Month: June 2010

Gold ornament worth Rs one lakh missing from temple

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New Delhi, June 27: A gold ornament worth Rs one lakh was missing from a temple in the national capital, police said today.

The incident happened in a Jain Mandir in Jyoti Nagar in East Delhi yesterday.

Police said they are questioning the priest and two gaurds posted at the temple.

“Prima-facie investigations suggests the theft took place around 7-7.30 pm yesterday but we are looking at all the angles,” a senior police official said.

–Agencies

AI plane makes ‘priority’ landing at Mumbai airport

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Mumbai, June 27: An Air India flight from New York with 234 passengers onboard made a ‘priority’ landing at the city airport after the pilot reported a technical fault in the aircraft.

The plane landed safely at 9:48 pm at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and all the passengers are safe, a Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) spokesperson said.

“The steering of the aircraft got jammed when it was on approach to landing at the city airport, which forced the flight make a priority landing,” an airport official said.

Six injured in farmers-police clash

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Bangalore, June 27: Six persons, including five policemen, were injured after farmers protesting the arrest of some of the members hurled stones at police in Ramanagaram district, prompting them to batoncharge.

Farmers at Hemmigepura were protesting against the arrest of some of the members who demanded participation in a high-level meeting to discuss land issue for Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project (BMIC), police said.

The meeting was chaired by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today.

The farmers are against acquisition of more lands for the project.

J&K minister says CRPF firing unwarranted

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Srinagar, June 27: Jammu and Kashmir Law Minister Ali Muhammad Sagar today described as “totally unwarranted” firing by CRPF personnel on protestors in Sopore in north Kashmir, saying such action was adding fuel to the fire.

“This was totally unwarranted. Firing (by CRPF) at this point of time is only adding fuel to the fire. What they have done is very unfortunate and it will send a very wrong message,” he told reporters here.

Telangana issue puts all other issues in shade

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Hyderabad, June 27: There are a host of problems confronting the people of the composite State of Andhra Pradesh but efforts by Opposition parties to sustain campaigns against corruption in Jalayagnam and other programmes, fee reimbursement, liquor auctions and now fuel price hike all pale against “the issue” that of Statehood for Telangana.

State releases 209 cr towards fee reimbursement

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Hyderabad, June 27: The government has released Rs 209 crore towards fee reimbursement scheme today. This amount also includes fee reimbursement to the category-B students of MBBS.

According to various orders, it has released Rs 20 crore for the Tribal Welfare department, Rs 60 crore to Social Welfare department and Rs 125 crore to BC Welfare department.

The government released Rs 4.3 crore for MBBS category-B students who joined in 2008-09 academic year. The release has become inevitable as the High Court ordered the government to release the amount.

Assembly queries pile up on babus’ desks

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Hyderabad, June 27: Hundreds of queries raised by MLAs in the Assembly are reportedly pending a response from various departments in the government. Speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy is said to have cracked the whip on the departments for not acting on these queries, and warned secretaries and heads of departments of breach of privilege proceedings if they fail to provide replies to them within two months.

‘Swine flu not in epidemic proportions’

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Hyderabad, June 26: Health department secretary P V Ramesh said that so far 23 cases of swine flu have been detected in the state from January 1 this year and of them 14 cases were reported in this month alone.

Speaking to reporters, he said four persons have died so far three in Hyderabad and one in Visakhapatnam. The secretary said that swine flu was not in epidemic proportions and there was no need for community vaccination. He said that so far 80,000 doses of vaccine have been procured and 60,000 have been distributed.

Price hike: Opposition parties take to streets

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Hyderabad, June 27: Scores of activists belonging to TDP, BJP and Left parties were taken into custody after they took to the streets today burning effigies of Chief Minister K Rosaiah, organising road blocks and holding demonstrations, demanding rollback of the petrol, domestic gas and diesel prices.

Small, medium IT firms under siege

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Hyderabad, June 27: The 500-odd small and medium-size (SME) IT and ITES companies in the state are currently under siege. While companies are pinning hopes on the proposed IT Policy 2010-15, various government departments seem to be ironing out issues so as to include the incentives requested by the industry, particularly, sops relating to reduced rentals in upcoming SEZs.

The sunset clause under Section 10A and 10B of the Income Tax Act will expire in March 2011.

Kangana turns to comdey

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Mumbai, June 27: Shedding her intense on-screen image, Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut is trying her hands at comedy and this time wants to tickle the funny bone of her fans.

The actress is excited about the change and will have two-comedy films releasing this year, Anees Bazmee’s ‘No Problem’ and Anand Rai’s ‘Tanu Weds Manu’.

Kerala to make Coke pay for damages

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Kerala, June 27: Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan on Sunday lashed out at soft drink giant Coca Cola and said a tribunal will be set up to recover the cost of socio-economic damages caused by a now-shut plant of the company in the state.

Inaugurating a new unit of a state-owned public sector undertaking, he said the management of the closed factory of Coca Cola at Plachimada in Palakkad district had cheated the people of the state and the government.

PM congratulated Saina

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New Delhi, June 27: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday congratulated badminton sensation Saina Nehwal for winning the Indonesian Open Super Series at Jakarta, her third international title on a row.

“Saina has shown spirit, determination and skill in winning the championship, her third major international title in three weeks,” Singh said.

The Prime Minister also said that Saina has done the country proud and is a role model for the youth.

Pranab resigned as chief of WB unit

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New Delhi, June 26: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Senior Congress leader resigned as chief of party’s West Bengal unit citing “heavy government responsibilities” on Sunday.

CLP leader Manas Ranjan Bhunia was appointed to the post by Sonia Gandhi.

The appointment of Bhunia, a close associate of Mukherjee, comes after Congress’ poor performance in the recent local body elections where ally Trinamool Congress emerged as the biggest gainer after contesting on its own.

Atwal move five places up

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Mumbai, June 27: India’s Arjun Atwal landed three birdies against two bogeys for a one-under 69 that saw him move five places up on the leaderboard at the end of the third round of the Travelers Championships golf in Cromwell (Connecticut) on Saturday.

Atwal, three-under 207 for 54 holes, was tied 55th. He birdied the second, sixth and 14th holes and bogeyed the first tenth in his 69. His earlier rounds were 71 and 67.

Justin Rose came close to his second straight PGA TOUR victory by shooting a two-under 68 to take a three-stroke lead over Ben Curtis into the final round.

Fire damage Dutch bank

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Netherlands, June 27: A fire has damaged the top floors of a major Dutch bank’s prestigious new headquarters in Utrecht (Netherlands), while it was still under construction.

No injuries are reported in the blaze that broke out at the top of one of a pair of 27-floor, 105-meter oval towers that are to be the new headquarters for Rabobank in Utrecht.

News agency Novum cites firefighters as saying the cause is still unknown, though the area where the fire broke out houses elevator and electrical equipment.

Sarkozy & Carla to visit India later this year, Cameron in July

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Toronto, June 27: French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his spouse Carla Bruni will visit India later this year while British Prime Minister David Cameron will travel to India in July, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said here last night.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is here to attend the G20 Summit, had separate bilateral meetings with both the leaders here this evening on the sidelines of the Summit and discussed India-UK and India-France relations and G20 which got off this evening amid violence and protest demonstrations.

Stage set for Manmohan Singh, Barack Obama meet

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Toronto, June 27: The stage was set for another meet between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama here later Sunday, during which they were expected to discuss a host of issues from Afghanistan and Pakistan to the current global financial crisis.

But Indian officials accompanying the prime minister ruled out the possibility of his bringing up the issue of extraditing former Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson from the US during his meeting with Obama.

9/11 top news event in last 50 years

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Auckland, June 27: The 9/11 terror attack and Princess Diana’s death topped a poll of the biggest news events in the past 50 years, a media report said Sunday.

Thousands of people in New Zealand were asked to vote in an online poll ahead of a television special – “50 Years of Television News” – broadcast Sunday on TVNZ, New Zealand Herald reported.

Voters were given a list of 30 news events since 1960 and asked to vote for their top 10.

The Sep 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the US came out at number one, followed by Princess Diana’s death in 1997.

Man who cheated death looks for Guinness mention

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Thane, June 27: A man who survived despite contacting various life threatening ailments including cancer and paralysis and who underwent 10 major surgeries hopes to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for his feat, doctors said Sunday.

Doctors who have treated Shamji Solanki, 47, said his survival surely deserves a mention in the Guinness and they have sent his medical records to London.

Bollywood cheers Saina Nehwal’s victory

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New Delhi, June 27: Bollywood stars tweeted praise as Saina Nehwal completed a stupendous hat-trick of badminton titles and made the world take notice of her.

Jubiliant at Saina’s exploits at the Indonesian Open Super Series, the Bollywood brigade took to microblogging site Twitter to shower praise on the 20-year-old sports sensation.

Anupam Kher congratulated Saina by writing: “Saina is the most focused sports person in the country today. And it shows. Hope the advertising world doesn’t take over her life and game.”

His son Sikander Kher cheered Saina by writing: “GO SAINA !!!”

I’m one of the most watched scandal on YouTube: Nityananda

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Bangalore,June 26: Freed from the confines of prison, where he spent 53 days on charges of rape, self-styled godman Nityananda says the purported video footage of him with an actress has not affected him spiritually, but socially – ”from being one of the most watched gurus on YouTube to one of the most watched scandals.”

Prez commutes death sentence of eight to life imprisonment

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New Delhi, June 27: President Pratibha Patil has commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence given to eight murder convicts in two separate cases.

During the last three decades, the Presidents had commuted the sentence in only 10 cases out of the 77 petitions decided by them. Patil gave her order on June 15 on mercy petitions submitted by Shyam Manohar and five others, who were on death row since October 1997 for killing five persons including a 10-year old boy, and Dharmendra Kumar and Narendra Yadav, who were convicted of murdering five members of a family.

New monsoon onset dates soon: IMD

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New Delhi, June 27: Kerala, Delhi and many other parts of the country will soon have new onset dates for monsoon.

A team of 40 weather scientists are in the process of revising the normal onset dates for monsoon across the country.

However, according to Ajit Tyagi, Director General of India Meteorological Department (IMD), there will not be any significant difference and the new normal dates may vary only by one or two days.

FM to meet state-run bank chiefs, CMs tomorrow

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Mumbai, June 27: Efforts to expand the reach of the banking system, and increase credit flow to agri sector are likely to top the agenda when chief ministers of western states and PSU bank chiefs meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee here tomorrow.

Mukherjee will also discuss other pertinent economic issues, such as credit-deposit ratio, loans to the weaker sections and the implementation of the direct tax code in the meeting.

Besides bank heads, officials from Nabard, Sidbi, IIFCL and Exim Bank will also participate in the meeting.