Month: June 2013

Taliban militant, cop killed in in Afghanistan

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Taliban militants raided the headquarters and police department in Dilaram district of Nimroz province Saturday, leaving two people dead, including an attacker, and injuring four policemen, police said.

“A group of Taliban rebels stormed the police department and district headquarters of Dilaram district around 4.20 p.m. local time and police retaliated killing an attacker on the spot and forcing others to run away,” police chief of Dilaram district Hajji Najibullah told Xinhua.

The incident took place 790 km west of Kabul.

UP opposition slams power hike, demands rollback

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Opposition parties and farmers groups in Uttar Pradesh Saturday slammed the Samajwadi Party (SP) government for the recent power tariff hike.

Angry at the steep hike in domestic and rural electricity tariff, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took out a massive protest march to the Shakti Bhawan, the headquarters of the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL), and demanded an immediate rollback.

Teacher burnt alive in Bihar, headmaster surrenders

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A school headmaster, the main accused in the alleged burning alive of a schoolteacher, surrendered in court Saturday, police said.

After surrendering, Sanjay Singh claimed he was innocent.

School teacher Ranjit Kumar Razak, 40, was burnt alive May 30 in Bihar’s Purnia district. Sanjay Singh had been booked on a complaint by Razak’s wife.

A police officer said that a group of teachers, along with the principal of a middle school, took Ranjit to a toilet, tied his hands and legs and poured kerosene on him before setting him ablaze.

–IANS

Air hostess’ suicide: Kanda’s aide Chadha moves for bail

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Aruna Chadha, a co-accused with former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda in the suicide of an air hostess, has moved a Delhi court seeking bail.

Chadha’s bail plea will come up for hearing July 3 before Additional Sessions Judge M.C. Gupta. The Delhi High Court has restrained the media from naming the victim.

Chadha and Kanda are accused of abetting the suicide of a 23-year-old former air hostess who was earlier employed in Kanda’s MDLR airlines.

Charges of rape, unnatural sex and abetment of suicide were framed against Kanda and Chadha.

Monsoon arrives in Kerala

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The southwest monsoon arrived in Kerala Saturday with showers reported from across the state in last two days, the India Meterological Department (IMD) said.

“The southwest monsoon has set in over Kerala today (Saturday),” said L.S. Rathore, director general of the IMD.

“The rainfall monitoring stations for the monsoon’s onset over Kerala have reported fairly widespread to widespread rainfall in the last 48 hours,” he said.

IPL Chairman Rajiv Shukla resigns

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New Delhi, June 1 (ANI): Chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Rajiv Shukla has resigned, following the spot fixing scandal over alleged corruption in the IPL. Shukla on Saturday said: “I took the decision to quit in view of the recent controversies.

BCCI President should take responsibility for IPL fiasco, says Kamal Nath

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Bhopal, June 1 (ANI): Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath on Saturday said Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President N. Srinivasan should take responsibility of the scam, which rocked the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament.

“First and foremost, the main responsibility is of the chief of the Indian Cricket Board N. Srinivasan and he should take his responsibility so as to bring a change in the board,” he said.

Pakistani Sikh takes oath as member of Punjab assembly

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Amritsar, June 1 (ANI): Ramesh Singh Arora the first Sikh who was nominated by the Pakistan Muslim League (N), took oath as a member of the Punjab Provincial Assembly on Saturday in Lahore.

By taking such a step, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), which is to form the next federal government, has shown its commitment to safeguard minorities living in Pakistan.

Ramesh termed it an honor to be the PML-N”s representative in the provincial assembly, adding that now he would able to raise various minority-related issues on a priority basis.

Farah Khan gets candid at `Boss Dialogues` TV show

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New Delhi, June 1 (ANI): Farah Khan recently opened up about her pre-fame life for the very first time at the show ‘Boss Dialogues’, which is hosted by Indu Mirani.

The Bollywood filmmaker asserted that her and her brother Sajid Khan’s childhood was a ‘pure riches to rags’ story, after their father’s one film flopped.

Tripura woman running hatchery successfully

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Agartala, June 1 (ANI): North East women have been finding different ways to become self-reliant.

Archita Ray, a resident of the town of Amtali in Tripura, has been running a private hatchery successfully for the last 14 years.

Kanup Hatchery is one of the first private hatcheries in Tripura to be run by a woman.

Previously, excluding a small government hatchery, the state was mostly dependent on Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal for poultry chicken.

The absence of a private hatchery in the state motivated Archita to start one of her own.

ALMA telescope finds 15 extremely dark galaxies unidentified until now

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Washington, June 1 (ANI): With the help of ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array), scientists have observed the “Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey Field” in the direction of the constellation Cetus, and succeeded in identifying 15 extremely dark galaxies which had been previously unknown.

In addition, they also successfully measured the number density of galaxies with 10 times less luminosity than ones previously observed with the conventional millimeter instruments.

Majority of Americans oppose U.S military action in Syria: Poll

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Washington, June 1(ANI): Majority of Americans do not approve of U.S. military action in Syria, according to a poll. The Gallup Poll found that 68 percent Americans opposed U.S. military action in Syria if diplomatic and economic efforts fail to resolve to civil war, as compared to 24 percent who backed military action. According to Politico, 58 percent think that economic and diplomatic efforts are not alone sufficient to stop the war. The civil war in Syria, which has been active from two years, has claimed around 80,000 lives, the report added. (ANI)

CII says Q4 growth figures ‘disappointing, but on expected lines’

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New Delhi, June 1 (ANI): The Confederation of Indian Industry has said that the fourth-quarter growth figure of 4.8 percent was disappointing, but along expected lines.

Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said that with no visible pick up in any key levers of the economy, the situation remains grim. Demand in the system is weak with low levels of consumption, government expenditure and investments.

He added that while the fiscal deficit situation would not allow government expenditure to go up, every means need to be explored for raising consumption and investment demand.

Afghan forces kill 72 Taliban fighters in 24 hours

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Beijing, June 1 (Xinhua-ANI): Afghan police backed by the national army and NATO-led troops have eliminated 72 Taliban insurgents during series of operations across the country over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here Saturday.

Muslims in UK jails three times more than 15 yrs ago

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London, June 1 (ANI): Three times as many Muslims are in prison than 15 years ago in the UK.

The number could spark fears that jails could become a hotbed of radicalization.

According to the Sun, the number rocketed from 3,700 in 1997 to 11,250 last year.

The rate of increase is eight times faster than that of the overall prison population, meaning that 13 percent of prisoners in jails in London are now Muslim, compared to just six percent in 1997, the report added. (ANI)

”Threatened” Christian representatives in Pak seeking ”mass asylum” to U.S, Canada

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Islamabad, June 1 (ANI): A Pakistan based Christian political party is seeking ”mass asylum” to the U.S., European Union, Canada and Australia. Pakistan Christian National Party (PCNP) has claimed that the upcoming ”right-wing” government poses a threat to their community. In a report by Daily Times, the party has submitted its requests to various diplomatic missions and international communities calling them for help.

Trout farming reaps profits in Sikkim

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Gangtok (Sikkim), June 1 (ANI): Trout farming is becoming popular in Sikkim as farmers reap rich profits due to a spurt in production on the heels of a good breeding period and provincial government”s assistance. The directorate of fisheries under animal husbandry, livestock, fisheries and veterinary services is coming up with a separate fish stall for locally produced fish variety, especially the carp and trout species at Gangtok, in a bid to provide a readymade marketing outlet. Considering this move, the officials visited the fish farms to take a stock of the situation.

Hollande rules out military operation in Libya amid rising terror threats

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Beijing, June 1 (Xinhua-ANI): French President Francois Hollande on Friday said Paris has no plan to launch a military operation in Libya.

In an interview with French media, the president admitted that terrorist cells based in southern Libya were “most likely” to be behind the attacks on French Areva”s uranium mine and a military camp in northern Niger last week.

Earlier this month, Niger officials said they believed the perpetrators came from Libya”s south.

Pakistani political leader urges Sharif to develop policy on U.S. drones

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Beijing, June 1 (Xinhua-ANI): New chief minister of Pakistan”s northwestern Khyber Pakthunkhwa province Pervez Khan Khattak Friday urged the leader of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) Nawaz Sharif to form a decisive policy to stop U.S. drone strikes in the country”s tribal regions.

“We call upon the federal government and Nawaz Sharif to chalk out a clear policy against U.S. drones and terrorism and for peace, “said Pervez Khan Khattak, central general secretary of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) party, after he was elected as the chief minister.

John Kerry defends US drone strikes in war against Taliban

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Islamabad, June 1 (ANI): US Secretary of State John Kerry has defended the legality of US drone strikes in the war against al Qaeda and the Taliban.

The comments from top US diplomat come days after such an unmanned aircraft killed a top Pakistani Taliban.

According to the Express Tribune, Kerry, alongside his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle, told reporters that despite their first preference for detention and prosecution of terrorists sometimes, lethal action is necessary in order to protect US lives

23 militants killed in military operation in NW Pakistan

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Beijing, June 1 (Xinhua-ANI): At least 23 militants were killed in an overnight operation launched by Pakistan army in the country ”s northwest tribal area of Kurram Agency, reported local media ARY on Saturday.

The clashes between militants and security forces also killed two soldiers and wounded five others, said local media.

According to the local media reports, the operation started last night in the Para Chamkani area of Kurram Agency, a restive tribal region which borders to east Afghanistan.

Sharif condemns recent US drone strike on Taliban

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London, June 1 (ANI): Pakistan”s incoming Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, has condemned US drone strike that killed the Taliban”s second-in-command.

Waliur Rehman reportedly died when a missile hit a house in the North Waziristan tribal region on Wednesday.

According to the BBC, Sharif expressed serious concern and deep disappointment at the strike.

Digvijay Singh calls spot-fixing a heinous crime

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New Delhi, June 1 (ANI): Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh said on Saturday that spot-fixing is a heinous crime, and added that stringent action must be taken against all those involved in wrong doings.

Singh, however, said that he backs cricket and the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament.

“First and foremost I want to say that I am in favour of Cricket and also IPL. I also favour the way in which cricketers benefit from the IPL. But spot fixing is a heinous crime and stringent action must be taken against those who are involved in it,” he said.