Etela Happy Over Centre respecting States
Telangana Finance Minister Etala Rajender today welcomed the decision of the Centre giving freedom to the states to make use of financial allocations for their own schemes.
Month: February 2015
Nine dead after shootings in US
At least nine people were killed in multiple locations in the US state of Missouri following shootings, a county sheriff confirmed to the Houston Herald newspaper Friday.
“There are four confirmed crime scenes at Tyrone, a possible fifth location and a sixth outside of Texas county in Shannon County”, Texas county sheriff James Sigman told the newspaper.
Sigman made the statement as troopers and deputies mobilised in the area.
He declined to offer any additional information about the investigation or the shooter.
Indian Navy concludes annual TROPEX exercise
The Indian Navy Friday concluded its annual Theatre Level Readiness and Operational Exercise (TROPEX), a month-long drill encompassing all dimensions of maritime warfare.
“This month-long war drill encompassed all dimensions of maritime warfare, and witnessed participation of around 50 ships and submarines with over 70 aircraft from three naval commands,” a statement said.
The exercise also witnessed participation of units from the India Air Force and the Indian Coast Guard.
High Court Flays GHMC using Garbage Bins for Tax Collection
The GHMC authorities received flak from the High Court today for their so-called unique style of recovering property tax from defaulters, especially big business houses and institutions.
It might be mentioned here that the GHMC adopted an unusual form of tax collection by placing garbage bins before the door steps of the defaulters and thus force them to clear the arrears. The unhygienic method of using garbage bins for tax collection had come in for severe criticism from all quarters.
Renaming AP Express as Telangana Express Soon; New Railway Zone for AP under consideration: Venkaiah
The prestigious A.P. Express running between Hyderabad and New Delhi would soon be renamed as Telangana Express as demanded by the new state of Telangana.
This was reaffirmed by Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday while interacting with the media in the national capital, and he assured that A.P State would be adequately compensated with the introduction of a new express train on similar lines.
Moral, cultural values must with education: Rajnath
Underlining the need of moral and cultural values for students, Home Minister Rajnath Singh Friday called for promotion of education with scientific temper and skills.
Addressing a convocation of a private university here, the minister also asked students to participate in the process of nation building and contribute in making the country a developed nation of the world.
He said scientific temper and professional skills without proper value education can be dangerous.
Odisha government gets two more months over 18 mines’ fate
The Odisha government has been granted another two months by the Supreme Court to decide on the fate of 18 iron and manganese ore mines in the state whose leases are due for renewal, an official said.
The state government has been granted time for a second time to take a call on renewal of the merchant mines, awaiting second and subsequent renewal. The previous extension granted by the apex court expired Feb 20.
Kolkata Open: Duckworth, Albot set up title clash
Top seeded Australian tennis ace James Duckworth did justice to his billing as he came back from a set down to prevail over Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans and move into the final at the ongoing Emami Kolkata Open here Friday.
Duckworth will clash for the title with Radu Albot of Moldova who got past Chinese Taipei’s Ti Chen in a three setter at the BTA Complex court.
It took Duckworth one hour and 39 minutes to clinch the semi-final encounter 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Tension before R.R dist. Court; Eggs hurled at judges
Agitating lawyers demonstrating in front of the Ranga Reddy District Court demanding the setting up of a separate High Court for the new state of Telangana, on Friday created a commotion by hurling eggs while some judges tried to make their way into the court premises.
A group of lawyers organized the protest demonstration by squatting on the road before the court premises. They closed the gates and prevented the clients, lawyers and even judges from entering the premises. The agitating lawyers shouted slogans demanding creation of a new High Court for Telangana State.
Swine flu toll in Bengal now 7
The toll due to swine flu in West Bengal Friday rose to seven with the death of a person at a city hospital while 12 fresh cases were reported to take the total number of positive cases to 112, an official said.
“One person died today at a city hospital. Since January seven people have died due the infection,” said Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Malay Kumar De.
He said that 12 new cases were reported from the city as well as adjoining districts taking the total number of positive cases to 112.
Leprosy patients meet Kejriwal at janta darbar
A group of leprosy patients today met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at his ‘janta darbar’ programme and urged him to accelerate welfare measures meant for them which they claimed have been withheld for more than 10 years.
The 20-odd patients, who reside at a shelter in northeast Delhi’s Seemapuri, got emotional as the chief minister “patted and hugged” them during the interaction at AAP’s Kaushambi office.
VHP says it will arrange reconversions in Goa if people want
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today said it would “facilitate” reconversions in Goa if the local people wanted it.
“Thousands of years ago, Hindus in Goa were converted to Christianity. If they want to come back and if they contact VHP, we will facilitate their return to Hinduism,” said Dada Vedak, VHP’s convenor for Goa and Maharashtra.
Alleging that the Catholic church converted people “aggressively”, Vedak said VHP would not use force, but reconvert the people with “mamata (compassion), samata (equality) and prem (love)”.
India are playing best cricket of WC, insists Lara
Insisting that India are currently playing the “best cricket of the World Cup”, West Indies batting legend Brian Lara feels that the defending champions must test their bench strength against minnows UAE in a Pool B match here tomorrow.
Lara said by testing a few reserve players against weaker opposition, India will best prepared to tackle any eventuality in the crucial stages later in the tournament.
Govt not on back foot on land bill: Gadkari
Notwithstanding the stiff opposition to the land bill, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today said the Narendra Modi government was not on the “back foot” on the issue but conceded there may have been a delay in propagating the “truth”.
Gadkari also said he was prepared to speak to ally Shiv Sena, NCP and activist Anna Hazare, all of whom have reservations over the legislation, to convince them that it is not anti-farmer.
BJP hands over letter of support to Kashmir governor
A delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators Friday handed over, to Jammu and Kshmir Governor N.N.Vohra, a letter conveying support to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed for government formation in the state.
A BJP delegation called on Vohra at the Raj Bhavan and handed over a letter which conveys BJP’s support in favour of the PDP for formation of government in the state and to invite Mufti Muhammad Sayeed to form the government, said a statement issued by the Raj Bhavan.
Obama backs pot decriminalisation efforts in America
President Barack Obama has said that American states could overhaul their laws to discourage marijuana the same way people have been persuaded not to consume “bad things” like tobacco.
His comments came the same day Washington State implemented a new law decriminalising the use of small amounts of marijuana over the objections of some Republicans.
“I think that we have to separate out legalisation — there’s a lot of concern about drug abuse of any sort by our children and the general population — versus the heavy criminalisation of non-violent drug offenses,” Obama said.
Sikkim woman raped in Delhi, five arrested
A 25-year old woman from Sikkim, brought to Delhi on the pretext of getting her a job, was raped here by a young doctor who has been arrested along with four others, police said Friday.
The victim told police that she was raped by the 27-year-old doctor, identified as Mehraz, Thursday at his residence in Gautam Nagar in south Delhi from where she escaped.
The crime was reported Friday morning after an autorickshaw driver helped the woman to telephone the police.
533 startups in 1,000 days, says Startup Village
The Startup Village here, the country’s first PPP model incubator which completed its 1,000th day Jan 10, has so far produced 533 startups, including 116 at campus startups, and created a total of 2,889 jobs with a total valuation pegged at Rs.292 crore, a statement said Friday.
Startup Village was launched April 15, 2012 with the ambitious agenda to create an ecosystem that would fire up entrepreneurial aspirations of youngsters in Kerala.
11 killed in Syria car bomb explosion
A car bomb exploded Friday in a town in the countryside of Syria’s capital Damascus, killing at least 11 people, a monitoring group reported.
The car bomb tore through the city of Dumair in the eastern countryside of Damascus, more specifically on the road connecting Dumair with Palmira in central Syria, Xinhua news agency reported citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
It said the number of casualties would likely rise due to the large number of critically wounded people.
Further details are awaited.
(IANS)
VHP mulls re-conversion of Christians in Goa
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) plans to re-convert Christians in Goa and is in the middle of an expansion drive in the state, a VHP leader said here Friday.
Ahead of VHP’s golden jubilee function in the state, Dada Bedak, secretary in-charge of the Satsang (Spiritual Discourse) division, told IANS that the senior leaders would discuss issues like re-conversion and love jihad and how to approach them in next 50 years.
Kejriwal to head body to deliver 70-point agenda
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will head a new agency – The Delhi Dialogue Commission – that will implement the AAP’s 70-point agenda for the capital’s growth, officials said Friday.
A meeting of the Delhi cabinet chaired by Kejriwal approved the setting up of a nine-member advisory body to ensure the execution of the Aam Aadmi Party government’s vision for governance.
The commission will have Kejriwal as its chairperson and party colleague Ashish Khetan as vice chairperson.
2G court pulls up Bollywood producer for error in application
A special court Friday pulled up Bollywood producer Karim Morani, accused in a 2G spectrum allocation case, for not filing an application in proper manner after observing typographical error in the plea.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge O.P. Saini pulled up Morani while dismissing his plea seeking to travel Dubai from March 2 to March 9 as for finalizing locations for shooting and making all arrangements for shooting for film “Dilwale” of which is the creative producer.
The court observed that in the plea, the date mentioned are Sep 2, 2015 to Feb 2, 2015.
Sayeed stakes claim to power in Kashmir
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed Friday staked claim to form the next government in the state.
“This followed his unanimous election as the leader of the PDP legislature party that emerged as the single largest party in the recent election. The meeting of legislature party was held here today. Senior leader Abdul Rehman Veeri presided over the meeting,” said a PDP statement.
The development followed the meeting Mufti had with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi earlier in the day, it added.
Third man arrested for complicity in Copenhagen attacks
Danish police arrested another young man Friday for complicity in the twin shootings that occurred here two weeks ago.
The suspect, whose name will not be made public, is expected to be presented for a preliminary closed-door hearing on Saturday, Xinhua reported citing a police press release.
Police had arrested and charged two men for having assisted the alleged perpetrator in the Copenhagen attacks in mid-February.
The two men, aged 19 and 22, have denied the charges but their detention have been extended for another month, police said.
Sayeed meets Modi, to take oath as Kashmir CM Sunday
PDP patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his swearing-in Sunday as Jammu and Kashmir chief minister heading a government which, for the first time in the state’s history, will include the BJP. Modi is slated to attend the “historic” ceremony.
Sayeed’s meeting with Modi came about following successful conclusion of nearly two months of negotiations between their parties, which finished as the top two in the state assembly polls held November-December last year.