Jerusalem, March 28: A senior minister on Sunday warned that Israel would “liquidate” the Islamist Hamas-run government in Gaza following deadly weekend clashes that killed two Israeli soldiers.
“Sooner or later we will liquidate the military regime of the pro-Iranian Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip,” Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, from the governing rightwing Likud party, told public radio.
Kuwait City, March 27: Gulf Investment Corporation said on Saturday it posted 91 million dollars in net profit in 2009, swinging back from a massive loss of 996 million dollars in the previous year due to the global downturn.
The Kuwait-based company that is owned by the six member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) said its shareholders’ equity rose to 1.75 billion dollars at the end of last year, an increase of more than 1.1 billion dollars in 2008.
Kuwait City, March 28: Kuwait’s private low-cost Jazeera Airways said on Sunday it posted a loss of 28.5 million dollars in 2009 compared with a net profit of 15.6 million dollars the previous year.
The no-frills company said the loss was incurred due to the fallout of the global economic crisis but did not elaborate.
The airway’s assets rose slightly to 256 million dollars at the end of last year compared with 253.5 million dollars in 2008, the company said in a statement on the Kuwait Stock Exchange website.
Mumbai, March 28: A man was today killed after being attacked by an elephant inside Byculla zoo here when he entered the mammoth animal’s enclosure, police said.
The man entered the enclosure of the elephant at Veermata Jijamata Prani Sangrahalay in south Mumbai and tried to attract the attention of the animal following which it attacked him, injuring him seriously, Byculla Police Station Senior Inspector T Ghodge told reporters.
New Delhi, March 28: The Reserve Bank has made a case for further tightening the regulatory mechanism for clearing houses saying they are critical for smooth functioning of the markets.
“Central counter-parties have emerged as critical elements for the smooth functioning of the financial markets…they need to be regulated more firmly for robust risk management systems,” RBI said in its financial stability report.
Bhubaneswar, March 28: India Sunday afternoon successfully tested its nuclear capable surface-to-surface Agni I missile from a test range in Orissa, an official said.
The missile, which can strike a target 700 km away, was tested as part of user-trial from a facility on Wheeler Island in the district of Bhadrak by the Indian armed forces, director of the test range S.P. Dash told IANS.
“It was a fantastic launch,” he said.
The armed forces had successfully tested two nuclear-capable missiles, Dhanush and Prithvi II, Saturday in Orissa.
—Agencies
Gandhinagar, March 28: A day after he was questioned by a Supreme Court-appointed panel over his alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, Chief Minister Narendra Modi shared the dais with Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan here Sunday at the first annual convocation of the Gujarat National Law University.
Modi was reportedly keen that his questioning at the hands of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) be completed Saturday itself due to the convocation Sunday. “He wanted the questioning done with and over before the GNLU convocation,” sources close to him said.
New Delhi, March 28: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader V.K. Malhotra has suggested that Amitabh Bachchan be made the main ambassador of the Commonwealth Games, slated to be held in October this year.
In a letter to Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi Saturday, Malhotra, who is also the Indian Olympic Association senior vice-president and the executive board member of the Games organising committee, said that given the Bollywood superstar’s credentials and star status, he would be the best choice for being the brand ambassador of the international sporting event.
New Delhi, March 28: On a roll with three successive wins, Rajasthan Royals will strive to carry on the momentum while snapping the three-match losing streak will be high on Chennai Super Kings’ agenda when the teams clash in an Indian Premier League match on Sunday.
The Shane Warne-led side started their IPL campaign on a dismal note losing three matches on the trot, but recaptured their rhythm of late and are now sitting third in the points tally with three wins from six outings.
New Delhi, March 28: Nearly one third of Muslims in the nation survive on less than Rs 550 a month, economic think tank NCAER said, amid the ongoing debate on reservations in jobs and educational institutions for those belonging to the community.
A survey by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) said that three out of every 10 Muslims were below poverty line and lived on less than Rs 550 a month in the year 2004-05.
Gandhinagar, March 28: RK Raghavan, the chief of the apex-court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) that quizzed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over the 2002 riots, said the questioning was a “very big step forward” and the panel was likely to submit its report within the deadline of April 30.
Raghavan expressed his satisfaction with the work done by his team and the questioning of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
“Definitely, it (the questioning of Modi) was a very big step forward in unravelling few of the mysteries in the matter,” Raghavan told CNN-IBN television channel.
Hyderabad, March 28: The opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will take up various issues concerning the people,including price rice and drought.
Addressing the media after the party’s politburo meeting, Senior party leader K Yerran Naidu said the politiburo chaired by party President N Chandrababu Naidu met here today after a gap of four months and discussed various issues, including organisational elections.
He said the politbureau passed a resolution and decided to interact closely with the people for two months in April and May and take up their issues.
New Delhi, March 28: Veteran actress and Censor Board chief Sharmila Tagore sashayed down the ramp with 92-year-old SEWA artisan Hansiba Ben to showcase a new collection by the NGO’s Hansiba initiative here.
The brand Hansiba is named after Hansiba Ben. Also giving Sharmila company on the ramp Saturday was Venezuelan Ambassador Milena Santana Ramirez.
Sharmila walked the ramp in a red silk sari with a colourful border, designed by Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) artisans and French designer, Graham Hollick, to encourage the new collection – “Ananta – The Flamboyant Stitch”.
London/Paris, March 28: Pal Sarkozy, father of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has admitted in a new book that he had his first sexual experience with his nanny when he was 11.
Pal, 81, has confessed in a new autobiography called “So Much Life” that he was a philanderer ever since seducing his childhood nanny when he was just 11, Daily Mail reported.
He wrote: “Sleep! That’s a joke! I innocently asked the nanny to lie down next to me as if to give me a big cuddle while whispering the story. She obeyed.
Tel Aviv, March 28: A senior Israeli minister has threatened that Tel Aviv will “liquidate” Hamas sooner or later, adding that Israel may even launch a new offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s Finance minister Yuval Steinitz said Tel Aviv has not set a timetable for when it will eliminate the Palestinian movement, but he underscored that it would happen sooner or later.
He said Israel cannot tolerate the movement becoming stronger. Steinitz did not rule out the possibility of a new invasion of Gaza, saying Tel Aviv had no choice, but to take such action.
Lahore, March 28: Stressing the need for having continuity in the team management, newly-appointed coach Waqar Younis has hailed Shahid Afridi’s appointment as Pakistan captain for next month’s Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies.
Waqar, who will start his assignment as the national team’s chief coach from tomorrow, said he believed that frequent shuffling of coach, captain or manager after every loss was not a good trend in Pakistan cricket.
New Delhi, March 28: Nearly one third of Muslims in the nation survive on less than Rs 550 a month, economic think tank NCAER said, amid the ongoing debate on reservations in jobs and educational institutions for those belonging to the community.
A survey by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) said that three out of every 10 Muslims were below poverty line and lived on less than Rs 550 a month in the year 2004-05.
New Delhi, March 28: Lashing out at the Indian Premier League for using “cricket as an instrument of business”, Sports Minister M S Gill has accused the BCCI of changing the rules of the game to allow the cash-awash Twenty20 league to run a commercial venture.
Gill said the rules of cricket had been changed by the IPL, and acquiesced to by the BCCI, by way of giving batsmen advantage over bowlers to promote entertainment, allowing the mongoose bat and shortening boundaries – all to earn profit.
Tehran, March 28: A top Iranian cleric says the reopening of a Jewish synagogue near the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is in fact an ‘evil plot’ by Israel to knock down Islam’s third holiest site.
In a statement released earlier on Saturday, Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi said Israel is taking caustic steps to ruin the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is widely revered as Islam’s third holiest site after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.
New York, March 28: Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet is “bearing up” after her split from filmmaker husband Sam Mendes, says the star’s sister Anna.
Winslet and Mendes’ seven-year marriage came to an end at the beginning of 2010 and the two have since been at the centre of speculation that their marriage fell apart following arguments over Mendes’ friendship with English actress Rebecca Hall.
New Delhi, March 28: The Supreme Court will hear tomorrow the appeal of bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt against his conviction and sentence in 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case.
Dutt was convicted by the TADA court under the Arms Act for possessing illegal arms including AK 56 rifles and was sentenced to six years imprisonment.
The TADA court, however, gave him a clean chit under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act.
He is on bail in the case and has been directed by the Supreme Court not to leave the country without the prior permission of the apex court.
New Delhi, March 28: The Congress demanded resignation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for denigrating the post of Chief Minister due to which he had to appear before the Special Investigation Team regarding mass murder of people during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said yesterday it was unprecedented that a person occupying the Constitutional post of the Chief Minister has been summoned for investigation into the case of mass murder.
Bhopal, March 28: Three elderly women, who set off for pilgrimage
to Hardwar, were crushed to death when they came under a speeding
train at Habibganj station here last night.
Superintendent of Police (GRP), Bhopal, Deepak Verma said
the tragic incident occurred when the women — Devika (58), Kusum
Lata (70), both residents of Khargone and Radhika (65), resident of
Khandwa — were crossing the railway track, instead of using over
bridge, came under Goa Express and died on the spot.
Mr Verma said all the deceased were accompanied by another man,
Bhopal, March 28: In an incident straight from the famous Bollywood blockbuster “Sholay”, two teenagers took on a dreaded dacoit, enabling villagers to beat him to death in Chhattarpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
According to the police, Radhey Patel, whose gang was involved in extortion and abduction, Wednesday held a farmer in Bakswah village captive in front of villagers, who stood there helpless.
He then asked Ram Kumar, 15, and Ram Krishan, 16, who were standing nearby, to go get Rs.50,000 from the farmer’s family to secure his release.
Lahore, March 28: Stressing the need for having continuity in the team management, newly-appointed coach Waqar Younis has hailed Shahid Afridi’s appointment as Pakistan captain for next month’s Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies.
Waqar, who will start his assignment as the national team’s chief coach from tomorrow, said he believed that frequent shuffling of coach, captain or manager after every loss was not a good trend in Pakistan cricket.
“I think if anyone in the team deserved to be made the captain at this time it is Afridi.
–PTI