Terrorist links; 3 government employees including policeman and teacher dismissed

Srinagar: A police constable, a teacher and a forest department employee were dismissed from their jobs in Jammu and Kashmir after they were found to have terrorist links. The action was taken by Governor Manoj Sinha. Jammu and Kashmir Police Constable Firdous Ahmed Bhat, who was arrested in May 2024, Muhammad Ashraf Bhat, a teacher in the district jail, and Nisar Ahmed Khan, who works in the Forest Range Office, were dismissed. Their terrorist links were found in an investigation conducted by the police and intelligence agencies. Firdous Ahmed Bhat and Muhammad Ashraf Bhat are members of the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba. Sources also said that Nisar Ahmed Khan helped Hizbul Mujahideen.

The action was taken in the wake of several incidents along the Line of Control in Jammu division in recent days. On February 11, two soldiers were killed in a powerful IED blast by terrorists in Akhnoor sector of Jammu and earlier, a soldier was injured in cross-border firing in Rajouri sector. This followed on February 13 when Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had directed officials to take strictest action against those who provide financial and material support to terrorists. This action comes in the wake of this.

New Delhi: The second flight carrying illegal immigrants from India and those being deported from the US landed in Amritsar, Punjab on Saturday (February 15) night. The flight that land on Saturday will have 119 people.

Of these, 67 are from Punjab itself. 33 are from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. This time, the Indians are being brought in a military aircraft. Meanwhile, the details of the passengers on the flight that will arrive on Sunday are not yet clear.

The information about the next two batches of deportations came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US President Donald Trump in person. In his talks with Trump, Modi took the position that illegal immigration and human trafficking are not a problem affecting India alone but a global phenomenon. Modi had also explained the policy that no one who enters a foreign country illegally has any right to stay there.

The first US military plane carrying Indian illegal immigrants landed in Amritsar on February 5 after Trump took office. The allegation that the passengers on board were handcuffed and their legs were chained was a big topic of discussion in the country, including in Parliament. Subsequently, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had clarified in a special statement in Parliament that the deportation or detention of illegal immigrants is not a new thing. However, the Ministry of External Affairs had informed before Modi’s trip that it had asked the US not to treat those being deported inhumanely.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been summoned in a case of making defamatory remarks against the army. The summons is from a Lucknow court in Uttar Pradesh. He has been directed to appear in court on March 24.

The big controversy was the remarks made by Rahul during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2022. The complaint against Rahul was filed by advocate Vivek Tiwari on behalf of former director of the Border Roads Organization Uday Shankar Srivastava, who holds the rank equivalent to an army colonel.

Tiwari’s argument is that Rahul’s remarks made on December 16, 2022 about the clash between the Indian and Chinese armies on December 9, 2022, are defamatory of the Indian Army.

Meanwhile, a special court had heard another defamation case against Rahul, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, on February 11, for his remarks about Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the 2018 Karnataka assembly elections.

Pune: Kerala lost two wickets in reply to Jammu and Kashmir in the Ranji Trophy cricket quarter-final. Opening batsman Rohan Kunnumal (36) and Shaun Roger (6) were dismissed. Rohan’s innings was hit by 7 fours. Akshay Chandran and skipper Sachin Baby were at the crease with 21 runs. Pacer Yudhvir Singh dismissed both of them.

Jammu and Kashmir declared at 399 for nine in the second innings. Jammu had conceded a one-run lead in the first innings. Jammu, who started batting on 180 for three on the fourth day, were boosted by captain Paras Dogra’s century.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Kanhaiya Dhawan (64) and Sahil Lothra (59) scored half-centuries as the team reached 399. Skipper Parvas Dogra, who scored 132 runs, was the top scorer for Jammu. Apart from them, Vivrant Sharma (37), Lone Nazir Musafir (28) and Yudhveer Singh (27) also performed well.

Pacer M.D. Nitish took four wickets for Kerala. Aditya Sarwate and N.P. Basil took two wickets and Jalaj Saxena took one wicket. Salman Nisar’s century in the first innings helped Kerala.

Salman Nisar, who was at 200 for nine, took the team to 281 runs in the partnership of Basil Thampi. With this, Kerala took a crucial lead of one run. Even if the match is tied, Kerala can advance to the semi-finals on the strength of its first innings lead.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled that the Centre does not have the authority to levy lottery tax. The court made this clear while rejecting a plea seeking to bring the service tax of lottery distributors under the Central government. The court clarified that the power to levy lottery tax lies with the state governments and the Central government has no authority to interfere in it.

The court pointed out that the sale of lottery tickets is not a service. It is a way for the states to generate additional revenue. The central government moved to levy service tax on lottery by amending the Finance Act, 1994, in 2010. Considering a petition filed against this, the Sikkim High Court had ordered that the section of Section 65(105) of the Finance Act, 1994, which was inserted in the Finance Act, 2010, was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court’s observation was upheld by this order.