As many as 31 people were killed and 56 injured following two car bomb attacks at a Shia election rally here Friday, an interior ministry source said.
The two back-to-back bombings struck as supporters of the Sadiqun bloc, the political wing of Iraqi Shiite group Asaeb Ahel al-Haq, were holding a parliamentary election rally near a sports club in east Baghdad, Xinhua reported citing the source.
Rafael Nadal Friday lost in the ATP Barcelona Open, the first time since his debut here in 2003.
The Spaniard lost in three sets to his compatriot Nicolas Almagro in the quarterfinals by 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, ending his 41 game winning streak at the tournament, Xinhua reported.
He had not even dropped a set in the tournament since the 2008 final, and seemed cruising to his conquest of the title for the ninth time as he missed the 2010 version.
This was also the first victory for Almagro over Nadal in their 11-time meetings.
Forty-eight more bodies have been found by divers from a single room of the ferry which sank off South Korea recently, officials said Friday.
The room was meant to accomodate 38 people.
According to a South Korean Navy officer, the group was crammed into a dormitory and all were wearing lifejackets, BBC reported.
Some 183 bodies have been recovered from the Sewol so far, but scores of people are still missing, presumed drowned.
The head of the operation to retrieve bodies said Friday he had “no idea” how long the search would take.
TRS senior leader T Harish Rao on Friday welcomed the directions of a CBI Court ordering a probe into his assets.
Talking to reporters here, Harish Rao said that he was ready to face any probe into his assets. However, he alleged the probe was part of the conspiracy hatched by the Congress party. He said that the Congress party used the CBI against anyone who does not fall in line. He said that the TRS leaders were not afraid of Congress party and people would teach it a fitting lesson in the upcoming elections.
The Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi today expressed the ardent desire to see that the first chief minister of the new Telangana State would be a woman.
YSR Congress Party President Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, honorary president Y.S. Vijayamma, Sharmila, Jagan’s wife Bharati on Friday visited the mortal remains of Sobha Nagi Reddy and paid their last respects.
The YSR family members, with whom Sobha Nagi Reddy had a close affinity, paid floral tributes to the departed leader and consoled the family members, especially the two daughters and son of Sobha Nagi Reddy.
The convoy of Wyra sitting MLA and TRS contestant Mrs Chandravathi was attacked by some persons while she was coming back after completing the election campaign on Thursday night, at Thummalapalli in Konijerla mandal.
Stating that the present elections were most significant and important, the TRS President K Chandrasekhara Rao (KCR) on Friday urged the people not to get confused while exercising their franchise.
Speaking at an election campaign meeting organized at Kalvakurthi in the district, Chandrasekhara Rao said that their dream of separate Telangana state was materialized after 14 years of continuous agitation. The Telangana agitators withstood the lathi charges and rubber bullets, and succeeded in brining the Telangana State, he added.
Telangana Information Technology Association (TITA) members gathered at Kondapur Botanical garden this morning and marched through the park to encourage voting for 2014 general elections. TITA has organized ‘TITA Morning Walk for Healthy Telangana’ campaign to raise the awareness among citizens to recognize and realize how important it is for each one of us to vote.
Senior politician Velichala Jagapathi Rao has strongly defended the action of the TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao in refusing to merge the party with the Congress, and asserted that TRS should continue and flourish in the region, dedicate itself to peoples’ service and fight for the rights of the region, besides protecting the water, lands, jobs and assets of Telangana.
The Congress party high command has started cracking the whip on party leaders for indulging in anti-party activities.
Andhra Pradesh BJP unit today released its election manifesto for general election scheduled to be held on May 7.
Party’s senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu released the manifesto at a function in which State party president K Haribabu was present.
On the occasion, Naidu said the people believe that BJP will fulfill its promises, and it is going to win the election besides the possibility of forming government at the centre by NDA under the leadership of Narendra Modi, and chances of winning BJP-TDP combine in Seemandhra.
District Election Officer Somesh Kumar has informed that certain employees who were appointed as Presiding Officers (PO) and Asst. Presiding Officers (APO) and present for the first training session on 4th / 10th of April and have not attended their 2nd training class on 25th April at the Returning Officer level.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee chief spokesperson Dr Shravan Kumar on Friday ridiculed the criticism of TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao against BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Nadrendra Modi.
BJP senior leader Dr K Lakshman on Friday alleged that Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao was desperate to become a part of National Democratic Alliance.
Triggering yet another controversy, yoga guru Ramdev today alleged Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi goes to the houses of Dalits for honeymoon and picnic.
“He goes to Dalits house for honeymoon and picnic. Had he married a dalit girl, then his luck could have clicked and he would have become the Prime Minister,” Ramdev said at a programme here.
He said unlike Rahul, Narendra Modi and Ramdev have not become “fakir” (single) under compulsion.
“Us bechare ki bhi kismat kharab hai (Rahul is unlucky)”, Ramdev said.
Chris Lynn’s stunning catch in an IPL match last night not only created buzz among cricket fans but eight-time world champion cueist Pankaj Advani was also mesmerised seeing the Kolkata Knight Riders player’s boundary line acrobat that handed a nail-biting two-run win against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
“I just wish an India player takes that sort of a catch someday… Ultimately it boils down to agility and fitness,” Advani said.
Delhi Police today claimed to have smashed an IPL betting racket and arrested three persons in this connection.
According to police, the arrests came following a tip off that betting on Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore is going on in a DDA flat in Turkman Gate area in Central Delhi.
The arrested were identified as Mohd Sohail (28), Mohd Sohail (30) and Kamran (31), all residents of Turkman gate.
“Police has busted a betting racket while taking bets on Kolkata Knight Riders – Royal Challengers Bangalore Cricket Match on April 24, 2014 in IPL.
Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu today said here that only the NDA government led by Narendra Modi would be able to give a boost to the development of the country.
Releasing state BJP’s manifesto, he said it promises nine-hour power supply to the farmers, employment to the unemployed youth, construction of Polaveram irrigation project, essential commodities at reasonable price, establishment of Vizag-Chennai industrial corridor and bringing higher education institutions like IIT and IIM to the state.
A video of the abducted son of Pakistan’s former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has surfaced in which the kidnappers have demanded a ransom of a whopping Rs 2 billion for his release.
Ali Haider Gilani was kidnapped last year during the election campaign in May from Multan.
In the video, Ali is said to have said that he was not in the custody of the Taliban.
The information on the video was revealed by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in an “informal” interaction with some journalists.
Malaysia did not scramble fighter planes to check on a commercial jet after a military radar tracked a change in its route as the plane’s action was “not deemed hostile”, Prime Minister Najib Razak has said, nearly 50 days after Flight MH370 disappeared mysteriously.
Najib’s government has so far been tight-lipped about its investigation into the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines jet, adding to the anger and frustration among relatives of the 239 people, including five Indians, aboard the plane.
The central government Friday constituted an expert committee to study the various alternatives regarding the new capital for the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh folowing the decision to create Telangana, said an offical release.
“The committee will study various alternatives for locating the new capital of the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh and make appropriate recommendations in pursuant to section 6 of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014,” the release said.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that the formation of the new state of Telangana would not have been possible without the Congress. “You have waited for sixty years for your dream to get fulfilled. Now on June 2, the 29th state is going to be carved out in the country, and your dream is going to come true. Many parties are fighting in the ongoing elections, but the truth is that Telangana would not have been possible without the Congress,” said Gandhi in his address at a rally in Warangal. “The people of Telangana, students, and women, everyone fought for it.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Friday said that the Congress is confused about its basic agenda for fighting elections and has therefore resorted to criticizing Modi or the Gujarat model. “The country needs a strong government who has to the quality of making good and productive decisions. We are fighting these elections for development and good governance, but the Congress is not able to understand on what issue they are contesting the elections,” said Modi, while addressing a rally in Bathinda.
At least two people were killed Friday during clashes between security forces and supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi in Egypt’s Fayoum province, state media reported.
One of the victims, 38, was hit by cartouche shots while the other, a 62-year-old teacher, died of tear gas suffocation, Xinhua quoted the media report as saying, adding that some residents sided with the police in confronting the pro-Morsi march.