Month: May 2013

If bowler was fixed, what was batsman doing: Court

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“If the bowler was fixed, what was the batsman doing?” the query was posed by a Delhi court to the investigators today. The court said it was posing this query as it wanted to know if the Delhi Police was probing the role of any batsman in the IPL spot-fixing case.

“If the bowler was fixed, what was the batsman doing? How come the bowler was giving 13 runs and batsman also made that many runs? What if he could not make that many runs?

“Who was the batsman when Ankeet Chavan was bowling? There must have been something under his control also, after all, he has made runs.

Sharif to announce populist measures in his first speech as PM

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PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif is expected to announce some populist measures, including steps to reduce power outages, in his first address after taking oath as Pakistan’s Prime Minister on 5 June.

As a first step, the new government would end “unannounced” power cuts and take other steps to tackle the energy crisis, sources in the PML-N said.

The issues to be taken up in Sharif’s speech were discussed at a meeting of senior PML-N leaders and energy experts that was held in Lahore on Wednesday.

Britain justifies engaging Modi

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The UK’S interests in Gujarat were best served by engaging with the elected leadership there, the British High Commissioner to India James Bevan here said today while clarifying his country’s decision to end a decade-long boycott of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

In his first ‘twitter interaction’, Bevan also said “it is the views” of Indian voters that count when asked how the UK views Modi and his role at the national level.

Ignoring Waqf Tribunal stay, rituals begin at Idgah site

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Ignoring a stay order from Madhya Pradesh State Waqf Tribunal, some saffron groups are performing rituals at an Idgah site in adjoining Raisen district.

A ‘yagya’ (fire ritual) is taking place since yesterday at the Old Waqf Idgah land at Mandideep.

The Idgah management, under the state Waqf Board, had recently moved the Tribunal against the local administration’s order granting permission to Hindu organisations to perform rituals on the land from May 29 to June 6.

AP power companies to buy additional 300 MW from tomorrow

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AP power utilities are going to purchase additional 300 MW power from tomorrow to overcome shortfall.

The buying will be through a “short-term power purchase” besides getting optimum power from APGENCO and Central generating stations, a press statement from the Energy Coordination Cell said today.

“These short-term purchases are being carried out to minimise the inconvenience to the consumers in view of the prevailing shortage of power which is primarily due to inadequate supply of natural gas to the state,” the release said.

Spotfixing money allegedly paid to Sreesanth recovered

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Delhi Police today claimed to have recovered from Mumbai a part of the money allegedly paid for spot-fixing to Sreesanth, who the cops claimed was helped in hiding it by an event manager aspiring to become the cricketer’s agent.

Police sources also claimed that Sreesanth spent around Rs 7.41 lakh, including payment of Rs four lakh through credit card, within days in Jaipur and Mumbai before his arrest.

Congress MP, MLA lock horns over Vizag LS seat

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An MP and an MLA of the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh eyeing a Lok Sabha ticket for the Visakhapatnam constituency have started crossing swords with the former even threatening to file a defamation suit for Rs 5 crore over certain remarks made by the MLA.

T Subbarami Reddy, currently a member of Rajya Sabha, triggered the war by announcing that he would contest the Lok Sabha election from Visakhapatnam constituency that he had represented in the 90s.

Zaheda was insecure because of Masood, claims witness

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A prosecution witness in the RTI activist Shehla Masood murder case told the court here today that the main accused, Zaheda Parvez, had become “possessive” about BJP MLA Dhruvnarayan Singh and resented Masood’s friendship with him.

Deposing before the special CBI court here, Sanjay Gupta, a Bhopal-based industrialist and the BJP MLA’s friend, said that Zaheda always suspected the women who came in contact with Dhruvnarayan.

Amitabh Bachchan and Rituparno Ghosh were to do a film

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Actor Amitabh Bachchan said that he was shocked by the demise of filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh and claimed they were to do a film together.

“I have no words for the grief which I am feeling today. The country has lost a great artist,” Bachchan told reporters here at an event.

Ghosh directed Bachchan in his first English language film ‘The Last Lear’.

“We had spoken on the phone a few days back about a film which we wanted to make together,” he said.

The 12-time national award winning filmmaker passed away following a cardiac arrest at his residence in Kolkata today morning.

US accuses Iran of surge in ‘terrorism’

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The United States today accused Iran of sponsoring “terrorism” at a level unseen in decades and said that the separate threat from Al-Qaeda has been significantly degraded.

In an annual report to Congress, the State Department kept its perennial designation of four countries — Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria — as “state sponsors of terrorism” which carries a raft of stiff sanctions.

US puts sanctions on top aide of Iran’s ayatollah

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The US has issued sanctions against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s deputy chief of staff and over 50 other Iranian government officials for alleged human rights abuses, while making it easier for Americans to export advanced communications equipment to Iranian civilians.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki says the US wants to help Iranians exercise freedom of expression. It accuses Iran of blocking Internet and communications access to silence dissent ahead of its June 14 presidential election.

Israel to build 300 units in Jewish settlement

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Israel’s Housing Ministry said today it has given the final go-ahead for the construction of 300 new homes in a Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem, complicating the mission of US Secretary of State John Kerry to renew Mideast peace talks.

The announcement came less than a week after Kerry urged Israel to avoid “provocative” actions during a visit to the region. A US State Department spokeswoman described the move as “counterproductive.”

Palestinian officials immediately accused Israel of undermining the US mediation efforts.

FBI intercepts ricin-laced letter sent to Obama

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A letter laced with poisonous substance ricin, sent to US President Barack Obama, has been intercepted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the secret service agency confirmed.

The letter addressed to US President Barack Obama was intercepted by the FBI, before it could reach its destination, the agency said yesterday.

The FBI has now taken a lead into the investigation as similar letters were sent to the New York Mayor, Michele Bloomberg.

Indian embassy in Saudi to process 12,000 more exit papers

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The verification and delivery process for a third batch of 12,000 applications for Emergency Certificates will start at India’s Embassy in Riyadh from Monday, allowing its citizens to leave Saudi Arabia amid concerns over a new labour policy in the Gulf Kingdom.

In two earlier phases, the embassy had issued the one-time exit pass to more than 24,000 Indian workers who want to leave Saudi Arabia for good, taking advantage of the 3-month grace period announced by the Saudi King.

Myanmar Muslims seek shelter in monastery

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More than a 1,000 Muslims who fled Myanmar’s latest bout of sectarian violence have sought shelter in a Buddhist monastery guarded by army soldiers in Lashio.

The army transported Muslim families by the truckload on Thursday out of a neighbourhood in the northeastern city where overturned cars and motorcycles that had been charred a day earlier left black scars on the red earth.

UN condemns two-child rule for Myanmar Muslim towns

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The United Nations on Thursday called on Myanmar authorities to end a ban on families having more than two children in two Muslim-majority townships in a troubled state.

UN deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said that pressing the policy in Rakhine state, where there have been widespread clashes between Buddhists and Muslims, would infringe “fundamental human rights”.

Rakhine authorities say the two-child rule has been reaffirmed in two townships in the state where most people are Rohingya Muslims. The rule was first imposed by Myanmar’s military junta.

Assad says Syria received Russian missile shipment: Lebanese media

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Syria has received the first shipment of a sophisticated air defence system from Russia, President Bashar al-Assad was quoted as saying, sending a signal of military strength days before an EU arms embargo on the country lapses.

Russia had promised delivery of the S-300 missile system to the Syrian government despite Western objections, saying the move would help stabilise the regional balance at a time of insurgency in Syria waged by Western-backed rebels.

Cabinet rank to Chairman Minorities Commission

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Govt. of AP has decided to give cabinet rank to the newly appointed Chairman of State Minorities Commission. He will get powers and privelages on a par with a cabinet Minister. Govt. informed about the situation to General Administration Department. The allotment of a separate Chamber for the Chairman of Minorities Commission in secretariat is in progress.

Congress should stop ‘misusing’ constitutional institutions: Modi

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Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said Congress should stop “misusing” constitutional institutions such as CBI.

“Congress should see the clear writing on the wall. You will not succeed in capturing the country by misusing CBI. Stop misusing constitutional institutions like CBI,” Modi said at a function, where a large group of Youth Congress and NSUI workers joined BJP.

“Today people have lost faith in Delhi….In coming days we have by-elections in the state and next year there will be general elections. Congress will pay the price for its misdeeds then,” he said.

First look of `Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Again` unveiled

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The first trailer of Balaji Motion Picture’s awaited movie, ‘One Upon A Time In Mumbaai Again’, was released in dingy by-lanes of a Mumbai chawl.

Lead actors Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha and Imran Khan made an interesting entry to the event.

Kumar entered in a splashing Vintage Car, while Khan came on a bike to woo the locals.

Speaking on the occasion, the director of the movie, Milan Luthria said that the film is quite different from its prequel and is a romantic trail.

Vidya, Emraan launch ‘Lazy Lad’ song

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Actress Vidya Balan whose look in the film “Ghanchakkar” is a fashion disaster and Emraan Hashmi who is playing a con man who is lazy in the film Thursday launched the song “Lazy Lad” in the look of their character.

“Vidya is crazy and Emraan is lazy in the film. This song is a tribute to all the husbands and boyfriends and this song is part of the film,” director of the film Rajkumar Gupta told reporters during the launch of “Lazy Lad” song.

Iraq violence: Baghdad bomb attacks leave 25 dead

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A series of bombs battered Shi’ite and Sunni Muslim neighborhoods across Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 25 people in the worst wave of sectarian violence since civil war five years ago.

The bloodletting reflects increasing conflict between Iraq’s majority Shi’ite leadership and the Sunni minority, many of whom feel unfairly marginalized since the 2003 fall of strongman Saddam Hussein, a Sunni.

One held for net-banking fraud in Gurgaon

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A man from Delhi was arrested here Thursday for illegally withdrawing Rs.1 lakh from an account through net-banking, police said.

“We have arrested Vijay Sahni, a resident of Delhi’s Najafgarh from his house,” said Suresh Kumar, chief of cyber cell.

Two more suspects were to be arrested, he said.

Sugato Debgupta, a resident of Malibu town here, had complained that someone withdrew Rs.1 lakh from his account at HDFC bank through net-banking.

Eight killed in Syrian attacks

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At least eight people were killed Thursday in separate explosions and mortar attacks in Syria, as the country’s army regained control over three towns in the strategic city of al-Qussair, Xinhua reported.

One man was killed when a mortar shell struck Damascus’ suburb of Harasta, reported local media, adding that two men were killed when two explosive devices went off in Busra al- Harir town in Daraa province.

Iran condemns lifting of embargo for Syrian rebels

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Iran has strongly condemned the European Union’s (EU) recent decision to lift its arms embargo against the Syrian rebels.

Lifting of the arms embargo on “foreign-sponsored Syrian militants” is yet another proof of the bloc’s double standards, reported Xinhua citing Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi Thursday.

The remarks were made on the sidelines of an international conference on Syria Wednesday.