Month: February 2011

Clerics Whip Girl to Death for Illicit Affair

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Dhaka, February 03: 14-year-old girl was whipped to death by clerics for allegedly having an illicit relationship with a married man triggering massive protests across Bangladesh.

The clerics ordered 14-year-old Mosammet Hena to be whipped by 100 lashes in a Fatwah or a religious court at a village in the outskirts of the capital on Tuesday for allegedly carrying on with a married man.

The girl collapsed midway after being lashed 70 times publicly with a bamboo cane and had to be rushed to hospital where she died hours later.

William, Kate love story in a movie

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London, February 03: The love story of Prince William and his bride-to-be Kate Middleton will be immortalised in a new TV movie.

The royal is due to marry his fiancee in April and executives at America’s Lifetime’s network have announced plans to tell the story of their romance on the small screen, reports dailystar.co.uk.

Actress Camilla Luddington, who was born in the same region as Middleton, will play the soon-to-be princess and Nico Evers-Swindell has been cast as William.

The movie is set to premiere around the same time as the royal wedding.
–IANS

Mulayam warns Mayawati of tit-for-tat

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Lucknow, February 03: Alleging that fake cases were being framed against Samajwadi Party workers, party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav today warned UP chief minister Mayawati that she might have to face the same situation in days to come.

“In days to come when Samajwadi Party comes to power we are not going to let off any of the guilty persons and I consider her (Mayawati) guilty,” Yadav who had yesterday visited party leaders and independent MLA from Kunda, Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, lodged in Bareilly jail told newspersons here.

Parents not permitted to visit injured Muslim prisoners

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Hyderabad, February 3: Parents of the injured Muslim prisoners were not permitted by the jail staff to visit them in Cherlapally jail.

It is said that a wave of concern gripped the parents of the prisoners following alleged assault of Muslim prisoners by jail staff which left many Muslim prisoners injured.

The anxious parents on Wednesday reached the jail to visit their sons. Sources said that the parents waited for long but in vain since they were later asked to go away from there, following which parents resorted to protest.

Sohrabuddin killing: CBI moves high court for cops’ voice sample

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Gandhinagar, February 03: The CBI Thursday appealed to the Gujarat High Court against a lower court’s refusal to allow a voice sample test of two accused policemen in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh staged shootout case.

Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Court Judge G.K. Upadhayay Jan 5 set aside a magistrate’s order earlier that allowed the probe agency to conduct a voice sample test of former deputy commissioner of police (crime branch) Abhay Chudasama and policeman N.V. Chauhan.

Mulayam accuses Mayawati of targeting Samajwadi Party

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Lucknow, February 03: Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav Thursday accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati of deliberately targeting his partymen, many of whom were put behind bars on “false charges”.

“Even Independent MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh, who was better known as Raja Bhaiya, has been arrested on trumped up charges simply because of his proximity to my party,” Yadav said, adding: “Others like Shailendra Singh, MP of our party, and Akshay Pratap Singh, MLA, were also booked on false charges for the same reason.”

Miss Universe visits Surajkund crafts fair

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Surajkund (Haryana), February 3:Miss Universe Ximena Navarrete had her first encounter with India’s rich cultural heritage when she visited the Surajkund Crafts Mela (fair) in Haryana’s Faridabad district Thursday.

The Mexican beauty was floored by the rich culture and crafts on display at the fair and checked out hand-crafted sarees and bangles.

On her maiden visit to India, the Miss Universe got ‘mehendi’ (henna tattoo) applied on her hands and even enjoyed grinding a traditional ‘atta chakki’ (traditional flour milling machine).

SRK To Perform Ten Controversies That Rocked India

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Mumbai, February 03: Ekta Kapoor’s Global Indian Film & Television Honours (GIFTH) promises to be the most controversial award function of the year.

Balaji Telefilms, which is hosting the nation’s first joint film and television awards event, will have Shah Rukh Khan performing India’s top 10 controversies of 2010, says a media report.

Wajahat Habibullah takes charge as NCM chairman

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New Delhi, February 3: Former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah today took over as Chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities.
In the government notification it has been stated that K N Daruwala has also been nominated as new member of NCM.
The term for Wajahat Habibullah will be three years.

Habibullah is an IAS officer of 1968 batch. His preceder Mohammed Shafi Qureshi’s term ended in September last year since then the post was vacant.

Siasat news

Call centre employee gangraped in Delhi

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New Delhi, February 3:Delhi Police today filed a charge sheet in the sensational case of rape of a call centre employee from Mizoram by five men.

Police submitted the 65-page charge sheet in a Dwarka court, two months after it made the first arrests in the incident which took place on November 24 in south Delhi’s Dhaula Kuan when the five men allegedly abducted the 30-year-old woman and raped her.

Sanjay Refuses To Do Amrapali Opposite Mallika Sherawat

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Mumbai, February 03: Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt is so conscious of his image that he has point-blank refused to do a film called Amrapali opposite hottie Mallika Sherawat, doing the glam role, says a media report.

The report says, when Sanjay learnt that the makers wanted Mallika to play the role of Amrapali played in the Sixties by Vyjayanthimala, he had second thoughts about the project.

Manmohan, Karzai discuss security of Indians in Afghanistan

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New Delhi, February 3:Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday met Afghan President Hamid Karzai and sought reassurance about the security of nearly 4,000 Indians working in that country as well as progress in the proposed Taliban integration process.

Manmohan Singh met Karzai at his residence here and discussed a wide range of bilateral issues, including India’s developmental assistance and the security of Indians in that country.

Aamir provides platform for Salman-Shahrukh patch up

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Mumbai, February 03: Aamir Khan is not playing peacemaker between arch rivals Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan but he is providing a platform for patch up by bringing them together under one roof. It is said that he has invited both the actors to the wedding reception he is hosting for his nephew Imran Khan and his wife Avantika Malik.

Yeddyurappa will resign if case is made out, says Rajnath

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Bangalore, February 3:Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa will quit if a ‘prima facie’ (at first view) case is made out on corruption and illegal land deal charges against him, former BJP president Rajnath Singh said Thursday.

“He will quit if prima facie case is made out, no need to tell him to,” Singh told reporters here.

Singh said there was no need for Yeddyurappa to quit now as no case has been made out.

‘No turmoil expected if Mubarak resigns’

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Cairo, February 03: The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s main opposition group, has rejected speculations that the country will be put in turmoil if President Hosni Mubarak steps down.

“Some people think if the president leaves the country, there will be turmoil. That’s not correct. Because according to the Constitution, chief of Egypt’s Supreme Court can replace the president. Besides, the interim government can handle the affairs until parliamentary, presidential and city council elections are held,” a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, Jamal Nassar, told Media.

Raja, 2 others remanded to CBI custody for 5 days

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New delhi, February 3:The CBI on Thursday accused former Telecom Minister A. Raja of causing a loss of Rs 22,000 crore to the exchequer by favouring some telecom firms in award of the 2G spectrum licences and demanded his custody for five days, which a city court granted.

Mr. Raja, former Telecom Secretary Siddartha Behura and Raja’s former Personal Secretary R.K.Chandolia, were produced before Special CBI Judge O.P. Saini a day after they were arrested in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

‘Islamic ME on threshold of formation’

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Cairo, February 03: Amid the ongoing popular revolution in Egypt, an Iranian lawmaker says an “Islamic Middle East” is set to be established which will bring another failure to arrogant powers.

“Enemies of Islam were making efforts to establish a new Middle East planned by the occupying Israel. God willing, an Islamic Middle East is going to be formed, an issue which will be another failure for them,” IRNA quoted Ahmad Lotfi as saying on Thursday.

Nagendar gets uneasy over CM’s Hindu terrorism remarks; whispers to interrupt CM’s speech

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Hyderabad, February 3: State Labour minister D Nagendar who represents Khairiatabad constituency felt uneasiness when Chief Minister mentioned Hindu terrorism during his speech at a public meeting conducted at Barkas. When chief minister was realistically speaking at the public meeting D Nagendar could not refrain himself from interrupting chief minister when he mentioned Hindu terrorism and interrupted him consequently chief minister had to change the topic and he remained silent for a moment.

Pakistan policeman with Al Qaeda link on VIP security

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Islamabad, February 03: A policeman assigned to protect top Pakistani politicians, including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, is linked to Al Qaeda, a media report said Thursday.The Express Tribune newspaper said the unnamed policeman belonged to an elite force assigned for VIP security.

It said he managed to get recruited in the police force of Punjab province on the basis of a forged domicile.

He was earlier suspended and interrogated by intelligence agencies for his links with the Al Qaeda, the paper said.

Iran ‘upgrading smart bomb Qassed’

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Tehran, February 03: A top Iranian Air Force commander has announced that the Islamic Republic of Iran has upgraded its smart bomb, named Qassed-3 (messenger), with a longer range.

“The precision tools of the Qassed-3 smart bomb and its operational range have been extended to hit targets precisely,” Deputy Commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh said on Thursday.

Arab world gears up for domino effect

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Cairo, February 03: The United States is extremely concerned that the possible ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will lead to the fall of other Arab leaders all over the region, an analyst says.

“America is petrified that if Mubarak falls, dominos will just tumble all over the oil-rich region,” former Middle East correspondent for the Times, Christopher Walker said in an interview with Media.

Mubarak vigilantes attack people, press

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Cairo, February 03: Pro-Mubarak vigilantes have intensified their attacks against protesters and journalists as the nation braces for another mass rally on the “day of departure” for Egyptian tyrant on Friday.

Pro-government plain-clothed police shot protesters in the Egyptian capital city, Cairo, on the 10th day of revolution protests in the North African country, a Media correspondent in Cairo reported.

Blast kills 2, injures 3 in Iraqi capital

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Baghdad, February 03: A roadside bomb explosion has killed two civilians and injured three other people in the eastern Iraqi capital, Baghdad, police and health officials say.

The bomb, planted on a highway in al-Jadida district in the eastern New Baghdad area, went off at around 8:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Two of the injured are traffic policemen, officials told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The attack is the latest in a new spate of deadly bombings that have claimed dozens of lives across war-torn Iraq over the recent weeks.

Pakistan military bombs Afghanistan

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Kabul, February 03: Pakistani forces have bombarded residential areas and police checkpoints in eastern Afghanistan one day after Afghan and Pakistani troops exchanged fire across border, a top Afghan official says.

Major General Aminullah Amarkhel, commander of first zone of border force in eastern Afghanistan, said Pakistani jets targeted the areas in Gushte district in Nangarhar province on Thursday, a Media correspondent reported.

Iranian cleric lauds Egypt revolution

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Tehran, February 03: Iranian Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi has lauded the popular revolution in Egypt as a “valiant” attempt for justice, freedom and true independence.

In a message released on Thursday, Ayatollah Makarem said that popular movements, including the Egypt revolution, marked the end of “a dark era of dictatorship,” IRIB reported.

The valiant fervent uprising of the Egyptian people against a dictatorship which is dependent on the West and stands by Israel is an indication of the Egyptian nation’s social, political and religious genius, he added.