The BJP has locked horns with its ruling partner PDP on the issue of the education minister Altaf Bukhari accusing the Army chief General Bipin Rawat of meddling in the education system of the state.

In a hard-hitting statement on Monday, Brigadier Anil Gupta (retd), spokesman of the BJP, asked the minister to smell the coffee rather than locking horns with the Army chief.

He advised the minister to be pragmatic and accept the reality rather than criticising the Chief of Army Staff who had warned about the misuse of social media, government schools, mosques and madrasas in spreading “disinformation campaign resulting in radicalisation” of the youth.

In a statement issued here today, Gupta said the statement of the Army chief should be viewed positively rather than turning it into a political issue since his statement is based on his vast experience of service in the valley as well as through his interactions with students at various levels.

“Even, the Chief Minister of the state has voiced her concern over radicalisation and indoctrination of youths in her recent speech on the floor of the house while replying to the motion of thanks on the Governor’s address. She had also referred to ‘glorification of a gun’ on the social media as a matter of concern,” stated Gupta.

The Army is an important stakeholder in the restoration of peace and normalcy in the state. The Army chief is well within his rights and democratic mandate to voice concern against issues which affect national integration and act contradictory to the achievement of the desired goal of long-lasting peace and normalcy. There is no denying the fact that the youth in the far-flung areas is being radicalised and taught that the J&K State and India are two distinct identities rather than being one. It is a matter of worry not only for the State but the entire nation more so for those who are the custodian of nation’s integrity, he said.

Altar Bukhari should know the Army’s contribution to the education sector in the state. The Army runs many Army Goodwill Public Schools in J&K which are considered as model schools and provide unhindered quality education to our children stated Gupta. It was the Army which took the initiative of restoring schooling in the Valley through its “School Chalo” programme when the schools were being burnt one after the other and the education system had virtually collapsed in the Valley as an aftermath of the killing of terrorist Burhan Wani reminded Gupta.

Terming the trend of radicalisation among the youth as an “aberration” is a gross miscalculation on the part of the Education Minister and his refusal to accept the presence of elephant in the room is certainly to misfire and prove disastrous for the state, warned the BJP spokesman.

It is in the best interest of all to take the statement of Gen Rawat in a constructive and positive manner and institute remedial measures wherever needed rather than dismissing it as interference in the domain of Education Minister, Gupta said.

Popular television actress Shilpa Shinde, winner of Bigg Boss Season 11, says that after the “bad experience” she had with Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hain, she does not want to act in television serials any more.

Often, winning the reality television show has translated to plum offers in the television space for celebrities. But Shilpa says after “whatever happened” during the Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hai — in which she essayed Angoori bhabhi — she does not want to work on small screen.

“I would rather explore the medium of films than television. After working for so many years, the way few people of the industry (referring to the producers of Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hai) treated me, I am disheartened. I do not wish to work in the TV industry anymore,” Shilpa said.

In 2016, the actress left the show “Bhabhi Ji…” due to issues with the producers. She also reportedly filed a complaint of sexual harassment against producer Sanjay Kohli.

Since the actress came out openly in the media and spoke about her experience, she faced trouble in getting new shows.

Asked if naming and shaming any big name in the industry takes a toll on an actor’s career, she said: “Yes, it does.

“It is tough for an actress to raise her voice on sexual harassment because the chances are they will question your character, they will ruin your career and they will defeat you in the power game. So one has to be very strong to fight against these white collar mafias,” said the actress, who had even won an Indian Telly Award for her comical performance as Angoori bhabhi.

Coming to “Bigg Boss”, Shilpa was contending with another popular actress Hina Khan in the finale. Was she sure about her victory?

“Though I knew from the beginning that I deserve to win the show, it is a different world inside the ‘Bigg Boss’ house. It was a journey with a lots of emotional ups and down. At this moment, I am a little overwhelmed to talk much about it, but of course I am glad I won,” she said.

Having started her career in 1999, Shilpa grabbed eyeballs with a daily soap “Bhabhi”. She acted in shows like Sanjeevani, Maayka, Chidiya Ghar, Lapataganj and more.

“See, in the last 15 years, people did not love me, but the characters that I played. They did not know how I am in real life as Shilpa Shinde. So now, everyone, who voted for me, they know my real self,” said Shilpa.

“My confidence to win ‘Bigg Boss’ did not come from the number of fans I had before entering the house. I am always confident that I am a good person. I have a lot of patience and tolerance, so I was confident to fight the game on that basis,” she added.

Telecom regulator TRAI slashed international incoming call termination rate to 30 paise, from 53 paise, to curb the “grey route”, an official statement on Friday said. The new rate will be effective from February 1.

“The Authority has reduced the termination charges payable by an International Long Distance Operator (ILDO) to the access provider in whose network the call terminates from Rs 0.53 per minute to Rs 0.30 per minute,” TRAI said in a statement.

Telecom firms levy termination charge on operators from whose networks calls have been made, for transmitting them to the subscriber.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said the new rule “shall come into force from the 1st February, 2018”.

In a background note, it mentioned existence of grey market which routes the ISD calls made to India by setting up illegal VoIP (voice over internet protocol) gateways which needs to curbed.

TRAI said the menace of grey route poses serious security threat to the country apart from causing significant leakage in the revenue accruable to the country and its telecom service providers, and, proliferation of OTT (over-the-top) route for the carrying international voice traffic has many non-cost factors.

It said: “The Authority is of the view that, while deciding on the appropriate level of ITC (international
termination charge) in the country, curbing the menace of grey route should be a more important regulatory priority than facilitating the shift of the international incoming traffic from OTT route to carrier route.”

The opposition National Conference (NC) on Monday walked out of Jammu and Kashmir assembly protesting against Army Chief General Bipin Rawat’s statement on the state’s educational standards.

General Rawat had remarked late last week that the teachers in J&K were teaching two maps to students, one of J&K and the other of India.

Education Minister Syed Altaf Bukhari had criticised the army chief, asking him not to meddle in the affairs of education.

NC legislators led by senior leader Ali Muhammad Sagar protested the army chief’s statement demanding a statement by the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on the issue in the house.

The NC also demanded a statement on the recent cordon and search operation (CASO) in Habba Kadal area of Srinagar. The opposition said such an operation had taken place after a gap of 17 years in the heart of Srinagar.

“Do you want to create a situation like south Kashmir in central and north Kashmir,” Sagar asked.

CPI-M legislator Yusuf Tarigami said the army chief’s statement had brought about a situation in which nobody knew who was in-charge in the state.

Later, the NC legislators walked out of the house.

Former Union minister Raghunath Jha passed away at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital here early on Monday.

The 79-year-old Jha died due to various problems including organ failure, cardiac arrest and septic shock, according to hospital authorities.

“He died on Monday at 3.10 AM. The body has been handed over to the family and other formalities have been done,” a senior official said.

He was admitted to the ICU of the hospital on January 13.

Born on August 9, 1939, Jha was Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise in the UPA government led by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Hours after Attorney General KK Venugopal on Monday hinted that a resolution to end the Supreme Court (SC) crisis might be in sight, the Bar Council of India (BCI) on Monday confirmed that the tussle was indeed over as the “internal issue” has been resolved.

Addressing the media, Manan Mishra, Chairman, BCI said that all the four rebel judges — J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and Madan B Lokur were present in their respective courts which functioned normally.

“It was an internal issue and has now been resolved,” Mishra told reporters a day after a seven-member BCI delegation met Chief Justice Dipak Misra in a bid to end the ongoing controversy in the apex court. The BCI also met three of the four rebel judges.

“As you can see that the matter has been laid to rest and all courts rooms in the Supreme Court are functioning normally,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Venugopal said that all the four judges had attended their courts and therefore, everything was okay.

The four rebel judges had criticised the Chief Justice over allocation of cases, saying the administration of the top court was “not in order”.

Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh on Sunday met Justice Misra and gave him a copy of the resolution the Bar passed on Saturday.

Two more persons have been arrested in connection with the murder of a 47-year-old man from Kottara Chowki, who has attacked allegedly in retaliation for the killing of a Hindu activist on January 3.

Basheer, who was assaulted by four assailants succumbed to his injuries at a hospital here on January 7.

He was attacked at Kottara Chowki near here within hours after 28-year-old Deepak Rao, associated with Bajrang Dal and BJP, was hacked to death at Katipalla, triggering tension in the communally-sensitive Dakshina Kannada district.

Two people arrested on Sunday have been identified as Lateesh (24) and Pushparaj (23), from neighbouring Kasaragod district in Kerala.

Earlier four persons were arrested in connection with the murder.

A series of killings of Hindu activists in Dakshina Kannda has triggered a political slugfest between the ruling Congress and BJP in recent months

The BJP has alleged that the Congress government had allowed “jihadi forces” to have a field day and to indulge in “wanton killings” of Hindu workers in pursuance of its “vote-bank politics” and minority appeasement.

According to BJP, the number of Hindutva workers who have fallen to the “murderous agenda of jihadi forces” in the state has risen to 22 so far.

On the other hand, the Congress has charged the BJP with polarising the sensitive situation in the region with an eye on the upcoming Assembly polls, which are due early this year.

Google has kicked out nearly 60 games, many of which were for children, from its Play Store after a security research firm found they were infected with a pornographic malware.

Researchers from Israel-based Check Point Software Technologies reported that the malware, dubbed as “AdultSwine”, displayed pornographic images that looked like advertisements designed to prompt users to download fake security software.

The users were then encouraged to click on other links they would have to pay for, CNET reported on Saturday. The tech giant acted immediately and kicked the apps out of Google Play Store.

“We have removed the apps from Play, disabled the developers’ accounts and will continue to show strong warnings to anyone that has installed them. We appreciate Check Point’s work to help keep users safe,” Google was quoted as saying.

Google maintained that the issue does not exploit vulnerabilities in its Android security and that users’ devices were not affected. The affected apps have been downloaded between three to seven million times, the researchers citing Google Play data, said.

“Along with encouraging users to download scareware and pay for premium services, ‘AdultSwine’ also stole credentials,” the Check Point researchers noted.

The malware did this by contacting the developers’ Command and Control server once the app was downloaded, sending data about the infected device and receiving instructions on what to do next.

According to Check Point, the instructions included displaying the bogus ads, scaring users to install fake security apps and charging victims for services they did not request or receive.

With their win over ICC table toppers India by 72 runs in the opening Test match of three-match series, high-spirited South Africa are looking for series win in the second Test match at Centurion. After winning the toss, the Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis opted to bat and scored 335 runs before getting bowled out. Following the target, captain Kohli led from the front and scored an unbeaten 85 runs for the visitors, taking their total to 183 for 5 in their first innings on the second day of the second Test at the SuperSport Park.

Now, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya (11 batting) will take the Indian innings forward on the third day of the second Test. During his explosive 85 runs, Kohli hit eight fours and scored his unbeaten 16th half-century in the Test cricket. It seems as if Kohli has found a way out to counter the pace attack of Vernon Philander, Lungi Ngidi, Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada.

Meanwhile, when Pandya came in to bat, he was found struggling with the moving balls. But captain Kohli helped him understand the ball from non striker’s end. According to a report in Cricbuzz, Virat was seen holding his bat in his left hand for signaling a delivery that was going to go away, while he would hold his bat in right hand for the incoming delivery.

Virat Kohli also helped Pandya with his body language, stretching out his right one for an inswinger and left for an outswinger.

Interestingly, in the 60th over, mic recorded rather amusing conversation between Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya.

“Yahan pe change kiya (He changed it here),” Virat said after playing stroke at the pacer’s third ball. “Andar ke liye leke hi bhaagaa tha woh (He ran in with the one that would originally come in), said Hardik.

“Jo leke niklega agar change karega toh uska opposite hai (the side of the ball he runs in with, if he changes, it will go the opposite way),” said the skipper.

When Pandya asked if he too needed any help, “Main bataaun aapko? (Should I tell you on spotting?)”.

“Nahin nahin, mujhe dikha, main bataa raha hun (No, no.. I spotted it, I am just telling you),” Kohli further added.

 At least 65 persons, including 12 women, died in Mizoram last year due to drug abuse, an official said on Monday.

The Excise and Narcotics Department official said 28 persons died due to a heroin overdose and the rest due to abuse of various other narcotics.

According to the official, around 6.035 kg of heroin, 13,400 methamphetamine tablets and 159,471 tablets of pseudo-ephedrine were seized in 2017 in Mizoram.

The Excise and Narcotics Department also seized 392 kg cannabis and destroyed 4,127 plants in mountainous areas.

According to official records, drug abuse in the state has claimed at least 1,468 lives since 1984.

Heroin and other drugs are smuggled into Mizoram from Myanmar.

Four Haryana-based farmers have been booked for allegedly grabbing agriculture land in Shamli district, police said on Monday.

According to station house officer Sandeep Balyan, on the direction of the district magistrate of Shamli, Inder Vikram Singh, police have registered a case against the farmers for allegedly grabbing nearly 250 bigha land.

Some farmers had filed a complaint with the district magistrate, alleging that these four farmers had forcefully grabbed their land, the SHO said.

A case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act have been registered against four farmers.

The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), launched their second leg of the mega rally, ‘Pratirodh Sankalp Abhiyan’, from Swami Vivekananda’s ancestral residence in Kolkata on 15 January.

State president Dilip Ghosh flagged off the rally from Vivekanda House in Kolkata. The rally will head to Krishnanagar via Ranaghat.

The flagging off of the rally comes mere days after some participants were assaulted by miscreants.

The eight-day bike rally, which started on 11 January, came under attack on 13 January while on its way from the BJP party office to Swami Vivekananda’s house in Hedua in the heart of Kolkata.

Vehicles were smashed and many of the workers received mild to serious injuries. The BJP accused the supporters of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for the assault.

Party MP Roopa Ganguly condemned the attack on Twitter and also slammed the TMC for the complete decline of law & order in the state.

“Strongly condemn the attack on BJP karyakartas, observing birth anniversary of #SwamiVivekananda today, without any reason. #WestBengal has turned lawless. #DemocracyInDanger,” she wrote while tagging the official handle of the party and that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Strongly condemn the attack on BJP karyakartas, observing birth anniversary of #SwamiVivekananda today, without any reason. #WestBengal has turned lawless. #DemocracyInDanger. @narendramodi @AmitShah @KailashOnline @BJP4India @BJP4Bengal

— Roopa Ganguly (@RoopaSpeaks) January 12, 2018

Other BJP members, too, condemned the attack. Mukul Roy said that the ruling party in the state is not allowing the opposition BJP to “exercise its rights”.

But the Trinamool Congress refuted the accusations. Party leader Subrata Mukherjee said that the BJP organizes “provocative programmes”. The party also counter-accused the BJP of vandalism.

The organizers of the rally were denied permission by the police. But on 10 January, a single judge bench of the Calcutta High Court ruled in favour of the organizers.

Even the court-appointed observer of the rally, Special Officer Ravi Shankar Dutta, came under attack.

Following the incident, Union minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari announced that he will not be attending the Bengal Global Business Summit scheduled to be held from January 16-17.

A major design overhaul introduced by popular photo-sharing platform Snapchat has not been received well by its initial users in countries such as Britain, Australia and Canada, with up to 83 percent of reviews on the Apple App Store being negative.

“The most referenced keywords in the negative reviews include ‘new update’, ‘Stories’ and ‘please fix’,” TechCrunch reported.

Only 17 percent, which is 391 of the reviews, gave the app three to five stars. Irate users took to Twitter to express their concerns and raise questions on how to switch to the older version of Snapchat.

“It’s not possible to revert to a previous version of Snapchat, but we are happy to help with any questions you may have about the new layout,” Snapchat’s Support account @snapchatsupport tweeted in reply to a user’s query.

Users have complained about struggling to find their favourite features and that the app has become more confusing. Evan Spiegel, co-founder and CEO of Snap Inc, which is the parent company of Snapchat, announced redesigning the app to separate media and social communications in November 2017.

The entire redesign was done in-house, a spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The Indian Army today carried out a “retaliatory action” against Pakistani troops, killing seven of their soldiers and injuring four others along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district.

Meanwhile, Pakistan said four soldiers killed by India along LoC.

The action comes after an Indian soldier was killed in Pakistani firing along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on Saturday.

Also Read: Rajnath lauds security forces for killing 5 JeM terrorists in J-K

“Army has carried out retaliation against Pakistani troops across Jaglote area along the LoC in Mendhar sector of Poonch district”, a senior Army officer told PTI.

“In the retaliatory action, there were seven fatal causalities to Pakistani troops and four others injured,” he said.

However, Pakistan Army on Monday said it lost four of its soldiers in a cross-border firing by India across the Line of Control (LoC) and claimed to have killed three Indian troops.

They were fired upon and hit by heavy mortar rounds while carrying out “line communication maintenance” along the LoC in Kotli sector’s Jandrot area, the army’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

Four Pakistani soldiers were killed in the exchange of fire, it said.

Three Indian soldiers also while killed, the statement claimed.

In a strong message to Pakistan, army chief General Bipin Rawat said that Islamabad should not test New Delhi’s patience. The army chief was addressing the Army Day ceremony at the Cariappa Prade Ground in the national capital.

“Pakistan ki sena ghuspaithiyo ki madad karti rehti hai, agar hame majboor kiya gaya to aur mazboot karyawahi karenge (The Pakistani army continues to help infiltrators. We will take even more stringent action if forced to do so.),” warned the General.

General Rawat said that the army responds effectively to the ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

The message comes on the day when six terrorists of the Jaish-e-Mohammed were killed while infiltrating in the Uri sector in J-K and seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in cross-border firing.

The terrorists were killed in Dulanja in a joint operation of the Jammu & Kashmir Police, the Indian Army and the CAPF.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh praised the forces for the quick action in tackling the terrorists who were members of the JeM’s suicide squad.

Congratulating the forces for neutralizing the terrorists, J-K DGP Sheesh Paul Vaid said that the security forces had inputs of possible attempts in infiltration from the Pakistani side ahead of the Republic Day.

The Indian Army also carried out a retaliatory firing in the Kotli sector of J-K in which seven personnel of the Pakistani Rangers were killed. India was reacting to a cross-border firing from the Pakistani side on Indian soldiers.

India had conducted a major surgical strike on terrorist camps in PoK to avenge the Uri attack of 18 September 2016 which led to the martyrdom of 19 soldiers. In the surgical strike which was conducted 11 days after the Uri attack, Indian special forces destroyed terrorist camps killing many terrorists.

At the Army Day ceremony, General Rawat also said that the terrorism in the north east have been contained “to a large extent” because of army’s intelligence based and people-friendly operations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held delegation level talks with his Israeli counterpart and “friend” Benjamin Netanyahu, officials said.

Netanyahu met Modi at Hyderabad House and held delegation level talks to pave way for various projects related to cooperation in innovation, technology transfer, defence supplies, and economic relations.

The visiting Israeli PM began his official engagements by being formally welcomed by President Ram Nath Kovind and inspecting a guard of honour at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

He then headed to Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Raj Ghat and laid a wreath at the memorial.

Breaking protocol, Modi on Sunday personally received Netanyahu with a warm hug as he arrived here on a six-day visit to step up growing trade as well as military and strategic ties between the two countries.

The visit, which marks 25 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, comes six months after Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Jewish state in July last year.

In a sign of growing importance to the ties with Israel, the government on Sunday renamed Delhi’s Teen Murti Chowk as Teen Murti-Haifa Chowk after the Israeli city.

Netanyahu’s entourage includes the largest-ever delegation of Israeli business people of some 130.

This is the first visit to India by an Israeli Prime Minister since Ariel Sharon came in 2003.

Drape yourself in thickly woven silks that not just exude a festive fervor but also lend a warmth that keeps you cosy in winter. Choose the right jewellery to complement the attire, suggest experts.

Tarang Arora and Vinutha Subramanian have listed the different saris and jewellery pieces that could be paired with them:

* Pochampally: Nothing can surpass the grandeur of a Pochampally sari. It is like an intimate rendezvous of geometry and dye, perfect for an occasion like a wedding. Its intensity and density, both will keep you busy and warm throughout. Wear statement earrings in silver to add to the graceful look.

* Tussar: Tussar sari exudes a distinct natural dull golden luster, resulting from its rich textural weaves, thus even a plain Tussar sari is a feast for eyes. Owing to its thick weave, you may not even have to reach out for your shawl in the cold season. Accentuate the entire look with simple silver studs.

* Patola: If you wear a Patola, you would not need to wear anything else. From the sheer hard work that goes into a Patola to the price tag attached, it is a stunning result of rare handcraft. Wear it with your statement silver neck piece you have been keeping a special look.

* Ikat: For the demure and graceful wedding wear, Ikats are the classic choice. Its serrated feathery edge and vivid colours lend it a unique visual charm. Also, the density of weave makes sure that no passing winds make you miss the wedding fun. A silver, bold finished maangtika or ear cuffs can glamourize the look.

* Baluchari: Illustrative in nature and conversational in nature, a Baluchari sari is like a woven picture of the past. Intricate weaving and fascinating motifs would keep you going through the festivities unfazed. Wear heavy silver jhumkas or chunky rings to complement the attire.

* Paithani: A crafting tradition that is more than 2000 years old, draping the royalty and connoisseurs across continents over the centuries, Paithani saris are magnificent, to say the least.

Couple the sari with big and quirky ear cuffs or a heavy silver bangle.