Investigators questioning Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal have found a laptop and mobile phone from his possession which are expected to throw up vital clues in unraveling a number of terror modules.
Bhatkal and his close associate Asadullah Akhtar were today remanded in 12-day police custody by a Delhi court after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) brought them from Bihar where they were arrested yesterday.
Relief and rescue operations continued in full swing today as situation in flood-affected areas of Uttar Pradesh remained grim, with the number of people affected in the deluge crossing 16 lakh.
According to relief commissioner’s office, a total of 16,68,195 people have been affected by the floods.
As many as 1,038 villages in 16 districts have been adversely hit, officials said, adding that so far 260 people have been killed in rain-related incidents this monsoon.
A “remorselees” Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal has allegedly told police that he carried out bomb blasts to send a message, and that he readied around 100 hardcore associates who could do anything at his bidding.
“Bomb blast karta hu message dene ke liye (I carry out bomb blasts to send a message),” Bhatkal was quoted as saying by Motihari Superintendent of Police Vinay Kumar, who played a key role in the arrest of the two top IM operatives from the Indo-Nepal border and interrogated him.
A 10-year-old student of class four at a government school in Thid district was allegedly raped by a 17-year-old boy, police said on Friday.
A case has been registered against an accused of the same locality based on the statement of the victim’s father, they said.
The father, in his complaint, alleged that the family went in search of the girl when she did not return home after school yesterday, police said, adding that they later caught the accused in the act in a field.
The accused, who works as a labourer, had fled the spot, they said.
Protests continue to rock the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions against the proposed division of Andhra Pradesh even a month after the announcement in favour of separate Telangana state by the ruling Congress.
The united Andhra Pradesh supporters have been organising protest rallies, fasts, human chains, bike rallies, community kitchens and special prayers, etc across the two regions.
On July 30, Congress Working Committee gave its nod to the separate Telangana statehood demand.
About 8,000 people have been affected by flood in Matiari district of Pakistan’s Sindh province as the Indus river continues to be in spate, Online News Agency reported Friday.
In an interview with state-run radio, Matiari’s deputy commissioner said that people from 32 villages have been accommodated in relief camps and are being provided food and medical treatment.
Matiari is some 1,300 km from the national capital Islamabad.
He added that the people who have taken shelter on embankment have also been provided tents and dry ration along with items of daily use.
Turkish government Friday favoured a US-led punitive action against Syrian government following alleged use of chemical weapons.
“The most right message (against the Syrian administration) could only be given with the most right reaction with best timing,” reported Xinhua citing Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu who urged for a US-led action.
On Thursday, the British Parliament refused to authorise its government to take part in a potential military action against Syria, while Germany also signalled that it would not be part of such a military intervention.
The United Arab Emirates’ Human Appeal International – UAE (HAI) has provided a financial aid of 270,000 dirhams ($73,500) to 600 families of orphan children it sponsors.
The aid was given to the families in the presence of Jericho city’s governor Majid al-Feytani.
Ibrahim Rashid, director of HAI office in Palestine’s West Bank, said the orphan sponsoring project provides a safety net for 20,000 Palestinian families at a total annual value of $ 10 million.
–IANS
NATO has declined to participate in the possible attack on Syria over allegations of the Bashar-al-Assad regime recently using chemical weapons against civilians.
“I see no NATO role in an international reaction to the Syrian regime,” reported Xinhua citing NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen in a Danish daily.
He said NATO’s role would primarily be to support the member country Turkey and defend it against any attack from Syria.
YSR Congress party Friday appealed to its president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy to call off his indefinite fast in view of his deteriorating condition.
As Jagan continues his fast in hospital, where he was shifted by Chanchalguda jail authorities late Thursday night, his mother and party’s honorary president Y.S. Vijayamma and other leaders called upon him to end the fast.
Concerned over his failing health due to the fast, which entered the sixth day Friday, the political affairs committee of the party held an emergency meeting and appealed to him to call off the hunger strike.
Chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand today said it would be a clash of style and power between two cerebral players when two of his favourite wards — Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu — lock horns in the finals of Indian Badminton League (IBL) here tomorrow.
Gopichand, who is credited for the rise of both Saina and Sindhu, said the duo should not be looked as rivals but as a pair, who can take Indian badminton to new heights.
Two bike borne miscreants today robbed a Delhi-based businessman of a bag containing jewellery and valuables worth Rs 50 lakh in the Muradnagar area here.
According to police, Anil Kumar, a resident of Daryaganj in Delhi, was on his way to Dehradun in his car when the miscreants overtook his vehicle and drew his attention to a flat tyre.
As soon as Kumar stopped his car to take a close look, the duo seized the opportunity and fled with the bag, which was in the car, police said.
Investigations are on to nab the duo, they said.
Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria used chemical weapons on a massive scale in rebel-held areas near Damascus that killed as many as 1,429 people including 426 children, US Secretary of State John Kerry said today as US released intelligence assessment on the alleged atrocity.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton outpaced President Barack Obama last year in receiving lavish gifts from foreign leaders.
Clinton received gold jewellery worth half a million dollars from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. The State Department said the gift included a necklace bracelet, ring and earrings. The white gold was adorned with teardrop rubies and diamonds.
Obama’s most expensive gift was a USD 16,500 gold-plated clock from Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, the Saudi defense minister.
US President Barack Obama has called his French counterpart Francois Hollande and UK Prime Minister David Cameroon to discuss Syria situation after his administration released the intelligence assessment of the alleged use of chemical weapons by President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime.
Obama and Hollande agreed that the “international community cannot tolerate the use of chemicals weapons” and “must hold the regime accountable” and send a strong message that the use of chemical weapons is not acceptable, the White House said yesterday.
Damascus said that a US intelligence report concluding that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons in an onslaught that killed close to 1,500 people was “entirely fabricated”.
“What the US administration describes as irrefutable evidence… Is nothing but tired legends that the terrorists have been circulating for more than a week, with their share of lies and entirely fabricated stories,” a foreign ministry statement read out on state television said yesterday.
Actress Parineeti Chopra recently visited the sets of the show “Emotional Atyachaar” and while talking about relationships she said that she finds one-woman men attractive.
The actress, who is busy promoting her forthcoming movie “Shuddh Desi Romance”, was accompanied by her co-star, debutante Vaani Kapoor.
When Parineeti was asked to give an advice to the cheaters, she exclaimed: “Koi advice nahi (No advice for them). Thappad padega bus (They’ll get slapped).”
Pakistan’s telecom regulator has directed all companies to discontinue voice and text chat packages to stop youth from indulging in activities “contrary to the moral values of society”.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) acted after the federal government received complaints from lawmakers and hardline groups about mobile phone packages that allow users to make cheap calls late at night.
In a communication, PTA told cellular companies that the packages should be stopped forthwith as they are “contrary to the moral values of our society”.
Using the Internet may become up to 30 per cent costlier as the Department of Telecom today issued corrigendum to the new telecom licences agreement bringing revenue from these services under its cess net.
As per the initial version of the Unified Licence on August 2, DoT had exempted Internet services revenue from adjusted gross revenue (AGR) — part of telecom company’s earnings on which annual licence fee is levied.
Oats soup is one of the most easiest way of getting oats into your daily diet. It is simple to make with very few ingredients and can be served as a healthy meal with a slice of bread or as a satisfying appetizer. This soup is suited for people of all ages and for ailing patients.
Ingredients
Oats – 1 cup
Onion – 1/2 (finely chopped)
Green Chilly – 1 (finely chopped)
Garlic – 1 clove (minced)
Salt – to taste
Pepper powder – a pinch
Water- 1 cup
Milk – 1 cup
Oil – 2 tsp
Cilantro – for garnish
Method
(Pudhina Pulav, Pudina Kothamalli Sadam, Mint Rice, Cilantro Rice) Ingredients
Rice (Basmati or any other rice) – 2 cups (washed & soaked)
Onion – 1 (chopped or sliced)
Lemon Juice – 2 tblsp
Water – 3 cups
Salt – to taste
Ghee/ Oil – 2 tblsp
To Grind
Mint Leaves – 1 cup
Corriander Leaves (Cilantro) – 1 cup
Grated Coconut – 1/4 cup
Ginger – 1″ piece
Galic – 4 cloves
Green Chillies – 5 or 6
Whole Garam Masala – 1″ piece cinnamon stick, 3 cloves, 2 cardamom, 1 star anise
Fennel Seeds – 1 tsp
For Tempering
Cashews/Peanuts – 2 tblsp
Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Pakistan’s Supreme Court Friday sought explanation from the government over a petition seeking a ban on President Asif Ali Zardari from leaving the country after his tenure ends Sep 8, court officials said.
The petitioner said Zardari knew of the US military operation that killed Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden May 2, 2011, in Abbotabad, and that he must be questioned about the operation, Xinhua reported.
A journalist, Shahid Orakzai, has filed the petition, which says the president did not share information with the military.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem Friday rejected any partial reports by the UN secretariat before investigators complete the probe into the alleged use of chemical weapons in the country, state-run SANA news agency reported.
The minister said this during a phone call with UN chief Ban Ki-moon after the UN said the chemical investigators would leave Syria Saturday, Xinhua reported.
“Syria rejects any partial reports before the completion of the mission and the completion of the laboratorial tests of the samples assembled by the team,” al-Moallem said.
People with yearly income of less than Rs.3 lakh would be given free dialysis treatment in Delhi, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit announced Friday.
She made the announcement while inaugurating the first-ever public private partnership (PPP) model dialysis unit at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital in north Delhi.
“It gives me immense satisfaction to announce that people with income of less than Rs.3 lakh will be given free dialysis treatment and further 150 such dialysis machines will be installed in three other government hospitals,” she said.
The first verdict in the December 16 gang-rape and murder of a paramedic student is likely to be pronounced on Saturday by the Juvenile Justice Board which had concluded the inquiry against a minor, one of the five accused in the case that had sparked national outrage.
The Board is expected to deliver the verdict as the apex court had on August 22 allowed it to pronounce the judgement in the case against the juvenile, who according to the police, was the “most brutal” of all the six accused persons.
The pronouncement of verdict had been deferred by the Board four times since July 11.