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Muslims across India celebrate Prophet Muhammad's birthday with fervour

Kolkata/ Lucknow/ Aurangabad, Jan 04 (ANI): Muslim community across India celebrated Mawlid or Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad, with great fervour on Sunday. Muslims took out processions to mark the occasion, celebrated as the day of the birth of Muhammad, Islam's Prophet. Homes, mosques, shrines and seminaries are decked with flags, buntings and banners to welcome the day, considered to be among the most blessed in the Islamic calendar. In Lucknow city, residents thronged the streets to celebrate the festival. Tableaux and processions were the highlights of the occasion. Religious songs played on loudspeakers as the city's Muslims paid obeisance to their Prophet.

Jan 4, 2015

Cold wave, fog lead to poor visibility across northern India

Shimla/ Srinagar/ Ludhiana/ Varanasi, Jan 04 (ANI): Northern states of India continued to reel under extreme cold weather conditions on Sunday, leading to fog and poor visibility. People who work outdoors were seen taking warmth from road side bonfire and drinking tea from tea vendor stalls to stay warm. The poor visibility has also disrupted road, rail and air traffic across India. As trains ran behind scheduled time due to fog, passengers in Varanasi complained of no information on trains schedules. The cold wave has added to the troubles of daily wage labourers like auto-rickshaw drivers, rickshaw pullers and homeless people as they have no alternative but to bear the chill to earn their living. Meanwhile, in Srinagar tourists were seen enjoying heavy snowfall.

Jan 4, 2015

Kidnapped British Journalist John Cantlie Reports from Mosul in Latest ISIS Video [PHOTOS]

The new ISIS propaganda video is being seen as an attempt by the group to debunk reports that claimed Mosul is witnessing large scale poverty and starvation.

Jan 4, 2015

Security Tightened at Delhi Airport as Agencies Warn of Possible Hijack of Delhi-Kabul Air India Flight

The officials at Kolkata's Air India office received phone call on Saturday with a threat to hijack a flight heading to Kabul.

Jan 4, 2015

Politicos slam Pakistan for increasing ceasefire violation at border

New Delhi, Jan 4 (ANI): Politicos on Sunday slammed Pakistan over increased ceasefire violations at the border. Opposition leaders also asked the government to take strict action against Pakistan. One woman lost her life and three others got injured in the latest ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops on several BSF posts along the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba and Kathua districts.

Jan 4, 2015

Congress hits back at BJP govt for allegations of doubt over Gujarat boat incident

New Delhi, Jan 04 (ANI): Congress leader Ajoy Kumar on Sunday hit back at the BJP government putting allegations of doubt and mistrust after it raised questions on faith of the Indian government for aborting terror activity of Porbandar boat incident. Kumar said that the BJP government should not term the activity as terror unless the final report comes. He also said that Congress party has always worked towards national security and integrity.

Jan 4, 2015

BJP react as death toll in Assam Violence rises to 81

New Delhi, Jan 04 (ANI): BJP on Sunday react as death toll in Assam violence rose to 81. The death toll rose after police on Saturday recovered the bodies of missing persons in Kokajhar district. Meanwhile, over 25,000 inmates of relief camps on Saturday left for their homes in violence-affected districts. BJP leader GVL Narasimha Rao blamed the Assam government for not taking any action in the case and said that the incident was avoidable if the government had taken proper actions. Party leader Subramanian Swamy said that the violence in the state relates to the Bangladeshi migrants and that the government should act on the matter.

Jan 4, 2015

BJP raises doubt on Congress' faith in Indian govt, says Congress speaks like Pak

New Delhi, Jan 04 (ANI): BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra on Sunday raised doubt on the faith of Congress party towards the Indian government. Patra said that India was able to celebrate 2015 New Year peacefully only because the security agencies and Indian Coast Guard aborted the terror sent through Pak suspicious boat. He also said that Congress speaks the language which Pakistan speaks in. Patra also said that BJP has raised questions before Congress as to whether it trusts Indian government or the terror-supportive Pak government.

Jan 4, 2015

Sushma warns Pak dismissing allegations of ceasefire in letter to Sartaj Aziz, Reactions flow

New Delhi, Jan 04 (ANI): External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has written to Sartaj Aziz in a letter warning Pak and dismissing all allegations of ceasefire violation. Swaraj wrote that Indian forces have only retaliated to the firing taking place from the other side of the international border. BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra said that Pakistan is internationally supporting terrorism and India has always sent a message of anti-terrorism. Security Expert Qamar Agha said that Pak has always resolved to blame game when it faces flak for firing internationally.

Jan 4, 2015

Raghubar Das meets PM Modi

New Delhi, Jan 04 (ANI): Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Sunday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanking him for entrusting Das with the responsibility of a Chief Minister. Das said that it was a courtesy meeting in which they discussed about state funds and infrastructure development.

Jan 4, 2015

Reactions pour in after Air India Kolkata office receives threat call

New Delhi, Jan 04 (ANI): Reactions poured in on Sunday after the Air India office in Kolkata received hijack threat. BJP leader Sambit Patra said that Intelligence agencies and concerned agencies will see to it that no terror attack happens. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy also urged the government to increase safety measures on the airports. Security expert Qamar Agha termed the threat as 'very serious' and hoped that the government will take it seriously as Kolkata is on the target list of Pakistan backed extremists.

Jan 4, 2015

Rajasthan Govt cancels mutation of Robert Vadra's Bikaner land, Politicos react

New Delhi, Jan 04 (ANI): Politicos reacted on Sunday after the Rajasthan government cancelled the mutation of a part of land purchased by Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra's company Skylight Hospitality Private Limited in Bikaner district, on the grounds that it was bought from fake buyers. BJP leader Sambit Patra said that law is doing its work and the guilty will be punished. Congress leader Rashid Alvi said that the cancellation is a political vendetta and that the government is just trying to bother Robert Vadra. RJD leader Manoj Jha hoped that the cancellation of the mutation is not politically motivated. AAP leader Devendra Sehrawat said that the guilty should be punished.

Jan 4, 2015

'Terror' Boats Were Allegedly in Frequent Touch with Pakistani Army

While one of the two boats exploded and sunk into the Arabian Sea near Gujarat, the other fled back to Pakistani waters.

Jan 4, 2015

Buddhist monks assemble for peace prayers in Bodh Gaya

Bodh Gaya, Jan 04 (ANI): Monks and devotees from across the world assembled at the holy shrine of Buddhists in Bodh Gaya in Bihar to offer prayers for world peace and tranquility. More than thousand monks from countries like Bangladesh, India, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Nepal are participating in the religious gathering. The 32nd Kagyu Monlam prayer ceremony is the pre-eminent event of the year for Buddhists. It is considered to be a great gathering of the highest teachers. Kagyu Monlam in Bodh Gaya was preceded by several days of extensive Mahakala practice. The ceremony is being conducted at the premises of sacred Mahabodhi Temple. During the ceremony, Buddhist monks chant teachings of Lord Buddha under the sacred Bodhi tree. The prayers will conclude on January 05.

Jan 4, 2015

Forest officials rescue injured elephant in West Bengal

Jalpaiguri, Jan 04 (ANI): The forest department in West Bengal rescued an injured elephant from mud pool. The veterinary surgeon started the treatment for elephant’s good health and said he is responding well despite injury on the left leg. The jumbo had got stuck in a pool of mud in a forest area in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal on Friday morning. A non-governmental organisation (NGO) assisted the forest department in the rescue operation. Earlier people tried to pull the elephant out but in vain, after which, a crane and two domestic elephants were brought in. Villagers are increasingly encroaching on forest land, forcing the elephants to increasingly barge into villages, killing dozens of people each year, often trampling them to death.

Jan 4, 2015