New Delhi, (PTI) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a supplementary charge sheet against an accused in a case related to the conspiracy by Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) terrorists to kill a Hindu priest in Punjab’s Jalandhar last year.

Gagandeep Singh alias “Gaggu”, a resident of Sangat Pura Mohalla in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, is the fifth person charged by the NIA in a special court in Punjab after taking over the investigation of the case on October 8 last year.

The agency had filed charge sheet against four accused — Canada-based chief of KTF Hardeep Singh Nijjar, his close associate Arshdeep Singh alias “Prabh”, Kamaljeet Sharma and Ram Singh alias “Sona” — on July 4.

On July 22, the NIA had announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh for information leading to arrest of Nijjar.

“Investigations have revealed that the entire conspiracy was hatched by accused Nijjar and Arshdeep, both based in Canada, to disturb peace and disrupt the communal harmony (in Punjab).

“The target attack was executed by the members of terror gang with the weapons supplied by accused Gagandeep on the directions of Arshdeep,” a spokesperson of the NIA said.

The priest, Kamaldeep Sharma, was shot at and critically injured in Jalandhar on January 31 last year. PTI 

New Delhi,  (PTI) The Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD) has hit out at Iran’s “obscurantist” and “authoritarian” laws in the wake of a young woman’s death in police custody for allegedly violating that country’s strictly-enforced dress code.

Mahsa Amini, 22, was arrested by Iran’s morality police in Tehran last week for allegedly violating its dress code. The police said she died of a heart attack and was not mistreated, but her family members have expressed apprehensions about it.

“IMSD strongly condemns Iran’s obscurantist, authoritarian laws and its murderous enforcement, as also the denial of the citizens’ right to protest,” the group said in a statement on Friday.

It further said in the third decade of the 21st century, it is inhuman and barbaric to kill a fellow human being merely for not covering her head.

“At the same time, we question the hypocrisy of India’s Muslim clergy in not supporting the Iranian women’s right to choose, an argument it puts forward in the context of the ongoing hijab controversy in India,” it said.

The statement issued by IMSD has been endorsed by nearly 100 prominent citizens from different cities and walks of life, including freedom fighter G G Parikh, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Zeenat Shaukatali, Yogendra Yadav and Tushar Gandhi. PTI

Thiruvananthapuram: Sporadic incidents of violence were reported in various parts of Kerala as the dawn-to-dusk hartal called by radical Islamic outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) was underway in the southern state on Friday.

The hartal was called by the PFI to protest against the raids in the offices and residences of its leaders and their subsequent arrests on Thursday by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other agencies for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country.

Stones were pelted at Kerala State Road Transport Corporation buses (KSRTC) in various districts including Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kozhikode, Wayanad, and Alappuzha.

Local media reported that a petrol bomb was hurled at a vehicle which was carrying newspapers for distribution at Narayanpara in Kannur in the morning.

In Alappuzha, KSRTC buses, a tanker lorry and some other vehicles got damaged in the stone pelting allegedly by those supporting the hartal call.

A 15-year-old girl and an auto-rickshaw driver suffered minor injuries in the stone pelting allegedly by PFI activists in Kozhikode and Kannur respectively.

Meanwhile, Kerala police beefed up security in the state and issued directions to the district police chiefs to ensure law and order after the PFI called for a day-long state-wide hartal.

A statement issued by the police said stern action will be taken against those who violate the law.

“All the policemen in the state will be deployed for the maintenance of law and order,” the statement said.

The PFI on Thursday had said a hartal will be observed in the state today “against the RSS-controlled fascist government’s attempt to silence dissenting voices using the central agencies”.

The hartal would be held from 6 AM to 6 PM, A Abdul Sathar, state general secretary, PFI, had said in the statement.

On Thursday, PFI workers had taken out marches to the places where raids were carried out and raised slogans against the Centre and its investigating agencies. However, central forces were already deployed in all such places as part of strengthening the security.

Multi-agency teams spearheaded by the NIA had arrested 106 functionaries of the PFI on Thursday in near simultaneous raids at 93 locations in 15 states for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country.

Kerala, where PFI has some strong pockets, accounted for the maximum number of 22 arrests, officials said.

PFI state president C P Mohammed Basheer, national chairman O M A Salam, national secretary Nasaruddin Elamaram, former chairman E Abubacker and others were among those arrested.

 Lucknow: A Samajwadi Party delegation on Friday met Governor Anandiben Patel here to draw her attention to the "continued harassment" of senior party leader Mohammad Azam Khan by the government, the party said.

Led by party president Akhilesh Yadav, the delegation of party MLAs met the governor at the Raj Bhawan in the morning and apprised her of the harassment of Khan, it said. "We apprised the governor about the continued injustice being done with Azam Khan and fake cases being lodged against him.

We have requested her to see to it that he gets justice," Yadav told reporters after meeting the governor.

"We told her that the government is continuously lodging fake cases against him (Azam Khan) so that he he remains in jail. He is ill and has health problems.

He was down with Covid and had to remain in jail. It was our request to the governor that there should not be any injustice with Khan," he said. On Wednesday, during the ongoing session of the state Legislative Assembly, Samajwadi Party members alleged that Khan had been implicated in "false" cases.

They created a ruckus because of which the Question Hour was washed out in both the Houses. Khan, who was released from Sitapur jail earlier this year after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail, is facing around 90 cases, including that of corruption and theft.

Another case was registered against him on Tuesday for allegedly stealing the cleaning machine of a municipality and using it for Mohammad Ali Jauhar University established by him.

 Kolkata, Sep 20 (PTI) Agitators from the Kurmi community on Tuesday blocked railway tracks and a national highway in West Bengal to press for their demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Train services in South Eastern Railway’s Adra and Kharagpur divisions were partially affected due to the blockade, a railway official said.

The agitators squatted on railway tracks at Nimdih and Kustaur in Adra division and Khemasuli in Kharagpur division from 5 AM, affecting the movement of passenger and goods trains, he said.

They also blocked a national highway in Purulia, a state government official said. PTI 

Mathura (UP), Sep 22 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said the country’s economy progresses when rural economy is strengthened.

The chief minister was addressing a rural development exhibition organised by the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Smriti Mahotsav Samiti in Mathura via video-conferencing from his official residence in Lucknow.

“Deendayal Upadhyaya-ji had said that the standard of the economy of any country is judged by the economic condition of the person in the lowest rung,” Adityanath said.

He said emphasis has been laid on the use of technology to reduce the cost of farming and increase the production efficiency of agriculture.

To bring happiness in the lives of farmers, programmes like Soil Health Card, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana etc. are being run in the country, the chief minister said.

He said his government has provided concessions on electricity bills of tube wells used by farmers.

“The state government has collaborated with PepsiCo to set up a food processing centre in Kosi Kalan, Mathura. Millions of quintals of potatoes are being used in this food processing centre, due to which farmers are getting good price for their potatoes,” the chief minister said. PTI 

Ranchi, (PTI) Twenty-seven Maoists were killed and 1,131 arrested in Jharkhand since January 2020, officials said on Friday.

A total of 108 gun fights happened between the Maoists and security forces between January 2020 and August 2022, and 45 Maoists surrendered before the police during the period, they said.

The data was presented at a security review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday, they added.

Top police officers of the state, including the superintendents of police of all districts, were present at the meeting.

Stating that Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) has declined in the state, officials said that eight of Jharkhand's 24 districts are at present LWE-free.

Twenty-five forward posts or camps have been set up in extremely Maoist-affected zones such as Budha Pahad, Parasnath, Saranda, Podahat and Chatra-Gaya, they said.

Besides, 15 additional posts are also being set up in the region, they said.

Soren asked officials to provide the benefit of government schemes to villagers in the Maoist-affected areas by setting up camps with police protection.

"Basic facilities such as electricity, water and roads should be made available there. This will increase the credibility of the police among the people and help in controlling the extremist activities," he said.

"The items of daily need by the security forces should be acquired from locals in rural areas. This will give them employment as well as increase their income," the chief minister said.

Soren also directed for installation of signal jammers in all jails of the state to restrict criminal activities.

"There are complaints that criminals lodged in jails are carrying out criminal activities through mobile phones. This must be stopped at all cost," he said. PTI

Patna, (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah will arrive in Bihar on Friday, for the first time after the political upheaval last month robbed the BJP of power in the state.

Shah, a former party president who is regarded as the BJP’s principal strategist, will spend two days in the Seemanchal region.

“The home minister will reach Bagdogra airport around 11.30 am and proceed to Purnea in a helicopter. Late in the evening, he will leave for Kishanganj,” state BJP vice-president Rajib Ranjan told PTI.

A series of meetings with party and administrative officials are scheduled during the two-day trip though the highlight will be a public meeting at Purnea, titled evocatively “Jan Bhavana Rally”, in line with the party’s stance that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has “betrayed public sentiments” by turning his back on the NDA as part of which he had won the mandate in 2020 assembly polls.

The loss of power, in the third week of August, came as a rude shock for the party which had, less than a month earlier, held with much fanfare a two-day conclave in Patna — attended by Shah and BJP president JP Nadda.

The BJP has been accused of having tried to break the JD(U) through former Union minister RCP Singh, whose induction had caused controversy.

BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who had served as the Deputy CM for long before being shunted out to an uneventful stint in Rajya Sabha, has claimed his ex-boss was looking for an alibi and Singh was inducted into the Union Cabinet with the consent of the Bihar CM, the JD(U) de facto leader, obtained over phone by Shah himself.

Keen watchers of politics are likely to be interested in the manner in which Shah breaks his silence over the matter.

However, the BJP realises well the limitations of righteousness, having acquired power “through back door” five years ago which it now accuses the RJD, Congress and Left combine of.

Union minister Giriraj Singh has been camping in Seemanchal for a while, ostensibly to supervise the preparations for Shah’s visit, while making headlines with comments on alleged “demographic change” in Seemanchal and activities of the PFI.

Singh, the MP from Begusarai, has been pulling no punches while blaming “appeasement politics” for terrorism, unchecked population growth and infiltration of illegal immigrants.

The party had, while still in alliance with JD(U), made it clear that it will oppose tooth and nail any attempt to legitimise the alleged infiltration of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas under the headcount of castes being undertaken in the state.

Besides, memories of the 2013 Patna serial blasts are being raked up to paint Kumar as a political vacillator whose alleged prime ministerial ambitions cause him to break up with BJP under one pretext or the other and claim that this results in a spurt in terror activities in the state.

Raids have been conducted in several Bihar districts by the NIA and the BJP is clearly not willing to let go of the opportunity to firm up its narrative battle.

The dog-whistling has irked the JD(U), which is eager to see its leader, now working for opposition unity, in a “national role”.

Senior JD(U) leaders have been issuing statements, warning the BJP against polarisation and urging the people not to fall into the communal trap.

In a sarcastic Facebook post, JD(U) parliamentary board chief Upendra Kushwaha said Shah will “speak in favor of special status for Bihar, expose the culprits of Pulwama terror attack, announce distribution of black money brought from abroad among the poor, pledge to scrap the faulty collegium system of judges’ appointment and declare rollback of privatisation of public sector companies”. PTI 

 Bhubaneswar, Sept 22 (PTI) The Odisha cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to bring lime stone under the purview of Long-Term Linkage (LTL) policy, in a bid to streamline its supply to the industries of the state.

These industries will henceforth be getting their lime stone supply through Odisha Mining Corporation Limited (OMC), said Chief Secretary SC Mohapatra.

The proposal to bring lime stone under the LTL policy was put forth by Industrial Development Corporation Of Odisha Limited, which has been merged with OMC, Mohapatra explained.

Maintaining that the move will enhance limestone production and ensure its optimum utilisation, Mohapatra said the state exchequer, in turn, will be benefited.

The cabinet, during the day, also approved financial bids for construction of 40 Lift Irrigation Schemes with intake points on different rivers in the districts of Keonjhar, Kalahandi, Bolangir, Bargarh, Gajpati, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Angul and Cuttack. These projects will be executed with an investment of Rs 1879.61 crore, including maintenance and operational costs.

It also approved tender of Rs 201 crore for construction of Integrated Barrage (in-stream storage structure) across rivers Kochila and Baitarani, spanning parts of Bhadrak and Jajpur districts, said Mohapatra.

This storage structure will check flood in Kochila river and rejuvenate Baitarani. It will also fulfil drinking and domestic needs of a section of people in Bhadrak and Jajpur.

The chief secretary said that other important decisions taken by the cabinet included sanction of lease of a five-acre government land free of premium for establishment of Central Research Institute in Homeopathy (CIRH), another 50 acres for in infrastructure development favour of Rajendra University, and 3.125 acres for establishment of National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Proposal for 15 per cent reservation of seats in Government Physical Education Colleges for students putting up in government sports hostels also received cabinet nod. PTI

(PTI) The rupee depreciated 44 paise and slipped below the 81-mark against the US dollar for the first time in early trade on Friday, weighed down by the strong american currency and risk-off sentiment among investors.Forex traders said escalation of geopolitical risk in Ukraine and rate hikes by the US Fed and Bank of England in a bid to contain inflation sapped risk appetite.Further, the strength of the American currency in the overseas market, a negative trend in domestic equities, and risk-off moods amid escalation of geopolitical risk in Ukraine weighed on the local unit.At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 81.08 against the greenback, then fell further to 81.23, registering a fall of 44 paise over its previous closing.On Thursday, the rupee plunged by 83 paise -- its biggest single-day loss in nearly seven months -- to close at an all-time low of 80.79 against the US dollar.The Bank of England hiked its base rate by 50 basis points (bps) to a 14-year high of 2.25 per cent.The Bank of Japan intervened in the FX market for the first time in 24 years to stem a falling Yen after it kept rates at record lows, IFA Global Research Academy said, adding that the Swiss National Bank hiked rates by a record 75 bps to 0.5 per cent.The US Fed has hiked interest rates by 75 basis points to 3-3.25 per cent.On Thursday RBI was conspicuous by its absence from the spot market as the rupee fell by 1 per cent possibly as it wanted the rupee to do the catching up, said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury, Finrex Treasury Advisors."All major events are over for this month as we await RBI's MPC to give its verdict on September 30, 2022," Bhansali added.Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.05 per cent to 111.41.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.57 per cent to USD 89.94 per barrel.On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 558.59 points or 0.94 per cent down at 58,561.13, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 153.10 points or 0.87 per cent to 17,476.70.Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth ₹2,509.55 crore, as per exchange data.