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Clinton seeks bipartisan support for her India initiative

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Washington, July 09: The US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has sought to take top Congressional leadership into confidence in her endeavor to take the Indo-US relationship to a new level, which she fondly says is 3.0.

Less than a fortnight left for her first trip to India as the secretary of state, Clinton had a breakfast meeting with more than a dozen top Congressional leaders from both Democratic and Republican parties yesterday, coming from both the chambers of the Congress – the House of Representative and the Senate.

New US ambassador to arrive in New Delhi next week

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Washington, July 09: The new US ambassador to India, Timothy Roemer, is expected to arrive in New Delhi sometime next week, at least a few days ahead of the visit of the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.

The nomination of Roemer, 53, was confirmed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday. It now goes to the Senate floor, which is expected to formally confirm the nomination as early as this week.

Homeless numbers include more families

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Washington, July 09: The face of homelessness in the United States is changing to include more families and more people who live in the suburbs and rural communities.

The number of homeless has remained steady since 2007, but within the overall count are trends that can tell officials where federal resources would do the most good, the Housing and Urban Development Department says in its annual report to Congress being released Thursday.

Afghan Truck Blast Kills 16 Children

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Kabul, July 09: A huge explosion in a truck Thursday killed 24 people south of Kabul, including 16 schoolchildren, 4 policemen and 4 bystanders, local officials said, as the death toll among foreign soldiers fighting in Afghanistan rose.

The explosion, which also wounded five civilians, happened in Logar Province when a truck loaded with wood turned over.

When police arrived , militants apparently detonated explosives in the vehicle, causing a blast that scattered debris almost a mile from the scene, officials said.

Poorer Nations Reject a Target on Emission Cut

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L’Aquila (Italy), July 09: The world’s biggest developing nations, led by China and India, refused Wednesday to commit to specific goals for slashing heat-trapping gases by 2050, undercutting the drive to build a global consensus by the end of this year to reverse the threat of climate change.

70 injured in fresh Srinagar violence

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Srinagar, July 09: After four days of normality, the city was shaken by violence on Wednesday.

People took to the streets, damaged property and set ablaze a police vehicle after the decomposed body of a youth, who went missing on July 3, was found at Rainawari.

About 70 people, including 20 policemen, were injured in the clashes. Hundreds of protesters, mainly youth, took to the streets, chanting slogans and pelting the police with stones, after the news of death of 20-year-old Israr Ahmad reached Maisuma. The protest soon spread to other parts of the city.

Update: Gujarat hooch tragedy: Death toll climbs to 72

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Ahmedabad, July 09: More people have died in the Ahmedabad hooch tragedy after drinking illicit liquor, taking the death toll to 72.

The prime suspect in the hooch tragedy Harishankar Kahar was arrested on Wednesday night. Kahar alias Hariom, allegedly supplied spurious liquor in the Majoor Gam and Odhav areas where most of the deaths have occurred.

The ruling Narendra Modi government has come under attack after the tragedy. And the Congress party has called for a bandh in Odhav, Ahmedabad.

BJP demands rollback of hike in petrol, diesel prices

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New Delhi, July 09: Accusing the UPA government of “plundering” the common man, the opposition BJP today demanded a rollback of hike in prices of petrol and diesel. “We condemn the government for hastily raising prices of petrol and diesel even as international prices for the crude oil have come down.

We demand its immediate rollback,” party spokesperson Prakash Javdekar told reporters outside Parliament. “They (UPA) sought votes during election in the name of aam admi.

Bombings in Mosul, Baghdad kill at least 41

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Baghdad, July 09: Two suicide bombers on Thursday killed at least 34 people and injured 70 in an attack on the home of an anti-terrorism officer in northern Iraq, while three roadside bombs in Baghdad killed seven others, authorities said.

The attacks came one day after car bombs in two Shiite villages near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul killed 16 civilians and injured more than two dozen, in a surge of violence in Iraq’s troubled north following the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from cities to bases outside urban centers at the end of June.

Tehran governor: New protests will be smashed

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Tehran, July 09: The governor of Tehran province warned that security forces will “smash” any attempt at protests on Thursday amid calls for the first significant opposition marches since a major crackdown more than a week ago.

Supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi have called for new demonstrations in Tehran and several other cities. The calls are a bid to revive street action after police, Revolutionary Guards and Basij militiamen crushed the dramatic mass protests that erupted over Iran’s disputed June 12 presidential election.

Flydubai flight: Punjab CM seeks Centre’s intervention

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Chandigarh, July 09: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has urged the Ministry of Defence, Government of India to direct the Air Force authorities to extend the Air Traffic Control (ATC) watch hours of Chandigarh up to 0100 hrs IST for International flight operations from Chandigarh at the earliest.

Taj Mahal builders used Harappan measurement units

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Bangalore, July 09: Designers of the 17th century Taj Mahal in India, the finest piece of Mughal architecture, employed the same unit of measurement used by the Harappan civilization of 2000 BC, according to a new study reported in the latest issue of Current Science.

Flight cut short

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Mumbai, July 09: Rahul Vaidya of Indian Idol fame was detained for a couple of hours at the Bangkok airport on June 28. The reason?

No disinvestment of Air India, AAI: Praful Patel

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New Delhi, July 09: The government on Thursday ruled out disinvestment of Air India (AI) and Airports Authority of India (AAI).

“There is no proposal for disinvestment of AI and AAI,” Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told the Lok Sabha during Question Hour.

To a question whether the government was considering Initial Public Offer (IPO) for the national carrier, Patel said “Presently, there is no such proposal.”

China objects to ADB funds for Arunachal: Krishna

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New Delhi, July 09: China had recently objected to ADB funding an irrigation project in Arunachal Pradesh, which is a “clear violation” of the charter of the multilateral lending agency, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Replying to questions, external affairs minister S.M. Krishna said India had made it clear to all member nations of ADB that political considerations cannot be cited for prohibiting the bank for evaluating any project.

All member countries on the board of executive directors of ADB except China supported the India funding plans.

Obama broadens push for climate change pact

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L’AQUILA (Italy), July 09: Rallying rich and surging nations alike, President Barack Obama wants the world’s top polluters to keep driving toward a deal to halt global warming.

Nearing six months on the job, Obama has some momentum: a new agreement among developed and emerging nations to cap rising global temperatures, plus good will from his peers for repositioning the U.S. as an aggressive player in the debate.

Badal to Antony: help Chandigarh’s debut international flight

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Chandigarh, July 09: Hoping to put Chandigarh on the international flight map, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has written to Defence Minister A.K. Antony for his intervention in getting Indian Air Force (IAF) authorities to permit Fly Dubai to begin operations.

Fly Dubai, a low-cost carrier of Emirates Airlines, was expected to begin flying from this union territory to Dubai this month. However, air force authorities denied it permission because of restricted Air Traffic Control (ATC) hours.

‘Sikandar’ shows Kashmir problem through children’s eyes: Director

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New Delhi, July 09 : Filmmaker Piyush Jha insists that his ‘Sikandar’ is not just another film set in Kashmir. He says the movie tries to present the situation in the trouble-torn Valley through the eyes of children living there.

” ‘Sikandar’ basically reflects the situation of Kashmir seen through the eyes of children. Children are the hope of the country and thus this film is very relevant at this time, especially for the younger generation,” Jha told IANS over telephone from Mumbai.

19 killed, 30 injured in Afghan bombing

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Kabul, July 09 : A roadside bomb went off Thursday morning in Afghanistan’s Logar Province, killing 19 and leaving 30 injured, a spokesman said.

“A large quantity of explosive material planted by militants in a truck went off this morning while a group of teenage students were passing by in Mohammad Agha district,” said Din Mohammad Darwish, the spokesman of the provincial administration.

Mohammad Agha district in Logar Province is some 50 km south of Afghan capital Kabul.

Rupees 6605.44 crore for Indo-Bangladesh border management

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Agartala, July 09 : Ministry of Home Affairs has sanctioned Rupees 4393.67 crore for fencing of 2579.22 km areas along the Indo-Bangladesh border and construction of roads covering 1422.45 km by 2010.

Official sources here today said besides fencing infrastructure, Centre had decided to install floodlights along a length of 2840.90 km to check trans-border movement of militants, illegal immigrants and check border crimes.

An amount of Rs 1327.77 crore had been sanctioned for the project.

Officials under scanner for spending millions on PM visit

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Ranchi, July 09 : Some officials of Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) are in hot water for spending a huge sum for a one-hour visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in April last year, with a public interest litigation (PIL) plea being filed on the subject here Thursday.

In his petition filed in Jharkhand High Court, Surendra Sao has charged that Rs.1.92 crore (Rs.192 million) was spent on the visit. He has sought an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation and action against the officials involved in managing the event.

Major currencies turn costlier

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Mumbai, July 09 : Following were the indicative currency notes and traveller’s cheques buying and selling rates per unit as given by Thomas Cook India here today.

Azhar gets new home but Pinki has no reason to smile

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New Delhi, July 09: The child actor from Danny Boyle’s Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, has got a new home after the BMC demolished his home in the slums of Bandra east earlier this year.

The flat which cost approximately Rs 20 lakh was bought by the Jai Ho trust and is located in Mumbai’s suburb Khar.

However, even though Azhar and his family can breathe easy in their new home, the fate of Pinki Sonkar from the Oscar Winning short film Smile Pinki remains unchanged.

Bollywood bubble bursts, top actors slash fee

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Mumbai, July 09: With flops like Yuvvraaj, Chandni Chowk to China and Tasveer the Bollywood bubble seems to have finally burst.

Akshay Kumar, whose acting fees had reportedly hit a high of Rs 75 crore in 2008, has reduced his fees to around Rs 33 crore. So it seems even the Khiladi could not dodge the effects of an economy in recession.

“Yes, it is true that I have cut my acting fees. We all have to do that keeping today’s markets in mind,” Akshay said.

Demonstrations across Europe in support of Uighurs

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Europe, July 09: The violence in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang continued for the fourth day on Wednesday.

There here have been demonstrations of solidarity for the Uighur community across Europe.

In the Turkish capital of Ankara, people protested by laying a black wreath outside the Chinese Embassy.

Uighurs are originally Turkic people who share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said that he will ask the UN Security Council to end the violence.