The Election Commission (EC) on Friday ordered an FIR against office-bearers of the BJP's Manipur unit and certain newspapers for publishing advertisements without its approval.

In a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer of Manipur, the EC has ordered that the FIRs under Section 188 of IPC against be lodged against BJP state unit office-bearers and the newspapers which carried the advertisements on Friday in contravention of its orders and violation of R.P. Act.

The EC had instructed all stakeholders to not publish any advertisements on March 3 and 4 without pre-screening and subsequent approval by state-level MCMC committee.

The newspapers which carried the advertisements are: Sangai Express (Manipuri and English editions), Poknapham, People's Chronicle, Naharolgi, Thoudang, Imphal Free Press, Echel Express and Huiyen Lanpao.

The poll panel has also sought a compliance report by Monday.

The first phase of the state assembly election will be held on Saturday (March 4) in 38 assembly constituencies.

The Election Commission (EC) on Friday ordered an FIR against office-bearers of the BJP's Manipur unit and certain newspapers for publishing advertisements without its approval.

In a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer of Manipur, the EC has ordered that the FIRs under Section 188 of IPC against be lodged against BJP state unit office-bearers and the newspapers which carried the advertisements on Friday in contravention of its orders and violation of R.P. Act.

The EC had instructed all stakeholders to not publish any advertisements on March 3 and 4 without pre-screening and subsequent approval by state-level MCMC committee.

The newspapers which carried the advertisements are: Sangai Express (Manipuri and English editions), Poknapham, People's Chronicle, Naharolgi, Thoudang, Imphal Free Press, Echel Express and Huiyen Lanpao.

The poll panel has also sought a compliance report by Monday.

The first phase of the state assembly election will be held on Saturday (March 4) in 38 assembly constituencies.

The controversial RSS leader from Madhya Pradesh, Kundan Chandrawat, who had placed an Rs 1 crore bounty on Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s head over reported killings of RSS leaders in the southern state was sacked by the RSS on Friday. 

“Kundan who made controversial statement at Ujjain protest meeting has been relieved of his responsibility in RSS,” senior RSS leader M M Vaidya announced here. 

In a related development, the RSS Madhya Pradesh convenor Dr Prakash Shashtri in a press note also said Chandrawat has been relieved of his responsibility. 

The sacking order came amid mounting pressure on the RSS and the widespread condemnation of the RSS Madhya Pradesh leader’s announcement of a reward on Kerala chief minister’s head, which allegedly amounted to issuing a death threat. 

The RSS has since declared that it does not subscribe to the stand or utterances of its MP based leader. 

Today’s action against Chandrawat came despite an apology from him. He had reportedly retracted his statement which he said he had made following killing of RSS leaders in Kerala. He had also reportedly said he had received death threats from Kerala over his ‘bounty on Kerala Chief Minister’s head’ remarks. 

The southern state has been witnessing clashes between the RSS and CPM activists for some time now. Following Chandrawat’s statement there have been sporadic incidents of clashes between the RSS and CPM workers in Kerala in which workers from both sides have been injured. 

The controversial RSS leader from Madhya Pradesh, Kundan Chandrawat, who had placed an Rs 1 crore bounty on Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s head over reported killings of RSS leaders in the southern state was sacked by the RSS on Friday. 

“Kundan who made controversial statement at Ujjain protest meeting has been relieved of his responsibility in RSS,” senior RSS leader M M Vaidya announced here. 

In a related development, the RSS Madhya Pradesh convenor Dr Prakash Shashtri in a press note also said Chandrawat has been relieved of his responsibility. 

The sacking order came amid mounting pressure on the RSS and the widespread condemnation of the RSS Madhya Pradesh leader’s announcement of a reward on Kerala chief minister’s head, which allegedly amounted to issuing a death threat. 

The RSS has since declared that it does not subscribe to the stand or utterances of its MP based leader. 

Today’s action against Chandrawat came despite an apology from him. He had reportedly retracted his statement which he said he had made following killing of RSS leaders in Kerala. He had also reportedly said he had received death threats from Kerala over his ‘bounty on Kerala Chief Minister’s head’ remarks. 

The southern state has been witnessing clashes between the RSS and CPM activists for some time now. Following Chandrawat’s statement there have been sporadic incidents of clashes between the RSS and CPM workers in Kerala in which workers from both sides have been injured. 

President Donald Trump's defence of torture has set a precedent for other countries to follow, even if the US does not act on it, a UN official said on Friday.

Trump's support for waterboarding and other such techniques shows a "staggering level of ill-preparedness to govern," said UN rights rapporteur Ben Emmerson.

"We are in a situation where we have the first ever democratically elected head of state in the world who positively advocates torture," he told reporters in Geneva.

"And that is a state of affairs which lays down a gauntlet, it lays down a precedent. It enables other states to point… and to say well … Why shouldn't we?"

Trump said days after his inauguration he thinks waterboarding and other techniques widely seen as torture "absolutely" work, but would defer to his CIA and Pentagon chiefs on whether to reinstate them.

"That statement in itself, never mind whether it is implemented, in itself, has undermined the international prohibition on torture," said Emmerson.

It has thereby "elevated the risk that suspects will be tortured producing unreliable, often useless intelligence," and increasing the risk of terrorism in response, he added.

In a speech yesterday, Emmerson – the UN's rapporteur on protecting rights and freedoms while countering terrorism – had lashed out at Trump.

To hear the new US leader "glibly extolling the virtues of torture as a weapon in the right against terrorism… was enough to make my blood run cold," he said.

"It shows a staggering level of ill-preparedness to govern.

Re-introducing waterboarding "for reasons of jingoistic populism" would "fuel the resentments that stoke the risk of terrorism," he said.

"All this leaves one wondering whether lasting progress in this field is ever going to be possible," he added.

The British UN official was speaking at the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council, currently underway in Geneva.

President Donald Trump's defence of torture has set a precedent for other countries to follow, even if the US does not act on it, a UN official said on Friday.

Trump's support for waterboarding and other such techniques shows a "staggering level of ill-preparedness to govern," said UN rights rapporteur Ben Emmerson.

"We are in a situation where we have the first ever democratically elected head of state in the world who positively advocates torture," he told reporters in Geneva.

"And that is a state of affairs which lays down a gauntlet, it lays down a precedent. It enables other states to point… and to say well … Why shouldn't we?"

Trump said days after his inauguration he thinks waterboarding and other techniques widely seen as torture "absolutely" work, but would defer to his CIA and Pentagon chiefs on whether to reinstate them.

"That statement in itself, never mind whether it is implemented, in itself, has undermined the international prohibition on torture," said Emmerson.

It has thereby "elevated the risk that suspects will be tortured producing unreliable, often useless intelligence," and increasing the risk of terrorism in response, he added.

In a speech yesterday, Emmerson – the UN's rapporteur on protecting rights and freedoms while countering terrorism – had lashed out at Trump.

To hear the new US leader "glibly extolling the virtues of torture as a weapon in the right against terrorism… was enough to make my blood run cold," he said.

"It shows a staggering level of ill-preparedness to govern.

Re-introducing waterboarding "for reasons of jingoistic populism" would "fuel the resentments that stoke the risk of terrorism," he said.

"All this leaves one wondering whether lasting progress in this field is ever going to be possible," he added.

The British UN official was speaking at the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council, currently underway in Geneva.

Several dubious companies were under the radar of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and if found to be shell firms, they would be removed from the website of Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), a top official said on Friday.

CBDT chairman Sushil Chandra said several such companies were being examined by the statutory authority, working under department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance.

"There are many companies which are currently being examined by CBDT through a committee to check if they are legitimate or are being operated as shell companies.

"If a firm is found to be a shell firm, we will strike it off from MCA website and serve it a notice," said Chandra told reporters here.

Chandra was invited here by the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) for felicitation.

"We will not allow any company to be operated as a shell firm. We will take action against such firms," he said.

In his speech at the function, Chandra said CBDT does not believe in intrusive action when it comes to the ordinary tax-payers.

However, he warned that the Income Tax Department will take action if people did not volunteer information.

"Each and every bank account is under our scanner to find out tax evasion. We urge people to come forward and declare their sources. If that does not happen, we have to take intrusive action against such persons who will then be called tax evaders," he said.

Several dubious companies were under the radar of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and if found to be shell firms, they would be removed from the website of Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), a top official said on Friday.

CBDT chairman Sushil Chandra said several such companies were being examined by the statutory authority, working under department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance.

"There are many companies which are currently being examined by CBDT through a committee to check if they are legitimate or are being operated as shell companies.

"If a firm is found to be a shell firm, we will strike it off from MCA website and serve it a notice," said Chandra told reporters here.

Chandra was invited here by the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) for felicitation.

"We will not allow any company to be operated as a shell firm. We will take action against such firms," he said.

In his speech at the function, Chandra said CBDT does not believe in intrusive action when it comes to the ordinary tax-payers.

However, he warned that the Income Tax Department will take action if people did not volunteer information.

"Each and every bank account is under our scanner to find out tax evasion. We urge people to come forward and declare their sources. If that does not happen, we have to take intrusive action against such persons who will then be called tax evaders," he said.

The West Bengal government on Friday decided to hike the salaries of state ministers, MLAs and the Speaker of the Assembly.

State ministers, who were earlier drawing a monthly salary of Rs 7,500, would get a hike of Rs 10,000 taking their total salary amount to Rs 17,500, the state cabinet today decided in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

For MLAs and the Speaker, who were getting a monthly remuneration of Rs 12,500, the proposed hike was that of Rs 5,000 each, taking their salary to an equal platform with the ministers, a senior state minister said after the meeting.

In another decision, the cabinet gave its nod to incorporate South 24 Parganas Kolkata Leather Complex into the Kolkata Police jurisdiction, he said.

The cabinet also sanctioned five major bridge/Railway over bridge projects to improve communication and road safety at an estimated cost of Rs 251.51 crore, the minister said.

The West Bengal government on Friday decided to hike the salaries of state ministers, MLAs and the Speaker of the Assembly.

State ministers, who were earlier drawing a monthly salary of Rs 7,500, would get a hike of Rs 10,000 taking their total salary amount to Rs 17,500, the state cabinet today decided in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

For MLAs and the Speaker, who were getting a monthly remuneration of Rs 12,500, the proposed hike was that of Rs 5,000 each, taking their salary to an equal platform with the ministers, a senior state minister said after the meeting.

In another decision, the cabinet gave its nod to incorporate South 24 Parganas Kolkata Leather Complex into the Kolkata Police jurisdiction, he said.

The cabinet also sanctioned five major bridge/Railway over bridge projects to improve communication and road safety at an estimated cost of Rs 251.51 crore, the minister said.

Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Friday refused to withdraw his statement that schools run by madrassas and the RSS spread hatred.

The Hyderabad Police had last month registered a case against Singh over his social media post criticising the Muslim madrassas (seminaries) and the RSS-run Saraswati Sishu Mandirs.

These schools "spread hatred", the Congress leader had said.

"Whenever Digvijay Singh attacks the Hindu fundamentalism, the Muslim clergy loves it, but whenever I say something about the religious fanatics in the minority community, they have an issue," he told reporters here.

"If Telangana police comes to question me… I am not withdrawing my remarks. I stand by my remarks. The remarks are in the best interests of everyone. I have right to say that religious fundamentalism is a curse for the secular fabric of this country," he said.

He said during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh he had recommended ban on Students Islamic Movement of India, and the Bajarang Dal. "But only SIMI was banned by the then central government," he claimed.

Congress wanted modernisation of madrassas, he said.

Singh was booked on a complaint by Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) leader Amjed Ullah Khan under IPC section 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings).

Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Friday refused to withdraw his statement that schools run by madrassas and the RSS spread hatred.

The Hyderabad Police had last month registered a case against Singh over his social media post criticising the Muslim madrassas (seminaries) and the RSS-run Saraswati Sishu Mandirs.

These schools "spread hatred", the Congress leader had said.

"Whenever Digvijay Singh attacks the Hindu fundamentalism, the Muslim clergy loves it, but whenever I say something about the religious fanatics in the minority community, they have an issue," he told reporters here.

"If Telangana police comes to question me… I am not withdrawing my remarks. I stand by my remarks. The remarks are in the best interests of everyone. I have right to say that religious fundamentalism is a curse for the secular fabric of this country," he said.

He said during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh he had recommended ban on Students Islamic Movement of India, and the Bajarang Dal. "But only SIMI was banned by the then central government," he claimed.

Congress wanted modernisation of madrassas, he said.

Singh was booked on a complaint by Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) leader Amjed Ullah Khan under IPC section 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings).

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has said the Narendra Modi government's decision to demonetise high-value currency notes was a "fundamental failure of policy design".

Gandhi's statement was read out by Congress' legal cell head K.C. Mittal in a party-organised seminar titled "Untold stories of Demonetisation – its impact on Indian Economy" here on Friday as he was busy with other political meetings. 

"In a country, where most transaction are on cash, and majority of population are without access to banking services, the decision to suddenly remove 86 percent of currency in circulation without adequate preparation and consultation has been a fundamental failure of policy design," said Gandhi. 

Expressing support for any "credible effort to curb corruption, black money and counterfeit currency" taken by the government, he said: "But we cannot support ill-conceived policies that are devised for political reasons and without understanding the consequences of the majority of the people."

Attacking Modi's policy, Gandhi said that "two months after the conclusion of demonetisation drive, the government has failed to provide even estimate of black money unearthed". 

"Meanwhile black money hoarders continue to flourish, fake currency continues to flourish, and bulk of black money in real estates and other forms remain untouched," he said in his message.

Lashing out at the Narendra Modi government at the centre, Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday said the country has the "most anti-intellectual" government in the world.

"We have the most anti-intellectual government in the world ~ which even thinks Dr Amartya Sen, a professor of Harvard University, is undeserving of any respect. It thinks that Oxford, Harvard, Cambridge are all useless,” Chidambaram said.

Amartya Sen termed the decision to ban high-denomination notes a ‘despotic action’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a dig at economists critical of his demonetisation move, saying that “hard work is more powerful than Harvard.”

Chidambaram said demonetisation was done not on the recommendation of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to the Government of India. “Demonetisation is done on the diktat of Government of India to RBI,” he said.

Chidambaram said the Central Statistical Office (CSO) numbers claim that nothing has happened to the economy on account of demonetisation.

“The dazzle of this number cannot hide the fact that crores of people were devastated by this move. The government changed the methodology for calculating. They now have Gross Value Added (GVA). If one taxes and deducts subsidies, we arrive at GDP. Additional tax revenues are no reflection of growth,” he added.

Citing government data, he said going by the GVA figures it is clear that the economy has slowed down and the Q4 data of national income will further confirm that the economy has been hit "very very badly" by the note ban. The GVA numbers for the FY 2014-15 and FY 2015-16 does not show any trend, he said, adding that in FY 2016-17, there is a clear declining trend from the fourth quarter of FY 2015-16. The Net GVA shows that there is around 3 percentage point fall in the Net GVA of 8.76 since Q4 of FY 2015-16 to 5.73 of Q3 FY2016-17.    

Elaborating on the CSO growth calculation numbers, Chidambaram said  demonetisation did not affect three sectors. First, it did not affect government expenditure, on the contrary government spending increased after demonetisation. Second, it did not affect agricultural production since the monsoon was bountiful this year. However, it impacted the prices due to crash in commodity markets. And thirdly, it did not affect utilities such as paying of electricity bills. Moreover, government allowed use of old currency to pay utilities and people paid their long pending dues with old currency.

Chidambaram said that none of the government's motives of demonetisation such as eradication of black money, counterfeit currency and corruption has been met which made them change their narratives from time to time. "Every procedure and every norm was violated in taking this decision and announcing it,” he said.

Liverpool are looking to recover from their 3-1 humbling against Leicester when they welcome an Arsenal side in a Premier League clash that neither can afford to lose. The latter have also been inconsistent in recent weeks.

The last time the two sides met, Liverpool edged the Gunners 4-3 on the opening day. While plenty has changed since then, their propensity towards conceding has continued.

Both the Gunners and Arsenal have been put under pressure by arch-rivals Manchester United in recent weeks and while a result is difficult to call, the home side definitely enjoy an advantage.

Liverpool
Gone are the free-scoring early days, with their once-vaunted front-three of Sadio Mane, Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino shockingly quiet since the turn of the year.
While Coutinho and Mane have shown sparks of returning to their earlier barnstorming displays, Jurgen Klopp’s affinity towards Firmino is questionable as the midfielder fluffs his lines in front of goal on a regular basis. The onus is increasingly falling on the rapid Mane to deliver from the wing but there are limits to the African’s abilities and the likes of Adam Lallana must provide decent support if the Reds are to come out of their slump.

The second issue for Liverpool is their defence, which has never truly been solid to begin with, but when Lucas Leiva is called in to play as a central defender, you know you have problems.

Dejan Lovren is back in training and might just start, if Klopp deems it worth the risk. Ragnar Klavan is available for selection but the experienced defender is more of a liability than Lucas even. And the bad news continues as Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge (Again!) are ruled out of Saturday’s trip.

Arsenal
On the verge of an exit from the Champions League and once again flattering to deceive in the Premier League title race, the Gunners have been horribly inconsistent since the end of January.

A home loss to Watford and an embarrassing demotion by Chelsea have ignited fans calls for Arsene Wenger to leave the club. While that is a little extreme, the French manager’s methods have been questionable after some poor performances by top players in the big games.

Like Coutinho and co have been misfiring for Liverpool, Arsenal’s creator-in-chief, Mesut Ozil has been severely underperforming in the major games. But since he has been ruled out of the tie due to illness, can the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott step up in his absence?

The Gunners' problem area is their central midfield, with a bit of an injury crisis happening in that department. Santi Cazorla and Mohammed Elneny remain unavailable and while Granit Xhaka is eligible to play after serving a suspension, the rash midfielder may find it hard to cope with the frenetic pace Liverpool play at.

Super Stat: The last 30 Liverpool-Arsenal games have had a minimum of two goals, with just three notable exceptions ( A 0-0 draw and two 1-0 results) in a period spanning 12 years!

India on Friday rejected China’s objection to the proposed visit of the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh as well as Beijing’s claim over strategically vital Tawang region in the Northeastern state. 

"The government’s position is well known and has not changed," an official source said in response to statements emanating from Beijing that the Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal would seriously damage bilateral ties and that the border dispute between the two nations could be resolved if New Delhi accepted Beijing’s claim over Tawang. 

New Delhi has made it very clear time and again that the Dalai Lama is an honoured guest of India who is free to travel anywhere in the country but cannot undertake any political activity. The Tibetan spiritual leader is expected to visit Arunachal in April.    

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of Tibet and routinely objects to any visits by top leaders, officials and diplomats to the area. At his media briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said, "India is fully aware of the seriousness of the Dalai issue and the sensitivity of China-India border question. Under such a background if India invites the Dalai to visit to the mentioned territory, it will cause serious damage to peace and stability of border region and China-India relations.” 

India also reasserted its position on Tawang after Dai Bingguo, a former ace Chinese diplomat who served as his country’s negotiator on the boundary dispute with India from 2003 to 2013, said, "If the Indian side takes care of China’s concerns in the eastern sector of their border, the Chinese side will respond accordingly and address India’s concerns elsewhere.” 

Elaborating China’s stand, Dai said, “The disputed territory in the eastern sector of the China-India boundary, including Tawang, is inalienable from China’s Tibet in terms of cultural background and administrative jurisdiction.”

Musical maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain on Friday launched the music album of Rahul Bose's upcoming film Poorna, a biopic on Poorna Malavath, the youngest girl to climb the Mount Everest.

“It's been a great journey doing the music for this film, almost as great as Poorna's. Sulaiman and I have explored different genres but with the same intent – memorable melodies that evoke great emotion combined with unforgettable lyrics,” Salim Merchant said during the event.

His partner Sulaiman joined in saying: “When Rahul asked us to compose the music for the film we were so moved by the story that we immediately said yes. It is not often that you get to compose songs for a movie so inspirational.”

Dynamic playback singer Arijit has sung two songs in 'Poorna' titled 'Kuch Parbat Hilayein' and 'Babul Mora'.

“I was so moved by both the songs Salim-Sulaiman have composed and Amitabh Bhattacharya has written for 'Poorna', that singing then came effortlessly. The emotions of this film drive the songs. Singing them was pure pleasure,” he said.

The launch took place in a suburban theatre in Mumbai amidst an interesting line-up of live performances and was concluded with the birthday celebration of Salim.

Directed and produced by Rahul Bose, 'Poorna' is scheduled to release on March 31.