Press "Enter" to skip to content

LIVE! Missing Indians in Iraq: Families’ DNA tests normal, says govt

10:48  Missing Indians in Iraq: Families’ DNA tests normal, says govt:  The Government of India has said that asking relatives of the 39 Indians who went missing in Mosul, Iraq, three years ago to undergo DNA tests is normal procedure to confirm identification. 

Both India and Iraq maintain that the 39 Indian nationals are still alive and authorities in both countries remain committed to continue their search for them on this assumption. 

“All of us have been asked to undergo DNA test,” Gurpinder, the sister of Manjinder, one of the missing Indians, told ANI. 

In July this year, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had firmly said in Parliament that she would not declare the 39 Indians dead without concrete proof or evidence.  

“It is a sin to declare a person dead without concrete evidence. I will not do this sin,” Swaraj said in a statement in the Lok Sabha on the fate of 39 Indians missing in Iraq since 2014.  

India has asked Iraq for help in locating the missing Indians after Iraqi forces recaptured Mosul from ISIS, and New Delhi has repeatedly said it won’t end the search for these missing citizens, believing that they are still alive.  

“This file will not close till there is proof that the 39 Indians are dead. I will not commit the sin of declaring them dead without any evidence,” Swaraj had said in July, adding then that insofar as this emotive issue is concerned, there is no benefit to the government by misleading the people.  

Iraq’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Eshaiker al-Jafari is also on record as saying around that time that Baghdad does not have “substantial evidence” to prove that the missing Indians are dead.  

The 39 persons, most of whom hail from Punjab, were working on projects near Mosul, when they were kidnapped during their evacuation.  

India is on record as saying that every effort is being made by Iraq and other countries to help trace the abducted Indians.

image

10:34  Rape victim’s silence no proof of consent: Delhi HC:   The silence of a rape victim cannot be taken as proof of consent for sexual relations, the Delhi high court has observed while upholding a man’s 10-year jail term for raping a pregnant woman.  

Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal made the observation while rejecting a rape convict’s defence that the victim’s silence about the incident proved consensual sexual relations.  

“The defence taken by the accused that the prosecutrix (victim) had consensual sexual relations with him which is pointed out from her silence about the incident, holds no ground, as mere silence cannot be taken as proof of consensual sexual relations as she has also stated that she was being threatened by the accused. 

“Thus, any act of sexual intercourse in the absence of consent would amount to an act of rape,” the high court said, while upholding a trial court’s 2015 decision to convict and sentence to 10-year imprisonment one Munna, who was then 28 years old, for repeatedly raping a 19-year-old woman.  

The high court also upheld the decision of the trial court to acquit Munna of the offences of kidnapping, saying there were inconsistencies in the woman’s statements regarding how she had reached Delhi.  

It also agreed with the subordinate court’s decision to acquit him and co-accused Suman Kumar of the charge of trying to sell the woman into prostitution as alleged by her. 

The high court was hearing Munna’s appeal against his conviction and sentence, as well as the plea of the police challenging the trial court’s decision to acquit the two men of the other offences.

image

10:13  Azharuddin may contest 2019 polls from Telangana:  Former cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin has been invited by the Telangana Congress to contest the 2019 elections from the state. 

The 54-year-old former Team India captain said he felt happy and honoured with the invitation extended to him by Telangana Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, and that he would move ahead vis-a-vis his role in the party in consultation with the high command. 

Azharuddin, a former Congress MP from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, said he already campaigns for the party at different places in the country. 

Speaking at an event, Reddy invited Azharuddin to contest elections from the state, either for the post of MP or MLA, when the former cricketer expressed his readiness to work for the party in Telangana.  

“If we work together again, our Congress government will come in Telangana,” Azharuddin said at the public event yesterday. To this, Reddy said, “I am inviting you, in Telangana, whichever MP or MLA…you want to contest. We will call you to contest.”  

Azharuddin, who hails from Hyderabad, had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Rajasthan. 

The assembly elections in Telangana are scheduled to be held simultaneously with Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

image

08:57  Sushma in Dhaka, to meet Hasina today:  External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will meet Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka today.  

Swaraj, who is on a two-day visit to the country, will also attend the fourth Bangladesh-India Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting, the Dhaka Tribune has reported. 

This is Swaraj’s second visit to Bangladesh. She last visited the country in 2014. 

The JCC meeting is expected to review the implementation and progress of decisions taken during Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India this year. 

The meeting will coordinate, oversee and follow-up implementation of initiatives as well as explore new avenues for cooperation. 

The third JCC meeting was held in New Delhi in 2014.  

India and Bangladesh have witnessed a deepening of bilateral economic cooperation in recent years, particularly in terms of increasing volumes of trade and investment flows.

image

08:42  JNU students served showcause notice for staging gherao on Feb 27:  A proctorial inquiry committee of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has issued show cause notices to around 15 students for staging a gherao, which “disrupted the normal functioning” of the university administration early this year. 

The committee has also observed that staging the gherao was an act of “indiscipline” and “misconduct”. 

The allegation has, however, been denied by the students.  

The notice issued to the students said, ‘You have been found guilty in the following acts of indiscipline — sitting in room no. 225 of the Administration Block the whole night of February 27, despite a request by the security persons to vacate.’  

If the students fail to defend themselves, they will have to face punishments, including cancellation of admission, withdrawal of degree, fines up to Rs 20,000 and rustication for two semesters, depending on the charges slapped against them. 

‘Your reply should reach this office latest by October 25 (5 pm), failing which it will be presumed that you have nothing to say in your defence and this office will be free to take appropriate action against you,’ the notice said. 

However, the students have dismissed the allegations and claimed that they were targeted for staging protests against the implementation of the UGC gazette, which resulted in seat cuts.  

“I have been proved guilty without being shown evidence and without being given a chance to defend myself,” said one of the students.  

Former JNU Students’ Union general secretary Satarupa Chakraborty alleged that the university administration was trying to instill a sense of fear among the students and discourage them from raising voice against any injustice through heavy fines, hostel transfers, suspension and blocking of academic activities. 

“In the name of the UGC Gazette, they (administration) blocked the admission of nearly 1,000 students from deprived backgrounds,” she said. 

Image: A file photograph of students protesting in JNU.

image

08:31  Update: J&K: Terrorist killed in gun battle with security forces:  An unidentified terrorist was killed in a gun battle with security forces in Langet area of Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir.  

An encounter broke out between terrorists and security forces this morning after the latter launched a search operation in Langet, 100 km from Srinagar, an Army official said. 

He said one terrorist has been killed and the encounter is still underway. 

image

08:22  ‘Hardik a Congress agent’: Former aides slam Gujarat OBC leader:  The Congress has received a boost ahead of the Gujarat assembly polls, with backward class leader Alpesh Thakor announcing his decision to join the party, after a meeting with Rahul Gandhi.  

The announcement came hours after the Congress, which has been out of power in Gujarat for over two decades now, invited Patidar quota stir spearhead Hardik Patel, OBC leader Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mevani, a protagonist of resurgent Dalit politics in the key western state, to join the party.  

Thakor, the convenor of the Gujarat OBC Ekta Manch and leader of the local Thakor Sena, has considerable influence among backward classes. 

Thakor, accompanied by Congress general secretary incharge of Gujarat Ashok Gehlot and state party chief Bharatsinh Solanki, met Gandhi at his residence in New Delhi yesterday evening. Soon thereafter, Thakor said Rahul Gandhi would attend a rally organised by him on October 23 where “I will join the Congress party”. 

But Hardik Patel, the Patidar leader who spearheaded a prolonged agitation for reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for people of his community, was rather tepid in his response to the Congress’s invitation.  

“It is a political stunt, coming as it does just before the elections. I cannot contest elections myself because of constitutional provisions, nor do I want. Since an invitation has been extended, our leaders will consider the proposal,” he told a TV news channel.  

Patel, whose quota stir often turned violent resulting in the death of several people in police action, is 24 years old. The minimum age required for a person to contest an assembly or Lok Sabha election in is 25. 

However, in a dramatic turn of events, Hardik Patel’s key aides — Varun Patel and Reshma Patel — have joined the BJP.  

Varun and Reshma were among the prominent faces of the Hardik Patel-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) and remained critical of the ruling BJP during the agitation. They joined the BJP after a meeting with Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and state party chief Jitu Vaghani during its parliamentary board meeting, which was also attended by BJP president Amit Shah.  

After joining the BJP, the Patidar leaders told reporters that Hardik has become a “Congress agent” and was trying to use the agitation to overthrow the present state government.  

“Our agitation was about getting reservations under the OBC quota, not about uprooting the BJP and bringing the Congress to power. While the BJP always supported the community and accepted a majority of our demands, Congress is only trying to use Patels as a vote bank. We do not want to be part of such malicious conspiracy,” Reshma Patel said.  

“This agitation was not of Hardik Patel’s alone. He is now acting like a Congress agent. I and Varun are of the opinion that the BJP would definitely fulfil our demands,” she said. 

According to Varun Patel, the Patidar community will never allow the Congress party to take over the reins of Gujarat by inciting Patel youths. 

“The BJP government (in the state) held talks with us in the past to resolve various issues. However, the Congress never held such talks, as they were not committed. We have decided to join BJP because we do not want to run the agitation by becoming Congress agents,” said Varun Patel.  

“The BJP government even promised us to represent the issue of reservation to the OBC Commission. BJP leaders also promised us to provide legal help in case we want to take up the matter with the Supreme Court,” he added. 

Unfazed by the announcement of his key aides, Hardik Patel said in a tweet he that will continue to fight for the people. 

“The centipede will continue to run even if some of his legs break. People are with me, and I will continue to fight for them,” he said.

08:11  Terrorist killed in Handwara:  

NorthernComd_IA) tweeted at 7:38 a.m. on Sun, Oct 22, 2017:
#IndianArmy One terrorist killed in #Handwara. Operation in progress.
image

08:05  ‘Mersal’ producer yields to BJP, says willing to cut scenes:  Facing flak from the Tamil Nadu BJP over dialogues allegedly flaying the GST in Mersal, the film production house has said that if needed, it would delete scenes that have caused “misunderstanding”, even as the Congress slammed the saffron party for demanding cuts. 

The producers also said that the BJP’s opposition to some dialogues in Mersal was “just” from its own perspective. 

Giving indication that a truce had been reached between the production house and the state BJP, the producers claimed that BJP leaders have accepted their explanation.  

Sri Thenandal Films head Murali Ramaswamy said, “From their perspective, their opposition is just. If opinions (expressed in the movie) that may lead to misunderstanding need to be removed, we are ready for that too.”  

Earlier, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and senior party leader P Chidambaram had hit out at the state BJP for demanding cuts in Mersal

“Mr Modi, Cinema is a deep expression of Tamil culture and language. Don’t try to demon-etise Tamil pride by interfering in Mersal,” Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet which was retweeted by Chidambaram.  

The BJP leaders have appreciated “our honest approach to meet them in person, we thank them all”, the film’s producer said after a meeting with state BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan and other leaders. 

“We explained the movie’s objective, our stand and that this movie has not been produced with an intention to hurt anyone and they have generously accepted it,” he said. 

Mersal is not against anyone. It is not a film that expresses opinions against the government either. Even an ordinary person should get access to proper medical amenities and this is the story line of the movie,” Ramaswamy said in a statement.

However, he did not elaborate whether the BJP leaders insisted on removing views they found “objectionable” or whether the producers will effect the cuts or not. 

In a statement, the Tamil Film Producers Council and South Indian Artistes’ Association opposed cuts as the movie had already been censored. They claimed that it went against the right to freedom of expression and will set a bad precedent. 

Meanwhile, the BJP has said while the people have right to criticise the government, they must keep their facts correct. H Raja said the BJP welcomes criticism but was only objecting to wrong facts about central government schemes being shown in the film. 

“We welcome criticism. But one should not deliberately give false statement through a movie. Some facts in the movie are wrong and we have objected to it. We want rectification of the wrong statements,” he said. 

Mersal, starring Tamil star Vijay, landed in a controversy after Tamilisai Soundararajan said ‘misconceptions’ were being promoted in the film about central government schemes, including GST and Digital India.

Source: Rediff