Sukkur, August 12: They’ve been left homeless and hungry by the worst flooding in decades, but for many Pakistanis, their suffering is no reason to ignore the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Muslims abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk during Ramadan, which is due to begin on Thursday in Pakistan and which started on Wednesday in many other Muslim countries.
Washington, August 12: One of about every 12 babies born in the United States in 2008 was the offspring of illegal immigrants, says a new study sharpening a debate over a law that automatically makes them US citizens.
An estimated 340,000 of the 4.3 million babies born in the US in 2008 had parents who were in the country without legal documentation, a Pew Hispanic Centre study released Wednesday concluded.
Ranchi, August 12: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed an FIR against former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda and five ex-ministers in a disproportionate assets scam, an official said.
The Jharkhand High Court Aug 4 ordered a CBI probe against them for amassing assets more than their known sources of income.
“We have lodged an FIR (first information report) against Koda and five ex-ministers,” Superintendent of Police, CBI, R.C. Chaudhary told reporters.
Kanpur, August 12: Their heads bent in concentration as they furiously polish shoes on a roadside in this Uttar Pradesh city, the two young girls are extraordinary profiles of hope in the face of all odds. Shrishti and Muskan have just one mission – to somehow collect Rs.20 lakh for their teenage brother suffering from a rare blood disorder.
The task is immense, but so is their will. Carrying a placard saying “Mere bhai ko bachao (Save my brother)”, Shrishti, 14, and Muskan, 9, roam the streets, pleading with people to get their shoes polished.
Hyderabad, August 12: The headmistress of a government primary school, who was arrested for allegedly punishing 11 students with a burning firewood in Warangal district, was today sent to 15 days’ judicial remand, police said.
The headmistress Sruthi Keerthi of government primary school at Jamandlapally village in the district allegedly punished students with a burning firewood meant for cooking mid-day meal.
Keerthi was suspended following the incident and arrested last evening on the complaint of district authorities.
Hyderabad, August 12: The war of words between loyalists of Congress’ Kadapa MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and the party leadership intensified today with his supporters dismissing allegations of a scam in a state-owned corporation during Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s regime.
Responding to the allegations made by senior Congress MLAs who are known to be opposed to Rajasekhara Reddy, two party legislators claimed the allegations are being made only to gain some positions of power.
New Delhi, August 12: With courts swamped by cases of honour killings and teenagers seeking protection after marrying against their parents’ wishes, the Delhi High Court has asked the legislature to frame concrete and unambiguous laws regarding marriage of minors. Justice B D Ahmed said lawmakers must differentiate between marriages where parents force their children, particularly daughters, to get married at a very young age and cases of minors marrying without the consent of their parents.
Islamabad, August 12: Pakistan has said it is ready to take action against Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed but added India should give “concrete evidence” that stands “legal scrutiny” and holds him responsible for the Mumbai attacks.
India has maintained that it has provided ample evidence about Saeed’s role in the Mumbai attacks and Pakistan should follow it up and initiate legal proceedings against the JuD chief.
Riyadh, August 12: A Saudi leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has urged sympathisers in the Saudi security forces to kill Christians living in the kingdom, in an audio message released on Wednesday.
The purported audiotape, posted on a website used by Islamists, also repeated an often-made call to overthrow the Saudi government.
“Those of you who work in guarding the tyrants of princes or ministers, or the compounds inhabited by Christians, or can reach them, should seek God’s help and kill them,” said AQAP’s number two, Said al-Shihri.
Ahmedabad, August 12: From a burqa to a khaki uniform is a long distance, especially in Gujarat. Yasmin Sajid Sheikh has taken that leap — the 32-year-old schoolteacher and mother of two is set to become the first Muslim woman DySP of Gujarat.
Sheikh, who recently cleared the Gujarat State Public Commission Services exam, has never met a woman police officer. She says it was the depiction of officers in khaki on television and the big screen that motivated her.
Hyderabad, August 12: The state government is keen on seeking a CBI probe into the APIIC-EMAAR Properties scam whose lid Congress legislators D L Ravindra Reddy and J C Diwakar Reddy opened on Tuesday.
The scam has given an opportunity to the government to turn the screws on Kadapa MP Jagan Mohan Reddy’s cronies in this case Ambati Rambabu, former chairman of APIIC. In fact, Ravindra Reddy is busy preparing a note to the Congress high command giving a blow-by-blow account of how the state government was put to a loss of thousands of crores in the APIIC-EMAAR scam.
New Delhi, August 12: He did what no one else in his party had done before. BJP MP Varun Gandhi, on Wednesday, reached out to old party workers, extended an helping hand to them, comforted them with words of assurance and gave them respect — respect that had eluded them ever since they turned old and inactive.
Washington, August 12: US President Barack Obama has extended his best wishes to Muslims around the world as Ramadan, the holy month of fasting, starts.
“On behalf of the American people, Michelle and I want to extend our best wishes to Muslims in America and around the world, ” Obama said in a statement Wednesday.
“Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality. And here in the US, Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been part of America and that American Muslims have made extraordinary contributions to our country,” Obama said.
New Delhi, August 12: Dr Manmohan Singh has become the third longest-serving Prime Minister of India after he completed 2,273 days in office on Wednesday.
India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru tops the list with 6,130 days, while his daughter Indira Gandhi is second with 5,829 days in office.
Dr Singh’s predecessor, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was till now the third-longest serving Prime Minister in office with 2,272 days over three terms.
An official in the Prime Minister’s Office said there are no special celebrations on the occasion.
——IANS
Patna, August 12 :EVERY political party in Bihar is dashing to court the state’s Muslim voters who hold the key to forming the next government after the assembly polls.From mainstream parties to fringe organisations — they are jostling with each other to project themselves as “ genuine” well- wishers of the community.
All this for the polls which are just three months away.That’s hardly surprising considering that the Muslims account for 16.4 per cent of Bihar’s population and hold the key to victory in at least 60 of the 243 assembly seats.
Jerusalem, August 12: Israel could launch a military attack against Iran within a year in an attempt to stop Tehran’s nuclear program, even without a green light from the US, a report says.
Jeffrey Goldberg, the author of the article published in the September issue of the Atlantic magazine, writes that “a consensus emerged that there is a better than 50 per cent chance that Israel will launch a strike by next July.”
New Delhi, August 12: The Supreme Court will take up today the status report filed by the CBI in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case in which Amit Shah, a former Gujarat minister and a close aide of chief minister Narendra Modi, has been arrested.
The CBI on July 30 had filed the status report in a sealed cover into its six-month-old investigation in the case in which it has questioned not only Shah but several senior IPS officers, who were associated with the state police when the fake encounter took place in 2005.
New Delhi, August 12: The government today said that charges against former Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson were not watered down and even patted the CBI for standing on its ground to seek his extradition on serious charges despite the then attorney general opining to the contrary.
“The CBI you ridicule has stood by its ground and asked to seek Anderson’s extradition under grave charges of 304 whereas the case was registered under 304A,” home minister P Chidambaram said while replying to a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the Bhopal gas tragedy which was marred by acrimony.
Hyderabad, August 12: The TDP leader and Rajya Sabha member, Mr Nandamuri Hari Krishna, has termed the Telangana Rashra Samithi as the Telangana Retail Sales party.
In an open letter to the people of Andhra Pradesh, Mr Hari Krishna has claimed that it was the TDP which developed the Telangana region. He said the party was brought into existence by his father late N T Rama Rao, with the support of the toiling labourers, farmers, blessings of women and support of the youth.
Hyderabad, August 12: The Home Minister, Ms P. Sabita Indra Reddy, has assured that the State government would finalise recruitment of remaining 23,000 police personnel soon to strengthen the department for discharge of their duties professionally and effectively to the satisfaction of the people.
Hyderabad, August 12: The Praja Rajyam party has alleged that the Telugu Desam party has no political policy.
In a statement here on Wednesday, the party official spokesperson, Mr Gautam, demanded that the TDP president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, explain his policies to the Justice Srikrishna Committee on State bifurcation.
He said that it was better for Mr Naidu to be away from politics than be the president of a party without a policy. He also warned that the TDP could not cheat the people with its cunning policies for long.
——-NSS
Hyderabad, August 12: The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, has said that Andhra Pradesh was the only State in the country which has accorded top priority to agriculture and achieved many a milestone to become a role model.
Hyderabad, August 12: The outgoing State Human Rights Commission Chairman Ch Subhashan Reddy on Wednesday said that corruption has taken deep roots in society and violations of human rights are on the increase.
Mr Subhashan Reddy expressed his satisfaction over serving as the Chairman of the SHRC for five years, without any blot or accusation raised against him.
He said that, “it is very sad to say that the society presently reels under corruption. Corruption by itself is a violation of Human Rights.
New Delhi, August 12: Major Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah and Forest Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy on Wednesday stated that the Centre has assured its consent for four irrigation projects in the state.
Talking to reporters after meeting Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh in New Delhi, the Ministers said the state government has sought environmental and forest ministries clearance for 9 irrigation projects, 15 power projects and two aluminium projects.
Hyderabad, August 12: Secunderabad Cantonment MLA P Shankara Rao on Wednesday urged the government to check the activities of the mining mafia as they threatened the democratic set up in the state.
Talking to media persons at the Media Point on the Assembly premises, Mr Shankar Rao demanded that the government initiate permanent action against mining mafia as irregularities to the tune of Rs 10 lakh crore occurred in allotment of mines.