Month: April 2013

Myanmar mosque fire kills 13 Muslim students

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A blaze engulfed a mosque in Myanmar’s Yangon on Tuesday, claiming 13 Muslim students.

At a time when Myanmar is stricken with Buddhist-Muslims violence, there were fears that the blaze could trigger more tension so riots police were deployed around the blaze-hit mosque.

However, the police officials said that the blaze was caused by an electrical short circuit.

Police officer Thet Lwin said the fire was triggered by an overheated inverter “and not due to any criminal activity.”

Kuwait hangs three convicts in first executions since 2007

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Authorities in Kuwait on Monday hanged three convicted murderers in the first executions in the Gulf state since May 2007, the ministry of justice said.

The men, a Pakistani, a Saudi and a stateless Arab, were hanged at the central jail, west of the capital Kuwait City, in front of judicial and security officials, the ministry said.

The Pakistani was convicted of killing a Kuwaiti couple and the Saudi of murdering a compatriot.

The stateless Arab was hanged for killing his wife and five children after claiming he was a long-awaited imam.

Time to play fearless cricket, says Gambhir

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Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday said the defending champions tag would not put any pressure on his team, which would look to play fearless cricket when it takes on Delhi Daredevils in the IPL opener on Wednesday.

“We’ve got the monkey off our back. Now is the time to go out there and play fearless cricket,” Gambhir said.

“Being the defending champions does not add to the pressure, it only gives us some extra confidence. KKR is a very popular team off the cricket field as well.”

Those spreading rumours ‘jealous’ of Narendra Modi, says Vijay Jolly

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Delhi BJP Vice-President Vijay Jolly on Tuesday claimed the meeting of US Congressmen with Narendra Modi was not sponsored and those spreading such rumours were “jealous” of the Gujarat Chief Minister. “The trip hasn’t been sponsored by either BJP or Gujarat government. These rumours are being spread by our opposition parties which are feeling jealous that Modi’s good governance mantra is admired by foreign countries also,” Vijay Jolly, BJP’s Overseas Cell Convenor, said.

NO T until seemaandhra parties buried:KCR

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TRS Chief K Chandrasekhara Rao has said formation of Telangana State would be possible only when Samaikyandhra political parties are buried.

On Tuesday, KCR participated in the meeting of in-charges of Greater Hyderabad Nagarabata program.
Addressing the meeting, KCR has alleged that the Congress, which ruled the State for 34 long years and TDP were the main reason for the prevailing power crisis in the State. He made it clear that the Telangana movement and political lobbying will continue till separate Telangana Sate was achieved.

TPJAC resents renuka’s antii-remarks,demands apology

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Finding fault with Rajya Sabha member Renuka Chowdhary for making controversial remarks on suicides, Telangana Political JAC has demanded her tender an apology immediately.

On Tuesday, TPJAC leaders Prof. Kodandaram, Srinivas Goud and several others met PCC Chief Botcha Satyanarayana at the latter’s residence and lodged a complaint against her.

Speaking to the media later, Prof. Kodandaram said Botcha responded positively on their complaint. He said the JAC has decided to organise protest programs across the Telangana region.

Rains disrupt power supply in many areas in Hyderabad

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Areas across the city reeled under power cuts following rains this evening with some localities even witnessing outages for more than four hours.

Supply of power was affected immediately after rain and thunderstorm in the evening and areas in South, North and East Hyderabad were mainly hit.

“There was over four hour long power cut in our area.

–Agencies

Greyhound, special funding for Maoist-hit areas

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Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh, hit by Maoist movement, will raise specialised forces trained in guerrilla warfare on the lines of the Greyhounds, a special police unit in Andhra Pradesh.

The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs on Tuesday approved the home ministry’s proposal under which the special forces will come up in Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha and funds will be given to create and upgrade infrastructure, weaponry and equipment to combat the Naxal problem.

NIA not to press for death sentence against marines

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The NIA, which has been asked to probe the killing of two Kerala fishermen allegedly by Italian marines, will not press for death sentence against the two accused, honouring an assurance given to Italy by India.

A top Home Ministry official said the National Investigation Agency will not press for death sentence against the marines — Massimiliano Lattore and Salvatore Girone — as per the assurance given by India to Italy.

–Agencies

Power hike protests: AP govt assures relook

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Bowing to intensified protests by TDP and other opposition parties on the issue of power crisis, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy tonight said the power tariff hike would be revisited so that poor sections were not burdened.

Police meanwhile shifted the fasting BJP MLAs — G Kishan Reddy, E Lakshminarayna and Y Srinivasa Reddy — to hospital in view of their health condition. They had launched a hunger strike four days back.

–Agencies

Cricketer nabbed for cheating 5 persons of Rs 38 lakh

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A Gujarat-based cricketer, who was one of the probables of an IPL franchise, was arrested here today for allegedly cheating five local cricketers of Rs 38 lakh by promising them a place in Indian Premier League (IPL) teams, police said.

The Cyber Crime Cell of the Crime Branch arrested Hetarth Gohil, who was one of the probables called by Deccan Chargers team in the Season 3 of IPL.

–Agencies

Businessman robbed of Rs 9.8 lakh at gunpoint

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A local businessman was today robbed of Rs 9.8 lakh by four armed assailants in Raj Nagar District Centre here when he was returning home in his car, police said.

The assailants intercepted the car of Rameshchand Goyal, a local iron dealer, at the busy Hind Chowk and robbed the cash kept in the back of his vehicle, police said.

An FIR has been registered in this regard and a search is on for the accused, they said.

–Agencies

SRK, Katrina, Deepika up the glam quotient at IPL opener

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Clad in a tightly-fitting biker suit and branded glares, Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh Khan kept around 50,000 spectators enthralled with a dance performance to his peppy hits at the glitzy and glamourous inaugural ceremony of the sixth edition of the Indian Premiere League (IPL) here Tuesday.

SRK, as the megastar is affectionately called, made a grand entry to a ‘Don’ track with an American chopper for company promising a ‘great time’ and a ‘party’ as laser beams cut through the arena lit in fluorescent and blue.

Media suffers at IPL opening ceremony

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While the glitzy Indian Premier League (IPL) opening ceremony at the Salt lake stadium Tuesday might have amused the spectators, the media which was relegated to mere audience by the organisers, were a harried lot.

The organisers, who already had barred the participation of photojournalists, ensured the reporters covering the event had a torrid time. Made to sit far away from the stage, and the unruly crowd blocking the giant screens, the journalists barely managed to witness the event.

CBI official commits suicide

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A 43-year-old CBI officer committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan in his official residence here Tuesday evening, police said.

The body of Karan Arya, a deputy superintendent of police, was found hanging inside his house in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) colony in south Delhi’s Vashant Vihar around 4.40 p.m., police said.

“No suicide note was recovered,” said a police officer.

Initial information suggested that he was suffering from depression and was kept under medical observation for a year, said a police officer.

NYPD commissioner intended ‘stop and frisk’ policy to ‘instill fear’ in blacks, Latinos

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New York, Apr 2 (ANI): The commissioner of the New York City police department said the controversial practice of stop, question and frisk was a means to instill fear in young African American and Latino men, a court has heard.

NY State senator Eric Adams, who retired from the NYPD after rising to the rank of captain during a 22-year career, said commissioner Ray Kelly described his views on stop and frisk during a July 2010 meeting in the office of then-governor David Patterson.

Poor sleep could trigger diabetes and obesity

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Washington, April 2 (ANI): Proper sleep patterns are critical for healthy metabolic function, and even mild impairment in our circadian rhythms can lead to serious health consequences, including diabetes and obesity, a new study has warned.

TPJAC resents renuka’s anti-t remarks, demands apology

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Finding fault with Rajya Sabha member Renuka Chowdhary for making controversial remarks on suicides, Telangana Political JAC has demanded her tender an apology immediately.
On Tuesday, TPJAC leaders Prof. Kodandaram, Srinivas Goud and several others met PCC Chief Botcha Satyanarayana at the latter’s residence and lodged a complaint against her.

Dattatreya Among 50 Held At Secretariat

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Several BJP leaders, including former Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya, were arrested when the BJYM attempted to lay siege to the Secretariat, in support of the hunger strike of MLAs on the power problem. Some 50 leaders, including Dattatreya, city BJYM president L Narender Reddy and others were arrested by the police.
The activists tried to raid the Secretariat thrice and police foiled their attempts by arresting them,

Veena Malik says she got hitched on April Fool”s Day!

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Islamabad, Apr. 2 (ANI): Bollywood controversy queen Veena Malik has announced that she is now married. The drama queen posted on micro-blogging website Twitter that she is no longer single, and announced that she got married on Monday evening in a private ceremony with family and friends, reports The Express Tribune. Malik also shared that her husband is an Italian model John Esposito and that he is a “devout Muslim”. Veena”s manager, however, said he was clueless about the news.

Men’s sex chromosome is doomed, says scientist

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Melbourne, Apr. 2 (ANI): The poorly designed Y chromosome, which makes men is degrading rapidly and will disappear, even if humans are still around, an evolutionary geneticist has claimed.

Jenny Graves from Canberra University’s Institute for Applied Ecology, said that the process is likely to happen within the next five million years but could have begun in some isolated groups, the Herald Sun reported.

Graves, who first made the prediction some years ago, has been studying sex-determining genes in Australian animals so as to shed light on human genetics.

Police foil BJP’s bid to protest near Secretariat

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The city police on Tuesday foiled an attempt by the BJP leaders and workers to lay seize to the State Secretariat in protest against the ongoing power crisis.

The BJP workers led by former Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreyya and City BJYM President L Narender Reddy were arrested when they tried to barge into the Secretariat in support of hunger strike by their party MLAs. The protest was carried out in three spells with each being foiled by the police.

CBI files supplementary charge sheet

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The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday filed a supplementary chargesheet in the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy Disproportionate Assets case.

This is the supplementary to the first charge sheet. The 29-page charge sheet has named nine persons as witnesses and has eight documents. It has mentioned Aurobindo Pharma, Hetero Drugs, Trident Companies in it and charged the companies with flouting the norms. (INN)

TDP blames YSR, Kiran for power crisis

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TDP MLA Anumula Revanth Reddy has alleged that the ongoing power crisis in the State was the result of massive corruption by former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and his successor Kiran Kumar Reddy.

Talking to reporters in the Telugu Desam Legislature Party office here on Tuesday, Revanth Reddy said that the TDP Government has proposed to start several power projects and the then Chief Minister N Chandraababu Naidu also initiated several measures for the same. However, he alleged that YSR handedover those projects to private parties by taking kickbacks.