FRIDAY NEWS |
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Friday, 21 November 2008 08:29 | |||
CTA buses carry ads So you’ve heard about finding love on the 151 bus. How about finding religion?That’s exactly what a few Chicagoans have discovered after seeing Chicago Transit Authority buses rolling past them with giant advertisements for Islam. A Chicago-area Muslim group called Gain Peace has spent $29,900 to place signs on 25 CTA buses serving the North Side in a month-long campaign organisers hope will help dispel misconceptions about Islam.
The sign caught Moses Robinson’s eye. A 38-year-old Gary resident who works for a software company, saw one of the buses on Canal Street when he left his office on a break. "Everything clicked into place," he said. After calling the number on the side of the bus and meeting with Gain Peace, he converted to Islam the next day. Of course, most people interviewed at CTA bus stops downtown Tuesday (October 14) hadn’t even noticed the ads. And one rider thought they were inappropriate, although CTA officials say they see no problem as other ad campaigns on CTA vehicles have featured religious themes or messages. Gain Peace says the campaign has been a success. "We’ve had eight conversions, close to 400 calls and we’ve had close to 75,000 hits on our Web site in one week," said Sabeel Ahmed, the director for Gain Peace. The Islam Bus ad campaign was launched by GainPeace.com of ICNA (Islamic Circle of North America). (Chicagotribune.com, October 15, 2008) By NOREEN S. AHMED-ULLAH - Radiance
British government wants crackdown on sex trade London: The British government wants to make it illegal to pay for sex and is considering a plan to "name and shame" men who visit prostitutes, a move critics say would turn back the clock to Victorian times. The sex trade is already heavily restricted in Britain, unlike in many of its European neighbors where prostitution and solicitation are tolerated in some form. Denmark has even decriminalized the business.
could be overrun by organised crime and the US dollar could further decline in importance during the next two decades. Global Trends 2025 is published every four years by the National Intelligence Council to give leaders insight into looming problems and opportunities.The report says the warming earth will extend Russia's growing season and ease access to northern oil fields, which will strengthen its economy. But Russia's potential emergence as a world power may be clouded by lagging investment in its energy sector, persistent crime and government corruption, the report says. Analysts also warn that the same kind of organised crime plaguing Russia could eventually take over the government of an Eastern or Central European country, and that countries in Africa and South Asia may find themselves ungoverned, as state regimes wither away under security and resource pressure. The report forecasts a geopolitical rise in non-Arab Muslim states outside of the Middle East, including Turkey and Indonesia, and suggests that Iran could also be a central player in a new world order if it sheds its theocracy. The report also suggests the world may complete its move away from its dependence on oil, and that the US dollar, while remaining important, will decline to "first among equals" among other national currencies.
MCOCA slapped on 10 Malegaon blast suspects MUMBAI: The anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Thursday invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the suspects of the September 29 Malegaon blast case. The ATS has so far arrested 10 people, including sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt-Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit - the first serving officer to be accused in a terror case - retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay and Kanpur-based Mahant Sudhakar Dwivedi alias Dayanand Pandey. The ATS also plans to arrest Sudhakar Chaturvedi, who is currently in jail for using a fake ID in the cantonment area in Deolali, Nashik. Six people were killed and 101 injured when a bomb planted on a bike exploded in central Malegaon on September 29 this year. Karkare added that the accused would be booked for "waging war against the nation'' at an appropriate time. ATS chief denies allegations of torture MUMBAI: Strongly denying allegations that Malegaon blast suspects were subjected to third degree treatment, anti-terrorism squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare on Thursday termed them "false and baseless''. When asked if he had any pressure from any political party while probing the blast case, the ATS chief said, "Absolutely zero pressure. We are answerable to the court and not to any party. The arrests are based on evidence and verification. The progress of the probe is satisfactory and we are doing a professional investigation.''
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