29 DEC. FLASH NEWS (MID DAY)
CAA stir: Muslim organisations slam CM Yogi for justifying excesses on
protestors
NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s justification
of police crackdown on “violent
protesters” has not gone down well with Muslims, who said no “secular person”
would speak like Adityanath who, they said, was setting a bad example for
India’s democractic system.Mohammad Jafar, one of the vice-presidents of
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, accused Yogi Adityanath of playing “communal politics”
over the protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the NRC.
“Adiyanath’s actions are setting a bad example for the country and is
responsible for bringing bad name to the country globally. This is a democracy
and he cannot boast of silencing demonstrators.
Under the name of maintaining law and order, he is defending police
firing and violation of human rights. This kind of crackdown cannot be
justified,” said Jafar.He said the Uttar Pradesh CM “needs to learn from other
states” like Maharashtra which are allowing large- scale protests in a peaceful
manner.“Adityanath is living in denial if this is his idea of democracy and
governance. This is not a matter of Muslims. It is a matter of saving India’s
Constitution, but he is trying to convert the situation into a communal riot
situation. He will fail and he won’t be able to suppress people from all
religions and regions who are trying to save the Constitution.” Jamiat-Ulama
president Arshad Madani also condemned the police’s brutality and the
subsequent justification of the same by the CM. The prominent Muslim body aleged
that videos on social media and various
news reports on the violence show that police has behaved “cruelly” and
“ruthlessly” with protesters and people who were not even protesting. “Governments are run on communal harmony and
not how he is running the state. He is certainly not sounding like a chief
minister. No secular person or a person who believes in democracy would make
the statements he has made. He is boasting about brutality on the people of his
own state,” Madani said.Navaid Hamid, president of All India Muslim
Majlis-e-Mushawarat, an umbrella body of 18 Muslim organisations, said
Aditynath was doing a disservice to the nation with his militant acts and
subsequent justification of the same. “This is state terrorism and against the
established norms of governance...His brutality is bringing bad name to India
and has become a centre of negative reporting across globe,” said
Hamid.“Governments are run on communal harmony and not how he is running the
state...He is boasting of brutality on the people of his own state, said JuH
president Arshad Madani.newindianexpress
CAA protests: Tourism worst hit, 7 countries issue travel warnings
MUMBAI : India's tourism industry has been hit by a wave of violent
anti-government protests against a new citizenship law that have rocked several
cities this month, with at least seven countries issuing travel warnings.At
least 25 people have been killed in clashes between police and protesters, and
demonstrations against the law continue. Officials estimate about 200,000
domestic and international tourists cancelled or postponed their trip to the
Taj Mahal in the past two weeks, one of the world's most popular tourist
attractions."There has been a 60% decline in visitor footfalls in December
this year," said Dinesh Kumar, a police inspector overseeing a special
tourist police station near the Taj Mahal who has access to visitor data. He
said the decline was compared to December last year."Indian and foreign
tourists have been calling our control rooms to check security. We assure them
protection, but many still decide to stay away," said Kumar.The 17th
century marble monument is in Uttar Pradesh, the northern state that has
witnessed the highest number of deaths and intense bursts of violence in two
weeks of unrest.A group of European tourists travelling in a group across India
said they now planned to cut short their 20 day trip.The Taj Mahal, situated in
the town of Agra, attracts over 6.5 million tourists every year, generating
nearly $14 million annually from entrance fees. A foreign tourist pays ₹1,100
(about $15) to enter the grounds, although nationals from neighbouring
countries get a discount.Managers in luxury hotels and guest houses around the
Taj Mahal said last minute cancellations during the festive season have further
dampened business sentiment at a time when the country's economic growth has
slowed to 4.5%, its slowest pace in more than six years.In a bid to clamp down
on violence and unrest, authorities have suspended mobile internet services in
Agra. "Blocking the internet has affected travel and tourism in Agra by
about 50-60%," said Sandeep Arora, president of the Agra Tourism
Development Foundation that groups over 250 tour operators, hotels and
guides.The United States, Britain, Russia, Israel, Singapore, Canada and Taiwan
have issued travel advisories asking their citizens to either refrain from
visiting or to exercise caution when visiting regions embroiled in India's
protests.Jayanta Malla Baruah, the head of the Assam Tourism Development Corp.,
said the state, home to the world's largest concentration of one-horned
rhinoceroses, is visited on average by 500,000 tourists during
December."But this time, due to the ongoing protests and travel advisories
by various countries, the number is down by 90% if not more."Reuters
"Take Immediate Action": Union Minister On UP Cop's "Go
To Pak" Rant
Lucknow: Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has said
"action must be taken" against the Uttar Policeman who was seen in a
video making communal statements in a Muslim locality in Meerut last Friday.
The policemen were dealing with violent protests that had broken out in the
city after Friday prayers over the amended citizenship law.In a mobile phone
video accessed by NDTV, Akhilesh Narayan Singh, who serves as SP (City) of
Meerut, the second in command in the district, can be heard saying "go to
Pakistan" to 2 men."If it is true that he made that statement in the
video, then it is condemnable. Immediate action must be taken against
him," Naqvi said, ANI reported. "Violence at any level, be it by
police or by mob, is unacceptable. It can't be a part of a democratic country.
Police should take care that those who are innocent should not suffer,"
the Union Minister said.In the video, police officer Akhilesh Narayan Singh can
be seen walking in a narrow lane wearing riot gear. Some other policemen, also
in riot gear, are seen walking with him.ndtv
Will consult states before NRC… may or may not use NPR data for it: Law
Minister
New Delhi :Speaking about the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act
and the NRC plan that have sparked protests across the country, Union Law
Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that a “proper legal process” will be
followed for a nation-wide NRC, including consultation with state governments,
and that “some” data collected for National Population Register (NPR) “may or
may not be used” for NRC.His remarks, in a detailed interview to Sunday
Express, assume significance as more than half-a-dozen state governments,
including Bihar, led by BJP ally JD(U), have opposed implementation of a
nation-wide NRC. At least two have also said they won’t allow NPR as it might
lead to an NRC. Asked when the NRC would be implemented, Prasad said, “A
position has to be taken. There is a legal process. First a decision, second a
notification, then the process, the verification, the objection, the hearing of
the objection, right of appeal. There will be a consultation with the state
government, feedback will be taken. If anything is to be done, it will be done
publicly. Nothing will be a secret on an NRC.”On documents that would be
acceptable for a nation-wide NRC, Prasad said no decision had been taken on
this.Defending the Centre’s decision to initiate a fresh NPR, Prasad said this
was necessary as the Census data “cannot be made public” to any authority and
the NPR data would be used to frame policies for delivery of welfare schemes.
“NRC is a different concept altogether… The Citizenship (Registration of
Citizen and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, talk about NPR…
There is need for an NPR because Census details cannot be made public to any
authority, but the NPR is required to frame policies for the delivery of
welfare schemes.” indianexpress
BJP To Reach Out To Dalit Community Over Citizenship Law: Report
New Delhi: To counter opposition against the Citizenship Amendment Act,
the BJP will hold a meeting on Sunday with members of the Scheduled Caste
community leaders and highlight how the new law has benefitted the community
whose members had come to India after facing persecution in Pakistan. The party
has decided to make the Scheduled Caste (SC) community aware of the benefits of
the CAA and reach out to intellectuals, doctors, academicians and professionals
from the community to make them aware of the benefits that have accrued to the
members of the community.The meeting will be addressed by BJP working president
JP Nadda where MPs from the scheduled caste community are also expected to be
present. Prominent personalities of the community and elected representatives
would also attend the meeting.ANI
Complaint filed in NHRC regarding manhandling of Priyanka Gandhi in
Lucknow
New Delhi:Acomplaint has been filed in the National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC) regarding the alleged manhandling of Congress leader Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra by Uttar Pradesh police in Lucknow on Saturday.Congress leader
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday alleged that she was strangulated by a UP
policewoman while on her way to meet the family of former IPS officer SR
Darapuri and was also pushed due to which she fell down.Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
also alleged that the Yogi Adityanath government supported the actions of the
Uttar Pradesh Police against her when she was stopped from meeting ex-IPS
officer SR Darapuri's family members and also manhandled by the cops in Lucknow
on Saturday. Priyanka Gandhi said she was manhandled by Uttar Pradesh Police
personnel who also grabbed her by her throat and pushed her when she resisted
their attempts to stop her from visiting the house of retired IPS officer SR
Darapuri.ANI
Priyanka alleges manhandling by police on way to residence of ex-IPS
officer
FIR against SHO, 5 other cops for Bijnor death during protests
Lucknow :An FIR has been lodged against 6 policemen, including the then
Station House Officer of Nahtaur police station, Rajesh Singh Solanki, over the
death of 20-year-old Mohammad Suleiman in UP’s Bijnor district during the
protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.Satya Prakash Singh, who
replaced Solanki as SHO, said that apart from Solanki, local outpost in-charge
Ashish Tomar, constable Mohit Kumar and three other “unidentified” policemen
have been named in the FIR filed by Suleiman’s brother Shoaib.Singh said
Solanki has now been transferred to DCRB. Bijnor Additional SP (Rural)
Vishwajeet Srivastava said Solanki has been transferred from the Nahtaur police
station “because he was injured and could not work”.In what was the first
admission of firing by the UP Police during the protests, Sanjeev Tyagi, SP,
Bijnor, had confirmed on December 23 that Suleiman had died after he was shot
by constable Mohit Kumar in “self-defence”.Suleiman, a final-year
under-graduate student who was staying with his maternal uncle in Noida to
prepare for UPSC exams, had come to Nahtaur since he was down with fever, his
family said.indianexpress
Amid CAA, NRC fears, rush to apply for birth certificates in Malegaon,
other towns
Mumbai :Amidst large-scale protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act
and fears of a nationwide NRC, at least four municipalities — Malegaon in
Maharashtra, Kolkata, and Surat and Modasa in Gujarat — have reported a rise in
applications for birth certificates.Soon after Assam published the final NRC in
September, excluding 19,06,657 people, hundreds of kilometres away, in the
Maharashtra town of Malegaon, several prominent mosques circulated a list of 23
essential identity documents and urged locals to ensure that have their papers
in place and that they bore no errors.From 2,000 applications for birth
certificates received by the Malegaon Municipal Corporation in August, the
figure rose to 12,000 in September, 12,500 in October and 12,800 in November,
records obtained by Sunday Express from the health department showed. This
month alone, as of December 26, the Corporation had received 13,000
applications.Malegaon Municipal Commissioner Kishor Borde said that while he
could not comment on the reasons for the rise in applications, he admitted that
the town’s Muslim residents were putting identification documents together
fearing the effects of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and a nationwide
NRC.indianexpress
Maharashtra: Peaceful dharna against CAA, NRC in Dhule
Mumbai :More than 20,000 people cutting across all religions Saturday
gathered in Dhule town to hold a peaceful protest against the Citizenship
(Amendment) Act (CAA) and the NRC.The demonstration, organised by the Jamiat
Ulema-e-Hind Dhule, was attended by members of all major political
parties.Dhule SP Vishwas Pandhare said the protest was held between 11 am 2 pm,
at the heart of the town. “Protesters carried out a peaceful dharna. We
received great cooperation from the organisers and nothing untoward took
place,” he said.Shawwal Ansari, vice-president of Jamiat in Dhule, said
protesters handed over a memorandum, addressed to President Ram Nath Kovind, to
the tehsildar at the end of the protest.The Jamiat claimed that more than
50,000 people gathered at a 2-km stretch during the protest.indianexpress
Retired IPS officer Darapuri, held over anti-CAA protests, ‘works on
rights issues’
Lucknow : Retired IPS officer Sarwan Ram Darapuri, 77, who is among more
than 200 people arrested by Lucknow police following violence during protests
against the new citizenship law, has been working on rights issues since his
retirement from the force in 2003, according to his son and others who have
worked with him.He also unsuccessfully contested the last two Lok Sabha
elections.The police have booked Darapuri, 1972-batch IPS officer, along with
34 others.Darapuri, who is lodged in Lucknow district jail since December 21,
comes from Punjab’s Jalandhar district. He retired as Inspector General in UP
Police, his last posting being the Police Training Centre,
Sitapur.Post-retirement, he works to provide support to social justice
movements on issues such as human rights, and rights of women, tribals, Dalits
and minorities, among others, according to people close to him. He was involved
in work on empowering the poor and the deprived communities, they said.He is
also state president of Mazdoor Kisan Manch, and founder-member of Dr Ambedkar
Mahasabha.“Darapuri founded Dr Ambedkar Mahasabha while being in services,”
People’s Front’s state vice-president, Dinkar Kapoor, said. Darapuri was
earlier associated with civil society organisations such as PUCL, Jan Sangharsh
Morcha, Right to Food Committee in UP, Society for Promoting Buddhist
Knowledge, among others, Kapoor said. His son Ved Kumar, 50, a businessman,
said, “My father works on different rights issues. He participated in several
protests and was detained by the police earlier, but this is the first time he
was arrested and sent to jail.”Ved Kumar said the family is worried about his
father’s health, as he was not keeping well for the last one week.
indianexpress
Muslim organisations protest against CAA-NRC in Chennai
CHENNAI: After series of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act
(CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) last week, which kept police
on edge, another round of protests was witnessed on Friday, as members of
Islamic Jamaath Federation demonstrated against CAA and NRC in Washermenpet.The
protesters, led by the Washermenpet area jamaath federation, gathered on Cemetery
Road in Old Washermenpet around 1.30pm after Friday prayers.Police said that at
least 1,200 people came together and raised slogans for about 2 hours against
the BJP and Centre for implementing the Act. Many women and children
volunteered to take part in the agitation and held placards and banners
opposing CAA and NRC.They also raised slogans against the AIADMK and PMK, which
voted in favour of implementing CAA and NRC in the Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha.Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamaath has planned a massive rally
towards Raj Bhavan in Guindy around 10.30am on Saturday. The protesters have
planned to gather near the Alandur court and proceed towards Raj Bhavan
opposing CAA and NRC, which they said divides people based on their religion
and is aimed at alienating native inhabitants, according to a press release.TOI
7 detained in Chennai for drawing anti-CAA rangoli on streets, released
later
Chennai police have detained 5 individuals from the Besant Nagar area on
Sunday morning for drawing rangolis or kolams on the streets to protest against
the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), NRC and the NPR.The police detained the
protesters and took them to the station citing ‘unlawful assembly’. They were
kept in a community hall next to the J5 Shastri Nagar police station. According
to The News Minute, those detained include four women and one man -Gayathri,
Arthi, Kalyani,Pragathi and Madan. The police also detained two advocates who
later went to the police station.freepressjournal
CAA, NRC Part Of Their Agenda For Hindu Rashtra: P. Chidambaram
Former home minister P. Chidambaram speaking on the Citizenship
(Amendment) Act, said, "CAA violates the Constitution of India,
specifically Article 14. It is under-inclusive, unequal, discriminatory and
opposed to constitutional morality. Hence the opposition from all sections of
people. We have posed some questions to those who supported the amendment. I
did so in my speech in the Rajya Sabha. We have not got satisfactory answers.
Unless those questions are answered to people’s satisfaction, we have to assume
the government does not have good answers. Many eminent scholars and lawyers
believe the law will be struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional.
That is also my view." He continued, "We are not inciting the
Muslims, or any other section, to revolt against the law. The overwhelming
majority of protestors are not Muslims; they are Hindus or belong to other
non-Islamic faiths. Some are agnostics or atheists. To call the protestors
Muslims and accuse others of inciting Muslims reveals the BJP’s narrow and
closed mind. When CAA is implemented, you will realise it was a carefully
designed plan to discriminate against Muslims. The burden will fall heavily on
Muslims. The impact of NRC and CAA will be to identify and exclude Muslims. The
evil consequences will also fall on others like Tamil Hindus migrating from Sri
Lanka and Christians migrating from Bhutan. This is part of the agenda of
pushing the idea of a Hindu Rashtra. All those who believe in a plural, inclusive
and non-discriminatory society should push back on the plan."outlookindia
Only those who say Bharat Mata ki jai can stay in India: Union Petroleum
Minister Dharmendra Pradhan
Pune :Amidst continuing protests over the new citizenship law and a proposed
nationwide NRC, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday said
that only those who are ready to say “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” should be allowed to
live in India.Addressing the 54th state conference of ABVP, the student wing of
RSS, Pradhan on Saturday said, “Aaj desh ke saamne chunauti kya hai? Ek taraf
desh me nagarikta… ginti kiya jayega ki nahi kiya jayega? Kya Udham Singh ki
balidan bekar jayegi? Kya Bhagat Singh ki balidan bekar jayegi? Kya Netaji
Subhash Chandra Bose ki balidan bekar jayegi? Kya is desh ki karoro asankhya
janata jo swatantra sangram me ladai kiye the… isiliye ki aazaadi ke 70 saal ke
baad is desh is vishay pe vichar karega ki nagarikta ke baare me hum gine ki na
gine? Kya is desh ko hum dharamshala banayenge? Kya is desh ko jo aaye woh reh
payega? Is vishay pe chunautiyan hame sweekar karna padega. Is vichar ko spasht
karna padega. Bharat me Bharat Mata ki Jai kehna hi padega. Aise log hi reh
payenge (What is challenge before this country today? On one side, this country’s
citizenship… to be counted or not? Would Udham Singh’s sacrifice go in vain?
Would Bhagat Singh’s sacrifice go in vain? Would Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s
sacrifice go in vain? Did the crores of people who fought for Independence do
so so that 70 years after Independence, this country would discuss whether we
should count our citizens or not? Do we want to make this country to be an inn?
Should anyone who comes to this country be allowed to live here? We have to
face this challenge. This point has to be made clear. In India, one will have
to say Bharat Mata ki Jai. Only those people will be able to live here),”
Pradhan said, adding that most countries in the world had a provision for
registering their citizens.indianexpress
We the People: Voices from across the country on ‘being Indian’
New Delhi :Resident, usual resident; citizen, non-citizen; immigrant,
illegal immigrant; Muslim, non-Muslim; Kashmiri, non-Kashmiri. In the year
2019, ascendant nationalism made way for narrowing the definitions of who is a
national. From Kashmir to Assam, the complex matrix of identities woven over
hundred of years of history and geography disintegrated into a jumble of
numbers (370, 1971, 19 lakh), while old identities proved strong despite the
passage of centuries from Sabarimala to Ayodhya. The contesting figures took
the form of protests against the government towards the end of the year. This
seemed to have a common identity defined by the following characteristics:
young, articulate, seeking its rights under the Constitution, and rallying
around the Preamble, beginning with the words, ‘We, the people of India’.The
Sunday Express reached out to men and women across the Republic, from the
uneasy calm of the Kashmir Valley to the angry disquiet of a campus, the
desolation of Bastar to the solitude of a rape victim, and the hope for a job
next to Millennium City Gurgaon to the longing for a temple in Ayodhya — to
find out, in their own words and their own photographs or sketches, what they
talk about when they talk about ‘being India’ and ‘being Indian’. What does the
Constitution mean in their lives, in letter and spirit? Which rights matter to
them the most, at home and beyond, as they enter 2020, 70th year of the
Republic.indianexpress
We The People: ‘I wish in the new year we start looking at people as humans,
not as Hindu, Muslim’:Sartaj Ali, AMU
We The People: ‘I enjoy the right to speak against PM, if necessary…
Even after speaking against him, people are not prosecuted’:Anshuman Singh,
Student Kolkata
We the People: ‘The most beautiful thing about Constitution was that
Kashmir had a special identity… That is now gone’:Shoib Khalil, Hotel owner in
Srinagar
We the people: ‘The real issue is jobs… This isn’t time for CAA,
NRC’:Sanjay Kumar, graduate
Married 2 years ago, Pak Muslim woman can’t live with Indian husband due
to pending long-term visa; with CAA, her fears have multiplied
Ludhiana : 2 YEARS ago, in the winter of 2017, Sidra Rafique (32), a
Pashto-speaking woman from Mansehra district in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
province, had crossed over to India via Wagah. For the newly-wed bride and her
husband Ramish Aman (28) from Haldwani of Nainital, India’s former external
affairs minister late Sushma Swaraj had played cupid. Responding to Sidra’s
request for visa on Twitter in no time, Swaraj wrote, ‘’Sidra – Hindustan apni
betiyon aur bahuon ka visa inkaar nahi karta. Tumhe visa zaroor milega (India
doesn’t reject visas of its daughters and daughters-in-law. You will surely get
a visa)…”Married 2 yrs ago, Pak woman can’t live with Indian husband due to
pending long-term visa Sushma Swaraj’s reply to her tweet in 2017.Sidra and
Ramish’s story dates back to 2008. They had to cross several hurdles including
resistance from Sidra’s family before finally getting married in Rawalpindi on
Nov.22, 2017. However, if it wasn’t for Swaraj, who approved Sidra’s visa for
India, the wedding would have never taken place. “Her visa was already rejected
before too and my in-laws had declared that if it is rejected again, there will
be no wedding as my wife won’t be able to shift to India,” says
Ramish.Immediately after Swaraj’s reply to Twitter, the Indian embassy in
Pakistan contacted Sidra and her visa was ready within hours.Despite all this,
today, Sidra’s life is far from a happy one. Nearly two years after her
three-month short term visa granted by Swaraj expired and she applied for a
Long Term Visa (LTV) in Feb.2018, the application still remains pending. The
couple hasn’t been given any reasons by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) or the
local FRRO for the same. As a result, Sibra and Ramish cannot live together.
Sibra cannot step out of Haldwani, while her husband works in Delhi.The couple
says that the amended citizenship law has made them even more wary. “I wish
Sushma ji was alive today. She might have given me an answer on why my LTV is
still pending. She had called me daughter-in-law of India and because of her I
was able to come to India. But now because of my pending LTV, I cannot move
anywhere. I cannot even visit Delhi to live with my husband,” says
Sidra.indianexpress
Opposition’s show of strength today at Hemant Soren’s swearing-in
ceremony in Jharkhand
New Delhi :Jharkhand Mukthi Morcha chief Hemant Soren will be sworn-in
as the 11th Chief Minister of Jharkhand at a ceremony in Ranchi today. Soren
succeeds BJP leader Raghubar Das and will be given the oath of secrecy by
Governor Droupadi Murmu at 2 pm today in Ranchi’s Mohrabadi grounds. Soren
emerged as the winner from both the Dumka and Barhait constituencies.The
swearing-in is expected to turn into a display of Opposition unity, similar to
the oath-taking ceremony of JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy as the Karnataka CM in
Bengaluru in May 2018.From Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, P
Chidambaram and Ahmed Patel to NCP’s Sharad Pawar, SP’s Akhilesh Yadav, BSP’s
Mayawati, TMC’s Mamata Banerjee, DMK’s MK Stalin, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, AAP’s
Arvind Kejriwal, JD(S)’s H D Kumaraswamy and CPI leader Kanhaiya Kumar, top
leaders of the Opposition are expected to be present at the swearing-in as they
are all said to have accepted Soren’s invitation.Hemant Soren has also extended
an invite to the former President Pranab Mukherjee. Chief Ministers including
Rajasthan’s Ashok Gehlot, Madhya Pradesh’s Kamal Nath, Chhattisgarh’s Bhupesh
Bhagel and Maharashtra’s Thackeray are also likely to attend.indian express
J&K to observe Accession Day as public holiday, parties slam new
calendar
Jammu, Srinagar :In a first, Jammu and Kashmir will observe a public holiday on October
26 to mark Accession Day. Maharaja Hari Singh, the last Dogra ruler of the
erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, had signed the Instrument of
Accession on this date in 1947. This comes after J&K and Ladakh authorities
dropped Martyrs’ Day and the birth anniversary of National Conference founder
Sheikh Abdullah, on July 13 and December 5, respectively, from its list of
gazetted holidays.July 13 and December 5 were public holidays in the state of
J&K which has now been made a Union Territory. Martyrs’ Day was observed in
the memory of protesters killed in firing by soldiers of Hari Singh on July 13,
1931. With this, the new UT of J&K will have 27 public holidays instead of
the previous 28, according to a list of public holidays issued by the General
Administration Department on Friday.Former MLA and senior
Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh, who is also the grandson of Maharaja Hari
Singh, tweeted, “From next year, 26th Oct, day my grandfather, Maharaja Hari
Singh signed the Instrument of Accession to India will be observed as a state
holiday.”The government’s move has triggered anger in the Valley, with
mainstream political parties lashing out at BJP and demanding a review. NC MP
Hasnain Masoodi said the decision is “not acceptable”. “Whosoever has taken
this decision has done no good to the country and the people of the country.
These are two most important events, but if you downplay… and delete the
holidays, the message they want to give is that we don’t care for these
events,” he said.PDP spokesperson Tahir Sayeed said the “decision reveals the
communal and fascist mindset of BJP”.J&K Pradesh Congress Committee
demanded a review. “Sheikh sahib has a huge contribution in politics and the
aim of BJP is to disregard it…” J&K PCC chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir
said.indianexpress
There are no magic short-term bullets (to fix economy)… Budget shouldn’t
aim for surprises:Ex-CEA Arvind Subramanian
In a new paper published by Harvard University’s Center for
International Development, Subramanian, former chief economic advisor, and Josh
Felman, former IMF resident representative to India, have argued that the
economy is facing a “twin balance sheet” problem from bank loans to real estate
routed via non-banking financial companies in the post-demonetisation period.
This, they warn, would make it difficult to arrest the current slowdown. Earlier,
he had concluded that India’s growth had been overestimated by 2.5 percentage
points (2011-12 to 2016-17). While official estimates pegged growth at 7%,
actual GDP is likely to have been 4.5%, he had said. Subramanian said, "The only
way to get a good reading is to look at the indicators. If you just look at the
basic numbers, say, on consumption, investment, trade and taxes, they are all
either in negative growth territory or barely positive this year. Thus, non-oil
import growth is about minus 5%, non-oil export is also negative, nominal
growth in GST and direct tax collections, only about 3.5 to 3.6%, which is
basically zero in real terms. If you look at these numbers from a comparative
perspective, it does not resemble even the 2002 slowdown. During that slowdown,
GDP growth was 4.5, but all the above numbers were actually in the positive to
fairly positive growth territory. The current slowdown has greater resemblance
to that of 1991. It may not really be so in terms of macro (stability) numbers —
foreign exchange is sound, current account is sound and inflation is sound —
but in terms of real growth indicators, it (the situation now) resembles much
more 1991-92, when we had a growth of 1.1%."
Rajasthan: 77 infants dead in December in Kota hospital, govt admits
problems
Jaipur :Rajasthan government has set up a high-level committee to
inquiry into the deaths of 77 infants in the first 24 days of December at J K
Lon Government Hospital in Kota. Ten of the deaths happened in a span of 48 hours
between December 23 and 24.Speaking to reporters after visiting the hospital,
Secretary, Medical Education Department, Vaibhav Galriya, said there were
several problems at the hospital, including improper maintenance of equipment
and shortage of oxygen lines.In its report to the Principal, Kota Government
Hospital, the Paediatrics Department, however, said most of the equipment is
functional and none of the patients died due to lack of resources. The
registered cause of death ranges from pneumonia to septicaemia. No post-mortems
were conducted as the deaths were not suspicious.indianexpress
Bengaluru : Pejawar Mutt seer Vishwesha Teertha Swami passes away at 88
Bengaluru :Pejawar Mutt seer Vishwesha Teertha Swami passed away on
Sunday morning. He was 88. The seer was admitted to KMC Hospital on December
20, after he developed breathing difficulties. He was in the ICU ever since. He
was moved from KMC Hospital to Udupi Sri Kirshna Mutt today morning.
Protesters in Turkey denounce Russia over Idlib assault as over 235,000
flee from violence in 2 weeks
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered near the Russian consulate in the
Turkish city of Istanbul on Saturday to protest the intensifying Russian and
Syrian government attacks on Syria's last rebel-held province of Idlib.The
demonstrators, mostly Syrians living in Turkey, gathered close to the Russian
consulate in downtown Istanbul to "show the world that Russia is
complicit" in the killing of civilians in Syria's northern Idlib region,
according to Mohammed Kreimesh, a protest organiser. "We wanted to also
highlight the regime's brutality against civilians and shed light on the
humanitarian situation unfolding in Idlib," Kreimesh told Al
Jazeera.Protesters in Istanbul, including women with their children, held
pictures of victims of the attacks, while some brandished a banner that read:
"Russia is killing our people and children and the world is not doing
anything.""What does Russia want from us? Kids, wives are dying.
People are dying," Syrian demonstrator Ahmed Marwan, 24, told AFP."We
aren't terrorists, we are humans. We came to this country to live. Leaving your
homeland isn't easy but we live in this pain. Enough already.""We are
here to protest this massacre going on in Syria," Turkish protester Gulden
Sonmez said.While Turkish police blocked the group from walking to the
consulate, located in the busy Istiklal Street, they allowed a small number of
demonstrators to unfurl a banner that read: "More than 30,000 children
killed by Russia and Assad regime."The latest violence has displaced more
than 235,000 people, according to the United Nations, while many civilians have
been killed despite international calls for a de-escalation.International
Rescue Committee warned on Saturday that conditions in the region are at a
"breaking point", adding that the continued violence could displace
as many as 400,000 in the coming weeks.The increase in air raids came as Syrian
forces advanced on the ground. They have since December 19 seized dozens of
towns and villages from armed rebels.aljazeera
Five stabbed at Hanukkah celebration near New York City
A man attacked a Hanukkah celebration at a rabbi's home north of New
York City, stabbing and wounding five people before fleeing in a vehicle,
police said.Police said the stabbings happened at about 10pm local time on
Saturday (0300 GMT Sunday) in Monsey, one of several Hudson Valley towns that
have seen an influx in large numbers of Hasidic Jews in recent years.Saturday
was the seventh night of Hanukkah. The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council
for the Hudson Valley region tweeted reports that the stabbings took place at
the house of a Hasidic rabbi during Hanukkah celebrations.Several state and
local officials have described the location of the stabbing as a synagogue. The
rabbi's home is next door to a synagogue.The Saturday night attack appeared to
be the latest in a string targeting Jews in the United States, including a
massacre at a kosher grocery store in New Jersey earlier this month.aljazeera
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment