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Trial Of Musharraf Will Be Decided By Parliament: Superem Court

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Islamabad, July 30: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has declared that the court’s responsibility is to remain “neutral” and to trial Musharraf for his alleged rebellion against the state is the job of another “forum”

The CJ was commenting on the stance of former president Supreme Court Bar Association Hamid Khan who continued his arguments in the case of ad hoc judges’ appointment in Sindh High Court here Thursday.

Dawood Ibrahim’s Hand Over To India Denied By Pak: SM Krishna

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New Delhi, July 30: India has been asking Pakistan to hand over 42 fugitives including Dawood Ibrahim but Islamabad has refused to cooperate, foreign
minister S M Krishna told Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Replying to questions, he said a list of 42 fugitives both Indian and Pakistani nationals, including ones involved in the 1993 Mumbai series bomb blasts and the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, has been given to Islamabad.

Krishna said whatever evidence and dossier is given, Pakistan’s refrain is that it is not enough and cannot be proven in court of law.

Chandrayaan doing fine: Nair

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Chennai, July 30: India’s Moon mission spacecraft ‘Chandrayaan’, which developed a technical snag following failure of one of its star sensors, is doing fine and a review meeting would be held in September, ISRO Chairman Madhavan Nair said on Wednesday.

“Chandrayaan is doing fine,” Nair said on the sidelines of a function organised to launch the ‘Integrated GIS and Image Processing Software’ developed by Scanpoint Geomatics in partnership with ISRO.

Yahoo!, Microsoft in Web search, ad partnership

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Washington, July 30: Yahoo! and Microsoft, after months of negotiations, unveiled a 10-year Web search and advertising partnership on Wednesday that sets the stage for a joint offensive against Internet titan Google.

Under the no-cash deal, Yahoo! will use Microsoft’s new Bing search engine on its own sites while Yahoo! will provide the exclusive global sales force for the companies’ premium search advertisers.

AICTE chairman suspended over graft case

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New Delhi, July 30: Facing graft charges, Chairman of All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) R A Yadav was on Wednesday suspended by the government to ensure that the probe into the criminal offence lodged against him by the CBI is not influenced.

Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal took the step after Yadav, appointed as the chairman of the premier regulatory body in 2008, defied the Ministry’s instruction to step down or go on leave in view of the inqury against him in the case filed by CBI early this month.

Mehbooba tears CBI letter in J&K Assembly

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Srinagar, July 30: Pandemonium reigned in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly for the third straight day on Wednesday with PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti tearing a copy of a CBI letter clearing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s name in the 2006 sex scandal case and alleged a cover-up.

As the chaos continued, a privilege motion against senior PDP leader Muzzafar Hussain Beigh who levelled the allegation against Omar on Tuesday triggering a controversy was admitted by Speaker Akbar Lone. Omar, who made a conditional resignation yesterday, was not present in the Assembly.

Share prices mask uncertain India economy outlook

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New Delhi, July 30: India’s corporate profits have shot up and share prices have rocketed but Asia’s third-largest economy is not out of the woods yet, analysts say.

In fact, the central bank this week forecast just six percent growth for the current fiscal year, down from last year’s 6.7 percent — the weakest since 2003. The forecast is also a percentage point below the government’s estimate.

India’s economic recovery has not yet “reached what might be termed a self-sustaining phase,” said HSBC economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde.

Twitter, Facebook make Afghan poll debut

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Kabul, July 30: Afghans may be desperately poor, largely illiterate and without electricity, but that does not stop would-be presidents campaigning in cyber space on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Mimicking tactics made famous by US President Barack Obama, one of the top contenders to rule Afghanistan “tweets” on hot micro-blogging service Twitter and has a flashy website where supporters can make donations.

Microsoft and Yahoo ‘close to alliance’

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Washington, July 29: Microsoft appears to have finally locked up rival Yahoo in a long-awaited internet search partnership aimed at narrowing Google’s commanding lead in the most lucrative piece of the online advertising market.

The details of the Microsoft-Yahoo alliance are expected to be announced Wednesday local time, according to The Wall Street Journal and a technology blog affiliated with the newspaper, All Things D, which both cited undisclosed people familiar with the discussions.
–Agencies

Surprise Visit To Nadra Centre: PM

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Islamabad, July 29: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani Wednesday paid a surprise visit to National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) centre here and directed the staff on duty to increase the number of counters to entertain maximum number of applicants at a time.

In his visit to the Nadra centre at Sector G-8/4, the Prime Minister inquired the people standing in long queues about the problems they faced in applying for the Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs).

B’desh takes one day series from West Indies

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Roseau, July 29: Half-centuries from Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Ashraful trumped a maiden One-day International hundred from Travis Dowlin, and inspired Bangladesh to a three-wicket win over West Indies in the second ODI to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series.

Shakib, the Bangladesh captain, struck 65 from 61 balls to earn the Man-of-the-Match award, and his predecessor as skipper Ashraful scored 64 from 77 balls, as the Tigers successfully chased 275 in the match at Windsor Park on Tuesday.

Nigerian troops bid to rout Islamist sect

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Maiduguri, July 29: Fighting raged for a fourth day running in northern Nigeria on Wednesday as troops tracked down remnants of an Islamist sect after clashes that have left at least 250 dead.

Sounds of gunfire were heard through the night in Maiduguri city, the base of the self-styled Nigerian Taliban, following orders from President Umaru Yar’Adua for the armed forces to crush the movement “once and for all”.

I am not dating Chris Brown, says Rihanna

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Los Angeles, July 29: Umbrella hitmaker Rihanna has dismissed reports that she has secretly rekindled her romance with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown. The former couple sparked romance rumours when they recently checked into the same hotel, but the R&B superstar insists that it was nothing but a mere “coincidence”, Access Hollywood reported.

10,000 disappeared in China: Uighur leader

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Tokyo, July 29: Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer said Wednesday that nearly 10,000 people “disappeared in one night” during ethnic unrest in the Chinese city of Urumqi early this month.

“Close to 10,000 people in Urumqi disappeared in one night. Where did those people go?” she said in Japan, speaking in her native language through a translator. “If they died, where did they go?”

Kadeer, 62, the US-based head of the World Uighur Congress, charged that “the Chinese government is trying to destroy the Uighur people. I want to tell the international community about our situation.”

Superem Court Upholds RK Anand’s Conviction In BMW Case

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New Delhi, July 29: In a historic judgement, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of advocate RK Anand for contempt of court by attempting to influence controversial witness Sunil Kulkarni in the infamous BMW hit-and-run case.

The three-judge Bench of Justices BN Agrawal, GS Singhvi and Aftab Alam, however, set aside the conviction of Special Public Prosecutor IU Khan. The court although termed his conduct as improper but said there is no ground of a contempt of court case against him.

Flintoff joins space race to boost England’s Ashes quest

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Edgbaston, July 29: Andrew Flintoff, who has already performed like a man hardly of this earth in the Ashes series, is using space technology to ensure his continued participation. The man who is determined to defy the strains of his body to play the next three matches has been sleeping with a machine designed by Nasa.

UK troops forced out of Iraq as mandate expires

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Baghdad, July 29: Six years and four months after the invasion of Iraq almost all remaining British forces are leaving the country quietly, without any ceremony.

To the embarrassment of the UK Government, the 150 military personnel are having to relocate to Kuwait after the Iraqi parliament failed to ratify an agreement by Friday. Without this accord the troops do not have any legal right to stay on.

Chidambaram to ‘clarify’ Kashmir sex scandal controversy: CBI

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New Delhi, July 28: Home Minister P. Chidambaram is likely to make a statement in parliament on the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) probe into a 2006 sex scandal that created a storm in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly Tuesday with the PDP alleging that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was also involved, officials here said.

As a political crisis gripped Jammu and Kashmir after Abdullah submitted his resignation, the CBI said it would not react immediately on whether his name figured in the case.

Banks lead in keeping Sensex low

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Mumbai, July 28: Banks, FMCG firms, refiners and IT companies pulled the benchmark Sensex down by another 43.10 points despite firm Asian cues amid sustained capital inflows and the announcement of monetary policy by the apex bank.

The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer moved in a range of 15,463.46 and 15,240.53 before ending the day at 15,331.94, a fall of 0.28 per cent over its previous close.

I will go to Parliament only from Bihar: Paswan

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Patna, July 28: Putting to rest speculation over his entry to Parliament with the Congress support from Delhi, LJP president Ramvilas Paswan today declared that he would choose to go to Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha “only from Bihar”.

“There is no substance in the speculation over my entry to Parliament with the backing of the Congress in Delhi. I will choose to go to either of the Houses of Parliament only from Bihar,” Paswan told reporters here.

Condemning yesterday’s lathicharge on an LJP procession here, he said the party workers would stage a sit-in here tomorrow in protest.

Indian drug peddler jailed for life in Bangladesh

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Dhaka, July 28: An Indian drug peddler found in possession of heroin has been jailed for life along with two Bangladeshis by a court in Khulna, a town in the west of the country.

A kg of the drug was seized from Indian national Tarak Debnath and his hosts, Alamgir Hossain and Jahangir Alam, in March last year, The Daily Star said Tuesday.

Debnath, who carried the heroin from India, was picked up from Alamgir’s house.

Illegal drugs are one of the more lucrative items smuggled across the 4,300 km border between Bangladesh and India.
–IANS

No decision on I-cards in rest of country: Maken

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New Delhi, July 28: Government today said it was yet to take a decision on issuing identity cards to usual residents in the rest of the country.

Based on the experience of the pilot project on Multi- purpose National Identity Card, the government has proposed to create a National Population Register (NPR) in the country along with 2011 census, Minister of State for Home Ajay Maken told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

Khel Ratna, Arjuna prize money increased

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New Delhi, July 28: The Government has hiked the prize money for annual sporting honours, including Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards.

The Khel Ratna recipient will walk away with Rs 7.5 lakh this time, which is Rs 2.5 lakh more than the previous amount.

Those conferred with Dronacharya, Dhyanchand and Arjuna awards will each get Rs 2 lakh more from this year as their prize money has been increased to Rs 5 lakh, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Pratik Prakashbapu Patil told the Lok Sabha today in a written reply to a question.

Pak President Asif Ali Zardari Will Visit Tajikistan

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Dubai, July 28: President Asif Ali Zardari will visit Tajikistan from today to attend two regional summits.

During his two days visit President Asif Ali Zardari would meet Tajik president Enomali Rahman and discuss the matters related to expansion of bilateral trade ties between the two countries and import of electricity from Tajikistan to Pakistan.

A trilateral summit of Tajikistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan and a quadrilateral summit of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Russia will be held during the visit.

Rape allegations against MNS workers a conspiracy: Raj

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Mumbai, July 28: Terming rape allegations against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activists a conspiracy, party chief Raj Thackeray today said “efforts are on to misguide our youth and women voters ahead of Assembly polls”.

“This (rape allegation) is a conspiracy ahead of Assembly elections,” Raj said, addressing a meeting of party functionaries at Matunga in central Mumbai.