Live! Hindu BCs converting to Islam are Muslim BCs, rules court

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Sat, 20 June 2015

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22:51 Madras HC comes to aid of Muslim convert, says she is a BC

The Madras high court today held that a Hindu backward class person who embraces Islam shall be considered as a BC Muslim.

Justice D Hariparanthaman passed the order and directed the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission to accept the application of R Ayesha, who embraced Islam in 2005 and applied for a typist's post in 2014 as a BC Muslim candidate.

Ayesha, who was born into a Hindu family, embraced Islam on November 28, 2005, and in August 2014 she obtained the community certificate stating that she belonged to the Muslim Labbai community.

As per a July 19, 1994, government order, Muslim Labbais are a recognised BC community.

She wrote the examination for junior assistant/typist group-IV in December 2014 and scored 153 marks. Though she was called for certificate verification, her application was rejected at the verification stage on the ground that she was not eligible for the post as she was not a Muslim by birth.

Since no order was passed on her representation explaining her position, she filed a petition in the Madras high court which has ruled in her favour.

Image alongside has been used for representational purposes only.

Southern Railway today announced the rescheduling of two of its trains to Mumbai.

Tr No 12202 Kochuveli-Lokmanyatilak Garibrath express scheduled to leave Kochuveli at 08.50 hrs tomorrow is rescheduled to start at 15.00 hrs on the same day due to the late running of the incoming train from Mumbai.

Tr No 16346, Thiruvananthapuram Central-Lokmanya Tilak Netravati Express, scheduled to leave Thiruvananthapuram Central at 09.50 hrs tomorrow has been rescheduled to start at 13.30 hrs on the same day due to the late running of the incoming train from Mumbai.

Academician Sanjay Vasant Deshmukh was today appointed as the new vice-chancellor of the University of Mumbai by the Maharashtra Governor and Chancellor of state universities Ch Vidyasagar Rao.

The appointment of Deshmukh, a professor of life sciences in Mumbai University, will be for a term of five years, with effect from July 7.

Deshmukh will succeed Rajan Welukar whose term ends on July 6.

22:37 Ex-IPS officer Oraon quits BJP, joins Congress

Former IPS officer Arun Oraon, who had taken voluntary retirement from service to join the BJP before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, today joined the Congress.

He was welcomed into the party by PCC president Sukhdeo Bhagat at the Congress Bhavan in Ranchi, spokesman Ajay Rai said.

Operations at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) here were hit this evening following a snag in radar.

"The air traffic control's radar is down since 1730 hours and flight departures are having issues," an airport spokesperson said.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said terrorists do not lack knowledge and they are also "gyaani" (learned) and suggested that they should do yoga in order to channelise their knowledge towards constructive work in the society.

Speaking at a function organised here to share benefits of yoga, Singh said it helps in comprehensive and integrated development of human personality.

20:39 RIL buys armoured Mercedes to protect chairman

Reliance Industries has procured the world's most sophisticated armoured vehicle for enhanced personal security of its chairman and managing director. The fortified Mercedes Benz is mounted on a normal S600.

The RIL car has Level-9 vehicle resistance (VR9), the highest available currently. It was customised at Benz's Sindelingen plant in Germany. Sources said the armoured vehicle was registered at the Mumbai Central Regional Transport Office (RTO) today.

19:35 Dantewada: Policeman killed in naxal attack

A policeman was killed and two others were injured in a naxal attack in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district today.

According to Dantewada SP Kamlochan Kashyap, naxals opened fire on a small police party in Tumnaar village under Geedam police station limits this morning killing constable Manglu Mandavi and injuring two policemen -- Ramlal and Munnaram.

A car bomb near a mosque in Yemen's capital today killed two people, as Saudi-led warplanes bombarded second city Aden, after peace talks in Geneva ended without agreement.

The explosion in Sanaa, controlled by Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels, went off outside the Kobbat al-Mehdi mosque as Shiite Muslims emerged from midday prayers, witnesses and security sources said.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived here today to preside over the International Yoga Day celebrations in the United Nations as well as across the city.

Swaraj, who arrived early in the morning, was received by Indian Ambassador to the UN Asoke Mukerji at the airport.

A Honduran woman carrying 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs) of liquid cocaine in her breast implants was arrested at the airport in Colombia's capital Bogota on friday, police said.

Paola Deyanira Sabillon, 22, was attempting to travel to Spain when her apparent nervousness aroused suspicion in the security line, airport police colonel Diego Rosero told journalists.

If the hooch tragedy had happened in Delhi every media channel would have asked for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's resignation, senior AAP leader Ashutosh today said, as he lashed out at the BJP led state government in Maharashtra over the soaring death toll due to consumption of spurious liqour.

Lashing out at the media, the journalist-turned politician questioned whether the yoga event by the Prime Minister was more important than the lives of those lost in the hooch tragedy.

Director Anurag Kashyap, who is playing the antagonist in the upcoming film "Akira", has met with a minor injury during the shoot of the action-drama.

Co-star Sonakshi Sinha took to Twitter to inform about the same and said the injury did not deter the "Bombay Velvet" helmer from continuing the shoot.

One of Iran's female vice presidents launched a furious attack today on "sanctimonious" groups whose threats of violent confrontation at a volleyball match ultimately prompted a clampdown on women spectators.

The remarks from Shahindokht Molaverdi, whose brief covers women and family affairs, could inflame a weeks-long row between the government and conservative opponents of its plans to ease restrictions at sporting events.

Saudi-led warplanes launched dawn raids today against Shia rebels in Yemen's southern port city of Aden, the military said, hours after peace talks in Geneva ended without agreement.

At least 15 air strikes rocked the northern, eastern and western approaches to Aden, said a pro-government military source.

At least 10 people were killed and 15 others injured after a bus fell into a gorge near Dania in Uttarakhand's Almora district on Saturday.

The bus was on its way to Pithoragarh from Delhi.

A black drinking buddy of the white man accused of killing nine people at a Charleston church says the suspect told him a week earlier that he planned to shoot up a college campus in the city.

The friend, Christon Scriven, told The Associated Press yesterday that he thought Dylann Roof's statements were just drunken bluster. Still, Scriven said he was concerned enough that he and another friend, Joey Meek, went out to Roof's car and retrieved his .45-caliber handgun, hiding it in an air- conditioning vent of a mobile home until they all sobered up.

Mukhtar Ahmad reports from Srinagar:

An accused was killed and four cops escorting him seriously wounded in a blast near Hygam village on the outskirts of north Kashmir's Sopore town in Baramulla district this afternoon.

A senior police officer said militants hurled a powerful grenade at a passing police vehicle which exploded.

"An accused was killed on the spot and four cops were seriously injured. they have been evacuated to hospital for treatment," the officer said.

Senior police officers along with reinforcements have reached the spot and the area has been cordoned off for searches.

14:10 Death toll in Mumbai hooch tragedy rises to 81

The death toll in the hooch tragedy at Laxmi Nagar slum in Mumbai has climbed to 81 while several victims continue to be in critical condition.

This is the second biggest hooch tragedy in over a decade. 87 people had died after consuming spurious liquor in suburban Vikhroli in 2004.

13:52 Asaram Bapu's bail plea rejected again

Self-proclaimed godman Asaram Bapu's bail plea in a case of alleged sexual assault on a minor has been rejected again by a Rajasthan court.

Additional District and Sessions judge Manoj Kumar Vyas on Friday reserved for Saturday.

The bail plea of Asaram, languishing in Jodhpur jail since September 2013, was taken up by BJP leader Subramanian Swami before the court.

TV report say there has been a blast at the God Church school in Kolkata.

The school is located in the Dum Dum Cantonment area. The injured have been taken to hospital for treatment.

Reports say that a ball exploded injuring 1 student.

First batch of 58 Indian piligrims undertaking the annual yatra to Kailash Mansarovar today crossed over to the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China.

All 58 Indian pilgrims of first batch of Kailash Mansarovar yatra crossed over to Tibetan Autonomous Region of China through Lipulekh pass, situated at 17,500 feet on the existing route, early this morning, ITBP sources said.

13:27 Japan's Fukuoka Prize for Ramachandra Guha

Historian-author Ramachandra Guha has been selected for Japan's prestigious Fukuoka Prize in the Academic category.

Guha's fellow winners this year are Thant Myint-U (Grand Prize) and Minh Hanh (Arts and Culture). Fukuoka Prize honours those who have made outstanding contributions to academia, arts and culture across Asia.

12:41 Japan offers USD 3.5 million to help Rohingya

Japan today offered a USD 3.5 million to help the Rohingya boat people who have fled Myanmar where they faced severe discrimination.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan remained committed to helping national reconciliation efforts on various fronts in Asia, including between Myanmar's government and "ethnic minority groups".

A SpiceJet flight took the euphoria of this Sunday`s International Yoga Day to a whole new level, when it conducted a yoga session for its passengers in mid-air between New Delhi and Guwahati on Friday.

Yoga instructors were volunteers from the Isha Foundation of Sadhguru with which SpiceJet has teamed up to conduct mid-air yoga sessions on some of its Boeing flights on Sunday.

12:28 LTTE network intact, says US terror report

The LTTE's international network and financial support are still intact despite its military defeat at the hands of Sri Lankan government troops in 2009, a US government report has said.

The State Department's annual Country Report on Terrorism for 2014 released yesterday noted that there have been no known attacks in Sri Lanka that could verifiably be attributed to the LTTE since the end of the war, but a total of 13 LTTE supporters, several of which had allegedly planned attacks against US and Israeli diplomatic facilities in India, were arrested in Malaysia in 2014.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today left for New York where she is going to participate in the International Yoga Day event being organised by the Indian Mission at the United Nations.

Swaraj, who left by an early morning Air India flight, tweeted, "Leaving for New York."

Veteran journalist Shekhar Gupta visited Asia Society New York on June 16, 2015 to join a panel discussion on India's economy, as part of an Asia Society Policy Institute event looking at India's first year under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In an email interview, Gupta comments on the U.S.-India relationship, Modi's legislative agenda and the surrounding political atmosphere, and India's evolving posture toward Pakistan.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son, party vice president Rahul Gandhi, left for the United States of America early this morning, according to a party general secretary.

The All India Congress Committee is expected to issue an official press release later in the day to dispel speculation about Sonia Gandhi's health, the party official said.

Other AICC office-bearers, however, were not willing to confirm the news as yet.

Delhi government today said that the Anti-Corruption Branch can register complaints only upon a nod from its additional commissioner or the vigilance department's director or secretary in a move that may be seen as an attempt to sideline the Lt Governor-appointed chief of the body, Mukesh Kumar Meena.

In a circular today, the AAP government said that in trap cases, the cases will be registered against those facing graft charges by ACB with the approval of the additional commissioner, who is presently SS Yadav.

The circular said that the anti-graft body will take prior permission from the vigilance department director or secretary in all other cases before registering any FIR against a public servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The government's move comes against the backdrop of an ongoing turf war between Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

A boy has gone missing after he fell into a nullah at Mankhurd gaon in suburban Mumbai, prompting authorities to launch a search to trace him.

One boy fell into the nullah and is missing at Mankhurd gaon, behind Padva school, near Prerana society.

Rescue teams from Commodore Bureau of Sailors have reached the site and joined two other fire brigade teams in search efforts, a defence spokesperson said in a statement late tonight. One km on either side of the accident site is being combed thoroughly to locate the boy, he added.

00:41

A daughter of Charleston church shooting victim Ethel Lance addressed Dylann Roof in court, "I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you."

Facing nine counts of murder and a weapons charge, Roof showed no emotion as he appeared by video for a hearing before Magistrate James Gosnell Jr.

"Every fiber in my body hurts, and I will never be the same," said Felicia Sanders, the mother of victim Tywanza Sanders. "May God have mercy on you."

Read this story HERE

00:10 22-year-old woman gang-raped by seven in Gurgaon

A 22-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped by seven persons at a guesthouse in the Sushant Lok area here, police said today.

The victim, who hails from West Bengal, has alleged that she was raped by one Kapil and his associates, said ACP Rajesh Kumar, adding that the complaint came this morning. A medical examination of the complainant has confirmed rape, he said. According to police, the victim said that she knew Kapil and, on the day of the crime, had met him at a market from where they went to the guesthouse.

At the guesthouse, she alleged, six of Kapil's acquaintances entered their room and the accused then took turns to repeatedly rape her. She has also said in her complaint that the accused were carrying a firearm.

An FIR has been registered in the matter under relevant sections of IPC and the Arms Act and efforts are on to identify the remaining accused, the ACP said.

00:04 DD to air special programmes on Emergency

Doordarshan has planned to air special programmes to mark four decades of declaration of Emergency.

The national broadcaster has decided to air special programmes, including a comprehensive documentary, interviews and audience based shows, between June 23 and June 27 on its newschannel DD News in certain slots.

00:00 Top headlines of the last 24 hours

It's official: Prince Harry ends army career after a decade
5,000 armed cops to be deployed at Rajpath on yoga day
St Stephen's student accuses professor of sexual assault
PHOTOS: Mumbai received 10 days worth of rain in 24 hours; 2 killed
Fake degree case: Tomar's police custody extended by 2 days
Lalit Modi, friend's haveli plans done in by fallout with Vasundhara

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