INDIA

France’s lower house of parliament is voting Tuesday on a bill that would strengthen government oversight of mosques and religious schools and crack down on polygamy and forced marriage, among other measures aimed at rooting out Islamic radicalism. The bill is part of broader French efforts to fight extremism in recent years that gained new urgency after a teacher was beheaded in October and other attacks. President Emmanuel Macron says the efforts are also needed to protect French values like gender equality and secularism from encroaching fundamentalism in some communities. But many French Muslims say the draft law limits religious freedom and unfairly targets them, and say France already has enough laws to fight terrorist violence. Critics call the bill a political maneuver by Mac...

On Monday, police said, a woman was burnt alive by her family members over an inter - faith love affair. The woman’s father, brother, brother-in-law and another person have been arrested in this connection. According to the police, the family had hired a contract killer, Varun Tiwari, and paid him 1.5 lakh rupees, to put an end to her relationship with a Muslim man. On Sunday, the victim’s father Kailash Yadav, brother Ajit Yadav, brother-in-law Satyaprakash Yadav and one Sitaram Yadav were arrested. A petrol container and motorcycle used in the crime have also been recovered by the police. While the hunt is on to trace the contract killer, a police official said. With the help of local police, CCTV footage, field unit and dog squad, the body was identified as Ranjana Yadav of Bel...

Asmat Jamil, 48 years old woman, who was at the helm of Anti CAA protests and steered the sit-in at Park Circus Maidan against the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register. On Monday, passed away due to cancer. On January 7 this year, a wheelchair-bound Jamil took part in a rally against the new farm laws and the citizenship thrust. The pandemic has slowed, not stopped, us. I have not given up. There is a lot of fight left in me, Jamil had told this to a correspondent that day. On January 7 last year, a small group of women led by Jamil, mostly homemakers in and around Park Circus, started a 24X7 vigil against the citizenship thrust at the Park Circus Maidan. The demonstration went on to become the fulcrum of the massive protest...

On Monday, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Kerala-based journalist Siddique Kappan for five days to meet his ailing mother. The court said it will be the responsibility of the Uttar Pradesh Police to ensure his travel to and fro his mother’s house in Kerala. Kappan was arrested along with three others in October while he was on his way to cover the Hathras gangrape and murder case. The Uttar Pradesh Police later booked him and others under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and charges of sedition. A bench led by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde took note of the critical health condition of Kappan’s mother, who said it was her last wish to see her son. The bench clarified that the order was passed on an emotional appeal and will not prejudice the objections of the U...

After 22-year-old Disha Ravi's arrest, two more activists are wanted by the police in the case involving a "toolkit" shared by climate campaigner Greta Thunberg in support of the farmer protests. Warrants are out against activists Nikita Jacob and Shantanu and they face charges that are not bailable. Disha Ravi, a climate activist, has been accused of sedition and is in police custody. The police claim according to their investigations, the organization behind the "toolkit" shared by Greta Thunberg - Poetic Justice - had contacted Nikita Jacob to organize a "tweet storm" ahead of the Republic Day protest by farmers. The organization is a Khalistani group, the police say. The new warrants have emerged at a time outrage is spiraling over the arrest of Disha Ravi, a Bengaluru coll...

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb has stirred a controversy after he claimed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has plans to establish Bharatiya Janata Party government in Nepal and Sri Lanka. On Saturday, Deb visited Tripura and said, Shah had told a party meeting at Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhawan that after winning all states in India, the BJP will try to make inroads in the neighboring countries. “We were talking in the state guest house when Ajay Jamwal, North-East Zonal Secretary of BJP said that BJP has formed its government in several states of India, in reply Shah said, ‘Now Sri Lanka and Nepal is left. We have to expand the party in Sri Lanka, Nepal and win there to form a government’,” Deb said while quoting Shah. The chief minister said it was only under Shah’s leadership...

Hindu fringe group ‘Hindu Jagran Manch’ in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh on Saturday brutally assaulted and injured a 23 - year - old Muslim girl, Arshi, who runs a tea shop. According to International Business Times, friends of Arshi said that she was attacked as she attracted more customers than the confectionary shop, which didn’t go down well with the rival shop owner. The rival shop owner started to harass her and demanded money for their losses, her friends said. “She started the tea shop around two months ago. She rapidly upgraded her shop as per customers’ needs and paid special attention to cleanliness, and the number of customers at her shop started increasing,” one of her friends told IBTimes. She has received critical injuries on her head and is undergoing treatment at the ...

Former Kairana MP, Tabassum Hasan, 50, and her son Nahid Hasan, 32, the Samajwadi Party MLA from Kairana, have been booked along with 38 others under relevant sections of the Gangster Act by local police in Shamli district. In the FIR registered at Kairana police station, the MLA has been named as the ‘gang leader’. The FIR by Kairana SHO, Premveer Rana, claims the “terror of the gang is prevalent in the region and people do not come forward with complaints due to fear”. Tabassum Hasan, meanwhile, said, “This FIR is completely manipulative. They have been at it for more than a year now. They are doing whatever they want to do. Anyone raising concerns of the common man or speaking against the government policies is being targeted. We will take legal recourse to fight it.” In the...

On Sunday, February 14th Delhi saw another price hike amid the rising prices of fuel, LPG cylinders will become Rs. 50 more expensive, this the third time since December 2020. From Monday onwards, domestic LPG cylinders will be priced for Rs. 769 per unit. It was raised twice in December by Rs. 50. Rising fuels prices are becoming concerning for the people as it takes a toll on household budgets because LPG cylinders are an essential commodity. According to the price notification of state fuel marketing companies, the price for an LPG cylinder (non-subsidised) has increased from Rs. 644 to Rs. 694. This news comes amid the rise in petrol and diesel prices, in Delhi, the price of petrol is nearing Rs 89 per litre whereas diesel is available at Rs 79.35 per litre putting a major ...