Live! We chased out Dawood; he is in UAE: Pakistan

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Fri, 09 August 2013

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23:43 We chased out Dawood; he is in UAE: Pakistan

For the first time, Pakistan has admitted to the presence of one of India's most wanted terrorists Dawood Ibrahim but said he has been "chased out" and could be in the "UAE".

"Dawood (Ibrahim) was in Pakistan but I believe he was chased out of Pakistan. If he is in Pakistan, he should be hounded and arrested. We cannot allow such gangsters to operate from the country," said Shahryar Khan, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's special envoy for improving relations with India.

The former diplomat said he stressed that if the gangster were in the country he would have been arrested by now.

He was speaking to reporters at a pre-launch event organised by the Indian Journalists' Association for his latest book 'Cricket Cauldron: The Turbulent Politics of Sport in Pakistan' here.

"I think he is in the UAE. The Nawaz Sharif government is very much in favour of taking action against criminals who not only affect Pakistan but also any other countries, whether it is India or Afghanistan or wherever. We cannot allow criminals to flourish in the country. If they come to us, we will take action. That is why I think he (Dawood) has left Pakistan," Khan added.

The former Pakistani foreign secretary also re-iterated the newly-elected Pakistan government's commitment to hold talks with moderate elements of the Taliban.

"Pakistan has been in favour of discussions with the Taliban of the more moderate ilk. But a large number are not moderate. There are those operating in Pakistan who are not moderate. However, Pakistan remains inclined to talk to the reasonable ones," he said.

21:04 SRK's stardom embarrasses his kids

Shah Rukh Khan says his star status sometimes embarrasses and angers his two children -- Aryan and Suhana -- who are uncomfortable sharing the limelight.

Today on Eid, the 47-year-old superstar along with wife Gauri, his sister Shehnaz and children came out to pose for the shutterbugs after offering prayers with the family.

He waved at hundreds of fans, waiting for him since morning outside his residence 'Mannat' in suburban Bandra.

Holding her father's hand, daughter Suhana also waved at the fans along with brother Aryan, who seemed a little uncomfortable.

"I enjoy celebrating functions with fans.. I can't be alone. Now that my kids are grown up, I would like them also to say hello to all those who made me who I am today," Shah Rukh told reporters here.

"They were feeling embarrassed, shy and were even angry but I feel they should do this," he said.

Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh today gifted Rs ten lakh from his MPLAD funds to buy a mini-bus for the promising football playing girls of Ranchi for their spirited show in a tournament played in Spain.

"As per the MPLAD rule, I can only spend Rs ten lakh from my funds in any other state, and a mini bus can be bought for transport (purpose)," Ramesh said when the girls told him several of their problems, including transport facility. The mini-bus would help the girls from the adjoining villages of Ormanjhi block situated on the outskirts of Ranchi ferrying to schools and football ground every day, he said.

On August 2, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren had announced Rs 21,000 as cash prize to the players after they finished third among ten teams in the Gasteiz U-14 girls football tournament played in Spain in July.

19:45 Food security bill in Lok Sabha on Monday

The ambitious Food Security Bill which proposes to give the country's two-third population the right to highly-subsidised food will come up for consideration in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

The bill, hailed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the "most important" legislation during the current Monsoon session, will be taken up for debate along with a statutory resolution moved by opposition members disapproving promulgation of an ordinance in this regard.

Being seen as a 'gamechanger' by Congress in Parliament elections scheduled next year, the bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday after government rejected apprehensions that it would impinge upon the rights of states.

Food Minister K V Thomas had introduced the fresh bill after withdrawing an earlier one along with the ordinance which was promulgated on July 5.

Moving the National Food Security Bill, 2013, which promises to give right to the country's 80 crore people to get 5 kg of foodgrains every month at Rs 1-3 per kg, Thomas had said there is nothing in it against the states.

Popular Tamil actor Vijay's latest release 'Thalaivaa" was stalled in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry even as the movie has already hit the screens worldwide.

The movie, slated for release today, hit a block in the last minute following objections by a man called Karnan, hailing from Tirunelveli in the state, who claims the movie was based on the life of his grandfather S S Kandaswamy and his father S K Ramaswamy who live in Dharavi in Mumbai.

A few theatres in Chennai also received bomb threats from a little known outfit Tamil Nadu Oppressed Students Revolutionary Force, who supported the arguments of Karnan, prompting the theatre owners to cancel bookings, which began on Wednesday.

To those who booked tickets over the counter were asked to come to the theatre and collect their money. Refund for tickets booked online would be done directly to their account, sources in theatre owner's association has said.

"Discussions between theatre owners association and the government officials were progressing for the release of the movie," they said.

The movie was expected to hit around 500 theatres in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. While popular Sathyam theatre in Chennai has cancelled the booking for the film. AGS Cinemas said "due to unavoidable reasons, 'Thalaiva' movie has been cancelled. We will update about the release shortly."

In the backdrop of controversial suspension of Durga Sakthi Nagpal, the Centre is considering amending rules to ensure an IAS officer is not suspended or transferred due to vested interest.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT)--which acts as nodal body for administrative matters related to Indian Administrative Service (IAS)--may revisit rules that outline procedure for disciplinary action against an officer of the service.

"We are considering making changes the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969 to ensure that an officer of such services is not suspended due to political vendetta or any other vested interest. The move is aimed at ensuring hassle-free working of the officers," a senior DoPT official said.

He said that no decision has been taken as of now on how to go about it.

The Gujarat DGP has asked all district Superintendents of Police as well as city police commissioners to help the CBI trace Additional DGP (Crime) PP Pandey, who has been named as one of the main accused in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan fake encounter killing case, and also declared as an absconder by the local court.

"Two days back, the CBI requested us to help them trace PP Pandey after he went missing suddenly. Subsequently, we sent letters to all district Superintendents of Police and Police Commissioners asking them to keep a vigil to trace him," Gujarat Police Chief Amitabh Pathak told on Friday.

In his letter to all district and city police chiefs, the Gujarat state DGP directed them to increase vigil at all locations and take action in accordance with the law if they spot Pandey.

He has been absconding since April this year and a CBI special court also declared him "proclaimed absconder".

He had resurfaced before the trial court on July 29, after the Supreme Court directed him to be present before the concerned court while rejecting his petition to quash the FIR against him.

Army was today called in to take over rescue operation of a 9-year-old boy trapped in a 200-feet borewell in Karauli district of Rajasthan for the past two days, even as the police fear that he might have already been dead.

"On request of the district administration, a team from Army comprising engineers was pressed into service to pull the boy out," Defence spokesperson S D Goswami said.

The boy, Chotu, had fallen in the borewell on Wednesday while playing near it at Khyarada village of the district.

Goswami added that the team from South Western Command is equipped with engineering equipments and will expedite rescue work.

Police, however, fear the boy might have already been dead as visuals taken by a camera from inside the borewell on Thursday found no movement of him.

"A camera was lowered into the borewell on Thursday and footage shows no movement of the boy. We fear he is dead by now. We have employed four JCB machines and earthmovers for digging land adjacent to the borewell," SHO (Hindaun) Anoop Singh said in Jaipur on Friday.

16:00 US defends surveillance programme

The United States has defended its controversial Internet and telephone surveillance programme, saying the National Security Agency (NSA) examines only a very small percentage of the world's traffic and focused entirely on foreign terrorist threats.

"In carrying out its mission, NSA collects only what it is explicitly authorised to collect," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters yesterday.

"And while NSA analysts examine only a very small percentage of the world's traffic, if communications of US persons are incidentally collected the agency must follow minimisation procedures that are approved by the US Attorney General and designed to protect the privacy of US persons," Carney said.

"Specifically, these procedures require NSA to minimise the acquisition processing, retention and dissemination of information of or concerning US persons," he said adding that the purpose of the program is to investigate and potentially

prevent terrorist threats emanating from foreign sources.

Shah Rukh Khan has been shying away from commenting on his much publicised hug with Salman Khan but the actor says they have become more mature and their relationship is no longer about oneupmanship.

"It has gone beyond this (oneupmanship). There is no question of bowing or making him bow now. It may have been the case two-three years ago. Whether he should speak first or I should... we have become more mature now," SRK said while replying to Rajat Sharma during his show 'Aap Ki Adalat' on India TV, to be telecast on Saturday.

The two actors fell out after a fight at Salman's ex-girlfriend, Katrina Kaif's birthday party in 2008 but they were seen hugging each other at MLA Baba Siddique's Iftaar party this July, sparking speculation that they were friends again.

15:52 No more news on cable TV in Darjeeling

The Darjeeling district authorities today ordered three local cable TV operators to stop airing news alleging they were favour of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and creating tension in the hills, prompting the Morcha president Bimala Gurung to term it as Taliban-style" gag.

Official sources here said that the content of the news, heavily slanted towards the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, was creating tension in the hills.

Reacting to the order, Bimal Gurung said it was "Taliban-style" and violated people's democratic rights.

"We will not be surprised if next mobile telephone services are stopped. We will continue our agitation and will not enter into a dialogue with the West Bengal government," Gurung said near Singmari.

Gurung said that he was not going to Delhi at the moment and that efforts were being made to fix a meeting with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

14:10 Cop assaulted by MLAs shunted out of Mumbai

Mumbai police traffic department's sub-inspector Sachin Suryavanshi, who was allegedly assaulted after he fined an MLA for speeding, has been transferred out of the city.

Suryavanshi had been allegedly beaten up by some MLAs in the Maharashtra Assembly premises, after he stopped and fined Bahujan Vikas Aghadi MLA Kshitij Thakur for speeding his vehicle on the Bandra-Worli sea link in March this year.

He was subsequently suspended following a breach of privilege motion against him in the state Legislature, but the suspension was revoked last month and he had been reinstated.

"There is an order from the Director General of Police's office on his transfer to Police Training Centre in Sangli

district," a senior traffic police official told PTI today.

Police described the shifting of the controversial policeman as a routine transfer. In March, MLAs Ram Kadam (MNS) and Kshitij Thakur had been arrested by the crime branch for allegedly assaulting the police officer, attached to Worli Traffic Police, inside the Vidhan Bhawan premises.

They were later released on bail.

A complaint has been filed in a Mumbai court seeking action against actor Shahrukh Khan, his wife Gauri and others under the Pre-conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act in connection with a child born through surrogacy to the couple.

The complaint, filed by lawyer Varsha Deshpande yesterday, alleged that the child's gender had been determined before birth, thereby violating the sections of the Act.

The 47-year-old actor's third child was born to a surrogate mother recently at a private hospital, the complaint said and claimed that gender testing was banned under the Act.

The lawyer said she had earlier filed a complaint with health department of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) following media reports about a child being born to the couple through surrogacy amidst allegations that gender test had been

conducted.

Soon thereafter, civic officials visited the actor's house on June 17 to ascertain the facts. However, the team was sent away and the actor had rubbished allegations that the provisions of the Act had been violated.

13:16 Heavy rains in Uttarakhand, four feared dead

Heavy rains today lashed Uttarkashi and Ranikhet in Uttarakhand where four persons were feared dead after their jeep fell into the swollen Mandakini river.

The jeep fell into the river and was swept away by its swirling waters when the victims were going to Chabndrapuri in Rudraprayag district from Agastyamuni last evening, officials said today.

Rishikesh-Gangotri National Highway was closed at a number of places beyond Netala in Uttarkashi district due to debris falling over from the hills even as an electric pole fell due to heavy rains at Gufiyara leading to power breakdown at many places in the district, official sources said.

The road restoration work is being repeatedly affected by intermittent rains, they said.

The Rishikesh-Badrinath highway is also blocked at many points between Joshimath and Ruadraprayag Purola in Uttarkashi district received the maximum 88 MM of rains followed by Ranikhet which received 50 MM of showers, MeT department Director Anand Sharma said.

Zee News reports: The Intelligence Bureau has alerted the Delhi Police about a terror attack, reports said on Friday.

According to sources, the IB has written a letter to the police about a specific threat to the national capital, following which New Delhi has been put on high alert.

The IB has apprised the police of the speech made by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Toiba terror group that staged the 2008 Mumbai attacks and who roams freely in Pakistan.

Saeed has reportedly called for an attack on one of the national capital's famous monuments, Red Fort.

The Lashkar-e-Toiba founder led Eid al-Fitr prayers at Gaddafi stadium in Lahore today.

Before leading the prayers, Saeed had tweeted Eid greetings with a strong anti-India message.

13:12 Curfew imposed in Kishtwar after Eid prayers

Mukhtar Ahmad reports: An indefinite curfew has been imposed in Kishtwar locality in Jammu following communal tension.

Tensions erupted shortly after Eid prayers when a procession took to streets of the locality.

The administration has called for Army support to contain the situation.

More updates soon

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah announced a $100 million gift for a UN counter-terrorism centre, declaring that religious extremism in the wake of the Arab Spring posed a greater danger to the Arab community at large "than the weapons of our visible enemies."

The urgent tone of the king's warning, in a statement Wednesday night marking the Islamic holiday of Eid ul-Fitr, emphasized the continuing concerns by the world's leading oil producer over security in the aftermath of revolutions that started in late 2010 elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa.

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The United States on Thursday evacuated all non-emergency staff from its consulate in Lahore, Pakistan, citing "specific threats" amid a worldwide alert over Al Qaeda intercepts.

The travel warning issued by the State Department also warned US citizens against all "non-essential" travel to Pakistan.

"On August 8, 2013, the Department of State ordered the departure of non-emergency US government personnel from the US Consulate General in Lahore, Pakistan," it said.

"The Department of State ordered this drawdown due to specific threats concerning the US Consulate in Lahore."

"The presence of several foreign and indigenous terrorist groups poses a potential danger to US citizens throughout Pakistan."

The latest warning comes after some two dozen US diplomatic missions were closed earlier this week, reportedly because of intercepted messages from Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to the terror network's Yemeni franchise.

The US Department of Defence has notified the Congress the sale of 145 state-of-the-art 155mm towed Howitzers to India worth about $885 million.

The Indian Government has requested a sale of 145 M777 155mm light-weight towed Howitzers with laser inertial artillery pointing systems (LINAPS), warranty, spare and repair parts, maintenance, and training equipment, the Department of Defence said in a notification.

The estimated cost is USD 885 million, it said.

"This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to strengthen the US-India strategic relationship and to improve the security of an important partner which continues to be a for political stability, peace, and economic progress in South Asia," the Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement this week.

The Congress was notified on August 2.

India intends to use the Howitzers to modernise its armed forces and enhance its ability to operate in hazardous conditions, DSCA said, adding that India will have no difficulty absorbing these weapons into its armed forces.

In a bid to curb tension in the troubled hill district, authorities on Friday blocked airing of news by three local cable TV operators even as the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha-sponsored "indefinite bandh" entered the seventh day.

The authorities ordered three local cable TV channels to stop airing news on the ground that the broadcast allegedly in favour of the GJM had created tension, official sources said.

Meanwhile, the condition of GJM supporter Purba Sherpa (32), a physically challenged person, who attempted self immolation yesterday continued to be critical at the Darjeeling Sadar Hospital in Darjeeling.

Severe shortage of food stuff under the public distribution system has occurred with the bandh crippling the function of ration shops in the hill town and nearby areas. The bandh, called in demand for separate Gorkhaland, has affected vehicular traffic which was reported to be thin on the national highway 31 A, sources said.

03:19 Syrian rebels claim attack on Assad motorcade

Syrian rebels said they fired rockets and mortar rounds on Thursday that hit a prestigious district of Damascus where President Bashar Assad was attending prayers to mark the start of a major Muslim holiday.

At least two Syrian rebel brigades claimed they hit Assad's motorcade in the Malki district of the capital, but Syrian state TV broadcast images of him attending prayers, and the information minister denied reports that the president had been attacked.

However, it was not possible to determine if the footage of Assad praying was filmed before or after the attack. Assad has a residence and an office in Malki, which has largely been sheltered from the shelling and battles that usually rage in the city's impoverished suburbs. It was not clear if Assad has stayed in Malki in recent months.

A malaria vaccine has shown promising results in early stage clinical trials, a study suggests. Researchers found the vaccine, which is being developed in the US, protected 12 out of 15 patients from the disease, when given in high doses.

The method is unusual because it involves injecting live but weakened malaria-causing parasites directly into patients to trigger immunity. The research is published in the journal Science.

The much-awaited release of Vijay starrer 'Thalaiva' is unlikely on Friday as it is yet to receive tax exemption from the state revenue department, sources said. Officials who watched the film at a preview theatre in Chennai were not convinced it needed a tax exemption, they said.

Such being the case, the film is unlikely to be released in the state on Friday as theatre owners and distributors would suffer huge losses, they added. The film, which is already showing in other countries would, however, have its nationwide release on Friday.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will resume peace talks in Jerusalem on Wednesday, according to the US state department. The negotiations restarted last month in Washington under US mediation. The announcement came as Israel approved the release of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has made six official visits to the Middle East in the previous five months, in an effort to revive the talks. "Negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians will be resuming 14 August in Jerusalem and will be followed by a meeting in Jericho," Reuters quoted state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki as saying.

00:20 Zubin Mehta to conduct concert in Kashmir

Among the few unfulfilled ambitions left to celebrated Mumbai-born conductor Zubin Mehta is to perform in India's conflict riven Kashmir Valley. On Wednesday, an announcement by a provincial government official signalled that this dream may soon come true.

The troubled state's tourism minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir told local reporters on Wednesday that Mehta will be conducting a concert next month on the picturesque banks of the Dal Lake in Srinagar in a garden created by a Mughal emperor. The idea of a western classical music concert in Kashmir took root last year when Mehta visited Delhi.

Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission has said that nearly 305,000 voters were turned away during last week's elections, which the opposition has said were rigged.

These are the first such official figures - the number of rejected voters has been a major complaint. It also said 207,000 voters were "assisted" to cast their ballot - another alleged source of fraud. President Robert Mugabe gained 938,085 more votes than his main rival. Morgan Tsvangirai, who took 34% of the vote, has alleged massive fraud.

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