Evening NEWS
DIGEST
08 March.2017: 08 Jamadiul Akhir 1438:Vol:8, No:136
Lucknow encounter staged to
polarise votes in UP in BJP’s favour: Advocacy group
Lucknow:Rihai Manch, an
advocacy group that takes up cases of minority members wrongfully arrested in
terror cases has cast doubts on the Lucknow encounter that ended Wednesday
morning, and has described it as a tactic by the central government to polarise
the last phase of election in UP in the BJP’s favour.It claimed that it had
predicted such a scenario ahead of polls to help the BJP. UP ATS shot dead a
suspected militant in an operation that lasted nearly 12 hours on the outskirts
of Lucknow early Wednesday.Rihai Manch’s general secretary Rajeev Yadav said in
a statement that the entire story leading to this action was riddled with
loopholes, making it a case of political gain.A similar attempt was made in
Sambhal in the first phase of election but the Jat voters punctured the plan,
said Yadav. “Such a questionable action on eve of election shows the desperation
on part of the Modi government,” he said.Manch which claims it is engaged in
political mobilization against wrongful Muslim youths, has been fighting cases
across the country on behalf of those it believes have been wrongfully arrested
in terror cases. Yadav pointed out the blast in the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger
train Tuesday morning that set off the chain of events leading to the Lucknow
encounter, was attributed to a tubelight blowout in one of the compartments.
Passengers spoke about it on camera, so did SP GRP Krishna Veni who initially
said that the blast was caused due to an electrical short circuit.But the
narrative changed after the Madhya Pradesh home minister Bhupendra Singh
described the blast a terror strike.Similarly, UP police were at pains to
answer some straight question, said Yadav. “Police has maintained it tried for
surrender of youth holed up in the house, they even made his uncle to talk to
him over phone,” he said.But no one is explaining how did the police know the
name of terror suspect and where did it get the phone number of his uncle as
well that of Saifullah who was killed in the action.Some reports say the police
made the gunman Saifullah speak to his brother who implored him to surrender.He
said the Manch had predicted that the security agencies would stage something
like this to improve political fortunes of the BJP in this election. Before the
sixth phase of polling the agencies were creating an atmosphere claiming the
Prime Minister could be attacked. In the run up to the first phase of polling,
a team of the special cell of Delhi police stayed in Sambhal to arrest Mohammad
Usman following arrest of two persons in Gujarat. MP police had zeroed in on
four men from CCTV footage at Bhopal railway station. They were picked up from
Pipariya in Hoshangabad district earlier. These men are from Aligarh and Kanpur
in UP. HT
Saifullah's dad refuses to
accept son's body, alleging foul play in encounter
Lucknow: The father of Saifullah,
the slain ISIS terror accused, has refused to accept his son's body, alleging
foul play in the encounter carried out by Uttar Pradesh police and ATS on
Tuesday. "2 and half months back he (Saifullah) left home after I hit him
for not working. He called last Monday saying he's going to Saudi. I don't
believe any of these accusations, they are all false. Saifullah was a wellbehaved
person; he performed namaz
five times a day. We did not expect this," said Sartaj,
Saifulla's father. Meanwhile, the father of terror suspect Imran
and Faisal, who were arrested in Kanpur today also, denied the
charges against them. "Faisal took care of a shop and Imran is
married, has a daughter too. Danish is also my son,
he had left home as I scolded him for not working," he said.ANI
Encounter: Saifullah’s dad
says charges false
No evidence yet on
Saifullah’s connection with IS, says UP ADG Daljit Chaudhary
Hours after Saifullah was
killed, ADG of Uttar Pradesh, Daljit Chaudhary said in a press conference that
the police has no evidence yet on his links with the terror outfit.ADG said,
“We have no such evidence yet of any ISIS link”, while addressing to reporters
on Lucknow terror operation that took place on March 7 in which Saifullah was
gunned down by security forces after 12 hours of anti-terror operation. Inuth.com
Self-Radicalised,
Self-Funded, Self-Proclaimed ISIS Cell, Says UP Police
Saifullah was
self-radicalised, no evidence of ISIS link: UP Police
ISIS flag, pistols, maps
found near militant's body:TOI report
Arrested terror suspects
taken to Lucknow for further questioning:PTI
Kanpur: 2 suspected
terrorists arrested from here and the neighbouring Unnao were on Wednesday
taken to Lucknow by a team of UP ATS for further questioning. Searches are also
underway for nabbing other terror suspects in Kanpur.SP (Kanpur City) Somen
Verma said a team of UP ATS left from Kanpur to Lucknow with the two terror
suspects at around 3AM on Wednesday for further questioning. Last evening, a
team of UP ATS had arrested Mohammed Faisal Khan from Jajamau and his brother
Mohammed Imran from a leather factory in nearby Unnao.Police had also
apprehended one Shakeel alias Ajgar from the Rehmani market here but he escaped
after shopkeepers there started protesting. Searches are also underway out to
arrest him.
Swami Aseemanand an 6
others acquitted, 3 convicted in Ajmer dargah blast case
A NIA Special Court in
Jaipur on Wednesday convicted three persons and acquitted seven, including
Swami Aseemanand, in the 2007 Ajmer dargah blast case. Of a total of 13
accused, three are absconding. Those convicted are Bhavesh Patel, Devendra
Kumar and Sunil Joshi. Of them, Joshi
was murdered in Dec.2007. The court imposed a fine of Rs. 1 lakh each on Patel
and Kumar. NIA special judge Dinesh Gupta fixed March 16 for hearing arguments
and pronouncing the order on sentencing the convicts.The explosion in 13th
century dargah of Sufi mystic Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti on Oct.11, 2007, during
Ramzan, left 3 people dead and 17 injured. The dargah was packed to capacity
with about 5,000 devotees when the blast occurred at the time of Iftaar
(breaking of fast).Swami Aseemanand's confession in the case before a
Metropolitan Magistrate at the Tis Hazari courts in Delhi made headlines in
Dec.2010. He stated that he and other activists were involved in bombing
various places of worship across the country for taking revenge against the
''terror acts of Muslims''.The judge had twice deferred judgment in the case,
saying it was a voluminous matter and he required more time for studying the
documents submitted by the prosecution and defence.Besides Swami Aseemanand,
Patel, Devendra Kumar and Joshi, the other accused in the case are Lokesh,
Chandrashekhar, Harshad Solanki, Mehul Kumar, Mukesh Vasani and Bharat Bhai.the
hindu
NIA Court Acquits Swami
Aseemanand, 7 Others in 2007 Ajmer Blast Case
Ajmer blast case: Guilty
booked under UAPA, quantum of punishment on Mar 16
NIA releases 2 Pakistani
teens arrested for Uri attack
Srinagar: The country’s top
anti-terror agency on Wednesday released 2 Pakistani boys arrested on charges
of aiding the Sept.18 Uri attack and handed them over to the army to be sent
back home.Clearing the two classmates of all charges, NIA said Faisal Hussain
Awan and Ahsan Khursheed didn’t have terror links and strayed into India after
a quarrel with their parents.“Faisal Hussain Awan and Ahsan Khursheed …have
been released and handed over to the Army 16 Corps Hqr today ie 8-3-17 for
sending them back to Pakistani authorities,” NIA said in a statement.As
reported by HT on March 3, the agency was to file a closure report in a special
court in Jammu on Wednesday. 2 runaways, who are 16 and students of Class 10,
were lodged in Jammu’s Kot Bhalwal jail.HT
US: Balwinder Singh gets 15
years imprisonment for plotting terror attacks in India
NEW YORK: An Indian citizen
has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for conspiring to support terrorist
attacks in India, including assassination of an Indian government official, as
part of the Khalistan movement to create an independent Sikh state. 42-year-old
Balwinder Singh was sentenced yesterday by US District Judge Larry Hicks in
Reno to 180 months in prison for conspiracy to provide material support and
resources to terrorists for the movement to create the independent Sikh state,
US Attorney Daniel Bogden for the District of Nevada and Special Agent in
Charge Aaron C Rouse for the FBI's Las Vegas Division said. Bogden said, Singh,
a Reno resident, was a member of two terrorist groups and provided material
support to "intimidate" the Indian government and to harm persons who
were not supporting the terrorism groups' cause. "This case is an example
of multi-law enforcement agencies working collaboratively together to protect
the United States and our foreign allies from a terrorist act," Bogden
added. Singh, who also went by the alias Jhaji and Baljit Singh is a citizen of
India and a permanent US resident. He had pleaded guilty in Nov last year. PTI
India's National Commission
for Minorities has virtually no members, last of 7 retires tomorrow
New Delhi:National
Commission for Minorities (NCM) -- an organisation established to safeguard the
constitutional and legal rights of minorities and which was once headed by
Hamid Ansari, now India's Vice-President -- currently has no chairperson and
virtually no members.The last of its members will retire on Thursday and the
government has so far not finalised names of the new Chairperson and
members.Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, asked about the
reconstitution of the Commission, said that it may happen soon."The
process is on. We have received a few names for the members and chairperson
which I cannot disclose right now, but it may be done soon," Naqvi told
IANS.NCM has a sanctioned strength of 7 members, including the chairperson,
with each member having a fixed tenure of 3 years.So much so that the last
Chairman, Naseem Ahmed, who completed his term on March 3, twice wrote to the
Minority Affairs Ministry to fill the vacant posts as the workload was
increasing on the remaining members - but nothing happened.IANS
Assembly polls: 60% voter
turnout in UP, 86% in Manipur till 5 pm
Lucknow/Imphal: Voting for
the last phase covering 40 seats in Uttar Pradesh and 22 Assembly
constituencies in Manipur began on Wednesday, with all eyes on the Prime
Minister's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi.60.03 per cent votes were polled
till 4 pm on Wednesday in the seventh and last phase of Uttar Pradesh elections
covering 40 Assembly seats spread over seven districts.Polling started amidst
tight security arrangements this morning with all eyes on Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi."Over 41 per cent votes
were polled till 2 pm. The polling is going on peacefully," office of UP
Chief Electoral Officer said here.Manipur recorded a high voter turnout of 86
per cent till 5 pm on Wednesday. Polling is being held in 22 seats in the
second and final phase of the state Assembly election.State Chief Electoral
officer Vivek Kumar Dewangan said the percentage was expected to go up as long
queues were still visible outside several polling booths."We are waiting
for the final figures," he told PTI.PTI
60% turnout in final phase
of UP polls
Rajasthan: Tension prevails
in Chittorgarh after communal clash
UDAIPUR: Tension prevailed
for some hours in Kapasan town of Chittorgarh district on Tuesday after a clash
between two communities over some petty issue. The situation grew tense when
the verbal spat turned physical and one of the youth was stabbed. Police had to
fire aerial shots to disperse the crowd, a large battalion was deployed in the
area till evening to control the situation.The incident took place around
afternoon at Khariya chowk when youths of two communities entered into a
scuffle. One of the boy was stabbed which increased the tension. Police rushed
in to take control of the situation. Slight force was used to drive away the
mob, few persons were hurt. All the shops were shut down and the market wore a
deserted look throughout the day. Cops took out a flag march to restore peace
and order. TOI
Tension, Dalits’ migration
in Haryana village: CM sends minister
Chandigarh: Migration of
Dalit families from a Haryana village due to tension in the wake of
stone-pelting over ‘ghurchari’ was raised in the assembly on Tuesday, following
which the government said a minister and a lawmaker were sent there to resolve
the issue. Accusing the opposition of politicising the issue of tension over
‘ghurchari’ ritual in a Haryana village, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on
Tuesday told the house that Minister of State for Social Justice and
Empowerment Krishan Kumar Bedi and legislator Bhagwan Dass Kabirpanthi have
been sent to Sagga village in Karnal district.Earlier, Congress legislator
Kuldeep Sharma raised the issue of Dalits’ migration from the village.An
altercation took place between members of two communities on March 3-4 night,
after a Dalit groom was allegedly stopped from ‘ghurchari’ by some upper caste
youths in the village, which led to stone-pelting.Khattar said his government
was making efforts to normalise the situation in the village.Tension prevailed
in Sagga after a Dalit groom was allegedly stopped from the customary riding of
a mare before his wedding.IANS
Haryana: Nuh vaccination
drive suspended
NUH: 4 days after rumours
spread about vaccination drive causing infertility among the students in Nuh,
the district administration on Tuesday decided to suspend the drive for at
least a week and hold meetings in mosques and schools to clear the air.Holding
a meeting with the officials concerned and prominent Muslim religious leaders
of the region at district secretariat here, Deputy Commissioner Mani Ram Sharma
directed the Chief Medical Officer to suspend the drive for at least a week as
parents were not even allowing their children to attend schools. He further
directed the CMO to constitute a team of senior doctors and visit at least 10
mosques every day to clear the air.Sharma said that he along with Additional
Deputy Commissioner Naresh Narwal and other senior officers would visit 10
schools on Wednesday to scotch the rumours. the hindu
Chabahar port developed by India
mustn’t be viewed as a counter to Gwadar: Advisor to Iran Foreign Minister
New Delhi: Rebuffing
perceptions that the Chabahar Port jointly developed by India and Iran, is
being viewed as a counter to Gwadar Port, developed by China in Pakistan,
Advisor to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Sheikholeslam on Tuesday said the
port is for everyone and would benefit every other country including Pakistan.“The
relations between India and Iran are not against everyone, they are for
everyone. Chabahar will no doubt help Afghanistan, Central Asia, Iran and India
and we do not mind at Pakistan and China using Chabahar, it is better that they
use it. We are encouraging them to use for the benefit of Balochistan and
Pakistan,” Sheikholeslam told ANI.
WORLD
Islamic prayer practice can
cut lower back pain, boost elasticity in joints:research
Washington:The complex
physical movements of the Muslim prayer ritual can reduce lower back pain if
performed regularly and properly, claims a recent research.The paper was
published in the latest issue of the International Journal of Industrial and
Systems Engineering. 5 times a day, roughly 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide, bow,
kneel, and place their foreheads to the ground in the direction of the holy
city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, as part of the Islamic prayer ritual, the Salat.
The ritual is one of the 5 obligatory elements of the faith set forth by the
holy book, the Qur’an. “One way to think about the movements is that they are
similar to those of yoga or physical therapy intervention exercises used to
treat low back pain,” said Professor and Systems Science and Industrial
Engineering Dept Chair Mohammad Khasawneh, who is one of the authors of “An ergonomic
study of body motions during Muslim prayer using digital human modelling.”While
the research focused specifically on Islamic prayer practices, similar
movements are also found in Christian and Jewish prayer rituals along with yoga
and physical therapy. Working with Khasawneh, an interfaith team of Assistant
Professor Faisal Aqlan from the Dept of Industrial Engineering at Penn State
Behrend, Assistant Professor Abdulaziz Ahmed from the Business Department at
the University of Minnesota Crookston, and Performance Improvement Consultant
Wen Cao from the Dept of Operational Performance Improvement at the Peninsula
Regional Medical Center were all co-authors of the paper.All three are alumni
of the Industrial and Systems Engineering doctoral program at Binghamton
University.“Physical health is influenced by socio-economic, lifestyle and
religious factors. Moreover, studies indicate that there is a strong
association between prayer and vigilance about maintaining a physically healthy
lifestyle,” said Khasawneh. “Prayer can eliminate physical stress and anxiety,
while there is also research that indicates prayer rituals can be considered an
effective clinical treatment of neuro-musculoskeletal dysfunction.” Researchers
analysed statistics based on the movements of computer-generated digital human
models of healthy Indian, Asian, and American men and women, and models with
lower back pain.ANI /HT
Israel MPs give initial
approval to bills quieting mosques
Israel's parliament gave
preliminary approval Wednesday to two measures that would limit calls to
prayers from mosques, including one prohibiting the use of loudspeakers at all
hours, a parliament statement said. They were approved after a heated
discussion that turned into shouting matches between ruling coalition members
and Arab lawmakers, some of whom tore copies of the legislation and were
ejected from the chamber. The bills passed 55-48 and 55-47.While the bills in
theory would apply to any religious place of worship, Muslims say it is clearly
meant to silence the traditional call to prayer at mosques.The notion of
Israeli legislation silencing mosques has sparked outrage around the Arab and
wider Muslim world.Supporters of the move say it is needed to prevent daily
disturbance to the lives of hundreds of thousands of non-Muslim Israelis.World
Bulletin
Nike unveils hijab for
Muslim athletes
Beaverton: Nike has
unveiled a hijab for Muslim female athletes.The Nike Pro Hijab has been in
development for a year, the company said. Athletes contributed input into the
product, and figure skater Zahra Lari was among those who tested it.The pull-on
hijab is made of light, stretchy fabric that includes tiny holes for
breathability and an elongated back so it will not come untucked. It will come
in three colors: black, vast grey and obsidian. Beaverton-based Nike says the
hijab will be available for sale next year.AP
To see ‘democracy’, to
fight IS: Why foreigners volunteer to join Syrian Kurds
Captivated by the idea of
fighting jihadists, or dedicated to starting a “revolution,” foreigners have
diverse reasons for joining the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in
northern Syria.The group is the key component of the US-backed Syrian
Democratic Forces alliance, now advancing on Islamic State group’s stronghold
of Raqqa.Hundreds of foreign fighters have fought alongside the YPG in Syria,
of whom at least 25 have been killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
monitor says.Kimmy Taylor, a 27-year-old British citizen, travelled to northern
Syria in 2016 to write about women’s rights after studying politics at
university in Sweden.She had planned a 10-day visit but, after just three days,
she decided to stay.Kimmy says she fell in love with the system of “autonomous
administration” Kurdish authorities have implemented across northern Syria,
describing it as “an answer to everything that I’ve seen wrong with the
world”.Firas Vancouver, 23, was working as a correctional officer in a
high-security prison in Victoria, Canada when he started learning about the
YPG.“It was a tough job, you see kind of the dark side of humanity,” Vancouver
says.At 20, Roger Benjamin -- now known as Jakdar Kawa, or Fighter Kawa in
Kurdish -- is one of the youngest known foreign fighters.Maxime, a French
citizen, is in northern Syria for his second stint with the YPG.AFP
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
abandons Mosul
US and Iraqi officials
believe the leader of Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has left operational
commanders behind with diehard followers to fight the battle of Mosul, and is
now hiding out in the desert, focussing mainly on his own survival.It is
impossible to confirm the whereabouts of the Islamic State “caliph”, who
declared himself the ruler of all Muslims from Mosul’s Great Mosque after his
forces swept through northern Iraq in 2014.But US and Iraqi intelligence
sources say an absence of official communication from the group’s leadership
and the loss of territory in Mosul suggest he has abandoned the city, by far the
largest population centre his group has ever held. HT
Compiled and edited by Anwarulhaq (Released at: 8:03 PM)
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