Babri Masjid verdict: Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind to file review petition

Dehradun, Jan 6: Universities are centres of learning and will not be allowed to become "addas" of politics, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' has said.

The minister was replying to questions from reporters in Haldwani on Sunday about protests against the amended Citizenship Act across university campuses.

"Universities are centres of learning where the country's future is in the making. We cannot let them become addas of politics," Nishank said.

He accused the opposition parties of trying to turn the universities into hotbeds of politics.

The new legislation passed by Parliament aims to grant citizenship to persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who had taken refuge in India and there is nothing wrong in it, the Union Minister said

"When Pakistan was created, the population of religious minorities there stood at 22 per cent. Today it is a minuscule 3.7 per cent. Persecuted on the basis of their religion, they sought sanctuary in India. The CAA is meant only to grant them citizenship," he said.

Terming the law humanitarian, the minister said it was going to make no difference to the status of Muslims in India and wondered why the Congress was making such a hue and cry about it.

Nishank's press conference in Haldwani was part of the BJP's campaign to create awareness in favour of the amended Citizenship Act.

Jan 15: Amazon.com Inc Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is facing a bitter welcome during his India visit this week as the country’s antitrust regulator initiated a formal investigation just hours before his arrival and trader bodies comprising millions of infuriated small store owners announced demonstrations.

Bezos is in New Delhi for the Smbhav summit, an Amazon India event for small and medium businesses. The billionaire is scheduled to conduct a fireside chat with Amazon India chief Amit Agarwal, anchoring an event that also features Infosys Ltd. co-founder Narayana Murthy and retail billionaire Kishore Biyani, who recently sold a stake in his retail group to Amazon. Ahead of the event, Bezos paid his respects at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial, wearing a white tunic and a rust-colored Indian vest.

The small businesses that Amazon’s CEO is hoping to endear himself to, however, are organizing in opposition. The Confederation of All India Traders announced that members of its affiliate bodies across the country would stage sit-ins and public rallies in 300 cities to raise a war cry against the world’s largest online retailer. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, the confederation’s Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal alleged that Amazon, much like Walmart Inc.-owned Flipkart, was an “economic terrorist” who engaged in predatory pricing that deprived the government of tax revenue and “compelled the closure of thousands of small traders.”

India’s e-commerce market is projected to grow to $150 billion by 2022, according to a 2018 report by software industry group Nasscom and consulting firm PwC India. Competition for this rapidly expanding sector is intensifying as Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, prepares to go live with JioMart, an online shopping platform challenging Amazon and Walmart directly. The latter’s Flipkart Online Services Pvt is also delving deeper into the countryside in its pursuit for more customers. Amazon, for its part, opened a huge office complex in the southern city of Hyderabad in September, underscoring its commitment to the country.

The Competition Commission of India said it would probe the deep discounts, preferential listings and exclusionary tactics that Amazon and Flipkart are alleged to have used as anti-competitive levers. India’s trade bodies have long argued that both retail giants were flouting rules by promoting sales and discounts through their favoured sellers, many of whom they have preexisting commercial arrangements. The regulator has ordered for the investigation to be completed within two months.

Bezos last visited India in 2014 under starkly different circumstances. During that trip, the Amazon founder wore local festive garb, rode atop a festooned truck for a photo opp and presented Amazon’s Indian unit with a giant check for $2 billion. Since then, Amazon has pledged a further $3.5 billion to expand in the country.

Mumbai, Feb 26: Observing that the violence in Delhi is akin to a "horror film" depicting the grim reality of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday said the "bloodbath" has brought disrepute to the national capital like never before while US President Donald Trump was in India with the "message of love".

The editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana' lamented that Trump was welcomed in Delhi while there was bloodbath on the streets.

It further said that the violence could potentially spread the message that the Central government has failed to maintain the law and order situation in Delhi.

"Violence has erupted in Delhi. People are on the streets equipped with canes, swords, revolvers, blood is being spilled on the roads. Some horror film-like situation is being witnessed in Delhi, which depicts the grim reality of the 1984 riots," the Sena said.

It further said the BJP was still blaming the Congress for the deaths of hundreds of Sikhs in the violence that was erupted after assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

It needs to be unravelled who is responsible for the current riots in Delhi, the Sena said while referring to the "language of threats and warning used by some BJP leaders".

"The national capital was burning at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting US President Trump were holding talks.

"It does not augur well that Trump was welcomed in Delhi with the horror film of violence, bloodbath on the streets, screams of people, and tear gases. Trump saheb came to Delhi with a message of love, but what unfolded before him? 'Namaste' in Ahmedabad and violence in Delhi. Never before Delhi was defamed like this," the editorial said.

Trump had begun his February 24-25 India visit from Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

Seventeen people have died so far and over hundred were injured in the violence that has gripped several parts of north east Delhi over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) since Sunday.

Attacking the Central government over reports that the violence was timed with Trump's visit, Sena said, "the Union Home Ministry has alleged that a conspiracy was hatched to defame India internationally by triggering the violence during Trump's visit to the national capital.

"The Home Ministry not knowing about the conspiracy behind the violence over the CAA is detrimental to national security. There is no problem in controlling the riots with the same courage with which Article 370 and 35A were scrapped," the editorial said.

It further said the anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi was yet to be called off yet despite the Supreme Court appointing mediators.

"It is being said that the violence sparked off after some BJP leaders talked the language of threats and warning. So, did someone want the peaceful agitation (at Shaheen Bagh) to acquire the present form of riots? (They) could have waited for at least Trump to leave the country," the Sena said.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party also questioned the timing of the riots, which are occurring days after the results of the Delhi assembly polls.

"It is mysterious that the violence broke out days after the BJP lost the Delhi assembly elections. The BJP lost and now this is the condition of Delhi," the Sena said.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party, a former ally of the BJP, now shares power in Maharashtra with the NCP and the Congress.