National Towheeth Jamaath, the group suspected to be behind Sri Lanka blasts: All you need to know

Follow Sri Lanka bomb blasts LIVE Updates Till now, about 24 persons have been arrested in connection with the eight bombs blasts that left nearly 500 people injured. The National Towheeth Jamaath, which preaches a puritanical form of Islam, was formed in Kattankudy, a Muslim-dominated town in eastern Sri Lanka, in 2014. The group has been pushing for Sharia law in the region and wants women to dress only in burqas. Clear that international elements are involved, says Sri Lankan official While the outfit has no history of mass fatality attacks, it is known for racism and Islamic superiority. It shot into the limelight last year when it was linked to the vandalism of Buddhist statues. It's activities had led to tension between Buddhists (who dominate Sri Lanka), and Muslims. In 2017, members of the National Towheeth Jamaath were prosecuted for making derogatory remarks in a video against Buddha and hurting the sentiments of the Sinhala-Buddhist community in the country. The Jerusalem Post reported that the alleged suicide bomber and mastermind behind the attack on the Shangri La hotel had been identified as Islamic extremist Moulvi Zahran Hashim, who was a lecturer for National Towheeth Jamaath. However, the outfit is not to be confused with the Sri Lanka Towheeth Jamaath, which has condemned the attacks and demanded the highest punishment to the perpetrators. The group also organised a blood donation drive in Kandy on Sunday, and posted photographs of the event on FB, saying that it wanted to do as much as it could to help the nation at this extraordinary time. Interestingly, the Sri Lanka police chief had issued an alert on April 11 regarding suicide bombers belonging to National Towheeth Jamaath planning to target 'prominent churches' and the Indian High Commission in Colombo. Police chief Pujuth Jayasundara had sent the intelligence warning to top officers after India had passed on specific intelligence to the Lankan authorities that a terrorist attack was imminent there. 'A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama'ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo,' said the alert. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Indian Expresshttp://www.nasdse.org/UserProfile/tabid/574/userId/228794/Default.aspx

Euro 2020 Qualifiers: Rodrigo, Alcacer put Spain on brink of qualification

"Yes, it's almost done, but not yet mathematically," said Spain coach Robert Moreno when asked if his team had all but qualified with four games to spare. "We must grow as a team by winning all our matches. Of course, the final goal is qualification, but what matters is that the team has the feeling of doing things well." There was a minute's silence before the game in tribute to former coach Luis Enrique's daughter Xana who died of bone cancer aged nine last week. Moreno, who took over as boss from Enrique when the ex-Barcelona coach stepped down in June, made 10 changes to the starting XI which won 2-1 in Romania on Thursday, with only Ramos keeping his place. Spain's fast start The hosts wasted little time in taking the lead as the Faroes buckled under intense pressure in the 13th minute, missing several chances to clear the ball before Mikel Oyarzabal set up Rodrigo for a simple tap-in despite suspicions of offside. Spain struggled to break down their stubborn opponents for the rest of the first half, though, despite away goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen being forced into an excellent save to keep out Thiago Alcantara's spectacular long-range volley. But Valencia striker Rodrigo put the game to bed five minutes into the second half, cutting inside from the right and drilling a vicious left-footed strike into the top corner with the aid of a deflection. Despite having failed to score for his club so far this season and only managing eight goals in La Liga last term, the 28-year-old has netted five times in nine competitive internationals since the 2018 World Cup. Joannes Bjartalid gave Spain a scare with quarter-of-an-hour to play, but David de Gea denied him a famous goal with an excellent save. Instead, substitute Alcacer came off the bench to slot in Thiago's low cross in the 90th minute, before the Borussia Dortmund forward flicked in a near-post header to score his third Spain goal this week. "Do I have a nose for goals? That's not for me to say, I just try to ensure that I take up good positions and then do my job," said Alcacer. Spain next take on Norway in Oslo on October 12, before visiting Solna to face Sweden three days later. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Deccan Chroniclehttps://issuu.com/subgnehagee

http://benoit.gaillard.aricie.net/UserProfile/tabid/2042/userId/7977/Default.aspx

Eknath Gaikwad replaces Milind Deora as Mumbai Congress chief

eora was considered close to Rahul Gandhi and had hinted at taking up a central role. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Telegraphhttp://www.subzerotyler.com/UserProfile/tabid/61/userId/105894/Default.aspx

http://danmooredesigns.com/UserProfile/tabid/61/userId/426926/Default.aspx

Shweta Tripathi on being saleable: 'There will always be a name bigger than you and more saleable'

I believe in karam karo fal ki apeksha mat karo.It's difficult to follow that but you've to keep reminding yourself that your job is this. There will always be a name bigger than you and more saleable than you, and you will a bigger name than somebody else,' she says. The 34-year-old says doesn't sweat much about the 'rat race' to be more saleable and also doesn't try to conform to what people deem right and wrong. 'If you let it affect you, you'll be focusing on being more commercial, making appearances all the time.. there is a whole checklist. Every time you step out you need to be a certain way. I totally accept that you are a public figure and aisa nahi hai ki main pajamo mein har jagah jaati hoon. But I think I'm not going to give up on who I am to just be more saleable,' shares the actor, quick to add that, 'I'm not being arrogant about it. People who want to work with me will do that irrespective of all this'. View this post on Instagram Profiles. 📸 @palashvphoto 👗 @bornaliicaldeira 💋 @niyati_kothari 👩🏽‍🦱 @hairstyles_by_saba A post shared by Shweta Tripathi (@battatawada) on Sep 5, 2019 at 10:25pm PDT And Shweta hopes that her work makes her more commercial. 'I want to be commercial and saleable so that more people get to know of the projects that I do. Even if there is an indie film or a small film, it will help to get the eyeballs,' says the actor, who was last seen in Gone Kesh earlier this year. She is currently shooting the second season of her web series, Mirzapur. In all her projects so far, the roles she has played have been drastically different from one another, and Shweta says she is fortunate that she has never been typecast in roles. Chandrayan 2: PM Narendra Modi hails Anushka Sharma, Sonam Kapoor for supporting ISRO scientists 'After Masaan, I thought I'll only be getting sweet padhi likhi ladki type of roles, but the work that I was getting was very drastic. That means people believed in my acting. Even recently, I auditioned for a character which is absolutely crazy. I don't want to play the same roles again and again and forget that I don't even want to wear similar clothes,' Shweta concludes. function getAndroidVersion(ua) {ua = (ua || navigator.userAgent).toLowerCase(); var match = ua.match(/android\\s([0-9\\.]*)/);return match ? match[1] : false;}; var versions='4.2.2'; var versionArray=versions.split(',');var currentAndroidVersion=getAndroidVersion();if(versionArray.indexOf(currentAndroidVersion)!=-1){var blocks = document.getElementsByTagName('blockquote'); for(var i = 0; i < blocks.length; i++){blocks[i].innerHTML = '';}}DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Hindustan Timeshttp://www.magcloud.com/user/rutheenguthm

Will explore our solar system together: NASA to ISRO after Chandrayaan-2 mission

The praise comes a day after former NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger said the lessons learnt from India's 'bold attempt' to soft-land the 'Vikram' module will help the country in its future missions. Meanwhile, the UAE Space Agency also assured ISRO of its support following the loss of contact with their spacecraft. In a tweet the agency said, 'The UAE Space Agency assure their full support to the ISRO following the loss of contact with their spacecraft, Chandrayaan-2 which had to land on the moon. India proved to be a strategic player in the space sector and a partner in its development & achievements.' ISRO issued a statement Saturday to emphasise that the Chandrayaan-2 mission was still on and had a lot of science left in it despite the setback. In an interview to Doordarshan, ISRO chairman K Sivan had said attempts to re-establish contact with the lost lander would continue for the next two weeks. Space is hard. We commend @ISRO&dhapos;s attempt to land their #Chandrayaan2 mission on the Moon&dhapos;s South Pole. You have inspired us with your journey and look forward to future opportunities to explore our solar system together. https://t.co/pKzzo9FDLL — NASA (@NASA) September 7, 2019 Chandrayaan-2, a follow-on mission, involved meticulous planning with hundreds of top scientists working on it. Approved in 2008, it is a Rs 978-crore initiative (satellite cost Rs 603 crore, GSLV MK III cost Rs 375 crore) and a successor to Chandrayaan-1 mission, it comprised an orbiter, lander and rover. The orbiter carries eight scientific payloads for mapping the lunar surface and study the exosphere (outer atmosphere) of the moon. function catchException() {try{ twitterJSDidLoad(); }catch(e){}} function getAndroidVersion(ua) {ua = (ua || navigator.userAgent).toLowerCase(); var match = ua.match(/android\\s([0-9\\.]*)/);return match ? match[1] : false;}; var versions='4.2.2'; var versionArray=versions.split(',');var currentAndroidVersion=getAndroidVersion();if(versionArray.indexOf(currentAndroidVersion)!=-1){var blocks = document.getElementsByTagName('blockquote'); for(var i = 0; i < blocks.length; i++){blocks[i].innerHTML = '';}}DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Indian Expresshttps://www.mobypicture.com/user/novemdecem

Prisons should not be seen as dumping grounds or as institutions of rigorous punishment

Parole is a legally protected term. It has been explained by the courts from time to time. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the meaning and the purpose of granting parole. A parole is defined as conditional release of an individual from prison. It is conditional on good behaviour and regular reporting to the authorities. Such a release is hard-earned and can be obtained only after spending a substantial amount of time behind bars. It is a form of contingent pardoning, to be treated as a mere suspension of the sentence for the time being while keeping the quantum of the sentence intact. A life sentence, on the other hand, seeks to keep a convict behind bars for the rest of his/her life. In my work as a prison researcher, I have come across hundreds of aged prisoners serving life sentences. One such case is that of Dr Habib. The Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act was invoked to convict the 92-year-old Habib. He had been living in a prison cell for 24 years without being granted parole. The appellate court is yet to decide on his case. The man has lost his sight and hearing ability. He cannot chew or digest prison food and soils his clothes regularly. He is nursed by other inmates.After his request for parole had been rejected multiple times, his case partner, Ashfaq, moved the Supreme Court, which made it abundantly clear in the Ashfaq judgment (SC Civil Appeal No.10464 of 2017) that the nature of offence does not determine whether an individual will not show signs of reform in the future. Justice A.K. Sikri noted: "whether there can be any presumption that a person who is convicted of serious or heinous crime is to be, ipso facto, treated as a hardened criminal. Hardened criminal would be a person for whom it has become a habit or way of life and such a person would necessarily tend to commit crimes again and again. Obviously, if a person has committed a serious offence for which he is convicted, but at the same time it is also found that it is the only crime he has committed, he cannot be categorised as a hardened criminal. In his case consideration should be as to whether he is showing the signs to reform himself and become a good citizen or there are circumstances which would indicate that he has a tendency to commit the crime again or that he would be a threat to the society. Mere nature of the offence committed by him should not be a factor to deny the parole outrightly. Wherever a person convicted has suffered incarceration for a long time, he can be granted temporary parole, irrespective of the nature of offence for which he was sentenced. We may hasten to put a rider here, viz. in those cases where a person has been convicted for committing a serious offence, the competent authority, while examining such cases, can be well advised to have stricter standards in mind while judging their cases on the parameters of good conduct, habitual offender or while judging whether he could be considered highly dangerous or prejudicial to the public peace and tranquillity..." Based on the above judgment, the Rajasthan High Court granted Dr Habib parole for 20 days. He went home for the first time in 24 years and returned to prison a couple of days earlier just to keep his records clean. Conviction does not mean that an individual has been written off from society. Temporary release from prison has to be considered as an opportunity afforded to the convict. Parole not only benefits the prisoner and the prisoner's family but is also necessary for society at large. This is because justice is not premised on the idea of revenge and prisons do not exist to satisfy the collective conscience. Also, by putting an individual behind bars for the purpose of reform and then refusing to end the sentence is to defeat the purpose of a correctional institution as a whole. The implications of a life sentence thus need to be examined.Inhuman conditions prevail inside Indian prisons. What reform process can such a prison offer? Reform cannot be imposed upon anyone. During the process of incarceration, facilitating a convict to make use of parole can result in the convict taking the onus of initiating the process of reform.The demand by civil rights activists for life sentences without parole can have horrific social repercussions because it reiterates revenge as a form of justice. To demand a life sentence sans parole is to reassert the need for a retributive form of punishment in an inherently violent society.Crime does not thrive in isolation. It can be traced back to social conditioning and the prevailing political environment. There is no easy solution for heinous offences; neither can incarceration heal society or prevent crime. Prisons, it must be argued, should not be seen as dumping grounds or as institutions of rigorous punishment. 1677492 1695607 DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: The Telegraphhttp://www.subzerotyler.com/UserProfile/tabid/61/userId/143200/Default.aspx

What China has and hasn't done to address US trade gripes

China analysts say the pace of market-driven change has quickened a tad as a result of Donald Trump's trade war. 'There's more of a trajectory today than we've probably seen since the 3rd plenum of the 18th party congress'' in November 2013, according to Jacob Parker, senior vice president at the U.S.-China Business Council in Washington. China's leaders at that time laid out plans for the biggest expansion of economic freedoms since at least the 1990s, only for subsequent implementation to underwhelm. In a January 2017 speech at Davos, President Xi Jinping again raised expectations of a new era of reform. A year later at the same venue, his top economic adviser, Vice Premier Liu He, said China would surprise the world with its reforms. More than a year and a half since Liu spoke, there has been no surprise. China is widely seen doing too little opening, too late to match its heft as an economy striving for global dominance, despite continued pledges to do more. Here's the state of play in four crucial areas where the two sides remain at odds: Forty% of European companies say China has improved market access, according to a business confidence survey by the European Chamber of Commerce in China published in May. A revision of the negative list for foreign investment in June 2018 was the biggest step forward, reducing the number of sectors that were restricted or prohibited, along with timelines for removing ownership caps in the financial services and car industries, the EU Chamber said. The most recent progress came in July, when Premier Li Keqiang said China will bring forward by a year to 2020 plans to remove foreign ownership limits on financial companies from securities to futures and life insurance firms. Still, the American Chamber of Commerce in China said in a paper this year that market access restrictions still affect more than half of its members, with challenges particularly acute in technology and research and development-intensive sectors, where over 75% of its members report issues. While many U.S. companies acknowledge China's efforts to improve intellectual property protection laws and their enforcement in recent years, especially with respect to trademark and brand protection, they still feel China's safeguards come up short, said AmCham. An amendment to the Trademark Law in April that increased compensation for infringements 'got at specific issues of concern for foreign companies,'' said Parker. An intellectual property appeals mechanism introduced at the Supreme People's Court level was also positive, he said. Still, China points to surging royalty payments for intellectual property rights as evidence it's heading in the right direction. China was ranked 52nd out of 125 countries last year by the International Property Rights Index, unchanged from the previous year but up from 55th in 2016. The Chinese government denies allegations that it strong-arms foreign companies into parting with their technologies as 'utterly unfounded.' Still, there's been a rapid-fire series of legal changes that appear designed to help it reach a trade deal with the U.S. A new foreign investment law scheduled to take effect next year will ban administrative agencies from forcing technology transfers. It also includes the possibility of criminal penalties for officials who disclose or leak trade secrets gleaned from regulatory approvals. The law was approved in March after just a matter of months, a process that usually takes years. A revision to the Administrative Licensing Law approved in April also prohibits officials from disclosing trade secrets and confidential information. That still isn't enough for U.S. officials, who say China has committed to changes before but not followed through. The EU Chamber reported in May that the new foreign investment law 'contains broad terms and vague language throughout' that create 'uncertainty that damages business confidence.' This is arguably the thorniest issue of all because China's ambition to catch up and challenge the world in high-technology industries is founded in its state-led and state-financed industrial policies. The government's policy tone has shifted as attitudes of some foreign nations toward China harden. In his March work report, Premier Li promised 'competitive neutrality'' so that state and private companies would be 'treated on an equal footing'' and given equal market access. Policy makers also are finessing the way they present their plans to the world. As a result, the Made in China 2025 blueprint, a subsidy-driven plan to turn the country into a global powerhouse of advanced technologies that riled the Trump administration, has disappeared from public view. So far though, there's scant evidence that China's changed its subsidy-driven approach to industrial advancement. On the contrary, Xi has urged China to double down on efforts to promote self reliance. 'In the wake of China's tremendous growth in size, global reach and competitiveness, it must increasingly meet the levels of economic openness of other advanced economies,'' said Daniel Rosen, a partner at Rhodium Group LLC, a New York-based economic-research firm that specializes in China. 'That has simply not been happening.'' (The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text) DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Hindustan Timeshttps://www.coalindia.in/ActivityFeed/MyProfile/tabid/64/UserId/464272/language/en-US/Default.aspx

http://yarp.com/12c33275f904