Evening NEWS
DIGEST
24 Dec.2017: 05 Rabial Aakhir 1439:Vol:9, No:81
india
Triple talaq bill against women, will destroy
families, Muslim Law Board urges Govt not to table it in parliament
New Delhi:All India Muslim Personal Law Board
(AIMPLB) today in an emergency meeting said that the proposed triple talaq bill
by union govt is against women and, if implemented, will destroy many families."No
procedure was followed in drafting this bill, neither any stakeholder was
consulted. President of AIMPLB will convey this stand to PM and request him to
withhold and withdraw the bill", Sajjad Nomani of the AIMPLB said.Secretary
of the board, Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani said that the board is also
opposed to the practice and is in favour of a strong law. However, it is not
satisfied with the current structure of the bill, especially the provision of 3-year
jail term."The board is also against instant triple talaq and agrees there
should be a strong law against it and it should be made in consultation with
senior clerics,"he added. "The bill is against women in the sense
that courts talk of maintenance for women and the children by the husband after
the divorce but this is in contradiction of the 3-year jail term proposed in
the bill. How will there be maintenance provided for the wife when the husband
is in jail?"he said. According to caravandaily AIMPLB in a statement said,
that the Bill is against the principles of Shariah and is interference in
Muslim Personal Law. “The proposed provisions in the Bill are also against the
existing legal provisions set out in other legislations and hence unwarranted.
Law relating to Guardianship, the domestic violence, CrPC are already in place.
The terms set out in the proposed Bill also encroach upon the guarantees set
out in the Constitution of India for the religious denominations. It is also
against the essence of the Judgment rendered by the Supreme Court on 22 Aug
2017,” AIMPLB said in a statement after the meeting attended by 20 members
including 2 women members.The Muslim board asked why an act, which has already
been rendered as non-legal and ineffective, is now being declared as a criminal
act.“A ‘non-legal’ ‘ineffective action’, which does not lead to giving effect to
Talaq as per the Supreme Court Judgment, has been converted into serious
criminal charges leading to destroying the future of women and the children
(family).”The board said that stakeholders were not consulted before the
drafting the bill.“While making/drafting the Bill, parliamentary procedure of
law making has not been followed. Neither the stake holders/ affected
parties/women organizations have been consulted to enable them in placing the
actual position on the ground, correct position of law and the adverse
consequences of the proposed law and welfare of the women and children pursuant
to ‘non-effective’ talaq.” AIMPLB has urged the Central government not table
the present bill in the Parliament and if wanted to enact any such it should
first consult AIMPLB and true representatives of Muslim women organizations.“If
the govt considers necessary for enacting such law, the government must have
consultations with AIMPLB and true representatives of Muslim (women)
organizations etcetera and only then Bill be prepared,” said the board.TOI/CaravanNews
AIMPLB terms triple talq bill as anti-Muslim women,
urges Govt not to table it in Parliament
AIMPLB urges withdrawal of bill on triple
talaq
AIMPLB holds emergency meet, says 'no
stakeholder consulted before drafting Talaq bill, urges PM to withdraw
RK Nagar by-election result: TTV Dinakaran
defeats rival AIADMK by over 40,000 votes
Sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran, won RK
Nagar bye-election with a massive margin of over 40,000 votes to his nearest
rival, AIADMK candidate E Madhusudhanan. Buoyed by the early trends, Dinakaran
claimed victory in the bye-election. “We are the true AIADMK… people of RK
Nagar have elected Amma’s successor,” he said. RK Nagar assembly seat fell
vacant following the demise of ex-AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu chief minister
J Jayalalithaa. The bypoll contest in RK Nagar is widely being perceived as an
acid test for AIADMK as this is the first election the party is contesting
after the death of Jayalalithaa. A total of 59 candidates are vying for the
bypoll assembly seat, including the BJP. But, primarily, the election is being
seen as a direct contest between AIADMK, DMK and TTV Dinakaran, who is fighting
as an independent. Dhinakaran who is in Chenna stood at 89,013 votes, AIADMK’s
E. Madhusudhanan received 48,306 votes while DMK’s N. Marudhu Ganesh got
24,651, BJP’s Karu Nagarajan could barely manage 1,417 votes at the end of
counting. Dhinakaran wins by 40707 votes.indianexpress
Bye-elections: TMC bags West Bengal’s Sabang
seat, BJP wins in Arunachal, UP
Trinamool Congress’ Gita Rani Bhunia won the
bye-election held on Thursday in West Bengal’s Sabang Assembly constituency,
ANI reported after the counting of votes on Sunday. BJP candidates won in
Arunachal Pradesh’s Pakke-Kessang and Likabali constituencies and also in Uttar
Pradesh’s Sikandra. The bye-elections were held in five constituencies,
including Tamil Nadu’s RK Nagar, on Thursday. In Sabang, Bhunia won by nearly
19,000 votes, India Today reported. Bye-elections were held after her husband
and sitting Congress MLA Manas Ranjan Bhunia was elected to Rajya Sabha on a
TMC ticket. In Uttar Pradesh’s Sikandra seat, the BJP’s Ajit Pal Singh defeated
Samajwadi Party’s Seema Sachan by 7,000 votes , News18 reported. The seat had fallen
vacant after BJP MLA Mathura Prasad Pal succumbed to an illness on July 22. In
Arunachal’s Pakke-Kessang, BJP candidate BR Waghe eked out a narrow victory by
a margin of 475 votes, in a contest against ex-Deputy Chief Minister Kameng
Dolo, who fought on a Congress ticket. Waghe won 3,517 votes, while Dolo bagged
3,042, PTI reported. In the Likabali seat, BJP candidate Kardo Nyigyor got
3,461 votes, while Gumke Riba of Peoples Party of Arunachal came second with
3,156 votes. The seat fell vacant after the death of state minister Jomde Kena
in Sept. 23 voters had opted for None of The Above. Scroll
Trinamool clinches Sabang in Bengal by-poll by
over 60,000 votes
Subramanian Swamy claims GDP data bogus; says
CSO pressurised by Modi govt to put out good data
BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian
Swamy made some shocking claims. On Saturday while speaking to a gathering of
chartered accountants in Ahmedabad, he alleged that Modi government forced
Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) officers to present good data. As per
him, this was done to show that demonetisation had no adverse impact on the
economy. He termed the entire data released by the CSO as bogus. After
demonetisation on November 8, 2016, questions were raised on its impact on the
economy. As per government data, India’s growth rate slowed to 6.1% in the
fourth quarter of 2016-17 from 7% in the preceding quarter, which highlights
the impact of demonetisation on key sectors.Swamy said,”Please do not go by the
quarterly GDP data, they are all bogus. I am telling you because my father
founded the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), Recently, I went there with
Union minister Sadananda Gowda. He called the CSO person because there was
pressure to put out data on demonetisation. So they put out the GDP data
stating that there is no impact of demonetisation. I am feeling nervous because
I know there is an impact. So I asked the director of CSO, how did you estimate
the GDP for this quarter when the demonetisation was on November 2016 and you
gave a printed economic survey report on February 1, 2017, which means it went
for printing at least three weeks before.”“So on the first week of January
2017, you submit a report and you calculate GDP to show no impact. How did you
calculate it? So he tells me, that the informal sector’s output last year as a
ratio of the formal sector’s output last year, that ratio was applied to the
organised sector in January. I told him that relationship has changed. He said,
‘what will I do? I was under pressure to give the data and so I gave it’. So do
not believe in any quarterly data, don’t believe in these Moody’s and Fitches.
You can pay them money and get any report published.”, he added.NewsX
Muzaffarnagar riots case: Court quashes
warrants against UP minister, BJP MP
Muzaffarnagar: A local court has quashed
non-bailable warrants issued against UP Minister Suresh Rana, BJP MLA Sangit
Som and BJP MP Bhartendu Singh in connection with a Muzaffarnagar riots
case.NBWs were issued on Nov.15 following permission from the State govt to
prosecute them. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Madhu Gupta on Dec.23
quashed non-bailable warrants against four persons — Rana, Som, Singh and a man
identified as Chandra Pal.Their lawyer in a plea had contended they had already
been given bail under section 153a of IPC. Defence counsel Anil Jindal
requested the court that the warrants be quashed. Accused are facing charges
under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for violating prohibitory
orders deterring public servants from discharging their duties and wrongful
restraint.PTI
Rajsamand love-jihad case: Police says accused
Shambulal was in ‘illicit’ relationship with a girl
Probing the Rajasthan’s Rajsamand alleged
‘love-jihad’ case, where a man was killed and burnt alive, the police during
its investigation has found that the accused Shambulal Raigar was in an illicit
relationship with a girl and to hide the truth from his family and society, he
tried to gave it an angle of love-jihad. According to police, the accused was
in a practice of watching hate videos, therefore, to save himself from public
shame, he gave the entire episode a love-jihad angle.Speaking on this case, the
police informed that they have videographed portions of their investigation as
a proof and also to avoid any fake information circulating around. The police
which is currently investigating this case said that they have videographed the
statements of girl’s mothers who said that Shambulal was asked to bring back
her daughter from a man in West Bengal. She further said their daughter did return
from Bengal but she was kept at a rented place for about 10 months. The Woman
also mentioned that due to fear of the society, they did not inform that matter
to the police.Further speaking on the case while the investigation is still on,
Anand Srivastav, Inspector General of police, Udaipur Range, “He was into
illicit relation with a girl in the town for more than 10 months, The girl too
was questioned who said she was continuously been hassled by the accused
Shambulal. Thus, in order to deviate everyone’s attention towards this issue,
he himself planned to do something that can change the perception of people,”
said. However, it has also been learnt that the accused targeted the wrong
person and mistakenly killed someone else.
Carrying investigation in the case to find out whether the accused
Shambulal was in an illicit relationship or not, the probing team has also
recorded the statements of accused’s mother, neighbours, girl’s mother and
others. The entire case came into public view after a horrific video has
surfaced where a man was killed and burnt alive. The deceased according to
reports was identified as Mohammed Bhatta Sheikh. The incident has surfaced
from Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district after a video where a man was shot being
burnt alive, went viral on social media.
The accused, Shambulal Raigad, was later arrested by the police. The
incident had taken place on Dev heritage road in Rajnagar area of Rajsamand
district.NewsX
Christmas in India tarnished by 'climate of
hate': Al Jazeera report
There is a sense of unease leading up to
Christmas celebrations in India, according to Christian groups. "There are
open letters being written to schools in Uttar Pradesh asking them not to
celebrate Christmas. What is going on in this country? This is not about
Hindus, Christians, Muslims or Sikhs. It is about our beloved India,"
Reverend Theodore Mascarenhas, general secretary of the Catholic Bishops'
Conference, told Al Jazeera.Earlier this month, radical Hindu groups allegedly
assaulted a group of carol singers and set their empty car on fire in the state
of Madhya Pradesh. Members of the right-wing Bajrang Dal said they had
"proof to show how Christian priests were forcibly converting poor
Hindus". The group has direct links with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
ruling Hindu-nationalist BJP.Eighteen years after Australian missionary Graham
Staines and his two pre-teen sons were burned to death by violent Hindu groups
in one of the worst hate crimes recorded in the country, Christians in India
are reliving some hateful moments.Right-wing Hindu groups say they are prepared
to battle "foreign influence corrupting Indian society"."It is
not just about Christmas Day. It is about Hindu culture and what is foreign to
us. Be it Christmas Day or Valentine's Day - all this is not Indian culture.
See, by adopting Western festivals, Hindu youth are forgetting their roots and
their own culture. We are against this. We will see to it that such Western
ideas are stopped," Avinash Rana, a member of the Hindu Jagran Manch, told
Al Jazeera. Christian leaders are wary of this "climate of hate",
citing a "rampant state of impunity" fueling these hate
groups."In many such cases and attacks against Christians, the police
[force] has been either an idle bystander or has been complicit in the
violence. How can one citizen of India threaten another citizen of India and
get away with it? It is for the police and the government to act - when will
they act?" activist John Dayal asked.India's minority groups, especially
Muslims and the Christian community, have been under increasing attack since
the BJP came to power in 2014.Activists say more than 700 cases of attacks on
Christians were reported via United Christian Forum toll-free number
(1-800-208-4545) since 2014.
Christmas controversy: Hindutva outfit leaders
refuse to submit Rs 1-lakh bond
Aligarh:Reacting to the notices issued by the
additional city magistrate (ACM) Renu Singh, local leaders of the Hindu Jagaran
Manch (HJM) on Saturday refused to submit the Rs 1 lakh bond each that the
administration had directed them to.The outfit had asked schools in Aligarh not
to celebrate Christmas after which the local administration had on Thursday
issued notices to 5 HJM leaders, warning them that they should not be found
within 50 metres of schools on the Christmas day. ACM Renu Singh had issued
notices to the leaders concerned under Sections 111,107 and 116 of the IPC with
directions to submit Rs 1 lakh bond each.HJM state secretary Sanju Bajaj,
convener Amit Raja, city president Sonu Kavita, Punit Sharma and Bablu Saini
met ADM (city) SB Singh on Saturday and reportedly told him they would not
submit the bonds as they were not criminals.HT
Ayodhya: Ram Lalla’s idol at disputed site
gets blower to beat the cold after VHP threatens protest
The idol of infant Ram – Ram Lalla – at
Ayodhya will keep warm this winter as authorities have installed a blower after
the VHP demanded adequate protection for deity,the Hindustan Times reported on
Sunday.However, the Hindutva group list of demand also included warm clothes
for the idol and his three brothers and a quilt for Hanuman, so that they “can
counter the cold weather”. The idols are present in the makeshift temple built
in 1992 on the controversial Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya.After
VHP threatened to protest if the demands were not met, Ayodhya’s Divisional
Commissioner Manoj Mishra got the blower installed for the idol. scroll
Secularism not dead, but definitely under
stress:Hamid Ansari
Kolkata: Ex-vice-president Hamid Ansari
Saturday said that while secularism is not dead in the country, it is
definitely under stress. He was speaking at a seminar on ‘Is secularism dead in
India?’ organised by Muslim Institute and Jadavpur University in Kolkata. The
event was also attended by TMC MP Sugata Bose and ex-Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar
Sircar. Addressing students, Ansari said: “Some of you may be familiar with the
American magazine National Interest. In their latest issue… there are two
essays on secularism in India. This is indicative of the concern in the wider
international community about what India’s secularism means for the world… The
fact that we are a plural society is not a matter of debate… As many as 4,600
communities live with diversity in language, faith, food, clothing, lifestyle
and in every other conceivable way.”Stressing on the need for physical security
of every citizen, he said: “The trouble today… is whether the state is doing or
should be doing what it needs to as per the mandate of the Constitution. The
dialogue about religion has always existed in this country and will continue to
do so. But the only way this dialogue will be productive is if there is
physical security. But the debate needs to move beyond the academics, elite and
policymakers. After all, who can guarantee that my neighbour eats the same food
as me and follows the same faith?”“Secularism is not dead, but it is definitely
under stress. And we must address this collectively as citizens,” he added. indianexpress
Jignesh Mevani to attend 200th-yr celebration
of ‘Dalit victory’ against Peshwa army
Pune: The commemoration of 200 years of a
historical event that Dalits in Maharashtra celebrate as a moment of collective
pride, will see the participation of a firebrand young community icon — the
newly elected member of the Gujarat Assembly, Jignesh Mevani.The Independent
MLA from Vadgam, who rose to national prominence after leading the Dalit
agitation that followed the Una flogging incident of July 2016, has been
invited to speak at a conference that will be part of a massive celebration of
the Battle of Bhima Koregaon over the last day of this year and the first of
the next.On January 1, 1818, a small army of the British East India Company
succeeded in thwarting the advance of the forces of Peshwa Baji Rao II into
Pune despite being outnumbered 3 to one. Over the past several decades, this
“victory” in the Battle of Bhima Koregaon has become an important symbol of
Dalit assertion in Maharashtra.In the Dalit narrative, East India Company’s
force on that day was made up largely of soldiers from the Dalit Mahar
community, who waged a war for “freedom” from the alleged castiesm of Peshwas,
who were upper caste Brahmins. Every New Year’s Day, tens of thousands of
Dalits from Maharashtra and elsewhere gather at Perne village in Pune where a
jaystambh(victory pillar) erected by British commemorates the memory of the
soldiers who fell in that battle. Dr B R Ambedkar is said to have paid a visit
to the memorial in 1927 and Ambedkarites have since then been visiting the
jaystambh as a “source of inspiration”.The coming New Year’s Day is special —
being the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon. The scale of the
event this time is likely to be unprecedented, some organisers say. They claim
between four and five lakh Dalits from across the country are expected to join
the Bhima Koregaon Shauryadin Prerna Abhiyan, making it one of the largest
Dalit mobilisations of recent times.Mevani is scheduled to speak at the “Elgaar
Parishad” conference on December 31 at Pune’s historic Shaniwar Wada, the
headquarters of the Peshwas. The following day, Mevani, along with thousands of
activists, is expected to march 30 km to the jaystambh, the venue for the main
event. indianexpress
Burhan Wani factor? 117 youths joined
militancy in J&K in 2017, most in a year
New Delhi:Ever since security agencies gunned
down Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8 last year, there has
been a marked increase in the number of Kashmiri youths joining terrorist
organisations. So much so that 2017 has seen the most number of youths taking
to militancy since such data started being collated in 2010.Quoting data from
security agencies, PTI reported that till December, 117 locals were recruited
by terror groups compared to 88 in the whole of 2016. South Kashmir, the hotbed
of militancy, has emerged as the main hub of cadre supply. J&K police,
paramilitary forces and Army have made a joint appeal to local militants,
asking them to return to the “mainstream” after a footballer Majid Arshid Khan
from south Kashmir shunned militancy and returned last month following an
appeal by his mother.indian express
Anger in Kashmir mounts following killing of 3
civilians at encounter sites
Srinagar: Every time 11-month-old Azrah cries,
mourners in the room struggle to control their tears. She crawls into the lap
of a young woman only to return the next moment, perhaps realising that she
isn’t her mother.“How can an infant live without her mother,” an elderly woman
moans as a young boy enters the room and takes the child away.Azrah is one of
the newly orphaned children in the Valley. Her mother, Ruby Jan, was allegedly
shot at by security forces during an encounter with militants in Batamarun, a
remote village in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, on December 19, according
to her uncle Ghulam Ahmad Bhat. 22-year-old woman died instantly.“She (Azrah)
has been crying desperately to see her mother. How can we make her understand
the tragedy that has befallen her?,” Bhat said. Azrah’s photograph has been
widely circulated on social media in the Valley.While Jammu and Kashmir police
have claimed that Ruby was killed in crossfire, her family and the villagers
have termed her death a “cold-blooded murder”.Ruby was visiting her parents’
house in Batamarun around 10 days ago. When forces laid siege to the village on
December 18, the entire family was inside the single storey house, located
around 150 metres away from where two militants including a local from the
adjoining village of Wanpora were trapped and killed the next day. The house
and the encounter site are divided only by a road.The Wire
Calling J&K’s lost boys back: police
promise parents if their children want to return, doors are open
J&K has held out an olive branch to local
boys who recently joined militancy, police have reached out to parents to issue
appeals to them to return, while militant groups have warned this won’t happen.
Indian Express on the parents caught in the middle.On Dec.5, an unusual meeting
took place at the heavily guarded Shopian Circuit House. Families of 30 young
men who had left home to join militant ranks in the Valley took their seats,
along with DIG (South) Swayam Prakash Pani and DSP Shriram Ambarkar Dinkar. The
police promised the parents that if their children wanted to return home, the
doors to the mainstream were “open”. “Every care will be taken for their
dignified rehabilitation if they shun the path of violence,” said an
announcement about the function on the Shopian Police’s Facebook page.The
meeting took place three weeks after the return of Anantnag teenager Majid
Irshad Khan following an appeal by his mother and other family members on
social media. 18-year-old second-year Commerce student and popular football
player returned within a week of leaving home and joining the
Laskhar-e-Toiba.Majid’s mother’s appeal to him had gone viral on social media.
His return was even more sensational. Within a few days, across Kashmir, videos
or Facebook posts began surfacing — often with encouragement from the police —
in which a mother or father of a youngster who had recently left home to pick
up the gun, made similar appeals.By police count, 32 militants are active in
Shopian. “The number quadrupled after Burhan Wani’s death. There were eight
before he was killed. In the last few months, we killed 13 of them but again
the number is 32,” says SP Dinkar. These militants are believed to have carried
out big attacks, including the killing of Kashmiri Army officer Lt Ummar Fayaz
in May, while he was home on leave.Those at the Shopian meeting were families
of some of these militants. By all accounts, the exchange was stormy. The
families accused police of forcing their sons into militancy, and of
harassment.“It is a battle between you and our militant sons. Why are you
dragging the families into it?” sources quoted Nazir Ahmad Malik, the father of
top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Adil Malik, as saying. “Why do you harass the
families? If somebody throws a stone, why do you beat the entire village, break
the window panes?”Zubair Ahmad Turray’s father Bashir Ahmad accused the police
of pushing his son into militancy. Zubair had escaped from police custody and
then surfaced in a video saying he had joined militants and that police had
left him with no option.“Yes, I told them ‘you turned my son into a militant’,”
Bashir Ahmad says. “I told them you booked Zubair under the PSA, and when that
was quashed, you booked him under another PSA, and when that too was quashed by
the court, you illegally extended his detention. DIG replied that we know
everything. He told me he would talk to me separately.”Admitting the anger of
the parents, DIG Pani says their presence at the meeting, in a militant hotbed
like Shopian, was in itself a step forward. “No parent wants their child to get
into this rut,” he says. indianexpress
NIA summons Geelani’s son again
Srinagar: NIA has again summoned the son of
Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani to New Delhi in connection with a
terror funding case as a witness. Geelani’s son was earlier summoned to NIA
headquarters in August. The summons was send to Naseem-ul-Zaffar Geelani by SP,
NIA, through the SSP, Srinagar. As per the summons, Naseem has been asked to
report at the NIA headquarters on Dec.26 at 11 am.Naseem was summoned to the
NIA headquarters twice in August. After several rounds of questioning, he was
allowed to return to Kashmir. On his return, Naseem told media that he was
given a clean chit by NIA.Geelani, meanwhile, demanded the shifting of all
Kashmiri prisoners to the Valley from Tihar jail. Indian express
India cautious over Maldives curbs on envoy
Colombo/New Delhi:New Delhi appears to be
weighing diplomatic options after Male reportedly placed restrictions on the
movement of the Indian Ambassador to the Maldives. Asked to comment on reports
that travel restrictions had been imposed on the Indian High Commissioner,
spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar said, “I don’t
think this information is correct.”According to reports, the Maldives’ Local
Government Authority has mandated that foreign diplomats in Male obtain
government approval before meeting any Maldivian official. The government
suspended three members of a local body allegedly for meeting Indian Ambassador
Akhilesh Mishra without permission.However, Ibrahim H. Shihab, International
Spokesperson at the President’s office, said the Indian envoy was a friend of
the Maldives.“Maldives respects norms of diplomacy and diplomatic engagement
and no diplomat posted to the Maldives by any country is restricted in their
freedom of movement — anyone making such claims are severely misinformed,” he
said.Maldivian Ambassador to Colombo Mohamed Hussain Shareef said all diplomats
had to follow the regulations laid down by the host Foreign Ministry and take
due permission to travel across the country. Thehindu
Media, Internet projecting sex as culmination
of love:Court
New Delhi:A 26-year-old man has been sentenced
to 10 years in jail for raping a minor girl, with the court blaming the media
and Internet for projecting sex as the culmination of love among youngsters who
are yet to reach the “permissible age”.It also said that it was quite evident
that the intention of the convict was to have a “good time” with the girl.The
observations were made by Additional Sessions Judge Seema Maini, who also
slapped a fine of Rs 30,000 on north Delhi resident Neeraj. An amount of Rs
20,000 from the fine would be paid to the 14-year-old girl as compensation.The
judge also said that with the advent of the media, telephone, Internet etc.,
the idea that sex was the culmination of love between a boy and a girl, had
become rampant in today’s time.“Girls and boys are often found indulging in
such bodily pleasure willingly, before attaining the permissible age of
discretion as per law and decide to have physical relations, promising to marry
each other later and even when there is no promise or even possibility of
marriage between them,” the judge said.PTI
Jairam Thakur to take oath as Himachal CM on
Dec 27
Jairam Thakur will be the new Chief Minister
of Himachal Pradesh. He was elected BJP MLA Party leader at a meeting on
December 24. Thakur will take oath on Dec 27. Senior party leader Prem Kumar
Dhumal, who was the party’s chief ministerial face but lost the elections from
his constituency of Sujanpur, proposed his name, seconded by ex- Chief Minister
Shanta Kumar and Union Minister J.P. Nadda. Thehindu
‘No question of supporting BJP,’ AIUDF chief
Ajmal rejects Sushma Swaraj’s request for support
New Delhi;AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal on
Friday gave a stinging response to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who
had asked him to “vote for us” after the former complimented the Indian
government for voting in the UN General Assembly against the US decision to
recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.“Our vote is always for India, Madam.
The day BJP does not differentiate between Majority and Minority community, our
vote will be for you,” tweeted Ajmal, who is the chief of AIUDF and Lok Sabha
member from Assam’s Dhubri constituency. Indianexpress
Minority tag likely for Lingayats before Karnataka
polls
Bengaluru: Karnataka chief minister
Siddaramaiah intensified his efforts to capture the centre ground of the
Veerashaiva versus Lingayat politics by setting up a seven-member expert
committee to examine the demand of the minority status for Lingayats.The move
appears to be a precursor to declaring the Lingayats as a minority community
within Karnataka.While Siddaramaiah's detractors maintain there is no special
provision in the Constitution to create and recognize a new religion, sources
close to the CM said the Karnataka State Minorities Commission Act, 1994 allows
the government to accord minority status to any community within
Karnataka."Backroom discussions with legal experts are under way and
that's why the committee was constituted by the Karnataka state minorities
commission (KSMC). The probability of Lingayats being declared as minorities
before the assembly polls is quite high," sources added. timesofindia
Indian Defence Under Illusion that US is
Reliable Security Partner: Ex-Navy Chief Vishnu Bhagwat
Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, ex-Navy Chief, talks
about how our current defence policies focussed on building a partnership with US
do not serve our national interests. He explains why Indian and US defence
interests differ.US interests are centred on creating global tension since
their armament industry is a major contributor to their economic growth.
Newsclick
Haj rule change in India leads to sharp rise
in female applicants: HT
New Delhi:A record 1,244 Indian women have
applied to go for Haj next year after NDA government allowed for the first time
Muslim women to undertake the annual pilgrimage to Mecca without the company of
a male relative.Till now, Muslim women had to be accompanied by a mehram,
usually a husband or a relative to whom marriage is unlawful, for the
pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.Officials in the minority affairs ministry said of
the 1,244 applications from single women, 1,016 applications have been accepted
so far.In 2017, at least 1.24 lakh Indians went for the pilgrimage, while the
total number of applicants was nearly 4.5 lakh. hindustantimes
WORLD
Palestinian Christian leaders denounce Trump's
decision
Palestinian Christian leaders have rejected US
President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital,
calling it "dangerous" and "insulting".Trump's Dec.6
announcement has sparked protests across the Muslim world and drawn
international condemnation. US move is offensive to "Christians and
Muslims around the world who consider Jerusalem as an incubator of their most
sacred, spiritual and national heritage",Atallah Hanna, the archbishop of
Jerusalem's Greek Orthodox church, said in a statement. "We, Palestinians,
Christians and Muslims reject the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of
Israel," he added."The US gave the occupation what it does not
deserve."His comments came as Christian Palestinians on Sunday took part
in festivities taking place throughout the biblical town on the eve of
Christmas.Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from Bethlehem, said many
Muslims were also attending the annual events in a show of solidarity against
Trump's decision."This message of unity is one Palestinians are very
adamant to convey, especially while there is this political crisis taking the
area by storm," she said.Maher Canavati, a member of Bethlehem's local
council, told Al Jazeera the celebrations are intended to deliver
"messages of peace, love and understanding"."We want peace with
our neighbours [but] we need to be able to share Jerusalem and to have easy
access to Jerusalem as Palestinians [as well]."Bethlehem, normally
brimming with tourists at this time of year, has been almost empty of visitors
in recent days due to nearby confrontations between Israeli forces and
Palestinian protesters in the wake of the US decision. "Unfortunately,
after the statement of Donald Trump a lot of people were not sure about the
security in this area. Many of those who were in the country did not make it to
Bethlehem, they stayed in Jerusalem and in the nborthern part of the
country," said Canavati."But we are here are celebrating, welcoming
everybody - it is very important for us that all of the Christians coming to
Bethlehem supporting the Muslim and Christian community here are taken care
of."In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Christians held a vigil to express
their support for Jerusalem as Palestine's capital.Al Jazeera's Malcolm Webb,
reporting from the besieged territory, said anger at Trump's decision is shared
among Christians and the majority-Muslim populating living in the besieged
territory."Everyone we have spoken to here is in opposition to the US
move, and they say it only adds to the frustration of life here," he
said.Some 1,000 Christians live in the Gaza Strip, fewer than half the amount
10 years ago.Rosette Saygh, a Christian still living in Gaza, said life in the territory has become like a
"prison" for those who have remained behind. "Life is very
difficult in Gaza, we live under siege and we cannot move anywhere…We have
witnessed many wars, during the bombing we had to sleep in the church for
safety," she said. Aljazeera
Palestinian Christians slam US Jerusalem
recognition
UN vote a ‘strong slap’ for US administration;Meshaal
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171223-un-vote-a-strong-slap-for-us-administration-says-meshaal/
Former Head of the Hamas Political Bureau,
Khaled Meshaal, has described the UN vote against Donald Trump’s move on
Jerusalem as a “strong slap from the international community” for the US
administration, Alarab.qa reported. “The vote in the General Assembly,” said Hamas
official, “proved the isolation of the US.” He accused the US of “pride” and a
“sense of superiority” when dealing with the international community. “It has a
cowboy mindset with business,”he added.MEMO
Israel releases Turkish trio after Jerusalem
arrest
An Israeli court has released three Turkish
men a day after they were arrested at the entrance to al-Aqsa Mosque compound
in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem.The men were taken into custody on
Friday evening. Two of them, Abdullah Kizilirmak and Mehmet Kargili, who are
also Belgian citizens, were accused of carrying out an assault on police
officers just outside of the compound.The third one, Adem Koc, was accused of
"disturbing public order and attending an illegal demonstration". Aljazeera
Israeli abuse against Palestinian minors
rises: report
Bethlehem:Fadel Tamimi feared for the worst as
he rushed into the hospital.His 15-year-old son, Mohammed, had just been
brought there after being shot point-blank in the face by Israeli forces,
during last week's protests in Nabi Saleh."I met him at the hospital after
he was injured. My wife fainted three times when she saw him," Tamimi told
Al Jazeera. "The situation was so horrible."The bullet entered the
teen's face below his nose, breaking his jaw before getting lodged in his
skull. After undergoing a complex surgery, he was placed in a medically-induced
coma.According to the UN, at least 345 Palestinian children were injured
between December 5-18 in the wake of Trump's declaration. Aljazeera
Israel seals off entrance to Ramallah district
Israeli forces have indefinitely closed down
the northern entrance to the occupied West Bank twin cities of Ramallah and
al-Bireh.On Saturday night, amid ongoing protests over US President Donald
Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the Israeli
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) decided to
close off the DCO checkpoint that connects Ramallah to the northern West Bank
cities."Israel decides to close the DCO checkpoint until further notice
due to the ongoing rioting that is taking place at City Inn roundabout near
Ramallah's entrance," noted a statement on Twitter by COGAT, the Israeli
military body that administers parts of the West Bank.Aljazeera
Refugee centre condemns decision to strip
rights of Palestinian refugees in Iraq
The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) has
condemned Iraq’s decision to strip Palestinian refugees of the rights and
benefits that they have enjoyed for decades, Quds Press reported on
Friday.According to the London-based PRC, this decision was based on
“discrimination” against the Palestinians as it strips them of basic rights
such as free education, healthcare and residence. It noted that the decision
also strips the Palestinians of the right to have a travel document and
excludes them from recruitment in Iraqi state institutions.The PRC called for
the Iraqi government to rescind this decision and respect the Palestinian
refugees and their rights until they are able to return to their land occupied
in 1948.The organisation called on the international community to put pressure
on the Iraqi government to cancel the decision and guarantee full rights to all
Palestinian refugees, who were given preferential treatment during Saddam’s
era, when they enjoyed the same rights as Iraqis apart from citizenship. Middleeastmonitor
63 Gaza border tunnels destroyed in 2017:
Egyptian army
Over the course of 2017, the Egyptian army has
destroyed 63 cross-border tunnels linking the blockaded Gaza Strip to Egypt’s
Sinai Peninsula, the army announced Friday.In a statement, the army also said
that more than 6,000 illegal immigrants — of various nationalities — had been
detained over the same period.Due to a decade-long blockade by Israel and
Egypt, the Gaza Strip’s roughly 2 million inhabitants have come to rely on a
sophisticated network of cross-border tunnels to import basic commodities,
including food, fuel and medicine. Middleeastmonitor
Federal Judge partially blocks Trump's latest
refugee restrictions
Washington:
A federal judge in Seattle partially blocked U.S. President Donald
Trump's newest restrictions on refugee admissions on Saturday, the latest legal
defeat for his efforts to curtail immigration and travel to the United
States.The decision by U.S. District Judge James Robart is the first judicial
curb on rules the Trump administration put into place in late October that have
contributed significantly to a precipitous drop in the number of refugees being
admitted into the country.Refugees and groups that assist them argued in court
that the administration's policies violated the Constitution and federal
rulemaking procedures, among other claims. Department of Justice attorneys
argued in part that U.S. law grants the executive branch the authority to limit
refugee admissions in the way that it had done so.On Oct. 24, Trump
administration effectively paused refugee admissions from 11 countries mostly
in the Middle East and Africa, pending a 90-day security review, which was set
to expire in late Jan.A Reuters review of State Dept data showed that as the
review went into effect, refugee admissions from the 11 countries
plummeted.Robart ruled that the administration could carry out the security
review, but that it could not stop processing or admitting refugees from the 11
countries in the meantime, as long as those refugees have a "bona
fide" connection to the United States.Reuters
Jailed Saudi royal Alwaleed can buy freedom
for $6B
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, detained in a
corruption probe, can buy his freedom for a price fit for one of the world’s
richest men — $6 billion.62-year-old Syracuse University grad was among 11
princes and dozens of foreign ministers rounded up last month amid an
investigation led by the kingdom's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Alwaleed
would only have to give up a third of his estimated $18.7 billion fortune to
win his release from a makeshift prison at the posh Riyadh Ritz-Carlton.But the
Saudi royal is instead seeking to persuade the government to accept as payment
a large chunk of his company, worth about $8.7 billion, according to The Wall
Street Journal. New York Daily News
No sign Rohingya will be allowed back to Myanmar
After facing international outrage and charges
of ethnic cleansing, Myanmar made a pledge: Rohingya Muslims who fled the
country by the hundreds of thousands would start their journey home within
weeks. With so many obstacles, however, and no real sign of goodwill, few
believe that will happen.The returns are supposed to be voluntary. But many
members of the religious minority, now living in sprawling refugee camps in
neighbouring Bangladesh, are afraid to go back. They don’t trust the
nationalist-led government and feel widely hated by the general population.
Meanwhile, the military — which violently ousted them — says the refugees
shouldn’t expect to return in large numbers.Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist
nation of 60 million, was basking in international praise just a few years ago
as it transitioned to democracy after a half-century of dictatorship. Since
then, a campaign of killings, rape and arson attacks by security forces and
Buddhist-aligned mobs have sent more than 850,000 of the country’s 1.3 million
Rohingya fleeing.AP
Rohingya: 500,000 unlikely to receive
schooling in 2018
A humanitarian organisation has warned of a
"lost generation" with more than 500,000 Rohingya refugee children in
Bangladesh unlikely to receive schooling in 2018. International Rescue
Committee (IRC) said unless interventions are "urgently funded", the
humanitarian needs of children will only increase."Education in
emergencies is a life-saving and life-changing intervention - helping children
recover and cope with the continuing adversity they face," said Sarah
Smith, the IRC's senior director for education, on Friday. aljazeera
North Korea slams new UN sanctions as 'act of
war'
North Korea has slammed the latest round of
UNSC sanctions against Pyongyang as "an act of war" and vowed to
consolidate its nuclear programme.In a statement published by the state-run
KCNA news agency on Sunday, the foreign ministry said new measures proposed by
the US infringe North Korea's sovereignty and violate peace and stability in
the Korean Peninsula.Aljazeera
Turkey sacks 2,766 civil servants over
'terror' links
Turkey has dismissed 2,766 people from their
posts in state institutions over alleged links to "terror"
organisations, according to an emergency decree published in the country's
official legal database.On Sunday, a decree in the Official Gazette said 637
military, 360 gendarmerie personnel, 61 police and four coastguard members were
among those sacked.Some 341 people were dismissed from the Directorate of Religious
Affairs. aljazeera
FLASH: VIEWS & NEWS
When PM Modi Hit a New Low in Gujarat, Needs
Lessons from Lohia and Nehru:Justice Rajindar Sachar
Criminalising Triple Talaq: Can this be the
Way Forward?Women’s Rights activist and lawyer, Kirti Singh
Parliament
cannot punish Muslim man for triple talaq, already declared as illegal by the
SC: Prof.Bhim Singh
Trump's UN Jerusalem failure a 'gift to Iran':
Haaretz daily
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/trump-jerusalem-failure-gift-iran-haaretz-171224062147884.html
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon denied many
rights: Zeina Khodr
Compiled and edited by
Anwarulhaq (Released at: 7:02 PM)
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