Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Friday Rahul Gandhi has made a “very ordinary statement” and there is “absolutely no question” of him apologising for it.

After the BJP raised the issue in both the Houses and stalled the proceedings, he said this was BJP’s “tactic” to divert the attention of people from the countrywide protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill due to which the entire North-East is “burning”.

“There is absolutely no question of Rahul Gandhi apologising… he has made a very ordinary statement on the situation,” Tharoor told reporters outside the Parliament House

Gandhi’s remarks on rape were at the centre of furious protests in the Lok Sabha on the last day of the winter session on Friday with leaders of the ruling BJP protesting and demanding an apology from him.

He said in Jharkhand on Thursday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative is like ‘rape in India’.

India and Russia will jointly take down a ‘mock up’ terrorist base located in a third country as part of a first of its kind tri-service joint military exercise between the two counties which is to be held in India.

While the naval phase will be held at Goa, the land phase will be held at Babina, Jhansi a cantonment town in Uttar Pradesh with the Air Force assisting both phases of the operation. A mock up fictional country has been set up at Babina, Uttar Pradesh as part of the exercises.

“In this particular exercise, we are trying to look at being able to develop on a situation where you can try and weed out terrorism in a third country under the UN mandate. So we are trying to look at operating together in a situation in a third country,” said Major General Vijay Singh, the Overall Force Commander from the Indian side for the joint exercises.

Singh was speaking at a joint press conference in Goa on Friday.

“The navy will be training on how to prevent a couple of pirate ships coming and landing near the coastline and trying to smuggle weapons to the country we are helping out. The Air Force would assist them in identifying those pirate ships and if the pirates have taken over some territory momentarily for landing, then we could look at how those territories can be recaptured,” he said.

“All the components Air Force, Navy, Army , from our country and Russia, will operate together in trying to prevent the pirates to be successful in smuggling weapons. We will try and restore the situation in the country,” Singh said.

“There is one threat to us that is international terrorism in the 21st century so that is our common enemy. Whatever we gain out of this exercise can be used in fighting against terrorism,” Major General O Tsekov, who is leading the Russian military contingent, said.

“The Indian and Russian military is easy to interact with each other… and we can say that we even speak in one language. I’m impressed by their technical ability to understand everything. The operation itself is very complicated. Have the task assigned and achieving the goal that has been set by this exercise. The experience gained and skills developed by the Indian and Russian side can be used in normal practices also,” Tsekov added.

The naval phase of Exercise INDRA is being hosted by headquarters, Goa Naval area for which the Russian Naval ships arrived at Goa on December 10. The harbour phase of the exercise commenced on December 10, which includes formal calls, planning conferences, professional interactions and sports events.

The sea phase of the exercise will be held off Goa from December 16-19, in which INS Aditya, INS Tarkash, MiG29K fighter aircraft, maritime patrol aircraft and ship-borne helicopters would be participating from the Indian Navy.

The validation exercise will be conducted on December 18, wherein joint operations will be conducted along with Ghatak platoon of army, Mi 17, Su30s and Jaguars of the IAF, along with Russian Marine Infantry. We are confident that the skills earned by our personnel would help in execution of maritime operational tasks while promoting joint operations.

The aim of the exercise is to enhance interoperability and develop an understanding in order to effectively tackle common security challenges. INDRA initially began as a bilateral naval exercise between the Indian and Russian Federation navies in 2003. The exercise has now assumed a tri-service scope with corresponding maturity and gradual increase in complexity and level of participation.

The Jamia Millia Islamia University turned into a battlefield on Friday after police and students, who wanted to march to Parliament House to protest the Citizenship Amendment Act, clashed with each other prompting AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan to reach the spot to take stock of the situation.

Fifty students were detained following a clash between police and students after the protestors were stopped at the varsity gate and prevented from carrying out their march.

The students, who were baton-charged by police personnel, alleged that the police also used tear gas to quell their march. The students also resorted to stone-pelting. However, the protestors alleged that police resorted to stone-pelting first and students threw stones in response to the attack.

Videos circulated by students on social media showed police caning the protestors. The police had cordoned off the road and protestors were seen climbing onto barricades. The University’s gate was later closed.

“We were marching peacefully and police stopped us from marching. First, they lathicharged us asking us to move backwards. Then they pelted stones in response to which students picked up stones too,” Onaihza, a law student at Jamia, said.

Another student alleged that police resorted to pelting stones and then used tear gas that resulted in many students being injured.

Police, however, denied the allegations.

“Students started their march. We had placed barricades which they broke and tried to jump over them. Then they threw stones at us forcing us to use tear gas shells. The students have been detained and taken to Badarpur police station,” a senior police official present at the stop said.

Area MLA Amanatullah Khan from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.

As a precautionary measure, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) closed the entry and exit points at Patel Chowk and Janpath metro stations following Delhi police’s advisory.

“As advised by Delhi Police, entry & exit at Patel Chowk and Janpath have been closed. Trains will not be halting at these stations,” DMRC said on twitter.

The stations were opened an hour later.

A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to businessman Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, in a money laundering case related to bank loan fraud.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar granted the relief to Puri on a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh with two sureties of like amount.

Puri is likely to come out of jail since he is already on bail in the AgustaWestland case in which he was arrested earlier.

The court directed the accused not to leave the country without its prior permission and to join the probe as and when called for.

“He shall not try to influence the prosecution witnesses or tamper with the evidence in any manner,” the court said.

It noted that the case was primarily based on the documentary evidence.

“Multiple raids have been conducted by different investigating agencies at the residential as well as the official premises of the investigating agency.

“In fact, the entire record of the accused company is in the custody of the official liquidator. Thus, the apprehension of the probe agency that the applicant would tamper with the evidence appears to be far-fetched,” the court said.

It noted that Puri had permanent abode in Delhi, wherein he was living with his family.

“He is stated to be the chairman of the Board of Directors of Hindustan Power Projects Ltd having the strength of about 21,000 employees.

“This indicates that the applicant has roots in the society and there is hardly any likelihood of his fleeing from justice,” it said.

Advocate Vijay Agarwal, appearing for Puri, said that his client had resigned before the alleged period of offence. “No case was made out against my client,” he said.

The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Special Public Prosecutor N K Matta had opposed the bail application, saying “if released on bail, Puri may tamper with the evidence and influence the witnesses.” The ED had last month filed a charge sheet against Puri and his company Moser Baer.

It had arrested Puri on August 20 and he is currently in judicial custody in the case, which emerged from a CBI FIR of August 17. Puri, his father Deepak Puri, mother Nita (Nath’s sister) and others were booked in connection with the Rs 354 crore bank fraud case file by the Central Bank of India.

Puri was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the bank fraud case after he appeared before the central probe agency in the VVIP chopper scam.

The Delhi High Court, meanwhile, reserved its order on the ED’s plea against the trial court order granting bail to Puri in the chopper scam case.

The court had on December 2 granted bail to Puri in the AgustaWestland money laundering case while directing him not to “tamper with evidence” or “try to contact or influence the witnesses”. PTI UK KJ

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday approached the Election Commission demanding action against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his “rape in India” remark at an election rally in Jharkhand. BJP leaders accused Gandhi of “using” rape incidents as a “political weapon” to settle scores with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

BJP’s women parliamentarians led by Union minister Smriti Irani, met Election Commission officials in the national Capital and sought “severest possible action” against Gandhi for his comments made on Thursday.

“It is with a sense of outrage that women MPs of BJP have approached the Election Commission of India to take strongest action possible against Rahul Gandhi. Mr. Gandhi has used rape as a political weapon to settle scores with Narendra Modi,” Irani said.

“We have beseeched the Election Commission that it is for the first time that a political leader has used rape for political mockery. The entire nation looks upon this constitutional authority (EC) to ensure that dignity of women is upheld and those politicians who seek to use rape as a political weapon are reprimanded with the severest punishment possible,” she told reporters after the meeting.

The BJP leader said it is left to the Election Commission to decide the punishment it will dole out to Gandhi. “Who has given Rahul Gandhi the right to say that all women are being raped in the country? Who has given Rahul Gandhi the right to say that every man is a rapist? Who has given Rahul Gandhi the right to tarnish the image of the country for his own politics?” she asked.

EC officials have assured the delegation that they will do justice after following proper legal procedures. She said Rahul Gandhi has made such a condemnable statement “deliberately” for his political benefit.

A number of BJP women MPs accompanied Irani to her meeting with EC officials. They also handed over a memorandum to the poll body.

“Rahul Gandhi has grossly violated the letter and spirit of the Model Code of Conduct. He has inflicted irreparable hurt on the status of women in India,” their memorandum reads.

In Jharkhand, assembly polls are being held in five phases. The counting of votes will take place on December 23.