Month: November 2011

Dhaka, November 16: A Bangladeshi girl has created a sensation throughout the country after she dumped her bridegroom right at the wedding when her would-be parents-in-law demanded dowry.

Farzana Yasmin said she wants everyone to take lessons from the incident.

“Dowry has become a cancer of society. I’ve read in newspapers about it and have always wondered why this happens,” Farzana told BBC Bangla Service.

“When it happened right before my eyes, something happened inside me. I felt like speaking up against it and doing something about it,” she said.

Karachi, November 16: Area Study Centre for Europe at University of Karachi (KU) in collaboration with Hanns Seidel Foundation would hold a seminar on ‘Islam in Europe’ at a local hotel on Nov 16.

KU VC Prof Pirzada Qasim would preside over the moot, while EU Ambassador to Pakistan Lars-Gunnar Wigemark would be the chief guest.

There are millions of Muslims living in Europe. According to the German Central Institute Islam Archive (de), the total number of Muslims in Europe in 2007 was about 53 million, including 16 million in the European Union.

Ahmedabad, November 16: I was not quiet for 7 years; the only opportunity afforded to me to bring out the truth of 2002 was in 2009, says Sanjeev Bhatt while talking about his silence since 2002 over anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat.

Starting with the oft repeated question to you, and yet majority do not seem to be convinced about the reason that you give for your silence of 7 years?

Bhopal, November 16 (Pervez Bari): The Bharatiya Janata Party ruled Madhya Pradesh Government has taken a decision provide better facilities to street vendors in the cities and enact a law for protecting their rights. The decision was taken at A cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mr. Shivraj Singh Chouhan here on Tuesday.

A draft of Madhya Pradesh Path-Vikreta (Jeevika ka sanrakshan aur path-vikray ka vinimiyan) Kanoon Madhya Pradesh Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vendors Act) has been endorsed for this purpose.

Bhopal, November 16 (Pervez Bari): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mr. Shivraj Singh Chouhan has instructed to make preparations for Alami Tableeghi Ijtema to be held at Bhopal from December 10 to 12. He instructed the concerning departments and agencies to complete all the preparations before December 10. He was reviewing preparations at a meeting of Ijtema Committee at Mantralaya (state Secretariat) on Tuesday.

Bhopal, November 16 (Special Correspondent): The-102nd five-day Orientation Course in Records Management for Departmental Record Officers, (DROs), was inaugurated here at the Regional Office of the National Archives of India, (NAI), on Monday.

Senior journalist Mr. Syed Pervez Bari, who was the chief guest at the inaugural function, presented a paper on Record Management and discussed at length the importance of records, their preservation, documentation and various techniques of preservation.

London, November 16: British prosecutors today dropped charges against underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s close aide Iqbal Mirchi in connection with a case in which he was accused of threatening to kill a man, citing lack of evidence.

Also read: Dawood’s aide Mirchi gets released on bail in London

Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said today that it has decided to discontinue the charges against Muhammed Iqbal Memon, also known as Iqbal Mirchi, who is wanted in India in connection with the 1993 Mumbai blast case.

Hyderabad, November 16: Even as one more incident of attack on a youth from the minority community came to light on Tuesday, the city police arrested Majlis Bachao Tahreek corporator Amjadullah Khan as he was heading towards Himayatnagar to address a media conference to demand probe into cases of communal nature by the National Investigating Agency.

Tehran, November 16: An Iranian lawmaker says any form of military action against Iran will cause serious oil supply problems for the West and bring Western industries to complete halt.

Mehdi Mehdizadeh, member of the Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said on Tuesday that Iran has advanced and fortified facilities in the Persian Gulf and is capable of closing the Strait of Hormuz.

Beirut, November 16: Syrian activists say a wave of violence has killed more than 70 people in Syria in one day.

The activists say many of those killed on Monday are Syrian soldiers who came under attack by Army defectors in the southern province of Daraa.

And in the restive city of Homs, the city morgue has received 19 corpses, all of them with bullet wounds.

Tehran, November 16: A senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official has criticized arrogant US policies, blaming Washington for the current economic crisis across the world.

“The economic crisis has been created due to the unfair economic management of the world by one of the [world]powers and has resulted in a situation in which no country can escape its negative consequences on their development plans,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed-Mahdi Akhoundzadeh said on Tuesday, IRNA reported.

Kodarma, November 16: Senior school students of a Sainik School in Kodarma were allegedly caught beating up their juniors on camera. The video showed at least seven students were being beaten up with belts by seniors in the name of ragging.

The school claimed the video is a year old but police started a probe on Tuesday upon the directions of the high court.

London, November 16: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange applied on Tuesday for Britain’s Supreme Court to hear his appeal against extradition to Sweden, dragging out a legal saga that has already lasted more than a year.

His latest gambit comes less than two weeks after the High Court in London ruled that the 40-year-old Australian could be sent to Sweden to face questioning over allegations of rape and sexual assault by two women.

Lucknow, November 16: In a bid to outsmart rivals ahead of the assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday announced bringing a resolution in the House for carving out four new states in the winter session beginning next week.

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, she said that the cabinet has approved a resolution for creation of Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Awadh Pradesh and Paschim Pradesh, which would be tabled in the session beginning November 21.

Hyderabad, November 16: Congress MPs from Telangana have asked their party leadership to announce a firm decision in favour of the separate state failing which they will be forced to resign as Parliament Members and quit the party.

The MPs held a meeting here on Monday and discussed the fallout of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent statement that Telangana issue was a complicated one and needed a national consensus.

They said they were prepared to face the elections, if need be. They would use the winter session of Parliament to convey their feelings to the Congress high command.

New Delhi, November 16: Four youth abducted and raped a 16-year-old minor here, police said Tuesday, adding a search was on for them.

The victim, a resident of Ujwa village on the south-west outskirts of Delhi, was going to a local market Tuesday afternoon when the youth, residents of the same village, forcibly took her away, police said.

They raped her and then threaten to kill her if she reveals anyone. After she was let off, she informed her mother who then filed a police complaint.

The medical test confirmed rape.

Hyderabad, November 16: The test-flight of Agni-IV, India’s most advanced long-range missile was “a stupendous success” on Tuesday, with the missile covering a range of more than 3,000 km in 20 minutes of fluent flight.

This was the longest range mission flown by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) so far. Agni-IV, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, was earlier called Agni-II Prime. The first flight of Agni-II Prime in December 2010 was a failure.

Interview with Ibrahim Hooper, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Over ten years since the 9/11 attacks, more and more Muslims are falling victim to hate crimes in the United States.

Latest FBI records show the number of hate crimes against Muslims increased nearly 50 percent last year. One hundred and sixty cases of hate crimes against Muslims were reported in 2010 compared to 107 in 2009.

Eluru, November 16: Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday stated that the state government was making sincere efforts to reduce skyrocketing prices of essential commodities.

Talking to media persons after participating in the Racha Banda programme, the Chief Minister admitted that the prices of essential commodities were on the rise as they were linked to national and international markets. Stating that Rs 1 a-kg rice scheme would benefit the people below poverty line, he said that the government was taking all steps to contain inflation.

Hyderabad, November 16: Telangana Political Joint Action Committee chairman Prof M Kodandaram on Tuesday condemned the decision of Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar of rejecting the resignations of Telangana MPs.

Lucknow, November 16: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday announced that the state Cabinet has decided in the favour of division of the state into four new states.

Addressing a press conference here, Mayawati said that the state government would formally move a motion for the same in the state Assembly when it meets on November 21.

She said that the state should be divided into four new four states – Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Awadh Pradesh and Paschim Pradesh.

Tirupati, November 16: Congress MLA Chiranjeevi experienced some tense moments when the activists of left parties tried to disrupt his speech during the Rachabanda programme held at Nehru Municipal School here on Tuesday.

Tehran, November 16: The secretary general of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights says the United States and Israel were behind the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists and the US is harboring anti-Iran terrorists.

Mohammad-Javad Larijani made the remarks in New York on Tuesday on the sidelines of a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly’s Third Committee, the Fars news agency reported.

He noted that Tehran has made a formal complaint to Washington over the US support for the terrorist group that was behind a bomb blast at a mosque in the southern city of Shiraz.

Washington, November 16: Vowing to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the US today warned that Tehran’s atomic programme, growing ballistic missile capability and efforts to extend its “destabilising” influence in Iraq poses a “significant threat” to the region and American interests.

Iran is making continuous efforts in an attempt to influence the future of Iraq, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said in his testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee at a Congressional hearing on Iraq.

Srikakulam, November 16: Telugu Desam Party president Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday stated that the Rythu Porubata campaign was aimed at assuring support and required assistance to the farmers who have been facing tough times due to drought.

Talking to reporters after launching padayatra in Srikakulam as part of the Rythu Porubata, he said the plight of farmers have made one wonder if there was any government functioning in the state. He slammed the government for its failure in redressing their woes and extend succour to the hapless farmers.