Month: July 2014

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Wednesday condemned Israel’s killing and injuring refugees, including children in their sleep and women in a UN designated shelter in Gaza, as a “serious violation of international law by Israeli forces” and as “a source of universal shame”.

“Last night, children were killed (by Israeli forces) as they slept next to their parents on the floor of a classroom in a UN designated shelter in Gaza,” Pierre Krahenbuhl, UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl said in a statement on the agency’s website.

Sixteen former ministers of the UPA government were in unauthorised possession of government bungalows for over a month and have been served eviction notices, parliament was told Wednesday.

Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that the former ministers owe a total damage charges of nearly Rs.21 lakh for a month of unauthorised stay.

At least 33 people were killed in a stampede following a beach concert in Guinea’s capital Conakry, media reported Wednesday.

The tragedy occurred Tuesday when the crowd was leaving through a narrow gate after the concert, which was organised to celebrate the end of Ramadan, Xinhua reported.

Some people fell onto the ground and were trampled on, according to the reports.

Thousands of people, mostly children and youths, went to the concert to watch the performance of local popular rap groups. The event took place Tuesday evening on a beach in Ratoma in the capital.

Congress leader Rajeev Shukla today stated that his party’s stand has been vindicated in the VVIP chopper case, following the Italian prosecutors shelving proceedings against Finmeccanica and also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for insulting Congress leaders unnecessarily. “BJP has been trying to take political mileage out of this, they were unnecessarily insulting Congress leaders, who were not related to it and therefore it was not correct,” Shukla said.

Communist Party of India (CPI) leader, D. Raja today alleged that BJP-led NDA government was working under the influence of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS), and urged the government to consult all stakeholders, before coming to a decision in respect to genetically modified (GM) crops. “Definitely the government is increasingly coming under the guidance of RSS and the outfits controlled by RSS. Having said that, different political parties and different farmers’ organizations have taken a stand, where there is a strong resistance to genetically modified (GM) crops.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said here on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit United States later during the year.

” PM’s visit to US will explore initiatives that can move Indo-US relations to next level,” said Akbaruddin. (ANI)

South Africa’s Jacques Kallis, one of the greatest all-rounders that the game has seen, today announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket, bringing the curtains down on an illustrious career spanning nearly two decades.

The 38-year-old Kallis said his poor performance in Sri Lanka prompted him to take the decision to retire though he will continue playing in the Indian Premier League and other T20 leagues.

Kallis scored 13,289 runs in 166 Tests with 45 Test centuries and 58 half-centuries at an average of 55.37 — second only to the iconic Sachin Tendulkar.

China today accused the US of having a “political bias” and expressed its “firm opposition” to an American report alleging that the Communist nation severely restricted religious freedom of Tibetans and Uygur Muslims.

The US State Department in its annual international religious freedom report released yesterday continued to include China on a list of countries of particular concern.

“We urge the U S to abandon its political bias and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of religion,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

Actress Kareena Kapoor, who will be seen in ‘Singham Returns’, said that she hopes director Rohit Shetty would make a film on a female police official.

In ‘Singham Returns’ Kareena has played the love interest of a police official Bajirao Singham, which is a character essayed by Ajay Devgn.

Indian athlete Sahana Nagaraj qualified for the women’s high jump final at the Commonwealth Games here Wednesday.

The 33-year-old Indian leapt the highest – 1.81 metres – on her fourth attempt after easily jumping over 1.66m, 1.71m and 1.76m on her first three tries at the Hampden Park Stadium.

Cypriot Leonita Kallenou topped the qualification group with a best jump of 1.85m.

The Karnataka woman will go for her best in the final Friday.
(IANS)

A division bench of the Calcutta High Court Wednesday held in abeyance till Thursday afternoon a single judge’s order directing a CID probe and filing of an FIR into the rape and violence remarks by Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Paul.

On appeals filed by the West Bengal government and Paul challenging Monday’s order of Justice Dipankar Dutta, the division bench said as the matter will continue to be heard Thursday, Dutta’s order need not be given effect to till 2 p.m.

The Islamic Hamas movement rejected Wednesday an Israeli-proposed four-hour lull in fighting in the Gaza Strip even in the coastal enclave in the ongoing offensive reached 1,302.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zohri said in a press statement that the Israeli proposal for a four-hour truce is worthless as it does include hot zones along the borders with Gaza, Xinhua reported.

“This is an act of media manoeuvre,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli army authorised a temporary truce in Gaza from 12 noon GMT to 4 p.m. GMT.

Miss Diva, that was launched last year as a official franchise from India for Miss Universe, is set to stars auditions Thursday.

With the national auditions at various cities starting from July 31, Miss Diva 2014 will strive to identify the divas who will be a perfect personification of beauty and intelligence. The winner of Miss Diva 2014 will represent India at Miss Universe 2014 with aplomb and confidence, said a statement.

The rounds will starts from Ahmedabad, moving to Indore, Lucknow, Kolkatta, Chandigarh, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore and will end in Mumbai.

Bollywood super hit “Dhoom: 3”, which reportedly opened on 2,000 screens in 400 Chinese cities, has entered the Chinese top ten chart.

After storming the Turkish box office and becoming the only Indian film to get to the Turkish Top 10, “Dhoom:3”, Yash Raj Films (YRF) offering, has now entered the Chinese Top 10 Charts at number 9, said a statement from the film’s production house.

Britain’s capital needs 1.3 trillion pounds of investment in infrastructure to maintain its status as a leading global city, a new report revealed Wednesday.

The London Infrastructure Plan 2050 says the city’s population is due to soar by 37 percent to more than 11 million by the middle of the century and that there was a need to find 1.3 trillion pounds, akin to funding a London Olympics every three months for the next 35 years, the London Evening Standard reported.

A robbery of Rs.18 lakh and the murder of an accountant of a firm here has been solved following the arrest of four robbers, police said Wednesday.

Acting on a tip-off, police nabbed the robbers from Tronica City area on the Delhi-Saharanpur road, Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police Dharmendra Yadav said.

The robbers – Vishal alias Dharam Pal, a resident of Partapur in Meerut, Kapil, a resident of Sardhana in Meerut, Shiva alias Sanjay, also a resident of Sardhana and Kamal, a resident of Hapur – confessed to their crime.

One of the reasons for reverting to the three-year undergraduate programme in Delhi University was to ensure that its students are not “put to any disadvantage” vis-a-vis students of other universities, Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani told parliament Wednesday.

At least 25 people were killed and over 160 remain trapped under a hillock which crashed on a village near Pune early Wednesday, district officials said.

With barely six structures, including the village panchayat office, left intact, the bustling Malin village of about 50 homes, about 120 km from here, has been wiped off the state’s map.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan told media persons that with about 160 people remaining trapped, the toll can go up.

The family of an Indian delivery van driver, who has been missing in Australia for the last three months, has publicly appealed for help here.

Shiva Chauhan, 27, had gone missing after carryout his regular deliveries May 1 with his locked van found next day in Keysborough, a suburb of Melbourne.

Police released pictures of the missing youth, when deliveries were not made and Chauhan did not show up at an arranged meeting next day.

Consequently, police’s homicide squad launched a probe into the matter.

A forthcoming event, Singapore Indian Icons of the Year 2014, will bring together known names from the world of Indian art, fashion and Bollywood on Aug 24 for a dazzling event with a unique segment of auctions here.

Act For Hope is an initiative led by Prerna Jhunjhunwala and Aashna Chopra.

Christened ‘Camera Catwalk Canvas – Showcasing the Creative Essence of India’, the first-time event to be held at St. Regis, Singapore, will have glitz, glamour and artistry. It will be hosted by Mandira Bedi.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said here on Wednesday that the Pune landslide had swept away around 44 houses of Ambegaon village.

“Ambegaon village has a population of 715, due to the landslide around 44 houses swept away, 160 people are feared trapped,” said Chavan.

“Two teams of the national Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are there, rescue operations are underway,” he added.

Israel Wednesday expressed its “deep disappointment” at the withdrawal of the ambassadors of Peru, Chile and El Salvador in protest over the offensive in Gaza, and said it was a “show of suppport for terrorist organisation Hamas”.

A foreign ministry statement expressed “Israel’s deep disappointment at the hasty decision by the governments of El Salvador, Peru and Chile to summon their ambassadors for consultation”.

“This step is a show of support for Hamas, recognised as a terrorist organisation in many countries,” the statementadded.

The government Wednesday said it will investigate a union minister’s allegation of ISI involvement in the communal riots that rocked Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

“Government will investigate the allegation of (MSME Minister) Kalraj Mishra that there could be Pakistani intelligence agency ISI’s hand behind the Saharanpur communal riots,” Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh told reporters.

The Japanese International Cooperation Agency is likely to provide up to 80 percent loan for the Maharahstra government’s ambitious Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project, an official said here Wednesday.

A team of experts from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) visited Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is implementing the mega-infrastructure project and discussed various issues with top officials.

India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja Wednesday appealed to the International Cricket Council (ICC) against the 50 percent fine slapped on him by Match Referee David Boon for his altercation with England fast bowler James Anderson during the first drawn Test in Trent Bridge.

The ICC in a statement said that after receiving legal submissions from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) it has accepted Jadeja’s request for an appeal against the recent decision by Boon.