Mr. Mahmood Ali, a member of Legislative Council is the first Muslim Deputy Chief Minister in the country after independence. Mr. KCR had promised that he would appoint a Muslim and a Dalith as Dy. CMs which he has fulfilled.
The Nigerian military Monday confirmed it killed nine Boko Haram fighters in the northeastern Borno state.
“Patrol troops have successfully repelled an ambush in Buratai community in Biu, a town in Borno state. The troops who fell into the ambush laid by the terrorists while on patrol, engaged the terrorists in a decisive fire fight killing four of them and capturing one alive,” Xinhua quoted military spokesperson Maj Gen Chris Olukolade as saying.
The military repelled the insurgents’ attempt to launch attack in Buratai and Kawuri areas of the state, he added.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M.Venkaiah Naidu on Monday greeted the people of India”s 29th state Telangana, and said their dream had finally come true. “I am very happy and extend greetings on the occasion of creation of new state of Telangana. It is a long cherished wish of the people of Telangana to have a separate state and the BJP has been supporting it for long,” said Naidu. “We are happy that the dream has come true. I am hopeful that with the cooperation of the state and centre, and the hard work of people, Telangana will move forward.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday confirmed that an Indian national working in Herat city of Afghanistan has been kidnapped. “We can confirm that an Indian national who was working in Heart of Afghanistan) has been kidnapped today. He was working in education sector,” said MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin. “We understand that since this has happened, our counsal general in Afghanistan has been active. It is an evolving situation. All efforts are been made to rescue the national,” he added. No terrorist group has taken the responsibility for the kidnapping. (ANI)
Former Railways Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, who has been appointed as the Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha, on Monday said that he will try his best to stand by the principles of the party. “I will try my best to stand on the principles of the party. I will also try to protect the democratic norms,” said Kharge. Thanking Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Kharge said, “Sonia Gandhi has trusted me and has posed her confidence in me.” Earlier, The Congress party announced that Kharge would be representing the party in the Lok Sabha of the parliament.
Clashes erupted in Benghazi between Libya’s army troops and Islamist armed groups Monday, causing at least 21 deaths and about 110 injuries, authorities said.
The clashes were mainly in the Garyounes area. Islamist militia groups’ February 17 Brigade and Ansar al-Sharia jointly attacked the base of Libyan Special Forces 21 Battalion which sided with renegade general Khalifa Haftar, Xinhua quoted air force commander Colonel Saad Warfali as saying.
Israel’s cabinet Monday announced a series of resolutions against the new Palestinian unity government after it was sworn-in in Ramallah.
“The diplomatic security cabinet decided to continue the suspension of the negotiations with a Hamas-backed Palestinian government,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement, Xinhua reported.
Earlier, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reassured that the unity government consist of technocrats who are not affiliated with a political party but still accept past agreements with Israel and also denounce terrorism.
Two senion IPS officers, accused by their female subordinates of misbehaving with them, were today suspended by Uttar Pradesh government.
D P Srivastva, DIG, PTS Meerut, and Sajeev Tyagi, ASP Kanpur City, were placed under suspension and attached to the
DGP Headquarters with immidete effect, a police headquarters spokesman said.
A trainee lady inpector had accused Srivastava of misbehaving with her and a woman employee of the department
had levelled a similar charge against Tyagi some time ago.
———————–PTI
Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan is reportedly in talks to make her West End debut.
The “Mean Girls” star is rumoured to planning a permanent move to London after spending a lot of time in the city in the recent past, and now a new report suggests that Lohan is hoping to land a stage role, reports contactmusic.com.
Lohan is in talks to star in a West End revival of David Mamet’s play “Speed-the-Plow”. She is said to be in talks for the role of Karen, which was previously played by Madonna on Broadway in 1988.
A court in Egypt Monday sentenced 28 supporters of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi to life in prison in absentia after they were found guilty of violence in Fayyoum province, the media reported.
Egyptian prosecutors have accused the Morsi supporters of “harming the national unity, social peace, using violence, protesting without a police permit, and attacking public and private property,” Xinhua reported citing state news agency MENA.
They were also charged with belonging to Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood which has been banned by Egypt as a terrorist group.
The Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) wished success to the future King of Spain, Felipe de Borbon, as the head of state after his father Juan Carlos de Borbon abdicated Monday.
Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, secretary general of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), said this was the beginning of a new era and Felipe de Borbon represented the respect for the Spanish constitution, Xinhua reported.
Rubalcaba said that Felipe was the best guarantee for the new reign so that it can “be a new period of success in our collective life”.
Libya’s army chief Major General Abdulaslam Jadallah Obeidi Monday survived an assassination attempt in the capital Tripoli, an army spokesperson said.
Obeidi was subjected to heavy fire on a highway near the Tripoli coast. His guards fired back, forcing the attackers to flee, Xinhua quoted the spokesperson as saying.
No one was injured during the crossfire, and the gunmen’s identities are still not known.
Unidentified armed robbers Monday looted cash amounting to Rs.12.5 lakh from a business executive while he was on his way to deposit it in a bank, police said.
The incident occurred in the Mohan Nagar area under Sahibabad police station, when Jitendra Kumar, the manager of a soft drink supplying firm, was on his way to deposit the money in the Mohan Nagar branch of Bank of India.
In the absence of a company employee, he asked Ranjit, the son of a logistic contractor, to accompany him to the bank.
The Congress Monday appointed former railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge as the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha.
Party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told IANS that Kharge “has been appointed as the leader of the Congress parliamentary party in Lok Sabha”.
Dwivedi added that it was up to the “speaker to decide (whether the) status of leader of opposition” would be granted in Kharge’s case as the party does not have enough numbers to claim the mantle of the main opposition party in the Lok Sabha.
Pope Francis condoled the death of Indian Cardinal Simon Lourdusamy, who passed away in Rome early Monday after being hospitalised with failing health, a media report said.
The funeral service of 90-year-old Lourdusamy, the former prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Oriental Churches, will take place Thursday in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome at the end of which Pope Francis will conclude the last rites, the official broadcaster of the Roman Catholic Church, Vatican Radio reported Monday.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Monday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought special category status for his state.
Patnaik led a delegation of his party’s parliamentarians and discussed issues related to his state, including central assistance.
He later told reporters that he raised the state’s demand for special category status with the prime minister.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office described the meeting as a “courtesy call”.
“A delegation of 24 MPs from the state also met the prime minister,” it said.
(IANS)
Simona Halep held off Sloane Stephens of the US 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the quarter-finals of the French Open Monday.
Halep, 22, will now appear in her first-ever French Open quarterfinal. She reached her first Grand Slam last eight at this year’s Australian Open, Xinhua reported.
“I managed very well the match. I opened the angles. I wanted to let her run a lot on court. I think I played aggressive and dominated the match,” she said.
The fourth-seeded Romanian, the highest-remaining seed, will play the winner between Svetlana Kuznetsova and Lucie Safarova.
The CPI-M’s farmers wing Monday opposed the Narendra Modi government’s proposed decision to implement the recommendations made by the Madhav Gadgil-led Western Ghat ecological expert panel.
“AIKS cautions the government against rushing through its implementation without addressing serious concerns in the minds of the people in Western Ghats,” said a statement issued by All India Kisan Sabha, the Communist Party of India-Marxist’s farmers wing.
The CPI-M Tuesday said its failure to activate the party organisation ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and resist atrocities led loose by the ruling Trinamool Congress have contributed to the “unexpected erosion” in its support in the general election in West Bengal.
Expressing deep concern over the deterioration in West Bengal’s industrial climate, the CPI-M Monday demanded that the state’s Mamta Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government initiate steps to reopen factories, jute mills and tea gardens which have closed down recently.
Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva Monday wished the national football team success in the FIFA World Cup starting June 12 in Brazil.
“I want to wish you all, players and technical team, the best success in Brazil, that you will give joy to the Portuguese,” Cavaco Silva told the players at the Presidential Palace, reported Xinhua.
“You should not have the smallest doubt that, despite the distance, the Portuguese will be by your side, with enthusiasm, joy and with strong hope, and with the conviction that you are giving the best of yourselves in the name of Portugal.”
Top-ranked Rafael Nadal relentlessly continued his quest for a record fifth consecutive French Open tennis title as he dismantled unseeded Dusan Lajovic 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals here Monday.
The 27-year-old left-hander, also seeking a record ninth French Open crown, used only 93 minutes to devastate the Serb, reported Xinhua.
The Spaniard, who is obviously in awesome form, will play countryman David Ferrer in the quarterfinal in a repeat of the 2013 French Open final.
Nadal said he needs to play well to beat Ferrer.
Heavy rains lashed Bangalore late Monday after a hot day, throwing normal life out of gear and causing huge traffic jams across the city due to evening rush hour and congestion on many arterial roads.
According to the weather office, the city received 20 to 30mm rainfall in two hours from 6.30 p.m., inundating low-laying areas and heavy winds uprooted trees in many residential areas.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday met members of his council of ministers and is understood to have laid thrust on good governance and implementation of programmes.
In the marathon meeting that lasted for over three hours, ministers are also understood to have given their inputs and suggestions for inclusion in the address of President Pranab Mukherjee to the joint session of two houses of parliament.
The president’s address lists priorities of the government.
The first session of the 16th Lok Sabha will commence June 4.
With a lowering of international crude oil prices and strengthening of the rupee, oil marketing companies (OMCs) Monday cut the price of non-subsidised cooking gas, which customers buy after using up their quota of 12 subsidised cylinders, by Rs. 23.50 per cylinder.
The price of a non-subsidised 14.2 kg cooking gas cylinder in Delhi is now Rs.905, down from Rs 928.50.
A subsidised gas cylinder costs Rs 414.
Indian Oil said losses on LPG have come down to Rs.432.71 per subsidised cylinder from Rs. 449.14 in the previous month.