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Temporary truce begins in four Syrian towns

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Ceasefire begins in rebel-held towns of Zabadani and Madaya outside Damascus and regime-held Fouaa and Kafraya in Idlib.

Rebels attack regime forces in Idlib's Fouaa and Kafraya villages. Previous truces in the towns did not hold [Anadolu Agency/Getty Images]

Rebels attack regime forces in Idlib’s Fouaa and Kafraya villages. Previous truces in the towns did not hold [Anadolu Agency/Getty Images]

by Al Jazeera

A new temporary truce has begun between pro-government and opposition forces in four Syrian towns, a group that monitors the Syrian conflict has reported.

Sunday’s ceasefire began in the rebel-held towns of Zabadani and Madaya outside the capital, Damascus, and the regime-held Shia villages of Fouaa and Kafraya in the northwestern province of Idlib near the Turkish border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Last month, two truces in the four towns did not hold. It is not clear how long the new truce will last or who brokered it.

The UK-based observatory said that hours before the start of the truce, a coalition of rebels led by al-Nusra Front seized parts of Fouaa after fierce fighting against pro-government militias backed by the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah movement.

At least 74 rebels and 40 pro-regime fighters have been killed in the area since rebel forces on Wednesday launched a large-scale attack on Fouaa and Kafraya, the last remaining regime strongholds in Idlib.

Most of the province has fallen in recent months to the rebels.

Zabadani and Madaya are among the rebels’ last strongholds near Syria’s border with Lebanon.

Syrian government troops and allied Hezbollah fighters have been besieging the two mountain towns since July.

The possibility that hardline Sunni rebels, who view Shia Muslims as heretics, would be able to overrun Fouaa and Kafraya appears to have persuaded the Syrian regime and Hezbollah to slow down their bid to recapture Zabadani and Madaya.

Trained rebel fighters

Meanwhile, the observatory reported that 75 rebel fighters trained by US, British and Turkish forces had entered Syria on Friday night and Saturday morning.

The fighters are thought to be part of a planned US-backed force aimed at fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

The initial US programme, signed off by Congress a year ago, set aside $500m and aimed to train some 5,000 rebel fighters.

But the programme has suffered a series of setbacks, including reported defections by trainees unhappy at instructions that they should fight only ISIL and not government forces.

An initial group of 54 fighters came under attack by Nusra Front after entering Syria in late July, according to the Observatory.

On Wednesday, US Central Command chief General Lloyd Austin admitted that only four or five of the US-trained fighters were operating inside Syria.

 

India teams announced for T20Is and first three ODIs

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MS Dhoni to lead the 15-member squads in T20Is and one-dayers

India-cricket

The All-India Senior Selection Committee met earlier today in Bengaluru to announce the India teams for three T20 Internationals and the first three One-day Internationals against South Africa.

They are the first games between the two sides since India’s emphatic victory over South Africa at the MCG in Pool B of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

T20Is: MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Stuart Binny, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Amit Mishra, S Aravind.

First three ODIs: MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav.

Movie Review: ‘Pawn Sacrifice’ keeps you spell bound from the beginning till the end

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Pawn Sacrifice

Producers: Gail Katz, Toby Maguire & Edward Zwick
Director: Edward Zwick
Star Cast: Toby Maguire, Peter Saargaard, Liev Schrieber, Micheal Stulbarg, Lily Rabe & Robin Weigert
Genre: Thriller
Verdict: GOOD

Plot: In a gripping true story set during the height of Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) finds himself caught between two superpowers when he challenges the Soviet Empire. Also starring Liev Schreiber & Peter Sarsgaard, Pawn Sacrifice chronicles Fischer’s terrifying struggles with genius & madness, and the rise & fall of a kid from Brooklyn who captured the imagination of the world.

Aces: Toby Maguire’s superlative performance topped a riveting screenplay and excellent direction of Edward Zwick.

Minuses: The sexual content and profanity deviates one from the main core of the story.

Last Word: The gripping suspense of this thriller hooks you till you leave the darkened auditorium.

Movie Review: ‘Everest’ happens to be a spectacular movie

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Everest

Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Nicky Kentish Barnes, Tyler Thompson, Brian Oliver & Baltasar Kormakur
Director: Baltasar Kormakur
Star Cast: Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, Micheral Kelly, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Emily Watson, Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington & Jake Gyllenhaal
Genre: Docu Drama
Verdict: Good

Plot: On the morning of May 10, 1996, climbers (Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin) from two expeditions start their final ascent toward the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. With little warning, a violent storm strikes the mountain, engulfing the adventurers in one of the fiercest blizzards ever encountered by man. Challenged by the harshest conditions imaginable, the teams must endure blistering winds and freezing temperatures in an epic battle to survive against nearly impossible odds.

Aces: The dare devil act of all the principal actors who were part of the expedition to scale the mountainous peaks of the Everest.

Minuses: The slowest pace of the movie gives you a feeling of watching a documentary film.

Last Word: An interesting fare but with very limited footsteps as this may not be enjoyed by the family audiences.

As crisis intensifies, Kerry says US will take 100,000 refugees in 2017

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Many, though not all, of the additional refugees would be Syrian, US officials have said

Migrants wait at the Austria-Hungaria border in Nickelsdorf, Austria, on September 20, 2015. (Photo: Reuters/David W. Cerny)

Migrants wait at the Austria-Hungaria border in Nickelsdorf, Austria, on September 20, 2015. (Photo: Reuters/David W. Cerny)

by Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced Sunday that the U.S. will accept 85,000 refugees from around the world next year—up from 70,000—and the number will rise to 100,000 in 2017.

Many, though not all, of the additional refugees would be Syrian, American officials have said. The United States has taken in just 1,500 refugees since the start of the Syrian war in 2011, and President Barack Obama last week committed to accepting 10,000 more over the coming year.

The New York Times reports:

Still, the steps that Mr. Kerry announced are much less than that some former American officials and refugee experts have recommended.

Last Thursday, more than 20 former senior officials, including some who served in the State Department and Pentagon during the Obama administration, urged the White House to accept 100,000 Syrian refugees.

“We urge that you announce support for a refugees admissions goal of 100,000 Syrian refugees on an extraordinary basis, over and above the current worldwide refugee ceiling of 70,000,” they wrote in a letter to President Obama and congressional leaders. “With some four million Syrian refugees in neighboring countries and hundreds of thousands of Syrian asylum seekers in Europe, this would be a responsible exercise in burden sharing.”

That letter also called on the U.S. to put in place special rules to speed the resettlement process.

As NBC News explains:

U.S. officials have recognized the process for admitting Syrian refugees can take up to 18 months, largely because of vetting to make sure they do not pose a security threat.

Refugee applications referred to the United States by the U.N. refugee agency undergo multiple security checks by several federal agencies.

“[W]e can make a home for many, many refugees in the United States. I’m convinced of it,” Anne Richard, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for population, refugees, and migration, told NPR on Saturday. “But the tricky part is running a process that scrutinizes the backgrounds of the refugees before they come here to make sure we’re bringing people who are legitimate refugees and who do not pose any kind of security threat to the United States.”

A separate letter sent Friday from a coalition of U.S. faith-based and civil society groups to President Obama called for increasing the refugee resettlement cap to 200,000 for the upcoming fiscal year, including 100,000 Syrians.

According to ABC News, “Kerry did not address why the U.S. proposal is well short of what the former officials advocated, but in London on Saturday, he said the migrant crisis must be solved by ending Syria’s civil war and replacing President Bashar Assad.”

Meanwhile, the refugee crisis only worsens, creating a devastating new reality marked for too many by terror, violence, and injustice.

The Guardian reported Sunday on one group of refugees, numbering in the hundreds, who “fear they are to be deported back to Syria after their boat was intercepted by the Turkish coastguard.”

One female among the crowd, detained at a refugee center and not identified for her protection, said she feared being killed if this happened. “They are threatening us that Syrians will be deported to Syria, Iraqis to Iraq,” she said. “If they send us back to Syria we will die.”

Siddaramaiah requests union govt to reconsider decision on IIT in Dharwad

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siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has requested HRD Minister Smriti Irani to reconsider setting up of the IIT at Raichur instead of the proposed Dharwad as the venue.

Earlier this month the Centre had given its decision of setting up the first IIT of Karnataka in Dharwad. The decision made the district of Dharwad happy and politicians from Hubballi-Dharwad were given the credit for bringing the IIT, however, on the other hand people in Raichur were disappointed and protested against the government’s decision of choosing Dharwad over Raichur.

CM Siddaramaiah was attacked by several organisations in Raichur for not giving them the privilege of hosting an IIT.

However, BJP leaders Pralhad Joshi, Jagadish Shettar and HN Ananth Kumar, all from Hubballi-Dharwad credited themselves of getting the IIT sanctioned to the district.

In his letter to the HRD ministry, Siddaramaiah has stated that the state government had shortlisted Raichur, Mysuru and Dharwad for the IIT. He said that he felt that as it was decided recently that Dharwad would host an International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), the proposed IIT had to be set up in Raichur.

He further stated that Raichur was the district headquarters located in the Hyderabad-Karnataka backward region and enjoyed a special status under Article 371-J of the Indian Constitution, hence it would be an ideal spot for the IIT, which would also help in balanced regional development.

He concluded saying that the state would extend all necessary assistance and cooperation in establishing the IIT at Raichur.

(Agencies)

Poojary calls Yettinahole Project a scam, demands CID probe

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Janardhan Poojary

Mangaluru: Taking a dig at some politicians and officials, senior Congress leader B Janardhan Poojary on Monday again made a scathing attack not just stating that the Yettinahole Project is a scam, but also demanding CID probe into the project.

Addressing a press meet at the district Congress office here, Poojary said that the CM was being misled by a handful of politicians and officials as far as Yettinahole project is concerned.

Poojary who opined that well planned conspiracy was working to de-stabilise the government at the state, said that if the project is implemented then only 0.85 TMC water will be available as against  the projected 24 TMC as the fact is that Yettinahole does not have 24 TMC of water to offer.

Poojary said that as per a report from expert T V Ramachandra and his three-member team from Indian Institute of Science only 9.7 TMC of water is available, out of which 5.8 TMC is being used by the locals and 2.8 TMC flows out, and the only water available is 0.85 TMC.

Poojary lamented that the government was about to spend Rs 13,000 crore for just one TMC of water, which is ironic. He also stated that as against the Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Ltd’s claim in its affidavt to the the National Green Tribunal that 13 hectares of forest land would be destroyed, the fact is that 1,000 hectares of land is required for this project.

Poojary also pointed a norm that global tender must be called for any project that costs more than Rs 20 crore has been violated in this romping Rs 13,000 crore project and the project has been handed over to Meghana Constructions, of which tainted IAS officer Kapil Mohan is a partner.

(Agencies)

Bose alive in China in 1948, indicates declassified file

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Subhash_Chandra_Bose

Kolkata: Freedom fighter Netaji Subash Chandra Bose was “alive” and “somewhere in Manchuria, China” in 1948, one of his trusted aides, Deb Nath Das, had claimed then, according to the declassified files by the West Bengal government.

Among the released dossier, file No. 22 sheds light on intelligence gathered by the Bengal government (office of the deputy commissioner of police), on INA leaders, including Das.

An extract dated August 9, 1948, says: “Deb Nath Das, an ex-INA leader who is actively engaged in anti-Congress propaganda, is preaching in political and party circles that Netaji Subash Chandra Bose is alive and is somewhere in Manchuria, China at present.”

“To rouse the curiosity and even belief of the people, he (Das) says that Netaji told him before the plane-crash that the possibility of a third world war would emerge in the wake of the second world war.”

On August 22, 1945, Tokyo Radio announced the “death” of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in an air crash in Formosa (now Taiwan) on August 18, 1945, en route to Japan.

But the crash theory has been rejected by scores of Bose’s followers and admirers and claims of the revolutionary leader resurfacing continue to intrigue and divide Indians over the years.

Adding to the controversy, the extract further states that Das had asserted that in 1948 Bose was keeping tabs on the international as well as national scenario.

“Das adds that Netaji is watching both the international and national situation, vis-A-vis India, to find out as to which among the foreign powers was her friend or enemy. There is a talk that Deb Nath Das may contest the by-election from south Calcutta constituency of the West Bengal Assembly.”

Das, according to a declassified 1948 confidential diary page of the Calcutta police, was known to give “fiery lectures” against the then Indian government.

“Except for the meetings attended or presided over by Das, in which he always gave fiery lectures against the government of India, nothing else could be known of his anti-Congress activities.”

The Bengal government on Friday made public 64 files to help unravel the mystery behind Bose’s disappearance.

Bose, once the Congress president, made contact with the Axis powers during World War II. He formed the Indian National Army in Singapore, with the help of the Japanese, and fought the British Indian Army.

Ex-INA leader Das, was a key member of the provisional government-in-exile formed by Bose in 1943.

(IANS)

Journalist Nikhil Wagle gets threat from Sanatan Sanstha, rejects security cover

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Nikhil Wagle

Mumbai: Senior journalist Nikhil Wagle, who has been getting threat from the right-wing outfit Sanatan Sanstha, has rejected the security cover offered to him by the Maharashtra government.

The government has offered security cover to Wagle in view of increased threat perception to him in the wake of the arrest of a Sanatan Sanstha activist in connection with the Govind Pansare murder case.

“Last week, police officials came to me saying that government has decided to offer security cover in view of general threat perception. However, they did not specify whether it was because of the threat from Sanatan”, Wagle told PTI.

“I have been getting threats from Sanatan. Four years ago, Abhay Vartak of Sanatan (Sanstha) walked out of a programme I hosted. Even as recently as last week, Sanatan Prabhat (a publication of the outfit) carried an article warning me,” he said.

Sameer Gaikwad, an active member of Sanathan Sanstha, was arrested last week in connection with murder of slain rationalist Govind Pansare. He is being interrogated by Maharashtra police officials in Kolhapur.

82-year-old Pansare and his wife, Uma were shot at by two motorcycle-borne youths on February 16, 2015, near their home in Kolhapur. Pansare died four days later at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai while his wife survived the attack, suffering injuries that crippled her.

(PTI)

Modi scripting his own downfall: Rahul Gandhi

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rahul gandhi

Mathura: Firing yet another salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi today claimed that the PM is scripting his own “downfall” as he has “failed” to fulfil promises made to the people.

In a pepup up talk at Congress Executive meet in the key state of Uttar Pradesh, where Congress is reduced to fourth position, Rahul invoked Steve Jobs’ efforts to revive a floundering Apple and said the party men should work unitedly as a team so that they can fill the void that will be created after “exit” of Modi, who was “harming himself the most”.

The Congress Vice President said that everybody has “Congress DNA” and ideologically the party still occupies the first position as it is not like RSS “in which everything is decided from the top”.

He said that the Prime Minister has not fulfilled his poll promises and is “damaging himself” much more than Congress could have inflicted on him.

“He has promised good days to farmers. Now farmers are committing suicide. Wherever I go in the country, the farmers are abusing Modiji. They are not criticising but abusing. Youths are not getting jobs and despite making repeated promises thrice, OROP has not been given yet.

“Modi is damaging himself much more than we can together do to him. We have to make our place. Modiji is bound to go down but when he goes, we have to fill that space. You may keep on attacking Modi but Modi is attacking himself much more,” Rahul said.

The Congress Vice President, who has frequently taunted the PM with his “suit-boot” barbs, had yesterday attacked Modi over ‘Make in India’ initiative, saying it was “Take in India” in reality.

Telling party workers that everybody has “Congress DNA” in their blood, Rahul today said that they need to motivate people to work and fight together, and gave a message of unity to revive the party that has lost much of its base in the key Hindi belt state.

Maintaining that Congress is different from the RSS, Rahul said, “This is not RSS. Had it been RSS, (Mohan) Bhagwat would have come and told you that the sky is black and then all of you would have echoed that the sky is black. Decisions do not percolate from the top in the Congress party.”

(Agencies)

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