New Delhi, February 25: ‘King of Bollywood’, Shah Rukh Khan’s latest wish is to overtake politician Shashi Tharoor on micro-blogging website Twitter.
The actor, who became a member of the social networking site at the behest of his friend, filmmaker Karan Johar, has managed to scoop some 169,565 followers in just forty days.
But Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs, is way ahead of Khan with his 661,456 followers.
Srinagar, February 25: A militant belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen outfit was on Thursday arrested by the police in Budgam district of central Kashmir here.
Bashir Ahmad Lone alias Mudasir, a resident of Bonihama, was arrested during checking at Chandpora, 25 kms from here, a police spokesman said.
Three grenades, 20 rounds of AK-47 rifle and two detonators were recovered from his possession.
–Agencies
Lahore, February 25: As Indo-Pak Foreign Secretaries met in Delhi for talks aimed at ending the chill in bilateral ties, Pakistan on Thursday claimed that ”Indian networks” were behind the terror attacks in Mumbai and on the Samjhauta Express and Indian Parliament.
Without giving any evidence to substantiate the claims, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said a terrorist assault of the magnitude of the Mumbai attacks could not have been carried out without the backing of an “Indian network.”
New Delhi, February 25: Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin today met President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and invited them for the inauguration of the new state assembly complex in Chennai next month.
Stalin also met Vice President Hamid Ansari, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and nearly a dozen Union Ministers inviting them for the grand opening of the complex on March 13. Union Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran was also present during the meetings.
Hyderabad, February 25: A city court today sought a report on the health condition of former Satyam Computers chairman B Ramalinga Raju after he did not appear in a case pertaining to the multi-crore scam in the IT firm.
After expiry of their judicial custody today, nine of the Satyam scam accused appeared before the special court (Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court for Satyam Scam Cases).
But Raju, undergoing treatment for Hepatitis C at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) was unable to attend the court proceedings.
New Delhi, February 25: An alleged gangster of Bihar reportedly involved in killing two policemen and a businessman was arrested here with only a 16-year-old photograph to identify him, police said today.
Babloo Gope, hailing from Patna, was arrested from south Delhi’s Kotla Mubarakpur recently.
Gope was one of the most dreaded gangsters of Bihar who had set up base in Delhi after killing a businessman for extortion and two policemen in an encounter, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) H G S Dhaliwal said.
Jaipur, February 25: A police station here has been adjudged the ‘best police station in Asia’ for providing smooth public services and ensuring speedy disposal of cases.
The Vidhayakpuri police station, with around one lakh people under it’s jurisdiction is located in the city’s southern flank and has been selected amongst the police stations of 211 cities in twenty countries like Bangladesh, Brazil, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia and Uganda.
Bhubaneswar, February 25: With private bus operators withdrawing their services in Maoist-hit districts of Orissa, the state government today said it would ply at least 100 passenger buses in such areas.
“The government will procure 100 buses to operate in Maoist hit areas,” Transport Secretary S Sahoo told reporters here, adding that the decision taken at a high-level meeting chaired by chief secretary T K Mishra.
Maoist attacks on buses had severely affected road communication in several districts, particularly in Gajapati, Rayagada and Malkangiri in the southern region.
New Delhi, February 25: Government tonight cleared the Women’s Reservation Bill, which seeks to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies but has been hanging fire for last over a decade due to lack of political consensus.
A meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave its approval to the Bill, which has already been introduced in the Rajya Sabha and was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice, and Personnel.
Kakinada, February 25: One person was killed, 11 others injured when the RTC bus in which they were travelling from Rajahmundry to Rampachodavaram collided with a van at Ramannapalem village under Gokavaram police station limits today. Police sources said the injured were admitted to the government hospital at Rajahmundry.
—Agencies
Gandhinagar, February 25: The annual budget presented by the BJP government today is lacklustre and directionless, opposition Congress said.
“The BJP government has not given any relief in high rates of Value Added Tax (VAT) charged by the state which is highest in the country,” the opposition party said.
Earlier, Congress legislators staged a walkout from the assembly during the budget speech of Finance Minister Vajubhai Vala for the Financial year 2010-2011.
New Delhi, February 25: Argentine penalty-corner specialist Pedro Ibarra thinks highly of Sandeep Singh and says that the Indian drag-flicker would be one of the stars to watch out for in the ensuing hockey World Cup.
“Sandeep is one of the best drag flickers in the world. We were lucky he did not play against us in the Champions Challenge. He has the ability to alter the course of the match,” said Ibarra Thursday.
Ibarra said that Pakistan’s veteran drag-flicker Sohail Abbas could be the surprise of the tournament after staging comeback last year.
Rajkot, February 25: A major fire broke out this evening at a chemical factory located on the city outskirts, about 15 kms from here.
However, there were no immediate reports of any casualty, officials said.
The fire broke out at Shapar Industrial Zone and more than 12 fire tenders have been pressed into service, which are still fighting to extinguish the blaze.
The cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained, they said.
–Agencies
Shillong, February 25: The BSF today said the Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting between India and Bangladesh will try to sort out the problems between the two countries.
“The JWG meeting to be held in April would discuss the boundary issue in order to find out amicable solution to the problems,” BSF DG Raman Srivastava told reporters here today after meeting Meghalaya Governor R S Mooshahary.
Srivastava discussed with the Governor the recent skirmish between BSF and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) causing tensions along the Indo-Bangladesh border at Muktapur area under Meghalaya sector.
Kolkata, February 25: Three persons have been arrested in connection with the attack on an Eastern Frontier Rifles camp in Sildah where 24 jawans were killed by Maoists.
Asish Mahato and Manas Mahato were arrested from their houses at Bhimpur in Salboni in West Midnapore yesterday, police said.
Sukhlal Soren (29), an alleged Maoist, was also arrested from Sankhabanga in Belpahari police station.
Asish and Manas had purchased a jeep and a pick-up van on February 5, 10 days before the attack, from Kharagapur in West Midnapore.
Indore, February 25: Before scripting history by scoring double ton against South Africa in ODI at Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior last evening, the cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar had achieved two major feats in Madhya Pradesh.
After hitting 139 of 125 balls against Australia at Nehru Stadium, here on March 31, 2001, Sachin created the world record of scoring 10,000 runs in the ODIs then. Before this, no batsman had achieved this milestone.
Thiruvananthapuram, February 25: Over 500 industry leaders and eminent experts from India and abroad are expected to participate in the first major international leadership forum on ayurveda. The global summit will begin in Kochi March 24.
The theme of the three-day summit conference will be Global Health Challenges: Ayurveda Solutions.
The event has been organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) departments of the union and Kerala governments.
Chandigarh, February 25: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers were baton charged by police here Thursday when they turned violent in their protest against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for its failure to control rising prices.
Initially the party workers, led by Haryana BJP president Krishna Pal Gurjar, were staging a peaceful protest and were raising slogans against the UPA government.
However, the protest turned violent when police stopped them from moving towards the Haryana Raj Bhavan, official residence of Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia.
New Delhi, February 25: Two prominent Yadav leaders — Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh — today joined hands in taking on the UPA with the RJD chief warning that its “arrogance” would lead to its doom as the SP supremo tried to wean away Sharad Pawar from the ruling alliance.
“Your attitude is not good. You are arrogant, out of control and will have to leave in between….we supported you to keep them (pointing towards BJP) away,” Lalu, whose party was the second largest constituent in UPA-I but is now out of the UPA-II, said.
New Delhi, February 25: The government today said the worst is over and prices of various essential commodities like pulses, sugar and vegetables have started declining – a trend that will continue.
“As stated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (at the meeting of Chief Ministers on price rise), worst time is over.
I am absolutely confident about that….the situation will change. We are on line for better days,” Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said winding up a day-long discussion in the Lok Sabha on price rise.
Jammu, February 25: PDP today said the Jammu and Kashmir government was hesitating to discuss in the assembly law and order situation in the state and alleged that Opposition was not allowed to speak in the House.
“For the last three days we were demanding discussion in the House on the killings of innocent people in Kashmir, but the government was hesitating to discuss this issue,” PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said while participating in a debate.
“We have to reflect in the House what is happening outside but the government was not ready to discuss the emergent issues,” she said.
New Delhi, February 25: Parliament will have a four-day break from February 27 to March 2 in view of Holi.
Announcing the decision, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan today said there would be no sitting of the House on March 2.
In the Lok Sabha too Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told Speaker Meira Kumar about the desire of the members to have a break on March 2. The Speaker sought the views of the House, which agreed to have a holiday.
Gurgaon, February 25: A 17-year-old South Korean girl, studying in an upscale school here, was rescued hours after she was allegedly kidnapped at gun point, police said Thursday.
Gurgaon Police Commissioner S.S. Deswal said the student, studying in Pathways School, was kidnapped by three people at 4.15 p.m. when she was on her way to school in a taxi.
“We have rescued the girl which was our priority. The accused will be arrested soon,” he said.
Sources said the girl was rescued from Kola village near Faridabad. The girl was a Class 11 student and lives here with her guardian.
Ranchi, February 25: Maoist rebels shot dead and set afire a truck driver’s assistant and set ablaze three trucks laden with bauxite in Jharkhand’s Gumla district Thursday morning, police said. In another incident, Maoists blew up a government school in Giridih district.
“The truck driver’s assistant was shot and then burnt by the Maoists. The rebels also set on fire three trucks,” said Superintendent of Police Narendra Kumar Singh.
New Delhi, February 26: Pakistan Thursday accused India of covertly supplying weapons to “militants and terrorists” in its Balochistan province from Afghanistan.
Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told reporters here that there was “clear evidence of (Indian) activities prejudicial to Pakistan’s security being undertaken from foreign soil, including efforts at destabilization, supply of weapons to militants and terrorists”.
“We have ample evidence, including photographic evidence, of these activities.”