A 'crime against civilisation'

The United Nation's cultural watchdog yesterday condemned the destruction of the famed Temple of Bel in Syria's Palmyra by Islamic State jihadists as an "intolerable crime against civilisation".

Unesco chief Irina Bokova expressed her "deep dismay" over the destruction of the temple but said the move would "not erase 4,500 years of history".

"The power of culture is greater than that of all forms of extremism and nothing can stop it," she said in a statement.

The 2,000-year-old temple was the centrepiece of Palmyra's famed ruins and one of the most important relics at the Unesco-listed heritage site.

Unesco said that satellite imagery showed the temple was destroyed on August 30 with explosives.It described the Temple of Bel as one of the best preserved in Palmyra and one of the most important religious edifices of the first century in the Orient.

Dozens of relics remain at risk in the ruins of Palmyra, which ISIS jihadists seized from regime forces in May.

The extremist group's harsh philosophy condemns pre-Islamic religious sites and considers statues and grave markers to be idolatrous, but it has also been accused of destroying heritage to loot items for the black market and to gain publicity.

mal>Churachandpur district hospital authorities said 20 persons were admitted to the hospital on Monday, of which seven were discharged after first-aid.

The three bills, passed in the Assembly on Monday, which provoked the tribal students to indulge in violence and arson are: Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015, Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh amendment) Bill, 2015, and Manipur Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015.