Houston: An Indian-origin doctor couple was killed when their private plane crashed in the US state of Ohio. Umamaheswara Kalapatapu, 63, and his wife Sitha-Gita Kalapatapu, 61, both of Logansport, were killed in the crash. The Piper Archer PA-28 was piloted by Umamaheswara. There was no word on what caused the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. The Kalapatapus were psychiatrists and owned Raj Clinics, with offices in Logansport, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Lafayette and Kokomo.
Indian in US pleads guilty to financing Qaida terrorist
Washington: An Indian American has pleaded guilty to supporting terrorism by providing material support to al-Qaida's “key leader” Anwar Al-Awlaki for “violent jihad” against American soldiers and a judge, authorities have said. Yahya Farooq Mohammad, 39, an Indian who married an American citizen, faces over 27 years in prison and deportation if convicted, the justice department said. Mohammad and three other defendants, his brother Ibrahim Mohammad, and two US citizens were indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2015.
Indian student found dead in Bangladesh
Dhaka: An Indian student has been found dead while another was found injured in a flat in Bangladesh's Chittagong's city. The deceased was identified as Ateef Sheikh, 25, a final year MBBS student of the University of Science and Technology Chittagong. Another Indian student, identified as Winson Singh, 23, was also found hanging from a ceiling fan. Both of them belonged to India's Manipur state. According to local reports, Singh allegedly stabbed Sheikh to death during an altercation before trying to hang himself. Singh was, however, rescued by other flatmates and both of them were taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
Christian man arrested on blasphemy charges in Pakistan
LAHORE: A Christian man has been arrested on the charges of blasphemy in Pakistan's Punjab province. Soon after arresting the suspect the police shifted him to an undisclosed location on the fear that the religious groups may attack the police station. The incident took place at Kharian Gujrat, some 200 km from Lahore, the capital of Punjab. Nadeem Ahmed, owner of an electric shop, filed a complaint with the police that one of his friends told him that a Christian sweeper had allegedly uttered remarks against the Prophet. The complainant himself had not heard the Christian uttering against Prophet. Still his complaint has been taken seriously by Pakistan Police.
Japan's `men-only' island shuts doors to tourists
Tokyo: Visitors will not be allowed to set foot on a men-only Unesco World Heritage island in Japan from next year, an official said. The tiny landmass of Okinoshima, where women are banned and male visitors must bathe naked in the sea before visiting its shrine, was declared a Unesco World Heritage site last week. Limited numbers are currently permitted to land on the island in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) - this year it was 200 - for a yearly festival that lasts just two hours, but they must adhere to strict rules. But Munakata Taisha, the shrine which owns Okinoshima, has decided to ban travel for anyone apart from priests from next year to protect the island from being damaged.
Iran cancer researcher sent home from Boston
Boston: An Iranian cancer researcher who headed to a prominent Boston hospital to work as a scholar was sent back to his country, a day after US immigration officials detained him and his family, media said. Mohsen Dehnavi, his wife and three children were put on a return flight after being detained at Logan International Airport, the Boston Globe said. The detentions were apparently unrelated to President Trump's executive order temporarily banning travellers from six majority-Muslim countries, according to Boston Children's Hospital and immigration law specialists, who said Dehnavi had a valid entry visa. “Based on what we know, it's not travel-ban related. It's probably something much more stupid than that,” said Susan Church, chair of the New England chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
70 killed in rain-related incidents in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: At least 70 people have been killed in rain related incidents in various parts of Pakistan. Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority said that 90 people were also injured since June 26 when rains started lashing the country. The disaster management authority said it has transported food, tents and other relief supplies to affected areas. Flash flooding triggered by the rains damaged a bridge in the eastern Punjab province and landslides disrupted normal traffic in the north. This week's rains flooded some streets in an upscale area of Islamabad. However, most rivers in Pakistan are still flowing at normal levels.
Properties of Imran, Qadri to be seized
Islamabad: An anti-terrorism court ordered temporary seizures of properties of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf chief Imran Khan and firebrand cleric Tahirul Qadri, over their failure to appear before it in a criminal case. It also directed the police to produce the two before it at the next hearing. Khan and Qadri were accused of instigating clashes, including an attack on the state-run Pakistan Television's office in 2014. In February 2016, the judge had issued final warrants against the two.
Massive wildfires sweep across Canadian province
Ottawa: Massive wildfires fuelled by strong winds have been sweeping over Canada's British Columbia province for more than a week, forcing thousands of people to evacuate. As of Sunday, a total of 178 wildfires were reported to be actively blazing in British Columbia, according to the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. The Canadian government has declared a state of emergency to address the severity of the situation that began on July 7. Currently 3,000 firefighters, including 415 sent in from surrounding provinces, and 203 aircraft are involved in battling the fires, while this operation has cost Canadian authorities more than $80 million, said Canadian Minister of Forests John Rustad.
Tehran imprisons American on espionage charge
Tehran: A Chinese-American accused of “infiltration” in Iran has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, media reported said. The man was identified as Xiyue Wang, a 37-year-old researcher at Princeton University. Wang, who was born in Beijing, was arrested on August 8, 2016 while trying to leave the country. Mizanonline, news agency of the judiciary, said he was part of “an infiltration project” to gather “highly confidential articles” for US and UK institutions, including Princeton, US state department, Harvard's Kennedy School and the British Institute for Persian Studies. “Before his arrest, he was able to digitally archive 4,500 pages of the country's documents,” said Mizanonline. The US state department called for “the immediate release of all US citizens unjustly detained in Iran.”
Canada's Sikh defence minister found littering on road
Toronto: The Sikh defence minister of Canada Harjit Sajjan has been caught on camera `littering'. In a video that has gone viral on social media, Sajjan is seen eating cherries while sitting in his car and throwing the pits on the road. An upset man made a video and even reprimanded the minister. The video shows the man approaches Sajjan and rudely asks, “Who are you?” Sajjan tries to reply to the agitated man but he just refuses to listen and says, “You are eating cherries and throwing pits on the floor. Who made you this big officer?” Instead of attracting trolls, the video brought out Sajjan's supporters especially in the Indian community who felt the videographer had overreacted. “It is a small mistake... Everyone makes such type of mistakes... reaction of the videographer is condemnable,” writes Jagjit Singh in his comment posted on social media.
