British Soldier chopped fingers off dead Taliban

A British soldier fighting in Afghanistan has been accused of chopping off the fingers of dead Taliban fighters - which he then kept as 'macabre' souvenirs.

The squaddie, from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders,is said to have carried out the horrific ritual during the battalion's last tour which ended in April, the Daily Mail reported. The Ministry of Defence, which is probing the allegations,would not be drawn on whether the soldier in question had been suspended pending the investigation's findings.

Soldier allegedly cut fingers off dead Taliban

The Ministry of Defence is investigating claims that a soldier sliced fingers off dead Taliban fighters to keep as souvenirs.

It is understood the allegations relate to a soldier from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders who was serving in Afghanistan.

Obama, congressional leaders seek leverage from economic jolt

 

The jolt to America's prestige as an economic superpower so far has only hardened positions in Washington, as President Obama and congressional leaders are seeking to use the downgrade in America's credit rating to gain leverage in the next round of the battle over the federal debt.

US will remain 'triple-A' in debt rating: Obama

After a landmark credit downgrade of the US, President Barack Obama today asserted America would always remain a "triple-A" country in debt rating and the country's economic problems were "imminently solvable", given the political will.

Hacker infiltrates defence site to encourage defiance

What Syria's Ministry of Defense website showed earlier. Photo: boingboing

THE hacking group Anonymous has turned its fire on the Syrian regime, taking over the Ministry of Defence's website and using it to transmit a message of support for the country's protest movement.
Visitors to the website mod.gov.sy found the ministry's coat of arms replaced by the pre-Baathist-era flag of the Syrian republic, with the Anonymous logo in the centre replacing the flag's third red star.

Libya seeks court injunction to halt handover of embassy properties

Libyan officials are to seek a court injunction today to prevent the Foreign Office from handing over control of the country’s London embassy properties and funds frozen in UK accounts to rebel leaders.

Mr Hague reversed the government position that Britain recognises countries not government's when he expelling Col Muammar Gaddafi's loyalists and recognised the NTC as representatives of the Libyan state Photo: PA

Khaled Kaim, the Libyan deputy foreign minister, said that Foreign Secretary William Hague's decision to transfer the embassies to representatives of the opposition National Transitional Council (NTC) was a violation of the Vienna Conventions.

Libyan rebel leader sacks executive branch of transitional council

National Transitional Council chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil gives a press conference at the NTC headquarters in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in eastern Libya on August 6, 2011. (GETTY Photo)

inShare1

By AFP
BENGHAZI

Libya’s rebel leader disbanded the entire executive branch of his de-facto government Monday, officials said, in a bid to end a major political crisis caused by the assassination of a top rebel general.

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional Council dismissed several senior officials, including the rebels’ finance, defense and information ministers.

“Mr. Mustafa Abdel Jalil has disbanded the executive office,” spokesman Shamsiddin Abdulmolah told AFP, adding that the de-facto prime minister Mahmud Jibril will now be tasked with creating a reformed executive office.

Tropical storm causes losses of $480m: China

BEIJING — China said a tropical storm caused losses of about 3.1 billion yuan ($480 million), destroying hundreds of homes as it battered the country's east coast before slamming into North Korea on Tuesday.
The Chinese weather agency said it had downgraded Tropical Storm Muifa to a depression after it made landfall in North Korea early Tuesday, avoiding a feared direct hit on China's densely populated commercial capital Shanghai further south.

Chinese chemical plant under threat as Muifa reaches China

Chinese rescue workers run to help 53 stranded tourists as waves from typhoon Muifa crash over a sea wall in Qingdao province. Photograph: Keystone/Rex Features

Chinese troops have been dispatched to save a chemical plant from towering waves after a 200-metre breach in a protective wall opened up before a tropical storm.

US offers £64 million in new aid to famine-hit East Africa

The United States has offered $105 million (£64 million) in new aid to famine and drought-hit East Africa, where millions of people are facing starvation and need immediate, lifesaving help.

Mrs Biden said she was here to "raise awareness" among ordinary Americans of the "dire situation" of the famine Photo: Reuters

The announcement coincided with a visit to Kenya by Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, which included a tour of refugee camps and meetings with top government figures.

"The president has approved an additional $105 million for urgent humanitarian relief efforts in the Horn of Africa," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

Hundreds of thousands of kids could die in African famine, official warns

Hundreds of thousands of Somali children could die in East Africa's famine unless more help arrives, a top U.S. official warned Monday in the starkest death toll prediction yet. To highlight the crisis, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden visited a refugee camp filed with hungry Somalis.

London riots: why did the police lose control?

The police have become so sensitive to the issue of race that it is impairing their ability to do the job.

What caused these riots and why did the police lose control? Some commentators think the disorder was understandable and justified; some say the police “had it coming”; others that the violence was only to be expected given the unemployment and poverty in the area.

Legal relief for Jagmohan Dalmiya

Kolkata, Aug 7: In news that comes as huge sigh of relief to present Cricket Association of Bengal President Jagmohan Dalmiya, the Calcutta High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against him. For several years now, the former President of the BCCI has been fighting a case related to severe financial irregularities under his tenure during the 1996 Cricket World Cup.

High court relief for former BCCI chief Dalmiya

Jagmohan Dalmiya, former president of International Cricket Council (ICC) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), got reprieve from the Bombay High Court on Monday in an alleged embezzlement case, albeit only after paying Rs2 lakh towards the police welfare fund.

Wait ends today, stage set for SC order on syllabus

CHENNAI: After two months of uncertainty, more than 1.3 crore school students in the state will get to know what they will be studying, as the Supreme Court gives its orders on the Samacheer Kalvi case on Tuesday.

Again, Sadhvi bail plea rejected

Rejecting Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur’s medical conditions as the ground for her to be let off, the Special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Monday rejected her bail application. She is the prime accused in 2008 Malegaon blasts case. Sadhvi has been claiming to have been suffering from several ailments- endometriosis, irritable bowel, lump in her right breast, degenerative lumbar spondylitis and a few more complicated psychosomatic illnesses. 

Sepcial Judge Yatin D Shinde without giving the elaborate grounds rejected her grounds. Sadhvi, who has been in custody since 2008, in the past had applied for bail at least five times on several grounds ranging from her illness to challenging the charges levelled against her. She has also been accused in the Sunil Joshi murder case.

Submit resignations again: KCR

HYDERABAD: TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao on Monday appealed to MLAs of all parties to submit their resignations again. He said this is the only way to achieve Telangana by putting pressure on the Centre.

He was speaking at the dharna camp of Gandhi hospital doctors organised in support of the employees proposed general strike.

US shares proof of Tahawwur Rana-LeT link

New Delhi:  The US has handed over voluminous documents to India related to Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who is accused of offering support to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, and his confessional statements that will help National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file a charge sheet against him.

Katta, sons bail plea rejected; sent to jail

BANGALORE: Former minister in the BJP government Katta Subramanya Naidu and his son Katta Jagadish Naidu, whose bail pleas were cancelled by the Lokayukta special court on Monday, were arrested and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days till August 22.

Lokayukta court denies Katta, son bail in land scam case

Sirajin Bhasha, on whose complaint the Lokayukta court issued summons to the former chief minister, B.S. Yeddyurappa, addresses press persons in Bangalore on Monday. Photo: Sampath Kumar G P

The Special Lokayukta Court on Monday denied bail to the former BJP Minister, Katta Subramanya Naidu, his son Katta Jagadish Naidu and business associate S.V. Srinivas in the ITASCA Software-Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board land scam case. They were remanded in judicial custody and shifted to the Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara here. 

SPO, jawan held for J&K fake encounter

The encounter in which a top Lashkar-e-Toiba militant was said to have been killed in J&K’s Poonch district on Sunday was allegedly fake and the victim was a mentally challenged civilian.
Jawan Abdul Majeed of Territory Army and Special Police Officer (SPO) Noor Hussain, who picked up the man from Rajouri district and killed him, were arrested Monday. A case of murder has been registered against them, police said. 

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has ordered an inquiry into the incident. “The law will take its own course in the matter,” he said on Monday.
The Army has also ordered an inquiry and handed over the jawan to the police.
Identifying the deceased as top Lashkar militant Abu Usman alias Adnan of Pakistan, both the police and the army had claimed to have killed him in a gunbattle in the forests at Mehrote.

NRHM scam paralyses House, oppn walks out

Terming the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in UP as ‘National Rakam Hadpo Mission (national funds embezzlement mission)’, opposition parties in the UP Assembly on Monday slammed the BSP government for patronising a scandal which deprived the poor of bare minimum health facilities in rural areas. 

The Opposition alleged that top political functionaries of the BSP government and senior officials of the Chief Minister’s secretariat were involved in the scam as a scandal of this scale was not possible without sanction from the top.
Demanding Chief Minister Mayawati’s resignation on moral grounds, the opposition said the state government should recommend a CBI probe into the implementation of NRHM in all 72 districts, without waiting for an order from the Allahabad High Court.
All opposition parties, including the SP, BJP Congress and RLD, later staged a walk-out, dissatisfied with the government reply.

Furore in U.P. House over "NRHM scam," killing of CMOs

The Hindu A file picture of Uttar Pradesh Assembly in Lucknow. Photo: Subir Roy.

The Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Monday walked out over the “scam” in the implementation of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the killing of two Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) and a deputy CMO. 

Adarsh land belongs to state, says Army officer

Following media reports about the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam, a Colonel — who was sent to Mumbai to inquire into the matter — on Monday told the judicial commission that his findings concluded that the land was never in the possession of the Defence. 

Colonel Manish Mohan Erry, who was sent to Mumbai in April 2010, was asked to find out whom the title of the land belonged to. Erry’s finding was based on the conclusion drawn by the Defence Estate Officer (DEO) Geeta Kashyap’s report, who had deposed before the commission earlier .
Like Kashyap, Erry told the two-member judicial panel that the collection of documents and facts convinced him that the state was the sole proprietor of the controversial Plot VI on which the 31-storey South Mumbai building stood. Ownership has been disputed ever since the scam came to light, with both the state and the Army claiming the land was theirs.

Apex court admits plea against Ayodhya verdict

The Supreme Court on Monday admitted a petition by the Akhil Bhartiya Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Punaruddhar Samiti challenging the Allahabad High Court verdict in the Babri Masjid case, trifurcating the disputed site.
An apex court bench of Justice Aftab Alam and Justice R.M. Lodha, while admitting the petition, tagged it with the main case.

Supreme Court to hear Sanjiv Bhatt plea on case transfer

The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Gujarat government’s response to a plea by IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who had accused Chief Minister Narendra Modi of misusing state machinery against Muslims during the 2002 post-Godhra riots, for transferring a criminal case against him outside the State.

The plea pertained to an FIR lodged by a Gujarat State police constable in Ahmedabad alleging that Mr. Bhatt had pressurised him to sign an affidavit testifying that the officer participated in a high-level meeting after the Godhra carnage in which Mr. Bhatt had alleged he witnessed the Chief Minister’s anti-Muslim bias. 

After CM rap, BMC fills up 162 potholes in 48 hours

After being rapped by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and other ministers over the poor condition of roads and shoddy monsoon repairs, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) claims to have attended to 162 chronic pothole locations in 48 hours between Friday and Sunday night.
The civic body claimed only 495 more locations with potholes are remaining, which it promised to patch up if the dry spell continues for another three to four days. 

Following a meeting with Municipal Commissioner Subodh Kumar, roads officials said new technologies in pothole-filling will be included in the next repair tenders, which will be issued in March 2012.
“Depending on the cost effectiveness, durability, compatibility with city conditions and the life-cycle cost of technologies such as carboncore, wonder patch, quick emulsion bitumen etc, their usage will be made compulsory,” said a roads official. Additional Commissioner Aseem Gupta added that tender conditions will be modified in a way that such technologies are used by contractors due to incentives.

Rahul Gandhi favourite to be next India PM: poll

 

Monday, Aug 08, 2011

NEW DELHI - Rahul Gandhi, scion of India's Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, is the favourite choice to be the country's next prime minister, an opinion poll showed Monday.
Among his ruling Congress party colleagues, Gandhi is preferred by 42 percent of Indians to lead the country, according to the poll.

Court orders probe into Kerala CM role in Palmolein case

In a setback to Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, a Vigilance court here today ordered a probe to ascertain if he had any role in the 1992 palmolein oil import deal as the then finance minister in the K Karunakaran government. 

Passing the order, Special Vigilance Judge S Jagadeesh, rejected the report filed by investigators in April last stating there was no need for further probe to add any more person to the list of the accused.
The judge asked the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to submit the probe report within three months.
The chief minister's spokesman said Chandy would react to the court order after examining it closely.
The long-pending corruption case had cost P J Thomas the post of Chief Vigilance Commissioner. Thomas was listed as the sixth accused in the case relating to import of 32,000 tonnes of palmolein from Malyasia causing loss to the tune of

Lokayukta court sends summons to HDK, BSY

BANGALORE: Former chief ministers B S Yeddyurappa and H D Kumaraswamy were on Monday issued summons by a court to appear before it in connection with alleged land and mining scams.

While Yeddyurappa and 14 others were ordered to appear before the Lokayukta Special Court on August 27 in connection with alleged irregularities in denotification of lands, Kumaraswamy and his wife,� Anita, were asked to appear before the same court in connection with a complaint accusing him of recommending renewal of a mining lease of the Jantakal Mining Company.

HC seeks report in BSY case

The High Court on Monday said it would first look into the report of U V Singh before proceeding with Yeddyurappa’s plea challenging the Lokayukta report in which he has been indicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Orissa challenges withdrawal of green nod to Sterlite in SC

The Orissa government today moved the Supreme Court against withdrawal of environmental clearance to Vedanta group company Sterlite 's bauxite mining project by the Centre in an "arbitrary manner".
Senior advocate KK Venugopal, appearing for Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC), which is in agreement with Sterlite for bauxite mining at Niyamgiri hills, said former environment minister Jairam Ramesh had passed an order withdrawing the environmental clearance just a day before demitting office.
The order "has been passed in a wholly arbitrary manner and "it was difficult to understand the need and urgency for issuing the present order of July 11 to withdraw the environmental clearance itself," the OMC application said.

Feuding factions make up Gowda team

BANGALORE:� After hard bargaining till the last minute, both factions in the state BJP finally buried their differences, albeit temporarily, and allowed Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda to expand his five-day-old Cabinet.

As many as 12 MLAs from former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa’s camp and 9 MLAs, including Jagadish Shettar, from BJP national general secretary H N Ananthkumar’s group took oath as ministers at a hurriedly arranged swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan on Monday evening. There, however, are no new faces.

Karnataka ministry expansion likely next week

The Hindu PATCH UP BID: Karnataka Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda called on Mr. Jagadish Shettar(left) at his residence on Thursday morning where he was with select legislators for a breakfast meeting. Also seen are R. Ashok and Karunakar Reddy. Photo: K. Gopinathan. 

In bail plea, Sanjeev Saxena alleges police coercion

Sanjeev Saxena, an accused in the cash-for-votes scam case, has moved a bail application alleging that police officers pressured him to sign a pre-typed statement which had the names of several leaders belonging to parties across the political spectrum, as being “kingpins” of the July 22, 2008 episode in Parliament

‘New Tibetan PM must maintain ties with India'

CHENNAI: Tibetan students studying in Chennai colleges lauded their new prime minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay, as he officially took oath and assumed power in Dharmshala on Monday morning. The students distributed sweets among their classmates and neighbours and celebrated the occasion.Lobsang Sangay (43), a graduate in International Human Rights Law from Harvard University, is the first Indian by birth to become the prime minister of the Tibetan government. 

After Dalai Lama retired from active politics, Lobsang Sangay was the first to take charge as the political head. Tibetan students expressed their happiness as they now have a youngster as their leader.Tenzin Dolma, an English literature student of Loyola College, said, “I feel happy today that all the Tibetans have got a new political leader. The Dalai Lama handed over his political power to a youngster in order to make all the Tibetan youngsters more responsible. I am expecting a lot from the new Prime Minister and I am confident that he will secure us an autonomous Tibet.”Rinchen Namgal, an MCom student of University of Madras, said, “It is a historic moment in the life of all the Tibetans because today, we get the first prime minister who is having all the political powers. Though we have had many prime ministers earlier, they were only ceremonial heads, as all the political powers were vested with the Dalai Lama. This time, I am very optimistic and hopeful that the new PM will take all of us to our homeland by succeeding in dialogues with the Chinese authorities.”Tibetan students gathered at Choolaimedu and distributed sweets to the public to celebrate the moment. Most of them eagerly watched the swearing-in ceremony in TV. “Around 200 Tibetan students are studying in Chennai. All of us wanted to be present in Dharmashala today, but we could not go as we have classes,” said Tenzin Dalha,  a mass communication student of Madras Christian College. “We are so lucky to have a well-educated and aptly qualified young man as our prime minister. He has to seek the Dalai Lama’s guidance whenever it’s necessary, as his holiness has a lot of experience. The new PM should concentrate more on maintaining good relationship with other countries, especially with China and India,” Tenzin added.“Lobsang Sangay is facing immense challenges in international politics, as the Chinese government announced that it did not accept him as the PM. But we, Tibetan youths, are wholeheartedly extending our support to him,” said a political science student, Tenzin Phuntsok.By and large, the expectations of the Tibetan community, who have been in exile for long, from Lobsang Sangay, is quite high. They expect the new PM to work to get better education for Tibetan students around the world, welfare measures in Tibetan settlements in India, and conduct talks with the Chinese government to get Tibet as an autonomous region.

New Tibetan leader sworn in as prime minister

DHARMSALA, India — A Harvard-trained legal scholar was sworn in Monday as new head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, taking over from the Dalai Lama as leader of his people's fight for freedom.
The Dalai Lama, 76, announced in March he would be giving up his political role as leader of the Tibetan exile movement, though he would remain the spiritual leader for Tibetan Buddhists.

CWG: Fireworks likely in Parliament over CAG rpt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

New Delhi: The Commonwealth Games scam and the CAG report on the issue are set to rock Parliament again on Tuesday.

The two Houses – Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha - will today hold debates on Sports Minister Ajay Maken’s statement that Suresh Kalmadi was appointed CWG Organising Committee chief by the BJP-led NDA government.

Maken stands by remarks, ready to reply in House

PTI Sports Minister Ajay Maken has said he was willing to give clarifications in Parliament on his statement on Suresh Kalmadi’s appointment as Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chief. File photo

Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Ajay Maken on Monday stood by his statement that Suresh Kalmadi's appointment as CWG Organising Committee chief was “stamped and sealed” by the NDA regime and said he was “appalled and surprised” by the privilege motion the Opposition moved against him in Parliament. 

‘Delhi government caused loss of hundreds of crores’

The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India has indicted the Delhi government, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and a few Delhi Ministers in its Performance Audit Report on Commonwealth Games-2010. The report is expected to be tabled in the ongoing Parliament session.

Citing Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Cong slams BJP’s ‘double-standard’

Opposition parties on Monday stalled the proceedings in the Lok Sabha demanding the resignation of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in the wake of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)’s report on Commonwealth Games, even as the treasury benches chose to watch the disruptions silently. 


Outside the House though, the ruling party accused the BJP of adopting “double standards” on CAG reports citing indictment of BJP regimes in Gujarat and Uttarakhand — a charge hurled back by BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain who said the Congress had demanded the resignation of Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa but is not ready to do so when Dikshit is facing “the same kind of charges”.
Incidentally, the Uttar Pradesh unit of the Congress on Sunday decided to launch a statewide agitation against the Mayawati regime for action on the CAG report about misappropriation of funds meant for the construction of memorials in Lucknow.

Recovery too mild to put balm on carnage, Nifty down 150pts

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At 1:09 hours IST, sell-off continued on the Indian equity benchmarks. However, there was some semblance of recovery in afternoon trade. The Sensex recouped more than 150 points from the day's low.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 17,173, down 521 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty tumbled 160 points to 5,171.

Sensex dips 500 points, Nifty opens below 5000

Sensex down over 450 points, Nifty opens below 5,000

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NEW DELHI: The market meltdown continued on Tuesday with the Sensex opening 500 points down. The Nifty slipped below 5,000-mark for the first time since 2010.

At 09:16 am, the BSE Sensex slipped 525 points at 16,464 while the Nifty index dropped 146 points trade at 4973.

Oil spill from MV Rak threatens Mumbai coastline

Mumbai:  Another oil spill is threatening the fragile ecology of the Mumbai coastline. MV Rak, the vessel that sank off the coast of Mumbai last Thursday, is leaking oil.

The oil from the ship which had spread up to seven nautical miles from the vessel yesterday has now spread to 12 nautical miles but the patches are thinning, says the Coast Guard. Talking to newspersons in Mumbai Inspector General SPS Basra also said that the rate of oil spill has reduced to approximately one tonne per hour.

Karnataka: Lokayukta court summons Yeddyurappa, Kumaraswamy

Bangalore:  BS Yeddyurappa recently lost his job as Chief Minister of Karnataka, his hand-picked successor, Sadananda Gowda, is facing dissidence, but the tough times are certainly not over for Mr Yeddyurappa. He has now been asked to appear before the Lokayukta court on August 27 in connection with a land scam case.

Navy War Room leak case: Indian jails bad, Shankaran tells UK court

New Delhi:  In what can turn out to be a major setback for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Ravi Shankaran, one of the main accused in the infamous Naval War Room leak case, is looking for a legal route to escape extradition.

Google, Microsoft goes public with patent spat

Tech heavyweights Microsoft and Google are acting like a couple of feuding starlets in a public online spat over - wait for it - patents.

It's not the first time Microsoft and Google have gone at each other's throats, nor is it likely the last.

But with Twitter and blog posts, the dispute is playing out in public in a way that wasn't possible in 2005, when lawsuits over an employee Google hired from Microsoft revealed the bitter rivalry between the two.

Your smartphone: a new frontier for hackers

Hackers are out to stymie your smartphone.

Last week, security researchers uncovered yet another strain of malicious software aimed at smartphones that run Google's popular Android operating system. The application not only logs details about incoming and outgoing phone calls, it also records those calls.

Digital age theatre: US, India cast rehearse via Skype

Call it a cross-cultural play of the digital world. A US-based theatre group is using internet telephony software Skype to rehearse and communicate with its Indian cast in the capital for a play. The crew said its rigorous use of Skype was a reflection of the changing tools of theatre across the globe.