Terming killings of Panchs and Sarpanchs in Jammu and Kashmir as ‘Targetted killings’, National Conference Chief Spokesman and Senior Leader Mustafa Kamaal today allegedly held Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and the Army responsible for the incidents.
Favouring 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retial by the union government, noted agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan today stressed the need for investment in rural areas in the country. Talking to reporters, Dr.Swaminathan, who was in the city to participate in 40th anniversary of International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) here, suggested that the respective states, which allowing FDI to run operations, should also protect the interests of farmers locally.
With the water level in most dams of the district alarmingly low due to less rainfall this season, the administration and farmers are a worried lot. The total storage capacity of about 22 medium and large dams is 64,950 mcft, out of which about 37,962 mcft water is remaining or total storage capacity is now 58.44 per cent, the sources said here today. Darna, Bhavli, Palkhed, Alandi, Punegaon, Chankapur, Haranbhari and Kelzar dams in the district have been filled to their 100 per cent capacity, they added. UNI
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday appointed a retired Supreme Court judge as arbitrator to resolve within three months the dispute between the Cricket Board and Deccan Chronicles Holdings Ltd (DCHL) over termination of the latter’s IPL franchise Deccan Chargers.
Justice SJ Kathawala ordered the appointment of Justice CK Thakkar to mediate after the parties failed to come up with mutually-acceptable names of arbitrators.
An 83-year-old wheel-chair bound Indian spiritual guru, a fugitive after being convicted of groping two young girls, may have sneaked clandestinely into India, a US court has been told.
US Marshals, still looking for him, suspect that Prakashanand Saraswati, known to his devotees as Swamiji, may have fled America in connivance with his close associates.
Just days after a Hays County jury in Texas convicted him in March 2011 on 20 counts of indecency for molesting two teenagers, the self-styled guru has been missing.
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) today expelled husband of slain bandit queen-turned-politician Phoolan Devi from the party’s primary membership for six years amid reports of him contesting the next Parliament elections on a BSP ticket. According to a order released here by Ramkrishna Dwivedi, Chairman of the UPCC Disciplinary Committee, Ummed Singh, who was given due importance both during Parliament elections and in Assembly polls, had said to have cheated the party by remaining in constant touch with one of major opponent political parties.
The Andhra Pradesh government today constituted state energy conservation mission (SECM) under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary. State Chief Secretary Ms Minni Matthew stated that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is very keen on energy conservation and energy efficiency programmes and directed to take up the measures on mission mode to providesome relief to the consumers and also to avoid wastage of precious energy in the present crucial juncture in power sector, an official release here said.
Noted farm scientist MS Swaminathan today said that global crop research bodies should play a key role in enhancing farm yields. Once the Food bill into force that the food grains requirment expected to increase and global crop research was needed to meet the demand, Dr Swaminathan said at ICRISAT’s (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics) 40th anniversary held at its campus located at Patancheruvu about 35 kms from here.
As a part of its corporate social responsibility, Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) has extended support to HelpAge India, an NGO of national repute, by coming forward to support a Mobile Medicare Unit meant to provide medical consultation and supply medicines free of cost to the elder residents of Narayanpur and Choutuppal Mandals in this District. BDL Executive Director (P&A) Dr N K Raju inaugurated the unit at Narayanapur today.
YSR Congress MLC Jupudi Prabhakar Rao today said more skeletons will come out of the cupboard during the CBI inquiry into IMG land allotment. Talking to reporters here, Mr Rao said Telugu Desam Party leaders trying to attach motives to a senior journalist who is party to the PIL, which has formed the basis of investigation, shows the double standards of the party and its President N Chandrababu Naidu. ‘The same senior leaders were in all praise when a PIL was filed by a Congress MLA and three senior TDP leaders impleaded in the case against its Party President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The YSR Congress today organised dharnas and demonstrations at mandal and North Andhra districts against hike in APSRTC bus fares and power tariff. Terming it ‘anti-people policies’, the protesters, led by district convener G Ravi Raju in Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts raised slogans against the state government. The decision would pose a severe burden on the common man,they said.
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy today laid foundation stone for the construction lift irrigation project at Jayanthi village in Krihna district. He was on a three-day district tour under Indiramma bata programme. Addressing the gathering the Chief Minister said that the irrigation project would be constructed at a cost of Rs 9 crore, targeting providing irrigation water 1800 acres. He said that 31 lift irrigation projects were sanctioned at a cost of Rs 120 to the district, out of them, ten projects had been completed and rest were being constructed.
All Trade Unions of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant(VSP) would collectively agitate on October 12 and 13 for 48 hours initially against the proposed disinvestment plan of the Central Government.They would also organise a bandh in Gajuwaka township area of the steel city . All the trade unions of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) also served a notice on the management to go on strike on October 12 and 13 in protest against the decision to go ahead with disinvestment of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited. The notice was served under sub-section (1) of Section 22 of Industrial Dispute Act, 1947.
The United Democratic Party (UDP), a key ally in Meghalaya’s Congress-led coalition government, Wednesday accused some Congress leaders of hobnobbing with the outlawed Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), a powerful rebel group in the state.
“The party (UDP) has taken serious note of some of the Congress leaders’ complicity with the outlawed GNLA,” UDP spokesperson Paul Lyngdoh said.
Arrested GNLA supremo Champion R. Sangma had declared that his outfit would support the Congress party in the assembly elections in five districts of Garo Hills in western Meghalaya.
Pulling up the government, the Pakistan Supreme Court Wednesday said it must again revise a letter to Swiss authorities as the draft did not mention the reopening of corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
The Supreme Court ordered the government to write the text strictly in the light of its guidelines. It gave the government time till Oct 5 to submit the draft.
“The judges took a strong exception to the revised draft of the letter submitted in the court for it did not mention the reopening of alleged cases of corruptions against Zardari,” reported Geo News.
Days after the Trinamool Congress walked out of the UPA, the central government has shifted a meeting of world’s industry captains from Kolkata to Agra in Uttar Pradesh. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday dubbed the move as an “act of vengeance”.
Making the announcement about the change of venue of the Global Partnership Summit, union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said in Delhi the decision was taken in view of the “strident opposition and hostile approach to FDI” of the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal.
India ranked first among Dubai’s major trade partners during the first six months of 2012, with the value of trade between the two sides reaching 77 billion dirhams (about $21 billion).
The figure accounted for 13 percent of the total value of Dubai’s foreign trade, which stood at 602 billion dirhams during the same period, Ahmed Butti Ahmed, the director general of Dubai customs, said.
The total value of Dubai’s imports from India, which included diamonds, jewellery, electronic devices and mineral oil, reached 35 billion dirhams during the first six months of 2012.
Want to work at Google? Brace yourself to answer perplexing trivia questions and riddles, claims a book that gives tips to increase the chances of getting hired.
Author William Poundstone in his book reveals the secret of acing an interview at Google and other top technology firms, the Daily Mail reported Wednesday.
In “Are you smart enough to work at Google”, Poundstone gives tips to increase an applicant’s chances of not only getting hired by Google, but anywhere.
Iran has unveiled a long-range drone capable of reaching Israel and most of the Middle East months after capturing a US one, a media report said.
General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a senior Revolutionary Guard commander, described the weapon as a key strategic addition to Iran’s military capabilities.
The Shahed-129, or Witness-129, has a range of 2,000 km and can carry out reconnaissance missions or be armed with “bombs and missiles”, the Daily Mail quoted him as saying.
The UPA coordination committee is expected to meet Thursday in the backdrop of the problems in the functioning of the Congress-NCP coalition government in Maharashtra, sources said.
Issues concerning the working of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) would figure in the meeting, they said Wednesday.
President Vladimir Putin is striving to re-establish Russia as a regional hegemony and the West has been too slow to recognise that and react to the strategy, according to Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg.
“We are not going back to Stalin, we are going back to [Russian Tsar] Nicholas I,” Schwarzenberg told The Cable blog of the US magazine Foreign Policy.
“It was under Nicholas I that the greater part of Central Asia was conquered by the Russians and Putin is quite successfully getting them under the control of Russia again, and the West is losing.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has launched a new education initiative to make education a top global priority and boost progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in education, Xinhua reported.
“Our shared goals are simple. We want children to attend primary school and to progress toward higher education that will help them succeed in life,” Ban said Wednesday at the launching of the initiative — Education First.
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi Wednesday opposed military intervention in Syria to settle the prevailing crisis in the country.
Morsi said Egypt would support such efforts to prevent a catastrophe in Syria that would “rule out the danger of foreign military intervention”.
On Tuesday, the emir of Qatar called for Arab military intervention in Syria.
The Syrian conflict has claimed up to 20,000 lives according to estimates by various Syrian opposition groups. The UN estimates the toll at over 18,000 people but the Syrian authorities say 8,000 people were killed.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accused some “hegemonic powers” of intimidating his country, citing military threats from Israel, Xinhua reported.
“Arms race and intimidation by nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction by the hegemonic powers have become prevalent,” Ahmadinejad said during the annual debate of the UN General Assembly.
“Continued threat by the uncivilised Zionists to resort to military action against our great nation is a clear example of this bitter reality,” he added.
TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu tonight shot off a letter to the Prime Minister requesting the Centre to immediately resolve the contentious Telangana issue and asked it to convene an all-party meeting immediately where his party’s stand would be clearly spelt out.
He reminded Prime Minister Mnamohan Singh that the TDP had made its stand known on the Telangana demand through a letter to the Pranab Mukherjee Committee way back in 2008.
–Agencies