Bumrah going to UK to seek opinion on stress fracture

Injured India speedster Jasprit Bumrah will be off to the United Kingdom to seek opinion on his lower back stress fracture from multiple specialists.

Bumrah has been ruled out for a minimum period of two months starting from the South Africa Test series till the end of Bangladesh series, his first major injury break in his three-and-half-year international career.

Umesh Yadav has replaced him in the Indian Test squad for the series against South Africa.

"The BCCI is sending Bumrah to London for further treatment on his stress fracture. The NCA head physiotherapist Ashish Kaushik will be accompanying him. The BCCI has fixed appointments with three different specialists to get multiple opinion," a senior Board functionary told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

"Bumrah is expected to leave on October 6th or 7th and would be there in the UK for about a week. As per the opinion of the three doctors, the next course of action will be decided upon. We have taken appointments from the best in the business when it comes to stress fractures," the official said.

Recently, senior speedster Ashish Nehra told PTI that in case of stress fracture, it is difficult to set a time-frame for comebacks as it "can vary" from player to player.

"It might be the case of Jasprit feeling good after just two months and he may not feel good even after six months. It is such an injury where you don't have any medication save proper rest and then an intense rehabilitation programme. Only a player can say when he is match-ready," Nehra had said on Sunday.

Bumrah's absence will be a big miss for India in the upcoming World Test Championship matches where they would be gunning for full points against both South Africa and Bangladesh.

The 25-year-old has been India's premier bowler for the past two years, taking 62 wickets in 12 Tests and 103 ODI wickets in the 58 ODIs. He also has 51 T20 International scalps in 42 games.

The slinger is expected to play a big part in India's World T20 campaign in Australia next year and it remains to be seen when he makes a competitive comeback.

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IMD season officially ends, but rains yet to withdraw

The Indian Meteorological Department bid farewell to southwest monsoon 2019, one of the wettest in the known memory. Though the southwest monsoon will begin withdrawing on October 10 from the country, over a month after the normal date of withdrawal of September 1, the IMD will use only the rainfall till September 30 to compile its figures.

Despite the late onset and a worryingly dry start in June, southwest monsoon 2019 far exceeded the Long Period Average (LPA) of 88. At 110 per cent of the LPA, the monsoon surpassed the IMD's prediction of normal rainfall—96-104 per cent of LPA.

After 1994, rainfall received in 2019 was the highest season rainfall received by the country as a whole, the IMD said. Also, after 1931, this is the first time that the seasonal rainfall is more than the LPA, despite a huge June shortfall (30 per cent this time).

Nationwide, July, August and September had record rains. August got its second highest recorded rain (115 of LPA this year) after 1996 (119 of LPA). September is also a record month, seeing the highest rain (152 of LPA) after 1917 (165 of LPA). Since 2010, it is the first time that rain was in excess of LPA in the three months of July-August-September. The second highest cumulative rainfall for August-September (130 per cent of LPA) was also recorded this year. The record is still for 1983 (142 per cent of LPA).

However, of the 36 sub divisions, five received deficient rainfall, of which Haryana, Delhi and Chandigarh (accounting for 15 per cent of the country's area) were left bereft of monsoon bounty with a 42 per cent deficiency. On an average, 20 per cent of the country receives deficient rains every year. Another concern was that in the last 19 years, (2001-2019) apart from 2007, the northeast region of the country has consistently received less rainfall than the LPA. “This indicates that the seasonal rainfall over northeast India is passing through a below normal epoch, like it was during early 1950s to mid 1980s,'' said the IMD.

There were concerns of a weak monsoon this year, with several global models predicting the influence of a strong El Nino episode. The IMD, too, in April, predicted normal monsoon, and had also suggested that the El Nino would weaken while a positive Indian Dipole (IOD) event would emerge in the Indian Ocean. IMD had also predicted that the second half of the monsoon would perform better. However, it was unable to predict both, the excess rains, as well as the extended monsoon, which is going into October. In fact, it seems that this year will make a record in the most delayed withdrawal of the monsoon in recorded history. So far, the most delayed dates are October 1, 1961, followed by September 30, 2007.

How much of this water, however, has been saved is another issue. While this year, there were efforts at recharging the water table, with the arid summer having been a big warning, its results will only be seen in the dry months. 

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Back from J&K, Ghulam Nabi Azad says it's a 'govt-made disaster' in Valley

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is back from a visit to Jammu and Kashmir, on Monday attacked the Narendra Modi government over the situation in the Valley following the nullification of Article 370, saying the circumstances represented a “government-made disaster”.

The former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir said contrary to the claims made by the Centre, the situation in the Valley as well as in Jammu was anything but normal, with people living in a constant state of fear amidst restrictions imposed since August 5. He further said half the population of Jammu and Kashmir, comprising labourers, were struggling for livelihood and did not even have access to food.

Azad, who spent three days visiting the Valley from September 21, and was in Jammu for a day after that, claimed that the local administration did not allow him to visit a majority of the 15 places that he was planning to go to.

He said the state administration tried to scare away people who wanted to meet him. “The meetings took place under CCTV surveillance. The faces of the people who came to meet me were captured on camera. Our discussions were recorded. The state administration did its best to scare people away,” he said.

The senior Congress leader said a large number of people in the state, who depended on tourism, handicrafts and horticulture for a living, were struggling to even get two square meals.

He asked if the situation was indeed normal and there were no restrictions as claimed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, why were political leaders still in captivity. Further, he sought to know why people aren't allowed to visit Jammu and Kashmir freely and why the educational institutions there are shut.

“The atmosphere in Jammu and Kashmir is one of fear, and since it became a union territory, the Centre has been threatening the local administration,” Azad claimed.

On the situation in Jammu, he said contrary to popular perception, the transporters and the businessmen, who depend on the Valley for their business, are facing a sharp dip in their income.

He said the people in the Valley have resorted to a kind of civil disobedience by not allowing public transport of any kind to enter their areas. “They are protesting in a Gandhian way. They may be hurting themselves in this, but their action shows their resentment towards the decisions of the Modi government,” he said.

Azad was able to visit Jammu and Kashmir after the Supreme Court, which he had petitioned, allowed him to go there. The Congress leader said he might submit a report on his visit to the apex court.

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Turkey begins construction of 1st stealth warship for Pakistan Navy

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday participated in a ceremony at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard to cut steel for the first of four MILGEM corvettes for the Pakistan Navy. The cutting of steel marks the formal start of construction of a ship.

Corvettes are medium-sized warships that can carry out routine patrol and offensive operations against ships and submarines. The MILGEM corvette is Turkey's first major warship project that was designed and built indigenously. The ship is 99 metres long and displaces approximately 2,000 tonnes of water. The Turkish Navy has taken delivery of fourth MILGEM corvettes and is projected to have a total fleet of eight such vessels. Before the launch of the first ship for Pakistan, Erdogan had commissioned the Turkish Navy's fourth MILGEM corvette.

Turkey's state-run defence company STM, which managed the MILGEM programme, claims the design makes “extensive use of the principles of stealth technology”, which makes it more difficult to detect by radar or infra-red sensors.

Turkey and Pakistan had signed an agreement in July 2018 for the sale of four MILGEM corvettes to the Pakistan Navy. The then Turkish defence minister, Nurettin Canikli, had described the Pakistan deal as Turkey's “biggest single” military export order. Turkish media reports then had estimated the MILGEM deal to be worth about $1 billion in value. The deal includes transfer of technology to Pakistan.

While the Istanbul Naval Shipyard would build the first two MILGEM ships, the third and fourth vessels would be built in Karachi. Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah reported “the first pair of the corvettes are expected to join the inventory of Pakistan's naval forces in 2023, while the remaining two will be handed over in 2024.”

The MILGEM ships in the Turkish Navy currently use American-built Harpoon anti-ship missiles and short-range air-defence missiles. A Pakistan government press release in July last year had claimed the ships would come with an “indigenously developed missile system”, indicating the Pakistan Navy would fit its own anti-ship missiles on board.

The MILGEM is third major naval arms deal between Pakistan and Turkey in recent years. In 2016, STM was selected to modernise the Pakistan Navy's fleet of French-built Agosta 90B submarines in a $350 million deal. Interestingly, the Turkish company was chosen over Naval Group, the French company that had designed and built the submarines. STM is upgrading two of Pakistan's three Agosta 90B submarines with new sonars, radars, periscopes and other electronic systems.

In October 2018, the Pakistan Navy commissioned a 17,000 replenishment tanker, which was designed by STM. The vessel is the largest ship in the Pakistan Navy and was built in Karachi.

The MILGEM corvette programme is one of two major surface ship projects being undertaken by the Pakistan Navy. The other is the construction of four frigates, which displace over 4,000 tonnes, by a Chinese shipyard. The Chinese-built 'Type-054AP' frigates are larger and more heavily armed and have greater endurance than the MILGEM corvettes.

Interestingly, Turkish defence contractors have also ventured into the Indian market. In June, a consortium of Turkish shipyards was selected by Hindustan Shipyard to provide design assistance to build five fleet support ships (FSS). Hindustan Shipyard has yet to sign a formal contract with the Turkish consortium. The fleet support ships will be tasked to provide fuel, equipment and other supplies to ships deployed at sea. The ships will displace around 45,000 tonnes each and the total worth of the project is estimated to be $2.3 billion.

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Russia rolls out the red carpet for Huawei over 5G

While the US banned Huawei for alleged espionage and asked its allies to do the same, Moscow has rolled out the red carpet for the Chinese tech company, letting it develop 5G networks in Russia.

Analysts say the move is as much a show of solidarity with Beijing against the US as it is a drive to bring ultra high-speed internet to Russian tech users.

This month, Huawei opened its first 5G test zone in Moscow in partnership Russian operator MTS, with a view to rolling out the service to the rest of the capital.

Moscow authorities say the network will become part of the city's normal infrastructure within the next few years.

A pioneer in telecoms networks compared to many Western countries, Russia plans to deploy 5G in all of its main cities by 2024.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Russia in June—at the height of Washington's conflict with Huawei—Russia's main operator MTS signed a contract with the Chinese company.

At the inauguration of the 5G zone in Moscow, the CEO of Russia's branch of Huawei Zhao Lei praised the company's activities in the country.

"We have been working in Russia for 22 years. Thanks to our partners, we live well here," he said.

He added that Huawei, considered a world leader in 5G technology, plans to "lead in the development of 6G" in the future.

Huawei is also the world's second-largest smartphone company. It did not respond to AFP's interview requests.

A source in Russia's 5G research community said Huawei is the biggest investor in the development of mobile technologies in Russia, with "the largest research laboratory of all operators" in Moscow.

According to the Vedomosti business daily, Huawei currently employs 400 people in Moscow and 150 in Saint Petersburg in mobile research and development. It aims to employ 500 more people by the end of 2019 and 1,000 more over five years.

Experts said Russia's welcome of Huawei does not mean the Chinese company is alone in the race for developing 5G in Russia.

"Russian operators are all collaborating with multiple 5G equipment vendors, Huawei included. We do not see any clear 5G leaders in the network deployment in Russia," said Michela Landoni, an analyst at Fitch Solutions.

She said operators prefer this approach to avoid being "reliant on one specific vendor" and to protect themselves against cyber threats.

The Tele2 operator was the first to launch 5G in Russia with Sweden's Ericsson in August, on Moscow's main Tverskaya street.

In the midst of a trade war and technological rivalry with China, the US has threatened to cut Huawei's access to the US components and services it needs, such as the Android operating system that the company uses on its phones.

Russia then promptly stepped in to offer its Aurora operating system to the Chinese group.

If Android remains Huawei's preferred choice, Landoni said Aurora could be a "short-term solution" for the group.

According to the analyst, Aurora could become a "stepping stone" in the development for Huawei's own OS.

According to Sylvain Chevallier, a partner at the technology consulting firm BearingPoint, the aim is "to create an economic front against the US." Russia and China, he said, are trying to break away from the US monopoly over smartphone operating systems.

As for the espionage risks Washington has warned of, Russia is hardly worried.

While using foreign mobile equipment risks foreign government accessing data, for Russia there is "no big difference" if it is Huawei, Ericsson or another company, said Evgeny Khorov, the head of the Wireless Network Lab at Russia's Academy of Sciences.

"Many people use Android phones whose system is designed by Google. Does this mean that Google has access to all the data? Yes, of course," he said.

"So what's the difference between Huawei and Google in this case?"

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Vijay Sethupathi to play villain in upcoming Vijay movie?

Kollywood star Vijay’s next film, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and tentatively titled ‘Thalapathy 64’, just got bigger.

Makers of the movie have announced that Vijay Sethupathi has been roped in to play a major role in the movie. If rumours are to be believed, Vijay Sethupathi will play the villain in the movie.

Reports indicate that the movie is a gangster thriller. The fans can sure expect plenty of action that is typical of Vijay films.

Taking to Twitter, the producers of the movie, XB Film Creators welcomed Vijay Sethupathi on board. "We are overwhelmed and excited to have our versatile star, '#MakkalSelvan’ @VijaySethuOffl sir on board for #Thalapathy64," the tweet read.

We are overwhelmed and excited to have our versatile star, '#MakkalSelvan’ @VijaySethuOffl sir on board for #Thalapathy64 🔥 #VJSjoinsThalapathy64 #Summer2020@actorvijay @Dir_Lokesh @anirudhofficial @SonyMusicSouth pic.twitter.com/JyFFosIVbj

— XB Film Creators (@XBFilmCreators) September 30, 2019

According to a Times of India report, a sources close to Vijay Sethupathi revealed that the actor had liked the role that he was offered and agreed to play the role without hesitation.

The shooting of the movie is expected to begin in October. The music will be by Anirudh Ravichander.

Vijay is currently awaiting the release of Bigil in which he plays a football coach. The movie, directed by Atlee, is expected to be a Deepavali release.

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Babri Masjid demolition case: Kalyan Singh to appear before court today

BJP leader and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh is set to appear before a CBI court in Lucknow on Friday in connection to the case related to Babri Masjid demolition.

A special CBI court had issued summons to Kalyan Singh earlier this month, directing him to appear before it. e

The 87-year-old leader, who was the Uttar Pradesh chief minister when the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992, enjoyed protection from trial while he held a constitutional post as governor of Rajasthan. After serving a full five-year term as governor, he rejoined the BJP on September 9.

The CBI had filed an application in the CBI court seeking to summon Kalyan Singh to face trial for allegedly conspiring to demolish the Babri mosque. The CBI had pleaded that Singh was chargesheeted in 1993. It further pleaded that the Supreme Court had in April 2017 said Singh could not be brought in as an accused to face trial due to the constitutional immunity granted to governors under Article 361 of the Constitution. The top court had, however, allowed the CBI to move for summoning of Singh as an accused as soon as he ceased to be the governor.

All the accused are on bail in the case, the trial of which is being conducted on a day-to-day basis, on the directions of the apex court. 

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UNSC allows Hafiz Saeed to withdraw money for basic expenses

Mumbai attack mastermind and banned JuD chief Hafiz Saeed has been allowed by an anti-terror committee of the UN Security Council to withdraw money from his bank account for basic expenses on Pakistan's request.

Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) is the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.

He was listed under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008. According to UN provisions, all states are required to freeze the funds and other financial assets or economic resources of designated individuals. The resolution also provides for states to sanction basic expenses of the designated individuals if there is no objection over it.

The 1267 Committee, which deals with terror groups like the Islamic State, the al-Qaeda and associated individuals and organisations, said that it approved Pakistan's request after no objections were placed before it by the set deadline of August 15, 2019.

"The Chair has the honour to refer to his draft letter to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan communicating the Committee's decision with respect to the intention of the Pakistani authorities to authorise certain expenditures to the benefit of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, Haji Muhammad Ashraf and Zafar Iqbal, to cover basic expenses as specified in the note verbale of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan pursuant to paragraph 81 (a) of resolution 2368 (2017)," said a note issued by the committee.

"The Chair wishes to inform the members that no objections were placed by the set deadline of 15 August 2019 for the consideration of the draft letter. Consequently, the letter is approved and the Chair will instruct the Secretariat to dispatch it," the note added.

Saeed, a UN designated terrorist whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty on, was arrested on July 17 this year in a terror financing case in Pakistan. He is lodged at the Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail in high security.

The US Department of the Treasury has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice.

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Wrestling Federation of India likely to sack Iranian coach Karimi

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) is likely to sack men's free style national coach Hossein Karimi, six months after the Iranian was hired on a contract till the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The Iranian had joined the national camp in February but has been struggling to adjust to the 'system'.

He went on leave after India savoured its best ever performance at the World Championship in Nur-Sultan, where the men's freestyle wrestlers won four medals and three Olympic quotas.

"Karimi's days are numbered. He will soon be gone. The WFI is not happy with him," said an WFI source.

It has been learnt that the diminutive Karimi himself is not happy with the way things work in India.

Source said he wanted to have his own programme in place at the national camp in Bahalgarh in Sonepat district but country's elite wrestlers trained on their own.

Bajrang Punia has been training with Georgian Shako Bentinidis while Sushil Kumar trains with Russian Kamal Malikov.

Deepak Punia and Ravi Dahiya, who won a silver and a bronze respectively in Nur Sultan, are product of Delhi's Chhatarsal stadium.

"He was struggling to gel with the other Indian coaches at the camp and remained aloof most of the time. He was unhappy since arriving and has been complaining of one or the other thing. The WFI was told about it and it (sacking) was coming," said a source.

"He was even given a flat near the camp since he did not want to stay inside the SAI Complex where other coaches lived."

However, the WFI said it as not yet decided on sacking Karimi, who as Iran's national coach, had led his nation to three men's freestyle medals, including a gold, at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"He is on leave. Let him come back. We have not yet decided, if he will continue as men's freestyle coach or not," said WFI Assistant Secretary Vinod Tomar.

It has also been learnt that Karimi had refused to share room with one of the fellow support staff members in Nur Sultan.

"Since he did not mix up with others, he insisted that he would stay alone. One separate room was given to him while three support staff members shared one room. One of them had to sleep on the couch all these days," the source claimed.

"He did not think high of India's coaches. He provided only verbal tips to wrestlers at the camp, preferring to stay away from heavily sweating grapplers," added another source, who was in the Kazakh capital.

In complete contrast, American Andrew Cooks seems to be enjoying his stint with the women's team in Lucknow.

For him, India is his 'new family' and can be seen even defending the freestyle wrestlers, who attracted a bit of criticism during the World Championship.

The Greco-Roman coach Temo Kazarashvili has also developed a bond with his boys, who respect the Russian.

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Vikram had hard landing, NASA releases high-res images

NASA on Friday released high-resolution images captured by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) during its flyby of the lunar region, where India's ambitious Chandrayaan-2 mission attempted a soft landing near the Moon's uncharted south pole. It found Vikram had a hard landing.

The Vikram lander module attempted a soft landing on a small patch of lunar highland smooth plains between Simpelius N and Manzinus C craters before losing communication with ISRO on September 7.

"Vikram had a hard landing and the precise location of the spacecraft in the lunar highlands has yet to be determined, NASA said.

The scene was captured from a Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera Quickmap fly-around of the targeted landing site image width is about 150 kilometres across the centre.

Vikram was scheduled to touch down on September 7. This event was India's first attempt at a soft landing on the moon. The site was located about 600 kilometres from the south pole in a relatively ancient terrain, according to the US space agency.

The LRO passed over the landing site on September 17 and acquired a set of high-resolution images of the area; so far the LROC team has not been able to locate or image the lander.

LRO will next fly over the landing site on October 14 when lighting conditions will be more favourable, John Keller, Deputy Project Scientist Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission, Goddard Space Flight Centre, told PTI via email.

Over the last fortnight, both Chandrayaan 2's orbiter and NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have been trying to locate the lander. The Indian orbiter was at a great altitude—100 km—so despite the most powerful camera in a lunar mission ever, it has only captured a hazy image. 

"It was dusk when the landing area was imaged and thus large shadows covered much of the terrain; it is possible that the Vikram lander is hiding in a shadow. The lighting will be favourable when LRO passes over the site in October and once again attempts to locate and image the lander," NASA said. 

Chandrayaan-2 for India now means its orbiter, which is successfully orbiting around the moon in the intended orbit of 100 x 100 km. Though it was initially announced that its mission life would be for a year, ISRO subsequently said that it had enough fuel to last for another six. Most of the scientific instruments of the mission are on the orbiter. It is hoped that this mission will prove useful and additional to existing knowledge of the moon. In its last communication to the press, ISRO has said that all payloads of the orbiter are powered and initial trials have been completed successfully. Thus, their performance is satisfactory

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Action-entertainers need intelligent script: Hrithik Roshan

Action-entertainers are Hrithik Roshan's favourite genre but the actor says it is important to have a good script for such films to work at the box office.

Hrithik, fresh from the success of Super 30, had to go through a physical transformation to fit into the role of an intelligence operative gone rogue in Sidharth Anand's War that pits him opposite Tiger Shroff.

"It feels great to be back (in this space). It is my favourite genre. I love action-entertainers, I have had very few chances to do them but whenever I have had the chance, I have revelled in it," Hrithik said.

The actor, 45, said he had a lot of trust in both Tiger and Anand, with whom he previously collaborated on Bang Bang.

"Actually, I only want to do action entertainers. But it is very hard to get a good script, it's hard to write one. It seems easy as it has action, dance and entertainment but you need to have an intelligent script in the genre," he added.

Asked about the lack of multi-hero projects, Hrithik, who in the past has shared screen space with Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Farhan Akhtar, said such films are possible only with secure actors. "It takes two very secure and trusting actors and director to come together to make this kind of a film. It is sad that we have a lot of insecurity in our industry and not many people trust each other.

"Here we did not have that problem as Tiger is coming from a very secure place, Sid (director) is somebody we both trust. We all came together to make a good film. We were taking care of each other. We were sincerely making sure that each character comes out to its fullest potential."

Hrithik described his character of Kabir as someone who is mysterious but patriotic.

"The values that you attach to a character are very important. It should be close to the truth-- someone who is a patriot, a soldier for the country and I attach those values to the character. Kabir is mysterious and unpredictable. You would not know him completely and that is exciting about the character," he said.

Hrithik said getting back in shape for the Yash Raj Films project after putting on weight for "Super 30" was challenging as he had just two months.

"The transformation was very difficult. It caught me off-guard. I was playing Anand sir in 'Super 30' where I was not supposed to be in lean, muscular shape. I had become lazy throughout the shooting of the film, I was eating everything. My waist was 37.5 inch. I had to do something drastic to get into shape.

"The producers gave me two months to transform. It is the most difficult transformation I have done. I have shot this (his physical transformation). It is a good content piece for me to share with my audience. If it turns out well, I will share it with the world. It is another film by itself."

The film, also starring Vaani Kapoor, will hit cinemas on October 2. 

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Christians a soft-target for 'love jihad' by Islamic radicals: Minority body vice chairman

George Kurian, vice chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), has shot off a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah, asking for a probe into cases of 'love jihad' or forced conversion of women by Islamic radicals. Demanding the involvement of NIA, he wrote, “The spate of organised religious conversions and using the victims for terror activities by trapping them through ‘love jihad’ has shown the Christian community is a soft target for Islamic radicals,” reported The Hindu.

The incident should be seen in the backdrop of a case registered at Kozhikode against N. Jasim, who allegedly raped a Christian girl and threatened her to convert to Islam. He had surrendered before the Kozhikode police yesterday, and has been charged with rape, extortion and criminal intimidation. An FIR was registered in August based on the testimony of the girl. The accused had allegedly shot videos of the incident and threatened to make it public. 

Kurian quoted a report by the Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference’s (KCBC) Commission for Social Harmony and Vigilance, which claimed that there were 4,000 instances of “love jihad” between 2005 and 2012. “Love jihad is on, and it has been continuing in the state for a while. Here conversion is not into Islam, but into terrorism. Even the Muslim community is objecting to it,” Kurian told The Indian Express on Wednesday. 

As per the files on the ‘Cases of Love Jihad’, a copy of which has been accessed by THE WEEK, 78 such cases have been registered and investigated by the Kerala state police since 2015. The complainants belong to all three major communities in the state—35 cases were filed by Hindu parents, 31 cases by Muslim parents and 12 by Christian parents. Ten of these cases are under various stages of investigation—five with the NIA and five with the state Crime Branch. The rest of the cases have been dropped, as the allegation of forced conversion could not be proved. The cases that have been handed over to the NIA are those with suspected involvement of international terrorist organisations.

According to state government figures, as many as 7,713 persons have converted to Islam in 2006-2012 as against 2,803 conversions to Hinduism. The report also states that more than half of those who converted to Islam are women, and that the majority of these women (76 pc) are below 35 years. Of those converted, majority are Hindus, with Christian numbering around 1,000

The spurt in conversion has added fuel to Hindutva groups that seek to counter conversions to Islam through reconversions. Arsha Vidya Samajam, Arya Samaj Mandir, Hindu Helpline and Hindu Help Desk are all part of this 'ghar wapsi' trend. 

Most recently, the Hadiya case was a highly sensitive topic in Kerala, where the Supreme Court asked the federal anti-terror agency to investigate the case of Akhila Asokan alias Hadiya, a 25-year-old Hindu woman who converted to Islam and married a Muslim man. She converted while pursuing BHMS at Sivraj Homoeopathic Medical College in Tamil Nadu.

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No choice but to impeach Trump, says AOC after White House releases transcripts

On Twitter, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asserted the rationale behind the recently announced impeachment proceedings against US President Donald Trump.

Quoting from the transcripts of Trump’s phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, she tweeted, “Folks, I am surprised the White House even released this transcript. It’s worse than we thought. The President sought to use the powers of the United States government to investigate a political opponent. We have no choice but to impeach.”

She added that the leaked transcript was really a collection of notes that was “way above and beyond what is necessary for impeachment. The President engaged in an outright betray of our country.”

The move to impeach came after the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the Democratic Party would launch impeachment proceedings against Trump over allegations that he pressured Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, one of the contenders for the Democratic Presidential nomination.

Pelosi was formerly the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, which gave her years of experience dealing with whistleblower complaints and the American security apparatus. In a Tuesday morning phone call with Trump where he raised the whistleblower’s complaint that first spoke about his conversation with Zelensky, she told the President that he had walked into her wheelhouse.

Pelosi stated that the President "seriously violated the Constitution" and that his actions amounted to "a betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security and betray of the integrity of our elections."

In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Trump called the inquiry “breaking news Witch Hunt garbage”, adding that it was ‘PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT.’ He has since launched a fundraising campaign amongst his supporters to raise money for an 'impeachment defense team.'

The transcripts show that the president asked the Ukrainian president to investigate allegations that Joe Biden’s son used influence to earn work for his private company in Ukraine. At the time, Biden was Vice President under the Obama Administration, and had pressurised the Ukrainian government to fire General Prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was seen as doing little about the rampant claims of corruption within his office. To add to the pressure, the US withheld around one billion dollars in loan guarantees unless Shokin was removed.

While the Ukrainian parliament later voted to remove Shokin, Trump has alleged that the move benefited Biden’s son, Hunter, who once worked with a company called Burisma Holdings which was under a (then dormant) investigation by Shokin. An investigation by Bloomberg found no evidence that Hunter benefitted from this, however, and quoted Ukraine’s last Prosecutor General saying that he had found no evidence of the same either.

In the phone call with Trump, the president spoke about the aid that the US gives Ukraine. Zelensky responded saying that the next prosecutor general would “100 per cent be my person” and that he would look into the situation and the company mentioned.

Amongst other points of note, Trump asked Zelenski to speak to his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, alongside the US Attorney General William Barr.

The involvement of Barr in the transcripts has prompted the House Judiciary Chief to ask the Attorney General to recuse himself from any Ukraine-related investigation.  The mention of US aid has spurred allegations that this was an instance of the Preisident attempting to pressurise the Ukrainian President into action on his behalf.

All in the all, the point of contention is that Trump attempted to push a foreign country to interfere in a US election, much like what happened with the 2016 election. However, unlike the outcome of the Robert S. Mueller probe, which stated that the president did not directly collude with Russian officials to influence the US election, this time the President has personally involved himself in a similar matter and, by releasing the transcripts of his phone call, provided evidence for the same.

Impeachment of a sitting president under the US constitution requires a Congress investigation, the passing of a simple majority of impeachment proceedings by the House of Representatives, followed by a trial of the President by the US Senate (the upper house), presided over by the Chief Justice of the United States.

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