Fresh cracks in Joshimath to be surveyed
Gopeshwar, Aug 24: Fresh cracks appearing in subsidence-hit Joshimath will be surveyed by scientists from the Central Building Research Institute, the Chamoli district administration said on Thursday. In January this year, the land subsidence crisis in Joshimath grabbed national attention. Huge cracks had appeared in many houses, fields and roads making the town unsafe to live in, and a large number of people had to be moved to safer places. Chamoli DM Himanshu Khurana held a meeting with officials of various departments here to discuss steps to be taken to rebuild the damaged parts of the hill town. He directed them to coordinate with the CBRI scientists. (PTI)
NIA court sends two ISIS men to 5 yrs in jail
New Delhi, Aug 24: A special NIA court here on Thursday sentenced two men to five years imprisonment for promoting activities of proscribed ISIS, also known as Islamic State, in the country. Abdullah Basith and Abdul Qadir were arrested on August 12, 2018 for their affiliation with the ISIS and for furthering its violent anti-India agenda through the ISIS Abu Dhabi module. The NIA Special Court, Delhi sentenced them under various sections of Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and Explosive Substances Act, a spokesperson of the federal agency said. The official said the duo have been jailed for five years and fined Rs 2,000 each. The NIA had launched its investigations in the case registered on January 28, 2016 on orders from the union Home Ministry after details of the serious conspiracy came to light during investigations in another case, the spokesperson said. The official said the NIA had then discovered a criminal conspiracy hatched by three Indian nationals, namely Sheikh Azhar Al Islam Sattar Sheikh, Mohammed Farhan Mohammed Rafiq Shaikh and Adnan Hussain, all members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). “Along with other unknown associates, these three had conspired to identify, motivate, radicalise, recruit and train gullible Indian Muslim youth to initiate them into the planning and execution of terrorist attacks,” the spokesperson said. (PTI)