While addressing an event organised to celebrate 75 years of RSS-affiliated magazines Organiser and Panchjanya, BJP chief ministers spoke mostly about various Islamophobic schemes and projects in their states.

The Eid prayer was not conducted on roads for the first time in Uttar Pradesh, and “the volume of the mosque loudspeaker has gone down” following the BJP government’s crackdown, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, according to Indian Express.

“Now, you must have seen for the first time that Eid namaz was not held on roads. Now, you must have heard that either the volume of the mosque loudspeaker has gone down or the loudspeaker has been removed completely,” Yogi told the audience who were at the Hindutva group’s gathering.

The UP CM who spoke about how a grand Ram temple is being built in Ayodhya, shared his projects in Kashi Vishwanath temple and pilgrimage sites such as Mathura, Vrindavan and Chitrakoot.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that the shutting down madrassas and bringing Uniform Civil Code is for benefit of Muslims.

Sarma said the word “madrassa” should go extinct if Indian Muslims are to progress in education.

The CM of the northeast state had initiated an Islamophobic move to shut down government-funded madrassas in the state.

He also spoke about the NRC and “illegal immigrants” in his state.

He went on to say: ‘First we have to ensure we do not lose more land (to migrants), more constituencies… Later when the NRC is implemented the definition of what is legal and illegal will come and then we get a chance to do more.”

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami told the RSS event that his state will form a “special committee” to implement Uniform Civil Code.

A special drive was on to identify infiltrators in Uttarakhand, Dhami said.

The anti-conversion law will be made “stronger,” Dhami added.

Goa’s Pramod Sawant said his state already has a Uniform Civil Code, and urged other states to implement it, Indian Express reported.

An ongoing court case over access to historically contested religious sites has turned into the latest battleground in India between the Hindu and Muslim groups. The campaign by the Hindu right-wing groups to claim Mughal era monuments and some historic mosques in India has raised a wave of concern among minorities, historians and archaeologists across the country.

Recently a functionary of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajneesh Singh approached a court requesting a directive to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to open 22 rooms inside the world-famous UNESCO heritage monument, Taj Mahal, to ascertain if the claims that the mausoleum houses Hindu idols were true.

Built in the city of Agra, 240 kilometers (149 miles) south of the capital New Delhi, by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1648 in memory of his favorite wife, the monument is considered the jewel of Muslim art in India.

The court, however, dismissed the petition. Singh’s plea was based on a conspiracy theory supported by right-wing historians, that the 17th-century marvel was an old Hindu temple called "Tejo Mahal."

Coinciding this controversy, the country's top court also overturned a lower court order banning mass prayers at 17th-century Gyanvapi Mosque in the ancient city of Varanasi in northern Uttar Pradesh state. Right-wing elements claim that the mosque adjacent to the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s electoral constituency is built on a Hindu house of worship.

They even claimed that a court-appointed team in a survey has found relics of the Hindu god Shiva inside the pond in the courtyard of the mosque meant for ablutions before the prayers.

The Muslim groups had opposed the survey, saying it was against the Places of Worship Act of 1991, which maintains the religious status of any place of worship as of Aug. 15, 1947.

The lower court had ordered the sealing of the mosque. The Supreme Court, however, allowed Muslims to pray at the mosque while ordering protection of the area, where the alleged Shiva relic was found.

Mathura mosque petition

In another case in the same state, a court entertained a lawsuit seeking ownership of the land of 17th-century Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura, 57 kilometers (35 miles) north of Agra city. The mosque is adjacent to a temple, where Hindus believe that the deity Lord Krishna was born.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Niranjan Sahoo, a senior fellow at the New Delhi-based think tank Observer Research Foundation, said the recent electoral victory of the BJP in the provincial polls has emboldened the right-wing elements.

"This greatly helps the governing party deflect from real issues of inflation, price rise, and rising unemployment. Thus, it is like killing two birds with one stone,” he said.

Sahoo said such controversies create religious polarization, which helps the ruling party shift the goal post from the Ayodhya-Babri Mosque episode. Babri Mosque, built by Mughal Emperor Babur in the 16th century, was demolished by a frenzied mob in 1992 as they believed it was the birthplace of the Hindu deity Rama.

After a protracted legal battle, five judges from the Supreme Court bench 2019, who heard the title dispute handed over the land to the Hindu party to build the Hindu temple. It also ordered the government to give an alternative five-acre plot to the Muslims to construct the mosque.

Political analysts in India link BJP’s rise in India’s political landscape to the movement to build the grand Ram Tempe at the place of Babri Mosque in the city of Ayodhya.

Sahoo said that the main motive behind raking up such issues is to "reopen the historical wounds and keep the communal pot boiling" for the vote bank.

"The BJP's rise from mere two seats in Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) in 1984 to 120 seats in 1996 was facilitated by religious polarization on the back of the Ayodhya movement," he said.

Qutub complex in Delhi

Raking up another controversy, another Hindu radical outfit claimed that Qutb Minar, a famous minaret built in the early 13th century by Turk ruler Qutbudin Aibak, was a Vishnu Temple. The minaret is a part of the larger Qutb complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the south of the capital city of Delhi.

Vinod Bansal, spokesperson for the hardline Hindu organization Vishwa Hindu Parishad claimed that the structure was built with materials obtained after demolishing 27 Hindu-Jain temples, and that had been done to "tease” the Hindu community.

Renowned historian Syed Ali Nadeem Rezavi, an expert on Mughal history, said these controversies have been going from a long time now.

"I believe not only since the year 2014 when Prime Minister Modi came into power, but it was long back in 1992, the first vandalism was done (Babri demolition)," he said.

"What has happened over the last few years that now attempts are being made to do away with this discipline of history and replace it with mythology. No one is paying attention to the available historical facts. They are not being considered,” he said.

He said that courts shouldn't have admitted cases regarding temples at Varanasi.

"The 1991 Act assured us that it won't be repeated, but now lower, the higher court admitted cases regarding temples at Varanasi. They have overlooked the act which was made by the Indian government. The court should not have entertained such pleas," he said.

"There is no need for any new rules. If they (the government) follow the constitution of the country, nothing would have happened. 70 years, we survived as a nation and we were quite proud," he added.

Design to polarize voters

Zafar Ul Islam Khan, a Muslim leader and former chief of the Delhi Minorities Commission, told AA that attention has been turned to historic mosques with an eye on the next general elections scheduled in 2024.

"The current onslaught on mosques in many parts of the country is part of an old Hindutva agenda. Now that they have secured Babri and a grand temple is being built there, they have turned their attention to some other mosques to grab them before the next general elections in 2024," he said.

He added that all developments are taking place in blatant violation of earlier law.

"Since the 1991 law protecting mosques, with the exception of Babri, at their status as prevailed at the time of independence in 1947, is still on the statute though they may abrogate it using their brute majority in Parliament," he said.

Niyaz Farooqui, secretary of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, India's largest socio-religious Muslim organization, blamed the communal forces for trying to divide the Hindus and Muslims in the country.

"They are trying to spread the hatred of the country," he said, adding that whatsoever controversies are happening, there should be a solution to it.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board, an umbrella body of scholars in India, after a meeting earlier this week said Muslims cannot tolerate the desecration of mosques and that "sectarian forces are hell-bent on lawlessness and courts are also disappointing the oppressed."

Experts say the only solution to the ongoing developments is government at the federal level that follows the rules and regulations.

Indian Muslim leader and member of parliament, Asaduddin Owaisi, said it is high time that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "puts an end to all this" and respects the 1991 law, which prohibits a change in the status quo of religious places as it existed at the time of India’s independence on Aug. 15, 1947./aa

Scientists in Argentina have discovered the 86 million-year-old fossilized remains of a huge ancient flying reptile nicknamed "The Dragon of Death" that lived alongside the dinosaurs. The find provides insight into the predator, whose body was as long as a yellow school bus.

The new specimen of ancient flying reptile, or pterosaur, measured around 30 feet (9 meters) long and researchers say it predated birds as among the first creatures on Earth to use wings to hunt its prey from prehistoric skies.

The team of paleontologists discovered the fossils of the newly coined Thanatosdrakon Amaru in the Andes mountains in Argentina's western Mendoza province. They found that the rocks preserving the reptile's remains dated back 86 million years to the Cretaceous period.

The estimated date means these fearsome flying reptiles lived at least some 20 million years before an asteroid impact on what is now Mexico's Yucatan peninsula wiped out about three-quarters of life on the planet about 66 million years ago.

Project leader Leonardo Ortiz said in an interview over the weekend that the fossil's never-before-seen characteristics required a new genus and species name, with the latter combining ancient Greek words for death (thanatos) and dragon (drakon).

"It seemed appropriate to name it that way," said Ortiz. "It's the dragon of death."

The reptile would likely have been a frightening sight. Researchers, who published their study last April in the scientific journal Cretaceous Research, said the fossil's huge bones classify the new species as the largest pterosaur yet discovered in South America and one of the largest found anywhere.

"We don't have a current record of any close relative that even has a body modification similar to these beasts," said Ortiz./Reuters

As global political and business leaders started gathering at the annual Davos think-fest on Monday, multiple threats to the global economy topped the worries of the world’s well-heeled, with some flagging the risk of a worldwide recession.

The global elite coming together for the World Economic Forum (WEF) meets against a backdrop of inflation at its highest level in a generation in major economies including the United States, Britain and Europe.

These price rises have undermined consumer confidence and shaken the world's financial markets, prompting central banks including the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) to raise interest rates.

Meanwhile, the repercussions on oil and food markets of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February – which Moscow describes as a "special military operation" – and COVID-19 lockdowns in China with no clear end have compounded the gloom.

"We have at least four crises, which are interwoven. We have high inflation ... we have an energy crisis ... we have food poverty, and we have a climate crisis. And we can't solve the problems if we concentrate on only one of the crises," German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck said.

"But if none of the problems are solved, I'm really afraid we're running into a global recession with tremendous effect ... on global stability," Habeck said during a WEF panel discussion.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month cut its global growth outlook for the second time this year, citing the war in Ukraine and singling out inflation as a "clear and present danger" for many countries.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, speaking in Davos on Monday, said the war, tighter financial conditions and price shocks – for food in particular – have clearly "darkened" the outlook in the month since, though she is not yet expecting a recession.

Asked at a panel whether she expected a recession, Georgieva said: "No, not at this point. It doesn’t mean it is out of the question."

Tipping point

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde, due to speak in Davos on Tuesday, has warned that growth and inflation are on opposing paths, as mounting price pressures curb economic activity and devastate household purchasing power.

"The Russia-Ukraine war may well prove to be a tipping point for hyper-globalization," she said in a blog post on Monday.

"That could lead to supply chains becoming less efficient for a while and, during the transition, create more persistent cost pressures for the economy," Lagarde added.

Still, she essentially promised rate hikes in both July and September to put a brake on inflation, even if rising borrowing costs are bound to weigh on growth.

"We knew, all knew from Day One that this war was bad economic news. Less growth and more inflation," Governor of the Bank of France Francois Villeroy de Galhau said. "This is the price we accepted together to pay to protect our values ... It was worth paying this price."

"I would play down the idea of a short-term trade off between inflation and growth," he said. "In the short run, our priority is clearly ... fighting inflation."

While the economic drag from the Ukraine crisis is being most keenly felt in Europe, it is the U.S. economy that is experiencing the greatest price pressures.

The consumer price index shot from near zero two years ago to a 40-year high of 8.5% in March. The Fed responded earlier this month with its largest rate hike in 22 years, and Chair Jerome Powell has signaled increases of a similar magnitude – half a percentage point – at its next two meetings at least.

The higher rates and expectations for more, though, have yet to weaken consumer spending and a red-hot U.S. job market.

"We're not seeing it materialize in our business yet," Marriott International Inc Chief Executive Anthony Capuano said of the threat of recession, adding: "There continues to be pent-up demand."

Key emerging markets, including China, are still expected to see growth this year, even if at a slower pace than previously estimated.

Marcos Troyjo, president of the New Development Bank set up by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, said his bank still expects "robust growth" this year in China, India and Brazil./Reuters

After his "Pamfir" was screened at Cannes Film Festivals' Directors Fortnight on Saturday, Ukrainian director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk denounced the festival's inclusion of a Russian director in its lineup.

The festival has banned official Russian delegations from attending, but Russian dissident Kirill Serebrennikov, who has spoken out against the invasion of Ukraine, premiered his in-competition film "Tchaikovsky's Wife" at the festival on Wednesday.

"When he's here, he is part of the Russian propaganda, and they can use him," Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk told Reuters on Saturday.

The Russian director Serebrennikov had said earlier this week that Russian culture should not be boycotted, saying that Russian culture "has always promoted human values."

The Ukrainian director Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk described the sensation of being in Cannes while his country fights against a Russian invasion as "alien."

"Everything what's happened here, it's something that would not belong in Ukraine – the peaceful life ... We have (an) opposite reality," he said.

Set in the forests of western Ukraine's Chernivtsi region, "Pamfir" begins with the return of a father, Leonid, to his family after months of working in Poland.

A church fire attributed to Leonid's son Nazar forces the father to take up a quick smuggling job, angering the local contraband boss.

With references to Greek tragedy and the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac, the story of fighting for redemption has resonance with the ongoing conflict.

"(The film) is a reflection of the strength and power of the Ukrainian people, who are very strong and who will win. It's just a question of time ... because we can't be defeated," said Oleksandr Yatsentyuk, who plays Leonid./Reuters

Turkish authorities deported over 28,000 irregular migrants from the country since the beginning of 2022, a 70% increase compared to the same period last year, the migration directorate said Monday.

In a statement, the Migration Management Directorate said Turkey deported 28,581 irregular migrants who illegally entered the country, violated visa and residency regulations, worked without permits, committed fraud and endangered public safety and security.

The deportation process for 18,801 irregular migrants from 94 nationalities, including 10,763 Afghan citizens, 2,740 Pakistani citizens, 1,776 Syrians and 3,522 from other nationalities, are kept under supervision at repatriation centers.

Meanwhile, Turkish authorities prevented the entry of some 2,616,509 foreigners who have attempted to illegally enter the country since 2016.

In 2022 alone, Turkish authorities prevented the illegal entry of 153,088 irregular migrants, in an effective border policy embraced by the migration authority, the statement said.

Turkish authorities also intercepted 74,516 irregular migrants in 2022 in various operations carried out in 81 provinces.

Some 1,054 irregular migrants were sent back to Afghanistan in nine charter flights organized between May 15-22, the migration directorate said, adding that 1,680 others are expected to be deported on 12 charter flights soon.

This year, a debate emerged as Turkey deals with an influx of migrants from more conflict zones, including Afghanistan, Ukraine and other countries, in addition to society's economic problems, which some sections place the burden on migrants' shoulders.

Turkey has been a key transit point for asylum seekers aiming to cross to Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.

The country already hosts 4 million refugees, more than any other country in the world, and is taking new security measures on its borders to humanely prevent a fresh influx of migrants./DS

Asecurity guard has been killed at the Qatar Embassy in the French capital Paris and one person has been arrested as part of the investigation, the Paris prosecutor's office said Monday.

The killing of a guard at the Qatar Embassy in Paris was a "heinous and unjustified" crime, the embassy said, as French prosecutors opened an investigation.

The incident did not appear to have any links to terrorism, a source close to the probe said.

The incident took place at around 6:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. GMT), the source said, adding that the suspect had entered the embassy and had a row with the security guard, who died after being punched.

"An investigation was opened today on the count of murder," the prosecutor's office said.

The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed the death and said one person had been arrested at the site.

"We await the result of the investigation and ask for the private life of the deceased's family to be respected," the embassy said on Twitter.

Newspaper Le Parisien said earlier on Monday that one person had been killed within the embassy, citing police sources./Reuters

Doctors Worldwide, a Turkish medical charity operating in the Palestinian territories, inaugurated a new physiotherapy and rehabilitation center in the Gaza Strip. Turkish volunteer doctors staff the center, which the charity says would provide Palestinians with free and continuous health services.

The organization has been providing health care services to the blockaded region's population in another physiotherapy and rehabilitation center since 2015, it said in a statement.

Doctors Worldwide is the only international medical organization present in Gaza that fields mobile teams to provide at-home care for patients unable to travel to the center. Besides physiotherapy and rehabilitation, it also provides patients with medical treatment for wounds, along with medical counseling and psychological support under its at-home care project.

The organization has provided medical care services for 1,605 people in 21,598 sessions and physiotherapy and rehabilitation services for 1,352 people in 7,805 sessions./aa