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Archives for April 2015

UN blames Israel for school attacks during Gaza war

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Inquiry says military responsible for the deaths of at least 44 Palestinians who sought refuge at UN sites last year.

gaza-school

by Al Jazeera

A UN inquiry has blamed Israeli security forces for seven deadly attacks on UN schools in Gaza that were used as shelters for safety during last year’s offensive.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement on Monday that he deplored the attacks that killed at least 44 Palestinians and injured at least 227 others at the UN sites.

“It is a matter of the utmost gravity that those who looked to them for protection and who sought and were granted shelter there had their hopes and trust denied,” Ban added.

The independent board of inquiry also found that weaponry was found at three empty UN schools in Gaza and that in two cases Palestinian fighters “probably” fired at Israeli forces from schools. Ban also called that “unacceptable”.

Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York, noted that “the UN report says that the three schools where the weapons were found were not being used as evacuation centres, they were empty buildings”.

The 2014 war was the most devastating for Gaza’s 1.8 million people, killing more than 2,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to UN figures. Seventy-two people were killed on the Israeli side, including 66 soldiers.

In one case, the new inquiry found that a UN girls’ school was hit by 88 mortar rounds fired by the Israeli forces. Another girls’ school was also hit by direct fire from Israeli soldiers with an anti-tank projectile.

A third girls’ school was hit by an Israeli missile.

‘No warning’

At a fourth girls’ school, the inquiry said, “no prior warning had been given by the government of Israel of the firing of 155 MM high explosive projectiles on, or in the surrounding area of the school”.

The UN released its summary of the report but said the full 207-page report is private. The inquiry looked at 10 incidents. Ban’s statement stressed that the board of inquiry “does not make legal findings” and was not tasked with addressing the wider issues of the Gaza conflict.

Ban ordered the inquiry in November after thousands of buildings were destroyed and at least 223 Gaza schools, either run by the UN refugee agency or the Hamas government, were hit in the fighting.

When Ban visited Gaza in October, he said the destruction was “beyond description” and “much more serious” than what he witnessed in the Palestinian territory in 2009 in the aftermath of a previous Israel-Hamas war.

Ban said on Monday he had established a group of senior managers to look into the inquiry’s recommendations.

Indonesia set to execute drug smugglers

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Executions of nine drug convicts loom as Indonesia dismisses plea by Australia to investigate judicial corruption.

Indonesia

by Al Jazeera

Indonesia appears likely to press ahead with the executions of nine drug criminals on Tuesday, despite last-ditch appeals by Australia’s foreign minister for a stay of execution so that claims of corruption during the trials of the two Australian prisoners could be investigated.

The families of the Australian convicts paid an anguished final visit to their loved ones on Tuesday, wailing in grief as ambulances carrying empty white coffins arrived at their prison.

Julie Bishop, Australia’s foreign minister, told news media that she had received a letter from Indonesia on Monday night that offered no indication of a reprieve for Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.

Earlier on Monday, she had asked for a stay in their executions, saying allegations in the Australian media that their judges had requested money to commute the death sentences were “very serious”.

The two are among nine drug convicts, mostly foreigners, who are due to be executed by a firing squad as soon as Tuesday night.

However, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said that such concerns should have been conveyed a decade ago when the case went through the courts.

A former lawyer of the prisoners, Muhammad Rifan, told Australia’s Fairfax Media on Monday that Indonesian judges had requested more than $100,000 in return for prison terms of less than 20 years.

But Rifan said the judges later told him they had been ordered by senior legal and government members in Jakarta to impose a death penalty, so the deal fell through.

Arrested in Bali

The members of the Bali Nine were arrested at the main airport on the holiday island of Bali in April 2005 for trying to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin to Australia.

The Indonesian authorities had been tipped off by Australia’s Federal Police.

The seven other members of the Bali Nine, all Australians, have been jailed in Indonesia but do not face the death penalty.

Armanatha Nasir, a spokesman for Indonesia’s foreign ministry, said Sukumaran and Chan had been given all the legal avenues to challenge their death sentences.

The country’s attorney-general’s office said the executions of all nine people on death row would proceed this week.

“I think it will happen this week as the preparations are 100 percent ready now,” spokesman Tony Spontana said.

The prisoners were handed 72 hours’ notice of their executions on Saturday, when representatives of their countries were also advised. Indonesia usually carries out executions at midnight.

The other seven who were informed at the weekend that they would face the firing squad are four Nigerians, an Indonesian, a Brazilian and a Filipina.

Spontana said a tenth prisoner, the Frenchman Sergei Atlaoui, would be spared for now as legal proceedings were still under way.

Among the condemned is a Brazilian man, Rodrigo Gularte, who has been diagnosed by Indonesian medics with schizophrenia, a mental illness.

Gularte, 42, was arrested in 2004 at a Jakarta airport after trying to enter the country with 6kg of cocaine hidden in a surfboard.

He was also sentenced to death in 2005.

Prison wedding

In Hong Kong, Filipino migrants ralied on behalf of Mary Jane Velose – a 30-year-old Filipina mother of two whose supporters say she was tricked into carrying a suitcase loaded with heroin.

Meanwhile, one of the Australians on death row, Andrew Chan, got married in the prison on Monday, his brother Michael Chan said after attending the wedding.

The marriage was Chan’s “final wish” granted by Indonesian prison authorities.

“Yes there was a celebration inside the prison this afternoon with close family and friends; it’s obviously a special occasion for them,” Michael said.

“Yes, look, it’s tough time but it’s happy time at the same time. We just hope that the president somewhere will find some compassion and mercy for these two, young couple so they can carry on with their lives.”

Indonesia executed six prisoners; from Brazil, Malawi, Nigeria, Vietnam, the Netherlands, and an Indonesian national, in January.

Congress seeks probe into TRAI releasing 1 mn e-mail IDs

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TRAI

New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday asked the government to investigate as to why the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) put up on its website the names of over one million people who had written to it on net neutrality.

Raising the issue during zero hour in the Lok Sabha, Congress member Gaurav Gogoi said: “TRAI putting up the list of names and e-mail addresses of net activists on its website is akin to a bank making the account details of its customers public.”

“This will expose these net activists to hackers,” he said.

Gogoi asked the government to probe as to why and who in the TRAI had leaked the names.

TRAI on Tuesday released the names and email IDs of over one million people who gave their comments on the consultation paper on net neutrality.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had last week accused the government of floating a “trial balloon” on net neutrality even as Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said his regime was in favour of free and fair access to the World Wide Web.

Network neutrality, or open inter-working, means that in accessing the World Wide Web, one is in full control over how to go online, where to go and what to do as long as these are lawful.

It advocates that firms that provide internet services should treat all lawful internet content in a neutral manner.

(IANS)

Nepal quake toll could reach 10,000, govt on 'war footing' – Nepal PM

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nepal

Katmandu: The death toll in Nepal’s earthquake could reach 10,000, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala told reporters on Tuesday, ordering intensified rescue efforts and appealing for foreign supplies of tents and medicines.

“The government is doing all it can for rescue and relief on a war footing,” Koirala said in an interview. “It is a challenge and a very difficult hour for Nepal.”

A home ministry official put the latest death toll at 4,349. If the death toll does reach 10,000, that would be even higher than the 8,500 killed in a massive 1934 quake, the Himalayan nation’s worst disaster to date.

Koirala was abroad when the 7.9 magnitude quake struck on Saturday. He returned on Sunday. He has issued orders to his government to improve coordination of the relief effort and will address the nation later on Tuesday, an aide said.

Appealing for foreign assistance, Koirala said Nepal needed tents and medicines. Many people are sleeping out of doors because their homes have been destroyed or may not withstand the dozens of aftershocks that have hit the country, he said.

“The government needs tents, much medicine. People are sleeping in fields and rains,” he said. “There are more than 7,000 people injured. Their treatment and rehabilitation is going to be a big challenge.”

(Agencies)

Movie Review: 'Ishq Ke Parindey' is a very interesting, entertaining & musical social movie

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Ishq Ke Parindey

Banner: Shyam Motion Pictures
Presenter: Pawan Goyal
Director: Shakir Khan
Cast: Rishi Verma, Priyanka Mehta, Manjul Aazad, Yasir Iftikhar Khan, Monisha Rai, Pran Dawas & Abhishek
Music: Vijay Vermaa, Rashid Khan & Sajjad Ali

Débutante director Shakir Khan in his debut directorial offering ‘Ishq Ke Parindey’ has refreshed the musical era of earlier musical Muslim social movies like ‘Palki’, ‘Mere Mehboob’, ‘Mehboob Ki Mehendi’ et al. If only Shakir miyan had resisted the temptation of setting ‘Ishq Ke Parindey’ amidst the backdrop of “Gang Wars”.

Right at the outset ‘Ishq Ke Paridey’ starts conveying a loud & clear message that love surpasses all barriers & borders. In fact ‘Ishq Ke Parindey’ portrays Indo – Pak conflict against the backdrop of a powerful love story. The film strongly sends out the message of peace for the constantly warring neighbouring countries namely India & Pakistan. There are still a lot of things that bind India & Pakistan together and their tragic history is definitely one of them. A history which changed the lives of millions, a history which re – wrote the destinies of millions. So ‘Ishq Ke Parindey’ is a love story of Indo – Pak love birds, Sheen, a Muslim girl from Pakistan, and Faiz, a Muslim boy from Lucknow, India, both of whom protect the flame of their sacred love from hatred & violence. The scenario kickstarts when an innocent & beautiful Pakistani girl, Sheen arrives in Lucknow along with her family. It is in the royal city of Nawabs that she meets her soul mate, Faiz. Love blossoms for both of them and what follows is a deadly fight amongst their families. In the end ‘Ishq Ke Parindey’ comes accross as a soulful & lovable journey of Sheen & Faiz’s love story.

Débutante director Shakir Khan’s ‘Ishq Ke Parindey’ ultimatey comes accross as a very interesting, entertaining & musical Muslim social movie. As a director Shakir Khan is brilliant. His sensitive handling of the love story flourishing amidst cross cultural borders, of course steeped in bloodshed & gory Gang Wars, is laudable. The story & the scripted version with intense dialogues (Shakir Khan, Rituraj Tripathi, Dr. Abhishek Dwivedi & Rajeev Arora) & the music (Vijay Vermaa, Rashid Khan & Sajjad Ali) are the biggest and the well deserved highlights of ‘Ishq Ke Paridey). Some of the chartbursting memorable & extremely hummable numbers are “Maula Maula Karam”, “Rab Se Maangi”, “Ek Hatheli”, “Dil Tod Ke” & “Ishq Ke Parindey” (Title number). That apart cinematographer Najeeb Khan has mesmerizingly & beatifully captured Lucknow, the City of Nawab like never before. No doubt added & abetted by the razor sharp scissors of editor Tapos Ghosh.

Performance wise Rishi Verma as Faiz is a surprise discovery. He has essayed his character with natural gracefulness. He has delivered a very effortless & restrained performance. Priyanka Mehta as Sheen wins the hearts of the cinegoers right from the 1st frame. In short she is brilliant without an iota of doubt but of course minus her bluishly tinted contact lenses. Both Rishi Verma & Priyanka Mehta have an extremely bright future. They are adequately supported by Monisha Rai as Ghazala, Pran Dawas as Chhoroo & Abhishek as Vishal. Then of course to take care of the hamming department there is Manjul Aazad as Bhaijaan & Yasir Iftikhar Khan as Shadab.

Tail Piece: ‘Ishq Ke Parindey’ is a good viewing both for the over the hills moviegoers as well as the Gen X. Time to go and bask in Glory of Romance before it is too late.

Movie Review: 'Kaagaz Ke Fools' lovingly depicts a middle class Punjabi family life in all its glory

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Kaagaz Ke Fools

Banner: Globe Filmy Entertainment
Producer: Faisal Kapadia & Arun Bhairav
Director: Anil Kumar Chaudhary
Cast: Vinay Pathak, Mugdha Godse, Raima Sen, Saurabh Shukla, Rajendra Sethi & Amit Behl
Music: Sangeeta Pant & Surendra Sodi
Media Promotion: Dwapar Promoters (Himanshu Jhunjhunwala)

Writer – Producer Faisal Kapadia indeed deserves a pat on his back for weaving an interesting & colorful albeit a relealistic story based on a middle class Punjabi family in all its glory. If only he had handed the directorial reigns to a more skillful director rather than an amateurish actor turned amateurish director like Anil Kumar Chaudhary, whose earlier credits include films like ‘Ye Mothers’ & ‘No Rules For Fools’ and now ‘Kaagaz Ke Fools’. How Symbolic!!!

The plotted scenario of the film starts off with a search operation by Dev (Saurabh Shukla) & Nikki (Mugdha Godse). This brother – sister duo are in search of Nikki’s ‘non – ambitious but honest’ husband Purushottam Tripathi (Vinay Pathak), who leaves the house after a tiff with his nagging (but loveable) wife Nikki. While on one hand, Nikki’s relatives help to reconcile her relationship with Purushottam, on the other hand, the couple’s common friend lays his bets on them getting divorced. Caught in a whirlpool of relatives, friends & emotional turmoil, Purushottam lands up in a gambling den, where he drinks heavily and wins not just the money but also the company of a ‘working woman’ prostitute Rubina (Raima Sen). Despite all her attempts to seduce him, the ‘patni – vratha’ Purushottam refuses to give in to her advances. Seeing a ‘truthful human’ in her, he starts staying with her, but without any intimacy between them. On a professional front too, his life is in turmoil as his book ‘Ek Thehri Si Zindagi’ fails to find any publisher, which further adds to his frustration. One day, when Purushottam is totally out of control emotionally, he again lands up at the same gambling den. Lady Luck favors him to the core and he makes a killing, so much so that he even defeats the owner of the gambling den ‘in his own game’. He, then, hands over all the winnings to Rubina asking her to fund her brother’s education. The next day, a series of incidents happen in quick succession that puts everyone including Purushottam in a tizzy. While on one hand, Purushottam gets kidnapped in broad daylight, on the other hand, someone renames his book from ‘Ek Thehri Si Zindagi’ to ‘Ek Tharki Si Zindagi’, which lands up being a Bestseller’ in no time of its publishing.

Not only director Anil Kumar Chaudhary but most of his technical crew seems incompetent like cinematographer Aniket Khandagale, music composer Sangeeta Pant (but of course Surendra Sodhi’s background score deserves a special mention), editor Kshitija Khandagale, sound designer Suresh Sharma et al. Need anything more be said.

Performance wise It is Vinay Pathak’s film all the way as his act as a simpleton wins the heart of the viewers as he always finds himself not only in the wrong place but at the wrong time too. In short he is ‘Brillanto’. While the rest of the cast like Mugadha Godse, Raima Sen, Saurabh Shukla, Rajendra Sethi & Amit Behl are all victims of serious miscasting and hence fail to impress and deliver the goods.

Tail Piece: Inspite of all its foibles and follies ‘Kaagaz Ke Fools’ is worth giving a try at least once without ending up being regretful.

RCB demolish Delhi Daredevils at Kotla

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RCB-IPL

by Arun Gopalakrishnan

New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bangalore’s bowlers won their team a match for the second game in a row after they dismissed the Delhi Daredevils for a paltry total at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium in Delhi. After winning the toss and opting to bowl first, RCB’s bowlers were relentless right through the innings and dismissed the hosts for 95 – the lowest total of Pepsi IPL 2015. The opening pair then knocked off the runs comfortably, taking the team home with 57 balls to spare. The 10-wicket win – as commanding as they come – propelled RCB to fourth in the points table.

Mitchell Starc struck first blood for the visitors in the first over when he dismissed Shreyas Iyer LBW. Varun Aaron conceded 21 runs in his first two overs as DD moved to 34 for one at the end of five overs. David Wiese, introduced into the attack in the sixth over, struck immediately when he had the DD skipper JP Duminy nicking one to the wicket-keeper.

Aaron returned to bowl the seventh over and struck two deadly blows by dismissing Yuvraj Singh and Angelo Mathews off consecutive deliveries. Yuvraj Singh chased a fairly wide delivery, bowled back of a length and at good pace, only for the ball to take the outside edge on the way to the keeper. Mathews was at the receiving end of a snorter; the Sri Lankan was taken by surprise at the pace and direction of the ball directed at him, was in no position to play the ball and ended up fending it to the man at short midwicket.

Opener Mayank Agarwal (27 from 34 balls) added 28 runs in the company of Kedar Jadhav, before his decision to step out against Iqbal Abdulla cost him his wicket; wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik effected the stumping with the batsman way out of the crease.

From 67 for 5 in 12.1 overs, DD collapsed to 95 all out, adding only 28 runs in the next 6.1 overs. Kedar Jadhav, who batted at six, would be top-scorer in the innings with 33. The Maharashtra batsman faced 29 balls and struck four boundaries before he holed out to Starc at midwicket. There were ten balls remaining in the allotted twenty overs when Domnic Joseph was run out by a throw from AB de Villiers.

The RCB bowlers had a field day, and barring the first two overs bowled by Varun Aaron, there was never a let up in the intensity. Starc finished as the most successful of the bowlers returning figures of three for 20, while Aaron and Wiese returned with two wickets each. Harshal Patel and Iqbal Abdulla, who bowled a maiden over too, picked up one wicket apiece.

RCB’s run-chase was a mere formality given the target they were faced with. Though the first over produced only four runs, Chris Gayle cut loose in the second over hitting Domnic Joseph for a six and two boundaries. The left-hander kept his foot on the accelerator right until the field restrictions were eased, by which time RCB had raced to 50 for no loss; Gayle had 43 runs from 27 balls at that stage, while Kohli had contributed six runs from nine balls.

Kohli joined the party when Amit Mishra was introduced into the attack in the seventh over; he hit the leg-spinner for consecutive boundaries – one inside-out shot that raced to the cover boundary, followed by a whip to the midwicket.

Gayle brought up his half-century with a slog-sweep off Imran Tahir in the eighth over and remained unbeaten on 62 (40 balls, 6 fours and 4 sixes) when Kohli struck a straight-drive to take his team past the finish line. The RCB captain remained unbeaten on 35.

Brief Scores

Delhi Daredevils 95 all out in 18.2 Overs (Kedar Jadhav 33, Mitchell Starc 3-20) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 99-0 in 10.3 Overs (Chris Gayle 62*, Virat Kohli 35*)

Man of the Match: Varun Aaron, for his spell of 2 for 24

Guantanamo Bay detainee Shaker Aamer to be released in June

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shaker-aamer

Guantanamo Bay detainee and UK resident Shaker Aamer is expected to be freed in June, US government sources have revealed.

The UK has made repeated calls since 2007 for the release of the 48-year-old, who was born in Saudi Arabia but who has a British wife and four children in London, reports the Daily Mail.

Mr Aamer, who has been held at Guantanamo without charge for more than 13 years, is likely to be transferred to an undisclosed country over the summer, probably in June, along with up to 10 other detainees, a US government official said.

The official told AFP that the transfer will take place after a 30-day notice period to Congress, following a sign-off from Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.

A total of 122 detainees remain at Guantanamo, 57 of whom have been deemed “releasable” by a review committee, including those slated for release this summer.

“The goal is to transfer all 57,” said Lieutenant Colonel Myles Caggins, a Pentagon spokesman. “We’re going to support the President’s mission of closing Guantanamo through transfers of detainees and prosecutions through military commissions,” he said.

US President Barack Obama has repeatedly vowed to close the prison at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

According to human rights group Reprieve, which represents Shaker Aamer, he was volunteering for a charity in Afghanistan in 2001 when he was abducted and sold for a bounty to US forces.

Reprieve says he was then tortured, and eventually cracked, agreeing to whatever his captors accused him of doing. Satisfied with the confession of an abused and broken man, US forces took him to Guantanamo Bay in February 2002.

He cleared for release in 2007, but this process required no fewer than six US government agencies to agree that he had done nothing wrong, yet he still remained imprisoned.

 

Sudan's Bashir re-elected with 94 percent of vote

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Omar al-Bashir, who faces war-crimes charges, declared winner by election commission, extending his 25-year rule.

The Election Commission put turnout at 46.4 percent and denied widespread reports of low participation [Reuters]

The Election Commission put turnout at 46.4 percent and denied widespread reports of low participation [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Sudan’s Election Commission says President Omar al-Bashir has won re-election with 94 percent of the vote, extending his 25-year rule despite war-crimes charges and domestic rebellions.

The Election Commission put turnout at 46.4 percent and denied widespread reports of low participation.

Mokhtar al-Assam, the head of the commission, announced the results on Monday, saying reports of low turnout were “not accurate”.

The four-day vote began on April 13. Nearly 13 million people were registered to vote at nearly 11,000 polling centres. Polling stations in the capital, Khartoum, were largely deserted.

Bashir, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1989, is the only sitting head of state facing genocide charges at the International Criminal Court. The charges stem from the conflict in the Darfur region.

Railway launches mobile app for public complaints

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indian-railways

Bengaluru: A portal on Complaint Management has been launched by Railways in English and Hindi on Android platform.

The public complaints and suggestions are being monitored on a real time basis. Necessary instructions have been issued to concerned officials to finalize the complaints at the earliest.

Bonafide passengers can send their valuable suggestions also through this newly launched portal.

The Railway Mobile App has currently received wide publicity through Indian Railways and via social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha has urged public to make use of thie app.

(Agencies)

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