Timeline Refresh
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot today said that to check misuse of social networking websites, police should effectively use the concerned laws.
Gehlot was speaking after reviewing a parade in Jaipur during the 150th anniversary celebrations of Indian Police Service.
He said he was in favour of freedom of speech on social media, but it should not be misused. "The police should use laws to tighten the noose around unsocial elements to stop them from uploading communal and seditious content on social sites," Gehlot said.
Egyptians, weary of a prolonged political turmoil, today began voting on a referendum over a divisive constitution that has brought Islamist President Mohammed Mursi on a confrontation with a secular opposition which accused the Muslim Brotherhood of "vote-rigging".
The two-phased polling began amidst tight security. A little more than half of Egypt's electorate of 51 million are eligible to vote in the first round while rest would be able to vote in the next phase on December 22.
President Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood have campaigned heavily in favour of the draft document, which may define Egypt for years to come. Opponents say it is poorly drafted and overly favours Islamists.
People queued in long lines at polling stations in Cairo, Alexandria, Daqahliya, Gharbiya, Sharqiya, Assiut, Sohag,Aswan, North Sinai and South Sinai.
At least two people were killed and dozens sustained injuries in Peshawar when at least three rockets, fired from unknown location, landed near the city's airport, DawnNews reported.
Initial reports suggest that two rockets were landed near the airport while the third landed on Bara Road. There are reports of counter aerial firing from the Airport Security Forces and the law enforcing agencies have blocked the roads around the airport.
A key accused in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast, has been arrested by the National Investigation Agency from Nagda in Ujjain, MP.
The arrest comes in the midst of Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik's visit to India. On February 18, 2007, two blasts ripped through two coaches of the Samjhauta Express near Panipat, when the train was heading from Delhi to Lahore, in which 68 people were killed, mostly Pakistani civilians.
Stung by his attack on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, Congress today charged Narendra Modi with talking the language of anti-social elements as he was "losing ground fast".
"The way the Chief Minister is talking of mental balance and imbalance shows that he has become desperate.... And the reason for that trouble is that he is losing ground fast," party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters.
The party asked its workers not to get provoked by Gujarat Chief Minister's words and maintain peace.
With the first phase of polling in Gujarat over, Dwivedi who is also Congress media department chairman, said that the atmosphere in the state is "not favourable" to Modi and that is why he has been using the "language of anti-social elements".
"Modi is using a language which is used by anti-social elements in films, villages and towns.... But I am not saying that he is anti-social element. The language he is using needs to be denounced," he said.
Facing criticism over his remarks on Babri mosque issue, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik today said he never tried to equate the demolition of the shrine with 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
"There is no comparison, whatsoever, between Babri mosque demolition and 26/11 attacks. Babri mosque was actually ethnic. It was a sectarian strife," Rehman said, adding that his remark should not be taken "in a negative way".
The Pakistani leader, who is on a three-day visit, said he had no intention to interfere in the inter-faith matter as he was fully aware of such issues. "Pakistan itself is a victim of inter-faith clashes, sectarian strife. There have been Shia-Sunni clashes in Pakistan. My intention was not to create confusion but sound caution to the both countries," he said.
Malik said he was not a person who would interfere in somebody's religion or inter-faith matters but a person who goes out and leads on issues of communal harmony.
"So I said like the incidents of 9/11, people dying in Quetta, our Shia and Sunni people are being killed in Karachi. I (had) also said incidents like Mumbai blasts, Babri Masjid case, I am repeating it here and please do not take it in a negative way, we do not want that these things should happen in any region of India and Pakistan," he said on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi.
Countering Prime Minister's argument that "excessive pessimism" at home has hurt India's growth process, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj today claimed that "cynicism" created by government's lack of initiative is to be blamed for the slowdown.
Speaking at the Annual General Meeting of FICCI where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had earlier taken a dig at parties opposing the reforms saying they were "ignorant of global realities or are constrained by out-dated ideologies," she said it was not the opposition but "internal differences in the government and among its allies" which were delaying key bills
"It is not pessimism but an atmosphere of cynicism... More than policy the right environment is important but here everyday there are scams," Swaraj said.
She maintained that the Opposition is only performing its role of the watchdog and asked the government to introspect. She said that the scams are not mere allegations levelled by the Opposition but have been unearthed by constitutional bodies like the CAG.
State Bank of India today said there is no need for lenders to panic as the cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines is looking for a solution to come out of the crisis. "Kingfisher has been a good airline at some point of time. They are going through their set of problems. And there is no reason for bankers to panic as long as they say that they are looking for a solution.
"The assurance only is that they are trying," SBI Managing Director Diwakar Gupta told reporters at the Delhi Economics Conclave. SBI is the lead banker in the 17-lender consortium that extended Rs 7,000 crore loans to the now grounded Kingfisher Airlines. It has an exposure of Rs 1,500 crore to the carrier, which has not been serviced since January, 2012.
Sri Lankan authorities today said they would investigate the discovery of at least 49 human skulls at a construction site in central part of the country.
Ajith Jayasena, the Judicial Medical Officer of Matale town, said skeletal remains are being collected from the site in order to subject them to further investigations.
It was not possible for the authorities to establish any details just yet, Jayasena said, adding that archaeological and soil experts' views also would also be sought as part of the preliminary investigations.
Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik today virtually rejected India's demand for action against 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed on the basis of dossiers provided so far, saying "hard" and "substantive" evidence is needed to arrest him.
"There is a difference between information and evidence. If I am given hard evidence now, if it is substantive, documentary or any material, before I leave for Pakistan, I will order his (Saeed) arrest," Malik, who is on a three-day visit, told reporters on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi.
He said if India had provided hard evidence against Saeed, founder of terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa, nobody could have stopped Pakistan from acting against him.
He will be back in New Delhi on January 2.
Hectic preparations are on to shift the President's Secretariat to Hyderabad.
Pranab's grandson and his daughter-in-law are expected to join him in Bollarum
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