‘Remove liquor vends from religious towns’

December 5, 2012

liquorRohtak (Haryana), December 5: Having strongly raised their voices for amending the Hindu Marriage Act to ban marriages within the same gotra and same village, Haryana's khap panchayats have now decided to launch a campaign to get liquor vends shut in religious towns across the state.

The khaps - who constitute a socio-political grouping in Haryana - say that liquor shops located in religious towns not only hurt the sentiments of local residents but also of devotees who come from far-flung places toffer prayers. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of office-bearers of around 20 khaps in Jhajjar town, 60 km from New Delhi, a senior khap leader said here.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ahlawat, Dalal, Jakhar, Dhankhad, Birhod 12, Bahu 17, Khuddan, Chahar, Kinha, Kadian and Jhajjar 360 khaps, the Haryana Dhankhar Sabha and others.

Besides khaps, activists of the National Human Rights Front, delegates of the Akhil Bhartiya Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti and some other NGOs also attended the meeting. There were also discussions on issues like huge expenses on weddings; increased drinking, especially among youth; female foeticide, the dowry system and drug addiction.

"We have unanimously passed a resolution to launch a special drive to get the liquor vends closed within the municipul limits of all religious towns in Haryana to maintain their dignity besides making sincere efforts to keeping the people away from drugs and liquor use," Haryana Dhankar Sabha chief Om Prakash Dhankhar told IANS.

He said that liquor shops being run in the religious towns, mainly located in the Kurukshetra, Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Panipat and Gurgaon districts, are playing havoc with the spiritual feelings of the devotees.

He said that a delegation of various khaps would soon meet Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to demand the closure of all liquor shops in religious towns.

"We have also decided to launch a special campaign to mobilise the people in support of our demand. The campaign will be launched from Beri (a religious town in Jhajjar district where the ancient temple of Mata Bhimeshwari Devi is located)" Dhankhar said.

Other khaps in the state would also be contacted for their support on the issue so that the demand could be raised at state level in an appropriate manner.

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Agencies
June 7,2020

New Delhi, Jun 7: The Islamic Centre of India on Saturday issued an advisory for those visiting mosques in view of the Centre’s decision to allow reopening of religious places from June 8.

Islamic Centre of India chairman Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali advised people above 65 years and under 10 years of age not to visit mosques and instead offer prayers at home.

He also advised against crowding in mosques, stressing that not more than five people should be present at a time and social distancing be maintained, with the ‘namazis’ using masks and keeping a distance of six feet among themselves while offering prayers.

He added that the situation would be reviewed after 15 days and if required, another advisory would be issued.

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Agencies
May 5,2020

Jammu and Kashmir, May 5: Awarding the prestigious Pulitzer Prize to three Indian photographers, the Pulitzer Board at Columbia University claimed that it was for their work in Kashmir as "India revoked its independence".

The award to Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin in the feature photography category for their pictures for the Associated Press was announced on Monday.

The prizes, considered the most prestigious for US journalism, are associated with the university's Graduate School of Journalism where the judging is done and is announced, although this year it was done remotely.

Besides a certificate, the prizes carry a cash award of $15,000, except the public service category for which a gold medal is awarded.

The public service prize went to The Anchorage Daily News for a series that dealt with policing in Alaska state.

In making the award to the three, the Board said on its website that it was "for striking images of life in the contested territory of Kashmir as India revoked its independence, executed through a communications blackout".

Besides making the false claim about "independence" of Kashmir being "revoked", the board that includes several leading journalists did not explain how their photographs could have reached the AP within hours of the incidents recorded "through a communication blackout".

India's Central government only revoked Article 370 of the Constitution that gave Jammu and Kashmir a special status and it was not independent.

Indian journalists were allowed to operate in Kashmir, while only non-Indian journalists were barred.

The wording of the award announcement calls into question the credibility of the Pulitzer Board that gives out what are considered prestigious journalism awards.

The portfolio of pictures by the three on the Pulitzer web site included one of a masked person attacking a police vehicle and another of masked people with variants of the Kashmir flag, besides photos of mourners and protesters.

One of the finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism was a reporter of Indian descent at The Los Angeles Times, Swetha Kannan, who was nominated for her work with two colleagues on the seas rising due to climate change.

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Agencies
July 29,2020

Ambala, Jul 29: The five French Rafale fighter jets touched down at Haryana's Ambala after covering a distance of nearly 7,000 km to join the Indian Air Force.

The jets were given a customary water salute upon their arrival at the airbase, some 220-km from the India-Pakistan border.

The formal induction ceremony of the aircraft would be held later. The aircraft would move out soon to another operational base for operational sorties.

After taking off from France on Monday, the aircraft made their first stopover at a French base in the United Arab Emirates on their way to India and were refuelled by the French Air Force tanker aircraft somewhere around Greece or Israel over the sea before landing there.

The five were flown by pilots of the 17 Golden Arrows led by Commanding Officer Group Captain Harkirat Singh along with other pilots, Wing Commanders MK Singh, R Kataria, Sidhu and Arun.

The five Rafale fighter aircraft took off on Monday for India from an airbase in France. The weather in Ambala was cloudy with one or two spells of rain or thundershowers being forecasted.

India had signed a Rs 59,000-crore deal on September 23, 2016 for 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation.

In view of Rafale fighter jets landing in the city on Wednesday, Section 144 is being imposed in four villages close to Ambala airbase. Munish Sehgal, DSP Traffic, Ambala, said the administration is on a high alert and the gathering of people on roofs and photography during landing has been strictly prohibited.

The five Rafale fighter jets had entered the Indian Airspace earlier in the day. "The Birds have entered the Indian airspace..Happy Landing in Ambala!" tweeted the Defence Minister's Office earlier on Wednesday.

The Defence Minister's Office further informed that the five Rafales were escorted by 02 SU30 MKIs as they enter the Indian airspace.

Here are the key Highlights of Rafale:

It's an Omni role aircraft.
4th Generation Fighter Jet.
It's a two-engine aircraft.
It's top speed is 2,222 Km/Hr.
It can go up to 50,000 Ft.
It's Rate of Climb is 60,000 Ft/Min.
It's Operational Range is 3,700 Km.
Ground Support.
In-depth Strike.
Anti-Ship Strike.

Reach and combat radius is 1600-1700 Kms.
Capable for Long Range standoff Mission.
Equipped with Air-to-Ground Missile System.

Specifically designed to take off from an extremely cold high altitude region.

It will also be fitted with the air-to-air beyond visual range interception combat and self-defence missile.

It can also carry the best long range air-to-land missile.

It has multi-directional radar system which can detect 40 targets at the same time in a range of over 100 Kms.

It has advance radar warning receiver to identify hostile tracking system a towed decoy system to thwart incoming missile attacks.

Rafale will ensure that our pilots will not have to cross the border to strike the target, that is about 600 Km in enemy territory.

It will get French industrial support for 50 years. 

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