Month: May 2011

AP HC adjourns hearing in DGP case till June 6

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Hyderabad, May 01: The Andhra Pradesh High Court today adjourned to June 6 the hearing on an appeal filed by the state government against the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which had set aside the appointment of K Aravinda Rao as the Director General of Police (Head of Police Force).

The division bench comprising of Justice Nissar Ahmed Kakroo and Vilas V Afzalpurkur adjourned the matter to June 6 while Aravinda Rao continues to be DGP till then.

Saudis hold anti-govt. protests

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Riyadh, May 01: Saudi nationals have taken to the streets of an eastern village in Saudi Arabia to hold anti-government protests and call for an end to military presence in Bahrain.

Hundreds attended the rally in Awamiyah on Saturday to demand basic human rights and freedom of expression in their country, a Media correspondent reported.

The demonstrators urged implementation of reforms and the release of political prisoners.

They also voiced outrage at the kingdom’s invasion of Bahrain — a move, which Riyadh took in March to help Manama quell anti-government protests there.

KKR bowlers stifled us: Gilly

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Kolkata, May 01: After having suffered an eight wicket drubbing, Kings XI Punjab skipper Adam Gilchrist Saturday praised the Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers, particularly the spinners, saying their combined effort stifled his batsmen.

“Their spinners bowled particularly well. Gambhir read the pitch very quickly. He got spinners from the fourth over,” gilchrist told mediapersons after the Kings went down to the Knight by eight wickets at the Eden Gardens.

Air India cancels 150 flights

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New Delhi, May 01: Close to 150 flights were grounded and re-scheduled Saturday as nearly half of Air India’s 1,600 pilots continued their strike for the fourth day despite facing a possible six-month jail for contempt of court and prospect of a partial lockout.

Air India reportedly cancelled and re-scheduled 150 of its daily 225 domestic flights.
While 60 flights were cancelled in Mumbai, 14 were grounded in Kolkata and 12 in Kerala.

IPL betting rackets busted, 8 arrested

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New Delhi, April 30: Eight men were arrested in two incidents for allegedly running cricket betting rackets during the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches, police said Saturday.

In the first incident, Deepak Kaushik, 25, Kapil Kaushik, 23, Ankit Kaushik, 19, and Parvesh, 19, were arrested from Pootkalan area in west Delhi Thursday.

“The arrests were made after police received a tip-off that they were taking bets for the IPL match between Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ashok Chand said.

Minor sodomised in Delhi

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New Delhi, May 01: A boy was reportedly sodomised by six people, including a minor, police said Saturday.

“The incident happened Wednesday when Sonu (name changed) was forcibly taken to a lonely place from his house in J.J. Colony in west Delhi by six people. One among them was a minor himself,” a senior police officer said.

Sonu was threatened not to tell about the incident to anyone or else they would kill him. However, when they called him again Saturday, Sonu narrated the incident to his parents, police said.

Muslim Brotherhood forms new party

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Cairo, May 01: Egypt’s former opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, is forming a new political party to participate in the upcoming Parliamentary elections.

The group’s Consultative Council has announced the formation of Freedom and Justice Party.

The party will operate independently from the Brotherhood, but in coordination with the group, and it will contest up to half of the parliamentary seats in the September elections.

According to a statement released by the council, the new party will be headed by Mohammed al-Mursi, a member of the Brotherhood’s politburo.

Iran MPs slam Bahrain death sentences

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Tehran, May 01: A group of Iranian lawmakers have condemned the recent move by Manama to sentence four Bahraini anti-government protesters to death.

In a declaration issued on Saturday, members of the Parliament (Majlis) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said the death sentences are “a clear violation of human rights and international laws,” IRNA reported on Saturday.

They urged international rights organizations to take essential steps to stay the verdict and to prevent further similar acts.

In Japan, 76% unhappy with govt.

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Tokyo, May 01: Some 76 percent of Japanese are unsatisfied with Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s handling of the aftermath of the March 11 quake and tsunami, and the country’s nuclear crisis.

According to a telephone survey conducted by Kyodo News Agency on Friday and Saturday, dissatisfaction with Kan’s leadership has grown among the Japanese since March when 63.7 of people were unsatisfied with the government.

Iran students slam Bahrain crackdown

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Tehran, May 01: A group of Iranian students gather outside the Bahraini Embassy in Tehran to express their sympathy for those killed in the crackdown on the Persian Gulf island’s popular uprising.

In the Saturday gathering, students from different universities in Tehran condemned the crackdown on Bahraini people by the Manama government and Saudi forces.

The students carried a coffin to symbolize the Bahraini people martyred by the government.

Bahraini boy suffocated by tear gas

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Manama, May 01: A 6-year-old Bahraini boy has died after being exposed to tear gas fired by Saudi-backed Bahraini security forces in the east of the country.

The victim, named Mohammad Abdul-Hussain Farhan, lost his life on Saturday as a result of the police raid on Sitra, a Media correspondent reported.

Anti-government protesters have been holding peaceful demonstrations across Bahrain since mid-February, calling for an end to the Al Khalifa dynasty’s over-40-year rule.

Gaddafi son, 3 grandsons killed in strikes

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Tripoli, May 01: Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, the youngest son of embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and three of Gaddafi’s grandsons have been killed in a NATO airstrike.

“The house of Saif al-Arab Gaddafi was attacked tonight with full power. The leader with his wife was there in the house with other friends and relatives,” Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters at press conference in Tripoli early on Sunday morning, AFP reported.

“The attack resulted in the martyrdom of Saif al-Arab, 29 years old, and three of the leader’s grandchildren,” Ibrahim said.

Intelligence agencies interrogating Pak spy

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Bikkaner, May 01: Intelligence agencies are interrogating a Pakistani spy who was arrested from Indo-Pak international border in Sri Ganganagar, officials said here today.

The spy, identified as Ismail Khan who used to work as an ISI agent, was arrested on April 28 from his residence at Karanpur area in Sri Ganganagar.

A satellite phone through which he used to send messages to Pakistani handlers had been seized, officials said.

Three mobile phones with Pakistani sim, a laptop and some documents were also recovered from his possession, they said.

——–PTI

Jagan asserts to dislodge Congress in AP

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Kadapa, May 01: YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy today said his party would dislodge Congress government on popular support and seek fresh mandate in one year.

“There will be elections in one year or six months from now. Our government will come and we will implement all the welfare schemes (initiated by late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy) effectively,” said Jagan during his election campaign in Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency.

Jagan is seeking re-election from Kadapa Lok Sabha in the bypoll to be held on May 8.

Belgium inches closer to burqa ban

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Brussels, May 01: Belgium’s lower house of parliament has approved a bill that would ban all clothing that covers or partially covers the face and that would prohibit Muslim women from wearing the burqa and the niqab in public.

On Thursday, the bill was passed by a vote of 136-1 and two abstentions, AP reported.

If approved by the Senate, Belgium would become the second European country after France to put such a law into practice.

The law would target all women who use the face veil, known as the niqab, and the body-length burqa.

Bhavani’s body laid to rest in Vijayawada

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Hyderabad, April 30: The murder of 14-year-old Bhavani by her classmate during a visit to Vijayawada is being hotly discussed by their neighbours at the Sanjay Gandhi Nagar in Jeedimetla here.

“It was really unfortunate that such a thing occurred in the family of Panga Yadagiri and Sashikala. Yadagiri, a native to Warangal, migrated to the state capital and started iron scrap business at Jeedimetla. Having no children, he adopted Bhavani, daughter of his brother. The couple treated Bhavani with affection and pampered her since her childhood,’’ recalled G Jyothi, a tenant of Yadgiri.

Showcause notices to PRP rebel MLAs

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Hyderabad, April 30: Even as the political scene is hotting up in Kadapa, complaints and petitions against the rebel MLAs particularly those loyal to Jagan Mohan Reddy of YSR Congress party were being made by the political parties concerned in recent times.

Based on the petitions, notices are being served against the legislators asking them to respond.

Chiru greeted with eggs, slippers

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Kadapa, April 30: There was tension in Pulivendula on Friday when alleged YSR Congress activists hurled eggs, stones, slippers and sticks on Praja Rajyam chief and Tirupati legislator K Chiranjeevi and some others during a road show conducted by the Congress.

At the Muddanur Circle, when the situation seemed slipping out of hand, police were forced to use mild lathicharge to control the violence and took one person into custody for stone-throwing.

HC rejects Maytas Properties’ plea

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Hyderabad, April 30: A bench of the High Court comprising justice Ghulam Mohammad and justice KG Shanker on Friday rejected the plea of Maytas Properties on the jurisdiction of the State Consumer Forum or the district fora to entertain complaints from its erstwhile customers in view of the clauses of arbitration in the agreements with the said parties. The bench declared that the jurisdiction of the consumer fora were not excluded.

TTD to give special quota darshan for newly-weds

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Tirumala, April 30: TTD has come up with a novel idea for the newly-wed couple, who wants to have a darshan of Lord Balaji.

Henceforth, they can avail the newly introduced special quota in the current booking for Kalyanotsavams.

Explaining the new initiative to media persons here on Friday, TTD executive officer IYR Krishna Rao said that the new system will come into force from April 30 onwards.

Tickets will be issued to the couple on first-come- first-served basis and at the same time the ticket-holders should have been married not more than a week while availing the special quota.

Babu demands CCTVs in polling booths

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Hyderabad, April 30: Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday requested the chief election commissioner to arrange high-resolution CCTV cameras instead of webcams for Kadapa and Pulivendula byelections.

In a letter to the Election Commission today, Naidu said that CCTV cameras would enable monitoring through internet effective.

The past record of election process in these segments remind us of some unfair practices being used with money and muscle power to scare away voters, Naidu said.

Rs 13 lakh cash seized by district police

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Prodattur, April 30: Police on Friday seized large amounts of cash being brought into the district, suspected to be for distributing among the voters.

Chapadu SI Gurunath and his team seized Rs 13 lakh from a car, while checking the vehicles at his police station.

On being questioned, Phani, the person who was carrying the cash in the car, said that he is from Bellary in Karnataka and was going to Nellore for purchasing gold.

Depressed over poor marks, student ends life

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Nellore, April 30: Depressed over not getting the marks he had expected, a 17-year old Intermediate student K Harsha Pratap allegedly committed suicide here on Thursday evening.

However, the police did not confirm the suicide. It is learnt that the family members of the boy cremated him on Friday afternoon even before the news of his death spread.

Sources said the family members came to know of the tragedy, only when they found the boy’s body hanging from the ceiling in his room at midnight, after making a futile search for him elsewhere.

GITAM student commits suicide

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Vishakapatnam, April 30: A second year student of Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) stream of GITAM Dental College, N Rupika on Friday committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling of her hostel room at Rushikonda.

According to reports, 19-year-old Rupika, a student from Tanuku of West Godavari district, attended her classes as usual today morning and returned to her room at around 12.30 pm.

Later, the roommates of Rupika knocked on the door of her room several times but she did not open. Suspecting that something was wrong, they informed the hostel authorities at around 3 pm.

Caught, triple murderer commits suicide

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Vijayawada, April 30: It was a bloody saga which began on Thursday with the murder of a woman, followed by the discovery of the bodies of her two daughters several hours later and then ended up on Friday with the accused, the woman’s husband and father of the two, ending his life by jumping to death from a building while being interrogated by the police.

What lay behind all the killings was Rao’s doubt about his wife’s fidelity.