CURRENT AFFAIRS: 08/27/11

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Millionaire couple skips honeymoon to join Anna

New Delhi: What's a more romantic for a newlywed couple than an expensive honeymoon at an exotic location? For Parag and Shivani Garg, it was the idea of being part of a movement that can potentially shape the future of the country.

New Delhi: Three Delhi Metro stations close to Parliament were shut from 4 p.m. on Saturday on the orders of Delhi Police, an official said.

New Delhi:

Anna Hazare is on stage with children wearing 'I am Anna' caps.
Anna's stubble is gone; he is freshly shaved, and dressed in spotless white kurta-pyjama.
More than 15,000 people are at Ramlila Maidan to cheer Anna
The tension is gone; Team Anna looks relaxed and smiling on stage
Kejriwal: Thank the PM, MPs; historic moment for India
Anna Hazare takes tender coconut water mixed with honey offered by two little girls Simran and Ikra

New Delhi: Chronology of a fast that forced the Parliament to acknowledge people's power and established civil society's primacy in a democracy:

Jan 30: Marches in over 60 cities to demand anti-corruption Lokpal bill. Social reformer Anna Hazare, former top cop Kiran Bedi, activist Swami Agnivesh and lawyer Prashant Bhushan participate in Delhi rally.

New Delhi: After breaking his 12-day-long long fast today, Anna Hazare will first head to a hospital to get a medical check-up.

A Team Anna member said the 74-year-old Gandhian will go to Medanta Medicity in Haryana's Gurgaon soon after he breaks his fast.

New Delhi: At 10:30 this morning, with thousands surrounding him at his protest camp in Delhi, Anna Hazare ended his hunger strike against corruption. In his 12-day fast, he has lost more than seven kilos; his doctors say they are worried about the 74-year-old's health.

New Delhi: After about 290 hours, Anna Hazare ended his hunger strike in Delhi this morning. Two little girls, Ikrah and Simran, wearing Anna caps, offered him coconut water and honey to bring up the moment.

Indian President Pratibha Patil has rejected mercy pleas from three Tamils convicted of the 1991 assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

In theory, the ruling paves the way for their execution, officials say.

However, there are a growing number of people on death row who have exhausted all legal appeals but whose sentences have not been carried out.

Gujarat Governor just exercised constitutional powers: legal experts

Legal experts in Gujarat disagree with the State government's claim that Governor Kamala Beniwal bypassing it to appoint the Lokayaukta is violative of the Constitution.

They said the Governor had only exercised her constitutional powers. Pointing out that the Gujarat Lokayukta Act, 1986, under which the retired High Court judge, R.A. Mehta,was appointed Lokayukta, did not provide for any “consultation” with the government, they said there was no question of the government having been bypassed.

Ahmedabad: In a snub to Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal bypassed his government and appointed retired High Court judge RA Mehta as the state's new Lokayukta.

The critical post had been lying vacant for seven years. While the BJP government is upset, the Opposition Congress has welcomed the move.

Brinda raps cops for delay in arrest

MADURAI: We want Right To Education (RTE), not Right to Sexual Abuse, said Brinda Karat, CPI(M) politburo member, at Podhumbu village, near here on Saturday.

She was in the village to console the victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by the headmaster of a government school, who was still at large.

The Centre should put on hold all nuclear power plants in the country as they lacked adequate safety measures, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, Brinda Karat, told journalists here on Saturday.

We have won only half the battle: Anna

NEW DELHI: Anna Hazare ended his 12-day fast on Sunday morning before thousands of cheering supporters at Ramlila Maidan.

Simran, a five-year-old girl from a village called Sundar Nagri in west Delhi helped Anna Hazare break his fast, who has been fasting since 12 days. Anna broke his fast by having honey and coconut water.

An Indian reform activist whose protest galvanized the nation's anger against corruption ended his 12-day hunger strike Sunday after forcing Parliament to throw its weight behind his crusade.

Seventy-four-year-old Anna Hazare accepted a glass of coconut water and honey from a five-year-old girl as thousands of supporters cheered him on, waving Indian flags, chanting "long live India" and singing patriotic songs.

Still image from video shows Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri speaking from an unknown location.

Credit: Reuters/Reuters TV

By William Maclean

LONDON | Sun Aug 28, 2011 8:39am IST

(Reuters) - The killing of al Qaeda's number two leader deprives the group of a multi-talented manager who helped it spawn offshoots around the world and survive a U.S. counter-terrorism campaign in Pakistan, security analysts say.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MLA representing the Lalgudi assembly constituency A. Soundarapandian, was arrested by the city police here in the wee hours of Saturday in connection with a land grabbing case, two days after former State Transport Minister K.N. Nehru and six others were held on the same case.

Supporters of Anna Hazare celebrate at Ramlila grounds in New Delhi on Saturday after the Parliament resolved to endorse Anna Hazare's key ideas in the draft Lokpal Bill.

PTISupporters of Anna Hazare celebrate at Ramlila grounds in New Delhi on Saturday after the Parliament resolved to endorse Anna Hazare's key ideas in the draft Lokpal Bill.

Hundreds of supporters have started descending at the historic Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, where anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare will break his 12 day-long fast at 10 a.m. on Sunday.

Around 4,000 people stayed overnight at the protest venue while hundreds of others have started arriving early in the morning.

NEW DELHI — An Indian reform activist agreed Saturday to end an 11-day hunger strike after Parliament expressed nonbinding support for parts of his anti-graft plan, ending a drama that had deeply embarrassed a government plagued by corruption scandals.

New Delhi: As Parliament gets ready to debate the anti-corruption Lokpal bill, Anna Hazare's representatives have met with both the BJP and the Congress. Seventy four-year-old Anna is on the 12th day of his hunger strike. The debate on his version of the legislation, drafted by his team of activists, is aimed at persuading him to end his fast.

New Delhi: Ahead of the debate on Lokpal issue in Parliament, Anna Hazare today addressed his supporters declaring that he will continue his protest till his last breath.

Amid mounting worries over the 74-year-old Gandhian's health, Hazare said he could fast for another "three-four days" and "nothing will happen to him".

New Delhi: All eyes were on Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as he made his statement in Parliament on the Lokpal Bill today, also to see how he would specifically raise the three sticking points that have prevented Anna Hazare's team of anti-corruption crusaders and the government in reaching agreement on a draft Lokpal Bill as the 74-year-old Gandhian fasts for over 12 days now.

New Delhi: India's effort to have an anti-graft ombudsman in the form of a Lokpal institution may have caught national attention only now. But Parliament has made eight attempts since 1968 to pass a Lokpal bill, a different version each time, all in vain.

New Delhi: Doctors attending on Anna Hazare on Saturday expressed worry over the fasting social activist's falling blood pressure and said he should end his fast, which entered day 12, as his health has begun to deteriorate.

New Delhi: Highlights of BJP leader Arun Jaitley's speech in the Rajya Sabha during the Lokpal Debate:

Our democracy is on trial

There is a movement going on in our country which has given us a clear message: people no longer willing to accept present status quo - that corruption in many areas has almost become a way of life. People in higher position have a tendency to get away...there are cover-ups...where accountability norms are not very high and the average man has to confront corruption as a way of life.

New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi chose Friday's Zero Hour to make an aggressive and unscheduled speech on corruption and the Lokpal Bill, to cheers from the Treasury benches. The Opposition does not share in that delight, as was evident in the noisy disruptions yesterday.

Click to Expand & Play

New Delhi: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee initiated the debate on the Lokpal Bill with a statement in the Lok Sabha. The discussion will focus largely on the version of the anti-corruption bill drafted by activist Anna Hazare and his associates. Anna is on the 12th day of his hunger strike; he says he will not eat till the government agrees to three features that he deems essential for an effective Lokpal or ombudsman committee. The Lokpal is intended to function as an independent agency that will handle charges of corruption against all public servants. The government has prepared one draft of the Lokpal Bill; Anna wants his version to be adopted; other activists have prepared their own drafts.

New Delhi: Anna Hazare has been fasting for 12 days now, his condition is deteriorating, and every effort is now geared towards ensuring that his hunger strike ends early this evening.

Parliament is sitting on a Saturday to debate the Lokpal Bill, with focus on Anna's Jan Lokpal and though there will be no voting, it is expected to conclude with the Houses adopting a resolution accepting Anna's three demands for a new Lokpal or ombudsman committee in charge of investigating complaints against government servants.

New Delhi: Postmen had never ventured here but for the past one week they have been taking rounds of Ramlila Maidan with their mailbags delivering letters to fasting Anna Hazare.

And the addresses on these letters read Anna Hazare, Fasting Centre, Ramlila Maidan or just Anna Hazare, Ramlila Ground.

New Delhi: Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement received many "likes" and "thumbs up" for how cleverly it used social media to spread its message and hook young Indians.

New Delhi: Actor Aamir Khan arrived this afternoon at the Ramlila Maidan where Anna Hazare, 74, is on a hunger strike. The actor said, "Anna has not eaten for 12 days...I am worried about you. In everyone's heart, there is concern for you. This will be a long process, and we need Anna's leadership for our struggle. So I urge him here to please end his fast today."

Text of Parliament resolution on Anna's demands

New Delhi: This House agrees in principle on the following issues for a strong and effective lok pal

A) citizen charter
B) lower bureaucracy to be under lok pal through an appropriate mechanism
C) establishment of lok ayukts in the states

New Delhi: Surrounded by a sea of flags, Anna Hazare received the news that his three conditions have been unanimously accepted by Parliament. At his protest camp at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, thousands gathered to celebrate the 74-year-old and his role in helping India take a huge step forward towards a historic new anti-corruption law.

Anna will end his fast at 10 am. Now on Day 12, of his hunger strike he has lost 7.5 kgs; his doctors say they are seriously worried about his health.

Model-turned-actor Dino Morea says that he has not been approached to participate in reality show Bigg Boss.

"CLARIFICATION: I have not been approached, nor do I have the intention of being part of Big Boss (sic), as reported," Dino wrote on microblogging site Twitter.

Rumours that Dino might appear in the fifth season of Bigg Boss started off when he was spotted with the host of the show Salman Khan at Filmcity where the superstar was shooting for another reality show.

Superstar Rajinikanth has come out strongly in support of Anna Hazare and his campaign for the Jan Lokpal Bill. India Against Corruption (IAC) today released a statement from the superstar in Chennai.

"I wholeheartedly support the IAC movement in their campaign to get the Jan Lokpal Bill legislated in Parliament. I'm very happy that we have a very able and dedicated leader in Anna Hazare to lead the fight against corruption," the superstar, hailed as the Thalaivar by many, said.

Actress Katie Holmes has got a new tattoo on her left wrist.

The 32-year-old was pictured arriving in California sporting a design of two chains running around her wrist, reported Daily Mail.

She is new to the country as well as the film industry and three-film-old Jacqueline Fernandez, who tasted success recently with Murder 2, feels Bollywood is "intimidating".

The 26-year-old actress, who hails from Sri Lanka, says that being an outsider in the Hindi film industry and the country has its own drawbacks.

When the avowed ambition of a film swells well out of the
reach of the talent at its disposal, the end result can be infinitely more disastrous than anybody behind the exercise can possibly fathom. Chitkabrey – Shades of Grey is a classic case of fair intentions marred beyond recognition by warped execution.

It exudes a degree of earnestness that would have been rather touching had it not been so excruciatingly painful. The film may lay claims to being bold and brazen, but what it ends up being is utterly banal, when it is not shockingly bizarre.

Patna: Bihar, for years a metaphor for backwardness, will now harness modern communication tools to nail corruption. It will expose officials seeking bribes in welfare schemes by uploading clips of complaints against them on the video-sharing website YouTube.

Four killed, 25 injured in West Bengal road accident

Kolkata: Four people were burnt to death and 25 injured when a bus in which they were travelling caught fire after hitting a stationary lorry on the Durgapur expressway in West Bengal's Hooghly district on Friday.

Pune: Ten days after Lakhansingh Rajputsingh Dudhani (20) was arrested by the Wanawadi police for allegedly burgling a jewellery shop, the safe he had thrown 20-feet down in a stone quarry near Ramtekdi was recovered. The police said the chest weighing almost 700 kg was stolen from Pawar Jewellers in Sangamwadi.

It took a team of 15 policemen from the Wanawadi police station and eight hours to pump out the water from the quarry and extricate the chest containing cash, and gold and silver ornaments worth Rs. 20.15 lakh.

Ahmedabad: The Narendra Modi Government on Friday termed Governor Kamla Beniwal's decision to appoint Lokayukta in the state as "one sided" and blamed the opposition Congress' "non-cooperation" for the delay in naming the anti-graft ombudsman.

The Gujarat Governor, on Thursday night, appointed Justice (retd) RA Mehta as the Lokayukta, bypassing the state BJP government in the process.

Mineral, Virginia: Tens of millions of people from Georgia to Canada were jolted on Tuesday by the strongest earthquake to strike the East Coast since World War II. Three weeks before the 10th anniversary of September 11, office workers poured out of New York skyscrapers and the Pentagon, relieved it was nothing more sinister than an act of nature.

Tripoli: International journalists were freed from the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli on Wednesday, after being held for five days by armed men loyal to Moammar Gaddafi.

The dozens of journalists were taken in Red Cross cars and vans to a Tripoli hotel, where they were united with friends and colleagues.

The International Committee of the Red Cross was talking to loyalist forces about the journalists' safety today when they were suddenly informed that Gaddafi's men were ready to release them.

"We were able to gather everyone in four cars, no problem," said George Comninos, the Red Cross' head of delegation in Tripoli. "Of course, it was still a tense situation."

The journalists had been held at gunpoint by two nervous Kalashnikov-wielding guards who refused to give up their posts despite rebel victories elsewhere in the city.

Earlier in the day, an Associated Press reporter who entered the hotel found the journalists wearing helmets and flak jackets, clustered on the second floor, where a guard said they weren't permitted to leave.

Other journalists showed up at the gate, including a group in a car decorated with a rebel flag, and were forced out of the car and into the hotel, where they joined the dozens who had been there for days.

Those who had been held captive inside the hotel described running battles in the area, and intermittent electricity.

They were sleeping huddled on the floor in one wing of the hotel to protect each other for fear of people being attacked in their rooms, their belongings packed in case of need for a sudden departure.

Several said the first days of their captivity featured some of the most frightening moments.

"''We were in the dining room making a big pot of tea when a sniper put two rounds through the window," Paul Roubicek, a video journalist said.

He said that at other times the captives couldn't go outside because snipers were shooting at them and at their satellite equipment on the roof.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN journalist said, the captives were held by 15 armed men until Tuesday. Some of the journalists' captors held impromptu press conferences describing their plans for a massive final battle around the Rixos.

"Once I got into the car I couldn't stop crying," she said.

Except for the two guards, all the hotel employees had fled and the journalists were cooking for themselves. One guard expressed surprise when told most of the city was in rebel hands. Parked in front of the hotel was the bus once used by government minders to ferry journalists around the city - on its windshield was a huge poster of Gaddafi - one of the only ones apparently left in the city.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/journalists-freed-from-tripoli-hotel-after-days-128770&cp

Saturday, August 27, 2011

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