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Manmohan Singh arrives in Yekaterinburg city Yekaterinburg
(Russia): Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has arrived here in the Yekaterinburg
city of Russia on a three-day visit to attend two multilateral summits-BRIC and
SCO. Dr. Singh will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and Brazil-Russia-India-China
(BRIC) summits during this visit. This is Dr Singh's maiden foreign trip since
the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance re-elected to form the government
at the Centre in the recent parliamentary elections. On the sidelines of the summits,
Dr. Singh will also meet Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari for the first time
since the Mumbai 26/11 attacks suffered jolt to the peace process between the
two neighbours. Meanwhile, the main agenda of the summits is expected to include
the global financial crisis, terrorism and food security. Shiney
Ahuja sent to police custody till June 18 Top Mumbai:
Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja, who was arrested in Mumbai for allegedly raping
his domestic maid, has been sent to police custody till June 18. The actor has
been charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 376 with rape, along with wrongful
restraint and intimidation. Reports said that Ahuja was arrested after preliminary
medical tests confirmed that he had raped his 18-year-old domestic help. He had
also threatened to kill her. The maid filed a case with Mumbai's Oshiwara police
last night according to which the actor gagged and raped her while they were alone
in his house on June 14 in the absence of his wife and child. The incident has
generated a lot of media and public curiosity. Under Section 376 a rape convict
shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term, which shall
not be less than seven years. The accused could also be punished for life or for
a term, which may extend to ten years. The accused may also be liable to fine
unless the woman raped is his own wife and is not under twelve years of age. Sources
say Ahuja's wife and child, who were not at home when the alleged crime occurred,
are back in Mumbai, but his wife has been unavailable for comment so far. Filmmaker
Mahesh Bhatt has expressed shock at the incident, saying if the charges are proved
the actor should be condemned and boycotted by the entire industry. Ahuja made
his acting debut with the critically acclaimed 'Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi' in 2004.
In 2005, he acted in 'Karam'. He then shot to popularity for his title role in
Mahesh Bhatt's 'Gangster' in 2006 , following it up with 'Woh Lamhe' in 2006 and
'Khoya Khoya Chand' in 2008. Another
Indian student bashed in Melbourne Top Melbourne:
Another Indian student has been bashed and racially abused, this time in Melbourne's
east. According to a report in The Age, Sunny Bajaj, 20, said he was taunted and
punched by two men as he was about to get into his car in Boronia on Friday night.
"They came up to me and asked me for money, I told them I had none and then they
attacked me," Bajaj said today. He said they slammed his car door onto his hand
and punched him in the head and stomach and then racially abused him. "They called
me a ----ing Indian c--- - why would they do that? I said nothing to them," the
Deakin University student said. He said his attackers were in their 20s, one was
white, while the other appeared to be of African descent. Bajaj, from New Delhi,
suffered a fractured finger, bruising to his back and a blood nose in the attack.
Police are investigating. Last week, a group of youngsters demonstrated near the
Australian Embassy in New Delhi in a show of growing resentment against the ongoing
racial attacks on Indian students in Australia. The protest was organized by the
Congress party's youth wing. Agitated protesters wanted to handover a memorandum
to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd over the ongoing attacks on Indian students.
Protestors held placards and shouted slogans against racism and demanded safety
for Indian students. They tried to move towards the Australian Embassy, but were
stopped by the police. Australian authorities insist that the attacks on Indians
are not racially motivated, but crime-related. Indian students believe that the
attacks were acts of racism and warned of "curry bashings" in Australia, where
foreign students more than 12 billion dollars contribute. Govt
to present General Budget on July 6 Top New
Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Monday decided to hold the Budget session from
July 2 to 7 while the General Budget will be presented on July 6. It was also
decided that the Economy Survey would be presented on July 2. A decision in this
regard was taken at the Union Cabinet meet held here on Monday morning.
Israeli PM supports creation of limited
Palestinian state Top Jerusalem:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has for the first time supported
the creation of a limited Palestinian state alongside Israel . He also said that
the new state should be demilitarized and that the Palestinians recognize Israel
as the state of the Jewish people. Netanyahu made the call during a major policy
speech about his Middle-East peace making intentions. He reversed his longstanding
opposition to Palestinian statehood, a move seen as a concession to American pressure
after President Barack Obama's address in Cairo on June 4. The Israeli premier
firmly rejected American demands for a complete freeze on Israeli settlements
in the West Bank, the subject of a rare public dispute between Israel and its
most important ally on an issue seen as critical to peace negotiations, the New
York Times reported. And Palestinians immediately rejected even his assent on
Palestinian statehood, given the caveats, as a nonstarter. In a half-hour speech
broadcast live in Israel , Netanyahu laid out what he called his "vision of peace":
"In this small land of ours, two peoples live freely, side-by-side, in amity and
mutual respect. Each will have its own flag, its own national anthem, its own
government. Neither will threaten the security or survival of the other." Netanyahu
insisted on strong guarantees from the United States and the international community
for Palestinian demilitarization and recognition of Israel 's Jewish character,
The NYT reported. Netanyahu said that no new settlements would be created and
no more land would be expropriated for expansion, but that "normal life" must
be allowed to continue in the settlements, a term he has used to mean that limited
building should be allowed to continue within existing settlements to accommodate
"natural growth." While this position did not diverge from Netanyahu's previous
statements, he delivered it on Sunday in the context of a speech he had billed
as a major foreign policy address, one he had personally urged Obama to watch.
China's rich
and famous defying one-child policy Top Beijing:
China's rising affluent urban class has been defying the nation's family planning
policy of not having more than one child, it has emerged. Having more children
abroad and paying huge fines outright is fast becoming a trend among the rich
and famous Chinese people, policymakers and sociologists claim. The China Daily
quoted Zhang Weiqing, the former director of the State Family Planning Commission,
as saying that the rule breakers have cast a huge shadow over the policy, denting
social equality and even stability. Figures from local authorities show that women
from the Chinese mainland gave birth to nearly 78,000 babies in the Hong Kong
special administrative region from 2001 to 2009, a choice the families made to
skirt the restrictions, experts say. "I delivered my second girl last year in
Hong Kong, where I don't need a permit for the birth," said wife of a real-estate
businessman. She said she paid 80,000 yuan to a travel agency in the capital of
Jiangsu province for travel and medical expenses to "fulfill her dream family
of a son and a daughter". Now, the National Population and Family Planning Commission
is said to be considering a new policy curbing nationals from having second or
more babies outside the mainland. "Due to the rising mobility of Chinese citizens
and the social transformation from the country's reform and opening up from the
late 1970s, it has become tougher to regulate the policy," Zhang said. In 2006,
the government increased the penalties by imposing a fine amounting to 10 times
the annual average per capita income of the area the violators live in. "But this
sort of fine is a piece of cake for the rich. So the government had to hit them
harder where it really hurt - at their fame, reputation and standing in society,"
said Zhai Zhenwu, a sociology professor with Renmin University of China. The rich
and famous have been shamed and stopped from receiving public honors. Pop stars
can be barred from public shows or TV programs; and businessmen in the private
sector, from government contracts. Dhoni
apologetic over Team India's exit from T20 World Cup Top London:
Defending Champion Indian cricket' Captain M.S. Dhoni apologised to the countrymen
over the team's defeat at the hands of England and having failed to defend the
T20 World Cup at Lords. He also admitted sending Ravindra Jadeja ahead of Yuvraj
Singh in Sunday's match was not a right decision. "We are more disappointed (than
you). We respect the emotions of our fans and the country. We gave our best and
we say that with an open heart, we have nothing to hide," said Dhoni before media.
However, Dhoni said that the next Twenty20 world cup was coming again in nine
months and we would have an opportunity of proving ourselves." "We failed in batting.
If the opposition scores 153 and you cannot achieve that on a track like this,
I don't think there can be any excuse. You just cannot explain that," Dhoni admitted.
On Sunday, Dhoni had sent Jadeja ahead of Yuvraj and himself but the young all-rounder
consumed 35 balls for his 25 in the middle overs to put pressure on his batting
partners, which ultimately led to India losing the match by three runs to crash
out of the tournament. "Sometimes you don't know what would happen. We thought
Jadeja could stabilise the innings as well as go after the bowling. He did try
but somehow he always found the fielders. It was unfortunate it didn't work for
us. We needed somebody to play percentage cricket at that stage." Conceding that
the team's batting was poor, Dhoni, however, defended his decision to include
Jadeja in the playing eleven in place of Pragyan Ojha as well as his opting to
field after winning the toss. "We lost simply because we did not bat well. I'm
rather happy with the performance of the bowlers," he added. "It's not the end
of road for us. We will prove a few points to West Indies. We also want to gain
a consolation win over South Africa in the final game," Dhoni stated. |
