Panchayat leader arrested for alleged ULFA links

Nalbari (Assam), September 02: A panchayat president was arrested for his alleged links with the banned ULFA in Assam’s Nalbari district today, police said.

Harin Kalita, president of Congress-led Pub Bandha Panchayat, was arrested after police traced extortion calls made by ULFA militants by using his mobile phone, they said.

Several calls were allegedly made to many businessmen in the district from Kalita’s phone demanding money for the outfit, police said, adding that he was arrested from his residence in the village.

–Agencies

Nifty sheds early gains on profit booking

Mumbai, September 02: Sluggish European cues coupled with profit booking forced the benchmark CNX-Nifty to retreat from the intra-day high and to end the session with modest 14 points gain on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

The 50-share index touched a high of 5,513.95 before ending at 5,486.15, up 14.30 points, or 0.26 per cent, from its last close.

Saina slips to third place in world ranking

New Delhi, September 02: Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal today slipped one place from her career-best position of world number two to the third place in the latest international rankings release today.

The 20-year-old Saina had made a meteoric rise following her back-to-back title triumphs at the India Open Grand Prix, Singapore Open Super Series and Indonesian Open Super Series to reach the world number two spot.

But a quarterfinal finish at the recently-concluded World badminton Championship in Paris left her one place down the rung at the third position.

Sonia to be Congress president for record fourth time

New Delhi September 02:Sonia Gandhi, 63, is set to be chosen president of the ruling Congress for the fourth time, with all party office bearers nominating her for the post Thursday. It will make her the longest serving party president in the 125-year history of the Congress.

Central ministers, party general secretaries, chief ministers of Congress-ruled states and Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs submitted the nomination papers with Sonia Gandhi’s name at the party headquarters here, sources said.

US blacklists Pakistani Taliban

Washington, September 02: Branding Pakistani Taliban as a ”force multiplier” for al-Qaeda, the US has targeted the group by charging its leader Hakimullah Mehsud for planning the suicide attack on the CIA base in Afghanistan and placed the outfit on its global terrorism blacklist.

Mehsud was today charged for being involved in the murder of seven Americans at a CIA base in Afghanistan last December, the deadliest attack on the agency since 1983.

ill Rosaiah skips YSR death anniversary functions

Hyderabad, September 02: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah was on Thursday unable to participate in various functions marking the first death anniversary of late YS Rajasekhara Reddy as doctors advised him rest for the second day after he suffered a bout of viral fever.

“Rosaiah has been advised rest. He will be examined in the evening,” sources in the Chief Minister’s Office said today.

According to doctors attending on him, the chief minister’s temperature was normal but needed rest.

Postage stamp on YSR released

Hyderabad, September 02: A commemorative postage stamp on Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the late Andhra Pradesh chief minister, was Thursday released on the occasion of his first death anniversary.

Visakhapatnam region post master general Sharada Sampat released the Rs.5 stamp carrying the portrait of YSR, as he was popularly known by his initials, at a ceremony held in Visakhapatnam.

Officials said it normally takes 18 months to prepare and release a stamp but they had come out with this commemorative stamp within a year.

Arrest Geelani for fomenting Kashmir trouble: Jethmalani

Mumbai, September 02:) Senior jurist and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Ram Jethmalani Thursday demanded the immediate arrest of Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, who he alleged is on Pakistan’s payroll and responsible for the current unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing mediapersons, Jethmalani said the young people indulging in violence against the police in the state are instigated by persons “in the pay of Pakistan, of whom Geelani is the leader”.

Congress has performed impressively under Sonia: Karunanidhi

Chennai, September 02: The performance of the Congress has been extensively impressive under its president Sonia Gandhi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said Thursday.

Congratulating Gandhi on her election as the Congress party’s president for the fourth sucvcessive time, Karunanidhi in his letter to her said: “By this election for the fourth time, you have created a record in the history of the Congress party.”

“The people of this country very well know that the Congress party was in the forefront of the freedom struggle and made unprecedented and unparalleled sacrifices.”

Moily meets Jagan a day ahead of his ‘yatra’

Hyderabad, September 02: Union Minister and Congress general secretary M. Veerappa Moily Thursday met party MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, a day before he is scheduled to resume his controversial ‘odarpu yatra’ in defiance of the party leadership.

Moily met Jagan at Idupulapaya in Kadapa district after paying tributes to the late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy at his grave on his first death anniversary. Jagan is YSR’s son.

Moily, who is in-charge of party affairs in Andhra Pradesh, was accompanied by K.V.P. Ramchandra Rao, Rajya Sabha member and a close friend of the late leader.

Dengue cases reach 1,081 in Delhi

New Delhi, September 02: The dengue menace showed no signs of abating in the national capital where the number of cases reached 1,081 today with 67 more patients testing positive for the vector-borne disease.

Of the total cases so far, 927 have been reported from MCD areas, 117 from NDMC areas and the rest from other parts of the city besides some outstation cases.

The highest number of 183 cases have come from MCD South Zone followed by Central Zone (162) and Civil Lines (121).

We will match Melbourne Games: Kalmadi

New Delhi, September 02: Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi today promised that the CWG here will be as successful as the Melbourne edition despite the spate of corruption allegations that rocked its build-up.

“We are trying to emulate what Melbourne had done in 2006 because I feel Melbourne Commonwealth Games and (2000) Sydney Olympics are the best multi-sports event I have ever seen,” Kalmadi said while addressing foreign journalists at the Foreign Correspondents Club of South Asia here.

Salaries of Waqf board employees to be increased

Srinagar, September 02: Salaries of employees of Waqf board are expected to be increased before the festival of Eid in Jammu and Kashmir.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also Chairman of the Waqf board, chairing a meeting of the body, today directed for enhancing salaries of Waqf employees before the festival.

He said the formalities in this regard should be finalised in the next meeting scheduled on Wednesday.

The Chief Minister while giving these directions also asked Waqf employees to render their service in a machinery spirit and with devotion.

Khurshid supports Chidambaram’s view on armed camps

Kolkata, September 02: Home Minister P Chidambaram’s statement that there were several armed camps in West Bengal and cadres of these camps roaming around with weapons today received support from his ministerial colleague Salman Khurshid.

“He (Chidambaram) is one of the brightest and experienced ministers in the Cabinet. Whatever he says is after a great deal of thought and analysis,” Corporate Affairs Minister Khurshid said when asked for his opinion on Chidambaram’s statement.

US dollar ends cheaper against the rupee

Mumbai, September 02: The US dollar ended cheaper against the Rupee at Rs 46.72/73 per dollar and the Pound Sterling also finished slightly lower at Rs 71.97/99 per pound at the close of the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market (FOREX) here today.

The following are the Interbank Forex and RBI rates:

(In Rupees Per Unit) UNIT INTERBANK RBI REFERENCE US Dollar 46.72/73 US Dollar RS.46.78 Pound Sterling 71.97/99 Euro RS.59.94 Euro 59.91/93 Japanese Yen (100) 55.

–Agencies

Dalai Lama to open World Congress

Kochi, September 02: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama will inaugurate the 33rd World Congress of International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) on September 4 here.

About 600 delegates from across the world will converge here for the four-day conference, Thomas Mathew, IARF President and Dr Homi Dhalla, Chair of the Congress working Party told reporters here today.

The conference will start with the prayers being rendered by 11 different religious groups.

We are ready for talks with Maoists: Nitish

Patna, September 02: Responding to news reports that the Maoists had killed one of the four policemen they abducted on Sunday, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Thursday said his government is ready for talks with the Leftwing rebels.

“We have been ready for talks,” Nitish Kumar said on the sidelines of a function in the state capital.

He also said the eight Maoists lodged in different jails in Bihar, whose release is being demanded by the Maoists, are being taken care of well, and he expected the rebels to mete the same treatment to the abducted policemen.

Supporters no more backing Jagan?

Hyderabad, September 02: Exactly a year after his father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s death, Congress MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy is facing a political dilemma as ministers and MLAs in Andhra Pradesh have now virtually deserted him.

He has no real supporters, except two, in the Andhra Pradesh council of ministers while not more than 20 MLAs are publicly backing him.

The Cabinet ministers who vowed to forego their posts if Jagan was not made the chief minister, immediately after YSR’s death in a helicopter crash on September 2 last year, have now virtually deserted him.

Lalu accuses Nitish of failing to handle Maoist crisis

Patna, September 02: RJD supremo Lalu Prasad today accused Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of failing to handle the crisis arising out of the kidnapping of policemen after the encounter with Maoists in Lakhisarai district.

“The state is insensitive and inhuman…the policemen continue to sacrifice their lives but still there is no care for them and their families…what will compensation do after families lose their near and dear ones,” Prasad asked.

Madani bail plea posted to Sep 6 for final hearing

Bangalore, September 02: A local court today posted the bail application of arrested PDP leader Abdul Nasser Madani, an accused in the 2008 Bangalore serial blasts,to September 6.

When the bail application came up before Fifth Fast Track Court (FTC) Judge Shrikant Watawati, the Special Public Prosecutor Rudraswamy filed his objections, following which the plea was posted to Monday for final hearing.

O. U Students calls for bandh on Sept 5 over G1 quota

Hyderabad, September 02: The Osmania University Students Joint Action Committee on Thursday gave a call for Telangana ‘bandh’ on September 5 to press for its demand that the government issue clarification on providing quota in recruitments of successful APPSC Group-1 candidates from Telangana.

Talking to media persons, student leader P Ravi stated that the OUSJAC was demanding that the government guarantee that 42 per cent candidates from Telangana region, who have cleared the Group-1 examinations conducted by the APPSC be recruited.

Fasting Indian workers live in filth after employer absconds

Dubai, September 02: As many as 700 workers, including scores of Indian expatriates, unpaid for six months, have been living in filthy conditions without water or power in two labour camps in Sharjah after their employer absonded.

Many of the workers are fasting in the month of Ramadan but with the utilities cut off, the toilets are piled up with waste and garbage is strewn all around their dwellings.

Relations between Obama and Bush ‘awkward’: Report

New York, September 02: Relation between US President Barack Obama and his predecessor George W Bush remains “awkward” and “non-existent,” according to a report.

The two leaders spoke yesterday as Obama announced the end of US operations in Iraq. The last conversation they had was in January when Obama asked Bush to raise money along with former president Bill Clinton for Haiti.

Ban ‘fixers’ for life: Shane Warne, Duncan Fletcher

Melbourne, September 02: Australian spin legend Shane Warne and former England coach Duncan Fletcher today joined the growing clamour for life bans on Pakistani cricketers Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir if they are found guilty of ‘spot-fxing’.

Pakistan’s Test skipper Butt and pacers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad are facing a Scotland Yard investigation over their alleged involvement in a betting scam “exposed” by a British tabloid’s sting operation.

Kader Khan recuperating in hospital after knee surgery

Mumbai, September 02: Yesteryear Bollywood actor Kader Khan is recuperating in Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital here after a knee surgery, says his son.

“He was admitted to the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital a few days back for a knee surgery. The surgery is over now but he has to stay in the hospital for a few more days as he is going through physiotherapy now. But he is fine now,” Kader Khan’s son Sarfaraz told IANS.