Month: December 2012

A 12-member delegation of Bangladeshi MPs Saturday blamed the Indian government for not taking up with Dhaka the issue of illegal migration from the country to Assam and other northeast India states.

The statement by the visiting delegation of Bangladeshi parliamentarians at a press conference here assumes significance at a time when protests are on across the state over the issue of illegal infiltration from Bangladesh and the fact that the neighbouring country often refuses to accept the illegal immigrants after they are pushed back by India.

Not ruling out a terror dry-run, National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) teams have started probing into the transistor explosion in Maharashtra’s Beed district Friday.

The teams have collected samples from the blast site – the house of bus conductor Om Nimbalkar – in Kej town and sent them for forensic analysis, the report of which is expected in a couple of days.

Nimbalkar, 35, his wife Usha, 25, their son Kunal, three, and mother Kusum, 55, were injured after a transister he had brough home exploded.

At three-day International High School Model UN ‘Amity International Model United Nations (AIMUN)’ Conference which concluded at Amity University today, the participating students unanimously extend support to combat terrorism and child abuse.

The conference was organised by Amity Educational Resource Centre together with Amity International Schools in support with UNESCO and UN Information Centre for India and Bhutan .

Over 450 high school students from over 48 schools of India and 15 international schools located in Denmark,

A 40-year-old woman was charred to death when a fire broke out in Palam area here today.

Fire department officials said the cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained. The incident took place around 4.25 pm. The fire was doused by two fire-tenders.

The charred body was found after the fire at B-53 in Raj Nagar-1 colony was doused. Officials denied reports of any
other casualty on the spot.

————————PTI

Taking umbrage at Navjot Singh Sidhu’s remark in which he termed him as an “anti-national leader”, Gujarat Parivartan Party president Keshubhai Patel today appealed to the Election Commission to take suo motu action against the BJP MP and his party.

“I urge the EC to take suo moto action against Sidhu and the BJP,” he said.

Addressing a public rally in Visavadar Assembly constituency in Junagadh district recently, the former cricketer, campaigning for BJP candidate Kanubhai Bhalala, had termed Keshubhai as an “anti national” leader.

Two Florida brothers charged with plotting to support terrorists are caring family men who enjoyed living in the US and would never hurt anyone,their family said.

Authorities swarmed a quiet, lakefront condominium near Fort Lauderdale earlier this week and arrested Sheheryar Alam Qazi, 30, and 20-year-old Raees Alam Qazi, charging them with plotting to provide material support to terrorists and to use a weapon of mass destruction. Prosecutors said the two are naturalized US citizens originally from Pakistan.

They remained jailed yesterday without bond.

Two days after escaping a suicide attack, pro-government warlord Mullah Nazir today ordered Mehsud tribesmen and Taliban fighters to leave areas in South Waziristan under the Ahmedzai Wazir tribe.

Nazir, who finalised a peace deal with the Pakistani military in 2007, issued the directive following a jirga attended by leaders of his militant faction, a peace committee of the Ahmedzai Wazir clan and other tribal elders and clerics.

The jirga was held at Wana, the largest town of South Waziristan Agency.

Resolving world problems by force as the US is trying to do does not work, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday.

In his opening speech to the 20th session of the Foreign and Defence Policy Council, Lavrov said: “The line of conducting democracy by iron and blood does not work.”

This is clear in the case of Iraq and other states, he added.

“No-one knows in the end what will happen in the Middle East,” including Syria, the Russian minister said.

Singer Rihanna revealed her next single in the album “Unapologetic” after “Diamonds” will be “Stay”.

“Stay” will be released Jan 7 next year.

“Unapologetic”, is Rihanna’s seventh album. It recently became her fourth U.K number one album when it climbed to the top of the charts in November, reports contactmusic.com.

Her latest single, “Diamonds”, from the album has already reached the top of the official UK singles chart.

—————IANS

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj today demanded immediate rollback of Centre’s decision to cap annual supply of domestic gas cylinders,saying the move was hurting the common people.

“This is an inappropriate decision taken even as prices are skyrocketing. I appeal to the government to withdraw this decision,” she said addressing a campaign rally at Sama locality tonight.

BJP candidate Jitu Sukhadiya is contesting from this Assembly seat.

Swaraj said the common people will have no option but to shell out Rs 900 per cylinder once the annual limit was
exhausted.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today had a dig at Congress President Sonia Gandhi alleging the “misrule” of the party led by her will script its “worst-ever” drubbing at the hands of BJP in coming assembly elections.

Embarking on the final leg of his poll campaign after paying obeisance at the famous Somnath temple at Veraval, the
BJP stalwart said Congress’ own acts “will be its undoing in the polls”.

Madam Sonia, change your disha (direction) as Congress will never reach Gandhinagar. Gujarat’s disha is Sardar

Ahmed Patel, Congress leader from Gujarat and political secretary to the party president Sonia Gandhi, today said Chief Minister Narendra Modi was talking like a “dejected and frustrated” person.

Modi had yesterday said the Congress should declare Patel as the Chief Ministerial candidate.

“I was never a contender for the post of CM, and will never be. I have always remained away from power politics,” a
statement released by the Congress here quoted him as saying.

“Ahmed Patel dubbed the comment of the Chief Minister as one made by a dejected and a frustrated person,” it added.

Provincial officials say a suicide car bomber killed three civilians and wounded another six in Afghanistan’s southern Uruzgan province.

Abdullah Himmat, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said today’s blast occurred near the police headquarters of
Uruzgan’s Dehra Wood district.

Fareed Ayal, a spokesman for the provincial police, says the car apparently detonated prematurely before it reached the gate of the headquarters.

Insurgents and Taliban fighters often use suicide bombers to target government buildings, convoys and foreign troops.

————————-(AP)

Congress today appeared to have failed mollify its sulking senior leader from Gujarat Narhari Amin who has threatened not to campaign for party candidates on being refused nomination for coming assembly elections.

Congress leader and Union Minister Rajiv Shukla flew in here from Delhi today to meet Amin.

There was no official side from either side as to what transpired in the meeting.

shukla only said “Amin is a very strong leader of Gujarat. I have talked to him but will not reveal it.”

However, sources said Amin told Shukla that he would not work for the party in any way.

It will be mandatory for sleeper-class train passengers to carry identity proof from Saturday.

The Railways has taken the steps to prevent misuse of tickets by touts and facilitate hassle-free travel by bonafide people.

From today (December 1), passengers failing to produce original identity proof in sleeper class, as and when asked for, will be treated as “without ticket” and charged accordingly, said a senior Railway Ministry official.

At least four people were killed and three injured in Pakistan after a a US drone struck their house in South Waziristan, Geo News reported Saturday.

Sources said four people were killed while three others sustained injuries when the US drone fired missiles targeting a house in Wana area.

Syed Asif Ibrahim on Saturday took over as Officer on Special Duty in the Intelligence Bureau in the run up to taking over as the Director of the agency by the end of this month.59-year old Ibrahim, the first Muslim to lead the agency, will have a tenure of two-years, the order said.

An official order said Ibrahim, a 1977-batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as OSD in the Intelligence Bureau and will later take over as its Director after incumbent Nehchal Sandhu retires on December 31.

Hours after opting out of the Dec 5-9 India-England cricket Test in protest against his “humiliation and insult” and slamming Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, veteran Eden Gardens curator Prabir Mukherjee Saturday agreed to continue in the job following a meeting with CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya.

“It was a successful meeting. He is going to stay in charge of Eden,” Dalmiya told mediapersons at his residence after the hour-long parley at which other CAB officials were also present.

Pakistan will take action against LeT founder Hafiz Saeed — the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks — if India provides evidence against him that stands in court, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said today.

“Hafiz Saeed was in custody and the evidence against him could not hold in a court of law.

–Agencies

BJP leader Sushma Swaraj Saturday said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had the capability to be prime minister, triggering speculation about him taking a more central role in the party after the December state assembly elections.

Sushma Swaraj told reporters that the BJP did not have a line on a prime ministerial candidate. She said Modi was fit to be prime minister.

“He is capable, there are no two views about it,” Sushma Swaraj, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, said.

A survey has revealed that West Bengal is gradually moving towards becoming a medium prevalence HIV state from low prevalence one, a scientist said here Saturday on World AIDS Day.

“Bengal was a low prevalence HIV state but gradually it’s going towards medium prevalence state as per studies,” said Kamalesh Sarkar, deputy director of the Division of Epidemiology (HIV/AIDS), National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases.

“HIV prevalence is very high in certain pockets. Unless we control it, it will continue to rise,” Sarkar told IANS.

GHMC Commissioner MT Krishna Babu has informed Tax Inspector of Circle No 8 K Nagabhushanam, has collected property tax of whopping Rs 3.89 crore from Andhra Pradesh Housing Board Colony.

The collected tax including 125 buildings arrears amounting to Rs 1,08,27,290 and current year tax of Rs 2,81,55,967 with total amounting to Rs 3,89,83,257. Praising Nagabhushanam for collecting a huge amount of property tax, the GHMC Commissioner expressed satisfaction for the services rendered by him. He said last year too, the Tax Inspector collected around Rs 2 crore of property tax.

Union Minister of State for Tourism K Chiranjeevi has claimed that the SC, ST Sub-Plan was one of the pre-conditions to merge erstwhile Praja Rajyam Party into the Congress.

Talking to reporters at the Congress Legislature Party here on Saturday, Chiranjeevi said that the SC, ST Sub-Plan was part of the social justice agenda that the erstwhile PRP advocated till its merger with the Congress party. He expressed happiness that the Congress leadership, especially Congress president Sonia Gandhi, took forward the agenda and enacted the SC, ST Sub-Plan Bill in the State.

Asserting that the welfare schemes implemented by the late Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy for SCs and STs had benefited them immensely, YSR Congress Party honorary president YS Vijayamma demanded that the Congress leadership implement the SC and ST Sub-plan Bill across the country by introducing it in the Parliament and providing constitutional protection.

Stating that the growth of the State was not possible with ensuring social justice, Telangana Rashtra Samithi deputy floor leader T Harish Rao on Saturday demanded that the State Government introduce Sub-Plan for Minorities and Backward Classes.