Month: October 2011

Hyderabad, October 29: Finance Minister of AP Mr.A Ramnarayan Reddy told that in the second phase of Rachabanda, 22 Lakh Ration Cards will be issued. Govt of AP has decided to construct 15 Lakh houses for the poor.

Govt has given preference to complaints regarding Ration Cards, old age pensions etc. It is expected that six lakh elderly persons would be granted old age pensions based on the applications received during Rachabanda’ programme.

Mr. Reddy was taking to newsmen at Chelakuru of Pelakura Mandal in Nellore District yesterday.

—Siasatnews

Hyderabad, October 29: Telangana Ministers are getting ready to participate in the second phase of ‘Rachabanda’ programme scheduled to be started on 2nd November.

On the other hand political parties supporting the cause of T are protesting against this programme. In such a situation,this programme is likely to get violent.C.M has instructed T-Ministers to take part in this programme because it is useful for the people of Telangana.

—Siasatnews

Hyderabad, October 29: Young congress M.L.A’s from Telangana convened a meeting at Hotel Central Court, Lakdi-Ka-Pool yesterday in which a decision was taken to keep away from AP Formation Day Celebreations.They have also decided to take T-movement to Delhi and struggle there.They appealed to the AP Govt to declare Telangana as a drought area and offer a special package to farmers.

Gurgaon, October 29: Star Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir on Friday tied the knot with Delhi-girl Natasha Jain in a quiet ceremony which was attended by only close family members and friends here.

The 30-year old left-handed opener entered into wedlock with Natasha, a local businessman’s daughter whom he met a year ago.

Gambhir will be out of action during the only Twenty20 cricket match of India’s ongoing series against England on account of his marriage.

In the present times anything which has expanded enormously and gained public attention and efficacy is undoubtedly communication and media. This is the reason that in the present period ideological, economic, political and cultural wars are not fought in the battlefield but through media. Earlier, governance on the bodies was by attacking through armies. Now minds are being governed through incursion.

Quito, October : At least 12 children were killed and seven others injured when the bus in which they were travelling drove off a cliff in the Andes mountains of northern Ecuador, state media has reported.

The victims, all between the ages of seven and 10, were part of a student group travelling on a bus that plunged into a ravine in the Concepcion area, north of Ibarra, the capital of Imbabura province, the Andes news agency said.

The report did not specify the total number of passengers on board or the fate of the driver.

Kolkata, October 29: Even as four more babies died in the B.C. Roy Post-Graduate Institute of Paediatric Sciences here, raising the number of crib deaths there to 17, another 12 died in the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital in Bardhaman.In neither of the hospitals was there any report of medical negligence resulting in the deaths, the authorities claimed.

New Delhi, October 29: The Congress Core Group on Friday reviewed the continuing Telangana crisis and discussed electoral reforms the United Progressive Alliance government hopes to introduce in the winter session of Parliament.

Apart from the Core Group members — Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her political secretary Ahmed Patel — there were two special invitees, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Law Minister Salman Khursheed, informed sources said.

New Delhi, October 29: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday discussed the Telangana issue and electoral reforms in a meeting of Congress core group in New Delhi.

Sources said the meeting that lasted for one-and-a-half hours deliberated at length over the Telangana imbroglio, over which almost all parties in Andhra Pradesh are sharply divided on regional lines.

New Delhi, October 29: The Income Tax Department has sent notices to the two NGOs run by Team Anna member Kiran Bedi to find out whether they are engaged in commercial activities.

“We are not targeting any particular NGO or charitable trust. In fact, we have sent notices to several organisations, including those run by Kiran Bedi. We want to see if any one of these is engaged in commercial activities also,” a senior Finance Ministry official said.

New Delhi, October 29: Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday night described as “internal affair” of Team Anna the sharp differences in it and declined to comment on the possibility of any break-up in the civil society led by the Gandhian.

“It is their internal affair, it is between them (Team Anna). Why should we involve ourselves in it? It is not fair to comment,” Khurshid said on the sidelines of a tourism award function in New Delhi.

Ahmedabad, October 29: A missing key witness in the Sanjiv Bhatt case was on Friday found at Balasinor in Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district, police said.

“Shreanik Shah, a witness in Bhatt case who had gone missing since Tuesday was found at Balasinor in Sabarkantha district today,” police inspector S.B. Trivedi told PTI.

“Shah told us that he was kidnapped by six persons from near his house in connection with a land deal that he was brokering. They took him to Balasinor and robbed him of valuables and beat him before leaving him,” he said.

Perth, October 29: The royal daughters of the United Kingdom will soon get an equal right to rule, thanks to a historic decision to repeal centuries-old male primogeniture succession rules approved on Friday by the 16 nations of which Queen Elizabeth II is a constitutional monarch.

Lima, October 29: A magnitude-6.9 earthquake centred off Peru’s central coast sent people running panicked into the streets Friday in cities badly damaged by a killer quake four years earlier. There were no reports of damage though hospital directors reported at least 20 injuries.

People who had lost loved ones and homes in the earlier quake were badly shaken and some broke into tears.

Washington, October 29: US’ Quran-burning pastor Terry Jones announced his plans to run for the country’s president next year, ABC News reported.

“Jones says he has begun raising funds, but would not disclose how much. He said he’s looking into getting on the ballot and will likely run as an independent,” ABC reported.

Jones wanted to burn a copy of the Islamic holy book during the last year’s anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

New Delhi, October 29: Citing the case of former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta in the US, Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Friday made a strong pitch for release on bail of all accused who have been chargesheeted after completion of probe.

Singh’s assertion came in the backdrop of former Telecom Minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi languishing behind bars in corruption cases like 2G and Commonwealth Games, but the AICC general secretary stressed he was not taking any names.

Islamabad, October 29: Pakistan’s military says it has test-fired a medium-range missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.

An Army statement says the missile was fired on Friday.

It says the missile, named Hatf-7, has been developed in Pakistan and has a range of 440 miles (700 kilometres) that can hit targets in India.

Pakistan routinely tests such missiles which are mainly designed to match those of nuclear-armed neighbouring archrival India.

The two countries have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

Jeddah, October 29: Desperate pilgrims without Haj permits are dressing up as women in an attempt to sneak into the holy sites. The men were unveiled by policewomen who were looking out for women trying to enter the area without permits.

“In the past few weeks, we’ve thwarted several attempts by drivers to smuggle illegal and legal residents into Makkah and the holy sites without Haj permits,” said Colonel Badr Bin Hamad Al-Malik, spokesman for the General Directorate of Passports, according to a report in Al-Madina newspaper.

Makkah, October 29: Commanders of the Haj security (aviation) held a meeting at the airbase in Makkah on Friday to discuss detailed plans of dealing with emergency situation during the pilgrimage season.

Head of the aviation security Maj. Gen. Muhammad bin Eid Al-Harbi, who chaired the meeting, said the government of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah was keen to provide all facilities that would enable pilgrims to perform the Haj rituals in ease and comfort.

Hyderabad, October 29: A morning walker at KBR Park in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, was arrested by the Wild Life Management of the Department of Forests, on Friday morning, for breaking a twig from a neem tree.

He was charged with ‘causing damage to the environment’, fined Rs. 10,000 and then let off.

Mr. M. Raja Ramana Reddy, DFO, said Mr. Vinod Tikmani of Banjara Hills was fined for causing damage to the environment.

Cambridge,October 28: Actress and director Nandita Das said that the story of communal violence in Gujarat was very personal to her as she has been involved in the issue of sectarian violence for a long time. Das made the comment while interacting with the audience at the famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) after the screening of her movie “Firaaq.”

Silchar (Assam, October 28: If their respective ages were to be added up, they’ll date back to India’s first war of independence in 1857. So, when 120-year-old Hazi Abdul Noor tied the knot with 60-year-old Samoi Bibi, the 500 guests at the wedding ceremony were bound to be left gaping.

A former contractor, Noor of Assam’s Satghori village Sunday married Bibi, a resident of North Foolbari village in adjoining northern Tripura.

London, October 28: Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s son Seif al-Islam has offered to surrender in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague if he is guaranteed his safety, Libyan officials said.

The 39-year-old Seif has been on the run since the Nato airstrike on the city of Sirte last Thursday that led to his father’s capture and subsequent execution, the Daily Mail reported.

The offer of surrender raises the prospect of a trial in The Hague which could include new details of the background to the Lockerbie bombing (1988) and murder of policewoman Yvonne Fletcher.

Riyadh, October 28: Saudi state TV said the kingdom has named a new crown prince.

Nayef bin Abdel-Aziz Al Saud, the kingdom’s tough-talking Interior Minister, was named heir to the Saudi throne following the death of the previous crown prince late last week.

Prince Nayef has led crackdowns on militants but has also shown favour to ultraconservative traditions, such as keeping the ban on women voting.

He is set to assume the throne upon the death of King Abdullah, 87, who is recovering from his third operation to treat back problems in less than a year.

New Delhi, October 28: A powerful explosive on the route of Bharatiya Janata Party leader L. K. Advani’s Jan Chetna Yatra was found near Tirumangalam in Madurai district on Friday. The explosive, packed in an eight-foot-long pipe, was found under a causeway across the Kounda river at Alampatti on the Tenkasi highway.

A resident of Alampatti, M. Selvaraj, who had gone to the riverbed early in the morning grew suspicious on finding a length of wire concealed under grass. He immediately alerted the local panchayat union ward member, who, in turn, informed the police.