TwoCircles.net - Indian Muslim news

Banish power cuts in Taj city: Mughal descendant
Kashmir peaceful, army to standby till next week
Shab-e-Meiraj celebrated across JK
Srinagar newspapers suspend publication
Indian Muslims are not terrorists: Farah Pandith
Minority district plan not addressing problems of Darbhanga Muslims
Mirwaiz lead massive protest in Srinagar
Govt registered case against news channel for running untrue news
Stop harassment of PFI activists, conduct fair probe into professor’s case: PFI
Army standby till next week: Omar
Queen's Baton Goes Missing in Lucknow
HRD Minister urged to declare Jamia Urdu as Urdu Open University
Demand for govt grant to non-aided madrasas in Beed
Amarnath yatra crosses 100,000 mark
Samacheer Kalvi: TN govt to take care of minority languages, says IUML MP
Farooq meet Chidambaram, seeks help for Omar
Shah Jahan's Urs begins at Taj Mahal
'US reaching out to Muslims to end negative perceptions'
Curfew re-imposed in few areas after fresh clashes
Haj accommodation in keeping with guidelines: Government
Soccer girls

Banish power cuts in Taj city: Mughal descendant

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 09:27 AM PDT

By IANS,

Agra: Yakub Habeebuddin Tucy, the self-proclaimed great grandson of last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, Saturday demanded improvements in Agra's power situation and direct international flights to the Taj city.

Talking to mediapersons at the Taj Khema, after attending the 355th Urs (death anniversary) of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, Hyderabad-based Tucy said the Taj Mahal's security had been compromised due to power cuts.

Kashmir peaceful, army to standby till next week

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 09:09 AM PDT

By IANS,

Srinagar/New Delhi: Barring a few stray incidents of violence, most parts of the Kashmir Valley were peaceful Saturday as the curfew relaxations continued after three days of restrictions, but Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the army would be on standby till next week.

"There has been no major incident since Friday" when the curfew was lifted to allow people to offer prayers at night on the occasion of Shab-e-Mehraj (ascension of the Prophet to heaven), Omar Abdullah said in an interview to NDTV news channel in Srinagar.

Shab-e-Meiraj celebrated across JK

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 08:43 AM PDT

AIPTV-Bureau,

Srinagar: Meiraj-ul-Alam was celebrated with religious fervor and enthusiasm all across the State.

Big congregations were held at Hazratbal, Jenab Sahib Soura, Kalashpora, Ka'aba Marg, Asar-i-Sharief, Baramulla, Aham Sharief, Bandipora and other places.

People in large numbers offered Isha prayers at shrines, mosques and khanqahs.

Devotees busied themselves in Darood-u-Azkar and speakers threw light on the philosophy of Shab-e-Meiraj throughout the night.

People are blessed a glimpse of holy relics of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) after every prayer.

Srinagar newspapers suspend publication

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 07:57 AM PDT

By IANS,

Srinagar, July 10 (IANS) The editors of Srinagar-based vernacular and English newspapers Saturday announced the suspension of their publications to protest the alleged harassment by the Jammu and Kashmir administration.

Newspaper editors, reporters and photo-journalists held a protest march in the Press Enclave area on Residency Road Saturday afternoon accusing the administration of harassing the media.

Indian Muslims are not terrorists: Farah Pandith

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 05:47 AM PDT

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

Washington: India's 160 million Muslims are not terrorists and are tired of their community being defined as terrorists, asserts a top Indian-American official of the Obama Administration charged with reaching out to the community.

"I talk about the bloggers that I meet in India who are tired of Muslims being defined as terrorists," Farah Pandith, US Special Representative to the Muslim Community, said in a web chat Friday.

Minority district plan not addressing problems of Darbhanga Muslims

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 05:16 AM PDT

By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,

Patna: Darbhanga with heavy population of Muslims is a Minority Concentration District (MCD) which comes under the Central Government-run Multi-sectoral Development Program (MsDP), the multi-billion-rupee exclusive program for MCDs, to improve the lot of the minority community. Are MsDP projects addressing the real problems of the locals? Let's check what's happening on the ground.

Mirwaiz lead massive protest in Srinagar

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 05:04 AM PDT

By Mir Umar,AIP,

Srinagar: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, led a massive protest march in Srinagar today which has participated by scores of people.

The march commenced from Jamia Masjid Srinagar and passed through Nowhatta Chowk, and other localities of the old city.

APHC leaders including Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi and Yasmeen Raja were also among the participants of the march.

Govt registered case against news channel for running untrue news

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 04:46 AM PDT

By Wasim Khan,AIP,

Srinagar: The state Police of Jammu and Kashmir today registered a case against a Delhi based private news television channel for allegedly instigating violence in a district in South Kashmir by running untrue news about the death of a person in police firing.

An FIR was filed in main Pulwama police station against the channel and its correspondents for running wrong news about the death of a youth in police firing despite repeated assertions by police that no such incident had taken place.

Stop harassment of PFI activists, conduct fair probe into professor’s case: PFI

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 03:40 AM PDT

By TCN News,

Bangalore: Taking a dig at Kerala police for harassment and arrest of several activists of Popular Front of India (PFI) following an incident in which Professor TJ Joseph's hand was chopped a week ago in Moovattupuza in Kerala, the central secretariat of PFI alleged that it is an attempt to tarnish the image of the organization and mislead the people.

Army standby till next week: Omar

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 03:37 AM PDT

By IANS,

New Delhi: Pointing out that the army has not been deployed in violence-hit Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said Saturday he hoped to pull out the armed forces from "standby duties" next week.

"There has been no major incident since Friday" when the curfew was lifted to allow people to offer prayers at night on the occasion of Shab-e-Mehraj, Omar said in an interview to NDTV news channel in Srinagar.

Queen's Baton Goes Missing in Lucknow

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 02:26 AM PDT

By TCN Staff Reporter,

Lucknow: As the euphoria over the Queen's baton subsided on Saturday, it was marred with a controversy over its unofficial stay in the Sahara Shaher. District administration terming it as a highly insulting act maintained that only duplicate baton reached Sahara Shaher and the orignal baton has been handed over to the district administration of Raibareilly.

HRD Minister urged to declare Jamia Urdu as Urdu Open University

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 02:10 AM PDT

By TCN News,

Aligarh: A group of academicians, mostly attached to Aligarh Muslim University, today sent a memorandum to Union Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) Mr. Kapil Sibal urging him to take steps to declare Jamia Urdu, Aligarh as Urdu Open University.

While appreciating the initiatives taken by HRD Ministry for the development of Urdu such as launching of 'Urdu Channel', the intellectuals demanded more actions in this regard, especially some positive steps in favor of Jamia Urdu, Aligarh.

Demand for govt grant to non-aided madrasas in Beed

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 01:07 AM PDT

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,

Beed (Maharashtra): The Beed district unit president of Maharashtra State Urdu Teachers' Association, Mujtaba Khan has demanded 100% government grant to non-aided recognized madrasas and Urdu schools here from the academic year of 2000.

Khan along with other office bearers of the association submitted a memorandum in this regard to the visiting state school education minister Fauzia Tahseen Khan last week. The association also demanded recruitment of Urdu teachers on their vacant posts in Urdu medium schools of Zila Parishad.

Amarnath yatra crosses 100,000 mark

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 12:47 AM PDT

By IANS,

Jammu: Amid tension and violence in the Kashmir Valley, the number of Hindu pilgrims who have reached the Amarnath shrine in the Himalayas has crossed the 100,000 mark.

The milestone was achieved on the ninth day of the pilgrimage Friday night.

The two-month-long pilgrimage to the cave shrine, located at a height of 13,500 feet above sea level, commenced July 1.

A naturally made ice stalagmite known as "Shivlingam", an icon of Hindu Lord Shiva, is the major attraction for the devotees from across the country.

Samacheer Kalvi: TN govt to take care of minority languages, says IUML MP

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 12:43 AM PDT

By Shafee Ahmed Ko, TwoCircles.net,

Chennai: Indian Union Muslim League MP from Tamil Nadu has indicated that the state government of DMK will take care of linguistic minorities while implementing the Samacheer Kalvi (Equitable System of Education) policy of two language formula i.e. Tamil and English being prime languages for 10th standard examination, being in force from this academic year.

Farooq meet Chidambaram, seeks help for Omar

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 11:54 PM PDT

By IANS,

New Delhi: New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah Saturday separately met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P.Chidambaram and requested assistance so that his son and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah could tide over the volatile situation in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

Officials at the Jammu and Kashmir House, the official state guest house here, told IANS that Abdullah assured the prime minister and the home minister that he would assist Omar in restoring normalcy in the Valley.

Shah Jahan's Urs begins at Taj Mahal

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 11:39 PM PDT

By IANS,

Agra: The 355th Urs (death anniversary) of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan is being observed at the greatest of all monuments he built -- the Taj Mahal.

Tens of thousands of devotees thronged the 17th century marvel especially for the three-day event that began Friday.

During this period, people pay homage at the graves of Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz, in whose memory the Taj Mahal was built. The graves otherwise are not open for public viewing.

Security personnel expect a big rush until Sunday. Entry to the Taj is free Saturday and Sunday.

'US reaching out to Muslims to end negative perceptions'

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 11:26 PM PDT

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

Washington: The Obama administration is reaching out to Muslims across the world in an attempt to change what a person charged with the effort says is a widely-held negative narrative about Islam and terrorism.

"We're going out and hearing from people who are doing innovative and creative things. We're lifting up their voices so that they can be role models for others," Farah Pandith, the US special representative to Muslim communities, said Friday.

Curfew re-imposed in few areas after fresh clashes

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 11:19 PM PDT

By Rahi Firdous,AIP,

Srinagar: Srinagar and the rest of the Kashmir valley woke up to a peaceful morning and a semblance of normalcy seemed to have returned to the streets of the city after a night that passed off without any major incident despite curfew being relaxed for the first time in three days.

However, curfew has been re-imposed in Maisuma area of Srinagar and three other districts Anantnag, Pulwama, and Kakpora after clashes between protesters and security forces.

Haj accommodation in keeping with guidelines: Government

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 10:41 PM PDT

By IANS,

New Delhi: In the wake of reports of irregularities in the accommodation for Haj pilgrims, the external affairs ministry Friday said the arrangements were done in accordance with the established guidelines and the local conditions.

Soccer girls

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 09:45 PM PDT

By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net

When FIFA World Cup Soccer Final match is played on Sunday, there will be at least a billion people will be watching it around the world. Going by the two pictures that I will present to you, some of these fans will be young Muslim girls of India.