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LIVE! Champions Trophy team announced: Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami return

12:29  Champions Trophy team announced: Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami return:   The Board of Control for Cricket in India announces the squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy in England, more than two weeks after missing the April 25 deadline set by the International Cricket Council to name the team due to the ongoing tussle between the Indian board and the sports’ governing body.

The 15-member squad for the ICC Champions Trophy are: Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Manish Pandey and Jasprit Bumrah.

India is in the same group as Pakistan.

12:27  Harbhajan left out of Champions squad:  Harbhajan Singh has been left out of the Champions Trophy team. Speaking to ANI, the Indian off-spinner had said he is ready more than ever to make his way back into the national squad.

Harbhajan, however, assured that he is not going to lose sleep even if national selectors don’t pick him.

The veteran off-spinner has bagged only eight wickets from nine matches he played so far in the ongoing tenth edition of the Indian Premier League, but his economy rate of 5.82 is the best for any spinner in this year’s IPL.

He also displayed impressive performances in the Vijay Hazare domestic 50-overs competition, taking nine wickets from six games at four an over.

And the 36-year-old admitted that he still has enough left in the tank to play a pivotal role for his side if he got selected for the 50-over pinnacle event.

12:10  Why Pak quit the Saarc satellite:  India’s unwillingness to allow other Saarc countries to participate in the development of a Saarc satellite made Pakistan quit the project. Read the report in the Dawn.
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12:08  GST on track for July 1 rollout: Jaitley:  The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is on schedule for implementation from July 1 and will not lead to any significant increase in prices of goods although cost of some services may see a marginal hike, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today.

Hailed as the biggest tax reform since India’s independence, GST will replace an array of central and state levies with a national sales tax, thereby creating a single market and making it easier to do business in the country.

Addressing CII-Kotak investors’ round table in Tokyo, Jaitley said that the GST Council, headed by him and comprising representatives of all states, will in the next few days finalise the rates of tax for different goods and services and the country is on track to roll out the simplified indirect tax regime from July 1.

“The current indirect tax structure in India is fairly complicated…those who transacted in either goods or services would have to deal with multiple authorities.

“The whole country was divided into multiple markets. So a free movement of goods and services was not possible. Now, the idea of GST was that let there be just one tax in the country,” Jaitley said. He added that tax rates on goods may go down marginally under the new indirect tax regime while services may see some increase.

11:57  My fathers cell was a cheerless place with vermin-infested food:  “I have vague memories of visiting him at the Arthur Road jail. It was only last year that my 80-year-old father opened up about that experience. Since he was not a convict, he was kept in a temporary cell along with others awaiting conviction or release.

“It was a cheerless place, with open holes for toilets and unwashed plates, and where vermin-infested rice and dal was served twice a day. My heart broke when he said he went without eating for three days, drinking water straight from the tap, because the food was unimaginably filthy.”

Today is the 43rd anniversary of the historic railwaymen’s strike of 1974.
Author Sudha Menons father was with the National Railway Mazdoor Union, and she wrote this piece in Tehelka in 2013.  Do read

11:42  Firing at STF Post in Doda, two police personnel injured:  Two Special Police Officers were seriously injured in a firing incident at a Special Task Force (STF) post in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir early today, a senior police officer said. The incident took place in the mountainous Tanta area of the district at 2 am. Additional police and army personnel have been rushed to the area to deal with the situation.

“10-12 gun shots were heard from the STF Post, Tanta at 2 am, injuring both the on duty SPOs. One SPO received bullet injuries in his neck and the other in his abdomen,” the police officer.

“We are investigating the matter, as it could be a result of rivalry or external attack as well. As of now, we have also started a search operation in the adjoining forest area as a precautionary measure,” the officer said. The army has ruled out a militant attack, but as a precaution initiated search operations in Tanta forest.

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11:40  Naxal problem cannot be solved by silver bullets: Rajnath:  Update on the Home Minister’s meeting with CMs of Naxal-affected states:

Rajnath Singh said that the Naxal problem cannot be resolved through “silver bullets” or any shortcut but through short-term, medium-term and long-term solutions. “Residential camps of security forces should be well equipped with power, water facility and better connectivity. We must ensure that states take the ownership of Left Wing Extremism operations and Companies of Central Armed Police Forces in Naxal-affected areas actively cooperating with them. The forces on the ground level should not lack leadership. Unity of purpose and unity of action are essential for success of operations, he told the CMs at the review meeting.

11:36  Sohail Mahmood to replace Abdul Basit as Pakistan’s envoy to India. 

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11:29  Modernity or murder, Mr Modi?:  A joke popular on social media these days goes like this. ‘Dear Pakistanis we as a nation have become immune to the martyrdom of our soldiers because they are paid to die, you just try and kill one of our cows then we will show you the fun.’

I begin with this joke to make the point that India is in danger of becoming a laughing stock in the rest of the world because of our new, violent obsession with cows. So enough is enough, Hindu fanatics. Stop! Stop right now if you really love Bharat Mata. Read Tavleen Singh’s column for the Indian Express.

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11:22  Throttling democracy at gunpoint will not be successful: Rajnath at anti-Naxal meet :  Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is chairing a review meeting of 10 Left Wing Extremism-affected states in New Delhi following the recent Maoist violence in Chhattisgarh. Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and West Bengal will attend the meeting. Highlights.”I am confident that we will successfully confront the Naxalites with full force and a new strategy. As many as 12,000 people lost their lives due to Maoist violence in last 20 years. The foundation principle of fighting Left-wing extremism is through choking them financially. I am sure that attempts to stall development and to throttle democracy at gunpoint will not be successful ever.” The meet will also focus on devising new strategies to ensure rapid development in Left Wing Extremism-affected areas.

11:10  Complete trial in nine months: SC:   Update on the SC order on Lalu Prasad Yadav: The Supreme Court also pulled up the CBI for delay in filing the appeal against the high court order in the case. The SC says the Jharkhand High Court should have been consistent
in its findings and should not have given different views for different sets of accused in a case. The court also said the CBI director should have looked into this important matter and deputed an officer to pursue the case.The court has also directed that the trial be completed in nine months.
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10:54  Lalu will have to face trial in fodder scam: SC :  No relief for former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav, who will have to face trial in the Rs 900 fodder scam. The Supreme Court has overturned the Jharkhand Court’s verdict dropping the criminal conspiracy charge against the RJD supremo. The CBI had filed a plea in the apex court against Lalu Prasad in the apex court.

The apex court earlier on April 20 reserved its judgement in the case and asked all parties concerned to give their submissions within a week.
The court also heard the plea filed by the RJD supremo challenging his jail sentence in connection with the mid-1990s fodder scam case.

The CBI filed its latest appeal against the High Court order upholding the agency’s plea to continue proceedings in the trial court against Prasad under two sections, while dropping other charges on grounds that a person could not be tried twice for the same offence.

The High Court had ordered that proceedings against Lalu be continued under IPC Sections 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence committed or giving false information) and 511 (attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or imprisonment, and in such attempt doing any act towards the commission of the offence).

The charges are in connection with the case pertaining to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 96 lakh during Lalu Prasad’s chief ministerial tenure.

The fodder scam relates to fraudulent withdrawal of around Rs 1,000 crore by the Animal Husbandry department from various districts when Lalu was the Bihar chief minister from 1990 to 1997.

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10:46  No opposition to any country’s NSG membership: China:  Maintaining its see-sawing diplomatic stand over India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), China has said that it does not oppose any country’s membership, however, adding that a standard for admission should be agreed upon first.

“On Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) issue, we do not oppose any country’s membership, believing that a standard for admission should be agreed upon first,” said Ambassador Luo Zhaohui at the United Service Institution of India in New Delhi.

Beijing has maintained that New Delhi’s entry to the NSG must be based on a set of principles agreed by other members while adding that the discussions on specific cases must be carried out later.

“We stick to two-step approach namely, first NSG members need to arrive at a set of principles for the entry of non-NPT state parties into NSG and then move forward discussions of specific cases. Our position is consistent. Apart from India, other non-NPT state parties are also making applications. Our position on those applications is consistent,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said in a press briefing.

Even though India has been pushing hard for the membership it has failed due to objections from countries like China and New Zealand.India has long been trying to secure the membership of the 48-member group but China’s stance on New Delhi not being a signatory of NPT has been blocking its bid to secure the seat.

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10:40  Days after death sentence for Delhi rapists, deaf-mute girl gang-raped in WB:   A deaf and mute 14-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by three men at a mango orchard in West Bengal’s Malda district.

The incident took place on Saturday evening, when the victim along with her younger sister and a friend had gone to the orchard to fetch mangoes in her village under Pakuria police station.

According to reports, there they came across several young men drinking alcohol by a canal adjacent to the farm.

“A group of at least three youth pounced on the girl and her sister and tried to drag them to a secluded place. The younger girl managed to escape, but her deaf and mute sister could not,” a district police officer said.

The younger girl ran to the village and informed the people, who rushed to the spot.

They found the disabled girl at another mango orchard, senseless and bleeding profusely.

She was admitted to a nearby hospital and was referred for a medical test.

The culprits have not been identified or caught yet at remain at large.

Meanwhile, the police have detained a few youth for questioning

10:34  Delhi LG forwards complaint filed by sacked AAP Minister Kapil Mishra to ACB.

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10:33  Highhanded BJP MLA makes woman IPS officer cry in Yogi’s constituency:  A BJP MLA stirred up controversy when his angry reaction to removal of anti-liquor protesters made a woman IPS officer cry in Gorakhpur, the parliamentary constituency of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The incident, in Kareemnagar area, was caught on camera and the viral video has earned local MLA Radha Mohan Das Aggarwal much flak on social media.

Circle Officer Charu Nigam claimed that the MLA was angry because she had removed some people, protesting against a liquor shop, whom he had told to stay put till he arrived. The MLA, however, accused the police officer of high-handedness and rejected her allegations as baseless.
Some of the protesters reportedly complained to the MLA that the officer had forcibly removed them and accused the police of hitting and dragging an 80-year-old man.

On the footage showing her wiping tears, she said, “I did not weep, as it is not ingrained in my personality. However, I got emotional when my senior officer supported me.”

The protestors were removed from the road as they were obstructing the traffic, she said.

Rejecting her allegations, the MLA said, I have been an MLA since 2002. You can ask my people. I never misbehave with anyone.

Image: The IPS officer said she did not cry when the MLA shouted at her but got emotional because her senior officer supported her. Pic: TV grab

10:06  Sensex gains 78 pts on Asian cues; Nifty tops 9,300:  The benchmark Sensex gained over 78 points and the NSE Nifty reclaimed the 9,300-mark in early trade today on widespread gains tracking a firm trend in Asia. The 30-share index was trading higher by 78.22 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 29,937.02 with all the sectoral indices led by consumer durables, auto, capital goods and healthcare, trading in the positive terrain by gaining up to 0.66 per cent.
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10:03  Europe breathes a sigh of relief:  A Macron victory is also significant because it marks yet another instance of Europeans rejecting the type of nationalist populism that pushed Britain toward Brexit and swept Donald Trump into the White House. Now France becomes the third European country — after Austria and the Netherlands — to reject nationalist, anti-EU candidates. Read more

09:57  BJP and the rise of Lord Ram in Bengal:  The spurt in celebration of Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti in parts of Bengal, including Rabindranath Tagore’s land Birbhum, has caught eyeballs, pointing to a shift in the state’s socio-political narrative. Speakers at the rallies use the occasion to assert their Hindu identity, although at the grassroots, the deprived lot look at Ram as the icon against “injustice and terror” by the ruling Trinamool Congress. Read more
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09:39  Shatabdi train linking Assam-Arunachal :  Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today flagged off the Naharlagun-Guwahati Shatabdi Express and laid the foundation of the Murkongselek-Pasighat broad gauge line in Arunachal Pradesh. Commencement of surveys for seven new lines in the state was also announced by the union minister through video conferencing from the NFR headquarters at Maligaon in Guwahati.

Out of the 26.15 km railway track from Murkongselek in Dhemaji district of Assam to Pasighat in East Siang district of Arunachal, 23.55 km line falls in the state with three railway stations Sille, Rani and Pasighat, railway officials said.

Image: Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu flags off the Naharlagun-Guwahati Shatabdi Express through video conferencing at Maligaon in Guwahati on Sunday.

09:30  Note ban philosophy:  Six months on, there appears little justification for demonetisation in theories of politics, governance. Read the column here
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09:11  Remove bra, no jeans: Bizarre code shocks students at NEET test:  

A woman medical aspirant from Kerala appearing for the National Eligibility and Entrance Test at the state’s Kannur centre on Sunday was shocked when she was asked by officials to remove her innerwear before sitting for the exam. Another candidate, who was wearing a pair of jeans, was asked to remove a pocket as well as metal buttons from it. No, it wasn’t an act of perversion, but a “way to ensure no cheating” in the exam.

Angry candidates appearing for the test for admission to undergraduate medical courses in government and private medical colleges in the country reported that they were made to undergo humiliating checks at different centres.

The 18-year-old candidate claims she was told by security personnel to remove her bra after the metal detector beeped. When she refused to do so, she was told she won’t be able to write her exam otherwise. She reluctantly relented.

Similarly, entering the centre in a pair of jeans with metal buttons became a problem for an aspirant who was told they “had to be removed”.

The officials didn’t permit anyone to wear full-sleeved top. Those wearing long sleeves had to cut/remove them, said another shocked parent. The dress code also included no brooch/badge, no high-heeled shoes etc.

08:42  PM Modi ‘looks forward’ to working with Macron:  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today congratulated Emmanuel Macron on being elected as the President of France and said he looked forward to working closely with him to further strengthen the bilateral relations.

“Congratulations to @EmmanuelMacron fr an emphatic victory in the French Presidential election. #Presidentielle2017,” Modi tweeted.

“I look forward to working closely with President-elect @EmmanuelMacron to further strengthen India-France ties,” he added.

Macron, 39, defeating Marine Le Pen yesterday, created history by becoming the youngest president in the 59-year history of the French Fifth Republic.

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08:25  Rajnath to chair review meeting of Naxal-affected states toda:  

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will today chair a review meeting of ten Left Wing Extremism affected states in New Delhi following recent Maoist violence in Chhattisgarh.

Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and West Bengal will attend the meeting.

An official release said a holistic review of the situation will be undertaken covering security and development issues, particularly infrastructure building.

The meet will also focus on devising new strategies to ensure rapid development in Left Wing Extremism-affected areas.

A home ministry official said yesterday that the conclave is expected to discuss ways to revamp intelligence gathering mechanism, take a close look at ongoing operations against Naxalites, identify problem areas and devise ways to minimise casualties among the security forces.

District Magistrates and superintendents of police of 35 worst-hit districts, besides heads of paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies will take part in the deliberations.

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07:44  Macron defeats Le Pen to become French president:  

Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron has decisively won the French presidential election, defeating far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

Macron won by 66.06 per cent to 33.94 per cent to become, at 39, the country’s youngest president.

Macron will also become the first president from outside the two traditional main parties since the modern republic’s foundation in 1958.

He said that a new page was being turned in French history.

“I want it to be a page of hope and renewed trust,” he said.

He said he would “guarantee the unity of the nation and… defend and protect Europe.”

In his speech to the crowd, he said: “Tonight you won, France won. Everyone told us it was impossible, but they don’t know France.”

But he repeated a number of times that the task facing him and the country was enormous.

He said: “We have the strength, the energy and the will – and we will not give in to fear.”

Source: Rediff