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Headley bares two failed attempts before 26/11

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Headley

Mumbai: Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) made two unsuccessful attempts before wreaking havoc in Mumbai on November 26, 2008, in a terror attack that killed 166 persons, terrorist-turned-approver David Coleman Headly told a Special TADA court here on Monday.

In the first attempt to strike Mumbai in September 2008, the terrorist’s boat hit some rocks in the Arabian Sea, resulting in loss of weapons and ammunition, but those on board survived, Headley told TADA Court Judge G.A. Sanap via video-conferencing from a US jail.

The second attempt was made the following month, in October, with the same persons involved as in the first one, but that also failed for unknown reasons, before the third and successful attack was executed on November 26 that year, (in which 166 persons were killed and hundreds more were injured), he said.

Headley also identified in a picture his main contact in the LeT terror group Sajid Mir and LeT founder Hafez Sayeed and said he was inspired by Sayeed’s fiery speeches to join the group in 2002.

Represented by criminal lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani at the TADA court, Headley said he underwent his first training with LeT in 2002 at a camp in Muzaffarabad, which is in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.

About the motive behind the crime, he said the terror attack was carried out to assist the Kashmiris fighting against the Indian Army in the border state.

Earlier, Headley, 56, said he was born on June 30, 1960, in the US and shifted to Pakistan later where his name was Daood Sayeed Gilani.

Flanked by three persons at an undisclosed location in the US — his attorney John, US attorney Sarah and a person identified merely as Bob — Headley was administered the oath at 7.30 a.m. and Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam started firing questions at him.

Headley provided details of his passport and spoke of his seven to eight trips to Mumbai and one to New Delhi between 2006-2008 before the 26/11 attacks. The trips included seven via Pakistan and one via the UAE. He also made yet another trip to Mumbai in July 2009, after the terror attack was executed.

To a pointed question by Nikam, who is leading the prosecution case, Headley named one person named Raymaond Sanders as a visa consultant who helped him procure the Indian visa.

Headley said most of the information on his visa application was false — except his birth date and place, mother’s name and nationality and the passport number — so that he would not blow his cover.

“This is the first time that a terrorist is deposing and tendering evidence live in a foreign country. He will divulge the larger aspects of the 26/11 terror conspiracy, the people behind it and related aspects,” Nikam said on the eve of Headley’s trial.

“The evidence coming out today could be very significant,” Jethmalani commented briefly on the proceedings before the special court.

Headley’s ongoing evidence on Monday could help the prosecution nail the alleged co-conspirators in the attacks Zakiur Rehman Lakhi, the terrorists’ handlers, the role and involvement of other state and non-state actors, and the role of arrested LeT activist Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, currently in a Mumbai jail.

At the previous hearing on December 10 last year, the special TADA court judge had pardoned Headley and made him an approver in the case, subject to certain conditions.

Headley had already confessed to his role in the offences in the US for which he is serving a 35-year sentence.

The five-hour court proceedings were held here amidst tight security.

(IANS)

Make in India and hate in India cannot go together: Tharoor

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shashi tharoor

Boston: Taking a jibe at the Modi government, former minister and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has said policies like ‘Make in India’ and hatred cannot go together as he asserted that “outrageous” statements against minorities by ruling party members only undermine the country’s soft power.

To attract foreign direct investment, which is key to the construction and modernisation of the infrastructure sector and manufacturing, the Congress MP stressed on the need to maintain the pluralistic character of the country.

Before India tries to leverage its soft power to increase its standing in the world, Tharoor said first there is need to fix the problem at the domestic front.

“For us to be credible as a nation that enjoys and wields soft power, we have to fix our domestic problems first. The truth is that we have to do enough to keep our people, healthy, well and secure not just from jihadi terrorism. Progress is being made but not enough to reach everyone,” Tharoor said in his keynote address to the Harvard University’s annual Indian convention 2016.

“If on one hand, we go around saying Make in India, Startup India and Digital India and want to attract foreign investors, we can’t do so if we are condoning hatred in India at the same time,” Tharoor said in reference to the flagship schemes launched by the Narendra Modi-led government.

“It is not good when people in the ruling party make outrageous statements against minorities. These are not good because they undermine the soft power of India,” Tharoor told the students in the packed Harvard Business School auditorium.

Tharoor asserted that in order to maintain India’s soft power, the larger idea of India needs to be sustained.

“An India that celebrates the common space of every identity, it would be a secure to be a Muslim, secure to be a kayastha… whatever you define yourself. Because all of those identities are made secure under the Indian identity,” he said.

Tharoor said if India wants to remain a source of attraction for the world, it must preserve the “precious pluralism like a civilizational asset”

“It is not so good when women are assaulted on the streets of Delhi. It is not good when some people begin to fear that it is safer to be a cow than to be a Muslim in India today,” Tharoor said.

He also told the Indian students that one of his investor friends decided against investing in India because of acts of intolerance in the country.

Responding to a question, Tharoor said the Congress party has a “deep bench of talent”.
“Political parties live by electoral success. We have taken quite a beating in the last couple of years. Fortunes always change in politics. It (Congress) is certainly not as has been caricatured as the most corrupt party of India,” he said.

The Congress party happened to be in power when a number of corruption scandals took place, Tharoor said.

“Whoever had been in power would have been tarnished in the same way that happened to us,” he said.

(PTI)

Wipro Celebrates Five years of Wipro earthian

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Wipro earthian – India’s largest sustainability education program for schools and colleges

wipro_earthian

Bengaluru: Wipro Ltd. (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO) a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, today celebrated with the winning teams, the fifth edition of Wipro earthian program. The program provides a platform for learning about sustainability within the education process in schools and colleges.

The 2015 edition of the annual Wipro earthian program received over 1,300 submissions from across India, out of which 10 schools and 10 colleges have been selected as winners by an independent expert jury.

The winning institutes were awarded a certificate each along with cash prizes. The awards were distributed by Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro Ltd. as part of a special day-long event at Wipro’s Sarjapur Campus, Bengaluru. The event saw achievers from different walks of life share learnings with the students, along with a unique musical performance by the Manganiyar Classroom.

Wipro earthian is India’s largest sustainability education program for schools and colleges. It is designed to act as a catalyst for fostering excellence in sustainability thinking and action amongst youth. The fifth edition of Wipro earthian saw the inclusion of a new theme, ‘Biodiversity’. This is in addition to the already existing theme- ‘Water’.

The first segment of the program was focused on encouraging a level of understanding of the themes through various activities detailed out in booklets. In the second segment of the program, the schools were asked to submit essays that conveyed the essence of their understanding of the chosen topics.

The winning teams will now be involved in a long term continuous engagement program, which will help introduce them to various activities that enable a deeper understanding of issues pertaining to sustainability and help implement projects in their schools. This joint, collaborative engagement brings the winning institutes, Wipro, and expert sustainability partners together.

Over the years, more than 25,000 students and 6,500 teachers from 6,300+ schools and colleges have participated in Wipro earthian. The program has further reached out to more than 100,000 students and 10,000 teachers, via partners in 21 states, 45 districts, 2,000+ colleges and schools and also through digital channels.2015 has seen a threefold increase in participation since the first edition of Wipro earthian.

Anurag Behar, Chief Sustainability Officer, Wipro Ltd. said,“The purpose of Wipro earthian is about finding ways to infuse sensibility towards sustainability in education, in schools and colleges. It is not only about thinking of issues of sustainability as a matter of awareness, it’s also about how you can integrate it in the experience of education. It is a long term journey and at this five year milestone, we are truly honoured that this program has been brought to life by the participating institutes who have taught us valuable lessons from their towns and cities.”

The winning schools include Adarsha Rajakiya Uccha Madhyamik Vidyalay, Saratar, Sirohi, Rajasthan, Bharat Mata Higher Secondary School, Bilaspur, City Montessori, Kanpur, GB Public School, Melmarvarthur, Government Secondary School, Bongten, Sikkim, Jidd School and Acharya Baal Shastri Jaambekar College of Special Education, Chiplun, Maharashtra, Lead India School, Dwaraka Nagar, Warangal, Poira High School, Goa, Purva Madhyamik Vidyalay, Itonja, Lucknow, Rajakiya Uccha Pratamik Vidyalay, Godawas, Barmer, Tejaswi Vidyaranya School, Korremula, AP, Vidya Valley School, Pune, Zilla Parishad Prathmik Shala, Bhayarwadi, Maharashtra.

The winning colleges include IIM Kozhikode, Kerala, IIM Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, National Institute of Science and Technology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Xavier University Bhubaneswar, Odissa.

After Bengaluru, three Nigerians ‘assaulted’ in Hyderabad

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Nigeria-Hyderabad

Hyderabad: After the assault and stripping of a Tanzanian woman in Bengaluru, three Nigerian nationals were allegedly assaulted in Hyderabad by a group of around 10 locals who hurled “racist” comments.

However, Hyderabad police dismissed it as a “minor brawl” between one Nigerian and a local youth.

One of the trio, Orolabe Ibidola, said the incident had occurred last night in Hakimpet area when he was returning home from a religious place when some local youths allegedly passed “racist” comments against him.

Ibidola, a degree student, claimed when he sought to know the reasons for their comments, the locals assaulted him.

“After beating me up, the locals then beat up two other Nigerian youths,” he claimed.

He also said one of the attackers was carrying a knife. However, Banjara Hills Police Station Inspector P Murali Krishna said there was a “minor brawl” between a Nigerian and a local youth following arguments over a road accident.

“We have registered a case under IPC Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 341 (wrongful restraint) against the local youth following a complaint by the Nigerian youth,” the told PTI.

The Inspector said they have received a counter complaint from local residents against the Nigerian, alleging assault by the latter.

A probe into the incident is on, Krishna said. After the incident, a group of Nigerians residing in the city held a protest outside the police station last night.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru private varsity VC held on rape charge

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Madhukar G Angur

Bengaluru: The vice chancellor of a private university here has been arrested for allegedly raping a 33-year-old woman, the police said on Saturday.

“We have arrested Madhukar G. Angur on Friday night on a complaint by the victim’s mother, who charged him with sexually abusing her daughter over a period, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) M.B. Boraingaiah told IANS.

Angur (55), a divorcee, is the vice-chancellor of Alliance University, set up in 2010 at Anekal on the city’s southern outskirts.

“The victim is the accused’s niece, who has been working in the university’s administrative office since 2011. As the complaint is filed by her mother, who is his sister, we are interrogating them and others in the family,” Boralingaiah said.

Based on the written complaint, a first information report (FIR) has been registered against the accused under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

According to the complaint, the victim and the accused have been in relationship for a couple of years as Angur had promised to marry her but betrayed.

“The victim’s mother said her daughter went into depression and is under counselling to recover from the trauma of betrayal and deceit by the accused,” the IPS officer added.

The accused also threatened the victim against complaining to the police or anyone else and blackmailed her mother with threats to “expose” their family.

(IANS)

SC can’t question Muslim personal law: Jamiat-Ulama-e-Hind

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Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind

New Delhi: Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind, the powerful body of Muslim clerics, has said that Muslim personal law flows from the Holy Quran and cannot be subjected to any scrutiny by the Supreme Court based on principles of the Constitution.

“Mohammedan law is founded essentially on the Holy Quran and this cannot fall within the purview of the expression ‘laws in force’ as mentioned in Article 13 of the Constitution, and hence its validity cannot be tested on a challenge based on Part-III of the Constitution (guaranteeing fundamental rights, including right to equality),” the JUH application filed through advocate Ejaz Maqbool said.

The assertion by the body marks a fierce challenge to the intent to extend the principle to gender equality to Muslim women and can open a fresh phase in the debate on whether personal laws based on religion can trump the Constitution. The debate will require the BJP-led government to spell out its stand on the fraught issue.

Last year, while entertaining a petition, a two-judge bench of Justices A R Dave and Adarsh Goel had directed registration of a separate PIL to consider the rights of Muslim women as there was no safeguard against arbitrary divorce (triple talaq) and second marriage by Muslim men during subsistence of their first marriage. The court had issued notice to the attorney general and National Legal Services Authority (Nalsa).

On Friday, a bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justices A K Sikri and R Banumathi took up the petition titled ‘Muslim Women’s Quest for Equality’ and agreed to make JUH a party to the proceedings and sought responses from the JUH, the AG and Nalsa on the questions posed by the SC in six weeks. All India Muslim Personal Law Board is also expected to request the SC to make it a party in the case.

The JUH also referred to Article 44, which figures as a provision in the Constitution, providing that the state shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.

But the JUH said, “Article 44 envisaging UCC is only a directive principle and is not enforceable. This article by implication recognizes the existence of different codes applicable to different religions in matters of personal law and permits their continuance until the state succeeds in its endeavour to secure for all citizens a UCC.”

It said the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, a legislation brought by the Rajiv Gandhi government to step around the SC directed equality in maintenance for Muslim women in Shah Bano case, provided for the rights of Muslim women in matters of divorce and maintenance.

(Agencies)

Modi govt withdraws customs exemption on 74 drugs, prices to rise

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Narendra_Modi

New Delhi: As many as 74 drugs, including life saving ones used for treating cancer and HIV, will see sharp rise in prices as the government has withdrawn customs duty exemption on their imports.

 

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) last week issued a notification withdrawing exemption of levy of basic customs duty on as many as 74 drugs.

The medicines on which customs duty will now be imposed include the ones used for treating kidney stones, cancer chemotherapy and radiotherapy, life-threatening heart rhythm disorders, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, bone diseases, antibiotic to treat infections.

Besides, drugs used for bacterial infections, leukemia, anesthetic medication, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or hepatitis B virus cells, allergies, arthritis, lupus and ulcerative colitis might also see spurt in prices.

Also drugs used in blood dilating medicine or for treating menopause, glaucoma, anogenital warts, poisoning by a chemical or pesticide, growth failure in children and adults who lack natural growth hormone would also attract customs duty.

“The withdrawal of exemption from basic customs duty for certain drugs and medicines including life-saving drugs is intended to provide protection to the domestic manufacturing industry and enhance the attractiveness of make in India initiative,” KPMG India Partner and Head of Indirect Tax Sachin Menon said.

“An increase has also been made in the customs duty rates of certain life saving drugs such as abciximab, anti-rabies immunoglobin, FSH, procarbazine and saquinavir to 35 per cent,” Deloitte in India Senior Director MS Mani said.

These changes signify the intention of the government to promote domestic manufacture of these items as imports would now become more expensive, Mani said.

Menon said the move seems to be in line with the government’s objective to rationalise the duty exemptions.

(Agencies)

Over 350 run in SIBM-B’s Life Dart 5k fundraiser

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SIBM

Bengaluru: A total of Rs.1, 95,000 was raised through Life Dart 5k Run conducted by the Rotaract Club of Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Bengaluru (SIBM-B).

The event, conducted in association with Rotary Indiranagar (District 3190) and Social Responsibility Committee of SIBM-B,saw over 350 runners taking part. The proceeds from the event will go to MAD (Make A Difference), anNGO which mobilises young leaders to ensure equitable outcomes for children in shelters across India.

Participants came in from various organisations including the Indian Air Force, CISF, Infosys, KPMG, Ernst & Young, and Wipro.

The occasion was flagged off by national level badminton player,Mohit Kamat, winner ofUSIC World Railways Championship in Russia.

Deepak Singh of the Indian Air Force was felicitated for finishing first (15 Mins 43 Secs) while Mohit Saini & G. Ram finished second and third respectively. Amongst women, Jyoti K stood first. Nine-year-olds Harsh Vardhan and Tejas were the youngest runners.

Swati Waghamare, President, Rotaract Club of SIBM-B said, “Life Dart came into existence to inspire people to run for a cause, to make a difference in the lives of those in need. During the journey we inspired new hopes.”

Abhinav G.,Secretary of Rotaract Club of SIBM-Bsaid,“It is an honor to be associated with Rotary, an organization of international repute. The constant inputs given by Rotarians and the support of our team were instrumental in pulling this off successfully.

Tanzanian assault case: BJP member arrested, two cops suspended

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Image for representation.

Image for representation.

Bengaluru: A total of nine persons have been arrested so far in connection to the alleged assault and stripping of a Tanzanian student here in state capital.

Of the arrested, one has been identified as Chikkabanavara GP BJP Member Lokesh Bangari. Two police officials-Inspector Pravin Babu and Constable Manjunath stand suspended in connection to the case.

It may be recalled that a 21-year-old Tanzanian student was allegedly stripped and paraded naked in Bengaluru on Sunday, after an inebriated Sudanese student mowed down a local woman. It is said that the strong mob mistook the girl to be the drunk Sudanese student’s friend and assaulted her.

“Babu has been suspended for dereliction of duty and Manjunath for not taking action even though he was present at the spot,” Top Cop N S Megharik adding that the four arrested on Thursday night have been booked for assault, unlawful assembly, arson, rioting and outraging a woman’s modesty.

There are possibilities of more arrests.

A team from Delhi comprising the Tanzanian High Commissioner John W H Kijazi and External Affairs Ministry officials will meet the students here and get the assessment of the state government on the incident.

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara has denied refuted the claims of the attack being racial one.

(Agencies)

Over 40 injured as train derails near Vellore

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train

Chennai: More than 40 passengers of the Bengaluru-bound Kanyakumari-Bangalore City Express were injured after its four coaches derailed in Vellore district, around 170 km from here, according to reports.

The Southern Railway in a statement said the coaches derailed at 4.15 a.m. between Somanayakkanpatti and Patchur of the Bangalore Railway Division.

No lives were lost in the accident.

According to railways, buses were arranged to transport passengers to Bengaluru and senior officials have reached the accident spot.

Owing to the accident the Southern Railway has cancelled 11 trains between Chennai-Bengaluru, Jolarpettai-Bengaluru and Arakonam-Bengaluru.

The Chennai-Mysore Shadabdi Express for Friday has been partially cancelled between Jolarpettai and Mysore.

Similarly, the Mysore-Chennai Shadabdi Express has been partially cancelled between Mysore and Jolarpettai.

Train number 16614 between Coimbatore-Rajkot has been diverted via Tirupattur, Jolarpettai, Katpadi and Renigunta.

(Agencies)

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