1964 General Chakravarthy
Audio Songs
All songs →Related News
More news →Superstar Rajinikanth flies to the USA again for a general medical checkup
2/3rd of Enthiran 2 (2.0) shooting is done as reported by Shankar recently and the team is apparently on a small break now. We are told that Superstar Rajinikanth has flown to the USA again for a medical checkup and will return to India on the 29th of October. He is likely to join the 2.0 team by the first week of November, possibly on the 3rd (Thursday). 2.0's first look launch event will be held in Mumbai on the 20th of November. Stay tuned for more updates!
US general killed, over dozens wounded in Afghan insider attack
A US general was killed and more than a dozen people were wounded on Tuesday, including a German general, in the latest insider attack by a man believed to be an Afghan soldier, US, German and Afghan officials said. The US Army said late on Tuesday the slain general was Major General Harold Greene, a senior officer with the international military command ISAF. He was the most senior US military official killed in action overseas since the war in Vietnam, military officials said. “These soldiers were professionals, committed to the mission,” US Army Chief of Staff Ray Odierno said in a statement, referring to the soldiers killed and wounded in the attack. Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters that “many were seriously wounded,” and the gunman was killed in the attack, which took place on Tuesday at the Marshal Fahim National Defense University, a training center in Kabul. The attack raised fresh questions about the ability of NATO soldiers to train and advise Afghan security forces as western nations gradually withdraw. The US and German generals were on a routine visit, the Pentagon said. A US official said the gunman fired on the foreign soldiers using a light machine gun. Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry described him as a “terrorist in army uniform.” The German military said its general was one of 14 coalition troops wounded in Tuesday’s attack, adding that his life was not in danger. Seven Americans and five British troops were among the wounded, an Afghan official said. Past insider attacks have eroded trust while straining foreign efforts to train Afghanistan’s 350,000-strong security force and prepare them to fight the Taliban once most US and NATO forces depart. US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke by phone with General Joe Dunford, who commands US and international troops in Afghanistan, about the incident, Kirby said. He said the shooting was being investigated jointly by Afghan authorities and the international military coalition that is winding down its long mission in Afghanistan. The Afghan president was quick to condemn the attack, saying the delegation had been visiting the facility to help build the country’s security forces. The Taliban says insider attacks reflect their ability to infiltrate the enemy. International military coalition officials say the incidents often arise over misunderstandings or altercations between troops. US military officials said it was too soon to say whether the high-ranking officers had been specifically targeted by the shooter. “We remain committed to our mission in Afghanistan and will continue to work with our Afghan partners to ensure the safety and security of all coalition soldiers and civilians,” Odierno said. ‘PERNICIOUS THREAT’ In 2012, dozens of incidents forced international troops to take measures to reduce interaction with their Afghan partners. Since then, the number of insider attacks has fallen sharply. According to a Pentagon report on the war in April, there were 15 insider attacks against foreign troops in 2013, down from 48 in 2012. “Despite this sharp decline, these attacks may still have strategic effects on the campaign and could jeopardize the relationship between coalition and ANSF personnel,” the report stated. “Insurgents remain intent on utilizing insider attacks as an integral component of their asymmetric strategy.” The report concluded that armed guards known as ‘guardian angels’ accompanying coalition officials had reduced casualties by counter-attacking those who tried to kill foreigners. Meanwhile, insider attacks against Afghan forces were on the rise, the report said. Like other Western countries, the United States is planning to leave a residual force in Afghanistan after the NATO mission ends this year, mainly focused on supporting Afghan forces. But US officials say that first they must sign a bilateral troop deal, which cannot be finalized until Afghanistan resolves an election dispute and swears in a new president. The departure will leave Afghanistan’s forces – built from scratch since 2001 and still struggling with problems of incomplete training, illiteracy and desertion – in charge of the bulk of the fight with the Taliban. Pentagon spokesman Kirby said that despite protective measures it would be impossible to eliminate the threat of such attacks entirely. “The insider threat is … a pernicious threat. And it’s difficult to always ascertain,” Kirby said. “Afghanistan is still a war zone.” Ed Royce, chairman of the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, said the progress in protecting foreign troops serving in Afghanistan had been inadequate. “Many brave US forces are working hard to help stand up the Afghan forces so they can continue to take the lead in Afghanistan,” he said. “They don’t deserve to be victims of such cowardly terrorist attacks.” In a similar attack on Tuesday, several people were wounded in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Paktia when a policeman opened fire on international and Afghan forces, police chief Zalmay Oryakhil said. Adding to the tension, a NATO air strike hit a vehicle carrying civilians in western Herat province, local officials said, killing four members of a family returning from a wedding, including two children.
Ukraine military helicopter shot down, leaving 14 troops and general dead
A Ukrainian military general and 14 soldiers were killed when their helicopter was shot down in eastern Ukraine Thursday, the country’s acting president said. Oleksandr Turchynov said rebels used a portable air defense missile to down the helicopter over the city of Slovyansk. He told parliament that Gen. Serhiy Kulchytskiy was among those who died, according to the Interfax news agency. Ukraine's National Guards put the death toll at 12 including the general, but said information about the crash was still being clarified. It said one soldier was badly wounded. Turchynov said the helicopter was flying troops to a hill outside Slovyansk where Ukrainian forces have set up positions. Interfax said Kulchytskiy had once served in the Soviet army and was in charge of combat training for Ukraine's National Guards. Sources told Fox News heavy artillery and jet fighters were being used around Slovyansk, which has become the epicenter of fighting between pro-Russia insurgents and government forces in recent weeks. The city -- located 100 miles west of the Russian border -- has seen constant clashes and its residential areas have regularly come under mortar shelling from government forces, prompting some residents to flee. Meanwhile in Donetsk, a Russian-dominated armed faction of the separatists, the Vostock Battalion, has taken over the main rebel building in the city, according to a Fox News reporter there. The faction was seen clearing away barricades around the building, installing and anti-aircraft gun and positioning their well-armed fighters, many of whom come from Russia including Chechnya. The Kiev government condemns the insurgency roiling the east as the work of "terrorists" bent on destroying the country and blames Russia for fomenting it. Russia denies the accusations, saying it has no influence over rebels, who insist they are only protecting the interests of the Russian-speaking population of the east. An insurgent leader in eastern Ukraine also said Thursday that his fighters are holding four observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and promised that they would be released imminently. Vyacheslav Ponomarev, the self-proclaimed "people's mayor" of Slovyansk, a city in the Donetsk region, told The Associated Press the monitors -- who are from Turkey, Switzerland, Estoniaáand Denmark -- were safe. "I addressed the OSCE mission to warn them that their people should not over the coming week travel in areas under our control. And they decided to show up anyway," Ponomarev said. "We will deal with this and then release them," he said, without setting any specific timeframe. The OSCE said it had lost contact with one of its four-man monitoring teams in Donetsk on Monday evening. Rebels have previously kidnapped military observers working under the auspices of the OSCE. The OSCE monitors have been deployed to Ukraine to monitor the security situation following Russia's annexation of Crimea. They also observed Sunday's presidential vote, won by billionaire candy magnate Petro Poroshenko. Poroshenko has promised to negotiate with people in the east, where insurgents have seized government buildings and fought government troops for more than a month. But he also vowed to continue a military operation to uproot the armed rebels and bring it to a quick end. In the most ferocious battle yet, rebels in Donetsk tried to take control of its airport Monday but were repelled by Ukrainian forces using combat jets and helicopter gunships. Dozens of men were killed and some morgues were overflowing Tuesday. Some insurgent leaders said up to 100 fighters may have been killed. Fox News has been told that the bodies of 33 rebel fighters were scheduled leave a local morgue to be repatriated to Russia on Thursday. Helicopters, armored vehicles and combat ready troops were moving toward Donetsk in the event the Kiev government makes good on its threat to enter the city. The rebels have declared the Donetsk and Luhansk regions independent of Ukraine. They have pleaded to join Russia, but President Vladimir Putin has ignored their appeal in an apparent bid to de-escalate tensions with the West and avoid a new round of Western sanctions. Putin has supported an OSCE peace plan that calls for ending hostilities and launching a political dialogue. Russia said it would be ready to work with new leader Poroshenko, but strongly urged the Ukrainian government to end its military operation in the east. Chechens are also fighting alongside the pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine, according to a self-appointed mayor of a militant stronghold in the region who spoke to Fox News on Wednesday. Chechnya's Moscow-backed leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, on Wednesday rejected allegations he had ordered his paramilitary forces to Ukraine, but said he can't stop fellow Chechens acting on their own from joining the fight.