Page 13 - War Conflict
NIA questions jail inmates in Chennai
Officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday questioned inmates of Central Jail here in an effort to probe their links with the Easter Day serial bombings in Sri Lanka, officials said.
Sri Lanka policeman defies president to testify at attack probe
A Sri Lankan police officer on Tuesday defied President Maithripala Sirisena and testified before a parliamentary investigation into the Easter Sunday suicide bombings that killed 258 people. Sirisena has come in for major criticism after ordering top brass not to allow police, military or intelligence personnel to take part in hearings into the attacks being held by a parliamentary committee. The president, who has said the hearings could reveal classified information, is accused by critics of presiding over a security and intelligence apparatus which ignored warnings that could have prevented the attack on three churches and luxury hotels. On Tuesday the committee heard evidence -- much of it in camera -- from Inspector N. B. Kasthuriarachchi, who had been in charge of an area where the bombing mastermind was based before he went underground in the months prior to the attack. Deputy parliamentary speaker Ananda Kumarasiri opened the hearing with a warning to public servants that ...
Civilians injured in grenade attack outside Pulwama police station
A grenade lobbed by terrorists exploded outside the Pulwama police station on Tuesday, injuring some civilians.The area has been cordoned off.Earlier in the day, two Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists, including the one whose vehicle was used to carry out the February 14 Pulwama attack, were killed in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir's Anantnag district.Two Army personnel, who were injured in an IED attack on a patrol vehicle patrol in Arihal area of Pulwama district on Monday, succumbed to injuries on Tuesday.
7 civilians injured in grenade attack near police station
At least seven civilians were injured in a grenade attack by militants on a police station in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Tuesday, officials said. The militants lobbed the grenade towards the police station, but it exploded on the roadside, causing injuries to seven passers-by, the officials said. The security forces have cordoned off the area to look for the attackers and the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital, the officials added.
10 injured in grenade attack in J&K's Pulwama
At least 10 people were injured in a grenade blast in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama town on Tuesday, police said.
2005 Ayodhya terror attack: Sequence of events
A court here on Tuesday convicted four people in the 2005 Ayodhya terror attack on charges of criminal conspiracy and attempted murder and sentenced them to life imprisonment. One accused was, however, acquitted.
4 get life term in 2005 Ayodhya terror attack case, 1 acquitted
A special court here sentenced four persons to life imprisonment and acquitted one in connection with the 2005 terror attack on a makeshift temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex here in which two locals were killed and seven CRPF personnel injured. Special judge Dinesh Chandra, who announced the verdict inside the Naini Central Jail where the accused are lodged, also imposed a fine of Rs 2.4 lakh on each of the four, Public Prosecutor Gulab Chandra Agrahari told reporters here. Agrahari said that the four who got life imprisonment are: Doctor Irrfan, Shakeel Ahmed, Asif Iqbal and Mohammed Naseem; while Mohammed Aziz was acquitted for lack of evidence. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath welcomed the conviction. On the sole acquittal in the case, he said the state government would take appropriate action after examining the ruling. "The court judgement is welcome. For one person who has been acquitted, necessary action will be taken after seeking legal opinion. ...
Coimbatore: FIR against arrested members of ISIS module reveals plan to attack religious places
The three members of an ISIS module in Tamil Nadu, arrested by the state police, were planning to attack churches, temples, mosques and other key religious places in Coimbatore with the intent to kill civilians and intelligence department officials, the FIR has said.Accused Mohammad Hussain, Shahjahan and Sheik Safiullah were on Sunday sent to judicial custody by a Coimbatore sessions court till June 28.On June 13, the police had conducted searches at the houses of Hussain, Shahjahan and Safiullah and seized "incriminating" documents and digital devices.The searches followed information that they were "staunch supporters" of ISIS and have been propagating the terrorist organisation's ideology on social media. The seized items included cellphones, SIM cards, computer hard disks, bank account documents, pen drives and memory cards, according to it.A dagger, one electric baton, 300 air-gun pellets and a large number of incriminating documents and some pamphlets of Popular Front of India .
Maha govt to use Miyawaki system for urban forestation
The Maharashtra government is planning to use the "Miyawaki" system of dense tree plantation, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said Tuesday. Presenting the state's budget for 2019-20 in the Assembly, Mungantiwar announced 'Atal Anandvan Scheme', which will employ the Miyawaki system, he said. The system, named after a Japanese botanist, allows plantation of 30,000 plants in one hectare of land, and is thus useful for forestation in urban areas where land is scarce, he said. The finance minister also announced outlay of Rs 30 crore for protection of ocean biodiversity.
Sarpanch honorarium hiked in Maha budget
The Maharashtra government Tuesday announced an increase in the honorarium given to sarpanch to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Presenting the state's additional budget, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar proposed an outlay of Rs 200 crore for it and said the sarpanch is the pillar of the Panchayati Raj system. He also set aside Rs 100 crore to pay a grant to the Khadi and Village Industries Board. Stating that Gandhiji wanted villages to be self- sufficient, Mungantiwar said, "On his 150th birth anniversary, we resolve to make his appeal a reality. The government desires to strengthen rural economy. We plan to incentivise small and cottage industries through Maharashtra Khadi and Village Industries Board.
Oppn slams Maha govt for budget 'leak' on FM's Twitter handle
Opposition Tuesday staged walk- out in both Houses of Maharashtra legislature, alleging that the state's budget for 2019-20 was "leaked" on the Twitter handle of Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar before he presented it in the Assembly. This was an "insult" of legislators, the opposition members said and demanded an apology from Mungantiwar and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over it. "We were in power for 15 years, but the budget never got leaked. Now the budget provisions were being put out on the finance minister's Twitter account along with advertisement even before he read out those to us," NCP MLA Ajit Pawar told reporters. "That means the team handling the minister's Twitter account had the details. This means the budget got leaked to them first. This is an insult of the members. Both Mungantiwar and Fadnavis should apologise," the former state finance minister said. Congress MLA and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan seconded Pawar. "In other countries, ..
4 awarded life term in 2005 Ayodhya terror attack case, 1 acquitted
A special court here sentenced four persons to life imprisonment while acquitted one accused in the 2005 Ayodhya terror attack case in which two locals were killed and seven CRPF personnel were injured. Special judge Dinesh Chandra also imposed a fine of Rs 2.4 lakh on each of the convicts, public prosecutor Gulab Chandra Agrahari told reporters here. The terror attack on July 5, 2005 had left two locals dead and injured seven paramilitary personnel. Five suspected JeM terrorists were eliminated by security forces in retaliatory action.
4 get life term in 2005 Ayodhya terror attack
A special court in Prayagraj on Tuesday convicted four accused in the conspiracy behind the 2005 Ayodhya terror attack case that had caused death of two civilians, and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
Lankan prez resumes Cabinet meeting after threatening to boycott over separate Lanka bombings probe
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Tuesday presided over a Cabinet meeting, days after he threatened to boycott it over Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's faction initiating a separate parliamentary probe into the April 21 Easter Sunday bombings. He convened the meeting amidst an infighting between the two factions of the ruling coalition over the abdication of responsibility to prevent the deadly attack despite the availability of prior intelligence. The President, who is the head of the Cabinet in his troubled coalition government with Wickremesinghe, did not call last week's meeting over a stand-off with his coalition partner. Sirisena wanted the halt to proceedings of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) appointed by Assembly Speaker Karu Jayasuriya to probe the events leading to the attacks that killed 258 people, including 11 Indians, and injured nearly 500. He had threatened not to reconvene the Cabinet until the government abandoned the select committee ...
Indo-Tibetan Border Police perform yoga
A few days after ITBP released a video on Twitter showing its personnel doing Suryanamaskar and breathing exercises in freezing Ladakh, personnel of the central armed force personnel on Monday performed yoga in the scorching heat here in Chhattisgarh.Personnel of 44th battalion of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) chanted 'Astho maa sad gamya' while demonstrating the Padma asana (Lotus position).Under the fierce heat of the sun, the personnel practised different kinds of asanas.ITBP is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces of India and is deployed along India's border of Tibet.International Yoga Day is celebrated worldwide on June 21. Every year it is celebrated with a theme, and the theme for this year's fifth International Yoga Day is 'Yoga for Heart'.After Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014 the International Yoga Day has gained popularity on a global scale. Modi has been regularly tweeting videos of different asanas since June 5.
Rajnath pays tribute to Army officer
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday paid tributes to Major Ketan Sharma, who died fighting militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district a day earlier.
Budget leaked on Twitter before presentation in House: Munde
Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde on Tuesday claimed that details of the state budget were leaked on the Twitter handle of finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar before presentation in the Assembly. Munde and some other opposition members raised the issue in the Council and disrupted the budget presentation by Minister of State for Finance Deepak Kesarkar in the House. Since Maharashtra Legislature comprises the Assembly and the Council, the state budget is presented simultaneously by a cabinet minister and a junior minister in the Lower and Upper House, respectively. When Kesarkar tried to present the budget in the Upper House, Munde waved his mobile phone and then read out from it some budget details, which he claimed were posted on the official Twitter account of Mungantiwar. Munde said even before Mungantiwar read out the first part of the budget in the Assembly, his twitter account already put out the information. Following ...
2 JeM terrorists killed, including owner of vehicle used in Pulwama attack
Two Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists, including one whose vehicle was used to carry out the blast in the deadly Pulwama terror attack, were killed in an encounter between terrorists and security forces in Anantnag district in south Kashmir on Tuesday, police said."Two terrorists were killed and the bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter... As per the records available with police, both the killed terrorists were affiliated with proscribed terror outfit JeM and were wanted by law for their complicity in a series of terror crimes including attacking of security establishments and civilian atrocities" police said in a statement here.The gunfight took place in Anantnag's Marhama village.Jammu and Kashmir DGP, Dilbag Singh said: "We neutralised two militants. They've been identified as Sajad Ahmad Bhat and Tawseef Ahmad Bhat, both are residents of Marhama and have links with Jaish-e-Mohammed. Sajad was involved in turning his car into an IED in February 14 blast."According to ...
2 Jaish militants, Army jawan killed in Anantnag encounter
Two Jaish-e-Mohammed militants, including one wanted in connection with the Pulwama attack, and an Army soldier were killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on Tuesday, police said. The security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in Bijbehara area of the south Kashmir district in the morning following inputs about the presence of militants. The operation turned into an encounter after the militants opened fire on the forces, an officer said. An Army jawan was injured in the gun battle and he succumbed to injuries at a hospital, the official said. "Two terrorists were killed in the operation in Bijbehara. They have been identified as Sajad Bhat and Tauseef Bhat, and were affiliated with the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group," the official said. Besides several terror crimes, the official said, Sajad Bhat was also wanted in connection with the suicide car blast in Lethpora area of Pulwama on February 14 that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) ...
HK chief issues 'most sincere' apology over extradition bill
Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday offered her "most sincere" apology over the handling of the now-suspended extradition bill, after thousands of people voiced their dissatisfaction over her and her administration's handling of the controversial legislation.
