Is Modi govt in touch with Taliban? Here’s foreign minister’s reply

Nagpur: The Nagpur district court on Monday handed life imprisonment to former BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd engineer Nishant Agarwal under the Official Secrets Act for spying for Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI.

Agarwal will also have to undergo rigorous imprisonment (RI) for 14 years and was also fined ₹ 3,000.

Additional sessions court judge MV Deshpande stated in the order that Agarwal was convicted under section 235 of the Criminal Procedure Code for an offence punishable under section 66 (f) of the IT Act and various sections of the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

"The court sentenced Agarwal to life imprisonment and RI for 14 years under the Official Secrets Act and fined him ₹ 3,000," said Special Public Prosecutor Jyoti Vajani.

Agarwal, employed in the technical research section of the company's missile centre in Nagpur, was arrested in a joint operation by the military intelligence and Anti-terrorism squads (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra in 2018.

The former BrahMos Aerospace engineer was booked under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the stringent OSA.

He had worked at the Brahmos facility for four years and was accused of leaking sensitive technical information to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the military Industrial Consortium (NPO Mashinostroyenia) of Russia.

Agarwal was granted bail by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court last April.

Muslims around the world mark the Eid al-Adha (the Feast of the Sacrifice) as this year’s celebrations are overshadowed by Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip and its deadly violence in the West Bank.

Eid al-Adha was celebrated on Saturday in several Arab nations including Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, while 9 other Muslim countries such as Iran, Malaysia, Iraq, India, and Oman celebrate the holiday on Monday.

Gazans perform Eid al-Adha prayers in the rubble of their neighborhoods amidst the devastation of destroyed homes and buildings where nearly 37,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began more than eight months ago.

“We usually come to the Eid prayers cheering, with smiles everywhere on the streets. This Eid, I’ve come to the Eid prayers mourning, I’ve lost my son,” says Umm Muhammad Al-Katri who is performing her prayers in rubble in Jabaliya refugee camp.

In al-Quds, Israeli forces once again took harsh measures against Palestinians trying to mark Eid al-Adha in Al-Aqsa Mosque, with entry restrictions and physical assaults on worshipers.

WAFA news agency reported that around 40,000 Palestinians managed to attend prayers inside the mosque, while others were left with no choice but to pray outside the mosque as they were denied entry.

It also reported that Israeli forces disrupted the movement of Palestinians in various parts of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, erecting checkpoints and halting vehicles.

“We are in great pain and we are living through the difficult moments with our brothers in Gaza and in every place where they face calamities and hardships,” said Mahmoud Mohana from Ramallah.

“But with God, they will find their reward and will be elevated. We ask God to lift this distress and quicken the salvation of this nation from this oppression and brutality,” he added.

Jordanians came to the streets in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, following Eid al-Adha prayers.

The protest, held outside Al Kalouti Mosque near the Israeli Embassy in Amman, demonstrates the unwavering support of the Jordanian people for their Palestinian counterparts.

Eid al-Adha falls on the 10th day of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah on the lunar calendar every year, which marks the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Around two million Muslims undertaking the pilgrimage this year perform the last major ritual of the Hajj, the “stoning of the devil” in western Saudi Arabia, many of them have said that during the rituals taking place, they were praying for their Palestinian brothers and sisters and for Gaza.

Amravati (Maharashtra): Amravati MLA Ravi Rana has claimed Shiv Sena (UBT) head and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will join the Modi government in 15 days after the Lok Sabha election results come out on Tuesday.

Ravi Rana's wife Navneet Rana, the sitting MP from Amravati, contested the Lok Sabha poll from the seat this time on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's ticket.

In 2019, Navneet Rana won the Lok Sabha poll from Amravati as an independent candidate.

Speaking to reporters here on Sunday, the MLA from Badnera in Amravati district said he knows the way Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut have been speaking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I can confidently say that 15 days after Modi ji becomes the prime minister again, Uddhav Thackeray will be seen in the Modi government and with Modi ji, because the coming era is of Modi ji and Uddhav Thackeray knows it," Ravi Rana claimed.

Leaders of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state should keep blood pressure medicines and doctors with them as many of them will fall sick on June 4, the day of vote counting, the Yuva Swabhiman Party MLA said.

The MVA comprises the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP). The legislator expressed confidence that his wife Navneet Rana will win the Amravati Lok Sabha seat by a margin of more than two lakh votes.

Navneet Rana will become MP again as all sections of the society have voted for her in large numbers, he added.

In Amravati, Navneet Rana was pitted against Congress MLA Balwant Wankhede and Dinesh Bub of the Prahar Janshakti Party.

The Rana couple had taken on the MVA government over the recitation of Hanuman Chalisa in April 2022 when Uddhav Thackeray was the chief minister.