23 Nov) Seven people, including a pilot, were killed on Monday when a helicopter ferrying pilgrims to the Vaishno Devi temple crashed near Katra in Jammu and Kashmir, police said. The helicopter was privately operated. Following the crash, helicopter services between Katra and Vaishno Devi have been suspended.

India Today reports that the helicopter landed barely meters away from a thickly populated locality, somewhere near the base camp in Katra. In October, over 2.7 lakh pilgrims visited and paid their obeisance at the holy cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi during Navaratras in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir. The Finance Department, headed by Haseeb Drabu of the PDP, issued a notification on September 2, asking the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) to impose a 12.5 per cent service tax on pilgrims travelling by helicopter to and fro from Katra to Sanjhi Chhat. 5 dead in Helicopter crash near Katra(J&K), pilgrims were on their way to Sanji Chhat.

will star in Rajkumar Hirani and UTV Motion Pictures’ SAALA KHADOOS. The bilingual in Hindi and Tamil marks the reunion of Rajkumar Hirani and UTV Motion Pictures post Aamir Khan starrer PK. R Madhavan, who plays a boxing coach in this sports drama, will be working with Raju Hirani after 3 IDIOTS. Newcomer Ritika Singh makes her debut with this film.

Swati A. Dandekar India-born Swati A. Dandekar, a Nagpur and Bombay University alum was nominated as the United States director of the Asian Development Bank and given the rank of an ambassador by President Barack Obama on Friday. The White House also announced the remaining eight key administration posts.

“I am confident that these experienced and hardworking individuals will help us tackle the important challenges facing America and I am grateful for their service. I look forward to working with them,” Barack Obama said. According to her White House biography, Swati received a BS from Nagpur University and a Post-Graduate Diploma from Bombay University, is a former Iowa state legislator and member of the Iowa Utilities Board. She served on the Iowa Utilities Board from 2011 to 2013. Prior to joining the Utilities Board, Dandekar served in the Iowa State Senate from 2009 to 2011 and in the Iowa State House of Representatives from 2002 to 2008. From 2000 to 2003, she was a member of the Vision Iowa Board of Directors. Dandekar also served on the Linn-Mar Community School District Board of Education from 1996 to 2002 and was a member of the Iowa Association of School Boards from 2000 to 2002.

News24 Bureau New Delhi: Underworld don Chhota Rajan was sent to Tihar prison on 14 days of judicial custody on Thursday evening. Rajan has been kept in jail number 2 of the high security prison, the Hindustan Timesreported. The don has been kept alone under constant CCTV surveillance with a Tamil Nadu state police personnel ensuring that he’s not ‘attacked’, the English daily added. Meanwhile, CBI has taken over all 71 cases against Rajan and it will soon start re-registering FIRs in them. Chhota Rajan, whose real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, was arrested in Bali on October 25. The 55-year old don, who has been on the run for 27 years, arrived at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on November 6 in a special aircraft. He was being accompanied by officials of the CBI, and Delhi and Mumbai police.
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(20 Nov) Bengaluru, Nov 20: In an another exclusive discount offer, AirAsia India has announced a new scheme under which flight ticket can be booked at Rs 1,269. Read on to get all details about the latest discount offer. The promotional airfare by AirAsia India has been announced recently. To avail the above mentioned scheme, interested person(s) needs to book ticket on or before Nov 22, 2015. However, travel period is between Jan 15 to April 30, 2016. AirAsia India services are available at a few selected domestic routes including Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa, Pune, Delhi, Guwahati, Imphal, Bhubaneswar, Kochi, Chandigarh. Indian airlines have been making great profits with such offers. According to reports, air travellers carried by domestic airlines in the first seven months till July 2015 rose 21 per cent to 455.78 lakh.

(7 Oct) – By Natasha Jade Two years ago I spent six months in Nepal, volunteering, studying yoga and painting. During my time in the country I sketched the great Maju Deval temple in Kathmandu that has now been destroyed to the recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake. When I returned to London I created a large oil painting of the temple and it is this painting that I have just auctioned, raising £870 for the Save the Children Nepal Earthquake appeal. Now that I am back in London, it seems strange to me that I kept my painting of the Maju deval temple in my room for almost two years without even taking a photo. When I read about the earthquake that had devastated the country that means so much to me, I realised that auctioning my painting was a way that I could give something back to this inspirational country and its people. My experience in Nepal was quite amazing and unique to my journey and me. When I was on the plane coming over from India I met amazing people including one lady By Nepali Blogger, 20 May 2015
who invited me back to her house and let me stay there for my first few days in the country. They were a really wonderful openhearted family. When I arrived in Nepal I could almost feel myself relax as I left the chaos of India. One security guard actually looked at me and said; “it’s OK, you’re in Nepal now” as I left the plane. While volunteering in a school in the east of Nepal I had many strange experiences including taking two of the younger orphans to the local prison to see their mothers, the meeting began with a feast that the female inmates had prepared. At one point I had to repeat a rendition of ‘the cup” with my accordion for 200 Nepali children and their parents in a very isolated village near the border of China. I also spent some time living just outside Pokhara with a community of people nestled in the foothills on the Annapurna range. It was during this time I was able to really absorb the beauty and the silence of the country. I felt safe and inspired and so extremely welcome. Maybe this was why as an artist I felt so compelled to paint. Like a lot of people who have traveled in Nepal, I have many stories. This country offered me so much love and warmth. Nepal has a very big heart, which is displayed in the eyes of each and every person I met. The country has a special soul, a soul that is unique, kind and forgiving. About Natasha Jade Natasha Jade is a British artist based in East London. After a year and a half of immersing herself in the culture of India, Nepal, Turkey and Brazil she now resides in Hackney, London. To view her portfolio, visit Natasha Jade’s website and blog. Follow Natasha Jade on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

(19 Nov) By Arun Kumar, Washington, Nov 19 : While more than eight in ten Indians consider religious freedom as very important, surprisingly fewer than half deem honest competitive elections as important in the world’s largest democracy, according to a new survey. There is broad support around the world for many of the basic tenets of democracy, according to the Washington based think tank Pew Research Centre’s survey of 40,786 adults in 38 countries from April 5 to May 21, 2015. Majorities in nearly all the countries polled say it is at least somewhat important to live in a country with free speech, a free press and freedom on the internet. And across the 38 countries, global medians of 50 percent or more consider these freedoms very important. In all 38 nations surveyed, majorities say it is at least somewhat important to live in a country with religious freedom, a free press, free speech and competitive elections. Freedom of religion emerge as an especially significant principle. Across the countries polled, a median of 74 percent say it is very important for people to be free to practice their religion. Americans are also among the most supportive of religious freedom with 84 percent in the US saying it is very important. “Overall, this right is highly valued in the Asia-Pacific region as well,” the survey noted, “with more than eight-in-ten Pakistanis, Indians and Indonesians describing religious freedom as very important, compared with just 24 percent in Japan, the lowest share among the countries surveyed.” Elections are clearly considered a central component of democracy, and across the 38 nations in the study, a median of 61 percent think it is very important to have honest, competitive elections with the choice of at least two political parties. “However, there are five nations where fewer than half deem this very important: India, Tanzania, Pakistan, Indonesia and Vietnam,” the survey found. In terms of broad support for fundamental democratic principles, 83 percent Indians consider it very important that people can practice their religion freely as against a global median of 74 per cent. Nearly three in four Indians (71 percent) believe women have the same rights as men as against a global median of 65 percent. Half (49 percent) think honest elections are held regularly with choice of at least two parties compared to a global median of 61 percent.

About 44 percent Indians believe people can say what they want without censorship as against a global median of 56 percent, while 41 percent think media can report news without censorship compared with a global median of 55 percent. About 38 percent Indians believe people can use the internet without censorship as against a global median of 50 percent. Overall, global attitudes toward freedom of speech and freedom of the press are quite similar. A 38-nation median of 56 percent believe it is very important to live in a country where people can say what they want without government censorship. And 55 percent think it is very important that the media can report the news without being censored. Opposition to internet censorship is also common around the world. A global median of 50 percent say an uncensored internet is very important. (Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])-IANS

India has frozen assets worth Euro 3 lakh (over Rs 2.12 core) of over three dozen entities on charges of terrorist financing and money laundering of illicit funds, a latest report by global anti-financial terror body FATF has said. The body has conducted a mid-session review of various countries and economic powers of the world in the wake of the increased activities of dreaded terrorist group, ISIS, around the globe. The banned group has also been held responsible for the recent terror attacks in Paris which killed 129 people. As part of India’s initiative against suspect funds and those related to terrorism, the FATF report said the country has frozen assets to the tune of Euro 3 lakh belonging to 37 entities till August 15 this year.

India is a full-member of this reputed global body, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), along with other nations like the US, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. “In light of the growing threat of ISIL (Islamic State of in Iraq and the Levant) and other terrorist groups, the FATF has taken a renewed focus on the global threat of terrorist financing and terrorism and conducted a fact-finding initiative to determine whether all jurisdictions in the global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing network have implemented key measures to cut off terrorism-related financial flows, in accordance with the FATF recommendations.

“This report sets out the results of that exercise,” a report prepared in this regard for the perusal by G20 leaders said. The G20 nations, including India being represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Turkey’s Antayla, last week had resolved to seek urgent and united global efforts to combat terrorism as the gruesome Paris attacks, war in Syria and the fight against Islamic State militants overshadowed the deliberations at the Summit. The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 and it is mandated to set global protocols and standards to combat money laundering and other financial crimes with direct ramifications to terrorist acts across the globe.

19 Nov) MUMBAI : A fire broke out on the weather shed of the parking area of Gaiety Galaxy cinema at Bandra on Wednesday afternoon. No one was injured in the incident. The mishap occurred at around 3.30pm, when a show of the movie “Prem Ratan Dhan Payo” was on. Eight fire engines and water tankers were rushed to the spot, which reportedly brought the fire under control within 20 minutes. According to the patrons and some locals, the sudden fire created panic among the people. Apparently, the garbage that had accumulated on the weather shed had caught fire. There were not many vehicles parked in the area and the fire was doused within half an hour before it spread, said sources.

(19 Nov) New Delhi: The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has reportedly started an online petition for school children studying in around 18 Guru Harikrishan Public Schools in New Delhi to generate support for banning Sikh jokes, as also involve them in constructive community service. The campaign for banning Sikh jokes started some days back, and the online petition has so far received over 13,000 signatures in the ten days since the launch of the Change.org website “The petition is gathering momentum, and what we’re seeing from the nearly 13000 comments, is that people from various sections of society, including non-Sikhs, have welcomed the chance to protest against these jokes which hurt the feeling of Sikhs and shows them in poor light DSGMC president Manjit Singh G.K said, “It was decided to start the online petition by the student community and to actively involve around 25000 students studying in Sikh minority education institutions in the “Ban Sikh Jokes” movement under the aegis of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee after a sikh women advocate Mrs. Harvinder Choudhary had filed a petition in the supreme Court seeking a ban on sikh jokes for hurting religious sentiments of the community.” Manjit Singh G.K further said that both teachers and students have been asked to meet the target of one lakh online signatures within the timeline of four weeks. He said that the DSGMC will provide all technical and logistic support to the schools for facilitating the signature drive. He added that the committee has also given options to school teachers to get signatures on separate sheets of paper for students who do not have e-mail ids and do not use online accounts for one reason or the other. He said that students will also be encouraged to get the signatures of their parents and also the signatures of non-sikh students so to as to generate mass support among all sections of society.

He said the DSGMC will also provide publicity material like posters,visiting cards that will be displayed in each classroom to generate awareness among students about the movement so as to emotionally integrate and involve them with the cause. Manjit Singh GK exhorted both parents and teachers to be positive and get involved in constructive community service for the country. “It is generally seen that ignorants are bullying Sikh children with ’12 baj gaye’ and other taunts. Our children should use positive dialogue like Guru Nanak used five centuries ago, and remind them of the historic significance of ’12 baj gaye’ when Sikhs at this time freed thousands of Indian girls and women from the clutches of Ahmed Shah Abdali,” he said.

“We all have to be proud Indian citizens with a global outlook. We should seek and mobilise support on all social media platforms for this campaign. The need of the hour is to let Indian society know that we love humour but not racism. We are proud Indians and the country has benefitted from our contributions in almost every field. It is time that Sikh children should not face bullying or insults in the name of casual fun,” he said. Enthused children took a pledge to generate support for the petition from all quarters and bring an end to the bullying and taunts that they are subjected to.