Month: June 2011

New Delhi, June 29: Census officials began the first ever post independence Socio-Economic and Caste Census 2011 on Wednesday, in a bid to identify household living below the poverty line in rural and urban areas of the country. The Census, which began in the Sankhola village of Hazemara block in West Tripura district will be conducted door-to-door across the country.

Launching the Census Socio-Economic and Secretary to the Union Ministry of Rural Development BK Sinha said the entire process of the gigantic exercise will be completed by end of 2011-12.

Cario, June 29: Overnight clashes in the Egyptian capital of Cairo have left at least 60 people injured as the scuffles between security forces and protesters enter a second day.

New clashes broke out on Wednesday morning in central Cairo as riot police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters who demand the execution of the country’s former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly.

Police in riot gear were deployed around the Libration Square and near the interior ministry building in the capital city, AFP reported.

Islamabad, June 29: Pakistan’s Armed Forces have reportedly fired rockets on an area in neighboring Afghanistan, killing as many as 22 people and injuring 78 others.

The attack took place in the Kunar province in northeastern Afghanistan on Monday.

Pakistan says the rocket strikes are in response to what it calls attacks against its territory from Afghanistan.

—–Agencies

Hyderabad, June 29: Labour Minister Danam Nagender on Wednesday announced that the Beedi workers have been provided better remuneration by the state government which has hiked their minimum wages.

Mr Nagender told media persons at the state Secretariat that in place of Rs 83 per 1000 rolls of beedis, the government offered Rs 137 per 1000 rolls. The hiked waged would mostly benefit women who form a large chunk of the beedi workers.

The Minister further said that the current Rs 104 to Rs 225 for one lakh packs has been enhanced to Rs 282 to Rs 832 for one lakh packs.

London, June 29: Rafael Nadal’s coach’s mood changed when he found out the world number one was scheduled to play on uncovered Court One for his quarter-final against Mardy Fish on Wednesday.

Nadal dissapointed after being shunted to court one (Pic: Reuters)

“Court One? That’s the worst thing possible for us. If I could choose it would be more logical to play on Centre,” Toni Nadal told reporters after his nephew came through a hitting session following a scan on his foot injury.

New Delhi, June 29: Refusing to buy Prime Minister Manmohan Singh”s argument that his government is not “lameduck and comatose”, BJP today said the economist PM had failed to control prices, check corruption and take the opposition along on issues like the Lokpal Bill.

Hyderabad, June 29: Police have arrested two absconding members of a Rajasthan-based robbery gang who were involved in 5 kg gold robbery case occurred on June 14 at Gunfoundry Abids and seized 900 grams gold from their possession.

Inspector Abids Mr. Shivkumar told that the two members of the gang were arrested on June 18 and 3.67 kilo gold jewellery were recovered from them.

The robbers were identified as Deepak Jani and R Mahipal alias Pintu.

Hyderabad, June 29: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao Wednesday warned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that “Telangana will burn” if he fails to implement his promise of carving out a separate Telangana state.

The Mahabubnagar MP said people of Telangana will not tolerate it if the prime minister further delays a decision on the issue.

Hyderabad, June 29: The state government has decided to build four new ports, one each in Bhavanapadu and Kalingapatnam in Srikakulam district, Bhimili in Visakhapatnam and Narsapur in West Godavari district. The Chief Minister, Mr N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, on Tuesday asked the infrastructure and investment officials to build these ports on fast track.

Some 35 women and a few men in Piduguralla village of Guntur district have become unwitting guinea pigs to what looks like clinical trials for breast cancer drugs.

The women, all lime kiln workers, were recruited by brokers and taken to Axis Clinical Labs in Miyapur area of Hyderabad sometime between February-April where they were kept for four days. They were given medicines, their urine and blood samples taken at regular intervals and then sent home.

Hyderabad, June 29: The city police read the Riot Act to star hotels on Tuesday and warned them not to serve liquor beyond permitted hours. Even 24-hour coffee shops cannot serve liquor beyond the stipulated time. The managements of the star hotels have also been asked to ensure that no drugs and fire arms are allowed inside. They have been asked to look out for drunken driving to install signs reminding visitors and guests to choose one person in a group as a “designated driver” who will not drink and drop the others home.

Patna, June 29: Squadron leader Ms Nirupama Pandey, a class-I Gazetted officer in Indian Air Force, has added a feather in the cap of Bihar by becoming the first person from the state to climb, the highest mountain peak of the world, Mount Eeverest.

Nirupma Pandey, presently posted at the Air Force station Rajokri New Delhi under Western Air command, has achieved the distinction and added a new chapter in the glories of Bihar as she unfurled the Indian flag on June 25, 2011 on the Mount Everest (8848 mtrs/29028 ft) in Himalayan range.

Islamabad, June 29: Former prime minister and chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Nawaz Sharif said Tuesday his party would challenge at the Lahore High Court the voters’ list of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Sharif, addressing a party meeting in Lahore Tuesday, said free, fair and impartial elections could not be expected during the rule of President Asif Ali Zardari, the Online news agency reported.

The federal government has held the elections in Pakistan administered Kashmir on a “bogus voters’ list”, Sharif said.

Hyderabad, June 29: Cutting across party lines, legislators from the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh Wednesday gave notice for a privilege motion against Congress MP L. Rajagaopal for allegedly belittling the house through his remarks.

Angry over the Vijayawada MP’s remark that clause 14F that treats Hyderabad a free zone for police recruitment cannot be deleted from the Presidential Order, the legislators met assembly Speaker N. Manohar and gave him the breach of privilege motion notice.

New Delhi, June 29: The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) Wednesday said its advanced diploma in mechanical and electrical engineering has received recognition from the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), making the students eligible for employment in the state-run firm.

The diploma is offered by IGNOU’s Institute of Industrial Management for Safety, Health and Environment (IIMSHE) community college in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

Manama, June 29: In a rare case, a 38-year-old mother who has been brain dead for four months has given birth to a baby boy in Saudi Arabia’s eastern Al Khobar province.

A Gulf News report said that the baby boy was delivered 28 weeks and two days after conception and is in good condition at the Sa’ad Specialist Hospital.

Mumbai, June 29: Certain things may bring back memories of a lost love. And these are the things, left well behind. Shahid Kapoor, thus had never walked the ramp. The one thing he last was seen doing along side his girlfriend Kareena Kapoor, way back in 2006. That was for Manish Malhotra. Looks like, in 2011, Shahid has just walked a little further, away from his once love Bebo. The Kapoor boy will waltz down the ramp at the upcoming fashion week to be held in August. Alone.

Mumbai, June 29: The Khan war has just transcended geographical barriers and reached the other side of the world. From India to Toronto, the Shah Rukh – Salman enmity has just gone global. And caught in the crossfire is SRK’s newfound good friend Priyanka Chopra.

Mumbai, June 29 : Even in a society that believes fair is lovely, perhaps nothing comes close to Jogeshwari resident Laxman Shinde’s dislike for dark complexion.

Shinde, 27, faces charges of abandoning his wife as he didn’t want a child from her, fearing the baby would be “dark like the mother”.

The woman, whose identity is being withheld, was pregnant when she was abandoned, the complaint said.

A case has been registered at Vartak Nagar Police Station in Thane, where the woman, now a mother of a two-year-old girl, resides. She married Shinde in May, 2005.

New Delhi, June 29: In a shocking case of corporal punishment in a Jamshedpur school, 6 girl students were brutally punished by a lady teacher, which resulted in them fainting.

The 9th class students, who are now being treated at a hospital, were punished by the teacher for making too much noise during her absence.

The angry teacher asked the students to do a 100 sit-ups. When they refused, she beat them up till they fainted.

Hyderabad, June 29: Commissioner Task Force north zone team has arrested 5 persons including a woman involved in the murder of one Anil took place at Yousufguda 6 months ago. According to details M Surendar along with his friends A Sandhya, K Ramesh, Y Arwind Kumar Yadav, B Ugendar Goud had killed Anil, cable operator by occupation hailing from Guntur district, 6 months ago.

The reason behind the murder is said to be the love triangle between Anil, Sandhya and Surendar.

New Delhi, June 29: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday said he doesn’t “mind young leadership” taking charge, but the party and the government has to decide when Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi will take charge at the helm.

“I don’t mind young leadership. But it is not my decision. It has not come on the party agenda or on the agenda of the government,” Kumar Ketkar, editor of Divya Marathi, quoted the prime minister as saying during a media interaction here.

Hyderabad, June 29: Heavy rain is likely in the next 48 hours in Adilabad, Nizamabad, Kareemnagar and Warangal districts of Telangana. Rain is expected with thunder and lightening in some parts of coastal Andhra. Some parts of Rayelseema can also expect rain during the next 48 hours. According to the analysis of metrological department there would not be any significant change in the weather for the next two days. The weather will be generally cloudy.

Rain will occur in the twin cities Hyderabad and Secunderabad and neighbouring areas during the next two days.

New Delhi, June 29: There was “no tension at all” with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a group of editors here Wednesday.

On his relationship with Gandhi, the prime minister was quoted as saying: “We are absolutely frank and there is no tension at all”.

“The prime minister said that he doesn’t know why there is a perception that he is not on good terms with her (Sonia Gandhi),” Kumar Ketkar, editor of Divya Marathi who met the prime minister, told reporters outside the prime minister’s 7 Race Course Road residence here.

New Delhi, June 29: Manmohan Singh Wednesday rejected suggestions that he is a lameduck prime minister, according to one of the editors who attended a media interaction at the prime minister’s residence.

The prime minister described such talk as “clever propoganda by the opposition”, Kumar Ketkar, editor of Divya Marathi told reporters here after the 100-minute interaction.

“I have got maximum cooperation from Sonia Gandhi who has done a superb job as the Congress president,” Ketkar quoted Manmohan Singh as saying.

–Agencies