Denied Landing At Malda Airport, BJP Chief Amit Shah Opts For Private Helipad
The West Bengal administration's refusal to allow Amit Shah's helicopter to land at the Malda airstrip had snowballed into a major controversy.
Kolkata:
Denied permission by the West Bengal government to land his chopper at the Malda airstrip for a rally tomorrow, BJP chief Amit Shah has decided to circumvent the issue by touching down at a private helipad in the region instead. According to a press note from the state BJP, the helicopter will now land at the Golden Park Hotels and Resorts – a property with adequate infrastructure for the purpose.
The administration's refusal to allow Mr Shah's helicopter to land at the Malda airstrip had snowballed into a major controversy, with the BJP citing it as an instance of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee "misusing state machinery for political ends". The government, however, maintained that the BJP president could not be allowed to land there due to ongoing renovation work.
"As there were security issues, the police said that the chopper carrying Amit Shah should land at some other site. I also change my chopper's landing spot on the police's request. We granted permission for the rally because we believe in democracy. They (BJP leaders) are distorting information and misleading people," Ms Banerjee said.
The state authorities had cited ongoing construction work to direct Mr Shah's helicopter to another landing strip. "Upgradation work is going on, and there is sand as well as construction material lying around. Permission cannot be given because the airport is not suitable for the safe landing of helicopters. Moreover, the temporary helipad in Malda is not being maintained properly due to the ongoing construction work," a letter from the Additional District Magistrate of Malda, dated January 20, stated.
BJP Malda district secretary Gopal Saha, in his response, wondered how the state government manages to use the Malda helipad for landing its choppers if it is in such a bad state. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that the rejection of permission amounted to "abuse of power" on the state government's part. "Permission was denied on the grounds that renovation work is being taken up, and there is construction material littered on the runway. But Mamataji's helicopter had landed on the same airstrip a few days ago. Some journalists went there too, and I have pictures to prove it," he said.
Mr Shah was discharged from Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where he was being treated for swine flu, on Sunday.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/denied-landing-at-malda-airport-bjp-chief-amit-shah-opts-for-private-helipad-1981025?pfrom=home-topstories
Tokyo terminates working level talks with Seoul after revealing new evidence on radar lock-on dispute
The Defense Ministry announced Monday it will terminate talks with its South Korean counterpart over the radar lock-on dispute, while revealing what it claims are sounds, converted from radio waves, of the fire-control radar system of a South Korean destroyer.
The 18-second audio file, if genuine, reportedly shows that continuous, intense radar waves were directed at the P-1 anti-submarine patrol airplane operated by the Maritime Self-Defense Force on Dec. 20 in the Sea of Japan.
Japanese defense officials said the wave patterns are completely different from surface search radar waves that Seoul claimed were being used by the South Korean Navy’s Gwanggaeto destroyer.
“We believe a third party would be convinced that what we have said is true if they examine the sounds, a video footage and other materials in a comprehensive way,” said a senior Defense Ministry official who briefed reporters at the ministry, referring in particular to 13 minutes of video footage.
The video footage also included the voice of the pilot of the MSDF P-1 aircraft, who the ministry said heard the same radar sounds while flying near the destroyer.
Japanese officials said that they had identified FC (fire control) waves as being directed from the STIR-180 fire control system of the South Korean destroyer.
However, it is not yet clear — and is perhaps unlikely — that the newly-revealed evidence will put an end to the Tokyo-Seoul dispute.
“We express deep regrets over its decision to stop consultations designed to verify the facts,” Choi Hyun-soo, a spokeswoman for Seoul’s defense ministry, said of Tokyo’s move, according to Yonhap News Agency.
“The sounds that the Japanese side presented are just mechanical sounds from which we can never verify the pieces of information we have demanded — the detection date, angle and traits of electromagnetic waves,” she added.
Japanese officials said they processed the sound waves to protect sensitive military technical details relating to the STIR-180 radar system used by the South Korean destroyer, because it is used also by other countries including Thailand, Canada and Taiwan.
rest at link
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/01/21/national/politics-diplomacy/japan-reveals-audio-evidence-terminates-talks-south-korea-radar-lock-dispute/
Dollar rises to above ¥109.50 in Tokyo
The dollar was firmer above ¥109.50 in Tokyo trading Monday, supported by an advance in U.S. stocks late last week.
At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥109.57-58, up from ¥109.36-36 at the same time Friday. The euro was at $1.1385-1386, slightly down from $1.1390-1393, and at ¥124.75-77, up from ¥124.57-57.
The dollar was around ¥109.60-70 in early trading, carrying over its strength from overseas trading Friday, where the U.S. currency rose to around ¥109.90 on the back of higher U.S. stocks.
Toward noon, the U.S. currency rose to around ¥109.70 after a sense of relief spread among currency market players after the release of Chinese gross domestic product data.
Players were relieved that the Chinese growth data were not as weak as expected, an official at a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said.
But the U.S. currency weakened against the yen in the afternoon as trading lacked incentives for the dollar to test its upside after the release of the Chinese data, the official said.
“The dollar is prone to selling by Japanese exporters when it approaches ¥110,” an official of a think tank affiliated with a brokerage firm said.
While trading was already thin due to the closure of the U.S. market Monday, a wait-and-see mood prevailed in late hours as British Prime Minister Theresa May is scheduled to set out her next steps for Brexit on Monday, traders said
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/01/21/business/financial-markets/dollar-rises-%c2%a5109-50-tokyo/
Oil having another go at $54. Meandering around here, has had two attempts at breaking it.
Europe flat to down. DAX down moar than the other 2 majors
Gold
$1276.60
1,276.60Bid
1,277.60Ask
High: 1,283.80Low: 1,276.00
-4.70 -0.37%
Silver
$15.175
15.16Bid
15.26Ask
High: 15.40 Low: 15.13
-0.15 -0.95%
Both turned down and are sitting on lows now. Percentage move not a big deal but recent low's for both.
I guess no wake then
Right….about….now
hold still
peace for you and yours sa