THE CONTACT WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ISSUE - 627, 11 AUG. - 17 AUG. 2015 2015 PH: (905) 671 - 4761
Indian govt steps up
anti-terror fight Move comes after three militants spotted in forests of Punjab By Manjeet Sehgal Days after the Gurdaspur attack, terror continues to haunt the people of Punjab. After the sporadic use of banned satellite phone at three places in the state, the terrorists have now made their presence felt as many as three times at three places in the last four days. A massive search operation was launched in Mukerian district's Purika village on Monday after a government school teacher spotted three to four militants in a car. A school teacher on Monday told the police that the suspected terrorists dressed in an army gear were moving in
a Maruti Alto car .The police force descended on the area immediately and launched a massive search operation to nab the terrorists.
High alert has been issued in Punjab, Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir after terrorists were spotted in three areas in the past four days. The school authorities also informed the locals about the presence of militants who also joined the huge posse of policemen. Earlier on Sunday, two heavily armed militants were
spotted at Ladeti village in Pathankot. The terrorists were spotted by a matriculation student Ajay and his brother Lalit, who were inside their house when they suddenly noticed two strangers peeping from a window. "My sons immediately came out and found them heading into the the forest. They were in Army fatigues. While one was bearded, the other was clean shaven," Ajay's father told the police. Inspector-General of Police Lok Nath Angraand and DIG (Border Range) Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh reached Ladeti village and started a search operation along with QRT commandos and the Army. The combing operation was also launched
in Ladeti forest, along the Chakki river and in the hutments of Gujjar tribes in Himachal Pradesh. "We are taking every input seriously and the police are prepared to take on the terrorists. No terrorist was found during the search operation," Kunwar Singh said. Nearly two dozen armed militants were also spotted at Dera Baba Nanak on Friday night. Security was beefed up in and around police posts, located close to the International Border
US confirms it owns night-vision device By Manjeet Sehgal The night-vision device (NVD) used by the Lashkar-E-Taiba militants in the Gurdaspur terror attack is owned by the American government and was misplaced somewhere in Afghanistan by US troopers, US authorities have confirmed to the Indian government. The device had markings that it is a property of US government. Now the US government authorities have confirmed that the device is owned by the government and was lost in Afghanistan. More details are awaited? a source told Mail Today. US authorities confirmation of the ownership has made it
clear that the device was acquired by the LeT from the Afghanistan Taliban. Mail Today, on July 30, had already hinted at Talibans role in the attack. The Indian government had recently sought US help in decoding the mystery of foreign weapons, including the night vision devices which were recovered from the terrorists. Mail Today has also learned that a US team may soon visit India to throw light on the terror strike. Indian authorities have also requested the US government to help Indian investigators to trace the origin of the Global
Positioning Devices (GPS) which were recovered from the militants. It was also suspected that the GPS devices may also be owned by the US government or US citizens .These devices are either used by the trekkers or Army personnel to travel in an unfamiliar place. Ministry of Home Affairs sources told MAIL TODAY that Indian authorities have also sought US help in finding out the manufacturer, shipping and ownership details of the GPS recovered from the terrorists. Sources said the FBI has assured full cooperation Continued on Page 2
under Kalanaur police station, after the militants were spotted. Neighbouring hill state of Himachal Pradesh, which also shares its border with insurgencyhit Jammu and Kashmir, is also on a high alert after the Dinanagar terror attack and the alleged existence of suspected Kashmiri terrorists in Chamba. The state government has sounded an alert in the border areas of Chamba district where two strangers, believed to be the terrorists, were spotted recently. "We
had received information from locals that two strangers were noticed in a bus in Surgani area of the district. Students of Surgani Government Senior Secondary School had also given similar inputs but the local CID unit did not notice any unlawful activity in the area," Superintendent of Police, Chamba SK Chaudhary said.Sources however said the strangers noticed by the locals may have Continued on Page 2
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US confirms it owns... Continued from Page 1
to the Indian government. It is believed that the Night Vision Device and GPS systems might have been looted or snatched from US or allied troops during the war in Afghanistan. FBI has assured all help to India. Indian and US security officials will jointly
work on the matter? the MHA official said. The Punjab Police had recovered a NVD from the railway track near the Parmanand railway station on Amritsar-Pathankot line, where militants had planted five bombs to blow up the bridge. The site is five kilometres from Dinanagar.
Not aware of PM Narendra Modi’s planned visit: White House
Washington The US has said it is not aware of any planned visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House during his trip to the country to attend 70th annual session of the UN General Assembly in New York next month. “I’m not aware of any planned visits by Prime Minister Modi to the White House in conjunction with his travel to the US for the United Nations General Assembly,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said yesterday. Responding to questions on possibility of Modi
meeting President Barack Obama, Earnest said the White House was oblivious of any such development. Modi is also expected to travel to San Francisco to address the Indian Diaspora on September 27 and meet corporate leaders in the Silicon Valley, becoming the fourth Indian Premier to visit US’ West Coast. In a five-day visit to the US in September last year, Modi had met Obama and sought investment from prominent CEOs besides exhorting the IndianAmerican community to take up a greater role in the development of India.
Indian govt steps up... Continued from Page 1
slipped into Jammu region and could be involved in the attack on a CRPF vehicle on Wednesday on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Udhampur. It is worth mentioning here that militants had killed 35 people in Chamba district in Sakrindi village in 1998.Chamba-Jammu and Kashmir border also has a sizeable Gujjar population, who like their Punjab counterparts, are under the scanner for their alleged support to the infiltrators.
India will soon be third largest economy, Hinduja says in BBC interview
LONDON India is on its way to becoming the world’s third largest economy, leading NRI industrialist G P Hinduja said today, crediting the growth momentum to a number of initiatives taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “India is already fourthlargest in public-private partnerships. If things go the way Modi is planning, India will be the third largest economy,” he told BBC in an interview. The London-based cochairman of the Hinduja Group attributed the growth momentum in the economy to a number of steps taken by Prime Minister Modi. “He (Modi) has been brilliant in building up international relationships. He has lot of matter. “The chief minister found any proof that the energy. Every day he has written to the Lahore high number of victims ran into announces new concepts and ideas. On the business court chief justice to hundreds. constitute a commission to “Announcements were probe the matter,” a made from mosques government official said. asking the victims to come The development comes to the police station and amid calls from civil society lodge complaints without Washington any fear,” he said. Pakistan A German man has set a Tahreek-i-Insaf chairman Guinness World record for Imran Khan expressed the longest shock at the scandal and said some of the parents, birthday ever after who accused the Punjab he managed to police of being hands-in- stretch his special glove with perpetrators of day to 46 hours by the crime, had been crossing between arrested. He said: “If we different time Sven cannot protect our children zones. Hagemeier kept and if police give protection his birthday going to perpetrators of the crime and opposition parties to we will become an for almost two days by crossing thoroughly probe the matter inhumane society.” and give exemplary Last month, the police between different punishment to the culprits. registered cases against time zones, on “This case is being the suspects after a large August 4, last investigated from all number of villagers of the year. Over the aspects,” Kasur Police chief victim boys and girls course of 46 Rai Babbar told reporters. surrounded the houses of hours, Sven flew Only seven complainants the suspects and from Auckland have approached us so far,” threatened to torch them. (New Zealand), to Brisbane he said, adding six accused Recently, a clash between (Australia) and then to have been arrested while the police and victim families Honolulu (Hawaii), achieving remaining five nominated in in Kasur had resulted in a record for the longest the FIR are out on bail. injuries to several people birthday ever. Sven’s elongated birthday Babbar said police had not and policemen.
Pakistan sex video racket: 280 children allegedly abused, probe on LAHORE Pakistan on Sunday ordered the setting up of a judicial commission to investigate the alleged sex abuse of 280 children in a village bordering India. Following the surfacing of
the scandal early last month, police had registered criminal cases against the 15 suspects of ‘the gang’ under sodomy and extortion charges in Ganda Singh village in Kasur district, some 50 kilometres from Lahore. Chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province Shahbaz Sharif said a judicial commission comprising judges of superior court will be set up to investigate the
Alert sounded the three districts of terrorist attack. A dozen Himachal shares a 226-km Kangra, Chamba and Una. outstation check posts border with Jammu and "The state police are fully (OCPs) have been set up to check infiltration," Director General of Police Sanjay Kumar said. MAIL TODAY has learnt that the militants who sneaked into India recently are now trying to cross over to Punjab following the heightened security in Jammu and Kashmir after the Udhampur terror incident. Punjab government has already been alerted by the Ministry of Home Affairs about a possible terror Kashmir. A precautionary capable to tackle any strike on or before alert has been sounded in situation, including a Independence Day.
angle, what we need for growth is tax, labour, land, power and infrastructure. “On all these five he has taken initiatives to move forward. Unfortunately, because of the old legacy and culture, it’s not that easy. He has to follow democracy and that takes
time,” he said. In reference to neighbouring China’s growth trajectory, he said: “I am an entrepreneur. I have businesses in India and China. I don’t compare the two. The Chinese economy grew very fast because it was not going on democratic basis. It is difficult for them to sustain that growth,” Hinduja said, refering to the growth prospects in the world’s second biggest economy. Closer home, the industrialist called for Britain to hold a referendum on its membership of the European Union “as soon as possible. Uncertainties must be removed. In any business, common sense is the most important factor. I am a firm believer that any successful business needs talent,” he said.
German man sets Guinness record for longest birthday ever
celebrations beat the 1998. The birthday-boy previous record set by spent the majority of two Nargis Bhimji of Karachi, days in an aeroplane enjoying plane food and working out how to stay comfortable on long-haul flights, Guinness World Records said. Sven’s extendedbirthday highlight was landing in Hawaii at midnight, with the knowledge that he had successfully set the record. Sven described his Guinness World Records certwho celebrated her birthday ificate as ‘an incredible for 35 hours 25 minutes by present’. ‘ crossing time zones after This year, however, Sven flying from Karachi to celebrated his birthday in Singapore and then to San a low-key manner at home Francisco back in June with just his family.
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Had they known it back then! Two presidential candidates - Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton - are being flayed with the question, “If you had known in 2003 what you know now, would you have supported the Iraq invasion?” Megan Kelly from the Fox News was referring to the faulty intelligence on the WMD program and the Iraq war. Each has answered in a different way; indeed, Jeb Bush seems to have answered in more than one way. It took one week of waffling for Jeb Bush to finally distance himself from his brother’s misaction ... “I would have not engaged, not gone to war with Iraq.” He repeated this last week at the first GOP Presidential debate. So, accustomed to presenting my readers with hypotheticals, I will first evaluate the politicians’ answers on this topic, and then I will give you my pick on what some other Indian leaders might have done differently had they ‘known then what we know now.’ To start with the American politicians first: The “C” answer would be the frank assertion that while mistakes were made, the politician being asked - Dick Cheney,
perhaps - would have gone to Baghdad anyway because we are better off now than we were before. This answer might also include the additional reminder that the end of the Iraq War is not yet in sight, so the ultimate judgment on its wisdom cannot yet be made. This is a poor, though not unreasonable, answer because it exhibits the mistake of comparing the present state of affairs with a past state to assess the outcome of a decision. To judge a policy correctly, we must instead ask whether we would be better off now had we made a different decision in the past. The “B” answer (perhaps Jeb Bush’s) is that after seeing how things have turned out, the politician wouldn’t have wanted to go to war in Iraq in the first place. On the one hand, we can’t possibly know the future, so given what was known at the time, the decision to intervene was correct. On the other hand, even if we could know the future, we surely wouldn’t have contrived the present state of affairs in Iraq or the death, destruction and suffering that has led us to that state.
Opinion By: SUNNY BAINS
security and to centralize authority in Baghdad, if we had known the consequences of these mistakes, then we would not have made them in the first place. And here is my pick on what these Indian leaders might have done differently had they ‘known then what we know now.’ Indira Gandhi: My pick is Operation Bluestar. Had she known the fallout would she have done what she did? I would say no. But then others say that it was probably the Emergency. Had she known then that the intelligence she had been receiving was false, cooked up to feed on her insecurities, she might not have imposed Emergency.
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The “A” answer can be found in a carefully wrought paragraph in Hillary Clinton’s memoir, Hard Choices (2014). “If I had known then what I know now, I never would have voted to give the president authority.” As she said during the June 2007 Democratic debate, “Obviously if I had known then what I know now about what the president would do with the authority that was given to him, I would not have voted” to authorize the war. In her answer, she wisely does not speculate as to what she would have done with that authority if she were president. After all, Congress had enthusiastically called for regime change in Iraq during Bill Clinton’s presidency. Instead, her answer focuses on how George W. Bush exercised that power. It seems pretty clear that he largely bungled it through an incompetent occupation and tried to retrieve the initiative with a decision at the 11th hour to surge U.S. forces in 2007. Going to war would have been o.k. if we had known in 2003 that the occupation would lose us the war, if we had known the decisions to disband the Iraqi army and police were wrong, as were the choices to try to maintain an occupation force that was roughly one-quarter the size projected to be needed, to prioritize elections over
Jawaharlal Nehru: Went prematurely to the UN in 1948 over the Kashmir war. The terms of the ceasefire of the 1948 war, as laid out in a United Nations resolution, required Pakistan to withdraw its forces, both regular and irregular, while allowing India to maintain minimum strength of its forces in the state to preserve law and order. On compliance of these conditions, a plebiscite was to be held to determine the future of the territory. This move to internationalize Kashmir haunts India till today. Maybe Nehru would have not gone to the UN. Morarji Desai: All but shut down RAW. The Prime Minister elected on an anti-Indira platform was consumed by hatred for the external intelligence agency created by Mrs. Gandhi. Had he known then that no nation could survive without an external intelligence agency, especially when faced with a neighbor who was developing a state strategy of asymmetrical warfare, he might have trusted Pakistan less and Indian intelligence agencies more. Atal Behari Vajpayee: Would have gone by his gut instinct and not have called early elections and would have scrapped the ‘India Shining’ campaign. Outcome of 2004 elections might have been different.
LK Advani: Probably would not have resigned as MP and made that pledge that until his name was cleared in the Jain Hawala diaries case he would not enter public life. That paved the way for the rise of AB Vajpayee and the history of the BJP was altered. Politically, not a prudent move. Some would even say LKA’s Jinnah comment was his undoing moment. I would still pick the decision to quit based on unproven allegations. Rajiv Gandhi: Bofors. Though nobody has been able to prove that he or any of his family benefitted from the Bofors gun deal, RG made several mistakes in handling the aftermath. And then there were others the firing of a foreign secretary in a press conference. Gandhi lost forever the trust of the bureaucracy, a cardinal error in judgment by a PM, not to have the babus on your right side. VP Singh: Mandal. Subsequent governments ratified the Mandal deal and even increased the quantum of reservation on the grounds of providing social justice. But the self-immolations by students and large-scale agitations across the country tarnished VP Singh’s image as a middle class messiah. Had Singh known then that such a tsunami of hate would come his way; he would have done things differently. Bring in the changes in a phased manner. He admitted this in an interview to a columnist, years later. Narasimha Rao: Babri Masjid. Slept while zealots, altering the course of political and social history of the country, tore down the 16th-century mosque. Had he known the sweeping outcome this would unleash he might have protected the mosque. Maybe. Narendra Modi: 2002. The shadow of those riots has dogged him since. My take is that had he believed less in himself and his ability to control his people, he might have called in the army the very first day. Sonia Gandhi: 272. She spoke too soon. It was necessary to get the numbers together before making the claim. Manmohan Singh: Raja and Kalmadi. If he had been advised right and been strong enough to cut out the leeches in his administration, his would truly have been the India Shining decade. In my mind is that Kenny Rogers song “If I knew then what I know now/ I’d have found the way to make things work out … somehow ...”
Bobby Jindal does push-ups before Republican debate Washington: Bobby Jindal may not have made the cut for Thursday’s prime time debate among top ten Republican presidential contenders, but he is nevertheless getting ready in a different way - by doing push ups literally. Louisiana’s Indian-American governor, who along with six other bottom candidates has been relegated to a secondary forum earlier in the day by hosts Fox News, went elbow to elbow in a ‘push-up contest’ with his top foes in a
BuzzFeed video. Each of the ‘issues’ confronting him taxes, Obamacare, hyphenated Americans and, of
course, his own awkward delivery of the Republican rebuttal to President Barack Obama’s first speech to Congress - is represented by an individual. A “Tanned. Rested. Ready” Jindal, as his campaign slogan puts it, in formal wear, including a neck-tie, does really well, beats most of the contestants, but then gets ‘totaled’. Mother Jones, an American magazine featuring investigative and breaking news reporting, noted kindly: “It’s some real Rocky
IV stuff. “As the governor knows well, be it a 17-person race or a 2-person race, coming in second is not going to be enough, ever, to get either into the governor’s mansion or the president’s White House,” it said. Gawker, an American blog that promotes itself as “the source for daily Manhattan media news and gossip”, had a different take on the exercise: “Buzzfeed and Bobby Jindal Try to Out-Whore One Another. This is image-laundering.
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11 Aug. - 17 Aug. 2015
Lavish celebrations as Egypt’s Sisi opens new Suez Canal
‘I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.’ So said Lao Tzu. Lao who? Ah well, there’s a thing. Nobody quite knows who he was or even when he lived. Some say he was a contemporary of Confucius in China, a couple of thousand years ago. But, we know what he said. And if he said stuff like this, no wonder he’s held in such high regard. In the realm of your heart, all you need is simplicity, patience and compassion. From this will come all else. !!! Universities run courses in most subjects these days, but it is not yet possible to achieve a degree in miracleworking. So why is that then? Is it due to a shortage of teachers? Or is it that the students are to blame? Apparently, very few people are interested in developing such a skill. They fear that it might compromise them. They do not want responsibilities that go alongside such power. Lately, you have bravely set out to make a miracle happen. You don’t now need assistance; you just need a little encouragement. !!! The Italian Tourist Board has never officially told visitors to Rome that they should ‘do as the Romans do’, but it remains widely followed advice. Not just in Rome, either. We emulate the example of the people around us. If it’s all right for them, we figure, it must be all right for us. And then they look at us, copying them, and they copy us right back again. In your personal life now though, what’s important, nay essential, is that you do what’s right for you, not just what’s right for someone else. !!!
Would you like to eat the meal you had last month? I don’t mean the same dish; I mean the same meal. Unless, that is, it has been quickly frozen and then reheated with care. Maybe, then. But otherwise, no. Time moves on. Even when we want to repeat an experience, we must recreate it with fresh ingredients. Whether you want things to move on or to stay as they are, you have to invest energy and effort. Be careful, in your emotional life, how closely you identify with something that’s a part of your past not your future. !!! It’s a small world especially if you happen to have a small mind! When we focus only on the things we already know about, we keep encountering people with similar views and interests. The more we are willing to learn, the more there is for us to discover. Developments in your personal and emotional life now are broadening your intellectual, physical and spiritual horizons. In all cases, at all levels now, there are exciting opportunities to go some way beyond your usual limitations with surprisingly inspiring results. !!! Nobody was placed on this earth simply to worry, strive or struggle. Nor are we here to find fault with one another. We may do all these things and more, but if we do not remain aware of what a precious gift our life is, we are doing ourselves a disservice. Worse, we are insulting the entity (or the energy) that has had the kindness to facilitate our existence. Why is it likely to offer us further help, if we are dismissive of the gift it has already given? Be thankful to the cosmos, and it will yet give you more to be thankful for.
Cairo President Abdel Fattah elSisi today opened a new USD 9 billion Suez Canal amid lavish celebrations as Egypt unveiled its ‘gift to the world’, a historic waterway that will run parallel to the existing one amid hopes of boosting the country’s ailing economy. Sisi, dressed in a military uniform, flew in to the venue Ismailia city in a military chopper, with at least 90 official delegations, including India’s led by Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. Sisi praised his countrymen for their efforts. “Egyptians exerted a great effort to offer a gift to the world. “We are writing the history of a new model for a new Egypt. Suez Canal has always been part of Egyptian glory,” he said.”We ask our friends to help us make our goals
Astronauts to eat fresh food grown in space
Washington In a pioneering feat, the crew members on board the International Space Station (ISS) are set to eat fresh food grown in the microgravity environment of space for the first time. The expedition’s 44 crew members, including NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, are ready to sample the fruits of their labour after harvesting a crop of Outredgeous red romaine lettuce from the veggie plant growth system on the orbiting laboratory.
a reality.” The president earlier today boarded the monarchy-era Al Mahrousa yacht - the first ship to pass through the Suez
be seen all over the country, with people in cities gathering in front of huge screens that aired the opening of the project, and
Canal after the historic waterway was opened in November, 1869 - as part of the opening ceremony in which he crossed the 72kilometre new extension flanked by air and naval forces. Celebrations could
holding Egyptian flags and banners that read “New Suez Canal: Egypt’s Gift to the World”. The new Suez Canal Axis is aimed at speeding up traffic along the existing waterway by reducing the waiting period
of vessels from 18 hours to 11, as well as boosting revenues for Egypt. It was funded entirely by the Egyptian people and cost about USD 9 billion. The project will run part of the way along the existing canal that connects Red Sea to the Mediterranean and is likely to create more economic opportunities for the country. Gadkari, who represented India at the inaugural ceremony on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, met Sisi yesterday and invited him to visit India for the third India-Africa Forum Summit in October. He described the project as a great achievement which would promote economic development of Egypt and the region. Gadkari also congratulated his Egyptian counterpart Eng Hany Dahy on the project’s completion in record 11 months.
EU living standards threatened by Africans LONDON A surge in migrants from Africa threatens the European Union’s living standards and social structure, British foreign secretary Philip Hammond said on Sunday, adding that the bloc was unable to take in millions of people seeking a new life. Hammond’s comments, some of his most outspoken on the subject yet, underscore how the British government is ramping up its antiimmigration rhetoric in response to a spike in migrant attempts to reach Britain via the Channel Tunnel from France. They
are also part of a wider EU trend which has seen Alexis Tsipras say Greece cannot cope with the number of migrants fleeing instability in the Middle East and Africa and German calls for tighter immigration curbs. “We have got to be able to
resolve this problem ultimately by being able to return those who are not entitled to claim asylum back to their countries of origin,” Hammond, speaking while visiting Singapore, told BBC TV. “That’s our number one priority.” Hammond said EU laws meant migrants were “pretty confident” they would never be returned to their country of origin. “That is not a sustainable situation because Europe can’t protect itself and preserve its standard of living and social structure, if it has to absorb millions of migrants from Africa,” he said.
89-year-old World War II veteran finally graduates Washington An 89-year-old World War II veteran in the US has finally ‘graduated’ from college, receiving his bachelor’s degree in economics more than seven decades after he first attended the University of South Carolina. Dan McIntosh Brown from Anderson County crossed the stage on Saturday at Colonial Life Arena to receive his degree as the 2015 summer graduation class gave him a standing ovation. Brown, who will turn 90 later shape but suffers from nearly blind, so he had an this month, is in good macular degeneration and is escort walk him across the
stage. He had attended the University of South Carolina in 1942-43 and again in 1946-47. In between he served in the Army during World War II in Europe. All this time, Brown thought he had failed to graduate from USC, because he thought he was three credits shy of the requirement. Brown then worked as an Internal Revenue Service agent in several South Carolina cities and retired from the service in 1980. It was not until Ada, his wife of 66 years, died in May this year.
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First person: The story behind how Sanjay Gandhi slapped Indira six times at a dinner party Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lewis M Simons was the Washington Post correspondent in Delhi when the Emergency was imposed. His story claiming that Sanjay Gandhi slapped Indira Gandhi at a dinner party shook Delhi. Simons recounts how he got the story and the reaction of Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi when he met them long after the Emergency had been lifted. Scroll.in conducted this interview over email. You did a story in the Washington Post quoting an unnamed source who claimed that Sanjay Gandhi had slapped his mother, Indira Gandhi, six times at a dinner party. How long after the imposition of the Emergency did the incident happen, and what provoked Sanjay to slap her? The slapping incident occurred at a private dinner
Were you surprised at the story’s impact even though no Indian newspaper reported your story because of the censorship? I was not surprised, knowing something about Indians’ love of gossiping. The story was picked up widely by other foreign media outlets, including in an article in the New Yorker magazine by the highly respected writer Ved Mehta. Kapoor says the story’s authenticity is doubtful. I presume it is because the sources weren’t named – and no one ever publicly endorsed your story. Were the sources of proven credentials as far as you were concerned? Did anyone else at the dinner verify the story to you? Did you ever regret filing the story? The sources’ reliability was, and remains, impeccable. I did not interview any of the other guests.
Were you expecting such an action? I was not ”asked” to leave at all. I was ordered to leave on five hours notice. And, as I’ve already indicated, my expulsion had nothing to do with the story of the slapping, which I had not yet written. It was related to a story I had done in which several Indian Army officers told me of their distaste for the imposition of the Emergency and of Mrs Gandhi’s behaviour leading up to it. I was arrested, without notice, by rifle-armed police at my home/office and driven to the immigration office. There, an official with whom I regularly had dealt cordially over my years in India whenever I needed to exit or re-enter the country, told me I would be put on the first plane out of Delhi that day. When I asked him why, he placed his flattened hands over his eyes, then his ears and finally his
party before the Emergency was imposed. As is common practice among journalists, I did not write about it immediately, but saved it for later use. I no longer recall whether I have such information as what may have provoked Sanjay. It has been 40 years and you did not give me any advance notice. Did the source approach you specifically to tell you about the incident or he or she provided the information by chance, say, in a casual conversation? The latter. In fact, there were two sources, two individuals who knew each other and who attended the dinner together. One of them brought up the slapping incident while visiting my wife and me at our home one evening prior to the Emergency. The other confirmed it. It came up in the course of conversation about the relationship between Sanjay and his mother. Senior journalist Coomi Kapoor in her recent book, The Emergency: A Personal History, says the story spread like “wildfire through word of mouth”.
No, I did not and do not regret writing this story. I believe that it cast a bright light on the strange relationship between mother and son at a time when this relationship was causing major impact on the people of India. Did you meet your sources, in India or abroad, after the Emergency was lifted and Indira Gandhi was voted out in 1977? If you did indeed meet him or her, what was the exchange like? We met numerous times before, during and after the Emergency. Will you ever be revealing the identity of your sources? Was there an understanding that in certain circumstances you could reveal their identity? I have no plans to “out” my sources. I gave my word at the outset not to do so, as I have done in any number of other confidential cases, and I stick to my word. Doing so is essential to my reputation as a trusted journalist and human being. Are the sources still around? Yes. You were asked to leave the country because of the story on the slapping incident.
mouth. Five hours later, I was escorted to the airport by a US Embassy official. An Indian customs or immigration officer (I do not recall which) confiscated a dozen or so of my notebooks. They were returned to me many months later, with every name meticulously underlined in red. Many of those people, I subsequently learned, had been jailed. This experience taught me never to name names when covering a sensitive story. I was put on a plane to Bangkok. It was there, in a hotel room, that I wrote the story of the slapping incident. What was it like for a foreign correspondent to live through the Emergency? The Emergency had far less impact on me than it did on my wife. I had determined not to abide by censorship and was prepared to suffer the consequences. I was expelled while she remained behind in Delhi, looking after our two small children and attempting to close out the affairs of the Washington Post bureau. These tasks were made more daunting by the police, who cut
off our telephone; refused to allow her access to our bank accounts; kept armed guards outside our home, where they took down the license plate numbers of anyone who came to visit, and otherwise frightened her and our little girls and made their lives miserable. Did Indira Gandhi’s decision to impose the Emergency surprise you? Yes, the imposition of the Emergency surprised me; it shocked me. If it could happen in India, the self-described “world’s largest democracy,” I reasoned, it could happen in the United States. It could happen anywhere. Did you ever meet Mrs Gandhi or Sanjay or any of other members of the Gandhi family? What were your impressions of him and Indira Gandhi? I met Mrs Gandhi after the Emergency, when she was out of office. The [Morarji] Desai government had invited me to return. A British correspondent, who was expelled from India shortly after I was, also was
there. During the course of the evening, someone at the table stated to all present that I was the journalist who had written about the slapping incident. Rajiv nodded his head and smiled. “Well?” I asked him across the table. He nodded his head and smiled again. He said nothing. Sonia looked furious. She, too, said nothing. I never met Sanjay. Did you witness or report on the excesses of the Emergency? Not much, mainly because I was expelled so soon after the declaration. There were many stories of authoritarianism floating around during those days. Do you remember any of them? Again, I was out of the country, based temporarily in Bangkok and then Hong Kong. Shortly after arriving in Hong Kong, Sheikh Mujib was murdered in Dacca and I flew there to cover the aftermath. I then opened a new Washington Post bureau in Bangkok and my responsibility
present at the interview in Mrs Gandhi’s home. We asked her why she had us expelled. She replied that she had had nothing to do with the action. I did not ask her about the slapping incident. Didn’t have the nerve, I guess. During that post-Emergency visit, I attended a private dinner party at which Rajiv Gandhi and his wife, Sonia, were guests. About a dozen others were
was to cover developments in Indochina and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. It would be several years before I resumed reporting on India with any regularity. Do you think India could face the threat of authoritarianism again? Having witnessed it once, yes. Under the right set of circumstances – the perfect storm – I believe it could happen anywhere.
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11 Aug. - 17 Aug. 2015
Father of Croatian abducted in Cairo calls for son’s release
Croatia The father of Tomislav Salopek, a Croatian national who was abducted in Cairo and has been threatened with execution by the Islamic State, on Thursday urged the kidnappers to release his son. “I am asking the people who hold my son to let him return to his family, because his motive to go to your homeland was exclusively to earn bread for his children. Nothing else,” Zlatko Salopek told AFP at the family’s home in the eastern Croatian town of Vrpolje. In a video released on Wednesday, a man identifying himself as Tomislav Salopek, working in Egypt for French geoscience company CGG,
reads from a note that he would be executed within 48 hours if Egypt’s government failed to release Muslim women held in prisons. Salopek, wearing an orange jumpsuit, did not say when the countdown began. The 31-year-old father-of-two said he was kidnapped on July 22 by the Sinai Province group, IS’s Egyptian affiliate based in the Sinai Peninsula. He is believed to be the first foreigner to be abducted and threatened with death by militants in Egypt since the Islamist insurgency broke out after the army’s ouster of president Mohamed Morsi two years ago.In July, IS said it was behind a car bomb attack targeting the Italian consulate in
Cairo -- the first such attack against a foreign mission in Egypt since jihadists began their campaign following the crackdown on Islamists.In February, IS released a video showing the beheadings of 21 Coptic Christians, all but one of them Egyptians, in neighbouring Libya.That massacre prompted air strikes by Cairo targeting IS in Libya.The threat to execute Salopek came ahead of Thursday’s inauguration of the “new” Suez Canal in the port city of Ismailiya. Security was tight at the lavish ceremony, attended by heads of state including French President Francois Hollande.The hostage’s father said that as his son was working for a French company, he was also looking to Hollande and the French authorities for help in securing his release. “I thank France for what has been done so far and ask them to cooperate with Egyptian authorities to save my son,” he said.Croatian foreign minister Vesna Pusic left for Cairo earlier on Thursday following consultations with her Egyptian counterpart.The Croatian government has said it was doing its best “to solve as soon as possible the difficult situation”.
Islamic State kidnaps 230 civilians in Syria
Beirut The Islamic State group has abducted 230 civilians, including at least 60 Christians, in a central Syrian town just hours after capturing it, according to a prominent monitoring group on Saturday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the civilians were captured on Friday in the town of AlQaryatain, which IS militants had captured late on Wednesday. “Daesh kidnapped at least 230 people, including at least 60 Christians, during a sweep through Al-Qaryatain,” Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said, using the Arabic name for the extremist group. Many of the Christians had fled from Aleppo province, in Syria’s north, to seek refuge in AlQaryatain.He said those abducted were wanted by IS for “collaborating with the regime,”
and their names were on a list used by the jihadists as they swept through the town. Families who tried to flee or hide were tracked down and taken by the jihadists, he said. AlQaryatain lies at the crossroads between IS territory in the eastern countryside of Homs and areas further west in the Qalamun area. It had a pre-war population of 18,000, including Sunni Muslims and around 2,000 Syriac Catholics and Orthodox Christians. According to a Syrian Christian who lives in Damascus but is originally from Al-Qaryatain, the town’s Christian population barely numbers 300 now. In May, masked men abducted Syrian priest Jacques Mourad from the Syriac Catholic Mar Elian monastery in Al-Qaryatain, near the IS-captured ancient city of Palmyra.
Islamic State executes 19 women who refused to have sex with fighters Mosul The KDP official told Iraqi News that the captured women were put to death as they refused to ‘participate in the practice of sexual jihad’.The Islamic State Group has reportedly executed 19 women in Iraq’s Mosul for refusing to have sex with fighters, a Kurdish Democractic Party (KDP) official claimed, according to the Daily Mail. The official further added that women were held hostage in Islamic State’s stronghold of Mosul, which was seized in June last year. “The captured women were put to death as they refused to ‘participate in the practice of sexual jihad’,” the official told Iraqi
News. He also alleged that the Islamic State’s treatment of women and dealings with money were proving to be increasingly divisive within the organisation’s own ranks. The executions, which took place between 1st and 2nd August, however could not be independently verified. Investigating ISIS’s sex trade, UN’s special envoy for sexual violence in conflict Zainab Bangura has told the Daily Mail that ‘girls get peddled like barrels of petrol’ and one can be bought by six different men. She added that there is also something called as a ‘price list’ that’s circulated among ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria. The sex slaves who managed to
somehow escape from the clutches of the ISIS have said that they were forced to marry fighters who sexually abused them. In October last year, the ISIS had reportedly released a pamphlet that mentioned how much it charged for the purchase of its female captives, according to the Daily Mail. Meanwhile on Thursday, Islamic State militants had abducted dozens of Christian families after seizing a strategically located town in the central Syrian province of Homs, a monitor said on Friday. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 230 people were kidnapped, including dozens of Christians, some of whom were
taken from a church in Qaryatain, the town captured overnight after heavy fighting with the Syrian army. Qaryatain is
15 killed in mosque suicide attack by IS Cairo A suicide bomber killed at least 15 people in an attack on a mosque used by members of a local security force in southwest Saudi Arabia on Thursday, the interior ministry said, an assault that an online statement said was carried out by Islamic State. The attacker struck as men were praying in the mosque in the headquarters of the Special Emergency Force in Abha, the capital of Asir province, a ministry spokesman told state news agency SPA. Twelve of those killed were members of the force and three were workers in the compound, the ministry said. It earlier put the toll at 13, but later said two of the wounded had died. A statement circulating on Twitter said an Islamic State suicide bomber had attacked a “military camp” in Asir province. It did not mention a mosque and Reuters
near a road linking the ancient city of Palmyra to the Qalamoun mountains, along the border with Lebanon.
could not verify the statement’s authenticity. “He (the suicide bomber) was able to infiltrate security barriers and reach their wicked gathering inside a training camp in Abha City in the Asir area where the force of the explosion led to the death and injury of dozens,” the statement, purporting to come from Islamic State, said. In May, two suicide bomb attacks on Shi’ite Muslim mosques in Saudi Arabia were claimed by Islamic State. The first on a mosque in Qatif in the east of the kingdom killed 21 worshippers, and another four died in a bombing a week later at a mosque in Dammam. Another bombing claimed by Islamic State on a Shi’ite mosque in Kuwait in June killed 27 people. The militant group, bitterly opposed to Gulf Arab rulers, is trying to stir sectarian confrontation on the Arabian peninsula to bring about the overthrow of the states’ ruling dynasties.
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11 Aug. - 17 Aug. 2015
Britain charges radical preacher Anjem Choudary with seeking support for Islamic State
Peshawar The head of special crime and counter-terrorism at the CPS, said that Anjem Choudary was charged with one offense under the Terrorism Act 2000. Authorities in Britain have charged radical preacher Anjem Choudary and another man with inviting support for the Islamic State group through lectures published online.The Crown Prosecution Service said Wednesday that Choudary, 48, and Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, 32, have been charged
with supporting the Islamic State group, which is a banned organization. The service said the offenses occurred from June 29, 2014, until March 6 of this year. Sue Hemming, head of special crime and counter-terrorism at the CPS, says each man is charged with one offense under the Terrorism Act 2000. They are set to appear later Wednesday at Westminster Magistrates Court.Choudary is the former leader of a banned radical group called al-Muhajiroun.
‘Father of Taliban’ backs new chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour Peshawar An influential Pakistani cleric known as “Father of the Taliban” has endorsed the nomination of Mullah Akhtar Mansour as Taliban’s supremo, amid growing dissent within Taliban ranks over succession following Mullah Omar’s death. Pakistani and Afghan Ulema or religious scholars, associated with Darul Uloom Haqqania in Akora Khattak of KhyberPakhtunkhwa, have sworn allegiance to Mullah Mansour whose election has ostensibly fragmented the Afghan Taliban, the Express Tribune reported. The allegiance pledge was made at a function presided over by Maulana Sami-ul Haq, known as the ‘Father of the Taliban’ and the chief of his eponymous faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam at the Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Haqqania at the start of the academic year. The late Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar is
said to have graduated from the religious seminary along with several top cadres of the Afghan Taliban. Participants at the function also said prayed for Mullah Omar, whose death was officially confirmed by the Taliban and Afghan government in late July. Haq, who is also the chancellor of Darul Uloom Haqqania, pledged allegiance to Mullah Mansour in a brief
Kerala man working in Qatar ditches media job to join Islamic State New Delhi The Islamic State’s (IS) reach in India is deeper than we’d like to imagine. According to recent reports, a journalist working with
a ‘right-wing Muslim’ Malayalam newspaper in Kerala has joined the Islamic State. Manorama Online suggests that the Home Ministry was informed of his defection by the Central
intelligence department more than eight months ago. However, the information was confirmed at the DirectorGeneral of Police’s meet in New
Delhi. The reporter enamoured by the Islamist group’s ideologies got in touch with the IS through its social media forums. He was forced to quit his job with the newspaper after his
family tried to dissuade him from travelling to Syria. His identity has not been revealed by the Home Ministry in order to protect his family who were against him joining the terror outfit. He soon left for Qatar, where varying reports suggest he took up a job as either an international reporter for the same newspaper or as an accountant. But, two years later, he fled to join the Islamist organisation. “A graduate, he sometimes contributed local news for the daily. But after nearly four months, he left for Doha. He was not directly associated with the daily but he may have sent some local news while working in Doha too. We tried to contact him later, but couldn’t do so,” said a source at the newspaper to The Indian Express. According to information from intelligence sources, a growing number of youths from Kerala support the IS on social media platforms. “Most of the pro-IS Facebook accounts of
Malayalees are operated from Gulf countries. The Gulf countries are dealing with those who support IS on social media. We have inputs that Saudi Arabia and UAE acted tough against a few persons from Kerala who had supported the IS on social media,’’ reports The Indian Express. Official sources said of the seven Indians who are presently with the IS, two were from Kalyan in Mumbai’s outskirts, and one was an Australia-based Kashmiri. Four others joined the jihadist group from Telangana, Bengaluru, Oman and Singapore, reports PTI. Of these, only one one is in a combat role, after six others who had previously joined the IS went down fighting. Among those killed were three Indian Mujahideen terrorists two from Maharashtra and one from Telangana including Sultan Ajmer Shah and Bada Sajid, who had joined IS ranks after spending some time in Pakistan.
Pakistan court adjourns Mumbai attack case hearing till Sept 9 Islamabad Pakistani anti-terrorism court trying the seven Mumbai terror attack accused, including LeT operations commander and mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, adjourned the hearing for the third consecutive time without any business due to a lawyers’ strike on Thursday. No proceeding was held on Thursday as lawyers observed strike over the murder of an additional sessions judge in Rawalpindi in an attack claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a court official told PTI. “Our special task force
has targeted judge Niazi in Rawalpindi successfully,” TTP
why the judge was targeted. The hearing in the Mumbai case was
spokesman Muhammad Khorasani said in an emailed statement. The TTP did not say
adjourned for over a month as the judge has gone on a ‘summer vacation.’ The court office today
adjourned the Mumbai case till September 9 as the judge has gone on summer vacation,” said the official. No proceedings have been held during the last three hearings owing to one or another reason. Mumbai Attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi has already been exempted from in-person appearance in the trial court because of ‘threats’ to his life. Fifty-five-yearold Lakhvi has been released on bail since April 10 after the Lahore High Court set aside the government’s order to detain him under the security act.
address.In their speeches, Haq and another cleric Maulana Anwarul Haq called upon Afghan ulema and people to forge unity in their ranks and submit to the leadership of Mullah Mansour. They also called upon the Afghans to protect their country against international conspiracies. The backing to Mullah Mansour came amid a widening Taliban rift over his nomination as the group’s supremo. Some top leaders, including Mullah Omar’s son and brother, have refused to pledge allegiance to Mansour.Tayeb Agha, the head of the Qatar political office set up in 2013 to facilitate talks with Kabul, also resigned on Monday in protest over Mansour’s appointment. Former diplomat Aziz Rehman and Mawlavi Nek Mohammad, who served as a deputy minister during Taliban rule, have also stepped down.
Cancel Indo-Pak NSA talks, demands Shiv Sena MP
New Delhi A demand for cancellation of Indo-Pak talks between the National Security Advisors in the wake of the terror attack in Udhampur that claimed the lives of two BSF personnel, was made in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. “No talk should happen. The proposed NSA-level talks should be cancelled,” Shiv Sena member Chandrakant Khaire said during Zero Hour. The talks are to be held on August 23-24. Khaire also asked the Home Minister not to hold any bilateral discussions with the neighbouring country “till the time they stop sending terrorists to India and help us in the probe” into the attacks like the recent one in Gurdaspur also. His statement came a day after the attack on a BSF convoy near Udhampur in which one terrorist was caught alive and another killed.
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11 Aug. - 17 Aug. 2015
Groom sues wife for seeing her without makeup Algiers A groom was so stunned to see his wife without makeup the next morning after their wedding that he mistook her for a thief and is suing her for fraud. For grooms and brides around the world, looking into each others eyes for the first time as husband and wife
the morning after their wedding day is a highly anticipated moment and one most never forget. But for these newlyweds, things didn’t plan out like they
expected. An Algerian man saw his wife for the first time without makeup the morning after their wedding and is now suing her for fraud and psychological suffering. The groom was so shocked and confused, he was convinced his wife was a “thief who came to steal his apartment,” he told the court. The wife, completely unrecognisable to her husband, tried to calm him down. He eventually realised she wasn’t a thief, but the women he supposedly ‘loved’ just without makeup. The groom said he was deceived because she always packed on makeup and looked very attractive before the wedding. Seeing her true colours scared him away. What kind of husband could be so superficial? Obviously one who wanted a trophy wife. He is claiming $20,000 in damages for trauma, what a gentleman, and as you would have hoped they are filing for divorce.
Music in operating theatre may not be safe
Young Hong Kongers go analogue in a digital world HONG KONG In a city crammed with neon-lit tech stores, smartphone vendors and high-end camera shops, a digital backlash is mounting as young Hong Kongers seek out an old-fashioned analogue experience. Hong Kong is a buzzing market for cutting edge technological offerings, with queues around the block for the latest iPhone or tablet. As consumers focus firmly on the new, there has been little demand for old-school gadgets retro collectibles are much harder to find in Hong Kong than in other major world cities, where vintage stores have long been a shopping staple. But interest in the pre-digital era is growing as the city’s younger generations seek out everything from film cameras to vinyl records in response to the hi-tech deluge. “We are constantly bombarded by an endless stream of advertisements for the newest and latest gadgets in our everyday lives, says Sonia Ho, 24, who works at an architectural design firm. “The functions of a radio, typewriter or even a light meter can be easily downloaded onto our smartphones... but we’re losing the idea of how a particular item actually works,” said Ho, who now prefers a second-hand Nikon FE2 film camera to the digital models she previously
used. “It’s like being assigned to continue the adventures of the camera from the previous owner
right up until you can see the photos... with digital, you can see it immediately, that sense of curiosity is lacking,” says
and start to capture your own,” Ho said. A growing number of younger photographers in Hong Kong are experimenting with old film cameras - some painstakingly scanning their film photos onto a computer to share on social media feed Instagram. Ho shares hers under the handle @soniahyh. Tinny Kwan, who owns a film processing store popular with young photographers in the residential area of Prince Edward, says they are starting to discover the joys of delayed gratification. “It’s like the feeling of gambling. There is a sense of excitement
Kwan, whose shop is popular with young photographers. There is also new interest in vinyl from music fans who have only ever known CDs or digital, says Mr Chan, owner of record shop Collectables in Central district. Chan’s collection spans hundreds of classical, jazz, rock and Cantonese pop records. “If you have always listened to digital, you may not have experienced the audio characteristics (of a vinyl record) before,” says Chan. “When you listening to the vocals, you realise there is something more in the recording.”Browsing the vinyl section at the HMV music store, which also sells vintage records and reprints, 15-year-old highschool student Alvin Fan said analogue albums have given him an alternative way to listen to music. “It creates a different atmosphere, a different mood and a very different feeling,” said Fan, who was introduced to vinyl records by his grandparents. Zachary Chan, 21, who works at a music store, says it is becoming increasingly fashionable for young Hong Kongers to turn to records over digital.“The value of a vinyl record is stronger in a subjective sense - holding a record in your hands, rather than seeing the digital album on iTunes. There is a difference,” Chan said. The resurgence of film cameras and vinyl is part of a growing determination to experience simple pleasures in the face of a quick-fix digital lifestyle. Some teens have reverted to sending postcards to their friends as a more satisfying alternative to email. And the city’s bookstores are often crammed with readers, young and old, despite the multitude of downloadable ebooks. Vinyl fan Alvin says he prefers physical books to e-readers. “A lot of people, even my friends, still love the feeling of holding a physical book and reading it. It just feels more real,” he said. Decades-old store signs, antique radios and old cinema chairs are just some of the items crammed into 34-year-old Lai Chun-fai’s small store in Prince Edward, a vintage aesthetic which is not yet mainstream in Hong Kong.
World’s first ant map launched PARIS A surgeon on the job is five times more likely to repeat a request when music is playing in the operating theatre, says a study casting doubt on the wisdom of this common practice. “Music in the operating theatre can interfere with team communication, but is seldom recognized as a potential safety hazard,” said the study, published on Wednesday in the Journal of Advanced Nursing.
More than 50 percent of surgical operations are performed against a backdrop of music overall, though the figure varies by country, the researchers reported. In Britain, the rate is 72 percent. Music has a long history in the operating theatre. A hundred years ago, a pioneering surgeon in England hired musicians to soothe the jangled nerves of patients undergoing anaesthesia before going under the knife.
231 Dinosaur eggs seized from home in China
Beijing The skeleton was later identified as belonging to a Psittacosaurus, a genus of extinct ceratopsian dinosaur. As many as 231 fossilised dinosaur eggs and a dinosaur skeleton have been seized from a house in China’s southern Guangdong Province.Police raided the house on July 29 and seized the eggs, which date back to the Cretaceous Period; state-run
Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday citing the government of Heyuan City.The skeleton was later identified as belonging to a Psittacosaurus, a genus of extinct ceratopsian dinosaur. Local residents plundered a construction site where a large number of dinosaur eggs were found in June, and again on July 28 when more eggs were found in the area, prompting police action the next day to retrieve the lost fossils.
HONG KONG The world’s first ever ant map showing the distribution of the tiny industrious creature around the globe was launched Thursday by the University of Hong Kong in a bid to shed more light on the insect world. The colourful interactive online map (antmaps.org), which took four years to complete, displays the geographic locations of nearly 15,000 types of ant with the Australian state of Queensland home to the highest number of native species at more than 1,400.“(Insects are) one of the main groups we need to focus on when we talk about biodiversity,” Benoit Guenard, one of the co-founders of the map, said.“Ants are very important in most ecosystems,” Guenard added, as they cycle soil nutrients and help in seed dispersal.“They are one of the best studied groups of insect.” ‘Antmaps’, a joint project between HKU and the Okinawa Institute of Sciences and Technology, also differentiates ants which are native to a region and species which were imported.Guenard, a professor
at HKU’s school of biological sciences, said the map would provide an important record of insect life around the world and would aid research and wildlife conservation. “It will help us in approaching the question of how well we are doing in protecting certain regions,” he told AFP. Work on the map is ongoing with new species of ants discovered frequently, Guenard said. He leads the university’s study of ants in Hong Kong and said his team believed they had discovered 12 new species in the city in the past year. “We are finding and describing new life almost every week... that’s what I find absolutely astonishing about the work we do.” In a recent study by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel published in July, ants were found to have an astonishing ability to mix collective muscle with individual initiative for heavy lifting. In experiments, researchers showed how a dozen or more ants working in unison to haul, say, a large insect can adjust their course based on intelligence provided by a single ant joining the effort.
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Jat Sikh parents, well settled in GTA, seeking a suitable match for their daughter, Canadian Citizen, 25 yrs. old, 5’-9” tall, slim, B. Sc., B. Ed. (Ontario), working in her field. The boy should be Jat Sikh, clean shaven, born or raised in Canada, at least 6’ tall, equally or more qualified, well settled with family values. Please send your bio-data and picture to: sa.girl2511@gmail.com or call: 416-270-1337 ***627 *** Widow or divorced ,Canadian well settled, vegetarian match required between the age group of 46- 54 . Serious inquiries only. Please send complete biodata & recent picture to: me.kaur45@gmail.com or call: 647-937-3095 *** 627 *** Jat sikh family seek a suitable match for their Canadian citizen daughter, never married, 31 yrs.old, 5'-6'' tall, studying and working in Accounting field. The boy should be Canadian citizen, living in Surrey/Vancouver or American citizen living in California, clean-shaven, tall, welleducated and professional. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: circleofcolors@outlook.com or call: 1-530-966-3938 *** 627 *** Jat sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter, 25 yrs. old, 5’-5" tall, born and raised in Canada, Software engineer professionally employed and well versed in both cultures. The boy should be well educated, professionally settled, born or raised in Canada with family values. Father senior IT manager.Please send your recent picture and biodata to: simran_01@rogers.com or Call: 647-539-1249. ***627*** Jat Gursikh Grewal parents looking match for their beautiful daughter, 31yrs. old, MCA (Topper) software developer, lecturer in Management College, Punjab. Match must be turbaned, non drinker/trimmer and believer in Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee only. Brothers settled in US and UK. Please send your biodata & recent picture to: inkpen678@yahoo.com or Call: 1530 921 4185 *** 627 *** Jat sikh canadian citizen, vegetarian, innocently divorced female. Preffered required match should be Turbaned , vegetarian, Canadian citizen, between the age group 4654,visitor can also be considered. serious inquires only. Please send complete bio-data, with recent picture to: me.kaur45@gmail.com *** 627 *** 81 born, 5’-11" tall, short marriage, no issue, divorcee jatt sikh clean shaven boy, new immigrant, Ph.D., B. Ed., want educated, down to earth, religious and family oriented girl. Student visa/work permit / recent immigrant girl is preferred. Please send your bio-
11 Aug. - 17 Aug. 2015
data & recent picture to: ontario5900@gmail.com. 647609-3358 *** 627 *** Ramgariha Family Seek handsome boy, having compatible qualification, height & settled in Job only in California State (U.S.A.) for their 1986 born, 5’-5" height, beautiful girl, computer engineer, P.R. In Canada, persons willing to relocate to C.A can be considered. Please send your bio-data & recent picture if you are really interested to : bhogal1940@gmail.com or call: 1530-674-3359 or 1-530-632-4158 ***627 *** Ramgarhia sikh parents seek a suitable match for their son, 25 yrs. old, 5’-8" tall, Dental surgeon in India, now in USA as a visitor. The girl should be US citizen, educated and family oriented. Please email recent picture and bio data to : piarausa@hotmail.com or Call: 1662-347-9532 ***627 *** Jat sikh (Amritdhari) parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter, 27 yrs. old, 4’-11" tall, US Citizen, beautiful, Registered Nurse (RN), professionally employed. The boy should be Gursikh, well educated, and professionally settled, preferably from California. Please email recent picture and bio-data to: bsdhanoya25 @gmail.com or call 1-209-576-5123 **627 *** Lubana sikh family settled in Canada, looking suitable match for their daughter, Canadian citizen, 31 yrs. old, 5’-5" tall, vegetarian, family oriented, pretty, slim, sincere, post graduate and settle in job. The boy should be Canadian Citizen/Immigrant, well settled in GTA, non drinker with moral values. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to : aks15051@hotmail.com or call:905-913-8126 **627 *** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their son, Canadian Citizen, 30 yrs. old, 6’2” tall, born in India, University degree holder from Canadian University, running his own successful business. The girl should be tall, educated, from good family, Please send your biodata and Picture to : manpreetgill48@yahoo.com or Call : 1-778-344-0303 ***627 *** Jat Sikh Sandhu Well Settled Family, Seeking a suitable match for their handsome son, 30 yrs,old, 6’ tall, Master Mechanical Engineer, US Citizen, Working in Bay Area with reputed company and own real estate investments too. The girl should be professionally equally qualified, pretty, slim, beautiful, tall, 24-29 yrs. age from a good family from America/ Canada. Please send your recent picture & bio-data to: ballakh@gmail.com or call: 1-209679-6541 ***627 *** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their daughter, 36 yrs. old, 5’-4” tall, beautiful, innocently
divorced, Canadian Citizen, well versed in both cultures, professionally employed in Toronto. The boy should be family oriented and from a respectable Jat sikh family. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: toronomatrimonial@gmail.com or call: 416-509-5012 or 416-4185151 ***627 *** Well settled Ramgarhia Sikh Parents Seeking a suitable match for their son, 29 yrs. old, 5'-11" tall, born and raised in Canada, well versed in both cultures currently professionally employed as a machanical engineer. The girl should be educated, beautiful and family oriented. Please call: 289684-3919. ***627 *** Sharma parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 29 yrs. old, 5’-10" tall, Canadian citizen, electrical degree from BCIT and professionally settled. The girl should be beautiful, educated, family oriented, between 25-26 yrs. Age from Canada / India. castle no bar. Family is well settled in Canada. Please Call: 1604-961-4949 ***627 *** Jat Sikh Family seeking a suitable match for their Canadian born and raised son, 34 yrs. old, 5’-10" tall, well settled in Job. The girl should be beautiful, educated and family oriented from BC area only. Please Call: 1-604-671-0002 ***627 *** Kamboj Sikh (Dhanju) parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter. 27 yrs. old, 5’-4" tall, Canadian citizen well educated, professionally employed, beautiful and family oriented. The boy should be professionally educated, clean shaven from Ontario or willing to relocate to Ontario. Interested please respond with recent picture and biodata to: charan-100@live.ca or call: 647401-0865 (serious inquires only) ***627 *** Hindu Arora parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter, Canadian immigrant, 28 yrs. old, 5’-5” tall, beautiful, L.L.B, M.B.A (Finance). The boy should be in Canada, equally qualified and employed with strong family background. Please email recent picture & bio-data to : ramesh_grover2002@yahoo.com Or Call : 647-248-1684 ***627 *** Well settled , educated, Jat Sikh Parents seek suitable match for their only daughter, D.O.B. 1982, 5’-9” tall, born and raised in Canada and US citizen as well, innocently divorced. Masters degree in clinical social work from renowned university of US and currently working at children hospital. The boy should be doctor/engineer/MBA, 6’ tall, born or raised in Canada/USA, with family valued from Jat Sikh family. Parents has highend franchises in hospitality industry in US. Email: dgkg69&gmail.com ***627 *** Jat Sikh parents invite
matrimonial alliance for their son, 27 yrs. old, 5’-11” tall, Canadian citizen, university graduated from Canada (Bio-Engineering). At present working on senior position in supply and chain and logistics. The girl should be Canadian/American, beautiful, educated and family oriented. Girl on student visa or work permit may also be considered. Please send your recent picture and bio-data to: daljit_mand@hotmail.com or call: 905-230-6043 ***627 *** Jat Sikh parents seek suitable match for their Canadian Citizen son, D.O.B. 1974, 5’-7” tall, nondrinker, non-smoker, vegetarian, divorced, university graduate and professionally employed. The girl should be educated, beautiful and family oriented. Please send your recent picture and bio-data to: match7479@gmail.com ***627 *** Parents seek a suitable match for their Canadian born Jat Sikh daughter, 37 yrs. old, 5’-10” tall, UBC graduated, professionally employed. Boy preferred from Vancouver area. Call: 1-604-5964945 or 1-778-240-8051 ***627 ** Jat Sikh Grewal parents seek suitable match for their daughter, 27 yrs. old, 5’-5” tall, born and raised in Canada, university graduate, professionally employed as teacher in Peel District school board. The boy should be Jat Sikh, born or raised in Canada, University educated and professionally employed. G.T.A. preferred. Please send your recent picture and bio-data to: harman@hotmail.com or call: 416-567-9092 ***627 *** Jatt Sikh girl, 29 yrs. old, 5' tall, MBA, bank employed, USA citizen, only child (willing to relocate), family owns business/ property in NJ/PA. Looking for Jatt Sikh boy, USA/Canadian citizen, college educated and professionally employed. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: tksohi@yahoo.com *** 627 *** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their daughter, Canadian born 1980, 5'-5" tall, University graduate, working in government job, divorced after short marriage. The boy should be Jat Sikh, university educated and raised in Canada. Call : 1-604-214-0911. *** 627 *** Suitable match for Canadian Sikh Girl never married, 5’-3", 1974 born, University Graduate , working in a reputable Bank in Toronto. The family is well settled and living in Canada for the last 19 years. Caste no Bar. Only well educated persons should reply with Bio Data and latest Photo to:dnjjachak@yahoo.com or call: 647-896-2625 *** 627 *** Professionally qualified, strictly Jat Sikh match for Dhillon girl, May 1974 born, 5’-3” tall, looks very young, university graduate, hotel managment, working as executive
house keeper. Educated, down to earth, humble boy from loving family. Girl in Toronto on visitor visa. Simple and early marriage. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: skdhillon79@gmail.com or Call: 647-707-4023 ***627 *** Suitable educated strictly Jat Sikh match for 1978 born, 5’-5” tall, Dillon girl, Masters in library and information science, well versed in both cultures. Educated, down to earth, humble boy from loving family. Girl is on visitor visa in Toronto. Simple and early marriage. Please send your bio-data & recent Picture to:poonamdhillon05@gmail.com or Call: 1-412-741-1345 ***627 *** Doctor/Lawyer/well qualified, settled, match from Ontario for a Jat Sikh , beautiful, 1982 born, 5’-7”, Doctor girl practicing in Toronto. Please send your bio-data & recent Picture to: jessie.kaur55@gmail.com ***627 *** Parents seeks suitable match from Canada for their divorced daughter with 8 years old son Canadian PR 37,5'2 M.Sc, B.Ed ,living in Brampton more than 10 years.Hindu or Sikh preferred.Please contact _ 647821-7075 or email matriu@outlook.com ***627 *** Jatt Sikh family seeks professionally qualified, beautiful, fair, tall girl for their Canadian resident son 5’-9” tall, 26 yrs. old, convent educated, commercial pilot, very handsome, well versed in both cultures, working as captian in Canadian charter flight company, father retired class 1 government officer, only elder brother married. Please send your biodata & recent picture to: northvanshore@gmail.com or Call: 604-600-4103 ***627 *** Jat Sikh Sandhu Well Settled Family, Seeking a suitable match for their handsome son, 30 yrs,old, 6’ tall, Master Mechanical Engineer, US Citizen, Working in Bay Area with reputed company and own real estate investments too. The girl should be professionally equally qualified, pretty, slim, beautiful, tall, 24-29 yrs. age from a good family from America/ Canada. Please send your recent picture & bio-data to: ballakh@gmail.com or call: 1209-679-6541 ***627 *** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their daughter, 36 yrs. old, 5’-4” tall, beautiful, innocently divorced, Canadian Citizen, well versed in both cultures, professionally employed in Toronto. The boy should be family oriented and from a respectable Jat sikh family. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: toronomatrimonial@gmail.com or call: 416-509-5012 or 416-4185151 ***627 ***
Issue - 627 (11)
11 Aug. - 17 Aug. 2015
Elephants caught Spain’s Picasso treasure seized by French customs drinking from toilet AJACCIO A Picasso worth 25 million euros and considered a national treasure by Spain - which
captain could only present two documents regarding the painting, one of which was a May 2015 Spanish court
had barred the painting’s export - has been seized from a boat in Corsica, French authorities said Tuesday. An attempt to export the painting, “Head of a Young Woman”, to Switzerland last Thursday “drew the attention of French officials”, the country’s customs authorities said, with officers on the French Mediterranean island boarding the vessel the next day. The ship’s
judgement labelling it a work of art and ordering that it not be taken out of the country, French officials said in a statement. The painting, which French customs said was valued at more than 25 million euros ($27m), is owned by Jaime Botin, a well-known Spanish banker whose family founded the Santander banking group. The 79-year-old, who was formerly the banking giant’s vice chairman,
was not aboard the vessel, which is owned by the bank and flying a British flag, a customs authority spokesman said. According to the spokesman, the export request was also not in Botin’s name. An export request was filed for the painting in December 2012 to move it to London, but was opposed by Spain’s culture minister because there was “no similar work on Spanish territory” from the same period in Picasso’s life. This year, a Spanish court sided with the authorities and declared the work of art “unexportable” on the grounds it was of “cultural interest” and could not leave the country. It rejected the arguments of Botin, who said that the work should not be considered on Spanish territory because it was on a vessel flying a British flag. French customs officials are now awaiting an official Spanish request to recover the painting. Spanish police confirmed that “an inquiry has been ongoing for some time” but declined to give further details.
TOKYO A research lab in a Tokyo suburb will start handling some of the world’s deadliest viruses for the first time, officials said Tuesday, after local opposition blocked it for decades. Japan has no active maximum level-four biosafety labs so the move will bring it in line with other G7 nations - there are about 40 such sites worldwide including some run by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Tokyo lab was built in 1981 and designed to handle the most dangerous known viruses, requiring scientists to wear full body suits with oxygen intakes to avoid contamination. But local opponents feared exposure, arguing that the neighbourhood with schools and other community buildings would be at risk. In response, the site was downgraded to a level-three facility where scientists can work with certain microbes such as the Middle East Respiratory
Syndrome (MERS) virus and the bacteria that causes tuberculosis. The decision to boost it to the highest biosafety level came as Health Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki signed an agreement with the mayor of the
contain deadly viruses in the event of an outbreak. “Finally Japan has caught up with other developed nations,” said Jiro Yasuda, a virology professor at Nagasaki University. “Having an active level-four facility is a must to prevent
Musashimurayama suburb on Monday. A health ministry spokesman said the upgrade would mean the lab could handle Ebola and the Lassa fever viruses, among others. Healthcare experts welcomed the move, saying Japan trailed other countries - including the United States, France, and Singapore - and was hampered in its ability to
infectious diseases” and develop vaccines and treatments, he added. There have been several cases of suspected Ebola infection in Japan, but researchers were unable to analyse live viruses. About 28,000 people have been infected with Ebola in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since late 2013, according to the WHO, and nearly half have died.
Japan lab to handle deadliest viruses for first time
Gaborone Sneaking out for a quick call of nature, one camper got the surprise of her life when she came across an elephant drinking out of one of the campsite lavatories in Botswana. Despite the mess left behind by humans, the tusked toilet drinker appeared unfazed by the interruption and continued taking a few long sips of water from the toilet. It is thought the elephants in the park prefer drinking the water in the loos and showers at the camp because the water in their water hole is deemed too salty. Leaning over the walls of
the open roofed bathroom, the elephants come to drink the loo water during the day and night. Using their lengthy trunks to soak up the toilet water, the elephants shovel the surprisingly refreshing liquid into their open mouths. Once they have had their fill of toilet water, the elephants return to their herd in the wilderness. Their friendly approach and close interaction with humans means that they don’t feel threatened when approached by a curious tourist.These remarkable pictures were captured by Carina Blofield, who stumbled across the
elephant enjoying its unusual choice of rehydration. It appears the large mammals can’t resist sneaking into the lodge and enjoying a good slurp of fresh toilet water. The elephants even try and grab a drink when people are washing their hair in the shower, shocking some unsuspe-cting tourists. The friendly elephants live in the unfenced park, with their main water hole situated close to the park’s lodge. Situated in north-eastern Botswana, the park is positioned far away from the nearest town, allowing the elephants to enjoy a free run in the wild.
Issue - 627 (12)
11 Aug. - 17 Aug. 2015
Viral videos spark debate on sexual harassment of women Dubai In a minute-long video uploaded to YouTube last month, two young Saudi women walk along the waterfront promenade in the kingdom’s Red Sea city of Jiddah as a group of young men jeer and follow them until the women become visibly agitated.The video went viral and set off a rare public debate on the rights of women in a country which distinguishes itself as an Islamic state that madates strict gender segregation.Rights activists and commentators lambasted the men in the video for sexually harassing women, who wore traditional black flowing robes known as abayas, along with face veils. Public outrage, expressed in the media and online, prompted a police investigation, and state-linked media reported that six of the boys involved were detained and questioned.Then, things took a sharp turn.Days later, another video emerged, purportedly of
the same two young women. It was shared on semi-official news websites and carried on websites of privately-owned channels such as Rotana TV, which suggested it had been recorded just before the women were accosted.In that video, the women are riding a quad bike on the promenade as the young men watch. One of the women tosses toward the men an “agal”, the black rope worn by Saudi men over their traditional checkered head cloths. The young men break out in laughter and hooted at the gesture.Suddenly, the women were no longer seen as victims by viewers who then accused them of being “indecent”, and provoking the men.Though men and women in Saudi Arabia work alongside each other in places such as banks and hospitals, unmarried men and women are prohibited from socially mixing -in both public and private -- and women adhere to an ultraconservative dress code that often includes full-face covering.Saudi women are not allowed to drive cars and riding a
quad bike is no less offensive in the conservative provinces. But in Jiddah, the kingdom’s cosmopolitan hub and seaside gateway for millions of Muslims pilgrims, some women do not cover their hair and the abayas
would be unjust to investigate and possibly refer the men to trial “without taking the same deserved action against those who seduced and aroused this to happen, which are the two girls”.He also blamed the young
are not always black. There are walkways where men and women, in sporty black robes, can stroll briskly alongside one another public spaces that do not exist for average Saudi citizens in the national Capital, Riyadh. Judicial adviser Yehia al-Shahrani told the state-linked Sabq news website he believes the women acted in a “seductive and tempting” manner. He said it
women’s parents for allowing their daughters to be in a public place around young men. The debate that emerged from the videos is significant -- both for bringing the issue into the spotlight and for exposing struggles Saudi women face in public.Justice ministry said 3,982 cases of sexual harassment were registered over the last two years. However, that figure also includes
Dubai aims to beat own indoor ski slope record DUBAI Dubai, the Gulf emirate best known for its extravagant projects and scorching temperatures, announced Tuesday it would build the world’s largest indoor ski resort, with a 1.2-kilometre run.
Dubai’s current indoor ski resort, opened in 2005 in the Mall of the Emirates, remains the largest in the world, according to the Guinness World Records website, boasting a 400-metre (yard) slope. The slope runs yearround, despite summer
temperatures in Dubai that can top 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).The new covered ski resort comes as part of a scheme dubbed Meydan One, also to include the world’s tallest residential tower at 711 metres (2,333 feet), a dancing
fountain sweeping up to 420 meters (1,378 feet), a vast shopping centre, a 350-room hotel and a marina, according to a government statement.Estimated to cost of up to 25 billion dirhams ($6.8 billion/6.2 billion euros), the
project is to extend from the Meydan race track in the emirate’s desert to Burj Khalifa, the world’s highest tower, reported Dubai daily Al-Bayan. “In a city which never stops innovating, today’s announcement is significant for the future of Dubai and the UAE,” Meydan chairman Saeed alTayer was quoted as saying in UAE-based newspaper The National. The first phase of the project, eventually to house up to 78,000 residents, should be completed in the next five years, in time for the UAE’s hosting of World Expo 2020, according to its promoters. With its reputation as a liberal city in a conservative environment, Dubai has become a business and financial hub attracting businesses and expatriates seeking to establish themselves in the Middle East. The emirate, which has also emerged as a tourist destination, last year logged 13.2 million visitors, and aims for 20 million tourists by 2020.
Ill UK peer accused of child sex abuse ordered to appear in court London An elderly member of Britain’s House of Lords was ordered to present himself in court on Friday to face charges of child sex abuse, despite the defence arguing that he was too unwell to attend. Lord Greville Janner, 87, a former Labour member of Parliament and ex-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, is accused of 22 offences in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. He denies the charges. “Lord Janner is fit to attend,” Judge Howard Riddle told Westminster Magistrates Court, saying his presence was necessary in the interests of justice.Riddle said that the peer,
who has been suspended by the opposition Labour party, would only be needed for as little as a minute in a brief hearing.In April, prosecutors said that Janner, who has Alzheimer’s, was too ill to face the charges in court, but were forced to reverse their decision a few months later
following anger from his alleged victims.Riddle ended up adjourning the hearing for seven days for arrangements to be made so Janner could appear at the hearing after defence lawyers said the former lawmaker would not be able to attend on Friday, despite the judge’s ruling.
cases of sexual assault and abuse, since there is no legal definition of what constitutes sexual harassment in Saudi Arabia.Saudi women’s rights activists and liberal pundits claim sexual harassment is all too common in the kingdom and are calling for a law that would criminalise such behaviour. Regardless of whether a Saudi woman even shows her face or not, she is seen as “just a subject to harass”, activist Tamador Alyami told The Associated Press.“Harassment is something you see on a daily basis,” she said. “It’s expected and accepted. That’s how common it is. It only makes controversy when it’s caught on camera.”Social media and YouTube have carried videos from across the kingdom that appear to show women being harassed. In one, from the central city of Taif, a young woman is aggressively followed by several young men as she walks near a shopping center.
Why Britons are losing out on sex
London Many found the steamy antics in the erotic film “Fifty Shades of Grey” more intimidating than inspiring. Couples should not shy away from kissing and cuddling in front of their children, the survey noted. The pressure of having “amazing sex” tonight has actually left many Britons without action between the sheets for a month, finds an interesting survey. The research involving 6,000 adults by British relationship charity Relate found that just 45 percent were “fairly satisfied” with their sex life while 51 percent said they had not had sex in the past month. “Sex definitely does not have to be disappointing - there is plenty that can turn your situation around so you can enjoy a sustained, fulfilling sex life,” Cate Campbell, pychosexual therapist and lecturer at Relate Institute was quoted as saying in a Daily Mail report.“What constitutes a satisfying sex life can vary wildly from one person to the next, so working out what makes you tick is a great starting point,” she added.Relate, which provided more than 20,000 sessions of
sex therapy in 2013-14, said couples often say they want to bring the spontaneity back, but sex is rarely truly spontaneous and busy people sometimes have to plan for intimacy. “People may feel concerned if they haven’t had sex in the past month but there are plenty of other ways to be sexy,” the findings showed. Many found the steamy antics in the erotic film “Fifty Shades of Grey” more intimidating than inspiring. Couples should not shy away from kissing and cuddling in front of their children, the survey noted. “It is sad that so few people are sexually satisfied and put pressure on themselves to perform,” added Campbell, the author of “The Relate Guide To Sex And Intimacy.” Previous research by Relate found a lack of intimacy in many relationships, with nearly a fifth of people saying they never or rarely felt loved in the two weeks before they were questioned. “The first step in improving sex for most people is to start talking honestly about what you want from your sex life,” the authors advised.
Issue - 627 (13)
11 Aug. - 17 Aug. 2015
Punjab’s WW2 hero colonel Harwant Singh dies at 95
Lalit Modi linked to Prince Charles elephant charity London Indian Premier League (IPL) founder Lalit Modi, against whom a non-bailable warrant has been issued in a case of money laundering, gave at least USD 30,000 to a charity set up to protect elephants in India headed by Britain’s Prince Charles, a media report said today. Modi, who denies the allegations of money laundering, has helped fund the Elephant Family charity as one of its patrons, The ‘Sunday Times’ reported. Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, were last year made joint presidents of the charity set up by Mark Shand, Camilla’s late brother.The group is the largest British funder of the endangered Asian elephant and has many high-profile supporters working on creating safe corridors for elephants in northeast India. Modi gave almost USD 30,000 to the organisation in October 2011, according to leaked documents seen by the newspaper. A later payment of 5,000 pounds was made to Shand “for the purchase of artwork” in February 2013. Shand died in April last year after a fall outside a bar in New York. Modi told the newspaper via his lawyer that “the charges made against him in India are politically motivated and without any foundation.” In November, the charity will have a group of highprofile celebrities take part in an auto-rickshaw race across India. The ‘Travels to My? Elephant’
campaign will see a fleet of 30 rickshaws?race?500 kilometres as part of a planned “epic Indian adventure” across? Madhya Pradesh to the? elephant?Tara’s home at Kipling Camp.The event is inspired by Shand’s own rescue of Tara, which is recorded in his best-selling book ‘Travels
2010 after the event became embroiled in match-fixing allegations and illegal betting, saying he faced death threats from criminals. A special Mumbai court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act on Wednesday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Modi in
on my?Elephant.’ Modi is listed as one of more than two dozen patrons on the charity’s website alongside the Duchess of York, Sarah Fergusson, the former wife of Prince Andrew Prince Charles’ brother. Modi says he was appointed in 2008. The charity declined to say how much he had given in total, adding:?”We have no comment to make until the outcome of the Indian legal process.”The former IPL chief had travelled to London in May
connection with a case of money laundering. The ‘Sunday Times’ had earlier revealed in a series of articles how he was issued British travel papers after senior Indianorigin Labour MP Keith Vaz intervened on his behalf with the UK’s immigration authority.The controversy has been dubbed ‘Lalitgate’ after it was alleged that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj may have also played a part in that travel request while in Opposition.
Niloy Neel, fourth secular blogger killed in Bangladesh this year
SRINAGAR The surge in terrorist activity in Jammu & Kashmir in recent weeks coincides with an increasing number of local youth joining the ranks of the militants, say the Army and the state police. Seen with the evidence of extensive support for terrorists which helped Lashkar terrorist Naved and his accomplices remain undetected for several days, and which can help terror sleeper cells in future, this points to new level of support in the Valley for the jihadi message. An intelligence source told reporters that foreign mercenaries in 2010 formed around 60% of the militant forces whereas today, although their absolute numbers have since then reduced, the ratio is 60:40 in favor of local terrorists. The number of terrorists has risen from a low of 105 in the last year or so. Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba are luring the state’s youth in bigger numbers now, said Mujtaba Gilani, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Range. He told reporters, “There has definitely been a rise in local recruitment since last year,” Gilani said. Police sources add
New Delhi Colonel Harwant Singh (retd), a World War-2 hero decorated with the Military Cross - the highest award of the British Army - died on Tuesday night here at the age of 95. He was officer in charge of the flaghoisting ceremony on the first Independence Day in 1947. Commissioned in 2nd battalion of the Sikh Regiment in September 1941, he served in Iraq, Palestine, North Africa, Cyprus and Italy during World War-2 for the British Army and won the Military Cross in 1944 for gallantry during an offensive against the German forces on the Gothic Line in Italy. Later, he joined 1 Sikh at Malaya. During the Independence Day of 1947, being the most senior Indian officer in 1 Sikh, he was made in charge of the flag-hoisting ceremony at Princess Park on August 15 and at the Red Fort on August 16. On the outbreak of hostilities
Dhaka Niloy Neel was hacked to death after the group broke into his apartment in Dhaka’s Goran
area, the Bangladesh Blogger and Activist Network reported. dAnother secular blogger was hacked to death by a group of attackers at his home in Dhaka on Friday. It was the fourth killing of its kind in Bangladesh this year. Niloy Neel was hacked to death after the group broke into his apartment in Dhaka’s Goran area, the Bangladesh Blogger
with Pakistan in October 1947, colonel Harwant Singh was one of the leading company commanders airlifted to Srinagar. After lieutenant colonel DR Rai, commanding officer, 1 Sikh, was killed in action, the colonel took over officiating command of the battalion and stopped raiders at Pattan. He was felicitated as one of the saviours of Srinagar. He was in the theatre of war in Jammu and Kashmir till the declaration of the ceasefire on January 1, 1949. T h e r e a ft e r, h e t o o k o v e r command of 4 Sikh in the Kashmir valley itself. Transferred to the Rajputana Rifles in December 1951 when the state forces began to be merged with the Indian army, he commanded 18 Rajputana Rifles, 6 Rajputana Rifles and the Rajputana Regimental Centre. He leaves behind a son and two daughters. His grandson is a fourth-generation army officer.
and Activist Network reported. “They entered his room in the fifth floor and shoved his friend aside and then hacked him to death.
He was a listed target of the Islamist militants,” one of the members of the network told reporters. Niloy Neel, an organiser of Science and Rationalist Association Bangladesh feared for his life after the killing spree started in Bangladesh earlier this year. A number of author, bloggers, organizer was killed
one after another. Niloy finished his Masters of Philosophy from Dhaka University in 2013. Then he started working for an NGO. In May this year, Ananta Bijoy Das was the third such blogger to be hacked to death in Sylhet in northeastern Bangladesh. He was an activist of the ‘Ganajagaran Mancha’, the forum demanding a ban on Islamist parties and death penalty for convicted war criminals. Das used to blog on Mukto Mona (Freethinkers), a website propagating rationalism and opposing fundamentalism started by Avijit Roy, who was the first such blogger to be hacked to death near Dhaka University in February. His wife and fellow blogger Rafida Ahmed Bonya was seriously injured in the attack. In March, another blogger, Washiqur Rahman, was hacked to death in Dhaka. Islamist groups in Bangladesh have claimed some of these murders.
More Kashmiri youth joining militants becoming a source of major worry there is far greater coordination between foreign mercenaries and local militants, with mercenaries using the influence of local youth to increase their numbers. Seeing a definite pattern in the rise in local recruitment by militant outfits and the increasing attempts at
infiltration from across the border, DGP of Jammu and Kashmir K Rajendra Kumar said these clearly point towards a serious effort to intensify separatist violence in the state. The police have also noted that moles within the ranks of the state police are getting active. For instance, Naseer Ahmad Pandit, a police constable assigned to guard duty at the house of minister for public works Altaf Bukhari, deserted with two AK-47 rifles four months ago. He was traced late in June through a Facebook picture in the company of nearly a dozen Hizbul Mujahideen militants.
Issue - 627 (14)
11 Aug. - 17 Aug. 2015
North Korea literally turns back clock, creates ‘Pyongyang Time’ Seoul North Korea announced on Friday that it was moving its clocks back by 30 minutes to create a
trampling down its land,” North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said.Standard time in precolonial Korea had run at
new “Pyongyang Time” breaking from a standard imposed by “wicked” Japanese imperialists more than a century ago.The change will put the standard time in North Korea at GMT+8:30, 30 minutes behind South Korea which, like Japan, is at GMT+9:00. North Korea said the time change, approved on Wednesday by its rubberstamp parliament, would come into effect from August 15, which this year marks the 70th anniversary of the Korean peninsula’s liberation from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule. “The wicked Japanese imperialists committed such unpardonable crimes as depriving Korea of even its standard time while mercilessly
GMT+8:30 but was changed to Japan standard time in 1912.KCNA said the parliamentary decree reflected “the unshakeable faith and will of the service personnel and people on the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation.” Seoul’s Unification ministry, which deals with cross-border affairs, said a different time zone between north and south posed a number of possible challenges, including for operations at the jointly-run Kaesong industrial complex that lies just inside North Korea.“In the short term, there might be some inconvenience in entering and leaving Kaesong,” ministry spokesperson Jeong Joon-Hee told
Karachi A gunman opened fire on former Pakistani cricket captain Wasim Akram’s
all time, said no one was hurt in the shooting which occurred as he was on his way to the
car in the city of Karachi on Wednesday an apparent incident of roadrage. A gunman opened fire on former Pakistani cricket captain Wasim Akram’s car in the city of Karachi on Wednesday an apparent incident of road-rage in a metropolis beset by violence. Akram, considered one of the greatest one-day international cricketers of
city’s National Stadium where he is holding a bowling camp. “A car hit my vehicle and when we asked the driver to pull over, he stepped out and opened fire,” Akram said shortly after the shooting. “He definitely looked like an official,” he said of the shooter. “If he can do this to me, what will he do to the common man?”Senior police
reporters. “And in the longer term, there may be some fallout for efforts to unify standards and reduce differences between the two sides,” Jeong said.South Korea had similarly changed its standard time in 1954 -again to reflect the break from Japanese rule -- but reverted to Japanese standard time in 1961 after Park Chung-Hee came to power in a military coup.Park’s rationale was partly that the two major US allies in the region South Korea and Japan should operate on the same time to facilitate operational planning. Analysts said Pyongyang’s time shift was aimed at shoring up the official narrative that paints North Korea as the pure, “authentic” Korea and South Korea as a land polluted by foreign domination.“The North has always sought to project this image of being more aggressive in wiping out traces of Japanese colonial rule,” said Yang Moo-Jin at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. “So this falls in line with its claim to be the only legitimate Korean regime on the peninsula, and its dismissal of the South as a ‘puppet regime’ still sticking to corrupt colonial practices,” Yang said.
Wasim Akram shot at in Karachi road rage incident
officer Munir Shaikh ruled out an assassination attempt or a robbery. “This was just an incident of road rage,” he said. “We have identified the car from CCTV footage and will have the suspect in custody in a couple of hours.” Legendary Pakistan fast bowler turned politician Imran Khan condemned the attack. I strongly condemn the firing on Wasim Akram’s car in Karachi. In 2009, a dozen Islamist militant gunmen attacked Sri Lanka’s cricket team when it was visiting Pakistan, wounding six players and a British coach and killing at least eight Pakistanis in the city of Lahore. Pakistan did not host a top-flight international cricket match for six years after that attack. In May, it hosted Zimbabwe for two Twenty20 internationals and a three-match oneday series.
Idaho woman comes under fire for celebrating her killing of giraffe SALMON A big-game trophy collector from Idaho has ignited a firestorm of criticism from animal-rights activists for flaunting online images of herself posed with the carcasses of a giraffe and other wildlife she killed during a recent guided hunt in South Africa. Sabrina Corgatelli, an accountant for Idaho State University, appeared on NBC’s “Today” show on Monday to defend trophy hunting amid mounting international outrage over last month’s killing of Cecil, Zimbabwe’s most famous lion, by an American dentist. “Everybody thinks we’re cold-hearted killers and it’s not that,” Corgatelli said in the nationally televised interview. “There is a connection to the animal, and just because we hunt them doesn’t mean we don’t have a respect for them. Giraffes are very dangerous
animals. They could hurt you seriously, very
of hostile remarks posted by viewers who “liked” her
quickly.”Corgatelli first drew attention from a series of photos circulated via her Facebook account that showed her standing proudly with various animals she bagged in South Africa, including an impala, a warthog and a wildebeest. “Day #2 I got an amazing old Giraffe. Such an amazing animal!!! I couldn’t be happier,” Corgatelli gushed in a caption to one image showing the slumped carcass draped around her.Her photos and upbeat commentary were juxtaposed with a torrent
Facebook entries in order to weigh in with denunciations such as: “Shame on you for slaughtering innocent animals. ”Idaho State issued a statement on Monday distancing itself from the controversy, saying it was not a university matter.The outcry surrounding Corgatelli reverberated as fallout continued over the killing of Cecil the lion, with Zimbabwe’s environment minister calling on Friday for extradition of Minneapolis dentist, Walter Palmer, 55, to face poaching charges.
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Tom Cruise plays on old formula Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Alec Baldwin, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Sean Harris Director: Christopher McQuarrie Ratings: 4 Stars With Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, the spy thriller series has released its fifth instalment with Tom Cruise reprising his role of Ethan Hunt. In this day and age of VFX and green screen action sequences, this film manages to retain the old-school action formulae that made this series a hit in the first place.
ing aircraft to unload a bioweapon cargo being smuggled by terrorists. The death-defying stunt sequence, which he has performed himself, sets the tone of the rest of the film. Rogue Nation has Hunt seeking out the shadow terrorist organisation called the Syndicate, led by an even more elusive Solomon Lane, played by Sean Harris. The emergence of the Syndicate comes at the worst of times, as IMF (Impossible Mission Force) is being disbanded at the behest of CIA Director Alec Baldwin.
emy Renner) and Ving Rhames keep up the con-
The movie takes off (quite literally) with Cruise grabbing on to the side of a fly-
The characters of the lovable tech guy Benji (Simon Pegg), William Brandt (Jer-
tinuity of the series. Lane however isn’t the formidable villain you would
expect him to be. He comes across as a pursed-mouthed hall monitor, complete with a snarky disapproving air around him, and not the brain that matches the genius of IMF’s most revered hero. Janik ‘Bone Doctor’ Vinter (Jens Hulten) is the scary muscle in the film, but Rebecca Fergusson as Ilsa Faust is the most impressive of the new characters that have been introduced in the film. She matches up to Cruise in the action sequences, and her love-hate platonic relationship with the lead will keep you at the edge of your seat. The tragedy, however, is that director Christopher McQuarrie glorifies Cruise’s character to the point of it being irksome.
Hunt has no depth of character. Even as a spy who is on the run and hunting down his nemesis, he is omnipotent. As Baldwin says, Hunt is ‘the living manifestation of destiny’. One would think that a movie with just one straight plot will have more to it than back-to-back action sequences. Plus, the series has not been able to steer clear of obvious brand placements, whether it is Nokia, BMW, Airbus, Halo 5 or Dell! Credit where it is due, the standard of stunts has been raised by stunt expert Wade Eastwood to meet the increasing demands of the audience. The Vienna Opera House sequence is an (hopefully intentional) ode to Alfred
Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much sequence with a cat-and-mouse game set to the rising crescendo of opera music. Tom Cruise plunging into the water vortex will have you holding your breath for the length of the sequence. The film is a must-watch for all those who love Tom Cruise. He is a great action hero, and the entire movie stands testimony to that fact. However, as far as the series goes, Rogue Nation is possibly not the best of the lot. Ghost Protocol had a lot more to its story, and Mission Impossible II definitely stands above the rest. This instalment will not disappoint those who love the franchise, but that is about it.
Riteish Deshmukh, Pulkit Samrat’s comedy entirely lacks laughs Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Pulkit Samrat, Kumud Mishra, Jacqueline Fernandez, Chandan Roy Sanyal. Director: Karan Anshuman. Ratings: 2 Stars Zaniness is tricky path to tread on in movies. Done right, it delivers copious amount of laughs. Mess it up, one is bored and disgruntled. Bangistan falls in the latter category. The worst possible scenario for a comedy is one that doesn’t tickle the funny bone. One struggles to find real humorous moments in Karan Anshuman’s directorial debut which is rather ambitious as it looks to both amuse and preach like Rajkumar Hirani’s PK
did more recently. Bangistan fails to do either well, turning infuriatingly mawkish especially when propagating the message of religious harmony and world peace. That isn’t to say that the writers Puneet Krishna, Sumit Purohit and Anshuman don’t try - really -hard. There are a handful of promising ideas such as the Goya painting being shown to provoke Hindus and Muslims against each other. There are references to Taxi Driver, Wong Kar Wai, Citizen Kane and Roman Polanski but while these jokes may make a room full of friends chuckle, they won’t resonate with an audience in a theatre. Bangistan is stuffed with one too many one-liners
that seem as if the writers are patting themselves on the back for their smart way to pay tribute to their favourites. Trouble is that the smugness doesn’t necessarily make the film fun. Bollywood has had its fair share of oddball characters, with the most memorable being Amar and Prem of Andaz Apna Apna. Here the silly one is Pravin Chaturvedi (Pulkit Samrat), a Hindu zealot who wants to sacrifice his life to appease his Guruji (Kumud Mishra) and save his race. Opposite of Pravin in temperament is Hafeez (Ritesih Deshmukh), who is nominated for jihad by his own Imam (Mishra again). Hafeez is the more interestingly written character of the two, a man angry with the
stereotype that a bearded Muslim equals to a terrorist. He expresses his frustration to “Kya Musalmaan Insaan Nahi Hote?” frequently and then embraces the very violent path that has led to the stereotype. Pravin and Hafeez come from different ends of Bangistan. Once in Poland, they find themselves on a common mission: become martyrs by blowing themselves up at the world religious conference in Krakow. But they do so by pretending to be what they are not. In one of the film’s few clever moves, the Muslim, who is actually a Hindu, goes to the Chinese, while the Hindu, who is actually Muslim, goes to the Chinese to get their hands on a bomb.
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I feel indebted to Salman Khan says Jacqueline Fernandez Jacqueline Fernandez, who will be seen in Brothers opposite Akshay Kumar. has definitely come a long way. She has just completed shooting for Dishoom with Varun Dhawan and John Abraham and has three upcoming films in the near future. But just a while ago, she thought her career in Bollywood had come to an end. The actress made her debut with Sujoy Ghosh’s Aladin in 2009 after which she barely had any film offers. It was only when she was
offered Kick opposite Salman Khan that her career was re-launched and film offers started pouring in for the actress. Speaking about her equation with Salman, the actress said, “I feel it’s more than I could have ever imagined. For me, he definitely goes beyond being just a costar. I think it’s a friendship that I will value for a long time, because I feel indebted to him. He’s an amazing person, and everyone knows that. At
the same time, he’s always there for people.” Jacqueline will soon be seen in Brothers in a completely different avatar and we can’t wait to watch this beauty spread her charm on the big screen once again! She says she trust Salman Khan blindly as the superstar has helped boost her career, reports PTI. “Salman will always be that special person in
my life because he was able to change my career. I will never ever forget what he has done for me. On the personal front too, he has advised me as a friend and family, something I couldn’t have even asked for,” Jacqueline said. The actress, who played Salman’s leading lady in 2014 superhit Kick, said the film took her
career to a new height. “Salman is genuinely a nice man who helps people. He is someone who I trust blindly. I think he has been an important person in my life,” she said, adding that she even seeks advise from
the Dabangg star regarding her films. “I do take his advise as he knows the best. He knows what works, he understands the audience well. He also told me that whosoever’s advice I take, ultimately final decision has to be mine,” Jacqueline said.
ne i l e u q Jac z e d n a Fern What Shah Rukh and I share is very Fine with Aarav watching me romance on-screen says Akshay Kumar special says Deepika Padukone Deepika Padukone’s next big release may be clashing with Shah Rukh Khan’s Dilwale, but the actor clarified that all is well between the two. Dipsy is going to be seen next in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus Bajirao Mastani, opposite rumoured beau Ranveer Singh. the mega-budget film will release on December 18, the same day as Rohit Shetty’s next. A few days back, rumours surfaced that King Khan was miffed with Padukone for posting about Bajirao-Mastani release date with the hashtag #ChallengeAccepted. But Deepika spoke to journalists about the issue saying that there was no hard feelings between them. She also mentioned that SRK has always been encouraging and supportive of her. “What he and I share is known to us and it is very special. Ironically, when you all were reading this article, he was messaging and congratulating me about my foundation. He was one of the first people I spoke to while I was thinking about it. He has always been encouraging and supportive,” she told PTI. I am just an actor. I am neither the producer nor director to say anything. I have no business sense and I have no idea whether it is good or bad for the film,â•? the 29-year-old actress said about the box office clash. Interestingly, Padukone started her career with Shah Rukh in Om Shanti Om. They also came back together for Chennai Express and most recently Happy New Year which were both phenomenal successes at the BO. The audience has loved the jodi and it would be a shame for their fans to miss out on their chemistry owing to a little tiff between the superstars. Along with working hard in the various film projects in B-Town, she has also started The Live Love Laugh Foundation that aids and raises awareness for the cause of mental health on and depression. She announced the launch of her organisation on Twitter.
Akshay Kumar, who will soon be seen in Brothers, says he is fine with his son Aarav watching him romance actresses on screen and doesn’t even put any parental restrictions on him, reports PTI. “It is a film... it’s my job. If you and I are walking hand in hand he would be comfortable watching us together,”
Akshay said in an interview. “I don’t tell him what
John Abraham: Feel fortunate to return with ‘Welcome Back’ Actor John Abraham feels lucky to make a comeback on the big screen after two years with Anees Bazmee’s upcoming multi-starrer comedy ‘Welcome Back’. John was last seen in his 2013 home production Madras Cafe and will be now seen essaying the role of Ajju Bhai in Welcome Back, a sequel to 2007 hit Welcome. He has replaced actor Akshay Kumar from the original, while Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar and Paresh Rawal have reprised their roles in the movie. Dhoom 3 star Katrina Kaif, who romanced Akshay in the first film, is not a part of the sequel. Actress Shruti Haasan is the addition to the new film. “I am a big fan of Anees’ films. I feel fortunate to be launched after two years.. after Madras Cafe with this film,” the 42-year-old actor told reporters at a song launch of “Welcome Back” here. “Everyone in this film is lucky for me.
to watch and what to not (films and TV). What is the point? They can go quietly and watch whatever they want,” the 47-year-old actor said. The Rowdy Rathore star, who is one of the fittest actors in the industry, says he was not aware that Aarav too is a martial arts enthusiast.
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Blake Lively, Kristen Stewart join Woody Allen’s film
Blake Lively, Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg are set to star in director Woody Allen’s upcoming movie, joining the likes of Bruce Willis, Parker Posey and Corey Stoll. The film, which also stars Jeannie Berlin and Ken Stott, will begin filming this month in New
York and Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Anna Camp and Paul Schneider are included in the list of “costars”, reported Ace Showbiz. The film will mark the third time that Stewart and Eisenberg team up for a feature film. The duo previously worked together in 2009’s Adventureland and most recently in American Ultra. The film will also become Allen’s first film to shoot in New York after the director has decided not to shoot in the Big Apple for years due to its
prohibitive expense. His last few films have taken place in locations like Rhode Island (Irrational Man), France and the UK (Magic in the Moonlight), San Francisco (Blue Jasmine) and Paris (Midnight in Paris). Allen’s longtime collaborators Letty Aronson and Steve Tenenbaum are producing with Edward Walson. Ronald L Chez, Adam B Stern and Allan Teh are tapped as executive
Actress Reese Witherspoon has admitted she sends e-mails at two in the morning as she does not have time in the day. The Wild star’s busy schedule juggling her career and her family life has meant she never has time to send her important messages in the day, reported People magazine. “I don’t have time! I put the kids to bed, and I literally collapse, or I do work.
producers. As of now, the plot details and the release date of the movie are not yet revealed.
Filming argument scenes with Brad was very heavy says Angelina Jolie Actress Angelina Jolie says it was difficult filming argument scenes with her husband Brad Pitt for their upcoming drama ‘By The Sea’. The film written and directed by Jolie, 40, chronicles the story of an unhappy couple where the 51-yearold World War Z actor plays the husband, reported E! Online. Jolie said filming the drama’s intense argument scene was ‘heavy’ as there was aggression. “I’d be directing myself and him in a scene where we’re having a fight, and I’d be pulling out the parts (of him) that have an aggression toward me or when you’re frustrated with each other- it was very heavy,” Jolie said. “We kept joking that all of the crew felt like they were living in a house where the parents were fighting and you don’t know where to stand or where to look.” By the Sea is about a deeply unhappy couple on vacation in France who becomes involved with a pair of newlyweds staying at their seaside inn.
I took retreat to deal with split says Emma Watson ‘Harry Potter’ star Emma Watson needed a silent retreat to deal with the breakdown of her one-year relationship with rugby player Matt Janney last year. The 25-year-old actress split up with her boyfriend in December following a year together and she fled to Canada’s Rocky Mountains shortly before it fell apart to stay at a facility which enforces a week-long vow of silence, reported Vogue magazine. “I felt really uncomfortable, even before my relationship ended, I went on a silent retreat, because I really wanted to figure out how to be at home with myself,” she said. The star, who shot to fame as a child by playing Hermione Granger in the films, said she does not think her celebrity status has had a negative impact on her relationships. “The boyfriends or partners I’ve had have generally made me feel really cherished. They’ve built me up. I certainly haven’t found that with doing all that I do or being all that I am, that I’ve struggled in my love life. I just think it’s very patronising towards men. It undermines them.
Meaningful gun control is possible says Amy Schumer Comedian Amy Schumer says she wants to promote the cause of gun control laws in the United States. The 34-year-old stand-up comedian called for stricter gun control laws, after the July 23 theater shooting during a screening of her latest movie Trainwreck, in which two women died and nine
others were injured, said The Hollywood Reporter.
“Preventing dangerous people from getting guns is very possible... These are my first public comments on the issue of gun violence, but I promise they won’t be my last,” she said. The comedian joined hands with cousin and New York Senator Chuck Schumer to advocate for new legisla-
Reese Witherspoon’s morning e-mails
tion that would create financial rewards for states that submit all necessary records into the background check system and penalize states that do not. On being asked if she anticipated a backlash for becoming an advocate for gun control, Shumer said, “Yeah, I am expecting backlash...”
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2 Indian-origin women accused of shoplifting NEW YORK Two Indian-origin women have been accused of stealing 155 razors worth $4,500 from a Walmart store in the US. The theft was reported from a Walmart store on the Joe B Jackson Parkway in Murfreesboro city of Tennessee State. The security footage showed two women, carrying a six- or seven-year-old child, stealing over $4,500 worth of 155 razors from the personal
grooming section inside the store. After stealing the shaving razors, the females left through the entrance on the opposite side of Walmart with a child in tow. They fled the area in a minivan, a media report said. They are yet to be identified and arrested, the report said. So far, they have not been caught and this is one of several razor blade shoplifting cases reported in recent months.
IndIan-born pharmacIst suspended after felony convIctIon In ny NEW YORK The license of an Indianborn American pharmacist has been suspended after his felony convictions in June. The Michigan department of licensing and regulatory affairs (LARA) suspended the license of Hiren Dasharathbhai Patel after he was convicted of healthcare fraud and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, hometownlife.com news portal reported.
He was sentenced to probation for six months and ordered to pay $2,000,200
in restitution and fees. LARA issued an order summarily suspending
Patel’s license to practice as a pharmacist in accordance with the public health code. Public health code provides the mandatory summary suspension of a health professional’s license upon the conviction of a felony, a misdemeanour punishable by imprisonment for a maximum term of two years, or a misdemeanour involving the illegal delivery, possession, or use of a controlled substance.
India will soon be third largest economy, Hinduja says in BBC interview
LONDON India is on its way to becoming the world’s third largest economy, leading NRI industrialist G P Hinduja said today, crediting the growth momentum to a number of initiatives taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “India is already fourthlargest in public-private partnerships. If things go the way Modi is planning, India will be the third largest economy,” he told BBC in an interview. The London-based co-chairman of the Hinduja Group attributed the growth momentum in the economy to a number of steps taken by Prime Minister
Modi. “He (Modi) has been brilliant in building up international relationships. He has lot of energy. Every day he announces new concepts and ideas. On the business angle, what we need for growth is tax, labour, land, power and infrastructure. “On all these five he has taken initiatives to move forward. Unfortunately, because of the old legacy and culture, it’s not that easy. He has to follow democracy and that takes time,” he said. In reference to neighbouring China’s growth trajectory, he said: “I am an entrepreneur.
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We could see an Indian as PM Indo-Canadian among of UK in our lifetime: Keith Vaz two held in drug bust Britain’s Indian community has once again raised a call for Prime Minister David Cameron to return the dazzling Kohinoor to India. Britain MP Keith Vaz called for the Kohinoor diamond to be returned to India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit
to UK in November. He spoke to Rohit E. David on why the British government needs to return Kohinoor back to India, PM’s visit to the state and whether he believes he would see an Indian becoming the PM of UK one day. Q: Do you actually feel the British government will return the Kohinoor to India? I see no reason why it would not be possible. This government has made every efforts to strengthen relations between India and the UK. In one very relevant example, David Cameron was the first serving British Prime Minister to visit Amritsar in 2013, the scene of one of the most shameful moments in our country’s his-
tory. Q: Do you agree that taking away Kohinoor from India was a big mistake by the Britishers? It was one of many actions which took place in the colonial period, a time where there is little we can be proud of. It may be represen-
tative of many past wrongs, but we have an opportunity to make amends through its return. Q: Will you run a campaign in UK to encourage the UK govt to give Kohinoor back to the country? I see the diamond as holding significant cultural and historical symbolism of the colonial period, which will continue to be the case until it is returned. Its return would be a decision which would bring so much joy to the people of India. I have called for its return on numerous occasions, and I will certainly pursue this matter when the Parliamentary session resumes. Q: Should Britain pay reparation to India for 200 years of
its brutal colonial rule? Returning the Kohinoor would be a highly symbolic gesture which I believe would go a long way in making up for the past. Pursuing monetary reparations is an enormously difficult task, given that it would be an attempt to quantify the impact of colonial rule. This is particularly so in the current context, where India is a rising global power, and the United Kingdom not being in the same position as it was a century ago. Q: In what other ways can Britain make reparation for its colonial rule? I believe the Kohinoor’s return would go a long way, and we should not forget that the British government is pursuing a relationship with the Indian government as true global partners. We should not always be obsessed over the events of the past, particularly when India has such an incredible future at its fingertips, but I feel the return of the Kohinoor may go a long way in allowing us to move on. Q: In what fields according to you India has made major progress? As one of the world’s rising global powers, India is making progress in almost every area. It has an incredible IT industry which is lauded across the globe. The cultural reach of its diaspora, and the power of Bollywood should certainly not be understated. With a young population in an increasingly globalised and affluent India, the future can only be brighter.
Indian-born Canadian comedienne nominated for US award Indian-born Canadian comedienne Lilly Singh has earned a nomination in the “2015 Teen Choice Awards” to be held in Los Angeles on August 16, according to a media report. Lilly Singh, 26, popularly known by her YouTube username “Superwoman”, was nominated in “Choice YouTuber” and “Choice Web Star: Comedy” categories, US-based Celebuzz website said on Wednesday. “Holy buckets of awesome sauce! We have been nominated for two #TeenChoice awards! You can vote on FB,” Lilly Singh wrote in a Twitter post. Lilly Singh is also a motivational speaker. She is particularly known for her satirical takes on everyday life. Born in
Ontario to Malwinder and Sukhwinder Singh, she is
known among her fans for uploading videos on YouTube every Monday and Thursday. Lilly Singh has admitted to
struggling with depression and unhappiness before she started her YouTube stint. Later, she began creating YouTube videos to self-medicate and feel happier. “One of the reasons she decided to pursue a career as a YouTuber is because there was a lack of representation of women on the internet from the South Asian community,” the report said. She has gained popularity for her satirical takes on themes like “How Girls Get Ready”, “Types of Kids at School” and “Girls On Their Periods”. In addition to making YouTube videos, she has a website called “Unicorn Island” which sells merchandise based on her YouTube persona.
An Indian-origin man and his accomplice have charged with several offences after drugs, weapons, cash and a stolen motorcycle were seized from their apartment in Canada’s Calgary province, a media report said. Gurnazbir Singh Sandhu, 25, and his accomplice Richard Julies Rysdale, 28 were arrested in from their Taradale city apartment with the help of Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers, a report in Calgary Herald said. The police were working out modalities to deport Sandhu to India. Following a two-week investigation, drug unit officials were called to Sandhu’s residence on July 28 to execute a search warrant. The two residents were at home at the time of search. The police found 11,645 Canadian dollars ($8,866) cash, including 42 different types of foreign currency totalling about 2,800 Canadian dollars ($2,131). About 104 grams of methamphetamine - an extremely addictive stimulant drug with an estimated street value of 10,460 Canadian dollars ($7,964) and over 11 grams of cocaine with an estimated street value of 1,200 Canadian dollars ($913) were also recovered. The police also recovered 57 undetermined pills which were sent to Health Canada for analysis.
Apart from these, three vials of steroids, three knives, three replica handguns, seven cellphones were found at the partment. A stolen 2011 Kawasaki ZX600 motorcycle, scales and packaging material, some documents items
were also found in the fourth-floor suite in which they were staying. Sandhu and Rysdale were charged with possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking, possession of proceeds of crime, possession of stolen property and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, the report said. Sandhu, studying in British Columbia on a student visa that had expired eight months ago, was also charged of breach of probation. “Pending the outcome of court, CBSA has issued an exclusion order, which ultimately will remove him from Canada,” drug unit staff sergeant Martin Schiavetta was quoted as saying. “At this time, we don’t believe that they’re connected to any larger organised crime groups,” Schiavetta added.
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Naved claims his group came to Jammu and Kashmir 30 days ago By Abhishek Bhalla Mohammed Naved Yakub alias Usman, a Pakistani who was arrested after he along with his accomplice Mohammed Nomeen attacked a BSF convoy in Udhampur on Wednesday was part of a larger group of terrorists who had infiltrated into India. Highly placed sources said during initial interrogation Naved, who claims he was given the code name Usman, has revealed that he was a part of group of six terrorists, which was instructed to split into two and carry out fidayeen attacks. Yakub in his interrogation said he, along with others, attended a LeT camp before being sent to carry out terror strikes in India. During joint interrogation by the state police and central agencies, he also revealed that a LeT commander Qasim was their handler and had given them instructions to attack vital installations or government vehicles. “The disclosures made by him are being verified. He appears to be in shock but has begun to reveal vital information,” said an official privy to the interrogation details. Sources said Naved claimed that they were carrying arms when they infiltrated but were given more arms and ammunition after crossing over. “We are trying to identify those who could have given them arms,” the official added. The arrested militant has also revealed that he, along with some others, managed to infiltrate a month back but sources said they are still verifying whether they returned to Pakistan or stayed back somewhere in
Kashmir for over a month. Noman along with others is said to have infiltrated from Tanmarg near the Line of Control. Talking about the attack on the BSF convoy, Director General DK Pathak, who travelled to the ambush site after the attack, said casualties could have been much more than the two jawans killed had it not been for the bravery and alertness of Rocky, the lone armed constable in the bus. There were 44 BSF jawans travelling in the bus which was part of a convoy of over a dozen vehicles moving from their transit camp in Jammu to Srinagar and the bus targeted got isolated from other vehicles. “Suddenly a weaponwielding militant came right in the middle of the road targeting and firing (at the bus) and signaling us to stop. The driver got the first hit and was injured and the vehicle started going down (the hilly road). In the meantime, the militant came on the side of the bus and deflated the tyres. Then he came around and tried to enter the bus and open the door,” Pathak said. Had the militant entered the bus, Pathak said, there would have been many casualties. The DG said that Rocky neutralised one terrorist and forced the other to flee the spot as he was sitting on a hilly feature at a distance and firing a volley of bullets to aid his associate. The militant was firing from one hand and holding a grenade in the other. “Had he been successful in lobbing the grenade inside the vehicle, there would have been many casualties,” he added. The grenade exploded outside the
The two bravehearts who overpowered Mohammed Naved, the terrorist involved in the attack on a BSF convoy. bus and its splinters caused injuries to the troops sitting inside, he said. Quoting intelligence inputs, officials said Pakistan's ISI is intensifying operations to push terrorists from across the border. Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in Lok Sabha on Thursday that there were five infiltration attempts from across the border and four of which were foiled and eight militants were neutralised by the security forces in last one
Let militant brought to valley for quizzing Amid tight security and secrecy, the Jammu and Kashmir Police along with officials of National Investigating Agency (NIA) brought Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT)militant Naved alias Usman to Kashmir on Friday. According to police sources, the militant will be asked to identify the places where he stayed and also about those who ferried him into the Valley. Naved was brought to Kashmir via the Srinagar-Jammu highway, in a bid to get more
clues about the places where he had stayed. Though the NIA has filed an FIR in the case, sources say, that the state government is reluctant to hand it over to the elite national agency as it feels that the Jammu and Kashmir Police is competent enough to investigate the case. Preliminary investigation reveal that Naved along with four other militants infiltrated to Kashmir from Nowgam sector of north Kashmir and then reached Baba Reshi (named
after Sufi saint Baba Reshi), 5 km from tourist resort Gulmarg via GPS.Sources say the militant would be asked to show the Pulwama and Kulgam hideouts in south Kashmir. They further claimed that before taking a truck to Samroli in Udhampur to carry out the fidayeen attack, the militants had stayed in Kulgam. A top police official said they have seized over a dozen trucks and are identifying the one used by the militants to reach Udhampur.
month. Three terrorists in Army fatigues had opened fire on a bus and attacked the Dina Nagar police station in Gurdaspur district of Punjab on July 27. The terrorists had sneaked into India from across the border taking advantage of an unfenced rivulet. Three civilians and four policemen, including a superintendent of police, were killed and 15 others were injured in the attack.
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Naved also revieals during his interrogation that he attended an LeT camp before infiltrating into India Naved was overpowered by villagers after the terror strike on a BSF vehicle.
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6ODLQ %6) PHPEHUV PD\ EH KRQRXUHG ZLWK JDOODQWU\ DZDUGV At a time when security agencies are grappling with each other to take credit for tackling militants during the attack on a BSF convoy, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said in Parliament that the government will consider the martyred personnel for gallantry awards. Singh also expressed condolences to the families of the two BSF personnel, who were killed on the Jammu-Srinagar highway. “The country is behind those who were injured in the mindless acts of violence,” the home minister said while adding that security forces – the BSF, Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF – had shown exemplary courage in thwarting the attack while ensuring minimum casualties. The home minister also announced exgratia compensation and jobs for the families of the martyred jawans. Singh also applauded the courage displayed by unarmed villagers, who overpowered an armed militant without consideration for their own security. “We will take up the matter with the state government for suitably recognising their conspicuous act of valour,” he said. Referring to the terror strike in Udhampur, the home minister said the attack was a
part of persistent attempts by militants from Pakistan to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere of Jammu and Kashmir. The home minister made a suo moto statement in both House of parliament. “The interrogation of one the two terrorists, who was captured alive, is expected to reveal their modus operandi, including the details of their infiltration from across the border and their targets,” he said. Singh said there had been five infiltration attempts within a month of which four were foiled and eight terrorists were neutralised. Elaborating on Wednesday’s attack, the home minister said the apprehended terrorist Mohammad Naved Yakub alias Usman was a resident of Faisalabad in Pakistan. “Naved has identified his slain accomplice as Mohammad Nomen alias Nomin, a resident of Bahawalpur in Pakistan,” he added. Naved has been brought to Jammu, where he is being questioned by concerned authorities.
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By Manjeet Sehgal The arrest of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant Naved has opened a can of worms about how terror groups are using locals to mastermind such deadly attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. In sustained interrogation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Naved is said to have admitted that he and other militants got ample local support during their one and a half month stay in the Valley. According to reports, Naved was in constant touch with Abu Dujana, a deputy LeT commander in Kashmir. He had also met central and south Kashmir LeT chief Abu Qasim in Khudwani, who regrouped Mohammed Nomeen and Naved in Khudwani with whom he had split in Baba Reshi. The duo stayed in villages for days and travelled by trucks, which were arranged by the locals. For nearly 40 days Naved alongwith Abu Ukasha,Shoket Lone,Shahin Gulzar and Dujana took shelter in Khrew. It was only on July 23 that five militants Naved, Dujana, Shahin Gulzar, Shoket Lone and Abu Ukasha were picked up from the house and taken away in a truck. While Naved and Dujana were dropped at
Kakapur, the remaining three militants were taken to Pulwama. Interestingly, the second vehicle was intercepted by the J&K police but the militants managed to flee. Similarly, the three militants who killed seven people in Dinanagar on July 27 were also helped by the local modules. Ironically, satellite phone signals intercepted by the agencies in three different locations including Ludhiana, Navanshahir and Banga has revealed that the local modules were in touch with their bosses in Pakistan. The milk bottle which was found from Dinanagar building where the three heavily armed militants were hold up on July 27 morning had revealed their local connection. Sources say the militants had planted five bombs on a railway bridge which was located close to the hutments of Gujjars who rear buffaloes for milk. The Gurdaspur terror attack, however, is still shrouded in mystery as the Border Security Force (BSF) has refused to accept the theory that the terrorists had crossed the Ravi river to enter India. “We have not found any evidence of the terrorists using the river route.The GPS coordinates could be misleading,” BSF Deputy Inspector General N.K. Mishra said.
A hunt has been launched for a businessman who is alleged to have paid money to Mohammed Naved Yakub, a Pakistani militant who was caught alive last week after the terror strike in Udhampur city of north Idian state of Jammu and Kashmir which two BSF personnel were killed. Facing persistent questioning by a host of interrogators, Naved has now told them he has shared all information available with him and that there was nothing more. “Mere kol jitna bhi tha, mein dus ditta. Haur mere kol kuch na hai, mainu tang na karo (I have shared whatever I knew. I don’t know anything beyond this. Please stop asking me again and again),” Naved reportedly told his interrogators on Monday when he was being questioned again about the route he took for infiltration. The language spoken by him is generally used in Faisalabad and Sialkot areas of Pakistan, his interrogators said. Naved was taken to Jammu on Monday and produced before a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court for further remand. Meanwhile, based on information provided by him, police and central security agencies have launched a manhunt for a businessman who is alleged to have paid him and Mohammed Noman alias Momin Rs five lakh for sharing it with other Lashkar-e-Taiba cadre. The businessman, who reportedly owns a shop in uptown Srinagar, had provided the money to the Naved and his handlers to run LeT network in Kashmir and to carry out terror strikes. So far 11 people have been rounded up by the police based on information provided by Naved during his interrogation and all of them are being questioned, the sources said.
Naved’s interrogators said he was changing statements frequently and had given four different accounts of the route he and his accomplices took to infiltrate India. After undergoing two modules of training with LeT, Naved is perceived to be a hardened militant who is trying to confuse his interrogators, a tactic apparently aimed at buying time for his other accomplices in the terror network to slip away.
He had undergone two training modules-’Daur-e-Aam’ and ‘Daura-e-Khas’. While the first module teaches LeT cadre physical fitness, mountaineering and use of small arms, in the second they are trained in using assault rifles and manufacture of small explosives. A case under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms Act and various sections of Indian Penal Code has been registered against Naved, who has claimed he hails from Faisalabad in Pakistan. His accomplice, identified by him as Noman alias Momin, was killed in retaliatory firing by BSF during the terror attack. The NIA team will also examine the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, who were in the convoy that had come under attack, and local villagers who captured the armed terrorist, sources said.
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Indian-American ambassador to Sri Lanka Indian-origin rugby coach is Personality of the Year WASHINGTON Indian-American Atul Keshap has been confirmed as the US ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives, becoming the second Indian-origin diplomat
to be posted to the region after Richard Rahul Verma. Keshap, 44, a former official at the US embassy in India, was on Wednesday confirmed by the US senate as the country’s envoy which would be his first Ambassadorial posting. He is currently working as deputy assistant secretary of state in South and Central Asian Affairs Bureau of state department. He joined the foreign
service in 1994. Keshap and Verma, the US envoy to India, both trace their origin to Punjab. He was the deputy political counselor at the US embassy in New Delhi from 2005 to 2008.
Keshap also served as special assistant for the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia for the under secretary of state for political affairs. In 2003, he moved to the White House as director for North African and Middle Eastern regional affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. He was also the director for UN Human Rights in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs from 2008 to 2010. His father,
Keshap Chander Sen, who was from Punjab, was a UN development economist working in Nigeria where Keshap was born in June, 1971. His mother, Zoe Calvert, had been in the US
foreign service when she met and married Sen in London. She had also served at the US embassy in India. “My parents’ service and my upbringing instilled in me a firm dedication and commitment to American values, and led me to a career in the Foreign Service,” Keshap said in his confirmation hearing on June 23. He had said since January, Sri Lanka has made progress on challenging issues, from fighting
corruption and media censorship, to beginning the long process of healing after decades of war. “We want to help the Sri Lankan people strengthen democracy, civil society and human rights, including media freedom and freedom of religion,” he said. “We want to help build a lasting peace and fellowship among Sri Lanka’s ethnic and religious communities, including credible justice, accountability and reconciliation that can facilitate closure for those who suffered and lost loved ones during the war,” Keshap added. He said that Maldives faces challenges with youth unemployment, rising extremism, and social unrest. “We want a better relationship with Maldives, so that we can deepen cooperation. And we want to help it return to the democratic path on which it courageously embarked a few years ago, and look forward to strengthening our relationship when that happens,” Keshap added.
WELLINGTON An Indian-descent rugby coach has been named Personality of the Year for guiding his team to its first title in last five years. Rahul Das, who was born in Auckland and is of Fijian Indian descent, was honoured at the Dunedin club rugby awards held earlier this week, Otago Daily Times reported on Wednesday. Das, a fourthyear medical student, finds time during his busy schedule to coach rugby. “I am not sure how I got into rugby. I have just always followed the All Blacks (New Zealand’s national rugby team ) I guess,” Das was quoted as saying. His effort was all the more impressive considering he is
a rookie at premier level. Das played rugby at school and at a social club when he was 18-year-old. But he gave up playing in his early 20s after facing some injuries. The 30-year-old coach stayed involved in the sport through coaching, getting his start with the university women’s team. “Fitting the game into the busy life is a juggling act but easy when you have a passion for the sport,” he said. “There are definitely some long hours. But you can’t have too much of one thing in your life, so I guess rugby gives me some of that balance. I get to do something that I really enjoy and also get to work with some really cool people,” Das said.
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UK woman loses vision after mosquito bites London In a rare medical case, a 69-year-old woman in the UK has permanently lost
some of the vision in her right eye after she caught chikungunya fever while vacationing in the Caribbean, doctors including one of Indian-origin say. A new report of the woman’s case suggests that vision problems may be an underreported effect of the mosquito-transmitted virus.
“Sight-threatening visual loss can be a late complication of infection with chikungunya,” said Dr
Abhijit Mohite, who treated the woman and coauthored the report of her case. It is important that people with vision problems get treatment early, to prevent lasting vision loss, said Mohite, an ophthalmologist at the West Midlands Postgraduate Deanery and Queen’s Hospital in the
UK. The woman had visited the Caribbean island of Grenada in July 2014. Dur-
ing her stay, she was bitten by mosquitoes, and developed a flu-like illness, fever, rash and joint pain. Although the illness of the woman, who returned home to the UK that August, appeared to go away, she began having trouble seeing with her right eye. “Her main symptom was that she felt she could not
see the lower half of her vision in the right eye,” Mohite told ‘Live Science’. “This had come about only a day before she came to see us, and about three weeks after she returned from Grenada,” said Mohite. Two days after her initial visit, a blood test showed the woman had chikungunya. But the doctors still had to rule out other possible causes of her vision loss, Mohite said. During the six days that it took for the doctors to run all the tests and prescribe the steroids, about half of the nerve cells in woman’s optic nerve died, he said. The steroids decreased the inflammation, but couldn’t undo all of the damage. “The steroids, unfortunately, were not started soon enough in our patient,” Mohite said. The vision loss was permanent, researchers said. This is the first known case of a woman in the UK developing this problem, Mohite added.
JuD chief Hafiz Saeed moves Pak court seeking ban on Phantom
Lahore Jamat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed on Saturday filed a petition in the Lahore high court seeking a ban on the release of forthcoming Bollywood movie ‘Phantom’ in Pakistan alleging that it contains “filthy propaganda” against his country. Through his advocate A K Dogar, Saeed pleaded that the Indian film has “venom against Pakistan and JuD”. “The film is about the 2008 Mumbai attack and global terrorism implicating the JuD. Filthy propaganda has been done in the film against Pakistan under subject of the world terrorism,” he alleged. The
Saif Ali Khan, Katrina Kaif starrer is to be released on August 28. The founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba claimed that the courts in Pakistan had already rejected the accusation of the Indian government about involvement of the JuD or any of its leaders in the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. “I pray to the court to ban the exhibition of ‘Phantom’ in Pakistan for its anti-Pakistan content,” said Saeed on whom the US has placed a bounty of US$ 10 million. Lahore high court’s Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan fixed August 10 as the date for hearing the petition.
90,000 deaths across US if supervolcano erupts New York A supervolcano in the heart of America’s northwest has the potential to blanket the US in a ‘nuclear winter’. If it were to erupt, the Yellowstone supervolcano would be one thousand times as powerful as the 1980 Mount St Helens eruption, experts claim. While it has lain dormant for more than 70,000 years, scientists
say that we can’t rule out the possibility eruption this may some day take place - although they say the chances are extremely slim. The volcano at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Montana sits atop a huge reserve of molten rock and last erupted 640,000 years ago. It is one of the largest active continental silicic vol-
Robots could someday be converted to a faith
canic fields in the world. Silicic is used to describe magma or igneous rock
rich in silica. Experts say there is a one in 700,000 annual chance of a volca-
nic eruption at the site. The eruption, the say, could kill as many as 90,000 people almost instantly and release a 10 ft (3meter) layer of molten ash 1,000 miles (1,609km) from the park. ‘The ash would block off all points of entry from the ground, and the spread of ash and gases into the atmosphere would stop most air travel, just as it did
when a much smaller volcano erupted in Iceland in 2010,’ the magazine writes. ‘Sulphuric gases released from the volcano would spring into the atmosphere and mix with the planet’s water vapour. ‘The haze of gas that could drape the country wouldn’t just dim the sunlight - it also would cool temperatures.’ It adds that falling temperatures would damage our food supply, destroying crops and causing a worldwide food shortage. But not every believes a Yellowstone eruption would be as catastrophic as this.
‘Spectacular’ meteor showers to light up sky
New York Artificial intelligence could be a reality within years, rather than decades, scientists have said. Elon Musk recently warned AI has the potential to be as dangerous to mankind as nuclear weapons. But is there hope for artificial intelligence in the form of religion? And could faith allow AI to do more good
than harm? Dylan Love at the Dailydot.com recently published an in-depth report attempting to answer some of these questions. Lincoln Canon, president of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, told Love that there are no ‘laws’ in computer science that would make it impossible for software to hold religious beliefs.
PARIS The Perseid meteor shower an annual display of natural fireworks should be particularly spectacular this year, with extra-dark skies expected to create optimal stargasing conditions, astronomers said Friday. When the celestial show hits its peak overnight Wednesday next week, up to 100 shooting stars per hour will streak across the sky for a spectacle visible around the globe. In a lucky development, the Moon’s glow will not interfere with meteor-watching, as it will be approaching its darkest or “new” phase, experts say. “It’s going to be a spec-
tacular show this year,” astronomer Morgan Hollis of the Royal Astronomical
swings around the Solar System every 130 years or so, depositing debris in
Society told AFP. “You’ll be able to a see a lot more than normal.” The mid-July to mid-August light show comes from the tail of comet Swift-Tuttle, which
Earth’s orbit as it nears the Sun. As Earth races around the Sun, these grains smash into the atmosphere at about 60 kilometres (37
miles) per second, burning up in flashes of light. Occasionally, longer and brighter streaks are seen, from pea- or marble-sized comet remnants. The showers named after the constellation of Perseus from which they appear to fly out peak when Earth passes through the heart of the debris field. The Perseids are also known as the “tears of St. Lawrence” in honour of a martyred Christian saint. He was an early deacon, Laurentius, tortured to death by the Romans in AD 258, and whose saint’s day of August 10 coincides with the Perseids buildup.
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You'll be in the mood to enjoy yourself. With a delightful blend of energies, it would be worth your while to make the most of any available opportunities. As Venus continues retrograde, a romantic notion could feel right but may not be smooth sailing for a while. Despite the fun, Mercury's move into Virgo suggests it's time to knuckle down and proceed with plans that have been on the back burner.
This week's blend of energies encourages you to get your house in order, literally and figuratively. Get busy with important DIY projects and handle any family disputes wisely. Entertaining could be a lot of fun, despite one or two obstacles to contend with. The focus then shifts to fun opportunities.
Warm, tender feelings are enlivened this week, encouraging you to reach out to friends or family you haven't seen or heard from in a while. It's also an opportunity to meet with neighbors or support charity or other events in your locale. Although you could encounter a few delays, an optimistic outlook can make all the difference.
Finances get a boost this week, but not before you've had to scramble to tackle a few problems. Delays to money coming in or going out might cause frustration, but it's nothing you can't resolve. As Mars hikes into this sector of your chart from Saturday, you'll be motivated to explore new ways to earn extra cash and boost your income.
The week starts pleasantly, as friends and associates are likely to be in touch. Enjoy the company of a special partner or love interest - the opportunities for romance are yours for the taking. Venus continues retrograde, so try not to have too many expectations about the future. It's best to go with the flow for now if possible.
The focus on your spiritual sector could encourage you to go on a short retreat to relax and recharge. If you can spare an hour or two for a massage or beauty treatment, you could find it very soothing and healing. It's time for you to be pampered and nurtured with a little tender, loving care. Mercury heads into your sign on Friday, enhancing your communication skills.
Friends are in touch and want to have fun. Romantic opportunities abound, but it's best to go with the flow rather than make any firm commitments. The more willing you can be to network and interact, the more options you'll have to take life to new, exciting levels. Mars zips into Leo on August 8, so you could be in the mood to organize events.
Even if you're uncertain about being in the spotlight, you can make great strides by taking advantage of this opportunity. Don't refrain from advertising your goods and services - you'll benefit greatly by doing so. Meanwhile, avoid being too pushy, as this could work against you. Your social life picks up later in the week, encouraging you to get in touch with friends.
Travel and educational pursuits could hold a lot of appeal, particularly if you're itching to expand your horizons. It's a good time to let your curiosity lead you to new and exciting adventures. You may have a few doubts to contend with, too, causing you to hold back when in your heart you know it's time to move out of your comfort zone.
Work and finances may be on your mind, as well as progress. However, if you listen to friends or supposed experts, you may wonder if you're doing the right thing. It's best to go with your gut and follow through. Things could work out even better than expected. Go easy if you're playing with really large amounts of money.
Partnerships and relationships could keep you busy. There are plenty of options for an upbeat social life, although it helps to tread with care when it comes to romance. As Venus continues retrograde, this isn't the best time to make big decisions or commit. Try to go with the flow for now. As Mercury heads into Virgo, it's time to plan for your financial future.
Work and lifestyle issues continue to keep you busy this week, particularly if you've recently taken up a new sport or decided to get fit and lose a few pounds. It helps to persevere, even though you might find this difficult in the weeks ahead. If you get off to a good start, you'll be likelier to reach your goals. Mercury's presence in Virgo can encourage a connection with someone who has some good advice for you.
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Technology Replying to customers on Twitter can trigger chain reaction The response by a company to a customer’s complaint on the micro-
blogging site Twitter is likely to trigger many more such complaints, says a study co-authored by an Indian-origin researcher. The team found that while addressing complaints on social media does improve customer relationship with
the company, but it also increases customers’ expectations to receive
help, and makes customers more likely to speak up in the future. That is, responding to complaints will encourage even more complaints. “Social media is a double edge sword. Companies need to watch out and
weigh the plus side against the down side for marketing and service interventions,”
said researcher Sunder Kekre from Carnegie Mellon University. Along with Liye Ma of University of Maryland and Baohong Sun of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, Kekre examined the history of
Robots that divide tasks among themselves Scientists have developed robot controllers that are able to efficiently selforganise their tasks. Taking inspiration from the way in which ants organise their work and divide tasks, Eliseo
Ferrante from University of Leuven, Belgium and colleagues evolved complex robot behaviours using artificial evolution and detailed robotics simulations. Just like social insects such as ants, bees or termites, teams of robots display a self-organised division of labour in
compliments and complaints by several hundred consumers of a major telecommunications services provider made on Twitter and the company’s responses. “People complain on Twitter not just to vent their frustration. They do that also in the hope of getting the company’s attention. Once they know the company is paying attention, they are more ready to complain the next time around,” explained Ma. Despite this side effect, addressing complaints is still worthwhile. The improved customer relationship from such effort outweighs the downside of encouraging more complaints, the researchers observed. The study was published in the Articles in Advance section of Marketing Science, a journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS).
On Facebook ‘Haha’ is most preferred when it comes to online laughs
With 2.9 million likes, Indian army tops popularity charts on Facebook!
Indian army is surely ruling the popularity charts on Facebook! For the second time in as many months, the Indian Army’s Facebook page has topped the People Talking About That (PTAT) ranking for Facebook pages. And with this, it has managed to leave behind a host of foreign government organisations including the CIA, FBI, NASA and even the Pakistani military. “It is big for the army’s social media. Only two
months ago, we had topped for the first time. It also proves that we have genuine likes registered for our page,” Army sources said. PTAT ranking is based on the analysis of the number of people talking about or on a particular page. The official website of the Indian Army gets as many as 25 lakh hits every week. The army first entered Facebook on June 1, 2013 and has since then garnered 2.9 million likes.
your smartphone batterIes may be spyIng on you!
that allow the robots to effectively organise themselves is not an easy task. The novel
which the different robots automatically specialised into carrying out different subtasks in the group, new research has said. The field of ‘swarm robotics‘ aims to use teams of small robots to explore complex environments, such as the moon or foreign planets. However, designing controllers
method developed by the team of scientists from the University of Leuven, the Free University of Brussels and the Middle East Technical University is based on grammatical evolution and allows the evolution of behaviours that go beyond the complexity achieved before this study.
Facebook’s Data Researchers have shown that when it comes to the preferred form of online laughter ‘Haha’ leads by far, followed by Emojis, Hehe and finally LoL. According to a post by Facebook’s Research blog, the data shows that “haha-ers” lead with 51.4%, then “there are the emoji lovers (33.7%), the hehe-ers (12.7%), and finally, the lol-ers (1.9%)”. Facebook’s blog also looked at gender divisions when it came to online laughter and said that men prefer hahas and to some extent “hehes.” Women it would appear favour emojis and lols.
Beware, your smartphone baterries can be used to sneakily track you even if you try to hide. A new study by security researchers reveals how a feature of HTML5 specification, the technology used to let people read sites on the web, can be used to track you across the web as well. Ideally, HTML5’s battery API allows websites to get information about the battery life of a smartphone or laptop that’s visiting a website. The battery Status API is currently supported in Firefox, Opera and Chrome browsers and was
introduced by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C, the organisation that dictates many web’s standards) in 2012, with the aim of helping websites conserve users’ energy. It provides the amount of battery a user has, and an estimate of the time remaining until the battery dies, but the same information can be used to track browsers online. The researchers - Lukasz Olejnik, Gunes Acar, Claude Castelluccia and Claudia Diaz- also warned that the battery Status API could help websites to recognise you by your battery even if you use a VPN.
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22 Indians on hunger strike in a Florida jail WASHINGTON As many as 22 Indian asylum- seekers, all of them Sikhs, are on a hunger strike in a Florida jail, demanding that a local court should hear their bond
gration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) allegedly responding unlawfully toward hunger-striking detainees in other immigration detention facilities, she said. The 22 detainees,
hearing, prompting a US civil rights group to seek federal government intervention. Local civil rights group American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have expressed concern over their deteriorating health and sought the intervention of the federal government in this regard. “The situation is urgent because of these men’s rapidly deteriorating health,” said Shalini Agarwal, a staff attorney for Florida unit of the ACLU. ACLU is working to get to the bottom of this, especially in light of US Immi-
asylum-seekers from India, went on hunger strike when they learned that the judge who would hear their bond appeal at the Broward Transitional Center (BTC), does not grant bonds to individuals in their circumstances, even though other detainees in identical circumstances in the same jurisdiction are granted bond. These Indian nationals were then transferred to Krome Service Processing Center in Florida. Based on promises by ICE officials that they would receive a bond hearing at Krome,
they ended the hunger strike, ACLU said in a statement. However, when the day of many of their bond hearings at Krome arrived, their cases were transferred back to BTC for removal hearings. They went back on hunger strike on July 25. Several of them have now been hospitalised and are being threatened with force-feeding and the use of the Baker Act, the civil rights group said. Expressing serious concerns about these events, ACLU in a letter to Department of Homeland Security alleged that ICE has jeopardised these men’s health by making false promises of a meaningful bond hearing. “We are especially concerned because we have heard about other situations around the country in which ICE and ICE-contracted facilities are alleged to have responded unlawfully to hunger strikes by immigration detainees, in some instances retaliating against the detainees by placing them in solitary confinement,” the letter said. “In other situations inviting consular officials of the country from which they are seeking asylum to exert pressure on the detainees,” it added.
Indian-origin psychiatrist arrested in NZ over identity theft MELBOURNE An Indian-origin psychiatrist from the US and practicing in New Zealand has been arrested by authorities over an alleged identity theft to work in the country though he says he is a victim of “clerical error”. Mohamed Shakeel Siddiqui has been charged with obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception, with the police alleging he stole the credentials of a doctor in Illinois with a similar name Mohammed Shafi Siddiqui, New Zealand Herald reported on Thursday. Siddiqui, originally from India, holds a degree of Philosophy from University of Arizona besides a degree in Psychiatry and Neurology from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He had sent his CV from his Lafayette, Indiana, through a recruitment agency responsible for vetting his credentials. His information was then passed on to the New Zealand Medical Council that carried out a more rigorous check, before giving him a year’s contract to work as a practising psychiatrist with the Waikato district health board (DHB).
The DHB claims his colleagues became suspicious about his professional behaviour and reported it to their manager. They carried out their own inquiries before being alerted by Siddiqui that he was returning home to India to be with his terminally
knowledge, diagnostic skills, recognising limits, professional knowledge, reliability and professional manner. He said that things began to go downhill for his client in July, after Siddiqui sent “all his managers” an email outlining his safety con-
sick mother. Siddiqui’s lawyer Kerry Burroughs said an integral part of his client’s contract was that he had to have a supervisor and that in his case, he was given senior Waikato DHB psychiatrist Dr Andrew Darby. Burroughs cited a report penned by Darby in May in which he said that Siddiqui had been performing well, receiving “exceeds expected standard” in most areas, including clinical
cerns about the admission of an acute patient, with Dr Darby withdrawing his supervisory role the very next day and meaning Siddiqui can no longer work. By then, Siddiqui had heard that his mother’s illness had worsened and that she was now terminal. He wanted to get back urgently and emailed his managers that he wanted to end his contract and return to India to his sick mother.
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Lame Massachusetts chicken to New hacks strike at heart of mobile innovations VEGAS application rigged to reach out system that also lets hackers get 3D printer prosthetic leg As fierceLAS competition leads to and connect with the pre-installed take control with a text message.
BOSTON One Massachusetts chicken is about to get a costly leg up on life - a $2,500 prosthetic limb made on a 3-D printer. The chicken, named Cicely, is headed into surgery on Wednesday for the start of a firstof-its-kind procedure to fit her with an artificial limb, her owner, Andrea Martin of Black Thistle Farm, said on Monday. Cicely, 3 months old, was born with a torn tendon in her right leg that limits her mobility. When Martin took her to Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine to be examined last week she was given two choices - a prosthetic or euthanasia. “It was a no-brainer,” Martin said in a phone interview. “She needs to be able to live a normal life.” Martin’s farm, located in Clinton, about 45 miles (72 km) west of Boston, specializes in chicken
rehabilitation and this isn’t the first time she has splurged on surgery. One of her hens had a hysterectomy last year that cost $3,000. “Anytime you do surgery on a bird, it’s a risk,” she said. “But I am optimistic. I think this will make her very happy. It’s worth it.”When Cicely goes into surgery Wednesday, Dr. Emi Knafo will amputate her right leg. She will then run a CT-scan on Cicely’s left leg, to be used for a 3-D printed prosthetic. The chicken will be sent home to rest for two weeks, before returning to Tufts for her fitting. Similar surgeries have been performed on other creatures, but Knafo said she believed it was the first time it has been attempted on a chicken. Martin said she hopes to write a children’s book about the experience, once Cicely is healed. “She needs to tell her story,” Martin said.
rapid innovation in the smartphone market, hackers have pounced on cracks in defenses of developments on devices at the heart of modern lifestyles, experts say. Smartphones have become increasingly targets for cyber criminals as people cram the gadgets with troves of personal information and go on to use them for work. “Mobile devices are taking a bigger place in businesses and in our lives,” Avi Bashan of Tel Aviv based cyber defense firm Check Point Software Technologies told AFP on Thursday at a Black Hat computer security conference in Las Vegas. “As more people use them for more things, attackers gain interest.” Check Point has seen attacks rise during the past three years on the world’s leading mobile operating systems - Apple iOS and Google-backed Android, according to Bashan. Check Point researchers at Black Hat revealed a vulnerability that allows hackers take over Android smartphones by taking advantage of a tool pre-installed that was intended to give tech support workers remote access to devices. “It effects every version of Android,” Check Point mobile threat prevention director Ohad Bobrov said. The hack can be triggered by tricking a smartphone user into installing an
support tool, Bobrov explained. In some cases the hack can be accomplished by sending a text message that a recipient doesn’t even have to open, he warned.The
Zimperium research senior director Joshua Drake took a stage at Black Hat to discuss Android code at the heart of the problem.Stagefright automatically
text message tricks a smartphone into thinking it is connecting with a legitimate support technician remotely when it is actually linking to an online server commanded by a hacker. “I need your phone number and that is it,” Bashan told AFP. Bobrov said the flaw in Android software architecture has been disclosed to Google and smartphone makers. The Check Point revelation came a week after cyber security firm Zimperium warned of a “Stagefright” vulnerability in the world’s most popular smartphone operating
pre-loads video snippets attached to text messages to spare recipients from the annoyance of waiting to view clips. Hackers can hide malicious code in video files and it will be unleashed even if the smartphone user never opens it or reads the message, according to Drake.Stagefright imperils some 95 percent, or an estimated 950 million, of Android phones, according to the security firm. Zimperium reported the problem to Google and provided the California Internet firm with patches to prevent breaches.
US teens start school too US to create world’s fastest computer by 2025 early, need more sleep
New York US President Barack Obama has announced an ambitious plan to build the world’s fastest computer, a machine capable of speeds far beyond technology’s current reach, in a bid to enlarge
the frontiers of fields, including medicine, biology and astronomy. By 2025, the government will aim to create a machine capable of performing quintillion operations asecond, or one exaflop, roughly 30 times
Another man gangraped in Washington DC, second in a year WASHINGTON The victim, whose name and age is not yet known, was on his
walk when a vehicle pulled up beside him. A man was gangraped at gunpoint by nearly
half a dozen men in Washington, DC, the second such incident reported from the American capital in less than a year. According to a report in gay website Queerty, the incident was reported from Columbia Heights neighbourhood in the city last week. According to the report, the victim, whose name and age is not yet known, was on his walk when a vehicle pulled up beside him. A gunman then forced him into the back of the vehicle where, police said, at least seven other raped him.
faster than today’s fastest computer. Such ultrafast machines are seen as potentially transformative tools in forecasting weather or unlocking mysteries of the human brain through the simulation of its operations. “This is an important step for high performance computing in the US,” Horst Simon, a computer science expert and deputy director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory said. The order, which establishes a cross-government body called the National Strategic Computing Initiative, represents an American commitment to gain an upper hand in an increasingly competitive race for the fastest supercomputers. China currently has the fastest machine, the Tianhe-2, which can carry out nearly 34 quadrillion operations per second, according to The Top 500 List, a ranking of the world’s most powerful computers. The US has the second-fastest machine, a Department of Energy supercomputer that runs more than 17 quadrillion operations a second. Intel and Cray are collaborating on a Department of Energy project to create a system that would run at 180 quadrillion operations a second, with a deadline of 2018. Other world powers, including Russia, India and the EU, are also eyeing similar speeds. Any effort to unlock the technology to faster computing will have to be paired with effort to reduce the amount of power it would require.
WASHINGTON Most teenagers in the United States start the school day too early each morning, robbing them of the sleep they need to concentrate properly and remain healthy, according to a study published Thursday. Fewer than one in five middle and high schools in the United States start at 8:30 am or later, as recommended, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Research from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has found that adolescents are biologically programmed to stay asleep longer than adults. Depriving teens of that sleep could wreak havoc on their academic performance, the CDC said in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. “Getting enough sleep is important for students’ health, safety, and academic performance,” said Anne Wheaton, lead author and epidemiologist in CDC’s Division of Population Health. “Early
school start times, however, are preventing many adolescents from getting the sleep they need.” In 2014, the AAP urged secondary schools not to begin classes until 8:30 am to give teens the 8.5 to 9.5 hours of nightly sleep they need. But only 17.7 percent of US high schools actually start at the recommended hour. The effects are not limited to academic performance, and researchers warned students may also suffer outside the classroom. “Insufficient sleep is common among high school students and is associated with several health risks such as being overweight, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco and using drugs,” the CDC study found. Many parents have urged schools to delay start times, but administrators often refused, arguing that after-school extra-curricular activities would be too hard to organise. An estimated two out of three US students are sleep-deprived, according to a 2013 CDC study.
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Rich states at risk of worse flooding WASHINGTON It has long been thought that wealthy countries, bolstered with more money for infrastructure investment, face lower risks of
flooding. But new research Thursday found that rich countries face major risks as climate change and human activity render coastal populations increasingly vulnerable to devastating river delta floods. Though wealthy nations have greater resources to protect against flooding such as dams, climate change could increase the frequency and severity of floods and storms to a level that those nations may be challenged to keep pace with
due to costs, according to a study in the US journal Science. Man-made changes are also increasing the risk that coastal communities face, the study
found. As more land is used for agricultural production, for example, erosion occurs that reduces natural protections against flooding, the research found. The researchers calculated the challenges that more than 340 million people could face in 48 major coastal delta river communities around the world. The researchers flagged the Mississippi and the Rhine delta as potentially vulnerable, and said in some cases, the risk
multiplied by four or eight times. The study said infrastructure is key to preventing flooding and recommended that wealthy nations make wise investments now. “Economic ability and decisions to deploy engineering solutions will be key factors in determining how sustainable deltas become in the long term,” the study said. In an editorial also published in Thursday’s issue of Science, researchers Stijn Temmerman of the University of Antwerp and Matthew Kirwan, from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science said coastal communities need to devise strategies to mitigate flood risks. One option is to restore sediment to delta plains though ecosystem-based engineering projects. They devised a model for New Orleans and coastal Louisiana and said building or preventing the loss of more than 500,00 hectares of wetlands could reduce annual flooding damage by $5.3 to $18 billion over 50 years. Recent data estimated that by 2050, if the sea level continues to rise at its current rate, more frequent flooding could cost up to $1 trillion annually, causing serious damage to the 136 largest coastal cities in the world.
Qualified praise for Obama’s clean power plan PARIS President Barack Obama’s plan to slash electricity-generated CO2 emissions was welcomed Tuesday as a courageous step towards a lower-carbon future,
but not yet enough to brake dangerous planet warming. Politicians and analysts said Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which faces fierce opposition in Republican quarters back home, should foster global goodwill and spur the international effort to pin down a climate rescue pact by year-end. But much more was needed, from the US and other nations, to get the world on track to meet the UN goal of limiting average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels, they warned. French President Francois Hollande said the first plan ever to limit US power plant emissions would be a “major contribution to the success” of the November 30-December 11 UN conference his country will host to ink a new global climate deal. Hollande hailed Obama’s “courage” in the face of Republican recriminations and the threat of legal action by the lobby group American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. Obama
announced Monday that power plant owners must cut carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. Power stations account for about 40 percent of US emissions of CO2
- the most abundant greenhouse gas and the main contributor to manmade global warming. The United States is the world’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter after China. The new Paris deal will be reinforced by a roster of nationally determined greenhouse gas emissions curbs, known in climate jargon as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). The US has pledged a 26-28 percent reduction from 2005 levels by 2025, and the Clean Power Plan is part of the strategy for getting there. “This is definitely a step change from what has been happening so far in the power sector in the US,” climate policy analyst Niklas Hoehne of the New Climate Institute, a research body, told AFP. “On the negative side, while it is an important step towards meeting the US’ international pledge, on its own, it is not enough.” There was a “gap” of about 1.5 gigatonnes (a gigatonne is a
billion tonnes) between the emissions-curbing target in the US INDC, and the actions the country was taking, said Hoehne. The new plan has reduced the shortfall, on paper at least, by about a third - some 500 megatonnes. But the INDC itself may not be adequate. A measure dubbed the Climate Action Tracker, to which Hoehne contributes, says the US target has “medium” ambition - as did those of the other top three emitters: the EU and China.
Gates richest in tech, as Bezos rises
WASHINGTON Microsoft’s Bill Gates was the unsurprising leader of the first Forbes list of the richest global tech billionaires, while Amazon founder Jeff Bezos saw his personal fortune surge. The Forbes survey released Wednesday found US-based tech magnates made up 51 of the 100 richest people in technology, with 33 from Asia and eight from Europe. The net worth of the 100 people amounted to $842.9 billion, according to the magazine. The minimum net worth to make the top 100 was $2 billion. Gates, who has long been at or near the top of the world’s richest individuals, led the group with an estimated worth of $79.6 billion, trailed by Oracle founder Larry Ellison at $50 billion. The surprising number three was Bezos, who saw a gain of some $13 billion in his fortune this year with the rise of Amazon shares, and is now worth $47.8 billion, Forbes said. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg snared the number four position with a net worth of
$41.2 billion, followed by Google founders Larry Page ($33.4 billion) and Sergey Brin ($32.8 billion). Alibaba founder Jack Ma was number seven with a worth of $23.2 billion, the wealthiest of 10 Chinese billionaires on the list. Former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer came in eighth at $22.7 billion, while Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was number nine at $21.4 billion, and computer company founder Michael Dell was tenth with a worth of $19.4 billion. Jobs was the richest of the seven women on the list. The average age is 53, or a decade younger than the average of all billionaires, Forbes said. The youngest is Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel, who at age 25 is worth an estimated $2.1 billion. The oldest is Intel cofounder Gordon Moore, 86, whose estimated worth is $6 billion. Forbes said 94 of the tech moguls created their own companies, while three inherited their wealth, and three others inherited fortunes but have expanded them.
Cow dietary supplement may help in climate change fight WASHINGTON A new dietary supplement given to cows has shown a 30 percent drop in methane emissions from the animals, dampening the production of a greenhouse gas that impacts global warming. Cattle on farms account for 44 percent of global methane emissions stemming from human activity - in this case, the breeding of cattle. And the reduction could be a boon for the fight against climate change, according to the authors of a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “If approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and adopted by the agricultural industry, this methane inhibitor could have a significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions from the livestock sector,” said Penn State professor Alexander Hristov. Fermentation in the stomachs of cattle, sheep and goats produces methane as part of digestion. Each cow emits some
500 grams of methane per day. A substance called 3nitrooxypropanol developed by the Dutch company DSM Nutritional Products and given as a dietary supplement blocks the enzyme used for methane
formation. Researchers said the cows’ health and milk production was not affected by the supplement. For Ermias Kebreab, a University of California professor in animal science who was not involved in
production without affecting digestion, the study found. Research was conducted for three months in Pennsylvania stables with 48 cows. The supplement also allowed more weight gain in the animals due to the reduction in methane
the study, the results were very encouraging.“It has big promise because we did not expect to get this level of reduction by applying this compound,” he said, pointing out it was very different than other methane solutions such as manipulating cows’ diet.
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Computers data can be hacked as sound waves Car hack reveals peril on LAS VEGAS A team of security researchers has demonstrated the ability to hijack standard equipment inside computers, printers
and millions of other devices in order to send information out of an office through sound waves.The attack program takes control of the physical prongs on general-purpose input/output circuits and vibrates them at a frequency of the researchers’ choosing, which can be audible or not.
The vibrations can be picked up with an AM radio antenna a short distance away. For decades, spy agencies and researchers have sought arcane ways of extracting information
from keyboards and the like, successfully capturing light, heat and other emanations that allow the receivers to reconstruct content. The new makeshift transmitting antenna, dubbed “Funtenna” by lead researcher Ang Cui of Red Balloon Security, adds another potential channel that likewise
Indian-origin Clinton aide investigated for possible criminal conduct WASHINGTON An Indian-origin aide of Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is being investigated for allegedly accepting overpayments from the State Department while working for the former secretary of state. In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, Senator Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee said the Office of Inspector General for the
Department of State (OIG) has opened an investigation involving potential criminal conduct by Huma Abedin. Specifically, the investigation examined the circumstances of Abedin’s work arrangements, leave status, and conversion from a full-time Department of State employee to a Special Government Employee (SGE) and Senior Advisor to Clinton, Grassley alleged. Abedin’s father is from India and mother from Pakistan. Grassley said in May 2013, the Department of State allegedly paid Abedin approximately $33,000 for “unused” leave, though it is unclear whether she should have been entitled to such a payment. “During approximately three and a half years as a full time government employee, Ms Abedin reportedly
never requested, was approved for, or had her leave balance reduced for use of any sick leave, annual leave, or administrative leave,” he said. “Nor did she request, nor was she approved for any unpaid or excused absence or administrative time for maternity leave. Yet, the Committee has received allegations that the evidence illustrates that she claimed to be, and in fact was, on leave on numerous occasions. If true, then she should not have been entitled to the cash value of her ‘unused’ leave balance,” he alleged. Grassley sent similar letters to the Office of Inspector General for the Department of State (OIG) and Abedin asking for more detailed information. Grassley also alleged that Abedin went on a ten day trip to Italy and France with her husband during her time as a Department employee. However, her time and attendance sheets allegedly indicated that she worked full time, he alleged.In his letter, Grassley alleged that Abedin while at the State Department simultaneously worked for two other companies. While she was serving at the State Department as a close associate of the then Secretary of State, Abedin during the same period was also employee of Teneo and Clinton Foundation. “This started as an inquiry about whether a federal personnel designation works as intended,” Grassley said.
be would be hard to detect because no traffic logs would catch data leaving the premises. Cui showed the system in action for a few reporters ahead of his talk Wednesday at the annual security conference Black Hat in Las Vegas. He said he would release “proof-of-concept” code after the talk, allowing other researchers and potentially malicious hackers to build on his work. Hackers would need an antenna close to the targeted building to pick up the sound waves, Cui said, and they would need to find some way to get inside a targeted machine and convert the desired data to the format for transmission. But the tool’s development over the past two years is another illustration that a broadening array of devices can be manipulated in unpredictable ways and that attackers increase their advantage over defenders as gadgets grow more complex.
road to Internet of Things
LAS VEGAS A software glitch that allows hackers to commandeer a Jeep Cherokee while on the move is just a glimpse of dangers on the road ahead for the Internet of Things. The ability to seize data from and take control of oncedumb devices that are now deemed “smart” with wireless Internet connections was a hot topic at the premier Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas Wednesday. Researchers described how they remotely
took control of a moving car or re-aimed high-tech sniper rifles, and many at the gathering warned the ramifications could be far more serious and widereaching. For starters, many companies don’t even have teams tasked with making sure their smart devices are secure. “Almost none of the Internet of Things device-makers have any real security teams, it is sort of a gold rush to market,” Black Hat founder Jeff Moss told AFP.
Baby born at World Trade Center, first since 9/11 NEW YORK A New York woman delivered a healthy baby girl at the World Trade Center commuter station on Tuesday, the first birth at the site since the 9/11 attacks, officials said. The woman from Queens, who went into labor at full term, gave birth at the World Trade Center PATH station at 2:30 am, assisted by Port Authority police officers. The baby girl is called Asenat and weighs six pounds, 14 oz (3.1 kilos). She was delivered by Officer Brian McGraw on the mezzanine concourse of the station, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the station, said. “The woman stated she felt the baby coming and the officers prepared the area and aided for a possible birth,” the Port Authority said in a statement. “Emergency Medical Services arrived on the scene and within a couple of minutes the woman delivered a baby girl,” it
added. Asenat, her parents and her two-year-old brother were transported to Beekman Downtown Hospital in lower
Center PATH station has direct commuter rail links to Hoboken and Newark in neighboring New Jersey. New York State Governor
Manhattan. Joe Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority, said she was the first baby born at the World Trade Center since original twin towers were destroyed in the September 11, 2001, attacks. The World Trade
Andrew Cuomo was among those to tweet his congratulations after the delivery. The rebuilt World Trade Center is the tallest building in the Western hemisphere and welcomed its first tenants last year.
Chilean woman carried foetus in her uterus for over 60 years Washington Doctors treating a 91-year-old woman in Chile with a suspected tumour were stunned after they discovered that she had been carrying a foetus in her womb for more than 60 years.Estela Melendez said she had no idea she was ever pregnant. Medics in the town of La Boca discovered the foetus after spotting something on an x-ray, suspected to be a tumour.The calcified remains, which pose no health risk, had been in her uterus for more than six decades. “The doctor said I had a tumour and that they needed to operate on me,” Melendez told CNN.Melendez was married for 74 years before her husband,
Manuel Gonzalez, died in January, aged 91.She said one of her few regrets was that they had been unable to have children, and that the couple “suffered tremendously” because of that.But she now considers the
lump in her belly as a reminder of the baby she and her husband longed for. Doctors considered surgery to remove the foetus but deemed surgery on her as more dangerous than leaving it inside her womb.
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13,766 cases of child rapes reported in 2014 The number of children getting raped has shot up in the last few years. This dark reality has been revealed from the figures released by the Centre on August 7. Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi, told Lok Sabha that a total of 8,541 cases (in the year 2012), 12,363 cases (2013) and 13,766 cases (2014) of child rape were reported.The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has started collecting data under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act since 2014. As per available data, a total of 8,904 cases were registered under the Act during 2014. Sections 28, 32, 33, 35, 36 and 37 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act provide safeguards for protecting the children at every stage of judicial processes by incorporating child-friendly mechanisms for speedy trial of offences in designated special courts. However, child rights activists have been expressing concern
over the lengthy legal process in such cases. However, child rights activists have said even though the
cases have been disposed out of a total of 200 cases that were registered”. “ This shows a lack of concern in
numbers of such crimes are on the rise, the process of disposing these cases is very slow. According to child rights activist and lawyer Gaurav Bansal, “In Delhi alone there are over 2,500 cases under the POCSO Act. The national data will be huge. The status of trial of these cases of child rape is really worrisome. In the past one year only 12
the country towards safety of children. There is a lack of gender sensitization and awareness among the people. Children are generally raped by those who are either their relatives or who win over their trust.There have been several cases in which the father raped the daughter or the uncle was the culprit,” Bansal said. “There
Bobby Jindal is one of most talked about candidate on Facebook Along with Jindal, the former Texas Governor Rick Perry was
the other candidate who was not invited by the Fox news for their prime time Republican primary debate, but was among the top 10 most talked about candidate on Facebook. He may have
missed the cut for the prime time Presidential debate, but
Louisiana GovernorBobby Jindal is one of the most talked about candidate on Facebook. According to Facebook, Jindal had 2.1 million people making 4.9 million interactions about
him, making him the 10th most talked about Republican presidential candidate. Along with Jindal, the former Texas Governor Rick Perry was the other candidate who was not invited by the Fox news for their prime time Republican primary debate, but was among the top 10 most talked about candidate on Facebook. Both Perry and Jindal along with five others appeared in the “happy hour” debate Thursday night. Perry had 2.4 million people making 7.3 million interactions about him, the social networking site said. Meanwhile, business tycoon Donald Trump topped the list with more than 26.2 million people making 135.6 million interactions about him.Trump was followed by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.
Internet in the sky: FB’s drone ready for tests
Facebook said it will begin test flights later this year for a solarpowered drone with a wingspan as big as a Boeing 737, in the next stage of its campaign to deliver internet connectivity to
remote parts of the world. The drone has a 140-foot wingspan, weighing less than 1,000 pounds. Designed to fly at high altitudes for up to three months, it will use lasers to send
internet signals to stations on the ground. Though FB is better known for online software, engineers in a unit called the Connectivity Lab are working on designing a laser communications system they hope will be accurate enough to hit a target the size of a dime at a distance of 11 miles, said Yael Maguire, director of the unit. The project is part of a broader effort that also contemplates using satellites and other gear to deliver net service to millions of people living in regions too remote for broadband networks. Google is experimenting with high-altitude balloons as well as drones and satellites. Microsoft has funded a project that will transmit internet signals over unused television airwaves.
is an urgent need to create awareness among public, teachers and parents about provisions of the POSCO Act. Sex education should be made compulsory, with focus on educating what constitutes
children below the age of 14 cannot be employed in any industry except in family enterprises and the audio-visual entertainment industry. The amendment also imposes the condition that when so
abuse. There should be more helplines to report abuse in all major cities, and schools can train the children how to use them,” Bansal added. Meanwhile, doubts have been raised about the justification for an amendment to the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. As per the amendment, which has been approved by the Union Cabinet,
employed, the education of the children must not get affected. But the Centre for Social Research, an organisation working to protect the rights of young girls and women, has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider this as the amended law will adversely affect the girl child who is often forced into domestic work and may be subjected to sexual abuse.
Khobragade episode ‘painful period’ for bilateral ties
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswal said following the episode, there are things that the US has tried to do differently in terms of its officials in India.Describing the Devyani Khobragade episode as a “painful period” in Indo-US ties, the US has said the incident has led to “important learnings” and there is a determination to avoid such instances. US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswal said following the episode, there are things that the US has tried to do differently in terms of its officials in India. Asked about the Khobragade episode at her talk on US-India relations at the Consulate General of India’s Media-India Lecture Series, Biswal said the incident involving the former Deputy Counsel General was a “painful period in the bilateral relationship”. “Both governments learned some important lessons and we achieved some important understandings and clarity in how to operate in each others’ systems, with more clarity to the expectations that we each have
of the other,” she said. Khobragade, a former Indian Deputy Consul General in New York, was arrested in December 2013 on charges of visa fraud. The charges were rejected by her. Her arrest and mistreatment resulted in a major diplomatic row between India and the US. India took several retaliatory measures like reducing the diplomatic privileges of American diplomats in the country and bringing it at par with what Indian diplomats get in the US. Biswal further said, following the episode, there are things that the US has tried to do differently in terms of its officials in India. “We had very important learnings that came out of that episode. There is a determination to avoid such instances,” she said, adding that both India and the US work in “complex and highly regulated environments”. “We have very robust and open societies and so it is going to be complex in managing all of the different aspects of this relationship. There will be times when things go wrong, when some American official could violate rules and regulations and we will have to deal with it and vice versa,” Biswal said.
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Nestle yet to respond to govt’s notice on Maggi concerns New Delhi Health minister Jagat Prakash Nadda on Friday told the Lok Sabha that Nestle India, which
had been asked in June to take Maggi Noodles off the shelves, had not responded to the government’s notice on the presence of lead and monosodium glutamate (MSM) beyond permissible limits in many samples. When Nestle was asked to recall its products, Nadda told MPs, the company was also given 15 days to explain why their products should not be withdrawn. “Till today there is no answer. Cooperation from both sides should be there,” he
said. Last month, Nadda had told MPs that the department of consumer affairs would also be
filing a complaint with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission against Nestle India. Nadda was responding to an MP who questioned the standard of food-testing labs in India by citing wide variations in the results of lead and MSM in the noodles. Nadda said, “There is variation in the results and it is because of the Maggi product. We are not going to add lead on our own.” He added that the samples were examined following a
Surgeons find 360 gallstones inside Indian woman
New Delhi Doctors have removed a staggering 360 gallstones from a woman in India. Mousumi Dam, 49, from Kolkata, West Bengal, had been suffering from chronic abdominal pain and acid reflux for months. But last month she got jaundice and finally consulted a doctor. Tests and an ultrasound found she was suffering from a severe case of gallstones. Doctors were amazed to see such a huge cluster of tiny marble-sized stones in her gallbladder. She was immediately referred to the Institute of Post Graduation Medical Education and Research Institute, in Kolkata, where doctors removed 360 stones during an hour-long operation. Dr Makhan Lal Saha, 59, professor of surgery at the hospital, said he’d never seen so many stones in a patient before. ‘I’ve worked as a doctor for nearly 37 years but I’ve never seen so
many stones packed in a gallbladder. ‘This is the first time in the medical history of West Bengal that anyone has had a surgery to remove 360 stones,’ said Dr Saha. He added: ‘The stones were 5mm in size and it took me 50 minutes to take out every stone. ’In fact, my hands were numb by the time I removed the last stone. Surprisingly all the stones had same size and shape.’ Dr Saha also had to remove the galbladder. Dr Saha added: ‘It’s difficult to determine the main cause of such a huge amount of gallstones but it could be due to a very high amount of cholesterol in her bile. Also if the patient doesn’t drink enough water that can cause the formation of stones.’ Mrs Dam was discharged from hospital after three days and is now at home recovering. She was offered the chance to keep her stones in a glass jar but she refused.
uniform protocol, which was even prescribed by Nestle. “Out of 78, let me state that 30 were found to have excessive lead; the others were for MSG,” Nadda said. Lead levels were beyond permissible limits in samples from many states such as Delhi, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, UP and Tamil Nadu. “There are states in which no tests failed, like in Kerala and Goa,” he said.The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), however, had made it clear earlier this week that samples from its Goa manufacturing unit from where Nestle India exported the noodles had not been tested for MSM. “It is clarified in the first instance that FSSAI has not given any clean chit regarding the safety of Maggi Noodles,” the body had said. Like Naveed, the Pakistani officials had initially disowned Balouch too. “They (Pakistani authorities) always disown militants publicly and later acknowledge them,” said a senior police official. Police sources say around 800 Pakistani militants have been killed in encounters in the state.
19-yr-old arrested for creating child porn page on FB
Coimbatore Tamil Nadu police have arrested a 19-year-old man for allegedly creating a child pornography page on Facebook.The accused, M Manikanda Prabhu, a resident of Pollachi in Coimbatore district, was arrested on Thursday by the crime-branch CID police on a complaint from an NGO working for prevention of child sexual abuse.Prabhu had allegedly created the Facebook page and posted photographs of girl children with obscene comments on them.Following the complaint, a case was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 (POCSO) and the Information Technology Act 2000.“After collection of material evidence of the Facebook profile, immediate action was taken and it was removed,” a CB-CID release said.The accused was brought to Chennai and remanded to judicial custody. Police also seized mobile phones and SIM cards allegedly used for the crime.
Couple in UP claims Indian girl in Pak as their daughter
New Delhi The news channels have been showing the story of Geeta drawing a similarity with the reel life character ‘Munni’ of the Bollywood blockbuster ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’.A couple from a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district has claimed that the deaf andmute Indian girl stuck in Pakistan for about 14 years is their daughter. According to Anara Devi and her husband Ramraj Gautam of Thammohan village under Maheshganj police station here, the girl, addressed as Geeta in Pakistan, is their daughter Savita who went missing since 2004, IG Law and order A Satish Ganesh said here.Devi claimed she had left the then four-year-old daughter with her brother Narain Das in Chhapra district of Bihar in 2004, the IG said. She said that a few days later, Savita went
missing and a report was also lodged with the police station concerned, Ganesh said.The girl, who is now 23-year-old, started living in Karachi after all efforts to trace her family in India remained unsuccessful. The Punjab Rangers brought her to the Edhi Foundation some 14 years ago.Devi claimed that she first recognised the girl on news channels, which showed her being looked after by a social welfare group in Pakistan, and approached the Maheshganj police station. She also informed the Pratapgarh DM and SP about it, he said.The district administration has been asked to verify the claims of the woman and get in touch with the police in Chhapra to check if the missing complaint was lodged with them, the IG said.The Pratapgarh family, however, is not the first family to claim Geeta as their daughter.
Fatwa against shaving leaves barbers jobless
New Delhi Following the fatwa, some of the barbers in nearby areas have stopped shaving work and put up the copy of the fatwa at the door of their shop. The seminary in the past had said shaving beard after keeping it or even not growing beard are both “unlawful and a major sin”. Prominent Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has issued a fatwa that shaving beard is un-Islamic, sparking a debate on the issue. The fatwa comes in response to a query by Mohammmad Irshad and Mohammad Furqan, who run a salon in Badjia-ul-Haq locality of Deoband, where the Islamic seminary is located.The Darul Ifta department which issues religious decrees stated in its fatwa that shaving or trimming beard was against the Sharia
law and thus it’s un-Islamic to shave or trim beard.“The sharia doesn’t allow us to cut the beard of a person of any religion. If someone is in this business then he should try to shift to some other work”, read the fatwa.Following the fatwa, some of the barbers in nearby areas have stopped shaving work and put up the copy of the fatwa at the door of their shop. The seminary in the past had said shaving beard after keeping it or even not growing beard are both “unlawful and a major sin”. “You should grow your beard trusting in Allah as well as keep on supplicating Allah for firmness,” it had earlier said.When asked, Muslim cleric Maulana Asghar Abbas said there is no harm in trimming beard to keep it small. “It’s better to avoid shaving,” he said.
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Explain why you shouldn’t face action for Yakub coverage: Govt notice to 3 channels New Delhi For the first time since it took charge, the NDA Government has issued separate showcause notices to ABP News, NDTV 24x7 and Aaj Tak alleging that these three private news television channels showed disrespect to the judiciary and the President of India by airing certain content on the day 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon was hanged. The Union Information & Broadcasting Ministry has asked these channels to explain within 15 days why action should not be taken against them for broadcasting such content. The content includes phonein interviews of Chhota Shakeel on Aaj Tak and ABP News in which he claimed Yakub Memon was innocent and said that four mercy petitions were dismissed in a
single day. He also alleged that justice had not been done and that he did not believe the court. NDTV 24x7 had aired an interview of Yakub Memon’s lawyer who spoke about how many countries have done away with the death penalty. The show-cause notices to the channels invoke at least three sections including Section 1(d), Section 1(g) and Section 1(e) of Rule 6 of the Programme Code prescribed under the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994. Section 1(d) states that no programme should be carried which contains anything “obscene, defamatory, deliberate, false and suggestive innuendos and half-truths.” Section 1(e) states that no programme should be carried in the cable service which is “likely to encourage or incite violence or contains anything against maintenance of law and order or which promote anti-national
Pakistan’s Class 10 topper Sikh girl gets Rs 1 lakh reward
Lahore Pakistan’s top Sikh religious body on Friday announced a reward of Rs 100,000 to a Sikh girl who was among the toppers of the Class 10 examination from the minority community. Fifteen-year-old Manbir Kaur from Nankana Sahib district of Punjab province secured 1,035 marks out of 1,100 in Secondary School Examination this year.Pakistan Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee also announced to set up a fund for brilliant Sikh students and initially donated Rs 1 million for the fund.Manbir’s father Giani Prem Singh is the head granthi at Gurdwara Sri Nankana Sahib, some 80 km
from Lahore. Their house is not away from Gurdwara Janamasthan, the birth place of Baba Guru Nanak. “The whole family is delighted over her brilliant performance. Manbir used to study 12 hours a day and her hard work paid off,” he said, adding that the Sikh community in the district is proud of his daughter.More than 200 Sikh families reside in Nankana Sahib. Manbir is mulling to join a private college in Lahore. By virtue of her good marks, she is entitled to a scholarship for both the government and private institutions.Manbir has applied for a pre-medical course as she wants to become a doctor.
attitudes. Section 1(g) bars channels from carrying content which “contains aspersions
the same bench had dismissed another writ petition by Yakub challenging the validity of the
against the integrity of the President and Judiciary”. Yakub Memon’s hanging on July 30 came hours after an unprecedented late-night opening of the Supreme Court that eventually rejected a final plea for a stay on his execution. That order came 12 hours after
death warrant. Justices Dipak Misra, P C Pant and Amitava Roy also rejected objections raised by Justice Kurian Joseph a day earlier and said there was no legal lacuna in dealing with Yakub’s curative petition which was dismissed on July 21. Sources said the I&B ministry
obtained video clips of the Chhota Shakeel phone-in and Yakub’s lawyer’s statement from the Electronic Media and Monitoring Centre (EMMC) to get the quotes which have been cited in the notice. At least three orders prohibiting transmission of channels for a period ranging from one day to 30 days have been issued by the Government so far. NDTV Good Times and TLC were taken off air for a day for content described as adult and Al-Jazeera was prohibited for five days after it did not show Jammu & Kashmir as an integral part of India in the country’s map. Once the channels reply to the showcause notice, an interministerial committee, which includes officials from the Home, External Affairs and Defence ministries, will review their response and decide on the next step.
High salaries still lure nurses to Yemen, Libya New Delhi The government has issued a second advisory in a month, warning Indian nationals against going to conflict-ridden Yemen after it found that many nurses were on a Yemen Airways flight from Mumbai to the Yemeni capital of Sana’a last week. But Indians remain unfazed by the security situation in the Middle East country and hundreds of nurses continue to head for trouble-torn countries such as Libya, Iraq and Yemen lured by high salaries. “I was getting a salary of Rs 48,000 ($800) against Rs 10,000 I was getting in Bangalore,” says Sinimol, a nurse who worked in Iraq.Some of them refuse to leave conflict zones while others return because they are saddled with massive loans at home. Some nurses have to pay more than Rs 1 lakh to get a job in Gulf.More than 4,000 people were brought back from Yemen in April but hundreds of nurses refused to leave for the longest time. “Many of these nurses come through agents who are
out to dupe them. They keep their travel documents with them, in many cases give them half of the salary promised,” said
S Irudayarajan of the Centre for Development Studies in Thiruvananthapuram, who has published many papers on Indian
an official familiar with the Iraq evacuation. “Most of them have loans to pay, they stay on in conflict zones until the last moment.” The second advisory in a month came as four Indians were taken hostage in the Islamic Statecontrolled Libyan city of Sirte last week. Two of them were released after two days in captivity and efforts are on to secure the release of the other two.
workers abroad, says such advisories and bans are not effective. “The international labour market is very competitive. If Indian drivers don’t go to Libya, let’s say, the drivers from Nepal will go. The people prefer to be migrant workers to make more money and security situations hardly play in their minds,” said Irudayarajan, who was a consultant for the ministry of overseas Indian affairs.
Want to contest in elections? Get a toilet, says Indian state PATNA Authorities in an east Indian state have made it mandatory for candidates contesting village elections to have a toilet in their home as part of a move to improve sanitation in the country, a senior official said.The Bihar state assembly on Wednesday passed an act stating that candidates must confirm that they have a toilet inside their home in order to be nominated for the 2016 polls.“Our objective is to improve sanitary conditions at the micro level and end the disgusting practice of open defecation which is the root cause of many ills,”
Binod Prasad Yadav, Bihar’s Panchayati Raj (village governance) Minister, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Less than a third of India’s 1.2 billion people have access to toilets and more than 186,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation, according to the charity WaterAid.A United Nations report in May 2014 said half of India’s population still practise open defecation - putting them at risk of cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A and typhoid.India’s central government led by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, has made building toilets a priority and he has pledged that every household will have a toilet by 2019.Bihar, ruled by the opposition Janata Dal United party, is the second state after Gujarat to have passed such legislation ahead of next year’s village and district council elections.“With such a huge number of candidates contesting elections ... the move will lead to a toilet construction rush which will leave a positive impact on the society,” Yadav said. “How can you ask the people to construct toilets when you yourself don’t have one?”
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From Radhe Maa to Sarathi Baba: Various avatars of spiritual gurus
New Delhi While photos leaked this week of a Mumbai-based spiritual leader’s free-spirited ways brought her much criticism, they also put the spotlight back on India’s self-styled holy men and women and their not-so-holy acts in recent days. Images of 50-year-old Sukhvinder Kaur, called Param Shradhey Shri Radhe Maa by her legions of devotees, in a red miniskirt with a cap and kneehigh boots to match took social media by storm, leading to memes galore. The photographs show her lounging on a red sofa and generally hanging out and posing for the camera in what appears to be a mall. And there’s apparently a video of her dancing to a Bollywood number. This is a marked departure from the glittering red saris, heavy
jewellery and pancake make-up that Kaur is usually seen in, with a “trishul”, or trident, in her hand. Devotees credit her with supernatural powers and passionately follow her sermons that critics have termed “salacious”, as she dances with her disciples and lets them carry her in their arms. India is famous for its avowed spiritualists and mystics who inspire the devotion of tens of thousands of followers and often lead lavish lifestyles while hobnobbing with political parties that call on them to mobilise voters.According to her official website, Mumbai-based Kaur was born in Dorangla town of Punjab’s Gurudaspur district and her father is a retired officer of the state government. Her glowing bio says she decided at the age of 23 that she was “no longer a householder”
In 25 years, over 100 Pakistanbased militants caught in J-K
Srinagar Mohammad Naveed Yakub, the militant who was caught in Udhampur on Wednesday, is not the first Pakistani national to have been captured in Jammu and Kashmir.In the 25 years of conflict in the Kashmir Valley, more than 100 Pakistani nationals have been captured alive following attacks on security forces.Police sources say more than 15 militants have been arrested in the state in the past five years. While Naveed is the second militant arrested in 2015, two militants were arrested in 2013.More than 25 Pakistani militants are either undertrials or serving jail sentences while 54 foreign militants are still active in the Valley. Pakistani footprints in militancy in the Kashmir
Valley have been established on several occasions in the past five years.Jammu and Kashmir police arrested a Pakistani national allegedly a militant of the banned Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) Zubair Ahmed Mughal alias Amir Maviyah hailing from Karachi in January this year. In March 2013, a Pakistani militant suspected to be an accomplice of the two militants who attacked CRPF personnel in Bemina locality of Srinagar was arrested. Police and special operations group (SOG) identified him as Riyaz Ahmad alias Abu Talha.In May 2013, another militant Naveed Balouch alias Fahdullah was arrested from the Sopore area. Balouch belongs to Jahanabad in Multan, Pakistan.
and gave up her home with a husband, two children and all the comforts of the world. Kaur is no stranger to controversy. A woman in Mumbai complained to police last month that her husband and in-laws were harassing her for dowry after being incited by the guru. “A 32-year-old married woman lodged a complaint against her in-laws as well as Maa, claiming she was being harassed mentally and physically for dowry,” said Mukund Pawar, senior inspector at Mumbai’s Kandivali police station. Kaur was booked under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Dowry Prohibition Act.A Mumbai-based lawyer also complained to police that Kaur’s “satsangs”, or sacred gatherings, were “obscene” and the guru was conning people in the name of religion.Kaur rejected the
accusations made by the married woman in a statement on her Facebook page. “The reports are full of inaccuracies, unsubstantiated allegations, and rumours that have no basis in fact,” the post said. Religious leader Dwarkapeeth Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati demanded this week that Radhe Maa be restrained from participating in the ceremonial “shahi snan”, or royal bath, at the Nashik Kumbh Mela. In Odisha, 48-year-old spiritual guru Sarathi Baba has been in the news for all the wrong reasons after a TV news channel reported that he was caught staying with a 21-year-old woman at a Hyderabad hotel. A group of people also protested outside his ashram in Kendrapada district on Wednesday after photos on
social media showed him sporting T-shirts and jeans. The local administration barred the gathering of large groups and used batons to disperse the protesters.Detractors of the guru also organised protests in other parts of Odisha and burnt his effigies. They also vandalised offices of his organisation in some areas. Sarathi Baba, aka Santosh Kumar Raula, defended his right to be seen in T-shirts and jeans, telling the media: “I sometimes wear normal dress during travel. What is wrong with the dress?” Raula apparently disappeared in 1985 and returned after seven years as a spiritual guru.“Some people have been linking me with women,” he added. “This is totally baseless. They make false allegations that I checked into a hotel in Hyderabad with a woman. I have no relationship with any woman.”
New Delhi A Supreme Court judge received an anonymous death threat for rejecting a mercy plea that paved the way for the execution of Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon, officials said on Friday. Justice Dipak Misra, who received the death threat from unidentified people, was one of the three apex court judges who had turned down Memon’s lastditch appeal in an unprecedented, pre-dawn hearing before he was executed early on July 30. Besides Misra, other judges in the panel were justices Prafulla C Pant and Amitava Roy. Memon’s hanging, opposed by activists and many other people from all walks of life, had led to protests by sections of the Muslim community and also seen thousands attend his funeral as a mark of protest. “Irrespective of the protection you may avail, we will eliminate you,” reports quoted a letter dropped at Misra’s Delhi residence as saying. The letter was found on Wednesday near the back entrance of his Tughlak Road residence during routine checking by security personnel,
a police official said, adding the threat is of a “very serious nature.” Special commissioner (law and order) Deepak Mishra visited his residence and did a security audit, police said. It is believed that those behind
said. Apart from Delhi Police, personnel from central paramilitary force have been posted at his residence. Yakub, the brother of prime accused Tiger Memon, and 11 others were sentenced to death
the threat letter did a recce of Misra’s residence. “The suspects knew that security personnel are posted outside justice Misra’s residence and CCTV cameras are installed outside his office. They knew that the back entrance of Misra’s residence has thick cover of trees and cameras can’t capture someone throwing the letter in the compound,” a senior officer
by a special TADA court in July 2007 for the dozen explosions that ripped through India’s financial capital, killing 257 people and leaving more than 700 injured. The only well-educated member of the Memon family was found guilty of criminal conspiracy, arranging money for buying vehicles used by the bombers and organising air tickets to Dubai for some of them.
C judge who rejected Yakub Memon’s plea gets threat letter
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BJP’s grandstanding on drug issue now under question ! By Jagtar Singh Kamal Sharma, former advisor to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal who later took over the reins of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Punjab, has been among the most aggressive leaders demanding resignation of Revenue and Information and Public Relations Minister Bikram Singh Majithia when his name was mentioned by former police cop turned drug lord Jagdish Bhola while being taken to the court in Mohali. He had taken the position that Majithia should resign before his questioning by the Enforcement Directorate investigating the Bhola case. Nothing tangible has come out against Majithia till date. It is time for him to look back and practice what he had been preaching. His associates whom he virtually groomed in politics in his native district of Ferozepur have been arrested in the case which is ultimately linked to drug smuggling. Going by his own high standards that he set, he has no moral right to continue in office. Sharma, who is strongly opposed by one faction within the party in the state, has been ambitious for a second term. Now he himself is in the eye of the storm. Not that his name has
been mentioned by those arrested in the scam. It is the issue of political patronage as these were the people handpicked by him. Majithia was in no way linked to Bhola or his associates. Sharma, in a pre-emptive move, took disciplinary action against the leaders when information reached him that they had been named by Lakhwinder Singh Lakha during interrogation. It may be mentioned that Congress MLA from Ferozepur Parminder Singh had been raising the issue of Sharma’s associates being linked to such activities . At one stage, the BJP had made drug menace in the state as a major issue with Badal having open spat with a union minister in Hoshiarpur a few weeks back,. Earlier, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had caused a lot of embarrassment to the Akali Dal leaders when he raised this issue from the state during 350th anniversary celebrations of Anandpur Sahib. The BJP has been holding the Akali Dal as the culprit. It is a different matter that so is the perception of the people at large in the state. At the local level, the people openly
talk about the Akali leaders providing patronage to the people involved in drug trade.However, the issue now is the double standards of the BJP. Union Food processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal is the only Akali leader who reacted to the development yesterday saying whosoever had done wrong must resign immediately. In a way, she was telling Sharma to practice what he had been preaching others. The BJP, the party that had been taking high moral ground on almost every issue, is getting exposed every day , particularly at the national level. The functional differences between
the Akali Dal and the BJP have been too open in Punjab and these differences have been issue based. However, it was Kamal Sharma who had been soft-pedalling differences with the alliance partner. The only issue on which he had become vocal was that of Majithia from which he had to later backtrack. At the time when there was the thinking in the BJP to go solo in the next Assembly election in Punjab, the closeness of Sharma with Badal used to be viewed with suspicion by his detractors. BJP was riding high at the national level on the euphoria of unprecedented victory in the Lok Sabha. The Congress has got an issue
Dawood diktat behind Rickshaw puller finds sack full crowd at Yakub’s funeral? of moolah, but hands it over to
to attack the BJP as both the parties share a section of the same vote bank in the urban areas. The party has demanded CBI probe into this latest case linked to drug smuggling as those involved happened to be the associates of the state BJP chief. It is to be seen as to how vociferously Congress succeeds in raking up this issue among the people. What is significant in this case that the photographs of Kamal Sharma with these people were distributed by former BJP MLA Sukhpal Singh Nannu from Ferozepur. Kamal Sharma is being exposed by a section from within his own party.
5 women killed for allegedly practising witchcraft in Jharkhand
cops after sleepless night
MUMBAI Did terrorist and 1993 Mumbai bomb blast accused Dawood Ibrahim influence the swelling crowd at Yakub Memon’s funeral procession? According to Mumbai police sources, Dawood had called up his loyalists in the city and asked them to go in large numbers to attend Memon’s funeral. “We have information that Dawood and his protege Chhota Shakeel had called up several of their cronies in the city and ordered them to attend the funeral and show solidarity,” said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity.Police say this is the reason behind 10,000 people turning up at Memon’s funeral in Mahim and another 10,000-plus crowd at Marine Lines Muslim cemetery where Memon was buried. But community leaders said that the real reason was curiosity among many who even did not know who Memon was. At the same time Muslims thronged in large numbers to attend funeral of a Muslim
brother. Meanwhile, sources said Dawood or Shakeel initially did not react as they were hopeful that the Supreme Court will accept Memon’s mercy petition. “They felt that their any reaction would have adversely impacted Memon’s petition and could be rejected due to this. And this is why immediately after Memon’s hanging, Shakeel gave an interview and indirectly threatened of consequences. “Shakeel’s threat is a threat to country and the recent threat to one of the approvers of the 1993 blast is handiwork of him,” said an officer. Poet gets death threat for FB post Gaurav Chauhan, a poet from UP’s Etawah district, who had posted a poem on Facebook demanding Yakub Memon’s hanging, received death threats on his mobile on August 3. He registered a complaint on Thursday. Senior police superintendent Manzil Saini said the threats were made from a west Asian country and a number from east UP. A probe is on.
Jaipur In a praiseworthy display of honesty, a rickshaw puller here handed over to police a bag containing more than Rs 1.17 lakh in cash which he had found lying on a road here. Abid Qureshi, aged 25, found the cash wrapped inside a polythene bag near a government hostel here on Wednesday evening and waited at at the spot till 10 P.M. in the hope that the person who had misplaced the bag would return looking for it. However, with nobody turning up to claim the bag, Qureshi, who is illiterate, carried it with himself as he headed to his rented room in the walled city area. Once home, Qureshi narrated the incident to his wife Ameena and together they decided to return the money. However, they were scared that they might face problems at the police station. “We were restless the whole
night. Next morning, we shared the matter with our neighbours, who asked us to keep the money to change our life. “But we know that ill-gotten wealth brings problems and we did not think of keeping the money even for a second,” the couple told reporters today. Qureshi and Ameena yesterday approached police commissioner Janga Srinivas Rao and handed over the money. “We highly appreciate the honesty of this man. Jaipur police will felicitate him soon,” Rao told PTI. Meanwhile, SHO Kotwali police station, Chiranji Lal, said that a man today approached them claiming the money belonged to him. “The man claimed that his bag containing over Rs 2 lakh went missing near government hostel and we are verifying his claim,” said Lal, adding that the cash will be released only by a court.
RANCHI Five women were killed by locals at Kanjiya Maraitoli village under Mandar police station, 30km from here, on the outskirts of the state capital in the intervening night of Friday and Saturday for allegedly practising witchcraft. Jharkhand witnesses frequent killings in the name of witchcraft. According to an estimate over 1000 women have been killed in the last one decade in the state for allegedly practising witchcraft. Police sources said locals broke into a few houses around midnight when the women were asleep. They dragged out the five women they suspected to be playing black magic on their children. The assailants, which also reportedly included local women, took them away from their houses and killed them. “The locals attacked the women, in their 40s, with traditional weapons and also lynched them,” DIG Ranchi Arun Kumar Singh, who reached the spot in the morning, said.A local said in Kanjiya Maraitoli four children died in the last six month after prolonged illness. The locals believed that the women practised witchcraft and were responsible for the death of the children. They together decided to eliminate the women for the welfare of the village.
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11 Aug. - 17 Aug. 2015
Hammering aggression into the side is my role says Shastri India team director Ravi Shastri was bullish about the aggressive brand of cricket he wanted his side to be playing heading into a new era of Test cricket under the stewardship of Virat Kohli. Addressing a press conference in Galle, Shastri stressed on the importance of playing to win without worrying about the negative consequences of such an approach. “Aggressive cricket is a form of cricket where you play to win,” Shastri said. “You don’t come to a cricket ground to draw a cricket match so you play a brand of cricket where you look to take the game forward and you look to take twenty wickets. Which is paramount. You have got to think of how you can take the 20 wickets to take the game forward and win the game. “The role I play is
hammering that into their system. We don’t mind losing playing in that fashion. But it is the brand of cricket you want to play because if you get used to it you start winning more than you lose.” The Indian brains trust, headed by Shastri, have been particularly vocal about their preference for the six batsmen-five bowler theory which, while easing the load on the bowlers to take the wickets.
Can Lalit Modi overturn world cricket order? While the world applauded Lalit Modi for creating a cricket league rivalling the best in the world of sports, an obvious fact escaped many. The “Moses of cricket”, as Ravi Shastri described him, at heart was and is nothing but a simple, plain mercenary, as his claims to the ABC’s Four Corners program about creating a rebel cricket body and another league, suggest. The Indian Premier League may or may not have been his brainchild, but its creation and execution left even his bitter detractors gasping for breath. He had not only challenged cricket’s traditional moorings, but also created a new revenue model where profits, riches, glamour and greed blended perfectly to give us a peep into where modern sport and cricket were headed for. Showing utter disdain for the rules of the game Modi put crony capitalism at the
Kumble backs current crop of Indian spinners The return of veteran Harbhajan Singh for the one-off Test against Bangladesh and the inclu-
sion of Amit Mishra for the tour of Sri Lanka raised eyebrows in the cricketing world, leading to questions whether India’s spin department lacks in depth and bench strength.But legendary spinner Anil Kumble, while backing the existing crop, believes the
‘spin cupboard’ is not bare. Speaking to TOI, the stalwart with 619 Test wickets to his name said, “It is nice
to have an experienced Harbhajan Singh assisting Ashwin in Sri Lanka. Ashwin’s record in the first 25 matches that he has played is fantastic. You can’t take anything away from him.” On the lack of quality spinners coming through the
system, the former Indian skipper blamed it on perception “It is not that our spin bowling cupboard is bare. The focus has been on fast bowlers and we have seen a host of them coming through. The wickets in the last few domestic seasons have possibly favoured them. The captains too have chosen to back fast bowlers.” Dwelling further on pitches, Kumble, who is also the BCCI technical committee chairman, added: “We did discuss preparing bouncy wickets instead of grassy strips for the domestic season. We are looking at wickets which essentially help batsmen, pacers and spinners as well. I’m hoping that shift happens this year.” Speaking up for spinners, Kumble called for tolerance and patience.
centre of his execution plans, where his relatives,
What his strengths were when the IPL was created
friends and business interests coalesced to create a product, on the strength of an audience bored with the longer format of the game. Megabucks were thrown to lure players of international stature to make the league truly representative of the best in the business.
with the blessings of the Indian cricket board became his major weaknesses as the power struggle within the establishment escalated. As one skeleton after another tumbled out of the board’s closet, Modi turned overnight into a hated villain from the lumi-
nous star who could do no wrong. A fugitive from the law at the moment, with arrest warrants against him, Modi still draws attention and international scrutiny. The reason is not far to find. Business tycoons across the world, who see great economic potential in the T-20 league, admire the man and have obviously little time for ethical niceties that the traditionalists value so much. For many Modi admirers, he not only became a victim of his own success but also ruffled many powerful feathers in his ruthless pursuit of making the IPL a grand success. What Kerry Packer had achieved by creating a rebel league with the best players from across the cricketing world, Modi had done with the sanction of the establishment.
Planned India-Pakistan series in ‘real danger’: Shaharyar Amid speculation over the resumption of Indo-Pak cricketing ties, PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan admitted that the planned series between the two nations in UAE in December is in “real danger” and said that he plans to travel to India next month to discuss the issue. The former diplomat told a media conference in Lahore that he plans to meet with the BCCI hierarchy and other government officials to discuss the scheduled series. “There is a real danger at this time to the series. But I plan to go to India to get a clear answer on the prospects of the matches being held in December,” Khan said. He pointed out that the PCB was very keen to follow the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two boards to play six bilateral series between 2015 and
2022 after the new governance system took place in the International Cricket Council. “I want to have frank discussions with the relevant officials in India because we can’t delay preparations for too long and we need to know where we
signed with Pakistan, but they need permission from the recently elected government,” the PCB chief said. Khan, who has remained a high commissioner in New Delhi and also foreign secretary also admitted that the present political
stand,” he said. Khan said the positive aspect of the whole episode was that so far the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was also ready to play the series but were waiting for a confirmation from their government. “BCCI is standing firm that they will respect the MoU
relations between the two countries could have a bearing on the series. “I am doing everything to convince the governments to allow this series but the present political relations will have an influence and we don’t know what the situation will be in the next six months,” he said.
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11 Aug. - 17 Aug. 2015
Punjabi-origin brothers turn water-savers in US CHANDIGARH Worried over the prolonged spell of drought in California, US, two Punjabi-origin teenaged brothers have come up with a radical idea to conserve water. A bill to make this happen is being debated by lawmakers in the provincial assembly in Sacramento to give it a concrete shape. Brothers Rajvarun Singh Grewal, 16, and Arijeet Singh Grewal, 14, from Hanford in the Central Valley of California, have proposed a bill that involves providing subsidy to state residents for replacing natural grass in their lawns with synthetic turf so that water is saved and benefits farmers struggling to cope with the extreme drought that has posed a serious threat to agriculture, especially high-value crops, in the key farming state of US. The bill was introduced by the Bakersfield assembly member Rudy Salas in February. The bill AB 603 if passed, would help in
getting financial assistance to those who replace their grass lawns with artificial grass. The bill has crossed the first stage. Rajvarun told TOI over phone from Hanford,
“Last summer we were changing the grass in our lawn and told our father to opt for synthetic grass. But he said that synthetic grass would be too expensive, unless there was
state subsidy on it. That set me and my brother thinking about asking the government to give incentives to people to use synthetic grass in their lawns.” He said encouraged by
their father, they did some research before proposing the idea to the lawmakers. Rajvarun, a grade 11 student of Sierra Pacific High School at Hanford, said, “After getting a clear idea,
we wrote a letter to Salas who liked it. He decided to take it to the assembly.”To generate wider public support, both brothers have created a Facebook page for their project called ‘Saving California Farms One Drop at a Time’. Arijeet, a grade nine student of Pioneer Middle School, said, “We were motivated by our father to go ahead with our idea. Later on, we got the support of our friends in school, people of the area and local leaders.” Their father Varinder Singh Grewal said, “It’s really great to see the bill being introduced in the assembly. That’s the beauty of our democracy. Where else would you find an idea proposed by two schoolchildren making its way to the legislature for discussion?” Varinder, who moved to US from Mandi Ahmedgarh in Sangrur district of Punjab in 1991, said he was hopeful of the bill getting the nod of lawmakers in Californian assembly.
Indian diaspora in Uganda seeks constitutional recognition
KAMPALA An Indian-origin legislator in Uganda has urged the parliament to constitutionally recognise the Indian community as a tribe, a media report said. Sanjay Tanna, a member of parliament from Tororo municipality, made the proposal as parliament debated a constitutional amendment bill recently, the Africa Report reported on Friday. “We the Indians, who have lived in Uganda since 1973, should be recognised as Ugandans in the constitution, as it was applied to Rwandans and Burundians,” Tanna said. Indians in Uganda are locally called Bayindi, and
Tanna is urging the parliament to consider Bayindi as a tribe. While some MPs have rejected Tanna’s plea, saying they should be only be recognised as citizens but not as a tribe, some other migrants threw weight behind Tanna’s proposal. “Some (Indians) were here as far back as 1926. They should be recognised as a tribe,” another MP echoed Tanna’s demand. The debate, which promises to attract a lot of attention, has been adjourned to a later date. Indians first came to Uganda in the late 1800s and early 1900s during the colonial era as construction labourers.
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Health Add spice for a longer life? Eating spicy food, especially fresh chilli, has been linked to a lower risk of death in a Chinese study, researchers said Tuesday. But they cautioned it was too early to draw a final conclusion on the potential benefits of fiery fare, and urged further research that may lead to “updated dietary recommendations”. The study, published in The BMJ journal, collected dietary data from nearly 490,000 people, aged 30 to 79, in China. They were enrolled between 2004 and 2008, and their health monitored for an average of seven years. Just over 20,000 participants died
in the period. “Compared with participants who ate spicy foods less than once a week, those who consumed spicy foods one or two days a week were at a 10 percent reduced risk of death,” said a statement from The BMJ. And those who ate spicy foods almost every day, “had a relative 14 percent lower risk of death compared to those who consumed spicy foods less than once a week.” The association was similar in men and women, and stronger in those who did not consume alcohol. Fresh and dried chilli peppers were the most commonly used spices - and the
Before you think of throwing those banana peels in the dustbin, read this!
Health benefits of Young fathers face raised healthmulberry! risks in middle age
association was higher with the fresh variety, according to the team led by researchers at the
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. The answer may be found in an ingredient of spices capsaicin, which has previously been suggested to posses anti-obesity, anti-oxidant, antiinflammation and anticancer properties. The team urged “further prospective studies in other populations”, that may lead to dietary recommendations and “development of functional foods, such as herbal supplements.” In a comment, Kevin McConway of the Open University urged against jumping to conclusions. “If people who eat spicy
food more often have lower death rates, that might indeed be caused by the chilli eating, or it might be caused by something different that is related to eating chillis and also, separately, happens to promote health. “Maybe this is something in the way spices are used in Chinese cooking, or related to other things people eat or drink with the spicy food. Maybe it has something to do with the sort of people, in China, who tend to eat more spicy food.” People who ate more chilli were, for example, more likely to live in rural areas.
First-time dads in their early 20s may have the energy and agility to keep up with their young children, but a new study shows early fatherhood can pose perils later in life. Research by Finnish researchers showed that becoming a father before the age of 25 is linked to a higher chance of dying in middle age. “Men who have a child before the age of 22 have a very clear higher midlife mortality
than men who have children later, at an average age of 25 to 26,” said Dr. Elina Einio of the University of Helsinki. Although the study did not look into the possible causes of the higher risk of death for young fathers. Einio suggests that unplanned pregnancy, early marriage and the psychological and economic stress of fatherhood could play a part.
Can genes make us liberal or conservative? It is a well known fact that bananas are packed with several health benefits, but do you know that the peel of bananas are equally beneficial.Sounds weird? Studies prove that banana peels are loaded with nutrients and also helps in reducing weight. Here are reasons why you should think before throwing them in the dustbin: Banana peels contain vitamin A, which helps in building immunity and fight against infections. Banana peels have a lot of antioxidants and most of the B vitamins but majorly vitamin B6. A substance called lutein present in the peels keeps the eyes
healthy and prevents cataract. They have soluble and insoluble fibers which slow down the process of digestion and lower cholesterol in the body. Banana peels are also rich sources of potassium and contain much more soluble and insoluble fiber than their flesh. Well now that you know why you should consume the peels, you must be confused about which skin to opt for. Yellow or green? Health experts suggest that yellow skin is better for you since it has anticancer properties and helps in the production of white blood cells. But if you opt for the green skin, it is advised to first boil it for 10 minutes to soften the peel and then consume it.
Aristotle may have been more on the money than he realised in saying man is a political animal, according to research published Wednesday linking genes with liberal or conservative leanings. Or, to be precise, a specific variant of one gene that would seem to exert greater sway over women than men. Working with 1771 university students of Han Chinese origin in Singapore, researchers compared answers to surveys - including one tailored to hot-button issues in the city-state with the presence of a permutation of the DRD4 gene. DRD4 is one of several genes that determines the way dopamine - a crucial neurotransmitter, or chemical messenger - is released in the brain. What they found was a robust link between the presence (or not) of the variant and a split between liberals
inclined to decry inequality, on the one hand, and diehard conservative wary of change, on the other. “The association between political attitude and DRD4
more conservative in general. The results are bolstered by earlier research based on people of European descent that found similar patterns
in family upbringing, education and class. But a growing body of evidence suggests, in the words of the researchers, that “biology can’t be ignored.”
was highly significant for females,” and less so for men, said the study, led by Richard Ebstein of the National University of Singapore. Women, it was also shown, tended to be
around the same gene, according to the study. In the long-standing “Nature vs. Nurture” debate, it was long assumed that social values - and especially political ones - were rooted
A landmark study published in 1999, for example, of twi ns separated at or near birth showed a marked strain of heritability for ‘conservatism’.
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Veg-rich diet may slow cognitive decline A diet rich in green leafy vegetables, beans, berries, whole grains and wine can help to slow normal brain ageing and cognitive decline, researchers said on Tuesday. Cognitive decline is a normal part of ageing but a study by scientists at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago showed that elderly adults who strictly followed the MIND diet were 7.5 years younger cognitively over a period of nearly five years than those who adhered the least. “The study findings suggest that the MIND diet substantially slows cognitive decline with age,” Martha Clare Morris, a nutritional epidemiologist at Rush University Medical Center, and her team said in a report in the journal “Alzheimer’s & Dementia.” In an earlier study, the researchers showed that the diet developed at the Rush University Medical Center may reduce the
risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. MIND, or MediterraneanDASH Diet Intervention for
Neurodegenerative Delay, is a hybrid of the Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil and vegetables and the DASH eating plan designed to control high blood pressure. It consists of 15 dietary components and recommends at least three servings of whole grains, a salad and another vegetable each day and a glass of wine. Beans and poultry should be eaten at least twice a week and fish once a week. Followers of the diet limit the amount of the five unhealthy food groups - red meat, butter, stick
margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets and fried or fast food - they eat. The only fruits in the MIND diet are berries. The researchers tested the cognitive ability of 960 adults with an average age of 81.4 years at 40 retirement community and senior public housing units in the Chicago area over a period of 4.7 years. They uncovered a slower decline in mental ability among the elderly who
adhered most closely to the diet. “Everyone experiences decline with ageing; and Alzheimer’s disease is now the sixth leading cause of death in the US which accounts for 60 to 80 percent of dementia’s cases,” Morris said in a statement. “There is still a great deal of study we need to do in this area, and I expect that we’ll make further modifications as the science on diet and the brain advances.”
Overweight? DOn’t pOnDer Over it all the time
If you believe you are overweight or obese, chances are that rather than reducing weight, you
may actually be adding extra kilos around your waistline. According to researchers
from University of Liverpool, people who recognize they are overweight or obese are more likely to put on weight
than those who are unaware that they may be heavier than doctors would advise.
“Realizing you are an overweight individual is in itself, likely to be quite stressful and results in making healthy choices in your lifestyle more difficult. It is a tricky finding for doctors,” said Dr Eric Robinson from the University’s institute of psychology, health and society. The team found that those who identified themselves as being “overweight” were more likely to report overeating in response to stress and this predicted subsequent
‘Oily fish’ consumption may lower nasal allergy risks in kids A new study has claimed that eating oily fish may help keeping nasal allergies at bay for kids.
Diana Di Fabio of the Cleveland Clinic Children said that it is possible that fish consumption might help prevent the development of rhinitis. A healthy diet complete with a variety of items from all
food groups may have a similar effect in promoting general wellbeing. Fabio said that fish consumption
at the age of eight may simply serve as an indicator of high dietary quality, the Fox News reported. She added that children, who were likelier to consume those foods, also had a more adventurous palate
and were likelier to consume a balanced diet. In the study, parents and kids completed questionnaires detailing how often the children consumed 98 foods and beverages common in Sweden and for fish; they were asked specifically about oily varieties such as herring, mackerel and salmon, as well as less oily alternatives like codfish, Pollock, pike, tuna and fish fingers. Nineteen percent of the children did have symptoms of rhinitis, such as sneezing or runny nose or eye symptoms in contact with furry pets or pollens after age four.
weight gain. The researchers looked at the lives of 14,000 adults in the US and Britain. They analyzed data from time periods after the children had reached adulthood to find out their perception of their own weight whether or not it was correct and their subsequent weight gain over time.
Exercise and diet control can prevent gestational diabetes
A combination of physical activity and diet control can help prevent gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in women who are at high risk of developing the disorder, says a new study. Gestational diabetes and maternal obesity may increase the offsprings’ predisposition to obesity and impaired glucose regulation. “A simple and individualised lifestyle intervention reduced the incidence of gestational diabetes by 39 percent in high-risk pregnant women,” said one of the researchers Saila Koivusalo from Helsinki University Hospital in Finland. In the study, a total of 293 women with a history of GDM or a pre-pregnancy body mass index of less tha 30 kg/m2 were enrolled at less than 20 weeks of gestation. They were randomly
allocated to an intervention group or a control group. The participants in the intervention group received individualised counselling on diet, physical activity and weight control from trained nurses and a dietician. The control group received standard antenatal care. Intervention reduced the incidence of gestational diabetes by 39 percent in high-risk pregnant women, the findings showed. Gestational weight gain was lower in the intervention group, and women in the intervention group also increased their leisure time physical activity more and improved their dietary quality compared with the women in the control group. The findings appeared in the journal Diabetes Care.
Kids’ picky eating can have depression, anxiety links Picky eating among children may not be just a passing phase but could flag potential concerns such as depression and anxiety, a study released Monday found. According to the Duke Medicine report in the journal Pediatrics, more than 20 percent of children aged 2-6 are picky eaters. About 18 percent of those were classified as moderately picky and another three percent as extremely so. It was in these subsets - kids who are moderately or severely fussy about the foods they eat - that scientists found greater occurrence of mental health issues such as clinical depression or anxiety. Since picky eating can also cause poor nutrition and family conflict, the
report said, it appears important for parents and medical staff to keep an eye on a risk of underlying emotional issues. “These are children whose eating
relationship. The child can feel like no one believes them, and parents can feel blamed for the problem.” Children whose picky eating
has become so limited or selective that it’s starting to cause problems,” said lead author Nancy Zucker, director of the Duke Center for Eating Disorders. “Impairment can take many different forms. It can affect the child’s health, growth, social functioning, and the parent-child
becomes a serious challenge also may have what doctors now call “Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder.” Mental health professionals believe they can help some of these children with behavioral therapy over foods that may cause them anxiety.
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Amatriciana Ingredients: 4 slices bacon, diced 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 teaspoon minced garlic 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 2 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes 1 pound linguine pasta, uncooked 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese Directions: Cook diced bacon in a large saucepan over medium high heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of drippings from the pan. Add onions, and cook over medium heat about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and red pepper flakes; cook 30 seconds. Add canned tomatoes, undrained; simmer 10 minutes, breaking up toma-
Orange Chicken Stir Fry
toes. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of 4 quarts boiling salted water until al dente. Drain. Stir basil into the sauce, and then toss with cooked pasta. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.
Manicotti Italian Casserole Ingredients: 1 pound rigatoni pasta 1 pound ground beef 1 pound Italian sausage 1 (8 ounce) can mushrooms, drained 2 (32 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce 1 1/2 pounds shredded mozzarella cheese thinly sliced pepperoni Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Pour in rigatoni, and cook until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and set pasta aside. Meanwhile, brown ground beef and italian sausage in a large skillet over medium heat. With a slotted spoon, remove beef and sausage to a baking
Ingredients: 1 cup orange juice 1 tablespoon grated orange zest 1/4 cup soy sauce 1 teaspoon salt 3 cloves garlic, chopped 1 tablespoon brown sugar 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 cup bean sprouts (optional) 1 (6 ounce) package crispy chow mein noodles Directions: In a small bowl combine the orange juice, orange zest, soy sauce, salt, garlic and brown sugar. Mix well. Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over
medium high heat. When oil begins to bubble, add chicken. Saute until cooked through (no longer pink inside), about 7 to 10 minutes. Add orange sauce mixture to chicken and cook until sauce begins to bubble. Add flour, a little bit at a time, until sauce has thickened to your liking. Add bean sprouts and cook for 1 minute; serve hot over chow mein noodles.
Veggie Pizza
dish. Stir mushrooms, spaghetti sauce, and cooked pasta into the baking dish. Sprinkle cheese and pepperoni over the top. Bake in preheated oven until the cheese is brown and bubbly, about 20 minutes.
Ingredients: 2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls 1 cup sour cream 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 teaspoon dried dill weed 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt 1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix 1 small onion, finely chopped 1 stalk celery, thinly sliced 1/2 cup halved and thinly-sliced radishes 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1 1/2 cups fresh broccoli, chopped 1 carrot, grated Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a jellyroll pan with non-stick cooking spray.
lemOn ChiCken
Barbeque Pork
Ingredients: 1 lemon 2 teaspoons dried oregano 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 6 chicken legs Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). In a 9x13 inch baking dish, grate the peel from 1/2 the lemon, squeeze out the juice (about 1/4 cup) and add to peel with the oregano, garlic, oil, salt and pepper. Stir until mixed. Remove skin from chicken pieces and discard. Coat chicken pieces with the lemon mixture and arrange, bone-side up, in the baking dish. Cover dish and bake for 20 minutes. Turn and baste chicken.
Ingredients: 2 1/2 pounds pork shoulder 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 clove garlic, minced 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon dry mustard 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 cups ketchup 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce Directions: Cut boneless pork shoulder crosswise into 1/4 inch slices. Partially freezing it will make slicing easier. In the slow cooker, combine sliced pork, onion, garlic, brown sugar, dry mustard, salt, pepper, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce; mix well, and cover. Cook on Low, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 hours or until the meat is tender.
Reduce heat to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and bake uncovered, basting every 10 minutes, for about 30 more minutes. Serve chicken with pan juices.
Pat crescent roll dough into a jellyroll pan. Let stand 5 minutes. Pierce with fork. Bake for 10 minutes, let cool. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine sour cream, cream cheese, dill weed, garlic salt and ranch dip mix. Spread this mixture on top of the cooled crust. Arrange the onion, carrot, celery, broccoli, radish, bell pepper and broccoli on top of the creamed mixture. Cover and let chill. Once chilled, cut it into squares and serve.
OR : In a Dutch oven or large saucepan, combine pork, onion, garlic, brown sugar, dry mustard, salt, pepper, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce; mix well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cover. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until pork is tender.
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