The mortal remains of Naik Keshav Somgir Gosavi, who was killed by a Pakistani sniper in Jammu and Kashmir, are expected to arrive at his native place in Maharashtra’s Nashik district for last rites on Monday, an official said.
Gosavi, 29, was manning a forward post in Kalal area of Noushera sector in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district when he was shot by a Pakistani sniper on Sunday, resulting in his death.
He is survived by wife Yashoda Gosavi.
The body is expected to arrive at the Indian Air Force’s Ojhar airbase here around 4 pm and will then be taken to his native Shrirampur village in Sinnar tehsil for the last rites, the official at the district collectorate said.
“Gosavi’s relatives told the district administration that he was looking forward to return home as his wife is expecting their first child soon,” he added.
The BJP on Monday asserted that it would not join hands with the TRS if the latter falls short of numbers to form government post-December 7 assembly elections, even as it rejected the Congress charge that two parties were hand-in-glove.
The Telangana BJP spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao also challenged the Congress to give a similar “guarantee.”
The Congress has in recent times repeatedly alleged that the caretaker Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was a “stooge” of the BJP and the two parties have a “tacit undertanding” in the upcoming Assembly poll.
“There is 100 per cent tactical understanding between the TRS and BJP”, the AICC in-charge of Telangana affairs, R C Khuntia told agencies.
In his counter, Krishna Saagar Rao said, “I have a challenge for (TPCC President) Uttam Kumar Reddy and (Congress President) Rahul Gandhi.
Will you guarantee the people of Telangana that if KCR (as Chandrasekhar Rao is referred to by many) falls short of winning that you (Congress) will not help.”
“We (BJP) can assure you that we will not. Even if the TRS falls short, that BJP will not, no matter how many seats we get, we will not form a government with TRS. We can assure you that,” he said.
The TRS had supported NDA candidates in the Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections, as also the GST and demonetisation measures, giving rise to speculation in some quarters over the proximity between the two parties.
BJP fought the 2014 Assembly elections in alliance with the TDP, winning five seats in the 119-member House. This time it’s going it alone.
TRS leaders also dismissed the Congress allegation of a tacit electoral understanding with the BJP.
“In the present Telangana and also undivided Andhra Pradesh (before 2014), TRS is the only party which has not aligned with BJP.
TRS will not align with any other party, much less the national political parties (BJP and Congress),” TRS deputy floor leader in Lok Sabha, B Vinod Kumar told agencies.
Meanwhile, a senior BJP leader said on condition of anonymity said, “KCR understands that BJP wants him to be neutral and not go to Congress-led alliance at the national level”.
“And he (KCR) also understands that we (BJP) don’t want the Congress to rise,” he said.
“If we (BJP) fight hard (in Telangana polls), who are we going to defeat (TRS or Congress) is the question. If you fight hard, you are defeating a wrong person (TRS). If Congress wins…that’s not our objective,” the leader said alluding to his party’s “predicament.”
Assembly polls in Telangana are scheduled to be held on December 7 and counting would be held on December 11.
The 119-member Assembly was dissolved on September 6 on the recommendation of the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led government, more than eight months ahead of the expiry of its term.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea challenging the Constitutional validity of Section 375 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) which deals with rape on the ground that the provision is not gender-neutral.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul said that the issue raised in the petition is a subject matter of the legislature’s domain.
“The issue falls in the realm of the Parliament. We don’t want to say anything on it right now”, the bench said, while granting liberty to the petitioners to make a representation to the legislature.
While Section 375 of the IPC deals with rape committed on a woman by a man, Section 376 lists out the punishment for the offence.
The top court was hearing a petition filed by NGO Criminal Justice Society of India, through advocate Ashima Mandla, contending that Section 375 violates Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution as it does not account for the rape of men and Transgender persons.
The plea sought that the definition of rape under Section 375 be held “ultra vires” for being “discriminatory and violative of Articles 14 (right to equality), 15 (prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex…) and 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution”.
The petitioner has submitted that the section applies only to women as victims and men as perpetrators. It does not take into account non-consensual sexual assault inflicted on a woman by a woman, on a man by another man, on transgender by another transgender or a man or woman, on a man by a woman.
The plea referred to the August 2017 order passed by a nine-judge bench of the top court that declared privacy as a fundamental right and also cited the NALSA judgment that recognised transgenders as the third gender.
“It is imperative to note that transgenders including but not limited to homosexuals & bisexuals, and men are sequestered from the point of view of victims of rape under the existing penal laws of the country, despite an impending need for the same”, the plea said.
The Karnataka government on Monday declared a 3-day mourning and one-day holiday in honour of Union Minister Ananth Kumar, who breathed his last earlier this morning.
Kumar’s last rites would be performed with all government honour, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said. The national flag has been draped over the casket carrying mortal remains of Ananth Kumar here.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced that the national flag would fly at half mast throughout the country today and the state funeral will be accorded to Kumar.
Kumar, 59, was suffering from pancreatic cancer and was being treated at Shankar Cancer and Research Hospital.
He held charge of two key ministries – Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, and Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in the Union Cabinet. Kumar is survived by two daughters- Aishwarya and Vijeta and wife.
A former woman colleague of ex-Union minister M.J. Akbar, who had filed a criminal defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani, told a Delhi court on Monday that his reputation has been “destroyed” and “damaged irreparably” due to allegations of sexual misconduct.
Joyeeta Basu, the editor of Sunday Guardian, who appeared as a witness to support Akbar’s case, told Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal that Ramani posted all her tweets “intentionally with a purpose to harm” Akbar’s “reputation and goodwill”. Akbar had founded the Sunday Guardian in 2010.
“I have seen tweets by Priya Ramani dated October 10, 2018, and October 13, 2018. I was overcome by doubts, but I know from the number of questions raised by people, I know personally that his reputation has been destroyed and damaged irreparably,” Basu told the court.
“After reading these tweets by Ramani, I believe that this vilification was conducted and the tweets were published intentionally by Ramani with a purpose to harm Akbar’s good reputation and goodwill in the eyes of society,” Basu said.
The journalist said that she has worked with Akbar for 20 years and had not heard anything “untoward” from the staff of the organisation where they worked together. He was a public figure who was held in high esteem.
“I have always held Akbar in high regard. He has been perfectly professional in his dealings with me. He has always been a tough taskmaster, a thorough professional and a brilliant teacher,” Basu said.
She said that she considered Akbar to be “a brilliant journalist, a scholarly writer and a thorough gentleman with an impeccable reputation”.
Indian challenge ended at the World Women Chess Championship with grandmaster D Harika bowing out following a defeat against former champion Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia in the second set of tie-break games.
Harika had carried the Indian hopes nicely till the tie-breaker of the third round. However, she got a jolt in the first game of the rapid tie-break where both players had 25 minutes on their clock.
The Indian looked down and out but a major comeback was on the cards as she won the return game with white pieces to level scores.
But in the 10-minute games, Harika again lost the first game with black on Sunday.
While it is up to the pundits to decide her downfall, it was the same opening she chose with black — the Isolated queen pawn opening position coming out of a French Tarrasch.
Kosteniuk was confident as she had been successful in her first attempt. And as it happened, her instinct held her well.
The Isolated pawn in French defense has been considered about equal for a long time but has not been a taker in elite chess. The reason is probably a slightly worse position that black has to defend a long time.
Harika had been banking on her defense, but unfortunately on this day, things did not work in her favour.
After losing the second game, Harika was in a must-win situation with white, but she could only manage a draw.
The $450000 championship will continue without an Indian representation in the last three rounds.
Roger Federer suffered a shock straight-sets defeat to Kei Nishikori at the ATP Finals, severely denting his bid for the 100th title of his illustrious career.
The Swiss, who has won the season-ending event a record six times, produced an uncharacteristically error-prone and fractious display in the round-robin match on Sunday as the Japanese seventh seed prevailed 7-6 (7/4) 6-3.
The result means Federer is now in danger of failing to qualify for the semi-finals for just the second time in 16 appearances at the event.
“I felt we both struggled, you know, throughout the first set,” he said.
“You could tell it was sort of a first round. I had my chances maybe a bit more than he did. Then I started to feel better in the second set. I think we both did. The level went up. Unfortunately I couldn’t keep the lead that I got early. That was important, I think, at the end. That was the key of the match.”
Federer, 37, has beaten Nishikori in Shanghai and Paris in recent weeks but despite having the backing of a full house at the O2 Arena, he never really settled into a groove.
The normally cool Swiss was warned by the umpire for ball abuse in the 12th game after Nishikori produced a staggering backhand winner down the line.
Federer, showing real urgency, broke Nishikori immediately at the start of the second set but it proved a false dawn as he lost his own serve immediately Nishikori broke again in the sixth game and kept his nerve, serving out for victory.
“I lost to him twice in the last two months so I played more aggressively and things started working, especially in the second set. There were some lucky points but I played well today,” said Nishikori.
Overall the statistics made grim reading for Federer, who made a total of 34 unforced errors against 19 winners.
Federer denied that cutting back on his schedule increased the pressure on him to do well at the tournaments he did play.
India’s stand-in captain Rohit Sharma said it was important for Shikhar Dhawan to return to form ahead of the crucial tour of Australia, which will be a completely “different ball game”.
Dhawan, who struggled throughout the preceding ODI series against West Indies, returned to form with a smashing 92 off 62 balls to help India beat the visitors by six wickets in the final T20 and complete a 3-0 series sweep.
Dhawan and young Rishabh Pant (53 off 25) stitched 130 runs off 80 balls for the third wicket on Sunday to lay the foundation for the win after India were in a spot of bother at 45 for 2 while chasing 182.
“It was important from the team’s perspective and for the players to get some runs ahead of the important Australia tour. Shikhar especially was batting well in the ODI series but he was not able to get big scores. I am glad that he could play a match-winning knock and get some form under his belt before the crucial tour,” Rohit said.
“Rishabh was also hungry to go out and get some runs. It was the perfect situation. We were two down inside the first six overs. There was a bit of pressure as well. They handled it well and it was a match-winning partnership. It is important in the team’s perspective that both these guys got runs,” he said.
India’s tour of Australia starts with the three-match T20 series at Brisbane on November 21.
Rohit said that the upcoming tour of Australia will be a completely “different ball-game” and India must take confidence from the 3-0 win.
“It is always challenging when it comes to going out there and performing. Every time you go there, you are tested as a player, as an individual and as a team. Australia will be a different ball game,” he said.
“When you win a series like this, you are high on confidence and it is all about taking that confidence there. We have to keep repeating the performances. It is a never-ending story,” added Rohit.
Rohit has also been picked in India’s Test squad to face Australia, but he said he wasn’t thinking that far.
“I think there is still time before that. We have the T20Is and practice games before the first Test match. I am not thinking about the Test match. I am someone who doesn’t think too far ahead. All I am thinking of is going back, taking a few days off, and take the flight to Australia and prepare for the T20 series,” Rohit said.
Rohit, who led India to victory in the Asia Cup recently before the T20 series triumph over the West Indies, said the secret of his captaincy success was to keep things simple.
“Every game is a new game. Every time I go out there in the middle, I keep things simple. This game is simple and you need to keep it simple,” he said.
Rohit also praised newcomer Krunal Pandya and said India will benefit immensely from fearless cricketers like him.
It’s not difficult to understand why Deepika Padukone and her beau Ranveer Singh chose northern Italy to get married. This stunning corner of Europe has attracted everyone from showbiz royalty like David Bowie and George Clooney to ‘nouveau’ celebs like Kim Kardashian.
No place captures the breathtaking natural beauty, history and undoubted glamour of the region than Lake Como – a strip of land that is no more than 30 meters deep in places which wraps around the one of the largest bodies of water in the world and which has been a luxury gateway for aristocrats and the wealthy since Roman times.
From its cobbled streets, Italianate architecture, quaint atmosphere to its stunning views and the clouds that linger through the day, hugging the sides of the mountains that rise all around it, Lake Como is steeped in romance.
In fact, romance is palpable as you walk along the streets.
And no place in Lake Como captures its romantic essence better than Villa del Balbianello, a stunning Italianate villa that began life as a monastery more than seven centuries ago.
Later this week, the Villa will play host to what is the culmination of Deepika and Ranveer’s six-year romance.
Surrounded by family and selective friends – including Shah Rukh Khan, Farah Khan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali – the two stunning young Bollywood stars will tie the knot in two separate ceremonies; a Konkani ceremony in celebration of Deepika’s Kannada heritage and a second Sindhi do in tribute to Ranveer’s slightly more rambunctious background.
Security is, understandably, almost water-tight. However, the villa was open to the public until late on Sunday when it was put on lockdown for the remainder of the week.
The only way to get inside was by hiking up a gruelling two-and-a-half kilometre trail that meanders its way through a peninsula that juts out from the eastern shore of Lake Como.
The hike allows access to a ‘service’ entrance where a number of commercial vehicles had arrived bringing everything from flowers to scaffolding.
The ceremony will take place inside a surprisingly intimate dwelling that overlooks the Villa’s breathtakingly beautiful landscaped gardens with its roman statues and ancient flora.
What truly sets apart Lake Como and the Lombardy region in general is the incredibly comfortable co-existence of the old and the new.
Most hotels in the area are housed inside buildings that are hundreds of years old but have been faithfully and carefully updated with the latest modern amenities with no compromise made to the history of the property.
