Month: August 2011

Bhopal, August 11: Almost 27 years after the worst industrial disaster caused by massive leakage of lethal gas from Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday set up an inquiry commission to examine the various aspects of the accident.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has taken a long time to set up the inquiry, yet the notification doesn’t fix a time limit for the commission headed by a retired HC judge SL Kochar to submit its report.

Lucknow, August 11: The Mayawati government on Wednesday night banned the release of Prakash Jha’s controversial Hindi film ‘Aarakshan'(Reservation) in Uttar Pradesh for two months on the grounds it would create law and order problem in the state.

A decision to ban the film which is due to hit the screens on Friday was taken following a recommendation by a high level official committee set up by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government.

Bhopal, August 11(Pervez Bari): The Bharatiya Janata Party ruled Madhya Pradesh cabinet has decided to return to farmers 885 hectare of land acquired for the submergence area of Tons Hydel Project implemented in 1990 by Madhya Pradesh State Electricity Board. This land is situated in 32 villages.

A cabinet meeting chaired by the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday took this important decisions amongst several others.

Bhopal, August 11 (Pervez Bari): Three National records one in individual event while two in relay races tumbled in the ongoing 38th National Junior Aquatics Championship here at Prakash Taran Pushkar swimming pool on Sunday.

Swimmers from Maharashtra dominated the day’s proceedings and clinched five gold medals in different events. A total of12 gold medals were at stake on Sunday and Maharashtra bagged five of them. Tamil Nadu swimmers won 4 yellow metals while Karnataka walked away with 2.

Bhopal, August 11 (Pervez Bari): The survivors of the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy, world’s worst industrial disaster, led by five NGOs working for their welfare will be holding a demonstration at the at the defunct Union Carbide factory here on Tuesday at noon to condemn the Jan Lokpal (Anti-corruption) Bill proposed by the Central government.

Dubai, August 11: Ruled out of cricket for the next four months due to hamstring and ankle injuries, pace spearhead Zaheer Khan has something to cheer about as he has been nominated in as many as three categories for this year’s LG ICC Awards, to be held in London on September 12. Besides Zaheer, three other Indian cricketers — Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni — have been nominated in two categories, each.

New Delhi, August 11: Facebook has been issued a death threat. Cyber space is abuzz as an anonymous internet hacking group has declared their intention to “destroy” the site by November 5.

Reactions began to pour in as the group announced their intentions in a YouTube video called Operation Facebook, uploaded a few days ago. “Your medium of communication you all so dearly adore will be destroyed,” says the video, adding that the site invades the privacy of all its 750 million users.

Hyderabad, August 11: Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy greeted the Muslim brethren on the occasion of the Holy Ramzan Month.

He participated in an Iftar Party hosted by former minister Mohammed Shabbir Ali at his residence in Jubilee Hills on Wednesday.

Benghazi, August 11: Libyan state television on Wednesday broadcast images of a man it said was Moammar Gaddafi’s youngest son, footage that looks to undercut rebel claims of his death at a time when the opposition is showing signs of strain and disarray six months into its battle with the Libyan leader.

Hyderabad, August 11: Dissent Telugu Desam Party leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy on Wednesday alleged that TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu had gone to New Delhi to foil the chances of Telangana state formation.

Talking to media persons at Assembly Media Point, Dr Janardhan Reddy demanded that Mr Naidu make a statement the purpose behind his meeting Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi today.

Mr Naidu met the Union Home Minister, hours before the Seemandhra delegation called on Mr Chidambaram as part of the consultation process taken up by the Centre.

Washington, August 11: Welcoming guests at the annual White House Iftaar party, US President Barack Obama said, Islam has always been part of the American family and Muslim Americans have long contributed to the strength and character of our country in all walks of life.

Attended by some 100 special invited guests including ambassadors of mostly Muslim countries and eminent Muslim academicians and community leaders, Akram Syed of the National Association of Indian Muslims was among the few Indian- Americans to attend the high-profile annual event at the White House.

Hyderabad, August 11: Telangana Congress MPs and other leaders on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for recommending the deletion of a controversial clause related to police recruitment, but decided to continue their boycott of official work for now.

“We thank the Prime Minister for the deletion of Clause 14 (F) of 1975 Presidential Order. We have decided to cancel the one-day fast proposed to be held by us on Thursday,” Congress MP G Sukhender Reddy said.

New Delhi, August 11: Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare and his team on Wednesday demanded withdrawal of the lokpal bill introduced in the parliament last week. They said it will “promote corruption” instead of eradicating it. The demand was placed before the parliamentary standing committee on law and justice, which had invited team Hazare to discuss the lokpal bill.

Hyderabad, August 11: Director General of Police V Dinesh Reddy on Wednesday expressed his highest regards on the observations of State High Court on his role in the investigations on EMAAR Properties conducted by the Vigilance and Enforcement Department.

In a statement, Mr Dinesh Reddy conveyed his heart felt gratitude to the High Court for appreciating the work done by him and his team when he was heading Vigilance and Enforcement Department as DG pertaining to the enquiry into EMAAR Properties.

New Delhi, August 11: The Supreme Court, Wednesday, upheld the death sentence awarded to Lashkar-e-Toiba militant Mohammad Arif alias Ashfaq in the Dec 22, 2000 Red Fort shootout case.

Arif had challenged the Delhi High Court verdict upholding his death sentence by the trial court of Additional Session Judge OP Saini.

He was convicted for murder, waging war against the government of India and conspiracy.

Militants stormed the Red Fort Dec 22, 2000 and attacked an Army camp. Their indiscriminate firing resulted in the death of three army personnel.

Hyderabad, August 11: Consulate General of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mahmoud Safari on Wednesday thanked the Andhra Pradesh state government for extending support to 2,000 Iranians living in the state and 500 students pursuing studies in various universities in the state.

Talking to media persons after emerging out of a meeting with Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana at Gandhi Bhavan, Mr Safari expressed confidence that the government would continue to extend same support in business and trade and in fostering of ties between two countries.

Hyderabad, August 11: Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday asked officials to expedite the payment of insurance claims to the farmers who have suffered losses during Kharif- 2010.

The officials informed the Chief Minister that the National Agriculture Insurance Corporation (NAIC) is expected to release the insurance compensation amounting to Rs 791 crore.

Over the last five years, settlement of insurance claims used to take more than a year due to the various procedures.

New Delhi, August 11: In a significant decision, the government is understood to have recommended to the President rejection of the clemency petition of Parliament attack convict Mohd. Afzal Guru, condemned to death.

The Home Ministry is believed to have sent the file rejecting the mercy petition of Guru, convicted in the 2001 terror attack and given death sentence which was confirmed by the Delhi High Court and upheld by the Supreme Court.

Islamabad, August 11: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of seven suspects in the Mumbai attacks on Wednesday issued a contempt notice to Interior Minister Rehman Malik for announcing that a judicial commission would visit India soon, though the court had not yet decided the matter.

Hyderabad, August 11: Chief Minister Mr N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday requested the Central government to consider whether there is any possibility to permit export of rice by adopting any other procedure like Open General License (OGL) or any method adopted in earlier period without any violation of the stay order in force as the present procedure has been stayed by the High Court of Delhi.

Hyderabad, August 11: A Five-member Advance planning team from the State of Maryland of USA called on the Chief Minister Mr. N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and expressed its desire to promote trade in Hyderabad.

The delegation, led by Deputy Secretary of State for Policy and External Affairs, Maryland, Rajan Natarajan also interacted Textiles Minister P Shankar Rao.

Dr Shankar Rao later told media persons at the Secretariat that the Maryland-Andhra Pradesh business would be promoted.

Hyderabad, August 11: The High Court expressed concern over the money laundering and misuse of power in respect of the illegal land transactions made during the former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s regime.
The High Court is also said to have expressed surprise and commented that despite so much ‘loot’ occurred involving the private properties not even a single case was filed, nor did a F I R ( First Information Report) was filed against the culprits.

New Delhi, August 10: Home Minister P Chidambaram, the target of the opposition’s attack in Parliament, was on Wednesday ready to respond on the issue of baton charge on Bharatiya Janata Party youth wing activists.

Official sources regretted that even when the home minister was ready for reply, the BJP chose to disrupt Parliament.

New Delhi, August 11: Beware of what you put in your Facebook messages or your tweets. Your friends and followers may not be the only ones reading them. Chances are government sleuths would be vetting these private messages.

Hyderabad, August 11: The Met office on Wednesday said that there has been no major change in the weather conditions of Hyderabad and its neighbourhood in the past 24 hours and forecast that the conditions would remain the same for the next 48 hours.

The sky condition would be generally cloudy and rain or thundershowers would occur in parts of city, the Met office said.

The weathermen added that the Maximum and Minimum temperatures in and around the city would be around 33 and 24 degrees Celsius respectively.