Mumbai, April 05: Actor Shah Rukh Khan is on a roll again, what with his IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders making him a proud owner now and again. Of course, compared to last year’s dismal performance, this year has been a remarkable one in comparison for the KKR’s and deserves celebration!
New Delhi, April 05: The Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal on Monday said they would oppose the Women’s Reservation Bill in its present form at the all-party meeting convened by the government and stick to their demand for quota for Muslim women and backward classes.
Moscow, April, 05: At least one policeman was killed as two successive suicide blasts targeted a police station in the Russia’s Republic of Ingushetia, bordering the restive Chechnya in North Caucasus on Monday.
The blasts occurred in front of a police station in the morning in the Ingush town of Karabulak.
One policeman was killed and three persons were wounded in the first blast while details of the second explosion are not yet known, Interfax reported quoting officials of the Interior Ministry of Ingushetia.
London, April 05 Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday the British economy was in the same state as England footballer Wayne Rooney’s ankle — recovering and in need of support.
The economy is in better health than had been previously thought — as is Manchester United striker Rooney following some ankle ligament damage.
But Brown said trying to “jump off the treatment table as if nothing had happened” would “do more damage”.
Colombo, April 05: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, accused by critics of stifling dissent and persecuting the opposition, looks set to consolidate his hold on power in parliamentary elections this week.
Rajapakse called Thursday’s vote two months ahead of schedule after his thumping re-election in January and his Freedom Alliance party is in line for an easy majority in the 225-member national legislature, according to analysts.
Ahmedabad, April 05: Somalian pirates today released a second vessel with 11 Indian sailors that was hijacked last week while there was no word on the fate of six other dhows and 85 Indian sailors captured by them.
The vessel Al-Kadri, which was hijacked by Somalian pirates on March 28, was near Oman coast and on way to Dubai after being released, president of Kutch Vahanvati Association (KVA) Kasam Ali Bholim said.
Pirates had released another vessel ‘Krishna Jyot’ yesterday with 15 sailors on board.
Beijingt, April 05: More than 70 workers have been found alive in a Chinese mine that flooded eight days ago, state-run China Central Television said Monday, citing rescue officials.
Rescue teams had brought out 18 miners from the Wangjialing mine in north China’s Shanxi province just before midday Monday, including nine who had been rescued overnight, the report said.
“Altogether more than 70 miners have been found alive, but the exact number is still being confirmed,” the report said citing rescue officials.
–AFP
Washington, April 05: The Pakistani army is facing fresh accusations of carrying out extra-judicial killings and torture, claims which could threaten U.S. funding for any units singled out for abuse.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said it had briefed U.S. State Department and congressional officials about mounting evidence of more than 200 summary executions in Swat Valley in the past eight months of suspected Taliban sympathizers.
Tijuana, April 05: A major 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck near the Mexico-California border on Sunday, killing at least one person as it rocked buildings and panicked residents from Tijuana to Los Angeles.
One person died when a house in Mexicali collapsed, Alfredo Escobedo, director of emergency services in Baja California state, Mexico, told Reuters. He said others were reported trapped in elevators, retaining walls had collapsed in some places and electricity was out in several parts of the state.
New Delhi, April 05: The Indian government is holding back-channel talks with separatist Hurriyat leaders on the Kashmir issue and is open to negotiating anything less than independence, says Home Secretary GK Pillai. “Talks are going on and the talks will continue. These are back channel talks,” Pillai said.
Asked if the government still believed late prime minister P.V. Narsimha Rao’s “sky is the limit” promise made in 1995 for Kashmir, the home secretary said: “You have to understand the realities of today.
Chennai, April 05: Describing Naxalism as the country’s “first enemy,” Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has said the menace would be completely rooted out in another two or three years.
He said Naxalism has assumed gigantic proportions as it had not been dealt with properly in the last 12 years.
“Naxalism is the first enemy of the country,” he said addressing a public meeting at suburban Avadi, 45 km from here, late last night.
New Delhi, April 05: Amid concerns here over capital punishment given to 17 Indians in Sharjah, UAE on Monday said its legal system guarantees fair trial and the death sentence is subject to appeal and annulment by the rule of law without any interference from the parties concerned.
“The UAE embassy in New Delhi has been following press reports with regard to convicted Indian nationals in Sharjah. Death penalty in UAE legal system is subject to appeal and cassation by the rule of law without any interference from the parties.
Washington, April 05: U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has left for New Delhi to launch the India-U.S. Economic and Financial Partnership which according to him would set the pace and put and economic relationship between the two countries on a new trajectory.
Washington, April 05: The Pentagon is actively lobbying for more pressure on New Delhi to ease tensions between India and Pakistan, the Wall Street Journal has reported. It has also revealed that US President Barack Obama had issued a secret directive to intensify diplomacy towards that aim and to win Islamabad’s cooperation in Afghanistan.
Hyderabad, April 05: Police on Monday reached the residence of tennis star Sania Mirza apparently to question Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik in the wake of a cheating case lodged against him by the father of Ayesha, the Hyderabad girl who claims to be his wife.
In fresh trouble for 28-year-old Shoaib, who is scheduled to get married to 23-year-old Sania here on April 15, the Hyderabad Police have alerted the immigration authorities about the criminal complaint, a move that could pose difficulties for Shoaib to leave the country.
Hyderabad, April 05: Hyderabad police today reached Sania Mirza residence and asked Shoaib Malik to surrender his passport and cell phone.
Police also threaten Shoaib Malik to arrest, if he further denied his link up with Ayesha.
Earlier Hyderabad cops are keeping an eye on Sania Mirza’s residence; have also instructed immigration officials to not let Shoaib leave the country without their consent.
Nukus, April 05: The drying up of the Aral Sea is one of the planet’s most shocking environmental disasters, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Sunday as he urged Central Asian leaders to step up efforts to solve the problem.
Once the world’s fourth-largest lake, the sea has shrunk by 90 percent since the rivers that feed it were largely diverted in a Soviet project to boost cotton production in the arid region.
Mumbai, April 05: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex gained 117 points, or 0.66 per cent, in opening trade on Monday on buying by foreign funds, which took cues from firm global markets.
The 30-share index rose by 117.88 points to 17,810.50 points.
The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty regained 5,300-level rising by 40.10 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 5,330.60 points.
Mumbai, April 05: The Indian rupee on Monday appreciated by 15 paise to 44.74 a dollar in early trade on increased capital inflows by foreign funds into stock markets.
Dealers said the rupee strengthened against the U.S. currency as foreign funds continue to invest in the domestic stock markets.
Firming Asian currencies also lifted the rupee sentiment, they added.
The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex rose by 117.88 points, or 0.66 per cent to 17,810.50 in opening trade.
Karachi, April 05: A close aide of executed former Pakistan prime minister Zulfiqr Ali Bhutto Sunday claimed that a group of military generals had offered to save the leader from getting hanged by breaking him from his jail cell in Rawalpindi and flying him safely to Afghanistan.
On the occasion of the 31st death anniversary of Bhutto, Mustafa Khar, a close aide of the executed leader and a former Governor of the Punjab province said on a talk show on Geo TV that the group of Generals wanted to rescue Bhutto and fly him out of the country.
Kabul, April 05: A soldier with NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed Sunday by an improvised bomb in troubled southern Afghanistan, the alliance said.
“An ISAF service member died as a result of an IED strike in southern Afghanistan today,” the force said in a statement, without specifying the victim’s nationality or any other details.
The latest casualty brings the number of foreign soldiers killed to 145 so far this year, according to a NEWS AGENCY.
Washington, April 05: Amid a row over Jewish settlements, Israel’s top diplomat in Washington said Sunday that there was a chance of a “historic peace” if Palestinians come back to the negotiations table.
Noting that the government of Israel is committed to moving forward with the peace process, Michael Oren said it is for the Palestinians to come to the negotiations table.
The Israeli Ambassador hoped that once the Palestinians join the negotiating table, his country can negotiate with them for a “historic peace”.
Washington, April 05: The United States has “a long way to go” in taming its stubbornly high unemployment rate, despite positive jobs creation news last week, top White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers said Sunday.
“We’ve got a long way to go. We’ve inherited a terrible situation, the most pressing economic problems since the Great Depression in our country,” Summers told CNN television’s “State of the Union” program.
Washington, April 05: The US Sunday denied any link between delaying a report on China’s currency policies and Beijing’s support for any new sanctions against Iran due to its reluctance to roll back its nuke programme.
Washington, April 05: President Barack Obama and his family are attending the Easter service at a historically black Methodist church in southeast Washington.
The Obamas travelled today morning to the Allen Chapel AME Church. The first family has attended a variety of Protestant churches in the US capital since Obama’s election.
The Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church traces its roots to just before the Civil War when it ministered to free blacks in the Anacostia area of Washington. It is part of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.