At least 52 people have been killed and more than 70 injured in explosion at a Sufi Muslim shrine in southwest Pakistan, officials say.
Isis has reportedly claimed reponsibility for the bomb attack at the Shah Noorani shrine in the Kuzdar district of Balochistan
The injured are reportedly being transported to Karachi on Pakistan’s coast for medical treatment.
Local media report there is no hospital nearby and emergency services are struggling to reach the area because of its remote location.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack and called for rescue efforts.
Extremist groups in the province of Balochistan have frequently targeted public institutions this year.
In October more than 59 people were killed and at least 100 wounded in an attack on a police training academy in the Balochistan city of Quetta, which Isis claimed responsibility for.
Another suicide attack killed 70 people at a hospital in Quetta in August.
New Delhi : In an unprecedented action, the Supreme Court today issued notice of contempt to its former judge Markandey Katju for using “intemperate” language and “scandalising” judiciary as he appeared before a bench and had heated exchanges with it.
A bench comprising justices Ranjan Gogoi, P C Pant and U U Lalit said Katju’s statement in a recent blog constituted a serious assault on judges and not on the judgement and therefore the notice of contempt to him.
Katju protested against the decision saying the judges were threatening him and it was not proper for them to behave in such manner with a former judge of the apex court.
“I am not scared of it. Don’t give me threat,” the former judge remarked as Justice Gogoi pronounced the order in a surcharged atmosphere.
Justice Gogoi warned him saying “don’t provoke us any more” to which Katju said “you are provoking me by this type of threat. You requested me to come here and assist you.”
At this point, Justice Gogoi asked, “is there somebody to escort Justice Katju (out)”. Katju replied, “What is this behaviour. On your request I came here. Is this the way I am to be treated.”
However, the Bench continued with the dictation of the order saying that prima facie the statement (of Katju) constituted a serious assault on judges and not on judgement.
Therefore a notice of contempt.”
The issue of contempt was raised after the bench had dismissed the review petitions filed by Kerala government and mother of Soumya challenging the acquittal of the convict of the murder charge.
Justice Katju was summoned as he in his blog had claimed that there was error in the judgement acquitting the accused for the murder and he was asked to assist the bench during the hearing of the review petition.
Addressing Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Katju said a Supreme Court judge should not behave like this and it was like a threat to him.
“Don’t try to be funny with me. I came on your request.
Don’t treat me like this,” he said after Justice Ranjan Gogoi pronounced the order as to why a contempt proceeding be not initiated against him for scandalising the judiciary.
Tokyo : Shedding its reservations, Japan today made an exception to sign a landmark civil nuclear deal with India, opening the door for export of its atomic technology and reactors, after adding features like safety and security keeping in mind its sensitivities on the issue.
The nuclear deal, described as historic by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was part of the ten agreements signed between the two countries in various areas after he held talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on the second day of his three-day visit.
They held wide-ranging talks which covered aspects like trade and investment, security, terrorism, cooperation in skill development, aerospace and people-to-people contacts.
The nuclear agreement comes after tough negotiations for over six years between the two countries and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said the nuclear deal was similar to the agreements signed with the US and other countries with added features on safety and security in keeping with Japan’s sensitivities.
The two leaders, despite objections by China, also discussed the South China Sea issue and agreed on the need for respecting freedom of navigation and overflight in tune with the principles of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The nuclear agreement will also push implementation of the Indo-US atomic cooperation agreement since the major American companies in this sector have alliances with Japanese companies like GE-Hitachi and Toshiba-Westinghouse Electric Company.
The deal will come into effect as soon as the Japanese Parliament Diet approves it.
The Japanese Prime Minister, while noting that his country was the only one to have suffered atom bomb attacks, said he was “delighted” over the signing of the agreement with India despite it not being a signatory to the NPT.
At the same time, Abe, with Modi standing next to him, appeared to remind India about the NPT, saying his country wishes to see universalisation of the treaty, which New Delhi terms as “flawed”.
“This agreement is a legal framework that India will act responsibly in peaceful uses of nuclear energy and also in Non-Proliferation regime even though India is not a participant or signatory of NPT,” he said at a joint press interaction with Modi.
“It (the agreement) is in line with Japan’s ambition to create a world without nuclear weapons,” said Abe, whose country has traditionally adopted a tough stand on proliferation issues having been the only victim of atomic bombings during World War II.
He noted that India in September 2008 had made its intention of peaceful uses of nuclear energy and also announced moratorium on nuclear tests. .
New Delhi : Government today extended use of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes for paying household utility bills, fuel, taxes and fees as well as purchases from co-operative stores by another 72 hours to November 14 as it struggles to make available alternative currency.
While withdrawing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from the night of November 8-9, the government had allowed use of the old currency at government hospitals, railway ticketing, public transport, airline ticketing at airports, milk booths, crematoria/burial grounds and petrol pumps for 72 hours.
This list was later expanded to include payments for metro rail tickets, highway and road toll, purchase of medicines on doctor prescription from the government and private pharmacies, LPG gas cylinders, railway catering, electricity and water bills and ASI monument entry tickets.
The time limit set was to expire mid-night tonight, but it has now been extended by another 72 hours, top government officials said.
The government has allowed use of the old currency to make payments at co-operative stores subject to valid identity proofs being provided.
Public utility bills include only household bills. Court fee will also be allowed to be paid in old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes.
Old Rs 500, Rs 1000 notes will be accepted for payment of fees, charges, taxes, penalty to central and state governments, including municipalities and local bodies.
Such old notes will also be accepted for payment of utility charges like water and electricity.
The official said while the old notes were allowed to be accepted for highway toll payment, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has freed national highways of any toll charges till November 14.
New Delhi : The alarming pollution level is literally ‘capital punishment’ for Delhi’ites who are being robbed of three years of their lives due to it, Delhi High Court said today, holding government’s inaction and stubble burning in Punjab as being responsible for the “genocide”.
“It is killing us,” a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Ashutosh Kumar said, adding that the grave situation was leading to the “decimation” of more than 60 million life years or one million deaths.
It also asked whether votes were more important than the lives of those who vote.
“It is literally capital punishment as the capital is being punished and that too for no offence. People are being killed in the capital. You cannot kill Delhi,” the high court said, terming reduction in life expectancy due to pollution and government inaction over it as “genocide” and “murder”.
Referring to a WHO study on the effects of air pollution published in a news article, the court said pollutants in the air in several cities of India, especially Delhi, “exceeds the standards”, as 13 out of the world’s 20 most polluted cities were in our country.
The bench also noted that Delhi had the highest number of people suffering from respiratory ailments and also deaths due to it.
It said the government was duty bound to remove the threat of air pollution, but “despite repeated direction” and public opinion, the “governments responsible have not acted in the manner they should have”.
“As per the report, air pollution in a city like Delhi deducts three years from your life expectancy. Delhi has a population of over 20 million. So 60 million life years are being robbed from people of Delhi.
“With an average life expectancy of 60 years, it would mean that air pollution as its exists in Delhi takes one million lives. If this is not murder, what is? This is genocide. Government inaction is the culprit for shortening of life,” the court said.
Referring to satellite images submitted by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) in connection with stubble burning in northern India, the court said level of pollutants in the air peaked first week of November and biomass burning in Punjab was the “main culprit”.
“Unfortunately, state of Punjab is in denial mode and contests allegations that they are responsible for air pollution in Delhi. Punjab has not taken action as have the states of Haryana and Rajasthan, despite our clear warning earlier,” the court said.
New Delhi : Government will re-introduce Rs 1,000 banknotes in a few months and also issue new series of lower denomination bills with enhanced security features.
The government on Tuesday had demonetised the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes as part of its efforts to clamp down against the black money, fake currency and terror financing. These are being replaced with new currency bills of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000.
“In a few months, Rs 1,000 notes with new features will be brought into the market,” said Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das while addressing the Economic Editor’s Conference here today.
The currency notes of lower denomination of Rs 100 and Rs 50 will continue to be the legal tender, he said, adding the Reserve Bank will come out with new series of such notes with new design and added security features.
The Reserve Bank, time and again, has been introducing new series of currency notes with new design and enhanced security features.
Following the demonetisation of the currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, banks today started distributing new notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000.
The new Rs 500 banknotes have extra security features besides having peculiar colour, theme and size which differentiate the new bills from the earlier series.
The Rs 2,000 notes, which are being introduced for the first time, will be of magenta colour with Mangalayan imprinted on the reverse side. The higher value currency notes will have other designs, geometric patterns aligning with the overall colour scheme both on the obverse and reverse.
The new denomination has motif of the Mangalayan on the reverse, depicting the country’s first venture in interplanetary space.
The Rs 500 banknotes will be stone grey in color with a predominant new theme of the Indian heritage site Red Fort.
The RBI is introducing new design banknotes in the denomination of Rs 2,000 as part of Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series.
A French state watchdog has called for the suspension of a database that could end up holding the biometric details of 60 million people.
The aim of a single “mega-database” is to fight identity fraud and improve efficiency. But, as Paul Kirby explains, there are fears the database could be abused not only by hackers but by state intelligence too.
The single database would not be used in judicial investigations, ministers insist. Rather, it would help tackle identity fraud by comparing one set of digital fingerprints with another.
France’s interior ministry wants the Secure Electronic Documents (TES) to collect all the information on an individual held on two separate databases that have details of people’s passports and national ID cards. Only children under 12 would be exempt.
It would include an individual’s name, address, marital status, eye colour, weight, photograph and fingerprints.
It’s merely an administrative register, argues Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas. Its only legal use would be when data need to be requisitioned.
First of all, there are very real security concerns. A centralised database of that magnitude, in the words of France’s CNNum digital watchdog, would create a “target of inestimable value” in a data world where no system is impregnable.
Then there’s privacy, a highly sensitive issue across Europe, particularly as it is enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights.
One centre-right senator spoke of a “time bomb for public freedoms” and the digital watchdog warned that democracy was on the retreat in Europe and the US.
France’s Socialists objected to an earlier database on grounds of privacy when the centre-right government suggested one in 2012. That database would have been used to investigate crime. It was eventually slapped down by the constitutional court because it did not protect against “arbitrary use”.
Now the Socialist government has steered through a revamped database by government decree, during a holiday weekend, without the agreement of France’s National Assembly.