VOL. 15, THE CONTACT WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ISSUE - 752, 2 - 8 JANUARY, 2018 PH: (905) 671 - 4761
H-1B visa rules: Trump admin considers tweak that may lead to mass deportation of Indians
The Trump administration is considering a proposal that could lead to large-scale deportation of foreigners on H1B visas for high-speciality workers waiting for their Green Card mostly Indians — and drastically alter the way hightech companies operate in the United States. In the form of an internal memo going around the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that oversees citizenship and immigration, the proposal
intends to end the provision of granting extensions to H-1B visa holders whose applications for permanent residency (Green Card) had been accepted. An estimated 500,000 to 750,000 Indian H-1B visa holders could be impacted — sent home if the administration decided to go ahead with the proposal, which is aligned with President Donald Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” vision to boosts manufacturing and protect local jobs for American.
“If implemented this could lead to large scale deportations, mostly of Indians, throwing hundreds and thousands of families into crisis,” said an official of Immigration Voice, an advocacy body, which, he added, was planning to mount a challenge through outreach, and sue when a decision was announced. “The idea is to create a sort of ‘self- deportation’ of hundreds of thousands of Indian tech workers in the United States to
open up those jobs for Americans,” a US source briefed by homeland security officials told McClatchy DC Bureau, which first reported the proposal. A response to Hindustan Times request to both DHS and the US citizenship and immigration services (USCIS) was awaited, but the existence of the memo was confirmed by sources in the US and Indian governments, industry and those that are likely to face action under the new rules. An H-1B visa is granted for three years, with the provision of three more with one extension. After which visa holders return to their countries. Or, if approved for Green Card, wait in the US, using extensions. For Indians, that wait could stretch for years, given the massive backlog caused by the system of per-country annual cap on the number of permanent residencies. The proposal is based on the power of discretion given to USCIS officials to decide on extensions to be given to H-1B holders waiting for Green Card — they could chose to extend from 1 to 3 years, and often chose the maximum 3, and
granted some visa holders as many extensions as needed. “If it has been left to their discretion,” said a lobbyist, “they can theoretically decide not to grant any extension at all.” The Indian government is watching the development as it has with mounting alarm the administration’s previously announced plans and decisions to tighten H-1B rules and regulations with the objective of preventing its abuse to replace American workers with lowerpaid foreigners. One of them was the plan to rollback in February H-4 EAD — a regulation introduced by President Barack Obama to attract and retain highly skilled foreign workers by granting work authorization to spouses of H1B visa holders waiting for their Green cards. That will impact mostly Indians again. The administration also plans to redefine high speciality professionals for the purpose of H-1B visas. And there is a general review of the programme ordered by the president. The United States grants 85,000 non-immigrant H-1B visa every year 65,000 Continued on Page 4
Ontario gurdwaras ban officials representing India A group of office-bearers claiming to represent more than a dozen gurdwaras in the Canadian province of Ontario have collectively resolved to “bar” officials representing India, its diplomats and others from entering the premises of these places of worship. This decision was made at a meeting held at the Jot Parkash Gurdwara in Brampton, a suburb of Toronto, on December 30. A proforma statement on the ban was signed by those who attended the meeting. It noted: “Pursuant to the Trespass to Property Act (1990), the management of this Gurdwara Sahib reserves the right to bar entry to officials of the Indian Government including but not limited to Indian elected officials, Indian Consular officials, and members of organisations who seek to undermine the Sikh nation and Sikh institutions.” The meeting was held under the auspices of the Ontario Gurdwaras Committee (OGC). Amarjit Mann, a spokesperson for OGC, told this paper that managements of 15 gurdwaras in the Greater Toronto Area had “jointly
agreed” to this “decision”. He said that approximately 30 members of the managements of these gurdwaras were present at the meeting on Saturday. The statement added: “Keeping in mind the interference of Indian Consular and Indian Government officials in the lives of Canadian Sikhs, Gurdwara Management Committees have jointly taken the decision to bar the entry of these officials and members across Continued onfrom PageGurdwaras 4
Canada. “The presence of these officials makes members of the Sikh community uncomfortable due to their agenda of undermining the autonomy of Sikh institutions and organisations. It is our obligation to ensure the safety of the Sangat, and accordingly we have arrived at this decision.” Speaking to this paper, Gurpreet Singh Bal, president of the Ontario Khalsa
Darbar in Mississauga, better known as the Dixie gurdwara, said, “This decision was taken unanimously. The Indian government interferes too much in the community.” However, he clarified the ban will be on those visiting gurdwaras in their official capacity, not if they come with personal purpose. “Gurdwara is open for everyone, but when they are on official basis, that’s not allowed,” he said. Pro-Khalistan activist Sukhminder Singh Hansra was among those present at the meeting and in an emailed statement, he said, “We applaud the decision of Gurdwara Managements to bar Indian High Commission and Indian Consulate as the officials of Indian High Commission (were) directly infiltrating the Sikh affair within Canada.” He added that “consular powers” such an issuing visas for India were used to “influence” Sikhs against their own “interests.” The hardline activist group, Sikhs for Justice, welcomed the announcement. In a statement, its legal advisor Continued on Page 4 Gurpatwant
Issue - 752 (2)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Teen fidayeen’s video exposes JeM’s designs THE involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in the attack on the CRPF camp in Pulwama district of south Kashmir was confirmed on Monday with the terror outfit releasing a video of the youngest attacker urging the Kashmiri youth to join jihad against India. Five paramilitary personnel were killed when three JeM members stormed the CRPF camp—located in Lethpora village—with Kalashnikov rifles and grenades around 2 am on Sunday despite specific intelligence inputs by the J&K Police 12 hours before the attack. The three JeM members were finally killed in the ensuing gunfight. A day after the chilling fact emerged that the youngest attacker, Fardeen Ahmad Khandey, whose father Ghulam Mohammad Khandey is a cop, the JeM video shows the 16- year-old exhorting the youth to join the “fight against India because infidels [India] have occupied Kashmir and the modesty of women is at stake.” With two Kalashnikov rifles behind him and another in front, grenades displayed and a pistol in his lap, Fardeen dubs the government’s reasoning that unemployment in the state has triggered militancy as a mere propaganda. The rise of militancy is a “reaction to India’s occupation”, he says. Fardeen also praises the JeM in the video, recorded moments before he attacked the CRPF camp. “It is not possible to stop Jaish-eMohammad,” he says after mentioning the Pathankot and other attacks carried by the outfit. He also praises JeM founder and leader Maulana Masood Azhar and Afzal Guru for his role in the Parliament attack in 2011. CRPF Special DG (J&K zone) SN Srivastava has said that the attack was “contained because our men were ready”, but the J&K Police had warned of an attack merely 12 hours ago. Meanwhile, the counteroperation launched by security forces against the militants ended on Monday following the recovery of the body
16-year-old who attacked CRPF camp in Pulwama urges Kashmiris to fight India
of another militant, the police said. “Finally, the operation has concluded with the recovery of the body of the third terrorist,” Director General of Police S P Vaid said. The bodies of two
terrorists had been recovered on Sunday. In a pre-dawn strike, five CRPF men were killed while three others injured when heavily armed terrorists stormed the camp of the paramilitary force at Lethpora in Pulwama district yesterday. The attack was claimed by Pakistan-based
Jaish-eMohammed. The two ultras whose bodies were recovered yesterday were Manzoor Ahmad Baba from Drubgam (Pulwama) and Fardeen Ahmad Khanday from Nazeempora (Tral). Khanday was the son a serving policeman. The identity of the third militant was yet to be ascertained.
Man held for chopping Mexican flight told off youth’s head to pay ‘5L to bizman
DELHI Crime Branch has arrested a criminal Dhiresh Narayan, who was the prime accused in the murder case of 22year-old Javed Ansari. On September 11, Javed Ansari’s body was found dumped in the fields of Siraspur village, Delhi. His head had been chopped off. The Delhi Police had since started a search for the accused(s). Dhiresh was arrested by the the police on Monday from Mukarba Chowk in North Delhi where he was waiting at a bus stop to board a bus to Punjab. After interrogation, Dhiresh confessed to have killed Javed. Dhiresh told the police that Javed was in an alleged
relationship with his wife. Dhiresh confronted Javed about the same and Javed promised to stay away from Dhiresh’s wife. However, Dhiresh felt that nothing has changed and thus planned to take revenge. He got his friends- Suman, Rahul, Gulab Singh and a juvenile- to help him. Dhiresh lured Javed to an isolated spot in Siraspur village, where the five accused beat him up and Dhiresh cut his head with a flat blade that’s used to cut wood. Dhiresh, then, carried Javed’s head and threw it in another field at some distance. While Dhiresh has been nabbed, Suman is still on the run.
THE Mexican airlines, Aeromexico, has been asked to compensate a Delhibased businessman whose baggage was misplaced by it while he was travelling to Cancun from Miami. The
consumer court asked the airlines to pay ‘5 lakh as compensation along with the refund of the amount spent by him on his purchases owing to the missing luggage. South Delhi resident Chandar Mohan Lall was travelling to Cancun to participate in International Trademark Association Leadership event in 2011. In his complaint, Lall alleged that when he inquired about the whereabouts of his baggage on landing at the Miami International Airport, he was assured by the authority that the bag would be
transferred directly from British Airways to Aeromexico safely, and that it would be delivered to him in Cancun. However, after reaching Cancun, Lall was informed that his bag had not arrived and the airport staff of the airlines requested him to fill up the baggage claim form, and assured that his bag would be traced and delivered on the next day. Lall thereafter made several calls to the airport authority at Cancun, but could not get any information. The complainant further alleged that due to the nonavailability of the diving log lying in the misplaced bag, his scuba diving plans at Cancun failed and made him frustrated. He told court that he had to spend a lot of money on new sets of clothes and other items to participate in the conference. His trouble further aggravated as the conference material, research papers, laptop and his notes in the bag could not be made available in time of the conference. This resulted in loss of good will and reputation.
Issue - 752 (3)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Forces shoot 12 protestors dead in Iran Prez Rouhani hits conciliatory note, says people ‘free to criticise’
AT LEAST 12 people have been killed and multiple others wounded during a fourth night of unrest in Iran. Iranian state TV reported the figure on Monday, saying security forces repelled ‘armed protestors’ who tried to take over police stations and military bases. Two people were shot dead in the southwestern town of Izeh while another two died in Dorud after being run over by a stolen fire truck, local news agencies reported. Elsewhere, there were unconfirmed reports that three people were shot dead after security forces opened fire
on protestors in Isfahan. Video purportedly filmed in the city shows dozens of marchers on the streets as vehicles burn around them before what sounds like gunshots are heard. The deaths in Izeh were confirmed by local politician Hedayatollah Khademi, who said it was unclear whether they were killed by police or other demonstrators. “The governor said it (the gunfire) was unlikely to be by police as they were not supposed to open fire,” he said. The shooting in Isfahan was reported by several prominent Twitter personalities including
Amichai Stein, foreign affairs correspondent for the Israeli public broadcasting corporation, but could not be independently verified. Elsewhere police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse a small protest in Tehran’s Enghelab Square on Sunday evening. Protestors in the small northwestern town of Takestan torched a school for clergy and government buildings, the ILNA news agency said, while the state broadcaster said two people had died in Dorud after crashing a stolen fire engine. There were also reports of protests
in Izeh (southwest), Kermanshah and Khorramabad (west), Shahinshahr (northwest) and Zanjan (north). Verifying reports remained challenging due to travel restrictions and sporadic blocks on mobile Internet and popular social media sites including Telegram and Instagram. The protests began as demonstrations against economic conditions in second city Mashhad on Thursday but quickly turned against the Islamic regime as a whole, with thousands marching in towns across Iran to chants of ‘Death to the dictator’.
“People are free in expressing criticisms and even protests,” Rouhani said in a message on the state broadcaster. “But criticism is different to violence and destroying public property.” He sought a conciliatory tone, saying that government bodies ‘should provide space for legal criticism and protest’ and calling for greater transparency and a more balanced media. US President Donald Trump said the ‘big protests’ showed people ‘were getting wise as to how their money is being stolen and squandered on terrorism’.
Pope orders holocaust victims’ image to be distributed
THE Pope has ordered cards to be printed and distributed depicting victims of the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki —
captioned ‘the fruit of war’. The harrowing image shows a boy carrying his dead brother on his shoulders while waiting in line at
a crematorium. It was captured by US Marine photographer Joe O’Donnell after the nuclear bombs were dropped at the end of World War II. Pope Francis requested that ‘the fruit of war’ be written on the back of the card, accompanied by his signature. A caption adds: “The young boy’s sadness is expressed only in his gesture of biting his lips which are oozing blood.” After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan’s subsequent surrender ended World War II. Photographer O’Donnell then spent a further four years recording the aftermath of the bombings in the two cities, according to Library of Congress records. The striking images were published in Japan 1945: A US
Marine’s Photographs from Ground Zero. Pope Francis has previously condemned the nuclear weapons and highlighted the plight of children in war zones. The US’ nuclear strike against Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, came three days after a similar bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. These attacks resulted in the deaths of around 1,20,000 people. Japan surrendered six days later. It comes amid continuing heated rhetoric between the U.S. and North Korea. The harrowing cards comes after the Pope told an antinuclear weapon conference that the possession of nuclear weapons was now ‘irrational’. In November, the Pontiff said: “We’re at the limit of licitly having and using nuclear arms. Why?
Because today, such sophisticated nuclear arsenals risk destroying humanity or at least a great part of it.”
Issue - 752 (4)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Army ready for cross-border ‘Ghatak’ strikes HAVING successfully carried out a cross-border raid in the Poonch sector, the Indian Army is preparing its ‘Ghatak’ troops for tackling any localised action along the Line of Control with Pakistanoccupied Kashmir. “The Ghatak troops are the best men from the whole unit and are evaluated on their skills and only then inducted in the crack team. They are being trained to carry out any type of special operation to tackle any local situation along the LoC,” sources in the Army told India TV today. The Ghatak troops of a Rajput regiment unit were involved in the cross-border raid conducted by the army in the last week of 2017 where they crossed over and killed four Pakistani troops avenging the death of their four colleagues. The India TV today team was in Poonch border near the location where the action took place. The Ghatak teams are deliberately kept very small as they have around five to six soldiers, who are the
THE CONTACT STAFF: EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Sunny Bains Lt. Hon. President : Dr. (Prof.) Darshan Singh Executive Editor: Kanwaljit Kaur Bains EDITOR Vinny Bains Foreign Editor: Syed Asif Shahkar (Sweden) Sr. Assistant Editor: Prempal Bajwa Marketing Executive Vinny Bains Special Correspondents: Balkar Chatha France Financial Advisor : Sarabjit Singh Sagoo Photographer: Sandeep Brar 647 294 4948 Head Office: 2-7015 TRANMERE DRIVE, MISSISSAUGA ONTARIO CANADA L5S 1T7 For Advertisement : Call Kanwaljit 416-899-2548 Tel: 905-671-4761 TOLL FREE: 1-888-371-2548 FAX: 1888-982-2818 EMAIL: INFO@AJITWEEKLY.COM
The Contact Weekly and people associated with it are not responsible for any claims made by the advertisers and don’t endorse any product or services advertised in the Contact Weekly. Please consult your lawyer before buying/hiring/ contracting through the ads published in the newspaper. The Contact Weekly is in the business of selling space and claims made by the advertisers are not tested/ confirmed by an independent source.
fittest and best of the 800 troops in any battalion, and are provided the best of equipment for carrying out operations at a very short notice, the sources said. “The aim of these guys is to cause maximum damage in minimum time and also ensure that they return successfully from their operational tasks without getting trapped in the mines and improvised explosive devices planted by the enemy forces,” the sources said. A major-rank officer deployed along the LoC for the last two years said the orders from the army headquarters are very clear— to maintain peace along the LoC, but if the enemy troops kill one of our fellows, the revenge has to be bigger to crush
Ontario gurdwaras ban officials representing India continued from page 1 Pannun said, “We appreciate the decision of Ontario Gurdwaras to ban entry of Indian diplomats in the gurdwaras. Consulate members represent India, which committed genocide of Sikhs and their presence in gurdwaras is not acceptable to the victims of genocide and to the Sikh community. We urge the management committees across Canada to ban and boycott members of Indian consulates.” In recent times, Indian officials have visited gurdwaras in the province and elsewhere, a change from how these were once considered no-go zones for them.
the enemy’s morale. The troops of the Ghatak team are equipped with AK-47 rifles and mortars. To avenge the death of four soldiers, who were killed by Pakistanis in Keri sector, a small team of infantry battalion deployed in the Poonch sector crossed over into PoK and placed improvised explosive devices for the enemy troops coming to patrol in the area. After waiting for some time, the Pakistani troops walking in the area triggered a massive IED explosion. Waiting for the Pakistanis to fall into their trap, the commandos opened a barrage of fire, which resulted in the instant death of three Pakistani personnel of 59 Baloch regiment, while another died because
of injuries, the sources said. The Pakistan fatalities include one majorrank officer and three soldiers named Sajjad, Abdul Rehman and Mohammad Usman, they added. The operation came over a year after India’s Para Special Forces had crossed over into PoK to destroy terrorist launch pads.
H-1B visa rules: Trump admin considers tweak that may lead to mass deportation of Indians continued from page 1 to foreigners hired abroad and 20,000 to foreigners enrolled in advanced degree courses in US schools and colleges. An estimated 70% of these visas go to Indians — hired mostly by American companies such as Facebook, Microsoft and Google and some by US operations of Indian tech giants Infosys, Wipro and TCS. The US companies, which are large employers of foreign workers but escape the scrutiny facing Indian firms, will be
hit the hardest as they are more likely to apply for Green Cards for their H-1B workers than their Indian counterparts, who tend to rotate their workers home at the end of the stipulated period. These big companies can be expected to push back as well, as could the chamber of commerce. A response was awaited to a request for comments from Compete America, a trade body representing Silicon Valley high-tech firms in Washington DC.
Issue - 752 (5)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Issue - 752 (6)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Trump threatens to cut Pakistan aid He says US has been foolish & got only deceit, lies in return PRESIDENT Donald Trump suggested on Monday that he would cut off foreign aid to Pakistan, accusing Islamabad of harbouring violent extremists and lying about it. “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars (`2,10,000 crore) in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools,” Trump said in his first tweet of 2018. “They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” Last week, The New York Times reported that the Trump administration was seriously weighing whether to withhold $255 million (`1,630 crore) in already delayed aid to Islamabad over its failure to better crack down on terror groups in Pakistan. USPakistani ties have taken
terror”. Last month, Trump had already hinted that he may cut off the aid for good. “We make massive payments every year to Pakistan. They have to help,” he said in unveiling his national security strategy. And in late December, United States vicepresident Mike Pence told American troops during a visit to Afghanistan: “President Trump has put Pakistan on notice.” Islamabad has repeatedly denied the accusations of turning a blind eye to militancy, lambasting the United States for ignoring the thousands who have been killed on its soil and the billions spent fighting extremists. President Donald Trump began his first morning of the New Year engaging in one of his preferred activities of the just-passed 2017: firing off online shots about whatever was on
about Pakistan just after 7 am on Monday morning, after attending a New Years’ bash at Mar-a-Lago, where he has been staying over the holidays. Then about 30 minutes later, the president tweeted about protests in Iran. Trump said it was ‘time for change’ in Iran and that the a nosedive under Trump, who in August his mind. On Monday, the president sent country’s people were ‘hungry’ for declared that “Pakistan often gives safe out morning messages about two global freedom, after days of deadly protests haven to agents of chaos, violence, and trouble spots. Trump sent out a tweet against the government in Tehran. “Iran
is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the Obama Administration,” Trump wrote, referring to the nuclear pact sealed under his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama. “The great Iranian people have been repressed for many years. They are hungry for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted. TIME FOR CHANGE!” Trump added.
Meat eaters have more sex than vegans VEGETARIANS may like to claim they lead healthier lives, but it seems there is one area where they are missing out in the bedroom. A survey suggests that 42 per cent of those who eat meat at least once a day have sex once a week or more. But the figure drops to only 16 per cent for vegetarians and those who are defined as ‘reluctant carnivores’ who eat meat only once a fortnight. Before you drop your tofu and race to the butchers for something juicy, however, it’s worth noting that the survey of 2,000 Britons was conducted by GourmetMeatClub.co.uk, which happens to be an online provider of grass fed, free range, ethically sourced meat. Broken down by
country, the Welsh were the top said they would make a roast cent a curry. Perhaps of the carnal carnivore charts, dinner, with 9 per cent making a unsurprisingly, vegetarians with 49 per cent who ate meat spaghetti bolognese and 8 per expressed doubts about the poll. every day reporting that they had sex one or more times every week. They were followed by the English on 46 per cent and Scots on 40 per cent. The most popular dish to cook to impress a partner before a night of passion was a steak, with 18 per cent saying they would fry rump or sirloin steak for a romantic dinner. A total of 17 per cent
Sandra O’Sullivan, 41, of Hastings, East Sussex, said the research was ‘crazy’, adding: “Vegetarians have as much sex as anyone else, although I must admit it’s been a while for me now. I’m not tempted to start eating meat — I’ll take my chances and stick to tofu.” Gareth Simpson, 36, of Edinburgh, Scotland, said he started each day with a bacon roll and often had steak for dinner — and romped with his girlfriend at least twice a week. The kitchen designer said: “I’ve always eaten meat — it’s a rare day when I don’t have a bacon roll. Now I know its linked to my sex life I’m not giving it up — I’m going to eat more.”
Issue - 752 (7)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
US Plan could split up detained migrant families WASHINGTON The US administration is considering a plan to separate immigrants who enter the country illegally from their children, newspapers reported on Friday after a rise in the number of border crossers. Slowing the flow of people sneaking into the United States from Central America was a major campaign promise of President Donald Trump, whose administration has cracked down on a number of fronts against undocumented migrants and refugees. Citing officials briefed on the proposals, The New York Times said plans call for apprehended parents to be sent to adult detention facilities while their children would go to
shelters or to a “sponsor,” who could be a relative. In a similar report, The Washington Post said the
proposal is among other measures being considered and which would also crack down on undocumented migrants already in the US who pay smugglers to bring their children across the border. “People aren’t going to stop coming unless there
are consequences to illegal entry,” a Department of Homeland Security official told the Post. The
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, which patrols the frontier, said this month that there had been a slight monthto-month pickup in the number of people it has caught since May, underscoring the need to boost surveillance and detection. In overall numbers, CBP said it had
British princess apologizes for wearing racist brooch
apprehended 310,531 people trying to sneak in this year, nearly all along the southern border. This was, however, a drop from the previous year and the lowest level on record. Trump has called for a wall to be built along the Mexican border to stop illegal crossings. In the fiscal year to September 30, agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency arrested 143,470 people it said were in the country illegally, 30 percent more than the previous year. In September, Trump said he was scrapping a program that shielded from expulsion hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children, known as “Dreamers.”
London A British Princess has apologised for wearing a brooch that has been called “racist” by some people on the social media, the media reported on Saturday. Princess Michael of Kent, who married Queen Elizabeth II’s first cousin, attended a Christmas banquet at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday wearing the blackamoor brooch, reports the BBC. Blackamoor figures and sculptures are exotic figures which usually depict African men and were prominent in the 17th
and 18th centuries. A spokesman said the princess “is very sorry and distressed that it has caused offence”. “The brooch was a gift and has been worn many times before.” Prince Harry’s fiance, Meghan Markle, who is mixed-race, was also a guest at the lunch. The brooch, coupled with the fact that Princess Michael will have met Markle at the lunch, has sparked controversy on social media websites. It is understood the princess will not wear the brooch in future.
confession, the court halved his sentence to
seminars where attendees were encouraged to invest
6,637 years and six months. Prosecutors told the court that Pudit organised
in what he said were businesses linked to property development, beauty, used cars and
exports, among other things. According to the Bangkok Post daily, investors were promised generous returns, plus incentives to bring new members on board. Pudit had been held in Bangkok Remand Prison since his arrest in August, when he was denied bail, the BBC reported. The court fined his two companies the equivalent of $20 million each. Pudit and the firms were ordered to repay around $17 million to the 2,653 identified victims, with 7.5 per cent yearly interest.
FB apologises as moderators make mistakes on ‘hate’ posts Thai court sentences fraudster to no less than 13,275 years in jail FACEBOOK has apologised after an investigation revealed moderators make the wrong call on almost half of posts deemed offensive. The site admitted it left up offensive posts that violate community guidelines despite being armed with 7,500 content reviewers. One such post was a picture of a corpse with the words “the only good Muslim is a f****** dead one” which was left up by moderators despite being
Macedonia ready to give up claims on Alexander the Great Macedonia Macedonia’s left-wing prime minister says he is ready to renounce his country’s claim to the legacy of Alexander the Great to help solve a 26year-old dispute with neighbouring Greece over the country’s name. “I give up (the claim) of Macedonia being the sole heir to Alexander. The history belongs not only to us, but also to Greece and many other countries,” Zoran Zaev, in power since the spring, said in a TV interview late Friday. Since its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, Macedonia has claimed at least part of the heritage of the most famous ruler of the ancient Kingdom of Macedonia, infuriating Greeks who also view the name “Macedonia” itself as hiding expansionist claims against the Greek region of Macedonia. Greece has vetoed Macedonia’s NATO membership as a result.
flagged to them. Another showed a woman passed out on a bed, with the caption “what would you do?”. According to the probe, content reviewers do not always abide by the company’s guidelines and interpret similar content in different ways. Users reported both posts but received an automated message from Facebook saying it was acceptable. “We looked over the photo, and though it doesn’t go against one of our specific Community Standards, we understand that it may still be offensive to you and others,” the message read.
Bangkok A Thai court has sentenced a fraudster to a total of 13,275 years in prison, a media report said. Pudit Kittithradilok, 34, admitted to the court on Friday of running a Ponzi scheme whereby he promised investors artificially high financial returns, reports the BBC. About 40,000 people were persuaded to pour more than $160 million into his companies. The court found he engaged in illicit lending and some 2,653 counts of fraud. Because of his
Issue - 752 (8)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Chinese activist jailed for 8 years after crackdown TIANJIN, China China sentenced an activist known by the online pseudonym “Super Vulgar Butcher” to eight years in prison Tuesday, one of the harshest punishments meted out to the group of lawyers and activists swept up in a major crackdown on civil society two years ago. The punishment handed to Wu Gan, who refused to plead guilty to charges of “subverting state power”, was intended as an unmistakable signal to anyone who would dare to challenge the state’s authority, his lawyer told AFP. Wu was taken into custody in May 2015 just weeks before authorities unleashed a ruthless campaign later dubbed the “709” crackdown, rounding up over 200 people involved in activities considered sensitive by the ruling Communist Party. The outspoken social media figure had attracted authorities’ attention with performance art and caustic commentary on Chinese society and politics that
he published online. Explaining its verdict, a court in Tianjin said Wu was “dissatisfied with the current system of governance, and that gradually
the court said. Wu also “spread fake information” and “insulted others online”, the statement said. The prominent activist, with his
produced thoughts of subverting state power”. By “hyping up hot incidents”, Wu “attacked the national system that is the basis for state authority and the constitution”,
recognisable bald head and glasses, became the subject of the state’s ire for using his largerthan-life online persona to draw public attention to human rights cases.He called himself “butcher” because he saw himself as taking the fight to authorities, promising to “slaughter the pigs”. He later added “super vulgar” to his handle in response to complaints about his use of crude language to make his case. His bold approach to seeking justice for those he saw as wronged by the government attracted praise from rights
Kargil martyr’s wife dies after hospital ‘refuses’ treatment over Aadhaar card, probe ordered
Ambala A Sonipat hospital allegedly refused to treat the wife of a deceased soldier for failing to produce an Aadhaar card, resulting in her death earlier this week. Health minister Anil Vij ordered an inquiry into the incident on Saturday.A complaint filed in this regard stated that Sankuntala Devi – wife of Kargil martyr Lachman Dass – died on Thursday, a few days after she was denied treatment by the private hospital. A preliminary probe has already been carried out into the incident. Vij, in an interaction with mediapersons, said it was inappropriate of hospitals to turn away patients on the pretext of
not have an Aadhaar card. A team from Chandigarh will visit the hospital to investigate the issue, he added. Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has also condemned the incident. Devi’s son Pavan Kumar alleged that the hospital authorities did not admit her even after he showed them a scanned copy of the document on his mobile phone. “I begged them to begin treatment while I fetched her card, but they wouldn’t budge,” he said. Hospital authorities have denied the allegation, stating that they would never turn away patients over an Aadhaar card. “The document is needed only for documentation purposes, not availing treatment,” an official said.
friends, but in vain, the Khaleej Times reported. Gopinathan had
been working at a tailoring shop in Umm Al Quwain city for 20 years.
crackdown - named after the date of the first disappearance on July 9, 2015. In contrast to the heavy penalty for Wu, a court in Changsha exempted former human rights lawyer Xie Yang from serving a sentence after he pleaded guilty to “inciting subversion of state power”. He had worked on numerous politically sensitive cases, such as defending mainland supporters of Hong Kong democracy activists. Xie was released on bail in May after what critics described as a show trial. The court said Xie had been “long influenced by anti-China forces,” according to the official Xinhua News service. He had “travelled overseas several times to receive training organised by anti-China forces and seek links with subversive forces, both domestic and overseas,” it said. Xie had previously claimed that police used “sleep deprivation, long interrogations, beatings, death threats, humiliations” on him, allegations that became the focus of a rare letter by a number of western embassies in Beijing directly criticising the government’s handling of the case. But on Tuesday he denied he had been tortured, according to a video on the court’s official Weibo social media account.
Arvind Kejriwal to Quit Delhi CM Post For Rajya Sabha Seat? New Delhi Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal‘s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is caught in a dilemma over who should be given the tickets to Rajya Sabha seats. Amid such dilemmas came speculations that with people rejecting offers for their nominations to the upper house of parliament and the deadline approaching, the Delhi CM would be nominated for a Rajya Sabha seat. The party, however, said that final call will be taken by the Political Affairs Committee (PAC). Sources have revealed that while the party has considered AAP leaders Ashutosh and Sanjay Singh for two seats, Kejriwal
Indian expat dies in UAE after getting news about his mother’s death Dubai An Indian expat had died of heart attack here after getting the news of his mother’s demise back home in Kerala, a media report said on Saturday. The incident happened on December 21 when Anil Kumar Gopinathan, who hailed from Kerala’s Kollam district, was informed about the death of his mother, Kousalya. Next day, he was found collapsed in his room and rushed to a hospital by his
defenders, but was unpopular with the authorities, who saw him as a thorn in their side. His family life became the subject of intense scrutiny by state media in May 2015 in what many activists saw as a sign of a looming crackdown on rights defenders. He was “a representative figure in leading actions to support other human rights defenders and significant human rights cases outside court,” according to Patrick Poon, a China researcher at Amnesty International. Wu’s lawyer Yan Xin said the sentence was aimed at setting “an example so other activists will say they are guilty when accused of crimes against the state”. “It’s clear (Wu) was sentenced so harshly because he refused to plead guilty,” he said. Several supporters travelled to Tianjin to attend the trial but they were “pursued relentlessly by police” and forced to go home, an activist told AFP on condition of anonymity. Outside the courthouse, over a dozen police officers prevented an AFP reporter from watching the trial. The government’s message to dissidents was highlighted by a very different sentence passed down on the same day for another figure who was also caught up in the “709”
After receiving the news of the death of their mother, brother of the deceased Santosh, who is based in Dubai, left for his home, Gopinathan was supposed to fly back to India the next day, but died of heart attack, the report said. According to authorities, as it took some time in preparing the documents for repatriation of Gopinathan’s body, it would now be flown to India tonight and likely to reach his native place Parippally village on Sunday.
himself could take the third ticket. Recently, the former Chief Justice of India TS Thakur turned down the party’s offer of a Rajya Sabha ticket when it was offered one. Kejriwal had also met the former
Rajya Sabha ticket, the party, according to the reports, is trying to bring in more popular faces. However, reports have it that not just former CJI but former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan,
CJI and requested him to agree to contest the elections. “While CJI Thakur heard our leaders, he turned down the offer very politely. He didn’t seem interested in electoral politics. We approached him because of his stature and impeccable credentials, both as a lawyer and Judge,” a senior AAP leader was quoted as saying by DNA. AAP FACING REJECTIONS Although there are several leaders who are hoping for a
former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, Infosys founder Narayanmurthy, Nobel Prize winner activist Kailash Satyarthi too have also turned down the party’s offer to contest the elections on AAP tickets. A group of Kumar Vishwas‘ supporters on Thursday engaged in a face-off with the party and refused to leave until they get an assurance that Vishwas would be given a Rajya Sabha ticket.
Issue - 752 (9)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
French couple detained in Turkey over IS links
ISTANBUL - Turkish police have detained a French couple suspected of being Islamic State members at an Istanbul airport, state media reported on Wednesday, quoting police sources. Anti-terror squads held the couple together with their three children at Sabiha Gokcen airport on the Asian side of Istanbul while they were attempting to travel to France on Tuesday, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. The police raid at the airport came after France provided Turkish security teams with intelligence. The suspects allegedly had the
intention to join the extremist IS group in Syria via Turkey, Anadolu reported. They were due to be deported once the procedures were finalised. Turkey has suffered a series of terror attacks blamed on IS over the past two years, including one on a popular Istanbul nightclub celebrating New Year during which 39 people were killed by an IS gunman. After long criticised by its Western allies, Turkey cracked down on the IS group and allowed the US military to conduct air strikes on the extremist group’s targets in Syria via its southern Incirlik air base.
Almost 70 media outlets close in Venezuela in 2017 CARACAS Venezuela saw almost 70 newspapers, TV and radio stations close in 2017 while attacks on journalists rose, the main union representing the media said Wednesday, accusing the socialist government of trying to “silence” the press. The National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) said 46 radio stations, three television channels and around 20 newspapers had been shuttered in the past year. The union also recorded 498 attacks on journalists as well as 66 arrests. It ascribed this to efforts by the government of President Nicolas Maduro to “silence — at whatever price — the discontent about the ever-worsening economic and social situation,” which includes hyperinflation and scarcities of basic goods such as food and medicine. The number of attacks on members of the press was up 26.5 percent on 2016, when 360 acts of aggression against media workers were recorded, the union said.
Triple murder accused commits suicide: Will not allow cremation of accused in village, say locals Kurukshetra A day after Jagdeep Malik, accused of killing his cousin’s three children in the Morni hills of Panchkula district, allegedly committed suicide in the Kurukshetra district jail on Thursday evening, residents of Sarsa village on Friday refused to claim his body for cremation. During interrogation, Jagdeep (26) had confessed to killing the children and led the police to the crime spot where the bodies of Sameer (11), Simran (8) and Samar (4) were found on November 21, two days after they went missing. “The villagers held a meeting in the morning and decided not to claim Jagdeep’s body and not to allow his cremation at the village,” Sarsa sarpanch Karanbir Singh said.He claimed that the entire village, including the mother of the deceased children, unanimously took the decision, saying they do not want to Jagdeep’s face even after his death. Kurukshetra superintendent of police (SP)?Abhishek Garg said the family members and villagers refused to take the body and
cremate it.“The body has been sent to the mortuary of the civil hospital and we will wait for the next 72 hours if nobody will come, the police will cremate the body,” he said.Sources said in it was found the preliminary investigation that Jagdeep
committed suicide by hanging himself in the toilet with his pyjama but the police are waiting for the post-mortem report to ascertain the cause of death.“An investigation by a committee of a judicial magistrate is going on the case and the reason behind the death could be ascertained after the panel report,” the SP said.Jagdeep was upset since he was sent to judicial custody after six-day police remand last month. He changed his statements several times during the police interrogation.After claiming that the children’s father Sonu Malik was behind the
crime, he later said he had killed to usurp the family with Sonu being his next target.Jagdeep’s death likely to hit probe The special investigation team (SIT), led by Karnal SP Jashandeep Randhawa was formed chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s orders, is still to find out whether Sonu was involved in the murder. Officers the investigating the case said Jagdeep’s death will affect the probe.“We were planning to conduct polygraph test of Jagdeep to find out why he killed the children and whether Sonu was involved in the murder.?Now, we will have to depend on other people and sources,” the Karnal SP said.He said a police team under a deputy superintendent of olice (DSP) is working on the case and it has revisited the crime crime in the Morni hills to gather more information. “We will also conduct liedetection test on Sonu and Jagdeep’s wife Reena Malik and the case will be solved soon as we are waiting for response from the forensic science laboratory (FSL), Madhuban,” he said.
Most of the attacks took place during deadly anti-government street protests between April and
Broadcasters have been forced to close down after their licenses expired and were not re-issued,
June, which left 125 people dead, according to the union, which said that around 70 percent of those deaths were at the hands of the police or armed forces. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued an “urgent call” this year for the resumption of broadcasts by radio and TV stations that had been taken off air. Maduro and his aides have denounced local and international media for what they term a “smear campaign” and “war-time propaganda” aimed at the government.
while many newspapers have been unable to buy paper, whose distribution is managed by a government-controlled company. Those newspapers that did manage to remain in operation have had to cut the number of pages and print runs, the union said. International media have also had their operations impacted: CNN’s Spanish-language broadcasts, as well as channels from neighboring Colombia, have been removed from cable packages at the government’s behest.
UK priest jailed for 18 years over child sex abuse LONDON A priest was jailed for 18 years on Thursday for sexual abusing boys at a top British Catholic school in crimes dating back to the 1970s. Andrew Soper, 74, fled to Kosovo in 2011 to avoid prosecution over charges that he molested boys while headmaster at St Benedict’s School in London. He was extradited in 2016 to face 19 counts of indecent assault and buggery against 10 former pupils in the 1970s and 1980s. A jury at the Old Bailey central criminal court in London found him guilty of all charges on December 6.Sentencing him Thursday, judge Anthony Bate said that Soper’s conduct was “the most appalling breach of trust” and that he had “subverted the rules of the Benedictine order and teachings of the Catholic Church”. Bate said Soper’s life would now be “overshadowed by the proven catalogue of vile abuse”.“Your disgrace is complete,” he added.The trial
Thai teacher turns to DNA to prove $1m lottery win BANGKOK A DNA test will decide the fate of a near $1 million lottery prize after a Thai teacher said he lost the winning tickets which were later claimed by an ex-cop. A bitter legal wrangle unfolded after 50-year-old teacher Preecha Kraikruan filed a complaint that he had lost the five lottery tickets which won a
draw last month. Authorities discovered the 30 million baht ($920,000) prize had already been collected by retired policemen Charoon Wimon, 62, in western Kanchanaburi province. With both parties claiming the cash is rightfully theirs, forensic police are now stepping in to determine whose finger prints
match the ticket stubs. “No one has been charged yet in this case as we have to wait for the DNA test results,” Krissana Sapdet, deputy Kanchanaburi provincial police commander, told AFP. A forensic official with the justice department said the results are expected next month.
The government-run lottery, which is drawn twice a month, has a fanatical following in a kingdom where nearly all other forms of gambling are banned. Many punters in the superstitious country turn to “lottery numerologists” to choose ticket numbers, often linked to special dates or other auspicious events.
heard how Soper’s victims were subjected to sadistic beatings for “fake reasons” including kicking a football “in the wrong direction”, “failing to use double margins” and “using the (wrong) staircase”, leading to a caning and a sexual assault. Giving evidence, Soper denied using the cane as a ruse to abuse boys who were given the choice of six lashes with trousers on, or three with them off. “Soper abused his position of trust as headmaster of a middle school over a sustained period of time,” police Detective Superintendent Ang Scott said after the sentencing. “Throughout the investigation he has attempted to evade justice by leaving the UK and then failing to answer his bail.”Speaking of the victims, he said: “Although it can never make up for the emotional and psychological trauma caused by Soper’s crimes, I hope the sentence handed to him today can give them some form of closure.”
Issue - 752 (10)
Punjabi Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 27 yrs. old, 5'-9" tall, B. Pharmacy degree holder, cleanshaven, handsome, living in India, Manglik, down to earth, belongs to a very good, family. Looking for a Canadian immigrant/citizen, family oriented match. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to : sehgalsarabjeet@gmail.com or call :-011-91-89503-33393 ***752*** Ravidasia Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their dauthter, Canadian citzen, 36 yrs. old, 5'-3" tall, well educated working as a registered nurse. The boy should be professionally educated and employed, well settled, non-smoker, non-drinker & clean-shaven, Canadian citizen, 35-38 yrs. in age, preferably from GTA. Please respond with latest pictures and bio-data to : san1622002@yahoo.com or call :-647-293-6596 ***752*** Punjabi Brahmin parents looking for a suitable match for their Canadian born son, birth 1985, 6' tall, well educated in HR, settled in management job in a hotel, belongs to a well settled family. The girl should be born/ raised in Canada, Canadian immigrant/citizen and family oriented. Girl on student visa/ visitor visa may be considered. Please email your recent pictures and bio-data to : pvks18@gmail.com or call :-647631-5575 or 647-285-5575 (WhatsApp) ***752*** Sikh Saini parents seeking a suitable match for their daughter, 43 yrs. old, 5'-3" tall, looking much younger, M.Com. B.Ed., innocently divorced, having Italian PR, presently in Canada on visitor visa. Boy should be educated, well settled and with family values. Please response with latest pictures and bio-data to : saini4dj@gmail.com or call :-647-800-9066 ***752*** Tonk Kshatriya parents seeking a suitable match for their Canadian citizen daughter, 30 yrs. old, 5'-3" tall, B.Com, CGA/ CPA working with federal government. The boy should be clean-shaven, well educated, professionally settled and with family values. Boy on work permit may also be considered. Please email recent picture and bio-data to : jagsingh513@gmail.com or call :-416-722-9771 ***752*** Jat Sikh parents settled in California seek a suitable match for their US citizen, clean-shaven son, 1989 born, 5'-8" tall, B.Sc., working as software engineer. The girl should be educated and beautiful with good family values. Please send your bio-data and recent pictures to : dhaliwal2347@gmail.com or call :-1-916-233-6928 ***752*** Looking for Hindu Panjabi girl for
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
a handsome boy, 24 yrs. old, 5'11" tall, M.B.A, B.Tech., on visitor visa in Canada. The girl should be Canadian immigrant or citizen, educated, family oriented. Family is very well settled in Chandigarh. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to : bsandhu28@hotmail.com or call :-905-870-9345 or 647-904-3786 ***752*** Tonk Kshatriya parents seeking a suitable match for their Canadian citizen daughter, 30 yrs. old, 5'-3" tall, B.Com., CGA/ CPA working with federal government. The boy should be clean-shaven, well educated, professionally settled and with family values. Boy on work permit may also be considered. Please email recent picture and bio-data to : jagsingh513@gmail.com or call :-416-722-9771 ***752*** Jat Sikh Canadian immigrant male, well educated, 60 yrs. old, 5'-10" tall, retired, getting handsome pension, widower, owns good property in India. Two daughters happily married and settled in Canada. looking for a suitable, sincere and educated life partner. Caste no bar. Please call :-647-821-7170 ***752*** Jat Sikh family seeking a suitable match for their son, 29 yrs. old, 5'-8" tall, born in Canada, B.Sc. Nursing from Rayerson University Toronto, working in hospital as RN for last 6 yrs., earning $ 80,000 annually, clean-shaven, non-drinker, nonsmoker, owns a house in Toronto and also owns some rental properties. The girl should be well educated, beautiful and family oriented. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to : randhawa71@hotmail.com or call :-416-997-0560 ***752*** Well settled reputed Jat Sikh Bains family in USA, seeking a suitable match for their US citizen son, 27 yrs. old, 6'-1" tall, clean-shaven, family oriented, MBA degree in finance, running his successful business in hotels and motels. The girl should be USA/Canadian born, well qualified with balance or Indian and western values. Please email recent pictures and biodata to : jeetbains248@gmail.com or call :-1-775-722-1131 ***752*** NewYork based Jat Sikh family seek educated, well qualified Jat Sikh boy for their US born 26 yrs. old, 5'-3" tall Attorney daughter. Match must be based on NewYork, or willing to relocate to NewYork. Please email your recent pictures and bio-data to : jaswinder250@gmail.com or call :-1-718-839-3882 ***752*** Well settled Sikh parents seeking a suitable match for their son, 59 yrs. old, 6'-2" tall, deaf, well settled plumber and gas fitter, non-drinker and skilled.
Looking for a deaf match from Canada, between 50-60 yrs. of age without kids. Caste no bar. Please contact father (Hardev Singh) at :- Ph. No. 1-604-3021933 or 1-604-226-1955 ***752*** Jat Sikh family Seek a suitable match for their daughter, 34 yrs. old, 6' tall, well versed in both cultures, born & raised in Canada, doctor (MD), employed in the USA till 2018 and maybe beyond. Please send your biodata & recent picture to: B200348@gmail.com or call: 1(519) 351-8043 ***752*** Jat Sikh family invites matrimonial alliance for their daughter,35yrs old., 5'2"tall,beautiful,master's in human rights,fluent in English,living in India.The boy should be American citizen,wellsettled,professional / business owner and family oriented.Please send your biodata &recent picture to :spk94587@yahoo.com or call (510)329-6644 ***752*** A very respectable and well settled Jatt Sikh family in California seek a suitable match for their handsome, US citizen(India born), UCLA graduate son, working in Mortgage/Real Estate business and pursuing Master's degree. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: nsranu@yahoo.com or call: 1559-301-7276 ***752*** Well established Jat Sikh family seeking a match for their Canadian born daughter, 27 yrs. old, 5'-4" tall, beautiful, athletic with down to earth values. Dentist (Doctor), all education from private schools and top ranking Canadian University, Gold Midlist and well versed in Punjabi language as well. Seeking Professional respondent only from Canada. Brother is also Dentist Doctor in Canada. Please respond with recent pictures and bio-data to : jsvancouver76@gmail.com ***752*** Jat Sikh family seek a suitable match for their son, 30 yrs. old, 5'-8" tall, B.Com, M.B.A, only son of Army officer, having rural and urban property,18 Acres Agriculture land, Canadian immigrant, house in Brampton & Jalandhar, owns transport company, two elder sister are married. Student/visitors visa/ work permit can be considered. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to : gurjitsinghk@yahoo.com or call :-905-267-1264 or 437-352-0052 ***752*** Professionally qualified match for Jat Sikh boy, Canadian citizen, February 89 born, 5’-9" tall, non-drinker, non-smoker, family oriented, Masters in Computer Engineering from Ryerson University, employed with reputed Company in GTA . Family is well educated, well
settled in GTA since 2007 on point system. The girl should be Canadian immigrant or citizen, University graduate with good family background and values. Please Email your bio-data & recent picture to: bainsps@gmail.com or call: 289-948-0753 or 747-9738665 ***752*** Well educated Kamboj Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, born 1989, 5’-11" tall, clean shaven, Canadian Citizen, Bachelor of Engineering (Canada), working as Engineer in Toronto. The girl should be beautiful, educated, family oriented, and well versed in both cultures. Caste no bar. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: kscivil@hotmail.com ***752*** USA/Canada match for nondrinker, non-smoker Canadian citizen Jat Sikh boy 30 yrs 6’1" (Bachelors Masters in Engineering University of Waterloo) employed as Design Engineer with an American global automaker in Detroit Michigan USA. Respond with photo: sikhengineering@gmail.com ***752*** Well settled family living in California Hayward Bay Area seek a suitable match for Indiaborn son living in USA, 26 yrs. old ( June 28th 1991), 6’-1" tall, graduate . The girl should be educated , family oriented and US settled. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to : paritosh.91@gmail.com or call:1- 510-712-4411 or 1-510415-5772 ***752*** Sikh Parents seek a suitable match for their beautiful, tall, slim, professionally qualified and settled Canadian citizen daughter 41 yrs (looks far younger), 5’-4’’ tall, innocently divorced (no issue). Well versed in both cultures. The boy must be educated, well settled and preferably Canadian resident. Visitor visa can also apply. Caste immaterial. Please respond with biodata and picture at: maymatrimonial2014 @gmail.com or call at 416-8488457 ***752*** Match for Jat Sikh girl 1991 born, 5’-1" tall, presently living in Punjab. Currently pursuing M.Sc Nursing, convent educated. The boy should be green card holder or US citizen educated with family values. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to: match41991@gmail.com or call:1- 989-971-9868(USA) or 9855180805 (Ind) ***752*** Well established Jat Sikh family of professionals, business owners in the USA for over 50 years seeking match for our beautiful daughter, 27yrs old, 5'11" tall. Very athletic, with down to earth values, currently in her last year of a Pediatric Dental
Residency. Seeking professional respondents only from USA/Canada/Europe. Please send full bio and recent photo to: jcsingh82@gmail.com ***752*** Jat Sikh Mangat parents invite a matrimonial alliance for their daughter, 31 yrs. old, 5’2" tall, M. Sc. (IT) and database Management degree holder, currently on work permit in Canada and settled in a good job. The boy should be Canadian immigrant/citizen, well educated, and settled from Toronto area, only. Please call :-905-230-7923 ***752*** Jat Sikh family seek a sauitable match for their daughter, 1986 born, 5'-6" tall, professionally educated, working in medical field, born and raised in Canada. The boy should be Canadian, professionally qualified and employed. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to : minder0677@gmail.com or call :-416-564-0617 ***752*** Suitable match for US citizen, Jatt Sikh boy, 36 yrs. old, 6'-2" tall, running his own successful business in California. The girl should be beautiful, atleast 5'6" tall, and family oriented. Girl on H1/Student visa holder may also be considered. Please email your recent picture and bio-data to : bal_ajaypalsingh@yahoo.com or call :-011-91-98151-22124 ***752*** Ramgarhia Sikh family seeking a suitable match for their son, 26 yrs. old, 5'-8" tall, Mechanical Engineering degree holder, running his own business in Auto parts, living in India. The girl should be Canadian/American, immigrant/ citizen, educated, family oriented. The boy’s meternal aunt (Bhua Ji) in well settled in Americaa. Caste no bar. Please call :-1-929-278-4640 ***752*** Jatt Sikh parents looking for a suitable match for their daughter, 30 yrs. old, 5'-4" tall, Canadian citizen, Master’s degree from Punjab govt college Ludhiana, working full time. The boy should be well educated, between 29-33 yrs. of age, nonsmoker. boy on Student visawork permit/visitor may also be considered. Please email your recent picture and bio-data to : jaupjitjohal@live.ca or call :905-462-2353 or 416-877-0602 ***752*** Jat Sikh Sidhu family seek a suitable match for their son, 29 yrs. old, 6' tall Canadian citizen, Bachelor’s in computer application, working in I.T field. The girl should be Canadian immigrant or citizen equally qualified, well settled, beautiful, having good family values. Ontario preferred Please send your bio-data & recent picture to : sidhu582010@gmail.com or call :-647-720-7571 (whatsApp) ***752***
Issue - 752 (11)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
2017 Mexico’s most violent US ambassador caught out over ‘fake news’ jibe year in two decades MEXICO CITY 2017 was Mexico’s most violent year in two decades, with 23,101 murders carried out between January and November, according to official figures released Friday. The number of murders in the first 11 months of this year
surpassed the previous record of 22,409 killings during the whole of 2011. In November alone, 2,212 murders were recorded while 2,380 killings were carried out in October, making it the most violent month since the authorities began keeping records two decades ago. Violence has surged across Mexico over the last decade after former president Felipe
Calderon’s government declared war against the country’s powerful drug cartels in late 2006. Some 190,000 people have died in drug related violence since then. This year, the killings spread to states which had previously escaped clashes between
cartels - including Baja California Sur, a northwestern state popular with tourists where the murder rate has more than doubled from last year’s total. According to experts, this year’s considerable increase in violence is the result of cartels fragmenting into smaller, more brutal cells. Former Drug Enforcement Administration agent Mike Vigil
Visa denied to 192 Pak pilgrims for Urs
Islamabad Pakistan on Saturday claimed India had denied visas to nearly 200 pilgrims who wanted to visit the country to participate in the death anniversary ceremony of Hazrat Khawaja Nizamuddin Auliya. The Foreign Office said in a statement that “Pakistan regrets the last-minute
postponement and non-issuance of visas by India” for the visit of 192 devotees to participate in the Urs ceremony (death anniversary) in New Delhi from January 1-8. The visit was to take place under the provisions of the 1974 Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines and is an annual feature.
told AFP that cartels have started to fight for territory to grow illicit crops - while a weak police force and rampant corruption further fuel the problem. Semaforo Delictivo, a civil society project promoting peace in Mexico, in October said the high murder rate reflected a lack of action by the authorities and a “failure” of their anti-crime strategy. In a bid to address the issue, Mexico’s congress last week approved a controversial internal security law that would formalize the military’s role in domestic security. The move drew criticism from rights groups concerned about the militarization of the country while UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein said earlier this month it “risks weakening incentives for the civilian authorities to fully assume their law enforcement roles.” “More than a decade after the armed forces were deployed in the so-called war on drugs, violence has not abated and many human rights violations and abuses ... continue to be committed by various state and non-state actors,” he said in a statement.
Man accused of rigging door to electrocute pregnant wife Florida : A Florida man is accused of rigging the front door of a home in an attempt to electrocute his estranged pregnant wife. In a Facebook post Friday, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staley called the case one of the “most bizarre domestic violence cases” he’s seen. Officials said 32-year-old Michael Scott Wilson was arrested Thursday in Knoxville, Tennessee, and charged with attempted aggravated battery on a pregnant woman and grand theft of a firearm. He’s being held on a $150,000 bond and will be extradited to Florida. It’s unclear if he has an attorney. The woman’s father called deputies after Wilson made suspicious statements about keeping children away from the door.
WASHINGTON The new US ambassador to the Netherlands accused an interviewer of peddling “fake news” and disputed comments he made in 2015 about the country being in “chaos” because of Muslims, only to then deny using the “fake news” claim in a bizarre exchange on Dutch television on Friday. Pete Hoekstra made the blunder while being questioned by a journalist from Dutch broadcaster NOS over remarks made at a 2015 conference. When challenged by the reporter about comments he made at the 2015 event, in which he referred to “chaos” and “no-go zones” in the Netherlands, Hoekstra responded: “That is actually an incorrect statement - we would call it fake news. “I never said that.”But in a clip played from the event, Hoekstra can be heard saying: “The Islamic movement has now gotten to a point where they have put
Europe into chaos. Chaos in the Netherlands, there are cars being burned, there are politicians that are being burned.” “And yes, there are no-go zones in the Netherlands,” he added. When pressed further during the interview, the ambassador then denied accusing his interviewer of “fake news” altogether. “I didn’t call that fake news,” Hoekstra said. “I didn’t use the words today. I don’t think I did.” Footage of the exchange, which appeared on Dutch current affairs program Nieuwsuur, has been widely circulated on social media.NOS interviewer Wouter Zwart later told CNN that Hoekstra said the “no-go zones” comment was intended to refer to “a broader context of European problems with ‘those areas.’” Hoekstra - a Dutch-American and former representative for Michigan - was sworn into his new position as ambassador on December 11.
Pak lawmaker calls for Doraemon ban to be fully implemented
Indian-origin doctor accused of reusing one-use anal catheters on patients East Brunswick (New Jersey) A New Jersey surgeon’s medical license has been temporarily suspended for allegedly reusing disposable anal catheters on multiple patients.Attorney general Christopher Porrino says East Brunswick-based colon and rectal surgeon Sanjiv Patankar allegedly washed and reused the one-use catheters that are inserted into patients during medical procedures.State officials say they have evidence that Patankar ordered only five catheters during time when he performed 82 procedures
requiring them.The state Board of Medical Examiners unanimously voted to suspend
the doctor’s license last week, saying he “placed patients in clear and imminent danger.”
Islamabad A Pakistani lawmaker has demanded that the government ensure that the ban on Japanese cartoon Doraemon be implemented fully because it has a “negative” impact on society. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) legislator Dr Murad Rass made this demand through a resolution submitted in the Punjab assembly. He claimed that some cable operators and TV channels were running dramas and Doraemon cartoons despite a ban in Pakistan.
“Children are an easy target of Doraemon cartoon. These cartoons are having a negative impact on the educational and physical well-being of children,” he said. “These dramas and cartoons are having a negative impact on Pakistani children.” He said the authorities concerned were playing the role of silent spectators. He said that more opportunities should be created for the talented youths so that they produced cartoons for our children. “There is no dearth of talented people in the country.”
Issue - 752 (12)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Istanbul court orders release of German reporter ISTANBUL A Turkish court on Monday ordered the release under judicial control of a German journalist held for over half a year on charges of membership in a banned radical leftist group, in a case that raised tensions with
Berlin.The judge ruled that 33year-old Mesale Tolu, who was initially detained in late April, would be released with the other five remaining detainees in the case, the Law Office of the Oppressed, which is representing her, announced on Twitter. The ruling came after a prosecutor requested at the start of Monday’s hearing that Tolu and the five others be set free. Tolu is charged with membership in the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP), which is banned in Turkey as a terror group.“She was ordered to be released under judicial control,” her lawyer Kader Tonc told AFP. That means she should walk free from prison later Monday after completing the formalities, but she remains charged and on trial. Tolu will have to report to the authorities every week and cannot leave the country.
“We welcome this with joy and relief, even if the proceedings against her are not over,” said German foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr. “It’s a first step.” Her case was one of many thorny issues that have stoked tensions
between NATO allies Turkey and Germany over recent months. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was not totally good news because Tolu remained charged under the terms of her release. “On the one hand it’s good news as she will be freed. But on the other hand it’s not completely good news because she cannot leave the country and because the trial is ongoing,” the
chancellor said. Her spokesman Steffen Seibert said: “It’s too early to make conclusions on how relations between Germany and Turkey will evolve.” Tolu, who worked as a reporter and translator for the leftwing ETHA news agency, told the Istanbul court that she was detained as part a crackdown on freedom of press in Turkey. “A fair verdict to be delivered by the judiciary will ease the conscience of the public opinion,” she said at the hearing. Tolu had initially been in jail together with her three-year-old son. Her husband Suat Corlu, who was also jailed on terrorism charges, was released in late November. Tolu is one of several German nationals detained under the state of emergency laws imposed in Turkey after the failed coup attempt last year, in a crackdown Berlin has criticised as excessive. After the latest release, eight Germans remain behind bars in Turkey, including most prominently the Die Welt newspaper correspondent Deniz Yucel, who was arrested in February. Berlin says Yucel and others are being held for political reasons.
HK woman ordered to pay abused maid $100,000 HONG KONG: A Hong Kong woman jailed for six years for starving and beating her Indonesian domestic helper was ordered by a court on Thursday to pay more than $100,000 in damages for the “inhumane” abuse. Law Wan-tung was convicted of grievous bodily harm, assault, criminal intimidation and failure to pay wages in 2015 and is still serving a jail term after losing an appeal. The plight of her former helper, Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, and pictures of the injuries she suffered made her the face of a movement determined to force change for Hong Kong’s army of helpers. More than 340,000 domestic helpers, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia, work in Hong Kong, often performing menial tasks for low wages while being forced to live in poor conditions.
Malaysian transgender conversion plan sparks alarm
Kuala Lumpur A Malaysian state plans to run a conversion therapy course aimed at transgender women, officials said Saturday, sparking alarm among LGBT activists in the conservative Muslim-majority country.The course would run over several days next year after authorities had completed a survey of the transgender population, a Terengganu state official said.Participation in the course would be voluntary, Ghazali said, adding that the programme would include medical, psychological and religious experts, as well as transgender women who have “returned to normal lives”. “Transgender women are part of our society.... They are our responsibility,” Terengganu executive council member Ghazali Taib told AFP. “At the end, it is up to them to make a choice. The government’s concept is not (to) force. (We) give them a path to make the best choices for their lives,” he said. A Human Rights Watch report in 2017 wrote that discrimination
against LGBT people was “pervasive” in Malaysia, where there are laws against sodomy, with offenders facing jail time and whipping.LGBT activists condemned the government’s plans. “If you ask someone not to be themselves that will have an adverse impact on the health and-well being of the person,” Thilaga Sulathireh, co-founder of transgender activist group Justice for Sisters, said. Leading transgender activist Nisha Ayub said courses such as these would only deepen the community’s isolation. “They’re looking more to... corrective therapy, which violates everyone’s rights in so many ways,” she said. “If (transgenders)...feel that they cannot change themselves, they will feel like outcasts from society,” she added. There are no official figures on transgenders in Malaysia, though a health ministry document estimated that the country was home to about 24,000 transgender sex workers as of 2014.
UK Set to Introduce New Immigration Policy, Eases Norms For Students to Get Work Visa
Swiss govt opposes push for national burqa ban GENEVA The Swiss government on Wednesday opposed an initiative aimed at creating a nationwide burqa ban, saying it was up to the regions to
determine if such a ban was appropriate.Swiss voters will eventually be called to vote on the initiative “Yes to a ban on face coverings”, presented last September by a committee run by a member of the populist rightwing Swiss People’s Party. No date has yet been set for when the Swiss will be called to the polls on the issue, but popular votes on a vast range of topics take place every few months as part of Switzerland’s
system of direct democracy. With its announcement Wednesday, the government, or Federal Council, signalled its clear opposition to the so-called burqa ban initiative, and
presented a counter measure to compete with it at the polls. The government “believes it is up to the cantons to determine any possible bans on face coverings in public spaces,” it said in a statement.At the national level, meanwhile, it said it favoured an alternative ban, making it “punishable to force a person to cover their face.” Although the government did not explicitly mention the full-face Islamic veil, it explicitly said the
law it was proposing was aimed at showing that Switzerland “does not tolerate coercion of women.” “No woman should be forced to cover her face.” The government’s proposal also stipulated that any contact with Swiss authorities should be done “with an uncovered face, to ensure they know who they are dealing with.” The so-called burqa ban initiative, which garnered more than the required 100,000 signatures for a topic to be put to a popular vote, meanwhile goes much further. It would ban anyone from covering their face in a public space or in a space generally accessible by the public. The committee behind the initiative was also behind the controversial and ultimately successful 2009 campaign to ban the building of new mosque minarets in Switzerland. Several Swiss cantons have already voted on regional burqa bans, with a handful, including Zurich, rejecting such a move, and the cantons of Ticino and St. Gallen voting in favour.
London From January 11, next year, students will be able to apply for the Tier-2 visa or skilled worker visa as soon as they complete their course. The new immigration policy rules in the United Kingdom will be introduced from Jan 11. The current rules allowed them to apply for the work visa only after they have obtained a degree. “The new rule will enable them to apply for a Tier-2 visa a few months earlier than what would otherwise have been possible,” a newsletter by EY-UK explained. London mayor Sadiq Khan, in his blueprint “Immigration, a future approach” had pointed out at the decreasing
number of foreign students applying for work visas in the United Kingdom. Khan had also suggested that the post-study work visa should be distinct from the Tier-2 and should allow students for work in the United Kingdom for 12-24 months after completing their course. The change in the immigration rules was a result of dialogue between UK universities and the government, a report said. The current policy hampered the students’ ability to look for a job in the United Kingdom and would have to return to their countries if they don’t get a job. The students will also have to keep a watch on the impact of Brexit on the work visas.
Issue - 752 (13)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Australian gran escapes death in drugs case 6 bodies found hanging SHAH ALAM An Australian grandmother who said she was tricked into carrying drugs into Malaysia after falling for an online romance scam was Wednesday cleared of trafficking, a crime punishable by death. Maria Elvira Pinto
Exposto wept and hugged her son after being found not guilty of smuggling crystal methamphetamine, a rare outcome in a country where hundreds of people have been sentenced to death for drugs offences in recent years. “I’m happy now that I’m free,” said the 54-year-old, as she was ushered out of the courtroom after the verdict. But prosecutors have indicated they want to appeal the acquittal, her lawyer said, meaning Exposto won’t be able
to go back home yet and there is still a chance she could be sentenced to death. She was arrested in December 2014 while in transit at Kuala Lumpur airport with 1.1 kilos (2.4 pounds) of the drug stitched into the compartment of a backpack
she was carrying. The mother of four argued she did not know about the hidden stash of “ice”. She said she had been fooled into carrying the bag after travelling to China to see someone she met online called “Captain Daniel Smith”, who had claimed to be a US serviceman. Anyone caught with at least 50 grams (1.75 ounces) of crystal meth is considered a trafficker in Muslim-majority Malaysia, and death by hanging is mandatory in the case of a conviction.
However handing down his verdict at the High Court in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur, Judge Ghazali Cha accepted the defence’s argument that Exposto did not know the bag contained drugs and acquitted her. “I agree with the defence lawyer that the accused did not have knowledge about the drugs,” he said.“I believe that at that time her (Exposto) feelings of love towards ‘Captain Daniel Smith’ overcame everything, including her own husband, her family and her future.” Exposto’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah welcomed the verdict but said he was surprised at prosecutors’ intention to appeal as the judge had sided firmly with the defence. Prosecutors have 14 days to lodge the challenge. After engaging in a long online romance, Exposto had travelled to Shanghai to see “Smith”. But she did not succeed in meeting her supposed love interest while there and ended up being given a bag by a stranger, who asked her to take it to Melbourne. When she arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport to change flights, she mistakenly went through immigration as she was unfamiliar with the airport. She voluntarily offered her bags for customs inspection and the drugs were discovered.
Extra charges dropped against Myanmar journalists YANGON Foreign and local journalists jailed for flying a drone near Myanmar’s parliament could be released from prison in early January after police dropped additional charges that carried at least three more years behind bars, their lawyers said Tuesday. Lau Hon Meng from Singapore and Mok Choy Lin from Malaysia, who were on assignment for Turkish state broadcaster TRT, were detained late October along with Myanmar journalist Aung Naing Soe and driver Hla Tin while shooting a documentary in the capital Naypyidaw. Expecting to receive a fine, they confessed to flying the drone but were instead sentenced to two months in jail under Myanmar’s aircraft act. They faced an additional three years after being accused of violating Myanmar’s importexport law, while the two foreign journalists were also charged with immigration offences that carried a maximum five-year prison term. But police dropped those extra charges “as the defendants didn’t compromise state security”, defence lawyer Khin Maung Zaw told AFP on
Tuesday. The judge is now expected to dismiss the case at the next hearing on Thursday, which would allow the journalists to be released in early January when they complete their initial twomonth sentence. “The outlook is good,” Aung Myo Kyaw, the lawyer for Mok Choy Lin, told AFP when asked whether the journalists would be released soon. The reporters’ arrests came as Myanmar faces intense global scrutiny over a military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims that UN officials say amounts to ethnic cleansing and possibly genocide. Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan has led some of the sharpest international criticism of the crisis, which has forced some 655,000 Rohingya to flee across the border to Bangladesh since late August. TRT has not confirmed the subject of the documentary but said the reporters told Myanmar’s Ministry of Information about their filming plans in advance. Their arrests also sparked alarm over deteriorating press freedom in Myanmar, where two local journalists working for Reuters have been held incommunicado for two weeks after they were arrested for allegedly possessing classified documents. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have not been allowed any contact with families, lawyers or colleagues and could face a maximum sentence of 14 years in jail if convicted.
from bridges in Mexico
LA PAZ, Mexico Six bodies were found hanging from bridges Wednesday in Mexico’s Baja California, a region known for its pristine beaches and popular with foreign tourists, authorities said. Grisly killings were once rare in the country’s tourism hotspots but have risen in recent years as organized crime has grown. The bodies were discovered along highways leading to international airports in La Paz, San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, nicknamed the Los Cabos area. It is a massive international Pacific resort area popular with Americans, Canadians and Europeans.
The bodies were spread across three bridges, two on each, the local prosecutor said. The victims have not yet been identified. A total of 409 people were murdered in the area from January through October - more than double for all of 2016. Drug gangs are fighting over routes on which they move drugs to the United States, as well as over turf on which they sell drugs to tourists from overseas. More than 196,000 people have been killed in Mexico since late 2006 when the federal government launched a controversial military-led antidrug offensive.
Tendulkar finishes speech online after chaos in House
NEW DELHI Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar on Friday resorted to Facebook to finish his muchanticipated maiden speech as a parliamentarian after his first attempt was thwarted by chaotic scenes in the upper house. The “little master”, widely revered as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, rose to his feet Thursday in India’s parliament to give his inaugural address since being awarded an honorary seat in 2012. But the 44-year-old’s god-like status in India meant little in the chamber, where he was drowned out by feuding politicians who forced parliament to adjourn just as Tendulkar was finding his stride. “Sachin out for duck in Rajya Sabha,” ran a headline in The Hindu newspaper on Friday, using the Hindi name for India’s
upper house. The cricket icon Friday finished his speech through his Facebook page, which is followed by roughly 28 million fans. Tendulkar made reference to the false start before picking up where he left off, imploring Indians to take up a sport to improve their health. “Being a sportsman, I will talk about health, sports and fitness of India, for it has a telling impact on our economy,” he said. Tendulkar’s decision to accept the nomination for the upper house seat - one of 12 reserved for Indians with distinguished records - caused some surprise, and his patchy attendance has been criticised. The highest run-scorer of all time in both Test matches and oneday internationals, Tendulkar retired after playing in 200 Tests, in which he scored 15,921 runs.
Issue - 752 (14)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Japanese researchers discover self-healing glass TOKYO A Japanese researcher has developed - by accident- a new type of glass that can be repaired simply by pressing it back together after it cracks.
and in fact, not in the near future. But it does open a window of opportunity for researchers to explore ways to make more durable, lightweight, glasslike items, like car
The discovery opens the way for super-durable glass that could triple the lifespan of everyday products like car windows, construction materials, fish tanks and even toilet seats. Yu Yanagisawa, a chemistry researcher at the University of Tokyo, made the breakthrough by chance while investigating adhesives that can be used on wet surfaces. Does this mean you will soon be able to repair those cracks in your smartphone with a quick press of the fingers? Or surreptitiously piece together a shattered beer glass dropped after one pint too many? Well, not quite. Not now
windows. In a lab demonstration for AFP, Yanagisawa broke a glass sample into two pieces. He then held the cross sections of the two pieces together for about 30 seconds until the glass repaired itself, almost resembling its original form. To demonstrate its strength, he then hung a nearly full bottle of water from the piece of glass and it stayed intact. The organic glass, made of a substance called polyether thioureas, is closer to acrylic than mineral glass, which is used for tableware and smartphone screens.
Other scientists have demonstrated similar properties by using rubber or gel materials but Yanagisawa was the first to demonstrate the selfhealing concept with glass. The secret lies in the thiourea, which uses hydrogen bonding to make the edges of the shattered glass self-adhesive, according to Yanagisawa’s study. But what use is all this if it cannot produce a selfhealing smartphone screen? “It is not realistically about fixing what is broken, more about making longerlasting resin glass,” Yanagisawa told AFP. Glass products can fracture after years of use due to physical stress and fatigue. “When a material breaks, it has already had many tiny scars that have accumulated to result in major destruction,” Yanagisawa said. “What this study showed was a path toward making a safe and long-lasting resin glass”, which is used in a wide range of everyday items. “We may be able to double or triple the lifespan of something that currently lasts for 10 or 20 years”, he said.
Croat woman jailed for wartime torture, killing SARAJEVO A Bosnian court Wednesday sentenced a Croat female former soldier to 14 years in jail for crimes including torture, the heaviest sentence handed
war crimes against ethnic Serb civilians detained by Croat forces in April 1992 in the region of the northern town of Derventa. Sentencing her, judge Sead Djikic stressed the
down against a woman for atrocities committed during Bosnia’s 1990s conflict. Azra Basic, 58, was extradited to Bosnia in late 2016 by the United States where she emigrated after the 1992-1995 war. She was arrested in 2011 on a Bosnian warrant and her trial opened in January. Basic was found guilty of
“defendant’s particular cruelty” in committing the crimes. Described by some witnesses as the “mistress of life and death” during the war that claimed nearly 100,000 lives, Basic was found guilty notably of killing a detainee. While Blagoje Djuras was on his knees after being beaten, and held by two other detainees, Basic
approached him “with a knife in her hand which she stabbed in his neck,” the judge said. She also tortured a dozen other detainees, alone or with other military personnel, kicking and punching them or even hitting them with a baseball bat. She inscribed crosses with a knife on their backs and foreheads, the judge said. Basic is among around a dozen woman indicted for or convicted of crimes committed during Bosnia’s inter-ethnic war. Bosnian and international courts condemned several hundred men for war crimes during the 19921995 conflict. Former Bosnian Serb vicepresident Biljana Plavsic, 87, remains the most famous woman war criminal from the former Yugoslavia. Plavsic, the only woman tried before the UN war crimes court in The Hague, was sentenced to 11 years in jail in 2003, after pleading guilty.
Bono, ex-Suu Kyi supporter, asks her to quit NEW YORK U2 frontman Bono, a leading campaigner for Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi when she was under house arrest, has called on her to resign over the deadly campaign against Rohingya Muslims. The singer - who championed Suu Kyi in the 2000 U2 song “Walk On,” with fans encouraged to wear masks of the then opposition leader when the band played it live - said he felt “nauseated” by images of the bloodshed and refugee crisis.“I have genuinely felt ill, because I can’t quite believe what the evidence all points to. But there is ethnic cleansing,” he told Rolling Stone magazine in its latest issue. “It really is happening, and she has to step down because she knows it’s happening,” Bono said,Pressed on his remarks in the interview conducted by Rolling Stone’s founder, Jann Wenner, Bono said: “She should, at the very least, be speaking out more. And if people don’t listen, then resign.”The United Nations and the United States have also described Myanmar’s
campaign against the stateless, mostly Muslim Rohingya people as ethnic cleansing. Doctors Without Borders said that at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in the first month of sweeps on
since been outraged by her reticence in addressing the anti-Rohingya campaign. Some experts believe Suu Kyi has made a calculated decision not to take the political risks of speaking
villages launched in response to rebel attacks. Another 655,000 Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh.Suu Kyi, the winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, enjoyed wide support from celebrities as she spent most of two decades under house arrest on orders of Myanmar’s military junta. Myanmar’s transition to democracy and Suu Kyi’s elevation last year to de facto leader initially delighted human rights groups, but they have
out as the Rohingya are widely despised in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, and in any case she does not control the military.Bono said of Suu Kyi’s possible reasoning: “Maybe it’s that she doesn’t want to lose the country back to the military. But she already has, if the pictures are what we go by, anyway.” Earlier this month Dublin, Bono’s hometown, revoked a city award given to Suu Kyi to protest her handling of the violence.
Issue 752 (15)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Fun on the run
I Chakravorty T’S the vacation cracker you were probably looking for. Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle reloads the innocent fun of the 1995 original, adding an impish twist to the humour, as action superstar Dwayne Johnson matches comic timing with Jack Black and Kevin Hart. Jumanji 2017 only gives a faint nod to the original film that starred late comic icon Robin William, to justify its sales pitch as a sequel. Twenty-two years later, CGI and other techspecs get a sexed-up edge, and the casting cocktail of Johnson with Jack and Hart cleverly positions the Christmas season release as a saleable yearend biggie the world over. There is an unpretentious streak about this sequel that impresses. The film clicks because it entertains without trying hard to reorganise the dynamics that worked the first time around. Instead, Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle smartly takes tested material and amps it just right to suit GenNow tastes. For Dwayne Johnson, this film should do much more to position him as a comic action star than the utterly messed-up Baywatch did earlier this year. Also, Johnson has been
Vinayak Chakravorty
By
Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Bobby Cannavale, Alex Wolff, Rhys Darby Direction: Jake Kasdan eyeing a lucrative fantasy-action-comedy franchise for long, not very credibly with films such as Race To The Witch Mountain and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. Jumanji 2017 might have just done the trick. He seems to have kicked off a merry franchise for himself with this one. A generic plot unfolds as four highschool friends come across an old video game console. The game, Jumanji, sucks them in when they start playing it. The setting of the game is a jungle (the film has been spectacularly shot in Hawaiian wilds) and the
Quickies Short film round-up
The Good Cast: Plabita Borthakur, Gurdeep Kohli Direction: Ritesh Menon
YOUNG Appu (Plabita Borthakur) is quietly undergoing a pregnancy test in the bathroom when her mother (Gurdeep Kohli) barges in with a stack of clothes to wash, and discovers to her horror what her “good girl” is up to. Ritesh Menon’s film takes just around 11 minutes to make a few subtle but interesting comments on the subjects of womanhood and what it means for a girl to become an adult.
four teenagers discover they have been transformed into Jumanji characters. The average-built Spencer becomes a hunky explorer (Dwayne Johnson), his beefy buddy Fridge ends up a puny zoologist (Kevin Hart), heartthrob of the campus Bethany becomes a potbellied male professor (Jack Black), and the very shy Martha morphs into a sexy cool fighter (Karen Gillan). Rules of the game are simple: Each player gets three lives. Three ‘deaths’ mean they actually die. The evil explorer van Pelt (Bobby Cannavale) has laid his hands on Jaguar’s Eye, which lets him control beasts of the jungle. The four players must retrieve Jaguar’s Eye and restore it to the gigantic jaguar statue atop a hill, if they must return home. Jumanji 1995 was no classic but, ditsy as it was, the film had a nonstop quota of thrills. For fans of that film, the sequel does enough to evoke nostalgia, without getting overawed by the original’s wonky originality. Playing out with video-game vim, this one is worth checking out for some fun on the run, without actually hitting the gaming console.
Plabita, who impressed all with her performance in the feature film Lipstick Under My Burkha earlier this year, scores with a winsome act as Appu while Gurdeep Kohli as the shellshocked mother balances the nuances of her character admirably. The mother-daughter chemistry the actors share makes this film special
Cot Cast: Manjari Fadnis, Rahul Bagga Direction: Gaurav Bakshi THE comic short film is about a newlymarried couple whose zest for good sex is marred by their squeaking cot. The
husband becomes conscious because they live in a small rented apartment with his parents. He begins to imagine the entire world is hearing and spying on them whenever they start making love. Gaurav Bakshi’s film, with a runtime of just over 16 minutes, manages to address the issue of lack of privacy for young urban couple with tongue-in-cheek humour. The film is enjoyable but tighter editing would have helped. — Vinayak Chakravorty
Issue 752 (16)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
I’ve Not Struggled In Showbiz: Ayesha Jhulka Actress Ayesha Jhulka, who is making her Bollywood comeback after seven years with Anil Sharmas “Genius”, says she has survived in the entertainment industry on her own terms and conditions, and never struggled because of work. Ayesha, 45, is often remembered for her roles in films like “Kurbaan”, “Khiladi”, “Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar”, “Waqt Hamara Hai” and “Masoom”. She was last seen in “ADA...A Way of Life” in 2010. “I have been very lucky that I have not struggled in the industry and never wanted to. So, I didn’t want to be kicked out of the industry. I was a little selfish that way. I wanted to leave it on my own terms, and it is very difficult to say no when you are doing really well,” Ayesha told IANS in an email interview. “When I got married (to Sameer Vashi), I wanted to lead a civilian’s life and wanted to see the other side of the world. As I started working at a very young age (in 1983), for many years, I just worked. “After a point I wanted to enjoy my life, I wanted to party with my friends and do lot of things for which I have to thank my husband, who has opened that world for me which I have been enjoying all these years,” she added. During her break, Ayesha also went through harsh times. “I was bed-ridden for some time because I had a slip disc problem. Because of that, I had gained a lot of weight which I’m losing now. So, I took a break,” she said. Why
she chose “Genius” for her Bollywood comeback? Ayesha explained: “I have not been doing much work because I felt something really nice would comes my way. I signed ‘Genius’ out of respect and
he (Anil Sharma) really wanted me to do this film. After seven years I have signed a film. We shot in Mauritius and we have few days schedule left which we will shoot in Mumbai.” She says it was “out of choice” that she didn’t work in films and decided to focus on her personal life. “I love the film industry
and want to do good work that comes my way. I have been getting lots of offers from television but I’m conditioned to doing films — I don’t know how it would be as it is about commitment and I’m a little scared to make that,” she said. Starting off as a child artiste in the 1983 film “Kaise Kaise Log”, Ayesha said acting was always in her wish list. “I was a movie buff since my childhood days. My mother used to scold me that there is a particular time to watch TV. But my father is from the Air Force, so I grew up liberally.” “I think acting came to me naturally as I used to spend a lot time in front of the mirror wrapping my mother’s scarf around me and enacting the scenes from the movies,” she said. One film, which is close to Ayesha’s heart is “Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar”. The movie has completed 25 years since its release in 1992. It also featured superstar Aamir Khan. “There are so many people, who have told me that — the cycle race, the ragging, the way everyone used to talk, the tendency of people to pull the other person down to be at the top — everything is relatable.” “It has been happening in the college days and hostels. It is still happening so I think it is a very youth-oriented film. Youngsters still come to me and say that they have watched the film and they loved it. So, I feel really proud that I was a part of this film,” Ayesha said. “Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar” will be aired on &pictures on January 1, 2018.
Priyanka Chopra Absolutely Loves This Movie Of Shah Rukh Khan
While on the set of India’s Next Superstars, Priyanka Chopra mentioned that Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) is one of her favourite films. She particularly likes the scene in which Karan Johar goes to Amrish Puri’s shop and gets punched by Shah Rukh Khan. At PeeCee’s insistence, the scene was recreated with the reality show’s judges, Rohit Shetty and KJo. While Shetty portrayed the character of Puri, Johar played himself, while PeeCee enacted SRK’s character. Later, the actor admitted that she always wanted to smack KJo ever since she saw the movie. She finally got a chance on the TV show.
Sonam Kapoor Plans To Set Up Jacqueline Fernandez Working On The Girl On Her First Store In Mumbai The Train Adaptation
Seven months after she took to the digital medium to launch a high street fashion brand, Rheson, Sonam Kapoor is set to launch a series of brick and mortar outlets to reach out to a wider audience. Talking about the brand, which
she co-owns with sister Rhea, Sonam says, “We had tied up with a retail chain to enhance distribution. As a result, the brand is available in several places across the country. But, now we plan to open standalone stores, since that will give us
direct access to customers.” Even though companies are increasingly turning to the online space to boost sales, Sonam says standalone stores will enable the brand to “penetrate into different areas of the country.” She adds, “The plan is to set up the first store in Mumbai, and then gradually do so in other cities too. Details are currently being chalked out.” Meanwhile, the sisters also intend to expand their collection. “We currently sell women’s clothing and bags. We now plan to venture into menswear and accessories too,” says Sonam, who wanted Rheson to be the “stylish, yet affordable line” that women were searching for in a market dominated by expensive brands.
Actress Jacqueline Fernandez says she is working on the Bollywood remake of the Hollywood film “The Girl On The Train”. “We are working on ‘The Girl on the Train’, which is a Hollywood adaptation of a book. We are still working on that closely,” Jacqueline, who is the co-owner of Delhi Heroes in MTV’s Super Fight League, told IANS. The actress, who was last seen on screen in “Judwaa 2”, currently has two films in her kitty — “Race 3” with superstar Salman Khan and “Drive” with Sushant Singh Rajput. Talking about “Drive”, she said: “Tarun Mansukhani is back to reel. Sushant and I have been completely enjoying working
Kriti Sanon Reveals What Has Enabled Her To Improve As A Performer Having spent four years in the industry, Kriti Sanon says her outings have enabled her to improve as a performer. “I never thought of becoming an actor when I was doing B-Tech. Then, I came to a city unknown to me. And now, I have four films to my credit, and
a space [in the industry] that I created myself. This feels great. With every film, I have grown as a person, and an actor. I learnt on the job as I had no real training of being an actor. When I look back at the roles that I played, [I realise that] the approach I have towards my work is different
now. For me, growth is important,” she says. Sanon adds that she is willing to take risks for roles that interests her. “I am not restricting myself as an actor. I want to play different kinds of characters, but it’s essential that I like the offers.”
with him. It’s been such an amazing ride working with him.” “Race 3”, directed by Remo D’souza, will be her second film with Salman after “Kick” (2014). She says it is a “huge deal” for her to feature opposite the superstar
Issue 752 (17)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Beatles Drummer Ringo Starr, Drew Barrymore Recreates Her Childhood Looks Barry Gibb To Be Knighted
Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and the Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb are among the British luminaries who will receive knighthoods as part of Queen Elizabeth’s annual New Year’s Honours list. Singer-songwriter Barry said he was “humbled and very proud” by his knighthood for services to music and charity, reports bbc.com. Made a CBE (Order of the British Empire) in 2002
alongside his late brothers and bandmates, Maurice and Robin, Barry said: “It is as much theirs as it is mine. The magic, the glow, and the rush will last me the rest of my life.” The Bee Gees band grew up in Manchester and tasted success in the 1960s, before going on to record the best-selling “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack in 1977. Starr’s honour for services to music - given under his real name, Richard Starkey, was
Sean Paul: I Can’t Wait To Visit India Again While this year was dotted with international artistes lining up for gigs in India, 2018 doesn’t seem too different. Jamaican rapper and dancehall legend Sean Paul, known for his club hits like Get Busy, will visit the country next year. A source reveals, “He will be performing in Delhi and Mumbai. The shows will be held towards the end of 2018.” This will mark the Grammy Award winner’s second visit to India after his Delhi and Mumbai gigs in 2012. Excited about performing his hit song, Temperature, in India, Paul says, “The love and affection I received from India during my last trip was commendable. I can’t wait to
visit again, because I love India’s culture. Indians make a great audience. I’m sure I’ll entertain them.”
leaked before the announcement. It comes 20 years after singer and bandmate Paul McCartney was knighted and adds to the 1965 MBE received by all four Beatles. Starr said: “It’s great! It’s an honour and a pleasure to be considered and acknowledged for my music and my charity work, both of which I love. Peace and love.” Receiving damehood is Darcey Bussell, a judge on the hit British television show “Strictly Come Dancing” and a former dancer with the Royal Ballet. Apart from entertainment, people from several other categories were feted with the honour. Other well-known musicians who have been knighted include names like Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, Elton John and Ray Davies.
Actress Drew Barrymore took a trip down memory lane by recreating some of her childhood looks for a magazine. The actress is on multiple covers of InStyle’s February 2018 edition. “We are recreating looks from a very specific time period in my life from when I’m about five to 10, which would be about 1980 to 1985,” Barrymore told the magazine, reports eonline.com. Holding a photograph of herself in a pink hat, Barrymore explains that it is an image of her from a photo shoot in 1984 when she was nine. There was one from 1983 too. “This was me in 1983 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles where the Golden Globes take place every year
at the mother-daughter fashion show... But I’m dressed like the mother,” the actress said. “I
loved when I first unearthed this photo because I was like, ‘Are you kidding me that is my daughter Olive’s body’. Like genetics are crazy, this is Olive, 100 per cent.”
Scott Disick Ditches Kourtney Kardashian For Girlfriend Sofia Richie Scott Disick, 34, is over Kourtney Kardashian, 38, the mother of his kids. And in order to prove to girlfriend Sofia Richie, 20, that she is his first priority, he ditched his family to ring in the New Year with Richie. Disick is whisking her out of town to party. He apparently spent over $20,000 on clothes and snow gear. Sharing a picture on Instagram, he wrote, “I’m on a whole new year vibe.” It has been a tradition for Disick to take his kids and Kourtney to Aspen, but things have changed this year. He is headed to Aspen with his new girlfriend. During Christmas, Kourtney refused to let Richie be part of their celebrations and Disick is still upset over it, inform sources. In order to make up for it, he decided to spend New Years along with his girlfriend. According to reports, Disick is desperate for Kourtney to accept Richie, so she can spend time with his kids and also be part of the Kardashian show — Keeping Up With The Kardashians. He hopes that someday, his ex will give Richie a chance and accept her. This will be Disick and Richie’s first New Year together as a couple.
Lionel Richie’s daughter shared a message on her Instagram story and wrote, “Ready for 2018,”
and added “Off to colder places.” On the other hand, according to social media, Kourtney will be ringing in the New Year at home cooking and playing game night with family and close friends.
Katy Perry Spotted Arm-In-Arm Meghan Markle’s New Year’s Resolution Is To Stop Swearing With Mystery Man Singer Katy Perry, who is spending the holidays in Denmark with her sister Angela, was spotted going arm-in-arm with a mystery man during an outing here. In some photographs, Perry can be seen enjoying the male friend’s company as they strolled down the street here on December 23 night, reports dailymail.co.uk. For the outing, Perry was wrapped up in warm clothes — a grey jumper dress and leather thigh-high boots. She covered herself up in a faux fur stole featuring a stripy pattern. Meanwhile, her male companion was clad in a camel coat and jeans. Earlier on the day, Perry was spotted outside a bar puffing on a cigarette. Perry was earlier married to actor Russell Brand from 2010 till 2012.
Meghan Markle, 36, wrote in her blog in 2016 that she wants to become more “ladylike”. She wrote, “Stop biting my nails. Stop swearing. These make my New Year’s resolution list nearly (AKA
actually every) single year.” Considering she is about to marry Prince Harry in May 2018, Markle has a lot to prep for, but does Harry want her to change? That’s a million dollar question.
Issue 752 (18)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
LeT hails ISI for Jadhav family humiliation
A BRAZEN and belligerent Hafiz Saeed showed on Friday how he can freely and fearlessly address public meetings in Pakistan. A video shows the Lashkar-eTaiba co-founder and his trusted aide Amir Hamza addressing a public meeting merely 3 km from the headquarters of the Pakistan Army, in Rawalpindi and praising the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for spotting a “suspicious” object in the shoes of Kulbhushan Jadhav’s wife Chetankul. Comparing the ISI with the cheetah’s watchful eyes, Hamza
said, “The moment the ISI discovered that her shoes looked a little odd, they asked her to change them. The ISI is so smart.” According to the ministry of external affairs, Chetankul and Jadhav’s mother were asked to remove their mangalsutras, bangles and bindis and change their clothes. Chetankul’s shoes were confiscated and sent for forensic examination to ascertain whether the “metallic object” was a camera or a recording chip, the Pakistani media had said quoting the foreign office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal. Hamza further praised the ISI for not allowing Jadhav’s family to meet him normally. “India had G.D. Bakshi dubbed the meeting requested Pakistan to allow between Jadhav and his family a Jadhav’s mother and wife to meet sham. “It was the ISI’s plan to him. Pakistan showed mercy and humiliate India. Saeed’s public invited them. India thought that meeting in Rawalpindi clearly they would meet Jadhav face to shows that the ISI and the face on a sofa but the ISI didn’t Pakistan government are using allow it.” said Hamza, who also LeT as their new political arm.” claimed that the ISI had found a General Bakshi also raised the secret camera from Chetankul’s spectre of Saeed being the next shoes. Major General (Retired) Pakistani Premier. “Will the rest
of the world allow another madman and international criminal to access Pakistan’s nuclear button?” he asked referring to North Korea’s eccentric leader Kim Jong-un, who has riled the world, especially the US, with a series of nuclear and ICBM tests. The video shows Jamaat-udDawa’s top leadership, including Saeed,
his brother-in-law and the organisation’s commander Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki and LeT co-founder Hamza on a stage. Palestine’s ambassador to Pakistan Walid Abu Al also shared the stage with Saeed because the meeting was called in support of the Palestinian demand for declaring East Jerusalem as its capital.
Issue 752 (19)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Trans recruits can join US military THE Justice Department has made clear its proposed ban on transgender military recruits is on hold, meaning their enlistment can start Monday. But the future for transgender people in the armed forces remains murky. The Justice Department isn’t dropping its court fight to institute the ban on transgender enlistment but said Friday it would wait for a Pentagon study on the issue in coming weeks before deciding what to do next. President Donald Trump said in July that the government would not allow transgender people to serve in the military, reversing Obama-era policy. So far, he’s been unable to achieve that prohibition. On December 22, a panel of the federal appeals court in the district of Columbia refused the Trump administration’s request to let the ban start January 1. Other federal judges have also refused to side with the administration. The Pentagon said then that it would allow transgender enlistment to start with the new year and continue as legal struggles play out. The justice department said late Friday the Pentagon “will be releasing an independent study of these issues in the coming weeks”, so the administration will not litigate an appeal in the meantime. That stance clarifies that enlistments can start January 1 and existing transgender service members are protected from being discharged at least for now. “We are relieved that we don’t have to hit pause on the constitutional
rights of transgender people who are willing and able to serve our country,” said Peter Renn, senior attorney for Lambda Legal, one of the groups fighting the ban in court. Trump had reversed an Obamaera plan of recruiting
longstanding practice on military service by transgender individuals that was in place before June 2016. Trump alleged in the memo that his predecessor Barack Obama dismantled the Defence
transgenders in the US military, a decision Democrats said was “cruel” and meant to “hurt and humiliate” the soldiers. Trump formally signed a memorandum, a copy of which was released by the White House, directing the Secretary of Defence, Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the US Coast Guard, to return to the
Departments’ established framework by permitting transgender individuals to serve openly in the military, authorising the use of its resources to fund sex-reassignment surgical procedures, and permitting accession of such individuals after July 1 this year. “In my judgement, the previous administration failed to identify a
sufficient basis to conclude that terminating the departments’ longstanding policy and practice would not hinder military effectiveness and lethality, disrupt unit cohesion, or tax military resources, and there remain meaningful concerns that further study is needed to ensure that continued implementation of last year’s policy change would not have those negative effects,” Trump said. The memo requests the Pentagon to develop an implementation plan for the ban by February 21, 2018, which should be put in place on March 23, 2018. On July, Trump had announced his decision to ban transgender men and women from US military on Twitter. Criticising the decision, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Trump’s memorandum is ordering the Pentagon to “hurt and humiliate thousands of Americans who serve in US military with strength and courage”. “Prejudice, not national defence, is behind President Trump’s cruel decision to kick transgender troops out of the military,” she said.
iPhone can be charged wirelessly, says Apple APPLE has filed a patent application for what appears to be a system that could one day charge your phone from across the room. The new patent describes a system that could supply power to multiple devices, using both wired and wireless connections. Longrange wireless charging has faced a number of challenges, including issues with distance and power availability, and safety requirements, but the patent reveals Apple may have come up with a few workarounds. The patent, spotted by 9to5Mac, was published on December 28. An image accompanying the description shows how a power adapter could be linked to multiple electronic devices, all of which are in the same communications network. “A system may have a power adapter with multiple ports for supply power,” a summary of the patent states. “The electronic devices may include devices such as cellular telephones, wristwatch devices, laptop computers, and tablet computers. The power adapter may supply power using wired links and wireless links.” The patent suggests Apple is looking into ways to prioritise the different devices within the system’s range, so as to ensure the limited amount of power goes to where it’s needed. This could mean you indicate which devices are more important, such as an iPhone over iPad, 9to5Mac explains. Or, it may also allow for prioritization based on your history of use. “The computing equipment may communicate with the electronic devices or power adapter over a communications network,” the patent notes.
Wedding vows were her last words
THESE heartbreaking pictures show a Connecticut bride marrying the man of her dream from her hospital bed just 18 hours before she died. Heather Mosher married David, before Christmas at St Francis Hospital
in Hartford, Connecticut, before dying on December 23. Her last words were her wedding vows. “Nobody thought she would’ve made it that far. She proved them all wrong and that’s what that photo says to me. “It reminds me of someone who is crossing the finish line of a marathon or something,” David said WFSB. The two had met at a swing dance class two-anda-half-years ago in May 2015. “We were just kind of inseparable after that,” David added. But on December 23, 2016, their fairy
tale would reach a bittersweet moment when Heather
discovered she had breast cancer. David said: “She didn’t know I was going to propose that
night, but I said to myself, she needs to know she’s not going to go down this road alone.” And he continued with the proposal as planned. “A pair of draft horses, a carriage, and I arranged it all for that night. We went out on the carriage ride and I proposed to her under a street light,” David detailed.But five days later, the diagnosis became triple negative which is one of the most aggressive forms that breast cancer can take. He added: “We would go
to Dana Farber weekly, we were going to natural doctors. Our life became consumed with cancer.” But by September 2017, the cancer spread. “We found out it was in her brain and a couple months later, she was on life support with a breathing tube,” David said. And while it wasn’t expected for Heather to make it past October, her fighting spirit had other ideas. “She was tough. Anyone else would have given up a long time ago. The doctors even said we don’t know how she’s still here,” he added. While the bride-to-be looked forward to her December 30 wedding day, the hits from the cancer kept getting worse. A year after they got engaged, Heather passed on December 23.
Issue 752 (20)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Obama against world leaders using social media to create divide
FORMER United States President Barack Obama has warned against using social media in a divisive way during an interview with Prince Harry. Obama, 56, did not mention his successor in the White House by name, but many will see the comments as a thinly veiled rebuke aimed at Donald Trump. He was being questioned by Prince Harry, 33, as part of the royal’s guest editorship of BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today programme. During the interview, Obama said there was a danger of people becoming stuck in their biases due to social media use. The ex-president said: “The question, I think, really has to do with, how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, but doesn’t lead to a Balkanisation of our society, but rather continues to promote ways of finding common
ground? “And, I’m not sure government can legislate that, but what I do believe is that all of us in leadership have to find ways
in which we can recreate a common space on the internet. One of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities. They can be just cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases.” Trump has drawn widespread criticism for the way he uses
Twitter to attack opponents, and condemn what he brands ‘fake news’. During the same interview, Obama said he prefers Prince William over his brother while he was getting grilled by the prince. Prince Harry’s interview with Obama was played just after 8.30 am. At the end of the 40-minute chat, the fifth in line to the throne fired questions at the 56-year-old and asked him who he preferred, ‘William or Harry’. He joked: “William, right now.” Harry also asked him which popular US television show he preferred out of legal drama Suits — the programme which his fiancee Meghan Markle made her name — or the Good Wife. And to his delight he answered: “Suits, obviously” with Harry replying: “Great, great, great answer.” In his guest editing slot, Harry also focused on climate change, the military and mental health.
During the ‘lightning round’ of questions, the former president declined to say whether he wears boxers or briefs. But he was willing to say he prefers Aretha Franklin to Tina Turner — “Aretha is the best,” he said of the Queen of Soul — and favors retired basketball star Michael Jordan over current star LeBron James. He also said he prefers ‘The Queen’ to the band Queen to which Harry said: “Another great answer.” Obama also told the prince he felt serene on the day he left the White House despite feeling important work remained unfinished. He said it was ‘hugely liberating’ to be able to set his own agenda in the morning and to have the time to talk with his wife, Michelle, now that he is no longer president. Both men said the interview, recorded in Canada in September, was Obama’s first since leaving the presidency in January. Obama, speaking about his eight years in the Oval Office, said: “I miss the work itself because it was fascinating.” He did not mention his successor, President Donald Trump, but did say people in government should be careful in their use of social media. Obama also revealed he is ‘obsessed’ with helping to train the next generation of leaders and said the world is in many ways healthier and wealthier than it has ever been. At the end of the show, Harry would not say whether Obama will be invited to his May wedding, saying the guest list hadn’t been drawn up yet. It comes after Trump’s Christmas tweet received a million fewer ‘likes’ than Obama’s. Trump tweeted a video wishing viewers a ‘MERRY CHISTMAS!!!’ on Monday morning, but a photo that his predecessor tweeted a couple hours later was far more popular.
Macron ups expulsions & ID checks on migrants
FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron is increasing migrant expulsions and allowing ID checks in emergency shelters in a sign he is struggling to meet his own deadline. Macron said in July he wanted people ‘off the streets, out of the woods’ by the end of 2017 and emergency lodgings ‘everywhere’. But it’s getting colder and colder, the clock is ticking and regional authorities are still scrambling to meet his deadline. That won’t likely happen, and Macron’s government is now tightening the screws: ramping up expulsions, raising pressure on migrants and allowing divisive ID checks in emergency shelters. Critics contend that Macron’s increasingly tough policy on migrants — though wrapped in a cloak of goodwill — contradicts his image as a humanist who defeated an antiimmigrant populist for the presidency, and has crossed a line passed by no other president in the land that prides itself as the cradle of human rights. From snowy Alpine passes to the borders with Spain or Germany, migrants keep making their way to France. In Paris alone, police have evacuated 30,000 people camping on sidewalks in the last two years. No one doubts that France’s system of dealing with migrants needs fixing, with a housing shortage and long wait times in applying for asylum.
Al-Qaeda vows strike on Indian cities
THE new year is expected to keep security forces on toes. Using Kashmir as a springboard, global jihadi forces, including Islamic State and al-Qaeda, plan to target Indian cities. A video interview of al-Qaeda’s subcontinent second-in-command Usama Mehmood, released on
Tuesday night, indicates the group is now looking beyond the angry Kashmiri Muslim youth to expand in India. Over the years, al-Qaeda has been trying hard to make inroads into India through its subcontinent wing alQaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), but has failed to make an impact. The 42-minute
interview has been conducted in a closed room, with multiple cameras, in typical al-Qaeda propaganda fashion, without any details about location, or date of the interview. In the second session of a series titled ‘Jihad in Kashmir: Way and Destination’ released on Tuesday night by AQIS-affiliated AsSahab Media, Mehmood lays out the future strategy for the group in India. Asked about possible new tactics for the outfit in view of Kashmir, Mehmood, acknowledging the strength of Indian security agencies in Kashmir, said: “If an attack could be carried out in cities such as Kolkata, Bangalore and New Delhi, the Indian establishment will come to its senses and its grip on Kashmir will be weakened.” However, intelligence sources say this
could be a ploy of al-Qaeda to attract recruits and radicalise youth in Indian cities. “Al-Qaeda is finding it tough to gain ground in Kashmir due to the strong presence of security forces and Pakistan-supported terror organisations such as Lashkare-Taiyaba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen,” a source said. Al-Qaeda and some terror organisations operating in Kashmir are not always on the same ideological page. Fluent in Urdu, Mehmood stressed upon the need to expand al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent with Kashmir as a focal point. “There cannot be a political solution to the Kashmir problem. Kashmir is the centre of all issues and the Muslim community of the entire subcontinent will have to play their part in this jihad,” Mehmood
said in the video. Mehmood, a Pakistani-origin man from Islamabad, has been heading the media wing of AQIS for the past few years. Earlier in April 2017, an announcement was made through the unofficial AQIS channels quoting its head Maulana Asim Umar that Mehmood was killed during a US operation on the eve of Eiduz-Zuha. This announcement was never made official by AQIS and since Mehmood had never shown his face in any of these interviews, it was even harder for US intelligence agencies to confirm his death. “Following the release of this latest video, intel agencies are keeping an eye on a possible further outreach by AQIS in urban centres through social media, dark web and encrypted messaging services,” said an intelligence officer.
Issue 752 (21)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Unauthorised passenger leads to mid-f light chaos this. The pleasure I get out of the story is worth more to me than a direct flight to Tokyo,” she wrote. “Lmao after all this I will have spent 8 hours on a flight to nowhere. Like we were all just havin a great time up here flyin in the sky watching gran
A TOKYO-BOUND flight from LAX with model Chrissy Teigen and musician John Legend on board was forced to turn around four hours into its journey after an ‘unauthorised person’ made it onto the plane. All Nippon Airways flight 175 took off at 11:36am local time on Tuesday, but was back on US soil eight hours later after the breach forced them to make a u-turn. The Japanese airliner made an unscheduled U-turn four hours into the 11-and-a-halfhour journey. The bizarre situation caused confusion among many passengers, including Teigen, who was heading on a vacation with her musician husband. The actress and model shared her frustration on Twitter and tried to make sense of what was going on. The model is pregnant with their second child. “A flying first for me: 4 hours into an 11 hour flight and we are turning around because
we have a passenger who isn’t supposed to be on this plane. Why...why do we all gotta go back, I do not know,” she shared on Twitter, certainly happy she sprung for the in-flight WiFi. While the situation was frustrating for everyone on board, Teigen was taking it in stride and saw amusement in the baffling situation. “I don’t know why I’m not more upset about
torino time to go home now,” apparently the inflight movie playing was Gran Torino. When the plane finally landedin its original origin, Teigen cracked: “LAX —> LAX flight complete. Flight time, 8 hours and 20 minutes.” Teigen shared a video of her and Legend waiting around inside the plane after they landed. She tells her husband: “Thank you so much for taking me on this awesome vacation babe,” to which Legend deadpans: “Welcome to Los Angeles.” LAX Airport Police told local ABC7 officers would have a unit and supervisors on scene when the
flight arrived back to its original departure point. Authorities said the flight’s return to it’s point of origin was because of a “mix up and was straightened up.” “They keep saying the person had a United ticket. We are on ANA. So basically the boarding pass scanner is just a beedoop machine that makes beedoop noises that register to nowhere,” Teigen tweeted. If the situation was that a person with the wrong ticket, and wrong airline, boarded the flight bound for Tokyo, it remained unconfirmed late into the evening. The nightmare journey did not end once the plane landed. The model shared that all of the passengers would be interviewed by police for 20 minutes before they could deplane. However, well after passengers exited the flight, Teigen was tweeting she was sequestered in a room. It was unclear if other passengers were with her. She said they put Bravo on for her to watch the Real Housewives, while adding they were trying to keep her quiet. Teigen also tweeted ‘They... they gave me ramen.’ Teigen boasts over 9million Twitter followers, and her detailed play by play of the bizarre incident had been further circulated as the night wore on. While there was no security or safety threat involved, it caused much distress to the on-board passengers. It appears that the rogue passenger, who has not been identified, managed to proceed from check-in all the way to the final boarding pass check at LAX and board the wrong plane. The airport police told a news website that the U-turn was the result of a “mix up and was straightened up”. It still remains to be understood how the commuter was allowed to board the wrong plane, with some reports suggesting that he or she had a ticket for a different airline. The airport authorities said that the plane was scheduled to depart the next morning local time.
Brit faces jail time in notorious US air-to-air refueller makes safe landing in emergency Egyptian prison with ISIS jihadis BRITISH tourist Laura Plummer will be transferred to the notorious Qena prison in Egypt after being sentenced to three years’ imprisonment on Tuesday. Laura, 33, fell to the floor after being handed the jail term by an Egyptian court over powerful painkillers found in her suitcase. Stunned, the woman from Hull sobbed before slumping to the floor. “I thought I’d be freed — I thought it was the end,” she sobbed. Laura escaped the death penalty for transporting the opiate Tramadol in her luggage at the start of a holiday. However, she was told she would still be locked up. Today her sister Jayne Synclair revealed the Foreign Office intervened to block Laura being
sent to the ‘dangerous’ Qena prison. But after turning up to visit her daughter at a jail in Cairo her mum Roberta Synclair, 64,
discovered Laura had been moved 150 miles to the notorious hellhole. Jayne, 40, said: “It’s really underhand — my
mum went to Cairo to where they were told she would be but when she turned up she wasn’t there.” “They have slyly taken her to where the British Foreign Office told us she would never be placed but the Egyptian authorities have already moved her there.” “Our biggest fear with this scenario has been confirmed — she will be sharing a tiny cell with jihadi terrorists and rapists. I honestly dread to think. Laura won’t survive a day in there, let alone three years.” “She won’t even make it through that. I can’t believe they’ve even still sent her there.” The jail is situated north of Luxor and Jayne is fearful her sister won’t make it out alive. Describing the conditions in the Qena prison, Jayne said: “I’ve seen pictures and if you kept a dog in there and the RSPCA saw it - you would lose your dog. It’s honestly THAT bad.”
A US refuelling jet has diverted to Scotland after declaring an emergency over the Atlantic Ocean. The four-engine Boeing KC-135R jet reported a problem off the west coast of Scotland
and diverted to Glasgow Prestwick airport. The jet landed safely shortly after 8 am. According to flight tracking radar, the aircraft declared an emergency at 26,202 feet near the isles of Jura and Mull. Glasgow Prestwick airport confirmed the pilot of the US Military jet was facing “technical difficulties” and requested a diversion as a precaution. A spokeman said: “We can
confirm that an aircraft diverted to Glasgow Prestwick Airport today, due to technical issues. The aircraft landed safely with no further issues.” The KC-135R is used to refuel other military jets, especially fighters sent to monitor Russian nuclear capable bombers flying towards Nato areas of interest. The KC-135 can refuel fighter jets and other aircraft mid-air and can carry almost 91 tonne fuel in its tanks to top off other aircraft. The KC-135s are based on the original design of the Boeing 707 passenger aircraft although have been extensively modified since entering service in 1956. According to the US Air Force, the KC- 135 can also be used to transport cargo or evacuate medical patients. In October, a KC-135R declared an emergency moments after departing RAF Mildenhall because of a problem with its autopilot.
Issue 752 (22)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Iran hardliners march in retort to anti-govt rallies the image of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In Tehran, some 4,000 people gathered at the Musalla prayer ground in central Tehran. They called for criminal trials for Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi, leaders of the Green Movement who have been under house arrest since 2011. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani,
IRANIAN hardliners rallied on Saturday to support the country’s supreme leader and clerically overseen government as spontaneous protests sparked by anger over the country’s ailing economy roiled major cities in the Islamic Republic. The demonstrations, commemorating a mass 2009 pro-government rally challenging those who rejected the reelection of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad amid fraud allegations, had been scheduled weeks earlier. However, they took on new importance after the economic protests began Thursday, sparked by social media posts and a surge in prices of basic food supplies like eggs and poultry. Thousands have gone into the streets of several cities in Iran, beginning first in Mashhad, the country’s secondlargest city and a holy site for Shiite pilgrims. Demonstrators also have criticised Iran’s government during the protests, with social media videos showing clashes between protesters and police. The semi-
official Fars news agency said protests on Friday also struck Qom, a city that is the world’s foremost centre for Shiite Islamic scholarship and home to a major Shiite shrine. The demonstrations appear to be the largest to strike the Islamic Republic since its 2009 Green Movement arose after Ahmadinejad’s re-election. However, information about them remains scarce as both staterun and semi-official media in Iran have not widely reported on the protests. An online report Saturday by Iranian state television said national media in the country hadn’t reported on the protests on orders from security officials. State TV also
aired its first reports on the protests on Saturday, acknowledging some protestors chanted the name of Iran’s onetime shah, who fled into exile just before its 1979 Islamic Revolution. “Counter-revolution groups and foreign media are continuing their organised efforts to misuse the people’s economic and livelihood problems and their legitimate demands to provide an opportunity for unlawful gatherings and possibly chaos,” state TV said. State TV aired live Saturday’s pro-government “9 Dey Epic” demonstrations, named for the date on the Iranian calendar the 2009 protests took place. Footage showed people waving flags and carrying banners bearing
Magnetic therapy for menopause issues FROM hot flushes to headaches and exhaustion, the menopause can bring on a whole range of unwanted symptoms. For decades, women have turned to more traditional remedies such as HRT (hormone replacement therapy), which comes in different forms including patches and tablets. But a site is now offering a quirky alternative to menopausal women, in the form of a magnet which is clipped into their underwear, a product championed by singer Belinda Carlisle. However health expert Dr Jen Gunter slammed the socalled ‘natural remedy’, claiming that all it will do is “lighten your wallet”, and says that the true causes of hot flushes are ‘not yet understood’. Ladycare magnets retail for between £35
(`2,685) to £50 (`3,831), and clipped to the front of underwear to be worn throughout the day, designed to refocus the body’s
energy. The makers claim the magnetic therapy has relieved the symptoms for 70 per cent of women by re-balancing their autonomic nervous system. A statement on site reads: ‘We believe the technology helps by reducing excessive sympathetic
nervous system activity and increasing parasympathetic activity, thus restoring equilibrium and creating a healthier balance between the two parts of the ANS. ‘Menopause symptoms are the result of diminished natural hormones, which then cause an imbalance of the ANS.’ And singer Belinda, now 59, was so impressed with the product back in 2014, that she talked to MailOnline about the instant effect it had for her. After hitting menopause, she experienced extreme symptoms, saying, “I was getting around 40 flushes a day. I would sweat so badly it would be visible on me. I had to get into the habit of taking a change of clothes because my blouse and jeans would be wet through.’
whose administration struck the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, campaigned on freeing the men, though they remain held. Mohsen Araki, a Shiite cleric who serves in Iran’s Assembly of Experts, praised Rouhani’s efforts at improving the economy. However, he said Rouhani needed to do more to challenge “enemy pressures”.
Issue 752 (23)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Armour on wheels Hitler took pride in
A MERCEDEZ-BENZ supercar built for Adolf Hitler will go up for auction in the US eight decades after it was parked in the tyrant’s garage. The German 770 Grosser, which became known as the “Super Mercedes”, was used by the Führer during victory parades such as the conquering of France, Greece and Yugoslavia and to entertain guests such as Italian fascist dictator Mussolini. Built with bulletproof glass and armourplated side panels, Hitler personally ordered the 7.7liter beast — serial number 189744 — which he took delivery of in July 1939 in Berlin. After the Nazis were obliterated, the US Army seized the vehicle in 1945 and was passed between tobacco tycoons, casino magnates and historians before finding itself under the hammer with Worldwide Auctioneers Vintage Motorcar Specialists on January 17 in Arizona. According to a letter on file dated September 2, 1938, the 770K was ordered at the request of SS officer Erich Kempka, an early Nazi-party member who served as Hitler’s primary chauffeur from 1934. The letter was issued directly from the Daimler-Benz board of directors to the management of the
Sindelfingen Daimler-Benz AG works. As expected, the newest 770K for Hitler was superlative in all possible respects and at Kempka’s insistence, would provide maximum protection for his notorious patron and his chosen passengers. This wasn’t to come at the price of style, with Hitler demanding a collapsible soft-top roof. Builtin security measures were impressive and extensive, including 30-mm bulletresistant laminated glass for the fixed windscreen, windup door windows and detachable side panels, armor plating protecting the body sides of the 770K and underneath the vehicle and an
armoured panel at the rear of the car could be raised or lowered depending upon the “threat level”. Despite the seeming urgency for the Führer’s car, a copy of the factory’s commission sheet reveals it was not delivered to Berlin until July 29, 1939. It did not take long for it to make its first public appearance, and on October 6 it debuted as part of a huge motorcade with a carefully orchestrated vehicle formation designed to maximise Hitler’s personal safety. During the proceedings, Hitler was delivered to the Old Reich Chancellery, with German and International media in
attendance, plus representatives of the Nazi propaganda ministry’s technical services department. The next high-profile outing took place on June 18, 1940, when the 770K was used on parade in Munich for the state visit by Italian Fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini. On July 6, 1940, the car carried Hitler on his victory parade held in Berlin following the stunning defeat of France. A year later, on May 4, 1941, the last known and documented parade for this 770K ended at the Old Reichstag, where Hitler celebrated the German conquest of Yugoslavia and Greece.
Florida man accused of electrocuting pregnant wife A FLORIDA man is accused of rigging the front door of a home in an attempt to electrocute his estranged pregnant wife. “This is one of the most bizarre domestic violence cases I have s e e n i n m y c a r e e r, ” s a i d Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. “Not only did this man plan to electrocute his wife,
but he could have injured a deputy or any person attempting to enter this residence. Thankfully this man was found and taken into custody before he could cause the harm he intended.” Michael Scott Wilson, 32, was arrested Thursday in Knoxville, Tennessee, and charged with attempted aggravated battery on a pregnant woman and grand theft of a firearm. Police believe that he rigged electrical devices to the top door lock and lower door handle so it would electrocute whoever tried to unlock and open the front door. Wilson h a d a l s o s t o l en a firearm belonging to his wife’s father from the house. He’s being held on a $150,000 bond and will be extradited to Florida. It’s unclear if he has an attorney. The woman’s father called deputies after Wilson made suspicious statements about keeping children away from the door. Deputies found the front door barricaded, with burn marks. When a deputy kicked the door, a large spark was observed. Wilson had changed his Facebook relationship status to ‘widowed’. Deputies also found pictures of a sonogram on the kitchen table, sticky-note love letters in the bedroom with a photo album. showing Wilson and his wife together, and the wife’s recentlyinstalled smart cameras dumped in the toilet. He was involuntarily hospitalized for mental evaluation in late November
Love story massacred melancholy FRENCH public television has put a controversial film about the Bataclan massacre on ice “until all of the victims’ groups are consulted”. Ce Soir-La (That Night) is a love story starring Sandrine Bonnaire, set on the fateful night in November 2015 when a wave of terror attacks in Paris left 130 people dead. But Claire Peltier, the partner of one of the people murdered at the Eagles of Death Metal concert at
the Bataclan, has called for the “scandalous” film to be shelved. She said it was far too soon for “such a painful” story to be revisited, just over two years after 90 people were slaughtered by jihadist gunmen at the Paris theatre. Filming finished earlier this month but France 2 said late on Thursday that the project was being put on hold. The film’s plot focuses on a romance between single mother Irène and Afghan
migrant Karan, who cross paths when they find themselves helping survivors of the attack, according to the French website PureMédias. A few days later, they are contacted by the people they had helped on the night, and when they meet up again they fall in love. “No transmission date had been fixed for the film... which has not yet been seen by the station’s management, France 2 said in a statement. An
online petition calling for the film to be scrapped had gathered 36,000 signatures in a month. “This project shocks and wounds us,” said Peltier, who had two children with her murdered partner David. “We are scandalised that such a film could see the light of day so soon after such a violent event.” “Two years on our wounds are still wide open, our grief immense, our lives destroyed. Can’t you find
other subjects to attract viewers, without rekindling our pain and our mourning?” The main Bataclan victims’ group welcomed the decision to postpone the film. “Even if we have never asked for censorship, we are glad that modesty and restraint have prevailed,” said Arthur Denouveaux, the head of the Life For Paris group. Even so, he insisted that it was “not our role to be a censor”.
Issue 752 (24)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Manage your resources well to conserve your work strength and material stability in the New Year. You attract a lot of interesting people with your charisma and gift of communication. You are loving, positive and nourishing in personal relationships, also kind, affectionate and big-hearted with family and friends. Your social life is busy and exciting as you participate in New Year festivities. It’s best to trust your instinct and intuition as they lead you in the right direction. Be satisfied and remain alert to grasp the significance of success achieved and success that is forthcoming in the future.
The heart is happy as love and romance in personal relationships bring radiance and elevation of mood and spirit. Your feelings are affirmed and reflected as you take a confident and positive step into the New Year. You can be lazy at times and languish with a feeling of luxury and happiness. You find friendship and appreciation when you least expect it. Attitudes change for the better this week. Aesthetic pursuits, and sporty activity are rejuvenating. Your mind is at its creative best and comes to an understanding that leads to actualization of plans. Be aware of over extending financial support.
Trust your heart and feelings when making choices or decisions this week. You are caring with family and friends as they extend warmth. The beautiful space in your heart brings beauty, trustand happiness in personal relationships. You reflect yourself in the other to gain understanding, intimacy and support. You express emotions honestly to inspire confidence and trust in your partner and people around you. Friends can become enemies and enemies may become friends as the tide turns and attitudes change. The heart is likely to go through a major experience that touches and transforms you.
You have a youthful and intense outlook in all areas of life but choose to mask your passion and ambition with a calm surface. Your mystical and enigmatic personality attracts some interesting people around you in the New Year. You need not over analyze personal relationships but rather respond with your heart and deep feelings. After deep meditation you gain insight and finally realize that God himself has created you and you cannot be improved upon! Now accept yourself and others as they are. Express your feelings and ideas and share what you have learned through a variety of experience in this life.
Unexpected happenings, visitors from overseas, travel and important communications are on the cards! Travel and movement release you from routines and patterns in the New Year. Your mind is creative and original with new ideas in professional ventures. You go beyond standard practice to achieve phenomenal results. Your heart is fancy free and remains in relationships that are loving. Trust your intuition in personal relationships and gut feelings in business matters and act accordingly even if your actions appear to be foolish. At this point, you transcend material aspects to be original, creative and different.
The New Year is the start of another cycle in your life as an exciting business venture gets off the ground. You actualize your potential by taking control and creating something special and original. This is a wonderful time to make big changes and actualize plans. A change of residence, relationship or work situation can throw you initially but proves to be positive and gainful. A new approach and fresh attitude in personal relationships changes your perspective and brings harmony. You connect again with people you haven’t seen for a long time as life brings you full circle to the same point.
You tend to think negatively and torture yourself by imagining the worst about too many things simultaneously. Of course nothing disastrous is about to happen so relax. Calm down, take one step at a time and think positively as you step into the New Year. Rather than feel guilty, learn a lesson from past mistakes and get on with your life. Secrets are revealed to you; don’t be tempted to share them. Don’t indulge your moods. Meditation allows you to feel liberated, drop burdens and go beyond limitations. Inner strength and centering is more important than outside power.
Inner transformation takes you towards growth, understanding and outer changes in the New Year. You are temporarily thrown by a surprising turn of events and reactions, which are best taken, in your stride. You become stronger as you grow through difficult experiences. You spend quality time with someone special. You are surprised by an unexpected professional opportunity when you were considering a change anyway. Don’t ignore the small print at the bottom of the page when signing a contract. You aspire to reach the highest level of your creativity and love and get there.
Your security structure allows you to actualize your potential on different levels and indulge in various activities. A trip overseas is on the cards! You can expect support from old and new connections. News, visitors and communications from far off places arrive when you least expect them. You may work with professional groups and associations in a prestigious venture in the New Year. Perseverance at work takes you through delay and opposition towards success and material gain. Persistence and patience pay and there is an end to opposition in personal matters.
You have great energy and drive to achieve business goals and targets, however, don’t allow emotions to influence professional decisions. It is best to resolve issues before an important professional project takes off, as you need synergy and support to succeed. Take temporary delay in your stride. You may need to stand up to some professional competition to assert your authority. Spend time with family and friends. An impediment is overcome, difficult matters sorted out in the New Year. Identify errors and the ones to blame. Success is assured in the New Year.
You dominate professional scenes with brilliant and clever plans this week. You could be impulsive when faced with choices; list your priorities before making decisions. Your sense of humour takes you out of difficult situations. Take frequent breaks in order to unwind. Your social life is scintillating as you connect with interesting and well-known personalities in the New Year. You are youthful and energetic when indulging in sporty activity and busy schedules. You achieve success with your own power and wisdom. Take one steady step at a time to grow rather than be carried away by over weaning ambition.
A harmonious movement of the planets around the Sun brings success and gain in professional and business matters! It’s best to go beyond the ego and ask for help, support and clarity. You are physically energetic and enjoy the feeling of well being and confidence. You are generous as you share goodwill and hospitality with friends and loved ones, especially while participating in New Year celebrations. Your personal relationship maybe going through a transitory stage; it’s best to wait and watch before making a commitment. You feel touchy and sensitive, be more accommodating in relationships.
Issue 752 (25)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Technology How to back up, restore WhatsApp How to run WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and other chats via Google Drive, local storage
New Delhi One of the common problems that WhatsApp users face is losing chat data when switching to a new smartphone. Fortunately, WhatsApp gives Android users an option to back up their chat on Google Drive. It allows you to not only back up text but also multimedia such as images, videos and GIFs. If you’re planning to follow any of the below tips, you should ensure you’re connected to WiFi. This is essentially to make sure the back up and restore processes are faster. Since your backup files may have a lot of multimedia, you may end up spending mobile data. If you have enough mobile data or are in good network area, you’re good to go. How to back up WhatsApp chats on Google Drive WhatsApp gives Android users three options to back up your data. You can choose between “back
up to Google Drive when you tap back up’, ‘back up only over WiFi’ and ‘include videos’. In order to back up, launch WhatsApp, click on the three dots on the top right corner, choose Settings, chats, chat backups. You can choose between above mentioned options to back up your WhatsApp chats. If you want to just export your chats, which is just email it to yourself, tap on chats > chat history > email chats > choose the chat window you wish to back up. How to restore WhatsApp chats from Google Drive Now that you have backed up your WhatsApp chats, and downloaded and installed WhatsApp on a new device, here’s what you need to do. Launch WhatsApp > Set up your profile (verify the phone number, etc) and tap next. WhatsApp will prompt you to restore your messages from the
‘I am a target for hackers who lost money’: John McAfee after his Twitter account gets hacked New York Ace computer programmer and businessman John McAfee’s has said that his Twitter account was hacked and was used to run ‘coin of the day’ series recommending and promoting
lesser-known cryptocurrencies. “Though I am a security expert, I have no control over Twitter’s security. I have haters. I am a target. People make fake accounts, fake screenshots, fake claims,” he tweeted. “I am a target for hackers who lost money and blame me. Please take responsibility for yourselves. Adults only please,”
he posted this message with a screenshot of his device which showed his calls and texts were hijacked by a hacker. According to BBC, McAfee had activated the two-step verification that Twitter has in place as a security feature but “he believed the hacker had intercepted the authentication code.” “The first indication that I had been hacked was turning on my cell phone and seeing the attached image,” he was quoted as saying. “I knew at that point that my phone had been compromised. I was on a boat at the time and could not go to my carrier (AT&T) to have the issue corrected. All that the hacker did was compromise my Twitter account. It could have been worse,” McAfee added.
linked Google account. Just tap Restore, Next and you’re done. How to create, restore local backup of WhatsApp chats WhatsApp categorically recommends Android users to back up on Google Drive, but you can also create a local backup of your messages. “The easiest way to transfer data to a new phone is by using Google Drive. If you want to use a local backup, you will need to transfer the files to the new phone using a computer, file explorer or an SD Card. If your data is not stored on the SD card/WhatsApp/folder, you may see “internal storage” or “main storage” folders,” WhatsApp explains on its website. If you want to restore a local backup (which has just seven days of data), download File Manager app from Google Play store. Launch File Manager app > choose SD card > WhatsApp > Databases. If you don’t have an SD card, choose internal storage or main storage. “Rename the backup file you wish to restore from msgstore-YYYYMM-DD.1.db.crypt12 to msgstore.db.crypt12. It is possible that an earlier backup may be on an earlier protocol, such as crypt9 or crypt10. Do not change the number of the crypt extension,” according to WhatsApp.
messaging apps in a single app
New Delhi Instant messaging applications are a dime and a dozen. From WhatsApp to Facebook Messenger, you most probably will have an account on all these instant messaging apps. Apart from casual messaging apps, professionals need workspace chat apps such as Slack, Skype and Flock. We keep shuffling between these apps to chat with our colleagues, friends and family. Sometimes it’s distracting and frustrating. Wouldn’t it be great if you could have a single window for all your messaging applications, and switch between them like a tab. Say, one tab has Facebook Messenger and another runs Slack. Well, there’s a workaround for this. Note that this tip works on desktop but ensures you’re up to date. Here’s what you need to do. Open your Chrome browser. Click on the three dots on the top right corner > More tools > Extensions. You will be directed to Chrome’s extensions page. Now, click on “get more extensions” and download and install “All-in-One Messenger.”
The extension gives you access to a plethora of messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Slack, Telegram, Skype and WeChat. It also supports other popular chat
apps such as Steam Chat, Google Hangouts, and apps such as TweetDeck. Just select the apps you like from the home screen and “add.” You will need to log in to your accounts, and then you’re good to go. Note that this extension lets you remove any app at any point you want. Also, the application appears as a separate window. This means you don’t need to keep switching between your Chrome tabs to continue chatting. WhatsApp users note that this extension supports the web version of the messenger. So, you will have to sign in via QR code as you’d do on your desktop.
Google’s high-altitude internet balloon crashes in Kenya Nakuru A high-altitude balloon, that was launched by Google to provide high-speed internet in the remote parts of the earth under “Project Loon”, has crashed in a Kenya farm, a media report said on Saturday. The balloon, a part of a 10balloon batch, was deployed for testing in Nakuru, Nanyuki, Nyeri and Marsabit in July 2017. It crashed at Nthambiro in Meru on Friday night, media reported. Some residents complained of headaches after they gathered around the device to get its glimpse. “The device from project loon indicates it fell after its expiry period of six months. No one is yet to claim the device,” Igembe South OCPD Jane Nyakeruma was quoted as saying. Earlier this year, Google announced that it was “years closer” to deliver internet to remote parts of the world using high-flying balloons.
Researchers at Google’s Project Loon — part of the company’s X research lab — said it was now able to use machine learning to predict weather systems, meaning the firm has a greater control over where its balloons go,
making it possible to focus on a specific region, rather than circumnavigating the globe, BBC reported. Under the project, the firm suspended a network of huge balloons that beam down connectivity.
Issue 752 (26)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Trump attacks China for secretly supplying oil to North Korea
PRESIDENT Donald Trump gave Beijing a wrist slap on Thursday for alleged transfers of oil from Chinese tankers to North Korean ships that flagrantly violate a United Nations embargo. U.S. satellites spotted the tankers trading oil with Pyongyang’s ships 30 times in three months, a South Korean newspaper reported, citing officials within the country’s government. Trump jumped on the report this morning from the Palm Beach golf club he’s been staging at during his trip to Florida. The president hinted at a possible confrontation in a tweet that said: “Caught RED
HANDED - very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea. There will never be a friendly solution to the North Korea problem if this continues to happen!” As Trump motorcaded back from the club, where he was observed on the golf course, he sent out a second message that stressed the rightness of his position on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and the wrongness of former
international agreement with Pyongyang that was supposed to halt North Korea’s nuclear development acts as a scene setter in the video. “This is a good deal for the United States. North Korea will freeze and then dismantle its nuclear program. South Korea and our other allies will be better protected. The entire world will be safer as we slow the spread of nuclear weapons,” the Democratic
President Bill Clinton’s. The message that was accompanied by a 2 minute and 20 second video said, ‘I’ve been saying it for a long, long time. #NoKo’ A soundbite of Clinton’s 1994 announcement of an
president says. He is rebutted by Trump in an 18- year-old Meet the Press appearance in which the future president asserts, ‘They’re gonna have those weapons pointed all over the world, and
specifically at the United States.’ Trump says in the clip that nuclear proliferation is ‘the biggest problem’ facing the globe. ‘And we have a country out there, North Korea, which is sort of wacko, which is not a dumb, not a bunch of dummies, and they are going out and they are developing nuclear weapons,’ he said. ‘And they’re continuing to do what they’re doing, and they are laughing at us. They think we’re a bunch of dummies.’ The future president predicts in the interview that in five years the U.S. will be facing off against Pyongyang again but then it would have ‘warheads all over the place, every one of them pointing to New York City, to Washington...’ Flash forward to a month ago, when Fox News reports that North Korea has developed an intercontinental ballistic missile that puts every U.S. city in range, assuming the warhead survives reentry. Secretary of Defense James Mattis also states in the video that North Korea ‘can threaten everywhere in the world’ with its missiles. Trump, who famously likes to keep his hand hidden, did not hint at what the U.S.
response to the illicit trading between China and North Korea that was revealed this week might be. Overhead images published by the The Chosun Ilbo on Tuesday appear to show ships from the two countries shackled together for a fuel transfer in the West Sea off China. According to South Korean government sources, American satellites pictured large vessels from both China and North Korea illegally trading in a stretch of the West Sea on multiple occasions. One picture, reportedly taken on October 19, shows a ship called Ryesonggang 1 connected to a Chinese vessel, The Chosun Ilbo reports. The US Treasury Department later placed six North Korean shipping and trading companies and 20 of their vessels on sanctions list.
Issue - 752 (27)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
US girl who tried to kill classmate to please fictional horror character gets 25 years in mental hospital Madison, Wisconsin One of two Wisconsin girls who tried to kill a classmate to win favour with a fictional horror character named Slender Man was sentenced to 25 years in a mental hospital, the maximum punishment possible. Anissa Weier, 16, pleaded guilty
in August to being a party to attempted second-degree intentional homicide, but she claimed she wasn’t responsible for her actions because she was mentally ill. In September, a jury agreed. Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren on Thursday sentenced Weier to 25 years in a psychiatric institution, retroactive to the date of the crime. That means she would be institutionalized until age 37. Weier and Morgan Geyser lured Payton Leutner into a wooded park in Waukesha, a Milwaukee suburb, in 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier urged her on, according to investigators. Leutner survived after she crawled out of the woods to a path where a passing bicyclist found her. Both Weier and Geyser told detectives they felt they had to kill Leutner to become Slender Man’s “proxies,” or servants, and protect their families from him. All three girls were 12 years old at the time. Weier apologised in brief comments before her sentencing. “I do hold myself accountable for this and that I will do whatever I
have to do to make sure I don’t get any sort of delusion or whatever again,” Weier told the judge, as she sat next to her attorney. “I want everybody involved to know I deeply regret everything that happened that day. I know that nothing I say is going to make this right and
nothing I say is going to fix what I broke.” Leutner family spokesman Steve Lyons said they were pleased with the sentence. “They believe that justice was served,” Lyons said. “The sentence today allows for some additional closure for Payton and her family and it also keeps both Payton, her family and the community safe.” Leutner’s mother, Stacie Leutner, sent the judge a letter this week in which she wrote that the trauma of the attack “has defined our lives” and that her daughter still fears for her life. For months, Payton slept with scissors under her pillow for protection, and she still keeps her bedroom windows closed and locked. “She will struggle with the events of that day and physical and emotional scars it left for the rest of her life,” her mother wrote. In her letter, Leutner did not ask the judge to sentence Weier to a specific length of time in the mental hospital, but she said her daughter wouldn’t feel safe if either of her attackers is released back into the community unsupervised. “Payton has a lifetime of healing ahead of her and she deserves
Iran detains 230 young boys and girls for drinking, dancing at parties
Tehran Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency has reported that police detained 230 boys and girls at separate parties in the capital Tehran in which alcohol was involved.Friday’s report said Tehran police arrested 140 of the young partygoers in a garden on the outskirts of Tehran and 90 in the city’s uptown while dancing and drinking alcohol Thursday
night.Drinking alcohol and mixed parties of unrelated men and women are illegal and considered a sin under Islamic law in Iran. The report said some participants posted an invitation to others to join on Instagram and police arrested them. ISNA also said some alcoholic beverages and psychotropic drugs were confiscated.
to be allowed to heal in an environment where she feels safe,” her mother wrote. No one from the victim’s family addressed the court during the sentencing hearing, deferring instead to the letter from her mother. Prosecutor Kevin Osborne argued for the maximum 25-year confinement, which the judge granted citing ongoing concerns about Weier’s mental stability. “Considering the nature and gravity of this offence, being supervised until the age of 37 is not all that long ... in terms of the fact that Payton is looking at a lifetime of scars, physical scars and psychological scarring,” Osborne said. Weier ’s attorney, Maura McMahon, argued that she should not be hospitalized beyond her 25th birthday. She played a video in court with Weier ’s father, sister and grandparents speaking on her behalf. “She’s grown mentally and physically,” her father, William Weier, said. “She knows what she did was wrong.” He asked for forgiveness from the Leutner family. In a deal with prosecutors, Geyser, who did the stabbing, pleaded guilty to attempted firstdegree intentional homicide with the agreement that she isn’t criminally responsible and shouldn’t go to prison.
Pakistan Slams US After Trump Puts Islamabad on Notice
Islamabad Pakistan on Friday slammed the United States of America and demanded to be treated on equal footing as India. This comes a day after US PresidentDonald Trump put Islamabad on notice and accused it of providing terrorists safe haven. Pakistan also said that US behaviour towards Pakistan is not how allies treat each other. Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua urged the United States to treat both Islamabad and New Delhi on an equal footing. She was addressing the Senate’s Standing Committee on External Affairs on Friday when she expressed deep concern over U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s comments about Pakistan during his unannounced visit to Afghanistan and said his remarks were worrisome. She further said that Pakistan seeks to resolve all issues
through negotiations with India. US Vice President Mike Pench on Thursday claimed that Trump put Pakistan on notice, for harbouring terrorists. “For too long Pakistan has provided safe haven to the Taliban and many terrorist organizations, but those days are over. President Trump has put Pakistan on notice,” Pence told the U.S. troops during his surprise trip to Bagram Air Base on Thursday. Pence further said, “As the President said, so I say now: Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with the United States, and Pakistan has much to lose by continuing to harbour criminals and terrorists.” Earlier on Tuesday during his inaugural trip to Pakistan, United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reiterated Trump’s message that Islamabad must increase its efforts to eradicate the militants and terrorists operating within the country.
Asha Bhosle’s restaurant rapped by UK ad watchdog over selecting contest winners London Britain’s advertising watchdog has rapped Asha’s, a restaurant chain promoted by Indian singing legend Asha Bhosle, for selecting winners of a competition not by random chance but selectively by an individual member of its staff. The chain has several restaurants in the Gulf countries and two popular outlets in Birmingham and Manchester. The fare offered reflects the favourite cuisine and preferences of Bhosle, who is known for her passion for cooking. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a complaint lodged by an unnamed individual who understood that the prizes had been awarded to the promoter’s friends, and challenged whether the prizes had been awarded in accordance with the laws of chance. Asha’s Restaurants International Ltd informed ASA that the winners of the competition announced on its Facebook page on July 13 were randomly selected by the sales and marketing manager from people who liked the restaurant’s page. The competition offered five pairs of weekend tickets for the Tatton Park Foodie Festival near Manchester to those who liked and shared the restaurant’s post
and page. The winners were to be announced on July 14. The ASA ruled this week that the
with the laws of chance or that participants had been dealt with fairly. We therefore concluded
advertising code was breached on two counts by the way the winners were selected. It said: ”We noted that Asha’s said that the winners of the promotion had been selected at random by the sales and marketing manager. However, we had not seen evidence to demonstrate that the winners had been selected under the supervision of an independent person or that Asha’s had used a verifiably random computer process to select the winner”. “In the absence of such evidence, we considered that Asha’s had not demonstrated that the prize had been awarded in accordance
that the promotion breached the Code”. ASA said it told the restaurant to “ensure in future that prizes were awarded in accordance with the laws of chance and, unless winners were selected by a computer process that produced verifiably random results, by an independent person or under the supervision of an independent person”. Bhosle last visited Britain in September 2016 as part of a Farewell Tour with sell-out performances in Birmingham and London. Then 83, she told journalists and fans that she was unlikely to visit Britain again.
Issue - 752 (28)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Mahesh Bhatt’s classic Arth remade in Pakistan Islamabad Director Mahesh Bhatt’s cult romance drama Arth has been
remade in Pakistan — the first Hindi movie to be officially reproduced in the neighbouring country.The new movie, titled Arth 2, stars Shaan Shahid, Humaima Malick, Uzma Hassan and Mohib Mirza. It has been made with a local and indigenous narrative suited to local conditions, with reports saying the remake is a contemporary retelling of the original story and will be set in
Lahore.According to reports, the idea for Arth 2 materialised after Shaan met Bhatt in 2015 and
expressed his desire to remake the film for Pakistani audiences. “Arth is the first film with the DNA of an Indian story to be set in Pakistan. If we want to strengthen film trade between our countries, Arth’s model is a great way of collaborating,” Shaan had said. An Indian newspaper report confirmed that Bhatt had given the story and screenplay rights to Shaan without charging any money.
And Pakistani cinema lovers can’t wait to see the film, especially after Bhatt himself praised the remake. “A stunning looking film shot with passion. Thank u @mshaanshahid for bringing the film that hurled me into history to a whole new audience,” Bhatt tweeted. He also complimented Humaima for her spark and power-packed performance, to which, Humaima responded by posting: “Shukriya these words of yours are my win.” Talking to local media, Bhatt said, “Shaan sahib is remaking a film that I started my career with, and that makes me very happy. I am very keen to see how he will interpret it. Every filmmaker has his own worldview, and he has complete freedom to reinterpret it however he wishes.” He also dismissed rumours which said he was against the idea of his work being remade, saying he doesn’t believe the film or its legacy will be tampered with. “In no way do I feel that it will taint my work. On the contrary, I take the fact that he (Shaan) thinks my film is worthy of a remake as a sign of respect,” he said. The original movie, which was released in 1982, starred Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Raj Kiran. In the movie, a filmmaker (Kharbanda) has an affair with an actress (Patil) and leaves his wife (Azmi). The plot follows the wife’s search for her identity.
Post-Brexit, UK passport will return to original ‘iconic’ blue and gold design
London Major issues about the United Kingdom leaving the European Union remain unresolved – some insist it may not happen – but the Theresa May government has already announced that the colour of the British passport will change from burgundy to blue. If all goes well in Brexit-related talks in Brussels, the process will be completed by March 29, 2019. The new blue British passports will be issued from October 2019, removing the words “European Union”, currently at the top of the travel document. The home office said on Friday: “After Brexit, the UK travel document will no longer be required to conform to EU standards. So in a move to symbolise our national identity, the cover will be changing from the standard EU burgundy colour to a blue and gold design.” Officials said that the new passport will be one of the most
secure travel documents in the world, with a raft of new and updated security features and technologies to protect against fraud and forgery. The current paper-based picture page is to be replaced with a new, superstrength plastic polycarbonate material that will be more difficult to alter. Immigration minister Brandon Lewis said: “Leaving the EU gives us a unique opportunity to restore our national identity and forge a new path for ourselves in the world. That is why I am delighted to announce that the British passport will be returning to the iconic blue and gold design after we have left the European Union in 2019.” The blue cover is a return to the original appearance of the British passport, with the colour first used in 1921. It remained the colour of choice until the UK joined the EU and the burgundy common format colour was agreed and adopted.
Youth dies 2 days after reaching Canada Man arrested for killing former wife
after finding her with friend at home
Jalandhar The dreams of a family to see their son study and get settled in a foreign land turned sour when their son lost his life within two days of making it to Canada. The parents of 19-year-old youth of the district were in for a shock when he died within a day of reaching Canada, where he had gone to pursue studies under a study visa. Sahaj Juneja (19) a resident of the Green Model Town area in the district, reached Toronto, Canada, on December 18 and died on December 20. Though relatives say Sahaj died in his sleep and they think it was a natural death, the actual reason of the death has not been
formally ascertained yet. Relatives want that the body of Sahaj be brought back from Canada with the intervention of the government as his parents cannot afford to arrange the same. Parbhjit Singh, the brother-in-law of Sahaj, said, “Sahaj was alright on the evening of December 19 and visited various places with relative or friends. He even posted photographs of his excursions on the Internet. On December 20, he got very late in getting up. We made repeated calls to our family friends to wake him up. They told us he was not getting up. They called an ambulance and he was taken to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead.”
Lucknow A 40-year-old man who had given triple talaq to his wife, then got her married off and divorced from a friend so he could remarry her as per Sharia law, was arrested for her murder in Bijnor on Thursday. Mohammed Ateeq allegedly slit 32-year-old Shabana’s throat in a fit of rage on Sunday after he found her in an “objectionable state” at his home with his friend Imran, with whom he got her married earlier. According to the police, Ateeq had given triple talaq to Shabana on July 4, but brought her back to his house a week ago, after completing the conditions laid out in Sharia, which require a woman who has been given triple talaq to go through a ‘nikaah halala’. Shabana had to get married to Imran, and then get divorced by him in order to remarry Ateeq. The accused had solemnised her ‘nikaah’ with Imran, who gave triple talaq to Shabana on December 9. Station House Officer of Noorpur police station, Satendra Kumar Singh, said, “Ateeq told the police that he married Shabana around 13 years ago. Following regular altercations between him and his wife, their marital
relations had turned sour. After a verbal duel on July 4, Ateeq gave triple talaq to Shabana.” The SHO said, “Ateeq said that since they have three children and the youngest one was a 5-
a condition that Imran would give her triple talaq at the earliest. Imran, however, started delaying. But, following intervention by some local residents, Imran gave Shabana triple talaq on
year-old boy, he soon realised his mistake of pronouncing triple talaq without considering the consequences. Ateeq decided to follow the Sharia to stay with Shabana as a married couple again.” “Ateeq got Shabana married to his friend Imran, his neighbour, on November 11, on
December 9,” the SHO said. Shabana started living with Ateeq again, but their “nikaah” had not been solemnised. “During interrogation, Ateeq claimed that when he returned home on Sunday, he found Shabana in an objectionable state with Imran.
Issue - 752 (29)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Hindu outfit protests against film for naming characters Ram, Sita Kolkata WING OUTFIT Hindu Jagran Manch has taken offence to Bengali film 2017 2:02 amRIGHT Rongberonger Korhi for naming its characters Ram
and Sita and depicting their separation. Alleging that the movie has hurt the sentiments of Hindus, the outfit on Friday submitted a letter to the regional director of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), asking the board not to certify the film if the names of the characters are not changed. The group also held demonstrations outside the CBFC office here. Spokesperson of the West Bengal unit of Hindu Jagran Manch, Vivek Singh, has also written to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani. “Through media reports we have come to know that the characters in the movie have been named as Ram and Sita and they separate at the end of the movie. Since the movie is not based on Ramayana, therefore, the characters in the movie should not be named Ram and Sita. Even if they have done so, their separation should not have been depicted in the movie,”
Singh said. “It is a deliberate attempt to hurt Hindu sentiments. Why these characters were not named Joseph and Mariyum or Mohammad and Ayesha? We
would ask the director of the movie to change the names of the character and release the movie,” he added, alleging that the director of the movie, Ranjan Ghosh, wanted to create a controversy to win a National Award. The movie stars Rituparna Sengupta, Chiranjeet Chakraborty, Soham Chakraborty, Ritwick Chakraborty and Arunima Ghosh. No release date has been set yet as the film is still awaiting certification from CBFC. When contacted, director Ranjan Ghosh said the move was an attempt to curb the “creative freedom of artists.” “This is an unreasonable demand. The movie has not been screened yet. People should be able to watch the film and decide for themselves. How can someone point a finger at the movie without seeing its content? The movie is not based on Ramayana. It is based on
Rape accused ex-minister Langah seeks bail in High Court Chandigarh Former Punjab minister and Akali leader Sucha Singh Langah has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court
for bail in the rape case registered against him in Gurdaspur in September. On Friday, the hearing was deferred to January 12 on his counsel’s request.
Langah, in his plea, has said he has been falsely implicated in the case by his political rivals. A case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for rape and extortion was registered against Langah at Gurdaspur police station on September 29. The complainant, a Punjab Police constable, had also levelled the allegations of financial fraud against him while saying that he had sexually exploited her in lieu of the job. Langah, who has been in custody since October 10, has said the timing of the FIR was also suspicious as the elections of the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat was scheduled in October and the allegations against him were only levelled two weeks prior to it.
the lives of some characters named Ram and Sita. The subject of the movie has not been dealt irresponsibly,” Ghosh said. “This entire thing is a cheap publicity gimmick by this fringe organisation, which wants to hog the limelight. It is piggybacking the film for publicity. It is an attempt to curb the creative freedom of artists,” he added. Rongberonger Korhi is his second feature film. “It is a love story and there is an element of separation in the film. I will not change the name of my characters and there is a noble thought behind naming the characters. People will come to know about it after watching the film. It has not been done to hurt the sentiment of anyone. On the other hand, no one can dictate what people will be wearing and what they will eat. I will ask the CBFC not to pay heed to the demands of this organisation,” Ghosh said. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh told PTI that the trend of naming film characters after Hindu Gods or revered mythological characters might harm the sentiments of people.
Uk-based Indian-origin marathoner saddened to see sedentary lifestyle of young India
Thiruvananthapuram He started long-distance running at the age of 54. In next three years he participated in all six major marathons of the world and now at 58, Ashok Kumar is getting ready for Athens where the long distance run originated. The Indian-origin Briton might have hit the tracks late, but with his life’s example he wants to convey a message to youngsters that there is always something one can do for oneself and others, and age is no bar. “Often we struggle to find reasons for not doing anything. You can’t cite lack of time as an excuse for not doing anything. If you have the will and attitude everything is possible,” said Kumar, an active charity worker, who
works as inspector of taxes in UK. He is currently on vacation to his native village in south Kerala’s Kollam district. For youngsters in India, he has a word of caution. He is saddened to see how the world’s youngest nation with 51.8% population below 35 years of age is lagging behind on fitness. “Sedentary lifestyle is fast catching up with the youth and lifestyle diseases are going up here. We have to check this immediately. Sport, especially running, is an antidote to this, he said, adding: “The youngest nation will have to go a long way to get itself fit.” Associated with charity works world over, Kumar is now concentrating mainly on fight against hunger.
Punjab, Haryana are heroin hubs, accounted for 60% of seizure: NCB report Chandigarh The Narcotics Control Bureau’s annual report, 2016, which was released last week, shows that 999kg of the total heroin seizure of 1,675kg by all enforcement agencies and state police forces in the country was made in the two northern states. Of this, 657kg was seized in Haryana with 669 arrests in 441 cases, making it the state with the highest heroin haul in the country, it said. The border state of Punjab, which is fighting drug menace like never before, has been placed at number two with heroin seizure of 342kg and 1,970 arrests in 1,562 cases. A sizeable quantity of recovery was made from districts along with the international border with Pakistan. Another 175kg was seized in Jammu and Kashmir. “The region is particularly vulnerable as the southwest Asian-origin heroin (white and brownish mostly) enters the country through the IndoPakistan border and has a higher level of purity as compared to the locally produced variety. The purity decreases as it passes through a number of hands to the streets due to successive levels of adulteration,” said a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) official. While heroin seizure was made in Punjab by multiple agencies, including the state police, Border Security Force (BSF), NCB and the Directorate of Revenue
Intelligence (DRI), the NCB figures for Haryana have triggered a blame game. The Haryana police have strongly refuted the agency’s claim. Additional director general of police (ADGP), law and order, Muhammad Akil said the heroin seizure statistics given by the NCB was totally incorrect. “No major heroin haul has been reported in the state by any enforcement agency. The recovery figure just cannot be so high under any circumstance. It is probably in grams which the central agency mistook as kilograms,” he told Hindustan Times. The officer said Haryana Police seized 5.21kg of heroin and 21kg of smack, a low quality heroin in 2016. The NCB, the nodal agency for drug law enforcement in the country, blamed Haryana Police in turn. “The information was provided by the office of the director general of police in Panchkula in monthly master
reports. The data we got from them on heroin and smack showed the seizures in Haryana to be higher than Punjab,” NCB’s deputy director general, operations, Rajender Pal Singh said. Another NCB official said the data is gathered from different agencies on the basis of monthly reports. All agencies, including the state police, are also required to send data in a specified format (Form ‘F’) to the NCB after every recovery. “Haryana has a shoddy track record in supplying information,” he said, requesting anonymity. In April also, the Union home ministry, in a written response to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha on illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, had given information showing Haryana as the state with the highest heroin seizure in 2016. The drug recovery shown was different from the statistics given in the NCB report.
Issue - 752 (29)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Hindu outfit protests against film for naming characters Ram, Sita Kolkata WING OUTFIT Hindu Jagran Manch has taken offence to Bengali film 2017 2:02 amRIGHT Rongberonger Korhi for naming its characters Ram
and Sita and depicting their separation. Alleging that the movie has hurt the sentiments of Hindus, the outfit on Friday submitted a letter to the regional director of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), asking the board not to certify the film if the names of the characters are not changed. The group also held demonstrations outside the CBFC office here. Spokesperson of the West Bengal unit of Hindu Jagran Manch, Vivek Singh, has also written to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani. “Through media reports we have come to know that the characters in the movie have been named as Ram and Sita and they separate at the end of the movie. Since the movie is not based on Ramayana, therefore, the characters in the movie should not be named Ram and Sita. Even if they have done so, their separation should not have been depicted in the movie,”
Singh said. “It is a deliberate attempt to hurt Hindu sentiments. Why these characters were not named Joseph and Mariyum or Mohammad and Ayesha? We
would ask the director of the movie to change the names of the character and release the movie,” he added, alleging that the director of the movie, Ranjan Ghosh, wanted to create a controversy to win a National Award. The movie stars Rituparna Sengupta, Chiranjeet Chakraborty, Soham Chakraborty, Ritwick Chakraborty and Arunima Ghosh. No release date has been set yet as the film is still awaiting certification from CBFC. When contacted, director Ranjan Ghosh said the move was an attempt to curb the “creative freedom of artists.” “This is an unreasonable demand. The movie has not been screened yet. People should be able to watch the film and decide for themselves. How can someone point a finger at the movie without seeing its content? The movie is not based on Ramayana. It is based on
Rape accused ex-minister Langah seeks bail in High Court Chandigarh Former Punjab minister and Akali leader Sucha Singh Langah has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court
for bail in the rape case registered against him in Gurdaspur in September. On Friday, the hearing was deferred to January 12 on his counsel’s request.
Langah, in his plea, has said he has been falsely implicated in the case by his political rivals. A case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for rape and extortion was registered against Langah at Gurdaspur police station on September 29. The complainant, a Punjab Police constable, had also levelled the allegations of financial fraud against him while saying that he had sexually exploited her in lieu of the job. Langah, who has been in custody since October 10, has said the timing of the FIR was also suspicious as the elections of the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat was scheduled in October and the allegations against him were only levelled two weeks prior to it.
the lives of some characters named Ram and Sita. The subject of the movie has not been dealt irresponsibly,” Ghosh said. “This entire thing is a cheap publicity gimmick by this fringe organisation, which wants to hog the limelight. It is piggybacking the film for publicity. It is an attempt to curb the creative freedom of artists,” he added. Rongberonger Korhi is his second feature film. “It is a love story and there is an element of separation in the film. I will not change the name of my characters and there is a noble thought behind naming the characters. People will come to know about it after watching the film. It has not been done to hurt the sentiment of anyone. On the other hand, no one can dictate what people will be wearing and what they will eat. I will ask the CBFC not to pay heed to the demands of this organisation,” Ghosh said. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh told PTI that the trend of naming film characters after Hindu Gods or revered mythological characters might harm the sentiments of people.
Uk-based Indian-origin marathoner saddened to see sedentary lifestyle of young India
Thiruvananthapuram He started long-distance running at the age of 54. In next three years he participated in all six major marathons of the world and now at 58, Ashok Kumar is getting ready for Athens where the long distance run originated. The Indian-origin Briton might have hit the tracks late, but with his life’s example he wants to convey a message to youngsters that there is always something one can do for oneself and others, and age is no bar. “Often we struggle to find reasons for not doing anything. You can’t cite lack of time as an excuse for not doing anything. If you have the will and attitude everything is possible,” said Kumar, an active charity worker, who
works as inspector of taxes in UK. He is currently on vacation to his native village in south Kerala’s Kollam district. For youngsters in India, he has a word of caution. He is saddened to see how the world’s youngest nation with 51.8% population below 35 years of age is lagging behind on fitness. “Sedentary lifestyle is fast catching up with the youth and lifestyle diseases are going up here. We have to check this immediately. Sport, especially running, is an antidote to this, he said, adding: “The youngest nation will have to go a long way to get itself fit.” Associated with charity works world over, Kumar is now concentrating mainly on fight against hunger.
Punjab, Haryana are heroin hubs, accounted for 60% of seizure: NCB report Chandigarh The Narcotics Control Bureau’s annual report, 2016, which was released last week, shows that 999kg of the total heroin seizure of 1,675kg by all enforcement agencies and state police forces in the country was made in the two northern states. Of this, 657kg was seized in Haryana with 669 arrests in 441 cases, making it the state with the highest heroin haul in the country, it said. The border state of Punjab, which is fighting drug menace like never before, has been placed at number two with heroin seizure of 342kg and 1,970 arrests in 1,562 cases. A sizeable quantity of recovery was made from districts along with the international border with Pakistan. Another 175kg was seized in Jammu and Kashmir. “The region is particularly vulnerable as the southwest Asian-origin heroin (white and brownish mostly) enters the country through the IndoPakistan border and has a higher level of purity as compared to the locally produced variety. The purity decreases as it passes through a number of hands to the streets due to successive levels of adulteration,” said a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) official. While heroin seizure was made in Punjab by multiple agencies, including the state police, Border Security Force (BSF), NCB and the Directorate of Revenue
Intelligence (DRI), the NCB figures for Haryana have triggered a blame game. The Haryana police have strongly refuted the agency’s claim. Additional director general of police (ADGP), law and order, Muhammad Akil said the heroin seizure statistics given by the NCB was totally incorrect. “No major heroin haul has been reported in the state by any enforcement agency. The recovery figure just cannot be so high under any circumstance. It is probably in grams which the central agency mistook as kilograms,” he told Hindustan Times. The officer said Haryana Police seized 5.21kg of heroin and 21kg of smack, a low quality heroin in 2016. The NCB, the nodal agency for drug law enforcement in the country, blamed Haryana Police in turn. “The information was provided by the office of the director general of police in Panchkula in monthly master
reports. The data we got from them on heroin and smack showed the seizures in Haryana to be higher than Punjab,” NCB’s deputy director general, operations, Rajender Pal Singh said. Another NCB official said the data is gathered from different agencies on the basis of monthly reports. All agencies, including the state police, are also required to send data in a specified format (Form ‘F’) to the NCB after every recovery. “Haryana has a shoddy track record in supplying information,” he said, requesting anonymity. In April also, the Union home ministry, in a written response to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha on illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, had given information showing Haryana as the state with the highest heroin seizure in 2016. The drug recovery shown was different from the statistics given in the NCB report.
Issue - 752 (30)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Facebook apologises for mistakes in removing hate speech San Francisco Facebook has apologised after an investigation exposed inconsistencies by moderators in removing offensive posts reported
by the social network’s users. The investigation reported by ProPublica this week showed that in one case Facebook censors, called content
reviewers, approved a picture of a corpse with the statement “the only good muslim is a f...... dead one” was while another post stating “death to the Muslims!!!”
was removed. In an analysis of 900 posts, the US-based non-profit investigative newsroom found that content reviewers at Facebook often
US man nearly decapitates girlfriend with samurai sword Houston : A 45-year-old Houston man is accused of nearly decapitating his girlfriend with a samurai sword. Police investigating a “cutting in progress” Wednesday evening found 36-year-old Aracely Jernigan dead in the living room of a Houston home. Court records show Kenneth Wayne Lockings Jr’s relatives convinced him Thursday to surrender to police. He’s being held without bond in the Harris County jail on the murder charge and a federal parole revocation. He has a lengthy criminal history including multiple drug arrests and at least one conviction. Lockings’ grandmother, Marie Carrier told The Houston Chronicle that he received the sword as a gift at Thanksgiving. She says Jernigan had been living in Mexico and only recently returned to Houston. Court records don’t list an attorney for Lockings. He’s due in court Wednesday.
make different calls on items with similar content, and do not always abide by the company’s guidelines. The posts were submitted to ProPublica as part of a crowdsourced investigation into how facebook implements its hatespeech rules. ProPublica asked Facebook to explain its decisions on a sample of 49 items. People who submitted these items maintained that Facebook censors had erred, mostly by failing to remove hate speech, and in some cases by deleting legitimate expression. Facebook admitted that its reviewers had made a mistake in 22 cases, but the social network defended its rulings in 19 instances. In six cases, Facebook said that the users had not flagged the conten correctly, or the author had deleted it. In the remaining two cases, Facebook said it did not have enough information to respond. “We’re sorry for the mistakes we have made... They do not reflect the community we want to help build,” Facebook Vice President Justin Osofsky was quoted as saying by ProPublica. “We must do better,” he added. Facebook, according to Osofsky, will double the size of its safety and security team, which includes content reviewers and other employees, to 20,000 people in 2018, in an effort to enforce its rules better, the report said on Thursday.
Woman sues over nude photos take of her on operating table in US hospital
Washington A woman has sued the Pennsylvania hospital where she once worked over nude photos taken of her while she was on the operating table. Sheila Harosky sued Washington Hospital, its chief executive and the doctor performing her surgery. She alleges invasion of privacy and medical malpractice, among other claims in the lawsuit filed December 12. The 45-year-old said she discovered the photos when she returned to work after an incisional hernia surgery in September 2016. Harosky told the Tribune-Review a colleague approached her with the photos on her cellphone saying, “I’ve got something for your scrapbook.” The hospital claims the photos were an extension of a practical joke Harosky participated in by putting fake intestines on her
body before the surgery. While she admitted playing a joke on her doctor, Harosky said she didn’t give permission for the photos to be taken. The hospital said it fired the nurse who took the photos and no longer allows the doctor to perform surgeries. But Harosky, who worked as an operating room secretary, said in her lawsuit she was subjected to harassment from other employees. Harosky took an extended leave of absence as recommended by her doctor. She told the TribuneReview she was fired once her leave ended in October. The hospital said it “afforded accommodations” for Harosky’s return, but she refused the accommodations. Both Harosky and her lawyer claim the hospital treated her like the wrongdoer instead of the victim. It is unclear what damages she is seeking.
Sikh American float to feature ‘langar’ in California’s famed Rose Parade
Indian-Origin Student Shot Dead in US During Robbery Attempt Chicago A 19-year-old Indian-origin student was shot dead on Thursday morning in a robbery attempt in Illinois, United States. The victim identified as Arshad Vohra, a native of Gujarat’s Nadiad, was shot dead after robbers struck a gas station in Doloton, a less populated locality about 30 kilometres from the city of Chicago, CBS media reported. The incident comes amid growing attacks on Indians in recent months. According to a report, during the incident, Vohra was waiting for a family member, who worked at the gas station. A 55year-old relative of Mr Vohra who also worked there was injured by the robbers. He was critically admitted to the Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. The robbery took place on Thursday at around 11 am (local time) at the Clark gas station in Dolton. The Chicago Sun Times reported that the gas station is family-owned and operated. Some reports also said that the investigators are now started looking for video footage of the shooting. After the incident, the robbers fled from the spot and almost two
days after the murder of Vohra no arrest has been made in this connection. The cops have also announced $ 12,000 reward for any information on the accused. Earlier this month, Karunakar Karengle was killed during a robbery by two hooded attackers in Ohio. A 30-year-old Indian national pursuing his master’s degree from Chicago was seriously injured after he was shot in his right cheek by an unidentified assailant. Srinivas Kuchibhotla, a 28-yearold software engineer from India,
was fatally shot in Olathe, Kansas, in February by a United States Navy veteran who had told him and his friend at a bar to go back to their country. Two months ago, a Sikh man was shot in his arm in his driveway in Kent, Washington state, by a masked man who had told him to go back to his “own country”. In 2017, around 58,491 incidents of gun violence across the United States were reported in which 14,763 people were killed and 29,888 others were injured, the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), a not for profit corporation reported.
Washington A float depicting Sikh tradition of ‘langar sewa’ (community kitchen) will be a part of the upcoming Rose Parade on New Year’s Day in South California. Formally called the ‘Tournament of Roses’, the parade is a 129year-old American tradition that attracts up to one million visitors and is broadcast live across the US. The float will visually transport spectators back to Punjab, the Sikh Coalition said. Utilising 90,959 flowers and 500 pounds of vegetables, the float will symbolise the meals that can be expected in a langar hall. The float will also showcase beautiful brick walls, a marbled dome roof and scalloped arches to replicate those found at the Darbar Sahib. This would be the fourth consecutive year for a Sikh float appearing at the popular Rose Parade in California. “Growing up in California, it was
always a dream to see a Sikh float in the Tournament of Roses Parade,” said Bhajneet Singh, a member of the Sikh committee responsible for the float entry for the fourth consecutive year. “The theme of langar really speaks the values of Sikhism and the work that we are doing to help our communities every day here in California and across the world,” he said. The Southern California Sikh community feeds an estimated thousands of people across the greater Los Angeles every month. “From the Khalsa Food Pantry every Friday evening to the monthly barbeques and visits to Skid Row, we are constantly trying to bring langar to those most in need,” said Singh. According to Singh, the Rose Parade will be an opportunity for millions of Americans to learn more about langar— an important aspect of Sikhism.
Issue - 752 (32)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Best friends, 2 Irish men marry At least 10,000 killed in 1989 to avoid inheritance tax on house Tiananmen crackdown: British cable BEIJING At least 10,000 people were killed in the Chinese army’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in June 1989, according
to a newly released British diplomatic cable that recounts the bloodshed in gruesome detail. The document, made public more than 28 years after the event, describes injured girls being bayoneted, bodies being ground up by armoured vehicles and human remains being flushed into the sewers. “Minimum estimate of civilian
dead 10,000,” the then British ambassador Alan Donald said in the secret telegram to London seen by AFP at Britain’s National Archives. The estimate, given on June 5, 1989, the day after the
crackdown, is almost 10 times higher than that commonly accepted at the time of several hundred to more than a thousand dead. But experts questioned by AFP said the 10,000 figure seemed credible. Donald’s account gives horrific details of the violence unleashed on the night of June 3-4, when the army entered Beijing to end seven weeks of protests on
Pakistan man acquitted of blasphemy after 9 years in jail
Tiananmen Square, the symbolic heart of Communist power. During their advance, armoured personnel carriers “opened fire on the crowd (both civilians and soldiers) before running over them in their APCs”, wrote the ambassador. He said his source was a person who “was passing on information given him by a close friend who is currently a member of the State Council” the Chinese cabinet. He said the source had previously proved reliable “and was careful to separate fact from speculation and rumour”. Once the soldiers arrived in Tiananmen Square, “students understood they were given one hour to leave square but after five minutes APCs attacked,” Donald wrote. “Students linked arms but were mown down including soldiers. APCs then ran over bodies time and time again to make ‘pie’ and remains collected by bulldozer. Remains incinerated and then hosed down drains.” “Four wounded girl students begged for their lives but were bayoneted,” Donald said, adding: “Army ambulances who attempted to give aid were shot up.” At the end of June 1989, the Chinese government had said suppression of the “counterrevolutionary riots” had killed 200 civilians and several dozen police and military.
Dublin Two heterosexual Irish men married in Dublin to avoid paying 50,000 pounds inheritance tax on a house, the media reported on Saturday. Best friends Matt Murphy and Michael O’Sullivan decided to get married when they discovered how much tax would have to be paid on the house Murphy, 83, intended to leave in his will to O’Sullivan, 58, who is his carer, reported the Guardian. Same-sex marriage was legalised in Ireland following a referendum in May 2015. “I’ve known Matty for 30 years. We became very friendly after my second relationship broke up,” O’Sullivan, a father of three, told the Irish Mirror. “I have been bringing Matt out in my car to various parties and all that kind of thing. He became friends with all my friends, they all loved him.” Each man went through some tough times, with O’Sullivan becoming homeless and Murphy suffering from giant cell arteritis
which affects the optic nerve. “I stayed over with him for a while and eventually Matt said ‘Why don’t you come and stay here?’. I would go over and stay with him the odd time but never full time.” Murphy could not afford to pay O’Sullivan as a carer. “Eventually Matt said the only way he could pay me was to leave me the house. He said he would give me the house so I have somewhere to live when he goes.” However, O’Sullivan knew that would mean a huge tax bill and the house would have to be sold to pay it. He said Murphy “was chatting a friend down the country in Cashel, Co Tipperary, and she jokingly said we should get married. Then one night he turned around and said it to me and I said I would marry him”. The couple got married in a former hospital on Dublin’s Grand Canal Street, followed by a meal for five at the nearby Gasworks bar, the Guardian reported. O’Sullivan was previously married to a woman. It is Murphy’s first marriage.
Singapore firm to pay $422m in corruption fines
Islamabad Pakistan’s Supreme Court has acquitted a man convicted for blasphemy after he had already spent over nine years in jail, officials said on Saturday. Muhammad Mansha, 58, was arrested by police in September 2008 for allegedly desecrating pages of the Quran in Sadiqgunj area of Bahawalnagar district in Punjab province. He was charged under Section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and awarded life imprisonment in 2009 by a district and sessions court. The sentence was also upheld by the Lahore High Court in 2014. The convict appealed to the Supreme Court in 2014 and the court issued the verdict on Friday.
According to a court official, a Supreme Court panel of Justice Dost Mohammad and Justice Qazi Faez Isa acquitted the man after it emerged that the main witness in the case was suffering from severe hearing and speech impairments. The judges observed that the witness was not competent to record evidence under the law. Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law was enacted by military dictator Ziaul Haq in 1980s to appease clerics. The law has been under criticised by rights groups for its misuse aimed at settling personal scores and disputes. Those accused of blasphemy are under imminent threat of being killed by extremists.
Pakistani man loses in gambling, gets drunk, holds 25 relatives hostage Islamabad :Pakistani police have rescued 25 members of a family who were held hostage by a drunken relative in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.Officer Israr Abbasi said police fired tear gas canisters into the home after the man shot and wounded a relative and a police officer on Saturday.Abbasi said suspect Abdur Rahim was injured as he scuffled with police. Relatives said Rahim held them hostage at gunpoint starting at midnight Friday. Investigators said the man got drunk after suffering heavy gambling losses, including machinery from the family’s construction business.
WASHINGTON Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. (KOM) has agreed to pay $422 million in fines to the US, Brazil and Singapore to settle bribery cases involving Brazilian contracts, US officials said Friday. The investigation of bribes to Brazil government officials was conducted under a US law allowing authorities to punish American companies or companies active in the country that are guilty of corruption. The Keppel group, which builds oil rigs and operates shipyards, has a US subsidiary found to have been involved in the bribery scheme, which was led by a former Brazilian agent with the knowledge of some Keppel executives, who have been fired. The scheme “resulted in the payment by the defendant companies of over $50 million in bribes to Brazilian officials and in profits for the defendant companies of over $350 million from business corruptly obtained in Brazil,” acting US attorney Bridget Rohde said in a statement. KOM’s cooperation and firing or disciplining of employees involved in misconduct led the Justice Department to agree to a lower penalty than could have been assessed, the US Department of Justice said.
Keppel said in a statement in Singapore that the “global resolution” of the cases stemmed from “improper payments” made by a former agent, Zwi Skornicki, to Brazilian government officials between
place at the Group’s offshore and marine business in Brazil from around 2001 to 2014,” said Lee Boon Yang, chairman of the firm’s parent Keppel Corp. “Global companies such as
2001 and 2014 in relation to various projects with stateowned oil giant Petrobras and Sete Brasil, a supplier of oil rigs. Singapore’s anti-corruption bureau said Saturday it was investigating the individuals involved, but gave no details. Keppel said it cooperated fully with officials in all three countries and provided its own findings from an internal company investigation after it learned about the anomalies. “We regret and are deeply disappointed by the actions that we now know to have taken
Keppel have both a legal and moral duty to operate fully within international laws and regulations. “Any perception that illegal payments can be condoned, if they are made by agents, is wrong and will not be tolerated.” Following the settlement, Keppel will continue its operations in the US and Brazil, a company statement said. “Keppel does not expect any negative impact on its ability to bid for contracts in the US, Brazil and other countries,” it added.
Issue - 752 (33)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
3 Miss America officials resign, 1 apologises to ex-winner Atlantic City The top leadership of the Miss America Organization, implicated in an email scandal that targeted past pageant winners for abuse based on their appearance, intellect and sex lives, resigned on Saturday, with the outgoing president apologizing to a winner whose weight he ridiculed. The president, Josh Randle, told The Associated Press his comment responding to an email to his private account about the physical appearance of 2013 winner Mallory Hagan came months before he started working for the Miss America Organization in 2015. But he said it was wrong. “I apologize to Mallory for my lapse in judgment,” Randle said on Saturday. “It does not reflect my values or the values I worked to promote at the Miss America Organization. Although this terrible situation was not caused or driven by me, in light of recent events and new developments, I am no longer willing to continue in my capacity as president and earlier today offered my resignation to the MAO Board of Directors.” Randle said his resignation was voluntary and had not been requested by the board of Miss America, which is based in
Atlantic City. Hagan did not respond to a message seeking comment on the resignations of Randle, CEO Sam Haskell and Chairwoman Lynn Weidner, a former Miss New Jersey. Weidner told the AP Saturday night she has “nothing but love for the Miss America Organization and the incredible women” who comprise it. “Although I have certainly been vilified unjustly by some in recent days, I know that all will be made more clear with time,” she said. “My 46 years of involvement and my past 10 years on the board
Top royal honour for Indian-origin scientist Pratibha Gai
London Acclaimed York-based scientist Pratibha Laxman Gai has been named for damehood, the female equivalent of a knighthood, leading a number of people of Indian-origin from various walks of life in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List 2018 released on Saturday. Gai, professor and acclaimed expert on electron microscopy based at the University of York, grew up in India and won the national science talent scholarship before winning another scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge. She is the fourth Indian-origin woman conferred with the honour since it was instituted in 1917, following Maharani Lakshmi Devi of Dhar (1931), educationist Asha Khemka (2014) and medicine academic Parveen Kumar (2017). She has been honoured for “services to chemical sciences and technology”, an official release said. The damehood and other honours will be conferred at the Buckingham Palace by
Queen Elizabeth and other members of the royal family at various times in 2018. Inspired in early life by the renowned physicist-chemist Marie Cure, Gai’s patented inventions are in the fields of hydrocarbon catalysis/polymers, energy sources, electronic ceramics, Piezoelectrics and nanocoatings for polymers and food. She created the atomicresolution environmental transmission electron microscope and is considered an outspoken advocate for women with careers in science. She has over 300 refereed scientific papers in leading journals and nine coauthored and edited books and journal issues. Her expertise includes development of novel chemical processes, nanomaterials, reaction mechanisms and novel in-situ environmental electron microscopy in gases and liquids, surface science and catalysis for healthcare, and energy and climate control.
as a full-time volunteer have been a gift. It is amazing how most of the greatest blessings in my life can be traced back to that summer day when I was 16 years old and entered my first local Miss America Pageant.” The scandal began Thursday, when the Huffington Post published leaked emails showing pageant officials ridiculing past Miss Americas, including crass and sometimes vulgar comments about them. The emails included one that used a vulgar term for female genitalia to refer to past Miss America winners, one that
wished that a particular former Miss America had died and others that speculated about how many sex partners Hagan has had. Randle noted that the worst communications were exchanged in 2013 and 2014, years before he joined the Miss America Organization, and said the article’s implication of “complicit participation on my part in a years long array of inappropriate email communication” is untrue. Haskell’s resignation is effective immediately, while Randle and Weidner will remain for a few
weeks to help with a leadership transition. Dan Meyers, who had been vice chairman of the board, was named interim chairman. The organization announced the resignations a day after dozens of former Miss Americas, including Hagan, signed a petition calling on the group’s leadership to step down because of the emails. The emails already cost the pageant its television production partner and raised questions about the future of the nationally televised broadcast from Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall the week after Labor Day each year. Dick Clark Productions told the AP on Thursday that it cut ties with the Miss America Organization over the emails, calling them “appalling.” Also on Saturday, one of the main recipients of fundraising from the Miss America Organization said it was reviewing its association with Miss America. The Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals said it was “conducting an immediate review of the situation and will take appropriate actions.” And New Jersey officials are reviewing their Miss America Organization contract, in which the state still owes $4 million toward the cost of next year’s pageant.
Won’t give up nukes if US keeps up ‘blackmail’, says N Korea Seoul North Korea said on Saturday that it would never give up its nuclear weapons as long as the United States and its allies continue their “blackmail and war drills” at its doorstep. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency took the oft-repeated stance as it reviewed the country’s major nuclear weapons and missile tests this year. North Korea conducted its most powerful nuclear test to date in September and launched three intercontinental ballistic missiles into the sea in July and November, indicating that it is closer than ever to gaining a nuclear arsenal that could viably target the mainland United States. The aggressive tests have led to more international sanctions and pressure on North Korea amid
concerns that the window for stopping or rolling back its nuclear program is closing rapidly. The US and South Korea have maintained that they won’t negotiate with the North unless it is willing to discuss curbing its nuclear weapons and missile programme. In its report on Saturday, KCNA said North Korea had taken steps for “bolstering the
Egypt court jails ousted Prez Morsi, 18 others for insulting judiciary Cairo An Egyptian court has convicted former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and 18 others over insulting the judiciary, sentencing them to three years in prison. Among defendants in the case are prominent rights activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah and political analyst Amr Hamzawy, both of whom were fined 30,000 Egyptian pounds (USD 1,688). Abdel-Fattah is serving a fiveyear sentence for taking part in
an illegal protest in 2013. Hamzawy lives in exile. Today’s verdict can be appealed. Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, was ousted by the military in 2013 following mass protests against his one-year divisive rule. He has since faced trial on a host of charges, including espionage and conspiring with foreign groups. Egypt has since 2013 cracked down on Islamists, jailing thousands of them as well as secular and liberal activists.
capabilities for self-defense and pre-emptive attacks with nuclear force” in the face of a continued “nuclear threat and blackmail and war drills” by the United States and its “vassal forces”. The North often lashes out at the annual military drills between the United States and South Korea, which the allies describe as defensive in nature. KCNA accused President Donald Trump of employing unprecedented hostile policies against North Korea and threatening it with talks of preemptive strikes. It described North Korea as an “undeniable new strategic state and nuclear power.” “Do not expect any change in its policy. Its entity as an invincible power can neither be undermined nor be stamped out,” KCNA said. “The DPRK, as a responsible nuclear weapons state, will lead the trend of history to the only road of independence,” it added, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Issue - 752 (34)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Five Indians face years in Chinese prison after indictment for drug possession Beijing The fate of five Indians is hanging in balance after a court in southwestern China is learnt to have indicted them on drug
smuggling charges. The quantum of punishment is yet to be announced but the five, arrested last year, could face years in a Chinese prison, ranging from a minimum of seven years to 15 years or more. Only sketchy information is available about the hearing, which was carried out in two separate trials on Wednesday at the Kunming People’s Intermediate court in the southwestern China’s Yunnan province. Journalists were not allowed to attend the hearing. It wasn’t immediately known where the families of the accused were informed of the court
proceedings through the Indian consulate in Guangzhou. No Indian official from either the Embassy in Beijing or the Guangzhou consulate – under
whose jurisdiction Kunming falls – was present in the court. Diplomats said the court is yet to notify them about the proceedings. The five Indians, all from Kolkata, were arrested in two separate cases in a span of two weeks from the international airport in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province.They were identified as Feroz Khan (31), Sheikh Ismail (24), Maqsud Alam (24), Sheikh Ahmed Ali (46) and Akrar Khan (33). One of those indicted, Ismail, is a college student. They were flying in from Kolkata and were said to be carrying more
China recovers $112 mn in misused poverty relief funds: Report
Beijing Chinese authorities have recouped 730 million yuan ($112.20 million) in misappropriated funds as part of an investigation into the country’s national povertyreduction scheme, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. Nearly 450 people have been charged for offenses relating to the misused funds in an inspection of 28 provinces, said Xinhua, citing the Ministry of Finance and the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development. The report gave no details on how the funds were misused. China’s government has pledged to wipe out poverty by 2020, targeting 70 million people living below the poverty line, but researchers and social workers say a lasting solution will take
much longer. China has spent 196.1 billion yuan ($30.14 billion) on poverty relief over the past four years, said Xinhua. Earlier this month, Hu Zejun, the head of the National Audit Office, said that the country has punished a total of 970 people for misusing the funds under the same programme. It was not clear whether that number included the 450 people charged for offenses. Hu said 101,800 people had been removed from the government list of registered poor while another 95,000 were added. Beijing committed 86 billion yuan ($13.22 billion) to poverty alleviation in 2017 under the national programme, most of which is used for infrastructure projects, as well as subsidies for education and health care.
than 24 kg of hashish hidden in their luggage. Two of them were arrested on August 24, 2016, and rest on September 6 after they disembarked from a flight from Kolkata. They were charged under article 347 of China’s Criminal Law, which deals with offences related to drug smuggling. The hashish was hidden in several packets of a popular Indian snack and scores of new laptop bags in their luggage. “It is a very serious offence. According to the law, any deals related to the sales of marijuana over 1 kg could attract a punishment of a jail term of 15 years,” Shanghai-based lawyer Wang Chune had told HT earlier. Four Indians arrested by the police in Nanning in south China with drugs in 2008, for example, are serving life sentences, which could go on for decades. In this case, it was learnt that the government-appointed lawyer told the court that they were poor, were carrying the drugs for money and should be given lenient sentences. Those carrying lesser quantity of the drug could be sent to prison for seven years and the remaining three could get more years, a lawyer said, adding that if it turns out that the five had coordinated the attempted smuggling, the punishment could be more severe for all.
Saudi Arabia releases two princes after graft probe
Riyadh Saudi Arabia has released two sons of late king Abdullah two months after they were detained in a sweeping anti-corruption purge, a source close to the government said Friday. “They have been released,” the source said a day after a family member posted photos of Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, a former head of the Saudi Red Crescent, and Prince Mashal bin Abdullah, a previous governor of Mecca, on Twitter.Prince Turki bin Abdullah was the only brother left in detention, the source said, without adding if his brothers had reached a cash settlement to be released.Another brother, influential Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, was freed in late November after three weeks in detention following a “settlement” with authorities reportedly exceeding $1 billion. At the time, the former National Guard chief was seen as the most high-ranking royal to be
released. The four brothers were among more than 200 princes, ministers and businessmen rounded up earlier that month, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman tightened his grip on power. Most of those detained have struck monetary settlements in exchange for their freedom, the attorney general said this month. Other high-profile targets of the crackdown include billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, dubbed the Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia.Many of the detainees have been held at Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel, which has been turned into a luxury prison.Saudi authorities insist the purge was meant solely to target endemic corruption as the kingdom seeks to diversify its oil-dependent economy.The attorney general has previously said he estimates at least $100 billion has been lost in embezzlement or corruption over several decades.
Pak govt asks court to deny clearance to Hafiz Saeed’s political party Islamabad The Pakistan government has requested a court in Islamabad not to consider the plea for registration by Milli Muslim League, a newly formed party backed by Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed. The government said the group would breed violence and extremism in politics.Earlier this year, a four-member bench headed by the chief election commissioner had said the process of registration of MML as political party could not be completed without security clearance from the interior ministry. The decision was based on the ministry’s directions that the MML not be allowed to register as a political party owing to its links with Jamaat-ut-Dawah, a proscribed terrorist organisation.But at a rally in December, Saeed confirmed to his supporters that the JuD would contest the 2018 general elections under the banner of the MML.The MML also challenged the election commission’s order of October 11 that had declined its registration as a political party. The interior ministry, in its written reply submitted to the Islamabad High Court on the MML’s petition, said it opposed the group’s registration as a
political party as the group was an offshoot of proscribed entities. MML spokesman Tabesh Qayyum told the media that his party will challenge both the election commission’s decision and the letter written by interior ministry to the high court. He said MML will not withdraw its support
registration as political party. The interior ministry said in its letter that a security agency had given the opinion that “it is difficult to believe that the MML will tread its own path, completely at variance with its mother (LeT and JuD) organisations.”“Since
for independent candidate al-Haj Liaquat Ali Khan in NA-4 by-poll. The poll body had issued a notice to Liaquat for displaying his support for a ‘proscribed’ organisation.According to Political Parties Order (PPO) 2002, organisations which act in the manner prejudicial to fundamental rights, undermine the integrity of Pakistan, promote sectarian, regional or provincial hatred, bear a name as a militant group and impart any military or paramilitary training to its members, do not qualify for
registration of such groups would breed violence and extremism in politics, such groups be avoided,” it said.Hafiz Saeed had walked free on November 24 after the Pakistan government decided against detaining him further in any other case. He was under detention since January this year.The MML had contested a bypoll in September for NA-120, a National Assembly seat that had fallen vacant following disqualification of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Issue 752 (35)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
WAITING CHANCE Proteas’ prolific wicket-taker Steyn will hope to get bowling time vs India DALE STEYN has been close to the milestone for more than a year now but, at the age of 34, time is running out for the speed merchant to become South Africa’s most prolific wicket taker. Steyn’s 417 Test-wicket haul is just four shy of the South African record held by Shaun Pollock but the target remains both tantalisingly close and frustratingly elusive at the same time. Standing between him and the tag of the country’s best ever bowler have been a serious shoulder injury and a lengthy spell on the sidelines. After his latest piece of
rotten luck, some doubt that Steyn will get his long-awaited opportunity when South Africa take on India in a three-test series starting at Newlands on Friday. “It has been 14 months since Steyn’s last test and the rustiness of the lay-off, plus the absence of a decent examination of his shoulder in match conditions, could see him left out,” local media suggested. “There is significant, ill-advised risk associated with any fasttrack return,” wrote local cricket columnist Rob Houwing this week after the pace bowler missed out on the Boxing Day Test against Zimbabwe.
Steyn’s shoulder travails began against England in Durban in December 2015 but it was just under a year later in Perth in November 2016 that extensive damage was done as he broke the right shoulder and tore three major muscles on the second day of the first test against Australia.He went home to Cape Town for surgery, followed by lengthy rehabilitation and abortive comebacks before he was gently eased back into Twenty20 action in November and then 12 wicketless overs in whites just before Christmas. Steyn was due to return in the one-off test against
Kohli & Dhawan flaunt bhangra skills
Indian captain Virat Kohli and opening batsman were seen dancing to the tunes of Bhangra in the streets of Cape Town on Monday. In a video that went viral on social media, the two cricketers were seen in a relaxed mood ahead of first Test against South Africa.
Zimbabwe in Port Elizabeth last week but on the opening morning of the daynight match was unluckily ruled out by a bout of influenza. Steyn, whose Test average is a staggering 22.3, can, however, point to a prolific record at Newlands with 65 wickets in 13 tests at an average of 21.93 – 12 against India. He – and legions of supporters enthralled by his passionate approach to the game – is waiting to see whether he will get to bowl this time.
MARSH OPTS OUT OF IPL 2018 AUSTRALIAN all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has decided to skip the cashrich Indian Premier League and play for English county side Surrey next season to improve his game in the longer format. “It was a fairly big decision from a money point of view but my ultimate goal is to play Test match cricket for Australia,” said Marsh, who was signed for `4.8 crore by Rising Pune Supergiant in the IPL auction last year, was quoted as saying. “That’s the lure of the IPL — the money and playing in India, but I made the decision based on my cricket. “When I made that decision, I didn’t really think I was going to be back there this quickly. But I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to play 14 red-ball games over there - if I can, and try and improve.” Marsh, who had cracked his maiden Test hundred during the ongoing Ashes series, said he wants to give himself a better chance to play for Australia when they play in England in the next few
years. “Looking forward we have got a lot of cricket coming up in England over the next few years and I want to give myself the best opportunity to be over there and get used to the conditions,” he said. Talking about his strategy during the Melbourne Test, Marsh said: “I said to him (Smith) as we were walking off that I was proud. Probably the biggest thing I was most happy about it is that 12 months ago with my mental side of my game I probably don’t think I could have got through that. “While I know it was the flattest wicket in cricket history, to apply myself for that long and not really care about scoring is something I’ve gained a lot of confidence from. “I think I’ve said it for a couple of weeks now, I’ve been a lot more relaxed with this preparation when I came back to the Test team. I knew the gameplan I’d have to go out there with and it was about sticking to that for as long as we needed to get the draw.”
Issue 752 (36)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
NIAGARA FALLS FREEZES 0 IN -34C DEGREES PARTS of Niagara falls have frozen as bitter cold weather has swept over most of the northern United States, leaving many areas looking like Narnia. More than 220million people face below freezing temperatures on Friday, as temperatures are expected to drop further as the New Year’s weekend continues. And atop Mount Washington, the Northeast’s highest peak, the temperature has hit negative 34F degrees, with a negative 89 degree wind chill and videos showing boiling water being tossed into the air and turning into ‘snow’. The bitter temperatures have already been blamed for a handful of deaths and cancelled in long list of weekend celebrations. Mountain weather-related headaches continue to pile up in already winter-weary parts of the Midwest and East Cost experiencing highway pileups,
frozen pips and car thefts. And though the conditions may be treacherous, gorgeous photos of places such as Niagara Falls show glittering frozen icicles and bright white sno w piles almost make the arctic chill worth it.
Russia selling Cold War Former NASA scientist wants to missile designs to N Korea help humans modify their genes
NORTH KOREA was able to develop a ballistic missile with advanced technology acquired from Russia, new documents have revealed. The secretive state announced on November 29 that it had tested an InterContinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) capable of reaching all of the mainland of the United States, prompting fresh sanctions against Kim Jongun’s regime. It has now been claimed that after the collapse
of the Soviet Union, Russia sold the technology that it used to develop its own ICBM force to Pyongyang. The Washington Post reported that after the collapse of a joint US-Russian joint venture to launch satellites using Soviet era missiles, the Russia’s began looking for new markets for their technology. More than 60 Russian missile scientists and family members from the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau were arrested at a
Moscow airport in late 1992 as they were about to travel to Pyongyang to work as consultants. Intelligence officials from the US, South Korea and Russia later concluded some of the scientists eventually succeeded in getting to North Korea to offer missile blueprints and technical advice for, the Washington Post reported. Brochures from the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau, unearthed by the paper, include an array of Soviet missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads to U.S. cities. Some of the models offered for sale could be launched from a large boat, a submerged barge, or a capsule dropped into the ocean, and were originally designed for the Russian navy. The Hwasong10, or Musudan, a missile successfully tested by North Korea in 2016, appears to use the same engine and has many design features of a Soviet submarinelaunched ballistic missile designed by Makeyev scientists. David Wright, a missiles expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists told Post: “The question that has long been raised is: Did North Korea get this technology from a (Russian) fire sale?”
A FORMER Nasa researcher says he wants to ‘help humans genetically modify themselves’ to create a new breed of superhumans. Dr Josiah Zayner, 36, made headlines last month when he became the first person known to have edited his own DNA. The biochemist attempted to give himself super strength by removing a protein that inhibits muscle growth in his left arm, via an injection of DIY gene therapy. In a new interview, Zayner claims we are “slaves to the genomes we have”, and believes humanity will develop into a new breed of superstrong human thanks to widespread DIY genetic engineering. “I imagine people going to some place like a tattoo parlour, and instead of getting a tattoo they
pick out some DNA that makes them muscly, or changes the colour of their hair or eyes.” “DNA defines what a species is, and I imagine it wouldn’t be too long into the future when the human species almost becomes a new species because of these modifications.” Despite warnings from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the sale of gene therapy products without regulatory approval is illegal, Dr Zayner sells basic genetic engineering kits online. He is the founder
and CEO of a genetic engineering company called The Odin. The California-based biochemist has published a free guide for people who want to take his introductory kits further and experiment on themselves. Zayner said: “We have always been slaves to the genomes we have, and giving people the ability to change that almost changes what it means to be human. It seems so scifi and made up, but we’ve been genetically modifying humans with gene therapy since the 1990s – it’s just been very few people and for medical reasons. I want to help humans genetically modify themselves.” Zayner started his scientific career with a fellowship to work with Nasa’s Synthetic Biology program, engineering bacteria to help grow life on Mars. The 36-yearold quit the programme to begin working on human genetic engineering technologies, and has since become a leading figure in the growing ‘biohacker’ movement.
Issue 752 (37)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Health Lack of sleep boosts levels of Researchers find new ally against Tuberculosis infections Alzheimer’s proteins: Study
Washington Chronic poor sleep may contribute to cognitive decline, according to a study that shows wakeful brain produces more of the Alzheimer’s protein amyloid beta than its waste-disposal system can handle. Levels of the protein rise, potentially setting off a sequence of changes to the brain that can end with dementia, researchers said. “This study is the clearest demonstration in humans that sleep disruption leads to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease through an amyloid beta mechanism,” said Randall Bateman, from the Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis in the US. “The study showed that it was
due to overproduction of amyloid beta during sleep deprivation,” Bateman said. For the research published in the journal Annals of Neurology, the scientists studied eight people aged between 30 to 60 years with no sleep or cognitive problems. The participants were assigned randomly to one of three scenarios: having a normal night’s sleep without any sleep aids; staying up all night; or sleeping after treatment with sodium oxybate, a prescription medication for sleep disorders. Sodium oxybate increases slowwave sleep-the deep, dreamless phase of sleep that people need to wake up feeling refreshed. Each scenario occurred during
A new skin patch to deal with obesity and reduce body fat is here New Delhi Researchers have developed a new type of skin patch that may reduce body fat and obesity by turning energy-storing white fat into energy-burning brown fat. According to the researchers, brown fats are found in babies and they help to keep the baby warm by burning energy. As humans grow older, the amount of brown fat lessens and is replaced with visceral white fats. “What we aim to develop is a painless patch that everyone could use easily, is unobtrusive and yet affordable. Most importantly, our solution aims to use a person’s own body fats to burn more energy, which is a natural process in babies,” said Chen Peng, professor at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. The new type of skin patch contains hundreds of micro-needles which are loaded with the drug Beta-3 adrenergic
receptor agonist or another drug called thyroid hormone T3 triiodothyronine. When the patch is pressed into the skin for about two minutes, these micro-needles become
embedded in the skin and detach from the patch, which can then be removed. As the needles degrade, the drug molecules then slowly diffuse to the energy-storing white fat underneath the skin layer, turning them into energyburning brown fats. Published in the journal Small Methods, this approach could help to address the worldwide obesity problem without resorting to surgical operations or oral medications.
36 hours of monitoring, starting in the morning and continuing through the afternoon of the following day. The researchers took samples of the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord every two hours to monitor how amyloid beta levels change with time of day and tiredness. All eight participants returned four to six months later to undertake a second scenario, and four people completed all three. Studying the same people under different conditions provides the statistical power to detect changes in amyloid beta levels. Amyloid beta levels in sleepdeprived people were 25 to 30 per cent higher than in those who had slept the night through. After a sleepless night, amyloid beta levels were on par with the levels seen in people genetically predisposed to develop Alzheimer’s at a young age. “This information could help us figure out how to reduce amyloid beta deposition over time in people whose sleep is chronically disrupted,” said Brendan Lucey, from the Washington University School of Medicine.
Washington DC Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that usually affects the lungs. Compared with other diseases caused by a single infectious agent, tuberculosis is the second biggest killer, globally. And now in search of new strategies against lifethreatening tuberculosis infections, a group of researchers have found a new ally.The team has discovered a substance that interferes with the mycomembrane formation of the bacterium. The substance is effective even in low concentrations and when combined with known antibiotics their effectiveness is improved by up to 100-fold. Among the greatest challenges when treating life-threatening
tuberculosis infections is the increasing resistance to antibiotics.But the pathogen itself also makes the life of doctors difficult - its dense mycomembrane hampers the effect of many medications. The scientists have discovered a substance that unsettles the formation of this membrane significantly.The team hypothesises that similarly structured beta lactones could “mask” themselves as mycolic acid to enter the mycolic acid metabolic pathways and then block the decisive enzymes. The interdisciplinary team of scientists has hit the bulls-eye with the beta lactone EZ120 and found that it does indeed inhibit the biosynthesis of the mycomembrane and kills mycobacteria effectively.
New electronic nose can sniff out colon diseases London Scientists have developed an electronic nose that can noninvasively detect colon diseases and distinguish between patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. The device - named Moosy 32 eNose - can also tell whether the disease is active, with close to 90 per cent accuracy. In the future this type of equipment could be available for digestive system specialists who could, thanks to a simple stool analysis which takes three minutes, determine the state of the patient, according to researchers from Valencia’s Polytechnic University in Spain. It is common nowadays to use invasive tests to diagnose and evaluate inflammatory activity as a result of colon- related illnesses, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis,
both classified as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). With the developed prototype, researchers want to contribute
to the creation of non-invasive diagnosing systems. It is believed that as many as 200,000 people currently suffer from these illnesses in Spain and the rise in incidence continues to increase annually by over three per cent. The nose can detect volatile organic compounds which act as diagnostic markers or to reveal the intensity level of the disease’s activity. “Volatile organic compounds are created by
physiological processes of the human body’s metabolism and are expelled as waste through faeces,” said Pilar Nos, Head of the Digestive System Medicine Department at La Fe Health Investigation Institute in Spain. “The concentration of these components can be a differentiating marker between certain bowel diseases and their accurate detection by way of noninvasive devices such as the electronic nose would be a great step forward for the detection and monitoring of the evolution of these diseases,” said Nos. Researchers have performed tests with 445 samples and have obtained positive results. “Results of the investigation are positive; however, it is paramount to continue working to improve the detection algorithms,” said Jose Pelegri, from Valencia’s Polytechnic University.
Issue 752 (38)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Exercising twice a week may improve Enzyme that could stop Ebola infection identified cognition, memory in elderly
New Delhi Previously conducted numerous studies have shown solid evidence of how regular exercise in any form can contribute towards treating a plethora of health issues. Numerous studies conducted earlier have often associated physical activity with improved memory, cognition abilities, and overall brain health. Now, new guidelines released by the American Academy of Neurology suggest that exercising twice a week may improve thinking ability and memory in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Worldwide, more than six percent of people in their 60s and over 37 percent of people
aged 85 or above have MCI. The level of exertion should be enough to work up a bit of a sweat but doesn’t need to be so rigorous that you can’t hold a conversation. “Regular physical exercise has long been shown to have heart health benefits, and now we can say exercise also may help improve memory for people with mild cognitive impairment,” said lead author Ronald C. Petersen, MD at the Mayo Clinic – a USbased healthcare non-profit. “What’s good for your heart can be good for your brain,” Petersen added. MCI is a medical condition that becomes common with aging. While it is linked to problems with thinking ability and memory,
Eat blueberries while treating cervical cancer: Study
New York Suffering from cervical cancer? Along with your radiation therapy, start eating blueberries. New research shows consuming blueberry extract while on treatment may have a positive outcome. “Radiation therapy uses highenergy X-rays and other particles such as gamma rays to destroy cancer cells,” said lead author of the study Yujiang Fang, professor at University of Missouri School of Medicine. “For some cancers, such as latestage cervical cancer, radiation is a good treatment option. However, collateral damage to healthy cells always occurs. “Based on previous research, we studied blueberry extract to verify if it could be used as a radiosensitiser,” Fang added. Radiosensitisers are non-toxic chemicals that make cancer cells more responsive to radiation therapy. An earlier study had showed
that resveratrol — a compound in red grapes — could be used as a radiosensitiser for treating prostate cancer. Blueberries also contain resveratrol. For the study, published in the journal Pathology and Oncology Magazine, researchers used human cervical cancer cell lines to mimic clinical treatment. The cell lines were divided into four groups that included a control group, a group that received only radiation, a group that received only blueberry extract and a group that received both radiation and the extract. The researchers found that radiation decreased cancer cells by approximately 20 per cent. The cell group that received only blueberry extract had a 25 percent decrease in cancer. However, the biggest decline in cancer cells occurred in the radiation and extract group, with a decrease of about 70 per cent. “Blueberries are very common and found all over the world.
it is not the same as dementia. People with MCI have milder symptoms. People with MCI may struggle to complete complex tasks or have difficulty understanding the information they have read, whereas people with dementia have trouble with daily tasks, such as dressing, bathing, and eating. However, there is strong evidence that MCI can lead to dementia. Thus, doctors should recommend that people with MCI exercise regularly as part of an overall approach to managing their symptoms, the guideline said. “Exercising might slow down the rate at which you would progress from mild cognitive impairment to dementia,” Petersen said. While doctors may recommend cognitive training for people with MCI, there is weak evidence that the training may be beneficial in improving measures of cognitive function. The guidelines, published in the journal Neurology, were developed after reviewing studies for six-months, which showed that bi-weekly workouts may help people with mild cognitive impairment as part of an overall approach to managing their symptoms.
London Raising hope for an effective drug to treat people with Ebola virus, researchers have found that an enzyme could help prevent the deadly virus from spreading. The enzyme takes away the virus’ ability to copy itself and thus produce more virus particles and more infection, said the study published in the journal
Molecular Cell. ‘When the Ebola virus enters the human cell, its only purpose is to copy itself, fast. First it must copy all its proteins, then its genetic material,” said Jakob Nilsson, Professor at University of Copenhagen in Denmark. “But by inhibiting a specific enzyme we rob the Ebola virus of its ability to copy itself. And that may potentially prevent an Ebola infection from spreading,” Nilsson said. There is currently no available treatment for Ebola virus infection. However, the researchers behind the new study found what is called a new
host factor for Ebola virus. It can be described as a small part of the host’s — for example the human body’s — own cells, which the Ebola virus uses to copy itself and produce more infection. The virus uses the host factor enzyme PP2A-B56 to start producing proteins. So when PP2A-B56 is switched off, the virus’ ability to copy itself and produce more infection is stopped. “When we inhibit the PP2A-B56 enzyme, we remove the first link in a long process, which ends with Ebola spreading. And we can tell that it works,” Nilsson said. “The Ebola infection in cell cultures where we have inhibited the PP2A-B56 enzyme is 10 times smaller after 24 hours compared to infections where we have not inhibited this enzyme,” Nilsson added. But because the researchers have so far focused on cell cultures, there is still work to be done before their results can be used to treat people infected with Ebola. Initially the researchers hope to be able to test it on animals and, in the long term, develop a drug that inhibits the relevant enzyme.
Worried about your child’s eyesight? Encourage them to play outdoors New Delhi Gone are the days when children could be seen playing around on the streets of the neighbourhood. Now, it’s all about the latest gadgets and technological fads. Children as young as 3 yearsold can be seen playing games or watching videos on a smartphone or a tablet and spending endless hours on gaming consoles and computers. While numerous studies have shown the ill effects gadget-use can have on children, many parents are still oblivious. Many doctors have come forward saying that parents often come to them with their children complaining mainly of problems with their eyesight, which is bound to happen due to excessive gadget-use. Now, experts have suggested that spending just two hours a day outdoors, playing any sport in the sunlight, might help children maintain good eyesight. Myopia – also known as nearsightedness and shortsightedness – is a condition of the eye where the light that enters the eye does not directly focus on the retina, but in front of it. This causes the image that one
sees – when looking at a distant object – to be out of focus. It does not affect focus when looking at a close object. According to experts, lack of natural light is the prime reason for the condition. “The main factor seems to be a lack of exposure to direct sunlight, because children who study a lot and who use computers or smartphones or tablet computers a lot have less opportunity to run around outside and are less exposed to sunshine,” Annegret DahlmannNoor, consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, was quoted as saying to BBC Health. While stopping or limiting screen time use may be a big task for parents, the best thing to do, say
the experts, is to get children playing outside as much as possible. “We know that myopia or shortsightedness is becoming more common,” Chris Hammond, a professor at King’s College London, was quoted as saying to BBC Health. “Protective of myopia development is time outdoors – sport and leisure outdoors are protective of eyesight,” Hammond said. “Probably on average across the week and the weekend, two hours a day outdoors is protective of becoming shortsighted in children,” he noted. Further, a diet rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids, and vitamins A, C and E and nutrients are good for the back of the eye.
Issue 752 (39)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Breaded Chicken Fingers
Ingredients: 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1/2 inch strips 1 egg, beaten 1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 quart oil for frying
Directions Place chicken strips into a large, resealable plastic bag. In a small bowl, mix the egg, buttermilk and garlic powder. Pour mixture into bag with chicken. Seal, and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours. In another large, resealable plastic bag, mix together the flour, bread crumbs, salt and baking powder. Remove chicken from refrigerator, and drain, discarding buttermilk mixture. Place chicken in flour mixture bag. Seal, and shake to coat. Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Carefully place coated chicken in hot oil. Fry until golden brown and juices run clear. Drain on paper towels.
Chicken Kandhari Kofta Ingredients: 500 gm: Chicken mince ¾ cup: Boiled onion paste 1 tsp: Ginger-garlic paste ½ cup: Tomato puree 2/3 cup: Cashew nut paste 2 tsp: Pomegranate syrup ½ cup: Fresh cream 3 tsp: Oil 1 tsp: Coriander powder 1 tsp: Red chilli powder ½ tsp: Cinnamon powder ½ tsp: Garam masala powder Salt to taste Method: Mix cinnamon powder, one teaspoonful of salt and minced chicken thoroughly. Divide the mix into twelve equal portions. Shape them into balls (koftas). Keep the koftas aside. Heat oil in a pan. Add boiled onion paste and cook till onions turn pink. Add ginger-garlic paste. Sauté for a minute, then add coriander powder and red chilli powder.
Basil Shrimp
Ingredients: 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil 1/4 cup butter, melted 1 1/2 lemons, juiced 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard (such as Grey Poupon Country Mustard™) 1/2 cup minced fresh basil leaves 3 cloves garlic, minced salt to taste white pepper 3 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined skewers Directions: In a shallow, non-porous
dish or bowl, mix together olive oil and melted butter. Stir in lemon juice, mustard, basil, and garlic, and season with salt and white pepper. Add shrimp, and toss to coat. Cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Preheat grill to high heat. Remove shrimp from marinade, and thread onto skewers. Discard marinade. Lightly oil grill grate, and arrange skewers on preheated grill. Cook for 4 minutes, turning once, or until opaque.
BROWN RICE KHEER RECIPE ‘VEGAN RICE PUDDING’ Stir in tomato puree and cashew nut paste dissolved in a little water. Cook for five minutes on a high flame, stirring continuously. Add one and half cups of water and bring it to a boil. Add chicken koftas and cook for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garam masala powder and
pomegranate syrup. Correct seasoning. Simmer for five minutes. Stir in fresh cream. Serve with naan or parantha. Make cashew nut paste by soaking half-cup cashew nuts in water for half an hour. Grind it to a smooth paste. You do not need to use expensive full cashew nuts, you can use cashew nut pieces (tukda).
Honey Chicken Kabobs Ingredients: 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/3 cup honey 1/3 cup soy sauce 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes 2 cloves garlic 5 small onions, cut into 2 inch pieces 2 red bell peppers, cut into 2 inch pieces skewers Directions: In a large bowl, whisk together oil, honey, soy sauce, and pepper.
Before adding chicken, reserve a small amount of marinade to brush onto kabobs while cooking. Place the chicken, garlic, onions and peppers in the bowl, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 2 hours (the longer the better). Preheat the grill for high heat. Drain marinade from the chicken and vegetables, and discard marinade. Thread chicken and vegetables alternately onto the skewers. Lightly oil the grill grate. Place the skewers on the grill. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until chicken juices run clear. Turn and brush with reserved marinade frequently.
Ingredients: ½ cup brown basmati rice (soaked for 15 mins, then drained) 2.5 to 3 cups almond milk 3 to 4 tbsp raw cashews s e e d s o f 2 pods of cardamom ·a good pinch of salt ¼ cup raw sugar 2 to 3 tbsp chopped raw nuts like cashews, pistachios 2 to 3 tbsp currants or raisins Directions: Combime brown rice with 1.5 cups water and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. If using white basmati rice, cook for 11 minutes or until al dente. Blend almond milk with the cashews until smooth. Add a splash of
water to the simmering rice to bring the temperature down. Then add the blended milk to the rice. Add sugar, salt, cardamom pod and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. In another skillet, toast the nuts in ½ tsp oil or on a dry skillet until golden. Add the currants and cook for a minute. Add the nuts and currants to the simmering kheer. Taste and adjust sweet if needed. Continue to simmer until the brown rice is tender to preference and thickened to preference. 10 to 20 mins Serve warm or chilled. Garnish with almond slivers or pistachio slivers.
Issue 752 (40)
2 - 8 Jan., 2018
Putin calls market blast ‘act of terror’ THIS IS the shocking moment a suspect bomber walks into a busy supermarket to place an explosive device packed with shrapnel into a storage locker for customer bags, it is believed. The blast was a ‘deliberate attempt to kill’, according to authorities in St Petersburg. In the event, 13 were wounded and eight remain in hospital in the Russian city — a key venue for FIFA World Cup matches next year. The suspect, wearing a green coat and hood, is seen entering the shop with a backpack believed by police to contain a bomb with the power of 200 grams of TNT. He walks to the right where, unseen by the camera, he deposits the backpack. Then he is seen by the camera walking quickly as he enters the shop. He is believed to have gone round the store and left immediately without the backpack. A ‘homemade explosive device’ packed with ‘killing agents’ — or ball bearings — was used in the blast, according to officials. “As you know, an act of terror took place in Saint Petersburg yesterday,” Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of military officers in the Kremlin. Putin also ordered the FSB to kill terrorists ‘on the spot’. Putin said he on Wednesday ordered the FSB security service chief Alexander Bortnikov that agents should take no prisoners and shoot to
Bali zoo has got some well-behaved great apes THESE adorable well-behaved great apes can be seen being checked over by vets at Bali Zoo in Bali, Indonesia. The orangutan’s name translates to ‘person of the forest’ in Indonesian. According to conservation groups, the world’s orangutan population has declined from 230,000 in the early 1900’s to around 45,000 of them now. The orangutan project reports that extinction in the wild is likely in the next 10 years for the king of the swingers. But the magnificent bronze beasts can still be seen parading around the forest when visited in Bali Zoo. The zoo offers its guests a chance to dine with the great apes — advertising Breakfast with the orangutans. A zookeeper guides visitors to a house where the orangutans are hanging out in the restaurant’s playground area.
kill when faced with terrorists. He said he ‘instructed the director of the Federal Security Service to act within the law, only the law, while working with these terrorists, while detaining
reported today that the blast was ‘most likely an act of terror’, citing Russian security services sources. “We know that there are several ‘sleeping’ or deeply hidden terrorist units in St
them’. “However, if there is a threat to the lives and health of our employees, our officers, to act decisively, not to capture anyone and eliminate gunmen on the spot,” said the Kremlin president. Newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets
Petersburg, and it cannot be ruled out that one of them woke up,” said a source. Officially the blast has been classed as attempted murder but the probe into the explosion in the crowded supermarket is being headed by the country’s Anti-Terrorism
Committee. The committee said the explosion went off after ‘a criminal placed an unidentified explosive device in a storage locker.’ The FSB — successor to the Soviet-era KGB — has warned that terrorism poses the biggest threat to next year’s World Cup. Another major security headache in 2018 is the March presidential election when Vladimir Putin will seek another six years in the Kremlin. The FSB has warned about the risk of explosions in public places and the threat from jihadists acting on lone wolf missions. However, as yet there is no hard evidence as to the motive of an attack for which there has not been a claim of responsibility. But Fontanka news agency — which released the CCTV footage of the suspect — likened the explosive device to one used by a jihadist suicide bomber in St Petersburg Metro in April, which had killed 16 and injured many.
Champagne owners sued for advert by porn star
A DESCENDANT of the Charles de Cazanove family is suing the owners of the champagne brand that bears his family name after they used a former porn star to promote it. Loïc Chiroussot of Bigault de Cazanove is attempting to pressure the current owners to remove the name from a limited edition pink champagne called ‘Champagne by Clara Morgane’. Morgane’s promotion of the champagne has involved a series of provocative photos posing with champagne bottles on her Instagram. Chiroussot’s family founded the brand in 1811, and the business was passed down the generations until 1983 when it came under the control of the Moët — Hennessy Group. The current owners, the Rapeneau family, bought the brand in 2004 but kept the name. They also own the GH Martel Champagne house. “I am really shocked,” the count told newspaper L’Union. “It’s simply scandalous! How can I associate the name of my illustrious family with that of Clara Morgane? It is inconceivable, judge I do not understand, if they knew, my ancestors would turn in their graves!” Morgane began working in the adult movie industry in 2000 with her then boyfriend Greg Centauro. She left the porn industry in 2001 and began her singing career in 2007. After hearing about the count’s plans to sue, the French singer took to Twitter and Instagram with a light-hearted response.
Tiffany & Ivanka show off bikini bods & blow kisses TIFFANY Trump took to Instagram to wish her followers Merry Christmas by posing in a bikini alongside her sister Ivanka while enjoying some time by the pool at her father’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The video shows Tiffany and Ivanka laying together on a chaise at the Palm Beach club, posing for the camera and blowing kisses while ‘Holy Night’ could be heard playing in the background. While most of Tiffany’s social media followers were sending the Trump sisters messages of Christmas cheer, others were less impressed with her song choice and criticised her for posing in a bikini to the tune of a Christian hymn. One Instagram
user calling themselves prolife4ever1, wrote: “I love you two so much, but this is a Holy Hymn that shouldn’t be in this type of picture.” mstiso108, added: “Um. Love u guys but the song is inappropriate.” Another Trump fan wrote asking for Tiffany to observe modesty during the Christian holiday. Tiffany has been enjoying some much needed rest and relaxation over the Christmas holiday as she has been spending time at her father’s Palm Beach Estate. The Georgetown Law School student was seen being dropped off at Mar-a-Lago on Friday afternoon and heading out to dinner at the club on Saturday, and then did not emerge again until
Christmas afternoon, when black bikini as she made her way DailyMail.com spotted her to the pool while carrying a pink and blue suede handbag. She was joined by a mystery man on the outing who looked similar in appearance to one of the dedicated Secret Service agents who has been with the First Daughter since her father’s election. The pair’s poolside holiday comes one week after Tiffany was spotted linking arms with another mystery man in NYC, who also appeared to be part of her Secret Service team. Tiffany and boyfriend Ross Mechanic heading out for a swim with an seem to have gone their separate unidentified man. President ways after two years of dating, Trump’s younger daughter wore a with the two having not been seen blush pink halter dress over a together since August.