Month: August 2013

US aided Pakistan with more than USD 3.3 billion since 2009

by

US has provided more than USD 3.3 billion in civilian assistance to Pakistan since 2009 along with helping it in adding 1,000 megawatt capacity to its power grid, enough to supply electricity to nearly 16 million people, an official report said today.

“Since 2009, the United States has provided more than USD 3.3 billion in civilian assistance to Pakistan, including about USD 1 billion in humanitarian response to conflict and floods,” said the USAID report on Pakistan.

TRS decides to suspend Medak MP for anti-party activities

by

Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) has today decided to suspend its MP from Medak, M Vijayashanti for indulging in anti-party activities.

TRS President K Chandrashekhar Rao has taken a decision to this effect as an unanimous opinion expressed by the party politburo, TRS sources said.

The party has alleged that Vijayashanti had resorted to anti-party activities earlier too, but it has taken the decision to suspend her now.

Party sources added that a show cause notice would be served on her before the suspension asking her why she should not be suspended.

Jairam Ramesh for dividing Uttar Pradesh

by

Close on the heels of the UPA government’s decision to carve out Telangana from Andhra Pradesh, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh Wednesday favoured restructuring of Uttar Pradesh.

Ramesh said: “If a debate on reorganisation of states is to be held, priority should be given to reorganisation of Uttar Pradesh because the current structure of the state is ungovernable.”

He said: “Purely from an administrative point of view, a state of over 200 million people, 72 districts, over 800 blocks is just not governable. It is my personal view. The state’s politics is a separate issue.”

Sharif cements power base with presidential election

by

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has strengthened his grip on power with his nominee Mamnoon Hussain winning Tuesday’s presidential election.

Hussain, a senior leader of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and a businessman from the port city of Karachi, will be sworn in as the 12th president of Pakistan for a five-year term Sep 9, reports Xinhua.

He will succeed incumbent Asif Ali Zardari, leader of the main opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

PM urged not to amend RTI Act

by

Activists and citizens Wednesday urged the prime minister not to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The petition to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, signed by around 300 people, came after a Central Information Commission order that declared six political parties to be public authorities.

Telangana decision revives old statehood demands

by

The ruling UPA’s decision to carve out a new state of Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh has fuelled demands for statehood from some other regions but analysts say that creation of new states was not the only answer to problems of governance.

The announcement on Telangana – a territory of about 35 million people – has spurred old demands for creation of separate states of Vidarbha from Maharashtra, Bodoland from Assam, Gorkhaland from West Bengal and Bundelkhand from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to fulfil regional and ethnic aspirations.

Air France to slash up to 2,600 jobs in 2014

by

French flagship carrier Air France plans to reduce its staff by up to 2,600 next year to help improve its financial assets, a media report said.

During a meeting of managers and unions, the airline decided to lay off between 2,500 and 2,600 workers to compensate losses and cut costs amid a morose economic climate, Xinhua reported citing BFMTV news.

Air France-KLM, the joint Franco-Dutch venture, aims to save two billion euros (about $2.64 billion) by 2015 via job-cutting and reconstructuring, the report said.

Possible to balance work, personal life: Kristen Bell

by

Actress Kristen Bell feels it is not difficult to manage personal and professional life if one is not fanatic about being on the top.

Bell gave birth to daughter Lincoln in March, and she says that her baby girl will always be on top of her priority, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

“I still want a career. Lincoln will always be number one, but I think if you can cut that obsessiveness, then you can work and be a good mother and wife,” Redbook magazine quoted Bell as saying.

However, Bell admits that she misses Lincoln a lot when they are not together.

Tropical storm Jebi to lash China

by

Tropical storm Jebi will bring heavy rains and strong gales to China’s southernmost island province of Hainan this Friday, meteorological officials said.

A tropical depression over the South China Sea Wednesday strengthened into a storm named Jebi, Xinhua reported.

Jebi, the ninth tropical storm to hit China this year, is expected to land in eastern Hainan or on the Leizhou Peninsula of Guangdong province around Friday afternoon.

The storm was Wednesday located about 690 km southeast of Hainan’s Wenchang city, and was moving northwest at a speed of 5-10 km per hour.

Schoolgirl hit in abdomen by teacher for coming late

by

A Class 12 girl here today alleged that she was hit by her teacher in the abdomen for coming late to the school.

On a complaint made by girl’s family, Deputy Commissioner F C Bhagat has directed the chief education officer to conduct an investigation into the case.

“I was kicked (by the teacher) because I came late. The teacher told me to get in and when entered, he kicked me (so) hard (that) I fainted. My family members were called, who took me to hospital,” the 17-year-old student of a girls higher secondary school said.

Eight held in Greece for sending weapons to Turkey

by

Eight suspects have been arrested in a nationwide probe into a failed attempt to illegally transfer weapons and ammunition to neighbouring Turkey by sea, officials said.

The eight suspects — three Greeks and five Kurds of Turkish nationality — were arrested in connection with the seizure of an inflatable boat carrying the cargo off the eastern Aegean Sea island of Chios, Xinhua cited police as saying.

A total of 14 people have been detained during investigations in Chios, Athens and the northern city of Thessaloniki.

Complaint against KBC for ‘defaming’ legal profession

by

A private complaint was filed today in a court here, alleging promos of the upcoming season of TV quiz-show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ present the legal profession in a derogatory manner.

It names actor Amitabh Bachchan, the show’s host, as one of the respondents.

The complaint was filed in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Sanjay Pande by Nasir Ali, legal cell coordinator of ‘Gondwana Gantantra Party’.

The court has fixed a hearing on August 23 to record the statement of the complainant to decide whether any case can be registered against the respondents.

Native village of Mohd Rafi’s remembers the legend

by

Several events were held in Kotla Sultan in Punjab’s Amritsar district, the native village of Mohammed Rafi, to mark the 33rd death anniversary of the legendary playback singer.

Rafi’s 96-year-old childhood friend Bakshish Singh also paid a tribute to the late singer.

“We organised a function in the village including the one at village school. A number of people and Rafi sahab’s fans thronged to pay tribute,” Bakshish Singh’s grandson Jodh Singh Samra told PTI over phone.

A function was organised in the school in which children took part in singing competition.

Arjun Rampal meets Dalai Lama

by

Actor Arjun Rampal and his family met with Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama recently.

The 40-year-old model-actor said the spiritual leader asked him to be a part of meaningful cinema during their half an hour long meeting.

“It all happened very incidentally. He told me that all my movies should have a message, which I feel is true for my last couple of releases,” Arjun said in a statement.

The “D Day” star said he always wanted to meet him.

Shah Rukh Khan to attend Fourth Parramasala Festival

by

New South wales is all set to rock with King of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan when the actor visits the city to attend the Fourth Parramasala Festival this year.

According to a local daily here, the state premier Barry O’Farrell announced this today while addressing the state of western Sydney.

“O’Farrell announced that Shahrukh Khan will bring his dance moves to this year’s Parramasala Festival in Parramatta this year,” the reports said.

PCB in crisis with no selection committee

by

With Islamabad High Court’s order limiting the powers of the current PCB chairman Najam Sethi as a mere caretaker, which raised doubts over the legitimacy of the selection committee, the Board faces a tough situation with its national cricket team scheduled to leave for the tour of Zimbabwe in late August.

A senior official of the PCB told PTI that the national team was scheduled to tentatively leave for Zimbabwe on 19th or 20th of August to play two T20, three ODIs and two Test matches but no selection committee exits to select a team.

I am a fan of Sachin Tendulkar: German World Cupper Hamman

by

Former German midfielder Dietmar ‘Didi’ Hamman, who has also played for Bayern Munich and Liverpool said that Sachin Tendulkar is his “favourite cricketer.”

“I don’t know whether I should say this or not as I’m being interviewed for a Pakistani cricket website but here goes – my favourite cricketer is Sachin Tendulkar. He’s an all time great, a wonderful cricketer,” Hamman, who represented Germany in the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups and has had nearly 200 appearances for EPL giants Liverpool told Pakpassion.Net.

ICC launches official website for 2015 Cricket World Cup

by

The International Cricket Council has launched the official website of the 2015 World , which will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

This milestone coincided with the tournament launch events held yesterday in Melbourne and Wellington, at which the pools, host cities and fixtures were announced.

India has self-belief to retain 2015 World Cup title: Kapil

by

India’s 1983 World Cup winning skipper Kapil Dev feels the growing self belief of the Indian cricket team that they can win regularly outside their own borders could hold them in good stead to defend the 2015 World Cup title in Australia and New Zealand.

Indian sides have notoriously played like champs at home and chumps overseas, but Kapil thinks the country’s triumph at this year’s Champions Trophy in the United Kingdom could prove to be a pivotal moment on the road to the game’s showpiece event in early 2015.

PCB owes Rs 30 million to players

by

The Pakistan Cricket Board is facing a financial crisis of sorts because of the restrictions placed on the acting chairman, Najam Sethi to exercise his powers.

A source in the Board told PTI that the most pressing issue was the disbursement of nearly 30 million rupees to the players as part of their dues for central contract retainers and their fees for the recent tour of the West Indies.

Don’t link Telangana decision to demand for new states: Singh

by

Amidst rising clamour for new states in the backdrop of Telangana decision, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh today said such demands have to be dealt with separately as every region faces different geographical and socio-economic issues.

“Well the demand for formation of new States has to be dealt separately because of the difference in the geographical and socio-economic status and other issues (in regions seeking statehood),” he told reporters outside the Madhya Pradesh Congress office here.

Woman stayed with son’s body, did not inform about death

by

A 75-year-old woman was found staying in her house in Vaishali area with the body of with the body of his 55-year-old son, who had died few days ago.

The matter came to light today after the neighbours of Bimla Khosla, who lived with her son Ajay, called up police on noticing foul smell emanating from their house.

Train drivers in Argentina caught on video dozing off

by

Argentine train drivers have been caught on video half asleep at the controls, talking on cell phones and reading books since a deadly rail crash in June, officials said today.

“Less than a month after cameras were installed in train conductors’ cabs, the results have been overwhelming,” said Transport Minister Florencio Randazzo.

Randazzo showed video images taken from the surveillance cameras which showed drivers nodding off, on the phone or reading, sometimes with their hands off the controls altogether.

BJP MLA Prem Ranjan Patel supports Shatrughan Singh

by

In more embarrassment for BJP, party MLA in Bihar Prem Ranjan Patel today came out in strong defence of the party MP Shatrughan Sinha’s praise of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as prime ministerial material.

“There is nothing wrong in Singh’s statement,” Patel told reporters outside the state assembly premises.

He said Sinha’s remarks in praise of the chief minister should be seen in totality and not in isolation.

“If one goes through the full statement of Sinha, then it could be made out that he has said nothing wrong,” Patel said.

Digvijay seeks CBI probe into MP PMT scam, illegal drug trials

by

Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh today demanded probe by CBI into “illegal” clinical trials of drugs in Madhya Pradesh and the “scam” in the Pre-Medical Test conducted earlier this year by the state Professional Examination Board (MPPEB).

“We (Congress) are sure that neither state police nor Lokayukta would probe the pre-medical test scam or even the drug trials and hence we are seeking CBI probe into these cases,” Digvijay told reporters here.