13:51 Will share details after execution: Army chief reacts to Pak mutilations : Army Chief General Rawat’s first statement on the security operations in Kashmir’s Shopian district. “We have beefed up our counter-infiltration posture in Jammu and Kashmir,” Gen Rawat said. When asked about the possible action following the mutilation of Indian soldiers, the army chief said, “We don’t talk about future plans; we share details after execution. We retaliate to these kind of actions.”
This morning, more than 20 villages in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir were cordoned off, as the Indian Army along with other security forces launched massive anti-terror operations.
The search operations come in the wake of a surge in militancy related incidents in the past few days and recent terror attacks in the valley.
Suspected terrorists barged into a police post guarding the court complex of southern Shopian late on Tuesday night. The terrorists decamped along with five service rifles including four INSAS rifles and an AK-47 rifle.
Earlier, following the two bank robberies that took place in Pulwama on Wednesday, Pulwama Superintendant of Police Rayees Mohammed Bhat revealed that preliminary investigation has established the involvement of the terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
“Until now, we have identified one militant each from Padgampora and Khagpura, which proves Lashkar’s involvement in the incident,” he said.
“It is clear that militant organisations like these are short of cash. We have also seen that they now carry more advanced technological gadgets. We are continuing the investigation,” he added.
The gunmen looted two banks, in separate incidents, in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district, within few hours.
Bank robberies and weapon snatching incidents have been on the rise in the Valley recently, triggering an alert.
13:17 Sukma Naxal attack: 4 arrested, including a juvenile : The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Chhattisgarh Police apprehended four suspected Naxals in connection with the deadly Sukma attack. One of the four arrested is a juvenile. The arrested suspects have been handed over to the state police.
On Wednesday, the CRPF troops along with the state police carried out a search operation at the forest area of Bulbul in Lohardaga district of Jharkhand, following which a massive ammunition cached was recovered.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Hansraj Gangaram Ahir today visited the CRPF personnel injured in the deadly Sukma Naxal attack.
“We are making efforts to prevent such kind of incidents in the future. We will try to finish this issue as soon as possible,” said Ahir after meeting the soldiers in the hospital.
He further said that a meeting will be held on May 8th to review the situation and further course of action will be discussed.
Earlier on May 1st, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the security situation in Sukma attack with country’s top security officials.
As many as 25 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and five others were injured in the encounter with Naxals in Sukma on April 24.
The CRPF’s 74th Battalion was ambushed by the Naxals when it was manning a road construction project.
13:02 Indian energy giant Adani signs $74 million deal with Australian steel group Arrium to buy steel for 400-km rail line for Carmichael project.
12:55 A Parisian affair: He is 39 and she 64: Emmanuel was 15 when he fell for his school teacher, Brigitte Trogneux. She was 40 then, a married woman with three children, one of whom was Emmanuel’s classmate.
He is 39 now and she 64.
Their relationship is still going strong. The hero of this compelling love story is, of course, Emmanuel Macron, the man likely to become the next president of France. Read this lovely story on Rediff.com here.
with eight.
12:31 Indore is India’s cleanest city, finds Swachh survey : Indore in Madhya Pradesh is India’s cleanest city and Gonda in Uttar Pradesh the filthiest, a nationwide cleanliness survey by the urban development ministry has found.
The survey of 434 cities, conducted as part of the Modi government’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission, has seen the ancient city in MP knock off Karnataka’s Mysuru, which has been topping the rankings.
Bhopal, another city in the BJP-ruled MP, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Surat in Gujarat are the other five cleanest cities, says the third edition of the Swachh Survekshan released on Thursday by urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu.
The cleanliness survey was carried out during January and February.
Launched in 2014, the Swachh Bharat campaign aims to make India clean and open-defecation free by 2019, the 150th birth anniversary year of Mahatma Gandhi.
Image: Urban Development minister Venkaiah Naidu handing announcing the awards
12:22 Election Commission of India calls an All Party Meeting on EVM issue on May 12th in Delhi.
12:14 Indore (Madhya Pradesh) tops the list of cleanest cities, as per Swachh Survekshan 2017.
12:13 Digvijaya welcomes CBI probe in ‘anti-Shivraj Vyapam’ campaign: Unfazed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against him for being involved in a campaign targeting Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the Vyapam scam, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday said he would continue his fight against corruption. Singh took to Twitter to react to the news of the CBI probe against him.
“NDTV- From CBI sources. Digvijaya to face action by CBI for Anti Vyapam Anti Shivraj campaign,” he tweeted.”Most Welcome. I shall continue my fight against Corruption and for all those who have been duped by Shivraj/ BJP leaders and brokers,” he tweeted in reaction to the news.
The CBI yesterday informed the Supreme Court that Singh and others would face action for running a campaign against Chouhan in the Vyapam scam on the basis of forged documents.
The Congress leader had moved a writ petition in the apex court in 2015 seeking forensic investigation of documents, including the hard disk recovered from the Vyapam office.
However, as per the CBI, the seized documents had been sent to Hyderabad’s Forensic Science Laboratory for examination and suggested no tampering.
Yesterday, the CBI in its affidavit to the top court informed that the allegations made by Singh and Vyapam whistle-blower Prashant Pandey were almost identical.
Our 2004 interview with Bilkis Bano. Read
“Her face was expressionless and her talk listless.She said she was tired of life and was subdued throughout our meeting. Only once did she get agitated; when I asked if she hoped to get justice.”
When Rediff.com met Bilkis Bano. Read the story here.
11:35 News updates : Agni-ll Ballistic Missile test fired at 10.22 am from APJ Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha Coast as part of user trial.
Residents in Gujarat’s Anand painted Pakistan flag on a road to protest the mutilation of 2 soldiers. The police later painted it white and registered a case.
Airman in Indian Air Force commits suicide by shooting himself with a gun at Tambaram Air Force Station, near Chennai. Inquiry on.
11:29 Bilkis Bano verdict: HC rejects CBI plea for death sentence : No death penalty for Gujarat riots’ victim Bilkis Bano’s rapists, says Bombay High Court.
The Bombay High Court has ruled today that no death penalty will be awarded to three out of 11 people accused of gang-raping Bilkis Bano and brutally murdering 14 members of her family, including her three-old daughter, in Randhikpur near Ahmedabad, during the Gujarat riots of 2002.
The CBI had last year told court that this was a “rarest of rare case” and that the death penalty must be awarded to three convicts to send out a “stern message.”
The agency has alleged that there is direct evidence that the three men – Jaswant Nai, Govind Nai, and Sailesh Bhatt – gangraped Bilkis, who was five months pregnant, her sister and her mother.
Bhatt also allegedly snatched Bilkis’ three-year-old daughter from her and crushed her head on a stone. The child died on the spot. Bilkis’s mother and sister were among the 14 of her family and 17 people from the village killed by the rioters on March 3, 2002.
11:09 How to build a business in the Himalayas: The Alams saw the magical spot while on a drive to the hills. A few years later they set up home and a small handwoven shawl business, hiring local weavers, using local wool and natural colours made of root, stem and flower. Rediff.com’s Archana Masih met them in their home overlooking the Himalayas and got a lesson in dyeing. Read more
11:04 Four naxals arrested in Sukma : Four naxals have been arrested in Sumka, the CRPF tells MHA. The arrests were carried out after search ops by the CRPF and state police.
Chief Minister Raman Singh has called the meeting on May 5 in Raipur, officials said.
The top brass of central paramilitary forces, the Chhattisgarh police, the Indian Air Force (IAF) and state government authorities responsib ..
A high-level meeting of the Unified Command will be held this week in Chhattisgarh to chalk out a comprehensive strategy to hit Maoists, in the aftermath of recent ambushes that has killed over 35 CRPF troops in the worst-hit Sukma district.
Chief Minister Raman Singh has called the meeting on May 5 in Raipur, officials said.
The top brass of central paramilitary forces, the Chhattisgarh police, the Indian Air Force and state government authorities responsible for the administration in Bastar and other Naxal violence hit districts of the state will take part in the meeting, they said.
The Unified Command was created in all the Maoist violence affected states in the aftermath of the 2010 Dantewada attack where 75 CRPF personnel and a state policeman, were killed in a deadly ambush carried out by Naxals.
The Command is chaired by the respective chief ministers.
Image: File pic of Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh visiting one of the CRPF jawans injured in the Sukma encounter on April 24.
At least 12 personnel are said to be injured in the landmine blast which targeted the armoured vehicle.
The team of security force personnel had been conducting operations in the area.
Earlier, a CRPF jawan and two Maharashtra Police personnel were injured in an exchange of fire with the Maoists.
10:38 After years of abuse, this woman wants to give triple talaq to her husband: After years of alleged torture and abuse by her husband, Amreen Bano (24), has arrived at a decision.
She wants to give triple talaq to her husband before the community, and if it is indeed accept, will probably be the first woman to do so. Islam allows the man to give triple talaq to his wife, but not the other way round.
“I want to give triple talaq to my husband and get rid of him the same way as men do away with women using triple talaq,’ Amreen told ANI.
Amreen and her sister Farheen (22) were married to two brothers in a village near Meerut on the same day in 2012. Both the sisters have filed police complaints alleging inhuman treatment including abuse and beatings by their husbands. According to a Times of India report, in September 2016, when Amreen’s 3-year old son asked his uncle, Farheen’s husband, for Rs 5, he and the sisters were beaten. The sisters were then told to get Rs 5 lakh from their parents. As the argument escalated, Farheen’s husband gave her triple talaq and threw her out of the house.
Amreen told ANI that she suffered a miscarriage due to frequent beatings by her husband. She had approached the police saying she wanted protection but nothing was done. She now says she will give triple talaq to her husband since he has refused to provide for her and her child after the brother beat her and the sister for money.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court allowed former Union Minister Salman Khurshid to assist it in hearing a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of ‘triple talaq’, ‘nikah halala’ and polygamy practices among the Muslims.
Image: Amreen Bano has asked for police protection but says, nothing was done.
10:13 Former RAW chief A S Dulat: We refused to talk invited Pakistan back into Valley: Former Research & Analysis Wing chief A S Dulat’s connection to Kashmir goes back more than three decades. As an Intelligence Bureau officer, he served in Srinagar in the 1980s; as IB special director he supervised the intelligence network there. In the PMO during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure, he was adviser on Kashmir, work that formed the basis of his book Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years. In this interview, which you can read here, Dulat discusses the current situation in Kashmir.
10:06 UK, India Home Secretaries to discuss Mallya extradition today: Vijay Mallya’s extradition likely to be discussed in talks between Indian, UK Home Secretaries today.
A team of officials from the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) reached London for discussions on the extradition of the liquor baron, yesterday.
A four-member team led by CBI Additional Director Rakesh Asthana will apprise British authorities about the finer points of the loan default cases against Mallya, CBI sources said. Two senior ED officials are also part of the team, they said.
Mallya’s extradition is now before the British court where neither the CBI nor the ED is a direct party. Indian agencies primarily aid and assist British prosecutors with case material to counter the plea of absconders before the courts, an official explained.
The agencies’ move to send a team to London is aimed at presenting a strong case for the extradition of the liquor baron before the court.
The 61-year-old was arrested by British authorities last month on India’s extradition request in connection with loan default case of IDBI Bank, being investigated by the CBI. He was released on bail within hours by a London court which has fixed May 17 as the next date of hearing.
Vijay Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs. 9,000 crore to various banks, had left India on March 2, 2016.
The extradition process from the UK involves a number of steps including a decision by the judge on whether or not to issue a warrant of arrest.
In case of a warrant, the person is arrested and brought before the court for preliminary hearing followed by an extradition hearing before a final decision is taken by the Secretary of State.
The ‘wanted’ person has the right to appeal to higher courts against any decision all the way up to the Supreme Court.
09:47 Experts want punitive action against ‘liar’ Pakistan : The Defence Experts on Thursday exhorted the government to take a severe punitive action against Pakistan which “has been lying over its involvement in the mutilation of two Indian soldiers’ bodies.
Defence Expert PK Sehgal told ANI that Pakistan was in a denial mode over its involvement in Krishna Ghati’s barbaric act despite all the evidences against it.
“We have clinching evidence and same has been conveyed to the Pakistan high commissioner, but we must not waste time in focussing in this area as Pakistan will remain in denial mode. The sooner we teach them a lesson it would be better from both Pakistan’s point of view as well as nation’s point of view,” said Sehgal.
He said considering the nation’s mood, the government must take swift and solid action against Pakistan.”The entire nation is looking forward to a very swift and a very solid and punitive response from the Indian army. If the government doesn’t give a go ahead in a meaningful time frame the government’s credibility would be severely degraded,” he added.
Resonating similar sentiments, another Defence Expert Praful Bakshi told ANI that it was obvious that Pakistan will deny mutilating two Indian soldiers’ bodies. “It is obvious that Pakistan will deny carrying out a heinous task of mutilating our soldiers’ bodies”. But, the blood trail is leading across. The matter stands still and Pakistan’s denial is very serious,” he added.
He said India should change its policy of not to attack first as Pakistan was taking advantage of it.”Pakistan is showing aggression all along the border. Pakistan is taking advantage of Indian policy of not attacking first. We have to change our policy from reactive to proactive. Our intelligence tells us where the terrorists are coming from. India need not wait for the attack but should take pre-emptive action,” he said.
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday said Pakistan’s denial of any cross Line of Control movement by its troops and mutilation of Indian soldiers’ carries no credibility.
08:51 Pathankot on alert after 2 suspicious bags found near military base:
Security alert was sounded in Pathankot early today when two suspicious bags were found lying unattended just a few yards away from the military base.
According to reports, locals spotted two black colour bags near Mamoon Cantt and informed the police.
Cops immediately rushed to the spot. The area has been cordoned off.
The police recovered mobile tower batteries from the bags. Security has been beefed up in the area and a search operation is underway to find the owner of the bags.
On Tuesday, an abandoned Scorpio SUV was found in Gurdaspur district. Security agencies had then launched a manhunt after reports of 5-6 suspicious men being spotted near the vehicle.
Though nobody has been arrested yet, the police claimed the suspects belonged to Jammu and Kashmir.
“We have broadly identified them and we are trying our best to arrest them,” Pathankot SSP Vivek Sheel Soni said.
08:14 Russia ‘greatest threat of any nation on earth’: FBI chief:
Russia presents greatest threat to American national security, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey has told lawmakers.
“Certainly in my view, (Russia presents) the greatest threat of any nation on earth, given their intention and their capability,” Comey said in response to a question during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where lawmakers expressed concern over Russian activities in the cyberspace.
Comey said “yes” when Senator Lindsey Graham asked when it comes to Russia, is it fair to say that Russia actively provides safe haven to cyber criminals.
He said “it is a fair statement,” when Senator Lindsey Graham asked if he agreed with him the only way the Russians are going to stop this for them to pay a price for interfering in the US political process.
Comey said that Russians are doing this all over the world.
The FBI chief said that in the last presidential elections, the Russians were not able to change the actual vote tally, but one day they might.
“We found no indication of any change in vote tallies. There was efforts aimed at voter registration systems, but I suppose in theory, part of the US. The beauty of our system is it’s a bit of a hairball. All different kinds of systems,” he said.
“My understanding is they have attempted it in other countries,” Comey said in response to another question from Graham.
00:07 Trump vows to work as ‘mediator’ for Israeli-Palestinian peace:
US President Donald Trump vowed to work as a “mediator, an arbitrator or a facilitator” to help broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians as he welcomed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House.
“We will get this done,” Trump vowed.
Trump reiterated the need for Israelis and Palestinians to broker a peace through direct negotiations and called on Palestinian leaders to “speak in a unified voice against incitement to violence and hate.”
“There’s such hatred, but hopefully there won’t be such hatred for very long,” Trump said, speaking alongside Abbas in the Roosevelt Room.
Source: Rediff