Timeline Refresh
The clashes led to the disruption and then suspension of many domestic and international flights around the country's main airports.
The incident took place near the Jinnah International Airport here after the joint action committee which represents all unions of PIA gave a complete strike call on Tuesday despite the government enforcing Essential Services Maintenance Act under which all union activities were suspended and employees told to report on duty.
Though two of the protesters died of bullet wounds, Rangers and police denied opening fire at the site.
Kamran Afzal, the deputy inspector general (East Zone), has denied that the police backed by paramilitary rangers had opened fire on the protesting employees including women.
"The police fired tear gas shells and used water cannons but no shots were fired. Police officials on duty say gunfire was opened from within the crowd. We are investigating and will find out the truth after examining the two submachine gun shells that were found from the site," he said.
Pakistan yesterday enforced the ESMA against the PIA as the employees of the ailing national carrier announced an indefinite strike from today following the failure of talks with the government on the proposed privatisation move. Pakistan Airlines Cabin Crew Association president Nasrullah Khan said that the strike would go ahead as the government has not accepted their four-point agenda.
A heavy contingent of Rangers and police personnel were deployed at the site to prevent protesters from entering the cargo gate and moving onto Jinnah Avenue.
Two employees including a member of the PIA's engineering department have died in the incident. At least 12 persons were injured, Sohail Baloch, who heads the joint action committee of the PIA employees, said.
As soon as the news of two employees' death was broadcast, PIA's flight operations across the country began shutting down in solidarity with the protesters, he said.
Domestic and international flight operations from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta and Multan were disrupted with many flights being cancelled, Baloch claimed.
However, Danish Gillani, spokesman of the PIA said that there were some disruptions in flights schedule but otherwise back up arrangements had been made for undisrupted operation of the flights.
Last week, the government postponed the planned privatisation of its national flag carrier after ongoing protests by PIA employees. It, however, has said that it will go ahead with the privatisation plans of the national airlines.
According to sources, Pakistan has already decided to offload several big organizations running into losses, including the PIA, under an agreement with the IMF and will ultimately sell it. Though, the government is giving the impression that with sale of limited shares, it was not going to privatise the PIA.
Television channels showed passengers waiting outside at airports in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad and others in lounges waiting for their baggage to be delivered to them.
"Since all staff of the airlines is on a complete strike, there is no one to load or offload the baggage of passengers at different airports,' one passenger said from Lahore.
"No visa application was submitted to us, this is what the reality is," he said.
"Anupam Kher is a great artist. I've great respect for him. I don't want to challenge whatever he contented in his press conference. Visa request is processed when visa application is received, not on the basis of invitation letter from a visiting country," Basit said.
"We really wish his office had submitted his visa documents as other participants did," he said.
According to the FIR, Ravi, Vijay Chawla and Virender Aggarwal, had allegedly persuaded the complainant to donate Rs 10 lakh to the party in February 2015.
The complainant had written two cheques for the party but later changed his mind. When the cheques were dishonoured, the two accused, working at the behest of Ravi, threatened the complainant and tried to extort money from him.
The FIR stated that the accused also filed a complaint against the victim's company in order to further pressurise him into paying the money. The complainant claimed that the matter was communicated to the SHO of Paharganj in May last year but no action was taken.
A trial court had on Friday ordered filing of an FIR against the accused, following which a case was registered under sections 120 B (cheating), 387 (creating fear of death) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC at central Delhi's Paharganj police station.
The suspect has been identified as Irshad Ahmed, 30, resident of Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, a senior police official said today.
A smartphone has also been recovered from his possession containing pictures of vital installations and sensitive equipment in the cantonment area, police said. He has been booked under the Official Secrets Act and a case has been registered at Shahpur Kandi in Pathankot, the official said.
According to the police official, Irshad was being handled by a person called Sajjad, who was earlier stated to have been arrested by J-K police.
"Irshad was entrusted with the task of collecting secret information which he then used to send to his handler Sajjad, who was passing on the information to his Pakistani handlers, who could be the ISI," the official said.
The suspect is being questioned by central and state security agencies, the official said, adding that investigation is underway.
A senior officer of the CRPF said the security force's personnel and special operations group of the state police had jointly surrounded Arwani village near Bejibehara on specific information about presence of a group of terrorists there.
"As the security forces were laying a cordon, hiding militants hurled a grenade which exploded injuring two troopers, including an inspector. The injured were evacuated to hospital for treatment," the officer said.
"The operation is still continuing," he added.
Azhar Iqbal, who was arrested by the NIA as part of the agency's crackdown on sympathisers of the Middle East terror group, was produced before the competent court.
The court has granted him two-day transit remand for his production before the NIA special court in New Delhi, a NIA release said.
Iqbal, a resident of Barkheda Raisen, Madhya Pradesh, was arrested in connection with a terror conspiracy.
"I have told the Governor that before we form government in alliance with BJP, the government of India shall make certain CBMs to create a congenial atmosphere in all three regions of the state,' Mufti said.
"Jammu Kashmir is a different state and it's facing many challenges. To meet them, the Centre shall ensure its whole hearted support to the new government,"she added.
After coming out of Raj Bhavan, Mehbooba said her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had entered into an alliance with BJP for welfare of the state and its people.
"Many even within the BJP were skeptical about it at that time, but he formed government with them and he had to do lot of fire fighting also to stitch this alliance," she said.
"I neither have the vision nor goodwill my father had, but I respect his vision," she said, adding that Mufti Sahib had been the only chief minister after Ghulam Mohammad Bakshi who used to go to even downtown of Srinagar.
Significantly, it was her first public statement on government formation after the death of her father on January 7. Earlier during the day, former Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh said "our coalition still exists' and "I hope that the government formation will take place soon".
The charge sheet has been filed in the Special Court, Patiala House which has also taken cognisance of it, CBI Press Information Officer R K Gaur said.
They said Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan and three passport officials-- Jay Shree Rahate, Deepak Natvarlal Shah and Lalitha Layamon's -- who were posted at Bengaluru passport office and are now retired have been made accused in the charge sheet.
CBI sources said the agency has levelled charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act in the charge sheet.
Jul 2, 2009: HC allows plea of gay rights activists and legalises sexual activity among consenting adults of same sex.
Jul 9: Delhi astrologer challenges HC verdict in SC. Later, several others including BJP leader Singhal (since dead), religious organisations, rights activists and yoga guru Ramdev's disciple also oppose the judgement.
Feb 15, 2012: SC begins final day-to-day hearing in the case.
Mar 27, 2012: SC reserves verdict. Dec 11, 2013: SC sets aside the 2009 Delhi HC order which had decriminalised gay sex.
Dec 20: Centre files review petition in SC seeking re-examination of its verdict.
Dec 24: Gay rights activists file review petition in SC seeking re-examination of its verdict.
Jan 28, 2014: SC refuses to review its verdict on criminalising gay sex, dismisses pleas of Centre, activists.
Apr 3: SC agrees to consider for an open court hearing on curative petitions filed by gay rights activists against its verdict criminalising homosexuality.
Feb 2, 2016: SC refers curative pleas on homosexuality to five-judge bench.
"The reason could be either I am a Kashmiri Pandit, or because I have spoken on intolerance debate," he said
Kher was one of the 18 Indians invited to the four-day festival by the organisers but he is the only one whose visa has not been cleared. The other 17 Indian participants have been given visas.
Kher, who has just been honoured with Padma Bhushan by the Indian government, was to participate in at least two sessions and his name figured prominently in the festival schedule.
Confirming that he has not been issued a visa, Kher on Tuesday said that he was very saddened by the development as he was looking forward to participate in the festival and use the platform to dispel misunderstandings in the minds of people there.
"We welcome their artistes in India. If there are objections to their performance at one place in India they are welcome at other places. But there is no reciprocity," he said.
As to why his visa has not been issued, Kher said, "I wish I knew. I am wondering if it is because I am a Kashmiri Pandit or because of my views on the tolerance debate in India."
Kher said the visa denial has left the festival organisers embarrassed and they have apologised to him.
When contacted, Pakistan High Commission's head of media Manzoor Memon said, "Mr Anupum Kher has never submitted visa application to Pakistan High Commission....
"Please check out from him if he has any receipt," he added.
Rejecting Pakistan High Commission's contention that he had not
applied for visa, Kher called it a "laughable explanation". He said
organisers had completed the formalities for the visa.
"It could be a rumour. He was expelled from the party several years ago. There is no compulsion for me to answer such questions," he told reporters when asked about "recent news" in a section of media that Alagiri, who was party's south zone organisational secretary, may return to DMK.
This comes even as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international emergency over the mosquito-borne virus.
"I have instructed all concerned to take steps for preventing entry and transmission of the virus in India. My ministry is fully geared to deal with the Zika Virus. No case has been reported in India. No need to panic," says Union health minister JP Nadda said.
On Friday, India had constituted a technical committee to formulate travel guidelines and a joint monitoring committee to review the global situation on the spread of the virus.
Read the ready reckoner on the Zika virus
"Right to protest coexists with what Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr said - The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins," the police commissioner posted on microblogging website Twitter. Although, Bassi attributed the quote to American Jurist Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, its origin is disputed as the adage is attributed to various legal luminaries. The quote is also recorded in a 1919 Harvard Law Review essay by legal philosopher Zechariah Chafee which contained a version spoken by an anonymous judge.
A change in the RSS uniform is on the agenda of the highest decision making body of the RSS - the Akhil Bharatiya Patinidhi Sabha - which meets on March 11-13 in Rajasthan.
Even the colour may change; grey, blue and black are being debated for the pants.
The RSS, the ideological mentor of the ruling BJP, set up a committee after many senior members suggested that it was time to update the Sangh uniform and ditch the flared "half-pants" to attract more young people. The proposal has been discussed at RSS forums for years, but a decision has never been taken. It was shot down at a meeting in 2009.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who was general secretary then, was among those who supported a new-look uniform. "When the well dug by ancestors gives dirty water, there is no point drinking from it. A new well can be dug," Bhagwat said, using a Hindi phrase that translates to changing with the times. -- NDTV.
First reactions from Ashok Row Kavi: We have opened the door to justice. We were afraid that the petition would not be entertained, but its a great step forward that the case has not been dismissed. My congratulations to all who are fighting for their rights.
The SC was hearing a curative petition of gay activists challenging its verdict criminalizing homosexuality in the country.
A bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur agreed to hear the curative petition filed by gay rights activists and NGO Naz Foundation against the apex court's December 11, 2013 judgement upholding validity of section 377 (unnatural sexual offences) of IPC and the January 2014 order, by which it had dismissed a bunch of review petitions.
Petitioners include gay activists, parents of gay people and NGOs.
A curative petition is the last judicial resort available for redressal of grievances in court which is normally decided by judges in-chamber. In rare cases, such petitions are given an open court hearing.
The petitioners, including the NGO, which has been spearheading the legal battle on behalf of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community, contended that there was an error in the judgement delivered on December 11, 2013 as it was based on an old law.
"The judgement was reserved on March 27, 2012 but the verdict was delivered after around 21 months and during this period lots of changes took place including amendment in laws which were not considered by the bench which delivered the judgement," the plea had said.
The gay rights activists had said thousands from the LGBT community became open about their sexual identity during the past four years after high court decriminalised gay sex and they were now facing the threat of being prosecuted.
They had submitted that criminalizing gay sex amounts to violation of fundamental rights of the LGBT community.
The NDA government today claimed it has brought a "transformation" in the rural job guarantee scheme which was in a "pitiable" state under UPA due to frequent curtailing of funds.
Asserting that schemes are "not cast in stone" and their modification is required with the passage of time, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said MGNREGA underwent change under NDA and new initiatives were taken besides increasing the fund allocation to the scheme so that its benefits could reach the people in a better way. "...tranformation has been brought in the implementation of this scheme.
When a government scheme runs for many years, an attitude of indifference develops towards it. A kind of indifference towards it was growing by 2013-14 when the scheme has entered its seventh and eight years.
"When there was a change of government in 2014-15, there was a talk in and outside Parliament on whether the scheme will be discontinued or its fund allocation will be curtailed. But the new government not only took forward the scheme but also increased its fund," Jaitley said, delivering his key note address at MGNREGA Sammelan in New Delhi.
A bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur agreed to hear the curative petition filed by gay rights activists and NGO Naz Foundation against the apex court's December 11, 2013 judgement upholding validity of section 377 (unnatural sexual offences) of IPC and the January 2014 order, by which it had dismissed a bunch of review petitions.
Petitioners include gay activists, parents of gay people and NGOs.
A curative petition is the last judicial resort available for redressal of grievances in court which is normally decided by judges in-chamber. In rare cases, such petitions are given an open court hearing.
Journalist and LGBT activist Ashok Row Kavi tweets: All eyes on Courtroom No 1 of Supreme Court. Activists were there by 2.30 pm and things are tense. Large number of LGBF moving towards the Supreme Court. Situation very tense. Keep up the spirit my people."
Clinton was given the fright of her life as veteran socialist senator Bernie Sanders pushed her to the limit in the Iowa caucus, on a night of extreme drama in the first test of the US presidential election year. Ted Cruz, the maverick Texas senator, used his formidable ground game to beat the bombastic property tycoon Donald Trump into second place in the Republican race.
Referring to the arrest of Bhujbal's nephew Sameer Bhujbal on February 1 by the Enforcement Directorate after the agency carried out nine raids at properties belonging to the Bhujbal family, Pawar said, "I have not seen government machinery being used like this for political vendetta ever in Maharashtra. We had a Shiv Sena government in power in 1995 too; they didn't target the opposition the way we are being targeted now."
Pawar slammed the ED and said that the agency was working at the behest of BJP MP Kiriti Somaiya. "This BJP MP tells what is going to happen and the ED follows it exactly. I have never seen for one allegation the investigating agency conducting raids thrice...I have never seen an agency follow such an extreme policy. I have not seen this in 40 years," he said.
The NCP chief said that the Bhujbal family was being targeted and the BJP government was practising "political vindictiveness"
The police said Irshad Ahmed was working undercover as a manual worker at the Indian Army's 29 Division Headquarter in the Mamoon Cantt in Pathankot, where terrorists struck an air force base last month.
Intelligence agencies have reportedly recovered several photos of sensitive installations from Irshad's smart phone.The Pathankot Cantonment is one of the biggest and most sensitive military bases of the Indian Army.
The Army division based there includes infantry battalions and cavalry. Irshad's arrest is being seen as evidence that Pathankot, which borders Pakistan, is still on the terror radar despite security being strengthened after the Pathankot air base attack.
Security agencies have not as yet established a direct link between Irshad and last month's terror attack. They are investigating how Irshad got his instructions from across the border. Sources said he had been tasked with collecting photographs of all sensitive installations and equipment inside the cantonment and was sending them to his Indian handler, Sajjad, in Jammu.
Sajjad was arrested in Jammu recently for possessing arms illegally. He is believed to have been a conduit between Irshad and Pakistani handlers and allegedly passed on the photographs sent by Irshad through email and chat messaging services. Sajjad will now be questioned on the basis of what is revealed in Irshad's interrogation.
Six Pakistani terrorists attacked the Pathankot air base on January 2 and were killed in a gun battle that lasted nearly 4 days. Seven military personnel were martyred in the attack.
Christian Michel, the 54-year-old agent, has made the allegations in a letter to the International Tribunal of the Law of the Seas in Hamburg and the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague where Italy and India are battling legally over murder charges against the marines.This newspaper could not independently verify Michel's allegations.
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Sources said that Gautam, who is the joint commissioner of Delhi Police's central range, briefed the Lt Governor over the issue at the latter's office today. Jung is learnt to have sought a detailed report on the incident. Gautam is heading the probe into the matter.
The probe was initiated by Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi after due consultation with Special Commissioner (Law & Order) Deepak Mishra. Delhi Police came under severe criticism after a video emerged in which its personnel were seen thrashing protesters and dragging activists by their hair outside the RSS office here during a demonstration against dalit student Rohith Vemula's suicide.
The video of Saturday's incident went viral on social media, triggering sharp reactions, with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleging the police force was being used as RSS and BJP's "private army" under a political dispensation that is at "war" with students across the country
Dispelling doubts over the fate of the scheme floated by the previous Congress-led government, he said that while in previous years there has always been lower spending as compared to the Budgeted amount, this fiscal the government has not cut Plan Expenditure as it wants to boost growth.
Addressing a MNREGA Sammelan organised to mark the completion of 10 years of the scheme, Jaitley said there were apprehensions that the NDA government would end or replace the scheme with a new programme.
"But the new government has not only taken the scheme forward, but also hiked the fund allocation under the scheme," he said. "This government has not followed the practice of just making higher provisions and later cutting it. I think this would be the first year when the Rs 34,000-35,000 crore which was allocated has not only been spent fully, but also some more resources could be given to MGNREGA".
The Finance Minister said the actual spending under the scheme in the fiscal year ending March 31 "would be highest". "This country's financial system had a practice that when a Budget is presented, people discuss how much money has been allocated. But in full year, how much money is spent and by how much the allocation is cut, that doesn't attract attention," he said.
During their stay in Chennai, the CEC and the ECs will meet representatives of all political parties, District Election officers, District Magistrates, SSPs and top civil and police officers and enforcement agencies of the state. The Commission will return to Delhi February 11.
Desai said the dress would be the regular ones which are worn for Carnival festivities annually. "There is no restriction of whatsoever." Certain media reports had claimed that state government was trying to impose a dress code for the Carnival celebrations this year. The Carnival float parades would be held across major cities of Goa from February 6-9.
"While I agree vulgarity has no place in my carnival, people are allowed to wear what they want. There is no dress code for carnival," said Shalom Sardinha, who has been selected as King Momo for Carnival 2016. Shalom, son of former Goa Chief Minister Francis Sardinha, accused one legislator of trying to create confusion in the minds of people.
The feedback about the party has not been positive. BJP MPs have complained to the PMO that the Rajya Sabha MPs are at times critical of the Modi government. RS TV receives grants from the government, but it wants independent coverage of news content, which is out of sync with government policies and programmes. Rajya Sabha TV came up for discussion before officials of the PMO for budgetary grants. The Department of Expenditure has also given a report to the PMO about RS TV.
A draft report of CAG and also a PIL filed by Prashant Bhushan is pending before the apex court.
Interestingly, Finance minister Arun Jaitley, who is also Leader of Rajya Sabha has to take a call. PMO has politically approached the RS TV as it is a pet project of the Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari.
The PMO wants to wait for one more year so that the Dr Ansari's successor will take a call on the continuance of RS TV. Talks are on whether it should be merged with Lok Sabha TV and have one channel for both houses.
BJP leaders are cribbing about the news content of RS TV which has always been encouraging negative pictures about the ruling party.
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