Month: May 2015

The Bangladesh police have reportedly nabbed Islamic State’s (IS) regional coordinator in Dhaka, a senior officer said.

Shaikh Nazmul Alam, a deputy commissioner of the Detective and Criminal Intelligence Division, said that Abdullah Al Galib, a former member of militant group Hizbut Tahrir and a follower of the Ansarullah Bangla Team, was arrested with hundreds of training related videos for Islamist extremists, as well as a large number of books on Al Qaeda and IS translated into Bangla, reported ABC News.

An Islamic State (IS) jihadist, who appears in a new video released by the terror outfit, was reportedly trained in counterterrorism tactics by the United States, officials said.

The U.S. State Department has identified the fighter as Colonel Gulmurod Khalimov, a former police commander from Tajikistan who participated in five counterterrorism training courses in the U.S. and Tajikistan, through the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security/Anti-Terrorism Assistance program, the CNN reported.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday said that India’s dialogues with Pakistan can only materialise in a peaceful environment, urging Islamabad to take action against militants like Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhavi.

“Both India and Pakistan have supported each other during difficult times, irrespective of the bitterness in our relationship. And when the Peshawar incident happened, Prime Minister Modi called up the Pakistani Prime Minister, assuring him that India is with his country in this hour of need,” Swaraj said at a press conference here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Israel later this year, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj confirmed on Sunday.

“Prime Minister Modi will visit Israel this year. The time and date has not been finalised yet,” Swaraj informed the media.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had in April reportedly invited Prime Minister Modi to Tel Aviv. Prime Minister Modi will become the first Indian prime minister to visit the Middle East country. (ANI)

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday said her sources have confirmed that the 39 Indian nationals stranded in Iraq are still alive.

“It is true that one person who fled Iraq has said that all the Indian captives in that country are dead. However, I have eight sources that confirm that those Indians nationals are still alive,” Swaraj said at a press conference here.

“The search for the Indian nationals in not only my duty, it is also my responsibility,” she added.

The controversial requirement of filling foreign travel and dormant bank account data has been dropped in the new 3-page ITR forms introduced, by the Finance Ministry, which extended the deadline for filing returns to August 31.

However, the assessees have been asked to give their passport number as also the details of their active bank accounts, the Finance Ministry said.

The main ITR form will not contain more than three pages, while ‘other information’ will be captured in the “schedules” which will be required to be filled only if applicable.

Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr reportedly insists on taking all of his furniture with him when he is shooting away from his home in Malibu, California.

Downey, 50, along with wife Susan and two children shipped some of his favourite items in to his rental house in Atlanta in a bid to feel more at home while he is shooting Captain America: Civil War there, reported Contactmusic.

“Whenever he rents a place, he has all the same furniture sent there so there’s consistency from rental to rental. He does it for a sense of comfort,” a source said.

PTI

AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa on Sunday announced a 50-member team, including 28 of her ministers as election in-charge for the June 27 bypoll to Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency, from where she is contesting to return as an MLA.

Party’s Presidium Chairman E Madhusudhanan and Treasurer and Finance Minister O Panneerselvam are among the 50-member team announced by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister here.

P Vetrivel, who had on May 17 resigned as MLA from the constituency and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai also find a place in the list.

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has sent a notice to IIT Madras over the controversial ban of a students group whose members are mainly Dalits even as DMK Chief M Karunanidhi on Sunday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “direct intervention” for revocation of the order.

The Finance Ministry today came out with new three-page income tax return (ITR) forms, dropping the controversial provision for mandatory disclosure of foreign trips and dormant bank accounts, while it also extended the last date of filing to August 31.

The new forms — ITR 2 and ITR 2A — will have only three pages and other details will have to be filled in schedules, said a Finance Ministry statement.

In a new ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ sneak peek, Kim Kardashian is seen breaking down in tears after her Montana car crash.

Crying over the phone, Kanye West’s 34-year-old wife is heard saying that their car was stuck in the snow in a ditch off the side of the road and they had to skid into the other side of the road as a car was coming toward them, Us magazine reported.

Even the couple’s daughter North West was heard crying in the backseat.

Current World No.1 golfer Rory McIlroy, who has been dating Erica Stoll from six months now, seems to be very happy with her new girlfriend.

The 26-year-old golf ace asserted that he has known the Florida beauty for three years and they were good friends and if everything off the golf course was good, then it allowed one to be better on it as well, the Mirror reported.

The Northern Irish golfer continued that they haven’t really been putting it out there but the past six or seven months have been really nice and that part of his life was going great.

People will have to shell out more from tomorrow while using mobiles, eating out and travelling as the service tax rate goes up to 14 per cent.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget had proposed to raise service tax from 12.36 per cent (including education cess) to 14 per cent. The proposal takes effect from June 1.

The tax is levied on all services, expect a small negative list.

Mobile operators and credit card companies have already started sending messages to subscribers conveying the increase in service tax rate which will have a bearing on the bills.

The family of India’s most wanted underworld dawood Ibrahim family got together for a lavish function in Mumbai on Friday evening, after son of the gangster’s younger sister Farzana threw a wedding reception party at the Tulip Star hotel in Juhu.

About 600 people appeared for the most-exorbitant and heavily guarded wedding. Each plate of food that included a range of cuisines easily costs about 1,000 to 1,500 per plate.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday said that a proposal for Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to teach German language as an additional language in the Kendriya Vidyalayas has been sent to Berlin.

“We have sent a proposal for MoU to Germany saying we are ready to teach German as an additional language, but in return Germany must also teach Sanskrit or any other modern Indian language. Their response is awaited,” the minister said here while addressing a press conference.

India`s preparatory camp ahead of the seventh Junior Women`s Hockey Asia Cup began on Sunday at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi.

A total of 48 core probables will take part in the camp under coach NS Saini for week, after which the list will be cut short to 33 on June 5.

The Junior Women’s Asia Cup will take place in China from September 5-13. (ANI)

Anupam Kher’s biographical play “Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai” is all set to be staged in Hong Kong post its successful stint in Singapore. The 60-year-old actor, who was last seen in Naseeruddin Shah-Mallika Sherawat starrer “Dirty Politics”, took to Twitter to share the news with his more this four million fans.

“Bye bye & Thank You Singapore. Now on my way to Hong Kong to stage my play #KuchBhiHoSaktaHa,” Kher tweeted.

In fresh troubles for Nestle over safety standards of its famous Maggi noodle brand, the Uttrakhand Food Safety Department has collected samples of the ‘two-minute’ noodles from the company’s Pantanagar plant and other places in the state.

The company is already facing problems in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, where the food regulator FSDA (Food Safety and Drug Administration) had found higher than permitted levels of monosodium glutamate and lead in Maggi samples tested by it.

Bollywood star couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan are currently vacationing in Maldives with the actor’s son Ibrahim, sister Soha and her actor husband Kunal Kemmu. The family is on a five-day visit to the island-nation.

Soha took to Twitter to share about the family holiday. “Touchdown in the Maldives!” she tweeted alongside a photo of the stars from the airport.

Ibrahim, 14, is Saif’s son from his first marriage to actress Amrita Singh. The two got divorced in 2004. The 44-year-old “Omkara” star married Kareena in 2012 after five years of dating.

PTI

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today reported marginal 2% decline in total sales at 12,965 units in May 2015.

It had sold 13,228 units during the same month last year.

In the domestic market, TKM sold 11,511 units in May 2015 as compared to 11,831 units in the same month last year 2014, the company said in a statement.

“There was limited production this month on account of planned annual plant shut down scheduled from 29th May to 6th June, for regular maintenance. The impact will thus be felt in the next month’s production as well,” TKM said.

Day after the United States called for an `immediate and lasting halt` to China`s land reclamation activities in the disputed areas of South China Sea, Beijing has denied that its actions were `out of step` with international rules and issued a six-point response.

A new study has suggested that Hibiscus leaf may help treat melanoma.

Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)’s study found that Hibiscus sabdariffa leaf polyphenolic extract (HLP) may induce human melanoma cell death and may serve as a chemotherapeutic agent to eliminate cancer cells without significant harmful effects to normal cells.

Hibiscus leaf is consumed as a vegetable served in sauces or soups in Africa. The findings of this study support the idea that cancer patients may benefit from consuming HLP as a complementary medicine to their treatments.

President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday extended his greetings and felicitations to the government and people of the Republic of Kenya on the eve of their Madaraka Day.

In his message to Kenya’s President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, the President said, “On behalf of the Government, the people of India and on my own behalf, it gives me immense pleasure to convey to you, to the Government and the people of the Republic of Kenya, my warm greetings and felicitations on the occasion of your Madaraka Day.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday expressed sadness at the passing away of Beau Biden, the eldest son of US Vice President Joseph Biden. “Saddened to learn about the passing away of Beau Biden, the eldest son of US Vice-President Joseph Biden, at a young age. Apart from a deep loss to the family, a promising public career has been tragically cut short. Our deepest condolences to the Biden family, ” Modi said in a message.
46-year old Beau Biden died after battling brain cancer for several years.

Hundreds of people have pledged to boycott United Airlines after a Muslim passenger alleged discrimination due to Islamophobia over an unopened can of Diet Coke onboard the American airliner. Tahera Ahmad’s Facebook post over the “clear” discrimination went almost immediately went viral on Saturday. The Muslim chaplain at Chicago’s Northwestern University was onboard a flight this weekend when she asked for an unopened can of soda for hygienic reasons and says was told, “Well, I’m sorry. I just can’t give you an unopened can, so no Diet Coke for you.”