Month: July 2015

Government Reclaims 10 Acres of Land Leased to Asaram’s Ashram

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The Ahmedabad district collector on Tuesday reclaimed the possession of a ten-acre piece of land in Motera area in Ahemdabad which had been leased for 15 years to the controversial Godman Asaram’s ashram.

“We took the land back on the finding that the conditions of the lease had been violated,” collector Rajkumar beniwal told PTI.

The land, on the city’s outskirts, had been leased to Asaram’s ashram in 1999. The lease expired in February 2014.

Amit Shah inaugurates BJP’s national training workshop

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BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday inaugurated a two-day workshop here to train party workers on core party ideology and issues before the nation.

According to a party release, a total of 250 senior party leaders, including national office bearers, and five representatives from each state, among others, attended the workshop.

Similar workshops for the trainers will be conducted in each state where the trainers will be apprised of the gigantic task that the party has taken up, the release had said on Tuesday, adding that 150,000 party workers will be trained in these workshops.

Arvind Kejriwal Says PM Modi ‘Bullying’ AAP Government

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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday hit out at the “gundagardi” (bullying) of the Narendra Modi government, which he said was preventing his government from doing its work in the national capital.

He attacked PM Modi on various fronts, ranging from the black money issue to the tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party government and the central government over the posting of officials in the Delhi government and the Anti-Corruption Branch.

Sullying reputation of Nizam to obtain fund uncalled for

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President Telangana Pradesh Congress Minority Department Mohammed Sirajuddin expressed surprise over the remarks made by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao regarding Nizam. TRS government is working on secret agenda, he said. He told that sullying reputation of Huzoor Nizam to obtain funds from World Bank is not befitting on part of the government.

While KCR earlier declared Huzoor Nizam’s period as golden era and announced to put into practice Nizam’s system of governance in Telangana. But Chief Minister’s real face was unveiled in the report submitted to World Bank.

Amit Shah to Inaugurate 2-Day Workshop of Party Leaders

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As part of its national training programme, BJP President Amit Shah will inaugurate a two-day workshop of party leaders from across the country today that will help the party develop dedicated workers and put in place trainers for improved communication within.

The ‘Mahaprashikshan Abhiyan’ of BJP will help provide orientation to 1.5 million party workers on the core party ideology and issues before the nation.

It’s okay to be a boss: Katy Perry

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Pop star Katy Perry has insisted there is “no shame in being a boss” after she was named by Forbes as the highest-earning female celebrity of 2015.

The “Dark Horse” hitmaker shared an inspirational message to other women, insisting it is important to know you can share your successes without feeling like you’re bragging, reported Forbes magazine.

Three cops suspended, Home Guard faces action in assault case

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Three constables were today suspended and disciplinary action was initiated against a Home Guard for allegedly assaulting four persons, including an NRI, at Musheerabad Police Station here on June 25, police said on Tuesday.

During a preliminary inquiry, constables — M Hanumantha Rao, K Narayana, K Rajender and Home Guard K Suresh Kumar — were found involved in assault of the Ireland-based NRI Mallampuram Vasu and three of his friends, Preetham, Nirish and Nitin, police said in a release.

Lalit Modi now drags Varun into row

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Former IPL chief Lalit Modi has said BJP MP Varun Gandhi met him in London “a few years ago” and offered to “settle everything” with Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

“@varungandhi80 came to see me at my house a few years ago and said he can settle everything in @INCIndia with his aunt,” Modi tweeted late Tuesday.

“He wanted me to meet her sister from Italy. I heard him next I heard from our common friend who introduced us that auntie wants 60 million dollars. Told them whaaaat are u nuts go HKG a kite. Can he deny that. I hope he does,” Modi posted on Twitter.

Methane on Pluto confirmed: NASA

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NASA’s New Horizon probe — set for a Pluto flyby on July 14 — has confirmed that there is frozen methane on Pluto’s surface.

The Earth-based astronomers first observed Methane on Pluto in 1976.

“We already knew there was methane on Pluto but these are our first detections,” said Will Grundy, team leader with the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Soon, we will know if there are differences in the presence of methane ice from one part of Pluto to another, he added in a statement.

Excess vitamin A disrupts immune system

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Too much Vitamin A shuts down the body’s trained immunity, opening door to infections to which we would otherwise be immune, says a new study.

According to the study, excess Vitamin A makes the body ‘forget’ past infections.

The findings suggest that although Vitamin A supplementation can have profound health benefits when someone is deficient, supplementation of the vitamin above and beyond normal levels may have negative health consequences.

14 killed in West Bengal landslides

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At least 14 people were killed in landslides in West Bengal’s Darjeeling hills, an official said on Wednesday.

Several landlsides were triggered in the area by incessant, heavy rainfall since late Tuesday.

Darjeeling District Magistrate Anurag Srivastava said eight bodies have been recovered from Mirik area, and five other corpses were found in Kalimpong.

One more dead body was found at Sukhia Pokhri area in Darjeeling sub-division.

“Twelve persons are still missing. The toll may go further up as we are yet to receive unformation from a number of areas,” Srivastava said.

Prison break in Yemen as ground clashes intensified

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Over 1,000 prisoners, including Al Qaeda suspects, escaped during a jail break in Yemen as ground battles between Shia Houthis and pro-government fighters intensified.

The battles erupted on Tuesday after pro-government fighters advanced to areas controlled by Houthi militia around the central prison in Taiz province, which hosts up to 1,200 prisoners, including dozens of Al Qaeda inmates, Xinhua news agency reported.

The fighting forced the Houthis to retreat from the area, officials said.

‘China’s military does not believe in pre-emptive strikes’

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China’s military strategy is based on a “peaceful approach” and it believes in solving its disputes with other countries through “dialogue and discussion”, the country has claimed. It also said it does not believe in pre-emptive strikes.

Yang Yujun, the spokesman for the ministry of defence, has said that its strategy was based on “active defence” and that it does not believe in any pre-emptive strike.

President to worship at Lord Venkateswara temple today

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President Pranab Mukherjee will offer worship at the ancient hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at nearby Tirumala on Wednesday.

Temple sources told a news agency that the President would arrive here on an eight-hour spiritual sojourn from Hyderabad and would visit four shrines here.

After landing at Tirupati airport in Renigunta, 15 km from here, he would first visit Sri Padmavathi temple in Tiruchanur here. On way to the hill temple, he would also offer prayers at the ancient cave temple of Lord Shiva, called Sri Kapileswara, close to the foot of hills, they said.

Modi govt politically dishonest:RSS leader

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RSS ideologue and former BJP general secretary KN Govindacharya has hit out at the Narendra Modi government for shielding ministers who are facing allegations of corruption and impropriety.

Speaking to The Hindu, Govindacharya said the central government’s support to such ministers “speaks of the political dishonesty of the establishment”.

He slammed the NDA government led by Modi by calling it “power-centric”.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar conferred with Peru’s highest award ‘Grand Officer’

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During his visit to Peru, Sri will have a private meeting with Brando Tapia, Congressman in Perú and Member, Andean Parliament; Ana María Solórzano, President of the Peruvian National Congress and with Luis Castañeda Lossio, Mayor of the City of Lima.

Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was on Tuesday conferred with Peru’s one of the highest awards ‘Grand Officer’ for social work and mission to deliver peace through his foundation The Art of Living.

Andean Parliament in Lima honoured Sri with the award titled “Medalla de la Integracion en el Grado de Gran Oficial”.

Hillary Clinton was advised to take action against Pakistan army leaders, reveals email

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Hillary Clinton was advised to quietly take action against Pakistani military leaders who gave support to al-Qaeda and its affiliates, an email sent to her when she was Secretary of State shows.

Such an advice was given to Clinton by Samuel Richard “Sandy” Berger, who served as the United States National Security Advisor for President Bill Clinton from March 14, 1997, until January 20, 2001, as per the email dated October 3, 2009, declassified by the State Department on Tuesday.

A tranche of emails of Clinton when she was Secretary of State were released late last night.

Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner divorcing after 10 years of marriage

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Hollywood couple Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have split after being together for a decade.

The couple – who have three children nine-year-old Violet, six-year-old Seraphina, and three-year-old Samuel together – marked their 10th anniversary early this week, reported People magazine.

“After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to divorce,” the couple said in a joint statement.

I don’t drive because I think a lot: Suniel Shetty

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Actor Suniel Shetty has always been associated with a “macho” image, but he on Tuesday revealed that there’s a “thinking” side to him as well, forcing him to avoid driving.

“I don’t drive cars and it’s not because I don’t know to drive. I prefer a driver driving my car, as I think a lot. And thinking and driving don’t go hand in hand,” he told media at a press conference where he was unveiled as a brand ambassador of Mumbai Traffic Police’s new initiative.

Paris Hilton may sue TV show over plane crash prank

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Socialite Paris Hilton may take legal action against the Egyptian TV show responsible for putting her on a plane that appeared to be in crash mode.

The singer plans to sue prank show “Ramez in Control” for “emotional distress” caused by the horrible stunt, reports tmz.com.

Several sources told the news outlet that Hilton was “totally freaked out” over the prank.

The sources also said that the “Stars Are Blind” singer completely had no idea that it was a prank.

According to Hilton, things were more frightening than it looked like in a video documenting the prank.

Perrie Edwards happy with Zayn Malik’s quit decision

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Singer Perrie Edwards is happier now that her fiance Zayn Malik has left British boyband One Direction because he feels better after making the move.

The 22-year-old quit the chart-topping boy band in March and his 21-year-old fiancee stands by his decision because she can see it was the right thing for him, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

“Zayn is his own person and makes his own decisions. Whatever he wanted to do during that time, I was going to support him 100 per cent,” she told Ok! magazine.

Asked if she’s happier now, she said: “Yes. I’m happy if he’s happy.”