Month: November 2009

Chiranjeevi visits home of girl mauled by stalke

by

Hyderabad, November 05: Praja Rajyam Party President K Chiranjeevi today visited the home of Anusha of Rajahmundry, who was badly hurt in an attack by a stalker on September 14.

The PRP leader, along with his wife, met the girl’s sisters and commended them for the courageous way in which they were coping with life despite losing both their parents.

Chiranjeevi urged the State Government to grant ex gratia worth Rs 50,000 to Anusha and her two sisters.

US does not expect binding climate deal in Copenhagen

by

Barcelona, November 05: December’s Copenhagen climate conference will produce a “real” but probably not binding agreement, a US climate change negotiator said Thursday.

Jonathan Pershing made the comments in Barcelona, Spain, where UN climate negotiators are trying to pave the way for a deal to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol in Copenhagen Dec 7-18.

UN top climate change official Yvo de Boer said Wednesday he expected the United States to table concrete proposals in Copenhagen, but Pershing did not give details on eventual commitments.

She was tough, yet sensitive

by

Hyderabad, November 05: S Amaravathi, a boxer, who represented the State at the national level, was found dead in her room at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP)’s Centre of Excellence hostel at the LB Stadium here on Wednesday.

Her family members accused her coach, Omkar Nath Yadav, of humiliating her and driving her to suicide following her failure at a recent national championship. He denied the charge. Police said the cause of her death was yet to be ascertained.

India to supply coastal security equipment to Mauritius

by

New Delhi, November 05: India and Mauritius signed an agreement for enhancing coastal security during the visit of the Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor earlier this week, when he also handed over a Dhruv helicopter to the Indian ocean island state.

Tharoor on a two-day official visit was the chief guest at the 175th anniversary celebrations of the arrival of indentured labourers from India. The Indian minister also met with the Mauritian President Anerood Juganauth, Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam and held talks with Foreign Minister Arvin Boolell.

Taunts kill woman boxer?

by

Hyderabad, November 05: A woman boxer who represented the State is believed to have ended her life at the Centre of Excellence hostel of the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) in the Lal Bahadur Stadium complex here today.
The boxer’s parents alleged that “humiliation’’ by her coach, Omkar Nath Yadav, drove her to suicide, and SAAP and the State Government have ordered an inquiry into the incident.

AP Boxing Association secretary D B Manmohan said that the State had lost a promising boxer.

UAE to host world triathlon event in 2010

by

Abu Dhabi, November 05: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will host world triathlon competition here in March next year, WAM news agency reported Thursday.

Some 1,000 triathletes, including the world’s top 40, will participate in the competition, a 223-km power course, on March 13.

The route has been specially designed to include a number of Abu Dhabi city landmarks.

–Agencies

Swearing in of new Haryana ministers put off

by

Chandigarh, November 05:The swearing-in of new ministers in the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government in Haryana, which was to be held Friday, has been postponed, an official said Thursday night.

The Congress, which won 40 seats in the assembly polls, has taken the support of seven Independents and a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) member to get the numbers to form government.

–Agencies

Joining Samajwadi Party was my mistake, says Nafisa Ali

by

Lucknow, November 05: Former Miss India and actor-social activist Nafisa Ali, who was the Samajwadi Party’s (SP) candidate for the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat, Thursday termed her decision to leave the Congress and join the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led party as “a mistake”.

“My decision to contest the last Lok Sabha elections on the SP ticket was wrong. I am happy to rejoin the (Congress) party that is akin to my family,” Ali told reporters at a press conference here.

India denies foreign press barred from Dalai Lama’s visit

by

New Delhi, November 05: The government Thursday denied that it has restricted foreign journalists from covering the Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh later this week.

To travel to Arunachal Pradesh, a protected area permit is required.

“The ministry of external affairs, the nodal agency for foreign correspondents, recommends them to the ministry of home affairs when applications are made to visit Arunachal Pradesh,” official sources said here.

Ranji Trophy: Baroda tottering at 319/8 against Delhi

by

Vadodara, November 05: Delhi consolidated its position against Baroda on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Super League match at the Moti Bagh stadium here Thursday. After piling up 591 in the first innings, Delhi bowlers reduced the hosts to 319 for eight.

Jacob Martin (44), Rakesh Solanki (55) and Pinal Shah (63) contributed to the Baroda score but failed to raise a big partnership. Rajesh Pawar was batting on 42 at close of play.

Murthy’s wife sells 2 mn Infosys shares for Rs.4.3 bn

by

Bangalore, November 05: Sudha Murthy, wife of Infosys’ Technologies co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, sold two million shares of her holding in the IT bellwether for over Rs.430 crore (Rs.4.3 billion/$91.5 million), the company said Thursday.

In a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges, the global software major said post-sale, Sudha Murthy’s holding in the company had declined to 7,314,600 shares from 9,314,660 shares.

UN lauds UAE for labour reforms

by

Abu Dhabi, November 05: The UN has lauded the efforts of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for improving the conditions of its migrant workers engaged in various sectors, WAM news agency reported Thursday.

The global organisation hoped other countries in the region would follow the UAE example.

Peter Sutherland, special representative of the UN secretary general, in a letter to UAE Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said the UAE played an important role at the conference on migration issues that began in Athens Wednesday.

Congress, NCP resolve Maharashtra deadlock; swearing-in Saturday

by

Mumbai/New Delhi, November 05: The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) finally broke their deadlock over power sharing in Maharashtra Thursday, paving the way for swearing-in of the new government by the weekend – more than a fortnigt after the assembly poll results were declared.

As per the formula worked out, the Congress will get 22 ministers plus the chief minister as compared to the NCP’s 20, said NCP spokesman D.P. Tripathi in New Delhi.

West Bengal governor briefed on law and order status

by

Kolkata, November 05: On the day Home Minister P. Chidambaram asked the West Bengal government to maintain law and order, state Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen called on Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi to brief him on the current situation.

During the half-hour meeting, the home secretary apprised the governor of the law and order scenario with special focus on the West Midnapore district belt of Lalgarh, where central paramilitary troopers and state armed forces are jointly combating the Maoists rebels.

Nepal government accuses UN of meddling

by

Kathmandu, November 05: Paralysed by Maoist protests, Nepal’s beleaguered government Thursday lashed out at the UN, accusing it of meddling in Nepal’s internal matters.

As the former Maoist guerrillas kept up their siege on government offices, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal called an emergency meeting of the 22 ruling parties to decide the government’s future strategy.

PVR ties up with Summit Entertainment

by

New Delhi, November 05: PVR Pictures, the production and distribution arm of cinema chain by the same name, has inked a deal with independent American film studio Summit Entertainment for release of films under its banner in India, a statement said here Thursday.

Chandigarh teacher showed kids pornographic sites: Parents

by

Chandigarh, November 05: Parents of a child studying in a private school here Thursday filed a complaint with the union territory authorities alleging that a teacher of the school was showing kids pornographic websites. The UT education department has asked the school to respond to the allegations.

T.K. Goyal and Meeta Goyal, parents of a Class 7 student of St Johns High School, Thursday submitted a written complaint in this regard to the union territory Home-cum-Education Secretary Ram Niwas.

Three officials in line for best information officer award

by

New Delhi, November 05: A government official in Dehradun, another in Mahbubnagar in Andhra Pradesh and a police official in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh have aided transparency in governance by providing complete and satisfactory information in all Right to Information (RTI) applications received by them. The three have been shortlisted for awards.

Man shoots brother, sister-in-law’s unborn child

by

Greater Noida, November 05: A man killed his brother and shot at his nine-month pregnant sister-in-law who came to rescue him, injuring her seriously and killing her unborn child in Doom Manikpur area under Badalpur police station of Greater Noida late Wednesday night, police said Thursday.

According to police, Amit Rawal objected to the daily drinking of his younger brother, Manoj. Late Wednesday night when Manoj entered the house heavily drunk, Amit scolded him, triggering a heated argument. Manoj then took a pistol from his pocket and fired at his brother, killing him on the spot.

Maharashtra: Government to take office tomorrow?

by

Mumbai, November 05: The Congress-NCP ministry in Maharashtra may be sworn in tomorrow, a fortnight after Assembly results were declared, following resolution of differences over portfolio allocation between the alliance partners.

“At the meetings held in Delhi, the differences over sharing portfolios, including the number of ministries to be held by each party, have been sorted out and the new government looks set to be sworn in at Raj Bhawan here tomorrow,” NCP sources said.

Karnataka dissidents refuse to meet Yeddyurappa

by

New Delhi, November 05: The political crisis in Karnataka’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government deepened Thursday as the dissenting Reddy brothers, who are demanding Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa’s scalp, refused to meet him while the party central leadership reiterated that there would be no change in the chief ministership.

BJP president Rajnath Singh, after holding a meeting with Yeddyurappa and other senior party leaders, said there would be no change of guard in the state, the party’s first government in the south, and that the chief minister’s position was non-negotiable.

Infosys sale of shares worth $92 million

by

Bangalore, November 05: Infosys Technologies, India’s second-largest software exporter, said on Thursday its chairman’s wife sold company shares worth $92 million for setting up a venture capital fund.

Sudha Murthy, wife of Infosys co-founder and chief mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy, sold 2 million shares, or about 22 percent of her total holding, on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday, the company said in a filing.

WHO warns to keep up swine flu fight

by

France, November 05: The World Health Organisation has urged people not to drop their guard over the swine flu pandemic and insisted vaccines were valuable despite the broadly mild symptoms of the virus.

“At the WHO we remain quite concerned about the pattern we are seeing, particularly because a sizeable number of people do develop serious complications and death,” said Keiji Fukuda, special adviser on pandemic.

“Again, we are seeing most of this develop in people who are younger than 65 years, a picture which is different from seasonal influenza.”

‘Saudi jets pound Yemen rebel camps’

by

Yeman, November 05: Saudi jets pounded Shi’ite rebel camps inside Yemen yesterday and ground troops could move across the border against them after they killed a Saudi border guard, an informed Saudi source said.
F-15 and Tornado jets have been bombing the positions of the Zaidi Shi’ite rebels near the border with southern Jizan province since Wednesday, the source said.

“They’ve been hit hard and it’s ongoing,” he told AFP.

FBI arrests in $20m insider trading probe

by

New York, November 05: The FBI has arrested 14 people for alleged involvement in what prosecutors say was the largest hedge-fund insider trading scheme ever on Wall Street, prosecutors in New York said.

Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said 14 people, “including attorneys and Wall Street professionals” were arrested “for their alleged involvement in insider trading that netted $20 million”.

The hedge fund, Galleon Management LP, was shut down last month after founder Raj Rajaratnam was indicted in the alleged scheme.