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Mecca live stream on social media app garners over a millions tweets, and unprecedented view of Muslim holy city.
![More than a million tweets were made using the hashtag 'Mecca_live' according to analytic site, Topsy [AP]](https://i0.wp.com/nasheman.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Mecca_live.jpg)
More than a million tweets were made using the hashtag ‘Mecca_live’ according to analytic site, Topsy [AP]
by Shafik Mandhai, Al Jazeera
Bengaluru: Around 27 child labourers from Thagajaguppe village in Kaggalipura police limits were rescued by CID’s anti-human trafficking unit on July 14.
The officials conducted a raid based on information provided by the 16 children who were rescued earlier from the same area. The children, all under the age of 15, hail from Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.
It is learnt that the employers, Ashwath Narayana (35) of Lingarajapuram, Anand of Chamarajpet and Prashanthkumar (35) of Vijayanagar brought them to Bengaluru on the pretext of giving them jobs; they were then made to work on segregating and cleaning plastics from the garbage. Both the accused are said to be absconding.
The children told the officials that they used to work from 6 am to 7 pm. Having been assured jobs, they were brought to the state by Tannulal, Mandee and Suresh Lal Jadhav, all belonging to the state of Bihar. The police are on a lookout for the accused.
(Agencies)
New Delhi: The Governing Council of the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) on Wednesday confirmed that the competition will be discontinued with immediate effect.
The council, comprising representatives of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Cricket Australia (CA) made the decision unanimously. As such, the 2015 edition scheduled for September and October will not go ahead as planned.
The competition was launched in 2009 by the three boards. The council determined that the discontinuation of the league was the most appropriate decision due to the tournament’s limited public following.
“This has been a difficult decision as the CLT20 provided added context to a number of domestic T20 competitions around the world such as the Indian Premier League (IPL) in India, Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia and South Africa’s Ram Slam T20,” BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said.
“It was a fantastic platform for players from around the world to showcase their talent and the participating teams thoroughly enjoyed the experience over the last six seasons. Unfortunately, off the field, CLT20 wasn’t sustaining the interest of the fans as we had hoped. This decision was made, after consultation with all our commercial partners and meeting the contractual obligations of all parties involved.”
Thakur added: “The Governing Council would like to thank everyone involved with the CLT20 and all those who participated in the tournament. Further details associated with winding down the league including settling with the three nations that had invested time and effort in the competition, will be completed very soon.”
(Agencies)
Kozhikode: Fabi Basheer, widow of Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, passed away at a private hospital here on Wednesday.
She was 77.
She had been suffering from colon cancer for quite some time.
Fabi was admitted to the hospital three days ago with pneumonia and had been in the ICU of the hospital.
Basheer and Fabi entered into wedlock on December 18, 1958.
She is survived by their children Shahina and Anees.
(Agencies)
Mumbai: Yakub Memon, convicted for his role in the March 12, 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, will be hanged on July 30, official sources said here early Wednesday.
He is likely to be be hanged in the Nagpur Central Jail, where he is currently lodged, following the rejection of his mercy plea in April this year by the president, said the official who declined to be identified.
A chartered accountant, Memon, 53, has filed his second review petition before the Supreme Court which is expected to be heard July 21, but the state government is making all preparations for the hanging with the warrant issued earlier this week.
He was awarded the death sentence by a Special TADA Court in Mumbai on July 27, 2007 for his role in the blasts, including arranging finances for carrying out the 13 serial explosions which left 257 dead and over 700 injured across the city on March 12, 1993.
Subsequently, Memon – the brother of one of the main absconding accused Ibrahim alias Tiger Memon – appealed against the sentence in the Bombay High Court, Supreme Court and later filed a mercy petition with the president, followed by a review petition, and now a second review petition which is pending.
Leading criminal lawyer and a former defence lawyer in the same case Majeed Memon questioned the need for the state government’s “hurry” in the matter even before the outcome of the second review petition.
“Are they pre-empting the issue or are they already before-hand aware of the outcome of the review petition? They should have waited till the matter is finally decided,” Majeed Memon, a top NCP leader and Member of Parliament, told IANS on Wednesday.
(IANS)
New Delhi: As the Opposition attacked it over Amit Shah’s reported comment that it will take 25 years for the promised ‘achhe din’ to come, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today termed the report as “baseless” and said the party president had stated that it will take these many years to restore India its “ancient glory”.
“Shah said the BJP government had curbed corruption and brought down inflation.It is working to end corruption and create many jobs in five years. But the dream of making India ‘Vishwa guru (world leader) will take 25 years to realise,” BJP secretary and media cell in-charge Shrikant Sharma said.
A media report today quoted Amit Shah as having told party leaders and workers at a meet in Bhopal yesterday that the good days promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take 25 years to come.
Latching onto it, Congress leader Digvijay Shah took a dig at Amit Shah, saying his good days had arrived and people can forget about theirs.
अमित शाह -“अच्छे दिन आने में २५ साल लगेंगे” अमित जी आपके अच्छे दिन तो आ गये, एश करिये सारे मुक़दमों को समाप्त करा लीजिये। जनता जाये भाड़ में
— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) July 14, 2015
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal wondered in a tweet, “Would people have voted for BJP had it told them that it will take 25 years for good days to arrive”. Sharma, however, said Shah made the remarks in the context of restoring India its ancient glory and claimed the report was “part of conspiracy to defame BJP”.
“India used to be a world leader. And our president said it will take 25 years to restore India its ancient glory and status of world leader again,” he said.
Shah never said the BJP government will take 25 years to bring ‘achhe din’, he added.
“It is a baseless report and part of larger conspiracy to defame BJP,” he alleged.
(PTI)
![Some pilgrims said ambulances took time to reach the site [Reuters]](https://i0.wp.com/nasheman.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Godavari-Pushkaralu.jpg)
Some pilgrims said ambulances took time to reach the site [Reuters]
A major religious event held once in 12 years, hundreds of people drawn from different parts of the state had converged on the river bank to take dip in the river on the auspicious occasion.
The tragedy struck between 7.30 AM and 8 AM and most of the victims were elderly people.
Rajahmundry Sub-Collector Vijaya Ramaraju said the bodies had been shifted to Rajahmundry Government Hospital and the injured taken to a nearby hospital.
“So far 27 have died …most of the dead are elderly women,” Ramaraju said.
The victims had been waiting since early hours and some of them were tired as they had travelled long distances to reach here.
The official said there is a possibility that the deaths were caused due to suffocation.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who was on the spot to take the holy dip, expressed profound grief at the tragedy and is personally monitoring relief and rescue operations.
A visibly disturbed Naidu, monitoring the situation from the control room, said, “This is very unfortunate and shocking. I have come here many times to review arrangements to ensure smooth conduct of the event. But some problems cropped up in execution.”
The Chief Minister also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the family of the deceased and said, if necessary, he would would remain in Rajahmundry for the next 11 days.
Earlier in the day, Naidu, accompanied by his wife and son, had taken the holy dip, where the river is full in its expanse.
Godavari ‘Pushkaram’, the ritual of taking holy dip in the river, is observed once in 12 years, but this time it is considered auspicious from astronomical point of view as it is ‘Maha Pushkaralu’ which comes once in 144 years.
Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayandra Sarswathi was among the spiritual leaders who took the sacred bath.
The ‘Pushakaram’ is a similar to the ‘Kumbh Mela’ performed alongside rivers elsewhere in the country and taking holy dip is the main ritual of the religious event.
(PTI)
Tehran agrees to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief after lengthy negotiations.
by Al Jazeera
World powers and Iran have reached a landmark deal to curb Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief after an 18-day marathon negotiations in Vienna.
The accord was announced on Tuesday by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the European Union’s policy chief Federica Mogherini in a joint statement in the Austrian capital.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the deal a “win-win” solution to end “an unnecessary crisis and open new horizons for dealing with serious problems that affect our international community.”
“I believe this is a historic moment. We are reaching an agreement that is not perfect for everybody but it is what we could accomplish and it is an important achievement for all of us,” said Zarif.
“Today could have been the end of hope on this issue, but now we are starting a new chapter of hope.”
Mogherini said the decision demonstrated that “diplomacy, coordination, cooperation can overcome decades of tensions and confrontations”.
“It is a decision that openned a way to a new chapter in international relations,” she said.
Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from Vienna, said that for the presidents of the United States and Iran “it is a historic deal that would serve some kind of a re-set after decades of mistrust.”
Hassan Rouhani, the president of Iran, commented on the deal on Twitter:
#IranDeal shows constructive engagement works. With this unnecessary crisis resolved, new horizons emerge with a focus on shared challenges.
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) July 14, 2015
Addressing the Iranian nation, Rouhani said: “We didn’t ask for charity. We asked for fair, just and win-win negotiations.”
He said that “a new chapter has started” and now the government could now focus on other issues of the country.
Barack Obama, the US president, said the American people and legislators should “consider the world without this deal” before making their mind about it.
“I will veto any vote taken against this deal,” he said. “Simply no deal means a greater chance of more war in the Middle East. Our security depends on preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.”
“This deal is not built on trust. It is built on verification,” said Obama.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, who sees major threat in the deal called the decision “a historic mistake for the world”.
“Iran will get hundreds of billions of dollars with which it will be able to fuel its terror machine,” he said, referring to the expected lifting of crippling Western sanctions on its oil and banking sectors.
The accord seeks to end nearly 12 years of nuclear stand off between Iran and the western powers led by the US.
The accord will keep Iran from producing enough material for a nuclear weapon for at least 10 years and impose new provisions for inspections of Iranian facilities, including military sites.
Iran was resisting the probe in the country’s alleged work on nuclear weapons and demanding that a United Nations arms embargo to be lifted.
It also demanded that any UN Security Council resolution approving the broader deal no longer describe Iran’s nuclear activities as illegal.
Major powers accused Islamic Republic of seeking to build nuclear weapons, an aim it denied, under the guise of a civilian programme.
Iran will slash by abour two-thirds the number of centrifuges from about 19,000 to 6,104 under the deal announced on Tuesday.
A total of 1,044 of these centrifuges will be used for other purposes than uranium enrichment.
New Delhi: Chennai Super Kings, the most consistent team in the IPL, and Rajasthan Royals were today suspended from the cash-rich cricket league for two years for betting activities of their key officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra during the 2013 season.
The punishment was handed down by a Supreme Court- appointed three-member committee headed by former CJI R M Lodha which held that the betting activities of the two officials, Meiyappan, considered the face of CSK owners, and Kundra, co-owner of Rajasthan Royals, have brought the game of cricket, BCCI and IPL into disrepute.
The Committee also imposed sanctions including life suspensions for Meiyappan and Kundra from being involved in any cricket matches conducted by BCCI.
The Comnmitte was constituted by the Supreme Court in January this year with oits terms of reference being to announve the quantum of punioshment against Meiyappan, Kundra and the two franchisees — India Cements Ltd, owner of CSK and Jaipur IPL, owner of Rajasthan Royals.
Addressing the media after pronouncing their verdict, the three-member committee was asked whether they have contemplated action IPL COO Sundar Raman, who was also accused of wrongdoing.
Justice Lodha said it will be some time before his fate is decided.
“About Sundar Raman, we examined the material about him and we believe it requires further investigation. Vivek Priyadarshi has been appointed by the Supreme Court to look into it and he is examining the matter, we are awaiting his report. After that we will decide what will be the action,” he said.
The committee said its observations with respect to the much-talked about conflict of interest in the BCCI would be given after completing interactions with various stakeholders of the game.
“Conflict of interest questions have been raised, once we complete the process of interacting with all the stakeholders, we will take a view on that. That exercise is not complete. This order is confined to determining the quantum of punishment to the two individuals and the franchises,” he said.
“We have interacted with 40-45 people, we are yet to meet a few others. Once that is done we will decide what guidelines are to be given.
Our idea is to get inputs from all stakeholders. It is not confined to cricket administrators and politicians,” he added.
He also refused to comment on the criminal cases pending against the suspended officials, saying, “No aspect touching criminal liability has been decided by us.”
On whether the two franchisees would be allowed to participate in case their is a change in ownership, Justice Lodha that aspect is for the BCCI to decide.
“This question was brought to us. But the BCCI has to take a call and whatever the legal course is there, it is available. You must appreciate that we cannot address every aspect of the matter,” he said.
Asked whether the committee took a considered view of the impact this ruling will have on the players attached with the two suspended franchises, Justice Lodha said the game is bigger than the individuals.
“Players will not be attached to a franchisee which has been suspended. We thought that if cricket is bigger than individuals then financial loss to players and franchises is not of significance,” he said.
(Agencies)
Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation Tuesday carried out searches at premises of social activist Teesta Setalvad and her organisation in connection with a case of alleged violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act in receiving funds from abroad without taking prior permission from the home ministry.
The CBI sleuths carried out searches at four places in Mumbai at the premises of Setalvad, her husband Javed Anand, Gulam Mohammed Peshimam and office of Sabrang Communications and Publishing, a move flayed by the social activist who said that she was cooperating with the CBI.
“We are surprised and shocked at this,” Teesta said, adding, “We have been offering full cooperation.”
The CBI had registered a case on July 8 against all these under IPC section related to criminal conspiracy (120-B) along with provisions of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 and Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 1976.
“We had written a letter to CBI offering full cooperation and telling the agency that whatever so-called offences are registered against us, we will cooperate. So we don’t understand the rationale behind this entire operation,” Setalvad, who was at fore front of campaign for 2002 Gujarat riots victims, said.
“We believe that it is a caged-parrot in operation and its a political vendetta and they are trying to humiliate and intimidate us,” she said, noting “the team here is very professional but we don’t know where it will end”.
CBI sources said in New Delhi that the case was registered after the agency completed verification of all the documents submitted by the home ministry while referring the probe to the agency.
They said it is alleged that the accused named in the FIR, in a criminal conspiracy, accepted foreign contribution without registration and prior permission from the Union home ministry as mandated under FCRA norms.
The government had earlier ordered a CBI probe into the transfer of funds by US-based Ford Foundation to Sabrang Communication and Publishing Pvt Limited (SCPPL) and even froze a bank account of the firm on June 26.
It was alleged that at SCPPL violate rules of FCRA in accepting a donation of USD 2.9 lakh from Ford Foundation without getting clearance of the Home Ministry.
According to the rules, an organisation or a private firm can accept donations from overseas only after it is registered under FCRA. The donation was, therefore, a “serious violation” of FCRA provisions which mandate funding from a foreign source to only those recipients who have FCRA registration, the Home Ministry had said while ordering a CBI case.
A bank account of the firm located in Juhu, Mumbai, had also been frozen at the instruction of the Home Ministry.
The Gujarat government had earlier asked the Home Ministry to take action against Ford Foundation, alleging that the US-based organisation was “interfering in internal affairs” of the country and also “abetting communal disharmony” through an NGO run by Setalvad.
The fund transfer from Ford Foundation has, at present, to be cleared by a nodal official in the Home Ministry. In April, the government had ordered that funds from Ford Foundation should not be released by any bank to any Indian NGO without mandatory permission from the Home Ministry.
There are several cases in which the Gujarat government and Setalvad are waging legal battles. While she has filed several cases against the state government functionaries in connection with post-Godhra riots of 2002, the state police have filed a case of alleged embezzlement of funds against her.
(Agencies)