Month: December 2014

PDP claims support of 55 legislators

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PDP president Mehbooba Mufti told Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra Wednesday that her party had the support of 55 legislators in the 87-seat assembly to form a stable government.

Mehbooba Mufti did not specify if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with 25 legislators, was supporting her but made a pointed laudatory reference to former prime minister and now ailing BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader met the governor for about 90 minutes at the Raj Bhavan in this winter capital, official sources told IANS.

Sardar promises to make Indian hockey more attractive in 2015

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Captain Sardar Singh Wednesday promised to make Indian hockey team’s style of play more attractive and enjoyable to watch for the fans next year.

“My resolution (for 2015) is to maintain and improve my skills to help me be more beneficial to my teammates on the field,” the talismanic centre-half said, according to an International Hockey Federation (FIH) release.

Kohli jumps four places to 15th in Test rankings

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Indian batsman Virat Kohli jumped four places to 15th in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings released here Wednesday.

The 26-year-old Kohli rode on scores of 169 and 54 in the third Test against Australia. Another batsman who has benifitted most from the drawn Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), is Australia captain Steven Smith. The 25-year-old scored a Test best 192 in the first innings to gain two places and claimed fifth spot for the first time.

Priyanka’s track seventh in top 100 international songs, albums

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Actress-singer Priyanka Chopra’s track “I can’t make you love me” has bagged the seventh position in the top 100 international songs and albums.

The list released by Hungama.com, on-demand digital entertainment store-front, also features Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman’s tracks like “My mind is a stranger without you”, “The village of saint Antonin” and “New beginnings”, read a statement.

The top spot has been occupied by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj’s “Bang bang”.

Pakistan’s anti-terror body activated

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Pakistan’s anti-terror body, National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta), is fully operational, a minister said Wednesday.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan made the announcement Wednesday in a meeting at the Prime Minister’s House here.

The meeting, attended by senior representatives from law enforcement and intelligence agencies, revived measures adopted for countering terrorism in the country, Dawn online reported.

Pakistan, Afghanistan determined to eliminate terrorism: Sharif

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Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Wednesday stressed on the importance of Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, emphasising that both countries were determined to eliminate terrorism from their countries.

During the meeting with an 18-member Afghan parliamentary delegation that called on him here, Sharif emphasised that both countries were determined to enhance political ties and eliminate terrorism, The News International reported.

BJP criticises Mulayam over comment on Modi

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday lashed out at Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for saying he would not allow Uttar Pradesh to be won by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The SP chief said late Tuesday that the party will never allow the state to go in BJP’s kitty.

“Mulayam Singh Yadav is a seasoned and a grounded politician. Instead of using such arrogant language against the ruling party and its prime minister, he is better advised to give sermons to his chief minister son,” BJP state spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak told IANS.

2013 elections: Pakistani government ready for judicial commission

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The Pakistani government is ready to set up an independent Judicial Commission to probe the alleged rigging in the 2013 general elections, Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal said Wednesday.

The announcement came after a fresh round of talks between cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and the government was held late Tuesday night, Radio Pakistan reported.

The talks were held to resolve the differences over three points that were none of the sides have disclosed.

Notification for 12th assembly in Jammu and Kashmir issued

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After getting Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s mandatory approval, the state law department has issued a notification for constituting the 12th legislative assembly.

“After obtaining the mandatory approval from the chief minister on fax from London, the law department has issued a notification for constituting the 12th state legislative assembly that supersedes the 11th legislative assembly which was scheduled to complete its term Jan 20, 2015,” a senior official of the state law department told IANS.

The notification was issued late Tuesday.

Army wasn’t late in reacting to Bodo attack: Parrikar

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Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has denied that the army was late in reacting to the attack by Bodo militants in Assam, and said they had to wait for a request from the local administration.

“We were alert about the attack even before the news was flashed in the media. The armed forces stationed there were ready, but we had to wait for request from local administration,” Parrikar said Tuesday night during an interaction with journalists.

“As soon as the local administration requested, we deployed the forces,” he said.

Goa festival death: Isha Mantry was drunk insists minister

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Even as forensic experts are conducting a post-mortem on the body of 27-year-old Isha Mantry, who died under mysterious circumstances at a music festival Monday night, Goa Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar Wednesday repeatedly insisted that the Bollywood designer was “drunk” way after the event wound up.

Group of elderly get free Metro ride to museum

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Twenty senior citizens were Wednesday given a free Metro ride and also taken on a tour of the Metro Museum on the occasion of the museum’s sixth anniversary.

The Metro Museum, located inside the Patel Chowk Metro station, was opened to visitors Dec 31, 2008.

“A group of 20 senior citizens associated with the NGO, Sehyog Vikas Samiti, Badarpur, was invited to the Metro Museum on the occasion of its sixth anniversary. These senior citizens were brought by Metro from Tughlakabad and taken on a tour of the museum,” a Delhi Metro statement said.

London named most reviewed city in the world

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London has been named the most reviewed city in the world by online travel site TripAdvisor .

The website’s users and domestic visitors named the London Eye as UK’s most-reviewed attraction, the Independent reported.

However, the Tower of London, the home of the Beefeaters, has apparently reverted back to its former status as a place of dread.

The top 10 most reviewed cities in the world are:

1. London, UK

2. Rome, Italy

3. Paris, France

4. New York, US

5. Barcelona, Spain

6. Las Vegas, US

7. Orlando, US

8. Milan, Italy

9. Florence, Italy

RSS Nautanki continues: This time for Punjabi Sikhs

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Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliate, Dharma Jagran Manch (DJM), organized a `ghar wapsi’ programme for Sikhs near Amritsar on Tuesday.

40 people were reconverted from Christianity to Sikhism including women and children. Under the aegis of RSS wing, in the year 2014 over 700 poor families have marked their ghar wapsi in Amritsar district alone

The converts claimed that they were Mazhabi Sikhs belonging to the SC community before they embraced Christianity.
The function was held at Guru Ki Wadali near Amritsar, the birth place of sixth Sikh Guru Hargobind Sahib.

India to focus on diplomacy for development in 2015, says Swaraj

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India to focus on diplomacy for development in 2015, says SwarajExternal Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said that 2014 was a year of breakthrough diplomacy for India, and added that New Delhi will in the next year focus on diplomacy for development with a new vision and renewed vigour.

A statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs ( MEA) quoted External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj as saying that the Indian Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a place of special significance to our foreign policy and diplomatic out-reach.

Intense cold, dense fog hit life in Rajasthan

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Intense cold wave conditions continued to affect normal life in the desert state of Rajasthan, with the accompanying fog hitting train services.

The state capital Jaipur woke up to dense fog and vehicles plying on roads early in the morning were forced to switch on their fog lamps and crawl. The fog cleared only after 10 a.m. The Met Office recorded a minimum temperature of 5.7 degrees Celsius, 2 degrees below the normal.

At least 17 trains were running behind schedule while four trains were cancelled.

Bengaluru blast:Why only SIMI, why not Sanathan Sanstha asks Federation of Muslim NGO’s

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Minister of State for Home in the Union cabinet Kiren Rijiju said, ‘that the possibility of the involvement of SIMI cannot be ruled out’, in connection with the blast on Sunday at the city’s Church Street in Bengaluru.

Question’s were raised on the nature of statements and reports made by sections of media and ministers.

The Federation of Muslim NGO’s on Monday accuse the minister for prejudicing the investigation, they asked, “why did he pick only SIMI and why not Sanathan Sanstha, which is also accused of terror attacks?”

Doordarshan News to assume new avatar from New Year

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Doordarshan News will come with a fresh “look and feel” and a new tagline from Thursday, seeking to become the preferred choice of viewers in the new year.

On the New Year’s Day, the public broadcaster will sport a new look where colours black, white and deep red will have more prominence and a new tagline ‘Only News Complete News’, a senior DD News official said.

Bengaluru blast: Have got sketches from people on street, says police

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Bengaluru Police commissioner M.N. Reddi on Wednesday informed the media that they have got the sketches from the people who were present on the street during the blast.

“The teams have been continuously working on various fronts and pursuance of various angles. They have also been able to get some sketches from people who were there on the street,” said Reddi.

He, however, added that the police is not 100 percent sure whether those sketches are of the people whom they would like to publicize at this point in time.

Saudi king hospitalised for check-ups

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Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was admitted to a hospital Wednesday for medical check-ups, media reported.

He was admitted to King Abdulaziz Medical City of National Guard in Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The Royal Court statement wished him good health.

The king underwent a successful back surgery at the same hospital in Riyadh in 2011.

Born in 1924, he became Saudi Arabia’s king in 2005. His father was the founder of modern Saudi Arabia.

–IANS

Pakistan to challenge Lakhvi’s conditional release

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The Pakistan government has decided to challenge in the Supreme Court 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi’s conditional bail granted by the Islamabad High Court.

The petition, prepared by the attorney general, will be filed by the Islamabad district administration. It will present the stance that the Islamabad High Court did not hear the government’s version while granting bail to Lakhvi, Dawn online reported.

Punjab reduces bus fares

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Punjab Wednesday announced reduction in bus fares in the state as a New Year gift to passengers. The new rates will be effective from Jan 1, Transport Minister Ajit Singh Kohar said.

The minister said it was for the first time in the history of the state that bus fares have been reduced.

Kohar said that from January onwards, the fares will be reduced by four paisa per km for ordinary buses.

This decrease will also be in fares for other categories of buses of the state transport department.

–IANS

‘PK’ tax free in UP, Akhilesh says film a ‘must watch’

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The Uttar Pradesh government Wednesday announced that Aamir Khan’s movie “PK” will be exempted from tax, as Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said it was a “very nice” film.

Yadav announced the government’s decision before the media at his official residence, and said he watched the film Tuesday night.

He said the film “was a very nice one” and urged the media persons to go and watch it.

Yadav criticised people and organisations for protesting against the film, saying they were doing it without any valid reason.

Global performance artists to hit Kolkata Jan 23

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Over 20 performance artists from India and countries like Switzerland, Serbia and Japan will put up interactive and intriguing live acts and installations here as part of a festival beginning Jan 23.

The Kolkata International Performance Art Festival 2015 (KIPAF) will see innovative use of public spaces by well-known proponents of performance art, according to the organisers.

Ayesha Takia’s sister-in-law joins restaurant business

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Actress Ayesha Takia’s sister-in-law Rushda Azmi Shaikh has ventured into restaurant business.

It seems Ayesha’s husband Farhan Azmi, who successfully manages popular restaurants like Koyla, Chai Coffi and Cafe Basilico, is not the only one in the family with hospitality expertise.

Her sister-in-law opened a cafe-cum-patisserie called Sugar Rush here Tuesday and the outlet is said to be perfect for every coffee and dessert lover.