Month: June 2012

Minority Welfare Minister meets Counsel General (Hajj) in Jeddah

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Minority Welfare Minister, Mr. Mohammed Ahmedullah who is on Saudi Arabia tour for performing Umra, called on Counsel General (Hajj) Mr. Faiz Ahmed Qidwai on Tuesday in Jeddah. He talked about good accommodation and provision of other facilities to the Hajj aspirants of the state.

Alhaj Mohammad Ahmedullah told that majority of the Hajj pilgrims belonging to the Andhra Pradesh comprise of elderly persons. Hence he requested to provide such buildings and accommodations which are near to Haramain Sharifain and have appropriate lift, water and electricity facilities.

Centre didn’t consult Minorities Commission on reservation

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(Siasat News) Chairman of National Minorities Commission, New Delhi Mr. Wajahat Habeebullah told that the Commissioner is reviewing the failure of 4.5% reservation case in supreme court. The commission is worried about the future of the students who are desirous of seeking admissions in various I.I.T’s. Talking to Siasat in New Delhi, Mr. Wajahat Habeebullah said that for the decision to provide 4.5% reservation in I.I.T’s, the Centre didn’t consult Minorities commission. Supreme court had also pointed out whether Minorities Commission was consulted or not.

Top members of anti-Taliban militia killed

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The chief of an anti-Taliban militia along with his three colleagues was killed by militants in northwest Pakistan, days after he survived a suicide attack near Peshawar.

The bodies of Mohammad Fahim Khan and his colleagues were dumped on the outskirts of Peshawar city in northwest Pakistan today, police said, without giving the exact date of their killing.

The four men were abducted and killed. Their bodies were found in a car, a police officer said.

Khan was heading a ‘lashkar’ or militia to fight the Pakistani Taliban in Badabher area near Darra Adam Khel tribal region.

Masjid ‘Hasnain’ at Agricultural University Rajendranagar uninhabited since 1977

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Waqf Board Chairman, Maulana Khusro Pasha Afzal Biabani, along with his subordinates, visited the uninhabited Masjid Bukhari at historical Agricultural University in early hours of Tuesday. He assured Muslim staff of Agricultural University that the Masjid will soon be rehabilitated. Though there are two uninhabited mosques in agricultural university but the restoration of Masjid Bukhari which is now christened as Masjid Hasnain, is quite inevitable.

Four killed in Pakistan drone strike

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At least four suspected militants were killed and two others injured in a drone strike in Pakistan’s northwest tribal region Tuesday night, media reports said Wednesday.

The drone fired two missiles at a house suspected to be a militant hideout in Shawal area of North Waziristan around 9 pm Tuesday, Xinhua reported citing Urdu TV channel Dunya.

The identities of those killed were not known.

North Waziristan is believed to be a haven for militants who often launch cross-border attacks on the NATO-led troops in Afghanistan.

–IANS

Hot Wednesday morning in Delhi

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A cloudy sky and strong winds brought some relief on a hot Wednesday morning with the minimum temperature in the capital settling at 31 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal.

“Today, we could have partly cloudy skies and strong surface winds through the day. Some areas could see light rain and thunder. The day’s maximum temperature is expected to stay at 40 degrees Celsius,” an official at the Indian Meteorological Department told IANS.

Early morning humidity recorded at 8.30 am was found to be 44 percent.

Free education at Urdu medium school, Musheerabad

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Imparting education to their children is a hard task for poor in this era of rising prices. Since Muslim community lag behind in education it also faces financial crisis. To promote education among Muslims of slum areas free education has been arranged for Muslim minority students at Musheerabad Urdu Medium Modern High School, inside Bahadur Yar Jang Hall Musheerabad, Zamanistanpur.

After Sanjay, Arshad moving onto new pairing with Sunny Deol

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After making a hit pairing with Sanjay Dutt in the “Munnabhai” series, actor Arshad Warsi is moving on to create another on-screen ‘jodi’ with Sunny Deol in “Bhaiyaaji Superhit”.

Directed by Neeraj Pathak, the film is an action comedy and rumour has it that the screenplay of the film is in the same lines of Raj Kumar Hirani’s hit comedy series.

——-PTI

Rajesh Khanna fine, discharged soon

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Indian superstar Rajesh Khanna, who is admitted in the Lilavati hospital in suburban Bandra, is much better now and will be discharged in a couple of days.

The 69-year-old actor, who was not keeping well of late, was hospitalised due to “exhaustion and weakness”.

“He is much better… he is fine. He is not being discharged today.

–PTI

Sangma to file nomination tomorrow

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Opposition backed Presidential candidate P A Sangma will file his nomination on Thursday, the day when UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee will submit his papers.

Sangma’s office said that the 64-year-old former Lok Sabha Speaker will file his nomination papers on June 28. He is likely to be accompanied by senior BJP leaders, Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy, senior MPs from AIADMK and BJD, among others.

–PTI

Pakistan to release 315 Indian fishermen

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Pakistan will release 315 Indian fishermen at the Wagah land border crossing on Thursday, official sources said on Tuesday.

The fishermen are currently being held at a jail in Karachi, and they will be freed and sent to Lahore to be handed over to Indian authorities, sources told PTI. Pakistan and India arrest scores of fishermen every year on charges of violating territorial waters.

Obama-Biden goes full blast against Romney

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US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday went full blast against Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, accusing him of outsourcing American jobs to countries like India and China.

“There was an article the other day in The Washington Post about how Romney’s former firm — you know, this is what gave him all this amazing success — was a pioneer in offshoring jobs to China and India,” Obama said at an election rally in Atlanta, Georgia.

Pakistan to release 315 Indian fishermen

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Pakistan will release 315 Indian fishermen at the Wagah land border crossing on Thursday, official sources said today.

The fishermen are currently being held at a jail in Karachi, and they will be freed and sent to Lahore to be handed over to Indian authorities, sources told PTI.

Pakistan and India arrest scores of fishermen every year on charges of violating territorial waters.

Pakistani officials say over 150 Pakistani fishermen are currently in Indian prisons.

Maharashtra minister denies links with Abu Hamza

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A senior Maharashtra minister today denied any links with the arrested LeT handler of 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack, Abu Hamza, and said she is ready to face any probe.

NCP leader and Minister of State for Education Fauzia Khan said “I am not aware who he is, where is he from. If he is a terrorist and is working against the country, it is good news that he has been arrested,” she told reporters.

“I will extend all cooperation in the investigation and I am ready to face any such probe,” the minister said.

Abu Jindal’s arrest exposes Pakistani role: US expert

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Noting that India’s arrest of terror suspect Abu Jindal has exposed Pakistan’s role in the 26/11 Mumbai attack, a US expert has asked Islamabad to take action against all those involved, including serving intelligence officials.

Jindal’s alleged confession that “Pakistani intelligence officials were present in the control room from which he directed the attackers is explosive,” wrote Lisa Curtis, senior research fellow for South Asia at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation Tuesday.

Gujarat worse than days of emergency: Keshubhai

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In a fresh salvo at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, veteran BJP leader Keshubhai Patel said on Tuesday that the situation in the state has become “worse” than the Emergency era.

Mr Patel, who was chief minister of Gujarat before being replaced by Mr Modi in 2001, has been targeting the BJP stalwart in the run-up to the state elections scheduled in December.

The 82-year-old chose the 37th anniversary of the imposition of Emergency to slam Mr Modi and his style of functioning.

Maoists blast rail tracks in Jharkhand‎

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One policeman was killed and 12 were injured when Maoist rebels ambushed their mini-bus in Jharkhand on Tuesday night. The rebels launched another attack early on Wednesday, blasting a railway track and a bridge, police said.

The policemen were attacked near Topchachi police station of Dhanbad district, around 210 km from Ranchi, a police spokesperson told IANS.

The injured policemen have been admitted to hospital and condition of two are said to be critical.

`Ek Tha Tiger` to release on 15 Aug

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Romantic-thriller `Ek Tha Tiger` starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif will hit theatres on Independence Day, Aug 15, while its trailers will be unveiled Wednesday.

The new trailer will be released online and can be seen on YouTube after 12 noon and in theatres Friday.

Directed by Kabir Khan and produced by Aditya Chopra, the film will see Salman-Katrina pair on silver screen after four years. Their last film together was 2008 release `Yuvvraaj`.

–IANS

PM keeps Finance portfolio with himself

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As Pranab Mukherjee resigned to contest the Presidential poll, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday took charge of the Finance Ministry portfolio at a time when the country’s economy is going through a bad phase.

Singh, a renowned economist, will be assisted by two Ministers of State — SS Palanimanickam and Namo Narain Meena.

A former RBI Governor, Singh was credited with bringing about economic reforms in the country when he was the Finance Minister in the Narasimha Rao government in 1991.

HRD ministry for quality education in madrasas

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The union human resource development (HRD) ministry has set up a consultative committee for implementing a scheme for providing quality and modern education at madrasas, officials said Tuesday.

The decision was taken at a meeting of madrasa teacher associations, representatives of state madrasa boards, officials from state governments, headed by Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal held Monday to discuss the implementation of scheme.

Dubai launches new education initiative

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The Dubai government has launched a new educational initiative to enable working nurses to seek higher education without having to leave their jobs.

The Dubai Health Authority has signed a MoU with the University of Bradford, UK, to provide nurses an opportunity to obtain a bachelor’s degree within one year.

Qadhi Saeed Al Murooshid, director-general of Dubai Health Authority said the government will help the nurses in the development of their career.

–IANS–

Russia urges Syria, Turkey against clash

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The downing of a Turkish jet by Syrian forces should not be considered a provocation or allowed to further destabilise the situation in the region, the Russian foreign ministry has said.

“The escalation of politics and propaganda, including on the international level, is especially dangerous when efforts are being undertaken to mobilize all major outside players to channel the situation in Syria in a political direction,” ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.

Drunk Russian killed for attacking cops with axe

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A drunk man in Russia attacked police officers with an axe and a pitchfork, forcing the policemen to shoot him dead, officials said.

The man from a village in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region threatened to shoot dead his wife and mother-in-law with a hunting rifle.

A police patrol that arrived at the scene discovered that the women managed to snatch away and unload the gun, but were not able to calm the man down.

The man resisted arrest by threatening the police officers with an axe.

Tendulkar gains one place in ICC Test batsmen’s rankings

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Sachin Tendulkar gained a spot to be at number 11 in the latest ICC rankings for Test batsmen released today.

Tendulkar, with 749 points to his credit, is the lone Indian batsman in the top 20 list, which is headed by West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara’s match-winning unbeaten knock of 199 against Pakistan in the first Test in Galle has helped him vault three places to second in the table.

——PTI

Saeed collecting donations for militants active in Kashmir

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LeT founder Hafiz Saeed has launched a drive in Pakistan’s most populous province of Punjab to collect donations for militants active in Jammu and Kashmir.

Saeed, who also heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawah, yesterday visited Gujranwala district, 80 km from Lahore, and collected wheat from people at Al-Makka Centre.

“I am thankful to you for your generous help for the ‘mujahideen’ in the shape of wheat crop. I expect you to donate maximum of the corn crop in the coming season,” Saeed told people in Gujranwala.