New Delhi, July 11: The BJP seems to be undecided on whether to extend legal and political support to RSS functionaries being probed for links with a network of Hindutva terrorists.
Amid speculation about a meeting on Saturday between senior lawyer and BJP leader Arun Jaitley and RSS functionary and terror suspect Ashok Varshney, the party maintained silence on the issue.
Hyderabad, July 11: Jaganmohan Reddy appears desperate to prove to the Congress that after the death of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, he is the only “crowd-puller” left in the party’s Andhra Pradesh unit.
And he is leaving no stone unturned to establish this, if the massive mobilisation of people and the extensive media coverage of his ongoing Odarpu Yatra (a tour to console people) are anything to go by.
The Congress MP from Kadapa resumed his rally in the Srikakulam district of north coastal Andhra on Friday and ensured that the tour received massive publicity in the media.
Los Angeles, July 11: Hollywood siren Angelina Jolie never faced difficulty filming action stunts as she’s always remained physically fit. The beauty said that she is naturally slim and does not feel the need to work out.
Jolie, 37 has been romantically linked with Brad Pitt since 2005 revealed that she enjoys portraying action roles and love them.
“I really don’t work out. I’ve always been kind of slight and I’ve always loved to run and jump around and be physical, so action roles are not a huge challenge for me. I enjoy them.”
Tokyo, July 11: Voters in Japan have been casting their ballots in a parliamentary election seen as a crucial test for the country’s prime minister after just a month in office.
Opinion polls have forecast that Naoto Kan’s ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) will likely lose seats in the 242-member upper house of the Japanese parliament, where half the seats are up for grabs.
The result of Sunday’s vote will not directly affect the DPJ’s grip on power because it has a majority in the more powerful lower house.
Islamabad, July 11: Gunmen in eastern Afghanistan have attacked a bus carrying Pakistan Shia tribesmen killing 11 people.
The tribesmen were travelling from Kurram to Peshawar in Pakistan, but had taken a detour into Afghanistan to avoid a dangerous direct route.
Paktia Governor spokesman Rohullah Samon said gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying the travellers in Samkani district, as they made their way from Kurram Agency to Peshawar city via Afghanistan.
It is unclear who carried out the attack. Sunni militants linked to the Afghan Taliban are the main suspects.
Bhubaneswar, July 11: Armed Maoists blew up a mobile tower control room of a private telecom company in Orissa’s Malkangiri district, police said Sunday.
More than 30 rebels of outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist blew up the control room using landmine late Saturday at Nilakamberu village, a senior district police officer told IANS.
Malkangiri, 618 km from here, is considered Maoists stronghold in the state.
——-IANS
Karimnagar, July 11: The Returning Officer of the Vemulavada Assembly constituency has rejected the petition of Congress candidate, Mr Adi Srinivas, objecting to the candidature of Mr Chennamaneni Ramesh, a TRS candidate, on the ground that he was a German national.
Ramesh is the son of TDP leader, Mr Chennamaneni Rajeswara Rao.
The Congress candidate contended that the nomination of the TRS candidate was invalid as a petition challenging his nationality was pending before court.
New Delhi, July 11: The Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, on Saturday asked the minister of state for coal, statistics and programme implementation, Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal, to make inquiries into the death of an 8-year-old Kanpur boy, Aman Khan.
The parents have blamed the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh’s security for their son’s demise and alleged that he died due to roadblocks erected during the Prime Minister’s recent visit to Kanpur.
They claimed they were not allowed to take the shortest route to the hospital to give their son medical treatment on time.
New Delhi, July 11: The Army, which was deployed in parts of Srinagar four days ago to assist the civil administration, may be withdrawn from the streets early next week, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said on Saturday. The state government would consider withdrawing its deployment from the Valley after Martyrs’ Day on Tuesday, he said, if there was an improvement in the situation.
Mogadishu, July 11: Masked gunmen have assassinated a high-ranking Somali military official in the administrative capital of the Hiraan region in central Somalia.
Salad Hared Farah, a military spokesman for Somali troops in the region, was shot dead inside his house in Beledweyne, some 300 kilometers north of the capital Mogadishu, a Media correspondent reported.
Three men in masks and armed with pistols shot and killed Farah before fleeing on foot in different directions, witnesses said.
Sanaa, July 11: Ten suspected Al Qaida members have been arrested in Yemen for planning suicide attacks on oil facilities in the country, Xinhua reported Sunday.
According ot Yemen’s defence ministry, the security forces have arrested 10 militants in the last four days.
‘Two members of the Al Qaida cell had been detained during the security raid on the militants’ hideout last Monday while another eight suspected members of the cell were captured later during the past four days,’ the ministry said in a statement.
A Dharna to register protest against killings of Innocent Civilians in Kashmir at Jantar Mantar was organised by ANHAD. The dharna was two hour long where representatives from various civil society groups gathered to demonstrate their solidarity with the people of Kashmir. Following people expressed their views in protest: Shabnam Hashmi (ANHAD), Harsh Kapoor (South Asia Citizens Web), Navaid Hamid (Member,NIC), Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy (JNU), Prof.
Mumbai, July 11: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Saturday warned all private FM channels to start broadcasting Marathi songs within seven days or else ‘face the music’.
“It has been noticed that many FM channels do not play Marathi songs. They should start airing them in a week or else Sena would launch an agitation,” Thackeray said in a statement here.
———-Agencies
Mumbai, July 11: John only knows his thoughts about the institution of marriage, but girl friend Bipasha has certainly something shocking for him. Bipasha says that she suffers from marriage blues and she is not yet ready for an actual marriage ceremony.
Beijing, July 11: Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari today ruled out handing over the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to India but said the “non-state actors” who derailed the Indo-Pak rapprochement will “hopefully” be brought to justice in his country.
Zardari, who concluded a five-day visit to China, told the state-run CCTV in an interview that Pakistanis involved in the Mumbai attacks cannot be handed over to India as there was no extradition treaty between the two countries.
Bristol, July 11: Bangladesh won for the first time in 25 matches and enjoyed their first victory over England in any format with a stunning five-run success in the second one-day international here on Saturday.
They defended a seemingly below par total of 236 to bowl England out for 231 with three balls to spare.
Bangladesh had lost 24 matches in all formats since beating Zimbabwe by one wicket in a one-day international in Chittagong in November and came into this match on the back of Thursday’s six-wicket series-opening loss at Trent Bridge.
Jerusalem, July 11: As part of its bid to impede pro-Palestinian relief efforts, Israel says it has blocked an attempt by Libya to deliver aid to the besieged residents of the Gaza Strip.
The Moldova-flagged cargo ship, the Amalthea, organized by the Tripoli-based Gaddafi International Charity and Development Association, was scheduled to depart from Greece to break the Israeli siege of Gaza.
The aid ship is carrying 12 crewmembers and 2,000 tons of food and medical supplies, including sacks of rice, sugar, corn oil and olive paste.
Gaza, July 11: Hezbollah says the recent provocations by Israel and UNIFIL forces in southern Lebanon are part of an “international move” against the resistance movement.
Resistance sources said on Saturday there was a connection between Tel Aviv’s release of pictures, allegedly showing resistance’s preparation for armed conflict in the southern Lebanon, and French forces’ incitement of clashes with the locals there.
The maps and photographs publicized by the Israeli military echo Tel Aviv’s war rhetoric. Israel has launched two wars on Lebanon.
Mumbai, July 11: A 16-year-old girl, a compounder at the clinic of a Ghatkopar-based doctor, was arrested on Saturday for allegedly assaulting the doctor with a razor blade and stealing Rs 2000 from the clinic. The incident happened at the doctor’s clinic on Ganesh Lane, Ghatkopar (West). The injured doctor is recuperating in a hospital. Police said they have booked her for attempt to murder and robbery.
Mumbai, July 11: The Mahim Police claimed to have busted a human trafficking racket after they arrested a couple on Friday who allegedly brought young girls and boys from Nepal and sent them to the Middle East for prostitution and other illegal activities.
The police also rescued eight boys and a minor girl reportedly brought to the city over a month back.
Warangal, July 11: The news that a farmer found gold biscuits worth Rs 4 crores created sensation in the district, on Saturday.
According to the information, a tribal farmer belonging to Samat Mote village under Pinapaka mandal found this dump, in the thick forest under Tadvai mandal. The news came to light when the farmer went to a provision shop for getting the gold weighed.
It is learnt that the farmer found a steel box containing 30 gold biscuits. The gold is valued at Rs 4 crores. A booklet containing details of the dump was also found in the box, these reports say.
Hyderabad, July 11: The State Congress president, Mr D. Srinivas, has submitted his explanation to the Election Commission in reply to the show-cause notice served on him on Saturday.
It may be mentioned here that the Election Commission had issued him a show-cause notice seeking his explanation following allegations that he asked votes in the name of a caste, during the last general elections.
Responding to complaint, the Commission has issued him a notice.
——–NSS
Hyderabad, July 11: Former PRP political affairs committee member VGR Naragoni along with a hundred of his followers, on Saturday joined the Telugu Desam Party in the presence of party chief N Chandrababu Naidu
Welcoming the new entrants to the party fold, Mr Naidu said that they were welcome in the party which had fought for the rights of people of the Backward Castes since its inception.
He said that the Backward Castes were being neglected by the Congress government in the state. He said that the TDP had been consistent in its demand that the government undertake caste-based census.
Vijayawada, July 11: Telugu Desam Party MLA Devineni Umamaheswar Rao on Saturday launched a scathing attack on YSR district (formerly Kadapa) MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy for comparing his late father YS Rajasekhara Reddy with the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.
Talking to media persons, Mr Umamaheshwar Rao said that it was a disgraceful that Mahatma Gandhi was compared to a person who was so corrupt.
Hyderabad, July 11: The Election Commission will not face any great difficulty in switching over to ballot papers from the recently introduced and currently used method of voting through Electronic Voting Machines.
Talking to media person on Saturday, Chief Electoral Officer IV Subba Rao said that the EC has no problems in using ballot papers for 11 of the 12 Assembly constituencies for the forthcoming by-elections.