LIVE! Obama due in Cuba, ending half a century of conflict

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Sun, 20 March 2016

Obama due in Cuba, ending half a century of conflict

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20:47 Pak's Sindh to officially mark Holi, declare it public holiday

For the first time, the colourful religious Hindu festival Holi will be a public holiday in Pakistan's Sindh province, the government has announced.

In an unprecedented move, the provincial Sindh government issued a notification declaring March 24 as a public holiday.

Earlier only the minority Hindu community in Pakistan were given holiday to celebrate the "festival of colours."

"But this is the first time we have declared Holi as a public holiday throughout the province," said a spokesman for the Chief Minister House.

The announcement comes days after Pakistan's National Assembly adopted a non-binding resolution to take steps to declare Holi, Diwali and Easter as public holidays. Hindu lawmaker Ramesh Kumar Vankwani of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had moved the resolution.

US President Barack Obama is due in Cuba today to bury the hatchet in a more than half-century-long Cold War conflict that turned the communist island and its giant neighbour into bitter enemies.

Reversing generations of US attempts to cut Cuba from the outside world, Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and their two daughters will arrive in Havana for a three-day trip.

It won't just be the first visit by a sitting US president since Fidel Castro's guerrillas overthrew the US- backed government of Fulgencio Batista in 1959, but the first since President Calvin Coolidge came 88 years ago.

Obama, seeking to leave a historic foreign policy mark in his final year in office, was due to see old town Havana late today, hold talks with Cuban President Raul Castro tomorrow, and attend a baseball game before leaving Tuesday.

Two pieces of plane debris found in Mozambique arrived in Australia today, where experts will determine whether they are from the missing

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that disappeared mysteriously over two years ago over the Indian Ocean.

The Boeing 777 jetliner vanished from radar screens on March 8, 2014 with 239 people, including five Indians, aboard and has not been seen since.

After years of searches and questions, a South African teenager and an American lawyer recently found debris on separate occasions off the coast of Mozambique, renewing hopes of solving the major aviation mystery.

Security agencies in the UK have been alerted to prepare for up to 10 simultaneous terror attacks in London as they fear repetition of Paris-style

attack here by terrorists returning from Syria, according to a media report today.

A minister familiar with the proposals said: "We used to plan for three simultaneous attacks but Paris has shown that you need to be ready for more than that. We are ready if someone tries with seven, eight, nine, ten".

The National Crime Agency has been ordered to make a crackdown on firearms a priority amid fears of a Paris-style attack by terrorists returning from Syria, the Sunday Times reported.

A minor fire broke out at gate no 8 of Delhi's South Block which houses the External Affairs Ministry.

12 fire tenders have been rushed to the spot.

No injuries have been reported so far.

More details awaited.

There seems to be bad news for cricket fans in Delhi with reports emerging of the World T20 semi-final to be moved out of Ferozshah Kotla stadium in the national capital

The dispute is over the use of the old club house in the stadium and DDCA won't be having permission to use it, which could force the ICC to move the match to another venue.

However, the ICC will take a final decision on this issue by Monday.

Congress today expressed surprise over the Modi government's "inability" to rein in affiliates of Sangh Parivar "brewing communal hatred and mistrust" for electoral gains giving rise to "suspicion" that it is part of

the deliberate strategy to "polarise and divide".

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighting the "growing attacks" on the minority community, including the latest in Latehar district of Jharkhand where two cattle traders were tortured and hanged to death by "radical bigots".

"With great dismay, I am impelled to observe that such episodes of brutality and mob violence seem to give a spectacle of some parts of the world where democracy does not exist not of India which is widely respected as a vibrant and secular democracy governed by rule of law," Azad, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said in his two-page letter.

Azad termed as unfortunate the "spurt" in incidents of threats, intimidation, mob violence and vigilantism after the BJP government took office at the Centre.

16:14 86 Indian fishermen released by Pakistan

Pakistan today released 86 more Indian fishermen arrested for allegedly trespassing into its territorial waters, the second such batch freed this month in a goodwill gesture.

The 86 fishermen freed from the Malir jail in Karachi would travel to Lahore by train and be handed over Indian authorities at the Wagah border, Superintendent of Karachi's Malir prison Raja Mumtaz told PTI.

"The Edhi trust arranged for their journey to Lahore and also bid them farewell with gifts and cash," he said.

Following two days of gruelling search operations, Indian Army rescue teams on Sunday recovered the mortal remains of Sepoy Vijay Kumar from under twelve feet of snow, after he was swept away in the avalanche on an Army post in Kargil while on surveillance duty.

The search operation continued for three days despite adverse weather conditions and upto fifteen feet of snow in the area of avalanche.

Avalanche rescue dogs, deep penetration radars and metal detectors were also pressed into service in the rescue operation.

The martyr, who belongs to Vallaramapuram village of Thirunelvelli District of Tamil Nadu, is survived by his parents and two younger sisters.

Tibetans here are voting today to elect the next Prime Minister or 'Sikyong' of the Tibetan government-in-exile and other members of the 16th Tibetan Parliament.

As many as 94 candidates are in the fray for 45 seats in these elections, the results of which will be declared on April 27.

Tibetans living in exile in India can also cast their votes in Bengaluru, Darjeeling, Bylakuppe, Dehradun and Delhi.

More than 90,000 registered Tibetans in exile across the world are taking part in the elections, which will see voting being held in the US, Japan, Russia and Australia. Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, however, is not a voter for these elections.

Syrian opposition activists say the death toll from purported Russian airstrikes on the IS-held city of Raqqa in the past 24 hours has climbed to at least 55, mostly civilians.

The extremist group has controlled the city in northern Syrian since 2013 and considers it the capital of its self-styled caliphate.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which documents the conflict through activists on the ground, said 55 people have been killed, including 13 children and a pregnant woman, in a series of Russian airstrikes that hit residential areas.

The anti-Islamic State activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently also said the airstrikes were by Russian warplanes and put the number of deaths at 60.

The IS-affiliated news agency Aamaq said 43 were killed and 60 wounded.

PDP President Mehbooba Mufti is likely to call a meeting of senior party leaders in the coming days to clear the "misgivings" about the deadlock over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir with BJP.

"The PDP president is likely to hold a meeting with senior party leaders in the next few days to inform them about the last week's developments on government formation," sources in the PDP said.

The sources said the date of the meeting has not been finalised yet as several senior party leaders are stuck in Jammu "due to closure of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway".

The PDP and the BJP failed to end the deadlock on government formation as the meeting between their respective party presidents -- Mehbooba and Amit Shah on Thursday -- could not make any headway.

14:19 Asaram rape case: Girl's father gets threat

Days after a sharp shooter who killed 3 witnesses in Asaram cases was nabbed, father of the girl, who was allegedly sexually assaulted by Asaram Bapu, has been threatened by an unidentified person to withdraw the case or face dire consequences.

"Some person had called me yesterday threatening me to withdraw the case against Asaram Bapu. The caller said that if the case is not withdrawn, I will be killed," the victim's father said in his police complaint yesterday.

Superintendent of Police, Manoj Kumar said that security has been beefed up at the victim's residence and probe is on in the matter.

On March 13, Kartik Haldar, self-styled godman Asaram Bapu's alleged henchman, suspected to have shot dead three key witnesses in rape cases filed against the religious leader, was arrested by Anti-Terrorism Squad of Gujarat.

The Kenyan military claimed today to have killed 21 Islamic insurgents in a firefight in neighbouring Somalia.

Military spokesman David Obonyo said two Kenyan soldiers were also killed and five others wounded when Shebab militants laid an ambush in Afmadhow, southern Somalia, yesterday.

"21 Shebab militants were killed," Obonyo said, during what he described as a "fierce engagement".

Last week, the Kenyan army said it thwarted an attack on a military camp also at Afmadhow, killing 19 militants.

In January, the Al Qaeda-aligned Shebab overran a Kenyan military camp in El-Adde manned by up to 200 soldiers, killing a large number of them although Nairobi has refused to say how many died.

Amid the see-sawing developments over the power tussle in Uttarakhand between the grand old party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday came out guns blazing on the Centre and asserted that the blatant attempt to topple governments was the true face of the party under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Toppling elected Govts by indulging in horse trading & blatant misuse of money & muscle, seems to be BJP's new model, after failure in Bihar. This attack on our democracy & Constitution, first in Arunachal & now Uttarakhand, is the true face of Modiji's BJP. Congress Party will fight demagoguery with democracy," The Office on Rahul Gandhi said in a series of tweets.

Paris attacks fugitive Salah Abdeslam woke up behind bars today after spending his first night in jail on charges of "terrorist murder" for his

role in orchestrating the worst-ever terror assault on French soil.

Abdeslam, who was caught after being shot in the leg during a Friday police raid in Brussels, told interrogators he had planned to blow himself up at the Stade de France stadium in Paris but had backed out at the last minute.

The 26-year-old spent four months as Europe's most wanted man for his role in organising the November 13 gun and suicide attacks on the French capital, which killed 130 people.

A day after he was caught, Abdeslam was charged with terrorist murder and participating in a terror group before being taken to a maximum security prison in the northwestern city of Bruges.

At least 13 policemen have been killed in Egypt when Islamic State militants fired a mortar shell on a security checkpoint in the country's restive North Sinai.

The mortar attack on the checkpoint in Al-Arish city killed 13 policemen yesterday, the interior ministry said in a statement.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The security forces cordoned off the area and were investigating the incident.

The incident took place two days after five soldiers were killed and eight others injured when militants attacked an army checkpoint with mortar shell in Egypt's Rafah city.

With the brewing furore over the incident of an Inspector General's minor son driving an official police vehicle, a court here has ordered a case to be registered in the matter.

The Thrissur Juvenile Justice Court, Thrissur has asked the police to file an FIR into the incident and also to file a case against IG Suresh Raj Purohit on charges of allowing a minor to drive official vehicle.

Earlier, the Kerala High Court had restrained the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau from taking further action in the case citing the matter does not come under the purview of the bureau.

Notices marked under the anti-defection law were issued by Uttarakhand Minister Indira Hridayesh and were sent up at the residences of rebel Cong MLAs.

"We've followed constitutional process, have sent a petition to speaker under anti-defection law," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Indira Hridayesh said.

"If they want to come back, we'll welcome them," she added.

As many as five people were killed while twelve others injured after a truck collided with a state road transport bus in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh.

The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital for immediate treatment.

12:26 PM Modi greets nation on Parsi new year

On the occasion of Parsi new year 'Navroz', Prime Minister Narendra Modi today greeted the nation and wished that the spirit of harmony is deepened.

"Navroz Mubarak. May this auspicious day bring peace & prosperity in society & deepen the spirit of harmony," the Prime Minister said in a message on twitter.

Navroz is celebrated on March 21 by Parsi Zoroastrians of central Asian origin.

ARC

Following the avalanche which hit an Army Post located at an altitude of 17500 feet in Kargil Sector of Jammu and Kashmir, search operations on Sunday intensified for the missing soldier, while the rescued personnel's condition is now stable.

With the bad weather acting as a major impediment in the rescue operations, teams are still hard at work to locate the missing soldier who was swept away in the avalanche while on surveillance duty.

This incident comes weeks after a deadly avalanche on Siachen Glaciers in Jammu and Kashmir, close to the Line of Control or LoC, killed 10 Army personnel including an officer.

A makeshift prayer hall belonging to the Christian community in Gopanpally village of Nizamabad in Telangana was burnt down by unknown people.

The Nizamabad Superintendent of Police said that the village Panchayat had objected to the construction of the prayer hall, following which unknown people burnt down the hall late at night on Friday.

The police is yet to make an arrest but a case has been registered.

According to reports, earlier a local pastor and members of his congregation in Nizamabad were beaten by a mob of 40 Hindu radicals after they allegedly tried to convert Hindus to Christianity.

As many as 125 kids of a primary school fell ill after consuming mid-day meal in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh.

All the students were rushed to the district hospital, where their condition is stated to be stable, even as the angry parents held the teachers and some officials hostage briefly before releasing them.

Earlier, the children started vomiting on the way home soon after they had puri-sabzi in school.

Meanwhile, Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Rakesh Singh said prima facie there was something wrong with the 'puri' served to the children.

The BSA added that four teachers have been suspended, while services of five others including two cooks have been terminated.

Earlier in the month, around 21 kids were taken ill after consuming mid-day meal at a government school in a village in Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh.

Authorities in drought-hit Latur have imposed an order prohibiting the gathering of more than five persons in areas around 20 water storage tanks until May 31 to avoid any possible violence over water.

The district collector has issued the direction under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code as a preventive measure to tackle possible violence over water around the Latur civic body-run tanks, an official said.

The official said the notified places include all tanker-filling points, public wells, tanker-plying routes and storage tanks in the district.

Protesters clashed with supporters of Donald Trump after he gave a speech in Utah , ending a day full of presidential candidate appearances that also saw Mitt Romney intensifying his criticism of the Republican front-runner.

Hundreds of people chanted "Dump Trump" and "Mr. Hate Out of Our State" as police in riot gear blocked the entrance to the Salt Lake City building, after protesters tried to rush the door and got into dozens of screaming matches with Trump supporters who didn't make it into the venue for Friday night's rally.

Trump was in Utah to campaign ahead of Tuesday's caucuses with 40 delegates at stake. The main event Tuesday for Republicans will be the Arizona primary in which the winner will take all 58 delegates to the party's national convention in July that will choose the nominee.

Trump's main rivals, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, are desperately trying to prevent the real estate mogul from accumulating the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination on the first ballot at the convention, giving added importance to each state contest.

Jewellers on Saturday called off their 18-day old strike demanding rollback of proposed excise duty on non-silver jewellery after government assured them that there will be no harassment by excise officials.

Major jewellery associations, including All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation, India Bullion and Jewellers Association and Gems Jewellery Export Promotion Council decided to call off the strike after meeting Finance Minister Arun Jaitley regarding the 1 per cent excise duty proposed on jewellery in the budget.

The size of the gems and jewellery industry has grown to Rs 3.15 lakh crore and contributes 3.5 per cent to the GDP even as it is still an unorganised sector which employs 4.5 million skilled workers.

00:12 Top headlines at this hour

World T20: Kohli masterclass helps India to emphatic win over Pakistan

PHOTOS: Biggest cheer for Tendulkar as stalwarts felicitated

Prove majority by March 28: Uttarakhand governor to Rawat

Assault on Shaktiman: BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi's bail plea rejected

To read Saturday's commentary, click HERE

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