12:27 Will fast till peace is restored: Shivraj Singh Chouhan:
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today began his indefinite fast “for peace”, in an attempt to restore peace among the farming community of the state.
Chouhan said that he will fast till the peace is restored in the state which has witnesses violent protests by farmers.
He said that no land will be acquired without the consent of farmers.
“We are trying to create a system where there will be no middle man between farmers and market,” he said at the Dussera Maidan where he will hold an open ‘durbar’ for agitating farmers to meet him.
Farmers’ protests started last week in Mandsaur over demand for better prices for their produce and debt relief.
The protesting farmers blocked roads, vandalised property and set vehicles on fire on Tuesday. The police opened fire to control the situation.
The situation escalated when five farmers died on the spot and another farmer, who was allegedly detained by police died on Friday at a hospital. Those responsible would be punished, Chouhan said.
One terrorist was killed on Saturday as the army foiled another infiltration bid in Jammu and Kashmir’s Gurez sector.
A weapon has been recovered from the terrorist so far.
The operation is still underway.
The army on Friday killed six terrorists near the Line of Control as it foiled fifth infiltration bid from Pakistan into Kashmir in three days.
In the current year, the army foiled 23 infiltration attempts killing 39 armed intruders along the LoC.
11:06 Civilian caught in crossfire between ITBP and terrorists in J&K: One civilian was injured in a crossfire between terrorists and Indo Tibetan Border Police personnel in the Qazigund area of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.
The injured civilian has been shifted to the nearby hospital.
Ammunition has also been recovered from the location.
On June 3, one Indian Army soldier was killed in an attack by terrorists on a convoy in Qazigund.
On the same day, one civilian was also injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Poonch sector.
Yesterday, at least five terrorists were gunned down, as the Indian Army continued to thwart cross-border infiltration along the Line of Control (LoC).
Yesterday’s security operation took place in the Uri Sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
10:34 Malaysia saw me as security threat, says Vaiko: Marumalarchi chief and ex-lawmaker Vaiko, who arrived in Chennai after not being allowed to enter Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur to attend a marriage, claimed on Saturday that he was deported because he was considered “a security threat” by the Malaysian authorities due to his links with the LTTE.
Vaiko returned to Chennai Friday night. The MDMK leader had been invited to attend the wedding of Penang Deputy Chief Minister P Ramasamy’s daughter on June 10.
“As soon as I reached the check-in counter, they saw my name and said that I am blacklisted and can’t enter Malaysia. Thereafter, I was taken to the immigration office where I was questioned for several hours,” Vaiko said.
“They asked whether I was a Tamilian from Sri Lanka, I said no. I even showed them my ID card. They said that a lot of cases have been charged against me and asked me whether I belong to the LTTE. I said I am a supporter of the LTTE,” he added.
Vaiko said he informed Ramasamy of the development, who contacted Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Young so that they could inform the security and immigration officials about the purpose of his visit.
“I showed them a wedding invitation. I told them that I had travelled to Kuala Lanpur in 2015 as well. Later, I apprised Deputy Chief Minister Ramasamy about this. He contacted Penang Chief Minister Lim Kuan. He later contacted the deputy prime minister to talk about my release,” he said.
“The Penang Chief Minister told me that the officials are stubborn and that I am (seen as) a security threat to Malaysia. Later instructions came from the deputy PM’s office not to allow me to enter Kuala Lumpur,” he concluded.
10:20 As Chouhan goes on fast ‘for peace’, will MP’s farmers meet him?: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will undertake an indefinite fast “for peace” from today, in an attempt to restore peace among the farming community of the state.
Chouhan will begin his fast from 11 am at the Dussera Maidan where he will hold an open ‘durbar’ for agitating farmers to meet him.
Chouhan said on Friday, “I am not emotionless, and therefore, I will sit at BHEL’s Dussera ground tomorrow at 11 am. I appeal to the farmers to come forward and discuss all the issues.”
Maintaining that his government would deal with miscreants with an iron fist, Chouhan said his fast is an attempt to ensure peace in the state.
Farmers in Madhya Pradesh are demanding better prices for their produce as also a waiver on loan repayments.
The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress have locked horns over the farmers’ agitation in Madhya Pradesh, with the former claiming that the latter was behind the chaos and violence in Mandsaur district that claimed six lives.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav attempted to reach Mandsaur earlier this week to commiserate with the agitating farmers, but the police prevented their movement into the area.
Gandhi was even detained by the police under Section 151 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) before being released on bail after several hours.
The collision took place at Chandol near Jagatsinghpur when the victims, hailing from Machhagaon, were returning after attending the ceremonial ‘Snana Purnima’ ritual at Nemala, inspector in-charge of Jagatsinghpur police station, Rajnikant Mishra, said.
While seven persons, including a teenager, died on the spot, another succumbed to injuries at the hospital.
All the five passengers were reportedly safe.
An official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in Delhi said that an engineer, who was part of the crew, died in the mishap after reportedly being hit by rotors, while the two pilots have suffered injuries.
The Agusta 119 helicopter, reportedly belonging to Mumbai-based private operator Krestal Aviation, met with an accident just after take-off around 0745 hrs, the DGCA official said.
The helicopter was on its way from Badrinath to Haridwar.
09:29 Austria to ban burkhas in public places from Oct 1: Austria has adopted a law that bans wearing burkhas in public places.
The law was adopted after it was signed by President Alexander Van der Bellen and issued by the Federal Law Gazette, the OE24 media outlet reported.
The ban will be effective from October 1, 2017.
‘The law will also force asylum seekers to pass a year-long integration program aimed at providing them with basic knowledge of the German language and European values,’ Sputnik International reported.
Image used for representational purpose only
09:05 After wrapping up his historic visit to Kazakhstan to attend the 17th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Astana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in New Delhi in the wee hours of Saturday.
09:00 ‘CBI selective under Modi’: The CBI’s decision to go after NDTV and its founders — while ignoring cases against the Adanis, Ambanis and other powerful businesses despite serious evidence — doesn’t bode well for the agency, writes Ashish Khetan in an article, ‘Under Modi the CBI is protecting the powerful while picking on critics,’ here.
The meetings will kick off from Monday when the inter-ministerial group (IMG), which was formed to resolve the financial stress of the sector, will meet representatives from Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, Aircel, and MTS.
The panel will meet Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Jio executives on Thursday.
On the same day, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman R S Sharma will meet the chief executives of the telecom companies.
IMG will meet state-run BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) and MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd) on June 17 (Saturday).
Sources said after the meetings of government and industry officials, telecom minister Manoj Sinha will meet the promoters of telecom firms on June 22.
Till now, Bharti Enterprises founder and chairman Sunil Mittal, Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran have confirmed their presence for the meeting.
08:33 Tennis star Zhang Shuai accuses United of insulting her: United Airlines is again in the news for wrong reasons. This time Chinese female tennis player Zhang Shuai has accused the airlines’ staff of insulting her on a journey.
The airline was recently in hot waters for brutally dragging a passenger off a plane.
In a Facebook post, Shuai shared her experience at the departure gate on United Airlines flight UA735 from Tampa, Florida, to Washington on Thursday morning.
She said a staff member told her that her tennis bag exceeded the maximum size allowed in the passenger cabin, took it away without her permission and tagged the bag with a check-in tape.
‘Customer service of United Airlines staff was so so so terrible! I was at the gate waiting for my flight UA735 from Tampa/St. Petersburg to Washington-Dulles on my way back to Beijing. At the gate, a UA female staff (see the lady in the pictures) said my tennis bag exceeded the maximum measurement size and took away my bag without my permission (sic),’ read the post.
The Chinese tennis star further added: ‘When I took out a shoulder bag from the tennis bag, she said I now have 3 carry-ons and only 2 are allowed! So I put the shoulder bag back into the tennis bag, but she claimed the bag now is too big! I started with 2 carry-ons, one tennis bag and one backpack, both of which fit into the measurement scale for carry-on bags, but she refused to let me board with the tennis bag (sic).’
Shuai claimed that the staff member even manually stretched out and fully expanded her tennis bag so that it would appear to exceed the maximum length of a carry-on, and she took a photo of it as proof that it doesn’t meet the size requirement.
‘While I was sitting in the waiting area of the gate, again without my permission, she walked over and took away my tennis bag and tagged it with a check-in tape! She even physically grabbed my passport and boarding passes from my hand. When I attempted to take back my passport and boarding passes and asked her not to touch my personal belongings, she fiercely responded ‘Don’t touch me!’ This UA staff was so aggressive in the process that my boarding pass was torn apart into 2 pieces!’ said Shuai’s post.
08:18 Kuchibotla murder: American charged with hate crime: Adam Purinton, the man accused of killing Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla and injuring two others at a suburban Kansas city bar, has been indicted on federal hate crime and firearms charges.
The indictment on Friday by a federal grand jury against Purinton, 51, of Olathe, Kansas, comes after a February 22 shooting at a city bar.
The indictment announced by the department of justice has accused Purinton of shooting and killing Kuchibhotla, and attempting to kill Alok Madasani, also an Indian national, because of their actual and perceived race, colour, religion and national origin.
Witnesses said Purinton yelled at the two Indian men to “get out of my country” before pulling the trigger in the attack.
Ian Grillot, a 24-year-old American man, was also injured while intervening in the shooting.
08:10 Trump speaks to May, offers ‘warm support’: US President Donald Trump spoke over phone with British Prime Minister Theresa May to offer his “warm support” after her Conservative party failed to muster a simple majority in the Britain’s snap polls.
“President Trump emphasised his commitment to the United States-United Kingdom special relationship and underscored that he looks forward to working with the prime minister on shared goals and interests in the years to come,” the White House said in a statement.
May’s gamble of calling snap polls backfired after the British electorate delivered a hung parliament and forcing her to seek the support of a small Northern Irish party for staying in power, as the country braces for hard Brexit talks.
With results declared for all of the 650 seats of the British parliament, the Conservatives won 318 while the opposition Labour secured 262, leaving neither party anywhere close to the 326 seats required for an overall majority.
00:48 Ex-IAF chief calls for ‘ruthless measures’ to combat terrorism in Kashmir:
Former IAF head Air Chief Marshal P V Naik has called for “ruthless measures” — including the use of air power and special zones where intruders can be killed without a warning — to combat terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indian Air Force veteran, in an interview to PTI, suggested a slew of methods, which, he said, could be “better accomplished” under a few months of Governors Rule.
“Hard decisions will have to be taken…It (the situation) demands something which others feel we as a nation lack: Ruthlessness,” he said.
Naik, who was the IAF chief from 2009 to 2011, said there had to be a “more effective use” of air power, so far “underutilised” in the valley.
The retired IAF chief’s aggressive views on battling militancy followed Army Chief General Bipin Rawat’s position that the Army faced a “dirty war” in the valley.
“This is a proxy war and proxy war is a dirty war. It is played in a dirty way,” Rawat told PTI last month.
Fifty-nine Army personnel have been killed in counter- terror operations in J&K since 2016. Twenty-two infiltration attempts have been foiled so far this year and 34 armed intruders killed on the LoC, according to official figures.
Naik believed “Red Zones” should be declared in infiltration prone areas near the LOC.
“Each zone should be a bubble 10 km in depth and include airspace above. Any unauthorised movement in this zone should be treated as inimical,” he said.
“We must start thinking along these lines if we are to control terrorism in the Kashmir valley,” he added.
Special forces with a clear mandate needed to be deployed to “seek and destroy” foreign terrorists, said Naik, now leading a retired life in Pune.
Source: Rediff