J&K govt cracks down on separatists, places Geelani, Masarat Alam under house arrest

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday placed separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Masarat Alam under house arrest ahead of their rally in South Kashmir’s Tral town on Friday.

“Geelani has been placed under house arrest. A posse of policemen has been deployed outside the Hurriyat chairman’s house at Hyderpora as a preventive measure to maintain law and order,” a police officer said, adding that similar restriction has been slapped on Alam.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq of the moderate Hurriyat Conference will also be not allowed to proceed towards Tral, police sources said. It was not clear whether he has also been placed under house arrest.

The government of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed has already denied permission to separatists for Friday’s rally in Tral town of Pulwama district.

Sayeed had earlier in the day said that waving of Pakistani flags and raising pro-Pak slogans were “not acceptable” and “will not be tolerated”. The remarks came after the CM came under attack from all quarters including ally BJP for allowing hardline Hurriyat leader Geelani to hold a rally in Srinagar on Wednesday where pro-Pakistan slogans were shouted and Pakistani flags waved.

In view of the development, Sayeed had asked police to deny permission for Friday’s rally which was scheduled to be taken from Srinagar to Tral where a youth was killed allegedly by the Army while in their custody.

Violent clashes at Rampal’s ashram leave over 200 injured

Barwala: A much delayed move by the Haryana government to use force to arrest controversial sect leader Rampal from his Satlok Ashram near Barwala Tuesday turned violent with his followers fighting pitched battles with security forces to prevent them from entering the ashram premises.

IIM, XLRI Students Lack Sales Acumen and Customer Focus too: Survey

 

A survey on students of more than 80 B-schools in Indiaby Jombay, a talent assessment and analytics platform, revealed that 35% students in Tier 1 colleges and 60% students in Tier 2 colleges scored below industry standards in ‘Sales Acumen’ while 40% students in Tier 1 colleges and 48% students in Tier 2 colleges scored below industry standards in ‘Customer Focus’.

Around 2,500 students were included in the survey. Tier 1 colleges included top B-schools of India like the Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Kolkata, IIM Lucknow, IIM Bangalore, Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), S P Jain Institute of Management and Research, and Faculty of Management Studies (FMS).

Tier II colleges included some of the other well-known management institutes like the Delhi School of Economics, Symbiosis Institute of International Business, Amity University, IGNOU (Delhi), Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA), BITS Pilani, and 70 other colleges.

According to Jombay study, 55% students in Tier 1 management colleges scored less than industry expectations on ‘Emotional Control’. In Tier II colleges, 63% students scored low in ‘Emotional Control’ while 55% students scored low in ‘Stress Tolerance’ and ‘Foresight’.

At least 50% students in Tier 2 colleges scored less than industry standards in ‘People Understanding’, ‘Smart Problem Solving’ and ‘Helpfulness’.

PM Modi congratulates TV channels for showing dirt on streets left by Diwali celebrations

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday congratulated TV channels for showing dirty streets after Diwali celebrations, saying telecasting such visuals would create awareness among people about the importance of cleanliness.

The Prime Minister, who launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on October 2, also congratulated the people who particpated in cleanliness drive after bursting fire crackers during Diwali.

“I saw several TV channels showing dirt left behind after crackers. I congratulate them for spreading awareness on importance of cleanliness,” Modi wrote on micro-blogging website after news channels aired visuals of filthy condition on streets after Diwali celebreations.

“Several friends told me that a lot of people cleaned the areas where they burst crackers during Diwali. I congratulate them for the efforts,” the Prime Minister tweeted.

Black money: Modi govt toes line of UPA; tells SC it can’t disclose names

 

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government, which promised to bring back black MONEYstashed by Indians in foreign banks, Friday toed the line of UPA regime by informing the Supreme Court that it cannot disclose such details given by countries with which India has double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA).

In an application with annexures running into about 800 pages, the Centre contended that it cannot disclose all information as the foreign countries, with which India has double taxation avoidance agreement, have objected to making them public.

 

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, BJP spearheaded by Narendra Modi had promised to bring back black MONEY kept by Indians in overseas bank and slammed UPA government for not taking effective action and accusing it of shielding the corrupt. After assuming power in May, the Modi government had pledged to fulfil its pre-poll promise.

Expressing reservation on disclosing all information on account holders, the government said that the foreign countries may not give further information and it would also be difficult to get into DTAA with other nations.

Mahela Jayawardene, the elegant run-machine, bids adieu

 

Colombo: Test cricket will bid farewell to one of its most elegant strokemakers when Sri Lanka`s Mahela Jayawardene quits the longer format after the second Test against Pakistan, starting in Colombo Thursday.

Few cricketers have exemplified the spirit of the game better than the gentlemanly 37-year-old, even though his pleasant demeanour hides nerves of steel, a calculating street-smart mind and an obsessive drive for perfection.

The elegant right-hander retired from Twenty20 internationals after Sri Lanka`s title-winning campaign in the World T20 in April, but still hopes to compete in next year`s one-day World Cup Down Under.

Jayawardene is one of only five batsmen to score more than 11,000 runs in both Test and one-day cricket — the others being Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and team-mate Kumar Sangakkara.

An average of 50.02 over 148 Tests with 34 centuries illustrates his hunger for runs through a 17-year-career. Although his form outside Asia has been inconsistent, he has set a deluge of records at home.

He scored a monumental 374 during a world record partnership of 624 with Sangakkara (287) against a South African attack that included Dale Steyn and Makhya Ntini on his home ground at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Colombo in 2006.

Jayawardene looked set to surpass Brian Lara`s record of 400 when he was bowled against the run of play. Ever the team-mate, he preferred to rejoice in his team`s huge win by an innings and 153 runs.

He got a taste of big scores on his Test debut itself as a 20-year-old in 1997, when Sri Lanka piled up a world record total of 952-6 declared against India at the Premadasa stadium in Colombo.

PM Narendra Modi hits out at Pakistan for proxy war against India

Leh/Kargil: In his first direct attack on Pakistan after coming to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday accused it of indulging in a proxy war killing innocent people in India as it has lost the power to fight a conventional war.

He said the number of army casualties is bigger in the proxy war than in a conventional battle.

“It is unfortunate that our neighbour’s attitude…They have lost the power to fight a war but they use proxy war. There has been a process of killing innocent people through this proxy war.

“How many innocents are being killed? The number of people getting killed through the bullets of cowards is more than those killed in conventional wars,” he said addressing Army and Air Force troops on his maiden trip to Leh.

Lifter Sanjita Khumukcham

Lifter Sanjita Khumukcham wins India’s first gold medal at 2014 Commonwealth Games

 

Glasgow: Khumukcham Sanjita Chanu and Saikhom Mirabai Chanu bagged a gold and silver, respectively, in women`s 48kg weightlifting in a display of overwhelming domination to open India`s medal account on the opening day of the competition in the 20th Commonwealth Games here on Thursday.

Sanjita won with a total lift of 173kg (77+96) while Mirabai grabbed the silver with a cumulative
effort of 170 (75+95) in the absence of other strong competitors.

Nigerai`s Nkechi Opara was a distant third with 162 (70+92).

Sanjita`s total of 173kg missed the Games record, held the name of 2010 CWG gold winner Augustina Nkem Nwaokolo (175kg effort) by two kilograms. Sanjita`s 77kg effort in snatch however equalled Nwaokolo`s Commonwealth Games record.

The contest was all but over at the halfway snatch stage with 20-year-old Sanjita and 19-year-old Mirabai lifting 77kg and 75kg while Opara could come up with 70kg. The Nigerian`s attempt to give a fight to the Indian duo failed as she could not lift 75kg in her third attempt in snatch