Hanif Syed, sentenced to death in 2003 Mumbai blasts, dies at hospital

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February 11, 2019

Mohammad Hanif Syed, one of the three convicts sentenced to death in the 2003 Mumbai twin bomb blasts and currently lodged in the Nagpur Central Jail, died at a hospital, a prison official said on Sunday.

Syed’s health suddenly deteriorated Saturday evening, following which he was shifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) where he died one and half hours after admission, Jail Superintendent Rani Bhosle told agencies on Sunday night.

“The exact cause of his death will be known after post-mortem which will be conducted Monday in the presence of his relatives who have arrived in the city Sunday,” she said, adding that Syed’s body will be handed over to his relatives after an autopsy.

As per preliminary information and symptoms, he could have died of a cardiac arrest, Bhosle said.

Syed, his wife Fehmida and third conspirator Ashrat Ansari were convicted by a POTA (Prevention of Terrorist Activity) court in 2009 of planting powerful bombs in two taxis which exploded at the iconic Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar on August 25, 2003, leaving 52 people dead and 244 injured.

Syed was shifted to the Nagpur Central Jail from Yerwada jail in 2012 after the Bombay high court upheld his death sentence.

The Lashkar-e-Taiba’s role in the twin blasts was revealed by an accused-turned-approver.

It was for the first time that the LeT had used a family to carry out bomb blasts in the country.

Man prints wedding card with appeal to ‘Vote for PM Modi’

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February 11, 2019

Wedding invitations usually come with a request to avoid presents, but a 27-year-old man from the city has printed his marriage cards with an appeal to the guests to vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the coming Lok Sabha polls.

Mukesh Rao Yande, a staunch Modi supporter, asked guests to avoid extravagant presents and instead promise to vote for Modi in the ensuing general elections as a gift to the couple.

The cover of the wedding card reads “Our Gift is your VOTE for MODI in 2019 Lok Sabha Election”. The invite for the wedding, scheduled to take place on February 21, has gone viral on the social media. When Yande, a government employee, first mooted the idea of printing the message, he faced resistance from his family members and his would-be wife. However, he stood to his ground and managed to persuade them.

“We are all so busy with our day-to-day affairs that we find it difficult to dedicate time to do something for our nation. The least we can do is to support someone who toils for the nation. Few of my family members did object to this at first, but I convinced them.. It is my way of endorsing Narendra Modi’s work,” Yande said referring to Modi.

Yande has got a total of 600 wedding cards printed with the appeal and has already started distributing them among his relatives and friends.

College trust cancels Jignesh Mevani event; principal resigns in protest

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February 11, 2019

A local college cancelled its annual day function on Monday, after its trustees got protest calls against Dalit leader and Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani being made the chief guest. Slamming the decision of the Brahamchari Vadi Trust, which runs the HK Arts College, principal Hemant Shah resigned from his post, claiming the trust “compromised on the freedom of expression” and gave in to threats by student leaders of a political party.

Mevani is an alumnus of the college. The trustees denied access to the auditorium, located on the campus, due to which the event had to be cancelled. “Because of threat calls made by BJP goons, trustees of HK Arts college – Ahmedabad, I graduated from cancelled the annual function where I was invited as chief guest. Was going to talk about life and mission of Babasaheb (Ambedkar). Salute to Principal Hemant Shah who resigned on moral ground,” Mevani tweeted.

Mevani accused the trustees, some of them Padma awardees, of “not standing up against the hooliganism” of BJP and its student wing, the ABVP. This is a shameful day for freedom of speech and democracy. Since Narendra Modi became the prime minister, many people have become spineless and this college trustees fall in that category, unfortunately.

Trust secretary Amrish Shah could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts. In his resignation letter, Principal Shah said that the trustees had given in to threats issued by student leaders belonging to a political party. The trustees had compromised on the freedom of expression.

Shah said that his decision to invite Mevani was not wrong as leaders from different political parties have been invited to earlier events in the college. It is clear that freedom of thought and expression given in our Constitution are being stifled in the current political scenario, and this is being patronised politically.

“Some student leaders had threatened to disrupt the event if Mevani was invited. The trustees decided not to offer the hall for the event after getting scared from the threats issued by these student leaders. I do not think that inviting Mevani was a wrong decision,” he said.

Humans will not be humans without the freedom of expression and will be reduced to becoming a pawn in the hands of a demonic system called government. Expressing his strong dislike for the decision of the trustees, Shah said that they gave up on their freedom in the face of political pressure, which is shameful.

Ashok Dinda got injured during practice match

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February 11, 2019

Pacer Ashok Dinda got injured during a practice match ahead of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament here at the Eden Gardens on Monday.

The Bengal cricketer threw a full toss delivery to young batsman Vivek Singh who played a shot that hit Dinda back on the face. Following the incident, Dinda suddenly fell on the ground.

After receiving the medical assistance on the field, the pacer started playing again and ended his over.

Later, Dinda was taken to a hospital where a CT scan revealed that there is no serious injury.

The practice match was organised by the batting consultant of Bengal team, VVS Laxman.

The Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament is slated to be held from February 21 to March 14.

Former India pacer Bhandari assaulted at Delhi team training, hospitalised

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February 11, 2019

Former India pacer Amit Bhandari, who is chairman of the DDCA senior selection committee, was on Monday assaulted by a group of unidentified men during the Delhi senior team’s training at the St Stephen’s ground.

Bhandari sustained head and ear injuries and was taken to Sant Paramanand Hospital at Civil Lines by his colleague Sukhvinder Singh. The goons fled before the cops could reach the spot.

“We are looking into the matter and a case will be registered after recording the statement of the victim,” Nupur Prasad, Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) said.

Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) president Rajat Sharma told agencies that guilty will not be spared.

“We are trying to procure all details of the incident. As far as I have come to know, it is regarding one disgruntled player, who didn’t make it to the probables list for the National U-23 tournament.

“The SHO from the local police station has reached the Stephen’s ground and I have personally spoken to the Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik. The guilty will not go unpunished. I promise exemplary action against whoever is found involved in this misdeed. We will register an FIR,” Sharma said.

Sharma, who went to meet Bhandari at the hospital said, “He is very shaken and it is natural. The doctors have advised that he should be kept under observation for 24 hours as a precautionary measure.”

“The goons were pressurising him to select a player, who had failed to get into the U-23 team on merit. Amit claimed that the one man also threatened him with a revolver.”

EXIM bank to appoint ‘strategic consultant’ to relook business: MD

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February 11, 2019

State-owned EXIM Bank is in the process of appointing a ‘strategic consultant’ to relook at its entire business strategy. The bank also plans to raise around USD two billion during the current year, Export-Import Bank of India, managing director, a David Rasquinha said on Monday.

“Right now, we are in the process of engaging a strategic consultant. Because we feel that we have been in operation for more than three decades. We were set up in 1981 and the conditions then were different,” he said here.

Rasquinha was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a Business Outreach Programme on India’s Line of Credit and Solar Projects’ organised by Economic Diplomacy and States division, External Affairs Ministry and EXIM Bank.

On the proposal to appoint a “strategic” consultant, Rasquinha said, “when we set up business, it was a different kind of situation at that time. Now, we are in 2019. The economy has changed. We are engaging a consultant all together to relook at the entire thing in the last three decades. How EXIM Bank performed? Have we met the expectations of the Government of India? what we have done right? What we have not done which we should have been done? What should be looked at going forward. The appointment of consultant was likely to take place by end of this month.”

On fund raising plans, he said, “the bank raised USD one billion in January 2018. We may look at bond market before March 31 or more likely after that date when our annual results have come in. Typically, on an average we raise between USD one to 3 billion. Perhaps, we will be looking at USD 2 billion in 2019.”

To a query on strengthening presence overseas, he replied in the affirmative saying that the bank may look at opening branches in neighbouring countries in a year or two. I will be first inclined to see where I am having higher exposure. To me Sri Lanka is an area where I like to open an office, not immediately. Perhaps, in a year or two we will be looking at an office. Then I believe we will be having offices in SAARC countries.

To a query on capital infusion from the central government, he said Finance Minister Piyush Goyal while presenting the budget estimates had announced provision of Rs 6,000 crore for the bank. We hope it will be passed in Parliament shortly. In the first phase it will be Rs 4,500 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 1,500 crore for 2019-20.

Liverpool’s improvement is clear to see: Wijnaldum

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February 11, 2019

Liverpool’s transformation this season into Premier League title contenders reflects how much they have improved, says midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.

The 28-year-old Dutch international, who scored a superb goal in Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Bournemouth despite suffering from a stomach upset, admitted two successive draws had been a setback as the club chases a first league title since 1990.

But he added that garnering 65 points at this stage of the season exceeded their expectations when the campaign got underway.

“We had two draws in a row and that didn’t feel that good,” said Wijnaldum.

“But if we had been told that at the beginning (of the season) you will have this kind of points (65) everyone would have taken it.

“It could be better but we must appreciate where we stand.

“You can see the improvement. You could see at the beginning of the season we improved. We just have to keep it going.” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is taking the squad to the Spanish resort of Marbella for a warm-weather training break this week.

He can afford to do that as Liverpool are not involved in next weekend’s FA Cup, meaning they return to action in the Champions League at home to Bayern Munich on February 19.

Wijnaldum, who cost Liverpool a reported $28 million when he signed from Newcastle in 2016, is optimistic they can cope with competing on two fronts.

Protests against Citizenship Bill derail life in Manipur capital

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February 11, 2019

Life in the Manipur capital was hit badly on Monday as street protests continued against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, a day after clashes between women vendors and police left eight persons injured. Six women vendors and two policewomen were injured in clashes after the police cracked down on hundreds of women traders who besieged Imphal’s Ima Keithel or Mother’s Market on Sunday, firing tear gas.

Even as the injured were rushed to a hospital, the protesters were back on the spot by the evening. Normal life has been crippled in Imphal since Sunday following a strike called by several organisations demanding the withdrawal of the Citizenship Bill. The vendors of the four women’s markets in Imphal are on strike till Tuesday.

Hundreds of women vendors have been sleeping in the main market refusing to go home. They have vowed to continue the protest against the Bill which promises Indian citizenship to six minority groups from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.

Critics say if this takes place, the northeast will be swamped by “outsiders”. On Monday, people obstructed traffic on the roads by burning tyres and logs. Even media persons and hospital employees were not spared. Trucks carrying milk and other essentials were not allowed to proceed.

Attendance in government offices, banks, and educational institutes was dismal. All shops and commercial institutes remained closed. Chief Minister N. Biren Singh left for Delhi on Sunday evening to discuss the situation with Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Meanwhile, a front-page advertisement published by the government in Imphal newspapers claimed that the Muslim population in Manipur rose from 23,864 in 1931 to 239,836 in 2011. “The decadal growth rate is 25.61 per cent for the Muslims.” The advertisement was silent on the population growth of other communities.

Ruchira Kamboj appointed India’s Ambassador to Bhutan

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February 11, 2019

Ruchira Kamboj was appointed as the Ambassador of India to Bhutan on Monday.

She is serving as the High Commissioner of India to South Africa since 2017, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

A 1987-cadre Indian Foreign Service (officer), she is expected to take up the assignment shortly.

Kamboj has previously served as the Ambassador/PR to Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO, Paris.

Govt should fulfill promise of special status to Andhra without delay: Manmohan Singh

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February 11, 2019

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Monday extended support to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s day-long fast for special status to the state and said the central government should fulfill the promise without any further delay.

Singh, who headed the UPA government at the Centre when Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated, said, “This demand had the support of all parties when it was discussed in Parliament. I stand in solidarity with Naidu.”

He said the special category status promise must be implemented without any further delay and that he had always stood by the people of the state.

Congress leader Anand Sharma said at the time of Andhra Pradesh’s bifurcation, it was clearly announced that the residual state will be given special status to make up for the loss.

He attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over “the language used by him against Naidu” at a rally in Guntur in the state on Sunday.

“It’s unbecoming of the prime minister. He has dragged the political discourse to such a low level. Therefore, we decided to unite against him. Standing together need is the hour,” he said.

Party leader Ahmed Patel alleged that the prime minister betrayed Andhra Pradesh and that its people should expect not anything from this government as it is a dispensation of cheaters and “tod-jod” (patchwork).

“We are solidly supporting Andhra. We are standing with Naidu,” he said.

Besides that, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday extended support to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s day-long hunger strike in New Delhi.