Indian External Minister S.M.Krishna objected to countries issuing
travel advisory to India for their citizens.Five countries;US, UK,New
Zealand, Canada and Australia recently issued this warning to its
citizens pointing to threat of terrorist attacks during festive
seasons. He stated,” The language of the advisory is rather
disproportional and contrary to the current trend of tourism to
India.” He was speaking at the Commonwealth Head of Government
Meeting( CHOGM). He urged his counterpart Mr.Rudd to withdraw the
travel advisory for tourist travelling to India.In response the
Australian Foreign Minister said ,’the advisory were routine advice
and we do not have any information of any specific threat to share
with India.’ Krishna is expected to discuss the matter with his
counterparts from Canada and New Zealand as well.

Taking up the issue Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant sahay
sais,’There is nothing but scaremonging. Leave aside parts of Indis
100% booking is reported from Jammu & Kashmir. If this isnt a sign of
normacy, what is? This year India saw an increase of 10% or 3.8
million tourist to the country between January to August this year as
compared to last.The announcement came at a time when India was set to
host its first F1 Grand Prix.

New Delhi: The Special Investigation Team probing the alleged police encounter killing of Mumbai teenager Ishrat Jahan and three others in 2004 on Wednesday submitted its progress report to the Gujarat High Court, premier news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported citing officials.

The report was submitted following directions from a division bench of justices Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari which during the last hearing on September 10 had asked the three-member panel, headed by IPS officer RR Verma, to submit its final report by Wednesday.

The next hearing in the matter is slated for Friday. “We have submitted our progress report in the case to the High Court,” an official associated with the SIT said in Ahmedabad.

During the September 10 hearing, the high court had given about a month’s time to SIT to complete investigations and submit the final report determining whether the encounter was fake or genuine.

IPS officers Mohan Jha and Satish Verma are the two other member of the team.

Ishrat, 19, Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were allegedly killed in a police encounter in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.

Ahmedabad Crime Branch had then claimed the deceased were members of LeT who had come to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

The probe in the case is being supervised directly by the high court, which constituted the SIT last year to investigate genuineness of the encounter after petitions were filed by Ishrat’s mother Shamima Kausar and Gopinath Pillai, father of Pranesh, in this regard.

New Delhi: Shweta Bhatt, the wife of suspended IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt, wrote another letter to Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday saying that her husband is being treated like a terrorist. Bhatt said that she fears for her husband’s life and that the Gujarat government is doing all that it can to deny bail.

Bhatt had also written a letter to Chidambaram on September 3, appealing to ‘ensure the safety’ of her husband. The Home Ministry had responded to her letter and had asked the Gujarat Government to ensure that security is provided to Bhatt and his family.

Earlier today, a court in Ahmedabad ruled that Bhatt is entitled to apply for bail. The Gujarat Police had challenged this on the grounds that it has filed a parallel case that asks for Bhatt’s custody. Whether Bhatt leaves jail will be decided on Friday.

Bhatt was arrested on September 30 for coercing a constable to back his testimony against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Bhatt has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, alleging Modi of complicity in the riots that took place in Gujarat in 2002.

As part of his affidavit, Bhatt included a statement from KD Pant, a junior officer. Pant’s statement supported Bhatt’s claim that he was present at a meeting on February 27, 2002, when Modi asked senior policemen to go slow on rioters. Other policemen who attended that meeting on record have said Bhatt was not present. Pant’s statement said the opposite. Later, Pant said that he had been threatened by Bhatt into supporting him.

The Congress party and activists in Gujarat accuse the Modi government of using the state machinery to persecute the police officer.

New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti today rejected the claim that she had praised or supported Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi at a recent National Integration Council meeting.

Speaking at Modi’s fast, Sushma had said yesterday that it was great that even rivals like Mehbooba Mufti had praised the Gujarat chief minister at a recent meeting of National Integration Council in New Delhi.

“If Advani praises him (Modi) it is out of love, if I praise him it is out of duty. But when rivals like Mehbooba Mufti praise him, it is great,” Swaraj had commented.

The leader of opposition had further claimed that a friend of Mufti had sought a favour from the Gujarat chief minister, which was granted immediately.

The BJP leader said : “A Muslim friend of hers wanted to invest in Gujarat and was astonished to be quickly granted an appointment, and that when he did meet Modi, had a decision in half an hour.”

Mufti today said that she never praised Modi as claimed by the BJP leader. She described Sushma’s claim as baseless and untrue. “I have never praised Modi nor I recommended any businessman to him for favour. It is all rubbish,” she said.

Mufti’s alleged praise for the Gujarat chief minister has sparked off a political row in Kashmir with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah slamming her for her comments. Even though Mufti said that she never praised Modi as claimed by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, Omar Abdullah criticised her for making a u-turn on the issue.

While criticising Mufti, Abdullah said, “It’s surprising that she denied praising Modi when she knows very well that others heard her.”

Omar said that she should just admit what she said. “It would be much more graceful to accept her praise of Modi rather than calling Sushma Swaraj a liar,” he said on Twitter.

Taking on Omar for his comments, she said, “I did not praise Modi. It’s been taken out of context. For us, Modi remains the same. Omar pounces on issues, why did he not pounce then, we were in the same meeting.”

Ahmedabad: The victims of 2002 Gujarat communal riots along with an NGO called Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM) have moved an application before the designated court seeking a direction to the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is investigating Naroda Patiya riot case, to submit the Action Taken Report (ATR) on the further probe it had conducted before the court.

The application would come up for hearing next week as the presiding judge was on leave today. The JSM, representing some of the post-Godhra riot victims, contends that the SIT had been directed by the court last year to file the progress report, which it had not done so far, despite submitting progress report in the Supreme Court. The SIT should also submit the ATR on the subsequent probe, application says.

As many as 95 persons were killed in communal violence in Naroda on February 28, 2002. Former minister in the Narendra Modi government, Maya Kodnani, is one of 60 accused against whom the trial is on. Most of the eye witnesses have been examined by the court.

The application filed by Salim Shaikh, a Naroda Gaam riot incident victim and JSM Convener Amrish Patel, have sought further investigation into the larger conspiracy behind the riots. The application stated that the SIT has not done anything on this aspect and have not yet submitted any report on investigation since the last two years.

They had sought further investigation on the grounds of call record details. They had asked the SIT to probe the role of police officials with regards to their negligence in controlling the riots. In the application to the agency they also wanted the SIT to find out if the cops had connived with the accused and also explore the larger conspiracy behind the riots.

They have alleged that officials of the SIT as well the counsel representing the SIT made a statement under oath that the investigation is in process and they are looking into all the aspect of the case.

However, in the application, Shaikh and Patel have raised the question as why the agency did not bother to submit a report or chargesheet before the court despite the fact that two years have passed since they first made a representation to the SIT.

In the application, the two have thus prayed to the court to direct the SIT to submit its report or chargesheet in the case and also ask the SIT to submit the action taken report before the designated court in the riot cases.

Lucknow: Over the last three days, Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister has dashed off a letter per day to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. On Saturday, it was for granting reservations to Muslims, the next day another one followed insisting on providing quotas for the poor upper castes and on Monday Mayawati sent out another letter demanding Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation for Jats, who form a decisive vote bank in western UP.

File photo of UP CM Mayawati with Muslim leaders

Opposition leaders have slammed Mayawati for playing petty politics on cast and communal lines.

Playing the minority card, Mayawati has urged the Central government to provide reservation to minorities, especially Muslims, proportionate to their population. Her move comes soon after Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid hinted that the centre might be considering such a move itself.

Khurshid recently said the centre is contemplating reservations for Muslims by bringing some changes in the existing law. The minister also said reservations to Muslims would be given on the lines of what Andhra Pradesh had done earlier. “We will follow the Andhra Pradesh model closely,” he said.

Khurshid’s comments are being seen as an attempt to woo about 20% Muslim population in Uttar Pradesh, where elections are scheduled to be held next year. Khurshid has said the OBC Commission would conduct a survey to decide the percentage of reservation to be given to Muslims.

On Sunday, Mayawati shot off a letter to the Prime Minister asking for education and job quotas for the poor among upper castes. The move is clearly designed to lure the upper castes to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Though the BSP got a sizeable section of the upper caste vote, especially Brahmins, in the 2007 Assembly election, this votebank has dwindled over the years.

New Delhi: Janata Dal (United), the key ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has clearly said that it will not accept Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate, while the BJP says that the party will decide its leader at the right time and not in TV studios.

Modi ended his 3-day fast to promote communal harmony yesterday evening, but the debate rages on whether he will be able to see himself as a future prime minister. The JD(U) has made it clear on a TV show India at 9 hosted by Rajdeep Sardesai that there is no way Modi can ever be accepted for the top job. “We will not accept Modi as a prime ministerial candidate,” said Ali Anwar, JD(U) leader.

File photo of Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar during an election campaign in Bihar

When the program host asked is Modi now first among equals, BJP senior leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said that he is a very tall leader, but the party will take a call. We are not in a position where just one prince is waiting to become the prime minister.

Congress leader Salman Khurshid said,”Modi’s fast has not been able to address the agony of riot victims.”

Meanwhile, Modi’s key rival, senior Congress leader Shankarsinh Vaghela broke his counter-fast this morning.

Leaders from the state Congress party sat on a fast from Saturday to counter Narendra Modi’s programme and to promote “non-violence.” They called Modi’s agitation a five-star fast and a political gimmick. Vaghela, a former chief minister, feels that Modi wasted public money through his fast and is cheating the people of Gujarat.

Despite the JD(U)’s concerns, the fast is being seen as an attempt to pitchfork the Gujarat Chief Minister onto the national stage.

As he ended his fast on Monday, in his closing address, Modi stressed his politics does not involve appeasing any one community.

The end of the fast was designed to be politically correct and so every religion had a face as Modi broke his fast. Observers say that the ‘Sadbhavna’ fast is an attempt by Modi to create an inclusive image at the national level.

“My government does nothing for minority and nothing for majority. My government only does for six crore Gujaratis,” said Modi. But despite his denials the fast has renewed the focus on the race to be prime ministerial candidate in the BJP.

Sevevral BJP leaders like Venkiah Naidu called him prime minister material on the stage. And despite their discomfort, the top line of the BJP had to mark its presence. If Arun Jaitely and Advani arrived at the start of the fast, it was Sushma swaraj who came to end it. The leader of opposition is an aspirant to be the BJP’s face in 2014 general elections.

“If Advani praises him it is out of love, if I praise him it is out of duty. But when rivals like Mehbooba Mufti praise him, it is great,” she said.

But outside the fast venue, Modi’s adversaries continued their offensive. Activist Teesta Setalvad read the holy Quran with riot victims as a mark of protest against Modi.

Ahmedabad: The victims of 2002 Gujarat communal riots along with an NGO have moved an application before the designated court so that it could ask the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to complete investigation in the riot cases and submit the Action Taken Report (ATR) before the court.

The application alleges that they had earlier in 2009 moved an application before the SIT, the team constituted by the apex court to investigate riot cases, seeking further investigation.

The application filed by Salim Shaikh, a Naroda Gaam riot incident victim and Amrish Patel, convener, Jan Sangharsh Manch, have sought further investigation into the larger conspiracy behind the riots. The application stated that the SIT has not done anything on this aspect and have not yet submitted any report on investigation since the last two years.

They had sought further investigation on the grounds of call record details. They had asked the SIT to probe the role of police officials with regards to their negligence in controlling the riots. In the application to the agency they also wanted the SIT to find out if the cops had connived with the accused and also explore the larger conspiracy behind the riots.

They have alleged that officials of the SIT as well the counsel representing the SIT made a statement under oath that the investigation is in process and they are looking into all the aspect of the case.

However, in the application, Shaikh and Patel have raised the question as why the agency did not bother to submit a report or chargesheet before the court despite the fact that two years have passed since they first made a representation to the SIT.

In the application, the two have thus prayed to the court to direct the SIT to submit its report or chargesheet in the case and also ask the SIT to submit the action taken report before the designated court in the riot cases.

New Delhi: Janata Dal (United), the key ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has clearly said that it will not accept Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate, while the BJP says that the party will decide its leader at the right time and not in TV studios.

Modi ended his 3-day fast to promote communal harmony yesterday evening, but the debate rages on whether he will be able to see himself as a future prime minister. The JD(U) has made it clear on a TV show India at 9 hosted by Rajdeep Sardesai that there is no way Modi can ever be accepted for the top job. “We will not accept Modi as a prime ministerial candidate,” said Ali Anwar, JD(U) leader.

When the program host asked is Modi now first among equals, BJP senior leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said that he is a very tall leader, but the party will take a call. We are not in a position where just one prince is waiting to become the prime minister.

Congress leader Salman Khurshid said,”Modi’s fast has not been able to address the agony of riot victims.”

Meanwhile, Modi’s key rival, senior Congress leader Shankarsinh Vaghela broke his counter-fast this morning.

Leaders from the state Congress party sat on a fast from Saturday to counter Narendra Modi’s programme and to promote “non-violence.” They called Modi’s agitation a five-star fast and a political gimmick. Vaghela, a former chief minister, feels that Modi wasted public money through his fast and is cheating the people of Gujarat.

Despite the JD(U)’s concerns, the fast is being seen as an attempt to pitchfork the Gujarat Chief Minister onto the national stage.

As he ended his fast on Monday, in his closing address, Modi stressed his politics does not involve appeasing any one community.

The end of the fast was designed to be politically correct and so every religion had a face as Modi broke his fast. Observers say that the ‘Sadbhavna’ fast is an attempt by Modi to create an inclusive image at the national level.

“My government does nothing for minority and nothing for majority. My government only does for six crore Gujaratis,” said Modi. But despite his denials the fast has renewed the focus on the race to be prime ministerial candidate in the BJP.

Sevevral BJP leaders like Venkiah Naidu called him prime minister material on the stage. And despite their discomfort, the top line of the BJP had to mark its presence. If Arun Jaitely and Advani arrived at the start of the fast, it was Sushma swaraj who came to end it. The leader of opposition is an aspirant to be the BJP’s face in 2014 general elections.

“If Advani praises him it is out of love, if I praise him it is out of duty. But when rivals like Mehbooba Mufti praise him, it is great,” she said.

But outside the fast venue, Modi’s adversaries continued their offensive. Activist Teesta Setalvad read the holy Quran with riot victims as a mark of protest against Modi.

The Welfare Party of India, a political party supported by Jamaat-e-Islami, has condemned the detention of social activist Mallika Sarabhai and riot victims of Naroda Patiya by police while taking out a protest march against Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s fast for “communal harmony.” They have also criticized the “five star” fast of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Naroda Patiya, about 8 km from the fast site at Gujarat University Convention Hall where Modi is on fast, had suffered the worst ever riots incident in 2002 communal riots and had lost more than 90 people.

P.C. Hamza, General Secretary of the Party in a statement said that with this detention the 5-star fast of the Gujarat Chief Minister held at the centrally air conditioned Convention Hall has proved without doubt to lack sense and sincerity.

“The real face of Modi’s Sadbhavana is now exposed. He is still on the fascist track of denying democratic right to dissent,” Hamza said.

The statement further said, “Modi has not expressed explicitly even at this time a fragment of remorse for what happened during 2002.”

While many are still languishing in jails for no crime and justice yet to be done to cases related to communal cases, these make the “fast devoid of sincerity,” it added.