Kolkata: Suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh on Wednesday said he will not get justice unless all those involved in the Saradha scam are arrested, and called for replacing Mamata Banerjee as the West Bengal chief minister.
Behind bars since November 2013 for his alleged complicity in the multi-crore-rupee chit fund scam, Ghosh, who has repeatedly alleged the involvement of his party leaders, called for their interrogation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which is probing the scandal.
Srinagar: The Indian Army, Wednesday, paid a poignant tribute to Colonel MN Rai, the braveheart who laid down his life in the line of duty in Kashmir yesterday – 24 hours after he was awarded a Republic Day gallantry medal.
39-year-old Colonel Rai was the commanding officer of 42 Rashtriyta Rifles. He along with J&K Police constable Sanjeev Singh made the supreme sacrifice after neutralising two terrorists in Tral area of Pulwama.
Col Rai was awarded the Yudh Seva Medal on Monday (Republic Day) for killing a foreign terrorist in a close encounter last year. The Yudh Seva Medal is awarded for the highest degree of distinguished service in a war or conflict.
Fellow Army men and his friends remember Rai as a daring officer. Rai’s last status on the mobile messaging service WhatsApp, posted two months ago, read: “Play your role in life with such passion, that even after the curtains come down, the applause doesn’t stop.”
Constable Sanjeev Singh was also known for his guts and his commitment to his duty. Singh’s WhatsApp status, posted 48 days ago read: “It was my duty to shoot the enemy, and I don’t regret it. My regrets are for the people I could not save: soldiers, buddies, innocents, etc.”
Speaking to reporters after a wreath laying ceremony was held in their honour, Lt Gen Subrata Saha, General Officer Commanding of Srinagar based 15 Corps, said, “They made the supreme sacrifice yesterday in a daring operation at Tral. The supreme sacrifice of these two brave men only strengths our resolve to fight all elements inimical to the security of Jammu and Kashmir.”
“Colonel Rai always lead from the front, leading his men,” Saha said.
Describing the sequence of events, the army officer said Col Rai was approached by father and brother of one of the slain terrorists with he would like to surrender and while Rai was hearing them out the terrorists burst into the scene firing indiscriminately.
Colonel Rai displayed quick thinking and retaliated immediately and after a brief and intense fire fight the two terrorists were eliminated. The slain militants were identified as Abid Ahmad Khan and Shiraz Ahmad Dar of Hizbul Mujaheedin outfit.
“Col Rai combined bravery with compassion,” Lt Gen Saha said.
Col Rai is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.
New Delhi: In yet another setback for the Aam Aadmi Party, the Election Commission on Tuesday issued a stern warning to its chief Arvind Kejriwal in connection with his recent appeal to voters to accept bribe from other parties and vote for AAP in upcoming assembly polls.
As per reports, the apex poll body also directed Kejriwal to desist from making such speeches that violate the Model Code of Conduct.
“You (Arvind Kejriwal) are warned, Commission shall be constrained to take stern action against you in event of any further violation,” the Election Commission was quoted as saying by the ANI.
The poll panel had earlier issued several notices to Kejriwal for making controversial statement and violating the model code of conduct, which is in force in poll-bound Delhi.
Kejriwal had recently triggered a controversy by asking Delhiites to accept ‘bribe’ from the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress but vote for his party – AAP.
“Do the BJP and Congress come to you with money? If they do, don’t say no to them. Take the money. I know they are distributing blankets and sacks of rice as well. Take all of that, but reject liquor as it destroys families,” Kejriwal told people on Monday as the crowd responded in affirmation with claps and cheers.
The Election Commission issued notice to the AAP chief for making such remarks during rallies, stating that it amounts to “abetting and promoting electoral offence of bribery” under relevant sections of the Representation of People Act read with provisions of the IPC.
However, undeterred by such warnings, Kejriwal continued with his remarks as he held rallies in Jangpura and Kasturba Nagar constituencies and made a host of promises to people, which he said AAP would fulfill if voted to power.
Janaagraha conducted the exercise based on the October 15, 2014 electoral roll.
One-third of the people on Delhi’s voter list had moved house, were dead or could not be found, a sample survey has revealed. The findings raise serious questions about the accuracy of the information in Delhi’s voter lists and put in doubt official voter turnout numbers, the researchers said, but were refuted by the Election Commission.
Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, a Bangalore-based citizen engagement group, identified a representative sample of 3,210 Delhi voters spread across eight assembly constituencies. They then went to the addresses listed for these voters and attempted to find them. 21 per cent had moved house, the current occupant of the house informed the surveyors. Another one per cent was either dead, a repeated name or as in the case of two voters, in prison. Another 11 per cent could simply not be located despite three attempts. In all, 33 per cent of the sampled voters surveyed was not at the listed location and could potentially be deleted, the researchers found.
“There are two main implications of what we’ve found,” Srikanth Viswanathan, coordinator of advocacy, research and capacity building at Janaagraha, said. “One it exposes the system to the risk of bogus voting. The second is that it raises questions about the legitimacy of electoral outcomes; the margins of victory in these constituencies in the last elections were lower than the numbers of missing voters,” he said.
Janaagraha conducted this exercise based on the October 15, 2014 electoral roll. When the Election Commission revised its electoral rolls on January 5 this year, it was able to track how many of the problems it had identified were spotted by the ECI as well. They found that just 2.4 per cent of names of people who had shifted or could not be found were deleted from that constituency. In addition, seven per cent of Janaagraha’s sample had errors in the details, but just less than one per cent of these were fixed by the summary revision.
“The electoral roll was continuously updated from January 5 to January 21. So I cannot comment on findings based on old data,” Delhi’s chief electoral officer Chandra Bhushan Kumar told The Hindu. However, Mr. Kumar could not share data for how many names the ECI had altered or deleted between January 5 and 21.
Among assembly constituencies, Gandhi Nagar in the east had the highest rate of missing voters, with just half of the sample for that constituency found at the listed location and with no errors. Rohini did the best; just 9 per cent of people had shifted out, and another 7 per cent of addresses could not be found.
Officials in the state Election Commission did not immediately comment on Janaagraha’s findings. However, the organisation has found that the extent of error has likely increased between the last election and this one; “New names are being added but old ones are not being deleted,” Mr. Viswanathan said.
“This is particularly a problem in urban areas, where there is a high rate of inter and intra-city migration,” Maj Gen (retd) K R Prasad, coordinator of Janaa Roots, said. “Moreover as urbanisation grows, this problem is only going to increase,” he added.
New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday accused a “senior leader” of a rival party of conspiring to plant fake stories against some AAP candidates in the media and said they would lodge a complaint with the Election Commission.
Terming it as a “desperate attempt” by the opposition, the AAP chief claimed that such attempts were made in the past as well.
“Last yr, farzi (fake) stings were shown against 6 of our candidates a few days before elections to defame us (sic),” Kejriwal said in a series of tweets. He expressed apprehension that “similar conspiracies” are being planned to malign the party before the upcoming elections.
“A senior leader, famous for planting stories, has hatched conspiracy against some AAP candidates and they will plant farzi stories in media (sic),” he said. Kejriwal also said the party was lodging a complaint with the Election Commission over the issue.
“But Delhiites won’t believe it. They know this is last desperate attempt of our opponents who r losing badly…We are making a complaint to EC also,” he tweeted. Nearly a year after the city was brought under President’s Rule, Delhi is going to polls on February 7. Results will be out on February 10.
Manasvi on a signing spree!
New Delhi, Jan. 27 — Actor Manasvi Mamgai may not have played the lead in her debut film, Action Jackson (2014), opposite Ajay Devgn, but she managed to impress the makers, so much so that they have now signed her for a two-film deal. The first of these will kick off mid-2015.
Interestingly, the upcoming film was supposed to be announced in December. But the actor explains, “Since my debut film didn’t do as well at the box office as it was expected to, the makers delayed the announcement. The first of the two movies will go on floors in May or June, and an official confirmation will be made soon.”
Currently, the script is being re-written to make it more realistic. “It was on the lines of a larger-than-life, commercial film. But, now we are making it more realistic as we realised that the trend of out-and-out mass entertainers is slowly fading, and people want to watch more realistic movies,” she adds.
The casting process is not yet complete, and the actor is unsure if this film, too, will co-star Ajay. “It is too early to comment about the cast. I can only say that the makers have signed the deal with me as they liked my performance in my debut film,” says Manasvi.
This week came to a close with the big Filmfare Nominations party, and as always there were a few stars to shine out.
It seems Priyanka Chopra has undergone sartorial transformation. On a roll since last week, the actor-turned-singer has walked red carpets in stand-out ensembles of the kind she’s never been known to wear before. This time, it was a textured Elena Perseil gown with a hood. It could have looked too eskimo for a breezy night in Mumbai, but she made it work.
Another star to try something new at the event was Alia Bhatt. Her look was sleek and very grown-up: a white Temperley London vest-suit with sleek hair and bourdeaux lips. Who else stood out? The list includes Pernia Qureshi in a blue and orange mini dress, Gauhar Khan looking tough in studs and leather, and Kiara Advani in a pastel suit by The Circus and chihuahua minaudiere by Judith Leiber.
Going the ethnic route this week were Sridevi (in her favourite–Sabyasachi), Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Abu Jani & Sandeep Khosla, and Shruti Haasan in Arpita Mehta. Of course, no-one sparkled quite as much as Sonakshi Sinha on her elder brother Kussh Sinha’s wedding reception.
The favourite look of this week internationally seemed to be full skirts, with Jennifer Lopez wearing the look twice (first, a rich red skirt with matching red smoky eyes, then a Christian Siriano skirt in green with a cool top knot). Marion Cotillard favoured the look too, wearing a white Christian Dior gown that was equal parts dainty and whimsical.
From chunky bangles to choker necklaces and oversized rings, Indians think of fine jewellery as a serious investment, even when it’s modern design. Glamming up is just a part of our heritage. The July issue of Vogue magazine contains pages and pages of earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings selected by the fashion team. Here’s a small teaser to the magazine’s full four-page feature.
Ears: Big doesn’t necessarily mean bold. Long, dangly earrings with delicate flower settings and strings of diamonds and pearls can make for an understated statement. Jewellery with in-built movement also spells elegance. Chunky earrings, on the other hand, cue more fierceness. Both can be feminine, it depends on your mood.
Neck: We’ve all grown up trying on necklaces from our mothers’ jewellery boxes, the sparkle and significance of coloured gemstones is hard to resist. Case in point: A diamond and emerald drop set in rhodium-polished 18K gold by Gehna Jewellers, and Amrapali’s uncut diamond and emerald set in 18K gold.
Wrist: The great part about bangles and cuffs is that just one or two can pull your whole ensemble together. Think yellow gold, intricate settings, latticework and a whole array of colourful diamonds, amethysts, tourmalines, garnets, tanzanite, rubies…the list goes on.
Finger: Fantastical seems to be the keyword when it comes to cocktail rings. The Floral ring by Jewels Emporium and the Social Butterly ring by Farah Khan Fine Jewellery means giving in to opals, diamonds, emeralds and rubies in oversized, whimsical settings.
Kit Harington of Game of thrones fame shed his unruly, caveman persona and cleaned up well for Jimmy Choo’s spring/summer 2015 campaign. Shot by Steven Klein, the British actor smoulders against the cool, industrial backdrop featuring a glitzy sportscar, alongside model Ondria Hardin.
What Kim Kardashian’s posterior couldn’t do, Joan Didian’s calm face did it an instant. She broke the internet by featuring in Céline’s spring/summer campaign, wearing head-to-toe black and a pair of sunglasses. Featured first on the brand’s Instagram account, it instantly created waves for being the first ad tailored for fastpace digital age.
Dolce and Gabbana’s original sexy lady had tough competition this season. Standing coyly in a fiery red number, she shared the ad campaign space with two adorable Italian nonnas. It’s hard not to fall in love them when they’re looking lovely and gracious like that.
Instagram’s favourite model is here to stay. The half Kardashian beauty proved her critics wrong by bagging yet another prestigious ad campaign, this time – Marc Jacobs for spring/summer 2015.
NEW DELHI: Conflict of interest between US President Barack Obama’s pitch for Make in America and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India may arise but a ‘win-win’ situation can be fashioned if manufacturers on both sides embed themselves in each other’s supply chains, according to Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra.
“The fact that there could be a conflict between the desire to Make in America and Make in India is a very real sort of possibility…You cannot pretend that the conflict may not arise. The question then is how does one fashion a win-win?,” Mahindra told PTI here.
Outlining the solution, he said one of the ways would be to take a sectoral approach.
“In certain sectors it may make sense in Make in India approach and in others it may make more sense for Make in America,” he said.
Mahindra said President Obama had tried to create the “win-win situation” during his trip with his announcements of USD 1 billion dollar credit line for American companies exporting to India and USD 2 billion facility for financing renewable energy initiatives in India.
“In essence, he is financing Make in India. It was an attempt to fashion win-win by saying in this sector it benefits America, because American companies provide technology and American suppliers get into the (Indian) market…
“This is one approach that you can be even handed and you say in this area ‘I am going to support Make in India, finance renewables here and the other I am going to make in the US. The key here is that the American suppliers will supply to renewables developers here (in India).”
Stressing on the need for becoming a part in each other’s supply chains, Mahindra said: “The goal has to be both India and America embed themselves in each other’s supply chains. As long as trade between the two countries improves, even if they are making in America, if Indian companies are getting a chance to export components in America and sub-assemblies to them, we gain.”
Similarly, Americans need to understand that when they make in India and India grows at 8 per cent there will be enormous opportunities for American companies become a part of the supply chain, he added.
“Fortunately, India’s economy has opened up and nobody should have an objection to Make in India because we don’t now have a local content rules in most of our industries. If you assemble a car in India you can buy components from wherever you want,” Mahindra added.
Stating that the world today is a global supply chain, he said: “What looks like Make in India cannot help but involve ‘make in somewhere else’ for the people who supply here. So the question is make what, where? You cannot have 100 per cent made in one location
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