Four militant associates arrested in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam, arms and ammunition recovered, say police

Srinagar: Four militant associates were arrested from Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Sunday, adding arms and ammunition were recovered from their possession.

Acting on a tip-off, security forces arrested Muzamil Nabi, Umer Ajaz, both residents of Kanihama, and Rouf Bhat and Ishfaq Bhat, residents of Kantebagh, SK Pora, they said.

The four were involved in providing logistic support and shelter to active militants operating in the areas of Magam Budgam in central Kashmir, police said.

Incriminating material recovered from their possession has been seized, they said.

Cases under relevant sections of law have been registered in police station Magam and further investigation is in progress, police added.

from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/38cUql9

CBSE says further postponement of exams in Delhi's violence-hit areas may hamper chances of admission to professional courses

New Delhi: The CBSE on Sunday said any further postponement of board exams in violence-affected areas of Delhi might hamper chances of admission of students to professional courses. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) officials, however, maintained that the board is ready to conduct fresh examinations for students who are not able to appear for exams in the violence-affected areas. It has sought a list of such students from school principals.

"The board is of the view that further delay in conducting Class 12 examinations may hamper the chances of admissions in professional courses like medical, engineering, law and other under-graduate admissions. "Few entrance examinations are conducted in accordance with the timelines fixed by the courts and therefore, dates are sacrosanct. Similarly, the JEE (Main) is also scheduled from 3 to 19 April," a senior board official said.

The board had postponed class 10 and 12 exams in northeast Delhi and parts of east Delhi till 29 February. The schools are closed in the areas till 7 March.

"For candidates who are in a position to appear for the board examinations, it would be very stressful and cause immense anxiety if the examinations are further postponed," the official said, adding that "the incidents that have unfolded in the last few days have affected some of our students".

"The CBSE is concerned about and is sensitive to the needs of both categories of students, those who can appear in the examinations as per schedule from tomorrow onwards and also those who may face some difficulty in appearing in the examinations due to difficult circumstances," the official said.

from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2uHIoCq

Four killed, including three children, and 21 injured as speeding private bus overturns in Rajasthan's Rajsamand; Ashok Gehlot offers condolences

Jaipur: Four people were killed, including three children, and 21 others injured when a speeding private bus overturned in Rajasthan's Rajsamand district on Sunday, police said.

The bus was heading to Jaipur from Ahmedabad when it overturned near Mada ki Bassi area, they said.

The injured were rushed to a primary health care centre in Devgarh for treatment, police added.

The deceased were identified as Priyanka (27), her daughter Dakshita (3), Aalia (7) and Dev Pratap (13).

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot expressed his condolences for those killed in the accident.

"My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families. May God give them strength to bear the loss. Wishing speedy recovery to injured," he said in a tweet.

from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2Vyb4sv

Delhi riots: Toll rises to 44 as two more bodies recovered from Gokalpuri; situation under control, say police

With the recovery of two bodies from the Gokalpuri area of northeast Delhi, the toll in the communal riots which gripped the National Capital last week rose to 44 on Sunday.

While one of the bodies was recovered from the Bhagirath drain at 10 am, another was recovered at 3 pm from the drain flowing in front the Gokulpuri Police Station, reported News18. The identities of the victims are yet to be ascertained. The bodies have been sent to the GTB Hospital for post-mortem.

On Wednesday, Intelligence Bureau staffer Anikt Sharma's body was recovered from a drain in Chand Bagh. The 26-year-old had reportedly been stabbed multiple times.

Meanwhile, the situation in the riot-hit areas continued to be tense yet peaceful, with vehicles and people visible on the main road under heavy deployment of security.

File image of the Gokalpuri neighbourhood during clashes between those against and supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in East Delh. PTI

"The situation is under control now. There is adequate force deployed in all areas of northeast district. We are holding talks with locals and trying to rebuild confidence,"a senior police officer told PTI. The official added that no untoward incident had been reported for the past three days and urged residents not to pay heed to rumors and report them to the police.

However, tension prevailed in areas such as Mustafabad and  and Shiv Vihar, with locals continuing to be wary of venturing out into the streets. In Shiv Vihar, among the worst-hit areas, lanes were deserted and almost all the houses locked.

"Though there is police presence, tension is lingering. We celebrated Eid, Holi, Diwali together. I have never faced such a situation in my life. There is grief, mistrust, disbelief. Those who indulged in violence did not belong to the area, they came from outside,"Mohammad Yunus, a garment shop owner, told PTI. Yunus, 45, said he was saved by his Hindu neighbours during the violence and they tore the shop name board to save the business from rioters.

Acting Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava visited DCP Amit Sharma, undergoing treatment at a hospital in Patparganj after suffering serious injuries during the violence in Gokulpuri on 24 February. A 2010-batch IPS officer, Sharma underwent brain surgery.

Soon after taking charge as police chief on Saturday, Shrivastava said his priority is to restore peace and ensure communal harmony in the National Capital. Police have started a massive outreach programme and senior officers have been meeting with people to build confidence.

A large number of properties were damaged in the violence which broke out in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, Yamuna Vihar and Mustafabad areas of northeast Delhi on Monday. Over 200 people were injured, many with bullet injuries, after frenzied mobs torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at locals and police.

With inputs from agencies

from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/389XMW0

Polish student at Jadavpur University told to leave India after he attended anti-CAA rally in Kolkata

Kolkata: A Polish student of Jadavpur University has been asked by the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to leave the country after he participated in an anti-CAA rally in the West Bengal capital, varsity sources said on Sunday.

The incident comes close on the heels of a Bangladeshi student of Visva Bharati University being issued a similar directive by the FRRO after she posted photographs of an anti-CAA demonstration, held on the campus, on social media.

A JU source told PTI that Kamil Siedcynski, a Polish student of Comparative Literature, was asked by the FRRO to visit its Kolkata office, which he did on 22 February. "Siedcynski was served a notice by the FRRO asking him to leave the country within a fortnight on receipt of the notice for alleged conduct deemed inappropriate for a foreign national staying in India on a student visa," the source said.

The JU source said several teachers and Left-leaning students of the varsity were of the view that Siedcynski was paying the price for attending an anti-CAA rally at Moulali area in the city in December last year where he was interviewed by a Bengali daily and a brief report on him was published the next day.

"Some people probably forwarded a copy of the report to the FRRO. Siedcynski has no political leanings but his enthusiasm to attend the protest rally and click photographs landed him in trouble," the source said.

Siedcynski, who was supposed to write his third-semester examinations this year, could not be contacted. JU vice-chancellor Suranjan Das and Registrar Snehamanju Basu also did not take calls.

The Polish student had earlier studied Bengali at the Visva Bharati University.

Recently Afsara Anika Meem, a first-year Bangladeshi undergraduate student in the Fine Arts department of the Visva-Bharati University was served an FRRO notice for reportedly engaging in "anti-government" activities.

Both the foreign nationals have requested the FRRO to reconsider its decision and promised not to get involved in any such protests in the future, sources said. The FRRO, in turn, has said that a final decision will be taken in Delhi, the source said quoting the two students.

from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/3af1pLF

US-Taliban peace deal hits first roadblock as Ashraf Ghani says he won't free prisoners belonging to militant group

Kabul: Afghanistan's president said Sunday that he will not free thousands of Taliban prisoners ahead of all-Afghan power-sharing talks set for next week, publicly disagreeing with a timetable for a speedy prisoner release laid out just a day earlier in a U.S.-Taliban peace agreement.

President Ashraf Ghani's comments pointed to the first hitch in implementing the fragile deal, which is aimed at ending America's longest war after more than 18 years and getting rival Afghan factions to agree on their country's future.

Still, the US has said a planned U.S. troop withdrawal over the next 14 months is linked to the Taliban's counter-terrorism performance, not to progress in intra-Afghan talks.

The US-Taliban deal signed Saturday envisions the release of up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners by the Afghan government ahead of talks between Afghan factions meant to begin March 10 in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The Taliban would release up to 1,000 prisoners.

Ghani told a news conference in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Sunday that this wasn't a promise the United States could make. He said the release of prisoners was a decision for his government to take and that he wasn't ready to release prisoners before the start of negotiations.

“The request has been made by the United States for the release of prisoners and it can be part of the negotiations but it cannot be a precondition," Ghani said.

The US-Taliban deal is seen as a historic opportunity to extricate the United States from Afghanistan, a nation convulsed by conflict since the Soviet invasion in December 1979. Yet it could also unravel quickly, particularly if the Taliban fail to deliver on a promise that no terror attacks would be launched from Afghan soil.

The intra-Afghan talks between squabbling political factions and rival Taliban in Afghanistan are even more intricate — even if a potential failure might not slow the withdrawal of American forces.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said he considered a prisoner exchange an important confidence-building measure.

“What we have here is a 14-months agreement that, including in these 14 months, there are several things that need to be accomplished because everything is interconnected," he said Sunday.

"And in that agreement, the prisoner exchange will be one of the first confidence-building measures, so it will remain a very critical step that we need to push forward. And we have the delegations ready for the meeting (with) Taliban and others. So I hope that the negotiations will start very soon.”

from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/39efIjo

Three killed after two goods trains collide in Madhya Pradesh's Singrauli; victims yet to be identified say police

Singrauli: Three people were killed after two goods trains collided near a village in Madhya Pradesh's Singrauli district early Sunday morning, police said.

The mishap took place around 4.40 am when a coal-laden train heading towards Uttar Pradesh from Amlori mine in Madhya Pradesh collided with an empty goods train near Ghanhari village, located around seven kilometres from Madhya Pradesh, Singrauli's Additional Superintendent of Police Pradeep Shende told PTI.

Thirteen wagons of one of the trains and an engine jumped off the tracks following the collision. Three bodies have been pulled out from the engine so far, the official said.

The deceased were yet to be identified, he said, adding that as per initial findings, the bodies might be of two drivers and a points-man.

The track on which the accident occurred is managed by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for coal transportation from Madhya Pradesh to Uttar Pradesh, Shende said.

Initially, it appears the accident might have occurred either due to an error on part of the drivers or because of some fault in signaling, he said.

The mishap has not affected rail passenger traffic as it occurred on the track exclusively used by the NTPC to ferry coal for power generation, the official said.

Meanwhile, East Central Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Rajesh Kumar in a statement said the Indian Railways has nothing to do with the accident.

He said the accident took place in the Merry Go Round (MGR) system completely owned and operated by NTPC, Rihand.

from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2Tn9vuU