Month: July 2014

Germany today advised all citizens currently in Libya to immediately leave the strife-torn country, following measures taken by countries including Britain and the United States to protect citizens from increasing violence.

The situation is extremely unpredictable and uncertain,” the German foreign ministry said. “German nationals are at
increased risk of kidnapping and attacks.”

The United States evacuated its Libyan embassy staff under air cover yesterday as they faced a “real risk” from fierce fighting around Tripoli airport, Secretary of State John Kerry said.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today refused to be drawn into the Katju controversy, terming it as a “futile” issue.

It is a futile issue. Soli Sorabjee (former Attorney General) also spoke on it. I don’t need to comment on it,” he
told reporters at an Iftar party hosted by Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

He was responding to a question on the controversy triggered by former Supreme Court judge and Chairman of Press
Council of India Markandey Katju.

Katju had alleged that three ex-Chief Justices of India made “improper compromises” during UPA rule in retaining a

The rising influence of Trinamool Congress in the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) was evident Sunday during its 83rd annual general meeting where a number of ruling party leaders and state ministers made their presence felt.

On a day when former India captain Sourav Ganguly was unanimously appointed as CAB’s joint secretary, frontline Trinamool leaders of the likes of Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee, Youth Services Minister Arup Biswas, and Agriculture Marketing Minister Arup Roy, among others, attended the AGM.

England made 183 for one in their first innings at tea on the first day of the third cricket Test against India at The Rose Bowl here Sunday.

Skipper Alastair Cook was batting on 82 and Garry Ballance 72 when tea was called.

The following is the scoreboard at tea on the first day of the third cricket Test between India at England at The Rose Bowl here Sunday.

England 1st innings:
Alastair Cook batting 82
Sam Robson c Jadeja b Shami 26
Gary Ballance batting 72
Extras (b 1, lb 5) 6
Total (for one wicket in 63 overs) 186

Fall of wickets: 1-55 (Robson, 20.5 overs)

Bowling:

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Sunday urged all the members of WTO to find a solution to the impasse following India’s call Friday for postponing adoption of the TF (trade facilitation) Protocol.

“FICCI has urged all the members of WTO to collectively work for finding a solution to the present impasse,” the industry chamber said in a statement here.

Sonia Gandhi today hosted her first Iftar in three years, which saw the Congress president sharing a table with leaders of RJD and its new-found ally JD(U).

RJD chief Lalu Prasad and JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav were seated with Sonia Gandhi at the Iftar which was also
attended by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.

While Rahul was seated with diplomats, Singh was on a separate table with former Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi
and cine star Sharmila Tagore among others.

Bhuvnesh Kumar, Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh government, today claimed that no untoward incidents have occurred over the past 18 hours since violent clashes erupted between two communities here yesterday. “There is total control over the situation. No untoward incidents have occurred over the last 18 hours,” Kumar told ANI. “The way the situation yesterday unfolded suddenly, it took a lot of effort by the local administration to take control of the situation soon after. Government gave sufficient security, and the security personnel have been deployed appropriately,” he said.

The mixture of “Paata Madhuram, Maata Madhuram and Sangeetham Madhuram” is “Trishakti” Audio Album, observed “Melody Queen of South India” S. Janaki.

The veteran singer was releasing “Trishakti” Audio Album produced by singer Sunita Balaji at Ravindra Bharati. First South India playback singer Ravu Balasaraswahi from the Album was released on the occasion.

Playback singer Chitra, music director Radhakrishnan, Metro India chairman Rajan, music director Koti and others felicitated Sunita Balaji on the occasion. Playback singer Nitya Santoshini rendered a prayer song.

The last rites of two Indian Air Force personnel, who died in a helicopter crash in Ataria area of Sitapur district, was today performed here with full military honours.

While last rites of Commanding Officer Wing Commander T N B Singh was performed by his father Digambar Singh, that of Junior Warrant Officer P Mukherjee was performed by his 10-year-old son.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Textile Santosh Gangwar and Uttar Pradesh Minister of State Bhagwat
Sharan Gangwar attended the last rites and consoled the bereaved families.

A report has recently revealed that NATO had announced publically that the pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine are in possession of missile systems more than two weeks before flight MH17 was shot in the rebel-held region of Donetsk. The warning however, was not heeded by the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO), whose duty is to warn domestic aviation authorities of danger in the skies, reported the Daily Express.

Amid protests from civil services aspirants against the new exam pattern, the government today convened a high-level meeting to resolve the issue.

The meeting was chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh among others.

“There was a discussion on the issue and ways to resolve it,” a senior government official, who attended the meeting, said here.

Bihar’s ruling JD-U and Lalu Prasad’s RJD would contest from four assembly seats each, while the Congress would contest from two in by-elections to 10 assembly constituencies in the state, party leaders announced Sunday.

A day after the alliance of the Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress was finalised, JD-U state president Vashisht Narain Singh told media persons here Sunday that the sharing of seats among the three parties has been decided.

Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly Sunday began a new innings as a cricket administrator — with his unanimous election to the joint secretary’s post at the Cricket Association of Bengal’s 83rd annual general meeting here.

Ganguly’s advent in a new avatar was welcomed by cricket administrators and the playing fraternity.

Islamic Boko Haram militants have abducted the wife of Cameroon’s Vice Prime Minister Amadou Ali in an attack Sunday, an official said.

The Islamic group attacked the vice prime minister’s home and kidnapped his wife in the northern town of Kolofata, lying along the Nigerian border, Xinhua reported citing Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Cameroon’s minister of information, as saying.

The attack claimed the lives of 10 people, military sources said.

In another incident, Seini Boukar, a religious leader locally known as ‘Lamido’, was kidnapped by the militants, the minister said.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Sunday averted a diplomatic disaster by meeting leaders of the ruling CPN-UML just before returning to India after a three-day visit which she said was “productive” and “successful”.

The hour-long meeting between Sushma Swaraj and the CPN-UML party took place at Hyatt Regency Kathmandu where eight party leaders led by Deputy Prime Minister Bam Dev Gautam were present.

People’s Daily, China’s iconic newspaper known to the world as the voice of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), is constructing in the heart of Beijing a 32-storey office tower that will have 140,000 square metres of working space with new-media ventures alone occupying seven of its floors. Its concave glass facade sits somewhat oddly in its steel and terra cotta-girded frame that its Chinese architects proudly proclaim will give the traditional touch to a very modern edifice.

Indian shooters continued their medal winning spree in the 2014 Commonwealth Games with Shreyasi Singh and Mohammed Asab winning the double trap silver and the bronze, respectively, in the women’s and men’s competitions at the Barry Buddon Shooting Centre here Sunday.

India’s medal count from shooting now stood at nine — three gold, five silver and a bronze.

Expressing satisfaction over opposing groups calling off their conventions over the issue of Haryana creating a new board for Sikh shrines, the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhism, Sunday directed status quo be maintained in management of gurdwaras in Haryana till the matter gets resolved.

Akal Takht Jathedar (chief) Gurbachan Singh said that the management of Sikh shrines in Haryana should be allowed to continue as at present till the controversy over Haryana’s separate board was resolved.

Rapper Kanye West reportedly wants to turn Kim Kardashian into a “perfect” wife.

West is said to advise his spouse on every aspect of her life, and has even ordered her to stop smiling for photographers when they are out together, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

According to a source, West can be very controlling with everything in his life, that’s his personality. He wants Kim to be perfect.

The source is quoted as saying: “In the old days, you’d always see Kim smiling when she was having her photo taken. But now, more often than not, she’ll be stony-faced.”

Indian shooters continued their fine performance with Shreyasi Singh winning the silver medal, the eighth from the shooting ranges, in the women’s double trap event of the 2014 Commonwealth Games here Sunday.

The Delhi girl shot 92 to the final round to win the silver, the fifth for Indians from the shooting competition at the Barry Buddon Shooting Centre.

The gold went to England’s Charlotte Kerwood with a total of 94 points while her compatriot Rachel Parish got the bronze with 91 points.

Another Indian in fray, Varsha Varman finished fifth with 88 points.

TV personality Kendra Wilkinson is reportedly “done” with her marriage to Hank Baskett.

The 29-year-old was left devastated after Baskett allegedly cheated on her with a transgender model while she was pregnant with their second child and sources say she has no interest in reconciliation, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Indian women paddlers missed out on the 2014 Commonwealth Games team bronze medal match, losing to Australia 1-3 at the Scotstoun Table Tennis Centre here Sunday.

India lost the first singles match but won the second to tie the scores 1-1. The 2010 Games silver medallists, however, went on to lose the next doubles and a singles tie to slump to a 1-3 defeat.

India’s Shamini Kumaresan lost the first singles match to Ziyu Zhang 5-11, 11-2, 6-11, 9-11.

Manika Batra tied the best-of-five rubber 1-1 by beating Jian Fang Lay in the second singles match 11-5, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7.

Ukrainian rebels have allowed international police personnel to secure the investigating team working on MH17 crash site in a new agreement finalised with Malaysia, a prime minister’s office statement said Sunday.

Alexander Borodai, leader of the Ukrainian rebels, agreed Sunday to allow a deployment of international police personnel at the crash site, in a new agreement with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Xinhua reported citing the statement.

It was a warm Sunday here in the national capital. The Met office has forecast a cloudy Monday with chances of light rain in some parts of the city.

“The skies will be cloudy. Light rain is expected in some parts of the city,” said an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The maximum temperature Sunday was recorded at 37.4 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season’s average while the minimum temperature settled at 28.1 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season’s average.

Captain Alastair Cook’s unbeaten 48 took England to 78 for one at lunch on the opening day of their third Test against India at the Ageas Bowl here Sunday.

Electing to bat, Cook and opening partner Sam Robson frustrated the Indians with a slow and patient 55-run stand for the first wicket before the latter fell to pacer Mohammed Shami.

At lunch, Cook was partnered by Gary Ballance, who was unbeaten on four.

Mohammed Shami with figures of one for 29 was the sole wicket-taker for India.