KSA’s gift to Egypt: ‘Islamic city’ at Al-Azhar

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CAIRO: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman laid the foundation stone of the Beouth Islamic City, which includes a dormitory for up to 30,000 students, at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo on Saturday.

The king, who was accompanied by a number of princes and ministers, was received by Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al-Tayeb and a number of officials. He performed the greeting prayer at the 1,000-year-old Al-Azhar Mosque and was briefed on the mosque’s restoration project. 
In 2014, Saudi Arabia had given funds to Egypt for the restoration work at the mosque and university, and for establishing a dormitory for foreign students. Later in the same year, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi allocated land for the new city in New Cairo’s fifth settlement district.
Meanwhile, King Salman met Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II on Friday, becoming the first Saudi king to do so, and was hailed by the Coptic of Egypt as an “exceptional leader.”
Reverend Paul Halim, the official spokesman for the Coptic Orthodox Church, said the church thanks King Salman and the Kingdom for its continued support for Egypt. 
He said the visit of King Salman to Egypt and his meetings with Muslim and Christian clerics, public figures, intellectuals and economists indicate a new stage of relations. 
“The two countries seek to rewrite the rules of joint Arab action. This new direction will send a message to the whole world that we are one Arab fabric,” he said.
“The meeting of the king and Pope Tawadros II also sends a strong message to extremists and terrorists who have distorted the face of religion. It also reflects the importance of dialogue between religions and cultures for serving mankind.” 
The king is scheduled to meet Egyptian Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal on Sunday and deliver a speech there.
King Salman will on Monday receive an honorary doctorate from Cairo University, making it the 80th such honor so far. “The Ph.D. is in recognition of the king’s stature as a global figure with great influence on the Arab and international stage,” Cairo University President Jaber Nassar was quoted as saying by a local newspaper.
“King Salman is known for his outstanding role in serving Arabs, Muslims and Islam and for his support to Egypt and its people, in addition to his prominent role in supporting Cairo University, including the historic project to develop the hospitals of Cairo University,” he said.

Shani temple allows women devotees

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 Ahmednagar
(MH): In a historic decision, the famous Shani Shingnapur Temple Trust has decided to throw open its doors to women from Friday, a trustee announced here.
Trustee Shalini Lande informed the mediapersons about the decision on behalf of the temple trust.
The step was immediately welcomed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and women's group Bhumata Ranragini Brigade that was agitating for it for four months.

Disclose records related to denotification of Wakf properties

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>New Delhi: The Central Information Commission has directed the Central Government to disclose all records related to UPA government's decision to de-notify 123 Wakf properties which enabled their title to be transferred to Delhi Wakf board.
Information Commissioner Yashovardhan Azad rejected the contention of Union Ministry of Urban Development that the issue of transfer of properties, being a matter of policy is under reconsideration consequent to the directions passed by Delhi High Court.
"Every decision of council of ministers precedes deliberation and due consultative process. Any subsequent decision modifying or altering the earlier decision would be preceded by a consultative process 'distinct' from the earlier one. Thus, the proposition that a settled policy decision of council of ministers gets unsettled merely by an act of reconsideration is untenable," Azad said in his order.
Hearing the plea of activist Subhash Agrawal, he said once a decision is taken by Council of Ministers, the matter gets over and any subsequent reconsiderations of the earlier decision would not get the benefit of exemption as contemplated under section 8(1)(i) of the RTI Act for records forming part of it.
"However, exemption would be permissible for the records forming part of subsequent consultative process in consequence of any reconsideration, decision whereof is yet to be taken. Hence, the plea of Section 8(1)(i) is not maintainable in the present set of facts," he said.
The Information Commissioner said the plea of the Government that information could not have been disclosed since the information pertained to a cabinet decision facing challenge in Delhi High Court, at the relevant time is "grossly misplaced".
"Clause (b) to Section 8(1) of the RTI Act, 2005 would have been applicable, had the court of law seized with the matter forbade disclosure of information expressly or revelation of information sought would have constituted contempt of court. Thus this plea of respondent is also found unsustainable," he said.
Section 8(1)(b) exempts disclosure of information which has been expressly forbidden to be published by any court of law or tribunal or the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of court.
About sixty of these 123 properties are owned by the Land and Development Office (L and DO) under the Urban Development Ministry while the rest are with Delhi Development Authority.
The decision had enabled the Wakf Board to take a call on the properties including selling them. These properties are spread over prime locations in the capital in and around Connaught Place, Mathura Road, Lodhi Road, Man Singh Road, Pandara Road, Ashoka Road, Janpath, Parliament House, Karol Bagh, Sadar Bazaar, Darya Ganj and Jangpura.
The minority affairs ministry had set up a committee of experts under the Central Wakf Council to evaluate the proposal. The expert committee backed the proposal.

Mehbooba to be sworn in as J&K’s first woman CM on April 4 -

Srinagar: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti will be sworn in as the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on April 4, a party leader said on Friday. “Mehbooba Mufti sahiba will be sworn in as Chief Minister on April 4,” PDP leader Amitabh Mattoo said in Srinagar. Mr. Mattoo, who worked as an advisor to the former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, expressed the hope that 56-year-old Ms. Mehbooba would usher in a new era of peace and prosperity in the region. Meanwhile, sources in the PDP and its alliance partner BJP said they have also conveyed the mutually agreed date for the swearing-in ceremony to Governor N.N. Vohra The date for the swearing-in ceremony of the new Cabinet was decided after deliberations between the leadership of both the parties, they said. Asked whether there were any differences between the coalition partners which led to the delay in the swearing-in ceremony, the sources said there were no differences but deliberations between alliance partners happen and they take time. The PDP and the BJP had staked claim for government formation on March 26, two days after Ms. Mehbooba was elected as the PDP’s legislature party leader.< After the death of her father, who headed PDP-BJP coalition government for 10 months from March 1 last year until his death on January 7 this year, Ms. Mehbooba was reluctant to take over as Chief Minister coalition government. She was seeking assurances from the Central government on implementation of Agenda of Alliance, Common Minimum Programme (CMP) framed by the two parties last year. Ms. Mehbooba also sought some J&K-specific confidence building measures.
Ms. Mehbooba had described her meeting with the Prime Minister as positive, saying she was satisfie

Know India chance for Indian diaspora

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JEDDAH: India’s Ministry of External Affairs will organize the next edition of the “Know India Program” (KIP) to familiarize Indian diaspora youth with India’s culture, heritage and contemporary India. 
The program will be for a duration of 25 days, during which participants will spend nearly 10 days in a select state. The focus of this year’s event will be Maharashtra and the participants will tour the state on board the luxury train Deccan Odyssey. 
The program is open only for Indian origin diaspora youth in the age group of 18-26 years. The selected participants would be required to purchase air tickets for their journey from the country of residence to India and back. Ninety percent of the total cost of air tickets (lowest economy excursion fare) would be reimbursed to the participants on successful completion of the program by them. 
The minimum qualification required for applying is graduate or studying for graduation, and the applicant should be able to converse in English. Non Resident Indians (NRIs) are not eligible.
Duly filled in application form with a passport size photograph should reach the librarian, Consulate General of India, Tahliya Street, Jeddah on or before April 5 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on any working day. The application form may be collected from Saeed Ahmad, librarian, Consulate General of India, Jeddah, Tel: 6614027, Mobile: 0545071044.

Drug sellers on Snapchat ‘logged out’

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JEDDAH: The Interior Ministry in Riyadh has arrested five people for selling drugs on social networking sites, particularly Snapchat.
Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman of the ministry, said the users had been sharing videos encouraging drug abuse and urging young people to buy narcotics. 
Those arrested were all Saudis, with officers seizing 788 amphetamine pills, 12 grams of hashish, two pistols and 66 live rounds.
Al-Turki said that the ministry has the capability to track down those using social networks for criminal activities. He urged citizens and expatriates to work with the police to apprehend criminals.

Haj scam: Saudi woman arrested in Cairo for swindling 260 Egyptians

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CAIRO: A Saudi woman has been arrested in Cairo for swindling 260 Egyptians and stealing 1.5 million Egyptian pounds from them, promising them Haj visas. According to Alyaum Alsabe, the 36-year-old woman named Maha owns a travel agency in Cairo. She committed the fraud in cooperation with an Egyptian accomplice. The suspect has admitted to her crime after the Egyptian citizens filed a complaint against her, reported Ajel.

SR25: Weekly ticket for Riyadh Metro

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RIYADH: A weekly ticket for the much-awaited Riyadh Metro would cost around SR25, the Riyadh Development Authority has announced.

Abdur Rahman Al-Shalan, the authority’s director of transport, said that metro was aimed at providing services to families and citizens, not workers, according to a report by an online publication on Wednesday.
Al-Shalan said work was underway at 184 sites, which include the railway and bus routes of both the tracks of trains and buses in various parts of Riyadh. He was speaking at a workshop on the metro at the 9th Saudi Forum on Travel and Tourism Investment that ends on Friday.
Al-Shalan said the Riyadh Metro plan would be reviewed in 2025, to decide whether more stations should be added, or changes to the track made, he was reported as saying.
The $22-billion Riyadh metro is a rapid transport system being built by the world’s leading construction companies including Bechtel, FCC, Strukton, Salini Impregilo, Larsen and Toubro and Samsung. 
It will be the backbone of the city’s public transport system and integrated with an 85-km three-line rapid bus transit network. Six lines will serve the capital city’s center, government facilities, universities, commercial areas, the airport and the financial district.

14 killed, many trapped in overpass collapse in India

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KOLKATA, India: Rescuers in Kolkata dug through large chunks of debris from an overpass that collapsed while under construction Thursday, killing at least 14 people and injuring scores of others, officials said.
A section of the overpass in the busy Bara Bazaar residential and shopping area in central Kolkata fell on vehicles and people moving underneath, trapping scores in their cars, trucks and motorized rickshaws.
“We heard a loud rumble and then saw a lot of dust in the sky,” a witness told the NDTV channel.
Army troops and personnel from the National Disaster Response Force joined efforts to extract people from vehicles that lay under massive concrete blocks and metal debris. Huge cranes and other rescue equipment reached the site and began clearing the rubble. Workers also used gas cutters to pry open the slabs.
More than 70 injured were admitted to two hospitals in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state, hospital officials said. At least 14 were dead, they said.
“The area was very, very crowded. Motorized rickshaws, taxis ... there was a lot of traffic,” one witness told the New Delhi Television news channel, or NDTV.
Television images showed the bloody legs of some of the trapped people jutting out of the collapsed girders and concrete slabs.
Mamta Banerjee, the top elected leader in the state, visited the collapse site and said a private builder had missed several deadlines for completing the overpass.
The contract for the overpass was signed in 2008 and it was expected to be completed in two years. She accused the previous communist government in West Bengal of not adhering to building regulations.
Building collapses are common in India, where builders use poor enforcement of regulations and use substandard materials.

With garbage crisis solved, Lebanon shifts focus to pending issues

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Beirut: With Lebanon’s garbage problem resolved, at least on a temporary basis, ministers have turned their attention to other concerns.
On Tuesday, Health Minister Wael Abu Faour asked the prosecutor’s office to launch an investigation into the country’s latest scandal, this one dealing with wheat imports, twenty-four hours after he agreed to form a task force with Minister of Agriculture Akram Shehayeb, and Minister of the Economy Alain Hakim to resolve the problem of imported wheat that apparently was not safe to consume.
Although Shehayeb stressed that samples tested by his inspectors did not include dangerous substances, Abu Faour’s crack team confirmed that their tests taken from Beirut Port showed wheat contained high levels of the carcinogenic ochratoxin substance — 20mg in every 1kg of wheat, or four times the normal levels.
There was no explanation on how the wheat was contaminated with ochratoxin and where these stocks came from.
Meanwhile in London, Interior Minister Nouhad Al Mashnouq met with the UK Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening, and stressed the importance of tackling Beirut’s airport security, when he returned home.