Month: March 2013

Wakf top brass come under fire for diversion of govt funds

by

Top officials of AP State Wakf Board (APSWB) on Thursday came under fire for alleged diversion of government funds for the benefit of private persons.

Board members, at a meeting on Thursday, alleged APSWB chairman Syed Ghulam Afzal Biyabani threw rules to the wind and sanctioned around Rs 20 lakh to deputy secretaries MA Ghaffar and Ahmed Mohiuddin for construction of their houses from the Rs 10 crore Revolving Fund (RF), a grant-in-aid the state government releases to the Wakf Board.

240,000 Pakistani children miss polio vaccinations due to security concerns: UN

by

Some 240,000 children in Pakistan have missed UN-sponsored polio vaccinations due to security concerns in the country’s tribal regions, a top WHO official has said.

Dr. Nima Saeed Abid, the WHO chief in Pakistan, said health workers have not been able to immunize children in the North and South Waziristan regions, which are the strongholds for Taliban militants, since July 2012.

Ali Zafar’s visa to India not denied, says publicist

by

Pakistani singer-turned-actor Ali Zafar’s publicist has rejected claims that the star was denied the visa to India, it has been claimed.

When Zafar missed a promotional event in India for his upcoming movie Chashme Baddoor, the Hindustan Times reported that his visa had been turned down.

But an insider from the production team informed the Indian daily that Zafar was denied the visa for unknown reasons.

However, his publicist, Ammara Hikmat, denied the rumours and said Zafar will be heading to India soon, the Express Tribune reports.

Newly-married woman killed over dowry

by

A 20-year-old newly married woman was allegedly killed over dowry by her husband and in-laws in Rasra area, police said here today.

Khushboo died due to burn injuries in Sawarupur village yesterday. Her father Raghvendra has alleged that she was killed over dowry, they said.

Police said that Khushboo’s husband Deepak, father-in-law Shivnath and mother-in-law Dharmawati have been arrested this morning.

–_PTI

Working with family is always fun: Bobby Deol

by

Bollywood actor Bobby Deol, busy promoting his forthcoming film, Sangeeth Sivan’s comedy drama “Yamla Pagla Deewana 2” (YPD) – a sequel to the original, says working with father Dharmendra gives him a chance to be friends with him.

“It’s always fun working with the family. It gives me a chance to be friends with dad. Otherwise, we share a typical father-son relationship. Since it’s a comedy film, we get a chance to make fun of each other, crack jokes on the set or have a friendly conversation,” Bobby told IANS.

I don’t want to be known for bad things: Sunny Deol

by

At a time when whatever a star does becomes a headline, actor Sunny Deol says ‘Deols’ don’t like to sell themselves and would rather be known for their work.

While many actors remain in limelight all the time, the Deol family keeps their personal life guarded.

“We like to have dignity and like to stick to what we are. We don’t like to sell ourselves. Today people are not ashamed of revealing or talking about anything. May be that is the culture or trend of the society today but we will not do it ever,” Sunny told PTI in an interview.

Bobby Deol seeks hair stylist

by

Bollywood actor Bobby Deol, who was in the capital city Friday afternoon, looked distracted and proclaimed that he needed a stylist to give him an interesting hairdo. He said he was bored of his hair style.

“I’m kind of bored of my hair. I don’t like curly hair. I want straight hair. I keep looking at them all the time. But I have lost all hopes now,” Bobby said, adding: “But my mom likes it.”

The 46-year-old also insisted that he likes staying fit.

“I am happy with my physique. I like staying fit and fine. I take a healthy diet and work out daily,” he said.

Five killed in bike collision

by

Five persons including a child were killed late Friday night in a head-on collision between two motor bikes, police said.

The accident took place at Bhadoiya village in Mallihabad area of the state capital, when 25-year-old Raju was returning from a relative’s house. He was hit by a speeding bike coming from the opposite side at the Tikrihaar turn.

The impact of the collision was so severe that the bikes became a mangled heap of steel.

US senators closer to immigration deal

by

A bipartisan group of senators is closer to a deal on immigration reform to resolve the problem of 11 million illegal immigrants, including some 260,000 Indians, according to a media report.

The “Gang of Eight”, as the group of four Democratic and four Republican senators negotiating the deal is called, had moved closer to an agreement on a visa programme for future low-skilled workers, Politico, an influential news site focusing on politics reported.

Iraq, Afghan wars will cost US between $4-6 trillion, says Harvard study

by

Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will cost the US between 4-6 trillion dollars in the long term, a study has said.

According to Harvard University scholar Linda Bilmes, this would constrain the government”s budget for decades to come.

Bilmes concluded that the US will face increasing costs to care for an estimated 2.5 million veterans, and to pay down debt incurred by borrowing to pay for the wars.

Kerala gearing up to face influx of expats from Saudi Arabia

by

The Kerala government has geared up its machinery to meet the expected rush of “homecoming” expatriates from Saudi Arabia in the wake of the kingdom’s new labour policy envisaging strengthening localization of jobs.

“Homecoming is a reality and we cannot show any laxity on the issue,” state minister for non-resident Keralities affairs KC Joseph told PTI here on Friday.

Pak supports India’s stand on UN Arms Trade Treaty

by

Pakistan has supported India’s stand on the UN Arms Trade Treaty that would regulate the USD 70 billion conventional arms trade around the world, saying it favours the arms exporting countries and does not protects the interests of importers.

“The treaty may be seen by many as essentially a product of and by the exporters only. It falls short of striking an appropriate balance of interests and obligations among the exporters and importers as well as the affected states,” said Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Masood Khan.

US engineers’ body seeks curb on H-1B visas

by

Claiming that H-1B visas lead to outsourcing of US jobs, an American professional body of engineers has opposed the move of expanding the most popular working visa among IT professionals.

“The H-1B programme shouldn’t be used to facilitate the transfer of high-paying jobs to other countries. If Congress wants a full US economic recovery, it shouldn’t even think about expanding it,” IEEE-USA President Marc Apter said.

Beginning Monday, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services will start accepting
applications for the H-1B visas for the fiscal year 2014 starting October.

Turkish woman jailed for funding Pak terror outfit

by

A Turkish woman was sentenced to five years in jail by a US court on charges of sending money to a terrorist outfit in Pakistan for attacks against American military personnel.

40-year-old Oytun Ayse Mihalik, a lawful permanent resident of the US residing in California, had pleaded guilty last August to one count of providing material support to terrorists.

TABLE MANNERS

by

1. Abu Hurairah (RadiyAllahu Anhu) reported: ‘Messenger of Allah (Sallellahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) never found fault with food. If he had inclination to eating it, he would eat; and if he disliked it, he would leave it.’
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

COMMENTARY:
This Hadith throws light on the Prophet’s excellent manners which ought to be followed by all Muslims. It is a deplorable state of affairs that when we find a dish a bit unsavoury, we lose our temper and create quite a scene in the house. May we follow the excellent example of our Prophet (S.A.W.S.).

SP won’t win more than 4 seats in LS polls: Beni

by

Firing a fresh salvo at Samajwadi Party, Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma has said that Mulayam Singh Yadav’s party will win only four seats in the Lok Sabha polls and there will be a “funeral procession for the party.

Beni, who recently triggered a storm by stating that Yadav allegedly has “terrorist links”, said “Congress will fight all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP and will win 40.

Fasting TDP leaders forced into hospital

by

In a midnight crackdown, Hyderabad police forcibly shifted fasting leaders of the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to a state-run hospital after their condition deteriorated.

Policemen lifted 29 TDP legislators into waiting vehicles and shifted them to Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), where they were forcibly given medical aid.

A police team arrived at the Old MLA Quarters shortly after midnight and shifted the fasting leaders. Police arrested some TDP activists who tried to resist attempts to evict the leaders.

Feroz Khan condemns delay in issuance of total minority budget

by

Pradesh Congress committee spokesman and Greater Hyderabad Congress leader Feroz Khan strongly condemned the delay in issuance of total minority budget and held the officials responsible for this. He maintained that although the government has increased the budget for 2013-14 from Rs. 489 crore to Rs. 1027 crore but it is unfortunate that complete budget for the year 2012-13 has not been released yet.

Mr. Khan regretted that finance department has not released the budget towards scholarship and fee-reimbursement due which students and parents are greatly worried.

Budget released for construction of function hall at Kurnool

by

Government has issued orders to release budget for the construction of function hall at Kurnool district. Principal Secretary Finance Dr. Samba Siva Rao issued GO RT 1178 and sanctioned Rs. 6,25,000 for completion of the remaining works in the construction of function hall. Construction work is already in progress.

A total of Rs. 18575000 had been sanctioned towards construction work during the fiscal year 2012-13 of which Rs. 17250000 have already been released. After the release of Rs. 6,25,000 towards the construction further Rs 7 lakh remain to be released.

Siasat news

Innovative steps needed for cancer treatment – Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

by

Former President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam said that innovative steps should be taken for the treatment of Cancer patients so that indigenous cheaper medicines could be made available to people. He advised the doctors to work on war footings for curing cancer patients. He pointed out that after curing the cancer patients, attention is not paid on resolving their psychological problems.

Non-Cooperation of police is causing inconvenience to public

by

The role of police, their tone and tenor of dealing people is playing a major role in creating a gap between the police and public.

In many cases, after lodging a complaint, citizens have to make rounds of the police stations for seeking redressal. The citizens who already incur financial losses are being further victimized by police.

Anna ready to launch agitation against UPA, calls for mass movement

by

Veteran social activist Anna Hazare, who left for Amritsar to begin a series of public rallies under the banner of ”Janatantra Yatra” to garner people”s support against the Congress-led UPA Government, on Saturday said the country can witness a change only through a mass movement.

“The public needs to be awakened and organised on matters like the Jan Lokpal Bill, Right to Reject. The country can witness a change only through a mass movement,” said Hazare.

Azheruddin advises youths to develop communication skills

by

Former Cricket Captain of India and Congress MP from Muradabad, Mr. Mohammed Azheruddin advised the students to develop their communication skills. He was addressing Bank Card BPO at Paigah Plaza, Basheer Bagh yesterday.

He told the candidates that only those students are successful in outsourcing industry who have excelled in communication skills.