Press Trust of India A day before Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s joint rally with Anna Hazare at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, a prominent city cleric has called for shunning the party’s ties with the social activist.
Shahi Imam of city’s Tipu Sultan Mosque Maulana Noor-Ur-Rahaman Barkarti, questioned Hazare’s secular credentials and warned Banerjee against sharing the dais with him.
A complaint was registered Tuesday against some members of a caste panchayat in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district after they allegedly ostracized members of over 100 Dalit families, police said.
The incident took place in a village near Khamner area in Rajsamand, some 350 km from Jaipur.
“Some members of a Dalit community registered a first information report (FIR) accusing members of a caste panchayat of ostracizing them. The Dalit family says that over 100 families from their community were ostracized,” said a police officer.
The Delhi High Court Tuesday directed the central government to inform it when it will deport a Saudi man held in Tihar jail in the capital.
A division bench of Justice P.K. Bhasin and Justice J.R. Midha was informed by the central government, Jammu and Kashmir government and Delhi government that they have no objection if Sheikh Abdul Aziz is shifted to a detention home pending deportation.
The court was dealing with a letter sent by 32-year-old Aziz, through which he sought help to go back to his country.
Four companies of policemen, including paramilitary forces, continued to be deployed around a disputed piece of land in Delhi Tuesday after people of one community staged protests that led to traffic jams in the city Monday.
“Four companies (450 personnel) of police have been deployed around the disputed land in the Jor Bagh area. The situation is under control,” a police officer told IANS.
Thousands of motorists faced traffic snarls Monday due to the protest and religious gathering at the disputed land. The protesters were demanding ownership of the site.
Incumbent Congress parliamentarian Jai Prakash Agarwal Tuesday retained his candidature for the Lok Sabha polls from North East Delhi constituency by winning the party’s internal election.
In the US-style primary, Agarwal defeated former legislator Rajesh Lilothia. Out of 299 party workers, 252 voted for Agarwal while the rest voted for Lilothia.
Agarwal said he was happy to win the primary and praised party vice president Rahul Gandhi for introducing the process in Delhi.
President Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday condemned the Maoist attack on security personnel in Chhattisgarh and said such attacks “must be put down with a firm hand”.
In a message to Chhattisgarh Governor Shekhar Dutt, Mukherjee said he was “deeply saddened” to learn about the attack.
“Terror and violence have no place in a civilised society. Such random attacks on security forces performing their duty must be put down with a firm hand,” he said.
A two day census will be carried out, from Wednesday, in Gorumara National Park in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district to assess the population of the vulnerable one horned rhino and monitor changes in its habitat.
“The focus of the two-day exercise will be on direct sightings of animal in about 110 sq km area of the reserve forest to determine their population and changes in habitat among other things,” said Divisional Forest Officer (Jalpaiguri) Sumita Ghatak.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Tuesday inducted legislator Lessi Singh into the council of ministers and said the next cabinet expansion would be after the Lok Sabha polls.
Governor D.Y. Patil administered the oath of office to Lessi Singh at the Raj Bhavan. Nitish Kumar, assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary and others attended the function.
Lessi Singh’s induction is the first expansion of the cabinet after the ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) ended its 17-year-old alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2013.
Two people were shot at for apparently just enquiring from one of their four attackers why they were standing in front of a shop in Tilak Nagar in Delhi, police said Tuesday.
Sachin Kumar, 55 and Akshay Sharma, 22 were injured when the assailants opened fire late Monday night.
Police said the two were admitted to a government hospital and are out of danger.
Residents, however, claimed the attack took place after the victims protested against a girl being molested.
Hosts Uttar Pradesh beat Odisha 5-2 in the first Division A match of the fourth Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2014 at the Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium here Tuesday.
Uttar Pradesh dominated the first half taking a 2-0 lead.
Amir Khan opened the scoring in the 10th minute and Diwakar Ram converted a penalty corner in the 33rd minute.
In the second half, Uttar Pradesh continued their dominance and scored their third goal in the 44th minute through Ajit Pandey.
Amon Mirash Tirkey scored the opening goal for Odisha in the 48th minute to make it 3-1.
Vice President Hamid Ansari Tuesday headed the Indian delegation at the funeral of Afghanistan’s first vice president Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim in Kabul and also met Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Official sources said Ansari had a detailed discussion with Karzai at the Presidential Palace in Kabul regarding the situation in Afghanistan as it heads for presidential elections April 5.
The sources said Karzai thanked Ansari for braving snow and bad weather to attend the funeral and said it reflected the “all-weather” nature of India-Afghanistan relations.
PETA India Tuesday welcomed the notice issued by two government bodies to circus owners following an investigation.
The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) and the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) issued notice in December 2013 and February 2014, respectively, to circus owners.
This followed a nine-month investigation of 16 circuses across India by a team, including representatives from PETA India and Animal Rahat, that extend help to neglected animals.
Both FC Barcelona and Manchester City will be looking to put crisis talk behind them when the pair go head to head at the Camp Nou Stadium Wednesday night for a place in the last eight of the UEFA Champions League.
Barca look to hold all the aces after their 2-0 win in Manchester three weeks ago in the first leg. Under normal circumstances Tata Martino’s men would be considered clear favourites to qualify for the quarter-finals, reports Xinhua.
Three militants of Meghalaya-based outfit United Achik Liberation Army (UALA) were Tuesday beaten to death by villagers in Assam’s Goalpara district, police said.
The incident took place at Majhipara village along the Assam-Meghalaya border.
Police said the three slain militants had recently served extortion notes to the people of the area.
“The militants came to collect the extortion money. However, the locals caught them and beat them up, leading to their death,” police said.
DMK president M. Karunanidhi Tuesday said his party will not be affected when it contests the general elections without aligning with any national party.
Asked whether the DMK would suffer a setback by not aligning with any national party, Karunanidhi said: “No setback. There will not be any setback for us.”
On reports that some Congress party members were saying that their party would align with the DMK, he said: “As far as we are concerned, we are not expecting anyone (for alliance). We are not waiting for the arrival of any party.”
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday condemned the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh and expressed anguish at the death of paramilitary and police personnel.
A Congress statement said Gandhi offered his condolences to the families of the security men who lost their lives.
“Condemning the senseless act of violence, Gandhi offered his heartfelt condolences to the families of the brave soldiers who lost their lives, and said that his thoughts and prayers were with them in this hour of terrible grief,” the release said.
Former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad, who was sacked by the BCCI in 2009 as the country’s bowling coach, Tuesday said he would love to return to his former role.
“I would love to be the bowling coach of India again. It will be an honour,” Prasad told reporters here,
Speaking about bowling in the death overs, Prasad said that bowlers needed to train hard to master the art and be more consistent.
“The bowlers need to be more consistent in the death overs. They need to train in an environment where you constantly trying variations and yorkers.”
The missing Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines plane could not be traced for the fourth day Tuesday even as the Interpol ruled out a terror hand behind the incident.
As the multinational search operations continued Tuesday, the Chinese air force sent two military aircraft to bolster the search operations.
The aircraft set off from south China’s Sanya City in Hainan Province, Xinhua reported citing the Chinese ministry of national defence.
They flew and searched for three hours Tuesday afternoon above the waters where the plane lost contact, according to the ministry.
The Gurgaon police commissioner Tuesday rewarded a taxi driver for his bravery after he nabbed an armed criminal, who with his associates, attempted to rob him of his vehicle.
Taxi driver Veerpal, 35, from Rasulpur village in Palwal was rewarded with a 1st class police appreciation certificate and Rs.2,500 in cash.
Three people had Feb 24 hired his taxi from Palwal for Sohna in Gurgaon.
The skeleton of a 155 million-year-old dinosaur has been put on permanent display at a mall in Dubai.
The fossil, placed at the Grand Atrium in The Dubai Mall, was unveiled for the public Monday. It dates back to the late Jurassic period and is 24.4 metres long and 7.6 metres high, The National reported.
“What you will see is a fossil that is not only 155 million years old but also 90 percent original, which is very rare,” said Mohammed Al Abbar, founding member and chairman of The Dubai Mall.
The Congress Tuesday appointed senior leader N.V. Raghuveera Reddy as president of its Seemandhra unit.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi telephoned him to congratulate on his appointment to the top post, party sources said.
The party has still not named the chief of its Telangana unit.
Raghuveera Reddy, a former state minister, told reporters in Anantapur that he is taking up the responsibility at a difficult time. He vowed to strengthen the party with the support of all leaders and workers of the party.
(IANS)
Pune FC take on Hong Kong giants Kitchee SC in their first ever overseas match in an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup 2014 Round-2 encounter at the Mong Kok Stadium here Wednesday.
Like Pune FC, hosts Kitchee too have qualified for the continental competition after finishing runners-up in their domestic league.
The Group-H clash will be a crucial one for Pune FC who are keen to strengthen their qualification hopes after being held to a 2-2 draw at home by Myanmar’s Nay Pyi Taw FC in the opener.
Over a hundred passengers in Oman’s capital Muscat went through a 15-hour ordeal after an India-bound Air India flight got delayed at the Seeba International Airport.
The Muscat-Mumbai-Ahmedabad Air India flight Monday was grounded due to a problem with the aircraft’s tyres, the Times Of Oman reported Tuesday.
“We were supposed to fly to Mumbai at around 12 midnight yesterday (Sunday). But by 12.30 a.m., the airline officials informed us that the flight will be delayed without revealing any reason for the delay,” a passenger was quoted as saying.
Bharti Airtel, a leading telecommunications services provider with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, and popular English football club Manchester United have announced details of a new mobile application designed to get fans in Africa closer to the club.
Manchester United’s new club application offers the most comprehensive mobile access available, giving fans the latest club news, exclusive videos, match highlights, live in-game updates, player profiles and much more.
Of the 162 parliamentarians involved in 306 criminal cases, 76 are charged with serious crimes like murder, attempt to murder and kidnapping, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW) said Tuesday.
The analysis of the Lok Sabha MPs elected in 2009 comes a day after the Supreme Court directed that criminal cases against MPs and MLAs should be completed within a year from the date of the trial court framing charges.