The Andhra Pradesh State Haj Committee organized a Training Programme for the District Trainers hailing from all the districts of the State besides the trainers form the neighbouring districts of the Karnataka at Haj House, Nampally here on Tuesday.
Tokyo’s governor Naoki Inose, who heads the city’s bid for the 2020 Olympics, apologised Tuesday for “inappropriate” comments he made about rival candidate Istanbul.
“I said that Islamic countries fight, it was an inappropriate remark and I want to correct it,” Inose told reporters.
“I apologise. My remarks caused misunderstandings among people from Muslim countries, so I would like to unequivocally apologise,” he added.
Supreme Court today reserved the judgment on the Nimmagadda Prasad bail petition.
Prasad, accused in the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy Disproportionate Assets (DA) case, moved a bail petition in the apex court. After hearing the arguments, the court has reserved the verdict.
Meanwhile, the court posted to Wednesday the CBI petition seeking cancellation of Vijaysai Reddy’s bail. (INN)
Prasanna Kumar Mohanthy was appointed Chief Secretary of the State Government. He succeeds Minni Mathews who will retire today.
The orders appointing P K Mohanthy as CS were issued today and he will take charge on Wednesday. Mohanthy belongs to the 1979 batch and his term will last till February 25. He also served as Municipal Commissioner and Special Officer as well.
Though Minnie Mathews term was over by January this year, she got an extension. Mohanthy is holding the post of Chief Commissioner of Land Administration.
The two-day Sansad yatra of Telangana Joint Action Committee concluded here today with the rally trying to march towards Parliament and police foiling their attempt.
Many political parties expressed solidarity with TJAC and joined them in demanding a separate state of Telangana. When the rally was not allowed to proceed towards Parliament, they shouted slogans against Congress government.
BJP, TRS and other leaders joined them in the two day dharna at Janthar Mantar.
Government Whip Toorpu Jayaprakash Reddy alias Jagga Reddy on Tuesday condemned the bandh call given by Telangana Rashtra Samithi on May 2.
Addressing a press conference at the Congress Legislature Party office here, Jagga Reddy said that the Congress party would ensure that the bandh flops in Telangana region. He accused TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Reddy of exploiting the sentiments of people in the Telangana region. He said the wrong decisions taken by KCR had a bad impact on the economy of the region.
Another breather for cable TV users, the deadline for set top boxes has been extended again.
The High court has extended the deadline for getting set top boxes till June 4. The court directed the cable operators not to pressurize the customers to buy set top boxes in a hurry. The court has first set April 30 as dead line and has now further extended it.
The decision was taken keeping in view the availability of set boxes and the supply and demand situation. (INN)
US President Barack Obama has spent more time playing golf than in meetings that were organised for fixing the American economy, according to statistics revealed on April 30.
The 51-year-old president has spent 474.4 hours in economic meetings or briefings, which is 3.6 percent of his total work time, the Daily Express reported.
In contrast, he has spent 976 hours, since his January 2009 election, on holiday and playing golf.
According to the Government Accountability Institute (GAI), the US leader has played 115 rounds of golf and spent 86 days on vacation during his tenure.
Aamir Khan, along with his nephew Imran Khan, organized a special screening of `Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak` only for the cast and crew of the film, which completed its 25 years, in Mumbai.
“It was really good, we have met after really long. The entire team of QSQT is here, all the actors, cast and crew all those who have contributed to this film are here. So it was really great to watch the film together and we were remembering good old days,” Khan gushed.
The outgoing Pakistan People’s Party-led government put off Sarabjit’s execution for an indefinite period in 2008.
“Just keeping our fingers crossed,” External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid today said about Sarbajit Singh, who is battling for life in a Lahore hospital after a brutal assault last week in a Pakistani jail.
He expressed hope that Sarabjit, who is in a special intensive care unit of Lahore’s Jinnah Hospital, would be able to recover.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said that as of now there was no plans to cancel his visit to Beijing in wake of Chinese incursion in Ladakh.
He, however, appeared to keep his options open saying “one week is a long time in politics”.
“Can I cancel my visit? Government has to decide. There is no such decision and there is no reason we should do that but you know one week is a long time in politics, so lets move forward,” he told reporters outside Parliament.
Describing the current situation in Eastern Ladakh as ‘not one of our (India”s) creation’, Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Tuesday said India remains committed to a peaceful resolution of the situation.
Antony was referring to the presence of Chinese troops 19 kilometers inside India in the Daulat Beg Oldie sector of Ladkah. The Chinese troops have reportedly pitched a five tented camp in the area.
He said steps would be taken through dialogue within the framework of agreements for maintaining peace and tranquility on the borders that separate the two countries.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday alleged that the UPA-II Government is not serious about the Chinese incursions into Indian territory in Ladakh.
Talking to reporters after the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting in New Delhi today, senior leader and spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad asked what kind of steps the government is planning to take through defence and diplomatic channels to resolve the issue.
Prasad”s comment came even as there have been uproarious scenes in Parliament over the issue, leading to proceedings being repeatedly stalled over the past fortnight.
Social activist and former senior IPS officer Kiran Bedi on Tuesday said the entire nation is ”thanking” the Supreme Court after it asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to function independently without consulting its ”political bosses”. “The Supreme Court (SC) today stood up to save our democracy, which is a huge thing. We knew the SC would do this someday. This verdict will save the country from going to the dogs and in turn, will end the bankruptcy. These words that were uttered in the SC was the need of the hour,” Bedi said.
The distraught family of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who was brutally assaulted in a Lahore jail last week, is likely to return home Wednesday after doctors have reportedly indicated that he was “clinically dead”.
Raj Kumar Verka, vice chairman of the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes, said in Amritsar Tuesday that he spoke to Sarabjit’s sister Dalbir Kaur who told him that doctors have told her that Sarabjit was “brain dead”.
There is no proposal to introduce TB drug Bedaquiline in the Indian market, parliament was told Tuesday.
“No application under the Drugs and Cosmetic Rules has been received by the Drug Controller General (of India) for the grant of permission to market the drug,” Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told the Rajya Sabha in reply to a question.
A new drug can only be introduced in the Indian market after due approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).
The government was studying the Supreme Court observation slamming it for interfering in the CBI probe on allocation of coal blocks and would take “appropriate action”, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Tuesday.
“We are studying the Supreme Court observation and we will take appropriate action,” the prime minister told reporters in Parliament House.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said: “I am not familiar with the comments. If the Supreme Court has made adverse remarks then obviously these remarks are not pleasant.”
Signifying a “total breakdown”, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday announced it would not be attending any meetings called by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar or Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath.
Addressing a press conference, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj also attacked Congress president Sonia Gandhi for inciting MPs and ministers to disrupt her speech in the Lok Sabha earlier in the morning.
“It is a situation of total breakdown but the government is responsible not me,” Sushma Swaraj said, adding that the “countdown” for the government’s fall had begun.
Terming the disruption of parliament as “match fixing” between BJP and Congress, the CPI-M Tuesday said the opposition’s demand for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s resignation over the coal allocation issue was meaningless.
“In the garb of PM’s resignation demand, you are allowing the government a free hand to do whatever they want. This is one kind of match-fixing between BJP and the Congress,” Communist party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters here.
“Demanding the resignation is meaningless and it does not happen,” he said.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has nominated middle-order batsman Virat Kohli for the Arjuna Award for 2012.
Former legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar’s name has also been proposed for Dhyanchand Award for his lifetime achievement.
None of India’s top international cricketers was nominated for the prestigious Arjuna Award for their performance during the last season, apparently due to a major communication gap between the sports ministry and the BCCI.
Security forces averted a major tragedy on the outskirts of Jammu and Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar Tuesday by detecting and defusing an improvised explosive device (IED) on the Srinagar-Muzzafarabad highway.
A senior police officer told IANS that a security force patrol detected the IED planted along the highway at Shalteng, around 12 km from city centre Lal Chowk.
Counter-insurgency troops of Rashtriya Rifles defused the IED, averting a major tragedy in the area, the officer said.
Traffic on the highway was halted for several hours.
———–IANS
More than 50 per cent of over 5,000 people, including 1,766 children, who went missing so far this year in the national capital, were women.
The number of women who are yet to be traced is also above the 50 per cent mark.
This was disclosed by Minister of State for Home Mullappally Ramachandran in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday witnessed a massive row between JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav and MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi while discussion was on over the Financial Bill.
Just as Yadav was speaking, an agitated Owaisi objected to some remarks. The JD(U) chief told Owaisi that he never intervenes when other members speak and he expected him (Owaisi) to sit and listen. But Owaisi did not relent, forcing Yadav to call the MIM chief `a useless man’.
US President Barack Obama has spent more time playing golf than in meetings that were organised for fixing the American economy, according to statistics revealed on April 30.
The 51-year-old president has spent 474.4 hours in economic meetings or briefings, which is 3.6 percent of his total work time, the Daily Express reported.
In contrast, he has spent 976 hours, since his January 2009 election, on holiday and playing golf.
According to the Government Accountability Institute (GAI), the US leader has played 115 rounds of golf and spent 86 days on vacation during his tenure.
The Lok Sabha Tuesday passed the Finance Bill for the 2013-14 fiscal with minor amendments but without a debate as the opposition parties walked out of the house protesting against Coalgate.
The bill was passed with 12 minor amendments. The most significant is related to wealth tax on farm land. As per the amended bill, no wealth tax will be imposed on farm land.
In the budget speech, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had proposed to impose 1 percent wealth tax on the value of farm land falling within an eight km radius of urban areas.