The silence of Muzaffarnagar
From Partition to Muzaffarnagar, the history of riots has been a celebration of rape. Muzaffarnagar sounds like it’s a part of the UP badlands, while pundits hair-split words like responsibility and secularism.
Month: January 2014
India scraps $770 mn AgustaWestland chopper deal
India Wednesday terminated the Rs.3,600 crore (about $770 million) deal with AgustaWestland for the purchase of 12 VVIP choppers over allegations of kickbacks having been paid to fix the deal.
In a statement, the defence ministry said: “The government of India has terminated with immediate effect the agreement that was signed with Messrs AgustaWestland International Ltd. (AWIL) on Feb 8, 2010, for supply of 12 VVIP/VIP helicopters on grounds of breach of pre-contract integrity pact and the agreement by AWIL.”
Half a million tourists celebrated year-end in Goa
Over half a million tourists landed in Goa during the last ten days of December for the Christmas-New Year’s Eve celebrations, Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar said Wednesday.
“It is difficult to give an exact account, but I can say that around 4.5 lakh to five lakh tourists landed in Goa from December 20 to 31,” Parulekar said.
The last week of December is also the time tourist flow into the state peaks each year. A significant chunk of the nearly three million tourists who arrive in the the state each year come between Dec 25 and Jan 1.
Six Indians killed as jeep falls into Nepal river (Lead)
Six Indian nationals, visiting Nepal as tourists, were killed and five others injured when the jeep they were travelling in plunged into a river in Tanahun district Tuesday night.
The six seriously injured occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, were undergoing treatment in a Kathmandu hospital.
The jeep was carrying the tourists from Kolkata from the popular tourist city of Pokhara to Kathmandu when the accident happened.
Spain coach del Bosque eyes another World Cup triumph
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has a New Year’s wish to see his country retain the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
“There are very good teams and very good players who will be complicated rivals. The small advantage that Spain has is that we are a team beyond the great individual players that we have,” said del Bosque, reports Xinhua.
Punjab NRI panel seeks probe into NRI woman’s harassment
The Punjab NRI Commission Wednesday asked the union ministries of external affairs and overseas Indian affairs, Protector of Immigrants and Bureau of Immigration to probe allegations made by two NRIs against immigration and police officials at New Delhi’s IGI International Airport.
The NRIs have, in their complaint to the commission through the North American Punjabi Association (NAPA), have alleged that they were wrongly detained and harassed at the airport by immigration and security officials in September last year.
Syrian army kills 17 rebels
The Syrian army Wednesday killed 17 armed rebels in the southern province of Daraa, media reported.
The army eliminated “terrorists” in the town of Jisa on the eastern outskirts of Daraa, Xinhua quoted the state-run SANA news agency as saying in a report.
It added that the army also destroyed the rebels’ weaponries and ammunition during the clashes.
Also in Daraa, the military forces thwarted rebels’ attack on a military outpost in the rural Rajm al-Mashour area.
Obamacare health reforms take effect in US
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a set of health reforms which allow millions of Americans to get health insurance cover for the first time, came into effect Wednesday, BBC reported.
The Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, makes it compulsory for people to have health cover – either provided for by their employer or by buying one of the private health plans now on offer.
Those who cannot afford it will get help, but those without any insurance will be fined, the report said.
Principal’s Indian Masters Scholarships at University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh is offering 12 masters scholarships for students from India for postgraduate masters study in any subject offered by the University for the 2014-2015 academic session. Scholarship covers a value of £3,000 each and will be tenable for one academic year. Applicants should already have been offered a place at the University of Edinburgh and should have firmly accepted that offer or be intending to do so. The application deadline is 1 April 2014.
Study Subject (s): Scholarships are provided to learn any of the courses offered by the University of Edinburgh.
Delhi Metro engineer arrested in rape case
An engineer with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has been arrested here for raping his live-in partner, a 24-year-old woman, several times on the pretext of marriage, police said Wednesday.
The complaint in this regard was filed Tuesday by the woman, police said.
The accused Jitender Kumar, in his 30s, was arrested based on the woman’s statement, a police officer said.
The woman, who works in a private company, told police she met Kumar a few months ago.
Babbar Khalsa ex-leader hauled before Canadian board
A former leader of the banned Babbar Khalsa terrorist group has been ordered to appear at an immigration hearing to decide whether he should be admissible into Canada.
Gurmej Singh Gill arrived in Vancouver to visit relatives in late November and was to return to his home in the British city of Birmingham Dec 22.
But he was ordered to appear before an immigration and refugee board adjudicator due to his alleged link to the banned outfit, the Vancouver Sun reported Tuesday.
Bengal gang rape victim cremated amidst political row (Roundup)
A 16-year-old girl, who died after she was twice raped by a gang and set ablaze, was Wednesday cremated amid a raging political row over an alleged police attempt at her “forcible cremation”.
The girl was allegedly gang raped twice in October. She breathed her last Tuesday at a city hospital after she was admitted with severe burn injuries Dec 23.
Cool, pleasant New Year’s Day in Delhi (Lead)
The New Year’s Day Wednesday was cool but pleasant in Delhi with the maximum temperature two notches below average at 18.2 degrees Celsius. Thursday is expected to see similar weather.
The Met Office has forecast there will be shallow fog in the morning and partly cloudy sky will give way to a clear sky Thursday. “The maximum and minimum temperature Thursday would be around 19 and 9 degrees Celsius respectively,” said an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official.
After subsidising power, AAP orders audit of discoms
The AAP-led Delhi government Wednesday fulfilled yet another poll promise of getting the financials of power distribution companies audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told reporters here: “The audit will begin from tomorrow (Thursday).” He added that Delhi Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung has ordered the CAG to start looking into the company account books of discoms from Thursday.
YSRCP to protest from Jan 3 over Telangana Bill debate
YSR Congress plans to undertake protests, beginning with a bandh on January 3, against the draft Telangana Bill being taken up for debate in the Andhra Pradesh legislature.
The winter session of the legislature resumes on January 3 and the draft bill is on its agenda for debate.
“The sanctity of the AP assembly is at question with Delhi dictating the proceedings and the state taking up discussion on the Bill. This is against the federal spirit.
–PTI
Non-subsidised LPG cylinder price hiked by Rs.220
The price of non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG) was hiked Wednesday by Rs.220 per cylinder on firming international rates, state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) said.
The 14.2-kg cooking gas cylinder beyond the entitled nine at subsidised rates, will now cost Rs.1,241, up from Rs.1,021 in Delhi.
The new prices for the same cylinder in other metros are: Rs.1,270 in Kolkata, Rs.1,264.50 in Mumbai and Rs.1,234.00 in Chennai, Indian Oil Corp (IOC) announced.
This is the third increase in non-subsidised LPG rates in the past month.
Three flyovers opened in Ghaziabad
On the first day of 2014, Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) vice chairman Santosh Yadav Wednesday opened three flyovers in the city.
The three flyovers – at Dasna, Nehru Nagar and Karhera-Hindon Bridge – cost the GDA Rs.148 crore.
The Dasna flyover, built at a cost of Rs.64 crore, connects the city with National Highway-24 at Dasna. It has reduced the distance from the district headquarters to Dasna town to eight km.
The flyover has been opened on a trial basis one way for light vehicles.
Andhra CM defends portfolio re-jig
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy Wednesday defended the portfolio re-jig, saying it is his prerogative.
As his move to divest Civil Supplies Minister D. Sridhar Babu of legislative affairs portfolio sparked a row with ministers from Telangana complaining to the governor against the “undemocratic” action, the chief minister said it was done for smooth governance.
Kiran Reddy said since he was unable to concentrate on commercial taxes portfolio which he had been holding, he decided to allot it to Sridhar Babu.
Parliament to pass Telangana bill next month: Jaipal Reddy
Union Science and Technology Minister S. Jaipal Reddy Wednesday said the bill for formation of a separate Telangana state will be passed by parliament in the first week of February.
Reacting to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy taking away legislative affairs portfolio from D. Sridhar Babu, a minister from Telangana, Jaipal Reddy said a conspiracy was hatched to stall the constitutional process.
Doghlapan: Two worlds exist in Mulayam’s Uttar Pradesh
THE difference could not be starker as villagers of Saifai in Etawah welcomed the New Year at a gala event, organised by Mulayam Singh Yadav’s family, while some hundreds of kilometers away refugees struggled for survival in 0.3 degrees Celsius in relief camps in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts.
Saifai, the ancestral village of Mulayam Singh Yadav, welcomed New Year by bursting firecrackers.
It is learnt that about ` 1 crore was spent on the crackers for the amusement of about 4,000 people, which is less than half of the number of refugees languishing at the relief camps.
Kites with Narendra Modi’s images a hit in RajkoT
During the Makar Sankranti festival, the Rajkot skyline would be dotted with kites carrying images of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
The festival will be celebrated on January 14, and people in Rajkot are buying kites with images of Modi and renowned philosopher, Swami Vivekananda.
Modi has become a popular figure among people here.
SP draws criticism over insensitive handling of Muzaffarnagar riot victims
The Samajwadi Party (SP) and its government in Uttar Pradesh invited wrath of political parties on Wednesday for the ‘insensitive’ handling of riots victims in Muzaffarnagar District.
On December 23, party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav had said that those living in the relief camps were not actually riot victims, but conspirators and political activists planted by the Congress party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The state government’s Principal Secretary (Home) had admitted on December 26 to the deaths of 34 children in relief camps in Muzaffarnagar.
India cancels Rs.3600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal: TV reports
The Indian Government on Wednesday cancelled the Rs.3600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, television channel reports and other media quoted unnamed defence ministry sources, as saying.
The deal involved the purchase of twelve helicopters to transport top politicians across the country. The deal for the purchase of AW101 helicopters hit a block in February 2013 after the then-chief executive of the Italian firm Finmeccanica was arrested by his country’s police for allegedly paying bribes to secure the deal, prompting the Indian Government to freeze payments.
Jennifer Lawrence voted 2013’s top money-making star
Jennifer Lawrence has been named the top money-making movie star of 2013, beating off competition from the likes of Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper.
In the annual poll, conducted by Quigley Publishing Company on cinema owners, Bullock landed on the second spot, while Lawrence’s ‘American Hustle’ co-star Cooper finished third, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ star was recently also dubbed the sexiest woman in film and her highly-anticipated film ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1’ has been chosen as the most anticipated film of 2014.
Controversial reality star Phil Robertson now advises men to marry teen girls
‘Duck Dynasty’ star Phil Robertson, who caused much uproar after expressing anti-gay beliefs and making statements about pre-Civil War African-Americans, has sparked another controversy after asking men to marry girls “when they are 15 or 16”.