Month: April 2015

BJP, RSS using Ambedkar’s ideas to justify ghar wapsi: Arundhati Roy

by

Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy on Wednesday accused BJP and RSS of using the ideas of B R Ambedkar to justify ‘ghar wapsi’ campaign, which she claimed was based on politics rather than religion.

Roy was addressing a session on ‘The Future of Bahujan Culture and Politics’ organised here to mark the sixth anniversary of English-Hindi magazine Forward Press.

The writer said the Ghar Wapsi campaign, allegedly launched by outfits affiliated to RSS, has nothing to do with religion, but demography, politics and number (of voters).

Auto and taxi unions in Delhi to go on strike today

by

Public transport services are likely to be hit in the city today due to a strike called by transporters, in protest against the Centre’s new bill on road safety and transport.

Taxi and auto unions have announced one-day strike in protest against the ‘Road Transport and Safety Bill-2014’. Both auto and black and yellow taxies will be off the road.

Delhi Autorickshaw Sangh and Delhi Pradesh Taxi Union, which are a part of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, said that they are against the bill.

Muslim girl wearing long skirt banned in a French School

by

A Muslim girl (15) studying in a French School has been stopped from attending classes for wearing a long black skirt which was seen as against French law which guarantees secularism.

The message on the Twitter “I wear my skirt as I like” appeared after which this dispute was made public in the girl’s local newspaper Charleville-Mezieres.

Hasina says, city polls rigging charges will be probed

by

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Wednesday the allegations of large-scale rigging during the city corporation elections will be properly investigated.

Her pledge came on Wednesday during a programme at the Ganabhaban in Dhaka. Hasina brought up the issue of thorough probe into the allegations after the UN, the US, Britain and the EU made calls for enquiry following Tuesday’s city polls that were boycotted midway by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and candidates it endorsed, bdnews24.com reported.

India-US Foreign Office Consultation held in New Delhi

by

United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, currently on an official visit to India, on Wednesday conducted the India-US Foreign Office Consultation with Foreign Secretary Dr S. Jaishankar in the national capital.

During their meeting, Jaishankar and Sherman discussed the bilateral ties between India and the US, also reviewing the implementation of the Indo-US Summit decisions.

The two leaders also held discussions on regional issues, including relief and rescue operations in Nepal.

How can army chief defy promotion policy, asks SC

by

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought to know how could the army chief act in defiance of the approved policy as the government told it that the army filled up the vacancies both under the command exit promotion policy and on pro rata basis.

A bench of Justice T.S.Thakur and Justice R. Banumathi posed the question after it was told that the government has approved the command exit promotion policy but the army was following the pro rata basis as well.

Further stake sale in Coal India to meet SEBI guidelines: Goyal

by

The government will go for further stake sale in Coal India in due course to meet market regulator SEBI’s guidelines on public shareholding, Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.

“We have to fulfill SEBI guidelines. In due course you will hear about it (stake sale),” Goyal told reporters here on the sidelines of the launch event of the National Transmission Asset Management Centre (NTAMC) of Power Grid Corp.

Nepal quake: Obama calls Koirala, expresses condolences

by

US President Barack Obama expressed grief and condolence over the Nepal quake victims during a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, a statement said here on Wednesday.

“I am with the people of Nepal and the government at this great tragedy,” the US president told Koirala, according to a Xinhua news agency report which cited the statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Obama’s condolence came after the US government pledged to provide $19 million in aid to the Himalayan nation.

Government approves 10 sites for new nuclear power projects

by

The government has “in principle” approved 10 sites for setting up new nuclear power projects, parliament was told on Wednesday.

Listing out the 10 sites located in nine states, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that “the government had accorded “in principle” approval of the sites for locating nuclear power projects in future, based on both indigenous technologies and with foreign co-operation”.

Separate settlements for KPs not acceptable: Geelani

by

Separate settlements for Kashmiri Pandits are not acceptable and they should be settled at their native places only, Hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani today said.

“Their (government’s) plan is to settle them (Pandits) at separate places where they have identified the land. They (Pandits) should be settled at their native places and that would be better for them as well as our society. Except that, we will not accept any other way to settle the Pandit brethren,” Geelani said at his Hyderpora residence.

NC hits out at Sayeed over KPs’ township issue

by

Opposition National Conference today said Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and his PDP stood completely exposed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement that Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister had promised 50 acres for purpose of composite townships for Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley.

“This statement by Singh now in the Lok Sabha has also proven beyond a doubt that J-K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had lied during his speech in the Legislative Assembly while denying that he had promised to allocate land for segregated, composite townships,” NC spokesman Junaid Mattu said in a statement here.

America greatly concerned over Lakhvi’s release: US official Biswal

by

The US was “greatly concerned” over the release of Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and supports India’s effort to bring the Mumbai attackers to justice, top US official Nisha Biswal said on Wednesday.

The US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs said here on Wednesday that the US had been hoping to avoid the situation of Lakhvi being released from jail and had “impressed” this concern on Pakistani officials.

Ranchi to host second qualifier of IPL play-offs

by

Ranchi’s JSCA International Stadium Complex is set to host the Indian Premier League’s second play-off qualifier on May 22, according to the Indian cricket board.

As per the revised Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 play-offs schedule announced by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the second qualifier would be played between the loser of first qualifier and winner of the eliminator.

The venue for the second qualifier was not announced earlier.

25 IS militants killed in Syria weapon depot blast

by

At least 25 militants of Islamic State(IS) militant group were killed in powerful blasts at a weapon depot in eastern Syria killed on Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Several explosions rattled the city of Mayadeen in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour province, Xinhua news agency reported.

It said 20 others were wounded and the toll could rise due to the large number of severely wounded militants.

The Britain-based watchdog group said that it was not clear what caused the explosion, whether it was a result of a bombing or a technical malfunction.

Well-being of farmers is priority, says PM Narendra Modi

by

Reaching out to different sections of society, including farmers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the well-being of “annadaata” is a priority for the government and their interests are non-negotiable. In his five letters, post Budget, addressed to small businessmen, youth and senior citizens, the Prime Minister described the farmers as annadaata. The Finance Ministry posted the letters on its website on Wednesday.

Telangana government takes over Nizam Sugar Factory

by

The Telangana government on Wednesday decided to take over the Nizam Deccan Sugars Limited (NDSL).

With the management failing to make payments to farmers even after procuring sugarcane from them, the government decided to take over the factory located in Nizamabad district.

The decision was taken after the government reached to a conclusion that the private management is not interested in running the factory, said to be the largest sugar factory in Asia.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao took the decision to save the farmers and workers, a statement from his office said.

Sexagenarian arrested for molesting 6-year-old

by

A 62-year-old man was arrested for allegedly molesting a minor girl in Rajiv Colony area here, police said today.

Baliram, a labour contractor was arrested today for luring a 6-year-old girl playing in the street to his house in Rajiv Colony near Mohan Nagar area here and molesting her, SHO Sahibabad Upendra Yadav said.

The culprit was caught by the mother of the victim when the child raised an alarm, he said.

The man was thrashed by the neighbours and handed over to the police, Yadav said.

A case has been registered under relevant sections of POSCO and IPC, he said.

Cabinet approves changes to Companies Act

by

To make it easy to do business in India, the union cabinet on Wednesday rationalised certain documentation procedures required for companies.

The cabinet approved “doing away with the requirement of filing a declaration by a company before commencement of business or exercising its borrowing powers”, a cabinet communique said.

It also approved “rationalizing the procedure for laying draft notifications granting exemptions to various classes of companies or modifying provisions of the act in Parliament,” the statement added.

Telangana govt to launch ‘clean Hyderabad’ campaign

by

The Telangana government would take up an ambitious programme to make Hyderabad a clean city with an expenditure of Rs 1,000 crore.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who held a meeting with senior officials here today, decided that the ‘Swachh Telangana – Swachh Hyderabad’ programme be taken up with people’s involvement, according to a release from his office.

Governor E S L Narsimhan would launch the ‘Swachh Hyderabad’ programme on May 16 which would be held till May 20.

Quake toll in India now 78

by

The toll due to the April 25 earthquake in India has gone up to 78, while the number of injured people stands at 560, the government said on Wednesday.

“As per latest reports, 78 deaths have been reported so far in India – 58 in Bihar, 16 in Uttar Pradesh, 3 in West Bengal and 1 in Rajasthan.

“A total of 560 people – 275 in Bihar, 100 in Uttar Pradesh, 169 in West Bengal, 9 in Sikkim and 7 in Rajasthan – have been reported injured,” said a release issued here.

The central government on Wednesday reviewed its rescue and relief operations both in Nepal and India.

Kim Jong-un has executed 15 officials: South Korea

by

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has executed a total of 19 people — 15 senior officials and four famous musicians — since the beginning of the year, South Korean intelligence agencies said on Wednesday.

The North Korean leader ordered the executions of the senior officials for expressing what were considered dissident opinions and the four bandmates for espionage, EFE news agency quoted a South Korean intelligence committee representative as saying.

Egypt sentences 69 Muslim Brotherhood loyalists to life

by

An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced 69 supporters of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood (MB) group to life in prison over the burning a church in 2013, a media report said on Wednesday.

The Giza criminal court has also sentenced two juveniles to 10 years in prison in the same case, state-run MENA news agency reported.

The case dates back to August 2013, when dozens of MB loyalists vandalised public property, including the church, and stormed the police station in Kerdasa town, Giza, killing 11 policemen and two civilians.

Obama calls for building ‘political movement’ to help African-Americans

by

As Baltimore on Wednesday started limping back to normal after two days of riots over the police-custody death of a black man, President Barack Obama called for building “a political movement” around policies to help African-American communities.

In a radio interview aired on Wednesday on “The Steve Harvey Morning Show”, Obama tied focusing on the need to broaden the conversation and address the root causes of tensions between police and urban, predominantly black communities.