Month: December 2011

Washington, December 08: Separatist Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai and his Kashmiri American Council were under full control of ISI, being run as an extension of Pakistan’s spy agency to convince US lawmakers, officials and thinktanks about their viewpoint on Kashmir, according to latest court documents.

The US-based Kashmiri separatist pleaded guilty yesterday to federal charges of spying for the ISI, illegally lobbying the Congress to influence the American policy on Kashmir and clandestinely receiving money from the ISI.

New Delhi, December 08: Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday lashed out at Anna Hazare for his remarks justifying the recent physical attack on him, saying any further assault on him would be amply clear from where the instigation emanates.

However, in a statement, he appealed to his followers that Hazare’s views and utterances should be addressed maturely and with restraint and should indulge in any retaliatory violence.

Lucknow, December 08: The Congress party’s bait to lure Muslim votes in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, by offering 6% reservations is hitting hard political fortunes of the rival Samajwadi Party (SP) and has also raised fears of a communal conflagration. The Central government move to carve out this 6% quota from the 27% reservations earmarked for the OBCs is set to vertically split the SPs traditional Muslim-Other Backward Classes (OBC)-Yadav combination.

Mumbai, December 08: VIDYA BALAN has asked the makers of her upcoming flick Kahaani to postpone the film’s release to March, so that she has ample time to promote the film.

Overjoyed at the Box Office reaction to The Dirty 0Picture , but too exhausted “ emotionally and physically”, the actor plans to take a short break before she can start promoting Kahaani . Since Vidya had to put on loads of extra weight to play the role of Silk. A break seems to be in order.

May be Vidya will try to get back in shape during her break.

Hyderabad, December 08: Liquidator of Charminar Bank has initiated proceedings to recover the dues from the defaulters. Auction of Meraj Hotel in Mehdipatnam was scheduled for yesterday but it was postponed at the request made by Asifnagar MLA Mr. Afsar Khan who offered for settlement.

The auction was postponed for a week. According to bank records, Afsar Khan had borrowed Rs. 1.60 crore from Charminar bank but he says that he had taken a loan of Rs. 30 lakh only and he had already paid Rs. 48 lakh.

Tehran, December 08: Head of Iran Majlis (parliament) Human Rights Sub-Committee says there are documents to prove that American authorities have official meetings with terrorist groups in Afghanistan.

Referring to the explosions targeting Afghan Muslims on Ashura, Zohreh Elahian said that the Western occupiers are responsible for terrorist attacks in the country.

“Majlis Human Rights Sub-Committee condemns such inhuman measures and urges the international community not to remain silent in the face of such incidents,” Fars News Agency quoted her as saying on Wednesday.

Dubai, December 08: Saudi Arabia is expected to generate the maximum number of jobs in the region in 2012, according to recruitment experts in the region.

New Delhi, December 08: HRD minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday injured his right eye in Parliament when a file folder of an MP hit him inadvertently.

According to officials, the edge of the folder hit him while he was in Lok Sabha, leaving him with a swollen eye. He received a bandage which is expected to be removed tomorrow evening.

All his official functions has been cancelled for today, they said.

–PTI

Hyderabad, December 08: Railways have selected a Japanese consortium to explore the possibility of running a bullet train on the Hyderabad-Chennai high speed rail corridor.

Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) and Oriental Consultancy along with Parsons Brinkhoff India has bagged the contract to conduct the pre-feasibility study on the proposed 664 km long Hyderabad-Vijaywada-Chennai route for running the high speed train, a senior Railway Ministry official said.

New Delhi, December 08: Harvard University has decided to remove courses taught by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy at its annual summer school session, terming his views as “reprehensible” in a controversial piece he wrote on Islamic terrorism in India.

At a meeting of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, faculty members voted with an “overwhelming majority” to remove two economics courses – ‘Quantitative Methods in Economics and Business’ and ‘Economic Development in India and East Asia’ – that Swamy teaches at the three-month Harvard Summer School session.

Damascus, December 08: The Syrian president has dismissed allegations that he ordered the killing of thousands of protesters during the months-long unrest in the country, saying ”there was no command to kill or be brutal”.

In an interview with the US network ABC, Bashar al-Assad said that he feels no guilt about events unfolding in the country since he has given no orders for violence to be used against protesters and that he has done his best to protect Syrians.

“I did my best to protect the people, so I cannot feel guilty,” the Syrian president said.

Hyderabad, December 08: Telangana Nagara Samithi president Nagam Janardhan Reddy on Wednesday stated that the No Confidence Motion has exposed the weakness of both Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu.

Hyderabad, December 08: In a bid to keep up the promise of supplying seven-hour power to farmers, the State government has been buying power worth Rs 1,950 crore for the past eight months, according to State Transco CMD Ajay Jain.

The power situation will increase further with the rectification of technical snags at the two 500 MW units at Kakthiya Thermal Power Project (KTTP) and Simhadri Thermal Power Plant, he said at a high-level official meeting held here on Wednesday.

New Delhi, December 08: In a major setback for Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, the Delhi court on Thursday pronounced its order on the plea seeking permission to examine senior CBI officials to establish and present Chidambaram’s role in the 2G spectrum scam.

Accepting the petitioner’s plea the court has also allowed more witnesses to be quizzed.

The court has allowed the petitioner to become a witness in his complaint against Chidambaram and has asked him to appear in the witness box on December 17 to make his statement.

Waashington, December 08: The United States on Wednesday wished Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari well after aides said he suffered a heart attack and dismissed rumors that the civilian leader was being pushed out.

“We have seen the reports. We certainly wish him a speedy recovery,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

Zardari’s illness sparked media reports that he is contemplating resignation, but loyalists ruled out the idea he may step down.

Hyderabad, December 08: Handlooms and Textiles Minister P Shankar Rao on Wednesday opined that the Congress party should not initiate disciplinary action against YSR Jagan Mohan Reddy group MLAs for violating the whip issued during the No Confidence Motion.

New Delhi,December 08 :RAISING serious doubts over the police’s claims that he had recced Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore before the 2010 blast there, the family of 21- year- old Gayoor Ahmed Jamali on Wednesday pleaded his innocence, saying he had never left Bihar.

The suspected Indian Mujahideen ( IM) operative was arrested from his residence on November 24, but the local police in Madhubani had refused register an FIR against the arrest. The final- year student of almiyat at the Darul Uloom Ahmadiya Salfiya, Darbhanga, has no criminal record at the local police station.

Incarcerated Gujarat IAS officer Mr. Pradeep Sharma in his writ petition in the Supreme Court states that the persecution unleashed on him by the state chief minister, Mr. Narendra Modi is essentially due to two major reasons apart from host of other supporting factors:

Hyderabad, December 08: Visitors can breathe easy this time at the forthcoming Numaish (72nd All India Industrial Exhibition) as the number of stalls has been cut to provide more circulation area. The Numaish at the Exhibition Grounds, Nampally, will be held from January 1 to February 15.

New York, December 08: Harvard University has decided to remove courses taught by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy at its annual summer school session, terming his views as “reprehensible” in a controversial piece he wrote on Islamic terrorism in India.

New delhi, December 08: A 15-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped by one of her friends and his two acquaintances at Ghazipur in east Delhi on Tuesday. The victim, a student of Class 10, was lured by her 28-year-old boyfriend into going out on a motorcycle ride with him. He then took her to his friend’s place where two others – a minor and a 22-year-old – were waiting for them. She was confined in the house and raped by all three of them, one by one.

Hyderabad, December 08: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi staged Rasta Roko agitation across the Telangana region on Wednesday demanding that the State Government withdraw the cases booked against the party’s politburo member Cheruku Sudhakar under the National Security Act.

TRS leaders including Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao took part in the agitation demanding that the government release Cheruku Sudhakar unconditionally. Harish Rao participated in the Rasta Roko agitation on Addanki-Narketpally highway near Cherlapally. He along with other activists were later arrested by the police.

Jaipur, December 08: The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday issued a show cause notice to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on a petition seeking initiation of criminal defamatory action against him for his reported remarks on country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma issued the notice on a petition filed by an Indian Youth Congress (IYC) leader Charmesh Sharma, a resident of Bundi.

Both the Chief Judicial Magistrate and the Additional Sessions Judge, Bundi, had earlier dismissed the plea of the of IYC leader.

New Delhi, December 08: Nepal is looking at the possibility of lifting the ban on use of Indian notes of denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.

The issue came up for discussion between India’s Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar and his Nepalese counterpart Purushottam Ojha here yesterday.

“The Nepalese side noted the possibility that notes of 500 and 1000 Indian rupee denomination may be rendered legitimate for use in Nepal,” the minutes of the meeting said.

Nepal had banned use of Rs 500 over a decade ago in June 2000.

Hyderabad, December 08: A one-year-old boy fell into a borewell while playing near his house at a village in Andhra Pradesh’s Mahabubnagar district on Wednesday, police said.

Tirumalesh, who was playing near his house at Bingidoddi village, slipped into the 20-feet deep abandoned borewell this evening, police said.

After hearing the cries of the infant, villagers approached revenue and police officials for help, they said.

Revenue authorities are digging a hole parallel to the borewell to rescue Tirumalesh, a police official supervising the work said.