The Moglakhar mosque in Nawada town on Tuesday first came under attack by miscreants who were part of Ram Navami procession and then in an apparent bid to control the subsequent communal violence the police sprayed bullets on the mosque between Maghrib and Isha prayer time.
One of Pakistan’s most notorious extremists mocked the United States during a defiant media conference close to the country’s military headquarters on Wednesday, a day after the US slapped a $10 million bounty on him.
“I am here, I am visible. America should give that reward money to me,” said Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, referring to the fact that the bounty was given to a man whose whereabouts are not a mystery. “I will be in Lahore tomorrow. America can contact me whenever it wants to.”
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari will be accompanied by a 40-member delegation when he arrives here on a “private visit” during which he will have lunch with the Prime Minister and pay obeisance at the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer.
There is minister in that delegation which comprises the President’s family members, senior officials of the Presidency and a media contingent, official sources said, without naming any particular minister.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will host a lunch which will be preceded by a meeting between the two leaders, they said.
A combative Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief, today dared the US to carry out a military raid against him like the one that killed Osama bin Laden, saying he was not hiding and would inform the Americans himself about his whereabouts.
Saeed made the remarks while addressing a news conference with other leaders of the Defa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) at Flashman Hotel in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, located a short distance from the Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters.
Information Technology Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah on Wednesday slammed Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu for unnecessarily politicizing the power tariff hike issue to get mileage on it.
Talking to media persons, Ponnala Lakshmaiah said that the hike in power tariff would not affect the farmers and poor people in the State and it would affect 1.17 crore consumers marginally. “The tariff hike is minor and will not affect the poor people and farmers,” he claimed.
A criminal court on Wednesday posted the hearing on actress Tara Choudhary’s custody petition in the prostitution racket to Saturday.
When the Banjara Hills police produced Tara Choudhary seeking seven days custody to investigate into her alleged nefarious activities of forcing the girls into prostitution in the name of offering roles in films, the court adjourned the hearing of petition to Saturday as the Tara’s counsel sought time to file counter the petition.
Telugu Desam Party on Wednesday said that it would approach the court against the transfer of Additional Director of Anti-Corruption Bureau K Sreenivasa Reddy.
The Indian Navy formally inducted the nuclear-powered submarine ‘INS Chakra’ into its fleet today. The INS Chakra was commissioned by the Defence Minister AK Antony at a ceremony in Visakhaptnam here on Wednesday.
Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu and hundreds of TDP workers were arrested by the police on Wednesday after they staged dharna at Gaganpahad power sub-station in Rangareddy district in protest against the hike in power tariff.
The CBI Special Court on Wednesday posted the hearing to April 9 on the bail petition of Jagathi Publications vice-chairman V Vijay Sai Reddy, the accused in the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s disproportionate assets case.
The special court took this decision as the CBI failed to file a counter petition in this regard in the court. The court directed the CBI to file counter petition in this case immediately.
Government chief whip Gandra Venkataramana Reddy came down heavily on Telugu Desam party president N Chandrababu Naidu for staging protests against power tariff hike.
Talking to media persons at the Congress Legislature Party Office, Gandra Venkataramana Reddy said that Chandrababu Naidu has no moral right to criticize the State Government over increasing of power tariff. He accused Naidu of staging dharnas and protests to get mileage on the power tariff issue and with an eye on the Chief Minister’s post.
To clear extra rush of passengers, the South Central Railway will run 638 Summer Special Trains from April to June 2012 from the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.
According to SCR, Special Trains will run to various destinations including Visakhaptnam, Manchiryal, Ajmer, Ferozpur, Kolhapur, Porbandar, Jaipur, Adilabad, Nanded, Nizamabad and Visakhapatnam.
YSR Congress Party on Wednesday appealed to the media to refrain from being influenced by the malicious reports being published by a section of press against YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and his family members to mislead the public.
“The speculative reports on the arrest of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy are one such example and the reports are not sourced properly and is against the ethics of journalism which needs to be very objective,” party spokesperson Bajireddy Goverdhan told reporters here.
The Special Court for CBI at Nampally on Wednesday posted the hearing seeking interim custody of vehicles including helicopter seized by the CBI for April 10.
The court gave these directions following a petition filed by the prime accused in illegal mining case Gali Janardhan Reddy and his brother-in-law B V Sreenivasa Reddy.
Former minister T Jeevan Reddy on Wednesday said that the Congress High Command would not change Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy holding him responsible for party’s debacle in the recently held by-elections in the State.
Chief Electoral Officer Banwar Lal on Wednesday said that by-elections for 18 assembly seats and one Parliament constituency might be held in the month of August and not in May as being speculated. However, he said that the Commission would finalise the dates for by-elections soon.
Leaked emails show an American private security company, SCG International has been helping the Syrian opposition in its efforts to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad at the request of US officials.
The whistleblower website, Wikileaks, released the emails sent by SCG Chief Executive James F. Smith, the former director of the notorious company Blackwater, which is blamed for the killing of many civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Pension for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) will become a reality from May 1, 2012, Vayalar Ravi, the Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, said at a press conference in Dubai today.
The minister assured NRIs at a community gathering that he is trying his best to launch the Pension and Life Insurance Fund (Plif) on May Day.
The government has promised to contribute almost 50 per cent of what the NRI’s contribute towards their pension fund in case of men and almost double the amount in case of female members.
CPI-M on Wednesday said corruption was an offshoot of the economic policies followed by “neo-liberal” regimes and only a Left-democratic alternative could fight the nexus of big business, ruling politicians and bureaucrats “looting” public funds and scarce resources in the country.
“Loot of natural resources had reached unparalleled heights during the UPA regime,” CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat claimed, inaugurating the 20th party Congress here.
She has acted in 11 Bollywood films only in her decade-long-career but actress Sameera Reddy has no regrets about her short filmography, insisting she has always been casual towards her profession.
Sameera, who started her career with the 2002 release ‘Maine Dil Tujhko Diya’, said there is more to her than just acting and she likes to enjoy life.
The Telangana Political Joint Action Committee (JAC) today threatened to intensify the separate statehood agitation once again if the ruling Congress fails to make its stand clear on the issue before the Parliament resumes for the second part of the Budget session on April 24.
Congress should clear its stand on Telangana issue as it had promised to deliver the separate state in the 2004 and 2009 elections, JAC convener M Kodandaram told reporters here.
In a bid to expose the alleged nexus involving liquor syndicates, politicians and excise officials, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has intensified its operation and is conducting searches in various districts of Andhra Pradesh.
After conducting searches in some districts of Telangana and Rayalaseema, the ACB officials have now focused on the coastal Andhra region.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday castigated the Andhra Pradesh government for failing to rein in the Telanagana agitators, indulging in “sheer goondaism and vandalism” in the high court premises during their September 2010 stir for the separate state.
A bench of justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhyaya directed the state’s police chief and home secretary to file affidavits detailing the preventive measures and subsequent actions taken to curb violence in the high court premises.
Police arrested 10 suspected Muslimss in dawn raids across France on Wednesday after a shooting spree by an al Qaeda-inspired gunman prompted President Nicolas Sarkozy to order a security clampdown, just ahead of an April 22 election.
The DCRI domestic intelligence service, supported by elite police commandos, carried out arrests in the southern cities of Marseille and Valence, two smaller towns in the southwest, and in the northeastern town of Roubaix, a police source said.
Telugu Desam Party on Wednesday said that it would approach the court against the transfer of Additional Director of Anti-Corruption Bureau K Sreenivasa Reddy.