News

A divided country united by the spirit of democracy

by

Tehran, June 13: A brave people went in their millions yesterday to vote for the next president of Iran.

They went for the right reasons and they went for the wrong reasons but they wanted a say in how their country is governed. In their tens of thousands, they waited in Tehran amid the sword-like heat of summer to insist that they had duties and obligations towards their society. Alas, the clerical blanket which smothers Iran will ensure that mullahs – not people – ultimately get their way. Thank you, Ayatollah Khomeini.

Trinamool, administration on collision course in Khejuri

by

Kolkata, June 13: The Trinamool Congress and the West Bengal administration were Friday seemingly headed for a standoff, with the state home secretary threatening to use force to lift the opposition party’s siege of a police station and a road in East Midnapore’s troublespot Khejuri and Trinamool MP Subhendu Adhikari daring him to do so.
The Trinamool, which blockaded the police station protesting against the arrest of 14 of its members onthe charge of rioting, announced it would organise a public boycott of policemen if their members were not given bail.

Striking medicos suffer wrath of stranded motorists

by

Hyderabad, June 13: Junior doctors of Gandhi Hospital who intensified their protests on the third day of their strike on Friday tasted the wrath of motorists who took strong objection to the medicos blocking the road in front of the hospital on Friday.

Motorists, who were stranded because of the doctors staging a sit-in on the road, vent their anger at the striking employees for trying to disrupt traffic flow. Total chaos prevailed as traffic was blocked up to Musheerabad crossroads and beyond.

Six more MMTS trains for the city

by

Hyderabad, June 13: With the increase in the number of commuters taking MMTS trains and demand from passengers, six more trains will be added to the MMTS fleet.

These trains will have more commuter-friendly features when compared to the existing ones, including an increase in seating capacity.

The MMTS project wing of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) ordered for the six trains recently from the Integral Railway Coach Factory, Chennai.

PM must make AP his first visit: YSR

by

Hyderabad, June 13: Andhra Pradesh is lucky for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, feels chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. Firmly believing that the PM’s visit to AP, first to any state after assuming office in 2004, augured well for the party and the country, the chief minister has written to Manmohan Singh urging him to visit Andhra Pradesh first again in his second stint.

West Indies stun India by 7 wickets

by

London, June 13: Let down by their much-vaunted top order, defending champions India flunked their first Super Eight test and sunk to a seven-wicket defeat against the West Indies in the Twenty20 World Cup on Friday.

Dwayne Bravo scalped four Indian wickets with the ball and then returned to hit an unbeaten 36-ball 66, studded with three sixes, to seal the match.

Earlier, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s decision to bat first boomeranged as the Indian top order crumbled and it required Yuvraj Singh’s (67) 43-ball blitzkrieg and Yusuf Pathan’s (31) cameo to reach a competitive 153 for seven.

Obama sees ‘possibility of change’ in US-Iran ties

by

Washington, June 12: US President Barack Obama said Friday that he thought there was a “possibility of change” in US-Iran relations as the Iranian people
voted in closely-fought elections.

“We are excited to see what appears to be a robust debate taking place in Iran,” Obama told reporters.

“And obviously after the speech that I made in Cairo, we tried to send a clear message that we think there’s the possibility of change, and, you know, ultimately the election is for the Iranians to decide.

Sania winning Aegon Classic

by

Poutchek at the Aegon Classic on Tuesday, shrugging off a persistent wrist injury that had threatened to end her career.

The 22-year-old from India hit the ball well and moved superbly. She made a rampaging start, breaking serve immediately and then winning a third game that went to eight deuces and which lasted more than a quarter of an hour.
“After what I have been through I am thankful to God that I am back,” she said, referring to the multiple problems with the wrist which required surgery and prolonged rehab.

Razzaq’s return will be good for us: Younis

by

London, June 12: Pakistan captain Younis Khan is looking forward to welcome back Abdul Razzaq into the fold after the all-rounder’s late call up into the World Twenty20 squad in England.

Razzaq has been given his chance after Yasir Arafat was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament with a hamstring injury.

His return also marks his re-integration into the Pakistan side following an amnesty for former players in the Indian Cricket League – the rival Twenty20 event to the officially sanctioned Indian Premier League.

Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 19 runs

by

London, June 12: Sri Lanka kept their composure to beat Pakistan by 19 runs in their opening Super Eights match in the World Twenty20 at Lord’s on Friday.

Defending a total of 150 for seven, Sri Lanka remained unbeaten at the tournament as they held Pakistan to a total of 131 for nine. Fast bowler Lasith Malinga took three wickets for 18 runs.

Blogs: The Dhoni Debate – II | Game, Shame and Name

Pvt varsities found lacking were suddenly cleared after review

by

New Delhi, June 12: How does a private educational institution found lacking in infrastructure or faculty by one University Grants Commission team, be found
fit for deemed university status a few months later by another? That’s a question UGC and the HRD ministry need to answer if the quality of higher education is to be maintained.

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind campaign to promote education

by

Hyderabad, June 12: The State Chapter of Jamaate- Islami Hind and Student Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) have decided to launch a massive State-wide campaign from June 11 to June 20 for educational awakening and developmental awareness among the people, particularly the Muslim community, said JIH State secretary for Education MA Raqueeb Lathweefi.

SIO State Secretary Zainudhhin Pasha, JIH State Secretary Azarudhin, JIH Assistant Secretary Educational department Malik Dawood, SIO PR Secretary Mohammed Mujahid were also present at the press conference.

Mayawati blames UPA for power crisis in UP

by

Lucknow, June 12: Accusing the Congress-led government at the Centre for existing power crisis in the state, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today said the state was not getting its genuine share of electricity from the central pool.

“The state is not getting its genuine share of power from the central sector, as against total availability of 1,399 MW power in the central pool, only 328.2 MW had been allocated to UP, which is only 23 per cent. This has resulted in power crisis in the state,” Mayawati said during a high-level review meeting here.

Thackeray says Padmasinh’s suspension from NCP is a farce

by

Mumbai, June 12: The suspension of MP Padamsinh Patil, arrested for his alleged involvement in a double murder case, from the primary membership of NCP is a farce, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray today said.

“His suspension is a farce. Any political suspension is a drama and if those in question are either from the Congress or NCP, the drama is well-performed,” Thackeray said in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.

“People know that the suspension is a farce. NCP did not have an alternative because of the mounting public pressure and the tightening of the noose by CBI,” Thackeray said.

Jaitley asks Karnataka BJP leaders to maintain discipline

by

Bangalore, June 12: Amid reports of dissidence in its Karnataka unit, BJP today asked party leaders to maintain discipline and work unitedly and refrain from doing anything that will tarnish the image of the state government.

“I have directed all senior leaders to maintain discipline and do nothing that would dent the image of the government and the party,” senior party leader Arun Jaitley told reporters at the end of his two-day trouble-shooting mission.

No action against Jaswant: BJP

by

New Delhi, June 12: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday ruled out taking action against veteran leader Jaswant Singh for voicing in the media criticism of the party after the poll debacle but it said the leadership does not approve of such issues being discussed publicly.

“There is no proposal (for action) against Jaswant Singh (and so) there is no question of taking any action,” BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.

“Interpreting his words as charges against some party leaders is wrong. The media is wrong in saying that action will be taken against him,” he told reporters.

CIA chief says bin Laden in Pakistan

by

Washington, June 12: CIA Director Leon Panetta said on Thursday the U.S. intelligence agency believes al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan and hopes joint operations with Pakistani forces will find him.

Asked whether he was sure that bin Laden was in Pakistan, Panetta told reporters: “The last information we had, that’s still the case.”

Bin Laden, who has eluded a U.S. manhunt since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has issued audio and videotapes over the years demonstrating that he is still alive.

Sonia gives credit to Rahul for Congress victory

by

Lucknow, June 12: AICC president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday attributed Congress’ spectacular performance in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections to the hard work by her son and party MP from Amethi Rahul Gandhi.

“Rahul ke yogdan ke karan Congress ko achcha parinam mila (the Congress got good results owing to the contribution by Rahul)”, Ms Gandhi said while addressing party workers in her Lok Sabha constituency of Raebareli.

Afzal Guru cannot be hanged till other mercy pleas disposed of

by

Friday, June 12:Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru cannot be hanged till other mercy petitions pending before his are disposed of, feels the government.

“The question is that it is not Afzal or anybody. You know you cannot pick and choose and hang people. There is justice,” Law Minister M Veerappa Moily told NDTV.

He was replying to a question on Guru, who is among 28 convicts whose mercy petitions are pending before the President.

Buckle up Indians and Chinese are coming: Obama to Americans

by

Chicago,June 12: US President Barack Obama on Friday & nbsp;emphasised the need for improving the country’s education system as its students have to compete with Indian and Chinese kids, who spend more time in school and less time playing “video games”.

President Obama wants to watch Slumdog Millionaire
Obama said while at one time America produced the highest number of school and college graduates, Ph.Ds, engineers and scientists, it has fallen behind now and is no longer “head and shoulders above other countries when it (comes) to education”.
 

Flight 447 pic: hoax revived

by

Cape Town, June 12: A fake email dating from a 2006 plane crash has been revived for the Air France Flight 447 crash, with “two shots taken inside the plane before it crashed”.

But the blurry shots of a passenger being sucked out of a gaping hole in an aircraft were ascertained to be screen shots from the pilot trailer for the popular series, Lost.

The hoax dates from an October 2006 posting by Brazilian blogger Carlos Cardoso, which he later revealed as an attempt to show that people are not sceptical enough of what they find on the internet.

Jaitley asks Karnataka BJP leaders to maintain discipline

by

New Delhi, June 12: Amid reports of dissidence in its Karnataka unit, BJP on Friday asked party leaders to maintain discipline and work unitedly and refrain from doing anything that will tarnish the image of the state government.

“I have directed all senior leaders to maintain discipline and do nothing that would dent the image of the government and the party,” senior party leader Arun Jaitley told reporters at the end of his two-day trouble-shooting mission.

Six-year-old is India’s latest H1N1 flu case in Hyderabad

by

Hyderabad, June 12: India on Friday reported one more H1N1 flu patient, taking the number of cases to 16, with a six-year-old girl who had arrived here from the U.S. testing positive for the H1N1 virus.

The samples of the girl, who arrived here along with her parents and six-month-old brother from New York on June 9, had tested positive for influenza AH1N1, doctors said.

She has been quarantined and is being treated at the Andhra Pradesh Chest Hospital, the nodal centre for dealing with flu cases.

Zadari rejects CIA chief’s claim bin Laden still in country

by

Washington, June 12: A spokesman for President Asif Ai Zardari has rejected CIA chief Leon Panetta’s claim that Osama bin Laden is still in Pakistan and challenged the organisation to hand over any evidence it has to back it up.

Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar told reporters Friday, “There is no truth in this CIA statement. These are all rumors.”

Babar said, if the CIA knows he is in Pakistan, then it “should also know his exact location” and share it with Pakistan.”