Joshna loses in British Open quarters

Hull (UK): India's Joshna Chinappa lost to Joelle King of New Zealand in the quarterfinals of the Allam British Open Squash Championship here.

India's top-ranked Dipika Pallikal (World No.10) had bowed out in the first round itself.

World No.21 Joshna lost the last-eight battle 1-3 in 43 minutes thus ending India's campaign in the event.

Joshna, 27, came back well after trailing 0-2, but World No.4 Joelle reacted quickly to take the fourth game with ease - 11-6, 11-7, 8-11, 11-1.

In 2003, Joshna had become the first Indian girl to win the British Squash Championship title in the under 19 category, at Sheffield.

No justification to raise issue after apology: Ulema

LAHORE: The Ulema from different school of thoughts who participated in the protest camp of media workers and journalists at Lahore Press Club, said there was no justification to raise the issue after apology from Geo and anchorperson Shaista Lodhi over inadvertent mistake in the program.

The protest camp was organized by Jang Workers Union here on Friday.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Samiul Haq spokesman Maulana Makhdoom Asim; Mauala Khalid Shahzad Farooqui of Jamaat Ahle Hadees and Maulana Shahzad Majdi and Javed Awan attended the protest camp.

The Ulema said Allah Almighty is the greatest to accept the apology extended by anyone.

Protesting senior journalists and media workers demanded that the anti-Geo media houses must end their campaign.

 

Trader recovered, four accused killed in Gulshan-e-Maymar

KARACHI: The Citizens-Police Liaison Committee commonly known as CPLC and Anti Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) recovered an abducted trader from Gulshan-e-Maymar, Geo News reported.

According to reports, four accused were killed during the joint action.

CPLC chief Ahmed Chinoy said the trader was abducted three days back from Gulshan-e-Maymar and the accused had demanded one million rupees in ransom.

Meanwhile, two gang war accused were killed in joint action by police and Rangers in Sangoline area of Lyari.

Week-long curfew lifted in NWA

MIRANSHAH: The local administration after negotiation with tribal jirga on Friday lifted the weeklong curfew from the militancy-stricken North Waziristan Agency. ?The curfew had caused immense hardships to the tribespeople as they remained cut off from the rest of the country for a week.

The tribespeople of certain villages in Miranshah subdivision, Mir Ali, Razmak and Dattakhel had complained of severe shortage of food items in their houses and said that some ailing people proved the worst victims of the curfew as they were denied access to the doctors for the reason best known to the local administration and military authorities.?

The local administration had put the entire tribal region under curfew seven days ago when an improvised explosive device (IED) hit a double-cabin pickup truck of the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) in Ghulam Khan area of North Waziristan. It had killed nine personnel and caused injuries to over a dozen others. No militant group had claimed the killing of FC men. Since then, all the roads linking North Waziristan to rest of the country were closed.

Besides shops and markets, all schools and colleagues were closed and the students of could not appear in their annual exams and missed six papers. According to tribal sources, hundreds belonging to NWA were stranded in other places such as Bannu, Kohat and Peshawar.

Dozens of trucks carrying various goods to Waziristan and stranded at the Bannu-Miranshah road arrived in Miranshah on Friday after the curfew lifted.Some of the trucks transporting fresh fruits and vegetables were said to have unloaded on road as the products were of no use any more. The tribesmen also complained that they were unable to go to their fields for harvesting the fully-grown wheat crop.

The authorities had not mentioned any reason when curfew was imposed in the tribal region. They didn’t specify the reason when curfew was lifted.Tribal sources, however, said that a tribal jirga comprising elders and religious scholars held a meeting with the political agent, Siraj Ahmad Khan and senior military authorities in Miranshah and lifted the curfew after the meeting. It wasn’t clear what was discussed that encouraged military authorities to ask the political agent to withdraw the curfew from Pakistan’s most troubled area.

PM Nawaz congratulates Modi on polls victory

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Friday greeted Bhartaya Janata Party (BJP) on its impressive victory in the Indian election.

The Prime Minister spoke to BJP leader Narendra Modi this afternoon and congratulated him over the party’s impressive victory in the just concluded general elections in India, a statement said.

White House: India´s Modi is ´welcome´ in United States

WASHINGTON: The United States swiftly courted India´s future prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday, saying the victorious Hindu nationalist would be welcome to visit despite a long-standing visa ban.

The White House also said President Barack Obama hoped to speak to Modi by telephone soon, following the Bharatiya Janata Party´s (BJP) landslide election victory.

US Secretary of State John Kerry also congratulated Modi for his triumph in the biggest election in human history on his official Twitter feed, as Washington moved to forge early ties with the new center of power in New Delhi.

"The prime minister of India will be welcomed in the United States," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

"The president looks forward to speaking with Mr Modi," Carney said, though he cautioned it was too early at this stage to talk about a possible Modi visit to Washington.

"We congratulate Narendra Modi and the BJP on winning a majority of seats in this historic election.

"Once the government is formed, we look forward to working closely with the prime minister and the cabinet to advance our strong bilateral relationship based on shared democratic values.

"The United States refused Modi a visa in 2005 over claims he failed to quickly curb deadly anti-Muslim riots three years before when he was chief minister of the state of Gujarat.

But as it became increasingly clear Modi was riding a political wave in India, outgoing US ambassador Nancy Powell shook hands with him before closed-door talks.

Obama forged close ties with outgoing Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and in 2010 visited a country which is a key target of his policy of pivoting US power to Asia.

But relations have drifted recently, antagonized by the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York who was strip searched over claims she mistreated a domestic servant.

Pakistani student assaulted at Indian university returns home

LAHORE: Ali Hassan Raza, a Pakistani student who was attacked by unidentified persons at a university in India, arrived in Pakistan, Geo News reported on Saturday.

According to reports, Ali Raza Hasan a 24-year-old student from Pakistan was assaulted in Pondicherry University campus. He was doing doctorate from Indian varsity.

The Pakistani student had been staying at the Sir C.V. Raman Hostel in the university after completing his graduation course on South Asian studies.

Ali Hassan ruled out element of religious extremism in his torture. He termed the incident a nightmare.

Hassan also thanked Almighty Allah, saying he was grateful to Allah after returning on his own feet.

 

Historic victory, says Jayalalithaa

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa Friday termed the AIADMK's victory in the Lok Sabha election as "historic". "It is a historic, unparalleled, unprecedented victory without any alliance. I would like to thank all those who worked for the victory," she told reporters here. She conveyed her best wishes to the country's new prime minister Narendra Modi and said her party would act as a responsible political party. She declined to comment on the party's future strategy. "We are the third largest party and we will act as a responsible political party." The AIADMK is poised to win an incredible 37 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu, according to information from the Election Commission.

Ferry with over 250 sinks in Bangladesh, many missing

DHAKA: A ferry carrying over 250 passengers sank Thursday in the middle of a river in Bangladesh due to storm and heavy rainfall.
The number of people missing has not been confirmed yet.

The ferry, carrying between 250 to 300 passengers, capsized in  Meghna river in Munshiganj, some 27 km from capital Dhaka, after it was hit by a nor'wester, Xinhua reported.

Rescue vessels were carrying out the operation to fish out people  from the river.

Ferdous Hossain, officer-in-charge of Gajaria police station in Munsihganj, said many passengers were able to swim ashore after the accident occurred around 3 p.m. but he could not tell immediately  exactly how many passengers were missing.
The ferry services in Bangladesh are notorious for never maintaining passenger lists and none can say how many passengers a ferry carries.

British PM congratulates Modi for poll win

LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron congratulated Narendra Modi Friday on leading the BJP to victory in the Indian general elections. "Congratulations @narendramodi on victory in India's elections. Keen to work together to get the most from UK-India relationship," Cameron tweeted Friday in his official 10, Downing Street, account. With the BJP headed for a big majority in the Lok Sabha, Modi is set to succeed Manmohan Singh as India's 14th prime minister. British Prime Minister David Cameron May 7 said he was "looking forward" to discussing the recent European Union (EU) ban on Indian mango imports with the country's new prime minister. Addressing British MPs in the House of Commons, Cameron said the ban was a "serious issue" as there were concerns about possible cross-contamination and it must be made sure "that is got right".