Tag Archives: minister

Obama to host tripartite meeting with Israeli PM and Palestinian President

Jerusalem, Sep 20 (ANI): In an effort to renew the peace process in the Middle East, President Barack Obama will host a tripartite meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the meeting would take place after Obama meets separately with [...]

Sealdah-New Delhi Duronto Express flagged off

Kolkata, Sep 19 (ANI): Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee flagged off Sealdah-New Delhi Duronto express, the country’s first point-to-point non-stop train in Kolkata. The Duronto express will cover the 1447-km distance between Sealdah and New Delhi in 16 hours and 20 minutes. “After 30 years there is a train called Duronto. It will go faster than [...]

MIC chief Samy Vellu says he won’t retire before 2012

Kuala Lumpur, Sep 19 (ANI): Rejecting former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s demand to immediately step down as the Malaysian Indian Congress Chief, S. Samy Vellu has said that he would stick to his original plan and resign in 2012. “He (Prime Minister Najib Razak) is aware of my retirement plan. I will keep [...]

Veraval riots: Nanavati Commission not to issue notice against Modi

Ahmedabad, Sep.19 (ANI): In a major reprieve for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Justice Girish Thakorlal Nanavati Commission on Saturday confirmed that it would not be issuing any notice to him in connection with the communal riots in Veraval. However, the commission has asked the State Government to give it transcripts of the conversations [...]

Gilani rejects inking safe passage deal for Musharraf

Islamabad, Sep.19 (ANI): Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has denied inking any ‘safe exit’ deal to facilitate former President General Pervez Musharraf’s safe passage from the country after he stepped down from the Presidency. In an interview to a private television channel, Gilani said: “If there had been such a deal, it would have [...]

South African officials withhold findings of Caster Semenya’s gender test

London, Sep. 19 (ANI): Even before South African star athlete Caster Semenya’s gender was questioned at the World Championships in Berlin, Athletics South Africa (ASA) had found out and withheld the fact that she had internal testes, an e-mail exchange has revealed. According to the e-mail exchanges published in the Mail and Guardian newspaper, ASA [...]

Twitter Gate: Congress will take action against Tharoor at the appropriate time: Tewari

New Delhi, Sep.18 (ANI): The Congress party on Friday said it would take appropriate action against Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor for his “cattle class” comments through the medium of Twitter at the appropriate time. Addressing a party news conference in the capital, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said: “We will take appropriate [...]

Pak issues prohibited arms license to US security firm

Islamabad, Sep.17 (ANI): Pakistani authorities have issued 86 licenses for prohibited weapons to a security company which has been hired by the US embassy in Islamabad. Interior Ministry sources revealed that the licenses were issued to Inter Risk following Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s approval, The Daily Times reports. According to a private television channel, [...]

US Ambassador Roemer calls for action against Hafiz Saeed

New Delhi, Sept 18 (ANI): Pressurising Pakistan, the United States said it wanted swift and mighty punishment against the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Speaking to reporters, after a meeting with Union Home Minister, P. Chidambaram, the United States Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer said, bringing the culprits to justice and going [...]

‘Berlusconi will have to resign if immunity law overturned’

Rome, Sep. 18 (ANI): Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi would be forced to resign if laws providing him immunity are overturned by the Constitutional Court next month, his lawyers have admitted. “If the Constitutional Court, which begins its deliberations on October 6, overturns the law there would be damage to the functions of an elected [...]

Missing Hindu nurse’s parents’ pleas in Pak falling on deaf ears

Karachi, Sep.18 (ANI): Family members of the Hindu nurse, Bano, who disappeared from Karachi last month under mysterious circumstances, have urged the government to step into the issue and direct the concerned authorities to pursue the matter seriously to find out her whereabouts. Bano’s uncle and the head of the Hindu Maheshwari community, Narain Das [...]

Sharad Pawar says end of season rains will help winter crops

New Delhi, Sep 18 (ANI): Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has said that late end-season rains will help India’s winter crops. Talking to reporters here on Thursday, Pawar said, “It’s true that because paddy area transplantation has been dropped, but the late rains are very helpful particularly for Punjab, Haryana, Orissa and Chhattisgarh.” “There would not [...]

Malaysia gives RM1 million grant for Malay Indian tuition centre

Kuala Lumpur, Sep 18 (ANI): The Malaysian Government has allocated RM1 million to the Sri Murugan Centre to help poor and deserving Indian students excel in their education. The centre’s director and founder, M. Thambirajah, informed about the grant after receiving the cheque from Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak in Putrajaya on Wednesday. The centre [...]

MIC chief to apologise to Dr Mahathir over ‘slipper garland’ insult

Kuala Lumpur, Sep 18 (ANI): Malaysian Indian Congress president S. Samy Vellu has said that he will personally apologise to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad over the ‘slipper garland’ insult by a MIC member during the recent party congress. He said he would seek an appointment with Dr Mahathir to tender his apology over [...]

India to build more highways than any other country in the world: Kamal Nath

Zurich (Switzerland), Sep 17(ANI): Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath on Thursday said that in the next two years India will build more highways than any other country in the world. Inaugurating “Building India: Road Infrastructure Summit” at Zurich, he also invited European investors to invest in the road and highways sector [...]

Passport refused to footballer due tohis father’s link with militants

Srinagar, Sep 16 (ANI): The regional passport authorities of Jammu and Kashmir have denied passport to a Kashmiri youth, sighting the reason of his father’s involvement with militants in the valley. A Nineteen-year -old youth, Basharat Bashir, was all set to fly to Spain for the soccer training, but the news of denial of passport [...]

‘Embarrassed’ Musharraf’s close aides shying away from commenting on his misdeeds

Islamabad, Sep.16 (ANI) : Close aides of former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf are too embarrassed and are shying away from responding to the former general’s claims that he had taken the November 3, 2007 actions only after consulting various top officials, including the then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the current Chief of Army [...]

Taliban back to terror business from new stronghold near Mardan-Swat Highway

Islamabad, Sep.16 (ANI): The Taliban’s threat has still not subsided in the Swat and Malakand Divisions as the security forces have found that the extremists have created a new stronghold in the region and are planning strikes from there. According to senior officials, the Taliban, after being forced to retreat following the military operation, have [...]

J and K Govt seeks Center’s clearance to construct concrete huts along LAC

Srinagar, Sep 16 (ANI): The Jammu and Kashmir Government has sought clearance from the Ministry of Defence to construct huts like along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) bordering China. According to sources the State Government forwarded this proposal with the aim of strengthening the Indian presence along the LAC. State Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla, [...]

Mamata Banerjee hits out at Leftists

New Delhi, Sept 16 (ANI): Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee hailed the good showing of Trinamool Congress in civic polls in Darjeeling district as victory over state-sponsored terrorism. In the 47-member district council, the Trinamool Congress and the Congress combine bagged 15 seats each. The Left Front, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxists) won [...]