|
|
|
|
|
Encouraged by Modi’s remark on ties: Pak envoy
Kejri pips Modi in Time poll
Modi a threat to democracy, say Indian-origin academics
Interpol notice for Congress MP Rao in corruption case
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Civil aviation regulator allows mobiles in flight mode on planes
Pre-poll ads: SC panel to look into misuse of public funds by govt
Mumbai principal earns BJP ire
Kerala Temple treasure case
Jangi Paltan veterans visit 1971 Indo-Pak battlefields
|
|||||||||
|
Encouraged by Modi’s remark on ties: Pak envoy
New Delhi, April 23 “His (Modi) response when a question was asked about Pakistan was very positive and that gives us hope that positive things will come... I am indeed encouraged,” he told members of the Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) at a luncheon meeting. In an interview to a television channel last night, Modi had stated that relations with all countries should be balanced and “no country should intimidate us neither should we do it” when asked how he would deal with Pakistan should he become the PM. The Pakistan envoy said his country was keen on engaging “quickly, comprehensively and meaningfully” with the government that would assume office in India after the Lok Sabha elections. The narrative between India and Pakistan should move from conflict to resolution of issues in an atmosphere of goodwill and trust. “We should also preserve and build on past agreements and treaties,” he said and referred in this connection to the Indus water treaty and some understanding on the demilitarisation of Siachen. He did not agree with the perception that Pakistan was the most dangerous country, saying it was certainly “the most misunderstood country”. Pitching for strengthening of trade and commercial relations between the two countries, Basit said Pakistan would allow import of all items from India once the ongoing election process was completed in India and New Delhi could also reduce subsidies on some items of export interest to Pakistan. He indicated that Pakistan had proposed to provide the Non Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) status to India in March but that could not happen since the model code of conduct had come into force here. He acknowledged that there were four sectors-pharmaceuticals, agriculture, automobile and textiles-which were apprehensive about competing with the Indian industry. Basit also spoke promoting culture and tourism between the two countries.
|
|
Kejri pips Modi in Time poll
With some three weeks left in India's marathon election, Indian politicians are dominating the list. As of Tuesday morning, about 3,168,308 people had cast a 'yes' or 'no' vote for Kejriwal, while more than 5,075,588 had voted for Modi. Till now, Kejriwal, 45, has received 71.5 per cent 'yes' and 28.5 'no' votes. Modi (63) had a greater percentage of 'no' votes than any other influential personalities in the running, beating out both Perry and Justin Bieber for naysayers. Modi has received 49.7 'yes' and 50.3 per cent 'no' votes. Each year, Time publishes an editor-curated list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Before the issue comes out, TIME runs an online poll where readers can cast their vote for to where politicians, actors, musicians and athletes should rank on the list. The top of the poll has otherwise been dominated by the entertainment industry figures. After Kejriwal and Modi, Egyptian military commander Abdul Fattah al-Sisi was the next world figure on the list. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi (43),
with about 96,070 reactions, ranked 40th on the list. — PTI 100 most influential people in the world
|
|
|
Modi a threat to democracy, say Indian-origin academics
London, April 23 Around 75 academics from universities across Britain, led by Chetan Bhatt of the London School of Economics, on Tuesday expressed their collective concern over the upcoming government in India through a letter titled 'The idea of Modi in power fills us with dread' to The Independent newspaper in Britain. Among others in the group are Oxford University's Nandini Gooptu and Cambridge University's Joya Chatterji. "We are deeply concerned at the implications of a Narendra Modi-led BJP government for democracy, pluralism and human rights in India," the group said in the letter. Commenting on the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's agenda of development for the 2014 General Election, it said that "the Modi-BJP model of economic growth involves close linking of government with big business, generous transfer of public resources to the wealthy and powerful and measures harmful to the poor". The letter said the BJP's prime ministerial candidate has been embedded in the Hindu nationalist movement, namely the RSS and other Sangh Parivar groups, with their history of inciting violence against minorities. Referring to Modi's alleged role in the 2002 Godhra riots in Gujarat, the academics said: "This violence occurred under Modi's rule. Senior government and police officials have provided testimony to his alleged role in encouraging or permitting it to occur." "He has never apologised for hate speech or contemptuous comments about various groups — including Muslims, Christians, women and Dalits. His closest aide has been censured recently by India's Election Commission for hate speech used in this election campaign," it added. The group contended that a Modi-led BJP government would lead to greater moral policing, especially of women, increased censorship and vigilantism, and more tensions with India's neighbours. The rest of the academics are part of other leading British educational institutions, including the University of Warwick, the University of Portsmouth, the London Metropolitan University, the School of Oriental and African Studies and University College London, the University of Göttingen, the University of Manchester, the University of Central Lancashire, the University of London, the University of Wolverhampton, the University of Edinburgh, the University of East London, Oxford Brookes University, the University of the Arts London, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Leeds, King's College London, the University of the Witwatersrand, Stellenbosch University, the University of Westminster, the Glasgow Caledonian University, the University of Birmingham and Durham University.
— IANS The group’s contention
A Modi-led BJP government would lead to greater moral policing, especially of women, increased censorship and vigilantism, and more tensions with India's
neighbours.
|
|
|
Interpol notice for Congress MP Rao in corruption case
Being Interpol’s arm in India, the CBI received the red corner notice 10 days ago and forwarded it to the CID Hyderabad yesterday for appropriate legal action. Rao belongs to Andhra Pradesh. The CBI will forward the notice to Delhi Police for legal action since the MP has a residence in the National Capital, too, said CBI spokesperson Kanchana Prasad. Sources said Rao was indicted by an American court in an alleged international racketeering conspiracy involving bribes of $18.5 million for allowing mining of titanium minerals in Andhra Pradesh. Rao is considered a close aide of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy. The CID Hyderabad has not been given any time frame for taking action against Rao, the spokesperson said. In a letter sent by National Crime Bureau through Interpol to the CBI, the US authorities have said Rao should be put under provisional arrest till all papers were handed over to India through diplomatic channels, sources said. A US federal five-count indictment, returned under seal in June 2013 and unsealed in Chicago on April 3, charges the two-time Rajya Sabha MP Rao and five others with one count each of racketeering conspiracy and money laundering and two counts of interstate travel in aid of racketeering, the sources said. Rao was not immediately available for the comments. The charge
|
|
Civil aviation regulator allows mobiles in flight mode on planes
New Delhi, April 23 With the implementation of the new safety rule-civil aviation requirement (CAR), as they are called in the aviation parlance, passengers can use cell phones, iPads and tablets in “flight mode” - the non-transmitting mode - in all phases of flight. Till now, rules prohibited switching on mobiles till an aircraft landed and taxied off the active runway. This has been a long-pending demand of the airlines, arguing that it would give passengers more time to work or pass their time with chosen form of entertainment in flight. When the device is in the flight mode, it stops transmitting signals but the operator can still use other functions - drafting mails, playing games or music and watching previously downloaded films and videos. The relaxation in rules will thus benefit those flying low cost i.e. with no in-flight entertainment facilities. The DGCA has also laid down training guidelines for the flight crew to handle the new facility. There are reports suggesting a correlation between in-flight use of PEDs and problems related to avionics but they have remained unconfirmed, aviation experts say. “There is an ongoing debate about interference of PEDs with an aircraft’s electro-magnetic systems. Mobile phone interference was cited as possible reason behind a charter flight crash in New Zealand. However, it was not confirmed. Besides the flight mode means the device would not transmit signals. Completely switching off in-flight is an archaic rule that needed to go. Though to be on the safe side, operators have been asked to report any suspected or confirmed PED interference or smoke or fire caused,” an expert says. Scheduled operators, during their meeting on April 17 with DGCA, raised the demand for allowing use of PEDs during all phases of flight in the flight/airplane mode. “The DGCA examined their demand in view of the new and current regulations of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Under the FAA and the EASA Regulations, the use of PEDs is allowed in the airplane mode in all phases of flight,” officials said. In December British Airways lifted its mobile phone and iPad restrictions. Some European and American carriers also allow their use in air. Though laptops will still have to be switched off and stowed away for take-offs and landings. Passenger-friendly move
|
|
Pre-poll ads: SC panel to look into misuse of public funds by govt
New Delhi, April 23 The panel would consist of Prof NR Madhava Menon, ex-Director of the National Judicial Academy at Bhopal, TK Viswanathan, former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha, and senior advocate Ranjit Kumar. The Information and Broadcasting Secretary would assist the committee. A Bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam constituted the committee on a PIL plea for checking the practice, particularly before the elections. It asked the panel to submit its report within three months to enable the court to issue guidelines. The Bench, which included Justices Ranjan Gogoi and NV Ramana, noted that the petitioners (Common Cause and Centre for PIL) “have disputed only such advertisements which they plead to be wastage of public exchequer for political mileage.” The apex court pointed that most of the countries had faced a similar situation before checking it effectively through guidelines. During the arguments, the Centre defended the need for such campaigns as the ruling parties had to inform the people on the implementation of their election manifestos. “No motive can be attributed to this and doing so will amount to criticising the way the system and institutions function,” it contended. The petitioners said “mala fide use of public funds in the name of highlighting the achievements of the incumbent governments has become an established practice. There is a spurt in such advertisements before the announcement of every general election”. The petitions cited the “India Shining” campaign of the NDA government headed by AB Vajpayee ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha poll and the publicity exercise of UPA I and II for the “Bharat Nirman” programme at the time of the 2009 and the 2014 elections. Report in three months
|
|
Mumbai principal earns BJP ire
Mumbai, April 23 “The principal of St Xavier’s College has violated the code of conduct since it is a government aided college,” Ashish Shelar, president of the BJP's Mumbai unit said today. Shelar went on to say that Fr Mascarenhas should not have expressed his views till a public debate was organized on Gujarat's developmental model. In his letter, Father Mascarenhas urged students to “choose well” during the elections. He asked voters to exercise a “reasoned choice of individuals and political parties who promise to work for a real quality of life”. Though the college principal did not name either the BJP or Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, his letter criticised the poor Human Development Index indicators in Gujarat. He also warned against the alliance of corporate houses and communal political parties as well. "The prospect of an alliance of corporate capital and communal forces coming to power constitutes a real threat to the future of our secular democracy,” he added. Father Mascarenhas went on to say that the Gujarat Government had discriminated against the Jesuit institution's branches in that state. The letter which was put up on the college's website drew mixed reactions from students and teachers alike, both online and offline. BJP spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman alleged that the principal was attempting to influence the minds of students.
|
|
Khushwant’s ashes taken to birthplace in Pak
Lahore, April 23 "The son returned to his soil after 99 years," said Muhammad Hayat, former headmaster of the Government Boys High School Hadali, where Singh studied. Hadali, 280 km from Lahore, is a town of Khushab district in Punjab province and was the birthplace of Singh, who passed away on March 20 in New Delhi. His ashes were mixed with cement to fix a marble plaque under a Shisham tree where he played as a child. Pakistani writer and columnist Fakir Syed Aijazuddin had brought Singh's ashes from India to fulfill his desire to be "reunited with his roots". The plaque reads: “A Sikh, a scholar and a son of Hadali Punjab. This is where my roots are. I have nourished them with tears of nostalgia.” After fixing the plaque, Aijazuddin read before the teachers, students of the school and locals the morning and evening prayers of the Sikhs. Among the excited crowd were the headmaster and teachers who met Singh on his last visit to Hadali in 1987. “A large number of Hadalians turned up in 1987 to welcome Khushwant Singh at his hometown. Addressing us, Singh said as you go on pilgrimage to Makkah and Madina coming back to Hadali at the time of Maghreb of my life is my Hajj and my Umera (pilgrimage)," Muhammad Farooq Rana, headmaster of Government High School Hadali, recalled. The headmaster said: "We were very much excited after learning that a fistful of ashes were being brought back to his birthplace. The people are proud of Singh." "While installing the marble plaque, I felt Khushwant Singh's invisible presence among us. It was almost as if he had crossed the border with me just to be present at Hadali," he said. “Singh's readership knows no boundaries. He has as many admirers in Pakistan as he does in India. Perhaps this was another reason for his deep attachment to Pakistan and his origin. "I when I last met with Khushwant Sahib in New Delhi on March 4 he expressed longing to be buried in Hadali. His family agreed to make available some of the ashes which I brought to Pakistan," he said. Singh's house is Hadali does not exist anymore. All one finds there is wild bushes and the plot is said to have acquired by a local resident. Born in 1915 in Hadali, Singh was witness to all major events in modern Indian history - from independence and partition to the Emergency and Operation Bluestar - and had known many of the figures who have shaped it.
— PTI The plaque reads "A Sikh, a scholar and a son of Hadali Punjab. This is where my roots are. I have nourished them with tears of nostalgia."
|
|
Amicus curiae highlights filth, poor management
Legal Correspondent
Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who is assisting the SC as amicus curiae in a case against Kerala Government's move to take over the temple, told a Bench headed by Justice RM Lodha that the shrine's management was in a total mess. The temple had so far not evaluated the gold and silver offerings made by devotees in the last 30 years, while gold and silver ingots were found hidden inside its premises, the amicus told the court. The boxes in which offerings were made were being opened only once in 45 days to take stock of the value, while even small temples did this on a daily basis or every 2-3 days, he said. The amicus, who stayed in the city for 35 days to monitor the temple's management and submit his report to the SC, said the main deity had developed cracks and the plaster on the walls of the sanctum sanctorum had come off. The temple was maintaining multiple accounts in various banks just for the donations made for poor feeding, he said. In view of the massive mismanagement of the public money, there was need for a "special audit" of the temple accounts, preferably by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the amicus suggested. Asked about the poor upkeep of the entire temple premises, those in charge of the management told him that the shrine did not have enough funds. But the temple had received Rs 1.29 crore in just two months (February-March) by way of offerings alone, he said. Temple priests were suffering from skin problems as they had to take a dip in the shrine's ponds filled with filth before entering the sanctum sanctorum, he said. The amicus also suggested that the keys to the temple's nine vaults should be in the custody of the district judge or his representative to protect the huge wealth in the form of ornaments made of gold, silver and precious metals. The Supreme Court has stopped the media from talking about the value of the wealth after reports appeared equating it with the Tirupati Balaji temple and the Vatican. Marthanda Varma, the erstwhile prince of Trivancore, and a few others have come to the SC, challenging the Kerala High Court order for the take-over of the temple management by the state government. Picture of neglect
|
|
Jangi Paltan veterans visit 1971 Indo-Pak battlefields
Among them were Lt General Satish Nambiar, Brig BK Ponwar, Col Subhas Kulkarni, Lt Col Mahaesh Sachdev and Lt Col KS Puntambekar. The visit was coordinated by the Defence Adviser in the Indian High Commission at Dhaka, Brig PC Thimmaya. The Bangladesh Army chipped in with liaison officers and all logistical and administrative arrangements. The trip included visits to an ambush site at Kamalpur near the border with Meghalaya, where the unit had decimated a Pakistani heavy mortar battery and the bridge near Tangail that had been the centrestage of the para-drop operations. The veterans also laid wreaths at war memorials and visited museums dedicated to the 1971 war, interacted with Bangladeshi war veterans and freedom fighters and called upon the Minister of Liberation War Affairs, AKM Mozammel Huq, and Chief of the General Staff Lt Gen Mohammed Mainul Islam. First Gorkha Rifles turns 199
Indian Army’s senior-most Gorkha regiment, the First Gorkha Rifles (1GR) is just a year short of 200. Raised from the remnants of Gen Amar Singh Thapa’s forces on April 24, 1815 at Sabathu in the Shivalik foothills near Shimla, the regiment has a long and chequered history with 31 battle honours, two Victoria Cross, one Param Vir Chakra and seven Maha Vir Chakra awarded to it during campaigns across the globe. At present, 1 GR comprises five battalions. Captain Gurbachan Singh Salaria, the only recipient of the Param Vir Chakra during UN peacekeeping service overseas, belonged to 1 GR. Another Gorkha outfit, the Third Gorkha Rifles, also traces its origin to April 24, 1815, but the unit was initially raised as a “Kemaoon’ Battalion, with majority of the troops being drawn from Kumaon and Garhwal regions. It was re-designated as 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gorkha Rifles in 1907. Online petition to save
INS Vikrant
About 10,500 signatures have been received for an online petition launched to save INS Vikrant, India’s first aircraft carrier, from being scrapped. The petition has urged the President Pranab Mukherjee, Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam and Defence Minister AK Antony to order a stay on the breaking up of the ship. The petition contends that the popular sentiment of the people of India is that INS Vikrant should be converted into a maritime museum ship that can sustain itself through visitor fees as well as foreign exchange from foreign visitors. The petition, launched by a Mumbai resident, states that the ship has great historical value and will be highly resourceful for students of history, military science and the general public. Army’s grand old lady turns 99 It was a pleasant surprise for Rajkumari Shrinagesh, wife of the Army’s third Indian chief, late General SM Shrinagesh, when on her 99th birthday she was felicitated by senior officers. She was celebrating the event in Gurgaon this week with her close and extended family, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren when Army Chief General Bikram Singh and his wife Bubbles sent her a bottle of champagne, flowers and a cake with a card that read “From all officers of your army”. Kumaon regimental band played some nostalgic tunes and the Army’s Quarter Master General, Lt Gen Om Prakash, Additional Director General Public Information, Maj General Bobby Mathews and National Security Guard IG (Operations) Maj Gen BS Das and Lt Col RS Pathania — all from the Kumaon Regiment — came to pay their respects to “a link to a glorious past” of their regiment. The grand old lady, who has an agile mind, recalled her splendid association with the Army when she said that she remains wedded to the great institution. Her face lit up with joy when the five sparklers placed on the cake illuminated, celebrating her long association with the
Army. (Vijay Mohan and Vandana Shukla)
|
||
|
Day after violence, calm at poppy husk outlets
Abohar, April 23 The police searched tea shops and dwellings to arrest suspects as buyers without permits were turned away. A woman was found enquiring about a relative who failed to return home after yesterday’s violence. Sources said five persons were arrested as they tried to create nuisance at an outlet near the inter-state border at Sadulshehar. Sriganganagar District Magistrate RS Jakhar convened a meeting of peace committee today. He said only 2,700 people were issued permits but the number of poppy husk consumers was much higher. He asked educational institutions to organise Parent-Teacher Association meetings soon to raise awareness on the drug menace. The administration will consider reviving de-addiction rehabilitations centres, he said. A deputation of Mayapuri market submitted a memorandum to the district administration demanding shifting of outlets selling poppy husk.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
New York, April 23
New Delhi, April 23
New Delhi, April 23
Over 42 years after the First Battalion of the Maratha Light Infantry, also known as the Jangi Paltan, had played a decisive role to establish Indian dominance at Tangail, north of Dacca, during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, a handful of veterans from the battalion visited the battlefields earlier this month where they had linked up with paratroopers, repulsed Pakistani attacks and cut off their retreat routes.
