New Delhi, July 11: RJD president Lalu Prasad on Saturday accused the Congress of trying to drive a wedge between the RJD and the LJP. He said that the successful bandh called by the two parties showed that the Congress would not succeed in its nefarious design to wean away Ramvilas Paswan by offering him a ministerial berth at the Centre.
Muzaffarnagar, July 11: The jailor of Muzaffarnagar district jail was arrested on Saturday after he was reportedly caught accepting a colour television from the associates of a gangster lodged in the same jail. Those who carried the item to Jailor Ajay Kumar Saxena’s official residence included a criminal, who has been on the run for the last several months.
Muzaffarnagar SSP Praveen Kumar said on receiving a tip-off that jail inmate Deepak Jatav had ordered for a television to be given to the jailor, a trap was laid around Saxena’s residence.
Hyderabad, July 11: In yet another blow to the Rajus, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is now gearing up to attach 425 properties spread over 1224 acres acquired by disgraced Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju through 31 front companies.
These properties spread in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Bangalore and Nagpur were acquired by the Rajus by selling their shares in Satyam between April 10, 1999, and June 30, 2005. Of these, nearly 100 of them are worth over Rs 3 crore each.
Athens/Jerusalem, July 10: A ship loaded with aid for Palestinians from a Libyan charity set sail from Greece for the Egyptian port of el-Arish Saturday, forgoing its initial Gaza destination after Israel stepped up pressure against attempts to break its blockade.
The Moldavian-flagged, Greek-owned Amalthia left from Lavrio Saturday afternoon carrying 2,000 tonnes of food and medical aid supplied by the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Association, which is headed by Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi.
Washington, July 10: Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams, who holds the record of the longest spaceflight (195 days) for female space travellers, will head for the stars once again in June 2012.
Williams, 44, would take over as station commander at the International Space Station that was her home in the sky from Dec 9, 2006 to June 22, 2007.
She will be joined on the Soyuz 31 flight to the space station by flight engineers Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, the space agencies of the three nations announced Friday.
New Delhi, July 10: Conveying his gratitude to Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde for taking back his resignation on his request, BJP leader L K Advani on Saturday said that he was sure that the state government will take ”full care” of his concerns.
“I have conveyed my deep gratitude to Shri Santosh Hegde for the immediate and warm response he made to my request to continue as Lokayukta of Karnataka…I am sure that the state government will take full care of his concerns,” Advani wrote in the blog.
Hyderabad, July 10: A class seven student died while his friend sustained critical injuries after their bike was hit by a seven-seater auto at Santoshnagar here on Friday night. The boys were going to meet their friends at a nearby masjid during the ‘jagne ki raath’.
The minors were driving to a friend’s place when the auto near Yadagiri theatre hit them.
Beijing, July 10: Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari today ruled out handing over the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to India but said the “non-state actors” who derailed the Indo-Pak rapprochement will “hopefully” be brought to justice in his country.
Talking to CCTV, he also touched issues concerning Pakistan’s domestic front and played down differences with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
“I think we will be able to complete our term and survive the political turmoil”.
Nagapattinam (TN), July 10: Expressing anguish over the July 7 mid-sea attack on Tamil Nadu fishermen allegedly by Sri Lankan Navy, MDMK General Secretary Vaiko today urged the Union Government to break all diplomatic ties with the island republic.
Speaking to reporters at Vedaranyam after calling on the family of fisherman Chellapan, who was killed in the attack, Vaiko said even Pakistan officials were acting in accordance with rules when it came to issues involving fishermen.
London, July 10: Singer Usher is so obsessed with sexy women’s underwear that he wants to design his own lingerie line for his female fans.
Usher is so fascinated by lacy undergarments that he indulges his fetish by purchasing bras and corsets from top luxury brands for his girlfriends, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
Not just that, he has his own style ideas and would love to create a range of lingerie with his pal Tamara Mellon, who runs the fashion label Jimmy Choo.
London, July 10: Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow loves to cook as it makes her feel “closer” to her late father.
In the introduction to her new cookbook, “My Father’s Daughter”, the actress writes: “I always feel closest to my father, who was the love of my life until his death in 2002, when I am in the kitchen.”
“I can still hear him over my shoulder heckling me, telling me to be careful with my knife, moaning with pleasure over a bite of something in only the way a Jew from Long Island can,” reported dailystar.co.uk.
New Delhi, July 10: Police are yet to make any headway in the murders of the wife and son of a property dealer in west Delhi.
Anuradha (40) and Cherish (6) were found lying in a pool of blood by Pawan Nagia, the property dealer, when he returned to his West Patel Nagar house at around 2:30 am after attending a party.
“We are investigating all possible angles and questioning suspects rounded-up after being identified by the complainant,” a senior police official said today.
Chandigarh, July 10: A Pakistani national, who allegedly used to pass vital defence information to his masters across the border, was arrested here today.
Twentyfour-year-old Kashif Ali, hailing from Faisalabad in Pakistan, was arrested from sector 44 of the Union Territory this evening, police said.
Ali was staying in the city for the past two-and-a-half year under the assumed name of Pawan Kumar.
He used to collect vital information regarding Army’s Western Command Headquarters at Chandi Mandir and the Air Force station here and was passing this to Pakistan.
Nashik, July 10: Former West Indies opener Desmond Haynes today said he is open to coaching any team for the next edition of IPL.
Haynes, who was on a private visit here, said, “If any team invites me to be a coach in the Indian Premier League, I am ready for it.”
He visited the office of the Nashik District Cricket Association and gave batting tips to trainee players there.
Asked about the 2011 World Cup, he said it would be difficult to predict who would win the showpiece event but felt England, Australia and India would be front-runners.
New Delhi, July 10: The Madhya Pradesh BJP today accused the UPA government of ignoring survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy and said many have been left out in the beneficiary list declared by the Group of Ministers (GoM).
“The courts had provided compensation to 5.58 lakh people by declaring them as gas-affected.
“But the GoM has announced that only 42,000 gas victims will be provided compensation ranging from Rs 1 to Rs 5 lakh,” Babulal Gaur, Minister of Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation of Madhya Pradesh, said.
Hyderabad, July 10: As many as 213 nominations filed by independent candidates were rejected during scrutiny for the July 27 by-elections to 12 Assembly constituencies in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh today, paving the way for use of Electronic Voting Machines in at least seven segments.
In all, 926 nominations were filed, majority by independent candidates.
However, 213 nominations were rejected today as they were found to be not in order, according to state Chief Electoral Officer I V Subba Rao.
Raipur, July 10: Maoists fired at a police station in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district this evening triggering a gunbattle but there was no casualty, police said.
Naxals fired from a distance at Pamed police station, drawing retaliation from the police, they said, adding the exchange of fire continued for about 20 minutes.
“However, no casualty took place in the incident,” SP Bijapur, Avinash Mohanti said.
–Agencies
Hyderabad, July 10: Eamcet parents won’t like this but we have it on the authority of a Nobel laureate that children must have the liberty to grow as normal kids and develop all faculties.
Interacting with about 60 students at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) today, Nobel winner for chemistry Prof. Y T Lee took questions from them on a variety of issues. Becoming strong on fundamentals is the key to excellence, he told a student.
Hyderabad, July 10: Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee chief and candidate from Nizamabad Urban D Srinivas today met late YSR’s wife and Pulivendula MLA Vijayalaxmi (Vijayamma) at the latter’s residence at Banjara Hills here today.
Hyderabad, July 10: Acting on a complaint lodged by the office-bearers of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee, the APCC disciplinary and screening committee today served a notice on former MLA and APCC general secretary Ambati Rambabu seeking an explanation why action should not be taken against him for making remarks against chief minister K Rosaiah recently.
It also directed him to be present before the committee at 12 noon on July 12.
Hyderabad, July 10: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi’s (TRS) ploy to inundate the Election Commission (EC) with nominations, enough to make the controversial electronic voting machines (EVMs) redundant, has worked. The EC on Friday announced that EVMs will not be used in 10 of the 12 constituencies in the Telangana region where bypolls are due on July 27. Instead, the EC will revert to the good old ballot papers and boxes.
Karimnagar, July 10: TRS president K Chandrashekar Rao kicked off campaigning for the upcoming bypolls from Huzurabad constituency, claiming that Telangana people have registered their first victory with the Election Commission accepting the party’s demand that bypolls be held through ballot paper in constituencies where the number of candidates exceeded 64.
“This is a good omen to all of us fighting for statehood to Telangana,’’ he said.
Mumbai, July 10: Bollywood actor Om Puri’s residence at suburban Andheri was burgled by thieves who stole cash and jewellery collectively valued at Rs 1.75 lakh, police said today.
The incident came to light on Friday morning, when the actor’s son Ishaan visited their Nalanda building flat, which was found ransacked, police said.
Om Puri has two houses and he lives in another house nearby while the flat was being used as a store room.
Hyderabad, July 10: Corruption in professional fields would cripple the development of democracies like India, said Central Vigilance Commissioner Pratyush Sinha and called upon managements of all public and private companies to comply with ethics and values in transactions.
Speaking at the seventh anniversary celebrations of the Vigilance Study Circle (VSC) here today on the responsibility for ensuring a ethical climate in organisations, he said corruption threatened people and governments by denying the poor their share, distorting decisions and diverting investible resources.
Ameerpet, July 10: On Sunday night, millions of football fans will gather eagerly around their television gets to watch the final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Few places in the city will be able to match the excitement and anticipation that hangs in the air of a modest flat in Ameerpet. The flat is home to a dozen international interns. They come from five continents, to work for various companies in the city. Flags of various nations hang from the walls and strings of national colours are strung around their rooms depicting their national pride.