The Indian Panorama

Month: July 2017

  • FEDERER STANDS TALL AS RIVALS SHOW FRAILTY

    FEDERER STANDS TALL AS RIVALS SHOW FRAILTY

    LONDON (TIP): Roger Federer insists he is only slightly surprised to find himself tantalisingly within touching distance of a record eighth Wimbledon title despite his 36th birthday fast approaching.

    The Swiss star reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the 12th time on July 12 (Wednesday) with a 6-4 6-2 7-6(4) win over Milos Raonic. It was his 100th match at the All England Club and the 50th Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career.

    At 35, Federer is the second oldest man to reach the semifinals after Ken Rosewall who finished runner-up in 1974 at the age of 39. With ‘Big Four’ rivals Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic suffering injury-hit exits on Wednesday and Rafael Nadal having lost in the fourth round, Federer is favourite to reclaim the Wimbledon title and break the tie for seven he has shared with Pete Sampras since 2012.

    “The plan was always to hopefully be strong later on in my career,” said Federer, who will face Tomas Berdych in Friday’s semifinals. “I don’t see myself playing better than a few years ago. I always hope to improve every year. I’m just very happy that I’m still doing so well.

    Am I surprised? Maybe a little bit.” The contrast between Federer and Murray and Djokovic on Wednesday was impossible to ignore.

    Defending champion and world No. 1 Murray lost in five sets to Sam Querrey, hobbled by a long-standing right hip injury. Djokovic, the three-time winner, quit after two games of the second set of his quarterfinal against Berdych with a right elbow injury. Like Murray’s hip, the elbow problem plaguing Djokovic has been a constant menace for many seasons.

    Federer has already trimmed back his schedule, skipping the 2016 and 2017 French Opens which were won by Djokovic and Nadal. After losing to Raonic in the Wimbledon semifinals last year, Federer shut down his season to rest a knee injury which had already required surgery earlier in 2016.

    He came back in January this year, won the Australian Open for his 18th Slam, added the Indian Wells-Miami Masters double before hibernating again through the clay court season.

    “Once you hit 30, you’ve got to look back and think of how much tennis have I played, how much rest did I give my body over the years, how much training have I done, did I do enough, did I overdo it or not enough,” he explained.

    “It’s always calibrating the whole thing. For me it worked out. Sometimes the body and the mind do need a rest.”

    Djokovic ponders long break 

    There is a possibility that they will propose surgery, but I don’t think that is good. To go be cut in surgery or to poison myself with pills… none of the solutions is good A logical conclusion is that a kind of a rest and a longer break is a logical solution. Maybe a longer rest is necessary, not only because of the injury but for my mind as well. During my entire career I have followed a school schedule, I have never been reprimanded, maybe I will skip the next semester The specialists that I’ve talked with, they haven’t been really too clear, mentioning also surgery, mentioning different options…

    Obviously it’s adding up more and more. The more I play, the worse it gets. Yeah, I guess the break is something that I will have to consider

    Paying price for rivalry with Murray?

    We both had a very long, very tough year, a lot of matches, a lot of emotions, a lot of things in play. Our bodies have taken a lot physically. So, I mean, as an athlete, one way or another, at a certain stage of your career, you’re going to experience these kind of things. Injuries are part of this sport, unfortunately.

    Professional tennis getting very physical

    It’s not easy to play on the highest level throughout the entire season, then be able to do that over and over again every season, and then stay healthy.

  • Soon you will be able to openly carry a sword in Texas

    Soon you will be able to openly carry a sword in Texas

    AUSTIN, TX (TIP): Starting this fall, adults in Texas can openly carry knives with blades longer than 5.5 inches.

    In fact, swords, spears, daggers, sabers, bowie knives and machetes are all perfectly fine to tote around. Pretty much anything you can whip out in a Dungeons and Dragons battle is fair game.

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill into law last month, but it doesn’t go into effect until September 1.

    Under the existing law knives with blades longer than 5.5 inches could be purchased but not carried — with only limited exceptions.

    There are some places where the new law won’t apply — including schools, prisons, hospitals, amusement parks or places of worship. Long blades are still banned at sports events. And you can’t bring your sword into a bar, either. The tiny colorful plastic ones that you stick on top of a cocktail, however, are under 5.5 inches, so those are still OK.

    “House Bill 1935 provides a common sense solution by prohibiting any knife with a blade over five-and-a-half inches in certain location restricted areas,” Rep. John Frullo, the Republican representative from Lubbock who authored the bill, told CNN in a statement.

    Texas now joins Montana and Oklahoma. Both have both passed laws lifting their bans on certain bladed weapons, including swords.

    The legislation stalled in May after a man was accused of using a hunting knife to kill one student and wound three others at the University of Texas at Austin. Frullo postponed debate on the legislation until a week later — but stood by his bill.

    “It’s not making criminals out of people who have no intention of creating some type of criminal act,” Frullo told CNN affiliate Spectrum News in Austin at the time. Knife Rights, a national advocacy organization, supported the legislation but said there is still a way to go to strike “those last remaining minor knife restrictions in Texas.”

    “We won’t stop until Texas is as free as everyone thinks Texas is,” the group wrote in a statement on its website.

  • Man Trapped Inside Texas A.T.M. for 3 Hours Rescued by Police

    Man Trapped Inside Texas A.T.M. for 3 Hours Rescued by Police

    CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (TIP): Just after 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, a person in Corpus Christi, Tex., had just completed a transaction at a Bank of America A.T.M. when a surprise slid through the receipt slot.

    “Please help,” read a handwritten note on a thin strip of paper. “I’m stuck in here, and I don’t have my phone.”

    The person, whose age and gender the authorities did not provide, did not know quite what to do. But it so happened that a Corpus Christi police officer was driving by, so the person went a step beyond what other A.T.M. users had been willing to do and flagged down the officer.

    The officer, like previous bank patrons, initially thought the note was a joke — some sort of “Candid Camera”-type prank that no one wanted to fall for.

    But then the officer approached the A.T.M., and when he listened closely, he could hear a faint sound.

    This was how the police came to discover a man who had been trapped for hours inside an A.T.M., said Gena Pena, a spokeswoman for the Corpus Christi Police Department.

    “Honestly, we can’t say it’s never happened,” Ms. Pena said in an interview on Thursday. “But 95 percent of people will have their phone on them,” she added, and for about three hours, she said, this man did not.

    How does one become stuck inside an A.T.M. in the first place? Ms. Pena said it happened this way:

    The A.T.M. was affixed to a bank, which was under construction, so no employees were inside. The A.T.M., though, was operational. And somewhere on the site, a door led into what Ms. Pena called an “A.T.M. vault” — a room from which a person can service a teller machine from the inside.

    A worker arrived on Wednesday to repair the “locking mechanism” of the room, Ms. Pena said. The door shut behind the worker, and somehow, she said, the man locked himself in.

    The worker, whom the police did not identify, had left his phone inside a vehicle. But once he realized that people were using the A.T.M., the man began slipping notes out the receipt slot, a solution Ms. Pena thought was “pretty ingenious.”

    Unfortunately for the man, several A.T.M. users who got a note thought they were being pranked and apparently did nothing.

    “He was kind of upset,” Ms. Pena said of the contract worker.

    Indeed, the man would later tell the police that he had been screaming for help. Something about the room, though, must have muffled the sound, Ms. Pena said.

    The contractor “didn’t think this was going to happen, obviously,” Ms. Pena said. “I feel bad for him.”

  • Indian American doctor couple killed in plane crash in US

    Indian American doctor couple killed in plane crash in US

    The Piper Archer PA-28 piloted by Umamaheswara is believed to have crashed sometime between 10:36 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 8, the media release said.

    HOUSTON (TIP): In a tragic incident, an Indian-origin psychiatrist couple were killed when their private plane crashed in the US state of Ohio, police officials said on Wednesday, July 5.

    Umamaheswara Kalapatapu, 63, and his wife Sitha-Gita Kalapatapu, 61, both of Logansport, were killed in the crash, according to a media release from the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

    The Piper Archer PA-28 piloted by Umamaheswara is believed to have crashed sometime between 10:36am and 12:30pm on Saturday, July 8, the release said.

    The release goes on to report that Ohio State Highway Patrol Aviation with assistance from the Civil Air Patrol located the crash scene in an abandoned retention pond near the village of Beverly in southeastern Ohio.

    Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt Garic Warner said in an interview on Monday that the crash occurred about 3 miles northwest of Beverly.

    Searchers found the wreckage Saturday afternoon.

    There was no word on what caused the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

    The Kalapatapus were psychiatrists and owned Raj Clinics, with offices in Logansport, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Lafayette and Kokomo.

    “They were generous to a fault, extremely hardworking and dedicated to their patients,” employee Heather Geisler said of the Kalapatapus.

    Umamaheswara Kalapatapu was a talented photographer while Sitha-Gita was a gifted musician and “fantastic cook,” Geisler said.

    Umamaheswara received multiple state, national and international awards and recognition for his photography and had been a certified professional photographer by the Professional Photographers of America since 2005, according to Pharos-Tribune archives.

    “They were just two people that were so full of life. It’s hard to imagine that they’re not there anymore. They were wonderful people, absolutely wonderful. Two of the kindest people I’ve ever known and I’m going to miss them,” Geisler said.

  • July 14 New York & Dallas Print Editions

    July 14 New York & Dallas Print Editions

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  • INDIA TO PURSUE DIPLOMATIC CHANNELS WITH CHINA

    INDIA TO PURSUE DIPLOMATIC CHANNELS WITH CHINA

    NEW DELHI (TIP): India on Thursday said it would continue to use “diplomatic channels” with China to resolve the face-off between soldiers from the two nations in western Bhutan.

    As the face-off continued for the 26th day, Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Gopal Baglay said,

    “We have diplomatic channels available and we will continue to use those channels.” Baglay noted that the MEA had issued a press release on June 30, articulating its views on the way to resolve the faceoff. New Delhi’s position has not changed, he said on Thursday, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, had a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the G20 summit at Hamburg and they had covered “a range of issues”. “I can certainly say that the approach that we had underlined and put out at the end of the last month continues,” Baglay said.

    National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is likely to be in Beijing on July 27 and 28 to attend a meeting with his counterparts from other BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations.

  • EXPLOSIVE RECOVERED FROM UP ASSEMBLY, YOGI CLAIMS TERROR CONSPIRACY

    EXPLOSIVE RECOVERED FROM UP ASSEMBLY, YOGI CLAIMS TERROR CONSPIRACY

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on July 14 (Friday) that the “white powder” recovered from the state Legislative Assembly on July 12 was an explosive substance and claimed there may be a “terror conspiracy” afoot.

    Citing a forensic report which confirmed that the white powder was the extremely powerful plastic explosive Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate or PETN, Yogi Adityanath called the incident a major security lapse and demanded an National Intelligence Agency (NIA) probe into the matter.

    “This is PETN, a higly explosive substance was found in the assembly. Action must be taken against those involved. How can we allow anyone to compromise the security of 403 MLAs? NIA must investigate this,” the chief minister said in the state assembly on Friday.

    “Strong security system must be established as this could be a terror conspiracy,” he said.

    Earlier, Yogi Adityanath had called a high level meeting to review the security measures in the assembly in light of Thursday’s incident. He told all MLAs present that everyone needs to be cautious and make sure to follow security guidelines. He also said that police should carry out background checks for all workers in the state assembly.

    Source: TOI

  • During the Monsoon session Oppn to corner govt on GST, farm suicides

    During the Monsoon session Oppn to corner govt on GST, farm suicides

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The government will face a united Opposition in Parliament as the monsoon session begins this Monday.

    Led by the Congress, 17 Opposition parties, which recently fielded Gopalkrishna Gandhi as their joint candidate for the August 5 Vice-Presidential poll, will also coordinate on Parliament strategy issues mainly on “political vendetta against non-NDA leaders and the grim internal and border security situation”.

    TMC leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek O Brien said the Opposition discussed the need to corner the government on vendetta, GST consequences and demonetisation, farmers’ suicides, lynchings, and security scenario in the coming session from July 17.

    “The meeting of 18 Opposition parties to discuss the VP poll candidate lasted 90 minutes on July 11. Of the 90 minutes, 15 minutes went in finalising the name of Gopalkrishna Gandhi. Later, we discussed the ongoing political and security situation, vendetta against Opposition leaders, GST, and farmers’ suicides. It was decided to coordinate a floor strategy inside Parliament and attack the government outside through the social media on these issues,” Derek o Brien said.

  • DON’T MISS INDIA, THERE’S NOTHING TO MISS SAYS MALLYA

    DON’T MISS INDIA, THERE’S NOTHING TO MISS SAYS MALLYA

    SILVERSTONE (TIP): Missing India, and pining for a pit lane he can visit only once a year? Not a bit of it, says embattled Formula One team owner Vijay Mallya.

    The flamboyant businessman, currently fighting a high-profile Indian extradition request, speaks instead of ‘enjoying the fruits’ of his labours on track and planning high-flying Force India’s next decade.

    He is also, despite the court appearances and travel restrictions, still living the good life and enjoying a summer of sport. Horse racing at Royal Ascot, the Wimbledon tennis championships and Champions Trophy cricket have all been on his social diary, along with Wednesday’s Formula One promotional event in London.

    “There’s nothing to miss,” the 61-year-old told Reuters at the British Grand Prix when asked if he missed India. “All my immediate family is either in England or the US. Nobody in India at all. As far as my step-siblings are concerned, they are all UK citizens. So there’s nothing family wise to miss.” India is seeking Mallya’s extradition over $1.4 billion that the authorities say he owes as a result of loans tied to his defunct Kingfisher Airlines. Mallya has dismissed the charges against him. Source: Reuters

  • Indian scientists discover supercluster of galaxies

    Indian scientists discover supercluster of galaxies

    NEW DELHI (TIP): A team of Indian astronomers has discovered an extremely large supercluster of galaxies, as big as 20 million billion suns, which they have named Saraswati, Pune-based Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) said on July 13.

    This is one of the largest known structures in the neighbourhood of the universe, 4,000 million light-years away from Earth and roughly more than 10 billion years old, IUCAA said. Its mass extends over the scale of 600 million light years, it said. Scientists of this institute were also involved in the path-breaking discovery of gravitational waves last year.

    The supercluster was discovered by Shishir Sankhyayan, a PhD student at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Pratik Dabhade, IUCAA research fellow, Joe Jacob of the Newman College, Kerala, and Prakash Sarkar of the National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur.

    Their findings were published in the latest issue of The Astrophysical Journal, the premier research journal of the American Astronomical Society. “Superclusters are the largest coherent structures in the cosmic web. They are a chain of galaxies and galaxy clusters, bound by gravity, often stretching to several hundred times the size of clusters of galaxies, consisting of tens of thousands of galaxies,” the IUCAA said in a statement.

    Sankhyayan said this “newlydiscovered Saraswati supercluster” extends over a scale of 600 million lightyears and may contain the mass equivalent of over 20 million billion suns. A cluster could roughly have galaxies ranging from 1,000 to 10,000. A supercluster could have clusters ranging from 40 to 43, he added.

    “Our own galaxy is part of a supercluster called the Laniakea supercluster,” the IUCAA said. Joydeep Bagchi from IUCAA, the lead author of the paper in the journal, and co-author Sankhyayan said they were “astonished to spot this giant wall-like supercluster of galaxies”, visible in a large spectroscopic survey of distant galaxies, known as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

    Sankhyayan said the data was then analysed, following which the discovery was made. “This supercluster is clearly embedded in a large network of cosmic filaments traced by clusters and large voids,” Bagchi said.

    He said previously “only a few comparatively large superclusters” had been reported, such as the Shapley Concentration or the Sloan Great Wall in the nearby universe. Source: PTI

  • SC gives govt a week to decide on giving voting rights to NRIs

    SC gives govt a week to decide on giving voting rights to NRIs

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Pulling up the Centre, the Supreme Court on July 14 allowed one last chance that is to tell by next Friday as to how it planned to allow 25 million Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)across the world to participate in Indian elections through e-vote.

    A bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud asked the Centre to make it clear within one week if it planned to amend the Act or concerned Rules under the Representation of People’s Act.

    “This is a petition of 2014. Every year you keep saying we will amend we will amend. You said this in 2014, 15, 16 and again..this is not the way a government works”, an angry CJI Khehar told the Central government’s counsel.

    At the outset, former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing against the Centre for the first time after quitting the AG post questioned the Centre”s delay in making the necessary changes to allow NRIs to vote and said ‘ they are only buying time by saying they need to amend the Act while they only need to change the rules which is a simple process.”

    “They allow Armed forces personal to vote other defence personal all through postal ballot etc only to NRIs most of them from Kerala they say you come to India and vote” Rohatgi told the bench. In December last a bench headed by then Chief Justice T S Thakur enquired about the latest stand of the union government after senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for a petitioner said one and a half years ago the Centre had accepted the Election Commission’s (EC) proposal in this regard, claimed it formulated a draft bill and told the court that steps are being taken to get the Representation of People Act 1951 amended but things have not moved much.

    “Senior counsel appearing for the Union of India seeks time to take instructions whether any amendment to the Representation of People Act, 1950 and 1951 is proposed in terms of the recommendations received from the Election Commission in so far as the Notification of NRI’s as special voters is concerned, if so, the status of such process may be informed within 8 weeks”, the CJI said in the order.

    Once e-vote is allowed, NRIs will not have to fly home to vote. Responding to the PILs, the EC had ruled out the possibility of allowing NRIs to vote through the Internet or at diplomatic missions abroad for the time being. But it said e-postal ballot system has almost no risk of manipulation, rigging or violation of secrecy.

    The government had on July 8, last year told the court that it has “in principle” approved eballot voting for Indian passport holders abroad, recommended by the Election Commission in a report, and it would have the process in place after making necessary amendments to the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951, that dealt with elections in the country.

    “The recommendation has been accepted in letter and spirit, and a committee had been set up to devise the modalities of its implementation”, Additional Solicitor General P L Narasimha representing the Centre had said on that day.

    SC then directed the government to enable evoting by NRIs within two months after effecting the amendments.

  • AAP declares support for Meira Kumar in Prez poll

    AAP declares support for Meira Kumar in Prez poll

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The Aam Aadmi Party declared it’s support for former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar in next week’s presidential poll on July 13 (Thursday) evening. Kumar, who will take on the NDA candidate and former Bihar governor RN Kovind, had called up AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and sought his support, senior party leader Sanjay Singh said.

    “The election of President and Vice President should be above partisan politics and we would have preferred a consensus candidate. But in the present circumstances, we prefer a strong and united opposition,” Singh said

    Kumar is the candidate of the combined opposition but parties such as JD-U and BSP have declared their support for Kovind. The opposition, led by the Congress, had kept

    AAP leaders away from the multi-party deliberations for deciding their presidential candidate.

  • India contributes additional US$ I million to UN partnership fund

    India contributes additional US$ I million to UN partnership fund

    UNITED NATIONS (TIP): India has contributed an additional million dollars to a UN partnership fund launched to support sustainable development projects across the developing world.

    The India-UN Development Partnership Fund was set up last month as a partnership between India and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC). India had made an initial contribution of a million dollars when the fund was created and the amount was allocated for the implementation of a project benefiting seven Small Island Developing States in the South Pacific.

    India yesterday enlarged its support to sustainable development through the multilateral system by making a supplemental contribution of one million dollars to the fund.

    Source: PTI

  • SC ORDERS CBI PROBE INTO MANIPUR FAKE SHOOTOUTS

    SC ORDERS CBI PROBE INTO MANIPUR FAKE SHOOTOUTS

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The Supreme Court on July 14 asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the over 60 cases of alleged fake shootouts by the security forces in Manipur. The CBI has to file its report in January 2018.Handing over the investigation to the CBI, a bench headed by Justice Madan B. Lokur asked its director to constitute a team within two weeks to investigate the encounters. Source: IANS

  • Govt needs math tutor Rahul taunts RBI for not finishing scrapped note counting

    Govt needs math tutor Rahul taunts RBI for not finishing scrapped note counting

    P Chidambaram also taunted the RBI for buying couting machines 8 months later and asked them if they had ever heard of leasing

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The Congress on July 13 (Thursday) took a dig at the RBI for still counting banned currency notes, with Rahul Gandhi saying the government is looking for a mathematics teacher and one should apply to the PMO soon.

    “GOI looking for a Math tutor. Please apply to PMO ASAP,” Gandhi said on Twitter, while tagging a news report quoted to Urjit Patel, the RBI governor, saying the central bank is still counting demonetised notes.

    Earlier, senior party leader P Chidambaram took a jibe at the RBI for buying note-counting machines eight months after demonetisation and asked the federal bank if it had heard of “leasing” equipment.

    “RBI buying note counting machines 8 months after demonetisation! Has RBI not heard of ‘leasing’,” he tweeted. Chidambaram also poked fun at the NDA’s Mudra scheme, which the government claims has provided self employment opportunities to over 7 crore people, especially the youth.

    “‘7.28 crore youth self-employed under MUDRA loan scheme’ — that is title of mythological serial beginning today. Scriptwriters may apply,” he posted on Twitter today.

    The former finance minister has been critical of the government’s demonetisation decision and has said it has hit the country’s economy and growth prospects.

    RBI Governor Urjit Patel, while appearing before a Parliamentary panel, is understood to have said the deposited banned notes were still being counted and therefore he was not in a position to give a figure on the scrapped currency that was back in the system. Appearing before the Standing Committee on Finance yesterday, Patel did not provide any “specific number” on the amount of money that had been deposited postdemonetisation.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on November 8 banned 500-rupee and 1000- rupee currency notes. Source: PTI

  • Al Qaida in Indian subcontinent getting more active say US experts

    Al Qaida in Indian subcontinent getting more active say US experts

    WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI (TIP): Al-Qaida is getting more active in the Indian subcontinent and by 2017, it boasted several hundred members, with its cells mostly in Afghanistan and its operatives flourishing in Bangladesh, counter-terrorism experts have told the US lawmakers.

    “By 2017, al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent boasted several hundred members and had cells in Afghanistan’s Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul, Paktika, Ghazni, and Nuristan Provinces. Al- Qaida’s presence in Afghanistan was almost certainly larger and more expansive than five or even ten years before,” said Seth G Jones, a strategic expert.

    He was speaking during his Congressional testimony before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence on Thursday.

    This expansion, Jones said, may have been partly due to Taliban advances in Afghanistan and al-Qaida’s relationship with operatives from the Taliban and other groups, such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-e Jhangvi.

    “Al-Qaida operatives in Bangladesh were particularly active, conducting a range of attacks. In addition, al-Qaida in the Indian subcontinent conducted a steady propaganda campaign from its media arm As-Sahab,” he said.

    However, the group conducted few attacks in Afghanistan or Pakistan and was largely irrelevant in the Taliban-led insurgency, Jones said.

    In September 2014, al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri had announced the creation of regional affiliate al-Qaida in the Indian subcontinent, taking advantage of sanctuaries in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

    “A new branch of al-Qaida was established – Qaida al-Jihad in the Indian subcontinent, seeking to raise the flag of jihad,…and return the Islamic rule across the Indian subcontinent,” al- Zawahiri had said.

    The group was led by Asim Umar– an Indian and former member of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami – a Pakistan-based terrorist group with branches across the Indian subcontinent. Umar was flanked by Abu Zar, his first deputy.

    In October 2015, US and Afghan forces targeted a large training camp in Kandahar Province, killing over one hundred operatives linked to al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, Rhodes said.

    According to Katherine Zimmerman, research fellow, American Enterprise Institute, the al-Qaida presence in the Indian subcontinent remains weak after Ayman al-Zawahiri announced the launch of a new affiliate in September 2014. Source: PTI

  • GORKHA STIR VIOLENCE , ARSON BACK IN DARJEELING

    GORKHA STIR VIOLENCE , ARSON BACK IN DARJEELING

    DARJEELING (TIP): A GTA office was set on fire and several vehicles were damaged in Darjeeling today as the indefinite shutdown in the hills entered the 29th day.

    The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) office for travel and tourism in Chowrastha of Mall Road in Darjeeling was set ablaze by pro-Gorkhaland supporters early morning. Several government vehicles were also damaged near the Darjeeling station by unidentified men last night.

    A railway station in Gayabari area of Kurseong was set on fire by pro-Gorkhaland supporters this morning. A forest bungalow near Teesta river was also set on fire today.

    The convoy of state tourism minister Gautam Deb was also attacked on the way to Darjeeling’s Panighatta where the minister was going to attend a programme on the occasion of poet Bhanubhakta Acharya’s birth anniversary.

    Responding to the call of the Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee, a writer and a singer returned the awards given to them by the state government. Source: PTI

  • Indonesia’s president signs decree to ban radical groups

    Indonesia’s president signs decree to ban radical groups

     

    JAKARTA, INDONESIA (TIP): Indonesia’s president has signed a decree giving the government the power to ban radical organizations, in a move aimed at outlawing groups behind an apparent rise in the political clout of hard-line Islam. The measure announced Wednesday by the country’s top security minister follows months of sectarian tensions in the world’s most populous Muslim nation that shook the government and undermined its reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam.

    It amends an existing law regulating mass organizations, allowing the government to sidestep a potentially lengthy court process to implement a ban. It is likely that Hizbut Tahir, a group that campaigns for Indonesia to adopt Shariah law and become a caliphate, is among the targets of the decree after the government announced in May that it planned to ban the group. (AP)

  • Bangladesh police arrest key suspect in Dhaka cafe attack

    Bangladesh police arrest key suspect in Dhaka cafe attack

     

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Police in northwestern Bangladesh have arrested a suspected key supplier of explosives in last year’s attack on a Dhaka cafe that left 20 dead, including 17 foreigners.

    Police say Sohel Mahfuz was arrested along with three other suspected members of the Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the July 1, 2016 attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery, but authorities blamed the domestic group.

    Five militants from the banned group who stormed the cafe and took patrons hostage also died, along with two police officers. (AP)

  • Sri Lankan navy rescues elephant washed out to sea

    Sri Lankan navy rescues elephant washed out to sea

    COLOMBO (TIP): Sri Lanka’s navy has rescued an elephant that got into difficulties after being washed out to sea, a spokesman said July 12, calling it a “miraculous escape”. Chaminda Walakuluge said the navy mounted the 12-hour rescue after spotting the elephant struggling to stay afloat around eight kilometres (five miles) off the island’s northeast coast.

    Divers aided by wildlife officials approached the distressed animal and tied ropes to it before towing it gently to shallow waters near the coast, where it was released late on Tuesday.

    Walakuluge said the animal had likely got swept into the sea while crossing the Kokkilai lagoon, a large stretch of water that lies between two areas of jungle.

    “They usually wade through shallow waters or even swim across to take a short cut,” he said. “It is a miraculous escape for the elephant.” Photos posted on the navy’s website show the animal trying to keep its trunk above the water as divers approached it.

    The rescue came six weeks after the navy and local residents saved a pod of 20 pilot whales who became stranded in nearby Trincomalee, a natural harbour that is popular for whale watching.

    The waters around Trincomalee, which was used by Allied forces as a staging post during World War II, have a high concentration of blue and sperm whales, while the surrounding jungles have herds of wild elephants. (AFP)

  • Considering visa plea of Jadhav’s mother says Pakistan Foreign Office

    Considering visa plea of Jadhav’s mother says Pakistan Foreign Office

    ISLAMABAD (TIP): Pakistan said on July 13 that it was considering a visa application of the mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav for a visit to meet her son who was sentenced to death by a military court.

    India had requested Pakistan to allow Avantika Jadhav to meet her son. “Pakistan is considering the Indian request for the grant of visa to the mother of Kulbushan Yadav,” Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria was quoted as saying by state-run Radio Pakistan.

    Zakaria’s remarks came two days after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi said that she had written a “personal letter” to Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz asking for approval of Avantika’s visa application so that she may travel to Pakistan.

    She also said that Aziz did not even respond to her letter. “I wrote a personal letter to Mr Sartaj Aziz for the grant of her visa to Pakistan. However, Mr Aziz has not shown the courtesy even to acknowledge my letter,” she had tweeted.

    (PTI)

  • Nikki Haley says cannot overlook what is happening in Myanmar

    Nikki Haley says cannot overlook what is happening in Myanmar

    UNITED NATIONS (TIP): Myanmar should let the UN fact-finding mission probe the alleged human rights violations by the country’s military and security forces, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has said, underlining that the international community cannot overlook the situation there.

    Myanmar said late last month that it would not grant visas to members of a commission appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate human rights violations by the country’s state security forces, including the recent abuses in Rakhine State.

    The US mission to the UN said violence in Rakhine State against ethnic and religious communities continues to claim lives and there are allegations of sexual violence against women and children.

    “No one should face discrimination or violence because of their ethnic background or religious beliefs. It is important that the Myanmar government allow this fact-finding mission to do its job,” Indian-origin Haley said in a statement here.

    She said the international community cannot overlook what is happening in Myanmar and “we must stand together and call on the government to fully cooperate with this fact-finding mission”.

    “The total number of victims will be unknown unless the fact-finding mission is allowed to proceed,” the UN mission said.

    Geneva director at global rights group Human Rights Watch John Fisher said denying visas to the members of the fact-finding mission would be “a slap in the face” to victims who suffered grave human rights violations by Myanmar’s state security forces.

    “Does Aung San Suu Kyi’s government really want to be included in a very small and ignominious club of countries that reject Human Rights Council decisions? North Korea, Eritrea, Syria, and Burundi are human rights pariah states that obstructed the work of independent, international investigations into alleged rights abuses, and it would be a travesty for a democratically elected, National League for Democracy-led government in Myanmar to do the same,” Fisher said. The rights group said the Myanmar government should immediately announce they will issue visas to the fact-finding mission and fully cooperate with its investigation.

    “Otherwise, the governments that pushed to set up this fact-finding mission need to stand up for it and impose a political consequence on Myanmar for blocking its work,” Fisher added.

    The UN estimates that more than 90,000 Rohingya have been forced to flee their homes in northern Rakhine State since last October. (PTI)

  • 26/11 case Pak court releases another LeT suspect on bail

    26/11 case Pak court releases another LeT suspect on bail

    LAHORE (TIP): Sufayan Zafar, a Lashkar-e-Taiba suspect in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack case, has been released on bail by a Pakistani antiterrorism court due to ‘lack of evidence’ against him, a court official said on July 13.

    The prime suspect in the case, LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, is already out on bail since April 2015.

    “Former LeT militant Sufayan Zafar who was arrested last year for his alleged involvement in 26/11 attack has been freed on bail. The ATC which held the hearing at Adiala Jail Rawalpindi recently has granted Zafar bail as no evidence against him was found during investigation,” a court official told PTI.

    The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told the court that it had found ‘no evidence’ against Zafar during investigation therefore his involvement in the case cannot be established, the official said.

    Zafar is accused of providing Rs 3.98 million to co-accused Shahid Jameel Riaz prior to the attack.He also deposited Rs 14,800 to the bank account of his brother (another suspect in the case).

    He was declared a proclaimed offender in the Mumbai attack case in 2009. He was arrested in August last year from his hideout in Kyber- Pakhtaunkhawa province.

    A resident of Gujrawala district of Punjab, some 80km from Lahore, Zafar was among 21 other (absconding) suspects wanted in this high-profile case.

    Six other suspects in the case — Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younus Anjum — have been lodged in Rawalpindi’s Adiyala Jail since 2009 for abetment to murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the Mumbai attack.

    A total of 166 people were killed in the attack carried out by 10 LeT men. Nine terrorists who carried out the attack were killed while lone survivor Ajmal Kasab was captured alive and later executed in 2012 in Pune. (PTI)

  • China bears heavy responsibility for Liu Xiaobo’s death Nobel committee

    China bears heavy responsibility for Liu Xiaobo’s death Nobel committee

    OSLO (TIP): The Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Thursday that China bears a “heavy responsibility” for the “premature” death+ of 2010 Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.

    The prominent democracy advocate, 61, died while still in custody following a battle with cancer. Officials ignored international pleas to let him spend his final days free and abroad. Germany and the US had offered to take him in for treatment.

    “We find it deeply disturbing that Liu Xiaobo was not transferred to a facility where he could receive adequate medical treatment before he became terminally ill ,” Berit Reiss-Andersen, who chairs the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said in a statement. “The Chinese government bears heavy responsibility for his premature death.”

    Liu was transferred from prison to a heavily guarded hospital to be treated for late-stage liver cancer more than a month ago. (AFP)

  • Ex Brazil President Lula sentenced to nearly 10 years for corruption

    Ex Brazil President Lula sentenced to nearly 10 years for corruption

    BRASILIA (TIP): Former Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a top contender to win next year’s presidential election, was convicted on corruption charges on July 12 and sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison. The ruling marked a stunning fall for Lula, one of the country’s most popular politicians, and a serious blow to his chances of a political comeback. The former union leader, who won global praise for policies to reduce stinging inequality in Brazil, faces four more corruption trials and will remain free on appeal.

    The verdict represented the highest-profile conviction yet in a sweeping corruption investigation that for over three years has rattled Brazil, revealing a sprawling system of graft at top levels of business and government.

    Judge Sergio Moro found Lula, 71, guilty of accepting 3.7 million reais ($1.2 million) worth of bribes from engineering firm OAS SA, the amount of money prosecutors said the company spent refurbishing a beach apartment for Lula in return for his help winning contracts with state oil company Petroleo Brasileiro.

    Federal prosecutors have accused Lula, Brazil’s first working-class president from 2003 to 2011, of masterminding a long-running corruption scheme that was uncovered in a probe into kickbacks around Petrobras.

    Lula’s legal team said in an emailed statement that he was innocent and they would appeal. “For over three years, Lula has been subject to a politically motivated investigation,” they wrote. “No credible evidence of guilt has been produced, and overwhelming proof of his innocence blatantly ignored.”

    Lula’s lawyer Cristiano Martins has repeatedly accused judge Moro of being biased against his client, which Moro strongly denies. Moro wrote in his ruling that he “took no personal satisfaction in this conviction, quite to the contrary.” “It’s lamentable that a president of the republic is criminally convicted,” Moro said. “No matter how important you are, no one is above the law.” (Reuters)