Month: June 2013

Gulf states warn of steps against Lebanon’s Hezbollah

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Arab states of the Gulf could take measures against the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, openly involved in the Syrian conflict, the head of their six-member bloc said today.

The Gulf Cooperation Council had “decided to look into taking measures against Hezbollah’s interests in the member states,” GCC chief Abdullatif al-Zayani told reporters at the end of a ministerial meeting in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

Zayani gave no other details on the nature of the measures or the interests to which he was referring.

India was the lowest point in my cricket career: Shane Watson

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Australia all-rounder Shane Watson says the team’s last tour of India, where it was whitewashed 0-4, was the lowest point of his cricket career.

“Whatever happened throughout India, certainly for me personally, was the lowest point in my cricket career, there’s no doubt about that.” he said.

“The decisions that were made were made for a reason and we certainly have to move forward as a team because we’ve got two series back-to-back of the biggest cricket we’ll ever play,” the Aussie was quoted as saying by ‘ESPNcricinfo’

I’ve proved my innocence: Dalmiya

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Life might have come a full circle for astute cricket administrator Jagmohan Dalmiya after being appointed the Interim BCCI chief nearly six and half years after he was expelled from the same office, but he does not consider this an individual victory. Dalmiya is instead taking this as a challenge to clean the murk maligning cricket in the wake of the spotfixing scam. “This is not an individual victory. The need of the hour is to cleanse cricket. That’s my top priority. I have very little time to do that.

Nigerian parliament passes bill criminalising gay marriage

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Nigeria’s parliament has passed a bill criminalising gay marriage, making it punishable with a 14-year prison term with speculation whether President Goodluck Jonathan would sign the bill into law. The country’s lower house, House of Representatives, followed the action of the Senate and endorsed the bill.

Will give development to Muslims instead of skull caps: BJP

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Senior BJP leader CP Thakur on Sunday said the party wants to win the hearts of Muslims through development in the party-ruled states, and does not want to “mislead them by providing skull caps”. “The BJP neither intends to mislead Muslims by providing skull caps for them in the party-ruled states nor wants to advertise their photographs with the minority people in the newspapers….

Kerala minister to visit Saudi Arabia, Kuwait to help Indians

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Kerala Minister for Diaspora KC Joseph will visit Saudi Arabia and Kuwait this week to monitor arrangements for the smooth transfer of Keralites who have to leave these countries due to their new labour laws.

An official at the minister’s office told IANS that Joseph will be in Saudi Arabia on June 7-8 and in Kuwait on June 9, 2013. He will discuss with Indian embassy officials steps to be taken to send back Keralites who will be forced to return after the Saudi and Kuwaiti authorities decided to enact new labour laws.

100 Afghan schoolgirls hit by gas poisoning

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As many as 97 girls at two schools in northern Afghanistan have fallen sick after a suspected gas poisoning.

The Pajhwok news agency said 77 girls at a school in Maimana in Faryab province, and another 20 girls at a school in Behsud in Sar-e Pol province fell ill after reportedly smelling gas during classes.

“When the girls started fainting, the teacher noticed a man running in the school ground,” one of the victims told the news agency.

Investigators also believe the girls could have fallen ill due to heat and insanitary conditions at the schools.

New chemical that causes kidney failure in mosquito key to fighting malaria

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Researchers have come a step closer to fighting malaria by isolating a chemical that causes kidney failure in mosquitoes leaving some of the mosquitoes too bloated to survive after feeding.

The research, a collaboration that includes Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Ohio State and Cornell Universities, was conducted on species known to carry malaria, West Nile virus, dengue and yellow fever.

2 arrested for kidnapping infant girl

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Two persons were today arrested for allegedly kidnapping a three-and-a-half-year old girl for ransom in Mau district, police said.

Acting on the tip-off, police arrested two persons, Jai Hind Chauhan and Arun Chauhan, and rescued the girl.

According to police, one Lallan Chauhan last night informed Ghosi police that his daughter had gone missing from the venue of a function held in the neighbourhood.

The spokesman added that the girl’s father had received a ransom call today demanding Rs 15 lakh for his daughter’s release before police successfully intervened in the case.

5-year-old allegedly raped by 12-year-old neighbour

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A five-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 12-year-old boy residing in the same neighbourhood as the girl in the southern part of the city, police said today.

The accused was arrested.

According to a police complaint filed by the girl’s family members, the incident took place yesterday when the girl, a resident of Garden Reach, was allegedly raped by her neighbour in a common bathroom.

Teacher arrested for raping minor student

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A private school teacher was arrested on Sunday for allegedly raping a girl student, police said.

The accused, Dilip, allegedly raped the girl student, aged about 15, when she went to his house for tuition class on May 25, they said.

The girl told her family members about the incident yesterday, following which they lodged the complaint in this regard.

The accused teacher has been arrested, police said.

–PTI

Two arrested for human trafficking

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Two men were arrested in Rajasthan Sunday for kidnapping and trafficking a 14-year-old girl from Maharashtra, police said.

A police officer told IANS that Jhunjunu anti-human trafficking cell received a tip-off that a girl had been kidnapped from Maharashtra and was being kept hostage in a house in Dundlod village in the district, 200 km from Jaipur.

“A police team raided the house and recovered the girl. The room in which she was being kept was locked from outside,” said the officer.

The house owner, Saleem, was arrested.

I’m ready for ‘Singam 3’: Suriya

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Suriya Sivakumar, who is currently gearing up for the release of upcoming Tamil action-drama “Singam 2”, doesn’t rule out donning khaki for the third instalment of the film.

Suriya returns as a righteous young cop in “Singam 2”, which is the sequel to Tamil blockbuster “Singam”.

“I would love to do the third part of “Singam” provided my director has the patience and time to work again. The excitement with with which we have worked for this film has given me the confidence to work again if there is a third instalment in the offing,” Suriya told reporters here.

Cabinet reshuffle may take place by June 15

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A cabinet reshuffle to fill vacancies in the union council of ministers could take place by June 15 as consultations were on among the top leaders of the party, Congress sources said.

The sources said some ministers were likely to be relieved of their dual charges.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had indicated Friday that a cabinet reshuffle was being contemplated.

While returning from his Japan and Thailand visit, the prime minister had told media persons that a “cabinet expansion is being considered”.

Congress takes dig at BJP over Advani remarks

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The Congress party Sunday said a civil war was on in the BJP, a day after the party’s senior leader L.K. Advani took a jibe at Narendra Modi by comparing his performance with that of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

“BJP story by Advani ji. Chauhan ji verus Modi versus Rajnath ji versus Sushma ji versus Jaitley ji versus Gadkari ji. RSS versus BJP ji-Civil War in Pariwar ji,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari tweeted.

Abu Dhabi bank hires 60 people after road show

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The Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a top financial services institution in the UAE, will hire 60 Emirati nationals after a successful road show held in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The ADIB’s Open Day road show attracted around 600 people from across the country, looking to join the bank.

The bank has signed a number of agreements with many universities and colleges, including the American University of Dubai, Al Hosn University, the Higher Colleges of Technology and Abu Dhabi University.

—IANS

Khalifa Mosque inaugurated in Kazakhstan

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The UAE Minister of Justice Hadef Bin Jouan Al Dhaheri inaugurated the new Sheikh Khalifa Mosque here in Shymkent city, one of the most populous places in Kazakhstan.

The mosque was funded by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and constructed through the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation.

The mosque, built on an area of 8,000 square metres, has a separate prayer space for women with an area of 270 square metres. Construction took three years at an estimated cost of around 45 million dirhams.

Man burns wife and infant son to death

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In a suspected case of dowry, a man burnt to death his wife and an infant son in Bhojpur district, police said today.

Angry over not getting a buffalo in dowry, Upendra Mahto poured kerosene on his wife Rina Devi (25) and 14-month-old
son at their house in Nashrathpur village, police said, adding the mother-son duo were charred to death.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, they said.

While Mahto has been arrested, three other accused persons named in the FIR by the woman’s kin were absconding.

Raids were being carried out to nab those accused who are at large, they said.

Congress to restart march from near Maoist attack spot

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Undeterred by the Maoist attack on its leaders, the Congress in Chhattisgarh has decided to resume its parivartan yatra close to the spot in Sukma district where a party convoy was ambushed May 25, a leader said Sunday, adding that party legislators will resign en masse from the legislative assembly to force dissolution of the house.

Congress general secretary B.K. Hariprasad said the party has decided to re-launch parivartan yatra from a village close to the site of ambush.

Srinivasan to step aside, not step down as BCCI chief

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The members of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Sunday took refuge under its constitution to let president Narayanaswamy Srinivasan step aside and not step down and as an interim arrangement asked former board chief Jagmohan Dalmiya to take care of the day-to-day affairs of the board.

After all the hyped-up media pressure, the outcome of the emergency meeting of the BCCI working committee is seen more as a victory for Srinivasan and in his own words “no one challenged me and it was a smooth meeting”.

TRS chief repeats controversial remarks about PM

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Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao Sunday repeated his controversial remarks about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh despite a court directing the police to book a case against him.

Addressing a public meeting here to welcome two Congress MPs and senior leader K. Keshava Rao into the TRS, he said he would not withdraw his remarks, saying he was not afraid of a case or going to jail.

Army foils infiltration bid in Kashmir, three militants killed

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Army foiled an infiltration attempt by militants in Kashmir’s Kupwara district and killed three of them.

The militants were trying to infiltrate from across the Line of Control (LoC).

According to Brigadier Sanjeev Laamba a group of heavily armed militants tried to sneak into the Kashmir Valley. The Army , he said, ” shot and killed three militants at the Line of Control on the night of 31st May – 1st June”.” We were getting information about infiltration being planned for quite some time and our forces had laid ambushes all across the line of control,” said Laamba.

Not a single BCCI member asked me to resign, says N. Srinivasan

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He might have stepped aside but BCCI President N. Srinivasan remained a bellicose man after the meet of the working committee meeting, insisting that not a single member asked him to resign during the “smooth” discussion here today.

“After discussions, I announced I will not discharge my duty till the probe is completed. In the meanwhile, because the Board has to function, the Board asked Mr (Jagmohan) Dalmiya to take care of the things,” said an unruffled Srinivasan after the meeting.

When asked if any member of the Board asked him to step down, Srinivasan said, “No, nobody.”

“BCCI has again made a fool out of the common man”, says Kirti Azad

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Former Indian cricketer Kirti Azad on Sunday lashed out at the the BCCI meeting today at Chennai saying that the decisions taken were on expected lines and they have ‘again made a fool out of the common man’.

Taking a dig at the Secretary of the BCCI Anurag Thakur and the former Indian Premier League (IPL) Chairman Rajeev Shukla over the fact that they were attending the meet via videoconference, Azad said, “Now I think that these people will attend the parliament through video conferencing.”

Sania-Bethanie advance to Round 2 in French Open

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Indo-American pairing of Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek-Sands advanced to the women`s doubles second round at Roland Garros here Saturday.

Playing on Court No.1, the seventh seeds defeated French duo of Alize Cornet and Virginie Razzano in straight sets in the first round. Sania-Bethanie won 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 28 minutes.

Serves were regularly broken in both the sets, with the seventh seeds breaking one more than their opponents.

Sania, who had earlier lost in the first round of mixed doubles, along with her American partner broke the French girls five times in the match.