News

Petrol: No Purchase No Sale from Sept 20

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Hyderabad, September 16: The Andhra Pradesh Federation of Petroleum Traders (APFPT) has decided to intensify the campaign of “No Purchase No Sale from September 20” till their demands are met

Mr M Prabhakar Reddy, President, said in a press release here today that the Ministry of petroleum and Natural Gas ( MOPING) called for a meeting on September 13 to discuss the demands their bleeding dealers. The discussions ended with no results, and hence they have decided to go ahead with the indefinite ‘no purchase no sale’ in all retail outlets.

Group-I service exam for candidates who could not attend earlier

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Hyderabad, September 16: The Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission has decided to conduct the Group-I services examination only to the candidates who could not attend it earlier and in the Osmania University B.Ed. Centre, Hyderabad and Tejaswi High School Centre in Warangal. It may be recalled that the examination in these two centres was disturbed by the Telangana students JAC.

Zawahiri Asks Pakistanis To Revolt Against Their Govt

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Cairo, September 16: Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri has asked Pakistanis to revolt against their “corrupt” government for its “failure” to provide succour to countrymen devastated by worst-ever floods.

Labelling President Asif Ali Zardari as a “thief too busy with mending his ties with the West”, Zawahiri charged the ruling class in Pakistan as well as the Pakistan army of filling their domestic and foreign bank accounts with dollars and paying scant attention to the people reeling under the floods.

Israel, PA talks end with no result

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Jerusalem, September 16: The US special envoy for Mideast, George Mitchell, did not reveal what core issues were discussed between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas.

The two met with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for about two hours at Netanyahu’s official residence in al-Quds (Jerusalem) on Wednesday.

Mitchell only expressed optimism that the negotiations are continuing in what he called “in the right direction,” but had fallen short of any agreement.

US visa fee hike can sour ties with India: US experts

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Washington, September 16: Two noted US economic experts have warned that the new US law steeply hiking visa fees could sour US relations with India and send wrong signals about US attitudes to open global markets.

“Regrettably, what might be good politics is bad policy for America,” wrote Jacob F. Kirkegaard and Arvind Subramanian, senior fellows at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, in Foreign Policy magazine about the law to hike visa fees to raise $600 million to help secure the US-Mexico border.

‘Siasat’ news prompted quick response

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Hyderabad, September 16 (Siasat News): One of the reasons for popularity of ‘Siasat Daily’ and readers’ faith in it is the truth and reliability of its news. ‘Siasat’ has not only left behind other newspapers in presenting news but has always adhered to the truth. Often it has informed the readers beforehand about the important decisions taken by the government.

Resolve Ayodhya issue through talks: Vinay Katiyar to government

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Lucknow, September 16: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national vice-president Vinay Katiyar Wednesday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to make attempts to resolve the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute through talks outside the court.

“The central government can file an affidavit in the court or take a suitable legal step for solving such a long-pending dispute which has religious sentiments attached to it,” Katiyar told reporters here at a press conference.

Two torched for practising black magic

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Hyderabad, September 16: Two people were burnt alive by a mob for practising black magic in Andhra Pradesh’s Nalgonda district Wednesday, police said.

Police said the incident took place at Kaitapur in Choutuppal mandal of Nalgonda district, about 60 km from here.

About 60 villagers, the majority of them women, thrashed Narasimha, 65, and Yelaiah, 68, and burnt them alive in a cremation ground, police said.

We need to give Omar time and support: Rahul Gandhi

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Kolkata, September 16: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Thursday said “we need to give (Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister) Omar Abdullah time and support”.

Addressing a press conference here, Gandhi said: “Kashmir is a tough and sensitive job. We need to give Omar time and support.”

He said he will go to Jammu and Kashmir to carry out a youth membership drive and added that there was a need to involve Kashmir youths in the political system.

TDP contesting polls in Andaman and Nicobar Islands

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Hyderabad, September 16: Andhra Pradesh’s main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will step out of the state’s borders for the first time when it contests the local body elections in Andaman and Nicobar Islands this month.

The party is contesting municipal and panchayat elections scheduled to be held on Sep 19.

TDP’s politburo member K. Yerran Naidu and its leader in the legislative council D. Veerabhadra Rao were campaigning for the party in Port Blair, said TDP media committee chairman L.V.S.R.K. Prasad.

1,900 convert to Islam in Dubai

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Dubai, September 16: Some 1,900 people from 25 countries have converted to Islam since the beginning of this year, the authorities in Dubai said Wednesday.

Of them, 397 people voluntarily came to the Dubai Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department during the holy month of Ramadan and declared their willingness to embrace Islam, its director general Hamad Bin Al-Sheikh Al-Shebani said.

Training and initiation programmes, lectures and Arabic language courses are made available at some mosques in Dubai for the new Muslims and their families, Al-Shebani said.
–IANS

Hamas condemns France’s decision to ban Islamic veil

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Gaza, September 16: Hamas has condemned a law passed by the French parliament that bars Muslim women in the country from wearing Islamic veils.

Ahmed Bahar, deputy speaker of the Hamas-dominated parliament in Gaza, said in a statement Wednesday that the decision taken Tuesday was “unfair, racist and hurts Muslims’ feelings”, Xinhua reported.

“Such a law is a threat to both international security and peace,” said Bahar, calling on the French parliament to annul the law as soon as possible.

Israeli planes strike Gaza

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Gaza, September 16: Israeli F16 jets carried out early Thursday five successive airstrikes on several targets in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in response to earlier projectile attacks on southern Israel, witnesses said.

They said that the jets flew over the costal enclave and struck non-populated areas in northern Gaza Strip, causing no damages and no injuries, but huge explosions were heard all over the enclave.

We need to give Omar time and support: Rahul Gandhi

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Kolkata, September 16: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Thursday said “we need to give (Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister) Omar Abdullah time and support”.

Addressing a press conference here, Gandhi said: “Kashmir is a tough and sensitive job. We need to give Omar time and support.”

He said he will go to Jammu and Kashmir to carry out a youth membership drive and added that there was a need to involve Kashmir youths in the political system.

Sania enters Guangzhou Open quarters

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New Delhi, September 15: India’s Sania Mirza eliminated third seed Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan 6-4 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Guangzhou International Women’s Open in China today.

Sania was among four second-round upset winners today at the USD 220,000 WTA event.

Mirza broke her opponent four times while losing serve just once.

Mirza’s quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be China’s Zhang Shuai.

“I’m really pleased, especially because of whom I beat, because Akgul is playing very well,” Mirza said after winning the match.

Interest rate on employee provident fund raised to 9.5%

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New Delhi, September 15: Ahead of the festival season, retirement fund manager EPFO’s Trustees today raised interest rate on provident fund deposits by one percentage point to 9.5% that will benefit nearly 4.71 crore employees.

This is the highest interest rate declared by the EPFO in five years.

“We have decided to give 9.5% rate of interest to subscribers during the current financial year on their contributions. For over four crore subscribers this is a big gift from EPFO Trustees,” labour minister Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters after meeting of the trustees.

Stamp paper scam unearthed

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Ujjain, September 15: A stamp paper scam worth Rs 2.34 crore was unearthed in the district treasury in Ujjain.

During the routine checking it was found that stamp papers issued to different treasuries have neither reached their destinations, nor a demand for them had come in, Collector M Geeta said.

The district treasury is also the state centre for distribution of these papers.

The scrutiny of record revealed that stamp papers have been issued against fake demands to Ashoknagar, Satna, Guna, Balaghat and other treasuries and sub treasuries, she said.

Bihar polls: Lalu slams Congress

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Bihar, September 15: Apparently apprehensive that Congress would cut into his traditional Muslim votebank, RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Wednesday said the party he had once supported in its hour of crisis, was now out to finish him in the coming Assembly polls.

We extended support to the Congress at its hour of crisis. Even when Sonia Gandhi was under attack on the issue of her foreign origin, I took the lead to corner the forces inimical to her, Prasad said.

Northern Ganga canal reopens

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Uttar Pradesh, September 15: Northern Ganga canal, whose closure four days ago had affected power generation in various states, was on Wednesday reopened.

Besides power generation, the canal also caters to irrigation needs of agricultural lands in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

The canal was closed after farmers refused to take water from it following heavy rains as this led to crop damage, Executive Engineer (Ganga Canal) K P Singh said.

Power generation in various projects at Haridwar, Roorkee, Muzaffarnagar, Muradnagar, Aligarh and Allahabad was disrupted due to its closure.

Yamuna touches Taj, a rare view

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Agra, September 15: The Taj Mahal The rising Yamuna is touching the foundation of the Taj Mahal, “just the way the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan had wanted it to look.”

The Yamuna is providing thousands of visitors a rare spectacle of the Taj mahal in Agra.

“The original conceptual framework of the Taj Mahal considered Yamuna as an integral part and not as a separate entity. Water of the river should flow touching the rear foundation of the monument to keep the structure in good health,” said Mughal historian R. Nath.

TDP, Praja Rajyam for probe into corruption during YSR tenure

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Hyderabad, September 15: Main opposition Telugu Desam, Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam and other opposition parties today demanded an inquiry into alleged corruption and misuse of power during the tenure of late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, a charge dismissed by his son, Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Two Congress legislators also joined the probe demand with one of them saying that prima facie it appears that there has been misuse of office to benefit YSR’s family members.

Explain whereabout of Ex-CM Rabri Devi: Modi to Lalu

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Patna, September 15: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi today asked RJD leader to explain the whereabouts of his wife and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi from the scene of electioneering .

“Where is Rabri Devi? ….why is she missing from the battleground for the assembly polls”? Modi asked in a statement here.

Virginity of girls for sale

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Britain, September 15: The Scotland Yard has busted a gang that offered to sell the virginity of underage girls in Britain.

The gang members used to sell the virginity of minor immature girls to wealthy people for up to 150,000 pounds.

Three women and a man were nabbed after a luxury hotel staff tipped off the police.

One of the women had offered the gang’s services in a handwritten letter to the owner of the Jumeirah Carlton Hotel in Knightsbridge, central London last year.

Mossad chief tops Hezbollah hit-list: report

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Jerusalem, September 15: Israel’s Mossad chief Meir Dagan, ex-premier Ehud Olmert and former head of defence forces Gabi Ashkenazi are on the top of a hit-list prepared by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a media report has said.

The hit-list is said to have been prepared following the assassination of militant commander Imad Mughniyeh, believed to be Hezbollah’s intelligence chief, Kuwait-based Al Rai Al Aam newspaper reported.

Hezbollah blamed Israel for the killing of Mughniyeh, while Israel neither claimed nor denied responsibility keeping in line with its policy on such matters.

ICC should impose life ban on fixers: Murali

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Centurion, September 15: International Cricket Council should impose life ban on the Pakistani players if they are found guilty of spot-fixing, Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan said here today.

Muralitharan joined the likes of Shane Warne and Daniel Vettori in demanding life ban on the three Pakistan cricketers — Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir — if they are found guilty in the spot-fixing scandal to deter younger generation from such corrupt practices.