The Shiv Sena on Monday said the US was “scared” at the prospect of BJP leader Narendra Modi becoming India’s next prime minister.
An editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana said the US recently expressed concern that if a Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government attains power in India, “the minorities, Muslims” would be crushed.
The editorial, a rare one commenting on international political issues, hit out at the US, saying that India was a sovereign democratic republic.
“Who has given the US the right to speak about its election and internal matters? The US has no business commenting on the country’s internal matters, we are capable of handling them.”
Calling the US “a self-proclaimed global policeman”, Saamana cited reports saying America has appointed an international human rights protection panel to keep a watch on India’s political developments and was attempting “to instil fear” in the minds of Indian Muslims.
“Let the US first examine its own backyard and see how Muslims in its country have been harassed after the 9/11 terror attack. The Muslims in the US are under the scanner of intelligence agencies and all kinds of restrictions have been imposed on them,” the editorial said.
It said prominent personalities bearing Muslim names are detained and harassed for hours at US airports. Even Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan and a minister, Azam Khan, were not spared this humiliation.
“Is not the treatment meted out to Muslims at US airports also violative of human rights and an attack on their religious freedom? In such circumstances, the US should not claim responsibility to speak only about the rights of Indian Muslims,” it said.
The editorial alleged that the US attacked Afghanistan and Iraq and butchered Muslims there, but it was least concerned about the rights of minorities then.
Saamana said that in reality, the US was deeply worried that if Modi comes to power in India, “then the (Indian) cat will become a tiger” which will not listen to the “global policeman” (US).

AAP leader and social activist Medha Patkar said that the BJP’s vision in its poll manifesto was for corporate India and will increase the growing inequality in the country.

Addressing a press conference, Patkar, AAP’s candidate for the Mumbai North East Lok Sabha seat said, “As the first Phase of election, different political parties have come up with their manifestos. It is unfortunate the party claiming to lead the country even failed to bring its manifesto on time. The vision proclaimed by them is of and for the corporate India and will increase the growing inequality in the country.”

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) released its manifesto much ahead and true to its vision and kept it in public domain for debate and discussion, she said.

“We stand for true and participatory development in the country and have shown our commitment to Swaraj- a promise to deliver power to people. Some of the highlights of our manifesto include process of development planning, judicial reform, electoral reforms, anti-corruption majors like the Jan Lokpal bill,” the activist said.

“We are also going to revisit some of the colonial laws and reform some of those like Police Reforms. Our fundamental efforts will be towards electoral reforms and especially in the direction of less funding and judicious use of that. Judicial reform and judicial accountability will be on top of our agenda.

“One of the most important reforms in this direction will be Lok Adalat, which has been a demand by the Peoples’ Movements for decades. The price rise, as suggested by Congress will not be tackled only by the RBI, but the worst culprit is commodity trading. Our manifesto has its emphasis on those on the margins of the society like adivasis, Dalits, minorities, women and so on,” she said.

A single judge bench of the Bombay High Court recused itself from hearing a suit filed by Khuzaima Qutbuddin, who claims to be the 53rd Dai al-Mutlaq and head of the Dawoodi Bohra community, seeking to be declared as the Syedna.

Qutbuddin filed the suit last week seeking relief against Mufaddal Saifuddin, the second son of the late Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin. Mohammed Burhanuddin passed away on January 17 this year at the age of 102.

Qutbuddin, who is the half-brother of the late Syedna, sought that Mufaddal be restrained from holding himself or doing any acts, deeds or things as the 53rd Dai al-Mutlaq of the community.

The suit came up for hearing before Justice S J Kathawalla today who recused himself from hearing the case as he had appeared for the late Syedna in the past in another matter.

The suit will now be placed before another judge of the high court.

Qutbuddin in his suit termed Mufaddal’s succession as false.

Qutbuddin’s family had earlier claimed that they had tried repeatedly to resolve the issue internally.

“We even invited him (Mufaddal) for a debate and establish the rightful claim of nass (succession). But all the attempts have been ignored and rebuffed by Shehzada Mufaddal Saifuddin,” the family had said earlier in a press note.

Qutbuddin claimed that the late Syedna had chosen him his Mazoon (deputy) and secretly appointed him as his successor 50 years ago.

Two bookies have been arrested from a flat in south Mumbai’s posh locality for allegedly operating a betting racket on the T20 World Cup final match between India and Sri Lanka, police said.

Acting on a tip off, the flat at Akruti building in Walkeshwar area was raided last night where three bookies – Rajesh Mehta, Nilesh Shah and Naresh Shah – were found accepting bets while the T20 World Cup final match was underway between India and Sri Lanka.

Three mobile phones, nine landline phones, a laptop, a desktop, an Ipad, a printer, along with other betting material were seized from the flat, police said.

“Rajesh and Nilesh were arrested while Naresh was admitted in hospital as he claimed to have been feeling chest pain when picked up,” said a crime branch official.

TRA, formerly known as the Trust Research Advisory, India’s leading Actionable Insights Company has rolled out the largest study on India’s Most Trusted Educational Institutes (MTEI) with an aim to offer novel insights for parents and students to make informed choices for holistic education.

This novel, first-of-a-kind, study by TRA will come in handy to both parents and students seeking inclusive education in India to cut through the clutter when almost every institute promises superlative results and weigh in the options through a neutral, unbiased lens.

Over the past decade, India has witnessed a phenomenal growth in the education sector buoyed by the sheer number of education institutes, a service driven economy, and favourable demographics. While this has made India a prime market for investment in the training and education with a projected growth of Rs 602,410 crore in 2015, concerns too are on the rise on the quality education, and learning outcomes.

With an aim to address such concerns and showcase the best, TRA has undertaken the largest ever paper and pencil interview (PAPI) survey for educational institutes across 40 cities in India, with 8,000 respondents.
“While the right education can change millions of lives, and catapult the Indian economy to agile growth, lack of informed choice on educational institutes often makes it tough for parents and students to make the right choices, more so, when every educational institute claims itself to be the best,” said N Chandramouli, CEO, Trust Research Advisory.