Month: April 2010

We cannot take Afghanistan lightly: Dhoni

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St Lucia (WI), April 29: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday warned his team-mates against taking unheralded Afghanistan lightly in their Twenty20 World Cup opening match here on Saturday, saying any slip-up against them can put his side out of contention for super eights.

“If you ask me, I would not consider our opening match against Afghanistan as a practice game. I don’t take my opponents lightly. At the end of the day you have to win whichever team you play,” said Dhoni, ruling out complacency in the Indian camp.

Police seize ganja from near Indo-Nepal border

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Mahrajganj (UP), April 29: Police today seized five kg of ganja worth Rs 26 lakh in the international market from near the Indo-Nepal border and arrested three persons, including a suspected Nepali smuggler, in this connection.

On specific information, police raided Tothibari area of Rajbari and arrested three persons identified as Girdhari Lohar, hailing from Azamgarh, Ram Jeet, hailing from Gorakhpur and Jagdama Singh, hailing from Maharajganj, police said.

Police said further probe is on in the matter.

–Agencies

Pakistan denies reports on troop shift

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Islamabad, April 29: Pakistan Thursday denied US reports that it has shifted 100,000 troops from its eastern border with India to its western frontier with Afghanistan, terming the reports “baseless, ridiculous and misleading”.

About 147,000 security forces personnel were deployed on its western borders to combat the menace of terrorism and no additional forces had been shifted there, Online news agency quoted military spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas as saying.

Andhra Bank full year net soars 60pc to Rs 1,046 cr

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Hyderabad, April 29: The city-based public sector lender Andhra Bank today reported a full 60 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 1,046 crore for FY10.

Announcing the results here, chairman and managing director RS Reddy said the bank saw 19.40 per cent increase in its Q4 profit at Rs 240.26 crore.

The bank recorded a business of Rs 1,34,194 crore, up 29.26 per cent during the year, while deposits increased by Rs 18,298 crore to Rs 77,688 crore. The gross bank credit stood at Rs 56,505 crore as on March 31, registering an increase of Rs 12,077 crore.

Pan-India 3G licence price now over Rs.9,300 crore

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New Delhi, April 29: India Thursday concluded 100 rounds of an auction to award spectrum for third generation (3G) telecom services in the country, with the provisional winning price for a nationwide licence reaching over Rs.9,300 crore.

At the end of the 17th day of the auction, which began April 9, the provisional winning price for a pan-India licence stood at Rs.9,330.04 crore, up from the Rs.3,500 crore reserve price fixed by the government.

Lalit Modi is entitled to a fair trial: PCA chief Bindra

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Mohali, April 29: PCA chief I S Bindra today threw his weight behind embattled Lalit Modi, saying the suspended IPL Commissioner should be given a fair trial.

Modi is facing corruption charges and was served a show-cause notice by the Indian Cricket Board on April 25, the day season-III of the IPL came to an end.

Bindra, who is also ICC Principal advisor, said IPL owes its success to the marketing skills of Modi.

Kolkata on alert against possible terrorist strike

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Kolkata, April 29: Security in the metropolis and and the airport was stepped up today after the West Bengal government received inputs on a possible strike by the Bangladesh-based terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM).

“The state government has received inputs from the Central intelligence about a possible strike by the Indian Mujahideen. We have strengthened security accordingly,” Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said here.

2.28 kg gold seized from airline employee

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Chennai, April 29: An employee of a private airline was today arrested in connection with smuggling of gold and the precious metal worth over Rs 35 lakh was seized from him.

N Ganesan was arrested by Customs officials for his role as as an “intermediary in receiving smuggled gold at the airport,” MVB Rao, Commissioner of Customs (Airport) said.

Ganesan allegedly received 2.28 kgs of gold from a passenger who had arrived from Singapore and which was to be handed over to another person, Rao said in an official press release here.

—Agencies

Four Delhi Police Constables arrested for extortion

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New Delhi, April 29: Four Delhi Police Constables were arrested here for allegedly extorting money from a businessman in the guise of saving him from a case of human trafficking, police said today.

The incident was reported from south-east Delhi’s New Friends Colony and the Constables have been identified as Ravinder, Rajbir, Pervez Anand and Bhir Singh, a senior police official said.

On April 20, the Constables had gone to a businessman involved in travel and tour operations telling him that they were investigating a complaint of human trafficking registered against him.

Gilani invites Manmohan to visit Pakistan

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Thimphu, April 29: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Thursday invited his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh to visit Pakistan.

“Prime Minister Gilani invited him (Singh) to visit Pakistan. He said he would love to visit Pakistan,” Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters here, after a meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit here.

Government committed to privacy: Chidambaram

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New Delhi, April 29: The government is committed to privacy and is prepared to strengthen safeguards regarding phone tapping, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said Thursday.

He also said the government was examining a proposal to bring under “a ministry” the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), a highly specialised technical intelligence gathering agency.

SP WB president Vijay Upadhyay expelled from party

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Kolkata, April 29: The Samajwadi Party today expelled ousted rebel leader Amar Singh’s loyalist and president of the party’s Bengal unit Vijay Upadhyay.

The All India general secretary of the SP and West Bengal Fisheries Minister Kiranmoy Nanda said in a statement here that Vijay Singh Bhaduria has been nominated as president of the West Bengal unit of the SP.

Upadhyay told PTI he had already resigned from the post of the state president and left the party after SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav’s barb against expelled party leader Amar Singh early this year.

–Agencies

Ball set rolling for Haryana Youth Cong polls

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Chandigarh, April 29: The ball has been set rolling for conducting the organisational elections of the Haryana Youth Congress.

“The four-day nomination process will start from May 7 and the entire process will end on June 17,” Youth Congress’ Pradesh Returning Officer for the polls V K Hari told reporters here.

He said the Youth Congress’ membership drive had drawn an encouraging response.

“Our month-long membership drive was on from December 2. As many as 4.10 lakh applicants came forward, but after scrutiny 3.75 lakh were enrolled,” he said.

–Agencies

GNDU to start Masters of Exercise Physiology course

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Amritsar, April 29: The Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) here would start, a two-year Master in Exercise Physiology and Nutrition course from this academic session.

This course would be started under the Faculty of Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy.

Jaspal Singh, Head of the Department, today said the course has been designed and drafted in consultation with Prof Sheri Melton, Fulbright Nehru Scholar, West Chester University, State of Pennsylvania, USA.

–Agencies

Apex court to have a woman judge after four years

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New Delhi, April 29: The supreme court is all set to have a woman judge after long four years with Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra slated to take oath as an apex court justice Friday.

Justice Mishra would be administered the oath of office by the outgoing Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan.

Along with her, Madras High Court’s Chief Justice H.L. Gokhale and Bombay High Court’s Chief Justice Anil R. Dave, whose appointment as apex court judges was cleared in March this year by an apex court panel of three senior most judges, will be sworn-in.

Country’s first electricity museum opens in Gujarat

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Ahmedabad, April 29: A first of its kind electricity museum that displays evolution of power from the vedic days to the nuclear power generation age through interactive models was today inaugurated in Gujarat.

The museum ‘CLP Electrodrome’, which, exhibits a wide range of computer-based interactive models of electricity generation, transmission and distribution, was thrown open for public by Chief Minister Narendra Modi at the science city here.

Sandalwood logs worth Rs 40 lakh seized

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Chennai, April 29: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence today seized sandalwood logs worth Rs 40 lakh which were meant to be smuggled to Dubai.

C Rajan, Additional Director General, DRI, said officials had information about the smuggling and during surveillance outside Salem, intercepted a jeep in which the logs were bundled in gunny bags.

Two persons in the vehicle fled on seeing the officials and 400 kg of sandalwood logs were recovered, he said in a release.

–Agencies

EU court ruling challenges Britain’s anti-terror laws

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Luxembourg, April 29: Britain is wrong to restrict social security payments to the wives of terror suspects living there, the European Court of Justice ruled Thursday.

The decision by the Luxembourg-based court — which interprets EU law and ensures its equal application throughout the European Union — could affect some of Britain’s anti-terror laws.

Iraq’s air dream to London turns into a nightmare

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Baghdad, April 29: The first commercial flight between Baghdad and London in 20 years has turned into a nightmare for Iraq after its national airline boss had his passport seized and a chartered plane was impounded.

The transport ministry in Baghdad on Thursday confirmed that Iraqi Airways chief Kifah Hassan’s travel document was taken after papers were served by lawyers acting for Kuwait Airways, which says it is owed 1.2 billion dollars.

Google to book into Mideat online market

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Abu Dhabi, April 29: Google is understood to be planning a bid for ITA Software, a specialist in internet travel software, for about US$1 billion (Dh3.67bn).

The move would coincide with spectacular growth in Middle East airlines’ market share and a concerted effort by Google to penetrate the Gulf’s growing online community.

France grilled over abusing terror suspects

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Geneva, April 29: France faced grilling by UN anti-torture experts on Tuesday over its handling of overcrowding and suicide in its jails, and the rights of asylum seekers, minors in detention, and terror suspects.

Officials from the UN Committee against Torture raised concerns about jail overcrowding, in particular in France’s overseas territories where occupancy can reach 230 percent, as well its high prison suicide rates.

Riyadh takes tougher line on drug abuse

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Riyadh, April 29: Underscoring growing concerns about illegal drug use in the kingdom, and unremitting trafficking through its borders, Saudi Arabia wants to raise domestic awareness of the problem and expand regional anti-smuggling co-operation.

Those are the goals of a two-day conference here this week sponsored by the Anti-Narcotics General Directorate of the Saudi interior ministry.

A first of its kind for Riyadh, the conference has drawn officials from neighbouring Gulf states, including Iran, as well as from the United Nations, United Kingdom and United States.

Italy under fire for sending immigrants back to Libya

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Strasbourg, April 29: Italy is violating Europe’s human rights convention by pushing boatloads of migrants back to the Libyan shores, a top anti-torture watchdog said Wednesday.

Last year Rome and Tripoli reached a controversial agreement that allows the Italian navy to intercept illegal migrants at sea and return them to Libya, triggering sharp criticism from the UNHCR and rights groups.

Turkish constitution shake-up faces referendum

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Ankara, April 29: A set of amendments to Turkey’s constitution appeared headed for a referendum after securing backing from a majority of lawmakers in a rancorous debate that ended Thursday.

The 27 articles in the government-sponsored package, which aims to curb the powers of key judicial bodies long at odds with the ruling party, won a majority in an initial round of voting but fell just short of the threshold needed for its automatic adoption.

If the result is repeated in a vote on the final reading of the bill, expected to begin Sunday, the measure will then be put to a referendum.

Hamas: Israel ‘foot dragging’ over prisoner swap

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Gaza City, April 29: A senior Hamas official accused Israel on Wednesday of dragging its feet over a long-delayed deal that would see a captured Israeli soldier exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.

“The Zionist enemy bears responsibility for the foot dragging and the deceit of successive governments,” Mahmud al-Zahar said.

Zahar said Hamas’s armed wing had “proposed several virtuous initiatives and sent numerous messages in the form of photos, videos and audiotapes of Shalit showing him in good health.”