The Government today reiterated that it will not be able to provide security to this year’s Indian Premier League as its dates clash with general elections.
“We have conveyed to the BCCI that we will not be able to provide security during IPL matches. Our forces will be deployed for security of Lok Sabha elections. So, how we can give them forces,” Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters here.
Jharkhand assembly speaker Shashank Shekhar Bhokta has been accorded Z category security and the legislators of the state have been kept above the chief secretary in protocol, it was announced Tuesday.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Singh announced the protocol of the speaker and the state legislators in the assembly. Earlier, Bhokta was accorded Y category security.
“Now, the assembly speaker has been accorded Z category security cover. The legislators of the state are above the chief secretary as far as protocol is concerned,” Rajendra Singh told the assembly Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow reserves the right to use all means to protect Russian in Ukraine as US Secretary of State John Kerry was on his way to Kiev.
Tensions remained high in the strategic Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea with troops loyal to Moscow firing warning shots to ward off protesting Ukrainian soldiers.
In first comments since fugitive Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych fled Kiev, Putin said he considers him to still be Ukraine’s leader, and hopes that Russia won’t need to use force in predominantly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine.
The much-awaited schedule for the Lok Sabha polls will be announced by the Election Commission on Wednesday.
With the announcement of poll dates, the model code of conduct for governments and political parties will come into force with immediate effect.
The schedule will be announced at a press conference by chief election commissioner V S Sampath along with two election commissioners H S Brahma and S N A Zaidi. The conference this time is being held at Vigyan Bhawan instead of at Nirvachan Bhawan, the EC headquarters.
The chairman of Iran’s Assembly of Experts urged the country’s nuclear negotiators Tuesday to protect what he called the “nuclear rights of Iranians” in ongoing talks with major world powers.
Iran’s nuclear negotiators should safeguard nuclear rights of the Iranian nation, Ayatollah Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi-Kani said, adding that “they (Iranian negotiators) are not supposed to cross the red lines” over the issue, Xinhua reported.
The Panaji bench of the Bombay High Court Tuesday adjourned Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal’s bail hearing to Friday, his lawyer said.
Emerging from the in-camera hearing at 5 p.m., defence lawyer Sandeep Kapoor refused to disclose any details of the proceedings, only saying: “I cannot say anything. The hearing has been adjourned to Friday.”
Tejpal, wearing a white cotton shirt and blue denim trousers, was present during the hearing but did not make any comment.
Maharashtra BJP strongly backed its former party chief Nitin Gadkari, who had met Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray yesterday, to request him not to contest Lok Sabha polls, to ensure that votes do not get fragmented.
“Gadkariji has clarified the motive behind meeting Raj Thackeray, since he said that if MNS contests Lok Sabha polls, it will lead to division of votes (between the BJP-Sena-RPI alliance and the MNS),” Maharashtra BJP chief Devendra Fadnavis told reporters here.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the installation of CCTV cameras in all courts in Islamabad Tuesday, a day after the suicide attack on a district court that killed 11 people.
Besides the two suicide bombers, a judge and five lawyers were also killed in the terror attack.
The Supreme Court directed the installation of CCTV cameras within 48 hours in Islamabad and the nearby city of Rawalpindi, Xinhua reported.
Virender Sehwag remains “unwell” and will miss Delhi’s crucial game against Haryana in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (North Zone) at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Wednesday.
Sehwag pulled out of his team’s last match against Himachal Pradesh at the 11th hour Monday, amid growing concerns over his poor form.
“Sehwag will not play tomorrow. He has not yet recovered from fever. He remains a great player and we hope he will be fit soon,” Chetan Chauhan, chairman of Delhi team’s selection committee and former India opener, told IANS.
A month after taking over as Microsoft chief, Satya Nadella today announced a major top-level reshuffle, which saw the heads of marketing and business development resigning.
In a letter to employees of the US software major, Nadella said Executive Vice President Business Development and Evangelism Tony Bates has resigned and his role will be taken over by Eric Rudder as interim head.
Hitting out at Narendra Modi, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma today said the economic vision of BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate is nothing but “political plagiarism”.
Modi, he said, revealed nothing new in his economic vision for India and only rehashed the UPA government’s achievements.
“What is being claimed as a vision (by Modi) is political plagiarism,” Sharma told reporters here.
The minister also said the Gujarat Chief Minister’s claims on investment figures during Vibrant Gujarat Summits were highly exaggerated.
A 16-year-old Indian boy in Sharjah allegedly committed suicide as he was upset about his poor performance in a CBSE examination, a media report said today.
The boy, identified only as A S, was reportedly depressed after performing badly in the examination a few days ago.
The body of the boy, a grade 11 student of an Indian school here, was found hanging from the terrace of his apartment on Sunday afternoon, a few hours after he had left home on the pretext of going to school to sit for the second exam.
Eleven children fell ill Tuesday after drinking water from a handpump at a school in Bihar’s East Champaran district, officials said. All were reported out of danger after basic treatment.
The incident took place at the government primary school in Dharampur of East Champaran, a police officer said.
According to police officials, the children, mostly minor, complained of stomach pains and started vomiting after drinking the water.
The sick were taken to a primary health centre and discharged after initial treatment.
Retired Australian fast bowler Brett Lee, who has waged many a stirring battle against Sachin Tendulkar, today rated the Indian legend a notch above West Indies great Brian Lara, thus singing a different tune to that of veteran South Africa all-rounder Jaques Kallis.
Asked to compare the two great batsmen, Lee said, “I have to say Sachin, because he has that aura when he comes out to bat,” he said at a media conference here.
Priyanka Chopra’s cousin Saurabh is getting married in Delhi, and the actress, currently busy shooting for “Mary Kom”, is waiting to join her family for the wedding.
“Missing mere (my) brother Saurabh ki shaadi (wedding) celebrations in delhi. The whole family is there. Can’t wait to go. Full Chopra style gaana shaana,” Priyanka tweeted Monday.
“Miss you family. (I’ll) Be there soon,” she later posted.
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Anupam enjoyed ‘Main Tera Hero’ journey
BJP senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday accused the Congress party of insulting the Telugu people over the issue of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
Addressing a press conference here, Venkaiah Naidu said that although the Congress Government is search for houses for Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who is going to step-down in June. But no efforts are being made to find a location for new capital of Seemandhra people, he alleged.
More than half the budget of the minority affairs ministry is spent on scholarships, Minority Affairs Minister K. Rahman Khan said Tuesday.
“More than half of the annual budget of the ministry is spent on scholarship and fellowship programmes,” he said.
“During 2012-13 and 2013-14 so far, the ministry has spent more than Rs.3,600 crore to award scholarships to more than 1.58 crore minority students,” he added.
The minister was speaking after launching the Maulana Azad Sehat Scheme, a health scheme for minority institutions.
Telangana Union of Working Journalists has criticised the attempts of a group of journalists to form a separate Union in the event of bifurcation of the Andhra Pradesh State in the name and title of Telangana Union of Working Journalists.
Chat show host Ellen DeGeneres gave a USD 1,000 tip to the man, who delivered the pizzas at the Oscar ceremony.
The delivery man, Edgar Martirosyan, appeared on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ to talk about the Oscar event, that took place on March 2, reported Ace Showbiz.
DeGeneres and Martirosyan previously went to audience members’ area as they delivered the pizzas to actors like Brad Pitt, Jared Leto and Meryl Streep.
The Lok Satta Party on Tuesday warned that there is the danger of local agenda being eclipsed in municipal elections with general elections to the Assembly and the Lok Sabha taking place soon thereafter.
Taking strong objection to union minister Jairam Ramesh statements during his visit to the state, YSR Congress has said his announcements mean nothing to Seemandhra and they are in violation of the code of conduct.
“Jairam Ramesh, who was elected from the State to the Rajya Sabha, has never bothered about the state while there was a huge movement against the division. He did not speak out like a representative of the region but helped the Bill to get through.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Tuesday said the forthcoming general election will give Indians their second independence.
“It is not an ordinary election that would result in change of government. It is one that would give Indians freedom from corrupt rule, threat from neighbouring nations and other ills,” Jayalalithaa said.
Former minister D Sridhar Babu on Tuesday claimed that the Congress party is capable of contesting and winning elections alone.
Speaking to media persons after attending the meeting of Telangana Congress leaders at K Jana Reddy’s residence here, Sridhar Babu said that the Congress never depended on other parties to win elections. Referring to TRS Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, he said that the Congress does not leaders who change their words frequently. He said that the Congress party has a strong cadre and its workers serve the people without bothering about victory or defeat in elections.
PCC Vice-President and MLC Mohammad Ali Shabbir on Tuesday alleged that TRS Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao never said any truth in his life.
Congress MLC Yadav Reddy on Tuesday said that TRS President K Chandrasekhar Rao was trying to project himself as the sole hero of Telangana.
Speaking to media persons here, Yadav Reddy alleged that KCR was habitual of blackmailing political parties. He said KCR first allied with the Congress and then sailed with the TDP. The TRS chief is now exploring new options to continue his blackmail politics, he alleged.