More than nine million students packed exam halls across China for the opening day of the country’s university entrance exam today — with attempts to stop cheating even leading to bans on metal bra clasps.
Students in the northeastern province of Jilin were banned from wearing clothing with metal parts and education authorities installed metal detectors in exam centres to clamp down on “wireless cheating devices”, the state-run Global Times reported.
Three topless protesters from feminist protest group Femen were dragged by police from outside the German chancellery today where they were pleading for Angela Merkel to push for the release of their fellow activists jailed in Tunisia.
The demonstration came ahead of Merkel’s meeting in the building with Tunisian Premiere Ali Larayedh. The women chanted “Merkel free Femen” repeatedly before being removed.
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and two leading senators on national security are travelling to the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Congressional aides to Sens. Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence committee, and John McCain, a member of the Armed Services panel, said the lawmakers joined McDonough on the trip.
Two days after a visually challenged girl was allegedly abducted, raped and murdered on the outskirts of Puri town, police today arrested a driver and also claimed to have recovered the vehicle used in the crime.
Banamali Barik, a driver, has been arrested, a senior police official said, adding that a jeep allegedly used in the crime was also seized from his possession.
“The circumstantial evidences indicate it to be a case of rape. The Post mortem report also did not rule out the possibility of rape of the blind girl,” said Superintendent of Police of Puri Anup Sahu.
Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha said here today that she likes imperfection, as “being perfect is boring”.
“I am far away from being perfect. I feel being perfect is boring. Imperfection is something that I like,” Sonakshi told reporters at the music launch of her upcoming film ‘Lootera’.
At the music launch Sonakshi sung a few lines of Amit Trivedi’s composition ‘Sawaar loon’.
However, when asked whether she was keen on taking up singing for movies, Sonakshi said, “I don’t think I will sing. I will remain a bathroom singer.”
The Andhra Pradesh Girl Child Uplift and Empowerment Bill today failed to get the approval of the state cabinet as some ministers raised objections.
The development is viewed as a setback to Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy as the proposed legislation is aimed at giving legal status to the ambitious “Bangaru Talli scheme” announced recently for all-round development of women.
According to sources, the chief minister conceded to the demand for constitution of a Cabinet Sub-Committee to look into the proposed legislation before it is brought before the Legislature.
With BJP stepping up attack on her government on a range of issues, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today accused the opposition party of levelling “baseless allegations” and said people of the city are well aware of the “reality”.
“Those who are levelling baseless allegations are defaming the city of Delhi. They levlled allegations after the Commonwealth Games, which were dismissed by the agencies like CAG and Shanglu committe. They have once again started a similar tirade against the government”, Dikshit said.
It is most unfortunate that the Muslims living in India have been subjected to various atrocities including rape cases but there is no one highlight their cases either in print media or in electronic media. Recently a rape case occurred in New Delhi which created a furor in the entire country. Ms. Sonia Gandhi, Dr. Manmohan Singh and Mr. Sushil Kumar Shinde showed their concerned. A special commission was constituted and a bill was passed to punish the culprits in such cases.
Libya has appealed the International Criminal Court’s order that a son and one-time heir apparent of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi be tried in The Hague.
Today’s appeal asks the court to reverse its decision that Seif al-Islam Gaddafi should be tried at the ICC and suspend its order that Libya hand over Seif al-Islam, who is being held by a militia in the Libyan town of Zintan.
Libya says it will provide reasons for its appeal within three weeks.
Actor Ranveer Singh today said he was in two minds over taking up the role in Vikramaditya Motwane’s upcoming period romance drama ‘Lootera’ as he felt he could not do justice to the character.
‘Lootera’ (robber), set in 1950s Bengal, features Ranveer as an intense lover, the character he has not explored so far, romancing Sonakshi Sinha.
All that Payal Khanra, a student suffering from ‘progressive myopathy’ had ever wanted, was to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Her long-cherished dreams was realised today.
Payel, a second year Mathematics (Hons) student of Harimohan Ghosh College in Garden Reach area was present at a function, where Banerjee felicitated the rank-holders of Higher Secondary and Madhyamik (Secondary) Examinations this year.
Suicide attackers rammed car bombs today into a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims and a police checkpoint west of Baghdad, killing 19 people in all, in the latest bout of violence to rattle Iraq.
The attacks follow the deadliest two months in Iraq in half a decade, raising fears the country is descending into a renewed wave of widespread killing like the one that drove the nation to the brink of civil war following the US-led invasion.
Candidates vying for Iran’s presidency clashed on Friday in a heated televised exchange over nuclear talks with world powers, with pointed criticism aimed at top nuclear negotiator and hardline candidate Saeed Jalili.
Jalili is considered to be close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on Iran’s nuclear programme, which Western powers fear is aimed at producing atomic weapons.
Leading Iran’s nuclear negotiating team, he also represents Khamenei in talks with the P5+1 countries — the US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany.
US should encourage newly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif to improve ties with New Delhi, a noted American expert has said.
Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official and now a research scholar at the Brookings Institute, argued that if Sharif becomes successful in improving ties with India, this would not only result in a healthy civil-military relationship, but would also help in defeating terrorists in this country.
The Obama Administration needs to come out with innovative steps to help Nawaz Sharif, the new Prime Minister of Pakistan in his endeavor to improve relationship with India and fix the country’s fragile economy.
One person was injured in a minor explosion of gelatin sticks at Raidurgam area here even as police seized a huge cache of explosive material stored illegally inside a makeshift office at a construction site in the locality today. The seizure comprised as many as 3,700 gelatin sticks meant for blasting jobs at construction sites, they said. The injured has been identified only as Yadagiri, police said. He was injured while burning some waste material that apparently consisted of some gelatin sticks, they said.
A 24-year-old man was stabbed to death by four of his friends because he married a woman who had been in a relationship with one of them, police said on Friday. Three of the accused have been arrested.
Karim, 24, was arrested from Bihar’s Madhubani while Bahadur, 27, and Pappu, 20, were arrested in Delhi June 4 for murdering Raja alias Arif at Niamunddin area in south Delhi. The fourth accused, Allarakha, is on the run.
Police said that Arif married Allarakha’s girlfriend when the latter was in jail in a case of robbery.
Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya on Friday told his agitating employees, who began a hunger strike, that he did not have money to clear their salary dues. “I don’t have the money to pay your salary dues, because I cannot use the proceeds from the United Spirits-Diageo deal for this due to an injunction from the Karnataka High Court,” Mallya reportedly told the striking employees.
The employees of the grounded Kingfisher Airlines, who were on a hunger strike, called it off this evening though airline chairman Vijay Mallya reportedly expressed inability to pay salary arrears.
The agitation was called of after the second round of meeting between the employees and airline CEO Sanjay Agarwal, sources said.
Earlier in the day, Mallya reportedly told the agitating employees, who were on a hunger strike since yesterday, that he did not have money to pay them.
In a surprise move, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has secured the resignations of all his party ministers at the centre and in Maharashtra, a top party official said here late Friday.
He has simultaneously taken the resignations of certain other key party functionaries, including the state NCP Presidents, after a party convention here today.
The NCP chief is likely to carry out a major reshuffle in the party soon, the official, requesting anonymity said.
Top party officials, when contacted Friday night, declined to comment on the developments on-the-record.
Actress Shilpa Shetty placed bets of Rs one lakh for an IPL match, Delhi Police claimed today even as investigators said they do not believe her husband and co-owner of Rajasthan Royals Raj Kundra’s statement that he lost Rs one crore in betting.
Kundra and Shilpa have denied allegations against them.
Police sources said they may quizz Kundra again and call Shilpa for questioning if there is a need.
An embattled Raj Kundra, co-owner of Rajasthan Royals team, who is facing accusations of betting on IPL matches, on Friday claimed innocence and said he would be willing to forfeit his shares in the franchise if found guilty.
“I was called by Delhi Police since I am a minority shareholder of Rajasthan Royals and a few questions were put to me to which I have satisfactorily answered,” Kundra, husband of actress Shilpa Shetty, said in a statement.
Ever since the news of Nafisa alias Jiah Khan`s suicide has surfaced, days have been very hard on the Pancholi family. Actor Aditya Pancholi says his son Suraj, the late actress`s boyfriend, is being made the `villain` in the story for no reason.
Jiah, 25, was found hanging in her Juhu residence June 4. Suraj is being questioned in the matter as the actress was reportedly depressed due to her failing Bollywood career as well as a crumbling personal life.
“If Suraj is to be blamed then please make him the villain,” says protective father Aditya.
Parts of drought-affected Gujarat on Friday received rainfall with MeT officials describing the showers as pre-monsoon activity.
“Rain in south Gujarat, parts of Saurashtra, Vadodara and Ahmedabad is (a result of) local phenomenon over the lower level of the Gujarat region.
“Onset of monsoon in the entire state is expected from June 15,” a MeT department official said, adding that the showers today was “pre-monsoon activity”.
A senior official, during a surprise inspection, on Friday found CCTV cameras installed near bathrooms of a girls’ hostel in the city area of Bharatpur district, prompting authorities to conduct an inquiry.
The cameras were installed in such a manner that activities inside the bathrooms can be captured easily by moving their direction, DM, Bharatpur, Neeraj K Pawan, said.
It was not clear immediately whether any objectionable video was captured or misused.