Gali Nagaraja

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will visit Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan on May 20-22 for bilateral talks, focusing on energy cooperation, an official announcement said on Tuesday.

A few agreements are also expected to be signed during the visit to both Central Asian states, the foreign ministry here said.

During the first leg of his visit, Sharif will hold tete-a-tete with President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan that would be followed by delegation-level talks.

The Bangladeshi government will establish more Border Operational Post (BOP) of paramilitary border guards in southeastern Chittagong Hill Tracts areas to fight the growing cases of human trafficking.

Bangladesh State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said this on Tuesday at a press conference, Xinhua news agency reported.

“We’ve decided to strengthen our efforts to better combat the problem of human trafficking by establishing more BOP of Border Guard of Bangladesh in around 250 km border line in Chittagong Hill Tracts that has not been well protected,” Jamal said.

More than a half million Yemenis have fled their homes due to the conflict plaguing the Arab country since March, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), announced on Tuesday that the conflict has left 1,849 people dead and 7,394 other injured, according to the figures registered in health centers up to May 15, reports Efe.

A timely half-century by opener Lendl Simmons and some quality bowling helped Mumbai Indians secure a place in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 final with a 25-run victory over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the qualifier 1 at the Wankhede Stadium here on Tuesday.

Simmons rose to the occasion as he scored 65 off 51 balls, which was followed by Kieron Pollard’s 17-ball 41 that helped Mumbai post a challenging 187/6.

In reply, Chennai lost wickets at regular intervals and were all out for 162 in 19 overs.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived back here on Tuesday night after his six-day, three-nation tour that took him to China, Mongolia and South Korea.

Modi, who left on May 14, spent three days in China. He visited Xi’an, Beijing and Shanghai, and held talks with the Chinese leadership.

He went to Mongolia on May 17, becoming the first Indian prime minister ever to visit the northeast Asian country. He was in South Korea on May 18-19, during which he held talks with President Park Gyeun-hye and a number of agreements were inked.

–IANS

The death toll from cholera outbreak in Kenya has risen to 65, with at least 3,234 cases reported across the country, authorities said on Tuesday.

“Cumulatively 326 new cases were reported in the last one week. This is an increase from the previous week where 226 new cases were reported,” Cabinet Secretary for Health James Macharia said in a statement released in Nairobi, Xinhua reported.

At least 170 Islamic State (IS) militants have been killed since Sunday in airstrikes carried out by the US-led international coalition in addition to Kurdish attacks in the Syrian northeastern province of al-Hasakah, Kurdish officials said on Tuesday.

Naser Haj Mansur, spokesperson for the defence department in the Kurdish autonomous region of al-Jazira in al-Hasakah, said that “between 170 and 200 IS members were killed in coalition bombings and in attacks of the Kurdish forces and Christian militias on the ground”.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said corruption has been removed from India’s political dictionary under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that there is a thrust towards reforms and liberalisation without crony capitalism and harassment.

The Delhi High Court has issued notice to AAP legislator Surender Singh on a petition filed by BJP leader Karan Singh Tanwar for allegedly giving false information on his educational qualification in the election affidavit.

Justice Hima Kohli sought response from the Delhi Cantonment legislator after Tanwar in his petition said Singh “misrepresented himself to be B.A. in 2012 from Sikkim University… which amounts to corrupt practice within the meaning of the Representation of the People Act”.

Janata Dal-United president Sharad Yadav on Tuesday said merger of six parties of Janata Parivar has been already announced, now talks are on remaining issues.

“Merger of the six parties of Janata Parivar has been finalised and announced. It is a matter of fact. After that talks were going on other remaining issues,” Yadav, who arrived from Delhi, told media here.

Mumbai Indians scored 187/6 against Chennai Super Kings in their Indian Premier League (IPL) qualifier 1 at the Wankhede Stadium here on Tuesday.

For Mumbai, opener Lendl Simmons was the top scorer with 65 runs off 51 balls, while Dwayne Bravo (3/40) was the pick of CSK bowlers.

—IANS

Pakistan expressed “considerable concern” on Tuesday over an Egyptian court’s recent death sentences for former president Mohammed Morsi and his supporters.

“The news of the death sentence awarded to former elected president of Egypt Mohamad Morsi and more than 100 others has been received in Pakistan with considerable concern,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Pakistan, therefore, underscores the fact, highlighted by many other countries, that the dispensation of justice must be based on the principles of equity and fairness,” the statement said.

DMK president M.Karunanidhi on Tuesday said party would deliberate at its district secretaries meeting on May 25 on whether to appeal against the acquittal of AIADMK general secretary J.Jayalalithaa by the Karnataka High Court.

Speaking to reporters here, he said that a decision would be taken after deliberation and deep thinking on the issue.

DMK general secretary K.Anbazhagan is one of the petitioners in the Rs.66 crore disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa.

Former captain Shoaib Malik and speedster Mohammad Sami have been recalled to the side for the two T20 internationals to be played against Zimbabwe in Lahore.

Sami, who is making a comeback after two and a half years, had played his last game against Sri Lanka in 2012.

Umar Akmal, who had a poor World Cup campaign, also figured in the squad that was announced yesterday, the Dawn reported.

Uncapped 19-year-old opener Nauman Anwar and former under-19 skipper Imad Wasim have also been included in the team following their superb performances in the domestic games.

According to US officials, Saudi Arabia is planning to purchase an “off the shelf nuclear weapon ” from Pakistan.

According to The Independent, Saudi Arabia is wary of the potential Iran nuclear deal. Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki bin Faisal warned it could pave the way for nuclear proliferation in the region.

A Pentagon official said there has been an agreement reached between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to move forward on the issue. (ANI)

The Indian people committed a mistake by choosing Narendra Modi as their prime minister, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference, Sibal said: “You have made a wrong person the prime minister… Instead of focusing on main issues, Modi would say that his biggest achievement was to bring the US president as the chief guest on Republic Day while farmers and small traders were suffering.”

Accusing Modi of speaking “without applying any thought”, the Congress leader also said that commenting without checking facts had become his habit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to make an announcement later this month on ex-servicemen’s long-pending demand of one-rank one-pension, Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh said here on Tuesday.

The minister told media persons that since coming to power in May last year the National Democratic Alliance consulted all stakeholders on the issue and then arrived at a decision.

“We came to power in May last year. Over the past one year we have consulted political parties, all stakeholders on one-rank one-pension, whether they are servicemen or ex-servicemen ,” he said.

Responding to former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s comment that his armed forces had “grabbed India by the throat” during the Kargil War, Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh on Tuesday said “they (Pakistan) got a bloody nose” for their 1999 misadventure.

Stressing that Musharraf has no position in the present set-up in Pakistan, Rao Inderjit said the Pakistani was a “maverick politician or a maverick leader”.

“There is no need for us to respond to what he says. I think they got a bloody nose in Kargil,” the minister said on the sidelines of a programme here.

The Maharashtra government has decided to name a prominent institution in Thane after nurse Aruna Shanbaug, the world’s oldest comatose patient, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced here on Tuesday.

“Maharashtra government decided give late Aruna Shanbaug’s name to Nursing Training School, Thane,” Fadnavis tweeted.

“Our infinite salutes to her spirit,” he added of the 67-year old nurse hailing from Haldipur, Karnataka, who died on Monday and was given a tearful farewell.

A 20-year-old woman was burnt alive after refusing to perform an “extreme sex act” on a militant of the Islamic State (IS) extremist group, the UN envoy on sexual violence in conflict was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

“We heard one case of a 20-year-old girl who was burned alive because she refused to perform an extreme sex act,” Zainab Bangura told the Middle East Eye website.

“We learned of many other sadistic sexual acts,” Bangura added.

The Shia Houthi rebel militia expressed its willingness to agree to a new truce with the Riyadh-led coalition to end the blockade and airstrikes in Yemen, a possibility that Saudi Arabia equally favours, Efe news agency reported.

Speaking to the Yemeni news agency, Saba, the president of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee, the highest Houthi power, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, stressed “the importance of dealing with greater positivism with humanitarian efforts that seek to end the blockade imposed by the coalition to Yemen”.

Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of speaking “without applying any thought”, the Congress on Tuesday said that commenting without checking facts had become his habit.

Addressing a press conference, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said Modi, while interacting with people of Indian-origin in Seoul on Monday, said earlier people would think what sins had they committed to have been born in India.

“He speaks without thinking. It has become his habit,” Sibal said, after playing a clip of Modi’s speech in Seoul.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday met President Pranab Mukherjee amid the ongoing impasse between the city administration and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung’s office over a series of bureaucratic appointments.

“We had a good meeting with the President. We’ve apprised him of recent developments. He heard the matter carefully. We told the President that LG sir is trying to run the Delhi Government on his own terms,” Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia told media persons

after the meeting.

Senior lawyers Indira Jaising and Rajeev Dhavan have criticized Delhi Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung for rejecting an appointment of an official by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, with one of them saying that Jung had “exceeded his authority”.

The two eminent lawyers submitted their legal opinion to the Kejriwal government on the tussle over the transfer and posting of Delhi bureaucrats. The AAP government had sought their advice after disagreements between Jung and Kejriwal snowballed into a major row.

Actor Salman Khan, who is currently busy shooting for his film “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” in Kashmir, says it reminded him of his former ladylove Katrina Kaif.

The 49-year-old shared a series of photographs and posts on micro-blogging website Twitter on Tuesday.

“Kashmir nahi dekha toh Kya dekha kehtey hai kahin jannat hai toh woh idharich hai idharich hai idharich hai (If you have not seen Kashmir, then what have you seen? It is said that if there is heaven on earth it is here, it is here, it is here),” Salman tweeted along with a photograph featuring four houseboats.