Nasheman

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

You are here: Home / Archives for Nasheman

Karnataka Speaker bans mobile phones in Assembly

by

Karnataka Assembly in sesssion. Photo: The Hindu

Karnataka Assembly in sesssion. Photo: The Hindu

Belagavi: BJP member Prabhu Chavan was watching a zoomed in picture of Priyanka Gandhi during proceedings on Thursday.

Use of mobile phones in the Karnataka Assembly was banned on Friday, a day after the House was rocked by chaos over a BJP member watching a zoomed in picture of Priyanka Gandhi during proceedings.

Speaker Kagodu Thimappa suspended Prabhu Chavan, BJP legislator whose act caught on TV camera triggered a storm, for a day, and pulled up Housing Minister M H Ambareesh and Congress member S S Mallikarjun for using phones in the House.

“I hereby pronounce that the use of mobile phones in the state assembly is banned. Since Prabhu Chavan was watching a picture in an indecent manner, he is herewith suspended for a day from attending house proceedings,” he said.

The Assembly proceedings were paralysed yesterday amid chaos over the BJP MLA’s conduct, with ruling Congress members on the offensive demanding action against the legislator.

BJP members had hit back at Congress seeking two-day suspension of Mr. Ambareesh and Mr. Mallikarjun from the House, alleging they were also surfing through mobile phones during proceedings.

Mr. Thimappa also announced formation of legislature ethics committee, which will help mould the personality of legislators, monitor their behaviour in the House and legislative capabilities and enhance the dignity, decorum and prestige of the Assembly.

“Already a legislature ethics committee has been formed in the Upper House, but has not met even once. However, such a committee also will be constituted in the lower house,” he added.

In a major embarrassment to BJP, Mr. Chavan was caught on a TV camera watching a zoomed in photo of Priyanka Gandhi on his mobile phone and another BJP MLA U B Banakar playing video games during a debate on the plight of sugarcane growers on Wednesday.

During the BJP rule, the then ministers Laxman Savadi and C C Patil were also in the eye of a storm after TV channels aired video footage of their watching pornographic content on their mobile phones.

The legislature is holding the 10-day winter session here.

Going Nuclear: Russia and India agree to build 12 power reactors by 2035

by

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on December 11, 2014. (AFP Photo/Findlay Kember)

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on December 11, 2014. (AFP Photo/Findlay Kember)

by RT

Russia and India are ramping up energy ties and will construct at least 12 new nuclear reactors by 2035. Two will be completed by 2016 at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, Russian state-owned power company Rosatom confirmed Thursday.

“This morning a general framework agreement was signed on the construction and equipment delivery for the third and fourth blocks of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant at the present site. Cement foundations [for the new blocks] will be poured in the beginning of 2016,” Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko said Thursday, as quoted by Sputnik news agency.

In April, Russia and India agreed to begin phase two of the Kudankulam plant, which includes adding Block 3 and Block 4. It is the only nuclear power plant which meets all the ‘post-Fukushima’ safety requirements.

“Today we will sign a strategic document that foresees the construction of no less than 12 nuclear reactors over the next 20 years, or in other words this would be no less than two nuclear power plants,” Kiriyenko said.

Talking at a press briefing in India President Putin said the two countries had signed ‘a very important’ agreement to construct the total of more than 20 nuclear reactors.

“We have reached a new level of cooperation. This isn’t just about trade and services, but this is the creation of the new industrial branch,” he went on to say.

Nuclear cooperation between Russia and India has been on the rise, and has been a main topic of discussion during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official visit to New Delhi December 10 -11. Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also discuss at $3 billion helicopter deal, oil exploration and supply, infrastructure projects, and diamond sales by Alrosa, the Russian state-owned diamond company, to India.

Russia and India first agreed to build the Kudankulam nuclear plant in November 1988, and the first 1,000-megawatt reactor ‘Block 1’ was completed on October 22, 2013. The second power block has also been completed, but needs to be tweaked before it can be connected to the grid. The plant is located in the southern Indian province of Tamil Nadu.

Other deals included a 10-year contract between Rosneft and Essar, India’s big international conglomerate, for the delivery 10 million tons of oil annually. The oil will be transported via ship from the Far East as well as the Baltic and Black Seas.

GLONASS, Russia’s satellite navigation system, will create a $100 million joint venture in India to help produce navigation systems and quick response receivers.

Russia will also assist in the creation of an Indian mobile phone operator.

Relations with India have become a priority for the Kremlin, as US-led sanctions have hindered diplomatic and economic ties between Russia and the West.

Bilateral trade between the two BRICS nations in 2013 was $10 billion, a small amount compared to the $90 billion Russia exchanges with China or the €326 billion it turns over with the European Union every year.

The silent deaths of refugees in Ersal: 18 perished in 45 days

by

Syrian refugee children sit outside their tent near the hills of Ersal. Al-Akhbar/Marwan Tahtah

Syrian refugee children sit outside their tent near the hills of Ersal. Al-Akhbar/Marwan Tahtah

by Eva Shoufi, Al Akhbar

The security situation in Ersal made everyone forget that there are 80,000 refugees living there in a harsh climate and poor medical conditions. In a month and a half, there has been 18 deaths among refugees in Ersal, including 12 children, that we heard nothing of. These same security conditions had led international organizations to abandon the town in August, leaving behind innocent people dying silently one by one.

Fourteen-year-old Kh. F. – let’s call him Khaled – died on December 9. Before him, F. H. – an 18-day-old infant – died because no one could take her to a hospital outside Ersal. We saw another 17-day-old infant dying. We did not ask her name, her face was enough to call her Malak (Angel). Born in a tent, she died from the cold, as did others. Just this week, four Syrian children died in Ersal.

Eleven refugees, including nine children, have died in Ersal since the beginning of December, joining seven others who died in November. We are discussing here 18 deaths, including 12 children, in a span of one month and a half. Twelve children die and people carry on with their lives as usual, this is a tragedy for humanity even before being a tragedy for the refugees themselves. The number of deaths is likely higher because the figure we have is based only on information from al-Hay’a al-Toubia field hospital in Ersal. This means dozens of children are dying without anyone hearing about them.

There is something strange about the death of these children passing without the uproar we’ve gotten used to, an uproar that in actuality never got us anywhere. But still, having someone scream in the face of this death is necessary, it tells us that there is still a pulse beating in this world. The absence of any noise, however, killed this pulse.

These numbers were announced by Dr. Qassem al-Zein, who heads al-Hay’a al-Toubia facility in Ersal. He said the medical situation in the town is catastrophic, pointing out that this is just the number of deaths at al-Hay’a hospital. Three children died this month from pneumonia caused by the cold weather, he added. What is shocking is that all these deaths are in Ersal and not the hills of Ersal, except one person who came from the hills for treatment at the makeshift hospital.

The hospital report refers to Malak who was born in a tent in the hills of Ersal. She was 17-days-old when she came to the hospital on the morning of December 3, ill from the cold. Her tiny body interceded for her at the checkpoint to get to the hospital. There were no empty incubators available, however, “so the hospital sent her inside Lebanon but al-Laboui checkpoint prevented her parents from crossing so she returned to al-Hay’a hospital with its modest capabilities where she passed away at 2:00 pm.” Her tiny body could not take it anymore. Malak died.

Khaled died on December 9 from acute kidney failure. The other five children died due to birth defects in their skulls and limbs, according to Zein. Serious concerns are raised about the reasons behind these birth defects. Zein noticed that at the beginning of the crisis and the influx of refugees, “we used to see one case of congential disease per month. Today, we see four cases per month.” The doctor is not sure about the reason but he said that “a lot of women were in Syria early on in their pregnancy, that’s why I think these congenital diseases are due to substances used in the shelling.”

The medical situation in Ersal is catastrophic, but it has not spurred international organizations to return to the town to save the lives of innocent refugees. Not that long ago, there was a Hepatitis A outbreak in Ersal and more than 150 refugees were infected due to water contamination. Now, Zein said “the mumps is beginning to spread among children as 24 cases of infection were recorded last month. Bad conditions from the cold weather, malnutrition, lack of hygiene and overcrowding in the camps exacerbate health problems leading to testicular, pancreatic and other infections.”

The union of relief and development organizations working in Ersal said the conduct of the Lebanese army varies depending on the security situation but most of the time, it allows drug shipments to pass after inspecting them. Before the clashes that erupted last August (between the Lebanese army on one hand and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and al-Nusra Front on the other), al-Hay’a hospital was able to procure 90 percent of the drugs it needs. Today, it can barely get 40 percent because of the dangerous commute.

A medical source in the hills of Ersal spoke of the tragic health conditions among the refugees living there. “Some children and women are sick and urgently need to go to Ersal. There are a lot of cases of asthma and bronchitis, not to mention flu and common colds.” There is also a severe shortage of medication among the refugees and one death was recorded during the storm, according to the source.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it is in constant contact with field hospitals and clinics in Ersal, providing them with drugs and vaccines through its partners. External Relations Assistant at UNHCR in the Bekaa, Lisa Abu Khaled, said the UNHCR transfers critical cases to hospitals that have signed contracts with them, but sometimes parents do not go because the road is dangerous. She refused to acknowledge any deaths except that of a three-year-old girl whose family could not transfer her to the hospital recommended by the UNHCR. The Commission learned of only two cases of the mumps virus. Abu Khaled said there are vaccines for this virus in the Amel Association Clinic in Ersal, as well as in mobile clinics in the town.

The CIA’s torture orgy: 100 or more prisoners tortured to death in U.S detention

by

CIA torture, crushing democracy and Britain’s new military base in Bahrain all deliver a toxic message

Guantanamo Bay

by Seumas Milne, The Guardian

We may have known the outline of the global US kidnapping and torture programme for a few years. But even the heavily censored summary of the US senate torture report turns the stomach in its litany of criminal barbarity unleashed by the CIA on real and imagined US enemies.

The earlier accounts of US brutality in Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo pale next to the still sanitised record of forced rectal “infusions” and prolapses, multiple “waterboarding” drownings and convulsions, the shackled freezing to death of a man seized in a mistaken identity case, hooded beatings and hanging by the wrists, mock executions, and sleep deprivation for up to 180 hours.

What has been published is in fact only a small part of a much bigger picture, including an estimated 100 or more prisoners tortured to death in US detention. Added to the rampant lying, cover-ups and impunity, it’s a story that the champions of America’s “exceptionalism” will find hard to sell around the world. And it’s hardly out of line with a CIA record of coups, death squads, torture schools and covert war stretching back decades, some revealed by an earlier senate report in the 1970s.

There is of course nothing exceptional about states that preach human rights and democracy, but practise the opposite when it suits them. For all the senate’s helpful redactions, Britain has been up to its neck in the CIA’s savagery, colluding in kidnapping and torture from Bagram to Guantánamo while dishing out abuses of its own in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So you’d hardly think this reminder of the horrors unleashed in the name of the war on terror was the time for Britain to announce its first permanent military base in the Middle East for four decades. The presence of western troops and support for dictatorial Arab regimes were, after all, the original reasons given by al-Qaida for its jihad against the west.

The subsequent invasions, occupations and bombing campaigns led by the US, Britain and others have been endlessly cited by those who resisted them in the Arab and Muslim world, or launched terror attacks in the west. But last week, foreign secretary Phillip Hammond proudly declared that Britain would reverse its withdrawal from “east of Suez” of the late 1960s and open a navy base “for the long term” in the Gulf autocracy of Bahrain.

The official talk is about protecting Britain’s “enduring interests” and the stability of the region. But to those fighting for the right to run their own country, the message could not be clearer. Britain, the former colonial power, and the US, whose 5th Fleet is already based in Bahrain, stand behind the island’s unelected rulers. No wonder there have already been protests against the base.

Bahrainis campaigning for democracy and civil rights, in a state where the majority are Shia and the rulers Sunni, were part of the Arab uprisings in 2011. With US and British support, Saudi Arabia and the UAE crushed the protests by force. Mass arrests, repression and torture followed.

Three years later, Bahrain’s human rights situation has got worse, and even the US government voices concerns. But British ministers purr about the “progress” of the monarchy’s “reforms”, praising phoney elections to a toothless parliament, boycotted by the main opposition parties. Last week Bahraini activist Zainab al-Khawaja was sentenced to three years in jail for tearing up the king’s photograph. Her father, Abdulhadi, is already serving a life sentence for encouraging peaceful protest.

In reality, the British base’s main job won’t be to prop up the Bahraini regime, but to help protect the entire network of dictatorial Gulf governments that sit on top of its vast reserves of oil and gas – and provide a springboard for future interventions across the wider Middle East. British troops never really left the region and have been part of one intervention after another.

The US itself controls an archipelago of military bases across the Gulf: in Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the UAE, as well as Bahrain. And despite Barack Obama’s much-heralded pivot to Asia, they are also clearly there for the long haul. After the US accepted the overthrow of the Egyptian dictator Mubarak three years ago, the Gulf autocrats are looking for extra security, which Britain and France are glad to provide. For the London elite, the Gulf is now as much about arms sales and finance as about oil and gas – and a web of political, commercial and intelligence links that go to the heart of the British establishment.

So the British military is also looking to beef up its presence in the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. The crucial thing is that these colonial creations remain in the grip of their ruling families and democratisation is put on the back burner. That’s the only guarantee that this corrosive relationship will endure – on the back of disenfranchised populations and armies of grotesquely exploited migrant labour.

On a larger scale, the return of western-backed dictatorship in Egypt, the Arab world’s most important country, has helped re-establish the conditions that led to the war on terror in the first place. Obama has traded the CIA’s Bush-era kidnap-and-torture programme for expanded special forces and CIA drone killings, often of people targeted only by their “signatures” – such as being males of military age. And British forces have this week been accused of training and providing intelligence for Kenyan death squads targeting suspected Islamist activists.

The impact of all this – the revelations of the CIA’s torture orgy, the growing western military grip, the vanishing chances of democratic change – on the Arab and Muslim world should by now be obvious, along with the social backlash in countries such as Britain.

But with its new commitment to station troops in Bahrain, we can have no doubt where the British government stands: behind autocracy and “enduring interests”. Just as the refusal to hold previous US governments to account for terror and torture laid the ground for what happened after 9/11, the failure of parliament even to debate the decision to garrison the Gulf is an ominous one. Britain’s new base isn’t in the interests of either the people of Britain, Bahrain or the Middle East as a whole – it’s a danger and affront to us all.

Spend about Rs. 2 lakhs on a Christian and Rs. 5 lakhs on a Muslim conversion, says a letter of Dharma Jagaran Samiti

by

Conversion_Agra

Lucknow: In a letter issued by a RSS regional pracharak of western UP, Rajeshwar Singh, on the letterhead of Dharma Jagaran Samiti, an RSS offshoot it was directed to the workers to spend about Rs. 2 lakhs on Christians and Rs. 5 lakhs on Muslim issues,” and that money needs to be collected from people to be able to hold such programmes.

In a letter to probable donors, it is claimed claimed that nearly 40,000 people were converted to Hinduism during last year alone, and out of them, nearly 2,000 were Muslims.

A copy of the letter sent by Rajeshwar Singh, regional chief of Dharma Jagaran Samiti, Western UP, based in Madhav Bhavan, Jaipur House, Agra makes this claim.

The letter further said “Last year there were paravartan (homecoming) programmes in 20 districts, in which 40,000 people returned to the fold of Hinduism, and out of them, there were 2,000 Muslims. In 2014, our target is higher. We have to hold more than 50 such events and bring nearly one lakh Christians and Muslims to our fold”, writes Rajeshwar Singh.

“As you know, much money is spent on such programmes, and we have to collect money from (Hindu) samaj, and the samaj willingly donates. Now, since more people will do the homecoming at more places, more money will be needed for such programmes…I would therefore request you to contribute to these programmes.

“We expect you to foot the bill for at least one such event and contribute towards the upkeep of one full-time workers.

“It costs Rs 2 lakhs annually to support one worker who works on Christians, and Rs 5 lakhs annually to support one worker who works on Muslims. We need such donations in the least”, writes Singh.

The Dharma Jagaram Samiti, Western UP, names Dr Manveer Singh as district convenor for Aligarh, Abhiram Goel and Ajay Jalesaria as co-convenors, Brajesh Kantak as metropolitan convenor, and Kashinath Bansal as Treasurer.

Karnataka: Pranavananda Swami booked for insulting Muslims, abusing minister U T Khader

by

Swami Pranavananda

Mangaluru: Controversial swami and Hindu Mahasabha chief Pranavananda has been booked for abusing Muslims and using derogator words against Karnataka Health and Family Welfare minister U T Khader last week.

Pranavananda, who had visited Gurupur on the outskirts of the city on December 7, had issued apparently provocative statements and called the minister a “loafer”. He also said that Muslims are terrorists.

The vide clipping of Pranavanada’s vulgar speech went viral after Sangah Parivar activists began to share it on WhatsApp and other social media.

Enraged over Pranavananda’s remark, Ullal block Congress president Eshwar lodged a complaint at jurisdictional Ullal police station.

The accused has been booked under section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race etc) and section 298 (uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person), and section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the IPC.

‘Guinness World Records’ Reflects on 60 Years of Celebrating the World’s Shortest People

by

Guinness World Records continues its 60th year celebration with a tribute to its long history of cataloging the World’s Shortest Man and World’s Shortest Woman.

The Guiness World Record for the shortest people are among the most visual, and therefore most iconic, of all the records we monitor.

The group also recently celebrated its equally iconic World’s Tallest Man record.

Ireland recognizes Palestine as a state as EU vote looms

by

A Palestinian protester holding her national flag faces Israeli soldiers during a demonstration on the highway between Jerusalem and Jericho on November 28, 2014, against the construction of Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley and against the plan to relocate Bedoiuns from the central West Bank area. AFP / Abbas Momani

A Palestinian protester holding her national flag faces Israeli soldiers during a demonstration on the highway between Jerusalem and Jericho on November 28, 2014, against the construction of Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley and against the plan to relocate Bedoiuns from the central West Bank area. AFP / Abbas Momani

by Al Akhbar

Irish lawmakers urged their government Wednesday to recognize Palestine as a state in a symbolic motion that sailed through parliament unopposed, the latest in a series of similar measures across Europe as the EU parliament holds a crucial vote on Palestine next week.

The Irish move came a day before the Danish parliament gears up to vote on Thursday to recognize Palestine as well.

The non-binding motion agreed by lawmakers in Dublin called on the government to “officially recognize the State of Palestine, on the basis of the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital, as established in UN resolutions.”

This would be “a further positive contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” it added.

The government is not bound to follow the motion but Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan said Ireland supported early recognition of a Palestinian state “in principle.”

“We have always supported a viable two-state solution and will continue to support that in any manner and by any means,” Flanagan told parliament.

Despite being proposed by the opposition Sinn Fein party, the motion had cross-party support, dispensing the need for a vote. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, who was refused entry to Gaza by Israel during a visit to the region last week, said the motion was about inspiring hope.

“We must stand with the Palestinian and Israeli citizens who want peace – who are taking risks for peace. The passing of this motion is an important contribution to this,” Adams said.

The motion also called on the Irish government to do everything it could internationally to secure “an inclusive and viable peace process.”

European politicians have become more active in pushing for a sovereign Palestine since the collapse of US-sponsored peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in April, and ensuing conflict in Gaza, where more than 2,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and on the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and six civilians were killed this summer.

“It’s been suggested that recognition now might help jump-start a stalemate process. This was the judgement made by Sweden and indeed it is the spirit of this evening’s motion,” Flanagan said.

The chairperson of the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Martin O’Quigley, welcomed the move.

“It’s very important, but just as important is for the Irish government to make Israel accountable for what has happened and what is happening in Palestine,” he told AFP.

The Israeli embassy in Dublin said however the motion was premature.

“A vote in favor of this motion, therefore, is a vote for Ireland, a neutral country, to intervene in a foreign conflict in favour of one national movement at the expense of another,” the Embassy said in a statement.

“That is not how peace is brought about.”

Denmark to debate Palestine recognition

Meanwhile, the Danish parliament will debate a motion calling for the recognition of Palestine as a state on Thursday.

Danish MP Holger K. Nielsen, one of the main drivers behind the initiative in Denmark, told Ma’an news agency that the first reading will take place Thursday before a potential vote in the second reading, which could take place in early 2015.

The motion was introduced by the Red-Green Alliance, the Socialist People’s Party (SPP), and Greenland’s Inuit Ataqatigiit, three small left-wing parties. It calls on the government to recognize Palestine as a state within the 1967 borders

“I think there is strength now among European countries tired of Israel’s attitude to negotiations and it is therefore more important now to put pressure on Israel,” Nielsen, a member of the SPP, said.

Nielsen says it will be “difficult” to get a majority in the Danish parliament, which may even vote against it. But he thinks debates like these aim to raise public awareness and have notably changed national attitudes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Public opinion has changed (in Denmark) today compared to 10 years ago. Our aim is to change the situation so the Danish public understands the conflict.”

A former Danish adviser at the EU parliament told Ma’an that while the vote in Denmark won’t change the realities on the ground, it is a step in the right direction.

“The Danish vote is part of larger picture where a lot of Europeans are getting fed up with Israel’s rejectionism and continued settlement building. Parliaments in a lot of EU countries are reacting to this and putting Palestinian statehood to a vote out of concern for the two-state solution.”

According to PA estimations, around 135 countries have so far recognized the State of Palestine, although the number is disputed and several recognitions by what are now European Union member states date back to the Soviet era.

Ireland’s parliament is the fourth European assembly to call for the recognition of Palestinian statehood since October.

Sweden, who initiated the vote, has gone even further, officially recognizing Palestine as a state in a move that prompted Israel to recall its ambassador.

A week after Sweden’s decision, MPs in Britain voted 274 to 12 for a non-binding motion to “recognize the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution.”

On November 18, Spanish MPs backed a motion to recognize Palestine as a state following a final-status agreement, while on December 2, French MPs voted 339 to 151 in favor of a motion that invites Paris to recognize the state of Palestine “as an instrument to gain a definitive resolution of the conflict.”

Spain notably changed its wording on the day of the motion following an attack on a Jerusalem synagogue — from recognition as a way to encourage a “negotiated settlement” to recognition following an agreement.

Intense lobbying around EU vote

The Danish debate comes a week before the EU parliament is due to vote on recognizing Palestine as a state on December 17, a motion postponed on November4 27 following reportedly intense pressure by Israeli diplomats.

Spain’s significant rewording of its motion reflects the core split within the EU parliament: using unconditional recognition as a means to address the imbalance between both sides in the peace process, or recognition as a condition of the outcome of talks.

A staffer in the European parliament told Ma’an that the vote was extremely tight at the moment, with signs that there could be no majority for any text at all, a potentially damaging blow for the EU’s role as a serious global actor.

The PA has also notably been absent from lobbying parliament members on the vote, the staffer said, with Israeli civil society actors lobbying passionately in favor of recognition and Israeli diplomats and other actors lobbying intensely against parliamentarians recognizing Palestine.

Whatever the outcome of the vote next week, debate in the EU parliament has been extensive, the staffer added.

EU recognition of Palestine would do little to change the realities of occupation, the former Danish adviser told Ma’an, but it could be taken as a sign of future EU action if Israel continues to maintain the status quo.

New EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who took office in early November, has been extremely vocal on Palestine and made it a point of calling for a Palestinian state during a visit to Gaza, the first visit in her new position.

Mogherini’s statements together with real measures such as getting tougher on settlements, denying violent settlers access to the EU, and reviewing the extensive trade agreements with Israel could signal meaningful change if the EU recognition vote falls flat, the former adviser added.

Holger Nielsen, the Danish MP, agrees that the EU must use economic means and be stricter on trade policy to really influence the Israeli government’s position.

“It’s difficult, but you have to continue the discussion. Change is coming all the time. Maybe not tomorrow, but I’m sure the only way you can make things change is to maintain this kind of pressure.”

The roots of the Israel-Palestine conflict date back to 1917, when the British government, in the now-famous “Balfour Declaration,” called for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”

Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Zionist state – a move never recognized by the international community.

In November 1988, Palestinian leaders led by Yasser Arafat declared the existence of a state of Palestine inside the 1967 borders and the state’s belief “in the settlement of international and regional disputes by peaceful means in accordance with the charter and resolutions of the United Nations.”

Heralded as a “historic compromise,” the move implied that Palestinians would agree to accept only 22 percent of historic Palestine, in exchange for peace with Israel. It is now believed that only 17 percent of historic Palestine is under Palestinian control following the continued expansion of illegal Israeli settlements.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) this year set November 2016 as the deadline for ending the Israeli withdrawal from the territories occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967 and establishing a two-state solution.

It is worth noting that numerous pro-Palestine activists support a one-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians would be treated equally, arguing that the creation of a Palestinian state beside Israel would not be sustainable. They also believe that the two-state solution, which is the only option considered by international actors, won’t solve existing discrimination, nor erase economic and military tensions.

(AFP, Ma’an, Al-Akhbar)

Kohli ton leads India's strong reply

by

Australia India Cricket

by Prateek Srivastava, gocricket

Adelaide: India, led by debutant captain Virat Kohli’s second ton at the Adelaide Oval, made solid progress in reply to a huge Australian total of 517/7 declared, ending the third day on 365/5 – just 148 runs in arrears of the hosts. Mitchell Johnson’s removal of Kohli just ten minutes before stumps took the sheen off India’s day, and leaves Australia needing to separate the overnight pair of Rohit Sharma (33) and Wriddhiman Saha (0) to get into the tail.

While Kohli hit his first hundred in 11 Test innings, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay contributed important fifties to negate the disciplined Australian bowlers on a surface partial to batsmen. The opening stand of 30 between Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay was followed up with partnerships of 81 (Vijay and Pujara), 81 (Pujara and Kohli), 101 (Rahane and Kohli) and 74 (Kohli and Rohit) to cancel out the disappointment of the Indian bowlers who sent down too many short balls during the first two days.

Kohli, after being hit on the helmet off the first ball he faced by Johnson, was dogged thereafter. He had struggled in the swinging conditions of England but in Australia, where bounce is more prominent than swing, Kohli came into his own. He drove either side of the wicket whenever opportunities presented themselves but equally crucial was how he waited patiently for poor balls.

In the partnerships with Pujara and Rahane, Kohli chose to play second fiddle, scoring 36 and 38 respectively, but it was when joined by Rohit that he took on the role of aggressor – scoring 41 in that stand. Rahane and Pujara also played exquisite innings before falling to offspinner Nathan Lyon, who used the rough outside the offstump to good effect. Rahane, on 62, was looking good for a century when Lyon got one to kick up and could only awkwardly fend at it, offering a simple catch to Shane Watson at slip.

Pujara and Kohli were paired after Johnson ended Vijay’s well-compiled 53 late in the first session. Pujara also patiently waited for bad balls and drove one such delivery from Ryan Harris from outside offstump to complete his sixth Test fifty off 96 balls. On 73, he fell to an innocuous-looking Lyon delivery which dribbled off his bat and went on to hit the stumps.

After play started half an hour earlier to make up for lost time on day two that saw just 30.4 overs bowled due to bad weather, openers Vijay and Dhawan, under the weight of Australia’s huge total, started off positively. Dhawan survived a low drop chance in the third over bowled by Johnson when Brad Haddin, despite diving to his right, failed to grasp the ball behind the wickets. In the same over came he collected three elegant boundaries: the first was flicked off his pads, the second punched straight past the bowler and the third pierced through the midwicket region. However, as has been his wont of late, the left-hander tried to play across to a slightly shortish delivery from Harris and played on.

Dhawan’s early departure had put India in a spot of bother but Kohli’s seventh ton, his first since 105 against New Zealand in February earlier this year, helped the tourists end their day in good cheer.

Brief scores: India 369/5 (Kohli 115, Rahane 62, Vijay 53, Pujara 73; Johnson 2/90, Lyon 2/103) trail Australia 517/7d (Smith 162, Clarke 128, Warner 145) by 148 runs.

Ranji Trophy: Jammu & Kashmir take historic win over Mumbai

by

It was J&K’s first win over the 40-time champions in the tournament’s 79-year history.

Ranji Trophy Jammu Kashmir Mumbai

Mumbai: Jammu and Kashmir upset domestic cricket giants Mumbai with a historic four-wicket win by chasing down 237 runs on the last day of the match here at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.

It was J&K’s first win over the 40-time champions in the tournament’s 79-year history.

Opener Shubham Khajuria led the innings again, with a composed 78, and the win was secured by an unbeaten 41 from Hardeep Singh. Captain Parvez Rasool also contributed with a valuable 32.

J&K resumed on 58 for one and lost Bandeep Singh in the fourth over of the day.

But the visitors were steadied by Rasool and Hardeep and sealed the victory despite losing four more wickets.

Khajuria was named Man of the Match for his 50 in the second innings and 107 in the first.

Brief scores:

Jammu & Kashmir vs. Mumbai – 254 & 237/6 (Shubham Khajuria 78, Hardeep Singh 41; Vishal Dabholkar 2/66, Iqbal Abdullah 1/24) beat Mumbai 236 and 254.

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives