Month: September 2009

US Consul General on Shillong visit

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Shillong, September 01: Meghalaya can be a role model to the whole world in Forest Conservation, US Consulate General in Kolkata, Beth A Payne said here today.

Payne, who met chief minister D D Lapang this evening, said she is impressed with the clean environment and the forest cover that Meghalaya enjoys and felt that the state can be a role model to the world in forest conservation.

Payne is on a three day visit to Meghalaya looking for avenues of expanding the Indo-US relationship in different parts of India following the strategic dialogue between the US and India.

Nagarjuna bags projects worth Rs.481 crore

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Mumbai, September 01: Hyderabad-based construction company Nagarjuna Construction on Tuesday said it has bagged infrastructure related projects worth Rs.481 crore.

The company has bagged an order worth Rs.449 crore from the Bihar government for a canal project and an order worth Rs.32 crore from tyre maker MRF for construction of a tyre plant, it said in a regulatory statement.

—Agencies

Tripura assembly to sent all party delegation

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Agartala, September 01: Tripura Assembly today unanimously resolved to send an all party delegation to Delhi for convincing the Centre to set up a separate High Court for the state.

Replying to a notice brought by ruling CPI(M), MLA , Pabitra Kar, Chief Minister, Manik Sarkar said, before the princely Tripura joined India on October 15, 1949 there was a judicial commission court in the state which was equivalent to a High Court.

Rains continue in north; UP flood situation improves

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New Delhi, September 01: Most parts of north India continued to receive rains today even as flood situation in Uttar Pradesh improved with major rivers receding.

Barring Sharda and Rapti, all other major rivers including Ganga, Yamuna and Ghaghra, were flowing much below the danger mark in Uttar Pradesh. In Gorakhpur district, 240 villages are waterlogged.

Over 1.22 lakh people from 1,537 flood-hit villages in the state had been shifted to safer places.

Nagpur police arrest five persons in gangrape case

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Nagpur, September 01: The city police have arrested five persons including two teenaged boys in connection with a gangrape of a 27 year old married woman in MHADA colony, Jaripatka, police said today.

Police said the woman from Shivangaon on city outskirt who was abandoned by her husband was picked by one Deva Ramteke aged 21 years. She was kept at a room in MHADA colony where Deva first raped her and later by the four others.

The incident took place between Aug 20 to 31 and the victim lodged a complaint with police last night.

South India’s largest mall to be ready next year

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Chennai, September 01: The first phase of the 1.8 million sq. ft. Rs.750 crore Express Avenue, billed to be south India’s largest shopping mall cum commercial and hospitality complex, is expected to be ready here early next year.

“The first phase will have 11 lakh sq.ft. retail space and will house about 260 retailers – anchor retailers like Lifestyle, Future Group – and others, food court, multiplex theatres,” R.R. Aroonkumar, chief financial officer of Express Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, told IANS Tuesday.

HC gives man compensation of Rs 1 Lakh, rebukes lower courts

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Mumbai, September 01: Bombay High Court today compensated a man admitting that he had to spend seven years in jail despite he was acquitted in a rape and murder case.

Saying that Bapu Mali (40) had to spend seven years in the prison even after his acquittal due to the lapse committed by sessions court, division bench of Justice Bilal Nazki and A R Joshi awarded him the compensation of Rs one lakh.

In future, the court said, if the norms laid down by High Court in such cases were not followed, the lower court judges would face action for contempt of court.

EC issues directions to Haryana Govt to stop publicity

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Chandigarh, September 01: Taking a “serious note” of Haryana Government carrying out publicity of its achievements through advertisements in electronic and print media, the Election Commission today issued “directions that this entire process of publicity be stopped immediately.”

Chief Electoral Officer of Haryana Sajjan Singh here said that EC had issued the directions after it was brought to its notice that “the (Bhupinder Singh Hooda) government is carrying out publicity of its achievements by issuing advertisements in the electronic and print media at the cost of the state exchequer.”

Lockheed Martin to fund Delhi undergrads’ next-gen UAV

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New Delhi, September 01: Impressed by the talent of a group of engineering undergraduates who won top honours at an international competition for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), US aerospace major Lockheed Martin announced Tuesday it would fund their efforts to create a new generation machine that would have civilian and military applications.

Bhardwaj to double up as Andhra governor

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New Delhi, September 01: Karnataka Governor H.R. Bhardwaj will also discharge the functions of his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N.D. Tiwari, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said Tuesday.

This will be in addition to his own duties, said an official statement here.

–Agencies

Digvijay not sure about cause of injury

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Bhopal, September 01: Congress General Secretary, Digvijay Singh said today that he did not know whether he was injured in stone-throwing or police lathi charge today in Rajgarh.

Singh told PTI that he was, however, sure that a police lathi charge had taken place and several party workers and one Congress MLA had been injured.

Asked if he would leave for new Delhi from here by plane tonight, he said that this had not been decided as yet.

Singh however said that he has plans to go to Varanasi tomorrow and hopes to reach there in time.

—Agencies

Astronaut takes a second, closer look at Brahmaputra

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Guwahati, September 01: US astronaut Mike Fincke Tuesday took a close look here at the river Brahmaputra, which he had viewed from space some months ago.

“I saw the Brahmaputra from space. Today I have seen it with my own eyes. It is indeed a pleasure to be by the side of this great river,” Fincke told IANS.

Fincke and his wife Renita, an engineer with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), arrived here to attend a series of functions.

The visit is special for the couple as Renita originally hails from Assam.

Indian films galore at Toronto fest, NFDC film to participate

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New Delhi, September 01: Joining the league of commercial Hindi films like “Road Movie”, “Delhi-6”, “What’s Your Raashee?” and “Dil Bole Hadippa” being screened at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the latest one to gain entry at the fest is NFDC’s Konkani film “The Man Beyond The Bridge”.

Directed by National Award-winning Laxmikant Shetgaonkar, the Konkani feature film will be screened under the Discovery Section of the fest and will have a total of five screenings during the gala.

Shop till you drop during Fashion Night Out

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New Delhi, September 01: If you love shopping, then the Fashion Night Out being organised by an international magazine Sep 10 is definitely the place you should be heading to.

International fashion magazine Vogue has initiated this shop-till-you-drop Fashion Night Out in almost every fashion capital around the world from London to Paris, to New York to Milan, Beijing and now to New Delhi.

During the event, various international luxury brands will offer exciting discounts, prizes and various services like free foot spa, tarot card reading and in-house styling tips.

Punjab to have World Kabaddi League in February

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Chandigarh, September 01: In a bid to revive traditional sports, the Punjab government is all set to organise a ‘World Kabaddi League’ in February 2010 featuring top teams.

“There will be a record prize money of Rs.10 million (Rs.1 crore) and Rs. 5 million (Rs. 50 lakh) and Rs. 2.5 million (Rs. 25 lakh) to the first and second runners-up. It would be the biggest tournament of kabaddi,” said the official spokesperson of Punjab here Tuesday.

Commonwealth suspends Fiji

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London, September 01: Fiji was Tuesday suspended from the Commonwealth after its military rulers failed to commit themselves to staging elections this year.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said the Pacific island-state stands “fully suspended from membership of the Commonwealth with immediate effect”.

“This is an announcement I make with deep regret – it is a step the Commonwealth is now obliged to take, and one that it takes in sorrow,” said Sharma.

Lovers end life fearing village elders

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Haryana, September 01: Two young lovers ended their lives in a suicide pact, fearing resistance to their affair from the village elders, police said here.

Ritu and her lover Jaildar hailed from village Bosti near Tohana in this district. Students of a local college, both were deeply in love with each other, they said.

“Perhaps because they belonged to the same village and because of the ‘bhaichara’ (brotherhood) which exists between the villagers, they feared that village elders will not approve their marriage and decided to end their lives,” a police official said.

Kolkata Open chess meet in deep financial blues

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Kolkata, September 01: Though it has one of the strongest fields ever seen in a chess tournament in Asia, the organisers of the fourth Kolkata Open Grandmasters tournament here are faced with an acute financial crisis for want of sponsors.

As the tournament which features two Super Grandmasters with 2700 plus elo rating – top seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2721) of Azerbaijan and Englishman Nigel Short (2706) – besides 35 Grandmasters, got underway Tuesday, the organisers were running from pillar to post to meet the monetary shortfall.

Court dismisses plea of disqualified DUSU candidates

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New Delhi, September 01:The Delhi High Court Tuesday dismissed the petition of five candidates who had challenged their disqualification from the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections, saying the Chief Election Officer had taken the decision in accordance with the rules.

42 militants killed in Pakistan

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Peshawar, September 01: At least 42 militants were killed in fighting with security forces in the Khyber Agency region of Pakistan, Online news agency reported Tuesday.

The report said 50 other militants were captured during search operations in the same area.

Six bodies of militants were recovered and two rebel leaders of the banned militant outfit Lashkar-e-Islam were detained during the operation, the report said.

—IANS

Jha, Lakra set early pace at LG Northern India Amateur

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New Delhi, September 01: Abhishek Jha took pole position along with S.K. Lakra after the first round of the LG Northern India Amateur Championship at the Delhi Golf Club here Tuesday.

Bangalore’s Jha, going for his second straight win on the LG Amateur Tour, and Lakra were the only two players to card sub-par rounds Tuesday.

Money for widows of 1956 Melbourne football team

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New Delhi, September 01: The sports ministry Tuesday decided to provide financial assistance to the widows of players of the 1956 Indian team that finished fourth in the Melbourne Olympics.
Sports Minsiter M.S. Gill said that widows of T.A. Rahman, P.R. Thangaraj, K.S. Kittoo and M.K. Kempiah will receive a cheque of Rs.150,000 each.

Nine surviving members of the team, captain Samar Banerjee, S.S. Narayan, A.S. Salam, Ahmad Hussain, Nikhil Nandi, P.K. Banerjee, M.Z. Zulfikar, Tulsidas Balaram and Keshto Pal, were given similar assistance in February.

—IANS

Latin America offers good trade avenues for India, says envoy

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Chennai, September 01: The Latin American region, unaffected by the global meltdown, offers good business opportunities for Indian companies in sectors such as information technology (IT), pharmaceutical, renewable energy, agri-business and manufacturing, said a senior Indian diplomat here Tuesday.

“Indian companies should formulate long-term strategies to tap the available potential. India’s bilateral trade with Latin America has gone up eight times to $16 billion since 2001,” said R. Viswanathan, India’s ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Mahindra, TFA win in IFA Shield

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Kolkata, September 01: Mahindra United prevailed over George Telegraph 2-0 while Tata Football Academy (TFA) finished 1-1 with United Sporting Club in their opening 114th IFA Shield group matches Tuesday.

Mohammed Rafi scored both the goals for the jeepmen in the group C tie at the Khardah stadium near here.

After a fruitless first half, Rafi found the mark in the 70th and 82nd minutes to ensure full points for the Mumbai side.

City outfit George Telegraph were reduced to 10 men for the last half hour after player Hira Roy was red-carded for an improper charge on Muritala.

Rajya Sabha website inaccessible to visually impaired: NGO

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New Delhi, September 01: The newly launched website of the Rajya Sabha has several glitches which make it difficult for the visually impaired to access information posted on it, an NGO said Tuesday.
The website was launched July 30 by Vice President Hamid Ansari, who is also the Rajya Sabha chairman.

“The initial testing of the website reveals that there are several problems which make it difficult for visually impaired people to handle,” said Javed Abidi, honorary director, National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP).