Washington, Online retail giant Amazon has been slammed by several Sikh bodies for reportedly selling doormats, rugs and toilet accessories bearing the image of the highly-revered Golden Temple and was asked to immediately remove the “disrespectful products” that hurt the sentiments of the community worldwide.
Prominent community body in the US, the Sikh Coalition, said in a statement on Tuesday that it was alerted to Amazon selling doormats, rugs and toilet seat covers with the image of Golden Temple.
In response, the civil rights organisation said it “immediately contacted Amazon to remove the products while detailing the culturally insensitive problems with the items being sold and the offensive message it sent to Sikhs around the world”.
“The Golden Temple is not a doormat,” it tweeted, adding that in the hours since, through community outreach, several pages had been removed from the Amazon portal.
Another group, NGO United Sikhs, issued a statement calling on Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to do the same and said it had received “numerous complaints” from members of the community about the products.
Some of the items had been removed from the website on Wednesday, but the Golden Temple toilet accessories remained available, the group said.
“It’s shocking and extremely disappointing that Amazon offers these products for sale,” said United Sikhs operations manager Rajesh Singh.
“The merchandise featuring the disrespectful placement of Darbar Sahib shows a total lack of understanding on behalf of Amazon and its employees. We demand Bezos address this issue immediately.”
The group offered “Sikh awareness training” in “an effort to educate Amazon’s staff and prevent anti-Sikh products from being sold on the site in the future”.
It also “reached out to the manufacturers of the merchandise to demand their production to be ceased immediately”.
Congress may not last full term in MP, hints Shivraj
[Nasheman news] Bhopal Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has hinted at his “earlier than expected comeback” to the treasury benches as the Kamal Nath-led Congress government may not last its full term of five years.
Chouhan was meeting his supporters on his last night at the Chief Minister’s residence late on Wednesday, when he assured them and said: “Don’t worry about your future. Don’t be despondent over what will happen to you, for I will be back.”
As Bharatiya Janata Party workers shouted slogans of Chouhan’s return in five years, the former Chief Minister, who ruled the state for three straight terms before being ousted in a close contest in the aeeembly elections, said in Bollywood style: “Tiger abhi zinda hai (The King is till alive).”
“Maybe it will not take an entire five years, may be I will be back sooner than you expect,” Chouhan added.
The Congress won 114 seats in the 230-member House. It fell two short of the magic number in a contest with the BJP (109) that went down to the wire.
However, the Congress ensured the support of 121 MLAs with the Samajwadi Party (1), Bahujan Samaj Party (2) and four Independents backing it.
ICC asks PCB to pay compensation to BCCI
Dubai, (IANS) The International Cricket Council on Wednesday asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to pay the BCCI nearly 60 percent of the legal costs after losing their bid to claim compensation for cancelled bilateral series.
Last month, the PCB had asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to pay around $63 million for pulling out of two bilateral series in 2014 and 2015, which was rejected by the ICC’s Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC).
According to norm, the winning party claims legal costs from the losing side.
“The DRC has determined that the PCB should pay 60 percent of “(a) the (BCCI’s) Claimed Costs; and (b) the administrative costs and expenses of the Panel… (including, without limitation, the fees of the Tribunal members, and the costs and expenses they incurred in relation to this matter), the figure whereof is to be supplied to the PCB by the ICC,” Cricinfo quoted the ICC as saying.
Both boards have not yet disclosed the actual amount to be paid by the PCB.
“The PCB notes the ICC Dispute Panel’s decision on BCCI’s claims for their legal expense incurred on the PCB-BCCI dispute,” the PCB said in a statement.
“The award of significantly lesser costs than claimed by BCCI reflects that PCB’s case had merits. The PCB, however, reiterates its disappointment in the original decision/award given against it,” the board added.
Equity indices open in red; Sensex down 180 points
[Nasheman news] MumbaiThe key Indian equity indices opened on a negative note on Thursday with the S&P BSE Sensex trading around 180 points lower during the morning session.
The domestic indices traded lower tracking weakness in the Asian markets.
At 9.38 a.m., the Sensex traded at 36,304.64, lower by 179.69 points or 0.49 per cent from the previous close of 36,484.33.
It had opened at 36,321.18, and has touched a intra-day high of 36,352.65 and a low of 36,213.73.
The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange traded at 10,908.15, lower by 59.15 points or 0.54 per cent from its previous close.
US begins withdrawing troops from Syria, claims victory over IS
[Nasheman news] Washington The Donald Trump-led US administration announced that it has started returning US troops home from Syria after claiming a victory in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) without revealing any detailed timetable.
“We have started returning US home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign,” said White House Spokesperson Sarah Sanders in a statement on Wednesday, claiming that America has “defeated the territorial caliphate”.
Pentagon later echoed the White House claim, saying that the US military has already begun the process of bringing the US forces back while emphasizing the continuity of the campaign, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The Coalition has liberated the IS-held territory, but the campaign against IS is not over,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a tweet.
All US State Department personnel are being evacuated from Syria within 24 hours, informed sources said.
An official also revealed that the time-frame for the troops withdrawal from the war-torn Arab country is expected to be between 60 and 100 days.
However, a senior Trump administration official, during a background briefing held on Wednesday afternoon, did not directly answer reporters’ questions on how the administration intends to withdraw the troops or whether there will a deadline for that.
Sanders’ statement came about one hour after US President Donald Trump hinted in a tweet about imminent US troop withdrawal from Syria.
“We have defeated the IS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning.
Earlier on Wednesday, the US media cited anonymous officials as saying that the US is planning a “rapid” and “full” withdrawal of troops from Syria.
Currently, there are more than 2,000 US soldiers deployed in Syria.
Trump has long voiced his desire to bring the US troops back home when possible, while senior administration officials including Defence Secretary James Mattis have advocated for a longer-term military deployment in Syria to secure a victory against the IS.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s claim about victory against the IS has been questioned.
“I strongly disagree. It has morphed into other forms of extremism and the threat is very much alive,” tweeted British Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood, following Trump’s claim on the social media.
Senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham warned “devastating consequences” for US troops quitting Syria.
“An American withdrawal at this time would be a big win for IS, Iran, Bashar al Assad of Syria, and Russia,” the lawmaker from the state of South Carolina said in a statement on Wednesday.
Kerala actor abduction case: HC dismisses Dileep’s plea seeking CBI probe
Kochi, The Kerala High Court here on Wednesday dismissed a plea by the eighth accused in the infamous actress abduction case, actor Dileep, for a CBI probe into the case.
In his petition, Dileep pleaded that he has been framed in the case by the police relying only on the statement of the prime accused, Pulsar Suni.
Meanwhile, the prosecution put up their defense by stating that an accused in a case has no right to decide on what sort of probe should take place and, moreover, this is nothing but a ploy to delay the trial in the case.
The police probe team has already filed the detailed charge sheet in the case and the court on March 14 summoned all the accused.
Dileep was arrested after two rounds of questioning on July 10, 2017, for his alleged role in the conspiracy behind the abduction of the young actress.
Dileep’s former wife Manju Warrier is one of the witnesses in the case.
After being in jail for 85 days, Dileep secured bail.
The actress was allegedly abducted on February 17 last year while she was on her way to Kochi from Thrissur.
Pulsar Suni, the prime accused, drove her around for two hours before she was dropped near the home of director-actor Lal, who later called the police.
Former civil servants attack Yogi, Modi over Bulandshahr mob violence
New Delhi, A group of former bureaucrats and diplomats have come down heavily on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the Bulandshahr mob violence which they said showed “perverted” fundamental principles of governance and constitutional ethics of the BJP government in the state and slammed the “stony silence” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.
“The mob violence in Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh on Dec 3, 2018, instigated and engineered with malicious intent, led to the cold-blooded murder of a police officer brave enough to step forward single-handedly to pacify the mob, marks the most dangerous turn yet in the direction taken by the politics of hate in recent times.
“It shows that in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, fundamental principles of governance, of constitutional ethics and of humane social conduct stand perverted. The Chief Minister of the state acts as high priest of the agenda of bigotry and majoritarian supremacy — an agenda which now seems to take precedence over everything else,” they said in an open letter.
The 83 signatories to the letter — including former Foreign Secretaries Shiv Shankar Menon (who was also National Security Adviser), Shayam Saran and Sujata Singh, former Ambassador and DGP Julio Ribeiro, former Special Secretary Vappala Balakrishnan, former Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, Harsh Mander and Jawahar Sircar — said in the letter that it was a measure of rapid erosion of constitutional values that they as a group had felt a compelling need to speak out about as many as nine times in the last 18 months.
“The pace of erosion has been frightening and with each slip, we seem to sink further into a lawless abyss,” they said.
The Bulandshahr episode, which followed a succession of events aimed at isolating and intimidating Muslim community in Uttar Pradesh, showed that under Yogi Adityanath, hooliganism and thuggery have been mainstreamed into governance, not just to intimidate minorities but to teach a lesson to anyone, including police personnel and others in the administration, who dared to be even-handed in their approach to minority communities.
They said there was no doubt that there was nothing spontaneous about the violence that led to the killing of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, nor was there any doubt as to who the political elements were that aided and abetted the violence.
“This was a deliberate attempt to display majoritarian muscle and send a message to Muslim communities living in the region that they have to live in fear, accept their subordinate status and conform to the cultural diktats of the majority community.”
The Chief Minister refused to acknowledge the gravity of the incident and its communal intent, condemn the perpetrators of violence or direct the police to take action against them, and instead asked them to focus attention on those responsible for illegal cow slaughter, the former bureaucrats said.
“The police authorities draw an equivalence between the killing of a police officer and the illegal slaughter of cows and claim that unless both crimes are investigated together, it will not be possible to come to any conclusions about the violence of the mob and murder of a colleague,” they said.
Turning their attention to Modi, the former civil servants said: “Our Prime Minister, who is so voluble in his election campaigns and who never tires of telling us how the Constitution of India is the only holy book he worships, maintains a stony silence even as he sees a Chief Minister handpicked by him treat the same Constitution with sheer contempt.
“It is evident that for the Sangh Parivar, constitutional morality is of no value, and is necessarily subordinate to the ideals of majoritarian supremacy.”
They asserted that never before in recent history had the politics of hate, division and exclusion been so dominant and the poisonous ideology, which had penetrated deep into the body politic.
“This is a crucial moment and we can’t take it lying down anymore. We call upon all citizens to unite in a crusade against the politics of hate and division — a politics which aims to destroy the fundamental principles on which our republic is founded.”
They urged the citizens to demand the resignation of Yogi Adityanath for his failure to abide by the Constitution to which he has sworn his allegiance and to remind the Chief Secretary, DGP, Home Secretary and all other members of high civil services concern of their constitutional duty to fearlessly implement the rule of law rather than to perverse diktats of their political masters.
They also urged the Allahabad High Court to take suo motu cognisance of the Bulandshahr incident and order a judicial inquiry supervised by them to uncover the true facts, expose the political collusion, fix responsibility and recommend action.
nubia brings gaming smartphone to India
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New Delhi, Chinese handset manufacturer nubia on Wednesday launched a gaming smartphone Red Magic in India for Rs 29,999.
The smartphone would be available on Amazon.in from December 20, the company said in a statement.
The 5.99-inches full-HD smartphone is packed with an optimised Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset with 8GB RAM and dual-lane 128GB Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 2.1 storage.
“The launch of Red Magic has especially been crafted for the rising gaming community in India and will be a benchmark in its segment,” said Dheeraj Kukreja, Director, nubia India.
The device runs Android 8.1 Oreo and houses 3800mAh battery.
“We truly believe that with some of the unparalleled features like RGB strip, GameBoost Mode, Cooling Fans, 3800mAh battery that we have packed in this revolutionary device, the experience will be power packed in every way,” Kukreja added.
The smartphone sports a 24MP rear camera and a 8MP selfie shooter.
British Airways to resume flights to Pakistan after a decade
UK airline cites improving security situation, a decade after it suspended flights following an attack in Islamabad.by Asad Hashim4 hours ago
Islamabad, Pakistan – The United Kingdom‘s flag carrier, British Airways, will resume direct flights to Pakistan in June, a decade after suspending services to the South Asian nation over security concerns, the airline has announced.
The service will resume with three flights each week between the two countries’ capitals, London and Islamabad, British Airways head of sales for the Asia Pacific and the Middle East Robert Williams told a news conference in Islamabad on Tuesday.
“It’s exciting to be flying between Islamabad and Heathrow from next year, which we believe will be particularly popular with the British Pakistani community who want to visit, or be visited by, their relatives,” Williams said.
The UK is home to an estimated 1.17 million people of Pakistani origin, according to the British Office for National Statistics, making it one of the largest diaspora hosts for the South Asian country.
The Pakistani government has lauded the decision as an indicator of improving security and economic investment opportunities in the country.
“Pakistan is once again getting connected with the world,” said Syed Zulfikar Bukhari, the Pakistani prime minister’s special assistant on overseas Pakistanis and human resource development. Bukhari is himself a dual national of the UK and Pakistan.
“Delighted to learn British Airways will be resuming flights to Pakistan,” tweeted Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi following the announcement.
“This decision is an acknowledgement of Pakistan’s continued efforts for peace & elimination of terrorism.”
The British Airways flights will resume from June 2, 2019, it said in a statement.
Direct flights
British Airways is the first major European airline to resume direct flights to Pakistan since services were suspended due to security concerns in the mid-2000s. The airline had suspended services after a deadly truck bombing at Islamabad’s Marriot hotel in 2008 killed more than 50 people.
In the interim, Gulf-based airlines – Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways – stepped in to absorb the bulk of the country’s international air traffic.
Pakistan has been battling the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella organisation of armed groups that has vowed to overthrow the government and enforce a strict interpretation of Islamic law, since 2007.
Since 2014, a series of military operations has seriously degraded the Tehreek-e-Taliban’s ability to launch frequent attacks targeting civilians and security forces, with violence dropping significantly as the group was displaced from its erstwhile headquarters in the northwest of the country.
Sporadic heavy-casualty attacks, however, have continued to occur, as the Pakistan Taliban has shifted its operational headquarters to eastern Afghanistan.
US man jailed for attacking Sikh cab driver
Washington, A US man has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for a brutal attack on a Sikh American taxi driver in Seattle city last year.
Swarn Singh, 53, was assaulted with a hammer by Rory Benson on December 16, 2017. The accused pleaded guilty to the attack and was given the sentence by a court in Seattle late last week, the community’s civil rights group — Sikh Coalition — tweeted on Tuesday.
During the incident, Singh who maintains Sikh articles of faith including unshorn hair and a turban, had parked outside an apartment building to drop Benson and his mother, the group said in a statement.
It was then that Benson, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, brutally attacked Singh. He grabbed a piece of cloth and attempted to suffocate the victim with it.
Singh managed to get out of the taxi but Benson grabbed a hammer from his bag and chased the victim on-foot.
Benson hit Singh in the head repeatedly, specifically targeting his turban and knocking it to the ground. The victim suffered a scalp laceration and a skull fracture and was taken to hospital, the statement said.
Benson was later arrested.
The Sikh Coalition said it worked with Singh for 11 months to make sure the Bellevue Police Department and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office were properly investigating the incident and reviewing appropriate charges.
Singh submitted a statement to the King County Superior Court, urging his attacker to recognize the damage caused, detailing his injuries and the impact of the assault on the Sikh community, the group said.