18:13 Have decided not to ally with Sena in Mumbai, says Cong’s Sanjay Nirupam:
Amid speculations of Shiv Sena shaking hands with the Congress party in order to form a majority for the Brihanmumbai Municipality Corporations, Congress leader and Mumbai Regional Congress Committee chairman Sanjay Nirupam, on February 25, stated that they are not in favour to amalgamate with the Shiv Sena in BMC.
“Some Sena leaders approached ours; We categorically said we can’t ally with a communal party that does politics based on caste & religion,” said Sanjay Nirupam.
Earlier, the party’s senior leader Gurudas Kamat had issued a letter to the party saying that it should not align with the Sena as it would dent their credibility.
In his letter, Kamat had written, “We have fought against both saffron parties all along for their divisive policies and people will not spare us if we attempted to align with them.”
17:41 Now, SBI ATM in UP dispenses scanned Rs 2000 note:
After a Delhi SBI ATM dispensed a fake note saying it was from the Children Banks of India, an SBI ATM in Shahjahanpur in UP reportedly dispensed a scanned copy of a Rs 2000 note.
There was a mass protest after bank officials refused to acknowledge that the note was disbursed by the ATM.
Arvind Gupta, a jeweller who withdrew Rs 10,000 from the ATM got five Rs 2000 notes of which one, he claims, looked clearly fake.
He said: Of these, one note, with serial number 5 DN 029593, was clearly counterfeit. The paper was not the type on which currency notes are printed. On exiting the ATM and holding the note up to the light, I could clearly see that it was not genuine and appeared to have been scanned from a genuine note and then printed.
17:19 Don’t speak in mother tongue in public: Indians in US share dos and don’ts:
“Don’t talk to each other in Hindi or any other Indian language when you are at a public place in the US. It might land you in deep trouble.” This is one of the suggestions doing rounds among Indians in the US in their social media groups.
That sums up the fear psychosis among Indians, especially Telugus who are in large numbers in the US, after a Hyderabad-origin techie, Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed and his friend Alok Reddy Madasanni was injured in a shooting at a Kansas City bar on Wednesday.
Vikram Jangam, general secretary of the Telagnana American Telugu Association, has suggested a few dos and don’ts for community members and people of South Asian descent.
The tips he mentioned include:
Do not get into argument with others at public places
Should someone be provoking you, avoid confronting and please leave the place immediately.
As much as we love talking in our mother tongue, it can often be misconstrued. Please see if you can communicate in English in public places.
Isolated places can often be targets. Please avoid going or staying single.
In emergency situations, please do not hesitate to call 911. Officers can come and help in such situations.
The move comes in after Jaitley filed a defamation case against Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party leaders Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha and Deepak Bajpayee, alleging that they made “false and defamatory” statements in a case involving the Delhi and District Cricket Association, thereby harming his reputation.
Jaitley said the AAP leaders made the statements to deflect public attention from a Central Bureau of Investigation probe against a civil servant working with Kejriwal.
16:30 DMK objects to Jaya’s portraits, government schemes named after her:
The DMK today called for the removal of portraits of the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa
from government offices, saying she was convicted in an assets case.
DMK Working President M K Stalin also opposed the naming of government schemes after her and “the use of taxpayers’ money for her 69th birthday celebrations” yesterday.
“Jayalalithaa was convicted (in the Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case). Already there are some schemes in her name and the government should not allow new schemes to be named after her,” he told reporters.
Stalin also wanted the schemes named after her to be re-named.
He said the late chief minister’s portraits were found at the Secretariat, the ministers’ rooms and local body offices and called for their removal.
“If this situation remains, the need for us to approach the court will certainly come up. Not just (some) elected representatives but people also are opposing this and it could lead to a law and order problem,” he said.
Stalin said he took up these matters with Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan who assured that he’ll look into them, he said.
16:03 After Ramjas College violence, ABVP, SFI activists clash in Pune University:
The Ramjas bug has hit Pune University campus as the activists of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad clashed with those of the Students Federation of India at Savitribai Phule Pune University.
The clashes erupted after some SFI activists put up posters on the Delhi University’s Ramjas College controversy.
Five students are said to have received minor injuries in the clashes between the two groups.
15:34 Censor Board will not succumb to social media pressure: Nihalani :
under fire for refusing to certify ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha, Central Board of Film Certification chairperson has come out with a response that the censor board will not work under any media pressure.
Pahlaj Nihalani said, “No one knows the process for certification of films and CBFC will not work in any kind of pressure from media or social media. CBFC has the responsibility of certifying the films and it also has guidelines which we all follow. If the movie is not according to the three ratings that we have, U, U/A or A, we can refuse that film.”
“We see a total of 2,500 films in a year, 82 per cent of these movies were passed without even a single cut. From the remaining 18 per cent of the movies, 2 per cent have gone to revising committee and then to the tribunal. If one movie, out of 2500 movies shown does not get a certificate, there is no point of making it an issue,” he added.
The CBFC chairperson emphasised that certification of movies is very important and the treatment given to the issue raised in the movie is not appropriate.
“We only have objection with the content of the movie. The treatment given to the issue of ‘women empowerment’ was the reason we did not give this film a certificate. We gave the movie back to the filmmaker and said to show the picture to FCAT or the court.”
Nihalani believes that till the time he is the chairperson of the Censor Board, his whole staff will follow the guidelines and keep doing such good work.
15:14 Did Harish Rawat government misuse disaster relief fund for tourism video?:
A BJP leader and RTI activist today accused the Harish Rawat government of paying Rs 47.19 lakh out of disaster relief funds to a firm, in which singer Kailash Kher has a stake, for a tourism video featuring cricketer Virat Kohli.
Citing information procured under the RTI, Ajendra Ajay said Rs 47,19,120 was paid to Kailasa Entertainment Pvt Ltd for a 60-second audio-visual clip with the cricketer in which he is seen promoting tourist destinations in the state.
“The payment was made in June 2015 out of funds meant for reconstruction and rehabilitation work in areas devastated by the June 2013 disaster,” the BJP leader said.
Though meant for Kohli, the payment was made through Kailasa entertainment Pvt ltd, he claimed.
Accusing the Harish Rawat government of misappropriating funds meant for disaster victims, Ajendra said the chief minister had no right to complain of dearth of funds for which he often held the Centre responsible.
The diverted funds had been released by the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority, he claimed.
Reacting to this, Rawat’s media advisor Surendra Kumar said nothing had been done illegally and there was no wrong in choosing an eminent personality to promote tourism destinations in the state.
15:10 JUST IN: Suspect in 2002 American Centre attack case in Kolkata arrested in Gaya: Bihar Police
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today said the BSP can enter into an understanding with the BJP anytime as they are concentrating on ensuring that the SP does not move ahead.
“The BJP is misleading the people. There is a need to be cautious of BSP… She (Mayawati) can enter into an understanding with the BJP anytime.. actually she is helping the BJP,” he said addressing an election meeting.
“She had tied rakhi to BJP leaders earlier and can celebrate Raksha Bandhan once again,” the chief minister said.
“People are aware that the BSP is not coming to power… all political parties are concentrating on ensuring that the SP does not move ahead of them,” Akhilesh said.
Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s allegation that police stations are being run by SP workers, the SP chief said perhaps he is not aware that the UP 100 Police Emergency Management System has been launched in the state.
14:15 People will not spare us if we align with Sena: Cong’s Gurudas Kamat: Amid speculation that Congress may join hands with the Shiv Sena to stake claim to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Congress’s senior leader Gurudas Kamat has issued a letter to the party saying that it should not align with the Sena as it would dent their credibility.
In his letter (pictured), Kamat wrote, “We have fought against both saffron parties all along for their divisive policies and people will not spare us if we attempted to align with them.”
The tally of Shiv Sena, which emerged as the single largest party after the counting on Thursday, has risen to 87 corporators with three party rebels who won as Independent nominees returning to its fold on Friday.
This gave a slight push to Uddhav Thackerays efforts to cobble up numbers but reaching the magic figure of 114 seats needed to rule the crucial civic body is still a far cry.
14:00 America bans Syrian behind nominated film from attending Oscars :
US immigration authorities have decided to bar entry to a 21-year-old Syrian cinematographer whose harrowing film about his nation’s civil war, “The White Helmets,” has been nominated for an Academy Award.
According to internal Trump administration correspondence, the Department of Homeland Security has decided at the last minute to block Khaled Khatib from traveling to Los Angeles for the Oscars.
Khatib was scheduled to arrive Saturday in Los Angeles on a Turkish Airlines flight departing from Istanbul. But his plans have been upended after U.S. officials reported finding “derogatory information” against Khalid.
The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment. Derogatory information is a broad category that can include everything from terror connections to passport irregularities
13:33 ‘Rangoon’ my tribute to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose: Bhardwaj:
Director Vishal Bhardwaj has said his period romance “Rangoon” talks about Indian National Army’s
role in the freedom movement and is a tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
“It is important to share this fact with the present generation. Netaji’s sacrifice should come to the mainstream. The film is my humble tribute to the lesser known role played by the INA and Netaji in the form of a romance drama,” Bhardwaj said.
“But the historical reference comes as the backdrop of a love story,” he said, adding “my intention is not to create controversy and I had gone to the INA museum and did research on the details to impart authentic look to the product.”
He said “Rangoon”, starring Saif Ali Khan, Kangana Ranaut and Shahid Kapoor, is essentially a love story in the backdrop of 1944 Moirang war when the INA first unfurled the tricolour.
“It is essentially a love story in the backdrop of war and the main crux of the film is patriotic. The three main parts are fictional. I have mixed facts with fiction,” said the 51-year-old filmmaker, who attended a special screening, which was attended by the family members of Netaji.
13:06 What Congress didn’t do in 15 years, I’ll do in 15 months: PM in Manipur:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is addressing a public meeting in Manipur’s capital Imphal. Polls for the 60-member legislative assembly of the northeastern state will be held in two phases on March 4 and March 8. The election is expected to be a high-octane, virtual contest between the ruling Congress – which has ruled the state for 15 years – and the BJP.
Here are highlights from the PM’s speech:
>> In 2014 when I was PM candidate,there was a rally at same place, but even half the ground was not occupied. Today it’s packed with crowd
>> Until North-East does not progress, the country’s progress will never be complete
>> It has been 15 years, Manipur has been ruined. Who is responsible? Congress did no development, do they deserve to be here now?
>> What they (Congress) did not do in last 15 years, I assure we will do it in 15 months
>> Wherever Congress is in power there is no development, there is only corruption
>> Since last 40 years no PM of the country came to North-East for NEC Meeting. After Morarji Desai I am the only one who visited
>> When Atal ji formed government, he made policies for overall development of Northeast. But Congress did not carry the good work forward
12:43 No place for bigotry in society: Microsoft CEO Nadella on techie’s murder: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has reacted to the news of an Indian techie shot dead in Kansas by an American in an apparent hate crime. He tweeted, “No place for senseless violence& bigotry in society. My heart is with victims & families of horrific shooting in Kansas.”
Earlier, Sunayana Dumala, the wife of Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla said that she now wonders what will the US government do to stop hate crimes against minorities.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist will now tell its members what they can like, write, follow or share on social media. Just to give you an idea, there are roughly one million party members in the country the figure was 10,48,678 in 2015.
Discussions on social media within the CPM have so far been centred around how best to use its immense potential, especially to reach the young. It was also about convincing the older lot that taking to social media posts, likes, shares on Facebook and Twitter has nothing to do with losing touch with the grassroots and the poor.
Over the last few years, a section of the senior party leadership has been struggling to convince the conservative and orthodox members that their party was missing out on a lot by not using social media like other political parties (and their leaders), such as the BJP, Congress and Trinamool Congress.
12:18 Can’t accept Sasikala’s puppet EPS as CM, would rather be dead: Justice Katju:
Known for his public outbursts and raking controversies with his statements, former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju has done it again with his new Facebook post.
Justice Katju has called Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami a puppet of ‘jailbird’ Sasikala, the AIADMK general secretary.
Justice Katju has written an open letter to the Tamil community to openly lambast the people of Tamil Nadu for accepting Palaniswami as their chief minister which is a ‘disgrace’.
The former Supreme Court judge said, “A puppet of a jailbird has been made your chief minister, and you have done nothing about it?”
On several occasions in the past, Justice Katju has called himself a proud Tamilian. But, in this post he declared that till Palaniswami remains at the helm of affairs in Tamil Nadu, he wouldn’t identify himself as a Tamil.
“As long as this Palaniswamy, this stigma and slur on Tamizhans, remains your C.M. I am no longer a Tamizhan. I refuse to be a member of a people who dont mind living in disgrace and dishonour. I would rather be dead,” Justice Katju wrote on Facebook.
11:50 ‘This President has blood on his hands’: Anger at Indian’s shooting in Kansas:
An Indian IT engineer employed with a US company in Kansas was fatally shot and a colleague, also from India, was wounded by a white man who allegedly thought they were from the Middle East and was heard telling them to “get out of my country” at the time of the shooting.
The Hindu American Foundation, an advocacy group, said in a statement, “The murder of Kuchibhotla is the first reported bias-motivated fatality in the US after the bitter presidential election.”
The Indian American community reacted with a mix of outrage and sadness. Narasimhan said, “This President now has blood on his hands. He has incited and created the environment where hate crimes are emboldened. All those of colour have something to fear now for our children and theirs. I pray we do not have a hot summer in the US as we have no moral leadership left capable of quelling violence if it erupts.”
With elections to BMC throwing up a fractured verdict, thinking is strong in Maharashtra Congress that it should consider the option of enabling the Shiv Sena to foist its candidate as mayor of the civic body.
The Congress, which managed to secure only 31 seats in the 227-member House, however, is unlikely to rush to a decision, preferring to wait till the crucial elections to the five states are over.
The tally of Shiv Sena, which emerged as the single largest party after the counting on Thursday, has risen to 87 corporators with three party rebels who won as Independent nominees returning to its fold yesterday.
11:14 Major fire at China hotel traps unknown number of people:
A major fire at a multi-storey luxury hotel in east China’s Jiangxi Province today trapped an unknown number of people, authorities said.
The blaze on the second floor of HNA Platinum Mix Hotel in provincial capital Nanchang began this morning, fire fighters said.
More than 10 construction workers were engaged in a decoration project on the floor when the fire broke out, said a woman who escaped the fire.
A man who jumped from the second floor was injured and rushed to hospital.
The four-storey hotel is connected to a 24-storey apartment building, where people are also found trapped, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
Nearly 10 fire trucks were working to put out the fire.
11:10 DMK backs demand to probe Jaya’s death:
Extending support to former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam and his demand to have judicial enquiry into the ‘mysterious’ death of late J Jayalalithaa, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Saturday said their working president M.K. Stalin also demanded the same since she was admitted to hospital.
“Our leader M K Stalin was very categorical, not now but even when she (Jayalalithaa) was inside hospital, even after her demise. He wanted a white paper report to be published by the government. He also wanted the Central Government to intervene since the doctors from the AIIMS were also present. So, what our leader stated has been strengthened by the demand made by the former chief minister O Panneerselvam,” DMK spokesperson A Saravanan said.
Reiterating that there was something mysterious in the former Tamil Nadu chief minister’s death, Saravanan said a probe should be launched into the same.
“There is something mysterious. So, let them enquire. What had happened. Why was she admitted to the hospital? What was the reason? What was the treatment given to her prior and after her admission? I think, it definitely needs an inquiry,” he said.
09:53 Absurd to link Kansas shooting to Trump’s remarks: WH:
The Donald Trump administration has dismissed as ‘absurd’ any correlation between the United States President’s controversial remarks on immigrants and the Kansas shooting incident that resulted in the ‘tragic’ death of an Indian engineer.
“Obviously, any loss of life is tragic, but I’m not going to get into, like, to suggest that there’s any correlation I think is a bit absurd. So I’m not going to go any further than that,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters.
Spicer was responding to a question on the shooting incident in Kansas on Wednesday night in which 32-year-old Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed and another Indian man and an American were injured after an American Navy veteran yelling ‘get out of my country’ and ‘terrorist’ opened fire on them at a bar in an apparent racially motivated hate crime.
“What the President’s response to it was, but also if there’s any concern that some of the rhetoric that the President or — that generally has been out here recently could have contributed in any way to that or stepped up violence?” he was asked.
Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in the US has issued a demarche to the State Department on the killing of an Indian engineer and called for a speedier investigation.
The Indian Embassy also asked that it be kept informed on the investigation. — PTI
09:05 White House blocks CNN, NYT and several others from media briefing:
The White House on Friday blocked several news organisations from an off-camera press briefing, raising alarm among the First Amendment watchdogs.
CNN, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Politico and BuzzFeed were barred from attending the meeting, held by White House press secretary Sean Spicer.
The administration, however, defended its move, citing they had ‘the pool there, so, everyone would be represented and get an update’.
Both CNN and the Times protested the decision.
‘This is an unacceptable development by the Trump White House. Apparently, this is how they retaliate when you report facts they don’t like. We’ll keep reporting regardless,’ CNN said in a statement.
The White House Correspondents Association, the Associated Press and Time magazine have protested the move.
This development came hours after United States President Trump mocked the news media at the Conservative Political Action Conference. He said that much of the press represents the enemy of the people.
“They are the enemy of the people because they have no sources. They just make them up when there are none,” he said. — ANI
White House Communications Director Sean Spicer at the daily press briefing. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
08:34 He said ‘good things happen in America’: Wife of techie shot dead:
The wife of Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was shot dead in an apparent hate crime by a Navy veteran at a bar in Olathe city, has said that she had her doubts about staying in the United States but was assured by her husband that ‘good things happen in America’.
Speaking at a news conference organised by GPS-maker Garmin where Srinivas worked, Sunayana Dumala said reports of bias in the US make minorities afraid as she questioned ‘do we belong here’.
She said she now wonders what will the US government do to stop hate crimes against minorities.
Dumala said she was concerned about shootings incidents in America and had doubted whether they should stay in the country, but her husband said that assured her saying that ‘good things happen in America’.
Consul General of India in Houston Anupam Ray is supervising the current situation and providing all possible help for the grieving family and the community in Olathe area of Kansas. — PTI
08:26 Kansas shooting an attack on American values: Raja Krishnamorthi:
Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi today described the shooting at a Kansas pub in which an Indian was killed as an attack on United States’ fundamental values and an assault on the sense of security of all persons of colour in the country.
“This was an attack not only on the victims, but on the sense of security of Indians, Indian-Americans, and millions of other people of colour across the nation,” Krishnamoorthi said in a statement in response to reports that the shooting in Olathe, Kansas, was specifically motivated by the race of two of the victims.
“Along with so many throughout the world, I have always believed in the American Dream of our country as a place where regardless of where you come from, the colour of your skin, or how you pray, you can build a better life. This shooting was a brutal, racial attack on two men, and on the fundamental values of our nation. It follows a spate of hate-motivated attacks on others in this country,” Krishnamoorthi said.
The first-time Democratic lawmaker from Illinois said the details of this attack have not yet been confirmed by police, but by all accounts, this appears to be an act of hatred.
“Yesterday, a man opened fire in a crowded bar, shouting racial slurs and yelling for the two Indian victims to ‘get out of my country’. Today, because of one man’s hate, another man lies dead and two others gravely wounded,” he said.
The two Indian victims came to the United States to pursue their educations, to live, and to work, Krishnamoorthi said.
“The same reports that have identified this shooting as an act of hate have also stated that the third victim, Ian Grillot, was wounded when he saw what was happening and heroically sought to intervene,” Krishnamoorthi said.
He urged his colleagues in the Congress, those in the executive branch, and all Americans, to actively work together not only to prevent future attacks, but to directly address the underlying culture and climate which have led to them.
Eminent Indian-American from the Republican party in Virginia Puneet Ahluwalia said it was a tragic, upsetting and unacceptable incident.
“This kind of demented rage and their perpetrators have to be stopped and prosecuted,” he said.
“This is a threat to the greatness and hope which America is to so many. Importantly, not on our watch, we are a party of big tent and strong believer in our constitution,” Ahluwalia said in a statement. — PTI
“Both the groups came to the police station and registration of cross-complaints was underway,” said a duty officer at Chatushringi police station.
Pradip Gavade, an ABVP activist, alleged that SFI members were putting up posters which said ‘ABVP Murdabad’ in the campus.
“When our members objected, they started intimidating us and attacked us,” said Gavade.
“In the morning, the ABVP had staged a protest on the campus to condemn the invitation to JNU student Umar Khalid at Ramjas College in Delhi. To counter that the activists from SFI were putting up posters,” he added.
“We did not beat them, we were beaten up by SFI activists,” he alleged.
However, SFI activist Mao Chavan, who was not a part of the melee, said that to protest against Solapur MLC Prashant Paricharak’s insulting remarks about soldiers and the violence at Rajmas College in Delhi, SFI had organised a protest on the SPPU campus on Friday evening.
“When the protest was going on, all of a sudden activists of the ABVP arrived and attacked SFI activists,” Chavan alleged. — PTI
00:56 Google to roll out AI tool to combat online trolls: Google said it will begin offering media groups an artificial intelligence tool designed to stamp out incendiary comments on their websites.
The programming tool, called Perspective, aims to assist editors trying to moderate discussions by filtering out abusive ‘troll’ comments, which Google says can stymie smart online discussions.
“Seventy-two per cent of American internet users have witnessed harassment online and nearly half have personally experienced it,” said Jared Cohen, president of Google’s Jigsaw technology incubator
“Almost a third self-censor what they post online for fear of retribution,” he added in a blog post titled When computers learn to swear.
00:20 DU clashes: Crime Branch begins probe: Delhi Police’s Crime Branch has begun its probe into clashes between Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and All India Students’ Association members in Delhi University’s Ramjas College.
“Since it was Maha Shivratri today (Friday), students were not present in the campus. Police will begin recording the statements of students tomorrow (Saturday) and will collect all the video evidences in the matter,” said a senior police officer.
Officers analysed all the complaints received from both the parties, he said.
Meanwhile, there was police presence in the campus and adjoining areas today to ensure peace despite it being a holiday.
Source: Rediff