Chennai, March 27: Brisk polling was reported in the Pennagaram Assembly constituency where the by-election was being held on Saturday. Polling, which began at 8 a.m., was so far peaceful.
Till 1 p.m., 46 per cent of voters exercised their franchise. The Pennagaram constituency, part of the backward district of Dharmapuri, has a total of 2,01,008 voters, of whom men account for 1,12,892 and women 98,116.
Hyderabad, March 27: Students unions have stepped up their ante against the AP Public Service Commission (APPSC) chairman Y Venkatrami Reddy. Hundreds of BC, SC and ST students today enforced a bandh on the Osmania University campus and blocked traffic for more than half-an-hour demanding the removal of the chairman for alleged irregularities in the APPSC appointments.
Students affiliated to various BC, SC and ST student unions enforced a bandh and took out a rally from the OU library to the Arts College where they burnt Venkatrami Reddy in effigy.
Karachi, March 27: The Pakistan Cricket Board has introduced clauses for tough sanctions for the players showing indiscipline and found involved in activities like match-fixing, betting or ball tampering in its central contracts.
According to the details obtained by PTI, the players have been given time till April 5 to sign their new contracts.
Any player who does not sign the contract will be eligible to play for Pakistan but will receive match fees and other bonus reserved for the ‘C’ category players and will also not be entitled to a monthly salary.
New Delhi, March 27: India’s prospects in the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies will depend on how fast the team acclimatises there, according to star opener Gautam Gambhir.
“It’s important how we adjust after reaching there. It’s going to be the key and we have to go all guns blazing,” said Gambhir, adding “We are hoping to put up a good show.”
The left-hander said most of the Indian players would reach the West Indies having played in the Indian Premier League and that would stand them in good stead.
London, March 27: England captain Andrew Strauss believes his side’s chances of successfully defending the Ashes have been boosted by his decision to miss the recent tour of Bangladesh.
Strauss and pace bowler James Anderson were both rested in Bangladesh as England took the chance to blood new players and give Alastair Cook the captaincy during the 2-0 Test series win.
Some pundits and former players criticised Strauss’s decision and said he should lead the team at all times.
Wellington, March 27: Simon Katich is nothing if not consistent. The 88 that he scored on the first day in Hamilton continued a summer of very good scores for Katich without a big century; six times he has been out from 79 to 99 and once he sneaked to 100 before he was dismissed.
Karachi, March 27: Waqar Younis, the new Pakistan coach, has hailed the appointment of allrounder Shahid Afridi as captain for the World Twenty20 starting next month in the West Indies. The PCB installed Afridi at the helm earlier this week, after initially announcing the squad for the tournament without naming a captain.
“Afridi is an allrounder with a positive frame of mind who had been bowling excellently in last two years,” Waqar told Voice of Germany. “His mere presence in the field generates a fighting spirit among the players.”
Wellington, March 27: Daniel Vettori experienced the perfect start to his 100th Test after taking four wickets, running out Ricky Ponting and watching his side ruffle Australia. New Zealand dismissed their highly-fancied opponents for 231 and then finished at 19 for 1 as they dream of levelling the two-game series.
Tim Southee accepted extra responsibility to back up his captain after the hosts picked two spinners and he provided a clever performance with 4 for 61. But the star was Vettori, who earned more worthy plaudits in a praise-heavy week, with 4 for 36 off 19.3 overs.
Seoul, March 27: South Korean rescuers furiously searched for missing sailors Saturday after a navy ship sank in tense Yellow Sea waters off the coast of North Korea.
The 1,200-ton patrol ship Cheonan was on routine patrol when it sank Friday at 9:45 p.m. A cause has yet to be determined but the Yonhap News Agency quoted military officials as saying that an unidentified explosion punched a hole in the bottom of the ship.
Ahmedabad, March 27: Rajasthan Royals are back in the hunt after their crushing victory against defending champions Deccan Chargers and captain Shane Warne said their third win on the trot is a message to the rival teams that they are back to their best.
After losing their first three matches, Rajasthan Royals are scripting a turnaround with three wins that saw them jump to third place in IPL with six points.
Ahmedabad, March 27: After blasting 73 runs off 34 balls against Deccan Chargers, Yusuf Pathan said that Andrew Symonds had sledged him when he went to bat and that inspired him to perform well.
“When somebody from the opposition involves in sledging you are more pumped up to do well. When I went in to bat, Symonds said a few words to me and I was determined to perform with the bat today,” Pathan said after Rajasthan Royals defeated Deccan Chargers by eight wickets for their third straight win.
Yusuf said he was happy to have got the runs in front of his parents.
Imphal, March 27: Just two days after the first such public marriage in Manipur, a gay couple have agreed mutually to part ways following stiff resistance from their parents, police said today.
Parents of 26-year-old Soibam Sandip and 28-year-old Nikhil Hidangmayum had filed a complaint with Shingjamei police station in Imphal West district against the wedding held in Christian-style on Wednesday. The officer-in-charge of the police station counselled the gay couple, following which they agreed for a divorce, they said.
New Delhi, March 27: India’s legal and judicial system reflects “great contradiction”, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Saturday urging that the justice delivery mechanism needed to be expedited to strengthen the country’s democratic roots.
“The Indian legal and judicial system is one of the solid pillars of our democracy… Our government attaches great importance to the legal empowerment of the common man,” Manmohan Singh said, addressing a day-long national convention of Law, Justice and the Common Man.
New Delhi, March 27: To offer better audio quality and sharper picture to millions of its viewers, public broadcaster Doordarshan plans to go completely digital by 2017.
Officials in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said a roadmap for making broadcasting operations completely digital is being planned and would be unveiled after discussions with industry stakeholders.
Mumbai, March 27: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray Saturday hit out at the Congress after one of its leaders questioned the presence of Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan at the opening of the Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link here.
Describing the hugely popular actor as a “true nationalist”, Thackeray attacked the “Congress’s allergy towards him”.
Labelling the controversy over Bachchan as immature, Thackeray said in an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamna that the actor was not a “thief, dacoit or terrorist” to be subjected to such “allergic” behaviour.
New Delhi, March 27: Malaysian world number one and all England champion Lee Chong Wei will skip next month’s Asian championships in New Delhi, organisers told on Saturday.
However, world and Olympic champion Lin Dan of China has confirmed his participation and will lead a strong field that also includes Indonesian world number three Taufik Hidayat for the April 12-18 tournament.
Mumbai, March 27: Feeling hungry in a city bus and have nothing to munch on? Relax as the transport department is contemplating to make snacks and cold drinks available on select routes. Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) would introduce the service on its AC buses.
“We plan to come out with a service where commuters can have packaged food items like wafers besides, cold drinks, mineral water and newspapers. Commuters can avail of this service in King Long buses,” BEST Chairman Dilip Patel said.
Mumbai, March 27: The threat of Sachin Tendulkar taking the game away by the scruff looms as the biggest hurdle between defending champions Deccan Chargers and a victory in their Indian Premier League tie against Mumbai Indians at the D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai tomorrow.
Tendulkar, who created history by making a double hundred against South Africa in Gwalior ODI last month, has not let up in his run-scoring ways and stands tall for Mumbai Indians in their quest to clinch the coveted IPL crown after the disappointment of the first two seasons.
Suri (WB), March 27: Five persons were today killed and at least 50 others injured when an overcrowded bus, on way to a fair, overturned on NH 60 near Rampurhat in Birbhum district. Two persons died on the spot as the vehicle turned turtle in an adjacent paddy field, police said, adding two others succumbed to their injuries at a hospital in Birbhum district.
Vatican City: The Vatican on Friday dismissed a fresh allegation by the New York Times that Pope Benedict XVI, as archbishop of Munich, failed to bar the transfer of a known paedophile priest.
“The then archbishop had no knowledge of the decision to reassign (Reverend Peter Hullerman) to pastoral activities in a parish,” the Vatican said in a statement, adding that it “rejects any other version of events as mere speculation”.
Hullerman was suspended from his duties in the northern German town of Essen in late 1979 over allegations that he abused an 11-year-old boy.
Hyderabad, March 27: Opposition parties today cornered the Andhra Pradesh government on the floor of the Assembly on allegations of grave irregularities in the state Public Service Commission. The proceedings had to be adjourned twice as the opposition insisted on a debate on the issue through an adjournment motion.
Speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy disallowed the motion and said the issue could be discussed in the House under different rules. Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu referred to reports in the media against the irregularities in APPSC and demanded firm action by the government.
Abu Dhabi, March 27: UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed’s younger brother Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was missing after his plane crashed in Morocco.
A sailplane carrying Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, managing director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, has crashed into a lake in Morocco on Friday night, WAM news agency reported.
The pilot was rescued but search is still on for Sheikh Ahmed, it said.
–IANS
Sydney, March 27: Australia Saturday hailed the United States and Russia’s “landmark” agreement to slash nuclear weapons, calling it a major step towards the eventual goal of global disarmament.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith congratulated presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev on the historic accord to cut the number of deployed warheads by about one third.
“The new START agreement provides for substantial reductions in the numbers of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile launchers deployed by the United States and Russia,” Smith said in a statement.
London, March 27: English rock band Rolling Stones member Ronnie Wood’s Brazilian girlfriend gave him a black eye and a fat lip after discovering he had hit the bottle behind her back.
Ana Araujo ripped out two of his paintings before reaching for him, thesun.co.uk reported.
“He was calling her all sorts of names for criticising his drinking and she just snapped. Two of his prized paintings, which he had hoped to sell, are ruined. She ripped them to shreds. He crossed the wrong woman,” said a source.
Bangkok, March 27: A small blast hit Thailand’s customs department compound on Saturday, authorities said, ahead of a planned street protest by tens of thousands of anti-government campaigners.
The explosion was the latest in a series of about a dozen blasts, mostly caused by grenades, that have been set off in Bangkok and surrounding areas since the rolling demonstrations began on March 14.
Police said an explosive went off outside the government building in central Bangkok, shattering windows and damaging a van parked nearby, but caused no injuries.