Month: February 2012

Riyadh most populous Saudi city, Makkah most populous province

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Makkah province is the most populous out of the Kingdom’s 13 provinces, according to the 2010 census.

The Kingdom’s population crossed 27.1 million as of December 2010, and these included 18.7 million Saudis and 8.4 million foreigners, a report released by the Central Department of Statistics and Information revealed.

According to the figures published by the department recently, the Kingdom has an estimated population of 27,136,977 at the end of 2010. Of this the number of Saudis stood at 18,707,576.

Fear of Osama: Song forces US flight back

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Although he was killed by US troops last year, Osama bin Laden appears to be still haunting the Americans.

A US passenger aircraft on a domestic flight had to reverse course and return to airport after a Saudi teen age student had a heated argument with the cabin crew before he started to sing in praise for Osama.

Police arrested 19-year-old Yazeed Mohammed Abunayyan at Portland airport after the plane cut its flight to Houston, Texas, and returned to land.

Two arrested for running fake government websites

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Two people were arrested for cheating unemployed youths by promising them government jobs through fake government websites, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said Saturday.

“The accused were running fake offices and websites in the names of government organizations like ‘Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Awam Suchna Sansthan’ and ‘NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) Samiti’,” said a CBI official.

According to the investigative agency, the accused were arrested here Friday.

‘Face’ of Gujarat riots to launch Mumbai protest initiative

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Qutubuddin Ansari, the famous ‘face’ of the 2002 Gujarat riots, will exhort Indians to mark as a black day the 10th anniversary of the carnage on Feb 28, an official said.

“He will come and personally request all Indians to wear black badges, scarves or bands – to protest against one of the most inhuman incidents ever in the history of independent India,” Harmony Foundation President Abraham Mathai told IANS.

Quran-Burning: Afghans Attack UN Complex in Protest

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Rock-throwing protesters attacked a UN compound and clashed with police in northern Afghanistan today, as a fifth day of protests over the burning of Quran left at least three dead.

Thousands attacked the complex in Kunduz but did not get in as violence flared across the city, in unrest that raised to 27 the death toll from protests at Quran burning by troops from the US-led NATO force, according to an AFP tally.

A UN spokeswoman confirmed the attack but refused to say how many UN staff were on site at the time.

Hyderabadi Diwani Handi

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Diwani handi is similar to mix veg in the north India. Boiled vegetables are cooked with ginger garlic paste and served with hyderababdi parantha.

Ingredients:

Potatoes 3
French Beans 10-12
Broad Beans (sem) 1 cup
Carrots 3
Green Peas (shelled) 1/2 cup
Baby Brinjals 6
Fenugreek Leaves (methi) 1 bunch
Onions 3
Ginger Paste 1 tsp.
Garlic Paste 1 tsp.
Red Chilli Powder 1 tsp.
Turmeric Powder 1/2 tsp.
Salt to taste
Oil 1/2 cup

Iran says foreign intervention in Syria unacceptable

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The Islamic Republic of Iran’s position on Syria is to support any reform benefitting the people of this country and opposition to any meddling of foreign elements in Syrian internal affairs.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman says Tehran rejects foreign intervention in Syria and supports any reform benefitting the Syrian people.

Speaking to reporters in his weekly briefing on Saturday, Ramin Mehmanparast rejected false reports about Iran supplying weapons to the Syrian government to crack down on the opposition.

Katju not worried about controversies

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Press Council of India chairman Justice (Retd) Markandeya Katju on Saturday said he was not worried about controversies over his statements and would act after receiving feedback about the freedom of the press in Bihar.

“If people describe my statement as controversial, let them say it. But I will do what I have to do after receiving the feedback,” said Katju who had attacked the Nitish Kumar government yesterday alleging the media in the state was targetted if it wrote against the government.

India: Rich man, starving child

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Crying as she is put on an electronic scale, two-year-old Rajini’s naked shrivelled frame casts a dark shadow over a rising India, where millions of children have little to eat.

The children are scrawny, listless and sick in this run-down nutrition clinic in central India with its intermittent power supply. If they survive they will grow up shorter, weaker and less smart than their better-fed peers.

Rajini weighs 5kg, about half of what she should.

Explain foreign links: PMO to anti-nuke activist

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MoS in Prime Minister Office (PMO) V Narayanasamy on Saturday asked anti-Kudankulam activist SP Udayakumar to explain his links to Sweden funded NGO.

The development came close on the heels of PM Manmohan Singh’s statement that some NGOs were misusing foreign funds to fuel anti-nuclear protest.

Kumar maintained that he is only part of the expert panel of the NGO sphereheading anti- Kudankulam agitation.

Two US advisors, two troops killed in Afghanistan

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The incident took place after shooting broke out at the Afghan Interior Ministry building in Kabul.

Locals say the advisors were caught in the middle of an exchange of fire between US and Afghan forces.

Further details regarding the shooting remain unclear.

Earlier, at least another three were killed in Kunduz where police prevented protesters from overrunning a UN compound.

On February 20, US soldiers burned the copies of the Holy Quran and other Islamic texts at the US-run Bagram Airbase, southeast of the city of Charikar in the Afghan province of Parwan.

Delhi commission to probe orphanage abuse

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The Delhi government has constituted a two-member inquiry commission to probe the alleged sexual abuse of children at an orphanage, the Arya Anathalaya.

The panel has also been entrusted the responsibility of looking into the state of affairs of five children’s homes in the capital.

Karnataka housing scam: Case filed against Yeddy

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Karnataka Lokayukta Police filed a case against former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa on Saturday in connection with a Karnataka Housing Board allotment scam.

A case of cheating and criminal conspiracy has been registered against him under IPC Sections 420, 120 (b) and 13 (1) (d), reports said.

The scam is worth an alleged Rs 500 crores and involves former state housing minister Krisshanaiah Setty.

According to reports the Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) paid exorbitant rates to purchase 959 acres of land in Sidlaghatta taluk (Chikkaballapur District) for residential use.

No NGO pressure in moratorium on Bt Brinjal: Jairam

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Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on Saturday said no NGO influenced his decision to put a moratorium on Bt Brinjal, a statement that comes against the backdrop of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh raising questions about the role of foreign funded NGOs in blocking use of genetic engineering.

“Green Peace a foreign funded NGO accused me of propagating the line of Monsanto during a public hearing in Bangalore. So on Bt Brinjal, since I was directly involved, I can confidently say no NGOs influenced my views,” Ramesh, who is on a three-day Kerala visit, told reporters here.

Why didn’t Advani bring back black money, asks Sonia

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Questioning Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani’s credentials as an anti-corruption crusader, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi Saturday asked why he had taken no steps to bring back black money stashed in banks abroad when he was the deputy prime minister.

Chidambaram assures support to Bru refugee to return to Mizoram

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Union Home Minister P Chidambaram recently visited Tripura to take stock of Bru repatriation and extend full support of central government to the process.

He was at the Gachirampara camp at Kanchanpur, which is among the six refugee camps in Tripura.

He interacted with the leaders of Bru people and advised all the 37,000 Bru refugees to return to Mizoram and start their life afresh.

I am nothing without my people, says King

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Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday stressed the need of his people’s cooperation in achieving greater progress and national solidarity. “I have more ideas. If Allah wills, they will be achieved with yours and my joint efforts. Without you I am nothing, without the Saudi people I am nothing. I am one of you and for you. I seek Allah’s help first and then yours,” the king said while receiving a report on the achievements of the Ninth National Meet of Intellectual Dialogue recently held in Hail.

Ma was very scared: Soha

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Actor-mother Sharmila Tagore, who stays in Delhi, was distressed seeing reports flashing on almost every news channel, talking about her son Saif Ali Khan’s recent scuffle at a restaurant.

Saif Ali Khan arrested, gets bail in assault case hyped up because her brother is a celebrity. “Ma got very scared. She started calling me, seeing media reports on the television. She was unable to get through to him. Finally, they had a talk and everything is fine now,” says the actor.

India taken off polio endemic list by WHO

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India, which has been polio-free for over a year now, was on Saturday taken off the list of polio endemic countries by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

This announcement was made by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad at the polio summit 2012 here in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Azad said he has received a letter this morning stating that the “WHO has taken India’s name off the list of polio endemic countries in view of the remarkable progress that we have made during the past one year.”

FIR filed against Yeddyurappa

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The Lokayukta police on Saturday filed an FIR against former Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa in connection with a land allotment case.

A case of cheating and criminal conspiracy has been registered against him in the Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) sites allotment scam, Lokayukta police sources said.

FIR was filed against the senior BJP leader under sections 420 (Cheating), 120 (b) (Criminal conspiracy) and 13 (1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, they said.

Google to add do-not-track button to Chrome browser

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Google to add do-not-track button to Chrome browserInternet giant, Google has become the latest company to agree to add a do-not-track button on its Internet browser, the Google Chrome.

The do-not-track tool will allow users to restrict web portals and marketers from tracking their activity online. Now most major browser developers offer a similar feature with the browsers after an outcry by privacy activists and a directive from US authorities.

I do not have any differences with Virender Sehwag: Dhoni

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The BCCI have finally managed to persuade Mahendra Singh Dhoni to come out in front of the media and speak about the ‘rift’ that was originally not supposed to exist. And it sure felt like the game of pool that Greg Chappell and Sourav Ganguly were forced to play in 2005 in Zimbabwe after their big fight.

Dhoni, with a big smile permanently plastered to his face, was was speaking to reporters during a press conference on Saturday. He claimed that the media misinterpreted his comments on the seniors and the rotation policy.

PM should quit if he can’t prove foreign fund charge, says anti-nuclear activist

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By invoking the ‘foreign hand’ theory, PM Manmohan Singh has stirred up a hornet’s nest. Anti-nuclear activists opposed to the Kudankulam project on Friday dared him to “check and stop” the flow of finance from abroad or else quit.

“I’ll sue the PM if he fails to substantiate the unfounded charges. He should quit if he fails to prove them,” said S.P. Udayakumar, convenor of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), spearheading the stir against the nuclear plant. He has already served a legal notice on MoS V. Narayanasamy.

Meira Kumar amazed at Pakistanis’ love for Indians

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Islamabad, February 25: Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who led a 17-member Indian Parliamentary delegation to Pakistan, said she was “pleasantly shocked” to see the love of Pakistanis for Indians, and prayed for cordial relations between the two countries.

Meira Kumar Friday visited the Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore accompanied by members of the Punjab Provincial Assembly, and wrote a message of good wishes in the visitors’ book.

Palestinian woman in Israeli jail continues hunger strike for ninth day

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A Palestinian female prisoner protesting her illegal detention by Israeli forces continues her hunger strike into the ninth day.

Hana Shalabi was released in a last prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel in October, 2011 but was detained again by Israeli forces on February 16.

Shalabi, who spent 30 months in prison before her release last year, is now under a six-month administrative detention, a military procedure which allows suspects to be held without charge indefinitely, said Palestinian prisoner affairs minister Issa Qaraqaa.