Month: October 2012

Congress on Wednesday saw nothing wrong in former Union minister A Raja, the main accused in 2G spectrum scam, and Suresh Kalmadi, accused in the Commonwealth Games scam, being made members of Parliamentary Standing Committees.

“It is the right of a Member of Parliament to be on a Committee, whatever may be charges or allegations. The members are not nominated by their party,” party spokesman P C Chacko told reporters.

Chacko, who heads the Privileges Committee of the Lok Sabha, said every MP is entitled to be on a Committee and he “cannot be denied that privilege”.

The BJP on Wednesday welcomed the announcement of poll dates for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and expressed confidence of retaining power in both the states on the basis of the development work carried out by respective governments.

“In both the states, BJP is in power…Recently a review meeting of good governance in BJP ruled states was held under the chairmanship of party president Nitin Gadkari and based on the feedback from Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh we are very confident of coming back to power,” party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.

Rithvik Dhanjani may have secured the third spot on the recently concluded reality show ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 5’, but he hopes that he has managed to present himself as a “complete package” and people won`t hesitate in “investing” in him.

Needless to say, he also looks forward to more work in television as well as the Hindi film industry.

“I believe now the industry has seen a different side of me. They have seen me in advertisements, they have seen me act, and now they have seen me as an all-rounder, complete with my dancing ability,” Rithvik told IANS.

The Supreme Court Wednesday said that the government will not disturb the retail price mechanism of essential drugs under the price control order while increasing the number of important medicines under the National List of Essential Drugs (NLED).

The apex court bench of Justice GS Singhvi and Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya said this while chiding the government for taking long in finalising the list of essential medicines under the NLED.

By holding that it was not their job to run the government, the court wondered why things were unmoved for nine long years.

Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) President Keshubhai Patel today said Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Rpt Modi should first make his expenses on foreign trips public before raising questions over expenditure incurred on Sonia Gandhi’s foreign tours.

Patel, who has decided to contest the upcoming assembly elections from Visavadar in Junagadh district, told newsmen, “Modi should first inform the public the money spent from the state exchequer on his foreign trips. Then, he has the right to question about trips of others.”

US authorities offered a USD 50,000 reward today for a American of Syrian descent with alleged Al-Qaeda ties, who is accused of plotting to kill US military personnel overseas.

Officials have been searching for Ahmad Abousamra, 31, since November 2009, when a federal warrant was issued for his arrest.

He has been indicted on nine charges, including providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill
in a foreign country and conspiring to provide material support to Al-Qaeda.

Answer the following questions and post your answers in comments section with your email ID.

1) “Wa-hazel baladil Ameen” in Surah Al-Tin refers to the ..…

A) City of Medina

B) City of Jerusalem

C) City of Mecca

D) All of the above

2) “Amadim Mumaddadah” means ..…

A) Hellfire

B) Tall columns

C) Fire of Allah

D) None of the above

Jharkhand Director General of Police G S Rath today said that Maoists arrested with US-made weapon, Colt M-16 in Hazaribagh on August 29, got it from the Myanmar route.

This weapon came into Maoists hands from Myanmar, where extremists are very active,” the DGP said at a press
conference here.

Not ruling out that the arms might have come into Jharkhand from the Bihar route, he said, the recoveries showed
how strong the intelligence network had become in the state.

Stating, it was not the first time that the police had seized foreign arms from the Maoists, the DGP said, earlier

IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, whose suspension has been revoked in one of the three cases against him, today asked the Narendra Modi Government to desist from “vindictiveness” and annul the suspension order in the other two cases, calling them “half-baked”.

The Gujarat government had on October one revoked the suspension of Bhatt in one case on the recommendation of the
Union Home Ministry.

Bhatt shot off a letter to Chief Minister Narendra Modi today allegeing that with “ulterior motives” the state Home

West Indian star batsmen Chris Gayle burnished his party-boy image on Wednesday when police broke up a late-night gathering in his hotel room during the World Twenty20 cricket tournament in Sri Lanka.

Gayle and teammates Andre Russell, Fidel Edwards and Dwayne Smith attracted the attention of police bodyguards as they let their hair down at the luxury Cinnamon Grand hotel in Colombo.

Three British female guests who were partying in the players’ rooms were removed by officers and briefly arrested, a police statement said after the early-morning antics.

Taking strong objection to TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu’s remark attributing fledgling qualities to YSRCP, the Party spokesperson Vasireddy Padma has said, padayatra is routine duty of any leader and it need not be dubbed as a sacrifice.

The City Police on Wednesday arrested 14 corporators of Telugu Desam Party for staging dharna before the State Secretariat in protest against the failure of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation in spread of dengue and other viral diseases.

The seperate Telangana issue continued to haunt Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu during his padayatra “Vastunna Mee Kosam”.

The departure of nearly 8,000 pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh and adjacent districts of Karnataka for Haj-2012 will begin from October 6.

According to the State Haj Committee, the arrangements for the departure of Haj pilgrims from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport are complete both at the Haj Camp at Haj House at Nampally and the GMR Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamsabad. The first flight will depart from RGI Airport at October 6 at 9.20 pm. The Haj pilgrims bound for the first flight have been asked to report at the Haj Camp on Thursday.

The State Government will soon take measures for the protection and beautification of historic Mir Alam Tank in the Old City.

This was announced by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy while participating in the 58th Vanya Prani Saptah celebrations held at Nehru Zoological Park here on Wednesday. While assuring financial support for the development of Zoo Park, the Chief Minister also made referential remarks regarding the Mir Alam Tank adjacent to the zoo. He informed that the government also proposes to construct a necklace road around the Mir Alam Tank.

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday directed the officials to announce the results of DSC and Model School Teacher Posts by October 7 and fill up 30,000 teacher posts in one month.

The notification for the DSC – 2012 was issued on January 30 this year to fill up 21,343 posts of various categories of teachers in the State and 7,100 posts of Principals, PGTs and TGTs. Applications were received from the eligible candidates online from February 16 to July 20.

India might have failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the ongoing ICC World Twenty20, but four wins out of five matches have pushed the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side up by one place to the second spot in the latest T20 International team rankings, released today.

India now trail Sri Lanka (129) by nine points and are followed by Pakistan (118) and England (118). South Africa has lost its number-one position in the championship table after failing to qualify for the semi-finals.

The Supreme Court today directed the Centre and state governments to provide basic infrastructure, including drinking water and toilets, in all schools within six months.

A bench headed by justice K S Radhakrishnan fixed the time limit and asked the governments to take steps to provide the basic facilities in schools across the country. The bench said that all its previous directions pertaining to providing infrastructure should be implemented within the time frame fixed by it.

Al Qaeda is responsible for the recent spate of forest fires in Europe, Russian security service chief Alexander Bortnikov claimed Wednesday.

“Forest fires in European Union countries should be considered one of the new trends in Al Qaeda’s ‘thousand cuts’ strategy. This approach allows them to inflict significant damage on the economy and morale without any serious preparation, technical equipment, or financial outlay,” Bortnikov told the 11th meeting of Russian and partner states’ security and law enforcement services in Moscow.

A woman was allegedly gang-raped by two property dealers in Tronica city here after she was made to consume soft drink laced with some sedatives.

Two property dealers took the 32-year-old woman, a resident of Shahadra, to show flats at Tronica city and raped her in their car last evening, SP (Rural) Jagdish Sharma said on Wednesday.

The two alleged property dealers have been arrested and the vehicle used in the crime seized, he said.

“The woman was taken for medical examination and further investigations were on,” Sharma said.

–PTI

Violation of human rights is a combination of communalism, casteism, regionalism and lack of respect for law, said Jamia Millia Islamia vice chancellor Najeeb Jung here on Wednesday.

“Universities like Jamia must sensitise their students to be at the forefront of understanding and helping resolve these issues,” Jung told a news agency during a ‘Peace Walk for Human Rights in the Northeast’.

The march was organised by the university’s Centre for North East Studies and Sarojini Naidu Centre for Women’s Studies.

The Himachal Pradesh election will be held on Nov 4 while polls to the Gujarat assembly will be conducted over two phases on Dec 13 and 17, the Election Commission announced Wednesday. Votes for elections to both assemblies will be counted on Dec 20.

Both states are governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi begins a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir Thursday amid panic among Panchayat members who have been resigning due to threats from separatists.

The mass resignations by village council members were triggered by the Sep 23 murder of Muhammad Shafi Teli, the sarpanch (village council chief) of Keeri village in Baramulla district.

Since the panchayat elections of 2011 held in the state after a gap of 30 years, five village heads have been killed in the Kashmir Valley.

Actress Rani Mukerji, who has attempted a belly dance number in her forthcoming film “Aiyyaa”, was challenged for her skills by comedian Bharti Singh.

Bharti, who takes pride in her huge belly, had also posed such a challenge to Katrina Kaif on reality show “Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 5”, and now she decided to do the same to Rani during the shoot of “Comedy Circus Ke Ajoobe”.

Senior IAS officer Ajit M Sharan has been appointed as Member Secretary in National Commission for Women (NCW).

Sharan, a 1979 batch officer of Haryana cadre, will be in the rank and pay of Additional Secretary.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has also appointed Rajiv Mehrishi, an IAS officer of 1978 batch of the Rajasthan cadre, as Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in the vacancy of Parvez Dewan, a 1977 batch IAS officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre.