Month: August 2013

Relationship with Pakistan extremely important: US

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America’s relationship with Pakistan is extremely important to national security interest, the White House said today as Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Islamabad to hold talks with the new civilian leadership.

“Our relationship with Pakistan is extremely important to America’s national security interests,” White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, told reporters at his daily news conference.

“It is a complicated but important relationship,” he added.

Indian HC says peace talks with Pak to start soon

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The Indian High Commissioner designate to Pakistan, TCA Raghavan, today hoped that the peace process between the two countries will resume soon.

Talking to reporters after the Iftar dinner hosted by acting Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay here, he said: “We hope that the dialogue process will start very soon.”

He said that the two prime ministers were expected to meet on the sidelines of UN annual summit in September, but “the time and date has not been decided as yet”.

Five beggars killed in a month, Shirdi police still clueless

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Shirdi police have launched an extensive investigation into what appears to be a serial murder of beggars in the temple town.

Since the start of the month, five beggars have been killed by unknown person(s) in the town, famous for its Saibaba shrine.

All of them had their heads smashed with stone.

Police, yesterday, rounded up and questioned 86 beggars, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Vivek Patil.

Later, they were produced before the court (as begging is an offence), and sent off to a shelter house in Pune on the court’s order.

Pune: 40 persons including dance bar girls arrested for rave

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About forty people, including 12 girls, were arrested today for holding a party at a bunglow at the hill town of Lonavala near here last night, where alcohol was served illegally, in addition to suspected consumption of narcotic drugs.

The revelers also caused public nuisance with unruly behaviour and by playing loud music, police said.

Blood samples of the arrested persons, hailing from Mumbai, were sent for drug tests.

The girls were reportedly from dance-bars at various places.

——PTI

Libya: Gaddafi-era minister sentenced to execution

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A criminal court in Libya’s western city of Misrata sentenced a Gaddafi-era education minister to death today for murder and for inciting violence during the 2011 civil war.

It was the second such guilty verdict by the same court in recent days.

A judge found Ahmed Ibrahim guilty of inciting residents in Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte to form armed gangs and fight the rebels that were seeking to overthrow the Libyan dictator. Ibrahim also was convicted of spreading false news through the local radio station and terrorizing and demoralizing the public.

Rajnath demands second States Reorganisation Committee

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BJP President Rajnath Singh today sought constitution of second States Reorganisation Committee to consider demands being made by various groups from across the country for separate states.

“The Centre should constitute the Second States Reorganisation Commission to consider demands for separate states in the country,” Singh tweeted.

He also welcomed the creation of Telangana as a separate state saying that BJP was always been in its favour.

Ghaziabad woman gang-raped

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A woman was allegedly raped today by three persons who took her to neighbouring Bulandshahr district and sexually assaulted her, police said.

In her complaint, the woman alleged that the accused forced her into a car and took her to Bulandshahr where they sexually assaulted her after making her unconscious by feeding sedative-laced food item.

A case has been registered and a search has been started for the accused, police said.

–PTI

Congress ministers demand new AP capital in Rayalaseema region

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Ministers and Congress MLAs from Rayalaseema raised a demand that the new capital of Andhra Pradesh be located in Rayalaseema region, implying Kurnool town.

“We will accept the new state (Telangana) only if we get our share of assured water from the Krishna river and the new capital,” they said.

A group of ministers, including T G Venkatesh, Erasu Pratap Reddy, Ganta Srinivas and Pitani Satyanarayana met Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy today afternoon and discussed the fallout of the Congress Working Committee’s decision to endorse Telangana.

False Facebook account maligning Park Street rape victim

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The Park Street rape victim has filed a police complaint alleging a fake Facebook account has been created in her name which is maligning her, police said today.

“We have received a complaint and have started the investigation,” said Joint CP (crime) Pallab Kanti Ghosh.

The incident came to light a few days ago when the Park Street rape victim lodged a police complaint charging a fake Facebook profile is using her photo without her permission and posting false and malicious statements.

Police are now trying to nab the creator of the fake profile, sources said.

Terror havens, Indo-Pak ties to figure in Pak talks says US

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US Secretary of State John Kerry, will raise the issue of continued terrorist safe havens in border areas of Pakistan, during his meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, a senior US official said.

Kerry is on his maiden trip to Pakistan and is scheduled to meet President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and Army Chief Kayani today during his day long hectic deliberations in Islamabad in which India-Pak ties, Afghan peace talks, besides economic issues is expected to figure prominently, the official added.

US not seeking to broker India-Pak talks on Kashmir

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US is not seeking to act as a broker between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue said an official as Secretary of State, John Kerry is expected to bring up the Kashmir issue during his talks with Pakistan.

“We are in no way seeking to broker any sort of conversation on Kashmir between India and Pakistan, though US is supportive of the moves that both the countries have made to normalise the relations,” an official travelling with Kerry to Pakistan said yesterday.

US lawmaker condemns vandalism of Gurdwara in California

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A top American lawmaker has condemned the vandalism of a Gurdwara in California with the word “terrorist” scrawled on its walls, days ahead of the first anniversary of the Oak Creek Gurdwara shooting in Wisconsin.

Congressman Joe Crowley, Vice Chair of House Democratic Caucus, and Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans said the pattern of violence against the Sikh-American community is reprehensible.

Helicopter with UN personnel crashes in Ethiopia

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Officials say a helicopter carrying UN personnel aboard has crash-landed in Ethiopia and that some of them were injured.

Dina Mufti, the spokesman for Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The Associated Press that the helicopter crashed today in the town of Debre Zeit, about 50 kilometers outside Addis Ababa.

Dina said there were multiple injuries but he did not immediately have further details.

2,000 more women to join Delhi Police: Bassi

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Adding 2,000 women to the Delhi Police force and focus on late evening and night patrols are among the measures Delhi’s new police chief Bhim Sain Bassi has in mind to make the city safer for women.

“We will enhance patrolling in the evenings and nights on roads, near shopping complexes and lonely stretches for women’s safety,” Bassi told IANS in an interview after taking over charge Wednesday.

Bassi termed the woman-focused patrolling as “magnetic patrolling”.

Economy will bounce back: PM

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday said that naysayers would be proved wrong again and the Indian economy will bounce back.

Singh also came out in support of his cabinet colleague P. Chidambaram and said the finance minister had shown that hard work can deliver.

BJP accuses Uttarakhand government of criminal negligence

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The BJP Wednesday accused the Uttarakhand government of criminal negligence for the death of pilgrims and tourists during last month’s floods in the state and demanded the sacking of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice president Uma Bharati, who visited the Kedarnath temple as part of a three-member team of her party, said that the deaths were caused due to “carelessness of the administration”.

Kristen Stewart blasts photographer sans reason

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Actress Kristen Stewart hurled abuses at a paparazzi without any reason while she was walking her dog here recently.

Stewart was video-taped while hiding behind a dustbin as she waited for her car to arrive.

According to tmz.com, once her car arrived, the photographer is heard asking Stewart: “Why are you saying f**k off?”.

Stewart replied to the photographer by saying: “Because you’re a piece of s**t and you don’t deserve to breathe the same air I do.”

The actress even called the photographer “f**k face”, after he asked her about her ex-boyfriend Robert Pattinson.

—-IANS

Iran to supply oil to Syria

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Iran has agreed to supply oil to Syria, an Iranian newspaper said.

Iranian and Syrian central banks signed an agreement in Tehran this week, with Iran agreeing to grant a credit line of $3.6 billion to Syria, Xinhua cited the Tehran Times daily as saying.

Syria will pay back the oil loan by allowing the Iranians to invest in the country, the report said.

Over the course of its two-year unrest, Syria has been facing serious problems in producing oil and its byproducts.

African Union team meets Morsi

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A visiting delegation from the African Union has met Egypt’s ousted president Mohamed Morsi, state news agency MENA reported.

The nine-member African delegation — dubbed African Wise Panel — is headed by former president of Mali, Alpha Oumar Konare, said Xinhua.

“We met the deposed president Tuesday night and he told us that he was ousted from power and that he feels unfairness,” former president of Botswana, Fetus Mogae, was quoted as saying.

Tabu becomes modern Draupadi for designer Anju Modi

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Bollywood actress Tabu, who walked the ramp for designer Anju Modi on the first day of the Delhi Couture Week (DCW) 2013, represented a modern “Draupadi” who is strong and independent.

The couture week is being held at the Taj Palace hotel here.

Justifying the theme of the show, “Draupadi”, a character from the Mahabharata, Tabu walked the ramp in a beautifully embellished lehenga.

The actress not only represented class and style, but also got herself registered in the list of celebrities who have aged gracefully.

UAE provides aid in poor areas of Pakistan

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The UAE’s Red Crescent Authority (RCA) has continued its charitable and humanitarian programme in a number of Pakistani cities during the holy month of Ramadan.

The RCA has organised fast-breaking meals for underprivileged people, orphans, charitable schools, students and people with special needs.

The RCA has also distributed clothes ahead of Eid to 4,000 needy children in Pakistan.

The project was part of the “Dress 1 million Needy Children” campaign launched by UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Etisalat launches new slim smartphone

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Telecom operator Etisalat has launched the new Huawei Ascend P6 slim smartphone in the UAE. The device will be available throughout the month of August.

With a 6.18 mm thickness and a 4.7 inch screen, the Ascend P6 is said to be the world’s slimmest smartphone. It also features a 5-MP front-facing camera and an 8-MP rear-facing camera.

Stocked with Android’s latest 4.2.2 OS, the phone boasts a 1.5 GHz Quad-core CPU and offers several user-friendly features like colour adjustment, facial enhancement and contrast adjustment abilities.

Muslim Brotherhood’s top leaders referred to criminal court

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Egyptian authorities have decided to refer Mohamed Badei, the top leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and his two deputies to a criminal court on charges of inciting violence, state-run al-Ahram Online reported.

Egypt’s prosecution referred the group’s general guide and the two deputies — Khairat al-Shater and Rashad al-Bayoumi — to trial for provocating violent acts in June outside the movement’s headquarters in Cairo, in which at least eight people were killed.

Matt Damon wants to go back to LA

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Actor Matt Damon says he is mulling over the idea of shifting back to Los Angeles, where he has all his friends and family.

Damon came to New York with his wife and children in 2009, but he misses his people back in Hollywood, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

“Basically all of our friends with little kids are out there (in LA). Look, we’re a little conflicted; we love it here (in New York), we’ll always be here, and New York will always be here, so I’ll do a little job out there and then maybe we’ll return,” Damon said on a talk show.

Kiran to meet ministers from Andhra-Rayalaseema tomorrow

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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has invited his cabinet colleagues from Andhra and Rayalaseema for a meeting tomorrow evening even as ministers from the two regions remained evasive on their possible resignations, sources said.

A group of ministers, including T Balaraju, Pitani Satyanarayana, Md Ahmadullah, Ganta Srinivasa Rao met the Chief Minister here tonight and discussed the ongoing agitation in Andhra-Rayalaseema against Congress’s decision to carve out Telangana state, sources added.