Suspected Al Qaeda terrorist arrested in Odisha

A suspected Al Qaeda terrorist, Maulana Abdul Rehman, has been arrested in Odisha’s Cuttack district, police said on Wednesday.

The arrest of Rehman, 37, followed a joint operation by Odisha and Delhi Police, Police Commissioner R.P. Sharma told the media.

Rehman was suspected to be a member of the Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and had links with contacts in other countries such as Pakistan and Britain, he said.

The arrest took place at his house in Paschima Kachha village on Tuesday night.

Sharma said Delhi Police had come to know about Rehman’s links with the AQIS after tracking his telephone call records.

A PhD on Islam from Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, Rehman ran a seminary in Cuttack district. Most of his students hail from Jharkhand.

According to Delhi Police, Rehman was engaged in recruiting members for Al Qaeda.

However, there was no indication that he was involved in or planning any terrorist activities in Odisha, Sharma said.

Sharma said the suspect’s elder brother, Tahir Ali, was earlier arrested in 2001 terror attack on the American consulate in Kolkata.

Rehman would be produced in a Cuttack court and then taken to Delhi for further investigation.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Bussiness

Yemeni court jails US national for links with Al Qaeda

A Yemeni court in the rebel-held capital Sanaa on Wednesday sentenced a US national to 10 years in prison for having links with Al Qaeda and killing a Yemeni security officer, a judicial source said.

“The security court sentenced US citizen Sharif Mobley to 10 years in prison after he was convicted to have ink links with Al Qaeda, and to pay blood money for killing a security guard,” said the source.

The source said Mobley trial was held in high-level security measures, Xinhua reported.

In 2010, Mobley traveled along with his wife and a baby daughter to Sanaa to study Arabic language, but later was arrested by Yemeni security forces for alleged suspicion of having links to Al Qaeda.

In May 2010, Mobley was brought from the intelligence prison to a hospital for treatment, where he attempted to escape by shooting his way out of the hospital, killing one guard.

Mobley was also charged with injuring another guard when he snatched a weapon from one of the guards and opened fire at them to flee.

Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional Al Qaeda insurgencies in the Middle East and the affiliate of the Islamic State.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

Gogoi ready to be Assam CM for fourth time

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Wednesday said he was ready to be chief minister for a fourth consecutive time.

He also said the defection of former health and education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to the BJP will help the Congress win next year’s assembly elections.

“Yes, I am ready to be chief minister for a fourth time,” he asserted at a media briefing here.

His statement comes after he dismissed speculation that his son and LokSabha member Gaurav Gogoi would be projected as the Congress’s chief ministerial candidate saying the latter did not have the experience for the post.

He said his one time blue-eyed boy Sarma’s defection to the BJP would help the Congress win the elections to the 126-member assembly expected to be held in March-April next year.

After having resigned as state education and health minister in July last year, Sarma quit the Congress and joined the BJP in August this year.

“Himanta is a home-breaker. He tried to break our (Congress’s) home and now he will break BJP’s home,” Gogoi said.

According to him, Sarma was, at one point of time, willing to be deputy chief minister under him.

“Later, he started saying he should be made chief minister instead of me,” he said.

Asked if the Congress would have a pre-poll alliance in the state, he the party planned to fight the elections alone.

On speculation about discussions between the Congress and regional party Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), he conceded that talks were going on.

“But it is for them (AGP) to decide. I have neither said yes nor no,” he said.

Gogoi, who on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a series of demands, including release of funds due from the Centre and continuation of special category status for Assam, said he also complained about Governor P.B. Acharya.

“I told the prime minister that the governor is interfering in the state’s affairs,” he said.

Acharya, who is the Nagaland governor, has been given additional charge of Assam till the appointment of a full-time governor.

“It has been one year and no governor has been appointed yet,” Gogoi said.

The Assam chief minister also commented on the controversy created by Arunachal Pradesh Governor J.P. Rajkhowa by calling an assembly session earlier than scheduled without consulting Chief Minister Nabam Tuki or the council of ministers.

“They (the BJP) are using governors as political agents. They failed in Assam and now they are trying this in Arunachal Pradesh,” he said.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

Congress leads in Jharkhand by-poll

The Congress led in the vote count on Thursday for Jharkhand’s Lohardaga assembly by-election.

After eight out of a total 20 rounds, Congress candidate Sukhdeo Bhagat secured 27,824 votes and BJP-backed All Jharkhand Students Union’s (AJSU) candidate Niru Bhagat got 19,672 votes.

Sixty seven percent of 2.20 lakh electorate voted on December 14 in the Lohardaga assembly by-election to fill up a seat that fell vacant after AJSU legislator Kamla Kishore Bhagat was convicted and handed over a seven-year jail term in July in an extortion case.

There were nine candidates.

The three main candidates were Niru Bhagat, wife of the jailed legislator, Sukhdeo Bhagat and Bandhu Tirkey of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P).

The seat is reserved for tribals.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs

India better placed than peers over US rate hike: Fitch

India is better placed than many of its peers after the American central bank – the US Federal Reserve – raised its key interest rates, said credit rating agency Fitch Ratings on Thursday.

“India is not immune to potential general emerging market jitters related to the Fed lift-off, but it is better placed than many of its peers for a number of reasons,” Thomas Rookmaaker, director, Sovereign Ratings, Fitch Ratings was quoted as saying in a statement.

According to him, firstly India’s external balances have significantly improved since mid-2013, with foreign exchange reserves rising by some $65 billion to $353 billion as of November 2015 and the current account deficit narrowing.

Secondly, India is less dependent than several of its peers on commodity exports, and has thus not been negatively affected by the global rout in commodity prices, he added.

“Only a small part of India’s sovereign debt is held by foreigners or is denominated in foreign currency. Fourth, India’s favourable economic growth outlook makes India relatively attractive for foreign investors,” he added.

Source : IndianMediaBook - Current Affairs