INDIA SUMMARIZED

It was Congress President Sonia Gandhi who did most of the talking during the 45-minute meeting with Narendra Modi on November 27 evening. It was to her that the prime minister and his two senior ministers, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu, responded and did all the explaining on the sticky points of the Goods and Services Tax Bill. They also spoke to her on the need for smooth functioning of the Winter Session of Parliament for the passage of several other pending legislative businesses. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who accompanied Sonia to the prime minister’s official residence at 7 Race Course Road, mostly sat quietly through the meeting. He was the principal architect of the GST Bill. The impression which the three top ruling leaders got from Singh’s limited response was that he didn’t think that the Congress’s objections had much merit and were viable. But then he is not the person in command in Congress. S...

Demand by history-lovers through social website; ready to knock court’s doors Pune :  It has been observed from the trailer recently released of the film ‘Bajirao- Mastaani’ that there is distortion of history which has created controversy over this film. Now, history-lovers have started movement against this film through social website. History-lover Shraddha  Mehta has posted a page on Facebook titled ‘Ban the movie ‘Bajirao- Mastaani’ and she said that it was receiving overwhelming response.  (Congratulations to history-lover  Shraddha  Mehta who has tried to stop distortion of history taking place thro’ film ! – Editor, Dainik  Sanatan Prabhat) Trailer of the upcoming film ‘Bajirao- Mastaani’ produced and directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali was recently released. From a song ‘Pinga’, it was observed that there was distortion of history. This film is based on life of Shrimant Bajirao Peshave and on true characters. Udaysingh Peshave, a descendant of ...

HJS also opposes ! Congratulations to  Shri . Vinod Kothari for raising voice against denigration of  Hindu  Deities ! Nobody will dare to say anything against Hindus’ Deities if there are such devout Hindus everywhere ! Mumbai :  Shri . Vinod Kothari, a devout  Hindu  has lodged a complaint with Colaba police station against Editor, publisher and owner of ‘Hindustan Times’ for publishing articles with half-nude and indecent pictures of Hindus’ Deities drawn by Anjolie Ila Menon, hurting religious sentiments of Hindus. On 23 rd  November issue of Hindustan Times, in its column ‘HT Café’ published on page 6 of this newspaper, there were pictures of  Parvati  and Yashoda Mata in half-clad state. Anjolie Ila Menon drawing such indecent pictures of Hindu Deities, had however, drawn picture of Mother Mary worshipped by Christians, as fully dressed. VHP’s Shri. Arun Kavadi, Shri. Vishal Patani, Shri. Harishji Pillai, Shri. Ramesh Purohit etc...

NEW DELHI :  Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju, in a TV interview, has stated that banned terror group ISIS may carry out terror strikes anywhere in the country using a single terrorist also known as ‘lone wolf’ to create a mayhem. The minister also said that certain steps have been taken to prevent such nefarious designs. “Challenges are there. We have to accept that it is a reality. The threat is there,” Rijiju said. Rijiju was replying to a question on the possibility of an ISIS ‘lone wolf’ carrying out a terror attack in India on the occasion of the seventh anniversary of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. When asked whether Muslims from the southern states were attracted more to the ISIS ideology, Rijiju said that “we should not look at ISIS issue from regional angle but pan India”. Rijiju said the government has been successful in enhancing security apparatus after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. Asked how the government is prepared to face the challenge ...

Mohammad Eizaz obtained Aadhaar card from Bareilly, voter ID and other documents from West Bengal Mohammand Eizaz alias Mohammad Kalam. Documents recovered from him show that he is a resident of Taramadi Chowk, Irfanabad in Islamabad, Pakistan. (PTI Photo) THE UTTAR Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) on Friday arrested Pakistani national Mohammad Eizaz alias Mohammad Kalam for allegedly sending vital information about the Indian Army to Pakistani intelligence agency ISI. He was staying in Bareilly district since December, 2014. Eizaz, a resident of Islamabad in Pakistan, was arrested from Meerut Cantt area while on his way to Delhi. Police claimed to have recovered several documents related to the Indian Army, cellphone, laptop, pen drives, a fake voter identity card from West Bengal, a fake Aadhaar card with a Bareilly address, a photocopy of Nadar Card (Pakistani identity card) and other items from him. “During interrogation, the accused revealed that in 2012, he had come in c...

Addressing the Lok Sabha on November 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said 'India first' is the only religion of his government and Constitution is the only holy book while asserting his commitment to work for the welfare of people of all sections and religions. Here are his top 10 quotes from his speech in LS: 1. Ambedkar faced insults all his life, it colors a person's intentions. But no where in Constitution does any of that reflect. 2.  If Constitution simply becomes a document to be followed by the Govt then democracy will suffer, that's why it needs to reach the roots. 3.  Don't remember any PM saying from the Red Fort that this nation is what it is due to contribution of all Govts & PMs. 4.  It is important to strengthen rights and it is as important to strengthen duties. 5.  Dignity for Indians and unity for India...this is what our Constitution is about. 6 . In a democracy, consensus is what gives the greatest strength. 7.  Wh...

Some people were critical of Aamir's sharing of his innermost fears for India, the country of his birth, love and life; a country or the critics he has no intention of fleeing. Aamir shared his pain and anxiety about the "disquiet...despondency" abroad the land of India. For that he has been charged with sedition. It is shocking that in today's Indian democracy, an Indian - be it Aamir, Shah Rukh or Girish Karnad - can't freely discuss their feelings and ideas without being threatened bodily harm and death, told to leave the country or charged with sedition. No Indian - Modi, Aamir or any other - needs to prove his/her patriotism. Being concerned about the state of peace and harmony in India isn't unpatriotic. Sharing his wife's intimate fears and insecurities about their child's future can't be treasonous. I know thousands, if not millions, of Indian families talk daily about leaving or at least sending their children away from Ind...

"The day I entered Indiraji's household I became an Indian, the rest is just technical" that is Sonia Gandhi's latest explanation for not having acquired Indian citizenship till fourteen years after her marriage to Rajeev Gandhi. Her maudlin speech at the AICC session demonstrated, her vision of India does not even extend to Nehru; it begins with Indira Gandhi and is lifted in full Technicolor from B-grade Hindi movies: Main suhagin yahin bani. Maa yahin bani. Main vidhwa aapki aankhon ke saamne hui. Is desh ki sabse mahaan putri Indiraji ne apni saansa meri bahon mein tori. Mere khoon ki ek ek boond kahti hain ki yeh mera vatan hair, yeh mera vatan hai. (I became a bride here; I became a mother here; I became a widow before your very eyes. This country’s greatest daughter Indiraji took her last breath in my arms. Every single drop of my blood cries, this is my country. This is my country). Addressing a rally during the general election of 1998, Sonia Gandhi ...

By ANNE BARNARD and NEIL MacFARQUHAR 4 Hours Ago The New York Times Before the hostage crisis at a Malian hotel was over, before the gunmen had even been identified, admirers of Al Qaeda and the rival Islamic State started jostling on social media over which of the jihadist organizations was more righteous and more prominent. One apparent supporter of Al Qaeda, whose Twitter profile suggested he could be a fighter in Syria affiliated with the group, quickly declared online that the Islamic State could “learn a thing or two” from the Mali attack, scornfully brushing off suggestions that the newer, upstart group had carried it out. “Allahu alam” — God knows best — “they don’t operate in #Mali,” the ...

Indian investigators have informed the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Paris that Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), receiving funds in Pakistan from different channels, raised over Rs 800 million (Rs 80 crore) in the last eight years to carry out terror activities in India. The ‘Emerging Terrorist Financing Risks’ report of FATF of October 2015, on the basis of information shared by India, said, “Hizb-ul-Mujahideen has been receiving funds originating from Pakistan through different channels in support of its terrorist activities in India. HM is claimed to be actively involved in furthering terrorist activities in India and has raised over INR 800 million within the past eight years.” Giving detailed evidence on how the Pakistan-backed outfit got its funds and then used that against India, the report said, “Once the money reaches India, it is distributed through various conduits at various places to active terrorists and families of killed HM terrorists.” The report further said, ...

Rahul Pashupalan and his wife Resmi R Nair Thiruvananthapuram :  They had campaigned against moral policing through the ‘Kiss of Love’ campaign and are now under arrest for running an immoral trade. Rahul Pashupalan and his wife Resmi R Nair had shot into limelight last year as the leaders of the campaign to protest a mob attack on a coffee shop in Kozhikode over allegations that it was promoting ‘immoral activity’. The ‘Kiss of Love’ campaign had gained huge traction at the national level. However, Rahul and Resmi are now under arrest for allegedly running a online sex racket in Kerala. The couple are among the eleven person arrested in connection with the case. As per The News Minute, the arrests were made by the Cyber Cell of Kerala Police after it unearthed discovered the online sex racket while probing a Facebook paedophile page called ‘Kochu Sundarikal’. Reports added that Rahul and Resmi were helping a gang that supplied children to paedophiles. Among those a...

Haridwar :  Terming those who slaughter cows as the country’s biggest enemies, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Thursday said they had “no right to live in the country”. “Anyone who kills cows, no matter which community he belongs to is India’s biggest enemy and has no right to live in the country,” Rawat said addressing a function on the occasion of Gopashtami here yesterday. Law will deal sternly with those who kill cows in Uttarakhand and the state government will do everything for cow conservation, the CM said. He said the state government has already passed a proposal against cow slaughter. He said Uttarakhand is the only state which gives not only land for cowsheds but also helps in arranging for their fodder.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Thursday warned of the dangers still faced by the country as he opened a parliamentary debate that later saw lawmakers extend an extraordinary package of security measures for three months. French PM Manuel Valls addresses lawmakers at the National Assembly in Paris. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned on Thursday that France was at a risk of chemical or biological weapons attack, as lawmakers voted to extend a state of emergency imposed after the Paris carnage. Valls warned of the dangers still faced by France as he opened a parliamentary debate that later saw lawmakers extend an extraordinary package of security measures for three months. “We must not rule anything out,” Valls said. “There is also the risk from chemical or biological weapons.” He called on France’s European Union partners to urgently adopt measures to share airline passenger information. “More than ever, it’s time for Europe to adopt the text… to guarantee the trace...

Accusing Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi of declaring himself a British citizen to float a firm in that country, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding that the Congress MP should be stripped of his Indian citizenship as well as his parliamentary membership. The Congress has, however, dismissed Swamy’s charge. “I wrote to PM Modi on November 12, asking him to initiate steps to cancel Rahul’s citizenship and will ask Lok Sabha Speaker to appoint a committee or direct the committee on ethics to cancel his Lok Sabha membership,” Swamy said at a specially-convened press conference. However, the Congress termed the allegations false and said the dirty tricks department of the BJP was resorting to “petty and mindless mud-slinging” as it was “frustrated by its humiliating defeat in Bihar and internal revolt brewing amongst the seniormost leadership”. In his letter to the PM, Swamy alleged that Rahul had floated a company c...

The Islamic State (ISIS) has always massacred civilians in large numbers to show its strength and instill fear in its opponents. In the west, people notice these atrocities only when they take place on their own streets, though ISIS suicide bombers killed 43 people in Beirut on 12 November and 26 more in Baghdad on November 13. These attacks are almost impossible to stop because they are directed against civilians, who cannot all be defended, and the bombers are willing to die in order to destroy their targets. ISIS has claimed the Paris attacks, saying that France was targeted because of its air strikes in Syria. The use of eight suicide bombers and gunmen in a national capital, guaranteeing maximum coverage by the media, has all the hallmarks of an ISIS operation. One ominous difference from the killings earlier in the year at Charlie Hebdo magazine and in a Jewish supermarket, is that attacks, presumably because of ISIS involvement, are getting more sophisticated and better pl...

By Kartikeya Tanna Smoke pours from the carriage of a train on fire in Godhra on 27 February, 2002. Reuters The logical starting point of any discourse on the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat almost always refers to the number of lives lost, indeed, rightly so. The mindless violence, which erupted as a response to the gruesome burning of innocent karsevaks (volunteers) and their families inside a locked bogey of a train near Godhra on 27 February, 2002, took over 1000 lives in different parts of Gujarat. That the riots were horrific is not in question. Numerous columns, op-eds and reports have analysed how the state machinery got overwhelmed with swelling mobs in areas which did not historically see communal disharmony. This discourse is once again dominating the air waves as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to land in London for a three-day visit to the UK. As is always the case, identification of causes for these riots has been varied. Some have blamed to...