ABUJA, August 16:Nigeria’s former military ruler Ibrahim Babangida has formally declared his intention to seek the ruling party’s nomination for the presidential election next year, a further blow to incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.
The ruling party) accepts that all of us including Jonathan have the right to contest and I will exercise my franchise,” Babangida said in a speech, a copy of which was read to Reuters today by his spokesman.
Chandigarh, August 16:As many as 60 NCC Cadets under the aegisNo 1 Chandigarh Naval Unit, took part in a tree plantation drive at Govt Model Sr Sec School, Sector 23, here today.
All wings from various institutions of Chandigarh NCC participated in the event and planted 200 saplings of various medicinal and fruit bearing plants in the school campus.
This is a part of the NCC activities in the region to promote green and clean environment.
New Delhi, August 16: The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) on Monday in a Joint press conference in New Delhi announced the seat-sharing arrangement for the assembly elections in Bihar in October.
As per the deal, LJP would contest for 75 seats and RJD would be contesting for 168 seats out of the states 243 assembly seats.
Both the leaders, RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan were present at the press conference.
Lalu said that both the parties would cooperate with each other to ensure a successful deal.
—Agencies
Chhattisgarh, August 16: The Chhattisgarh government has constructed 3,825-km-long roads in Chhattisgarh in one year.
Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh told media persons that the state is working out a plan to build up a massive road infrastructure in all the 18 districts including in forested interiors which is evident from the figure that we constructed 3,825-km roads in one year.
He said a total of 17,323-km-long roads were created in the state under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) that allowed nearly 8,000 residential clusters to get road access.
Haryana, August 16: Haryana Chief Minister Bhupindra Singh Hooda announced on Monday that sports persons from Haryana who win medals in coming Common Wealth Games(CWG) will get cash rewards, the highest being Rs.700, 000 for a gold medal.
Players winning silver and bronze at the CWG will respectively be given Rs.500,000 and Rs.300,000.
The CWG is being held in New Delhi Oct 3-14 this year.
A number of players, including boxing champion Vijender Singh and women hockey team players, will be representing Haryana at the CWG.
New Delhi, August 16: The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) led by Rajesh Ranjan alias Ajit Singh has called the ‘Maha Panchayat’ of the farmers on Monday over the issue of compensation for the land of farmers acquired by the government for construction of the Yamuna Expressway.
The RLD has demanded for the imposition of President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh.
A group of Bharatiya Janata Party would arrive in Aligarh on Monday to take part in the Maha Panchayat.
The BJP leader Rajnath Singh and Congress leader Rita Bahuguna are also expected to attend the event.
Sri Lanka, August 16: Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat against India in the ODI tri-nation series tournament on Monday.
Teams:
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ashes Nehra, Pragyan Ojha.
Srinagar, August 16: The nearly 50-hour long encounter between the security forces and the militants finally ended on Monday.
A militant and an Army jawan were killed and three Army jawans were injured in the encounter on Monday. The deceased Army jawan has been identified as Sepoy S K Singha.
The LeT militant killed on Monday has been identified as Zargar.
In total three Lashkar-e-Taeba militants have been killed in the gunfight, which started when security forces launched a search operation in Shara Wali forest belt
Tehran, August 16: Iran will begin building its third uranium enrichment plant in early 2011, a top official said, defying world powers who have imposed new sanctions on Tehran for pursuing the sensitive nuclear work.
Iran’s atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi was cited on state television’s website late Sunday as saying the search for locations for 10 new enrichment facilities has ended and “the construction of one of these facilities will begin by the end of the (current Iranian) year (to March 2011) or the start of next year”.
Islamabad, August 16: Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf, currently living in London on a self-imposed exile, will not visit Pakistan for the launch of his All Pakistan Muslim League party in September as decided earlier, according to a media report on Monday.
Sources close to the former military ruler were quoted by the Daily Times as saying that Musharraf had decided to steer his party from London and that he would not come to Pakistan during this year because of “some formidable challenges and serious risks he would be exposed to here”.
Srinagar, August 16: An Army jawan was killed and three others, including a major injured, in the gunbattle between militants and security forces in Rajouri district which entered the third day on Monday.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Rajouri, RK Jalla told a news agency that a fierce gunbattle was going in the Shara Wali forest belt in Thanamnadi tehsil of the district.
Additional forces have been rushed to the area and the cordon strengthened to prevent the militants from fleeing.
Goalpara, August 16: Two ULFA insurgents were killed in an encounter with a joint police and CRPF team in lower Assam’s Goalpara district on Monday.
The two armed ultras from the ‘109 battalion’ of ULFA fired at the security personnel during routine patrolling by forces at Doosrapara Matia under Goalpara police station, police sources said.
As the personnel pursued the ultras inside the jungles, an exchange of fire ensued and the two militants were killed at around 5 am.
Mumbai, August 16: The Rajya Sabha on Monday was adjourned till 2 pm after the members of Bharatiya Janata Party and Bahujan Samaj Party got into a clash over the death of farmers in Aligarh.
As BJP demanded a discussion during the Question Hour on the farmers’ agitation, BSP strongly opposed the demand saying it was a state subject which cannot be discussed in the House.
BSP is in power in Uttar Pradesh.
New Delhi, August 16: The Lok Sabha on Monday was adjourned twice over the deaths of two farmers, who died in police firing during protest over the compensation for their land acquired by the government for construction of the Yamuna Expressway.
Initially the lower house was adjourned at 11 pm for an hour. Later when the house resumed at 12 pm it was adjourned for the second time till 2 pm.
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha has also been adjourned till 2 pm over the same issue.
Also read: RS adjourned over farmers’ deaths
Washington, August 16: Republicans attacked President Barack Obama on Sunday for his comments on a controversial plan to build a Muslim cultural center in New York, saying he was “disconnected” from the nation in an election year.
Obama waded into the debate on Friday when he appeared to offer his backing for the center called Cordoba House to be built two blocks from the “Ground Zero” site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York City.
Hyderabad, August 16 (Siasat News): Mr. Nayeem Wajahat, staff reporter Siasat Daily has been elected unopposed, the council member of Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ).
In the recently held the elections, Mr. D Soma Sundaram has been elected state president for the second term whereas Mr. Y Narendra Reddy has been elected as General Secretary.
This is to be noted here that the members of APUWJ are elected unopposed this time. The other members include Mr. Md. Basheeruddin, Mirza Javed and others.
Hyderabad, August 16: BJP today demanded a judicial probe in the alleged land allotment scam to a private firm by Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC).
Several influential political leaders and others have benefited in the scam in land allotment by APIIC to Emaar Properties, state BJP president G Kishan Reddy told reporters in Hyderabad.
He said only a judicial probe would bring out the truth in the scam worth about Rs11,000 crore.
Hyderabad, August 16: Independence Day festivities took a tragic turn on Sunday when an youngster was electrocuted while erecting the flag pole at the Kukatpally Housing Board Colony. Two others suffered burns in the incident.
Hyderabad, August 16: Independence Day festivities took a tragic turn on Sunday when an youngster was electrocuted while erecting the flag pole at the Kukatpally Housing Board Colony. Two others suffered burns in the incident.
Srinagar, August 16: Suspended head constable Abdul Ahad Jan reportedly left his Bandipora home on a motorcycle on Sunday morning, grabbed a black flag from a nearby market, rode for more than 40 km to Srinagar’s Bakshi Stadium and flung a shoe at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. But Jan, who also waved the flag and shouted pro-freedom slogans on Sunday, had been awarded a cash prize in 1992 for saving the lives of senior police officers in a militant attack in Srinagar.
Kabul, August 16: NATO has acknowledged that five Afghan civilians appeared to have been killed by one of its air strikes, carried out to help fend off a Taliban attack in the south of the country.
The incident occurred on Thursday in Lashkar Gah district of Helmand province when members of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) came under fire from insurgents and called in aircraft “to provide supporting fire”, ISAF said in a statement.
Lagos, August 16: At least 40 people have died in a flaming multi-car pile-up near the Nigerian city of Lagos, reports said Monday.
An articulated lorry smashed into a queue of vehicles waiting to navigate a police
checkpoint Sunday, the Nigerian Tribune, quoting witnesses, said.
At least 15 vehicles were engulfed in flames, including two mini-buses, in which the majority of the people died.
Road accidents are common in Africa’s most-populous country as vehicles in poor mechanical condition jostle for position on the often busy roads.
—Agencies
New Delhi, August 16: The union cabinet Monday deferred a bill to substantially hike the salary and perks of members of parliament, official sources said.
The bill had proposed hiking the basic monthly salary of a MP from Rs.16,000 to Rs.50,000. It also provided for higher perks, including Rs.20,000 as constituency allowance and more air tickets.
The bill was scheduled to be tabled in the parliament this week.
—-IANS—
Srinagar, August 16: Life was paralysed across the Kashmir Valley Monday as separatists called for a shutdown and authorities imposed curfew in some places, including this summer capital, officials said.
‘Curfew has been imposed in Srinagar city, Sopore and Bandipora towns to prevent any violence at these places. Restrictions imposed in other towns like Baramulla, Anantnag, Pulwama and Handwara would be reviewed during the day,’ a senior police officer said.
‘We have lifted restrictions from Badgam town today (Monday),’ he added.
Kabul, August 16: The total number of foreign troops killed in the nearly nine years of the Afghan war has topped 2,000, according to the independent icasualties.org website.
In all, 2,002 members of international forces have been killed since the US-led invasion in 2001, including 1,226 Americans and 331 from Britain, the website said.
So far this year, 434 foreign troops have been killed, compared with a peak of 521 in 2009, it said.