Pakistan targets 86% literacy rate by year 2015
By NNN-APP
Islamabad : Pakistan's National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) to achieve 86 percent literacy rate in the country by year 2015 through expanding its ‘Literacy Program’ nationwide.
This was stated by Dr. Nasim Ashraf, Chairman NCHD while talking to APP. The Commission, he said, has successfully entered its 5th year of operations through expanding its literacy and health programmes from two districts in 2002 to more than 122 districts in 2007.
Pakistan cancels election in Benazir’s constituency
By IRNA
Islamabad : The Election Commission of Pakistan has cancelled election in the constituency where former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was contesting election for the Lower House of the Parliament, the Commission said on Friday.
Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on December 27 in the city of Rawalpindi after she addressed a huge election public meeting.
"The election process was terminated on National Assembly-207 Larkana-cum-Shikarpur in Sindh due to the death of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto," the commission said in a statement.
Four-year-old kidnapped, murdered in Andhra Pradesh
By IANS
Hyderabad : In a shocking incident, a four-year-old child was kidnapped and murdered in Himayatsagar near here, police said Tuesday.
Kartik, who was kidnapped by his father's friend a week ago, was murdered within hours of the kidnap. Babu, the alleged kidnapper who had demanded a ransom of Rs.5 million, confessed after the police arrested him early Tuesday.
After a three-hour effort, police retrieved the victim's body from rocks in Peeramcheru area in Rajendernagar on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
Family of Sep 13 blast’s Kashmiri victim gets compensation
By IANS,
New Delhi : For Ghulam Hassan, the pain of losing his brother in the Sep 13 blast in the capital will never go away. But the migrant from Jammu and Kashmir is a relieved man after receiving Thursday the compensation cheques in the name of his mother, his widowed sister-in-law and fixed deposit for his niece.
The compensation amounts were handed to him at the Daryaganj District Revenue Office here Thursday evening.
BJP puts Congress on dock over Deoband remark
By Andalib Akhter, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: The BJP put Congress party in big trouble on Saturday when it asked the party to apologize the Muslims for its remark on India’s one of great seats of learning.
Muslims & Dalits urged to strengthen SDPI
By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,
Bhopal: In the backdrop of atrocities being committed on Muslims and Dalits it is imperative that Muslim voluntary organizations and movements come to the forefront for the advancement of these communities. It is high time for the Muslims to take initiative for the political movement that values democracy and social and economic equality, said A. Sayeed, general secretary of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) while addressing its Madhya Pradesh state party delegates here on Sunday.
IUML holds rally against ‘Cruelties of Air India against non-resident Keralites’
By Abdul Basith MA, TwoCircles.net,
Obsession of the Governments with growth regime has failed to focus on people’s development
By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,
Regional stalwarts from Bihar, AP skipped Narendra Modi’s swearing in ceremony
By TCN Staff Reporter,
Akabruddin Owaisi files writ petition in HC to quash ‘hate speech’ cases
By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Asaduddin Owaisi’s official residence in Delhi attacked by Hindutva activists
By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Muslim clerics in Lucknow want ‘objectionable’ portion from Kamal’s film deleted
By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Dispatch from Kashmir: Afzal Guru hanging and the ‘core’ of Indian nationhood
Transforming Kashmir from ‘the issue’ to ‘one of the issues’ is a rich reflection of India’s diplomatic craftsmanship, even though Pakistan continued to harp...
Now Muslim group wants ‘Bharat Ratna’ for Sir Syed
By TCN News,
Aligarh: Millat Bedari Muhim Committee (MBMC), Aligarh is now demanding the highest civilian award to be awarded posthumously to Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.
Al Misbah initiates discussion on improving educational situation of minorities in Assam
Nurul Hassan, TwoCicles.net
‘Muslim girls want to study – Delhi Government School says No’
By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Karnataka government to unveil its policies Monday
By IANS,
Bangalore : The three-week-old Congress government in Karnataka faces the state legislature for the first time Monday with Governor H.R. Bharadwaj outlining its policies for the year.
Play “Quli: Dilon Ka Shahzada” at MANUU
By TCN News,
Hyderabad: Maulana Azad National Urdu University, H.K. Sherwani Centre for Deccan Studies hosted the play “Quli: Dilon Ka Shahzaada,” a Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Foundation production on 13th February 2014 at 7 pm at the Open Air Auditorium of the University.
Discussion on voting patterns in India and ‘tactical’ voting of Muslims
By TCN News,
New Delhi: Institute of Objective Studies organised a discussion on “Voting Patterns in India with Reference to Tactical Voting by Muslims” on February 27 in the Capital.
EC probing BJP’s ‘communal party’ tag in Tripura school books
Agartala : The Election Commission of India is probing the BJP being tagged a "communal party" in the textbooks of government schools in Left-ruled...
Quirks of History: How Jinnah forestalled Fazlul Haq’s gambit
By Prof. Refaqat Ali Khan,
Write Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh, an NGO, invited me to attend the SAARC Literary Festival in Dhaka on 27-28 February, 2014. Delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives were participants. The seminar / festival proposed a discussion / review “Beyond Borders, Trust and Reconciliation”.
AAP’s Bhopal candidate Rachna Dhingra finds support at MIT
By TCN News,
Boston, USA. Supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) from the Greater Boston area gathered to screen award winning documentary (on the Bhopal disaster) Bhopali on Sunday April 6th at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The event was organized by the Boston chapter of University Students for Aam Admi Party (us4AAP), an organization with chapters in more than 100 campuses, and AAP - New England who have been actively working on supporting AAP candidates in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in India.
Social Media got brighter with Munawwar Rana’s Muhajir Nama
By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Mumbai: Who would not be familiar with Munawwar Rana’s name? Munawwar Rana, whose poetry is the place where a mother, surrounded by the fence of mundaneness, breathes freely. Munawwar Rana, for whom the way to heaven is not above skies but at the feet of mother.
Muslim Organizations in Mumbai send memorandum to Egypt’s Ambassador to India
By A. Mirsab, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: Expressing their concerns for the violation of Human Rights in Egypt, some Muslim organizations in Mumbai has sent a combined memorandum to the Egypt’s Ambassador to India. These organizations have also appealed Government of India to bring the matter before United Nations and help restore democracy in Egypt.
Of Pakistan’s Punjab and high levels of drug use
By Aslam Chandio, TwoCircles.net,
Islamabad: When it comes to drug use, Pakistan’s province of Punjab due to its large share of the population, has the highest number of people who use and inject drugs with 2.9 million people using illicit substances in the past year and approximately 260,000 people who currently inject drugs.
Two Dalit girls’ rape and murder in Badaun draws international flak
By A. Mirsab, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: The alleged gang rape and murder of two dalit girls on 27 May 2014 in the Katra village of Budaun district, Uttar Pradesh has been condemned largely throughout the country by every section of the society. The condemnation did not stop within the borders of the country but international organizations have also expressed their dissatisfaction towards lack of adequate sanitation facilities and growing sexual violence of women resulting into the violations of human rights in India. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appalled by the brutal rape and killing of two dalit girls in UP whereas Amnesty International has criticized the police machinery of India who have time and again found to have derelict towards registering and investigating cases of rapes of low caste girls and their lackadaisical behavior in booking higher caste culprits in those cases.
Pakistan’s SC orders formation of national council for protecting minorities’ rights
By Aslam Chandio, TwoCircles.net,
Islamabad: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday ordered the federal government to form a national council of minorities' rights for protection of minority rights and ensuring religious harmony.
Love Thy Neighbor: Nawaz Sharif’s Visit to India
By Ram Puniyani,
India Pakistan relations have always been mired with in various controversies, which have been preventing the friendly relations with our neighbor, who in ‘popular perception’ is seen as an enemy. It is due to this that while all the members of SAARC countries have been invited, the one to draw maximum popular attention has been the coming of Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan. In a deft move India’s the then Prime Minister designate sent an invite to all the heads of SAARC countries for his swearing in ceremony, (16 May 2014)which was held with great pomp and show.
POTA court rejects Maulana Qavi’s bail in 10 year old Modi’s assassination conspiracy case;...
By A. Mirsab, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: On Wednesday Special POTA court in Ahmedabad rejected Maulana Abdul Qavi’s bail in a 10 year old conspiracy case registered in Gujarat. The special judge accepted all the defenses of Maulana Abdul Qavi except that he was not absconding since last 10 years and turned down his bail on the ground of him being absconding before arrest. Jamiat Ulema Hind, an NGO providing legal assistance to the Maulana has shown determination to approach Gujarat High Court for the relief.
“We are all Palestinians” Chant tens of thousands in London
By M Ghazali Khan,
London: Thousands of protesters, estimated around 100,000, have demonstrated outside the Israeli Embassy against Israeli aggression on Gaza and the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.
Obama’s Eid greeting to Muslims backfires
Washington : A White House message on Twitter wishing “Muslims in the United States and around the world a blessed and joyous celebration” of...
Pakistan lodges protest with India over firing across ‘working boundary’
By Aslam Chandio, TwoCircles.net,
Islamabad: The Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Monday summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner and lodged a protest over what it called...
Faizan Mustafa of AMU gets SAARC’s Best Law Teacher Award
By TCN News,
Aligarh: Professor Faizan Mustafa of Aligarh Muslim University and presently Vice Chancellor of Nalsar Law University Hyderabad got this year’s prestigious SAARC’s Best Law Teacher Award. In a unanimous decision, the high-powered jury consisting of Professor NR Madhav Menon, eminent jurist and Founder Vice Chancellor of NLSIU, Bangalore and Mr Lalit Bhasin, President of Indian Law Firms, announced the conferment of the award on Professor Mustafa.
Indian Muslims are not well served by their leaders
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS
It may be a coincidence, but both India and Pakistan have started talking in terms of reforming the traditional madrassa system of education. While Pakistan's initiative has understandably followed the tragic Lal Masjid episode, the Indian government's proposed measures are evidently the fallout of pressure from the Hindu communal outfits.
Israeli naval shelling of Gaza boat kills one Palestinian
By Xinhua
Gaza : At least one Palestinian killed and one wounded as Israeli naval boat gunships shelled a Palestinian fishing boat with one missile on the shores of Gaza City on Saturday evening, Palestinian police and medical sources said.
The police of ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said that Israeli fighting ships opened fire at a Palestinian fishing boat in Gaza Sea and hit it on which two people were there, one killed and the other wounded.
A quarter of Arab population illiterate: Amr Moussa
By IANS
Dubai : Some 71 million people in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who make up a quarter of the Arab population the world over, are illiterate, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa has said.
Much of the region's failure to eradicate illiteracy was due to obscure curricula, the secretary general said while addressing the inaugural session of the Knowledge Conference here Sunday.
He called upon Arab universities to reform the education system to catch up with a fast moving world, WAM news agency reported Monday.
One German hostage still alive: Afghan authorities
By DPA
Kabul : One of the German hostages purportedly held by the Taliban was still alive, but a second hostage had died of a heart attack, the Afghan foreign ministry said Saturday.
In a day of fast-changing developments, a ministry spokesman said that Kabul authorities were working to secure the safe return of the hostage still alive.
"Our security agencies reported to us that one of the German engineers is still alive and the second died of heart attack and heat," ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen told DPA.
‘Concept of Indian citizenship becoming meaningless in face of racial & ethnic tendencies emerging...
By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,
‘General Muslims fall victims to selective media; Safe for groups and orgns to raise...
By Abdul Basith, TwoCircles.net,
See no reason why Bangladeshis would come to India: Prof. Monirul Hussain
Over four months have passed since violence broke out in the Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) in July 2012. In this special series on...
Hyd top cop’s fallacious claim: No Muslim youth was detained illegally, tortured or harassed
Commissioner, in his reply to the State Human Rights Commission , cleverly tried to skip allegation of false implication in terror cases, and didn’t...
Minority panel, civil society furious at Swamy’s ‘hate article’, might issue notice
By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
Lucknow Muslims reject Imam Bukhari’s statement against Anna
By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,
Patna Muslim girl tops in IGNOU’s PGDCA at international level
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
Wakf Protection Committee demands CBI enquiry into ‘scams’ in Kerala
By Abdul Basith MA, TwoCircles.net,