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By 2011, India to have 146,000 km new roads in villages: Minister

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New Delhi, September 15:India will have over 146,000 km of new roads connecting thousands of villages across the country by 2010-11, Rural Development Minister C.P. Joshi said Tuesday.

Giving details of the progress of his ministry in the last quarter and future targets, Joshi told reporters here: “On the basis of verification from the states, 54,648 habitations would be connected and the road length will be 146,185 km.”

The minister said the work on this was already in advanced stages and up to March this year, 31,924 habitations had already been connected.

Chhattisgarh freezes Bhilai Steel Plant’s bank account

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Raipur, September 15:The Chhattisgarh government has frozen the bank account of the Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), the flagship unit of the state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), for failing to clear tax dues.

The Bhilai unit has to pay Rs.408 crore to the state in tax dues, government officials said.

The account was frozen late Monday after the plant failed to meet a three-day deadline to clear the dues.

Sohail Khan fulfils his ?flying’ dreams

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Mumbai, September 15: Actor-producer Sohail Khan is all set to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming a pilot and is taking time off for flying lessons.

“It’s a childhood dream. And now that there’s some time I will complete my training,” Sohail, who has been taking flying lessons in Ujjain, told IANS.

Faisal Iqbal to lead Pakistan in Hong Kong Sixes

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Karachi, Sep 15 (IANS) Pakistan’s Test discard Faisal Iqbal will lead the national team in the Hong Kong Sixes Tournament 2009 starting Oct 31.

A nephew of former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad, Faisal recently led Pakistan A team on its tour of Sri Lanka.

The Pakistan team for the two-day Hong Kong Sixes event also includes former Pakistan Test opener Yasir Hameed.

Mian Munir, a veteran cricket administrator who is widely expected to take over as Pakistan team’s manager after the Champions Trophy, has been appointed the manager for the Hong Kong-bound team.

Central minister Kharge, top officials skip planters’ meet

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Coonoor (Tamil Nadu), September 15:The 116th annual conference of coffee, tea, spices and rubber planters here Tuesday got short shrift when chief guest Union Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge failed to turn up, disappointing the participants.

“The minister could not come as his flight from Bangalore to Coimbatore (about 75 km from here) got delayed by over two hours,” a senior official of the sector’s trade body United Planters’ of Southern India (UPASI) told IANS here.

Indian Foreign Secretary avoids Hindi controversy in Nepal

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Kathmandu, September 15:Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, whose two-day visit to Nepal witnessed two attempts by unidentified people to bomb the residence of Hindi-speaking Vice-President Paramananda Jha, Tuesday adroitly avoided fanning the controversy, choosing to answer all questions asked by journalists in English.

During her brief press conference before she departed for New Delhi, Rao was asked by a resident of Bihar whether she was struck by the changes in Nepal, a country she has been visiting since 1980 when she was a junior diplomat.

Ambitious target to construct 12 mn rural houses

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New Delhi, September 15:The government has set an ambitious target to construct as many as 12 million houses for rural poor during the next five years — nearly double those built between 2005 and 2009, Rural Development Minister C.P. Joshi said Tuesday.

Under the first phase of the Prime Minister’s Bharat Nirman programme, 6 million houses were to be constructed from 2005-06 to 2008-09 but the target was surpassed and over 7.1 million dwellings were built.

Huge cache of weapons recovered in Karachi

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Karachi, September 15: Police in Karachi Tuesday recovered a huge cache of weapons, including rocket launchers, and anti-tank mortars, foiling an apparent bid to carry out terror attacks in this port city of Pakistan.

The police recovered 17 hand grenades, nine rocket launchers, five anti-tank mortars, nine Kalashnikovs, and two jackets used in suicide bombings from a drain near Saeedabad police training centre Tuesday morning, Online news agency reported.

Sensex back in green, up 240 points

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Mumbai, Sep 15 (IANS) A key index of Indian equities markets, which opened higher Tuesday on strong global cues, made handsome gains in the afternoon led by realty and metal stocks and closed 240 points up from its previous closing.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 16,255.42 points, closed at 16,454.45 points, up 240.26 points or 1.48 percent.

The index after six consecutive winning sessions had ended 50 points lower Monday.

Delhi lawyer jailed for month for not vacating rented house

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New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS) The Delhi High court Monday sentenced a lawyer to one month in jail for not complying with its earlier order to vacate his rented apartment.

A division bench of Justice B.N. Chaturvedi and Justice G.S. Sistani held P.C. Srivastava guilty of contempt of court and also fined him Rs.2,000. Failure to pay the fine will result in 10 days of additional imprisonment.

Srivastava had taken a house on rent from Lalit Madan but did not vacate the premises on the expiry of their rent agreement.

District collector in Andhra down with swine flu

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Hyderabad, September 14: A district collector in Andhra Pradesh has got infected by influenza A(H1N1) even as the alarming spurt in swine flu has worried the state government.

Health Minister D. Nagender told reporters Monday that an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, who is a collector of a district, had tested positive for swine flu. He declined to reveal the official’s name.

However, TV channels reported that it was Nalgonda district collector S.A.M. Rizvi who was down with swine flu. He is being shifted to Hyderabad for treatment.

Marauding hyena found dead on outskirts of Ranchi

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Ranchi, September 14:A hyena which had created terror in villages around the Jharkhand capital, biting around 15 people in the last week, was found dead Sunday night, forest officials said Monday.

The hyena’s carcass was found from Hapadag forest on the outskirts of Ranchi Sunday night, the officials said, adding it had succumbed to injuries it suffered when the villagers attacked it.

Villagers in the area sighed with relief while many shouted “lakadbagga mar gaya (the hyena is dead)”. Some of the villagers Monday offered sweets to god Hanuman to celebrate.

Punjab to act against illegal water connections

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Chandigarh, September 14:People having illegal water connections in Punjab’s rural areas could soon find their supply drying up.

The Punjab water supply and sanitation department Monday warned people to immediately remove illegal water connections or be prepared to face legal action, as well as disconnection of supply.

The deadline to get the water supply connections legalised has been set for Oct 31 this year.

Sri Lanka, Reliance Industries in oil exploration talks

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New Delhi, September 14: The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries is in talks with the Sri Lankan government for exploring oil in the island country.

The government is “in talks with Reliance for petroleum exploration”, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Investment Promotion Navin Dissanayake told reporters here Monday.

Reliance Industries has shown interest in some oil blocks in the Munnar and Southern basins, he said.

Cairn Energy’s India unit has already invested around $400 million in a block in the Munnar fields.

Kashmiri Pandits ‘in exile’ tonsure heads in Delhi

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New Delhi, September 14: A group of Kashmiri Pandits living in Delhi tonsured their heads Monday to mark this day 20 years ago when a member of their community was shot dead by militants in Jammu and Kashmir triggering their exodus from the valley.

“On Sep 14, 1989, militants killed a Kashmiri Pandit in the heart of Srinagar. This sowed the seeds of our eviction from our homeland. This is a symbolic protest against injustice towards our community,” Kamal Hak, a Kashmiri Pandit living in Delhi, told IANS.

US should monitor aid to Pakistan: India

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New Delhi, September 14:A day after former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf’s confession about US aid being diverted against India, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor Monday asked Washington to monitor its aid to Islamabad.

‘We support countries helping Pakistan fighting against terrorism, but we do not expect the aid turned against us,’ Tharoor told reporters here.

The US should monitor its aid to Pakistan, he said, adding that Musharraf’s disclosure did not surprise India.

Musharraf’s revelation confirms India’s stand on misuse of US aid by Pakistan, he said.

People can bounce back from traumatic experiences like 9/11: Study

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Washington, September 14:People who live through an extreme traumatic experience such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks or an airplane crash often have the capacity to bounce back, says a new study.

most of them recover from devastating events, and even those who struggle with the experience can find some benefit from the experience despite the negative effects of the event in their lives.

Brain prods you into gorging on good food

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Washington, September 14:The brain prods you into splurging on an extra ice-cream scoop or that second burger, practically sabotaging your efforts to get back into shape, a new study says.

Findings from a new University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre (UTSMC) study suggest that fat from certain foods we eat makes its way to the brain.

There, these fat molecules cause the brain to send messages to the body’s cells, directing them to ignore the appetite-suppressing signals from leptin and insulin, hormones involved in weight regulation.

Dikshit satisfied but nervous about Games preparations

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New Delhi, September 14: The Delhi government was satisfied with the progress of the preparations for the Commonwealth Games in October 2010 but also nervous, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit admitted here Monday.

“We are satisfied but nervous about the preparations for the games. We will not allow them to suffer and we are also keeping all alternatives ready in case of delay in some of the projects,” Dikshit told reporters here.

Jayalalithaa supports DMK’s Alagiri on using Tamil

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Chennai, September 14: Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu assembly J. Jayalalithaa Monday supported the view of central Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister M.K. Alagiri of the state’s ruling DMK who has requested that he should be allowed to speak in Tamil in parliament.

The AIADMK general secretary said in a statement that the minister should be allowed to give his answers in Tamil during question hour in parliament and the replies can be translated into English or Hindi.

Pawar busy, no seat-sharing talks with Congress slated

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New Delhi, September 14: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar Monday said he was not meeting any Congress leader Monday and Tuesday to discuss seat-sharing for Maharashtra elections even as Congress chief Sonia Gandhi flew off to the state to start her campaigning.

“I am not scheduled to meet anybody (Congress leader) today or tomorrow knowing fully well about my commitments,” Pawar told reporters when asked about seat-sharing talks in Maharashtra.

Chandigarh NRI cell’s help eagerly sought by diaspora

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Chandigarh, September 14:In a span of less than one month since it was set up, the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) cell in Chandigarh has been eagerly sought by the diaspora, receiving as much as 40 complaints.

“Out of the 40 complaints that we have received so far, the majority are property disputes. We have already worked on 16 cases and sent our recommendations to the authorities concerned while the other 24 cases are lying pending with us,” Amar Dutt, a retired judge who heads the NRI cell, told reporters here Monday.

Musharraf left as part of deal: Pakistani leader

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Islamabad, Sep 14 (IANS) Former president and military ruler Pervez Musharraf left the country as part of a “deal” and would not return in the near future, Pakistan Muslim League (Q) secretary general Mushahid Hussain Syyed said.

Talking to mediapersons Sunday after an Iftar-dinner organised by PML-Q in the Pakistani city of Hyderabad, he said Pakistan cannot afford the politics of reprisal at this point in time.

The Islamabad police had Aug 10 registered a criminal case against Musharraf following the orders of Islamabad Additional Sessions Judge Mohammad Akmal Khan.

Apex court allocates poll symbols to MNS, others

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New Delhi, September 14:The Supreme Court Monday allocated election symbols to three registered but unrecognised political parties from Maharashtra including the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), brushing aside the Election Commission’s plea that the move would create practical problems for it.

A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice P. Sathasivam allocated ‘railway engine’, ‘whistle’ and ‘coconut’ as poll symbols to MNS, Bahujan Agadi and Jansurya Shakti for the Oct 13 assembly elections.