Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved his country’s Parliament on Friday, paving way for fresh parliamentary elections in August, around 10 months ahead of schedule.
The BBC quoted Sri Lanka government spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne as saying that Sirisena has signed a gazette notification dissolving parliament, which will come into effect from midnight.
From a mass shooting at a Tunisian beach resort to a severed head displayed in a French town, a wave of grisly attacks Friday shocked the world days after the Islamic State group urged supporters to carry out Ramadan attacks.
There was no apparent link between the attacks, but IS claimed a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Kuwait in which 25 people were killed, and Islamist flags were found at the site of the French attack.
The IS jihadists were also accused by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights of killing 146 civilians in an offensive on the Kurdish town of Kobane.
A local NGO has alleged that the products of fast-food giant KFC were unsafe for consumption, but the company refuted the charge saying it was an attempt to malign its reputation.
“Lab tests conducted by Bala Hakkula Sangham concluded that KFC (product) is harmful. It showed that harmful substances like E Coli and Salmonella (bacteria) were present in KFC (product),” Bala Hakkula Sangham (Andhra Pradesh Child Rights Association) president Anuradha Rao said in a media release here.
The Maharashtra Government on Friday gave a clean chit to Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria after finding his explanation regarding his meeting with former IPL chairman Lalit Modi in London as ‘satisfactory’.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the additional Chief Secretary (Home) K.P Bakshi, who had sought information from Maria regarding his meeting with the former IPL chief in July last year, has concluded that the IPS officer did not violate any service rules in meeting him. (ANI)
The Islamic State (IS) militants on Friday advanced into Syria’s northern city of Hasaka amid ferocious battles with the Syrian government forces, according to activists.
The IS continued to advance against the government forces, storming the central prison of Hasaka, and releasing all inmates, Arab media cited the IS reports as saying.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 20 security forces were killed on Friday when the IS militants blew up a car bomb near a security headquarters in Hasaka.
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Friday said Emergency is no longer possible in the country as media censorship is not possible in the digital era and amendment to the Constitution has ensured that people cannot be detained without a cause.
The assertion of Jaitley, a key figure in the government, comes in the wake of senior BJP leader L K Advani’s recent remarks in which he did not rule out Emergency in future, saying, “forces that can crush democracy are stronger”.
(IANS) Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) chief Mukesh Kumar Meena was accused of money laundering and a probe was ordered against him in May.
Meena was appointed as ACB chief by Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung on June 8 superseding Additional Commissioner S.S. Yadav. The Delhi government has objected to the appointment of Meena.
“Mukesh Kumar Meena was involved in Hawala scam along with the curtain scam. A probe against him in Hawala scam was ordered on May 1. The ACB is probing the matter,” Sisodia said.
Adnan Sami, who has lend his voice to several Bollywood songs, will be seen trying his hand at qawwali for the first time in his upcoming song ‘Bhar Do Jholi Meri’ in ‘ Bajrangi Bhaijaan’.
The playback singer recently landed in Mumbai to launch the song and discussed why this song is a different kind of romantic number.
Whilst interacting with the media, the 41-year-old singer said, “Yes, it is a fact that I love singing romantic numbers, however, this song is a different kind of romance and this one is romance with the almighty.”
Taking a dig at Congress which imposed Emergency, Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan said BJP-led NDA would never do so and it could be expected from a party dominated by ‘dynastic politics’.
“BJP will never impose emergency on the country…it will never be done,” he said, adding the party takes pride on its vibrant system of inner-democracy.
Though there has been criticism against the Modi-led BJP regime at the Centre by rival parties, such voices were not muffled, he said, addressing a meet organised by his party here.
The visiting New Zealand women’s cricket team warmed up for its forthcoming One-Day International (ODI) series against India with a comfortable 97-run victory against India women’s A team at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Friday.
Batting first, the Kiwis made 256 for 9 in 50 overs with opener Suzie Bates (45, 49b, 5×4) and Katie Perkins (45, 42b, 5×4) leading the way. The visitors then dismissed the home team for 159 in 49 overs despite a fighting 42 (59b, 6×4) by Priya Punia.
Maharashtra’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was left red-faced on Friday when a purported sting operation on a former minister led to airing of some embarrassing revelations on various issues and individuals and has sought an explanation from him.
The ‘sting’ on influential Mumbai legislator Raj Purohit, a former minister in the Shiv Sena-BJP government 1995-1999, was carried out by unidentified people and aired on several local television channels besides going viral on various social networking sites.
An 18-year-old youth was kidnapped and killed by his juvenile hostel mate here over an old enmity, police said on Friday.
The body of Deepak, who was a 12th class student, was recovered from a secluded place in west Delhi’s Kanjhawala early on Friday.
Police said that they have arrested the juvenile accused and hunt is on for his seven other accomplices in the crime.
Deepak and his friend Ajay were kidnapped on Thursday afternoon near a mall when he reached their on the request of the juvenile to settle their enmity, police said.
Former IPL chief Lalit Modi on Friday spilled some more allegations on Twitter, claiming that he and senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal had sat and chatted for three days in Istanbul.
“Did KAPIL Sibal a congress politician report we sat and ate and spoke at a wedding for 3 days in Istanbul,” tweeted Lalit Modi, whose alleged links with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje have caused a storm.
The Delhi Police were on Friday conferred with the Certificate of Recognition for the second consequtive year on the occasion of Passport Seva Divas.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj conferred the award on Delhi Police after the national capital was chosen as one of the three best states in India in acknowledgment of the high level of service, commitment and contribution to good governance by way of speedy verification of passport applicants during 2014-2015.
A 30-year-old newly-wed woman’s uterus, which had developed a large fibroid, was saved with the help of laparoscopic surgery at a city hospital here, a statement said on Friday.
Measuring 140 x 119 x 126 mm in size, the fibroid was removed at the Saroj Super Speciality hospital here.
“The patient had visited multiple gynecologists and was told that her fibroid could be removed only by open operation with large incision and that it was impossible to save her uterus because the fibroid was present at an extremely critical location in the uterus,” the hospital said in a statement.
In the wake of BJP patriarch L.K. Advani’s comments on the emergency, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday said there was a “communication gap” within the saffron party.
Participating on a live interactive session on a TV channel, Banerjee also slammed the Narendra Modi-led central government for weakening the country’s federal structure.
Commenting on the 40th anniversary of the imposition of Emergency, Advani has said that “forces that can crush democracy, notwithstanding the constitutional and legal safeguards, are stronger”.
The Bihar cabinet Friday formally approved a proposal to train three lakh school teachers with financial help from the World Bank, officials said.
Principal Secretary, Cabinet, Sishir Sinha said that the cabinet has approved the education department’s proposal to train the school teachers to increase their effectiveness and quality of education given to children at the elementary level.
“The proposed programme will run from 2015-16 to 2019-20, for which the Bihar government, the central government and the World Bank have signed an agreement,” he said.
Seven cases of violence against doctors in six Delhi hospitals since June 23 prompted the state government on Friday to deploy 500 home guards across 18 state-run hospitals.
The cases of violence on junior and senior residents were reported from state government-run Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, Maharshi Valmiki Hospital, and Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital, and the central government-run Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday tweeted his condolences over terror attacks in France, Kuwait and Tunisia, that left over 50 people dead, and said the progress of humanity lies in peace and brotherhood and not in terror and mindless violence.
Modi tweeted: “My thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in the cowardly attacks in France, Kuwait and Tunisia. The progress of humanity lies in peace, brotherhood and non-violence, not in hatred, terror and mindless violence against others.”
A CBI probe has been ordered against social activist Teesta Setalvad-owned Sabrang Communications and Publishing Pvt Ltd (SCPPL) for receiving foreign funds from Ford Foundation in violation of the law, a home ministry official said on Friday.
“The CBI has been asked to complete the probe as soon as possible,” the official told IANS, adding that the bank accounts of SCPPL have also been frozen.
“The IDBI bank’s Khar west branch has been asked to freeze the company’s accounts,” he said.
The Lalit Modi controversy on Friday appeared to taint the Congress, with the former IPL chief claiming that he had “bumped” into party president Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka and her husband Robert Vadra in a London restaurant last year, a charge denied by Priyanka Vandra’s office.
Modi did not imply any wrongdoing on their part, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), smarting from several damaging revelations by the former IPL chief, immediately sprang into an attacking mode.
“The Congress must explain. Why is Mrs Gandhi silent,” asked BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra.
The Congress on Friday reiterated its demand for the resignation of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje over her alleged financial links with “absconder” former IPL chief Lalit Modi and claimed that BJP leaders have “full liberty” to indulge in corruption.
Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar, addressing a press conference here, said there is “direct evidence that Vasundhara Raje, Lalit Modi and (Vasundhara’s son) Dushyant Singh and his wife are partners in Niyant Heritage Hotel Pvt Ltd.”
NATO on Friday appointed Gen. Petr Pavel, previously the chief of defence of the Czech Republic, as the new chairman of the NATO Military Committee.
The former chairman Gen. Knud Bartels leaves his position after a three-and-half-year term, Xinhua reported.
At the farewell ceremony attended by senior NATO military officials, Gen. Bartels laid a wreath at the NATO Memorial to honor the servicemen and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice in NATO-led missions and operations.
Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday dissolved parliament, paving the way for early general elections in the country.
“The president signed a gazette notification dissolving parliament with effect from midnight on Friday,” BBC quoted government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne as saying.
The general elections were not scheduled for another 10 months.
Sirisena defeated incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa in presidential elections held in January.
India and Pakistan played a 2-2 draw in their Pool A match of the Hockey World League (HWL) Semi-Final at the Brasschaat Municipal Park here on Friday.
The much anticipated Hockey World League (HWL) Semi-Final Pool A clash between traditional rivals India and Pakistan ended in a 2-2 stalemate at the Brasschaat Municipal Park here on Friday.
Ramandeep Singh (13th and 39th) scored for world No.9 India while his brace was matched by world No.10 Pakistan captain Muhammad Imran, who converted a penalty stroke and a penalty corner in the 23rd and 37th minutes respectively.