(25 Nov) Turkey and Russia have long been at loggerheads over the Syrian conflict, with Ankara seeking Assad’s overthrow while Moscow does everything to keep him in power. Ankara : NATO member Turkey shot down a Russian war plane on the Syrian border on Tuesday, an act President Vladimir Putin denounced as a “stab in the back” by “accomplices of terrorists” as tensions spiraled between the two rival players in the Syria war. The Russian Sukhoi Su-24 jet was shot down by Turkish F-16 fighter planes after it allegedly violated the country’s air space and ignored ‘ten warnings in the space of five minutes’, army officials said. The assertion was backed up by Turkey’s NATO ally the United States. However, Russia’s Ministry of Defence claims the jet was in Syrian airspace, and was shot down from the ground. Turkey has called an extraordinary meeting of NATO while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had scrapped a planned trip to Turkey aimed at narrowing differences on the By
Syria conflict.

Turkish television pictures showed the Su-24 exploding and crashing in a ball of flames into a Syrian mountain and two pilots parachuting to the ground after ejecting. Their fate was uncertain, with reports that one had been killed. The incident was the first of its kind since Russia launched air strikes in Syria in September in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, causing concern in the West over a possible clash with US-led coalition planes also in the skies. Footage reportedly filmed by rebels in Syria’s Turko-men Mountains, an area which has been the cause of recent tensions between Turkey and Russia, shows local fighters cheer as they uncover the body of one of the Russian pilots. The men can be seen surrounding the corpse of the pilot, wearing Russian military fatigues, shouting ‘Allahu Akbar.’ Putin branded the shooting down of the aircraft as a “stab in the back by accomplices of terrorists”. He said oil from jihadist-controlled territory was being exported through Turkey while funds were flowing back, and warned: “The tragic event will have serious consequences for Russian-Turkish relations.” Putin said the plane fell in Syrian territory four km from the border and “did not in any way threaten Turkey”. The Turkish army said the downing took place over the Hatay province on the border with Syria. “The plane violated Turkish air space 10 times in five minutes despite warnings,” it said in a statement, adding that it was shot down “according to the rules of engagement”. Its version was backed up by the US military which said Turkish pilots had issued 10 warnings without response. Russia summoned the Turkish military attache in Moscow while Ankara summoned Moscow’s charge d’affaires to the foreign ministry. “Everyone must know that it is our international right and national duty to take any measure against whoever violates our air or land borders,” Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

The incident came as Russian and Syrian jets are waging a heavy bombing campaign against targets in northern Syria while the US-led coalition continues its own air strikes. Turkey has expressed anger at the operation, saying it is aimed at buttressing the Syrian regime and has displaced thousands of Turkmen Syrians, an ethnic minority in the area and strong allies of Ankara. Russia however insists its strikes are aimed against Islamic State jihadists. European Union President Donald Tusk warned of a “dangerous moment”, saying “all should remain cool headed and calm.” Turkey and Russia have long been at loggerheads over the Syrian conflict, with Ankara seeking Assad’s overthrow while Moscow does everything to keep him in power. The Turkish military in October also shot down a Russian-made drone that had entered its airspace. But Moscow denied the drone belonged to its forces. The shoot down occurred as Russia and the West were slowly edging toward some manner of understanding to unite forces to confront the Islamic State in the wake of the bloody terrorist attacks in Paris and the downing of a Russian charter flight over Egypt that combined killed 354 people. There is a lot of oil coming to Turkey from ISIS territory. And some of these military groups get their financing from there. And now they stab us in the back; they hit our planes that are fighting terrorism.

(25 Nov) On early hours of Wednesday, a group of terrorists attacked an army post at Tangdhar near LoC in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district. More than 3 militants, and they are most probably fidayeens -Ajaz Ahmed,SSP Kupwara. . An army officer and a civilian killed in the operation. The official said it was not yet clear whether the militants were part of infiltrating group. “That is a matter of investigation. We can comment on it only after the operation is over,” he added. Tangdhar sector is close to the LoC in Kupwara district and has been used as an infiltration route in the past.

The official said the militants seem to be heavily armed as they used small fire arms and UBGLs to carry out the attack. Army official said, there was a brief lull before the militants opened fire again, triggering off a gunbattle, which was going on till last reports came in. No casualties have been reported so far. “There was a stand off fire from Kalsuri Ridge (in Tangdhar sector) towards an army camp this morning,” an army official said. Militants attacked using small arms and under barrel grenade launchers. More reinforcements have been sent towards the area. Officials said that two to three militants attacked an army camp of 1/3 GR at Kalsuri. A senior officer said some militants have been seen near the camp. Army’s Quick Action Team Responded the attack. Unidentified militants attacked an army camp near the Line of Control in Tanghdar in Kupwara sector. Heavy firing and blasts are going near the camp.

Los Angeles, Nov 23: Singer Taylor Swift, who garnered appreciation this year for her fifth studio album “1989”, clinched key honours at the American Music Awards 2015 by winning three awards. She won the Song of the Year, Favorite Pop/Rock Album and Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist trophies. Hosted by singer-actress Jennifer Lopez, the awards show took place here at the Microsoft Theatre on Sunday, reports variety.com. The other big winner of the night was British boyband One Direction, which received the trophy for Artist of the Year and the Favourite Duo or Group – Pop/Rock. While the Favourite Male Artist – Soul/R&B went to singer The Weeknd, singer Nicki Minaj took home the trophy for Favourite Artist – Rap/Hip-Hop.

The Favourite Artist – Alternative Rock honour was taken by American rock band Fall Out Boy. Music producer Skrillex and DJ Diplo’s single “Where are u now”, featuring singer Justin Bieber, won the award for the best Collaboration of the Year,unleashed by T-Mobile. Singers Carrie Underwood and Ariana Grande took home the awards for the Favourite Female Artist – Country and the Favourite Female Artist – Pop/Rock. Also, Sam Hunt was named New Artist of the Year; Minaj’s album “The Pinkprint” won the Favourite Album – Rap/Hip-Hop; filmmaker Elizabeth Banks’s 2015 musical comedy film “Pitch Perfect 2” won the Top Soundtrack award; singer Luke Bryan won for Favourite Male Artist – Country; and The Weeknd’s “Beauty Behind the Madness” album was named Favourite Album – Soul/R&B. British singer Ed Sheeran clinched the trophy for Favourite Male Artist – Pop/Rock, while, singer Rihanna won the Favourite Female Artist – Soul/R&B award. Also amongst the winners were Enrique Iglesias and Calvin Harris, who won Favourite Artist – Latin and Favourite Artist – Electronic Dance Music (EDM).

(24 Nov) London : Mali police have showed images of two dead men who they claimed were the “authors” of the attack on the Radisson Blu hotel in the capital Bamako. According to The Guardian, the pictures on Mali state television were of two young black men, one of them lying on a metal gurney. The police have appealed for those with information about the men to come forward. Twenty people plus two gunmen died in Friday’s attack on the Radisson Blu hotel. The victims included six Russians, three Chinese, an American, a Belgian, a Senegalese and an Israeli. Jihadist group Al Mourabitoun and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) had claimed responsibility for the attack.

Dreaded terrorist group ISIS does not consider South Asian Muslims, including Indians, good enough to fight in conflict zone of Iraq and Syria and treated as inferior than Arab fighters but often tricks them and push into suicide attacks.

According to an intelligence report prepared by foreign agencies and shared with Indian agencies, fighters from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh as well as certain countries like Nigeria and Sudan are considered inferior to Arab fighters. There appears to be clear hierarchy wherein the Arab fighters are preferred as officer cadre and provided better arms and ammunition, equipment, accommodation and salaries.

“The fighters from South Asia are usually housed in groups in small barracks and are paid less than the Arab fighters and are provided inferior equipment,” the input says.

There are reports that the so-called inferior fighters are also, at times, tricked into suicide attacks. Usually they are given a vehicle loaded with explosives and asked to go near a targeted destination and call a certain number, who would purportedly come and meet them to explain the mission. However, as soon as the number is dialled, the car explodes due to a pre-set mechanism aimed at destroying a specific target.

A total of 23 Indians have so far joined the ISIS of which six reportedly killed in different incidents. The dead are: Athif Vaseem Mohammad (Adilabad, Telangana), Mohammad Umar Subhan (Bangalore, Karnataka), Maulana Abdul Kadir Sultan Armar (Bhatkal, Karnataka), Saheem Farooque Tanki (Thane, Maharashtra), Faiz Masood (Bangalore, Karnataka) and Mohammad Sajid alias Bada Sajid (Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh).

The intelligence report suggests that there is a disproportionately high level of casualty among the South Asian and African foreign terrorist fighters since they are forced to the frontlines of battle as foot soldiers.

The Arab fighters with better battle experience are mostly positioned behind these fighters and hence their casualties are proportionally less in terms of their total numbers. This explains why so many Indians from a small Indian contingent have died, it says.

The intelligence report says there is information that foreign fighters of Chinese, Indian, Nigerian and Pakistani origin are housed together and are monitored closely by the ISIS Police. Incidentally, only Tunisian, Palestinian, Saudi Arabian, Iraqi and Syrian are allowed to be in the ISIS Police force, which is barred for fighters of all other nationalities. Hence, there is a clear trust deficit between the dominant Arab fighters from other nationalities, who are mostly attracted to ISIS through its sophisticated propaganda techniques on the Internet.

There is also information, the intelligence input suggests, that the ISIS considers Islam, as it is practised in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh .., as apostate and a departure from the original teachings of Quran and Hadith, which makes them less motivated towards Salafist Jihad. Hence, there are authentic reports of brain washing of fresh recruits from South Asia and certain other countries by invoking the fear of ‘Jinn’, which are considered supernatural creatures in Islamic mythology, the intelligence input says.

The fear of ‘Jinn’ is invoked to ensure that the recruits from these countries do not return to their countries of origin on the premise that the ‘Jinn’ will continue to haunt them for the rest of their lives if they do so. Further, passports of foreign terrorist fighters from South Asia and certain African countries are usually burnt upon their arrival in Iraq-Syria to prevent them going back to their countries.

Two laboureres, both in their sixties, died on Monday at two closed tea gardens in North Bengal, a police officer said.

The deaths occurred at Nageshwari tea garden and Bagrakote tea garden, both of which have been closed for nine months, and the cause was attributed to illness, the officer said.

Sukra Manki Munda (65) died at Nageshwari tea garden this morning. Family members said he had been sick for a while and had died of malnutrition and lack of treatment.

Another labourer, Sibu Pradhan (66) also died at Bagrakote tea garden today. He too had been ill for several months and was suffering from malnutrition, his family members said.

The Joint Forum of Labour Unions of the tea gardens said both the gardens belonged to the Duncan group. All the 16 tea gardens of the group in North Bengal had been closed for the last nine months, they said.

A spokesman of the Joint Forum, Zia ul Alam of CITU said there was no water and electricity in the closed gardens and the labourers had no money to buy food or medicine.

He blamed the state government of being indifferent to the plight of the workers.

The district administration, however, claimed that they were supplying rice to the workers at Rs.2 per kg.

(13 Nov) New Delhi, Nov 13: Domestic e-commerce marketplace Snapdeal on Friday said it received over 9,500 bookings to buy real estate on its platform in the run-up to Dhanteras. The company introduced the first-of-its-kind ‘Diwali Home Buying Fest’ from November 3 to 9, extending special promotional offers on purchase of property from over 200 real estate projects.

“We were the first marketplace to introduce the real estate category and this Diwali has affirmed our commitment to further increase our assortment under this category. We are changing the way India shops in each and every category of products and services,” said Tony Navin, company senior vice president, partnerships and strategic initiatives. The average value of houses booked on the platform is Rs.55 lakh, Snapdeal said, adding that “customers from Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune have initiated the purchase process with partner builders”. Snapdeal’s new platform features map-based search, project segregation on the basis of location and convenient inventory booking. The company also offered price-saving deals of up to Rs.500 off per square feet on base selling price, waiver of car park reservation charges, free modular kitchen and air conditioners in bedrooms. IANS Source: www.oneindia.com

(23 Nov) Chennai: With the North East monsoon leaving a trail of destruction in Tamil Nadu, the state government today pegged the damage at Rs 8,481 crore, with Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately release Rs 2,000 crore to sustain relief work. In a letter to the Prime Minister, she said that 169 lives have been lost in various rain-related incidents since October 1, 2015. Detailing the extent of the damage, Jayalalithaa told the PM that despite her government’s preventive efforts, the state had suffered severe damage on account of the “extremely heavy and sustained” rainfall which, she said, had left a trail of destruction and that her government had allocated Rs 500 crore for relief work.

The assessment of damages and requirement of funds for immediate relief and restoration of infrastructure which she said had been speedily carried out indicated a much higher financial requirement. “The requirement of funds for immediate rescue and relief and the temporary and permanent restoration of infrastructure has been worked out at Rs.8,481 crore in all..” “This assessment has been made as an immediate measure since the Government of Tamil Nadu requires assistance from Government of India to meet the very high expenditure requirements that such a severe calamity has caused. The funds required are well beyond the resources available with the state, including the State Disaster Response Fund,” she said. She requested Modi to depute a central team immediately to make its on-the-spot assessment of damage and to release central financial aid without any delay keeping in view the urgency of restoring many of the infrastructure facilities and services to the flood affected people. “In the meanwhile, I request that an on account release of Rs 2,000 crore may be sanctioned immediately to enable the state government to sustain the relief and restoration operations with the same vigour,”

Jayalalithaa said. Jayalalithaa recalled that a deep depression of ‘high intensity’ in the Bay of Bengal had hit the Tamil Nadu coast near Marakkanam on November 10, 2015, causing extremely heavy rains, particularly in the four northern coastal districts of Cuddalore, Kancheepuram, Chennai and Tiruvallur. “Based on the forecast received from Indian Meteorological Department and the alerts received from the National Disaster Management Agency, adequate precautionary measures were taken which minimised loss to life and property,” she said, adding state-level agencies and the local administration in the affected districts were put on high alert. In addition, the services of the National Disaster Response Force, Army, Air Force, Navy and the Coast Guard were requisitioned wherever the need was felt. I thank you for the promptness in the dispatch of these forces,” she told Modi. However, despite all efforts taken by the state Government, “as the rainfall was extremely heavy and sustained for several days, it has left a trail of damage and destruction,” she said. The CM said many parts of the state had been severely affected due to flooding. One hundred and sixty nine lives were lost during this North East monsoon since October 1 and there was widespread damage to property, including dwelling units and crops, she said.

(23 Nov) New Delhi : The Congress Party on Monday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Assam Governor P. B. Acharya’s ‘Indian Muslims are free to go to Pakistan or Bangladesh’ remark and alleged that he recruits communal people at important constitutional positions. “This is the character of Narendra Modi ji. He is recruiting people, who induce communal hatred in the society at important constitutional positions. First he says, ‘sabka saath, sabka vikaas’ and then he recruits people who spread hatred on constitutional posts,” said Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed.

The Assam Governor had during a book launch yesterday said that ‘Hindustan is for Hindus’ and that the name of a single Bangladeshi should not be in the updating of the National Register for Citizens (NRC). Acharya’s comment came in reply to a question on updating the NRC list and on the controversy surrounding the Centre’s notification of allowing religious minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh fleeing persecution to seek shelter in India. “Hindustan is for Hindus. There is nothing wrong with that. Hindus from different countries can stay here. They cannot be outsiders. There is nothing to be feared about that. But how to accommodate them is a big question and we should think about that,” he said.