Ayodhya issue: Efforts begin for out-of-court settlementBattle For Muslim Votes On Babri Verdict Begins
Valley tension deters Pandit youth from joining work
Doing Haj on Umrah visas is unacceptable: Al-Obaikan
Indonesia's Muslims told to switch off gossip TV
Kerala Muslim group denies role in chopping off professor's palm
Leaving kids in maids’ care: Better safe than sorry
Saudis often blame mental illnesses on supernatural forces
Philippine army releases detained mutiny leader on trial
Haqqani should be on US terror list
‘Pro- Pak’ man leads Valley separatists
'World will benefit from a stable Indo-Pak relationship'
Gujarat riots witnesses living in fear, says NGO
Govt considering reservation for Muslims
11 killed in Iraq copter crash, bombings
Abdullah on peace mission
Judges to probe Kashmir deaths
FBI defends surveillance guidelines allegedly targeting Muslims
CBI grills Amit Shah on directives given to CID
Chargesheet calls him Sohrab plot mastermind
Investigating agency wants to question Narendra Modi too
Malik deletes inverted tricolour from Twitter
Nothing new in WikiLeaks logs: Obama
Kayani to ensure army calls shots till 2013 polls
Nazi guard, 90, charged with killing 4.3L Jews
Osama trail didn’t go cold after 2003
Source not known, says Assange
Cameron warns Pak on exporting terror: You can’t look both ways
CIA watched ISI tap phones, help suicide bombers
'Amit Shah had tasked 3 IPS officers to kill Sohrabuddin'
Pak reacts angrily to Cameron's remarks
Headley's revelations 'ticking time bomb' in Pak-US ties
Pak has to do more in fighting terror: US
Cameron, Manmohan to strengthen trade ties
Get Indian, Pak Army officers to US classroom, build trust, says Gen Mattis
Target Taliban bases in Pakistan: Afghanistan tells U.S.
Pak, stop terror export: UK PM
Five terrorists with Babbar Khalsa links held
WikiLeaks reveal Osama shadow over Afghanistan
Leaks easier with computer files
Diggy takes war on saffron terror to PM
Cancer rate in Fallujah worse than Hiroshima
Jeddah most friendly city for women entrepreneurs: Survey
More volunteers offer to treat ‘haunted’ man
Summer program attracts 500 boys and girls
UNICEF calls nominations for regional media awards
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: The female lecturer Sirin Middya who has been prevented from teaching at a Muslim university in eastern India by students demanding that she wear a Burqa (veil).
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A teacher says no to burqa in a West Bengal Muslim university, isn’t allowed to teach
Shiv Sahay Singh
Jul 29 2010
Kolkata : For the past three months, 24-year-old Sirin Middya has not been able to hold her classes at West Bengal’s first Muslim university. While the guidelines at Aliah University in Kolkata don’t stipulate the same, the students’ union has demanded that Middya can teach but only in burqa.
Middya was appointed a guest lecturer at the university in March this year and got the union “diktat” in the second week of April. “I was told that I would not be allowed to attend college if I did not agree to come in a burqa. The University Grants Commission does not prescribe any such dress code and even the university does not have a dress code. But the most unfortunate part is that students are forcing us to wear burqa,” Middya told The Indian Express.
According to her, she has no issues with wearing a burqa — but if she dons one, it would be of her own free will.
Siamat Ali, secretary of West Bengal Madrasah Students’ Union, says he doesn’t understand Middya’s problem.
“There are eight women teachers at the university. It was decided through consulation that the women will observe purdah, and most teachers agreed. Only this lady has a problem,” Ali said, adding that they were ready to welcome Middya back as long as she adhered to the “decent” dress code.
The university has chosen to play safe, putting the issue on the backburner and hoping it dies down.
“This is a stray incident... we tried to nip the problem in the bud. There is no dress code in our university. Since there was a problem, we asked the teacher to report to the Salt Lake campus,” said Vice-Chancellor Syed Shamshul Alam.
The university was set up in 2008 by upgrading the famous Calcutta Madrasah which was started in 1781 by Warren Hastings, Governor General of Bengal. One of the oldest centres of higher learning and culture in the country, the institution has had many eminent scholars in its ranks. Aliah University was expected to harmonise tradition and modernity, and while its Islamic cources are run in the Calcutta Madrasah building, the other academic activities are conducted on different campuses at Salt Lake.
Middya joined Aliah University after an M.A. in Bengali from Jadavpur University. Having refused to kow-tow to the union, she has been unable to go to Aliah’s Calcutta Madrasah campus, and reports to the university’s library at Salt Lake. “Without taking any classes, I am given the full prescribed salary by the university,” said Middya.
“Most of the teachers do not like the diktat of the students to wear burqa. But they have no option but to accept it. This is Talibanisation of educational premises and there is no one to our rescue,” she said.
On June 4, nearly two months after she was virtually barred from the campus, Middya wrote to West Bengal’s Minister for Minority Development Abdus Sattar. She said she was yet to get a response.
Prior to this episode, Aliah University had faced another row when the students’ union held protests demanding that the word “madrasah” be added to its name.
With the university itself silent on the Middya issue, other teachers’ unions such as the All Bengal University Teachers Association (ABUTA) have decided to launch a movement.
“The university and the government should have protected this teacher and other teachers so that their fundamental rights were not infringed upon. Whereas in other parts of the world, even in Muslim countries, wearing a burqa is not mandatory, here the Left Front government has failed to protect the rights of the teacher,” said Tarun Naskar, general secretary of ABUTA.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-teacher-says-no-to-burqa-in-a-west-bengal-muslim-university-isnt-allowed-to-teach/653282/
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Ayodhya issue: Efforts begin for out-of-court settlement
Jul 29 2010
LUCKNOW: Having reserved its judgment on the title suit of the disputed Ayodhya complex after hearing the contending parties, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has initiated efforts for an out-of-court settlement of the 60-year-old dispute.
Exercising its power under Section 89 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Special Bench of Justices S.U. Khan, Sudhir Agarwal and Dharamveer Sharma met counsel for both sides separately in their chambers on Tuesday.
The court reserved its judgment on July 26. The verdict is likely to be delivered in September.
The Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhumi dispute has been pending since 1950. What was primarily a local issue assumed political connotations in the 1980s when the organisations affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh launched an agitation for the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya.
Earlier too, attempts were made to settle the dispute outside court. In 1991, when Chandra Shekhar formed a government at the Centre, with the support of the Congress, the first formal initiative was made. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Babri Masjid Action Committee handed in documents in support of their claims. But the initiative withered after the Chandra Shekhar government fell.
Another attempt was made in 1992 when the Congress was in power, with P.V. Narasimha Rao as Prime Minister. But the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, turned the clock back.
According to Zafaryab Jilani, counsel for the UP Sunni Central Board of Waqfs, one of the parties involved in the dispute, informal attempts were also made for settling the issue in 1986 and 2002. “These involved the Jagadguru Shankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam and the president of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board, but there was no headway,” said Mr. Jilani, who also serves as the legal adviser of the Law Board.
The Kanchi Shankaracharya met Muslim Personal Law Board chairman Maulana Syed Rabey Hasni Nadwi at the Darul Uloom Nadwadul Ulema here on June 7, 2003. Their meeting lasted 90 minutes. Apart from inquiring about the Maulana's health, the Kanchi seer discussed the possibility of an out-of-court settlement. An exchange of letters followed, but that was all.
http://www.hindu.com/2010/07/29/stories/2010072955451100.htm
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Battle For Muslim Votes On Babri Verdict Begins
Jul 29th, 2010
With the verdict on the Babri mosque title suit likely in September, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party are drawing up their strategies to garner Muslim support on the issue.
Both the parties are planning to hold state level Muslim conventions where they will detail the manner in which they have worked towards protecting the rights of the community.
“We are not much concerned about the outcome of the court verdict since the same will be challenged in Supreme Court by either of the parties. What we are keen is to make Muslims realise that it is Mulayam Singh Yadav alone who has stood up for them in times of crisis. If he ever made a mistake (Kalyan Singh), he promptly owned up to it and apologised for it. Has any other leader shown the guts to do so?” asked a senior Muslim MLA from SP.
Samajwadi leaders believe that as soon as the Babri verdict is announced, Hindu outfits, including the BJP, will start whipping up Hindu passions and this will automatically lead to a polarisation of Muslim votes.
“However, we are keen to ensure that the Congress does not take the advantage of this polarisation,” disclosed the SP MLA.
The Congress, on the other hand, is determined to use the Kalyan Singh factor to question the secular credentials of the Samajwadi Party.
“Every party, barring the Congress, has flirted with the BJP. Mayawati did it thrice and Mulayam Singh did it in 1989 and then again when he joined hands with Kalyan Singh, the chief architect of Babri demolition. How can Muslims ever trust these leaders?” asked a senior Congress functionary.
The Congress-led UPA government is already drawing up new schemes for districts having Muslim concentration in the country and UP has 15 such districts. The UP Congress hopes to reap the electoral benefits of such schemes.
Moreover, the party is confident that under the leadership of Mr Rahul Gandhi — whose secular credentials and clean image are a major advantage — the party will succeed in weaning away Muslim votes from the Samajwadi Party.
The BSP, meanwhile, is preparing to play a spoiler in this battle for minority votes. According to party sources, the BSP will adopt a two-pronged strategy on the issue of Muslims.
“We will put the Congress in the dock on the issue of Babri demolition and then the delay in implementation of Sachchar Committee and the Ranganath Misra Committee reports. How can a party that has enjoyed power for 60 years not be responsible for the plight of Muslims in the country? As for the Samajwadi Party, we will tell people that it has welcomed members of the Hindu brigade including Kalyan Singh, Sakshi Maharaj into its fold and, therefore, its secular credentials are doubtful,” said a BSP leader.
http://www.asianage.com/india/battle-muslim-votes-babri-verdict-begins-851
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Valley tension deters Pandit youth from joining work
Mohit Kandhari
Jul 29 2010
Continuing unrest in the Kashmir Valley over the past month seems to have shattered the hopes of unemployed Kashmiri Pandit youth, hoping to earn a decent living in Kashmir.
Approximately 3,000 government jobs under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s `1,600 crore special relief and rehabilitation package were offered to the migrant youth to facilitate their return to the Valley.
After advertising the posts in various State Government departments and completion of recruitment formalities when the Pandit youth were looking forward to join work the situation worsened, bringing back unsettling memories of post-migration days and creating a tricky situation for them.
Several Kashmiri Pandit organisations find the current situation in Kashmir detrimental to the return of educated youths of displaced families to the Valley, even though they have been appointed to Government posts.
On Tuesday, Panun Kashmir leader Ajay Chrungoo said, “We appeal to the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister to realise the gravity of the situation prevailing in Kashmir and intervene decisively by delinking the employment package for displaced Kashmiri Hindus from return to the Valley.”
He suggested that all the new posts created for the community’s youth, be shifted to Jammu where the situation is stable as well as secure.
He said the prevailing situation in the Valley was worse than what had existed in the aftermath of Sangrampura, Wandhama and Nagimarg incidents.
Chrungoo said “we want to ask why the State Government is persisting with its policy of implementing the PM’s Employment Package only if Kashmiri Hindus agree to return to the Valley?”
“In the event of a mishap, both the State and the Centre are liable to be charged with willful negligence, and they cannot hide behind the written undertakings being forced on the Kashmiri Hindu candidates selected for recruitment in the Valley,” the PK leader said.
Kuldeep Raina of Panun Kashmir said: “Since the security situation in Kashmir is highly disturbing, the Government should review posting Pandit youths to the Valley.”
Meanwhile, the State Government is trying its level best to pacify the migrant youth saying efforts would be made to post all the selected candidates at the district or tehsil headquarters.
“Instructions have been given to the Department heads that the Pandit candidates should not be posted in far-flung areas.” Till date no Kashmiri Pandit candidate has proceeded to the Valley to report for duty. They prefer staying back in Jammu in view of the law and order situation.
Official sources said that a large number of unemployed educated Pandit youths had given in writing that they were ready to serve in Kashmir and, it was on the basis of this written assurance that the candidates were selected for various posts. One of the senior cabinet minister has appealed to the leaders of the Pandit organisations to avoid misleading the community youth.
The president of All State Kashmiri Pandit Solidarity Conference on Trisal on Tuesday also urged the Centre and the State Government not to push migrant youth to join their posts and make efforts to adjust them in Jammu and Ladakh regions of the State.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/272297/Valley-tension-deters-Pandit-youth-from-joining-work.html
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Doing Haj on Umrah visas is unacceptable: Al-Obaikan
Jul 29, 2010
JEDDAH: Overstaying one’s Umrah visa to perform Haj is not acceptable, said Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Al-Obaikan, a renowned Saudi scholar and adviser to the Royal Court.
“It is Haram for anyone who arrives in the Kingdom on an Umrah visa to stay until the Haj season to perform the fifth pillar of Islam,” Al-Obaikan told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
He added that the Umrah of a person who comes to the Kingdom on an Umrah visa would be okay, but it would be Haram for the person to overstay until Haj.
“Disrespecting rules and regulations of a country is not permissible according to Shariah. These rules have been formulated for the welfare of Muslims from both the Kingdom and abroad. Breaking them is not permissible according to the Shariah,” he said.
He added that people who visit the Kingdom should use their visas for the purposes for which they were issued. “If someone is granted a visa to perform Umrah he should do that and return home. It will be Haram for him to prolong his stay to perform Haj,” he said.
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article92031.ece
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Indonesia's Muslims told to switch off gossip TV
Jul 29, 2010
JAKARTA: Indonesia's highest Islamic authority has forbidden Muslims from viewing gossipy content in the country's media after a celebrity sex clip scandal dominated television news in the past month.
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued the edict this week because of concerns that some media programs were not meant to educate but went beyond the barriers of decency toward pornography, said the MUI's Ma'ruf Amin.
"The problem is not about infotainment but its content which contain slander, rumors.. also the shows lead to pornography," Amin said.
He said the organization had recommended the government follow up the edict through regulations to control such "infotainment" content.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article92056.ece
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Kerala Muslim group denies role in chopping off professor's palm
By ASHRAF PADANNA
Jul 29, 2010
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Popular Front of India (PFI), the radical Muslim group which is under scanner after a hand-chopping incident in Kerala, has denied role in any act of terror.
Police have picked up at least a dozen activists of the group working for "job quotas and political empowerment of Muslims and other marginalized sections of the society" in connection with the incident though they are yet to reveal who planned and executed it.
The PFI said there were also a "series of police raids on its offices across the state, unlawful arrests, breaking into houses at midnight, closing down businesses and incidents of physical and verbal harassment of women" but no "objectionable documents or materials could be found".
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article92049.ece
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Leaving kids in maids’ care: Better safe than sorry
By LAURA BASHRAHEEL
Jul 29, 2010
JEDDAH: With many people in the Kingdom living fast-paced, modern lives and women holding down jobs, families are often obliged to leave their children with relatives and even maids. However, the question remains whether maids can be trusted?
According to local newspapers, a three-month-old child, called Mishary, died two months ago after being poisoned by an Indonesian maid. The woman had mixed rat poison and crushed Paracetamol tablets into the child’s milk.
The three-year-old developed a severe rash, and remained in a coma after suffering heart and kidney failure. Police are still investigating the incident that took place in May. It is unknown whether the maid committed the act in revenge and whether she had been abused.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article92002.ece
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Saudis often blame mental illnesses on supernatural forces
By MD HUMAIDAN
Jul 29, 2010
JEDDAH: A large number of Saudis attribute mental illness to the effects of jinns or the evil eye, said Dr. Suleiman Al-Zaydi, a psychiatrist and director of public relations and information at Al-Amal Hospital in Jeddah.
“About 80 to 90 percent of our society does not believe in the existence of mental illnesses. They do not accept the fact that sick people are psychologically ill and attribute the conditions to jinns, the evil eye or black magic,” said Al-Zaydi.
He added that the families of those who are mentally ill try to treat them using spiritual means, such as reciting the Qur’an, before taking them to mental hospitals.
“This, however, impairs the diagnosis process and proper treatment,” he added.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article92026.ece
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Philippine army releases detained mutiny leader on trial
Jul 29, 2010
MANILA: The Philippines on Wednesday released a marine colonel detained in 2006 on charges of leading a coup attempt against former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, but his trial for mutiny continues.
Brig.-Gen. Jose Mabanta, a military spokesman, said Ariel Querubin was released on condition he reports to a senior officer while he awaits trial at a military court, attends his hearings and does not leave the country.
"He is given liberty to leave detention effective today," Mabanta told reporters.
Querubin's court sessions have been irregular over the years, depending on the availability of the military tribunal. The trial will resume on Aug. 27.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article92055.ece
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Haqqani should be on US terror list
Jul 29 2010
President Barack Obama's pick to lead the US military command overseeing operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere said he wanted top leaders of two major insurgent groups designated as terrorists.
The Quetta Shura and the Haqqani network oppose US forces in Afghanistan and officially blacklisting their leaders could trigger punitive measures, like freezing assets. Advocates say it would also send a strong message to Pakistan, under pressure to go after insurgents inside its borders.
“Both those groups have engaged in terrorism and I believe the leaders of both groups should be placed on the State Department list,“ General James Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Full report at: Hindustan Times
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‘Pro- Pak’ man leads Valley separatists
By Naseer Ganai
Jul 29 2010
A FORMER militant and the driving force behind a pro- Pakistani outfit is calling the shots in the separatist movement in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Muslim League, a hardline faction of the umbrella body of Hurriyat Conference, is now an outfit to reckon with. Its brass has sidelined existing separatist leaders of the Valley.
For over a month, known separatist faces — Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front ( JKLF) chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik, chairman of Hurriyat’s moderate faction Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and its hard- line chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani have desisted from issuing statements on the volatile situation in the state.
Instead, it’s young Masrat Alam, chairman of the Muslim League, who is in the forefront of the separatist protests.
Full report at: Mail Today
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'World will benefit from a stable Indo-Pak relationship'
Jul 29 2010
Washington : Strongly recommending the case of continued peace talks between India and Pakistan, the Obama Administration has said that a stable Indo-Pak relationship would benefit the world and the US in particular and reiterated that Islamabad should address New Delhi's concern with regard to 26/11.
"It is important for Pakistan and India to have a stable relationship. They, likewise, will have to have a relationship going forward, and if it is stable, then the world, including the US, benefits," State Department spokesman, P J Crowley, told reporters at his daily news briefing.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/world-will-benefit-from-a-stable-indopak-relationship/652791/
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Gujarat riots witnesses living in fear,says NGO
Jul 29 2010
New Delhi: Even as criminal conspiracy charges against former Gujarat home minister Amit Shah cast a shadow on the Narendra Modi government,Citizens for Justice and Peace on Tuesday said despite legislations,witnesses of the Gujarat carnage were living in a patently hostile environment without formal legal representation.
The CJP has submitted a detailed report on violations and gender discrimination to the Committee for Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW),urging for monitoring and intervention in the ongoing trial that involves 97 women eyewitnesses and survivors in nine critical trials.Among the violations that have been listed out in Justice Delivery: A Fractured Process are humiliation from judges,belittling the violence and alleged lack of independence of public prosecutors.
Full report at: Times of India
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Govt considering reservation for Muslims
Jul 29 2010
Government is actively considering reservation for Muslims through the Other Backward Castes (OBC) route, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has said.
"We are actively looking at the reservation issue. We have a commitment in our (Congress) manifesto. I am pushing for it all the time ....Congress leadership is committed to the issue and there is no shred of doubt about it," he told PTI in an interview here.
Khurshid was replying to questions on whether the government is ready to implement the recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission for reservation to Minorities.
The Commission, whose report was tabled in Parliament in December last year, had recommended 10 per cent reservation for Muslims and five per cent for other minorities in government jobs.
Full report at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/272262/Govt-considering-reservation-for-Muslims.html
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11 killed in Iraq copter crash, bombings
Jul 29 2010
A sandstorm downed an Iraqi military helicopter on Wednesday, killing its five-man crew, while midmorning Baghdad bombings claimed the lives of six people, officials said. Defence Ministry spokesman Maj Gen Mohammed al-Askari said the helicopter was flying to provide air protection to Shia pilgrims travelling by road to the holy city of Karbala, when it crashed in the sandstorm early in the morning.
Meanwhile, two midmorning bombings in Baghdad killed six people and injured 15 others in the eastern Shia slum of Sadr City, police and health officials said. The bombs, which went off close to each other about 9:15 am, were planted near a state-run bank where retirees were waiting to get their pensions, the officials said.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/272309/11-killed-in-Iraq-copter-crash-bombings.html
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Abdullah on peace mission
Jul 29, 2010
SHARM EL-SHEIKH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah arrived here Wednesday on the first leg of a four-nation tour — which will also take him to Syria, Lebanon and Jordan — aimed at strengthening Arab unity and reviving the Middle East peace process.
King Abdullah, who flew in from his royal residence in Casablanca, held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on major regional and international issues and ways of boosting bilateral relations.
Informed sources said the two leaders discussed the most pressing issues in the region, including the Arab-Israeli conflict, the standoff between Iran and the West on Tehran's nuclear program and efforts to form a unity government in Iraq.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article92079.ece
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Judges to probe Kashmir deaths
Jul 29, 2010
SRINAGAR: The state government of India's Jammu and Kashmir has ordered a judicial inquiry into the deaths of more than a dozen killings allegedly by the government forces that have triggered massive street protests and violence in the of Kashmir valley.
The valley has been wracked by angry demonstrations since June 11, when a 17-year-old boy died after being hit by a police tear gas shell. Since then another 16 people, many of them teenagers, have been killed.
Two retired judges will "inquire into all the 17 incidents... in which fatalities had occurred on account of action by the security forces," a government statement said.
The judges have been asked to submit to the government their findings within three months, said the statement issued late Tuesday in an apparent move to calm public anger.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article92047.ece
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FBI defends surveillance guidelines allegedly targeting Muslims
By PETE YOST
Jul 29, 2010
WASHINGTON: Under fire from US civil liberties groups, the FBI is defending domestic surveillance guidelines that critics fear could unfairly target innocent Muslims in terrorism and other criminal investigations.
"It's quite an invasive data collection system," said Farhana Khera, executive director of the nonprofit group Muslim Advocates. "It's based on generalized suspicion and fear on the part of law enforcement, not on individualized evidence of criminal activity."
Khera spoke in an interview on the eve of a Capitol Hill appearance by FBI Director Robert Mueller, who was scheduled to testify Wednesday to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In a statement, the bureau said its procedures are designed to ensure that FBI probes don't zero in on anyone on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion or the exercise of any other constitutional right.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article91684.ece
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CBI grills Amit Shah on directives given to CID
Prashant Dayal & Rahul Tripathi
Jul 29, 2010
Ahmedabad/New Delhi: In the first round of questioning on Wednesday,the CBI unleashed several salvos at former Gujarat junior home minister Amit Shah,asking him about the directives he gave to CID officials during a meeting convened at the Gandhinagar Circuit House in December 2006 following Sohrabuddins encounter.
The questioning took place in the Sabarmati Central Jails Tilak Kholi where Shah has been lodged.The CBI has time till Friday to question Shah.
The CBI team headed by SP Amitabh Thakur grilled Shah for nearly eight hours in three different sessions and questioned him about the exact timing as to when the former home minister came to know about the killings of Sohrabuddin and his wife Kauserbi.He was also questioned as to when exactly he told CM Narendra Modi about the encounter.
Full report at: Times of India
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Chargesheet calls him Sohrab plot mastermind
Rahul Tripathi
Jul 29, 2010
New Delhi: Former Gujarat home minister Amit Shah may be listed as accused No.16 in CBIs chargesheet but according to the agency,he was the prime mover behind the plot to kill Sohrabuddin and his wife Kauserbi.
Shah,the agency said in its chargesheet,had given the job of eliminating Sohrabuddin to three senior IPS officers and one of these officers,Abhay Chudasama,who has been referred as A-15 in the chargesheet,was known to Sohrabuddin since 2001.
The chargesheet said Chudasama,at the behest of Shah,also tried to influence witnesses and Sohrabuddins family after the killings and offered them Rs 50 lakh for withdrawing their petition from Supreme Court.Shah has been listed as A-16 in the CBI chargesheet (a copy of which is with TOI).
Full report at: Times of India
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Investigating agency wants to question Narendra Modi too
Prashant Dayal
Jul 29, 2010
Ahmedabad: The CBI team,which has sent former minister of state for home Amit Shah behind bars,is likely to seek permission from its headquarters soon to question CM Narendra Modi who is also holding the home portfolio.
Another special investigation team (SIT),which is probing the Gulbarg Society massacre of 2002,had questioned Modi for nine hours on March 27 this year.
The finger of suspicion in the Sohrabuddin-Kauserbi killing is pointing at Modi because he signed the transfer orders of then CID chief G C Raiger around midnight of February 3-4,2007,while he was holding a Chintan Shivir at Karai Police Academy on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
Full report at: Times of India
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Malik deletes inverted tricolour from Twitter
Jul 29, 2010
New Delhi: Two days after TOI reported that Pakistani interior minister Rehman Maliks Twitter account was still showing the Indian flag upside-down,Islamabad on Tuesday corrected the ministers mistake by removing the picture from the website.
TOI on Sunday reported the gaffe,which raised suspicions here of deliberate disrespect to the Indian flag.
The photograph one of Malik meeting his Indian counterpart P Chidambaram which had the tricolour upside down was captured by lensmen covering the meeting of the two on the eve of the Saarc home/interior ministers conference on June 25.
It had then taken Chidambarams personal intervention to set the matter right.But Maliks website continued to use the same photograph till Tuesday when it was finally removed perhaps after sensing Indias sensitivity on the matter.
Times of India
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Nothing new in WikiLeaks logs: Obama
Jul 29, 2010
Washington: US president Barack Obama and other key officials are trying to play down the leak of 92,000 classified military files on the Afghan war as Pentagon launched a criminal probe into the damning disclosures that also exposed Pakistans doublegame,including Taliban links.
Speaking for the first time after WikiLeaks published the papers,Obama said that though he was concerned about the disclosure of sensitive information,the documents did not shed much new light on the issue.While Im concerned about the disclosure of sensitive information from the battlefield that could potentially jeopardise individuals or operations,the fact is these documents dont reveal any issues that havent already informed our public debate on Afghanistan, he said.
Full report at: Times of India
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Kayani to ensure army calls shots till 2013 polls
Indrani Bagchi
Jul 29, 2010
New Delhi: When Pakistani PM Yousaf Raza Gilani went on national TV to announce a three-year extension for army chief general Ashfaq Kayani,the news was not unexpected.Kayanis extension was widely desired by the US and within Pakistan as a sign of solidity and continuity.What it signifies immediately is that Kayani will continue to be the power behind the civilian facade in Pakistan,all the way until the next scheduled elections in 2013,which he is likely to preside over.
The development has not seen wild cheering in India.Because,by Indias assessment,Kayani remains one of the traditional,congenitally anti-India commanders of the Pakistan army.In fact,India need not have torn its heart out worrying about the failure of the foreign ministers talks in Islamabad.The army,particularly Kayani,did not want talks with India at this point.
Full report at: Times of India
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Nazi guard,90,charged with killing 4.3L Jews
Jul 29, 2010
Berlin: A former Nazi death camp guard has been charged with participating in the murder of 430,000 Jews and other crimes during the Third Reich,German prosecutors said.
Samuel Kunz,90,was informed last week of his indictment on charges including participation in the murder of 430,000 Jews at the Belzec death camp in occupied Poland,where he served as a guard from January 1942 to July 1943,prosecutor Christoph Goeke in Dortmund said.
Kunz is also charged with murder over personal excesses in which he allegedly shot a total of 10 Jews in two other incidents,Goeke said.Kunz,who is No.3 on the Simon Wiesenthal Centers list of most-wanted Nazi suspects,lives near the western German city of Bonn.When reached by phone,he said he did not want to talk about the allegations and hung up.
Full report at: Times of India
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Osama trail didnt go cold after 2003
Jul 29, 2010
London: Contradicting CIAs assertion that it has no intelligence on Osama bin Laden since 2003,leaked secret US documents say the al-Qaida chief personally attended a recruitment drive for suicide bombers in Pakistan in 2006.
CIA chief Leon Panetta said in June that the last time the US had precise information on bin Ladens location was in early 2000s.But the reports leaked by whisteblower website WikiLeaks show repeated instances in which US forces saw signs of the al-Qaida chief in Pakistan.
The evidence appears to contradict Penettas claim last month that there has been no intelligence on bin Laden since 2003.He was reported as attending meetings with recruited suicide bombers in 2006 in Pakistan,the documents said.
Times of India
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Source not known,says Assange
Jul 29, 2010
London: WikiLeaks editorin-chief claims his organization doesnt know who sent it 91,000 secret US military documents on Afghan war,telling journalists the website was set up to hide the source of its data from those who receive it.
Julian Assange didnt say whether he meant he had no idea who leaked the documents or whether his organization simply could not be sure.But he did say the added layer of secrecy helped protect the sites sources from spy agencies.
While he acknowledged the anonymous submissions raised concerns about the authenticity of the material,he said WikiLeaks had yet to be fooled by a bogus document.He said WikiLeaks had former intelligence workers in our network, people who could help evaluate whether documents were genuine.
Times of India
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Cameron warns Pak on exporting terror: You can’t look both ways
Johnson T A
Jul 29 2010
Bangalore : Sending Pakistan a “very clear” message, British Prime Minister David Cameron today warned Islamabad against “promoting terror in any way in India” and said it must not be allowed to “look both ways”.
“We should be very, very clear with Pakistan that we want to see a strong, steady, democratic Pakistan but we cannot tolerate in any sense this idea that the country is allowed to look both ways and is involved in promoting terror in any way in India, in Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world,” Cameron said at the start of his first visit to India after becoming Prime Minister. He was delivering a public address at the Infosys Technologies campus in Bangalore.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cameron-warns-pak-on-exporting-terror-you-cant-look-both-ways/653289/
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CIA watched ISI tap phones, help suicide bombers
Manu Pubby
Jul 29 2010
New Delhi : Washington's claim that it gave a heads-up to New Delhi on the leaked Af-Pak documents is loaded with irony. For, what these papers show is that Pakistani spy agency ISI supplied suicide bombers in Afghanistan with explosives-strapped motorcycles and listened in on telephone networks to supply them crucial information — all right under the nose of the US intelligence establishment.
In a threat assessment report dated August 27, 2007, one of the many leaked by Wikileaks, the US intelligence establishment admits it has information that all calls made to the largest mobile phone company in Afghanistan, Roshan, are routed through Pakistan.
With a non-existent landline network, most telephone users in Afghanistan — including coalition force members and foreign nationals — are dependent on this mobile network.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cia-watched-isi-tap-phones-help-suicide-bombers/653285/
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'Amit Shah had tasked 3 IPS officers to kill Sohrabuddin'
Jul 29 2010
Ahmedabad : Arrested former Gujarat minister of state for Home Amit Shah had entrusted the job of eliminating Sohrabuddin Sheikh to three senior IPS officers, the chargesheet filed by CBI in a court said.
According to the chargesheet filed in a special court on July 23, "elimination of Sohrabuddin was being used for extortion by the accused persons to establish an element of fear in the minds of the businessmen and others."
The accused persons from Rajasthan Police participated in the conspiracy because Sohrabuddin was terrorising the marble lobby in the neighbouring state, the CBI said.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/amit-shah-had-tasked-3-ips-officers-to-kill-sohrabuddin/652787/
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Pak reacts angrily to Cameron's remarks
Jul 29 2010
Islamabad : British Prime Minister David Cameron's warning that Pakistan should not have links with groups that export terror drew an angry response from Islamabad, which said it had done more than other nations in combating the menace.
Noting that terrorism is a "global issue", Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said the world community should instead ask India to "view this issue objectively".
"Pakistan has done much more than any other country in combating terrorism. Our people and security forces have rendered innumerable sacrifices. We hope that our friends will be able to persuade India to view this issue objectively and the value of 'cooperation' in counter-terrorism," Basit said in a statement.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pak-reacts-angrily-to-camerons-remarks/653026/
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Headley's revelations 'ticking time bomb' in Pak-US ties
Jul 29 2010
Washington : David Headley's revelation that LeT planned the Mumbai attacks with possible help from the ISI is a "ticking time bomb" that could wreck the US-Pakistan relationship and take the subcontinent to disaster, a former CIA official has warned.
Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official and now with the prestigious Brookings Institute, said Pakistan should carry out a "thorough house cleaning" of its military after the Pakistani-American LeT operative's revelations that attackers had links to the ISI.
"Thanks to David Headley's extraordinary confessions, we now know how thoroughly LeT planned its 2008 Mumbai attack and how closely linked it is to al-Qaeda - and perhaps to the Pakistani military," said
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/headleys-revelations-ticking-time-bomb-in-pakus-ties/652864/
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Pak has to do more in fighting terror: US
Jul 29 2010
Endorsing British Prime Minister David Cameron's call to Pakistan to stop "exporting" terror, the US says Pakistan has made a strategic shift in the fight against terror, but more has to be done.
"Well, we don't want to see the export of terror by any country," State Department spokesman Phillip Crowley said Wednesday when asked to comment on Cameron's warning to Pakistan during his trip to India.
"We are concerned about and have said many times that extremist elements within the borders of Pakistan, in the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan, first and foremost, it represents a threat to Pakistan, it represents a threat to Afghanistan."
Noting that extremists with links to these areas have made their way to Europe and the United States, Crowley said the US and Pakistan "are both satisfied with the aggressive steps that Pakistan has taken in recent months at considerable expense to Pakistan."
Full report at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/272504/Pak-has-to-do-more-in-fighting-terror-US.html
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Cameron, Manmohan to strengthen trade ties
Jul 29 2010
Trade and commerce besides security and terrorism with special reference to Afghanistan and Pakistan will top the agenda of bilateral talks between visiting UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Manmohan Singh here on Thursday.
Leading a high-level delegation, including Foreign Secretary William Hague, National Security Adviser Peter Ricketts, vice-chancellors of a number of universities and CEOs of leading business officials, Cameron will try to increase the trade ties and further strengthen the strategic partnership with India.
The two countries have done business worth over 12.8 billion dollars last year and the UK is the fourth largest investor in India. Moreover, the FDI inflow from the UK is more than six billion dollars.
Full report at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/272336/Cameron-Manmohan-to-strengthen-trade-ties.html
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Get Indian, Pak Army officers to US classroom, build trust, says Gen Mattis
S Rajagopalan
Jul 29 2010
US President Barack Obama’s new pick to head the country’s Central Command has a novel suggestion on how to bridge the trust deficit between India and Pakistan: Get Army officers of both countries to attend military classes in the US together. And study American civil war.
“As we all know, they have fought several wars over a number of issues. There’s the Kashmir issue. There’s any number of terrorist attacks. But I think the most important thing we can do in support of the diplomatic efforts … is to help bring the officer corps of both militaries together and create trust between them, allow them to perhaps attend our school together,” General James Mattis commented during a Q&A at his Senate confirmation hearing.
Full report at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/272299/Get-Indian-Pak-Army-officers-to-US-classroom-build-trust-says-Gen-Mattis.html
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Target Taliban bases in Pakistan: Afghanistan tells U.S.
Atul Aneja
Jul 29 2010
DUBAI: Afghanistan has urged the United States to focus on eliminating pro-Taliban sanctuaries across the Afghan border after the organisation WikiLeaks released classified documents detailing Pakistan's spy agency's collaboration with the Taliban.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Afghanistan's National Security Council head Rangeen Dadfar Spanta called upon Washington to review its Afghan policy by concentrating on Taliban sanctuaries and bases in Pakistan.
Those supporting militants should be punished rather than treated as an ally, said Mr. Spanta, who for several years served as Afghanistan's Foreign Minister in the administration of President Hamid Karzai.
“Not justifiable”
Mr. Spanta also questioned the U.S.' rationale for spending billions of dollars in Pakistan as part of the Afghan centred counter-terrorism campaign.
Full report at:
http://www.hindu.com/2010/07/29/stories/2010072953161500.htm
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Pak, stop terror export: UK PM
Salil Mekaad and Jayanth Jacob
Jul 29 2010
British ameron Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday said Pakistan could not be allowed to harbour militants and promote terror against India, Afghanistan and the rest of the world.
Cameron, on his first visit to India after becoming prime minister in May, laid out the basis for a new “enhanced relationship“ with India. Apart from Cameron's own tough talk on terrorism, his business minister Vince Cable announced the UK was prepared to export civil nuclear technology to India, bringing Britain in line with the stance taken by the United States, Russia and France.
Travelling to Bangalore and then to Delhi, Cameron witnessed the signing of a Rs 5,082 crore (£700million) agreement for India to buy an additional 57 Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft from British Aerospace Systems.
Cameron said US President Barack Obama, with whom he spoke last week, was in full agreement with him on Pakistan.
Full report at: Hindustan Times
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Five terrorists with Babbar Khalsa links held
Jul 29 2010
The State Special Operation Cell has nabbed five terrorists, including a French national of Indian origin, and seized two AK-47 assault rifles and hundreds of cartridges.
The accused have been identified as Kulwant Singh, Gurmukh Singh, Jagtar Singh, Darshan Singh Dhadi and French citizen Pal Singh. As per the police, the accused have links with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).
Addressing mediapersons at a press conference here on Wednesday, SP Mandeep Singh said, “We nabbed Gurmukh and Kulwant from the Amritsar bypass and seized two AK-47 assault rifles and 420 cartridges from their possession. About 200 of the cartridges could penetrate bullet-proof vehicles.“
Full report at: Hindustan Times
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WikiLeaks reveal Osama shadow over Afghanistan
Anirudh Bhattacharyya
Jul 29 2010
Pakistan's Prime NEW YORK: Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and ForeignMinisterShahMehmood Qureshi may have dismissed recent assertions by US officials that Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was in his country, but among the tens of thousands of documents posted online recently by WikiLeaks are some that appear to indicate the opposite.
According to the WikiLeaks documents analysed and posted online by the Guardian newspaper, bin Laden, US intelligence on the ground in Afghanistan felt, was closely involved in managing the insurgency in that country.
One such dispatch dated August 16, 2008, marked Threat Report, puts bin Laden's location in Quetta, Pakistan.
The report is in the context of a high-level meeting in the Pakistan city where six suicide bombers received orders to conduct an operation in Afghanistan. This meeting, the report suggests, is part of a series of planning meetings that were held regularly in that city by Al Qaeda's leadership.
Full report at: Hindustan Times
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Leaks easier with computer files
Jul 29 2010
Everybody is comparing the WikiLeaks document dump to the Pentagon Papers, but leaking is today much easier thanks to digital computer files. Let's not forget the immense time and wristbreaking effort it took in the pre-Internet days to copy stolen files.
For Daniel Ellsberg and partner-in-leaks Anthony Russo, copying all 7,000 pages of the Defense Department's secret history of the Vietnam War took three months by hand with a Xerox machine.
Such donkeywork proved so tiring to East German spymaster Markus Wolf that he told one of his US moles to slow down: “In the last years of the Cold War, James Hall, an Army warrant officer assigned to a National Security Agency listening post in Berlin, turned over thousands of documents to East Germany's spy service, whose analysts fretted that Hall was providing so much material they couldn't keep up with it,“ recalled an intelligence commentator.
Full report at: Hindustan Times
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Diggy takes war on saffron terror to PM
By Kay Benedict
Jul 29 2010
FIGHTING the Maoist terror may be the home ministry’s top priority, but Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh is worried about another type of homegrown terror.
Digvijay has taken his campaign against saffron terror to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
In a letter to the PM two- anda- half months ago, he wrote in detail about various Hindutva outfits allegedly involved in terror activities.
He underscored the need for an agency like the National Investigation Agency ( NIA) to probe the terror network of these groups masquerading as social and religious organisations.
The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister has, in fact, been waging a war against Hindutva terror — which he alleged took roots as early as 1992 — for the past two years.
He flagged the issue with the government when he wrote to the then home minister Shivraj Patil on September 16, 2008.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Cancer rate in Fallujah worse than Hiroshima
By TOM ELEY
Jul 29, 2010
The Iraqi city of Fallujah continues to suffer the ghastly consequences of a US military onslaught in late 2004.
According to the authors of a new study, “Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth Sex-Ratio in Fallujah, Iraq 2005–2009,” the people of Fallujah are experiencing higher rates of cancer, leukemia, infant mortality, and sexual mutations than those recorded among survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the years after those Japanese cities were incinerated by US atomic bomb strikes in 1945.
The epidemiological study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Studies and Public Health (IJERPH), also finds the prevalence of these conditions in Fallujah to be many times greater than in nearby nations.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article91871.ece
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Jeddah most friendly city for women entrepreneurs: Survey
By SARAH ABDULLAH
Jul 29, 2010
JEDDAH: According to a report released on Tuesday, Jeddah is the most business-friendly city in the Kingom for women entrepreneurs.
The report, entitled “Businesswomen in Saudi Arabia: Characteristics, Challenges and Aspirations in a Regional Context,” was prepared by Al-Sayeda Khadijah bint Khuwailad Businesswomen Center at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) after a nationwide survey.
It said 58 percent of female business owners have university degrees and three out of 10 of these diplomas are from universities abroad. The average female Saudi business owner is married and between the age of 25 and 44. Over half of them have more than three children. On average, she has at least 11 years of business experience and puts in at least 40 hours a week at her business.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article92030.ece
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More volunteers offer to treat ‘haunted’ man
Jul 29, 2010
MAKKAH: An Islamic scholar, a psychiatrist and a spiritual healer who uses the Qur’an to treat people possessed by jinns have come together to help Turki, a 29-year-old Saudi who has been chained on a bed for over six years after, according to his father, being possessed by a female jinn.
Turki’s father said the three men are Muhammad Al-Suhaili, professor of Shariah at Umm Al-Qura University, Dr. Rajab Bersali, a psychiatrist at Hira Mental Hospital, and Ahmad Al-Shahrani, a spiritual healer.
The three men met Turki’s father at the Arab News’ office in Makkah where they discussed how they will treat the 29-year-old using both spiritual and modern medical means.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article92027.ece
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Summer program attracts 500 boys and girls
By WALAA HAWARI
Jul 29, 2010
RIYADH: Over 500 boys and girls are taking part in a summer program of firefighting, first aid, plumbing and other skills for boys, and decorating, etiquette and firefighting for girls.
The boys participating are in the age group of 12-18 years and the girls are 8 years to 16 years old.
The program, launched by Al-Baik in cooperation with the Vocational Training Institute in Jeddah, the Technical College in Makkah, Al Faysaliah Charity Organization for Women in Jeddah and the support of the Saudi Red Crescent and Civil Defense, is entering its ninth year. The program has trained about 4,000 Saudi youths over the period.
Program supervisors said that the SR500 registration fee is refunded to students who score 90 percent or more at the end of the program, SR375 of the registration fee is refunded to students who score between 80 and 89 percent and SR250 of the registration fee is refunded to students who score between 70 and 79 percent.
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article92008.ece
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UNICEF calls nominations for regional media awards
By MD RASOOLDEEN
Jul 29, 2010
RIYADH: UNICEF is inviting nominations for its regional media awards honoring those journalists in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region who have contributed to raising awareness of children’s rights.
“The regional media award is an annual prize that UNICEF launched to motivate those working in broadcast and print media to highlight the reality of children’s rights and convey their challenges and suffering to the public,” the organization’s communications chief for the MENA region Abdel-Rahman Ghandour told Arab News.
“This award started in 2004, focusing each year on a different theme. It rewards media practitioners for their efforts to highlight children’s issues and concerns. They are partners and friends with UNICEF in spreading awareness of the reality of childhood.”
This year’s awards marks 20 years since the Convention on the Rights of the Child was signed.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article92006.ece
9:43 PM
Sultan Shahin
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