Saharanpur: Curfew relaxed for 2 hours, Muslims offer Eid prayers under strict vigil
Over 50,000 Muslims assembled on Tuesday at the Idgah in violence-hit Saharanpur to offer namaz on the occasion of Eid amid heightened security. Curfew was relaxed in parts of the district from 7am to 11am on the occasion of Eid. However, curfew will be in place on Ambala Road, the main access route to the Idgah, where rioters torched dozens of shops, vehicles, and even a fire station.

Patna: Truck driver kills 12 sleeping pilgrims
A speeding truck driver ran over and killed at least 12 Hindu pilgrims on Tuesday who were sleeping on the side of a busy road in northeastern India, police said. Four women were among the victims while a further 18 others were injured in the pre-dawn accident on a national highway in the Aurangabad district of Bihar state. Upendra Kumar Sharma, superintendent of police for Aurangabad, said more than 50 pilgrims were resting up for the night after visiting a temple in...

Israel strikes house of Hamas Gaza leader, digs in for long fight
 Israel's military pounded targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country should prepare for a long conflict in the Palestinian enclave, squashing any hopes of a swift end to 22 days of fighting. Gaza residents reported heavy Israeli bombing in Gaza City. Israeli aircraft fired a missile at the house of Hamas Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh and flattened it before dawn, causing damage but no casualties, Gaza's interior ministry...

End violence and restrict foreign terrorists: Hamid Karzai to Taliban
Afghan President Hamid Karzai urged Taliban leaders to stop violence and restrict the entry of foreign terrorists in Afghanistan. Karzai said that the Taliban should maintain peace with the fellow citizens, reports The Express Tribune. Karzai's statement came following the Taliban chief Mullah Omar's Eid message that his fighters, on the ground of Jihad, had been victorious. Taliban had launched two attacks recently at the Kabul international airport. Karzai also...

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's cousin killed by suicide bomber in Kandahar
A suicide attacker killed a cousin of outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai near the volatile southern city of Kandahar on Tuesday, officials said, raising tensions during a struggle over the contested election result. Hashmat Karzai was a campaign manager in Kandahar for Ashraf Ghani, one of the two presidential candidates involved in a bitter dispute over fraud that threatens to pitch the country into worsening instability. Hashmat Karzai, who famously owned a pet lion, was...

U.S. says Russia violated nuclear treaty, urges immediate talks
In another sign of deteriorating relations between the United States and Russia, the U.S. government said on Monday that Moscow had violated the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces treaty, and urged immediate bilateral talks on the issue. The Cold War treaty, ratified in 1988, was designed to eliminate ground-launched cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 km (310 to 3,400 miles). "This is a very serious matter which we have attempted to address with Russia for some time...

Sab ka saath, sab ka vikaas: Kerry backs Modi's slogan for progress
was a “potentially transformative moment” for relations between India and the United States, as the two countries were determined to deliver on the “strategic and historic opportunities” they can create together.   There is a “new government in India, with a new set of priorities, and new possibilities", Kerry said in a speech, setting up the tone for his upcoming visit to India for strategic dialogues. Kerry also came out...

Binny saves India's blushes in debut Test
Stuart Binny struck a match-saving 78 on debut as India overcame some anxious moments to salvage a draw in the first Test against England here on Sunday. India were in deep trouble midway into the morning session as Virat Kohli (8), Ajinkya Rahane (24) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (11) were dismissed in quick succession with the visiting side 145 runs ahead and just four second innings wicket in hand. But, Binny made a mark in his maiden Test with a memorable performance. He not...

Political appointees must resign voluntarily: Venkaiah Naidu
With the NDA government's move to ease out several UPA appointed governors coming under opposition attack, Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu Monday said all political appointees should resign voluntarily in the interest of the 'system'. "It will be in the interest of the system that all the political appointees resign voluntarily. I'm using the term all the political appointees and there is no need to expand it or explain it further," Naidu said...

'Modi govt has done commendable work in 2 months'
Asserting that the Narendra Modi government has done commendable work since it assumed office two months ago, Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said it was trying to put the country's economy back on rails. He told reporters here that the economy was derailed during the UPA's rule and that the Modi government is trying to put it back on rails. He also blamed the previous government for leaving behind a huge debt. Naidu said inviting SAARC leaders at...

AAP activists arrested for pasting posters in Delhi
Four AAP activists, who were pasting posters for an upcoming party rally here, were arrested Monday on the charge of defacing public property, a police officer said. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) activists - Rajesh Kumar, Gulshan, Deepak and Rajinder Kumar - are all aged between 20-30 years. They were booked under various sections of the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 2007. The AAP claimed that the pasting posters was not a 'crime'. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal...

Kerala to celebrate Eid on Tuesday
Muslims in Kerala will celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr on Tuesday as Shawwal moon was not sighted on Sunday, announced religious leaders including Panakkad Hyderali Shihab Thangal. Greeting people on the occasion, Panchayat and Social Welfare Minister M K Muneer said: "I send my wishes and greetings to all Keralites' on Eid-ul-Fitr." Meanwhile, Eid will be celebrated across the Gulf region, except Oman, on Monday. Oman will celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr on Tuesday. "The UAE...

Australia, Netherlands plan fresh attempt to reach MH17 site
         Sydney:  A team of Dutch and Australian police will today again attempt to reach the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, a senior Australian official said, although he warned the situation was volatile. An unarmed team of Dutch and Australian officers was forced to drop their plans to visit the site in eastern Ukraine yesterday as heavy bombardments rocked towns close to the area where the plane was shot down, killing all 298...

Curfew relaxed for four hours in strife-hit Saharanpur
Saharanpur: With the situation improving in violence-hit Saharanpur, the district authorities today relaxed curfew for four hours in the new city area to allow people to buy their daily need items from markets which were directed to remain open.

Palestinian government said 16 people were killed
Officials from the United Nations and the Palestinian government said 16 people were killed and hundreds wounded on Thursday when the school in northern Gaza was struck. The Israeli military denied that it was responsible for anyone killed last week when a mortar hit the courtyard of a U.N. school that was shelter to many Gaza residents. "A single errant Israeli mortar landed in the courtyard in the school," Israel Defense Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said. "The footage we have...

Costa Concordia cruise ship reached the end of its final voyage
Costa Concordia cruise ship reached the end of its final voyage.The cruise ship, which ran aground in January 2012 off Giglio Island with more than 4,200 passengers aboard, was eased into a dry dock at the port for salvage. Refloated by salvage crews earlier this month, the rusting hulk docked at Voltri port in the Italian city of Genoa early Sunday. It managed to make the four-day journey in a convoy of vessels from Giglio to Genoa without major incident, despite one night of...

UK deputy PM says Russia should not host WC
British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg joined calls Sunday for Russia to be stripped of the World Cup in 2018 following the shooting down of flight MH17 over Ukraine. The Liberal Democrat leader, whose party is the junior partner in Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron's coalition government, said sporting events should be part of a new package of EU sanctions against Moscow. "You can't have this - the beautiful game - marred by the ugly aggression of Russia on...

Bang Bang teaser: Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif go fast and furious
Social Media was abuzz with `Bang Bang` teaser launch on Wednesday. The stars and the starlets from the Tinsel Town could do little but go head-over-heels for the onscreen couple Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif. The actor, who looks nothing less a Greek God, was flooded with tweets loaded with appreciation for him and his look in the Siddharth Anand film. Ironical it may sound, but slated to hit the silver screen on October 2, `Bang Bang` is an out-and-out action film which claims...

UP: Violence claims 3 lives in Saharanpur, situation remains tense
The violent clashes between two groups in Saharanpur in Uttar pradesh has claimed three lives and left over 20 injured with the area being turned into a virtual fortress. Thirteen companies of the Rapid Action Force, the PAC and CRPF were deployed in the area. The situation continues to be tense. There have been no fresh incidents of violence. Curfew under Section 144 was clamped in Saharanpur on Saturday after clashes broke out between two groups in the area over a land dispute....

Railway employee's gang-rape: Bengal women's panel seeks report from the railway authorities
The West Bengal Commission for Women said it will seek a report from the railway authorities after a woman employee filed a police complaint saying she was repeatedly gang-raped by four of her colleagues. The women's panel took suo motu cognizance of the complaint of the employee at the city's Chitpur railway yard. The woman narrated her ordeal to a TV channel and said four of her colleagues have been repeatedly raping her. "They would constantly force themselves on...

The U.S. Embassy in Libya evacuated
Heavy militia violence raging in the capital, Tripoli, the State Department said. About 150 personnel, including 80 U.S. Marines were evacuated from the embassy in the early hours of Saturday morning and were driven across the border into Tunisia,. U.S. officials stress that this is a relocation of embassy personnel and the operations have been "temporarily suspended" until "the security situation on the ground improves." The embassy will continue to operate from other locations. A...

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Commonwealth Games 2014
Former beauty queen Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who is the Longines Ambassadress of Elegance, was chic in a black coat with matching boots and a teal coloured clutch as she was pictured in Glasgow on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Games 2014

bus employees have called for an indefinite strike from August 1
Kochi: private bus employees have called for an indefinite strike from August 1. AITCU, CITU, BMS, INTUC, TUCA, JTUC, ASTU, HMS, CMMTU and SDDU are the unions going on strike. The Private Bus Workers co-ordination committee has stated that buses commuting long and short distances from districts nearby would be allowed to enter the city. Buses of owners, who agree to hike up employee wage will also run on the roads, they added.

Political parties criticised the Kerala Police for holding up a couple at a police station
Kollam: Sreeram Ramesh and his friend Hima Sankar who belong to a theatre group said after dinner the two left for the state capital Thiruvananthapuram from his house near here Thursday night.Political parties Saturday criticised the Kerala Police for holding up a couple at a police station all night, but without any charge. Police, however, said they were detained for giving conflicting answers. "A police patrol first stopped us. After checking the papers and asking us where we were...

'illegal' the demolition of several structures in Munnar
Kochi: High Court declared as 'illegal' the demolition of several structures by the LDF government in 2007 in Munnar. Allowing a batch of petitions by affected parties, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice A M Shaffique directed the government to give back possession of resumed land to the respective owners. The drive to evict encroachers from government lands, especially in the hilly Munnar, was launched by V S Achuthanandan in May, 2007, when he was the...

Congress leader in the house, cannot be recognised as leader of opposition
New Delhi: Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has held that the Congress party cannot get the recognition as its numbers are less than one-tenth of the total strength of parliament's lower house. Informed sources said that Rohatgi, in his opinion to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, said that Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress leader in the house, cannot be recognised as leader of opposition as the party's strength was 44 while one-tenth of the total strength of the house is 55. Sources said Rohatgi has...

Day of Rage
Angry clashes erupted Friday in the West Bank, after Palestinian leaders called for a "day of rage" in response to the shelling of a United Nations shelter that killed 16 people. At least four Palestinians were killed in outbreaks of violence in several parts of the West Bank, according to medical sources. The call for a massive follow-up to what were already some of the largest West Bank protests in years came as diplomats scrambled to find a cease-fire proposal that would satisfy...

Yemeni Ramzi Binalshibh, should be tried separately
A US military judge at Guantanamo Bay has ruled that one of the five alleged September 11 plotters, Yemeni Ramzi Binalshibh, should be tried separately. Col. James Pohl said it was first necessary to establish whether Binalshibh -- alleged to have served as a liaison between the hijackers and Al-Qaeda leaders -- had the mental capacity to take part in the trial given a 2008 diagnosis by military doctors that he had a "serious mental disease," according to Pohl's order published by the...

Bhagwant Mann's 'stand-up act' in Parliament has gone viral
Bhagwant Mann's 'stand-up act' in Parliament has gone viral on social media . Mann, an Aam Aadmi Party MP from Punjab, last week used satire to critique Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's budget, dwelling on the "Achche Din (good days)" slogan used by the ruling BJP during its election campaign. In a bright yellow turban, he repeatedly asked when good times would arrive, what with fuel prices and railway fares going up. The 42-year-old became a household name as part...

Oommen Chandy will meet Sonia Gandhi
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will meet Sonia Gandhi and other top Congress leaders to discuss the cabinet reshuffle. Chandy also meet Union Ministers for various discussions.Chandy said "whenever I go to Delhi, I also used to meet Congress leaders if they have time". Discussions related to cabinet reshuffle had not taken place either in the party or in the UDF, Chandy said, adding, only after holding consultations in the party and UDF that talks would be held in Delhi. However,...