Month: October 2012

Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the NATO as a throwback to the Cold War era, and said it should be transformed into a political organisation as soon as possible.

“It is incomprehensible why it’s still around,” Putin said.

He said Russia would like the NATO to stay within the bounds of its statutory activity and not strive for global status.

Russia has been and will continue to be concerned by NATO expansion, Putin said.

“Talk is one thing, but the deployment of some attack systems or missile defence systems near our borders is quite a different matter,” he said.

The UN Security Council has condemned “in the strongest terms” the multiple blasts in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo, which killed at least 40 people and injured more than 100.

The condemnation was part of a statement read to the press by Gert Rosenthal, permanent representative of Guatemala who holds the rotating council presidency for October, Xinhua reported.

The members of the Security Council condemned the Oct 3 attack in Aleppo, for which the Jebhat al-Nusra group affiliated with the Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility.

Twenty percent of Russian women would jump at the chance to marry President Vladimir Putin, a poll has indicated.

Sixty-six percent would not, while the remaining 14 percent would need more time to think over the hypothetical proposal, according to the poll by the independent, Moscow-based Levada Center.

Levada questioned 1,601 women across Russia Sep 21-24.

Putin’s wife, Lyudmila, is very rarely seen in public.

The president’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, described the Putins’ family life as “normal” in an interview with online TV channel Dozhd earlier this year.

Maharashtra State Minorities Commission chairman Munaf Hakeem has written to the Home Department, protesting the way in which his official vehicle was stopped here today.

In a letter to the principal secretary (Home), Hakeem said his vehicle, which has a red beacon, was stopped near
Sion hospital this morning.

When asked (as to why the car was stopped), the constable said he had orders from seniors,” Hakeem wrote in
the letter.

“My vehicle may have been stopped as I was wearing skull cap, sporting a beard and seated in a car with red

Lovelorn teenagers from Desaiganj town in the district committed suicide by jumping into a well.

The matter came to light this evening after bodies of both the boy and the girl were fished out by the police.

The name of boy is given as Nikhil Ratnapal Meshram (18) and that of the girl as Tabbu Shahnaj Pyaru Sheikh (15), both residents of Ambedkar ward in Desaiganj.

Both the boy and the girl were missing from their houses for the last two to three days, after which the girl’s
mother lodged a complaint yesterday at the Desaiganj police station, the police said.

A close aide of N D Tiwari today claimed that the veteran Congress leader was given sleeping pills without his knowledge for several years as part of a conspiracy.

He was being given sleeping pills along with other medicines regularly since he became the Chief Minister of
Uttarakhand (2002-07),” Bhawanidutt Bhatt, an OSD of Tiwari, said here today.

As part of a conspiracy, Tiwari was given sleeping pills four times a day along with his other medicines. This had
affected his health…,” Bhatt said.

Tension prevailed in and around Irukkankudi in the district after overnight clashes between people of two villages over a temple left ten persons injured and led to police lathicharge.

The people of Irrukankudi and neighbouring Nathathupatti villages are at loggerheads staking claim to a famous Goddess Mariamman temple located in their border area.

Both village panchayats were claiming right over collecting Professional tax and parking fees from the employees of the temple, which attracted a large number of devotees.

Australia were blown away by a Chris Gayle storm as the West Indies made their maiden World Twenty20 final with a 74-run win in the semi-final at the R. Premedasa Stadium here Friday.

West Indies will now face hosts Sri Lanka in Sunday’s final here at the same venue. It will be West Indies’ first final appearance in any World Cup event in 29 years and in an International Cricket Council (ICC) event since 2006 Champions Trophy.

West Indies’ last final appearance in a World Cup event was way back in 1983 when they lost the final of the 50-over World Cup to India at the Lord’s in London.

As many as 30 US banking firms are expected to be targeted in a wave of cyber attacks as part of “a large-scale orchestrated crimeware campaign,” a security researcher says.

Mor Ahuvia of the security firm RSA said in a blog post this week that a “cyber gang” has communicated plans to launch a Trojan attack spree involving “bots” or automated control of infected computers.

Planned for this fall, the blitzkrieg-like series of Trojan attacks is set to be carried out by approximately 100

Three Maoists today started an indefinite hunger strike inside the Hazaribagh Central Jail to press for their two demands which include shifting an ailing inmate to a Ranchi hospital.

Jailor Chandresekhar Suman said a demand was to shift Anuradha Sharma, the ailing wife of one of them, from jail
hospital to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi for better treatment.

Anuradha, lodged in the same jail, is the wife of Ravi Sharma, a member of the Bihar-Jharkhand Action Committee of
the CPI(Maoist).

Turkey returned fire today after a new Syrian shell landed in on its territory close to their common border, a private news channel reported.

The Syrian shell landed in the Turkish town of Altinozu in Hatay province near the border, triggering an immediate
response fire from Turkish forces, at around 1630 GMT (2200 IST), NTV reported.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The fresh round of fire exchange comes two days after a Syrian shell killed five Turkish nationals in another border
town, Akcakale, triggering a Turkish retaliation fire in its immediate aftermath.

Radical Islamist preacher Abu Hamza and four other terror suspects have finally been deported from Britain to the United States, Home Secretary Theresa May said today.

The Egyptian-born former imam was flown out of a military airbase following a legal saga that ended yesterday after
dragging on for more than a decade in the courts of Britain and Europe.

Two senior judges at the High Court in London dismissed the men’s pleas to be allowed a stay of extradition, and,
within hours, they were whisked from prison to a Royal Air Force base in eastern England used by the US military.

Law enforcement officers have found around 300 illegal migrants living in an apartment building in western Russia, the interior ministry said.

The migrants, living in an unfinished building in Tver region, are from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, police said.

They have been charged with violating Russian migration law, an interior ministry source said.

Russia has long battled with illegal migration, especially from neighbouring countries in Central Asia.

–IANS/RIA Novosti

West Indies defeated Australia by 74 runs in the second semi-final of the ICC World T20 played at R Premadasa Stadium. Once Doherty went for 25 runs in the last over, the Windies always had that psychological advantage. They came with all guns blazing and apart from that cameo (63 from 29) from Aussie skipper George Bailey, the Kangaroos looked like a bunch of ordinary cricketers who lost wickets off poor shots. The West Indies have won by 74 runs and they will now lock horns with Sri Lanka in the ICC World T20 final on Sunday!

Indiabulls Group has entered into an agreement with Qatar’s Doha Bank for offering mortgage loans to latter’s NRI customers for acquiring properties in India.

The agreement was signed by Doha Bank Group CEO R Seetharaman and Indiabulls Group Executive Director Ajit Mittal.

“The tie-up with Indiabulls will provide an opportunity to Doha Bank NRI customers to approach for Housing Loans to purchase property in India… Doha Bank is only bank in Qatar to have such arrangements for its NRI customers,” Seetharaman said.

Sky is the limit for the growing tribe of woman entrepreneurs, who are stepping into areas where few have ventured before.

The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE), world’s largest group of entrepreneurs, professionals and corporates, brought the daring group on a common platform, to share their enriching experiences during the TiECon 2012 annual conference here, which concluded last weekend.

Sunitha Krishnan, founder and general secretary of Prajwala, for instance, continues to work in the anti-trafficking sector, unmindful of the risks to her own life and that of her volunteers.

Oil marketing company Indian Oil has raised $400 million ($326 million), selling 10-year bonds denominated in Singapore dollars, the company said here Friday.

The bonds were carrying a coupon rate of 4.10 percent. The coupon offered by IOC is the lowest for a foreign currency bond issuer by any public company in the long tenor bonds category.

The bonds have been subscribed by Asian investors, with 75 percent of the orders coming from Singapore, the company said.

Spanish police said Thursday that a 21-year-old engineering student arrested with explosives planned a Columbine-style attack at the University of the Balearic Islands.

The suspect, identified only by his initials, J.M.M.S., was detained Wednesday in Palma de Mallorca after a five-month-long investigation.

The probe was sparked by Internet postings alluding to the events of April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in the US state of Colorado, where a pair of teenagers gunned down 12 of their classmates and a teacher before turning their guns on themselves.

Chris Gayle smashed 75 off 41 balls as the West Indies scored 205 for four against Australia in the second semi-final of the World Twenty20 Championship at the R Premadasa stadium here Friday.

Studded with 14 sixes, the West Indies innings was the highest total so far in this year’s tournament.

Young pacer Pat Cummins gave away 36 off his four overs but picked up two wickets for Australia.

A new math method can help predict a woman’s chances of becoming pregnant, depending on how long the couple has been trying, say researchers.

For instance, the researchers from Warwick Medical School found that, if the woman is aged 35 years, after just six months of trying, her chance of getting pregnant in the next cycle is less than 10 percent.

Pailan Arrows, the developmental side of All India Football Federation (AIFF), would be looking to extend their good form of the Federation Cup when they open the I-League campaign against Mumbai FC at the Salt Lake Stadium here Saturday.

Arrows will miss their Australian coach Arthur Papas, who could not make it due to visa problem, but his assistant Aaron Simon hoped the team will continue their momentum.

A Delhi government counsel heading a panel to probe alleged illegal construction inside the historic Jama Masjid has requested that he be excused by Delhi High Court from the assignment.

Najimi Waziri, standing counsel for Delhi government, told Justice Rajiv Shakdher Friday: “I do not want to act (as the court commissioner) and I cannot discuss the reasons in the open court.”

He said he may specify the reasons if the proceedings are being held in the chamber. The court then posted the matter for Oct 15.

Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, said here Friday that Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi had opened the door for India Inc. to invest in Jammu and Kashmir.

During a meeting with the local entrepreneurs here Friday, Ratan Tata said: “Rahul Gandhi has opened not only a window but a door for Indian Inc. to invest in Jammu and Kashmir. We are keen to invest in the state and play our role in its development.”

With the Supreme Court Friday dismissing the bail petition of YSR Congress Party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy in the illegal assets case, the party is contemplating to file a review petition in the apex court.

The party has also asked its cadre not to be disappointed but work with renewed vigour to strengthen the organisation under the leadership of Y.S. Vijayamma, mother of Jaganmohan Reddy.

“We are in touch with legal experts and are exploring options which include filing of a review petition,” said YSR party spokesman Ambati Rambabu.

Delhi Government on friday strongly rejected charges of civil society activists Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan that it has allotted land to realty major DLF which in turn allegedly favoured Robert Vadra.

Chief Secretary P K Tripathi termed the allegations as “factually incorrect, mischievous and misleading” and said Delhi government was not in the business of allotting land to private entities.