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Smriti Irani finds hidden camera in changing room

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Smriti Irani

Candolim: A police complaint has been registered in Goa after Union Education Minister Smriti Irani spotted a hidden camera inside a changing room at an outlet of popular clothing chain Fabindia.

Irani, who is on holiday in the sea-side state that her party the BJP rules, had gone shopping at the Fabindia store in Candolim, when she spotted the camera.

She called a local legislator, Micheal Lobo of her party, who filed the FIR. Lobo said that the camera was positioned in a way that it pointed right into the changing or trial room and was not easily visible.

The police have registered a case of outraging a woman’s modesty against the store and are investigating to find out who had put the camera there.

Irani, 39, has recorded a statement at the Candolim police station.

(Agencies)

Is the world going Muslim? One in ten Europeans will be by 2050

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Christianity will no longer be the world's dominant faith in the next generation. (AFP/File)

Christianity will no longer be the world’s dominant faith in the next generation. (AFP/File)

by Kashmira Gander, The Independent

A new study charting how religions will develop globally over the next four decades has predicted that one in 10 of the next generation of Europeans will be Muslim.

Research published today by a US think tank has also revealed that Christianity will no longer be the world’s dominant faith by 2050,  as almost all of the major religious groups will increase in numbers.

As of 2010, Christianity was by far the world’s largest religion, with nearly a third of all 6.9 billion people on Earth adhering to it, while Islam was second, with 1.6 billion adherents, or 23 per cent of the global population.

Over the course of the next four decades, the number of Muslims will nearly equal the number of Christians around the world for the first time in history – at 31 per cent and 30 per cent of the global population, respectively.

In those four decades, four out of every 10 Christians in the world will live in sub-Saharan Africa, the Pew Research Centre study suggests.

The Hindu population will rise by 34 per cent from a little over 1 billion to nearly 1.4 billion, while the global Jewish population is expected to grow from a little less than 14 million in 2010 to 16.1 million worldwide in 2050.

The number of followers of so-called folk religions, including African traditional religions, Chinese folk religions, Native American religions and Australian aboriginal religions – are projected to increase from 405 million to nearly 450 million.

Meanwhile, the number of Buddhists will be about the same size as it was in 2010, due to low fertility rates and aging populations in countries such as China, Thailand and Japan.

At the same time, the number of atheists, agnostics, and other people not affiliated with any religion will decline, from 16 per cent in 2010 to 13 per cent by the middle of the century, but increase in countries including the US and France.

In Europe, the percentage of Muslims will rise to around 10 per cent of the population in 2010.

While a larger Muslim population is not an issue in itself, Conrad Hackett, the lead researcher and demographer for the Pew report, stressed in an interview with the New York Times that this figure may be seized by anti-immigrant groups who warn of a Muslim-dominated “Eurabia”.

“We just don’t see that happening,” Dr. Hackett said.

The results are the culmination of a six-year study compiled from more than 2,500 censuses, surveys and population registers from across the world. Researchers took into account the current size and geographic distribution of the world’s major religions, age differences, fertility and mortality rates, international migration and patterns in conversion.

The Pew Research Centre study reasons that religious populations will grow because adherents are younger and have more children, while a smaller portion of people will switch or take up new faiths.

According to the study, Muslims have the highest fertility rate, an average of 3.1 children per woman – higher than 2.1, the minimum needed to maintain a stable population. Christians came in second, at 2.7 children per woman, Hindu at 2.4, while Jewish women gave birth to  2.3 children on average.

All the other groups have fertility levels under 1.8, which is too low to sustain their populations.

Iran and world powers strike initial nuclear deal

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Agreement will curb Iran’s nuclear programme and end most sanctions imposed on country.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said a "decisive step" has been achieved [Reuters]

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said a “decisive step” has been achieved [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

The United States, Iran and five other world powers have sealed a breakthrough framework agreement outlining limits on Iran’s nuclear programme to keep it from being able to produce atomic weapons.

Reading out a joint statement on Thursday evening, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said a “decisive step” has been achieved.

“This is a crucial decision laying the agreed basis for the final text of joint comprehensive plan of action. We can now start drafting the text and annexes,” said Mogherini, who has acted as a coordinator for the six powers – Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

The US and Iran each hailed the efforts of their diplomats over eight days of marathon talks in Swiss city of Lausanne.

Speaking at the White House, US President Barack Obama called it a “good deal” that would address concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The US president said that the US and its allies had “reached a historic understanding with Iran”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called it a “win-win outcome”.

The Islamic Republic has been promised an end to years of crippling economic sanctions, but only if negotiators transform the plan into a comprehensive pact by June 30.

‘Solid foundation’

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the agreement in Lausanne was a “solid foundation for a good deal”.

Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from Lausanne, said that US diplomats still faced the challenge of convincing opposition Republican dissenters in Congress, and its strongest ally, Israel, that the deal was sufficient.

“There are a lot of places where this deal will not be accepted and one of those is Israel,” Bays said.

Obama said his security officials would be working with Israel and Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, to make sure their concerns are addressed.

Iranians celebrate on a street in northern Tehran the nuclear agreement with world powers in Lausanne [The Associated Press]

Israel voiced its “strong opposition” to the deal. In a phone conversation with Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a final deal based on this agreement “would threaten the survival of Israel”.

House Speaker John Boehner said it would be “naive to suggest the Iranian regime will not continue to use its nuclear programme, and any economic relief, to further destabilize the region.”

But Obama said that the issues at stake are “bigger than politics”.

“These are matters of war and peace,” he said, and if Congress kills the agreement “international unity will collapse, and the path to conflict will widen.”

The deal will limit Iran’s nuclear activity to the Natanz plant and reduce the number of centrifuges it operates from 19,000 today to just over 6,104.

Iran has also agreed to not build any new facilities for the purpose of enriching uranium for 15 years.

Zarif said the countries had agreed an elaborate mechanism if any of the parties to the agreement “returned to old practices” and reneged on their obligations.

“We will not allow excuses that will allow a return to the old system,” Zarif said.

Mogherini said the seven nations would now start writing the text of a final accord.

She cited several agreed-upon restrictions on Iran’s enrichment of material that can be used either for energy production or in nuclear warheads. She said Iran will not produce weapons-grade plutonium.

Sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear programmes would be suspended by the US, the United Nations and the European Union after the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Iran’s compliance.

 

Al-Shabab siege of Kenya university leaves 147 dead

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Day-long siege of campus in northeastern town comes to bloody end, with mostly students killed.

kenya-attack-Al-Shabab

by Al Jazeera

At least 147 people have been killed after Kenyan troops cleared a university dormitory in the town of Garissa in northeast Kenya that had been seized by al-Shabab gunmen, the interior ministry says.

Members of the Somalia-based group attacked the campus after dawn on Thursday and were holed up in a dormitory with hostages until the evening.

Officials said 79 students had been injured in the attack, and 587 had been evacuated.

Security forces had encircled the building exchanging sporadic bursts of gunfire with the fighters inside, who were believed to have been holding scores of students hostage.

Witnesses told Al Jazeera they heard heavy gunfire and saw smoke coming from the campus on Thursday evening as the standoff came to an end.

Joseph Nkaissery, the interior minister, said four attackers had strapped themselves with explosives.

A female student who escaped the hostage drama told Al Jazeera that she had stepped over more bodies than she could count as she got out of the university.

Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb, reporting from Garissa, said security officials were now working on identifying bodies and moving them to the morgue.

The attack was the worst in Kenya since the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi by al-Qaeda, when 213 people were killed by a huge truck bomb.

In 2013, al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack on the Westgate mall that left 67 people dead.

Thursday’s assault began when the first grenades were used before dawn to blast open the gates of the university, near the border with war-torn Somalia.

The masked gunmen then stormed the university as students were sleeping in their dormitories, shooting dead dozens before taking hostages. Al-Shabab said it had set Muslims free and captured Christians.

The al-Qaeda-linked group said the assault was launched in revenge for Kenya sending troops to fight al-Shabab in Somalia.

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta said the lack of security infrastructure had contributed to the crisis.

“We have suffered unnecessarily due to a shortage of security personnel. Kenya needs additional officers, and I will not keep the nation waiting,” he said.

After the attack, the country’s interior ministry announced a 12-hour curfew starting at 6.30pm in Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, and Tana River counties.

Rescued hostages were treated at a nearby hospital [Alinoor Moulid Bosh/Al Jazeera]

Security forces surrounded the campus after gunmen opened fire indiscriminately in campus hostels [AP]

BJP will rule 10-20 years, party says at leadership meet

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karnataka-bjp

Bengaluru: The BJP, which stormed to power nationally last year, will rule India for 10-20 years, party president Amit Shah announced here on Friday as the party opened a meeting of its top leaders.

“This government has arrived,” Shah said to thunderous applause at the two-day meet, addressing 330 delegates including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The BJP will be in power for the next 10-20 years.”

Speaking in chaste Hindi, Shah also listed out the achievements of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Modi’s government since May 2014 on various fronts, including economy and foreign policy.

He said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had brought an end to the policy paralysis of the earlier Congress regime. “We have brought a new political culture.”

And after becoming the world’s largest political party, the BJP announced that it would train the over 15 lakh new members while further speeding up its nationwide membership drive.

Party leader Prakash Javadekar, who briefed the media about Shah’s comments, said the BJP had become the biggest party in the world with 9.25 crore members. “We will cross the 10 crore mark soon.”

Among those attending the meeting is party patriarch L.K. Advani.

As it was the executive’s first meeting after the BJP got a majority in the Lok Sabha, an upbeat mood marked the inaugural session at a star hotel in the city centre amidst tight security.

Javadekar pointed out that besides ruling world’s largest democracy, the BJP was in power in a dozen states — “including eight states where we are in power on our own and four in alliance with our partners”.

In his speech, Shah played down the BJP’s shock defeat in Delhi in February but quickly added the party’s Delhi unit needs to revive itself.

“The party president said we have had successes, and one failure in Delhi is not a big deal,” Javadekar quoted Shah as saying.

“He said such things happen. We should not get arrogant after victory and desperate after defeat.”

The Aam Aadmi Party routed the BJP in the February assembly election, winning 67 of the 70 seats. The BJP, which won 31 seats in 2013, could bag only three seats.

Talking about upcoming assembly polls in Bihar, Shah said the “jungle raj” was back in the state since the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) broke away from the BJP.

Riding high on becoming the world’s largest political party, the national executive began its meeting earlier to take stock of its 10-month rule and chalk out strategies to spread its wings in India.

The party’s Karnataka leaders honoured Advani, Modi, Shah and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the local style by crowning them with the famous Mysore petha (headgear), draping a shawl and garlanding them.

Modi inaugurated the meeting by lighting a lamp with the other three leaders on the dais. The meet was not open to the media.

Shah heaped praise on Modi’s corruption-free government. “The economy is looking up and prices have been brought under control as evident from decline in inflation.

“A number of policy initiatives and administrative measures have been taken to revive growth and improve infrastructure.”

The meeting will deliberate over various issues, including the controversial land acquisition bill which was stalled by the opposition in the Rajya Sabha.

The executive will also draw a plan to expand the party’s footprint in states like Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and the north-east region where its presence is minimal.

“The meeting will also work out strategies to capture power in Bihar where elections are due this year,” a party source said.

(IANS)

India to have largest Muslim population by 2050; Hindus to be third largest in world: Report

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indians-muslims

Washington: Hindus will become the world’s third largest population by 2050, while India will overtake Indonesia as the country with the largest Muslim population, according to a new study.

According to the Pew Research Center’s religious profile predictions assessed data released today, the Hindu population is projected to rise by 34 per cent worldwide, from a little over 1 billion to nearly 1.4 billion by 2050.

By 2050, Hindus will be third, making up 14.9 per cent of the world’s total population, followed by people who do not affiliate with any religion, accounting for 13.2 per cent, the report said.

The people with no religious affiliation currently have the third largest share of the world’s total population.

Muslims are projected to grow faster than the world’s overall population and that Hindus and Christians are projected to roughly keep pace with worldwide population growth, the report said.

“India will retain a Hindu majority but also will have the largest Muslim population of any country in the world, surpassing Indonesia,” it said.

“Over the next four decades, Christians will remain the largest religious group, but Islam will grow faster than any other major religion,” according to the report.

The report predicted that by 2050 there will be near parity between Muslims (2.8 billion, or 30 per cent of the population) and Christians (2.9 billion, or 31 per cent), possibly for the first time in history.

There were 1.6 billion Muslims in 2010, compared to 2.17 billion Christians.

“The number of Muslims will nearly equal the number of Christians around the world,” it added.

If the trend continues, Islam will be the most popular faith in the world after 2070, it said.

By 2050, Muslims will make up about 10 per cent of the Europe’s population, up from 5.9 per cent in 2010.

Over the same period, the number of Hindus in Europe is expected to roughly double, from a little under 1.4 million (0.2 per cent of Europe’s population) to nearly 2.7 million (0.4 per cent), mainly as a result of immigration, it said.

In North America, the Hindu share of the population is expected to nearly double in the decades ahead, from 0.7 per cent in 2010 to 1.3 per cent in 2050, when migration is included in the projection models. Without migration, the Hindu share of the region’s population would remain the same.

Buddhism is the only faith that is not expected to increase its followers, due to an ageing population and stable fertility rates in Buddhist countries, such as China, Japan and Thailand.

The projections considered fertility rates, trends in youth population growth and religious conversion statistics.

(PTI)

President gives nod to land ordinance

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Republic Day Pranab Mukherjee

New Delhi: The land acquisition ordinance, which the government could not get converted into a legislation in Rajya Sabha due to stiff opposition, was today re-promulgated, a day before it is to lapse.

President Pranab Mukherjee has signed the ordinance as recommended by the union cabinet on March 31, official sources said. The earlier ordinance is to lapse tomorrow as it has not been converted into a legislation during the first part of the budget session as required under the Constitution.

The fresh ordinance, which is the 11th by the Narendra Modi government, incorporates nine amendments that were part of the bill passed in Lok Sabha last month. It is pending before the Rajya Sabha where the ruling NDA coalition lacks the numbers to get it passed.

The pending measure, titled Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, that was passed in Lok Sabha sought to replace the ordinance that was promulgated in December.

The Opposition was not in a mood to oblige the government and, in fact, mounted a strong campaign against it. Led by Sonia Gandhi, the Opposition parties demanded the passage of the original land bill that was passed during the UPA regime.

To enable re-promulgation of the ordinance, the government last week got the Rajya Sabha prorogued.

Under the Constitution at least one of the Houses has to be prorogued for Government to issue an ordinance. Parliament is currently on a month-long recess after the Budget session started on February 23.

The land ordinance was among the six executive orders issued by the government in the inter session period. While five of them were cleared by Parliament, the land measure is stuck.

(PTI)

12-year-old Muslim girl wins Bhagwad Gita contest defeating 3,000 participants

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Maryam-Siddiqui-Gita

New Delhi: Twelve-year-old Maryam Siddiqui, a class VI student from Mumbai has won the first position at the ‘Gita Champions League’ contest, defeating 3,000 participants. The written competition based on the Bhagwad Gita was organized by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) in January.

A student of Cosmopolitan High School, Mira Road, Maryam had always been inquisitive about religions and read them during her free hours. “I have always been inquisitive about religions and I often read up on them during my free time. So when my teacher told me about this contest I thought it would be a good chance to understand what the book is about. My parents too supported my idea of participating in the contest,” said Maryam, according to a Times of India report.

Maryam has always had conversations based on religion with her parents and had studied material provided by Iskcon for almost a month before answering the 100 mark multiple choice question based test.

“Our family believes that one needs to respect and accept all religions. No religion preaches hatred or wrong,” said Maryam’s father, Asif Siddiqui.

Earlier in March, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had said that the government will introduce teaching of Bhagwad Gita in schools across the state from the coming academic session.

(Agencies)

Al Qaeda frees 300 inmates in Yemen jailbreak

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Khalid Batarfi, a senior Al Qaeda figure who had been held for more than four years, was among more than 300 prisoners who escaped from the jai. — Reuters/file

Khalid Batarfi, a senior Al Qaeda figure who had been held for more than four years, was among more than 300 prisoners who escaped from the jai. — Reuters/file

Aden: In a surprise attack, Al Qaeda militants stormed a prison in southeastern Yemen on Thursday, freeing several hundred inmates including one of their leaders, a security official said.

Two prison guards and five inmates were killed in clashes, the official said.

Qaeda militants stormed the center of the city of al-Mukalla, the capital of the southeastern province of Hadramawt, which was still controlled by pro-Hadi forces.

The militants also clashed with troops guarding the local adminstration complex in the city, a branch of the central bank and the police headquarters.

Khalid Batarfi, a senior Al Qaeda figure who had been held for more than four years, was among more than 300 prisoners who escaped from the jail in Hadramawt province, the official told AFP.

Batarfi is among Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) top regional commanders, known for his leading role in a 2011-2012 battle with Yemeni government troops during which extremists seized swathes of territory in the south and east.

The remote area is also the ancestral home of former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, whose father was born in a valley before moving to neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

Yemen has descended further into chaos since a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes a week ago against positions held by Shia rebels and their allies across the deeply tribal country.

Observers have warned that Yemen-based AQAP, classified by the United States as the network’s deadliest franchise, could exploit the unrest to strengthen its presence in the country.

(Agencies)

Giriraj's comments in 'very bad taste', may file complaint: Nigerian High Commissioner

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O B Okongor

New Delhi: The Nigerian High Commission took strong objection on Wednesday to the racist remarks by Union minister Giriraj Singh in which he refereed to a Nigerian woman and demanded an apology for the “unacceptable” comments.

Acting High Commissioner of Nigeria O B Okongor said a complaint may be filed with the External Affairs Ministry as Singh’s comments were in “very bad taste”.

“We expect the minister to withdraw the comments and apologise to the Nigerian people. We will notify our government about the issue,” he said.

Singh kicked up a major row with his remarks as he wondered whether Congress would have accepted Sonia Gandhi’s leadership if she was not white-skinned.

“Had Rajiv Gandhi married a Nigerian woman and if she was not a white-skinned woman, would the Congress have then accepted her leadership?” the minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises told journalists in Bihar’s Hajipur on Tuesday.

His comments drew condemnation from political parties and various women leaders.

The Nigerian envoy said the High Commission would “notify” the Nigerian government about the minister’s comments.

Asked whether the High Commission would file a formal complaint with the Ministry of External Affairs, he said, “We need to file a complaint.”

(Agencies)

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