A S Kashyap

A Bangladesh high court has reportedly cleared way for a lower court to continue proceedings against Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case by striking down a petition filed by the opposition leader.

The petition asked the court to expunge the deposition of the investigation officer (IO) in the case, reported The Daily Star.

The verdict was passed by a bench comprising Justice Mohammed Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Justice JBM Hassan, who said that recording the statement of the IO in the graft case was not illegal. (ANI)

Bollywood actor Emraan Hashmi, who made his acting debut with Bhatt’s ‘Footpath’, recently took to Twitter to mark eight years of his 2007 released film ‘Awarapan’.

The ‘Hamari Adhuri Kahani star tweeted, “Awarapan is a film that’s very close to my heart. Can’t believe it’s been 8 years !”

Fans of the ‘Gangster’ star too flooded the micro blogging site with their warm wishes for the actor.

Congratulating the actor, one fan made a collage of the 36-year-old actor, reviving all his memories and tweeted “Tera mera rishta , one of my favorite song.”

The preview of OnePlus’ latest smartphone One Plus 2 has been leaked on the internet.

According to the in.techradar.com, a @KJuma on Weibo has released a sketch of what the phone’s going to look like.

He also said that the OnePlus 2 will feature a screen between 5.5 and 5.7 inches, which is slightly larger than the 5.5 inches OnePlus One released last year.

OnePlus has already said that the phone is going to feature a USB Type-C connector and will have the Snapdragon 810 processor.

OnePlus 2 is going to be unveiled on July 27. (ANI)

Facebook has launched its Lite app for Android users in India and the Philippines.

According to thenextweb.com, the app is designed to provide the social network’s core experience reliably on spotty and slow mobile connections.

The app was in testing since January and was soft-launched earlier this month in selected countries.

Facebook says that over 2G network, its Lite app is quicker than its main mobile app because its servers take on the burden of optimizing content.

The app size is 430 KB only, which helps the users to quickly download it.

Sri Lanka overcame a looming threat of rain and a brief batting stutter to claim a seven-wicket win over Pakistan and level the series on the final day of the second Test in Colombo.

Chasing a paltry target of 153, Sri Lanka pushed stroke-player Kithuruwan Vithanage ahead to open the innings as he made a brisk 34 off 23 balls to give the hosts an initial thrust before his dismissal.

Veteran batsman Kumar Sangakkara then fell prey to a Yasir Shah’s delivery for a duck, which gave the Misbah-ul-Haq side a slender hope of fending off their opponents.

A disturbing video of ‘ Frankenstein meat’ is creating buzz on social media as it is turning large number of non-vegetarian Facebook users into vegetarians.

A woman in China’s Shandong Province captured a video and of a slab of raw beef beating like a heart and after making a stir, a Chinese news outlet CCTV uploaded it on their Facebook page, the Mirror reported.

The video with a caption “Understandably horrified at the situation, [the woman] chose to record the event, rather than eat it” soon got million of hits and was further circulated.

Cristiano Ronaldo must have passed his footie skills to his 5-year-old son Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. as the youngster showcased his football skills.

The Real Madrid star was recently spotted playing football with his little son on a beach in the Bahamas, where the junior Ronaldo displayed his talent and all the tricks of football just like his father, the Mirror reported.

The 30-year-old Portuguese football star was captured looking proud of his son when he attempted to do a bicycle kick on the sand. (ANI)

Disney World is no longer allowing the use of selfie sticks in the theme parks.

Though they had initially tried to accommodate the sticks, and had only forbidden the users from taking them out on rides, after failing to control the smartphone accessory epidemic at Disney World, the company is now changing the rules.

Starting this week, Disney’s employees will start looking for selfie sticks during bag checks and visitors who attempt to carry one in will either have to leave it at the entrance gate, or keep it in their cars.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday demanded that the Congress Party should come clean on National Herald ‘ scam’ rather than making allegations against private individuals and their private property.

Reacting to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s accusation, earlier in the day, that former IPL chairman Lalit Modi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje conspired to convert the Dholpur Palace, a government property, into a luxury hotel, BJP leader Narsimha Rao said that the Rajasthan Government had no role to play in this entire issue.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said that the Samajwadi Party, led by his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, is committed to solving the nation’s problems.

“It is the Samajwadi Party’s ideology to ensure that all problems of this country are solved. The people earlier used to say that women should be given saris and suits, but we put the money straight into their accounts,” Akhilesh said, during the birthday celebrations of senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav.

President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said that an informed decision making system based on robust statistics on social sectors like health, education, poverty, employment, social backwardness, housing and environment, will pave the way for holistic development of India.

President Mukherjee expressed his delight to note that the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is celebrating the ninth Statistics Day on June 29, 2015, commemorating the birth anniversary of Late Prof. P. C. Mahalanobis

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Ashish Khetan on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unfortunately failed to live by the standards that he had set for himself by his silence on the ongoing controversy surrounding former IPL boss Lalit Modi.

The death toll from the sweltering heatwave in Pakistan has gone up to 1,276 as over 300 unidentified victims were buried on Saturday.

According to Dawn News, there were 55 additional deaths in Karachi and 11 elsewhere in Sindh bringing the total eight-day tally to 1,276.

In all, 1,186 people have died since June 20 because of the harsh heatwave only in the metropolis, according to the figures released by the Sindh Health Department on Saturday.

The number of heatwave deaths was 66 in the province on Saturday.

Rumours are being aired in B-town that ‘Student Of The Year’ actors Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra will soon be seen together in the remake of 1989 film ‘Ram Lakhan’.

As per the speculations, Sidharth will be playing the role of Ram (Jackie Shroff) in the upcoming movie, while Varun will be portraying Anil Kapoor’s character of Lakhan in the movie which will be co-produced by Karan Johar and directed by Rohit Shetty.

Karan recently Tweeted that Rohit Shetty’s Dharma productions and Mukta Arts were coming together to remake Subhash Ghai’s iconic blockbuster.

Dhammika Prasad claimed four crucial wickets on the fourth day of the second Test as Sri Lanka bundled out Pakistan for 329, leaving the hosts needing 153 runs to level the three-match Test series here on Sunday.

Conceding a 177-run first innings lead, Pakistan reduced their deficit significantly at stumps on the third day, thanks to gritty knocks from Ahmed Shehzad (69) and Azhar, who shared a solid 120-run partnership for the second wicket.

Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday demanded incumbent Vasundhara Raje to step down from her post for a free and fair investigation in the Lalit Modi row.

“She should step down so that a fair investigation can be conducted and everything becomes clear,” he said.

“This should have been the way, but unfortunately it has become a tradition in the BJP that nobody cares,” he added.

Actress Richa Chadda says she is open to doing big commercial films if her role is substantial.

“I was getting offers from big companies, but I don’t want to do it just for the heck of it. I get offers from big banners every month, but I don’t do it if they are not worth it. It has to be a strong role, not repetitive. I feel it is good to be part of big films when your role is substantial,” Richa told PTI.

All-rounder Jhulan Goswami struck a gritty fifty before the bowlers did a good job to help Indian women down New Zealand by 17 runs in the first One-day International and take a lead in the five-match ODI series here today.

Electing to bat at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the Mithali Raj-led side lost wickets at regular intervals, but Jhulan struck a defiant 57 off 67 deliveries to help the hosts to 142 all out in 44.3 overs.

Even though Jhulan has struck two half-centuries in Test cricket, this was the former captain’s maiden ODI fifty, which was laced by six fours and a six.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called for second Green Revolution, saying it should start immediately from eastern India.

He said Indian agriculture has been lagging in several areas including inputs, irrigation, value addition and market linkages and his government was committed to modernizing the sector and making it more productive.

Cricket Association of Bihar President Aditya Verma has asked the ICC to clarify on the claims made by controversial former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi that two leading Indian cricketers and a West Indian player had been bribed by an Indian real estate tycoon.

London-based Modi on Saturday tweeted a letter, which he claims to have written to ICC CEO Dave Richardson in June 2013, passing on “some information” regarding the matter.

Congress is unnecessarily blowing the Lalit Modi controversy out of proportion, BJP leader Arun Singh has said, adding that false allegations are being levelled against the women leaders of his party.

No BJP leader, from the party or government is defending Lalit Modi. The government will take action as per the law, Singh said after being appointed as the party’s national secretary.

He said the Central government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the “first government committed to the poor people”.

The UK has launched an anti-trolling website that offers practical tips to victims of online abuse, particularly women and members of the LGBT, on how to report the offence and where to seek help.

The site was developed by the government in response to research highlighting the scale of online abuse experienced by women and LGBT people. Launched on Saturday, the Stop Online Abuse site is accessible at www.stoponlineabuse.org.uk and offers help to people facing online harassment, revenge porn, hate speech, sexual harassment and blackmail.

In light of senior BJP leader LK Advani emphasising the need for probity in public life, opposition parties on Sunday said that Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje must “own up responsibility” in the Lalit Modi controversy.

“It is a very clear indication from the senior-most leader of BJP that its ministers, when they are implicated, when there are allegations against them, should own up responsibility.

An estimated 77.35% voters exercised their franchise in the Aruvikkara Assembly seat bypoll, which saw ruling Congress-led UDF and opposition CPI(M)-headed LDF locked in a fierce battle.

In the final count released by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, the polling percentage was stated as 77.35 in the bypolls held on Saturday.

During the 2011 state Assembly polls, the polling percentage in the constituency was 70.61.

President Pranab Mukherjee will visit the Rashtrapati Nilayam in Secunderabad for a ten-day southern sojourn from June 29- July 8.

During his southern sojourn, the President will visit Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh on July 1.

On July 3, he will receive first copy of the book ‘Uniki’ written by Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) in Telangana.

The President will also inaugurate a ‘Nakshatra Vatika’ at Rashtrapati Nilayam in Bolarum on July 6. (ANI)