Lawyers for a Muslim scholar convicted in 2005 of soliciting treason have pressed a judge to order prosecutors to disclose information they believe could show that American-born al-Qaida leader Anwar al-Awlaki was once a government informant.
A Punjab Congress leader’s wife was seriously injured when two unidentified persons allegedly threw acid on her in Variyam Nagar here today, police said.
50-year-old Jitender Kaur, wife of Punjab Pradesh Congress leader Rashpal Singh, reportedly lost vision in one of her eyes besides suffering serious burn injuries on face and other body parts, after two motorcycle-borne miscreants allegedly threw acid on her and fled, they said.
The incident occurred when Kaur was returning from a gurudwara in Variyam Nagar area of the city. She was sent to a local hospital for treatment.
Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor has said that Congress’ door was always open for Naveen Patnaik, though the BJD supremo on Friday maintained that his party would like to maintain equi-distance from both the UPA and NDA.
“Our door is always open for Naveen Patnaik. But, it is not my place to work in the area. I have a different role. But, I know, many in our party have a high-level of respect for Naveen Patnaik for taking leadership in Odisha,” Tharoor told a local news channel after a meeting with the Chief Minister yesterday evening.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned Turkey it will “pay dearly” for supporting rebels fighting to overthrow his regime, in an interview broadcast today on Turkish television.
“In the near future these terrorists will have an impact on Turkey. And Turkey will pay very dearly for its contribution,” Assad told the opposition station Halk TV.
He was being interviewed over the presence of Al-Qaeda-linked rebels on the long and volatile border between the two nations. There are several hardline Islamist groups among the numerous rebel formations fighting in Syria.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the UN said in a joint statement Thursday that their team of experts has made “encouraging initial progress” during their first day of mission in Syria.
“The joint OPCW-UN team mandated to assist Syria with the elimination of its chemical weapons programme has made encouraging initial progress, following the first working day of meetings with the Syrian authorities,” Xinhua reported citing a joint OPCW-UN statement.
The Centre’s decision to create Telangana today triggered further protests in Seemandhra region and a flurry of resignations by union ministers and MPs opposed to the division of Andhra Pradesh.
HRD Minister M M Pallam Raju, who last night held back his resignation, today announced his decision to go ahead with it ignoring Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s counsel not to take any hasty step.
The CPI today welcomed the Centre’s decision on the creation of Telangana state but said it should also assure the people of Seemandhra and Rayalaseema that their issues will get priority.
“Yesterday’s decision by the central Cabinet on Telangana is in the right direction. We appreciate it and welcome it, though this is a very delayed decision. They accepted the justified demand of people of Telangana,” Communist Party of India (CPI) General Secretary G Sudhakar Reddy told PTI.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today described the protests in Seemandhra region against bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh as quite natural, saying wherever a new state is carved out, such feelings are bound to come.
Shinde also ruled out the possibility of creating any more states in the country.
“We will take them into confidence. We will try our level best. After all, wherever there is bifurcation of any state, such feelings are there. It is natural. No one can avoid these. But we have to console them. We will try to console them,” he told reporters here.
Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde Friday said the central government will have to take the Seemandhra ministers into confidence and “console” them over bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
He made the remark a day after the cabinet gave its approval for creation of Telangana, following which Tourism Minister K. Chiranjeevi resigned and Human Resource Development Minister M. Pallam Raju said he too has decided to resign.
The Bharatiya Janata Party Friday shot back at the state Congress party for alleging that the BJP was converting black money into white by charging tickets for Narendra Modi’s rallies, and said the “Congress is petrified of Modi.”
Congress general secretary Madhusudan Mistry had said the BJP was resigned to its defeat in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. Hence, it was levying tickets for the rallies addressed by its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
A special court here on Friday accepted CBI’s application to interrogate suspended IPS officer PP Pandey in judicial custody in connection with the encounter of Ishrat Jahan and three others.
CBI had moved an application before Special CBI judge Gita Gopi, seeking interrogation of PP Pandey in judicial custody, which was accepted.
Pandey’s lawyers had demanded that he be interrogated in his presence, which was also accepted by the court.
Pandey’s interrogation has been granted by the Special CBI judge, within visible distance of his advocate.
Condition of the 11-year-old boy, who was seriously injured after being hit on the head by a javelin in school, continues to be critical, doctors treating him said today.
Roshan Lama, a Class VI student of Sarvodaya Government School, is battling for life at the ICU of the AIIMS Trauma Centre.
“The head injury is severe and his condition is critical. He is on ventilator,” doctors said.
Meanwhile, the class 12 student who threw the javelin which injured Lama on Wednesday, was apprehended last evening.
India’s Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black registered a surprise win over top seeded Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in the semi-finals to book a place in the final of the women’s doubles of the China Open tennis here Friday.
With the win, Sania and Cara extend their winning run to eight matches.
Coming into the tournament, on the back of the win in Tokyo, Sania and Cara were in good form. It took them just 72 minutes to beat the formidable Italians 6-4 6-4.
Sania is now eyeing her fifth title of the season.
Bollywood film director Abhishek Chaubey says he always had actress Madhuri Dixit in his mind for the sequel of ‘Ishqiya’.
‘Dedh Ishqiya’ a black comedy thriller film directed by Abhishek Chaubey that stars Madhuri Dixit, Arshad Warsi, Naseeruddin Shah, and Huma Qureshi in the lead roles.
The film is a sequel to 2010 hit film ‘Ishqiya’ that featured Vidya Balan in the lead. She bagged the best actress award at various award functions.
Rejecting any possibility of reviving electoral ties with the BJP, Odisha Chief Minister and ruling BJD president Naveen Patnaik today said he was not “comfortable” with the idea of Narendra Modi becoming the prime minister of the country.
“I am not comfortable with the idea of Modi,” Patnaik said while participating at an interaction programme here.
Disagreeing with the idea that the next polls will turn into an presidential form of election between Modi and Rahul Gandhi, Patnaik said that both of them do not have “pulling power.”
BJP MP Anurag Thakur today accused Congress of using Muslims as a vote bank and claimed members of the minority community were flourishing in BJP-ruled states.
Thakur, who heads Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, alleged Muslims were not given their due by Congress which has ruled the country for over 60 years.
He was addressing a programme in which 300 Muslim youths from Delhi and surrounding areas joined the party.
BJP Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi charged most of the communal riots in India took place under Congress rule.
(IANS) He is loved for his comic timing, but Javed Jaffrey says he can play other roles too except those of horror and sex.
“I am comfortable with any genre except sex and horror. I am more of a comedy, action, romance type of a guy,” Javed told IANS in a telephonic interview.
The actor has been seen as a funnyman in films like “Salaam Namaste”, “Dhamaal” and “Singh Is Kinng” and is loved for his sense of humour. But this becomes more of a limitation for him.
Israel Friday denounced a resolution by the Council of Europe urging the EU member states to consider banning circumcision, calling on the body to rescind what it said fosters “anti-religious hatred”.
A statement issued by the Israeli foreign ministry underscored that the circumcision of male children is an ancient tradition shared by both Jews and Muslims, Xinhua reported.
It’s known that women take a good amount of time to get ready. A new study reveals that British women spend as much as 21 hours every month on their beauty regime.
According to a new research by Seven Seas ilumina skin nutrition, a quarter of British women spend 20 to 45 minutes per day, equating to 21 hours per month, on their beauty regime, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
The study also reveals that they spend up to 100 pounds per month on hair, skin and nails maintenance such as facials, manicures and other treatments.
A new study by an Indian origin researcher has revealed that women can cut their chances of developing breast cancer by walking for an hour each day.
The American Cancer Society, which commissioned the study, involved 73,615 postmenopausal women, of whom 4,760 were diagnosed with breast cancer during a 17-year follow-up, the Scotsman reported.
It was found that this moderate activity was linked with a 14 per cent lower risk of the disease compared to women who were least active.
For generating interest in Mathematics among children, the National Council of Science and Technology Communication and All India Radio will start a radio programme that will focus on the work done by some eminent mathematicians.
‘Magic of Numbers’ will start on October 6 and will be aired in 19 languages from 117 stations across the country. The 26 episodes of the programme will tell about 23 geniuses of Mathematics.
The programme will be in the form of a docudrama and discuss various aspects related to life and work of mathematicians from ancient period to the present day.
Ingredients
• 8 Ounces chocolate chips
• 2 pkg Dry yeast
• 1 1/2 Cups flour
• 2 tbsp Honey
• 3 tbsp Butter
• 1 Egg
• 1 Cup water warm
• 1 Cup water lukewarm
• 4 Cups flour
How to make
Beat the mixture of yeast flour, water and honey in medium bowl and cover with a plastic sheet.
Let it stand for 1 hour.
Stir sponge and blend in milk-butter-salt mixture.
Now, add in the flour to prepare soft dough. Knead it into a non-stick dough .
Put dough, turning to coat entire surface in a greased bowl.
Officials of the Birsa Munda Central Jail are yet to decide what job they should allot to RJD president Lalu Prasad but there was a hint that he could be given work related to literacy campaign.
“As per the jail manual, a convict is given about a week time to prepare for appeal against the lower court’s verdict. Only after that process is over, the jail superintendent allots work depending upon the skills of a convict,” a senior official of the jail said here today.
“So, he (Prasad) has not been allotted any work as yet,” the official, who urged not to be identified, added.
CBI on Friday questioned a retired Air Marshal of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in connection with the VVIP helicopter deal.
Sources said that the officer, ex-Deputy Air Chief JS Gujral, was examined as a witness in the case.
Gujral had retired as an IAF commander a few years back. As deputy IAF chief, he was in charge of procurements.
Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne on Friday pitched for a common pay commission for armed forces and said it must have representation from their side.
In the light of the announcement of the Seventh Pay Commission, the IAF chief demanded that its terms and references of must include all those anomalies which have crept in the emoluments of armed forces over the decades.