Month: June 2011

Cario, June 29: Overnight clashes in the Egyptian capital of Cairo have left over 1,000 people injured as the scuffles between security forces and protesters enter a second day.

New clashes broke out on Wednesday morning in central Cairo as riot police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters who demand the execution of the country’s former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly.

Police in riot gear were deployed near the interior ministry building around the Libration Square, which was the scene on clashes on Tuesday as well, AFP reported.

Dehra Dun, June 29: Congress MLA Kishor Upadhyay, who was evicted from the official residence alloted to him as a minister during the previous regime, today accused the the Uttarakhand government of deliberately harassing him.

Upadhyay claimed that he is being harassed because he and his party are bringing embarrassment to the state government by raising the issues of rampant corruption.

The MLA accused Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and several other BJP MLAs of illegally occupying official premises and wondered as to why similar action is not initiated against them.

New Delhi, June 29: Gandhian Anna Hazare is expected to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi here on Thursday to seek her support on the Jan Lokpal Bill.

Reacting to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s comments that he is ready to come under the purview of the Lokpal, Hazare today said Dr. Manmohan Singh should try to convince his Cabinet colleagues on the including the office of the Prime Minister under the Lokpal Bill ambit.

Chaibasa, June 29: Three Maoist training camps were busted in Saranda forest of the state and huge quantity of explosives seized during a special drive being conducted in the area since Sunday.

About two and a half quintals (250 kilograms) of explosives, including live cartridges, two air-guns, material for making 200 uniforms for Maoist cadres were recovered after the camps were destroyed during the special drive in Saranda, famous for being Asia”s largest Sal Forest, in West Singhbhum district, DIG (Kolhan) Navin Kumar Singh today.

Srinagar, June 29: Lashing out at the UPA government for the rise in price of diesel, LPG and kerosene oil, BSP today described the latest hike as a death trap for common man.

“UPA government has stabbed common man in the back. The price rise is a death trap for the common man,” BSP National General Secretary Narinder Kashyap told reporters here.

Demanding roll back of the prices, he accused the UPA government of deceiving the ”aam admi”.

Earlier, BSP workers took out a protest rally here demanding roll back of the prices and raised slogans against the Centre.

Thiruvananthapuram, June 29: Twenty students affiliated to the two Communist parties and 15 policemen were injured in clashes here Wednesday during protests against the Kerala government’s policy regarding admission to private medical colleges.

Students took on the police outside the state secretariat. When the police caned them, they retreated into the compound of University College, a stone’s throw distance away.

From inside the campus, the students pelted stones. This irked the police who used tear gas and entered the campus.

Lucknow, June 29: Samajwadi Party today slammed the Mayawati government for issuing suspension and dismissal threats to honest officials in the name of improving law and order in the state and said it would not serve any purpose.

At a press conference here, state SP chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the state government has proved itself to be a failure on all fronts.

“Frustrated over its failure, the government is now threatening honest officials with dismissal, suspension and adverse entry in their character roll,” Yadav said.

Kurukshetra, June 29: A couple was today arrested for allegedly burning a 55-year-old woman to death for tilling a land occupied by them in Guldera village of this district.

Sukhwinder Singh and his wife were arrested and produced in the court which remanded them in police custody for two days, police said.

Sukhwinder along with his wife, son, daughter and three others allegedly poured kerosene over Dhanpati Devi and set her on fire last week after the latter won a four acre panchayat land in an auction and had gone to the fields to take possession of the land.

London, June 29: Malaysia Airlines has banned babies from first-class cabins after wealthy passengers complained they were not able to sleep peacefully during their flights, a media report said.

The airline – which operates out of Kuala Lumpur – imposed the baby ban on the first-class cabins of its Boeing 747 jumbo jets, the Daily Mail reported.

Tengku Azmil, Malaysia Airlines chief executive officer and managing director, said he imposed the ban after the company received complaints from “well-to-do” passengers whose sleep had been disturbed by screaming children.

Kolkata, June 29: Welcoming the Supreme Court’s interim order on the Singur land case, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said the apex court did not stop land survey and the “process of distribution of land”.

“We welcome the Supreme court order. It will go in favour of the farmers and in favour of the people,” she told reporters commenting on the apex court order.

Hyderabad, June 29: Badminton star couples Gutta Jwala and Chetan Anand were given legal separation at last. The Hyderabad Family Court has granted divorce to them on Wednesday. The two who were living separately due to differences have applied for divorce six months ago. Now they are legally separated.

New Delhi, June 29: Opposition JD-U today saw nothing significant in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh”s interaction with editors and took a jibe at him saying that the one who is offered the crown cannot govern.

“One who is offered the crown cannot really govern. He (Prime Minister) spoke today because he was told in the Congress Working Committee meeting to do so. You cannot turn chalk into cheese,” party President Sharad Yadav said when asked to comment on Prime Minister”s media interaction with a group of senior editors today.

Washington, June 29: Use of vitamin D supplements during pregnancy is safe and effective for healthy women, says a new study.

Even at the highest dosage, vitamin D was found to have no adverse effects in such women or their newborns.

The team led by Bruce Hollis from the Medical University of South Carolina, used a randomized trial with healthy expectant mothers to discover how varying dosages of daily supplements could safely sustain a circulating vitamin D level.

Riyadh, June 29: Saudi Arabia has issued a fresh warning to its private sector to adhere to new rules just announced by the government to find jobs for its growing citizens, saying those who fail to do so could be forced out of the market.

The ministry of labour also warned the more than 300,000 companies covered in the Gulf Kingdom’s most aggressive job Saudization programme that it would not tolerate any attempts to maneuver or circumvent the rules by offering Saudis low-paid jobs in a bid to dissuade them from accepting work.

Hyderabad, June 29: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao Wednesday warned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that ‘Telangana will burn’ if he fails to implement his promise of carving out a separate Telangana state.

The Mahabubnagar MP said people of Telangana will not tolerate it if the prime minister further delays a decision on the issue.

Mumbai, June 29: Imran Khan, who has roped in uncle Aamir Khan as an item boy for his upcoming adult comedy `Delhi Belly`, feels that men in the industry can give good competition to `Munnis` and `Sheilas`.

The five-films old actor says he is looking forward to do an item number provided it is funny.

“It`s inevitable and had to happen. Why should girls have all the fun? If given a chance, I will also do an item number but it should be hilarious and should make the audience tap their feet just like `Munni Badnam`,” Imran told reporters.

Mumbai, June 29: Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra has denied signing a film based on Chetan Bhagat’s book ‘2 States: The Story of My Marriage’, which is said to feature superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

“I am not in discussion with anyone regarding `2 States`. There is a great team involved, including Shah Rukh Khan, Sajid Nadiadwala and Vishal Bharadwaj and I definitely look forward to working with them at some point in the future,” Priyanka told reporters.

Manama, June 29: In a weird incident took place in Alkhubar town of Saudi Arabia a 38 year old mother who was declared brain dead by the doctors 4 months ago delivered a healthy baby. According to Saad hospital the baby was born 28 weeks two days after conception and is quite healthy. Newborn’s mother was brought to the hospital 4 months ago in a very critical condition. She was pregnant and was being administered food and necessary medicines through artificial means.

New Delhi, June 29: Former top cop Kiran Bedi and activist Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday met leaders of the Left in an ongoing effort to garner support for the civil society’s draft of the Lokpal Bill.

“Arvind and I met Mr Karat (Prakash Karat) of Left parties. They are for inclusion of prime minister and bureaucracy below JS (joint secretary) ranks (in the Lokpal Bill) and to cover the common man bribery issues,” Bedi tweeted on Wednesday morning.

Hyderabad, June 29: Alleging that Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao raised objections to the Metro Rail project because he was denied illegal funds, Labour Minister Danam Nagender on Wednesday said that the state government is not shying away from clarifying any doubts before an all party delegation.

Talking to media persons at the Secretariat, Mr Nagender said that the government was just ready to face an all-party meeting to clarify on any point on the Metro Rail project.

Tehran, June 29: Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he will keep silent on accusations leveled against the Cabinet, stressing the Iranian government will continue cooperation with the Parliament (Majlis).

Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet session on Wednesday, President Ahmadinejad emphasized that he “will fulfill his legal duties and raise issues with the Iranian people in case of continuation of pressure and accusations.”

“I am duty-bound to defend the Cabinet and the Cabinet is our red line. We intend to still keep silent,” he added.

Kuwait City, June 29: Three men went to an apartment in Kuwait and rang the bell. When a boy opened the door, they jumped on him, bundled him in their car and fled to a deserted area where they took turns in raping him.

“The boy said he knows the three and gave police their names and descriptions,” the Arabic language daily Alwatan said on Wednesday,.

It said the three left the boy in that area after raping him but it did not identify him or specify his age.

–Agencies

Bahrain, June 29: Speaker of the Bahraini Parliament and Chairman of the National Dialogue Khalifa bin Ahmad Al-Dhahrani said Tuesday the agenda of dialogue covered all issues of national concern without any exception.

“All views and issues that have been submitted by all invitees from the political associations, civil society institutions, public figures and the media will be listed in the agenda and categorized based on the themes (political, economic, social, and legal),” he told reporters here.

Libya, June 29: A NATO warplane has targeted a market in the Libyan town of Tawragha, leaving at least eight civilians dead and several others wounded.

Some of the injured are in critical condition, Xinhua reported on Wednesday, citing a local news agency.

NATO carried out the airstrike on Tawragha, 300 km east of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on Tuesday amid reports that NATO warplanes were hovering over Tajura, another town 20 km east of Tripoli on the same day.

Tehran, June 29: A high-ranking Iranian military commander says Russian technicians have visited the wreckage of several US drone aircraft downed over the Persian Gulf.

The Commander of the Aerospace Division of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, told reporters on Tuesday that a team of Russian military experts has recently paid a visit to Iran in order to study the remains of US manufactured drones, Fars news agency reported.