New Delhi, Dec 02: Coming to the aid of a girl student whose application for the Prime Minister’s Merit Scholarship Scheme was rejected, the Delhi High Court today asked the government to be a little flexible about the rules.
The court was hearing the petition of B.C.Pathak, father of Garima, who had secured 87.2 percent marks in class XII and secured admission to the MBBS course in a medical college at Patna.
Washington, December 02: US President Barack Obama has announced that he is deploying 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to step up the fight against Taliban insurgents and help create conditions needed to transfer security responsibility to the Afghan government.
The buildup is expected to be completed this summer, and Obama said he is setting a July 2011 goal to begin withdrawals, based on
“conditions on the ground” and to maintain pressure on the Afghan government to act swiftly to take responsibility for the country.
Kolkata, Dec 02: The city’s 192-year-old Presidency College, which played a sterling role in the 19th century renaissance besides churning out scholars and luminaries in various walks of life till date, is now all set to be upgraded to a university.
Geneva, December 02: The troubled global trade round is hanging in the balance as ministers and officials of the 153-member World Trade Organisation (WTO) gather in Geneva Wednesday for the final day of talks aimed at reviewing the WTO’s work.
The WTO’s 7th ministerial conference has been dominated by calls from ministers for the Geneva-based organisation’s members to kick-start long-running negotiations on the trade round so as to meet next year’s deadline for clinching a deal to liberalise world markets.
New Delhi, Dec 02: Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal will look to get over her recent dip in form and finish the year on a high at the season-ending World Super Series Final starting on Wednesday in Johar Bahru, Malaysia.
India’s best mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju will also look to get back to winning ways after their recent inconsistent show.
Ranchi, December 02: The second phase of polling for 14 of the 81 assembly seats in Jharkhand began Wednesday amid tight security.
Due to security reasons, the balloting began at 7 a.m., an hour ahead of the schedule in view of the threat from maoist-guerrillas who have called for an election boycott, accordingly the polling will end at 3 p.m.
In the second phase, there are 259 candidates in the fray.
Mumbai, December 02: Aishwarya Rai says she is fully convinced that actor-husband Abhishek Bachchan will make a good father in real life because he is so “real and rooted”.
“Everybody has been asking me if Abhishek will be a good pa (father) in connection with the release of our forthcoming production ‘Paa’. I think it’s silly for me to be even making the statement. It’s given – I married the man. So obviously I have the conviction in the husband he is or the father he will be,” Aishwarya, 36, told IANS in an interview here.
New Delhi, Dec 02: The Delhi High Court today upheld the life term awarded by a lower court to a man for throwing acid on a woman who had rejected his marriage proposal, blinding her in both eyes.
A division bench of Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Suresh Kait upheld the life imprisonment of Yashpal alias Mukesh, who had thrown acid on the face of Renu Feb 15, 2006, after she rejected his proposal.
New Delhi, Dec 02: While authorities in Kashmir stopped work on a mountainous road near the border with China after objections from the Chinese army, India on Monday underlined that it wants to resolve all outstanding issues pertaining to China peacefully, particularly the border issue.
“The issues relating to the boundary question between India and China are in constant focus, as far as the government of India is concerned,” Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told reporters here when asked about Beijing’s objection to a road along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Washington, Dec 02: Defeated by the US-led international forces in Afghanistan, the al-Qaeda leaders have established a safe haven in Pakistan, President Barack Obama has said.
“After escaping across the border into Pakistan in 2001 and 2002, al Qaeda’s leadership established a safe-haven there,” Mr. Obama said in his Afghan-policy speech at the West Point Military Academy in New York.
Although a legitimate government was elected by the Afghan people, it has been hampered by corruption, the drug trade, an under-developed economy, and insufficient Security Forces, he said.
Ranchi, Dec 02: Amid a poll boycott call by the Maoists, voting began for the second phase of Jharkhand elections on Wednesday morning for 14 seats mostly situated in Naxal-hit areas.
Adequate security arrangements that include air surveillance have been made for peaceful polling, Inspector General of Police V H Deshmukh said.
Altogether 30,96,854 people are eligible to vote in Kodarma, Barhi, Mandu, Ramgarh, Gandey, Giridih, Dumri, Gomia, Tamar, Silli, Khijri, Mandar, Khunti and Pakur. Except Pakur, all other seats have Maoist presence.
New Delhi, Dec 02: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today called on President Pratibha Patil and discussed his just concluded US visit.
According to a statement issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan, the meeting lasted for about 40 minutes.
“The prime minister briefed the president about his recent visit to the US and his discussions with heads of government at CHOGM at Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago,” the statement said.
Washington, Dec 02: After three months of intensive review of his Af-Pak policy, US President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan and begin withdrawal of troops in 18 months.
“I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan. After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home,” Mr. Obama announced in his speech at the West Point Military Academy in New York.
Hyderabad, December 01: The health condition of TRS President K Chandrasekhar Rao is deteriorating due to his fast-unto-death but he is refusing medical treatment, a senior government official said tonight.
“Doctors, who came from Hyderabad, have examined him.
They said he needs medical treatment immediately. He has not taken any food today, but he is not cooperating. He is refusing treatment,” Khammam district collector Usha Rani told reporters at Khammam.
New York, December 02: Some 80 countries still penalise homosexuals, including passing criminal laws that fuel discrimination against them, the joint UN programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) said.
On World AIDS Day, UNAIDS said that such laws have prevented effective national responses to help those living with HIV and are a violation of their human rights. World AIDS Day is held annually Dec 1.
Chandigarh, December 01: A woman here had to prove that she was the mother of 38-day-old twin girls, who were allegedly kidnapped Monday, before the babies here restored to her Tuesday, police said.
Simran, a resident of Sector 44 here, had to show the birth certificates in the local court and take its consent, before getting her daughters back from the police Tuesday evening.
Simran called the police control room Monday afternoon and told them that two women had kidnapped her daughters, Neha and Isha, after forcibly entering her house, a police official said.
New Delhi, December 01: The Army today said its Court of Inquiry (COI) into the alleged scam involving a private land adjacent to Sukhna military station near Darjeeling was “still in progress” and no conclusions have been drawn in the probe against the three Lieutenant Generals being questioned in the fraud.
It also said that “speculative comments/interferences” at this stage about “the guilt” of an individual was not appropriate.
Jorhat, December 01: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was today allegedly heckled and his convoy blocked by protesting students here after he announced that engineering colleges in the state would be privatised.
Laying the foundation stone of a new block of Jorhat Engineering College here, Gogoi said engineering colleges and polytechnics in the state would be privatised.
The announcement angered the students who shouted slogans against the chief minister and interrupted his speech. They even blocked the gate and the road through which he was scheduled to pass.
New Delhi, December 01: Attacking the BJP for the statement made by Sushma Swaraj on the age of Leader of the House in Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee, Congress today said it is in “bad taste” if somebody has made such “cheap” remark.
“It is in a very bad taste if anybody has made any such remark,” AICC spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters when asked to comment on Swaraj’s remark.
Swaraj had said the effect of age was showing on him (Mukherjee) and he seemed to be suffering from blood pressure.
New Delhi, December 01: Parliament is expected to take up the much talked about discussion on the Liberhan Commission report next week, close on the heels of the 17th anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid.
While the date for the debate in Rajya Sabha has been tentatively fixed as December 9, there are expectations that it would be taken up in Lok Sabha on December 7 and 8.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said the Hindi version of the Liberhan Commission report would be made available to members “as early as possible” to enable a discussion in Parliament.
New Delhi, December 01: BJP on Tuesday described Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s outburst in Parliament as the affect of his age but parried queries on whether the party considered age as a factor in politics, to avoid a spill-over of the issue on its own octogenarian leader L K Advani.
“Such a behaviour does not behove a Leader of the House or any member… the affect of age is showing on him (Mukherjee).
Mumbai, December 01: More than six months after Ram Pradhan Committee which probed the Mumbai police response to the 26/11 terror attack strongly recommended streamlining the functioning of Anti-Terrorist Squad, the force remains woefully short of men even today.
The Pradhan Committee gave its report on April 18 in which it noted that the structure of ATS and its operations are in a “somewhat confusing state”.
Helsinki, December 01: Nokia plans to install Linux software on just one new smartphone next year, a source told reporters, dampening prospects of a quick makeover of the Finnish group’s struggling product line-up.
The Finnish firm has started to invest more in Internet services in recent years, seeking to counter falling handset prices and increased competition in smartphones from the likes of Apple and Blackberry-maker RIM.
London, December 01: If scientists are to be believed, millions of people across the world could soon be eating bread and biscuits made from — cotton which is rich in protein.
Cotton seed is inedible as it contains a poisonous substance called gossypol. Now, the scientists claim to have found a way to reduce the poison which can harm the liver and heart, the ‘Daily Express’ reported.
Beijing, December 01: China will conduct the first large- scale aerial survey of 1,600 square km of the ocean and icebergs in Antarctica using an unmanned plane, a researcher involved with the ambitious project said today.
The dragonfly-like plane, equipped with aerial cameras, infrared radiometers and infrared probes will conduct observations over Prydz Bay near China’s Zhongshan research station in Antarctica, Xie Chengyin, from the robot research institute of Beihang University, said.