Washington, April 29: The death toll in Libya after more than two months of violence could reach as high as 30,000, an Obama administration official said on Wednesday.
Gene Cretz, the US ambassador to Libya, said it is very hard to gauge how many people have died in strongman Moammar Gaddafi’s crackdown on protesters and the subsequent fighting between rebels and pro-government forces.
Sanaa, April 29: Yemeni security forces have opened fire on a massive anti-Government demonstration in the capital Sanaa, killing 12 protesters and wounding some 190, a doctor at the scene said.
Wednesday’s violence broke out as about 1,00,000 Government opponents filled a landmark square at the epicenter of the uprising, spilling into the streets around the state TV building. Witnesses said security forces, including members of the elite Republican Guard, fired live ammunition and tear gas into the crowd to break it up. Snipers were seen on nearby rooftops aiming at the crowd.
Kochi, April 29: Commander Naveen Thapa, a Sea king pilot of the Indian Navy, might not have been thinking of the heroism behind his act when he was flying that dangerous mission through gale force winds and low visibility on August 30 last year to rescue five crew members of a submarine who were washed overboard in rough seas. His flying skills and courage had resulted in the rescue of five Navy personnel.
Bangalore, April 29: Veteran BJP leader LK Advani on Thursday said party leaders should be above board and must not provide the Opposition an occasion to point fingers at them. He also added that no leader, regardless of the position he held, was above the party.
Inaugurating the party’s new office here, Advani said, “I feel that the BJP and BJP workers have a big responsibility on them that in the present situation our conduct should always be above board, absolutely above board. No one should be able to say that here I am committing wrong”.
New Delhi, April 29: Ambedkar Nagar district, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s bastion, has the dubious distinction of cradling a large number of malnourished Dalit children, according to a survey by CRY.
In fact, Delhi — which boasts a high per capita income — and Madhya Pradesh too were also found wanting in ensuring nutritive food for children, particularly those living in slums and tribal areas, respectively, in the two States.
New Delhi, April 29: A Supreme Court Bench on Thursday recused itself from hearing Sikkim High Court Chief Justice PD Dinakaran’s plea seeking stay of pre-impeachment probe by a Rajya Sabha-appointed committee into allegations of misconduct and corruption against him.
Justices DK Jain and HL Dattu did not give any reason for recusing themselves. “It will go before another Bench in the mentioning list for tomorrow,” the Bench noted.
New Delhi, April 29: A fresh petition was submitted before a special court on Thursday in connection with the 2G spectrum.
Private applicant Dharmender Panday submitted that Nira Radia and Ratan Tata should be made accused and not witness. He noted, “The CBI had overlooked the role of Nira Radia and Tata in the granting of the licence to Tata Teleservices in terms of clear violation of policy and procedure.”
Special CBI Judge OP Saini posted the matter for further hearing on May 2.
New Delhi: With just 15 days left in the Judgment of Tamil Nadu assembly elections and amid various poll predictions, the political temperature of the state seems high. All election surveys point towards the possibility of a coalition government or a fractured mandate or a hung assembly.
Like general voters, no body exactly knows who the Muslim electorate favored on 13 of this month, although each alliance, led by DMK and AIDMK, claims to have got their votes.
New Delhi, April 29: The Army on Thursday ordered a probe into the “leakage” of documents related to the age of Chief of Army Staff General VK Singh, an issue which has generated a lot of controversy in the media.
Sources declined to give the designation of the official who would conduct the inquiry nor whether any time-frame has been set up but it is understood that it would be done by an officer of the rank of Major General.
Bhopal, April 29: Madhya Pradesh is the only State in the country, which has linked MGNREGA, Treasury, Food Coupon, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the like with Unique Identity Number (UID) card. Over four lakh registrations have been made in the State and 1.61 lakh cards have been distributed.
Ahmedabad, April 29: More trouble is brewing for Gujarat’s IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt who has approached the Supreme Court with his controversial claim that Chief Minister Narendra Modi had instructed policemen to ‘allow Hindus to vent their anger’ after 58 kar sewaks were killed in the train inferno at Godhra on Feb 27, 2002.
The Nanavati Commission probing the Godhra train fire and the riots thereafter has already summoned Bhatt to testify before it on May 16, while a hearing on his affidavit is pending in the Supreme Court.
New Delhi, April 29: The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled out prosecution of government doctors engaged in private practice under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) or any other criminal law.
A bench of Justices Markandeya Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra in a judgement quashed the FIR registered against two Punjab government doctors by the state government for
allegedly indulging in private practice despite service rules prohibiting it.
Hyderabad, April 29: Did YS Jagan Moahn Reddy walk into the Congress’ trap when he said he would not have any objection to having an alliance with the BJP provided it would give 10 per cent reservation to Muslims across the country?
According to observers, just a few days ahead of polling in the Kadapa district, Jagan Mohan Reddy’s statement was politically thoughtless as it gave an indication that he was, in principle, not against allying with the BJP.
Washington, April 29: A noted US expert on South Asian affairs said that in last one year there have been enough indications that Islamabad is not on board with the US on Afghanistan. This statement came amidst a statement by the White House reiterating that Pakistan remains its ally in the war against terrorism.
“There have been enough indications over the last year that Pakistan is not on board with the US strategy in Afghanistan. This should be no surprise to anyone,” Lisa Curtis of the Heritage Foundation, said.
New Delhi, April 29: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Communications Minister Kapil Sibal were one in saying “the draft report of the Public Accounts Committee on the 2G matter stands rejected.” For, a clear majority on the PAC — 11 of 21 — had in writing said the report was rejected by them.
Meeting journalists by chance in the corridors of Parliament House, Mr. Sibal said: “There is no PAC report now, only a Joshi report, which has become a faulty report.”
Chicago, April 29: India can become economically developed by 2020 if it maintains a GDP of 10-11 per cent as there are nine more years to achieve ‘Vision 2020’ goals, former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said.
“We have nine more years for 2020 and if we maintain 10-11 percent GDP we will be economically developed,” he said before a gathering of prominent Indian businessmen and social leaders at Indian Consulate here.
New Delhi, April 29: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved a Rs 7000-crore project for cleaning of River Ganga to be implemented by the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA).
The share of central government will be Rs 5,100 crore and that of the state governments of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal will be Rs 1,900 crore.
The World Bank has agreed in-principle to provide a loan assistance of USD one billion (approx Rs 4,600 crore) for the NGRBA project which will form part of the central share of the project.
New Delhi, April 29: US Ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer, during whose tenure President Barack Obama made a historic visit and took India-US ties to greater heights, Thursday announced he was quitting his job for “family considerations”.
New Delhi, April 29: Some 600 Air India pilots continued with their strike for the second day Thursday, despite a court’s stay order, leaving passengers fuming due to cancellation of another 60 flights as conciliatory talks with the management failed.
As per information made available from airports across the country, bulk of the flights that were cancelled Thursday were mainly scheduled out of the capital and Mumbai. Some 50 flights were either cancelled or re-scheduled the previous day.
New Delhi, April 29: A meeting of parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting turned ugly Thursday with panel chief Murli Manohar Joshi walking out in anger and members of the ruling combine replacing him with Saifuddin Soz to move a resolution rejecting the draft report on the 2G spectrum case.
Hyderabad, April 29: As part of its drive to remove illegal encroachments, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) on Thursday demolished unauthorised structures on HMDA land in Banjara Hills, adjoining the Sri Venkateswara Co-operative Housing Society.
The team comprising executive engineer, estate officers, deputy superintendent of police (Enforcement), other HMDA officers and local police removed encroachments and fencing was erected around the land boundary. HMDA officials said legal action will be initiated against encroachers.
Dubai, April 29: A UAE court hearing an appeal filed by 17 Indians sentenced to death for murdering a Pakistani man on Thursday adjourned the case till May 19 and asked the defendants and the victim’s kin to reach a settlement by that date on the ‘blood money’.
Lawyers and members of Indian community handling the case said they will make all efforts to reach a settlement in the given time.
On March 28 last year, the Sharjah Court of First Instance had pronounced the death sentence on 17 Indian nationals, who were accused of killing Pakistani national Misri Khan in January, 2009.
New Delhi, April 29: A Supreme Court bench Thursday recused itself from hearing Sikkim High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran’s plea seeking stay of pre-impeachment probe by a Rajya Sabha-appointed committee into allegations of misconduct and corruption against him.
A bench comprising justices D K Jain and HL Dattu did not give any reason for recusing itself from hearing the matter.
“It will go before another bench in the mentioning list for tomorrow,” the bench said.
New Delhi, April 29: In explosive revelations, Purulia arms drops case prime accused Kim Davy has named jailed Bihar strong man as the Member of Parliament who helped him escape from India.
Davy, who is known by many aliases, had played an active role in the infamous incident in which large consignment of arms, including several hundred AK-47 rifles, and ammunition were dropped from a Latvian aircraft on the night of December 17, 1995 in West Bengal’s Purulia district.
Muzaffarabad, April 29: An explosion at an army camp in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir has killed a Pakistani soldier and injured five others, a Pakistani official says.
Local administration chief Fareed Ahmed confirmed the incident early Friday, saying that the blast occurred around midnight (1900 GMT).
The investigating team has found one body, while five injured soldiers have been transferred to a local hospital, he noted.