ABRACADABRA

Pak Supreme Court intervenes over samosa !

Islamabad: A last! The days of cheap samosas in Pakistan are over. Ending a legal wrangle over the price of the humble samosa, the Supreme Court has set aside a notification of the Punjab government whereby the price of one ‘samosa’ was fixed at Rs 6. The samosa, earlier, was caught up in a legal tussle between the provincial government and Punjab Bakers and Sweets Federation. In 2009, the City District Government Lahore had fixed price of one samosa at Rs 6 and magistrates imposed fine on shopkeepers for selling the same at a higher price. The Punjab Bakers and Sweets Federation, through its President Chaudhry Muhammad Afzal, had challenged this order at the time, but the LHC had dismissed the petition.

Taliban polio ban puts 240,000 Pak kids at risk

Peshawar:  A Taliban ban on polio vaccinations will put 240,000 children at risk in trouble northwest Pakistan if an inoculation campaign cannot start, officials warned. Local Taliban and Pakistani warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur, whose followers are fighting Western troops in Afghanistan, have banned polio vaccinations in the northwestern tribal region of Waziristan to protest against US drone attacks. They have condemned the immunisation campaign, which is slated to begin, as a cover for espionage. “There is possibility that we may have to skip the polio campaign in North and South Waziristan because we are not getting clearance from the army nor is the situation conducive,” a government health official told AFP. Pakistan doctor Shakeel Afridi was jailed for 33 years in May after helping the CIA find Osama bin Laden using a hepatitis vaccination programme as cover, it is alleged.

Donkey bomb in Afghanistan 

Kabul: A new tactic of using an innocent donkey as a bomb carrier in Afghanistan took everyone by surprise  when a blast killed a police officer and injured three others in a western province. The bombing took place in Charsadda district in Ghor province, 360 km from Kabul, Xinhua reported. Militants planted a mine on a donkey and tied it near the gate of the district headquarters building. When the district police chief arrived at his office, the mine was exploded by remote control, killing the senior policeman on the spot. 

Needle found in sandwich served to flyer on Air Canada

A passenger on a domestic Air Canada flight found sewing needle in a catered sandwich, prompting authorities to investigate the bizarre incident. 

The air Canada flight was flying from Victoria, British Columbia, to Toronto. Air Canada said that it was “working closely” with its caterer to “ensure heightened security measures have been put in place. Safety is always our top priority so we are taking this matter very seriously,” a spokesman for Air Canada, Peter Fitzpatrick said, adding that it appeared to be an isolated incident. 

The police are investigating the incident. Meanwhile, the FBI and Dutch authorities are also investigating reports of needles found in six sandwiches on Delta flights from Amsterdam to the United States. Gate Gourmet, a 20-year-old company that provided prepared sandwiches to Delta, said the sandwiches originated at the firm’s facility in Amsterdam.

When right hand did not know left hand 

Mumbai: In a goof-up, Maharashtra Government has appointed a senior excise official and a police officer to the same post of Director, Vigilance, within a span of five days, media reports. 

The state government issued orders for appointment of senior Excise officer Prasad Surve and Osmanabad SP Data Karale, as Director Vigilance in the state Excise department, all in the first half of June. 

While Surve’s orders were issued on June 8, Karale’s orders were issued on June 13, Home Department sources said. 

Much to his embarrassment, when Karale went to take charge, he was told that Surve had already assumed office a couple of days earlier. Karale is still awaiting a resolution to this mix-up. 

The sources said with Surve’s appointment, the state government has dumped the convention of having a police officer to head the sensitive vigilance wing. 

As per the convention, the vigilance cell head of the Excise Department is an SP or DCP level police officer, the sources said. 

You live on Rs: 32 a day. But will give U free mobile

New Delhi: A populist plan to provide free mobile phones to people below poverty line (BPL) may be on the anvil. The Planning Commission is exploring such a possibility . Asked about reports about the populist scheme, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told media, “We are exploring that possibility. We are working on an idea. The basic idea is that in rural areas, we need to incentivise access to mobile telephony”. Ahluwalia said while “we don’t actually have a scheme which is approved, it is an idea which is being discussed”. If implemented, this will be UPA-II government’s biggest populist announcement on the lines of Rs 60,000 crore loan waiver scheme for farmers during the tenure of UPA-I.