Nasheman

India's largest selling Urdu weekly, now also in English

You are here: Home / Archives for 2015

Archives for 2015

Twin attacks reported in Afghan capital Kabul

by

Taliban gunmen clash with government troops, hours after suicide bomber rams foreign convoy.

Police officers told Al Jazeera that an armoured vehicle carrying non-uniformed international advisers was targeted [AFP]

Police officers told Al Jazeera that an armoured vehicle carrying non-uniformed international advisers was targeted [AFP]

by Al Jazeera

Gunfire and explosions have been reported in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, hours after a Taliban suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a convoy belonging to foreign forces, security officials said.

Police spokesman Ebadullah Karimi said that armed men entered a building close to an installation used by Afghanistan’s intelligence agency on Tuesday afternoon.

Al Jazeera journalists in Kabul reported that the attack took place at a compound in Kabul’s District Eight, and gunmen had taken up positions within it.

Gunfire at the scene of the explosion was ongoing, and the Afghan government had deployed specialist troops to end the clashes.

Earlier, police officials told Al Jazeera that at least three Afghan civilians were wounded in the Shah Shaheed district of Kabul when, also in the city’s east, a Taliban fighter drove a car bomb in to a NATO convoy.

Al Jazeera’s Jennifer Glasse, reporting from Kabul, said the first attack, which was claimed by the Taliban, took place a few kilometres east of the centre of the city and plumes of smoke could be seen after the attack.

“Police told us that the target was a convoy, a car carrying international advisers who were not in military uniform, an armoured car,” Glasse said.

The attack follows a car bomb attack on NATO soldiers last week, which killed two Afghan civilians and injured 26 others, including women and children.

NATO said none of its troops were killed or injured in last week’s attack, which was also claimed by the Taliban.

A fortnight earlier, the armed group launched an attack on Afghanistan’s parliament, killing five people and losing another seven of its own members.

The Taliban launched its annual spring offensive in April.

A surge in attacks has taken a heavy toll on civilians, according to the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan.

In the first four months of 2015, civilian casualties jumped 16 percent from the same period last year, it said.

Greek banks running out of cash as EU leaders meet

by

Cash reserves start to run dry as ECB tightens controls and Greek PM Tsipras meets with EU creditors.

Greek banks are starting to run out of cash, with the ECB raising charges on collateral the banks require to present for funds [Reuters]

Greek banks are starting to run out of cash, with the ECB raising charges on collateral the banks require to present for funds [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Greece’s banks are quickly running out of cash, as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras takes his latest bailout proposal to the country’s eurozone creditors, days after Greek voters overwhelmingly rejected their latest bailout offer.

Officials on Monday announced that the banks would remain closed until Thursday, as the European Central Bank (ECB) slowly tightened a noose on its funding.

The daily withdrawal limits were to remain unchanged at 60 euros ($66) per account daily.

Al Jazeera’s John Psaropoulos, reporting from Athens, said Greek banks were now operating “under siege”, with one major Athens bank only able to keep its ATMs open on Monday after two major companies deposited their payrolls in cash.

“The banks are living day-to-day and hand-to-mouth,” Psaropoulos said.

“They believe they have enough to keep going until Wednesday, possibly Thursday, but only under the capital controls (withdrawal limits).”

The ECB has maintained its emergency liquidity lifeline for Greek banks, however it raised charges on collateral the banks require to present for funds, effectively devaluing the banks’ assets and making them less able to borrow against their collateral.

“The situation is becoming financially worse, not just more politically difficult,” our correspondent said.

Greece last week defaulted on a $1.8bn repayment to the International Monetary Fund, and on Sunday, in a referendum, the Greek people voted to say “no” to Europe’s bailout deal.

Rapid negotiations

Tsipras on Tuesday must persuade Europe’s other 18 leaders, many of whom are exasperated after five years of the Greek crisis, to open rapid negotiations for a major new loan to rescue his country.

He spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel regarding the new proposals ahead of Tuesday’s hastily arranged emergency summit of the eurozone countries in Brussels.

Germany and France, whose economies together account for nearly half of the eurozone, on Monday asked Greece to make detailed proposals to revive bailout talks, a day after the referendum that decisively rejected creditors’ demands for further austerity.

Late on Monday, a Greek government source said that Tsipras had spoken to ECB chief Mario Draghi in efforts to reopen banks with assistance from the Frankfurt-based lender.

Tsipras also spoke to IMF chief Christine Lagarde “on the need to find a viable solution dealing with the real problems of the Greek economy”, the source said.

Lagarde said the IMF was “ready to assist Greece if requested to do so”, despite the June 30 default.

European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said on Tuesday that while he did not want Greece to leave the eurozone, in a so-called Grexit, the Greek people had voted on a deal that “no longer existed”.

“We have to put a very large ego away and deal with the situation we face,” Juncker said.

Tsipras insists that instead of a Grexit, Greece’s creditors will now finally have to talk about restructuring the country’s massive 240 billion euro ($267bn) debt to them.

Turkish flight lands at IGI after bomb scare

by

Flight TK0065

New Delhi: A Turkish Airlines aircraft made an emergency landing at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here following a bomb scare. However, no explosives were found onboard after a thorough search.

An official said that flight TK0065 was on its way from Bangkok to Istanbul with 134 passengers on board when someone saw a bomb threat written on a windowpane of the bathroom.

“Turkish Airlines flight TK0065 from Bangkok to Istanbul (an A-330 aircraft, carrying 134 passengers) has been diverted to Delhi following a possible bomb threat on board,” Ali Gence, senior vice president, media relations, Turkish Airlines, said in a statement.

“The plane has already successfully landed in Delhi and all our passengers and cabin crew have been evacuated safely and taken to the terminal building,” he said.

Gence further said necessary safety checks were taking place.

“Furthermore, precautions have been taken for towing the aircraft in line with standard safety procedures. This is currently in progress. After completing all necessary safety checks, the plane will continue its journey to Bangkok,” Gence said.

Airport sources earlier told IANS that there were 148 passengers on the flight.

“The crew saw a message about ‘bomb in cargo hold’ written on a bathroom mirror. The pilot contacted the Nagpur Air Traffic Control, who guided them to the Delhi ATC,” airport sources said.

Sources said the plane made the emergency landing at around 1.40 p.m. at IGI soon after directions from the Delhi ATC.

“The flight was made to land at an isolation parking. All passengers were evacuated safely from the flight and emergency declared at the airport,” a police official said.

All security agencies, including the National Security Guards (NSG) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) were placed on high alert.

A bomb disposal squad scanned the plane along with a dog squad. Senior officials of CISF and NSG officials held a meeting after the bomb scare.

(IANS)

Sadananda Gowda calls Vyapam scam a ‘silly issue’; says, no need for Modi to answer

by

D V Sadananda Gowda

New Delhi: Union Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday apparently termed Vyapam scam a “silly issue” and slammed the Opposition parties for make it an issue and demanding answer from the Prime Minister.

The shocking statement was given by Mr Gowda in response to the Opposition’s continuous demand that Mr Modi should break his silence on India’s worst ever recruitment scam, which has not only claimed the dozens of lives but also murdered the dreams of a complete generation of youth.

“The state has initiated probe. The deaths are a matter of concern, but law and order is state subject. See, the Prime Minister need not answer on silly issues,” Mr Gowda said.

“The concerned ministers and party president have answered. For each silly issue asking the Prime Minister to answer is not fair,” he added.

The central government had on Monday rejected calls for a CBI probe into this mega scam involving several prominent BJP politicians, bureaucrats and other influential persons.

The Congress, the AAP and the CPI-M, meanwhile, stepped up attacks on the central and Madhya Pradesh governments over the rising number of deaths in the recruitment scandal.

They demanded a CBI probe, but union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said there was no need for a CBI inquiry as the Special Investigation Team probing the scam reported to the Madhya Pradesh High Court, and not the state government.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on July 9 a petition filed by senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh seeking a court-monitored CBI probe into Madhya Pradesh’s multi-crore Vyapam scam, in which more than two dozen accused and witnesses have died under mysterious circumstances.

Singh had earlier alleged complicity of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the MPPEB scam.

More than 40 people associated with the admission and recruitment racket in Vyapam have died since 2013 — either in mysterious circumstances or have committed suicide.

(Agencies)

Shivraj Singh Chouhan seeks CBI probe into Vyapam scam

by

Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Bhopal: Bowing to public outcry, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today said he will request the high court to order a CBI probe into the Vyapam case, including the large number of deaths of people allegedly linked to the scam.

Chouhan, who has been under opposition attack over the rising death toll, said people wanted to know the truth and it had become imperative that the case be probed by CBI now to put to rest all doubts.

The opposition has alleged that nearly 45 people having links with the Vyapam admission and recruitment scam have died since the investigation into the scandal began in July 2013. At least five people, including a journalist covering the scam, have died under mysterious circumstances in last one week.

Addressing a press conference, Chouhan rejected the Congress charge of his involvement in the scam, terming it as “baseless”.

“Honouring public sentiments, I will request the high court to order a CBI probe,” he said, noting that democracy is run on public acceptability. “The functioning of the government should be beyond any doubt,” he said.

Referring to the recent deaths and the public outcry for a thorough probe, Chouhan said many unfortunate events have occurred of late, including the journalist’s death, and that people have a right to know the truth.

Contending that it was not within his powers to order a CBI probe, the chief minister said the developments in the case demanded fair answers.

“I thought about the matter the whole night…The questions which have been raised need answers. It has become necessary now that CBI investigates the case,” he said.

Asked if he wanted a CBI probe into these unnatural deaths as well, he said the agency should probe all aspects of the case.

On Congress’ allegation about his involvement, he said all charges the opposition party had levelled against him in the case so far had been found to be wrong.

Chouhan, however, refrained from making any comment on Union Minister and former state Chief Minister Uma Bharti’s statement that she too felt “scared” over the deaths.

“She is like my elder sister and a very respected leader. I respect her a lot. I made no comment against her even when she was not in BJP,” he said.

(PTI)

Movie Review: ‘Max’ is a heart touching emotional saga of a boy and a dog

by

max_movie

Producer: Karen Rosenfelt
Director: Boaz Yakin
Star Cast: Josh Wiggins, Dejon LaQuake, Thomas Haden Church, Robbie Amell, Lauren Graham, Luke Kleintank, Jay Hernandez, Miles Mussenden, Mia Xitlali, Owen Harn & Joseph Julian
Genre: Adventure
Verdict: Good

Boaz Yakin an American director, of Remember The Titans fame, has come up this time with an emotionally heart touching film about a boy Justin and a dog named Max and the total bonding they share with each other.

Plot: A military dog from Afghanistan is adopted by his late handler Kyle Wincott’s (Robbie Amell;) grieving family in US, where his close bond with the soldier’s brother Justin Wincott (Josh Wiggins) leads to a life altering revelation in this family friendly adventure.

Aces: Its salutation to all the military dogs who not only help the soldiers on the battlefield but also on their home front. Besides Josh Wiggins and the dog steals the show in the entire proceedings.

Minuses: Too much exposure of melodramatic sentiments.

Last Word: A perfect outing for all animal lovers.

Movie Review: ‘Terminator Genisys’ is not impressive at all

by

Terminator Genisys

Producer: David Ellison & Dana Goldberg
Director: Alan Taylor
Star Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brett Azar, Aaron V. Williamson, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Willa Taylor, Jai Courtney, Bryant Prince, J. K. Simmons, Wayne Bastrup, Matt Smith, Nolan Gross, Courtney B. Vance, Dayo Okeniyi, Gregory Alan Williams, Sandrine Holt, Michael Gladis, Griff Furst, Teri Wyble & debutante Lee Byung – Hun
Genre: Sci-Fi

Verdict: Average

Alan Taylor, the director of such popular films like Lost, The West Wing, Six Feet Under, Sex And The City, The Sopranos, Game Of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Deadwood, Mad Men, Palookaville, Thor: The Dark World et al, is the latest director to wield the megaphone for Terminator Genisys. But sadly enough he has failed to create the magic of the earlier “Terminator” series.

Plot: In the year 2029, John Connor (Jason Clarke), leader of the Resistance against Skynet, launches a massive final offensive on Los Angeles. He is notified by his unit, Tech – Com that Skynet will attack on 2 fronts, past & future, thereby changing warfare forever.

Aces: As in all the Terminator series. Its the special effects that rules the roost here too. And the débutante actor Lee Byung – Hun is promising enough to watch out for.

Minuses: Seriously speaking It lacks the thematic depth, conceptual intelligence or even visual thrills that launched this once mighty franchise.

Last Word: Even the staunch fans of Arnie and the past Terminator series will be sadly disappointed.

WikiLeaks: US bugged more than two dozen Brazilian leaders

by

New spy revelations ‘likely to reinvigorate tensions,’ says The Intercept, which co-published list of targets

Photo published Tuesday under the ABC News headline, "2 Years After Spying Flap, US, Brazil Seek to Turn the Page." (Photo: AP)

Photo published Tuesday under the ABC News headline, “2 Years After Spying Flap, US, Brazil Seek to Turn the Page.” (Photo: AP)

by Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams

Just days after Brazil President Dilma Rousseff’s official working visit to the United States, during which she and President Barack Obama issued a joint communique affirming their “mutual respect and trust,” WikiLeaks and The Intercept on Saturday, July 4 published a “top secret U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) target list of 29 key Brazilian government phone numbers that were selected for intensive interception,” or phone-tapping.

Noting that last week’s visit to the U.S. was one “she had delayed for almost two years in anger over prior revelations of NSA spying on Brazil,” The Intercept‘s Glenn Greenwald and David Miranda argue that “these new revelations extend far beyond the prior ones and are likely to reinvigorate tensions.”

As WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange said in a press statement accompanying the leak: “Our publication today shows the U.S. has a long way to go to prove its dragnet surveillance on ‘friendly’ governments is over.”

The list of priority targets includes not only Rousseff but also her assistant, her secretary, her chief of staff, her Palace office, and the phone in her Presidential jet. According to WikiLeaks, the NSA targeted “not only those closest to the President, but waged an economic espionage campaign against Brazil, spying on those responsible for managing Brazil’s economy, including the head of its Central Bank.”

This is notable because, as Greenwald and Miranda write, “Brazilians are particularly sensitive to economic espionage by the U.S., both for historical reasons (as a hallmark of American imperialism and domination on the continent) and due to current economic concerns (for that reason, the story of NSA’s targeting of Petrobras was arguably the most consequential of all prior surveillance stories).”

The phones of Brazil’s foreign minister as well as its ambassadors to Germany, France, the EU, the U.S., and Geneva were also on the list.

In an interview with The Intercept, Gilberto Carvalho, a top aide to Rousseff, described his reaction to the spying revelations as “maximum indignation.”

Greenwald and Miranda continue:

For his part, the Central Bank’s Pereira da Silva said his reaction is to fully embrace the stinging denunciation of NSA’s electronic surveillance contained inDilma’s September, 2013 United Nations speech, delivered while Obama waited in the hallway to speak. That blistering speech was widely regarded in Brazil as a high point of Dilma’s leadership on the world stage.

Speaking from the General Assembly podium, she declared that “tampering in such a manner in the affairs of other countries is a breach of international law and is an affront of the principles that must guide the relations among them, especially among friendly nations.” She condemned U.S. mass surveillance as a “grave violation of human rights and of civil liberties” and, in a rare invocation of her own personal history as a rebel against the country’s oppressive military dictatorship, said: “As many other Latin Americans, I fought against authoritarianism and censorship, and I cannot but defend, in an uncompromising fashion, the right to privacy of individuals and the sovereignty of my country. In the absence of the right to privacy, there can be no true freedom of expression and opinion, and therefore no effective democracy.”

Saturday’s leak comes on the heels of previous publications by WikiLeaks that show systematic U.S. targeting of the highest officials including three French presidents and the current chancellor of Germany. On Friday, CNN and The Intercept reported that the U.S. government spied on German journalists as well.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis resigns

by

Minister makes announcement on personal blog as European creditors scramble to respond to “No” vote in debt referendum.

Yanis Varoufakis

by Al Jazeera

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has resigned after Greek voters delivered an overwhelming “No” vote in a referendum on whether to accept more austerity measures in return for new bailout cash.

In a statement published on his personal blog on Monday, Varoufakis said he was stepping down to allow Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to reach a new deal with European creditors.

“Soon after the announcement of the referendum results, I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted ‘partners’, for my … ‘absence’ from its meetings; an idea that the Prime Minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement,” Varoufakis wrote on his blog.

“For this reason I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today.

“I consider it my duty to help Alexis Tsipras exploit, as he sees fit, the capital that the Greek people granted us through yesterday’s referendum. And I shall wear the creditors’ loathing with pride.”

Al Jazeera’s John Psaropoulos, reporting from Athens, said the decision to step down was expected and not a surprise.

“Many times since he took office in January he’s said that he’s not in it for the long haul, he said that he’s not a politician, he’s a technocrat, an academic,” Psaropoulos said.

EU leaders to meet

The announcement came as European Union leaders scrambled for a response on Monday, following the overwhelming “No” vote in Sunday’s referendum.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande were expected to meet in Paris on Monday, after calling for an emergency eurozone summit in a phone conversation after the result of the vote became apparent on Sunday.

EU President Donald Tusk said that the summit would be held on Tuesday, according to the AFP news agency.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker – who had said a Greek “No” would be “no to Europe” was expected to speak to the European Central Bank (ECB) and eurozone finance ministers on Monday.

Martin Schulz, the president of the European parliament, told Al Jazeera that the “No” vote had created a difficult situation, but the will of the Greek people must be respected.

“Ordinary citizens, pensioners, sick people and children in kindergarten should not pay a price for the dramatic situation … therefore, a humanitarian programme is needed immediately,” Schulz said.

“I hope that the Greek government will, in the next few hours, make meaningful and constructive proposals, allowing that they are meaningful and possible to renegotiate. If not, we are entering into a very difficult and even dramatic time.”

Greek voters overwhelmingly rejected international creditors’ tough bailout terms, sparking fears that the cash-strapped nation was on its way out of the euro.

Voters had been asked on Sunday whether to accept or reject the country’s multibillion euro bailout deal with the EU that called for more austerity in exchange for rescue loans.

Figures released by the interior ministry showed the final tally at 61.31 percent voting “No” and 38.69 percent voting “Yes”. Participation stood at 62.5 percent.

Thousands of pro-government supporters cheered and hugged each other in central Athens in celebration, although some other Greeks expressed pessimism that Tsipras would be able to deliver on his promises.

In a televised address after the referendum, Tsipras said the creditors – the ECB, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund – would now finally have to talk about restructuring the massive, 240-billion-euro ($267bn) debt Greece owes them.

“This time, the debt will be on the negotiating table,” he said, insisting that an IMF report seen this week “confirms Greek views that restructuring the debt is necessary”.

Tsipras said that the referendum results did not mean Athens was headed for a so-called Grexit.

“This is not a mandate of rupture with Europe, but a mandate that bolsters our negotiating strength to achieve a viable deal,” he said.

The ruling Syriza government closed the country’s banks and imposed capital controls until July 6 to stem the flood of withdrawals after the bailout deal failed.

The cash-strapped nation eventually defaulted on an IMF payment of $1.8bn on June 30. The same day, the last bailout for Greece ran out, despite Tsipras’ appeals for it to be extended until the referendum was over.

Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Phillips, reporting from Athens, said the result shows a “much better” outcome for Tsipras and could embolden the prime minister to go back to Europe and demand a better deal for Greece.

Sub-inspector recruited through Vyapam commits suicide

by

Vyapam

New Delhi: While the mystery behind the shocking deaths of witnesses/accused in Vyapam scam is yet to be unfolded, a trainee sub-inspector, Anamika Kushwaha, who was recruited through Vyapam reportedly committed suicide on Monday.

As per media reports, Anamika Kushwaha’s body was recovered from a pond in Madhya Pradesh.

Recently, TV Today journalist Akshay Singh and Jabalpur medical college dean Dr. Arun Sharma, who were probing the scam, had died under mysterious circumstances.

As per the list submitted by SIT to HC, so far nearly 23 unnatural deaths related to the scam have been reported.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has assured a fair probe in the case.

After the news of Anamika’s death broke out, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh tweeted: “Training Cop recruited through Vyapam commits suicide in Sagar Police Academy MP. 46th or 47th?”

(Agencies)

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives