Month: March 2010

Sex Swami wants to cut a deal with Lenin Karuppan

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Bangalore, March 25: Lenin Karuppan, a close aide and ex-driver of Swami Nityananda, who owned up to filming the swami’s alleged romp with Ranjitha, can now become a swami himself

However, to earn the coveted title, Karuppan will have to abide to what his ex-master says.

According to sources, Swami Nityananda has allegedly called up Karuppan, who’s believed to be in Tamil Nadu, to strike a deal.

Lenin who?

Born a Christian, Karuppan came into contact with Nityananda in 2004 and became his disciple. He took sanyas the same year and changed his name to Dharmananda.

Rupee eases by 9 paise against dollar in early trade

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Mumbai, March 25: The Indian rupee eased further by 9 paise in early trade today for the fifth straight day on capital outflows by foreign funds and dollar’s gain against other Asian currencies.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the rupee depreciated by 9 paise to 45.69 a dollar.

The rupee closed lower by 2 paise at 45.60/61 a dollar in the previous session on Tuesday. The forex market remained closed yesterday on account of “Ram Navami“.

Pleasing Kali Mata, Priests sacrifices daughters

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Islamabad, March 25: A Hindu priest committed suicide after killing his three minor daughters, all under 6-year-old, to please Hindu goddess Kali Mata in Bhemomal area of Sind province.

According to police and eyewitnesses, religious rituals were regularly performed at the Kali Mata Temple established on the first floor of a house owned by Tekam Das Meghwar in Bhemomal. Reports say that Tekam Das Meghwar first slaughtered his three daughters, Parwati, 6-year-old, Reena, 4, and Aarti, 1, with a sharp knife and then slit his own throat to make Kali Mata happy.

New Ramdev posture: BJP exercised

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New Delhi, March 25: It may be still at a nascent stage but Swami Ramdev’s move to float a political outfit seems to have left the BJP concerned, with party president Nitin Gadkari making an appeal to the yoga guru to go slow on any political project.

Speeding truck claims lives of man, son

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Jagran, March 25: In an accident on Wednesday, a father-son duo died after their motorcycle was hit by a speeding truck.

The accident took place after midnight, when the victims were crossing the Garcha Turn at Daria village, the police said.

Attar Singh (45) and Pawan Kumar (23), who lived in Vikas Nagar Colony, Mauli Jagran, were going home from Sector 22, when the incident took place.

After hitting the motorcycle from behind, the truck dragged the victims to some distance, the police said.

Move over brain-mapping and narco; face may provide the clue

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Allahabad, March 25: Facial contours of an individual can give accurate clues on personality traits like propensity to indulge in crime and aptitude for a particular job, psychologists have claimed.

A study in this regard is being conducted here with sponsorship from the University Grants Commission.

A team of psychologists have come up with the theory that the human face is composed of about 270 different geometrical patterns, the size and alignment of which may determine how a particular individual is likely to behave and respond to stimuli.

Dr. Patel acted in haste, court told

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Brisbane, March 25: India-born doctor Jayant Patel “failed to adequately investigate” cancer concerns in a patient before he removed his colon, an Australian court was told on Wednesday.

Pak has not acted against ISI: Chidambaram

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London, March 25: India said the civilian government in Pakistan has not moved towards reining in the ISI and likened terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba to al-Qaeda.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram said things would be better “if there is a truly civilian government in Pakistan which can rein in the ISI and direct the army and the ISI to move in and dismantle their terror infrastructure“.

“The camps must be closed. Training must come to an end”, he told BBC.

Asked if he has seen any movement in that direction in Pakistan, Chidambaram replied “nothing so far“.

India suggests RTI for climate change bodies

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New Delhi, March 25: Introduce the “Right to Information” to the U.N.’s climate change system, India has suggested to the body (the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) charged with bringing credibility and accountability to the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), the climate science panel which has been in the eye of a storm over the last few months.

Philips on a brand refresh mode

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Chennai, March 25: As part of this exercise, it has gone in for a unified marketing control. The move follows a conscious effort to position the heritage brand Philips as the one that makes life easier for everybody.

Royals’ resilience to the fore

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Mohali, March 25: Kings XI Punjab committed hara-kiri losing seven wickets for 45 runs to handout an unlikely 31-run victory to a resilient Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League clash at the Punjab Cricket Stadium here on Wednesday.

Looking good to chase down the target of 184, the host slipped from a promising-looking 107 for two in the 11th over to lose seven wickets for the addition of just 45 runs.

‘Pak carrying extraordinary military campaign against Taliban’

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Washington, March 25: America’s top military leaders today told the country’s lawmakers that Pakistan is carrying “extraordinary military campaign” against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, but still it has a long way to go in war against terrorism.

Appearing before Defence sub-committee of the House Appropriations Committee, Secretary of Defence Robert Gates and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen told lawmakers that this has been possible because of the series of dialogue being carried out between US and Pak leaders in the last two years.

China joins talks on Iran sanctions, still no deal

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Beijing, March 25: China took part in a conference call with five other world powers on Wednesday to discuss a U.S. proposal for a fourth round of U.N. sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, but no deal emerged.

Beijing, which had refused for months to engage in serious discussions on sanctions, joined the call among senior foreign ministry officials from the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany, several U.N. diplomats said.

Niqab banned in Canada

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Toronto, March 25: After France, Muslim women have been banned from wearing niqab in Canada’s French-speaking Quebec province.

A bill tabled Wednesday will not allow government services to women wearing the niqab.

The bill comes after protests triggered by an Egyptian immigrant’s refusal to remove her niqab in her French languages classes in Montreal, forcing the school and the provincial government to throw her out.

North Korea trespasser on religious mission – activist

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Washington, March 25: A U.S. citizen who North Korea will put on trial for illegal entry crossed the border in support of a fellow American Christian missionary who was released last month after a similar transgression, an activist said.

North Korea said on Monday it will put 30-year-old Aijalon Mahli Gomes, from Boston, on trial for illegally entering the country.

He crossed in January, about a month after Robert Park entered the state with a letter calling on leader Kim Jong-il to repent for his sins and step down.

DK play in “Tum Milo Toh Sahi”

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New Delhi, March 25: Dimple Kapadia is once again teaming up with two of her old co-stars — Nana Patekar and Rishi Kapoor. The bold and the beautiful actress says she gets an inferiority complex while working with Nana even after 16 years while she feels Rishi has now become an “atom bomb”.

Dimple is working with Nana in forthcoming film “Tum Milo Toh Sahi” and will be seen with Rishi in “Patiala House”.

Maoists blast under-construction police building

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Chapra (Bihar), March 25: Heavily-armed Maoists blasted an under-construction police building at Bhelbi in Bihar’s Saran district, police said on Thursday.

Over 50 ultras surrounded the building at around 11.45 pm last night and fired indiscriminately besides triggering dynamite blast that razed the building to the ground, they said.

Bhelbi police station, which was to shift in the under-construction building, is around 2.5 kms away.

No casualty was reported in the incident, the police said.

Police officer to testify against Advani in Babri case

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New Delhi, March 25: A police officer present at the scene of the Babri Masjid’s demolition in 1992 will take the witness stand in a Rae Bareli court on Friday as a witness for the prosecution against L.K. Advani and other sangh parivar leaders accused of inciting violence 17 years ago.

U.S. would play a “constructive” role

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Washington, March 25: Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that Pakistan stills hopes the United States would play a “constructive” role in resolving the Kashmir dispute and providing it with “non-discriminatory” access to energy.

Mr. Qureshi said: “Pakistan seeks peaceful resolution to all issues in South Asia, including Kashmir. We hope the U.S. will maintain its constructive engagement to encourage this process.”

Cuba rights situation ‘deeply disturbing’

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Washington, March 25: President Barack Obama denounced the human rights situation in communist Cuba as “deeply disturbing,” underscoring continuing tensions with Havana despite his pledge to recast relations.

Obama, in a written statement, cited the death last month of jailed Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo and what he described as “intensified harassment of those who dare to give voice to the desires of their fellow Cubans.”

Pentagon poised to raise bar for kicking out gays

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Washington, March 25: U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates plans to announce on Thursday interim steps that would, in some cases, make it more difficult for gays to be kicked out of the military, defence officials said on Wednesday.

The directives are the result of a 45-day review of what the Pentagon can do in the short-term while Congress considers President Barack Obama’s call to repeal the existing “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that bars homosexuals from serving openly in the U.S. military.

Maoists plan new guerrilla army

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Hyderabad, March 24: Maoists are planning to set up a battalion of guerrilla fighters by clubbing the existing companies of People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army.

This was revealed after police seized key documents from recently gunned-down Maoists. But the setting up of the battalion suffered an initial hitch as some key Maoist leaders died in police encounters.

According to the report, the formation of the battalion is a big need as Central paramilitary forces and state forces are deployed in large number for combing operations.

“Telangana employees’ leaders harrassed”

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Hyderabad, March 24: The Telangana Rashtra Samiti has criticised the government for its efforts to harass leaders of the employees unions who were part of Joint Action Committee of Telangana employees by foisting false cases against them.

TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao told reporters here on Tuesday that his party has specific information about the efforts of the government to ensure that employees’ leaders distanced themselves from the movement by registering cases of corruption against them.

RTO servers crash in Secunderabad

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Hyderabad, March 24: Applicants for Learner’s Licence at Secunderabad Regional Transport Office (RTO) at Trimulgherry were left in the lurch on Tuesday as they could not take the driving licence test due to a technical snag.

Travelling from their homes in the simmering sun, over 100 applicants were forced to turn back dejected, despite booking their test slots well in advance.

Regardless of collecting exorbitant service charges for every transaction, the transport department fails to provide hassle-free service, complained Mukunda Rao, an applicant.

Teenager’s rape, murder: four arrested

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Hyderabad, March 24: The Cyberabad police on Tuesday arrested four youths in the sensational case of the burning of a teenager, Ch. Varalaxmi, at Kushaiguda.

Two of the arrested, K. Anil Kumar, 20, and M. Vijay, 18, were also charged with sexually assaulting her, the Cyberabad Police Commissioner, S. Prabhakar Reddy, told a press conference.

The teenager left her house in Padmaraonagar on March 9 and went to meet a friend in Vijayawada. While returning four days later, Kumar allegedly befriended her at Vijayawada railway station after seeing her alone.

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