Archives for 2017

Greater Noida: In a horrific incident, four women were allegedly gangraped and one male person was shot dead when a group of armed criminals held them at gunpoint at Khurja-Jhajhar road in Greater Noida region of Uttar Pradesh early Thursday morning.

Seven family members along with a driver were going from Jewar to Bulandshahr to visit a relative in hospital.

One of the victims said that the family had left the village at around 1 am in Maruti Eco car. “When we reached near Sabauta village, we felt something stroking the wheels of the car. We stopped the vehicle and found two front wheels to be punctured,” he said. He then informed his brother at home and called for help.

The car occupants had just got down from the vehicle when a group of 6-7 armed criminals surrounded them. The criminals took the victims to the field at gunpoint. They snatched their mobile phones, purse and jewellery.

The criminals then took the women at some distance and allegedly gang-raped them. When one of the family members resisted the bid, the criminals shot his chest and leg, killing him on the spot. After receiving the information, a police team reached the spot but the criminals had escaped by then.

Love Kumar, SSP Gautam Budh Nagar, said teams comprising crime branch, STF and local polices have been formed. “We are conducting raids to arrest the criminals. The victims have been sent for medical examination and reports are awaited,” he said.

The incident reminded the horrific gang rape of a woman and her 13-year-old daughter in July last year when they were travelling in a car from Noida to Shahjahanpur. The incident took place on the national highway passing through Bulandshahr.

(Agencies)

Malappuram: A mosque at Pulikkal here is using sign language during Friday prayers ‘Qutaba’ and daily ‘azans’ to help the hearing impaired participate in the religious services.

During ‘Qutabas’ and ‘Azaans’ (Muslim call for prayers) sign language interpreters are used at the mosque ‘AL Rahma’, which was inaugurated a couple of days ago.

“This is the first time in the country and perhaps first in the world that such a mosque for the hearing impaired has taken shape,” Musthafa Madani, Secretary of the Ability Foundation, the NGO which was instrumental in bringing in this concept, told PTI.

All sermons during the prayers will have sign language interpreters, who are members of the staff, he said.

“There are also large LCD screens installed on the mosque’s walls so that all attending the prayers, including women, even in the back rows, will be able to follow the prayers seeing the screens,” he said.

Built at a cost of Rs 75 lakh, with contributions from non-resident Keralites and local people, the mosque has come up in a five-and-half acre campus of the Ability Foundation.

“It is a great boon to the deaf and mute students, who have never heard in their life. We have been able to give them their biggest joy,” says Madani.

For 22 year-old Naseeba, a hearing impaired teacher, who takes classes for B.com and computer application students, when she “heard” the prayers for the first time, it was an unforgettable moment for her which she would always cherish.

Safavan (25), a third year B.com student, who is also hearing impaired, expressed happiness at being able to understand the prayers for the first time in his life.

There are about 300 students who are differently-abled, including 200 with hearing problems, in the campus pursuing various courses.

Of the 30 teachers of the foundation, 17 are physically challenged persons.

When those with other disabilities are able to benefit from religious talks and preachings during Friday prayers, the hearing and speech impaired are the ones who feel left out, says Madani, who is a Government school teacher at Kondotty.

The mosque which has 100 per cent disabled friendly ramps, hand rails and toilets, is open to all.

The aim of the foundation is to make the hearing impaired and people with other disabilities self sufficient and be able to fend for themselves.

Various vocational courses are offered by the foundation for people with different disabilities.
It also brings out a monthly audio magazine ‘Divya Deepthi’ for the hearing impaired.

Features and articles from various newspapers are compiled and those who can read it properly send it through WhatsApp, according to Madani.

(Agencies)

Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court today allowed an Indian woman, who has been staying at the Indian mission here after accusing a Pakistani man of marrying her at gunpoint, to return home and ordered the police to escort her to the Wagah Border.

Uzma, who is in her early 20s, hails from New Delhi and had travelled to Pakistan earlier this month. She has said Tahir Ali, whom she reportedly met in Malaysia and fell in love with, forced her into marrying him in Pakistan on May 3.

Uzma petitioned the court on May 12 requesting it to allow her to return home urgently as her daughter from her first marriage in India suffered from thalassemia – a blood disorder characterised by abnormal haemoglobin production.

Ali had petitioned the court, requesting that he be allowed to meet his wife.

A single bench of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani heard both the petitions today. After hearing their arguments, he allowed Uzma to return to India.

The court also returned her the immigration papers which she had said was taken away by Ali, who had submitted the documents yesterday after being told by the court to do so.

It’s not yet clear when she would leave for India.

Ali, dejected at the order, told PTI that the high court allowed “his wife” to go back. “She has been allowed to return and I am unhappy because my point of view was not heard.”

Justice Kayani also ordered the police to escort her to to the Wagah Border crossing between India and Pakistan.

The judge asked Uzma if she wanted to meet Ali in his chamber but she refused.

“I had asked to meet her for two minutes but I was not allowed,” Ali added.

Some reports said Uzma once collapsed inside the court during the hearing and paramedics were called in to treat her.

Uzma arrived in Pakistan on May 1 and travelled to the remote Buner district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province where she was married to Ali on May 3.

Later she came to Islamabad and took refuge in the Indian High Commission, alleging she was forced to marry him at gunpoint.

Ali rejected the allegations and expressed his desire to work out their relationship. “She is still my wife. Neither she has asked for divorce nor I have divorced her.”

According to the law in Pakistan, her lawyer can continue to represent her and she can come back to pursue the case.

(PTI)

Jagadacharya Chandraswami, allegedly involved in assassination of former PM Rajiv Gandhi, died at Delhi’s Apollo Hospital, where he was admitted after a stroke

New Delhi: Self-styled godman Chandraswami, who counted among his friends and disciples prime ministers, kings and Hollywood celebrities, died in near anonymity today of multiple organ failure at a Delhi hospital. He was 66 and had recently suffered a stroke.

“Spiritual leader Jagadacharya Chandraswami ji, 66 years old, had been ailing for some time. He recently suffered a stroke,” an Apollo Hospital statement said.

Chandraswami, an astrologer and tantric, was considered close to prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and was probed for his alleged role in plotting and financing the killing of Rajiv Gandhi.

Controversy’s favourite child, the self-proclaimed godman in flowing silk saffron robes and sporting a tilak on his forehead, faced a bevy of criminal cases—ranging from FERA violations, to blackmail and cheating, to shady arms deals.

Claimed to have extraordinary astrological and tantric skills, he became close to Narasimha Rao who was a minister in the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi cabinet. His fortunes soared when Rao became the prime minister.

Rao had retired from active politics when he was asked to become prime minister after Congress’s victory following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. Soon after Rao became the prime minister, Chandraswami built an ashram—Vishwa Dharmayatan Sanathan—in Qutub Institutional Area of Delhi.

The land for the ashram was said to have been allotted by Indira Gandhi.

Chandraswami, whose real name was Nemi Chand Jain, was claimed to have dispensed spiritual advice to the Sultan of Brunei, Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa of Bahrain, actress Elizabeth Taylor, British premier Margaret Thatcher and arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi among other famous figures.

He also counted some heads of state and government as his close friends.

The alleged role of Chandrawami in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi came to light in a report submitted by the M.C. Jain judicial commission, which went into the aspect of conspiracy behind the killing of the former prime minister.

The Congress, in its submissions before the Jain Commission in 1997 accused Chandraswami of having financed the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi after playing a key role in the conspiracy jointly hatched by various terrorist outfits in London and executed by the LTTE.

In its report, the Jain Commission dedicated a volume to his alleged involvement. The Enforcement Directorate also investigated his alleged role as financier of the killing.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to give a time-frame for completing a detailed probe, saying the larger conspiracy behind the assassination had to be investigated.

The court was hearing a plea on the matter by A.G. Perarivalan, one of the convicts whose death sentence was commuted to a life term in the case. He faced charges of repeated violation of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. An income-tax raid on his ashram is reported to have uncovered original drafts of payments to Adnan Khashoggi of $11 million. Khashoggi was allegedly involved in the “Iran-Contra affair” as a key middleman in the arms-for-hostages exchange along with Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar.

The “Iran-Contra affair” was a political scandal in the US during the second term of Ronald Reagan as President. Senior Reagan Administration officials had secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo.

(PTI)

Islamabad: Pakistani fighter jets flew near the Siachen Glacier today, according to a media report here, but Indian Air Force sources said there was no violation of India’s airspace.

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) fighter jets made flights near Siachen Glacier this morning, Samaa TV reported.

Quoting sources, the report said all of PAF’s forward operating bases have been made fully operational.

Mirage jets of PAF are part of exercises since the forward base was made operational.

In New Delhi, IAF sources said there was no violation of India’s airspace.

The report came a day after the Indian Army announced that it launched “punitive fire assaults” on Pakistani positions across the Line of Control earlier this month, inflicting some damage.

Pakistan’s Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman visited the forward airbase in Skardu today and flew a Mirage jet, the report said.

According to PAF, Aman met the pilots and technical staff of the fighting force. A fighter squadron carried out higher and lower altitude flights.

The Siachen glacier is the highest battleground on the earth. It is located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayan mountains where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends.

(Agencies)