UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday condemned the killing of a Jordanian pilot held captive by the Islamic States(IS), saying the terrorist organisation has “no regard for human life”, Xinhua reported.
In a note to the media, Ban said he shares the sorrow of the family and loved ones of Moaz al-Kasasbeh, the pilot of the Jordanian Royal Air Force, and stands in solidarity with the people of Jordan in denouncing this “appalling” act.
Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Tuesday accused certain parties of playing communal and caste-based politics in Delhi assembly elections and said they will be given an “appropriate reply” by the electorate on February 7, the day of polling. Naqvi claimed that eight months of Narendra Modi government had managed to “dispel the fear” among certain communities and said the government was focused on ensuring inclusive development.
The Indian Army plans to use e-governance widely and has an ambitious plan for a cloud database which can store all unclassified information about soldiers.
“Things like certificates and other information about soldiers can be saved in a cloud. This will be accessible from any place and save time,” army sources said Tuesday.
This is part of the army’s ambitious plan to connect soldiers through an internal network of optical fibres.
“The army data network is a backbone which provides each unit of the army a digital data capability,” an army official said on condition of anonymity.
After spectacular victories in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections, the ruling TRS in Telangana is now focused on strengthening itself in the state.
Chief Minister and TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao announced a schedule for membership drive, which begins on Tuesday, and elections to party committees from the village level.
Addressing a meeting of the party’s extended executive committee here, Rao said the membership drive would continue till February 20. Elections to party committees at different levels would be held during March and April.
Asserting that BJP is against the practice of forced religious conversions, the party’s national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh today said that the onus was on the state governments to stop such activities.
Our stand is clear. If there is forced conversion, the BJP is against it. When we are against it… it becomes the
responsibility of the state government to stop it, arrest the culprits and file chargesheet against them,” he said while speaking to reporters here.
But if the conversion is “peaceful and voluntary”, then the Constitution allows it, he said.
Senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said AAP should have supported BJP to form a government in the city instead of taking the reigns with Congress’ backing.
Addressing an election rally at Mustafabad area in North East Delhi, Singh held AAP responsible for “wastage” of public money by “forcing” elections within a year of the previous assembly polls.
Human Resource Development Minister Smriti irani Tuesday directed the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to compile a book on martyrs, who have sacrificed their lives for the cause of freedom.
“NCERT should compile a book in consultation with the ministry of defence on the persons who have sacrificed their lives for the cause of freedom of our nation. The book could be named ‘Veergatha’ (bravery tale),” said Irani, according to an official statement.
Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan is set to make his commentary debut in the much-awaited India-Pakistan cricket World Cup game in Adelaide as part of a promotional activity for his upcoming film ‘Shamitabh’.
Amitabh, 72, who is a self confessed cricket fan like millions in India, is excited to commentate in the crucial contest between the arch-rivals on February 15, which falls a week after the R Balki-directed film releases worldwide on February 6.
Indian labourers working in the United Arab Emirates have dramatically improved the living conditions of their families residing in India, according to a new study.
The study conducted by the US-based Centre for Global Development in 10 states in India says Indians who managed to get jobs in the UAE had wages which were equivalent to two and a half times more than what they would have gained in their country.
The AAP Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was apparently frustrated over the poor response to the BJP rally at Rohini.
“The prime minister, who has all the central investigative agencies at his command, emulated his cabinet colleagues in launching a malicious and false campaign against the Aam Aadmi Party, in a desperate bid to divert attention from the imminent defeat in the Delhi assembly elections,” an AAP statement said.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has started shooting her comeback film ‘Jazbaa’, an action-thriller directed by Sanjay Gupta.
The ‘Guzaarish’ star, who is returning to the silver screen after a gap of five years, will share the screen space with Irrfan, Shabana Azmi and Anupam Kher.
Gupta took to Twitter to share the picture of the 41-year-old actress from the sets.
“#Aishwaryashootsforjazbaa. She is back,” he captioned the picture.
In the picture, the mother of one is donning a black leather jacket with her hair tied in a high ponytail as she looks at a computer in a laboratory.
With three days left for the Delhi assembly elections, the TG-CICERO opinion poll projected the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) getting the highest number of seats (between 38- 46 seats) and the BJP between 19-25 seats in the 70-member house.
According to it, the Congress would get between three and seven seats while the other parties would get between zero to two seats.
It said the AAP would get over 43 percent of the votes, the BJP over 35 percent of votes, the Congress 13 percent, down by over 11 percent votes, and the others eight percent votes, a slide of nearly four percent votes.
At least 61 new cases of swine flu were Tuesday reported from different parts of the Delhi even as the Union Health Ministry reviewed the situation arising out of the spread of H1N1 influenza in the city.
“Out of 277 tests conducted today, 61 cases were found positive,” Dr S K Sharma, Director of Health Services, Delhi Government said.
The total number of swine flu cases in the national capital now stands at 571, including five deaths.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was projected to get a majority in the Delhi Assembly elections with a pre-poll survey giving it a tally of 46 seats in the 70-member house while a ‘poll of polls’ projects 34 seats for the party, leaving the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Kiran Bedi way behind in his wake.
The India Today-Cicero pre-poll survey on Headlines Today channel projected a win for AAP giving it 38-46 seats while BJP has been projected to secure 19-25 seats. The Congress has been placed way behind with only 3-7 seats.
Congress Tuesday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over some of his remarks during US President Barack Obama’s visit as also in his political rallies, saying that it reflected an “unhealthy mindset”
Congress leader Anand Sharma told the media that Modi’s conversation with Obama during their “chai pe charcha” on the lawns of Hyderabad House last month was a “national embarrassment”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed his confidence in a Bharatiya Janata Party victory in the upcoming Delhi assembly polls, stating that the citizens of the national capital will vote to ‘transform’ the city.
Prime Minister Modi shared his experiences of his rally in the Rohini area of the city earlier in the day via a series of tweets.
“The Rohini rally was fantastic. Highlighted why BJP is best suited to provide good and stable governance in Delhi.”
he Bangalore city Police have prohibited VHP leader Praveen Togadia from participating in a Virat Hindu Samajothsava scheduled to be held in Bangalore from February 5th to 11th based on a report by two deputy commissioners stating that the entry of the provocative leader to the city could cause law and order problems.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) Tuesday said it is “extremely concerned” by images seeming to show that its food parcels in Syria being handed out bore the logo of the Islamic State (IS) militant group.
The pictures on social media appear to be from the town of Deir Haf, where WFP distributed food last August, BBC reported.
“WFP condemns this manipulation of desperately needed food aid,” said Muhannad Hadi, the UN agency’s emergency regional coordinator.
A Bahujan Samaj Party legislator in Uttar Pradesh and wife and son of a sitting Rajya Sabha MP Tuesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Legislative Councillor Hargovind Singh, Damyanti Kishore, the wife of BSP’s founder member Jugul Kishore, who is now at war with party supremo Mayawati, her son Saurabh Singh ‘Sonu’ joined the BJP in presence of state unit chief Laxmikant Bajpai and other leaders.
Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday said the Digital India programme is a platform which will create enormous business opportunities in the country.
Addressing at Digital India summit here, the minister said that the fast and timely delivery of government services will be possible once the platform is created, adding that the government will create an atmosphere to draw more private players in this sector to improve e-governance.
As Delhi inches closer to the assembly polls, the three main parties in the fray – the AAP, the Congress and the BJP – have laid out elaborate action plans, promising a slew of development measures for the national capital.
The Congress: Released in two parts, the Congress manifesto is a comprehensive vision that speaks about —
– Regularising unauthorised colonies that could not attain legal status during the first round of regularisation by the previous Congress government.
– Increasing pension amount to Rs.2,000 per month for all, including widows and handicapped.
SV Hamburg striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga is injured again and will miss at least the next two games, the struggling Bundesliga club said Tuesday.
Lasogga damaged a right thigh muscle in Monday’s training and will definitely be out for Wednesday’s match in Paderborn and Saturday’s against Hanover, reports Xinhua.
Lasogga, 23, had missed the entire winter break training programme over a similar problem but returned to play for 18 minutes in last Saturday’s 0-2 league defeat against FC Cologne.
At least five girls died Tuesday after falling into a well located inside a madrassa in Peshawar, media reported.
Some 25 to 30 girl students, sitting on a slab covering the mouth of a well, fell in when the wall of the well collapsed, Dawn reported citing local police.
Five girls died while eight others were injured. All the students of the madrassa — Islamic school — are girls.
Superintendent of Police Faisal Shehzad confirmed the toll. The dead and the injured girls are 10 to 16 years of age.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday extended his wishes to Sri Lanka on the eve of the island nation’s 67th Independence Day celebrations.
In a message to his Sri Lankan counterpart Maithripala Sirisena, President Mukherjee stated that the ties between the two nations cover ‘all areas of contemporary significance’, adding that the bonds between both countries will expand to mutual benefit.
The Bihar government on Tuesday announced that it will provide free education to all girl students, as well as all students belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes , till the post graduation level.
According to reports, the Bihar government cabinet pronounced that no fees would be taken from those students at the time of their admission to schools and colleges in the state, adding that the state government would reimburse the financial loss to the institutions. (ANI)