Junior Digest

Kollam, Apr 10 ,2016 : In a huge tragedy, 102 people were killed and over 280 injured in a major fire that broke out in Puttingal Devi Temple complex near here in Kerala today during a display of fireworks for which there was no permission from the authorities.

Thousands of people had gathered at the temple precincts to witness the display of fireworks which was underway since midnight when the blaze erupted at around 3.30 AM, police said.

The mishap occurred as sparks of the fireworks fell on the store room ‘Kambapura’ and the fire crackers kept there exploded with a deafening noise, police said.

The sound of the explosion could be heard over a radius of one kilometer and the whole area plunged into darkness as the power supply went off and people ran helter skelter, eyewitnesses said.

In the huge blaze, 102 people perished and 280 were injured, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told reporters.

A massive effort was launched to rescue the people from the inferno and shift the injured people to hospitals, with the Navy and the Air Force pressing into service six helicopters and one Dornier aircraft.

The Chief Minister said the District Collector of Kollam had not given permission to conduct the fireworks.

The District Collector A Shainamol said “no permission for any kind of fireworks” was given.

She said the temple authorities had asked for permission to conduct competitive fireworks which was denied. For normal fireworks, no permission was sought and hence there was no question of granting it, the DC said.

Police sources said a case has been registered against temple authorities and explosive licencees under section 307 (Attempt to murder), and 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide) of IPC and under section 4 of Explosives Substances Act.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who termed the incident as “heart-rending” and “shocking”, announced Rs two lakh each as compensation for the next of the kin of the dead and Rs 50,000 each for the injured.

He rushed to Kerala to take stock of the situation, carrying along with him a team of burn specialist doctors.

@ Agency report.

The United States Senate has unanimously adopted a resolution calling on the Maldives to rectify the “injustice” meted out to its former president Mohamed Nasheed and all other “political prisoners.”

The bipartisan resolution, adopted on Thursday, expressed “profound concern over the prosecution and conviction of former President Mohamed Nasheed without due process” and urged the government to “take all necessary steps” to “redress this injustice” and “to release all political prisoners.”

The resolution was introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy, who is Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programmes, and Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Increasing civil rights resolution

In its resolution, the Senate noted that increasing civil rights violations in Maldives fuel instability and pose a threat to regional security. “President Abdulla Yameen of the Maldives has increasingly cracked down on dissent within his own party and the political opposition, presided over the erosion of judicial impartiality, and put increasing pressure on civil society,” it said.

Mr. Nasheed was allowed to travel to the United Kingdom for medical leave in January under intense international pressure.

“Leave extension, if he requests”

At the time, Minister for Legal Affairs Aishath Azima Shakoor told reporters that he would be able to stay abroad for necessary medical treatment and “[i]f he requests extension of medical leave, he will certainly get it.”

Yet on Thursday, the government of Maldives wrote to President Nasheed rejecting his request for an extension based on medical reports stating he required further treatment for his serious spinal cord issues, said a media release.

Get the message

“The government of Maldives should see this unanimous Senate resolution for what it is — a direct rebuke not only to their wrongful prosecution, conviction and sentencing of President Nasheed but also to their arbitrary request for him to return to the country against medical advice,” said Jared Genser, international counsel to Mr. Nasheed and founder of Freedom Now.

@ Agency report.

 

HANOI, Vietnam : Vietnam’s  parliament on Thursday elected Nguyen Xuan Phuc as prime minister, and he takes office at a time of soaring public debt, a worrying budget deficit and China’s growing assertiveness in nearby seas.

In a formal vote, 446 of the 490 members in the National Assembly voted to install Phuc, 61, as the head of government.

The appointment of Phuc, who rose from governor of the central province of Quang Nam to deputy prime minister five years ago, was a mere formality after he was picked at the Communist Party’s congress in January as the sole candidate to replace Nguyen Tan Dung, who was removed from office Wednesday.

Phuc took the oath of office and vowed “absolute loyalty to the country, people and the Constitution.”

In a televised inaugural speech, Phuc vowed to continue with reforms and fight corruption.

He raised his voice when pledged to “firmly defend the country’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Phuc takes office at a time when the country is crippled with soaring public debt, a serious budget deficit, China’s territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea, as well as an unprecedented drought and salt intrusion in the country’s main rice-growing region of the southern Mekong Delta.

“Mr. Phuc will begin his tenure when the economy has been in big trouble,” Le Hong Hiep, a visiting fellow at Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, said in an email.

“He will have to overcome major challenges to reform the state-owned sector and banking system, improve the country’s fiscal position, and strengthen the private sector to make the economy less dependent on foreign investments,” Hiep said.

Phuc’s appointment completes the triumvirate of power, which includes General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong who was re-elected at the party congress in January and President Tran Dai Quang who was elected by the assembly last week.

Nguyen Quang A, an economist and political analyst, said the trend of reforms and international integration in Vietnam will not be stopped regardless of who is in power.

“No one can delay or derail the international integration, that is the only way for the country’s survival.”

International rights groups and U.S. government have often criticized Vietnam for jailing people who peacefully express their views, by using vaguely worded security laws. Hanoi says that only law breakers are punished.

The sentencing of seven bloggers and activists in March for “abusing democratic freedoms” and “spreading anti-state propaganda” drew strong opposition from the U.S. government and international rights groups.

“I don’t think that Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc as the new prime minister will have a big role in improving Vietnam’s human rights record,” Quang A said, noting the country is ruled by collective leadership.

@ Agency report.

This summer, the Japanese government is set to begin testing a system that would allow foreign tourists to verify their identities and purchase goods and services using nothing more than a fingerprint.

Ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, Japan sought to prevent crime and relieve traveller stress by omitting the need to carry cash or credit cards. The experiment would allow the government to fully evaluate the system before making any sweeping changes before the game.

The experiment would feature fingerprint scanners at at popular retailers in tourist centers — a total of 300 souvenir shops, restaurants, hotels and other establishments . Under current government regulations, however, a passport would still be required to check in at a hotel — although the law would still allow for purchases via fingerprint during your stay.

In October last year, the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Nagasaki introduced a similar system and reported that it worked well. According to a company spokesperson.

Japan will also be testing a system for its own citizens that will allow them to withdraw money from ATM machines — a bid to increase security and reduce instances of fraudulent transactions with stolen cards.

@ Agency report.

New Delhi, Apr 9 ,2016 : The 17-year-old boy who allegedly knocked dead a man with his father’s Mercedes in Civil Lines here has now been charged with culpable homicide considering his past record of negligent driving, police said today.

“On examination of CCTV footage, the possibility of knowledge to the accused juvenile offender that his extremely fast driving in a residential area can cause a death cannot be ruled out,” DCP (North) Madhur Verma said.

“Further, during investigation it emerged that it was not the first offence of rash and negligent driving by this accused juvenile. In the past too he was found driving in a rash and negligent way, thereby causing a road accident with another vehicle,” he said.

Last year, the minor was also challaned thrice — for over-speeding in April and June and wrong parking in February.

“In view of these facts, the death of Siddharth Sharma is a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and, hence, section 304 of IPC has been added in the FIR,” said Verma.

The last time Delhi Police booked someone under culpable homicide in such a matter was in the Sanjeev Nanda BMW case 17 years ago, a senior official said.

On January 10, 1999, six persons, including three policemen, were killed by a speeding BMW car allegedly driven by Nanda in the wee hours in south Delhi’s Lodhi Colony area.

Similar stand was also taken by Mumbai Police in the Salman Khan case.

Delhi Police yesterday arrested the juvenile’s father, an Old Delhi-based businessman who lives with his family at a posh apartment in Civil lines area, under Sections 109/304 (abetment to culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC.

“There has not been a single step taken by the father of the accused in prohibiting him from taking the vehicle. This is an act of criminal omission, thereby abetting the crime of the said juvenile,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the investigating officer of the case was also changed after the victim Siddharth Sharma’s sister met Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma yesterday and urged him to take strict action against the perpetrators.

The incident took place on Monday when Sharma was trying to cross a road near Ludlow Castle School in Civil Lines and the speeding Mercedes hit him.

The car was being driven at a speed of at least 80 km per hour and Sharma was flung several feet into the air by the impact of the crash and landed around 15 metres away from where he stood.

After the incident, a group of youths stepped out of the vehicle and fled the spot, abandoning the car there.

@ Agency report.

Banking watchdogs across Europe have begun checking whether lenders have ties to a massive document leak from Panama that showed how offshore companies are used to stash clients’ wealth.

Switzerland’s financial watchdog FINMA said on Thursday that banks must clamp down on money laundering, as the Geneva prosecutor opened a criminal probe.

Four decades of documents from Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in setting up offshore companies and has offices in Zurich and Geneva, showed widespread use of those instruments by global banks and triggered investigations across the world.

“Do I think we are where we should be in fighting misuse in the financial system? No,” FINMA chief executive Mark Branson told Reuters following its annual news conference.

“We think in some ways, the risks in Switzerland have risen, not fallen, and that there is more that can be done. We don’t want to see large scandals involving Swiss banks.”

Switzerland is the world’s biggest international wealth management centre with around $2.5 trillion in assets and has taken on more wealth of late from emerging markets, from which it is harder determine the origin of assets, Branson said.

Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority said on Thursday it has written to 20 banks and other financial firms, giving them until April 15 to spell out any involvement they have with the “Panama Papers”.

HSBC, Britain’s biggest bank and its affiliates created more than 2,300 shell companies with Mossack Fonseca, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. HSBC has dismissed suggestions it used offshore structures to help clients cheat on their taxes.

Also on Thursday, France’s ACPR financial regulator said it has told French banks to hand over extra information about their business ties with tax havens.

German regulator BaFin is probing the role of Germany’s banks, a source told Reuters on Monday.

Watchdogs in Sweden, Netherlands and Austria said earlier this week that they were looking into banks named in the papers.

The chief executive of Austria’s Hypo Landesbank Vorarlberg became one of the first top bankers to quit over reports based on the data leak on Thursday, though he denies his bank violated any laws or sanctions.

Swiss banks

The “Panama Papers” investigation has exposed financial arrangements of public figures including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain, Iceland and Pakistan, and the president of Ukraine.

No US banks are among the 10 banks named as the biggest creators of offshore companies for clients in the Panama Papers.

But US senators Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown on Thursday urged the Treasury Department to investigate whether any US or US-linked entity was involved with Mossack Fonseca.

“As the primary agency charged with protecting the integrity of the US financial system and enforcing our laws against money laundering and terrorist financing, we strongly urge the Treasury Department to conduct its own inquiry into Mossack Fonseca’s activities and its clients,” the senators, both Democrats, wrote in a letter to treasury secretary Jack Lew.

The Treasury Department would not comment specifically on the findings in the documents but a spokesperson said “the US government intently focuses on investigating possible illicit activity, including violations of US tax laws or sanctions, using all sources of information, both public and non-public.”

“If there has been any violation of US tax law or sanctions evasion, we will take appropriate action consistent with the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” she said.

The senators, both members of the Senate Banking Committee and both proponents of stronger financial regulation, said they were concerned “this firm may have facilitated money laundering or terrorist financing with sanctioned persons or entities”.

Branches of Swiss lenders including UBS and Credit Suisse were mentioned in the leaked documents as being among the main banks that requested offshore companies for clients. Both banks have denied wrongdoing in connection with the practice.

Swiss financial institutions — a focal point of efforts by European governments to crack down on tax avoidance — trailed only Hong Kong in having used Mossack Fonseca, reports said.

Branson said FINMA would first check for signs of illegal activity before deciding whether to launch an investigation linked to the Panama Papers. There were a few indications that they may be relevant in Switzerland, Branson said.

Geneva’s prosecutor also said on Thursday he had launched a criminal inquiry in connection with leaks that revealed many offshore companies set up by lawyers and institutions in the Swiss lakeside city and financial centre.

“Some information has been made public this week and the prosecutor’s office wanted to verify if this information showed anything that was against the law,” a spokesperson for the prosecutor said.

One prominent Geneva lawyer helped set up 136 Panama offshore companies, Swiss television reported.

“Yes, it is an industry with a legal dimension. I have been in this business for 30 years and this activity was sought after by foreign nationals. There is nothing illegal, illicit or perception of criminality to it,” another Geneva lawyer, Francois Canonica, said on Swiss television on Wednesday night.

Canonica, a former head of the Geneva bar association, referred to a period after the 1981 election of French president Francois Mitterrand, which he said drove French fearful of nationalisation to place their money in offshore Swiss accounts.

Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam said on Tuesday his bank was after only lawful assets.

UBS said on Monday it conducted its business in full compliance with applicable law and regulations and that it had no interest in funds that are not taxed or derived from unlawful activities.

Branson said a number of Swiss banks were implicated in a corruption scandal surrounding Brazil’s Petrobras and suspicious cash flows linked to the Malaysian sovereign fund 1MDB.

@ Agency report.

 

Kozhikode, Apr 7 ,2016 : Hindu dharma has been accepted worldwide as a way of life and not as a religion, Union Minister Rajeev Pratap Rudy has said.

“Hindu dharma followed by crores of people in India is not a religion. It is accepted as a way of living worldwide,” he said at a meet of Hindu spiritual organisations held at the beach here last night.

Delivering the key-note address at the ‘Mahabharatham Dharmarakshana Sangamam,’ he said Hindu dharma meant showing compassion to all irrespective of caste, religion or status.

Earlier, inaugurating the sangamam, Yoga guru Ramdev said dividing the society in the name of caste and religion should be stopped.

“The need of the hour is unity of the people and the nation. The madness of dividing people and the nation on the basis of caste and religion should be stopped,” he said.

He urged people to avoid products by multi-national companies saying that people of the country should be equipped with products and techniques made in India.

He assured to start a higher education centre named after the Adi Sankara in Kerala, which is the sage’s birth place.

Thousands of people from Kozhikode and nearby districts participated in the meet organised by various Hindu spiritual outfits like the Chinmaya Mission, Sri Ramakrishna Mission, Matha Amritanandamayi Math, Kolathur Advaitha Ashram.

More than a hundred sadhus and spiritual leaders from across the state participated in the meet.

Head of the Sivagiri math, Swami Prakashananda conducted a puja of holy waters brought from the rivers of Kerala.

@ Agency report.

Facebook-owned instant messaging platform WhatsApp had recently announced that it was encrypting in services. This means that if users have the latest version of WhatsApp, the app will use simple end-to-end security technology so that the messages are not intercepted or read while being delivered. The encryption makes certain that the sent message can be only accessed by the sender and the recipient.

1) How does the new service work?

The new end-to-end encryption technology ensures that only the sender and the recipient sees the message which might contain text, pictures, video or voice.

Essentially what WhatsApp does is cloak the message with a lock, and only the recipient and the sender have the special key needed to unlock and read them. For added protection, every message you send has its own unique lock and key.

2)How does one check if their WhatsApp is encrypted and working?

This one is really simple. If a user has the latest version of WhatsApp, the encryption service is active by default. There is another way to check if a conversation with someone is encrypted. Users need to tap on the name of the contact and conversations with those on updated WhatsApp will be shown as “secured with end-to-end encryption.” Chats with those on older versions will not be encrypted.

To verify further, users can tap the “secured with end-to-end encryption” message and can see a QR code and a 60-digit number. It’s also possible for the person you are conversing with over Whatsapp to scan your QR code or compare the 60-digit number.

3)So what items are encrypted? Does it include voice calls too?

Any kind of media that the user sends using WhatsApp is encrypted and can include video, audio, images, files and text. WhatsApp calls like any other messages are encrypted too which means that WhatsApp and third parties can’t listen to them.

4)How does encryption work in a group?

Group chats will only be encrypted if all users on the group are on the latest version of the app.

5)How is WhatsApp pulling this off?

The Facebook-owned firm currently uses ‘The Signal Protocol’, designed by Open Whisper Systems, for its encryption. The company claims that the protocol has been specifically developed to keep third-parties like cybercriminals and government officials away from private communication. Since each message is encrypted, getting one code or key is useless for someone trying to snoop as they wouldn’t be able to see the entire conversation.

6)Is there a reason to worry?

Well for most users no but security agencies might find the move not to their liking. The encryption makes it tough for law enforcement and investigative agencies across the world as well as in India. According to media reports, the security agencies will be taking up the matter with the Telecom ministry to ensure that proper safeguards are in place before the services could be allowed in the country. The app is believed to used in Jammu and Kashmir by separatists and anti-national elements for spreading rumours which have often led to violent clashes.

@ Based on Hindustan Times report.

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2016 : Criticising the “disturbing and hateful” poll rhetoric, First Lady Michelle Obama has asserted that America is a “nation of immigrants” and diversity will always be its greatest strength.

“We think America is strongest when we recognise our many traditions, when we celebrate our diversity, and when we lift each other up,” Ms. Obama said during Nowruz celebrations at the White House on Wednesday.

‘Cherish the beautiful traditions and cultures’

“In times like these, when we think all — that’s more important than ever before, right now and today with what’s going on. Right now, when we’re hearing so much disturbing and hateful rhetoric, it is so important to remember that our diversity has been — and will always be — our greatest source of strength and pride here in the United States,” she said.

“We are a nation of immigrants. And we should cherish the talent and energy and the beautiful traditions and cultures that come with that heritage, not just today but every day,” she said.

Various festivals of various cultures at White House

In her remarks, she underscored the number of festivals of various cultures now the White House has been celebrating.

“I’m proud that here at the White House, we host special events to mark the holidays but we celebrate St Patrick’s Day, Diwali, Cinco de Mayo. And with your help, today, we’re celebrating Nowruz, which is one of our newest White House traditions,” Ms. Obama said.

On Nowruz

Nowruz, she has said, is a time to visit loved ones. It’s a time to reflect on the past year, and to renew hopes for the New Year to come.

Nowruz is a traditional Iranian festival of spring and considered as the beginning of the New Year among Iranians.

@ Agency report.

North Korea said Saturday it has successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic rocket engine that will give it the ability to stage nuclear strikes on the United States.

The engine’s ground test, if true, would be a big step forward for the North’s nuclear weapons program, which saw its fourth atomic test earlier this year. But the North may still need a good deal of work before it can hit the U.S. mainland with nuclear missiles. South Korean officials say North Korea doesn’t yet have a reliable intercontinental ballistic missile, let alone the ability to arm it with a nuclear warhead.

The test, announced by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, is only the latest in a string of what Washington and its allies consider North Korean provocations, including last month’s launch of a medium-range ballistic missile that violated UN Security Council resolutions that prohibit any ballistic activities by North Korea. It was the North’s first medium-range missile launch since early 2014.

@ Agency report.

New Delhi, Apr 8,2016 : Over 2,000 delegates from 25 countries will participate in a two-day international convention on integrating homeopathy in health-care beginning tomorrow.

The convention which is being organsied to mark “World Homeopathy day” by Liga Medicorum Homeopatica Internationalis (LMHI), an international body of homeopaths, and AYUSH ministry will be inaugurated by President Pranab Mukjherjee at Vigyan Bhawan.

“World Homeopathy day is celebrated every year on April 10 to mark the birth anniversary of Dr Samual Hahnemann, the German doctor who is the founder of homeopathy,” an official statement said.

“The theme of the convention is integrating homeopathy in healthcare and over 2000 delegates from 25 countries will be participating in it. An MoU between the Central Council of Research in Homeopathy (CCRH, Armenia State Medical University and College of homeopaths, Canada, will also be signed,” it added.

@ Agency report.

United Nations : The birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution and Dalit rights activist, would be observed at the United Nations for the first time with focus on combating inequalities to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.

The Permanent Mission of India to the UN in association with the Kalpana Saroj Foundation and Foundation For Human Horizon will commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar on 13 April at the UN headquarters in New York, a day before his birthday.

Ambedkar was born on 14 April, 1891. He died in 1956 and was posthumously conferred with the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 1990.

Britain’s Serious Fraud Office has launched a criminal investigation into Indian giant Tata Steel, which is seeking to sell its UK operations, the Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

The newspaper, which cited well-placed sources, said police were probing allegations that Tata staff in Britain may have falsified certificates detailing the composition of its steel before sale.

The investigation centres on Tata Steel’s site in Yorkshire and the group referred itself to the SFO after an internal audit, the paper added.

The SFO declined to comment on the story when contacted by AFP. Tata did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.

In a shock announcement last week, Tata Steel last week put its British business up for sale, sparking calls for the government to intervene and safeguard thousands of jobs in the crisis-hit industry.

Tata will meanwhile start the process of selling its British steel assets by Monday, the British government’s Business Secretary Sajid Javid said earlier this week after holding talks in Mumbai.

@ A gency report.

Mumbai, Apr 7 ,2016 : The Hrithik Roshan-Kangana Ranaut spat got murkier with the actress approaching the Commissioner of Police seeking the actor’s arrest for allegedly circulating her personal photographs and e-mails to the media and “wilfully outraging” her modesty.

Kangana’s advocate Rizwan Siddiqui sent a letter to the Commissioner of Police on April 6 requesting him to look into the matter and take appropriate action.

“My client Kangana Ranaut has been given to understand that her absolutely private and confidential e-mails as well as photographs which were collected by Hrithik Roshan during his association with her are being malafidely and mischievously misused by Hrithik Roshan with criminal intentions of damaging my client’s reputation and to wilfully impute in-chastity to her,” the letter signed by Siddiqui to the Police Commissioner (Dattatray Padsalgikar) read.

Kangana said that Hrithik had committed “cognizable offences” under sections 149 and 150 of CrPC and it was the duty of the police to arrest him under Section 151 of CrPC (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offences).

“Please do note that Hrithik Roshan has even criminally threatened my client of these actions in his notice to my client. However, as his notice received a befitting reply from me and he was not in a position to reply to the same he is now indulging in these criminal acts to put fear in the mind of my client,” the letter said.

The letter further stated that while Kangana reserves her right to file FIR, she would request the police to immediately look into the matter and take appropriate action.

Hrithik’s advocate Dipesh Mehta, however, denied the allegations and said his client has not indulged in any such activities as alleged by the 29-year-old actress and her lawyer.

@ Agency report.

The Supreme Court today dismissed a PIL filed by an NGO challenging grant of 4G licences to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL).

A bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur junked the petition of NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), which challenged the government’s decision to allow the company to offer voice services on its 4G spectrum.

The apex court, however, asked the government to look into the issue of spectrum usage charge (SUC) but did not pass any order on this.

The PIL, filed in 2014 through advocate Prashant Bhushan, had sought quashing of the permission granted by the Government to Reliance for providing voice telephony on Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum and pitched for a court-monitored CBI investigation in the alleged Rs. 40,000 crore scam.

@ Agency report.

The Gilgit-Baltistan region in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) has been cut off from the remaining country due to several landslides triggered by massive rains that has killed over 100 people so far.

The heavy rains which started at the weekend were still battering the northern mountainous regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and PoK, triggering several landslides and blocking Pakistan’s vital land-link with China.

The strategic Karakoram Highway (KKH), which links Kashghar in Xinjiang with Gilgit and Abbottabad through the Khunjerab Pass, has been damaged at more than 50 places from Gojal to Besham, leaving hundreds of commuters and over 50 foreign tourists stranded.

The roads leading to Skardu, Astore and Ghizer are also blocked, resulting in shortage of food items and fuel.

Over 70 people have died so far in the Gilgit-Baltistan region and more than 30 in the neighbouring KP province due to rains which lasted for over 48 hours and damaged hydro-power projects that supply electricity to Gilgit town and elsewhere.

According to army’s Frontier Works Organisation’s (FWO) Colonel Amjad Wali, a main bridge on the KKH has also got damaged and efforts are underway to make it fit for travel.

He said some 200 metres of roads in Kohistan in KP have been completely washed away by landslides and over 20 people are still trapped under the rubble.

As many as 25 people, including 13 women, have died in the Kandia area of Kohistan because of a giant boulder falling on a house. Hundreds of houses have been washed away and communication have been knocked out across much of the region.

Reports suggest that the stranded passengers in Kohistan, Diamer, Nagar and Hunza, and over a dozen foreign tourists in scenic Nelum valley, have not been able to get food as shops have run out of supplies.

Many passengers are crossing over huge boulders and mud on foot, risking their lives to reach their destinations.

“I am stuck in Hunza as roads are blocked,” said Amin Beg, a resident of Gojal.

“There is no light and also no signs of immediate restoration of roads. Children and women are also among the stranded people,” he told the paper.

“The situation is getting worse with every passing day but authorities and political administration are nowhere to be seen. We are waiting for government to come forward but so far there is a complete silence,” said another local.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, the Gilgit-Baltistan Minister for Works Muhammad Iqbal said the floods and landslides have damaged the power houses, causing suspension of power supply.

“The government has sent a request to army for helicopters so that patients and foreigners can be flown out,” he added.

@ Agency report.

Washington, Apr 8,2016 : The World Bank has unveiled an ambitious climate action plan that will help developing countries add 30 gigawatts of renewable energy, bring early warning systems to 100 million people and develop climate- smart agriculture investment plans for at least 40 nations.

The World Bank has set the target for achieving this by 2020, officials said as they released details of the Climate Change Action Plan, which comes just two weeks before world leaders officially sign the landmark Paris Agreement in New York.

“Following the Paris climate agreement, we must now take bold action to protect our planet for future generations,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said.

“We are moving urgently to help countries make major transitions to increase sources of renewable energy, decrease high-carbon energy sources, develop green transport systems, and build sustainable, livable cities for growing urban populations. Developing countries want our help to implement their national climate plans and we’ll do all we can to help them,” he said.

To maximise impact, the World Bank Action Plan is focused on helping countries shape national policies and leverage private sector investment.

International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, aims to expand its climate investments from the current USD 2.2 billion a year to a goal of USD 3.5 billion a year and lead on leveraging an additional USD 13 billion a year in private sector financing by 2020.

Apart from its own financing, the World Bank also intends to mobilise USD 25 billion in commercial financing for clean energy over the next five years.

The Bank Group will also continue to deepen its work to help countries to put a price on carbon pollution to create incentives for public and private sector decision makers to make the right climate choices, a statement said.

This is a plan that primarily aims supporting countries that the Bank works with, to turn their ambitious commitments that they made in December in Paris, into a reality, John Roome, Bank’s Senior Director for Climate Change told reporters during a conference call.

“It’s a plan that aims at swinging the pendulum away from investments in fossil fuels towards investment in clean energy and to put new resources to critical areas like green transport and climate smart agriculture,” he said.

Under the plan, the World Bank would be working on expanding universal access to early-warning systems in the case of disasters, for the goal to provide 100 million more people, in 15 developing countries, with access to these early-warning systems by the year 2020.

@ Agency report.

A study conducted by a Bengaluru-based non-government organisation (NGO) has shown that a judge in a high court spends less than five minutes hearing a case, on an average.

“The most relaxed high court judges in the country have 15-16 minutes to hear a case, while the busiest have just about 2.5 minutes to hear a case and, on average, they have approximately five-six minutes to decide a case,” The Times of India quoted the study as saying.

The study was conducted by Daksh, an NGO which studies and analyses performance of the judiciary.

The report also said that judges in high courts of Kolkata, Patna, Hyderabad, Jharkhand and Rajasthan got two to three minutes on each case per day whereas judges in high courts of Allahabad, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha spent four to six minutes over each case.

According to another report by IndiaSpend, there are more than 20 million cases pending in the Indian districts courts; two-thirds are criminal cases and one in 10 have been pending for more than 10 years.

The report also said that there is one judge for every 73,000 people in India, seven times worse than in the United States.

On average, 1,350 cases are pending with each judge, who clears 43 cases per month. At the rate cases are handled at the district courts, civil cases will never get cleared, and it will take more than 30 years to clear criminal cases.

States that build a backlog will never be able to clear their pending cases at the current rate of clearance. The 10 states with the fastest-growing backlog are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar, Delhi, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Orissa.

Among the states clearing the case backlog, the southern states of Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu are the best. They will clear all pending cases within six years. UP, which has the highest number of pending cases per judge, will also clear pending cases within 10 years due to its high case-disposal rate.

@ Agency reports.

Mumbai, Apr 8 ,2016 : Mumbai Indians are all set to open the defense of their title against new outfit Rising Pune Supergiants, led by India’s World Cup winning skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, here tomorrow after decks were cleared to hold the opening IPL game by the Bombay High Court.

The court has declined to grant a stay on the IPL’s opening match tomorrow in Maharashtra, many parts of which are facing severe water crisis.

The IPL has temporarily been shorn of two successful teams, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, who have been suspended for two years as per the Lodha Committee recommendations.

The Supergiants, owned by RPSG Group, has thus been granted an opportunity to carve out a niche – guided by the previously successful combine of captain Dhoni and coach Stephen Fleming for CSK.

However, with a more settled look and familiar with the conditions at the Wankhede Stadium, described by both MI captain Rohit Sharma and coach Ricky Ponting yesterday as the team’s fortress, Supergiants will need to pull out all stops to stop the home side.

The hosts, who turned around a disastrous start last year after losing the opening four games, have the right personnel on paper to diffuse the challenge from RPS.

Lendl Simmons, who orchestrated the bounce-back of MI last season, has shown his penchant for the Wankhede track with a blistering knock for eventual champions West Indies that knocked pre-tournament favourites India out of the World T20 at the semifinal stage on March 31.

Simmons and Sharma, who has decided to open the innings, are expected to pair up at the top with people like Ambati Rayudu, new buy and England’s hard-hitting wicketkeeper batsman Jos Buttler, Corey Anderson, the big-hitting Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya to follow up later.

MI would be hard-pressed to fill in the void left by the absence of the injured pace spearhead Lasith Malinga who is unlikely to be fit at least for the first half of their league campaign, as informed yesterday by Ponting at his media conference.

@ Agency report.

CHENNAI : A group of street children is the face of a new citizens’ campaign demanding better policing and community programmes to track missing children in Tamil Nadu, where at least two children are reported missing every day.

The campaign, which launched this week, aims to spread awareness among the homeless, help police understand the challenges of street children and push the Tamil Nadu government to address safety issues of those living on the streets.

“I know what it’s like on the street. There is always the fear of something not good happening,” said C. Ashok, 19, a runaway now living in a shelter run by a local charity, Karunalaya.

“I want to be the voice of the two babies stolen from Chennai’s streets in the past month,” Ashok added, referring to recent reports of two incidents of child kidnapping.

He is one of the faces of Project Abhayam (safe shelter), which has the backing of several Tamil film stars demanding the quick rescue of missing children.

According to data released by the state crime record bureau on Thursday, 4,280 children were reported missing across Tamil Nadu last year. The number is up from the 3,373 missing in 2014.

Alarmed by the disappearance of 271 children in Tamil Nadu in the first three months of this year, the National Human Rights Commission last week asked state authorities to account for the situation.

The disappearance of children has raised concerns they may be trafficked into prostitution, handed over to criminal gangs or sold for illegal adoption.

“The recent cases of two babies stolen, in what appears to be a very organised and blatant manner, has rattled everyone,” Paul Sunder Singh, secretary of Karunalaya, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Thursday.

“There is an urgent need to keep a watch on children growing up on the street because they are the easiest targets for trafficking or child labour,” he added.

An estimated 40,000 people live on the streets of Chennai, Singh said.

As part of the initiative, the four children chosen as ambassadors will be trained on the issue and asked to share their experiences with a wider audience.

“When you sleep on a pavement, there are often cases where any stranger will just lie down next to you and go to sleep,” said E. Usha, 18, who is also an ambassador.

“Nobody stirs and that is the scariest thing.”

@ Based on First post report.