Month: August 2013

Woman beaten up by four villagers during panchayat

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A woman, accused of stealing cash and jewellery in Ambheta Chand village, was today allegedly beaten up during panchayat when she refused to confess to the crime.

Seema, 35, who is clamming her innocence, declined to take oath as panchayat was called to resolve the matter of last month’s robbery where cash and jewellery worth thousands were stolen, police said.

When she refused to confess, four persons who were present during panchayat allegedly beaten her up, police said.

FBI says could not have stopped Boston attack

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The FBI today said it could not have done more to prevent the Boston Marathon bombings despite having been alerted to one of the suspects two years earlier.

“We came to that consensus at this point that there’s nothing more we could have done under the existing guidelines, under the existing laws that govern our activities,” an official from the federal law enforcement agency told AFP.

US announces grant for victims of Oak Creek shootout

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US Administration has announced a grant of more than half a million dollars for the victims of the Oak Creek Gurdwara shootout, after the Sikh community began a four-day memorial service observing the tragic incident, US Attorney General, Eric Holder said.

Crimes against minorities to be considered hate crimes in US

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Crimes committed against Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, Arabs and three other minority religions would now be tracked as hate crime by law enforcement agencies and the FBI, US Attorney General Eric Holder said.

In a blog posting, Holder said that the FBI Director has accepted the recommendation in this regard by the Advisory Policy Board which advises the FBI on various issues, including statistical reporting under the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program.

Digvijay Singh persuades central ministers from Seemandhra not to quit

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Union ministers from Rayalaseema and Andhra regions of Andhra Pradesh dropped their plans to resign in protest against the proposed division of the state after Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh assured them that their concerns would be addressed.

Six out of 10 central ministers from Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and Andhra) called on Digvijaya Singh, who is also incharge of the party affairs in Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra protests will settle down: Congress

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The Congress Friday said “the issue would settle down” after eight party MPs and two ministers from the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions resigned against the decision to create Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh.

“Congress believes in democracy. The general secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh is talking to them. The issue will settle down,” Congress spokesperson Bhakta Charan Das told reporters.

The leaders are protesting against the Congress decision to carve out a separate Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh.

AAP promises Jan Lokpal in Delhi

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The Aam Aadami Party (AAP) Friday promised to set up the Jan Lokpal in Delhi and take tough action against all those involved in the alleged transport scam within six months of coming to power.

“There is no doubt that AAP will come to power in Delhi after the November assembly election. First we will enact Jan Lokpal bill and then book all the accused in the transport scam in six months time,” AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal told reporters here.

His remarks came a day after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Delhi unit alleged a Rs.1,000 crore scam in Delhi government’s transport department.

Inter-regional action needed on HIV, TB: Azad

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There is a need for inter-regional action between various South Asian countries to tackle cross-border issues on HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, Indian Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said Friday.

Meeting Runa Laila, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) goodwill ambassador for HIV/AIDS, Azad also stressed on the need for enhanced scale of care, support and treatment services for eligible-HIV infected people, an official release said.

Woman gang-raped in Karnataka city

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A middle-aged woman was allegedly gang-raped early Friday by five men who barged into her home, a police official said.

“We have registered a case under sections 376 and 395 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for sexually assaulting and robbing her of gold ornaments,” Hubli Police Commissioner B.A. Padmanayana told IANS here. The twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad in the northern region of the state are about 400km away from Bangalore.

Rs.39 lakh looted inside ATM at gun point

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Three unidentified men looted Rs.39 lakh from the employees of a cash delivery van at gun point when they were refilling an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in the capital Friday, police said.

The incident was reported from Delhi’s Mansarovar Park area around 11.30 a.m.

“The accused were chasing the cash van in a Maruti Wagon R car. When the van reached a Union Bank ATM they stopped the car at a distance,” a police officer said.

IIT Hyderabad project with Japan approved

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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the collaboration project of Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IITH) under a loan of the Japanese government and grants by the human resource ministry.

The project, costing Rs.1,776.50 crore will be financed out of the official development assistance loan of Rs.1,501.72 crore from Japan.

The balance expenses would be met by the HRD ministry over a period of four years starting from 2013-14 to 2016-17.

Opposition not responsible for disruption: Sushma Swaraj

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BJP leader Sushma Swaraj Friday said that opposition was not responsible for disruptions in proceedings of parliament and it fulfills its role of holding the government accountable for its actions.

Speaking on “The role of Opposition in Indian democracy” at the Delhi University, Sushma Swaraj said that reluctance of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government to accept demands of opposition often results in stalemate in parliament.

“We are not responsible for disruptions,” she said.

Charge sheet against UPA after public dialogue: BJP

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The BJP Friday accused the UPA of leaving a legacy of “suffering” and “insecure” India and said it will finalise its charge sheet against the Congress-led government after a public dialogue.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said after a meeting of the party’s charge sheet committee that they will focus on the “misrule of 10 years by UPA”.

He said the charge sheet for the next general elections will focus on issues of price rise, corruption, economic mismanagement, national security, and infrastructure.

UAE embassy in Australia hosts iftar for students

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The UAE embassy in Australia hosted a grand iftar breakfast for Emirati students studying in Australian universities in Melbourne.

The “Iftar Breakfast Project” was held with support from the Sharjah Charity Association.

Faisal Saif Al Mazrouie, third secretary at the embassy, said the project aimed to strengthen links between overseas students and spreading the message of Islamic solidarity.

–IANS

50,000 iftar meals distributed in Dubai airport

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The National Identity Authority of the UAE has distributed more than 50,000 iftar meals to travellers at the Dubai international airport during the holy month of Ramadan.

Khaled Hussein, head of Ramadan events at the Dubai airport, praised the National Identity Authority and also thanked other companies and government departments who have contributed to the iftar project since its inception 10 years ago.

–IANS

SRK-Gauri win ‘best friends in marriage’ poll

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Superstar Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan have been voted the best couple who enjoy great friendship in a poll conducted by a matrimonial site.

On the occasion of Friendship Day, which is on Aug 4, Shaadi.com conducted an online poll to find out which Bollywood relationships are also great friends and Shah Rukh-Gauri won with 45.3 percent of votes.

The couple got married in 1991 and have three children – Aryan, Suhana and AbRam Khan.
Dhak-dhak girl Madhuri Dixit and husband Sriram Nene followed Shah Rukh-Gauri on the second position with 32.3 percent votes.

Salman Khan not given UK visa

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Actor Salman Khan, who is scheduled to shoot in the UK for his upcoming film `Kick’, has not been given visa.

His father, Salim Khan, said the visa was denied because some papers related to the court cases against him relating to alleged hunting chinkara and blackbuck in Rajasthan during the shoot of `Hum Saath Saath Hain’ in 1998 did not reach here in time.

Salman was convicted in two cases and was handed sentence of five years in one case and a year in the other. He has appealed in the High Court against both the sentences.

BJP requests media to ‘ignore’ Shatrughan Sinha

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BJP today refused to confront its MP Shatrughan Sinha and even requested the media to “ignore” him in the wake of a series of embarrassing comments by the leader over the last week targeting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

In his latest remarks, Sinha today said in an interview to a news channel that if popularity was the yardstick for choosing a leader, then actor Amitabh Bachchan should become the President of India.

The above comment was a jibe at BJP President Rajnath Singh who has kept reiterating that Modi was the most popular leader in the country.

Group of men sexually assault woman in Hubli

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A railway woman employee in her late forties was allegedly sexually assaulted by a group of persons at her Railway quarters here, a senior police official said.

Hubli-Dharwad Police Commissioner B A Padmanayan said the woman in her complaint alleged that a gang of four to five persons barged into her room at night and sexually assaulted her.

The victim, a peon at the Hubli Division of the South-Western Railway, said that after the sexual assault she fell unconscious and found herself in the Railways Hospital, Padmanayan said.

‘Ganguly showed lack of respect by turning up late for toss’

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Former captain Sourav Ganguly may have showed a “lack of respect” by turning up late for toss when India locked horns with Australia during the historic 2001 Test series, feels Steve Waugh who was a leading a bunch of extraordinarily talented Aussies in that rubber.

“The fact that he turned up late every game — it was his choice. I just thought it showed a lack of respect for the game. It didn’t really affect me. The match referee actually told him that he had to turn up on time,” Waugh said when asked about the controversial episode.

Minor raped by her teacher in Delhi

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A 17-year-old class 11 student was raped by her tuition teacher here Friday morning, said police. The teacher has been arrested.

The incident was reported from Mundka area in west Delhi.

The girl had gone to attend tuition classes at the house of accused Joginder Sharma, 45, who raped her.

On returning home, rhe girl informed her family members who approached police and the accused was arrested after a medical report confirmed rape.

“The accused used to take tuition classes at a rented accommodation,” said a police officer.

–IANS

AP bifurcation divides Cong ministers; chaos over resignations

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The spectacle of “resignation” by ministers and legislators of the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh as well as the main Opposition TDP over the Telangana issue is becoming chaotic as a clear headcount of those who claimed to have quit remained ambiguous.

The Congress leaders are clearly finding themselves pushed to a corner, with protests intensifying across Andhra-Rayalaseema over the proposed division of the state, and are hence using the “resignation” route in a bid to be seen with popular mood in their respective constituencies.

Modi can’t bring BJP to power: Pawar

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NCP President Sharad Pawar feels that BJP may not be able to form a government with Narendra Modi’s leadership.

He also does not see the possibility of a Third Front government saying the government after elections will either be led by Congress or be supported by it.

“I cannot say. I said that in coalition politics very few partners, political parties will support BJP this time with this leadership,” Pawar told CNN-IBN.

He was asked if he sees Modi emerging as the prime minister in a coalition government.

BSF recovers fake currency, arms and ammunition from Indo-Pak border

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The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel have seized huge consignment of fake Indian currency notes worth Rs. 4, 96,000 along with arms and ammunition near International Boundary of India-Pakistan border in Jammu.

At midnight, troops of 193 Battalion BSF deployed in Border Outpost Chawani in R.S Pura in Jammu district observed suspicious movement of two persons across the border fence.

The anti national elements threw a plastic packet containing fake Indian currency notes over the border fence towards Indian side by taking the advantage of darkness.