Month: August 2010

Mediator for talks with Maoists has to be neutral: CPI(M)

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The CPI(M) today virtually ruled out accepting Trinamool Congress (TC) chief Mamata Banerjee as a mediator in talks with the Maoists saying an arbitrator has to be neutral.

“If anyone wants to become arbitrator in any talks, one has to be neutral. An arbitrator should be acceptable to all. We do not have any objection to Mamata Banerjee becoming the mediator, but her utterances are in support of Maoists,” CPI(M) central committee member Mohammed Selim told reporters in Kolkata.

“Maoists and TC have contacts and they have interaction at different levels,” he said.

Govt sees solution on BlackBerry emails next week: Source

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New Delhi, August 20: BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) may provide some solution next week to help Indian security agencies access corporate email by obtaining encrypted data in readable format, a government source said on Friday.

Research In Motion faces an August 31 deadline to give Indian authorities the means to track and read BlackBerry Enterprise email and its separate BlackBerry Messenger service.

UP govt review measures to control swine flu

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Lucknow, August 20: Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Anant Kumar Misra today directed officials of his department to take immediate steps to check swine flu cases.

In a meeting with senior officials of his department, Misra instructed that functioning of three-member Rapid Response Teams in all districts should be made effective.

The minister directed that control rooms should work round the clock. Affected persons should be kept in isolation in their respective homes itself and given proper treatment, he told the officials.

4 anti-Taliban militia members hurt in militant attack

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Peshawar, August 20: Heavily-armed militants attacked a post of an anti-Taliban militia in Pakistan’s restive northwest Mohmand tribal region today, injuring four people.

About a dozen militants attacked the post of the “peace committee” or anti-Taliban militia in Ambar area of Mohmand tribal agency, officials said.

The militants used mortars and heavy weapons to target the members of the militia.

Four members of the militia sustained serious injuries and were taken to a hospital in the headquarters of Mohmand tribal agency, the officials said.

Sohrabuddin case: Shah’s judicial custody extended till Sept 3

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Ahmedabad, August 20: The judicial custody of former Gujarat minister Amit Shah, arrested in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, was extended till September 3 by a special CBI court said.

Chief Additional Judicial Magistrate A Y Dave also rejected the BJP leader’s application seeking permission to register his presence in the court through video-conferencing from the Sabarmati Central Jail, where he is lodged.

In the application moved through jail authorities yesterday, Shah had cited security reasons for his request.

No kissing and follow dress code: CWG tells tourists

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New Delhi, August 20: No hugging and kissing, no wearing short clothes and no discussion on religion in India.

Public toilets are very few and filthy, so carry your own tissues papers here and always take your shoes off before entering a house in India.

These lessons on etiquettes and a plethora of travel tips is what the Commonwealth Games Organising committee has put up in its website for the tourists who are planning to travel to India during the Delhi Games from October 3-14.

Foreign pilots too to have same medical standards: govt

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Chennai, August 20: The Centre today informed the Madras High Court that under a recent amendment to the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) identical medical standards as applicable to Indian pilots under Rule 39B have been incorporated for application to foreign pilots also.

CWG England rules out terror threat to ’10 Games

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London, August 20: Commonwealth Games England (CGE) has ruled out any specific terror threat to the Delhi event in October but has warned of attacks on “soft targets” in India to scare away athletes before the sporting extravaganza.

According to a report in ‘The Daily Telegraph’, CGE has written to England’s 17 Commonwealth sports federations after “receiving positive feedback about the Indian security plan from the Metropolitan Police Specialist Protection Group.”

But it has still asked the athletes to be on guard during their stay in Delhi.

BJP wants to form govt in Andhra in ten years: Sushma

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Bellary, August 20: After Karnataka in the south, BJP is now eyeing to come to power in the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh within a decade, senior leader of the party Sushma Swaraj said here today.

Addressing a huge party rally here on the occasion of “Varamahalakshmi” festival Swaraj said, “Today, when I performed pooja, I prayed that we want to form Government in Andhra Pradesh in less than ten years.”

Three children murdered in Chhattisgarh village

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Raipur, August 20: Unidentified persons today allegedly murdered three children and tried to burn their bodies in Nimora village near here, police said.

Tikendra (10), his sister Maya (6) and Manisha (8) were killed with sharp-edged weapons, Raipur district SP Deepanshu Kabra told PTI.

The assailants also tried to burn their bodies by pouring kerosene on them, he said.

Tikendra and Maya were children of Laxman Sahu, a civil contractor in the village. Sahu and his wife had gone when the incident took place, Kabra said.

SEBI rejects RIL’s consent appeal on insider trading

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New Delhi, August 20: Market regulator SEBI is believed to have turned down any out-of-court like settlement sought by Reliance Industries in the ongoing probe relating to alleged insider trading in shares of erstwhile group firm RPL.

Sources said that a final order could be made soon in this case by SEBI, which has rejected twice RIL’s request for settling the case by paying a consent fee — an out-of-court settlement like resolution reached through negotiations between the two parties.

Forest personnel attacked by tiger in Rathambore

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Jaipur, August 20: A forest department employee was seriously injured when a tiger attacked him inside the Rathambore National Park in Sawai Madhopur district today.

Daulat Singh, who is in his forties, suffered serious injuries in his face and limbs following the tiger attack this afternoon.

When Chief Minister Ashok Geklot came to know about the incident, he immediately dispatched a chopper to bring the injured employee to Jaipur for treatment, a CMO spokesperson said.

Gilani thanks PM for flood aid with mangoes

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New Delhi, August 20: Responding to India’s aid to flood-hit people in his country, Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani today sent five boxes of mangoes to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a gesture of gratitude.

The Prime Minister’s Office received five boxes of mangoes from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, a PMO spokesman said here.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan had accepted India’s offer of USD five million in aid for flood relief in the country.

Singh had spoken to Gilani yesterday and offered more assistance in handling flood relief.

Rahul Gandhi to visit Niyamgiri area on August 26

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Bhubaneswar, August 20: Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi will address a tribal rally at Lanjigarh area in the foothills of Niyamgiri hills in Orissa’s Kalahandi district where Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL) has set up a refinery.

The Gandhi scion’s proposed visit to Lanjigarh area comes at the time when Vedanta’s mining plan in the Niyamgiri hills, has reached a crucial phase in view of the Saxena Committee report.

SRK tweets Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani

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Mumbai, August 20: The Bollywood King Shahrukh Khan on Friday explained on his mind on tweeter home page that what it means being an Indian.

“I am half Hyderabadi (mom) half Pathan (Dad), some Kashmiri (grandmom), born in Delhi, life in Mumbai, Punjabi wife, Kolkata team. Indian at heart,” Shah Rukh tweeted.

Shahrukh is presently in Hyderabad for a film shooting.

Earlier in February Shiv Sena had branded the actor traitor, when he spoke in favour of inclusion of Pakistani cricketers in IPL matches.

The Shiv Sena sainiks also held protests against his film ‘My Name is Khan

Air India plane lands after bomb hoax

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Kuwait, August 20: An Air India passenger plane travelling from Kuwait to Mumbai made an emergency landing on Friday at the airport in Oman’s capital Muscat after a passenger claimed there was a bomb on board, a media report said.

The Boeing 737, carrying 160 passengers, was in the Omani airspace when a passenger told crew members there was a bomb on board, leading the pilot to request for an emergency landing in Muscat, Xinhua reported citing Oman’s official told news agency.

26 new dengue cases in Delhi

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New Delhi, August 20: Delhi reported 26 new cases of dengue on Friday, taking the total number of people affected by the mosquito borne disease in the city to 329 this year, an official said.

“Twentysix people tested positive for dengue in Delhi on Friday but no deaths were reported,” said N.K. Yadav, chief medical officer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

However, 599 cases of dengue have been reported by a private hospital , Holy Family Hospital of south Delhi.

School girl electrocuted to death

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New Delhi, August 20: A 15-year-old girl was electrocuted to death in a north-east Delhi school today after she came in contact with an electric wire which was lying under a pool of water.

Priya Mishra was going home from Eknath Senior Secondary School in Dilshad Garden at around 12 noon when the incident took place, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-East) S S Yadav said.

There was some construction going on inside the school and an electric wire used for the construction had fallen in the pool of water there.

Two die of swine flu

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Delhi, August 20: Two people died of swine flu in Delhi Friday and 41 people tested positive for Influenza A (H1N1), an official said.

“Forty-one people tested positive for swine flu. Two deaths have been reported today (Friday) – one died in GTB hospital and the other in RML hospital,” Debashish Bhattacharya, nodal officer for swine flu, told reporter.

The total number of people infected by the virus has risen to 501.

Delhi has so far reported 10 deaths due to the virus this year. A total of 1,752 people have died due to swine flu in the country since its outbreak in May 2009.

Three killed in lightning strike

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Damdama, August 20: Three persons were killed when lightning struck them in Damdama village here this evening.

Police said Anarpatti (36), Uday Raja (18) and Anil (22) were hit while they were working in an agricultural field.

The bodies were sent for post mortem, they said.

—Agencies

Nishank visits tragedy site in Bageshwar

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Begeshwer, August 20: Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank today visited the site of tragedy in Bageshwar district where 18 children were buried alive on Tuesday as the roof of their school collapsed due to a landslide triggered by heavy rains.

Nishank met all the families which lost their children in the tragedy at Sumgad village and doubled the ex-gratia amount announced for them from Rs one lakh to Rs two lakh.

The Chief Minister said the state government would construct a park in the memory of children, who lost their lives in school collapse incident.

Air India plane lands in Oman after bomb hoax

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Abu Dhabi, August 20: An Air India passenger plane travelling from Kuwait to Mumbai made an emergency landing Friday at the airport in Oman’s capital Muscat after a passenger claimed there was a bomb on board, a media report said.

The Boeing 737, carrying 160 passengers, was in the Omani airspace when a passenger told crew members there was a bomb on board, leading the pilot to request for an emergency landing in Muscat, Xinhua reported citing Oman’s official ONA news agency.

No side effects of I-pill on majority of women: Azad

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New Delhi, August 20: Majority of women, on whom emergency contraceptive I-pill was tested, did not complain of any side effects, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad informed the Lok Sabha Friday.

In a written reply, Azad said 69.2 percent women users did not complain of side effects while the remaining 10-14 percent complained of nausea, dizziness, abdominal pain and headache.

The Indian council of Medical Research (ICMR) in 2001 initiated a pilot study on emergency contraceptive pill on women through eight human reproduction research centres in medical colleges and hospitals.

No forcible land takeover for SEZs: Pawar

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New Delhi, August 20: The government will not approve any Special Economic Zone (SEZ) if state governments acquire or hope to takeover land compulsorily, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said Friday.

Pawar told the Rajya Sabha that states had been advised that in case of land acquisition for SEZs, first priority should be given to waste and barren land.

If necessary, single crop agricultural land could be acquired, he said in a written statement in response to a question from Rudra Narayan Pany.

Chandraswami let off in FERA violation case

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New Delhi, August 20: Controversial self-styled godman Chandraswami and his personal secretary were today acquitted by a Delhi court of the charge of violating Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) relating to payments of 13,910 pounds to law firms to fight his legal cases in the United Kingdom in 1986-87.

“I acquit accused Nemi Chand Jain alias Chandraswami and Kailash Nath Aggarwal (personal secretary) of the charges under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act,” Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ajay Pandey said.