A day after Rajdeep Sardesai wrote an open letter to Aaditya Thackeray condemning the smearing of ink on Sudheendra Kulkarni and the young Sena leader replied promptly , the eminent journalist has written another open letter in reply.
Sardesai, in his letter, has tried to puncture the arguments given by Aaditya Thackeray. He asks why Sena didn’t withdraw support when Modi met Pak PM Nawaz Sharif in Ufa. He also points out that Sena didn’t utter a word when the book was being released in Delhi with BJP patriarch LK Advani in attendance. Sardesai asks if Sena’s protest is confined to Mumbai only.
Shiv Sena, on Monday, justified the ink smearing incident branding it ‘non-violent’ and ‘historic’. Sardesai attacked this definition saying it was nothing but brazen use of muscle power and termed it ‘undemocratic and unconstitutional’.
In the letter, Sardesai asked if the Sena is above the land of the law and whether they are a political party or local militia. According to Sardesai, Sena has always believed in justifying acts of violence and it has not changed cutting across generations.
He points out that Sena’s stand of holding each Pakistani guilty of terror is fundamentally flawed. Sardesai also rejects Aaditya’s hypothesis that boycotting Pakistan, as done to South Africa during its apartheid days, will help. Instead, he believes in creating global opinion against Pakistan sponsored terror.
He says while Sena in opposition periodically highlighted farmers issue, it lost considerable edge and focus while being in power. Sardesai believes Sena as a party is suffering from an image trap. He ends his letter saying that Sena should take cue from Aaditya’s books and try to focus on civil debates rather than resorting to hostility.
Pele will reunite with the Mohun Bagan’s class of 1977 who will be felicitated at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in the ‘Legend’s Nite’ where he will also interact with former India cricket captain and Atletico de Kolkata co-owner Sourav Ganguly.
Two-time academy award winning music composer A R Rahman and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee are slated to join Pele while tennis star Rafael Nadal is also scheduled to join the show through a video conference. With the biggest festival of the state, Durga Puja, set to begin with Mahalaya on Monday, the Brazilian is also likely to inaugurate a pandal later in the day.
On the last day of his tour, the 74-year-old will be the guest of honour in ISL defending champions Atletico de Kolkata’s first home outing against Kerala Blasters at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan in Saltlake. The Brazilian will also be part of an auction dinner on Tuesday, the proceeds of which would go to the Chief Minister Relief Fund.
After Kolkata, Pele on Wednesday evening would head to the national capital Delhi where he will witness the Subroto Cup final on October 16.
Culture Machine, a digital entertainment company, in partnership with Tubefilter and dick clark productions brings the first internationally localized version of the Streamy Awards which honor the best in YouTube, Facebook, amongst other online video platforms on the Internet. The digital content awards show will be produced for audiences in India and South Asian territories including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan.
“The prestigious Streamy Awards are a perfect fit with Culture Machine’s vision of creating entertainment for the Internet generation,” said Sameer Pitalwalla, CEO and Co-Founder of Culture Machine. “The South Asian market is amongst the top 3 Internet markets in the world, and our partnership with Tubefilter and dick clark productions is a step towards providing a platform that recognizes achievements for those pushing the boundaries of entertainment on the Interwebs.”
“Online video and digital entertainment is indeed a global phenomenon that has brought us closer than ever before, but the world still remains a mosaic of many diverse cultures and the creative communities that surround them,“ said Streamy Awards creator Drew Baldwin. “From the beginning, the Streamy Awards have always strived to showcase digital entertainment to broader audiences, and our partnership with Culture Machine marks an important first step in our mission to celebrate excellence in online video, no matter in what part of the world it is made.”
“Our partnership with Culture Machine represents all of the elements we feel necessary for success in localizing the show,” said Mark Rafalowski, EVP, International Distribution, dick clark productions. “Digital networks and traditional media companies recognize the Streamy Awards as a truly unique program that bridges media consumption patterns across multiple demographics.”
The international partnership was announced at MIPCOM, the year’s most anticipated global market for entertainment content across all platforms, where Tubefilter and dick clark productions will continue to pursue the development of localized versions of the Streamy Awards for additional international territories in the next year.
The conditional release of Vandana Bhargava, director at Sahara India, by the Supreme Court in March 2014, has yielded rich dividends for the enforcement sleuths. Bhargava, the only director allowed to assist in depositing Rs 10,000 crore with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to bail out the group’s jailed chief Subrata Roy, has disclosed all details pertaining to 4,500 bank accounts spread across the country that might have a direct link to the massive Rs 24,000 crore of allegedly laundered funds.
Bhargava made the disclosure during her questioning by Enforcement Directorate (ED) last week. Sources said she was interrogated for more than eight hours. Also, ED officials said a few banks have acted as ‘facilitator’ in transferring money abroad. The directorate has already initiated against action against two private banks for this under Foreign Exchange Management Act.
When contacted Sahara Group spokesperson did not respond on the statement made by Bhargava. Sources were told that each of the 4,500 bank accounts disclosed by Bhargava has over a thousand transactions.
“We are anticipating some vital clues out of this,” a senior ED official told dna.
ED is likely to outsource the accounting interpretation to an external audit firm or agency to trace the origin and end of money routed through these accounts, the officials said. In her statement, Bhargava said she is no longer associated with any of the Sahara entities nor involved in this case and was “forced” to become a director by Roy.
However, a company source said Bhargava continues to be on board and is actively involved in the day-to-day activities of the group companies.
ED officials believe that being a close part of largely unlisted company, Bhargava is aware of all the malpractices that went on there. ED had registered a case against Sahara group in November 2014 under Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Sources said, of the total scam money, ED has been able to unearth Rs 3,600 crore in alleged money laundering, which is one-eighth of the scam money raised by two group firms, Sahara India Real Estate Corp Ltd and Sahara India Housing Investment Corp Ltd.
According to sources, the trail has established that the group has diverted some funds to the US, and the UK in 2010. Sahara owns controlling stakes in New York City’s Plaza Hotel and Dream Downtown and London’s Grosvenor House hotel.
“Rs 8,000 crore has been already seized by Sebi. We are looking at the remaining Rs 17,000 crore,” said an ED source.
If the bank accounts establish money laundering, the ED sleuths may also seize the group’s hotels in the UK and the US. “But this can be done only on the basis of strong evidences,” said an official.
“The seizure of properties overseas has it own course of action. We need to send letter rogatory (LR) to the respective countries for judicial assistance,” said the ED source.
The group, facing charges of money laundering, had been under the lens of investigating agencies for long until Sebi finally nailed its chief Subrato Roy in March last year and got him behind bars along with two directors Ravi Shankar Dubey and Ashok Roy Choudhary. This followed the strict instruction by Sebi to refund the money raised from around three crore investors, which could not be complied by the group for want of money.
The apex court granted conditional bail to Roy and others for a deposit of Rs 10,000 crore. The case has since been an unprecedented one as never before such a huge amount was sought for bail. The fact that no investors have so far come forward to lodge a complaint have made many legal experts believe that all transactions were fictitious and involved money laundering.
Since August 2014, Roy has been trying to sell some of his hotel properties to raise the bail money. Sahara is said to be in discussions with several investors to dispose of its overseas hotels and other assets.
As Bihar heads for what is being billed as a mini-Lok Sabha election, with 49 constituencies going to the polls on Monday, the battle-lines are drawn.
As the BJP-led NDA and the Nitish-Lalu-led grand alliance face off each other, casting other smaller alliances to the margins, the BJP no longer appears to have the edge it had a fortnight ago, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared to be more popular across castes and regions.
No. of seats being contested by different political parties in the first phase:
Party No. of seats
BSP 41
BJP 27
RJD 17
LJP 13
Congress 8
RLSP 6
CPI 25
CPI(M) 12
Live updates:
3:05 pm: 46% poll percentage recorded till 2 pm for the first phase of Bihar Polls.
12:55 pm: 33.13% voter turnout till noon.
11:51 am: 27% voting till 11 a.m.; Maximum 34% voting recorded in Khagaria district.
11:25 am: Polling is likely to pick up by noon, says additional Chief Electoral Officer R. Lakshaman.
11:04 am: While Banka has recorded a maximum turnout of 14 per cent, Samastipur recorded the lowest turnout of seven per cent till 9 a.m.
10:48 am: 16% voting recorded till 10 a.m.
10:40 am: Polling has been remained peaceful in Maoist-affected districts of Munger, Jamui and Lakhisarai.
9:50 am: Over 10% polling till now.
9:25 am: Polling temporarily halted at Ramchandrapur booth number 86 in Sarairanjan constituency due to EVM malfunction.
8:48 am: 6% voting during first hour of polling.
7:52 am: 1,35,72,339 electorate will cast their votes in the 49 seats for which 583 candidates, including 54 women, are in the fray.
7:46 am: Given a bipolar contest and accretion of different social groups under the banner of either alliance, relative turnouts of various communities could clinch the verdict. If MBCs, Dalits and Forward Castes turn out in more numbers than the Muslim-Yadav-Kurmi coalition on polling days, then the NDA may carry the day. More…
7:43 am: Union Minister Giriraj Singh casts his vote in Barahiya.
7:36 am: How women voters can tip the scales in Bihar
Women in Bihar have been agents of change in previous elections and have brought in significant political and policy changes in the State. Bihar is the fourth largest State in India in terms of the total number of electors (55 million). It contains 8 per cent of the total number of electors in the country. More…
7:28 am: Polls are being held in 49 seats, some in Naxal-infested districts of Jamui, Banka, Lakhisarai, Nawada and Munger.
7:26 am: Mr. Modi tweets: “Urging all those voting today in Bihar to vote in large numbers. I particularly urge my young friends to cast their vote.”
7:19 am: The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has an added responsibility — to guard the politicians of Bihar, one of the worst hit by Naxal violence. Of the 15 politicians accorded VIP security cover, 13 are from the BJP or members of its alliance. More…
7:10 am: Polling for first phase begins.
Phase – I constituencies
Kalyanpur (SC) Cheria Bariarpur Parbatta Banka Rajauli (SC)
Warisnagar Bachhwara Bihpur Katoria (ST) Hisua
Samastipur Teghra Gopalpur Belhar Nawada
Ujiarpur Matihani Pirpainti (SC) Tarapur Gobindpur
Morwa Sahebpur Kamal Kahalgaon Munger Warsaliganj
Sarairanjan Begusarai Bhagalpur Jamalpur Sikandra (SC)
Mohiuddinnagar Bakhri (SC) Sultanganj Suryagarha Jamui
Bibhutipur Alauli (SC) Nathnagar Lakhisarai Jhajha
Rosera (SC) Khagaria Amarpur Sheikhpura Chakai
Hasanpur Beldaur Dhauraiya (SC) Barbigha
New Delhi: Raising concern about blockade from Nepal side, government sources claim that 1500 trucks are waiting along the border that are not being allowed to go inside. Sources also denied any the allegations about blockade from the Indian side. 190 trucks with supply had gone to Nepal from Birganj, Rupadiya UP, Jogwani.
India has dismissed suggestions that it has imposed any embargo against the supplies to Nepal. It has maintained that the obstruction was due to protest and unrest in Nepal as Indian companies and transporters fear for their safety and security.
At least 40 people have died in over a month of clashes between police and protesters from the Madhesi and Tharu communities and ethnic minorities. Madhesis are Indian-origin inhabitants of the Terai region bordering India who are opposed to splitting Nepal into seven provinces. New demarcation of boundary for the southern plains, more rights and representation for the Indian-origin Madhesi people are the major demands of the agitating groups.
Meanwhile, Nepal had on Sunday asked India not to “push it to the wall” by choking petroleum and other essential supplies which could compel it to turn to China despite logistical difficulties. Asserting that India had assured Nepal leadership that the situation will be resolved “at the earliest”, Nepalese Ambassador Deep Kumar Upadhyay said, “They (India) should give a timeframe. Does it mean hours, weeks or months?”
Nepal is suffering from scarcity of essential goods like fuel and cooking gas due to what it terms as “undeclared blockade” of a key trade point at the border with India by people protesting the controversial newly-promulgated Constitution.
MUMBAI: At least 10 to 15 Shiv Sena activists attacked Sudheendra Kulkarni, organiser of former Pakistani foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri’s book launch, hours before event, NDTV reported.
“When I got out of home, a group of Shiv Sainiks ─ some 10, 15 of them ─ stopped my car. When I came out, they smeared my entire body with black oil paint, shouted slogans and said ‘we had ordered you to cancel the programme, you didn’t listen to us, this is what we’ll do’. They abused me,” he said.
The organiser of the programme said he had earlier told Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray that the programme will not be cancelled. “We respect your right to protest peacefully, you should respect our right to hold the programme … We are not doing anything unlawful,” he told NDTV.
Kulkarni said the government has assured security for Kasuri and the programme.
“We are profusely thankful to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra who has taken a very disciplined and firm stand against these kinds of threats,” he said.
He added, “We are going to go ahead with the programme, we are not going to be deterred by these things.”
Kulkarni and Kasuri held a joint press conference following the incident, NDTV reported. The organiser welcome the former minister, thanking him for accepting the invitation.
Kasuri said he was unhappy about the attack on Kulkarni. Recognising the right of people to protest, he said as long as the protest was peaceful, it was justified but that what happened to Kulkarni was beyond that.
Kasuri reached Mumbai on Sunday for the last leg of his book release tour. His book ‘Neither a Hawk nor a Dove: An Insider’s Account of Pakistan’s Foreign Policy’ will be launched at Mumbai’s Hall of Culture, Nehru Centre.
“My Indian sponsors say we should not chicken [out] before any threat by the Shiv Sena,” Kasuri told Dawn Newspaper.
“There are some 20 security men guarding me. I’m leaving it all to Allah.”
It has been revealed that Steve Jobs widow, Laurene Jobs, called Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale and begged them to stay away from the upcoming biopic about the controversial Apple CEO.
According to a source in the movie, Laurene had been trying to kill this movie since the very beginning. The 51-year-old widow called up Dicaprio and Bale and said, “Don’t do it”. However, Michael Fassbender accepted the role to play Jobs in the biopic.
Sources have revealed that Laurene also asked a major studio to back away from the project. Steve Jobs is all set to hit the theatres on October 9.
Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi on Friday accused the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party Government in Uttar Pradesh of manipulating the Dadri lynching case for self gain.
“The police are taking new names daily in the Dadri case, which is completely wrong. This shows the incompetence of the Uttar Pradesh Government and the state’s police,” Gandhi told media here.
“I know two boys who are nowhere related to this case, but their names are being dragged in this case,” she added.
Gandhi also said there was a law of the land, it should be followed by the state police.
“People behind this unfortunate incident need to be punished. But innocent people shouldn’t be targeted,” she added.
Hitting out at the state police, Gandhi said that if it has filed an FIR against unknown people it, had the leeway to threaten anyone.
“There is very cheap politics being politics being played U.P government and the police members,” she added.
In an apparent reference to the Dadri lynching incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had yesterday urged all not to make irresponsible statements for petty gains.
“I have said it earlier too. Hindus should decide whether to fight Muslims or poverty. Muslims have to decide whether to fight Hindus or poverty. Both need to fight poverty together. The country has to stay united, only communal harmony and brotherhood will take the nation forward. People should ignore controversial statements made by politicians, as they are doing so for political gains,” he said while referring to President Pranab Mukherjee’s statement to drive home his point.
In a shocking incident, a man was spotted walking on the road with a severed head by a local constable in Katraj, near Pune on Friday.
The man named Ramchandra Chavan had a head in one hand an axe in the other. According to reports, 63-year-old Chavan has suspicions that his 60-year-old wife was having an affair with someone. He was enraged by the possibility of affair and beheaded his wife consequently
The accused, Chavan, who works as a watchman in a housing society in Katraj area, was taken into custody by police. According to the FIR, Ramu killed his 45-year-old wife, Sonubai, after suspecting an illicit relationship between her and their son-in-law.
The dhoti-clad man, who was accosted to the police station by constables, carried his wife’s head by holding on to the hair even as shocked bystanders watched on the street. He has been booked under IPC 302 (murder) and further investigations were underway, police added.
Senior Police Inspector, M Chavhan said, “He was taken into custody immediately. On investigation we found that Chavan worked as a watchman on a site in Katraj. He frequently quarrelled with his wife and though she neglected him. It was a case of household quarrel between a couple where Chavan lost his control and killed his wife using a knife.”
Chavan is said to have walked for a few minutes with the severed head until he was spotted by the constable. “The man did not have any mental disorders as investigated for now. He is taken into custody for murder and is being questioned further” he added.
Chavan and his wife lived with two sons, a daughter in law and two grand children in Katraj. The rest of the members are also being questioned.
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