New Zealand beat Pakistan to enter World T20 semis

New Zealand beat Pakistan by 22 runs here on Tuesday to qualify for the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 cricket tournament.

Electing to bat first, New Zealand rode on Martin Guptill’s 48-ball 80 to post 180 for five wickets before restricting Pakistan to 158 for five in their 20 overs.

The win saw New Zealand move to the top of the Group B table with three wins from as many matches while Pakistan’s chances of advancing further dimmed after two straight losses.

Left-hander Sharjeel Khan (47) gave Pakistan a strong start in their reply to reach 76/1 in seven overs.

Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson introduced Ish Sodhi to produce the match’s defining phase.

The leg-spinner removed the dangerous looking Shahid Afridi and conceded only 25 runs from his four overs. He also created enough pressure for Mitchell Santner to pick up two wickets and strangle Pakistan to a 22-run defeat.

Pakistan needed 52 in 24 balls with six wickets in hand. But Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik could hardly find the gaps, as Pakistan failed to hit a boundary in its last 31 balls and finished on 158 for five.

With its third consecutive win, New Zealand became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals.

Earlier, Martin Guptill led the way with some power-packed batting as New Zealand posted a challenging total of 180/5 in their World Twenty20 Group 2 match against Pakistan at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here on Tuesday.

Guptill smashed 80 runs off 48 balls with 10 boundaries and three sixes. Ross Taylor, who remained on 36 off 23 deliveries and Corey Anderson (21) played useful knocks in the later stages of the innings.

Pacer Mohammad Sami (2/23) was the best performer among the Pakistan bowlers, although he did take some punishment from Guptill in his first spell. Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi (2/40) also bagged a couple of wickets.

This is New Zealand’s third match of the tournament. The Kiwis have made themselves near certain candidates for advancing to the semi-finals by winning both their previous matches, against hosts India and Australia. Another victory on Tuesday will see them through to the last-four stage as the top team in the group.

Electing to bat on winning the toss, New Zealand were off to a superb start with openers Guptill and Kane Williamson going great guns.

Guptill was the more aggressive of the two, handing out some rough treatment to the Pakistan bowlers while Williamson gave him steady support from the other end as the duo put together an opening partnership of 62 runs by the eighth over.

Irfan struck the first blow for Pakistan when he outfoxed Williamson with a slower one. The Kiwi right-hander mistimed his attempted drive as Shahid Afridi pulled off an easy catch at cover.

Incoming batsman Colin Munro did not last long as Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi struck in his very first over after coming on to bowl. Attempting a switch hit of a delivery which was pitched on the middle stump, the left-handed Munro hit the ball straight to Sharjeel Khan at sweeper cover.

But that did not affect the New Zealand run rate too much as Guptill and Corey Anderson continued to score at a brisk pace. The duo added 52 runs between them before Guptill tapped the ball onto his stumps while trying to dab an incoming delivery from Sami to third man.

Anderson also went back to the pavilion in the very next over as he mistimed a googly from Afridi. But Taylor ensured that the Kiwis finished their innings on a strong note.

Brief scores:

New Zealand 180/5 in 20 overs (Martin Guptill 80, Ross Taylor 36 n.o.; Mohammad Sami 2-23, ShahidAfridi 2-40); Pakistan (Sharjeel Khan 47, Ahmed Shehzad 30, Mitchell Santner 2/29, Adam Milne 2/26).

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

In Tamil Nadu the way to political power is by building star power

With five chief ministers in the last five decades from the movie world, the way to the political power in Tamil Nadu is through building up star power.

Five of the state’s chief ministers – C.N. Annadurai, M. Karunanidhi, M.G. Ramachandran (MGR), Janaki Ramachandran and J. Jayalalitha – had their roots in filmdom, while several other actors showed an interest in politics.

And in the May 2016 assembly elections, there are three chief ministerial candidiates – incumbent J.Jayalalithaa of the AIADMK, DMK president M. Karunanidhi and DMDK founder A.Vijaykant – all with their roots in the movie world.

Apart from these three, the state has seen and is seeing several actor-turned-politicians like the late Sivaji Ganesan, R. Sarathkumar, T. Rajendar and M. Karthik who have floated their own parties.

There are several other actors like R. Ramarajan, Vagai Chandrasekhar, Napoleon, Kushboo, C.R. Saraswathi, Anantharaaj and others who have joined the AIADMK, the DMK and the Congress.

While Annadurai and Karunanidhi were involved in writing the story, screenplay and dialogues of movies, it was MGR who became the first actor-turned-chief minister.

Founder of the ADMK that later became the AIADMK, MGR showed the world the route to political power is also through his star power pull.

Movie actor N.T. Rama Rao also proved that in Andhra Pradesh by floating the Telugu Desam Party and capturing the chief minister’s post.

Prior to floating the ADMK in 1972, MGR was with the DMK, which used his star power to capture political power. Movies starring MGR subtly promoted the DMK through songs and dialogues.

But then, a power struggle erupted in the DMK after Karunanidhi started projecting his first son M.K. Muthu in a big way. Expelled from the DMK, MGR fought back by successfully converting his huge fan base and fan clubs into a political party, the AIADMK.

Since then, this is the route being followed by other actor-turned-politicians.

With his carefully cultivated movie image of being poor-friendly and without any vices like drinking or smoking, MGR soon became the darling of the people.

The AIADMK not only ousted the DMK from power in 1977 but also kept it in the wilderness till MGR’s demise in 1987.

After MGR’s death, his wife Janaki Ramachandran, also an actor, became chief minister for a very brief period before governor’s rule was imposed.

A power struggle between Janaki Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa – who was introduced to politics by MGR and also starred in several movies with him – saw the AIADMK breaking into two.

Subsequently the two factions merged under Jayalalithaa’s leadership and AIADMK captured back power in 1991. Since then Jayalalithaa remains the undisputed leader of the AIADMK.

In 2005, Vijaykant, 63, an action hero known to perform stunts in movies without a duplicate, floated his DMDK party as an alternative to the two dominant Dravidian parties — the AIADMK and the DMK.

When he fought the polls alone without aligning with any party, the DMDK notched up an impressive vote share, better than even the established MDMK and PMK.

As the DMDK’s vote share can add muscle to any alliance, he is this time around the most sought after alliance partner by all opposition parties, the BJP included.

Called “Karuppu (Black) MGR” or Captain after his movie “Captain Prabhakaran”, Vijaykant has acted in over 150 Tamil movies.

Though he was never the No.1 hero, he charted his own style in the movie world — a fighter vanquishing terrorists and bad guys.

But then, that’s what politics is all about – vanquishing your opponents!

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

Bengal Congress chief accuses LF partner of taking money from Trinamool

Already beseeched with problems, the Congress-Left Front poll understanding in West Bengal received a setback on Saturday, as the state Congress chief accused a LF partner of putting up candidate in Murshidabad in exchange of money from the ruling Trinamool Congress.

State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s ire was directed at LF constituent All India Forward Bloc, which put up a candidate in the Murshidabad constituency of the homonymous district.

“They have taken money from the Trinamool and put up a candidate to put the Trinamool at an advantage,’ said an angry Chowdhury.

Left Front chairman Biman Bose had on Thursday announced Bivas Chakraborty’s name as the candidate nominated by the coalition from Murshidabad. Congress has also announced it would contest from the seat. Murshidabad is considered the pocket borough of Chowdhury hails and a stronghold of the Congress.

Chowdhury, one of the earlier proponents of a Congress-Left alliance in the state to take on the Trinamool in the coming polls, has been peeved for quite some time over the large number of triangular fights in his district, with the LF constituents pitching candidates in most of the seats against the Congress.

Reacting to Chowdhury’s outburst, AIFB leader Naren Chatterjee said: “He is a senior leader. he is not a mere district level leader, but the head of the Congress in the state. I hope he will reconsider what he has said.”

Chatterjee said the issue would be taken up in the LF. “Chakraborty is not merely an AIFB candidate, but the nominee of the LF announced by Bose.

Top AIFB leaders rushed to the CPI-M state headquarters Alimuddinstreet during the day to discuss the development.

The AIFB is also disturbed over the reported support being given by the grassroot level Marxist cadres to Congress candidates at several constituencies where AIFB nominees are also in fray.

Meanwhile, another LF constituent the Communist Party of India hoped the dispute over 20-22 seats between Congress and the Left would be resolved in the coming days.

“There is some dispute over 20-22 seats. That won’t have any effect on the Congress-LF understanding. We are confident about resolving the dispute”.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

Fight is against poverty, not Gogoi, says Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday his fight is not with Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, but against poverty, corruption and the devastation of Assam.

“Gogoji says that his fight is against me. But I do not have any fight against Gogoiji… We have a tradition here not to fight with the elders but to respect them,” said Modi, addressing a massive public rally at Borguri in eastern Assam’s Tinsukia district, ahead of assembly polls in the state.

He said he has respect for Gogoi, “but I have fight against poverty, corruption and against the destruction of Assam.”

Gogoi had said earlier this month that the Congress party’s fight in the forthcoming polls will be against Modi for his wrong policies and injustice towards Assam and other parts of the northeastern region.

The prime minister said Assam used to be known as one of India’s richest states after Independence, but has since been reduced to poverty.

“Now Assam is recognized as one of the poorest states in the country. Who is responsible for this transformation from one of the richest states to a poor state? We were never in power in Assam,” he said while highlighting the development agenda of the BJP-led central government.

“The people of Assam are still craving for electricity even after 60 years of Independence. Who is responsible for this?”

Modi said all the problems of 60 years under Congress rule will be solved in five years of BJP rule headed by Sarbananda Sonowal, the party’s chief ministerial candidate.

“I can only see that Assam is going to have a young chief minister after the election,” the prime minister said, appreciating the mammoth gathering of people in Borguri.

He promised the gathering that once a government is formed by the BJP and its alliance partners in Assam, development and progress will follow in the state.

“I want to assure you that if BJP is voted to power and a government is formed by the party and its allies, kids in the schools will not be taught ‘A’ for apple but ‘A’ for Assam,” he said.

“When I became the prime minister I asked the government officials to tell me how many villages are there without electricity. They told me that there are 18,000 villages where even the electric posts have not gone. Out of this 18,000 villages about 2,000 are in Assam. We have taken it up immediately and process is on to electrify 1,000 such villages in Assam while the rest will follow,” he said.

Modi is set on Saturday to also address public rallies at Majuli, Bihpuria, Bokakhat and Jorhat in the state, the BJP said earlier in a statement.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

Modi leads Assam campaign ahead of polls

Prime Minister Narendera Modi on Saturday said development of Assam was high on his agenda as he kicked off the BJP campaign in the border state that goes to polls early next month to elect a new government.

“Our party has three agendas: development, speedy development and overall development,” Modi said, addressing a rally in Tinsukia district.

He urged the people to give the BJP a chance to rule the state for next five years and asked them to question what the current Congress government has done in the last 15 years of its rule.

“The people of Assam have the right to ask the government where their money went,” he said

Modi also hailed BJP chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal, saying Assam will get a young chief minister if the BJP is voted to power.

He announced that his party aimed at providing “education to the poor, employment to the youth and medicines to the senior citizens”.

A total of 1.98 crore voters will elect legislators for the 126 seats contested in Assam. Polls will be held in two phases on April 4 and April 11.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

What is PDP-BJP stance on Guru, wonders Congress

The Congress has a poser for the new government that is set to assume office in Jammu and Kashmir: What will be its stance on parliament attack convict Afzal Guru as the BJP’s senior alliance partner PDP believes that hanging the Kashmiri militant was a miscarriage of justice.

“J&K deserves an elected government and we welcome celebration of democracy. But will (the) BJP tell what is the stance of PDP-BJP on Afzal Guru now,” Congress spokesman RandeepSurjewala asked in a tweet.

In another post on the micro-blogging site, he asked: “As PDP-BJP eulogizes Afzal Guru and many others, whom will Amit Shah and BJP brand as anti-national now? Or anything for power?”

The PDP and BJP are set to form a new government in Jammu and Kashmir headed by Mehbooba Mufti who has condemned the execution of Guru, hanged in 2013 for his alleged role in the December 13, 2001 attack on Indian parliament.

The BJP-led central government has come under flak over the arrest of at least three JNU students who organized an event in the university campus on February 9 to commemorate the death anniversary of Guru.

The students were charged with sedition for raising anti-national slogans and hailing Guru as a hero for being wrongly convicted in the parliament attack case.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

Sushma confirms death of Indian nurse, son in Libya

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday confirmed the death of an Indian nurse and her infant son in a rocket attack in Libya on Friday.

“I have received report regarding the death of an Indian nurse and her infant son in Libya,” Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

“This happened in Zawiya, 45 km from Tripoli,” she said.

Giving details, she said that around 4 p.m. on Friday, Sunu Sathyan, the nurse who hailed from the south Indian state of Kerala, and her son, Pranav, were killed when a rocket hit their apartment.

She said that Indian authorities have got in touch with the nurse’s husband Vipin and added that there were 26 more Indians working in Zawiya hospital.

The minister also renewed her call to Indians abroad to move out of conflict zones.

“We have issued advisories many times. I request you once again – please move out of the conflict zones,” Sushma Swaraj said in another tweet.

According to a report from Kottayam, Kerala, Pranav was 18 months old.

Sunu and Vipin had left for Libya after their marriage in 2012.

The office of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told IANS that they were making efforts to reach out to people in Libya to find out the latest situation.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

Need campaign through short films, documentaries again terrorism’

Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Monday said that there was a need for a campaign through short films and documentaries to tackle terrorism, radicalism and evil forces.

“Short films and documentaries can play a vital role in exposing the nefarious designs and destructive mentality of these evil forces. There is a need for a campaign by makers of short films and documentaries in this regard,” the minister said after inaugurating the ‘International Festival of Short Films on Culture and Tourism’ here.

“The short films successfully give big messages in society and documentary revolution can become a mirror of all aspects of society,” Naqvi added.

Hailing the Indian film writers, the minister said there is a large number of writers and producers in the country who have significantly contributed in producing world-class short films and documentaries, who could make such films.

“Their message through their films inspire (people) for human values. Today, the message of short films can become a milestone for world peace and harmony,” Naqvi said, adding that the short films have strengthened people’s consciousness on various issues.

“Short films and documentaries have made the people aware of issues pertaining to social, economic, environment, human rights, poverty, challenges of terrorism, politics, education, health, women rights and others. Short films are an effective medium to give big message in short duration,” he added.

The minister said there was a need to promote short films and documentaries on the lines of Bollywood and other regional film industry. The central and state governments can play a crucial role in this regard, he said.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

Focus is on tax structure changes to promote formal employment: Modi

Stating that employment generation was one of the highest priority areas of his government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the focus was to bring changes in tax structure to veer away from favouring capital intensive production and instead promote formal employment.

“This (employment generation) is one of my highest priorities. India is a capital scarce, labour abundant country. Yet, the corporate tax structure has favoured capital intensive production.

“Tax benefits like accelerated depreciation and investment allowance have created an artificial bias against labour,” Modi told the Bloomberg India Economic Forum 2016, held here to commemorate the media group’s 20 years in India.

Hae said the existing labour regulations have tended to promote informal employment without social protection, rather than formal employment.

Mentioning the steps the NDA government has taken to change the tax structure, he said: “If any firm subject to tax audit increases its work force, it will get a 30 percent weighted tax deduction on the extra wage cost for three years.”

“Earlier, such a benefit was available only to very few industrial employers and had so many restrictions that it was practically ineffective.”

Now the benefit will cover all sectors including services, for employees with a salary up to Rs.25,000 per month, Modi said.

He also said the government has taken the responsibility for paying pension contributions for three years for all new persons enrolling in the Employee Provident Fund.

“This will apply to those with wages up to Rs.15,000 per month. We expect lakhs of the unemployed, and the informally employed, to benefit from these steps,” he said.

Touching upon the progress of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, he said: “Over 31 million loans have been sanctioned to entrepreneurs for a total value of nearly $19 billion this year.”

According to the prime minister, 77 percent of these entrepreneurs are women and 22 percent of them are from the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

“Even if we assume conservatively that on average, each enterprise creates just one sustainable job, this initiative itself amounts to 31 million in new employment.”

The Stand-Up India scheme will also provide 250,000 entrepreneurship loans to women and scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, he added.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

Obama to visit Cuba in March

US President Barack Obama is set to visit Cuba in March, a move which would make him the first sitting US president to step foot on the island in over 80 years, the media reported on Thursday.

The White House is expected to announce the details of the trip later on Thursday, diplomatic sources told CNN on Wednesday.

“We can confirm that the administration will announce the President’s travel to Latin America, including Cuba, in the coming weeks,” a senior administration official said.

Officials said Obama could visit the island to witness a signing of a peace accord between the government of Colombia and the FARC rebel group. Obama committed $400 million to the Colombian government in his most recent budget proposal to implement the deal.

The visit to Cuba would be the culmination of the process of normalisation of relations announced by the Cuban and US governments in 2014, and the first time that a sitting US president will step on Cuban soil since Calvin Coolidge in January 1928.

As part of the restoration of relationships, Cuba and the US signed a historic agreement on civil aviation on Tuesday which will allow regular commercial flights between the two countries for the first time in over five decades.

The agreement represents a potential for dozens of daily connections, with 20 daily flights to Havana and 10 daily flights to other airports on the island.

The American embassy was reopened and a US flag raised at the compound on Havana harbour in August 2015.

Since then, high level US officialstravelled to the island, including Secretary of State John Kerry and Transportation Chief Anthony Foxx.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

I am with government on JNU: Yashwant Sinha

Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, who has criticised the BJP leadership in recent times, says he is with the central government on the JNU row. At the same time, Sinha also said in an interview that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not have visited Lahore on December 25 to greet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.

Sinha, who has been critical of the working style of Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, however told IANS that he supported the government’s action vis-a-vis the JNU issue.

“On this, I am with the government. Anti-India activities can’t be tolerated and stringent action must be taken against the culprits. Be it JNU or any other university or any part of the country, it should not be allowed to be a hub for anti-national activities,” he added.

Sinha, a former finance and external affairs minister, came down heavily on the Congress for politicising the row.

“Whatever happened at the JNU campus was totally wrong,” he said, referring to the February 9 meeting on Kashmir where anti-India slogans were raised. “The government took the right action. And when it acted tough, the Congress started its politics.”

Sinha also accused the Congress of creating hurdles for the Modi government.

“Be it FTII or Hyderabad or JNU… After its (Congress’) debacle in the LokSabha polls, there are some elements in the country which want this government not to work freely.

“Whenever they get an opportunity, they create hurdles for the Modi government.”

Sinha flayed the Congress for demanding proof from Home Minister Rajnath Singh that the JNU incident had the support of Pakistani terrorist Hafiz Saeed.

“Who are they to demand proof? Should he (Rajnath) show proof at India Gate or Vijay Chowk?” Sinha said, adding the country must believe what the home minister says.

Sinha, however, made his opposition known to Modi’s dramatic visit to Lahore on his way back to India from Afghanistan.

“I don’t agree with the way Modi suddenly visited Pakistan in his effort to have good relations with them. We have seen the results of such efforts during (AtalBihari) Vajpayee’s time.”

At Lahore, Modi and Sharif pledged to pursue the peace process. The meeting was followed by an attack on an IAF base in Pathankot in Punjab by Pakistani terrorists.

“He (Modi) doesn’t need to again reinvent the wheel. India should deal very cautiously with Pakistan and should only try to maintain its relationship. I am of the clear view that India should not engage with Pakistan further as it will not benefit us.”

Sinha added: “India should not have any structured dialogue with Pakistan. Be it composite or comprehensive. We don’t need any such dialogue.

“I don’t mean India should go for war. Neither do I mean we should close our High Commission in Pakistan.

“I mean to say India should not begin any structured dialogue with Pakistan as it is not going to benefit (us).”

Sinha, whose son is the Minister of State for Finance JayantSinha, said all efforts to have a dialogue with Pakistan would be in vain till it agreed to discuss cross-border terrorism.

“We want to discuss the issue of terrorism but Pakistan wants Kashmir on the table. Till date, there is no agreement between the two countries. So, how will the talks proceed?”

Sinha refused to compare Modi with Vajpayee, saying he has no experience of working with Modi.

“I am not a part of the Modi government. So how can I compare the working style of the two leaders?”

Sinha refused to take questions on Amit Shah.

“Will not comment anything on Amit Shah… I will not even hear your question… If you take his name, I will…,” Sinha responded, when asked about the BJP president.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

Amitabh Kant to be NitiAayog’s first full-time CEO

Amitabh Kant, currently secretary in department of industrial policy and promotion, was on Wednesday named the first full-time chief executive of the NitiAayog, and will have a tenure of two years.

According to a department of personnel and training order, the cabinet’s appointments committee has approved Kant as CEO of NitiAayog with a tenure of two years.

He will take charge at NitiAayog after his retirement from service at the end of this month. Kant has been holding additional charge as chief executive, NitiAayog since December 2015.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

Mamata announces health insurance for journalists

The West Bengal cabinet on Wednesday passed a proposal to launch a health insurance scheme for state government-accredited journalists, including those who have retired.

The journalists can avail of the scheme — christened “Mabhoi” — till the age of 65, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced after the cabinet meeting.

The scheme would be extended to all family members of the insured journalists who can take admission in state government hospitals and health centres, and hospitals accredited under the West Bengal Health Scheme.

The cabinet also approved a health insurance scheme called Swasthya Sathi for civic police volunteers, green police volunteers, civil defence volunteers, disaster management workers, ASHA social health workers, self-help groups, national volunteers, Home Guards, ICDS workers, and contractual and casual workers.

The total number of beneficiaries for Swasthya Sathi would be about 80 lakh.

This group insurance scheme, costing the government Rs.1,000crore, would provide a coverage of Rs.1.5 lakh to Rs.5 lakh, without any cap on family size.

The full premium would be paid by the state government.

Both Mabhoi and Swasthya Sathi schemes would run from April 1.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

BJP to launch nationwide campaign over JNU incident

With several political parties coming together to oppose the government action concerning JNU, the BJP has decided to launch a nationwide “Jan Swabhiman Abhiyan” from Thursday to expose attempts by the parties to “mislead the country in the name of freedom of expression”.

A party release said the campaign will be carried out between February 18 and 20 and party workers will organise many programmes at zonal, district and state levels.

“The campaign is against attempts by some political parties to mislead the country by linking separatist voices with freedom of expression over incidents at the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University,” the release said.

It said sit-ins, signature campaigns, singing of patriotic songs and meetings will be among programmes to be held by party workers.

JNU has been on the boil over the arrest of student leader Kanhaiya Kumar. The controversy began when some students organised a meet on February 9 to mark the anniversaries of executions of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were reportedly raised at the gathering.

Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested for sedition, was on Wednesday sent to judicial custody till March 2.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

Jats continue blockade in Haryana, CRPF called in

Agitating Jat community members on Wednesday continued their road and rail blockades at various places in Haryana even as some of their leaders arrived here for talks with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on their demand for reservation.

People in Rohtak, Sonipat, Hisar, Bhiwani and Jhajjar districts were the worst sufferers due to the blockade. It was the fourth day of their agitation in Haryana.

Para-military forces have been deployed in and around Rohtak and other affected districts to ensure that the situation does not get out of hand. The Haryana government on Tuesday sought additional forces from the Centre.

People in districts of neighbouring Punjab, which are adjoining Haryana, are also facing problems due to trains being cancelled or diverted and roads being blocked.

Officials said that at least 25 trains were cancelled in the Ambala and Ferozepur railway divisions due to the blockade at various places like Rohtak, Sampla and Jhajjar. At least 20 other trains were diverted through different routes.

The blockade in Rohtak town, 75 km from Delhi, continued on Wednesday with protestors blocking all road and rail routes to the place.

“We cannot reach our offices. Students cannot go to their educational institutions. There is complete chaos. The state government seems to be in a slumber,” Naveen Malik, employee of a private company in Rohtak who commutes fromJhajjar town daily, told IANS.

The Jats in Haryana are demanding reservation in jobs and educational institutions under the OBC category.

Chief Minister ManoharLalKhattar on Tuesday appealed to the community leaders to end their agitation and invited all organisations of the Jat community for parleys at his residence here on Wednesday.

People travelling to and from national capital Delhi to Haryana for work were the worst affected due to disruption of trains. Transportation of goods on trucks and plying of buses were also affected in some areas.

The worst affected were national highway-10 (Delhi-Rohtak-Hisar) and NH-71 (Rohtak-Jhajjar). Highways connecting Rohtak to Sonipat, Bhiwani and Hisar were also blocked by agitators.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

Kanhaiya Kumar sent to jail till March 2

JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested on sedition charges, was on Wednesday sent to judicial custody till March 2.

Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen gave the ruling after Delhi Police said it did not need the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) any more for interrogation.

Defence counsel Vrinda Grover requested the court to provide adequate safety to Kanhaiya Kumar inside the jail, expressing apprehension about a threat to his life.

The court directed Delhi Police, who will escort him to the jail from the court, and the superintendent of the Tihar jail to ensure his safety.

The court has asked senior police officials and the jail superintendent to submit a report regarding security of Kanhaiya Kumar inside the jail premises by Thursday.

Kanhaiya Kumar, from the Leftist All India Students Federation (AISF), was arrested on February 12 on charges of raising anti-India slogans during a meeting on Kashmir in the campus.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs