SIMI members had roles in Patna rally serial blasts: Police

NEW DELHI: Some members of banned SIMI were involved in the serial blasts in the Patna rally attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the election campaign, a senior police officer today told a tribunal headed by a Delhi high court judge.

"Umer Siddiqui and Azaharuddin, arrested by Chhattisgarh Police, are members of Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and evidence recovered during raids at separate places in Patna and Ranchi after the recent Patna blasts showed their involvement in these cases," Rakesh Bhatt, Civil Lines City Superintendent of Police of Raipur, told Justice Suresh Kait.

Justice Kait has been appointed by the Centre to head the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal to conduct the proceedings, including deposition of various witnesses, to ratify or reject the five-year ban recently imposed on SIMI.

The ministry of home affairs, on February 6, banned SIMI for another five years beginning February 1, saying that if not curbed the group will reorganise and "disrupt the secular fabric" of the country.

Bhatt, who was cross-examined by the counsel for SIMI, said that out of three persons, Chhattisgarh Police got recorded the statements of Abdul Mohsin Khan and Mohd Faizan Latif before a magistrate under section 164 of the CrPC.

While the statement of Mohd Rizwan was recorded before a magistrate's court through the National Investigation Agency.

The police officer also said some members of SIMI had attended a meeting of the terror outfit held at Barnawapara forests, around 100 km away from Raipur and various article such as CDs, laptop, pertaining to training methods of LeT and Hizbul Mujahdeen were seized.

He, however, said that those seized materials have been sent to forensic examination at CFSL Hyderabad and have not been filed before the tribunal.

Extending the ban, the MHA, in its notification, listed 21 terror cases highlighting the alleged involvement of SIMI, including the rioting at Azad Maidan in Mumbai in 2012.

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Air India sends Boeing 777 to bring back nurses from Iraq

NEW DELHI: Air India is sending a Boeing 777 aircraft to bring back 46 nurses and other Indians stranded in strife-torn Iraq.

The Boeing 777, a long-range plane with a seating capacity for about 300 passengers, has taken off from Delhi's IGI Airport to Erbil in north Iraqi region of Kurdistan and is likely to return to Kochi on its way back, civil aviation ministry officials told here.

Air India, which had kept three wide-body planes and crew on standby for evacuation of Indian nationals from Iraq, was awaiting government's instructions to launch the flights.

Besides the Boeing 777, two Boeing 747 jumbos have been kept ready to fly at short notice, they said, adding that cockpit and cabin crew to operate them were also on standby.

READ ALSO: Indian nurses in Iraq freed, to reach Kerala tomorrow

46 Indian nurses, who were forced to move out of Tikrit city in Iraq's conflict zone, were on their way to Erbil, a non-conflict area in the country where a team of Indian officials was waiting to receive them. The flight would directly take them to Kochi as most of them are from Kerala.

Nurses at a Nursing College in Patiala light candles for the safe return of nurses trapped in Iraq.

The nurses were taken by Sunni militants ISIS on Thursday from a hospital basement in Tikrit to an undisclosed location.

There were about 10,000 Indians before the start of the serious strife between government troops and Sunni militants, backed by al-Qaida. The militants have captured two key cities and are marching towards Baghdad.

Relatives of Indian workers who are taken hostage in Iraq hold a vigil in Amritsar on June 26, 2014.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been displaced in the fighting that broke out on June 10.

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ISIS told us to get ready to move to airport, Indian nurse says

KOTTAYAM: Giving some hope to the worried parents, ISIS jihadists have promised safe passage to a group of Keralite nurses lodged by them in Mosul, according to family members of one of the nurses here.

One of the nurses in the group, Sumi, called her family at Puthankurisu in Ernakulam district to convey this information.

According to Sumi's brother Jinto, the rebels told the nurses this afternoon to get ready to move to the airport.

They, however, did not specify to which airport they are going to be taken for being flown out of the strife-torn country, Jinto said. Jinto said his sister told him that they were lodged in an old building in Mosul last night after they were moved in a vehicle from Tikrit where they were working.

When they reached the place, there was no electricity in the building and were accommodated in a dark hall. Later, they were moved to an air conditioned hall and provided some food and water.

Family members of another nurse said, "My daughter called me around 10.45 last night and said the group had been accommodated in a hall in Mosul. It appears to be part of a hospital. She could not speak more since the charge of her mobile phone was low. She told me not to panic if she did not call home frequently as she was not sure if there would be a facility to get the phone charged."

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First Ganga Manthan to take place on July 7

NEW DELHI: First national dialogue on river Ganga — Ganga Manthan — will take place on July 7. Union ministers, MPs, scientists, experts, religious leaders and NGOs will participate in this day-long brainstorming on the Ganga river rejuvenation plan.

Views and suggestions, expressed by the stakeholders during the session, will be shared with a Committee of Secretaries (CoS) that has been working on a blueprint to develop the river. This group is expected to submit its plan by mid-July.

The national dialogue will be organized here by the National Mission for Clean Ganga, which is currently being functioned under the ministry of environment. It is expected that the Mission's schemes will eventually be implemented by the ministry of water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation.

"Idea of the 'Ganga Manthan' is to bring all concerned citizens, including 'sadhus' and 'saints', at one platform where they can exchange their views and suggest ways and means to rejuvenate the river", water resources and Ganga rejuvenation minister Uma Bharti had said last month.

Announcing the plan to hold the brainstorming on Ganga, she had said though this programme would be called 'Ganga Manthan', it will include discussions over Yamuna and other important rivers of the country which also need to be cleaned and developed on priority basis.

Emphasizing that the river cannot remain clean unless every citizen cooperates, she had said her ministry would approach the issue by making the Ganga rejuvenation plan a 'Jan Andolan' (people's movement).

The ministry will soon launch a website on the river Ganga, inviting suggestion for cleaning the river from all over the world.

Besides Uma Bharti, environment minister Prakash Javadekar, transport and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari, tourism minister Shripad Naik and minister of state for water resources Santosh Kumar Gangwar will attend the dialogue on Ganga.

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Reclaim Katchatheve Island from Sri Lanka, NFF urges PM

MANGALORE: The National Fishworkers' Forum has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to reclaim Katchatheve Island from Sri Lanka, which was initially belonged to India.

Highlighting the problem of arrests of Indian fishermen for venturing near the island, M Ilango, chairperson of the forum stated in the memorandum to PM to enter into an agreement with the Sri Lankan government for a permanent solution to the above problem and also include the 'term' that both governments would not arrest fishermen of these two countries stating they have crossed their maritime borders, in the agreement.

Requesting PM to take steps to release the fishermen arrested and imprisoned in both the India and Sri Lanka and hand over the seized fishing vessels to the respective fishermen, Ilango urged PM to take steps so fishermen from both countries could carry out fishing activities in the sea between both the countries like in the past.

The Fishermen Welfare Organization has filed a Writ Petition before the Chennai High Court looking for remedies in favour of the Indian Fishermen to do fishing in the sea surface between the Indian and Sri Lankan Countries and to recover the Katchatheve Island from the Sri Lanka, which was initially belonged to India. Ilango stated that when the hearing of the case was posted on July 1, this year, the Additional Solicitor General had filed a Statement stating that 'as per the Agreement entered between the Indian and Sri Lankan Governments in the year 1974 and 1976, the Indian fishermen are not having authorization to do fishing near the Katchatheve Island'. This estimation of the Union Government may be factual as per the Agreement which subsists now.

Ilango stated that during campaigning for the recent Lok Sabha held at Chennai, he had proclaimed that if the BJP heads the Union Government, the issues of Tamil Nadu fishermen would be permanently solved and in this light the forum urged PM's intervention.

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Lankan foreign minister to visit India next week

NEW DELHI: Sri Lankan foreign minister G L Peiris will be visiting India next week to hold talks with his counterpart Sushma Swaraj during which key issues, including the welfare of Tamils in Lanka and fishermen, are expected to be discussed.

Ministry of external affairs' spokesperson said India and Lanka were working on Peiris' visit and "it is likely that he will visit this month".

On the issue of Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan jails, he said more than 175 fisherman have been released since the new government took over and "there is a small number of fishermen who are still in the custody of Sri Lanka and our Mission is working" to secure their release.

This will be Peiris' second visit to India after the installation of the new government here. Earlier, he had accompanied Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa who attended Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in on May 26.

Modi, who held a bilateral meeting with Rajapaksa a day after the swearing-in, had pitched for "early and full implementation" of the reconciliation process to meet the aspirations of Tamil community in Sri Lanka and also discussed the fishermen issue.

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President Pranab Mukherjee's son calls TMC MP Tapas Pal's rape threat 'slip of tongue'

KOLKATA: President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit Mukherjee, who once courted controversy for a sexist remark, has now sprung to the defence of Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Pal seeking forgiveness for the latter's rape comments.

"Tapas has written an apology letter. I feel since he has apologized and his party has pardoned him, the debate should not be dragged any further," Abhjiit, a Congress MP from West Bengal's Jangipur, told reporters here.

Mukherjee junior even went on to describe Pal's comments, which have triggered a nationwide outrage and disgust, as "slip of tongue".

"At times, such slips of tongue happen although it shouldn't happen. Many of us have made similar mistakes in the past. I hope such things don't get repeated in future," said Mukherjee, who had to apologize for describing women protestors demonstrating against the Dec 16, 2012 gang rape in Delhi as "highly dented and painted".

READ ALSO: Trinamool rules out action against Tapas Pal, accepts his apology for 'rape threat'

Incidentally, several of his senior party leaders, including state unit president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, have slammed Pal and demanded his arrest.

Chowdhury also launched a scathing attack on chief minister Mamata Banerjee for "shamelessly shielding her protege".

TMC MP Tapas Pal has apologized for his rape threat

Pal, an MP from Bengal's Krishnanagar, has been caught on tape exhorting his party workers to kill Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) activists even as he himself asserted that he would gun down his rivals and let loose his boys to rape their women.

Notwithstanding the countrywide clamour for Pal's arrest and expulsion from Parliament, the Trinamool has sought to end the matter with an apology which he tendered to his party and the media on Tuesday.

READ ALSO: Behind closed doors, didi warns Trinamool leaders against Tapas Pal-like 'slips'

Meanwhile, CPM Rajya Sabha member Sitaram Yechury has written to the Lok Sabha speaker seeking referral of Pal's "misconduct" to the Committee of Ethics for "suitable punitive action".

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President Pranab Mukherjee's son calls TMC MP Tapas Pal's rape threat a 'slip of tongue'

KOLKATA: President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit Mukherjee, who once courted controversy for a sexist remark, has now sprung to the defence of Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Pal seeking forgiveness for the latter's rape comments.

"Tapas has written an apology letter. I feel since he has apologized and his party has pardoned him, the debate should not be dragged any further," Abhjiit, a Congress MP from West Bengal's Jangipur, told reporters here.

Mukherjee junior even went on to describe Pal's comments, which have triggered a nationwide outrage and disgust, as "slip of tongue".

"At times, such slips of tongue happen although it shouldn't happen. Many of us have made similar mistakes in the past. I hope such things don't get repeated in future," said Mukherjee, who had to apologize for describing women protestors demonstrating against the Dec 16, 2012 gang rape in Delhi as "highly dented and painted".

READ ALSO: Trinamool rules out action against Tapas Pal, accepts his apology for 'rape threat'

Incidentally, several of his senior party leaders, including state unit president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, have slammed Pal and demanded his arrest.

Chowdhury also launched a scathing attack on chief minister Mamata Banerjee for "shamelessly shielding her protege".

TMC MP Tapas Pal has apologized for his rape threat

Pal, an MP from Bengal's Krishnanagar, has been caught on tape exhorting his party workers to kill Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) activists even as he himself asserted that he would gun down his rivals and let loose his boys to rape their women.

Notwithstanding the countrywide clamour for Pal's arrest and expulsion from Parliament, the Trinamool has sought to end the matter with an apology which he tendered to his party and the media on Tuesday.

READ ALSO: Behind closed doors, didi warns Trinamool leaders against Tapas Pal-like 'slips'

Meanwhile, CPM Rajya Sabha member Sitaram Yechury has written to the Lok Sabha speaker seeking referral of Pal's "misconduct" to the Committee of Ethics for "suitable punitive action".

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West Bengal BJP submits memorandum to women's panel on Tapas Pal

KOLKATA: The BJP on Thursday submitted a memorandum to the West Bengal Women's Commission seeking its intervention for the arrest of actor-turned-MP Tapas Pal who was in the centre of a controversy for his discourteous and offensive statements on women.

Party spokesman Ritesh Tiwari told PTI that a delegation had met the Commission chairperson Sunanda Mukherjee and submitted the memorandum.

He alleged that a number of FIRs had been filed against Pal, but the state government was not taking steps for his arrest.

Tiwari said that commission had been urged to intervene and ask the state government to order his arrest.

Earlier, state BJP president Rahul Sinha had said that the party would approach Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and apprise her about the MP's conduct in the coming Parliament session.

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Monsoon revives after weakest start in five years

NEW DELHI: Monsoon rain revived in the key planting month after recording the weakest first month of the June-September monsoon season in five years, weather officials said on Thursday.

A late surge in the monsoon rain has come as a relief to farmers who can now begin to plant summer crops such as rice, corn, cane, soybean and cotton.

"The monsoon has revived in many parts of central and north India," said BP Yadav, head of the National Weather Forecasting Centre at the India Meteorological Department.

India, one of the world's top producers and consumers of rice, corn, cooking oil, sugar and cotton, relies heavily on the summer rains as nearly half of its farmland is rainfed.

July, the second month of the monsoon season, usually receives the maximum rainfall, accounting for about a third of the seasonal rainfall. Summer sowing activities pick up during the month as the monsoon rains cover the entire the country.

"The revival phase is expected to continue next week," said a weather official, who did not wish to be named as he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Annual rain arrived five days late than the normal June 1 start over the southern Kerala coast, and then covered half of India four days later than the usual date of June 15.

India's farm sector shares around 14 per cent of its nearly $2 trillion economy, and two-thirds of its 1.2 billion population live in rural areas.

Rainfall was 53 per cent below average for the week ended on July 2 as against 31 per cent deficiency in the previous week as the monsoon advancement towards the central and north regions had stalled after the second week.

However, Yadav said monsoon progress has resumed in the first two days of July, with the country receiving heavy rainfall in many parts of north India, including the capital city New Delhi.

On Wednesday, a top official confirmed the revival in soybean areas of central and cane areas of north India, but warned the country was still likely to have a below-average rainfall in 2014 due to the weak start.

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