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 "Local residents stand in front of a residential building which was damaged in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol | Photo: Reuters")
Local residents stand in front of a residential building which was damaged in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol | Photo: Reuters
Delhi court sends 14 accused in Jahangirpuri clashes to custody
A Delhi court on Sunday sent two men, including a 21-year-old who allegedly fired a bullet that hit a sub-inspector in the violence during a Hanuman Jayanti procession in the city's Jahangirpuri, to police custody.
Duty Magistrate Divya Malhotra sent Md Aslam and another co-accused Md Ansar to police custody till Monday, while the other 12 accused were sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
All the accused in the case were produced before the court and the police alleged that Ansar and Aslam were the main conspirators who got to know about the 'Shobha Yatra' on April 15 and hatched up the conspiracy.
It said the custodial interrogation of Aslam and Ansar was required to unearth the larger conspiracy and involvement of others.
Delhi Police said they took the help of CCTV footage to identify the others involved in the case.
Maha: Police teams formed to nab PFI's Mumbra unit chief
Police teams are on the look out for the Popular Front of India (PFI)'s Mumbra unit president Abdul Matin Shekhani who was booked for a protest outside a mosque a couple of days ago, a Thane police official said on Sunday.
The protest, against alleged atrocities on Muslims by authorities in several states post violence during Ram Navami on April 10, was held outside a mosque here on Friday without police permission after which a case was registered, he said.
The Mumbra police are probing the case, he added.
Jahangirpuri clashes: Delhi Police hold meeting with peace committees
A day after clashes broke out during a Hanuman Jayanti procession in the city's Jahangirpuri area, the Delhi Police on Sunday held a meeting with members of local peace committees and asked them to appeal to the people to maintain calm, officials said.
Adarsh Nagar BJP councilor Garima Gupta claimed she tried to raise the issue of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants living in the area during the meeting, but was not allowed to do so.
"We were asked to participate in the meeting by the police. I said that the problem was due to Bangladeshis living illegally in the area and they also kept weapons. But the police officer in the meeting claimed that I was diverting the issue at hand," she said.
What is the purpose of calling such a meeting where "real issue" cannot be raised, Gupta asked.
There was stone-pelting and arson during the clashes between two communities that left eight police personnel and a local injured. Some vehicles were also torched, the police said.
The Delhi Police arrested 14 people over the violence, including a 21-year-old man who allegedly fired a bullet that hit a sub-inspector, officials said on Sunday.
Jahangirpuri clashes: Delhi Police hold meeting with peace committees
A day after clashes broke out during a Hanuman Jayanti procession in the city's Jahangirpuri area, the Delhi Police on Sunday held a meeting with members of local peace committees and asked them to appeal to the people to maintain calm, officials said.
Adarsh Nagar BJP councilor Garima Gupta claimed she tried to raise the issue of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants living in the area during the meeting, but was not allowed to do so.
"We were asked to participate in the meeting by the police. I said that the problem was due to Bangladeshis living illegally in the area and they also kept weapons. But the police officer in the meeting claimed that I was diverting the issue at hand," she said.
What is the purpose of calling such a meeting where "real issue" cannot be raised, Gupta asked.
There was stone-pelting and arson during the clashes between two communities that left eight police personnel and a local injured. Some vehicles were also torched, the police said.
The Delhi Police arrested 14 people over the violence, including a 21-year-old man who allegedly fired a bullet that hit a sub-inspector, officials said on Sunday.
Nadda asks BJP workers in K'taka to gear up for 2023 assembly polls
BJP national president J P Nadda on Sunday gave a clarion call to the ruling party workers in Karnataka, where assembly elections are due early in 2023, to become an instrument of change and ensure that the country moves forward.
He was addressing party men at the state executive committee meeting in Hospet.
At least 2 die in rocket attack on Kharkiv
Multiple rockets struck the centre of the eastern city of Kharkiv on Sunday, according to AP journalists in the city.
The barrage slammed into apartment buildings and left broken glass, debris and part of at least one rocket scattered on the street. Several apartments caught fire, with firefighters and residents scrambling to douse the flames.
At least two bodies were seen, and four other people were injured, though the scale of the attack suggested the casualty toll could rise further.
Ukrainians defy 'surrender or die' deadline in Mariupol
The battered port city of Mariupol appeared on the brink of falling to Russian forces Sunday after seven weeks under siege, a development that what would give Moscow a crucial success in Ukraine following Russia's failure to storm the capital and the loss of its Black Sea flagship.
The Russian military estimated that about 2,500 Ukrainian fighters holding out at a hulking steel plant with a warren of underground passageways provided the last pocket of resistance in Mariupol. Russia gave a deadline for their surrender, saying those who put down their weapons were guaranteed to keep their lives, but the Ukrainians did not submit.
"All those who will continue resistance will be destroyed, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, the Russian Defense Ministry's spokesman, said. He said intercepted communications indicated there were about 400 foreign mercenaries along with the Ukrainian troops at the Azovstal steel mill, a claim that couldn't be independently verified.
Seizing Mariupol would free up Russian forces to weaken and encircle Ukrainian soldiers forces in eastern Ukraine, where Russia has focused its war aims for now and is deploying personnel and equipment withdrawn from the north after a botched attempt to take Kyiv.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar described Mariupol as a shield defending Ukraine as Russian troops prepare for a full-scale offensive in Donbas, the country's eastern industrial heartland where Moscow-backed separatists already control some territory.
In a reminder that no part of Ukraine was immune until the war ends, Russian forces carried out new missile strikes Sunday near Kyiv and elsewhere in an apparent effort to weaken Ukraine's military capacity before the anticipated assault in the east.
After the humiliating loss of the flagship of its Black Sea Fleet, Russia's military command vowed Friday to step up missile strikes on the capital. The Russian military said Sunday that it had attacked an ammunition plant near Kyiv overnight with precision-guided missiles, the third such strike in as many days.
TMC's street fighter chief Mamata to be game-changer in 2024 polls: Shatrughan Sinha
A day after winning the Asansol parliamentary seat for the TMC by over three lakh votes, Shatrughan Sinha said the party's "street fighter" supremo Mamata Banerjee will prove to be a "game-changer" in the 2024 General Election.
In an interview with PTI, he credited Banerjee, the West Bengal chief minister, with the victory from Asansol, a seat that the Trinamool Congress won for the first time.
Popularly called 'Shotgun Sinha', the actor-turned-politician, who had started his political career with the BJP but shifted to the Congress before the 2019 parliamentary polls and now to the TMC, said he has now found the "right direction".
"One has to travel a lot to find the right direction... thus far and no further," he said when asked if the TMC will be his final destination in politics.
Sinha told PTI over phone from Asansol that he was excited to start a new and the "best innings" with the Trinamool Congress.
He said Banerjee is gaining popularity across the country after inflicting a crushing defeat on the BJP in the West Bengal assembly polls last year.
"The victory in Asansol was due to the able leadership of Banerjee and the hard work of TMC leaders and workers. This can be seen as an extension of her 'khela hobe' (game is on) slogan."
He said the TMC had decimated the BJP in the West Bengal polls in 2021 notwithstanding the "misuse" of money and power by the BJP.
"Mamata Didi is a tried and tested politician with a street fighter image. Her popularity has spread in the country, especially after defeating the BJP in 2021 West Bengal polls despite the BJP using money and misusing power due it being in the Centre," he said.
Zardari not to join s Shehbaz Sharif cabinet: Report
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday decided against joining the cabinet of new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Zardari who is considered a key player behind the ouster of Imran Khan as prime minister, said that his party will not take ministries as they want their friends to be accommodated first, citing The News International reported by Geo News.
At the same time, the PPP has invited applications from candidates for National Assembly and provincial assemblies for the next election.
In a brief press talk at Parliament House, Asif Zardari said that they want their friends to be accommodated first. When asked if he wants to put all the burden on Shehbaz Sharif, he said that there is no such thing. "We want friends to be given a chance," reported Geo News.
After Zardari's press talk, senior leaders of the PPP started explaining his remarks and said he did not mean that the PPP was not joining the cabinet.
Pakistan sliding towards civil unrest, warns former minister
A senior leader of ousted prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has warned that Pakistan was sliding towards civil unrest.
Former information minister Fawad Chaudhry made the remarks on Saturday in reaction to brawls in the Punjab Assembly in which both speaker and deputy speaker were thrashed by the angry lawmakers.
Police was called to control the rowdy members who were trying to stop acting speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari from holding voting to elect the new chief minister of the province.
"We are inches away from full fledge Civil unrest, Imran Khan has exercised utmost restraint very soon even he won't be able to stop this very angry mob and we will see country plunging into a civil unrest, Fawad tweeted.
The former minister also said that the ongoing political turmoil was linked to the Supreme Court's failure to decide the case regarding the fate of rebel lawmakers.
Another leader from his party, Zulfi Bukhari, also concurred with Fawad's statement.
"These are just a few MPAs (members of provincial assembly), imagine if the awam (public) goes out of control and takes the matter in their own hands only solution to calm this civil unrest is ELECTIONS. Let the people decide their own fate. CALL ELECTIONS! tweeted Bukhari.
Jahangirpuri violence: NCPCR seeks FIR against those who involved children
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Sunday sought registration of an FIR against those who allegedly involved children during the violence in northwest Delhi's Jahangirpuri a day before.
In a letter to the Delhi police commissioner, the NCPCR said many children can be seen pelting stones and also seen as part of the mob that started the violence.
The Commission noted that use of children is a crime under the Juvenile Justice Act and sought an FIR against persons who are found to be in violation of the Act.
"An action taken report should be submitted to the Commission within seven days of receipt of this letter," it said.
According to the police, there was stone-pelting and arson during the clashes between the two communities in Jahangirpuri here. Some vehicles were also torched.
The Delhi Police has arrested 14 people, including one of the "main conspirators" behind the clashes and another person who allegedly fired a bullet that hit a sub-inspector, officials said on Sunday.
As on Sunday morning, there is a heavy police deployment in the Jahangirpuri area. A team of Rapid Action Force has also been deployed to keep a tight vigil on the situation which is now under control, a police officer said.
Owaisi's AIMIM urges Azam Khan to join party
Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM has urged former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan to join the party, days after a close aide of the leader accused the Samajwadi Party of ignoring him.
"You are requested to join the AIMIM so that BJP and the SP could be eliminated from Uttar Pradesh," said AIMIM state spokesperson Mohammad Farhan in a letter to the Samajwadi Party MLA.
Earlier in the month, jailed SP leader Azam Khan's media incharge had accused party president Akhilesh Yadav of ignoring his colleague and the Muslim community, sparking speculation of a rift in the opposition party.
The AIMIM spokesperson in the letter to Khan said, "When you were fighting for life in Medanta Hospital, the whole nation was concerned about your well-being and praying. On your safe return to the Sitapur jail, Akhilesh Yadav did not consider it necessary to meet you."
He claimed that neither Yadav nor his party has "slightest pain" that the leader is in jail.
"Akhilesh Yadav took votes from Muslims by putting your photo in the 2022 Assembly elections, but when it came to making you the leader of the opposition, he did nothing," the AIMIM leader alleged in the letter.
Urging Azam Khan to join the AIMIM, he said Owaisi has raised his voice against every oppression being committed against Khan and always considered him as his elder brother.
Army Commanders' Conference to be held in Delhi from Apr 18 to 22
An Army Commanders' Conference is scheduled to be held in New Delhi from April 18 to 22, the Ministry of Defence said on Sunday.
Army Commanders' Conference is an apex level biannual event that is held in April and October every year, the ministry said.
The conference is an institutional platform for conceptual level deliberations, culminating in making important policy decisions for the Indian Army.
During the conference, the senior leadership of the Army will review the operational situation along the active borders, assess threats in the entire spectrum of conflict and undertake an analysis of capability voids to further focus on capability development and operational preparedness plans.
Discussions on aspects pertaining to infrastructure development in border areas, modernisation through indigenisation, induction of Niche tech and assessment of any impact of the Russia - Ukraine war are also scheduled.
As per the release, Various agenda points sponsored by regional commands will be deliberated upon by the senior commanders apart from proposals concerning improving works, financial management, introducing e-vehicles, and digitisation in the Indian Army.
As part of the conference, Boards of Governors meetings of the Army Welfare Education Society (AWES) and Army Group Insurance Fund (AGIF) will be organised.
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann's visit to Delhi postponed
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's April 18 visit to Delhi government schools has been postponed, Aam Aadmi Party sources said on Sunday.
The fresh date for his visit will be decided in two-three days, they said.
No reason was given for the postponement of Mann's visit.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on April 14 announced Mann's visit.
"And on Monday, April 18, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann will come to visit our government schools along with his many officials. They are coming to see how such improvements are achieved as they have to do the same in Punjab," Kejriwal had said.
Products of 30,000 small brands cater to 80% of population: Report
Household products of over 30,000 brands operating at small and medium scale cater to a majority of the country's population, while only 20 per cent use such items sold by big corporate houses, a survey said.
Products of Fast Moving Consumers Goods (FMCG), consumer durables and cosmetics from over 30,000 small and medium brands are catering to the demand of 80 per cent of India's population, according to the survey by traders' body CAIT.
The survey was conducted on the basis of use of item including food grains, oil, grocery, personal cosmetics, inner wear, ready-made garments, beauty and bodycare, footwear, toys, educational games and healthcare.
"It's a myth that about 3,000 big brands of corporate houses, particularly in the FMCG sector, consumer durables and cosmetics etc, are catering to the needs of the people of the country. In fact, more than 30,000 small and medium but regional level brands are the largest contributor in meeting the demand of the people of India," CAIT (Confederation of All India Traders) said.
The survey said the demand of a vast majority is fulfilled by the products of small and tiny manufacturers sold in loose quantity.
Big brands are in demand among people of higher and upper-middle class due to extensive media and outdoor publicity and endorsements by celebrities, CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said.
On the other hand, brands of small manufacturers are sold through one-to-one contact between customers and shopkeepers, also through word-of-mouth among people of medium, lower-medium income groups and those belonging to economically weaker sections, he added.
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First Published: Apr 17 2022 | 7:04 AM IST
