Toll

Women cannot be president, says Iranian cleric

Tehran: A member of Iran's constitutional watchdog group insists that women cannot be presidential candidates, a report said Thursday, effectively killing the largely symbolic bids by about 30 women seeking to run in the June 14 election. Even before the comments by Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, chances for a woman candidate in Iran's presidential election were considered nearly impossible.

Women also have registered as potential candidates in past presidential elections, but the group that vets hopefuls appears to follow interpretations of the constitution that suggest only a man may hold Iran's highest elected office. Women, however, are cleared to run for Iran's parliament and have served as lawmakers.

The semiofficial Mehr news agency quotes Yazdi as saying the "law does not approve" of a woman in the presidency and a woman on the ballot is "not allowed." The Guardian Council, where Yazdi is a member, vets all candidates for the presidency and parliament.

A total of 686 people have registered to replace President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who cannot run for a third mandate because of term limits. The final list will be announced Tuesday, with only a handful of names expected on the ballot....more    

Goa: Transporters' stir against toll fee continues

Panaji: The transporters continued their strike in Goa on the second day on Tuesday, refusing to withdraw it until the government resolves the issue of toll fee levied on the non-Goan vehicles entering the state. "The strike will continue till Goa government resolves the issue. Today is the second day and impact would be visible from tomorrow onwards," All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) president Bal Malkit Singh said. The...  

Search ends in Bangladesh; death toll put at 1127

Savar: Several of the biggest Western retailers embraced a plan that would require them to pay for factory improvements in Bangladesh as the three-week search for victims of the worst garment-industry disaster in history ended on Monday with the death toll at a staggering 1,127. Bangladesh's government also agreed to allow garment workers to form unions without permission from factory owners. That decision came a day after it announced a...  

Bangladesh building collapse toll goes past 1,100

Savar: The death toll in Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster on Sunday rose to 1,125 after 15 more decomposed bodies were recovered from the debris of the ill-fated eight-storey building, 19 days after the tragedy. Rain has caused delays in recovery operations as overnight rainstorms forced rescuers to suspend work for several hours, and more rain today morning caused a brief delay. By afternoon, crews were back at work as they...  

Rafsanjani rolls the dice last time to fix Iran's future

Dubai: Iran's best known political grandee, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, looms large in the history of the Islamic Republic - now registered to run in Iran's presidential election June 2013 he may also get the chance to carve out its future. Few have wielded such influence in modern Iran as the 78-year-old but since 2009 he and his family have faced political isolation over their support for the opposition...  

Bangladesh factory building collapse death toll hits 1,021

Dhaka: The death toll from a garment factory building that collapsed more than two weeks ago outside the Bangladeshi capital soared past 1,000 on Friday, while the list of the dead from a fresh fire at a sweater manufacturer showed the entanglement of the industry and top Bangladeshi officials. Officials said 1,021 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of the fallen factory building as of Friday morning. There was...  

WB chit fund scam hits the state's film industry

Kolkata: The West Bengal chit fund is getting bigger each day. It has now turns out that ponzi schemes in the state financed not just media houses but Tollywood films as well. In the past four years, at least one in three films has been produced by groups that run ponzi schemes. Rose Valley, a deposit-taking company which is now under the MCA scanner, has produced 18 films including three...  

Bangladesh: Building collapse toll reaches 362

Savar: Bangladeshi rescuers on Sunday launched the second phase of rescue operations, as they found little evidence of survivors under tonnes of debris of the 8-storey building that collapsed this week, leaving 362 people dead. "I would like to tell you, we are getting little rhythm of life under the debris. Even if some people are alive they are not responding," said Major General Hassan Sarwardy, Commander of the rescue...  

Bangladesh building collapse: Death toll rises to 270

Dhaka: The search for survivors from Bangladesh's worst industrial accident stretched into a third day on Friday, with the death toll rising to 273 after the collapse of a building housing factories that made low-cost garments for Western brands. Almost miraculously, 41 people trapped inside the rubble of the eight-storey building were rescued alive late on Thursday, government minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak said, about 40 hours after the disaster on...  

7.8 magnitude earthquake kills five in Pakistan

Islamabad: At least five persons were killed and several others injured when buildings collapsed in Balochistan province of southwest Pakistan on Tuesday during a massive earthquake that was felt across the region. The five deaths were recorded in the remote Kharan district of Balochistan, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. TV news channels quoted security officials as saying that three children and two women were killed when several buildings collapsed in Mashkel...  

UP: SP MP's supporters manhandle toll plaza staff

Fatehpur: Supporters accompanying a Samajwadi Party (SP) MP allegedly manhandled the staff of a toll plaza in Mallawan area of the district blaming them for traffic jam, a charge denied by the lawmaker. No police complaint has been lodged from either side. Vehicle of SP MP Rakesh Sachan, who was coming to Fatehpur from Kanpur with his cavalcade, got stuck at the toll plaza due to traffic jam near Chitaura...  

Municipality goes on demolition drive in Thane

Thane: The police on Saturday finally made a breakthrough in the Thane building collapse with the arrest of two of the building's builders. However, survivors are losing hope as the Municipal Corporation goes into a demolition overdrive. "I am threatening the Chief Minister. If he doesn't respond, I will go on a strike outside his office. I am 70-year-old and my father has also died as a freedom fighter. I...  

Thane building collapse: Woman rescued alive

Thane: A woman, stuck under the debris of the illegal building in Thane that collapsed on Thursday evening, was rescued alive after 24 hours. The woman was talking to her rescuers after she was pulled out of the debris. She was taken to Thane Civil Hospital in an ambulance after her rescue. However, many children are still buried under the debris. Fifty eight people have reportedly died and over 60...  

Thane building collapse: Death toll rises to 48

Mumbai: Forty eight people have reportedly died and over 60 have been injured in Maharashtra's worst building collapse in a decade, after a seven-storied under-construction illegal building collapsed in Thane on Thursday. According to the Thane Deputy Collector, the dead included 12 children and five women and over 36 people have sustained serious injuries in the incident. The National Disaster Response Force, which is leading the rescue efforts, said many...  

Noida DND flyway toll rates hiked from today

Toll rates for the 22-km Delhi-Noida Direct (DND) flyway were increased from Monday by the Noida Toll Bridge Company Limited (NTBCL). "Two wheelers toll rates have been increased from Rs 11 to Rs 12, for cars from Rs 22 to Rs 25, LCVs from Rs 45 to Rs 55, bus and truck will now shell out Rs 70 from earlier Rs 55," said Anwar Abbasi, spokesperson, NTBCL. ...  

DND toll rates hiked from April 1

Using the Delhi Noida Direct (DND) Flyway to commute between the two cities has become expensive from Sunday night. The Noida Toll Bridge Company Limited (NTBCL) has hiked the toll charges for the 22-km DND Flyway from April 1. ...  

Toll touches six in Vikarabad LPG cylinder explosion

Three more persons today succumbed to their injuries taking the toll in Friday's explosion at a house in Ranga Reddy district's Vikarabad town to six today. One woman succumbed to burn injuries at a government hospital here. ...  

Death toll in Bangladesh tornado climbs to 23

The death toll from a tornado that swept through some 25 villages in eastern Bangladesh, rose to 23 with rescuers finding three more bodies in debris, a day after the deadly storm which also left nearly 500 people injured. The storm which hit the area on Friday, left a trail of destruction in 20 villages of Brahmanbaria sadar, Bijoynagar and Akhaura upazilas. ...  

Swine flu death toll rises to 12 in Indore

With the death of one more person, the number of swine flu deaths in Indore has gone up to twelve since January 2013, a medical officer said on Saturday. A 35-year-old man from Sukhaliya Colony, who was admitted to CHL hospital here on March 20, died of swine flu on Friday, the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) official Dr GL Sodhi said. ...