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Left parties to start countrywide stir today

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Communist Party of India

Kolkata: Six Left parties will from Monday begin a countrywide mass movement in support of their nine-point demand, including stopping introduction of RSS and Hindutva ideologies in education and preventing FDI in insurance sector.

The six parties met here on Sunday to finalise details of the the week-long agitation slated to end on December 14.

The outfits – Communist Party of India-Marxist, Communist Party of India, Revolutionary Socialist Party, Forward Bloc, Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) and Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist (Liberation) – are also railing against the spread of communal violence in the name of ‘love jihad’ and encroachment of the rights of minorities.

Briefing media persons after the deliberations, West Bengal’s opposition Left Front chairman and CPI-M politburo member Biman Bose said 11 allied parties in the state would also take part in the movement.

Street corners, sit-ins, and other forms of protests would be organised in all the districts of the state.

A demonstration will be held at the Y Channel in the city hub on December 11 on the demands.

(With IANS inputs)

Sushma Swaraj pushes for declaring Bhagavad Gita as 'national scripture'

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Union Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Yog guru Ramdev during 'Gita Prerna Mahotsav', in New Delhi on Sunday.

Union Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Yog guru Ramdev during ‘Gita Prerna Mahotsav’, in New Delhi on Sunday.

New Delhi: Pressing for the Centre to declare Bhagavad Gita as a ‘Rashtriya Granth’ (national scripture), External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday said only a formality remained to be done in this regard.

Ms. Swaraj, who was speaking at ‘Gita Prerna Mahotsav’ at the Red Fort, said she was able to face the challenges as External Affairs Minister only because of the teachings of Bhagavad Gita.

“Bhagavad Gita has answers to everybody’s problems and that’s why I said it while standing in the Parliament that, ‘Shrimad Bhagavad Gita’ should be declared as the national holy book.”

“Everyone should read two shlokas of Gita everyday…it is a scripture of 700 shlokas and it can be finished in a year. Read it again and continue this till the end. After reading it three to four times, you will discover a path to lead a life, the way I discovered,” she said, addressing the crowd.

“When I read Gita for the first time, I did not agree with the concept of whatever happens, happens for the best and whatever happens in future, will be for good. But when I read it for the third and fourth time, I understood its meaning. This has helped me all through my life. Even now, when I am handling the External Affairs and the challenges related to it,” she said.

Congress leader Manish Tewari said the essence of the Bhagavad Gita lies in its substance and not in its symbolism.

“So, if anybody has seriously read and internalise the teachings of the Gita they would not make such a frivolous statement,” he said.

(PTI)

Delhi: 25 year old woman raped in Uber cab, accused was arrested in 2011 sexual assault case

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No background check was done on the driver

A woman in Delhi was raped in an Uber cab which she had hired using the app

A woman in Delhi was raped in an Uber cab which she had hired using the app

New Delhi: New Delhi woke to another heinous news on Saturday morning as a 25-year-old woman was raped in a Uber cab that she reportedly hired from Vasant Vihar area after returning from a Gurgaon hotel party.

A Uber cab driver has been by the police.

Incidentally, he was earlier arrested in a 2011 sexual assault case. Shiv Kumar Yadav served 7 months in Tihar jail but he was acquitted by the court. Yadav also did not possess a Delhi driving permit.

According to the police complaint, the victim who works as an MNC employee in Gurgaon, had finished her shift at 7 pm on Friday after which she attended a dinner party at a restaurant there with her friends.

Her friends dropped her in Vasant Vihar area from where she hired an Uber cab at around 9.30 pm and in the way, dozed off on the back seat of the cab, the police said citing the complaint.

The woman woke up only to find that she was being raped while the doors were locked and the car was stopped at a secluded place between Sarai Rohilla and Indralok, said the complaint. She

The driver then went on to threaten that he would kill her and also sexually assault her with a rod if she shouted. The driver then dropped her home, warning her not to inform police or anyone or he would kill her.

According to the police, the woman had managed to click the picture of the cab from her cell phone as the cab driver sped off after dropping her near her home.

A case has been registered at Sarai Rohilla police station under Sections 376 (rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC.

The incident poses a big question mark on the reliability of Uber cabs that boast of ensuring passengers’ safety as its highest priority and claim to hire “licensed driver-partners to provide a safe transportation option”. According to reports, there was no GPS system in the cab and no background check had been done on the driver.

Expressing regret over the incident, Uber cabs issued a statement saying they were “deeply disturbed” by the crime and had suspended the driver’s account immediately.

In a statement, Uber spokeswoman Evelyn Tay said that the company was working with the police to help in the investigation.

“Our thoughts are with the victim of this terrible crime… We will assist them in any way we can. It is also our policy to immediately suspend a driver’s account following allegations of a serious incident, which we have done,” read the statement.

“Safety is Uber’s highest priority and in India, we work with licensed driver-partners , with layers of safeguards such as driver and vehicle information, and ETA-sharing to ensure there is accountability and traceability of all trips that occur on the Uber platform,” the statement added.

Siddaramaiah opposes move to dismantle Planning Commission

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Chief Minister Siddaramaiah greets Prime Minister Modi during the meeting on the revamping of the Planning Commission at the PM’s residence in New Delhi on Sunday.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah greets Prime Minister Modi during the meeting on the revamping of the Planning Commission at the PM’s residence in New Delhi on Sunday.

New Delhi: Opposing the Centre’s move to create a new body which would replace the Planning Commission, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiha today said there is no merit or justification in the decision to dismantle the existing one created six decades ago.

Speaking at a Chief Ministers’ meet convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the proposal, he said the Commission in its work has adapted to the changed economic environment and reoriented itself to meet the objectives of the economic growth, infrastructure and planned development.

“I wonder why we need a new institution to do what is already being done by the existing one. The allure for the new must not sway us from appreciating the worth of what we have, and improving it,” Siddaramaiah said.

Conceding that in the fast-changing and globalised world, planning and implementation must be faster, he, however, said, “I do not subscribe to the view to dismantle an institution that has stood the test of time.

“Any institution of excellence can be easily disbanded with the stroke of a pen but cannot be created overnight,” the Congress leader said in his strongly worded speech.

He said the role and functions of the Planning Commission as envisaged at the time of its constitution are still relevant today.

“In my view, a new forum is not necessary. Presently, the Planning Commission, has been guided by the deliberations of the National Development Council, in which all the chief ministers of the states are also participants,” he said.

Siddaramaiah said within this overall framework, Planning Commission has been providing enough space to the states for formulating their state plans.

“By adopting such process, the Commission has largely met the objective of planning in a neutral set up,” he said.

The chief minister also criticised the Centre for not holding prior consultations with the states and convening the meeting at a “very short notice”.

“Since this meeting has been convened at a very short notice at the level of the chief ministers chaired by the Prime Minister and there having been no prior consultations at the official level, our response is limited to specific ideas floated in the paper,” he said.

Siddaramaiah said if any major changes are contemplated, the process of proceeding further may be undertaken only after detailed discussion on the “pros and cons and impact of such change on the federal structure of our polity.”

Deadline approaches for U.S State Department to answer to PM Modi's human rights violation charges

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A small human rights group refuses to let India’s Prime Minister walk free for the 2002 Gujarat riots

Modi-protest-us

by Alex Ellefson, AlterNet

In 2002, the Indian province of Gujarat experienced one of the bloodiest instances of religious violence in the country’s history. Following a train fire that killed 59 Hindus, riots erupted across the province that targeted the local Muslim minority. More than 300 mosques and other religious sites were destroyed. Muslim women were chased through the street, raped and burned alive. After three days of unrest, at least 1,000 people died and more than 16,000 Muslims were driven from their homes and became refugees.

A 2005 report by Amnesty International revealed that police stood by or even joined in the violence. And some suggest that police may have even been ordered by their superiors not to intervene.

Some of the blame has been directed at Gujarat’s then-Chief Minister, Narendra Modi. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and India’s National Human Rights Commission have accused Modi of not acting to stop the riots.

The accusations against Modi were enough for the United States to deny him a visa in 2005.

That put the United States government in an awkward position when Modi, a Hindu nationalist, was elected Prime Minister in May. Following his election, the U.S. State Department reinstated Modi’s visa, arguing that his position as a head of state granted him diplomatic immunity.

However, a small U.S.-based human rights group refuses to let Modi walk free.

In September, just ahead of Modi’s first visit to the United States as the newly elected Indian Prime Minister, the American Justice Center filed a civil lawsuit in a New York Federal Court seeking punitive damages on behalf of two survivors of the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The American Justice Center also offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who would serve Modi with a court summons when he visited New York City.

In November, a federal judge overseeing the case ordered the U.S. State Department to respond by December 10 (next week) to the American Justice Center’s memorandum challenging Modi’s diplomatic immunity.

The American Justice Center argues that the lawsuit applies to acts Modi committed as Chief Minister, not as a head of state, which would exempt him from diplomatic immunity.

“We are confident of the sound legal basis for the Tort case against Mr. Modi, and expect the court to allow the lawsuit to move forward,” American Justice Center President Joseph Whittington said in a press release. “Survivors of the horrific Gujarat massacres expect the US to uphold its own laws as well as international norms of justice.”

The American Justice Center has pursued Modi across the globe. Last month, the organization filed a criminal complaint against Modi in Australia a few days before the Indian Prime Minister visited that country. The complaint charged Modi with committing crimes against humanity and genocide for his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

“Our relentless pursuit of justice has now taken us to the Australian shores, where Mr. Modi will have to account for his criminal misdeeds in Gujarat,” said Whittington in press release related to the charges in Australia.

UK signs deal to expand naval presence in Bahrain

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“This new base is a permanent expansion of the Royal Navy’s footprint and will enable Britain to send more and larger ships to reinforce stability in the Gulf,” said British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon.

DESTROYER COMPLETES ESCORT OF RUSSIAN TASK FORCE PAST UK COASTLINE

by World Bulletin

Britain said on Friday it had sealed a deal to expand and reinforce its naval presence in Bahrain that would allow it to operate more and bigger ships in the Gulf on a long-term basis.

Under the agreement, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said onshore facilities at the Mina Salman Port in Bahrain, where Britain bases four mine-hunter warships on a permanent basis, would be improved.

The base, which will now be expanded to include a new forward operating base and a place to plan, store equipment for naval operations and accommodate Royal Navy personnel, is used to support British Destroyers and Frigates in the Gulf.

“This new base is a permanent expansion of the Royal Navy’s footprint and will enable Britain to send more and larger ships to reinforce stability in the Gulf,” said British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon.

“We will now be based again in the Gulf for the long term.”

The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet is also based in Bahrain.

U.S: Hundreds Protest the Killing of Another Black Man in Phoenix

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Yet another case of a white policeman killing an unarmed black man in the United States. Rumain Brisbon in this photo with two of his children. (Photo: thefreethoughtproject.com)

Yet another case of a white policeman killing an unarmed black man in the United States. Rumain Brisbon in this photo with two of his children. (Photo: thefreethoughtproject.com)

by teleSUR

Unarmed Rumain Brisbon was delivering dinner to his family Tuesday night when a police officer shot and killed him.

A fourth case of a white policeman killing unarmed black persons has arisen in Phoenix, prompting hundreds of angered persons to march to police headquarters in the capital city of the state of Arizona to demand justice for 34-year-old Rumain Brisbon, a father of four, local media reported Thursday.

Phoenix Police Department has said that Brisbon was sitting in a SUV outside a convenience store on Tuesday evening, when police officers approached him after witnesses said he was selling drugs.

A seven-year veteran, according to official statements, told the man to show his hands, but Brisbon, apparently fearing for his life, fled only to be chased. When the officer caught up with him, they struggled and the officer reported that Brisbon introduced his hand to his pocket and that he thought he was reaching for a gun. Instead, Brisbon was holding on to a small jar of pills, when shot twice on the torso and killed.

The police department said, according to Reuters, that back-up officers arrived after the shooting, and while they and members of the fire department treated Brisbon, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

As website The Free Thought Project said, “The Phoenix Police Department has not yet revealed the name of the officer responsible for the murder, but the smear campaign, by the media, against the victim has already begun.”

According to this website, Brisbon was killed at the doorsteps of his home, to which he had just arrived with dinner for his children. It also says that Brisbon did have a legally acquired gun in his vehicle, which “he actually made the conscious decision to leave behind … so it stands to reason that he had no intent on hurting the officer.”

“Also found in the car was a small amount of marijuana, which he was also legally licensed to possess under Arizona state law,” The Free Thought Project said a family member told them.

This incident comes at a time when police forces across the United States are under increased scrutiny over killing unarmed black men.

Phoenix police said Brisbon was carrying oxycodone pills, while a semi-automatic handgun and a jar of what is believed to be marijuana were found in the man’s vehicle.

Recently, two grand juries delivered decisions not to indict officers who killed unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, and in New York City, triggering protests across the country. A third case was reported in Cleveland, where police shot a 12-year old black boy who was playing with a toy gun in a park.

In Brisbon’s case, his family and friends have stated that he was simply delivering dinner to his children Tuesday night.

And while police fully support the actions by its officer, Ann Hart, chairwoman of the African American Police Advisory Board for South Phoenix, said the shooting only reinforces “the impression it’s open season for killing black men”

She told a local television station that, “We need to look into that. We need to take a deeper dive into why police officers are feeling compelled to shoot and kill as opposed to apprehend and detain, arrest and jail.”

Another rally is scheduled for this Friday night.

The Rev. Jarrett Maupin, an organizer of Thursday night’s march, also told local television station KPNX that Brisbon was probably justified in fearing for his life and trying to flee when the Phoenix officer approached him and his friend Tuesday night.

“The Phoenix Police Department does not treat white people this way,” Maupin said, according to the local television network. “What that officer did was harass and accost them.”

According to The Arizona Republic newspaper of Pheonix, Brisbon’s family attorney Marci A. Kratter has spoken with eyewitnesses that would dispute the official police account and that “we intend to pursue this to the full extent of the law.”

Protests took place in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis and other places Thursday to demand justice in the case of Eric Garner, the unarmed black man from New York that was choked to death by a white police officer in July 17.

Wednesday, a grand jury decided not to indict Daniel Pantaleo for the killing of Garner, despite a video that clearly shows excessive use of force by four police officers against the 43-year-old father of six. The man repeatedly cried out that he could not breathe, only to be ignored.

Rich nations 'failing to help Syria refugees'

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Rights group says “pitiful” number taken in by wealthy countries, with burden placed mainly on ill-equipped neighbours.

A baby looks out from the window of a bus after disembarking from a crippled freighter carrying hundreds of refugees trying to migrate to Europe, at the coastal Cretan port of Ierapetra, Nov. 27. AP Photo

A baby looks out from the window of a bus after disembarking from a crippled freighter carrying hundreds of refugees trying to migrate to Europe, at the coastal Cretan port of Ierapetra, Nov. 27. AP Photo

by Al Jazeera

Affluent nations have taken in a “pitiful” number of the million of Syrian refugees uprooted by the country’s civil war, placing the burden on Syria’s ill-equipped neighbours, according to Amnesty International.

The London-based rights group, in advance of a December 9 donors’ conference in Geneva, deplored on Friday what it called the shocking failure of rich nations to host refugees.

“Around 3.8 million refugees from Syria are being hosted in five main countries within the region: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt,” Amnesty International said in the statement.

Highlighting what it referred to as “the pitiful numbers of resettlement places offered by the international community”, the group said that Russia, China and the Gulf Arab states had not offered a single location for resettlement of refugees.

Meanwhile, the European Union as a whole, excluding Germany, has pledged to take in only 0.17 percent of refugees residing in countries bordering Syria.

“The shortfall … is truly shocking,” said Sherif Elsayed-Ali, Amnesty International’s head of refugee and migrants’ rights.

“The complete absence of resettlement pledges from the Gulf is particularly shameful. Linguistic and religious ties should place the Gulf states at the forefront of those offering safe shelter.”

The failure of wealthy nations to share the burden had placed a increasing strain on host countries, which were largely ill-equipped for the influx of people escaping violence in Syria.

Amnesty International said it was calling for the resettlement of five percent of Syria’s refugees by the end of 2015, and an additional five percent the following year.

The plan would accommodate approximately 380,000 refugees identified by the UN as being particularly vulnerable including lone children and torture survivors.

“Countries cannot ease their consciences with cash pay-outs then simply wash their hands of the matter,” Ali said.

“Those with the economic means to do so must play a greater role.”

In addition to those who fled the war-ravaged country as external refugees, the UN says more than seven million Syrians are internally displaced.

The refugees face poverty, illness and growing tensions with host communities in their already-impoverished temporary homes.

Syria’s civil war began in March 2011, escalating into a bloody civil war that has displaced around half the country’s population.

Karnataka govt mulls setting up Nano Park in Bengaluru

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“The ultimate purpose of all science and research should be to address the huge challenges faced by the common man in these areas,” Siddaramaiah said. Photo: IE

“The ultimate purpose of all science and research should be to address the huge challenges faced by the common man in these areas,” Siddaramaiah said. Photo: IE

Bengaluru: To encourage the nanotechnology industry in the state, Karnataka government plans to set up a state-of-the-art Nano Park here, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said today.

“We are planning to establish a state-of-the-art Nano Park in Bengaluru. I am sure this initiative will give a major fillip to the nanotechnology industry to blossom in the state in coming years,“ he said at the inauguration of the seventh “Bengaluru India Nano 2014“, an annual event, here.

The park will have Nano Incubation Centre along with necessary physical infrastructure and support systems including common facilities, he said.

The government is establishing Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences in the city with Centre’s financial support under Nano Mission, for which Karnataka has already allocated 14 acres of land on Tumkur road, Siddaramaiah said.

“I request kind intervention of Bharat Ratna and Professor C N R Rao in moving the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, to hasten its development work,“ he said.

The Vision Group on Nanotechnology headed by Professor Rao is doing commendable work in recommending initiatives for the growth and development of Nano Science and Technology in the state, Siddaramaiah said.

The government has enhanced budgetary support from the current financial year for schemes and programmes recommended by the Vision Group on Science and Technology, he said.

Siddaramaiah called upon scientists to come up with tangible nanotechnology-based solutions for food security, energy security, water purification, medicine, healthcare and waste management.

“The ultimate purpose of all science and research should be to address the huge challenges faced by the common man in these areas,“ he said.

Given the enabling nature of nanotechnology and its ability to converge with other technologies, it has the potential to address key development related challenges in diverse sectors like energy, water, agriculture, health and environment, Siddaramaiah said.

A significant spin-off of nanotechnology is development of diagnostic sensors and lab-on-a-chip technology, which may soon become an important part of efforts to improve global health, he said.

(PTI)

Image of the Sun as Seen Through Both a Normal Lens and a Hydrogen Alpha Telescope

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Sun

A gorgeous composite image by astrophotographer Göran Strand shows the Sun as seen through both a normal telephoto camera lens and a Hydrogen Alpha Telescope. The result is how the Sun would appear if the human eye were equipped with a Hydrogen Alpha filter. The photo was taken in May 2013 on the island of Frösön, Sweden.

More of Strand’s work can be seen on his website Astrofotografen.

image via Göran Strand

via PetaPixel

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