Evening NEWS DIGEST
01 Jan.2017: 2 Rabius
Sani 1438: Vol:8, No:77
MEA pulls up Jamia Millia
Islamia for not implementing MoUs with 3 Palestinian Universities
New Delhi: External Affairs
Ministry has come down hard on Jamia Millia Islamia University for its “apathy”
in implementing MoUs it had signed with three Palestinian universities during
President Pranab Mukherjee’s landmark visit to Palestine in Oct. 2015. In a
strongly worded letter to Jamia V-C Talat Ahmad, Minister of State for External
Affairs M J Akbar sought an explanation from the university on why the MoUs
were at a “virtual standstill”, adding the institute’s approach seems to be a
hurdle in moving forward.Minister said during his recent visit to Palestine, it
was brought to his notice that no follow-up action has been initiated on the
MoUs signed between Jamia Millia Islamia and the Palestinian Universities.Akbar
also asked the Jamia VC to provide details to govt urgently on status of other
MoUs and agreements signed by the
premier institution with universities from other countries.“Over a year has
passed since it was signed but Jamia has not shown any inclination to activate
this MoU. Palestinian side is keen to move forward, but apathy seems to be a
hurdle.”We would like to know, soon, as to why there has been no movement,”
Akbar said in the letter.When contacted, a Jamia official said the university
was keen to implement the MoUs signed with Al Quds, Al Istiklal and Hebron
universities and approached the Ministry of Human Resources Development for
granting funds to implement the pacts which provide for capacity building
initiatives and academic exchanges.In the letter, Akbar said the Palestinian
education minister is expected to visit India shortly as outcome of the Joint
Commission meeting between the two countries two months back.”The visit could
be a potential inflection point for the education sector cooperation between
the 2 countries. Without follow up, all agreements become infructious.“Our
representative in Ramallah Anis Rajan has always been ready to extend fullest
cooperation to you in this regard. Please let me know why the MoUs are at a
virtual standstill,” Akbar wrote in the letter to Ahmad.Minister said capacity
building and academic exchanges with friendly countries form an important
pillar of India’s foreign policy and in this regard Jamia has entered into MoUs
and pacts with several foreign universities. “I would also like to know, on an
urgent basis, the status of other MoUs and agreements signed with universities
from other countries by Jamia Millia,” said Akbar.The Jamia official said the
institute has been making sincere efforts to implement the MoUs but at times
the process gets delayed due to procedural difficulties as well as fund crunch.PTI
Grateful for shift in
India’s position, says Israel envoy
New Delhi: Israel is
grateful for the “changes and the shifts” in the Indian position at UN bodies
in the past two years, says Israel’s Ambassador Daniel Carmon.Referring to
India’s decision to abstain from resolutions critical of Israel at the UN, the UNESCO,
Mr. Carmon said the shift in India’s position has been visible more recently.“We
have appreciated very much the changes and the shifts in position [by India] on
some resolutions in New York, Geneva and Paris (UNESCO). It is a measured
change, compared to the past, and we hope that this change will continue,” the
Ambassador told The Hindu in an exclusive interview. However, he said the votes
so far are not a “trend” and the shift, which India denies, should not be
“over-exaggerated”. thehindu
AMU students protest for Najeeb
Missing: AMU SU says ‘several students injured in police lathi charge’
Agra: Students of AMU on
Saturday blocked train tracks at the railway station and also road traffic in
the city protesting "failure" of Delhi Police to trace missing JNU
student Najeeb Ahmed, who has been missing for 76 days. After police had to
resort to a mild cane charge, the students courted arrests and took out a
procession against the use of force by the police. Aligarh senior
superintendent of police Rajesh Pandey justified the police action, saying that
the students had not taken permission to carry out their protest march. Dubbing
the police action “unjustified and undemocratic,” AMU Students’ Union president
Faizul Hassan claimed that several students were injured in the lathi charge.
He accused the police of hitting students with lathis on their heads and alleged
that three students were admitted in hospital with head injuries and fractures.Following
the police’s cane charge, the union shot off another memorandum to the
President, terming the attack on them by RAF and PAC as “brutal” and
“injustice” against students. The memorandum stated that instead of tracing Ahmed,
the Delhi administration and the police were harassing Ahmed’s family members
and shielding the criminals.TOI
Zakir Naik owns at least 37
properties in country, 25 in Mumbai alone, claims NIA: HT
New Delhi: Dr Zakir Naik’s
empire consists of at least 37 properties, mostly in Maharashtra towns, NIA
sources told HT. Of these, 25 are flats in Mumbai alone. “Conservative
estimates put market value of these properties and other assets of IRF and Naik
around Rs 100 crore,” said an NIA official who wished to remain anonymous. NIA
also recovered Naik’s propaganda material contained in 14,000 tapes which
amounts to around 5,000 terabytes (TB) of data.A team of NIA officials headed
by agency’s chief Sharad Kumar travelled to Mumbai on Thursday and held
discussions with the Mumbai police officials on recoveries made. NIA gathered
details of these properties during its scrutiny of records of Naik and his
outfit, IRF, which has been banned for 5 years following a govt notification declaring it to be an ‘unlawful
association’ under the UAPA.Naik and IRF also have properties in Pune and
Solapur. Naik’s spokesperson was not immediately for comments.
Squeezed in India, Zakir
Naik takes radicalisation to Nepal, claims new Indian Express report
New Delhi: Zakir Naik has
shifted his radicalisation activities to Nepal following the ban on his outfits
in India under the anti-terror law UAPA. Naik’s Pakistan connection also
emerged during the probe by intelligence agencies, claims the New Indian Express
report. Naik’s cadres recently visited Kathmandu, Krishnanagar and Siraha and
Birganj districts in the Terai region. They organised Street Daawah for
recruitment and distributed misinterpreted Islamic literature. Street Daawah
derives its origin from a similar movement in Australia a few years ago, in
which its cadres joined the Islamic State. Recruits are randomly selected
during Street Daawah, their phone numbers, residential and e-mail addresses are
collected and they are radicalised through concocted Islamic literature and
brainwashing. Naik has also funded Nepal-based outfits Al Bayyan Islamic Centre
in Birganj and Islamic Peace Research Foundation in the Terai belt. These are
affiliated to International Islamic Centre, Sargodha, Pakistan. All these campaigns
are being run on social networking platforms and are spearheaded by Farhat
Hashmi’s Islamic International Centre. Hashmi also runs Al-Huda International
in Canada, which converts Christians to Islam. Naik helped Hashmi develop
content for Al-Huda when it was being established in 1994. Hashmi is now paying
back Naik. “Following the tightening of
the noose around him by agencies here, Naik was under pressure to keep his
network of radicalised cadres intact. Six senior cadres visited Nepal and used SIM
cards issued by Indian telecom companies,” a senior intelligence official said.Toronto-based
outfit is likely to paint action against Naik as a human rights violation
issue, intelligence sources said. “The action by the NIA against Zakir Naik is
a step towards containment of his jihadi activities in India and a severe jolt
to the regional network of radicalisation being run by him,” counter-terrorism
expert Rituraj Mate said.
Akhilesh is new party
chief, Mulayam expels Ramgopal
New Delhi: The crisis
within the Samajwadi Party refused to die down as UP CM Akhilesh Yadav was on Sunday crowned as the
party chief, a position that has been held by his father Mulayam Singh Yadav
for decades. At the party’s national executive Party meeting convened by
general secretary Ramgopal Yadav today, party leaders unanimously elected
Akhilesh to lead SP. Decision was termed as “unconstitutional” by Mulayam and
has once again expelled Ramgopal from the party for six years. Party
vice-president Kiranmoy Nanda was also expelled from the party for attending
the meeting. Soon after being proposed as the national president of the party,
Akhilesh said his respect for his father was more than ever and that he would stand
against those conspiring against the party. “Those who conspired against the
party, damaged it and also posed problems before the national president…should
know that my respect for the national president (Mulayam Singh) will be more
than before,” the CM said. indianexpress
Muslim votes forced
Mulayam, Akhilesh to bury dispute
Lucknow: The fear of losing
Muslim votes to BSP forced the 2 warring factions in Samajwadi Party Mulayam
Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav to bury their hatchet to present a
united face ahead of the Assembly elections, on the insistence of Azam Khan,
who played the role of a peace maker.''This in-fighting is a betrayal with
minority community),'' Khan told Mulayam Singh, when he went to meet the latter
in the morning.Abu Azami, state president of SP in Maharashtra, flew down to Lucknow
from Mumbai to stress the point of unity. He too held a meeting with the
Samajwadi Party leadership over the issue.''Muslims will desert Samajwadi
Party, if we continue with this infighting among ourselves. They will go to
BSP. Mayawati is already out of race. This in fighting will give a new lease of
life to BSP,'' he warned.The fear of SP again losing Muslim votes forced the
top Muslim leaders to play the role of peacemaker.UNI
National Executive
‘unanimously’ elects Akhilesh as SP chief, Mulayam says it’s unconstitutional
Mulayam expels top Akhilesh
backers from SP
Mulayam rejects move to make Akhilesh party
chief
DEMONETISATION
‘World has started making
fun of Modi’: Kejriwal seeks white paper on note ban
New Delhi: Branding
demonetisation a “huge scam”, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday sought an
independent probe into and a White Paper on the note ban. AAP leader also told
the media in New Delhi that PM Narendra
Modi had become a laughing stock globally after taking out 86 % of the currency from the system on November 8.“The
world has started making fun of Modi... At least (former PM ) Manmohan Singh
had the respect of the world.”“Demonetisation is the biggest scandal in
independent India,” Kejriwal said. “The entire exercise was political and
guided by corruption.”IANS
GST will be implemented in
2017, digitized economy will be future of India: Jaitley
New Delhi:Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley on Sunday said that he is hopeful of the Goods and Service Tax
(GST) being implemented in 2017 and confident that a digitised economy would be
the future of India. “I see 2017 as a year in which GST will be implemented,
and a digitized economy will be future of India,” he added.ANI
SBI cuts lending rate by 90
bps; home, auto loans to become cheaper
State Bank of India, the
country's biggest lender by assets, said on Sunday it had cut its lending rates
by 90 basis points for maturities ranging from overnight to three-year tenures,
after experiencing a surge in deposits. Business standard
Demonetization: RBI allows
NRIs to exchange defunct notes up to June 30
RBI has come out with
conditions for exchange of defunct notes for those, including non-resident
Indians, who failed to do so till Friday, the last day for depositing the
invalid currency notes in banks.Resident Indian citizens, who were abroad from
Nov.9 to Dec. 30, can avail this facility up to March 31, 2017, and NRI
citizens, who were abroad during this period, can exchange their defunct notes
up to June 30th, 2017.ANI
Congress unveils booklet on
demonetization; announces nationwide stir against it
New Delhi: While announcing nationwide stir against
demonetization, the main opposition Congress party today made blistering attack
PM Narendra Modi saying the demonetization has actually given birth to a new
market of black-money and the people of the country have been subjected to a
mockery of governance in every way. It also unveiled a booklet titled as
“Demonetisation- 8/11: Attack on India’s Economy”. AICC Spokesperson, Prof
Rajiv Gowda and party In-charge Communication Randeep Singh Surjewala said the
nationwide movement will expose the biggest scam of independent India which is
‘Demonetization. They alleged that 50 days after the ‘Modi made a disaster of
Demonetization’, has run its course and nothing is changing for the better and
adding that the Congress workers will hold District level ‘gherao’ of
Collectorate across India. On the occasion, they also launched the 16-page
Booklet which provides a detailed analysis of everything that has gone wrong
with the demonetization and will continue to go wrong as the next year unfolds.
MuslimMirror
This speech after note ban?
PM must be made to pay for a cruel joke on people: Prasenjit Bose, Economist
Plugging a dam with
band-aid: Modi's confused welfarism will do little to heal demonetisation's
pain: Shoaib Daniyal
Modi’s theory of
relativity: 50-day deadline for demonetisation stretched indefinitely: Shoaib
Daniyal
RBI refuses info on whether
the FM, CEO were consulted before demonetisation
OTHERS
Assam minister angers as
says govt will adopts 2-child population policy
Guwahati: Assam’s Finance,
Education and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who had angered Muslims by
saying “madrasas will have to function on Fridays like any other institutes. His
directive will hit the state’s over 1,000 madrasas He also said that Assam’s
BJP-led coalition govt is contemplating a 2-child population policy. Parents of
more than two children would neither get state govt jobs nor qualify to contest
elections to local bodies.The Opposition Congress and AIUDF asked him to
refrain from taking arbitrary decisions. The influential AAMSU alleged that
Sarma was trying to please the RSS. “He has for long been dreaming of becoming CM
. As he couldn’t fulfil that wish in the Congress, he defected to the BJP but
even here, he has been dejected. He is hatching conspiracies against Muslims,”AAMSU
president Azizur Rahman said.“Sarma is the fourth or fifth child in his family.
Let him first quit politics and set a precedent. Instead of bringing in a law,
he should take measures to educate people on the problem of having many
children,” Rahman added. Congress called the
proposed population policy “funny”. newindianexpress
Muzaffarnagar riots affcted
families: ‘Why not get us a job? We will leave’ Indian Express spl report
In 2017, Loman Ali hopes to
get a job. The money would help, but above all, the job would allow him to get
married to the love of his life. They met at a wedding in Kandhla and fell in
love instantly, he says. Living in a one-room house with his father, two
brothers, two sisters-in-law and their five children, in Kairana’s Nahid Colony
built for the riot victims of Muzaffarnagar, Loman pines for privacy to even
talk to her. He hasn’t thought about whether he can legally marry the girl, who
is 17 too. When it comes to that, the teenager hopes the fact that he has no
document proving his age will help. Since no one in the family, originally
belonging to Fugana village — one of the worst hit in the Sept. 2013 violence —
remembers his birthday, it is an approximate guess that he is 17.“I lost my
mother when I was two, on my birthday. Abba only remembers it was in the
summer,” Loman says.The family moved to this colony, 17 km from Kairana, 2
years ago. His 2 other brothers live in a house next to theirs.Loman was about
to give the mid-term exams of Class 9 when the riots broke out. He says he was
attacked by his own Hindu friends on his way back from school, while his uncle
was killed. “I never returned to the village after that,” says Loman. In Nahid
Colony, all the men in the family work as labourers, and the work isn’t
regular.The claim by BJP MP Hukum Singh that Hindus are leaving Kairana as they
are being harassed by Muslims, especially the riot victims, is a mockery of
those like his family, Loman says. “If they can’t help us, they should not make
our lives worse either. Who wants to live here? It’s hell. Why don’t they get
us a job? We will go where they want.” indianexpress
RSS slams ‘conversion of
tribals to Christianity’
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/rss-criticises-conversion-of-tribals-to-christianity-4453738/
Navsari(Gujarat): RSS chief
Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday attacked Christian organisations for “converting
tribals to Christianity”.He said this at a Virat Hindu Sammelan in Gujarat’s
tribal-dominated Vansda taluka, where Christians account for 30% of the
population.Bhagwat quoted the Pope “proudly saying” that they “had entirely
converted’’ people in Europe, Australia and America to Christianity over 1,000
years and that it was now Asia’s turn. He added that they were eyeing Asia now.
“Who would be receptive to them in Asia?’’ he asked. “China is a Communist
country. That’s why China calls itself secular. Will it let the
Christianisation?’’He wondered whether West Asian Muslim countries would let
them to Christianise. “They would not.’’ Bhagwat added that they think only
India is where they can get converts. He said that they should realise that
only 6 % have become Christians over 1,000 years despite their attempts over
the last 300 years that continue. “They do not have strength and claim that
here they are working to spread Christianity.’’ indianexpress
Missionaries eyeing Asia,
but lack strength to convert Hindus in India: Bhagwat
‘Why do we have to pay such
hefty fees?’ asks a Khandwa youth: indian express spl
report
Khandwa: Clad in a pair of
jeans and a shirt, Faizan Mohammed continually fiddles with his new mobile. He
says he loves the TV serial Tarak Mehta Ka Ulta Chashma while the Salman
Khan-superhit Bajrangi Bhaijaan was the last movie he watched. He lives near
the only mosque in Ganesh Talai, a locality in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa town
populated by both Hindus and Muslims, but says he visits it only for Friday
prayers.The teenager’s nervous smile betrays his anxiety. Not keen to speak by
himself, Faizan says he has been told by his family and relatives to avoid
talking to strangers. The apprehensions are shared by many Muslim youth in the
communally sensitive Khandwa town — often in the news for its link to the
banned SIMI — who are scared of being called by the police for questioning,
particularly in the wake of recent events. Of the eight SIMI undertrials gunned
down by police on October 31, hours after they allegedly escaped from Bhopal
Central Jail, 5 were from Khandwa in MP.
Terror outfit Babbar Khalsa
headed for split
Infighting among the top
leadership of banned Khalistani terror group Babbar Khalsa International (BKI)
has intensified.The Pakistan-backed outfit is now reportedly on the verge of a
split. BKI terrorist Jagtar Singh Tara, 42, who recently confessed to his role
in ex-Punjab CM Beant Singh’s
assassination on August 31, 1995, has issued a three-page handwritten letter
through his lawyer, Jaswinder Singh.The letter, written in Gurmukhi, states
that he was arrested at the behest of Wadhawa Singh, the present chief of the
Babbar Khalsa now based in Pakistan.Tara states that Wadhawa Singh was aware of
his presence in Thailand, and hence, only he could have got him arrested. hindustantimes
Abandoned and ‘stateless’,
Pak mother-daughter duo languish in Jammu jail
Srinagar: A Pakistani woman
and her minor daughter who are languishing in a jail in Jammu for four years
after her husband allegedly abandoned them in Delhi have been dealt a double
whammy with the Pakistani high commission refusing to confirm her nationality
to facilitate her deportation.Rubeena continues to be in jail due to the
Pakistan high commission’s “failure to authenticate” her identity. Her daughter,
except for the first four months of her life, has also been behind the bars
with her mother.Such has been the mother-daughter duo’s plight that even
Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar of the J&K high court in Srinagar, who has been hearing
her case, prodded the authorities by saying that Rubeena and her minor child
“belong to some place on the planet” and they be “returned to their roots”.“The
petitioner’s and her minor child’s position, at the moment, is of a person in
no man’s land, which belongs to none, but fact of the matter is that the lady
does belong to some place on the planet and it becomes duty of the concerned
authorities to secure confirmation about her nationality at the earliest,” the
court said. hindustantimes
2016 ends on a violent note
in Kashmir with the death of a policeman
Srinagar:One of Kashmir’s
bloodiest years ended on Saturday with yet another killing, this time of a
police officer in northern district of Kupwara.Constable Abdul Karim Sheikh was
killed when suspected militants opened fire on a police party in Chogul
Handwara.Police control room Handwara said that the police team was searching
vehicles at a barricade in Chogul when gunmen travelling in an auto rickshaw
opened fire.“Abdul Karim Sheikh was hit by bullets in his chest and he was
taken to Handwara hospital where he died,” the PCR said.HT
Pak calls India’s bid to
ban Azhar ‘politically motivated’
Islamabad:Pakistan on
Sunday said India’s bid at the UN to ban Masood Azhar was “politically
motivated” and “replete with frivolous information”, two days after its close
ally China blocked the proposal to get the JeM chief and Pathankot attack
mastermind listed as a global terrorist. Responding to reports on India failing
to put Azhar on the UN Security Council’s 1267 Sanctions Committee, Foreign
Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said, “1267 Sanctions Committee related to
ISIS/Al-Qaeda has rejected a politically motivated proposal by India. Replete
with frivolous information and baseless allegations, the Indian proposal had no
merit and was primarily aimed at advancing its narrow national agenda.“The
dismissal of this proposal is also a rejection of the Indian attempts to
politicise and undermine the work of this important Committee of the Security
Council,” he said.“While claiming to denounce terrorism, India has in fact
deployed terrorism as an instrument of state policy, and has itself been
involved in perpetrating, sponsoring, supporting, and financing terrorism,”
Zakaria said in a statement.PTI
India again asks Pak for
consular access to Jadhav,Ansari
New Delhi:Renewing its
demand, India on Sunday asked Pakistan for consular access to Kulbhushan
Jadhav, arrested on charges of espionage, and Nehal Ansari, who was caught for
illegally entering the country from Afghanistan apparently to meet a girl he
had befriended onlineIndia called for consular access to the two after it exchanged
with Pakistan the lists of their citizens including civil prisoners and
fishermen languishing in each other’s jails as per provisions of the bilateral
Consular Access agreement. PTI
Army won’t shy away from
flexing its muscles: Gen Rawat
New Delhi: New Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday
said the role of the force is to maintain peace and tranquillity at the border
but it will not “shy away from flexing its muscles, if the need be”.Eastern
Army commander Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi and Southern commander Lt Gen PM Hariz will
continue to serve the Army and maintain the unity, he said.TOI
Kashmir unrest: ‘When will
CM, separatists stop using students as football?’ indianexpress spl report
After remaining confined to
her house at Zainakote on the outskirts of Srinagar for five months,
Noor-us-Sama, a science student, appeared for her Class 12 exams last month
after the state govt went ahead with
them despite initial protests from students. “Ours was the most unlucky batch.
We had faced a similar situation in Class 10 in 2014 when our exams had got
postponed due to the floods in the city. Instead of 2014, we sat for the exams
in 2015, and some months later, appeared for Class 11 exams,” says Sama,
playing with her two younger brothers, who are in Classes 7 and 8.“I thought I would
make up for all that this year, but 2016 proved even worse,” sighs Sama, who
had cleared Class 10 with distinction. After her initial schooling at a private
English-medium school in Karan Nagar, Sama now studies in the Kothibagh Higher
Secondary School, a reputed govt institution.
J&K: ‘Studying is only
way forward. I always wanted to do MBA. But can I still?’ indianexpress spl report
Tabish Rafiq Bhat says he
always hoped to do a MBA some day. But the pellets that pierced his left eye
shattered his retina — and his dreams. Now, he says, he can’t look at the
printed word without his eyes watering.“My future seems dark… just like my
eye,” says the 17-year-old, who wrote his Class 10 examinations in November.
Tabish says he asked for a writer during the exams, but the Board of School
Education “turned down my request”. “My left eye hurt badly when I wrote my
exams,” he says, lying under a blanket in his single-room house that is
partitioned to make space for the kitchen.
Azamgarh: ‘No action
against guilty. Then how are we going to ensure this isn’t repeated?’ indianexpress reprt
When news that his uncle
had passed away reached him on March 19, Mohammad Shahjad Alam was at his madrasa
at Mubarakpur in UP’s Azamgarh district. It was only after he returned home to
Jharkhand two days later, he says, that he realised what had happened. His
uncle, Mohammad Majloom Ansari, 35, and 12-year-old Imtiyaz Khan were lynched,
allegedly by a mob of cow vigilantes, at Jhabar village in Jharkhand’s Latehar
district, and their bodies strung up on a tree. The two cattle traders, herding
oxen to a fair in Hazaribagh, were accused of taking the animals for illegal
slaughter.“When I returned, all I could see was people in tears. The memories
just refuse to fade. I don’t remember any celebrations at home since,” says
Alam, sitting in his home at Nawada village, 10 km from Jhabar, where the
incident occurred.Alam and his mother Rabina Bibi, a housewife, live with her
father Mohammad Ibrahim. Majloom Ansari is her brother. Alam’s father Mohammad
Suleman Ansari works as a labourer in Ahmedabad.
‘What do you think happens
to Dalits in big colleges? I don’t even speak good English’: indianexpress spl
After his Class 10,
Gramapudi Pavan wanted to join the Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in
Guntur town, but opted for an Intermediate college (Class 10 and 12) “because
it was less expensive”. Pavan, the son of a tenant farmer, and his family —
parents and two younger siblings — live on Narsaraopet Road, not far from where
Rohith Vemula, the Dalit PhD scholar who committed suicide on Jan.17 at University
of Hyderabad, grew up.A second-year student of CEC (Civics, Economics, and
Commerce) at the S M Intermediate College in Guntur, Pavan hopes to go to S M
College near Guntur next year for a graduation degree in commerce. “It is a
good college and has a big campus,” he says. But Pavan has his worries: “I have
heard a lot of ragging happens in these big colleges. But I am more worried
about being identified by my caste.”
Una Dalit unrest: ‘Why
should I stay a Hindu? Maybe I will convert to Buddhism this year’: indianexpress
spl report
“No money today either,” says Divyesh Solanki
as he walks home with his mother and sister after a day spent sorting and
packing freshly harvested onion bulbs. They are hired for Rs 160 a day, and for
the last three days, haven’t been paid their money. “The farmer has asked me to
come back tomorrow,” says Divyesh. He doesn’t know what else he could do for a
living, he says. He knows what he “won’t do”, however. “Until a few months ago,
almost every male member in our extended family and community skinned cows for
a living. I never learnt to do it and even if I did, after what happened to
members of our community, I can’t imagine doing it either.”Divyesh’s village
Mota Samadhiyala was the epicentre of Dalit unrest in Gujarat after seven men
from the village were flogged on July 11 by a group of ‘gau rakshaks’ for
skinning a cow carcass. Divyesh says he is a “distant cousin” of Vashram and
Ramesh Sarvaiya, the two brothers who were among the seven attacked by gau
rakshaks on July 11. The third of five siblings, Divyesh dropped out of school
after his Class 9 to help his parents, he says. Apart from working in the farm,
he works as a nightwatchman at an upper caste villager’s farm for Rs 300 a
night.
Women take on goondas for
change in Delhi's Jamia Nagar area: UNI
New Delhi: There might be varying assessment of the
success of PM Narendra Modi's Clean India Mission, but winds of change are
certainly blowing in the predominantly Muslim residential locality of Ghaffar
Manazil in Jamia Nagar, thanks to its women.Plagued by a dysfunctional
men-dominated Resident Welfare Association (RWA), women of Ghaffar Manzil
residential area are taking up cudgels against the goonda and status quoist
elements, who had so far foiled all attempts for change.Their resolve got further
strengthened after around 200 goondas hired by these anti-change elements last
week destroyed the greenery planted by them on the garbage site, which was a
sore to the eyes of people in the locality.The site was shifted a bit farther
from the locality to a wider area on the road, where it was more convenient for
the municipality truck to come and lift the garbage.The locality, flanked by
green stretches of Jamia University and the UP Irrigation department land on
both sides of its main road, was a saving grace for the otherwise jungle of
concrete that Jamia Nagar has turned into. The goonda assault on the site
chosen by women to begin their cleanliness drive came as a great shock to all
the sensible people in the locality, and some male residents were honest enough
when they said, ''We have certainly failed the people of the locality all these
years. And it was high time that we supported the efforts of these women.''We
have been forced to come out of four homes after we waited for years to see our
RWA acting to remove the insanitary conditions prevailing in this locality,
which was so beautiful over a decade ago,'' Tehrima Ahmad, Tasneem Jamal and
Tarunnum Abdulla said. These women have formed a Gaffar Manzil Women Welfare
Association, which is getting full support from local Councillor Ishrat Jahan.UNI
WORLD
UN adopts resolution
unanimously supporting Syria ceasefire
UNSC has unanimously
endorsed a ceasefire currently in effect in Syria, as well as plans for peace
talks to be held in the Kazakh capital next month.The resolution, approved late
on Saturday, called for the "rapid, safe and unhindered" delivery of
humanitarian aid throughout the country.Russia, which supports Syria's
President Bashar al-Assad, brokered the ceasefire with Turkey earlier this week
in the hope of paving the way for peace talks in Kazakhstan in the new year.The
truce calls for negotiations over a political solution to end the conflict that
has killed more than 400,000 people and forced millions to flee.Vitaly Churkin,
Russia's ambassador to the UN, praised efforts to end the year with an
international agreement for Syria and thanked Turkey for its "substantive
contribution".Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna, reporting from UN HQRS in New York
City, said Russia was forced to accept a number of amendments to see the
resolution pass."Key among them was that the Russia-Turkey brokered
ceasefire was part of a wider UN initiative aimed at restoring political
dialogue," he said."Russia has made it clear that this resolution is
in no way meant to supplant a UN push to start talks in Geneva."Staffan de
Mistura, UN special envoy for Syria, has said he intends to bring together
representatives of the rival parties for talks in Geneva after Feb.8.The truce
remained largely intact on Saturday, despite opposition forces accusing Assad
loyalists of attacking 33 locations.Rebel groups threatened to abandon the
ceasefire if the govt continued its
assault on areas under their control.Rebel leaders told Al Jazeera that Assad's
govt were trying to take advantage of
the situation to further expand its territory.At least 10 air strikes hit
rebel-held villages and towns in the strategically important Wadi Barada valley
near Damascus, activists said. Aljazeera Aljazeera
Syrian opposition: Assad
forces breaking cease-fire
Turkish military
'neutralizes' 34 Daesh terrorists:Anadolu
ISTANBUL: A total of 34
Daesh terrorists were “neutralized” in the Syria's north during the ongoing
Turkish-led Operation Euphrates Shield, according to the Turkish military.The
Turkish Armed Forces said on Sunday that Turkish jets destroyed 17 Daesh
buildings used as weapon emplacement and shelter in al-Bab, Suflaniyah, Bzagah
and Shamaviyah.Anadolu Agency
Suicide bombing kills 6 in
Iraq’s Najaf
BAGHDAD:A suicide bombing
killed six policemen and injured dozens in Iraq’s southern city of Najaf on
Sunday.Three bombers blew themselves up at a security checkpoint in
al-Qadisiyya, north-west of Najaf, after an exchange of fire with security
forces, local official Hussein Wahid told Anadolu Agency.He said 25 people,
mostly tribesmen, were injured in the attack.No group has yet claimed
responsibility for the bombing.Anadolu Agency
39 including 16 foreigners
killed in Istanbul nightclub attack: minister
Istanbul; At least 16
foreigners were among 39 people people killed in the gun attack on an Istanbul
club during New Year festivities, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said
on Sunday.Soylu said in televised comments that of 21 victims who have been
identified so far, 16 are foreigners and five are Turks. Another 69 people are
being treated in hospital for their wounds.the hindu
Istanbul: 2 Indians among
those killed in nightclub attack, says Sushma Swaraj
New Delhi: 2 Indians were
among the 39 killed in Sunday’s shooting at a night club in Istanbul, External
Affairs Minsiter Sushma Swaraj said. “I have bad news from Turkey. We have lost
2 Indian nationals in the Istanbul attack. Indian Ambassador on way to
Istanbul,” she Tweeted. The victims have been identified as Abis Rizvi and
Khushi Shah. Rizvi was the song of a former Rajya Sabha MP, and Shah hails from
Gujarat. indianexpress
Suicide kills more US
troops than IS: Pentagon Report
Washington: According to
newly released Pentagon statistics, suicide and not combat is the leading
killer of US troops deployed to the Middle East to fight the Islamic State.USA
Today, citing the report, said that US casualties have been relatively low
since the US-led war effort began with a bombing campaign in August 2014,
reflecting the limited combat exposure for troops.ANI
122 journalists including 5
in India killed globally in 2016: International Federation of Journalists'
Report
Compiled and edited by Anwarulhaq (Released at: 7:56 PM)
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