Tehran, March 29: The second International Nowruz Celebrations has wrapped up in Iran with a declaration of peace, justice and compassion for the people of the world.
The festivities were held at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on March 27, hosting top officials from Persian-speaking countries.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attended the event, along with his counterparts from Tajikistan, Armenia, Iraq, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.
Sanaa, March 29: Abdullah Saleh amid rising anti-government protests in the country.
In a statement on Monday, Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar vowed to protect protesters and demanded that Saleh steps down peacefully in order to avoid further bloodshed.
Ahmar, who is the former head of the northwestern military zone, quit in protest at the March 18 shootings that left 52 protesters dead outside Sana’a University in the capital and joined the country’s revolution.
Tehran, March 29: The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the Iranian nation has enraged global powers with its resistance and resilience.
“[Iran’s enemies] have been trying to show their anger for 30 years but they have failed because of the Iranian nation’s resolve,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in the southern city of Asalouyeh on Monday.
The Leader visited the oil, gas and petrochemical production and development projects in the South Pars gas field.
Bangkok, March 28: German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen says the country should shut its nuclear power plants sooner than planned, after the ruling Christian Democrats (CDU) suffered an election defeat.
Roettgen said on Monday that the CDU defeat in the southwestern state of Baden-Wurttemberg shows that the public wants the plants to be scrapped more quickly.
“We have to now show that we can get away from nuclear energy faster and that the switch to renewable energy is possible,” Reuters quoted Roettgen as saying.
Manama, March 29: Bahraini government’s crackdown on protesters, a former opposition lawmaker says.
“We have around 250 confirmed arrested and 44 who are missing, though that number fluctuates when people reappear after hiding from police,” Ibrahim Mattar told Reuters on Monday.
Mattar, who is from the largest opposition group al-Wefaq, added that many Bahrainis are being arrested at checkpoints or in house raids.
Most of those who were detained or went missing were not activists, he noted.
Tripoli, March 29: NATO forces have stepped up bombarding Libyan government targets but deny helping anti-government forces’ push forward, a report says.
Coalition warplanes took advantage as darkness fell on Monday and bombed Libyan regime’s targets on the central coast and in the west in an effort to help the advancing anti-regime forces toward Sirte — the hometown of ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
But US officials have denied that the military action was intended directly to help the anti-regime forces’ advance, AFP reported.
New Delhi, March 28: The government on Monday hinted that petrol and diesel prices are unlikely to be hiked in haste, even though global crude oil prices continue to rule at the uncomfortable level of USD 110 a barrel. State-run Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum currently sell petrol, a commodity which the government freed from its control in June 2010, at a discount of about Rs 4.50 a litre to its imported cost.
Diesel, whose price is still controlled by the government, is sold at a loss of Rs 15.79 a litre or Rs 283 crore per day.
Hyderabad, March 28: The Andhra Pradesh Assembly tonight passed a bill to amend the Lokayukta Act for bringing elected representatives of all local bodies as well as government officers of certain ranks under its purview for trying charges of corruption.
Bhopal, March 28: Bhartiya Janshakti Party chief Uma Bharti will meet Swami Aseemanand, prime accused in several bomb blast cases, in Ajmer jail tomorrow.
Bharti left for Ajmer after receiving a verbal assurance from the jail authorities that she will be allowed to meet him, a release issued by her office said.
She said she will abide by rules while meeting Aseemanand.
–Agencies
Guwahati, March 28: Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today pleaded the people of the country not to mix sports with politics ahead of World Cup semi-final clash between India and Pakistan.
Asked to comment on the visit of Pakistan Prime Minister to watch the match in Mohali on March 30 along with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Mukherjee told reporters here that “let us not mix sports with politics”.
Bangalore, March 28: Lok ayukta police today said it could commence its probe straightaway into a private complaint against chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and his family members for their alleged involvement in land and illegal mining scams.
“According to our chief of legal cell whose views had been sought for filing an FIR in this case, there is no need to file an FIR at all. Investigation in this case can commence straightaway”, additional director general of police (ADGP) Rupak Kumar Dutta said.
Jaipur, March 28: The Rajasthan High Court today came down heavily on the state police and its chief on the handling of a double-murder case likening them to the ‘nawabs’ of the Satyajit Ray movie ‘Shatranj Ke Khiladi’ who kept on playing chess while the country was taken over by Britishers.
The court while handing over to the CBI the case of killing of an advocate and his brother in broad daylight in Bharatpur noted that police had failed to arrest the five history sheeters named as accused even after almost a year.
–Agencies
Mumbai, March 28: Terrorism should not be tagged to any particular religion, senior Bharatiya Janta Party leader LK Advani said in Mumbai Monday.
“Terrorism in India began from Punjab and was managed by the neighbouring country,” he told reporters at a media event.
People to people contact between India and Pakistan is all right but there should be a zero tolerance for terrorism from across the border, Advani said.
Hyderabad, March 28: Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu has demanded that the Union Government immediately reveal names of persons and politicians, who allegedly have links with hawala dealer Hasan Ali, currently facing a probe by the Enforcement Directorate.
Reacting to reports that Hasan Ali, who amassed thousands of crores of illegal wealth, had links with some top politicians of Andhra Pradesh, including a former Chief Minister, he said the Centre should publicise the names.
Visakhapatnam, March 28: Two Maoists including a Divisional Committee Member (DCM) surrendered before the police on Monday.
P Paramaseswra Rao and B Jagga Rao surrendered before the Superintendent of Police of Visakhapatnam District (Rural).
SP Vineet Brijlal told reporters that DCM member P Paramaseswra Rao alias Sankar, Papanna and Viswnadh Nandu have worked in several dalams including Tanadava, Sabari, Kalimela, Galiknoda for the last 26 years.
New Delhi, March 28: RSS on Monday said Hindutva was the “sheet anchor” of its ideological movement and sought to put to rest the criticism targeted at senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley over a WikiLeaks cable that claimed he had described as “opportunistic” his party’s approach to the issue.
“I think the BJP leadership has also clarified about their ideological position. As far as we are concerned, Hindutva is the sheet anchor of our ideological movement,” senior RSS leader Ram Madhav said here.
He was replying to questions on RSS’ view on the claim made in the WikiLeaks cable.
Mohali, March 28: Pakistan`s experienced spinner Saeed Ajmal feels the high-voltage India-Pakistan semifinal match would be a battle between their in-form bowling attack and the hosts much-heralded batting line-up.
Ajmal, who has featured in only two of Pakistan`s seven matches in the World Cup, said his team has specific plans for Indian batsmen.
“We`ve got a few plans up our sleeves. I see the match as a battle between our bowling lineup and their batting lineup. We know that our bowling is our strong suit and their batting is their stronger suit,” Ajmal told a cricket website.
Cairo, March 28: Ousted president Hosni Mubarak and his family are under house arrest, Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said on its website on Monday, denying that the former leader had fled to Saudi Arabia.
“There is no truth to reports that former president Hosni Mubarak has left Egypt for Tabuk in Saudi Arabia,” the country’s military rulers said in a statement on Facebook.
“He is under house arrest, with his family, in Egypt,” it said.
New Delhi, March 28: Janata Party Chief Subramanian Swamy Monday informed a Delhi court that he has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking sanction for prosecuting Home Minister P. Chidambaram in the 2G specturm allocation scam.
Appearing before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge O.P. Saini on the direction of District Judge Pratibha Rani, Swamy also sought that along with former telecom minister A. Raja, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi should also be made an accused in the case.
Banda (UP), March 28: A local court today rejected bail plea of one of the accused of the dalit girl rape case involving BSP MLA Purshottam Naresh Dwivedi.
Additional and Sessions Judge P N Mishra rejected the bail plea of Rajedra Shukla.
The 17-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped by BSP MLA Dwivedi, Shukla, Suresh Neta and Ravan Garg on January.
All the accused are currently in jail.
—pti
Gandhinagar, March 28: In a development in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh staged shootout case, the CBI court in Ahmedabad has issued notice to the Sabarmati Central Jail authorities on an application of a suspended accused cop who has apprehended threat to his life in jail.
Abdul Rehman Sheikh, a suspended police inspector, who is one of the accused policemen from Rajasthan in the case, claimed that a suspended police officer who is also a co-accused in the case has been threatening him inside the Sabarmati jail.
Mumbai, March 28: The Congress may call it a “holistic” approach towards friendly relations with Pakistan, but Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has flayed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for inviting his Pakistani counterpart to the March 30 World Cup cricket semifinal match.
“Why should injustice be done to Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru? They should also be invited to the match,” the Sena chief said in a hard-hitting editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.
“Instead of adopting a harsh stance against the enemy country, Singh is laying down the carpet,” Thackeray said.
Chandigarh, March 28: A Mohali-based software engineer was today arrested for black-marketing the tickets of the high-octane cricket World Cup semifinal between India and Pakistan, police said.
The cyber cell of the city police found the accused, identified as Mandeep Singh Bhangu (27), selling the Rs 250 ticket at a whopping price of Rs 30,000 through online shopping website E-bay.com, police said in a statement.
Bhangu was offering five tickets of Rs. 250 each at an exaggerated price which was around 100 times more than the actual price of the ticket, the police said.
Mumbai, March 28: The Shiv Sena Monday demanded that the traditional ballot paper voting be implemented instead of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) for the 2012 elections to Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and 10 other civic bodies in the state.
A delegation of party leaders met State Election Commissioner Neela Satyanarayan and made a formal demand for the use of ballot paper in the elections.
The Sena delegation met Satyanarayan following a similar demand voiced by party chief Bal Thackeray in party mouthpiece Saamna.
New Delhi, March 28: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani will meet over dinner on the margins of the World Cup semi-final match between their two cricket teams in Mohali on Wednesday.
PMO sources said Singh will host a dinner meeting for the visiting dignitary at the stadium itself.
While officials here are refusing to tag the meeting as “formal”, the two leaders are expected to discuss bilateral issues. Gilani will join Singh to watch the Indo-Pak cricket match.