Nairobi: A monument has been opened in tribute to the victims of torture and ill treatment during the emergency period of British rule in Kenya, East Africa. The ceremony was attended by several veterans of the Mau Mau rebellion which pushed the colonial rule to its end. The memorial features a statue of an armed rebel receiving a bag of supplies from a woman. British High Commissioner Christian Turner said, “This memorial is about reconciliation, allowing us to discuss together the issues arising from a difficult period in our shared history, and to move together.” “The recognition that Mau Mau fighters were victims of human rights abuses and torture is a significant step toward the recognition of our past and its impact on our future,” said former Kenyan prime minister Raila Odinga. During the movement Jomo Kenyatta, former president, was in jail and his daughter was living at the house of Ambhubhai Patel. Ambhubhai treated Kenyatta's daughter as his own. Ambhubhai's own daughter is married to low caste man.
Visas for China’s super-rich fall 91%
London: The British Home Office has cited a 91 per cent decrease in the number of 'investor visas' issued to Chinese nationals in 2015. Only 17 investor visas designed for 'ultra-high-net-worth' individuals were granted in the first 6 months of this year, plummeting from 187 in the same period in 2014. Also affected is the number of Russians getting visas to Britain. Economic conditions in Russia and the British government's toughened stance on 'non-doms' is believed to be the reason for the decrease in investors. Investor visas have become the fast way for the rich to apply for a permanent residency. If they invest £ 5m or more, they can apply to settle permanently in the UK after 3 years. Kamal Rahman, an immigration specialist at Mishcon De Reya, said, “The figures may be the first sign that the limitation of non-dom tax advantages is discouraging inward investment, as well as the impact of the increase in the minimum investment to £2m.”
Indian-origin boy wins Australian spelling bee contest
Melbourne: A nine year old boy of Indian origin has become Australia's new spelling champion after winning the 'Great Australian Spelling Bee' competition. Anirudh Kathirvel, born to a Tamil couple in Melbourne won 50,000 dollars in education scholarship along with a whopping 10,000 dollars worth of school goods. He said he could not believe his luck and asked his fellow spellers to “pinch” him. “I need to rub my eyes and see if this is a dream,” he said. “Nope. Nope. Nope. Real. I can't describe it. It's like the best day of my life.” He said his favourite word to spell was 'euouae' as he liked the structure of the word as it was the longest word with consecutive vowels. “Some of the other words I like to spell are feuilleton, cephalalgia, ombrophobous.” Anirudh further said, “I started reading from the age of two and slowly my reading passion evolved into my love for words. My parents encouraged and helped me to build up on my spelling. My first spelling competition was when I was in grade 1. But my first year in the spelling competition was challenging.”
7 Indians feature in Forbes Asia's Heroes of Philanthropy list
Houston: The Forbes Asia's ninth Heroes of Philanthropy list that highlights most noteworthy contributions to philanthropy from 13 countries across Asia Pacific, features seven Indians. Four Infosys co-founders, Senapathy Gopalakrishnan, Nandan Nilekani and SD Shibulal are on the list for their individual contributions to the health and education sectors. Another Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy's son Rohan represents him on the list for donating an enormous amount of USD 5.2 million to Harvard University Press for promoting ancient Indian literary classics. Kerala-born Sunny Varkey tops the list in the region. The last two Indians are brothers Suresh Ramakrishnan and Mahesh Ramakrishnan, London-based entrepreneurs and founders of Whitcomb & Shaftesbury Tailors. They donated USD 3 million for training of more than 4,000 people in tailoring across India, benefiting 2004 tsunami victims and “ill-fated” women.
30 Indian doctors land in Malawi to improve health services
Johannesburg: A contingent of 30 Indian doctors has arrived in the Lilongwe, capital of Malawa, to support the government in providing health services to patients at the Kamuzu Central Hospital. The Lilongwe Rotary Club has assisted their arrival and will spend 60 million Malawi Kwacha for the exercise where the doctors will aid nearly 300 patients at the hospital for 10 days. The club president Christopher Kapenda said his organisation will help the health workers provide quality health services to the people. “ These doctors will assist a lot in lessening problems that patients ate facing at Kamuzu Central Hospital since there are some patients who have been in the hospital for long just to wait for the surgeon,” he said. Kamuzu Hospital director Jonathan Ngoma said, “On behalf of the ministry of health, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for this wonderful gesture of service above self, truly reflecting the Rotary motto.”
First Indian-American Woman Postmaster in California in 166 Years
New York: An Indian-American woman has become the first female to be appointed as the postmaster in Sacramento city in California in the last 166 years. Jagdeep Grewal, who earned her bachelor's degree from Punjab University, started her career in postal services in 1988 as a window clerk. She will now oversee 1,004 employees who process and deliver mail on 537 city routes and 94 rural routes. Grewal said she looked forward to working with Sacramento's Postal Service Employees. “It is only through joint effort and collaboration that we can truly meet our mission of providing extraordinary service while keeping costs down.” The US Postal Service is facing cash crunch and recently reported a net loss of $586 million earlier this year.
Taliban militants storm Afghan jail, free 350 inmates
Ghazni (Afghanistan): Taliban militants stormed a prison in Afghanistan's Ghazni and released more than 350 inmates, including nearly 150 dreaded ones, officials said. The prison raid, on the outskirts of the central city of Ghazni, comes after setbacks for the government in different parts of the country and deadly attacks in Kabul which have dashed hopes for peace talks. A journalist outside the prison in Ghazni, 120 km southwest of Kabul, saw the bodies of two men who appeared to be suicide bombers and a blown-up car that had apparently been used to destroy the main entrance. Clusters of bullet casings were scattered across the road. The interior ministry said that 350 of the 436 prisoners had escaped. Of those who got away, 148 were a “threat to national security and 207 were criminals,” the ministry said, adding that four Taliban and four members of the security forces were killed.
Nepal rejects Hindu nation proposal, to stay secular
Kathmandu: Nepal's Constituent Assembly has rejected calls to remove the key term secularism from the new Constitution and revert the Himalayan nation to a Hindu state, triggering protests by Hindu activists. As the Constituent Assembly resumed voting on individual articles of the Constitution draft, more than two-thirds of the lawmakers rejected the amendment proposal to make Nepal a Hindu state and reaffirmed that it will remain a secular nation. The proposal was made by Rastirya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Nepal or National Democratic Party Nepal, a pro-Hindu group, which demanded that secularism be removed from the Constitution in the Article 4 and Hindu state be mentioned instead. RPP's Kamal Thapa demanded split voting and his call received the support of only 21 lawmakers in the 601-seat Assembly.
Turnbull sworn in Australian PM
Canberra: Malcolm Turnbull, an urbane former investment banker who supports marriage equality and action on climate change, was sworn in as Australia's 29th Prime Minister on Tuesday, a day after ousting longtime rival Tony Abbott in a party room coup. Turnbull, a Rhodes Scholar who previously led the Australian Republican Movement, was sworn in by Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove, the representative of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, Australia's head of state. Turnbull's Liberal Party and its junior coalition partner the National Party won a landslide election in 2013 but Abbott was jettisoned by his party after a series of perceived policy missteps and destabilising infighting.
15 militants killed in Pakistan airstrike
Islamabad: A statement issued by the Pakistani army has reported that at least 15 militants were killed in an airstrike launched by the army in the country's tribal area of North Waziristan. Troops backed by fighter jets pounded seven militant hideouts in Shawal area of North Waziristan, as per the Inter-Service Public Relations. Identities of the killed militants have not been revealed yet, but the targeted areas are home to militants linked with outlawed outfits Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-i-Islam (LI). Sunday's airstrike came as part of the ongoing operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan, which has so far killed over 3,000 militants. A previous statement by the Director General of the ISPR said the operation in Shawal town is the last push against militants as the 15 month offensive has entered final phase. Most of the areas in North Waziristan is rendered clear of militants.
Thousands flee California wildfire as homes go up in flames
Middletown (California): A swiftly spreading wildfire destroyed hundreds of homes and forced thousands of residents to flee as it roared unchecked through the northern California village of Middletown and nearby communities, fire officials said. The fire, now ranked as the most destructive among scores of blazes that have ravaged the drought-stricken Western United States this summer, came amid what California fire officials described as "unheard of fire behaviour" this season. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection put the total number of fire evacuees on Sunday night at more than 19,300.
7/11 train blasts accused believed to be in the UK and UAE
Mumbai: Raheel Shaikh and Rizwan Dawrey, two accused in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case, believed to be in the UK and UAE respectively, are yet to be caught after the Interpol issued red-corner notices against them. The notices came after specific information was revealed about their residential addresses in Thane and Pune, their role in the event and their current locations. Chargesheet showed more than seven financial transactions between both of them. Shaikh is believed to have brought the money from Dubai to Mumbai through hawala. Both Dawrey and Shaikh are accused of “aiding and abetting” the serial blasts. Interpol had issued red-corner notices against only the two Indians from the 15 accused; Raheel Shaikh is currently in Birmingham and Rizwan Dawrey works as a chartered accountant based in Dubai.
