Month: December 2011

Jerusalem, December 02: Germany is reportedly planning to sell Israel another dolphin-type submarine, financing one third of the nuclear-powered military submarine’s cost.

Berlin has approved to set aside USD 180 million in next year’s defense budget for funding the submarine’s cost, a senior German official said on the condition of anonymity on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.

Germany has already provided Israel with three Dolphin submarines, one half-funded and two entirely funded by Berlin, while two more are currently under construction.

New Delhi, December 02: Terror mastermind Yasin Bhatkal also known as Shahrukh and Ahmad Siddi Bappa was living in Delhi for atleast the past six months even as security agencies were scouring the length and breadth of the country to trace him.

Shahrukh is believed to be the third in Indian Mujahideen’s hierarchy after brothers Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal. All of them belong to the town of Bhatkal in Karnataka.

Bareilly, December 02: An FIR was on Thursday registered against the Imam of a local mosque for allegedly kidnapping a 18-year-old girl, a senior police official said.

The FIR was registered on the complaint of the girl’s mother, DIG Raj Kumar said.

Raes Ahmed (30), Imam of Alvi mosque in Jogi Navada locality, is missing since Sunday, Kumar said.

One person has been arrested for allegedly helping the Imam, the DIG said, adding that efforts are on to trace the Imam and the girl.

–PTI

New Delhi, December 02: The Supreme Court will on Friday take up Rajesh and Nupur Talwar’s petitions challenging a Ghaziabad court’s summons issued to them in connection with the murder case of their daughter Aarushi Talwar and their domestic help Hemraj.

Aarushi was found dead inside her Noida residence in May 2008 with her throat slit. The body of Hemraj was recovered a day later from the terrace. The Talwars – both dentists – were home when 13-year-old Aarushi was killed in her bedroom.

Hyderabad, December 02: Congress MLA and supporter of YSR Congress Party Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose on Thursday stated that those MLAs, who are supporting the YSR Congress party, would support the No Confidence Motion to be introduced by Telugu Desam Party against Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy in the assembly session.

Kolkata, December 02: The BJP has not left issues like Ram Mandir, but the new generation in the party was laying more stress on economic issues and good governance, its President Nitin Gadkari has said.

“BJP has not left issues like Ram Mandir, but is giving more stress on economic issues. I am from a new generation and it is natural that economic issues will receive emphasis, as also GDP, politics of development, progress, besides nationalism and good governance,” Gadkari said during an informal interaction with the media here last night.

California, December 02: A 39-year-old US man has been jailed for six years for trying to sell his eight-month old baby daughter for $25 outside a Walmart store in California, reports said Thursday.

Patrick Fousek, who was allegedly on drugs at the time, was sentenced after a judge refused his lawyers’ appeal for probation, according to the Salinas Californian.

Fousek and the baby’s mother, Samantha Tomasini, were arrested in June 2010 when two women reported the couple trying to sell their daughter outside a Walmart store in Salinas, south of San Francisco.

Warangal, December 02: Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday demanded that the State Government withdraw the cases booked against his party’s politburo member Cheruku Sudhakar under the Preventive Detention Act.

New Delhi, December 02: Caught in a fierce political storm over Centre’s proposal to allow foreign equity in the retail sector, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said that his government will lose people’s trust if the decision is rolled back.

“I want to assure you that the decision to allow FDI in the retail sector will largely benefit the economy and the agri-sector and create more jobs. However, at this juncture, if we withdraw the decision under pressure then we risk losing the trust and faith, which people have reposed in the Congress-led UPA government,” he said.

Tokyo, December 02: The operator of Japan’s damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant has detected high levels of radioactive caesium in the seabed of the port where the plant is located.

The Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) recorded the highest concentration of radioactive caesium in an area just south of the water intakes for reactors, Kyodo News Agency reported.

The utility attributed the deposits to the leak of highly radioactive water into the sea in April, following the nuclear emergency at the plant.

Gaza, December 02: Israeli troops have detained scores of Palestinians, including a number of resistance leaders, in overnight operations across the occupied West Bank.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said 22 people were rounded up on Thursday for interrogation, including 10 in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, Ma’an news agency reported.

There were reportedly nine members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) among the detainees.

PFLP officials said nearly 20 Israeli army jeeps raided Jenin and seized nine of the resistance group’s leaders.

Amritsar, December 02: Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has pleaded his innocence in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in various parts of the country in which thousands of Sikhs were massacred, a top Sikh religious leader said.

In a letter to jathedar (chief) Gurcharan Singh of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikh religion, Amitabh stated that he had no role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

The letter was delivered to the Akal Takht head by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) member from Mumbai, Gurinder Singh Bawa.

New Delhi, December 02: The Supreme Court on Thursday came down heavily on the Gujarat government for unnecessarily delaying the CBI probe into the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

The apex court criticized the Narendra Modi government for not handing over the crucial CDs pertaining to the case to the central probe agency.

“Even after ten days of hearing, we are unable to understand why the state (Gujarat) government has not been able to handover important CDs to the CBI” it said.

New York, December 02: The New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has called the New York Police Department (NYPD) his own army, saying he is a mini-president of his very own mini-country.

“I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh biggest army in the world. I have my own State Department, much to Foggy Bottom’s annoyance. We have the United Nations in New York, and so we have an entree into the diplomatic world that Washington does not have,” The New York Observer quoted Bloomberg as saying during a speech at MIT university.

New Delhi, December 02: The Delhi High Court Thursday issued notice to N.D. Tiwari on a plea by a 32-year-old man, who claims to be his biological son, against its earlier order that the Congress leader cannot be compelled to give his blood samples for DNA test to decide the paternity suit.

Taking note of the plea filed by Rohit Shekhar, a bench of acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw issued notice to Tiwari seeking his reply by Jan 19, 2012.

Washington, December 02: The US Defense Department has proposed to sell 600 bunker busters and other ammunitions worth USD 304 million to the United Arab Emirates.

The Pentagon said in a mandatory arms sale notice that the deal would include 4,900 tail kits built by Boeing that can turn unguided free-fall bombs into guided weapons as well as 4,300 ‘general purpose’ bombs, Reuters reported.

New Delhi, December 02: Two officials of US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) involved in frisking former president A P J Abdul Kalam at an American airport in September have been sacked for not following “appropriate procedures”, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

“Senior TSA officials in a meeting with the India embassy in Washington on November 1, 2011 informed that the two TSA officials involved in the screening incident have been terminated from their job,” External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said.

Kolkata, December 02: Six people including two women, were arrested for running a sex racket in the city Thursday, police said, adding that a woman, being trafficked out of the city, was also rescued.

“Six people were arrested in the afternoon today for running a sex racket from a house under the Garfa police station in South Kolkata. The persons arrested includes Sunil and his wife who ran the racket while the others were accomplices. A woman who was purportedly trafficked outside the city has been rescued,” Joint Commissioner of Crime, Damayanti Sen told IANS.

Jakarta, December 02: Although young Indonesians might be familiar with the latest fashions, movies and electronic gadgets, when it comes to basic knowledge about their bodies, they are not as savvy.

Indonesia has one of the fastest growing rates of HIV transmission in Asia, but the majority of Indonesian youth could not tell you why. Data from the country’s health ministry indicates that some 75 percent of Indonesians aged between 15 and 49 believe HIV is transmitted by mosquitoes.

Auckland, December 02: A man who twice raped his teenage daughter and committed other sexual offences against two stepdaughters has been jailed for 11 years.

The 46-year-old, who has name suppression to protect his victims, pleaded guilty to multiple charges in Gisborne District Court as his trial was about to begin.

Judge Philip Connell said the first rape occurred in December 2009 and the second on New Year’s Day, 2010.

Crown prosecutor Steve Manning said the daughter suffered physical harm and emotional damage.

Washington, December 02: A US rights organization has accused the FBI of ‘illegally’ spying and compiling information on Muslim community groups under the guise of holding outreach meetings with the groups’ representatives.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been misusing its Community Outreach Program, intended to improve the relationship between the bureau and the Muslims, for the purpose, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

The ACLU obtained the documents under the US Freedom of Information Act.

Hyderabad, December 2: Mr. Zahed Ali Khan strongly defended the protest staged by the merchants against FDI by keeping shutter down and said that the central government under the planned conspiracy is trying to cause damages to the small and big merchants of India by permitting the foreign companies to do business. It not only needs to be opposed but countrywide agitation campaign should be started by giving it a form of movement.

Bareilly, December 02: A sadhvi has lodged an FIR against BJP leader and former Union minister Swami Chinmayanand accusing him of raping and attempting to murder her, a charge dismissed by him as “politically motivated”.

The sadhvi, former manager of Swami’s Mumukshu ashram in neighbouring Shahjahanpur district, had sent a complaint in this regard to the Superintendent of Police a couple of days ago, police said.

She appeared in person at the SP’s office, Shahjahanpur, yesterday following which the FIR was registered by Kotwali police.

Hyderabad, December 02: Big time Taekwondo action comes to Andhra Pradesh after quite a while. The State has produced a good number of performers, who have done well on the national and international stage.

This time round a weekend bonanza awaits the sport’s followers, thanks to the efforts of the Taekwondo Association of Andhra Pradesh, under the aegis of the national body.

The country’s top performers will be taking part in the 26th National Taekwondo Championship, which will be held in Vijayawada from December 2-4.

Hyderabad, December 02: The CBI Special Court on Thursday adjourned the bail petition of suspended IAS officer Y Srilakshmi, who was in CBI custody for her alleged role in the mining scam of Obulapuram Mining Corporation, to Friday.

The court witnessed marathon arguments and counter arguments on Srilakshmi’s bail petition.