Nasheman

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

You are here: Home / Archives for Nasheman

3 International flights disrupted after hoax bomb call in Delhi

by

Indira Gandhi International Airport

New Delhi: Two international flights were called back while one which was preparing for departure from the Indira Gandhi International Airport here was taken to an isolation bay due to a bomb scare early today, sources said.

At 01.30 AM a threat call was received at the Delhi Airport’s call centre in Gurgaon.

The caller claimed that there were bombs on three international flights – 9W078 of Jet Airways to Hong Kong, CX694 of Cathay Pacific also bound for Hong Kong and LX147 of Swiss Air to Zurich which later turned out to be hoax, airport sources said.

However, by that time, Jet Airways and Cathay Pacific flights had already left while Swiss flight was preparing for departure, they said.

“The Bomb Threat Assessment Committee declared threat as specific at 2 am. Both the Jet Airways and Cathay flights were called back and taken to isolation bay after landing under emergency conditions. Swiss Air flight which was on-ground was also sent to isolation bay,” sources said.

A thorough search of the aircraft, passengers and their baggage was carried out by the security agencies and later all the three flights were cleared for take-off by them, sources said, adding that emergency was called off at 2:40 AM.

“Jet Airways flight 9W078, which departed from Delhi at 0127 hrs for Hong Kong, returned to Delhi due to security reasons. The aircraft with 194 guests and 12 crew on board landed safely in Delhi at 0224 hrs.

“All guests and crew disembarked without any incident and were taken to the airport terminal. Safety of our guests is our number one priority. We regret the inconvenience caused to the guests,” said a statement issued by the airline.

Sources said that some Air India flights from Delhi airport were delayed due to bomb threat call last evening.

“Call was made to Air India control room at 9 PM yesterday. Though the threat was non-specific, as a precaution some flights were checked. The caller has been traced,” sources said.

Services at Delhi airport are normal and all flights are landing and departing on time, they said.

(Agencies)

Greenpeace India’s FCRA registration cancelled by government

by

greenpeace

New Delhi: The Centre has cancelled the FCRA licence of Greenpeace India, the NGO claimed in a statement that was confirmed by the home ministry. Loss of FCRA licence means the NGO will not be able to accept foreign donations.

“The Greenpeace legal team has learnt that the Ministry of Home Affairs has notified the Delhi high court that Greenpeace’s FCRA registration has been cancelled. This news comes just a day before a scheduled hearing at the Delhi high court that was examining the merits of MHA’s arbitrary action,” the NGO’s statement said.

Interim co-executive director of Greenpeace India, Vinuta Gopal, in a statement said that Greenpeace will continue its campaigning undeterred, and “is in fact launching a new creative campaign” to highlight the nationwide crackdown on civil liberties.

“The cancelling of our FCRA registration is the government’s latest move in a relentless onslaught against the community’s right to dissent. It is yet another attempt to silence campaigns for a more sustainable future and transparency in public processes. Cutting access to our foreign funding may be a desperate attempt to get us to cease our work, but the MHA probably didn’t count on our having an amazing network of volunteers and supporters who have helped us continue our work despite the government crackdown. Since the majority of our funding comes from Indian citizens, most of our work can indeed continue.

We are responding to this latest melodrama by launching a new creative online campaign and are confident that people will show they are ready to fight back in style, and send a clear message to those in power: you just can’t muzzle dissent in a democracy,” Gopal said.

MHA had frozen bank accounts of Greenpeace besides issuing it a show-cause notice on April 9.

(Agencies)

UN calls on EU states to accept 200,000 refugees from Syria, Iraq, elsewhere

by

Over 300,000 refugees have crossed the Mediterranean Sea so far in 2015. (AFP/File)

Over 300,000 refugees have crossed the Mediterranean Sea so far in 2015. (AFP/File)

by Press TV

The UN has criticized the European Union (EU) for failing to find a response to the spiraling refugee influx, urging the bloc to accept and distribute up to 200,000 asylum-seekers across the continent as part of a binding program for relocation of refugees.

“People who are found to have a valid protection claim… must … benefit from a mass relocation program, with the mandatory participation of all EU member states,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a statement on Friday.

“A very preliminary estimate would indicate a potential need to increase relocation opportunities to as many as 200,000 places,” he added.

The UN official criticized the EU for failing to “find an effective common response” to the “untenable situation” and said the only way to solve this problem is for the EU and all member states to “implement a common strategy, based on responsibility, solidarity and trust.”

“This is a primarily refugee crisis,” Guterres said, adding the vast majority of those arriving in Europe, including Greece, come from conflict zones like Syria and Iraq and are simply running for their lives.

“All people on the move in these tragic circumstances deserve to see their human rights and dignity fully respected, independently of their legal status,” he said.

Stressing that “the massive flow of people will not stop until the root causes of their plight are addressed,” the UN official said that “much more must be done to prevent conflicts and stop the ongoing wars that are driving so many from their homes.”

According to the UN official, more than 300,000 people have risked their lives to cross the Mediterranean Sea so far this year, with over 2,600 losing their lives in the dangerous crossing, including three-year-old Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi, whose photo has just stirred the hearts of the world public.

“Europe cannot go on responding to this crisis with a piecemeal or incremental approach,” Guterres said, referring to the pictures of the dead child whose lifeless body was found face down on a Turkish beach Wednesday.

The UN official’s remarks come as Europe is facing an unprecedented immigration and refugee crisis, which has escalated over summer. Refugees are coming directly to Europe instead of staying in camps in neighboring countries.

The continent is now divided over how to deal with a flood of people, mainly Syrians fleeing war in their homeland.

The 28-nation bloc is to convene a special meeting in two weeks to discuss a record surge in numbers and the opening up of new routes over the Balkans in addition to the Mediterranean Sea route.

‘Groundbreaking’ torture charges put US rendition tactics in spotlight

by

‘We need to see more accountability happening in Canada, in the U.S., in Jordan and in Syria. The ones who tortured and the ones who helped these horrible acts to happen should face justice.’

Maher Arar, pictured, was sent to Syria by the CIA in 2002, where he was imprisoned and tortured. (Photo: Lucas Oleniuk/TORONTO STAR)

Maher Arar, pictured, was sent to Syria by the CIA in 2002, where he was imprisoned and tortured. (Photo: Lucas Oleniuk/TORONTO STAR)

by Nadia Prupis, Common Dreams

Canada on Tuesday filed charges against a Syrian intelligence officer for torturing Maher Arar, the Canadian citizen who was handed over to the Syrian government in 2002 by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The whereabouts of the officer, Col. George Salloum, are unknown and it is unlikely that he will be arrested and extradited to Canada to face charges. But Arar’s family said the move by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) signals a newly strengthened opposition to CIA tactics of kidnapping and rendition.

It is also the first formal acknowledgment that Arar was tortured as a terror suspect, although an earlier investigation by the Canadian government in 2006 also cleared him of any links to extremist organizations. Arar’s ordeal became one of the most well-known cases of extraordinary rendition.

“This is a clear message to my husband—and to whoever denied that torture happened—that this is real and that you cannot commit torture [with] impunity,” his wife, Monia Mazigh, said on Tuesday.

The charges are “a big step in the right direction,” Mazigh added. “We need to see more accountability happening in Canada, in the U.S., in Jordan and in Syria. The ones who tortured and the ones who helped these horrible acts to happen should face justice.”

One of Arar’s attorneys, Paul Champ, said the charges were “groundbreaking and historic… critical for a family who have long struggled for justice.”

Salloum reportedly oversaw Arar’s treatment at the notorious Sednaya prison in Damascus. According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represented Arar in a lawsuit against former Attorney General John Ashcroft and other U.S. government officials, Arar was sent to the facility after being detained during a layover with his family at John F. Kennedy airport in New York. After nearly two weeks in custody by U.S. authorities, Arar was rendered to Syria, where he remained for almost a year. He was never charged with a crime.

Former U.S. spy and whistleblower John Kiriakou recently revealed that the intelligence agency knew Arar was the wrong guy when they arrested him.

“My husband and my family suffered tremendously all these years,” Mazigh added. “Extraordinary rendition is a horrible tool that has been used by the U.S. government in an attempt to make torture legal and acceptable.”

A statement by the RCMP says the force “will continue to work with its domestic and international law enforcement and security partners in locating Salloum in order to begin the extradition process to bring him to Canada where he will face justice.”

But while Arar’s family and human rights activists welcomed the development, they also emphasized that it did not go far enough.

ACLU Human Rights Program director Jamil Dakwar told The Intercept on Tuesday, “As part of the process of providing Mr. Arar his right to truth, the U.S. government should, as a matter of obligation, open an investigation into the responsibility of U.S. officials in his mistreatment.”

Dakwar continued: “This episode has never been credibly or independently investigated in the United States. If there is evidence of lawbreaking, including complicity in torture, the individuals responsible need to be held criminally responsible, and there needs to be an apology and reparations provided to the victim.”

Drowned Syrian Toddler Is Buried in Kobane

by

Abdullah Kurdi (center), father of the drowned three-year-old boy, holds his son's body during the funeral in Kobane. Photo via Dicle News Agency/EPA

Abdullah Kurdi (center), father of the drowned three-year-old boy, holds his son’s body during the funeral in Kobane. Photo via Dicle News Agency/EPA

by VICE News

The body of three-year-old Alan Kurdi has been laid to rest in the Syrian town of Kobane on Friday, alongside his brother and mother, who also died trying to reach Greece.

The shocking photographs of the drowned Syrian child, washed up on a beach near Bodrum, Turkey, have sparked international outcry this week. The images have reignited the debate as to how to help those fleeing from war and how to solve the European refugee crisis, where thousands have died trying to reach Europe by sea.

The child’s father, Abdullah Kurdi, buried his family in the ‘Martyrs’ Ceremony’ in the predominantly Kurdish town, near the border with Turkey.

Speaking at the border crossing, he called upon neighboring Arab countries to help Syrian refugees. Kurdi said: “What I want now is for Arab states, not the European ones, the Arab states, to see what happened to my children.”

In an interview with the BBC, Kurdi described how he lost his family at sea when the boat they were travelling by capsized: “I tried to steer the boat but another high wave pushed the boat over. That is when it happened,” he said.

“My children were the most beautiful children in the world. Is there anybody in the world for whom their child is not the most precious thing?”

It was initially reported that the Kurdi family was refused entry into Canada, yet an aunt in Vancouver clarified that she had tried to sponsor other relatives first.

Conservative Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed his condolences to the family during a speech on Thursday, and promised to “do more” if re-elected: “We should be doing everything, we are doing everything and and we will do more of everything,” he said.

Yet opposition Liberal leader Justin Trudeau retorted: “You don’t get to suddenly discover compassion in the middle of an election campaign. You either have it or you don’t.”

Other world leaders have also been criticized for not taking in more Syrian refugees, including British Prime Minister David Cameron. He has now vowed to accept “thousands” more people from UN camps bordering Syria.

On Friday, the UN refugee agency announced that Britain will accept 4,000 refugees from Syrian camps.

Chennai-Mangalore Express derails; at least 38 injured

by

Chennai-Mangalore Express

Chennai: At least 38 passengers of a Mangalore-bound express train were injured Friday after its five coaches derailed near Cuddalore district, about 200 kilometres from here.

Police and railway officials said that the mishap occurred around 2 a.m after five coaches of Chennai-Mangalore Express derailed at Puvanur in Vriddhachalam.

The injured have been rushed to nearby hospitals, official said, adding that the train services on the busy route were disrupted for sometimes.

However, trains were later operated on alternative route but they were running late, official added.

(Agencies)

Slight earthquake in Rajasthan, no damage reported

by

earthquake

Jaipur/New Delhi: A ‘slight’ intensity earthquake shook Rajasthan late on Thursday night, the met department said. There were no reports of any casualty or property damage.

According to the India Meteorological Department, a temblor measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale and classed as of “slight intensity” was recorded ar 11.27 p.m. with its epicentre at a point 27.6 degrees north latitude and 75.6 East longitude in the state’s Sikar district.

Mild tremors were felt in some parts of Rajasthan including state capital Jaipur, leading to people, especially residents of high-rise buildings, rushing out in panic.

“It happened around 11.27 or so….I was sleeping and suddenly my bed started to shake… till the time I woke up and was able to understand that it was a quake, the shaking stopped,” said Jitendra Singh, who lives on the third floor in a high-rise building in Jaipur’s Tilak Nagar.

“I was working on my desktop computer….suddenly for few seconds my chair started to shake. I just got up and came out of my house,” said Ashok Kumar, a resident of the old city.

Shocks were also felt in Sikar, Ajmer and Jhunjhunu among other cities and towns.

“I did feel thing around me shaking, but only for few seconds,” said Durgesh, a resident of Chomu near Jaipur.

There are no reports of any loss of life or property in the state so far.

(IANS)

Indian-American academics spar over Modi visit to Silicon Valley

by

Narendra_Modi

by Arun Kumar

Washington: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley, a war of words has broken out between pro and anti Modi academics of Indian descent spread over major American universities.

The first salvo was fired by over 100 professors “who engage South Asia in our research and teaching”, asking US technology executives to be wary of supporting Modi’s Digital India initiative when he visits Silicon Valley on Sep 27.

The other group hit back with “a counter petition against the anti-Modi statement given by some faculty of South Asian studies” on Change.org, an American website providing a petition tool backed by nonprofits and political campaigns. By Thursday evening the counter-petition accusing the anti-Modi group of lacking “the slightest respect for facts and for academic integrity” had gathered 1108 supporters.

“The allegation that Narendra Modi ought to be viewed with suspicion, if not disdain, by business leaders in Silicon Valley because of surveillance implications in the Digital India initiative seems a desperate ploy rather than any genuine concern for India,” the counter petition said.

“Their attempt to invoke an admitted mistake on the part of the US government in denying Modi a visa as a ‘powerful signal’ is a stark case of false reasoning …and a deplorable attempt to exhume ugly lies about Modi’s attitude towards Muslims,” it said.

The “allegations that somehow academic freedom is under threat in India because of administrative changes at a couple of institutions are completely belied by the reality of what Indian citizens see in their news media every day,” the counter petition said.

“On the contrary, for all their talk about assaults on academic freedom, the signatories of the anti-Modi letter have never admitted that the subject of the greatest censorship and distortion in South Asian academics in recent years has been Narendra Modi,” it said.

Rejecting “the faculty statement against Modi in its entirety,” the pro-Modi group asked the other “to introspect, change, and for once seek to earn the trust and respect of the community in whose name they have been making a living all these years.”

Responding on the Academe Blog, the anti-Modi group said “despite the intimidation and harassment we have received at this blog site and elsewhere” their numbers had swelled from 125 to 135.

The group claimed that it “did not ask Silicon Valley companies not to invest in India; we asked them to consider carefully the terms of partnership with India.”

“The objective of our letter is to raise awareness and debate in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, of Mr. Modi’s record on key issues related to ‘Digital India,'” it said.

While “technology can unleash potent changes in society, many of them positive,” the group said, it can also pose a threat to privacy that “is certainly not unique to India.”

“We caution any Digital India plan to be cognizant of these risks, and to take effective, transparent steps to protect against them.”

“Given the Modi administration’s intolerance of dissent, its poor record on freedom of expression in general, and on freedom of religion in particular”, the group asked “What does ‘Digital India’ look like.”

Even as they raised questions about Digital India, the group in its original Aug 27 letter acknowledged that Modi, “as Prime Minister of a country that has contributed much to the growth and development of Silicon Valley industries, has the right to visit the United States, and to seek American business collaboration and partnerships with India.”

(IANS)

SC asks Karnataka to take decision on Bababudangiri Dargah

by

Bababudangiri

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today asked the Karnataka government to take a decision on issues relating to the communally-sensitive Karnataka shrine, Guru Dattatreya Bababudanswamy Dargah, revered by a section of Muslims and Sangh Parivar.

A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and N V Ramana accepted the submission of the state government that it was a “very sensitive” matter and the cabinet will take a decision by considering the 2010 report of the Commissioner for Religious and Charitable Endowments on Chikmagalur-based Sufi shrine.

“We are of the view that at this stage, the state government be left alone to take a decision. The state government may consider all objections against the report. Thereafter, state government will decide the matter,” it said.

The bench then said it will be open to either parties to seek redressal if they are aggrieved by the decision of the government.

It then disposed of the two civil appeals filed by Syed Gouse Mohiuddin Shah Khadri, the Sajjada Nasheen (hereditary administrator) of the Sufi shrine and the Citizens For Justice and Peace respectively.

The Citizens For Justice and Peace wants to maintain the secular nature of the shrine, while the Sajjada Nasheen is resisting the state’s attempts to take over the management of the Dargah, located in the Chikmagalur district.

The shrine has a long history of litigations as in 1978 the property of Dargah was taken over by the Wakf board. The Sajjada Nasheen challenged the move and got a decree in its favour. Later, the government attempted to take it over.

The apex court, which today ordered authorities to maintain status quo, has now asked the state government to take an informed decision.

In 2008 also, the Supreme Court had ordered status quo at the shrine “in terms of the order of February 25, 1989, passed by the Commissioner for Religious and Charitable Endowments in Karnataka” until final orders. The 1989 order had codified rituals upholding the syncretic practices.

The shrine is said to be named after Sufi saint Baba Budan, also called Guru Dattatreya, who is revered by both the communities.

(Agencies)

JD-U to send one lakh hair, nail samples to PMO daily

by

nitish kumar

Patna: In a protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s DNA remark on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Bihar’s ruling JD-U will send one lakh hair and nail samples to the prime minister office everyday starting Thursday, a party leader said.

“We will send one lakh hair and nail samples of party leaders, workers and supporters starting September 3 to the prime minister office (PMO),” JD-U leader N.K. Arya said.

He said five million samples would be sent by the Janata Dal-United till October 15.

“We have already collected nearly one million hair and nail samples of people,” Arya said, adding “We have given a target to party leaders, including legislators, MPs and others to collect samples for DNA test from their respective constituencies across the state”.

Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad have been trying hard to link the DNA issue with the self respect of Bihar.

The JD-U launched a “shabdwapasi” campaign to put pressure on the prime minister to take back his remark and began a drive to collect signatures.

Addressing a public meeting in Muzaffarpur on July 25, Modi said: “There seems to be some problem in his (Nitish Kumar) DNA because the DNA of democracy is not like that. In democracy, you give respect even to your political rivals.”

(Agencies)

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives