Tunis: Arab Interior Ministers called for strengthening the fight against cybercrime as the 40th session of the Arab Interior Ministers Council concluded, according to an official statement.
During the conference, the Council of Arab Ministers of the Interior decided to strengthen its efforts to combat cybercrime and respect for human rights.
It also highlighted the importance of activating mechanisms to combat drug trafficking to contain its serious repercussions on the Arab world, Xinhua news agency reported.
“These mechanisms include the establishment of a working group for the immediate exchange of information on drugs and psychotropic substances,” said the statement on Friday.
The 40th session of the Arab Interior Ministers Council, which opened in Tunis on Wednesday, was attended by Arab Interior Ministers, high-level Arab security delegations and representatives of Arab and international organisations.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has condemned comments by Israeli Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich calling for the destruction of the Palestinian village of Huwara, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) affirmed the UAE’s rejection of all practices and behaviors that contradict moral and human values and principles.
The ministry underscored the need to confront hate speech and violence and noted the importance of promoting the values of tolerance and human coexistence in efforts to reduce escalation and instability in the region.
Moreover, the ministry stressed the need to support all regional and international efforts to advance the peace process in the Middle East, end illegal practices that threaten the two-state solution, and establish an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
New Delhi: Delhi Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot has been given the additional charge of finance and power while Social Welfare Minister Raaj Kumar Anand will be handling education and health departments till new ministers are appointed in the Cabinet, officials said on Tuesday.
The announcement was made on Tuesday hours after Delhi ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain, arrested on corruption charges, resigned from the Arvind Kejriwal-led cabinet.
According to officials, Kejriwal has accepted the resignations of the two leaders, who played a pivotal role in implementing his governance agenda of good education and health facilities in the national capital.
Sisodia was handling 18 of the total 33 departments in the Delhi government. His portfolios have been divided between Gahlot and Anand as a temporary arrangement.
“Till the time new ministers are appointed, the allotment of additional portfolios for the interim period will see Gahlot taking care of finance, planning, public works department, power, home, urban development, irrigation and flood control, and water along with his existing departments.
“Raaj Kumar Anand will be taking care of education, land and building, vigilance, services, tourism, art culture and language, labour, employment, health and industries in addition to his existing portfolios,” said an official.
Hours after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accepted the resignation of Sisodia and Jain on Tuesday, AAP national spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said two new ministers will be appointed “very soon”.
The resignations came minutes after the SC refused to entertain the bail plea of Sisodia, who is in CBI custody in the now-scrapped excise policy case, saying it would set a “wrong precedent” and efficacious alternative remedies are available to him.
While Sisodia was arrested on Sunday evening by CBI after nearly nine hours of questioning, Jain, currently lodged in Tihar, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in May last year in connection with a money laundering case.
However, Jain continued to be a minister in the Delhi government without any portfolios. Jain’s portfolios, including health, home and urban development were handed over to Sisodia.
New Delhi: Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia speaks during a press conference in New Delhi, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. (PTI Photo/Atul Yadav)
Delhi ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain on Tuesday resigned from their posts in the state cabinet.
According to a report by ANI, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal accepted their resignation.
Manish Sisodia has been in control of 18 ministries, including Satyendar Jain’s health portfolio, who has been in jail for 10 months.
The resignations followed as the BJP questioned why arrested leaders remained in the Delhi administration.
The Delhi cabinet currently has five ministers, including Kejriwal.
This comes very soon after the Supreme Court’s decision to decline a plea by arrested Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia challenging his arrest by the CBI in an alleged case of corruption in the now-withdrawn Delhi liquor policy.
(This is a breaking story. Keep refreshing the page for newer updates).
SRINAGAR: Agreeing to the plea that a fair trial in Kashmir is challenging for him, the High Court has transferred the trial of erstwhile health minister Shabir Khan to Jammu. He has been accused of molesting a lady doctor, who happens to be the wife of a separatist politician.
“It is not in dispute that respondent No 2, (complainant) who happens to be wife of a separatist leader, wields some influence amongst certain sections of people living in the valley who subscribe to his ideology,” the transfer order issued on February 22, 2023, by the court of Mr Justice Sanjay Dhar reads. “It is a fact of common knowledge that incidents of attacks on mainstream politicians and the people who do not subscribe to the separatist’s ideology are still taking place in Kashmir Valley. Therefore, it cannot be stated that apprehension expressed by the petitioner to his life at Srinagar while facing trial before the court is unfounded.”
In his plea, Shabir Ahmad Khan, the Congress party’s minister of state for health in Jammu and Kashmir has said that his defence lawyer, Mohammad Abdullah Pandit, refused to represent him in the court after he received a threat to his life. Later, Khan stated that he approached two more lawyers – Maroof Kha and Showkat, but they refused to plead his case.
Shabir A Khan (Congress)
“It is further submitted that the atmosphere surrounding the court premises is highly surcharged and hostile and whenever, he appears before the court, slogans are being raised against him inside and outside the court premises,” the order details Khan’s plea. “It is averred that at the time when the case is being taken up for hearing, the court remains jam-packed and the petitioner apprehends grave and serious bodily attack from the crowd which gathers over there, upon the instigation of the separatists.”
The court found merit in the plea and transferred the case to a Jammu court. The transfer was directed on basis of the status of the petitioner and background of the complainant as the court observed that “it appears that fair and impartial trial of the case that has been filed against the petitioner on the basis of the complaint lodged by respondent No 2, may not be possible at Srinagar”.
The case is an older one. On basis of the complaint filed by the lady doctor, the Jammu and Kashmir Police registered a case against Khan on February 6, 2014, at Shaheed Gunj police station for offences punishable under section 354 (outraging modesty of woman) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC). Khan resigned from the ministry within days.
This also led to his resignation as health minister in Omar Abdullah government on February 7, 2014. His party had advised him to put in his papers till an inquiry will find out the details about the allegations levelled against him. Khan, then represented Rajouri in the erstwhile state assembly.
In her complaint, the lady doctor had alleged that she was repeatedly summoned by Khan’s staff to meet the minister about some announcements made by the health minister in Delhi. The complainant claimed that even though she insisted the minister must get details from senior officials, still, she was compelled to report at the minister’s office on January 28.
The woman alleged that when she reached Khan’s office at the Secretariat, he acted like a “sexual predator” and made provocative advances – both verbal and physical. Besides, the minister offered her many favours despite her resentment. Later the police registered a case on basis of the complaint.
Police investigated the case and submitted the charge sheet. Now, Khan moved the High Court and sought the case transfer to Jammu. His petition claims that he is a politician was “falsely implicated” “due to political rivalry”, in order “to tarnish his image”.
The case is listed for trial on April 12, 2023, in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Jammu
The transfer of the case, interestingly, has off-court implications as well. “The ruling came at a time the Centre has been hard-selling an all-is-well line on Kashmir,” Kolkata-based newspaper Telegraph reported.
Bengaluru: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das and other dignitaries during the 1st G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting, in Bengaluru, Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. (PTI Photo)
Bengaluru: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the 1st G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting, in Bengaluru, Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. (PTI Photo)
Bengaluru: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das during the 1st G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting, in Bengaluru, Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. (PTI Photo)
Bengaluru: Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das during the 1st G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting, in Bengaluru, Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. (PTI Photo)
Bengaluru: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with G20 delegates at the lunch break during the 1st G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting, in Bengaluru, Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. (PTI Photo)
Bengaluru: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with G20 delegates at the lunch break during the 1st G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting, in Bengaluru, Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. (PTI Photo)
Wellington: A Cabinet committee and regional ministerial leads were appointed on Tuesday to help coordinate New Zealand’s response and recovery from cyclone Gabrielle which lashed the North Island over the past week.
The new Extreme Weather Recovery Committee will be chaired by Finance Minister Grant Robertson as Minister for Cyclone Recovery, with Barbara Edmonds as deputy, while Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty will also be members, reports Xinhua news agency.
“The government is fully aware of the scale of the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle and that the rebuild will come with a multi-billion dollar price tag,” Hipkins said.
The cyclone has left 11 people dead and more than 3,200 people uncontactable.
The government has provided an initial support package of NZ$50 million for businesses, farmers and growers, as well as injecting an extra NZ$250 million to help local councils fix roads, get transport links back up and access into communities, Hipkins said.
“But recovery is going to take a long time, so the Committee will help steer the work needed over the coming weeks and months to get affected regions back up and running again,” he said.
Ministers, in place for each affected region, will work directly with local councils on the local response and ensure local voices are heard and acted on, he added.
More fatalities still remain possible, said the prime minister, adding that the government discussed initial recovery plans on Monday, with the cost of the recovery estimated to be about NZ$13 billion.
New Zealand’s resilience is being tested like never before, Hipkins said.
“Lives have been turned upside down… Many people have seen their homes and all of their possessions completely destroyed. Countless others have been displaced,” he said.
About 10,000 people have been displaced by the adverse event, the level of which New Zealand has not seen since the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011, the authorities said.
New Zealand declared state of emergency on February 13, the third time in the country’s history, followed by widespread power outages, flight cancellations and school closures in the North Island.
It is only two weeks after Auckland and the adjacent region Waikato were inundated by record downpours and floods.
Four people were killed in the previous disaster three weeks ago, mainly in Auckland, the country’s largest city.
Bhubaneswar: The budget session of Odisha assembly will be stormy as Opposition BJP and Congress have decided to target the state government over the brutal murder of minister Naba Kishore Das.
The BJP held its legislative party meeting on Monday while the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Congress would hold their meetings on Tuesday to prepare strategies for the session.
“A cabinet minister was killed in broad daylight by a police official. Though 23 days have passed since the murder of Naba Das, the crime branch is still in dark about the conspirator behind the murder case,” said BJP chief whip Mohan Majhi.
Alleging there is no law and order in the state, Majhi said his party will raise the minister’s murder case as its major issue in the budget session.
Apart from the murder case, the BJP will also raise farmers’ plight, irregularities in Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), hijack of free rice scheme of central government and sexual harassment case against Tirtol BJD MLA during the session.
Similarly, the Congress party will also raise the murder case. Congress legislature party leader Narasingha Mishra said the main issue for the budget session is deteriorating law and order situation in the state.
How can the government, which has failed to protect its own minister, provide safety and security to the people and their property?, he asked.
The law and order situation has collapsed in the state. The killing of Naba Das in broad daylight by a policeman showed that ‘jungle raj’ prevails in the state, Mishra alleged.
The Congress leader alleged that Das’ murder was not accidental. “It did not occur all of a sudden, but as a result of a deep-rooted conspiracy,” claimed Mishra.
The Congress party would also raise issues like rising crime in the state, mismanagement in paddy procurement, unemployment and inflation, he informed.
On the other hand, the treasury bench has decided to raise the central government’s neglect issue to counter the Opposition. The ruling party would raise reduction of the budgetary allocation for paddy procurement and discontinuation of distribution of 5 kg free rice under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).
The BJD will also raise the issue relating to Jayanarayan Mishra, who allegedly manhandled a lady police officer.
Government chief whip Prasanta Kumar Muduli said the ruling party is always ready to discuss any issue, which is in the interest of the state and its people.
Strategy to counter the opposition will be decided at the BJD legislature party meeting to be held on Tuesday, he said.
The budget session will be held in two phases – first phase from February 21 to March 1 and second phase from from March 10 to April 6.
The budget session will start with the address of Governor Ganeshi Lal on Tuesday while the annual budget for the year 2023-24 will be presented in the House on February 24.
Indigenous activists are planning to take some of Brazil’s top ministers to the spot where Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira were murdered in the Amazon rainforest amid reports security forces are poised to launch a major environmental clampdown in the remote border region.
Leaders of Univaja, the Indigenous association for which Pereira worked in Brazil’s Javari valley, said senior politicians, including justice minister Flávio Dino and the minister for Indigenous peoples Sônia Guajajara, would travel there on 27 February.
The visit is part of a high-profile push by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s new government to beat back the illegal miners, loggers and poachers who wrought environmental havoc during the four-year term of his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.
Last week special forces operatives from the environmental protection agency Ibama and federal police launched what is expected to be a months-long operation to drive tens of thousands of illegal miners from the Yanomami indigenous territory after claims its 28,000 inhabitants had faced “genocide” under Bolsonaro.
Beto Marubo, one of Univaja’s main leaders, said the government delegation would be taken to the decrepit riverside base which guards the entrance to the Javari Valley territory, the world’s largest refuge for Indigenous tribes living in isolation.
The ministers would also be taken to the spot where Phillips, a British journalist who reported for the Guardian, and Pereira, a Brazilian Indigenous expert, were shot dead on 5 June last year as they traveled by boat down the Itaquaí river.
“We will show them,” said Marubo. “This is going to be a historic moment.”
As the activists spoke, the Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that the defense ministry planned to launch a “mega-operation” in the Javari valley on the same day as the ministerial visit. The springboard for that operation will reportedly be Atalaia do Norte, the isolated river town Phillips and Pereira were trying to reach when they were attacked by a trio of men apparently enraged by Pereira’s defense of the region’s Indigenous communities.
An aerial view taken from a Brazilian helicopter patrolling the area of Atalaia do Norte in the search for Phillips and Pereira in June 2022. Photograph: João Laet/AFP/Getty Images
The Univaja activists welcomed the new government’s moves to protect Indigenous communities and the environment but voiced skepticism about the “mega-operation”. Rather than a cinematic, headline-grabbing crackdown, Beto Marubo said they wanted to see a forceful, long-term intervention that would protect Indigenous communities and activists from ongoing violence.
“The threats continued [after Phillips and Pereira were murdered]. The invasions continue. We are constantly being threatened … No one is safe in our region – be they Indigenous people or those we call ‘the whites’,” said Paulo Marubo, Univaja’s president.
Paulo Marubo said urgent government action was now needed in the Javari valley – which, as well as environmental crime, has become a major thoroughfare for cocaine produced over the border in Peru – “so that what happened to the Yanomami Indigenous territory doesn’t happen here”.
“We lost a great friend,” he said of Pereira. “And we do not feel safe on our own land … There is no security in our region … We are human beings too. We have lived on these lands for thousands of years … and we are the greatest protectors of the forest.”
The planned ministerial visit to the Javari is another highly symbolic gesture of how Brazil’s attitude towards the environment and environmental defenders has changed since power passed from Bolsonaro to Lula on 1 January.
After Phillips and Pereira went missing, Bolsonaro’s administration faced international condemnation for dragging its heels with the search effort. Bolsonaro claimed the men had embarked on an “ill-advised adventure”. No ministers visited the Javari region in the days or months after their murders.
Lula’s ministers, in contrast, have voiced solidarity with the families of the murdered men and the Indigenous communities whose plight they were chronicling when they died. After Lula’s election last year, his environment minister, Marina Silva, said the new government would battle to honour the memory of the rainforest martyrs killed trying to safeguard the Amazon.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
Jerusalem: Israel’s finance minister on Tuesday dismissed Washington’s criticism of new settlement construction in the West Bank, promising to double down and legalise dozens of wildcat outposts in the occupied territory.
Bezalel Smotrich reaffirmed his commitment to expand Israeli authority in the lands that the Palestinians seek for a future state less than a day after the United States expressed opposition to the move.
On Tuesday, Europe’s top diplomats also condemned Israel’s plans to build thousands of new homes in the West Bank and retroactively legalise nine outposts, saying they are “deeply troubled” and “strongly oppose these unilateral actions”.
The joint statement from the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom echoed the American condemnation, with no sign they would any action against Israel.
Smotrich, a religious ultranationalist settler, appeared defiant on Tuesday. He and his right-wing allies, he said, remain “committed to removing completely the restrictions on building in Judea and Samaria”, referring to the West Bank by its biblical names.
Smotrich said the Israeli government has “clarified (its) position to the Americans.”
“Disagreements are allowed, even between friends,” he added.
In a contentious coalition deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised Smotrich authority over the defense body responsible for planning for both settlements and Palestinian construction in parts of the West Bank where Israel maintains civilian control.
Once he receives those powers, Smotrich has vowed to “normalise” life for more than 500,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, erasing the differences between living in a settlement and within Israel’s internationally recognised border and effectively annexing West Bank territory. Such a move would draw widespread global condemnation.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war.
Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements illegal and and an obstacle to peace. Some 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
On Sunday, after a surge in violence in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu’s Cabinet unanimously authorised the legalization of nine settlement outposts and said it would soon approve 10,000 new homes in existing settlements.
Ultranationalists who oppose Palestinian statehood comprise a large part of Israel’s new government, which has declared settlement construction a top priority.
Israel’s newest settlement plans have also drawn condemnation from Israel’s Arab neighbours Jordan and Egypt, as well as Saudi Arabia.
On Tuesday, Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt also joined the chorus of criticism.
“The Israeli settlement policy on occupied land is contrary to international law and must be stopped,” Huitfeldt said.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
