Varanasis gyanvapi mosque

The Supreme Court Monday granted interim protection from arrest to Navika Kumar in connection with FIRs lodged against her over controversial remarks made by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma on Prophet Mohammad during a TV debate moderated by the news anchor. A bench of Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli issued notices to the Centre, West Bengal government, and others on Kumar’s plea seeking quashing of proceedings initiated against her. As an interim measure, no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioner pursuant to the impugned FIRs/complaints or future FIRs/ complaints which may be registered with respect to the broadcast of May 26″, the bench said. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Kumar, submitted that debate was going on over Gyanvapi mosque and suddenly one of the speakers said something, and then another retorted. Rohatgi stated that the news anchor did not say anything and several FIRs were lodged against her. She in fact doused the fire … [Read more...] about Prophet Row: Relief for News Anchor Navika Kumar, SC Grants Interim Protection from Arrest

A Mumbai-bound Vistara aircraft landed back in Varanasi after it suffered a bird hit on Friday, officials said. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in a statement said, “Vistara A320 aircraft VT-TNC operating flight UK622 (Varanasi-Mumbai) was involved in an air turn back to Varanasi due to a bird hit. Aircraft has landed safely in Varanasi and radome is damaged. Aircraft is declared aircraft on ground (AOG). A Vistara spokesperson said another aircraft was sent from Delhi to fly the passengers from Varanasi to Mumbai. “Vistara flight UK 622 operating Varanasi to Mumbai on 05 August 2022 turned back to Varanasi due to a bird strike during departure. Due to a maintenance inspection of the aircraft being required, another aircraft has been sent from Delhi to Varanasi to fly the passengers to Mumbai. It has been our constant endeavour to minimize inconvenience to our customers in such unavoidable situations whilst keeping safety as our topmost priority,” the statement … [Read more...] about Mumbai-bound Vistara Flight Suffers Bird Hit During Departure, Returns to Varanasi

Four persons, including a doctor, have been charged with the death of a 22-year-old rape victim who underwent a forced abortion. Suryakant Tripathi, Superintendent of Police (Rural), said on Tuesday that a 28-year-old driver, his friend, a senior official of a private hospital, and a doctor were named as the offenders. The main suspect has been taken into custody based on a complaint filed by the woman’s uncle. The SP claimed that actions were being taken to arrest the remaining accused. The woman passed away on August 12 while undergoing a forced abortion. The woman met the driver when she was staying at her uncle’s house for her studies, where she was allegedly raped, the official said. According to reports, the accused drove the woman to a private hospital for an abortion after five months of pregnancy on the pretext of providing her medicine. “She was an undergraduate student and had been in a relationship with the accused. In his complaint, the victim’s uncle alleged … [Read more...] about Rape Victim Dies During Forced Abortion by Accused, 4 Including Doctor Booked in Varanasi

A special court for MPs/MLAs in Varanasi on Saturday acquitted Member of Parliament Atul Rai in a three-year-old rape case. Mr. Rai, Lok Sabha member from the Ghosi parliamentary seat, belongs to the Bahujan Samaj Party. He will remain at Naini prison in Allahabad as other cases are still pending against him. The case against the Lok Sabha member had been registered on the basis of a complaint filed by a former student in the Lanka police station in Varanasi on May 1, 2019. Mr. Rai absconded after the case was registered and surrendered after winning the Lok Sabha polls. The Lok Sabha member has been lodged at Naini Central Jail in Allahabad since June 2019. Mr. Rai was granted special parole in January 2020 to take oath as a parliamentarian. In November 2020, Mr. Rai’s brother filed a police complaint accusing the woman of committing forgery. Alleging threats and torture by police officials and close aides of the parliamentarian, the woman travelled to New Delhi and set fire to … [Read more...] about BSP MP Atul Rai acquitted in rape case by Varanasi court

Remember the beautiful Gulabi Meenakari cufflinks and brooch set that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted US President Joe Biden during the G7 Summit in Geneva? Products like these from Varanasi are now becoming the highlight of the next-level version of Uttar Pradesh’s popular ‘One District One Product (ODOP)’ scheme. Navneet Sehgal, Additional Chief Secretary (Information, MSME), told News18 in Lucknow that the UP government is now tying up with the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Indian Railways and banks to showcase ODOP products at petrol pumps, railway stations and bank premises, respectively, in all districts of the state. “IOC is ready to give us space in petrol pumps and railway stations will have an ODOP shop where our artisans will sit. Same proposal is going to all the banks,” Sehgal told News18. He said Madhya Pradesh is replicating the scheme and a team from Arunachal Pradesh has visited UP as well for it. ODOP 2.0 The scheme has also been improved upon to add … [Read more...] about Remember Modi’s Gulabi Meenakari Gift for Joe Biden? You Can Soon Buy These at UP’s Petrol Pumps, Banks

A very bright and colourful procession has adorned the streets of Hirebidanur over the past five days. People held torches and went along with vibrant folk music playing in the background. At this village in Karnataka, Hindus observe Muharram with pomp and splendour. The Hirebidanur village in Saudatti taluk of Belagavi district doesn’t have a single Muslim family. But this doesn’t stop the majority Hindus from observing Muharram – not just as a festival but a five-day grand fair. A small village with a population of just 3,000, Hirebidanur is 51 km from Belagavi, the district headquarters. Most people here belong to Valmiki and Kuruba communities. There lies the mosque of Fakireshwar Swami, a shrine said to have been built by two Muslim brothers very long ago. After the brothers died, villagers took it up to themselves to continue the tradition of following the rituals. A Hindu priest, Yallappa Naikar, goes to the shrine every day and performs prayer according to Hindu customs. … [Read more...] about Muharram Observed by a Karnataka Village that Doesn’t Have a Single Muslim Family

A fter spending 27 months in jail on charges that range from serious to bizarre, Samajwadi Party (SP) stalwart and Rampur Sadar MLA Mohammad Azam Khan has emerged as a symbol of marginalisation of Muslims during the ‘double-engine’ government of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Mr. Khan, one of the most powerful Ministers in the SP-led Uttar Pradesh government, was arrested on February 26, 2020 after a flurry of FIRs were filed against him two years after the BJP government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath came to power in the State in 2017. The first of those FIRs was filed on January 3, 2019 based on a BJP leader’s complaint that Mr. Khan had allegedly forged his son’s birth certificate, while 81 cases were registered immediately before and after the Lok Sabha polls that year. Mr. Khan finally walked out of Sitapur district jail on May 20 this year, a day after the Supreme Court exercised its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to grant him interim bail in a … [Read more...] about Mohammad Azam Khan: a tale of valour, vendetta and victimhood

Abdelbrahim, a taxi driver in Brussels, had an unusual drinking companion. Occasionally, Abdelbrahim—who asked Newsweek not to reveal his surname—would sit down with another young man, Salah Abdeslam, at one of the bars in the Molenbeek district to chat and laugh and smoke. His friend is now in jail, accused by authorities of participating in the November 13 attacks in Paris and possibly planning Tuesday's assault on Brussels. If both accusations are true, Abdeslam bears partial responsibility for the combined deaths of a reported 164 people. "People in Molenbeek were shocked," Abdelbrahim says. "Abdeslam? It's not possible. He wasn't an Islamist." His former friend, he says, didn't practice the radical version of Islam that the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), which has claimed responsibility for the attacks, espouses. "He drank alcohol, smoked hashish. He went to discos," Abdelbrahim adds. "I never saw him at the mosque. He couldn't even speak Arabic." When they drank … [Read more...] about Muslims in Brussels shocked and angered over attacks

Flagging concerns about demographic changes in districts along the international border with Nepal and Bangladesh, at the annual police meet last year, the Uttar Pradesh Police and the Assam Police highlighted an increase in number of mosques, seminaries and a high decadal growth in population in these areas. The annual Director General of Police conference held from November 19-21, 2021 was presided over by the Prime Minister. As the decadal census exercise is on an indefinite hold, this is the latest consolidated data on the “demographic changes” in border areas in the two States. The Assam Police paper on demographic changes in bordering areas said that at 31.45%, the decadal growth in population — from 2011 to 2021, within 10 km of Bangladesh border is higher than the projected national and State average of 12.5% and 13.54% respectively. The Hindu population in the four border districts — Dhubri, Karimganj, Cachar and South Salmara — increased from 1,33,240 in 2011 to … [Read more...] about Police in Assam, Uttar Pradesh flag concerns at demographic changes in districts bordering Bangladesh, Nepal

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 12 THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Under fluttering strings of Greek and Byzantine flags, three men raised a party tent on the terrace of the 5th century Osios David church one recent Saturday, hoping it would shelter festivalgoers from the heat that already shrouded the view of Mount Olympus across the gulf. That’s Thessaloniki in a snapshot — a seaside trove of early Christian art and architecture, with echoes of the sacred all around the city, from the mythical mountain home of the ancient Greek gods to the contemporary Orthodox Christian monasticism of Mount Athos. Pervasive if more hidden traces of Islam and Judaism also persist, even though many monuments were destroyed in a 1917 fire. “People see the (archeological) ruins next to them, but no one knows the diverse history,” said Angeliki Ziaka, a professor of religion at … [Read more...] about Splendid Byzantine churches head Thessaloniki’s holy sites