All posts by fayaz

NEW DELHI: The chief executive of India’s powerful cricket board has been given a week to explain allegations of sexual harassment against him, as the country’s fledgling #MeToo movement gathers pace.

Rahul Johri, CEO of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), was named in an account shared by Indian author Harnidh Kaur on Twitter.

The unidentified woman accused Johri of assaulting her at his home, while he was working with a different organisation.

“The truth is, it was so sudden and so manipulated that I had no chance at even knowing what the hell this was,” the woman said.

The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators, which oversees the BCCI, on Saturday asked Johri to explain.

Even though the allegations “do not pertain to his employment with BCCI,” the committee said it had given him a week to “submit his explanation.”

Johri, CEO of the world’s richest cricket body, has yet not responded to a request for comment.

“There are certain media reports today, including in the social media, pertaining to Rahul Johri,” the committee said in a statement.

“These reports disclose allegations of sexual harassment made against Mr Johri, by an unnamed persons through a Twitter handle. The allegations also related to his previous employment with a large media house,” it added.

India’s belated #MeToo movement has made headlines over the last few days with women sharing powerful accounts of alleged harassment by several powerful men including a minister, Bollywood filmmakers, news editors and comedians.

On Friday, the production of a Bollywood blockbuster was halted after the film’s lead called for harassment claims against its director and co-star to be “stringently” investigated.

Star Akshay Kumar said he had requested that the making of Housefull 4 be stopped following allegations against director Sajid Khan and actor Nana Patekar.

Accusations that Patekar behaved inappropriately on a film set 10 years ago sparked India’s #MeToo movement, which has since engulfed Bollywood figures, a government minister and several comedians and top journalists.

Three women, an actor, an assistant director and a journalist took to Twitter on Thursday to accuse Khan of sexual harassment.

The actress said Khan had insisted that she strip during an audition while the journalist alleged the director had flashed his penis at her during an interview.

Filmmakers Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane announced at the weekend they were severing ties with Bollywood director Vikas Bahl over a sexual assault allegation.

Bahl denies that he sexually assaulted a female employee of Phantom Films, the production house behind Netflix series Sacred Games, in 2015 and has threatened to sue Kashyap and Motwane for defamation.

Several women, mostly journalists, have also accused India’s junior foreign minister M.J. Akbar of sexual harassment in the last few days.

Akbar, who was a top news editor before entering politics, has not yet commented on the allegations or demands for his resignation.

KABUL: Taliban leaders will continue to have discussions with the newly appointed US special envoy for peace in Afghanistan, the group said on Saturday, a move that could accelerate diplomatic engagement between the warring sides.

Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan-born US diplomat, met Taliban leaders in Qatar on Friday in an effort to find a way to end the 17-year-old war in Afghanistan.

“Both sides spoke (about) an end to the occupation and a peaceful solution to the Afghan issue … Both sides agreed to continue meeting in the future,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement.

Khalilzad arrived in Kabul on Saturday and briefed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani about his 10-day tour of four countries, which ended with the meeting with leaders of the hardline group.

According to Taliban sources, the two sides arrived with tough conditions.

“It was an introductory meeting in which an eight-member US delegation held a detailed meeting with members of our political office,” said a senior Taliban member.

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanakzai, who is the head of Taliban’s Qatar office, led the discussions, he said.

Another senior member of the Taliban said Khalilzad had asked the Taliban leadership, based in the Qatari capital Doha, to declare a ceasefire in Afghanistan for six months, starting before the October 20 parliamentary polls.

“Both sides discussed prospects for peace, and the US presence in Afghanistan,” said another Taliban official, requesting anonymity.

In exchange, the Taliban want the Afghan government to release fighters from jails across the country and the swift removal of foreign forces fighting alongside Afghan troops.

A Taliban source said the US delegation proposed forming different committees to handle the release of prisoners.

“Neither side agreed to accept the other’s demands immediately, but they agreed to meet again and find a solution to the conflict,” he said.
Key role

Khalilzad was appointed last month, as US President Donald Trump’s administration launched fresh efforts to hold peace talks with the Taliban.

A senior official working with the Afghan president said Khalilzad had briefed Ghani about his meetings with senior ministers and top diplomats in four countries who could play a key role.

Khalilzad’s trip started in Afghanistan and he traveled to Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Qatar before returning to Kabul.

A statement about Khalilzad’s diplomatic tour released by the US embassy in Kabul did not confirm his meeting with the Taliban.

“The United States shares the aspirations of all Afghans for a peaceful Afghanistan where all Afghans see themselves included. All citizens of Afghanistan must be a part of this reconciliation process,” said Khalilzad, according to the embassy statement at the end of his four-nation tour.

Continued fighting has raised questions about the viability of the US strategy to end the war, which for the past year has focused on forcing the militants to the negotiating table, largely via more air strikes.

Last week, the Taliban demanded a complete withdrawal of foreign forces as the only solution to end the war that began with the 2001 ousting of the former Taliban government by US-led forces after it refused to hand over Osama bin Laden following the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

They have ramped up attacks in strategic provinces and have also directed Afghans to boycott the parliamentary elections.

At least 8,050 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded in the first nine months of 2018, almost half of them targeted by suicide bomb attacks and other improvised devices that may amount to war crimes, the United Nations said last week.

ISTANBUL: Turkey’s investigation into the disappearance of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has revealed recordings made on his Apple Watch purportedly indicating he was tortured and killed, a Turkish newspaper reported on Saturday.

The report in the pro-government Sabah daily, which could not immediately be verified, emerged after a delegation from Saudi Arabia arrived in Turkey for a joint investigation into his disappearance.

“The moments when Khashoggi was interrogated, tortured and murdered were recorded in the Apple Watch’s memory,” the paper said, adding that the watch had synched with his iPhone, which his fiancée was carrying outside the consulate.

Two senior Turkish officials previously told Reuters that Khashoggi had been wearing a black Apple Watch when he entered the consulate and that it was connected to a mobile phone he left outside.

However, it was not clear whether data from Khashoggi’s Watch could have been transmitted to his phone outside, or how investigators could have retrieved it without obtaining the watch themselves.

Technology experts say it is highly unlikely the Watch could have recorded actions inside the embassy and uploaded them to an iCloud account. Most models of the Watch require that it be within 30 to 50 feet (9-15 meters) of the iPhone that it is paired with to upload data to Apple’s iCloud, they said.

Even newer models that can communicate with the cloud directly via wireless require either connection to a nearby WiFi network or a type of cellular connection that is not available in Turkey, the experts say.
Recordings

Sabah, which cited “reliable sources in a special intelligence department” for its report, said Khashoggi was believed to have turned on the recording feature on the watch before entering the consulate.

The paper said Saudi intelligence agents had realized after he died that the Watch was recording and they used his finger print to unlock it, deleting some files, but not all of them. The recordings were subsequently found on his phone, it said.

On Thursday, Turkey said it and Saudi Arabia had agreed to form a joint working group — at Riyadh’s initiative — to investigate the case. A Saudi source said Prince Khaled al-Faisal, a senior royal, had visited Turkey that day.

Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to get documents for his forthcoming marriage. Saudi officials say he left shortly afterwards but Turkish officials and his fiancée, who was waiting outside, said he never came out.

Turkish sources have told Reuters the initial assessment of the police was that Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the Saudi government, had been deliberately killed inside the consulate. Riyadh has dismissed the claims.

SPA said on Friday that Saudi Arabia’s interior minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, condemned the “lies and baseless allegations” against the kingdom, although he praised the joint investigation with Turkey.

The Saudi delegation, which arrived in Turkey on Thursday, is meeting a Turkish prosecutor investigating the case as well as representatives from the Justice Ministry, Interior Ministry, police, and the national intelligence agency, one source said.

On Tuesday, the Turkish foreign ministry said the Saudi consulate in Istanbul would be searched as part of the investigation.

The voting for the by-election on 35 national and provincial assemblies commenced at 8AM, with more than 300 candidates, including some political bigwigs, in the running.

Over five million registered voters — about 2.3 million women and almost 2.7 million men — will exercise their right to vote. It is noteworthy that the overseas Pakistanis will be voting for the first time in the by-polls.

Seats up for grabs comprise 11 from National Assembly, 11 from Punjab Assembly, nine from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and two each from Sindh and Balochistan.

In Lahore’s NA-131 constituency, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) candidate Khawaja Saad Rafique will face Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Humayun Akhtar. Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is PML-N’s candidate from NA-124. His opponent in the constituency is Ghulam Mohiuddin of the PTI.

In Karachi’s NA-243 constituency, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) is expected to give tough competition to the PTI.

Over 9.9 million ballot papers have been printed for the by-elections and handed over to presiding officers of all polling stations, while some 7,489 polling stations have been set-up, of which 1,727 have been declared “highly sensitive.”

On Thursday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) constituted 27 monitoring teams to observe the by-polls. They will examine the distribution of polling equipment and training of the polling staff.

On the day of the by-polls, the teams will also monitor security arrangements, the result transmission system (RTS) and votes of the overseas Pakistanis in addition to the process of tabulation and compilation of results.

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan on Sunday made operational the Results Transmission System (RTS) and Result Management System (RMS) for by-election 2018.

Returning officers will use the RMS system to send results to the ECP from 7,186 polling stations that are linked to the RTS system.

The process to transmit results will begin at 5pm, when polling concludes. A team of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) is present in the ECP’s headquarters in Islamabad to ensure smooth functioning of the RTS and RMS systems.

The voting for the by-election on 35 national and provincial assemblies commenced at 8AM, with more than 300 candidates, including some political bigwigs, in the running.

Over five million registered voters — about 2.3 million women and almost 2.7 million men — will exercise their right to vote. It is noteworthy that the overseas Pakistanis will be voting for the first time in the by-polls.

Seats up for grabs comprise 11 from National Assembly, 11 from Punjab Assembly, nine from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and two each from Sindh and Balochistan.

The voting for the by-election on 35 national and provincial assemblies commenced at 8AM, with more than 300 candidates, including some political bigwigs, in the running.

Over five million registered voters — about 2.3 million women and almost 2.7 million men — will exercise their right to vote. It is noteworthy that the overseas Pakistanis will be voting for the first time in the by-polls.

Seats up for grabs comprise 11 from National Assembly, 11 from Punjab Assembly, nine from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and two each from Sindh and Balochistan.

In Lahore’s NA-131 constituency, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) candidate Khawaja Saad Rafique will face Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Humayun Akhtar. Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is PML-N’s candidate from NA-124. His opponent in the constituency is Ghulam Mohiuddin of the PTI.

In Karachi’s NA-243 constituency, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) is expected to give tough competition to the PTI.

Over 9.9 million ballot papers have been printed for the by-elections and handed over to presiding officers of all polling stations, while some 7,489 polling stations have been set-up, of which 1,727 have been declared “highly sensitive.”

On Thursday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) constituted 27 monitoring teams to observe the by-polls. They will examine the distribution of polling equipment and training of the polling staff.

On the day of the by-polls, the teams will also monitor security arrangements, the result transmission system (RTS) and votes of the overseas Pakistanis in addition to the process of tabulation and compilation of results.

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Sunday launched its complaint cell for the by-election under way in 35 constituencies of the national and provincial assemblies.

Voters can register their complaints about any irregularities in the polling process on 051-9217133 or they can fax on 051-9217132 and 051-9217134.

According to the ECP, there will be two shifts working in the complaint cell.

More than 300 candidates, including some political bigwigs, are in the running for the by-polls under way across the country.

Over five million registered voters — about 2.3 million women and almost 2.7 million men — will exercise their right to vote. It is noteworthy that the overseas Pakistanis will be voting for the first time in the by-polls.

Seats up for grabs comprise 11 from National Assembly, 11 from Punjab Assembly, nine from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and two each from Sindh and Balochistan.

لاہور (نیٹ نیوز) صوبائی وزیر صحت ڈاکٹر یاسمین راشد نے میڈیا سے گفتگو کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ میں نے کسی کاقرضہ نہیں دینا، قرضہ دیناہوتاتونوازشریف کے سامنے نہ کہتی کہ وہ چور ہے۔ ڈاکٹر اور مریض کے رشتے کے بارے میں بات کرتے ہوئے ان کا کہنا تھا کہ ڈاکٹراورمریض ،میرے لیے دونوں ہی اہم ہیں۔

لاہور(نیٹ نیوز) وزیر اطلاعات فواد چودھری کی وزارت خطرے میں۔ لیگی رہنما حنا پرویز بٹ نے پنجاب اسمبلی میں قرارداد جمع کروائی جس میں واضح کیا کہ فواد چوہدری نے وزیر اعلی پنجاب کے منع کرنے کا باوجود بیوروکریسی کے معاملات میں مداخلت کی اور ان پر دباؤ ڈالنے کی کوشش بھی کی تاہم فواد چودھری مستعفی ہوں ۔

لاہور(نیٹ نیوز) لاہور پولیس کیلئے منشا بم کی گرفتاری درد سر بن گئی۔ صدر پولیس آپریشنز کے ساتھ انویسٹی گیشنز پولیس کو بھی ٹاسک دے دیا گیا ۔ ایس پی صدر آپریشنز معاذ ظفر نے چند روز میں ہی منشا بم کی گرفتاری کا اعلان کیا تھا ۔ ڈی آئی جی انویسٹی گیشن کا کہنا تھا کہ منشا بم کی گرفتاری کے لیے ہر ممکن کوشش کی جارہی ہے۔