An Indian woman, who left her country and religion to marry a Pakistani man, claims that her husband has locked her up in a small room on the roof of their house here for the past 13 years.

Shirley Ann Hodges married Gul Muhammad Khan, a Pakistani money lender, after meeting him in Ahmedabad city of Gujarat in the summer of 1997. She changed her name to Shabnam Gul Khan and came to Pakistan in 2000 with her newborn daughter.

At the time, Khan said they were going to Pakistan to meet his family and that they would return to India within six months.

Hitting back Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the issue of Parliament disruption, BJP today said it did not need a certificate of responsibility from Congress party.

It also reminded Congress of accountability towards Parliament and said it wants to hold a debate on the coal blocks allocation issue only for the sake of it.

Responding to Gandhi’s attack against it for not allowing Parliament to function, the opposition party said, “We don’t need a certificate of responsibility from Congress, we need conduct of accountability from them.”

Assam was paralysed due to 12-hour dawn-to-dusk shutdown called by the Bajrang Dal in protest against the recent violent incidents in the BTC areas. The bandh called by Bajrang Dal was supported by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) demanding arrest of AUDF chief and Lok Sabha member Badruddin Ajmal, whom they accused of instigating violence in the BTC as well as across the country in the aftermath of the clashes in western Assam.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would consider allowing former Gujarat minister Amit Shah, an accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, to enter the state in view of the upcoming assembly polls but would like the trial of the case to be shifted to Maharashtra.

one aspect. That must come to an end (keeping him outside the state),” a bench comprising justice Aftab Alam and justice Ranjana Prakash Desai said.
However, the bench said it has strong reservation over holding the trial of the case in the state.

Accusing the BJP of making “political bread and butter” by holding Parliament to ransom by “blackmail”, a combative Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday took the battle to the opposition camp and asked the party to “stand up and fight aggressively”.

Rallying the party behind Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the coal block allocation issue, she accused BJP of acting with “wanton irresponsibility”.

Producing 2.3% of total energy in the world, India accounts 3.3% of the global energy consumption. Given the high economic growth rate (~7%), the demand supply mismatch is expected to worsen. By 2030, India is expected to be the 3rd largest energy consumer. India’s total energy consumption has gone up from 382 Million Tonnes of Oil Equivalent (MTOE) to about 525 MTOE during the second half of last decade. The momentum is likely to be sustained given a per capita energy consumption of 0.4 MTOE against the global average of 1.5 MTOE.