IVRI director RK Singh was informed about the PMO’s request on Wednesday giving him a very narrow window to make the arrangements in Shahanshapur on the outskirts of Modi’s parliamentary constituency Varanasi, where he will inaugurate a week-long Pashu Arogya Mela or an animal fair on Saturday. Read more
11:53 Boy’s suicide note asks teacher not to punish students : Upset over being punished by teacher, a class five student in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison.
The 11-year-old, Navneet Prakash, a student of St. Anthony’s Convent School, was allegedly punished in his school on September 15, after which he died at the BRD Medical College on Wednesday.
A suicide note was recovered from his schoolbag in which he claimed that he had decided to end his life as he was subjected to harsh punishment by his teacher.
In the suicide note, Navneet said, “Papa, Today is my first exam and my class teacher kept me crying till 9:15 a.m. I was kept standing for three periods. She only listens to her sycophants. I am going to end my life today. Please ask my ma’am not to give such a severe punishment to anyone.”
Navneet’s last wish, as mentioned in the suicide note, says, “Please ask my teacher to not punish anyone so severely.”
Navneet’s father has blamed the authorities of his school for the tragedy.
The Superintendent of Police, Vinay Kumar Singh, said that an FIR was registered at the Shahpur Police Station under Section 306 (abettment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“We have arrested the teacher, Bhavna, and the matter is being investigated. The parents found the suicide note and a glass wrapped in a polythene from which a foul smell was coming out from his school bag. Probably, he has consumed some poison as foam was coming out from his mouth when the family members rushed him to the hospital,” he said. — ANI
11:13 Navratri: Over 500 meat, chicken shops shut in Gurgaon: Over 500 meat and chicken shops were allegedly shut down by Shiv Sena workers in view of the Navratri festival here. The workers yesterday assembled at Palam Vihar and forced shut down of meat markets in Surat Nagar, Ashok Vihar, Sector 5 and 9, Pataudi Chowk, Jacobpura, Sadar Bazaar, Khandsa Anaj Mandi, bus stand, DLF area, Sohna and Sector 14 market.
General secretary and spokesperson of Shiv Sena Gurgaon wing Ritu Raj said that they had served notices to every meat and chicken shop.
“This time we have not served notices to restaurants and other food chains which serve chicken as it is not seen openly. One will have to face consequences in case he does not follow instructions,” he said.
The sainiks also served notices to owners of non- vegetarian food outlets, asking them to close down their shops till the nine-day Navratra festival is over. — PTI
11:11 Exclusive! When Indian forces went behind enemy lines: “We knew we had to hit the adversary so hard that he would be humiliated.” Soldiers who took part in last year’s surgical strikes on terror camps inside PoK tell Nitin A Gokhale what happened in those hours. An exclusive excerpt from Nitin’s fascinating new book, Securing India the Modi Way: Pathankot, Surgical Strikes and More.
Do read
11:08 ‘Godless’ CPI(M) banks on Durga for people re-connect : The party which was once averse to take part in religious festivals, is now banking on “social festival” Durga Puja to reach out to the people and revamp its dwindling mass base in West Bengal.
The CPI(M), which is facing a tough time in the state in coping with the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP, has allowed its MLAs to take part in inaugural programmes of Durga Puja.
“We can no longer afford to stay away from festivals and social events. We may not believe in religion but there is no harm in participating in festivals and social events,” a senior state secretariat member of the CPI(M) told PTI.
He said that the change of stance of the party was in the backdrop of the “competitive communalism practised by both the BJP and the TMC. If you have to fight them, you have to take part in these festivals as this is one of the best opportunities to spread our message.”
For decades, CPI(M)’s participation in Durga Puja has been limited to setting up stalls to sell Left literature outside puja pandals across the state. But this time, party MLA Tanmoy Bhattacharya from Dum Dum North Assembly seat will take part in four Durga Puja inaugurations in his constituency.
Another MLA Manas Mukherjee too has a busy schedule next week inaugurating several pujas in his constituency. Bhattacharya said Durga Puja had turned into more of a social festival than a religious one in Bengal, and it would be foolish to stay from such festivities which could be a platform for establishing mass contact.
“I personally don’t believe in religion, but being a public representative how can I stay away from social festivals,” Bhattacharya asked. Mukherjee also echoed the views of Bhattacharya.
“I am not attending any religious programme. I am attending a programme where so many people have come together. We also attend marriage ceremonies where several religious customs are followed,” Mukherjee said.
The development has brought back memories of an incident in 2006, when late senior CPI(M) leader and Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty had to face severe criticism within the party for worshipping Kali at Tarapith temple claiming that he was a Hindu, a Brahmin and a Marxist.
At this, a senior state committee leader said, “what Subhas Chakraborty had done and what our present MLAs are doing are different. Our MLAs are neither worshipping nor are offering ‘anjali’ to deities. They are just participating in inauguration ceremonies and other social events of the festival”. — PTI
10:49 PM’s speech at BJP meet will shape Parliament discourse : At a rare open session of the BJPs national executive on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to deliver a speech that might shape the political discourse in the run-up to the winter session of Parliament, and assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
The speech, which will be open to the media and telecast live by state broadcaster Doordarshan, comes at a time when the Modi government is facing criticism for the economic slowdown. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said a stimulus package is in the works.
The BJPs national executive is set to pass a resolution spelling out the economic road map of the government for the next one year.
Usually, the national executive, chaired by party president, is attended by its 120-odd members and an equal number of special invitees. However, the BJP is hosting an extended national executive this time. The audience would comprise all the partys elected representatives in Parliament and state legislatures.
— Archis Mohan/Business Standard
10:38 Pradhyumn murder: Cops summon Pintos: The Gurugram Police today summoned the owners of Ryan International School for interrogation on 26th September in connection with murder of seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur on school campus on September 8.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday had denied anticipatory bail to the founding chairman of Ryan International Group of Institutions Augustine Pinto, the groups managing director Grace Pinto and their son Ryan Pinto. The case has been adjourned for Monday.
On September 8, Pradhyumn Thakur, a Class 2 student was found dead inside a toilet of Ryan International School with his throat slit after. A school bus conductor Ashok Kumar believed to be present in the toilet when the boy entered and caught in security footage leaving it, has been arrested.
The school has been accused of serious lapses in security. The schoolboy’s murder jolted the nation and has led to a series of security measures recommended for schools across the country.
The killing is being investigated by the CBI after Pradyuman’s parents alleged that the police investigation was not up to the mark.
Dealers said early losses in domestic equity markets and unabated foreign fund outflows weighed on the rupee.
Yesterday, the rupee plummeted by a whopping 54 paise to end at 64.81 a dollar, its weakest level in over two-and-half months after the US Federal Reserve left the door open for a rate hike in December.
The benchmark BSE Sensex drifted further lower by 231.79 points, or 0.72 per cent, to 32,138.25 in early trade today.
10:08 2 terrorists involved in Banihal attack held: Security forces on Friday arrested two terrorists involved in the attack on Sashastra Seema Bal personnel at Banihal in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Two terrorists involved in Wednesday’s terrorist attack at Banihal have been arrested and a hunt for the third is on,” a police spokesman said in Srinagar.
He said the arrested terrorists have been identified as Gazanfar and Arif. — PTI
09:46 L’Oreal cosmetics heiress dies at 94: Heiress of cosmetics giant L’Oreal Liliane Bettencourt, the world’s richest woman, has died at the age of 94.
On Thursday, her daughter Franoise Bettencourt Meyers, 64, released a statement saying that her mother had passed away.
Bettencourt Meyers told the New York Times in an email statement, which read, “In this painful moment for us, I would like to reiterate, on behalf of our family, our entire commitment and loyalty to L’Oreal and to renew my confidence in its President Jean-Paul Agon and his teams worldwide.”
Bettencourt, who had died at the age of 94, was the main shareholder in the world’s top cosmetics company L’Oreal, with a personal fortune estimated by Forbes magazine in March at USD 39.5 billion.
Speaking about Liliane’s death, L’Oreal chairman and chief executive Jean-Paul Agon expressed “great admiration” for the woman who steered the company as its owner for the best part of a decade.
Agon said she “always looked” after the company and its employees and “she has personally contributed greatly to its success for many years”.
Married to French politician Andre Bettencourt from 1950 till his death in 2007, Lilian was a prominent part of French society and a revered businesswoman around the world.
Photograph: Benoit Tessier/Reuters.
– ‘Terroristan’ is in fact a territory whose contribution to the globalisation of terror is unparalleled.
– Pakistan can only be counselled to abandon a destructive worldview that has caused grief to the entire world.
– If it could be persuaded to demonstrate commitment to civilisation, order and peace, it may still find some acceptance in comity of nations. — ANI
08:51 Pakistan is ‘Terroristan’: India responds to Abbasi at UNGA: India exercises its Right of Reply at the United Nations General Assembly and responds to Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbas’s statements on Kashmir, seeking UN intervention.
“It is extraordinary that the state which protected Osama Bin Laden and sheltered Mullah Omar should have the gumption to play victim,” India says.
“In its short history, Pakistan has become a geography synonymous with terror. The quest for a land of pure has actually produced ‘the land of pure terror’,’ it said.
“Pakistan is now ‘Terroristan’, with a flourishing industry producing and exporting global terrorism,” India said in its strong reply.
It also said that ‘Pakistan must understand that the State of J&K is and will always remain an integral part of India’.
“However much it (Pakistan) scales up cross border terrorism,it will never succeed in undermining India’s territorial integrity,” India said.
“Even as terrorists thrive in Pakistan and roam its streets with impunity, we have heard it lecture about protection of human rights in India. The world does not need lessons on democracy and human rights from a country whose own situation is charitably described as a failed state,” India said. — ANI
IMAGE: Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in Manhattan, New York. Photograph: Jeenah Moon/Reuters
08:23 In 1st UNGA address, Pak PM urges UN to intervene in Kashmir: Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has urged the United Nations to appoint a special envoy to Kashmir, as he claimed that the struggle of the people in the region is being ‘brutally suppressed’ by India.
In his maiden address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Abbasi accused India of indulging in terror activities against his country and warned of a ‘matching response’ if it “ventures across the LoC (Line of Control)’ or acts upon its doctrine of limited war against Pakistan.
“The Kashmir dispute should be resolved justly, peacefully and expeditiously. As India is unwilling to resume the peace process with Pakistan, we call on the Security Council to fulfil its obligation to secure the implementation of its own resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.
“To this end, the UN secretary general should appoint a special envoy on Kashmir. His mandate should flow from the longstanding but unimplemented resolutions of the Security Council,” Abbasi said.
He said despite over 600 ceasefire violations on the India-Pakistan border since January this year, Pakistan has acted with restraint.
“But if India does venture across the LoC, or acts upon its doctrine of limited war against Pakistan, it will evoke a strong and matching response,” he said in his speech in which he raised his anti-India rhetoric.
India is expected to soon take up the podium to respond to Abbasi’s remarks on Kashmir.
The Pakistani prime minister said the legitimate struggle for self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir continues to be ‘brutally suppressed by India’s occupation forces’.
Abbasi, who assumed office few months ago, mentioned Kashmir a total of 17 times and India 14 times among other things in his speech.
He also said that from day one of its creation, Pakistan has faced unremitting hostility from its eastern neighbor (India).
“India refuses to implement the unanimous resolutions of the UN Security Council, which mandate a UN supervised plebiscite to enable the people of Jammu and Kashmir to freely decide their destiny,” he said.
“Instead, India has deployed nearly 7,00,000 troops in ‘occupied Kashmir’ to suppress the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiris to exercise their right to self-determination. This is the most intense foreign military occupation in recent history,” Abbasi said as he kicked up the Pakistan’s rhetoric against India.
“Shotgun pellets have blinded and maimed thousands of Kashmiris including children. These and other brutalities clearly constitute war crimes and violate the Geneva Conventions,” he charged.
Abbasi demanded an international investigation into the alleged atrocities in Kashmir and sending of an inquiry commission to Jammu and Kashmir in order to secure the punishment of those ‘responsible of human rights violation’ and provide justice and relief to victims.
However, he stated that Pakistan remains open to resuming a comprehensive dialogue with India to address all outstanding issues, especially Kashmir and discuss measures to maintain peace and security in the region.
“This dialogue must be accompanied by an end to India’s campaign of subversion and state sponsored terrorism against Pakistan, including from across our western border,” Abbasi said. — PTI
IMAGE: Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi addresses the 72nd United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, on Thursday. Photograph: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
00:16 Fresh strains in SP, Mulayam dumps Akhilesh loyalist:
In signs of fresh strains in the Samajwadi Party ahead of its state and national convention, its patron Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday removed Akhilesh-loyalist Ram Gopal Yadav from the post of secretary of the Lohia Trust and appointed his brother Shivpal Yadav in his place.
The SP is holding its state convention on September 23 in Lucknow while its national convention is scheduled on October 5 in Agra.
“At a meeting of the trust held here (Lucknow), Ram Gopal was removed from the post of secretary and I was given the responsibility to take forward the ideology of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia,” Shivpal, the warring uncle of Akhilesh, told reporters.
Asked whether he was invited to attend the SP state and national conventions, he said, “I have not received the invitation so far and I am unlikely to attend them.”
On his future course of action after being sidelined in the SP by his nephew, Shivpal said, “Netaji (Mulayam) will hold a press conference on September 25. He will make some announcements.”
He, however, did not elaborate, leaving mediapersons wondering as to whether the party patriarch will part ways with the SP and announce a front, reports about which were doing the rounds in the political circles.
In a meeting of the trust last month, Mulayam had sacked four Akhilesh loyalists who were its members, but had retained Akhilesh and cousin Ramgopal Yadav.
The Lohia Trust is an affiliate of the Samajwadi Party and Mulayam is its chairperson.
Shivpal, Akhilesh and Ramgopal Yadav, who is also the SP national general secretary, are members of the trust.
Mulayam had terminated the trust membership of Ramgovind Chaudhary, the Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, Ahmed Hasan, Usha Verma and Alok Shakya at its annual meeting last month.
Deepak Mishra, whom Akhilesh had expelled from the SP, was made a member.
Source: Rediff