Gali Nagaraja

Many non-Muslims of Malaysia expressed their delight and wish to participate in the festivities of Ramzan, joining Iftar parties hosted by Muslims.

Jeann Yora Mahin told that during the month of Ramazan we get many types of delicious food dishes which are not usually prepared during the rest of the year.

Many non-Muslims in Malaysia opined that it is a great opportunity to get closer to Muslims by participating in their Iftar parties at hotels and homes.

A gurudwara in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) held an Iftar party for Muslims fasting in the holy month of Ramadan, a media report said on Wednesday.

The gurudwara in Jebel Ali organised the iftar for the second consecutive year. The guests of honour were people from Al Manar – a Quran study Centre, the Khaleej Times said.

Last year, the Al Manar Centre started inviting guests from different religions for Iftar and the gurudwara reciprocated.

Pakistan Army had planned a Kargil-type military operation much before the summer of 1999 when Benazir Bhutto was the prime minister but she stood her ground against the idea, a new book by a former diplomat says.

In his book, “Where Borders Bleed: An Insider’s Account of Indo-Pak Relations” Rajiv Dogra, who was Consul General of India in Karachi from 1992 to 1994, talks about a number of contentious issues between the two countries.

Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot on Thursday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to immediately ask Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje for her resignation.

“The Chief Minister of Rajasthan has never denied that the documents are false, that the signatures were not hers. Now, what remains to be seen is how quickly will the BJP act on this. Now, that there is complete disclosure of documents, everything there is in public domain,” Pilot told ANI.

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Thursday intercepted a suspicious dhow and found over 50 cartons of contraband cigarettes on the vessel.

A statement from the ICG said that the force received an intelligence input at its Okha station in Gujarat about the movement of a suspicious dhow, following which, units in the Gulf of Kutch region were alerted and the vessel was intercepted.

High cut-off percentages across most courses kept many students away from seeking admission to Delhi University colleges on Thursday, the first day of this year’s admission process.

Colleges like Kamala Nehru, Gargi, College of Vocational Studies, Hansraj, Kirori Mal, Lady Shri Ram, Hindu and St. Stephen’s saw comparatively less number of students on the first day of the admissions.

The Islamic State (IS) terror group has posted on the social media pictures of a series of gold coins which it claimed were the long awaited currency of the radical group, media reported.

The coins were a series of gold sovereigns bearing IS inscriptions. The group claimed that one gold coin was worth $139, a report in the London-based Telegraph on Wednesday said adding that the terror group has begun minting its own “Islamic Dinar” coins.

Hyderabad police on Thursday booked Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his five cabinet colleagues for making threatening and provocative statements against Telangana government.

On a direction by Ranga Reddy district court, a case was filed against Naidu and others at L.B. Nagar police station under the limits of Cyberabad police commissionerate, a police officer said late on Thursday night.

M. Phanindra Bhargav, a lawyer, had approached the court seeking direction to police to book a case against the Andhra chief minister and others.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday called up US President Barack Obama to discuss Iran nuclear talks, situation in Syria and the need to counter Islamic State (IS) militants, the White House said in a communique.

“The leaders discussed the increasingly dangerous situation in Syria, and underscored the importance of continued P5+1 unity in ongoing negotiations to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” the White House said.

Even as it praised India for holding “the largest democratic elections in history”, the US on Thursday highlighted “police and security force abuses” and “widespread corruption” among its “most significant human rights problems”.

“India’s parliamentary contest in April 2014 was one of the largest elections in history,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in his preface to the annual Human Rights Reports speaking of “stifling of free and open media” from China to Saudi Arabia.

The rapport between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was in full display today during the 2015-16 Budget presentation.

Towards the end of his more than two-hour-long speech in the House, Sisodia, Kejriwal’s long time lieutenant, and Finance Minister was effusive in his praise for the Chief Minister.

Much to the delight of the members, Sisodia recited a couplet dedicated to Kejriwal wondering “what was so special in your ordinary ways…”

The Reserve Bank of India has extended the date for the public to exchange their pre-2005 banknotes till December 31, 2015.

The apex bank had in December 2014 set the last date as June 30, 2015.

Soliciting cooperation from members of public in withdrawing these banknotes from circulation, the RBI has urged them to deposit the old design notes in their bank accounts or exchange them at a bank branch convenient to them. The RBI has stated that the notes can be exchanged for their full value. It has also clarified that all such notes continue to remain legal tender.

Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday challenged Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan to declare Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shahnawaz Hussain as the NDA’s chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar.

The BJP President Amit Shah on Thursday appealed to the countrymen to cast their vote only for those parties which have internal democracy.

“Not the ordinance, it is the dictatorial mindset or ideology which leads to Emergency and the root cause of Emergency is not paying heed to other views,” Shah said here at a function organised by Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Research foundation on the 40th anniversary of Emergency.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has stirred a storm on Twitter after launching his presidential bid, in which he sought to distance himself from his Indian origin.

Jindal called for a uniform U.S. identity, saying that he was done with the talk about ‘hyphenated Americans’.

“We are not Indian-Americans, African-Americans, Irish-Americans, rich Americans, or poor Americans. We are all Americans,” he said during the launch, reported the BBC.

In the dock over Lalit Modi row, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje tonight insisted that she has not been asked to resign and media was running “false” reports to tarnish her image and cause “political damage”.

A statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Press Advisor said a few electronic news channels were showing reports beyond the truth.

“These are untrue. Every such news be verified, cross checked and confirmed,” it said.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Thursday accused the Congress party of having a dictatorial mindset, which led to the declaration of Emergency in 1975.

“The Emergency was the result of a dictatorship mindset. The root cause of emergency is when you don’t listen to the view of the others,” Shah said, while addressing party leaders at a programme organised on the 40th anniversary of the Emergency.

The Aam Aadmi Party government today presented a Rs 41,129 crore budget with a major focus on education, health and transport sectors besides allocating funds to provide free wifi facility in colleges and villages.

Presenting the budget, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said his government will put major focus on reforming tax collection system and asserted that it will develop Delhi as a world-class skill centre and medical hub.

Calling it the country’s first “Swaraj” Budget, he said government has decided brought down the Value Added Tax rates for certain items.

The central government has summoned E.S.L. Narasimhan, the governor of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, to New Delhi amid a raging row between the two states over the special powers of the governor in the common capital of Hyderabad.

The governor is leaving for the national capital Thursday evening. He will meet Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday.

He is likely to brief the minister about the latest developments and the rift between the two states in the wake of the cash-for-vote scandal and phone-tapping.

Countries that have been worst affected by HIV must focus on preventing new infections and expanding access to anti-retroviral treatment to stop the risk of epidemic rebounding, says a new report from the UNAIDS and Lancet Commission.

“We must face hard truths – if the current rate of new HIV infections continues, merely sustaining the major efforts we already have in place will not be enough to stop deaths from AIDS increasing within five years in many countries,” said lead author and professor Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

At least 67 people were detained here on Thursday after over 500 AAP activists staged a noisy protest demanding HRD Minister Smriti Irani’s resignation over her controversial educational qualification.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Jatin Narwal told IANS that the 67 were detained following the demonstration outside the minister’s residence.

The Aam Aadmi Party also demanded Smriti Irani’s immediate arrest, the same way former Delhi law minister Jitender Singh Tomar was arrested over his allegedly fake law degree.

Following daylong protests Thursday by Kashmir University students over the arrest of a student by police, varsity authorities have suspended class work till Saturday while asking hostellers to vacate their accommodation.

“Agitating students indulged in vandalism… smashing glass etc at the university’s administrative block in addition to locking classrooms to stall teaching in various departments,”a senior official of the university administration told IANS here.

“We have ordered suspension of all class work inside the campus till June 27.

Tehran will continue nuclear talks with the six world powers under the guidelines of supreme leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday.

The president said Iran sought serious talks with the P5+1 group of countries to arrive at a “fair” deal over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

“…Our issue is negotiations; we do not want to merely adopt a stance, but we are seeking serious talks and a fair understanding,” Rouhani said.

Islamabad is ready to facilitate a dialogue between the Kabul government and Taliban which is expected to start in the coming weeks, a top Pakistani diplomat has said.

“Pakistan is ready to play any possible role in the reopening of dialogue between Afghan Taliban and the Afghan government wherever it is being planned,” Dawn quoted Sartaj Aziz, a key advisor to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as informing the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

The Taliban have previously shown reservations about Pakistan’s involvement in peace talks.

A new voluntary male circumcision device that does away with sutures, involves minimal bleeding and is disposable has been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for use.

The device, called ShangRing, consists of two concentric plastic rings that lock together over the foreskin. Unlike the conventional surgery, male circumcision with the ShangRing requires no sutures, involves minimal bleeding and is disposable.

It is the first such device that has been pre-qualified by WHO for circumcision of adults as well as adolescent boys aged 13 to 17 years.