Author: Priya Saha

With this, the Governor has approved all the 15 Bills that were passed during the Budget session of the Assembly as he had earlier cleared seven other Bills, he added. Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat has given his assent to an amendment Bill, which provides for a prison sentence of up to ten years for fraudulent or forcible conversion by marriage, a State Minister said on Saturday. The Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which was passed by the State Legislative Assembly on April 1 this year, has been approved by the Governor along with seven other Bills, State Legislative…

Hungary took over the chairmanship of the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) from Germany at a meeting in Hamburg on Friday. Peter Szijjarto, the foreign minister, said after the meeting at which he briefed participants about the Hungarian Presidency’s programme running until Nov. 17, that Hungary had chosen three priority areas: national minority protection, religious communities, and the rights of children and families. Concerning the protection of national minorities, Szijjarto highlighted Minority SafePack, an initiative urging European Union protection for national and linguistic minorities in the bloc, which the European Commission had not added to its…

A charity focused on inclusivity on Saturday urged the government and employers to set up mentorship programmes for ethnic minorities, after a majority of respondents to its survey said they had faced hostile or unfriendly treatment at the workplace. The NGO, Treats, surveyed nearly 140 ethnic minority adults in Hong Kong, and 40 percent of the respondents reported being treated with unreasonable hostility at work. The respondents also said they faced unfriendly remarks over their race, culture and outfits, with one saying she was asked not to “frighten people” after her boss in a five-star hotel banned her from wearing…

New Jersey Institute of Technology, thanks to the single-largest donation in school history, will launch two new education and research centers — one focused on real estate and the other on entrepreneurship — through the historic gift from the Paul V. Profeta Foundation. The undisclosed donation will establish the Paul V. Profeta Foundation Real Estate Technology, Design and Innovation Center and the Paul V. Profeta Foundation Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Efforts already are underway to develop the centers, build degree and certificate programs and renovate the physical facilities in preparation for a summer launch. A formal opening ceremony is…

The first session of the newly elected assembly of Assam began on Friday with some MLAs of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party taking oath in Sanskrit. But the opposition All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA from Sonai did something that surprised everyone. The MLA of the party, termed as a ‘pro-Bangladeshi’ by the BJP, shocked many by taking an oath in Sanskrit. Barabhuiya is one of the 16 AIUDF MLAs who have been elected to the 126-member house this time. While his party MLAs took oath in Assamese and Bengali, it was rare to see a Muslim MLA taking…

Switzerland? Pretty, yes. Funny? No. Or is it?Credit: Sam Ferrara / public domainSwiss humor. Now there’s two words you don’t often see together. In fact, Google Trends lists zero occurrences of the phrase between 2004 and now. Even “German humor” produces a graph (albeit a rather flat one). But not only is there some evidence that Swiss comedy does exist, it might just be that being well-hidden is kind of its thing. Find it and laugh. Or don’t, and the joke’s on you!That evidence, as it turns out, is cartographic. The Swiss Federal Office of National Topography, Swisstopo for short,…

In her London bookshop, Aimee’s shelves are stacked with stories written with her younger self in mind. This is “Little Leaders”. It’s one of our best sellers for children of any age just to have something inspirational to refer to. These children’s books include characters from all backgrounds. Last year the pandemic forced her to close but Black Pound Day came to the rescue. “We saw an increase probably of anything from 150 to 200% in a very short period of time and whilst that’s amazing it was also completely overwhelming. We are a small store physically and a small…

(RNS) — The Hindu American Foundation, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against representatives of Hindu, Muslim and Christian organizations in the U.S., accusing them of libel and defamation. The suit also targeted news outlet Al Jazeera and an independent journalist who wrote news stories quoting the groups. Named as defendants in the lawsuit are Sunita Viswanath and Raju Rajagopal of Hindus for Human Rights, Rasheed Ahmed of the Indian American Muslim Council, John Prabhudoss of the Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations and Rutgers University South Asian history professor Audrey Truschke. HAF also…

Anti Terrorism Unit (ATU) of Bangladesh Police has arrested an IT expert of banned militancy outfit Hizb Ut Tahrir from Cox’s Bazar district. According to sources, Hizb Ut Tahrir man Mosharrof Hossain hails from Mirjaganj under Patuakhali district. He graduated in science faculty from Fat East International University in Dhaka’s Banani area. For the last three years he is employed with Brac as its assistant technical officer. Police source told Blitz, Mosharrof Hossain has been actively working an IT expert for outlawed militancy group Hizb Ut Tahrir for many years. He played key role in online propaganda of the pro-Caliphate…

Biden takes the wheel of new F-150 electric truckPresident Joe Biden is back behind the wheel and bolting down the track. The self-described “car guy” takes a spin in the new Ford F-150 Lightning truck during a visit to a Ford safety testing center. (May 18)APThe claim: Joe Biden said “the country is doomed … because of African-Americans”A December Zoom call between then-President-elect Biden and prominent national civil rights leaders prompted several social media posts that critiqued some of Biden’s comments.An April 9 Instagram post picked up a report from Newsmax TV host Grant Stinchfield that focused on a discussion of America’s population of racial…

China has emphasized its re-education program in Xinjiang has contributed to preventing terrorism, brushing aside criticism that the Communist-led government has infringed on human rights of the Muslim Uyghur minority there. Some foreign media were granted rare access by the All-China Journalists Association under the ruling Communist Party in mid-May to an exhibition titled, “The fight against terrorism and extremism in Xinjiang,” held in the far-western autonomous region. A scene at a vocational training center is displayed at an exhibition in Urumqi, China, on May 14, 2021. (Kyodo) China’s claims made at the exhibition, which justified its so-called re-education campaign,…

Thousands of Hefazat-e-Islam supporter madrassa teachers-students as well as members of several militancy outfits and Cyber Jihad units of Hefazat and other radical Islamic militancy groups have established disturbing dominance on social media networks. It may be mentioned here that being funded by Islamic forces, militant outfits Hefazat-e-Islam and Jamaat-e-Islami wanted to turn Bangladesh into a Taliban state like Afghanistan if they came to power, top Hefazat leaders have confessed to the police. According to BLiTZ reports, Hefazat-e-Islam has formed its own IT Cell and Cyber Jihad Unit, while other militancy outfits such as Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB), Hizbut Tahrir,…