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Modi alone can revive economy, provide jobs, says Loksatta

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Loksatta Party will support BJP’s Prime Ministerial nominee Narendra Modi as he is committed to providing jobs to youth by reviving the manufacturing sector and ensuring good governance, its President said today.

The UPA Government has squandered a golden opportunity given to it for the last 10 years by indulging in and promoting corruption, destroying the economy by neglecting the manufacturing sector and resorting to politics of temporary sops to garner votes, Jayaprakash Narayan alleged at a press conference here.

HC allows Ramdev’s camp but warns against political canvassing

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The Gujarat High Court today allowed yoga guru Ramdev’s Bharat Swambiman Trust to hold yoga camps in Vadodara and Ahmedabad with the condition that there would not be any canvassing for any political party.

“The petitioner Trust shall not campaign in favour of any political party,” said a division bench of Justices M R Shah and R P Dholeria.

The camps won’t have any hoardings or banners of a political party or leaders and political leaders won’t be allowed at the venue.

Phone tapping: Former Himachal top cop gets no relief

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The Himachal Pradesh High Court Friday refused to grant any interim relief to former director general of police I.D. Bhandari, accused of getting tapped the phones of politicians and government officials during the previous BJP regime.

A division bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice D.C. Chaudhary refused to grant suspension of a show cause notice issued to him by the state.

Bhadari was told to file the reply to the state government.

Repolling in Odisha sees 79 percent turnout

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Repolling at nine polling stations in Odisha recorded an average of 79 percent turnout Friday, the state’s Joint Chief Electoral Officer Jyoti Prakash Dash said.

The repoll was ordered by the Election Commission at six polling stations in Cuttack district, two in Keonjhar district and one in Kendrapara district after voting was disrupted April 17 due to allegations of rigging and other irregularities.

Repolling started at 7 a.m. and ended peacefully at 5 p.m., he told IANS.

Goa CM unsure about auctioning mining leases

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Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Friday said he did not remember the part of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s speech where he favoured auctioning natural resources of the state.

Despite Modi’s endorsement of auctioning as the best possible mode for harvesting national resources, Parrikar, who is considered close to the Gujarat chief minister, is non-committal on auctioning Goa’s mining leases. The state is rich in iron ore.

EC warns Mulayam Singh against breaching poll code

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The Election Commission Friday warned Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav against violating the model code of conduct while campaigning for the general election.

The commission had issued a notice to Mulayam Singh April 18 seeking an explanation about his remarks on regularization of appointments of Siksha Mitra (teachers) in Uttar Pradesh.

In his reply submitted April 19, he said that the decision to regularize the teachers was taken by the party-led Uttar Pradesh government before the elections were announced and he, as president of the party, had no power to modify the order.

Schoolgirl surprises Michelle Obama after giving her jobless dad’s resume

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Michelle Obama was recently left speechless when a 10-year-old girl handed the First Lady her father’s resume at the recent Q-and-A session with the children of Executive Office employees.

For the convenience of other kids at the event who could not hear Charlotte Bell ‘s request, Michelle announced that the matter was private, but the little girl was doing something for her dad.

After the event ended, Michelle hugged Charlotte and took the resume as she left the East Room.

Man throws acid on girl for refusing to marry him in Pakistan

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A man has allegedly thrown acid on an 18-year-old girl after she refused to marry him, in the latest such incident in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

Kaneez Fatima was returning from market yesterday when two motorcyclists intercepted her in Lahore’s densely populated area of Shahdara and threw acid on her, eyewitnesses said.

She was rushed to hospital where doctors said she had suffered 40 per cent burns. Fatima has acid burns in her face also.

We do not appeal for votes in yoga camps: Ramdev

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Refuting Congress’s allegations that he was campaigning for BJP in his Yoga camps, Baba Ramdev today said his camps were “apolitical”.

“My yoga camps are apolitical… We do not appeal for votes in these camps… Putting views in media is my constitutional rights,” Ramdev said told reporters here.

Congress’s state unit Vice President Satyadeo Tripathi had earlier alleged that Ramdev was campaigning for BJP through his camps and said his party had registered complaint with the Election Commission in this regard.

Nation can’t be run by ‘oxygen from mother and son’: Modi

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In a fresh salvo at the Gandhi family, Narendra Modi today said the country could not be run by a government working on “oxygen from mother and son” and a “dead, feeble and fractured” regime was not needed.

“The country needs a strong government at the Centre to pull it out of the destruction done by UPA. A dead, feeble, fractured government is not the need of the hour,” the BJP prime ministerial candidate said at an election rally at Hoshiarpur.

Seven of a family shot dead in Pakistan

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Seven members of a family were Friday killed when two armed men shot at the vehicle in which they were travelling in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.

The incident took place on the highway between Swabi and Peshawar city, when they were going to see off at Peshawar airport a man who was going to take a plane to Saudi Arabia.

A police officer said the attack occurred due to a dispute between clans.

Six other members of the same family were also wounded.

Rahul promises to make Warangal second IT hub of Telangana

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Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Friday promised to develop Warangal as the second information technology hub of Telangana after Hyderabad.

“Telangana’s second IT city will be Warangal,” he told an election meeting at Madikonda in Warangal district.

To counter the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which has promised to waive crop loans up to Rs.1 lakh, Rahul declared that if Congress came to power in Telangana, it will waive crop loans of up to Rs.2 lakh

Interim bail to BSP MP in maid torture case

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A court here Friday granted interim bail, till May 20, to BSP MP Dhananjay Singh, accused in the case of the torture of his maid, which led to her death.

Additional Sessions Judge Lokesh Kumar Sharma Friday granted bail to Singh, while asking him to furnish a personal bond of Rs.1 lakh with one surety of the same amount.

Earlier on April 15, another court granted interim bail to the Bahujan Samaj Party MP in a rape case against him.

43 killed in Afghanistan flash floods

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At least 43 people were killed and hundreds were left homeless in devastating flash floods in northern Afghanistan, a media report said Friday.

“Thousands of homes have been destroyed and thousands are suffering,” BBC quoted Jowzjan province’s governor Boymurod Qoyinli as saying after the floods that started overnight and lasted till the early hours of Friday..

Qoyinli also warned that the toll was likely to rise.

People have been left trapped on the roofs of their houses and rescue helicopters have been deployed to rescue them.

15 trapped in Nepal hydropower project tunnel

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Around 15 workers, of whom 12 might be Chinese, were Friday trapped inside a hydropower project tunnel in west Nepal following a mudslide, police said.

The workers of the 25 MW Upper Madi Hydropower Project, which is under construction at Sildujure of Kaski district, some 250 km away from the capital Kathmandu, were trapped in the tunnel after a mudslide at an entrance of the tunnel at around 1.30 p.m.

“As there were many Chinese nationals working inside the tunnel, we fear around a dozen of them have been trapped,” Rajaram Koirala, the project coordinator of Upper Madi, told Xinhua.

Gunman attacks military helicopter in Ukraine

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A sniper fired a single shot into the fuel tank of a helicopter in eastern Ukraine, causing a massive explosion and severely injuring the commander, authorities said Friday.

The Mi-8 military helicopter was hit by gunfire while standing on the ground at a small airfield near Kramatorsk town, according to Vasyl Krutov, head of the government’s Anti-Terrorism Centre.

Witnesses said at least four huge explosions were heard near the airfield, Xinhua reported.

Saradha kingpin’s wife gets bail, son sent to custody

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A city court Friday granted conditional bail to Saradha chit fund scam kingpin Sudipta Sen’s wife Piyali but remanded his son Subhojit in judicial custody till April 30.

The duo was arrested April 17 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and was under the agency’s custody.

“Piyali was granted bail today (Friday) on the condition that she will cooperate with the investigation and not leave the jurisdiction of the court. Subhojit has been remanded in judicial custody till April 30,” their counsel Samir Das said.

Abdullah Abdullah leads early vote count in presidential election

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Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah is leading with 80 percent of votes counted.

According to the Independent Election Commission (IEC), Dr Abdullah has 43.8 percent of ballots cast, followed by Ashraf Ghani with 32.9 percent.

The IEC said the preliminary results suggested it was unlikely there would be an outright winner and that a run-off vote would be held on 28 May.

According to the BBC, the IEC preliminary results were based on nearly 82.6 percent of the vote from the 34 provinces.

The final results are due on 14 May.(ANI)

Netanyahu says Hamas-Fatah pact has ‘essentially buried’ Mideast peace talks

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said a new agreement between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah is ‘killing peace’.

Netanyahu spoke with Fox News shortly after the Israeli government cut off Mid-east peace talks .

According to the report, Israel has halted negotiations after the announcement that terror group Hamas and Fatah would seek reconciliation.

In the interview with Bret Baier, Netanyahu said that peace talks are ‘essentially buried’ if Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas forges ahead with the agreement.

Ukraine calls for international efforts to restore peace

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Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk Friday urged the international community to unite their efforts to restore peace in the world.

“If Ukraine and the international community unite to force Russia to fulfill its international obligations, we would keep the peace and stability in the world,” Yatsenyuk told a cabinet meeting.

Yatsenyuk accused Russia of violating the compromise Geneva agreement and attempting to “start the World War III by escalating the crisis in Ukraine”, Xinhua reported.

Sikhs will reply to Congress by electing BJP: SAD-Delhi

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Accusing Manmohan Singh of not fulfilling promises he made to 1984 riots victims, Shiromani Akali Dal-Delhi today said the Sikh community will reply to Congress by electing a BJP government at the Centre.

“Congress tried to appease Sikhs and wash away the stains of the 1984 riots by according Manmohan Singh the top post,” former national minority commission chairman Tarlochan Singh said while addressing a press conference here.

Bulgarian sailors rescue stuck Liberian container ship: Official

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Bulgarian maritime administration teams Friday rescued a Liberian container ship that ran aground near the Black Sea Port of Varna, an official said.

Danail Papazov, Bulgaria’s minister of transport, information technology and communications, told reporters that “Independent Venture” ran aground Friday due to strong winds while leaving the harbour, Xinhua reported.

Thanks to the quick response of all authorities, the ship was pulled, Papazov said.

Jharkhand Police suspect Bengal Maoists’ hand in Dumka blast

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Jharkhand Police suspect the involvement of West Bengal Maoists in Thursday’s landmine blast in Dumka district in which eight people, including five security personnel and two polling officials, were killed.

“We cannot rule out the possibility of Bengal Maoists’ involvement in the landmine blast as the place where it took place is close to the West Bengal border,” Jharkhand Police spokesperson Anurag Gupta told IANS.

Priyanka should explain Vadra’s development model: BJP

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday launched a counter-offensive against Priyanka Gandhi Vadra following her sustained attacks on its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

Accusing Priyanka of trying to shield her husband Robert Vadra by attacking Modi, senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said she should elaborate on Robert’s development model before questioning the Gujarat model.

“The nation wants to know what magical model does Robert Vadra have so Rs.1 lakh becomes Rs.300 crore in less than three years,” Prasad said at a press conference in the state capital.