Month: May 2015

The Congress Party on Saturday lashed out at the BJP-led NDA Government for taking the ordinance route instead of the parliamentary route to re-promulgate the Land Acquisition bill.

“It is very surprising that the government of the day is taking the ordinance route on such an important bill. What is the hurry to bring ordinance? Whose land do they want to take over? We fail to understand this because in a democratic system, there is the Parliament route that could have been taken,” Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan told ANI here.

Singer Taylor Swift says she has accepted that she’s not sexy and doesn’t mind her good girl image.

The “Style” hitmaker, who is currently dating Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, says a lot of people think she is “not generally a sexy person”, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

“It’s fine, I’ve accepted it. I’m a lot of things, overtly sexy is not one of them,” Swift told accesshollywood.com.

The 25-year-old singer was named one of the world’s most influential women after making it on the Forbes Power Women List for the first time and is very proud of the achievement.

Paul McCartney has admitted that yoga is the secret to his fitness in his 70s.

The Beatles legend revealed that in his 60’s he learned that yoga was an actual base of fitness as it not only provided inner strength but also gave flexibility, the Mirror has reported.

He added that he does it every day and it kept him fit.

China has been “violently crushing” all peaceful protests by Tibetan nomads demanding return of their pastoral land and their nomadic way of life in the Tibetan plateau, a Tibetan rights activist said here on Saturday.

Tsering Tsomo, a Tibetan nomad and head of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), said the population of Tibetan nomads has come down “by hundreds of thousands” over the years since the Chinese government launched in 2003 its policy of forcing the nomads to give up grazing livestock in the grasslands and live in concrete urban housing blocks.

A 17-year-old Yazidi teenager recalled her nine-month ordeal under Islamic State terrorists and how she and her little sister were raped daily by the jihadis after they were sold into slavery at an auction of virgins — and she revealed she is now pregnant with an extremist’s baby.

The girl, now three months pregnant, revealed how every day of her nine-month ordeal was “like choosing between death and death” as she was faced with beatings and sexual assaults by the IS terrorist and his team of “bodyguards”, the Daily Mail reported on Friday.

Following his unanimous points victory over American Chris Algieri in their welterweight bout, British pugilist Amir Khan wants to have his next fight against unbeaten boxer Floyd Mayweather.

Two-time world champion Khan scored 117-111, 117-111 and 115-113 on the three judges’ scorecards in New York to claim a fifth consecutive win.

He said that he wanted to fight Mayweather next and end the triple-world champion’ 48-fight unbeaten run.

A woman was allegedly burnt alive after she objected to her husband’s extra-marital affair with his sister-in-law in Bihar’s Nalanda district, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place in Nijay village.

A police case was lodged following a complaint by the woman’s brother, said officer-in-charge Kirpal Kumar of the Rahui police station under which Nijay village falls.

The brother, Sinku Kumar, told police that his sister was married in 2009 to Mahesh Yadav, a police official currently with the Special Task Force.

Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan on Saturday said that the Uttarakhand flood scam shows that certain corrupt officers were not concerned about the tragedy and were looking only to profit during the 2013 mega disaster.

“It is clear that the Uttarakhand government has lot of corruption. This scam shows that the corrupt officers were not concerned about the tragedy and were looking at their own profits. This matter should go to the high court and the activists who took up this matter should go to the high court and appeal for a CBI inquiry,” Bhushan told ANI.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an exclusive interview with ANI, has made it clear that any discrimination or violence against any community in the nation would not be tolerated.

Third seeded Andy Murray saw off the threat of Australian Nick Kyrgios in the third round of the French Open, defeating him in straight sets to enter the next round of the tournament in Paris.

Murray beat 29th seed Kyrgios 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 at the Roland Garros , in a match that lasted one hour and 59 minutes, reported the BBC.

The British ace will now face Belgian David Goffin or France’s Jeremy Chardy in the last 16. (ANI)

Former Uttarakhand chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal on Saturday blamed the Harish Rawat government in the state for the flood scam and demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the matter.

“We had raised this issue many times. We want this to be looked into. There should be a CBI inquiry in this scam…The government is to be blamed for this scam and the government has been lying. Whosoever is responsible for this should be punished,” Pokhriyal told ANI.

A magnitude 8.5 earthquake shook parts of Japan on Saturday evening, though there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

According to initial reports, in India, light tremors jolted Delhi-NCR region at around 5:30 pm today.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD President Lalu Prasad once again would not share the dais at a programme on Saturday triggering speculation of a logjam in the coming together of JD(U) and RJD.

The two, along with JD(U) President Sharad Yadav and other leaders, were scheduled to be present on the stage on the occasion of a “maharally” of Nishad (fishermen community) to project a united picture ahead of Bihar poll.

Nitish Kumar, who was scheduled to inaugurate the maharally, on Saturday announced cancellation of his programme.

Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has ridiculed the election of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu as the National President of Telugu Desam Party.

Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has welcomed the threatening call given by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to his party MLAs stating that he would dissolve the State Assembly if TRS loses the fifth seat in MLC polls.

Giving a call for financial innovations to generate wealth, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday asked bankers to take Andhra Pradesh as a pilot state for new income-generating activities.

Elaborating on his vision to make Andhra Pradesh the best state by 2029, the Chief Minister asked bankers to increase lending to agriculture & allied activities, Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), entrepreneurs and women of Self-help groups (SHG). He also sought their support for State Development Loans (SDLs).

Chief Secretaries of Telangana State and Andhra Pradesh, Dr Rajiv Sharma and IYR Krishna Rao respectively, had a meeting with Union Home Secretary L.C. Goyal in New Delhi on Saturday.

Dr Rajiv Sharma mentioned in the meeting that in respect of Scheduled Nine institutions the division of assets has to be done on the territorial basis. He also said that with regards Scheduled Ten institutions Telangana State is committed to provide services to AP state government on payment of cost. There will not be any joint management of these institutions as asked by AP government, he said.

Amala Akkineni, Founder, Blue Cross and Swachh Bharat Ambassador appointed by the Union Ministry, participated in Swachh Bharath Abhiyan conducted at Secunderabad Railway station on Saturday.

The programme was held as a part of the Passenger and Customer Facilitation Fortnight Railyathri/Upbhoktha Pakhwada being celebrated on South Central Railway.

Major Siva Kiran, Founder of the noted NGO Sukuki Exnora and his team members, Dr Sushma Additional Chief Medical Superintendent, Railway Health Unit, Secunderabad, other Railway Officials, Supervisors and Staff joined in the campaign.

The government today approved a pact on coastal shipping between India and Bangladesh to facilitate faster and cheaper cargo movement between both the nations.

“The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the agreement on Coastal Shipping between India and Bangladesh to carry out coastal movement of goods between the two countries,” an official statement said.

To commemorate the first formation day of Telangana, state’s department of Tourism and Culture is organising week-long celebrations from June 2.

A series of programmes will be organised in the capital Hyderabad and across the districts as part of celebrations to mark Telangana’s first formation day. There will be cultural and literary programmes on Telangana’s culture and struggle (for a separate state),” said Tourism & Culture principal secretary B P Acharya at a event here.

The celebrations involve a range of events that showcases the rich history and culture of Telangana state.

Demanding that the Telangana State government immediately fill vacant posts in various departments, members of OU JAC and Telangana Vidhyarthi JAC here on Saturday attempted to gatecrash into the Telangana State Public Service Commission office at Nampally.

When the students surrounded the office and attempted to gatecrash into it, the police intervened and took them into custody forcibly leaving the area tense for some time.

A CISF jawan deployed at a thermal power station here on Saturday allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself from his service weapon.

The incident occurred at about 5 am at the Raghunathpur Thermal Power Plant where the deceased, identified as constable Sunil Kumar, was deployed for security duty.

“The trooper shot himself from the official INSAS rifle issued to him. The exact causes of his taking the extreme step are being ascertained,” a senior official said.

Kumar’s parent unit is in Ranchi and he joined the paramilitary in 2009, the official said.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s convoy met with an accident in Nalgonda district on Saturday morning.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an exclusive interview with Smita Prakash, Editor, ANI, on Saturday, outlined the major initiatives, including the Jan Dhan scheme, the MUDRA Bank and the Swachh Bharat Mission, taken by his government for the welfare of the poor in the past one year.

• In the very initial months of our Government, we took up the task of providing toilets in all schools. Don’t children of the poor study in these public schools?

Even as his Cabinet decided today to promulgate the Land Acquisition Ordinance for the third time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the legislation is not “a matter of life or death for me” and that he was prepared to accept any suggestions.

“This is not a matter of life or death for me. And neither was it the agenda of my party or the government,” he said in an interview carried by The Tribune newspaper.

In a separate interview, Mr Modi responded strongly to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s jibe that the government was “suit boot ki sarkar”.