As the last ten nights of Ramadan are upon us, many of us are still in shock at the speed with which Ramadan has passed. Our goals may not yet be realized, our habits may not yet have changed, and our hearts may not yet have felt the sweetness of this beloved month. Disheartened, many of us may have already given to despair, feeling that our Ramadans have not been as fruitful as we had wished and planned.
As nature unleashed death and misery in Uttarakhand, scores of youths from across India rushed to the hill state. Some were linked to Art of Living. Their stories are inspiring, heartening. Risking their lives, they crossed mountains, dodged landslides and faced near-death situations to offer respite to the needy. What drove them? Who motivated them? Here are some insightful stories:
A gunman pulled off one of the biggest daylight jewellery thefts in French history as he walked out of the Carlton Hotel in Cannes Sunday with a suitcase filled with diamonds worth an estimated 40 mn euros (about $53 million).
The armed raider strolled into an exhibition of “exceptional jewellery” around midday, The Independent reported citing initial reports.
A Delhi court will on Monday pronounce the sentence in the 2008 Batla House encounter case in which suspected Indian Mujahideen operative Shahzad Ahmad was convicted for killing a police inspector and assaulting other cops.
Additional sessions judge Rajender Kumar Shastri had fixed for tomorrow the order on sentence in the case in which the court had on July 25 found Shahzad guilty of assaulting police officers and obstructing them from doing their duty.
Italian authorities may hand over to the CBI on Monday the crucial telephone transcripts in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter scam, a move which may help it in expediting the probe into the case.
According to highly-placed sources, the documents are expected to be handed over to Indian mission officials in Milan on Monday after which these would be sent here for scrutiny and ascertaining the role of middlemen and others in the case.
Actor Neil Patrick Harris admits that it took a while for him to adjust to being a dad, but now he is enjoying fatherhood.
People.com reports that the actor revealed his feelings during an interview with USA Weekend.
He said: “The first year with them (twins – Harper and Gideon) was complicated. They were crying a lot.
“The older they get, the more I love being a dad. Now that they’re talking, I’m really loving the camp counselor end of parenting. I’m all about reasoning.
As many as 349 inmates, escaped last week from Baghdad’s major prison during assault by Islamic militants, were recaptured, said chief security officer of Baghdad.
These prisoners had fled from Abu Ghraib prison last week.
“The security forces have re-captured 349 inmates who escaped from Abu Ghraib prison last week, while search operations are underway,” reported Xinhua citing Lieutenant General Abdul- Ameer al-Shimmary, Commander of Baghdad Operations Command.
He, however, did not reveal about how many prisoners have exactly escaped from the prison in total.
—-IANS
A couple was arrested in Rajasthan Saturday for buying a minor girl for Rs.20,000 from Uttar Pradesh and forcing her into prostitution, police said.
A police officer told IANS that a 15-year-old girl was spotted crying in a public place by a constable Saturday in Bikaner town, some 500 km from Jaipur.
“The girl told the police constable that she had been kidnapped by someone from her house in Varanasi. The kidnapper sold her to one Ramratan in Bikaner for Rs.20,000. She said that Ramrantan and his wife Asha were forcing her into prostitution,” the officer said.
Former ‘Coronation Street’ actress Sacha Parkinson has revealed she wore dirty clothes for two months while filming her character in ‘The Mill’.
The 21-year-old actress, rarely washed herself, in an effort to get under the skin of an orphan girl who works as a cotton worker in the drama, reported Sun online.
“They never washed our costumes for the whole set – they were horrible by the end but we needed to feel grimy and dirty. I didn’t really wash either, as it helped me get into the role,” she said.
Chairman of Telangana Political Joint Action Committee, Prof. Kodandaram told that Rayala Telangana with Karnool and Anantapur and Hyderabad as Union Territory will not acceptable to the people of this region. Prof. Kodandaram met Mr. K.Chandrasekhara Rao, President of TRS and spoke to newsmen yesterday. He totally rejected the proposal of making Hyderabad as Union Territory. The meeting of TJAC continued for three hours yesterday in which Mr. K.Chandrasekhara Roa also participated. Prof. Kodandaram further told that the news flashed by Central Govt.
Singer-actress Tina Turner says she has found her “nirvana” after tying the knot with longtime boyfriend Erwin Bach.
Turner, 73, who has been dating Bach for 27 years, said her married life is a wonderful place to be, reported Ace Showbiz.
“It’s that happiness that people talk about, when you wishfor nothing, when you can finally take a deep breath and say, Everything is good.’ It’s a wonderful place to be,” she said.
The “Proud Mary” hitmaker and the producer tied the knot earlier this month in a private ceremony in Zurich.
Mr. Hamid Mohammed Khan, President of Movement for peace and Justice termed the Statistics given by Planning Commission is nothing but a political jugglery. It seems that Govt. is hatching a conspiracy to deprive the poor persons holding white ration cards of getting the benefits proposed to be given under Food Security Bill. He questioned the commission that below poverty line was 37.2 % in 2004-05, how did it decrease to 21.9% in 2011-12.It is regrettable that Justice Tendulkar commission has fixed Rs.816 in Rural areas and Rs.1000 per month for below poverty line.
Opposition parties had alleged that the suspension order of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpalhas had come under pressure from the mining mafia.
Rubbishing the allegations by opposition parties that the suspension of Gautam Budh Nagar Sub-Divisional Magistrate had come under pressure from the mining mafia, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today said the step was taken because there was a possibility of communal tension brewing up in the area.
The posters of “Nasha” reportedly irked the members of a political party so much that they pulled it down. Poonam Pandey, who plays the lead in the erotic thriller, says it has hurt her sentiments.
“This has hurt me. I don’t normally allow myself to get affected. But I never expected I’d be targeted this way for my first film. It has made me nervous,” said Poonam.
“I knew, I wouldn’t be welcomed with open arms into cinema. I’ve no godfather, no support from the industry. But I didn’t expect to be welcomed in this way. What have I done that is so scandalous?”
A round table conference of 1969 Telangana Movement Founders’ Forum was held at Press Club Somajiguda yesterday. More than 40 organizations supporting Telangana attended the meeting. Dr. K.Chiranjevi presided over the meeting. Mr. Zaheer Uddin Ali Khan, Managing Editor of Siasat Urdu Daily, Prof. Vieshveshvara Reddy, Joyti Karan, T.Vivek, Sridhar Nagaraj , Srimata Ramnaya, Sana Ullah Khan, C.L. Yadigri, Prof. Laxman, Dr. Anitha Reddy, Karunakar Reddy attended the meeting and declared they would struggle for separate Telangana till their last breath.
Rain-triggered floods have affected 13,000 people in a forest area in China’s Inner Mongolia region.
In the worst-hit Tulihe Township of Yakeshi City alone, mountain torrents swept the township Sunday. Over 1,200 houses were inundated and over 3,000 residents were affected, Xinhua reported citing authorities.
As of Sunday night, more than 10,000 people in Genhe City had also been affected by floods.
Local meteorological department said rainfall would continue in the coming days.
A military bomb expert was killed and two injured in a bomb explosion which occurred Saturday night in the restive southern Philippines, the military said Sunday.
The incident took place when soldiers were trying to defuse a powerful homemade bomb in the township of Panglima Estino in Sulu province when the explosive accidentally went off, reported Xinhua citing local military commander Colonel Jose Johriel Cenabre.
–IANS
The United Arab Emirates’s (UAE) Red Crescent Authority (RCA) has distributed clothes among 3,000 needy children in Malawi on the occasion of holy month of Ramadan.
The distribution was done in line with the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Campaign to dress one million children worldwide during Ramadan.
Humaid Rashid Al Shamsi, head of the delegation, said in a ceremony held to distribute clothes that the delegation was instructed by the UAE leadership to distribute the clothes.
–IANS
Zulfiqar Babar completed a dream debut by striking the final ball of the match for six to give Pakistan a two-wicket victory over the West Indies in the first Twenty 20 international at the Arnos Vale Stadium.
Having taken three wickets for 23 runs with his left-arm spinners in helping to restrict the world champions to 152 for seven, the 34-year-old newcomer then made the winning hit off Marlon Samuels with the scores level to yesterday hand the home side their first defeat in this form of the game since they lifted the world title last October in Sri Lanka.
It seems that Govt. is not bothered about the difficulties of Minorities. The promises made by the Govt. about the welfare of Minorities never get fulfill. Earlier, at least the promises made for the arrangements Ramazan used to be fulfilled but this time, whatever promises made in the review meeting have not been fulfilled so far. 18 days of Ramazan are already over but there is not a single day when there was no power shutdown. Mr. Syed Ali Murtuza Rizvi, M.D. of A.P.
80th weekly colloquium of Telangana Resource Center was held at Chandram at Himayath Nagar yesterday. Justice B.Sudarshan Reddy presided over the function. Prof. M.Sridhar of NALSAR University, Prof. Hari Nath of OU, Mr. Ram Lakshman, Prof. Anwar Khan and other addressed the meeting.
With the apprehension of bifurcation of A.P. State Mr. Shaik Mohammed Iqbal, IPS, Deputy Inspector General of Police of A.P.S.P. resigns from his post. Mr. Iqbal wrote a letter addressing Dr. P.K. Mohanty, Chief Secretary of the State mentioning his personal resigns for his resignation, but it is said that he was aggrieved of the proposed bifurcation of A.P.State.
Actress and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Shilpa Shetty today took to Twitter to express her happiness after her husband, Raj Kundra, was absolved of fixing charges by the BCCI-appointed two-member probe panel.
Reacting to the news after Kundra was cleared of all charges, Shilpa tweeted, “there is a God:) love u..And TRUTH PREVAILS. Thanku tweetos for all the unconditional support love and prayers.”
The social networking site was also swamped with congratulatory messages from the well-wishers to the celebrity couple.
Family members of India’s former Test cricketer, Late Captain Syed Mushtaq Ali, who had scored the first century for the country on a foreign pitch in 1936, have demanded that the sportsman’s “unfulfilled dream” of having a cricket museum in the city.
According to the family, Mushtaq Ali, who died on June 18, 2005, always wished to create a museum in the city to preserve memorabilia like bats used during the Holkar period, rare photographs, among other things. However, due to legal cases and other problems, it is yet to take shape.
PCB’s caretaker chairman, Najam Sethi today said that the board has communicated with the ICC after a British tabloid claimed that anti-corruption and security unit were probing matches of the recent ODI series between Pakistan and West Indies.
Sethi said that the board had already contacted the International Cricket Council in this regard and discussed the media report.
“We are in touch with the ICC on this matter and we have told them we need to clarify the situation,” he said.
Sethi said hopefully the PCB and ICC would be able to issue official statements on the issue soon.