Indian author Sushmita Banerjee shot dead in Afghanistan

September 5, 2013
Kabul, Sep 5: Indian national Sushmita Banerjee, whose memoir about her dramatic escape from the Taliban was turned into a Bollywood film, was shot dead in Afghanistan by militants, police said on Thursday.

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Banerjee, 49, was killed outside her home in Paktika province. She was married to an Afghan businessman Jaanbaz Khan and recently moved back to Afghanistan to live with him.

Taliban militants arrived at her home in the provincial capital of Kharana, tied up her husband and other members of the family, took Banerjee out and shot her, police were quoted as saying by BBC.

The militants dumped Banerjee's body near a religious school, police said.

A senior police official said Banerjee, also known as Sayed Kamala, was working as a health worker in Paktika and had been filming the lives of local women as part of her work.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack. Banerjee's book "Kabuliwalar Bangali Bou" (A Kabuliwala's Bengali Wife), about her escape from the Taliban in 1995, became a bestseller in India and was made into the Bollywood film "Escape From Taliban" in 2003.

The memoir focussed on her life in Afghanistan with her husband and her escape from the militants.

The film based on the book starred actress Manisha Koirala and was billed as a "story of a woman who dares (the) Taliban".

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A five-judge bench headed by Justice N V Ramana said that no case is made out for re-examining the conviction and the punishment of the convict.

Other members of the bench were justices Arun Mishra, R F Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan.

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April 24,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 24: The month of Ramzan will be observed from Friday in Kerala.
The crescent moon was seen at Kappad beach in Kozhikode on Thursday.

Amid nationwide lockdown in the wake of COVID-19, there will be no group prayers at mosques. The devotees have been directed to offer prayers at homes.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on March 24 announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of COVID-19. Later, the lockdown was extended till May 3.

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June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Moody's Investors Service downgrading India's sovereign rating to the lowest investment rate and said that the global rating agency has rated his handling of the country's economy "a step above junk".

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On Monday, Moody's downgraded the country's rating to "Baa3" from "Baa2". This comes at a time when the government is facing criticism from the Opposition over its handling of the COVID-19 situation and measures to boost the economy.

The government has already announced a stimulus package of Rs 20 lakh crore to deal with the situation.

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