Month: December 2011

Bareilly, December 05: Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Moday said social activist Anna Hazare needs to be wary of his own people who are “working in their own personal interests”.

“The people who have gathered around Anna Hazare are working in their own personal interests”, Khurshid told newspersons in neighbouring Shahjahanpur district this evening.

Asked whether the UPA government was working under the pressure of key alliance partner Mamata Bannerjee of Trinmool Congress, he said “Mamata is a word everyone is fond of”.

London, December 05: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is facing a four-year pay freeze as austerity measures bite at Buckingham Palace, a media report said Monday.

Figures show the Queen, whose income has been dropping in real terms, is also on course for six successive years of cuts to funding, the Daily Express reported.

She has been hit hardest by the replacement of the 300-year-old Civil List by the Sovereign Grant, which comes in next year.

New Delhi, December 05: India’s version of FHM magazine has defended the cover of its latest issue which shows a nude Pakistani actress with the initials of Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency displayed on her arm.

The magazine’s December issue has yet to hit news stands. But a preview of the cover on its website triggered a media frenzy which intensified when actress Veena Malik denied posing nude and accused FHM of doctoring her image.
The editor of FHM India, Kabeer Sharma, told AFP at the weekend that he was mystified by Malik’s allegations.

London, December 05: British judges ruled on Monday that Julian Assange, founder of the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, could take his year-long fight against extradition to Sweden to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land.

Swedish authorities want to question the 40-year-old Australian over accusations of rape and sexual assault made by two female former WikiLeaks volunteers in August 2010.

Assange, who has been living in Britain since his arrest here in December last year, denies wrongdoing.

Hyderabad,December 05 :Late Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s widow Vijayamma Monday accused the Congress party of throwing her and her son YS Jagan Mohan Reddy out of the party following the death of her husband.

Making her maiden speech in the state assembly Monday night, Vijayamma criticized both the Congress party and main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for maligning YSR, as the late chief minister was popularly known.

Ahmedabad, December 05: The West Indies defeated India by 16 runs in their third One-Day international cricket match here Monday.

Chasing a victory target of 261 runs, India were bowled out for 244 in 46.5 overs.

India lead the five-match series 2-1.

For India, Rohit Sharma scored 95.

Ravi Rampaul took four wickets for the West Indies.

–Agencies

Lucknow, December 05: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday alleged large-scale money laundering by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s younger brother Anand Kumar, whose assets have allegedly bloated over a short span of time.

However, a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) spokesman dismissed the allegations as ‘reflection of anti-Dalit mindset of the BJP.’

He accused BJP of ‘making wild allegations against the BSP, simply because it could foresee its devastating defeat at the forthcoming 2012 state assembly elections.’

Raipur, December 05: Chhattisgarh’s main opposition Congress party claimed Monday that thousands of its cadres, besides senior state leaders, will court arrest on Dec 9 against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

‘Thousands of party workers will stage demonstration and court arrest in all the 90 assembly constituencies in the state on Dec 9 to protest against Chhattisgarh BJP’s regime that has betrayed farmers repeatedly,’ the Congress said in a statement.

Belgaum, December 05: Police today nabbed two people and seized from them Rs seven lakh worth Hashish in the city. Superintendent of Police Sandip Patil said in a release here that Nijim Allavuddin Mulla and Mohasin Sabir Hussain Syed were trying to sell the narcotic in Camp Area when they were nabbed. The arrested were selling the drug to students near college and hostels when they were arrested. He said efforts were on to locate another person from the peddlers gang who escaped on seeing the police.

—-Agencies

New Delhi, December 05: Indian telecom service providers added 7.9 million new subscribers in September, taking the total number of wireless users in the country to 873.61 million, according to telecom regulator Trai.

The total telecom subscriber base of the country stood at 906.9 million at the end of September, taking the overall teledensity to 75.48 (telecom connections per 100 people), a Trai statement said today.

The number of wireline subscribers fell to 33.3 million in September from 34.07 million in August, it added.

Bonn, December 05: Hinting at Pakistan, India on Monday said terrorism emanating from outside Afghan borders posed potent threat to Afghanistan and warned that the war-torn country could “slip back” by interference in its internal affairs.

Addressing a conference of over 100 countries here, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna underlined India’s pledge to support Afghanistan’s development while underlining that the world community’s commitment to ensuring its stability and security should not end after international forces leave that nation in 2014.

Patna, December 05: Observing that a majority of Parliamentarians were opposed to the opening up of the retail sector for the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the JD(U) today dared the UPA government to seek a vote in the Parliament after a debate on the burning issue.

“A majority of the Parliamentarians are opposed to the FDI in retail sector….let the UPA government seek a division of votes on the floor of the two houses in Parliament to test its strength on the issue,” the JD(U) national general secretary Shivanand Tiwari told reporters here.

Fatehpur, December 05: Accusing the BJP of misguiding people on the issue of FDI in retail, Union Coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Monday said the move would help in controlling prices.

“The BJP is misguiding people on the issue of FDI in retail sector which will help control prices,” Jaiswal, on way to Allahabad from Kanpur, told reporters here.

The Union minister said his party always took decisions which were in the interest of country and its people without caring for criticism.

Baghdad, December 05: “A car bomb was parked near a Shia pilgrims’ procession inside the Nile area, and it killed 16 people, mostly women and children, and wounded 31 others,” a police.

A second attack in the city involving two roadside bombs also left six people dead and 15 more wounded.

The blasts occurred as Shia Muslims were marking the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Scores of Iraqi civilians, army and police personnel have been targeted in bombing attacks across the country over the past few months.

Hyderabad, December 05: Late Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s widow Vijayamma Monday accused the Congress party of throwing her and her son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy out of the party following the death of her husband.

Making her maiden speech in the state assembly Monday night, Vijayamma criticized both the Congress party and main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for maligning YSR, as the late chief minister was popularly known.

Hyderabad, December 05: Israeli Ambassador to India Alon Ushpiz Monday exchanged views with Andhra Pradesh police chief and other top officials on terrorism, Left-wing extremism and other issues.

An Israeli delegation headed by Colonel Yossi Rafelov, defence attache of the embassy of Israel, also had a meeting with Director General of Police Dinesh Reddy and other top officials heading wings like counter-terrorism, intelligence, anti-Maoist force Greyhounds and anti-terror force OCTOPUS.

Hyderabad, December 05: Praja Rajyam MLA and supporter of YSR Congress, Shobha Nagi Reddy on Monday condemned the allegation that Telugu Desam and YSR Congress party had a `match fixing’ on the No Confidence Motion introduced against Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy Government in the assembly.

Hyderabad, December 05: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Mayor Bandaru Karthika Chandra Reddy on Monday tendered resignation from the post.

Karthika Reddy handed over her resignation letter to GHMC Commissioner MT Krishna Babu at 3 pm paving the way for the election of new GHMC Mayor. The resignation will now be placed before the GHMC’s General Council, which is scheduled to meet on December 17, for acceptance.

Hyderabad, December 05: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday announced that the government was committed to augment the capacities of the National Security Guards in order to effectively contain terrorist activities.

The dapper hero will always be remembered for his sloping walk and trademark puff of hair

As a child artist, I had grown up hearing about Dev Anand and watching him randomly on the sets of various films. His one time co-star and veteran actress Asha Parekh expresses her views on evergreen and now immortal Devanand.

New Delhi,December 05 : Team Anna key member Prashant Bhushan on Monday dragged the Prime Minister’s Office into the controversial CD issue, involving his father Shanti Bhushan, alleging that it was behind the withholding of a forensic report which said CD was doctored.
His remarks came following a RTI reply that the forensic examination by Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Chandigarh shows that the CD was “doctored”, contradicting findings of two other such tests.

Hyderabad, December 05: A red alert has been sounded in the twin cities ahead of December 6, the anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition which coincides with Muharrum. Police are taking precautions to ensure the day passes off without any untoward incident. Additional paramilitary forces have been rushed to the city and all steps taken to keep the city peaceful, additional director-general of police (Law & Order) SA Huda said. The additional forces would be deployed in sensitive areas.

Jeddah, December 05: There should be no Qunoot supplication recited during disasters until an edict (fatwa) has been issued in this regard, said the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance, in an urgent circular to mosques recently.

The ministry ordered its supervisors to monitor mosques and inform all imams and Khateebs of the circular and report any violations.

New Delhi, December 05: Two persons, one of them a robber, gang-raped a 40-year-old woman after having an argument with her husband the previous day. The incident has been reported from Adarsh Nagar area of north-west Delhi.

A police source said that the accused, Eroj alias Chitti, is a robber and has been involved in more than 14 cases. He was arrested after the victim approached the police. An FIR of gang rape also has been lodged in this respect.

Hyderabad, December 05: Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLA K Tarakarama Rao on Monday announced that he would commit suicide in full public view if someone proves that his party or leaders got benefited from the Polavaram Project tenders.

Talking to reporters at the Assembly Media Point, the Sircilla MLA challenged Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu to prove the allegations that he levelled against the TRS leaders on the floor of the House during discussions on No Confidence Motion.