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.
London, July 01: Roger Federer motored into his 21st consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals with a 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) defeat of Ivo Karlovic at Wimbledon Wednesday.
Federer put forth an efficient effort in taming the towering Croatian in one hour and 42 minutes, with the Swiss now awaiting his last-four opponent.
Federer is now two victories away from setting the all-time mark for the most Grand Slam singles titles, 15, one more than himself and Pete Sampras currently hold. He levelled with the American by winning his first French Open last month.
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.
New Delhi, July 01: The body of a 32-year-old man was Wednesday found hanging from the ceiling with injury marks while his wife’s body was found in the same room of their home in west Delhi, police said.
Ashwini Kumar alias Sonu’s body was hanging from the ceiling fan with blood dripping from his wrist and neck in his Nihar Vihar house and his wife Shweta lay dead on the bed in the same room, police said.
The couple’s two sons, Hunny, 6, and Sunny, 4, first saw them and informed the neighbours.
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.
New Delhi, July 01: In a move to overcome the “overwhelming shortage” of doctors and paramedical staff, especially in the remote corners of India, the government Wednesday announced it would be offering “monetary incentives” to encourage them to go to places that lack basic health facilities.
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.
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.
Lucknow, July 01: Seeking to justify use of nearly Rs.3,200 crore (Rs.3.2 billion) of public funds for building grandiose memorials and statues of Dalit icons, including of herself, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Wednesday said the money earned from tourists visiting the spots will be used for development.
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.
Kolkata, July 01: The Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance in West Bengal continued its victory march and crushed the ruling Left Front (LF) in the urban civic body polls Wednesday.
Out of the 16 municipalities which went to the hustings Sunday, the opposition won in 13 while the LF triumphed in only three civic bodies.
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.
Hyderabad, July 01: The city police today nabbed four people, who were involved in brutal murder of a woman at Choutuppal in Nalgonda District two years back.
According to police, the accused burnt the body with an intention to destroy evidence. The case was not proved for the last two years for want of clues and identity of the deceased.
The accused Arshad had a love affair with Mariyam, sister of the victim Kanees Fatima, who had warned him of dire consequences.
She also told him that her parents had refused his marriage proposal with her sister.
New Delhi, July 01: Amid government moves for a re-look at the law on homosexuality, several Muslim leaders have said any attempt to legally permit unnatural sex is an attack on religious and moral values.
“Legalisation of homosexuality is an attack on Indian religious and moral values,” over a dozen prominent Muslim religious leaders said in a statement.
Srinagar, July 01: The Jammu and Kashmir government Wednesday ordered central paramilitary troopers to withdraw from the troubled Baramulla town, bordering Pakistan, where four youth were killed in firing allegedly by security forces this week.
Baramulla, on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road, 50 km from here, is the first town in the Kashmir Valley where police will fully take charge of the law and order situation.
Islamabad, July 01: Sectarian and militant violence has killed at least 43 people in Pakistan’s troubled northwest, officials said Wednesday.
Fighters from warring Shia and Sunni tribes in the country’s mountainous Kurram tribal district, which borders Afghanistan, targeted one another’s positions with machine guns and rocket fire in clashes that have intensified in the past two weeks.
‘According to the information we have gathered from our local sources, 30 people were killed from both sides in the clashes that took place in seven villages,’ a local intelligence official said.
Nanchang, 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.
Mumbai, July 01: International hotel chain Accor Wednesday opened Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach here, its third under the Novotel brand after Novotel Hyderabad Airport and Novotel Hyderabad.
Spread over 2.5 acres on the beach-front, Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach has 203 guest rooms, including 12 suites, a banquet area of 7,550 square feet, a 24-hour gymnasium, in-house spa, a beauty salon and a swimming pool.
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.
Jammu, July 01: At least three militants were killed in a gunbattle with the army in the mountainous Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir Wednesday afternoon, officials said.
The army troops surrounded the Milsu forest area of Doda district about 170 km northeast of Jammu following a tip-off about the presence of a group of militants there.
According to Brigadier General Staff of 16 Corps, Brig Gurdip Singh, the contact with the hiding militants was established Wednesday afternoon and three terrorists were killed in the operation.
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.
New Delhi, July 01: The United Progressive Alliance Government raised fuel prices on Wednesday with Petroleum Minister Murli Deora taking the decision after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi.
Petrol price was hiked by Rs 4 a litre while diesel got costlier by Rs 2 per litre. The prices will come into effect at 12 hrs IST on Thursday.
“The prices of kerosene and cooking gas are not being changed,” Deora said, adding the government will continue to incur a subsidy of Rs 15.26 per litre and Rs 92.96 per cylinder on these two fuels, respectively.
Mumbai, July 01: Pakistani gunman Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, lone captured accused in Mumbai terror attack case, laughed in a special court today when he was shown his photos taken on November 26 by a photojournalist.
During the deposition of photojournalist Shriram Vernekar, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam showed Kasab his photos clicked by the photographer, prompting the gunman to laugh.
Mumbai, July 01: SBI Life Insurance, today launched a new unit linked insurance plan–SBI Life Maha Anand for middle and low-income segments.
The product would be available at a premium starting from Rs 500 per month, the company said in a statement here.
“Available at a low premium entry level, Maha Anand offers an opportunity to large sections of society to participate in the entry markets and benefit by systematically investing over a long-term horizon,” SBI Life Managing Director and CEO, U S Roy, said.
Hyderabad, July 01: In a significant development, Mahindra Satyam today announced a series of organizational changes and initiatives aimed at sustaining the recovery and positioning of the company for long term growth.
Key aspects of the new Organization Design include integrating sales and delivery into a two-in-a-box collaborative model, strengthening industry verticals, regional focus, competency groups, aligning business consulting capabilities and rationalizing support functions into logical groups, a company release said.