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Archives for March 2015

Noted Malayalam poet Yusufali Kechery passes away

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Yusufali Kechery

Kochi: Renowned Malayalam poet, film lyricist, film producer and director Yusufali Kechery, who left a deep impression in Kerala’s cultural realm as a lyricist, died at a private hospital here on Saturday.

He was 81 and had been suffering from bronchial pneumonia, hospital sources said.

Kechery, who studied Sanskrit under well known scholar K P Narayana Pisharody, was known for his mystic lyrics on Hindu deities, particularly Krishna.

Kechery, who dominated Malayalam films along with ONV Kurup and P Bhaskaran as a top-notch lyricist, had penned hundreds of songs known for their mystic and romantic charm with the semi-classical touch.

He also left a deep impression on Kerala society as a film producer and director.

Hailing from Kecherry in Thrissur district in Kerala, Yousafali debut with Sindooracheppu in 1971 for which he penned lyrics as well as script for the movie.

Born in a well known Muslim family in Thrissur, he won the best lyricist National award for a Sanskrit poem –gayam hari nama dhayam–written for the movie mazha (rain).

His lyrics in Dhwani, composed by renowned musician Naushad Ali, are considered as one among the best works of him.

After completing his Bachelor’s degree in Arts and Law, he started his career as a lawyer and freelance writer. Professor K. P. Narayana Pisharody, a highly regarded scholar, was Yousuf Ali’s Sanskrit teacher and taught him free of cost for four years. Kechery is regarded as one of the major poets of the modern era.

His major poetry works include Sainaba, Aayiram Navulla Mounam, Anchu Kanyakakal, Nadabhramam, Amrithu, Kecheri Puzha, Anuragagaanam Pole, Aalila, Kadhaye Premicha Kavitha, Perariyatha Nombaram and Ahaindavam

He had worked as assistant secretary of Kerala Sangaeetha Nataka Academy and also served as the president of Kerala Sahitya Academy. His burial will take place on Sunday evening at Pattikarra.

(Agencies)

Church vandalised in MP, culprits in Maharashtra attack still at large

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CHURCH

Jabalpur/Mumbai: A cathedral premises and a Catholic school where people had gathered for a religious convention were vandalised allegedly by Hindu activists at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, the second incident to come to light after yesterday’s attack on a church in neighbouring Maharashtra, drawing outrage from the Christian community.

No arrests have been made so far in connection with the Jabalpur incident which took place on March 20 and the wee hours of March 21, when some members of the Christian community were allegedly assaulted and threatened by members of Bajrang Dal and Dharam Sena who attacked the school and a parsonage alleging that religious conversion had been taking place there.

There was also no breakthrough in the probe into the church attack in New Panvel area in Navi Mumbai though police were grilling some suspects.

The CCTV footage showed that the attack was carried out by two masked persons who were riding pillion on a motorcycle at around 1.30 AM yesterday when they hurled stones at the Saint George Catholic church located near a bridge in New Panvel.

There are no eyewitnesses to the incident and the scanning of CCTV footage has also not thrown up any substantial leads to identity the attackers, police said.

However, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the culprits will be nabbed soon.

In Jabalpur, police booked a leader of Dharma Sena and some others but church authorities questioned the “delay” in arresting the culprits.

“Dharma Sena leader Yogesh Agrawal and Raju Rai and a few others have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and efforts are on to track down and arrest them,” Jabalpur Superintendent of Police HC Mishra told PTI today.

The church authorities alleged that the miscreants stormed into the Cathedral premises and a school housing a grotto with St Mary’s idol.

They broke earthen pots and and shattered glass panes of windows of the parsonage, accusing Father Thankachan Jose of converting the Hindus to Christianity.

Ravi Francis, claiming to be a witness, said he was roughed up by Dharma Sena and Bajrang Dal activists who stormed into Saint Thomas School campus, where some people who came for a convention were staying.

Though Fr Thankachan and police officials held talks with leaders of the Hindu outfits to ease the situation, some of them stormed into the premises and started abusing them, he alleged.

Police sought to chase them from the campus but they refused to give in and marched to the nearby Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral where the first day of the convention was held.

They then barged into the Cathedral premises shouting ‘Jai Shree Ram’ and demanded that Fr Thankachan be handed over to them. As they could not find him there, they vandalised the parsonage, close to the Cathedral, Francis said.

“Though our Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, it is being violated openly,” Fr Thankachan said, adding that the church had given to police the CCTV footage of the incident.

Congress leader Manish Tewari slammed the attacks as “part of an orchestrated campaign” and a “conspiracy by the right wing to terrorise the minorities”.

The Nationalist Congress Party demanded that the governments at the Centre and in the states take serious note of such “mischievous activities” which damage the democratic fabric of the country.

Archbishop of Goa Rev Filipe Nery Ferrao said the Christian community felt “intimidated and unsafe” in the wake of the attacks.

Referring to the attacks on churches and the VHP’s “Ghar Wapsi”, the Archbishop said, “It is an undeniable fact that Christians feel intimidated and unsafe in many parts of the country due to the ongoing incidents that pose a big threat to the unity of this secular nation.”

The incidents come close on the heels of an under- construction church in Kaimri village near Hisar in Haryana being vandalised by a group, triggering tension in the area.

Earlier, after a string of church attacks in the national capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured at a religious congregation that his government will not allow any religious group to incite hatred and will strongly act against any religious violence.

The Prime Minister, who has been accused by opposition and Christian groups of turning a blind eye to such attacks on five churches and a Christian school in Delhi, had said his government “gives equal respect to all religions”.

Meanwhile, Jabalpur IG of Police D Sriniwas Rao told reporters that those indulging in unlawful activities would not be spared. “We are going to arrest the accused soon,” he added.

Narrating the incident, Francis claimed the episode ended only after a large police contingent was deployed around the premises.

“They came to the Cathedral premises around 9 PM on March 20. They created such a scare that we had to hide ourselves till 4 AM of March 21, by when a large contingent of police had been deployed around the campus,” he said.

Security has been stepped up at religious places in Navi Mumbai after yesterday’s attack.

“We are questioning several people on grounds of suspicion of their involvement in the crime. However, we are yet to lay our hands on concrete clues,” Assistant Police Commissioner S B Suryavanshi said.

Asked about clues from the CCTV footage, he said, “The attackers covered their faces. There is nothing much to get from the CCTV.”

However, offences have been registered against the unidentified men under sections 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 427 (mischief) of the IPC, police said.

The church was built in 2007 and can accommodate over 800 people for prayer.

The masked miscreants, who came on a motorcycle in the wee hours yesterday, hurled stones at the Saint George Catholic church of the Syro Malabar hierarchy, damaging the glass case of the statue of Saint George.

(PTI)

Delhi Court acquits 16 cops in 1987 Hashimpura Massacre of over 40 Muslims

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Hashimpura Massacre

New Delhi: More than a quarter century after the brutal massacre of 42 Muslims in Hashimpura area of Meerut district in Uttar Pradesh, 16 accused policemen of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) were acquitted by a Delhi court today.

The Hashimpura massacre took place on 22 May 1987, during the Hindu-Muslim riots in Meerut. Some personnel of the PAC allegedly rounded up 42 Muslims from the Hashimpura locality, took them in a truck to the outskirts, near Murad Nagar in Ghaziabad district and shot them dead. Their bodies were dumped in water canals.

Sixteen policemen were acquitted by a court here on Saturday of the charges of murder and other crimes in the 1987 Hashimpura massacre case in which 42 people were killed in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut city.

Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Jindal acquitted 16 Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel of the charges dealing with murder, attempt to murder, tampering with evidence and conspiracy.

Suresh Chand Sharma, Niranjan Lal, Kamal Singh, Rambir Singh, Sami Ullah, Mahesh Prasad, Jaipal Singh, Ram Dhayam, Sarwan Kumar, Leela Dhar, Hambir Singh, Kunwar Pazal Singh, Budha Singh, Budhi Singh, Mokham Singh and Basant Vallabh were facing trial in the case.

The court said all the accused are acquitted of all charges framed against them by giving them the benefit of doubt for want of sufficient evidence regarding their identity.

The court said although the accused persons have been acquitted in this case, it felt the victims and affected families should be rehabilitated.

A recommendation was made to the District Legal Service Authority to award compensation to victims, the court said.

There were 19 accused in the case. However, three of them died during the trial.

The killings had allegedly occurred during riots in Meerut city when the victims were picked up from the Hashimpura Mohalla of the city by personnel of the 41st Battalion of the PAC during a search operation.

The charge sheet in the case was filed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Ghaziabad in 1996. The case was transferred to Delhi in September 2002 on the order of the Supreme Court following a petition by the families of the massacre victims and survivors.

A sessions court here in July 2006 framed charges of murder, attempt to murder, tampering with evidence and conspiracy against all the accused.

Timeline of 1987 Hashimpura massacre case

Sixteen policemen were acquitted by a court here on Saturday in the 1987 Hashimpura massacre case in which 42 people were killed in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut city. Here is the timeline of the case:

May 1987: 42 people killed in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.

1996: Chargesheet filed before Chief Judicial Magistrate Ghaziabad.

September 2002: Case transferred to Delhi on the order of the Supreme Court following a petition by the families of the massacre victims and survivors.

July 2006: Court framed charges of murder, attempt to murder, tampering with evidence and conspiracy against all the accused.

January 21, 2015: Court reserved verdict in the case.

(With inputs from IANS)

 

Massive Violations of Karnataka High Court directives makes a mess of Mavallipura, again

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Mavallipura

Since August 2012, when the landfills of Mavallipura were forced shut by orders of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board as the landfill operator M/s Ramky had not complied with pollution control norms, and consequently caused widespread damage to environment and public health in nearby villages, there have been repeated efforts by BBMP to revive the landfills on one pretext or another. Responding to various Public Interest Litigiations on this issue, the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka has been categorical that landfilling in commons lands, forests and lakes in villages around Bangalore cannot be a solution to garbage management. (High Court orders may be accessed at: http://tinyurl.com/l88havp)

The frequent, specific and exhaustive orders of the Court to tackle various problems of waste management in Bangalore has resulted in a progressive strategy of segregation and management of waste at source with environmentally friendly technologies that pose no risk to public health.

The Court has gone into the minute details of the waste stream in Bangalore and directed that Bulk Waste Generators (Kalyana Mantaps, Apartments, Institutions, Office Blocks, Bus/Train Stations, Markets, Malls, etc.) would be responsible for their waste which they would manage by setting up stations locally to manage segregated waste, compost/bio-methanate organic waste, recover all recyclables for further processing, and also minimise waste generation. For households and neighbouhoods, the Court directed that dry-waste collection centres and composting units must be set up in each ward, and that the effort must be to ensure that all waste is managed locally and not be trucked out to landfills which not only destroy villages, but also involve wasteful investment in enormous quantities of diesel. The Court has also taken stern action against truck lobbies that tended to leach valuable resources, and on a thorough evaluation brought down the annual expense of trucking waste out from Rs. 800 crores to about Rs. 300 crores.

Justice Mr. N. Kumar and Justice B. V. Nagarathna of the Karnataka High Court have been monitoring the situation regularly, and have also directed that punitive actions should be initiated against anyone who does not comply. To ensure there is widespread public participation and transparency in waste management operations, the Court directed the State Government to set up Constitutionally mandated Ward Committees, which were required to be set up two decades ago. When the High Court learned that BBMP had not paid Pourakarmikas (who are amongst the poorest of the poor) their due wages for over 6 months, the Court observed “the Special Commissioner will have no moral authority to call upon the persons to perform their functions in the matter of solid waste management unless the bills submitted by them are cleared expeditiously”. This forced the BBMP to release Rs. 120 crores of pending payments in March 2015.

Gross Mismanagement at Mavallipura

In the case of Mavallipura, the Court has been clear and categorical that no more landfilling would be allowed. The Court has directed BBMP to initiate bio-mining and remediation of the legacy waste and BBMP is on record in Court that it has issued tenders. That was six months ago. Yet, absolutely no action has been initiated to take care of the legacy waste till date.

When the Chief Minister of Karnataka took a decision to close down the Mandur landfill on December 1st, 2014, and garbage piled up all over the city, the High Court allowed only a small amount of segregated organic waste to be taken for composting at Mavallipura to the capacity of the windrow platforms, and ensuring all necessary precautions are in place. The concerns of Yelahanka Air Force Base that birds attracted to the landfill seriously threatened the flight movements of defense aircraft was taken note of, and BBMP was directed to ensure the entire facility was covered and made bird proof. In addition, the Court directed BBMP to provide drinking water daily to all the affected villages (as all wells and tubewells have been contaminated), ensure that health surveys and cattle surveys were done in collaboration with 5 affected Panchayats, and initiate various public health measures to tackle the adverse impacts.

Instead, BBMP has resorted to bring unsegregated waste, upto 200 tonnes per day on most days, and resorted to dumping the waste at the landfill. There is no effluent treatment plant to treat the leachates, which find their way into local streams and ponds. Cattle deaths are frequent and the suffering of the local villagers from the pollution continues. Thousands of birds hover over the landfill, and this presents a clear and present danger to the flight movements of Indian Air Force. (Attached is the affidavit filed by IAF in the High Court, that highlights the grave risks the landfill poses to the defense of the country.)

Talks with BBMP Spl. Commissioner ends in failure

On 18th March 2015, Mr. Darpan Jain, IAS, Spl Commissioner (SWM) of BBMP held a meeting with representatives of impacted villages as directed by the High Court. But this meeting ended without any resolution. This was because BBMP was not willing to commit to any time bound action plan, thus violating its commitments before the Court.

When Bhargavi Rao of Environment Support Group read out various Court directions relating to cleaning up Mavallipura and providing relief to local communities issued over the past two years, Mr. Jain kept saying “we are making efforts to comply”. “They all sound so insincere and empty to us”, Bhargavi replied. Srinivas, a Gram Panchayat Member and leader of Dalit Sangarsh Samithi explained how, till date, not a single one of the directions of the Court have been complied with by BBMP. Ramesh, another Gram Panchayat Member, highlighted how the failure to deliver, despite High Court directions, had resulted in an utter lack of faith in Mr. Jain’s assurances, coming as they did without a plan or budgetary support.

Dhanraj of Mavallipura was so frustrated at the end of this 2 hours back and forth with Mr. Jain, that he told the Spl. Commissioner that they have not come for charity, but to assert their Fundamental Rights to Live peacefully, healthily and productively like everyone in Bangalore. He said that to throw some water and mosquito nets at the suffering communities was like rubbing salt into their wounds. Geetha, who lost her husband to cardiac arrest on 23 August 2012 when police lathi-charged villagers peacefully protesting against the illegal operation of the landfill by Ramky, asked how she was to survive with Rs. 4000/month she earns doing coolie work. She said not one rupee has been paid in compensation by the Government, despite all sorts of assurances from all sorts of Commissioners, that she is now homeless and forced to support her three daughters all on her own.

Mr. Darpan Jain was not able to make a single commitment specifically and convincingly. All he did was to assure villagers BBMP was serious in conforming with the High Court directives. Shocked and dismayed by Mr. Jain’s lack of intent in initiating concerted action to tackle their problems, the villagers were forced to return empty handed.

“Garbage Gumma”

People of Mavallipura and other villagers are keen that this problem receives the attention it deserves at all levels: from the household and community all the way to the Chief Minister. They assert that the Right to Life and Livelihood of villagers is as critical as those of residents in metropolitan Bangalore. To raise the consciousness of residents of Bangalore to conform with the directions of the High Court and to also take responsibility for the waste they generate, which is literally killing and maiming people in villages and destroying their livelihoods and health, the villagers inspired Gollahalli Shivaprasad, noted poet and lyricist, to compose a series of songs into an album called “Garbage Gumma”. Set to tune by Shivaprasad and his team, these songs are being made available free to all online.

Nagaraj, Srinivas B. and Ramesh (Dalit Sangarsh Samithi and representatives of Mavallipura and other villages impacted by garbage dumping). Bhargavi Rao and Leo Saldanha (Environment Support Group).

Government will not not protect anyone in IAS officer DK Ravi death case: Siddaramaiah

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Photo: The New Indian Express

Photo: The New Indian Express

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday, March 21, assured that his government will not protect anyone in the IAS officer DK Ravi death case.

“The government will not hide anything… will not protect anyone,” Siddaramaiah said amid pressure on his government to hand over the death probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Even Congress president Sonia Gandhi wrote to the Karnataka CM on Friday, March 20, asking him to hand over the investigation to the CBI.

Siddaramaiah said he will speak to Ravi’s parents once his post-mortem is out.

“Have told the parents of DK Ravi that I will speak to them after his post-mortem report comes in and is examined. We also want the truth to come out, that’s what I have promised to the parents,” the CM said.

“I have been in politics for 35 years. I understand people’s sentiments and respect them. More importantly, I have promised the parents that I’ll get to the truth,” Siddaramaiah said further.

The Congress leader said he will make his stand clear on the floor of the House. All the information will be given in the Assembly on Monday, he added.

He rejected Opposition allegations that his government was trying to hide the truth.

“Opposition is making allegations for the sake of politics. I am not interested in burying the truth, that’s not my business,” said Siddaramaiah.

There has been a clamour for CBI probe into Ravi’s death from Opposition parties and the family of Ravi who was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his flat on Monday.

Stepping up the pressure, BJP and JD(S) MLAs had on Thursday marched in a procession from Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat, to Raj Bhavan and requested the Governor to advise the Siddaramaiah government to refer the case to CBI.

(Agencies)

Kasab never asked Biryani, the story was concocted: Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam

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Ujjwal Nikam

Jaipur: 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Ajmal Kasab’s demand for Mutton Biryani in jail was just a myth and was “concocted” to stop an “emotional wave” which was being created in favour of the militant, claimed Ujjwal Nikam, public prosecutor in the case.

“Kasab never demanded Biryani and was never served by the government. I concocted it just to break an emotional atmosphere which was taking shape in favour of Kasab during the trial of the case,” Nikam told reporters on the sidelines of international conference on counter-terrorism here.

“Media was minutely observing his body language and he was well aware of it. One day, in the court room, he bowed his head and wiped his eyes.

“Moments later, electronic media broke the news– tears in Kasab’s eyes. It was Raksha Bandhan that day, and panel discussions were started in the media on it.

“Some guessed Kasab got emotional in memory of his sister and some even went on to question whether he was a terrorist or not,” Nikam said.

“This kind of emotional wave and atmosphere was needed to the stopped. So, after that, I gave a statement to the media saying Kasab has demanded Mutton Biryani in the jail,” he said.

Nikam said that when he told this to the media, again panel discussions were started and the media highlighted that a dreaded terrorist was demanding Mutton Biryani in jail while “the truth is that Kasab neither asked for Biryani nor it was served.”

Nikam said that he during a session in the ongoing conference also disclosed this to the audience.

Pakistani terrorist Kasab was hanged to death in November 2012 nearly four years after the November 2008 attack in which he had killed scores of people.

(Agencies)

AFSPA can't be revoked in Kashmir on political considerations, says BJP's Jitendra Singh

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Protest-AFSPA

Srinagar: Asserting that Pakistan is not ready to mend its ways, Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh on Saturday maintained that Centre was following zero-tolerance towards terrorism and said any decisions of AFSPA cannot be taken on the political considerations.

“I think, this is also an occasion for us to do some re-thinking and rise above the political lines and learn that any decisions regarding sensitive issues, like for example Armed Forces Special Powers, to maintain it or withdraw it, to continue it or discontinue it, has to be essentially based on the wisdom and inputs of the security agencies, instead of getting tempted to political considerations,” said Singh, who is a minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office.

He hit out at Pakistan for for failure to mend ways to foment trouble in Jammu and Kashmir.

“It is certainly evident that Pakistan is not ready to mend its ways but as the Prime Minister has already stated even on the floor of the House that India, under the present government, follows the policy of zero-tolerance towards terrorism and we are committed to that,” Singh said.

“The Centre is fully-equipped to deal with such a situation”, Singh said, who rushed from New Delhi to visit the injured in the terrorists attack for the second time in as many days, at GMC hospital in Jammu. Singh, who condemned these terror attacks, said that Centre and the present set up in New Delhi is fully equipped to deal any kind of situation.

“I wish to pay my homage to the brave soldiers who lost their lives yesterday and are also fighting out today,” he added.

Union Minister appealed to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to see if the amount of compensation to the family members of the martyred soldiers could be increased. The state Health Minister Choudhary Lal Singh, Choudhary Lal Singh, today said that it was not proper to start the process of lifting AFSPA in the state at a time when militant attacks are on the rise.

“How is it possible (to lift AFSPA) when situation has worsened even in the otherwise peaceful districts of Kathua and Samba,” he said. He said that time has come to give them a befitting reply.

Blaming security forces for the lapses, he said adding “how is it possible the infiltration has taken place along International Border”.

The State Chief of Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and MLA, Ravinder Raina also hit out those demanding revocation AFSPA, saying “these twin attacks are eye opener for those who are advocating the revocation of AFSPA. it should not be lifted at all”.

(PTI)

Yemen sinks deeper into chaos after Daesh claims mosque bombings

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Two mosques, both located in Yemen's capital Sanaa, were hit with two suicide bombers each during midday prayers Friday in a string of attacks that was later claimed by Daesh. (AFP/File)

Two mosques, both located in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, were hit with two suicide bombers each during midday prayers Friday in a string of attacks that was later claimed by Daesh. (AFP/File)

by The Daily Star

Multiple suicide bombings claimed by ISIS killed at least 142 people and wounded around 351 others Friday at Shiite mosques in Yemen’s capital in the deadliest violence to hit the fragile war-torn nation in decades.

A group claiming to be a Yemeni branch of ISIS said it carried out the bombings and warned of an “upcoming flood” of attacks against the Houthi rebels, who have taken over the capital and much of Yemen. The claim, posted online, could not immediately be independently confirmed and offered no proof of an ISIS role.

If true, Friday’s bombing would be the first major attack by ISIS supporters in Yemen and an ominous sign that the influence of the group that holds much of Iraq and Syria has spread to the chaotic nation. The claim was posted on the same Web bulletin board where the ISIS affiliate in Libya claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s deadly attack on a museum in Tunisia.

A significant presence of ISIS supporters would add an alarming new element to the turmoil in this fragmenting nation. Yemen is already home to the most powerful branch of the Al-Qaeda network, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. AQAP militants seized control Friday of a southern provincial capital, Al-Houta, in the most dramatic grab of territory by the group in years.

Meanwhile, the Houthi rebels’ capture of the capital and a large swath of the country – at least nine of its 21 provinces – has raised fears of a civil war tinged with sectarianism. The government of the internationally backed president, Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi, has fled to the southern port city of Aden, where it battled Thursday with supporters of the former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has allied with the Houthis.

AQAP has been battling for months against the Houthis in various parts of the country. But the group issued an official statement denying it carried out Friday’s bombings, pointing to earlier instructions from the terror network’s leader Ayman al-Zawahri not to strike mosques or markets.

In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the U.S. had seen no indications of an operational link between ISIS and Friday’s attacks.

He said the U.S. was investigating to see whether the ISIS branch in Yemen has the command-and-control structure in place to substantiate its claim of responsibility.

Earnest said it was plausible that ISIS was falsely claiming responsibility for the incident. “It does appear that these kinds of claims are often made for a perception that it benefits their propaganda efforts,” Earnest said.

In past months, there have been several online statements by individual Yemeni militants declaring allegiance to ISIS. The ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, formally accepted their oaths and declared a “province” of ISIS in Yemen in November. Baghdadi and his deputies in Iraq have vowed to strike against the Houthis in Yemen. That has raised questions whether direct operational links have also arisen. For example, In Libya, where ISIS also declared official “provinces,” fighters and officials are known to have been sent from the group’s core to build the local branch.

Friday’s bombings left scenes of bloody devastation in the Badr and Al-Hashoush mosques, located across town from each other in Sanaa. Both mosques are controlled by the Shiite Houthis, but they are also frequented by Sunni worshippers. Footage from the Al-Hashoush mosque, showed screaming volunteers using bloodied blankets to carry away victims, with a small child among the dead lined up on the mosque floor.

Two bombers hit each mosque during midday Friday prayers, when large crowds turn out to attend weekly sermons. Nashwan al-Atab, a member of the Health Ministry’s operations committee, told AFP 142 people were killed and at least 351 wounded.

A prominent Shiite Imam, Al-Murtada al-Mansouri, and two senior Houthi leaders were among the dead, the rebel-owned Al-Masirah TV reported.

It also reported that a fifth suicide bomb attack on another mosque was foiled in the northern city of Saada, a Houthi stronghold.

In the Badr mosque, the first bomber was caught by guards searching worshippers at the gate, where he detonated his device. In the ensuing panic, a second bomber entered the mosque and blew himself up amid the crowd, according to the official news agency SABA.

“I fell on the ground and when I regained consciousness I found myself lying in a lake of blood,” one survivor, Ahmad al-Gabri, told the AP. Two worshippers next to him were killed in the explosions, then another died when one of the mosque’s large glass chandeliers fell on him, Gabri said.

Another survivor, Sadek al-Harithi, said the explosions were like “an earthquake where I felt the ground split and swallow everyone.”

In the Al-Hashoush mosque, one witness said he was thrown two meters away by one of the blasts and found the floor strewn with body parts.

“Blood was running like a river,” Mohammed al-Ansi said.

In an online statement, a group calling itself the media office of ISIS “Sanaa Province” claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that the four Sanaa suicide bombers blew themselves up among crowds of Houthis.

“This operation is just a glimpse of an upcoming flood, God willing,” the group said in the statement. “We swear to avenge the blood of Muslims and the toppling of houses of God.”

“The soldiers of ISIS … will not rest until we have uprooted [the Houthis], repelled their aggression, and cut off the arm of the Iranian project in Yemen,” it said, referring to claims that Shiite powerhouse Iran is backing the rebels.

In a further sign of the country’s chaos, AQAP took control of the southern city of Al-Houta Friday, Yemeni security officials said. Al-Qaeda militants driving pickup trucks and flying black flags swept through the city, which is the capital of Lahj province. They took over the main security barracks, the governor’s office, and the intelligence headquarters, which houses prisons with Al-Qaeda detainees, the officials said.

Most of the security forces in the city surrendered to the militants without resistance. The militants killed 21 members of the security forces who resisted at the governor’s office, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

Amitabh Bachchan to act with Shivarajkumar in 'Kabira'

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amitabh-bachchan-shivarajkumar

Bengaluru: Sandalwood is abuzz with rumours of Amitabh Bachchan’s return to Kannada cinema. According to media reports, Shivarajkumnar’s upcoming film Kabira, which will go on floors on Ugadi, might star the Bollywood actor.

Earlier, Big B acted in Nagathihalli Chandrashekar’s Amruthadare. Kannada audience were eagerly waiting for Amitabh to make a comeback to Sandalwood ever since.

Shivarajkumar’s Kabira movie will go on floors from Ugadi. Kabira is the remake of original movie Mahatma Kabir which starred Dr. Rajkumar in the lead role. According to the close sources to the movie, Kabira will star Amitabh Bachchan in a vital role. While we have seen Shivanna and Big B share screen space in the Kalyan Jeweller’s Ad, we have not seen them in a film. Now, will Bachchan accept to act with Shivarajkumar’s Kabira? Let’s wait for the official confirmation by the filmmakers.

(Agencies)

Asaduddin Owaisi denied permission to hold meeting in Agra

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asaduddin-owaisi

Agra: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi has been denied permission to hold a meeting here on March 29.

The district administration of Agra took this decision on the basis of intelligence reports which suggested this could lead to trouble after Hindutva organisations had openly declared they would not allow Owaisi to hold his meeting at the scheduled Kothi Meena Bazar ground.

A memorandum by the Bajrang Dal, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Hindu Jagran Manch workers forced the administration to take the step.

However, district administration official Rajesh Srivastav said permission cannot be granted in view of the ongoing final examinations.

AIMIM’s district chief Idrish Ahmad said the district administration had accepted his affidavit a few days ago to consider permission for the meeting, but changed its mind under pressure from some organisations.

(Agencies)

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