MUMBAI: Launching a scathing attack on its former ally, Shiv Sena today dubbed those who broke the 25-year-old alliance as "enemies of Maharashtra." 

"Our other (Mahayuti) alliance parties wanted the Sena-BJP combine to continue. More than that, it was what the 11 crore people of Maharashtra wanted. Those who trampled these sentiments are enemies of Maharashtra," Sena said.

"This (breaking of alliance) is an insult to the 105 Marathi martyrs of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement," an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said here.

"It is unfortunate that the Sena-BJP alliance which for the last 25 years was bound by the Hindutva ideology has ended," the Sena said.

"We made sincere efforts till the end to ensure that the alliance with BJP and other parties of Mahayuti remained intact," the editorial said.

"It will now be seen what happens next. Whatever goddess Tulja Bhavani proposes will happen. The only expectation is that in all this politics, the mathematics of Maharashtra's future should not get disturbed," it said.

"Those who till yesterday were praying in this tent are now offering namaz in the other tent," it further said.

Congress and its leaders should not worry about the future of a united Mumbai and Maharashtra because Shiv Sena and the saffron flag will protect Maharashtra, it said.

"Soon the realisation will dawn that those who flew away (BJP) were crows of 'pitrapaksh' and those who remain are Mavle (a term used for Chhhatrapati Shivaji's soldiers)," the editorial further said.

Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, who hasn't yet reacted to the alliance breakup, will make his views known at a public rally in Mumbai tomorrow, Sena sources said.

Meanwhile, the BJP described Sena's "enemies of Maharashtra" comment as unfortunate.

"Such comments made by the Sena, a day after the alliance breaks are very disappointing and uncalled for. It is desirable that they would refrain from making such unfortunate comments about us," BJP General Secretary and in charge of party affairs in Maharashtra Rajiv Pratap Rudy told PTI.

Rudy said the Sena should not expect the BJP to be part of the "betrayal" of its smaller alliance partners.

"They possibly had the Chief Ministership in mind and hence the formula which they proposed to us would have resulted in complete elimination of our smaller alliances.

That would have been a bigger betrayal of our alliance and the Shiv Sena could not have expected us to be part of the betrayal arrangement," he said.

He said that use of "harsh" language by the Sena would not support the cause of eliminating the "corrupt" Congress and NCP from the state.

After 25 years, the people in Maharashtra have got a chance to choose a single party government that could serve them and BJP will remain the first choice of the people, Rudy said. — PTI

NEW YORK: India and China have resolved the stand-off at the Ladakh border and withdrawal of troops will begin today and be completed by September 30, external affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said describing the resolution of the issue as a "big accomplishment." 

"I am happy to tell you that both nations have sat down and resolved the (border-standoff) issue. Timelines have been decided," Swaraj told Indian reporters here after her meeting with the IBSA Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the ongoing UN General Assembly session.

Swaraj met with Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday at the United Nations and said that she discussed the border stand-off issue with him.

Swaraj said during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to New Delhi this month, somewhere a "shadow" of the border incident was cast on the visit even though the visit in itself was "very historical" and very good outcomes came from it.

The two armies were engaged in a stand-off at Chumar region in Ladakh, coinciding with the first visit of the Chinese President.

Tension in the area erupted last Sunday when some Chinese workers, who were constructing a road on their side, crossed into the Indian side and also claimed that they had orders to build a road up to Tible, 5 km deep inside the Indian territory.

Swaraj said the withdrawal of the troops will begin on Friday and will be completed by September 30, adding that the troops of both the nations will return to their positions as they were on September 1, 2014.

"The bad phase will end and by September 30th, the withdrawal of troops will be completed. I talked about this with the Chinese foreign minister. I believe this is a big accomplishment," she said.

Swaraj said she also discussed with China the issue of UN Security Council reform and the need to complete the reform process, including expanding its permanent membership by 2015, which will be the 70th anniversary of the world organisation.

She described her meeting with her Chinese counterpart as "very successful". — PTI

CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today declared the names of its candidates for two seats in the ensuing Assembly polls in Haryana in which the party is contesting in alliance with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).

Among the names of candidates announced by SAD are Balwinder Singh Punia from Ambala city and former Shiromani Grurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC) member Balkaur Singh Kalanwali from Kalanwali Assembly seat.

Announcing the names here in a party meeting at its head office, SAD President and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal described INLD-SAD alliance as "an alliance between the people of Punjab and Haryana".

He claimed that people of Haryana were all set to vote for the INLD-SAD alliance to begin a new era of prosperity, development and brotherhood in this region of the country.

He also claimed that this alliance would also root out the Congress from Haryana.

Assigning campaign duties to party leaders and workers for Haryana polls, he expressed confidence that party cadre would put its entire energy to win the two seats with maximum margin.

"I am confident that party leadership and workers would repeat their performance to ensure party victory as they did in Delhi polls", he added.

Announcing the future plans of expanding the reach in other states, he said the party has chalked out plan to contest at 25 seats in Uttar Pardesh polls too.

He said the party would create its presence in all the states having Punjabi inhabitants.

SAD's alliance with the INLD has upset BJP's leaders in Haryana who had expressed its dismay over it.

However, the SAD had maintained that its ties with the INLD is age-old and the two parties top leadership have family terms.

In the 90-member Haryaan Assembly, which is going to the polls on October 15, the INLD is contesting on 88 constituencies while its ally SAD on two. The BJP is SAD's major ally in Punjab. — PTI

CHANDIGARH: With a day left for filing of nominations, former Union Minister Venod Sharma's newly floated Haryana Jan Chetna Party today announced the names of 19 candidates to fight the upcoming electoral battle in the state.

Sharma, who made an unsuccessful bid to join the BJP and later to forge an alliance with Mayawati's BSP and Gopal Kanda's Haryana Lokhit Party, declared the names of 19 contestants from his party at a press conference here.

Sharma's Jan Chetna Party is contesting the Haryana Assembly polls in alliance with Kuldeep Bishnoi's Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC-BL).

Under the poll agreement between the two political outfits, Sharma's party will contest 25 seats, whereas Bishnoi has fielded his candidates on 65 seats out of the total 90 Assembly constituencies in the poll-bound Haryana.

Sharma said he would declare the names of remaining six candidates by this evening.

Yesterday, Bishnoi had declared the list of 58 candidates.

Sharma, whose son Manu is facing life term in Jessica Lal murder case, will himself contest from Ambala city.

He has fielded his wife Shakti Rani from Kalka Assembly seat.

Before floating the Jan Chetna Party, Sharma was associated with the Congress for four decades and once was considered Man Friday of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Among the 19 candidates also figure a former Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) member Vinay Sharma, who is daughter-in-law of Haryana's first Chief Minister Bhagat Dyal Sharma. She is contesting from Yamunanagar seat.

Asserting that he had made attempts to give representation to all sections of society while allocating party tickets, Sharma said the only criteria in selection of party contestants is the winnability factor. 

Sharma categorically ruled out forging alliance or giving support to the Congress after the Assembly polls.

"There is no question of giving support or re-joining the Congress after the polls," he said on being asked about his possibility to return to the Congress fold.

He lashed out at the ten years of Congress regime in Haryana, saying that young deserving people were kept away from jobs.

"The Congress government was not transparent in providing jobs to youths ... there was regional bias in providing employment and development of Haryana," Sharma said.

When asked whether he can support the BJP after the polls, he evaded a direct reply saying "in politics nothing is permanent." He, however, said that there was lot of anger and resentment among people against the present Congress government in Haryana.

"It is a writing on wall that the Congress is going to perform even worse than the Lok Sabha polls in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state," Sharma said.

In the recent Lok Sabha polls, ruling Congress' tally fell from nine seats to one out of the total ten.

He castigated the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government for giving extension to certain officers and making appointments on some seats in the past six months.

"These extensions and appointments were done for political considerations," Sharma added.

He said he would fight for more than 35 per cent reservation to women and against corruption.

When his attention was drawn towards Bishnoi's absence today even as Sharma was present when the HJC head announced the list of candidates yesterday, the veteran politician said "Bishnoi is busy today as he is filing his nominations." Haryana is going to the polls on October 15 and tomorrow is the last date for filing of nominations. 

Meanwhile, the Kuldeep Bishnoi-led HJC today announced the names of its remaining seven candidates for the October 15 Assembly elections.

In its second list, the HJC had announced Vedpal Tanwar as the party's nominee from Tosham Assembly constituency, Anil Kaushik from Samalkha, Mehla Singh from Kallianwali, Rajni Ghera from Barkhal, Nirmal Bishnoi from Dabwali, Sushil Saini from Rohtak and Kuldeep Singh from Ellenabad, party spokesman Devi Lal Bishnoi said here in a statement.

Yesterday, the HJC had declared the names of its 58 contestants. Haryana is set to witness multi-coner contest between the Congress, BJP, INLD, Haryana Lokhit Party, BSP and HJC-JCP alliance. — PTI

NEW YORK: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would raise the Kashmir issue in his address to the UN General Assembly on Friday, the government said while ruling out resumption of any dialogue with India unless the initiative in this regard is taken by New Delhi.

Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Ajaz Ahmad Chaudhry told reporters here there is "no reason" for Sharif not to raise the issue of Kashmir during his address to the annual session of United Nations General Assembly this afternoon.

Chaudhry, who is accompanying Sharif, said that Pakistan believes that a plebiscite is still a solution to Kashmir.

He said that the onus for resumption of any kind of interaction is with India, which he said, had earlier called off the bilateral talks at the level of foreign secretaries.

"It is India which cancelled the talks. It's for them (India) to take the initiative for any interaction (between the two countries)," Chaudhry said.

If India takes the initiative for talks, Pakistan would consider it, he said in response to a question. -PTI

INCHEON: The Qatari women's basketball team withdrew from the Asian Games in protest against international rules that ban players from wearing Muslim headscarves in competition.

The dispute over the Qatari players' refusal to remove their hijabs - regarded by some as a rule that discriminates against Muslim women - has created a stir at the games and raised new questions about rules banning head coverings.

Qatar delegation leader Khalid al-Jabir said the team decided to withdraw and already was preparing to return home.

The Qatari women were to play Nepal on Thursday afternoon but did not show at the venue. Officials took their places, starting lineups were distributed to the media and announced to the spectators, but none of the Qatari players arrived. The women were not allowed to wear head coverings in their opening game on Wednesday and refused to play, surrendering the game to Mongolia.

FIBA, international basketball's ruling body, said in a statement on Thursday it "regrets that a delegation was sent to the Asian Games with uniforms that do not conform to the official basketball rules." FIBA added the delegation should have been aware of the rules and how to communicate with officials concerning "uniforms or any other regulatory matter related to the event."

The Olympic Council of Asia and the Asian Games Organising Committee had no immediate comment.

Organisers, who have tried to portray the regional Olympic-style event as a showcase of diversity, seemed surprised by the players' decision to not show at all on Thursday.

"We did not get any intimation from the Qatar team on whether they'll come for the match or not," technical delegate Heros Avanesian said. "We had no option but to wait for them before awarding the match to the other team."

Al-Jabir said the team had been left with no choice.

"We're not forfeiting games — we're not being allowed to play," al-Jabir said by phone hours before the Nepal game. "On the one hand, everyone wants more women to participate in these games and, on the other hand, they're discouraging Muslim women who want to play in hijab."

Although sports ranging from bowling to badminton allow hijabs to be worn during Asian Games competition, basketball's world governing body does not allow them in international competition. The issue reached an impasse when the Qatari women forced the issue by refusing to play without their hijabs against Mongolia.

Asian Games officials on Wednesday said they did not receive any instructions from FIBA to allow head coverings, and were simply following the rules which restrict the use of headgear, hair accessories, and jewelry when they awarded the result to Mongolia.

Such restrictions were initially designed for the safety of players, but have recently been challenged on cultural and religious grounds.

Regulations about head coverings in basketball came into focus this year when two male Sikh players from India were told to remove their turbans during the Asia Cup in July in China.

Earlier this month, FIBA said it was launching a two-year trial phase allowing some players to wear head coverings. But the Swiss-based FIBA issued a clarifying statement saying it "allows exceptions to be applied only at the national level and the Asian Games is an international event."

FIBA will evaluate the rule again next year and determine whether to allow head coverings at some level of international competition from next summer. A full review in 2016 will decide if it will become a permanent rule change after the 2016 Olympics.

In Doha, Qataris interviewed by The Associated Press said the players should have been allowed to compete while wearing the hijab.

"The girls already have a lot of social pressures," said bank employee Faisal Salman. "Their determination to play basketball or football should be supported and encouraged by the authorities and sports bodies. Instead (they are) preventing them and discriminating against them." — IANS

INCHEON: India bagged their second silver in the 17th Asian Games as the men's shooting team finished second in the 25 metre centre fire pistol at the Ongnyeon International Shooting Range here Friday.

The Indian trio of Pemba Tamang, Gurpreet Singh and Vijay Kumar scored a combined 1740-68x to finish behind China's team of Yongde Jin, Chuanlin Li and Feng Ding, who fired 1742-56x to take gold.

For India, Tamang shot 288-22x (93, 99, 96 in precision and 99, 97, 97 in rapid) while Gurpreet scored 292-25x (98, 99, 95 in precision and 95, 96, 97 in rapid).

2012 Olympic silver medallist Vijay shot 285-21x (95, 94, 96 in precision and 100, 98, 96 in rapid) to help India get their 16th overall medal and eighth from the shooting range.

South Korea, with the team of Youngmin Kim, Daekyu Jang and Jinil Kim, scored 1739-54x to win bronze ahead of Vietnam.

However, none of the Indians managed to finish on the podium in the individual event.

Pemba Tamang, Gurpreet and Vijay finished eighth, ninth and 12th, respectively.
The individual gold went to Qatar's Oleg Engachev while China's Jin took silver and Singapore's Bin Gai won bronze. — IANS