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LIVE! Interfaith couple get passport, officer transferred


11:44  Separatist-sponsored strike hits normal life in Kashmir:  Normal life was affected in the Kashmir Valley today due to a strike called by separatists against the killing of journalist Shujaat Bukhari. Most shops, fuel stations and other business establishments in Srinagar were shut, a police official said. He said public transport was minimal in the city, but private cars, cabs and auto-rickshaws were seen plying.

The official said similar reports were received from other district headquarters of the valley. The separatists, under the banner of Joint Resistance Leadership, on Tuesday called for a strike for today against the killing of Bukhari and also civilians allegedly in security forces firing.

The spokesman said the JRL demands an international probe into Bukhari’s gruesome murder. Bukhari was shot dead, along with his two personal guards, outside his office in Press Enclave here on 14 June by unknown gunmen. Authorities have suspended train services in Kashmir as a precautionary measure, the police official said. — PTI

11:31  Interfaith couple get passport, officer transferred :  The interfaith couple who was harassed by a passport in officer in Lucknow and told to change their religion to Hinduism and take ‘pheras’ have been issued a passport.

The Regional Passport Officer, Lucknow, told ANI, “Their passports have been issued. A show cause notice has been issued to the official who was at fault, action will also be taken. We regret the incident and will ensure it is not repeated.

Reports say that the passport officer has been transferred.

The woman, Tanvi Seth, alleged she was harassed by an officer at Lucknow Passport Office as she was married to a Muslim and had not changed her name. She tweeted to Sushma Swaraj seeking help, and said, “It was a humiliating experience, the officer was very loud & made attacking hand gestures.”

The woman, who is a Hindu, said, ‘We hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else. In 11 years of marriage we never faced this. Later officials apologized & we got our passports.”

In a series of tweets directed at External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Seth, who married Mohammad Anas Siddiqui, 2007, described how she and her husband were allegedly shamed by a passport officer named Vikas Mishra.

On the day of their appointment, the couple cleared the first two stages of the interview at counters A and B, but the problem started at counter C where one has to interact with an official.

Read their ordeal here.

Image: Tanvi Seth holds up the passport. The passport officer told her husband, Mohammad Anas Siddiqui, told to convert to Hinduism.

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11:10  And another picture tweeted by @IndiaHistorypic of Marilyn Monroe learning Yoga from Indra Devi in the 1950s. Indra Devi (Eugenie Peterson) born in Russia is known as the ‘First Lady of Yoga’. She is believed to have spread Yoga in the West.

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11:08  Hello, world!:  
A 1950s picture of Marilyn Monroe doing the shirshasana. The picture was tweeted by @IndiaHistorypic.

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10:59  International Yoga Day celebrated in Kolkata with the backdrop of the imposing Victoria Memorial. 

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10:48  Yoga biggest mass movement across the globe: PM :  The PM has said that yoga has become the biggest mass movement across the globe in the quest for good health and wellbeing, which is crucial to the creation of a peaceful world.

The PM was performing Yoga with over 50,000 enthusiasts at the Forest Research Institute campus in Dehradun. He said the ancient Indian discipline has emerged as the most powerful unifying force in a strife-torn world.

“Dehradun to Dublin, Shanghai to Chicago, Jakarta to Johannesburg, Himalayan highlands or sunburnt deserts, Yoga is enriching millions of lives all over the world.

“Yoga fosters amity in societies which can form the basis of national unity,” the prime minister said. He said the proposal for the Yoga Day at the UN was accepted in record time with a majority of nations supporting it. Today people all over the world have come to look upon yoga as something which belongs to them,” Modi said. 

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10:15  Union minister Piyush Goyal follows his leader. Goyal tweeted this image and said, “On this #InternationalYogaDay2018, let us all take a pledge to practice Yoga everyday to achieve a better physical, mental and spiritual health. Sharing few pictures from a Yoga programme attended in Noida today.”

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10:08  Yoga Day: Union minister Irani, CM Khattar perform asanas:  International Yoga Day was observed across Haryana and Punjab today, with Union minister Smriti Irani and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar participating in programmes in Chandigarh and Jhajjar.

In the joint capital of the two states, Chandigarh, Punjab Governor and the Union Territory’s administrator V P Singh Badnore was the chief guest at a Yoga event in Sector 17.

Union Textile Minister Irani performed asanas along with around 4,000 enthusiasts at the event. Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher and Chandigarh unit BJP chief Sanjay Tandon were also present. In Haryana, Khattar and agriculture minister O P Dhankar rolled out their Yoga mats along with several other people, including children, at a state-level event in Jhajjar.

To mark the day, a seminar on Yoga was also organised at the Nehru Government Postgraduate College at Bahadurgarh Road, officials said. In Punjab, a state-level event was held at a sports complex in Mohali.

The day was picked by the United Nations to celebrate the ancient Indian practice and people across the country today marked the fourth International Day for Yoga. — PTI

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10:07  The east reclaims yoga as its own:  In Assam, saints at Guwahati’s Kamakhya temple perform yoga, the ancient Indian discipline that gained relevance only after it was practiced in the West.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today performed Yoga with over 50,000 enthusiasts at the Forest Research Institute campus in Dehradun, saying the ancient Indian discipline has emerged as the most powerful unifying force in a strife-torn world.

Addressing the large gathering in the backdrop of the iconic British-era building of FRI, Modi said yoga has shown the world the way from “illness to wellness” and enriching lives across the globe. He said in fact yoga has become the biggest mass movement across the globe in the quest for good health and well-being, which is crucial to the creation of a peaceful world.

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09:54  Disappointed, but not surprised: Chidambaram on Arvind Subramanian:  

After Arvind Subramanian stepped down as the Chief Economic Advisor, Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said he was disappointed, but not surprised.

“I am disappointed, but not surprised, that Dr Arvind Subramanian has decided to leave the government before the end of his term. Dr Arvind Subramanian was either not consulted or his views were brushed aside on many important issues. It is no longer a secret that the CEA was not consulted before demonetisation,” he tweeted.

Chidambaram further claimed that Subramanian’s views on Goods and Services Tax rates and Revenue Neutral Rate were “brushed aside.”

The senior Congress leader said he was hopeful of Subramanian returning to serve “under a future government.

“I am sure that with age on his side, Dr Arvind Subramanian will return to serve under a future government. I thank Dr Arvind Subramanian for describing the UPA years of 2005-2010 as the “boom period” of the Indian economy,” Chidambaram said in another tweet.

— ANI

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09:54   BJP MP, MLA offer Rs 21L bounty to kill terrorists responsible for Aurangzeb’s death:  

An MP and an MLA of the BJP today said they would give Rs 21 lakh to any person who kills the terrorists responsible for shooting dead army jawan Aurangzeb, who was abducted and later killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

 

BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh tweeted a screenshot of a message from him and Delhi MLA Manjinder S Sirsa which said they would give Rs 21 lakh to the person who kills the militants responsible for killing Aurangzeb.

The tweet was written in Hindi and was signed jointly by them. 

The rifleman, who was ‘buddy’ of a company commander, was abducted by terrorists at Kalampora in Pulwama last week when he was on his way home in Rajouri district for Eid celebrations. He was later shot dead by the militants.

Aurangzeb belonged to 4 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry and was posted at the 44 Rashtriya Rifles camp at Shadimarg in Shopian.

The killing of Aurangzeb had angered Indians and every Indian wants to eradicate the cancer of terrorism, Singh said in the same message.

— PTI

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09:04  Modi indeed married me, he is Ram for me: Jashodaben:  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s estranged wife Jashodaben expressed her shock over Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel’s statement in a leading Gujarati daily that Modi was unmarried.

“I am surprised over Anandiben telling the press that Narendra bhai was not married (to her). He has himself mentioned in his declaration while filing papers for Lok Sabha elections in 2004 that he is married and mentioned my name in it,” Jashodaben read out a statement in a video shot from her brother Ashok Modi’s mobile phone.

Jashodaben added: “It is very unbecoming of a well educated woman (Anandiben, former chief minister of Gujarat) to speak like this of a teacher (Jashodaben). Not only this, her conduct has tarnished the image of the prime minister of India. He is very respectable for me, he is Ram for me,” she added.

“We didn’t believe this when Anandiben’s statement came on social media… But this appeared on the front page of a leading paper on June 19. Now this could not be wrong.

“This is why we decided to issue a rejoinder. We together recorded a written statement that Jashodaben read out from our home cell phone,” Jashoda’s brother Ashok added. 

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08:41  Trump will meet Queen when he visits UK next month:  

US President Donald Trump will meet Queen Elizabeth II during his first official UK visit next month.

Originally, Trump was invited for a full state visit but after an outcry, it was downgraded to a working visit.

Trump faced criticism after it was reported that he had questioned planned changes to immigration rules and asking colleagues why the US had to welcome arrivals from “shithole countries”.

The US ambassador to the UK has told Sky News that a meeting with the Queen had been scheduled in.

Trump will be visiting Britain for the first time since becoming president on July 13.

Ambassador Robert Wood Johnson was asked whether the president’s itinerary would include seeing the Queen.

“Yes, yes, I mean he has to see the head of state. Putting his foot on British soil, it’s job one, it’s very important, very symbolic,” he replied.

“Meeting Her Majesty is the most important thing, because she’s the head of state, and from then on, it’ll be what the President wants to do,” Johnson said.

Speculation has been growing that Trump’s visit would include meeting the Queen after it emerged Windsor Castle could be closed to the public on the day of his visit.

However, Buckingham Palace have yet to confirm whether it is true.

— PTI

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08:23  Yoga at 15,000 feet!:  Instructors of Paratroopers Training School of the India Air Force practising Yoga in the blue sky. 

Photograph: @IAF_MCC/Twitter


08:20  Bank Of Maharashtra chairman arrested in Rs 3,000 crore fake loans case:  

In a sudden development, the Economic Offences Wing arrested Ravindra P Marathe, the Chairman and Managing Director of Bank of Maharashtra, in a case of Rs 3,000 crore fraudulent loans extended to Pune’s DSK Group, an official said. The EOW has also arrested the bank’s Executive Director Rajendra K Gupta, Zonal Manager Nityanand Deshpande from Ahmedabad and former CMD Sushil Muhnot from Jaipur.

The 83-year-old Pune-headquartered Bank of Maharashtra is ranked among the major public sector banks in India.

Two officials of the DS Kulkarni Group, chartered accountant Sunil Ghatpande and VP Engineering Rajiv Newaskar, have also been arrested in the same case, the police said.

Marathe has been arrested for allegedly misusing his powers to sanction huge amounts of loans to shell companies.

According to the investigators, the bank executive and officials colluded with the DSK Group “with dishonest and fraudulent intentions to sanction and disburse the amount of the bank” under the garb of loans and the money was later siphoned off.

All the arrested accused have been charged under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and other laws pertaining to cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy and breach of trust.

The Pune-based mega group’s owners D.S. Kulkarni and his wife Hemanti were arrested in February on charges of cheating over 4,000 investors of over Rs 1,150 crore and diverting bank loans of nearly Rs 2,900 crore.

As a follow-up in the case, last month, the Maharashtra government had ordered attachment of more than 120 properties, 275 bank accounts and four dozen vehicles belonging to the owners and the company invoking the provisions of Maharashtra Protection of Interests of Depositors Act, 1999.

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07:53  Renowned Sudarsan Pattnaik’s celebrates International Yoga Day with a lovely sand art piece. 

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07:35  Instead of dividing, Yoga unites, says PM Modi:  

PM Modi is leading an estimated 50, 000 volunteers to mark the fourth anniversary of International Yoga Day. 

The event in Dehradun is being held at the Forest Research Institute, which has been spruced up and security across Dehradun tightened. 

In a message ahead of the Yoga Day celebrations, PM Modi wrote on Twitter, “Yoga is beautiful because it is ancient yet modern, it is constant yet evolving. 

It has the best of our past and presents and a ray of hope for our future. 

In Yoga, we have the perfect solution to the problems we face, either as individuals or in our society. 

Praising the ancient art, the PM further wrote, “The way to lead a calm, creative & content life is Yoga. It can show the way in defeating tensions and mindless anxiety. Instead of dividing, Yoga unites. Instead of further animosity, Yoga assimilates. Instead of increasing suffering, Yoga heals.”

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00:20  Kejriwal faces health issues; may join naturopathy course:  Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to fly to Bengaluru today to join a 10-day naturopathy course, officials said.

According to officials at the CM office, Kejriwal has not been keeping well after ending the nine-day-long sit-in at Lt Governor’s office.

During the protest, his blood sugar levels had increased and even insulin injections were not working on him.

“He is likely to leave for Bengaluru tomorrow to join a 10-day naturopathy course to control his sugar levels,” the officials said on Wednesday.

The chief minister had attended the naturopathy treatment in Bengaluru in the past for chronic cough problem.

He was due to attend the course there last month itself, the officials said. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the sugar levels were ‘troubling’ Kejriwal and he had a prior programme to join the naturopathy course.

However, Kejriwal’s visit to Bengaluru will delay his meeting with IAS officers.   — PTI

Source: Rediff