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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
Agencies probing if Jahangirpuri violence linked with Karauli, Khargone
The central agencies are trying to establish whether Delhi's Jahangirpuri violence has any links with the recent violent incidents in Karauli and Khargone in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh respectively during the Ram Navami processions.
According to sources in the central security set up, the probing agencies are examining all aspects of the Jahangirpuri incident and ascertaining whether it was local in nature or planned under a conspiracy.
The modus operandi of the recent brawls are very similar indicating a larger conspiracy to disturb the peace and harmony in the country. They also said that the recent alleged attacks on the religious processions have been noticed in places where the both communities have been living since a long time.
The last few weeks saw communal tension in parts of the country. Communal riots broke out in several states during the Ram Navami in Rajasthan's Karauli, Madhya Pradesh's Khargone, Gujarat, Jharkhand and in some parts of West Bengal.
On April 2, in Rajasthan's Karauli, the violence started when the procession of a few Hindu organisations on the occasion of 'Nav Samvatsar', the first day of Hindu New Year was attacked with stones while passing through a Muslim-dominated neighbourhood.
Over 42 people were reportedly injured when stones were pelted at a motorcycle rally passing through a minority dominated area after the brawl between the two communities, shops and vehicles were set on fire.
Similar incident occurred in MP's Khargone on the occasion of Ram Navami this year. In the religious procession near the Talab Chowk area of Jama Masjid in the city, clashes erupted between the two communities where they were allegedly provoked by the people coming out from the local mosque after prayers and the stones were pelted from both sides.
The Jahangirpuri incident occurred in the similar manner wherein the both communities brandished weapons and iron rods at each other and stones were also pelted in the same manner, the officials added.
Chinese state media's anti-US rhetoric backfires, exposes netizens' discontent towards Beijing's policies
Chinese state media is propagating anti-American rhetoric in hashtags which is making it to the top trending list on Chinese social media platform Weibo; however Weibo users are flooding them with new posts displaying their discontent with and sarcasm on Chinese policies.
One such hashtag which was initiated by Chinese media outlet CCTV targets America calling it the worst country when it comes to human rights. The hashtag had received over 580 million views on Weibo.
At one end where the hashtag, which is a response to US State Department 2021 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, accuses America of slandering China just like in previous years.
The Sinchuan Communist Youth League adds that the US has taken a million lives in the name of anti-terrorism. It also stated that America has violated human rights in the name of sanctions questioning the country, "Who is actually hindering world peace?"
However, the truth as to why the hashtag attracted so much attention was revealed later by a reporter at Voice of America, Wen Hao. He explained that the anti-America hashtag along with the phrase 'Call Me By Your Name,' was used by Chinese netizens to express their anger about Chinese official channels often using the United States as a bad example to distract people's attention from what is going on within mainland China.
The flood of comments also condemned China over its Zero-COVID policy that has left many in Shanghai trapped inside their homes without food.
Wen Hao reported how on April 14, in a time frame of some four to five hours, a flood of angry comments started criticizing the Chinese government for their handling of the Covid crisis and other issues under this hashtag, instead of actually attacking the U.S. according to the state media's narrative.
At around 4 am, the only posts left using the hashtags were by verified and official accounts and the 'Call Me by Your Name' phrase no longer returned any results on the Weibo search function.
Post comments bashing China's Covid policy, the state media moved to other hashtags slamming America. One hashtag about how "Covid-19 is suspected of being related to American bio companies" became trending.
However, now these state media-initiated hashtags are used to expose incidents in Shanghai and the bad handling of the COVID-19 outbreak in the city.
Afghanistan: Nangarhar residents hold rally against Pakistani air strikes
A large number of Nangarhar residents held a rally on Sunday in the Ghanikhil district in the province to protest Pakistani air strikes on Kunar and Khost provinces.
They chanted anti-Pakistan slogans and asked the Taliban to prevent such attacks by Pakistan, reported Tolo News.
Pakistani airstrikes in the Khost and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan launched on Saturday, April 16, killed over 40 people, including women and children.
Afghanistan's envoy to the UN said that the airstrike was the aggression of Pakistan against the territorial integrity of Afghanistan and it breached the international laws, principles of the UN Charter, UN General Assembly, and Security Council resolutions.
According to the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the UN said in a press statement, Pakistan breaks the resolution 1453 (2002) on the "Kabul Declaration on Good-Neighbourly Relations."
Shanghai's Covid surge stalls construction of China's 3rd aircraft carrier
The massive surge of COVID-19 cases in Shanghai city has hit China's shipbuilding industry, including the launch of the third aircraft carrier scheduled for April next year.
For over a fortnight, Shanghai -- China's business and industrial hub with over 26 million people -- has been literally shut down with strict lockdown as the city experienced rampaging spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Shanghai reported 3,590 confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and over 21,500 local asymptomatic carriers on Saturday, the city municipal health commission said on Sunday.
The lockdown has slowed China's shipbuilding plans and may affect the launch of the country's third aircraft carrier, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Sunday.
Thanks for freeing me, says BSP's Nakul Dubey after expulsion
A day after his expulsion, senior Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Nakul Dubey on Sunday thanked Mayawati for freeing him saying "justice has been delivered" to him and his community.
Dubey made the tongue in cheek comment speaking to reporters here.
"I thank her (BSP chief Mayawati) that she has freed me, so that I along with other people who are known to me will be able to work to curtail a peculiar atmosphere, which has developed in Uttar Pradesh, and is still continuing," he said.
When asked what exactly led to his expulsion from the BSP, and whether he had attended the review meeting held after the recent poll debacle, Dubey said, "I did not go to the review meeting. Also, I did not meet behanjee (Mayawati), nor did I have any conversation with her."
Asked whether any show cause notice was served to him, since he is an old member of the party, Dubey said, "Justice has been delivered to me. Please do not call this injustice.
"A former UP minister, Nakul Dubey was on Saturday expelled for indulging in "anti-party activities".
GCTM aims to improve quality of traditional medicinal practices: WHO regional director
The WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine, set to come up in Gujarat, aims at improving the quality and safety of traditional medicinal practices by developing a cohesive approach to healthcare, said the world body's Regional Director Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh.
The objective is also to develop a mechanism that allows access to such traditional medicinal practices and protects such knowledge, she said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus will perform the ground-breaking ceremony of the facility in Jamnagar on April 19.
It would be the first global outpost centre for traditional medicine and define the issues that countries face in regulating, integrating and positioning traditional medicine.
Asked why the need for establishing the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) has been felt now, Dr Singh told PTI that nearly 80 per cent of people in 170 of 194 WHO member countries use traditional medicines and indigenous therapies.
For many, traditional medicines are the first port of call for treatment, said the regional director of WHO South-East Asia Region.
"Many of their governments have requested WHO's support in creating a body of reliable evidence and data on traditional medicines practices and products," she said.
According to her, the Covid pandemic has further impacted health systems in the world and all countries need to mobilise all available resources to recover, fill gaps in health coverage and accelerate progress toward health goals.
Conversation that rattled Imran Khan govt happened at farewell lunch for Pak envoy to US: Report
The conversation that rattled the then Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government in Pakistan took place on March 7 at a farewell lunch for the country's ambassador to the US Asad Majeed Khan at his residence in Washington, which is also known as Pakistan House, a media report said on Sunday.
Citing diplomatic and official sources, Dawn newspaper reported that a note-taker also attended the lunch meeting and the cable that Ambassador Khan later sent to Islamabad was based on the notes taken by the note-taker, who was from the Pakistani Embassy.
Since the lunch meeting attended by Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu and Deputy Assistant Secretary Lesslie C Viguerie - was held less than two weeks after the Russian military operation against Ukraine, the invasion dominated the conversation, the paper said.
The sources said the US side expressed its disappointment' with Pakistan's decision to send its prime minister, Imran Khan, to Moscow the day Russia invaded Ukraine, the paper said.
They pointed out how the invasion had angered the entire American nation and explained why they thought Khan should have postponed his visit, one of the sources said.
Another source said Lu hinted that Washington believes the final decision to go ahead with the visit despite the invasion was that of Imran Khan although some Pakistani officials had suggested postponing it, the paper reported.
Ambassador Khan, according to these sources, argued that it was a collective decision and that Pakistan had been trying for a Moscow visit for years. And when the invitation came, they could not turn it down or postpone it.
The Americans, however, argued that Islamabad should have also considered Washington's sensitiveness on this issue before going ahead with the visit, the paper said.
The sources said the conversation then drifted to the current political environment in Pakistan, and Lu pointed out that Washington was keenly watching the situation and the outcome of a no-trust move against the then prime minister would impact US-Pakistan relations as well, the paper said.
One source claimed Lu's arguments were alarming and far from routine, but he did not threaten a regime change.
The source also claimed that no one attending the meeting felt that the Americans were hatching a conspiracy to topple the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government led by Khan.
Non-BJP CMs likely to meet in Mumbai to discuss political scene: Sanjay Raut
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said a conference of non-BJP chief ministers is likely to be held in Mumbai soon to discuss the prevailing political situation in the country.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to the chief ministers of states where the BJP is not in power underlining the need to discuss the current situation in the country, he told reporters.
"NCP president Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray have discussed this and efforts are on to hold such a conference in Mumbai," Raut said.
He said various issues including unemployment, inflation, the "misuse" of Central probe agencies, attempts to create communal discord etc. will be discussed in the upcoming meeting.
Notably, leaders of 13 Opposition parties on Saturday expressed deep concern over the recent incidents of hate speech and communal violence in the country and urged people to maintain peace and harmony.
In a joint statement, the leaders including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and her Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand counterparts M K Stalin and Hemant Soren, also raised concern over how issues relating to food, dress, faith, festivals and language "are being used" by the ruling establishment to polarise society.
Raut alleged that recent attacks on processions taken out to mark Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti were "politically sponsored" to polarise voters, especially in the states where elections are due in the next few months.
He reiterated his veiled "new Hindu Owaisi" barb at MNS chief Raj Thackeray who has taken an aggressive stand seeking the removal of loudspeakers atop mosques by May 3.
Uneasy calm, heavy police presence in Jahangirpuri a day after violence
An uneasy calm prevailed in Jahangirpuri's C Block on Sunday, a day after a violence broke out during a Hanuman Jayanti procession.
Shops and markets near the Jahangirpuri metro station were functioning as usual on Sunday and there was a heavy police deployment in C Block, the epicentre of the violence that left eight police personnel and a local injured.
Sheikh Amzad, a resident of C Block, said he was inside the mosque in C Block when the violence broke out on Saturday evening.
"They (participants of Hanuman Jayanti procession) were chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' and raising provocative slogans. They forcibly entered the mosque and started tying saffron flags in its premises. They were threatening us with swords...That's when stone pelting began. Such an incident has never before happened in Jahangirpuri," Amzad told PTI.
Amzad claimed that nearly 50 people forcibly entered the mosque.
Security has been beefed up in and around C and D blocks near the mosque. Barricades have been put up and police personnel deployed at every 200 metres. Despite this, shops around the mosque were all shut.
Manoj Kumar said he was at his shop in C Block when the violence broke out.
"I saw people screaming and rushing inside their houses...Previously I have seen verbal altercations between the communities here. People in the procession were carrying weapons but stone pelting was done by Muslims first, Kumar claimed.
According to the police, there was stone-pelting and arson during the clashes between the two communities. Some vehicles were also torched.
The Delhi Police has arrested 14 people over the violence.
Scotland's Indian-origin Covid adviser reveals face mask threat
A prominent Indian-origin public health expert who advises the Scotland government on its COVID-19 pandemic measures has revealed the level of threats she has had to face over the course of the country's lockdowns.
Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health at Edinburgh University who is on the Scottish government's coronavirus advisory board, told The Times' newspaper this weekend that she was sent white powder and a used face mask in the post last year.
"I was extremely shaken and it was probably the hardest part because it was in my real life, not virtual or online, said Sridhar, who often appears on UK radio and television as an expert commentator on the COVID-19 pandemic.
I have thought often about withdrawing but it feels like, for better or worse, my job now also has a public dimension. Hopefully it's helpful to have scientists out there explaining things for most people," she said.
Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon condemned the "horrendous abuse" both online and otherwise targeted at the expert, praising Sridhar as a "hugely important and valuable" adviser to the government.
The white powder delivered to Sridhar turned out to be a hoax but has made the expert question the safety of scientists who address public health crises in future.
Russia bears down on Mariupol, strikes other Ukraine cities
Russian forces on Sunday pummelled a hulking steel plant that held the last pocket of resistance in Mariupol, a southern Ukraine city that has suffered under siege for six weeks and whose capture would aid Moscow's plans for a full-scale offensive in the country's east.
With the last Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol refusing to surrender, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was "deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there.
He said Ukraine needs more heavy weapons from the West immediately to have any chance of saving the port city on the Sea of Azov.
Either our partners give Ukraine all of the necessary heavy weapons, the planes, and without exaggeration immediately, so we can reduce the pressure of the occupiers on Mariupol and break the blockade, he said, or we do so through negotiations, in which the role of our partners should be decisive.
Earlier, Zelenskyy had told Ukrainian journalists that the continuing siege of Mariupol, which has come at a horrific cost to trapped and starving civilians, could scuttle attempts to negotiate an end to the war.
A Russian Defence Ministry spokesman on Saturday said Ukrainian forces had been driven out of most of the city and remained only in the Azovstal steel mill, where tunnels allowed the defenders to hide and resist until they ran out of ammunition.
People should get tested, mask made a must again: Doctors on Covid-19 scene in Delhi
With the COVID-19 positivity rate in Delhi breaching the five per cent-mark again, doctors on Sunday said people developing coronavirus-like symptoms should get themselves tested and authorities should make the wearing of masks mandatory to help check the spread of infection.
The COVID-19 positivity rate in the national capital has jumped from 0.5 per cent to 5.33 per cent in two weeks.
While the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will take stock of the situation on April 20, the doctors said that the meeting should have been held here in view of the recent daily spurt in cases and the major spike in the positivity rate.
On Saturday, the city logged 461 cases with a positivity rate of 5.33 per cent, while two deaths were also reported. On Friday, Delhi had recorded 366 cases.
Before this, the city had reported a positivity rate of 5.09 per cent on February 1, while on January 31, the figure was 6.2 per cent.
Doctors at leading government and private hospitals emphasised that there was a need to increase testing in the wake of the spike in cases, even as they said that"no drastic restrictions" were needed as of now.
"People who are developing symptoms are not going for COVID-19 test, largely. Now, with a surge in cases and the positivity rate beyond five per cent again, I would urge people to go for testing if they are having symptoms.
Pakistan asks Afghanistan act against terrorists operating from its soil
Pakistan on Sunday said its security forces were increasingly targeted in cross-border attacks from Afghanistan in the last few days and asked the Taliban rulers of the neighbouring nation to take action against militants.
The Foreign Office's remarks came in response to media queries regarding recent incidents along the Pak-Afghan border.
In the last few days, incidents along the Pak-Afghan Border have significantly increased, wherein, Pakistani security forces are being targeted from across the border, it said.
The FO said that Pakistan has repeatedly requested the Afghan government in the last few months to secure the Pak-Afghan border region because Terrorists are using Afghan soil with impunity to carry out activities inside Pakistan.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have been engaged through institutional channels in the past several months for effective coordination and security along their long shared border.
Unfortunately, elements of banned terrorist groups in the border region, including TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban), have continued to attack Pakistan's border security posts..." the FO said.
Pakistan, once again, strongly condemns terrorists operating with impunity from Afghan soil to carry out activities in Pakistan, the FO said while terming it detrimental to Pakistan's efforts to maintain peace and stability along the border with Afghanistan.
Godavari Biorefineries to launch Rs 700 cr IPO at right time, watching geo-political scene
Ethanol and bio-based chemicals maker Godavari Biorefineries Ltd on Sunday said it is watching the geo-political situation and will make its share market debut "at the right time".
Godavari Biorefineries Ltd CEO and Managing Director Samir Somaiya told PTI that the company has already received the market regulator Sebi's final approval for its initial public offering (IPO).
"We got Sebi's final comments on our IPO request during November-end (2021). We have one year to get listed. We will look at the right time for the listing," he said.
Stating that the geo-political situation has changed in the last few months, Somaiya said: "We will see how the geo-political situation changes and if the time is right and the market is once again ready for the listing, then we will plan the listing."
The company has time till November this year to list the IPO. About Rs 370 crore would be the primary offering, he said.
Sources, however, said the cumulative size of IPO would be over Rs 700 crore from a mix of primary and secondary offerings.
"IPO funding is going for the investments that we are doing in Karnataka," Somaiya added.
Godavari Biorefineries Ltd has two manufacturing sites -- Bagalkot (Karnataka) and Ahmednagar (Maharashtra) besides research and development (R&D) units.
As there is huge opportunity in green and sustainable chemistry, Somaiya said the company has begun expansion of ethanol capacity from current 380 kilolitre per day (KLPD) to 570 KLPD and it will be completed by November this year.
Sri Lanka Defence Minister assures military won't be used to quell peaceful protests
Sri Lankan Defence Minister Kamal Gunaratne clarified that the military forces will not be deployed to suppress democratically held peaceful protests as the economic and political crisis deepens in the country.
He made these remarks responding to the Facebook note of Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka in which he appealed to Secretary of Defence Kamal Gunaratne and Commander of the Army General Shavendra Silva to think deeply before implementing orders to suppress peaceful public protests.
In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said that the military forces will not be deployed to suppress democratically held peaceful protests. However, the military will assist the Police if only such assistance is sought by the Police to defend the nation in the event of a violent uprising, said the Ministry in a statement to Daily Mirror.
However, while pointing out the various elements that are working to achieve their ulterior motives during the peaceful protest wishes to inform the public that appropriate legal measures will be instituted by the Police against those who destroy or damage the public property and/or the private property under the pretext of peaceful protests, said the Ministry in a statement further.
As the island nation is facing its worst economic crisis since independence with food and fuel shortages, soaring prices and power cuts, Sri Lankans are protesting against the government's handling of the economic situation.
Secretary of Defence together with Tri-Forces Commanders also reiterated their commitment to acting in a fair and impartial manner with integrity and respect stating, "The Tri-Forces and the Police will responsibly do their utmost to protect the rule of law, order and people of the country in accordance with the constitution of the country" reported Daily Mirror.
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First Published: Apr 17 2022 | 7:04 AM IST
