Month: January 2013

Fifty percent of respondents in a nationwide poll are in favour of the recently introduced law banning child adoptions by Americans.

The Levada Center pollster said Wednesday 31 percent of respondents oppose the new legislation.

The poll, conducted Jan 18-21, also found that 39 percent of respondents have nothing against adoptions of Russian children by families from the US and Europe.

However, they said the government must closely monitor and control the lives of adopted children in their new families.

A man allegedly shot dead his estranged wife when she was going to court to attend a hearing in a dowry case against him and abducted their son from the spot, police said.

According to the police, accused Parkash Singh shot dead his wife Ranjit Kaur from point blank range.

The duo were married since 2005 but Ranjit was staying with her parents along with their son, police said, adding that she had filed a dowry case against Singh for which hearing was scheduled for today.

Salman Khan, who is said to be very busy this year, has managed to keep aside some time for Prabhu Deva for his next untitled film.

The news was confirmed by the film’s producer, Ramesh Taurani who said that the 47-year-old actor will be doing a film with them, and the film will go on floors by the end of this year.

He further asserted that the movie will be directed by Prabhu Deva and since they have got his dates, they will start rolling accordingly.

The Pune blast case accused alleged here on Wednesday that Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) officials forcibly took their signatures on blank papers after physically harassing them in custody.

Munib Iqbal Memon, Farooq Bagwan and Kashif Biyabani, arrested in connection with the Pune blasts, moved an application before the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court today, making the allegation.

ATS will now file a reply to the allegations.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s mother has confirmed that her son will run for a Senate seat in the 2013 Australia election.

Christine Assange has confirmed her son”s candidacy, after WikiLeaks tweeted the news.

According to the Herald Sun, Assange, who founded the whistle blowing website, announced his Senate ambition last December from Ecuador”s London embassy.

The election will be held on September 14.

Assange sought refuge there last June in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden.

Muslim patrols stalking streets in Britain could become ‘a lot more dangerous’ and perhaps even lead to maiming or killing, the head of an anti-extremism organisation has warned.

As British jihadists venture abroad to capitalize on the aftermath of the Arab Spring and then return to the UK, they are likely to bring a greater level of violence back home, Maajid Nawaz, the chairman of the Quilliam Foundation, suggested.

Jamatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed has said that Pakistan has been facing the worst energy crisis because of Indian water aggression. The Nation quoted Saeed, as saying that India has been constructing more and more dams to “teach Pakistan a lesson”. He accused India of constructing dams on small water channels to make Pakistan a barren land. He added that India has constructed 62 dams and wants to construct 250 more reservoirs. Saeed said the Pakistani rulers are not making serious efforts to take up the issue of water aggression with the world.

Italian film star Gina Lollobrigida, once dubbed “the most beautiful woman in the world”, has claimed that her ex-boyfriend, a Spanish businessman 34 years her junior, staged a secret ceremony in which he “married” an impostor pretending to be her at a registry office in Barcelona.

The 85-year-old actress accuses Javier Rigau y Rafols, 51, of hoping to lay claim to her estate after her death, the Telegraph reported.

Amid the ongoing verbal battle within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the 2014 Prime Ministerial candidate, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) lawmaker Harsimrat Kaur on Wednesday said that her party being the oldest and the most trusted ally will stand by the decision taken by the main opposition party in this regard.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday hailed Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray”s proposal to patch up with his estranged cousin Raj Thackeray, founder of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), and forge a strong alliance.

BJP leader Gopinath Munde said the MNS and Shiv Sena should join hands.

An emotional Kamal Hassan Wednesday threatened to quit India if the ban in Tamil Nadu on his controversial film “Vishwaroopam” wasn’t lifted but the Madras High Court reimposed the ban.

As controversy swirled over the Rs.95 crore multilingual espionage thriller, the acclaimed actor said he had agreed to make cuts in the movie that some Muslim groups found objectionable.

Kamal, 58 and one of southern cinema’s most successful stars, said if the ban on his Tamil-Telugu film was not lifted, he might have to look out for a “secular state” abroad.

Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt feels actor-director Kamal Haasan is a victim of state terrorism.

“He is a victim of state terrorism. Are we living in a state where there is no law and order? This is a question, which not only a filmmaker should be asking, but the people of India must be asking,” he added.

Bhatt calls Kamal a pride of the country.

The Delhi High Court Wednesday asked the Saket district judge and a police officer to file status report giving an explanation on the missing files of a 20-year-old rape case whose trial has been held up.

The division bench of Chief Justice D. Murugesan and Justice V.K. Jain granted two weeks to additional deputy commissioner of police of New Delhi and the district judge to file the report. The case would next be heard Feb 13.

The court earlier asked the district judge to file the report but his representative sought more time.

A 26-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years in jail by a Delhi court for kidnapping and raping a two-year-old girl three years ago.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Renu Bhatnagar also held Subodh, a resident of Tughlakabad village here, guilty of obstructing a police officer in discharging his duty and hurting him with an iron rod at the time of his arrest.

The court refused to show leniency to the convict, saying the fact that he had raped a toddler could not be ignored.

The problems for the veteran actor Kamal Haasan’s mega-budget “Vishwaroopam” increased after the Madras High Court Wednesday set aside the single judge’s interim order that allowed screening of the film in the state.

Hearing the appeal made by the Tamil Nadu government against the single judge’s order, a two-member high court bench set aside the former’s order.

The high court bench chaired by Justice Dharma Rao has nullified the revocation of the ban on the film by Justice K. Venkataraman Tuesday.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde Wednesday came out in support of filmmaker Kamal Haasan, saying all have “freedom of expression”.

“We are a free society. There is freedom of expression. There is liberty for artists. We have a constitution,” Shinde said, in response to a question on the ban on Kamal’s movie “Vishwaroopam”.

“We will see. We will inquire into what has happened,” he said.

Newly-appointed Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has called his first formal meeting with all general secretaries and senior functionaries of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Thursday, party sources here said.

“Rahul Gandhi will hold his first formal meeting with all general secretaries and functionaries of the party on Thursday,” a party source told IANS Wednesday.

The Nehru-Gandhi family scion, after being appointed vice president Jan 19, had an informal meeting with general secretaries and senior functionaries of the party Jan 23.

The Congress Wednesday termed as “unfortunate” the remark of actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan that he may leave the country if the final verdict on his controversial film “Vishwaroopam” was not in his favour.

Amid allegations of his film being against the Muslims, the actor said: “If there is no secular state in India, I would go overseas. I think Tamil Nadu wants me out. What would change is my passport; I would still be an Indian. I have pledged all my property for the film. I have lost my house because of delay in release.”

The Congress, which is facing flak over the Telangana issue in Andhra Pradesh, said it was “not against the formation of the Telangana state” but wanted the process of due consultations to be completed for “an amicable solution” at the earliest.

“We are not against the formation of Telangana…but the process of consultations has be completed as many constitutional provisions have to be discussed with the stake holders,” Congress spokesperson P.C. Chacko told reporters here.

India Wednesday pledged a donation of $2.5 million as humanitarian assistance for over two million Syrians displaced by the ongoing conflict in the country.

The announcement was made by Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed at an international conference of donors on Syria, inaugurated by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The Indian minister said the conference was an important initiative of the UN to support the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people.

The Indian assistance could be in the form of life saving drugs, food and other essential items.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde Wednesday refused to give any fresh deadline for making any announcement on Telangana, saying discussion on the issue was still on.

“Consultation process is still on,” he told reporters when asked whether the Centre has set any fresh deadline on Telangana issue.

A decision on the Telangana statehood demand was deferred on Sunday with the Centre and Congress saying there was need for “further consultations” which will take a “little more time”.

TRS and Congress are trading charges against each other as their deal could not be finalised at Delhi level and KCR has been using Telangana people’s sentiments as a commodity for personal gains, YSR Congress has said.

“The statements of TRS and Congress leaders brought to fore their behind-the-scenes agreement that went awry and has become crystal clear that the two parties could not come to an understanding on merger and the consideration (price) thereon,” YSRCP spokesperson Gattu Ramachandra Rao told reporters here on Wednesday.

Telangana Political Joint Action Committee chairman Prof M Kodandaram fired back at the government and said they are not afraid of cases or going to jail.

“We have the right to criticize anyone in public life, that too when the leaders go back on their words. We are not afraid of jails or arrests,” he said. He challenged the Chief Minister and said that he will come to his doorstep whenever he wants him to be arrested.

After that whatever happens, you will be responsible for the consequences, he said. (INN)

MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi did not get any relief from courts in different cases that he is facing.

A Nizambad court on Wednesday sent MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi to police custody for two days in the the alleged hate speech case. The court allowed police to question Akbaruddin Owaisi for two days on Februay 1 and 2.

A new trend of filing cases against leaders is picking up in the State.

From religious remarks to political remarks the polity in the state has taken a curious turn. While a spate of cases were filed yesterday on leaders of Congress and TRS the trend continued with cases being filed against Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Government Whip Jagga Reddy.