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London, October 3 ANI: U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's supporters have developed a new application for iPhone with a view to involving more and more
people in their campaign, a...
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NAT62National/
Politics/ReligionAdvani promises national board for
pilgrimage centresMumbai, Oct 1 IANS Bharatiya Janata
Party BJP leader L.K. Advani Wednesday promised to set up a national board to provide better facilities and ensure
safety at
all religious
places if his
party was voted to power in general
elections.Making a
reference to the
temple stampede in Rajasthan's Jodhpur
town Tuesday that killed 149
people, Advani told a
public rally at
Washim town in
Maharashtra that the issue of pilgrims' facilities had not got adequate attention until now.He said that three years ago more than 300 pilgrims died in a stampede at a
temple in Satara in
Maharashtra and 145
people died similarly this year at the Naina Devi
temple in Himachal Pradesh.One of the main reasons for these tragedies is that we have not addressed the need for adequate and reliable infrastructure, facilities and
safety provisions at the
places of
pilgrimage in our
country, he said.Therefore, he said, if the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance NDA came to power, the
government would set up a National Board to improve facilities at
all important
pilgrimage centres.Advani linked the issue to the
Amarnath land row in Jammu and
Kashmir that left more than 50
people dead in July-August.He said the
country should be thankful to the
people of Jammu for fighting a long and determined battle for a legitimate cause.The
reference was to mass
protests that gripped the overwhelmingly
Hindu region of Jammu after
Muslims in the
Kashmir Valley forced the
state government to cancel the award of land to the
Amarnath shrine board to provide facilities to its
Hindu pilgrims.--Indo-Asian
News Servicepa/mr/sk288
Words*01101913
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NAT45National/
Politics/TerrorismBJP to woo first-time voters with anti-terror themeLucknow, Sep 29 IANS The Bharatiya Janata
Party BJP is
all set to launch a campaign in Uttar Pradesh to woo first-time voters with the theme of combating
terrorism."The campaign aims to instil a sense of responsibility among the
youth, who by
voting in favour of the BJP
will help the
party to contain
terrorism," BJP
state president Ramapati Ram Tripathi told
reporters here Monday.During the statewide campaign, "we
will sensitise the
youth primarily against the central government's ineptness in dealing with terror, he added. According to BJP officials, the campaign
will start within a couple of weeks. The campaign assumes significance owing to the large
youth population in the
country, BJP officials said, pointing out that more than two-thirds of India's one billion plus
people are younger than 35 years of age, making it one of the youngest emerging
economies in the world.--Indo-Asian
News Serviceasit/dd/vm/vt163
Words29091840
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INT58
International/TerrorismBus blast kills 12 in BaghdadBaghdad, Sep 28 Xinhua Twelve
people were killed and 35 wounded Sunday in a massive
bus bomb explosion at a busy
market in southwestern part of the Iraqi
capital, officials said. A minibus packed with explosives went off in a busy
market just before dusk, interior ministry officials said, requesting anonymity.
All the
victims were civilians. Several
shops were also destroyed in the blast, officials said. Local residents were preparing for the meal to break their daily fast as part of the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan when the blast took place. No further details were immediately available.--Xinhuasnb/vm115
Words28092211
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INT25
International/
Disaster/EnvironmentTwo strong earthquakes jolt ManilaManila, Sep 27 DPA Two strong earthquakes jolted the Philippine
capital and nearby provinces Saturday but no injuries or damages were reported, a
government agency said. The Philippine
Institute of Volcanology and Seismology Phivolcs said the first earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 rocked Manila and the nearby provinces of Mindoro, Bataan and Pampanga before noon. Five minutes after the first earthquake occurred, a stronger quake with a magnitude of 6.5 also jolted the same area, the agency said Both quakes were tectonic in origin and with the epicentre located off Mamburao
town in Mindoro Occidental province, 165 km southwest of Manila. Phivolcs said
people in the areas affected by the two earthquakes should expect aftershocks within the day.--DPAskp/jg136
Words27091306
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NAT63National/
Security/TerrorismWest Bengal on
alert after Delhi blastKolkata, Sep 27 IANS
Security was tightened in West Bengal after a blast again hit the national
capital Saturday, killing a teenager and injuring 17
people, said the
police."
Security at crowded
places, especially at
shopping malls, multiplexes, railway stations and the
city airport has been tightened,"
Kolkata police deputy commissioner Vinet K. Goyal told
reporters here. "Sniffer dogs have been kept at important and vulnerable
places like railway stations," Goyal said."Our personnel have been asked to interrogate anyone who is behaving suspiciously. Not only
people and their baggage but also their mobile
phones are being thoroughly checked," he said.West Bengal
police inspector general Raj Kanojia said: "The
state police are already on
alert. Necessary actions are being taken."A young
boy was killed and 17
people were injured in the latest terror attack in a crowded area of
Mehrauli in south Delhi Saturday.The terror attack came two weeks after five bombs went off in three crowded areas in Delhi, killing 24
people.--Indo-Asian
News Servicebs/sk/vt188
Words27092000
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INT54
International/TerrorismTaliban free 150 Afghan labourers, seven rebels killed LeadKabul, Sep 27 DPA Seven Afghan militants were killed by coalition forces, while the Islamist extremist Taliban released over 150
construction workers they abducted a week ago in western
Afghanistan, officials said Saturday. Five militants were killed in Qarabagh
district of southern Ghazni province by Afghan and coalition forces when they were planting mines near two burnt
trucks Friday night, said Ismail Jahangir, spokesman for the provincial governor. "The militants
wanted to
plant mines near the burnt
vehicles so that they could target Afghan forces when they come to tow them away," Jahangir said. Afghan and US-led forces engaged the militants after they were spotted by a coalition helicopter in the area, he said, adding that the
trucks, which were carrying supplies for foreign forces, were burnt Friday by the militants. Also Friday night, two other militants were killed and four wounded in a clash with Afghan
police forces in Arghandab
district of southern Zabul province, said Gulob Shah Alikhail, a
senior official in the province. Meanwhile, Taliban militants released the last group of more than 150 labourers kidnapped Sunday, said Abdul Raouf Ahmadi, spokesman for
police forces. "The militants had mistaken the
workers for
army soldiers," he said. "But when the tribal elders and influential
people in the region intervened and the Taliban also found out that they were ordinary
workers, they were released." The militants who identified themselves as Taliban insurgents abducted 153
workers on their way to a
construction site in Bala Bulok
district of western Farah province Sunday. Earlier, the provincial governor for Farah, Roh-ul-
Amin said the abductors released 118 of the
workers on Friday after tribal elders convinced them that they were innocent labourers. Three other
workers were released earlier in the week due to
illness.
Amin said the
government refrained from using
military means because it did not want to risk the lives of the abducted
men. The
workers were hired by a US-funded Afghan firm building an
army base in the region. The base, which
will house up to 2,000
soldiers once completed, is one of several that the US
military is building in the
country. Kidnapping for ransom or
exchange for jailed comrades has become part of the rebel campaign to weaken the Western-backed Afghan
government. "No
money was paid and no Taliban prisoners were released for the freedom of the 150
workers," Ahmadi said.In June 2007, Taliban militants abducted a group of 23 South Koreans from a
bus on Kabul-Kandahar highway. The militants killed two hostages and released the rest after several weeks. --DPAsnb/sk471
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INT10
International/BusinessGoogle offers $10 mn for world's best ideasSan Francisco, Sep 26 DPA Google is offering $10 million as prize
money in a competition aimed at transforming the world's best ideas into useful
products. As part of the company's 10th anniversary celebrations,
Project 10 to the 100th asks
people to submit ideas in seven
categories to the project's
website, www.
project10tothe100.com. "Never in
history have so many
people had so much
information, so many
tools at their
disposal, so many ways of making good ideas come to life," said an announcement Thursday on the
website. "Yet at the same time, so many
people, of
all walks of life, could use so much
help, in both little ways and big." The competition is open to anyone. The seven
categories include sustainable
energy use,
environment,
health,
education, shelter, encouraging
communities, and building opportunities to
help people better provide for themselves and their
families. An eighth
category is simply titled "
everything else". Ideas can be submitted through a form available on the
website, which poses
questions including, "If your idea were to become a reality, who would benefit the most and how" and "Describe the optimal outcome should your idea be selected and successfully implemented". A panel of independent judges
will choose the best ideas and divide the prize
money equally among the winners. The
website says that Google is looking for simple ideas that
will help large
numbers of
people, especially those with urgent needs.Among the
products cited on the
website is the Hippo
Water Roller, a 90-liter
container that holds
water and can be easily rolled on the ground with a handle, taking some of the burden off
people in areas where clean
water is scarce, such as parts of
Africa.--DPAsnb311
Words26090651
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London, Sep 25 ANI:
Hollywood actress Lindsay Lohan has defended lesbian lover Samantha Ronson after her father's new outburst against the DJ.Michael Lohan had earlier made it clear that he does not intend to see his daughter with Ronson.Later on his
blog, he branded Samantha "dark, hideous" and "disgusting.""I don't believe that the recent
blogs posted by 'Lindsay' were written by her. There is a lot more to Samantha than meets the
eye. Not that what we see is so pleasing anyway... what's with this 'person' Look at the way she 'dresses'. Ronson is dark, hideous and a disgusting representation of
humanity," Michael stated in an
Email to X17
online."Once more, she uses her middle finger more than she uses
words. Have you ever seen her
apartment For God's sake, when she runs out of
toilet paper she tells
people to use the cardboard roll. I was told this firsthand," he added.However, Lindsay has made it evident that she is sticking by her partner and has urged her father to take medication in order to get rid of his anger."My father obviously needs to be on medication to control his moods. He is out of line and his
words show how much anger he has, and it's dangerous and scary as it reminds me of how he treated my
mother and I sic my whole childhood. He needs to be stopped. This is yet another reason why we aren't speaking," the Daily Express quoted Lindsay, as telling New
York gossip column Page 6."My past is behind me, and that's final. There's nothing more to be said.
All the false accusations that
people try to make are simply because there's no story when things are calm and good. But they might as well let it go because their lies don't affect me anymore. Samantha is not evil, I care for her very much and she's a wonderful
girl. She loves me, as I do her, " she added. ANI
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