Politics

Dense fog engulfs north India, hits road traffic

Amritsar /New Delhi, Jan 31 (ANI): Dense fog engulfed various regions of northern India for second consecutive day dropping visibility below 50 metres and disrupting road traffic on Friday. Meanwhile, cold wave tightened its grip in Punjab and Haryana with minimum temperature dipping below normal at several places. A thick blanket of fog enveloped most parts of Punjab, throwing normal life out of gear. A daily commuter in Amritsar city of Punjab, Satpal Singh, expressed difficulty in travelling amid dense fog. Biting cold wave has forced people to stay indoors within the warmer confines of their houses, while office-goers and schoolchildren are struggling to reach their destinations.

Jan 31, 2014

Nursery admissions: SC refuses to stay Delhi HC order

New Delhi, Jan 31 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the interim order on the nursery admission process in the national capital but asked the Delhi High Court to expeditiously hear the pleas against the guidelines by advancing the scheduled hearing. The Apex court said that the order of the High Court was in the nature of an interim order, it was not interfering with it and asked the High Court to hear the issues raised as expeditiously as possible in the interest of the schools and welfare of the children. The apex court gave liberty to the petitioners, Action Committee of Unaided Recognised Private Schools, Forum for Promotion of Quality Education for All and some parents to make an application before the single judge of the High Court for advancing the March 11 hearing.

Jan 31, 2014

Telangana bill: Constitutional violations by Congress, bill not in shape: TDP

Hyderabad, Jan 31 (ANI): Upset over Telangana bill, Telugu Desam Party President Chandrababu Naidu said that that the Congress violated a lot of Constitutional norms in the process and that the bill is not in shape. Naidu said that he was not allowed to present his views on the bill and that Congress is acting in a scripted manner. He also said that he will approach the President regarding the bill.

Jan 31, 2014

Jan Lokpal to be passed in special Delhi Assembly session on 16 Feb: AAP

New Delhi, Jan 31 (ANI): After AAP's National Executive meet on Friday, party leader Manish Sisodia said that the party will convene a special session of Delhi Assembly on 16th February to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill at the Indira Gandhi Stadium. Sisodia said that the special session will start the session on 13 and will continue the same till 16th February.

Jan 31, 2014

Thai northeast vows poll payback to Shinawatra clan

In Bangkok, embattled Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra rarely ventures out in public because of fears for her safety but in much of the vast rural northeast her billionaire family are heroes.

Jan 31, 2014

Hurriyat calls for shutdown in Kashmir against Pathribal verdict

Srinagar, Jan 31 (ANI): The moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference, under the chairmanship of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq called for a shutdown in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday as they protested against Indian Army’s decision of closing the Pathribal fake encounter case. In 2006, CBI had indicted five Army personnel for staging fake encounter while giving a clean chit to provincial police. During the encounter, five people were killed on March 26, 2000, at Pathribal in south Kashmir. All shops, business establishments, schools, colleges and government offices remained shut and the public transport also remained off from the roads.

Jan 31, 2014

Congress delaying alliance talks with NCP: Praful Patel

Mumbai, Jan 31 (ANI): Senior NCP leader Praful Patel on Friday said the Congress was delaying seat-sharing talks with his party in Maharashtra.Talking to mediapersons in Mumbai, Patel said the NCP wanted its alliance with Congress to continue. Patel said he would be meeting Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who belongs to Congress, later in the day to discuss seat-sharing arrangement for Lok Sabha polls. He said need of the hour was to have clarity on alliance between the two parties, who share power in Maharashtra as well at the Centre. He also rejected media reports that NCP President Sharad Pawar had met BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Delhi earlier this month.

Jan 31, 2014

Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna resigns

Dehradun, Jan 31 (ANI): Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has resigned from his post, he submitted his resignation to the state Governor Aziz Qureshi in Dehradun on Friday. Bahuguna, paid the price for the poor relief and rehabilitation work carried out by his government after last year's flash floods.The decision to replace Bahuguna was taken at a meeting Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had with senior party leaders on Thursday. Union Minister Harish Rawat is the frontrunner in the race to replace Bahuguna.

Jan 31, 2014

Supreme Court stays execution of 1993 terror case convict Bhullar

New Delhi, Jan 31 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the execution of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, who is on a death row in connection with the 1993 Delhi blast case. The apex court issued notices to the Centre and the Delhi government and sought their views on the matter. The court also asked for a report on Bhullar's mental condition. Bhullar had filed a curative petition seeking commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment. The petition was pending since September 2013. Bhullar was sentenced to death in 2001 for plotting terror attacks on Punjab SSP Sumedh Singh Saini and M.S. Bitta in 1993, leading to several deaths in New Delhi.

Jan 31, 2014

north-korea-said-jang-song-thaek-led-a-039dissolute-and-depraved-life039-reuters

Jang Song-Thaek Story: Was Kim Jong-un's Uncle Really Fed to Hungry Dogs? No, Says North Korea

A North Korea official has said that Jang Song-theak was actually shot to death and not fed to hungry dogs.

Jan 31, 2014

Corruption cases in Delhi have declined: Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi, Jan 31 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that corruption cases in Delhi have declined to a large extent. He also added that his party will fight to bring Jan Lokpal Bill that seeks to punish corruption with prison term ranging from six months to life.

Jan 31, 2014

Will cancel license if discoms cut power: Kejriwal

New Delhi, Jan 31 (ANI): After BSES threatened Delhi government of cutting power for 8-10 hours, the national capital’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the license of the discom companies if Delhi fails to get uninterrupted power supply and goes on with their threat. He said that the government will call other power supply companies if the present ones won’t budge.

Jan 31, 2014

Arvind Kejriwal targets top leaders, makes 'India's most corrupt' list

New Delhi, Jan 31 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday read out his list of 'India's most corrupt', including union ministers and leaders from all parties, and urged his AAP members to treat the national election as a movement to cleanse Parliament. Kejriwal's list included Congress' Rahul Gandhi, P Chidambaram and Sushil Kumar Shinde, BJP's Nitin Gadkari, Yeddyurappa, Anant Kumar, and others like Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Sharad Pawar.

Jan 31, 2014

NCP refutes reports of Pawar- Modi meet, BJP says matter should be closed

Mumbai/ New Delhi, Jan 31 (ANI): As the news of NCP Chief Sharad Pawar and Narendra Modi came into light, NCP Spokesperson Nawab Malik refutted any such reports and said that the party had this option back in 1999 also but it chose to not go with the ‘communalist party’. Meanwhile, BJP Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that if the party and Pawar himself has refuted reports of meeting, the matter should be closed right then.

Jan 31, 2014

Tour of One World Trade Center in New York

Visitors get the chance to see the view from the top of One World Trade Center in New York, informally called the "Freedom Tower", on the site of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Duration: 00:34

Jan 31, 2014