Announcing the changes in a parliamentary statement on Thursday, immigration minister James Brokenshire said:
New Delhi : Gujarat was on Monday named the most film friendly state at the 63rd National Film Awards for its effort to ease shooting films.
“Most film friendly state” award has been introduced this year.
Gujarat’s single window clearance facility, presence of a dedicated web portal, international promotions, database of product facilities and hotels and emergency services as well as the friendly approach of the state government were other reasons responsible for its win, the jury said in its citation.
There were two special mentions in the category– Uttar Pradesh and Kerala for the efforts in making their state friendly towards film shooting crews.
@Agency report.
The Indian and the Pakistani probe teams on Monday began talks on the investigation into Pathankot airbase terror attack.
Led by Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department Additional Inspector-General Muhammad Tahir Rai, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) had left for India on a special plane from Allama Iqbal International Airport on Sunday morning from Lahore.
Intelligence Bureau’s Deputy Director-General Lahore Muhammed Azim Arshad, Military Intelligence’s Lieutenant- Colonel Irfan Mirza, Lieutenant-Colonel Tanvir Ahmad of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Inspector Shahid Tanveer, a Punjab police officer based in Gujranwala., are the other members of the JIT.
India had blamed JeM militants for the brazen attack.
India plans to provide the Pakistani probe team access to all witnesses in the Pathankot terror attack case but not security personnel from National Security Guard or the BSF.
@Agency report.
New Delhi : Majority of corporates expect to spend more on social welfare activities in the next financial year as CSR increasingly becomes part of strategic decision making process, says a survey.
However, the survey by industry body Ficci also revealed that companies find lack of clarity on laws and tax related regulations along with some other factors as obstacles in implementing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects.
Under the Companies Act, 2013, certain class of profitable entities are required to shell out at least 2 per cent of their three-year average annual net profit towards CSR activities. The norm came into effect from April 2014.
Ficci said 83 per cent of the participating companies anticipate an increase in their CSR spending in 2016-17.
“While 6 per cent participants expected a decline, another 9 per cent cited no change. The remaining 2 per cent of the companies said that they have made a CSR allocation in their budget for the first time,” it noted.
The findings are based on a survey conducted between January and February covering 150 responses. The respondents include public sector undertakings, private firms and foreign multinational companies, had a turnover ranging between Rs 1.7 crore and Rs 75,000 crore.
As much as 77 per cent of the companies surveyed reported that an increase in their CSR budget in 2014-15 compared with 2013-14 period.
On the other hand, the survey found “inadequate clarity on laws and tax related regulations”, among others, was seen as an obstacle by firms in implementing CSR projects.
When it comes to motivation, majority of the respondents indicated ethical considerations as the primary factor behind adoption of CSR activities.
“Companies are increasingly looking at integrating their businesses with the community to create shared value. About 49 per cent of the respondents stated creation of shared value as a motivation factor, followed by social good compliance,” Ficci said.
Around 95 per cent of the participants said their CSR projects are aligned with the government’s development initiatives, including Swachh Bharat Mission, Skill India and National Health Mission.
“It is encouraging to note that companies have continued to base their CSR programmes according to community needs aligning with the national development agenda, especially those impacting women and children,” said Rajashree Birla, Chairperson, Ficci-Aditya Birla CSR Centre for Excellence.
@Agency report.
Lahore : At least 30 people including women and children, enjoying Easter holiday at a popular public park, were today killed and over 100 others injured in a powerful suicide blast in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore, capital of Punjab province.
A large number of people including Christians were present in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park when the blast occurred in the evening, leaving many in a pool of blood.
“It was a powerful blast. It is suspected that suicide bomber blew himself up at the gate of the main gate of the park,” Deputy Inspector General Lahore Police Haider Asharaf said.
“Initial reports suggest that it was a suicide blast,” he added.
The park is located in a posh locality in the city, which is comparatively peaceful in violence-hit Pakistan.
Eyewitnesses said there were scattered body parts in the park, where a large number of families, especially women and children, were present on a Sunday evening. The crowd was “unusually large” because of Easter.
Punjab Emergency Services Rescue 1122 spokesperson Deeba Shahnaz told PTI that 30 people had been killed in the blast.
Earlier, the Dawn reported saying at least 53 people were killed from the blast.
“Still a good number of people are in critical condition,” she added.
Over 100 injured have been shifted to different hospitals of Lahore, she said.
Doctors said the death toll may rise.
Emergency has been declared in all city hospitals in Lahore. Appeals have also been made to people to donate blood for the injured.
Children and women are among the dead.
“My two children were on the swing when a powerful blast occurred. The children and I fell on the ground. I was semi-unconscious. When I fully regained consciousness, I ran to find my children. Thank God, they were alive and have injuries on their head,” one of the victims, Saleem Shahid, said at Mayo Hospital.
A heavy contingent of police has cordoned off the area.
@Agency report.
New Delhi : The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed Central Ground Water Authority and Delhi Jal Board to fix a uniform procedure for installation of rainwater harvesting system in hotels, hospitals and malls in the national capital.
The green panel asked CGWA, DJB and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to convene a meeting within 10 days and prescribe a format and proper design for rainwater harvesting system.
“There should be a uniform procedure in respect of the rainwater harvesting system, approved by CGWA/DJB.
“As it is disclosed that there is no such uniform procedure, we direct CGWA, DJB and DPCC to convene a meeting within 10 days and fix a uniform procedure, prescribe a format as well as proper design for rainwater harvesting system to be installed by hotels, hospitals and malls,” a bench headed by Justice M S Nambiar said.
It also directed that inspections be conducted in Jaypee Sidharth Hotel and IBIS Hotel to check whether rainwater harvesting systems of the two hotels were installed as per law.
NGT had recently slapped a fine of Rs 5 lakh on a real estate developer here after it was found that the rainwater harvesting system in its property was not functional.
Taking several hospitals, malls and hotels to task for not complying with its orders on rainwater harvesting, NGT had last year imposed fine and issued warrants to many of them for not installing these systems.
The green panel was hearing a plea by environmentalist Vikrant Kumar Tongad who had sought directions to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to “install proper rainwater harvesting system” on all its existing, proposed and under-construction metro stations, tracks and depots.
The green panel, however, had widened the ambit of the petition and incorporated various other establishments like hospitals, hotels and malls.
@Agency report.
In an article published in The Guardian dated, 23 October 2014, Jason Webster explained how Sufism runs as ‘a natural antidote to fanaticism’. Sufism-inspired discourses on peacemaking and counter-extremism and deradicalisation have created interesting debates, enlarging the ambit of modern approaches to peace, pluralism and non-violence. Obviously, a Sufi is not much of a social scientist or a strategist, the pluralistic Sufi concepts and mystically-inclined Islamic narratives of peace and counter-extremism are worth deliberating.
In 2003, Stephen Schwartz wrote a groundbreaking book “Two Faces Of Islam: Saudi Fundamentalism and Its Role in Terrorism” in which he explained that Sufism is a “mystical branch” of Islam- the second largest religion of the world which has been conflated in sections of the media and academia, over a period of time, with violent extremism, exclusivism, puritanical fundamentalism, xenophobia and religo-facism. Given this, he hypothesised that an objective analysis of the mystical narrative of peace and counter-extremism and its ideological underpinnings in Islam will trigger an avid interest both in media and academia.
In the wake of the 9/11 bombings, a considerable corpus of literate was devoted to explain how peculiar and idiosyncratic elements of religion can motivate both violence and non-violence. Scholars well-versed in the sociology of world religions reproduced holistic analyses of the different, vibrant and myriad spiritual theories of peace and non-violence that emanate from the mystical interpretations of all religions. In the case of Islam, Sufism emerged as the spiritually-inclined version of faith helping in peacemaking and eradicating violence and extremism. Case studies of different religions and populations of faith adherents have been examined as practical applications of religions’ spiritual resources for counter-extremism.
On the contrary, the radical Islamist ideologues of the sectarian hue worked out a complete theology of anti-pluralism seeking to justify extremist thoughts and actions, sectarian conflicts, faith-inspired violence, wanton killing of civilians and suicide-bombing.
In this backdrop, a rational and consistent narrative of peace and counter-extremism within an Islamic framework was called for. Therefore, noted Sufi scholars, not only in India but across the rest of the world brainstormed ways to tackle the onslaught of religious extremism catching the imagination of many young Muslim practitioners. In a bid to refute extremism on ideological grounds, they articulated a Sufism-inspired approach to peace and de-radicalization of the vulnerable sections of society. Thus, an Islam-based Sufi narrative of peace, counter-extremism and de-radicalization grounded in refutation of the extremist underpinnings was laid down.
The first research-based Sufi activism in this ideological field can be traced back to the post-9/11 outburst of views and debates on khilafah (caliphate), jihadism, hijrah (migration to lands of Islam), hakimiyah (divine rule on the earth) and other drives of religious extremism propounded by the radical Wahhabism. Since then, Sufi leaders and scholars have been seen in the global media as well as academia countering the violent extremism, intolerance, xenophobia, religio-fascism and other supremacist and exclusivist thoughts.
Remarkably, the first focus on this energetic facet of Sufism was carried out by Idries Shah around 50 year ago. Entitled “The Sufis”, his book had the renowned western writer Robert Graves writing a foreword for it. It was praised as “a seminal book of the century” by The Washington Post. Since then, much of the work on the similar lines has been carried out.
Of late, rigorous Sufi activism aimed at finding concrete counterpoints to extremism has been geared up in the Middle East, Europe and America, South Asia and other parts of the world. A considerable number of seminal research works on this subject have been accomplished in many peer-reviewed academic journals. Equally important is the increasing number of books and monographs on these themes as produced in the academic arena.
A recently-published book “State and Nation-Building in Pakistan: Beyond Islam and Security” mentioned that the former Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf needed to reinforce Sufi liberal attitudes to mitigate the sectarian conflicts in the country. “He (Musharraf) launched the concept of Enlightened Moderation at the 2002 Organization of the Islamic Conference meeting in Malaysia and emphasized Sufi teachings as a counter to extremism. In November 2006, he launched a National Sufi Council amidst great fanfare”. Government efforts ensured that the Sufi-oriented religious scholars of the Pakistani Education Board, Tanzimul Madaris discourage and rebut the twisted ideas leading to acts of terror and suicide bombing.
Until recently, Sufi Islam was not fashionable for many Pakistani Muslims. Rather, it was shunned not only by the upper class, government, military, and bureaucrats but also by academic and intellectual circles. But a reversing viewpoint is emerging now. Both academicians and bureaucrats are beginning to actively support Sufism as a much more tolerant version of Islam that can better equip them ‘to counter the rise of Islamic extremism in Pakistan’.
A ground-breaking work entitled “Re-Appropriating Sufi Authorship in New Media” clearly asserts that “Different factions of upper- and upper-middle-class Pakistani society-including politicians, intellectuals, filmmakers, and celebrities-have joined together to raise their voices in opposition to the extremist threat by reaffirming Sufism” (Cynthia Chris, David A. Gerstner, 2013).
At a time when Muslims are faced with the present-day cancer of growing sectarianism looming large in the global Islamic societies, Sufism is looked up to as a panacea for these ills.
Taliban, Al Qaeda, ISIS and all other terrorist organizations and un-Islamic elements have destroyed the brotherhood of mankind that was once established by the Sufi hospices. They go to the extent of brutal and bloodthirsty massacre of common civilians and non-combatant innocent Muslims as in Iraq and Syria in particular. At this juncture, Sufism comes as a rescue to the oppressed, because it rejects all extremist ideas and actions outright. Sufis were vehemently opposed to the brazen violation of human rights enshrined in Islam and exhorted the Muslim youth to shun takfiri indoctrination and wrong interpretations of the Quran and Hadith that go against the consensus of the Ummah. Even today, they denounce- in the harshest words- the wanton killing of civilians, destruction of property and wealth, rebellion against the government, accusing Muslims of kufr (Takfirism), demolition of shrines on both local and global levels. In clear and categorical words, it rebutted all intellectual, social, religious, political and economic or ideological terrorism.
While affirming the importance and the need of reviving Sufism, there is greater need to inculcate universal and egalitarian values-brotherhood of humankind, compassion, acceptance and tolerance, social affinity and national harmony. This is impossible in the Muslim society without promoting the tolerant, spiritual and moderate version of Islam.
However, the Sufi divines would do a great help to Indian Muslims if they do not merely reiterate “reformist Sufism” in the name of revival of Sufism. They need to support the non-conformist form of Sufism which is in full accordance with the universal prophetic traditions and in complete synergy with the spiritual and saintly righteous Muslims. We never endorse ignorance or illiteracy in the name of Sufism. Anything in the name of Sufism that doesn’t reflect itself in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah is null and void. Therefore, along with the revivalist Sufism, we strive to stress the need for the reformist Sufism.
Going by history, this is an eternal fact that Islam in India owes much of its existence to Sufi Mashaikh, Saints and Dervishes. In the 13th century, Khwaja Ghareeb Nawaz came to India and his arrival in India is regarded a great milestone in the path of love, equality, spirituality and peaceful Dawah work.
Hazrat Khwaja Ghareeb Nawaz (r.a) pioneered the composite culture in India which still remains well-spirited, widely accepted and appreciated by the majority of Indian people. After Khwaja Ghareeb Nawaz, Khwaja Qutbuddin Bhaktiyar Kaki, Baba Farid, Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya, Makhdum Sayed Ashraf Jahangir Simnani and Ameer Khusro took this cause of eternal salvation ahead. They devotedly taught and promoted unconditional love, peace and all-embracing spirituality. Mere the reality that the shrines of these saints are still captivating people from all faith traditions, even after 800 years is self-explanatory that Sufism is a vital help in the current situation of hatred and malice.
In the backdrop of this, modern Sufis have come all out of their conclaves and hospices. They are declaring that the evils of ideological terrorism and extremism, materialism and opportunism can only be wiped out from the society through the restoration of Sufism, propagation of its peaceful massages, humane nature helping in the cessation of extremist thoughts and hardcore philosophies.
On the other hand, many anti-Sufism movements reared their head in the Muslim societies in the 19th century. They began to disparage Sufis as pseudo-Islamic spiritual masters. Though pacifist by nature, some well-spirited and energetic Sufis retorted this accusation calling it a tide of ideological extremism deep-rooted in the Muslim history. They link it with the ideology of Kharjism which basically emerged in the caliphate of Hazrat Ali (r.a), and was propagated among the Muslim fringes on the pretext of Qur’an and hadith, Prophetic sayings. In this beginning, Sufi divines remained confined to their shrines. As a result, particular Islamsit factions started adopting extremism, hatred, takfirism and wanton killing. This is, they view, is something that has brought the wider Muslim world and Middle East in particular to a grim and gory situation.
By Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi @www.firstpost.com.
London: Use of nutritional supplements for Vitamins B and its derivatives may serve as potential tools for delaying the ageing process in humans and age-related diseases such as diabetes, a new study suggests.
Scientists from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), University of Valencia, and IMDEA Food from Madrid, tried to increase the global antioxidant capacity of the cells, rather than just one or a few antioxidant enzymes.
To achieve this, researchers have focused on increasing the levels of Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate(NADPH), a simple molecule that is important in antioxidant reactions.
The researchers used a genetic approach to increase NADPH levels. They generated transgenic mice with an increased glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) expression in their bodies, one of the important enzymes for production of NADPH.
The results show that an increase in G6PD and therefore in NADPH, increases the natural antioxidant defences of the organism, protecting it from oxidative damage, reducing ageing-related processes, such as insulin resistance, and increasing longevity.
When researchers analysed long-lived transgenic animals, they found that their levels of oxidative damage were lower than in non-transgenic animals of the same age.
They also studied the propensity of these animals to develop cancer and found no difference, suggesting that enhancing G6PD activity does not have an important effect on the development of cancer.
When researchers measured the ageing process in the transgenic mice, they found that the animals with a high G6PD expression and high levels of NADPH, delayed their ageing, metabolised sugar better and presented better movement coordination as they aged.
In addition, transgenic females lived 14 per cent longer than non-transgenic mice, while no significant effect on the longevity of males was observed.
“This increased longevity, although modest, is striking taking into account that until now attempts to increase longevity by manipulating individual antioxidant enzymes had failed,” said Pablo Fernandez-Marcos, from IMDEA Food.
Perhaps the key is that the researchers enhanced all antioxidant enzymes in a comprehensive manner.
“Compared to the traditional approach of administering antioxidants that react directly with oxygen, we have stimulated all the cell’s natural antioxidant mechanisms by raising G6PD levels, and its by-product, NADPH,” said Mari Carmen Gomez-Cabrera, from the University of Valencia.
The researchers point to the use of pharmacological agents or nutritional supplements that increase NADPH levels as potential tools for delaying the ageing and age-related diseases such as diabetes, among others.
More specifically, vitamin B3 and its derivatives are responsible for the synthesis of NADPH precursors and are suitable candidates for future studies.
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.
@Agency report.
Washington: US forces killed the Islamic State group’s second-in-command this week, dealing a blow to the extremists’ ability to conduct operations in Iraq, Syria and abroad, Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said Friday.
“We are systematically eliminating ISIL’s cabinet,” Carter told reporters, referring also to the killing early in the month of Omar al-Shishani, the man known as “Omar the Chechen,” who was IS’s defense minister.
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United Nations : Asserting that the burden of sustainability cannot be put on the shoulders of the poor, India has said poorer nations must be given space to address their “development deficit” as they end up suffering the worst impacts of climate change while contributing the least to it.
Counsellor in the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations Amit Narang said the international community cannot address climate change if it fails to address the “unsustainable consumption and lifestyles, particularly in the richer countries”.
Addressing the National Model UN Conference here on Tuesday, Narang cited research estimates that at least a third of human deaths annually, almost 18 million can be attributed to poverty related causes.
“It should be obvious therefore that addressing this ‘development deficit’ is the first and necessary condition if we have to achieve a sustainable world,” he said adding that there can be no sustainable development with such alarming and widespread levels of poverty and hunger.
“You cannot tell millions living in shanty towns along the coasts that building concrete homes for their families will lead to emissions. You cannot tell a child studying in the dark or a woman cooking on wood and dung that providing modern energy to them will be bad for the planet. In other words, the burden of sustainability cannot be put on the shoulders of the poor,” Narang said.
He stressed that ensuring a life of basic human dignity to everyone on the planet is the first step in addressing climate change.
“For global efforts to halt climate change to succeed therefore, our collective efforts must be sensitive to our different starting points, responsibilities and capabilities.
In their effort, the poorer countries must have the space to address their ‘development deficit’,” he said.
Emphasising the “stark climate inequality” in addressing climate change, he said, “the travesty of climate change is that the poor end up suffering its worst impacts, even though they contributed the least in causing the problem.”
“The richer countries need to step-up to the plate and urgently take steps to transition their societies towards sustainable lifestyles and consumption patterns,” he said.
India, which is often referred to as the world’s third largest emitter, has among the lowest per capita emissions in the world and India’s per capita emissions are also a mere one-third of Chinese per capita emissions.
Narang stressed that poorer countries are acting against climate change and a majority of developing countries including India and China have made mitigation pledges that exceed or broadly meet their fair shares.
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Announcing the changes in a parliamentary statement on Thursday, immigration minister James Brokenshire said:
The changes include a higher salary threshold for a British company employing a non-EU professional, an “Immigration Skills Charge” of £1,000 per non-EU professional hired per year, and an “Immigration Health Surcharge” for those under the ICT category.
Brokenshire said: “We will increase the Tier 2 minimum salary threshold to £30,000 for experienced workers. This change will be phased in, with the minimum threshold increased to £25,000 in autumn 2016 and to £30,000 in April 2017.”
Those migrating under the ICT category will be required to qualify under a single visa category with a minimum salary threshold of £41,500, Brokenshire said.
“To provide some further flexibility within the streamlined intra-company transfer category, we shall lower the minimum salary threshold for intra-company transferees working in the UK for between five and nine years from £155,300 to £120,000,” he said.
Britain will also remove the one year experience requirement for all applications where the worker is paid over £73,900. These changes will take effect from April 2017, Brokenshire added.
Indian professionals were given the largest number of visas under Tier 2 in the year ending September 2015. Indian IT workers accounted for 90% of visas issued under the ICT route.
Indian IT majors have several offices in Britain, mostly staffed by Indian employees.
The changes are based on recommendations made by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) of the Home Office, which had, in a report in January, specifically mentioned India and its strengths in the IT sector to suggest new curbs.
“(Immigration) is not serving to increase the incentive to employers to train and upskill the UK workforce. Ready access to a pool of skilled IT professionals in India is an example of this,” it said in the report.
“We did not see any substantive evidence of long-standing reciprocal arrangements whereby UK staff are given the opportunity to gain skills, training and experience from working in India.”
The MAC noted that “some of the heaviest users of the intra-company transfer route are Indian companies, and the top ten employers using the intra-company transfer route are all largely employing IT workers from India”.
It said: “The evidence indicates that multinational companies with a presence in India have developed a competitive advantage in delivering IT projects in the UK.”