Press Trust of India BJP president Amit Shah is set to kick-start ‘Mission Bihar’ here Friday to woo the extremely backward castes (EBCs) on the birth anniversary of former chief minister Karpoori Thakur.
Shah will address a public meeting being organised by the BJP’s EBCs wing to claim the socialist leader’s legacy in the election year, state BJP president Mangal Pandey said.
It will be Shah’s first visit to Bihar after becoming the BJP president.
The Supreme Court in its judgment in the BCCI betting and spot fixing case Thursday has rightly disregarded the corporate veil worn by the India Cements Limited while barring its managing director N. Srinivasan from contesting the election to the Indian cricket board’s governing body presidency, said an apex court advocate.
Officials of two US-based security agencies visited the AIIMS hospital and inspected the medical facilities ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit to India for the Republic Day celebrations, hospital authorities said Thursday.
The visit to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) by the US security officials was to ensure the medical facilities there, in case anything goes wrong during Obama’s visit and his stay in Delhi.
Actor Dhanush, who is awaiting the release of Hindi film “Shamitabh”, has been appointed the new brand ambassador of soft drink brand 7up.
The brand has also launched new creative campaign “Tu Up Toh Duniya Up” and a refreshed visual identity in line with the global effort around the world, “Feels Good To Be You”.
“We are thrilled about our association with Dhanush as he embodies the spirit of our brand inherently,” Ruchira Jaitly, senior director, Marketing, Social Beverages, PepsiCo India, said in a statement.
A court here Thursday dismissed an application seeking permission to travel to Hong Kong by Dabur India promoter Pradip Burman, who figures in the list given by the government to the Supreme Court in the black money issue.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Devendra Kumar Sharma dismissed the plea, observing that there was apprehension on behalf of the complainant (income tax department) that the accused (Burman) may flee from the jurisdiction of the court to such a jurisdiction from where he cannot be brought back.
Ten Maharashtra districts with a skewed child sex ratio figure in the “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” scheme unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday.
The scheme is scheduled for implementation in 100 selected districts across the country with a child sex ratio far below the national figure of 918 girls per 1,000 boys through the ministries of women and child development, human resource development and health.
Former Supreme Court judge A.K. Ganguly Thursday condemned the alleged torture of a woman by West Bengal police, and expressed anguish over the state human rights commission’s failure to take action in the incident that has attracted widespread criticism.
Ganguly, the former chairperson of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission, also criticised the Mamata Banerjee government for “siding with criminals”.
Automobile major Tata Motors Thursday launched its sports hatchback Bolt priced between Rs.4.65 lakh and Rs.5.75 lakh (ex-showroom, Mumbai).
According to the automobile major, the new passenger vehicle comes in two fuel variants of petrol and diesel and is manufactured at the company’s Pimpri plant in Pune.
“We expect Bolt to strengthen our presence in the hatchback market, one of the most popular segments for the Indian customers,” said Mayank Pareek, president passenger vehicles business unit, Tata Motors.
In a swift anti-terror move, Pakistan Thursday banned the Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD) and the Haqqani Network, besides eight other outfits suspected of fundamentalism and money laundering for terror groups, it was announced here. The US has already declared the JuD and Haqqani Network as terror outfits.
However, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said at a briefing Thursday that “Pakistan took this decision under the UN obligation and not under pressure from any other quarter, including John Kerry (US Secretary of State),” Dawn reported.
Saudi Arabia is keen to intensify bilateral ties with India with education being a priority, said Saudi Ambassador Saud Mohammad Al-Sati during his address at Aligarh Muslim University.
While addressing the University Polytechnic Wednesday, Al-Sati emphasised on close educational ties between the two countries.
The BJP Thursday dismissed speculation on Sourav Ganguly joining the party, but union minister Babul Supriyo said if the former India cricket captain does join, it will be a big boost.
“I don’t know about his joining the BJP. But, he is a very big icon and if he joins, the path that we are trying to walk under the leadership of our captain Narendra Modi, I think it will give a big boost,” Supriyo, union minister of state for urban development, told media persons here.
The speculation began after industrialist Harsh Goenka Wednesday tweeted that Ganguly was all set to join the BJP.
Social networking site Twitter was abuzz with posts flooding in as the Supreme Court Thursday barred sidelined BCCI president N. Srinivasan from contesting the election to the Indian cricket board’s governing body presidency.
The apex court barred him from running for the president’s post as long as he was involved in a “conflict of interest” situation as an owner of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
A graduate student from Loughborough University in Britain has launched innovative running gloves with built-in climate control.
His patented invention is a unique mesh that enables instant temperature regulation and moisture wicking.
The gloves called FLUX are also touch-screen compatible and pack down as small as a tangerine, weighing less than six grams each, the university said in a statement.
A sports technologist and keen runner, Ross Weir experimented with several glove prototypes, including electrically heated gloves, before establishing his simple yet innovative solution.
Actors Gurmeet Choudhary, Sapna Pabbi and Ali Fazal are going to host a joint screening of their film “Khamoshoyan” for their families this weekend here.
While the masses will get to watch it when it hits the screens Jan 30, the actors will show their work to their families first.
“It’s important that we see the film first with the families and friends and get their best wishes. We have worked very hard on this project and have promoted the film as much as we could,” the movie’s director Karan Darra, a debutant, said in a statement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday launched the ‘Sukanya Samridhi Yojana’ which will enable parents to open bank accounts of girls under 10 years of age.
Giving away the passbooks and other documents to five small girls during the function to launch the nationwide ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ (save girl child and educate her) campaign from Panipat in Haryana, the prime minister said the Sukanya Samridhi Yojana was aimed at providing social security for girls.
A series of warm-up matches starting Feb 8 will provide insight into the form of some of the teams taking part in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, and also give a chance to fans, who are from the tournament venues, to see some of the stars in action.
A total of 14 warm-up matches will be played from Feb 8 to 13 in Adelaide, Christchurch, Melbourne and Sydney.
The venues include Adelaide Oval, Hagley Oval in Christchurch, the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), all of which are hosting matches in the tournament proper.
US President Barack Obama will arrive here at 10 a.m. on Sunday, the external affairs ministry said Thursday.
Power minister Piyush Goyal will be the minister-in-waiting.
“We see the visit of President Obama as strengthening our ties across the full spectrum of our relationship,” ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.
Obama will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade on Jan 26 and is also scheduled to visit Agra.
(IANS)
The Council of Islamic Ideology in Pakistan decreed Wednesday that a husband who uttered “divorce” thrice consecutively would liable to punishment as it was un-Islamic.
The chairman of the council, Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani said at a press conference that a man could pronounce one divorce at a time as per the method prescribed by the Shariah, according to a Geo News report.
Islamic family law says that a man has to divorce his wife thrice before the divorce legally comes into effect.
A 19-year-old boy was arrested in Goa Wednesday for making a hoax phone call to Delhi Police and warning of an attempt to disrupt the Republic Day parade where US President Barack Obama will be the chief guest.
Inspector General of Police Sunil Garg described as a hoax the call made by Nastiv Coutinho, a first-year BCom student and a resident of Cuncolim village, 50 km from Panaji.
“The boy called Delhi Police and narrated a drama-like scenario that he had seen terrorists shooting guns in the air, as a rehearsal of what they planned to do at the Jan 26 parade,” Garg told IANS.
Dabur India promoter Pradip Burman, whose name figures in the list given by the government to the Supreme Court in the black money issue, moved another application in a court here Wednesday seeking permission to travel to Hong Kong.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Devendra Kumar Sharma will hear arguments Thursday.
The court Tuesday dismissed Burman’s application seeking permission to visit Hong Kong for attending his elder brother’s death anniversary.
Burman, in his fresh application, pleaded that he wanted to attend the 70th birthday of his brother’s wife.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Wednesday approved the four-laning of the Ramban-Banihal section of national highway in Jammu and Kashmir.
An official release said the work would be done under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase-II.
It said the estimated cost will be Rs.1,623.98 crore which includes cost of land acquisition, resettlement, rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities. The total length of the road will about 32 km.
The Delhi Court Wednesday issued notice to the central government and the censor board on two separate pleas challenging the refusal of certificate for screening of two films.
Filmmaker Pankaj Butalia challenged the censor board’s refusal to clear his documentary “Textures of Loss” based on the violence in Jammu and Kashmir, while production house Sai Cine Productions moved the court against denial of certificate to Punjabi film “Kaum De Heere”.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has given an “absolute guarantee” against cutting the size of the country’s army, following speculation that the government was mulling a force of just 60,000, media reported Wednesday.
The Guardian reported that under current plans, the army would shrink to 82,000 personnel by 2020, with the number of reserves due to rise to 30,000 if they could be recruited.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Cameron said he could reassure the members of parliament (MPs) that a further reduction in the number of soldiers was “absolutely not on the table”.
Police Wednesday arrested two overground workers of guerrilla group Hizbul Mujahideen in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Acting on a specific information, police along with army and CRPF personnel launched a search operation at Hail Jageer village in Baramulla district. In this operation, two overground workers of Hizbul Mujahideen were apprehended,” police said in a statement.
They were identified as Asif Ali Lone and Mohammad Ashraf Khan.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Wednesday said religion-based census data will be released at an “appropriate time”.
“The religion-based census data will be released at an appropriate time,” he told reporters. “If its been prepared, it will be released.”
The registrar general and census commissioner, a department under the home ministry prepares this data.
The last such data was made public in 2004. The data to be released now was updated till 2011.
(IANS)