Month: August 2014

Police arrested more than 100 immigration reform activists Thursday in front of the White House as they demanded the relief for the country’s 11 million undocumented foreigners, who are at risk of being deported.

The peaceful march began at the headquarters of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The executive director of the Casa Maryland organisation, an immigration advocacy-and-assistance organisation, Gustavo Torres, told Efe that the president “can and must” stop the deportations.

Twelve mobile phones, a phone charger, five pen-drives and a data card reader were seized from inmates of a Bihar jail during a raid Thursday, police said.

Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj said a team of officials raided the Beur central jail here after receiving information that inmates were freely using mobile phones.

“We have decided to raid jails frequently to check illegal activities,” Maharaj told media persons.

He said cash was also seized from the prisoners.

–IANS

On a day the CBI quizzed the former aide of a senior state minister in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday alleged canards were being spread against her party which is not “run on chit fund money”.

Addressing activists of Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad, the party’s student wing, Banerjee said her government would cooperate if the matter was probed properly, but warned “if you spread canards, remember we are not dead”.

She alleged the canards were being spread to “protect the real culprits”.

Delhi Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung Thursday reviewed the progress of various projects, including those of solar power, in the capital.

Under the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Management Programme, solar photovoltaic (SPV) plants of 335 kWp (kilowatt peak) at eight locations and a 100 kWp SPV plant at Vikas Bhavan have been commissioned, a statement said.

The chairman of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) apprised Jung about the progress on converting the area under the NDMC’s jurisdiction into a solar city under a scheme of the new and renewable energy ministry.

–IANS

Assam Thursday decided to improve infrastructure at the inter-state border outposts and provide more equipment to the security forces deployed there, even as two more bodies were found after the violence along the Nagaland border which took the toll to 11.

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by state Chief Secretary Jitesh Khosla in the capital Dispur here, a government statement said.

The meeting decided to repair the 81 border outposts and provide additional infrastructure like barracks, fencing, bunkers and facilities for water and sanitation.

State-run oil marketer Indian Oil Corp (IOC) Thursday announced the removal of four independent directors, appointed by the previous UPA government, on its board.

In a filing to the stock exchanges, IOC said : “K.Jairaj, Nesar Ahmad, Sunil Krishna and Sayan Chatterjee have ceased to be independent directors on the board of the company on Aug 27, 2014.”

Accusing some media houses of spreading “malicious lies” about her recent Singapore visit, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday said a large number of investors have evinced interest in pumping money in the state.

Banerjee said the industrialists, who accompanied her to Singapore, were surprised at the “extent of malicious lies” peddled against the state.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma Thursday refused to speak about the reported move of Congress legislators to dislodge him.

“I have no time to react to those issues, as I am busy with government work which is in the interest of the public,” Sangma told IANS a day after state party leaders met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and expressed displeasure at Sangma’s style of functioning.

A party leader said the chief minister’s loyalists were working hard to keep the party united.

A police complaint has been lodged against Cricket Association of Bengal president Jagmohan Dalmiya for “dishonouring” the national flag on Independence Day.

“The complaint was filed a few days back. The complainant alleged that the national flag had been dishonoured in the Cricket Association of Bengal’s Eden Gardens headquarters during the Independence Day celebrations on August 15,” said the duty officer at the Maidan police station Thursday.

Dalmiya, however, said he was completely in the dark about the complaint and had no idea who the complainant was.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to cut rates by 75-100 basis points starting early 2015, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) said in a report Thursday.

“With RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan recouping foreign exchange reserves, we see the RBI cutting policy rates even if Federal Reserve (US) chair Janet Yellen hikes from September 2015,” the bank said.

The bank cites three reasons for the report’s projections – rate differential, foreign exchange reserves and cooling of imported inflation.

The US government announced Thursday that it will start initial human trials of Ebola vaccine next week.

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) said in a statement that the phase one clinical trial will determine if a vaccine, co-developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), is safe and induces an adequate immune response, Xinhua reported.

Testing will take place at the NIH’s clinical center in Bethesda, Maryland state, with 20 healthy adults aged 18 to 50 years receiving an intramuscular injection of the vaccine, it said.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta Thursday directed security agencies to sink a ship which was seized while carrying drugs in the coastal city of Mombasa.

“We do not care who owns the ship or the drugs, we will destroy them to teach lesson to those who bent on ruining our children,” Kenyatta said.

The drugs, valued at about $11 million, were seized in July by security agencies who were tipped off about the vessel by the Interpol and US drug reinforcement agencies, xinhua reported.

The United Nations Thursday said that there is an urgent need for humanitarian assistance in Iraqi areas sieged by the Islamic State militants.

“The World Food Programme (WFP), which has delivered food to more than 700,000 people since the start of the crisis in June, warns that there is an urgent need for assistance in areas under siege by armed groups, particularly in Anbar and Salah al-Din,” Xinhua quoted UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric quoted as saying.

At least 54,000 people still remained in 78 United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) shelters in Gaza Strip, a UN official said.

Stephane Dujarric, a UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here, quoting a report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) that about 233,000 displaced people had left shelters in as of Wednesday afternoon, Xinhua reported.

The OCHA report came after Israeli and Palestinian negotiators agreed Tuesday to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire deal to end the 50-day long conflict.

US President Barack Obama said Thursday he has asked his administration to prepare a range of military options against the Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria.

At a press conference in White House, Obama said he has ordered Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to prepare “a range of options” as he considers future military action, Xinhua reported.

The president, however, admitted that his administration so far does not have a strategy in combating the militant group that has grabbed large chunks of territories in Iraq and Syria.

Israeli opposition leader strongly criticised the speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the military operation in Gaza, saying it is a sad victory, media reported.

On his Facebook page, Isaac Herzog, said Netanyahu lost the confidence of Israelis, especially those in the south and areas close to the Gaza Strip, MENA news agency reported citing the Radio Israel.

The Israeli army won the war in Gaza but the cabinet failed, he said.

“This government failed in every parameter — economically and diplomatically,” Herzog said.

As many as 4,000 fishermen in the Gaza Strip Thursday were able to go fishing in a expanded zone, previously restricted to just three miles by Israel, a senior Palestinian official said.

The Israel allowed fishermen to go fishing in an area of six miles, which will be nine miles by next week and will increase to 12 miles within next months according to the agreement reached in Egypt Tuesday.

“Since last night, fishermen in the Gaza Strip managed to catch 20 tonnes of different kinds of fish,” Xinhua quoted chairman of the fishermen union in Gaza, Nizar Ayyash, as saying in a statement.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) leader Tahir-ul Qadri Thursday accepted the role of the army chief as a mediator and guarantor in solving the current political impasse in the country.

Imran Khan and Qadri told the participants of their separate sit-ins here outside the Parliament House that in the next 24 hours, fresh negotiations will begin with the government in the presence of the army as intermediary, Geo News reported last Thursday.

Telangana Education Minister G Jagadish Reddy today stated that the Congress and the BJP will not get even deposits in Medak bypoll.
Talking to mediapersons after having darshan of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy at Yadagiri Gutta, the minister said the two parties are not at all going to give a tough competition to the TRS in the bypoll. He ridiculed the two parties for fielding candidates. It is the TRS which will retain its seat, he said. He said both the parties adopted double standards on Telangana movement and cannot seek votes in Medak.

Finance Minister Etela Rejender today lambasted the previous Congress Government for blatantly ‘killing’ education system in the state.

In a swift move, BJP leader Narendranath, who made a vain bid during last general elections against K Chandrashekhar Rao, here on Friday joined the TRS fold.

TRS MP from Nizamabad K Kavitha today ridiculed the BJP for fielding Jagga Reddy, a former Congress leader.
Addressing the media at Telangana Bhavan here on Thursday, Kavitha accused the BJP and TDP combine of fielding Jagga Reddy, who stiffly opposed statehood for Telangana. She said the Telangana people are with the TRS and its candidate in Medak will win the bypoll. She also said BJP Telangana president G Kishen Reddy should explain as to why they fielded Jagga Reddy.

AP Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao today revoked suspension orders against two YSR Congress Party MLAs — Mani Gandhi and Sivaprasad Reddy.

The Speaker withdrew their suspension when the two MLAs tendered apology. Mani Gandhi and Shivaprasad Reddy pleaded that they did not storm the well and tried to break the mike. They must be pardoned for what has happened, they urged. With this, Kodela gave them a chance to participate in the proceedings. (NSS)

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu today gave a green signal for construction of a flyover near Kanakadurga temple to ease traffic problems in Vijayawada city.
The Chief Minister instructed officials to send cost estimates of Rs 250 crore proposal to the Centre for construction of fly over. He gave his consent after holding a meeting in his chamber on the Assembly premises. Minister Devineni Umamaheshwar Rao, MPs Kesineni Nani, Konakalla Narayana and MLAs were present.

Telangana PCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah today conveyed his warm greetings to people of the State on the eve of Vinayaka Chavaithi.
In his message, TPCC president exhorted the people to pray Lord Vigneswara to remove all hurdles for the success of their endeavors and also well-being of the State. “Let Lord Ganesh shower his choicest blessings on all of us to lead a hurdle free life this year”, he added. (NSS)