17:32 Triple Talaq bill not against any religion: Naqvi: Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday defended penal provision in the triple talaq bill saying it is important to instil fear in the minds of those still practising it and rejected suggestions that it was against any religion.
Intervening in the debate on the bill in the Lok Sabha, the Minority Affairs Minister said acts like murder are against the law but people still commit such crime and hence there is provision for punishment.
This is not to victimise anyone but to provide safety and protection to Muslim women, he said, adding, Muslim Personal Law Board and Ulemas are also against triple talaq.
Terming triple talaq as a social evil, he said, the time has come to abolish it. Many Islamic nations have already made it illegal, he said citing example of countries like Pakistan that made it illegal in 1956 and Syria in 1953. Pointing out that the country runs on Constitution not by Shariat, he said the religious sentiment was also raised at the time when the practice of Sati and Child marriage were abolished. Since most of the concerns of political parties have already been incorporated in the bill, there is no need for sending it to Joint Select Committee, he said.
The Congress had this opportunity in 1986 but the then government did not take the bold step and rather indulged in appeasement politics, the minister said. Mallikarjuna Kharge (Cong) interrupted him saying there is no such thing in Hindu and Christianity then why there should be discrimination against Muslim men.
To this, Naqvi replied that there is no such thing called triple talaq being practiced in those religions. BJD leader Bhartruhari Mehtab asked the minister to explain the due process of law. To this Naqvi said that the Law Minister will give reply on this. — PTI
16:48 Stand by sentiments expressed by my party president: Anupriya Patel: Reflecting ‘frictions’ with the BJP, Apna Dal(S) leader and Union minister Anupriya Patel Thursday said she stood by the remarks of her husband and party president Ashish Patel, who had voiced frustration with the saffron party over its “treatment” of smaller NDA allies.
Ashish had recently alleged at a press conference in Mirzapur that smaller parties were feeling “ignored” by the bigger NDA partner — the BJP.
“My party’s president has already expressed the sentiments of the party. I stand by it,” Anupriya said outside the Parliament. Her husband had earlier said that the BJP should learn from the recent losses (in assembly elections).
The SP-BSP alliance is a challenge for the NDA, whose allies in Uttar Pradesh are upset. The leadership at the Centre must do something, else the NDA would suffer in UP, Ashish had told reporters. BJP leader and Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey, however, sought to downplay the husband-wife duo’s comments.
He said there was no “anger” or “ill will”, adding there may have been some misunderstanding whose solution will be arrived at. “Koi narazgi nahi hai. Hum roz milte hai. Anupriya ji bohot intelligent hai, jankar hai. Is kam umra me unhone bohot achi cheez hasil ki hai. Unki pratibha ka samman BJP ne kiya hai. Kahi koi narazgi nahi hai. Thodi bohot apas me misunderstanding kabhi kabhi, UP sarkar me halki phulki hui, samadhan bhi ho jata hai,” Choubey said.
The remarks can be loosely translated as “There is no ill will. We meet everyday. Anupriya Ji is very intelligent and knowledgable. She has achieved a lot. The BJP has respected her talents. There may have been some misunderstanding, but solutions also come about”. Anupriya had on Wednesday given a miss to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s programme in Deoria district of the state.
The Union Minister of State for Health was also not present at a function attended by the chief minister in Siddharthnagar on Tuesday, the same day when Ashish hit out at the BJP. Ashish Patel’s outburst came days after Rashtriya Lok Samta Party Chief Upendra Kushwaha walked out of the NDA. He was upset with the BJP after it asserted that the RLSP would not be given more than two seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. –PTI
16:33 Will Trump serve his full term?: Carl Bildt, Co-Chair European Council on Foreign Relations, tweets: “The US President is now in open conflict with the US Congress, the US Federal Reserve, the US Secretary of Defense, China, the EU, the World Trade Organisation and a couple of others. Otherwise it’s OK.”
16:18 100-day action plan for Rajasthan soon: Sachin Pilot: Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot on Thursday said the state government will work in a collective leadership and a 100-day action plan will soon be rolled out. Pilot, who took charge of his office at secretariat here on Thursday after allocation of portfolios, said the decision of portfolio allocation was taken after discussion with Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The allocation of portfolios were done late Wednesday night after Chief Minister Gehlot and Pilot held meetings with Gandhi in New Delhi that day.
“People gave the mandate and now the government will deliver. We will work in a collective leadership. Ours is a balanced cabinet with new, young and experienced members,” the deputy chief minister said.
Pilot, who has been given the charge of public works, rural development, panchayati raj, science and technology and statistics departments, arrived in Jaipur from New Delhi in the morning and took charge of his office in the secretariat. Portfolios were allocated two days after 13 cabinet and 10 ministers of state took oath on Monday. — PTI
16:02 Will pick up phone and tell Naseer if I have anything to say: Kher : Asserting that disagreements happen as you go through life, actor Anupam Kher on Thursday said he will not engage with his senior and co-star Naseeruddin Shah through the media because they can always reach out to each other and “hug it out”.
Kher and Shah, who have known each other since their student days in Delhi’s National School of Drama, have often sparred over their ideological differences. The most recent instance was when Shah said in a video interview that a cow’s death was being given more importance than that of a cop. His comments, including on religious violence, came in the aftermath of the lynching of a police office and a man in Bulandshahr.
“There is freedom to say anything in the country so much so that you can abuse even the Army… How much more freedom do you want?” Kher had said when asked to respond.
On Thursday, Kher was more circumspect and said Shah was a senior and “respectable actor”. Talking to reporters at the trailer launch of his upcoming film “The Accidental Prime Minister”, he said, “He is my senior. It is his interpretation and he has the right. I love him.”
Kher also recalled an incident during the struggle days when he bought his first car and was noticed by Shah, his senior in NSD. “For me, that moment is more important. As life goes by, you can disagree with one another’s ideas. He is a respectable actor and my senior. If I have to say anything, I will pick up the phone or go to his house and say, “Let’s fight or hug it out’. I don’t want to say anything through press,” the actor said. — PTI
15:48 Real purpose of talaq bill is to penalise Muslim men: Cong MP: Opposing the Triple talaq bill in its current form, Congress MP Sushmita Dev Thursday said in the Lok Sabha that the real purpose of the bill was not to empower Muslim women but to “penalise” Muslim men.
Demanding that the bill be referred to the joint select committee of Parliament, Dev said criminalisation of triple talaq goes against the Supreme Court verdict.
“In the name of empowerment you (the government) has given nothing but a criminal case to women…the aim of the bill is not to empower Muslim women but to penalise Muslim men,” she said.
The fresh Bill to make the practice of triple talaq among Muslims a penal offence was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 17 to replace an ordinance issued in September. Under the proposed law, giving instant triple talaq will be illegal and void, and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband. The fresh bill will supersede an earlier bill passed in the Lok Sabha and pending in the Rajya Sabha. The earlier bill was approved by the Lower House. — PTI
Image: Sushmita Dev with Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia.
15:14 Oppn demands talaq bill be referred to joint select committee: A united opposition in the Lok Sabha Thursday pitched for referring the instant triple talaq bill to a ‘joint select committee’ of Parliament, claiming its provisions were unconstitutional and that there was a need for a greater scrutiny of the draft law.
As soon as the House met at 2 pm after an adjournment to take up the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said that it be referred to a joint select committee of the two Houses for greater scrutiny. He said several provisions of the bill were “unconstitutional”.
AIADMK leader P Venugopal, TMC’s Sudip Bandhopadhyay, AIMIM’s Assaduddin Owaisi and Supriya Sule (NCP) also made similar demands.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said a similar bill was discussed and passed by the Lok Sabha. Therefore, members can flag issues during the debate. She said all of a sudden a demand cannot be made to send it to a committee. Moving his statutory resolution opposing an ordinance issued earlier (which the bill seeks to replace), N K Premchandran (Revolutionary Socialist Party) said the bill is bad in law as it seeks to criminalise a “civil wrong” and hence it should be referred to a select committee. Four hours have been allocated to discuss the bill.
15:03 ISIS module case: NIA produces 10 arrested persons before Delhi court: NIA on Thursday produced before a Delhi court 10 people arrested on suspicion of being members of an ISIS-inspired group who were planning suicide attacks and serial blasts, targeting politicians as also government installations, in Delhi and other parts of north India. They were produced before the court amidst tight security and with covered faces before Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Pandey who ordered in-camera proceedings in the case. NIA sought 15-day custodial interrogation of the 10 accused who were arrested from various parts of the national capital and Uttar Pradesh. — PTI
14:36 1984 riots case: Sajjan Kumar likely to surrender before court on Dec 31: Former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar is likely to surrender before a court here on December 31 to serve the life imprisonment awarded to him by the Delhi High Court in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.
“We will comply with the high court’s judgment,” his counsel Anil Kumar Sharma told PTI. The counsel said Kumar’s appeal in the Supreme Court challenging the high court verdict is not likely to be taken up for hearing before December 31.
The 73-year-old former Congress leader was sentenced to life for the “remainder of his natural life” by the Delhi High Court on December 17 in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. The case relates to killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar part-I area in Palam Colony in South West Delhi on November 1-2, 1984 and burning down of a Gurudwara in Raj Nagar part II.
Riots had broken out after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 by her two Sikh bodyguards. The high court had on December 21 rejected Kumar’s plea seeking extension till January 30 to surrender. — PTI
14:33 ESIC hospital to pay full compensation to 2 fire victims’ kin: The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation hospital in Mumbai has now decided to pay a full Rs 10 lakh compensation to the kin of two victims of last week’s fire. Both these victims had died after the December 17 fire at ESIC Hospital in suburban Andheri.
The parents of an infant girl who died four days after the blaze had alleged that they were paid less compensation. Sanjay Kumar Sinha, additional commissioner, ESIC, said Thursday that the balance amount would be paid by Friday. Anil and Lalita Logavi, the girl’s parents, alleged that the authorities reduced the compensation amount from Rs 10 lakh payable to the deceased’s family to Rs 2 lakh because “the premature baby was anyway going to die naturally”.
Hospital authorities, however, rejected this claim and said the compensation was being disbursed on the basis of reports of the tehsildar (revenue officer). — PTI
14:06 Six-month extension to complete update of NRC by June 30: The Centre has given an extension of six months to complete the ongoing exercise for updating the National Register of Citizens in Assam by June 30. In a notification, the Registrar General of India said the decision has been taken as the exercise to enumerate citizens in the NRC, a list of Assam’s residents, could not be completed within the specified date of December 31, 2018.
“The central government has considered it necessary and expedient in the public interest to complete the said enumeration in connection with the updation of the National Register of Citizens, 1951, by the 30th day of June, 2019,” the notification, issued by Registrar General of India, Sailesh, said.
On December 6, 2013, the government had issued the first notification setting a deadline of three years for completion of the entire NRC process. However, since then, five extensions were given by the government in regular intervals as the exercise has not yet been completed. “Now, therefore, pursuant to the provisions of sub-rule (3) of rule 4A of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003 and in supersession of the notification number S.O.3715(E), dated the 30th July, 2018, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession, the Registrar General of Citizen Registration, hereby, notifies that the enumeration in connection with the updation of the National Register of Citizens, 1951, in respect of the State of Assam shall be completed within the period ending on the 30th day of June, 2019,” the notification said.
The draft NRC was published on July 30 and included the names of 2.9 crore people out of the total 3.29 crore applications. There has been a huge controversy over the exclusion of 40 lakh people from the draft NRC.
The current process of claims and objections to the draft NRC will come to an end on December 31 and after that the final list is expected to be published. — PTI
13:58 On BJP’s 1st birthday in Himachal, PM says, this is home : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said Himachal Pradesh was like his home and he had learnt a lot while travelling through the state. Addressing a ‘jan abhaar’ rally to celebrate one year of the Jai Ram Thakur-led BJP government in Himachal Pradesh, Modi said he felt great happiness seeing those he worked with become front line leaders.
He described Himachal Pradesh as the land of brave soldiers who were ever ready to make supreme sacrifices at the border. Congratulating Thakur on completing one year as chief minister, Modi said, “Himachal Pradesh is like my home. I worked here for several years for the party’s organisational work.” PTI
13:35 Two Navy personnel die as hangar collapses in Kochi Naval base: Two Navy personnel were killed on Thursday when an aircraft hangar collapsed at the Naval base in Kochi, a defence spokesperson said. Further details are awaited, he said. “Two Navy personnel died of casualties caused due to an aircraft hangar collapse,” the spokesperson told PTI
13:33 K’taka CM meets Jaitley, seeks extension of GST compensation period: Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley here on Thursday and sought extension of the GST compensation period till 2025, contending that the state’s revenue deficit has widened to 20 per cent post-GST regime.
At present, the states are entitled to get compensation for the first five years since the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2017, that is till 2022.
At the meeting held in the Parliament complex, Kumaraswamy informed Jaitley that the revenue deficit of the state against protected revenue may continue even after 2022 which is expected to affect fund allocation for various welfare schemes and infrastructure projects, an official statement said. — PTI
13:09 Brrrr, it’s a long, cold winter in Kashmir. : That’s the Dal Lake, up close and personal, with a sheet of ice as the mercury settled a degree down on Wednesday night from the previous night’s minus 6.7 degrees Celsius. The fringes of the lake have frozen.
Leh town in Ladakh region, which had recorded the lowest temperature this winter on the previous night at minus 17.1 degrees Celsius, witnessed a increase of nearly nine degrees last night to settle at minus 8.4 degrees Celsius, officials said. Kargil recorded a low of minus 16.2 degrees Celsius — nearly two degrees down from minus 14.4 degrees Celsius the previous night.
Pic: Umar Ganie.
13:02 Pipe dream?:
Water supply to many residential areas of Srinagar and other towns in the Valley too has frozen. Kashmir is currently under the grip of ‘Chillai-Kalan’ — the 40-day harshest period of winter when the chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum and the temperature drops considerably. ‘Chillai-Kalan’ ends on January 31, but the cold wave continues even after that in Kashmir.
Image: A man attempts to heat a water pipe to thaw the drinking water in Srinagar. Pic: Umar Ganie
12:59 It’s -7C in Kashmir! : Jammu and Kashmir’s summer capital experienced the coldest December night in nearly three decades with a low of minus 7.6 degrees Celsius, while the mercury in most parts of Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region stayed way below the freezing point resulting in frozen water bodies and water supply lines. On December 7, 1990, Srinagar had recorded a low of minus 8.8 degrees Celsius.
Image: A boatman breaks through the ice cover on Srinagar’s Dal Lake as the city freezes over. Pic: Umar Ganie
12:52 Lanka Navy personnel chase away over 3,000 TN fishermen : Over 3,000 Tamil Nadu fishermen were allegedly chased away by Sri Lankan Navy personnel when they were fishing near Katchatheevu islet, a fishermen association leader said here Thursday. The fishermen from this island town who put out to sea in over 500 mechanised boats were catching fish near Katchatheevu in the island nation’s waters last night when the Lankan navy men came in 20 boats and drove them away, Rameswaram Fishermen Association President P Sesuraja said. He also alleged the Lankan navy men snapped the fishing nets of 35 boats. The fishermen had to return to the shore without a catch, Sesuraja added. — PTI
12:48 Cancer breakthrough, finally?: Adelaide scientists have made a promising breakthrough in the fight against cancer, by reprogramming the body’s immune system to find and destroy solid tumours of different cell types. Clinical trials have shown the treatment was successful with blood cancers in particular, with more than 90 per cent of leukemia patients going into remission, reports the Daily Telegraph.
12:46 At least 35 students were admitted to hospital in a school bus accident near Lunj in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh.
11:57 Rafale, Cauvery, Bulandshahr disrupt Parliament after X’mas break: Lok Sabha proceedings were again disrupted on Thursday as vociferous protests and sloganeering over various issues forced Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to adjourn the House till noon.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day without transacting any business after ruckus in the House over issues ranging from construction of a dam on the Cauvery River to violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district.
In the LS, despite repeated warnings from Mahajan, Congress, AIADMK and TDP members continued to stand in the Well of the House and sought to raise various issues, including Rafale deal. Soon after the Question Hour began, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge wanted to raise the issue of Rafale deal but Mahajan said the matter can be raised during the Zero Hour.
Besides Congress members who were demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the deal, those from AIADMK protested against the construction of a dam across Cauvery River. TDP members sought to raise issues related to Andhra Pradesh.
11:49 No relief from cold as Delhi records minimum of 3.7 deg C: Cold wave conditions persisted in Delhi on Thursday with the minimum temperature settling at 3.7 degrees Celsius, three notches below the normal, a day after the national capital recorded its coldest December day since 2014. The relative humidity recorded in the morning was 97 per cent.
The city had registered a low of 3.6 degrees Celsius on Wednesday and in parts of Delhi the mercury had dipped to even 3.4 degrees Celsius.
A MeT department official Thursday said, “The minimum temperature was recorded at 3.7 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season’s average. The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 21 degrees Celsius.”
The weatherman has forecast fog on Friday morning and haze thereafter. Delhi has been reeling under intense cold wave conditions for the past few days. On December 23, the minimum temperature was recorded at 3.7 degrees Celsius. It is expected to dip to 3 degrees Celsius after December 28. On Wednesday, the maximum temperature was recorded at 21.3 degrees Celsius. — PTI
11:35 Indian-origin police officer shot and killed in California: A 33-year-old Indian-origin police officer in the US state of California has been killed after being shot by an “armed” unidentified gunman while he was conducting a traffic stop.
Corporal Ronil singh of the Newman Police Department was shot and killed during a traffic stop when he was “working overtime on Christmas night to provide the best for his family.”
“A few moments later he called out ‘shots fired’ over the radio,” the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement, which is leading the investigation. “Multiple agencies responded to assist, and Singh was found at the scene with gunshot wounds.”
He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, the department said. It said the suspect had fled the scene in his vehicle before the police arrived. The department is leading the investigation and have released surveillance photographs of the suspect and vehicle, asking for any information on the identity of the suspect.
The California Highway Patrol described him as Hispanic. “Suspect is considered armed and dangerous and may be in possession of a firearm,” the CHP said. Singh was a more than 7-year veteran of the Newman Police Department and was assigned as a canine officer.
Prior to joining the Newman Police Department, he served with the Merced County Sheriff’s Department. Corporal Singh is survived by his wife, Anamika, and 5-month son. — PTI
11:20 Lok Sabha to take up Bill to prohibit triple talaq today, RS adjourned : The Rajya Sabha has already been adjourned till tomorrow. In the Lok Sabha, ruckus over the Rafale issue.
The Lok Sabha is expected to take up The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018 on Thursday for consideration and passing.Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will move the Bill, which aims at “protecting the rights of married Muslim women and prohibiting divorce by pronouncing talaq by their husbands and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto, be taken into consideration.”
BJP on Tuesday issued a whip to its Lok Sabha members to be present in the House on December 27 when the Bill to ban instant triple talaq is taken up for discussion and is likely to be put to vote.
11:10 India’s quiet transformations in the time of Modi: One of the first public acts of the Narendra Modi government after the Bharatiya Janata Party lost the three assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan was to reduce the goods and services tax on a clutch of items.
The move was quietly welcomed in all circles including the Congress that said it had suggested it first but there was also a corresponding feeling that the move had come too late to shake off a growing impression that the Modi government was fast losing its momentum.
Indeed, if the buzz in Opposition circles is any indication, there is an emerging consensus that the BJP may not reach the majority mark in next summers general election. The speculation in Lutyens Delhi centres on whether the BJP by itself will cross the 200-seat tally. Of course, there is no corresponding agreement over what or who will replace Modi.
Read Swapan Dasgupta’s column here.
11:05 And that’s the shrine of Badrinath in Uttarkhand closed for the winter and covered in snow.
11:04 Rupee slips 19 paise against US dollar in early trade: The rupee weakened by 19 paise to 70.25 against the US dollar in early trade Thursday due to fresh buying of the American currency by importers and banks. A higher opening of domestic equity market, however, capped the loss, brokers said. — PTI
11:00 Fresh snowfall in Manali, Kalpa: Manali and Kalpa in Himachal Pradesh received fresh snowfall on Wednesday night, the Meteorological department said. Rain and snowfall is also predicted in isolated parts of the state between December 30 and January 3.
While Kalpa received 5 cm snowfall, Manali received 3 cm snowfall, Director of MeT Centre, Shimla, Manmohan Singh said Thursday. He said several parts of Himachal Pradesh, including tourist attractions Shimla, Manali, Dalhousie, Kufri and Narkanda, may receive snowfall around the New Year.
Snowfall is predicted in middle and higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh on December 30 and December 31 under the influence of a fresh western disturbance from December 29, he said. — PTI
Image: Snowfall in Auli, Uttarakhand.
10:56 Kirloskar offers help to rescue trapped Meghalaya miners :
It’s probably too late for the 15 miners trapped in a mine in Meghalaya, but Kirloskar Brothers Limited, which manufactures dewatering pumps has offered to help.
@KBLPumps tweeted, “We are deeply concerned about the trapped miners in Meghalaya and are ready to help in whichever way possible. We are in touch with the officials of the Govt. of Meghalaya to offer our assistance in this regard. We hope all miners are rescued safely.”
It was the Pune-based KBL Pumps that whose dewatering pumps were used to rescue the football team trapped inside a cave system in Thailand. The company had sent teams from its offices in Indian, Thailand and the United Kingdom to the site.
In Meghalaya, it has been a fortnight since the 15 miners have been trapped in a ‘rat hole mine’ but no headway has made been in the rescue operations at the collapsed coal mine due to the lack of proper equipment.
Located in in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district, rescue ops to the mine were temporarily halted due to the lack of proper equipment. Water from the Lytein river is said to have gushed into the mine on December 13, trapping the workers.
The National Disaster Response Force divers, who have been carrying out search operations, reported a “foul odour” from the mine. “That is not a good sign,” says Santosh Singh, NDRF Assistant Commandant, who is heading the rescue work, because it probably means the men are dead and the bodies decaying.
The mine is illegal because the technique used here is ‘rat-hole technique’, which was banned by the NGT in 2014. Nothing but three helmets of workers have been recovered in over 10 days of search operations by the NDRF and SRDF.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi had tweeted yesterday:
@RahulGandhi 15 miners have been struggling for air in a flooded coal mine for two weeks.
Meanwhile, PM struts about on Bogibeel Bridge posing for cameras.
His government refuses to organise high pressure pumps for the rescue.
PM please save the miners.
Image: Rescue ops at the mine in Meghalaya. Pic: Stringer/Reuters
10:26 One more joins the RSS network: This comes to you via Business Standard: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh provides ideological support to a host of outfits. FANS, or Forum for Awareness of National Security, is the latest to join this list. The official launch of FANS is scheduled for Thursday in New Delhi by RSS second-in -command Suresh ‘Bhaiyyaji’ Joshi and senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar. Union Ministers General V K Singh (retd), R K Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Rao Inderjit Singh will be present at the event.
FANS claims to be ‘deeply engaged in building national consensus on every aspect of national security through participation and dialogue of various stakeholders’. The day will also see Sparsh Ganga, an outfit run by former Uttarakhand chief minister and BJP leader Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ distribute awards for the Clean Ganga campaign.
Pokhriyal’s daughter Arushi Nishank is the convener of the outfit. Several Union ministers are slated to attend the event, including Nitin Gadkari, Harsh Vardhan, Thawar Chand Gehlot and Mahesh Sharma.
10:16 BJP MLA claims 15 Cong-JDS MLAs in touch with him: Senior Karnataka BJP MLA Umesh Katti Wednesday claimed he was in touch with 15 disgruntled legislators of ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition and his party would welcome them if they chose to join it.
The eight-time MLA further claimed BJP would form a new government in the state by next week, drawing a strong reaction from state Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao, who hit out at him for making “illusionary statements” to ‘confuse’ people.
The claim by Katti came in the midst of public display of anger by some ministerial aspirants from Congress who were left out in the recent cabinet expansion. Senior MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, upset after being dropped from the H D Kumaraswamy ministry, has threatened to resign and said he would announce his future course of action later this week.
Chief Minister Kumaraswamy and senior Congress leaders and ministers have asserted that no MLA would resign and there was no threat to the stability of the six-month old government. BJP state President B S Yeddyurappa separately said Wednesday that the party was not in touch with any disgruntled MLAs of Congress.
Speaking to reporters in Belagavi, Katti said: “Fifteen MLAs are in touch with me, I cannot divulge their names now, when time comes I will tell. However, ruling out ‘Operation Lotus’ (engineering defections), Katti said, “we will welcome those who are pained in Congress and JD(S) and want to join our party. If they come, we will induct them into our party and form the government, he said. Replying to a question, Katti said he would welcome if Ramesh Jarkiholi came to the BJP. — PTI
Image: HD Kumaraswamy takes oath as CM Karnataka in May.
09:53 Sensex rallies over 300 pts on positive global cues, Nifty reclaims 10,800: BSE benchmark Sensex rallied 391 points and NSE Nifty reclaimed the 10,800 level Thursday on positive cues from Wall Street as US stocks recovered from heavy losses after the White House assured that US President Trump had no intention of firing the Fed chairman.
The 30-share index was trading 322.71 points, or 0.91 per cent, higher at 35,972.65. The index had broken its three-day falling streak in the previous session Monday by ending 179.79 points, or 0.51 per cent, higher at 35,649.94. The broader Nifty too jumped 88.65 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 10,818.50 . The gains on Dalal Street were led by IT, metal, auto and financial stocks.
Top gainers include TCS, Reliance, Infosys, HDFC Bank, ITC, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, HUL and SBI, rising up to 2 per cent. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, PowerGrid, NTPC, Asian Paints and Hero MotoCorp were the top losers, falling up to 1 per cent. — PTI
09:52 No chicken or pork, Kumarikata village in Assam sells rat meat: A weekly rural market in Assam’s Baksa district exclusively sells rat meat as the finished rat, cooked as a spicy gravy dish or nicely browned, is considered a Sunday delicacy.
A traditional food item among some ethnic communities in the northeastern region, rat meat is sold at the same price as broiler chicken at Rs 200 per kg, the sellers said. Buyers throng the Sunday market at Kumarikata village, along the Indo-Bhutan border, about 90 km from Guwahati, to buy their favourite meat of freshly trapped rat. Rat is more popular than chicken and pork with the customers at the Sunday market.
A rat vendor said that the meat is mainly sourced from neighbouring Nalbari and Barpeta districts of Assam. Local farmers hunt the rats, weighing more than a kg each, at night during the harvesting season with traps made of bamboo, to prevent their fields from being damaged by the rodents that eat paddy and other crops.
The farmers claimed that the trapping of the rats was helping them to curb the growing menace of rodents in recent times. Explaining the method of trapping the rats, a seller said the rodents are hunted at night when they come out of their holes and walk straight into the traps placed by the farmers at the entrance of the rat-holes.
Rat meat is usually sold by the economically challenged people of the Adivasi community to augment their income earned from working in tea gardens, where plucking of tea leaves reduces during the winter season, the sellers said. — PTI
09:37 BJP whip makes Lok Sabha MPs miss out on holidays of Parliament session:
This comes to you via Business Standard: The Narendra Modi government has been a killjoy for members of Parliament, particularly those of the Lok Sabha.
The winter session of Parliament usually ends before Christmas. This year, the government agreed to keep December 24 and 26 as parliamentary holidays only after a request from MPs.
However, it has poured cold water on the plans of MPs who were considering an extended stay in their respective constituencies.
The BJP has issued a whip to all its members to be present in the House on Thursday when it plans to take up the politically sensitive Triple Talaq Bill for discussion in the Lok Sabha. The government had introduced the Bill in the Lower House on December 17.
09:23 Amid ally trouble, BJP says it is getting new ones ahead of 2019 polls:
The Bharatiya Janata Party has been facing discontent and desertion from its allies after the drubbing in the recently-concluded assembly elections in five states.
Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha recently parted ways with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and joined the mahagathbandhan or grand alliance in Bihar of the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal and other parties. Kushwaha quit the NDA on December 10, following differences with the BJP over seat sharing in the state for the Lok Sabha election to be held next year.
The BJP, however, has plans ahead of the general election.
We have completed seat-sharing arrangements with allies in Bihar only last week and we will certainly … Alliance politics is all about accommodation and adjustments. It is true smaller parties like RLSP in Bihar have left us, senior BJP leader Ram Madhav said.
But we are also getting new allies in south India and eastern India. It is something that happens before elections and it is nothing new, the partys general secretary said.
His comments have also come after the BJPs partners in the NDA Apna Dal (Sonelal) and the Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party stepped up the pressure on the party. Both parties have alleged that the BJP leadership wasnt giving due respect and due share to its allies.
Apna Dal in Uttar Pradesh has two MPs, one of whom is Anupriya Patel, who is union minister of state for health.
09:05 Mumbai’s Harbour line train services disrupted, commuters face inconvenience:
Train services on the Harbour line have been disrupted once again on Thursday due to a technical failure. The condition is said to have been caused by an overhead wire breakdown at Mansarovar station.
Due to this disruption, train services between Panvel and Belapur stations have been affected. The passengers from Panvel and Manasarovar stations have been informed about the incident.
Due to the disruption and delay at a rush hour, the crowd of at the railway stations has also increased. However, no information has been given about the time that the railway administration will take to correct this problem.
08:56 Why is Shiv Sena still in government, asks RSS-backed paper:
RSS-backed Marathi daily ‘Tarun Bharat’ came down heavily upon the Shiv Sena for using the slogan ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking why the Uddhav Thackeray-led party did not quit the coalition government if that was the case.
It said the Sena was criticising the BJP constantly despite being part of BJP-led coalitions in Maharashtra and the Centre.
By using the slogan “Chowkidar Chor Hai” (the country’s watchman is a thief), the editorial said, Thackeray was calling himself and his party ministers thieves.
“Why does not the Shiv Sena immediately leave the government if it feels that the watchman is a thief,” it asked.
“The Shiv Sena does not intend to give up power nor does it have the guts to do so. There is a huge difference between the Shiv Sena when Balasaheb Thackeray was around and the Sena of today,” the newspaper said.
Just as Congress chief Rahul Gandhi showed his inexperience by insulting the prime minister by using the word “chor”, Thackeray exposed his own inexperience by using the same slogan, it claimed.
The editorial also questioned why the Shiv Sena had suddenly taken up the Ram Mandir issue.
“It is because the Shiv Sena is scared of the 2019 elections… The Sena is not ready to accept that the younger brother (the BJP) has now become the elder brother (in the alliance),” it claimed.
It is the Sena’s illusion that it can come to power by pursuing the Ram temple issue, it said.
— PTI
08:32 NDRF indicates Meghalaya miners may be dead:
For a fortnight now, 15 miners have been trapped inside a coal mine at Ksan, in Saipung area of East Jaintia Hills district in Meghalaya. And for the first time, the National Disaster Response Force divers, who have been carrying out search operations, reported a foul odour.
“That is not a good sign, says Santosh Singh, NDRF Assistant Commandant, who is heading the rescue work.
While he declined to comment further, NDRF personnel discussed that the foul odour could indicate that the miners are dead and the bodies are beginning to decompose.
The workers were trapped in the rat-hole mine on December 13, after water from the nearby Lytein river gushed into it. While the water level in the mine has not receded, the rescue personnel have not attempted to pump out any water since Monday, as the two 25-HP pumps have proved ineffective.
The NDRF has asked the district administration for at least ten 100-HP pumps. The request has been forwarded to the state government, but no action has been taken so far. The NDRF has 70 personnel while the State Disaster Response Force has 22 at the spot.
In the last 14 days, only three helmets have been recovered. Rescue officials say they have not been able to find any clue on the status of the trapped miners, or spot their location in the over 300-feet pit and adjoining rat-hole sized tunnels.
Photograph courtesy: Meghalaya police
07:59 Portfolios allocated to ministers in Rajasthan; Gehlot keeps 9, Pilot 5:
Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh allocated portfolios to the council of ministers late on Wednesday night with the advice of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot who has kept nine departments including the key finance and home with him.
Gehlot also has excise, planning, department of personnel, general administration department, information technology among others.
Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot was allocated the portfolios of Public works, Rural development, Panchayti Raj, Science and Technology and statistics, according to the orders issued by cabinet secretariat here.
Apart from the chief minister and deputy chief minister, 13 cabinet and 10 ministers of state were allocated portfolios.
The cabinet expansion took place on Monday when 13 cabinet and 10 ministers of state took oath.
The move came after Gehlot and Pilot held meetings with Congress president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Wednesday. The all-important distribution of portfolios had been pending over reported disagreement between Gehlot and his deputy on the allocation of key portfolios such as home and finance.
BD Kalla has been given energy, public health engineering, ground water, art, culture and archeology departments, while Shanti Dhariwal received urban development and housing, law and parliamentary affairs minister.
Parsadi Lal was named industry minister whereas Master Bhanwar Lal Meghwal is the social justice and empowerment minister.
00:12 BLA commander Aslam Baloch killed in Kandahar bombings: Sources:
As many as six people including Baloch Liberation Army commander Aslam Baloch were killed in a suicide bombing attack that took place in Kandhar on Monday (December 24), sources have confirmed.
Tolo News quoted the Afghan Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Wednesday confirming that the suicide bomb explosion, which targeted a vehicle, took the lives of six civilians in Aino Mina Township in Kandahar city.
However, the Afghan ministry did not confirm reports on the murder of the Baloch leader.
“A number of civilians were killed as a result of the suicide attack in Aino Mina township. Six people were killed, and two others were wounded. It is said that a number of Baloch nationals were among those martyred,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish.
According to sources, the Baloch leader had been residing in Kandahar since 2005.
He was openly criticising Pakistan and the Chinese government for their policies and motives in Balochistan.
BLA has also carried out several attacks against Chinese workers engaged in the multi-million dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Balochistan.
Recently, the BLA claimed responsibility of carrying out suicide attacks on Chinese consulate in Pakistan’s Karachi city on November 23.
Commander Aslam Baloch said that BLA will continue the fight against Pakistan and China in Balochistan.
In an interview, Aslam Baloch also claimed that the growing Chinese presence in the region is posing a threat to their fight for sovereignty against Pakistan.
Baloch also blamed China for looting the resources in Balochistan in the name of mega projects by calling it CPEC.
“However, in the wake of these mega projects in Balochistan and Sindh region, both China and Pakistan are strengthening their military power. They are fooling the international community in the name of CPEC,” he had further stated. — ANI
Source: Rediff