New Delhi, May 02: The second meeting of the joint committee to draft a stringent Lokpal Bill held here on Monday was “very good” and with “no difference of opinion”, Union Minister and committee member Kapil Sibal said.
“The meeting was very good, very cooperative. There was no difference of opinion,” Sibal told reporters after the meeting. The panel will meet again on Saturday.
Kabul, May 02: NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said the alliance will continue its mission in Afghanistan despite the recent killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
Rasmussen hailed the death of bin Laden and said NATO will continue its presence in Afghanistan in an attempt to prevent the war-torn country from becoming a terrorist haven again, AFP reported.
The NATO chief’s remarks came after US President Barack Obama announced the killing of bin Laden on Monday.
Chennai, May 02: Police today arrested two people in connection with the theft of Rs 1.45 crore from the house of a businessman at Chetpet in the city.
The arrest was made within two days after the businessman, Umar, involved in leather tannery business, had lodged a complaint that Rs 1.45 crore cash was missing from his house.
In his complaint on April 30, the businessman said he had sold a property recently and had kept Rs two crore in his house.
He had gone to his native Ambur along with his family members. The keys were left with his driver and some of his employees.
Patna, May 02: An estimated 49 lakh voters in Bihar will exercise their franchise to elect their representatives on 28,865 panchayat posts during the fifth phase of polls to be held tomorrow.
The panchayat polls will be held in 51 blocks spread over 37 districts of the state amid elaborate security arrangements, officials said.
Election authorities have set up 11,604 polling stations spread over 51 blocks of which eight are Naxal-infested for which additional security measures have been taken to enable voters to cast their franchise without fear, they said.
New Delhi, May 02: The Supreme Court Monday upheld the conviction and life sentence of ten Delhi Police officials including an Assistant Police Commissioner for killing two businessmen in a fake encounter in 1997.
A bench of justices H S Bedi and C K Prasad dismissed the appeal filed by the police officials who had approached the apex court against the verdict of the Delhi High Court.
New Delhi, May 02: The Delhi High Court today dismissed a plea for removal of activist Anna Hazare from the Lokpal Bill drafting committee on ground of alleged corruption in one of his trusts, saying setting up of the panel was in the executive’s exclusive domain.
A division bench of Chief Justice Deepak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna turned down the plea saying that the suitability of the persons on the panel could not be a matter of judicial review and did not warrant any interference from judiciary.
Tehran, May 02: Israeli jet fighters have reportedly conducted drills at a military base in Iraq in order to strike targets inside Iran.
A considerable number of Israeli warplanes were seen at al-Asad base in Iraq, reported a source close to prominent Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sader’s group.
The aircraft reportedly included F-15, F-16, F-18, F-22, and KC-10 jet fighters.
The warplanes carried out their week-long exercises at nights, the same source added.
New Delhi, May 02: Mobile handset manufacturer Spice Mobility Monday said it would invest Rs.1,000 crore to ramp up its research and development facilities, creation of value-added services and to fund acquisitions in the current financial year.
“The company will be investing Rs.1,000 crore during financial year 2011-12. It will be made through internal accruals of the company,” B.K. Modi, chairman of Spice Mobility, told reporters here.
New Delhi, May 02: The second meeting of the joint committee to draft a stringent Lokpal Bill held here Monday was “very good” and with “no difference of opinion”, union minister and committee member Kapil Sibal said.
“The meeting was very good, very cooperative. There was no difference of opinion,” Sibal told reporters after the meeting. The panel will meet again Saturday.
New York, May 02: Hat-tip to the Telegraph’s Conrad Quilty-Harper and one sharp-eyed Redditpics user for spotting that the bottom half of the photo of a dead Osama bin Laden looks like one we already had (albeit the mirrored version).
Having taken the bottom half of the photo on the top left, I’ve just made this on photoshop in about 30 seconds. See what I mean?
Brussels, May 02: NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen Monday vowed to continue the alliance’s mission in Afghanistan while hailing Osama bin Laden’s death as “a significant success” in combating global terrorism.
“This is a significant success for the security of NATO allies and all the nations which have joined us in our efforts to combat the scourge of global terrorism to make the world a safer place for all of us,” Xinhua quoted the NATO chief as saying in a statement.
Vijayawada, May 02: TRS chief KCR has made controversial remarks on Andhra Brahmins, making them angry. During a Yagna he has performed recently, he said while the Telangana Brahmins knew the Mantra well and were chaste, the Andhra Brahmins were shallow and pompous.
A case was registered on the controversial leader for making these derogatory remarks. One Govindarajula Srinivasa Rao has filed a private petition in the Vijayawada court, charging KCR of insulting the Andhra Brahmins.
Chennai, May 02: Jobs portal TimesJobs.com Monday said it had launched a tool to assess the employability quotient of fresh graduates and allow companies to make informed hiring choices.
It has named the service ‘Quest’.
“Quest is bringing in the next level of corporate empowerment, providing skill assessment solutions to organisations, ensuring the right people, with the right skills are hired for the right job,” the firm’s senior vice president Vivek Madhukar said.
Damascus, May 02: The authorities in Syria set a deadline of 15 days for people who had committed “unlawful acts” to give themselves up, as a wave of arrests was reported across the country.
The ultimatum came as activists planned fresh anti-government demonstrations following the deaths of dozens of people in weekend protests.
In a statement, the interior ministry told “citizens who have participated in or committed unlawful acts such as bearing arms, attacking security or spreading lies to surrender by May 15 and hand their weapons in to the competent authorities.”
Mumbai, May 02: Groom to-be Anurag Kashyap is shedding the flab to please fiancee Kalki Koechlin.
A source informs us that the director worked out while shooting for Gangs of Wasseypur. These days, he goes everywhere on his bicycle, including his daily commute to work and back.
When we met Kashyap, she noticed a marked difference in his physique. Anurag confirms, “I have lost 10 kilos and want to lose 15 more. ” How did he do it? “I am eating right. ”
Cradle snatcher
Mumbai, May 02: Free time on the sets of Double Dhamaal, was made more fun by Sanjay Dutt when he purchased a new gadget called Segway, a two-wheeled, self-balancing electric vehicle which is battery operated and is quite popular among the youth abroad.
According to sources, the crew of the film was no less amused and obsessed with the device. Double Dhamaal features Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh, Jaaved Jaafri and Aashish Chaudhary and is being directed by Inder Kumar.
Dubai, May 02: A qualifying competition for best recitation of the verses of the Holy Quran, held as part of the Dubai International Holy Quran Award (DIHQA), ended on Friday night at Hassan Al Shaikh Mosque in Dubai’s Al Twar area.
Ibrahim Abu Milha, Head of the Organising Committee of the DIHQA, said the competition was also aimed at scouting for new talents in recitation to care for, encourage and to provide them with the necessary training and knowledge of recitation.
Hyderabad, May 2: TDP chief Mr. N Chandrababu Naidu will reach from Kudapa to Hyderabad on May 2 and visit Care hospital to inquire about MIM MLA Akbar Uddin Owaisi’s health.
Chandrababu Naidu who is busy in election campaign for TDP in Kudapa yesterday talked to president MIM Asad Uddin Owaisi on phone and inquired about the health of his brother.
He expressed his good wishes for the speedy recovery of his brother and told that he will return Hyderabad today and will straight away reach Care hospital.
Siasat news
Mumbai, May 02: Deepika Padukone is extremely excited about working with South superstar Rajnikanth in Rana.
At the film’s launch, Dippy said, “I can’t call this a dream come true because it seemed impossible and I didn’t even think that it would happen.”
Wonder what she will do when she shoots with the demigod. Swoon?
=Agencies
Mumbai, May 02: Want to know what the bunch of foreign dancers, recently hackled by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists, are doing in Mumbai? They are shooting a lavish item number of course, but they’re doing so with none other than Big B.
Amitabh Bachchan has sung and recorded a medley of his evergreen classics including Pag ghungroo (Namak Halaal), Khai ke paan Banaraswala (Don), Apni toh jaise taise (Lawaaris) and Jahan yeh teri nazar hai (Kaalia).
Tripoli, May 02: Gaddafi pressed an offensive against rebel forces, burned Western embassies after the Libyan leader survived a NATO airstrike that killed his son and three grandchildren.
Funerals were expected to be held on Monday, an occasion that might bring an awaited appearance or declaration by Gaddafi who authorities say was in the Tripoli house when it was destroyed by at least three missiles late on Saturday.
Mumbai, May 02: Hindi film heroines still get little chance to take on the burden of a film and end up playing wife, girlfriend or love interest, says actor-producer Lara Dutta, explaining that the name of her production company Bhigi Basanti is a tongue-in-cheek take on how they are viewed in Bollywood.
Jerusalem, May 02: Israel, a key ally of United States in the Middle East, on Monday welcomed the news of Osama bin Laden’s killing, saying “it shares the joy of the American people on this historical day”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the US operation a “resounding victory for justice, freedom, and the values shared by all democratic countries fighting shoulder to shoulder against terror.”
Hyderabad, May 2: Andhra Pradesh high court has ordered secretary Minority Welfare Department, special officer GHMC, Chief executive officer AP state Waqf board and Commissioner of police to submit a report regarding the current situation of Chaukhandi graveyard. It also ordered them to ensure maintenance of status quo abiding by the court orders.
A bench comprising of chief justice Mr. Justice Nisar Ahmed Kakru and Jusice VV Afzalpuvarkar issued these orders.
Washington, May 02: Noting that they never doubted Osama bin Laden’s presence in Pakistan, American experts on Monday said his death could turn out to be a turning point in US-Pak counter-terrorism partnership.
The death of the wanted terrorist could also help with efforts to split the Taliban from al-Qaeda, they said.
“No surprise there we always believed he was in Pakistan,” Ashley Tellis, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington-based think-tank, told.
Osama’s death a turning point in US-Pak ties