Month: August 2013

Ex-Pak refugee Fawad Ahmed in contention for Oz’s T20 series against England

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Former Pakistani refugee Fawad Ahmed may reportedly make his highly-anticipated debut for Australia in the first Twenty20 international against England on Friday after earning his selection in his adopted homeland’s limited overs squad.

According to News.com.au, Ahmed had been debated as a late addition in Australia’s squad for the just-completed Ashes series in England after amendments to citizenship laws but he instead toured with Australia A in the UK and South Africa.

Wave of attacks kill 57 in Iraq

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A series of bombing and shooting incidents Wednesday, mainly in the national capital Baghdad, left at least 57 people dead and 207 wounded in Iraq, Xinhua reported.

Three people were killed and 18 wounded when a roadside bomb went off near Al Shawwaf mosque in Yarmouk in western Baghdad Wednesday evening, while two people were killed and 11 injured when a car bomb exploded near a cafe in Adhamiya in northern Baghdad, police said.

A former Iraqi army pilot was shot dead by unidentified gunmen when he was shopping in a market in Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad.

Asaram to face arrest if he fails to turn up for questioning

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Controversial self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, who is accused of sexually assaulting a minor, will face arrest if he fails to appear before the Jodhpur Police tomorrow, a top police officer has said.

“We will wait until August 30 as per the deadline of the summons served on him and if he fails to turn up by August 30, we will send a team to arrest him on August 31,” Jodhpur Police Commissioner Biju George Joseph told reporters here late last night.

‘Secret operation led to IM chief Bhatkal’s arrest’

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The operation to arrest Indian Mujahideen chief Yasin Bhatkal was so secret that even after his arrest only few top Bihar Police officers were informed and they too were not told about where he was being held for questioning, an officer said.

Bihar Police played a major role in the arrest of Yasin Bhatkal, who is wanted in bomb blasts across the country, Bihar Police chief Abhayanand said here Thursday.

“It was Bihar Police that mainly helped NIA (National Investigation Agency) and other government agencies to arrest Bhatkal,” Abhyanand told mediapersons here.

DA case: Jayalalithaa moves SC against removal of prosecutor

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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today moved the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka government’s decision to remove the special public prosecutor in a disproportionate assets case against her.

A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam agreed to hear tomorrow the plea of the AIADMK chief against the decision to remove Bhavani Singh as the special public prosecutor (SPP) in the case.

Country faced with difficult economic situation: PM

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With falling rupee and rising oil prices casting a shadow over Indian economy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the country is faced with a difficult economic situation for which some domestic factors too were responsible.

“It cannot be denied that the country is faced with a difficult economic situation,” Singh said after Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley sought his response on the rupee hitting a life-time low.

–PTI

Pakistan to get its own RTI

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Pakistan will soon introduce a much awaited ‘Freedom of Information Law’ bill in the Senate, almost similar to the Right to Information Act in India.

Senate Committee on Information and Broadcasting had yesterday approved the draft of a “Freedom of Information Law”.

The committee finalised the draft after eight months of deliberations. It ignored reservations of the defence authorities, the Dawn daily reported.

–PTI

Land Acquisition Bill tabled in Lok Sabha

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Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh moved the Land Acquisition Bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

The key legislation, however, could not be taken up for debate as the Opposition demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement on the falling Rupee. An uproar over the same had earlier led to the adjournment of the Lower House till 12 noon.

The Land Acquisition Bill is another pet project of the UPA leadership and aims to provide “just and fair” compensation to families whose land has been acquired for industrial purposes.

Vizag refinery blast toll rises to 17

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The toll in last week’s blast at the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) refinery in Visakhapatnam rose to 17 with three more injured succumbing to burns Thursday, an official said.

With this, six injured have lost the battle for life at three different private hospitals during the last two days.

Eight people were killed and 34 injured in the fire caused by the huge blast in the cooling tower which was under construction in the refinery’s diesel hydro sulphurisation expansion project.

Two injured while defusing bomb in Alipurduar

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Two bomb-squad personnel were on Thursday injured when they tried to defuse a bomb here, police said.

The bomb was found in a bag tied with a cycle here this morning. As locals informed police, a bomb-squad team from Siliguri reached the spot and took the bag to a local club premises, Jalpaiguri Superintendent of Police Amit Javalgi said.

As the team tried to defuse the bomb, it exploded seriously injuring two personnel of the squad, he said.

Both the injured were admitted to a hospital.

—PTI

Uttar Pradesh gets 560 extra seats for Haj

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Uttar Pradesh has been granted 560 extra seats for the Haj pilgrimage this year, after 1,533 pilgrims from India cancelled their trip to Saudi Arabia, an official said on Thursday.

Abrar Ahmed, secretary of the state Haj committee, told a news agency that he had sent a request to Haj Committee of India’s chief executive officer Ata-ur-Rehman for extra seats as there is a waiting list of 1,743 people from the state.

With 1,533 people cancelling their bookings, Ahmed said Uttar Pradesh should be given this quota.

Lok Sabha adjourned over rupee depreciation

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Lok Sabha was adjourned till noon Thursday following protest by members of various political parties demanding a statement from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on depreciation of rupee against dollar.

As soon as the house met at 11 a.m., members noisily demanded the prime minister to apprise the house about the measures taken by the government to check rupee’s free fall.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath assured the house that prime minister will speak Friday.

As members continued with protest, the house was adjourned till noon.

Because they kept marching, America changed: Obama

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Thousands of Americans converged on the national mall to hear America’s first black president as they sought to recapture the magic of Martin Luther King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech fifty summers ago.

Standing on the same steps of the Lincoln Memorial from where the civil rights leader spoke in the afternoon of Aug 28, 1963, President Barack Obama Wednesday recalled how King “gave mighty voice to the quiet hopes of millions” as a multitude of black, white and people of other varied shades listened.

Indian-origin cardiologist named White House fellow

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Kapil Parakh, an Indian-origin cardiologist working in Washington area, is among a dozen people chosen by the White House for its prestigious fellowship programme for 2013-14.

A Zambia University graduate, Parakh is the director of heart failure at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Centre and assistant professor in the Departments of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Health Behaviour and Society.

Obama says no decision made on Syria

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US President Barack Obama Wednesday said that he has not made a decision about how to respond to the use of chemical weapons in Syria’s internal conflict, media reported.

“I have not made a decision,” the president said in an interview with the PBS NewsHour at the White House, reiterating he is weighing options in the wake of the chemical attack in the suburbs of Damascus, capital of Syria, Aug 21, in which 1,300 people were reportedly killed, Xinhua reported.

But he said the international norm against the use of banned weapons needs to be “kept in place”.

Government’s priority is populism, not prudence: Jaitley

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Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley Thursday slammed the government over the country’s economic situation, saying its priority was populism and not prudence.

“The growth rate is slackening, inflation is rising, will be importing further inflation because of the oil prices and the rupee-dollar parity being disturbed. The currency is completely disturbed and I think their priority still remains populism and not prudence of any kind,” Jaitley told a news channel.

Mallika Sherawat, Sunny Leone to come together for TV show

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Mallika Sherawat and Sunny Leone will be uniting for the first time on-screen for an upcoming TV reality show – ‘The Bachelorette India – Mere Khayalon ki Mallika’.

Mallika has already started shooting for her much awaited series, which is the Indian version of American competitive reality dating game show ‘The Bachelor’.

The actress will soon have a friend and confidante in Indo-Canadian adult film star Sunny Leone, who will help her choose the best.

Sunny is headed to Udaipur to help Mallika choose the right man from the 30 contestants, vying for her attention.

Three arrested in Kerala over forced marriage of minor girl

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Amid outrage over the menace of forcing minor Muslim girls into wedlock, police have arrested three persons, including the mother of a UAE national, who forcibly married a minor girl here.

Police yesterday arrested Sulaika, mother of the UAE national Jasim Mohammed Abdul Kareem, her second husband Munir and a relative Abu and cases against them were registered under Prohibition of Child Marriage Act-2006, Juvenile Justice Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

Jaya slams Centre for ‘muted response” on fishermen issue

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Slamming the Centre for remaining a “mute spectator” on the frequent arrests of Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today said there was no concerted action on securing their release.

In her letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Jayalalithaa sought his immediate intervention through diplomatic channels to secure the release of all fishermen from Tamil Nadu who are in Sri Lankan custody.

Re rebounds by 170 paise against dollar in early trade

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The rupee today recovered from its all-time low by rising 170 paise to 67.10 against the dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on fresh selling of the US currency by exporters and banks amid fresh measures announced by the RBI to check free-fall of the currency.

Besides, the dollar selling by exporters and banks, fresh measures announced by the RBI to curb the rupee’s slide and fall in crude prices in the global market, helped domestic currency to rebound, forex dealers said.

Yasin Bhatkal arrested from Indo-Nepal border

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Yasin Bhatkal, Indian Mujahideen co-founder and one of India’s most wanted terrorists, was arrested from the Indo-Nepal border in north Bihar after being on the run for over five years, in the second big breakthrough for security agencies in a fortnight.

“Yasin Bhatkal was traced along the Bihar-Nepal border last night by our intelligence agencies. He is under the custody of Bihar police and the interrogation has been going on. Till now, this is the only information I can give you,” Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters outside Parliament House.

Security of Pakistan is tied to Afghanistan: US

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Welcoming the recent talks between Hamid Karzai and Nawaz Sharif, the US has said that security of Pakistan is tied with the successful outcome in Afghanistan.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and newly elected Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held talks this week.

“We said that Pakistan’s own security and stability is tied to a successful outcome in Afghanistan. And we’ve been appreciative of Pakistan’s efforts to further reconciliation. Clearly, there’s an ongoing process here,” Marie Harf, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson, told reporters.

No decision yet on launching military strikes against Syria: Obama

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US President Barack Obama has said that he has not yet decided whether to attack Syria in the aftermath of the Assad regime allegedly using chemical weapons against its own people on August 21.

“We have not yet made a decision, but the international norm against the use of chemical weapons needs to be kept in place.

“Hardly anybody disputes that chemical weapons were used on a large scale in Syria against civilian populations,” Obama told the PBS News Hour in an interview yesterday.

REMAINING STEADFAST AFTER RAMADHAN

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Sufyan ibn ‘Abdullah radiallahu ‘anhu said:
“O Messenger of Allah, tell me something about Islam, which I cannot ask anyone else besides you.”

He (SallAllahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) said:

“Say: ‘I believe in Allah’ and then be steadfast (upon that).”

[Sahih Muslim 38]

No point in going to UNSC on Syria due to Russian veto risk: US

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Expressing disappointment over the Russian decision to veto any move towards armed intervention in Syria, the United States has said that there is “no point” in going forward in the UN Security Council.

“We see no avenue forward given continued Russian opposition to any meaningful council action on Syria.

“Therefore, the United States will continue its consultations and will take appropriate actions to respond in the days ahead,” the State Department Deputy Spokesperson, Marie Harf, told reporters at her news conference yesterday.