Month: August 2012

Vijay, Yogeshwar awarded Khel Ratna; Yuvraj gets Arjuna

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President Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award to Olympic medallists Vijay Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt besides presenting a record 25 Arjuna Awards at a grand ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Pistol shooter Vijay, who won the silver medal, and broze winning wrestler Yogeshwar were honoured with the country’s highest Khel Ratna award for their sterling performances at the London Olympics. The award carries a statuette, citation and cash prize of Rs.7.5 lakh each.

I have opened doors for other women wrestlers: Geeta Phogat

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Geeta Phogat, the first female wrestler from India to qualify for the Olympics, Wednesday felt that she had opened doors for women wrestlers of the country to excel in the sport.

Geeta participated in the London Olympics in the 55kg freestyle category but was unable to win a medal.

“When Sushil (Kumar) won a bronze in Beijing, people took notice and their interest grew in the sport. I feel my participation has opened doors for other women to ome into the sport,” said a delighted Geeta after receiving the Arjuna Award at Rashtrapathi Bhavan.

UAE condemns Myanmar violence

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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has condemned the violation of the rights of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and the recent acts of violence against them.

These violent acts included killings, threats and displacing innocent people and burning down their houses and villages, according to Ambassador Obaid Salem Al Zaabi, permanent representative of the UAE to the UN and other international organisations.

–IANS

`China doesn’t want carrier competition with India’

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China does not want to “engage in a carrier competition with the US or its Asian neighbours like India”, a state-run Chinese daily said Thursday.

An article in the Op-Ed section of the Global Times said: “…China has neither the desire nor the strength to engage in a carrier competition with the US or its Asian neighbors like India.”

“China won’t initiate a war, bully neighbors with which it has territorial disputes, and claim maritime hegemony. This is a cliched speculation held by those obsessed with the Cold War mentality, no matter how China explains its intentions,” it said.

Cop rides bike on vendo’r chest

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A policeman has been caught on camera riding his motorbike on the chest of a vegetable vendor in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, as other policemen and bystanders stood and watched. But despite the visual evidence, the police has said that no such incident took place.

The incident took place on August 18 outside the Rambagh railway station. The vendor, Rohit Kesarwani, claims that the constable had asked him to move his cart and demanded a bribe. He alleges that when he refused, the cop assaulted him, beat him with a stick and threw him to the ground.

Man in Afghan army uniform kills three NATO soldiers

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A man wearing a uniform of the Afghan National Army (ANA) shot dead three NATO soldiers in southern Afghanistan Wednesday, the coalition confirmed Thursday.

Wednesday’s attack is the latest in the so-called “green-on-blue” insider attacks when members of Afghan army, police or gunmen in their uniform turned their weapons against foreign partners, leaving casualties.

Four police personnel injured in Assam firing

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Four police personnel, including the officer-in-charge of a police station, were injured when unidentified gunmen fired at them in Assam’s Kamrup (Rural) district on Wednesday.

The unidentified persons opened fire on patrolling police personnel in Amdala Janpar village at around 2 am leaving in four police personnel, including the officer-in-charge of the police station, injured, police said.

The policemen retaliated but the gunmen managed to escape under the cover of darkness.

A massive search operation has been launched in the area to nab them.

–PTI

Zardari, Manmohan meeting could be significant: daily

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A meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Tehran “could be an important continuation of the efforts to improve ties between the two nations”, said a Pakistani daily Thursday.

The two leaders are expected to meet on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit being hosted by Iran.

Kasab’s journey from petty crime to jihad

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He belonged to a poor family, in an impoverished part of Pakistan. Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab’s journey from crime to jehad and to India began after his father refused to buy him new clothes on Eid.

Until then, the now 25-year-old Kasab — whose death sentence was upheld Wednesday by the Supreme Court of India — led a simple life in Pakistani Punjab’s Okara district. His father was a food vendor while a brother was a labourer in Lahore.

Kasab decided to quit home in 2005 after quarrelling with his father, who could not provide him new clothes because of poverty.

Kannada actor arrested for harassing his wife

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“Kannada film actor Arjun was arrested today for allegedly harassing his wife of 11 years, for the past several months”, police said.

“Arjun, 34, has two daughters with Latashri and was arrested on a complaint from her”, they said.

Arjun had been accused of allegedly harassing his wife both physically and mentally for several months under the influence of alcohol.

HC likely to hear Nupur Talwar’s bail plea today

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The Allahabad High Court is expected to take up Nupur Talwar’s bail plea in the Aarushi and Hemraj double murder case on Thursday. She has been charged with her daughter’s murder and destruction of evidence.

The Talwar’s former maid Bharati may also testify on Thursday.

Earlier, the defence in the case on Wednesday questioned the authenticity of the CBI’s claim that a pillow presented as evidence was recovered from the teenager’s room after the official marking on the sealed bag showed it was taken from Hemraj’s room.

Hundreds evacuated as storm floods homes in Bobby Jindal’s state

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Though downgraded from a hurricane, a slow-moving tropical storm Issac still packed a punch flooding homes and pushing water over the top of several levees in Louisiana and Mississippi, reports from these southern states said.

As they conducted search-and-rescue missions in the two states for stranded residents, officials warned of continued life-threatening hazards from storm surges and local flooding.

Asaram Bapu survives chopper crash, probe ordered

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Spiritual leader Asaram Bapu and four others had a providential escape Wednesday when a private helicopter he was flying in crash-landed in Godhra in Gujarat, officials said.

Soon after the accident, the country’s civil aviation regulator ordered a probe and rushed a team of investigators to the spot, they said.

Asaram Bapu and four others on board the chopper, however, sustained only minor injuries in the accident.

Mehbooba seeks positive approach on Kashmir problem

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Mehbooba Mufti, president of the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Wednesday told British High Commissioner James Bevan here that there has to be a positive approach to find a solution to the Kashmir problem.

Mehbooba Mufti told the visiting envoy that the PDP’s Kashmir road map, which has been presented in the shape of its self-rule document, reflected pragmatism and creativity and was anchored in the friendship between India and Pakistan, said a party statement.

India, Iran should address trade imbalance: Manmohan Singh

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India and Iran should address their trade imbalance, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Wednesday even as the two sides stressed increasing bilateral and trilateral cooperation to develop the Chahbahar port as the gateway to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

During his talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Manmohan Singh, who is here for the Non-Aligned Movement Summit, referred to trade imbalance and spoke of the need for Iran to import more, and particularly “resume imports of Indian wheat,” an Indian government source said.

India eases $1 bn credit line to Bangladesh

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India will convert USD 200 million of a USD 1 billion line of credit to Bangladesh to a grant, it was announced Wednesday.

The announcement came after bilateral talks between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bangladeshi Premier Sheikh Hasina on the sidelines of the 16th Non-Aligned Movement Summit here, official sources said.

“The talks were held in an extremely cordial and friendly atmosphere and lasted 40 minutes. This included a 15-minute one-on-one between the two leaders,” the source aid.

The two leaders reviewed the progress on trade, security and power issues.

RSS activists ransack BJP office, burn CM’s effigy

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Enraged over transfer of a senior police official probing the Manoj Parmar attack case, hundreds of RSS activists ransacked the Indore BJP office and burnt the effigy of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan here, party sources said.

However, neither anyone was injured, nor any case was registered so far in the incident, city SP S M Zaidee said, adding that “no one turned up” for filing any report.

Women make 50 % of country’s power: BIG B

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Megastar Amitabh Bachchan believes in fair education for all, be it the country’s underprivileged or the women folk.

The 69-year-old veteran, who is driving home the message of importance of knowledge through his hit reality TV game show “Kaun Banega Crorepati 6″ (KBC), believes half the country’s power lies in its women.

“In smaller towns, girls are not being allowed education. There is a lot of discrimination and kept in a separate space. I believe naari hamaare desh ki 50 percent shakti hai (women make the country’s 50 percent power),” Bachchan said here.

82-year-old Russian woman jailed for slaughter

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An 82-year-old woman has been jailed in Russia’s Siberia region for murdering a fellow villager in a fit of rage, investigators said.

Maria Annikova killed the unnamed victim with several axe blows to the head earlier this year. It was not known what triggered the dispute.

Annikova pleaded guilty, but said she had no intention to kill.

However, forensic experts staged several psychological, medical and even genetic examinations to prove Annikova wrong. The woman was found guilty of murder and sentenced to four years in prison.

–IANS–

Probe ‘terrorist acts’ in Syria: Russia

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Russia insists that terrorist acts in Syria should be investigated with UN and Arab League representatives, the Russian foreign ministry said.

The ministry referred in particular to the mass killing of civilians in the Damascus suburb of Daraya, where, it said, more than 200 bodies were found.

“This is yet another crime of a provocative nature,” the ministry said in a statement.

“Moscow resolutely condemns these barbarous acts of violence. At the same time, we insist on a thorough and unbiased investigation into all the circumstances of the recent tragedies,” it said.

Italian miner slits wrist during press conference

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An Italian miner, who along with other workers occupied a coal mine on the island of Sardinia, slit his wrist during a press conference Wednesday to protest a lack of investment in the dying coal industry.

“Is this what we have to do,” the miner shouted at the press conference, before being whisked away to a nurse by his co-workers. He was later taken to a hospital.

The miners said they were willing to take “extreme measures”.

The press conference was held in front of a storage area containing almost 700 kg of explosives.

Kasab likely to figure in Manmohan-Zardari meet

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to meet Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Summit (NAM) here on Wednesday. And according to government sources, the message to be sent across during the meeting is clear: “Enough of talk, act against terror; we have given you the evidence.”

“The prime minister might not exactly use those words but that will be the message conveyed,” the Indian official said.

BJP Lays Siege To Kachiguda Police Station

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BJP leaders have laid a siege to the Kachiguda police station in the city, alleging that the circle inspector Koteswara Rao was indulging in settlements. They demanded immediate suspension of the officer.

I&PR To Launch Upgraded Web Portal Soon

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Information and Public Relations department is all set for an official launch of upgraded netizen-friendly web portal within a fortnight.

In a press release, Commissioner Dr Chandravadan stated that apart from the existing services like daily press releases, photos, media letters, archives, history facts and figures of AP, department’s details, media facilitations, advertisement related info, publications info and other related details of I&PR and the AP State Film, Television and Theatre Development Corporation, the advanced version will have more features, he added.

TRS Supremo’s Daughter Meets Chandrababu!

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Everything is fair in war and politics is a proverb. Apparently, TRS Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter and Telangana Jagruthi chief K Kavitha has adopted the proverb for a non-Telangana cause.

On Wednesday, Kavitha met her party’s bete noire TDP’s Nara Chandrababu Naidu and reportedly sought the latter’s support to mount pressure on the State government to install a statue of Dr B R Ambedkar on the Assembly premises. It is learnt that Chandrababu had agreed to do so.