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Shweta Khanduri walked the ramp for the “BETI” show at IIJW’ 15- A tribute to Indian woman

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Shweta Khanduri

Bollywood stars are considered a part of a glamorous world that is far removed from harsh realities of daily life. Often, we get an illusion that these celebrities are way beyond the problems faced by common man and pay no heed in social issues. However, there are a few celebrities who have tried to break this stereotype and are playing a vital role in shaping our society to make it a better place to live in.

So apart from her work commitments, the pretty actress Shweta Khanduri is occupied with her social activities. Shweta glided down dressed in her best fashion when she made a graceful entry in a dazzling Shaina NC design and displayed a scintillating jewellery set by Leading Jewellers of the World – Gitanjali Gems Ltd. when she walked the ramp at India International Jewellery Week 2015 for the Leading Jewellers of the World – Gitanjali Gems Ltd in association with designer Shaina NC for the “BETI” foundation.

Standing firm in the support of “BETI” foundation, Shweta Khanduri averred “You have two hands, one to help yourself and other to help others. ‘BETI’ is a step in the service of Womankind, we seek & strive to redress the wrongs perpetrated on Women in whatever way we can and to the utmost of our capacities. I am proud to be a part of the “BETI” movement”.

Cafe built over Jerusalem Islamic graves sparks anger

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For centuries, the area housed the Maaman Allah cemetery, the oldest and largest Muslim graveyard in the country.

The owner of the restaurant said he did not know there was a grave under the cafe [Al Jazeera]

The owner of the restaurant said he did not know there was a grave under the cafe [Al Jazeera]

by Al Jazeera

The opening of a cafe in Jerusalem built over a revered Islamic cemetery has sparked condemnation and anger from the Muslim community.

The Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage said on Tuesday that the construction of the site was part of an Israeli plan that aims to demolish “everything related to Arabic Islamic history on this land”.

Landwer Cafe’s Independence Garden branch opened on Sunday on part of an area of land located between occupied East Jerusalem, which is predominantly Arab, and West Jerusalem. The area was being transformed into a park.

For centuries, the land housed the Maaman Allah cemetery, the oldest and largest Muslim graveyard in the country, and is believed to contain the remains of some of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad.

The owner of the restaurant told Al Jazeera that he did not know there was a grave under the cafe, but refused to make further comments.

“It’s not just the loss of the cemetery that angers the Palestinians. The cafe’s selling of alcohol [forbidden in Islam] is seen as a grave violation of the sanctity of the Islamic site,” Al Jazeera’s Elias Karram, reporting from Jerusalem, said.

The cafe is just one part of a plan that includes the construction on the site of 192 housing units, a 480-room hotel, commercial spaces, parking and other elements, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported.

A Museum of Tolerance is also being built in the area.

The construction began in 2011, but after skeletal remains were found, the Islamic Movement, which aims to advocate Islam among Israeli Arabs, along with other entities, filed a petition to the High Court of Justice.

The work was interrupted but soon resumed after the court eventually granted permission.

“All these projects are being constructed over the skulls of Muslims buried in the cemetery … cemeteries are supposed to be protected in all religious beliefs and international conventions,” Amir Khatib, the head of the Umm al-Fahm-based Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage, said.

Maaman Allah cemetery has a historic and religious significance because it includes the remains of a number of revered Islamic figures who participated in the conquest of Jerusalem in the seventh century.

Non-bailable warrant issued against Lalit Modi

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Lalit Modi

Mumbai: A special court here issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against former IPL chairman Lalit Modi on Wednesday for his alleged involvement in a money-laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Last month, the ED has moved the Special court seeking issue of arrest warrant for investigating the case against the business tycoon and cricket manager.

Despite repeated attempts, Modi’s lawyers did not respond to calls and SMSes on his reaction in the matter.

When the matter came up before the court on Tuesday, Special Judge P.R. Bhavake wanted to know from the ED how an arrest warrant could be issued without a charge-sheet being filed in the case and whether the court had powers to do so.

ED counsel H. Venegaonkar submitted that under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the cases follow a different format compared to the regular criminal cases.

Besides, the lawyer contended that since the case was in the pre-investigation stage, the Special Court has the jurisdiction to issue the NBW.

With the issue of the NBW, Modi faces arrest upon return to India and also the possibility of a Red Corner Notice if he fails to turn up.

The ED approached the Special Court after Modi – currently residing in London since 2010 – failed to respond to its summons last month.

The ED had filed the case against Modi in 2012 under the PMLA in connection with a mega-deal for IPL telecast rights.

The ED action followed a case lodged by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Chennai against Modi and others pertaining to the same matter.

(IANS)

At least 28 dead, several injured as two trains derail in MP, rescue ops on

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trains derail MP

Bhopal: At least 28 persons were killed and 25 others injured after the seven coaches of Kamayani Express and five bogies of Janata Express derailed while crossing a swollen Machak river near Harda late last night.

Twenty four bodies, including nine men, 10 women and five kids, have been recovered so far from the mishap site between Khirkiya and Harda stations , Madhya Pradesh Public Relation Department Commissioner Anupam Rajan told PTI today.

The toll could further go up, he said. According to West Central Railway PRO Piyush Mathur seven coaches of Kamayani Express and five bogies plus the engine of Janata Express were derailed late last night as the base material on the tracks got washed away.

“Seven bogies of Kamayani Express and engine plus three coaches of Janata Express were derailed between Khirkiya and Bhirangi stations near Harda,” Mathur said. “The mishap took place around 11.30 PM on Tuesday as base material of the tracks got washed away in heavy rains.

“Nearly 25 passengers suffered injuries,” the PRO said. Divisional Commercial Railway Manager (DCRM) Brajendra Kumar said that search operation has been launched in nearby areas to find people who might have got washed away in heavy floods.

Bhopal Railway PRO said that over 250 passengers were rescued so far. A passenger of Kamayni Express, Akhilesh Pratap Singh told PTI that he along with over 150 passengers, travelling in the general class coach, were stranded on a hilltop to save themselves.

The accident relief train has reached the spot and several passengers have been brought to a nearby station. Kamayani Express enroute to Varanasi from Mumbai derailed near Harda, about 160 kms from Bhopal, and the Mumbai-Jabalpur Janata Express derailed around 11.30 late last night.

(PTI)

Congress protests for second day against suspension of MPs

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congress-protest

New Delhi: Congress top brass Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh and leaders of six other opposition parties today staged a dharna in Parliament complex for the second day today in protest against suspension of its MPs.

Sharad Yadav and K C Tyagi of the JD-U, Dharmendra Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Jaya Prakash Narayan Yadav of the RJD, P Karunakaran of the CPI-M, D Raja of the CPI and E Ahamed of the IUML were among other political party leaders who participated in the protests.

The Congress chief vociferously raised slogans along with other protestors denouncing the Narendra Modi dispensation.

“End dictatorship”, “Prime Minister break silence” “Where the “Achhe din” have gone”, “Sushma Swaraj resign”, were among the slogans raised by the protestors who also carried black flags.

“We will continue the agitation tomorrow”, Sonia Gandhi told reporters. The Congress leader said she was not aware of any proposal from the government to end the logjam or for revocation of the suspension of the 25 Congress MPs.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said, “We have not liked the LS Speaker’s decision on suspension of Cong MPs but we respect her position”.

(PTI)

Tantric awarded death sentence for killing eight-year-old boy

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death-sentence

Jajpur: A local court in Jajpur district has awarded death sentence to a 30-year-old Hindu tantric after convicting him for killing an eight-year-old boy in a human sacrifice case.

District and Sessions Judge Jivan Ballav Das on Tuesday pronounced the capital punishment on Pitambar Gaipei for killing Srikant Bag of Damodarpur under Sukinda police station limits in the district.

The incident, which took place in Icchanagarpatna village, had sent shock waves in the area. The court pronounced the sentence after examining 22 witnesses and their deposition in the case.

Gaipei had slit the child’s throat and pierced his body with a sharp weapon on February 11, 2010. He had lured the child by offering him chocolates and committed the crime, the police had said in its chargesheet.

The police had recovered the boy’s beheaded body from a drain in Icchanagarpatana, a village close to where he lived, on February 12, 2011. His head was found buried in the tantrik’s house along with religious offerings, the police had said.

The matter came to light on February 17, 2010 after the boy’s parents lodged a complaint with Sukinda police after reconciling to their fate that their child was lost.

Following the incident, Pitambar was on the run. Police had launched a manhunt and nabbed the culprit. He was then produced before the local court.

The arrested tantric confessed before the police that he killed the boy as an offering to the gods to bring good fortune to the people of the area.

(Agencies)

Muslim student punished for not worshipping Ganesha; forced to recite shlokas, humiliated

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Represenational Image

Bengaluru: In a shocking incident, a 15-year-old Muslim student was punished and humiliated by the principal for not worshipping ‘Ganesha’ a deity worshipped by many Hindus at a school in South Bengaluru.

This academic year, the school adopted a few controversial Sanskrit shlokas as its official prayer for the morning assembly. When Padmaja Menon, the principal of the school noticed that Abdullah (name changed) and some of his other Muslim friends weren’t singing “Vakratunda Mahakaya, Surya Koti Sama Prabha…,” she asked the group to come on stage and sing loudly.

“I was humiliated in front of 1,200 students and my constitutional right was violated. She made us go on stage and forced us to sing the prayer in front of everybody. She scolded me in front of everyone on the mike when I mispronounced a few Sanskrit words,” said the boy, who is in a state of shock since the July 27 incident.

The boy said the incident has deeply hurt him. “I am on the school debate team and was elected as the head boy unanimously. I have studied here since I was in kindergarten. The teachers love me and my classmates respect me. I felt like all that was lost when I refused to sing the prayer that day,” he said.

“I feel a little awkward now to discipline other students. They look at me as though I don’t have the right anymore. Being the head boy makes me uncomfortable now,” he complained. However, Abdullah is happy with the fact that many of his Hindu friends have been by his side!

The boy’s mother, along with activists of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, approached the principal and sought clarification. However, the principal acted like she did not understand what the fuss was about and kept saying that the prayer was important to instil values and discipline in students.

The principal even suggested that the boy was turning into a fundamentalist Muslim since he was from Bhatkal (a Muslim-dominated area in Karnataka).

The only thing they managed to achieve was an exemption for Abdullah who can now sit in his class while the assembly is on. “But that is not good enough. Why can’t they go back to the old prayer which had no religion in it? Fourteen of the 32 students in my class are Muslims. There are people from other religions too. At least 30% of the school is Muslim. Why should I sit separately?” he asked.

The principal however defended her stance saying that there was nothing wrong with the prayers, one of which invokes the Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. She was quoted assaying: “But Brahma is the creator of the universe. What is wrong in invoking his name?”

On the other hand, Jessy Joseph, the former principal of the school, says the development is “very sad” and points out that Hindu prayers were sung only during festivals. “We also had a tradition of conducting all faith prayers for special occasions,” said Joseph.

“He worships the Creator of the creators of an Idol!”

Family members of Abdullah, who are preparing to take their fight further, say that the boy never agitated against a Hindu prayer song. “He just remained silent during the morning assembly because, he always worships the creator of the creators of an idol,” said one of the family members of the boy.

She said that the first two lines of the prayer song itself is an act of worshipping an idol (O Lord Ganesha, of Curved Trunk, Large Body, and with the Brilliance of a Million Suns / Please Make all my Works Free of Obstacles, Always). “We are Muslims and we seek guidance and help only from the Creator of the universe and not form a creation of the man,” she said.

(Agencies)

Clashes break out in Al Aqsa after Israeli flag is raised at holy site

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Israeli police regularly escort right-wing settlers through the Al Aqsa compound, violating the peace accord. (AFP/File)

Israeli police regularly escort right-wing settlers through the Al Aqsa compound, violating the peace accord. (AFP/File)

by Ma’an

Clashes broke out between Palestinian worshipers and and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Tuesday after an Israeli extremist attempted to raise the Israeli flag over the holy site, witnesses said.

Witnesses said that Palestinian worshipers asked Israeli police to stop the extremist but they were ignored.

Palestinian worshipers and compound security guards then stopped the extremist themselves and tore up the flag, witnesses said.

They added that the Israeli extremist assaulted the worshipers with a sharp implement, injuring two Palestinians identified as Muammad Badran and Suliman abu-Mayyala.

During subsequent clashes, Israeli police reportedly assaulted worshipers near the Chain Gate and detained Radwan Amr, Fadi Bakir, Raed Zughaier, Husam Sedir, and Majdi Abbasi.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound has seen rising tensions in recent days, with Jewish organizations seeking to celebrate unconfirmed reports that Israel is negotiating the reopening of the compound to non-Muslim worship.

At the end of June, International Crisis Group reported discussions between Israel and the Islamic Endowment that controls the mosque compound on allowing non-Muslim worship at the site, although the move has not yet been confirmed.

On Sunday, right-wing Jewish organizations were reported to have called for a “return to the Temple Mount,” urging participants to wear their Israeli army uniforms as they stormed the holy site.

Violent clashes the week before saw Israeli forces enter the mosque itself, causing the UN to issue a warning against “religious provocations” at the site.

Following Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967, Israel has maintained an agreement with the Islamic Endowment not to allow non-Muslim prayer in the area.

Jewish prayer is allowed at the neighboring Western Wall, which is the last remnant of the Second Temple.

However, Israeli forces regularly escort Jewish visitors to Al-Aqsa, leading to anger among Muslim worshipers.

Pakistan hangs Shafqat Hussain despite appeals

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Defenders say convict was a teenager when he killed a boy in 2004 and that he was tortured into confessing.

Shafqat Hussain

by Al Jazeera

Pakistan has executed a man whose case triggered an international outcry after his lawyers said he was arrested as a juvenile and tortured into confessing to a murder.

Shafqat Hussain was hanged on Tuesday at a jail in Karachi for allegedly killing a seven-year-old boy in 2004.

His lawyers and family say he was only 15 years old at the time of the killing but according to a federal investigation, he was 23.

“Despite opposition from within the country as well as Amnesty International, Pakistan went ahead with the execution,” said Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Pakistan’s capital Islamabad.

Prison officials handed the body over to his brothers, who alleged the execution was not carried out properly.

“There is a cut mark on his neck and half of his neck is separated from his body,” Abdul Majeed, his brother, told AFP.

Family outrage

At Hussain’s hometown in the Pakistani-administered part of Kashmir, his family was distraught.

“Why did they hang my innocent brother, only because we were poor?” said his sister Sumaira Bibi, beating her chest and weeping.

“My son was innocent, only Allah will prove his innocence in his court,” his mother Makhni Begum told AFP.

“We can’t do anything but they [executioners] will face Allah on the day of judgement,” she said.

United Nations rights experts have said Hussain’s trial “fell short of international standards” and urged Pakistan to investigate claims he confessed under torture, as well as his age.

Lawyers for Hussain said school records showed he was 17 in 2004 when he was burned with cigarettes and had fingernails removed until he confessed to killing a child.

Hussain was originally due to face the noose in January but won four stays of execution as his lawyers fought to prove he was under 18 at the time of his offence and could therefore not be executed under Pakistani law.

Pakistan has hanged nearly 200 people since December, when a massacre by the Taliban at an army-run school in Peshawar prompted the government to lift a de facto ban on capital punishment.

Only Iran and China have executed more people than Pakistan this year, says Amnesty International.

Anti-Houthi forces recapture Yemen’s largest army base

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Backed by Saudi-led air strikes, forces fighting on the side of President Hadi recapture southern al-Anad base.

Spread over 40 square kilometres, al-Anad houses a military airport, a war college, and an arms depot [Reuters]

Spread over 40 square kilometres, al-Anad houses a military airport, a war college, and an arms depot [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Forces battling Houthi rebels in Yemen say they have captured the country’s largest military base following intense clashes which left dozens killed.

In a statement on Monday, the exiled government claimed the complete control of al-Anad base, which is in Lahej province in southern Yemen.

“With the help and back-up of the Arab-led coaltion, this achievement was possible,” the statement said.

Troops were also supported by Popular Resistance Committees who have sided with the government in the fight against the Houthis.

The Houthis’ loss of the base deals a significant blow to the Shia rebel group, which has seized large parts of the country but recently lost control of the southern port city of Aden.

Nasser Hadour, an officer in the Popular Resistance, told Al Jazeera that their forces were also able to enter another military base between al-Sader and al-Madina al-Khadra in Lahej province.

Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, who has covered Yemen extensively, explained that while the Popular Resistance Committees are against the Houthis, they form a loose umbrella group whose members do not necessarily back exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

“They have been forced together by the Houthi threat but they have different agendas. Many of them are southern secessionists who in fact see Hadi as a threat,” he said.

The Yemeni army has been split since the Houthis’ advance last year. Some units backing deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh are fighting alongside the Houthis, while others remain loyal to Hadi.

“The Saudi-led coalition is training anti-Houthi forces, providing them with new weapons to build a new army from scratch,” our correspondent said. “Their aim is to maintain Yemen united under one leader and a professional army. But that aim will depend on how the different factions get along. Yemen remains divided along regional and sectarian ties.”

Houthi rebels and its allies had been in control of al-Anad since March.

Spread over 40 square kilometres, the base houses a military airport, a war college, and an arms depot.

It was previously used by US forces as an intelligence gathering hub and base for drone attacks on al-Qaeda in Yemen.

The assault by anti-Houthi forces began after new weapons, including armoured vehicles that had been supplied by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, arrived to reinforce fighters.

At least 50 Houthis and troops loyal to Hadi were killed in fighting for the base, military sources told Al Jazeera. At least 23 Popular Resistance fighters were also killed, the sources added.

There was no word from the Houthis on the outcome of the battle, but the Houthi-run Saba news agency said earlier that Saudi-led air raids had repeatedly struck the military base.

Al-Anad lies on road to Taiz, the next target for the coalition after their recapture of Aden.

The military says controlling al-Anad will help the push to recapture Taiz and the southern provinces.

Hadi remains in Saudi Arabia, where he fled in March as the Houthis closed in on his refuge in Aden.

The Houthis broke out of their northern strongholds and seized control of the capital Sanaa in September, plunging Yemen into another bout of conflict.

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