Islamabad, February 01: Nine suspected militants were apprehended by Pakistani security forces during search and clearance operations in the Swat valley and Waziristan tribal region, the military said today.
Security forces carried out search operations at several places in Swat and apprehended seven suspects with arms and ammunition.
Three suspected militants also surrendered at Langar and Maniari in the same region.
New Delhi, February 01: CBI has arrested an Assistant General Manager of market regular SEBI for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 25 lakh.
Official sources said R P Singh, an AGM of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)in Kolkata, was arrested by CBI’s anti-corruption wing on Sunday evening.
“The officer has been suspended with immediate effect,” a SEBI official told PTI from Mumbai.
Hyderabad, February 01: BJP senior leader Prakash Javadekar today termed as “ambiguous and incomplete” the statement of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Telangana issue.
The Home Minister has not specified what will be the mechanism and its terms and reference, Javadekar told reporters here.
He said the Centre should complete its exercise to finalise whatever mechanism it wants within a month time.
Karachi, February 01: A defiant Shahid Afridi today made a startling allegation that every team indulges in ball-tampering even though felt he should not have done it.
Banned for two Twenty20 Internationals for biting the ball during the fifth and final ODI against Australia in Perth, Afridi said ball-tampering was nothing new and that only his method was wrong.
“There is no team in the world that doesn’t tamper with the ball,” said Afridi in his defence.
Ahmedabad, February 01: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today came down heavily on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on price rise and said he has disappointed the entire nation on the issue concerning the common man.
Modi also said Singh was trying to transfer the blame of price rise on the states.
Mumbai, February 01: In a move to intensify its crack down on drunk drivers, the Maharashtra government will increase penalty amount and punishment term of such offenders.
“Despite intensified anti-drunken driving drive for the last three years, police are still finding several people driving under the influence of alcohol, endangering many lives,” Home minister R R Patil said today.
“As per norms, currently the drunk motorists get maximum six months jail term. Now onwards, the punishment would be minimum six months. Required steps in this regards would be taken,” Patil said.
Panaji, February 01: The nine-year-old Russian girl and her mother today identified Aman Bharadwaj as the accused who raped the girl at North Goa’s Arambol beach on January 26.
The identification parade was conducted today by state police, two days after the accused was arrested from Chembur in Mumbai.
A senior police officer said the mother-daughter duo identified the accused as the one who raped the girl in the sea.
Police had conducted identification parade of Anil Raghuvanshi, an alleged accomplice in the case, last week.
Kolkata, February 01: Fifty passengers today had a narrow escape when Kolkata-Chennai flight of Paramount Airlines was hit by a bird shortly after take off at the N S C Bose International airport here.
As the cockpit of the aircraft was hit by the bird at around 1:35 pm, the pilot alerted the ATC and touched down with all standard precautionary procedures taken by the AAI management.
The flight again left for Chennai after another 10 minutes as no damage was found in the cockpit during a thorough check.
None of the 50 passengers had to disembark from the plane during the period.
Srinagar, February 01: Youths, who resorted to stone-pelting to protest the killing of a boy in police action in the city, today defended their action saying it was the only option for them to vent their anger.
“We will continue to indulge in stone-pelting. It is the only option to keep their struggle alive,” the youths, all masked, told mediapersons here shortly after the burial of the boy.
The boy died after he was hit by a teargas shell fired by police in downtown Srinagar last evening, sparking violence in the city.
Karachi, February 01: Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has sought report from Sindh province government on the fierce clashes between supporters of two political parties in this port city that left about 17 people dead.
Gilani spoke to the Chief Minister of Sindh province, Syed Qaim Ali Shah late last night and asked him to give a report on the recent incidents of killing in Karachi and on the situation arising out of these incidents, reports said.
New Delhi, February 01: In an initiative to improve the state of forensic science in the country, the Home Ministry has appointed a two-member team of consultants to examine the facilities of training and condition of laboratories.
Addressing his monthly press conference, Home Minister P Chidambaram today said state of forensic science as well as the state of the Central and State Forensic Science Laboratories “leave much to be desired” hence the year 2010 has been declared as the “Year of Forensic Science”.
Kabul, February 01: Afghan President Hamid Karzai will visit Saudi Arabia this week, a spokesman said on Monday after the US-backed leader called on the oil-rich kingdom to help bring about peace with the Taliban.
“The President will leave Kabul for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and meet with the Saudi king, King Abdullah, on Wednesday,” presidential spokesman Siamak Herawi said.
He did not give further details but Karzai has long called on Saudi Arabia to use its influence to persuade the Islamist Taliban rebels to lay down their arms and join a peace initiative.
Kandahar, February 01: NATO and Afghan forces killed seven militants in a gunbattle in the south of the country, the Afghan Army said on Monday.
The troops were on patrol in Helmand province yesterday when they came under attack and returned fire, said Gen Sher Mohammad Zazi, the army commander for southern Afghanistan.
He said no government or international troops were wounded and that they recovered the bodies of seven militants after the battle. NATO forces did not have any immediate comment on the incident.
New Delhi, February 01: Newly-crowned Australian Open mixed doubles champion Leander Paes today rose a rung to seventh in the ATP doubles” ranking, displacing one-time partner Mahesh Bhupathi in the latest list. Paes has 5575 ranking points, while Bhupathi lost a spot to slip to eighth with 5015.
Paes had made the quarterfinals in the Australian Open men”s doubles event with Czech Lukas Dlouhy. He clinched the mixed doubles” championship yesterday with Zimbabwean Cara Black.
New Delhi, February 01: The Kanpur-Shatabdi Express, connecting the national capital with the industrial city in five hours, will be flagged off by Congress President Sonia Gandhi from Kanpur on February 7.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced the launching of the train in the Railway Budget last year keeping in mind the long-standing demand by business community and general public for a fast train between the two cities.
Berlin, February 01: German President Horst Koehler left Berlin on Monday for a state visit to India, where he is expected to focus on the country’s role as one of Asia’s economic giants, before flying to South Korea.
Mr. Koehler, 66, is to hold talks with President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi before travelling to Mumbai during the seven-day visit with his wife Eva Luise.
New Delhi, February 01: Rejecting Shiv Sena’s contention of ‘Mumbai for Maharashtrians’ as a “pernicious thesis”, the Centre on Monday said the financial capital belonged to all Indians who are free to live and work there.
On Sena threats to Australian and Pakistani players’ participation in the IPL cricket event in Mumbai, Home Minister P, Chidambaram asserted that he would “guarantee them full security.”
New York, February 01: Top US officials have come to a definitive conclusion of the slaying of Tehrik-i-Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud and said his death would set off a new power struggle as al Qaeda would find it hard to replace him with a commander of their choice.
“Hakimullah Mehsud was specifically chosen by al Qaeda to succeed Baitullah Mehsud because he was considered most allied to it. His role in facilitating the attack on the American base in Afghanistan showed how much trust al Qaeda had vested in him,” New York Times reported quoting US officials.
Kandahar, February 01: NATO and Afghan forces killed seven militants in a gunbattle in the south of the country, the Afghan Army said on Monday.
The troops were on patrol in Helmand province yesterday when they came under attack and returned fire, said Gen Sher Mohammad Zazi, the army commander for southern Afghanistan.
He said no government or international troops were wounded and that they recovered the bodies of seven militants after the battle. NATO forces did not have any immediate comment on the incident.
Abuja, February 01: Royal Dutch Shell has shut down three oil flow stations in Nigeria’s Niger Delta after a key crude oil pipeline was sabotaged, a company spokeswoman said on Sunday.
“A leak was observed yesterday on the Trans Ramos Pipeline,” she said. “The leak, confirmed to have been caused by sabotage, has stopped with the shutdown of three flow stations yesterday.”
It was not clear how much oil production had been shutdown or who had carried out the attack. Such attacks can be carried out by insurgents or disgruntled local people.
Beijing, February 01: China’s leaders are worried about lagging rural areas, where thousands of protests a year over living conditions and perceived government indifference threaten to undermine social stability.
An exact figure has yet to be announced but Chen Xiwen, director of the Central Rural Work Leading Group, a government advisory body, said the increase in spending on agriculture and rural areas would be proportionally much higher than the central government’s overall budget increase this year.
London, February 01: Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has met his estranged wife face-to-face for the first time in nine months, as their lawyers reportedly exchanged details of alleged infidelities to work out a divorce deal.
The 73-year-old Italian PM and 53-year-old Veronica Lario spent some 20 minutes in the same room in the office of the police chief of Milan during the five-hour bitter divorce talks between their lawyers, which included infidelity claims, according to local media reports.
Seoul, February 01: South and North Korea held secret talks last November about holding their first summit in more than two years but failed to narrow differences, a news report said on Monday.
Chosun Ilbo newspaper, quoting ruling party and government sources, said the two rounds of talks were held at Kaesong just north of the border on November 7 and 14.
Jakarta, February 01: Rescue teams were searching on Monday for at least 31 people missing after a speedboat sank off the remote Aru Islands in eastern Indonesia, media reports said.
The speedboat, believed to have been carrying 35 people, sank on Wednesday after being hit by large waves during bad weather en route from Dobo island to the Tual district in southern Maluku province, the state-run Antara news agency reported.
Bangkok, February 01: Thailand said on Monday that an aircraft loaded with North Korean weapons was flying to Iran when it was intercepted in December but that the ultimate destination of the arms is still not known.
Thai authorities seized the Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane and its five-man crew as it landed to refuel on a flight from Pyongyang on December 12. Found on board were 35 tons of weapons.