Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi is back in the national squad for their tour of the West Indies to play in a limited-over series this month, although former captain Shoaib Malik, wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal and opener Imran Farhat have received the axe.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has intended to hire an UK-based lawyer to have a possible 20 percent reduction in the five-year spot-fixing ban on fast bowler Mohammad Amir. The ICC banned Amir for five years for bowling no-balls at pre-determined times so as to fix spot-betting markets during a Test match against England in 2010, Sport24 reports.
Australia”s decision to give citizenship to Pakistani-origin leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed has been welcomed by his family and friends, who hope that the player gets the chance to wreak havoc on England”s batsmen during the Ashes. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Ahmed can now feature in Australia”s effort to reclaim the Ashes, starting in Nottingham from July 10, after his bid for citizenship was accepted on Tuesday.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Thursday said that his government is leaving no stone unturned in rehabilitating the people, and added that they were ensuring that the aid reached to everyone.
“The work has been going on and we are continuously dropping the relief materials. There are places that are inaccessible by helicopters, but no area shall be left out. I have all the information and I am monitoring it myself,” he told the media here.
A woman has submitted a CD alongwith a formal complaint to an official in Uttar Pradesh’s Auraiyya district claiming that a Samajwadi Party (SP) leader, who has the status of a minister, had sought young women for sex.
Madhu Pandey, a former leader of the ruling party, has submitted the complaint to Auraiyya District Magistrate S. Rajalingam along with the CD which has a taped telephonic conversation between her and the SP leader who is chairman of a state department and holds the rank of a state minister.
Ishrat Jahan, who was gunned down by Gujarat Police in an alleged fake encounter, was born in Patna and spent the initial years of her life in the capital town before her family left for Mumbai 20 years ago.
M Rahman, maternal uncle of Ishrat, said that she was born in Patna’s Khagual area in 1985 and spend her early days at maternal grandfather’s home in Shahganj locality at Suntanganj area here.
Rahman, who is a lab assistant in Patna University, said the girl had her early education in a local school in Patna before the family migrated to Mumbai 20 years ago.
A Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) driver accidentally opened fire while showing his newly bought pistol to colleagues at a bus depot in the national capital on Thursday, police said.
The incident took place on the second floor of the DTC’s Indraprastha bus depot. No one was injured in the firing.
The driver, identified as Sunil, fled from the spot, police said.
–IANS
With the Congress party hinting at an early decision on the Telangana issue, protests began in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions of Andhra Pradesh, also called Seemandhra, opposing any move to divide the state.
Samaikhya Andhra or the United Andhra Joint Action Committee (JAC) Thursday staged protests in Kadapa and Anantapur districts of the Rayalaseema region, demanding that the state be kept united.
A 14-year-old daughter of a BJP MLA Thursday allegedly committed suicide by jumping from her hostel building in Khamardih area of Raipur, police said.
“Mona Mandavi, daughter of MLA Bhima Mandavi, a resident of Dantewada region (over 400 kms from here), jumped from the fourth floor of building ‘Aditya Heights’ here in Khamardih area,” Raipur Superintendent of Police O P Pal said.
A Class IX student of Mayoor International School, Mona was shifted to the hostel two days back, the SP said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentary board, which meets here later Thursday, is expected to discuss the party’s strategy and core team for the 2014 general elections, a senior BJP leader said.
“A sharp strategy for the 2014 polls would be the main focus of the meet,” BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said ahead of the meet.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who was last month anointed as the chief of BJP’s poll campaign committee, is likely to decide his team for the polls.
These days the old city area has become the victim of ‘Kalapani punishment’, as black coloured potable water is being supplied to the residents of the area. It has generated risk of people suffering from various water-borne diseases.
The criminal negligence of officials and carelessness of public representatives have triggered fear of diseases and restlessness among the residents of Chirag Ali Nagar and Maruti Line Kishan Bagh. With the memory of Bholakpur still fresh in their minds, the contaminated water raises their fears very high.
Striking a cautious balance, President Barack Obama called Wednesday for a quick restoration of democracy in Egypt, but stopped short of condemning Egyptian military’s removal of President Mohamed Morsi.
Saying he is “deeply concerned” about the removal of Morsi and suspension of Egypt’s constitution, Obama urged all parties to work together and called on the military “to avoid any arbitrary arrests of President Morsi and his supporters.”
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was in for a shocker earlier this week when he learnt that the country’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Frontier Corps (FC) had never been questioned about their operations in Balochistan province.
Sharif was holding a high-level meeting in Quetta Tuesday to discuss the law and order situation there when this reality dawned on him, The News International reported Thursday.
Minority Commission Chairman Mr. Abid Rasool Khan told that, since the formation of the commission, he has received several requests from various departments particularly from State Waqf Board, Education Department, Unani Hospital etc. which highlighted injustices meted out towards minorities. He revealed this at awards distribution ceremony held at Meridian Function Hall Malakpet by Idara-e-Al-Ilm Islamic Library which presented Abdul Jabbar Cash Grant Award to SSC and inter students and teachers.
Ishrat Jahan encounter took place on June 15, 2004, involving the killing of four people in Gujarat. The encounter was headed by the officers of Ahmedabad Police Crime Branch.
The victims included Ishrat Jahan Raza, a 19-year-old college girl from Mumbai, and three men: Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Gulam Sheikh, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar.
Telecom service provider Bharti Airtel has raised its stake to 51 percent in the Indian broadband venture of Qualcomm, the company said in a statement here Thursday.
“…it has subscribed to an additional 2 percent equity share capital in all the four India BWA (broadband wireless access) entities of Qualcomm. With this, all four entities are now subsidiaries of Bharti Airtel,” the statement said.
Fashion designer Pria Kataria Puri has styled Priyanka Chopra and Mahie Gill for the “Zanjeer” remake and reveals that the latter, who plays Mona Darling in the action-thriller, will be seen in a sensuous yet sophisticated diva.
Often seen sporting the desi look in films like “Dev D”, “Paan Singh Tomar” and “Sahib Biwi Aur Gangster” series, the film has many firsts for Mahie.
At least 40 children were hospitalised after a lizard was cooked along with their breakfast at a school hostel here Thursday morning, police said.
The students of the Gurukul school were rushed to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences for treatment after they started vomiting and complained of stomach ache.
A lizard was later found in the plate of a student, a police officer said.
He added that 33 students were discharged after treatment. The condition of three of the seven children admitted to the hospital is said be serious.
From the nipped-in waist in the 1950s, short skirts and diaphanous fabrics in the 60s and 70s, to sparkles and shoulder pads in the 80s, a new exhibition starting Thursday at the Kensington Palace in London would showcase the fashion led by three women of the British royal family.
Titled “Fashion Rules”, the exhibition displays 21 garments from Queen Elizabeth II, her sister Princess Margaret and the late Princess Diana.
Indian selectors will deliberate if injured skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni along with some other seniors should be rested when they pick squad tomorrow for the upcoming five-match ODI series in Zimbabwe.
The selectors had retained the victorious Champions Trophy squad for the tri-nation series but Indian players have played non-stop cricket in the last few months and the discussion is likely to centre around who needs to be rested.
The government has issued orders transferring 27 IPS officers of which 9 have been given promotions. As part of the midnight reshuffle, Shaik Mohammed Iqbal, SP, Intelligence, has been promoted to the grade of deputy IGP and posted as deputy Inspector General of Police, APSP Battalions in the existing vacancy while Shahnawaz Qasim, SP, Anantapur, is posted as DCP, East Zone, Hyderabad.
Actor Tom Cruise is reportedly taking it easy after his separation from Katie Holmes. He is said to be leading a low-key life since.
Cruise, who celebrated his 51st birthday Wednesday, has supposedly made few changes in his life post his divroce from Holmes.
“Tom has definitely made some changes to his life over the past year since the divorce. He’s actually a lot more relaxed and more extroverted,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted a source as saying.
World soccer body FIFA has again barrd Iraq from holding any friendly football matches due to soaring violence, just three months after the ban was lifted.
Iraq received the notification from FIFA Wednesday and the ban will be in force until further notice, reports Xinhua.
FIFA has issued a resolution to prevent any friendly matches in Iraq after increasing attacks on playgrounds and an assault in which Mohamed Abbas, the coach of the Karbala football club, was killed.
FIFA decided March 21 to lift a ban that had been imposed on Iraq to prevent it from hosting any friendly matches.
Man arrested with fake ticket
(Siasat News): The immigration staff of Rajiv Gandhi International airport arrested a man with a fake ticket and handed him over to RGI police.
According to details one Gudam Mahadev, 40, native of Mahboobnagar had been working in Indonesia since a decade and was in love with his colleague.
To marry the girl, he came to India on June 24 along with the girl’s parents and one of his friends. After the marriage, he again went to the airport to see off his wife, in-laws and friend.
A 77-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping a 45-year-old mentally-challenged woman in Assolda village, police said Thursday.
Teofilo Moraes was held yesterday for allegedly raping the victim at his farm in Quepem taluka on June 23.
The victim initially kept mum on the incident but later confided in her sister who lodged the complaint against Moraes.
–PTI