BJP scripts history in Kerala as 86-year-old Rajagopal wins Nemom Seat

New Delhi, May 14: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the Al-Hind Islamic State (IS) Bengaluru module case has announced a cash reward of Rs three lakh for wanted absconder Abdul Mateen Taahaa.

An NIA spokesperson in Delhi said, "We have declared a cash reward of Rs three lakh for providing any information leading to arrest of Taahaa." The spokesperson said that Taahaa, 26, a resident of Shimoga in Karnataka is wanted in Al-Hind ISIS Bengaluru module case that the agency registered this year. The NIA had taken over the probe from the Karnataka Police.

According to the NIA officials, the case relates to ISIS-linked terror group formed by arrested accused Mehboob Pasha, along with accused Khaja Moideen aka Jalal and his associates involved in the murder of a Hindu leader in Tamil Nadu. The official said that Pasha conducted several meetings in 2019 at his residence in Bengaluru to hatch the conspiracy, by radicalising and recruiting other co-accused to carry out terror activities and join ISIS in Afghanistan or Syria.

The NIA has arrested 12 accused namely Pasha, Imran aka Imran Khan, Mohammed Haneef Khan, Mohammed Mansoor Ali Khan, Saleem Khan aka Kolar Saleem, Hussain Sharieff, Ejaz Pasha aka Azaz Pasha, Zabiulla, Syed Azmathulla, Syed Fasiur Rehman, Mohammed Zaid and Sadiq Basha.

The official said that Taahaa is a friend of arrested accused Saleem and Zaid, through whom he contacted arrested accused Pasha of Al-Hind Trust and was also associated with his online foreign handler.

Bengaluru, Apr 11: Karnataka Library Department’s mobile application, which is said to be the first of its kind initiative in the country has seen an exponential growth in downloads during the COVID-19 lockdown, a senior Minister said on Friday. The main reason that the application is growing is due to the heavy students demand as schools and colleges are closed during the 21-day nationwide lockdown.

Students are relying on online material for their studies as they can’t step out of the house and risk being infected.

The Library Department's efforts to keep readers active through the lockdown time, by prompting them to utilise its e-initiatives is paying off, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar said.

"The app is seeing exponential increase in downloads since its launch. As many as 16,500 people have taken it; while ten thousand people have downloaded it during this brief lock down time itself," he said.

E-library mobile app was released by the library department on February 26.

There are over one lakh e-books available on department's digital platform ranging from arts, humanity, school curriculum, competitive exams and self help to classic novels - all for free for the readers.

"Its needless to say, the variety of attractive content that is available in the app is creating all the buzz among the public. Not just the books, the app contains over 600 educational videos too," the Minister said in a statement.

Considering that over 16,500 readers have downloaded the app since its launch a couple of months back, its high time, we see this domain as an opportunity for growth, he said, and stressed on the need for better adaptability approaches to the changing times.