Gali Nagaraja

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday conveyed his good wishes to the people of Russia, on ‘Day of Russia’.

“On ‘Day of Russia’ my good wishes to the people of Russia,” the Prime Minister said on twitter.

“India and Russia enjoy unique and time-tested relations, characterised by strong goodwill between our people. It is my firm belief that the special and privileged strategic partnership between our nations will acquire greater relevance in the days ahead,” he added. (ANI)

The Bombay High Court will on Friday hear Nestle India’s petition against FSSAI’s country-wide ban on Maggi noodles.

Nestle India had yesterday approached the court against the food safety regulator’s ban on its popular instant noodles.

The company had sought a judicial review of the order dated June 5, 2015 passed by the FSSAI and against the order dated June 5, 2015 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Maharashtra.

An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale hit Nepal on Thursday night, a media report said on Friday.

The National Seismological Centre of Nepal said that the epicentre of Thursday’s quake was in Sindhupalchowk district, 65 km off Kathmandu, Xinhua news agency reported.

The quake is considered an aftershock of the April 25 temblor that devastated Nepal and claimed over 8,500 lives.

Sindhupalchowk was one of the worse-hit districts in the massive quake of April 25.

Pakistan Rangers on Friday violated the ceasefire by resorting to unprovoked firing at Border Security Force (BSF) positions in Jammu, an official said.

“Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked firing at BSF (Border Security Force) positions in Pargwal area of Akhnoor sector today (Friday),” a senior police officer told IANS in Jammu on Friday,

“Pakistan firing started at 12 a.m. and lasted for half an hour. BSF effectively retaliated. No casualty or damage has been reported from our side.”

–IANS

Britain has created a new medal to recognise the bravery and hard work of people who have helped to tackle Ebola in West Africa, Downing Street announced on Thursday.

The medal is set to be awarded to over 3,000 people who travelled from Britain to work in high risk areas to stop the spread of the disease.

This is the first time a medal has been created specifically to recognise those who have tackled a humanitarian crisis, Xinhua quoted Downing Street as saying in a statement.

Govt. of Telangana has taken two important decisions for the development of Minorities. It has decided to establish residential schools and post matric hostels in each of the 10 districts of Telangana State. Another important decision is to award pre matric scholarships to such of the students who were deprived of central scholarships. Govt. of India awards Rs. 1000 for the students of 1 to 5 classes and Rs. 5000 per year for the students belonging to 6 to 10 classes.

MBT is organizing a protest meeting after Magrib prayer today at Junior College, Chanchalguda ground. Dr. Qayam Khan, President of MBT will preside over the meeting. Mr. Abu Asim Azmi, MLA and Chairman of Samajwadi Party of Maharashtra will be the Chief Guest. Mr. Mohammed Majeedullah Khan, MBT leader will also speak on this occasion.

–Siasat News

Even as the cash-for-vote case and allegations of phone tapping have blown up into a major feud between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the governments of the two states today sparred over construction of an irrigation project.

The bone of contention is Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme taken up by the Telangana government.

Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Minister D Umamaheswara Rao today asked if Telangana had obtained permissions from the Krishna River Water Management Board for the project.

A former M.P. of Iraq claimed that President Obama is a Shia Muslim and therefore has good relations with Iran. The middle name of Obama “Husain” is a proof that he is a Shia Muslim. Washington Post in an article wrote that Obama has sympathetic attitude towards Iran due to the Shia background of his parents. American readers might be shocked when they know that a Christian is being alleged for implementing a secret Islamic agenda. It was reported in the American media that Obama’s father was a Muslim and that Obama received Islamic education in an school in Indonesia.

Hitting back at Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s statement on yoga and Surya Namaskar, AIMPLB today said practising yoga in their right form amounted to committing “big sin” for Muslims.

“Those who believe in Islam can only pray before Allah who brought him on this earth…Yoga if practised in its right form, which will essentially be done in schools, will be like placing other things on par with Allah and this will be a big sin…the board has objections over this issue,” spokesman of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board Abdul Rahim Qureshi told PTI.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday attacked the “irresponsible and imprudent” statements emanating from India, following the counter-terror action in Myanmar and vowed to protect his country’s “vital interests at all costs.”

Addressing a conference of Pakistan’s envoys here, he said such statements vitiate the atmosphere and take the two countries away from the goals of regional peace and stability.

“At the same time we will not abandon our moral high ground because of provocations.”

In New Delhi, Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) organized a massive rally to protest against the continuing oppression on the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. The leaders of the party submitted a memorandum to the Ambassador of Myanmar in India and the President of India. Mr. Sharfuddin Ahmed, Advocate, Vice-President of SDPI led the protest rally. Mr. Aslam Ahmad, Delhi State president also attended the rally.

In a bold step, a bride in the district refused to marry the groom who reached the wedding venue in an inebriated state, police said today.

Groom Anil Yadav of village Uparipara in Sultanpur district reached Kasba Nihalgarh, the bride’s village, yesterday to marry Rupa.

However, the ceremonies were stopped last night when the bride learnt that the groom is in a drunken state, villagers, who were eye-witnesses to the incident, said.

Though elders from both sides tried negotiating but the bride denied, after which the marriage party had to leave without the girl, they said.

–PTI

A four-and-half-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her father who was in an inebriated condition here, police said today.

According to an FIR lodged by the victim’s mother, the minor was raped by 38-year-old accused Javed, who sent his wife to a nearby shop yesterday night.

Upon returning, the mother found her husband, who was in an intoxicated state, allegedly raping the girl, police said.

“The woman lodged an FIR against her husband last night and he is absconding since then,” SHO Transport Nagar police station Anil Doriya said today.

Escalating the attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks in Dhaka and that of other leaders, Pakistan’s Senate today unanimously passed a resolution, condemning the “provocative and hostile” statements which it said reflected the Indian “hegemonic mindset”.

Pakistan has been sharply critical of India with its leaders slamming Modi’s recent remarks in Bangladesh that Pakistan was creating disturbance and instigating terrorism in India.

A new study has revealed that risky outdoor play is not only good for children’s health but also encourages creativity, social skills and resilience.

Research from UBC and the Child & Family Research Institute at BC Children’s Hospital found that children, who participated in physical activity such as climbing and jumping, rough and tumble play and exploring alone, displayed greater physical and social health.

Two of Al Qaeda’s spiritual leaders have admitted that the Islamic State (IS) has gotten the better of the terror outfit, with it barely functioning after losing money and manpower to its rapidly rising adversary.

While pointing out that the terror group now lacked ‘organisational structure,’ Abu Qatada and Abu Muhammad Al Maqdisi said that Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri was isolated from his top lieutenants and operated solely on the basis of allegiance, reported Fox News.

Former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Thursday stated that his party, the Hindustani Awam Morcha ( HAM), and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest the upcoming Bihar elections together, adding that the main agenda of the alliance will be to thwart the incumbent Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s alliance.

“We will fight together. Nothing has been decided on the number of seats. The biggest motivation for me and the BJP is to beat the Lalu-Nitish alliance,” Manjhi told ANI.

A Chinese jet with nine people on board made an emergency landing on Thursday morning at the Agartala airport after suffering technical difficulties in its engine.
The Gulfstream G650 jet of Beijing Capital Airlines was en route to Beijing from New Delhi, with four businessmen and five crew members on board, landing at Agartala airport at 11:30 am.

“The chartered flight that landed here this morning will have to stay today and tomorrow another flight with an engineer and spare parts will come,” said Airport Authority of India director ( Agartala Airport) S.D. Barman. (ANI)

An Israeli delegation will head to WashingtonD.C. next week in a last-minute attempt to influence the inking of a nuclear deal with Iran, the Ha’aretz daily reported on Thursday.

Israeli National Security Advisor Yossi Cohen will head the delegation, the daily reported, quoting anonymous Israeli officials. The delegation will include members of the National Security Council, representatives from the Israeli foreign ministry and the defence ministry.

Mobile phone maker Celkon Mobiles on Thursday said it will launch its manufacturing facility at Medchal near here next week.

The leading smartphone player announced that its its state-of-the-art facility is all set to be inaugurated.

The unit will begin with four production lines and will eventually enhance its capacity to higher levels, the company said in a statement.

“Celkon has invested heavily in training its manpower and is all set to start production,” said the statement without revealing the investment figures.

An air raid launched on Thursday by the US-led international coalition targeted an Islamic State (IS) convoy in Iraq, killing or wounding more than 100 militants in the northern province of Nineveh.

Mohamed al-Bayati, the chairman of the Nineveh security committee, told Efe news agency that the convoy comprised armoured vehicles and SUVs equipped with machine guns and other weapons of various sizes.

The IS militants were travelling from Sinjar to al-Jazeera, 120 km west of Nineveh, the official detailed.

Ayush Minister Shripad Yesso Naik on Thursday appealed to the Muslim community to participate in the International Yoga Day in a big way and said people who do not want to chant ‘Om’ can say ‘Allah’.

Naik told IANS after his meeting with a delegation of Muslim leaders on Thursday that they have extended full support to the Yoga Day to be observed on June 21.

“I met the Muslim delegation today to discuss about the Yoga Day. They have extended full support to the cause and will join us on the Yoga Day. Our motive is to unite people for a better world,” Naik said.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governor E. S. L. Narasimhan on Thursday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital.

During the 45-minute meeting, the governor is understood to have briefed Modi of the latest situation in the two states in the wake of cash-for-vote scam.

Narasimhan also met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. He had called on President Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday.

At least 55 have been killed in several landslides that hit Taplejung district in northeastern Nepal on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, media reported.

Republica, an English daily, said the massive landslides caused the death of 55 villagers in six village development committees and injured over one dozen, while nearly 40 are still missing as of Thursday evening.

Earlier, Shanti Raj Koirala, deputy superintendent of police based in Taplejung district told Xinhua over phone that 21 bodies had been recovered and another 27 people were missing.