The dreaded Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is trying to expand its influence in Pakistan, with pamphlets being distributed in Peshawar and border provinces of Afghanistan, seeking support for jihad.
A booklet titled ‘Fatah’ (victory) in Pashto and Dari languages was distributed in Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, as well as in Afghan refugee camps on the outskirts of the city, the Express Tribune reported.
The Supreme Court Wednesday asked the government not to give a bureaucratic answer about its plan to clean up the Ganga and instead unveil a stage-by-stage timeline for effective monitoring.
“Don’t give us a vision plan. An artist’s view. It may take 200 years to implement,” said a bench of Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice R. Banumathi. “We don’t know if it (cleaning Ganga) will happen in our generation.”
After the just concluded Eamcet counseling, nine engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh and one in Telangana state have found no takers, which means 10 engineering colleges were left with zero admissions, according to the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE).
At the end of the first phase of counseling, less than half of the colleges in Telangana managed to fill their entire quota.
A disturbing video showing beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff by dreaded terror group ISIS is authentic, US officials said today.
The Islamic State militants released the video yesterday. Sotloff is the second American journalist to be executed by by ISIS in two weeks.
“The US intelligence community has analysed the recently released video … And has reached the judgment that it is authentic,” said Caitlin Hayden, the spokeswoman for the National Security Council.
“We will continue to provide updates as they are available,” CNN quoted Hayden as saying.
NASA is inviting people around the world to submit short messages and images on social media that could be placed in a time capsule aboard a spacecraft launching to an asteroid in 2016.
Called the Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx), the spacecraft will rendezvous with the asteroid Bennu in 2019, collect a sample and return the cache in a capsule to Earth in 2023 for detailed study.
The robotic mission will spend more than two years at the 1,760-foot-wide asteroid and return a minimum of 60 g of its surface material.
Staunchly opposing the demand for a separate state for the Vidarbha region, the Shiv Sena today said it will not allow division of Maharashtra, even if it is sought by its alliance partner BJP or any other party.
“(Former Maharashtra Chief Minister) Ashok Chavan had alleged that the BJP is trying to divide Maharashtra into two parts. We congratulate him (for saying that). Whether it is the BJP or any other party dreaming of dividing Maharashtra, we will not let it happen,” the Sena said in an editorial, in its mouthpiece ‘Saamna’.
The naked body of a girl, who tried to save her father from being beaten by locals for failing to pay for a rented tractor at a village meeting, has been found lying on railway tracks at Dhupguri in Jalpaiguri district.
After identifying the body, her father lodged an FIR against 13 persons at Dhupguri Police Station yesterday for “rape, murder and kidnapping” of his daughter, the police said.
Jalpaiguri superintendent of police Kunal Agarwal and Additional superintendent of police James Kujur rushed to the spot last night.
In a bid to restore the glory of the 600-year-old ‘Ramala Talao’ here, district authorities have drawn an ambitious plan to develop a ‘Science Garden’ at the historic lake on the lines of popular Kankaria lake at Ahmedabad in Gujarat after de-silting it.
‘Ramala Talao’ (tank), built by Gond Kings on the city outskirts is infested by ‘Echornia’, an aquatic plant (weed) that has left both the lake and the Ramala Garden, developed earlier on its small island, in shambles.
The Chandrababu Naidu government has drawn up ambitious plans to transform Andhra Pradesh into a “bustling” state and place it among the top three states in the country by 2022.
Development of 14 major and minor ports, rivalling Singapore on the maritime front, three international airports and 14 domestic airports, three ‘mega cities’ and 11 ‘smart cities’ and 28 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are top on the government’s agenda to make AP an “air and maritime hub” and propel economic development.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Palestinian negotiators tomorrow in Washington to discuss the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and other issues, the State Department said.
Kerry was also expected to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by telephone on Tuesday before meeting Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.
India opener Shikhar Dhawan has been signed by Corum India as their ‘Brand Friend’ for the coming season.
“Each Corum timepiece celebrates intense life and power, and no individual represents this better than Shikhar Dhawan. He is known to have stunned all observers, when he stroked his way to the fastest Test century by a debutant at Mohali in 2012-13. Popular for his flamboyant personality with his ever-changing looks and the twirled moustache, Shikhar is an instant crowd favorite,” a company release stated.
Priyanka Chopra, who has stepped into the shoes of boxer Mary Kom in an upcoming biopic of the Olympic-winner, says she has invested a part of her soul in the film and her heart will break if it fails at the box office.
The 32-year-old ‘Fashion’ star says ‘Mary Kom’ is a very special film for her and she has pushed her limits to do justice to the role.
The Chandrababu Naidu government has drawn up ambitious plans to transform Andhra Pradesh into a “bustling” state and place it among the top three states in the country by 2022.
Development of 14 major and minor ports, rivalling Singapore on the maritime front, three international airports and 14 domestic airports, three ‘mega cities’ and 11 ‘smart cities’ and 28 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are top on the government’s agenda to make AP an “air and maritime hub” and propel economic development.
Political opposition notwithstanding, the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh has made elaborate arrangements to ensure that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech reaches lakhs of students in the state this Teachers’ Day.
The UP secondary education department has issued detailed instructions asking for the necessary arrangements to be made for the live telecast of the speech, which has come under attack in some opposition quarters amidst a clarification from the Centre that the exercise involving students was voluntary.
Singer Britney Spears’ pets are living the life most humans would envy – she reportedly spent over $30,000 on her dogs.
Tmz.com reports that according to new legal documents filed in her conservatorship, Spears bought two tiny pups in 2013 that came with enormous price tags – more than $13K for both of them!
She dropped $5,568 for what looks like a white Maltese in January and then in July she spent another $8,212 for its playmate, a new Yorkie.
A body of Muslim intellectuals has demanded action against BJP MP Yogi Adityanath accusing of trying to disturb peace in the country by issuing provocative statements.
The Millat Bedari Muhim Committee (MBMC) yesterday passed a resolution stating communal riots have always taken place not because of Hindus or Muslims but because of communal parties and organisations whose very existence rests on polarising society on communal lines.
Getting a chance to interact with two global sporting legends in a space of two months is an experience in itself and Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh feels “blessed” to have interacted with Pele and now Usain Bolt.
What completely floored Harbhajan was the manner in which Bolt, the ‘fastest man on earth’, bowled during the exhibition match in Bangalore yesterday.
Stirring up a controversy, Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has said that hoarding and black marketing of goods by small traders will not be treated as a crime and asked them not to worry about such activities.
“I am aware that small traders indulge in hoarding and black marketing of goods to make profit in order to sustain their families and educate their children,” he said yesterday at a function organised by Bihar State Foodgrain Businessmen’s Association.
Congress today hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his dig at “secular friends” saying that the comments made on foreign soil was “shocking and ungracious” and had made India a “laughing stock” in Japan.
“Shocking & unbecoming of a Prime Minister to mock secularism on foreign soil, when communal temperatures raised by his own party in India,” Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha said in a tweet.
Not mincing words, he said Modi was “beating the communal drum-beat in Japan” and the “mocking” of a serious issue of secularism is “ungracious, unacceptable, unexpected”.
As part of the British Council’s new season of contemporary dance ‘Impulse 2’, UK-based dance troop Hofesh Shechter company will mark their India debut with its popular performance ‘Political Mother’.
Hyderabad will host the Hofesh Shechter dance company’s first show on September 5 at Shilpakala Vedika followed by performances in Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai till September 20.
At least 910 militants and 82 Pakistani soldiers have been killed in operation Zarb-i-Azb in North Waziristan, the military said Wednesday.
The statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations () added that 27 explosives and arms making factories have been destroyed and the operation in North Waziristan is going on according to plan, Dawn online reported.
The army said that it has taken over complete control of major towns of Miramshah, Mirali, Dattakhel, Boya and Degan, which were previously considered militant strongholds.
Fifteen cartridges and a mobile phone were found in a plastic bag under waste pile at a scrap shop in Amboli area of suburban Jogeshwari, police said today.
“As many as 15 bullets and a cellphone were discovered in a plastic bag at around 1.30 PM yesterday in dry wastage by Gopal Patel, at his Patel Paper Mart scrap shop in Jogeshwari. Gopal immediately notified the police and we seized them,” Amboli police station’s senior inspector Ramesh Khadtare said.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries should make a firm commitment to support human rights protections in Afghanistan beyond the end of the NATO combat mission post-2014, the Human Rights Watch said today.
The NATO Summit in Wales, on September 4 and 5, 2014, is slated to discuss future alliance support for the Afghan government.
Priyanka Chopra who is not only playing the protagonist in Madhur Bhandarkar ‘s next production titled ‘ Madamji ‘ but is also set to co-produce the film, feels more responsible for the new venture.
Speaking at an event, the National Award winning actress said, “This is my first production, I feel more responsible towards it and more than anything Madhur and I share a very good work relation, so fingers crossed .We will get to it once I am done with ‘Mary Kom'”.
What you eat and drink, and not just the number of calories, is a significant factor in diabetes risk, a study showed.
Losing weight may be good but not enough to prevent Type 2 diabetes as researchers have shown that you do not have to be overweight to have elevated levels of glucose in blood.
For the study, researchers compared genetically identical twins – one heavier and one leaner – and found that after eating a fast food meal, the circulating metabolites, including those related to Type 2 diabetes, were found in both individuals at the same levels.