NEW DELHI: A panel of clerics from the Kanpur-based Madrasa Jamia Ashraf-ul-Madaris issued on Friday a fatwa over mobile phone etiquette. The panel has objected to the use of Aayats (verses from the Holy Quran) as ringtones. The religious scholars argue that people who use Aayats as ring tones and answer their cell phone midway through the Aayat commit a sinful act.The panel of clerics in Kanpur also said that taking a cell phone to the toilet as it rings is a sin because Aayat cannot be heard in a toilet. They also condemned the habit that people have of keeping cell phones on vibration mode while attending prayer services.A fatwa is a legal pronouncement in Islam, issued by a religious law specialist on a specific issue.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...
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