Month: July 2010

BJP cancels lunch with PM after CBI summons Shah

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New Delhi, July 23: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday cancelled a lunch with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh citing the “bitter atmosphere” following the CBI’s summons to Gujarat minister Amit Shah in the 2005 killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in a staged shootout.

“Four BJP leaders were invited for the PM’s luncheon meeting but we decided not to attend it over the bitter atmosphere following the CBI’s summons to Shah,” Sushma Swaraj, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, told reporters.

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Maoists storm into bus, passengers terrorised

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Raipur, July 23: Armed Maoists stormed into a bus in Chhattisgarh, forced the 40-odd passengers out and drove away, leaving the commuters to walk several kilometers on a jungle road, police said Friday.

The Maoists, also numbering over 40, stopped the bus at Murgunda village in Bijapur district, about 500 km south of here, Thursday night and interrogated passengers one by one. The rebels directed the civilians not to travel by bus in Bastar as it was likely that the buses might be blown up in a bid to target the police.

Two test positive for swine flu in Orissa

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Bhubaneswar, July 23: A doctor and a woman have tested positive for swine flu in this Orissa capital, a senior health official said Friday.

“The doctor tested positive Thursday while the woman tested positive Friday,” Bikash Patnaik, joint director in the state health directorate, told IANS.

“The doctor is receiving treatment at his home and is out of danger. The woman is receiving treatment at a private hospital in the city,” he said, refusing to divulge the identity of the patients.

Top cop fined for taking photo in assembly

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Kolkata, July 23: In trouble for allegedly taking photos of West Bengal assembly proceedings on his mobile phone, the state’s top cop, Bhupinder Singh, was Friday fined Rs.1,000 by speaker Hashim Abdul Halim.

Singh was summoned to the house and produced in a makeshift dock, a day after the speaker seized his mobile phone following allegations from Congress legislators.

Asked if he had clicked a photo in the house with his mobile camera, Singh replied in the negative, saying the flash on his mobile phone came had gone off accidentally.

ISI’s strategic approach needs to be changed: US

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New Delhi, July 23: The US Friday said the “strategic approach” of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) “fundamentally” needed to be changed as a lot was not known about the spy agency.

“I believe that the strategic approach, the overall strategic approach of the ISI needs to be fundamentally changed. That is the concern I raised over security many times. There’s a lot I know about the ISI and there is a lot I don’t know about the ISI,” said Admiral Michael Mullen, the visiting chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, America’s top-most military commander.

Rape accused school director sent to jail

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Hyderabad, July 23: A city court Friday sent the director an international school to judicial custody for 14 days on charges of raping a Class 11 student as another girl student filed a police complaint accusing him of sexually exploiting her.

Salahuddin Ayub, director of Parkwood International School, was produced before a magistrate at Nampally Criminal Court complex, who remanded him in judicial custody till Aug 5.

Earlier, police sent the accused to Osmania General Hospital, where his blood samples were collected for scientific tests.

Ban the RSS

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We, the undersigned, demand an immediate ban on the RSS and all its front organisations and wings.

Gadkari names in-charges of states

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New Delhi, July 23: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari Friday announced distribution of work to the party’s office-bearers, with general secretary Vasundhra Raje taking charge of Haryana and senior leader M. Venkiah Naidu of Delhi and Maharashtra.

The work distribution, done almost four months after Gadkari announced his new team, saw party leaders Najma Heptulla, Hema Malini and Varun Gandhi finding place in the list of 75 functionaries.

Both Heptulla and Hema Malini were not nominated to the Rajya Sabha last month.

HC issues notice to Haj committee

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Lucknow, July 23: The Allahabad High Court has issued a notice to the Haj Committee of India CEO and directed the central and state governments to file their replies within four weeks on a PIL seeking reimbursement to Hajis of the amount charged from them at the start of the pilgrimage but not utilized during the course of it.

The order was passed by the Chief Justice F I Rebello and Justice D P Singhcame of the Lucknow Bench of the high court on a PIL filed by one Shakeel Ahmad.

Jet Airways Q1 net profit at Rs 3.5 crore

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Mumbai, July 23: Riding on the back of improved demand for premium class, India’s largest private carrier Jet Airways today posted a net profit of Rs 3.52 crore for the first quarter ended June 30.

The airline had recorded a loss of Rs 225.33 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The company’s total income rose from Rs 2,428.36 crore in the June quarter last fiscal to Rs 3,023.21 crore in the same period this fiscal, Jet Airways said.

“We are seeing a premium demand revival and this is expected to continue over the next few quarters,” Jet Airways said.

Sexual relations on false promise of marriage not rape: HC

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Mumbai, July 23: The Bombay High Court has ruled that sexual relationship with a woman on a false promise of marriage does not amount to rape. Acquitting a Yavatmal man in a rape case, the single bench High Court here observed that sexual relationship after promising marriage and reneging on it does not amount to rape.

Justice Ambadas Joshi set aside the Yavatmal Session Court order convicting Sandip Rathod (now 42) under IPC section 376 (rape). The victim was allegedly 16 years old in 1996.

The court said the victim’s age has been proved to be around 18 when the incident occurred.

Ranjitha says video is ‘morphed’

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Bangalore, July 23: Tamil actress Ranjitha, whose alleged sleaze acts with self-styled godman Nityananda triggered off a public outcry has denied any sexual relations with him and termed the video footage aired by television channels as “morphed”.

In her statement to Bangalore CID, probing the case, Ranjitha rejected charges of sexual harassment by Nityananda and said the woman shown on the video was not her.

She denied any sexual relations with Nityananda and said that she had “only visited Nityananda’s room once or twice”, CID sources told PTI.

CPI(M) demands resignation of Amit Shah

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New Delhi, July 23: CPI(M) today demanded the resignation of Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah in view of the CBI naming him as an accused in the chargesheet filed in the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh.

“The CBI investigation should be pursued seriously. A chargesheet has been filed and the next step is that Shah should step down,” party General Secretary Prakash Karat told reporters here.

HC nod to proceed probe against former police officer

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Chennai, Jul 23 (PTI) The Madras High Court today allowed the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption to proceed with the inquiry against former city additional Commissioner A K Viswanathan, facing charges of accumulating assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

A division bench, comprising Justices Elipe Dharma Rao and K K Sasidharan, granted the permission while passing interim orders on a writ appeal from Viswanathan, challenging the July 12 order of a single judge.

UN’s Ban Ki-moon accused of being lax on accountability, key problems

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United Nations, July 23: A damning memo by a departing United Nations (UN) diplomat has criticised secretary-general Ban Ki-moon of damaging the organisation through inaction on key issues like Afghanistan and Myanmar as well as curtailing the accountability in the world body under his watch.

The 50-page memo by Inga-Britt Ahlenius, a 72-year-old Swedish auditor who has stepped down as under-secretary general of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) last week, accused Ban of trying to interfere in the work of her office and blocking her ability to hire her own staff.

Restoration of autonomy ‘best solution’ to Kashmir issue: National Conference

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Srinagar, July 23: The National Conference (NC) today said restoration of autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir was the “best solution” to the Kashmir issue.

Kashmir issue can be settled through a political solution. In this regard temporary solutions cannot prove effective,” party general secretary Sheikh Nazir Ahmad said addressing NC ministers and legislators in Srinagar.

The NC leader said that restoration of internal autonomy can lay a solid foundation for resolution of the issue.

Andhra Pradesh parties seek PM’s intervention to resolve water sharing row

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Hyderabad, July 23: Political parties in Andhra Pradesh today unanimously resolved to request prime minister Manmohan Singh to find an “appropriate, quick and permanent” solution to river water sharing dispute with Karnataka and Maharashtra.

“Andhra Pradesh is being deprived of its rightful share of river waters, as the upper riparian states Karnataka and Maharashtra have been constructing illegal irrigation projects on rivers Krishna and Godavari respectively,” they said.

‘US takes any terror attack in India very seriously’

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New Delhi, July 23: Terming terrorism as the biggest challenge, the US today said it takes any terror attack in India very seriously.

Atul Keshap, Deputy Assistant Secretary in South and Central Asian Affairs in the US State Department, told reporters that whether it were the serial bomb attacks in Delhi or the Samjhauta Express blasts, America takes it very seriously.

He was asked if the American policy regarding terrorism was discriminatory and the US viewed al-Qaeda and the anti-India Lashkar-e-Toiba differently.

Maoists gun down CPI(M) leader in Purulia

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Purulia (WB), July 23: A local CPI(M) leader was today shot dead by suspected Maoists in Balarampur area of Purulia district, police said.

Madhusudan Mondal had gone to Urma weekly market where he was surrounded by four-five gunmen who shot him from close range, they said.

Though Mondal was rushed to a nearby primary health centre, he was declared brought dead.

No arrest was made, they said, adding efforts are on to nab the accused who fled from the scene soon after the incident.

–Agencies

‘No child to be deprived of education if father in jail’

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New Delhi, July 23: No child should be deprived of right to education just because the father is in judicial custody, a Delhi court has said.

“Free and compulsory education for children is a Constitutional obligation of the state as provided under Article 45 of the Constitution of India and therefore no child under the age of 14 years should be deprived of the primary eduction only because his father is in judicial incarceration,” Additional sessions judge Kamini Lau said.

Anil Kapoor walks the ramp to promote daughters’ film

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New Delhi, July 23: Anil Kapoor became the first Bollywood star to walk the ramp at the Pearls Infrastructure Delhi Couture Week, doing the honours for designer Anamika Khanna tonight.

Dressed in black galabandh and white trousers, the 50-year-old actor made an appearance to promote his soon-to-be released home production “Aisha”, which has eldest daughter Sonam in the lead and is produced by younger daughter Rhea.

Kapoor walked the ramp along with Lisa Hayden, Amrita Puri and Ira Dubey, the three debutantes from “Aisha”.

Nitish criticises oppn in Bihar Assembly

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Patna, July 23: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today slammed the opposition for disrupting proceedings of the Bihar legislature while demanding his resignation and said the move would boomerang as people would vote them out in the coming Assembly polls.

Delhi HC asks school to admit student in class IX

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New Delhi, July 23: The Delhi High Court today asked Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya(RPVV), a school run by Delhi government, to admit within a week a minor boy who was denied the same on the ground that he came from a Delhi University-run school that did not not come under Delhi Education Act.

NDC meet tomorrow, to focus on Naxalism, power reform

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New Delhi, July 23: The nation’s highest policymaking body, the National Development Council (NDC), will focus on five key areas, including the Naxal menace, power reforms and water crisis, at its meeting tomorrow.

The NDC, which has been convened to approve the mid-term appraisal (MTA) of the 11th Plan, will also consider the main issues of the 12th Plan (2012-17), Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters this evening.

Auto-driver molests minor in AP

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Hyderabad, July 23: An auto driver here was detained today by police for allegedly molesting a five-year-old girl.

According to police, the girl, a student of UKG at a school in Falaknuma area here, was allegedly molested by her auto-rickshaw driver two days ago while she was being dropped back to her house from school.

After coming to house, the girl immediately informed her parents about the incident after which the victim’s father lodged a police complaint following which the man was picked up for interrogation.