Month: May 2011

Chhattisgarh in no hurry to punish corrupt IAS officer

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Raipur, May 29: The Chhattisgarh government is no haste to take action against a serving IAS officer accused of mind-boggling corruption, an official said here on Sunday.

Babulal Agrawal has been accused by the Income Tax (I-T) department of amassing assets worth Rs 253 crore, operating a whopping 473 bank accounts and floating 30 companies over the past 11 years.

The Bhopal-based I-T office said in a 5,000-page report to the state government that the 1988 batch IAS officer, who hails from Kalahandi in Orissa, was sitting over a huge empire of illegal assets.

2 Australian soldiers hurt in Afghan war

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Kabul, May 29: The incident took place on Wednesday and the soldiers are being treated as outpatients at Tarin Kot base in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province, The Sydney Morning Herald cited a statement issued by the Australian Defense Department on Saturday.

The statement added that the Australian soldiers were evacuated by helicopter while their vehicle was destroyed in order to avoid potential use by militants.

US President ‘to be hit by a major scandal soon’

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London, May 29: US President Barack Obama may face his first big scandal pretty soon, according to a leading political scientist.

Based on his mathematical formula, Brendan Nyhan of Michigan University has predicted in his report to ‘Centre for Politics’ website that President Obama’s administration is set to be rocked by a major controversy soon.

The political scientist defines scandal as the “elite perception of misbehaviour whose occurrence is also influenced by political and media context”.

Japan PM under fire over nuclear crisis

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Tokyo, May 29: Leaders of the main conservative opposition Liberal Democratic Party and their smaller ally the New Komeito party on Friday threatened to put the motion to vote against Kan, AFP reported Sunday.

The opposition has rejected calls to join the Japanese premier in a national unity government.

Kan is under fire over his handling of the response to the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and the subsequent nuclear disaster in the Asian country.

If the motion is passed, the prime minister will have to either resign or call a snap election.

‘PM is good person; Sonia creating problems’

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Bangalore, May 29: Anti-graft activist Anna Hazare on Saturday appeared to target Congress President Sonia Gandhi, saying “remote control” is creating “problems” even as he praised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a “good person”.

“Prime Minister is a good person. Prime Minister is not bad. Problem comes because of the remote control,” he told a public meeting, in an obvious reference to the Congress President without naming her.

Then he went on to say: “Now, we are all confident that in every government, people’s power is the strongest.”

Advisory meeting for Urdu conference held

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Hyderabad, May 29: An announcement has been made by Andhra Pradesh Urdu Forum- Mazhar Education society for organizing an Urdu conference on May 31 at 3 pm at Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Hall (old public garden).

An advisory meeting was held in this regard at the residence of Mr. Mohammad Ismail ur Rab Ansari better known as Urdu Ansari.

In the meeting sincere appeal was made to the parents to impart education to their children through Urdu medium or atleast teach their children to read and write Urdu at their homes and inculcate newspaper reading habit among them.

Siasat news

Pro-jihadi, anti-India policy fail

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Jehadis are emboldened when India responds to terrorist attacks by stalling dialogue with Pakistan Beena Sarwar Karachi The simmering rage brewing in Pakistan since the American Seals landed in Abbottabad and ‘took out’ Osama Bin Laden (OBL) is not just about the growing anti-Americanism in the country.

Poverty, migration for jobs main reason behind school dropouts

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Mysore, May 29: Poverty, migration for jobs and parents’ reluctance to continue educating their wards after primary level the main among reasons for children dropping out, according to Education Department sources.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Karnataka, would soon launch Web-based Child Tracking System (CTS) to monitor the progress made by dropouts who have been brought back to school.

The district-wise data will be updated once a month so that the authorities could monitor the progress of such children.

Book blames Indira for damage to Cong”s electoral base in UP

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New Delhi, May 29: A book on Congress has blamed former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for the damage to its electoral base in Hindi heartland, particularly Uttar Pradesh, where Rahul Gandhi is now trying to rebuild the party ahead of the Assembly polls next year.

“She (Gandhi) attempted to reach down to the bottom level and restructure the party from the top into an ”oligarchy” controlled with the help of her close aides. This led to the breakdown of the ”machine” character of Congress, which had been the strength of the party in some states.

Elderly man beaten to death over land dispute

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CSM Nagar, May 29: A 45-year-old man was today beaten to death allegedly by his nephew and his accomplices over land dispute in Sangrampur area, a senior police official said here.

The incident took place in Ambharpur village this morning when Ram Samujh was killed by his nephew Ram Pyare Verma and his aides in connection with a land dispute, Superintendent of Police Vijay Singh Meena said.

A case had been lodged against Verma and three others in this connection, he said, adding that PAC has been deployed in the village in the wake of tension.

——–PTI

7 cricketers IPL 4 Heroes

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Chennai, May 29: Seven cricketers were adjudged as the heroes in seven different fields in the just concluded IPL tourney.

Golden Player Award (Rs. 10 lakhs): Chris Gayle

He got Man of the Match award seven times.

Maximum number of runs: Chris Gayle (608 runs)

Highest number of wickets: Malinga (28 wickets)

King of catches: Pollard (10 catches)

Hurricane knock in a single match: Walthati (120 runs in 63 balls including 19 fours and 4 sixes)

Rising star award: Iqbal Abdulla (Kolkata) 16 wickets in 14 matches.

259 women were raped

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London, May 29: A Libyan doctor has revealed that 259 women said they were raped by militiamen loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

During a question and answer session, the doctor found that 10,000 people were suffering from post-traumatic stress, 4,000 children with psychological problems, and 259 women came forward with accounts of being rape.

With ‘Gandhi’,’Hitler’ in tow, Nalin steps onto B-Town terra firma

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New Delhi, May 29: As has been his wont, he decided to swim against the tide from the very moment he nosedived into the deep waters running in the high seas of Bollywood.

Despite being a fresh entry into the showground of tinseltown, Nalin Singh, co-producer, script writer and one of the cast of yet-to-be released multi-lingual ‘Gandhi To Hitler’, was always loath to treading the much beaten path and rather wished to chart his own course with his sublime talent and by sheer dint of hard work and persistence in the terrain of the dog-eat-dog world of the Hindi film industry.

Viqar-e-Hind an Urdu magazine to be launched today

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Hyderabad, May 29: A multi-colour Urdu fortnightly ‘Viqar-e-Hind’ under the editorship of Mr. Azeemur Rahman will be launched today by Mr. Rahman Khan, deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha, on Sunday, May 29, 2011 at 4 pm at Jubilee Hall, Public Garden Hyderabad.

This is the first high quality Colourful Urdu magazine which is being published using modern technology.

A handful of other language magazines are published in India in the style of English magazines however the Urdu language enjoys the rare privilege that Viqar-e-Hind publishers have turned the impossible into possible.

Promise for Development for Muslims & Salaries to Imams & Muazzinzs: Babu

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Hyderabad, May 29: Telugu Desam supreme Mr. Chandrababu Naidu confessed that compromise made with BJP in the part was grave mistake for which TDP lost the support of the Muslims and ultimately it was out of power. He promised that the mistakes of the part will not be repeated in future. Mr. Naidu appealed to the Muslims to forget the part mistakes and join TDP again. He assured that if the TDP comes back to power, it will take effective steps for the development of the Muslims. He also said that Imams and Muzzins will be given Rs. 5000/- and Rs. 3000/- per month respectively.

Oncology ails for women

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The Pulitzer Prize winning biography on cancer ‘The Emperor of All Maladies’ has brought the malady to centre stage. The writer-oncologist Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee chronicles a disease humans have lived with and perished for more than 5,000 years. Hyderabad, referred as a medical hub, tells another sordid story: several women cancer patients continue to choose death over treatment here.

Around 260 women raped by Gaddafi forces

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Benghazi, May 29: At first, the responses to the questionnaire about the trauma of the war in Libya were predictable, if tragic: 10,000 people suffering post-traumatic stress, 4,000 children with psychological problems. Then came the unexpected: 259 women said they had been raped by militiamen loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

Dr Seham Sergewa had been working with children traumatised by the fighting in Libya but soon found herself being approached by troubled mothers who felt they could trust her with their dark secret.

Zardari’s chief security officer attacked

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Karachi, May 29: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari’s chief security officer was fired at here and two of his securitymen were injured in the shooting, a media report said Sunday.

Bilal Shaikh was travelling to Khamosh colony when gunmen opened fire at him.

Shaikh’s security personnel fired back following which the attackers fled, Dawn reported Sunday.

They left behind their car and weapons.

Two of Shaikh’s security officers, identified only as Mehmood and Farooq, were injured in the shooting.

West to have 80,000 cruise missiles by 2020: Russia

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Moscow, May 29: Russian military experts have forecast that Western nations will have 80,000 cruise missile by 2020, a top military official has said.

“We expect Western countries to have at least 80,000 cruise missiles by 2020, including about 2,000 of them nuclear-powered,” Gen. Igor Sheremet, deputy commander of the Russian General Staff, said in an interview to the Ekho Moskvy radio station.

Sheremet said the missiles were clearly not simply designed for drilling or intimidation purposes. “They can deliver disarming or even ‘decapitation’ strikes.”

Royal treatment for Salman and Kareena

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Mumbai, May 29: Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor’s arrival in Patiala recently for the third schedule of Atul Agnihotri’s Bodyguard, created a buzz in the former princely state widely regarded as Punjab’s cultural capital, where museums, palaces and parks abound.

Salman and Kareena are staying and shooting at Neemrana hotel Baradari Palace.

Opened four years ago, the heritage-hotel is housed in a 19th century palace of Patiala Maharaja Rajinder Singh. In Bodyguard Baradari Palace is shown to be Kareena’s house.

After Amrita, it’s Sonakshi to lose diamond jewellery…

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Mumbai, May 29: Sonakshi Sinha’s diamond jewelery worth lakhs went missing from her vanity van on the sets of her upcoming movie, Joker.

The theft occurred when the actress stepped out for a while during a late-night shoot.

Says a unit source, “She looked around in the van. But she was sure that she had kept it along with her other stuff. She then asked around but nothing came of it.”

Adds the source, “However, Sona remained calm. She did not want to raise a ruckus and delay the shoot.

Salman does it all for chillar…

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Mumbai, May 29: Now that Salman Khan is turning a producer with the UTV Spotboy movie Chillar Party, he is going half way across the globe to Toronto, Canada for the film’s promotion. The film is co-directed by Vikas Bahl and Nitesh Tiwari.

Salman Khan has taken the entire headache of the film’s marketing on him. Not just that… W also hear that he has written an entire section of the promo. For those who don’t know, Salman Khan is also a writer and he penned the story of his film Veer.

Salman Khan felt that the trailer of ‘Chillar Party’ lacked a punch.

Heavy rain brings respite from sweltering heat waves

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Guntur, May 29: Heavy rain accompanied gales and thunders last night brought respite from the sweltering heat waves in Krishna, Guntur and West Godavari districts.

It occurred for about three hours at almost all places in the three districts. However, the city plunged in darkness due to power failure.

Meanwhile, one farmer died of electrocution when he came into contact with a live wire which had snapped due to heavy winds at Nunna, near here while another was died when lightening struck on him at Bhimavaram in West Godavari district.

Pakistan’s n-programme running without break: A.Q. Khan

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Islamabad, May 29: Pakistan’s nuclear programme is “running without break” for 10 years and uranium enrichment process is also in progress, disgraced nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan said in remarks published Sunday.

“Although I have not been associated with the programme for the past 10 years, I know it has been running without any break and the process of uranium enrichment is in progress,” Khan told the Dawn in an interview.

He stressed that though they were not giving “final shape to new nuclear weapons”, the material was being made. It could be assembled any time if required, he added.

Exhibition Train at Secunderabad railway station

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Hyderabad, May 29: Vivekananda express, an exhibition train, showcasing the life, works and teachings of great spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda, was inaugurated by Swami Anupananda director Ramakrishna Mission on Saturday.

The exhibition train will be open for public viewing from 10 AM to 8 PM daily till May 30, 2011. Entry for the exhibition is free.

The Vivekananda express has been parked adjacent to Platform No 10, Bhoiguda side of the Secunderabad railway station.