News

BU proposed a ‘grace marks’ system to curtail exam fraud

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In the wake of the cash-for-marks scam rocking Bangalore University’s distance education examinations, the Bangalore University’s on Friday proposed a ‘grace marks’ system to check such irregularities.

The proposed system will allow for marks to be transferred from one subject to another in order to provide a chance to students to clear the examinations. Student need not apply for this separately. The marks would be taken into account while tabulating the results.

Adani funding Modi’s marketing campaign: Rahul

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Stepping up his offensive against Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi today alleged that there is a “partnership” between the BJP PM candidate and Adani and accused the industrialist of “funding” the Modi marketing blitz to return “favours”.

Rahul also attacked the Gujarat development model by saying that Modi is claiming credit for the hard work of others in the state.

“There is partnership between Modi and Adani,” he alleged saying that all senior leaders like L K Advani, Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Sushma Swaraj have been sidelined for the partnership with Adani.

SAD-BJP regime involved in illegal activities: Sonia

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Launching a scathing attack on Akali-BJP government, Sonia Gandhi today charged ruling regime in Punjab with involvement in illegal activities like drug smuggling.

“BJP Akalis are filling their pockets. They are now indulging in every illegal work like drug smuggling, sand mining, goond tax,” she said while campaigning for Congress candidate Vijay Inder Singla from Sangrur seat.

Accusing the ruling regime in Punjab of failing in curbing growing drug menace in the state, she said, “youths in Punjab have become addicted to drugs. Your government is not concerned about it at all.”

CBI court registered FIR and orders probe against KCR

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The CBI court principal special judge N Balayogi ordered CBI to register a FIR and inquire into a private complaint booked against TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, his former colleague Vijayashanti and TRS legislator K Harish Rao. The complaint charges them with corruption and extortion.

But, CBI is loathed to take up the probe because it avowed that a court headed by session’s judge has no power to direct the agency on this matter.

CPI-M for action against Ramdev under SC/ST Act

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CPI(M) today demanded prosecution of yoga guru Ramdev under the SC/ST Act for his “uncivilised statements” against Dalit women and charged him with demeaning them.

It also asked the Election Commission to take suo motu notice of his “outrageous comments and take appropriate action”.

In a statement, CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat said “In his references to Rahul Gandhi, Ramdev, a self-declared ‘baba’, has made uncivilised statements that demean and insult Dalit women.”

PM’s half-brother joining BJP is a non-event: Chidambaram

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Finance Minister P.Chidambaram on Saturday said that he saw Prime Minister Manmohan Singh””s step-brother Daljit Singh Kohli””s move to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a non-event.

Describing it as unimportant, Chidambaram said:”As far as I know PM””s half brother has never made a political statement in his life. His joining a party (BJP) is a non-event.”

He asked: “I thought the party (BJP) had set up a dirty tricks department. Is it still functional?”

Modi criticises Shinde on Dawood issue, Cong brushes it aside

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Narendra Modi today accused Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde of giving media statements instead of acting against Dawood Ibrahim, but the Congress brushed aside the criticism.

In an interview to Gujarati channel Sandesh News, Modi questioned whether a press note needs to be issued to bring back Dawood Ibrahim.

Iran hangs three over prosecutor’s murder

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Iran today hanged in public three men convicted of killing last year a prosecutor in a restive southeastern province near the Afghan border, state media reported.

Public prosecutor Mousa Nouri was gunned down in the city of Zabol, in Sistan-Baluchestan province, along with his driver in November in a murder first claimed by a Sunni extremist group.

The three men convicted of his murder, Omir Piri, Alireza Dehmardeh and Iman Galavi “were sentenced to death for forming a terror team and killing… Nouri,” IRNA news agency said.

RR win toss, elect to bowl against RCB

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Rajasthan Royals skipper Shane Watson today won the toss and elected to bowl against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their IPL match here today.

For RR, Karun Nair has come in for Dhawal Kulkarni while Kane Richardson comes in place of James Faulkner. RCB surprisingly drop Varun Aaron to bring in Ravi Rampaul while Sachin Rana comes in for Muttiah Muralitharan.

Teams:

Rajasthan Royals: Shane Watson (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson (wk), Stuart Binny, Steve Smith, Abhishek Nayar, Kane Richardson, Rajat Bhatia, Kane Richardson, Karun Nair and Pravin Tambe.

“Whatever the religion, we are all children of God-immortal spirits”:Modi

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A foreword in a little-noticed book, which was recently published by a small publisher, showcases perhaps the most dramatic example of Narendra Modi’s rebranding effort.

“Whatever the religion, we are all children of God-immortal spirits…” that’s a representative sentence from the foreword written by Modi for The Idea of One Religion by JS Thakur and GD Singh. A Bhopal-based publishing house Mausam Bookshas publishe the book and it mostly concentrates on Swami Vivekananda’s discourses.

Voters to get ID cards a week before poll date

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The Election Commission has ordered its officials to distribute voter ID cards among all enrolled voters across Uttarakhand, a week before the polling starts in the state on May 7.

A directive to this effect was issued by the state’s Chief Election Officer Radha Raturi after she released the final data of voters as per the revised voter lists in the five Lok Sabha constituencies of Uttarakhand, official sources said here today.

R R Patil visits constable injured in Sena-MNS clash

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Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil today visited the police constable, who is undergoing treatment in a private hospital here for grievous injuries he sustained during a clash among Sena and MNS supporters in suburban Trombay, police said.

Patil paid a visit to Joy Hospital in suburban Chembur at around 10 am to enquire about the health condition of constable Vikas Thorbole, who is admitted in the ICU, police said.

Patil was accompanied by Deputy Police Commissioner Gautam Lakhami and Trombay Senior Police Inspector Vijay Kadam.

Rajnath Singh meets ND Tiwari, seeks blessing

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BJP president Rajnath Singh, who is contesting from Lucknow parliamentary constituency, Saturday met veteran Congress leader ND Tiwari and “sought his blessings”.

Rajnath, who went to Tiwari’s residence here this morning, touched his feet and sought his blessings.

Tiwari was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh thrice.

“When I was in the state assembly, once after I made a speech, Tiwariji, who was then the Leader of Opposition, rose from his seat, called me, and said that you are the future of the state,” Rajnath told reporters after the meeting.

IOC announces another doping case from Sochi Games

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Latvian ice hockey player Ralfs Freibergs became the eighth athlete and third hockey player to fail the Sochi Olympics dope tests.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Friday that the 23-year-old provided a urine sample Feb 22 whose A and B samples indicated the presence of a prohibited substance. The IOC decided to disqualify Freibergs from the play-offs quarter-finals where Latvia lost to Canada 1-2 Feb 19, reports Xinhua.

The player was retroactively kicked out of the games and his diploma for placing eighth would be withdrawn.

Karimnagar locked in close fight among 3 Telangana big guns

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Sitting Congress MP from Karimnagar Ponnam Prabhakar is engaged in a keen contest against former Union Minister Vidyasagar Rao of BJP and TRS nominee B Vinod Kumar in the Lok Sabha elections.

Karimnagar was a hotbed during the agitation for separate Telangana and Prabhakar had been in the forefront of the stir. Telangana, which will become a full-fledged State on June 2, will vote on April 30.

He even took on the then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy for opposing the statehood demand.

Obama says would save Putin from drowning

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US president Barack Obama has reportedly said that he would save the Russian leader from drowning should the need arise.

When asked by a reporter, during a press conference in Seoul, Obama said that he used to be a pretty good swimmer as he grew up in Hawaii , The New York Post reports.

Obama however made it clear that his stand wasn’t out of any particular affection for the Russian leader and added that he would like to think that if anybody is out there drowning, he is going to save them. (ANI)

Shinde acted irresponsibly on getting Dawood back, says ex-home secretary

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Former home secretary R.K Singh on Saturday said Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had acted irresponsibly by saying that he would get India’ s most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim back to face trial.

“That Dawood Ibrahim is in Pakistan and it denies his existence in its soil is known to everyone. It would be extremely foolish to divulge in front of television any information to get back Dawood. Therefore, these irresponsible remarks coming from the Home Minister of this country is very unfortunate,” said Singh.

Man kidnaps wife from her workplace

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In a strange incident, a man allegedly kidnapped his wife from near her workplace in Kengeri on Friday.

Deepa, a resident of BTM Layout and Ajay, a resident of Yemlur, fell in love and got married a year ago. Initially, they had a cordial relationship but lately there were frequent fights between them, according to police.

Deepa decided to get separated from her husband and went to her mother’s house and was living an independent life. Deepa recently joined Sahana Nursing Home in Kengeri, as receptionist.

Baba Ramdev has insulted Dalits with his comment: K.C. Mittal

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Congress Party legal cell head K.C.Mittal, on Saturday said that what Baba Ramdev has said about Dalits is an insult to that community, and should be seen as a serious offence.

“It is a statement against the Dalit community. This statement is insult of the community as a whole. These are very serious offences under the Indian Penal Code and also under the SC/ST Act. He should be prosecuted and arrested. As a matter of fact, there is no provision for bail for someone violating the SC/ST Act. Whatever he has done is a serious offence,” Mittal said.

Akash missile test-fired successfully in Odisha

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India on Saturday successfully test fired the indigenously developed surface-to-air Akash missile as part of a user trial by the Indian Air Force (IAF) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-Sea near Balasore in Odisha.

“The sophisticated Akash missile was test-fired twice in quick succession from launch complex-3 of ITR at about 11.55 a.m. and 12 noon,” defence sources said.

ITR director M K V Prasad said the whole exercise was carried out as part of a user trial by the Indian Air Force.

Search for missing Malaysian plane enters 50th day

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The hunt for the crashed Malaysian jet today entered its 50th day with a robotic mini-submarine having scoured about 95% of the search area so far with still no sign of any wreckage.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has today planned a visual search area totaling approximately 57,311 square kilometres. The centre of the search area lies approximately 1,584 kilometres north west of Perth.

God save India from Gujarat model: Sonia

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Taking on BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi over his Gujarat development model, Congress president Sonia Gandhi Saturday said it has brought misery to various sections.

“Oh God, save the country from such a model. This is the only thing I can say,” Sonia Gandhi said while addressing an election rally in Punjab’s Barnala town in favour of Congress candidate Vijay Inder Singla for the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat.

UPA weak on national security: Jaitley

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Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley Saturday accused the UPA government of being weak on the issue of national security, adding that the defence ministry was “without direction”.

Jaitley, in a blog published Saturday, said the weak-kneed policy of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on national security “adversely impacts the mind set of those who hold national security as the priority issue”.

“The geopolitical realities compel us to analyse that any future aggression may see the build up of Pakistan and China axis,” he said.

Ramdev insulted Dalits, women: Congress

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Congress Saturday accused Ramdev of insulting Dalits and women, a day after the yoga guru said Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi visited Dalits’ homes “for honeymoon and picnic”.

“Yoga has a physical and spiritual dimension. The spiritual dimension is more important… How can someone call himself a yoga guru with this kind of mentality,” said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.