Zakia is the wife of 2002 post-Godhra riots victim and former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the Gulbarg Society riots along with 68 others.
A protest petition filed by Zakia Jafri seeking rejection of the SIT report giving clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others in the post-Godhra riots case is likely to come up for hearing in a local court on Wednesday.
“I have no such aspiration and I believe that in the few years that remain to me, I want to do (a) few other things, like travel,” said the Finance Minister.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram yet again parried questions on his becoming the Prime Minister saying he has no such aspirations and would like to do party work.
A relief fund for the Boston Marathon bombing victims has raised $20 million in just over a week, authorities announced.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino made the announcement regarding the One Fund Boston, jointly set up by himself and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, at a news conference in Boston Tuesday, according to a report by the Boston Herald.
A man was arrested here Wednesday for allegedly raping his stepdaughters, aged 7 and 14, police said.
Sachin, 26, had raped the older girl three months ago while staying in Gurgaon, adjoining the national capital. “After some time he sexually assaulted his seven-year-old daughter. Later they shifted to Jagatpuri area of Delhi,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (west) Surender Pal Singh told IANS.
Delhi Police had registered a first information report (FIR) at the Khyala police station; the case was then transferred to Gurgaon police.
“We are interrogating the accused,” Singh added.
There are only 36 women candidates for the 272 National Assembly general seats, a Pakistani daily said Tuesday while noting that parties had once again relegated women’s participation in the transition of power to the sidelines.
An editorial in the Dawn Wednesday said that once again, it seems the electoral field is going to be a largely all-male spectacle.
A man in Odisha, who had been released from jail six months ago and faces several criminal cases, has been arrested for allegedly molesting his 14-year-old daughter over several months and attempting to rape her, police said Wednesday.
The 14-year-old victim, who stays with her mother at the district headquarters town of Puri, about 55 km from here, said in her complaint that she had been subjected to sexual harassment by her father for the past six months.
There was need to strengthen the Panchayati Raj system to ensure inclusive development, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Wednesday.
“We must try that Panchayati Raj does not become just a slogan, it becomes a reality in our lifetime,” Manmohan Singh said while addressing a conference to commemorate National Panchayat Day.
Riya refers to doing things that are pleasing to Allah with the intention of seeking admiration from others. The intention in such cases, therefore, is usually to show off one’s good deeds to win praise and admiration of others. It amounts to practicing virtue out of vanity, with the aim of achieving popularity among people.
Riya makes us focus on earning appreciation from people rather than seeking Allah’s favor and acceptance. It makes us focus on people’s appreciation of our virtuous acts, which means we give importance to them, and not to Allah the Most Benevolent.
Sachin Tendulkar turned 40 today with cricket administrators and his fans lining up a series of events to celebrate the senior Indian batsman, who will also appear in an IPL match here.
The Mumbai Indians batsman, who happens to here for his IPL team’s clash against Kolkata Knight Riders, will begin the day with a customary cake-cutting ceremony at the team hotel.
Earlier, the Cricket Association of Bengal celebrated Tendulkar’s birthday a day in advance by cutting a 10-pound cake in the presence of 100 blind students.
Renowned playback singer Shamshad Begum, who gave voice to classics like “Mere piya gaye rangoon” and “Kabhi aar kabhi paar”, has died here, family sources said Wednesday. She was 94.
Shamshad Begum, who had been ailing for the past few months, died Tuesday evening. A widow since 1955, she lived with her daughter Usha Ratra.
The funeral ceremonies were conducted Tuesday night at a small, private affair with a few friends and admirers in Andheri east.
Andhra Pradesh High Court has extended the parole of ex-constable Mohammed Abdul Qadeer till June 30. Justice Naushad Ali directed the government to keep Mohammed Abdul Qadeer, who has been released on parole, out of jail for some more time.
US President Barack Obama is fine, a presidential spokesman said today after a hacked AP Twitter account sent out fake news about two bomb blasts at the White House and that the President was injured.
“The President is fine,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters at the top of his daily news conference.
Moments before the start of the conference, the twitter account of the Associated Press said, “Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured.” The AP quickly announced its account had been hacked.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will visit Madhya Pradesh for two days starting on Wednesday morning. He will be visiting state capital Bhopal and Dhar district.
In Dhar, Gandhi will meet office bearers of the district and block level Congress committees. The meeting will commence at 8.45 am at Jain Muni Ashram, Mohankheda. He will also meet the elected Congress members of Panchayati Raj and will attend a meeting of the national executive committee of the Indian Youth Congress.
According to B M Birla Science Centre partial lunar eclipse will occur on April 25 and 26. The lunar eclipse can be seen across India. Eclipse will begin at 11:31 pm. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when the moon partly passes through the earth’s umbra. The lunar eclipse cannot be seen after midnight.
Siasat news
Violence broke out in Deoband city in northwest Uttar Pradesh late Tuesday, following the death of a vendor who was allegedly beaten up by policemen. Angry mobs soon took to the streets and indulged in heavy stone pelting.
Police allegedly forcibly removed the vendor’s cart and beat him up, resulting in his death. Deoband is a city in Saharanpur district, 580 km from state capital Lucknow.
Drawing of lots for selection of Hajj aspirants for Hajj 2013 was held on Tuesday. 5977 fortunate Hajj aspirants were selected through computerised lottery who will perform the holy pilgrimage through state Hajj committee.
The central government had allotted the quota of 7322 Hajj aspirants this year, of which 1345 septuagenarian Hajj aspirants were selected under reserved category without lottery. Thus a total of 7322 Hajj aspirants will leave for the Holy pilgrimage this year who will visit Makkah and Madina. Drawing of lots was conducted at Hajj house Nampally.
Siasat news
Minority Welfare Minister Mr. Mohammed Ahmedullah told that foundation of new Hajj house will be laid shortly. Speaking to media persons after drawing of lots for selection of Hajj aspirants for Hajj 2013, Mr Ahmedullah told that the controversy continued between Hajj committee and the Waqf board will be resolved soon and the construction work will begin shortly.
A 25-year-old court employee committed suicide by jumping off the sixth floor of court building here Tuesday, police said.
Manish was on the staff of the district judge in Rohini Court in north Delhi.
“The incident was reported at around 8.30 a.m. Tuesday when Manish jumped off the sixth floor of the court building after cutting his veins,” said a police official.
Manish was said to be upset over his relationship with a woman.
The incident occurred two hours before the court’s working hours.
A woman Naxal commander, carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh on her head, turned herself in before senior police officers here Tuesday.
“Shanigarapu Uma alias Anitha, who was carrying reward of Rs 5 lakh, surrendered voluntarily this evening. She has nearly 35 offences registered against her in Warangal district”, said SP A Venkateshwar Rao.
Anitha is the wife of Gajerla Ashok, alias Janardhan, who is the Maharashtra state in-charge of military wing in Gadchiroli division (Maoist), he said.
Six million people are now tracking Pope Francis on his Twitter account @pontifex.
The Spanish version is reported to be the fastest-growing of the account’s nine languages, with 2.046 million followers.
The latest of the Argentine pope’s 21 tweets since his election was posted Tuesday.
“Mary is the one who says ‘Yes’. Mary, help us to come to know the voice of Jesus better, and to follow it,” he wrote.
–IANS
More than half of households in recession-hit Italy are regularly buying food at discount stores and slashing their medical expenses, the central statistics office Istat said.
Istat said 63.3 percent of families now shop regularly at discount supermarkets that continue to spring up in local neighbourhoods across Italy, buying cheaper brands that cost a fraction of the price of quality ones.
In Italy’s poorer, less economically developed south, 73 percent of families regularly shop at discount stores, according to Istat.
Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the nationalist LDPR party, has called on the media to stop covering mass killings in order to avoid sparking copycat incidents.
Zhirinovsky’s appeal came a day after an armed man in the southwest city of Belgorod shot at least six people dead.
The killer is on the run, and the incident has been headline news in the Russian media.
“I’ve always said: close this information. You are spreading mass murder,” Zhirinovsky told reporters.
Veteran singer Shamshad Begum, one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry and voice behind hit songs like `Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon`, `Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar` and `Kajra Mohabbat Wala`, has died at her Mumbai residence. She was 94.
“She was not keeping well for past few months and was admitted to the hospital. She passed away last night. The funeral was a solemn affair with a few friends present,” Begum`s daughter Usha told the reporters.
The CBI Tuesday said that dentist Rajesh Talwar had found his daughter and domestic servant in “objectionable position” and killed them using his golf stick and a sharp-edged weapon.
Deposing during cross examination in a special court here, CBI Additional SP AGL Kaul, who led the second probe team, went into the motive behind the sensational double murder of 14-year old Aarushi and domestic servant Hemraj at the Noida residence of dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar on the intervening night of May 15-16, 2008.
MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi, 11 other Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) activists and six Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) workers on Tuesday appeared before the lok adalat, Nampally court, and agreed for a compromise in connection with a criminal case registered at the Bhavani Nagar police station in 2009.