IS may be using Nutella and kittens to entice female recruits

Karachi: Islamic State (IS) militants may be using the popular Italian hazelnut spread Nutella and kittens to lure women recruits, according to a famous news anchor.

According to the Express Tribune, the news anchor Costello and a college professor discussed on their program why mostly the western women were joining the ranks of IS.

Costallo said that the IS militant group is talking online about jars of Nutella, pictures of kittens and emojis.

Nimmi Gowrinathan, an expert on gender and violence said that the fight that IS is fighting is a political fight that is much more than just the social media.

The militant group in August 2014 posted pictures that showed them posing with nutella and holding kittens. 

(ANI)

Convulsion in CPI(M) on eve of State meet

Alleppey: The State CPI(M) appeared to be facing an explosive situation on eve of the party State conference beginning here on Friday with the party State secretariat publicly accusing party veteran V.S. Achuthanandan of indiscipline and factionalism and the latter hitting back in equal measure stating he was dismissing the charge ‘with contempt.’

The party State leadership and Mr. Achuthanandan found themselves on a collision course when the CPI(M) State secretariat came out with a resolution accusing Mr. Achuthanandan of having leaked the contents of a letter he had sent to the State committee to the media and accusing him of persistent indiscipline and factional positions.

Reacting to CPI(M) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan’s news conference on the subject, Mr. Achuthanandan hit back saying it was against the Central committee decision forbidding action on any party member on the eve of a conference. He had written his letter to the Polit Bureau and would rather discuss the issue with the Polit Bureau members, Mr. Achuthanandan said. In the resolution, answering each point raised by Mr. Achuthanandan in his letter, the CPI(M) State secretariat said the State committee had discussed the letter and rejected it at its meeting on February 9 and 10. A newspaper published the letter on February 18.

“This shows that V.S. Achuthanandan is not giving up his indiscipline…This document shows that raising of allegations with factional objectives continues. The party had clarified its position on the T.P. Chandrasekharan murder earlier (when) VS made public statements at variance with the common stand of the party. VS has sunk to a state of mind where he continues to hold the same position and accuses the party of fascist attitude,” the resolution said.

On the LDF’s defeat in the last Assembly elections, the resolution said the party had not arrived at the conclusion that the defeat was on account of faulty candidate selection.

On the solar stir, it said the decision to withdraw the stir was taken collectively with the involvement of all parties and leaders, including Mr. Achuthanandan.

Minor Dalit girl raped, killed in U.P

Lakhimpur Kheri: Political parties slammed the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday over the rape and murder of a minor Dalit girl in Lakhimpur Kheri district. On Thursday, the girl’s father lodged a complaint with the Nighasan police against two Dalit youths and neighbours Manoj and Dharmesh. The post-mortem report has confirmed that the girl was raped before being killed.

Station House Officer Ram Kumar Yadav said the accused were arrested, and further investigation was under way.

Lakhimpur Kheri SP Arvind Sein told The Media : “Two slides have been prepared, and the report of the pathological tests is awaited.”

Initially, it was suspected that the girl had committed suicide. But after the autopsy report was received on Wednesday, the girl’s parents alleged that she was raped before being killed, the police said.

Greenpeace activist Priya Pillai refuses to give undertaking sought by govt

New Delhi: Greenpeace activist Priya Pillai, who was offloaded from a flight at the IGI Airport here last month, today said she has refused to give an undertaking as sought by the government as a pre-condition to allow her to travel abroad.

"The government today asked me to give an undertaking in writing that I would not speak about violation and, if I give such an undertaking, I would be allowed to leave this country and travel abroad. But I refused to give that undertaking," Pillai told a private TV channel on Thursday.

She said she had refused to give the undertaking as she was refusing "to take on a gag order only".

"As a citizen of this country, I have every right to peacefully protest, talk, clearly express opinion within the Constitution," she said.

The 37-year-old Pillai had sought permission to travel to London to make a presentation before British MPs on alleged human rights violation at Mahan in Madhya Pradesh which, she claimed, was the reason why she was offloaded from the flight

at IGI Airport here on January 11.

The Delhi High Court today termed inappropriate the government's decision to off-load Pillai and said that difference of opinion does not mean being anti-national. The court said that there can be a difference of opinion but it does not mean that a person's movement is curtailed.

The Look Out Circular (LOC) against Pillai will be withdrawn if she gives an undertaking that she will not depose before the UK parliamentary committee on alleged violations in the country, the government told Delhi High Court today.

PTI

Rs 1.81 crore bid for PM Narendra Modi's pinstripe suit

Surat: On the last day of the three-day auction on Friday, the bid for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pinstripe monogrammed bandhgala suit, which hogged limelight during President Barack Obama's visit last month, went up to Rs 1.81 crore.

The latest bid was made by Jayantibhai Itrela, a builder from Surat.

Earlier, Lavji Patel, a diamond merchant from Surat, builder Rajesh Jain and Hitesh Patel, a diamond trader, made a bid of Rs 1.71, Rs 1.65 and Rs 1.61 crore respectively.

On Thursday, Surat-based Mukesh Patel enhanced his bid to Rs 1.48 crore from Rs 1.39 crore he had offered earlier. Meanwhile, Bhavnagar-based Ship-breaker Komalkant Sharma, CMD of Leela Group of Companies made a bid of Rs 1.41 crore.

On the first day of auction, textile trader Rajesh Juneja and Global Modi Fan Club's Rajesh Maheshwari had made a bid of Rs 1.21 and Rs 1.25 crore respectively.

There were four other bids of less than Rs 1.21 crore for the suit which Modi had worn during his meeting with the US President Barack Obama.

As the monogrammed bandhgala, which according to some reports is worth Rs 10 lakh, hogged all the limelight at the auction, initially there were few takers for the humble Cricket Australia T-shirt gifted to Modi by bowling great Brett Lee which attracted bids ranging between Rs 1500 and Rs 2000.

However, towards the evening a BJP MLA from Surat and a city-based businessman made two separate bids of Rs 1.11 lakh each for the football world cup jersey and cricket Australia T-shirt gifted to Modi.

Harsh Sanghvi, MLA from Surat's Majura assembly seat, said he will donate the FIFA World Cup T-shirt to a team of blind sportspersons if he won the bid.