The government has decided to stop India’s share of water that flows to Pakistan and divert water from eastern rivers to people in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said Thursday.

He tweeted, “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our government has decided to stop our share of water which used to flow to Pakistan. We will divert water from Eastern rivers and supply it to our people in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.”

The decision comes in the wake of the Pulwama attack, in which at least 40 CRPF personnel had died. 

Gadkari was also quoted as saying by ANI, “The water of the three rivers over which India has rights was going to Pakistan. Now, we are planning to build a project and divert the water from these three rivers into Yamuna river. Once this happens, Yamuna will have more water.”

As per the Indus Waters Treaty, India has full rights over the waters of the eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas and Sutlej), The Indian Express reported. In return, India had to let the western rivers—Indus, Chenab and Jhelum—flow “unrestricted” to Pakistan, the report added.

NEW DELHI — At 5.15 in the evening on February 15, five plain-clothes policemen, three from Delhi and two from Manipur, arrived at Thokchom Veewon’s rented apartment in south Delhi, physically assaulted him, forced him into a waiting Maruti Alto and sped off.

For the next two days Thokchom, a 23-year-old student leader from Manipur, was untraceable even as the Manipur police kept calling his parents to assure them he was safe. On February 19, four days after his arrest, he was freed on bail after posting a bond of Rs 30,000.

Thokchom, it turned out, had been charged with sedition after the Manipur police spotted a Facebook post in which he criticised the Citizenship Amendment Bill — the Bharatiya Janta Party’s controversial bill that upends the existing conception of Indian citizenship by offering Indian citizenship to so-called persecuted minorities of all religions except Islam.

The bill has sparked protests all over the North East, and has pushed the BJP’s alliance partner in Assam to walk out of the government.

In his post, Thokchom wrote, “Indefinite curfew imposed in Manipur. Internet banned for 5 days. All cable TV network asked not to cover any speech or footage of the protest. High possibility that CAB will be passed today at the Rajya Sabha. Manipur once burned down the state assembly in 2001. Self determination the only way forward.”

Thokchom’s arrest, activists say, shows how the BJP-led state government in Manipur seeking to please their overlords in Delhi by aggressively clamping down on those protesting the policies of the Modi-led BJP government in the centre. He has become the latest in the line of dozens of people — from auto-rickshaw drivers to serving policemen — who have been slapped with ‘sedition’ cases for social media posts critical of the BJP, the government at the centre or Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Further, Thokchom’s arrest is particularly worrying at a time when the Union government is seeking to build specialised tools to monitor all social media posts of citizens.

Thokchom, who is a former President of the Manipur Students Union told HuffPost India that despite his arrest, he stands by his post and has hence not deleted it from his profile.

AN ‘ANONYMOUS TIP’ AND A MAN-HUNT

The Rajya Sabha was considering the Citizenship Amendment Bill on February 12, when Thokchom wrote his post. The bill had already been rammed through the Lok Sabha without debate, prompting outcry.

A few hours later, he was at a student union meeting when he received a frantic call from his mother, who said the local Manipur police had visited their home in Imphal.

“What have you done? Two policemen had just come to ask about you, delete whatever you have written, change your SIM. There’s more police coming,” his mother said, before abruptly disconnecting the call.

That evening, three police vehicles with roughly 15 policemen rolled up to the gates of the Thokchom family home in Imphal. Some policemen made their way into the house, others stood around the gates, while their superior officers told Thokchom’s mother to tell her son to ‘concentrate on his studies’ and ‘not get into trouble’.

They left half an hour later after instructing his mother to reprimand his son . As the vehicles sped away, concerned neighbours trooped into his house, wondering what may have drawn an army of police to the house.

“It was strange. Some of my cousins work in the police station and many of the officers know our family pretty well. We still can’t figure why so many people, in that many cars had to come,” said Thokchom Venus, Veewon’s brother.

His mother was terrified and his father, who had been a student leader himself in his youth, was shaken at the sheer show of force by the police. He asked his son to ‘stay out of trouble’ and ‘finish his studies’ instead.

Thokchom said he was furious, and also concerned by the number of policemen who claimed to be looking for him.

“I wrote another Facebook status the next day condemning the police for arriving at my doorstep and intimidating my parents like that,” he said.

Soon friends from Manipur and acquaintances from Delhi began texting and calling Thokchom saying they were getting calls from unknown numbers asking if they knew him.

“I don’t know who these people were, friend’s friend’s friend and people twice removed from my relations,” he said.

On the afternoon of 15 February, Thokchom’s elder brother — an artiste who lives in Saket — got a call from his landlord. The man, sounding furious, told him that the police had come looking for Veewon and told him and the neighbours that Veewon had abducted a 15-year-old Manipuri girl.

He didn’t want to have anything to do with the family and Veewon’s brother must pack his things the soonest and leave, the man said.

“After the news came out in papers, my brother has been trying to get them to see the truth that I haven’t abducted anybody. However, when a bunch of policemen land in a middle class Indian man’s house saying such things, how will they get past it?” Thokchom told HuffPost India, adding that he was wondering if he would sue the police for slander.

That evening, three men from the Delhi Police and two from Manipur Police arrived at Thokchom’s doorstep. When he and his sister demanded to know why he was being arrested and who filed a complaint, the Delhi Police men lost their cool. An argument ensued and one of them slapped Thokchom.

“My sister grabbed another police and asked them to stop his colleague,” he said. The police responded by also charging Thokchom with obstructing a public servant on duty.

On their way to the Janakpuri police station, where Thokchom was kept in a lock-up for two days, the Delhi Police personnel asked what he intended to do in future. When Veewon said he had applied for PhD, they immediately asked, “So you will go to JNU? Or Aligarh Muslim University?”

“It was sort of amusing. I said I had applied to JNU yes,” Veewon said.

Choudhary Ali Zia Kabir, a lawyer with the Human Rights Law Network who is handling Veewon’s case told HuffPost India that this was one of the more alarming of the ‘sedition’ cases.

Instead of an individual complaining, Veewon was arrested on the basis of a suo motu FIR filed by the Manipur Police. Kabir shared a letter which has the Officer-in-charge of the cyber-crime cell of Manipur Police complaining to the Superintendent of the Police about Thokchom’s Facebook post. The OC mentions that they received an ‘anonymous tip’ in the form of a ‘screenshot’ about Thokchom’s post and conducted an suo motu enquiry. The SI then converted the complaint to a FIR and sent it to the Langlai police station.

“The political pressure on the case is evident from the fact that the police themselves filed an FIR against him,” Kabir said.

A SINISTER MESSAGE

Veewon is inconvenient to the BJP both in Manipur and outside the state. Like in Assam and Tripura, Manipur’s BJP government is on shaky grounds after the Centre passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill which seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslim migrants to India. The north-eastern states, which bear the most burden of migration, especially from Bangladesh is up in arms against the bill arguing not only does it not acknowledge their demand of banning immigration altogether, it promotes communal disharmony in the states.

Manipur, however, has been cracking down on critics of the BJP with unprecedented viciousness. In December, the Biren Singh government jailed a journalist under the National Security Act for a year for accusing the chief minister of being Narendra Modi’s puppet, an accusation made against various chief ministers in India by hundreds of individuals and groups. Veewon was one of the student leaders who organised protests in Delhi to protest the atrocities inflicted on the journalist Krishnachandra Wankhem. “I had written several Facebook posts, reached out to national media, held demonstrations in Delhi to protest Wangkhem’s arrest. Then of course, I have been constantly protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Bill,” he said.

While Veewon thinks he has been picked out because he is ‘weak’ compared to organised civil society groups in Manipur and thereby easy for the government to make an ‘example’ out of, Manipuri activist Babloo Loitongbam believes the student is actually a big worry for the government.

“Not only does Veewon speak beyond ethnic lines, he lives and works in Delhi. So his activism reaches a wider spectrum of people instead of the echo-chamber of the north eastern states,” Loitongbam told HuffPost India.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill, several activist from north east Indian states told HuffPost India over various interviews, seemed like BJP’s gift to the pro-Hindutva masses in other parts of India, especially the northern and central states. Veewon’ activism in a political centre like Delhi comes with the risk of amplifying the communal, anti-Muslim nature of the bill more than the BJP’s liking.

“Or, by arresting Veewon the BJP leader of north east could also be trying to please their bosses in Delhi and show them all the work they are doing,” Loitongbam added, pointing out that BJP president Amit Shah has indulged in extensive chest thumping about the Bill rejected by a majority of people in the north-eastern states.

The activist explained that Veewon’s arrest at the general lack of outrage over it is symptomatic of culture of repression that thrives in north-eastern states. “When something like this happens to students from other states, it’s easier for the middle class to identify with them,” he said, adding that the alienation of the north east also makes students like Veewon vulnerable to the BJP’s autocratic ways.

NEW DELHI―The Narendra Modi government violated the fundamental right to life of tribals by not defending their interests before the Supreme Court during the hearings of a controversial case that will most certainly lead to the displacement of at least 10 lakh forest dwellers, senior lawyer and former legal consultant to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MOTA) Shomona Khanna said.  

Khanna, who was a legal consultant to the MoTA and worked on this case as well as multiple other matters from July 2013 till July 2017, told HuffPost India that the case pertains to a law that enforces the fundamental right to life of millions of forest dwellers in the country. The state, she feels, violates such rights in two ways: through acts of commission and acts of omission. “In this case, I feel, what the Ministry Of Tribal Affairs and the Central government have done, is an act of omission. Not turning up in court, not arguing the matter is an act of omission and is equally reprehensible. It is a very old legal principle. When you are duty bound to do something and you don’t do it, that’s an act of omission,” she explained.  

The senior lawyer, who has assisted the Modi government for several years in legal matters, said that till the time she was working for the tribal affairs ministry, she saw it strongly defend the law. “I was part of the team and the team put up a strong dissent along with the ministry itself. The Ministry was perfectly on board giving us hearing by hearing instructions regularly,” she recalled. When asked then what led to this failure in court, Khanna said, “That you can ask them. I am not on the team now so I don’t know what instructions the ministry is giving but definitely the performance of the ministry’s lawyers inside the courtroom has been far from satisfactory because they didn’t say anything.”

A response from the MOTA was not immediately available. This report will be updated if and when the ministry responds.

In an order passed on February 13, the Apex Court directed twenty one states to evict tribals and other traditional forest dwellers whose claims over land titles under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, better known as the Forest Rights Act, were rejected. The landmark Act, passed in 2006 to undo the “historic injustice” to the tribals and other traditional forest dwellers, recognises their rights over forest land and other resources which have been a source of their livelihood for centuries.

The court’s directions came in response to a bunch of petitions filed in 2008 by wildlife groups and former forest officials. Initially, they challenged the constitutionality of the law soon after it became operational in December 2007 in different high courts. According to Khanna, these petitions were all “cut and paste versions of each other saying the same things”. In 2008, she said, all the petitions were clubbed and brought to the SC at the initiative of the tribal affairs ministry since it wanted to contest the petitions strongly and defend the law.

Apart from the MoTA, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change as well as 21 state governments are also party to the case and thus answerable to the Apex Court.

But the February 13 order, the text of which was uploaded on the Supreme Court website only on Wednesday, shows the issue has now become one of encroachment on forest land by people whose claims to the pattas (land parcels) have been denied by the forest department. “Where has this issue come from? How is it that in a writ petition challenging the constitutionality of the act you are suddenly coming into the implementation (of the law itself)?” Khanna wondered. This does not imply, however, that the plea to scrap the law itself has been discarded.

She also had a strong criticism about the SC order. “This order is completely incorrect in law because it proceeds on the basis that an order of rejection of the forest rights claim is somehow an eviction order; it conflates the two.” She cited Article 300 A of the Indian constitution according to which no person can be deprived of their property without due process established by law. “If you listen to it carefully, it reflects the language of Article 21 which is the Right To Life. Right To Life provision also uses the same language that no person shall be deprived of their right to life without due process of law,” Khanna argued.  

When asked what could this due process look like? She explained that, “If you want to remove an encroachment from a government land, forest lands are government lands, then you follow the procedure that is there in the Indian Forest Act or in the Wildlife Protection Act or in the Public Premises and Unauthorised Occupants Act.” But the SC order does not ask for any of these procedures to be followed. Thus, she said, “How can you say that the person who has filed a claim and that claim has been rejected, therefore the rejection order is an eviction order? From which law has this come? I don’t know and I can’t understand this judgement.”

Khanna, though, blames the ministry and not the three judge bench of Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Navin Sinha and Justice Indira Banerjee which passed the controversial order. “There’s no one else to tell them the other side of the story. MOTA has not argued its case at all. In matters of this nature, there won’t just be two sides of the story. There will be multiple sides to the story. So the tribal rights organisations were also in court but they were also not given a chance to argue,” Khanna noted.

The consequence of this, the former panel lawyer for the Modi government said, is that in the Supreme Court, “we have now two opposing judgements on the forest rights act.” One is the 13th February order and the other is the landmark judgement in the Niyamgiri case which was widely praised for protecting tribal rights.

 “The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly suicide bombing in Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in over 40 Indian paramilitary forces dead and dozens wounded on February 14, 2019, for which Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility,” the UNSC press statement on the ‘Suicide Bombing in Jammu and Kashmir’ said.

“The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice, and urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Government of India and all other relevant authorities in this regard,” it said.

The UNSC members expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims, as well as to the Indian people and the government, and wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured.

“The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security,” the statement said.

The members also reiterated that any “acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed”. 

The former president and one of America’s many dads Barack Obama wore a black bomber jacket with “44” embroidered on the sleeve Wednesday night, and the internet is extremely amped about it.

The Obama Bomber Moment™, as it will henceforth be called, happened at the basketball game between celebrated rivals Duke and the University of North Carolina.

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan on Thursday banned the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamat-ud-Dawa and its charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation, amid intense global pressure to rein in the militant groups following the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF soldiers.

A spokesman of the Interior Ministry said that the decision to ban these groups was taken during a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan at his office on Thursday.

“It was decided during the meeting to accelerate action against proscribed organisations,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“It was further decided that Jamat-ud-Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation be notified as proscribed organizations by the Ministry of Interior,” he added.

However, it remains to be seen how effective the latest ban would be on the two groups, which have the tacit backing of the political leaders and the security agencies.

Earlier, the two outfits were kept on the watchlist of the interior ministry.

NEW DELHI—The International Olympic Committee have suspended all Indian applications to host future events and urged international sports federations not to stage competitions in the country after two Pakistanis were denied visas to compete in New Delhi.

The denial of entry visas for two shooters due to take part in a World Cup event in New Delhi this weekend followed last week’s attack by a Pakistan-based militant group in the disputed region of Kashmir, which killed at least 40 paramilitary police.

India has accused its neighbour of not doing enough to control the militant groups responsible for the Pulwama attacks in Kashmir. Pakistan has denied any involvement.

The IOC said the refusal of visas for competitors went against the principles of the Olympic charter relating to discrimination and political interference from the host country.

“Since becoming aware of the issue, and in spite of intense last-minute ... efforts ... and discussions with the Indian government authorities, no solution has been found to allow the Pakistani delegation to enter India in time to compete,” the IOC statement said.

“As a result, the IOC Executive Board also decided to suspend all discussions with the Indian NOC and government regarding the potential applications for hosting future sports and Olympic-related events in India,” it said.

The body also urged all international sports federations not to hold events in India, or grant hosting rights to the country for future competitions, until the government had provided “clear written guarantees” to ensure access for all athletes.

The Indian Olympic Association last year laid out an ambitious roadmap to host the Youth Olympics in 2026, the Asian Games in 2030 and the Summer Olympics for the first time in 2032.

The shooters were scheduled to take part in the 25m pistol event and the IOC said two spots at next year’s Tokyo Olympics that had been up for grabs in that competition had been revoked.

The International Shooting Sport Federation said on Wednesday it faced “an urgent situation as Pakistani athletes cannot get entry visas to participate in the competition” because of the Kashmir attack.

The IOC said Olympic berths would still be up for grabs in other events.

“The IOC restricted the withdrawal of recognition as an Olympic qualification event to the 25m rapid fire pistol competition in which the two Pakistani athletes were supposed to participate,” it said.

“This happened in the interest of the other 500 athletes from 61 countries participating in the other events who are already in India for their competition.”

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday authorised the military to “respond decisively and comprehensively to any aggression or misadventure” by India, amidst heightened tensions between the two sides following the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF soldiers.

Days after the terror strike by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said security forces have been given free hand to avenge the dastardly act.

Prime Minister Khan, who chaired a key meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) here on Thursday, said the Pakistan government was “determined to demonstrate” that it is capable of protecting its people.

He authorised the armed forces of Pakistan to “respond decisively and comprehensively to any aggression or misadventure by India,” said a statement issued after the meeting.

“This is a new Pakistan and we are determined to demonstrate to our people that the State is capable of protecting them,” Khan said.

WASHINGTON — The White House has formally received the proposed changes in the existing regulations to end the work authorisation for certain categories of H-1B foreign work visas.

The move that would impact over 90,000 spouses of H-1B visa holders, an overwhelming number of whom are Indians, was sent by the Department of Homeland Security to the White House Office of management for Budget on Wednesday, officials said.

It’s now for the White House to take a final call on it, before a formal regulation in this regard could be issued and the Department of Homeland Security can inform a federal court, where a lawsuit on this issue is pending.

Now White House would carry out its review of the proposed regulation, take inputs from various agencies, before taking a final call. The entire process could take from a few weeks to several months.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) which manages the programme said the proposed regulation was not final until the review and comment process was complete. As per the existing process, once White House gives its nod, the regulation would be published in federal register with a 30-day comment period.

It is only after that the new changes can come into effect. The Trump administration is moving ahead with its proposed regulation, despite strong resistance from a group of US lawmakers including Senator Kamala Harris, and Silicon Valley companies who argue that this is not only anti-women, but also prevents talented spouses of H-1B visa holders from working in the United States.

Meanwhile, the US Court of Appeals, District of Columbia has extended the time for various stakeholders, including the Department of Homeland Security to submit its responses on the lawsuit against it filed by the organisation Save Jobs USA.

In September, Save Jobs USA which had filed the lawsuit urged the court to remove the abeyance and move forward with the case.

The case is before a three-member bench including Indian American Sree Srinivasan. The move comes after the Department of Homeland Security sought a stay on all existing deadlines because of the more than one-month-long partial shutdown of the federal government.

Save Jobs USA has expressed its disappointment over the slow progress on this issue.

Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer has a new gig as a special D.C. correspondent for the syndicated “Extra” newsmagazine TV show.

Folks on Twitter inevitably had plenty to say about Spicer’s new role as a reporter, given how he would routinely trot out lies to the press during his time working for President Donald Trump’s administration.

Spicer’s debut fluff piece interview with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife, Susan, aired Wednesday:

Further interviews with Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who replaced Spicer as press secretary, and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway will air later in the week. ExtraTV shared previews of those clips Wednesday:

“Obviously, we started in my wheelhouse of Republicans, but we hope to make this bipartisan and to offer people an opportunity and a platform to give people a better understanding of who they are as people,” Spicer told The Hollywood Reporter. 

“This is the personal, not the politics, not the policy,” he added. “The idea is to give people a different angle on some of the people they see on the cable news channels every day.”

People on Twitter, however, were not willing to forget Spicer’s legacy of pushing Trump’s lies:

Apnal Dal, BJP’s ally in Uttar Pradesh, has threatened to quit the National Democratic Alliance.

Apna Dal’s Anupriya Patel, minister of state at the Centre, hinted at the exit on Thursday, saying the BJP did not seem interested in resolving its issues.

“We had a few issues with the BJP, which we put forward to their central leadership. We have given them time till 20 February to resolve these issues but they have not. It shows the BJP is not interested in the issues brought up by its allies. So, Apna Dal is now independent to make its own decisions,” Patel told reporters.

However, Ashish Patel, Apna Dal president and Anupriya’s husband, said the party was still a part fo the NDA, reported ANI.

“We are part of NDA. We had some issues with Uttar Pradesh BJP, which we had raised in front of the central leadership. However, no action has been taken in that regard. Today, we have decided that a meeting of core committee of our party will be convened on 28 February and the future course will be decided,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“We honestly want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get re-elected. But for that the UP BJP has to change its attitude. If our demands are met, we will strongly support the NDA in 2019 elections,” he added.

Apna Dal won two seats from eastern UP in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. In recent months, the party has expressed displeasure with the BJP, accusing it of discriminating against Apna Dal workers. Minister Anupriya Patel had skipped Modi’s Ghazipur rally in December.

Among Apna Dal’s demands is 50% reservation for OBCs and Dalits in postings of District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police in UP, Times of Indiareported.

BJP has also been facing trouble from another ally in UP, the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party. SBSP leader Om Prakash Rajbhar, who is also a UP cabinet minister, had on 17 February said he was resigning from the backward class welfare department because his recommendations on appointment of state backward castes panel members had been “ignored”.

SBSP general secretary Arun Kumar Rajbhar said the party could quit its alliance with the BJP and tie up with either the SP-BJP alliance or the Congress, the Indian Express reported.

SBSP has said it will announce its decision at a party rally in Varanasi on 24 February.

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to Centre and 11 states on plea seeking direction to protect Kashmiris in aftermath of Pulwama terror attack.

The court directed chief secretaries and DGPs of 11 states to take “prompt” and necessary action to prevent incidents of threat, assault and social boycott of Kashmiris. 

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi also directed that police officers, who were earlier appointed as nodal officers to deal with incidents of mob lynching, would be now responsible to deal with cases of alleged assault on Kashmiris.

The bench asked the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to give wide publicity to nodal officers so that they can be approached by those facing such incidents. 

“The chief secretaries, the DGPs and the Delhi Police Commissioner are directed to take prompt and necessary action to prevent incidents of threat, assault, social boycott etc. against Kashmiris and other minorities,” the bench also comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna said.

KOLKATA — In an apparent attack on the BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday alleged that efforts were on to introduce an “inhuman” religion in the country on the basis of divisive politics.

Banerjee, without directly naming it, accused the saffron party of trying to impose its choice of food, clothing and religion on the people and then deciding who would stay in the country and who would be thrown out.

“They are trying to create an inhuman religion based on their belief and decide who are going to stay in the country and who will leave. They are deciding in which language people will speak, what the people will eat and wear. They are trying to change the history of the country,” she said at a programme on the International Mother Language Day.

“If some people are trying to implement one law as per their will, we will not let them do so. We don’t support this theory of divisive politics...,” she said.

Banerjee urged people not to pay heed to provocations meant to create differences among them and stay united.

“United India is what we want. Let’s think and speak about unity.... There must not be any divide and rule policy,” she said.

Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress chief, said she does not believe in the politics of dividing people on the basis of their religion, caste and creed.

The chief minister also criticised the threats that a Kashmiri medical practitioner in Kolkata received following the Pulwama terror attack.

“We cannot ask a Kashmiri shawl trader to leave because an incident had happened. How audacious they are to order one doctor who is practising here for more than 20 years to leave for one single incident,” she said.

She asked people to use their mother tongue to protest the move to divide the country.

Earlier in the day, Banerjee urged people to respect all languages, but take pride in their mother tongue.

“Best wishes to all on International Mother Language Day. Respect all languages but take pride in your mother tongue,” she tweeted.

International Mother Language Day is observed around the world on February 21 to promote awareness on linguistic and cultural diversity.

SEOUL — Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday received the prestigious Seoul Peace Prize for 2018 for his contribution to international cooperation and fostering global economic growth.

The award was presented to him by the Seoul Peace Prize Foundation at a grand ceremony. A short film on the life and achievements of Prime Minister Modi was also screened at the event.

While conferring the award on Modi, the award committee recognised his contribution to the growth of Indian and global economies, crediting ‘Modinomics’ for reducing social and economic disparity between the rich and the poor.

Modi expressed his gratitude for the prestigious honour and said, “this award belongs not to me personally, but to the people of India.”

“The success that India has achieved in the last five years is due to aspirations, inspiration and efforts of the people of India. On their behalf, I accept the award and express my gratitude,” he said.

He said he was honoured that the award is being conferred on him in the year that India celebrates the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

He dedicated the $200,000 prize money to ‘Namami Gange Programme’, which is flagship programme of his government to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of River Ganga.

The committee also credited him for his contribution toward regional and global peace through a proactive policy with countries around the world.

Modi is the 14th recipient of the award and the past laureates included former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and renowned international relief organisations like Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam.

The Seoul Peace Prize was established in 1990 to commemorate the success of the 24th Olympic Games held in Seoul. The award was established to crystallise Korean people’s yearning for peace on the Korean peninsula and in the rest of the world.

Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Modi expressed concern over the growing menace of terrorism and recalled that a few weeks before the Seoul Olympics in 1988, an organisation called Al-Qaeda was formed.

“Today, radicalisation and terrorism have become global and are the biggest threats to world peace and security,” he said.

He said that like Korea, India has also suffered the pain of cross-border strife. “Our endeavour towards peaceful developments has only too often been derailed by cross-border terrorism. While India has been the victim of cross-border terrorism for over 40 years, all nations today face this grave threat which respects no borders,” he said in an apparent reference to Pakistan.

“The time has come for all those who believe in humanity to join hands, to completely eradicate terrorist networks, and their financing supply channels and counter-terrorist ideology and propaganda. Only by doing so, can we replace hate with harmony, destruction with development, and transform the landscape of violence and vendetta into a postcard of peace,” he added.

Modi lauded President Moon Jae-in for his role in overcoming the legacy of mutual-distress and suspicion between North Korea and the international community and bringing them to the discussion table.

“This is no small achievement,” he said and hoped that peace will soon prevail on the Korean peninsula.

The Prime Minister recounted several steps taken by his government in recent years, including several new initiatives, to take India on a forward trajectory.

“India’s growth story is not only good for the people of India but also for the entire world. We live in an increasingly interconnected world. Our growth and prosperity will inevitably contribute to global growth and development,” he said.

He also said that despite having a historically low carbon footprint, India has been playing an active role in the global fight against climate change.

“India, as a responsible member of the international community, has been in the forefront of our collective fight against climate change,” he added.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Water Resources on Thursday responded to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s announcement that India has decided to “stop” the flow of its share of water to Pakistan from rivers under the Indus Water Treaty and said that it has “neither concern nor objection”.

Talking to Dawn, secretary of Pakistan’s Ministry of Water Resources Khawaja Shumail said, “We have neither concern nor objection if India diverts water of eastern rivers and supplies it to its people or uses it for other purposes, as the IWT allows it do so.”

India’s decision comes in the wake of the Pulwama attack, in which at least 40 CRPF personnel were killed. 

An official later clarified that it was not a “new decision” and that Gadkari was “simply reiterating” what he has always said.

Gadkari had tweeted:

India has already decided to revoke the Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan and mounted a diplomatic offensive to isolate it in the international community.

“Regarding the tweet (by Gadkari) about Indus treaty, this is not a new decision. Mantriji is simply reiterating what he has always said. He is talking about diverting India’s share of Indus water which was going to — and he has always been saying this,” Information Officer in-charge of Water Resources Ministry Neeta Prasad told PTI when asked about the issue. 

Officials said the actual implementation of the decision may take up to six years as dams as high as 100 metres will have to be built to stop flow of water.

Under the Indus Water Treaty signed in 1960, the waters of the western rivers — the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — was given to Pakistan and those of the eastern rivers — the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — to India.

Shumail also told Dawn that Pakistan will definitely express concerns and raise objections strongly if India uses or divert waters of western rivers.

India’s share of water from Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers came to 33 million acres feet (MAF). While about 95 percent of the water was being used in the country after the construction of three main dams across the rivers, close to 5 percent water would flow to Pakistan.

To gain access to this water, India is now building more dams which will be completed in six years, officials said.

(With PTI inputs)

NEW DELHI — On Thursday, the Modi government announced that India was stopping its share of water that flowed into Pakistan, and it planned to divert water from the Eastern Rivers — Ravi, Beas and Sutlej — to the states of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. 

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the Shahpur-Kandi and UJH water projects in the Ravi river basin will divert the water into Jammu and Kashmir and other basin states. 

India currently uses 93-94 percent of the Eastern Rivers while six-seven percent flows into Pakistan, according to some sources. 

This announcement is seen as a fallout of the deadly attack that killed at least 40 soldiers in Kashmir on 14 February. A 19-year-old Kashmiri, who was working for the Pakistan-based militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammed, rammed a vehicle filled with explosives into a convoy of security personnel stationed in Pulwama district. India has blamed Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for the attack. 

Pakistan has denied involvement. 

To understand how the Modi government intends to punish Pakistan, HuffPost India spoke with two water experts — Himanshu Thakkar, who is the coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, and Shripad Dharmadhikary, who runs Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, a research centre for water and energy issues. 

Both experts said that Gadkari’s announcement was misleading. 

First, under the Indus Water Treaty, India had unrestricted access to the Eastern Rivers and can use the water of Sutlej, Beas and Ravi howsoever it deems fit.

“What he is saying is that some of that water is going into Pakistan because we have not fully been able to utilise it. These two projects, the Kandi and the UJH projects, will help reduce that water flow into Pakistan,” said Thakkar. “This is not a violation of the treaty.”

“They have not announced any project that would achieve hurting the water flow to Pakistan,” he said. 

Second, while it is true that some water from the Eastern Rivers is flowing into Pakistan, this isn’t a lot and blocking it won’t impact Pakistan. 

“This is like saying there is some residual benefit to Pakistan and we are going to put an end to it,” said Dharmadhikary. “If this is a pressure tactic, it really is not going to make any difference to Pakistan.”

Third, it could take decades for India to complete the projects which would stop the flow of water into Pakistan.  

“Remember, the Kandi project for example is going on for decades and decades,” said Thakkar.  

All been said before 

While there is nothing factually incorrect with Gadkari’s remarks, what is misleading is how the Modi government is projecting it is as a tough new measure for taking Pakistan to task. 

In 2016, a week after 19 Indian soldiers were killed in a deadly attack carried out by heavily armed militants, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had famously declared, “Blood and water cannot flow together.”

At the time, bilateral talks on the Indus Water Treaty were suspended, and it was decided that river water could be stopped with the Shahpur-Kandi project and the Ujh dam.

“When you look at the fine print, he was talking about the same projects,” Thakkar said.

In August 2018, India and Pakistan resumed bilateral talks on the Indus Water Treaty. 

The Western Rivers 

Under the Indus Water Treaty, which was signed by India and Pakistan in 1960, India has unfettered access to the Eastern Rivers — Ravi, Beas and Sutlej — and Pakistan has “unrestricted” access to the Western Rivers — Indus, Chenab and Jhelum. 

Under the treaty, Thakkar explained, India has the right to use a certain amount of water (3.6 Million Acre Feet) from the Western Rivers as well. So far, however, India has not been able to fully utilize its share. 

Thakkar’s point is that only after India exceeds its own share can it even think about restricting Pakistan’s access to the Western Rivers. While this could hurt Pakistan, it would also be in violation of the treaty. 

“We are no where near that. We don’t have any plans. We don’t have any projects,” he said. “It would take decades even if you start thinking about it now.”

Who ends up getting hurt? 

While restricting Pakistan’s flow of water might appeal to some, it is worth pointing out that water projects like the Kandi and UGH also have adverse impacts, socially and environmentally. 

Thakkar argues if and when these projects come up in India, it is the Kashmiris living on the Indian side who will suffer. 

“In the name of threatening Pakistan, even if we were to do that, we would be inflicting further adverse impacts on the people of Kashmir. That is also a factor to remember,” he said. 

Is there a way to punish Pakistan? 

There is a way but it violates international law, Thakkar says. 

The water expert says it could only work if there is a dam close to the border. 

“If you suddenly release water or silt then you would inflict flood damage in the downstream area. But if the dam is not close to the border, then its first impact would be within India,” he said. 

Thakkar said that attempting this with the Salal Dam, which is on Chenab River, or the Uri Dam, which is on the Jhelum River, would only hurt India. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday became the 14th recipient of the prestigious Seoul Peace Prize for 2018. He received the award for his contribution to international cooperation, fostering India’s economic growth and “furthering the development of democracy through anti-corruption and social integration efforts”.

The award was presented to Modi by the Seoul Peace Prize Foundation at a grand ceremony in Seoul. A short film on his life and achievements was also screened at the event.

When was the award established?

The Seoul Peace Prize was established in 1990 to commemorate the success of the 24th Olympic Games held in Seoul. The award was established to crystallise Korean people’s yearning for peace on the Korean peninsula and in the rest of the world.

The first prize was awarded to Juan Antonio Samaranch in 1990 in recognition of his significant contribution to world peace through sports.

Who are the other recipients?

Past laureates included former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and renowned international relief organisations like Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam.

In 1992, the award was given to George Pratt Shultz, former US Secretary of State, for his efforts toward easing international tension during his tenure.

Medecins Sans Frontieres, a small group of French doctors also known as Doctors Without Borders, received the prize in 1996. 

Then in 1998, the award was given to Annan for his efforts to strengthen the capacity of the United Nations to undertake both traditional peace-keeping missions and new initiatives in the promotion of international peace and harmony.

Oxfam was awarded the prize in 2002 for its achievements in relieving people from poverty, plight and calamity.

In 2004, Václav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic, was the recipient. The next award in 2006 was given to Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank, for helping the poor. 

In 2012, the award was given to Ban Ki-moon. His contribution to the growth and development of the developing countries was recognised. The next winner was German chancellor Angela Merkel in 2014 for her outstanding contribution to protecting human rights, promoting peace, and preventing war and terrorism
through international cooperation.

In 2016, Denis Mukwege, Director of Panzi Hospital, was honoured with the prize. He is helping improve women’s and children’s human rights in DR
Congo.

(With PTI inputs)

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday said Pakistan will continue to be on its “grey list”. It further said the country has made only “limited progress” on curbing money laundering and terrorism financing.

The terror financing watchdog  said that it would continue to work with Pakistan, which had been hoping to get off a “grey list” of nations with inadequate controls over such activities.

“Given the limited progress on action plan items... the FATF urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its action plan, particularly those with timelines of May 2019,” the FATF said in a statement.

Pakistan has until May 2019 to complete its action plan, according to NDTV, and if the country does not meet the targets by October, it could be blacklisted.

Pakistan has been on the grey list since June last year, making it harder for it to access international markets at a time when its economy is stumbling.

While there are no direct legal implications from being on the list, it brings extra scrutiny from regulators and financial institutions that can chill trade and investment and increase transaction costs, experts told Reuters.

Pakistan, The Times of India reported, needed to show that sanctions were being applied in cases of money laundering and terror financing. It also needed to demonstrate better cooperation between authorities identifying illegal money flows, among other measures, the report quoted FATF as saying. 

Two Indian government officials told Reuters that new information had been provided to the FATF relating to Pakistan after the Pulwama attack.

(With Reuters inputs)

NEW DELHI — The CBI has issued lookout notices against former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak and MD of the Videocon Group Venugopal Dhoot, officials said Friday.

The move was taken nearly a week after a case was registered against Chanda Kocchar, Deepak and Dhoot, they said.

The move is to ensure that none of the accused in the case related to alleged corruption in clearing loans worth Rs 1,875 crore to the Videocon Group, they said.

A lookout notice is an intimation to immigration authorities at all the ports of exit to intimate the investigation agency incase the accused tries to leave the country. The immigration authorities may also detain the person if requested by the agency. 

The Central Bureau of Investigation had to cut a sorry figure after its dilution of lookout circular against liquor baron Vijay Mallya led to his escape to the UK in 2016.

No summons have been issued against Chanda Kochhar to record her statement so far, the officials said.

It is alleged that during the tenure of Chanda Kochhar, six loans worth Rs 1,875 crore were cleared for the Videocon Group and its associated companies, in which in two cases she herself was on the sanctioning committees.

In its FIR, the CBI has also named several top honchos of the banking industry, including the present CEO of ICICI Bank Sandeep Bakshi, alleging that they were also members of the sanctioning committees whose role needs investigation.

Chanda Kochhar was on the sanctioning committee deciding two loans-Rs 300 crore to Videocon International Electronics on 26 August, 2009 and Rs 750 crore to Videocon Industries Limited on 31 October, 2011, the FIR has alleged.

The loans were issued in the alleged violation of laid down policies and regulations of the bank, it alleged.

Most of these loans became non-performing assets over the course, causing a loss of Rs 1,730 crore to the bank, it alleged.