NEW DELHI: Indian Muslims will live and die for India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, maintaining that they will not dance to the tunes of terror outfit al-Qaeda.

“My understanding is that they are doing injustice towards the Muslims of our country. If anyone thinks Indian Muslims will dance to their tune, they are delusional.

“Indian Muslims will live for India, they will die for India — they will not want anything bad for India,” he told a news channel in an interview.

He was also put a question about the remarkable phenomenon that out of the 170 million Muslims in India, there seemed to be no or very few members of al-Qaeda even though it is in Afghanistan and Pakistan. “What is it that has made this community not as susceptible?”

Modi answered that first he was not the authority for doing a psychological and religious analysis on this.

“But the question is whether or not humanity should be defended in the world. Whether or not believers in humanity should unite. This is a crisis against humanity, not a crisis against one country or one race. So we have to frame this as a fight between humanity and inhumanity, nothing else,” he said.

Ahead of his visit to the US next week, Modi said it was possible for the US and India to develop a genuinely strategic alliance.

“I have a one-word answer, and with great confidence I say — yes. Let me explain — there are many similarities between the US and India. If you look at the last few centuries, two things come to light — America has absorbed people from around the world, and there is an Indian in every part of the world. This characterises both the societies.

Asked if he feels there is a genuine desire from Washington to try and upgrade the relationship with India substantially, the Prime Minister said relations between India and America should not be seen within the limits of just Delhi and Washington.

“It is a much larger sphere. The good thing is that the mood of both Delhi and Washington is in harmony with this understanding. Both sides have played a role in this,” he said. — PTI

CHENNAI: Renowned Mandolin exponent Uppalapu Shrinivas passed away at a private hospital here today after a prolonged illness, hospital sources said.

Shrinivas (45), popularly known as 'Mandolin Shrinivas', was a renowned mandolin player of South Indian Carnatic music.

He was being treated for a liver-related illness.

"He was pronounced dead at 10 am," an Apollo hospital spokesperson said.

Shrinivas, who used to play an electric mandolin, had collaborated with several global artistes, including John McLaughlin and Michael Nyman.

He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1998 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2010. He is a recipient of numerous other awards.

He was a follower and devotee of Sri Sathya Sai Baba and had also performed before him on several occasions.

Several eminent personalities, including music composer A.R. Rahman condoled Shrinivas's death.

"Emotionally shaken to hear of Carnatic shining star Mandolin Shrinivasji's demise ... May God bless him with happiness in the next world," Rahman said. — PTI

Scotland rejects independence vote

LONDON/EDINBURGH: Scottish voters today said a big "No" to independence and decided to stay in the 307-year-old union with England and Wales after a historic referendum that brought out bitter divisions while paving the way for a 'devolution revolution' in the UK.

The pro-independence camp was decisively defeated with over 55 per cent of Scotland voting to remain in the UK. The results were in from all 32 council areas and the "No" side won with 2,001,926 votes over 1,617,989 for "Yes".

The margin of victory for the 'Better Together' campaign — 55.3 per cent to 44.7 per cent — was far greater than anticipated by the final opinion polls, which said the referendum was on knife edge.

After a bitter campaign with both camps upping the ante in the final weeks ahead of the referendum, turnout was 84.6 per cent — the highest ever for an election in Britain.

David Cameron declared a "clear result" in the referendum after Scotland voted by a 10.6 per cent margin against ending the 307-year-old union with England and Wales.

The Prime Minister promised a 'devolution revolution' across Great Britain, including votes on English issues by English MPs at Westminster, as he hailed the Scottish people's decision to remain in the UK.

"Like millions of other people, I am delighted. As I said during the campaign it would have broken my heart to see our United Kingdom come to an end," a relieved Cameron said in a statement outside his 10 Downing Street office in London.

"Just as the people of Scotland will have more powers over their affairs, so it follows that the people of England, Wales and Northern Ireland must have a bigger say over theirs," he said.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond called for unity and urged the unionist parties to deliver on more powers.

"I accept that verdict of the people and I call on all of Scotland to follow suit in accepting the democratic verdict of the people of Scotland," the leader of the Scottish National Party said.

"Let's not dwell on the distance we've fallen short — let us dwell on the distance we have travelled," he tweeted.

"My feeling was just crushing, quite devastating," said 16-year-old Charlotte Darroch, who was watching the count in Edinburgh in her school uniform pinned with lots of "Yes" badges and a Scottish flag wrapped around her shoulders.

"No" supporter Louise Fleming, 21, who was watching the count in Edinburgh, said she was "relieved" at the result.

"It's been such a divisive referendum, we have seen the outcome, we can't expect everything to be great tomorrow but the right outcome has occurred," she said. — PTI

Xi's India visit has given 'great boost' to ties: China 

BEIJING: China today said President Xi Jinping's maiden visit to India has given a "great boost" to bilateral ties and the two sides should control and manage border disputes in a manner that does not impede growth of their relationship.

"We believe that this visit is of great importance and gives great boost to bilateral ties between the two countries in a new historical era," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a media briefing here, outlining the salient features of Xi's visit to India.

"Xi said on border issues, the two sides should continue with friendly coordination and pursue an equitable and fair solution that is acceptable to both the countries," Hong said talking about the Chinese President's talks with the Indian leadership.

"Before the final settlement, the two sides should control and manage the disputes and maintain peace and prosperity of the border so that it will not influence the development of bilateral ties. The Indian side agreed to work with China to properly handle border issues and find a way to resolve the border issue as soon as possible," he said.

Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's suggestion that both sides should clarify the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to contribute to the peace and tranquility along the border, Hong said "as for the border issue you mentioned the leaders pointed a way out for solving this problem."

 He said the leaders of the two countries exchanged views and reached important consensus on the strategic cooperative partnership for peace, prosperity, to maintain high-level exchanges and to give full play to its strategic role.

"They agreed to respect each other's concerns and deepen mutual trust. Prime Minister Modi said 'Tibet is integral part of China and India does not allow any separatist activities in India'," Hong said.

He also outlined the agreements reached on trade, investment and other areas during Xi's visit.

An editorial in the state-run China Daily on Xi's visit termed India and China as natural partners.

"The bonhomie, the leaders have displayed is an inspiring sign that the shadow of the past will not be a hurdle in the way of better bilateral ties," the editorial said.

"If China-India relations are not yet what Modi once portrayed as 'two bodies, but one spirit', they are clearly closer to what they should be," it said.

"The complementary economic structures of the two giant neighbours have inspired many in China to dub the two as 'natural partners for cooperation'," it added.

The editorial noted that even with the enormous potential, the present volume of China-India trade, is a mere tip of the iceberg. — PTI

Chinese troops withdraw from Indian territory

LEH/NEW DELHI: After heightened tension in Chumar area in northeast Ladakh for four days, Chinese troops began withdrawing from the Indian territory on Thursday night, official sources said.

Chinese troops started retreating into their territory from 9:45 pm, the sources said, adding that the Indian Army, which was present also in large number in the area, also started simultaneously reducing their presence in the area, about 300 km east of Leh.

The sources said a vigil was still being maintained as the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had camped just across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the situation would be reviewed tomorrow.

However, the stand-off in Demchok, where Chinese nomads — Rebos — had pitched their tents, continued for the 12th day today. The incursion in this area is nearly 500 metres deep into Indian territory, the sources said.

The Chinese nomads actively helped by the PLA have been protesting against an irrigation canal being built for local villagers.

The standoff in Demchok and Chumar had cast a shadow on Thursday’s summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The sources said the Chinese side pushed in more troops before the break of dawn with more banners asking the Indian Army to leave the area. The number of Chinese troops had shot up to 600.

Chinese helicopters were seen hovering at least thrice during the day air dropping food packets for its troops, they said.

The Chinese side had been constructing a road on their side of LAC but on Sunday, its workers entered into Indian side to carry on the construction.

This was objected by the Indian side as Chinese workers were making assertions that they have instructions to build a road up to Tible, 5 km deep into Indian territory, the sources said.

The Indian Army asked the Chinese workers to leave as otherwise they would face prosecution under Indian laws of entering into the country illegally.

However, during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, nearly 100 Indian soldiers were reported to have been encircled by 300 Chinese PLA men after which a face-off started.

India also rushed reinforcements to the area and were not allowing the Chinese troops to proceed further and also asking them to retreat to their side.

Both the Indian and Chinese armies were maintaining a distance of 200 metres from each other.

There was no flag meeting today and the decision to withdraw from the area was suo moto taken by the Chinese side, the sources said.

The two sides have held two flag meetings so far, which included a marathon discussion yesterday that continued for several hours and remained inconclusive.

Chumar, the last village in Ladakh area bordering Himachal Pradesh, has been a bone of contention, with China claiming it to be its own territory and has been frequenting the area with helicopter incursions almost every year.

In 2012, the PLA dropped some of its soldiers in this region and dismantled the makeshift storage tents of the Army and ITBP.

Chumar had become a flash point during the fortnight long stand-off last year in Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) as the Chinese side had objected to overhead bunkers erected by the Indian side.

As part of an agreement reached at the flag meeting to end the stand-off from April-May 2013 at DBO, the Indian side had to dismantle some overhead bunkers in Chumar.

Again, Chumar witnessed Chinese troops walking away with an Army surveillance camera on June 17 which was meant for keeping an eye on the PLA troops patrolling there. The same camera was returned after a few days.

During winter this year, Chinese soldiers attempted to enter this area riding on horses. The area witnessed frequent incursion attempts by the Chinese troops who had also adopted ‘assertive posturing’. — PTI

MUMBAI: The 25-year-old alliance between the BJP and the Shiv Sena was on the verge of collapse on Friday, with both the parties adopting a tough stance on the issue of seat-sharing for the October 15 state Assembly elections, party officials said.

Both the warring partners are holding a series of crucial meetings during the day to take a final call on continuing the alliance. 

"It's on the verge of breaking — only a formal announcement is awaited," a senior state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, requesting anonymity, told IANS early Friday.

Similarly, a senior Shiv Sena functionary hinted that the alliance "is over", but the party has decided to wait for further developments before declaring its stand.

However, a ray of hope emerged on Friday morning for the feuding partners with union Minister Nitin Gadkari meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi over the issue.

Gadkari is expected to arrive in Mumbai Friday afternoon with a compromise formula intended to save the alliance.

The crux of the issue is primarily seat-sharing, besides projecting Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray as the next chief ministerial candidate.

The BJP is demanding both parties contest 135 seats each with the remaining 18 in the House of 288 being allotted to other smaller alliance partners. 

The Shiv Sena's latest offer is 119 seats to the BJP, including the share of the other smaller partners, which the BJP rejected outright.

There has also been no commitment from the BJP on who the next chief ministerial candidate will be or from which party.

After BJP president Amit Shah gave indications at his public rallies in the state on Thursday that the "BJP will form the next government" without mentioning its allies, the party reportedly served a 24-hour 'ultimatum', which Shiv Sena dismissed late Thursday night.

The Shiv Sena also resolved after an emergency meeting that any final decision on the issue — to snap ties or to continue the alliance — would be left to Uddhav Thackeray's discretion.

Both parties were fully prepared to start filing nominations of candidates from Saturday without finalising the contentious issue of seat-sharing between them.

The sharp tussle between the allies has suddenly changed the political scenario with optimism brewing in the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party camps over their prospects in next month's elections.

As the BJP-Shiv Sena remained at daggers drawn, smaller partners like the Republican Party of India (A) and Swabhimani Sanghatana squirmed with apprehensions over their fate and future if the matter remained unresolved or the alliance collapsed.

The leaders of the smaller partners have been making desperate attempts to persuade both Shiv Sena and the BJP leadership to work out a compromise solution to the crisis. — IANS

INCHEON: The 17th Asian Games started on a spectacular fashion at the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium in Incheon on Friday. Fireworks and dancers enthralled people gathered at the stadium.

Earlier, participants and spectators were gathering for a lavish Asian Games opening ceremony featuring 10,000 athletes, a fireworks display and performances by “Gangnam Style” singer PSY and other local pop stars. 

VIPs, including International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, were attending the four-hour extravaganza at the 60,000-seat Asiad Main Stadium in the port city of Incheon, west of the capital Seoul. Organisers are hoping the event will boost interest and lagging ticket sales for the two-week continental competition that features athletes from 45 nations and regions stretching from Jordan to Japan.

They will compete in 42 sports, including eight, such as bowling, cricket and squash, that aren’t part of the Olympic programme.

The Games are an important test for many young athletes ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics. Sporting powerhouse China is fielding the largest team of almost 900 athletes, 68 percent of whom are taking part in the Asiad for the first time. Brunei has the smallest team at just 11 athletes.

A highlight of the Games will be the intense competition starting Sunday between China’s Olympic gold champion swimmer Sun Yang and his chief rival, Park Tae-hwan of South Korea.

The two are due to clash in the 200-, 400-, and 1,500-meter freestyle events. Although Park beat Sun for the gold in the 200 and 400 at the last Asian Games four years ago, Sun holds the world titles in those events, along with two golds, one silver and one bronze won at the 2012 London Olympics, where he became the first Chinese man to win an individual Olympic swimming gold. The pair tied for silver in the 200 in London.

Park skipped last year’s worlds but showed he was on-form by setting the fastest time of the year in the 400 at last month’s Pan Pacific Championships in Australia.

Prior to the opening ceremony, the Olympic Council of Asia held a meeting of its Executive Board to discuss the awarding of the next Asian Games in 2018 to Indonesia. That bid came about after Vietnam relinquished its hosting rights over the massive expense involved. It will be officially approved at a meeting of the OCA’S General Assembly on Saturday.

Council President Sheik Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah said Indonesia already had much of the infrastructure in place to hold the Games and had already planned on building additional facilities before making its offer.

Sheik Ahmad also indicated there were no hard feelings toward Vietnam, which has suffered badly from the global economic crisis.

“For that they were honest and we really appreciate that they announced it early,” the Sheik said.

“We’re trying to find a balance between income and expenditure,” the sheik said. — AP

LUDHIANA: Veteran Akali leader and former president of the Shiromani Akali Dal and Shiromani Gurudwara Parbhandhak Committee Jagdev Singh Talwandi died here today, his family said.

He was 86.

Talwandi is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.

The Akali leader breathed his last at a private heart centre here at 11.10 am, doctors said.

He was also a Minister of State in the first non-Congress government in Punjab in 1967. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Ludhiana in 1977.

A veteran Akali stalwart, Talwandi served as State Minister twice.

He was elected to the Punjab Assembly in 1967, 1969 and 1972 and the Lok Sabha in 1977.

The veteran Akali leader would be cremated at his native village Talwandi, near Raikot, in this district tomorrow, his family said.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal have condoled Talwandi's death. 

Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh also condoled his death.

In a condolence message, Amarinder said, "With the demise of Jathedar Talwandi, one of the very few surviving leaders of the Akali movement has left us." He said, "Talwandi, unlike many others, had selflessly served the panth without exploiting his position and power for personal or pecuniary benefits." — PTI

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama is expected to nominate a former State Department official, Richard Verma, to be the new US ambassador to India, just ahead of a visit to Washington this month by new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a congressional source said on Thursday. 

Verma, an Indian-American, served as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs at the State Department in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2011. He is currently a senior counsellor at the Steptoe & Johnson law firm and the Albright Stonebridge Group, a business advisory company led by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

The Congressional source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the nomination was expected to be confirmed by the White House on Thursday.

If his nomination is confirmed by the Congress, Verma will replace Nancy Powell, who resigned in March after a damaging dispute over the treatment of a junior Indian diplomat, Devyani Khobragade.

Khobragade was arrested and strip-searched in New York last year, an incident that took the US-India relationship to its lowest ebb in a decade. The US Embassy in New Delhi is currently headed by a charge d’affaires, Kathleen Stephens.

Modi is due to visit Washington on September 29-30 for a trip aimed at revitalising ties. He was denied a visa to the US in 2005 after communal riots broke out in 2002 while he was Chief Minister of his home state of Gujarat. — Reuters

NEW DELHI: RLD chief Ajit Singh today attacked the government for rejecting his demand for converting the bungalow occupied by him into a memorial to his father, former Prime Minister Charan Singh, and blamed it for protests over the issue.

"There is a memorial in the name of Lal Bahadur Shastri.

The residence in which late Babu Jagjivan Ram used to live was converted into his memorial three to six months back. A memorial also came up in the name of Kanshi Ram. So, what is the logic of saying this," he said.

He was replying to a question as to how can his demand be met when the Union Cabinet of then UPA in 2000 itself had cleared a proposal banning conversion of official bungalows of MPs into memorials.

The NDA government has stuck to its guns, saying what was done in this case was not Ajit Singh-specific but as per the rules.

"As far Ajit Singh is concerned, he is my friend. Ajit Singh also met me in between and demanded some more time, which was given. After the stipulated period of 80 days, one more month is given to everyone (to vacate the bungalow).

After the lapse of that time frame, the government did not have any other option.

"Hence, the officers did it. This is not Ajit Singh-specific," Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said.

The government had yesterday rejected the demand, saying that the 12 Tughlaq Road bungalow cannot be converted into a memorial as the Union Cabinet in 2000 had banned conversion of government bungalows into memorials in the name of departed leaders.

Singh, who lost the recently-held election, was served the eviction notice and electricity supply to the sprawling bungalow was disconnected by the authorities last week.

While his supporters opposed his eviction, threatening to disrupt water supply to Delhi. Leaders including Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and JD (U) General Secretary K.C. Tyagi had demanded that the bungalow be converted into Charan Singh memorial complex in the memory of the Jat leader.

Naidu had, however, stated that all the procedures were followed in serving eviction notices on the former UPA ministers who refused to vacate government bungalows.

The RLD chief today questioned as to why the ministers of the earlier NDA government continued occupying their bungalows for ten years even after 2004 when they had lost power.

Resenting that water and electricity supply to his residence was disconnected even when he had informed the department concerned that he would be vacating it by September 20 or 25, Singh questioned, "Is Shahnawaj Hussain or Yashwant Singh (both BJP leaders) vacating their bungalows.

"And you go back, the ministers (of NDA) lived for ten years in the houses they were not entitled to. It's true that I am not entitled to live in this house and hence will not live there but why did they occupy the bungalows they were not entitled to for ten years?" He also hit out at the Centre for "not talking to" those protesting against the eviction order.

"The central government as well as the state government were aware that an agitation will be launched on September 18 over the demand for Chaudhary Charan Singh's memorial ....

Should the Central government not have talked to them?," he asked.

Singh also noted that whenever Mahendra Singh Tikait, president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, launched an agitation, the government talked to him and the matter was resolved peacefully.

"This time, the government was aware what is the demand, what is the problem, but they took no step. What is the objection in holding talks. In democracy, issues are resolved only through talks," he said. — PTI