Tehran, September 19: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted that there has never been a sentence of death by stoning against a woman accused of adultery and complicity in the death of her husband.
“Someone in Germany has spread false news in this regard which led to all the commotions against Iran,” he said in an interview with the US-based ABC News network aired Sunday.
Guwahati, September 19: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi will be fit to travel and free from all medication in nearly two weeks, eminent cardiac surgeon Ramakant Panda who performed triple surgeries on him said Saturday.
‘The chief minister is doing excellent. I would say within the next 15 days he should be able to travel and roam around freely like he did in the past. By that time, all medicines would also be stopped,’ Panda told IANS.
The cardiac surgeon from Mumbai’s Asian Heart Institute was in Guwahati to examine Gogoi, following the surgeries last month.
Lucknow, September 19: In wiew of the crucial Ayodhya title suit verdict on September 24, the Uttar Pradesh government has promulgated Section 144 in all the districts of the state besides banning all types of religious processions and public gatherings.
The central para-military forces and Provinvicial Armed Constabulary (PAC) have started conducting ‘flag marches’ in the sensitive areas of all the districts of the state.
London, September 19: Interpol chief Ron Noble has said his identity was used on the online social network Facebook by criminals who tried to get details of an operation launched by the international police agency against a global crime nexus.
“Interpol’s information security incident response team discovered two Facebook profiles attempting to assume my identity as Interpol’s secretary general,” Noble was quoted as saying by The Independent.
“One of the impersonators was using this profile to obtain information on fugitives targeted during one of our recent operations,” he said.
Washington, September 19: US President Barack Obama is likely to stay at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, which was under siege during the 26/11 terror attack, during his maiden visit to India in November.
Sources told The Sunday Express that officials from the US Consulate in Mumbai are in touch with the hotel management for the necessary arrangements. An advance team from the US has already visited the city to lay the groundwork for Obama’s stay. The US authorities are also reported to have conducted a security audit of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.
Kabul, September 19: The Muslim Afghanistan may be evoked by the latest decision of President Hamid Karzai, who chose a female, Hindu candidate in the parliamentary vote on Saturday, Sep 18.
Among the 600 vying for parliamentary seats in the Afghan capital, only two Hindu candidates were competing.
“It was Anar Kali Honaryar,” one Afghan place official informed and also added that the female activist mainly relied on Muslim supporters during her campaigning.
Women are a minority in Afghan public life, although 25 percent of the 249 seats in parliament are reserved for them.
New Delhi, September 19: With Assembly elections approaching, party hoppers are having a whale of a time in Bihar.
While many of them have already switched loyalties, others are waiting for right options before moving out of their zones of discomfort.
As the assembly poll is expected to be a tight triangular contest between JD(U)-BJP, RJD-LJP and Congress, all parties have witnessed the phenomenon of new admissions and desertions as also emergence of new equations.
New Delhi, September 19: Women appear to be taking a backseat in the coming Bihar Assembly polls.
This is in a state which had Rabri Devi as Chief Minister not so long ago for eight years and subsequently as Leader of the Opposition.
The RJD-LJP has joined hands in the polls and is projecting Lalu Prasad as the chief ministerial candidate to take on his friend-turned-foe and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of the JD-U.
London, September 19: The Taliban may have ordered the brutal slaying of prominent Pakistani politician and Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) leader Imran Farooq in London, a media report said.
Daily Mail reported Saturday that the Taliban angle emerged as Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command took charge of the probe from the Murder Squad into the vicious stabbing to death of Farooq outside his home in Edgware Thursday afternoon.
Detectives are believed to be looking for an Asian man in connection with the attack that sparked panic in Pakistan’s Karachi town.
New Delhi, September 19: When Revathi Siddhartha Roy ferried her first passenger from the international airport in Mumbai in 2007, she unleashed a gender revolution on the streets, powering the only cab service by women and for women in India. But three years later she is struggling to keep it on the roads as both banks and micro-credit institutions have refused her loans.
London, September 19: Rattled by the match-fixing allegations against Pakistani cricketers, the South African team is reportedly reluctant to play against them in a series in Abu Dhabi and Dubai next month.
According to a report in ‘The Daily Telegraph’, senior South African cricketers are considering making themselves unavailable for the series. The Proteas are due to play five ODIs, three Tests a couple of Twenty20s against Pakistan next month.
“To say we are reluctant is an understatement,” one senior player told the newspaper.
Mumbai, September 19: The lawyers of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab are getting ready to file an appeal in the Bombay High Court next week challenging the death penalty awarded to him for his role in the 26/11 terror strikes.
“The appeal has been drafted and is in final stages of preparation…We are giving finishing touches,” advocate Amin Solkar, appointed by the Maharashtra Legal Aid Committee on a directive of the High Court to defend Kasab, told PTI.
Hyderabad, September 19: With the stalemate over the 42 percent share in the appointment of judicial officers continued, the Telangana Lawyers Joint Action Committee on Saturday called for march to Secretariat on Monday.
In an emergency meeting convened on Saturday evening, the Committee gave a call for ‘Chalo Secretariat’ on Monday and urged all district Telangana leaders to make it a grand success.
Hyderabad, September 18: After initially refusing to accept the advice of Chief Justice Nissar Ahmed Kakru on Saturday, Justice C V Nagarjuna Reddy finally relented and withdrew his resignation later in the day.
Justice Reddy had who had resigned after being anguished at the acts of vandalism by lawyers during their protests on Thursday. The lawyers were staging protests to pressurise the government to give in to their demand of 42 per cent posts for Telanganaites in Judiciary posts. They had disrupted proceedings in his Court Hall and also vandalised furniture.
United Nations, September 19: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has lauded Afghan citizens for their “courage and determination” as they turned up in large numbers to vote Saturday despite the Taliban threatening to disrupt polling.
“The secretary-general commends women and men of Afghanistan for their courage and determination in exercising their democratic right to vote during the parliamentary elections,” Xinhua quoted Ban’s spokesman as saying.
The UN chief noted that the participation of over 2,500 contestants, including 400 women, as significant for the Afghan civil society.
Port Elizabeth, September 19: Disappointed after losing to Victoria Bushrangers via the Super Over, Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said that a good opening partnership played crucial role for the Australian side in the Champions League Twenty20 match here.
“The opening in batting went perfect for Victoria. They played well, but at the end of the day it is disappointing to lose such a close match,” Dhoni said after the Group A encounter.
Karachi, September 19: Former International Cricket Council (ICC) president Ehsan Mani today said there is a clear trust deficit between the ICC and the PCB. Mani, expressing disappointment over the alleged involvement of Pakistani players in spot fixing, said the PCB had failed to read and handle the situation correctly.
Hyderabad, September 19: The Mala Sankshema Sangam (MSS) has demanded the government to remove the APFSL scientific officer Dr Venkanna from his duties immediately for taking bribe in a foreign woman rape case issue.
Hyderabad, September 19: BJP leaders Mr. Kishen Reddy and Dr. K. Lakshman have been arrested by the police at around 2 AM on Saturday at the Kushaiguda police station for staging a dharna demanding the suspension of the inspector of police.
The BJP leaders alleged that the Circle Inspector of Kushaiguda police station has misbehaved with a lady ABVP worker during a demonstration in connection with the Telangana liberation day on Friday.
Hyderabad, September 19: The Home Minister Ms. Sabita Indra Reddy has said that she has ordered an enquiry into the behaviour of the Kushaiguda Circle Inspector of Police Manohar Reddy, who was alleged to have treated a girl student leader of the ABVP indecently.
She said suitable action would be taken after the enquiry report was received.
Meanwhile the girl student has approached the Human Rights Commission for justice.
Hyderabad, September 19: Chief Minister K Rosaiah inaugurated a state-of-the art S-Band Doppler weather radar installed at Meteorological Centre, Begumpet in the city on Saturday.
This is the second of 12 radars planned to be installed at different locations in country during first phase of modernisation of scheme of IMD.
The radar has been installed on a four-storied building constructed at a cost of Rs 4 crore.
The radar would help weather men to study and analyse weather patterns on real time basis within the range of 500 km radius in and around Hyderabad.
Hyderabad, September 18: Telangana lawyers called off their protest Saturday night after the Andhra Pradesh government agreed to provide 42 percent share to the region in the appointment of judicial officers.
The unprecedented crisis in the state judiciary triggered by the lawyers’ protest was resolved when the government gave a written assurance to Telangana lawyers’ joint action committee (JAC).
The government promised to ensure “equitable” representation to Telangana in three weeks. It also agreed to consider withdrawing cases against lawyers.
Vancouver, September 19: Inderjit Singh Reyat, the only man convicted in the 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing, faces more time in jail after a jury Saturday found him guilty of perjury during the trial of main suspects Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Mailk.
Reyat may be locked for another 14 years behind bars.
New York, September 19: A church van crashed Saturday killing six people and injuring eight in the town of Woodbury, New York, police said.
The single vehicle accident occurred at about 3 p.m. on northbound side of Interstate 87, about an hour’s drive north of New York City, Xinhua quoted a police spokesman as saying.
Six people in the van were killed, he said.
–IANS–
Hyderabad, September 19: Congress leaders from Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema on Saturday urged Director General of Police Aravinda Rao to take action against all pro-Telangana activists who were indulging in ‘vandalism’.
The Seemandhra leaders, under the leadership of Government Whip S Sailajanath, also submitted a memorandum to the DGP to this effect.
Saturday’s meeting comes in the wake of the Seemandhra leaders’ decision to adopt an assertive policy against the Telangana protagonists.