Month: July 2011

New Delhi, July 07: Terming as “long overdue” the resignation of Textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran, BJP on Thursday demanded that Home Minister P Chidambaram should also quit on the 2G issue alleging the scam took place as the Finance Ministry then headed by him changed its stand on spectrum allocation.

“P Chidambaram should resign. We have already demanded this as the 2G spectrum scam could not have occurred had the Finance Ministry (then headed by him) not changed its stand on the issue of auctioning radiowaves,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said today.

Washington, July 07: A worried American President, Barack Obama, on Wednesday hinted a ”second recession, or worst” if the Congress failed to approve the US debt ceiling raising. He was speaking during the first Twitter Town Hall.

The government exceeded the current debt ceiling of $14.29 trillion in May, but the Treasury Department implemented special measures delaying the date of a potential default until Aug 2.

Guwahati, July 07: Social activist Swami Agnivesh Thursday said the whole of India will support the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government if a ‘strong draft’ of the Lokpal bill is placed before parliament in August.

‘I am hopeful the government would place a strong draft of the Lokpal bill in parliament in the first week of August and if they do so, not only the entire Anna Hazare team, but the whole of India would support and praise the UPA government,’ Swami Agnivesh told journalists here.

New Delhi, July 07: A well known amateur radio operator, Dayanidhi Maran joins a growing list of top politicians and corporate honchos to be felled by the 2G spectrum scam in which DMK was further dealt a body blow with its two leaders already behind bars.

Maran is the second union minister to resign after his party colleague A Raja quit as Telecom minister in November last in connection with the scam. Raja is lodged in Tihar jail which also had DMK supremo Karunanidh’s daughter Kanimozhi, a Rajya Sabha MP, among the prison inmates for their alleged involvement.

Tehran, July 07: Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi has reiterated Iran’s readiness to provide war-torn Iraq with more assistance for its reconstruction projects.

On Thursday, in a meeting with former Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, Rahimi stressed the importance of adopting major measures to reconstruct Iraq and improve welfare in the Arab country.

He also said that Iran and Iraq enjoy great potentials which should be used to improve mutual relations, IRNA reported.

Brazil, July 07: Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff’s government has seen its second minister quit in a month amid a scandal over an alleged bribery scheme.

Alfredo Nascimento quit his post as Brazil’s transportation minister on Wednesday in the wake of an article in Veja news magazine which reported that the minister’s top aides were taking kickbacks and charging companies a five-percent fee in return for infrastructure and transport projects, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Manila, July 07: Up to 140,000 Philippine workers could lose their jobs in Saudi Arabia due to a domestic helper ban and a programme to compel firms to employ more locals, the Filipino labour minister said Thursday.

Between 20,000-50,000 Filipino domestic workers in the kingdom could be hit by Saudi Arabia’s decision announced last month to stop granting work permits to Philippine and Indonesian maids, Labour Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said.

Hyderabad, July 7 (INN): Zahirabad MP Suresh Kumar Shetkar on Thursday took serious objection to Congress MP Ponnam Prabhakar’s words that the Congress would be looked as the ‘prime accused’ in the event the Centre fails to announce Telangana.

Talking to media persons on Assembly Premises, the MP said that Mr Prabhakar’s comments against the Congress High Command would send wrong signals and divert the attention from the issue.

Gaza, July 07: Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman says Tel Aviv will never apologize to Turkey for its 2010 attack on a Gaza-bound international aid flotilla that killed nine Turkish nationals and injured 50 others.

“As far as we are concerned, there is no reason to apologize,” said Lieberman on Wednesday, Jerusalem Post reported.

“Turkey wants to give the impression that they can dictate terms, and we will accept them as if they are a superpower. It is a matter of honor to them,” he added.

Somalia, July 07: Dozens of al-Shabab fighter have reportedly been killed after the US military used remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicles to target their bases in southern Somalia.

The US drone attacks were carried out late on Wednesday in Dhoobley and Afmadow towns located near Kismayo, capital of the lower Juba region and a port city located some 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of the Somali capital of Mogadishu, said Somalia’s Deputy Defense Minister Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig, quoted in a report by a Press TV correspondent.

Kabul, July 07: According to police officials, the US-led forces carried out the aerial attack on Wednesday in Khost Province, east the war-ravaged country, a Press TV correspondent reported on Thursday.

Those killed included eight children, two women and three men. Children have increasingly fallen victim to US-led operations in Afghanistan over the past months.

Following the US-led military attack, a large crowd of Afghans held an angry protest rally against the foreign forces.

New Delhi, July 07: Union Minister Ambika Soni today sought “proper” security for Rahul Gandhi after a youth carrying a revolver was detained while trying to move close to the Congress leader during his padayatra in Uttar Pradesh.

“The security for people like Rahul Gandhi must be taken care of and proper steps taken,” Soni said when asked about the incident.

The man with a licensed .32 bore revolver was nabbed by Special Protection Group personnel accompanying Rahul, when he was found heading towards the second ring of the AICC General Secretary”s security cordon.

Guwahati, July 07: Social activist Swami Agnivesh today demanded the arrest of Union Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran, who resigned today from the Union Cabinet after the CBI named him in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

“Dayanidhi Maran should be arrested and lodged in Tihar Jail where (former Telecom Minister) A Raja and (DMK MP) Kanimozhi are,” Agnivesh told reporters here.

“The amount of Rs 600 crore he gave to Sun TV, allegedly from pay-offs received from a Malaysian firm, in return for the spectrum alloted to it during his tenure should be recovered from him,” he said.

Dubai, July 07: An Indian man found himself in the dock on Wednesday for posting a photograph of his wife and her alleged boyfriend on his Facebook page.

F.P., 41, posted pictures of his wife and her friend on his own Facebook profile with a caption alongside reading: “A 37-year-old mother of two leaves her hubby for a 24-year-old-man. Good move…. Cute couple.”

Mumbai, July 07: Deepika Padukone wanted her own romantic melody in Aarakshan… Apparently, on seeing the vibes that the love ballad in Raajneeti created between Ranbir and Katrina, Deepika asked for a number as romantic as More piya, the love ballad Katrina shared with Ranbir Kapoor in Prakash Jha’s Raajneeti.

That was the specification which Deepika apparently gave director Prakash Jha while requesting him to add a love ballad for her and her co-star Saif Ali Khan in Aarakshan. That was how the number Achcha lagta hai was born.

Hyderabad, July 07: The Anti-Corruption Bureau has found no evidence of corruption against the former CM, Mr K. Rosaiah, in the Maitrivanam land deal case. The ACB will be submitting its report to the court shortly.

Mumbai, July 07: Like Salman Khan, his discovery Zarine Khan adores children and visits orphanages on every special occasion.

The actress celebrated the success of her Character Dheela Hai track in Ready, with her little friends at an orphanage in the city.

Sallu’s influence rubbing on her big time!

-Agencies

Mumbai, July 07: Talk about the word ‘serial kisser’ and actor Emraan Hashmi instantly comes to mind. So much so that even the media often refers to him by that name.

For all Emraan’s fans, the spoiler is here. The original serial-kisser in Bollywood is not Emraan but Aamir Khan. Aamir popularized the lip-lock with his debut film QAYAMAT SE QAYAMAT TAK and carried it to his 3 IDIOTS days. Before that, though many actors have expressed their passionate lip-locking talent on screen, but no one comes closer to Aamir’s talent.

Mumbai, July 07: Charity and Salman goes hand in hand. There have been numerous occasions when the big hearted cinestar has gone out of his way to aid a cause and contribute his bit for the welfare of the broken and the poor.

Latest news confirm that Salman got as many as 200 cataract operations done at a medical camp around the Golden Temple, Amritsar by flying down a team of expert eye doctors from Mumbai.

The actor had asked his business manager to look up all the underprivileged people in the city who were in need of cataract operations in the hospitals but can`t afford it.

New Delhi, July 07: A day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) held him guilty in the 2G spectrum scam, Union Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran on Thursday handed over his resignation to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Dhayanidhi Maran finally puts his paper after CBI found him guilty
(Pic: BCCL)

The CBI in its 71-page fresh status report about the 2G scam told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that during 2004-07, when Maran was telecom Minister, a Chennai base telecom promoter (Sivasankaran) was forced to sell the stake in Aircel to a Malaysian firm.

Bhopal, July 07 (Pervez Bari): The famous Urdu litterateur Prof. Abdul Qavi Desnavi passed away here early on Thursday morning after protracted illness. He was about 81 years old.

Hyderabad, July 07: Students are used to following routines and those at the Osmania University are no exceptions. The campus, which has become the nerve centre for the Telangana movement, however, follows a timetable of its own in times of agitations. A campus student’s routine basically revolves around a breakfast-college-lunch-library schedule but it has deviated a bit at OU. After breakfast OU students go through the newspapers to keep abreast of the developments on a separate Telangana. They then assemble in front of the Arts College and dissect the news and political developments.

Hyderabad, July 7: A special court has pronounced B Prabhakar Rao, Panchayat secretary, Gajapatinagaram mandal, Vizianagaram district, one year imprisonment and 100 rupees fine on charges of demanding and accepting 500 rupees bribe from the complainant. He will get further 3 months imprisonment in case of non payment of fine. Anti corruption bureau caught him red-handed and produced before the court.

Hyderabad, July 7: When the Telangana Congress leaders following their resignation met Union finance minister Mr. Pranabh Mukherji he reprimanded them saying “High commanded is landed into trouble, as you sowed, so you reap, now the decision is not in our hands but has reached in the authority of speaker, go and get ready for bye-elections.”

Highly placed sources told that high command is resented with Telangana leaders as 45 members of Congress including state ministers and 10 members of parliament resigned.

Hyderabad, June 7: Stating that he is not against Telangana, Labour minister Mr Nagender said that any decision taken by Sonia Gandhi will be acceptable. He said KCR and Prof Kodandaram have no right to demand resignation. During an informal talk with media Mr. D Nagendar said that he is bound by the High Command’s decision on the issue. “I will even quit politics if Ms Sonia Gandhi tells me to,” the Minister said.