Month: November 2009

Dacoit killed in gunbattle in Madhya Pradesh

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Bhopal, November 03: A notorious dacoit was killed in a gunbattle in Madhya Pradesh’s Morens district, police said on Tuesday.

Rajendra Singh Gurjar, for whose capture the state police had announced a reward of Rs.25,000, was hiding with his accomplices in Gopiapura village, police said.

The police raided the village and asked the dacoit to surrender but he started firing, Morena Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar Singh told.

“Gurjar was killed after a two-hour gunbattle on the banks of Kwari river,” Singh said.

Priyaka Chopra’s goggles broke

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Azmer, November 03: Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra’s goggles broke into pieces when she was besieged by a group of fans as she came out of the world famous Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti.

The actress offered chaddar at the Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti and offered prayers. She sought blessings for success of her upcoming movie.

The actress also tied a ‘mannati dhaga’ and offered flowers. As soon as she came out of the Dargah, she found herself surrounded by a huge crowd of fans.

New Coast Guard station to be opened at Karwar Wednesday

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New Delhi, November 03: The Coast Guard will commission a new station at Karwar in Karnataka Wednesday to beef up maritime security along the country’s western coast, a defence ministry official said on Tuesday.

Coast Guard Director General Vice Admiral Anil Chopra will commission the station Wednesday.

Yale varsity to honour Nilekani with Leadership Award

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Washington, November 03: Nandan Nilekani, Infosys co-founder and chairman of India’s Unique Identification Database Authority, is set to become the first Indian to receive Yale university’s prestigious Legend in Leadership Award.

The award of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute will be presented to Nilekani by varsity’s president Richard C. Levin at a ceremony in New Delhi Nov 6, the New Haven based business school announced Tuesday.

Clinton announces new Muslim initiatives

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Morocco, November 03: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a package of measures on Tuesday designed to help businesses and non-governmental groups around the Muslim world.

The initiatives come after President Barack Obama’s much-heralded speech in Cairo in June, in which he called for a new beginning in relations between the United States and the Muslim world.

“Our goal is to listen more and discover new ways that we can work as partners,” Clinton said at the sixth Forum for the Future conference in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.

TV exposure may make toddlers aggressive

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New York, November 03: The more television that a three-year-old watches, the more likely he or she is to behave aggressively, according to a US study.

Just having the TV on in the background, even if the child wasn’t watching it, was also linked to aggressive behaviour although the relationship wasn’t as strong, said the researchers.

Cannot view Islam as alien faith: Chidambaram

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Deoband, November 03: Union home minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said Islamic seminary Darul Uloom’s fatwa or edict against terrorism last year was a “call to duty” for not just Muslims but all “right-thinking individuals”.

Some half-a-million clerics waited overnight on a mamoth sugarcane farm — the size of about three football fields — behind the seminary to hear Chidambaram, filing in atop pick-up vans, in trucks, buses and even on bullock-carts.

Amar dares Maya, says not afraid of CBI

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Firozabad, November 03:Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Tuesday accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati of implicating him in a false case, and dared her to get him arrested.

“If Mayawati has the guts, she should get me arrested after getting a false case lodged against me,” Singh said addressing an election rally in support of party candidate Dimple Yadav in Firozabad .

“I’m neither afraid of CBI nor police baton,” the SP general secretary said.

Infiltration bid foiled, three militants killed

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Srinagar, November 03: Army foiled an infiltration bid this morning by killing three militants in Kupwara district of North Kashmir.

Troops noticed some suspicious movement in Tangdhar, 170 kms from here, and challenged a group of militants who were trying to infiltrate, a defence spokesman said.

They were asked to surrender but they opened fire. In retaliatory action, three militants were killed, he said.

While one miliant was shot dead in the wee hours, two others were gunned down later.

The operation in the area was still going on when last reports came in.

–Agencies

Railways helpless against illegal crossing of tracks

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New Delhi, November 03: Railways might have slapped heavy penalties to discourage illegal crossing of rail tracks but that has not stopped people from committing such acts as was evident from today’s mishap near Gurgaon that claimed six lives.

Six persons, including a woman and a child, were killed and four others injured when the New Delhi-Ajmer Shatabdi Express hit them while they were crossing the track, triggering protests by locals who surrounded the train.

Top Muslim body opposes Vande Mataram recitation

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Deoband (UP)/New Delhi, November 03: A top Muslim body today asked members of the community not to recite ‘Vande Mataram’ on the grounds that some verses of the national song are against the tenets of Islam, sparking condemnation from the BJP.

The Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind opposition to the recitation of the song came when it supported seminary Darul Uloom’s ‘fatwa’ (edict) which opposes any prayer involving the song.

TC blockades street in Kolkata over Birbhum clashes

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Kolkata, November 03: The clashes between the CPI-M and Trinamool Congress supporters at Nanoor in West Bengal’s Birbhum district had a spillover effect in the metropolis today with TC activists blocking an arterial road in Esplanade area in protest.

Traffic was stalled on Dharamtolla Street for three hours as police moved in and arrested some Trinamool supporters.

TC general secretary Madan Mitra alleged that the police lathicharged supporters near Bentinck Street adjacent to Dharamtolla Street.

Army following double standards in Kashmir : Omar

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Srinagar, November 03: The Services team’s last-minute decision to skip Ranji Trophy match here has put a question mark over the Army’s proclaimed successes in the region, according to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who today lashed out at the Army for following “double standards” in the state.

In a scathing attack against the Services team, Omar said “Army has made tall claims about its successes in the state against the militant groups. The incident clearly shows the double-standards of the Armed forces operating here.”

Seven years RI for rape accused

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Jaunpur, November 03: A court here today sentenced a man to seven years rigorous imprisonment for raping a girl, and slapped a penalty of Rs 25,000 on him.

Pronouncing the judgement, Additional Sessions Judge VIII S P Mishra also sentenced the accused to three years RI and a fine of Rs 1,000 on charges of issuing threat.

According to the prosecution, Sahabuddin raped a girl in Biswan village on February 17, 2006. He was later arrested and a chargesheet was filed against him.

After hearing both the parties, the court held Sahabuddin guilty.

–Agencies

Man acquitted of charge of killing wife

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New Delhi, November 03: A man, accused of killing his wife by beating and inflicting several scissor blows in 2004, has been acquitted by a Delhi court giving him the benefit of doubt and saying the chain of events in the case was not complete.

“The chain of incriminating circumstances cannot be said to have been complete to hold that the charges were proved against accused Anil Kumar,” Additional Sessions Judge J R Aryan said.

Govt approaches Finance Commission for funds for RTE

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New Delhi, November 03: The government has approached the Finance Commission and the Planning Commission for arrangement of Rs 1.74 lakh crore as estimated for implementation of the Right To Education Act in the next five years.

The availability of funds with the government is around Rs 34,000 crore under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan scheme for the next two years. Besides, the states will provide their matching grants of around Rs 30,000 crore under the SSA.

Youth arrested for Kidnap

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New Delhi, November 03: An unemployed youth, who was evading police in a kidnapping case in Delhi, was arrested from Bihar when he came out of his hideout for celebrating Chhat Puja, police said today.

Subhash Kumar (28), a resident of Sheohar district in Bihar, was arrested recently from the district with the assistance of Bihar Police when he came out of his hideout for celebrating the festival, they said.

Kumar along with his associates had kidnapped Anurag (7) from Anand Parbat last year.

Two other accused in the case — Raju and Vikas — were earlier arrested.

Higher fares in Delhi buses from tomorrow

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New Delhi, November 03: Commuters in the city will have to shell out more to travel in DTC and Blueline buses from tomorrow as Government today issued a notification paving way for the increased fare.

The Delhi Cabinet last week had approved a proposal to increase the bus fares primarily to meet the increasing revenue shortfall of the Delhi Transport Corporation which is reeling under heavy losses.

“We have issued the notification for the increased bus fares. The new rates will come into effect from tomorrow,” Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said.

South Korea declares red alert against swine flu

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Seoul, November 03:South Korea Tuesday raised the swine flu alert level to its highest status due to the rapid spread of the viral disease in the country, officials said.

The red alert level, the highest on South Korea’s four-level scale, means that government authorities would be mobilised to fight the virus and restrictions on travel and public events could be put in place more quickly.

The red alert was put in place primarily to control the spread of the H1N1 strain of the flu, said Park Ha Jeong, a deputy minister for public health.

Muslim clerics support Vande Mataram fatwa, BJP calls it ‘anti-national’

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Deoband/Lucknow, November 03:The Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind Tuesday supported a decree against the national song “Vande Mataram” on the grounds that some of its lines were “against the religious principles of Islam”. The move drew fierce criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which termed the move “anti-national”.

Just one cigarette can harm arteries

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Toronto, November 03:Even one cigarette has serious adverse effects on young adults, according to new research.

The study found that smoking one cigarette increases the stiffness of the arteries in 18 to 30 year olds by a whopping 25 percent.

Arteries that are stiff or rigid increase resistance in the blood vessels, making the heart work harder. The stiffer the artery, the greater the risk for heart disease or stroke.

‘New formula to end crisis in Karnataka’

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Banglore, November 03: A day after receiving full backing from the party’s top brass, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday said BJP’s central leadership is coming out with a “new formula” to end the week-long crisis following dissidents’ demand for his removal.

Court dismisses paternity plea against N.D. Tiwari

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New Delhi, November 03: In a big relief to Andhra Pradesh Governor N.D. Tiwari, the Delhi High Court Tuesday dismissed the plea of Rohit Shekhar who was claiming to be the veteran political leader’s son.

Justice S.N. Dhingra dismissed the plea of Rohit Shekhar, son of former Congress party activist Ujjwala Sharma, saying that Shekhar’s petition is ‘unmaintainable’.

Khosla Ka Ghosla director making a political thriller

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New Delhi, November 03: Director Dibakar Bannerjee who created a niche with his Delhi-based satires like Khosla Ka Ghosla and Oye Lucky Lucky Oye is finally cutting the umbilical cord with his next film, a political thriller based in an imaginary city.