Month: September 2009

HC acquits a man sentenced to life imprisonment

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New Delhi, September 01: The Delhi High court today exonerated a man sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly murdering his friend as the prosecution failed to prove his guilt.

A bench of Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Indermeet Kaur acquitted Mohd. Ahmed as the police failed to establish the cause of death.

The court refused to give credence to CSFL report which had confirmed that the deceased died of poisoning allegedly by Ahmed after noting that there was a gap of one and half years since the report was given.

Amnesty International criticises use of death penalty in Iraq

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London, September 01: At least 1,000 people are currently facing the death sentence in Iraq which has one of the highest rates of execution in the world, the human rights group Amnesty International said in a report Tuesday.

The report said 150 of the people under sentence of death had exhausted all legal remedies available and were therefore at serious risk of being hanged.

“Iraq now has one of the highest rates of execution in the world,” said the Amnesty report. It added that it had never been possible to ascertain the exact number of executions.

Digital mammography system inaugurated

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Chennai, September 01: A digital mammography system for early detection of breast cancer was inaugurated here today by Kanimozhi, DMK Rajya Sabha MP and daughter of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

Unveiling a plaque on the occasion at the Chennai Breast Centre, she said more such centres should be set up in rural areas for the benefit of women living there.

She lauded the initiative taken by Dr Selvi Radhakrishna Consultant Oncoplastic Breast Surgeon of the Centre in getting the system, reportedly the first in the city, installed.

Germany takes charge of UN coastal fleet in Lebanon

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New York, September 01: Germany has taken charge of the UN maritime task force (MTF) deployed off the coast of Lebanon following the Israel-Lebanon war in 2006, WAM news agency reported.

The naval force has been deployed at the request of the Lebanese government to secure the country’s territorial waters, according to the report Monday.

“The MTF has also contributed safe environment for commercial ships travelling to and from Lebanon,” Force Commander Major-General Claudio Graziano said at the handover ceremony from Italy to Germany.

Four of family attempt suicide in city

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Ahmedabad, September 01: Four members of a family including a nine-year-old boy allegedly attempted suicide by consuming poisonous substance in the Chankyapuri area of the city here today, police said.

The incident took place when one Mansukh Patel, along with his wife Majula and son Jignesh consumed some poisonous substance, they said.

According to police, Patel also made Ankit-9-, who is his brother’s son, comsume the substance.

Patel, before consuming the substance called up his relatives and informed them about what he was intending to do, they said.

Tata Motors may return Singur land, won’t block development

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Kolkata, September 01: Auto major Tata Motors, which pulled out its small car Nano project from Singur in West Bengal last October amid controversies, Tuesday said it would return the factory land to the state government if it was paid the money it had spent to set up the now-abandoned plant.

At the same time, it emphasised it would not stand in the way of any development on the land, the acquisition of which sparked off violent protests by a section of local farmers led by the main opposition party of the state, the Trinamool Congress.

Australia-India Institute launched

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New Delhi, September 01: Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard Tuesday announced funding of $8.1 million for setting up the Australia-India Institute at the University of Melbourne.

Gillard, who began her five-day visit to India Monday, said that Melbourne University, along with University of New South Wales and La Trobe University, will invest another $2 million to bring the total investment in the project to $10 million over the next three years.

HCC bags Rs.276-crore hydel project order

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Mumbai, September 01: Hindustan Construction Co (HCC) has bagged an order worth Rs.276.44 crore from the North Eastern Electric Power Co for constructing the Pare Hydel Power project in Arunachal Pradesh, it said in a regulatory statement.

HCC would be responsible for construction of a concrete gravity dam, spillway, coffer dam, diversion tunnel among a host of other construction related works. The company has to complete the project in 36 months.

—Agencies

Next round of talks with Gorkhaland activists in December

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New Delhi, September 01: The next round of talks with Gorkhaland activists will be held Dec 21 after a “positive outcome” of the previous rounds, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said here Tuesday.

Three rounds of talks have been held between the central government, the West Bengal government and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM). The third round Aug 11 was chaired by the home secretary.

“I may point out that the GJM leadership has been positive about the outcome of the talks. The next round of talks is planned Dec 21 at Darjeeling,” Chidambaram told reporters here.

40 militants killed, insurgents’ bases destroyed in Khyber

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Islamabad, September 01: Pakistan army today killed 40 militants, including two top commanders, in the restive Khyber tribal region bordering Afghanistan and destroyed four of their bases in a major operation against the banned Lashkar-e-Islam group.

The operation was launched this morning against elements who had challenged the writ of the government, Tariq Hayat Khan, Political Agent of the semi-autonomous tribal region, said.

‘No plan to construct shopping complexes near Mughal Gardens’

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Srinagar, September 01: Jammu and Kashmir Government today said that there was no proposal under its consideration to construct shopping complexes with parking areas near Mughal Gardens along the banks of Dal Lake.

Minister of state for Floriculture Javed Ahmed Dar said in reply to a question in the Legislative Council here said, “At present no proposal is under the consideration of the Government to construct shopping complexes with parking areas near the Mughal Gardens.”

Australia-India Institute launched

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New Delhi, September 01: Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Tuesday announced funding of $8.1 million for setting up the Australia-India Institute at the University of Melbourne.

Gillard, who began her five-day visit to India Monday, said that Melbourne University, along with University of New South Wales and La Trobe University, will invest another $2 million to bring the total investment in the project to $10 million over the next three years.

Tata Indicom launches ‘Pay Per Call’ plan in Gujarat

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Ahmedabad, September 01: Telecom major Tata Indicom today launched the unique ‘Pay Per Call’ plan that introduces fixed per call charges facility both for local and STD usage, regardless of the call duration.

“Our pre-paid subscribers will have to pay a fixed charge on per call basis after the national launch of this facility.

The local call charges will be Rs 1 and Rs 3 for STD, which is regardless of call duration,” Gujarat Circle, Chief Operating Officer Tata Indicom, Naveen Bhasin said.

ACB arrests forest officer in corruption case

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Hyderabad, September 01: A section officer of the forest department was arrested on charges of corruption by the officers of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Nizamabad district today.

L Prasad, forest section officer, was caught red-handed by the ACB officials at his residence at Gayatri Nagar in Mudakpally when he accepted a bribe of Rs 4,000 from a complainant, a release from ACB said.

The tainted amount of Rs 4,000 which was kept in the refrigerator was recovered, it said.

—Agencies

HC verdict on Judges assets declaration likely tomorrow

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New Delhi, September 01: The Delhi High Court is likely to pronounce its judgement tomorrow on the plea by the Supreme Court challenging Central Information Commissioner’s order which held that CJI’s office comes within the ambit of Right to Information Act and directed it to reveal information on judges’ assets.

The verdict would assume significance as the apex court has consistently maintained that CJI’S office does not come within the purview of RTI Act but under pressure from outside and within the judiciary, its judges have have agreed to make public their assets.

CSE index lose 49 points

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Kolkata, September 01: The Calcutta Stock Exchange today lost further ground with the benchmark index CSE-40 down 49.27 points.

It was down 18.13 points in the previous session.

The local bourse opened at 6846.89 then lost ground and ended the day at 6797.62.

The trading volume was at Rs 6.41 crore from trading of 22 scrips.

Blueprint Securities was at Rs 303.75 and Bolton Properties was at Rs 390.60. Larsen and Toubro at Rs 1559.90.

Reliance Industries was at Rs 2023 and State Bank of India was down to Rs 1735.40. Satyam Computers was at Rs 126.90 to end the day.

10 bridges to come up at railway crossings in the capital

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New Delhi, September 01: As many as ten bridges would come up at several level crossings in the national capital by April next year in order to ensure smooth traffic during the Commonwealth Games.

The structures are part of a Northern Railways’ plan to construct bridges at level crossings in the metropolis ahead of the sporting event.

The zone has taken up construction of as many as 26 bridges comprising both Road Over Bridges (ROB) and Road Under Bridges (RUB) and “as many as 10 of them would be completed by April next year”, according to a source in the Northern Railways.

At least nine killed, 24 injured in bus mishap in HP

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Sundernagar, September 01: At least nine passengers were killed and 24 others injured, when a private bus fell into a 100-metre deep gorge near Sundernagar sub-division of Mandi district late this evening, official sources said.

Nine dead bodies were recovered from the bus, while search operation is on, sources said.

The bus was on its way to Sundernagar from neighbouring Bilaspur district, when the mishap took place near Bhawana, about five kilometre from Sundernagar around 7.15 pm, sources added.

Amnesty International criticises use of death penalty in Iraq

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London, September 01: At least 1,000 people are currently facing the death sentence in Iraq which has one of the highest rates of execution in the world, the human rights group Amnesty International said in a report Tuesday.

The report said 150 of the people under sentence of death had exhausted all legal remedies available and were therefore at serious risk of being hanged.

“Iraq now has one of the highest rates of execution in the world,” said the Amnesty report. It added that it had never been possible to ascertain the exact number of executions.

RSS trains guns on Advani; holds him responsible for LS defeat

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New Delhi, September 01: After sending out a stern message to crisis-ridden BJP to put its house in order, RSS has trained its guns on senior leader L K Advani, holding him responsible for the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha elections.

The RSS, which has been building pressure on BJP to end its internal bickerings and is favouring younger leadership, feels it was a blunder to project Advani as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and making the party’s poll campaign Advani-centric.

Doctors may operate on infant with protruding heart Thursday

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New Delhi, September 01: Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Tuesday said that the condition of the six-day-old baby with a protruding heart is “stable” and that they may perform a cardiac surgery on him Thursday.

“The baby is alright and we will perform a second exchange blood transfusion on the baby Wednesday to rule out any infection. We may do a cardiac surgery upon him Thursday,” A.K. Bisoi, a cardiologist and additional professor at the cardiothoracic and vascular surgery department of AIIMS, told IANS.

Ansal Properties to raise Rs.203 crore

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Mumbai, September 01: Realty company Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Tuesday said that it would raise Rs.203 crore through issue of shares and warrants on preferential basis.

The company will raise funds by issuing up to 1.65 crore warrants to promoters and promoter-groups, as well as 1.26 crore equity shares of Rs.5 each on preferential basis to IPRO Funds of Mauritius, the company said in a regulatory statement.

—Agencies

Khosla upsets Kidambi in Kolkata Open Grandmaster chess

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Kolkata, September 01: Thirteen-year-old Shiven Khosla of India pulled off an upset win over Grandmaster Sundararajan Kidambi in the opening round of the fourth Kolkata Open Grandmaster chess tournament here Tuesday.

Khosla, the reigning Asian under-14 champion, accounted for his fancied compatriot in only 20 moves of a Ruy Lopez game that saw Kidambi blundering a piece on the 17th move to throw in the towel a little later.

Air India Blue-ITC match of Corporate Cup rescheduled

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Mohali, September 01: The inaugural Group A Corporate Cup cricket match between Air India (Blue) and ITC has been rescheduled after play was rained out at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium here Tuesday.

The 50-over match will now be played Friday.

“Both the captains have agreed to reschedule the match,” PCA joint secretary G.S. Walia told IANS.

It rained heavily early in the morning and then drizzled at intervals till afternoon.

The weatherman predicted similar conditions in the coming days as well.

Maoists kill two villagers in Chhattisgarh

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Raipur, September 01: Maoist guerrillas killed two villagers in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district Tuesday, accusing them of being police spies, police said.

Some 50 rebels, including several women, came to Bijepar village and killed the two, in their late 20s, in front of the other people, district police chief Praveer Das said.

Some villagers who tried to intervene were beaten up, he said, adding that police have launched a drive in the forested stretches around the village to apprehend the Maoists.

Rajnandgaon district, bordering Maharashtra, is 175 km from Raipur.