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ACB unearths Rs. 3 cr. assets from Co-op MD

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Hyderabad, July 04: A BMW car was among the assets unearthed from S. Amurthaiah, Managing Director, A. P. Physically Handicapped Cooperative Corporation, during searches conducted by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) here.

The searches resulted in unearthing of assets worth over Rs.3.16 crore. They included two houses, one each at Habsiguda and Nacharam, a flat at Seri Lingampally, 25 acres land in Shahbad and 18 plots. The immovable properties were worth Rs.1.36 crore. Their market value was Rs.6 crore.

Angered Islamic cleric calls Carla Bruni-Sarkozy a prostitute

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London, July 01: In a bid to hit back at French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s attempts to ban the burka, a crazed Islamic cleric named Anjem Choudary has branded his wife Carla Bruni a prostitute.

In a bid to hit back at Nicolas Sarkozy’s attempts to ban the burqa, an Islamic cleric has branded his wife Carla Bruni a prostitute.

It may be recalled that while addressing Parliament recently, Sarkozy had said wearing the burka was not welcome in France, sparking strong reactions from Muslim communities around the world.

Muslim board to discuss Liberhan report July 12

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Lucknow, July 01: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) Wednesday said its members would discuss the Babri Masjid probe report in its executive body meet at Kozhikode July 12.

“Even though the (Liberhan) Commission has taken 17 years instead of three months to submit its report, we would still like to know what the report has to say about the martyrdom of the 16th century Babri Masjid,” senior board member Maulana Khalid Rasheed told IANS here.

Pakistanis turn against militants, but view US unfavourably: Poll

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Islamabad, July 01: Most Pakistanis consider the Taliban and Al Qaeda militants as threat to the country, but still do not regard the US and President Barack Obama as friends, a poll showed Wednesday.

The poll conducted by the Programme on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland last month found that those considering actions of militants as dangerous for Pakistan rose from 34 percent to 81 percent since late 2007.

Varun Gandhi’s election challenged by his uncle

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Allahabad, July 01: A petition was filed in the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday challenging the election of BJP leader Varun Gandhi from Pilibhit Lok Sabha seat for allegedly seeking votes by spreading hatred against members of a particular community.

Congress candidate from Pilibhit VM Singh, who is also the maternal uncle of Varun Gandhi, has filed the election petition.

Landslides kill 11 in China

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Nanchang (China), July 01: At least 11 people were killed Wednesday in landslides caused by rainstorms in China’s Jiangxi and Guizhou provinces, officials said.

Rainstorms have hit the eastern Jiangxi and southwestern Guizhou provinces since Sunday, triggering landslides at several places Wednesday.

Two people were killed when a house collapsed in Huashan village in Jiangxi.

According to weather officials, the rain will continue till Friday.

The authorities have ordered the local officials to remain alert for floods and landslides.

Stealth attack looms for Wimbledon night play

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London, July 01: Profit-minded Wimbledon officials are laying the groundwork for future night matches at the hallowed home of grass, driven by the lure of a massive increase in television income.

Andy Murray’s Monday win which ended at 10:30 p.m. to start the week opened the floodgates, with the new roof and lights put to the test. And now, officials are rolling back the vow that the event is “daytime-only”.

The payoff: Up a reported $10 million additional television income for the richest event on the calendar.

India to provide online education to students in Lesotho

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New Delhi, July 01: India Wednesday inked an agreement with Lesotho to provide online education to students of the southern African country, the government said in a statement.

The Rs.543-crore (about $110 million) project, funded by the external affairs ministry, will be implemented by the state-owned Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL) on a turnkey basis.

“The signing of country agreement with Lesotho is an example of south-south cooperation,” said Minister of State for Communications and IT Gurudas Kamat.

India wants concrete anti-terror action from Pakistan before Egypt meet

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New Delhi, July 01: Ahead of the meeting between Indian and Pakistani leaders in Egypt mid-July, India Wednesday said it is not “afraid to talk” to Pakistan but wants Islamabad to take “concrete and visible action” against the perpetrators of the Mumbai carange before deciding on resuming the dialogue.

Mahindra’s tractor sales up 52 percent in June

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Chennai, July 01: Automobile manufacturer Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) Wednesday said its tractor sales jumped 52 percent last month to 18,243 units from 12,008 units sold in the like period last year.

The company’s domestic sales went up from 11,054 tractors in June 2008 to 17,811 last month, while exports fell from 954 units to 432, it said in a statement.

Sukhbir Badal resigns as Punjab deputy chief minister

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Chandigarh, July 01: Sukhbir Singh Badal resigned as Punjab deputy chief minister Wednesday, less than six months after being sworn in as second in command to his father Parkash Singh Badal.

Chief Minister Badal confirmed that his son had put in his papers. He did not say when he would forward the resignation for acceptance by the Punjab governor.

Badal junior resigned as he could not get himself elected to the Punjab assembly within six months of being sworn in.

IITs should start courses in medicine and law: Sibal

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New Delhi, July 01: Seeking to take forward reforms in education, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday asked the IITs to expand into new areas like medicine and law and evolve a framework in this regard.

Interacting with the IIT directors in the Capital, Sibal said the institutes need to explore the possibility of having multiple campuses, good connectivity and courses with multi-disciplinary approach.

Qaida warns France of revenge over burqa stance

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Dubai, June 30: Al-Qaida’s North Africa wing threatened on Tuesday to take revenge on France for its opposition to the burqa, calling on Muslims to retaliate
against the country, the US monitoring service SITE Intelligence reported.

France President Nicolas Sarkozy had said earlier this month that the burqa, which covers the whole face, was not welcome in the strictly secular country.

Bogus cards in A.P.: all-party meet sought

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Hyderabad, June 30: A round-table of various political parties held here on Monday adopted a resolution seeking an all-party meeting on weeding out bogus cards so that not a single deserving person was deprived of white ration card.

Bollywood can come to Kashmir if people support: Subhash Ghai

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Chandigarh,June 30: Filmmaker Subhash Ghai says Bollywood would love to return to Kashmir once again provided the industry gets ”people’s support”. ”Political will is there, but till the time people support us, things cannot change,” Ghai said in an interview here.

The director, famously known as showman for his blockbusters like ‘Karz’, ‘Kalicharan’ and ‘Taal’, said that the situation in the militancy-hit state had improved considerably.

When Michael Jackson came to Manikganj

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London, June 30: In the year 2000 I was directing a documentary on the impact of satellite television in South Asia. The skies had opened up with the ‘dish’ technology over this region and, in turn, it had opened the floodgates for a new cultural universe.

Top Manipuri actress arrested for terror links

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Imphal, June 30: Popular Manipuri actress Urikhinbam Devita was arrested by police on charges of terror links after she was caught from a hotel room in New Delhi with a top separatist leader, police said here Tuesday.

A police spokesperson said the award winning 24-year-old film star was arrested from Imphal airport Monday evening upon her return from New Delhi.

“Devita was arrested and is being interrogated,” the official said without elaborating on the nature of her crime.

Anand Model should be replicated for inclusive growth

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Mumbai, June 30: Traditional growth models are the legacy of the industrialization era that started a couple of centuries ago. The approach meant leveraging lowest cost resources with an aim of maximizing benefits to the owners of the enterprise. It is apparent now that pursuing a growth model that brings prosperity to a few while leaving the majority out of the ambit of its benefits is only furthering the gap between the haves and have not. There is a need to change that for inclusive growth, and the ‘Anand experience’ provides an excellent model.

Iran Council confirms Ahmadinejad election victory

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Tehran, June 29: Iran’s top legislative body confirmed on Monday the results of a disputed June 12 election which was won by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
state broadcaster IRIB reported.

“The secretary of the Guardian Council in a letter to the interior minister announced the final decision of the Council … and declares the approval of the accuracy of the results of … the presidential election,” IRIB said.

The Council decision followed a partial recount of the election.

–Agencies

No Salman Khan for Katrina’s birthday?

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Mumbai, June 29: After last year’s bad experience, Katrina Kaif has decided to celebrate her birthday with her family in London. The actress is looking forward to meeting her family, but didn’t reveal whether beau Salman Khan will be with her or not.

Katrina will turn 25 on July 16 and this time the actress, who is said to be under a lot of external and internal pressure, is determined to make her birthday a happy, stress-free and comfortable occasion.

Deoband says Gay sex is against tenets of Islam

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Muzaffarnagar, June 29: A leading Islamic seminary on Monday opposed Centre’s move to repeal a controversial section of the penal law which criminalises
homosexuality saying unnatural sex is against the tenets of Islam.

“Homosexuality is an offence under Shariat Law and haram (prohibited) in Islam,” deputy vice chancellor of the Darul Uloom Deoband Maulana Abdul Khalik Madrasi said.

Madrasi also asked the government not to repeal section 377 of IPC which criminalises homosexuality.

Woman, lover commit suicide in Hyderabad

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Hyderabad, June 28: A 25-year-old woman and her lover “committed suicide” after their family reportedly opposed their affair, at a park in the posh Banjara Hills area here, police said on Sunday.

The victims were identified as Laxmipati (29) and Farida Begum (25), both natives of Narayanpet in Mahabubnagar district, police said adding the duo came to Jalagam Vengala Rao park here and committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance either late last night or this morning.

Terror Threat: Rakshak cops in city given arms

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Hyderabad, June 28: The daring daylight attacks on policemen in two separate incidents in the last seven months have forced the city police to arm its men on
patrolling vehicle, Rakshak, with guns.

Surprisingly, till date the policemen on beat duty and in Rakshaks do not carry even a baton. The attack on two counter intelligence sleuths in Santoshnagar in December last year and the shooting down of a home guard in Falaknuma last month have woken the police to the changing realities in the city that has reportedly become a hub for many criminals and terrorists.

No drought-like situation in the country: Pawar

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New Delhi, June 28: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Sunday said there is no drought-like situation in the country due to a delay in the onset of monsoon rains.

“There is no drought-like situation in the country due to delay in monsoons and the loss would be more than made up for in the rains during July and August,” Pawar said. He also denied rumours of a price rise, adding that food procurement was better this year compared to last year.

Madrasa adopts English as medium of instruction

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Thiruvananthapuram, June 28: A Madrasa boarding school in Kerala is planning to change its language of instruction from Arabic to English. The step has been taken in an effort to make students and others interpret Islam correctly.