Month: July 2011

Chennai, July 27: A letter posted from Chennai to this pilgrim town on Wednesday warned of a bomb attack by the al-Qaeda on two of Kerala’s most popular temples – the Guruvayoor and Sree Padmanabha Swamy shrines, police said.

It claimed to be from the al-Qaeda and also mentioned that Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalaalitha would be assassinated in the coming days.

The letter was in English and was addressed to the Guruvayoor circle inspector here.

Mumbai, July 27: Salman Khan’s bodyguard Shera insists that Salman has no enemies and he is just there to take care of him in public places and events.

It seems like everything relating to tiger is important in Salman Khan’s life in recent times – whether it’s his next films Ek Tha Tiger and Sher Khan or his bodyguard Shera. Shera, the man who has been closest to Salman Khan for the past 15 years, explains his association with Salman as a relationship of loyalty. “He is my boss, brother and friend”.

New Delhi, July 27: It is being widely said that the central government should itself take a decision on the Telangana issue in view of all the political parties splitting into two diagonally opposite groups. But the centre is not coming forward to assume this responsibility. It says the responsibility lies with the political parties in the state. They should all arrive at a consensus for the centre to take a decision, said union Home Minister Chidambaram.

New Delhi, July 27: India and Pakistan Wednesday reiterated their “firm commitment” to eliminate terrorism from the region in all its forms, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said.

Krishna, addressing a joint press conference with visiting Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, said the two sides agreed that “terrorism poses continuing threat to peace and security” in the region.

“We reiterated the firm commitment of the two countries to fight and eliminate this scourge in all its forms and manifestations,” he said after the meeting with Khar.

London, July 27: Italian magazine Vogue has honoured singer Rihanna with the title of ‘Woman of the year’.

Rihanna was selected for her charity work, pop success and her ability to tackle adversity in personal life, including troubled relationships with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown and drug addict father Ronald Fenty.

“Independent, energetic, the young Robyn Rihanna Fenty (only 23) is our woman of the year, and not just by virtue of numbers and figures but also, and foremost, for her kind and fighting spirit,” contactmusic.com quoted a spokesperson from the magazine as saying.

New Delhi, July 27: It is not first or last time for Union Minister Jairam Ramesh to catch in the controversies. During his tenure as Environment Minister he remains the center of several controversies. Hence, he was shifted to less important portfolio of rural development. But, ‘he wants to be he’ wherever he goes.

Dubai, July 27: A combination of economic factors resulted in Indian expats waking up this morning to find that the rupee had strengthened considerably – directly hitting their savings.

The Indian rupee had dropped below the benchmark of 12 to a dirham – hovering around the 11.95 mark this morning.

At Al Fardan Exchange the exchange rate for one dirham on Tuesday afternoon  at 12.40 pm was 11.96 rupees.

Varanasi, July 27: Norway’s mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, whose bombing and shooting spree in Oslo left at least 76 people dead, has a remote Indian connection. The combat badges of the 32-year-old’s militant outfit were supplied by a weaver in Varanasi.

Breivik, a self-proclaimed anti-Muslim fundamentalist, placed an order for preparing an embroidered insignia for his militant outfit ‘Justiciar Knight’ through the internet with a weaver in the narrow bylanes of Pathani Tola locality.

New Delhi, July 27: The centre has submitted in an affidavit before the Supreme Court that a study had revealed that the number of women in prostitution had increased by about 50 per cent between 1997 and 2002, the number almost doubling in the metros in the last decade.

O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor, Allah is a Better Protector to both (than you). So follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you avoid justice; and if you distort your witness or refuse to give it, verily, Allah is Ever Well-Acquainted with what you do. [Surah An-Nisa (4:135)]

Fake currency: Two arrested

Hyderabad, July 27 (Siasat News): The Medak police on Tuesday arrested two persons involved in printing and circulation of fake currency and seized Rs. 9.05 lakh counterfeit notes from their possession.

According to the Medak superintendent of police, Mr. John Victor, the fake currency racket was busted at Huntur of Narsapur in Medak district.

“They were operating like a cottage unit. We have arrested two of the four-member gang,” Mr. Victor said.

London, July 27: In a horrifying incident, a man killed his wife after reading manuals on internet like ‘How to kill someone’, and ‘op 10 tips on how to commit the perfect crime’. The man stabbed his wife more than hundred times, the court heard.

Alfredo Merigo, 43, stabbed his wife with a steak knife as their two-year-old son sat near them in a chair. He later left his 40-year-old wife Linda dead on the driveway, the Sheffield Crown Court was told.

Hyderabad, July 27: Former chief of Students Islamic Movement of India (SEMI), Syed Salahuddin Salar has been remanded to 14 days judicial custody. Crime Investigation Department (CID) police had taken him under 5 day police custody and recorded his statement.

It must be recalled that CID officials had shifted Salar from Ujjain Madhya Pradesh to Hyderabad this month, inflicting him in Dilsukhnagar Sai Baba Mandir blast case of 2002.

CID on Tuesday produced him before the judge of Jubilee Hills car blast case and family court and shifted to Chanchalguda jail.

Siasat news

Ranchi, July 27: A four-year-old girl died after falling into a utensil in which a mid-day meal was being cooked in a school in Jharkhand, police said Wednesday.

The incident happened at Ursuline Middle School in Sundil village here, they said.

The girl, identified as Pushpa, fell into a utensil full of hot dal (pulses), a police officer said.

Geeta Khalko, a maid in the school, held the authorities responsible for her daughter’s death.

The cook was removed but the authorities insisted that it was an accident.

A nine-year-old girl had died in similar fashion in July 2009.

Lucknow, July 27: Now, Muslim girls of families living below the poverty line will be able to avail themselves of the benefits of the ‘Savitribai Phule Balika Shiksha Madad Yojana’ following the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to extend the scheme to the government-recognised “madrasas” in the State.

This decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet presided over by Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday. According to an official spokesman, thousands of girl students stood to gain from the measure.

Mumbai, July 27: After signing Vikram Bhatt’s ‘Dangerous Ishq,’ Karisma Kapoor has been approached by her long time friend and Bollywood producer Sajid Nadiawala for his forthcoming flick ‘Housefull 2’ to do an item number in the film.

Apparently, Karisma was not the original choice for the item song as Rani Mukherji was approached earlier. When things didn’t work out, the makers of ‘Housefull 2’ approached Karisma.

New Delhi, July 27: Former Gujarat minister of state for home Amit Shah said the Central Bureau of Investigation’s case linking him to the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh shootout was based on fake evidence, and urged the Supreme Court to take note of it.

The apex court bench of Justice Aftab Alam and Justice R.M. Lodha was told this by Shah’s senior counsel Ram Jethmalani, who sought to bring on record the transcript of a news channel’s sting operation related to the case.

Hyderabad, July 27: HEH Nizam and Alauddin Technical Institute, Boggulkunta, offers mechanic motor vehicle and refrigeration air conditioning (3 months) course, free training and employment schemes, for youth who discontinued education and for those who passed out from religious madarsas. Candidate must have passed atleast 5th standard.

Unemployed or uneducated youth can step into the institute office or call on phone no 24754007.

Siasat news

Utah, July 27: Olympic silver medalist Jeret “Speedy” Peterson was found dead in a remote canyon in Utah in what police are calling a suicide. One of the world’s most risk-taking and innovative freestyle skiers, the creator of the one-of-a-kind “Hurricane” called 911 before shooting himself, police said.

The 29-year-old had been cited for drunken driving Friday in Hailey, Idaho and had pleaded not guilty.

New Delhi, July 27: Former telecom minister A Raja continued to defend his actions in the 2G scam, alleging that he sought the opinion of the three highest government authorities, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, then Finance Minister P Chidambaram and then Solicitor General Goolam E Vahanavati before awarding licences to private companies.

Raja’s lawyer Sushil Kumar put forth the argument in the court of special judge O P Saini on Tuesday to counter the CBI’s primary charge of conspiracy and cheating against Raja.

Hyderabad, July 27: Former state minister Mr. T Jyoti Reddy charged Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad of hurting public sentiments in the name of dialogue and by rejecting resignations through assembly speaker and expressed surprise over talking about consensus.

New Delhi, July 27: In a surprise move, visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar visited senior BJP leader LK Advani at his residence here on Wednesday, hours before holding talks with her Indian counterpart SM Krishna.

The meeting with Advani is being termed as a courtesy call. Khar is also expected to meet Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj later today.

Besides the BJP leadership, Khar would be paying a courtesy call to 10 Janpath to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi, besides holding talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

–Agencies

Jeddah, July 27: An armed Saudi man was caught by camera as he tried to snatch a little girl but his attempt was blocked by passers by who surrounded him on the street. When police arrived in the scene, the man instantly surrendered.

Saudi newspapers carried a video showing the unnamed man in a white dishdasha grabbing the girl, aged between seven and 11 years, and threatening the crowd with a gun as they tried to make him let her go.

Chicago, July 27: Mumbai attack accused David Headley had repeatedly told his FBI interrogators that his friend and co-accused Tahawwur Rana was unaware of his terror activities and had not provided any support to him knowingly, details that were omitted from an affidavit filed before a court, recently unsealed documents reveal.

According to the documents, FBI had presented a number of evidences in support of its applications to search properties of Rana but there was discrepancy in the evidence presented and in Headley’s testimony.

New Delhi, July 27: Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Tuesday met the leaderships of the two factions of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference soon after her arrival in the capital for her ministerial engagement with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Wednesday.

Meeting both factions separately, Ms. Khar reiterated Pakistan’s “principled” position on Jammu and Kashmir which was based on the realisation by the Kashmiri people of their right to self-determination.