Politics

Guidelines for e-rickshaws presented to court, next hearing on August 14

New Delhi, Aug 11 (ANI): Guidelines for e-rickshaws were presented to court on Monday. The date for the next hearing has been fixed to august 14. E-rickshaws have been in the news for all the wrong reasons, but many believe it has the potential to solve the city's last-mile connectivity problem.

Aug 11, 2014

Artisans almost complete tallest Ganesha idol ahead of Ganesha Chaturthi

Hyderabad, Aug 11 (ANI): Artisans in Telangana state got together to build one of the tallest idols of Hindu god Ganesha, the deity of prosperity, ahead of popular religious festival ‘Ganesha Chaturthi’, which marks re-birth of the god. Idols of Ganesha are being made few months ahead of the 10-day festival where they are taken through the streets in a dancing and singing procession, to be immersed in a river or the sea symbolising a ritual see-off of his journey towards his abode in "Kailash", while taking away with him the misfortunes of all mankind. Members of the Khairatabad Ganesh Utsav Committee said they were building a 60 feet idol of Lord Ganesha in Khairatabad district, claiming it to be the tallest in the world. Head of artisans, Chinnaswamy Rajendran, who is making the Ganesh idol since 1978, said they expected it to be complete by August 25.

Aug 11, 2014

Tribal people in flood-hit Odisha blame authorities for inaction

Cuttack, Aug 11 (ANI): Tribal people in flood-hit Odisha have blamed the state authorities for not providing any relief to them even as the situation continues to remain grim in most of the places. Reportedly, the death toll climbed to 45 and over 3.29 lakh people were affected as floods devastated low lying areas of Odisha. In Cuttack district, a flood survivor, Brundaban Azad, said the authorities were not doing anything to prevent diseases. Though the floodwater receded in some place, 20000 people from 445 villages of Cuttack are still marooned. People complained they did not get any relief from the state government, adding there is no drinking water facility and they are bound to drink contaminated water.

Aug 11, 2014

Cross border firing creates panic among villagers in Kashmir

Arnia, Aug 11 (ANI): Pakistan Rangers pounded border villages of Arnia town with mortar shells in Jammu and Kashmir creating panic among the civilian populations along side the border. The fresh ceasefire violation comes ahead of the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Ladakh region's Leh and Kargil districts on Tuesday, where he is going to inaugurate power projects and address troops in Leh. Two BSF soldiers and two civilians got injured in unprovoked firing. Pakistan resorted to unprovoked firing on Sunday night (August 10) and the BSF also retaliated in Arnia sector of R S Pura in Jammu district. Reportedly the firing stopped at around 7a.m on Monday (August 11). The injured BSF soldiers and civilians were admitted in a government hospital in Jammu district.

Aug 11, 2014

PM Narendra Modi to visit Kargil & Leh, preparations underway

Kargil, Aug 11 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of the 330 km Leh-Srinagar transmission line and inaugurate two hydro-power projects in the Ladakh region during his day-long visit to Jammu & Kashmir on Tuesday. Preparations are underway for Modi’s first visit to the cold desert region and second to the state after he took over as the prime minister. The prime minister will inaugurate the Chutak hydro-electric power project in Kargil and Nimoo Bazgo project in Leh district. Meanwhile, organizers as well as local residents expressed happiness on first PM’s arrival in the region during normal situations.

Aug 11, 2014

US extends travel advisory on Kashmir for one more year

Srinagar, Aug 11 (ANI): The US government has extended by one year the adverse travel advisory on Jammu and Kashmir citing militant attacks and violent public unrest in the disputed Himalayan region. The Himalayan region is one of the world's most militarised zones, with India deploying more than 1.3 million troops to quell the rebellion that triggered off in 1989. However, few foreign tourists visiting the valley said they had a good and positive experience and felt if the advisory is lifted, influx of tourists would increase. A tourist from Australia, Nathan, said there were negative things written about Kashmir on Australian travel advisory. Advisor to State Chief Omar Abdullah, Tanveer Sadiq, said such advisories impact tourism business adversely.

Aug 11, 2014

Bihar bypolls: Nitish attacks BJP on 'Achche Din'

Hajipur, Aug 11 (ANI): Putting an end to all speculations over alliances, RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar on Monday addressed the first joint public rallies in Bihar's Hajipur. Criticizing the Narendra Modi government he said that the government failed to fulfill its promise of 'Achche Din' and people are still waiting. He also said that today those people are in power in Delhi, whose ancestors haven't even spend a day in jail for the country

Aug 11, 2014

Ukrainian military rejected calls from the separatists for a ceasefire as fierce fighting raged in the East of the country on Sunday.

Ukraine Military Reject Rebels' Ceasefire Offer in Donetsk

Ukrainian military has rejected calls from separatists for a ceasefire as fierce fighting raged in the rebel strongholds in the east of the country on Sunday.

Aug 11, 2014

Amid Bharat Ratna Clamour for Netaji, Spotlight on Japanese Atrocities on INA Dissidents

The article has surfaced at a time when the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to posthumously honour Netaji Bose with the Bharat Ratna

Aug 11, 2014

Lalu shares dais with Nitish, says inauspicious things happened since Modi came to power

Hajipur, Aug 11 (ANI): Nearly two decades after they parted ways, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar shared dais in Hajipur on Monday as they began a joint campaign for the upcoming by-elections in Bihar. The coming together of two leaders also puts an end to weeks of speculations on whether the two bitter political rivals will actually share stage together at a public event to campaign jointly for the by-elections. Speaking at the function, Lalu said that since Narendra Modi came to power inauspicious things has started happening.

Aug 11, 2014

Lalu shares dais with Nitish, says they are from same family

Aug 11, 2014

Legal Eagles react on CJI RM Lodha's defence of SC Collegium

New Delhi, Aug 11 (ANI): Legal eagles on Monday reacted over Chief Justice of India RM Lodha's defence of the Supreme Court collegium system and said that there is a campaign to defame the judiciary. Lodha's strong reaction comes after Justice Markandey Katju made allegations in his blog regarding the promotion of a judge of Allahabad High Court of questionable reputation. Former Delhi HC Judge Justice RS Sodhi said that if CJI has said something like that, there must be a weight to it, but also doubted on the credibility of the collegium in a few cases. Senior Lawyer Kamini Jaiswal said that Justice Katju should have brought these issues up during his tenure and the present scenario seems like a conspiracy.

Aug 11, 2014

Politicos react on PM's remark on WTO targeting UPA

New Delhi, Aug 11 (ANI): A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at UPA for allegedly "sacrificing the interest of poor people in the Bali deal", the Congress hit back at the BJP government saying that the UPA clinched the best deal for India at the Bali summit. Congress members also charged the PM with deliberate misinterpretation of facts. Politicos from other parties backed the Congress’ demand for discussion over the matter.

Aug 11, 2014

Bharat Ratna speculation sparks debate

New Delhi, Aug 11 (ANI): Soon after news came in that former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee and freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose might be awarded the Bharat Ratna, the Modi government ran into a fresh controversy. Political parties have suggested more names. The Congress suggested the names of freedom fighters, meanwhile the Shiv Sena has pitched for activist Vinayak Damodar Savarkar to be conferred the Bharat Ratna.

Aug 11, 2014

RSS chief criticized for 'Hindutva' comment, Shiv Sena welcomes same

New Delhi, Aug 11 (ANI): RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat on Monday was criticized by political leaders for his 'Hindutva' comment. Bhagwat had questioned that if inhabitants of England are English, Germany are Germans and USA are Americans then why all inhabitants of Hindustan are not known as Hindus. He had said that the cultural identity of all Indians is Hindutva and the present inhabitants of the country are descendants of this great culture. Meanwhile, RSS leader Sanjay Raut welcomed the statement and said that this is a great thought which should prosper among people all over the nation.

Aug 11, 2014