Month: June 2010

It’s a Political Game against me: Zakir Naik

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Mumbai, June 23: Islamic televangelist Dr Zakir Naik, who was banned from entering the United Kingdom (UK), said he would approach the British high court against the ban. “It is a political decision and not a legal one,” said Naik at a press conference on Tuesday, adding that he plans to approach Union external affairs minister SM Krishna to get the ban revoked.

Islamic group sues Shoaib, Sania for hurting sentiments
Naik was denied entry in UK for his controversial statements on terrorism, which home secretary Theresa May found “not conducive for public good”.

Mecca Masjid blast: CBI announces Rs 10 L reward

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Hyderabad, June 23: CBI today announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh for providing information on each of the two accused, Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra, in the Mecca Masjid Blast in Hyderabad in 2007.

“The Central Bureau of Investigation has announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh to any person providing information leading to the arrest of each of the two absconding accused,” CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal said.

Lashes, jail for immoral activities

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Riyadh, June 23: Judicial officials say a Saudi court has convicted four women and 11 men for mingling at a party and sentenced them to flogging and prison terms.

The men, who are between 30 and 40 years old, and three of the women, who are under the age of 30, were sentenced to an unspecified number of lashes and one or two year prison terms each.

The fourth woman, a minor, was sentenced to 80 lashes and was not sent to prison.

The ruling was handed down on Tuesday at a court in the northern town of Ha’il.

Moily calls on Andhra CM

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Hyderabad, June 23: Union Law Minister and Incharge of Congress Affairs in the state Veerappa Moily tonight held consultations with Chief Minister K Rosaiah and others senior leaders on July 27 bypolls in Telangana.

Besides Rosaiah, Congress MPs K V P Ramachandra Rao, G Vivek and other leaders met Moily here.

Moily told reporters that party would finalise its candidates for the by-elections to 10 Assembly seats in Telangana region after consultation with the Chief Minister, PCC President D Srinivas and others.

Sri Lanka beat India by seven wickets in Asia Cup

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Dambulla, June 22: Sri Lanka defeated India by seven wickets in an inconsequential match of the Asia Cup cricket tournament here Tuesday.

Sri Lanka, who elected to field, bowled out India for 209 in 42.3 overs and reached the target in 37.3 overs.

For Sri Lanka, captain Kumar Sangakkara made 73 while Mahela Jayawerdena scored an unbeaten 53.

India and Sri Lanka have already made it to Thursday’s final

–Agencies

Kalmadi thanks Pakistan for support during CWG bid

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New Delhi, June 22: IOA President Suresh Kalmadi today appreciated Pakistan’s role in India’s successful bid for organising the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

“Pakistan supported us to the hilt to get the Commonwealth Games to India. We can never forget their support. We and Canada were locked in a two-way battle for getting the hosting rights and Pakistan supported us in our bid,” Kalmadi said while announcing the India schedule of Queen’s Baton Relay.

The relay will arrive in the country through Wagah border on June 25 after finishing its Pakistan leg.

Gold declines further on sluggish global cues

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Mumbai, June 22: Gold prices declined further in the bullion market here today on persistent selling by stockists and traders, sparked by a sharp fall overnight in New York.

The precious metal, which scaled to a historic-high in yesterday’s trade, tumbled on the back of heavy speculative selling.

Standard gold (99.5 purity) tanked by Rs 175 per ten grams to conclude at Rs 18,615 from Monday’s closing level of Rs 18,790.

Pure gold (99.9 purity) dropped by a similar margin to end at Rs 18,705 per ten grams against Rs 18,880 previously.

Nifty ends 36 points down on global volatility

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Mumbai, June 22: The benchmark S&P CNX Nifty slid by over 36 points on the National Stock Exchange today as investors worldwide booked profits following an unprecedented rally on global bourses in the previous day’s trading.

Markets across the world yesterday experienced an unprecedented rally sparked by China’s announcement at the weekend to make its currency more flexible against the dollar.

The Nifty touched a low of 5,311.05 before ending the session at 5,316.55, a fall of 36.75 points, or 0.69 per cent, from its last close.

BCCI rejects defence, Modi’s ouster looks certain

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New Delhi, June 22: Trouble appears to be mounting for suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi whose ouster looks certain with the Cricket Board today rejecting his defence against the slew of charges levelled against him.

Talking to PTI, BCCI secretary N Srinivasan said he found Modi’s reply to the three showcause notices that had been slapped on him “unacceptable”.

He said his observation has been forwarded to the affiliate units and would seek ratification in the Board’s July 3 Special General Body Meeting, which is expected to oust Modi.

Woman commits suicide, parents cry foul

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Noida, June 22: A 22-year-old woman, married for a year, allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself in Surajpur area here today with her parents accusing her in-laws of killing her for dowry.

She was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her room, police said.

She took the extreme step while her husband was sleeping on the rooftop, they said.

When the husband came down in the morning, he found her dead, they said.

However, the woman’s parents alleged that she was murdered by her in-laws for dowry.

–Agencies

Congress’ special attention on Bihar, Uttar Pradesh: Sonia

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New Delhi, June 22: The Congress will pay special attention to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the mass contact programme it has launched, party chief Sonia Gandhi has said.

“The Congress party has launched mass contact programme in the country with special attention being paid to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,” she said, in her letter to party workers in the latest issue of party mouthpiece “Congress Sandesh”.

Maoists call 48-hour shutdown in five states

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Maoists call 48-hour shutdown in five states Kolkata, June 22: The Maoists Tuesday called for a 48-hour shutdown from June 30 in five states – West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar and Chhattisgarh – to protest the disinvestment policy of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

“We will protest against the UPA’s decision to disinvest 10 percent in Coal India and Hindustan Copper,” West Bengal state committee secretary of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) Khokon said.

Madani’s bail plea hearing posted to June 29

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Bangalore, June 22: A fast track court today posted to June 29 the hearing on the anticipatory bail plea by PDP leader Abdul Naseer Madani, one of the accused in the 2008 Bangalore blast case.

The prosecution opposed the bail plea, stating it could hinder investigation.

Madani has been chargesheeted along with 31 others for his alleged involvement in the blasts here on July 25, 2008, in various parts of the city that left a woman dead and 20 injured.

Probe ordered into misappropriation of funds

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Chandigarh, June 22: The Punjab government today ordered a probe into alleged misappropriation of funds by the officials of the Ludhiana-based Citrus and Agri Juicing and Organic Farming Council.

Ludhiana Police Commissioner, who has been entrusted with the task of conducting the probe, will submit his report to the government within two months, an official spokesman said here this evening.

The council had been set up by the state government about five years ago to push crop diversification programme in a big way.

–Agencies

We want better socks: Jawans to Antony at Siachen

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Leh (J&K), June 22: Reduction in telephone call rates, better socks and more snow mobiles. These were some of the demands put forth by army jawans at Siachen glacier when Defence Minister A K Antony met them there.

“The jawans wanted that some of the accessories such as quality of socks should be improved. They also wanted increased number of snow mobiles for their operational requirements,” Defence Ministry officials said here.

Fire in shop at Gaffar mkt

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New Delhi, June 22: A fire broke out in a shop at Gaffar Market in Central Delhi but it was soon put out, fire officials said.

The incident took place at about 5 pm, they said.

“Four fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was soon extinguished. No one was injured in the incident,” a fire official said.

The reason of the fire is yet to be ascertained, he added.

–Agencies

Ramesh: Hydel projects are essentials

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Dehradun, June 22: Stressing on the need to strike a balance between environment and development needs, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh today said hydel projects were essential to meet the demand for energy and could not be done away with completely.

However, a number of hydel projects were stopped in Uttarakhand in view of the “public demand,” he said in a statement here.

By the year 2013, India will have an exclusive satellite meant for monitoring forest fire, he told a meeting at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) here. This satellite would also help in forest mapping.

Commuters react angrily to auto fare hike

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New Delhi, June 22: “Outrageous… the government has failed us… government has surrendered to autowallahs.”

This was how many Delhiites reacted to the city government’s decision to increase autorickshaw and taxi fares.

Resident Welfare Associations also slammed the decision and attacked the government for not taking the people into confidence while calculating the CNG price hike impact “which is hardly 25 paise to 50 paise per KM on both auto and taxi owners.”

Faridabad, Ballabhgarh to get Metro rail service: Hooda

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Chandigarh, June 22: After Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ballabhgarh will also be put put on Delhi Metro rail map, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today.

“We plan to set up the Metro Corporation. The government also has a plan to extend Metro upto Manesar,” Hooda told reporters here.

He said Faridabad and Ballabhgarh would be connected to Delhi through Metro rail and the state government has got clearance for the same, he said.

CBI announces 10 lakhs reward for Makkah Masjid blast accused

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Hyderabad, June 22: The Central Bureau of Investigation has announced a cash reward of Rs. 10,00,000/- (Rs. Ten Lakhs) to any person providing information leading to the arrest of each of the two absconding accused i.e. Sandeep Dange @ Parmanand and Ramchandra Kalsangra @ Ramji @ Vishnu Patel (both residents of Indore, Madhya Pradesh) in investigation of a case relating to Bomb Blast in Mecca Masjid at Hyderabad on 18-05-2007.

Maoists not involved in Jnaneshwari disaster: Kishenji

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Kolkata, June 22: Top Maoist leader Kishenji today claimed that his oufit was not involved in the May 28 Jnaneswari Express disaster in West Midnapore district that claimed 148 lives.

“We are not involved in the derailment of the Jnaneswari Express. We have no relation with the people who have done it,” Kishenji told PTI from an undisclosed location.

When pointed out that police was accusing Maoists for the mishap, he said, “We have said earlier that we were not involved in the accident. The police can cook up their own stories.

Job scam: A setback to railway recruitment

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New Delhi, June 22: Railways today said the job scam unearthed by the CBI has dealt a big blow to its efforts to fill up vital posts in daily rail operations like ensuring safety and freight movement.

Our loading targets are growing by the day and we require staff urgently to run the goods train, which could have been done through the railway recruitment board (RRB) examinations, said Railway Board Chairman Vivek Sahai.

He claimed they were alerted by the vigilance about the leakage of the question papers before the CBI busted the scam.

Rs 1,577 one-way air fare to Kuala Lumpur from Hyderabad

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New Delhi, June 22: Visit Kuala Lumpur at an all-inclusive one-way fare of Rs 1,577 from Hyderabad!

This limited-period promotional offer of the Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia is valid for booking on only two days from tomorrow and meant for travel between July 20 and August 31, an airline release said here.

Hyderabad is AirAsia’s eighth destination in India after Trichy, Kochi, Trivandrum, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore. New Delhi will be added in August.

Air India announces direct flights to Ozzyland

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Melbourne, June 22: Air India today announced the launch of daily international flights from Melbourne to Delhi from first November this year.

The new service was announced after AI Chief Arvind Jadhav signed a deal with Victorian Premier, John Brumby.

“AI’s decision to make Melbourne the destination for its first direct international flight to Australia shows it was recognising Victoria as Australia’s premier destination for Indian tourists and businesses”, Brumby said.

Sensex dips most in two weeks; settles 126 points down

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Mumbai, June 22: Stock market benchmark Sensex today fell 126 points, the most in two weeks, as investors booked profits after yesterday’s brisk rally.

The 30-share barometer of the Bombay Stock Exchange, which rallied over 300 points to settle at its highest level in more than two months yesterday, witnessed profit booking in metal and Information Technology stocks to finish the trade at 17,749.69 points, down 126.86 points, or 0.71 per cent.

The BSE gauge witnessed the biggest fall since June 7.

The bellwether opened on a weak note, tracking global cues.