Washington, October 02: President Barack Obama has called landmark nuclear talks with Iran a constructive beginning, then challenged Tehran to match words with deeds by giving international inspectors “unfettered access” to a previously secret uranium enrichment plant within two weeks.
“Talk is no substitute for action,” Obama said at the White House after talks ended earlier in the day in Switzerland. “Our patience is not unlimited.”
Tehran, October 02: Iran appeared to pull back from confrontation with the West over its nuclear programme last night, agreeing to admit inspectors to a newly revealed nuclear plant and to surrender some of its enriched uranium to be processed abroad, a concession which could delay or at least complicate its efforts to acquire a nuclear bomb.
The Islamic Republic made no immediate commitment halt its uranium enrichment programme but, in a step that buys Tehran a reprieve from harsh UN sanctions, signalled a readiness to engage in an intensive process of discussion with the West.
Patna, October 02: Blaming the Bihar government for the Khagaria carnage in which 16 backward caste people were killed, LJP President Ramvilas Paswan today demanded that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resign owning moral responsibility for the incident.
“The carnage has been sponsored by the state government in the name of giving protection to the Mahadalits (Mussahars). I hold the government responsible for it,” Paswan told reporters here before leaving for the spot.
Nitish Kumar should resign on moral grounds, he said.
Shimla, October 02: Himachal Pradesh Friday imposed a complete ban on use of polythene bags, Environment Minister J.P. Nadda said.
“A total ban on the use of plastic bags would be implemented in the state from Oct 2,” Nadda told IANS.
He said the traders were informed over a month ago and asked to switch to biodegradable bags.
London, October 02: Two-thirds of heroin and crack addicts come off street drugs or reduce their use after six months of treatment, researchers report today.
The findings of the largest-ever study of heroin and crack cocaine treatment programmes, published in The Lancet, will come as a relief to drug agency workers who feared their efforts were having little impact. Heroin and crack addicts often lead chaotic lives, fuelled by the proceeds of crime, which are among the hardest to turn around.
New Delhi, October 02: Amid high prices and shortage of ‘arhar dal’, the government will soon launch a campaign under its flagship ‘Jago Grahak Jago’ awareness drive for motivating people to use yellow peas more for cooking famous south Indian dish ‘sambhar’ and ‘dal’.
The decision to create awareness about yellow peas comes on the heels of rising prices of pulses, specially arhar dal, which recently rose to Rs 100 a kg due to short supply.
Khagaria, October 02: In a midnight attack, heavily-armed suspected Maoists swooped down on a village in Bihar’s Khagaria district and shot dead 16 villagers, mostly teenagers, after tying their hands and feet.
The gunmen pulled the victims out of their huts in Amosi Dharen Biara village, tied their hands and feet and fired at them, ADG Headquarters Neelmani said today.
“Around 100 people, suspected to be Maoists, armed with automatic weapons attacked the village and fired indiscriminately late last night,” Inspector General (Operations) S K Bharadwaj said.
Tokyo, October 02: Most babies born in Britain today will live past the age of 100, scientists say.
Life expectancy soared by more than 30 years in richer nations during the 20th century and shows no sign of slowing. It has risen steadily, by three months every year, for the past 160 years, and there is no reason to think it has hit a limit.
In Japan, female life expectancy at birth reached 86 in 2007, surpassing what was thought to to the human limit of 85, as assessed by scientists as recently as 1980.
Mumbai, October 02: Lara Dutta was surely not prepared for this and perhaps didn’t take it kindly either. After waiting for an hour on the sets of a TV reality show for her shoot to begin, the enraged actor just walked off.
The incident occurred on the sets of Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Little Champs where Lara had gone to promote her forthcoming film. According to sources at Zee TV, her shoot was supposed to begin at 6 pm. However, it got delayed as another shoot with Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgan was on and that got delayed by over an hour.
Tehran, October 02: Iran and six global powers have begun talks which are likely to exclude discussions on the imposition of fresh sanctions on Tehran.
The Russian news agency RIA-Novosti quoted French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who is in Moscow, as saying that new sanctions would not be discussed in the talks which are being held on the outskirts of Geneva. The agency said that Iran’s dialogue with the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany is expected to continue on Friday.
Colombo, October 02: Political parties and other organisations in Sri Lanka on Thursday urged the Mahinda Rajapaksa government to take steps for the early release of the nearly 2.5 lakh war displaced housed in government-run relief camps and throw open the camps for relatives and friends of the displaced.
In a joint statement here, they said “such collective and unbearable pain of large numbers of our population” compels immediate intervention.
Hyderabad, October 02: A month after YSR Reddy’s death, it looks like his son YS Jaganmohan Reddy might have missed the chief minister’s bus, thanks also to the clamour by his loyalists. Congressmen have been protesting ever since K Rosaiah was made chief minister a day after YSR died in a copter crash on September 2.
They want the high command to make Jagan CM. But, “It looks like the loyalists have overdone it. Instead of doing good to Jagan, the campaign has forced the high command to be stubborn,” a young MLA in the Jagan camp said.
Padang(Indonesia), October 02: Rescue workers pulled victims, some screaming in pain, from the heavy rubble of buildings felled by a powerful earthquake that killed at least 777 people. The death toll was still expected to rise.
The brunt of Wednesday’s 7.6-magnitude earthquake, which originated in the sea off Sumatra island, appeared to have been borne by the city of Padang, where a government official said most the dead came from.
The region was jolted by another powerful earthquake on Thursday morning, causing damage but no reported fatalities.
Ahmedabad, October 02: A chance conversation, a scar and a deformed finger ended in uniting a 42-year-old woman with her family in a remote Kashmiri village, 17 years after her husband allegedly declared that she had drowned.
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Hafeeza, a Muslim from Baramulla district, spent all those years in a temple in Khatanpur, a village in Rajasthan’s Dhaulpur district.
How she landed there is still not clear because nobody at her brother’s Zehanpora village understands the language she now speaks.
New Delhi, October 02: The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik, on Thursday asserted that the capacity-building plans of the Indian Air Force were aimed at making it one of the most potent forces in the world, and not “adversary-specific.”
Addressing a press conference here ahead of the October 8 Air Force Day, he downplayed the recent projection in the media of China and its military power stating the IAF had based its capacity building on four pillars and requirement in the future.
Kerala, October 02: Special Arrangement No hope for some. Some of the victims had drowned before rescuers could reach them.
The government has ordered an enquiry by the Crime Branch into the boat tragedy at Thekkady in Kerala.
The Kottayam unit of the Crime Branch will be conducting the enquiry.The case registered by the local police will be transferred to the unit for further enquiry, official sources here said.
New Delhi, October 02: Prime minister Manmohan Singh has set up a performance management committee (PMC) to evaluate his ministers. The panel is headed by the cabinet secretary and includes the finance secretary, law secretary, secretary to the Planning Commission and the secretaries of the respective ministries.
The panel’s report will be presented to the cabinet on June 1 every year and also put up on the website of each ministry to ensure transparency.
As per the performance format, each ministry will have to specify a yearlong action plan along with a time table for implementation.
Johannesburg, October 02: Mitchell Johnson ICC Cricketer of the Year
Indian opener Gautam Gambhir was named the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year during a pleasant ceremony, here, on Thursday.
“It’s been a dream run for me. It’s wonderful to be a part of the Indian team, contribute to its success,” the left-handed opener said after receiving the award from Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was adjudged ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year.
Czech Republic, October 02: Hindus and Jews were highly disappointed over Pope for not highlighting Roma apartheid during his September 26-28 visit to Czech Republic despite their repetitive pleas.
Rajan Zed, acclaimed Hindu statesman; and Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, prominent Jewish leader in Nevada and California in USA; in a joint statement in Nevada today, said that they were hopeful that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI would not stay apathetic to apartheid conditions faced by Roma people in Czech Republic and would strongly take-up their cause during this visit.
Panaji, October 02: Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said the government is contemplating to make the screening of donated blood mandatory through nucleic acid test in the state. This step, he said, will go a long way to clear the doubt about the safety of such blood and ensure its use to save lives of those who are in need of blood.
Washington, October 02: Fearing a backlash, Democrats smoothed the impact of sweeping health care legislation on working-class families Thursday night and steered President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority toward a crucial Senate advance. The most far-reaching overhaul in decades aims to protect millions who have unreliable coverage or none at all.
Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee attacked the bill as riddled with tax increases that violated Obama’s campaign promises, but failed to remove any of them.
Chennai, October 02: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had a miraculous escape, when the Jet Aiways aircraft, in which he was flying to Coimbatore, developed technical snag on mid-air and made an emergency landing here this morning.
Mr Chidambaram was among the 64 passengers on board the flight-9W 2735, which took off from the domestic airport here at 0635 hrs and they heaved a sigh of relief when the flight, after nearly an hour-long anxious moments on the air, returned and made a safe landing at 0740 hrs after the pilot noticed a technical snag and decided return.
Mumbai, October 02: When Shatrughan Sinha is around, laughter can never be far behind. To a question on what percentage of Indians believe that love is eternal. Shatru promptly said: Amar Singh ka ho ya na ho, pyar to amar hota hai– khaskar pehla pyar
Turning to Salman he said: “You won’t know… because you are a one woman man– one at a time that is” He even told Salman to give up his old ways and get married soon Salman remained tongue-tied like a schoolboy, but could not help turning a bright shade of red.
–Agencies–
Patna, October 02: In the first ever carnage during the NDA regime led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, 16 people were gunned down by suspected Maoist cadres in a village in Bihar’s Khagaria district late last night, a top police official said today.
“Around 100 people, suspected to be Maoists, armed with automatic weapons attacked the village Amosi Bharen Diara and fired indiscriminately late last night, killing 11 men and 5 children on the spot,” Inspector General (Operations) S K Bharadwaj said.
Beijing, October 02: China celebrated the 60th birthday of the People’s Republic in magnificent style, parading its new high-tech military prowess and showcasing its post-1978 economic development and its rapid rise on the world stage in a 150-minute Tian’anmen event that did not neglect to refer back to 20th century revolutionary history.