India's largest selling Urdu weekly, now also in English
by Neetu Saini
Every moment of life
Gave me a new lesson
Every lesson of life
Made me a new person
Tears were followed by laughter
Dusk was followed by dawn
Critics were followed by admirers
Clapping was followed by frown
It made me rough and tough
But left wounds deep inside
Made me sensitive about everything
Yet ready to face any tide
I kept on moving the way
Life took the turns
To experience the new fire
And heal the previous burns
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Photo by: Mridula Amin
by Uzma Azmi
I saw with horrific eyes one after the other,
Amidst the burning villages and beheaded men,
Babies being snatched from clasping arms of their mothers.
There were cries, chaos, the howls and the shrieks,
The screams and the tumultuous heart-wrenching pleas.
Those red eyes with helpless incessant tears,
Failed to melt the hard deaf ears.
O, my child, I was holding you tight,
Against the approaching leaps of devils.
Bruised beats, paining, pacing hard,
Fainting yet determined not to let you go.
Scared I was, round-eyed and aghast,
At humanity’s devil’s role.
The burnt smell filling the air,
“Is it my child’s turn in fire raging everywhere!”
“Help! Help ! Somebody help!
We clung to each other crying and scared,
As I dreaded the bald monster in red,
Thorny claws snatched in a flash of second,
And threw my child like a ball in flames so fierce.
I screamed a scream unheard to be numbed forever,
An eerie silence prevailed amidst screaming women in the same horror.
Stood still, shaking in shock,
Living cold corpse, I failed, a mother failed.
Too numbed to pray a blazing fire for a flower garden,
I failed, a mother failed.
Lingering warmth of sweat and moist of fresh tears,
Fumed in fumes of ashes.
Her gooey limbs were melting,
My child was burning,
The world is still silently watching.
Bengaluru: A well-played century by opener David Warner (124) and Aaron Finch’s 94 on Thursday powered visitors Australia to a mammoth total of 334-5 from 50 overs in the fourth ODI against Virat Kohli’s Team India at the M Chinaswamy stadium here.
Warner and Finch got the Aussies off to a strong start, having put up a 231-run partnership for the first wicket. Centurion Warner, however, was the first one to depart as Kedar Jadhav got his wicket, thanks to a good catch by Axar Patel at long on. Aaron Finch (94), who missed out on his ninth ODI century, was the next to depart, as pacer Umesh Yadav got his 100th ODI wicket.
Peter Handscomb, too, contributed 43 runs before he was struck by Umesh Yadav. However, captain Steve Smith could not continue his consistent run as he was dismissed for just three runs, thanks to a spectacular catch by Virat Kohli off Umesh Yadav’s bowling.
In the Indian bowling department, Umesh Yadav was the pick of the bowlers after having picked up four crucial wickets. Apart from Yada, Kedar Jadhav was the lone wicket-taker for the Men in Blue.
Virat Kohli and co will hope to chase down the challenging total of 335 in order to extend their unbeaten run, and extend the series lead as well.
Australia 319/5 from 48.5 overs:
WICKET! 4th wicket for Umesh Yadav as he ends Peter Handscomb’s vigil The Australian scored 43 off 30 balls to deny India a chance to run through the Australian lower middle-order and help Australia to go past 320-run mark.
(Agencies)
by Al Jazeera
The head of the UN’s migration agency said he’s “shocked and concerned” about reports of sexual and gender-based violence among new Rohingya arrivals in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
The International Organization for Migration’s Director-General William Lacy Swing made the comments on Wednesday as Rohingya refugees who escaped a military crackdown in Myanmar accused the army of raping women and girls.
Myanmar’s government denies the claims, but has refused to allow international observers to investigate.
IOM is coordinating the humanitarian response amid an exodus of an estimated 480,000 people who have reached Cox’s Bazar since August 25.
An agency statement on Wednesday said IOM doctors have treated dozens of women who experienced “violent sexual assault” since August, but said such numbers likely represent only a “small portion” of actual cases.
Swing said such “egregious violence and abuse is underreported” even in more stable situations.
“Particularly women and girls, but also men and boys, have been targeted for and are at risk of further exploitation, violence and abuse simply because of their gender, age and status in society,” said Swing.
“IOM is supporting survivors but I cannot emphasize enough that attempting to understand the scale of gender-based violence through known case numbers alone is impossible.”
It is estimated about 160,000 Rohingya women and young girls have arrived in Bangladesh in the past month.
Two sisters who spoke to Al Jazeera said they were raped by Myanmar soldiers.
“The military tortured us,” said 25-year-old Minara, who gave only one name. “They murdered our parents. They took us to the jungle. They pushed us down on the ground.”
Her sister Aziza, 22, said she was raped by two men and became unconscious.
The two sisters were rescued by other refugees who helped them cross a river into Bangladesh.
Mumbai: The Shiv Sena today dared the Centre to prove that the remarks of former finance minister Yashwant Sinha on the state of the economy were wrong and wondered what punishment awaited the BJP leader for going public with his views.
It also claimed that many BJP leaders were afraid of speaking against the dispensation, fearing that they would have to face “unknown dangers” if they did. The attack by Sinha, who was the finance minister under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government, in a newspaper article has set off a political storm even as two top Union ministers asserted that the Indian economy was the fastest growing in the world.
“Some people assume development will take place by winning elections and by tampering the EVM machines or by using money power. But, the state of the economy is very critical now,” the Sena claimed in an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.
“When experts like Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram tried to reveal the condition of the economy, they were written off. Now, senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, who for a long time held the finance portfolio, has made some revelations. He may be termed dishonest or anti-national now,” it claimed.
“During Stalin’s rule in Russia, anybody who had an ideology against that of the government or spoke the truth, somehow disappeared in the darkness of the night and was never seen again. We will have to see what punishment Yashwant Sinha gets,” alleged the Sena, which is a constituent of the NDA government at the Centre.
“If Yashwant Sinha is wrong, prove that the allegations levelled by him are false. Many other senior BJP leaders have strong resentment towards the failing state of the economy but cannot say anything due to the fear of unknown dangers,” it claimed.
The BJP’s paid social media ‘pracharaks’ will not be able to prove Sinha wrong as he is a senior leader, the Sena said. While several schemes are being criticised for failing to meet the objectives, the government is spending crores of rupees to make them seem as successful, it alleged.
In the article headlined “I need to speak up now”, Sinha, 84, had criticised Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over the “mess” in the economy” and said he would be failing in his national duty if he did not speak up.
Sinha, a member of the BJP’s ‘margdarshak mandal’ that was set up in 2014 to guide the party, also said a revival by the time of the next Lok Sabha elections due in 2019 was “highly unlikely” and a “hard landing” appeared inevitable.
(Agencies)
Karnal: Vishwas Gupta, the former husband of Dera Sacha Sauda chief’s “adopted” daughter Honeypreet Insan, today filed a complaint here alleging threat to his life, the police said. In his complaint, Gupta alleged that an unidentified person threatened to kill him, the SHO at the Karnal City Police Station, Inspector Rajbir Singh, said.
“Gupta filed a complaint with the Sector 4 police post here and alleged that an unknown caller threatened to eliminate him. We are examining the complaint,” Singh said, adding that he has been provided security. Gupta married Honeypreet in 1999 and filed for a divorce in 2011.
Addressing a news conference in Chandigarh last week, Gupta had expressed apprehension that that he might be killed for speaking against the Dera head. Honeypreet, against whom the Haryana Police had issued a lookout notice last month in connection with the violence in Panchkula, has been absconding since Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s conviction on August 25.
(Agencies)
Bengaluru: Congress party candidate Sampath Raj has been elected as 50th Mayor of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) while JDS candidate Padmavathi Narasimhamurthy declared as deputy mayor of the civic body after an election process held here on Thursday.
DJ Halli Corporator Sampath Raj secured 139 votes whereas another BBMP corporator Padmavathi Narasimhamurthy managed to get only 38 votes. Newly elected mayor and deputy mayors have tenure of one year until September 27, 2018.
Joint efforts of Congress and JDS turned fruitful to attain their preferred posts at BBMP as planned earlier. Meanwhile, BJP protested and boycotted the elections and finally moved away from the BBMP hall.
(Agencies)
(Photo: PTI/File)
Chennai, Sep 28 : An inquiry commission, set up by the Tamil Nadu government to probe former chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s death, will look into the circumstances leading to her hospitalisation last year and subsequent treatment, the government has said.
The commission shall submit its report in three months, it said.
A public (SC) department Government Order (GO) dated September 27 said Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, in excercise of the powers conferred under relevant sections of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 (Central Act LX of 1952), issued the following terms of reference of the commission.
“To inquire into the circumstances and situation leading to the hospitalisation of the late Hon’ble Chief Minister (Jayalalithaa) on 22.9.2016 and subsequent treatment provided till her unfortunate demise” on December 5, 2016, it said.
The state government had on Monday announced setting up of the inquiry commission to probe and submit a report on the death of Jayalalithaa.
The probe was a key demand of the then rebel AIADMK faction led by O Panneerselvam as a pre-condition for the merger of his camp with that of Chief Minister K Palaniswami.
The two factions had merged on August 21.
Another GO, dated September 25 and released by the government yesterday, said the Commission “shall complete its enquiry and submit its report (both English and Tamil) to the Government within a period of three months from the date of publication of this notification in the Tamil Nadu Gazette (ie. September 25)”.
(Agencies)
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh police have arrested Baba Siya Ram Das, for allegedly raping a teenaged girl repeatedly.
The baba allegedly confined the girl illegally for over 8 months and raped her on several occasions. According to the victim, she was raped by other disciples of the baba as well.
Cops said that the victim was allegedly sold by her relatives to a female disciple of the baba for Rs 50,000. The victim was initially taken to Lucknow and then to Mishrikh-based ashram where she was raped by him.
According to the victim, Das also filmed an MMS of her and threatened her with dire consequences if she revealed about the happening to anyone. From Mishrikh, she was taken to Agra-based ashram where she was allegedly raped by other men every night during her 8-month stay.
The baba raped her again when she returned to Mishrikh. She, however, got hold of his mobile phone and called the police from the ashram.
Baba Siya Ram Das has also been accused of running a sex racket through a girls’ school owned by him. The victim has alleged that the students of the school were not only raped, but also supplied to politicians and bureaucrats.
The Sitapur police have filed a rape case against the fake godman and initiated a probe into other allegations against him.
The baba has, however, denied all allegations, and claimed to have never met the victim in the past.
(Agencies)
Royal decree announcing decision signed by King Salman will be effective immediately but rollout will take months.
by Al Jazeera
In a reversal of a longstanding rule, Saudi Arabia has announced that it will now allow women to drive.
In a royal decree signed by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the order said it will be effective immediately but the rollout will take months, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.
A high-level committee of ministers has been set up to examine the arrangements for the enforcement of the order.
The committee will take up the recommendations within 30 days from the date of the decree, and will be implemented between 23 and 24 of June 2018, based on the Islamic calendar.
The decree said that women would be allowed to drive “in accordance with the Islamic laws”.
The announcement follows a gender-mixed celebration of Saudi National Day over the weekend, the first of its kind, which aimed to spotlight the kingdom’s reform push, analysts said, despite a backlash from religious conservatives.
Women were also allowed into a sports stadium – previously a male-only arena – to watch a musical concert, a move that chimes with the government’s “Vision 2030” plan for social and economic reform as the kingdom prepares for a post-oil era.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world which does not allow women to drive.
While there have been restrictions imposed on women drivers, some female activists have defied the ban leading to their arrests.
Women drivers have previously been arrested and cars have been confiscated, activists said.
In 2016, Alwaleed bin Talal, an influential Saudi prince called for an “urgent” end to the ban, saying it is a matter not just of rights but economic necessity.
“Preventing a woman from driving a car is today an issue of rights similar to the one that forbade her from receiving an education or having an independent identity,” Alwaleed said.
“They are all unjust acts by a traditional society, far more restrictive than what is lawfully allowed by the precepts of religion.”
He also detailed the “economic costs” of women having to rely on private drivers or taxis, since public transit is not a viable alternative in the kingdom.
Using foreign drivers drains billions of dollars from the Saudi economy, Alwaleed said.
He calculated that families spend an average of $1,000 a month on a driver, money that otherwise could help household income at a time when many are making do with less.
“Having women drive has become an urgent social demand predicated upon current economic circumstances,” said the prince.
A slow expansion of women’s rights began under the late king, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who in 2013 named some women to the Shura Council, which advises the cabinet.
Abdullah also announced that women could for the first time vote and run in municipal elections.
The gambit to loosen social restrictions, which had so far not translated into more political and civil rights, seeks to push criticism over a recent political crackdown out of the public eye, some observers said.
Saudi Arabia has some of the world’s tightest restrictions on women, despite ambitious government reforms aimed at boosting female employment.
Under the country’s guardianship system, a male family member – normally the father, husband or brother – must grant permission for a woman’s study, travel and other activities.
But Saudi Arabia appears to be relaxing some norms as part of the Vision 2030 reform plan.