Andhra assures support to World Newspaper Congress

Hyderabad, November 04: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah Wednesday promised all possible help to the organisers of the World Newspaper Congress-2009 beginning here Nov 30.

The chief minister directed the departments concerned to plan the arrangements in coordination with the organisers for the four-day event.

Around 1,800 delegates from around the world will participate in the World Newspaper Congress being held for the first time in South Asia.

Residents, police move against IOC, fires rage on

Jaipur, November 04: Furious residents around the burning Indian Oil’s depot near here filed police complaints against the company as fires raged on Wednesday in two of its tanks after having killed 11 people.

With authorities predicting that the devastating seven-day-old fire was expected to die out Thursday, residents and businessmen in the area began to count their losses.

“We are hopeful that the fire in one tank will be extinguished by tonight and in the other tank by tomorrow morning,” Chief Fire Officer Ishwar Lal told IANS.

Passenger arrested for molesting airhostess

Mumbai, November 04: A 51-year-old passenger on a Jet Airways flight from Dubai has been arrested on arrival at the Mumbai airport on the charge of molesting an airhostess, police said on Wednesday.

The accused identified as Selvaraj Pillai, a supervisor with an electrical company in Dubai, had boarded the Mumbai- bound flight last evening and allegedly misbehaved with the hostess.

Banerjee asks Trinamool workers to ‘resist’ CPI-M violence

Arambagh (West Bengal), November 04: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee Wednesday asked her party workers to “resist” terror perpetrated by Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) cadres in this belt, and warned West Bengal’s ruling communists that they were pushing the state towards president’s rule by their violent actions.

Speaking at a rally in this Hooghly district area, known to be a stronghold of the CPI-M, Banerjee alleged that “CPI-M-backed goons” had put up blockades in at least four places on her way here.

PM ‘deeply regrets’ Chandigarh man’s death

Chandigarh/New Delhi, November 04: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday expressed his ‘profound sense of sadness’ over the death of a man at the PGIMER hospital in Chandigarh for want of timely treatment due to security restrictions in place for his visit there.

The family of Sumit Verma, 32, has demanded compensation and a job for his kin.

Four suspected terrorists with SIMI links held in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal, November 04; Four men suspected to be terrorists and believed to have links with the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) have been arrested from a Madhya Pradesh town, police said Wednesday.

“The four men were arrested in a joint operation by the Madhya Pradesh Anti Terror Squad (ATS) and the state police from the Char Khambha area of Jabalpur,” state ATS chief Pawan Srivastava said.

“Of the arrested men, while Afroze and Azad are residents of Jabalpur, Anamul Rehman and Amjad belong to Khandwa,” he said.

No resolution on ‘Vande Mataram’ passed before me: PC

New Delhi, November 04: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday contended that he was not present when the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind adopted a resolution at its 30th general session in Deoband on Tuesday asking Muslims not to recite ‘Vande Mataram’.

“Home Minister P Chidambaram was at the JUH conference at Deoband on November 3 between 10 am and 12 noon. No resolution was passed during that period. When he spoke, he was not aware of any resolution relating to Vande Mataram or women’s reservation and television,” a statement issued by his aide said.

Modi joins Nitish in allaying fears of landowners

Patna, November 04: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi today joined Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in allaying the fears of the landowners saying that their land would not be usurped by sharecroppers.

“Opposition parties including RJD, LJP and Congress are spreading the canard that the present NDA dispensation was out to usurp the land of upper castes in the name of implementing land reforms. I must say that nobody is going to lose his rights over the land of his forefathers,” Modi said here.

US wants Israel settlement halt ‘forever’: Clinton

Cairo, November 04: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton defended the U.S stance toward Israeli settlement building to worried Arab allies on Wednesday, saying Washington does not accept the legitimacy of the West Bank enclaves and wants to see their construction halted “forever.”

Still, she said an Israeli offer to restrain — but not halt — construction represents “positive movement forward” toward resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

Six youths arrested for robbing people

New Delhi, November 04: Six youths were arrested for their alleged involvement in robbing people on the pretext of giving them lift in their vehicle and recovered several stolen articles, including 30 mobile phones, police said today.

The arrested, in the age group of 18 to 21 years, were caught from near Alakananda in south-east Delhi and Jahapanah forest area yesterday, they said.

Police recovered 30 mobile phones, six fake number plates, two credit cards, two kirpans, a country-made pistol, and a car from their possession.

Never used any govt facilities for electioneering: Ravi

New Delhi, November 04: Following Election Commission’s direction that he should pay for the government facilities used by him during electioneering, Union Minister Vayalar Ravi today said he never availed any such benefits and it was a mistake on the part of his staff.

“I never used any government facilities. It was a private visit which was put as official by mistake by my staff,” Ravi told PTI.

The minister said he has already asked his staff to be careful so that such mistakes are not repeated in future.

SC rejects Kerala’s fresh claim on dam safety

New Delhi, November 04: The Supreme Court today declined to entertain a fresh application moved by Kerala government which claimed an expert report has warned that if the present Mullaperiyar dam was allowed to function the surrounding region would become vulnerable to earthquakes.

A three-judge bench of Justices D K Jain, Mukundakam Sharma and R M Lodha refused to take on record the application on the ground that the arguments in the dispute were already at the conclusion stage and no fresh plea at this stage could be raised by either parties to the dispute.

Govt may announce more sops to boost exports

New Delhi, November 04: The government may come out with more sector-specific incentives to boost exports, which it believes would improve in the January-March quarter as demands pick up in traditional markets like the US.

“I have tasked the Commerce Secretary to conduct a review across sectors regarding the impact of the measures taken and we are committed to provide additional assistance wherever it is warranted,” Commerce and Industry Minster Anand Sharma said at the Economic Editors’ Conference here.

BJP asks govt to re-look Direct Taxes Code

New Delhi, November 04: BJP today asked the government to have a re-look at the proposed direct taxes code as it would increase the tax burden on common man.

“We will urge the Finance Minister to rethink (about the DTC). The draft has been made from a high taxation point of view,” BJP leader Arun Jaitley while addressing a seminar on the tax code organised by the trade association CAIT said.

He said the tax code cannot be passed in the Parliament in its current form as the proposals will be fatal for tax payers in the country.

8 children drown in Indian boat accident

New Delhi, November 04: At least eight children drowned Wednesday when a boat carrying at least 35 students capsized in southern India, police said.

Rescue workers were searching for the other children and their fate was not immediately known, said Vasudev, a local police official who uses only one name.

The cause of the accident was not known, he said.

The accident occurred on the Chaliyar river in the Malappuram district of Kerala state, more than 1,300 miles (2,100 kilometers) south of New Delhi. Kerala is a popular tourist destination for both Indians and foreigners.

Chhattisgarh to get its AIIMS in two years

Raipur, November 04: Chhattisgarh will get its own All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the next two years.

The premier institute, which will come up here, will cost Rs 329 crore, official sources said today.

A medical college, a hostel and a 960-bed hospital with super specialty facilities have been planned under the two-phase project, they said.

In 2007, the Centre had proposed to set up AIIMS-like institutions in Patna, Raipur, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Jodhpur and Rishikesh under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY) within four years.

Lalu slams Nitish over price rise

Patna, November 04: RJD chief Lalu Prasad today criticised Nitish Kumar government for its alleged failure to check the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities in Bihar.

“Instead of stopping hoardings and black marketing of essential commodities, including food grains, Nitish government is targeting the Centre for the skyrocketing prices,” Prasad alleged while addressing the national executive meet of his party here.

He also urged the Centre to take immediate effective measures to rein in the spiraling prices of the essential commodities to mitigate people’s miseries.

Jamiat’ opposition to Vande Mataram stirs political row

New Delhi/Mumbai, November 05: The call by a top Muslim body to members of the community not to recite ‘Vande Mataram’ fuelled a political row today with the Shiv Sena saying those opposed to the national song should go to Pakistan.

The Congress said the issue of Vande Mataram is a sensitive one and urged political leaders not to rake up a controversy, a day after Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind in a resolution endorsed a decree by a prominent Islamic seminary at Deoband in Uttar Pradesh against the recital of “Vande Mataram”,

Meena is new Law Secretary

New Delhi, November 04: D R Meena, an Indian Legal Service officer, was today appointed as the new Law Secretary.

Meena (58) has so far been an additional secretary in the department of Legal Affairs in the Ministry of Law and Justice.

He replaces T K Viswanathan who retired on October 31.

Meena’s name was cleared by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet.

Viswanathan, meanwhile, has taken over as adviser to Law Minister M Veerappa Moily. The post of adviser was recently approved by the union cabinet to help the government push legal and judicial reforms.

Mexican troops kill federal agent in gunbattle

Mexico, November 04: Police and soldiers killed a federal agent driving one of three cars that ignored orders to stop in northern Mexico, triggering a chase and gunbattle Tuesday, authorities said.

The police and troops were on a joint patrol in the city of Chihuahua when they tried to stop three suspicious vehicles, the federal Attorney General’s Office and the Defense Department said in a joint statement.

The three drivers ignored the order, leading to a chase and then a shootout when the occupants of two cars opened fire after being caught by the security forces, the statement said.

Iraqi election head warns parliament of vote delay

Baghdad, November 04: Iraqi lawmakers have only a day left to agree on a new bill that would enable the country to hold key parliament elections in January, according to remarks Wednesday by the country’s election commission chairman.

The chairman, Faraj al-Haidari, said he warned the legislators that if they don’t approve the election law by the end of Thursday, the country’s nationwide vote will be delayed.

US officials meet Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi

Yangon, November 04: The top U.S. diplomat for East Asia met with detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday, becoming the highest-ranking American official to visit the Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 14 years.

Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell greeted Suu Kyi with a handshake after she was driven to his lakeside hotel in Yangon for the private two-hour meeting, U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Mei said. The content of the talks was not immediately known.

Malaysian Indian politician in spat with former protege

Kuala Lumpur, November 04: A former chief of the business arm of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) Wednesday slapped defamation suits against party chief S. Samy Vellu and a newspaper, giving a new twist to a long-pending public spat involving charges of corruption and misuse of funds.

P. Chithirakala Vasu, a former chief executive officer of the Maju Institute of Educational Development (MIED) filed three defamation suits against Vellu, his wife S. Indrani and the publisher of Thamil Nesan, a Tamil daily, K. Padmanabhan.

Israeli navy intercepts arms ship – military

Gaza, November 04: Israel said on Wednesday its navy intercepted in the Mediterranean a container ship carrying rockets destined for Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah group and took the vessel to an Israeli port.

Israeli media reports said the weaponry was supplied by Iran.

“There were Katyusha (rockets), whose purpose is to hit civilians,” Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai told Army Radio.

He did not give any quantities, saying the ship was still being unloaded in Israel and voicing doubt its crew knew munitions were on aboard.

Maoists gun down ”rival” activist

Medninagar, November 04: The Maoists have shot dead an activist allegedly belonging to a rival group on Panki-Balumath road in Palamau district, the police said here today. About 30 Maoists last night went to the house of Bhagat Yadav, an alleged member of the Jharkhand Prastuti Committee (JPC), and took him to the road before firing two shots, killing him on the spot, the Deputy Superintendent of Police, N K Lal, said.