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Evening NEWS DIGEST
01 Jan.2017: 2 Rabius Sani 1438: Vol:8, No:77
INDIA
MEA pulls up Jamia Millia Islamia for not implementing MoUs with 3 Palestinian Universities
http://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/mea-pulls-up-jamia-millia-islamia-university-for-not-implement-mous-with-3-palestinian-universities/493158/
New Delhi: External Affairs Ministry has come down hard on Jamia Millia Islamia University for its “apathy” in implementing MoUs it had signed with three Palestinian universities during President Pranab Mukherjee’s landmark visit to Palestine in Oct. 2015. In a strongly worded letter to Jamia V-C Talat Ahmad, Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar sought an explanation from the university on why the MoUs were at a “virtual standstill”, adding the institute’s approach seems to be a hurdle in moving forward.Minister said during his recent visit to Palestine, it was brought to his notice that no follow-up action has been initiated on the MoUs signed between Jamia Millia Islamia and the Palestinian Universities.Akbar also asked the Jamia VC to provide details to govt urgently on status of other MoUs and agreements signed by the premier institution with universities from other countries.“Over a year has passed since it was signed but Jamia has not shown any inclination to activate this MoU. Palestinian side is keen to move forward, but apathy seems to be a hurdle.”We would like to know, soon, as to why there has been no movement,” Akbar said in the letter.When contacted, a Jamia official said the university was keen to implement the MoUs signed with Al Quds, Al Istiklal and Hebron universities and approached the Ministry of Human Resources Development for granting funds to implement the pacts which provide for capacity building initiatives and academic exchanges.In the letter, Akbar said the Palestinian education minister is expected to visit India shortly as outcome of the Joint Commission meeting between the two countries two months back.”The visit could be a potential inflection point for the education sector cooperation between the 2 countries. Without follow up, all agreements become infructious.“Our representative in Ramallah Anis Rajan has always been ready to extend fullest cooperation to you in this regard. Please let me know why the MoUs are at a virtual standstill,” Akbar wrote in the letter to Ahmad.Minister said capacity building and academic exchanges with friendly countries form an important pillar of India’s foreign policy and in this regard Jamia has entered into MoUs and pacts with several foreign universities. “I would also like to know, on an urgent basis, the status of other MoUs and agreements signed with universities from other countries by Jamia Millia,” said Akbar.The Jamia official said the institute has been making sincere efforts to implement the MoUs but at times the process gets delayed due to procedural difficulties as well as fund crunch.PTI
Grateful for shift in India’s position, says Israel envoy
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Grateful-for-shift-in-India%E2%80%99s-position-says-Israel-envoy/article16971335.ece
New Delhi: Israel is grateful for the “changes and the shifts” in the Indian position at UN bodies in the past two years, says Israel’s Ambassador Daniel Carmon.Referring to India’s decision to abstain from resolutions critical of Israel at the UN, the UNESCO, Mr. Carmon said the shift in India’s position has been visible more recently.“We have appreciated very much the changes and the shifts in position [by India] on some resolutions in New York, Geneva and Paris (UNESCO). It is a measured change, compared to the past, and we hope that this change will continue,” the Ambassador told The Hindu in an exclusive interview. However, he said the votes so far are not a “trend” and the shift, which India denies, should not be “over-exaggerated”. thehindu
AMU students protest for Najeeb Missing: AMU SU says ‘several students injured in police lathi charge’
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/agra/-missing-jnu-boy-amu-students-block-train-tracks-to-protest-cop-inaction/articleshow/56275636.cms
Agra: Students of AMU on Saturday blocked train tracks at the railway station and also road traffic in the city protesting "failure" of Delhi Police to trace missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, who has been missing for 76 days. After police had to resort to a mild cane charge, the students courted arrests and took out a procession against the use of force by the police. Aligarh senior superintendent of police Rajesh Pandey justified the police action, saying that the students had not taken permission to carry out their protest march. Dubbing the police action “unjustified and undemocratic,” AMU Students’ Union president Faizul Hassan claimed that several students were injured in the lathi charge. He accused the police of hitting students with lathis on their heads and alleged that three students were admitted in hospital with head injuries and fractures.Following the police’s cane charge, the union shot off another memorandum to the President, terming the attack on them by RAF and PAC as “brutal” and “injustice” against students. The memorandum stated that instead of tracing Ahmed, the Delhi administration and the police were harassing Ahmed’s family members and shielding the criminals.TOI
Zakir Naik owns at least 37 properties in country, 25 in Mumbai alone, claims NIA: HT
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/zakir-naik-owns-at-least-37-properties-in-country-25-in-mumbai-alone-nia/story-WNtRFEugPPHmSVCKdiLWSM.html
New Delhi: Dr Zakir Naik’s empire consists of at least 37 properties, mostly in Maharashtra towns, NIA sources told HT. Of these, 25 are flats in Mumbai alone. “Conservative estimates put market value of these properties and other assets of IRF and Naik around Rs 100 crore,” said an NIA official who wished to remain anonymous. NIA also recovered Naik’s propaganda material contained in 14,000 tapes which amounts to around 5,000 terabytes (TB) of data.A team of NIA officials headed by agency’s chief Sharad Kumar travelled to Mumbai on Thursday and held discussions with the Mumbai police officials on recoveries made. NIA gathered details of these properties during its scrutiny of records of Naik and his outfit, IRF, which has been banned for 5 years following a govt notification declaring it to be an ‘unlawful association’ under the UAPA.Naik and IRF also have properties in Pune and Solapur. Naik’s spokesperson was not immediately for comments.
Squeezed in India, Zakir Naik takes radicalisation to Nepal, claims new Indian Express report
http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2017/jan/01/squeezed-in-india-zakir-naik-takes-radicalisation-to-nepal-1554921.html
New Delhi: Zakir Naik has shifted his radicalisation activities to Nepal following the ban on his outfits in India under the anti-terror law UAPA. Naik’s Pakistan connection also emerged during the probe by intelligence agencies, claims the New Indian Express report. Naik’s cadres recently visited Kathmandu, Krishnanagar and Siraha and Birganj districts in the Terai region. They organised Street Daawah for recruitment and distributed misinterpreted Islamic literature. Street Daawah derives its origin from a similar movement in Australia a few years ago, in which its cadres joined the Islamic State. Recruits are randomly selected during Street Daawah, their phone numbers, residential and e-mail addresses are collected and they are radicalised through concocted Islamic literature and brainwashing. Naik has also funded Nepal-based outfits Al Bayyan Islamic Centre in Birganj and Islamic Peace Research Foundation in the Terai belt. These are affiliated to International Islamic Centre, Sargodha, Pakistan. All these campaigns are being run on social networking platforms and are spearheaded by Farhat Hashmi’s Islamic International Centre. Hashmi also runs Al-Huda International in Canada, which converts Christians to Islam. Naik helped Hashmi develop content for Al-Huda when it was being established in 1994. Hashmi is now paying back Naik. “Following the tightening of the noose around him by agencies here, Naik was under pressure to keep his network of radicalised cadres intact. Six senior cadres visited Nepal and used SIM cards issued by Indian telecom companies,” a senior intelligence official said.Toronto-based outfit is likely to paint action against Naik as a human rights violation issue, intelligence sources said. “The action by the NIA against Zakir Naik is a step towards containment of his jihadi activities in India and a severe jolt to the regional network of radicalisation being run by him,” counter-terrorism expert Rituraj Mate said.
Akhilesh is new party chief, Mulayam expels Ramgopal
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/samajwadi-party-akhiesh-yadav-ramgopal-mulayam-singh-party-chief-expels-crisis-4454449/
New Delhi: The crisis within the Samajwadi Party refused to die down as UP CM Akhilesh Yadav was on Sunday crowned as the party chief, a position that has been held by his father Mulayam Singh Yadav for decades. At the party’s national executive Party meeting convened by general secretary Ramgopal Yadav today, party leaders unanimously elected Akhilesh to lead SP. Decision was termed as “unconstitutional” by Mulayam and has once again expelled Ramgopal from the party for six years. Party vice-president Kiranmoy Nanda was also expelled from the party for attending the meeting. Soon after being proposed as the national president of the party, Akhilesh said his respect for his father was more than ever and that he would stand against those conspiring against the party. “Those who conspired against the party, damaged it and also posed problems before the national president…should know that my respect for the national president (Mulayam Singh) will be more than before,” the CM said. indianexpress
Muslim votes forced Mulayam, Akhilesh to bury dispute
http://news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/India/20161231/3024246.html
Lucknow: The fear of losing Muslim votes to BSP forced the 2 warring factions in Samajwadi Party Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav to bury their hatchet to present a united face ahead of the Assembly elections, on the insistence of Azam Khan, who played the role of a peace maker.''This in-fighting is a betrayal with minority community),'' Khan told Mulayam Singh, when he went to meet the latter in the morning.Abu Azami, state president of SP in Maharashtra, flew down to Lucknow from Mumbai to stress the point of unity. He too held a meeting with the Samajwadi Party leadership over the issue.''Muslims will desert Samajwadi Party, if we continue with this infighting among ourselves. They will go to BSP. Mayawati is already out of race. This in fighting will give a new lease of life to BSP,'' he warned.The fear of SP again losing Muslim votes forced the top Muslim leaders to play the role of peacemaker.UNI
National Executive ‘unanimously’ elects Akhilesh as SP chief, Mulayam says it’s unconstitutional
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/national-executive-unanimously-elects-akhilesh-yadav-as-sp-national-president-ramgopal-yadav/
Mulayam expels top Akhilesh backers from SP
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/Mulayam-expels-top-Akhilesh-backers-from-SP/article16973152.ece?homepage=true
Mulayam rejects move to make Akhilesh party chief
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-news/80620/
DEMONETISATION
‘World has started making fun of Modi’: Kejriwal seeks white paper on note ban
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/world-has-started-making-fun-of-modi-kejriwal-seeks-white-paper-on-note-ban/story-An0ly48zSc0F9cmkDAjuPK.html
New Delhi: Branding demonetisation a “huge scam”, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday sought an independent probe into and a White Paper on the note ban. AAP leader also told the media in New Delhi that PM Narendra Modi had become a laughing stock globally after taking out 86 % of the currency from the system on November 8.“The world has started making fun of Modi... At least (former PM ) Manmohan Singh had the respect of the world.”“Demonetisation is the biggest scandal in independent India,” Kejriwal said. “The entire exercise was political and guided by corruption.”IANS
GST will be implemented in 2017, digitized economy will be future of India: Jaitley
http://indianexpress.com/article/business/economy/gst-will-be-implemented-in-2017-digitized-economy-will-be-future-of-india-jaitley/
New Delhi:Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said that he is hopeful of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) being implemented in 2017 and confident that a digitised economy would be the future of India. “I see 2017 as a year in which GST will be implemented, and a digitized economy will be future of India,” he added.ANI
SBI cuts lending rate by 90 bps; home, auto loans to become cheaper
http://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/sbi-cuts-lending-rate-by-90-bps-home-auto-loans-to-become-cheaper-117010100266_1.html
State Bank of India, the country's biggest lender by assets, said on Sunday it had cut its lending rates by 90 basis points for maturities ranging from overnight to three-year tenures, after experiencing a surge in deposits. Business standard
Demonetization: RBI allows NRIs to exchange defunct notes up to June 30
http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-demonetization-rbi-allows-nris-to-exchange-defunct-notes-up-to-june-30-2288236
RBI has come out with conditions for exchange of defunct notes for those, including non-resident Indians, who failed to do so till Friday, the last day for depositing the invalid currency notes in banks.Resident Indian citizens, who were abroad from Nov.9 to Dec. 30, can avail this facility up to March 31, 2017, and NRI citizens, who were abroad during this period, can exchange their defunct notes up to June 30th, 2017.ANI
Congress unveils booklet on demonetization; announces nationwide stir against it
http://muslimmirror.com/eng/congress-unveils-booklet-on-demonetization-announces-nationwide-stir-against-it
New Delhi: While announcing nationwide stir against demonetization, the main opposition Congress party today made blistering attack PM Narendra Modi saying the demonetization has actually given birth to a new market of black-money and the people of the country have been subjected to a mockery of governance in every way. It also unveiled a booklet titled as “Demonetisation- 8/11: Attack on India’s Economy”. AICC Spokesperson, Prof Rajiv Gowda and party In-charge Communication Randeep Singh Surjewala said the nationwide movement will expose the biggest scam of independent India which is ‘Demonetization. They alleged that 50 days after the ‘Modi made a disaster of Demonetization’, has run its course and nothing is changing for the better and adding that the Congress workers will hold District level ‘gherao’ of Collectorate across India. On the occasion, they also launched the 16-page Booklet which provides a detailed analysis of everything that has gone wrong with the demonetization and will continue to go wrong as the next year unfolds. MuslimMirror
This speech after note ban? PM must be made to pay for a cruel joke on people: Prasenjit Bose, Economist
http://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/note-ban-and-then-this-speech-a-cruel-joke-on-people-pm-modi-must-be-made-to-pay/story-QcWXiZV8YTMJfeHFHsBc4M.html
Plugging a dam with band-aid: Modi's confused welfarism will do little to heal demonetisation's pain: Shoaib Daniyal
https://scroll.in/article/825617/plugging-a-dam-with-band-aid-modis-confused-welfarism-will-do-little-to-heal-demonetisations-pain
Modi’s theory of relativity: 50-day deadline for demonetisation stretched indefinitely: Shoaib Daniyal
https://scroll.in/article/825523/modis-theory-of-relativity-the-50-day-deadline-for-demonetisation-has-been-stretched-indefinitely
RBI refuses info on whether the FM, CEO were consulted before demonetisation
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rbi-refuses-info-on-whether-the-fm-ceo-were-consulted-before-demonetisation/story-SiNlCmOx0o5D4hlrQcRTYJ.html
OTHERS
Assam minister angers as says govt will adopts 2-child population policy
http://www.newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/2016/dec/31/assam-minister-angers-muslims-with-edict-1554902.html
Guwahati: Assam’s Finance, Education and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who had angered Muslims by saying “madrasas will have to function on Fridays like any other institutes. His directive will hit the state’s over 1,000 madrasas He also said that Assam’s BJP-led coalition govt is contemplating a 2-child population policy. Parents of more than two children would neither get state govt jobs nor qualify to contest elections to local bodies.The Opposition Congress and AIUDF asked him to refrain from taking arbitrary decisions. The influential AAMSU alleged that Sarma was trying to please the RSS. “He has for long been dreaming of becoming CM . As he couldn’t fulfil that wish in the Congress, he defected to the BJP but even here, he has been dejected. He is hatching conspiracies against Muslims,”AAMSU president Azizur Rahman said.“Sarma is the fourth or fifth child in his family. Let him first quit politics and set a precedent. Instead of bringing in a law, he should take measures to educate people on the problem of having many children,” Rahman added. Congress called the proposed population policy “funny”. newindianexpress
Muzaffarnagar riots affcted families: ‘Why not get us a job? We will leave’ Indian Express spl report
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/muzaffarnagar-riots-why-not-get-us-a-job-we-will-leave-4453699/
In 2017, Loman Ali hopes to get a job. The money would help, but above all, the job would allow him to get married to the love of his life. They met at a wedding in Kandhla and fell in love instantly, he says. Living in a one-room house with his father, two brothers, two sisters-in-law and their five children, in Kairana’s Nahid Colony built for the riot victims of Muzaffarnagar, Loman pines for privacy to even talk to her. He hasn’t thought about whether he can legally marry the girl, who is 17 too. When it comes to that, the teenager hopes the fact that he has no document proving his age will help. Since no one in the family, originally belonging to Fugana village — one of the worst hit in the Sept. 2013 violence — remembers his birthday, it is an approximate guess that he is 17.“I lost my mother when I was two, on my birthday. Abba only remembers it was in the summer,” Loman says.The family moved to this colony, 17 km from Kairana, 2 years ago. His 2 other brothers live in a house next to theirs.Loman was about to give the mid-term exams of Class 9 when the riots broke out. He says he was attacked by his own Hindu friends on his way back from school, while his uncle was killed. “I never returned to the village after that,” says Loman. In Nahid Colony, all the men in the family work as labourers, and the work isn’t regular.The claim by BJP MP Hukum Singh that Hindus are leaving Kairana as they are being harassed by Muslims, especially the riot victims, is a mockery of those like his family, Loman says. “If they can’t help us, they should not make our lives worse either. Who wants to live here? It’s hell. Why don’t they get us a job? We will go where they want.” indianexpress
RSS slams ‘conversion of tribals to Christianity’
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/rss-criticises-conversion-of-tribals-to-christianity-4453738/
Navsari(Gujarat): RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday attacked Christian organisations for “converting tribals to Christianity”.He said this at a Virat Hindu Sammelan in Gujarat’s tribal-dominated Vansda taluka, where Christians account for 30% of the population.Bhagwat quoted the Pope “proudly saying” that they “had entirely converted’’ people in Europe, Australia and America to Christianity over 1,000 years and that it was now Asia’s turn. He added that they were eyeing Asia now. “Who would be receptive to them in Asia?’’ he asked. “China is a Communist country. That’s why China calls itself secular. Will it let the Christianisation?’’He wondered whether West Asian Muslim countries would let them to Christianise. “They would not.’’ Bhagwat added that they think only India is where they can get converts. He said that they should realise that only 6 % have become Christians over 1,000 years despite their attempts over the last 300 years that continue. “They do not have strength and claim that here they are working to spread Christianity.’’ indianexpress
Missionaries eyeing Asia, but lack strength to convert Hindus in India: Bhagwat
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/missionaries-eyeing-asia-but-lack-strength-to-convert-hindus-in-india-bhagwat/story-WFB3kZyp9nnylFNWUrsuBP.html
‘Why do we have to pay such hefty fees?’ asks a Khandwa youth: indian express spl report
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/khandwa-madhya-pradesh-simi-jail-muslims-4453711/
Khandwa: Clad in a pair of jeans and a shirt, Faizan Mohammed continually fiddles with his new mobile. He says he loves the TV serial Tarak Mehta Ka Ulta Chashma while the Salman Khan-superhit Bajrangi Bhaijaan was the last movie he watched. He lives near the only mosque in Ganesh Talai, a locality in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa town populated by both Hindus and Muslims, but says he visits it only for Friday prayers.The teenager’s nervous smile betrays his anxiety. Not keen to speak by himself, Faizan says he has been told by his family and relatives to avoid talking to strangers. The apprehensions are shared by many Muslim youth in the communally sensitive Khandwa town — often in the news for its link to the banned SIMI — who are scared of being called by the police for questioning, particularly in the wake of recent events. Of the eight SIMI undertrials gunned down by police on October 31, hours after they allegedly escaped from Bhopal Central Jail, 5 were from Khandwa in MP.
Terror outfit Babbar Khalsa headed for split
http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/terror-outfit-babbar-khalsa-headed-for-split/story-dBn7eWbFrPrMt96dnpRofN.html
Infighting among the top leadership of banned Khalistani terror group Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) has intensified.The Pakistan-backed outfit is now reportedly on the verge of a split. BKI terrorist Jagtar Singh Tara, 42, who recently confessed to his role in ex-Punjab CM Beant Singh’s assassination on August 31, 1995, has issued a three-page handwritten letter through his lawyer, Jaswinder Singh.The letter, written in Gurmukhi, states that he was arrested at the behest of Wadhawa Singh, the present chief of the Babbar Khalsa now based in Pakistan.Tara states that Wadhawa Singh was aware of his presence in Thailand, and hence, only he could have got him arrested. hindustantimes
Abandoned and ‘stateless’, Pak mother-daughter duo languish in Jammu jail
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/abandoned-and-stateless-pakistani-mother-daughter-duo-languish-in-jammu-jail/story-XCxLiTj0Qr4tTMQKtx42mK.html
Srinagar: A Pakistani woman and her minor daughter who are languishing in a jail in Jammu for four years after her husband allegedly abandoned them in Delhi have been dealt a double whammy with the Pakistani high commission refusing to confirm her nationality to facilitate her deportation.Rubeena continues to be in jail due to the Pakistan high commission’s “failure to authenticate” her identity. Her daughter, except for the first four months of her life, has also been behind the bars with her mother.Such has been the mother-daughter duo’s plight that even Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar of the J&K high court in Srinagar, who has been hearing her case, prodded the authorities by saying that Rubeena and her minor child “belong to some place on the planet” and they be “returned to their roots”.“The petitioner’s and her minor child’s position, at the moment, is of a person in no man’s land, which belongs to none, but fact of the matter is that the lady does belong to some place on the planet and it becomes duty of the concerned authorities to secure confirmation about her nationality at the earliest,” the court said. hindustantimes
2016 ends on a violent note in Kashmir with the death of a policeman
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/2016-ends-on-a-violent-note-in-kashmir-with-the-death-of-a-policeman/story-I2eQFYLxOVIwI7LjXE6r6K.html
Srinagar:One of Kashmir’s bloodiest years ended on Saturday with yet another killing, this time of a police officer in northern district of Kupwara.Constable Abdul Karim Sheikh was killed when suspected militants opened fire on a police party in Chogul Handwara.Police control room Handwara said that the police team was searching vehicles at a barricade in Chogul when gunmen travelling in an auto rickshaw opened fire.“Abdul Karim Sheikh was hit by bullets in his chest and he was taken to Handwara hospital where he died,” the PCR said.HT
Pak calls India’s bid to ban Azhar ‘politically motivated’
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/pakistan-calls-indias-bid-to-ban-masood-azhar-politically-motivated/
Islamabad:Pakistan on Sunday said India’s bid at the UN to ban Masood Azhar was “politically motivated” and “replete with frivolous information”, two days after its close ally China blocked the proposal to get the JeM chief and Pathankot attack mastermind listed as a global terrorist. Responding to reports on India failing to put Azhar on the UN Security Council’s 1267 Sanctions Committee, Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said, “1267 Sanctions Committee related to ISIS/Al-Qaeda has rejected a politically motivated proposal by India. Replete with frivolous information and baseless allegations, the Indian proposal had no merit and was primarily aimed at advancing its narrow national agenda.“The dismissal of this proposal is also a rejection of the Indian attempts to politicise and undermine the work of this important Committee of the Security Council,” he said.“While claiming to denounce terrorism, India has in fact deployed terrorism as an instrument of state policy, and has itself been involved in perpetrating, sponsoring, supporting, and financing terrorism,” Zakaria said in a statement.PTI
India again asks Pak for consular access to Jadhav,Ansari
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-again-asks-pak-for-consular-access-to-jadhav-ansari-4454481/
New Delhi:Renewing its demand, India on Sunday asked Pakistan for consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav, arrested on charges of espionage, and Nehal Ansari, who was caught for illegally entering the country from Afghanistan apparently to meet a girl he had befriended onlineIndia called for consular access to the two after it exchanged with Pakistan the lists of their citizens including civil prisoners and fishermen languishing in each other’s jails as per provisions of the bilateral Consular Access agreement. PTI
Army won’t shy away from flexing its muscles: Gen Rawat
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-news/army-wont-shy-away-from-flexing-its-muscles-gen-rawat/
New Delhi: New Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday said the role of the force is to maintain peace and tranquillity at the border but it will not “shy away from flexing its muscles, if the need be”.Eastern Army commander Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi and Southern commander Lt Gen PM Hariz will continue to serve the Army and maintain the unity, he said.TOI
Kashmir unrest: ‘When will CM, separatists stop using students as football?’ indianexpress spl report
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/kashmir-unrest-when-will-cm-mehbooba-mufti-separatists-stop-using-students-as-football-4453795/
After remaining confined to her house at Zainakote on the outskirts of Srinagar for five months, Noor-us-Sama, a science student, appeared for her Class 12 exams last month after the state govt went ahead with them despite initial protests from students. “Ours was the most unlucky batch. We had faced a similar situation in Class 10 in 2014 when our exams had got postponed due to the floods in the city. Instead of 2014, we sat for the exams in 2015, and some months later, appeared for Class 11 exams,” says Sama, playing with her two younger brothers, who are in Classes 7 and 8.“I thought I would make up for all that this year, but 2016 proved even worse,” sighs Sama, who had cleared Class 10 with distinction. After her initial schooling at a private English-medium school in Karan Nagar, Sama now studies in the Kothibagh Higher Secondary School, a reputed govt institution.
J&K: ‘Studying is only way forward. I always wanted to do MBA. But can I still?’ indianexpress spl report
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/kashmir-unrest-burhan-wani-protests-pellet-guns-4453700/
Tabish Rafiq Bhat says he always hoped to do a MBA some day. But the pellets that pierced his left eye shattered his retina — and his dreams. Now, he says, he can’t look at the printed word without his eyes watering.“My future seems dark… just like my eye,” says the 17-year-old, who wrote his Class 10 examinations in November. Tabish says he asked for a writer during the exams, but the Board of School Education “turned down my request”. “My left eye hurt badly when I wrote my exams,” he says, lying under a blanket in his single-room house that is partitioned to make space for the kitchen.
Azamgarh: ‘No action against guilty. Then how are we going to ensure this isn’t repeated?’ indianexpress reprt
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/cow-vigilante-group-lynching-4453701/
When news that his uncle had passed away reached him on March 19, Mohammad Shahjad Alam was at his madrasa at Mubarakpur in UP’s Azamgarh district. It was only after he returned home to Jharkhand two days later, he says, that he realised what had happened. His uncle, Mohammad Majloom Ansari, 35, and 12-year-old Imtiyaz Khan were lynched, allegedly by a mob of cow vigilantes, at Jhabar village in Jharkhand’s Latehar district, and their bodies strung up on a tree. The two cattle traders, herding oxen to a fair in Hazaribagh, were accused of taking the animals for illegal slaughter.“When I returned, all I could see was people in tears. The memories just refuse to fade. I don’t remember any celebrations at home since,” says Alam, sitting in his home at Nawada village, 10 km from Jhabar, where the incident occurred.Alam and his mother Rabina Bibi, a housewife, live with her father Mohammad Ibrahim. Majloom Ansari is her brother. Alam’s father Mohammad Suleman Ansari works as a labourer in Ahmedabad.
‘What do you think happens to Dalits in big colleges? I don’t even speak good English’: indianexpress spl
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/what-do-you-think-happens-to-dalits-in-big-colleges-i-dont-even-speak-good-english-4453645/
After his Class 10, Gramapudi Pavan wanted to join the Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Guntur town, but opted for an Intermediate college (Class 10 and 12) “because it was less expensive”. Pavan, the son of a tenant farmer, and his family — parents and two younger siblings — live on Narsaraopet Road, not far from where Rohith Vemula, the Dalit PhD scholar who committed suicide on Jan.17 at University of Hyderabad, grew up.A second-year student of CEC (Civics, Economics, and Commerce) at the S M Intermediate College in Guntur, Pavan hopes to go to S M College near Guntur next year for a graduation degree in commerce. “It is a good college and has a big campus,” he says. But Pavan has his worries: “I have heard a lot of ragging happens in these big colleges. But I am more worried about being identified by my caste.”
Una Dalit unrest: ‘Why should I stay a Hindu? Maybe I will convert to Buddhism this year’: indianexpress spl report
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/dalit-unrest-gujarat-gau-rakshak-una-cow-skinning-4453647/
“No money today either,” says Divyesh Solanki as he walks home with his mother and sister after a day spent sorting and packing freshly harvested onion bulbs. They are hired for Rs 160 a day, and for the last three days, haven’t been paid their money. “The farmer has asked me to come back tomorrow,” says Divyesh. He doesn’t know what else he could do for a living, he says. He knows what he “won’t do”, however. “Until a few months ago, almost every male member in our extended family and community skinned cows for a living. I never learnt to do it and even if I did, after what happened to members of our community, I can’t imagine doing it either.”Divyesh’s village Mota Samadhiyala was the epicentre of Dalit unrest in Gujarat after seven men from the village were flogged on July 11 by a group of ‘gau rakshaks’ for skinning a cow carcass. Divyesh says he is a “distant cousin” of Vashram and Ramesh Sarvaiya, the two brothers who were among the seven attacked by gau rakshaks on July 11. The third of five siblings, Divyesh dropped out of school after his Class 9 to help his parents, he says. Apart from working in the farm, he works as a nightwatchman at an upper caste villager’s farm for Rs 300 a night.
Women take on goondas for change in Delhi's Jamia Nagar area: UNI
http://news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/India/20170101/3024446.html
New Delhi: There might be varying assessment of the success of PM Narendra Modi's Clean India Mission, but winds of change are certainly blowing in the predominantly Muslim residential locality of Ghaffar Manazil in Jamia Nagar, thanks to its women.Plagued by a dysfunctional men-dominated Resident Welfare Association (RWA), women of Ghaffar Manzil residential area are taking up cudgels against the goonda and status quoist elements, who had so far foiled all attempts for change.Their resolve got further strengthened after around 200 goondas hired by these anti-change elements last week destroyed the greenery planted by them on the garbage site, which was a sore to the eyes of people in the locality.The site was shifted a bit farther from the locality to a wider area on the road, where it was more convenient for the municipality truck to come and lift the garbage.The locality, flanked by green stretches of Jamia University and the UP Irrigation department land on both sides of its main road, was a saving grace for the otherwise jungle of concrete that Jamia Nagar has turned into. The goonda assault on the site chosen by women to begin their cleanliness drive came as a great shock to all the sensible people in the locality, and some male residents were honest enough when they said, ''We have certainly failed the people of the locality all these years. And it was high time that we supported the efforts of these women.''We have been forced to come out of four homes after we waited for years to see our RWA acting to remove the insanitary conditions prevailing in this locality, which was so beautiful over a decade ago,'' Tehrima Ahmad, Tasneem Jamal and Tarunnum Abdulla said. These women have formed a Gaffar Manzil Women Welfare Association, which is getting full support from local Councillor Ishrat Jahan.UNI
WORLD
UN adopts resolution unanimously supporting Syria ceasefire
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/12/adopts-resolution-supporting-syria-ceasefire-161231182457975.html
UNSC has unanimously endorsed a ceasefire currently in effect in Syria, as well as plans for peace talks to be held in the Kazakh capital next month.The resolution, approved late on Saturday, called for the "rapid, safe and unhindered" delivery of humanitarian aid throughout the country.Russia, which supports Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, brokered the ceasefire with Turkey earlier this week in the hope of paving the way for peace talks in Kazakhstan in the new year.The truce calls for negotiations over a political solution to end the conflict that has killed more than 400,000 people and forced millions to flee.Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the UN, praised efforts to end the year with an international agreement for Syria and thanked Turkey for its "substantive contribution".Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna, reporting from UN HQRS in New York City, said Russia was forced to accept a number of amendments to see the resolution pass."Key among them was that the Russia-Turkey brokered ceasefire was part of a wider UN initiative aimed at restoring political dialogue," he said."Russia has made it clear that this resolution is in no way meant to supplant a UN push to start talks in Geneva."Staffan de Mistura, UN special envoy for Syria, has said he intends to bring together representatives of the rival parties for talks in Geneva after Feb.8.The truce remained largely intact on Saturday, despite opposition forces accusing Assad loyalists of attacking 33 locations.Rebel groups threatened to abandon the ceasefire if the govt continued its assault on areas under their control.Rebel leaders told Al Jazeera that Assad's govt were trying to take advantage of the situation to further expand its territory.At least 10 air strikes hit rebel-held villages and towns in the strategically important Wadi Barada valley near Damascus, activists said. Aljazeera Aljazeera
Syrian opposition: Assad forces breaking cease-fire
http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/syrian-opposition-assad-forces-breaking-cease-fire/717808
Turkish military 'neutralizes' 34 Daesh terrorists:Anadolu
http://aa.com.tr/en/todays-headlines/turkish-military-neutralizes-34-daesh-terrorists/718013
ISTANBUL: A total of 34 Daesh terrorists were “neutralized” in the Syria's north during the ongoing Turkish-led Operation Euphrates Shield, according to the Turkish military.The Turkish Armed Forces said on Sunday that Turkish jets destroyed 17 Daesh buildings used as weapon emplacement and shelter in al-Bab, Suflaniyah, Bzagah and Shamaviyah.Anadolu Agency
Suicide bombing kills 6 in Iraq’s Najaf
http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/suicide-bombing-kills-6-in-iraq-s-najaf/718145
BAGHDAD:A suicide bombing killed six policemen and injured dozens in Iraq’s southern city of Najaf on Sunday.Three bombers blew themselves up at a security checkpoint in al-Qadisiyya, north-west of Najaf, after an exchange of fire with security forces, local official Hussein Wahid told Anadolu Agency.He said 25 people, mostly tribesmen, were injured in the attack.No group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing.Anadolu Agency
39 including 16 foreigners killed in Istanbul nightclub attack: minister
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/39-including-16-foreigners-killed-in-Istanbul-nightclub-attack-minister/article16972989.ece?homepage=true
Istanbul; At least 16 foreigners were among 39 people people killed in the gun attack on an Istanbul club during New Year festivities, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Sunday.Soylu said in televised comments that of 21 victims who have been identified so far, 16 are foreigners and five are Turks. Another 69 people are being treated in hospital for their wounds.the hindu
Istanbul: 2 Indians among those killed in nightclub attack, says Sushma Swaraj
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/istanbul-turkey-nightclub-shooting-two-indians-killed-sushmna-swaraj-4454582/
New Delhi: 2 Indians were among the 39 killed in Sunday’s shooting at a night club in Istanbul, External Affairs Minsiter Sushma Swaraj said. “I have bad news from Turkey. We have lost 2 Indian nationals in the Istanbul attack. Indian Ambassador on way to Istanbul,” she Tweeted. The victims have been identified as Abis Rizvi and Khushi Shah. Rizvi was the song of a former Rajya Sabha MP, and Shah hails from Gujarat. indianexpress
Suicide kills more US troops than IS: Pentagon Report
http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/suicide-kills-more-u-s-troops-than-islamic-state-pentagon-report-117010100066_1.html
Washington: According to newly released Pentagon statistics, suicide and not combat is the leading killer of US troops deployed to the Middle East to fight the Islamic State.USA Today, citing the report, said that US casualties have been relatively low since the US-led war effort began with a bombing campaign in August 2014, reflecting the limited combat exposure for troops.ANI
122 journalists including 5 in India killed globally in 2016: International Federation of Journalists' Report
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/122-journalists-including-five-in-india-killed-globally-in-2016-report/story-eW4RLIHpyiL5mhf5UEUntO.html
Compiled and edited by Anwarulhaq (Released at: 7:56 PM)
