Arvind Kejriwal to take loan to settle Rs 9.27 lakh I-T dues

October 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

NEW DELHI: Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal has decided to pay his dues to the income tax department in a bid to ensure that his application seeking voluntary retirement from the Indian Revenue Service ( IRS) is finally accepted.

The I-T department, where Kejriwal worked, has turned down his application, insisting he first clear the Rs 9.27 lakh he owes the department. “I have decided to pay the dues claimed by the I-T department. I will take a loan from a friend to pay the amount,” Kejriwal said.

While the issue had remained on the backburner for quite some time – with Kejriwal treating his association with the government to be over – the I-T department suddenly slapped a notice on him on August 6, asking him to pay up for his VRS application to be accepted.

The notice came just days before Gandhian Anna Hazare went on his hunger strike.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Sri Lankan president ends minister’s anti-U.N. fast

July 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday ordered a cabinet minister to end a hunger strike against a U.N. war crimes panel, part of a five-day protest that hurt ties with the world body and the West.

The president arrived outside the U.N. compound in Colombo, and offered water to a supine Construction Minister Wimal Weerawansa, who was in the third day of a “fast unto death” to get U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to relent.

The president made no public comment and a spokesman said he would not make a statement. Earlier in the day, medics had given an intravenous saline drip to Weerawansa, a nationalist ally of the president who gained popularity with anti-Western rhetoric.

“Don’t try to force me to stop. Not even the president can force me. Only Ban Ki-moon can stop this,” Weerawansa said then.

After Rajapaksa arrived, Weerawansa was taken away in an ambulance. Hunger strikes are a common tactic to bring attention to a cause in Sri Lanka and south Asia, but rarely end in death.

Sri Lanka’s relations with the world body and Western nations have been strained since it destroyed the separatist Tamil Tigers and won a 25-year conflict in May 2009, a victory that drew military praise but equal criticism over civilian deaths.

Weerawansa has been laying in front of the U.N. compound since Thursday, two days after police tried to escort trapped U.N. staff out until the minister got the president’s brother, Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to stop the officers.

Ban reacted angrily to the protest, recalling the U.N. country chief for talks and ordering the immediate closure of a regional U.N. office sited in Colombo, which local U.N. staff said had already been downsized for a planned move.

On Friday, the United States, European Union and seven European countries said the government’s handling of the protest could harm its international reputation.

Ban’s appointment of a three-member panel to advise him on “accountability issues” sparked fury from the government, which views the action as a prelude to the full probe demanded by human rights groups over thousands of civilian deaths.

Rajapaksa blames the West for applying double standards to Sri Lanka’s fight to destroy a group on U.S. and EU terrorism lists. The government says Ban’s panel violates its sovereignty, because it has its own commission probing the war.

Sri Lankan allies Russia and China both have criticized the panel as unnecessary. Rajapaksa denies soldiers committed any crimes and says the casualty figures are inflated.

Ban insists the panel is merely to advise him on international best practices for post-conflict reconciliation, and has no investigative mandate.

(Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Andrew Caballero-Reynolds; Editing by Jon Hemming)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sri Lankan president ends minister’s anti-UN fast

July 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

COLOMBO, July 10 (Reuters) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday ordered a cabinet minister to end a hunger strike against a U.N. war crimes panel, part of a five-day protest that hurt ties with the world body and the West.

The president arrived outside the U.N. compound in Colombo, and offered water to a supine Construction Minister Wimal Weerawansa, who was in the third day of a “fast unto death” to get U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to relent.

The president made no public comment and a spokesman said he would not make a statement. Earlier in the day, medics had given an intravenous saline drip to Weerawansa, a nationalist ally of the president who gained popularity with anti-Western rhetoric.

“Don’t try to force me to stop. Not even the president can force me. Only Ban Ki-moon can stop this,” Weerawansa said then.

After Rajapaksa arrived, Weerawansa was taken away in an ambulance. Hunger strikes are a common tactic to bring attention to a cause in Sri Lanka and south Asia, but rarely end in death.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For a related Q+A click on [nSGE66809V]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Sri Lanka’s relations with the world body and Western nations have been strained since it destroyed the separatist Tamil Tigers and won a 25-year conflict in May 2009, a victory that drew military praise but equal criticism over civilian deaths.

Weerawansa has been laying in front of the U.N. compound since Thursday, two days after police tried to escort trapped U.N. staff out until the minister got the president’s brother, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to stop the officers.

Ban reacted angrily to the protest, recalling the U.N. country chief for talks and ordering the immediate closure of a regional U.N. office sited in Colombo, which local U.N. staff said had already been downsized for a planned move. [nN08108801]

On Friday, the United States, European Union and seven European countries said the government’s handling of the protest could harm its international reputation. [nSGE6682BC]

Ban’s appointment of a three-member panel to advise him on “accountability issues” sparked fury from the government, which views the action as a prelude to the full probe demanded by human rights groups over thousands of civilian deaths.

Rajapaksa blames the West for applying double standards to Sri Lanka’s fight to destroy a group on U.S. and EU terrorism lists. The government says Ban’s panel violates its sovereignty, because it has its own commission probing the war.

Sri Lankan allies Russia and China both have criticised the panel as unnecessary. Rajapaksa denies soldiers committed any crimes and says the casualty figures are inflated.

Ban insists the panel is merely to advise him on international best practices for post-conflict reconciliation, and has no investigative mandate. (Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Andrew Caballero-Reynolds; Editing by Jon Hemming)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sri Lanka war crimes rift with UN widens over protests

July 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

COLOMBO, July 9 (Reuters) – Sri Lankan demonstrators marched to Russia’s embassy on Friday to express gratitude for support against a U.N. war crimes panel, the subject of a fourth day of protests that have cracked open a rift with the world body.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday recalled the head of U.N. Sri Lanka for consultations and blasted President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government for failing to stop protesters from disrupting work at the world’ body’s office. [nN08108801]

Ban also ordered closed the regional office of the U.N. Development Programme, based in Colombo but which U.N. officials in Sri Lanka said had already been downsized in preparation for a planned move to Bangkok. The main country office remains open.

The protests led by Construction Minister Wimal Weerawansa, a popular nationalist ally of Rajapaksa, began on Tuesday with demonstrators clashing with police who tried to escort trapped U.N. staff out until the government ordered them to stand down.

While Weerawansa entered his second day of a “fast unto death” hunger strike until Ban dissolves the panel, around 300 demonstrators marched about a kilometre to the Russian embassy from the U.N. offices in central Colombo.

“We should thank Russia for standing by us,” demonstrator Anuruddha Perera told Reuters.

Members of the group flooded an embassy official with bouquets of flowers and handed over a letter. Others carried placards reading “Thank you Russia, we need your support again.”

Russia and China both have criticised the three-member panel as unnecessary. It is tasked with advising Ban whether war crimes were committed at the end of Sri Lanka’s 25-year conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

‘INTERNATIONAL CONSPIRACIES’

Sri Lanka destroyed the LTTE in May 2009, but drew primarily Western criticism for the thousands of civilian deaths in the final months of the offensive. Both the government and LTTE were accused of putting civilians in harm’s way.

Rajapaksa in turn accuses the West of applying double standards to Sri Lanka’s fight to destroy a group on U.S. and EU terrorism lists. The government says Ban’s panel violates its sovereignty, because it has its own commission probing the war.

“We should all get together to defeat the international conspiracies and foreign interference with our nation and should protect our war heroes, the president and defence secretary who bravely defeated the LTTE,” marcher Madura Kularatne said.

Sri Lanka is concerned Ban’s panel is a precursor to a full-blown investigation, pressed for by rights groups and some LTTE supporters who live in Western countries as refugees. [nN22526612]

Ban is livid that some U.N. operations have been impacted. A U.N. spokesman on Thursday said Ban “finds it unacceptable that the Sri Lankan authorities have failed to prevent the disruption of the normal functioning of the United Nations offices in Colombo as a result of unruly protests”.

Essential staff were working in the offices on Friday, spokesman Mohan Samaranayake said in Colombo.

The government has given its tacit approval to the protests, which it says are lawful because they are peaceful. Politically, they also appeal to Rajapaksa’s power base, the Sinhalese people who make up 75 percent of the country’s 21 million population. Weerawansa, who gained power by mobilising street protests after splintering from Sri Lanka’s Marxist JVP party, has vowed to keep up the protest and his fast until Ban dissolves the panel. The secretary-general has refused to do so.

One of Weerawansa’s doctors, Wasantha Bandara, said the minister’s situation was deteriorating.

Hunger strikes to bring attention to a cause are a frequent tactic in Sri Lanka and south Asia, but rarely end with the strikers dying.

Ban says the panel is merely a resource to help Sri Lanka reconcile after thousands of Tamil civilians died in the war’s final months. Sri Lanka’s government says the casualty figures are hugely inflated. (Editing by Ron Popeski)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“Ladies in White” say Cuba prisoner plight goes on

May 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – The Cuban government has not yet improved conditions for political prisoners or released any as had been hoped after recent talks between Catholic Church leaders and President Raul Castro, Cuba’s “Ladies in White” dissident group said Sunday.

World | Cuba

Speaking to reporters after the group’s traditional Sunday march protesting the 2003 imprisonment of their loved ones, leader Laura Pollan said they had heard nothing from the government about its plans.

“Here, nothing is known. Everything is a state secret,” said Pollan, whose husband, dissident Hector Maseda, is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Catholic officials said Castro promised in a May 19 meeting with Cardinal Jaime Ortega to move prisoners soon to jails closer to home or, if they were sick, into hospitals.

According to some reports, he also signaled the possible release of an unknown number of prisoners.

The high-level talks preceded a mid-June visit to Cuba by Vatican Foreign Secretary Dominque Mamberti.

So far, Pollan said, the only thing certain is that no prisoners have been moved or released.

“Everything is speculative; there is not thing concrete,” she said.

The Ladies in White have staged weekly protest marches since the March 2003 arrest of 75 dissidents, many of whom are their husbands or sons and most still behind bars.

After Sunday’s march by 33 white-clad women, Pollan told them it was important for them and their imprisoned family members, particularly those who are ill, to remain calm while waiting for the promised changes.

“Anxiety can produce strong stress and we don’t want them to get sicker,” she told the women.

At least 26 of the prisoners are said to be in ill health. Former prisoner Guillermo Farinas has been on a hunger strike for more than three months demanding their release.

His hunger strike followed the February 23 death of hunger striking prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo, which prompted international condemnation of Cuban human rights.

In April, the Cuban government tried to stop the women from staging their Sunday marches and brought in pro-government counter protesters to harass them.

But Ortega intervened, and officials allowed the marches to go on, at least for now.

Human rights advocates say Cuba has about 190 political prisoners in all. The Cuban government views them as mercenaries working for the United States and other enemies.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tourists cancel bookings in Darjeeling following Gorkha shutdown

May 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Siliguri (West Bengal), May 13 (ANI): Tourists heading to Darjeeling for holidays are cancelling their plans following a shutdown call given by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) to demand a separate state of Gorkhaland.

The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha that has called for a shutdown on Saturday and Sunday are expected to come up with a more intensive movement, if their demands are not met.

Following the shutdown call, tourists are reluctant to stay in Darjeeling, fearing violence.

“I went to Darjeeling and had plans to stay there for around ten days. But I heard that Darjeeling hills would come under strike for a period of two days. Hearing the news, I decided to return. Like me, there are many other tourists who are going back,” said Safikul Islam, a tourist from Bangladesh.

Tour operators said the shutdown call would be a big loss for tourism in the area.

“It (shutdown) brings a very bad brand name to the region actually, and with the strikes that are due on 14th, 15th and 16th of May in the plains and in the hills. There have been several cancellations, which is very unfortunate because this is the most peak time for the tourism this summer,” said Raj Basu, tour operator.

“All the tourism infrastructure in the region was jam-packed. There were extra flights been given, there are extra trains, extra buses, which are running from the different places to Siliguri. This sudden shutdown has actually brought in a lot of cancellation and a big loss to the tourism industry,” he added.

GJM chief Bimal Gurung had earlier declared in a rally that if things did not go their way during forthcoming meetings over the creation of the separate state, they might come up with a more voluble movement.

The GJM activists kick started a relay hunger strike here on Monday to give a fillip to their movement over the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland.

The hunger strike was kicked off eyeing upon putting the Centre on the back foot ahead of the sixth round of tripartite talks, involving the Central Government and the representatives of the GJM to be held in New Delhi on May 14.

Earlier on April 9, Bimal Gurung met Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi, who assured him that he would talk to the Government of West Bengal and Trinamool Congress about their demands.

The GJM had agreed during the fifth round of tripartite talks in New Delhi to the constitution of Interim Council by next year prior to the creation of a separate state.

Gorkhas, who are ethnic Nepalese, have been demanding a separate state in Darjeeling hills, to help them protect their culture and heritage. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tamils protest outside Bachchan”s residence over his proposed Sri Lanka visit

May 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Mumbai, May 11 (ANI): Members of the Tamil community staged a protest outside Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan”s residence in Mumbai on Tuesday, against his proposed visit to Sri Lanka in June.

Bachchan is due to attend the 11th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards ceremony in Colombo from June 3-5.
Members of the Naam Tamilar party went on a hunger strike outside Bachchan”s residence, and expressed their anger over the killings of Sri Lankan Tamils last year.

They demanded a change in the venue of the awards to be changed.

“The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) 2010 awards ceremony is scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka. We are going on a hunger strike and our demand is that IIFA awards should not be held in Sri Lanka. We came here earlier, had a meeting with the IIFA officials and discussed the issue,” said C Rajendran, General Secretary, Naam Tamilar Party.

“Actually, they told us that the ceremony will take place on July 2, but now after the discussion, they shifted the date of event to June 2,” he added.

However, the IIFA officials assured them that the sentiments of the Tamils would be acknowledged.

Later, Bachchan received a petition submitted by the protestors.

The IIFA 2010 is being viewed in Sri Lanka as a ”coming out” platform for a nation that is emerging from 30 years of civil conflict.

Bachchan visited Colombo recently and shared stage with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Tamil film fraternity has also rejected the idea of an Indian film event in Sri Lanka, with popular Tamil actors Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan, Vijay, Ajith and Surya reportedly declining to take part in the IIFA.

Some regional political parties and pro-Sri Lankan Tamil groups have also protested against Bachchan”s decision.

IIFA is an organization dedicated to promoting Indian Cinema abroad, focusing on places with concentrations of Indian diaspora. The awards function last year was held in Macau in China. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Asylum seekers in hunger strike

April 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A group of asylum seekers at Sydney’s Villawood detention centre has staged a hunger strike in response to the Federal Government’s changes to immigration policy.

The Refugee Action Coalition says a group of about 35 Iraqis spent Sunday night on a basketball court inside the facility and are refusing food.

Spokesperson Ian Rintoul says management at the detention centre met the group this afternoon.

He says they are worried a freeze on processing claims from Sri Lankan and Afghan asylum seekers could be extended to Iraqis.

“They don’t know what’s going to happen to them. They haven’t seen a lawyer since they moved to Villawood and they think they could easily decide tomorrow that, in their case, that the Iraqis won’t be processed and all their options would be finished,” he said.

“So people are very, very, very worried.”

Meanwhile, a group of 52 people have been transferred from the Christmas Island detention centre to the mainland.

The Immigration Department says 46 of those have had their refugee claims approved with the remaining six to be processed in Melbourne and Perth.

There are now just over 2,100 people in the island’s detention centre – which is beyond its official capacity.

The Government says six boats carrying 236 people have been intercepted in recent days but are still to arrive at the island.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sri Lankans rally for Fonseka’s freedom

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A day before Sri Lanka’s general election, protesters are rallying to demand the release of opposition candidate General Sarath Fonseka.

General Fonseka has been in detention since shortly after he lost the presidential election to the incumbent, president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

While the government says the General is being detained for unlawfully engaging in politics while in uniform, his supporters say the government has shut down free speech in the lead-up to the poll.

Opposition activists gathered outside Colombo’s main train station.

Only a day earlier police allegedly assaulted and arrested 12 Buddhist monks who were staging a hunger strike at the same site to demand General Fonseka’s release.

Senior monks have described the actions of the police as an unforgivable sin. But this time hundreds of police officers did not intervene.

The crowd cheered as General Fonseka’s wife, Anoma, joined the sit-in. Ms Fonseka says people are afraid to speak out against the government.

“Everybody can understand, we can’t open our mouth, we can’t express our feelings also, so we don’t have democracy,” she said.

General Fonseka has been detained since February 8 and is facing a court martial for allegedly becoming involved in politics before he retired from the military.

The former army commander will still be running as a candidate in tomorrow’s election, even though he is in detention.

One Fonseka supporter, politician and former Sri Lankan cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga, says the people of Sri Lanka are trying to send a message to the government.

“We have been sending a lot of messages; it is so unfortunate they can’t hear or see, or they don’t want to see,” he said.

“They know that the people are very angry.

“No-one is going to talk about it. If you talk about it either you will be in prison or you will be under the soil. So it is very, very dangerous. It is getting out of hand now.”

But the government says the election will be free and fair.

Thousands of police and soldiers have been deployed to keep the peace.

After a big victory in the presidential election, Mr Rajapakse is confident his ruling alliance will be returned.

Mr Rajapakse called the poll two months ahead of schedule, hoping to capitalise on the momentum of his win.

Analysts are now waiting to see whether the government can secure a two-thirds majority, which would allow it to implement constitutional reforms.

The executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, is worried a large majority could suffocate dissent.

“Two-thirds majorities I think are inherently dangerous because they lead to authoritarianism of one kind or another. I think it will be very dangerous,” he said.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cuban dissidents praise Obama, government silent

March 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Cuban dissidents applauded U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday for denouncing their ill treatment by the Cuban government and said it had helped their cause.

They praised him for standing by them in what appeared to be a new, tougher turn for the president who has said he wanted to improve U.S.-Cuba relations that went bad after Fidel Castro took power in a 1959 revolution.

The Cuban government, which views dissidents as U.S.-employed subversives, has said nothing about Obama’s statement, issued on Wednesday in Washington.

But thousands of people packed a stretch of downtown Miami on Thursday, in the heartland of exile opposition to the Cuban government, for a previously scheduled protest against the treatment of dissidents on the communist-ruled island.

In Cuba, dissident hunger striker Guillermo Farinas said in a telephone interview from his hospital bed in the central city of Santa Clara that Obama’s declaration would not have an immediate effect but would help isolate the Cuban government.

“That is very important, given that with a dictatorial, totalitarian government as exists here, one must not negotiate. You have to condemn and isolate dictatorships,” he said.

Farinas, 48, was in the 29th day of a hunger strike seeking the release of 26 ailing political prisoners. He has vowed to die for his cause if necessary.

Obama called Cuba’s human rights situation “deeply disturbing,” citing the recent death of dissident hunger striker Orlando Zapata Tamayo and the “repression” of the dissident group Ladies in White last week during marches protesting the 2003 imprisonment of 75 government opponents.

LADIES IN WHITE

The women — wives and mothers of the those arrested in the 2003 crackdown — were shouted down by government supporters and in one instance dragged by police into a bus as they walked through Havana for seven consecutive days.

About 20 of them marched again on Thursday at the same time as the protest in Miami, and were surrounded by 300 shouting government supporters in a replay of last week’s events.

“These events underscore that instead of embracing an opportunity to enter a new era, Cuban authorities continue to respond to the aspirations of the Cuban people with a clenched fist,” Obama said on Wednesday.

Obama called for the immediate release of Cuba’s estimated 200 political prisoners.

“In name of the Ladies in White, I thank Obama for the statement criticizing the government,” said Berta Soler, whose husband, Angel Moya, was arrested in the 2003 crackdown and is serving a 20-year sentence.

“It is very important to count on the solidarity of international personalities, and on Obama in particular, raising their voice asking for respect of human rights,” she said.

Former political prisoner Oscar Espinosa Chepe also thanked Obama for the “strong show of support” and accused the government of rejecting Obama’s overtures because “totalitarianism needs confrontation to justify repression.”

The protest in Miami drew throngs of people wearing white and waving Cuban flags. It was led by Cuban-American pop star Gloria Estefan and organized, before the release of Obama’s written statement, in support of the Ladies in White.

A Reuters photographer spotted Cuban exile and former CIA operative Luis Posada Carriles among the participants in the march. He has a long history of violent opposition to Fidel Castro, the former Cuban leader.

Obama has eased the long-standing U.S. trade embargo against Cuba by lifting restrictions on Cuban-American travel to the island and initiating talks on migration issues and resumption of direct mail service.

He has pegged further progress to Cuba releasing political prisoners and improving human rights.

Cuba, which says it is the victim of 50 years of U.S. aggression, has complained that Obama has done too little to bring about rapprochement.

(Additional reporting by Nelson Acosta, Esteban Israel and Joe Skipper; Editing by Tom Brown and Peter Cooney)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Congress protests against Uttarakhand Government in Dehradun

September 8, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Sep 7(ANI): Activists of Congress party on Monday protested against the Bharatiya Janata Party- led Government and accused it for ignoring the areas represented by the Congress here.

State Congress Chief Harak Singh Rawat led a protest march and sat on a hunger strike outside the Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal’s residence in Dehradun.

“The BJP ruled Government has completed two and a half years, but it has ignored opposition, especially Congress ruled legislative regions. Be it roads, drinking water schemes, construction of bridges, schools, universities and tubewells, BJP has not done any development work in our ruled regions,” said Harak Singh Rawat.

However, BJP described the protest as a political stunt and said that the Government would address the issues of the opposition.

“Today (September 7), the Chief Minister is out of station. He will return tomorrow from New Delhi. He will hold discussion with legislators of opposition and brief them about development works taking place in their regions,” said Uttrakhand Parliamentary Affair Minister Prakash Pant.

“Today’s act (protest) was politically motivated. The leader of opposition should have given a thought to his decision,” Pant added. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Anand Jon’s sister seeks Govt. intervention, threatens hunger strike

September 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep.1 (ANI): Sanjana Jon, sister of celebrity fashion designer Anand Jon has appealed to the Government to intervene in the case of her brother, failing which she would observe hunger strike.

On Monday, Los Angeles Superior Court sentenced Anand Jon to 59 years in prison for sexually assaulting aspiring models as young as 14 years in age.

Sanajana said that she would observe a hunger strike, if her pleas for help at the inter-governmental level were not paid heed to.

“My appeal is for intervention and I have said if I don’t get any help, my only resort, last resort would be to sit on a hunger strike till my voice is heard,” said Sanjana Jon.

In Bangalore, Anand Jon’s fashion designer friend and stage artiste, Prasad Bidappa expressed sorrow at the American court’s judgement.

“Anand Jon case, I find particularly sad because I feel he was truly a very good talent; somebody who, I think, was taking India’s torch forward in terms of fashion. I feel very sad that it had to come to an end like this,” said Prasad Bidappa.

Last November, thirty five-year-old Jon was found guilty of 16 counts, including rape, sexual battery and performing lewd acts on a child.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Wesley sentenced Jon to 59 years to life after denying his motions for a new trial.

Prosecutors said the crimes started in 2001 when Jon set up a fashion design business through which he lured would-be models to Los Angeles.

Later, the police got involved in March 2007 after a woman said she was sexually assaulted at his Beverly Hills apartment.on, whose full name is Anand Jon Alexander, denied the charges. His lawyers said the girls and young women were revenge seekers who had made up their stories or who had ‘invited what happened’, and that in the case, there had been least physical evidence.

The Indian-born designer was profiled on the TV show ‘America’s Next Top Model’ in 2003 and selected by Newsweek magazine as one of the world’s most successful South Asians in 2004. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wife of 1965 India-Pakistan war hero calls off protest

September 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Lucknow, Aug 31 (ANI): Rasoolan Devi, wife of the winner of Param Vir Chakra Havaldar Abdul Hamid has called off her sit-in protest three days after the State Government of Uttar Pradesh assured her and asked for ten days time to get her grandson a job.

Old and frail octogenarian Rasoolan Devi along with her grandson Mohammed Shameem started a sit-in protest on August 28, demanding that the State Government should fulfill its promise to get her grandson a job.

She accused the State Government for forcing her to come out of her house.

“My grandson is going through a lot. Why should I stage a sit-in protest if my grandson gets a job?” said Rasoolan Bibi, Abdul Hamid’s wife.

She called off the protest on August 30 after getting the government’s assurance.

However, her grandson Shameem continues his hunger strike until he gets a job.

“A job and five lakhs rupees as financial aid were announced on September 22 through Veer Shankar Pandey. I have got the money but I’m still waiting for the job. For this, I have gone on a hunger strike. My grandmother has come to ask about my well-being. She assured me that she will support me until my demands are met. We have to get this job,” he said.

Abdul Hamid was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra in the 1965 India-Pakistan war.

In 2007, the Bahujan Samjwadi Party of Uttar Pradesh promised a job for her grandson but nothing has been done until now. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Air India employees on hunger strike over non-payment of salary

August 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug 25 (ANI): Employees of India’s flagship carrier Air India are on a three-day hunger strike from today over delay in payment of their salaries.

“Over 20,000 members of the Aviation Industry Employees Guild (AIEG) and the Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) and some other unions from across the nation have decided to go on hunger strike from today, as the management is rigid over payment of our salaries,” said J B Kadian, general secretary, ACEU.

Last Friday, the meeting of the unions with the Air India CMD in Mumbai failed to reach any conclusion. The next round of meeting is scheduled to be held here this afternoon.

The employees threatened that they would again go on strike on August 31 if their negotiations with the management fail.

Earlier, employees had gone on a two-hour-long protest over non-payment of wages.

The unions had earlier called off their proposed strike on June 30 after the management had agreed to pay the salaries of 70 per cent of workers.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had said the government cannot bail Air India out every time, and it is time for the flagship carrier to tighten its belt and resolve its financial woes.

Air India’s borrowings have risen from Rs.6, 550 crore in November 2007 to Rs.15, 241 crore in June this year. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

BSNL employees strike affects telecommunication services in country

August 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi/Kolkata, Aug.19 (ANI): The strike call given by employees of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) affected telecommunication services across the country on Wednesday.

While the United Forum of BSNL Unions has called a 48-hour strike on August 19-20, the AIGETOA with over 10,000 engineers as its members, has called for an indefinite strike.

The All India Graduate Telecom Officers Association (AIGETOA), a forum of BNL engineers gave a call for a strike on Tuesday over the demand that officers on deputation for the last four years must be absorbed into the company so that they become more accountable alongside inculcating work culture in the organisation with an effective corporate objective.

The agitating engineers in the capital said that the company was incurring losses and demanded absorption of officers who had been deputed from Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

“We are on strike to save the BSNL. In the last four years, the profit of BSNL has gone down from rupees 8000 crore to rupees 104 crore. We have been in the company for the last four to five years but our future is not secured. We are worried that if the company keeps on running in losses like this, we will be the worst sufferers. We have to serve the company for the next 30 more years and if it runs on losses like today, we have nowhere to go as we have become attached to the company,” said R P Singh, General Secretary, AIGETOA, New Delhi.

He also said that they would go on hunger strike if their demands were not met.

Meanwhile, United Forum of seven BSNL Unions of over 100,000 non-executive employees also stopped work in support of the engineers.

The agitating workers, who were demanding a wage revision, staged a sit-in demonstration in front of the BSNL office in Kolkata on Wednesday.

“It is most unfortunate the big officers in the industry they have got …or the revised wages right from the Jan.1, 2007, but for the non-executives, they are making a derailed tactics. They want to ignore our legitimate demands,” said Animesh Mitra, Secretary, Coordination Committee, BSNL Employees’ Unions, Kolkata. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Obama’s book deemed dangerous for prisoners, could jeopardise national security

July 11, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, July 11 (ANI): An American al-Qaeda member, who is serving a 30-year sentence for conspiring to commit various terrorist acts including the murder of then President George W Bush, was banned from reading two books written by Barack Obama, as they were “potentially detrimental to national security.”

Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, an inmate at America’s most secure federal prison, was informed that specific pages were objectionable, singling out a page in ‘Dreams from My Father’ and page 22 in ‘The Audacity of Hope ‘.

Abu Ali requested last year before Obama’s election to read his biographical ‘Dreams from My Father’ and the more policy-oriented ‘The Audacity of Hope’.

Citing guidance from the FBI, the authorities at the Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, decided that both books contained information that could jeopardise national security.

Officials mentioned specific pages, but not passages that were objectionable. Half of them were in a chapter devoted to foreign affairs, The Telegraph reports.

Abu Ali later went on hunger strike in protest against his treatment, and prison officials said on Thursday that the books were subsequently deemed appropriate following a review of their contents.

However, evidence of their original ban has been included in court papers relating to Abu Ali’s re-sentencing hearing next month.

Joshua Dratel, his lawyer, said the rejection was an example of the harsh conditions imposed on inmates at the Supermax prison.

The rejections, as well as other restrictions on family visits, prompted a hunger strike by Abu Ali that has since ended, according to Dratel.

Inmates at the supposedly impregnable prison are usually kept in their cells in solitary confinement for 22 or 23 hours a day. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Imran Khan and Jemima still a compatible team

May 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, May 25 (ANI): Former Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan and his former wife Jemima might have divorced, but they still make a compatible team, for the latter has taken the liberty to offer coaching from Imran to help the fundraiser at her kids’ school.

Jemima has offered cricket coaching by Imran as part of a Great Ormond Street Hospital fundraiser at the West London School, where her kids Sulaiman, 12, and Kasim, 9, study.

Bidders can spend money on cricket coaching from Imran Khan, kindly donated by Jemima.

“Jemima has remained close to Imran,” the Daily Express quoted a source as saying.

“She stuck up for him when he went on hunger strike, protesting against Pakistan’s former President Musharraf and even though they’re no longer together, they still make a great team when it comes to raising the children,” the source added. (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ex-UK PM Thatcher to meet Pope next week

May 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, May 22 (ANI): Former British Prime Minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher is to have a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in Rome next week.

The former Prime Minister will fly to Italy today to stay with Carla Powell whose husband Charles was her foreign policy adviser at Downing Street.

Lady Powell arranged the meeting with the Pope, which will take place next Wednesday (May 27).he meeting will come more than 30 years after Lady Thatcher first visited the Vatican, as Leader of the Opposition, to meet Pope Paul VI.

In November 1980 she met Pope John Paul II, the former Polish Cardinal, who agreed to put pressure on the Irish Republican inmates in the Maze prison who were on hunger strike. Lady Thatcher is going to Italy with her daughter Carol. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mia Farrow ‘disappointed’ over not being able to finish 21-day fast

May 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, May 12 (ANI): Mia Farrow has admitted that she was very disappointed for not being able to complete her 21-day fast.

The actress started three-week hunger strike on April 27 (09) in a bid to raise awareness of the plight of starving refugees in Sudan.

However, her fasting came to an end on May 06(09) when her doctor warned her that she could suffer seizures.

The Rosemary’s Baby star revealed that she lost 13 lbs (5.9 kg) during her 12 days of fasting, and became so weak she couldn’t stand.

“I was very disappointed. I am a very stubborn person and very determined. I had modified my goal from 21 days and really hoped that I would reach my goal of fasting for 16 days, which is the number of aid agencies expelled (from Sudan),” the Daily Star quote her as telling People.com. (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mia Farrow ends hunger strike for Darfur after 12 days

May 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 9 (ANI): Actress Mia Farrow has ended her liquid-only fast aimed at drawing attention to the people of war-torn Darfur.

The 64-year-old actress and humanitarian stopped her fast after 12 days due to “serious health concerns” her doctor raised, reports People.

The last two days had become unbearable for Farrow, who took to her blog to say, “I’m really struggling” and “I won’t be able to continue much longer.”

On Friday, she wrote, “I have ended this fast.”

“I have been instructed by my doctor to stop my fast immediately due to health concerns – including possible seizures,” wrote Farrow.

“I am fortunate. The women, children, and men I am fasting for do not have that option,” she added.

Airline magnate Richard Branson says that he will take over the fast for the next three days. (ANI)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts