Teacher jailed for secretly recording colleagues in Saudi Arabia

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Manama: A teacher in a Saudi school was sentenced to three months in jail for secretly recording her colleagues on her mobile phone.
The teacher who was initially suspended pending the investigation said her act was spontaneous and that she was just joking with her colleagues when she made the recording during a short break between lessons.
She added that she teasingly told them she would post the recording in case they stirred her feelings.
However, the teachers were not amused and reported the case to the school, launching a process that that escalated from keeping the teacher out of the classroom for two weeks by the education authorities to referring her to a court of justice and a prison verdict.
The judge gave the defendant a 30-day grace period to challenge the court sentence.

Nearly 1.8 billion people will face water scarcity by 2025: UN

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United Nations: By 2025, some 1.8 billion people will face absolute water scarcity and an estimated two-thirds of the world’s population could be living under water-stressed conditions, showed UN statistics released on Monday.
A panel discussion held at the UN headquarters highlighted that safeguarding forests is an essential way to manage global freshwater resources and to avoid water shortages, Xinhua reported.
Three-fourths of the fresh water that people use every day comes from forested catchment areas and more than 1.6 billion people live on the forests for food, water, medicines and fuel, forest experts said at the panel discussion marking the International Day of Forests which falls on Monday.
Experts said forested watersheds and wetlands influence how and where rain falls and can filter and clean the water. Forests also play an important role in providing and regulating water in a number of ways, from groundwater recharge to erosion control.
"The protection and restoration of forest watersheds and catchments is not just climate-smart; it is a cost-effective and green alternative to new infrastructure development for water purification," said Manoel Sobral Filho, director of the UN Forum on Forests Secretariat.
"Forests are the planet's natural water towers," he added.
The International Day of Forests is observed annually on March 21. UN statistics show that every year, seven million hectares of natural forests are lost and 50 million hectares of forest land are burned.

Missing Infosys employee was traveling by metro, tweets Sushma Swaraj

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New Delhi: The Infosys employee who has been missing in Brussels since Tuesday's deadly terror attacks was "travelling in the metro", Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted this morning.
Raghuvendran Ganesh, who has been missing since the attacks that killed 34 people, hails from Bengaluru.
“We are doing our best to locate Raghavendran Ganesh,” External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted.
She also said that two other Indians, both employees of Jet Airways, who were injured were “recovering well”.
At least 34 people were killed on Tuesday as two deadly explosions rocked the Zaventem airport and a more powerful blast ripped through a train coach at a Metro station in the heart of Brussels in the worst terror attack in Europe in four months.

Attempt was made on Bal Thackeray's life: David Headley

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Mumbai: In a shocking disclosure, Pakistani-American terrorist-turned-approver David Coleman Headley on Thursday claimed that an attempt was made on the life of the late Shiv Sena founder-patriarch, Bal Thackeray.
"I believe an attempt was made on the life of the Shiv Sena chief... The man who made the attempt had escaped from police custody," Headley said in the Special Court of Additional Sessions Judge G.A. Sanap.
His replies came on the second day of his cross-examination conducted by lawyer Abdul Wahab Khan, the defence counsel for Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, who is facing trial in the 26/11 case.
During his examination-in-chief by Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam on February 12, Headley had first confirmed the LeT's plot to target Thackeray, but said nothing on an unsuccessful bid made to kill him and the attacker having slipped from the police hands.
When Khan asked him how many times he visited the party headquarters Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar and what was the motive, Headley said he recced the building twice and reiterated that the LeT's target was the late Thackeray.
To the question, under whose instructions, Headley said he was instructed by his LeT supervisor in Pakistan, Sajid Mir.
On any other attempts on the late Thackeray's life, Headley said he had learnt of one previous attempt on the late champion of Hindutva (Thackeray), and the man who made the bid had escaped police custody.
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Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton win Arizona primaries

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WashingtonRepublican and Democratic presidential frontrunners, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, cruised to big victories in the crucial Arizona primary even as they faced challenges from rivals in other nominating contests. With his easy victory in Arizona's winner-take-all primary, Trump added another 58 delegates to his tally of 681 delegates, while closest rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz with 425 delegates hoped to slow Trump's momentum with a victory Tuesday in the Utah caucuses. A strong victory in Utah caucuses with more than 50 percent support would give Cruz all the state's 40 delegates and help him narrow the gap with Trump a little in the race for 1,237 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination. Cruz is backed in Utah with its sizable Mormon population by the 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney, who backed Ohio Governor John Kasich in last week's Ohio primary. Romney said he would vote for Cruz in Utah as part of an effort to deny Trump the nomination. "The only path that remains to nominate a Republican rather than Mr. Trump is to have an open convention," he wrote in a posting on Facebook. "At this stage, the only way we can reach an open convention is for Senator Cruz to be successful in as many of the remaining nominating elections as possible." Kasich, who entered the day with 143 delegates handily won his home state last week despite a strong push by Trump. But that is Kasich's one and only victory and he seemed unlikely to add to his win total on Tuesday Heading into the polls in the shadow of a series of explosions in Brussels, killing at least 30 people, Trump reiterated his proposal for an open-ended ban on Muslims entering the US and for using extralegal means to fight terrorists. Trump called for torturing Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in November's terrorist attack on Paris who was captured last week in Belgium.
"You know, he may be talking, but he'll talk a lot faster with torture," he told CNN Cruz responded to the attack with his own provocative proposal, calling for law enforcement authorities "to patrol and secure Muslim neighbourhoods before they become radicalised." But Kasich was more restrained. "We are not at war with Islam; we're at war with radical Islam," he said. Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, Clinton beat rival Bernie Sanders in the Arizona primary to take at least one of three Democratic presidential contests Tuesday in Western states. Arizona was the biggest prize of the night, with 75 of the state's 85 delegates at stake based on the results of Tuesday's primary. Utah and Idaho also held caucuses Tuesday where a combined 56 delegates were on the line.< Speaking in San Diego after Clinton's projected win in Arizona, Sanders cited "record-breaking turnouts" in states that held contests Tuesday and said his campaign appealed to voters because "we are telling the truth. "We cannot go forward as a nation unless we are prepared to confront the real issues facing our country."

Two explosions hit Brussels airpor

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Brussels: Two loud explosions were heard at the Zaventem airport in Belgium's capital, forcing authorities to hurriedly evacuate it, Sky News reported. There were reports of several casualties. The blasts centred on an American Airlines desk in a departure hall. Sky News correspondent Alex Rossi said from the scene: "I was at the duty free in Zaventem Airport and I heard two very, very loud explosions. "I could feel the building move. There was also dust and smoke as well... It is some kind of terrorist attack although that hasn't been verified by any of the authorities here," he said. "We are all being moved out of the airport towards the emergency exit. Belgian media reported that several people had been injured and that train services to the airport had been suspended. The Belgian capital is on high alert following the arrest of the November 2015 Paris terror attack suspect Salah Abdeslam in the city last week. -

Twitter sends 140-character message to users on 10th birthday

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NewYork: With 320 million users including celebrities such as Harry Styles, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber on its platform, the micro-blogging site Twitter on Monday wrote a 140-character thank you note to its users as it celebrated its 10th anniversary. Twitter users are creating 500 million tweets per day and 200 billion tweets every year. "On March 21, ten years ago, it began with a single Tweet. Since then, every moment of every day, people connect about the things they care about most - all over the world," Twitter posted. "As we mark this milestone, it's you we want to celebrate. As March 21 begins around the world, each of our global offices will kick off the day by showing our appreciation and gratitude - starting in Sydney and following the sun to headquarters in San Francisco. We are excited to celebrate with all of you," the post further read. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said last week that while several changes are being planned at the company, its 140-character limit represents a beautiful constraint, which helps deliver strong statements. The short character limit for tweets is an element that gives Twitter a unique identity. Appearing on a TV show, Dorsey said that the 140-character limit is "a beautiful constraint" and that Twitter "will never lose that feeling". "It's (140-characters) staying. It's a good constraint for us, and it allows for of-the-moment brevity… We're changing a lot. We're always going to make Twitter better," he was quoted as saying. The 140-character limit has been around as long as Twitter has and has become part of the product's personality. Twitter is also working on the idea of changing its reverse chronological timeline.
"Throughout the years, you've made Twitter what it is today and you're shaping what it will be in the future. Thank you for making history, driving change, lifting each other up and laughing together every day," Twitter post stated. Twitter has also proved itself as an excellent platform to raise awareness about political topics, spread political messages and coordinate collective action The use of Twitter by US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump "as a microphone" is one of the several such cases to prove the point. In 2009, flight number 1549 of the US Airways made an emergency landing in the Hudson river between New York City and Weehawken in New Jersey. The first image of the rescue mission in which all the 155 passengers were evacuated to safety were taken by a Twitter user and it became viral within minutes of uploading it on the platform. -

India's monopoly to end as Nepal gets trade point in China.

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Kathmandu: Stung by the bitter lessons from Madhesi blockade of India trade points that caused acute fuel shortage, Nepal on Monday signed a transit and transportation treaty with China for its third-country commerce -- a move that is likely to end New Delhi's monopoly over the landlocked Himalayan nation's trade through Haldia port in Kolkata. The two countries signed the agreement along with nine other treaties in Beijing, a day after Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli began a week-long trip to China. Oli's maiden visit as the Nepal prime minister comes at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang. The visit is significant in the light of Nepal's efforts to reduce its decades old dependence on India after Madhesi protestors in southern plains, agitated over the the new Constitution, blocked supply trucks coming in from the southern neighbour. The five-month long blockade caused huge crises as fuel and medicine supplies dried up. Kathmandu blamed New Delhi for supporting the protestors but the allegation has been denied. The blockade halted for months Nepal's third-country trade, apparently prompting the Nepalese government to look for an alternative to the Haldia port. The transit agreement with China gives Nepal an option to use the next nearest Tianjin port in China that is 3,000 km from Nepal border. India's Haldia port is 1,000 km away. However, there are concerns that Nepal cannot immediately use the Chinese port as infrastructure in the tiny country is poor and the Chinese side is located at a higher altitude. Other important agreements signed during Oli's visit on Monday include an accord on the construction of a bridge in Hilsa, far west Nepal, that will connect the republic with Tibet. Hilsa was a traditional trade route to Nepal. China has also pledged $216-million soft loan to Nepal for construction of a regional airport in the second largest city of Pokhara, some 200 km from Kathmandu. The two neighbours also signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to boost the bilateral trade. China has also agreed to explore oil and gas resources in Nepal and will provide all technical and economic support for it. One of the commercial banks in China has also agreed to open its office in Nepal. Similarly, Nepalese banks can also open their branches in China. China has also agreed to help in installation of solar panels in 32,000 Nepalese households. Agreements in the fields of science and technology, sister-city relations between various Nepalese and Chinese cities, and establishment of Nepal's Consular General Office in Chengdu, China, were also signed, said Gopal Khanal, foreign relations expert to Prime Minister Oli. -

Australia to hold early election in July

________ A to Z kerala .......... [kvk] [www.atozkerala.in , www.atozkerala.blogspot.com] >Canberra: Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Monday announded the country will hold an early election in July if the Senate fails to pass laws aimed at curbing union corruption. Turnbull will bring back both houses of Parliament for a sitting in April to deal with industrial relations legislation, and said he will call a double dissolution election to be held on July 2 if the bills are not passed, ABC reported. Under Australia's constitution, a double dissolution is used to break a deadlock between the upper and lower houses of parliament The prime minister said he would also bring forward the federal budget by one week to May 3, saying he had informed his Cabinet colleagues about his decision. "The time has come for the Senate to recognise its responsibilities and help advance our economic plans, rather than standing in the way," he said. "The restoration of the ABCC (Australian Building and Construction Commission) is a critical economic reform." Under the existing schedule, the House of Representatives was set for an extended break until May 10, when the budget was due to be handed down. Now both houses will be sent back to Canberra on April 18 to deal with the ABCC legislation and the registered organisations bill. If the bills are rejected by the Senate during the three-week sitting period, Turnbull is adamant he will call a double dissolution election. The decision for an early poll was taken when the Senate passed voting reforms on Friday after a marathon session. An election is due by January 2017 but had been widely expected by political pundits to be called for the second half of 2016.

State government to challenge EC's decision on schemes -

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Thiruvananthapuram: With Election Commission questioning its decision on free rice distribution to BPL families and supply of drinking water in poll-bound Kerala, the state government Monday said it would not hesitate to take legal recourse if permission was denied for the schemes. Speaking to reporters here, after a special cabinet meeting discussed the issue, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said Chief Secretary P K Mohanty would write a letter to the Election Commission seeking permission for the schemes The cabinet discussed the issue of state Chief Electoral Officer E K Majhi referring the matter to a committee headed by the state Chief Secretary to examine whether the move is violative of the model code of conduct in force since March 4. "The cabinet decided to take legal recourse, if EC refuses to give permission," Chandy said. The Chief Secretary would also refer to court orders which have stated that EC cannot interfere on decisions taken prior to the date of election announcement, he said, adding, government had received legal advice on this matter. He said the free rice distribution scheme was announced in the state budget for 2016-17 in February. "Necessary orders for the same had been issued before the poll announcement and funds for the scheme has also been allotted," he said. Referring to supply of drinking water by lorries in areas hit by shortage, he said the decision was taken and funds allotted before the poll announcement. "The government will think of steps, including legal action, if permission is not granted for the supply of drinking water... a cabinet meeting to be held tomorrow will take a decision," he said. Chandy said the EC had stated that drinking water can be supplied in areas declared as drought-hit. But it would not be possible to declare parts of state as drought-hit going by the guidelines and norms, even though these areas were facing severe drinking water shortage. "The government cannot in any way justify the move to deny drinking water to people in summer months," Chandy said. The Chief Secretary had gone to Delhi and explained the matter to Chief Election Commissioner, Chandy said, adding, a detailed letter was also sent to the EC on the matter. "But no decision has been taken on it," he said. The government fully accepted the core of the model code of conduct. "That is why to avoid any complaints, drinking water supply was being carried out by officials and people's representatives have been kept away from it," he said. Besides this, the EC had also restricted the supply of free ration materials for workers who had lost jobs due to closure of cashew factories, he said. The comprehensive health insurance scheme, distribution of financial assistance under Karuniya scheme and allocation of funds from CM's Relief Fund have also been affected due to Election Commission's decision, Chandy said. Hitting out at the government's reaction to the issue, CPI(M) politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan said it exposed UDF regime's "intolerance" toward the Election Commission.