Month: February 2015

Opposition parties call Howrah bandh

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Opposition parties on Tuesday called bandh in Howrah city and the district to protest the killing of a youth by drunken men for protesting against eve-teasing.

The Left Front has called 12-hour Howrah district bandh in protest against the killing of Arup Bhandari.

Bhandari (20), a college student, was killed yesterday by some drunken youths at Howrah city for protesting their lewd comments against two girls.

Another opposition party, Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) called 12-hour bandh in Howrah city to protest the killing and immediate arrest of the culprits.

26/11 trial: Pak to hold Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi’s trial on daily basis

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Hearing in the trial of Zaki-ur-Rehman – an alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks – will be held on day-to-day basis, the Islamabad High Court said, accepting the request of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

FIA prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar had requested a day-to-day hearing in Lakhvi`s case, Dawn reported citing sources as saying.

Prosecutor Azhar was quoted as saying, “This case is crucial. The world`s eyes are on this case. Therefore, it should be heard daily by IHC.”

AAP caught red-handed receiving funds from ‘dubous’ companies

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Coming down hard on AAP, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the party was caught “red-handed” in receiving funds through “round-tripping” from companies which did not have any business and accused it of adopting “diversionary tactics” to deflect attention.

Jaitley called the Rs 2 crore donation through cheques of Rs.50 lakh each by four companies to AAP a clear case of “round-tripping of black money” and indicated that a probe will be initiated into it by the concerned authorities.

Woman, new born die of swine flu in Madhya Pradesh

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The child was born on Monday night, while the woman from Rajasthan was under treatment, at the government-run Kamla Raja Hospital.

Two persons, including a newborn, have died of swine flu in Gwalior during the last 24 hours, a health official said.

A girl born on Monday night died around 4 a.m. on Tuesday at the government—run Kamla Raja Hospital (KRH).

Confirming that the new born baby was suffering from swine flu, district Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr. Anup Kamthan said that the girl’s mother. Suman. was shifted to an isolation ward of KRH.

Secularism means state shall not have religion of its own, Ansari tells students

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Vice President Hamid Ansari on Tuesday said that secularism implies that a state shall not have a religion of its own.

His statement comes in the backdrop of an ongoing row between political parties over an advertisement issued by Information and Broadcasting Ministry which carried a picture of the Preamble to the Constitution as it appeared before the 42nd Amendment, without the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’

Dawood’s brother, two others booked for extortion

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Iqbal Kaskar, brother of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, and his two associates have been booked on charges of extortion and assault following a complaint by an estate agent, police said on Tuesday.

An FIR was registered last night at Byculla police station after a complaint by Salim Shaikh, an estate agent that Kaskar and his men had demanded Rs 3 lakh after thrashing him last Friday, police said.

The alleged incident occurred in a room at Damarwala building at Pakmodia Street in South Mumbai’s Bhendi Bazar area, police added.

Saudi Arabia to ban foreign workers using fake degrees

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Saudi Arabia plans to introduce penalties against people found to be holding fake academic degrees and to deport them from the Kingdom.

Forgers of academic degrees will face trial, imprisonment, deportation and also ban on entering the Kingdom, Director of General of Public Relations and Media in the Ministry of Interior Maj General Mohammed Al-Maro’al said in a statement.

The authorities have seriously taken up the issue of fake degrees, which are easy to purchase, Al-Maro’al said.

Stay with your wife: Jind women advise Modi

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Women belonging to Jind village in Haryana have written a letter to PM Modi advising him to stay with his wife Jashodaben.

They argued that PM Mod should stay with his better half as he initiated “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” campaign across India, if he has so much respect for the girl child than he should stay with his wife.

Women of Palwa village conducted a meeting under the chairmanship of Zila parishad Surender Devi and it come to a decision that they will send a letter to PM on weekly basis demanding that he should stay with his wife

AAP candidate’s car attacked

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Days ahead of the February 7 polls, the vehicle of an AAP candidate was allegedly damaged Tuesday night by unidentified persons who attacked it when she was on her way home, police said.

According to police, the vehicle in which AAP’s candidate for the Rohtas Nagar constituency, Sarita Singh, was travelling was allegedly attacked by a group of people in north-east Delhi.

The attackers struck at her car with iron rods and wooden clubs, police said, adding that the AAP candidate is safe.

An FIR is yet to be filed in the case but the matter is being investigated, they said.

—PTI

Body of girl found chopped in pieces in UP

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Body of a girl in her early twenties was found in a sack near Chiraiyabagh village in SGPGI area here, police said on Tuesday.

The body chopped in pieces was found in a sack yesterday below Shaheed Path. The girl was a BA student and a resident of Aminabad, they said.

Initially, a pair of human legs was found and later, on a tip-off, the police recovered the chopped body in a sack.

Police have detained two persons, said to be the girl’s friends, in this connection and are going through her mobile records.

—PTI

Morocco jails 7 over deadly building collapse

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A Moroccan court jailed seven people today over their role in the deaths of 23 residents killed last year when three apartment blocks collapsed in Casablanca.

They were sentenced to between two and five years in prison and fined for “involuntary homicide” and “breaching urban planning codes”.

Three others were acquitted after the four-month trial, which prompted protests both from victims’ families and the accused who charged that the “real culprits” were not in the dock.

Set up SIT to probe atrocities against Dalits: PT

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Puthiya Tamizhagam leader K Krishnasamy today demanded that a special intelligence team be constituted to investigate “atrocities against dalits in south Tamil Nadu.”

A special court should be constituted in every district to probe cases relating to atrocities against dalits, he told reporters here.

He also opined that dalit IAS officials were not being given important portfolios like Home,and urged the central government to give standing instructions to state governments to provide important assignments to dalit IAS officers.

Sushma Swaraj leaves for home after concluding maiden China visit

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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday left for home after concluding a four-day visit to China during which she met President Xi Jinping and held talks with her counterpart to make preparations for the Prime Minister’s visit to the country expected to take place in May.

Swaraj along with Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar left this morning winding up her maiden visit to China.

During her stay here, Swaraj met President Xi who expressed full confidence in Sino-India relations, hoping that “new progress” would be made in the ties in the new year.

Manjhi govt orders transfer of police officers

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The Bihar government tonight effected transfer in police administration by shuffling six Superintendent of Police level officers.

However, transfer order of two Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) ranked officers was cancelled, according to a notification issued by the Home department.

Binod Kumar, DIG Saran, who was transfered to Patna has been asked to stay back at Saran, the notification said.

Similarly P K Shrivastava, DIG Magadh range who was sent to Saran has been asked to stay put at his place of posting, the notification added.

HC finds fault with counter affidavit

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Madras High Court today found fault with the affidavit filed on behalf of the DGP in which it was mentioned that out of 251 police stations, CCTV cameras were installed in 170, and rest would be done in a phased manner.

Sex worker goes missing from Thane civil hospital

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A 24-year-old sex worker admitted in civil hospital here went missing today, police said.

The woman, hailing from West Bengal, was sold in a brothel in powerloom town of Bhiwandi for Rs 50,000.

She was arrested under section 370, 370A of IPC and sections 4, 5 and 6 of PITA Act.

A police officer with the Thane Nagar police station said based on the complaint of a woman constable the woman disappeared when the policewoman was in toilet of the hospital in morning hours.

A hunt is on to trace her.

Google developing `ride-sharing` app

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Google is reportedly working on a ride-sharing service that will allow people to catch a lift from one of its driverless cars, a report said.

According to The Verge, Google’s chief legal officer, David Drummond, who is on Uber’s board of directors, has informed them that the company is considering stepping into the ride-sharing space.

Uber’s board is also reported to have seen screenshots of Google’s app, which is apparently being used by its employees.

I want Britain’s first three-parent baby, mom of disabled child appeals to MPs

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A British mother who is in line to be the first in the country to create a baby with three parents on Sunday appealed to lawmakers to change the law and allow her to give birth. Vicky Holliday, 38, is reluctant to have a second child with her partner Keith Newell after their first, one-year-old Jessica Newell, was born with a devastating disease caused by faulty mitochondrial DNA.

Indians can invest up to $2,50,000 annually overseas

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Encouraged by foreign exchange reserves touching record levels, the Reserve Bank on Tuesday doubled the annual overseas investment ceiling for individuals to $2,50,000.

“On a review of the external sector outlook and as a further exercise in macro-prudential management, it has been decided to enhance the limit under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) to $2,50,000 per person per year,” the RBI said in its Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement.

Ebola threat: 9 year old Nigerian girl held at Airport

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A 10-year-old girl from Nigeria was held at the Nedumbassery airport on suspicion of possible Ebola infection.

“The girl, who had arrived from Dubai by an Emirates flight, displayed certain traits which were consistent with the guidelines issued to us. Following the standard protocol, we admitted her to the Ernakulam General Hospital for Ebola tests,” the airport authorities said.

Serena strengthens position at top spot in WTA world ranking post Oz Open triumph

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Serena Williams has strengthened her position at the top spot in the WTA world ranking after clinching her sixth Australian Open title in Melbourne.

The American world number is 1,500 points ahead of Australian Open runner-up Maria Sharapova, Sport24 reported.

Venus Williams, who reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final since 2010 in Melbourne, was the biggest mover of the week as she climbed seven spots to No.11 in the world.

WTA Top 10

1. Serena Williams- 9 776

2. Maria Sharapova- 8 210

3. Simona Halep- 6 571

4. Petra Kvitova- 6 480

5. Caroline Wozniacki- 4 565

Delhi polls: BJP releases vision document

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday released its vision document for the upcoming Delhi assembly polls, promising to make Delhi a world class city and to resolve pending problems of water, electricity and transport.

“The vision document will help make Delhi a world class city by all standards. This documents covers over 270 points, will focus on the following urgent matters- women safety,security, youth affairs, electricity and water, cleanliness, education and skill development and environment,” said the party’s chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi.

Pirate Bay springs back to life after two-month hiatus

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Piracy site the Pirate Bay has sprung back to life following a two-month hiatus.

According to TorrentFreak, the site re-appeared Saturday with “minimal” data loss, but some pages result in 404 errors , PC World reported.

The site came back online a day earlier than expected as the company had set February 1the return of the site was for scheduled for February 1.

The report further said that the site’s staff could no longer access the moderation panel, and that doing so “would make the site easier to manage and the risk of being brought down for a third time.”

(ANI)