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Bangalore citizens statement against state sponsored intimidation of Teesta Setalvad and other activists

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Teesta Setalvad

by Bangalore Citizen’s Initiative

The CBI raid on the residence and office of activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand on 13th and 14th July 2015 is a shocking development. Socially conscious citizens perceive this as a political vendetta to insult, humiliate and intimidate the couple fighting for the rights of the victims of 2002 Gujarat riots. Needless to state, the search and raid operation has all the colour of having been directed by powerful interests against whom Teesta Setalvad had filed cases on the Gujarat genocide of 2002. It has been a relentless struggle for Teesta and Javed to fight for the victims of the Gujarat carnage. This battle for justice for the victims has become even more difficult since vested interests assumed power in the Central Government.

Teesta Setalvad and Javed are not isolated cases. The official machinery of the State has been used to silence dissent consistently over the past several decades. The State has been complicit in the misuse of its powers over investigative agencies which have been used to intimidate, terrorise and harass those working for the causes of the poor, to uphold human rights and against injustice. Recent examples of such targeting include S. R. Hiremath of the INSAF, Samaj Parivarthana Samudaya, Greenpeace, Amnesty International, Dr. Binayak Sen, and many others.

Such highhandedness of the State is witnessed in the way certain laws that exclusively govern civil society organisations are being amended to curtail basic rights of civil society organisations and people’s movements to work freely and with enjoyment of all Fundamental Rights. The current administration at the Centre is further manipulating these laws fundamental to safeguarding freedoms of individuals and organisations advancing social justice, while sparing no effort to benefit corporations and particular business houses. This when there is a relentless effort to whittle down schemes that guarantee the Right to Life and Livelihoods of ordinary people by cutting down on social safeguards and withdrawing a variety of subsidies that support the poor and also massive reduction in allocation to the social sector.

The trend clearly is one of attacking defenders of justice, instead of providing justice to the victims of violence, with fabricated cases being filed with impunity against the defenders of justice. We are wary that a culture of attacking, terrorising and even getting rid of those who defend the rights of the victims is gradually becoming an accepted practice. Reports in the media have highlighted the Vyapam case in Madhya Pradesh, where several whistleblowers and advocates of the Right to Information Act have been targeted.

At this juncture, what those who fight for justice need is all the support from people of goodwill to defeat the evil designs of certain vested and politically powerful interests. While there is a need to battle those who are determined to wipe out the memories of the Gujarat carnage and escape responsibility for their criminal deeds, it is equally necessary that we stand against the culture of State terrorism, intimidation and violence.

Endorsed

Mr. Girish Karnad – Actor, Film Director, Writer and Playwright
Mr. Govind Rao – Actor, Poet, Resource Person and in social movements
Maj. Gen. S. G. Vombatkere (Retd.), Mysore.
Dr. Ambrose Pinto SJ, Principal, St. Aloysius Degree College
Ms. Bhargavi S Rao – Environment Support Group
Mr. Leo F Saldanha – Environment Support Group
Dr. A.R.Vasavi, Social Anthropologist, Bangalore
Dr. Suvrat Raju, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, TIFR
Mr. Prithvi Reddy, Entrepreneur and Political Activist
Dr. Sreeramappa Chinnappa – Medical Officer
Mr. L. Ashok – Komu Souharda Vedike
Mr. Ajay Marshal – Photographer
Mr. Robin Christopher – Alternative Law Forum
Mr. Manohar Rangnathan – Human Right Activist
Dr. Selvaraj Arulnathan SJ, Director, Indian Social Institute
Mr. Mark Rasquinha, Associate Professor, Jain University
Mr. Roshan Sylvester, Associate Professor, Jyothi Nivas College
Mr. Vinoo Sudhakar, Associate Professor, St. Aloysius Degree College, Bangalore
Professor Etienne Rassendran, St. Joseph’s College
Professor Chandan Gowda, Azeem Premjee University
Professor Babu Mathew, National Law School of India
Mr. Ramyani Chakrabarty M. Tech, Trainee Teacher
Mr. Jagadish Chandra – New Socialist Alternative
Mr. N. Jayaram, PUCL, Bangalore
Ms. Madhu Bhushan – Social Activist
Mr. Rakesh Narayan, PUCL
Mr. Jagadeesh Byata – Social Activist and Lawyer
Ms. Keya Acharya, journalist, Bangalore.
Dr. Akhila Vasan, Karnataka Janaaroyga Chaluvali
Mr. K.B. Obalash, Karnataka Janaaroyga Chaluvali
Mr. Vijaya Kumar.S, Karnataka Janaaroyga Chaluvali
Mr. T.N.Gopalan, Journalist
Ms. Anita Cheria , Open Space
Ms. Anasuya Byndoor, Swaraj Sangatane, Karnataka
Mr. Pradeep Esteves, Context India
Dr. Sumi Krishna, Independent Scholar
Ms. C. K. Meena, Writer
Mr. Bobby Kunhu, Advocate
Ms. Asma A N, Independent Journalist
Mr. Syed Tanveeruddin, Environmental, RTI, Human Rights and Social Activist, Mysore
Ms. Uma V Chandru, Activist, Bangalore
Mr. K. P. Sasi, Documentary Maker
Ms. Ammu Joseph, Journalist and Writer
Mr. Himanshu Trivedi, Associate, Lawyer, Barristers & Solicitors
Ms. Anita Ratnam, Executive Director, Samvada Youth Resource Centres & Baduku Community College For Alternatives
Ms. Pushpa Achanta – Journalist & Trainer
Mr. Antony Melvin D Paul, Founder and Lead, PoundHead
Mr. Mallikarjun.L.S., RTI Activist,
Dr. Arati Choksh (Science Activist)
Mr. Joseph Britto, Indo Bloom Ltd.
Dr. Lawrence Surendra – Environmental Economist
Ms. Benazir Siddiq
Ms. Rajitha Vipparthi
Ms. Shanthala Damle
Ms. Manasi Pingle
Fr. Adolf Washington
Dr. Lakshmi Nilakantan
Mr. Ralph Paul Coelho
Dr. Kshithij Urs
Ms. Meena Subramaniam, Artiste
Ms. Kirtana Kumar, Musician and Theatre Activist
Mr. M.V.K Anil Kumar
Mr. Richard D
Ms. Merlin Francis
Ms. Shaheen Shasa
Mr. B V Mahesh Kumar
Mr. Nitin Basrur
Mr. Pramod Krishnamurthy
Mr. Benjamin T
Mr. Hiroo Advani
Mr. Anil Kapur
Mr. S. Gopal, Kundalahalli
Mr. Pramod Krishnamurthy
Ms. Pushpa Surendra
Mr. Nitin Gujaran
Ms. Snigdha Samal
Mr. Akhlaque Ahmed
Mr. Karthik Ranganathan
Ms. Chetana Ajit
Mr. Murali S
Ms. Zephyrine Goveas
Mr. Prashant Paikray, POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samithi
Ms. Sheela Gowda, Artiste
Ms. Meena Artwani
Mr. Sridhar Raman
Ms. Sudha Nagavarapu
Mani Kalliath
Sr. Leonie
Mr. Srinath Heragu
Mr. R. Ramachandran
Ms. Cavery Bopaiah
Mr. Ram Punyani
Mr. David Selvaraj
Mr. David D’ Costa

Are gallows also for Mumbai riot convicts, Hindutva terrorists, asks Asaduddin Owaisi

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asad-owaisi-on-memon

Mumbai: In a contemptuous attack on the BJP led government for its decision to hang 1993 Mumbai blast convict Yakub Memon, Parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi Wednesday wondered if the same punishment will also be given to the perpetrators of Babri Masjid demolition, Mumbai and other riot convicts, and Hindutva terrorists.

“Why haven’t the perpetrators of Babri Masjid demolition been convicted, and will they also be given the capital punishment, as that (demolition of the Babri Masjid) is the original sin”, Owaisi, a barrister who is the president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), said while talking to ummid.com on phone.

Owaisi was commenting on the hanging of Yakub Memon which is slated on July 30 – his birthday. Yakub Memon – a Chartered Accountant, had surrendered with his family members before the Indian authorities after the 1993 Mumbai blasts which had killed over 250 people. The series of blasts took place soon after the deadly riots that followed the demolition of Babri Masjid by Hindu fanatics.

Stating that Sri Krishna Commission report has been kept in cold storage first by the Congress and now by the BJP, Owaisi said, “About one thousand people were killed in communal riots that followed the Babri Masjid demolition. Many police officers were booked under grievous charges, including murder. How many were convicted? All went scot-free.”

Owaisi however declined any comment on Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss Memon’s curative petition saying, ‘it exonerated the Muslims accused in the Akshardham terror attack’.

Owaisi also asked if the Hindutva terrorists – now in jail for their involvements in the Samjhouta Express, Malegaon, Hyderabad Makkah Masjid and Ajmer blasts, will also be given the same punishment as Yakub Memon.

“Will Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Col Purohit and Swami Aseemanand get capital punishment. This is upto the NIA to prove their guilt in courts”, Owaisi said.

Drawng parallel between Mumbai blasts and Rajive Gandhi assassination, Owaisi said the killers were shown mercy because they have political backing.

“Rajiv Gandhi and Beant Singh killers have backing of political parties. That is why they have not been sent to gallows”, he said.

Recalling how Memon surrendered before the Indian authorities and helped in the investigations, Owaisi said, “I agree with Siddharth Vardharajan (noted journalist) who said that why hang Yakub Memon when he proved Pakistani involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bombing.”

Owaisi also said that Maya Kodnani and Babu Bajrangi – both convicted to life for killing 97 Muslims during the 2002 Gujarat riots, but the Modi government did not allow appeal to enhance their punishment to death.

(Ummid)

Tamim, Mahmudullah push Bangladesh towards lead

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Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah did not take many risks, preferring to chip away at Bangladesh's deficit © AFP

Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah did not take many risks, preferring to chip away at Bangladesh’s deficit © AFP

Chittagong: Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah scored half-centuries to give their team hope of taking a first-innings lead over South Africa on the second day of their opening test at Chittagong on Wednesday.

Opening batsman Tamim (57) fell in the second session while Mahmudullah (67) was out just before rain stopped play with Bangladesh on 179 for four, trailing South Africa by 69 runs.

Captain Mushfiqur Rahim (16) and all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan (one) were unbeaten for Bangladesh, who have lost all of their previous eight meetings against the world number one-ranked test side.

Resuming the second day on 7-0 after bundling South Africa out for 248, Bangladesh lost two wickets in quick succession and were forced to consolidate against a probing attack.

Imrul Kayes (26) and Tamim did well to see off the opening burst from the South African fast bowlers to take their team to 46-0 before an innocuous delivery from part-time medium pacer Stiaan van Zyl brought the first breakthrough.

Kayes lost his balance against a delivery down the leg side and wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock completed a smart stumping.

Number three batsman Mominul Haque (six) fell three overs later when he was bowled after missing an arm-ball from off-spinner Simon Harmer to leave the hosts floundering at 55-2.

Tamim and Mahmudullah, however, pegged the tourists back with a watchful third-wicket stand of 89 that ended when the former was bowled out by part-time spinner Dean Elgar.

Bangladesh staved off the pace trio of Dale Steyn Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander for most of the day but it was the latter who dismissed Mahmudullah near the close to somewhat spoil an otherwise satisfying day for the hosts.

Heavy rain forced the players off four balls after Philander struck and, though there was a restart, only one ball was bowled before another downpour washed out 25 overs of the day’s play.

Writing by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Greg Stutchbury and Ken Ferris.

(Reuters)

Stop Yakub Memon’s Hanging: PUDR

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Yakub Memon

by People’s Union For Demoratic Rights

On 15th July, the Maharashtra government announced that it has initiated the process for hanging Yakub Memon. On 30th July, 2015 ‘he is to be hung by the neck till dead’. The announcement seemed inevitable after the Supreme Court had rejected his review petition on 10th April this year. Except that Yakub Memon has still not exhausted all legal remedies as he has a curative petition due to be heard in the Supreme Court on 21st July. While the state government is treating the matter as already dried and dusted and making a mockery of the justice system, there are some very valid reasons for drawing attention to Yakub’s case for upholding our faith in the judicial process:

1. Controversial arrest: The police claimed to pick Yakub up from the New Delhi Railway Station on 5th August 1994. In a letter written to the Supreme Court in 1999, Yakub stated that he came to India on 28th July 1994. He had been detained on 24th July at Kathmandu airport and then handed over to the Indian agencies.

2. Implicated and sentenced for trying to help: Yakub has maintained all along that he had no foreknowledge of and had no hand in the conspiracy leading to the Mumbai blasts of 1993. He was working towards voluntarily returning to India to clear his name. He co-operated with the investigating agencies and provided vital leads which have been acknowledged. However, the Court never regarded these as mitigating factors.

3. No justice under TADA: The Supreme Court in its 2013 judgement confirming death sentence awarded by the TADA court in 2007, held that Yakub officiated for Tiger Memon in Mumbai in the planning of the attacks in the latter’s absence. The Court accepted that Yakub was nowhere directly involved in the execution of the blasts, but his responsibility was greater as he was one of the planners. It said that he “was constantly present at the Al Husseini building, where the major part of the plan was made and executed”, interacted with ‘Tiger’s men’, managed Tiger’s “ill-gotten money,” arranged for air tickets to Dubai and vehicles which were used in the attacks. He was convicted under TADA (now lapsed), IPC, Arms Act, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, and under sections of the Explosive Substances Act on retracted confessions, on the statements of approvers and on the confession of co-accused.

4. “Special Stigmatizing”: Yakub had returned in 1994 believing that there would be a fair trial. He was proved wrong. The judgement decreed capital punishment for him because of his “position of dominance” and the “gravity of the crime”. Significantly, the Court commuted the sentences of the 10 others who had been awarded capital punishment by the trial court.

5. Rejection of mitigating factors: The Supreme Court deliberated on the aggravating and mitigating circumstances while awarding the quantum of punishment to all the death row convicts. Notably, in Yakub’s case, the Court noted none other than the fact that he did not have a prior criminal record. However, in the case of the other 10 others sentenced to death, the Court noted several other mitigating factors like lengthy incarceration, good behaviour, co-operating in the investigation, dependent family members etc. which were equally applicable to him. In Yakub’s case, the beginning and end of his being awarded death penalty then is clearly his relationship with Tiger Memon.

6. A discriminated convict: While confirming the death sentence on Yakub, the Court disregarded the fact that he suffered from depression from 1996. Ironically, a year later, while commuting the death penalty of 15 death row convicts in 2014, the same Court noted: “incarceration, in addition to the reasonable time necessary for adjudication of mercy petitions and preparation for execution, flouts the due process guaranteed to the convict under Article 21 which inheres in every prisoner till his last breath.”

7. Incarcerated for 21 years: For 21 years Yakub has lived with the “brooding horror” which “haunts” a condemned prisoner. To hang him now is neither fair nor just as it is punishing him twice over. It is plain vengeance which the state shows towards a condemned and defenceless man.

8. Denial of reform: A chartered accountant by profession, Yakub was known to be a silent observer during court proceedings. In 21 years of which he has spent 8 years in the death row, he has completed two MAs, one in English and the other in Political Science from IGNOU. Several recent judgments have emphasised the importance of reform and rehabilitation based on conduct. However, Yakub’s efforts have never been recognized.

9. A political hanging: The judicial process through which Yakub has been pronounced guilty and deserving of capital punishment has failed to bring to justice the main perpetrators of anti-Muslim carnage in December 1992 and January 1993, despite the Srikrishna Commission of Inquiry identifying a host of police officers and politicians belonging to Shiv Sena for their role. In the last one year, a similar trend is observable in the investigations into attacks committed by Hindu terror groups. 15 witnesses have turned hostile in the Ajmer Dargah blast (2007), the NIA has closed the Modasa case (2008) and has pressured the special prosecutor to ‘go soft’ on the investigations into the Malegeon blasts (2008).

The impending hanging of Yakub Memon raises certain very significant concerns regarding the role of the state and rights of people. As the above points illustrate, Yakub’s ‘crime’ is that of guilt by association and he is a scapegoat who has been conveniently caught and convicted as ‘most guilty’. Yakub Memon returned as a conscientious Indian citizen, albeit with a ‘criminal’ family background. If he is now hanged, the government must take responsibility for sending out the message that a Muslim cannot be a good citizen.

It is also imperative to ask as to what justice will be served through such an execution? Such regressive judicial pronouncement yet again convinces us that death penalty is not only prejudiced but also irrational. Fraught with the possibility of judicial error, the irreversibility of the punishment makes it totally condemnable. Globally, there is a move within countries to progressively do away with this regressive form of punishment. PUDR therefore urges the authorities including the judiciary in this case that in the interests of justice to commute his sentence, and in light of his 21 year-long incarceration to release him.

Megha Bahl, Sharmila Purkayastha

Secretaries, PUDR

World’s oceans could rise higher, sooner, faster than most thought possible

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New research shows that consensus estimates of sea level increases may be underestimating threat; new predictions would see major coastal cities left uninhabitable by next century

'Roughly 10 feet of sea level rise—well beyond previous estimates—would render coastal cities such as New York, London, and Shanghai uninhabitable.' (Image: Woodbine)

‘Roughly 10 feet of sea level rise—well beyond previous estimates—would render coastal cities such as New York, London, and Shanghai uninhabitable.’ (Image: Woodbine)

by Jon Queally, Common Dreams

If a new scientific paper is proven accurate, the international target of limiting global temperatures to a 2°C rise this century will not be nearly enough to prevent catastrophic melting of ice sheets that would raise sea levels much higher and much faster than previously thought possible.

According to the new study—which has not yet been peer-reviewed, but was written by former NASA scientist James Hansen and 16 other prominent climate researchers—current predictions about the catastrophic impacts of global warming, the melting of vast ice sheets, and sea level rise do not take into account the feedback loop implications of what will occur if large sections of Greenland and the Antarctic are consumed by the world’s oceans.

A summarized draft of the full report was released to journalists on Monday, with the shocking warning that such glacial melting will “likely” occur this century and could cause as much as a ten foot sea-level rise in as little as fifty years. Such a prediction is much more severe than current estimates contained in reports issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—the UN-sponsored body that represents the official global consensus of the scientific community.

“If the ocean continues to accumulate heat and increase melting of marine-terminating ice shelves of Antarctica and Greenland, a point will be reached at which it is impossible to avoid large scale ice sheet disintegration with sea level rise of at least several meters,” the paper states.

Separately, the researchers conclude that “continued high emissions will make multi-meter sea level rise practically unavoidable and likely to occur this century. Social disruption and economic consequences of such large sea level rise could be devastating. It is not difficult to imagine that conflicts arising from forced migrations and economic collapse might make the planet ungovernable, threatening the fabric of civilization.”

The Daily Beast‘s Mark Hertsgaard, who attended a press call with Dr. Hansen on Monday, reports that the work presented by the researchers is

warning that humanity could confront “sea level rise of several meters” before the end of the century unless greenhouse gas emissions are slashed much faster than currently contemplated.

This roughly 10 feet of sea level rise—well beyond previous estimates—would render coastal cities such as New York, London, and Shanghai uninhabitable.  “Parts of [our coastal cities] would still be sticking above the water,” Hansen said, “but you couldn’t live there.”

This apocalyptic scenario illustrates why the goal of limiting temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius is not the safe “guardrail” most politicians and media coverage imply it is, argue Hansen and 16 colleagues in a blockbuster study they are publishing this week in the peer-reviewed journal Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry. On the contrary, a 2C future would be “highly dangerous.”

If Hansen is right—and he has been right, sooner, about the big issues in climate science longer than anyone—the implications are vast and profound.

In the call with reporters, Hansen explained that time is of the essence, given the upcoming climate talks in Paris this year and the grave consequences the world faces if bold, collective action is not taken immediately. “We have a global crisis that calls for international cooperation to reduce emissions as rapidly as practical,” the paper states.

Hansen said he has long believed that many of the existing models were under-estimating the potential impacts of ice sheet melting, and told the Daily Beast: “Now we have evidence to make that statement based on much more than suspicion.”

Though he acknowledged the publication of the paper was unorthodox, Hansen told reporters that the research itself is “substantially more persuasive than anything previously published.”

For his part, Eric Holthaus, a meteorologist who writes about weather and climate for Slate, said the “bombshell” findings are both credible and terrifying. Holthaus writes:

To come to their findings, the authors used a mixture of paleoclimate records, computer models, and observations of current rates of sea level rise, but “the real world is moving somewhat faster than the model,” Hansen says.

[…] The implications are mindboggling: In the study’s likely scenario, New York City—and every other coastal city on the planet—may only have a few more decades of habitability left. That dire prediction, in Hansen’s view, requires “emergency cooperation among nations.”

In response to the paper, climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton University affirmed: “If we cook the planet long enough at about two degrees warming, there is likely to be a staggering amount of sea level rise. Key questions are when would greenhouse-gas emissions lock in this sea level rise and how fast would it happen? The latter point is critical to understanding whether and how we would be able to deal with such a threat.”

The new research, Oppenheimer added, “takes a stab at answering the ‘how soon?’ question but we remain largely in the dark.  Giving the state of uncertainty and the high risk, humanity better get its collective foot off the accelerator.”

And as the Daily Beast‘s Hertsgaard notes, Hansen’s track record on making climate predictions should command respect from people around the world. The larger question, however, is whether humanity has the capacity to act.

“The climate challenge has long amounted to a race between the imperatives of science and the contingencies of politics,” Hertsgaard concludes. “With Hansen’s paper, the science has gotten harsher, even as the Nature Climate Change study affirms that humanity can still choose life, if it will. The question now is how the politics will respond—now, at Paris in December, and beyond.”

Bomb kills at least ten civilians in northern Afghanistan

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At least 10 were killed and scores wounded in a bombing attack at a market. Image used for illustrative purposes. (AFP/File)

At least 10 were killed and scores wounded in a bombing attack at a market. Image used for illustrative purposes. (AFP/File)

by Press TV

At least 10 civilians have been killed and scores of others wounded in a bombing attack at a market in Afghanistan’s north, police say.

Deputy provincial police chief Baryalia Basharyar said that the attack took place when a bomber blew himself up among a crowd of shoppers in Almar district in Faryab Province on Wednesday.

The police official said that the death toll is expected to rise.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

The blast comes less than a week after a powerful explosion claimed the lives of four children in the province of Maidan Wardak in the east-central region of Afghanistan.

The incident took place on July 16 as the children were playing in the area.

Afghanistan is witnessing growing violence despite the presence of thousands of foreign forces in the war-ravaged country.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s war on terror. The offensive removed Taliban from power, but insecurity still remains in several areas across the country.

The US-led combat mission in Afghanistan officially ended on December 31, 2014, but thousands offoreign forces have remained in the country.

Curfew imposed in Jamshedpur after clashes

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Jamshedpur-riots

Ranchi: A curfew has been imposed in Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur city, the home town of Chief Minister Raghubar Das, after two communities clashed over the alleged harassment of a girl, police said on Wednesday.

The curfew was imposed on Tuesday night. Trouble started on Monday evening when a girl of one community was allegedly harassed by boys of another community. The incident took place near Gandhi maidan area of city.

A mob burnt tyres following which members of the two communities clashed. Police said both the communities resorted to violence at many places and burnt vehicles.

On Monday, prohibitory orders were imposed. But as the situation continued to be tense, authorities imposed a curfew in many parts of the district.

More than 100 people have been arrested so far.

Das has set up a two-member committee to probe the incident and appealed to the people to maintain calm.

(IANS)

SIT makes first arrest in Lokayukta scam

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Lokayukta scam

Bengaluru: Bangalore-based businessman Ashok Kumar was arrested and produced before the Lokayukta special court by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), who is investigating the case of corruption in anti-graft ombudsman, on Tuesday.

This is the first arrest made in the case.

The 30-year-old businessman, who is into real estate and sand transportation business, was the one who made calls to executive engineer M N Krishnamurthy of Bengaluru Zilla Panchayat.

As per the FIR registered against Ashwin (son of Lokayukta Justice Bhaskar Rao), the accused had called Krishnamurthy to the office of Lokayukta PRO Syed Riyas, saying that the Lokayukta wanted to see them. At the office, Ashwin introduced himself as Krishna Rao and demanded a bribe of Rs one crore to avoid a Lokayukta police raid.

However, Krishnamurthy had refused to pay and had orally complained about the incident to Bengaluru Urban Division SP Sonia Narang last May.

The investigation team found that Ashok, a resident of Rajajinagar, was the one who had talked to Krishnamurthy on phone.  Thus finding out, Ashok’s role in the particular case.

The special court sent Ashok to SIT custody for 10 days.

(Agencies)

Compulsory Yoga for CBSE students of Classes XI, XII

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yoga-school-india

New Delhi: Yoga has been made compulsory in CBSE curricula for Classes XI and XII while for students of other classes it should be held “at least” twice a week as part of their physical activity programme, the government today said.

Informing this in a written reply in Rajya Sabha, AYUSH Minister Shripad Yasso Naik said yoga education has also been made a compulsory part of study and practice by National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).

“The HRD Ministry has further informed that there are 15,962 schools affiliated to the CBSE who have already been advised to provide compulsory 40-45 minutes of physical activities or games to the students of Classes I-X every day…

“…and that students of Classes XI-XII should participate in physical activity/ games/mass physical training/yoga for at least two periods per week (90-120 minutes/ week). The board offers physical and health education for classes XI and XII and yoga is compulsory part of its curriculum,” Naik said.

Naik said NCTE has already developed modules on yoga education for diploma in elementary education and master of education.

“These will be used by more than 18,000 teacher education institutions and also 14 lakh student – teachers and teacher educators who are studying or teaching in these institutions,” Naik said.

The Minister said that HRD Ministry has informed that the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005 which is a policy document for the country, recommended Yoga as an integral part of health and physical education.

He said that the government has laid down the national policy on Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy-2002 which envisages overall growth and development of Yoga.

The Government has formulated the programmes and operational measures for promotion of yoga through centrally sponsored scheme of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) and various central sector schemes.

“Further, a task force has been constituted by the Ministry to deliberate and make recommendations on various important issues concerning the AYUSH Ministry, including the preferred option for promotion, development and regulation of Yoga and Naturopathy for education and practice,” Naik said.

(PTI)

Fragments of what could be world’s oldest Quran have been found in the U.K.

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The university's academics were "startled" when the radiocarbon dating tests showed it was so old

The university’s academics were “startled” when the radiocarbon dating tests showed it was so old.

by Sean Coughlan, BBC

What may be the world’s oldest fragments of the Koran have been found by the University of Birmingham.

Radiocarbon dating found the manuscript to be at least 1,370 years old, making it among the earliest in existence.

The pages of the Muslim holy text had remained unrecognised in the university library for almost a century.

The British Library’s expert on such manuscripts, Dr Muhammad Isa Waley, said this “exciting discovery” would make Muslims “rejoice”.

The manuscript had been kept with a collection of other Middle Eastern books and documents, without being identified as one of the oldest fragments of the Koran in the world.

Oldest texts

When a PhD researcher, Alba Fedeli, looked more closely at these pages it was decided to carry out a radiocarbon dating test and the results were “startling”.

The university’s director of special collections, Susan Worrall, said researchers had not expected “in our wildest dreams” that it would be so old.

“Finding out we had one of the oldest fragments of the Koran in the whole world has been fantastically exciting.”

The University of Birmingham’s manuscript was in a collection brought back from the Middle East

The tests, carried out by the Oxford University Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, showed that the fragments, written on sheep or goat skin, were among the very oldest surviving texts of the Koran.

These tests provide a range of dates, showing that, with a probability of more than 95%, the parchment was from between 568 and 645.

“They could well take us back to within a few years of the actual founding of Islam,” said David Thomas, the university’s professor of Christianity and Islam.

“According to Muslim tradition, the Prophet Muhammad received the revelations that form the Koran, the scripture of Islam, between the years 610 and 632, the year of his death.”

Prof Thomas says the dating of the Birmingham folios would mean it was quite possible that the person who had written them would have been alive at the time of the Prophet Muhammad.

“The person who actually wrote it could well have known the Prophet Muhammad. He would have seen him probably, he would maybe have heard him preach. He may have known him personally – and that really is quite a thought to conjure with,” he says.

First-hand witness

Prof Thomas says that some of the passages of the Koran were written down on parchment, stone, palm leaves and the shoulder blades of camels – and a final version, collected in book form, was completed in about 650.

Prof Thomas says the writer of this manuscript could have heard the Prophet Muhammad preach

He says that “the parts of the Koran that are written on this parchment can, with a degree of confidence, be dated to less than two decades after Muhammad’s death”.

“These portions must have been in a form that is very close to the form of the Koran read today, supporting the view that the text has undergone little or no alteration and that it can be dated to a point very close to the time it was believed to be revealed.”

Susan Worrall says the university wants to put this internationally significant discovery on public display

The manuscript, written in “Hijazi script”, an early form of written Arabic, becomes one of the oldest known fragments of the Koran.

Because radiocarbon dating creates a range of possible ages, there is a handful of other manuscripts in public and private collections which overlap. So this makes it impossible to say that any is definitively the oldest.

But the latest possible date of the Birmingham discovery – 645 – would put it among the very oldest.

‘Precious survivor’

Dr Waley, curator for such manuscripts at the British Library, said “these two folios, in a beautiful and surprisingly legible Hijazi hand, almost certainly date from the time of the first three caliphs”.

The first three caliphs were leaders in the Muslim community between about 632 and 656.

Dr Waley says that under the third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, copies of the “definitive edition” were distributed.

“The Muslim community was not wealthy enough to stockpile animal skins for decades, and to produce a complete Mushaf, or copy, of the Holy Koran required a great many of them.”

Dr Waley suggests that the manuscript found by Birmingham is a “precious survivor” of a copy from that era or could be even earlier.

“In any case, this – along with the sheer beauty of the content and the surprisingly clear Hijazi script – is news to rejoice Muslim hearts.”

Muhammad Afzal of Birmingham Central Mosque said he was very moved to see the manuscript

The manuscript is part of the Mingana Collection of more than 3,000 Middle Eastern documents gathered in the 1920s by Alphonse Mingana, a Chaldean priest born near Mosul in modern-day Iraq.

He was sponsored to take collecting trips to the Middle East by Edward Cadbury, who was part of the chocolate-making dynasty.

The local Muslim community has already expressed its delight at the discovery in their city and the university says the manuscript will be put on public display.

“When I saw these pages I was very moved. There were tears of joy and emotion in my eyes. And I’m sure people from all over the UK will come to Birmingham to have a glimpse of these pages,” said Muhammad Afzal, chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque.

The university says the Koran fragments will go on display in the Barber Institute in Birmingham in October.

Prof Thomas says it will show people in Birmingham that they have a “treasure that is second to none”.

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