News

Nirbhaya fund usage to begin soon: Shinde

New Delhi, Dec 16 (ANI): Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Monday said that Nirbhaya fund, set up for women's safety, will be utilized soon. Speaking to mediapersons in New Delhi, Shinde said that the Finance Ministry has cleared the plans, paving the way for the utilization of the Rs 1,000-crore Nirbhaya Fund.

Dec 16, 2013

Delhi Gangrape, A Year On: Accused Juvenile must get his due, says victim's mother

New Delhi, Dec 16 (ANI): A year passed by and the grieved parents of the Delhi gang rape victim, often dubbed as 'Nirbhaya' waiting for a change in Indian laws, voiced their feelings about the entire episode that had once outraged the entire country and said that the accused juvenile must be punished. On December 16, 2012, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student was gang raped for an hour and tortured with an iron rod on a moving bus in New Delhi. Meanwhile, the victim's mother, Asha, also added that in such cases the judgement should come in a stipulated time so that the convicts receive their due punishments.

Dec 16, 2013

Security beefed up on Delhi Gangrape first anniversary

New Delhi, Dec 16 (ANI): Security arrangements were strengthened in New Delhi on the first anniversary of the brutal gang rape case of a young physiotherapist on a moving bus. Police officers patrolled the city streets in a bid to avoid any repetition of the December 16 murder and rape of the 23-year-old girl that outraged the entire country. Even in the wee hours, policemen were seen checking every vehicle that drove past Munirika area of New Delhi, from where a tale of violence and insecurity had begun a year before. Meanwhile, social activist Annie Raja said that post the gang rape, government initiatives had just secluded women in the country rather than sending a strong message across people who indulge in crime against women.

Dec 16, 2013

Shahbaz Sharif visit Punjab, calls for peaceful relations with Pak

Jati Umra, Amritsar, Dec 16 (ANI): Shahbaz Sharif, chief of Pakistan's Punjab, called for peaceful solution of issues between India and Pakistan during a visit to his ancestral village and Golden Temple in India's Punjab. Addressing the villagers, Sharif called for fostering the bond of friendship and love between the neighbours. After visiting his village, Sharif offered prayers at the Golden Temple. Sharif was accompanied by his Indian counterpart Parkash Singh Badal and they are likely to ink an agreement to identify mutual areas of interest and cooperation.

Dec 16, 2013

Candlelight vigil to bring jailed Captain Sunil James back

Lucknow, Dec 16 (ANI): Families of Indian sailors held peace march in Uttar Pradesh over release of jailed Merchant Navy Captain Sunil James from a month-long detention in Togo, for last rites of his son. Sunil James is facing charges of aiding pirates. The efforts are on for James' release so that he can join his family in Mumbai to perform the last rites of his 11-month-old son, who died this month. Several participants of the peace march, many of who were sailors themselves, sought Indian government’s intervention and demanded swift action to bring Captain James back.

Dec 16, 2013

ASG writes to PM for removal of Justice AK Ganguly

Kolkata, Dec 16 (ANI): Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought removal of former Supreme Court Judge AK Ganguly from the post of chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission. Addressing mediapersons on Sunday, Jaising stated that people who implement the law should live by the law. Ganguly has been accused of sexually assaulting a law intern who worked with him. The Supreme Court had set up a three-judge panel, which heard testimonies from both, the law intern and Ganguly and submitted its report to the Chief Justice of India, P. Sathasivam, naming Ganguly as the accused.

Dec 16, 2013

Bangladesh celebrates execution of Abdul Quader Mollah

Dhaka, Dec 16 (ANI): Thousands of people in Dhaka participated in a rally to celebrate the execution of Islamist leader, Abdul Quader Mollah, who was convicted for war crimes committed in the 1971 liberation war. The rally also defied the strike called by the Islamist groups in the country. Many citizens celebrated the first ever execution of a Bangladesh war criminal, which took place late on Thursday (December 12) at the Dhaka Central Jail. Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami party had called for a nationwide strike on Sunday in protest of the execution of Mollah.

Dec 16, 2013

Vasundhara Raje takes oath as Rajasthan Chief Minister

Jaipur, Dec 13 (ANI): Vasundhara Raje, who spearhead BJP's spectacular comeback to power in Rajasthan, took oath as state Chief Minister on Friday. Governor Margaret Alva administered the oath of office and secrecy to Vasundhara Raje. Top leaders of the BJP including party patriarch LK Advani, party prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, party president Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Ananth Kumar, among others attended the ceremony. The BJP returned to power in Rajasthan after five years, winning a record 162 seats and leaving the Congress bruised with just 21 members in the 200-seat legislature.

Dec 16, 2013

Chile's Bachelet, from torture victim to successful politician

Socialist champion Michelle Bachelet made history Sunday being the first woman ever elected twice as a head of state of Chile. Duration: 01:51

Dec 16, 2013

Nelson Mandela's historic journey comes to an end in Qunu

Nelson Mandela, a global icon of freedom and forgiveness, has been buried in his home town of Qunu in South Africa, bringing to a close ten days of commemoration around the world. Duration: 03:41

Dec 16, 2013

Ukraine's opposition holds mass pro-EU rally

At least 200,000 pro-European demonstrators began a mass rally in the Ukrainian capital Sunday in a fresh show of force against President Viktor Yanukovych after his failure to sign a key EU agreement. Soundbites of pro-EU protesters. Duration: 01:30

Dec 15, 2013

Mandela's village bids solemn farewell

Perched above the pomp and ceremony of Nelson Mandela's state funeral, villagers and visitors to his rural home said a final goodbye among the open spaces and grasslands of his boyhood. Duration: 00:59

Dec 15, 2013

Mandela lookalike vows to carry on the legacy

Ayanda Mbatyoti, a professional Nelson Mandela lookalike, discusses what it’s like to resemble an icon. Duration: 01:26

Dec 15, 2013

Kiran Bedi slams Kejriwal over disapproval on Lokpal, says he is misguiding public

Ralegan-Siddhi, Dec 15 (ANI): After AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal said that Anna Hazare is misguided about the amended Lokpal Bill, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi slammed him and said that Kejriwal is misguiding the people. Bedi said that there are people around Anna who have done proper research on the bill and that these people are well educated and not illiterate and that there is no chance of any mis-conception in Anna's mind. She also said that Kejriwal's issue is with the Parliament and not Anna and so he should stop commenting on Hazare.

Dec 15, 2013

India summons US envoy over Devyani Khobragade's arrest

Farrukhabad, Dec 15 (ANI): India has summoned US Ambassador to India, Nancy Powell to protest and convey the displeasure against the arrest of its high-ranking diplomat in New York for an alleged visa fraud, said Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid on Sunday. Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, who is the Deputy Consul General at the Indian Consulate in New York, has been accused of lying on the visa application for an Indian national who worked for her for less than four dollars an hour, violating U.S. norms. Khurshid hopes that the United States would rectify its legal process that led to the arrest.

Dec 15, 2013