Month: March 2013

Now, Germany delinks human rights issues with Modi’s image

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Days after the European Union ended its decade-old boycott of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Germany has now sought to make distinction between human rights issues and image of the BJP leader, saying both cannot be linked.

“The question whether we talk to Mr Modi or not has nothing to do with our position on human rights or rights of women. We don’t want to continue that debate,” German Ambassador Michael Steiner said on Wednesday.

Vatican closes Sistine Chapel ahead of papal conclave

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The Vatican has announced it was closing the Sistine Chapel to visitors until further notice, ahead of a conclave to elect Pope Benedict’s successor.

In a message on its website, the Vatican Museums said it would still be possible to visit the complex but the renaissance Sistine Chapel, the Borgia Apartment and the modern religious art collection would be off-limits to tourists.

The Sistine Chapel is renowned for Michelangelo’s famous frescoed ceilings and his apocalyptic Last Judgment.

Italy graft probe targets two ex-senators

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Italian prosecutors are investigating two former senators who switched to then prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s coalition in December 2010 and backed his government in a key confidence vote.

Domenico Scilipoti and Antonio Razzi, former members of the centre-left Italy of Values party, are suspected of corruption, prosecutors said.

Both politicans deny any wrondoing in the case.

The case was opened after complaints by party founder and former graft-busting magistrate Antonio di Pietro.

Solzhenitsyn exhibit to open in small US town

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A small town in the US state of Vermont has voted to create a permanent exhibit to its most famous resident, Russian writer and Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who lived there for 17 years after his expulsion from the Soviet Union.

“We hope to introduce people who may not know much about Mr. Solzhenitsyn to what his works were about, what his philosophy and achievements were, including the very rich history he had of both adversity and productive writing,” said Rich Svec, town manager of Cavendish, Vermont.

Jupiter moon lander project to get first funding in 2014

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Russia’s Jupiter research project, which includes a lander mission to its moon Ganymede, will receive its first funding next year, a space agency official said.

“The project has been included in the Federal Space Programme until 2015; next year, first funding for the project will be supplied, though so far it is not very large,” said Viktor Voron, aide to the chief of the federal space agency Roscosmos.

Navy chopper crashes off Vishakhapatnam; 2 missing

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A Chetak helicopter belonging to the Indian Navy crashed off the Vishakhapatnam harbour on Tuesday evening.

Reports said the chopper had four crew members, two of which have been rescued and an operation is underway to trace the missing two.

The incident took place around 16 kilometres from the coast.

The Chetak helicopter crashed at around 1500 hours during a routine training sortie, Navy officials said.

Navy has pressed into service its helicopters and ships to search for the missing personnel, they said.

Hezbollah condemns Israeli desecration of Quran

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Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah has strongly condemned the desecration of the Muslims holy book Quran by Israeli forces at al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In a Monday statement, Hezbollah called on all Muslim nations to take a harsh stance against the insulting move that drew widespread condemnation.

The group asked Muslim countries not to remain silent in the face of such sacrilegious acts. The Arab League also censured the desecration of Qur’an by Israeli forces.

International seminar on Muslim women at MANUU

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Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Centre for Social Exclusion & Inclusive Policy in collaboration with ICSSR is organizing a 3-day International Conference on “Status of Muslim Women in Indian Sub-Continent” on 6th – 8th March 2013. The inaugural programme will be held on 6th March 2013 at 10:30 a.m. at Library Auditorium, MANUU Campus, Gachibowli.

Russian military cuts female staff by two-thirds

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Russia’s armed forces have cut around two-thirds of their women in uniform over the past five years, a military official said.

“Compared to 2007, the number of servicewomen (officers and warrant officers) has shrunk from over 30,000 to a little over 11,000 today, including about 4,300 officers – both junior and senior ones,” said Yelena Stepanova, a lieutenant-colonel and department chief with an armed forces sociological research centre.

The move is part of a broader process of personnel cuts across the armed forces in the past few years, and is not a selective policy, she said.

Soviet soldier, missing for 33 years, found in Afghanistan

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Sheikh Abdulla, an elderly-looking, impoverished widower working as a traditional healer in Afghanistan, has been found to be a Soviet soldier who went missing during a nine-year-long war that began when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979.

The man with a wispy beard is leading a semi-nomadic life with a local clan in Shindand district.

His real name is Bakhretdin Khakimov, an ethnic Uzbek.

’12-year-old Indian girl has higher IQ than Einstein’

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A 12-year-old Indian-origin girl in UK has stunned everyone after she scored an incredible 162 on her IQ test – even higher than Einstein and Stephen Hawking.

Neha Ramu, daughter of an Indian doctor couple, achieved a score of 162 on a Mensa IQ test – the highest score possible for her age.

The score puts the tween in the top one per cent of brightest people in the UK and means she is more intelligent than physicist Hawking, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and scientist Albert Einstein, who are all thought to have an IQ of 160.

US to honour Delhi gang-rape victim

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The 23-year-old Delhi gang-rape victim will be posthumously honoured by the US with the prestigious International Women of Courage Award for inspiring people to fight against gender-based violence.

The award will be presented posthumously by US First Lady Michelle Obama and the Secretary of State John Kerry on March 8, which is celebrated as International Women’s Day, an official announcement said.

Woman having child through surrogacy entitled for maternity leave: HC

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In a significant order, the Madras High Court has held that a woman who had a child through surrogacy is entitled for maternity leave.

The ruling was given by Justice K Chandru while allowing a petition by a woman employee of the Chennai Port Trust (CPT) seeking to quash an order of the management rejecting her plea for maternity leave in 2011.

“This court do not find anything immoral and unethical about the petitioner having obtained a child through surrogate arrangement,” the judge said in his order.

Police intervention claimed Mudassir’s life

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The members of the committee formed to get acquainted with the facts regarding the death of Kashmiri student in EFLU reached the university and met the concerned professors. Later activists associated with various social organizations expressed grief and sorrow over Mudassir Kamran’s death and held EFLU administration responsible for adopting non serious attitude towards the students.

Chinese military buildup cause of concern: US commander

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Chinese military build up is a cause of concern for the countries in the region, a top American commander said on Tuesday after China announced a 10 per cent increase in its defence budget.

“China’s intensive efforts to build, test, and field new aircraft, ships, weapons and supporting systems are of increasing concern to the region,” Admiral Sameul J Locklear, commander of the US pacific Command said during a Congressional hearing.

Shruti Hassan pledges her support to Earth Hour 2013

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Tollywood celebrity Shruti Hassan has joined hands with WWF-India to pledge her support to the Earth Hour – WWF’s global campaign to raise awareness and inspire individual action on climate change. She will be a part of Earth Hour- now the largest global environmental movement that enables individuals, organizations, governments and groups to show support for policies and practice that balance development and environmental concerns.

The message of Earth Hour 2013 is to make the switch to renewable energy. Running in its fifth year, this time the Earth Hour campaign calls for:

Ejaz Ahmed Mirza released on bail

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A terror suspect, who allegedly conspired to kill prominent politicians and journalists in three states, was released on Tuesday night after a special court granted statutory bail since the NIA failed to file chargesheet against him.

“Ejaz Ahmed Mirza, working in DRDO as scientist, was released from Parapanaagrahara Central Prison here around 9 pm after the NIA court here granted statutory bail since the NIA failed to file chargesheet against him,” Mohammed Sultan Beary, advocate representing the accused, said.

Tharoor says Wharton should have heard Modi after inviting him

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Striking a different note from Congress, Union Minister Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday disapproved of Wharton cancelling invite to Narendra Modi, saying the institution had a duty to hear the Gujarat Chief Minister after inviting him.

Tharoor, however, caveated his response by saying that he was not speaking on behalf of his party or the government but expressing his “personal view” when pointed out that Congress leaders have been saying otherwise about the incident.

Pranab refuses to comment on Zia snub

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On Board Air India One: President Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday declined to comment on the apparent snub by Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia, who called off her scheduled meeting with him during his three-day state visit to Bangladesh.

“The FS (Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai has already spoken on it. I have nothing more to add,” he told reporters in reply to a query on what he though about Zia calling off the meeting.

A democratic, secular Bangladesh in India’s interest: President

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On Board Air India One: President Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday said a “democratic, secular and progressive” Bangladesh was in India’s interest and India had conveyed the need to maintain communal peace and harmony at a time the neighbouring country is rocked by clashes that has seen over 70 deaths.

“A democratic, secular and progressive Bangladesh is clearly in India’s interest,” the president said in a statement on his way back from his three-day maiden visit to Bangladesh.

Sena opposes Pak PM’s proposed visit

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Shiv Sena today strongly opposed the upcoming visit of Pakistan Prime Minister Parvez Ashraf to India, saying he should be allowed here only if he gets the severed head of the Indian soldier killed on the Line of Control (LoC) in January. The government “should not roll out the red carpet for the Pakistani Prime Minister till he gets back the severed head of the Indian soldier killed on the LoC,” senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said here. He said all political parties should oppose the visit of Ashraf to India.

You start questioning yourself when you are losing: Dhoni

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On a high after two consecutive Test wins, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today admitted that he had started questioning himself and was under a lot of pressure when the team was on a losing spree against England and Australia recently. “It becomes tough. You start questioning yourself. That’s the reason all of us are human beings and the only ones who say that they don’t get bothered (by defeats) are the ones who lie,” Dhoni told reporters at the post-match media conference after winning the second Test against Australia. “If you go through a tough situation, it’s bound to happen.

Katju’s views on India, Pak only partly correct:RSS ideologue

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A leading RSS ideologue today backed Press Council of India Chairman Justice Markandey Katju’s reported observation that “Pakistan is an artificial nation and a failed state” but said it was difficult to accept his entire views on the subject made during a lecture here. “Justice Katju’s remark that Pakistan is an artificial nation and a failed state is quite evident from the happenings in Pakistan and Bangladesh,” according to P Parameswaran, author and director of the RSS intellectual and cultural forum Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram.

John Abraham too busy with films, has no time for marriage

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Actor John Abraham says various film projects are keeping him so busy that he has no time to get married. “I would like to get married but I don’t know when it will happen. I am busy with projects. I have ‘Shootout At Wadala’ and other two projects. This year I am busy… Packed with work,” John told reporters here. John, 40, will be seen playing a Mumbai gangster of the 80s Manya Surve in Sanjay Gupta’s ‘Shootout at Wadala’. He will play an intelligence officer in his next home production film ‘Madras Cafe’ and then he will be seen in Karan Johar’s ‘Dostana 2’.

Dino Morea meets Mumbai Mayor over fitness centre plan

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Bollywood actor Dino Morea today met Mayor Sunil Prabhu in connection with his plans to start fitness centres in the metropolis. Morea met Prabhu at the BMC headquarters and proposed to start 100 fitness centres on the lands of the civic body, a civic official said. “We were impressed by the proposal submitted by Morea and submitted it to BMC commissioner Sitaram Kunte for consideration,” Prabhu said. He said advertisements will not be allowed on these centres and their maintenance work will be handled by the actor and his team.