Pre-Matric Scholarships – Only few applications received – Dr. Rizvi

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Dr. Mohammed Ilyas Rizvi Vice Chairman and Managing Director, of A.P. State Minorities Finance Corporation has informed that very few applications have been registered on behalf of the candidates for Govt. of India’s Pre-matric scholarships, although, the last date of registration is 30th September 2012, early registration of applications would facilitate the staff of the corporation to process them earlier.

The less number of applications received in the office has caused worries among the officials of Finance Corporation.

Taliban deny involvement in Afghan killings

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The Taliban has said it was not involved in the beheading and shooting of 17 people in Afghanistan, and called the accusation “baseless propaganda”.

The Afghan interior ministry and NATO Monday said civilians — 15 boys and two girls — where beheaded by the Taliban for dancing and listening to music.

“The mujahedin were not aware of the incident, and we were informed about it through the media,” Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said Tuesday.

Isaac makes landfall in Lousiana ‎

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Hurricane Isaac made landfall in the US state of Louisiana, bringing high winds, soaking rains and posing the first test for the costly flood-protection system built after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina that killed over 18,000 people in 2005.

Isaac, which was upgraded from tropical storm to Category 1 hurricane Tuesday and was packing maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour, lashed the area with heavy rains and strong winds, as residents hunkered down.

PM to hold talks with Iranian President today

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who arrived in the Iranian capital Tehran on Tuesday, will hold talks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday.

PM Singh is here to attend the 16th NAM summit but will use the opportunity to hold bilateral talks with the top Iranian leadership and firm up ties.

Apart from Ahmadinejad, Singh will also hold talks with Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The visit is the first in a decade to Iran by an Indian Prime Minister after Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited the country in 2001.

Assam bandh turns violent, one killed

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Tension gripped many parts of Assam, including the troubled Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts (BTAD), following fresh incidents of violence Tuesday in which at least one person was killed and six people were injured.

A 12-hour dawn-to-dusk Assam bandh called by the All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) and other groups under the banner of the United Movement for Peoples’ Rights also added to the tension.

The bandh was called to demand scrapping of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) that runs the administration in four districts of BTAD.

Syrian opposition asks US to introduce no-fly zone

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The opposition Syrian Support Group has called on the US to immediately establish a no-fly zone over Syria.

The group, which represents the rebel Free Syrian Army in Washington, claimed that Syria’s ruling authorities have intensified use of air strikes to attack cities held by rebels.

Louay Sakka, co-founder of the Syrian Support Group, said: “This is right now the time for a no-fly zone to take place. We need to stop the fixed-wing and helicopters from attacking. The regime cannot hold ground without air power or heavy artillery.”

Violence, with many contrasts

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India has been the victim of divisive-sectarian violence for more than a century, more particularly after the British implemented their policy of ‘divide and rule’ and encouraged communal formations to flourish. These communal formations, mainly Muslim and Hindu, in turn spread hatred against other religious communities and violence in the name of religion came to be a tragic part of our nation. Millions of innocents lives have been in this violence, which is instrument in the hands of communal forces.

Romney nominated as US Republican Prez candidate

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Republican Mitt Romney is all set to challenge incumbent Barack Obama after the party nominated the former Massachusetts governor as its candidate for the Presidential elections in November this year.

Romney won the nomination as he crossed the support of necessary 1,144 delegates during the ongoing Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday.

The convention also approved Congressman Paul Ryan as his Vice Presidential running mate.

Kingfisher Airlines pilots to go on strike from today

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Mumbai-based pilots of near-bankrupt Kingfisher Airlines have decided to strike work indefinitely from Wednesday over non-payment of salaries.

“Mumbai-based pilots have decided to go on a strike from tomorrow (Wednesday) onwards due to management’s failure to keep its commitment on March salary payment,” a source in the airline told PTI.

The proposed strike by a section of pilots could hamper the private airline’s flight schedule “in a big way”, he said.

Governor Tours Villages In Nalgonda District

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Governor ESL Narasimhan here on Tuesday said the government would strengthen the handloom cooperative societies by providing adequate assistance. He also called upon the DWCRA women to avail of the benefits under several welfare programs launched by the government.

Govt Committed To Welfare Of Disabled: Sunita

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Minister for Child Welfare, Women Development and Disabled Welfare Sunitha Laxma Reddy on Tuesday said that the State government was committed to the welfare of handicapped.

Speaking to the media here, Sunitha alleged that the Opposition parties were politicizing the issues of the handicapped. She said that the government would not compromise on pensions, education and reservations to the handicapped. The government was also striving for protecting rights of the handicapped.

Gujarat riots: Verdict in Naroda Patiya case likely today‎

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A special trial court is likely to pronounce its verdict in the Naroda Patiya riots case, in which 97 people of a minority community were killed during post-Godhra riots in 2002. There are 61 accused in the case.

The incident had taken place one day after the Godhra train burning incident on February 27, 2002.

On February 28, 2002 when a bandh call was given by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a large crowd gathered in the Naroda Patiya area and attacked the people of minority community, killing 97 persons and injuring 33 others.

Student kills himself because of fine for breaking flower pots

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A Class X student of a private school allegedly committed suicide on Monday by hanging himself after he was asked to pay a fine by school authorities for breaking some flower-pots, police said today.

Police said the 16-year-old boy and his classmates were asked to pay Rs. 5000 as punishment. The boy had stayed away from school till Sunday as he belonged to a poor farmer’s family and could not afford to pay his share of the fine.

Kanda sent to judicial custody till Sept 11

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Former Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda, key accused in the Geetika Sharma suicide case, was on Tuesday sent to 14-day judicial custody by a Delhi court.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate DK Jangala remanded Kanda to judicial custody till September 11 after the Delhi police said he was not required for further custodial interrogation.

Kanda was produced before the court after expiry of three days of police custody which was extended on August 25 after seven days of custodial interrogation.

Judgment Day for Ajmal Kasab in Supreme Court today

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The Supreme Court is scheduled to deliver its verdict on Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab’s plea against his death sentence today. Kasab, the only terrorist caught alive during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008, had pleaded the Supreme Court to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment on February 14.

US hires private firms for ‘dirty work’: Russian diplomat

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Allowing private security companies to work in conflict zones helps the US government “avoid responsibility” for violating the norms of international humanitarian law, a Russian diplomat has said.

“We have to state that, regardless of the controversial experience regarding the Blackwater company, the US State and Defense Department continue to actively hire contract specialists, notably to perform ‘dirty work’ in armed conflict zones,” said Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian foreign ministry’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law.

Mother throws baby from ninth floor

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A woman in central Russia’s Ryazan city threw her nine-month-old son out of a ninth floor window during a visit by child welfare officers, police said.

Two officers of a police unit for the issues related to minors visited the 23-year-old woman, following a request from her mother, who said her daughter was not taking proper care of the baby.

“The woman was in a state of agitation. In a conversation, she complained of difficult life and then, suddenly, threw the baby who she held in her hands, out of the ninth floor window,” police said in a statement.

One-armed Russian bombmaker to face trial

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A man who continued to make bombs even after he lost an arm and partial eyesight while experimenting with explosives will face trial in a Russian court, police said.

Police found about a dozen types of explosives in the apartment of 41-year-old Alexei Muromtsev, that included nitroglycerin, mercury (II) fulminate, TNT, RDX and black powder.

“The man literally lived on a powder keg,” police said. He will be tried in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk.

Belly fat linked to higher death risk

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People envied for their normal weight surprisingly face a higher death risk than the obese — if they carry a prominent belly, according to latest research.

“We knew from previous research that central obesity is bad, but what is new in this research is that the distribution of the fat is very important even in people with normal weight,” said Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, senior study author and cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Ranbir Kapoor fined for smoking in public

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Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor has been fined Rs 200 for smoking in public by the district court.

The 29-year-old actor was accused of violating the Rajasthan Prevention of Smoking Act after a local daily published images of Ranbir smoking on May 28, while shooting for `Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani` with Deepika Padukone here.

Harish Vaishnav had lodged a complaint at a local court in Udaipur, following which Ranbir was summoned on June 26.

Italian mafia boss held in Venezuela

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Five years on the run for a Sicilian mafia boss came to an end when he was arrested on an island in Venezuela.

Salvatore Bonomolo, part of a criminal family from Palermo city, was captured on the Venezuelan island of Margherita Tuesday following an international investigation launched in April that involved Interpol and Italian and Venezuelan authorities.

Police were tipped off about his whereabouts after listening in on telephone calls with his family.

Three dead as blast derails train in Pakistan

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At least three people were killed and over 20 injured when militants blew up a rail track in Pakistan’s Jacobabad city early Wednesday, causing derailment of a passenger train, officials said.

The incident took place around 12.45 a.m., Xinhua reported.

The train heading for Karachi from Peshawar got derailed after the track was blown up near Jacobabad in Sindh province.

At least two compartments of the train were derailed, said railway officials.

–IANS–

7 killed, 80 injured in Pakistan road accident

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At least seven people were killed and around 80 injured in a head-on collision between two buses on a highway in Pakistan’s Punjab province early Wednesday, media reports said.

The accident took place around 12.30 a.m. in Dera Ghazi Khan district, Xinhua reported citing Urdu TV channel Dunya.

The two buses hit each other on the Indus Highway near Kara area of Dera Ghazi Khan.

One bus was heading for Karachi, while the other was heading for Rawalpindi, and then for Peshawar.

The cause of the accident was not known.

Lalu asks BJP about Reddy brothers, Sushma sticks to ‘mota maal’ remark

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BJP leader Sushma Swaraj’s “mota maal” remark continued to reverberate with RJD leader Lalu Prasad Tuesday accusing the party of having made mega-bucks from the mining barons, the Reddy brothers of Karnataka, while she instead accused the Congress of benefitting.

“With regard to the mota maal (mega-bucks) remark by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, we want to know who used to take mota maal from the Reddy brothers of Karnataka,” the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader told reporters here.

Child thieves on stealing spree

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Children have stolen jewellery and cash — with a total worth of Rs one lakh — in a broad daylight in two separate instances from Sarrafa market area in this district, police said. Two children entered into a jewellery shop and decamped with a golden necklace, worth Rs 55,000, even though several customers were present. However, they were caught in the act as a closed circuit television (CCTV) was installed at the shop. Similarly, three children snatched a customer’s bag — containing Rs 45,000 — in a nationalised bank.