Month: July 2014

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Tariq Anwar on Monday said that a journalist has to meet a lot of people in his profession, and that there should not be any controversy over it over Baba Ramdev’s close aide Ved Pratap Vaidak’s meeting with 26/11 terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
“A journalist has to meet a lot of people in his profession, but there should not be any controversy on it,” said Anwar.

Janata Dal (United) leader Ali Anwar said that saints and Maulanas have started doing politics in both the India and Pakistan.

A UK woman has failed her driving theory test 110 times.

The 28-year-old woman from south east London has spent 3,410 pounds on driving tests and still hasn’t cleared it after 110 attempts, Metro.co.uk reported.

According to the Driving Standards Agency, the average pass rate is 65.4 percent and each test, comprising multiple-choice questions and a hazard perception exam, costs 31 pounds.

A DSA spokesman said that it is essential that all drivers demonstrate they have the right skills, knowledge and attitude to drive safely. (ANI)

Secretary of State John Kerry sought today to broker a deal between Afghanistan’s rival presidential candidates as a bitter dispute over last month’s runoff election risked spiralling out of control.

Kerry, who arrived predawn in Kabul on a hastily arranged visit, is meeting with former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah as well as the current leader, President Hamid Karzai.

Continuing to bet big on the reform agenda of Narendra Modi-led government, overseas investors have poured in nearly Rs 17,000 crore in the Indian markets since the beginning of the month.

Net investments by foreign investors in equity market stood at Rs 7,505 crore ($1.25 billion) till July 11. Net inflow for the debt market was Rs 9,286 crore ($1.55 billion), taking the total amount to Rs 16,791 crore ($2.8 billion), according to the latest data.

Senior Congress leader Beni Prasad Verma today alleged that some leaders in the party, who have contact with other political parties, are trying to sideline the Gandhi family, especially Vice-President Rahul Gandhi.

“Some from within the party are out to sideline the Gandhi family, especially Rahul Gandhi. Those criticising the leadership are from within the party having contact with other political parties,” Verma said here.

Government today distanced itself from the reported meeting of an Indian journalist with 26/11 attack accused Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan, saying it had “not sanctioned” it and asserted there is no change in its stand on the terror mastermind.

It also said that “no track-2 or track-3 diplomacy” is involved and for the government, “Hafiz is a terrorist”.

Congress leader Digvijay Singh raised in Rajya Sabha the issue of journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik meeting the mastermind of Mumbai 26/11 terror attack and asked if the government had sanctioned it, leading to uproar.

As a row erupted over his meeting with Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik, considered close to Baba Ramdev, Monday rejected suggestions by Congress that he might have acted as government’s envoy, saying he was “nobody’s envoy but my own”.

Vaidik also defended his action, saying he has been meeting all kinds of people and it was a “simple thing” for him.

India’s headline inflation eased to a four-month low of 5.43 percent in June against 6.01 percent in May, due to slow growth in the prices of fuel and food cost, government data showed here Monday.

The country’s key inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was recorded at 5.16 percent in June 2013.

Primary articles, which have weightage of 20.12 percent in the WPI, rose by 6.84 percent in the month under review from an increase of 8.58 percent in May. It had grown by 8.79 percent in June 2013.

BJD today accused the government of being “unresponsive” to its objections on raising the height of the Polavaram project and claimed that thousands of tribals would be affected by it in four districts of Odisha.

“We have raised the issue during Zero Hour today. On Friday, when the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation (Amendment) Bill had come for the transfer of certain areas of Telengana to Andhra Pradesh, we had raised the issue.

Days after a sitting Madras High Court Judge was denied entry into a club here for wearing a dhoti- the state’s traditional attire, Tamil Nadu government today said it would look into the issue and take action in consultation with its Law Department. Soon after question hour in the Assembly, Speaker P Dhanapal permitted the Opposition parties’ attempt to bring to government’s notice the July 11 incident at Chepauk here and demanded that action be taken against such clubs, which banned the state’s culture symbol of dhoti inside their premises.

President Pranab Mukherjee will present the Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2013 to Chandi Prasad Bhatt tomorrow at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The Gandhi Peace Prize was instituted by the Government of India in 1995 on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

This annual award is given to individuals and institutions for their contributions towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods.

A large section of people in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh have neither built toilets at their homes nor use them as they continue to remain unaware about the benefits of using lavatories, the government said today.

Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Upendra Kushwaha further informed the Rajya Sabha that a large section of female population in the rural areas of these states do not have the access to toilets.

He said the position regarding the availability of toilet facilities to women and girls is not monitored separately.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has sent a formal invitation to late Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi’s wife Sharmila Tagore for the prize distribution ceremony after completion of the fifth and final Test between India and England scheduled from August 15-19 at the Oval.

Since the India versus England Test series played in England is known as the Pataudi Trophy, it used to be presented by the legendary Tiger Pataudi, who was also there during the last edition in 2011.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian says she was joking when she suggested women should stay indoors and hide during their pregnancy.

Kardashian, 33, who has a one-year-old daughter with her rapper husband Kanye West, was slammed by some critics in the media over her own styling decisions while she was pregnant with North West.

Russian President Vladimir Putin believes it is time to raise the BRICS’ role to a new level to make it an unalienable part of the global management system amidst attempts by some states to displace “unwanted regimes”.

“I believe it is time to raise the BRICS’ role to a new level and to make our association an unalienable part of the global management system for sustainable development,” he was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency Itar-Tass ahead of the BRICS Summit in this north eastern coastal city.

Game of Thrones’ star Rose Leslie has bagged a role in an upcoming Hollywood supernatural thriller alongside Vin Diesel.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 27-year-old Scottish actress will be starring in ‘ The Last Witch Hunter ‘ in which she and the ‘Fast and Furious’ actor must prevent a villainous witch queen from releasing a plague upon humanity by using an ancient relic, the Daily Express reported.

Israel’s military said it downed a drone along its southern coastline today, the first time it encountered such a weapon since its campaign against the Gaza Strip militants began last week.

The drone came from Gaza and was shot down near the southern city of Ashdod, the military said. There was no immediate confirmation from Gaza on the use of the unmanned aircraft.

Congress leader and former information and broadcast minister Manish Tewari on Monday said that Baba Ramdev’s close aide Ved Pratap Vaidak’s meeting with 26/11 terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed begs a clarification from the government.

“Vaidik is a gentleman of a certain standing. When such a man meets Hafiz Saeed, who has been accused of masterminding the 26/11 attack, it begs a clarification from the government and the person. Never ever has this happened in the past that people close to the government meet our enemies,” said Tewari.

The much speculated iPhone 6 is reportedly facing severe production problems, which may delay production, or limit availability.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expressed in one of his research notes that problems Apple is facing with the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 are even more challenging for the 5.5-incher, possibly leading to delays, CNET reported.

Analyst believes that the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 may not launch by the end of 2014, or may launch after October in very limited quantities, the report added.

President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday appointed new governors for Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Gujarat and Nagaland.

“Ram Naik appointed as governor of Uttar Pradesh, Balramji Dass Tandon appointed as governor of Chhattisgarh, Keshari Nath Tripathi appointed as governor of West Bengal and Om Prakash Kohli appointed as governor of Gujarat”, a Rashtrapati Bhavan release said.

“The above appointments will take effect from the dates the incumbents assume charge of their respective offices,” the release added.

German ambassador Michael Steiner last night celebrated the win of their country team (Germany), along with other 900 people at German Embassy in New Delhi. German ambassador to India, Michael Steiner told ANI, “We are celebrating this moment here in New Delhi which is 16 thousand kilometers away from Rio.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said on Monday that her party will support the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act Amendment Bill whenever it is tabled in the Rajya Sabha. Mayawati said, “The bill will be presented first in the Lok Sabha and then it will come to the Rajya Sabha.

I have studied deeply about this bill, and I would like to tell that whenever a government comes into power, either at the Centre or the state, their head has the right to elect a secretary.” “There was some controversy regarding the appointment of new secretary.

Referring to the TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) Amendment Bill, former union minister Shashi Tharoor said Monday that the law should not be changed on the basis of an individual’s preference, which in this case was the Prime Minister of India.

Mention of monkey menace in the corridors of power and how it can haunt even the high and mighty evoked peals of laughter in the Rajya Sabha Monday, even as a Congress member blamed the simians for mysterious disappearance of files.

Members burst into laughter in course of a serious debate on destruction of Home Ministry’s 11,100 files when Rajeev Shukla (Cong) condemned the act and said the situation was so bad that files were kept scattered in the corridors, where monkeys create havoc.

Two prisoner were injured in a clash in a divisional jail in Bihar’s Jehanabad district today, police said.

The clash broke out after an under trial prisoner Tan Yadav was beaten up following a quarrel with fellow prisoner Pappu Yadav, Superintendent of Police Aditya Kumar said.

Tan Yadav and his uncle Surendra Yadav assaulted Pappu Yadav, he said.

This led to a clash between prisoners who pelted stones at the police when they intervened.

The SP said that he and the District Magistrate Aditya Das rushed to the jail with reinforcements and brought the situation under control.