Month: July 2014

Acid attacks create a feeling of “insecurity” among members of the society especially women, a city court observed while sentencing a man to seven years in jail for throwing acid on his lover.

Additional Sessions Judge Pawan Kumar Jain jailed 34-year-old Delhi man Parmod for causing grievous hurt to the woman.

“The act of throwing acid in itself is an inhuman act. Such incidents create a feeling of insecurity among members of society especially among females and society abhors such cases,” the court said in its order delivered Saturday and which was made available Tuesday.

Jordan Tuesday said transporting goods and commodities to Iraq via Jordanian trucks has been completely halted due to the worsening security condition.

“As several militant groups controlled several areas in Iraq, we believe it is unsafe for drivers to go to the Iraqi markets at present,” Mohammad Dawood, president of the Jordan Truck Owners Association, told Xinhua Tuesday, hoping that security would be restored soon.

Israel’s security cabinet decided Tuesday to draft 40,000 reserve soldiers for a major military operation Israel launched on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip earlier in the day.

An Israeli official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that most of the summoned reservists would take over active units which will make their way to the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Xinhua reported. The reservists will be summoned as soon as possible, he added.

A Palestinian militant affiliated with the Islamic Hamas movement was killed Tuesday in an Israeli air strike on Central Gaza Strip, security and medical sources said.

Security sources told Xinhua that a Hamas operative was killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted a military site used by the Hamas’s armed wing near Nossairat City in central Gaza Strip.

The dead militant was identified as Rashad Yassin, who was in his twenties.

Medical sources said Yassin was instantly killed and one of his colleagues was critically injured.

The Delhi High Court Tuesday dismissed a PIL filed by an organisation challenging the decision of the central government not to confer the Arjuna Award in 2013 upon international triple jumper Renjith Maheshwary despite his selection for the prestigious prize.

A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw refused to provide any relief to the organisation saying that “legal tool of public interest litigation has been misused by people” and in this case “we do not find the present case to be falling in that category (PIL)”.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao Tuesday slammed the railway budget saying BJP-led government has done injustice to the newly-created state.

Rao said not a single new project was announced for the state in the budget presented by D. V. Sadananda Goud.

The chief minister said there were no proposals for modernization of Secunderabad railway station and for making Kazipet a new railway division.

“Funds have not been allocated for the projects for which surveys were already done,” Rao said in a statement.

Business chambers and industry captains in Karnataka Tuesday hailed the NDA government’s maiden Railway Budget and termed its proposals as being on the right track.

“The rail budget, presented by Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda in parliament earlier in the day, is on the right track and holistic in approach, giving priority to safety measures, timely completion of projects, increased financial discipline and passenger amenities,” Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) president S. Sampathraman said in a statement here.

FIFA has denied any agreement with the referees to withhold yellow cards in the World Cup.

German newspaper Bild Monday reported that FIFA urged referees to refrain from showing too many yellow cards in the tournament. The daily added that there are covert orders from FIFA to match referees to punish players for clashes which result in injuries like Neymar suffered, reports Efe.

Neither the English nor the Indian batsmen would be able to challenge controversial decisions as the five-match Test series that starts here Wednesday would be run without the Decision Review System (DRS).

The DRS is applicable for all International Cricket Council (ICC) tournaments but in bilateral series it depends on the two participating boards.

India have been a strong critic of the DRS and have always opposed it. This series also is the first between the two cricket superpowers after the formal takeover of the ICC by cricket’s ‘big three’ – India, England and Australia.

Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday equated the Narendra Modi government”s decision to open the door of Railways to FDI in its maiden budget to that of selling the nation to outsiders using that mechanism. “There is FDI in retail, defence, now in Railways, they are literally selling the country by bringing in FDI, this is very easy,” Banerjee said at a rally in Hooghly. She asked : “Will you sell your daughter to ameliorate your food pangs?

Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday termed it ” unfortunate ” over the alleged misbehaviour by BJP MPs against TMC MPs in Lok Sabha. “I have received some information when I was in the meeting. I have got some SMS. Kalyan Banerjee talked to me over the phone and briefed me about the situation. I am collecting information from other sources. Whatever has happened is an unfortunate incident and a matter of shock when the new government has started their work,” West Bengal chief minister said.

President Pranab Mukherjee has accepted the resignation of Bharat Vir Wanchoo, as Governor of Goa. The President has appointed Margaret Alva, Governor of Rajasthan, to discharge the functions of the Governor of Goa, in addition to her own duties, until regular arrangements for the office of the Governor of Goa are made. (ANI)

A new low was witnessed in the Lok Sabha today as Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) MPs levelled allegations of abuse and misbehaviour against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Women MPs from the TMC were vociferous over the alleged misbehaviour conducted by two BJP MPs. TMC MP, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar alleged,” We were peacefully protesting inside Lok Sabha, when one drunk BJP MP along with others came and threatened and abused us.” “2 BJP MPs abused and threatened to attack us, I am sure they were drunk,” TMC MP Shatabdi Roy said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi described his government”s maiden Railway Budget as one that will play an important role in ushering in nation”s development. “The Rail Budget will prove to bring in speed, development to Indian Railways, security and service to citizens. For the first time there is holistic railway budget of modern India. Railway cannot be run on an adhoc basis. This Rail Budget will prove that Railways plays an important role in the Nation”s development,” Modi said. “Institution mechanism is necessary; this budget gives strength to that and to transparency and integrity.

Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah claimed victory today in Afghanistan’s disputed election, blaming fraud for putting him behind in preliminary results as fears rise of instability and ethnic unrest.

Abdullah told a rally of thousands of rowdy supporters in Kabul that he would fight on to win the presidency, but he called for patience from loyalists who demanded he declare a “parallel government” to rule the country.

Amit Shah, a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is all set to be the new BJP president with the party’s highest decision-making body expected to announce his name tomorrow.

The BJP Parliamentary Board will be meeting tomorrow to put its stamp of approval on Shah’s name as the new party chief, sources said.

According to sources, Shah will take over from Rajnath Singh, who is now the Union Home Minister and has announced he will relinquish his BJP role in keeping with the party’s “one-man, one-post” formula.

At least 91 men from Punjab who were stuck in conflict-hit Iraq have returned home, a state government spokesman said here Tuesday.

Nearly 40 youths from the state have returned from Iraq in the last five days.

The latest batch of Punjabis arriving from Iraq landed in New Delhi Tuesday morning. They arrived by a special flight the central government sent to get them back.

A CBI court Tuesday quashed the final report submitted by the investigation agency over the killing of a senior police officer, whose widow accused Uttar Pradesh’s Food and Civil Supplies Minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiyya of being behind the crime.

Punching holes in the report submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last year, which gave a clean chit to the minister and four of his accomplices, the court said there were many aspects that were not adequately probed by the agency.

The Delhi High Court Tuesday issued notice to all the 21 accused involved in the killing of liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep on the plea of city police, challenging the trial court’s order of dropping murder charges against them.

Justice Indermeet Kaur sought responses from Uttarakhand minorities panel’s sacked chairman S.S. Namdhari and 20 other accused by Sep 4.

A United Nations court has ruled that most of the disputed 25,602 sq km exclusive economic zone and territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal belong to Bangladesh.

In a press briefing Tuesday, Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmood Ali has welcomed the ruling, saying it was a “victory for both sides”.

“The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) verdict awarded us with 19,467 sq km out of 25,000 sq km disputed area with India in the Bay of Bengal,” he said at a press briefing.

An Indian car cleaner has been jailed for six months for stealing from a vehicle in Bahrain, a media report said Tuesday.

The unnamed suspect, 32, pocketed 10,500 Bahraini dinars (around $27,850) that he found in two envelopes, while washing his customer’s car in Isa Town, the Gulf Daily News reported.

The man was arrested before he could flee the country, the report said.

The Indian national was sentenced to a six-month jail term by Bahrain’s Lower Criminal Court Monday, after he pleaded guilty to theft.

He was ordered to be deported after completion of his imprisonment.

The decision on the issue of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha should be based on set rules and norms, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Tuesday.

He, however, said this was his view, and a final decision will be taken by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

“The rule that a party needs 10 percent member strength to be the main opposition party stands since the time of (first Lok Sabha speaker) G.V. Mavalankar.

Afghan presidential contender Abdullah Abdullah Tuesday rejected the preliminary result of the presidential runoff announced Monday, saying he is the winner and the people of Afghanistan want him to announce the government.

“The preliminary result of presidential runoff announced Monday is illegitimate and I don’t accept it. The people of Afghanistan want us to announce our government,” Abdullah said in a public meeting attended by thousands of his supporters under a giant tent here.

Telangana Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao today criticized Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for deliberately stalling the supply of irrigation waters to Mahbubunagar district.

The National Human Right Commission (NHRC) Tuesday called for the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill to give them one-third seats in parliament and state legislatures.

It also called for the successful implementation of women related policies.