India

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
New Delhi, Oct 5: Union Home Minister Amit Shah, currently on a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, has said that the Narendra Modi government has consigned the chronic stone pelting and hartals in the valley to the archives of history but not before 42,000 people lost their lives in 30 long years of insurgency and terrorism.



"Those who support terrorism while sitting in the government were identified and action was taken against them. Those who used to call for hartal or throw stones on the security forces were curbed totally and now no one has courage to give any such call," Shah said in his address after inaugurating and laying the foundation stone of a number of developmental projects in Jammu on the second day of his visit on Tuesday.

"Do you know why there is not a single stone-pelting incident in Kashmir now? Because the stone-pelters were sitting in the government at that time," Shah said in a reference to 2015-19.

The valley's fiercest stone pelting on the police and security forces and the separatists' hartal calendars dominated Kashmir for over three years after the Hizbul Mujahideen poster boy Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter in July 2016.

Shah said that the Pakistan-sponsored militancy and separatism had consumed 42,000 human lives in Jammu and Kashmir, even as the situation had been brought completely under control after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. He said that with a policy of zero-tolerance to terrorism, the Modi government wanted to end gun culture and corruption and bring all-round development so as to make Jammu and Kashmir number one among all States and Union Territories across India.

Shah said that terror incidents had been brought down by 56 per cent and the casualties among the security forces by 84 per cent. Recruitment of terror cadres had also dipped remarkably in the last three years, he asserted.

Holding three political families responsible for the backwardness of Jammu and Kashmir, Shah said the UT lagged behind on all development parameters due to their 'misrule'. He claimed that the situation changed after the Modi government assumed power at the Centre in 2014 and most of the changes in Jammu and Kashmir were brought about after August 2019.

According to the Union Home Minister, aggregate infrastructure investment was not more than Rs 19,000 crore from 1947 to 2019. He said that a total investment of Rs 56,000 had come to Jammu and Kashmir in the last three years. As many as 27 lakh people of Jammu and Kashmir were now getting health insurance benefits of up to Rs 5 lakh while 58 per cent people had assured supply of drinking water.

Shah also referred to the Rs 80,000 crore development package announced by Prime Minister Modi. The projects, he said, were progressing well even as some of them had already been completed. As many as 63 major projects of 15 Ministries with a total outlay of Rs 80,068 crore are being executed in the PM's package in Jammu and Kashmir.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

--indianarrative

Lucknow, Oct 5 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh legislative Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana, in another initiative, has decided to give priority in speaking to those members who have not been able to speak in the Assembly so far.

The Speaker, during the monsoon session, had earmarked a separate day solely for the women members and the move evoked a great deal of appreciation.

"We will now give priority to such members who have not been able to speak in the House so far," said Mahana.

There are several MLAs, both in the ruling alliance and in the opposition, who do not participate in debates and neither do they take the initiative of raising issues. These MLAs remain mute spectators and are not even recognised by their colleagues in the house.

"I do not want to name them but I do want them to express their views. We will give this opportunity to such members during the winter session of the state assembly," he said.

--IANS
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Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 5 (IANS) As the fight for the top post of the Congress has begun, Shashi Tharoor seems to have won the hearts many, but those do not find a place in the voters list and that's where Malikarjuna Kharge, who has now got the tag of the being the 'official' candidate will help him.

The moment Tharoor's name surfaced as a likely candidate, those who are aligned to the Gandhi family smelt a rat and then things took a different turn. The highlight is that two Keralites are doing their very best to see that another Keralite does not walk away with the honours, when votes are counted after the October 17 polling day.

The two Keralites, who are burning the midnight oil include 81-year-old veteran A.K. Antony and the now closest aide of Rahul Gandhi -- K.C. Venugopal.

According to sources, the 'official' camp got a rude jolt when Tharoor sprang a huge surprise after 16 Congress colleagues of his here put their signature on his nomination form, and from then on the two Kerala leaders seeing the writing on the wall decided to act quickly.

Sources said that calls are now going to all to see that there should be no doubt whom they should vote for.

The day Tharoor landed in Hyderabad to campaign for his candidature, the next day, two-time former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, despite his poor health, was asked to reach Hyderabad to show that even in Tharoor's home state, he does not have the support.

But, when Tharoor boarded the flight to here from Hyderabad, the pilot announced they have a special guest in Tharoor and it was greeted with applause and passengers crowded for a selfie and got autographs.

He reached Kerala on Tuesday for a two-day trip and immediately started drawing huge crowds. When he arrived at the state party headquarters also the scene was no different, but there was one startling difference as none from those who crowded around him when he spoke to the media and were shouting slogans for him, will be voting on October 17.

A media critic on condition of anonymity said if the real supporters of Tharoor and the huge response he is getting in social media and otherwise had votes, then Tharoor is a sure victor.

"The sad fact is those who matter in the Congress party continue to live in the yesteryear philosophy, when a huge percentage of the new generation fails to identify itself with the Nehru/Gandhi family and such people are laughing when they heard that it was 80-year-old Kharge, the 'official' candidate and that too against the dashing Tharoor," said the critic.

--IANS
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Nagpur, Oct 5 (IANS) Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat has expressed concerns over the population imbalance and said that India has suffered severe consequences of deteriorating population balance in history. He called for a comprehensive policy to check population rise, and underlined the need for all sections of society to abide by it.

Bhagwat said that the balance of population was also getting disturbed due to conversion and infiltration, "which is very worrying".

Addressing RSS Swayamsevaks on the customary Vijayadashami celebration here on Wednesday at the sprawling Reshimbagh ground, Bhagwat said that due to population imbalance, many other countries of the world also broke up and separated from them, East Timor, South Sudan and Kosovo, were formed.

Bhagwat demanded the government should bring a holistic control policy of population. "The population policy should be prepared after serious brainstorming and should be implemented on all. No one should be exempted from this overall policy," he said.

Bhagwat also strongly advocated for women empowerment in the country, and said that men and women are equal in every aspect and respect, have equal potential and capabilities.

Bhagwat pointed out that women, who are regarded as "jagat janani (mother of the universe)", but at home they are treated as "slaves". The empowerment of women should begin at home and they should be given their rightful place in the society, he said.

Bhagwat underlined the importance of women's role in realizing the vision of India once again becoming a 'vishwa guru' (world leader). "If we want to build a vishwa guru Bharat then equal participation of women is also required," he said, and added that changes were also reflected in the society.

The RSS chief was speaking on women empowerment in front of its chief guest, Padma Shri Santosh Yadav, an acclaimed mountaineer, who was invited for the Vijayadashami function, the first woman chief guest for such a programme in the 97-year-old history of RSS.

He reminded that it was not the first time that a woman was invited in the RSS function, the veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister Amrita Kaur and first Lok Sabha member from Nagpur Anusuabai Kale and others were also invited in the RSS programmes.

Bhagwat said that India was fast recovering from the economic crisis due to Covid and and India's role during the Sri Lankan political crisis and also during the Ukraine war was laudable. "Our political weight has gone up in the world due to these two situations, Bhagwat asserted", he said.

The RSS chief said the dialogue with the members of minority communities will continue and it has been going on for years. The violent incidents have been condemned even by the prominent Muslim leaders in the country. "We are in favour of living in peace and harmony," said Bhagwat.

--IANS
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Hyderabad, Oct 5 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has said that within a short span of time Telangana has achieved development to emerge as a role model for the entire country.

In his message to the people on the occasion of Dussehra, he wished that the country would march ahead on the path of progress with the spirit of Telangana.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, said the state government put Telangana on the forefront.

He said that the Dussehra festival was being celebrated across the country as a sign of the establishment of Dharma and as Vijayadasami which brings victories.

It is a great tradition that people spot Palapitta (Indian Roller bird) and worship the sacred Jammi tree as an auspicious sign on Dussehra festival day, he said.

KCR noted that the specialty of Dussehra festival is exchange of Jammi leaf like gold, seek the blessings of elders and participate in Alai Balay to express love and affection.

He prayed that on the Dussehra day, which is a sign of success, all the tasks undertaken yield fruitful results. He stated that the spirit of Vijaya Dashami will continue. He wished all the people to prosper with happiness and peace

Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan also extended greetings to people on the joyous occasion of Vijaya Dasami.

The Navaratri festival renews our spirit of joy and jubilation. The main message of the festival is the triumph of good over evil and this message has an everlasting relevance, she said.

"Truth alone triumphs is our national credo and while celebrating the festival, we have to collectively endeavour to fight all evils, including environmental hazards and to create greener and tidy neighborhoods," she said.

--IANS
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Srinagar, Oct 5 (IANS) Former Chief Minister and president of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mehbooba Mufti said on Wednesday that while the Union Home Minister was visiting the Valley, authorities put her under house arrest.

This was, however, refuted by the J&K Police, who said she was free to travel.

"While HM is going around Kashmir beating drums of normalcy, I am under house arrest for simply wanting to visit Pattan for a worker's wedding.If an ex CM's fundamental rights can be suspended so easily, one cant even imagine the plight of a commoner.@AmitShah @manojsinha", she said on her twitter page.

In response to her tweet, the police said on its official Twitter page: "It is clarified that no restriction of any kind travel to pattan, travel to pattan was at 1 pm as intimated to us. The picture tweeted by her is of inside of the gate with own lock of residents who stay in the bunglow (sic). There is no lock or any restrictions. She is free to travel".

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in its first chargesheet on 2G scam, accused former Union Minister and DMK leader A Raja of being the 'master mind' of the conspiracy in relation to the scandal.

Corporate companies -- Reliance Telecom, Swan Telecom, and Unitech Wireless along with eight persons are charged as co-accused in the case. Former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura, Unitech chief Sanjay Chandra, DB Realty boss, its MD Vinod Goenka, and Swan Telecom MD Shahid Balwa are named in the charge sheet.

The 2008-2G case is an alleged corrupt sale of telecommunications bandwidth to selected organisations at prices that understated the real market value of the asset.

The sale is claimed to have occurred when Raja headed the Telecommunications and IT Ministry; it has been considered the largest political corruption case in modern Indian history, amounting to around Rs 1.76 lakh crore.

On December 21, 2017 , a Delhi court acquitted all accused, including Raja and DMK Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

Special Judge O.P. Saini said the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate had failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove the charges against 33 persons named in the case and the court has "absolutely no hesitation in holding that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove any charge against any accused".

In his 1,552-page judgment, the judge said it was actually confusion caused by "various actions and inactions" of the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) that snowballed into a "huge scam seen by everyone where there was none".

He said many facts in the prosecution's "well choreographed chargesheet" were found to be incorrect. "All the accused are acquitted."

The court also let off 19 accused, including Raja and Kanimozhi, in a related money laundering case probed by the Enforcement Directorate.

--IANS
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Srinagar, Oct 5 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address a large public rally in J&K's Baramulla town on Wednesday where he is expected to announce regularisation of hundreds of daily wagers whose future has been in lurch for over three decades.

All security arrangements are in place for Shah's Baramulla public rally which is his first such exercise in the Valley after the abrogation of Article 370.

A large number of people from different parts of Baramulla, Uri, Handwara, Tengdhar, Trehgam and other places have already reached Baramulla to attend the rally.

After he addressed a historic public rally in Rajouri on Tuesday, where he assured reservations to the Pahari community of the UT, Shah is likely to announce regularisation of hundreds of daily wagers in J&K whose future is in lurch because successive governments in the state promised them permanent jobs without any results.

Shah chaired the core group meeting of the BJP on Tuesday where he told the party leaders to gear up for the Assembly elections which would be held soon.

He enjoined upon the party leaders to carry the Prime Minister's message of a new, progressive J&K to the voters.

"After the Centre did so much for every section of the local society, it is now the duty of the people to vote in large numbers to strengthen democracy in J&K," he told the BJP core group meeting.

He is also scheduled to inaugurate many developmental projects, including the hydraulic entry and exit gates of the spill channel in the World famous Hokersar wetland bird reserve.

He will also inaugurate 15 water supply schemes under the Jal Jeevan mission, 94 roads of 580.92 kms length, 7 power transmission projects, new building of sub-district hospital in the Hazratbal area of Srinagar city, 11 urban development projects in Kashmir division, 74 roads with 434.37 kms length and 7 bridges, 20 power distribution/transmission projects, in patients block in sub-district hospital Bijbehara, transit accommodation (864 BHK) at Baba Daryadin in Ganderbal, Allowpora in Shopian and Odina in Sumbal Bandipora.

He will also chair a high level security review meeting in Srinagar before he leaves for New Delhi in the evening.

--IANS
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Kotdwar (Uttarakhand), Oct 5 (IANS) As many as 25 bodies have been recovered while many others are still feared missing after a bus travelling at a high speed fell into the Nayar river near the CMD band of Bironkhal in Uttarakhand's Pauri district, disaster control room officials said.

There were more than 50 processions in the bus while the rescue operation team has so far retrieved 25 bodies. Rescue operations are facing problems due to darkness. The death toll is expected to rise since there are many people reportedly missing.

On receiving information about the bus accident in Pauri district, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reached the disaster control room located at the Secretariat.

He took detailed information about the accident from the officials and also spoke to Pauri District Magistrate over the phone and instructed him to carry out relief and rescue work with utmost vigil.

Dhami directed the State Disaster Control Room officials to continuously monitor the situation and be in constant touch with the district officials.

The Chief Minister added that all possible help will be provided at the government level and also spoke to the Lansdowne MLA over the phone.

Terming the bus accident as unfortunate, Dhami has directed to make arrangements for all possible treatment of the injured persons and speed up the relief and rescue operations with coordination.

The Chief Minister directed the Uttarakhand Secretary (Disaster Management), Ranjit Sinha, that the disaster management system should be operated continuously and the situation should be kept under constant watch.

Dhami himself is supervising all the preparations. Sub-Divisional Magistrate and ambulance, lights, rescue equipment, two ambulances from Ramnagar, one ambulance from Haldwani and relief materials are being sent to the affected site. Proper arrangements have been made in the hospitals of Ramnagar and Haldwani.

The District Magistrates of Nainital and Almora are themselves monitoring all the arrangements. The Chief Minister also inquired about the situation in Uttarkashi and has postponed all the government programmes proposed on Wednesday.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday declared a total of 10 individuals including commanders of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and other terrorist outfits involved in terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir "terrorists" under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), officials said.

"Shaukat Ahmed Sheikh, Imtiaz Ahmed Kandu and Basit Ahmed Reshi have been declared terrorists under the UAPA," the Ministry said in a statement.

Besides, under the UAPA, seven other individuals -- Habibullah Malik, Bashir Ahmad Peer, Irshad Ahmed, Rafiq Nai, Zafar Iqbal, Bilal Ahmad Baig and Sheikh Jameel-ur-Rehman have also been declared terrorists.

All of them have links with Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen, Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami, and Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front.

Sheikh a.k.a. Shaukat Mochi hails from Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district, and is said to be currently residing in Pakistan.

He is the 'Chief Launching Commander' of HM, and is tasked with spreading terrorist activities in the region by coordinating in infiltration, and recruiting terrorists through his network of allies in Kashmir.

Basit Reshi, also from Baramulla, was last reported to be residing in Pakistan.

Charged with coordinating targeted killings, he had planned and executed a terrorist attack on the police post of Baba Ali Raina Mazar in Sopore on August 18, 2015 which led to two fatalities.

Reshi has been involved in arranging arms and ammunition from across the border, and motivating the youth to join terrorist activities, officials said.

Imtiaz Kandu a.k.a. Sajad a.k.a. Fayaz Sopore, originally from Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore, is currently residing in Pakistan.

According to officials, he has been involved in providing financial aid to terrorists, supplying arms and ammunition and smuggling narcotics.

Kandu has allegedly coordinated attacks on security forces and civilians, which have resulted in several fatalities.

Habibullah Malik a.k.a. Sajid Jatt belongs to Pakistan Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)/The Resistance Front (TRF).

Officials said he was one of the key handlers of the terrorists that attacked Indian troops at Bhata Dhurian in Poonch district. He had also been the mastermind in many terrorist attacks in the Kashmir Valley.

Bashir Ahmed Peer a.k.a. Imtiaz Alam belongs to Jammu and Kashmir, and is currently residing in Pakistan's Rawalpindi.

He is the launching commander of Hizbul Mujahideen.

He was tasked with providing logistics to HM terrorists, especially for infiltrating into Kupwara, and coordinating with other terrorist groups for terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

Irshad Ahmed a.k.a. Idris, currently living in Islamabad, is also the launching commander of HM who has been involved in its launching activities, coordinating the terrorist organisation's training operations.

Rafiq Nai a.k.a. Sultan is also living in Pakistan and is the launching commander of Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen/Jammu and Kashmir Ghaznavi Force.

According to officials, he is involved in arms smuggling and infiltration of trained Pakistani terrorists into Indian territory to revive terrorist acts in Jammu and Kashmir.

Zafar Iqbal a.k.a. Salim hails from Poonch district and is currently living in Pakistan.

Iqbal is the Operational Commander of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami/Jammu and Kashmir Ghaznavi Force.

Apart from smuggling of narcotic substances and weapons, he is also involved in funding and infiltration of terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.

Bilal Ahmed Baig a.k.a. Babar belongs to Srinagar, and is currently living in Rawalpindi.

He is the head of the Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front (JKIF). He is involved in the smuggling of arms in Jammu and Kashmir. Bilal Ahmed Baig.

Sheikh Jameel-ur-Rehman a.k.a. Sheikh Sahab belongs to the district Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir.

He is currently living in Pakistan and is the head of Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen.

He was also involved in smuggling of explosives made in Pakistan and movement of terrorists from Pakistan to India.

He was also involved in the conspiracy to attack religious places in Poonch.

--IANS
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