Month: January 2013

Mexican officials broke up a bizarre cult that allegedly ran a sex-slavery ring among its followers on the US border, Mexican immigration authorities said.

The “Defensores de Cristo” or “Defenders of Christ” allegedly recruited women to have sex with a Spanish man who
claimed he was the reincarnation of Christ, according to an official of a victims’ advocacy group, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak publicly about the case.

Followers were subjected to forced labor or sexual services, including prostitution, according to the National

The UN chief appealed today for a major boost in international relief aid for Syria and called for the fighting to end “in the name of humanity” even as more refugees poured into neighboring Jordan and its leader warned
resources were strained to the limit.

The UN’s call for up to USD 1.5 billion in humanitarian assistance at an international conference in Kuwait reflects the deepening civilian crisis inside Syria and the civil war’s increasing spillover around the region.

Gold was little changed near its highest level this week here today, and platinum headed for its best monthly gain in a year as investors weighed speculation the Federal Reserve will continue with stimulus against a rally in equities.

Gold added 0.1 per cent to USD 1,666.19 an ounce, after rising to USD 1,668.96, the highest since January 25. Prices
are down 0.5 per cent in January, a fourth straight monthly drop and the worst run since May. Silver was little changed at USD 31.43 an ounce.

A gunman boarded a school bus in the US state of Alabama, shot dead the driver and kidnapped a six-year-old, whom he is now holding in an underground bunker, local media reported today.

WSFA television said the man boarded the bus at around 3:40 pm yesterday, shot the bus driver and took one of the
children to an underground shelter, where police are currently communicating with him through a PVC pipe.

Police could not immediately be reached for comment, but Sergeant Rachel David of the Dothan Police Department

In a relief to MNS chief Raj Thackeray, the Delhi High Court today stayed the execution of non-bailable warrants (NBWs) issued against him in 2008 for his alleged anti-Bihari remarks.

The operation of the NBWs is stayed,” Justice Sunil Gaur said after hearing brief arguments advanced by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi seeking to quash the summoning orders passed in 2008 by a lower court at Muzaffarpur in Bihar on two private complaints lodged against him.

The court also issued a notice to Sudhir Kumar Ojha, a Bihar-based advocate, and sought his response on the plea of

Not a single incident of intrusion from Pakistan took place in the last six months along the international border in the Jammu region due to vigil by the Border Security Force (BSF), an official said Wednesday.

The security forces have also stepped up vigil along the international border (IB) after the Jan 8 killing of two Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Mendhar sector of Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

A minor girl was allegedly raped by her neighbour in Dariyabad area near here, police said today.

The 13-year-old victim was raped by the youth, identified as Vijay Verma when she had gone out of her home in connection with some work yesterday, Deputy Superintendent of Police Vishal Yadav said.

Later, the girl narrated the incident to her father, who informed the police about the same, Yadav said.

The accused has been arrested while the further probes are on, the DSP added.

—PTI

The Centre today came out in support of film star Kamal Haasan, who is facing problems in releasing his mega budget film ‘Vishwaroopam’, saying everyone in the country enjoys the freedom of expression and artists have full liberty to continue their choice of work.

“We are a free society. There is freedom of expression.

There is liberty for artists. We have a Constitution,” Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters here.

He was reacting to a question on the actor’s statement that Tamil Nadu does not want him to stay in the state and
that he might leave.

The Bachchans have been accused by former IPS officer YP Singh for putting their money into a project, that has violated many BMC norms.

Singh has asserted in a press conference that though he cannot say that the Bachchan family gave a loan of Rs 9 crores to a real estate firm to build the mall in Mumbai, it is now clear that the mall is being built on illegal ground.

He also said that the Bachchan family must take the loan back and ask the BMC to demolish the partly-constructed mall.

Controversial author Salman Rushdie’s visit to Kolkata to promote Deepa Mehta’s film ‘Midnight’s Children’, based on his novel, has been cancelled due to security issues.

A source close to the film said they had planned some promotional activities involving him including a press conference but were forced to cancel it at the last minute after finding problems at the security level.

Joint Commissioner of Police (headquarters) Javed Shamim however said, “We did not had any prior information of his (Rushdie) arrival in the city. We do not know anything about it.”

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.

Veteran actor Kamal Haasan has agreed to modify his film “Vishwaroopam” following objections from certain Muslim organisations.

“My Muslim brothers have written and to me and we have settled amicably. I have agreed to modify some scenes. ‘Vishwaroopam’ is not an anti-Indian Muslim film, it is pro-Indian Muslim film,” he said.

“There is no difference between me and my Muslim brothers. It is our duty to take care of them. There are four scenes that are being pointed out and I am willing to remove these scenes from the movie,” he added.

Veteran Senator John Kerry, known for his relationship-building skills, is all set to replace Hillary Clinton as the new US Secretary of State after the Senate overwhelmingly confirmed his nomination.

69-year-old Kerry, currently the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been a close confidant of President Barack Obama on foreign policy issues especially on the volatile Af-Pak region.

The six fast track courts set up in Delhi to deal with cases of sexual offences against women have disposed of 27 of the nearly 500 cases handed over to them till its inception early this month.

Out of the 27 cases, 12 have resulted in convictions with varying sentences, including a death penalty, while in 15 cases, the court has acquitted the accused.

In these 27 decided cases, 23 were rape cases while three were gangrape cases and one of outraging the modesty of woman.

Zaheer Khan was today not picked by newly crowned Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai for their five-day Irani Cup match against the Rest of India beginning at the Wankhede Stadium on February 6, as he has not yet recovered from the calf injury he sustained at the start of this month.

Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar Wednesday said no more resignations were expected from the ruling BJP, though speculation continued that several party law makers would soon quit and join the 12 who resigned Tuesday.

“All ministers and MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly) are in touch with me. I do not expect any one of them to resign,” Shettar told reporters here.

State Bharatiya Janata Party chief and deputy chief minister K.S. Eshwarappa also said that he did not expect any more resignations from the assembly and the party.

Actor Arshad Warsi, who played the role of Circuit in popular “Munna Bhai” series, says he has no idea about the status of the third instalment of the movie series.

“I don’t know about that (status of the film). Raju (Hirani) is the best person to answer. I think Vidhu Vinod Chopra wants to make it but I don’t know. When will they do I really have no idea about ‘Munna Bhai’ series. I have been very busy with my projects so I really don’t know. Raju and Vinod are the right person to answer,” Arshad told IANS.

A five-year old girl was allegedly tortured and severely injured by an youth in Assam’s Karimganj district, police said Wednesday.

The five-year-old girl, who went missing on Monday evening was found lying in a paddy field with severe injuries near her house at Pinnagar village yesterday, Additional Superintendent of Police K K Gupta said.

With her father alleging that she was raped by the youth, who was arrested by the police.

Aam Aadmi Party has filed a complaint against former BJP president Nitin Gadkari for his remarks on I-T officials, police said today.

A day after Rajnath Singh replaced him as BJP chief, “free man” Nitin Gadkari on his arrival at Nagpur airport on January 24 had said he was not bound by the dignity of the post any longer and virtually threatened income-tax officials, claiming nobody would save them when BJP came to power at Centre.

The complaint was filed last night with Sonegaon airport police station by AAP functionary Girish Nandgaonkar.

New BJP President Rajnath Singh today asked partymen to exercise restraint in their speech and conduct and fight for people’s issues to gain the confidence of the masses.

Addressing party leaders and workers at the BJP headquarters here, Singh also asked them to maintain patience.

He exhorted BJP workers to work for strengthening the party and said there is a need to fight for the problems of the common man and gain their confidence as the ruling party at the Centre had failed on this front.

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray Wednesday hinted that he was open to the possibility of his party joining hands with cousin Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

The clear hint came in an interview to the party mouthpiece Saamna, Thackeray’s first since his father Balasaheb Thackeray’s death Nov 17 last year and after he took over the reins of the party Jan 17.

Responding to a question on whether the cousins could come together, Thackeray said: “You cannot clap with one hand. Tell me, can you?”

A 19-year-old woman was killed by her father in Odisha as she was late in serving food to him, police said Wednesday.

The incident took place Tuesday afternoon at Odanga village in Jajpur district, about 60 km from here. The accused was arrested after a neighbour registered a complaint, a police official told IANS.

Sudarsan Ojha, 55, returned home from work and asked her daughter Sanjukta to serve him food. Enraged by a delay, he hurled a sharp weapon at her that killed her, police said.

—IANS

The Delhi High Court Wednesday stayed a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackery on two complaints lodged for alleged hate speeches he made against the people of Bihar.

Justice Sunil Gaur granted the stay on the NBW issued by a trial court for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups.

The application for initiating proceedings against Thackery was made by lawyers Sudhir Kumar Ojha from Bihar and Sudhir Kumar from Jharkhand.

Only the parliamentary board of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would decide on the prime ministerial candidate, party president Rajnath Singh said Wednesday as speculation continued over the issue.

“I have already said, it will be decided by the party… who will be chief ministerial candidate, or who would be prime ministerial candidate, it is decided in a proper forum, which is the parliamentary board,” Rajnath Singh said.

“Parliamentary board will only decide on that,” he added.

As speculation mounts over BJP’s Narendra Modi being the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate in the next general election, a senior Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader has said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is the best man for the job.

“There are several names doing the rounds for the post of PM. But Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is best among them,” JD-U leader Hari Kishore Singh told IANS.

The JD-U is the second-largest party in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).