Month: July 2010

Four naxalites sent to judicial custody

by

Nawada (Bihar), July 02: Four hardcore naxalites, who were arrested from Manpur railway station in Gaya, were today remanded in judicial custody.

Vijay Rajbansi, Naresh Ravidas, Alakhdev Rajbansi and Bablu were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate here who remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days.

The naxalites were wanted in connection with over two dozen criminal cases including the landmine blast in Gobindpur area in extremist-hit Nawada district where 10 policemen were killed in 2003.

–Agencies

OMCs to invest Rs.1,500 crore for LPG supply in Karnataka

by

Bangalore, July 02: State-run oil marketing firms will invest Rs.1,500 crore in Karnataka to increase the coverage of cooking gas supply across the state, a top official said Friday.

“As part of the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG (liquefied petroleum gas)Vitrak Yojana, OIC, HPCL and BPCL will invest Rs.1,500 crore to increase the coverage of cooking gas distribution to 76 percent from 53 percent in Karnataka over the next three-four years,” Petroleum Secretary S. Sunderashan told reporters here.

Koda’s bail plea rejected

by

Ranchi, July 02: Jharkhand High Court Friday rejected the bail plea of former chief minister Madhu Koda, the main accused in a money-laundering scam.

Meanwhile, an enforcement directorate team interrogated Koda in Ranchi jail for nearly five hours.

The bench of Justice A. Sahay rejected the bail petition of Koda and former minister Kamlesh Singh who are in jail since Nov 30 last year, after their arrest by the Jharkhand vigilance bureau on graft charges.

Ex-Interpol chief convicted of corruption

by

Johannesburg, July 02: South Africa’s former top policeman and ex-head of Interpol Jackie Selebi was found guilty of corruption Friday after being found to have been in the pay of a convicted drug smuggler.

Selebi, 60, was convicted in the South Gauteng High Court of corruption but found not guilty of a separate charge of defeating the ends of justice.

He was freed by the court pending his sentencing, set for July 14. The maximum sentence for corruption is 15 years in prison.

In handing down his judgement, Judge Meyer Joffe said Selebi showed “complete contempt for the truth”.

Physical activity in teens insures women against mental ill-health

by

Toronto, July 02: Women, who are physically active as a teenager or in mid and later life, face lower risk of cognitive impairment in late-life compared to those who are inactive, says a new study of over 9,000 women.

There is growing evidence to suggest that such people have lower chance of dementia and more minor forms of cognitive impairment in old age.

However, there is a poorer understanding of the importance of early life physical activity and the relative importance of physical activity at different ages.

Why PM is sending NSA to Beijing

by

New Delhi, July 02: With a host of issues generating tension below the surface of bonhomie and burgeoning trade, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided to send National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon as his special envoy to Beijing to review afresh the entire bilateral relationship when he met Chinese President Hu Jintao in Washington and Brasilia over two months ago.

Top Maoist leader Azad gunned down in Andhra Pradesh

by

Hyderabad, July 02: Top Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad, considered second in the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) hierarchy, was gunned down Friday by police in a shootout in Andhra Pradesh, police claimed.

Azad, who was also spokesperson of the outlawed group, was killed in a gunfight with police around 3 a.m. in the forests near Jogapur in Adilabad district, about 300 km from here.

Another Maoist guerrilla, who is yet to be identified, was also killed. Police also recovered an AK-47, a 9 mm pistol and two kit bags from the scene of the gunfight.

BCCI special general meeting to discuss Modi’s fate

by

Mumbai, July 02: A Special General Meeting (SGM) Saturday of the Indian cricket board will discuss in detail the replies by the suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi to notices issued to him.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary N. Srinivasan has rejected Modi’s voluminous replies to the show-cause notices as “unsatisfactory” and referred the matter to the disciplinary committee.

The SGM is expected to “ratify the action of Srinivasan,” and the development has drawn flak from the Modi camp.

No ICC event for the trouble-torn Pakistan until 2015

by

Karachi, July 02: Pakistan remains in isolation as an international cricket venue with the ICC deciding not to allot any event to the trouble-torn country until 2015.

The ICC yesterday announced its events and host countries until 2015 and Pakistan does not feature in the list at all although the ICC has awarded the next two World Twenty20 Cups to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 2012 and 2014.

Sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board said Chairman Ijaz Butt had shown interest that Pakistan should be given at least one ICC event after 2012 but the ICC members didn’t respond positively.

BJP invites Modi to campaign in Bihar

by

Ahmedabad, July 2 (PTI) The BJP today invited Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to campaign in Bihar, a move that is sure to be a red rag to the JD(U) and may revive a bitter clash between the two coalition partners ahead of Assembly elections.

“Modiji, please come to Bihar. You may campaign and hold the BJP flag high,” BJP General Secretary and in-charge of the party in Bihar, Ananth Kumar told a meeting of the party’s Gujarat Executive here.

He said the BJP national president has sent him as he was in charge of the party in Bihar.

Anil Ambani group firms RNRL and Reliance Power to merge

by

New Delhi, July 02: With much of its relevance lost as a business entity after the signing of a gas supply deal with Mukesh Ambani led RIL, Anil Ambani group firm RNRL will merge with sister concern Reliance Power. Market worth of the combined entity at today’s price would be Rs 50,000 crore.

The merger, possibly through a share swap deal, would be considered by the boards of the two companies on July 4.

Rumours of the deal pulled down the share prices of both RNRL and Reliance Power at the close of the trading on bourses.

Court stays execution of NBWs against company directors

by

New Delhi, July 02: A sessions court here has stayed the execution of non-bailable warrants issued by a lower court against three directors of a real estate company, Vighneshwara Developers Private Ltd, for allegedly cheating a firm of over Rs 13 lakhs.

Additional Sessions Judge K S Mohi yesterday allowed the plea of C Daryao Singh, Sunil Dahiya and Sanjay Dahiya, directors of the Delhi-based real estate firm, that the warrants against them be stayed till July 8.

Recommended more autonomy for Lokayukta: Moily

by

Bangalore, July 02: Amid the controversy surrounding the resignation of Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde, Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily today said the government was contemplating vesting the anti-corruption watchdog with Constitutional powers.

“Lokayukta cannot function on the whims and fancies of any state government and should function as an autonomous body,” Moily told reporters here.

Moily said the institution of Lokayukta was established to root out corruption in the country and “now there is a need to strengthen the Lokayukta by giving it more powers”.

List ways to begin Satyam trial, court to Raju’s counsel

by

Hyderabad, July 02: A special court, which is hearing the multi-crore Satyam scam case, today asked the counsel for Satyam Computers former chairman B Ramalinga Raju to file on July 5 an application on the possible ways to begin trial, in the backdrop of the prime accused’s ill-health.

Raju has been avoiding court proceedings since September last, citing health reasons.

Earlier, gastroenterologist Ajit Kumar, who is treating Raju at the Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), had appeared before the court to provide expert comments on Raju’s health.

RJD attacks Bihar govt on weavers’ issue

by

Patna, July 02: Highlighting the plight of weavers’ community, the RJD today said the Bihar government had failed to bail out the regional handloom cooperative union building at Biharsharif which went under the hammer recently.

The building located in the Chief Minister’s home district was auctioned for Rs 18 lakh to clear off accumulated loan and other payments totalling Rs 3.7 lakh, RJD spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed Khan told reporters here.

Govt to ensure essential services remain unaffected: CM

by

Mumbai, July 02: The Maharashtra government will ensure that essential services remain unaffected in the state during the nation-wide bandh on July 5 called by opposition parties against rise in prices of petroleum products, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan today said.

He told reporters here that the state government was considering challenging in court the bandh call in the light of the Supreme Court verdict that bandhs were “illegal and unconstitutional” means of protest.

Chavan said efforts would be made for normal running of sub-urban trains and plying of buses on the bandh day.

Ramalinga case posted to august 5

by

Hyderabad, July 02: The Special Court trying the Satyam Computers’ former chairman Ramalinga Raju in the multi-million rupee scam has posted further hearing of the case to August 5.

Dr Ajit of the NIMS Hospital, who is treating Ramalinga Raju has appeared before the court and deposed that the count of white cells in the accused’s blood has decreased and lost immunity power. He also said that the hospital doctors would take a decision on the need to continue medical treatment to Raju after July 14.

Jeevan Reddy urges Oppn parties to support bifurcation

by

Hyderabad, July 02: Senior Congress leader and former minister Jeevan Reddy on Friday urged all political parties in the state to write to the Srikrishna Committee expressing support for a separate Telangana state

Talking to media person, Mr Jeevan Reddy said that Pradesh Congress Committee president D Srinivas had revealed the Congress’s future plans for the state during his speech made at Nizamabad on Thursday.

Trainee si commits suicide in police academy

by

Hyderabad, July 02: A trainee police sub-inspector committed suicide in the Andhra Pradesh Police Academy here on Friday.

The deceased Raj Kumar hails from Warangal district. The APPA authorities could not ascertain the reasons for the young trainee officer ending his own life. (NSS)

Ministers felicitate eamcet medicine topper

by

Hyderabad, July 02: “With the initiative of the State government to ensure quality of education, the students from the State stood top in the national-level competitive examinations like the IIT and AIEEE Entrance tests”, the Minister for Technical Education, Mr Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao has claimed.

Mr Mopidevi and the Civil Supplies Minister, Mr Jupalli Krishna Rao, on Friday felicitated the EAMCET medicine top ranker, Mr Rahul, in the Secretariat. Mr Rahul stood first by securing 156 out of 159 marks in the EAMCET entrance test.

Sikh turbans not to be searched at UK airports

by

London, July 02: Bowing to pressure, Britain has asked security staff at airports not to undertake humiliating search of Sikh turbans as part of the security drill.

In May, under European legislation, security staffers were told that they could pat down and unravel a Sikh’s turban if the metal detector bleeped as they walked through.

But the religion’s leaders in Britain branded these powers as unacceptable and the department of transport had to act quickly.

Now the department for transport has been forced to issue a memo to airports warning them to stop the searches.

Jamia to be first Indian varsity with e-file tracking

by

New Delhi, July 02: Aiming for implementation of e-governance on its campus, the Jamia Millia Islamia University here is now preparing to be the country’s first varsity with an e-file tracking system for its various departments.

This intranet file tracking software, developed by the FTK-Centre for Information Technology (FTK-CIT) of the university, will enable authorised users to monitor the movement and tracking of their respective files or papers within the university.

Mafia don Arun Gawli gets bail

by

Mumbai, July 02: Nearly 27 months after he was arrested and jailed, mafia don-turned-politician Arun Gawli secured bail in an extortion case, his lawyer said here Friday.

However, Gawli, a former legislator of Maharashtra, will not be released as another murder case is still pending against him, according to advocate Sanjay Mahajan.

“We have succeeded in securing his bail in one case from the Mumbai City Civil & Sessions Court. The appeal in a murder case filed against him is still pending before the Supreme Court,” Mahajan told IANS.

Shruti Haasan and Siddharth’s not to secret love story

by

Mumbai, July 02: Off-screen lovebirds Shruti and Siddharth will play premis on screen as well… in a Telugu flick

Shruti Haasan and Siddharth are now playing lovebirds on screen as well. The couple feature together in an untitled Telugu film, directed by K Prakash Rao. Shooting for the epic fantasy adventure is already in progress.

Says a source, “Shruti was already shooting for a Tamil film. It was Siddharth who convinced her to act in the Telugu film as well. She plays his love interest in the latter.”

Under wraps