Nasheman

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

You are here: Home / 2018 / Archives for August 2018

Archives for August 2018

Sri Lanka may grant visa free entry to tourist friendly nations

by


Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has appointed a task force to study the possibility of granting visa-free entry to visitors from certain tourist friendly nations in order to boost arrivals, authorities said on Monday.

Tourism Minister John Amaratunga said that some of the countries under consideration are India, China along with some other European and West Asian nations, reports Xinhua news agency.

Amaratunga said this proposal was aimed at encouraging more people to visit Sri Lanka and avoid “chaos” at the immigration.

Following recommendations from the task force, this proposal may be implemented in the off-season months of October to November and March to April, the minister said.

He further said the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) was currently working on this plan.

Additionally, the Minister said the government was also in discussion with airlines, tour operators, and hotels to provide low-cost packages.

“These efforts are underway to ensure Sri Lanka becomes a destination that would be a visited location throughout the year,” Amaratunga said.

Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, which was once heavily scarred by a 30-year civil conflict, has become one of the leading industries of the country.

Tourist arrivals have recorded a growth of 15.3 percent during the first half of 2018 compared with the same period last year.

Osama’s son married 9/11 hijacker’s daughter

by


Hamza bin Laden, the son of the late Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has married the daughter of Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker and one of the ringleaders of the September 2001 terror attacks in the US, according to the family.

The marriage was confirmed by Osama bin Laden’s half-brothers — Ahmad and Hassan al-Attas — during an interview with the Guardian.

“We have heard he has married the daughter of Mohammed Atta,” Ahmad al-Attas told the daily. “We’re not sure where he is, but it could be Afghanistan.”

The brothers said they believed Hamza had taken a senior position within Al Qaida and was aiming to avenge the death of his father who was shot dead during a US military raid in Pakistan’s Abbottabad town on May 2, 2011.

Hamza is the son of one of Osama bin Laden’s three surviving wives, Khairiah Sabar, who was living with her husband in Abbottabad when he was killed.

He has since made public statements urging followers to wage war on the US, the UK, France and Israel and is seen as a deputy to the terrorist group’s incumbent leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Western intelligence agencies have been increasingly focusing on Hamza’s whereabouts over the past two years.

Another of Bin Laden’s sons, Khalid, was killed in the Abbottabad raid. A third, Saad, was killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan in 2009.

Letters purportedly written by Osama bin Laden and seized from the compound suggested he was grooming Hamza to replace him.

The late militant leader’s wives and surviving children have returned to Saudi Arabia, where they were given refuge by the former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef.

The women and children remain in close contact with Osama bin Laden’s mother, Alia Ghanem, who told the Guardian in a recent interview that she remained in regular touch with surviving family members.

BJP crushing democracy in Tripura: Activists

by


The BJP is trying to wipe out multi-party democracy in Tripura, a group of pro-Left leaders said after visiting the state.

A fact-finding team comprising farmer and political leaders observed: “An undeclared Emergency-like situation prevails in Tripura ever since the BJP-IPFT alliance won the Assembly polls on March 3. Law and order has collapsed.”

The seven-member team said in their report released to the media on Sunday evening: “Murder, dacoity, looting, arson and atrocities on women, minorities, Dalits, Adivasis and the poor from all communities are rampant.”

The teams included Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) activist Medha Patkar, All India Kisan Sabha President and CPI-M leader Ashok Dhawale, All India Kisan Mahasabha General Secretary and CPI (ML) (Liberation) leader Rajaram Singh, CPI-M Rajya Sabha member K.K. Ragesh and three Tripura MPs – Jitendra Chowdhury, Sankar Prasad Datta and Jharna Das Baidya.

Medha Patkar said: “No action was taken by the administration and the police in spite of hundreds of FIRs having been filed by the victims of the hundreds of political violence. An atmosphere of fear and terror prevails in large parts of the state.

“The entire opposition in the state is being sought to be wiped out, with the Left being the main target, but other opposition parties like the Congress have also not been spared.”

She said that a 73-year-old library, set up by Tripura’s first tribal based organisation Tripura Upajati Gana Mukti Parishad at Durgachowdhury Para in western Tripura, was destroyed by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Farmer leader Dhawale said: “One third of the elected leaders of local bodies – Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samities and Urban municipal bodies – were forced to resign under dire consequences.”

The fact-finding team said that after the BJP-IPFT (Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura) took power on March 3, ruling party goons poisoned over 40 fishing ponds, looted as many poultry farms and destroyed or burnt down 54 rubber gardens owned by Left party supporters.

According to the report, during the five-month rule of BJP-IPFT government, 112 incidents of rape, molestations and attacks on women occurred by the ruling party hoodlums.

“Four CPI-M members and leaders have been murdered.” Another 1,047 Left activists, including 113 women, have suffered injuries after attacks by BJP, IPFT and RSS workers.

“Around 633 offices of the CPI-M and Left parties have been burnt, attacked or captured. Close to 200 offices of the Left mass organisations have been attacked and nearly 150 have been forcibly occupied. Over 2200 houses belonging to Left party leaders and supporters were burnt down, demolished or ransacked.”

The ruling BJP rubbished the allegations.

BJP spokesman Mrinal Kanti Deb said that when Medha Patkar spoke against the then Left Front government in Bengal, the Left leaders vehemently criticised her. Now they were using the NBA leader to secure political mileage.

“Left parties are conspiring against the BJP government,” Deb told IANS.A

Paddler Swastika wins bronze at Hong Kong Open

by


Young Swastika Ghosh annexed a medal in the Hang Seng Hong Kong Junior and Cadet Open table tennis meet, claiming the bronze in the junior girl’s doubles along with Singapore Jingyi Zhou.

The pair began on a high note, beating their Taipei opponents Pei-Ling Su and Yu-Chin Tsai in the round-of-16, according to the official statement issued on Monday.

They won 3-1 to progress to the next round. Swastika starred in the quarters too, overcoming the Chinese duo of Binyue Zhang and Yi Chen with a similar score.

The combination of Li Lin Jassy Tan of Singapore and Ruei Ling Wen of Taipei, however, proved to be too strong for them in the semi-finals as they clinched the final game and won 3-2.

In the Junior boys’ doubles category, the combination of Raegan Alberquerque and Payas Jain got through to the pre-quarters but couldn’t continue their momentum as they lost to the Thai pair of Yanapong Panagitgun and Supakron Pankhaoyoy.

In the junior boys’ singles category, even though Raegan made it to the main draw, his journey was short-lived as he couldn’t get past local lad Pak Hei Cheng as he went down with a narrow 3-4 margin.

‘Where are the jobs’ good question for Modi says Gadkari

by

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday took a potshot at the Narendra Modi-led government over the unemployment issue after one of his cabinet ministers conceded that there is a job crunch.

“Excellent question (Nitin) Gadkariji. Every Indian is asking the same question. Where are the jobs,” Gandhi tweeted attaching a news report in which the Union Road Transport and Shipping Minister questioned the rationality behind a job reservation stir when there were not enough jobs in the first place.

Gandhi’s remarks came a day after Gadkari on Sunday told reporters in Maharashtra that reservation would not guarantee employment as jobs were shrinking.

“Let us assume the reservation is given. But there are no jobs. Because in banks, the jobs have shrunk because of IT. The government recruitment is frozen. Where are the jobs?” Gadkari asked.

He also said that the problem with the quote is that “backwardness is becoming a political interest”.

Gadkari said that one school of thought is that “a poor is poor, he has no caste, creed or language. Whatever may be the religion…, in all communities there is one section which has no clothes to wear, no food to eat”.

Whereas the other school of thought is “we must also consider the poorest of the poor section in every community”.

This is a “socio-economic thinking” and it must not be politicised, he added.

In a tweet late on Sunday, Gadkari also clarified that the government is not planning to change the criteria for reservation from “castes to economic conditions”.

116 Assam villages flooded after excess water released from dam

by


Thousands of people in 116 villages of Assam’s Golaghat district have been affected by flooding after excess water was released from a dam located at Nagaland’s Wokha district, officials said.

The dam is run by the North East Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO).

This is the second wave of floods since last week affecting 1,04,205 people in five districts — Golaghat, Sivsagar, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and Darrang. Over 93,000 marooned people are from the 116 villages of Golaghat, officials added.

Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) officials said the floods have also affected 7,424 hectares of agricultural land and over 26,000 people have taken shelter in 123 relief camps opened by the state government. Large tracts of paddy fields are also covered with sediments affecting the farmers.

Various organisations, including the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), have criticised NEEPCO for releasing water without informing the villagers. They have demanded compensation for the affected people.

“The NEEPCO has not only released water from its reservoir but also sediments, which have submerged the paddy fields and houses of villagers in the 116 affected villages. The farmers have lost livelihood as the sediments have covered their paddy fields. Houses and livestock have been washed away,” KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi said on Monday.

NEEPCO on Monday clarified that due to incessant rain in the upper catchment area, the water level of the reservoir had started increasing abruptly since July 25.

“The sudden rise in water level on July 31 necessitated releasing of excess water,” said NEEPCO in a statement issued on Monday. The NEEPCO authorities said they have shared the information with the Golaghat district administration.

Two waves of floods have affected Assam since June, affecting more than 10 lakh people. According to the ASDMA, 42 people have so far died due to floods in various parts of the state.

Delhi Police failed to provide adequate security to Kerala CM: CPI-M

by


Kerala CPI-M MP M.B. Rajesh on Monday raised the attempted attack on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on Saturday and alleged that Delhi Police failed to provide adequate security to the Marxist leader.

“Delhi Police did not take the incident seriously when a man armed with a knife came in front of the room of the Kerala Chief Minister while he was inside,” Rajesh told the Lok Sabha during Zero Hour.

He said that it were the security guards who overpowered the man with the knife.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist member’s remarks came two days after a 46-year-old man, identified as Vimal Raj, tried to enter the Kerala House here wielding a knife.

HC grants bail to Andhra Bank ex-official

by


The Delhi High Court on Monday granted bail to a former director of the Andhra Bank arrested in a Rs 5,000 crore fraud case involving Gujarat-based pharmaceutical company Sterling Biotech.

Justice Mukta Gupta allowed bail plea of Anup Prakash Garg asking him to furnish a personal bond of Rs two lakh with two surety bonds of the like amount.

The court imposed condition on Garg that he will not leave the country without permission.

The court also directed him that he will neither directly nor indirectly influence the witnesses nor interfere in further investigation.

Garg has sought the bail saying he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on January 12, after a case was filed against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and he has been in custody since then.

Both the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) named Garg as an accused in criminal cases. The ED initiated a money laundering probe taking cognizance of the CBI FIR.

The CBI booked Sterling Biotech, its Directors Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara, Dipti Chetan Sandesara, Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara and Vilas Joshi, Chartered Accountant Hemant Hathi, Garg and some unidentified persons in connection with the alleged bank fraud.

Sterling Biotech had taken loans of over Rs 5,000 crore from a consortium of banks led by Andhra Bank which had turned into non-performing assets. Total pending dues of the group companies were Rs 5,383 crore as on December 31, 2016, said the CBI FIR.

The ED said that during the probe, it found that “certain entries” in a diary seized by the Income Tax Department in 2011 showed cash payments amounting to Rs 1.52 crore made to one “Garg, Director, Andhra Bank” between 2008 and 2009 by the Sandesara brothers.

The agency accused Garg of infusing several crores of rupees of his unaccounted cash in various companies through Kolkata-based bogus shell companies with the help of cash or cheque entry operators in Kolkata to launder the money.

210 acres of defence land swapped for Bengaluru infra projects

by


In a quid-pro-quo, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday agreed to transfer 210 acres of defense land in Bengaluru to the city’s civic body for 10 infrastructure projects, stuck due to space constraints, an official said.

“The Karnataka government has, in turn, agreed to transfer its lands of equal value (Rs 322 crore) and size to the defense ministry in lieu of defense lands in 31 locations,” a joint declaration hereby Sitharaman and Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said.

The infrastructure projects requiring defense land include road widening works,
flyovers, elevated corridors and the second phase of the Metro Rail network across the city.

“The city’s explosive growth over the last two decades has out-paced the development of commensurate infrastructure, resulting in choc-o-bloc vehicular traffic, congestion, pollution and woeful civic amenities,” the statement said.

Though Sitharaman belongs to neighboring Tamil Nadu, she is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka.

“The city’s fast growth has led to the urgent need to upgrade its basic infrastructure, including roads, flyovers, bridges, underpasses and elevated roads to avert traffic jams and ease congestion,” admitted the declaration.

Sitharaman also directed the defence officials to hand over the lands to the city civic body at the earliest so that construction and development of the projects are not delayed.

“We will wait for the state government to transfer its land to us but not delay the projects for want of our (defence) lands,” noted Sitharaman.

The defence ministry agreed to swap its land in public interest as they were required for 10 infrastructure projects.

Defence land for 8 of the 10 infra projects will be permanently transferred to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and permission will be given to use the remaining land for 2 road-over-bridge (ROB) projects on license basis.

A joint task force with officials from the defence ministry and the state government will be set up to resolve issues related to the land swap and use.

Sitharaman also advised the Chief Minister to get a cabinet resolution passed to ensure the defence requirements in lieu of parting with its land in the interest of public infrastructure works was compensated adequately in a time frame.

The state government has agreed to this.

Pakistan opposition alliance to protest ‘electoral fraud’

by


An alliance of 11 opposition political parties in Pakistan announced on Saturday that they will be holding demonstrations across the country to protest alleged electoral fraud during the July 25 general elections.

The first of the protests by the alliance, that includes former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) party, has been planned for August 8 in Islamabad.

Pakistan Peoples Party led by Bilawal Bhutto, the regional Awami National Party as well as an alliance of five religious parties Muttahida Majlis-e-Alam will also take part in the protests.

“Our first protest will be outside the Election Commission in Islamabad in which ticket holders, elected candidates, and party workers will participate,” Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed of the PML-N told Efe news.

The 11 parties of the alliance opposed to former cricketer Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party — who won the elections amid accusations of electoral rigging — will also demonstrate on Thursday outside provincial Election Commission offices across the country.

“The opposition parties have made a grand alliance with the name of Pakistan Alliance for Free and Fair Election. It’s an 11-party alliance which will protest against the rigging,” said Syed.

The announcement came a day after Khan’s party struck an alliance with a regional party to come to power in the centre. The polls were the second one in the country’s history when an elected government had completed its entire term and made way for a new government.

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives