Month: November 2009

RSS not a political outfit: Mohan Bhagwat

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Shimla, November 09: The RSS is neither a political outfit nor a para-military force, but is an organisation engaged in unifying society on the basis of Hindutva, its chief Mohan Bhagwat said today.

“Though, we have our flag and some people from the RSS have joined political organisations, the Sangh has nothing to do with politics,” he said at a function here.

“The RSS is neither a political outfit nor a para-military force. Its primary function is to unify society on the basis of Hindutva,” Bhagwat told Sangh cadres.

LeT planned to attack Indian embassy in Dhaka: Bangladeshi police

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Dhaka: The Indian High Commission in Bangladesh, along with the embassies of the US and the UK, was the target of Pakistan-based terror outfit LeT whose operatives were nabbed here recently, police said today.

Bangladesh police arrested three terror suspects, including two operatives of Lashkar-e-Taiba, and their Harkatul Jihad (HuJI) accomplice from the south eastern port city of Chittagong this week, claiming to have foiled a plot to attack the US embassy.

Workers’ strike brews at Deenanath Hospital

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Pune, Nov 09: Around 300 workers of the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in the city have threatened to cease work alleging mental harassment by the management and discrepancy in wages. While the workers had protested last week against non-compliance of their longstanding demands, the hospital management refused to comment on this issue.

Swiss Mosques Open for Non-Muslims

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Geneva, November 09: Swiss Muslims are opening up mosques across the European country to non-Muslims to enhance dialogue and clear misconceptions ahead of a controversial vote on minarets ban.

“To me it means opening myself up to others, to tell them that we as Muslims open our doors to you. That we are here with you,” a Muslim woman participating in the open day event told Euro News on Sunday, November 8.

Under the initiative championed by a number of the Swiss Muslim organizations, mosques will be open to non-Muslim visitors over the coming days.

Afghan is under influence of Indian intelligence: Musharraf

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Washington: Acknowledging that there is “an ingress of the ISI in every terrorist group”, former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf has alleged Afghanistan is under influence of Indian intelligence agencies and he has documentary evidence against it.

“Afghan intelligence, Afghan president, Afghan government. Don’t talk of them. I know what they do. They are, by design, they mislead the world. They talk against Pakistan, because they are under the influence of Indian intelligence, all of them,” Musharraf told CNN in an interview yesterday.

Metro hiccup on Line 3, service stops for over an hour

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New Delhi, Nov 09: Metro services were affected on Sunday afternoon after one of the trains developed a technical snag. There was no train for an hour and a half, leading to huge crowds at three stations — Rajiv Chowk, Rajouri Garden and Kashmere Gate.

100th batch of Basic Engg Course passes out from INS Shivaji

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Pune, Nov 09: The 100th batch of the Basic Engineering Course (BEC) passed out from the Naval Engineering College at the Lonavala-based INS Shivaji on Saturday.

“It is a significant milestone for the college. The batch had 23 graduating officers, including five officers from the Sri Lankan Navy and three from the Maldives National Security Service,” said Commander R Ravi Shanker, senior education officer for Commanding Office.

Son shoots, sets ablaze father over land in Greater Noida

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Lucknow, November 09: Angered over his father’s refusal to hand over his entire property to him, a man shot him twice and when that did not prove fatal, poured kerosene over him and burnt him alive in a village here Saturday, police said Sunday.

According to police, Mangat Kumar, 80, of Kiswana village under Dankore area of Greater Noida, had transferred his agricultural land in the village to his three sons equally some time back.

However, his eldest son, Ramesh, 35, opposed the decision and wanted the entire land to be made over to him.

UAE issues measures to counter money laundering

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Abu Dhabi, November 09: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has introduced measures to deal with money laundering in the insurance sector, WAM news agency reported Sunday.

Fatima Mohammed Ishaq Al Awadhi, deputy director general of the National Insurance Authority, said the issuance of the measures is expected to curb any future money laundering activity in the sector.

She added that the measures would be applicable on all insurance companies, including foreign insurance companies operating in the UAE.

Mumbai police probing Headley’s links with 26/11 attacks

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Mumbai, November 09: Mumbai Police are investigating the role of arrested US citizen David Coleman Headley to find out whether the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives had any local support in carrying out last year’s Nov 26 terror attacks here, a senior official said Sunday.

“Yes, we are investigating the role of David Coleman Headley in this matter. However, so far we have not found any evidence linking them to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria told IANS.

‘Indian Maoists not importing Nepali Maoists’

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New Delhi, Nov 09: Union Home Secretary Gopal K. Pillai said here on monday that Indian Maoists were not importing Maoists or arms from Nepal.

“I don’t think anybody is importing Maoists,” he said in response to a statement made by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in this regard. However, Mr. Pillai admitted to “contacts between” the Nepali and Indian Maoists.

Manmohan’s visit to Iran may be discussed

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New Delhi, Nov 09: India and Iran will discuss the prospects of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visiting Tehran in February next during Iranian Foreign Minister Monouchehr Mottaki’s visit to India this month, diplomatic sources here say.

The last prime ministerial visit was made by Atal Bihari Vajpayee eight years ago.

BJP sets up panel to supervise its Karnataka Govt.

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New Delhi, November 09: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday not only resolved the crisis in its first government in Karnataka but also became the first major political party in the country to set up a sort of oversight panel over its own government.

The party has proposed a coordination committee, likely to be headed by senior leader Sushma Swaraj, to ensure that all major decisions of the Karnataka government are ‘unanimous’.

Northern Army commander visits Ladakh, Siachen

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Srinagar, November 09: Indian Army’s Northern Command’s chief Lt. Gen. B.S. Jaswal Sunday visited the XIV ‘Fire & Fury’ Corps in Ladakh to meet the soldiers and assess the ground situation. He also visited the Siachen glacier.

Defence spokesman Col. D.K. Kachari said this was Jaswal’s maiden visit to this region after assuming command. Accompanied by the corps commander Lt. Gen. S.K. Singh, he visited forward posts on the Siachen Glacier and posts in Ladakh sector.

Maoist leader takes responsibility for troopers’ killings

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Kolkata, November 09: Claiming responsibility for the killing of four Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) troopers in West Midnapore district, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) politburo member Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji Sunday night said the troopers were punished for
torturing “innocent children”.

“Policemen from the Jamboni camp had tortured innocent children for taking out rallies Saturday demanding the security forces vacate school buildings which they are occupying,” Kishenji said.

Israel is India’s main arms supplier

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Jerusalem, November 09: Israel has become India’s No. 1 supplier of arms and ammunitions, overtaking Russia.Bulk of supplies constitute about 50 percent of Israel’s defence exports and about 30 percent of India’s imports.

Israel has supplied a range of defence products, including Barak missiles, assault rifles, night fighting devices, radar network, hi-tech electronic warfare systems and information technology related equipments.

38 injured as 6.7-magnitude quake hits Indonesia

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Jakarta, November 09: At least 38 people have been wounded and scores of houses, school buildings and a health clinic have collapsed after a quake of 6.7-magnitude on the Richter scale rocked the eastern parts of Indonesia Monday morning, officials said.

In Bima town of the Indonesian province of West Nusa Tenggara, the hardest-hit and the closest area to the epicentre of the quake, one health clinic, four school buildings and ten houses have collapsed, and over 50 houses got damaged, a Xinhua report quoted Disaster Management Agency Priyadi Kardono as saying.

Twin explosions rock Philippines

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Manila, November 09: Two separate explosions rocked the Philippine cities of Quezon and Mandaluyong in Manila Monday morning, but no one was hurt in the explosions, police said.

City police chief Senior Superintendent Carlos De Sagun said one explosion occurred in Mandaluyong outside the main office of food and beverage conglomerate San Miguel Corporation at 3 a.m. (1900 GMT Sunday), Xinhua reported.

Another explosion rocked the Puregold supermarket in Quezon City sometime between 4.50 and 5 a.m., Quezon City police director Chief Superintendent Elmo San Diego said.

–IANS–

‘Tum Mile’ – a romance set in the Mumbai deluge

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Mumbai, November 09: The Bhatt camp is known for highlighting serious issues or real life events in the garb of a romantic story. And it continues the trend in its next outing “Tum Mile”, which is set against the backdrop of the floods in Mumbai in 2005.

Co-produced by Sony Music and Vishesh Films, the film about a couple stuck in the deluge of July 26, 2005, releases Friday. Starring Emraan Hashmi and Soha Ali Khan in the lead, “Tum Mile” is the second directorial venture of Kunal Deshmukh after “Jannat”.

‘Vande Mataram not against Islam’

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Mumbai, November 09: Distancing themselves from the Jamiat-Ulema-E-Hind’s fatwa against Muslims singing Vande Mataram, many Muslim scholars have spoken against the move.

Film writer Salim Khan wrote a piece in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna in favour of singing the national song. “Do the people who banned singing Vande Mataram know what Islam is?” he asked. “What is wrong in expressing gratitude towards the country where we are born? Vande Mataram is not a problem for Islam. The real need before the community is to educate the poor,” he said.

Terrorized Peshawar

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A virtually unstoppable spate of suicide attacks and bombings has shaken the nerves of residents of Peshawar, the capital of the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP), hampering the cultural, social and business activities in the city.

“My nerves and confidence have been totally shattered, especially after the ongoing wave of terrorism which has rendered the city an unlivable place,” Hashim Khan, who lost two family members to a recent car bomb, told.

“Life has become totally miserable here. We have stopped coming out of our home unnecessarily.”

US Army Fears Anti-Muslim Backlash

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Washington, November 09: The US Army’s top general expressed worries, that a deadly attack on a military base in Texas could prompt a backlash against Muslim soldiers.

“I’m concerned that this increased speculation could cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers,” Army chief of staff General George Casey told CNN.

“I’ve asked our Army leaders to be on the lookout for that.”

At least 13 people were killed and 30 wounded when an army major, Nidal Malik Hasan, went into a shooting rampage at Fort Hood base in Texas on Thursday.

AP Govt determined to promote industrialisation: Rosaiah

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Hyderabad, November 09: Andhra Pradesh government would adopt a multi-pronged strategy to promote industrialisation in the state in a big way, Chief Minister K Rosaiah said on Sunday.

The government was providing various subsidies and incentives to help industries become competitive and still the power tariff is being maintained at the lowest level in comparison with several other states, a release from the Chief Minister’s Office quoted him as saying.

US man found dead in Hyderabad hotel

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Hyderabad, November 09: A 38-year-old US national was found dead under suspicious circumstances in his hotel room here, police said today.

David Blaque, who hailed from Crawford in the US, was here to audit the accounts of a city-based MNC firm.

He checked in at the hotel on November 3, Raidurgam police said after preliminary investigations.

“The hotel authorities last night tried David Blaque on his room phone number but in vain, after which they alerted the police, who after opening the room door found him dead,” a senior police officer said.

Rivals ready for GHMC battle

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Hyderabad, November 09: The campaign war between the two major parties, the Congress and the TDP for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections would begin from Tuesday. Both the parties claimed that they would win 100 seats and win the mayor’s post.