LIVE! Muslims fear that Trump's visa ban will boost terrorist groups

17:46  Sasikala won’t be Tamil Nadu CM on 29/1:  

Rajeev Sharma tells us: AIADMK General Secretary Sasikala Natarajan’s ascendance as Tamil Nadu’s chief minister will take some more time.

Her anointment as CM is unlikely to take place on Sunday, January 29, the date preferred by her.

Knowledgeable sources say the past couple of weeks have been a downer for Sasikala. It appears she may require more time to sort out the problems.

Sasikala has been facing problems from two quarters: The snowballing opposition to her candidacy for chief ministership within her party; and the Centre’s attitude to her.

Chief Minister O Panneerselvam’s standing has gone up in the past week after he deftly handled the Jallikattu controversy and his dealings with the Centre on the issue. 

17:36  Muslims fear that Trump’s visa ban will boost terrorist groups:  

Across the Muslim world, the refrain was resounding: President Donald Trump’s freeze on refugee arrivals and visa requests from seven predominantly Muslim countries will have major diplomatic repercussions, worsen perceptions of Americans and offer a propaganda boost to the terrorist groups Trump says he is targeting.

Trump’s stance has been evident since the early days of his campaign, when he advocated a “complete and total shutdown” of all Muslims entering the United States.

Trump has since softened his language, casting his order Friday as a way to keep terrorists, not Muslims, out of the United States.

But in interviews with dozens of officials, analysts and ordinary citizens across Muslim-majority countries, there was overwhelming agreement that the order issued Friday signaled a provocation: a sign that the US president sees Islam itself as the problem.

“I think this is going to alienate the whole Muslim world,” said Mouwafak al-Rubaie, a lawmaker and former national security adviser in Iraq.

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen today termed note ban as an unguided “missile” fired “unilaterally” by the government without adhering to the democratic conventions.

“Every now and then we get missiles fired by the government unilaterally. Demonetisation one fine morning is of course just such a missile where there are reports coming in of hardships and suffering though it is not quite clear where the missile has landed,” Sen said.

16:34  In a state of shock: Deepika on ‘Padmavati’ on-set ruckus:  

Actress Deepika Padukone says she is in “state of shock” over the attack on director Sanjay Leela Bhansali during the shooting of his directorial venture “Padmavati” in Jaipur.

The 31-year-old actress, who is playing the lead role of Rani Padmavati in the film, expressed her anger in a series of tweets.

“In a state of shock! Deeply saddened and disheartened by yesterday’s events!#Padmavati,” Deepika wrote.

The actress assured that the team behind the film is not distorting any historical facts and their aim is to bring on-screen the story of “courageous and powerful” Padmavati.

“As Padmavati I can assure you that there is absolutely no distortion of history.#Padmavati

“Our only endeavour is & has always been to share with the world the story of this courageous & powerful woman in the purest form there is,” she wrote.

16:05  Laptops for students, waiver of farmer loans: BJP’s SOPs for UP:  BJP President Amit Shah has released the manifesto for Uttar Pradesh assembly elections which will take place next month. While releasing the manifesto called ‘Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra’ (Pledge for People’s Welfare), the BJP president said the party will form government in Uttar Pradesh will two-thirds majority.

Here are the highlights of the manifesto:

15:31  Serena is the new Australian Open champ!:  

Serena Williams, the world number 2, wins the Australian Open after defeating her elder sister Venus Williams in 2 sets. 

Serena won in an error-strew match 6-4, 6-4. 

With this win, Serena has also made history by winning a record 23rd Grand Slam in the Open Era, breaking Steffi Graf’s record of 22 wins. 

15:07  After attack, Sanjay Leela Bhansali stops shooting in Rajasthan:  Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali has cancelled the shoot of Padmavati in Jaipur, Rajasthan and is returning to Mumbai, according to latest reports.

This comes after director Bhansali was manhandled by members of a fringe outfit called Karni Sena on the sets of Padmavati yesterday in Jaipur.

The world number 2 Serena Williams has held her nerves and won the first set in the finals of the Australian Open against elder sister Venus Williams. She took the first set 6-4. 

Serena is bidding for an Open Era record 23rd Grand Slam title – a seventh here in Australia, while Venus is looking to add an exclamation point to her fairytale run by adding an eighth major crown, 17 years after her first at Wimbledon.

14:42  EC clears PM Modi’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ ahead of assembly elections:  

The Election Commission of India has given green signal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s radio broadcast of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ despite the upcoming assembly elections in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand.

The show came under scrutiny after the Election Commission’s Code was applied with polls being held in several states and union territories. However, the PM will be very careful with his words and will not be able to take up any political issue or discuss any government initiative on his show.

The first episode for 2017 will be broadcast on January 29 and will focus entirely on students. The 28th episode has been planned keeping in mind the upcoming board examinations and will be aired at 11 am.

14:26  GSM-Sena combine assures to ban EDMs, rave parties in Goa:  

RSS rebel Subhash Velingkar-led Goa Suraksha Manch and Shiv Sena in their joint manifesto for Goa polls have promised to ban Electronic Dance Music festivals in the coastal state even as it assured to discontinue government grants to English medium schools in a phased manner.

The GSM-SS has also promised to fight the increasing drug menace wherein laws will be made more stringent with the help of the Centre and a special narcotic cell would be set up to check spread of drugs.

They have assured to launched a populist initiative by introducing subsidised loans for purchase of vehicles and homes to government servants, a scheme which was discontinued.

An abandoned mortar shell was found in a park at Vasant Kunj (North) in south Delhi this morning, creating sensation in the area with police cordoning off the area and calling National Security Guard for defusing it.

The locals spotted the mortar shell lying in the park of Kishan Garh locality in Vasant Kunj area. They informed the police who reached there and cordoned off the entire area.

“A PCR call was received around 8.30 am regarding the finding of the mortar shell in the park Machli Wala, Samadhi Van village, Kishan Garh, in Vasant Kunj(N). The entire area has been cordoned off and evacuated as a precautionary measure,” said a senior police officer.

The NSG has been requested to send a team for carrying out necessary drill to diffuse the shell, he said.

13:43  Dare Bhansali to make movie against Hitler in Germany: Karni Sena chief:  

Defending its action of vandalising the sets of upcoming Indian period drama Padmavati and assaulting its director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the Rajput Karni Sena on Saturday warned that they will not let the history of their ancestors be tarnished, adding that they would defend their Rajput lineage from ignominy.

The protestors manhandled the director on Friday and alleged that the film has love scenes between Queen Padmini and ruler Alauddin Khilji, played by actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh.

Speaking in Jaipur, founder patron of the fringe group Lokendra Singh Kalvi asserted that if history and traditions are not respected then nothing but doom awaits them. 

The Karni Sena claims that Padmini was a proud queen known for taking her own life rather than submit to Alauddin Khilji, the emperor who attacked the Chittorgarh Fort.

Does Bhansali have the nerve to go to Germany and make a fiction film against Hitler? Even when Jodha Akbar was being made I had raised objections as one cannot insult our blood-spattered history, Kalvi added.

He further alleged that the shooting was being carried out without permission, adding that the Sena would not allow obscenities on the land of Rajputs against its own ancestral icons. 

After deciding to go it alone in civic polls in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena today unleashed a stinging attack on BJP, saying it feels it had wasted a quarter century by being in an alliance with the saffron party for the sake of “Hindutva” and the interests of Maharashtra.

The Sena also accused the BJP of going out of the way to flaunt its “secular credentials” and said it would not even hesitate to dub Chhatrapati Shivaji and Lokmanya Tilak as “anti-nationals” to serve its purpose.

“We have been experiencing this for the last 25 years for the sake of Hindutva and for the welfare of the state. But these 25 years have been wasted and rusted. What should have happened 25 years back has happened today,” an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana said.

“The state will breathe fresh for the first time in 25 years because the rope tied around the neck of Hindutva has finally been unknotted,” it said.

“The alliance with BJP was over during the (2014) assembly polls itself… what remained was a mere relation for Hindutva and Maharashtra, but BJP finished that as well owing to their ill intentions of winning everything with money and power.

“These people are worse than those who were in power under the Congress regime. These people could dub icons like Shivaji Maharaj and Lokmanya Tilak as anti-nationals to prove their secular credentials,” the Sena said.

12:56  5 army personnel hit by avalanche in J-K’s Kupwara:  Five army personnel have been by an avalanche that struck an army post in Jammu-Kashmir’s Kupwara district. Rescue operations by the army are underway.

Several avalanches and landslides hit the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on Friday even as the death toll in the series of snow slides that have hit Jammu and Kashmir crossed 20 with the recovery of the bodies of four soldiers.

12:43  Was molested by Jallikattu protesters, says Chennai woman cop:  

When M Durga Devi on Tuesday first narrated her experience of being caught in the blazing Ice House police station the previous day, she hadn’t told the whole truth. On Thursday, the head constable held back nothing, revealing to a team of officers that many of those who set the building ablaze had molested her.

Based on the team’s report, police commissioner S George ordered a detailed inquiry. The woman said that she had been standing with five of her colleagues near the barricade in front of the station when nearly 200 men marched towards me. “They hurled stones which left me with injuries to my shoulders. They also grabbed and pushed me around,” she said.

Thinking about what may have happened, she said, “Had they cornered me inside the police station, things could have turned ugly. The horror refuses to leave me. They kept targeting me.”

Many in the mob touched her inappropriately and kept hurling stones, she said, adding that the incident had kept haunting her. She could have handled them had they just hurled stones, she said. Soon, the situation went out of control.

12:18  Zuckerberg urges Trump to keep US borders open:  

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is worried that President Donald Trump will go too far in his crackdown on immigration.

In a post on his Facebook page, Zuckerberg urged Trump to keep the US borders open to refugees who need a safe haven.

Trump signed an executive order Friday imposing new guidelines aimed at keeping “radical Islamic terrorists” out of the US.

Zuckerberg also urged Trump not to deport millions of “undocumented folks” who don’t pose any security threats.

Immigration is an important issue for Zuckerberg for several reasons.

Like most technology companies, Facebook employs highly skilled immigrants as engineers who help create the company’s products. The parents of Zuckerberg’s wife, Priscilla Chan, are ethnic Chinese who fled to the US on a boat from Vietnam.

Here’s his full post:

My great grandparents came from Germany, Austria and Poland. Priscilla’s parents were refugees from China and Vietnam. The United States is a nation of immigrants, and we should be proud of that.

Like many of you, I’m concerned about the impact of the recent executive orders signed by President Trump.

We need to keep this country safe, but we should do that by focusing on people who actually pose a threat. Expanding the focus of law enforcement beyond people who are real threats would make all Americans less safe by diverting resources, while millions of undocumented folks who don’t pose a threat will live in fear of deportation.

We should also keep our doors open to refugees and those who need help. That’s who we are. Had we turned away refugees a few decades ago, Priscilla’s family wouldn’t be here today.

That said, I was glad to hear President Trump say he’s going to “work something out” for Dreamers — immigrants who were brought to this country at a young age by their parents. Right now, 750,000 Dreamers benefit from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that allows them to live and work legally in the US. I hope the President and his team keep these protections in place, and over the next few weeks I’ll be working with our team at FWD.us to find ways we can help.

I’m also glad the President believes our country should continue to benefit from “people of great talent coming into the country.”

These issues are personal for me even beyond my family. A few years ago, I taught a class at a local middle school where some of my best students were undocumented. They are our future too. We are a nation of immigrants, and we all benefit when the best and brightest from around the world can live, work and contribute here. I hope we find the courage and compassion to bring people together and make this world a better place for everyone.

11:56  Heartbroken by Donald Trumps order: Malala:  Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani student activist and Nobel Peace laureate, said she was heartbroken by Donald Trumps order on refugees and urged the US president not to abandon the worlds most defenseless. 

I am heartbroken that today President Trump is closing the door on children, mothers and fathers fleeing violence and war, said the 19-year-old, shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 after publicly advocating education for girls in her home country.

In this time of uncertainty and unrest around the world, I ask President Trump not to turn his back on the worlds most defenseless children and families, she added in a statement just moments after Trump signed the decree. Yousafzai is the youngest ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, which she shared in 2014 with Indias Kailash Satyarthi, a fellow education activist.

11:27  Rajasthan home minister says attack on Bhansali will be probed:  Condemning the attack on filmmaker Sanjay Lela Bhansali by Rajput Karni Sena workers, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Singh Kataria on Saturday said that flouting law to express anger is not called for, adding that a probe would be initiated in the matter.

“In such case, anger is instinctive but it shouldn’t be done outside the purview of law. One cannot express anger by breaking the laws. They could have filed a police complaint instead of taking law in their hands,” Kataria told ANI.

Asserting that any action on personal level is not right, he added, “A probe will be initiated in the matter.’

However, defending their action, Karni Sena chief Lokendra Singh Kalvi said that they will not let the ‘history of their ancestors be tarnished and they would defend their Rajput lineage from ignominy’.

“Even when Jodha Akbar was being made I had raised objections as one cannot insult our blood spattered history,” Kalvi said.

Meanwhile, the film industry has come together to condemn the attack on Bhansali.

Bhansali, was shooting for his new film Padmavati in Jaipur’s Jaigarh Fort, when he was assaulted by members of the Karni Sena, who also vandalised the set. — Agencies

11:02  Actor John Hurt dies at 77:  Actor John Hurt, the gravelly voiced British actor who garnered Oscar nominations for his roles in Midnight Express and The Elephant Man, has died at the age of 77, publicist Charles McDonald said on Friday, offering no other details, the CNN reported.

Known for playing tormented characters, Hurt memorably died on screen in the 1979 space adventure Alien when a creature exploded from his chest during lunch in the spacecraft mess hall.

CNN’s The Screening Room in 2007 ranked it among its Top 10 favorite movie deaths.

10:30  ‘High danger’ avalanche warning issued in Kashmir:  Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have issued a high danger avalanche warning for the hilly areas of the Valley for the next 24 hours.

An official spokesman said the warning has been issued for avalanche-prone slopes of Kupwara, Bandipora, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Kulgam and Budgam and Kargil district of Kashmir division.

Deputy commissioners of Kashmir division, including Leh and Kargil, have been asked to take precautionary measures in their districts and advised people not to venture in avalanche-prone areas.

On January 25, 15 soldiers lost their lives in two separate avalanches in Gurez and Sonmarg. — ANI

Image for representation only.

09:37  Sensex completes steepest weekly advance in 8 months:  Ameya Karve/Business Standard reports

The Sensex completed its steepest weekly advance in eight months on Friday as overseas investors boosted purchases of local shares.

Lenders and power companies paced the rally.

ICICI Bank and NTPC rose at least 3.6 per cent, pacing gains in the benchmark gauge.

The Sensex rose 0.6 per cent on Friday, taking its weekly advance to 3.4 per cent, the most since May 2016.

“The return of foreign flows is cheering the markets as local funds, which supported the stocks when overseas investors sold, continue to buy,” said Hemen Kapadia, senior vice-president for institutional equities at K R Choksey Shares & Securities Pvt.

This trend will continue for ‘some time’, he said.

Overseas investors bought $101 million (Rs 687 crore) of local shares in the five days through January 20, the first purchase for the period in six weeks.

They pulled out nearly $4 billion (Rs 26,800 crore) in the last two months amid a selloff in emerging markets after the US presidential election and concern that India’s decision to scrap 86 per cent of its currency bills would slow economic growth.

Local funds purchased nearly Rs 23,000 crore ($3.4 billion) of stocks in the last two months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Sensex has held its 200 day moving average after breaking above the level on January 10.

The gauge rallied more than 13 per cent in four months the last time it broke and held above its 200 day mean in May 2016. 

09:26  Haryana braces for fresh Jat stir; Sec 144 imposed in Rohtak:  The district administration has imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in parts of Rohtak district as a precautionary measure in view of the call given by a section of Jats for a fresh round of quota agitation from January 29.

The assembly of five or more people in about 500 metres from national and state highways, along with railway stations in the city has been banned, an official said.

The Haryana government has sought 55 companies of paramilitary forces from the Centre besides deployment of 7,000 Home Guards in the state which saw 30 deaths and widespread vandalism during a similar stir last year.

Rohtak and some of its neighbouring districts, including Sonipat and Jhajjar, had been worst-hit by the violence.

The agitation had also affected Delhi as the protesters cut water supply to the national capital.

The call for fresh stir has been given by some Jat outfits, especially those owing allegiance to the All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti, headed by Yashpal Malik. — PTI

Image for representation only.

08:57  CBEC chief expresses concerns over GST to Jaitley:  Indivjal Dhasmana/Business Standard and PTI report:

Central Board of Excise and Customs Chairman Najib Shah on Friday raised concerns over the proposed goods and services tax on behalf of excise and service tax officials on the same dais where Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was present.

There is a lingering fear among tax officials that their work will be reduced because of the division of the administrative turf proposed in the GST regime.

The occasion was Customs Day, but officials were not pleased with the way the Centre bowed down to the states over division of administrative control between the Union and state governments.

Shah drew Jaitley’s attention to ‘the rising disquiet in the cadre’, saying there were human resource issues in the service.

Jaitley tried to pacify Shah, saying any such disquiet would come down as GST will create ample opportunities.

“Therefore, even though you have two parallel machineries which could now be converging into similar kind of activities and shared responsibility, I think the future will stand witness to the fact that there will be adequate amount of opportunities to be created and therefore the kind of disquiet in service, the kind of personal pressure I see on you should reduce as there is no real occasion for a fear of this kind or a sense of insecurity for anyone in this service,” Jaitley told Shah.

The finance minister said change and evolution are an integral part of any economic order, and they are never held back because the nature of responsibility was going to change.

“This is an ongoing process; it will continue and we will all have to adjust ourselves with this particular change. I can only assure you that there is no reason for disquiet, you can go and have a comfortable sleep tonight,” he told the revenue officials.

08:25  Trump signs orders to keep ‘Islamic terrorists out of US’:  President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an executive order which establishes new vetting measures to limit the flow of refugees and ‘keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States’.

“I’m establishing new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America. We don’t want them here,” Trump said after he signed the executive order in his first visit to the Pentagon, a week after he was sworn in as the President.

“We want to ensure that we are not admitting into our country the very threats our soldiers are fighting overseas. We only want to admit those into our country who will support our country and love deeply our people,” Trump said.

“We will never forget the lessons of 9/11, nor the heroes who lost at the Pentagon. They were the best of us. We will honour them not only with our words, but with our actions, and that’s what we’re doing today,” said Trump flanked with the new Defence Secretary Gen James Mattis (retd) and Vice President Mike Pence.

The executive order ‘Protection of The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States’ notes that the steps taken by the US in the aftermath of 9/11 has not been able to deter terrorists from entering the country.

‘Numerous foreign-born individuals have been convicted or implicated in terrorism-related crimes since September 11, 2001, including foreign nationals who entered the US after receiving visitor, student, or employment visas, or who entered through the US refugee resettlement program,’ it said.

00:03  US, Mexico agree not to speak publicly for now on border wall payment:  After having a chat for over an hour on the phone, US President Donald Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto have decided that neither parties will speak publicly for now about the payment of the wall proposed to be built by the Trump administration.