Anger spills, curfew in Jammu

Shops, vehicles and other property belonging to Muslim community came under attack in Poonch and Jammu, forcing authorities to clamp curfew in several part, during a shutdown to denounce the suicide bombing.

Authorities have sought the Army's help to restore order in the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, where scores of youths protesting against the suicide attack torched some vehicles and smashed many more believed to be from the Valley.

The police used tear gas shells and batons to disperse the mobs. The curfew was imposed initially in Jammu's old city area and later extended to the entire city.Violence also erupted in Poonch district, where also shops and vehicles belonging to Muslims were attacked in Aala Peer area. One of the CRPF soldiers killed in Thursday's suicide bombing was identified as Naseer Ahmad of Rajouri district in the state.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh attended the wreath laying ceremony of the troopers at the Humhama Regimental Training Centre of the CRPF in Badgam district.

Rajnath Singh also cochaired a meeting of the Unified Headquarters with Governor Satya Pal Malik here.

Free Hand to Forces

"I want to tell terrorist organisations and their guardians that they have committed a grave mistake. Those behind the attack will be punished for their actions."

The Prime Minister also urged the international community to unite to wipe out the scourge of terrorism and isolate those responsible for the menace.

Arun Jaitley, who is back from New York, assumed charge of the finance minister on Friday and attended a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by the PM. Thereafter followed a key announcement – That India has withdrawn the "Most Favoured Nation" status bestowed on Pakistan.

Jaitley also said: "The Ministry of External Affairs will initiate all possible diplomatic steps to ensure the complete isolation of Pakistan from the international community. There is incontrovertible evidence of it having a direct hand in this gruesome attack."

The CCS meeting was also attended by the ministers of home, defence and external affairs; later Home Minister Rajnath Singh flew to Srinagar to take stock of the situation.

India has already demanded that the United Nations ban JeM and pass strictures against its chief Masood Azhar who roams freely in Pakistan. In a statement, the MEA said all UN members should back a proposal to proscribe Azhar as an international terrorist. China, which condemned the killings, is however, not ready to play along on Masood Azhar, the brain behind JeM.

Anger spills, curfew in Jammu

The Unified Headquarters is the apex anti-militancy grid in the state comprising top officials of the Army, central armed forces, local police and state and central intelligence agencies.

60 kg RDX sneaked in small doses

to access the highway which had been sanitised hours before for the CRPF convoy was to pass that way.

WHY NOT AIRLIFT?

Questions are being asked why the troops were not airlifted. Large-scale movement of troops is fraught with risk and enhances its susceptibility to an attack, more so since the convoy has to pass through stretches which are terror infested. Sources said the convoy was big because the highway had been shut on account of bad weather for two days. Most of the soldiers were resuming duty after leave and were to report in Srinagar for deployment.

CIVILIAN CURBS

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who held a review meeting with top officers of the CRPF, Army and the state police, said that civilian movement will henceforth not be allowed on state roads when big military convoys are passing through.

Muslims step out to condemn

"We have announced Rs 50 lakh for the kin of the martyred jawans and the Maharashtra government will take responsibility of their rehabilitation. 125 crore Indians are their family members," Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said condemning the attack.Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) units in Mumbai led by Raj Purohit, Ram Kadam and other leaders organised demonstrations in the city and suburbs. Maharashtra Congress President Ashok Chavan and Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam organised a special condolence meeting at the party headquarters.

Both Chavan and Nirupam said the government must ensure that the sacrifices of the troopers do not go in vain and added that as per Congress President Rahul Gandhi's statement, the party would fully support all endeavours of the government in this regard. The Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists burnt Pakistan flags and Uddhav Thackeray demanded immediate retaliation and said the government should "hit back with full force"."Alliances, elections -- all this can continue, but don't spare Pakistan. Now a surgical strike is needed inside Pakistan.

The entire country is united to give a befitting answer to the Jaish-e-Mohammed and teach a lesson to Pakistan it will never forget," Thackeray said.The Sena has also demanded convening a special Parliament session to discuss the Pulwama crisis and the future course of action.Many private and government offices arranged a two-minute silence to mourn the victims, and protests were held at major suburban railway stations with lakhs of homebound commuters raising slogans in solidarity with the CRPF troopers.

Quizzed by cops, teen hangs self

was asked to record her statement. Since then their common friends too were quizzed and we got new inputs, which is why she was called in several times.” Suryawanshi, a lady police sub-inspector of Bhandup police station who had called the victim to record her statement in December, said that they had tried to counsel her. “The girl did seem disturbed over her friend’s suicide and we tried to comfort her as much as we could. Despite this, every time she came to record her statement, she would weep profusely.”On Thursday (Valentine’s Day) the girl was again depressed. Her sister asked her to go out with friends, which she did but the fact all of them were couples added to her misery.

When the girl returned, she was alone at home, as her sister had gone for work and their father too had gone for a meeting. Police said, the girl hanged from the ceiling fan in her living room, on Thursday, around 5 pm. When her father returned home at night, he found his daughter hanging from the ceiling fan and alerted the police. The girl was rushed to the civic-run Rajawadi Hospital at 8.45 pm, where she was declared brought dead.Vilas Jadhav, a senior police inspector of Parksite police station said an Accidental Death Report (ADR) was registered in the matter and further investigation was underway. “No suicide note was found on the teenager, but prima facie it does seem she was depressed over being alone on Valentine’s Day,” said Jadhav. The police are now awaiting the post-mortem report.

Kangana lashes out at peaceniks

a cowardly act and I condemn it firmly. Violence is always condemnable and those who did it must be punished," Sidhu was quoted as saying. The comment did not go down well with the netizens who have made #BoycottKapilSharmaShow trend on Twitter. Some are asking Sidhu to apologise for his comment, while others want the channel to expel him from the comedy show.

Metro 1 body not allowing CAG audit...

Since then MMRDA and MMOPL have been in a legal wrangle over the fare hike and the actual construction cost of Metro 1.

The HC had observed in its December 2017 judgment: In the arbitration proceedings, if ultimately it is held that MMRDA was not responsible for the delay and consequent cost overruns, then, the prejudice to public interest, will be irreversible. At the very least, MMOPL will be unjustly enriched at the cost of commuters. Even if MMOPL succeeds in arbitration proceedings and is awarded the claimed amount of Rs 1,939 crores, even then, the issue of unjust enrichment at the cost of commuters and taxpayers will arise. This is because MMOPL, by then, will have recovered substantial amounts by way of the enhanced fares, and will further have to be paid compensation amount.

At the recent meeting with the new FFC, MMRDA made the submission that on August 1, 2015, the Government of Maharashtra (GoM) had issued a show-cause notice to MMOPL to allow audits of their accounts by CAG. On August 3, 2015, CM Devendra Fadnavis had requested the union ministry of urban development and CAG to expeditiously take up an audit of the accounts. On August 21, 2015, MMOPL consented to the CAG audit. Even after this, as audits of the entire account did not commence on September 8, 2015, MMRDA wrote to the state government to send a reminder to CAG for undertaking the full audit. However, on November 3, 2015, MMOPL withdrew its consent to the CAG audit. Ever since, it continues to remain noncooperative, MMRDA claimed.

An MMOPL spokesperson said, “We are unaware of FFC’s deliberations with MMRDA on this matter. However, we have clearly indicated to MMRDA that statutory audits are being carried out as per the Concession Agreement and the Companies Act and by one of the big four audit firms approved by MMRDA. We, therefore, reiterate that no public interest will be served by the CAG audit."

The Metro 1 corridor is the first project based on the publicprivate partnership (PPP) model in India. The MMOPL has a 69 per cent stake, while MMRDA has a 26 per cent stake and the French company Veolia owns 5 per cent.