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Israeli settlers ‘set fire’ to West Bank mosque

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ARCHIVE PHOTO: Palestinians look at burnt tires inside a mosque in the West Bank village of Qusra, near Nablus September 5, 2011 (Reuters / Abed Omar Qusini)

ARCHIVE PHOTO: Palestinians look at burnt tires inside a mosque in the West Bank village of Qusra, near Nablus September 5, 2011 (Reuters / Abed Omar Qusini)

by RT

Israeli settlers have overnight set on fire a mosque near the West Bank town of Ramallah, according to Palestinian security officials.

“The settlers set fire to the whole of the first floor of the mosque” in the village of Al-Mughayir, near the Shilo Jewish settlement, the officials said, as cited by AFP.

A group of Palestinian worshippers who came to the mosque for their morning prayer found the building in flames, Ma’an news agency reports, as cited by the Jerusalem Post.

The worshippers reportedly managed to extinguish the fire. The first floor of the mosque has been severely damaged.

“A call was received in the morning hours about an act of arson against a mosque in the village of Al-Maghir,” Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, according to Ynetnews. “Police forces…together with the IDF have yet to enter the village in order to open the investigation due to riots in the area.”

Palestinian Mayor Faraj al-Naasan said he had no doubt that Jewish settlers were responsible for the attack, citing a previous settler raid against another mosque in the village two years ago and frequent settler attacks against vehicles and olive groves, AP reported.

“Only Jewish settlers would do this,” al-Naasan said.

Palestinians have filed a complaint with the West Bank’s IDF civil authority, the Times of Israel reports.

Another mosque was torched in the same village two years ago.

The arson attacks by hardline Jewish settlers are often accompanied by a graffiti reading “price tag,” but this was not the case in the latest incident, according to AFP citing Palestinian officials.

An ancient synagogue was also attacked overnight Wednesday, the Haaretz reports. It says the incident happened in Shfaram, an Arab community in northern Israel, where a fire bomb was thrown at the Jewish temple. No one was hurt in the incident, but some damage was done to the building, according to police.

Tensions have lately been high between the Israelis and the Palestinians over disrupted access to another place of worship – the landmark Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

An Israeli border policeman runs during clashes with Palestinian stone throwers following a protest against what organizers say are recent visits by Jewish activists to al-Aqsa mosque, at Qalandia checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah November 7, 2014 (Reuters / Ammar Awad)

Israeli police have recently repeatedly closed the mosque, triggering an angry outcry from Palestinians.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has warned Israeli to stay away from Al-Aqsa and said has accused Israel of “leading the region and the world to a destructive religious war.”

On Tuesday, a Palestinian man was shot dead by the Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank, trying to disperse a rioting Palestinian crowd.

On Monday, an Israeli woman and an IDF soldier were stabbed, allegedly by Palestinians, in two separate attacks.

More than 850 killed in 50 days of coalition air strikes

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A pair of U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles fly over northern Iraq

by SOHR

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) documented the death of 865 people since the U.S led coalition started its strikes on Syria in 23/Sep until last night, including 50 civilians (8 children, 5 women), killed by coalition air strikes on oil fields and refineries in al-Hasakah and Der-Ezzor countrysides, al-Raqqa, Around Menbej northeast of Aleppo, and Idlib countryside.

68 fighters from Jabhat al-Nusra were killed by coalition air strikes on their HQs in the western countryside of Aleppo and the northern countryside of Idlib 746 fighters from the IS most of them were Non-Syrian fighters, were killed by coalition airstrikes on their HQs and groupings in Homs, Hama, al-Hasakah, al-Raqqa, Der-Ezzor, and Aleppo.

A fighter from Islamic battalions killed by coalition air strikes on ISIS HQ in Ma’dan in al-Raqqa countryside.

We, in SOHR, believed that the real number of casualties in ISIS is more than 746, because there is absolute secrecy on casualties and due to the difficulty of access to many areas and villages that have witnessed violent clashes and bombardment.

Worth to mention that the coalition air strikes targeted oil refineries and oil fields in Der-Ezzor, al-Hasakah and al-Raqqa, what led to material damages in these refineries and oil fields.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights expresses its strong condemnation, to the fall of the civilians, as a result of the coalition air strikes, and Calls neutralize civilians areas from the military operations from any party, because the the Syrian people who have lost hundreds of thousands and been displaced in millions, is looking forward to a decent safe life away from Humiliation, detention, and destruction, a life of democracy, justice, freedom and equality.

Fewer undertrials might solve prison overcrowding, says NHRC

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Wrongful Imprisonment

New Delhi: National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairperson Justice (retd.) K.G. Balakrishnan Thursday said overcrowding in Indian prisons can be reduced if the number of undertrials is brought down.

“If a charge sheet is being filed and there is no indication that the accused may influence witnesses or the evidence, what is the reason of keeping him behind bars,” Balakrishnan told IANS at a two-day national seminar on prison reforms.

He also said steps should be taken to decrease problems in jails. “State governments should invest to build more jails and improve infrastructure,” he said.

Many prision and government officials attended the seminar and informed the participants on the status of the prisons in their respective states.

The seminar will conclude Friday.

(IANS)

BJP Kashmir candidate opposes repeal of Article 370

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jammu and kashmir

Srinagar: Hina Bhat, BJP candidate for the Amira Kadal assembly constituency here, Thursday said she does not support abrogation of Article 370 and expressed the hope the contentious issue would not figure in the party’s manifesto for the state elections.

When IANS asked Bhat whether she stood by her statement in local media that she would be the first to pick up the gun if Article 370 was abrogated, she said: “It is my personal opinion that Article 370 cannot be abrogated.”

“Yes, if it is abrogated, I will oppose it tooth and nail.”

She also questioned reports that abrogation of Article 370 would be part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) manifesto for Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls.

“Have you seen the manifesto? How do you say abrogation of Article 370 would be part of our assembly election manifesto?” she asked.

On Tuesday, while inaugurating the party’s media cell in Jammu, Jitendra Singh, minister of state at the Prime Minister’s office (PMO), told reporters: “All issues (including Article 370) which have been part of the BJP manifesto all these years will be part of the agenda. They will continue to be so.”

“The ideological issue (Article 370) which you are pointing at, BJP’s stand is very clear on it and it is known to you.”

“But in each election at a given time, you have to prioritise and you have to go by the aspiration of the people. The aspiration of the people as of now, in 2014, in November and December, when we go to polls, is to liberate this state and people from years and years of misgovernance, corruption and misappropriation of central funds,” the minister said.

(IANS)

AMU students protest against ‘negative portrayal’ of university in media

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protest AMU students media

Aligarh: Students of Aligarh Muslim University protested here on Wednesday at the alleged negative portrayal of the university in certain sections of the media. The AMU Students’ Union and Women’s College Students’ Union staged a protest march in the university campus and said that simple administrative issues were allegedly blown into an issue of gender bias by the media.

The students also condemned the “irresponsible and careless” remarks of the Vice- Chancellor Zameer Uddin Shah.

“The AMUSU and Women’s College Students’ Union feel shocked and angered by intense negative portrayal of AMU in some section of the media. The anti-women depiction of the historical campus of AMU is not only factually wrong but also an unnecessary sensationalisation of a simple administrative issue into an issue of gender bias,” said Abdullah Azzam the AMUSU president.

He said the allegation of gender bias against the university was wrong as Maulana Azad Library has more than 2,700 registered female members including PG students, research scholars and students of various professional courses.

Arguing that the women’s college has its own library meant to cater the requirements of the college girls, he highlighted the long standing demand of the Women’s College Students’ Union regarding updating the existing library and providing easy access to the books of Maulana Azad Library.

Meanwhile, the university administration has also clarified the position.

“It must be put on record that there is absolutely no issue of gender in allowing or not allowing membership to Maulana Azad Library. Girl students of the University which include research scholars, postgraduate and undergraduate students (including students in undergraduate professional courses) are members of Maulana Azad Library and they avail its facilities in a routine manner,” said Dr Rahat Abrar, Public Relations Officer.

“AMU Women’s College offers education in conventional undergraduate courses and is located around 3 kilometers away from the main campus of the University. It has its own system including the library and book bank.”

Dr. Abrar further said that Maulana Azad Library was established in 1960 and AMU Women’s College in 1936 and since then the two have been functioning smoothly. “The University has not imposed or introduced any new rule regarding membership to Maulana Azad Library as the media reports seem to mischievously suggest,” he said.

Machil Fake Encounter: 7 Army personnel found guilty, sentenced to life imprisonment

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Victims: Aasha Begam, mother of Shezad Ahmad with picture of her son. Next her Jabeena, wife of Shezad and his five year old son Shahid. Shezad was killed in the Machil Fake Encounter. Photo: Javed Dar

Victims: Aasha Begam, mother of Shezad Ahmad with picture of her son. Next her Jabeena, wife of Shezad and his five year old son Shahid. Shezad was killed in the Machil Fake Encounter. Photo: Javed Dar

Srinagar: A court has convicted seven Indian Army personnel including two officers for involvement in the 2010 Machil fake encounter case in Kashmir.

The military court has handed out life imprisonment to all the men and they have been suspended from service.

The court found the troopers guilty of killing civilians and hatching a conspiracy to cover-up the case.

In 2010, three youth were lured to Kupwara region with the promise of job and were killed in a staged encounter by troops near the Line of Control.

The Army had dubbed them as ‘Pakistani terrorists’ who had infiltrated into Kashmir.

Following the discovery that the slain men were civilians, a court of enquiry was ordered and court martial proceedings had begun in January 2014.

Seven soldiers, two civilians and one member of territorial Army had been found guilty in the proceedings.

A colonel rank officer and a captain have been found guilty in the fake encounter.

The order comes as a relief for the families of victims who had demanded action against the Army officers. The case had triggered massive protests against the Army in the valley.

Chhattisgarh sterilization tragedy: Doctor R K Gupta arrested, blames govt for making him breach guidelines

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Indian women who underwent sterilization surgeries receive treatment at the CIMS hospital in Bilaspur, in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014. Eight Indian women have died and more than a dozen others in critical condition Tuesday after undergoing sterilization surgeries in a free government-run program to help slow the country's population growth. A total of 83 women, all poor villagers under the age of 32, had the operations Saturday in a hospital outside Bilaspur city. Each of the women had received a payment of 600 rupees, or about $10, to participate in the program, said the state's chief medical officer, Dr. S.K. Mandal. (Source: AP)

ndian women who underwent sterilization surgeries receive treatment at the CIMS hospital in Bilaspur, in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014. Eight Indian women have died and more than a dozen others in critical condition Tuesday after undergoing sterilization surgeries in a free government-run program to help slow the country’s population growth. A total of 83 women, all poor villagers under the age of 32, had the operations Saturday in a hospital outside Bilaspur city. Each of the women had received a payment of 600 rupees, or about $10, to participate in the program, said the state’s chief medical officer, Dr. S.K. Mandal. (Source: AP)

New Delhi: Dr RK Gupta, who conducted 83 laparoscopic surgeries in just five hours in Bilaspur on Saturday, has been arrested. He was arrested late on Wednesday night from Baloda Bazar. Gupta, who was awarded by the Raman Singh government on January 26 this year for conducting a record number of female sterilizations, has already been suspended and is facing a FIR.

Meanwhile, a team of specialist doctors is reaching Raipur from Hyderabad. They will assist in the treatment of women. Fourteen women have died so far following tubectomies in two separate government camps within two days in Bilaspur.

One of them is a Baiga, a primate tribe protected by law. The government has banned the sterilization of these tribes. Alleging that these deaths amounted to“murders by the government,” PCC Chief Bhupesh Baghel has demanded the immediate resignation of Raman Singh. President of All India Mahila Congress Shobha Ojha has arrived in Chhattisgarh today and reached Bilaspur.

Female sterilization remains the most popular method of population control in India, where public health facilities often lack funding and fake medicines are rampant. The Chhattisgarh tragedy is one of the worst in recent memory from the one-day sterilization drives India regularly holds to keep its 1.2 billion population from growing too fast. Preliminary post-mortem results show no sign of infection from poor sanitary conditions, said Promod Tewari, the top government medical official in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, the town where the sterilizations occurred. That points to flawed antibiotics and painkillers that were given to patients after the surgery as the cause of death, he said.

Sterilization mishaps are common in India. From April 2010 to March 2013, the government paid about Rs.51 crore for 15,264 deaths or failed surgeries, Harsh Vardhan, who was India’s health minister at the time, told parliament on 18 July. Sterilizations are voluntary and couples choose between a tubectomy or vasectomy, he said.

Gupta said he conducted the 83 operations over about six hours, with each one taking about five minutes. He blamed the government for making him breach guidelines that limit a doctor from performing more than 30 in a day.

BJP govt wins trust vote in Maharashtra Assembly

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fadnavis_bjp

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ minority government Wednesday won the vote of confidence of the state assembly by a voice vote, while the Shiv Sena opted for the role of opposition here.

The development was preceded by the unanimous election of BJP leader Haribhau Bagde as the new Speaker of the Maharashtra assembly.

The Congress and Shiv Sena cried foul over the newly-elected speaker’s decision to reject the demand for balloting in the trust vote and instead to settle for a voice vote.

State Congress president Manikrao Thakre alleged that the government has failed to prove its majority as per Governor C.V. Rao’s directives.

“This is a murder of democracy and the entire state has witnessed it. This government continues to be in minority and must resign immediately,” Thakrey demanded.

Shiv Sena’s Ramdas Kadam and other leaders also demanded a count of the voice votes to ascertain how many were in favour of the BJP government.

Thakre said a delegation of all parties would meet the governor to apprise him of the developments.

“We will urge the governor to either order a fresh of vote of confidence since today’s vote was not done properly. The A.B. Vajpayee government in the past at the Centre had fallen because of just one vote. Here, this government fell short of at least 25 votes and has no right to continue. We will not allow the government to work,” he declared.

Congress Legislature Party leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said the ruling party violated rules and must seek a fresh vote of confidence of the house.

Sexual assault cases should be disposed within 1 year: T B Jayachandra

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Law_Minister_T_B_Jayachandra

Mangaluru: Special Courts will be setup in all districts of Karnataka to deal with cases under POCSO Act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act). Two Fast Track Courts are already rendering such service in Bengaluru, informed State Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights T B Jayachandra.

“In the state under POCSO act, 1577 cases have been registered, in which 281 cases have seen conviction while 1296 cases are yet to be disposed. Already IPC 376 has seen drastic changes and quantum of punishment has also been increased. As per the policy of Union government, state government had already established fast track courts in all districts of the state. And district principal session court judge will be dealing with the cases.” He said.

Around 400 cases were registered from Bengaluru alone. A total of 59 cases have been reported from Dakshina Kannada.

Speaking on low conviction on sexual offenders, the minister said ” Sexual assault cases should be disposed within 1 year but when the witnesses turning hostile, cases get prolonged and delayed. Hence government after consultation with the the legal experts has taken a decision to amend the law.”

“The Central Government has made IPC Section 376 (Punishment for rape) more rigid after the Nirbhaya Case two years ago,” he said.

Also, the Supreme Court has ruled that rape victims’ statement to be directly recorded by a judicial magistrate instead of police officials to cut short protracted proceedings.

About creating awareness among the public especially youth, he said that the Information Department was already directed to telecast advertisements against child and other sexual harassment on television.

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