Month: October 2014

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has extended his greetings to the people on the eve of Vijaya Dasami.

The Chief Minister said, “I convey my warm greetings to everyone and wish for good health and prosperity of all.” He said that the Dasara signifies the victory of good over evil and the success of truth over lies. These 10 days are celebrated with gaiety and fervor across the country in different hues and ways, he added.

The Chief Minister wished that people spread the message of benevolence, peace and love. (INN)

Special Chief Secretary Lingaraju Panigrahi on Thursday administered the pledge on “Swatchh Bharat” and Swachh Pratigna” (Observance of cleanliness and awareness campaign) to the officers and staff of Secretariat at L-Block of the State Secretariat here on Thursday.

Senior IAS officials Rajeshwar Tiwari, LV Subramanyam, B Sam Bob, Manmohan Singh, AN Das, Sambasiva Rao, Ravichandra, Ramana Reddy and other officers and staff of Andhra Pradesh Secretariat have attended the programme. (INN)

Demanding the TDP government to release a white paper and a calendar pronouncing categorically as to when the poll promises will be fulfilled besides giving a joint statement with Bankers on loan waiver, YSR Congress has said the State will be questioned by the people during the Janmabhoomi programme.

The Greater Hyderabad Youth Association (GHYA) on Thursday released a poster “Say No To Cow Slaughter” in view of Bakrid festival.

Speaking to media persons after releasing the poster at Urdu Ghar, Moghalpura, GHYA Chairman MA Irfan said that the poster has been aimed at bringing different communities together. The festivals should be celebrated without hurting the sentiments of people of other religion. Besides creating awareness among the people, he hoped that the poster would clear lot of misunderstandings between the two communities.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will inaugurate the link road connecting Begumpet to Balkampet on the occasion of Dassera on Friday.

The Begumpet-Balkampet 1.41 KM long four-lane link road has been constructed at a cost of Rs 45 crore. The project, which commenced in October 2007, was quite challenging as it had a huge area of about 30,000 sqm (7.5 acres) in Central Business District of the City with 3 Bridges including an RUB.

Governor ESL Narasimhan has greeted the people on the occasion of Dassera.

“On the joyous occasion of Vijaya Dasami, I extend my warm and cordial greetings to the people of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh State. The Navaratri festival fills us with a renewed spirit of joy and jubilation. The triumph of good over the evil which signifies the main theme of the festival has an everlasting relevance,” the Governor said.

The Telangana Congress has expressed serious concerns over the rise in incidents of suicide by farmers in the State.

The budget session of the Telangana State Legislative Assembly is likely to begin from October 20.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kick off his Maharashtra assembly election campaign with a weekender rally in Mumbai, party sources said Thursday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party rally will be addressed by Modi Saturday evening 7 p.m. at the Mahalaxmi Race Course in south Mumbai.

Top state and central BJP leaders are expected to be present at the much-awaited rally which the party hopes could turn the tables on the other four major contending parties – the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena – for the Oct 15 elections.

Iranian authorities have suspended for three years the tough sentences handed to seven Iranian youths who filmed a video dancing to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy”.

The sentence, which included three years in jail, 91 lashes and a fine, will be definitively lifted if the group stays free from “intentional criminal activity”, their lawyer, Farshid Rofugar, said.

The youths, including the six who appear dancing in the video and the one who filmed it, were convicted for “participating in an illegal vulgar video activity” and for “dancing in mixed company with inappropriate clothing”.

The US Secret Service director resigned, paying the price for a string of security lapses by the elite presidential protection branch, including one in which an armed intruder ran into the White House.

Julia Pierson stepped down yesterday a day after enduring a withering public grilling by lawmakers, who pronounced themselves baffled at failures by Secret Service agents, another of which saw an armed former felon get on an elevator with President Barack Obama.

The Aam Aadmi Party volunteers led by former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal today undertook a cleaning exercise on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.

Kejriwal, who took up the cleaning of a choked drain at BR Camp in New Delhi early in the day also had breakfast with the safai karamcharis and families of the area after cleaning the drain with workers.

Party leaders, and AAP MLAs across the national capital participated in the cleanliness drive.

Needling India, Pakistan today asserted that Kashmir is a “legal issue” and must be resolved through plebiscite as per the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

At the weekly briefing here, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam also made it clear that Indo-Pak talks were not a substitute to the UN resolutions on Kashmir which envisage plebiscite in the region.

“Kashmir is a legal issue also and its legal position demands that the dispute must be resolved as per the aspirations of Kashmiri people through plebiscite,” she said.

‘Spreadeagle’, ably ridden by P Trevor, claimed The Vijay Textiles Deccan Derby – (Grade I) Cup, the chief event of Hyderabad Monsoon Races held here today.

The winner was trained by A M’galorkar.

Trainer D Netto scored a double and Laxman S scored a treble, while Jokies A Imran Khan, P S Chouhan and P Trevor scored a double each.

Six first favourites obliged in a card of ten events.

At least 9,347 Iraqi civilians have been killed and 17,386 others injured during the first nine months of this year in the offensive by the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organisation in Iraq, the UN announced Thursday.

A report by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said most of the deaths and injuries occurred from June 1 when the Sunni Muslim jihadi group intensified its offensive to overrun northern Iraq.

Rescue teams Thursday resumed the search for victims of the eruption of Mount Ontake volcano in the Nagano region in central Japan, amid uncertainty over the fate of an undetermined number of missing hikers.

The search by police, firemen and military teams was hampered by low visibility and the risk of toxic gases and a new eruption.

Authorities in Nagano have revised the number of dead downwards, from 48 to 47, but said an unknown number of people were still missing.

The Bangladesh government is considering lowering the age of marriage to 16 years for girls.

Girls’ tendency to elope at an early age has prompted the government to discuss the issue of lowering the legal age of marriage to 16 years, Zahid Maleque, the country’s junior health minister said, according to bdnews24.com.

“No decision has been taken yet. The matter is under consideration,” Maleque said Thursday.

“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is facing pressure from the rural areas to reduce the age of marriage,” Maleque said.

While Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government in Telangana stayed away from Swacch Bharat program launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government in neighboring Andhra Pradesh actively participated in it.

E.S.L. Narasimhan, who is governor of both the states, participated in clean India campaign at Raj Bhavan and Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad.

Employees of Andhra Pradesh secretariat in Hyderabad participated in the drive. Special Chief Secretary Lingaraju Panigrahi administered the pledge to the employees.

A helicopter crash in Doubs, eastern France, killed five people Thursday, media reported.

The EC130 helicopter, with seven Swiss passengers on board, fell minutes after taking off from Lausanne en route to Montbeliard, Xinhua reported citing BFMTV news channel.

Five people were killed and two others were wounded, one of them seriously, it added.

It is still not known whether the crash was caused by pilot error, mechanical problems or adverse weather.

–IANS

Two suicide bombers Thursday attacked the airport in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi, killing three soldiers, according to security sources.

The attackers, driving two cars loaded with explosives, were trying to break through the checkpoints when they detonated the bombs, leaving three soldiers dead and many others injured, Xinhua reported citing the sources.

Benghazi airport was considered the last stronghold for the renegade general Khalifa Haftar, who launched Operation Dignity last May against Islamist militants in what he described as an anti-terror campaign.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) today appealed for the conversion of waste into useful products.

A leading charity has reportedly said that the current rate of five new Ebola cases an hour in Sierra Leone means that the healthcare demands are fast outstripping medical supplies.

Save the Children said that 765 new Ebola cases were reported in the West African state last week, while there were merely 327 beds in the country, reported the BBC.

Experts and politicians are scheduled to meet in London to debate a global response to the crisis. The world’s worst outbreak has killed 3,338 people so far.

India today won the hockey finals in Asian Games 2014 held at South Korea’s Incheon city after defeating Pakistan 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out.

This is India’s first gold after 16 years and with this, the country has qualified for the 2016 Olympics.

Reports further said that Priyanka Pawar, Tintu Lukka, Mandeep Kaur and R. Poovamma have also created a record by winning the gold in 4×400 m relay. (ANI)

Government documents have revealed that US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had plans to carry out air strikes in Cuba nearly 40 years ago.

Government papers procured by researchers show Kissinger, secretary of state from 1973-77, was furious over Cuba’s 1976 military intervention in Angola and was considering retaliation in case Cuba decided to deploy forces elsewhere in Africa.

Facebook has reportedly issued an apology to drag queens over its “real-name” policy that required them to use their legal names on the social networking site.

According to the Guardian, Facebook apologized to drag queens on Wednesday following a meeting with community members and queens who protested against the company’s order to use their legal names on their profiles.