Cairom, January 25: As Jan 25 marked the first anniversary of Egypt’s civilian uprising that led to president Hosni Mubarak stepping down after nearly 30 years in power, many people questioned if it had actually proved successful.
Following 18 days of protests at Cairo’s Tahrir Square, Mubarak was replaced by a Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) which ordered severe clampdowns on street demonstrations and political dissent.
Kolkata, January 25: Urban Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh Wednesday said the credit for bringing a “revolutionary change” in West Bengal goes to Congress as much as to its ally Trinamool Congress.
“Change is nobody’s monopoly. West Bengal has witnessed revolutionary change under the new regime and we are as much a part of the government. We have much to contribute,” the Congress leader told reporters here.
The Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance — partners both in the central and state governments — has seen their relationship plunge to low levels over several issues.
Bangalore, January 25: Ruling BJP in Karnataka will seek President Prathibha Patil s help to stall UPA government s move to carve 4.5 per cent reservation for minorities out of 27 per cent existing for backward class in the country. The party would submit a memorandum to the President seeking her intervention in the issue. Addressing a press conference here, newly formed BJP Karnataka Backwardclass morcha President and Member of Parliament P C Mohan said a convention of leaders from Backward Clsses would be held on February three in the city.
Jeddah, January 25: Saudi households claim their private affairs are being made public by their own domestic workers such as maids and drivers.
They said inevitably their friends and relatives find out about what goes on in their private lives.
Some of these workers gossip about what goes on in their households to friends and family working in the households of neighbors or other relatives. Some of them go further and use such secrets as a blackmail weapon.
Camp Pendleton, January 25: When Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich finally spoke in court he did not address the judge but instead directed his words at the Iraqi family members who survived his squad’s attacks in 2005 that left 24 unarmed civilians dead.
The 31-year-old Camp Pendleton Marine apologized for the loss of their loved ones and said he never intended to harm them or their families. He went on to tell the court that his guilty plea in no way suggests that his squad behaved badly or dishonorably.
Ankara, January 25: Irish actor Liam Neeson is considering converting to Islam after becoming fascinated by the religion while filming in Turkey.
The Taken star grew up as a devout Catholic who acted as an altar boy at his local church and was even named after a priest.
However, during a trip to Istanbul to shoot a film, he was moved by Muslims’ Call To Prayer, which takes place five times a day to summon followers to worship.
New Delhi, January 25: Salman Rushdie is a “poor” and “sub-standard writer” who would have remained largely unknown but for his controversial book Satanic Verses, according to Markandey Katju, till recently a judge of the Supreme Court.
Katju, who is now the Chairman of Press Council of India, criticised the admirers of India-born author based in Britain, saying they suffered from “colonial inferiority complex” that a writer living abroad has to be great.
New Delhi, January 25: In yet another setback to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Supreme Court Wednesday directed a panel headed by former apex court judge M.B. Shah to probe 15 cases of alleged staged shootout killings in the state 2003-06.
An apex court bench of Justice Aftab Alam and Justice C.K. Prasad said that it was open to the monitoring authority headed by Justice (retd) Shah to constitute its own investigating team of police officers either from the existing special task force (STF) or other officers from within and outside the state.
Dubai, January 25: It is the story of a strong woman who confronts stigma and discrimination by breaking her silence to claim her basic rights.
“I’m not scared of the disease, I’m scared of you, [people]” quoted forty year-old HIV positive Asmaa, an Egyptian woman whose root is back to a small countryside village.
New Delhi, January 25: The Supreme Court today asked the monitoring authority headed by its former judge to look into the killings in alleged fake encounters between 2002 to 2006 in Gujarat and file its report within three months.
Gujarat Government had appointed former apex court judge M S Shah in April last year to monitor the investigation into the killings in the alleged fake encounters within the period.
Colombo, January 25: Fishermen from India and Sri Lanka could fish in the Palk Strait in turns to resolve the sensitive fishing issue, an irritant in bilateral ties, former President A P J Abdul Kalam has suggested.
Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen should fish in turns for three days each in a week, leaving one day as a holiday by both the parties, Kalam told a press conference here.
Kalam said he had also given the suggestion to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa during his meeting with him.
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Bangalore, January 25: Flight trials of Micro and Mini Air Vehicles designed and developed to meet many requirements including countering low intensity conflicts, counter terrorism and for rescue operations during natural calamities, were conducted at Hoskote near here, DRDO said on Wednesday.
These small vehicles are capable of flying in full autonomous mode and transmitting live day and night video to the portable Ground Control Station in real time, Defence Research and Development Organisation said in a statement.
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Colombo, January 25: Fishermen from India and Sri Lanka could fish in the Palk Strait in turns to resolve the sensitive fishing issue, an irritant in bilateral ties, former President A P J Abdul Kalam has suggested.
Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen should fish in turns for three days each in a week, leaving one day as a holiday by both the parties, Kalam told a press conference here.
Kalam said he had also given the suggestion to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa during his meeting with him.
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New Delhi: Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Wednesday expressed desire to double trade with India to USD 14 billion by 2014 and forge maritime partnership to develop seaport at Dawei,a strategic location on the southwestern coast of Myanmar.
Addressing leaders of Indian industry at the luncheon meeting hosted by Assocham, Ficci and CII here,Shinawatra said, the two countries can also have cooperation in developing the port infrastructure at Chennai.
New Delhi, January 25: The Jammu and Kashmir Police and paramilitary CRPF led the gallantry medals tally with 22 and 14 men respectively in the elite list as the government today announced 817 police awards in various categories on the eve of Republic day here.
New Delhi, January 25: Hitting out at politicians on the eve of Republic Day, Team Anna on Wednesday argued for more people’s participation in lawmaking process claiming that one cannot trust elected representatives as they could easily be managed by corporates who have “vested” interests.
Seeking to counter the argument that common man cannot understand complex issues like Lokpal Bill, nuclear energy or GM foods, it asked whether the MPs or ministers were experts on these subjects to deal with them.
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Howrah, January 25: The suicide of a state transport department employee Wednesday took a political turn with the opposition gunning for the West Bengal government for announcing withdrawal of subsidy from the transport department.
Bikram Singh, a group D employee of the Calcutta Tramways company, committed suicide at his home in Rishra in Hooghly district Wednesday, police said.
Singh’s colleagues and family members said he had not received salary for the last five months and was “very depressed following the announcement of the subsidy withdrawal”.
Pune, Janaury 25: Nine people were killed and two dozen were injured when a rogue bus driver sped through busy streets here Wednesday, crushing motorists, pedestrians and vehicles and leaving Pune in shock.
The half-hour bloodbath began at 8.15 a.m. when Santosh Mane, 41, used a master key to hijack a bus that had just reached Swargate Depot from Satara and drove on the wrong side of crowded roads at breakneck speed.
The driver of the hijacked bus, Santosh Hendre, and traffic controller Ajit Limaye ran behind the bus.
Mumbai, January 25: If Kamal Haasan had his way, superstar Shah Rukh Khan will be the only actor to step into his shoes for the Hindi remake of Gautham Menon’s Tamil film “Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu”.
Shah Rukh is currently in a dilemma as he has to choose between the remakes of two Tamil films – “Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu” and A.R. Murugadoss’s “Ramanna”.
Both offer the picky King Khan a chance to do something he hasn’t done before — a south Indian remake with parts that he hasn’t tried before.
Mahbubnagar, January 25: A Telugu Desam leader of Marchala village under Kalwakurthiy Mandal in Mahbubnagar district was allegedly murdered and the accused were arrested by the police on Tuesday. Shadnagar DSP Madhava Reddy said Narender Reddy and Tirupathaiah Goud of Marchala were members of TDP. Reddy was said to be allegedly having an affair with the wife of Goud. Goud warned him and asked him not to visit his house. As there was no change in the attitude of Reddy, they planned to eliminate him.
Hyderabad, January 25: Home Minister Sabita Indra Reddy has said that 657 cases filed against students during the Telangana agitation were being withdrawn as assured by the government in the Assembly.
Sabita and Law Minister Erasu Pratap Reddy held a meeting with police top-brass this morning and discussed the matter.
New Delhi, January 25: Veteran actor Dharmendra’s youngest daughter Ahana Deol is delighted with the news that her father has been named to receive the prestigious Padma Bhushan this year. However, she says he deserved the award much earlier.
“The Padma Bhushan is a grand honour and our family is really excited after hearing the news because dad totally deserves it,” Ahana told over phone from Mumbai.
“However, I also want to say that it was a bit too late to remember him for the award as he is not only a nice actor, but also a great human being,” added the 26-year-old.
Hyderabad, January 25: A special court here Wednesday remanded Sunil Reddy, a relative of YSR Congress Party chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, in judicial custody till Feb 1 in the Emaar township case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which arrested Sunil Reddy Tuesday night, presented him before the special court dealing with the CBI cases Wednesday.
The investigating agency also moved a petition for his custody for 15 days but his lawyer sought time to file a counter. The court adjourned the hearing to Friday.
Mumbai January 25: Saif Ali Khan didn’t mince words when asked which of Bollywood’s many Khans does his girlfriend, actress Kareena Kapoor look best with.
Apart from Saif, Kareena has so far worked with Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and will soon be seen with young Imran Khan in “Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu”. After working with Saif in “Tashan” and “Kurbaan”, she will be seen with him again in the upcoming “Agent Vinod”, set for release March 23.
Dubai, January 25: After one of UAE’s leading classifieds websites, Dubizzle.com, said last week it had removed a ‘kidney sale’ ad from its listings, another such advert on the same website was spotted by Emirates 24|7 this morning.
Last week, a human kidney in ‘flawless’ condition was advertised for sale on Dubizzle, for Dh200,000.