Jerusalem, March 26: The Israeli interior minister believes ‘divine grace’ enabled him to approve the expansion of Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.
“I thank God that I have the right to serve as a minister who approves [the construction of] thousands of housing units in Jerusalem (al-Quds),” Interior Minister Eli Yishai told the Israeli Yom le’Yom daily on Thursday.
Tehran, March 26: Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has urged the international community to foil an Israeli plot to change the identity of Jerusalem (al-Quds).
“Unfortunately, the recent developments and comments made over the past few months by the officials of the Zionist regime (Israel), clearly show the seriousness of the occupiers’ plot to give a Zionist identity to the first kiblah of Muslims,” Mottaki said in a statement on Thursday.
Beirut, March 26: An international team investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri has requested to question six Hezbollah members about the crime, a security source said on Thursday.
A suicide truck bomber killed Hariri and 22 others in Beirut in Feb. 2005. A U.N. investigation into the assassination first implicated Syrian and Lebanese officials but later held back from giving details of its findings.
Peshawar, March 26: Pakistan’s military said Friday that five soldiers and at least 21 militants were killed in a heavy gun battle in the country’s northwestern tribal belt along the Afghan border.
The fight broke out overnight in the tribal district of Orakzai, where troops are hunting Taliban militants and their associates who fled a military operation in neighbouring South Waziristan tribal district.
Kolkata, March 26: Three days after the Stephen Court fire that snuffed out 24 lives, including many youngsters, Kolkatans were Friday seething at the authorities’ callousness that triggered and aggravated the tragedy.
Dubai, March 26: Osama bin Laden has warned that Al-Qaeda will kill Americans if the mastermind of the 2001 attacks on the United States, Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, is executed, in a tape Al-Jazeera television aired Thursday.
“The White House has declared its wish to execute (Sheikh Mohammed and his co-accused). The day the United States takes such a decision, it would be also taking the decision that any of you falling into our hands will be executed,” bin Laden said in the audio message.
New Delhi, March 26: Centrally run educational institutions may get additional three years to implement the 27 per cent quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The human resource development ministry has prepared an amendment to that effect in the Central Educational Institut-ions (Reservation in Admissions) Act) 2006, currently awaiting law ministry clearance.
New Delhi, March 26: The government on asked all the 246 central public sector enterprises to mandatorily follow corporate governance norms and business ethics, a step to ensure more transparency in their functioning.
The decision to make these norms binding on the CPSEs, both listed in the stock market and unlisted, was taken by the Union Cabinet.
“The guidelines on corporate governance have now been made mandatory and are applicable to all CPSEs,” the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) said after the Cabinet meeting.
New Delhi, March 26: When she is in Delhi, 78-year-old Maharani Kalyani Singh, stays in the servant’s quarters of Darbhanga House at 7, Mansingh Road. The palatial mansion was once owned by her family. A marble plaque outside the structure with the Maharani’s name on it is a testimony to the fact.
Libya, March 26: Arab foreign ministers preparing a summit of heads of state in Libya agreed on Thursday to raise 500 million dollars for Jerusalem Palestinians, Arab League chief Amr Mussa said.
“Yes, they have agreed,” Mussa told reporters when asked if the fund had been approved by the ministers in the Libyan Mediterranean city where Arab heads of state will hold their annual summit on Saturday and Sunday.
The leaders must now ratify the agreement.
Mumbai, March 26: The Mumbai Police are lying, the prosecution is lying, the CCTV footage and DNA tests are lying, and even the 10-year-old witness is lying; the only person who is truthful is Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, an “innocent” Pakistani boy. This is what the Pakistani terrorist’s lawyer KP Pawar said in his final arguments in the 26/11 trial on Thursday.
Mumbai under attackAccording to the defence lawyer, the prosecution wanted to show the world that Pakistan was involved in the Mumbai attacks and implicated the only “readily available Pakistani national in jail”.
New Delhi, March 26: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Thursday it was imperative to curb inflationary pressures fuelled by increased capacity utilisation and rising energy and commodity prices.
Earlier on Thursday, a document from the country’s top policy panel said India should aim for an average 5 percent inflation and this was a target “quite within the realm of possibilities”.
A week after the RBI unexpectedly lifted its key rates, it said food prices were moderating but were still high and the pace of inflation in non-food manufactured goods was accelerating.
Islamabad, March 26: As Pakistani ministers and the country’s army chiefs lobbied the Obama administration in Washington this week for increased military funding for the fight against Al Qa’ida militants, the top man on the US, UN and EU most wanted list in Pakistan moved freely in the streets of Lahore.
Mumbai, March 26: Even as the global economic meltdown is beginning to fade, the world might be in for another crisis — a currency crisis, a noted expert warned.
“The next biggest problem may be a currency crisis. It is a possibility that the next crisis awaiting the world is a currency crisis,” renowned currency expert and non-executive director of Elara Capital, Avinash Persaud, told PTI in Mumbai.
Washington, March 26: America’s banks suddenly find themselves under pressure to throw greater lifelines to their most troubled mortgage borrowers. But don’t expect every struggling U.S. borrower to get a bailout.
Bank of America has already announced that it would forgive some of the principal for homeowners who owe more than their homes are worth. And the Obama administration will announce Friday a plan that will expand the administration’s $75 billion foreclosure relief effort by reducing the amount other struggling borrowers owe.
Greece, March 26: All 16 eurozone countries have agreeed on providing a 22bn Euros financial plan to help debt-laden Greece on Thursday.
All 16 eurozone countries have backed a financing plan to help debt-laden Greece, which will include IMF money.
The safety net would total about 22bn euros (££20bn). It would apply only if market lending to Greece dried up.
Eurozone countries would grant co-ordinated bilateral loans, and there would be “substantial” IMF loans.
Mumbai, March 26: Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who overcame drug addiction in his youth, today appealed youths to stay away from it.
When the 50-year-old actor was asked about his message to youth, he said “Please stay away from drugs.
“The Munnabhai star today alongwith actor Ranbir Kapoor today launched a contest ‘The Game’ by Pepsico.
While Dutt would feature as ‘Game Master’ in the game, Ranbir would be the ‘Youngistan’. The game, which would be aired.
Washington, March 26: Noting that the influence of India at global stage attest to its pivotal role in shaping the regional security environment, a top US military official has said Washington must ensure that the U.S.-India relationship remains rooted in their extensive common interests.
“Our nation’s partnership with India is especially important to long term South and Central Asia regional security and to US national interests in this vital sub-region.
Sirte, March 26: Arab foreign ministers on Thursday agreed to raise funds for Jerusalem Palestinians in a bid to counter Israel’s settlement drive in the Holy City, at preparatory talks for a weekend summit.
Their decision will be submitted to Arab leaders for final ratification when they gather on Saturday and Sunday in the Libyan Mediterranean city of Sirte for their annual conference.
“Yes, they have agreed,” Arab League chief Mussa told reporters when asked if the fund had been approved by the ministers.
Seoul, March 26: North Korea’s military warned South Korea and the United States on Friday of “unprecedented nuclear strikes” over a report the two countries plan to prepare for possible instability in the totalitarian country.
The North routinely issues such warnings and officials in Seoul and Washington react calmly. Diplomats in South Korea and the U.S. instead have repeatedly called on Pyongyang to return to international negotiations aimed at ending its nuclear programs.
Jerusalem, March 26: Israeli police will allow young Muslims to attend weekly prayers at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday, lifting a ban imposed during clashes with Palestinians earlier this month.
Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby told AFP on Thursday that restrictions limiting attendance to women and to men aged 50 and above would be lifted.
The hilltop compound, Judaism’s holiest place and the third holiest site in Islam, has seen fierce clashes of late between Palestinians and Israeli security forces which have spilled out across mainly Arab east Jerusalem.
Mumbai, March 26: Next year, 2011, is going to be the year of sequels in Bollywood with as many as five blockbusters getting ready with the next instalment of their stories — “Race 2”, “Dhoom 3”, “Wanted 2”, “Partner 2” and “Don 2”.
Like the 2008 hit action “Race”, “Race 2” is also directed by Abbas-Mustan and produced under the Tips Films banner. The original, which explored themes of sibling rivalry, betrayal and passion, starred Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif in pivotal roles.
Mumbai, March 26: Beaten for the fourth time in six IPL matches, Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said his bowlers lack confidence and the side was missing injured England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.
Despite putting a competitive 180 for two on the board against Mumbai Indians, the Chennai side could not defend the total and Dhoni blamed his bowlers for the debacle.
Hyderabad, March 26: The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday received a major boost with the Supreme Court, in an interim order, upholding the validity of 4 percent reservation provided to backward members of Muslim community in the state.
A bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices J M Panchal and B S Chauhan, however, referred the issue to a Constitution bench to examine the validity of the impugned Act since it involved important issues of the Constitution.
Washington, March 26: Pakistani-American terror suspect David Headley’s confession about his involvement in the Mumbai terror showed in clear contours the close relationship between Al Qaeda and the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), according to a former CIA analyst.
Headley’s revelations around the European cell were particularly disturbing, Bruce Riedel, who was a member of the National Security Council in the Clinton administration and is now at the Brookings Institution was quoted as saying by the New York Times Friday.