Timeline Refresh
Earlier today, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about allegations that union home secretary Anil Goswami had tried to stall the arrest of Congress leader Mantang Sinh in connection with Saradha scam.
Singh apprised the PM on the issue after talking to Goswami and CBI director Anil Sinha to get a factual picture about allegations that Goswami, a 1977 batch IAS officer from Jammu and Kashmir cadre, had interfered in CBI's work and made attempts to prevent arrest of Sinh on Saturday, official sources said.
The final decision will be taken by the Prime Minister who is now seized of the matter, they said.
After the meeting, Goswami refused to take any questions from the media. But NDTV, quoting unnamed sources, reported that he admitted speaking to the CBI on Matang's arrest.
Prasad says, "The inadvertent mistake has been corrected by reprinting the chapter of Vision document in relation to our north eastern people. We have always walked an extra mile to ensure their protection. BJP has firmly believed our north-eastern brothers and sisters are proud citizens of India. The word 'immigrants' for north-easterns was a printing error. BJP deeply regrets for the mistake."
Jaskirat Mann also accused the AVAM (AAP Volunteer Action Manch) of displaying fake cheques at a press conference yesterday and challenged the group to substantiate their claims within 24 hours.
"I have already filed a defamation case. I have given a composite notice for civil as well as criminal action against Gopal Goyal of AVAM," Mann, who made the donation along with her husband from Canada two months ago, said when asked about the allegations.
Calling allegations against AAP of receiving Rs 2 crore last year through four "dubious" companies a conspiracy, she said the cheques shown by AVAM to media were fake. AAP has strongly rejected the allegations.
"Fake cheques were presented by AVAM or whoever that person who has given them to AVAM. So I want clarification from AVAM within 24 hours. They have to show me where these cheques have been deposited," she said.
At a press conference yesterday, the group had produced two undated cheques bearing no name and claimed that these "cheques were also being used for money laundering" by the party. When asked about the authenticity of the cheques, the AVAM refused to clarify.
Likely: AAP 51, BJP 15, Others 4
Best: AAP 57, BJP 10, Others 3
Worst: AAP 44, BJP 20, Others 6
"Those who have launched the issue of love jihad will be taught a lesson by the people of Delhi...," Yadav said without mentioning BJP at a public meeting at the Kisan Inter college in Bhabhua.
He said those who are spreading this canard and misleading the people will also get a lesson in West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (where assembly elections will be held later). On the problems being faced by sugarcane farmers, Yadav said it is because of the wrong policies of the Central government that they were not getting the right price for their produce.
Gandhi also accused Modi of working only for only four-five industrialists.
"Modiji said he will give you employment. He talked of Make in India. Crores of rupees were spent in marketing this Make in India. You tell me whether something came out of it. "He wears Rs 10 lakh suit. Newspapers report that this is not Make in India. That too is Make in UK. And then he tells you about Make in India and employment. Did any youth get employment? No. He told you that Delhi is dirty and clean it. He did not give you job, did not lessen your suffering but put a broom in your hand," Gandhi said at a rally in the national capital.
As the election campaign for Delhi reached a crescendo, the Congress Vice President targeted both the Prime Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, accusing them of "selling big dreams" and not fulfilling promises.
Pic: A take on Narendra Modi's woven coat. Click on the picture for a larger image.
In a statement after the burning alive of Maaz al-Kassasbeh, the Cairo-based authority called for the "killing, crucifixion and chopping of the limbs of Islamic State terrorists".-- AFP.
Also read: Jordan pilot hostage al-Kaseasbeh 'burned alive' by ISIS.
Here you go...
"I may not agree with you, but I will defend to death my right to get offended. How dare you? Baahar mil." Desi Voltaire
Dear everyone,
Let's just all take a deep breath. They're just jokes. Unfunny, crass or whatever you want to call them, they're still just jokes. The AIB Knockout video has been taken down. While we'd love to claim that it's because so many people watched it that it broke YouTube, the truth's a little sadder.
First things first; no one person or force forced us to take this video down. This is not something that's happened because of a 3 am phonecall or a morcha at our front door or a gunman on a grassy knoll. Under the circumstances, this is us being pragmatic. Allow us to explain.
People who've been following our work will know that we've always tried to experiment with content be it on Youtube or a live comedy show, with the sole intent of making people laugh and/or think. AIB Knockout was another such attempt to try something new and bring the roast format to a country where celebrities aren't often known to laugh at themselves. To our pleasant surprise, we managed to bring together consenting adults who were willing to be made fun of by other consenting adults in a crowd full of (wait for it) consenting adults. And if we're honest, it was a phenomenally entertaining evening. Were the jokes repetitive? Crass? It didn't matter because they happened in the spirit of irony and good humour. It was just liberating to be able to say those things, things that people have thought in one form or another privately for years. A lot of the laughter that night came from that spirit (there's your answer, people who wondered why everyone was laughing at terrible jokes).
The video came with a clear disclaimer with several age and content warnings. No one was forced to watch it, we didn't buy airtime on every single TV channel on Earth to broadcast it. YouTube videos do not magically auto-play in front of you. And yet the videos got over 8 million views. Far more importantly, on the video page, the people who liked them outnumbered the people who disliked them by ten times to one. Yes, ten times.
The format was the same as any international roast i.e. insult comedy, delivered in the form of one-liners designed to be as rude as possible. It is performed with the understanding that none of the material is to be taken seriouslynone of the performers actually mean the "offensive" things they say to each other on the night. We clarify this simply to provide context.
With the Knockout, in our own juvenile, idiotic way, we wanted to push the envelope of comedy in this country. But then the envelope pushed back. Things got to a point where people who have supported us, people who work hard to make what we do come to life, were put in a position where things could get deeply unpleasant for them. And that's a problem. We can live with abuse, hate, anger, fury, rage, ignorance, bigotry and perhaps even bullying. But we don't want anybody to get hurt because of us. And we do mean anybody.
We hope it's clear by now that we never write with the aim of hurting people. That's not our goal and we daresay that no comedian ever does that. We don't go to work and say, "Hmm, let's offend XYZ people from XYZ community today." If we really wanted to piss off people and hurt them, we'd be selling credit cards over the phone.
Our job is to raid the newspapers, pop culture and life for observations and analogies and it's okay if you think we're juvenile or unfunny. We respect arguments that are critical, and as for the arguments we don't, we respect your right to make them without impediment. It is a courtesy we wish worked both ways.
Over the last few days, we've found ourselves subject to more scrutiny, judgment and opinion than we're worth. This Knockout shouldn't matter. In a secure culture it wouldn't matter.
We're lucky to have support pouring in from all quarters. First up, from our fans, just the greatest people in the world, who have nothing but good cheer and encouragement and positive thoughts. We were pleasantly surprised that people in power who we have made fun of in the past, including people from both the so-called right wing and left-wing, went out of their way to convey support to us. It was fantastic to know that they stand for free speech as much as us. Friends in the media have told us to stay our course, pledging their support for our right to say anything, no matter how ridiculous. Thank you to anyone who has stated in the last few days that we have the right to say what we want, not as comedians but more importantly as citizens of this country.
There's a larger cultural conversation going on here, where we're at the very edges of what it's okay to say. And it's a conversation we need to have now because the world we live in is entirely too complicated to be run by silences. We still stand by our belief in the right to absolute freedom of expression for us and for anyone who has anything to say about anything at all. We hope to be part of an environment that supports that sort of expression without fear of persecution, intimidation and most importantly, annoyance. As always, in our own AIB way we'll continue to strive towards creating that very environment.
In the meantime, we'd like to say thank you to our fans and everyone else who is standing by us. You guys make the struggle worth it. To everyone railing against us and against the stars that were present, to everyone who's decided we're destroying the fabric of our culture, to everyone who's called us seditious pornographers while plotting the downfall of Indian Values And Civilization As We Know It, we would like to reiterate that we are just a bunch of comedians who work, and have always worked, without any malicious intent whatsoever.
We encourage any and all conversation on the subject of freedom of expression, for our own silly selves, and for people better, smarter and more courageous than us. For hundreds and thousands of artists, commentators and any and all citizens that do not have the privilege of social platforms and reach that we do.
We are also cooperating with the authorities and hope to resume normal service soon. We'd like some sort of cheerful resolution to this so we can focus on more important national issues, like the upcoming Cricket World Cup.
P.S. Best of luck Virat Kohli. Sorry for the jokes. We heart emoticon you.
P.P.S. It's a good thing nobody's downloaded the file and put it on a torrent website or anything.
He also reassured the people of the north-eastern that he is committed to their development. He said the party has apologised for the 'immigrant' mistake in the Delhi vision document.
"He (Kejriwal) is alleging that if any button is being pressed then the light lits against BJP's symbol. If there is a truth in what he is telling, he should boycott the polls."
"He knows these kinds of tricks better than any political person. So, if he thinks that EVMs are manipulated and he is having a genuine doubt about it, he should simply withdraw," party spokesman P C Chacko said.
The woman, who is a fashion designer from Bokaro had said that onboard an IndiGo Airlines flight on January 27, the man, who was in the seat behind her, touched her inappropriately as the flight was landing in Bhubaneswar.
The designer then took a video of her lambasting the businessman for his lewd behaviour that she later shared on Facebook. The video went viral.
Then, after landing in Bhubaneswar, she lodged a complaint with the police against the man, who was identified as Ravin Jhunjhunwala.
Speaking to The Indian Express, the Singapore-based businessman said he has been framed. "I have full faith in the Indian legal system. The law will take its own course. The matter is under investigation and I am sure the truth will come out. I would be exonerated," he said.
Click on the picture for a larger image.
Dalvi, the former editor of an Urdu daily newspaper, Awadhnama, was arrested on January 28 by the Mumbra police, for allegedly reprinting a cartoon of Prophet Mohammed that was originally published in Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly magazine.
Dalvi (46) is on the run, with FIRs being filed against her on a daily basis across the state. Her two children have stopped attending college and she hasn't met them since January 17, the day she reproduced a cover of the French magazine Charlie Hebdo on Page One.
Read: No one took my side of the story: Shireen Dalvi
Darbar (50), was named in the case. The Bollywood composer's son Zaid (21), his friends - Nishant Singh (21) and Mohsin Khan (29) - were arrested after a complaint was filed at Amboli Police Station by Prashant Choudhary, an assistant director, early yesterday morning.
The alleged incident took place at about 11 pm on Monday in the parking lot of Evershine Cosmic building in suburban Andheri where the complainant and the Darbars reside.
In his complaint, Choudhary (29) alleged the Darbars had been
repeatedly evading him after he sought his pending dues related to a
project he did for them.
Choudhary approached the police this morning following which an FIR was filed against the four under IPC Sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), among others, and the trio was taken into custody.
The death toll in the TransAsia Airways flight was expected to rise as rescue crews cleared the mostly sunken fuselage in the Keelung River a couple dozen meters (yards) from the shore. Teams of rescuers in rubber rafts clustered around the wreckage.
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal accepts the EC's decision, saying, "EC has
cleared all our doubts about the EVM machine issue, they said that EVMs are all double checked."
"Specific inputs were received from the office of Rahul Gandhi based on the representation by NGOs raising environment concerns on certain large projects," she said suggesting that the Congress vice-president had interfered in the decision making process.
She rued that she was not given a hearing by the top leadership after a flurry of media reports carrying "insinuation and innuendo' against her.
This is the first time the Congress vice-president is bringing up the Jayanthi Natarajan issue.
Former environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan quit the Congress on Friday with a scathing attack on party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of forcing her to stall big-ticket projects by the Vedanta and Adani groups while making her a scapegoat for the UPA governments economic woes.
The appointments are likely to take place by Friday before the governors' Conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The three-day conference, beginning February 7, is expected to deliberate on internal security, agricultural production, economic growth and the manufacturing sector growth.
On earlier occasions there was a briefing by the concerned minister but this time there is a change.
President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed ESL Narasimhan as the Andhra Pradesh governor as the doyen of governors to conduct the proceedings of the conference.
The urgency for the BJP government to name governors was necessitated due to the governors meet. This conference will be inaugurated by the President, will have interventions from the Prime Minister and senior union ministers of the Modi government.
The Prime Minister will interact separately with the governors to understand the political problems in their states.
Though the President has been interacting with governors over video conferences, it is believed he is keen to meet them individually.
Modi will have to be a boatman: one oar must focus on the economy and the other must concentrate on the Hindu agenda," says Maharaj, clad in saffron robes and sitting cross-legged on a bed.
He twirls his bejewelled fingers in the air, explaining that otherwise the boat will spin in circles. Read
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He was accompanied by JD(U) secretary-general and Rajya Sabha member K C Tyagi.
A near-consensus has emerged in the state JD(U) to get Nitish Kumar back as the state chief minister and fight the coming assembly elections under his leadership.
Yadav's immediate task is to persuade incumbent chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi to step down and propose the name of Nitish Kumar as his successor.
It will be a sort of return-favour by Manjhi, who was handpicked by Nitish for the top job after the party debacle in Lok Sabha polls in the state.
Read more
"We urge CEC to allow us to put banners outside each booth educating voters abt EVMs," AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal said on Twitter.
"We suspect EVM tampering. Tried to meet CEC yesterday. He was busy. Hope we will be able to meet him today," he said in another tweet.
Kejriwal had claimed yesterday that discrepancies were found during an inspection of four such machines at Delhi Cantonment area yesterday.
He said that whatever button was pressed on the machines, the light against the BJP symbol lit up. AAP leaders had also approached the Election Commission last week to know what is the procedure if a voter finds such a discrepancy in an EVM.
Shiv Menon will be questioned in connection with the murder of his mother Sunanda Pushkar. Menon is Pushkar's son from an earlier marriage.
Sunanda was found dead in a five-star hotel room in Delhi in January 2014, after publicly accusing Congress party lawmaker and former UN diplomat Tharoor of having an extra-marital affair with a Pakistani journalist.
After an autopsy initially concluded Pushkar probably died of an overdose of anti-depressant drugs, police said that she was poisoned and a case was registered earlier this month, nearly a year after her death.
Tharoor, who was questioned for more than three hours, is likely to be questioned again by the police.
Pic: Sunanda Pushkar with her son, Shiv Menon.
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"Today, we join the people of Jordan in grieving the loss of one of their own, First Lt Moaz al-Kasasbeh, cruelly and brutally killed by ISIL terrorists," he said in a statement.
Obama later met King Abdullah II of Jordan at his office. Along with his compatriots and other Arab and international members of the anti-ISIS coalition, al-Kasasbeh was in the vanguard of the effort to degrade and defeat the threat posed by the terror group, Obama said.
"Al-Kasasbeh's dedication, courage, and service to his country and family represent universal human values that stand in opposition to the cowardice and depravity of ISIL, which has been so broadly rejected around the globe. As we grieve together, we must stand united, respectful of his sacrifice to defeat this scourge," he said.
"Today, the coalition fights for everyone who has suffered from ISIL's inhumanity. It is their memory that invests us and our coalition partners with the undeterred resolve to see ISIL and its hateful ideology banished to the recesses of history," Obama said.
Parts of the wrecked fuselage of the turboprop ATR 72 jutted out of the Keelung River just a couple dozen meters (yards) from the shore near the city's downtown Sungshan airport. The main section of fuselage was on its side, missing a wing.
Rescuers clustered around the plane in rubber boats more than two hours after the crash, and could be seen pulling carry-on luggage from an open plane door.
Japan has largely been insulated from international terrorism in the past decade and radical Islam has little or almost nil hold in the country. Japan's pacifism is embodied in its Constitution of 1946, through which it has renounced war and outlawed belligerent responses to international disputes. Read more
Owaisi had sparked controversy last month with his statement that everyone is born Muslim.
The person identified as Mufazzil Haque was arrested from Mokimnagar area of the district bordering Bangladesh last night, official sources said.
The BJP released a Vision Document yesterday, laying down a road map to make the national capital a world class city with major focus on development and women security besides promising transparency in governance.
However, the document did not spell out BJP's position on full statehood to the national capital which it had promised in its manifestos for the 2013 assembly polls and past elections.
However, yesterday, Bedi, was left largely unimpressed by her rival Arvind Kejriwal's praise for her and has attacked him again in connection with funding allegations. "Do not be carried away by him. He just wants to manipulate people," Bedi said.
Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party chief described her as a "very nice lady in the wrong party" and someone he would have liked to have in his party.
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