Asia baffled by tourists' need to get naked at sacred sites

 More Western tourists are posting photos online of themselves baring it all at ancient monuments in Asi, but locals don't often think the latest internet trend is funny or cool. Many exports of Western civilisation have been well received in Asia: indoor plumbing, the internet and the HBO series Game of Thrones to name a few.

However, a recent trend among tourists to strip naked and pose alongside the world's major landmarks has drawn the ire of governments and residents across the region.
After an earthquake that struck Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu on June 5 claimed the lives of 18 people, regional Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan blamed it on the naked derrieres of a few Western exhibitionists.
Mr Kitingan said the mountain had been angered by the foreigners who "showed disrespect to the sacred mountain" by uploading naked selfies taken there to social media.
Masidi Manjun, Sabah state minister of tourism, culture and the environment, explained that the indigenous people believe Mount Kinabalu is the final resting place of departed souls, and thus the tourists' actions were "sacrilege."
The perpetrators were eventually caught, fined and expelled from Malaysia -- fully clothed -- amid a scrum of media coverage.
All the commotion surrounding the case felt overblown to people like Canadian Emil Kaminski, one of the first and most prominent figures in the naked-tourism phenomenon, who say the growing social media trend is "just for laughs."
"(It started) because no one else did it at the time. (We were) tired of the same old boring photos ... that everyone does," Mr Kaminski, a videographer for the Monkeetime travel blog, told dpa.
He acknowledged that there are some limits. He would not advocate walking around a crowded tourist area in the buff, but if alone in a secluded place, then "why not?".

Canadian Emil Kaminski said he started posing naked at tourism spots because no one else had done it publicly before. (dpa photo)

The trend has seemingly caught on. A Facebook group calling itself Naked at Monuments has received thousands of followers while the photo-sharing website Instagram is littered with naked bottoms from around the globe.
As a major destination for travellers, Southeast Asia has been inundated with tourists looking for a good time.
From Penang in Malaysia, to Chiang Mai in Thailand and Angkor Wat in Cambodia, tourists have been caught in various stages of undress by local authorities who are shocked at the growing trend.
Since the beginning of the year, three French and two Americans have been arrested at the Angkor Wat temple complex that dates to the 12th century.
One 22-year-old Canadian student who declined to be named also posed naked at Angkor Wat with her friends, but was not caught by authorities.
"We were just having a bit of fun," she says. "The weather is so hot and we saw it on social media so we thought we would try it too."
According to Maria Lombard of Northwestern University, the need for tourists to connect with locations "in a tangible way" and the ire that it draws are not new or unique.
Ms Lombard points out that tourists have been carving initials into landmarks and historical sites for ages.
"This desire to show that "I was here" is not new; just the mode for expressing it is."
But such reassurances are no comfort to tourism officials across the region who argue that such stunts have no place for monuments that natives consider sacred.
"Everywhere on Earth, when someone takes off their clothing and becomes nude in public, it offends," said Phay Siphan, a spokesman for Cambodia's Ministry of the Interior.
"Angkor Wat is a (UN) World Heritage site and it has (important) cultural value," he said. "Nudity is not a cultural value."
Local officials are also puzzled why Western tourists who flaunt their bits at revered sites in Asia refrain from doing so in their own countries in front of landmarks like St Peter's Basilica.
"They don't seem to strip off much in the Notre Dame or Hagia Sofia or any other place I can think of," said Lawrence Osborne, a bestselling author who has written extensively about the clash of culture and identity in Southeast Asia.
"Modesty and restraint are still respected virtues in the East, so stripping naked at tourist sites that are sacred or highly visible is not only taboo in these countries but a "loss-of-face" for local officials."
But what started as fun and games for Mr Kaminski and his followers has quickly become a rallying cry in a fight against traditional conservatism.
After Malaysians blamed the earthquake on naked tourists, Mr Kaminski took to the internet to ridicule such statements, engaging in a Twitter tussle with state Tourism Minister Masidi.
"While it started as a goofy thing to do with friends, at this point it has evolved into a statement about people needing to stop being Taliban-like and update their ancient social norms."
Bangkok Post

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Political war of words erupts over Yakub Memon's execution

A political war of words erupted on Thursday over the execution of 1993 Mumbai blast convict Yakub Memon, with a section of opposition leaders speaking against the death sentence.

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh fired the first salvo, saying that the BJP- led government should show "similar commitment" in all cases of terror as it showed in the case of Yakub Memon.

"I hope similar commitment of the government and the judiciary would be shown in all cases of terror, irrespective of their caste, creed and religion," he said in a tweet following Memon's execution in the Nagpur central jail on Thursday morning.

Party colleague and former union minister Shashi Tharoor said he was "saddened" by Memon's execution.

"Saddened by news that our government has hanged a human being. State-sponsored killing diminishes us all by reducing us to murderers too," Tharoor tweeted.

"There is no evidence that death penalty serves as a deterrent, to the contrary in fact. All it does is exact retribution, unworthy of a government," the Thiruvananthapuram parliamentarian said.

"I'm not commenting on the merits of a specific case; that's for the Supreme Court to decide. Problem is death penalty in principle and practice," he added.

Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja, meanwhile, said that the death penalty should be done away with in the country.

"India should say an emphatic no to capital punishment.... It does not mean we do not have sympathy with those (blast victims') families, but by snatching away one life will not bring back all those lives," Raja said.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader and Hyderabad parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi said the government should ensure death sentence in all similar cases.

"Death sentence should also be given to Babu Bajrangi, Maya Kodnani, Col. Purohit and Swami Aseemanand," he said.

While Babu Bajrangi and Maya Kodnani are accused in the Gujarat riots, Col. Purohit and Swami Aseemanand are accused in the Malegaon blast.

The ruling BJP slammed the leaders opposed to the hanging. Tharoor and Digvijaya Singh were forsaken by the Congress as well, which said it was their "personal views".

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the views were that of the leaders concerned and not of the Congress.

Former home secretary and BJP parliamentarian R K Singh said those making such comments did not have national interests on their minds.

"These people don't think about national interest. Whether he (Yakub) had to be hanged or not was not to be decided by the government but the court, and the president uses his judgment after that...," he said.

Minister of state for parliamentary affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said justice had been done.

"Justice has been done; this increased the people's faith in the judicial process. He got two decades to prove his innocence, and he was proven guilty," he said.

Yakub Abdul Razzak Memon, convicted in the March 12, 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, was hanged at Maharashtra's Nagpur central jail on Thursday morning. 

TOI

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How Yakub Memon was hanged

Over 22 years after the 1993 Mumbai blasts, Yakub Memon, the sole convict on death row, was hanged on his 53rd birthday today. Here is how Yakub's hanging happened.

1.

Yakub Memon was woken up at 3.30am on Thursday.

2.

Yakub was permitted a warm bath and was provided with a set of fresh clothes — hours ahead of his scheduled hanging.

3.

Arrangements to offer namaz and read the Holy Quran were made for Memon at the Nagpur central jail.

4.

Yakub was offered a breakfast of his choice. Reports say that Memon had not eaten since Wednesday.

5.

Yakub underwent a final medical examination prior to hanging.

6.

Chief judicial magistrate of Nagpur M M Deshpande was present in the Fansi Yard. She read out the operating part of the TADA court order which awarded capital punishment to Yakub before he was made to stand on a stool and the lever pulled by the hangman.

7.

Memon was hanged at 6.35am.

8.

Memon was hanged till death in the 'Fansi Yard' under supervision of jail superintendent Yogesh Desai.

9.

A team of doctors declared him dead after about half-and-hour of the scheduled hanging, when his body was brought down.

10.

A postmortem was conducted a by a team from a Nagpur hospital.

11.

Yakub's body was then handed over to his family members. Yakub's brother Suleman and cousin Usman, who were camping in Nagpur since Wednesday, received the body.

7 family members, including two women, accompanied Yakub's body to Mumbai.

13.

Yakub's body was brought from Nagpur to Mumbai by IndiGo flight 544.

Times of India

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Gurdaspur attack: Pointing fingers before probe is unhealthy, says FO

 

As India blamed Pakistan for the Gurdaspur attack that killed at least seven people this week, the Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday termed accusations "unfortunate" and said countering terrorism could only be possible through cooperation.

"Pointing fingers before investigation is not a healthy trend," said FO spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah at a news briefing. India's Home Minister Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha today that the gunmen who stormed a police station and killed seven people in India's Punjab had come from Pakistan, according to a preliminary report. Singh said the Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, which belonged to the terrorists and were recovered after they were shot dead, established that they crossed into India through the River Ravi.
"The trio were dressed in army fatigues and equipped with Chinese-made grenades and AK 47s," he added.
In a statement shorn of the nationalist rhetoric the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is known for, The minister also warned of a forceful response to any attempt to undermine India's territorial integrity or security but did not specify any response to Monday's attack.
Indian police had managed to overcome three heavily armed men after a 12-hour gun battle. Four police officers including the local superintendent and three civilians had died in the operation in the usually calm northern state of Indian Punjab.
Talking about India's aggression at the Line of Control (LoC) and working boundary, Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson said Pakistan is capable of defending itself against any aggression.
He added the Pakistani high commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, postponed his visit to Chandigarh following the incident because the Indian government did not permit his driver and two other officers to travel with him.

The spokesperson further said India and Pakistan are in touch regarding the dates for the meeting between their respective national security advisers.
At the briefing, the spokesperson also talked about the peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban. He said Pakistan is committed to facilitating peace talks. However, he expressed his ignorance as to the date and venue of the second round of the talks.
With regards to the rumours about Mullah Omar's death, the spokesperson said the authorities are verifying their veracity.
DAWN

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Boeing officials think debris looks like part from 777

Source: Boeing officials think debris looks like part from 777

By Rene Marsh, Margot Haddad and Steve Almasy, CNN

Updated 0301 GMT (1001 HKT) July 30, 2015

 Story highlights

• Woman whose partner was on plane says she still is in disbelief that this might be part from MH370
• Local journalist says debris had a number on it, but it is unclear what it signifies
• Source close to investigation says Boeing officials, looking at photos, see element unique to 777 part

(CNN)Debris found in the western Indian Ocean on Wednesday appears to be part of a Boeing 777, the same model as Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that disappeared in 2014, according to a source close to the investigation.

The source said there is a unique element to the Boeing 777's flaperon, a wing component, that Boeing observers believe they are seeing in photos.

The debris was found Wednesday off the coast of Reunion Island, a French department in the western Indian Ocean. It is being examined to see if it is connected to flight MH370, a member of the French air force in Reunion said Wednesday.

The debris was found off the coast of St. Andre, a community on the island, according to Adjutant Christian Retournat.

Officials conducted an initial assessment of the debris using photographs.

The source stressed the observations are preliminary.
 

Police carry a piece of debris from an unidentified aircraft found off the coast of Reunion island.

K.S. Narendran, whose wife was on the plane, said he was reticent to call the discovery a major development.

"I think this is very early days yet. All we know is that a small part has been found. It is still a little early to suggest it does belong to MH370," he told CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront" from India. "I think it is premature to feel that it is all coming to a close or that we are even closer to the truth."

Sarah Bajc, whose partner, Philip Wood, was on MH370, said her "heart has been in my throat for most of the day."

During the initial days of the search for the plane, there were several reports of possible debris sightings in the waters closer to where authorities believe the plane went down, but none of those was actual wreckage. Bajc said as an emotional safety mechanism she disbelieves any reports like Wednesday's discovery.

She wants verification, she told "Anderson Cooper 360˚."

"If ultimately this is the piece of the wing, then that little thread of hope that I have been holding on to will, will have to break. And reality will have to take over," she said holding back tears. "But, yeah, up until now, I and most of the family members have continued to believe that until we have a body ... we can't give up hoping they will still come back."

If this turns out to be a piece of MH370, it would be the first piece of evidence that the plane crashed.

Malaysian team en route

Earlier, Retournat said the debris appeared to be a wing flap and had been taken to the island, about 380 nautical miles off the coast of Madagascar.

The Malaysian government has dispatched a team to Reunion Island to investigate the debris, Malaysian Minister of Transportation Liow Tiong Lai said in New York.

"We need to verify. We have wreckage found that needs to be further verified before we can further confirm if it belongs to MH370. So we have dispatched a team to investigate on these issues and we hope that we can identify it as soon as possible," the minister said.

Malaysia Airlines said it was working with authorities to determine where the part came from.

"At the moment, it would be too premature for the airline to speculate on the origin of the flaperon," the carrier said.

CNN analysts said there are indications the airplane part could be from a Boeing 777, and if that's the case, it's likely from MH370.

Making the determination should be "very simple" because the serial numbers riveted to numerous parts of the plane can be linked to not only the plane's model, but also the exact aircraft, said CNN aviation analyst Les Abend, who flew 777s during his 30 years as a pilot.

This means crash investigators may be able to figure it out from photographs of the part -- which could be an aileron, a flap or a flaperon -- even before arriving on the island, he said.

Several clues

Airplane debris is being examined to see if it's connected to MH370.

There are at least three elements of the discovery that are consistent with MH370, said CNN safety analyst David Soucie. The first is that the part appears to have been torn off the aircraft.

"This is from a sudden impact, it looks like to me," Soucie said.

There also is a seal on the top of the part that "is consistent with what I would see on an inside flap on a triple 7," he said, and the barnacles on the part are consistent with the "parasitic activity" that would take place from being underwater so long.

However, the part appears to be coated in white paint, which would run counter to Soucie's other observations in that the 777's parts would be coated in zinc chromate, not paint. Soucie acknowledged, however, that the part could be coated in something from the ocean.

"If it is a part from a triple 7, we can be fairly confident it is from 370 because there just haven't been that many triple 7 crashes and there haven't been any in this area," said CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo.

Antoine Forestier, a journalist on the island where the debris was found, said people who were on shore gardening saw the plane part drifting in the ocean.

Reporters from Antenne Reunion looked at the debris, which Forestier said was about 2 meters by 1 meter (6.5 feet by 3 feet).

There was a marking "BB670" on the part.

Soucie said he believes the number is a part number, though it might be from a subcontractor.

Drift possibilities

The head of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the agency tasked by Malaysia with leading the search for MH370, said the piece of debris is "not inconsistent" with drift modeling done by Australian authorities.

"If there was something from MH370 it could have reached Reunion Island from the area we're covering," said ATSB Chief Commissioner Martin Dolan. "It's not inconsistent with the drift modeling we've done. It's not inconsistent with the search area we're covering."

Dolan would not say how likely it was that any debris would move in a westerly direction.

"There's a range of possibilities," he said. "It's not an exact science." Dolan said surface currents, wind direction and how high an object was floating in the water might all play a role.

CNN

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Yakub Memon Hanged

Yakub Memon, convicted as "a driving spirit" for the 1993 blasts in Mumbai, was hanged a little before 7 am at Nagpur Central Prison. At 5 am, the Supreme Court had rejected his last-minute petition to stop his hanging after an unprecedented middle-of-the-night hearing.

Here are the 10 latest developments:

1. President Pranab Mukherjee rejected Yakub Memon's mercy petition sent to him on Wednesday.
2. Activists and Memon's lawyers told the Supreme Court in a late-night appeal that after a mercy plea is rejected, the death row prisoner can't be hanged for 14 days, according to rules.
3. However, the three Supreme Court judges who heard the case accepted the government's argument that Memon had "ample opportunity" to challenge his sentencing.
4. The court accepted the government's argument that a mercy plea filed on Memon's behalf by his brother, which was rejected by the President last year, could not be overlooked.
5. The Supreme Court on Wednesday had refused to stop Memon's hanging, rejecting his claim that the top court had not followed correct processes in upholding his death sentence earlier this week.
6. The same three judges who ruled against him during the day heard the emergency petition in the middle of the night.
7. Memon was convicted for helping finance the serial blasts in Mumbai in 1993 in which 257 people were killed.
8. His brother, Tiger, and Dawood Ibrahim, who masterminded the blasts, remain missing.
9. Those who support Memon's claim say that he provided crucial information to investigators in fixing accountability for the blasts. Two of his brothers have been given the life sentence.
10. Memon left the country just before the blasts. He returned a year later amid conflicting reports on whether he had been arrested or had surrendered. Investigators deny he was offered a secret plea bargain.- NDTV

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Yakub has not made his will: Lawyer

Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon, whose last-ditch effort to escape the noose at the Central Prison here on his 53rd birthday tomorrow was rejected by the Supreme Court, has not prepared any will so far, the convict's lawyer Anil Gedam said here on Wednesday.

"Yakub was hopeful of some kind of relief from the Supreme Court and also from his mercy petition with the President. He probably thought he would survive and will not be hanged which is why he did not prepare any will," Gedam told PTI.

After his execution as per the TADA court verdict, Yakub's mortal remains are most likely to be claimed by his family on Thursday, Gedam said.

In case the family wants to take possession of the body, they should give an undertaking to the authorities that they will not make an issue and will not hold any demonstration with the body and that there will be a quiet burial. But the Maharashtra government has to take a final call and can decide the place for his last rites, Gedam said.

Also, this purely depends on the law and order situation in the city and elsewhere in Maharashtra, the lawyer added. -- PTI

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Activists opposing Memon's hanging seek meet with President

A group of activists came out in support of Yakub Memon's fresh mercy petition filed as a last-ditch attempt to escape the gallows and sought a meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee over the issue.
Several senior lawyers, academicians, social activists and students gathered at Jantar Mantar and decided to hold a night-long vigil as part of their protests against the impending hanging of Memon.
"We are trying to get an opportunity to meet the President over the fresh petition filed by Memon," senior Supreme Court lawyer Vrinda Grover said. - PTI (Timesofindia)

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Countdown for Yakub Memon's hanging starts at Nagpur jail

 With the Supreme Court rejecting relief to Yakub Memon, the countdown for the hanging of the only death-row convict of 1993 Mumbai blasts case on Thursday has started at the Nagpur Central Prison here.

Memon is all set to be hanged to death as per the TADA court's order tomorrow on his 53rd birthday. All the preparations were complete, prison sources said. Top police officials on Wednesday visited the prison to supervise the security. Additional director general of police (prisons) Meera Borwankar arrived from Pune to oversee the preparations. She is being assisted by deputy inspector general of prisons Rajendra Dhamne and jail superintendent Yogesh Desai. Desai had overseen the hanging of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab at Yerwada jail in Pune during his stint there. Commissioner of Police S P Yadav, Joint Commissioner of Police Rajwardhan and zonal deputy commissioner Ishu Sindhu visited the jail in the evening. A Quick Response Team (QRT) of police has already been deployed near the premises. Though no intelligence inputs have been received about any possible incident, police are not taking any chances, sources said.

Section 144 of CrPC prohibiting assembly of five or more people has been imposed in the area around the prison.

Memon's brother Suleman and cousin Usman arrived here today. "We have faith in Allah," was all they said when accosted by reporters outside the hotel. According to the jail manual, Memon will be woken up early in the morning, allowed to take a bath and offered some light refreshment. He would be given religious books to read or recite prayers. 

PTI

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Yakub Memon's Hanging on Thursday!

Yakub Memon, convicted as "a driving spirit" for the 1993 blasts in Mumbai should hang tomorrow, as scheduled, the government is likely to advise President Pranab Mukherjee.

Here are 10 developments in the story:

1. The Maharashtra government is prepping the final plans to execute Memon, who turns 54 tomorrow. The Mumbai police is making careful arrangements for security.
2. The Supreme Court today rejected a claim by Memon that he should not hang because proper legal procedure had not been followed in his case.
3. President Mukherjee received a new mercy petition from Memon.  The Home Ministry has reviewed it and will recommend that it be rejected, said sources. An earlier appeal for clemency filed by Memon's brother had been refused last year.
4. Memon was first convicted in 2007 by a Mumbai court for planning the attack in which 257 people were killed in serial explosions in the city.
5. The Supreme Court upheld that verdict in 2013.
6. Memon's brother, "Tiger" Memon, and mafia don Dawood Ibrahim, the main masterminds behind the attack, remain missing.
7. Memon said in the Supreme Court this week that an order to hang him was passed while he still had legal recourse available. Two judges differed on that yesterday, and the case was referred to a three-judge bench today, which ruled against Memon.
8. Supporters of Memon's plea said he cooperated with investigating agencies. There were reports last week that he surrendered in 1994, choosing to return to India from Pakistan. He had left Mumbai with his family just before the attacks.
9. Prosecutors and investigators insist Memon was arrested and no secret plea bargain was offered.
10. Memon was the only one of 11 people convicted for the 1993 attacks to have his death sentence upheld on appeal.-  NDTV

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Serial maid molester given 27 months' jail and three strokes of the cane

 A Bangladeshi construction worker was jailed for 27 months and given three strokes of the cane on Wednesday for molesting several domestic helpers.

Md Hira Dhali Abdul Hossain Dhali, 29, pleaded guilty to five charges involving four maids, whom he targeted in HDB lift lobbies and outside condominiums in the Sengkang and Punggol area.
A court heard that around noon on Jan 23, he had followed a Filipino maid along Sengkang West Avenue while she was returning from grocery shopping. He grabbed the 31-year-old's bra strap and pinched her right elbow. Although she scolded him, he continued to follow her and demand her phone number.
On reaching the block where she lived, the victim had to wait at the lift lobby while Hira kept trying to engage her in conversation.
When she was entering the lift, he touched her right buttock, then reached through the lift doors and grabbed her right breast before running off.
Hira struck again on April 25 in an Edgedale Plains lift lobby, this time attacking a 40-year-old Indonesian maid who was also returning home with groceries.
As she was going up to her employer's apartment, he slipped into the lift and asked her if she wanted a boyfriend. The victim rejected him, but he suddenly hugged her from behind and forcibly kissed her.
The victim put up a struggle, so Hira hit several buttons in the lift, causing it to go up and down and stop at different floors. The victim tried to flee each time the doors opened, but Hira restrained her.
While they fought, he grabbed both her breasts and also forced her to touch his genitals over his jeans. The lift finally stopped at the 16th floor and the victim managed to escape when a neighbour entered the lift.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kenneth Kee had previously called for a jail term of two years and six months to three years, along with three strokes of the cane.
He had pointed out that Hira had attacked four different women and engaged in a protracted struggle with at least one.
Hira, who was unrepresented during his sentencing, sat with his head bowed in the dock throughout. In mitigation, he said through an interpreter that he was very remorseful and needed to return to Bangladesh as soon as possible to look after his mother.
For each count of outraging modesty, he could have been jailed up to two years, fined, caned, or any combination of the above.
For wrongfully restraining his victim to outrage her modesty, he could have been jailed between two and 10 years, and caned.
The New Straight Times

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Bangladesh Suprem Court upholds death penalty of BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury

- Death upheld in 4 charges

- 20yrs upheld in 2 charges
- Acquittal over Satish Chandra killing
- 5 yrs upheld for killing 2
Bangladesh’s top court today upheld the death penalty for BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury for the crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War of 1971.
Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha pronounced the verdict within a short span of time after 9:00am this morning. Grounds of the judgment could not be known since the full text was not released yet. The appeal verdict is mostly unchanged from that delivered by a war crimes tribunal two years ago except that SQ Chowdhury was acquitted of murdering Satish Chandra Palit – the charge for which he was given 20 years in prison.
READ more: Son testifies on father’s killing
The verdict drew appreciation from Attorney General Mahbubey Alam while defence and family of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury have said they will move a review against the verdict.
SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT
Death upheld in four charges: involvement in killing of Nutan Chandra Singha, Awami League leader Mozaffar Ahmed and his son, and two incidents of genocide in Raozan.
READ more: The 23 Charges
Twenty years of jail term upheld for two charges: acts of genocide at Madhya Gohira Hindu Para, acts of genocide, persecution and deportation at Jagotmallo para. Acquittal over Satish Chandra Palit killing in Raozan of Chittagong.
Five years of prison upheld in abducting, confining and torturing Saleh Uddin, who later became vice-chairman of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, and Nizamuddin Ahmed, who later became a journalist.
He remained acquitted of 14 other charges originally brought by the prosecution.
BACKGROUND
This is the fifth time the Appellate Division of the SC has delivered a verdict on an appeal against a tribunal’s judgment.
The three other judges of the bench are Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Hasan Foez Siddique.
On July 7, a four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by the chief justice fixed today for delivering the verdict on the appeal after hearing it for 13 days.
On October 1, 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 found the BNP leader Salauddin, now 66, guilty of nine of the 23 charges brought against him for committing crimes against humanity.
The BNP leader on October 29, 2013 appealed to the SC against the verdict seeking acquittal on all charges.
Law enforcers arrested Salauddin on December 16, 2010, at Banani in the capital in connection with torching a car in Moghbazar on June 26.
He was shown arrested on December 19 following a warrant issued by the tribunal.
The daily Star on 29th July, 15

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Taliban leader Mullah Omar 'is dead'

The leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Mohammed Omar, has died, Afghan officials say, but the militant group has not commented on the claim.
The reclusive leader died two to three years ago, Afghan government and intelligence sources said. No further details were released.
A Taliban spokesman contacted by the BBC said the group would issue a statement shortly.
There have been several reports of Mullah Omar's death in the past.
However, this is the first to be confirmed by top sources in the Afghan government.
Mullah Omar led the Taliban to victory over rival Afghan militias in the civil war that followed the withdrawal of Soviet troops. His alliance with al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden prompted the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Mullah Omar has since been in hiding, with a $10m US state department bounty on his head.
Over the years, the Taliban have released several messages purported to be from the fugitive leader.
The latest of these statements, from mid-July, expressed support for peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
However, the message was in the form of a text published on a Taliban website, rather than an audio or video recording - fuelling rumours that the leader was dead or incapacitated.

Mullah Mohammed Omar

• Taliban say he was born in 1960 in the village of Chah-i-Himmat, in Kandahar province
• Fought in resistance against Soviet occupation in 1980s, suffering a shrapnel injury to his right eye
• Forged close ties to al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden
• Became "Supreme Leader" of Taliban movement in 1996
• US-led forces overthrew his government in 2001; US state department has a $10m bounty on him
• Earlier this year the Taliban published a biography of him saying he does not own a home and has no foreign bank account, and saying he "has a special sense of humour"
• BBC

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How President APJ Abdul Kalam Saved HIV Affected Siblings in Odisha

 While nation mourns the death of the "peoples' president", an orphaned girl from a far flung village of Odisha remembers the gesture of APJ Abdul Kalam towards her HIV positive siblings 10 years ago.

"For me, he was a saviour. My younger brother and sister were HIV/AIDS carriers. My infected siblings are alive today, thanks to the timely intervention of Kalam uncle," she said requesting not to be named.

"I was overwhelmed with joy when the postman had brought me a letter signed by the then President and a draft of Rs. 20,000 in June, 2005. I had written to Kalam uncle highlighting the plight of my siblings," the woman of Olaver village in Kendrapara district recalled".  At that time, I was hardly 11-years-old while mysiblings were six and four-years-old. As my parents had passed  away, I was looking after them. I had learned from media that he was people's president. He loved children. I wrote a letter to him," she said.

Dr Kalam intervened and the local administration came the rescue of the family. Help later came in from various quarters, she said.

The Chief Minister's office had also come forward to grant Rs. 20,000 financial grant. President's gesture had also brought about a change of heart of the health officials, the woman said. "They had begun to pay added medical attention towards my brother and sister."

"My siblings have successfully fought against AIDS since past one decade. The presidential intervention had given a new lease of life to them. We are deeply sad over his demise. I feel as if I have lost a close member of my family," she said.

A resident of Ramnagar district too remembered Kalam and condoled his death.

"We are bonafide citizens of this country. But the administration had branded us Bangladeshis and had been served notice to leave India on January 15, 2005. We dispatched post cards to the then President Kalam," Prafulla Mistry said.

"The President intervened and sought a report. A month later, the deportation drive was put on hold. We believe that union government suspended deportation because of presidential intervention. His death is a personal loss to us," Mr Mistry said.

NDTV

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President APJ Abdul Kalam's Unfinished Lecture to Appear in New Book

 The lecture which President Kalam couldn't finish before collapsing while talking to students in IIM Shillong could soon be part of a new book.

'Creating a Livable Planet Earth' was not only the topic of a lecture which he had just begun to deliver before the management students on that fateful Monday evening, but was also the subject of a book which he could not finish in his lifetime.

"We were working hard to make it into a book. The idea had been there with him for a long time and he had even written almost half of it. Now we are planning to compile it into a book form with whatever he had written," Dr Kalam's close aide Srijan Pal Singh told PTI. The 4,000-word unfinished lecture written for IIM students would also be included in the book. "We will make that lecture public for sure," Mr Singh, who has co-authored two books with the former President, said. "The only problem is that he had not signed agreement with any publisher on this book. So we have to figure out a way on how to get his unpublished work in print," he said.

Based on topics related to sustainable development, the book is based on managing damages to the earth's ecosystem amidst mankind's quest for development and industrialisation.

It talks about ways to combat pollution, waste management, land management, water conservation, recycling, energy conservation, green buildings and promoting green energy which reducing the consumption of fossil fuel.

"It looks at the idea of sustainability from all angles," Mr Singh said.

It was during the Beijing Forum at China in 2012 that Dr Kalam, author of books like 'Wings of Fire', 'India 2020' and 'Ignited Minds', had first proposed the thought of how important is a livable planet earth.

Besides this, Dr Kalam has hardly left any of his work including poetries unpublished.

"There might be some stray article or memo which is not yet released. Otherwise, whatever he wrote, he made it a point to publish everything," his associate said.

Another book titled 'Advantage India' was completed recently by Dr Kalam. Co-authored with Mr Singh, the book is due for release later this year.

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Rajiv Gandhi Killers Will Not Hang, Confirms Supreme Court

The Supreme Court today confirmed its decision of commuting the death sentence to life imprisonment of three persons convicted of killing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

The apex Court dismissed the curative petition filed by the Centre which was seeking a review of the decision in February last year. Centre's curative petition said that the victims in the former Prime Minister's assassination case were not heard before commuting their death sentence.

In February last year, the Court had commuted the death sentence of three persons - Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan, citing the 11-year delay in deciding their mercy petitions.

The three convicts are lodged in a Vellore prison. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991 in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.

 

NDTV

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Salauddin Quader Chowdhury verdict tomorrow

The Supreme Court is set to deliver its verdict tomorrow on an appeal filed by war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury challenging the death penalty and other sentences handed down to him.
A four-member SC bench headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha is set to pronounce the judgment at 9:00am tomorrow. The three other judges of the bench are Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Hasan Foez Siddique.
On July 7, the same bench fixed today for delivering the verdict on the appeal after hearing it for 13 days.
This is the fifth time the Appellate Division is going to deliver a verdict on an appeal that challenged the tribunal’s judgment.
On October 1, 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 found Salauddin, now 66 years old, guilty of nine of the 23 charges brought against him of his crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War.
The tribunal handed him death penalty on four charges, 20 years in jail for three charges and five years in jail for two other charges. Talking to The Daily Star on July 26, both the state and the defence counsels expressed hope of getting a verdict in their favour.
Reports The daily Star on 28th  July

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APJ Abdul Kalam's most important message

India has lost one its greatest sons. The nation is grieving the passing away of the 'People's President'.
Tributes are pouring in. The grief is real and heartfelt. For some, his biggest contribution was as the father of India's missile program, others felt his persona bloomed after he became the President of India.
Vision 2020, 'What Can I Give Movement', his myriad ideas were all aimed at turning around the India story. The India of his dreams was his biggest passion in life.
However, his ideas on issues like transformation of society and world peace, though powerful, never gained the importance they deserved.
Addressing the European Union Parliament in 2007, he said, “Righteousness is the beginning. What we need is a carrier of eternal goodness and wholesomeness in human conduct, which is righteousness."
“Where there is righteousness in the heart
There is beauty in the character.
When there is beauty in the character,
There is harmony in the home.
When there is harmony in the home,
There is order in the nation.
When there is order in the nation,
There is peace in the world.”
“This is true, for the whole world. When we need peace in the world, we need order in the nation; we need harmony in the home, whether in Europe or in India or in any part of the world, the origin is righteousness in the heart. How do we evolve righteousness, in the hearts of every citizen of the world?”
Zee News India

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President Kalam's Life Will be Taught in Schools, Says Shivraj Singh Chouhan

A lesson on the life of late former President APJ Abdul Kalam will be taught in schools across Madhya Pradesh in a bid to make students ideal citizens in their life, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in Bhopal today.

"A lesson on Dr Kalam's life will be taught in schools," Mr Chouhan told reporters at airstrip in Bhopal.

Mr Chouhan said that teaching children about Dr Kalam's life inspire them in achieving their goal and make them ideal citizens. "Kalam's death has created a void and irreparable loss that can't be filled," he said adding, the former President was a source of inspiration to him.

"Kalam proved that a person from modest family background can make it to the highest office by the virtue of talent and hard work," Mr Chouhan said.

Recalling Dr Kalam as a "visionary", the Chief Minister said the former not only dreamt to make India a developed country by 2020, but also prescribed a concrete vision and guidelines for the country.

The state has already declared a seven-day mourning in the wake of Dr Kalam's death in Shillong yesterday.

As per the protocol, the Tricolour is flying half mast in all government buildings.

NDTV

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Indian Former President APJ Abdul Kalam no more

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam's body has being taken by an Air Force helicopter to Guwahati and from there will be taken to Delhi. India's 11th President APJ Abdul Kalam died on Monday evening at a hospital in Meghalaya, where he had gone to deliver a lecture. He was 83.
The former President, who was in office from 2002 to 2007, had collapsed during the lecture at the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong, around 6.30 pm. He was taken to the Bethany hospital. Doctors said he had suffered from a massive cardiac arrest.
"President Kalam was brought to the hospital at 7 pm. When he brought in there was no sign of life. He was taken to ICU to try and revive him, which was futile," hospital sources told NDTV.Dr Kalam's body will be taken back to Delhi on Tuesday. The government will declare a seven-day national mourning, reported Press Trust of India, quoting Union Home Secretary LC Goel.

Paying a special tribute to Dr Kalam later in the evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "My mind is filled with so many memories, so many interactions with him. Always marvelled at his intellect, learnt so much from him."
Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted, "Deeply saddened at the sudden demise of the former president of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. He was an inspiration to an entire generation."
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Former president Abdul Kalam critical, hospitalised in Shillong

Former president of India APJ Abdul Kalam has been admitted to a hospital inShillong in a critical condition on Monday. As per media reports, Kalam suddenly fell ill during a function at the Indian Institute of Management situated near the capital of Meghalaya.

The 84-year-old India's much-loved former president is said to have collapsed on the dais. 

He was immediately rushed to Bethani Hospital in Shillong. The Meghalaya government has constituted a team of doctors to monitor Kalam's situation.

The Indian Army has also rushed a team of doctors to the hospital, reports added.

ZEE NEWS

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