Month: July 2014

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the commander of the insurgent group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has vowed war against many countries including India which he says have been violating Muslims’ rights.

Baghdadi, in a speech released yesterday, said that Muslims’ rights were being violated in India, China, Palestine, Somalia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Caucasus, Sham (the Levant), the Philippines, Ahvaz, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Morocco.

The construction of the 225-flat apartment complex for accommodation of MLAs and MLCs of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh has come to a halt as soon as the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), which gave permission to the high-rise building, realized that the height of the structure violated rules.

Diesel prices are likely to be completely deregulated over the next 12 months as monthly increase in rates bridge the gap between cost and retail price, rating agency Moody’s said today.

Moody’s expects the new government to increase the retail selling prices of controlled fuel products – kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) — to help control its subsidy burden.

The the government, in it view, is most likely to go for staggered increases, similar to the ongoing 50 paisa per litre hike in diesel prices every month.

Accusing the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh of not fulfilling the promises made in its election manifesto for increased compensation to farmers on land acquisition, BSP members Wednesday walked out from the state Assembly.

Replying to a question asked by BSP member Dharmpal Singh, Cabinet minister Shivpal Yadav said a committee had been formed under state Chief Secretary to formulate rules and regulations for the land acquisition.

Breaking her silence over questions raised in the molestation case against her ex-boyfriend Ness Wadia, Bollywood actress Preity Zinta today said there was no ulterior motive in her police complaint and that she did not need “cheap publicity”.

As the Mumbai Police continues its investigation in the molestation case, 39-year-old Preity took to Facebook to “set the record straight” in the wake of her filing the FIR against the industrialist.

The actress said she was shocked to see certain people question the motive behind her decision to go to the police.

With the production of over 5490 MT of pineapples exceeding the last production of 3520 MT, the 7th Pineapple Fair-cum-Youth Festival 2014 has begun at the Yairipok Thambalnu market in Imphal.

The ten-day fair which started on Monday is being organised by Development Organization Andro Kendra under the sponsorship of Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayan States.

State bifurcation spared not even homeless minors. There are about 21 juvenile homes of undivided Andhra Pradesh which provide shelter to hundreds of juvenile delinquents and street children, but now cleave between the two states results in an acute space crisis to house these minors.

In the division of state assets, seven such homes have comes towards Telangana’s lane (with 431 children living on these premises) while the remaining 14, with a total of 1,400 children, have gone to AP.

Lionel Messi said he was nervous during Argentina’s “lucky” World Cup win over Switzerland Tuesday but urged his team to make the most of their reprieve.

The captain and talisman finally prised open the Swiss defence deep into extra-time, two minutes from penalties, and picked out Angel Di Maria for the game’s only goal.

And he said the nail-biting win, in front of tens of thousands of Argentine fans, could stand his team in good stead later in the tournament.

“Suffering, suffering that’s what I felt, but now we know we can go through times like this,” said Messi.

A cargo air plane crashed into a commercial building shortly after takeoff today from the Kenyan capital’s main airport, the busiest in East Africa, aviation authorities said.

“A Fokker 50 cargo plane with four people onboard has this morning crashed at a commercial building,” after taking off from Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Kenya Airports authority said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties, but police sources said all on the plane were feared dead.

Stating that NCP has won twice the number of seats as compared to Congress in Maharashtra in the recent Lok Sabha polls, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has sought equal number of seats for his party with Congress in the upcoming Assembly polls.

“As NCP’s strength in the state has grown in the recent Lok Sabha polls as compared to Congress, we should get 144 seats, an equal share with our ally Congress in the ensuing Assembly polls,” Pawar said at Palghar last evening while addressing party workers.

Veteran actor Anupam Kher, whose wife Kirron Kher is a BJP MP from Chandigarh, today did not rule out joining politics.

Kher, 59, who will be back on the small screen as a celebrity chat show host, says anything can happen.

“I have never said no. I might enter politics but not for next 10 years. But then you never know, anything can happen,” Kher told PTI.

Kirron defeated Congress’ Pawan Kumar Bansal and Aam Admi Party’s Gul Panag in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.

Former union law minister M Veerappa Moily on Wednesday accused the NDA government of being in “confrontation” with the judiciary.

Reacting to the government’s recent opposition to former solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam’s appointment as a Supreme Court judge, Moily said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was working “unilaterally” and “arbitrarily”.

“There was no consultation at all. The decision was taken unilaterally and arbitrarily without even an informal consultation with the chief justice of India,” Moily told the media here.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti’s Swami Goud was on Wednesday elected as the Chairman of the Telangana Legislative Council amid acrimonious scenes and boycott of the election by Congress and Telugu Desam Party members.

The Congress demanded that the election be put off, but Deputy Chairman N Vidyasagar, who incidentally belongs to the party, went ahead with the process.

The Congress announced that it was withdrawing its candidate Farooq Hussain from the contest protesting the conduct of election through secret ballot.

Shimla, popularly known as Queen of Hills, experienced 95 mm rain, the highest in Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday, said the weather bureau here.

“With the arrival of the monsoon (yesterday) Tuesday, the entire state has been experiencing moderate to heavy rain,” Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office here, told a news agency.

He said the maximum temperatures across the state fell by one to two degrees. However, there was no appreciable change in the minimum temperature.

Sleeping less? Your brain may age faster!

The less older adults sleep, the faster their brains age, a new study has warned.

The findings could have important implications for the rise of dementia among the elderly, researchers said.

Past research has examined the impact of sleep duration on cognitive functions in older adults.

Though faster brain ventricle enlargement is a marker for cognitive decline and the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, the effects of sleep on this marker have never been measured.

Nagaland Home Minister Y Patton called on Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi and raised the pending issues of the State before him, official sources here said on Wednesday.

Myanmar police fired warning shots after an angry mob attacked Muslim property in the central city of Mandalay, authorities said today, in the latest eruption of religious unrest to shake the Buddhist-majority nation.

Around five people were injured as rioters hurled stones at a Muslim teashop and surrounding buildings last night, said Lieutenant Colonel Zaw Min Oo of Mandalay region police.

“We fired three warning shots to control the crowd,” he told AFP, adding that the situation was calm this morning, with an increased security presence in the area.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said high fiscal deficit and inflation were major challenges for the country.

“Fiscal deficit is a major challenge. The growth has slowed down,” Jaitley said, while addressing a gathering during an event at Institute of Charted Accountants of India here yesterday.

He said populist policies and paralysis in policymaking had slowed growth, and that an improving current account deficit position in the last few months was the only “silver lining” for the Indian economy.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here today that the government is taking all possible measures to control inflation but the Congress party is unnecessarily blaming BJP.

“It’s the responsibility of the government to control the rising inflation. We are not giving any excuses to hide it; we are trying very strongly to reduce it. But the congress when in power was getting out hit wickets, now in opposition its scoring self goals. The government is working with honesty for the welfare of nation,” said Naqvi.

A month was completed by the state of Telangana which came into existence on June2, but virtual recognition, mainly in the central government’s online space, continues to evade India’s 29th state.

In a major embarrassment for the Uttar Pradesh government, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has punched many holes in the much-hyped 2013 Maha Kumbh in Allahabad.

The state government, which has been tom-toming its “great managerial skills” in organising the biggest religious congregation on the Earth, is on the backfoot as the audit has revealed many administrative oversights, financial irregularities and misappropriation of funds granted by the union government for the event.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas today demanded Israel condemn the kidnapping and suspected murder of an east Jerusalem teenager in a suspected revenge attack for the killing of three Israeli youths.

“The president of Palestine, Mahmud Abbas, demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemn the kidnapping and murder of Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khder as we condemned the kidnapping of the three Israelis,” a presidential statement said.

A good news to many Secretariat employees of both states since the Telangana government is now giving consideration to bring back all T-staffers appointed to the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat post bifurcation.

In the same way those AP employees who, by some twist of fate, were assigned to the T Secretariat can now go back to their `native’ state government office.

This was announced on Tuesday by M Narender Rao, the Telangana Secretariat Employees’ Association president.

Counter terror chiefs fear that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-styled leader of ISIS, will soon launch a attack similar to the 9/11 strikes of Al Qaeda.

According to reports, ISIS across Iraq are alleged to have plans to attack airliners, making Jordan its prime target since the country shares good relations with the West, reports the Mirror.

Arab security forces believed Baghdadi had instructed his inner circle to launch the attacks, said Western sources.

Accusing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of trying to shield Tapas Pal, who has made controversial remarks, senior BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh said only an apology was of no use and he should be made to quit as Trinamool Congress MP.

“Two tapes of TMC MP Tapas Pal are out and Mamata Banerjee is still trying to shield him. This is the policy of Trinamool for TMC goons. Only apology is of no consequence, he should be made to quit his parliament seat,” Singh told PTI.

“West Bengal government should file a criminal case against him,” Singh said.