10:35 Will end triple talaq in 1.5 years: AIMPLB vice president: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board who has opposed Public-Interest Litigation filed against the controversial triple talaq in the Supreme Court, on Wednesday said that the board will do away with the practice of verbal divorce in one-and-a half years, adding that there is no need for government interference.
‘The triple talaq practice has ruined many Muslim families all over India till date. Gender equality and the dignity of women were non- negotiable and cannot broke compromise. The board has decided to end the practice of triple talaq itself in one-and-a-half years so the government should not interfere in the matter,’ Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna quoted vice president of All India Muslim Personal Law Board Dr Sayeed Sadiq as saying.
The statement comes after the AIMPLB claimed that it had received 3.50 crore forms from Muslim women around the country favouring Shariyat and triple talaq.
A five-judge constitution bench of the apex court will start hearing from May 11 petitions against the Islamic divorce practice of triple talaq that is said to be biased against women.
The court will hear pleas filed several Muslim women challenging the practice under which men can divorce their wives instantly by uttering the word talaq (divorce) thrice. — ANI
09:49 No proof of Syria using chemical weapons in Idlib: Putin: Condemning the missile attack by the Unites States on a Syrian airbase, Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated the development was clear evidence of international law violation by Washington.
On April 6, 59 US Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired at a Syrian government airbase and President Donald Trump said that the strikes were carried out in a response to a chemical attack on civilians in Idlib that killed over 80 people, including children.
Speaking on the issue in an interview with Mir 24 TV channel, the Russian President said there is no proof that the Syrian government used chemical weapons in Idlib, however, there is startling evidence that US flouted international laws, reports Sputnik.
“Where is evidence that the Syrian troops used chemical weapons? No evidence. And what about violation of the international law? It is an obvious fact. What was the reaction of the NATO allies? All of them are nodding like bobble heads,” Putin said.
Earlier, US Defence Secretary James Mattis stressed that he personally reviewed the intelligence on the chemical attack in Syria’s Idlib province and the Syrian government was guilty of the crime, however, he did not come forth with evidence to back his claim. — ANI
09:07 BJP youth wing leader offers Rs 11 lakh for Mamata Banerjee’s head: A Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha leader courted a controversy by announcing a reward of Rs 11 lakh for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s head, following a lathi-charge at Birbhum district to disperse a rally raising slogans of ‘Jai Sri Ram’ on Hanuman Jayanti.
“Those who will cut and bring West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee head, I will give that person Rs 11 lakh. Mamata Banerjee never allows Saraswati Puja, fairs during Ram Navami and during Hanuman Jayanti procession, people were lathi-charged and brutally beaten up. She organises iftar party and always supports Muslims,” BJYM leader Yogesh Varshney said.
In West Bengal’s Birbhum, Suri police on Sunday had already warned the Bir Hanuman Jayanti organisers that it would not allow holding of any rally or meeting at Suri on Tuesday.
The organisers requested and assured the police that that they would not carry arms.
However, the police did not move from its stand and charged on. — ANI
08:54 Dortmund explosions not a terror attack: German security sources: German security sources have said that there are no indications that the three explosions that rocked the Borussia Dortmund team bus were part of an organised terror attack, national news agency DPA reported.
‘No element’ points in the direction of such an assault, said the German agency.
The German police also said that they believe the explosions were directly targeted at the club.
“We are assuming that they were a targeted attack against the Dortmund team,” Dortmund city’s police chief was quoted as saying by news agencies. — Agencies
Police near the Borussia Dortmund team hotel after an explosion. Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach Livepic/ Reuters
08:21 Death sentence to Jadhav ‘politically motivated’: US experts: Top United States experts have expressed concern over Pakistan’s decision to give death penalty to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav as they warned that Islamabad wants to send a ‘strong message’ to India against isolating it on the world stage.
“Apart from the gross irregularities in the Jadhav situation, such as the lack of consular access and the secrecy surrounding the surprise court-martial, what struck me the most is the contrast between the speed of Mr Jadhav’s trial set against the endless postponements for that of the Mumbai attackers,” Alyssa Ayres, a former senior State Department official in its South and Central Asia Bureau said.
“The latter case, by contrast, has been in a continual state of prolongation for nearly nine years,” Ayres said.
She is currently senior fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, a top American think-tank.
Bharat Gopalaswamy, director of South Asia Centre at the Atlantic Council, a Washington, DC based top US think-tank, believes that the evidence warranting Jadhav’s conviction ‘is rather flimsy’ and the story by the Pakistani authorities ‘do not add up’.
Without furnishing further evidence, this conviction as it stands, ‘seems to be politically motivated’ in order to counter India’s aggressive diplomacy against Pakistan in combating terrorism, he said.
“This whole story is shrouded in mystery and uncertainty, but it seems clear that Pakistan wants to send a very strong message to India, whether to warn New Delhi against meddling in Pakistan or to push back in a big way against India’s efforts to isolate Pakistan on the world stage,” said Michael Kugelman, deputy director and senior associate for South Asia at the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Center.
“At the same time, given how much India will want to ensure that Jadhav isn’t executed, Pakistan now has a very large bargaining chip at its disposal. Pakistan may want to use Jadhav as a trump card to get some type of major concession from India,” Kugelman said.
“The bottom line is that India-Pakistan relations are on life support. We can kiss goodbye any immediate prospects for resuming dialogue, though that wasn’t a very strong possibility even before the announcement about Jadhav’s death sentence. Ultimately, India and Pakistan face some very dark and dangerous days ahead,” he said. — PTI
IMAGE: Congress workers protest in Mumbai against Pakistan for sentencing former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav to death. Photograph: PTI Photo
00:28 US probing possible Russia collusion in Syria chemical attack:
The US is probing a possible Russian involvement in the Assad regime’s chemical attack in Syria last week, the White House said today.
“We do think that it is a question worth asking the Russians about how is it possible that their forces were co-located with the Syrian forces that planned, prepared, and carried out chemical weapons attack at the same installation and did not have foreknowledge,” a senior administration
official told reporters at the White House.
The official said that there were Russian forces co-located with Syrian forces at the Shayrat airfield in addition to many other installations around the country.
However, the senior White House official said as of now they do not have information on the Russian involvement, but it is clear that Moscow is trying to cover up what happened there.
00:06 Borussia Dortmund’s match cancelled after explosion near team bus:
Borussia Dortmund have confirmed that their match against Monaco in the Champions League game has been postponed after an explosion took place near the team bus at the team hotel.
The team’s defender Marc Bartra is reported to have been taken to hospital.
Source: Rediff