India made an impressive start to its campaign at the Paralympic Games with Mariyappan Thangavelu creating history by bagging the gold while Varun Bhati won the bronze medal in the men’s T42 high jump on the second day of the mega-event, here.

But it was disappointment for another Indian athlete Sharad Kumar who failed to finish on the podium.

Thangavelu won the yellow metal with his best jump of 1.89 metres, while Bhati’s best effort of 1.86m fetched him the bronze.

The silver medal in this event went to USA’s Sam Grewe who also registered the same mark of 1.86 metres.

But it was heartbreak for Kumar, who led the pack at one stage after clearing hurdles of 1.55m and 1.60m. His best jump, though, was only 1.77m which placed him at the sixth position.

The event witnessed huge competition as six out of the 12 para athletes cleared the 1.74m mark in their first eight attempts.

In his 10th attempt, Thangavelu jumped 1.77m successfully, along with three others Poland’s Lukasz Mamczarz, China’s Zhiqiang Zhing and countrymate Kumar.

In the later stages with the contest being reduced to only three competitors, Bhati set the tone with a jump of 1.83m mark along with Thagavelu.

However, just when it looked like India would fetch a gold and a silver, the American cleared 1.86m to grab the top spot but the Indians also equalled the height to make it even.

Eventually, in a nail biting finale, Thangavelu grabbed the top honours by finishing with a jump of 1.89m.

In a bid to woo Hindu votes ahead of the Assembly polls in UP, Rahul Gandhi today offered prayers at the Hanuman Garhi Temple here, becoming the first member of the Nehru-Gandhi family to visit Ayodhya since the demolition of the disputed structure in 1992.

Hanuman Garhi is about a kilometre away from the Ram Temple at the disputed Ramjanmbhoomi-Babri Masjid site but Rahul stayed away from the place of ‘shilanyas’, the foundation stone that had been laid there in 1989 for construction of the Ram Temple.

Before having ‘darshan’ at the Hanuman Garhi Temple, the 46-year-old Congress Vice President met Mahant Gyan Das, who is known for his anti-Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) stance.

After his 15-minute closed door meeting, the Mahant said, “Rahul came to seek blessings. If a leader goes to a priest, it is not a big issue.

“Moreover, when one seeks blessings, one definitely comes for fulfilment of some wish…They seek blessings…come with some expectations…we have given blessings…we pray for his welfare,” he said.

The Mahant is a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (All India Akhara Council) — the apex organisation of Sikh and Hindu sants and sadhus (ascetics).

Sources said Rahul did not speak about any compromise on the Ramjanmbhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, but gave an assurance that Congress would stand by whatever the Supreme Court decided.

Rahul also did not discuss the upcoming Assembly elections with the Mahant, they said.

No member of the Congress’ first family has visited Ayodhya since the demolition of the Babri Masjid 24 years ago, in December 1992.

Rahul’s move today is apparently aimed at blunting a perceived negative image for Congress among Hindus.

Old timers recall that 26 years ago, Rahul’s father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had planned to visit the Hanuman Garhi Temple on a trip to Ayodhya during his ‘Sadbhavna Yatra’ in 1990, but he could not make it because of paucity of time.

Rajiv was assassinated the next year, on May 21, 1991 when Rahul was 20 years old. .

Adopting a tough stance, separatists today rebuffed attempts by five opposition MPs to talk to them even as an all-party parliamentary delegation explored ways to end the 56-day-old unrest by holding discussions with Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and some other mainstream leaders.

During the first day of its visit, the delegation met about 200 members in about 30 delegations from various sections of society and listened to their point of view to reach at a common solution to the current scenario in Jammu and Kashmir, a statement from the Home Ministry said.

While the delegation, led by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, met mainstream sections, five members of the group broke away to meet the separatists.

Four MPs — -CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D Raja, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav and RJD’s Jay Prakash Narayan — went to meet hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani at his residence where he is under house arrest for the last 60 days while AIMIM leader Assadudin Owaisi went to meet moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq at Chashma Shahi sub-jail where he is lodged.

At Geelani’s residence, the gate was not even opened for the MPs while people shouted slogans outside. Geelani saw them from the window but refused to meet the parliamentarians.

“It is our effort to show that we are ready to talk to anyone whether they agree to meet or not,” Yadav said.

The group also went to meet JKLF chief Yaseen Malik who is under detention at BSF camp in Humhama. He told the MPs that he will talk when he visits New Delhi.

Owaisi went separately to meet Miwaiz who met him briefly but only exchanged pleasantaries.

After Owaisi’s failed attempt, the group comprising Yechury, Yadav, Raja and Narayan went to meet the Mirwaiz and were with him for about 15 minutes.

The group tried to meet former Hurriyat Chairman Abdul Ghani Bhat who also refused to talk to them. Bhat welcomed the leaders but made it clear it has been decided that no talks will be held with the delegation members.

Owaisi said he also met another detained leader Shabir Shah for some time and offered ‘namaz’ along with him there.

But no separatist leader held talks with them.

“This is a futile exercise. Nothing concrete will happen until or unless India talks to Pakistan on Kashmir. We will not be able to arrive at any solution if India only talks to Kashmiris or Pakistan talks to Kashmiris. We should try and solve this issue which can otherwise result in hostilities between the two neighbouring nations,” said Ghani Bhat.

Earlier in the day, the separatists rejected Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s invitation to them for meeting with all-party delegation, terming such a measure as “deceitful” and insisting that it cannot be an alternative to a “transparent agenda-based dialogue to address the core issue”.

The delegation had come here to cool the volatile situation arising out of violent protests that have gripped the Valley since the killing of Hizbul militant Burhan Wani on July 8. The clashes resulting from the protests have claimed 71 lives and injured thousands. PTI

NCP leader Praful Patel said: “We were always sceptical about the ACB probe. The manner in which the government was shielding Khadse, it was crystal clear that he would be protected.”
NCP leader and former Union minister Praful Patel has claimed that the Devendra Fadnavis government is shielding former Maharashtra minister Eknath Khadse who had resigned in the wake of a series of charges against him.
“We were always sceptical about the ACB probe. The manner in which the government was shielding Khadse, it was crystal clear that he would be protected,” Patel said referring to media reports on the investigating agency giving a ‘clean chit’ to Khadse in a bribery case involving his personal assistant Gajanan Patil.
According to reports, the ACB chargesheet in the case does not name the controversial BJP leader, thus giving him a clean chit. However, Patil, is indicted for allegedly demanding a bribe on Khadse’s behalf.
Among other charges, Khadse was accused of alleged irregularity in buying a Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) plot at Bhosari in Pune.
The former Union minister also criticised the proposed inquiry to be conducted by a retired High Court Judge and demanded that the probe should be under Commission of Inquiry Act.
“This probe is another attempt to save Khadse who is under scanner for questionable land deals by his family members and brazen misuse of office by him,” Patel told reporters here yesterday on the sidelines of a Eid function.
The NCP leader also launched a frontal attack on the state government over alleged deterioration in law and order and took potshots at Fadnavis for inducting alleged tainted individuals in the state cabinet.
The allegations against ministers in Fadnavis’ government are on the rise and with this addition of tainted people, all are perturbed, Patel claimed.
Reacting on the trouble in violence-hit Kashmir valley, Patel claimed that the Centre “over-relied” on personal warmth between leaders overlooking the harsh realities of international politics and criticised the PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir as well the NDA for “inept handling” of the situation.
He also criticised Narendra Modi government for its decision to impose President’s rule in Uttarakhand first and
recently in Arunachal Pradesh.

In a jolt to BJP in Punjab, Navjot Singh Sidhu today resigned from Rajya Sabha, only about three months after his nomination by the government, as speculation raged that he could join Aam Aadmi Party and be its face in the Assembly polls next year.

The resignation of 52-year-old Sidhu, who was nominated on April 22, has been accepted by Chairman Hamid Ansari with immediate effect, the House was informed today.

While he was not available for comments, there is talk of Sidhu joining the AAP ahead of the state elections and may be made the party’s face in the state. Sidhu did not answer calls made to him.

Top AAP leaders Sanjay Singh and Lok Sabha member Bhagwant Singh Mann welcomed Sidhu’s decision to resign from Rajya Sabha but parried questions whether he would join the party and become its CM face.

In a brief statement on his resignation, Sidhu did not reveal much about his future plans but there were indications that he was miffed with the state of affairs in his party.

Today Sardar Navjoyot sidhu has resigned from RS.

“At the behest of the honourable PM, I had accepted the Rajya Sabha nomination for the welfare of punjab.

“With the closure of every window leading to Punjab the purpose stands defeated. It is now a mere burden. I prefer not to carry it.

“In the war of right or wrong, you can’t afford to be neutral rather than being self-centered. Punjab’s interest is paramount,” said the 52-year-old former cricketer-turned politician, who had represented Amritsar in the Lok Sabha between 2004 and 2014.

Sources said that Sidhu has been miffed with the party ever since he made way way for Arun Jaitley in Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

His wife, Navjot Kaur, who is Chief Parliamentary Secretary in Punjab where BJP shares power with Akali Dal, had created a flutter on April 1 (April Fool’s day) announcing her resignation from the BJP.

“The burden is over,” she had written on her Facebook post on April 1, but after a meeting with top BJP leaders in Delhi, she said, “All is well” and she is very much a part of BJP in Punjab.

Both Sidhu and his wife share an uneasy relationship with the Akali leadership and have made open attacks on Akali Dal and its leadership on governance issues.

Kickstarting AAP’s campaign for the 2017 Gujarat assembly polls, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal today asked the people to get rid of “hooligans” and “corrupt” persons.

Kejriwal, who is on a day-long visit to the state, visited the famous Somnath temple here and sought blessings of Lord Shiva. Thereafter, while addressing a gathering of farmers on the outskirts of Somnath city, he targeted the BJP governments at the Centre and the state.

“We will have to fight these goondas (hooligans). These goondas do not understand without a fight…Now, media will say that Kejriwal’s language is bad. But you need to tell a goonda that he is a goonda,” he said.

“These media-persons are asking me if I will fight the elections in Gujarat. I say that we are very small people and do not have the capacity to fight elections. It is for the people of Gujarat to decide whether we should fight elections here,” Kejriwal said.

He went on to ask the gathering if we should fight the elections to which those present answered in the affirmative.

Reacting to that, Kejriwal said, “If you want me to fight, you will have to give money, you will have to go to each house and seek votes. We will together teach a lesson to these corrupt people,” Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal’s scheduled visit to Surat tomorrow had to be cancelled after a trade body, which had invited him, withdrew its invitation, following which the AAP had alleged that this was at the behest of state BJP government.

The AAP leader accused Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel of getting the Surat programme cancelled.

“My original programme of Gujarat was of two days.

Today we were to visit Somnath and tomorrow we had meeting scheduled in Surat. But Anandibenji put undue pressure on businessmen in Surat and got our programme cancelled. I don’t know why Anandibenji is afraid of me,” Kejriwal said.

“Anandiben can stop my meeting of Surat. But she cannot stop my meeting with Lord Shiva, so I decided to come to Gujarat for a meeting with Lord Shiva here,” he said.

Like in Delhi, they are using the police to suppress the voice of those who are against them. In their view, only those who follow the ideology of BJP are patriots while all other are anti-nationals, he said.PTI

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar today said the Narendra Modi-led NDA government will make academicians, teachers and students partners in improving quality of education.

In his first public programme after assuming charge of the crucial portfolio, the Minister also said he will try to solve the grievances of teachers and students on issues related to education.

Addressing students and teachers at a central school here, Javadekar, who has replaced Smriti Irani as HRD Minister, sought “cooperation of everybody” to improve quality of education, particularly in Kendriya Vidyalayas and other educational institutions in the country.

“That is what will make the nation great nation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid emphasis on quality of education and we all will be travelling in that direction.

“Therefore, there are educationists, there are officers, you are students, and teachers…all will be partner in our endeavour to improve the quality of education,” he said.

The Minister while interacting with students and teachers, received a memorandum from a teacher.

“If minister goes to a programme and he doesn’t receive a memorandum, he will feel that he has not done anything. But I am not only taking this memorandum, I will read it and I will solve it,” Javadekar said.

Soon after assuming charge, the minister had said education is not a subject for “party politics” and he was open to suggestions from everyone.

Javadekar had said education should be seen as an “emancipator” and “agent of change” and he would come out with a roadmap after consultations with the Prime Minister and others including Irani.

During the interaction with students, Javadekar said his 92-year-old mother who stays with him was a primary school teacher herself and he “values” teachers’ contribution to the society.

“My mother is 92. She was a primary school teacher. She taught me. Tomorrow, I am organising a programme in Pune.

Everybody wanted to felicitate me. I told them don’t felicitate me. Instead I will felicitate my teachers who taught me in Schools and Colleges. So, tomorrow I am organising a programme- Guruvandana– in Pune,” he said.PTI

Reliving history, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today retraced Mahatma Gandhi’s train journey in South Africa as he travelled to a railway station where Gandhi was thrown out of a train compartment that proved to be a turning point in his life.

On the second day of his visit to South Africa, Modi boarded a train at Pentrich and travelled to Pietermaritzburg, a distance of around 15 km, paying tribute to Gandhi’s fight against racial discrimination.

On 7 June 1893, while Gandhi was on his way to Pretoria from Durban, a white man objected to his presence in a first-class carriage, and he was ordered to move to the third- class compartment.

Gandhi had a valid first-class ticket and refused to obey the orders following which he was thrown out of the train at Pietermaritzburg station in a winter night.

He had stayed at the station that night in shivering cold and the bitter incident had played a major role in Gandhi’s decision to stay on in South Africa and fight the racial discrimination against Indians there.

The Prime Minister visited the spot where Gandhi was offloaded from the train.

Modi will also visit the Phoenix Settlement, which is very closely associated with Gandhi.

“PM travels from Pentrich Railway Station to Pietermaritzburg. Train resembles the one on which Gandhi ji travelled,” the PMO tweeted.

After talks with South African President Jacob Zuma, the Prime Minister yesterday had paid glowing tribute to Gandhi as well as Nelson Mandela.

“For me personally, this visit is an opportunity to pay homage to two of the greatest human souls to have ever walked this Earth – Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela,” Modi had said.

He further said, “We stood together in our common fight against racial subjugation and colonialism. It was in South Africa that Gandhi found his true calling. He belongs as much to India as to South Africa.PTI

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and over 60 Aam Aadmi Party legislators were detained by police today while they were on their way to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence here to protest the arrest of a party MLA.

The MLAs were detained for violating prohibitory orders around 7 RCR.

The protest march comes a day after AAP MLA Dinesh Mohaniya was arrested on charges of molestation and sexual harassment amidst high drama when he was addressing a press conference.

Mohaniya, who is also vice chairman of Delhi Jal Board, was picked up by a police team while addressing a press conference at his office in Khanpur. He was booked for allegedly misbehaving with a group of women who approached him with a complaint regarding water crisis in their locality.

Sisodia said although they were detained and taken to the Parliament Police Station, he and his partymen were ready to go to Tihar Jail.

“Modiji, you have arrested us and kept us in Parliament Street Police Station. We are ready to go to Tihar Jail. But do not stop the work of Delhi,” he tweeted.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier tweeted, “Complaint filed against Manish Sisodia yesterday. Manish will go to 7, RCR today to surrender himself before PM,” he said.

Sisodia had yesterday tweeted, “Modiji, your enmity is with us. Arrest us. But do not stop the work of Delhi. We all are coming to surrender before you”.

The Deputy CM had yesterday said when he went for a surprise inspection at Gazipur Mandi, some people who were running illegal business, registered a complaint alleging that he had threatened them.

“I am sure that Modiji will tomorrow, will convert this complaint into accusations like violence, eve teasing a girl and extortion and get me arrested,” he had stated.

Referring to yesterday’s incident, Special CP Law and Order North S B K Singh said the president of Gazipur Aadhti Association had given a letter at Gazipur Police Station stating that Sisodia adopted a “dictatorial attitude” on hearing their grievances during his visit to Gazipur Mandi.

“He was worried that Sisodia could get something wrong organised due to his position. No police action is made out in the matter,” he said.PTI