Jammu and Kashmir pre-paid ban: Supreme Court gives Centre two weeks time to react

Srinagar, Dec 15 (ANI): The Supreme Court has awarded two weeks time to the Central government and the Jammu and Kashmir government to file their reactions on the ban imposed on pre-paid mobiles in the state.

The case will be taken up for hearing on January 8. The apex court has issued notices, following a petition challenging Centre''s decision on the ban.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had issued guidelines that no new pre-paid mobile connection would be issued in the state and the accessible pre-paid SIM cards should not be issued after November 1 in the state.

The initiative taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs had affected nearly 38 lakhs pre-paid mobile users in the state.

The decision has been taken on account of reports that proper verification is not done by the service providers/vendors, while providing such pre-paid mobile connections to the users.

A single person used to have multiple connections registered in his name in a few cases. (ANI)

Share

Blogger Widgets

Unheard Pak terror group claims receiving help from Indian agents

Peshawar, Dec.15 (ANI): An unheard militant group, Zarqawi, has reportedly claimed that it is being provided arms, ammunitions and finance to carry out terror strikes inside Pakistan.

According to police official, he had arrested a terror suspect named Ismail following a car bomb blast here in October, in which over 40 people were killed.

Ismail revealed that a man named Shakeel had asked him to deliver an explosive-laden vehicle from Bara in Khyber Agency to Peshawar.

Shakeel, who was also arrested later, disclosed that he works for a terror organisation called Zarqawi, which was being provided logistics by Indian agents.

The other members of the group Saeed Anwar and Saifur Rehman Saifur claimed that Indian agents in the guise of Sikhs were providing them arms, ammunition and money for carrying out terrorist attacks.

When asked about the issue, a senior police official is Peshawar also confirmed reports about Zarqawi’s involvement in car bomb blasts. He added that an operation was underway in Bara to nab Zarqawi Saifur, who is said to be the group leader of the organisation.

The official also informed that the said terror organisation is also involved in kidnapping small children who are prepared for suicide attacks, The Nation reports. (ANI)

Share

Blogger Widgets

Punjab tops list of female foeticide cases

New Delhi, Dec 15: Punjab state has topped the list in number of female foeticide cases reported over the last three years, a government data release said, on Tuesday, Dec 14.

According to figures released by the National Crime Records Bureau, in Punjab, 81 cases were registered for female foeticide while for Rajasthan the corresponding number was 51.


Madhya Pradesh registered 21 cases, Haryana 18 and Chattisgarh 24.

Speaking in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Health Dinesh Trivedi said, "In Rajasthan, the number of cases registered has shown a steady decline since the last three years with 25, 16 and 10 cases being registered in 2006, 2007 and 2008."

In New Delhi, seven cases registered in 2006, four in 2007 and two in 2008.

Among the southern states, Karnataka reported the maximum 25 cases in the last three years.

Share

Blogger Widgets

Andhra: Students lathicharged, varsity closed

Protests and violence continue in Andhra. After students and police clashed on Tuesday morning, Sri Krishnadevaraya University in Anantpur has been closed for vacations till December 27. Resident students at the hostel are being asked to vacate.

Students at this university have been actively involved in the anti-Telangana protests. On Tuesday, there was stone-pelting and a lathi charge as students clashed with the police and the town has been tense since. Several people were reported injured. (Video: Students lathicharged in Anantpur)

Anti-Telangana activists also stopped the Tpuram-Hyderabad Sabari Express at Guntur. The Joint Action Committee, a group spearheading the campaign for a united Andhra, has said it will continue its bandh.

Actor-turned-politician Chiranjeeevi has blasted the Congress, saying the party was responsible for the violence and should resolve it now. "Our stand is with the people, he said.

In Hyderabad, Congress MLAs from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra marched from Assembly to Secretariat to garland the statute of Potti Sriramulu, who had fasted in 1952 to demand the formation of Andhra Pradesh and died while fasting. Andhra Pradesh state was created in 1956. It is Potti Sriramulu's death anniversary today.

Congressman Rajagopal, who was arrested twice on Monday to prevent him from starting a hunger strike, has managed to begin his fast today - in Vijayawada, his constituency.

Share

Blogger Widgets

Goa MP suggests Russian rape victim asked for it

A Congress MP from Goa has caused a storm in Parliament by suggesting that women who are raped by men they socialize with are at least partly responsible for what happens to them.

The MP was referring to the controversial case of a Russian woman working in Goa who claims she was raped earlier this month by a South Goa politician in his car after having dinner with him.

Shantaram Naik said while rape is a heinous crime, "...an alleged rape of a lady who moves with strangers for days together even beyond middle of the night is to be treated on different footings."

Naik's comments evoked strong protests by opposition members particularly Brinda Karat (CPM), Najma Heptulla, Maya Singh (BJP)and Jaya Bachchan (SP).

They sought intervention of the Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan saying Naik should not be allowed to speak the language which, they said, was derogatory to women.

The Russian who was allegedly raped was working at a five-star hotel in Goa. She says that on the first of December, a friend and she had dinner with South Goa politician, John Fernandes, who allegedly spiked her drink and then raped her in his car.

The police claimed it couldn't find Fernandes and therefore couldn't arrest him; NDTV, however, had no trouble tracking down the politician who discussed the allegations against him at length in an interview.

On Monday, a court cancelled the anticipatory bail granted earlier to Fernandes.

The case seems to be the latest example of lax investigations by the Goa Police. For one, the police seemed reluctant to medically exam the victim for evidence of rape; it also did not search Fernandes' car, the alleged scene of the crime, for several days.

The alleged victim has complained officially to the Russian Consulate that she has been pressured repeatedly by the police to drop the case, and that she feels unsafe.

Last week, the Goa Tourism Minister, Fransisco Pacheco, in a letter to the state's chief minister, has complained that this and other cases like the rape and murder of British teenager Scarlett Keeling are damaging the reputation of Goa. Pachecho wrote, the police in Goa is either "grossly incompetent or influenced by other factors", as a result of which complaints were not properly investigated.

In the Keeling case, little evidence was presented by the police against the Goa shack-owner accused of raping and murdering the teenager last year. The investigation is now being handled by the CBI

Share

Blogger Widgets

PSU bank staff to go on 1-day strike on Dec 16

Mumbai, Dec 15: Employees of state-run banks will go on a one-day strike on Wednesday, Dec 16, to protest against a proposed move to consolidate public sector banks.

The strike call was given by the All India Bank Employees Association and the All India Bank Officers' Association to all its affiliate members working at state-run, private and foreign banks.


The effect of the strike is expected to impact only some state-run banks.

Bankers are also protesting against the proposed acquisition of State Bank of Indore by the State Bank of India.

Federal Bank, in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange said, "The strike may affect normal functioning of its branches."

The members and units of the unions in Andhra Pradesh, have been kept out of the strike because of law and order problems arising due to the proposed bifurcation of the state.

Share

Blogger Widgets

DRDO working hard to develop UAV to meet forces requirement: Antony

New Delhi, Dec 14 (ANI): Defence Minister A K Antony on Monday informed the Lok Sabha that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is taking up the development Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) against confirmed Qualitative Requirements (QRs) to meet tri-services requirements.

The medium altitude, long endurance, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is being developed indigenously by the DRDO.

Relying to a question in the Lok Sabha Antony informed that the UAV has been named as ‘RUSTOM-H.’

“Indian Industry would be the development-cum-production partner for this programme. The project is proposed to be completed in 78 months after formal sanction,” he said.

Relying to another question Antony said the proposal on the Kaveri-Snecma engine joint venture for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas is under government’s consideration.

“Request for Proposal (RFP) for procuring 99 engines have been sent to two short-listed engine manufacturers, namely GE F414 from General Electric Aviation, USA and EJ200 from Eurojet Germany,” Antony informed the members.

He said the engine houses have responded to the RFP.

“Both commercial and technical responses have been received for procurement of 99 engines along with Transfer of Technology,” Antony said. (ANI)

Share

Blogger Widgets

Telangana issue: Lok Sabha adjourned till 12:30

New Delhi, Dec 15 (ANI): The Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 12:30 on account of the ongoing protests against Centre''s nod to initiate the process for the formation of the Telangana State.

The political deadlock in Andhra Pradesh continued on Monday with the assembly adjourned sine die following the uproar over Centre''s nod to initiate the process for the formation of the Telangana state.

There was pandemonium outside the Andhra assembly with the MLAs shouting slogans in the favour of a unified Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

On Monday, the assembly began around 9 am with speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy taking up the question hour in the House. The MLAs began to raise slogans of a unified state as State Civil Supplies Minister J Krishna Rao was replying to the questions put up by the Congress Party.

Speaker Reddy urged the members not to disrupt the proceedings of the House. But meanwhile, the Telegu Desam Party (TDP) and Congress MLAs began to raise slogans in a favour of a Telangana state. The speaker adjourned the proceedings for thirty minutes.

The ministers belonging to all the regional parties assembled in the Committee Hall before the House trying to find a solution to the ongoing political crisis.

After the Speaker adjourned the House, the MLAs met Chief Minister K Rosaiah to seek his opinion on the matter.

Earlier, cutting across party lines, 135 MLAs resigned in a 294-member Assembly refusing to accept the Centre''s nod for initiating the process of the formation of the Telangana State. Of these, 79 are from the Congress, 42 from the TDP and 16 from Chiranjeevi''s Praja Rajyam Party (PRP). (ANI)

Share

Blogger Widgets

US will bomb Quetta if it gets actionable intelligence: Obama

Washington, Dec. 15 (ANI): Even as the Pakistani political and military leadership has reacted strongly to the proposed US drone strikes inside the country, President Barack Obama has warned that America would launch missile attacks inside Pakistan if it gets actionable intelligence about the presence of top Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders in a particular area.

Obama’s latest statement clearly contradicts his earlier remarks in the US media where he was quoted as saying that he is not is favour of bombing suspected Taliban hideouts in and around Quetta.

In an interview to CBS, Obama said Washington is aware that it has to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty, but it also expects Islamabad to cooperate more effectively in the future that it has in the past.

“Well I don’t want to comment on certain sensitive aspects to our efforts in this border region. I think it is fair to say, number one, that my principle, and I articulated this in the campaign, is if we’ve got actual war intelligence on high-ranking Al Qaeda leaders, or for that matter high-ranking Taliban leaders who are directing actions against US troops –then we will take action,” The Dawn quoted Obama, as saying.

The US President reiterated that taking on the extremists, who are based in the tribal regions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, is in Pakistan’s own interests as they are threatening the country’s stability.

“This isn’t America’s war. This isn’t the West’s war. This is a situation in which you’ve got a very dangerous, extremist network that is growing, and right now is killing more Pakistanis than anybody else,” Obama said.

When asked that if he believe the Pakistanis have any appetite for going into Quetta and finding Mullah Omar?, Obama admitted that it takes time to operationalize troops, but added that he expects to see progress over the next couple of years.

“I think that the Pakistanis recognise that these networks are killing Pakistanis a lot more than they’re killing Americans right now, and that it’s in their interest to start moving in a new direction,” he added. (ANI)

Share

Blogger Widgets

Emotions run high over move to demolish heritage Opera Theatre

The century-old Opera Theatre here, which once reverberated to the stirring speech of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and jhalas of Alauddin Khan's magical sitar, is now counting its last days.

Though a new building will take its place, emotions are running high over the proposed demolition of the British-built building at Police Bazar, located in the heart of the city, housing the Opera Theatre.

Carved out in wood and occupying an area of 7025 sq feet allotted by the then deputy commissioner of the erstwhile Khasi-Jaintia state, the building was conceived in 1900 by a group of drama enthusiasts who sought a place for recreation and leisure.

Subsequently, it became the centre of art in this hill city witnessing a host of activities over the years ranging from national table tennis competition to musical shows, political events and dramas.

“The hall was the nucleus of all cultural activities. Not less than 2000 dramas were staged at the hall over the years,” says A Dasgupta, secretary of Giti Natya Samaj, who is spearheading a campaign against demolishing the structure and erect a new one at its place.

“This was where Netaji had addressed the people when he had visited the city in 1938 to install the then Congress-led government of undivided Assam,” Dasgupta quotes from history.

Share

Blogger Widgets

Bodo bandh hits Assam

Assam was affected by shutdowns called by various groups on Monday, with the Bodoland agitation crippling four districts of the western and northern parts of the state.

The United Democratic Peoples’ Front, backed by the Bodoland Peoples’ Front, the ruling Congress’ ally, called the 24-hour shutdown. The four districts fall under the jurisdiction of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).

There were no reports of violence in the BTC areas. Vehicles were off the roads, particularly on NH-31, which connects the Northeast with the country. “Train services were not affected,” said Northeast Frontier Railway spokesman S. Hajong.

Share

Blogger Widgets