe to salvage the accord
after the US pulled out last year and
reimposed punishing sanctions on Tehran, including on its oil and banking
sectors. aljazeera
Russia-Syria assault on Idlib leaves over 500
civilians dead
At least 544 civilians have been killed and
more than 2,000 people wounded since a Russian-led assault on the last
rebel-held bastion in northwestern Syria began two-and-a-half months ago,
according to rights groups and rescuers. Russian fighter jets joined the Syrian
army on April 26 in the offensive against rebel-held Idlib and adjoining
northern Hama provinces, in biggest escalation in the war between Bashar
al-Assad's forces and rebel fighters since last summer. aljazeera
Regime attacks kill 14 in Syria’s
de-escalation zones
At least 14 civilians were killed and 20
injured in attacks by Syrian regime forces and Russia on de-escalation zones in
northern Syria, said sources with White Helmets civil defense agency.Airstrikes
and artillery shelling targeted the towns in the Idlib province. Turkey and
Russia agreed last Sept to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts
of aggression are expressly prohibited.middleeastmonitor
Flash: views &
NEWS
Why is Nusrat’s Rath Yatra visit viewed as
secular but Mamata’s iftar party as minority appeasement?Shoaib Daniyal
Create space for Muslim women in the
mainstream:Lalita Panicker
Meet Kharnak nomads, who brave the harshest
terrains to produce pashmina wool
Harassment of a Minor Girl in Zafarabad, UP,
Falsely Attributed to Members of Muslim Community:Jignesh Patel
Print media gets raw deal in Modi Budget 2019
— 10% customs duty on newsprint:Amrita Nayak Dutta
How far did Sitharaman's maiden Budget advance
the goal set by the Survey? P Chidambaram
Cross-examination ends: Reserve my right for
further legal action in future, MJ Akbar tells court
Compiled and edited by
Anwarulhaq
(Released at: 8:21 PM)
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