Kolkata, April 04: Aggrieved over union Home Minister P. Chidambaram dropping politically volatile Burdwan district from his West Bengal tour itinerary, the state’s opposition Congress and Trinamool Congress leaders Saturday night urged him to visit the district and ’save’ the people from the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)’s atrocities.
Hyderabad, April 04: Hyderabad is limping back to normalcy as the three-hour relaxation of curfew in the violence-hit Old City went off peacefully on Saturday with no cases of untoward incident being reported.
Curfew, which was imposed on last Monday, claimed yet another life on Friday. Manjula Bai (55) of Habeebnagar in Old City, suffered a cardiac arrest on and died. She could not get medicines in time to save her life as all shops had remained closed.
Hyderabad, April 04: The Andhra Pradesh capital limped to normality with no untoward incident being reported from any of the 25 curfew-bound areas of the old city on Saturday, but the authorities seem to be in no mood to lift the curfew, a demand that has been gaining strength among people.
Hyderabad, April 04: Ending a day of wild speculation when Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik on sunday made a surprise visit to his bride-to-be Sania Mirza’s home here, the tennis star’s family tonight indicated that the marriage will take place in Hyderabad as scheduled and not be shifted to Dubai.
Anil Kumar Yadav, a friend of Sania, told reporters outside her residence here that preparations for the marriage were on and there was no change of venue for the event.
Ludhiana, April 03: A noted Punjabi poet and former Chief Secretary of Punjab Amrik Singh Pooni passed away at a hospital here this evening, family sources said.
Pooni is survived by his wife Parkash Kaur, two sons and two daughters. He was 73.
As per family sources, he will be cremated at Chandigarh on April 5.
Pooni, an IAS officer of the 1965 batch, was also President of Punjabi Sahitya Akademi (PSA), Ludhiana from 1996 to 2002.
He was born on October 9, 1935 at village Jindowal in Jalandhar district.
New Delhi, April 03: Karnataka High Court Chief Justice PD Dinakaran, who is facing allegations of corruption, has been advised by the Supreme Court collegium to go on leave.
Justice Dinakaran has not been performing judicial work since December last following allegations that he was involved in land grabbing. Justice Madan B Lokur will take Justice Dinakaran’s place as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka HC after the latter proceeds on leave.
New Delhi/Hamilton, April 03:In the backdrop of the cabinet nod to allow foreign universities to set up campuses in India, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal is to tour New Zealand next week to seek closer ties in the educational sector.
According to an HRD ministry official, Sibal is expected to tour New Zealand for three days beginning April 11.
Mumbai, April 03: Mumbai Police inspector and “encounter (gunfight) specialist” Pradeep Sharma, who has been sacked, and another police officer, Pradeep Suryavanshi, were among over 20 people charge-sheeted Saturday by a special team probing the death of a gangster in a gun battle.
The charge-sheet, running into over 1,000 pages, was filed in the Andheri court by an official of the Bombay High Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) which is probing the death of Ramnarayan Gupta, suspected aide of absconding mafia don Chhota Rajan.
Raipur, April 03: As many as 23 percent of the weapons of police in Chhattisgarh, one of the Indian states worst affected by Maoist militancy, are obsolete, a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report said.
“The police department had a total of 49,143 units of weapons, of which 11,232 units (23 percent) were obsolete such as .303 rifles, .410 muskets, .38 revolvers, .303 light machine guns (LMG) and grenade firing (GF) rifles, but were still in use,” the CAG said in a recently released report on the government of Chhattisgarh for the year ended March 31, 2009.
New York, April 03: After months of hype, speculation and anticipation Apple’s iPad tablet computer went on sale Saturday hoping to spark a mainstream change in digital devices.
The sleek monitor, which is controlled mainly through touchscreen gestures rather than a mouse and keyboard, went on sale at Apple stores around the US and at branches of the leading electronics chain Best Buy, as well as through Apple’s website.
Kochi, April 03: With six months to go for Commonwealth Games, the organising committee Saturday kicked off a series of road shows in this Kerala city to mobilise people to be a part of the mega sporting event.
The road shows were launched by Jiji Thomson, special director general of the Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010.
“With six months to go before the Games, the time has now come for all Indians to come together and join in this historical event. It is time for each Indian to realise that the Games are for each and every one of us,” said Thomson.
New Delhi, April 03: The Delhi government’s excise department Saturday withdrew licence of one of the enclosures allowed to serve liquor inside the Ferozshah Kotla Stadium as it was too near the field.
“Though the organisers had applied for liquor licenses in seven enclosures, the excise department has decided to withdraw license of one enclosure close to the ground, as it was near the playing arena,” according to an official statement here.
The stadium is at present hosting T20 cricket matches of Indian Premier League, which is India’s domestic T20 league.
Kolkata, April 03: Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram Saturday held a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to review the operations against Maoists in the state even as the rebels triggered a landmine blast in Lalgarh ahead of his visit.
The meeting lasted about 40 minutes and Chidambaram did not speak to waiting media persons when he left the state secretariat, the Writers’ Buildings.
Hyderabad/New Delhi, April 03: A day after a young woman who claims to be the wife of Shoaib Malik made public the nikhanama to prove the marriage, the Pakistani cricketer Saturday admitted that he signed the marriage document presuming that the bride was the girl whose photographs were sent to him.
Shoaib’s lawyer Ramesh Gupta told some news channels in Delhi that the signature on the nikahnama was indeed that of Shoaib’s. “Shoaib told me that he signed the nikahnama, believing the girl to be the one whose photographs were sent to him,” he said.
Bhopal, April 03: Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) Bhopal has achieved a turnover of Rs.3,708 crore in fiscal 2009-2010 as against Rs.3,308 crore in the previous year, registering an increase of 12 percent, said an official Saturday.
Executive Director M.K. Dube told media persons that the unit also earned an amount of Rs.602 crore as profit before tax, which is 21 percent more than the previous year’s profit of Rs.498 crore.
Bhubaneswar, April 03: In two separate incidents, three people were arrested Saturday for printing and circulating fake Indian currency notes in Orissa, police said.
In Sundergarh district, police arrested one person for printing fake notes and seized printing machines from him.
“We have seized the printers and about 300 counterfeit notes of different denominations from Trilochan Sahu,” said Deepak Kumar, the superintendent of police Sundergarh district.
In the other incident, two people were arrested in Keonjhar district for circulating fake Rs.500 notes.
Washington, April 03: Sending a “strong signal” to countries engaged in business dealings with Iran that they may face ramifications, the US has asked India and other emerging powers to play a key role in galvanising the global community for imposing sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear issue.
“We are expecting everyone, particularly, emerging powers to play a significant role in this (issue),” Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, P J Crowley, told reporters, when asked about the latest Indian move to resume talks with Iran for a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline project.
Burdwan (WB), April 03: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram’s proposed visit to Mangalkot, which has witnessed recurring violence between Trinamool Congress and CPI-M in August and December last year, has been cancelled, officials said.
Railway Minister and Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee has been insisting that Chidambaram visit Mangalkot, 60km from Burdwan town, alleging that Left workers had unleashed terror against her party activists.
Jammu, April 03: The Peoples Democratic Party today said the constitutional changes in Pakistan would create an atmosphere more conducive to resolving the Kashmir issue.
The changes sought to be brought about through the constitutional package introduced in that country’s parliament could strengthen democratic forces throughout South Asia, create a sobering effect and help build bridges of understanding, party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said in a statement here.
New Delhi, April 03: Two minors were detained and their friend was arrested in connection with what could be a case of honour killing of a young man, who wanted to have a relationship with the sister of one of them, in the national capital, police said today.
The victim, Bunty (20), had proposed to the sister of one of the minors who along with his friends allegedly murdered him on March 16 in Anand Parbat area.
Bhubaneswar, April 03: Tightening noose around those allegedly involved in the multi-crore mining scam, the Orissa Police today arrested 48 people of as many private companies on the charge of smuggling iron ore worth Rs 54.40 crore.
“Those arrested belong to 48 companies engaged in transportation, loading of minerals and mining activities,” Keonjhar SP Asish Kumar Singh told PTI adding they were held on charges of smuggling minerals through trains.
Mumbai, April 03: Opting to bat, Mumbai Indians posted 178 for five against Deccan Chargers in their Indian Premier League match at the Brabourne Stadium here today.
Brief score:
Mumbai Indians: 178 for 5 in 20 overs (Ambati Rayudu 55 not out, Saurabh Tiwary 44; Pragyan Ojha 3/26).
–Agencies
Latur, April 03: In a shocking incident, a labourer allegedly axed his wife and son to death, and injured his daughter seriously before committing suicide today, police said.
A brick kiln worker, identified as Ram Kamble (45), of Deepjyot Nagar in Latur city attacked his wife Babita (30), his nine-year-old son Krishna and six-year-old daughter Rekha with an axe, Inspector Pradeep Kakade of the MIDC Latur police station said.
While Babita and Krishna died on the spot, seriously injured Rekha is undergoing treatment in a hospital, he said.
Kolkata, April 03: An abandoned bag at the domestic lounge of NSC Bose international airport here created a bomb scare today, an hour ahead of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram’s arrival from Itanagar, but nothing was found inside it.
Airport sources said a passenger detected the black coloured bag lying near the conveyor belt of the lounge and immediately informed the police who called bomb squad personnel.
Nothing was found inside the bag which was left behind by mistake by its owner, identified as R R Sen.
Lucknow, April 03: In the midst of a raging row over over her government’s spending money for Dalit memorials, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today said it would not be possible for the state administration to fund implementation of the Right to Education and asked the Centre to give money for the scheme.
She accused the Centre of overlooking pratical aspects of implementing the Right to Education Act by not arranging money for its implementation.