Month: February 2014

Support to Mamata only for coming LS poll: Hazare

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Social activist Anna Hazare today said his support to the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was only for coming Lok Sabha elections.

“My support will be only till the next elections,” Hazare said in a statement issued from his native place, Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district.

“Mamata Banerjee has fought for the society and has faced physical assaults in national interest and I feel such people should lead the country.

“That is the reason I have extended my support to Banerjee. However, this support will be only till the coming polls,” he said.

India lost a decade under UPA rule: Narendra Modi

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Accusing the Congress-led UPA government of pushing back the country by a decade, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi today said that he would endeavour to provide effective governance as it was more important than good policies.

“We need direction, determination and dedication… We need good governance. Bad governance is like diabetes which invites all kinds of ailments”, he said while unveiling his vision for development at a seminar on ‘A New Growth Paradigm for India’.

Reliance Industries says AAP charges false, baseless

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Reliance Industries has taken strong exception to the allegations of money laundering made by AAP Thursday, called them “false”, “defamatory” and “baseless”, and said the matter had already been adequately responded to and addressed in courts and by regulators.

The statement of denial titled “:rehash of old allegation” came a few of hours after Aam Aadmi Party leader and senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan charged the UPA government with ignoring a probe request three years ago by the Indian mission in Singapore against Reliance Industries and its chairman Mukesh Ambani.

Pakistan expresses reservations about death of Pakistani prisoner

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Pakistan on Thursday expressed reservations about the death of a Pakistani prisoner found hanging inside a jail in Kashmir last week.

Jail authorities had claimed Shaukat Ali, had committed suicide by using a scarf to hang himself from the iron bars of a toilet window at the jail in Jammu.

Jail officials also said 42-year-old Ali was under medication for depression and had recently been examined by a psychiatrist in jail.

Delhi Police launch ‘lost report’ service

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Delhi Police Thursday launched a mobile and web application service to report about the lost articles like mobile phones, passports and driving licenses without going to the police station.

The service, launched by union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, will help people to inform police about their lost articles and get the immediate feedback within a few minutes.

Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi said it will be called “lost report” service.

Delhi Police seek more time to probe Bhatkal case

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Delhi Police Thursday sought from a court here 15 more days to complete probe against Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and his close aide Asadullah Akhtar in the 2010 Jama Masjid terror attack case.

Delhi Police in a plea Thursday informed the court they have received information from Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US about movements of a “wanted terrorist” of IM in Bihar or Kerala.

Additional Sessions Judge Daya Prakash has allowed police plea for more time to collect evidence against Bhatkal, Akhtar and other accused in the case.

Pakistani sleuths testify against LeT man in Mumbai case

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Officials of Pakistan’s main investigation agency have presented evidence in an anti- terrorism court of financial transactions done by one of the seven suspects charged with planning and financing the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Three officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) presented a detailed report on financial transactions by Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Younus Anjum, who was arrested in Lahore in 2009.

The officials told the court yesterday that funds involved in the transactions done by Anjum were used for terrorist activities, sources told PTI.

Anti-dumping duties detrimental to trade ties: Saudi Arabia

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Saudi Arabia today said imposition of anti-dumping duty by India on various products would be detrimental to the trade relations between the two countries.

The issue was raised by Minister of Commerce and Industry of Saudi Arabia Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al Rabiah with his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma here.

“The Saudi side raised the issue of anti-dumping duty imposed on various items of their industry. (which) is detrimental for the trade relations between the two countries,” an official statement said.

Won’t change my action though variation is a necessity: Rasool

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Talented off-spinner and India contender Parveez Rasool is keen to add a few more variation in his armoury as an off-break bowler but would not like to tinker with his natural action while doing so.

Out-of-form India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin yesterday surprised one and all by bowling with a completely different action which didn’t yield him any greater result.

While Rasool refused discussion on Ashwin’s action, he did express his views about sticking to the basics.

India finish 5th in ICC U-19 World Cup

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India overcame Tagenarine Chanderpaul’s century to beat the West Indies by 46 runs at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in a play-off match for the 5th-6th positions at the ICC Under-19 World Cup here Thursday.

Chanderpaul scored 112 from 136 balls with eight fours and a six as the West Indies, chasing India’s mammoth 340/8, finished at 294/8. Chanderpaul finished the tournament with 293 runs with one century and two half-centuries.

Shatabdi speed to go up to 160 km

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To reduce travel time between Delhi-Agra and Delhi-Chandigarh, railways is gearing up to run Shatabdi Express at 160 km per hour speed on these routes by the year-end.

“We have given the responsibility of preparing detailed project report for running semi-high speed train in Delhi-Agra and Delhi-Chandigarh route to High-Speed Rail Corporation,” Chairman Railway Board Arunendra Kumar said.

The two routes have been selected as a pilot project for running trains at a higher speed up to 160 km per hour on the existing track, locomotives and coaches.

Modi, Rahul Gandhi & Kejriwal dominate Google’s search trends

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As India inches closer towards general elections, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Aam Aadmi Party founder Arvind Kejriwal and Congress vice- president Rahul Gandhi have emerged as the most searched politicians online, Google said today.

According to Google Trends, on a scale of 0-100, Modi scored 65 points, followed by Kejriwal (52 points) and Gandhi (41 points) for the month of February so far.

In January this year, Kejriwal (72 points) was ahead of Gandhi (64 points) and Modi (56 points) in terms of search on Google, the world’s largest search giant.

WC set to zero in on two prospective countries for IPL

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The BCCI Working Committee will meet here tomorrow to shortlist two prospective countries which will be kept as alternative venues for the seventh edition of the IPL which is co-inciding with the general elections.

While South Africa is the front-runner having had the experience of hosting the second season of IPL, United Arab Emirates (UAE) is also among the countries being considered for the event to be held between April 9 to June 3 window.

Kate Hudson facing ‘relationship problems’ with fiance Matthew Bellamy

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Kate Hudson is reportedly having relationship problems with her fiance of three years Matthew Bellamy.

According to sources, ‘ The Bride Wars’ actress and the ‘ Muse’ rocker have been having problems as they have grown apart and are rethinking their engagement, Us Magazine reported.

Sources added that the couple, who has a 2-year-old son Bing , is taking time apart to try to make things work as “it’s not good right now”. (ANI)

Govt. running as per Rahul Gandhi’s whims and fancies: BJP

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the central government of blindly following the orders of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.

BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said: “You see, Rahul Gandhi says tear the ordinance, and the cabinet meets and tears the ordinance apart. He says increase the number of LPG connections to twelve, the cabinet meets. He says I want these bills, so the cabinet gets together and says okay we will issue the ordinance. So, he is the boss. This country is condemned to live on the basis of his whims and fancies.”

Hyderabad airport adjudged second-best in 2013 by ACI

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Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) here, operated and managed by the GMR Hyderabad International Airport , today said it has retained its second position for the year 2013 in the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey conducted by the Airport Council International.

ACI, a global body of airports, has adjudged RGIA as the second-best airport in the world for 2013 in the 5-15 million passengers per annum (MPPA) category, a GHIAL release said.

RGIA was ranked as the best airport in 2009 and 2010, third-best in 2011, and second-best in 2012, it added.

More seats between India and Dubai to create cheaper travel options

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Increase in number of seats in flights between India and Dubai will allow for multiple choice of travel and cheap connections for Indian passengers, sectoral experts said Thursday.

“Enhancement of seat quotas with Dubai is a good thing for both countries. It will help enhance supply of seats, increase competition and help bring down fares,” said Amber Dubey, partner and India head of aerospace and defense at global consultancy KPMG.

“The winter of 2014 may see the arrival of Emirates’ A380s which will further reduce the airfares to India.”

One held with loaded pistol in Delhi Metro

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A person was today apprehended from a Delhi Metro station here for allegedly carrying a loaded country-made pistol in his baggage.

The incident took place this afternoon at the Shahdra Metro station when a CISF jawan posted at the X-ray baggage scanner detected the pistol in one of the baggage.

A resident of Ghaziabad’s Loni named Arif (20) was carrying the bag and he was apprehended and handed over to local police, a senior Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officer said.

Guns and explosives are banned from being taken inside the rapid rail transport system.

Nana Patekar slams Sanjay Dutt’s parole extension

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Notwithstanding the support of Bollywood bigwigs to Sanjay Dutt, Nana Patekar today slammed the extension of parole to the jailed actor, saying he would never work with the convicted star.

The 63-year-old actor said the least he can do is boycott the films that Dutt stars in.

“I have not worked with him in 22 years of my career, I will not work with him in future too,” the actor told a news channel here.

“Government will do whatever they want. They are saying that it is legal, you can’t say anything about it. But I will do whatever is in my hands,” he added.

Kapil sir is amazing; Rahman average, says Salman on ‘Raunaq’

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Superstar Salman Khan, who unveiled Academy-award winning musician A R Rahman’s new album ‘Raunaq’ here, today gave full marks to the lyrics penned by Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal for the musical composition.

‘Raunaq’ is a unique collaboration between the legendary musician and the Central minister, who wrote all the songs for the album.

“It is a great pleasure to be here for this launch. The songs are nice. I think Kapil sir is amazing and Rahman is average,” Salman said with a chuckle.

No plan to supply arms to Syrian rebels: Pakistan

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Pakistan today denied any changes in its policy on Syria amidst reports that it is holding talks with Saudi Arabia to provide weapons to rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Sartaj Aziz, Advisor to the premier on Foreign Affairs and National Security, dispelled the impression of a change in Pakistan’s policy on Syria and said speculation in the media had no foundation.

“The reports about arms supply to Syria are totally baseless and misleading,” he told reporters in response to a question regarding a policy shift on Syria.

BJP does not have courage to apologise to Muslims: Nitish

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Unimpressed with BJP’s offer to apologise for any “mistake” or shortcomings in the past, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said one needed to have “courage” for it.

“One needs to have courage to apologise, which, I think, they do not have,” Kumar told reporters when asked about BJP President Rajnath Singh’s offer of apology to reach out to Muslims ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

“You need to have a feeling from inside that I have committed this mistake… I do not think that the party has the courage to say so,” the senior JD(U) leader said.

Nitish asks Lalu to be ready to face more ‘short-circuits’

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Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today described the rebellion in RJD camp as “fire in Lalu Prasad’s house due to short circuit,” and asked him to be prepared to face more such incidents.

“Be prepared to face more such short circuits in your house… Better check your wire,” Kumar said while talking to reporters here.

On February 24, 13 RJD MLAs announced to have quit the party but nine of them later claimed they were not part of the breakaway faction.

It was actually a fire within his (Lalu’s) own house for which he was wrongly blaming outsiders, Kumar said.