Kashmir.Watch

Category: National

  • BJP ready to apologise for mistakes, says Rajnath Singh, reaching out to Muslims

    New Delhi:  Last year, Narendra Modi said he regretted the 2002 Gujarat riots under his watch. Ahead of the national election three months away, his BJP has gone a step further by offering an apology for “any mistake.”
    “I assure you. If there has been any mistake, we will bow down and ask for forgiveness,” BJP chief Rajnath Singh told a gathering of Muslims in the Capital, appealing to the community not to go by “propaganda” of the Congress and other parties. 
    He did not mention the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat. 

    The BJP President told his audience, “Try us once. (If) We don’t come up to your expectations, don’t look at us ever again.” he said.

    The remarks were a sign that the BJP is willing to explore ways of attracting minority voters who might be adrift due to general disenchantment, in its “Modi for PM: 272” campaign. That is the number they will need in the 545-member Lok Sabha to take power at the Centre. 

    Mr Modi, who has steered clear of religious rhetoric and focused on a development pitch during his campaign, was not present at this event.

    His critics accuse him of not doing enough to stop the riots that tore through Gujarat 14 years ago. But closer to the Lok Sabha polls this summer, his party perceives a wave in his favour. Overtures by the US and the UK are also being seen to signal the end of the Gujarat chief minister’s international isolation over the riots.

    Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley described today’s gathering as one of many to be held across the country, to “allay misconceptions” created by opponents.

    “An organized campaign has gone on for several years to create a fear factor amongst the minorities about the BJP,” Mr Jaitley said in a blog. “The clear distinction between the BJP and others is that we do not treat minorities as instruments of political power.”

  • India to put Makkah-Medina high speed railway on track

    Two of Islam’s holiest cities, Makkah and Medina will now have an Indian connection.
    According to government sources, the Indian labour force will be roped in for the Haramain High Speed Railway project – Saudi Arabia’s plan to connect the two cities by high speed trains. The rails for the tracks will also be supplied by Indian companies.

    Government sources pointed out the evolution in India-Saudi ties at a time when Saudi Deputy Prime Minister and Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud arrives here on Wednesday for a three-day visit, his second visit to the country in four years.

    Till recently, Saudi Arabia was India’s biggest crude supplier while receiving labour for its construction projects. These two factors have remained constant although there are operational hiccups. Saudi petro giant Aramco turned down India’s request for more extra light crude and withdrew credit facilities for an Indian public sector oil company.

    Officials consider Saudi-India cooperation in defence a major development, especially because they have stopped viewing their security and defence ties in binary terms – choosing between India and Pakistan.

    The two sides had agreed on a defence MoU when A.K. Antony became the first Indian Defence Minister to visit Riyadh in 2012. New Delhi expects to discuss this further with the Crown Prince who is also the Saudi Defence Minister and is known as a consensus builder in Riyadh’s corridors of power. Officials do not discount the possibility of the MoU being signed during his visit.

    For now, India is setting its sights on railways. Apart from the mega contract for L&T for part of work on the Riyadh Metro project, there are other opportunities worth about $100 billion opening up as Saudi Arabia sets in motion a network extension plan for the next 30 years.

    Government sources admitted that the Chinese had a headstart in most of the works opening up for international tendering such as heavy haul trains and tracks or high speed trains. But work of this nature is labour intensive and the expectation is Indian companies will be preferred .This is because having worked for decades in the Gulf, workers from the subcontinent are considered socially compatible with the ethos of the region than the Chinese.

    There are also signs of Saudi Arabia’s second most influential royal’s visit becoming a catalyst for Riyadh’s participation in LNG or oil refining projects being planned at Dahej, Ennore, Mangalore, Paradip and Kochi.

    The investment could come from the flush-with-funds Kingdom Holding Company which has already made investments in Four Seasons Hotel and Citi Bank.

  • WhatsApp’s first new feature under Facebook: Voice calls

    Reuters: The world’s biggest messaging service WhatsApp, which Facebook has just bought for $19 billion, will add voice calls to its product in the second quarter of this year, its chief executive Jan Koum said on Monday.

    With 450 million users worldwide, WhatsApp and its competitors South Korea’s KakaoTalk and China’s WeChat have punched a hole in telecom operators’ revenue in recent years by offering a free alternative to text messaging.

    The news that the most powerful of them was adding voice calls to its service will likely be seen as worrying for telecom operators globally, which got about $120 billion from text messaging last year, according to market researcher Ovum.

    “We are driven by the mission that people should be able to stay in touch anywhere and affordably. Our goal is to be on every mobile phone in the world,” Koum said on Monday, speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

    Koum said WhatsApp’s acquisition by Facebook would not alter his roadmap to develop the product to reach the next 1 billion users. No advertising will added to the service, he said.

    Facebook’s Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg was also slated to speak at 5pm GMT.

    WhatsApp’s Koum also sought to cast himself as a partner to telecom operators and not simply a competitor. He announced a partnership with KPN’s E-Plus under which it will launch a WhatsApp branded mobile service in Germany.

    “We are working with carriers in established markets to bring value to end users,” he said.

  • India slams Pakistan as Parliament attack mastermind resurfaces, calls for ‘Jihad’

    New Delhi: India has slammed Pakistan for allowing terrorist Masood Azhar, accused of planning the brazen attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001, to address an anti-India rally in late January.

    Soon after Pakistan’s foreign office sought to play down as a “one time event” reports that Azhar had called for “jihad” or holy war against India at the rally, New Delhi said, “Once is once too many times…We have zero tolerance for terrorists.”

    The Ministry of External Affairs said it was “concerned that a terrorist who is banned is able to spew venom on India,” pointing out that Azhar’s Jaish e Mohammad is “a terrorist organisation banned by India, the US and more importantly by Pakistan.”

    Masood Azhar, 45, was one of three terrorists released by India in 1999 in exchange for the hostages of the hijacked Air India flight IC-814. He went on to form the Jaish e Mohammad or Army of Mohammad and was soon banned by Pakistan and the US.

    He was named as the prime suspect in a 2001 Parliament attack. Tension spiralled and up to a million troops were mobilised on both sides of the volatile border. Pakistan refused to hand over Azhar to India.

    The portly and bearded cleric had remained mostly confined to a compound in his home city of Bhawalpur in Pakistan’s Punjab province for years. Earlier this week, however, Reuters reported that he had addressed a rally by telephone in Muzaffarabad, saying the time has come to resume jihad against India.

    “There are 313 fidayeen (fighters who are ready to die) in this gathering and if a call is given the number will go up to 3,000,” Azhar he told the rally. A Reuters journalist who was present said a telephone was held next to a microphone which broadcast his comments to loudspeakers. Azhar spoke from an undisclosed location.

    Twice since the end of December, authorities have issued an airport security alert, warning of an attempt by members of his militant group to hijack a plane, with smaller airfields most at risk.

    Intelligence analysts have described Azhar’s resurgence as part of a change in tactics in Pakistan as US forces withdraw from Afghanistan this year, and as Islamabad tries to clamp down on Islamic insurgents who oppose the Pakistani government.

  • European Investment Bank (EIB) and IREDA sign Euro 200 million Agreement

    NEW DELHI: The European Investment Bank (EIB) has sanctioned a Line of Credit (LoC) of Euro 200 million to M/s Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) to be utilized for financing Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency projects in India. The total loan period is 20 years. The LoC is secured by a sovereign guarantee from Government of India.
    Agreement for availing the LoC of Euro 200 million from EIB, was signed by Shri Debashish Majumdar, Chairman and Managing Director, IREDA and Mrs. Magdalena Alvarez Arza, Vice President, EIB in New Delhi today in the presence of Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy.
    Speaking on this occasion, Mrs. Magdalena Alvarez Arza, Vice President, EIB said that European Investment Bank started funding Indian project in 1993 and in this period of two decades, India has now become the second largest recipient of EIB fund.
    Dr. Satish B Agnihotri, Secretary, MNRE said that this LOC of Euro 200 million will facilitate in IREDA’s financing of existing and new projects of renewable energy.

  • Indian singer Hans Raj Hans embraces Islam, wants to go Madinah

    Chandigarh: Indian famous singer Hans Raj Hans has confirmed media reports in which it was mentioned that the singer has embraced Islam.
    According to a report published in a newspaper, the singer said his name would be Mohammad Yousuf for now but he cleared that he will maintain his name ‘Hans Raj Hans’ for singing industry.
    He said he has got the Islamic education very closely and started reading of Holy Quran and gradually began to understand the essence of the divine revelation. I listened to the call of my heart and decided to embrace Islam.”
    We should follow the teaching of Islam as it is a Religion of Love and Peace, he added.
    Raj further said that he felt proud to become a Muslim, adding that he wanted to visit Madinah as early as possible.
    He emphasized both India and Pakistan to resolve all the problems with dialogue as it was the wish of both the countries. 

  • Break silence on gas pricing: Arvind Kejriwal to Narendra Modi

    New Delhi:  Arvind Kejriwal, who quit as Delhi chief minister on Friday, today took to Twitter and asked BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to “break his silence on gas pricing.”

    “Modi should break his silence on gas pricing. Also, what is his and his party’s relation with Mukesh Ambani and Adani?” Mr Kejriwal tweeted.

    “Would 2014 election be fought between the Aam Aadmi Party and Mukesh Ambani, with Rahul (Gandhi) and (Narendra) Modi being agents of Mukesh Ambani?” Mr Kejriwal also
    tweeted.

    In an exclusive interview to NDTV yesterday, Mr Kejriwal had asked why Mr Modi and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi are silent on industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s gas price issue. “I will write letters to Mr Modi and Mr Gandhi in a couple of days and seek answers from both,” he said.

    An FIR or First Information Report was filed earlier this week by anti-corruption officials in Delhi against Mr Ambani, Union Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily and other policy-makers on the orders of the outgoing chief minister for creating an artificial shortage of gas in the country and raising its prices.

    The Centre in December had cleared a price hike starting April 1 which is expected to result in prices that are double the current level. Mr Kejriwal has asked the Prime Minister to suspend that price hike till the issue is resolved.

    Mr Kejriwal says his premise of a large scam is based on the plummeting output from the D-6 block off the Eastern Coast which is operated by Reliance. He alleges that Reliance has created an artificial shortage to “blackmail” the government to set higher prices. Reliance has blamed geological complexities, but the oil regulator believes it has not drilled enough wells.

    Reliance has called Mr Kejriwal’s allegations “shocking” and said it could take legal action in response.

  • Dog detained for allegedly biting ex-cop in Uttar Pradesh

    Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh:  Uttar Pradesh is

    truly the land of the bizarre. People had barely gotten over the absurdity of a massive search and rescue operation of UP Minister Azam khan’s stolen buffalo’s. And now a canine controversy from Bulandshahr district has become the top priority for the district police.

    This allegedly ferocious dog has been detained by the Bulandshahr police for allegedly chasing and biting a former cop.

    An FIR filed against the dog says it is a menace and that it bit former inspector Vijay Yadav while he was visiting his native village of Sanota.

    It’s seems Mr Yadav had been struggling to get justice for more than three months and has even written to the district Superintendent of Police and the District Magistrate about the reign of terror that the dog had unleashed in his village.

    The dog has been booked under section 289 of the Indian penal code which holds the owner of the animal responsible for negligent conduct with respect to animal that can cause harm to humans. The crime can send the owner to six months in prison and a fine.

    The dog is not behind bars. Instead, he seems to have been adopted by the Gulawathi police station, and is being well fed and looked after.

  • Union Cabinet recommends President’s Rule in Delhi

    New Delhi:  The Union Cabinet today recommended President’s Rule in Delhi and suspended animation of the Assembly.

    In his report to the President earlier today, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung refused to dissolve the Delhi Assembly and call fresh elections, thereby rejecting outgoing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s recommendation in his resignation letter last evening.

    As Delhi enjoys a special status of being a Union Territory, the Lieutenant Governor, who is Delhi’s constitutional head, is not bound to act as per the outgoing chief minister’s advice.

    The Cabinet decision will come into effect after promulgation of a notification by President Pranab Mukherjee, which has to be then endorsed by Parliament through a resolution under Article 356 of the Constitution.

    The Delhi elections in December last year threw a split verdict with no political party getting the absolute majority. The Aam Aadmi Party led by Mr Kejriwal formed the minority government with outside support from the Congress. (Nightmare is over: Arun Jaitley on Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation)

    Mr Kejriwal resigned as Chief Minister yesterday after his 49-day government fell over the Delhi Assembly stalling the tabling of the anti-graft Jan Lokpal Bill with a 42-27 vote. AAP has been asked to run a caretaker government for the next few days as an interim arrangement.

    In an exclusive interview to NDTV today, Mr Kejriwal alleged that the BJP and Congress joined hands to get rid of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi after a case was filed against industrialist Mukesh Ambani in a natural gas case.

  • India’s Haj quota fixed at 1,36,000 in 2014

    Jeddah: India’s Haj quota in 2014 has been fixed at 136,000, the same as last year when Saudi Arabia slashed it by 20 per cent for all foreign pilgrims citing expansion work at holy sites.

    A total of 136,000 Indian pilgrims will perform Haj this year, Saudi Haj Minister Bandar Hajjar told an Indian delegation yesterday.

    Under the India-Saudi Arabia bilateral agreement on Haj in 2013, the quota for India was fixed at 1,70,025 seats – comprising 125,025 seats for the Haj Committee of India and 45,000 for pilgrims going through private tour operators.

    But later in the year, Saudi authorities announced a 50 per cent cut in the Haj quota on local Saudi applicants and 20 per cent on foreign Haj pilgrims, due to which India’s quota went down from 1,70,025 seats to 1,36,020 seats.

    The quota for 2014 was fixed after the Indian Haj delegation led by Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed met Hajjar, a Haj Ministry spokesperson told Arab News.

    Hajjar reiterated that the reduction was necessary to facilitate the easy movement of pilgrims inside the Grand Mosque.

    The Indian Haj delegation included Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao, Consul General Faiz Ahmed Kidwai and other senior officials while the Saudi side included Hajjar, Undersecretary Hatem Qadi and other senior officials.

    The Indian delegation, which arrived on Saturday, discussed accommodation and transportation arrangements with the Saudi authorities besides several other issues related to Haj operations.

    India has emphasised upon the introduction of an electronic service from this year’s Haj season to expedite the Haj process, sources said.

    Last year, about 1.5 million pilgrims from 188 countries performed the Haj to Mecca, Islam’s holiest site.