Month: March 2010

More facilities at government hospitals: CM

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Hyderabad, March 26: Chief Minster K Rosaiah has said that the State Government was leaving no stone unturned to improve the facilities in Government hospitals in the State. Intervening during a debate on a main question of D Narendra Kumar (TDP) and others in the Question Hour in the State Assembly today, the Chief Minister remarked that if all the Government hospitals were well equipped, why then such a large number of hospitals come up in private sector. He said that the State Government allocated more funds for education and health in the 11th Plan.

First-time Cong MLAs seek Cabinet berths

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Hyderabad, March 26: First-time Congress legislators are seeking a share of posts in the State Cabinet likley to be expanded next month. They have accordingly prepared a memorandum to be submitted to Chief Minister K Rosaiah.

According to sources, the exercise is seen as an orchestrated move to pave the way for the induction of chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s widow, YS Vijayalaxmi, herself a firsttime legislator.

Generally, lack of experience has been cited as a reason for keeping first-timers out of the Cabinet.

NIT director says he quit under duress

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Hyderabad, March 26: Barely 24 hours after stepping down as Director of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Warangal, YV Rao did a U-turn on Thursday, claiming that he had resigned under duress.

Notwithstanding his retraction, the students not only faxed his resignation to the Union Human Resource Development Ministry but also despatched a team to New Delhi to submit a memorandum to HRD Minister Kapil Sibal and other board members of NIT.

Lagadapati submits 5th report to panel

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Vijayawada, March 26: Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal has submitted his fifth report to the Srikrishna Committee on the need to keep the State united.

Releasing a copy to mediapersons today, he denied that the Gentlemen’s Agreement reached between Andhra and Telangana leaders at the time of the formation of Visalaandhra was violated. He claimed that a majority of people in the Telangana region wanted the State united.

The MP said that he had submitted four reports to the Srikrishna Committee earlier and the fifth contained some more facts on the Andhra and Telangana regions.

‘Beware of Ghaznis across the border’

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Hyderabad, March 26: Most of the Pakistani Armymen or its militants have the tendency to come back to strike again and again, even after biting the dust at the hands of the Indian Army, says former Jammu and Kashmir governor Gen Krishna Rao (retd).

The 86-year-old’s observation assumes significance as the Centre gears up to grant consular access to 28 Pakistanis, including five terrorists, in Amritsar on Friday. His vast experience in both the Army and the troubled State demands that he be listened to.

Soon, AP will have surplus power

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Hyderabad, March 26: Chief Minister K Rosaiah today said that State would become surplus in terms of power generation in about three to four years time.

Inaugurating the 33/11 KV substation in Sanatnagar area built at a cost of Rs 6.96 crore here today, he said the State is facing power shortage presently and expressed confidence that in the next 3 to 4 years time, the State will become selfsufficient and surplus in power generation.

Left parties call for Jail Bharo on April 8

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Hyderabad, March 26: The CPI and CPM have given a call to the cadres of their respective parties and people in general to take part in th `Jail Bharo’ programme on April 8 to protest against the sky rocketing prices of all essential commodities.

In a joint statement here today, CPI and CPM State secretaries K Narayana and B V Rahgavulu respectively, said that at a time when the Left parties were agitating against the hike in prices, the Centre had chosen to increase the prices of petrol and diesel yet again which might result in further increase in the prices of essential commodities.

Helping ryots cope with climate change

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Hyderabad, March 26: As climate change continues to exact its toll on Indian farming communities, vigorous research is being conducted by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) that seeks to mitigate the effects of climate change on rain-fed Indian farmers. The institute, in its wide and varied research, has created hybrid seeds that are resistant to drought, excess heat, and flooding, which are widely considered to be the major hazards of climate change.

Student’s vain bid to end life on OU campus

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Hyderabad, March 26: A science college student made a vain bid to commit suicide on the Osmania University campus today.

Timely intervention of students, however, saved the life of the student who was on his way to Tagore Auditorium to set himself ablaze.

Though the student’s suicide bid was not linked to the Telangana agitation, the incident sent shock waves on the OU campus.

The student was reportedly fearing negative results in the third semester examinations he appeared recently.

Kerala and Karnataka actors are sidelined in Bollywood

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Mumbai, March 27: He may have rubbed shoulders with the likes of megastar Amitabh Bachchan in only his second Hindi film “Rann”, but Kannada star Sudeep is a little disillusioned with Bollywood. Actors from Karnataka and Kerala, he says, are “totally sidelined by Hindi filmgoers”.

“I didn’t come to Mumbai looking for a career. I adore this personality called Ram Gopal Varma. I think it was basically Ramu’s trust in my abilities that prompted me to get on that flight from Bangalore to Mumbai,” Sudeep told IANS in an interview.

Bihar welcomes Muslim reservation in Andhra

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Patna, March 26: Muslims in Bihar welcomed the Supreme Court decision to uphold the validity of four percent reservation for backward members of the Muslim community in Andhra Pradesh.

“It is a historical decision,” chief of a Patna based influential Muslim body Imarat Shariah Maulana Syed Nizamuddin said.

The Supreme Court’s order will have a long term effect for the development of Muslims, the most backward and poorest community in India, Nizamuddin, who is also the general secretary of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, told IANS.

Islam, Christianity are alien, so no quota: BJP

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New Delhi, March 26: “Islam and Christianity are alien” to India and, therefore, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) feels people from the minority groups, even if their socio-economic condition is low, should not be given the privilege of quota in jobs, legislative bodies and education, a party official said Friday.

Man arrested for trying to sneak into Rahul’s convoy

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Sultanpur, March 26: A man allegedly in an inebriated state tried to sneak into the convoy of Rahul Gandhi here today and was arrested.

Rahul was on his way from airport to attend a meeting at Vikas Bhawan when Mewalal approached the convoy and was immediately taken into custody by the police.

Inspector, Sultanpur Kotwali, Virendra Singh said Mewalal was in an inebriated state.

An FIR was also lodged against a dozen members of the Vyapar Mandal (traders’ association) who tried to raise slogans when Rahul was on his way to attend the meeting

We have picked the best team for World Cup: Srikkanth

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Mumbai, March 26: Chairman of BCCI senior selection panel Krishnamachari Srikkanth today said that the “best team” has been picked for forthcoming Twenty20 World Cup and hoped India will put up good performance in the April 30-May 16 mega-event in the West Indies.

“We have selected the best team for the Twenty20 World Cup. We are happy with the performance of every member of the team. They have shown consistency,” Srikkanth said after the selection committee meeting here.

Air India defers March salary to April 7

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Mumbai, March 26: Facing a severe cash crunch, Air India has deferred payment of March salary to its employees by a week to April 7, instead of the usual practice of paying it within the month, airline sources said today.

This is the second time in the recent past that the national carrier has had to defer salary payments. In June last year, it had postponed salaries by 15 days due to non- availability of funds.

Judicial standards bill to refurbish image of judiciary: Moily

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Chennai, March 26: Terming the Centre’s proposed Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill as a ”radical approach to refurbish the image of judiciary”, Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily today said it has, among others, provisions to punish ”malicious” petitioners.

“There are certain standards and values laid down by the Supreme Court. We have practically incorporated everything in it and provided for punishment (for errant judges)(as) the present Judges Inquiry Act provides for only impeachment and that too in extreme cases,” Moily said.

Birthday gift ‘Nano’ goes up in flames

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Mumbai, March 26: It was a birthday gift Satish Sawant gave himself after years of hard labour, but saw the treasured possession–a Tata Nano– go up in flames within minutes of purchasing it.

When the software company employee took delivery of Tata’s dream car Nano last Sunday from its showroom at Prabhadevi near Mumbai’s landmark Siddhi Vinayak temple, he had no inkling of how nightmarish the drive back home to Mulund would be.

Cong rides cross-voting to win RS poll in Assam

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Guwahati, March 26: Aided by cross-voting by opposition BJP legislators, Congress today won an extra Rajya Sabha seat in Assam.

Congress nominees Nazneen Farouque and Silvius Condpan won securing 43 and 42 votes respectively while Jayanta Baruah, a media baron who was the common opposition candidate, lost the election by polling 40 votes.

Given Congress’ strength of 54 in the 126-member House at present, the party was in position to win just one while the opposition could have ensured Baruah’s win had it remained united.

Britney Spears’ Twitter hacker arrested

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London, March 26: Frenchman Francois Cousteix has been arrested on charges of stalking US pop star Britney Spears’ twitter account.

“I am not a hacker. I am a kind pirate. I did not act with a destructive aim… I wanted to warn them, to show up the faults in the system,” said Cousteix.

The accused also faces allegations of illegally accessing online web pages of US President Barack Obama and British singer Lilly Allen.

He faces up to two years in prison and a $40,000 fine if convicted on charges of breaking into a data system, reported contactmusic.com.

–Agencies

Thirty percent breast cancer caused by obesity

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London, March 26: Up to a third of breast cancer cases could be avoided if women ate less and exercised more, researchers claim.

Experts believe more than 14,000 women a year would probably not develop the disease if they had adopted healthier behaviour from an early age.

Modern lifestyles which feature regular drinking, lack of exercise and increased obesity are fuelling the rise of the disease, reported dailymail.co.uk.

Research shows they are almost 50 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than women carrying fewer pounds.

Nine Maoists arrested in Chhattisgarh

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Raipur, March 26: Nine Maoist guerrillas were arrested from Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region Friday, police said.

The rebels were held in Koilibera area of Kanker district under restive Bastar region, some 330 km south of capital Raipur.

“A police team raided a meeting spot of Maoists in a forest and arrested nine guerrillas with six guns and explosives,” Kanker Superintendent of police Ajay Yadav told IANS.

He said all the nine guerillas were involved in several attacks on police and civilians in Kanker district during past two years.

–IANS

Islam, Christianity alien, so cannot get quota: BJP

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New Delhi, March 26: “Islam and Christianity are alien” to India and, therefore, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) feels people from the minority groups, even if their socio-economic condition is low, should not be given the privilege of quota in jobs, legislative bodies and education, a party official said Friday.

Rs 2 lakh relief for firing-hit villagers in Meghalaya

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Shillong, March 26: Meghalaya government has released Rs 2 lakh as interim relief to the villagers affected by four incidents of firing between BSF and BDR at Muktapur in the state, Revenue Minister R C Laloo said today.

The amount was meant for 206 families affected by the firings along the international border.

The relief comprised rice, dal, sugar, mosquito-nets, tarpaulins and other essentials.

“Medical teams were doing their rounds to prevent any outbreak of disease. The deputy commissioner is overseeing the matter,” Laloo told the Assembly.

Centre braces up for record wheat procurement

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New Delhi, March 26: The government is preparing to buy a record 260 lakh tonne wheat for the Central pool this season as the procurement season begins in the next few days, after the states, especially Punjab and Haryana, informed it that they are expecting record production.

“We should be prepared to buy as much wheat as farmers bring in,” a top government official said here today. The official, however, made it clear that it is not a target.

Last year, the government had purchased a record 253 lakh tonne wheat when production was at an all time high of 806.8 lakh tonne.

Husain can’t be compelled to return, says apex court

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New Delhi, March 26: Self-exiled painter M F Husain, who has taken up Qatar citizenship, cannot be compelled to return to India by the courts or the Prime Minister, the Supreme Court observed today refusing to direct dropping of criminal cases against him.

“What can the Prime Minister do if a person decides to live in Doha (capital of Qatar). They are international citizens they can live anywhere in the world,” the apex court observed while refusing to entertain a public interest litigation filed by Bhim Singh, chief of the J&K Panthers Party and senior advocate.