Dhaka, May 22 (IANS) Directed at channeling the "patriotic spirit" of youngsters in Bangladesh to create a "secular youth force", the Shahbag movement, that peaked in February and March with tens of thousands of protesters and torchlight processions, is "not dead" and "lives on" sans the noise and the fury, its leaders and participating activists claim. Thousands of people, mostly youths, had been staging protests in the Shahbag area of the Bangladesh capital from February 5 demanding capital punishment for Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah and all others charged by the International Crimes Tribunal with committing genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. Mollah was sentenced to life by the ICT.
Dhaka, May 21 (IANS) With a hoot and a honk, meandering through Dhaka's famed traffic snarls, the legion of psychedelic rickshaws that are an essential part of Bangladesh's capital have a new claim to fame - they ferried protestors for free from parts of the city to the site of the revolutionary Shahbag movement during its peak in February and March. Thousands of protesters, mostly youths, had been staging protests in the Shahbag area from Feb 5 demanding capital punishment for Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah and all others charged by the International Crimes Tribunal with committing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. "It was our contribution to the movement...we brought people from areas in Dhaka to Shahbag for free
Since childhood, being born in a North Indian Punjabi family, I have been fond of curries - spicy chicken curry or tangy vegetable tangy curry accompanied with rice or a crisp tandoori roti oozing with white butter.
New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) Thirteen-year-old Amandeep Singh learnt to paint during the last summer vacation. This year, he has set his mind on kick-boxing, for which he is actively encouraged by his middle-class parents. His sister Simran, who is two years his senior, told her working parents that she wants to take up pottery - and wants to take it up as a career later in life.
New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) Justice delayed is justice denied.
Asia will one day be filled with 'millions of men desperate for women', researchers warned last week. You mean it isn't now?
Hanoi, May 16 (IANS) On a cloudy noon, a man in office outfit with dark glasses and a woman in a sun-resistant cloak with a mask muffling her head entered a room at a mini hotel in Vietnam's capital Hanoi. About an hour later, they checked out, again covertly.
New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) Functioning in a Mughal-era structure near Jama Masjid in the capital's old quarters is the Balak Mata Centre of Jamia Millia Islamia, one of India's oldest universities. The centre, located in Matia Mahal, provides education and vocational training to deprived Muslim girls and women. The centre runs from a two-storeyed structure, which, according to a DDA Urban Heritage Certificate Award given in 1993, was used by emperor Shah Jahan (1592-1666) as a "home" while the Red Fort was being built.
New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) Big-budget Indian movies are setting trends in high-end fashion and costume designing, say Falguni and Shane Peacock, who have designed for the likes of Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Jennifer Lopez as well as Priyanka Chopra and Bipasha Basu back home. "Indian cinema and fashion have always gone hand in hand.
Gettysburg (Pennsylvania), May 12 (IANS) This small town just an hour and a half drive away from Washington has a population of a mere 110,000. But every year three million people from India and all over the world come visiting. And this year, it is preparing to greet four million visitors as it marks the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg address four months after a bloody battle that is often considered a turning point in America's civil war.
