Ranvir Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh shot dead, high alert in Bihar

A file photo of former Ranvir Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh
 Mukhiya who was killed in Arrah, Bihar

Arraha (Bihar), June 1, 2012 - Brahmeshwar Singh, the chief of Bihar's outlawed private militia of landlords Ranvir Sena, was shot dead on Friday by six unidentified gunmen who pumped several bullets into him while he was taking an early morning walk.

Violence broke out in the district headquarter town of Ara in Bhojpur district after the killing of Singh alias 'Mukhiya ji', in his early 70s, and a high alert was sounded in Bihar.

Curfew was clamped in Ara but it was lifted in the afternoon after a high-level review of the situation by senior state officials. The situation in the district was described as tense but under control.

Director-General of Police Abhayanand, who is camping at the spot, was heckled by local people who charged him with failure to provide security to Singh.

Singh, the founder of the Sena, was taking a stroll when six unidentified gunmen armed with sophisticated weapons pumped several bullets into him, killing him on the spot at Katira Mohalla under Nawada police station, 71 kms from Patna, police said.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar appealed for calm and said investigations were underway to trace the killers.

Singh, who faced life imprisonment in several cases of carnage he had perpetrated on the lower caste landless poor, including in Laxmanpur Bathe where 61 Dalits were massacred in December, 1996, was acquitted and released from jail in April this year.

As the news of the killing spread, hundreds of Sena supporters gathered at the site of the killing and shouted anti-government slogans.

The Sena men also tried to chase policemen, including the superintendent of police, who had arrived at the spot and later clashed with policemen and burnt five private and government vehicles, sources said.

Hundreds of people took out processions in the district. The private bus operators suspended bus services from Patna causing immense hardships to passengers in the area.

Prohibitory orders under section 144 CrPC would remain in force, sub-divisional police officer Dharmesh Kumar said, adding the situation is tense but under control.

The main opposition parties RJD, Congress and LJP demanded a CBI probe into the killing of Singh.

Nepal supreme Court judge shot dead in capital

KATHMANDU: Gunmen on a motorbike shot and killed a Nepalese Supreme Court judge on Thursday in the capital Kathmandu, sparking fears of lawlessness amid a political vacuum in the Himalayan country.

Judge Rana Bahadur Bam, who was under investigation for corruption, was being driven from a temple early in the day when the gunmen pounced, shooting him six times and injuring two others in the car, doctors and police said.

“He and a security guard were returning from Bagalamukhi temple. A motorbike blocked their way and there was gunfire at 11:08 am,” said Kathmandu police spokesman Rabi Raj Shrestha. “He succumbed to multiple bullet wounds in his armpit. We will interrogate the (judge’s) driver to find out more,” said Shrestha.

The shooting punctured an uneasy peace in the capital, days after Nepal’s Constituent Assembly, which had been considering the case for Bam’s impeachment, disbanded having failed to agree on a new constitution. The killing came as thousands of police patrolled the streets while feuding political factions vie for power in the troubled Himalayan nation, which has no legislature and only a caretaker government ahead of elections in November. “The Nepal government will find the criminal. I urge all Nepalis not to be filled with terror,” caretaker Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai said after visiting the hospital where Bam was taken.

“A high-level meeting of security committee has been called,” Bhattarai told reporters outside the hospital. “We will provide extra security to all the high-level officials including judges.” Bam, a Supreme Court justice for four years, was suspended from hearing cases after being accused of taking bribes in return for giving lenient sentences to criminals. He was under investigation by the Judiciary Council and was due to retire in a year.

Nilama Pandey, a doctor at the Norvick Hospital where Bam was taken, said the 64-year-old had been shot six times and had been pronounced dead soon after being admitted. “He had injuries on his chest. He died after bleeding profusely. Unfortunately, we could not save him,” Pandey told local television. 

His bodyguard and a friend who was also in the car, Ram Giri, the father of popular Nepali comedian Deepak Raj Giri, were also shot but their lives are not in danger, Pandey added.

Bystanders told local television channels the gunshots rung out above the noise of traffic in the morning rush hour. “We were working when we heard a huge noise. There were three of us and we rushed to the scene. Blood had splattered on the road. We didn’t see how the two gunmen arrived but they left on a motorbike,” one said. A pamphlet from a previously unknown group calling itself the Nepal Vad Party was found at the scene, in the Lalitpur district, Shrestha added.

Security analyst Saroj Raj Adhikari told AFP the shooting came at a time of “confusion and uncertainty” in Nepal because of the country’s political crisis. “The murder of the judge shows that no one is safe in the country,” he said. “If the current state continues, I think these groups are likely to commit more serious crimes,” he added. Adhikari said criminal groups which emerged after the end of Nepal’s 1996-2006 civil war were finding it easier than ever to get hold of arms because of inadequate gun controls.

Shootings are still relatively rare in Kathmandu, however, although several public figures have recently been the target of gunmen with various motives and grievances. In September last year, a Muslim community leader was shot dead in the centre of the capital, while five months earlier a Pakistani embassy official was shot in the hand and stomach but survived.

ਕੈਨੇਡਾ ਦੇ 25 ਉੱਤਮ ਪਰਵਾਸੀਆਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਟਾਈਗਰ ਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਸਮੇਤ ਤਿੰਨ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਸ਼ਾਮਲ

ਟੋਰਾਂਟੋ, 29 ਮਈ (ਪੋਸਟ ਬਿਊਰੋ) : ਹਿੱਪ ਹਾਪ ਕਲਾਕਾਰ ਕੇ’ਨਾਨ, ਐਮਪੀ ਓਲੀਵਿਆ ਚਾਓ, ਓਲੰਪਿਕ ਕੁਸ਼ਤੀ ਚੈਂਪੀਅਨ ਡੈਨੀਅਲ ਇਗਾਲੀ ਤੇ ਕੈਨੇਡਾ ਭਰ ਵਿੱਚੋਂ ਕਈ ਹੋਰ ਕਮਿਊਨਿਟੀ ਆਗੂਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਕੈਨੇਡਾ ਦੇ 25 ਉੱਤਮ ਪਰਵਾਸੀਆਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਸ਼ਾਮਲ ਕੀਤਾ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ। ਚੌਥੇ ਸਲਾਨਾ ਸਰਬਉੱਚ 25 ਕੈਨੇਡੀਅਨ ਪਰਵਾਸੀਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਇਹ ਐਵਾਰਡ ਕੈਨੇਡੀਅਨ ਇਮੀਗ੍ਰੈਂਟ ਮੈਗਜ਼ੀਨ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਦਿੱਤੇ ਗਏ ਤੇ ਇਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਸਪਾਂਸਰ ਆਰਬੀਸੀ ਨੇ ਕੀਤਾ। ਵਿਦੇਸ਼ਾਂ ਤੋਂ ਕੈਨੇਡਾ ਆ ਵੱਸੇ ਇਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਕੈਨੇਡੀਅਨਾਂ ਦੀਆਂ ਪ੍ਰੇਰਣਾਦਾਇਕ ਕਹਾਣੀਆਂ ਤੇ ਇਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਮਾਰੀਆਂ ਗਈਆਂ ਮੱਲਾਂ ਦਾ ਇਹ ਐਵਾਰਡ ਦੇਣ ਸਮੇਂ ਖਾਸ ਖਿਆਲ ਰੱਖਿਆ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ। 28,000 ਤੋਂ ਵੀ ਵੱਧ ਕੈਨੇਡੀਅਨਾਂ ਨੇ ਇਸ ਐਵਾਰਡ ਲਈ ਆਨਲਾਈਨ ਆਪਣੀ ਪਸੰਦ ਦੱਸੀ। ਇਹ ਪ੍ਰੋਗਰਾਮ 2009 ਵਿੱਚ ਸ਼ੁਰੂ ਕੀਤਾ ਗਿਆ ਸੀ ਤੇ ਉਦੋਂ ਤੋਂ ਲੈ ਕੇ ਹੁਣ ਤੱਕ ਆਪਣੇ ਉਮੀਦਵਾਰ ਚੁਣਨ ਲਈ ਸੱਭ ਤੋਂ ਵੱਧ ਲੋਕਾਂ ਨੇ ਆਨਲਾਈਨ ਆਪਣੀ ਪਸੰਦ ਦਰਜ ਕਰਵਾਈ। ਐਵਾਰਡ ਲਈ ਨਾਮਜਦ ਹਸਤੀਆਂ ਨੂੰ 29 ਮਈ ਨੂੰ ਟੋਰਾਂਟੋ ਵਿੱਚ ਤੇ 5 ਜੂਨ ਨੂੰ ਵੈਨਕੂਵਰ ਵਿੱਚ ਸਨਮਾਨਿਤ ਕੀਤਾ ਜਾਵੇਗਾ। ਕੈਨੇਡੀਅਨ ਇਮੀਗ੍ਰੈਂਟ ਮੈਗਜ਼ੀਨ ਦੀ ਸੰਪਾਦਕ ਮਾਰਗਰੈਟ ਜੇਟੇਲੀਨਾ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ ਕਿ ਭਾਵੇਂ ਇਹ ਸਾਡੇ ਚੌਥੇ ਸਲਾਨਾ ਐਵਾਰਡ ਹਨ ਪਰ ਕੈਨੇਡਾ ਵਿੱਚ ਆ ਕੇ ਆਪਣਾ ਯੋਗਦਾਨ ਪਾਉਣ ਵਾਲੇ ਪਰਵਾਸੀਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਜਿੰਨਾ ਸਨਮਾਨਿਤ ਕਰ ਲਿਆ ਜਾਵੇ ਓਨਾ ਘੱਟ ਹੈ। ਪੇਸੇ਼ਵਰ ਖਿਡਾਰੀਆਂ, ਕਲਾਕਾਰਾਂ, ਸਿਆਸਤਦਾਨਾਂ, ਉੱਦਮੀਆਂ ਤੋਂ ਲੈ ਕੇ ਫਿਲੈਨਥਰੌਪਿਸਟਸ ਤੇ ਕਮਿਊਨਿਟੀ ਕਾਰਕੁੰਨਾਂ ਤੱਕ 25 ਉੱਤਮ ਪਰਵਾਸੀ ਨਾ ਸਿਰਫ ਸਾਰੇ ਇਮੀਗ੍ਰੈਂਟਸ ਲਈ ਸਗੋਂ ਕੈਨੇਡਾ ਵਿੱਚ ਪੈਦਾ ਹੋਏ ਲੋਕਾਂ ਲਈ ਵੀ ਆਦਰਸ਼ ਹਨ। ਇਨ੍ਹਾਂ 25 ਉੱਤਮ ਪਰਵਾਸੀਆਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਤਿੰਨ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ, ਕੇਹਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਔਜਲਾ, ਜਗਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਹੰਸ (ਟਾਈਗਰਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ) ਤੇ ਸਤੀਸ਼ ਠੱਕਰ ਸ਼ਾਮਲ ਹਨ।

ਬੇਸਮੈਂਟਾਂ ਬਾਰੇ ਬਰੈਂਪਟਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਮਸ਼ਵਰਾ ਮੀਟਿੰਗਾਂ ਜੂਨ ਵਿੱਚ

ਬਰੈਂਪਟਨ : ਪਿਛਲੇ ਦਿਨਾਂ ਤੋਂ ਬਰੈਂਪਟਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਚਰਚਾ ਦਾ ਵਿਸ਼ਾ ਬਣਿਆ ਬੇਸਮੈਂਟਾਂ ਦਾ ਮੁੱਦਾ ਇੱਕ ਵਾਰ ਹੁਣ ਹਾਂ ਪੱਖੀ ਮੋੜ ਵੱਲ ਜਾਣ ਦੀ ਤਿਆਰੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਹੈ। ਇਹ ਹਾਂ ਪੱਖੀ ਮੋੜ ਉੱਨਾ ਕੁ ਹੀ ਸਹੀ ਦਿਸ਼ਾ ਵੱਲ ਜਾਣ ਦਾ ਰਾਹ ਪੱਧਰਾ ਕਰੇਗਾ ਜਿੰਨਾ ਕੁ ਕਮਿਉਨਿਟੀ ਇਸਤੋਂ ਲਾਭ ਲੈਣ ਦੀ ਕੋਸਿ਼ਸ਼ ਕਰੇਗੀ।

ਪਹਿਲੀ ਗੱਲ ਕਿ ਬਰੈਂਪਟਨ ਸਿਟੀ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਜੂਨ ਮਹੀਨੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਪੰਜ ਜਨਤਕ ਮੀਟਿੰਗਾਂ ਕੀਤੀਆਂ ਜਾ ਰਹੀਆਂ ਹਨ ਤਾਂ ਜੋ ਬੇਸਮੈਂਟਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਲੀਗਲ ਕਰਨ ਬਾਰੇ ਪਬਲਿਕ ਦੀ ਰਾਏ ਲਈ ਜਾ ਸਕੇ। ਇਹ ਮੀਟਿੰਗਾਂ ਦਾ ਵੇਰਵਾ ਇਸ ਤਰਾਂ ਹੈ:

ਸੋਮਵਾਰ, 4 ਜੂਨ 2012 – ਕਾਰਨੀਨਲ ਐਂਬਰੋਜਿ਼ਕ ਕੈਥੋਲਿਕ ਸੈਕੰਡਰੀ ਸਕੂਲ, 10 ਕੈਸਲ ਓਕਸ ਕਰੌਸਿੰਗ  (Monday, June 4, 2012 Cardinal Ambrozic Catholic Secondary School 10 Castle Oaks Crossing)
ਬੁੱਧਵਾਰ, 6 ਜੂਨ 2012, ਬਰੈਮਲੀ ਸੈਕੰਡਰੀ ਸਕੂਲ, 510 ਬਾਲਮੋਰਲ ਡਰਾਈਵ (Wednesday, June 6, 2012 Bramalea Secondary School 510 Balmoral Drive)
ਬੁੱਧਵਾਰ, 13 ਜੂਨ 2012, ਲੂਈਸ ਅਰਬੋਰ ਸੈਕੰਡਰੀ ਸਕੂਲ 365 ਫਾਦਰ ਟੌਬਿਨ ਰੋਡ (65 Father Tobin Road)
ਵੀਰਵਾਰ, 14 ਜੂਨ 2012, ਮਾਊਂਟ ਪਲੈਜ਼ੈਂਟ ਵਿਲੇਜ਼ ਕਮਿਉਨਿਟੀ ਸੈਂਟਰ 100 ਕੰਮਿਊਟਰ ਡਰਾਈਵ (Thursday, June 14, 2012 Mount Pleasant Village Community Centre 100 Commuter Drive (North of Mount Pleasant GO Station))
ਸੋਮਵਾਰ, ਜੂਨ 25, 2012, ਕਰਿਸ ਗਿਬਸਨ ਰੀਕਰੀਏਸ਼ਨ ਸੈਂਟਰ 125 ਮੈਕਲਾਗਲਿਨ ਰੋਡ (Chris Gibson Recreation Centre, 125 McLaughlin Road)
ਇਹ ਸਾਰੀਆਂ ਮੀਟਿੰਗਾਂ ਸ਼ਾਮੀ 7 ਵਜ਼ੇ ਤੋਂ 9 ਵਜ਼ੇ ਤੱਕ ਹੋਣਗੀਆਂ ਅਤੇ ਸਾਢੇ ਛੇ ਵਜ਼ੇ ਰਜਿਸਟਰੇਸ਼ਨ ਸ਼ੁਰੂ ਹੋ ਜਾਵੇਗੀ। ਬਰੈਂਪਟਨ ਸਿਟੀ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਜਾਰੀ ਇੱਕ ਇਤਲਾਹ ਵਿੱਚ ਆਖਿਆ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਇਹ ਮੀਟਿੰਗਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਸਥਾਨ ਸੀਮਤ ਹੋਣ ਕਾਰਣ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਆਪਣਾ ਨਾਮ ਦਰਜ਼ ਕਰਵਾ ਲੈਣਾ ਚਾਹੀਦਾ ਹੈ। ਇਸ ਵਾਸਤੇ ਕਲੌਡੀਆ ਲੈਰੋਟਾ ਨੂੰ ਈ ਮੇਲ  claudia.larota@brampton.ca  ਜਾਂ  905.874.3844 ਉੱਤੇ ਫੋਨ ਕਰਨ ਦੀ ਸਲਾਹ ਦਿੱਤੀ ਗਈ ਹੈ।
ਵਰਨਣਯੋਗ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਉਂਟੇਰੀਓ ਦੀ ਪਾਰਲੀਮੈਂਟ ਨੇ ਇੱਕ ਬਿੱਲ ਪਾਸ ਕਰਕੇ ਬੇਸਮੈਂਟਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਲੀਗਲ ਕਰਨ ਦਾ ਰਾਹ ਪੱਧਰਾ ਕਰ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਸੀ ਅਤੇ ਹਰ ਸਿਟੀ ਨੂੰ ਇਸ ਬਾਰੇ ਆਪਣੀ ਪਹੁੰਚ ਤਹਿ ਕਰਨ ਦੀ ਖੁੱਲ ਦਿੱਤੀ ਸੀ।

Saudi woman defies religious police over nail polish

Riyadh - A YouTube video of a Saudi woman defying orders by the notorious religious police to leave a mall because she is wearing nail polish has gone viral, attracting more than a million hits in just five days.

The three and a half minute video posted on May 23 shows members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice telling the women to "get out of here (the mall)."

But she refuses to comply, saying: "I'm staying and I want to know what you're going to do about."

"It's none of your business if I wear nail polish," the unidentified woman, who is not seen on tape, is heard shouting at bearded men from the feared religious force.

"You are not in charge of me," she defiantly shouts back, referring to new constraints imposed earlier this year on the religious police banning them from harassing Saudi women over their behaviour and attire.

"The government has banned you from coming after us," she told the men, adding "you are only supposed to provide advice, and nothing more."

In January, Saudi King Abdullah appointed a moderate to head the religious police raising hopes that a more lenient force will ease draconian social constraints in the Islamic country.

Two weeks into his post, Sheikh Abdullatif Abdel Aziz al-Sheikh banned volunteers from serving in the commission which enforces the kingdom's strict Islamic rules.

And in April he went further prohibiting the religious police from "harassing people" and threatening "decisive measures against violators."

As of Monday, the video was viewed more than 1,142,000 times, with over 12,000 people posting comments online, most of them denouncing the woman's behaviour.

One posting said she had "no shame" and accused her of "prostituting" herself.

Another called her a "slut" and a "whore."

The clip earned only about 1800 "likes." The number of "dislikes" reached almost 7000.

The woman filmed the incident herself and posted it on YouTube. At one point during the video, she cautions the religious police that she has already posted the exchange online.

It is also not clear if the woman was eventually forced to leave the mall.

The religious police prevent women from driving, require them to be covered from head to foot in black, ban public entertainment, and force all commerce, from supermarkets to petrol stations, to come to a halt at prayer times, five times a day.