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Strong 6.8-magnitude quake hits northeastern Japan

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Japan Earthquake

Tokyo: A strong 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northeastern Japan this morning, the US Geological Survey said, but authorities did not issue a tsunami warning and there were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake struck at 6:12 am (local time) off the east coast of Japan’s Honshu island in the Pacific Ocean, according to USGS, at a depth of 38.9 kilometres.

Japan’s meteorological agency said there was no immediate tsunami threat from the quake.

The quake hit 33 kilometres south east of the nearest city of Ofunato. Japan’s islands are situated at the conjuncture of several tectonic plates and experience a number of relatively violent quakes every year.

(AFP)

Modi government not much different from UPA: Govindacharya

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File photo

File photo

New Delhi: Days after Arun Shourie criticised Narendra Modi Government, BJP’s former ideologue KN Govindacharya on Tuesday too questioned its performance, saying it was not much different from the UPA dispensation and the PM has to come up with “Made for India” policies.

Govindacharya, founder of outfit Rashtriya Swabhiman Andolan, said people continue to witness the “same partial” and “corrupt” dispensation at the central level.

“The government has completed a year. But at this moment, we can’t see a ground to list their achievements, which is a matter of concern. On one hand, it is directionless (on policy issues). On the other, there are internal differences amongst ministries.

“People feel even though Modiji looks different from others…People will have their own assessments…. But (I) can’t see much of a difference in the (two) Governments. Same partiality, corruption is there,” he told reporters.

On the Government’s policies over land acquisition bill and concepts of Smart Cities and Make in India, he cautioned the Prime Minister Modi over his advisors in these matters.

“I don’t know who are the advisors of Narendra Modi… who unnecessarily (have) brought into his head this type of a problem of Land Acquisition bill in which the basic norms could not be followed.

“Therefore, I think, that a clever person like Narendra Mod…I think he should beware of his advisors,” he said.

Govindacharya advised the government to properly supplement the “Make in India” concept with “Make for India” and “Made by India” policies.

“Otherwise, it will just be a signboard that ‘India on Sale’, which won’t do any good to people of Bharat,” he said.

Shourie, a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, had earlier this month hit out at the Modi Government saying its economic policy was “directionless” while the social climate was causing “great anxiety” among the minorities.

(PTI)

FIR against IIPM founder Arindam Chaudhuri after UGC accuses him of misleading students

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Arindam Choudhari

New Delhi: Delhi Police have registered an FIR against Arindam Chaudhuri, founder of Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM), on the basis of a complaint by the University Grants Commission of “misleading, cheating and fooling” its students as its courses were not acknowledged by any recognised authority.

“We have registered an FIR under Section 420 of IPC against IIPM Dean Arindam Choudhari and his father Malayendra Kisor Chaudhuri, who is a Director, based on the UGC complaint. We are probing the matter,” Joint CP (Crime) Ravindra Yadav said.

A notice has been sent to both of them to join the investigation, police said.

IIPM, however, has questioned the UGC complaint and said the institute was not cheating its students.

The UGC, in its complaint, has said that despite the fact its courses are not authorised, the institute was “fooling” the students by charging a hefty fee from them.

Chaudhari said in a statement it was sad that some sections of the media have decided to pick up a case that was 6 months old and wondered how this could amount to cheating.

“UGC and AICTE keep themselves in news by targeting IIPM with their lies because we have stayed consciously out of their purview and accused them of massive corruption”, he said.

“We have never claimed that the institute is recognised by any statutory body nor have we claimed we give degrees. We give certificates and write clearly everywhere that “students interested in de jure recognition of IIPM’s programmes need not apply to IIPM! Its written clearly since 1970s in our prospectus and in our websites since it came into effect,” the IIPM dean also said.

“We have been cooperating with the police ever since the first notice came and will continue to do so as law abiding citizens,” he added.

(PTI)

Passion for justice: Mukul Sinha’s pioneering work

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Following is the introductory chapter of a booklet on the life and works of Advocate Mukul Sinha, compiled and published by Friends of Mukul Sinha. It will be released today evening at a Convention on Reclaiming Democracy in Ahmedabad.

Mukul-Sinha

 

by Arvind Narrain and Saumya Uma

Mukul Sinha passed away on 12 May 2014. His death occurred just before the results of the national elections were declared on 16 May 2014. The general election of 2014 brought the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government to power.

In the new political context, the dangers of forgetting what happened in Gujarat in 2002 are real.  The truly heroic efforts of Mukul Sinha and the small band of courageous, committed and persistent activists and lawyers resulted in the unprecedented conviction of over 100 persons for carnage-related cases. This now stands in danger not only of being forgotten but also overturned. Simultaneously, the threat and intimidation to civil society activists has increased.

It is in this defining moment, that we immensely feel the absence of Mukul Sinha. It is also in this context that we felt the necessity to attempt, through this publication, an understanding of what his work means to all of us, as a source of motivation and resolve to take forward his efforts towards justice and accountability.

Who was Mukul Sinha?  

As the range of tributes in this volume makes clear, Mukul Sinha was a trade union leader as well as a labour and service lawyer who shot to   national fame as the uncompromising and fearless legal spearhead who   sought to ensure accountability for what happened in Gujarat in 2002.

By their achievements in Gujarat, Mukul as well as the numerous   other activists from Gujarat have sent out a message that, justice is   indeed possible and creative lawyering and human rights lawyering lie   in goading the system to work even in the most difficult circumstances.   In doing the impossible, Mukul was an inspiration.

Why This Volume?  

This volume seeks to tell the story of the inspirational force that was Mukul Sinha from many facets. Mukul Sinha‘s own words, as reproduced   through a conversation with him in February 2013, highlight the varied aspects of his work, his strategic engagement with the law and his vision  of justice. His writings indicate a passionate commitment to working for labour rights, slum dwellers rights, environmental rights as well as the right to life and security of every person, immaterial of his or her religious or caste identity. What emerges in the course of this narrative is not only a political commitment but equally the skill, persistence and hard work which are the necessary concomitants to actualizing this vision of justice. Mukul Sinha‘s writings indicate the range of his concerns right from the politics of science to the issue of secularism and globalization to labour law issues such as the minimum wage.

A modest and self-effacing person, Mukul was not one to highlight   his own achievements. To get a sense of his enormous contribution   to nurturing a vision of democracy, one needs to understand and   assimilate his work through the people he worked with and the   people he inspired. The tributes paid to Mukul by fellow travellers   in the pursuit of justice emphasize the enormous importance of his   work. Fellow activists from Gujarat including Nirjhari Sinha, Fr. Cedric   Prakash, Pratik Sinha, and Gagan Sethi have penned heartfelt tributes   on the gap which Mukul‘s absence opens up in Gujarat as well as the   resolve to take Mukul‘s work forward.

The fact that Mukul‘s impact was not limited to Gujarat alone but has 9 had an impact at a national level emerges from the tributes by Upendra Baxi, Harsh Mander, Mihir Desai, Manisha Sethi, Mahtab Alam, Ajit Sahi, Saumya Uma and Arvind Narrain.

In addition to the public persona of Mukul Sinha, a personal side to him emerges from a range of tributes. Pravin Mishra, writes that he was ―an activist, scientist, lawyer, cook, poet, singer, lover, father, comrade and a great human who cared for every fellow human but cared very little when people misunderstood him.‖ He was also an atheist, communist, an advocate with legal acumen, grit and determination as well as a sense of humour.

The tributes also talk about the final days before his death when he continued working from his hospital bed in the Intensive Care Unit. He was dictating material to be uploaded on his website, discussing legal strategies with colleagues on important cases and asking for court documents to study and analyze. Highlighted by Mihir Desai, Harsh Mander and Gagan Sethi in their tributes to him, these are a poignant reminder of Mukul‘s passionate commitment to justice.

A running thread through the contributions is the thought—how does one remember someone who was so invaluable? The thought which echoes through all the tributes is that to remember Mukul Sinha is to remember our own humanity, as a gesture, not towards the past but towards the future.

The only genuine tribute one can pay Mukul is to bring the quality of both heart and head to human rights activism and redouble our efforts to ensure that the gains of the past are not lost as we face more difficult battles in the near future.  One also learns from Mukul that the defining quality of an activist is a stubborn will to fight for justice. Mukul‘s life also embodies the dictum that the more injustice there is, the stronger is the commitment to combat it. Mukul Sinha embodied the politics of a collective aspiration for a more just world and has contributed immeasurably to the nourishing of our utopias.

We hope that this volume functions as a spark of inspiration, reminding us of our rich histories of struggle and provides us the resources and the impetus to navigate the future with hope, commitment, resilience and humour–qualities which Mukul Sinha embodied.

Swedish court refuses to lift warrant against Julian Assange

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Warrant against WikiLeaks founder and whistleblower will not be lifted

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will still face arrest if he leaves the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has lived in political asylum since 2012.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will still face arrest if he leaves the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has lived in political asylum since 2012.

by Common Dreams

The Swedish Supreme Court has rejected WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s appeal to lift the arrest warrant against him.

Assange still faces arrest if he leaves the Ecuadorian embassy where he has been living in political asylum since 2012. He has said he fears being extradited to the U.S., where an ongoing investigation into WikiLeaks is still underway, if arrested by Swedish authorities. WikiLeaks in 2010 published more than 700,000 classified military and State Department documents, some of which exposed U.S. war crimes.

The arrest warrant stems from sexual assault allegations against Assange in Sweden, although he has not been formally indicted.

“The supreme court notes that investigators have begun efforts to question Julian Assange in London. The supreme court finds no reason to lift the arrest warrant,” the court statedon Monday.

Assange has denied the allegations against him. In March, Swedish prosecutors offered to interview him in London, dropping their years-long request that he come to Sweden for questioning. Assange has agreed to be interviewed in London, his lawyer said last month.

Houthis intensify use of child soldiers, violating international law: HRW

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A Yemeni child lies in a bed at a hospital in the capital Sanaa on May 12, 2015, a day after he was wounded in an air strike by Saudi-led coalition hit an arms depot on the eastern outskirts of Sanaa. (AFP/Mohammed Huwais)

A Yemeni child lies in a bed at a hospital in the capital Sanaa on May 12, 2015, a day after he was wounded in an air strike by Saudi-led coalition hit an arms depot on the eastern outskirts of Sanaa. (AFP/Mohammed Huwais)

by Hayat Norimine, Al Bawaba

The Human Rights Watch called for an immediate stop to the use of child soldiers in Yemen’s armed groups Tuesday, as Houthi rebel group intensifies its recruitment of children to use in their fight against Yemen’s government loyalists.

The monitor said the groups’ use of child soldiers violates international law and should face prosecution. Since September 2014 the HRW said the armed militants have increasingly been using children, aged at least as young as 12, in the armed conflict. Some are used as scouts and first aid assistants, while others are trained to fight.

“All armed groups in Yemen should reject sending children to battle or using them to support fighting,” HRW special adviser Fred Abrahams said. “The cost to these young people – the trauma, the injuries, and the lost schooling – is huge, as is the cost to Yemen’s future.”

Children with the Houthis and other armed groups make up about a third of all fighters in Yemen, according to UNICEF. Armed groups have recruited at least 140 children in one month alone, from late March to April.

The HRW said there have been several reports of 14- to 16-year-old soldiers carrying rifles and handguns from all parties of the war. One witness told the organization of a 7-year-old Houthi fighter standing at a checkpoint with an assault rifle.

A Houthi recruiter told the organization the children in active combat receive military training, while others provide first aid, collect bodies, carry food and ammunition or serve as guards.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon published a list of violations against children in May that included the use of children in armed forces by armed forces in Yemen.

The Human Rights Watch interviewed several children who had been recruited by the Houthis to fight in the war and wounded, including a boy who was shot in the chest and continued to fight after recovery.

Indonesia to 'turn back every boat carrying Rohingyas'

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Military says it would not allow boats as nearly 2,000 migrants arrive in Indonesia and Malaysia in past two days.

Indonesian paramedic assists a migrant child at a clinic after being rescued from a boat in Indonesia's Aceh province [Reuters]

Indonesian paramedic assists a migrant child at a clinic after being rescued from a boat in Indonesia’s Aceh province [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Indonesian military has told Al Jazeera that they will send back any boat with Rohingya migrants entering its waters as a vessel carrying hundreds of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh was turned away towards Malaysia.

Fuad Basya, Indonesian military spokesman, said that they pulled back a boat “full of people in dire conditions, smelling bad, some were screaming”, adding that they provided the migrants with water, food, medicine and fuel.

AFP news agency reported that the boat carrying an estimated 400 migrants was intercepted on the coast of northwestern Aceh region on Monday.

Meanwhile, rights groups have urged regional governments to save thousands of migrants believed to be stranded at sea in Southeast Asia and at the risk of death.

An estimated 6,000 to 8,000 Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar remain trapped in crowded, wooden boats, officials and activists said on Tuesday.

Nearly 2,000 people have reached Malaysia and Indonesia in the past two days after Thailand announced a crackdown on smuggling routes. They were rescued from overcrowded boats after being stranded at sea.

Myanmar shirks responsibility

Even as a large number of migrants originated from Myanmar, its government said that they will not take responsibility for migrants who are not their own citizens.

“If it is true and proven that they are from Myanmar, we will take responsibility for them. But not the Bangladeshis,” Zaw Htay, the director of Myanmar’s president’s office told Al Jazeera.

“Some of the Rohingya people may have come from Bangladesh. We can’t be responsible for them. But we do not accept the name Rohingya. They are Bengali,” Htay added referring to Myanmar’s long-persecuted Rohingya Muslim community.

The Rohingya, who are Muslim, have for decades suffered from state-sanctioned discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which considers them illegal settlers from Bangladesh even though their families have lived there for generations.

Those comments come a day after more than a 1,000 migrants, including children from both countries, were detained in Malaysia after they arrived in the popular Malaysian resort island of Langkawi.

The police chief in Langkawi told Al Jazeera’s Karishma Vyas that 1,158 people were being held on the island. At least 672 are Bangladeshi, and around 486 of them are Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar.

At least 100 women and 60 children were among them. The migrants were in a very poor state, suffering from dehydration as well as hunger.

The police say they believe the captain as well as the other traffickers on the three boats had escaped in another vessel and left the migrants to their own devices.

Regional problem

The Arakan Project, a group advocating for the rights of Rohingya, has said as many as 8,000 people may be adrift.

Chris Lewa, the director of Arakan Project, told Al Jazeera that “there were at least three other boats near Langkawi island in Malaysia – one of them in distress” on Monday night.

She said that a big concern is where these migrants could go, and despite this being a regional problem, if there was any country willing to deal with them.

Earlier, the International Organisation for Migration called on Southeast Asian governments to find and rescue the migrants trapped at sea.

Joe Lowry, a spokesman for the organisation, told Al Jazeera that some of the migrants may have been at sea since early March.

He said that from what they’ve seen so far, many of the migrants who make it to the shore are in poor health, with some suffering from vitamin B deficiency and acute malnutrition.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said 25,000 people are believed to have embarked from January to March, double the previous year’s pace, and that an estimated 300 had died.

Nearly 2,000 people have reached Malaysia and Indonesia in the past two days [Reuters]

17 injured in train blast in West Bengal

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kolkata-blast

Kolkata: Seventeen people were injured in a low intensity bomb blast on a passenger train in West Bengal on Tuesday, railway sources said.

Seven of the injured have been hospitalised after the explosion, which took place at 3.55 a.m. on the Sealdah-Krishnagar local of Eastern Railway between Titagarh and Barrackpore station.

A railway spokesman told IANS the low intensity bomb blast took place following an altercation and scuffle between anti-social who had boarded the train.

Two trains were cancelled as train movement was hit following the incident.

(IANS)

IPL: Warner, Henriques guide Sunrisers to five-run win over Kings XI

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warner

Hyderabad: Leading from the front, skipper David Warner struck a decent knock, while his bowlers bowled economically, picking up wickets at regular intervals to beat Kings XI Punjab by 5 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Monday.

With the win, Sunrisers move two places up the points table from fifth position to third with 14 points from 12 games, having won seven and lost five, whereas Kings XI stayed at the bottom of the table struggling with just four points from 12 games.

Opting to bat first, Warner top-scored with a 52-ball 81, hitting six boundaries and five sixes to lift Sunrisers to a modest 185/5. In reply, despite a late cameo by David Miller (89 not out off 44 balls), the visitors fell short by just 5 runs, thereby ending their innings at 180/7 in 20 overs.

For the home side, Moises Henriques (3/16) and Bipul Sharma (2/13) were the pick of the bowlers.

Chasing a challenging 186-run target, Kings XI got off to a good start scoring 37 off the first four overs, but lost opener Murali Vijay (24) in the very next over. Shikhar Dhawan held on to a smart, low catch off the bowling off spinner Bipul Sharma.

His opening partner Manan Vohra (20) also got out trying to up the scoring rate. Incoming batsman Glenn Maxwell continued his poor run in IPL 2015, scoring just 11 off six deliveries, before being caught behind off the bowling of Trent Boult.

But Miller had other plans in mind. Right from the word go, his positive approach was reflected in his bat. Scoring freely against both pacers and spinners helped team score 100 in the 15th over.

But with wickets falling at the other end it, the South African was running out of partners. George Bailey (6), Gurkeerat Singh (3), Axar Patel (15) all fell one after the other.

Earlier in the innings, Sunrisers got off to a flying start with openers Warner and Shikhar Dhawan scoring 56 off first six overs.

But a bowling change by Kings XI captain George Bailey worked wonders for the visitors, as spinner Glenn Maxwell broke the opening stand in his very first ball of the seventh over

A clever Maxwell looped the ball up outside off seeing Dhawan stepping out of the crease. The batsman was beaten in flight and wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha made no mistake whipping the bails off in a flash.

The wicket did not bother Warner as he kept on scoring freely, thus bringing up his half-century in just 36 balls.

He was well supported in the other end by incoming batsman Moises Henriques (28). The duo struck the ball to all parts of the ground and also sneaked in quick singles and twos to help the team reach 100 in the 13th over.

But Henriques had to return back to the pavilion in the very next over as he was caught off the bowling off Gurkeerat Singh.

Eoin Morgan (17) and Naman Ojha (2) also did not last long.

For Kings XI, Beuran Hendricks (2/40) was the pick of the bowlers.

(IANS)

Another massive earthquake: 26 killed in Nepal, eight in Bihar

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NEPAL-EARTHQUAKE

Kathmandu: At least 26 people were killed and over 150 were injured when a big earthquake struck Nepal on Tuesday.

Initial reports reaching here said that 19 people were killed in Dolakha district, located about 170 km from here.

Dolakha is about 130 km from Kodari, the epicentre of the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck in the afternoon.

Two five-storeyed buildings collapsed in capital Kathmandu, an official said.

Police spokesman Kamal Singh Bam earlier said that four people were killed in Chautara town in Sindhupalchowk district and three people died in capital Kathmandu.

He said that the number of deaths is likely to go up as they await news from other areas.

A major earthquake on Tuesday jolted Nepal, striking fear among the people and causing panic in a country which was barely recovering from the devastating April 25 temblor.

Cracked buildings collapsed in a heap of debris and landslides cut off roads as an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale hit Nepal, with its epicentre not far from Mount Everest — the world’s highest peak at 8,848 m.

Terrified people ran out of homes and offices as the buildings began to shake violently due to the earthquake. They ran to open space and parks here.

“It was frightening,” said an eyewitness who clutched her daughter. “It felt worse than last time,” she added

Six strong aftershocks followed in quick succession. Four of the aftershocks were in the epicentre Kodari while the strongest aftershock measured 6.3 on the Richter scale.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he has directed authorities to be on alert for rescue and relief operations.

A tweet from the prime minister’s office said: “PM took stock of the situation following the fresh major earthquake felt in Nepal and parts of India, at a high-level meeting.”

India Meteorological Department chief L.S. Rathore said that aftershocks could well continue for a few more weeks and months.

The tremors were felt in India, particularly in capital Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, Amritsar, Kolkata and the northeastern city of Guwahati. Buildings also shook in faraway Kochi in Kerala.

In Delhi, people ran out as buildings began to shake. Metro services were brought to a halt.

Rohtash Sharma said in Delhi: “I was at a bank when I felt the earthquake. I immediately ran out along with others.”

“Oh…this time I felt that it lasted longer than the one that we had in April. We all rushed out of our houses,” said Rakesh Sharma, who lives on the fifth floor in a high-rise building in C-Scheme area of Jaipur in India’s Rajasthan state.

In Kathmandu, an eyewitness said that he saw a building fall.

Another witness told IANS that he saw debris falling on a taxi packed with people. The fate of the people in the taxi was not immediately known.

Onlookers were left dazed and distraught on seeing the buildings collapse with a roar, a replay of the April 25 quake horror.

There was no electricity in Kathmandu. Internet connectivity too snapped.

People desperate for news tried to get in touch through their mobile phones, but that too did not work. The mobile network was jammed.

In Kathmandu, people made a beeline for shops to stock on water and other essential commodities here.

Harried shopkeepers were seen trying to manage the surging crowds at their shops.

People feared a repeat of the April 25 earthquake which caused widespread devastation.

“It is really scary,” said a Kathmandu resident as he rushed to join the people at the local grocery shop.

Nepal’s National Assembly was in session when the earth began to shake, creating panic among the lawmakers. They quickly trooped out of the building, which was soon plunged into darkness.

Kathmandu airport was closed temporarily as the ATC staff hurried out of the tower.

Eight killed as quake strikes Bihar

At least eight people, including three children, were killed and nearly two dozen people were injured when a massive earthquake caused walls to collapse in parts of Bihar on Tuesday, officials said.

The 7.3 magnitude earthquake’s epicentre was in Kodari, Nepal and its effect was felt across north India, including Bihar.

A labourer was killed when an under-construction wall collapsed in Danapur near Patna and a child was killed in Siwan district when a wall collapsed. Another child was seriously injured, officials of state disaster management department said.

Two children were killed in Manigachi in Darbhanga district in a wall collapse and a woman was killed in Dumra of Sitamarhi district when she came under the debris of a wall that fell.

One person died in Hajipur in Vaishali district, Nawada and Saran districts due to the quake.

Over half a dozen girl students of a government middle school at Bihya in Bhojpur district were injured when they were trying to rush out of class room.

“All of them were admitted at a primary health centre for treatment,” a district official said.

In Forbesganj in Araria district, bordering Nepal, at least 12 people were injured in a stampede during the quake.

People in Patna, Darbhanga, Purnea, Kishanganj, Madhubani, Jehanabad and Aurangabad felt the tremors for over a minute.

“People across Bihar felt the tremors,” Patna Met Office director A.K. Sen said.

According to state disaster management department officials here, there were reports of cracks in several houses in Jehanabad, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Gaya, and Raxaul in East Champaran district.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called a meeting of the state disaster management department and directed officials concerned to assess the damage caused by the quake.

Hundreds of thousands of people came out of their houses across the state as soon as they felt temblor.

In Patna, people rushed out of their houses and took shelter in open spaces.

(IANS)

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