BJP leader, brother shot dead in J&K's Kishtwar; Army on standby

Agencies
November 2, 2018

Jammu, Nov 2: A senior BJP leader and his brother were shot dead by militants in the communally-sensitive Kishtwar district Thursday night, prompting the Jammu and Kashmir administration to impose curfew and call out the Army as people staged angry protests and started manhandling senior police personnel, officials said today.

BJP state secretary Anil Parihar, 52, and his brother Ajeet, 55, were returning home from their shop when they were fired upon from close range at a dark, narrow lane leading to their house, the officials said, adding this was the first such political killing in Jammu region in recent years.

The assailants were apparently waiting for the brothers to return home and used pistols to target them, they said. They were rushed to a hospital where doctors declared them brought dead, they said.

Immediately after the attack, people started assembling outside the residence of Parihar and refused entry of senior police officers, who were even manhandled. The mourners refused to hand over the body to police and did not allow them to gather evidence from the Parihar Mohalla where the two brothers were shot dead.

Kishtwar district magistrate A S Rana made a request to call out the Army in the town and its adjoining areas to control the internal security situation arisen due to "assassination of Anil Parihar and Ajeet Praihar by some militants".

Rana took the decision as he apprehended that violence might erupt and thus result in law and order problem, endangering life and property of citizens of Kistwar town.

Police had announced curfew in Kishtwar, Doda and Baderwah, besides imposing prohibitory orders, banning assembly of more than four people in Ramban, Banihal, Poonch, Kathua, Rajouri and upper reaches of Gool Gulabgarh.

Kishtwar is communally sensitive and the district had witnessed communal clashes in the past as well. The recent one was in August 2013. Militants have in the past attempted to create communal tension in the region by targeting the Hindu community, especially in higher reaches.

In 2001, the terrorists killed 17 Hindu nomads. The killings of Parihar brothers drew severe condemnation from all quarters. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh expressed shock and pain over the killings, saying the police will leave no stone unturned to bring perpetrators of the crime to justice.

The home minister also spoke to K Vijay Kumar, the advisor to the Jammu and Kashmir Governor, and took stock of the incident.

BJP president Amit Shah said the attack was "a cowardly act that shames humanity".

In a tweet, former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said it was a "very sad news" and offered condolences to the families of Parihar brothers. "Very sad news. My condolences to Anil & Ajit Parihar's family & colleagues. May their souls rest in peace," he said. BJP general secretary Ashok Koul condemned the attack and called for punishment to the culprits involved in it.

CPI(M) MLA M Y Tarigami and state Congress president Gulam Ahmed Mir also condemned the killings of the BJP leader and his brother. Mir termed the attack "barbaric and unfortunate" and pointed towards the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Noida, Jan 6: A fire broke out at the ESIC Hospital in Noida on Thursday morning and firefighting was underway, officials said.

The blaze broke out in the basement of the seven-storey hospital building located in Sector 24, a police official said.

Fire tenders were rushed to the spot after the Fire Department was alerted about it around 8 am, the official said.

After that, a search was done to see if anyone was trapped in the building, he said.

The cooling process is now underway.

He said the fire had engulfed the ground, first and second floors of the building, except the basement.

Police said they received information about fire at Kaveri printing press at 2:45 am, when the manager Yogesh called them. The press owners have been identified as Atul and Anuj Goyal, residents of Sukhdev Vihar, they said.

The man who died in the fire has been identified as Phool Dev, from Bihar, who used to work as a help there. Dev went inside the building in the night to sleep before the fire started and died due to suffocation, the fire department official said.

The body has been kept at Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital and the post-mortem will be done once the family reaches here, police said.

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Agencies
June 16,2020

Mumbai, Jun 16: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, PIF, is all set to pick up a stake in Jio Platforms, which would complete 25% of Jio’s equity dilution to the investors, said a report by the Gulf News.

Jio Platforms is part of the Reliance Industries empire owned by Mukesh Ambani. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) will acquire 2.33% for an estimated $1.5 billion, the report said.

So far, Jio Platforms has raised investment from 10 different global investors in seven weeks, the latest being TPG Capital buying 0.93% equity for Rs 4,547 crore and private equity firm L Catterton picking up a 0.39% stake for Rs 1894.50 crore.

Jio Platforms has raised a total of Rs 1.04 lakh crore so far from leading global investors including Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG and L Catterton since April 22.

With PIF coming on board, Jio Platforms would have diluted 25% of its equity. That's the maximum they intend to dilute to financial investors, which includes Mark Zukerberg's Facebook.

Any new investors coming on board in future will have to be "strategic investors, a tech giant, for instance," said a source who was part of the deal-making process, the report said.

In recent days, Jio Platforms, which will merge telecom, content streaming, gaming and ecommerce features into its app, has seen Abu Dhabi's Mubadala and ADIA pick up significant stakes amounting to $1.2 billion and $750 million, respectively.

Reliance Industries' owner, Ambani, Asia's richest man, has been on an investor acquisition spree, with the likes of Facebook and private equity majors such as KKR and Silver Lake Capital investing in Jio Platforms.

The contours of the deal with Saudi Arabia's PIF was finalised during Ramadan. "It was always Mukesh Ambani's wish to have a special relationship with Saudi Arabia and the UAE," said Anshuman Mishra, a London-based confidante and family friend of the Ambani family of longstanding, Gulf News quoted as saying.

He has also worked extensively with Gulf sovereign wealth funds over the years.

"Saudi Arabia's coming in to close the financial investor round in Jio is indicative of the special nature of the relationship. This is also indicative of the multi-billion-dollar partnership announced last year with Saudi Aramco.

"This is a major success for the present Indian government's foreign policy initiative in the gulf and symbolic of India's significance in the GCC," it said.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

Ayodhya, Aug 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday recalled the significance of the path of 'maryada' associated with Lord Ram in the backdrop of the situation created by COVID-19 and emphasised the importance of social distancing and wearing face masks.

He said that the current situation demands 'maryada' should be 'do gaz ki doori, mask hai zaroori' and exhorted everyone to follow it.

In his speech after laying the foundation stone of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Prime Minister said the temple of Lord Ram will inspire and guide humans for ages to come.

He said that the path of `maryada' followed by Lord Ram is all the more necessary today in the situation created by COVID-19.

"The `maryada' (need) today is do gaj ki doori, mask hai jaroori (keep distance of two yards, wear mask). The Almighty may keep all the citizens healthy and happy, this is my prayer. The blessings of Mother Sita and Shri Ram be always there on the citizens," he said.

The Prime Minister termed the occasion as historic and said that India is starting a glorious chapter when people across the country are excited and emotional to have finally achieved what they had been waiting for centuries.

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