Month: January 2010

Tribals hold rally to mark killings

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Bhubaneswar, January 02: A large number of tribals rallied in Orissa’s Jajpur district Saturday to mark the fourth anniversary of the killing of 14 tribals in police firing while protesting against a proposed steel project there.

Carrying posters and banners, the tribals marched towards the memorial pillar where the victims were cremated en masse in the Kalinga Nagar industrial complex, around 100 km from here.

‘A large number of tribals displaced by different projects also attended the rally,’ said a member of Vistapan Virodhi Jan Manch (VVJM), a tribal group.

Qadiayanis In Israel Army

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More Qadiyanis serve in the Israeli Armed Forces than Pakistan according to a book, ‘Israel: A Profile’, by a respected Jewish Professor I.T Naomi. He stated: ‘… and the Ahmadi sect of some 600 people from Pakistan can also serve in the (Israeli) army…’ To many analysts Qadiaynis are a political issue and have always been a security problem? In India Qadiyanis have collected and donated thousands to the Indian Army fund after Kargil.

Buddhist monks on hunger strike for control over Bodh Gaya temple

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Patna, January 02: A group of Buddhist monks are on a hunger strike to demand control over Bodh Gaya’s 1,500-year-old Mahabodhi temple, days after Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan backed the move and sought the amendment of an act relating to the shrine.

The monks began their fast Friday near the office of the temple management committee at Bodh Gaya, some 110 km from here, where the Buddha attained enlightenment 2,550 years ago.

Darkness in north India as grid trips due to fog

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Chandigarh, January 02: Many parts of northern India, including Punjab and Haryana, plunged into darkness in the wee hours on Saturday as the northern grid collapsed due to thick fog.

The northern grid tripped at around 3.02 am following a technical snag in transmission lines that reduced power to zero at many sub stations, Power Grid CMD S K Chaturvedi said, adding that Delhi and NCR were not affected as precautionary measures like cleaning of transmission lines were taken in advance.

Maoist protest: High alert in Bihar, several trains cancelled

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Patna, January 02: A Maoist protest that began Saturday has led to a high alert in Bihar and the cancellation or diversion of several trains for the safety of passengers, official sources said.

The Maoists called for the strike in Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

Bihar police chief Anand Shankar said the force was directed to be alert and keep a close vigil on the situation. Additional security forces were deployed at important government buildings and railway stations across the state, he added.

Minor girl dies of cold in Eastern UP

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Gorakhpur, January 02: At least four persons, including a minor girl, died due to exposure to extreme cold in different parts of the district, police said here today.

While two victims were identified as Ramdhani Maurya(65) from Gagaha and Savita(16) from Badahlaganj police station areas, the other two found dead in Rustampur area and Mohaddipur area of the district are yet to be identified.

–PTI

Bhopal court issues warrant against Raj

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Bhopal, January 02: A local court in Madhya Pradesh has issued a bailable warrant against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, asking him to appear in court on February 12 in connection with a case related to insulting the national language.

On Friday, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mandsaur, RR Badodiya, issued the order following a public interest litigation by a social activist and lawyer Pukhraj Dashora. A bailable warrant for Rs 25,000 was served on Thackeray.

Chautala son to contest Haryana by-election

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Chandigarh, January 02: Former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has fielded his son Abhay Singh Chautala for the Jan 20 by-election in Ellenabad assembly constituency.

Abhay is the younger son of the INLD chief. Om Prakash Chautala and his elder son Ajay Singh Chautala are both members of the state assembly.

Om Prakash Chautala vacated the Ellenabad seat as he had been elected from two assembly seats – Uchana Kalan (Jind) and Ellenabad (Sirsa).

Two BSF jawans injured in militant attack

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Srinagar, January 02: Militants opened fire at BSF jawans in the city, leaving two of them critically injured this morning.

Constable Davinder of 75th battalion and Saifullah of 25th battalion of BSF were shot at from close range when they were withdrawing money from an ATM near the outer gate of S K Institute of Medical Sciences around 11.15 am, official sources said.

Both the jawans have been admitted to a hospital in a critical condition.

Police and paramilitary forces immediately cordoned off the area and launched an operation to nab the militants.

—Agencies

Mount Abu coldest in Rajasthan

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Jaipur, January 02: Mount Abu remained the coldest place in Rajasthan recording a minimum of 4 degree Celsius, followed by Ganganagar at 4.9 degree Celsius early this morning.

Churu and Pilani chilled at 6 deg C and 6.4 degree Celsius respectively while Kota recorded a low of 9.2 deg C. The Met office has forecast possibility of light rains during next 48 hours.

—Agencies

New body to impart clinical training to doctors for HIV treatment

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Pune, January 02: In an endeavour to formulate India-specific treatment guidelines for HIV patients, a group of medical professionals here has set up an organisation which will offer an in-depth clinical training to its members from this year.

Named ‘HIV Medicine Association of India’ (HIV-MAI), the new body will impart clinical training to doctors in order to enable them to offer effective treatment suited to Indian conditions rather than relying on western guidelines which have been found inadequate to address the HIV cases in India, according to Dr Sanjay Pujari, director, HIV-MAI.

Police shoot man for attacking Prophet cartoonist

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Copenhagen, January 02: A Somali man wielding an axe and a knife was shot by police as he attempted to kill an artist who drew a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad that sparked outrage in the Muslim world, Denmark’s head of intelligence said today.

Jakob Scharf said in a statement that a 28-year-old man with ties to al-Qaeda attempted to enter Kurt Westergaard’s home in Aarhus shortly after 10 pm (2100 GMT) yesterday. But Westergaard pressed an alarm and police arrived minutes later, foiling the attempt on his life.

I do not try to match Sehwag, says Gautam Gambhir

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New Delhi, January 02: Opening the innings with Virender Sehwag has its own peril since the right-hander makes batting look ridiculously easy but Gautam Gambhir believes he still manages to hold his own because he doesn’t try to match his partner shot by shot.

In an interview with PTI before leaving for the tri-series in Bangladesh, Gambhir shared his batting philosophy which revolves around his own strength, rather than his partner’s influence.

Dy. CM should be a Muslim for Telangana: Gadar

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Hyderabad, January 02 (Siasat News): Revolutionary poet Gadar said that the portfolio of either deputy CM or Home Minister should be given to a Muslim if separate Telangana is formed.

There are no dearth of Muslims and other minorities in Telangana region and moreover, Muslims are also involved in separate Telangana movement, therefore, under no circumstances, they should retreat in demanding their rights.

Absence of referrals and poor umpiring cost us India series: Murali

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New Delhi, January 02: Star Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan played down the series loss in India to poor umpiring decision and the absence of referral system.

Sri Lanka lost the 3-match Test series 2-0 and the ODI series 3-1

Muralitharan, who wasn’t part of the One-day side in Sri Lanka’s loss, claimed that the Test series was a close one and the scoreline could have easily been the other way around had some of the umpiring decisions gone the visitors’ way.

Pakistan asserts an arrest of Indian RAW agent from Balochistan

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Islamabad, January 02: Pakistani security officials have made an arrest by claiming the person as an agent of Indian intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing from Qila Saifullah district in Balochistan.

The officials revealed that the alleged person, Abdul Salam, was nabbed during a raid on a refugee camp following an intelligence tip-off. it is meant to be that Salam is an Afghan national.

“We believe he works for RAW. He entered Pakistan via Afghanistan and hid himself in a refugee camp,” The Daily Times quoted statement from an official.
–Agencies

‘Obama knew about aviation threats’

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Washington, January 02: US President Barack Obama obtained intelligence on aviation threats prior to a recent aerial drama in which a passenger attempted to ‘blow up’ a US airliner, a report says.

Obama was warned of looming aerial threats in a ‘high-level’ pre-Christmas briefing by US intelligence agencies.

The US president received confidential information in a written account entitled “Key Homeland Threats” three days ahead of Christmas, Newsweek quoted an anonymous US administration official as saying.

Drug kingpins kill seven policemen in Iran

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Tehran, January 02: Armed drug traffickers have killed at least seven Iranian police officials in heavy clashes near the eastern borders of the country.

Police commander of the Southern Khorasan Province Hamid Sharafi told reporters Friday that the slain policemen will be put to rest in the holy city of Mashad.

The Brigadier General noted that the clashes broke out when security officials came to notice the group’s drug trafficking operation in the southern Khorasan Province and attempted to confiscate around two tones of drugs.

Lady Gaga sunbathes topless!

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Washington, January 02: Lady Gaga appeared to be topless as she soaked up the sun with a mystery man on the rooftop of the luxurious hotel, Fontainebleau Miami Beach.

Gaga, 23, who is famous for her outrageous outfits and equally bizarre stage performances, was photographed wearing a yellow wig.

She seemed to be topless as she ‘modestly’ clutched a towel to her chest, reports Radar Online.

The sultry singer tweeted earlier that she had two shows on New Year’s Eve in Miami and has thirteen outfits!

7,500 Palestinians kept in Israeli prisons

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Gaza, January 02: More than 7,500 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons, a report by the Palestinian Authority’s ministry of prisoners’ affairs has said.

The ministry published the number of the Palestinian detainees at the end of 2009.

According to the ministry, the Palestinian detainees include 310 children.

The ministry further added that over 300 others have also been jailed without trial.

Several Palestinian parliamentarians and political leaders, mostly from the Hamas movement, are among the prisoners.

Abbas threatens to scale back security ties with Israel

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Gaza, January 02: Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas has said he may scale back security ties with Israel following the December 26 Israeli raid in Nablus.

According to Abbas, Israeli provocations and incursions have recently increased.

“The provocations and assaults have multiplied recently. We find ourselves at a point in which it is time to reassess our activities,” Abbas said in an interview with Palestinian television on Friday.

“If security cooperation cannot lower the level of provocations, we will reassess the situation,” he added.

Team missing bowling and fielding coaches: Dhoni

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Mumbai, January 02: Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said the team is missing bowling and fielding coaches, resulting in an increased workload for chief coach Gary Kirsten.

Talking to reporters on the eve of the team’s departure for the tri-series in Bangladesh, Dhoni said Kirsten had his plate full and the team was indeed missing bowling and fielding coaches.

Cong issues notice to AP minister; leaders attack Rosaiah

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New Delhi, January 02: Cracking the whip, Congress High Command today issued a show-cause notice to rebel Andhra Pradesh Minister from Telangana K Venkata Reddy, who had raised a storm by criticising K Rosaiah, even as the Chief Minister came under attack from more party leaders.

Reddy, who has reportedly refused to get back his resignation that was sent to party chief Sonia Gandhi last week, has been issued the notice for “deliberately lowering party’s prestige”.

Yemeni forces clash with rebels, 11 killed

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Sanaa, January 02: Yemeni forces clashed with rebels, killing 11 in the poor Arab country where the United States and Saudi Arabia fear Al Qaeda will exploit instability to prepare attacks, a government source said on Friday.

The 26 September news website, quoting an unnamed government source, said Yemeni forces had destroyed a “terrorist den” in the northern Saada region on Thursday in what was described as a combing operation by security forces and military.

TD responsible for crisis: BJP

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Hyderabad, January 02: BJP State president B Dattatreaya blamed the Chief Minister K Rosaiah and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu for the ongoing political crisis in the State.

He demanded that the TDP should announce its stand on Telangana before January 5 all-party meeting at Delhi. He said the Congress and the TDP did not have clarity on the issue.

Adressing a press conference at the BJP office here today, he said that all Telangana ministers who have sent their resignations to the party high command withdrew the same without achieving any thing.