Month: January 2013

Pakistan troops Sunday violated the bilateral ceasefire in Uri sector of the Line of Control (LOC) in the Kashmir Valley, defence sources here said.

“Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked mortar shelling at our positions in Hajipeer area of Uri sector on the LOC. Our troops responded with light weapons, following which the Pakistan shelling stopped,” a defence spokesman told IANS in Srinagar.

“Some residential houses close to the LOC sustained damage in the shelling although no loss of life has been reported so far,” said the spokesman.

Training his guns at people from Bihar again, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray blamed them for rising incidents of rapes in the country. Addressing a rally in Mumbai, Raj Thackeray said that while everyone is talking about the Delhi gangrape, nobody is asking where these men came from.

“Everyone is merely talking about the rape. No one is asking who did this. So many cases are slapped against me (for speaking against Biharis) but no one is talking about the fact that all these rapists are from Bihar,” he said.

At least two people have perished in a fire at a petrol (motor spirit) tank of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in Hazira in Gujarat, an official said Sunday.

A team of senior officials, who went for preliminary inspection near the tank farm area, found two unidentified bodies, said N. Srikumar, IOC executive director.

Preliminary reports indicated these could be contract workers, he said.

The fire, which raged on for nearly 18 hours at the company’s bulk storage terminal in Hazira in south Gujarat, has been brought under control now, he said.

The father of the 23-year-old gang-rape victim wants her daughter’s name to be made public so that she could be an inspiration to other victims of sexual assault.

Her father Badri Singh Pandey has given the permission to reveal her name: Jyoti Singh Pandey.

“I am proud of her. Revealing her name will give courage to other women who have survived these attacks. They will find strength from my daughter.”

Badri along with his family has been living in his ancestral village of Billia in Uttar Pradesh ever since the gruesome incident.

Govt. of A.P. has decided to enhance stamp duty on registration of lands with effect from 1st April 2013.

Mr. Thirumurthulu, Minister for Registration and Stamps, informed the pressmen that Govt. is actively considering to enhance the rates of stamp duty on registration of lands.

Despite the provision for the enhancement of stamp duty every two years in rural areas and every year in urban areas, Govt. Didn’t enhance land values since 2011.

General Secretary of Anjuman-e-Siyanath-Wakf of A.P., Mr. Mohammed Aqueel, Advocate told that the participation of Central Minister of Minorities Affairs, Mr. K.Rahman Khan is expected in the Minorities Convention, which is being held in Hyderabad today.

On receiving the information, the general Secretary of the Association informed

Chairman of A.P. Urdu Council, Mr. Syed Mujtaba Abedi, Mr. Muneer Quadri, General Secretary of A.P. Congress Party and Mr. Quamer Jeelani welcomed the Telugu Conference and said that the efforts that are being made by Mr. Mohammed Ali Shabbeer, former Minister of Minorities Welfare Govt., of A.P are laudable. They also appreciated the consent given by Mr. N.Kiran Kumar Reddy for holding this conference.

They congratulated Mr. Shabbee,r Mr. Jaber Patel, Mr. Ateeq Qurram and Mr Javeed Ahmed for their efforts for conducting this conference.

—Siasat News

C.M. of A.P. Mr. N.Kiran Kumar Reddy has issued orders to Finance Dept. for releasing one thousand crore rupees to fulfill the promises made and assurances given during his Indiramma Bata Programmes.

In addition to it, C.M. has also instructed his officials to complete the works for which assurances have been given to people on various occasions.

A free medical and cancer awareness camp will be organized on Sunday, 6th January 2013 from 9 am to 4 p.m. at Sana Garden Function Hall, Sardar Mahal, Charminar. Patients would be checked and diagnosed by experts and would be given medical advice. The free medical camp is being organised by Minorities Development Forum in collaboration with Siasat daily and American Oncology Institute.

Bollywood actor Salman Khan has denied reports of ‘feud’ between him and Shahrukh Khan, saying there is no groupism at all in the film industry.

“There is no groupism at all… I do my own work. I don’t think there is any groupism. I don’t follow anyone’s life.

“If anyone comes to talk or meet me, I will talk to them or meet them nicely. I don’t care who is whose friend and all. It doesn’t matter to me at all,” Salman said.

A spat between Shahrukh and the ‘Dabangg’ star a few years ago set the tongues wagging on a growing chasm between the two top guns.

A fit-again India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat in the dead third rubber against Pakistan at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Sunday.

India made two changes with Virender Sehwag and Ashok Dinda making way for Ajinkya Rahane and green horn Shami Ahmed.

Pakistan made one change: Umar Akmal replaced Azhar Ali.

Dhoni was doubtful for the match with a sore back but recovered in time.

Pakistan have already won the series 2-0.

A policeman should be suspended immediately if he refuses to register a complaint, Union Home Secretary RK Singh has suggested.

“There should not be any hesitation in suspending any policeman who refuses to register a complaint. That is in law. Not registering any complaint is violation of law,” he said.

According to Singh, people face ordeal in every step while going to a police station for registering any case as well as trying to know the status of their complaint.

Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh will launch Aadhar-based direct cash transfer pilot project in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh today.

Under the scheme, monthly pension of beneficiaries will be directly credited into their accounts.

3,99,772 pensioners out of total of 4,44,640 pensioners have got Aadhar-based unique identification number to receive their monthly pension through the ”direct benefit transfer” scheme.

Every month pension will be directly transferred into their bank accounts”, an official release said.

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has formally inaugurated an International Buddhist Convention in Patna.

Apart from Tibetan monks, Buddhists of other sects, spiritual leaders and devotees of various faiths congregated at the venue yesterday.

Among those who attended the inaugural function of the three-day event were Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and also the Prime Minister of Tibetan government-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay.

A woman allegedly committed suicide by jumping into a river along with her two children at Chinnavalasa village in Tallaravumandal of East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh today, police said.

The woman and her children jumped into Godavari river that flows through the village, police said adding that the incident took place this evening.

Police have launched a search to recover their bodies. “We are conducting an enquiry into the incident. The reason behind the suicide was not yet known,” they said.

No further details are available with the police so far.

–PTI

After the Independence of India and cessation of erstwhile Hyderabad State, the Muslims were afraid of demanding their legitimate rights. The status of the Muslims who joined the mainstream politics was such that they were contented with was given to them.

But after 1990’s, the Muslims of India are charged with a new type of energy and courage. The Muslims have also learnt many things from the struggles made by other communities who fought for their rights. They also started to raise their voice for fighting the rights of their own community, the Muslims.

The teenaged girl, who was set on fire by a elderly stalker at Loharra village in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh on December 31, died on Saturday at Aligarh Medical College here.

The girl, who suffered nearly 90 per cent burns, was rushed to the District Hospital and later she was referred to Aligarh Medical College for better treatment.

Mourning the death, the girl’s father said that the police had not taken action against the culprit who had used his influence to harass his daughter.

Aiming to give soft skills to its cabin crew and front line commercial staff, the Air India Express (AIE) today commenced a two-day workshop.

As part of the workshop, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, K C Venugopal, will interact with those participating in the training tomorrow. Well known writer, K Sehtu Madhavan, who is also National Book Trust chairman, will also be addressing the staff, AIE sources said.

–PTI

Social media sites such as face book, twitter and YouTube have become the most preferred platforms for public especially youth to discuss matters with each other and to express their opinion regarding any information. These days the alleged hate speech of Majlis MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi has become the talk of the town and much has been said in this regard.

After creating controversy with his remarks that rapes were prevalent in India and not in Bharat, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that men and women are bound by a contract according to which a women’s duty is to take care of the household chores while the husband’s duty is to earn for the house and protect his wife.

In a speech in Indore, Bhagwat said that a husband and a wife are “bound by a social contract” where the wife has to take care of the household chores and the husband’s duty is to earn for the house and protect his wife.

Actor Arjun Rampal says his LAP nightclub in Delhi’s Hotel Samrat is losing money following restrictions on their functioning in the wake of the gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman in the capital and feels “shutting down nightclubs early is not a solution to the growing crimes against women.”

Asked if he is suffering any loss due to the current scenario in Delhi, Arjun told IANS Saturday: “Yes, of course, we are, because what happened is that the minute something like this happens, the first place that people close down early are nightclubs.”

TDP spokesman Mr. M Anand Kumar Goud in a press statement told that Akbaruddin Owaisi has used bad language against Hindus during his visit to Kurnool, Anantapur, Nizamabad and Nirmal (Adilabad).

Mr. Goud asserted that Hindus and Muslims live like brothers across the country. Police has not taken any action against Akbaruddin Owaisi’s provocative speech till date.

Some people in Congress are working like agents. He gave the example of former minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir, Sirajuddin, Mukesh Goud and others. Government should immediately take action against Akbar Owaisi, he said.

Two men have been sent to jail for repeatedly gang-raping a minor with the court asking the city police chief to ensure that the perpetrators of sexual crimes against children be booked in future under a newly-enacted stringent law on such offences.

The court asked the Delhi police commissioner to book such offenders under the newly enacted special law, namely the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO), which came into force from November 14, 2012 and aims to protect minor (below the age of 18 years) from offences of sexual assault, harassment and pornography.

Pakistani troops on Sunday violated ceasefire by firing mortar shells towards Indian Army posts in Uri sector near the Line of Control.

“They (Pakistan army) started firing mortar shells towards our posts at Churunda village in Uri sector around 3.15 am,” an Army spokesman said.

He said some of the shells landed close to civilian habitation but there was no damage done.

The spokesman said the Army retaliated the Pakistani shelling briefly after which there has been quiet from both sides.

–PTI

President Bashar al-Assad will reportedly address the nation briefing about the recent developments on Sunday, as per state news.

On Saturday, rebels continued its attack on Taftanaz air base and claim to be close to overrunning a regime helicopter base even as the head of the base was killed by the rebels, as per CNN report. Taftanaz air base is a key air force location and is used by the Syrian government to launch air attacks.