MONTH THAT WAS

Clandestine Operation to demolish temple

Peshawar: An ancient Hindu temple in this northwestern Pakistani city is being demolished secretly in the name of repair with a commercial plaza set to come up on its land.

 The ancient Hindu temple located in Karimpura in Peshawar’s old city is being demolished in the name of repairs, several inhabitants of the area said.

They said the process started some 10 days and is going on without any hindrance. “It is a pity that a criminal act of pulling down a heritage structure has been launched. The building is being knocked down clandestinely to erect a commercial plaza on the site,” a resident said. “There is no action from any of the government departments which are supposed to protect such buildings,” the resident said, reports PTI.

Another resident said it was a double-criminal act. “On the one hand an ancient building is being demolished while on the other a commercial plaza is set to be constructed on its land in a purely residential area,” he told The News.

Residents have questioned the silence of the relevant government departments over the entire episode. They deplored the inaction of government authorities in the wake of the demolition of the heritage building. There is no action by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), Auqaf Department dealing with the non-Muslim properties and the Archaeology Department — the departments tasked with protecting such properties.

“Either these departments are a partner in the crime or they are negligent,” a resident said.

Demanding an immediate halt to the demolition process, the residents asked ETPB Chairman Saddique-ul-Farooq to order a probe into the issue to bring to justice the government officials whose negligence or tacit approval had put in danger the ancient Hindu temple.

 The Civil Society members, in a statement, said this is a painful story in all major cities of Pakistan where speculative land mafia in collusion with lower-tier government officials and police get away with destroying Pakistan’s precious heritage. The government is reduced to being a silent spectator in this demolition, they said.

AMU VC insulted by Irani

Milli Gazette, a fortnightly focusing on the issues concerning the Muslims, has alleged that Union Human Resources Development Minister Smriti Irani insulted and humiliated Aligarh Muslim University Vice-chancellor Lt Gen. (retd) Zameeruddin in her office here during a meeting with a Kerala delegation led by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

It pointed out in its latest March 1-15 issue that the sordid incident happened on January 8 when the Kerala delegation sought her help for the AMU Centre opened in Malappuram.

She told them that the VC had no authority to open this and other centres and so they all will be closed down. "There was no need for the AMU centres. I am going to close them down. We will not give any grant for this purpose," she said. When the CM told her that the state government had already allotted 345 acres of land for running a fullfledged AMU centre, she said: "Take it back."

It was at this stage that the AMU Vice-chancellor walked in, only to be shouted by Irani: "Why have you come?" When he politely said that he had come on the invitation of Kerala CM, she shot back: "Who pays your salary? Kerala CM or the HRD Ministry? Go back and sit in visitors' room!" The humiliated VC made a hasty retreat while a stunned CM and his delegation looking on in utter disbelief.

The Kerala Chief Minister is, however, hopeful that the Malappuram centre would not be closed as he inferred from his second meeting with Irani in Trivandrum on January 14 when she said that "we will not give you anything extra." He said this indicates that the Centre does not have an immediate plan to close down this and other AMU centres but will allow it to meet a natural death. She also bluntly refused to allow an AMU school to function at the centre.

AMU had decided in 2010 to open five off-campus centres, one each at Murshidabad, Malappuram, Kishanganj, Bhopal and Pune, which all were to be fully functional by 2020. Out of these, only the first three are partially functioning but without any school which would greatly add to their charm as students passing out these AMU schools have a 50% quota in AMU faculties and colleges.

Peeing in public is fine with NY police

New York: New York police are loosening up- at least when it comes to drinking alcohol and urinating on the street.

Pretty offenders will no longer be arrested or prosecuted in Manhattan for minor misdeeds such as public consumption of alcohol, public urinating or putting your feet on the seat in the subway.

Officials say the city has introduced the reform to give police more time to focus on serious crime- following an increase in homicides, gang-motivated shootings, rape and robbery in 2015.

Overall crime fell 1.7 percent in the largest US city, but major crime rose three percent in Manhattan in 2015, albeit up from an historic low in 2014.

“Today’s reforms allow our hardworking police officers to concentrate their reports on the narrow group of individuals driving violent crime in New York City,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

People will be arrested for minor offenses, other examples of which include littering or taking up two seats on the subway, only if there is a clear public safety reason to do so, Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance said.

The change in policy is expected to ease the burden of around 10,000 arrests otherwise being processed in the Manhattan criminal court.

America has the highest incarceration rate in the developed world, around 20 percent of whom are awaiting trial. Officials hope the reform will prevent unnecessary jail time for low-level offenders who cannot post bail.

“By ensuring courts are not unnecessarily bogged down with minor offenses committed by those who pose no threat to public safety, we help focus police and prosecutorial resources on those who commit serious crimes,” said Vance.

“We enable officers to get back to patrolling, investigating and keeping our neighborhoods safe. And by reducing unnecessary incarceration, we make our criminal justice system fairer for all New Yorkers,” she added.

630 grams baby grows to 2.5kg in 3 months

Beijing : A premature baby in China, who was born smaller than a diaper, has survived and was discharged from a hospital after nearly three months of treatment.

   Weighing just 630 grams, the freak baby was born to his 29-year-old mother Tang after six miscarriages. After Tang became pregnant for the eighth time, her doctor tried to persuade her to abort the baby as, even if the pregnancy went full term, there would be risks in delivery, reports PTI.

  “I don’t want to die with regret,” Tang recalled. “I decided to make one last-ditch attempt.”   Tang had to quit her job and was bed bound for most of her pregnancy.  

But, still the foetus grew very slowly, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Last November, Tang was diagnosed with serious eclampsia, which put her and her unborn baby in great danger.

  “Please, take care of the baby first,” she told her doctor. “I want to mother so much, at least let me give the gift of life.” Her son was delivered by c-section.   

He weighed the same as two big apples, and was just 35 centimeters long.

  “It was the smallest baby I have ever seen,” said Tang’s doctor Zhang Ying. “His head was the same size as my fist, and his arms were as thick as a thumb. A diaper could almost cover him.” Tang’s baby boy was six weeks premature and his lungs were not developed enough so he was kept in an incubator, and feed through a drip.

  However, over the past three months, he has flourished and now weighs more than 2.5 kilograms. Zhang Ying said the baby’s nervous and cognitive systems are developing normally.

  “He will need to have a health check every one or two months,” Zhang said. Tang was overjoyed to hold the baby in her arms.

“I just hope that he grows up peacefully and healthily,” she said, reports PTI.

Stealing Food grains of Public Distribution in Mumbai

Bhayandar : The Kashimira police have arrested two persons for their alleged involvement in pilfering and diverting in open market, a consignment of food grains meant for public distribution.

While a case under the relevant sections of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and under section 16 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 has been registered in this context, the seizure is said to be to the tune of more than Rs10 lakh which included food grains (wheat) and the impounded truck.

According to the police the action followed after a vigilance team from the rationing department intercepted a truck (MH:43:-U:4741) loaded with an illegal consignment of wheat on the Mumbai-Ahmadabad National Highway on Sunday. Being transported from Mumbai, the seized consignment was reportedly headed to Khopoli, officials said.

“Acting on a complaint lodged by an official attached to the rationing office in Bhayandar, two persons including the truck driver- Vinod Valve and another person identified as Narendra Mane were arrested for their involvement into the crime,” confirmed Senior Police Inspector Anil Kadam. Further investigations are on.

Women’s Day: Female Fighters Batch

New Delhi: With the globe marking international Women’s Day, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha announced that the nation will see its first batch of female fighter pilots on June 18th this year. “As of now three women trainees have volunteered to join the fighter stream. They are under the second phase of their training. Once they complete their training and are at par with their male colleagues and the passing out parade is scheduled on June 18th," Raha told ANI here. Asserting that all the three trainees should get commissioned on that day and become the first women officers in the fighter stream, Raha added that subsequently they will go to the advanced jet training, and later proceed to the regular squads.

Lovelorn Elephant runs amock

Beijing : After losing out on his love interest, a wild elephant has turned his attention to cars. The elephant wandered out of a nature reserve in southern China following a failed courtship and started playing with cars parked along a highway, slightly damaging more than a dozen vehicles, authorities said. The government of Xishuangbanna prefecture said that the animal had recently lost to another male elephant in a battle for the affections of a female, and that his temperament was moody.

Staff at the nature reserve thought the animal might have become playful at the sight of the cars, the government said in a posting on its social media account. The elephant did not hurt any of the tourists who had crowded the area during the Lunar New Year holiday, and who were very excited to see the elephant, the government said.

The animal’s public appearance lasted about 20 minutes before he returned to the nature reserve.  “The tourists were quite excited to see a real wild elephant, and they were using their cellphones to take photos and videos,” the government said, reports AP.

 “Even the owners of some damaged cars found the experience to be thrilling and very interesting, although their cars got scraped.” The owners of the 15 cars that were damaged by the elephant will be compensated, the government said.