Month: January 2015

Cong uses Obama remarks to target Modi

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Using US President Barack Obama’s comments about religious freedom, Congress on Tuesday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, questioning whether he would “listen” to him and ask the Sangh Parivar, including RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, to stop justifying religious conversions. “Obama reminds us of Article 25 of Indian Constitution of the right of every Citizen of India to progress practice and propagate his religion,” Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh tweeted.

He thanked Obama for “speaking up for the Indian Citizen’s rights to profess practice and propagate his religious belief.”

Obama leaves Saudi Arabia after holding talks

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US President Barack Obama ended his hours long visit to Saudi Arabia by holding strategic talks, media reported.

An official from Obama’s administration said the US president and the Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud discussed briefly the energy and oil markets, but they didn’t touch the topic of oil prices, Xinhua reported.

The Saudi King said his country will continue to play its role in the international energy market without any changes from the previous Saudi stance.

Obama wants to regulate drone use after White House incident

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US President Barack Obama urged regulation of the commercial and recreational use of un-crewed aircraft — or drones — a rapidly growing industry, after one of those devices crashed on the White House grounds.

In remarks released Tuesday in an interview with CNN recorded in India, Obama commented that drones can perform “incredibly useful” tasks and gave the example of their ability to monitor crops or the plan by Amazon to use them to deliver packages.

“But we don’t really have any kind of regulatory structure at all for it,” he said.

Syrian troops kill over 60 rebels: state media

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The Syrian army at least 66 rebels in several Syrian areas, the state media reported.

The government troops Tuesday killed 35 “terrorists” in the contested town of Sheikh Miskin in the southern province of Daraa, Xinhua reported.

The Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front has recently focused its attacks against Sheikh Miskin due to its strategic location in southern Syria.

Moreover, the Nusra fighters recently captured a military base near Sheikh Miskin, prompting the Syrian troops to escalate their attacks against the positions of that terror group in Daraa, according to activist reports.

Fairfax plans modernization of Secunderabad Railway Station

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Canada-listed Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, which plans to invest around $1 billion in India, has prepared a plan for modernization of Secunderabad Railway Station here.

A delegation of Fairfax officials led by chairman and CEO Prem Watsa met Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to discuss its plans for making Secunderabad Railway Station a world-class facility.

The firm also evinced interest in investing in other sectors in the newly-created state, said a statement from the chief minister’s office.

Armed group releases 280 children in South Sudan

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A group of 280 children, some formerly recruited by an armed group in South Sudan, were released Tuesday, the Unicef said.

“The first group of 280 children were released today, at the village of Gumuruk in Jonglei State, eastern South Sudan. Further phased releases of the other children will occur over the coming month,” said Unicef, which helped to secure the children’s release, according to Xinhua.

VIzag, Allahabad, Ajmer to be smart cities

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India and the US on Tuesday decided to set up a task force for jointly developing Allahabad, Ajmer and Vishakhapatnam as Smart Cities with a mandate of preparing the roadmap within three months.

The decision was taken at a meeting between Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and visiting Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, two days after the two countries signed pacts under which the three cities will be developed as Smart Cities with the help of United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).

Delhi Police official booked for raping daughter-in-law

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An assistant commissioner of police posted in north Delhi was booked for allegedly raping his daughter-in-law here, police said Tuesday.

Police said a case was registered at south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj Police Station Monday, after the woman alleged that her father-in-law raped her in May last year. The accused official, who was not named in order to protect the victim’s identity, has not been arrested yet.

Cold conditions return in Kashmir Valley; Leh coldest

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The cold conditions returned in Kashmir division as the night temperature in most places, including Leh, plunged further below the freezing point followed with clear skies and unusual sunny days.

The night temperature fell by five degrees in Leh town of the frontier region of Ladakh to settle at minus 12.9 degrees Celsius, making it the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir, a MeT Department spokesperson here said.

Leh recorded a low of minus 7.6 degrees Celsius the previous night.

Iraq to probe massacre of 70 civilians

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The governor of Iraqi province of Diyala announced Tuesday that a high-level security committee will be formed to investigate what he called the human horrific massacre involving more than 70 civilians, including women and children, in a village.

Unidentified gunmen killed more than 70 unarmed civilians of Barwanah village in Diyala after they fled clashes with Islamic State (IS) militants, a source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The source added that it was too soon to draw conclusions and suggested IS could have been behind the deaths in the village.

MiG-27 aircraft of IAF crashes in Rajasthan, pilot ejects safely

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A MiG-27 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force on Tuesday crashed in Rajasthan’s Barmer district but the pilot ejected safely.

The crash which occured at a place, about 8 kms from Barmer city, left a motorcyclist injured. Barmer district in the western part of the state shares border with Pakistan.

Air Force sources said the crash occurred at about 1510 hours.

The pilot ejected safely but a civilian was injured and his motorcycle got damaged in the incident, they said.

Toilets in schools should be clean with proper facilities: SC

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Toilets in all schools should not be a mere “structure” but they should be clean and have proper facilities, the Supreme Court said today.

“It can be said without any fear of contradiction that a toilet in structure only, is not a toilet in reality. Toilets meant for schools, which are co-educational and the girls schools, have to have such toilets which are clean and acceptable, having proper facilities,” a bench of justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant said.

Indo-US nuclear deal detrimental to deterrence stability in South Asia: Pakistan

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Pakistan on Tuesday said the operationalization of the Indo-US nuclear deal for political and economic expediencies would have a detrimental impact on deterrence stability in South Asia.

Pakistan Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, in a statement, also said the country was opposed to yet another country-specific exemption from NSG rules to grant membership to India, as this would further compound the already fragile strategic stability environment in South Asia.

Will be back to see the Taj: Michelle Obama

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President Barack Obama and Michelle may not have been able to see the Taj Mahal this time but the US First Lady on Tuesday said she will be back in India for a visit to the monument of love.

When asked whether she was disappointed at not being able to see the Taj, Michelle said “I am and I will be back.”

Obama and Michelle were scheduled to visit Agra today but the trip was cut short as the US President decided to go to Saudi Arabia to pay condolence to the Royal family following death of King Abdullah.

Coal block case: Court allows CBI plea to delete witness name

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A Delhi court Tuesday allowed a plea of the CBI seeking deletion of the name of chartered accountant Navin Kumar Tulsyan as a prosecution witness in a coal block allocation case.

Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Judge Bharat Parashar passed the order after the probe agency pleaded that since the court Jan 20 had summoned Tulsyan as an accused, his name was required to be deleted from the list of prosecution witnesses filed earlier.

Tulsyan was summoned as an accused along with former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda and others.

Shashi Tharoor may be questioned again soon

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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor may be questioned again in connection with his wife Sunanda Pushkar’s mysterious death, Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi said on Tuesday.

Tharoor has already been examined by the SIT once. He was questioned by police on January 19 for around four hours at the office of Anti Auto Theft Squad (AATS) in South Delhi’s Vasant Vihar.

Fidel Castro cautiously backs normalisation of US ties

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Former Cuban president Fidel Castro has broken his silence for the first time on normalising ties with the US, supporting the development with a touch of caution.

In a message to students at the University of Havana, he said he did not trust US policy, although he supported negotiations and peaceful solution to conflicts in accordance with international standards, Efe news agency reported.

Would like to work on public health in India: Obama

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US President Barack Obama said Tuesday that that he and his wife Michelle would like to work on public health issues in India, including the issue of obesity.

Obama, who addressed a special episode of “Mann Ki Baat” radio programme here with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was answering a question on whether he and the US First Lady would like to work on health issues in India like philanthropist couple Bill and Melinda Gates.

Burglars strike at businessman’s house in Rein Bazar

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Some unidentified burglars broke open into the house of a businessman in Rein Bazar area and decamped with Rs 10 lakh cash and 20 tolas of gold ornaments.

According to Rein Bazar police, the burglars conducted the crime in the house of one Naseeruddin, whose son got married on Monday night. While all the inmates went for the marriage at a function hall at Nampally, the burglars entered the house by breaking open the locks. The burglary was noticed when the family returned at about 2.30 AM on Tuesday.

Woman’s body fished out from lake

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The Meerpet police on Tuesday retrieved the body of a 39-year-old woman from Pedda Cheruvu.

The deceased was later identified as Ramancha Manga, an attender in a private school and resident of Prashanti Hills Colony. She is suspected to have committed suicide by jumping into the lake on Monday evening, according to Meerpet police. (INN)

Poor offering their all inspired me, says Modi

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Narrating how he was offered milk and a roti made of bajra (millet) by a poor family in his days as an “ascetic”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said their gesture inspired him to devote his life to people like them.

Addressing the nation in his “Maan Ki Baat” radio programme along with US President Barack Obama, Modi said he was touched by how the family tried to provide him their best food.

Five coal miners kidnapped in Pakistan

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Unidentified gunmen kidnapped five coal miners in Pakistan`s Balochistan province Tuesday, media reported.

Police sources told Dawn online that the militants kidnapped seven miners belonging to the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation in Quetta`s Sorenge area but the kidnappers later freed two miners and took the other abductees to nearby mountains, Dawn online reported.

“Five coal miners are still with the kidnappers,” police said. They added that the number of kidnappers was yet to be confirmed.

Auto-driver found dead under mysterious circumstances

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A 40-year-old auto-driver was found dead under mysterious circumstance in Chikkadpally police limits on Tuesday.

According to police, the deceased, Shaik Mansoor, had left his home at Golnaka on January 19 by stating that he was going to his native village. However, his body was found in Baghlingampally area on Tuesday morning. Police shifted the body to Gandhi Hospital mortuary for post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death. A case of suspicious death has been registered and further investigations are on. (INN)

Two woman succumb to accidental burn injuries

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In separate cases, two women, succumbed to the burn injuries which they sustained while preparing food.

In Malkajgiri police limits, 40-year-old K Laxmi Bai suffered burn injuries on January 25. In another case, Shanti Kumari, 20, of Medchal sustained burn injuries on January 18. Both were admitted to the Gandhi Hospital for treatment where they died on Monday night. (INN)