Can't give timeline for Masood Azhar's listing as global terrorist at EU: German envoy
New Delhi: Germany is "very much" pushing for the listing of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist at the European Union (EU), but a timeline for it cannot be given, Jasper Wieck, the Deputy Head of the German Mission in India, said Tuesday.
He said Germany is hopeful that at a certain stage, Azhar will be designated as a global terrorist at the United Nations too.
"We are working on it... We still have hope that the listing will take place at the United Nations at a certain stage and that would be a better solution.
"In the short-term, we are working on this within the European Union. I cannot give you an exact timeline on how it will be done, but Germany is among those who are very much pushing for this," Wieck said at a press conference.
"What is important is to know that even if it did not work out at the UN when we tried a couple of weeks ago, we should not give up hope that we will succeed in this endeavour in the next round at the UN," he said.
In March, Germany initiated a move at the EU to designate Azhar as a global terrorist, days after China blocked a bid at the UN to designate him so.
Germany is in touch with several EU member-nations in this regard.
All the 28 member-countries of the EU will have to support the move as the bloc decides on such issues under the principle of consensus, sources had earlier said.
On March 15, France imposed financial sanctions on Azhar and stated that it would work with its European partners to put the JeM chief's name on the EU list of persons and entities involved in terror acts.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Karnataka Assembly Speaker seeks probe after Aadhaar cards found on riverbank in Mangaluru
Mangaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker U T Khader on Wednesday sought an inquiry after a large number of Aadhaar cards were found on the banks of the Nethravathi River here.
The cards were found at Farangipete in Pudu village of his Mangaluru Assembly constituency.
Khader, in a note to the Project Manager of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Bengaluru, sought immediate intervention and necessary action against those responsible.
In the note dated March 4, he said that local residents noticed the Aadhaar cards along the riverbank on March 3.
Following information received from the public, the Pudu Gram Panchayat president and villagers collected the Aadhaar cards found scattered in the area. They subsequently brought the matter to his attention and the concerned authorities, he said.
Expressing concern over the incident, the Speaker has directed that a thorough investigation be conducted to ascertain how such a large number of Aadhaar cards ended up on the riverbank and to identify those responsible.
He instructed officials to initiate appropriate legal action through the concerned department at the earliest.
