Washington, December 29: Anna Hazare and his organization -India Against Corruption – has made it into the American spy agency CIA’s World Factbook as a political pressure group in India, joining the league of RSS, Bajrang Dal, VHP and the Hurriyat Conference.
74-year-old Hazare finds mention under the category ‘Political pressure groups and leaders’.
Hyderabad, December 29 (INN): A division bench of High Court on Wednesday reduced from six to two years, the jail sentence of G Siddhartha Reddy, prime accused in film star Pratyusha suicide case.
The court passed the order on a petition filed by Siddhartha Reddy and fined Rs 50,000 on charges of abetment of suicide and one more year of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000 for attempting suicide.
The court directed Siddhartha Reddy to surrender before police by January 15.
Hyderabad, December 29: A 10-member Task Force on National Security, headed by former Home Secretary VK Duggal, on Wednesday held wide-ranging talks with Andhra Pradesh government on various security-related issues.
The Task Force members held a meeting with state Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy, Chief Secretary Pankaj Dwivedi, DGP V Dinesh Reddy and other top officials in the Secretariat.
Andhra Pradesh is one of the key states where focus should be more on maintaining internal security, Duggal is said to have told the state government.
Hyderabad, December 29: The cyclonic storm ‘Thane’ over south-west and south-east Bay of Bengal is likely to move west-north-westwards and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm on Thursday.
The storm is likely to cross north Tamil Nadu and South Andhra Pradesh coasts between Cuddalore and Nellore around the morning of December 30, an official release said quoting a bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
‘Thane’ remained practically stationary and lay centered at 0530 hrs today about 600 kms east-southeast of Chennai, it said.
Moscow,December 29: A Russian court on Wednesday rejected a petition seeking a ban on translation of Bhagavad Gita, bringing cheers to crores of Hindus across the world.
The petition in the Siberian city of Tomsk called Bhagvad Gita, one of Hinduism’s holiest scriptures as “extremist literature” and said it promotes “social discord” and “hatred towards non-believers”.
Russian lawyers Mikahil Fralov and Alexander Sakhav argued vociferously against the petition.
Thane, December 29: Over 40 children were injured on Wednesday night when a school bus carrying them hit a road divider and turned turtle near Lonavala, police said.
A female teacher accompanying the students and the driver of the vehicle also suffered critical injuries, they said. According to officials, the children were returning after a picnic at Kolhapur when their bus hit a road divider and overturned near Amrutanjan bridge, between Lonavala and Khandala.
New Delhi, December 29: Only backward sections of the minorities will be entitled to 4.5 per cent reservation within 27 per cent quota for OBCs, the government clarified today in the backdrop of protests by some parties.
Giving a clarification in this regard in the Lok Sabha, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said inclusion or exclusion in the Central OBC list would be strictly on the basis of backwardness of minorities which include Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Parsis.
Hyderabad, December 29 (INN): CBI special court on Wednesday adjourned to January 2, the hearing on CBI’s petition seeking cancellation of bail to senior IAS officer Y Srilakshmi.
CBI counsel told the court that that Srilakshmi was not cooperating with the investigation agency and she had also submitted fake certificates on her health condition to escape the investigation procedure.
He also charged Srilakshmi with trying to mount pressure on officials in the department to tamper with the evidence.
Hyderabad, December 29 (INN): Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) has invited online applications for posts vacant in various departments and announced the schedule for the recruitment.
The posts include Deputy Surveyors (432) and Assistant Executive Engineers (1716), Assistant Statistical Officers (397) among others, according to an official release here on Wednesday.
Hyderabad, December 29 (INN): Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana on Wednesday called upon the party rank and file to make all efforts to strengthen the party at the grass root level.
Hyderabad, December 29 (INN): Internal Security Challanges Group chairman VK Duggal on Wednesday reviewed the security situation in Andhra Pradesh.
Washington, December 29: The idea of attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities, thundering in all its fury, comes from the neocons of the administration of former US President George W. Bush, a historian says.
“The Iran war is the brainchild of the neocons of the Bush-Cheney administration,” Michael Carmichael wrote in an article, A Call for Peace: Say NO to America’s Military Adventure, published in Global Research.
Tehran, December 29: A senior Iranian commander says Iran’s Navy is planning to test fire its advanced missiles and intelligent torpedoes during the Velayat 90 naval drill.
“Advanced short, medium and long-range missiles, and also intelligent torpedoes of the Iran’s Navy will be test fired during the next days of the drill,” Admiral Rastegari said on Wednesday.
Rastegari said until now Iran has used real vessels for testing torpedoes, but “the Navy has designed a system that has all the characteristics of a torpedo test target.”
Jerusalem, December 29: Israel has threatened to launch another all-out war on the Gaza Strip, saying attacking the Palestinian territory is not a matter of choice, but a war of necessity for Tel Aviv.
Marking the third anniversary of Israel’s deadly attack on Gaza, the chief of staff of the Israeli military, Lt. General Benny Gantz, said on Tuesday that Tel Aviv will ”sooner or later” need to launch a large-scale operation against Hamas, the democratically-elected ruler of Gaza because Tel Aviv is losing its grip on the coastal strip.
Year End Comments from Corporate Honchos in Hyderabad
Suman Reddy,
Managing Director,
London, December 29: A 1906 Indian Camelback, one of the world’s first ever two-wheeled motorised cycle is going to fetch as much as £50,000 (Rs 41.48 lakhs) at auction, Daily Mail reported.
The rusty bicycle is desirable to collectors because just 1,698 of such rare bicycles were produced 105 years ago, says the report.
The bicycle packs a 2.25 horsepower, has a single cylinder and top speed of 30 mph.
Hyderabad, December 29 (INN): Telugu Desam Telangana Forum convenor Errabelli Dayakar Rao on Wednesday demanded that Telangana Political Joint Action Committee Chairman Prof M Kodandaram convene a round table conference with all-party leaders from the region to discuss on `Traitors of Telangana.’
New Delhi, December 28: After Anna Hazare announced that Congress is his target in the fight for a strong Lokpal, key Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi today fired a salvo at Sonia Gandhi, saying only a change in government will help in getting a strong anti-corruption ombudsman.
“Getting Janlokpal sooner or later will not happen without regime change. Time alone will tell when?” Bedi tweeted.
New Delhi, December 28: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday sent out a veiled message to Anna Hazare saying those having divergent views should respect the verdict of Parliament.
“When Parliament has spoken, it’s time for others to take note,” Manmohan Singh said while responding to questions at a
joint press conference with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.
“We hope that those with divergent views will respect the verdict of Parliament,” the prime minister added.
Hyderabad, December 28: High tidal waves lashed the coast of Andhra Pradesh Wednesday under the impact of severe cyclonic storm ‘Thane’ over the Bay of Bengal, the Met Office said. The storm is expected to hit the southern shoreline by Friday morning.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an ‘orange’ alert, one step below the red alert put out for a really severe cyclone.
According to the IMD, ‘Thane’ remained practically stationary and later intensified into a severe cyclonic storm. It lay centred about 500 km east-southeast of Chennai.
Mumbai, December 28: Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare broke his
fast this evening in the Metropolis after announcing his decision to
end the protest after a day and half of the hunger strike for a strong Lokpal bill.
The Gandhian, smarting under poor response to his protest and
bad health, also decided to suspend the Jail Bharo Andolan and
dharna outside Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s residence on
December 30.
He went on a fast at the MMRDA ground at the Bandra-Kurla complex
yesterday after paying floral tributes to the statue of Father of
Washington, December 28: Sexual assaults at American military academies increased sharply in the last academic year, says a new report from the department of defence.
Incidents of sexual assault rose by 60 percent during 2010-2011. A total of 65 reports involved cadets compared to a total of 41 reports in the previous year, CNN reported.
The defence department was, however, unable to cite definitive causes for the increase.
As part of the study, site visits were conducted at the US Military Academy in New York, US Naval Academy in Annapolis and the US Air Force Academy in Colorado.
New Delhi, December 28: Three people, including a resident each of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, were arrested in north Delhi for a financial fraud using fake cheques, police said Wednesday.
Aman Tiwari, a resident of Agra in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested Tuesday and Sagar, a resident of Najafgarh in west Delhi, and Rajpal, who hails from Haryana, were taken into custody Monday from Prashant Vihar, police said.
The accused used fake cheques to withdraw money from the accounts of companies.
Lucknow, December 28: The Election Commission has decided to maintain a strict vigil on ‘paid news’ by deploying special surveillance teams ahead of the seven-phased Uttar Pradesh assembly elections Feb 4-28, 2012, an official said Wenesday.
“While district level teams will be constituted to keep track of any type of ‘paid news’, the election commission will also monitor ever single expenditure main by political parties and their nominees towards publicity,” state chief electoral officer Umesh Sinha told mediapersons here Wednesday.
Hyderabad, December 28: The Andhra Pradesh High Court Wednesday reduced the jail sentence of G. Siddhartha Reddy, a convict in the death of Telugu actress Pratyusha in 2002, to two years from five years earlier awarded.
The trial court in 2004 sentenced Reddy to five years’ imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs.5,000 on charges of abetment in her suicide and one more year of imprisonment and a fine of Rs.1,000 for attempting suicide.
Pratyusha died under mysterious circumstances in Hyderabad Feb 24, 2002.