A NATO soldier was killed in Afghanistan Saturday in a militant attack, the military alliance said.
A brief statement issued by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) did not give details about the victim’s nationality. The soldier died in southern Afghanistan, Xinhua reported.
On a day when a ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator was convicted and jailed in a bribery case, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Saturday charged the BJP with making Karnataka the most corrupt state in the country.
“There is no other state more corrupt than the BJP-ruled Karnataka. At a time when half the state is reeling under drought, the ruling party’s leaders are busy fighting among themselves,” Gandhi said at a Youth Congress convention here, about 400 km from Bangalore.
The stage was set Sunday for the day-long joint fast by Yoga Guru Ramdev and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare to protest against black money and corruption in the national capital.
The fast at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar has been called to mark one year of Ramdev’s last agitation at Ramlila ground, from where he was arrested in the middle of the night between June 3 and 4 last year.
“This is the beginning, the movement will gain momentum and by August it will take a huge form,” Ramdev told reporters before starting for Rajghat.
At least nine people died in South Africa Saturday when a minibus collided with a bus, police said.
The accident took place around 7.00 a.m. near the city of Nelspruit in eastern Mpumalanga province. Forty-five others were injured, some critically, Xinhua reported. The number of victims in each of the vehicles was not immediately known.
——IANS
Brothers Randhir Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor are strictly against remaking any of Bollywood legend Raj Kapoor’s films. “We don’t want to touch any of Raj Kapoor’s films,” they said.
“We have given up the idea of making a remake of ‘Awaara’. It is very difficult to reproduce the same magic now,” the brothers said at the special screening of Raj Kapoor’s “Awaara” here.
Raj Kapoor died June 2, 1988, at the age of 63. To commemorate his 24th death anniversary, a special screening of his film “Awaara” was organised by Radio Mirchi in Mumbai.
A man in Uttar Pradesh killed his two minor daughters as he was upset over his wife not giving birth to a son, police said Saturday.
Anil, a resident of Asandra region, killed four-year-old Muskaan and two-year-old Khushi Friday and dumped their bodies in a river in Barabanki district, 29 km from the state capital. He is absconding.
The bodies were discovered by villagers Saturday.
Superintendent of Police Barabanki D.K. Rai told IANS that Anil was angry with his wife Sangeeta as she had given birth to three daughters.
A cargo plane crashed into a minibus near Accra during a forced landing Saturday night, killing over a dozen people.
The accident took place around 8 p.m. outside El Wak Stadium, about 10 km from Accra airport, Xinhua reported. At least 27 people were aboard the minibus.
Television reports said 15 bodies were pulled out of the mangled vehicle. However, the number of victims on board the plane was not immediately known.
The aircraft belonged to Nigerian cargo airline Allied Air.
——IANS
CBI today carried out searches at the residence of retired district judge T V Chalapathi Rao, one of the five persons who had allegedly brokered a multi-crore bribe to CBI judge T Pattabhiram Rao for granting bail to former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy.
A team of CBI personnel went to the house of Chalapapathi Rao at Chilakaluripet near here and conducted the
searches, CBI sources in Hyderabad said.
The CBI officials claimed to have found some important documents during the searches though they refused to give
details.
Rajasthan Minister Amin Khan today said appropriate action will be taken against those responsible for the demolition of a mosque in Bhilwara district.
Investigation in the matter is on. We will ensure that all the accused are punished as per the law…,” Minister of
State for Minority Affairs Amin Khan said, adding that the state government has taken several decisions for the uplift of the minority community.
The site at which the mosque stood was purchased by a mining company from the local Anjuman Committee. It was
demolished in April to make way for mining in the area.
After 105 days in custody, the two Italian marines, arrested for allegedly gunning down two Indian fishermen off Kerala waters, were today released on bail as a court in Kollam posted their trial to June 18.
Latore Massimilliano and Salvatore Girone walked out of the Borstal prison here around 9.30 pm after they fulfilled the stringent bail conditions of the Kerala High Court, prison authorities said.
Though the Jail authorities received a fax copy of the Kollam magistrate order, the two were released only after the formal release order was furnished.
Indian Customs officials tonight seized 5 kilograms of heroin, worth Rs. 25 crore in international market, which was smuggled from Pakistan in a goods train to India.
A Customs official said the seizure was made at Attari railway station while searching the goods train after its
arrival from Pakistan.
The official said the contraband was seized in the cement rack as it was concealed under cement bags imported from
Pakistan.
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Ahead of his joint fast with Anna Hazare against UPA government on corruption today, yoga guru Ramdev threatened the government with a fight to finish by August for bringing back black money stashed abroad.
As he headed to Rajghat from Tikri Kalan on Delhi border before reaching the dharna spot of Jantar Mantar, Ramdev said the economic situation in the country is very bad as the rupee was falling and growth rate has declined.
“We need to bring back black money. I appeal to people of the country to join this fight. We are intensifying this
Contending that IIT Council’s nod to hold the engineering entrance test under a new format is a “breach of trust”, IIT-Kanpur faculty federation today said any new system should not be introduced before 2014.
“For students aspiring to appear in JEE 2013, the IIT Council proposal is a breach of trust. Both the processes and
content of the new examination will not be clear to them any time soon because work on details has not even been initiated.
In no case should any new system be introduced before 2014,” the federation said in a statement.
Arab leaders called for UN action today as at least 27 people were killed in Syria amid growing concern that Kofi Annan’s peace plan is failing and the country descending into all-out civil war.
Annan himself warned of sectarian warfare, singling out Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his regime as key to
resolving the conflict.
“The spectre of an all-out war with a worrying sectarian dimension grows by the day,” he told a ministerial meeting on Syria in Doha.
“The situation is complex and it takes everyone involved in the conflict to act responsibly if the violence is to stop.
It was no time to “make waves” in the disputed South China Sea and dance behind a “Pied Piper”, China’s official news agency warned today, after US said it would shift the bulk of its naval fleet to the Pacific Ocean by 2020.
“It is advisable for some to refrain from muddying the waters and fishing therein and for some others to desist from dancing behind a Pied Piper whose magic tone, as tempting as it is, might lead its followers astray,” said Xinhua in a commentary, referring to the sea, which is part of the Pacific and the subject of overlapping territorial claims.
The newly wed wife of a senior Punjab police officer today allegedly committed suicide at their official accommodation here.
Amarjit Kaur (30), wife of DSP Jagjit Singh Walia, was found dead this evening at the official accommodation in
Police Line area, Deputy Commissioner Police Satpal Joshi said.
Walia, who is posted in Ladda Kothi in Patiala district, was in Amritsar at the time of the incident, sources said.
Kaur was under stress for the last few months due to unknown reasons and there were minor altercations between the
couple, they claimed.
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Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi today said that Gujarat is emerging as a global hub in the automobile sector.
After signing of the State Support Agreement(SSA) agreement with Maruti Suzuki for its manufacturing facility
here, Modi said that Gujarat has emerged as a prominent global hub in the automobile sector.
“The journey started with Tata Nano, Ford, Peugeot, and now Maruti has entered in Gujarat which will strengthen the
‘brand Gujarat’ as a globally preferred business location,” he said.
After days of dilly-dallying, the Andhra Pradesh government finally gave its consent today for the prosecution of senior IAS officer B P Acharya in the Emaar Properties scandal.
The government, however, rejected permission for prosecution of another senior IAS officer and currently
Executive Officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, L V Subrahmanyam, in the same case, official sources in the Chief Minister’s Office said.
Arrested by the CBI a few months ago, Acharya is currently in jail here.
The CBI, which already filed a charge-sheet against Acharya and others in Emaar case.
Two paramilitary force personnel allegedly committed suicide in Dhubri and Chirang districts of Assam today.
A head constable of the Border Security Force (BSF) allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself at Panbari in
Dhubri district.
Official sources said the BSF man, Mohan Lal (32), hailed from Jaipur in Rajasthan.
Lal was on duty at the BSF’s base hospital inside the Panbari Camp around noon today when he allegedly shot
himself with his service rifle. He died on the spot.
The cause of his alleged suicide is yet to be ascertained.
BJP today appeared to endorse the joint agitation by Anna Hazare and yoga guru Ramdev tomorrow saying both were aware of the “economic terror unleashed on the common man” by UPA government led by Congress.
“I am sure whether it is Anna Hazare or whether it is Ramdev, they are fully aware of the economic situation in this country and the economic terror unleashed on the common man, going by the way the government has decided to hike the rate of petrol price.
Actress Olivia Wilde has revealed that she secretly battled weight and sleep issues after her marriage broke up last year.
“The Tron: Legacy” star admits she went through “a manic phase” and turned to food to “self-medicate” after initially losing weight during a battle with insomnia, reports contactmusic.com.
Prime Minster Yousuf Raza Gilani has cancelled his plan to visit Britain and attend the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, following his busy engagements, Online news agency reported Saturday.
He was to attend the Diamond Jubilee celebrations June 2-5 being held to mark 60 years of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.
According to Pakistan Prime Minister’s House, the visit has been cancelled due to his engagements in the country and Chairman of Senate Nayyer Hussain Bukhari would represent Pakistan at the ceremony.
A CBI special court here Saturday issued summons to Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official L.V. Subrahmanyam in Emaar-APIIC township case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court directed Subrahmanyam, chief executive officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), to appear before it June 18.
The judge also asked Chanchalguda Central Jail authorities to present B.P. Acharya, another IAS officer and accused, in the court the same day.
Police have busted a gang of vehicle thieves headed by an engineering student in Uttar Pradesh.
The gang used to lift luxury cars from Noida, adjoining Delhi, and sell them in Gorakhpur and Bihar, a police official said Saturday.
A Honda City car was seized from the student.
The police stumbled upon the criminals when they intercepted a car and sought to see its papers.
When police verified the number plate, it turned out to be of a Maruti Esteem rather than a Honda City.
The car, the motorist told police, belonged to a Rajeev Kewal of Noida.
Has the coming presidential election also to do with choice of citizens or is it a matter to be left to the “high commands” of various political parties?
Participants in a symposium at the India International Centre (IIC) complex here strongly pitched for people exerting influence on their elected representatives to choose a presidential candidate who has proven ability, transparent integrity and capability to take objective and impartial decisions.