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16/08/2018<br />

21<br />

HC seeks Centre's<br />

response on plea seeking<br />

hiring of women in IAF<br />

New Delhi : The Delhi High Court on<br />

Tuesday asked the Central government to<br />

file response on a plea seeking recruitment<br />

of women as "Airmen" in the Indian Air<br />

Force (IAF). A bench of Chief Justice<br />

Rajendra Menon and V. Kameswar Rao<br />

asked the Ministry of Defence and the IAF<br />

to file response on the plea and listed the<br />

matter for further hearing on November 19.<br />

The court was hearing a plea filed by<br />

lawyer Kush Kalra, who said he was<br />

shocked to see a "discriminatory advertisement"<br />

restricting eligibility to only unmarried<br />

male for the posts of Airmen in Group<br />

X Trade and Group Y Trade in all the<br />

departments of IAF. Group X Trade refers<br />

to technical fields like aircraft and ground<br />

systems, while Group Y pertains to nontechnical<br />

fields like logistics and accounts.<br />

Kalra's advocate Charu Wali Khanna has<br />

sought directions for allowing recruitment<br />

of women as Airmen in the two groups.<br />

Incidentally, on October 24, 2015, the<br />

government announced that women could<br />

serve as fighter pilots in the IAF.<br />

Iran bans export of 5<br />

commercial items<br />

Tehran : The Iranian Ministry of<br />

Industry banned the export of five types of<br />

commercial items, media reports said on<br />

Tuesday. The exports of packing paper, tissue<br />

paper, powdered milk, bulk and packed<br />

tea, and over 500g packets of butter will be<br />

prohibited from August 23 in a move to<br />

regulate domestic market, Xinhua quoted<br />

the Ministry as saying.<br />

Due to the reinstatement of US sanctions,<br />

the Iranian administration is considering<br />

amendments to the country's exports<br />

and imports regulations. In the meantime, to<br />

support the domestic products and services,<br />

main companies and their subcontractors<br />

have been prohibited from purchasing foreign<br />

products and equipment. Iranian Oil<br />

Ministry has also passed an order to ban the<br />

import of 84 items and equipment which<br />

could be produced inside the country.<br />

DALITS IN THE UK RESPOND<br />

TO THE DEMAND FOR A<br />

PUNJAB REFERENDUM<br />

Joint<br />

For the Punjab problems, Sikhs are partly to<br />

be blamed for. In sixties, they launched many<br />

agitations, Punjab Bandh and went to fast unto<br />

death for Punjabi Suba. What they ended up<br />

with division of Punjab into Himachal,<br />

Haryana and Punjab. Sikhs were happy that<br />

they would have Sikh majority in Punjab and<br />

their permanent government Just to improve<br />

their chances of getting elected, they ditched<br />

the genuine demands of the Punjabi people.<br />

Since the division of Punjab in 1966, no non<br />

Sikh became a Chief Minister of Punjab. Not<br />

only Sikh but Jat Sikhs apart from Giani Zail<br />

Singh remained as Chief Ministers. In Sikh<br />

politics one caste is dominating. Now they are<br />

asking for an Independent Sikh state, did they<br />

ever consult other people living in Punjab?<br />

They don’t consider that Dalits exist in<br />

Punjab? Why can’t they contest elections in<br />

Punjab on their agenda of Khalistan? They<br />

will know their power base. Their referendum<br />

only talks about the Punjab in India but more<br />

than half the Punjab territory is in Pakistan.<br />

Are they going to include Himachal and<br />

Haryana in the game and will they include<br />

Punjab territory on the Pakistan side? They<br />

should spell out openly.<br />

Even after seventy one years of Independence,<br />

Dalits are routinely discriminated and numerous<br />

atrocities are inflicted upon them not only<br />

in India but also in Punjab. Sikhs have used<br />

them as their vote bank but the conditions of<br />

Dalits have worsened during the Akali regime.<br />

Even in the United Kingdom, Sikhs have sided<br />

with Hindus and opposed the Dalit legitimate<br />

demand to include caste discrimination into<br />

the British law. In their new scheme of<br />

Khalistan, how can they be trusted that they<br />

will do a justice to Dalits? That is why a number<br />

of Dalit organisations in the UK issued this<br />

Joint Statement.<br />

-Arun Kumar<br />

Statement from Dalit<br />

organisations in the UK, on the<br />

call for `Referendum 2020' – a<br />

campaign by a UK-based organisation<br />

for a separate Sikh State<br />

in Punjab, India.<br />

The organisations listed at<br />

Annex A reject the campaign for<br />

Referendum 2020:<br />

1. Scheduled Castes (SCs)<br />

and Scheduled Tribes (STs),<br />

collectively referred to as Dalits,<br />

are one of the largest minorities<br />

in India. They are: regular victims<br />

of oppression and bonded<br />

labour, many suffer from social<br />

and economic deprivation their<br />

houses are burnt to the ground,<br />

their women are abused, raped<br />

and paraded naked, and men<br />

and women are murdered routinely<br />

on daily basis.<br />

2. We have issues with the<br />

Indian and Punjab authorities for<br />

their slow or lack of action<br />

against the culprits – many of them whom are<br />

released on bail and continue to intimidate.<br />

3. We condemn the false cases lodged against human<br />

rights activists and their frequent incarceration. We<br />

believe our problems can be best solved in a secular<br />

democratic united country, India.<br />

4. SCs/STs make a sizable proportion of the Punjab.<br />

Not only are they the indigenous peoples of India and<br />

the region, they make up to 35% of the population<br />

that live in the Punjab, many of whom follow their<br />

own version of Sikhism after being shunned from<br />

Sikh places of workshop due to caste discrimination.<br />

5. We question and doubt whether the Hindu,<br />

Muslim and Christian communities in the UK who<br />

have social and economic links with Punjab have<br />

been consulted on the proposed Referendum.<br />

6. Dalits are a diverse people, and we value our<br />

traditions and cultural freedoms that are enshrined<br />

within India’s Constitution. We believe a secular<br />

Government is best placed for the people of India<br />

and especially for the diverse communities of<br />

Punjab. The last thing the Punjabis want is a religiously<br />

dominated State that cannot be guaranteed<br />

to provide basic human rights for all its people.<br />

7. We Dalits in the UK who have social and economic<br />

connections with Punjab, do not support<br />

any separatist movement that threatens the unity<br />

of India. We therefore do not support the Sikh separatists’<br />

Khalistan Movement and the Referendum<br />

2020 that will cause unrest and division in the UK.<br />

8. A national and international alliance of all<br />

organisations opposing these activities will be<br />

convened.<br />

Rupee devalues to record<br />

low of 70 to a USD; recovers<br />

Mumbai : Geo-political pressures,<br />

along with outflows of foreign<br />

funds and high crude oil prices<br />

dragged the Indian rupee to its lowest<br />

ever intra-day level of over 70<br />

against a US dollar on Tuesday.<br />

On Tuesday morning, the Indian<br />

currency plunged to 70.08 -- the lowest<br />

ever -- against the greenback.<br />

However, a likely intervention by the<br />

Reserve Bank of India and stabilisation<br />

in the global currency markets<br />

pared the rupee's early fall. At the<br />

end of the intra-bank trade session on<br />

Tuesday, the Indian rupee strengthened<br />

by four paise at 69.90 against<br />

the dollar, compared to Monday's<br />

close of 69.94 per greenback. "A<br />

near 4 per cent intra-day rebound in<br />

the Turkish Lira, on the back of talks<br />

between NSA from USA and Turkish<br />

Ambassador to US, was not enough<br />

to prevent the rupee from sliding past<br />

70 handle against the greenback,"<br />

said Anindya Banerjee, Deputy Vice<br />

President for Currency and Interest<br />

Rates with Kotak Securities.<br />

"RBI intervention has kept the<br />

pair below 70 since then on spot.<br />

However, demand from offshore<br />

speculators and also demand from<br />

importers have not allowed the rupee<br />

to appreciate." Banerjee pointed out<br />

the trend in USD/INR for the rest of<br />

the week will be dictated by the trend<br />

in greenback against major currencies<br />

like Euro and GBP.<br />

Recent US-imposed sanctions and<br />

tariffs on Turkey has had an impact<br />

on its and other emerging market<br />

currencies over fears of further global<br />

protectionist measures. "Since currencies<br />

of emerging and developed<br />

markets are falling, the RBI is not<br />

intervening aggressively in the market.<br />

It is intervening selectively to<br />

contain volatility," Rushabh Maru,<br />

Research Analyst, Anand Rathi<br />

Shares and Stock Brokers, told<br />

IANS.<br />

"Since 70 level has been breached<br />

today we may see importers rushing<br />

to buy dollars on every dip in the<br />

USD/INR. On the other hand<br />

exporters may avoid selling dollars<br />

at current levels as the rupee is<br />

depreciating sharply."<br />

Apart from global cues, outflow of<br />

foreign funds from the Indian equity<br />

and bond markets has had an adverse<br />

impact on the rupee. Investment-wise,<br />

provisional data with exchanges<br />

showed that foreign institutional<br />

investors sold scrip worth Rs 378.84<br />

crore. "The swift move past 69 happened<br />

due to Foreign Institution<br />

Investor (FII) outflows and the need to<br />

hedge existing short dollar positions in<br />

the market, driven by global market<br />

sentiment rather than actual importer<br />

demand," said B. Prasanna, Group<br />

Executive and Head for Global<br />

Markets Group, ICICI Bank. "On a<br />

medium term basis, the rupee will<br />

need to depreciate further to keep up<br />

with the inflation differentials with<br />

other trading partners. However there<br />

could be a minor reversal of this<br />

depreciation on a short term basis<br />

when the global situation stabilises."<br />

India taking its rightful place as<br />

leading global power: US<br />

Washington: Greeting India on its 72nd<br />

Independence Day, US Secretary of State Michael R.<br />

Pompeo on Wednesday said a "fellow democracy and<br />

a friend" was taking its rightful place as a leading global<br />

power with its democratic values and inclusiveness.<br />

"On behalf of the Government of the United States of<br />

America, I extend my best wishes to the people and<br />

government of India on their Independence Day. Since<br />

gaining its independence 71 years ago today, India has<br />

set an example for South Asia and the world by supporting<br />

democracy, diversity, and the rule of law-values<br />

shared by the US," Pompeo said in a statement.<br />

"As members of the oldest and largest democracies,<br />

the people of the US and India have always enjoyed<br />

strong bonds of friendship. We are grateful for the<br />

vibrant Indian-American diaspora and the growing<br />

number of young people strengthening ties between<br />

our countries as exchange students." He said the values<br />

shared by the two countries contribute to inspiring collaboration<br />

in health, energy, environment, science, and<br />

high technology that will fuel the jobs and prosperity<br />

of the future. "On this Indian Independence Day, we<br />

congratulate India - a unique civilization, fellow<br />

democracy, and a friend - on taking its rightful place as<br />

a leading global power and continuing our shared<br />

efforts to sustain the rules-based order."

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