Month: November 2012

The Election Commission has issued 73 notices to detect cases of paid news during the Himachal Pradesh assembly polls process, of which 19 were later confirmed, an official said here. Its 68 assembly segments went to polls Sunday.

Askhay Rout, director general, Election Commission of India, told mediapersons here that the poll panel had taken concerted steps to check cases of paid news in the hill state.

He said the highest number of notices were given in Solan (21) followed by Mandi (20).

Raut said the poll panel’s efforts to boost percentage of voting had yielded positive results.

Was the Congress’ show of strength at a rally at the Ramlila Maidan here Sunday to assert the UPA government’s credentials on fighting corruption and pushing reforms really successful? Analysts said the image-boosting exercise did help the Congress take its message across but the move might be “little and late”.

At the rally, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi hit out at the opposition, particularly the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), over its allegations of corruption against the government.

Pakistan has suffered more than any other country from terrorism, President Asif Ali Zardari said at a SAARC conference here.

Terrorism has claimed 40,000 lives in Pakistan and also caused economic loss of $80 billion, he said at the 6th meeting of SAARC speakers and parliamentarians Sunday.

Durable peace in the region was in the interest of all, he said, and urged the SAARC nations to join hands to fight extremism and terrorism.

The SAARC groups Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. India’s Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar also participated.

Eight people were killed in Pakistan Sunday night when their bus plunged into a ravine, a media report said.

Three children and three women were among the dead. The accident took place in the mountainous area of Talmar, Geo TV reported. The injured were shifted to hospital.

–IANS–

Bharatiya Janata Party state president G. Kishan Reddy has demanded the state government to take immediate steps to see that Central teams visited and studied the loss of crops in 14 districts following the Neelam cyclone, and provide adequate compensation to the farmers, who lost their crops.

The Bharatiya Janata Party predicted that if the Gujarat Chief Minister Mr. Narender Modi is projected as the prime ministerial candidate in the general elections 2014, then the voting percentage of BJP in the Seema-andhra regions would increase at least up to 10. Stating this, the party senior leader Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, announced that BJP is ready to face even the interim elections.

The Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu lambasted the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and the Congress party leaders for ignoring the peoples’ problems and making merry by attending marriages and meetings aimed at show of strength.

The public meeting of the YSR Congress honorary president Y S Vijayamma to be organized at Kovvuru in West Godavari district on Sunday, where several leaders including TDP MLA Vanita were expected to join the party, has been postponed due to the floods.

Twin-Cities Auto Rickshaw Owners’ Welfare Association has demanded the state government to set up more Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) filling stations in the city.

Actress Ameesha Patel seems to be back with a bang – after signing a film, she has been roped in to endorse a jewellery brand.

“It’s true guys…I’m endorsing Gitanjali jewels. Just signed up with them last week…thank you for all the good wishes,” tweeted the 37-year-old who recently endorsed a sunglass brand.

The actress, who made her acting debut opposite Hrithik Roshan in Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai, was last seen in 2011 release Chatur Singh Two Star.

Mumbai terror attack convict Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab is suffering from fever and undergoing treatment in the high security Arthur Road jail here, police said today.

“Kasab is being treated for fever for the past few days. Suspecting that the prisoner could be suffering from dengue, three tests were conducted on him by a team of doctors of JJ hospital but the results were negative,” said a police official on condition of anonymity.

“Doctors do not want to take any chance. Kasab is under observation and responding well to the treatment,” the official said.

Former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu underwent a Layered Voice Analysis (LAV) during reality show “Bigg Boss 6”.

The LAV was conducted on Sidhu, who has been posing to be extremely diplomatic on the show. He is quite positive and very friendly with all the contestants, so perhaps, he needed to be given a “reality check”, said a source.

Sidhu was asked around 20 questions, not just about his cricket career, but also about his thoughts on co-participants of “Bigg Boss 6”.

Shiv Sena today slammed AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi for his comments that though Congress had backed BJP-led NDA government during the Kargil war, the opposition was not supporting FDI in retail. “If Rahul does not understand the difference between Kargil and FDI in retail, he has no right to be in politics,” Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut told PTI. He was referring to the remarks made by Rahul Gandhi at the Congress party rally in Delhi today. “Rahul is not only bachcha (novice) in politics but also kachcha (immature),” he said.

Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha today paid tribute to late BJP leader Kailashpati Mishra saying it was a personal loss to him as Mishra had trained him in politics. “BJP patriach L K Advani had asked Mishra to train me in politics and he took special care of me while doing so,” Sinha who is BJP Lok Sabha member from Patna Saheb told PTI over phone. “His death is a personal loss to me as he was my guide and guru,” the actor-turned BJP leader who is in the national capital and could not come to Patna on doctor’s advise, said. PTI

Train services were affected today due to heavy rains in Andhra Pradesh triggered by cyclone ‘Nilam’ with East Coast Railway (ECoR) cancelling, short-terminating or diverting several trains. Trains were rescheduled as water level was flowing above the danger mark in Thandava River between Tuni and Gullipadu stations in Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam section of Vijaywada Division of South Central Railway, ECoR sources said.

22 people have been killed in rain-related incidents in Andhra Pradesh as heavy rains continued to batter several regions under the influence of ‘Cyclone Nilam’. Coastal Andhra Pradesh continued to bear the brunt of nature’s fury as villages and towns were inundated by swollen rivulets. The rainfall was such that Narasapur in West Godavari district received a record 31 cms of rainfall in the last 24 hours, followed by 27 cms in Amalapuram, 25 cms in Rajahmundry (both in East Godavari district), 25 cms in Yelamanchili (Visakhapatnam dist), 23 cms in Koderu (West Godavari district).

Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh today made it clear that he might contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections if his party gave him permission. “I may contest the 2014 LS elections if the Congress allows me to do so,” he told reporters. Singh had last contested the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh in December 2003. At that time, he had announced that if his party lost, he would not contest any polls for another 10 years. The BJP had removed the ruling Congress from power at that time.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy today wished Governor E S L Narasimhan on his birthday. The Chief Minister called on the Governor at Raj Bhavan this evening and wished him a happy and healthy life, officials said. PTI

In a boost to YSR Congress, two TDP leaders, including a sitting MLA, today joined the Jaganmohan Reddy-led party in Andhra Pradesh. TDP MLA from Gopalapuram T Vanitha and former TDP legislator P V Krishna Rao joined YSR Congress in the presence of party president Y S Vijayamma here along with few other leaders from West Godavari district. PTI

A teenage girl from Karnal, about 130 km from here, was allegedly raped by over ten men and later dumped at a railway station, a GRP officer said. The victim, aged around 16 years, was rescued by Government Railway Police personnel at the railway station near Karnal. “The girl, a resident of Tarwari area, has claimed that she was raped by 10-11 people. She was lured by a man who had promised to marry her. Our men rescued her from the railway station,” the officer said. The victim has undergone a medical examination, he said, adding that the result of which is awaited.

Politics in India is divided into two poles where the Congress stands for vote-bank politics and BJP that for progress of the country, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said tonight. “Politics in India is divided into two poles. One group is doing politics of vote-bank while the other is pursuing it for progress. While the Congress falls in the first category, the BJP stands for politics of progress,” Modi said at the Chhattisgarh government organised function to celebrate the 12th statehood day.

A 26-year-old woman was allegedly raped while her friend, a private nurse accompanying her, molested in Talera area of the district, police said.

The main accused, Gangaram Gurjar, asked the nurse and her assistant to accompany him to attend a woman having labour
pain on October 31, said Abdul Mazid Khan, SHO, Talera police station.

On way, Gurjar stopped his vehicle in a deserted area and raped the assistant of the nurse, according to the complaint.

Later, five of Gurjar’s friends, including a government doctor, also came and molested the duo, the SHO said.

Footballer David Beckham is planning to move to New York so that his wife Victoria Beckham can take her fashion career to new heights.

The couple currently reside here with their four children — Brooklyn, 13, Romeo, 10, Cruz, 7 and 16-month-old daughter Harper.

However, with David’s contract with his current football team LA Galaxy coming to an end, the couple is considering moving for Victoria’s sake and have even started looking for properties and schools in New York.

Chaos reigned on the capital’s roads Sunday as the Congress’ mega rally led to massive traffic snarls in several parts of the city, especially in central and old Delhi.

The Congress rally saw hundreds of buses arrive in the capital to ferry party workers and supporters from Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and other areas to Ramlila Maidan. The long lines of buses and cars led to traffic getting choked around old Delhi and central Delhi as well as parts New Delhi, east Delhi and south Delhi.

China will fingerprint all its 1.3 billion people, said authorities.

Chinese police have moved a step closer to launching a system to register citizens’ fingerprints in 2013, reported People’s Daily.

The Ministry of Public Security Thursday started to invite fingerprint reader manufacturers to bid for a list of recommended equipment to be used, said a report in the Beijing Youth Daily.

On Oct 29, 2011, China adopted an amendment to its Resident Identity Card Law to require citizens’ fingerprints to be recorded.