Indo-Bangla border remains unfenced: AASU
Dhubri, Assam: Students’ union AASU on Monday alleged that a large stretch of the India-Bangladesh border in Assam’s Dhubri district has remained “unfenced” even after 37 years of signing of the historic Assam Accord. A team of All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) led by its general secretary Shankar Jyoti Baruah went to the international border in the district on Sunday and expressed their dissatisfaction over the “exposed” boundary. Baruah claimed that AASU had warned the authorities 40 years ago of the outcome of the open international border in Dhubri district, and “now the chief minister is saying that the Jihadi activities in the state have increased”. Assam has become a hotbed of “jihadi activities” with five modules having links with Bangladesh-based terror outfit Ansarul Islam found in five months, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said earlier this month. The students’ body demanded that the government use better scientific methods to seal the exposed border. The Assam Accord was signed on 15 August 1985, by the Centre, the state government, the AASU, and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad to end an agitation spearheaded by the students’ organisation against the “illegal entry of foreigners in the state”.
Ease of doing drug business, Rahul asks in attack on PM over Gujarat ‘drug hauls’
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over multiple drug hauls from Gujarat and asked for how long he would be silent on the matter. His attack came days after the Anti Narcotics Cell (ANC) of Mumbai Police busted a mephedrone manufacturing unit in Gujarat and seized drugs worth Rs 1,026 crore. Posing a series of questions in a tweet, he asked why the port owner had not been questioned so far despite drugs being recovered time and again. Who are the people sitting in the government of the Centre and in Gujarat who are giving protection to mafia ‘friends’, the Congress leader went on to ask.
India-Italy may soon sign Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in criminal matters
New Delhi: India and Italy are inching closer to signing a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) for cooperation in investigation, prosecution and prevention of crime, including trans-national organised criminals and terrorism, officials said. The minutes were signed at the second round of meeting held recently by Joint Secretary (Coordination and International Cooperation) in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Saheli Ghosh Roy, and Stefano Opilio, Director General for International Affairs and International Judiciary Cooperation, Italian Ministry of Justice. An MLAT is an agreement between two or more countries for the purpose of gathering and exchanging information in an effort to enforce public or criminal laws. The negotiations between India and Italy for the MLAT were started following improvement of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Ties between the two countries were earlier strained due to the killing of two Indian fishermen by two Italian marines off the coast of Kerala in February, 2012.
Pak’s ex-PM Imran Khan gets protective bail in terrorism case
Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court on Monday granted Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Imran Khan protective bail till Thursday in a terrorism case registered against him for threatening police, judiciary and other state institutions at his Islamabad rally on Saturday. Khan was booked on Sunday under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Earlier in the day, Khan moved the court seeking pre-arrest bail in the case. The petition filed by his lawyers Babar Awan and Faisal Chaudhry stated that Khan was a “target of the ruling PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement) for his fearless criticism, and extremely bold and blunt stance against corruption and corrupt politicians”, the Dawn newspaper reported.
CoA not to take over affairs of IOA: SC extends status quo until further orders
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday extended its status quo until further orders, which had stated that the Delhi High Court-appointed three-member Committee of Administrators (COA) will not take over the affairs of the Indian Olympic Association. A bench of Justices S A Nazeer and J K Maheshwari sought response from the Centre and others on the plea filed by the Association. The matter will be taken up after four weeks. The top court had earlier taken note of the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the IOA, that the order may have negative repercussions on the nation and granted the interim relief ordering status quo into the affairs of the IOA. The Delhi High Court on August had ordered the setting up of the CoA to manage the affairs of the IOA.
BWF Worlds: Lakshya wins, Praneeth loses
Tokyo: Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen continued his impressive run, trouncing Danish Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus in straight games to progress to the men’s singles second round at BWF World Championships here on Monday. India also registered twin wins in women’s and mixed doubles competition on the opening day which saw B Sai Praneeth bow out after losing in three games to world number 4 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei. However, former Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy progressed to the women’s doubles second round with a win over Maldives’ Aminath Nabeeha Abdul Razzaq and Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq. In mixed doubles, Tanisha Crasto and Ishaan Bhatnagar defeated German duo of Patrick Scheiel and Franziska Volkmann to also make a positive start to their campaign. Among others, B Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri lost to Masayuki Onodera and Hiroki Okamura in men’s doubles. In women’s singles, Malvika Bansod also bowed out in the opening round after losing to Denmark’s Line Christophersen.
John Abraham-backed ‘Tara Vs Bilal’ books Oct 14 release date
Mumbai: Actor John Abraham on Monday announced his upcoming production Tara Vs Bilal will be released in theatres on 14 October. Directed by Samar Iqbal, the slice-of-life film features Harshvardhan Rane and Sonia Rathee in the title roles. Abraham, who is producing the movie under his banner JA Entertainment alongside T-Series and TVB Films, took to Instagram to share the release date of the movie. “Directed by Samar Iqbal and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar and John Abraham, the film showcases the clash of two opposites Tara and Bilal!” read the caption of the post which also shared the first looks of Rane and Rathee from the film. Written by Sanyuktha Chawla Shaikh, “Tara Vs Bilal” is co-produced by Minnakshi Das and Shiv Chanana.
