Two Pakistani nationals were apprehended by the Border Security Force (BSF) in the Harami Nallah area in Runn of Kutch today. Both were caught along with their fishing boat, and they are being interrogated.
Gujarat: Two Pakistani nationals were apprehended by the Border Security Force (BSF) along with their fishing boat in the Harami Nallah area in Rann of Kutch. They are being interrogated.
According to inputs received by intelligence agencies, around 16 terrorists camps are active inside the territory of Pakistan where terrorists are being trained to infiltrate into the Kashmir valley. “There are 16 terrorist camps, which have been activated in the last few months as per the reports received from intelligence agencies. More such camps are in process of being activated for the infiltration season”, said the Army sources.
The areas close to the LoC are under the scrutiny of the agencies. “The entire exercise by the Pakistani Army and the ISIS is under our watch and we are ready on the LoC and the international border to deal with any misadventure from their side,” the sources added.
Recently, Zakir Musa, most wanted terrorist and Chief of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind was killed by security forces in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir.
In the last few years, various reforms have led India to script various success stories. The Global Report on Childhood 2019 published by an NGO called Save the Children, has appreciated India’s performance in reducing child marriages and improving indicators related to child health, giving us another reason to feel proud. The report also suggests a 25% decline in the rate of child marriage worldwide.
An excerpt from the report reads, “India has greatly reduced child marriage through legal reforms, programs to educate and empower girls, and public awareness campaigns.”
India has witnessed a 51% decline in child marriages since 2000 and this percentage rose to 63% since 1999. Amongst the South Asian counterparts, India has succeeded in reducing child marriages whereas the decline in child marriages of girls under the age of 15 years has been rapid. The report claims that had the rate of child marriage remained unchanged, around 9 million underage girls would be married off in India today.
In comparison to these numbers, it is a huge achievement. The report also enlists a few factors that have helped in curtailing this menace. These include economic growth, increasing rate of girl education, proactive investment by government and its partners in teenage girls and increased public awareness about the woes of child marriage.
As per the report, India has also excelled in reducing the percentage of teen births. Decline in teenage pregnancies at the rate of 63% since 2000 and 75% since 1990 has been observed. This accounts for about three-quarters of the global reduction in teen births during this period. It has resulted in over 2 million lesser teen births now as compared to the year 2000.
The report also ranks India at number 113 out of a total of 176 countries in the ‘End of Childhood Index Ranking 2019’. These rankings are done based on the performance of individual countries across eight indicators- child health, education, labor, marriage, childbirth, and violence.
However, a lot still remains to be done in the areas related to child health and education. While the report shows a considerable decline in the cases of child marriages and teen births but the ultimate goal should aim at eradicating these problems from the roots.
As Narendra Modi takes oath as the Prime Minister of India for the second time, all eyes are on who will make it to the cabinet. Speculations about Amit Shah being part of cabinet has already been doing the rounds.
This blog will bring you the latest updates. Names of the the leaders from the BJP and alliance partners who will take oath. You don’t need to refresh the page to get the latest update:
The Uttar Police has denied a rumour that is being spread on social media that a BJP leader is behind the murder of BJP worker Surendra Singh in Amethi. Singh was a former village head who was a close aide of Amethi MP Smriti Irani and worked on the ground during the campaigning for Smriti Irani ahead of elections. Local BJP workers and his family members had alleged that he was killed for working for BJP.
In development to the story, today several people started claiming that UP DGP has said that Singh was killed by a fellow BJP leader due to intra-party rivalry. Several office-bearers of the Congress party posted the claim on Twitter, quoting a report by Economic Times.
UP police confirms – Surendra Singh, close aide of Smriti Irani was murdered by BJP workers who were his local rivals and NOT due to some Congress conspiracy, as was being peddled. Shameful on part of BJP to do politics over death of their own karyakarta!https://t.co/fdvYamgFnT
National Convenor of Congress Social Media cell tweeted that the close aide of Smriti Irani was killed by BJP workers who were his local rivals and not due to Congress conspiracy. She claimed that UP police had confirmed the same.
–@smritiirani’s Amethi aide was murdered by BJP workers: Confirms Uttar Pradesh DGP.
When a party encourages its workers to spread hate against others, it doesn’t take long for the hate to turn inward.https://t.co/quFvR6zqxB
Surinder Singh, close aide of @smritiirani in Amethi, was murdered by fellow BJP workers due to internal feud. UP Police has splashed water over the conspiracy theories that were being peddled by Smriti Irani herself & BJP supporters blaming the Congress. https://t.co/Cd2VsAjNg0
— Gaurav Pandhi गौरव पांधी (@GauravPandhi) May 29, 2019
Several other Congress functionaries and supporters spread the same claim, all of them quoting media reports which were based on comments made by OP Singh, the Director General of Police (DGP) in UP. When the same claim was made by the official Twitter handle of Chandigarh Congress Sevadal, it came to the notice of UP police. The official Twitter handle of UP Police tweeted that this is a deliberate distortion of facts, and said that the reports they are quoting itself do not say that DGP named any political party was involved in the crime. They also informed that they are forwarding the tweet to Amethi police for taking legal action of spreading the rumour.
Your tweet regarding murder in Amethi is a deliberate distortion of facts. In the article used in yr tweet/elsewhere DGP UP OP Singh has not attributed the murder to members of any political party
We have forwarded your tweet to Amethi police for legal action for spreading rumour https://t.co/ltf0trS0NP
If we go by the media reports quoted by the Congress leaders, it becomes clear that the UP DGP didn’t name BJP or any other party while talking about the murder. His statement as quoted in the Hindustan Times reports is, “We have arrested three suspects. Two suspects are still absconding and we will nab them soon. On the basis of all evidence, it is very clear that this is a case of local level political rivalry.” NDTV also has published the same quote. The Economic Times has paraphrased the DGP but the comment is same as other reports.
Some Congress workers quoted a report from Khabarbar, which said that Singh was murdered due to a “local-level political rivalry within the BJP”. But the quote from DGP they have mentioned is same as the quote reported by Hindustan Times, which says that “the victim had local-level political rivalry.” It does not contain the words ‘within BJP’, which they have added in the report.
Congress social media team member, Gaurav Pandhi, who has earlier been caught spreading fake news, deleted his tweet after UP Police called out the lies. However, UP Police continued to maintain the tough stand. UP Police has promised a threadbare investigation and an FIR has been lodged in this regard already.
.@GauravPandhi deletion of such misleading tweets will not be of any help.
An FIR regarding the same has been lodged by @amethipolice yesterday itself.
This will be followed by a threadbare investigation & consequent legal action
We request everyone not to misquote us anywhere! https://t.co/CbwNsCeq46pic.twitter.com/IKRQiNbdq0
From the media reports quoting DGP and the clarification by UP police, it becomes clear that the DGP didn’t say Surendra Singh was killed due to rivalry in the BJP. He said Singh was killed to rivalry at the local level, which means at the Panchayat level. The DGP didn’t name BJP or any other political party, and the Congress leaders are deliberately distorting the comments of DGP to point fingers toward BJP for the murder.
Smriti Irani attended the last rite of Singh, and even gave her shoulder to the mortal remains of the victim in his last journey. She had said that she has taken vow that she will take death sentence for the culprits of the case, even if she has to go to Supreme Court.
The people of India are well aware of the sheer incompetence of the mainstream media of the country. However, it seems their reputation is now spreading far and wide and dignitaries of other countries have are also getting the taste.
Former Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay, took to Twitter on Thursday to express his anger towards the Indian media for getting the picture of Bhutan’s current Prime Minister wrong. He said that it was a grave insult towards his country and although Bhutan may be small, she is India’s very close friend.
India’s media would be up in arms if any other country got the picture of their PM wrong. Yet they continue to embarrass themselves and insult us when it comes to identifying our PM. Bhutan may be small, but she is India’s close neighbour and a very close friend. pic.twitter.com/AwBHF6WKqQ
The current Prime Minister of Bhutan is Lotay Tshering and the two media outlets which got his picture wrong as can be seen in the photos attached by Tshering Tobgay are News9 and WION TV. Although WION TV managed to get the name correct, the picture they showed was of someone else. News9 showed Tobgay as the current Prime Minister of Bhutan.
The Indian mainstream media has earned quite the reputation for itself for getting the obvious things wrong. Sometimes, they perceive people arranging chairs at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally as an instance of agitated crowds throwing chairs. Sometimes, they deliberately portray random crimes as hate crimes to peddle their agenda.
It appears in New India, the mainstream media has decided to take a leap from being a complete embarrassment towards their own selves to becoming an embarrassment for the entire country.
On Thursday, Indian Air Force (IAF) signed an MoU with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to select and train astronauts for ISRO’s Gaganyaan project. ISRO’s first manned space mission is scheduled to happen in 2022.
The IAF tweeted yesterday informing that it had signed the MoU with ISRO for its ambitious Gaganyaan programme.
On 28 May 19 #IAF signed MoU with ISRO for crew selection & training for the prestigious #Gaganyaan Programme. AVM RGK Kapoor, ACAS Ops (Space), IAF handed over the MoU to Shri R Hutton, Project Director of Gaganyaan Programme. pic.twitter.com/LBJ6YxH6io
ISRO’s K. Sivan said, “This is the formal beginning of the screening and training of IAF candidates for the human space mission. We, that is ISRO and the IAF, will do it together”. The Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) of the IAF would be heading the selection and training of the astronauts.
The selection process of the astronauts would take up to 12-14 months. Most of the basic training would happen in India and foreign help would be required for some advanced training.
The training would take place at the Human Space Flight Centre that was opened on January 31st at ISRO’s headquarters in Bengaluru.
?? #ISROMissions ??
Human Space Flight Centre is operational now after its inauguration by Dr K Kasturirangan, ex-Chairman, ISRO. Chairman Dr K Sivan and other officials too were present. The facility is next to ISRO HQ. A full-scale #Gaganyaan crew module model also unveiled. pic.twitter.com/hIEf8pu3Lq
The Gaganyaan mission would be headed by Dr VR Lalithambika, a control engineer who specializes in the advanced launcher technologies. In September 2018, ISRO had also unveiled its space suit and crew module for Gaganyaan.
Prime Minister Modi had previously announced in his Independence Day address on 15th August, 2018 that ISRO would three astronauts, including a woman, in a capsule that would orbit the earth for about week by December 2021 or 2022. In December 2018, the Government sanctioned a budget of Rs 10,000 crore for the Gaganyaan programme.
The Tamil Nadu Theater and Multiplex Owner’s Association has issued a revised share percentage proposal on Tuesday. Apart from making producers upset as their share percentages were reduced, fans were also unhappy as the statement revealed the market value of their favourite movie stars.
Things don’t appear to be going very well for Kamal Haasan. After a rather poor show at the Lok Sabha elections after much hype, he has been relegated to the status of a Tier-3 star by the association. Along with Haasan, stars such as Karthi and Vikram were also ranked in the third category.
Rajnikanth, as expected, appeared in the Tier-1 category. Vijay and Ajith too made the cut. Tier-2 featured stars such as Suriya, ‘Jayam’ Ravi and Dhanush. Tier-1 consists of the stars who have consistently delivered great results at the Market and are known to pull huge crowds to the theatres. Tier-2 consists of actors at the next step of the ladder while the Tier-3 is one step lower. Kamal Haasan, who was once considered a rival to Rajnikanth, is now considered to be a Tier-3 star while Rajnikanth continues to remain one of the biggest stars in Indian Cinema.
For movies featuring Tier-1 stars, as these are not expected to incur losses, ‘A’ centre theatres will provide 60% share to the distributors and producers while the rest will provide a 65% share. In the second week, ‘A’ centre theatres will provide a 55% share while the rest will provide a 50% share. For the second week, the figures are 50% and 55% respectively.
For movies featuring Tier-2 actors, the figures are 55% for A centre theatres in the first week and 60% for the rest. For Tier-3 actors, all theatres will provide only 50% share in the first week and 45% in the second.
Fans were reportedly unhappy with the ranking as it gives the fans of other actors who have featured in higher tiers the bragging rights. Producers, too, felt that the ranking should have been kept discreet.
Subramaniam, President of The Tamil Nadu Theater and Multiplex Owner’s Association said in his statement, “Producers have been increasing the remuneration of the actors and demanding higher share from theatre owners. If this trend continues, it will be very difficult to run theatres. In Kerala, none of the centres gives more than 60% share and we are only trying to adapting the same trend here. Whatever we mentioned in the statement is a mere suggestion. Our intention is only to regulate the business. As we couldn’t list out the names of all the directors and actors, mentioned only the important ones.”
Veteran director Bharathiraaja, who heads the ad hoc committee of Tamil Film Producers Council, said, “The statement of the Tamil Nadu Theater and Multiplex Owner’s Association sounds as if they have decided to vanquish all the producers and distributors who are already struggling to stay in the business. Though there is no President and administrative officers for the Tamil Film Producers Council, theatre owners should take any decision only after consulting the Government appointed ad hoc committee. If they try to bypass us, producers and distributors will stage a huge protest.”
1. Shimron Hetmyer: Floppy hat, swagger in his stride, flamboyant follow through, Hetmyer is a throwback to the Caribbean batsmen from the era gone by.
Captain of the under-19 West Indies team that won the World Cup, Hetmyer has had an explosive start to his international career. An average of 40 in his first 25 games with a very impressive strike rate of 110, including 4 centuries, gives a good indication of his potential. His presence in the middle order means you won’t expect West Indies to slow down at any point during the innings.
Hazratullah Zazai
2. Hazratullah Zazai: Another left hander, this time the opening batsman from Afghanistan. Zazai first grabbed attention when he smashed 6 sixes in 6 balls during the Afghanistan Premier League. Earlier this year, he smashed 162* off 62 balls against Ireland in a T20 international in a record-breaking team total of 278.
Partnered at the top by the explosive Shahzad, this opening partnership may hold the key to Afghanistan’s World Cup run. They have the bowlers to challenge any batsmen in the world, but it is their batting which generally falls short. If Zazai hits form, that may well change.
KL Rahul
3. KL Rahul: Bit of a surprise to see him there? Well, while Rahul has been around the Test team for a long time, he has found opportunities in ODIs much harder to come by.
He has played only 14 ODIs till date, mainly due to the formidable combination of Rohit and Dhawan at the top. However, with the number 4 slot opening up for him, he will have the chance to add to his 14 ODI caps during this tournament. In good form after an excellent IPL and a 100 in the warm-up game against Bangladesh, Rahul will be looking to make that number 4 spot his own and bolster that Indian middle order.
Asif Ali
4. Asif Ali: One of the real finds of the PSL, Asif Ali is the big hitter Pakistan desperately needed lower down the order.
Having suffered huge personal tragedy earlier this month, Asif has re-joined the side in England this week. His form in the lower middle order will be crucial for Pakistan to provide the high tempo finish to their innings. With a strike rate of over 130, he has shown he is very capable of doing that, but needs to add a little more consistency to his game at that Number 6 spot. If he finds that consistency in this tournament, the bowling teams better watch out.
Rassie van der Dussen
5. Rassie van der Dussen: Filling the boots of AB de Villiers in the South African middle order is a near impossible task, and it may fall to a rookie batsman in his first year of international career.
At 30, he is not really young and has been around the cricketing world having played in Canada, the Caribbean, and of course South Africa. He had an excellent start to his international career against Pakistan and continued the good touch in Sri Lanka, and is currently averaging 88 in his short ODI career. South Africa have one of the most frightening bowling attack in the World Cup, and if their batsmen click to back them up, who knows, this may finally be their year.
Controversial Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani is apparently dumbstruck by the results of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The leader, who is known for indulging in rage politics, was baffled that despite all his sermons and the efforts by other parties, Dalits voted for the BJP in large numbers.
“I can’t understand. Dalits had no reason to vote for BJP this time,” Mevani was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. “They didn’t get jobs, there is a terrible agrarian crisis, the price hike is there…The victory is baffling.”
Mevani said that he was under the impression that these issues would “create a lot of trouble for Modi”, but “the culture of Hindutva has prevailed”. He blamed Narendra Modi’s reelection as Prime Minister on “collective insanity” and maintained that “what Modi has done in the last five years was good enough to wipe him out”. “I have no option but to accept it (the result) even when I am not convinced at all,” he added in disbelief.
Kanhaiya Kumar’s huge defeat in Begusarai against Giriraj Singh appears to have had the most impact on him. “I can’t understand how come that happened. He was the one in whose favour there was a clear wave,” said Mevani. “And people were mad after him…His defeat is very unfortunate.” Going forward, his focus would be on his Assembly constituency, Vadgam, and “Dalit-Muslim unity and a nationwide campaign on public health, education and unemployment.”
Jignesh Mevani has been a virulent critic of Narendra Modi. In his attempt to dethrone the Prime Minister, he has peddled fake news about reservations, was caught on camera trying to stoke caste conflict and spoken about Narendra Modi in an extremely disdainful manner. On hindsight, it’s quite understandable why people have rejected his brand of hateful politics.
Mevani also appears to be unable to grasp the fact Kanhaiya Kumar does not quite have an exalted reputation outside the corridors of JNU. Therefore, his defeat should have surprised absolutely no one. That he is shocked by the result only reveals the extent to which he is out of touch with the mood of the people.
It also appears he will spend a significant amount of his resources in the future in trying to forge the mythical Dalit-Muslim unity. It’s quite clear that, on the ground, Dalits have to bear the brunt of Islamic intolerance. Therefore, such an alliance is doomed from the very outset. Even in Maharashtra, despite an alliance between Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and AIMIM, it appears that Muslims voted for the Congress party en masse and not the Dalit leader’s candidates.
Thus, it appears, Mevani spends an exorbitant amount of time chasing unicorns and is left perplexed at the end of the day when his efforts don’t yield any results.
6-year-old Payal Santra, daughter of Pulwama Martyr Babul Santra, has been invited to attend the Prime Minister Modi’s swearing-in ceremony. On Wednesday she boarded a train headed towards Delhi from the Howrah station and she would be attending the ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan today evening. A picture of her having boarded the train is being shared widely on social media.
Picture that makes my Day❤️❤❤
Piya Santra, Daughter of Bablu Santra, Martyr of Pulwama attack going to New Delhi for taking part in the oath taking ceremony of PM @narendramodi Ji on special Invitation.
Babul Santra was a CRPF jawan from the Howrah district in West Bengal. He was part of the CRPF convoy that was attacked in Pulwama of Jammu and Kashmir on the 14th of February by a Pakistan backed JeM terrorist.
The Prime Minister had also invited the kins of slain BJP workers in West Bengal for the swearing-in ceremony as a mark of respect. The kins of over 50 BJP workers who had lost their lives due to the political violence in the state over the last few years have been invited.
However, Mamata Banerjee has decided not to attend the swearing-in ceremony after having heard the kins of slain BJP workers were also invited for the ceremony. She denies that there were political murders in the state.
