Uttar Pradesh, August 25: The farmers, demanding higher compensation for their lands acquired for Yamuna Expressway, on Wednesday morning began shutdown in Mathura, Agra and Aligarh districts of Uttar Pradesh.
A large number of farmers, backed by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), stopped the Janata Express and squatted on rail tracks in Mathura district in protest against the state government’s land acquisition policy.
Usmanpur, August 25: Around 200 people were evacuated from the banks of Yamuna in the capital on Wednesday, as the water level touched 205.70 metres.
With this, a total of 1,500 people have been shifted to around 160 relief camps, set up in Usmanpur, Badarpur Khadar and ISBT bridge.
The river had crossed the danger level of 204.83 metres on Friday evening following rains and due to release of over four lakh cusecs of water by Haryana into the
river in the last two days.
Hyderabad, August 25: Humane Society International (HIS), an animal welfare group, wants a ban on the genetic engineering and cloning of farm animals aimed at boosting egg, meat or milk production.
The society has urged India’s GM regulator, Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), to prohibit genetic engineering to save animals from suffering.
Thanking GEAC for opposing the development of transgenic chicken at the Project Directorate on Poultry, Hyderabad, the group said developments in biotechnology had raised new concerns about animal welfare.
Punjab, August 25: The Intelligence Bureau on Wednesday stated that “inimical agencies” from “international bases” were trying to revive Sikh militancy in Punjab by forging an alliance between Sikh militant groups and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
“The attempts to revive Sikh militancy using international bases is another worrisome trend,” Director, Intelligence Bureau, Rajiv Mathur said addressing the two-day conference of Director Generals of state police in New Delhi.
Bihar, August 25: Suddenly, Khoonti and Masan River got flooded due to which SP Dr Siddharth and SDM Rajiv Kumar Singh got trapped in Raibari Mahua village in Bagah district of Bihar.
With them, many officers and soldiers have also been mired in the flood.
Tention was spread in Raibari Mahua village in Mahavir Jhanda fair on Tuesday, after which a police force led by SP and SDM reached the village.
Suddenly, Masan River got flooded and the police team got stuck.
New Delhi, August 25: A total of 143 lakh people have been counselled on HIV/AIDS, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said Wednesday.
The minister was speaking at a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee to discuss the third phase of the National AIDS Control Programme (2007-12).
Azad said a significant chunk of the high risk groups such as truckers and migrants had been reached through targeted interventions, bringing down the prevalence of HIV in the southern states.
Bangalore, August 25: A day after Karnataka Home Minister V.S. Acharya said that People’s Democratic Party chief Abdul Nasir Maudany had a hand in the twin blasts at a stadium here in April, the city police chief said Wednesday it has not been proved.
“I would not like to comment on the home minister’s statements,” Bangalore city Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari told reporters here.
“However, Maudany’s role in the stadium explosions has not been proved so far,” he added.
Hyderabad, August 25: Was another upcoming Tollywood actress also involved in the flesh trade racket busted by Task Force sleuths at Kundanbagh two days ago?
Sources told that besides Saira Bhanu and Jyothi, there was another actress whom the decoy had called on mobile. But the actress had been busy elsewhere and refused to come to Kundanbagh that day. “She said she would be available the next day,” sources said.
New Delhi, August 25: Hinting at a new beginning for peace talks in Kashmir, home minister P Chidambaram today hoped a starting point would be found in the next few days to help break the vicious cycle of violence and re-start the process of dialogue.
“We are concerned that we have not been able to stop the vicious cycle in which that state is caught,” he said while inaugurating the three-day conference of directors general and inspectors general of police here.
Uttar Pradesh, August 25: A house collapsed in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district due to heavy rains on Wednesday. A dozen people have been injured.
More than 80 houses have flattened in different parts of the district due to incessant rains lashing the region, police said, adding, some portions on the Delhi-Dehradun national highway has also caved in.
Normal life in Akberpur, Suheta, Masoora, Marawala Jindawala, Gorpur villages has been disrupted due to water logging.
—Agencies
Stockholm, August 25: A Swedish prosecutor opened a formal investigation into a sexual assault charge against controversial Wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange Wednesday.
However, allegations by a second woman of rape by Assange are not being pursued, judicial affairs spokeswoman Eva Finne said.
Sunday an arrest warrant against Assange for the alleged rape was withdrawn. It had been issued last Friday, after two women in Sweden went to police, saying they initially had consensual sex with Assange, which in one case turned into rape and in the other to sexual molestation.
Kolkata, August 25: A bomb hoax led to the evacuation of 1,500 employees and a massive search at a 14-storey building in the IT hub of Rajarhat on the city outskirts on Wednesday.
The hoax was traced to a youth who had been turned down for a job there a few months ago, police said.
An anonymous call reportedly made at Rajarhat police station claimed that the Technopolis building, which houses several IT firms, would be blown up. The caller said the bomb was in the ground floor of the building in Rajarhat in North 24-Parganas district.
Hyderabad, August 25: Political situation continues to be fluid in the State with both the Congress leadership and Kadapa MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy camp showing no signs of battle fatigue.
Rayachoti MLA G Srikanth Reddy shot off a letter to Chief Minister K Rosaiah this afternoon expressing his suspicion that he (Rosaiah) was behind those who were utilising the premises of the Congress Legislature Party to hit out at the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy. He wanted the Chief Minister to come clean.
New Delhi, August 25: A Delhi hospital reported that journalist Nirupama Pathak, who was found dead in her home in Jharkhand April 29, committed suicide and was not murdered.
“We have received a report from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The report says that Nirupama committed suicide and she was not murdered,” a source in the Jharkhand government said.
Nirupama, 23, a Delhi-based scribe, was found dead in her home in Koderma’s Chitragupta Nagar. He mother Sudha Pathak was arrested by police May 3. She was given bail by court Aug 3.
Lucknow, August 25: A fire broke out in the Northern Railway divisional manager’s office on Wednesday, an official said.
“The fire broke out in the divisional railway manager’s office in Hazratganj locality. The police and fire-fighting officials had to get the office evacuated,” Lucknow Chief Fire Officer Rajendra Tiwari told reporters here. No one was injured in the incident.
“With the timely intervention of our officials, the fire was put out within 30-45 minutes. No major loss of property has been reported in the fire,” he said.
New Delhi, August 25: The nuclear liability bill completes our journey to end the apartheid in the nuclear field, said prime minister Manmohan Singh.
“To say that this bill is aimed at advancing US interest is far from truth; and history will be the judge,” said Singh.
“Nuclear power is an option which we simply cannot ignore,” he added.
–Agencies
New Delhi, August 25: One person died of swine flu in the national capital, taking the toll due to the Influenza A (H1N1) virus to 24 in the city, an official said on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old who died was a Delhi resident and had been admitted in Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital, the official added.
Meanwhile, 34 more confirmed cases were reported in the capital Wednesday, out of which 13 are children.
The total number of patients infected by Influenza A (H1N1) virus this year has reached 693, Debashish Bhattacharya, nodal officer for swine flu, told news agency.
New Delhi, August 25: A huge contingent of 495 Indian athletes will compete for 829 medals at the upcoming Commonwealth Games, to be held from October 3-14 here.
These sportspersons would be short-listed by the end of this month from 838 core probables, undergoing training at various SAI and Non-SAI centres.
Core Indian probables, including 353, women in 17+1 (Para-Sports) disciplines have been training under the scheme “Preparations of Indian Teams for CWG 2010”.
New Delhi, August 25: Selling pressure towards the closing hours brought a benchmark index for Indian equities 144 points down from its previous close.
Realty stocks were the hardest hit, while consumer durables, auto, healthcare and metal stocks saw a fair amount of selling.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 18,308.51 points, closed at 18,167.13 points (provisional), 144.46 points or 0.79 percent down from its previous close at 18,311.59 points.
Islamabad, August 25: Al-Qaeda is gradually shifting its base from the unsafe and spy-infested tribal belt of Pakistan to “more secure urban areas of the country” like the port city of Karachi that cannot be targeted by US drones, according to a media report today.
Al-Qaeda had operated in the volatile tribal areas bordering Afghanistan with “near impunity” during 2001-08 “but they are on the move, communicating via couriers and moving stealthily in small groups to urban areas”, a former Western intelligence official was quoted as saying by the Daily Times newspaper.
Sri Lanka, August 25: Continuously facing pressure and lack of experience team India on Wednesday got all out on 223 runs against New Zealand in the tri-series, 6th ODI, Dambulla.
Virender Sehwag slammed 110 in India’s score of 223 all out against New Zealand in their One-day International tri-series cricket match.
Sehwag (93b, 16×4, 1×6) gave India a good start but the Indian middle order once again crumbled with the exception of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who made 38. The rest of the team folded in 46.3 overs, in a must-win game match for India.
Mumbai, August 25: After months of speculation over her relationship with Salman Khan, actress Katrina Kaif has finally broken her silence, saying she is single.
The couple have been dating since the past six years but shied away from talking about their relationship in public.
Katrina’s declaration comes shorty after Salman told a news channel recently that he is not seeing her anymore.
“Yes, I am single. But beyond that I don’t think I need to give too much of details…,” Katrina said here last night after being named the international brand ambassador of Etihad Airways.
New Delhi, August 25: The Plan panel today said the government’s refusal to accord environment clearance to Vedanta’s proposed USD 1.7 billion aluminium project in Orissa would not tarnish India’s image as an investment friendly destination.
“I don’t know much about Vedanta, but yesterday’s development will not undermine India’s image as investment friendly nation,” Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters after inaugurating an exhibition-cum-sale organised by the Central Cottage Industries Corp here.
Washington, August 25: A new solar system have found, the largest ever detected, which is believed to have up to seven planets orbiting a sun-like star 127 light years away from the earth by Astronomers.
The new planetary system contains at least five planets orbiting the sun-like star HD 10180. The researchers also have tantalising evidence that two other planets may be present, one of which would have the lowest mass ever found, Europe’s astronomical observatory centre European Southern Observatory (ESO) has said.
Dambulla (Sri Lanka), August 25: Virender Sehwag slammed a swashbuckling century as India recovered from early jolts to post 223 in their must-win cricket tri-series match against New Zealand here today.
Sehwag (110) notched up his 13th ODI century to give the Indian innings some respectibility after being at a precarious 66 for four at one stage on a tricky pitch at the Rangiri International stadium.
Barring Sehwag, none of the other Indian batsmen could really get going though captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (38) played a good supporting role.