Month: February 2012

Chote Nawab-Safeena engagement on Feb 10?

by

Mumbai,February 03 :Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan are all set for a quick engagement on February 10 according to the latest Bollywood buzz.

The duo has been the toast of the B- Town grapevine ever since they became a couple four years ago. Saif, 41, and Kareena, 31, had announced their plans to get married soon after the release of Saif’s upcoming ambitious production Agent Vinod , co- starring his bride- to- be. The film releases on March 23.

Incidentally, Kareena’s new rom- com Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu will release on February 10.

80 y raped,Abandoned,left to die by her family

by

New Delhi ,February 03 :THE TRAUMATIC tale of 80- yearold Mala, who was sexually assaulted by Pahlad ( 19), young enough to be her grandson, has got murkier.

Living as a destitute for years that even she has lost count of, Mala suddenly found family and friends around her when her case reached the court.

On the day she was to identify the convict in court, her daughter, Shakuntala, and neighbour Renu turned up beside her after having deserted her for years. However, they were there for a reason that left the court alarmed.

Taslima’s book sold out a day after controversial release

by

Kolkata, February 03: A day after Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen’s book Nirbasan (Exile) was released amid a major controversy at the 36 Kolkata International Book Fair, the book was sold out by Thursday evening.

“We had printed 1,000 copies of the book, but it is already sold out. We have ordered a reprint and it shall be available to readers by Saturday,” said Shibani Mukherjee of the People’s Book Society, publishers of the book.

The author, however, said she did not want her books to sell because of a controversy.

Praful Patel fights bribery charge

by

Toronto, February 03: Union Minister Praful Patel on Thursday found himself at the centre of pay-off allegations concerning a USD 100 million Air India contract during his tenure as Civil Aviation Minister, but he rubbished the charges as “baseless and preposterous”.

A leading Canadian newspaper, Globe and the Mail, reported that an Indian-born Canadian citizen, Nazir Karigar, is to be prosecuted on charges of paying off Patel in a case in which a former Mumbai police chief also figures.

Telangana statehood stir to be intensified

by

Hyderabad, February 03: The separate Telangana agitation will be intensified after the year-end examinations of students are over in March, TRS President K Chandraksekhar Rao said Thursday.

“We will intensify the agitation once again. Students will have examinations in March. After all, they are our children. The Joint Action Committee (JAC) is discussing the issue. We will announce the plan of action soon,” he said, addressing a gathering of TRS workers’ wing at the party office here.

First cyber conviction in Hyderabad

by

A man who was arrested in 2004 for publishing pornographic material of his ex-wife on a matrimonial site and sending obscene mails to her family, was convicted under the Information Technology Act, 2000.

This is the first case in CCPS, CID Hyderabad that has ended in conviction.

SIT shielding Modi from prosecution

by

Ahmedabad, February 03: Former Gujarat DGP, RB Sreekumar, on Thursday slammed the Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team (SIT) for allegedly taking a pro-Narendra Modi line in the probe into the 2002 riots cases, to shield him from the prosecution.

In an open letter to the people, Sreekumar, who headed the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) during the riots period, has also made public his first statement before the SIT in May 2008. He had then talked about how the conspiracy theory with regard to the Godhra train burning incident was floated by a top-ranking police officer.

US Military ‘Leak’: Taliban Set to Retake

by

Washigton,February 03:The Taliban are set to retake control of Afghanistan with Pakistan’s help once NATO forces withdraw from the country, according to a secret U.S. military report apparently leaked to the Times of London.

Dino Morea turns producer with ‘Jism 2’

by

Mumbai, Febuary 02 : Dino Morea may not have tasted much success as an actor except for the 2002-film “Raaz”, but he has not lost hope. He has decided to turn producer with Pooja Bhatt’s “Jism 2.”

“The most important thing is that I am producing a film for the first time and it’s ‘Jism 2’,” the 36-year-old said here at the NM College fest.

$3 bn treasure found British shipwreck

by

London, February 02: A treasure hunter claims to have located the wreck of a bombed British merchant ship containing platinum bars worth $3 billion, media reports said.

If the theory is right, the ship, which was torpedoed by the Germans in World War II, could be one of the richest sunken treasure troves ever discovered.

Greg Brooks, of Sub Sea Research in Gorham, Maine, this week announced the wreck, sitting in 700 feet of water 50 miles off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is that of the S.S. Port Nicholson, Daily Mail reported Thursday.

Student injured cellphone battery explodes

by

Kendrapara,Feburary 02: An eleven-year-old school student suffered burns when an old cell phone battery burst at a school compound in Odisha’s Kendrapara district today. The accident took place during mid-day meal break when the 6th standard student, Seikh Vekka, was playfully tossing the battery near the government-run Bahakuda upper primary school in Mahakalapada area, about 50 km from here, police said. A loud noise like that of a cracker burst was heard triggering panic in the school premises, the police said. No other student was injured. The boy sustained burns on forehead and chest.

Pressure on Chidambaram to quit

by

New Delhi, February 02: With the Supreme Court leaving it to the trial court to decide on probe against Home Minister P Chidambaram in 2G case, BJP today demanded his resignation till the matter is settled.

“… He (Chidambaram) is fully involved in the entire scam and he has two days’ reprieve. But issue of probity in public life demands that either Chidambaram puts in his papers on his own, or if he refuses to do so, the Prime Minister must recommend to the President to sack him from the government

with immediate effect,” BJP leader Balbir Punj said here.

Roadside bombs kill 2, hurt 3 policemen in west Afghanistan

by

Kabul, February 02: Provincial police chief Seyyed Agha Sagheb told Press TV that two policemen lost their lives and another sustained injuries on Thursday after their patrol car stumbled on a buried explosive device in the Parmakan area of Shindand district, situated 662 kilometers (412 miles) west of the Afghan capital Kabul.

Separately, two Afghan police officers were injured on Wednesday when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb as it was traveling along a road in the village of Azizabad, which is located in Shindand district and 644 km (400 miles) west of Kabul.

2 IAS sent to police custody

by

Kolkata, Febuary 02: Two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers arrested for alleged involvement in a multi-crore iron ore export scam were sent to police custody Thursday.

Debaditya Chakraborty, a former managing director of the West Bengal Essential Commodities Supply Corp (WBECSC), and R.N. Jamir, an ex-director general, would be in police custody till Feb 4, the chief metropolitan magistrate said.

Jamir is now retired while Chakraborty has been put on compulsory waiting.

The duo were arrested Wednesday for their alleged involvement in the over Rs.220 crore scam of 2004.

More than 150 dead as cold snap grips European states

by

Europe, February 02: Freezing temperatures and cold weather have killed 51 people in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Latvia, while 63 others have died in Ukraine alone and ten others died in Serbia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Most of the causalities were homeless people who literally froze to death as temperatures dropped to -33 degrees in some parts of the continent.

While Eastern Europe struggles to cope with record low temperatures, the severe cold has claimed lives in other parts of the continent as well including three people in Austria and Greece.

Two arrested for running job racket

by

New Delhi, February 02: Two men who cheated several educated unemployed youths by promising them jobs in multinationals have been arrested, police said Thursday.

Lalit Kumar, 59, and Amarjeet Rana, 60, were arrested Wednesday from Karol Bagh in central Delhi.

According to police, the two would charge Rs.40-50,000 from each client. They had earned more than Rs.10 lakh since 2010.

The arrests followed complaints by some victims who said the accused had promised them jobs in a multinational company with a monthly salary of around Rs.50,000.

Breather perhaps, but Chidambaram still in trouble

by

New Delhi, Febuary 02 : The Supreme Court ruling on the 2G scam may have provided him a breather. But Home Minister P. Chidambaram, facing unending flak since 2009, is still not out of danger zone in the case.

For a politician who has seen meteoric rise, there seem to be no end to troubles dogging him since the Congress returned to power three years ago.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court, while cancelling 122 2G licences, left the decision of probing the role of Chidambaram — who was then finance minister — in the case to a separate trial court.

IAS duo sent to police custody

by

Kolkata, February 02: Two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers arrested for alleged involvement in a multi-crore iron ore export scam were sent to police custody Thursday.

Debaditya Chakraborty, a former managing director of the West Bengal Essential Commodities Supply Corp (WBECSC), and R.N. Jamir, an ex-director general, would be in police custody till Feb 4, the chief metropolitan magistrate said.

Jamir is now retired while Chakraborty has been put on compulsory waiting.

No strength in Kapil Sibal’s defence: JD(U)

by

Patna, Februry 02: JD(U) spokesman Shivanand Tiwari Thursday said there was “no substance or strength” in Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal’s statement defending the 2G spectrum allocation case.

“There is no strength in Kapi Sibal’s defence on the issue,” Tiwari told reporters here.

Earlier, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal dismissed the view that the Supreme Court’s judgement cancelling 122 2G licences was an indictment.

He said the government will move forward in the issue after regulator TRAI make its recommendations.

26/11: Pak judicial panel fails to arrive in India

by

New Delhi, February 02: Putting the ongoing trial in the 26/11 case in Pakistan into further uncertainty, a judicial commission of that country, which was to record statements of key persons involved in Mumbai attack probe, failed to arrive on its scheduled visit to India Thursday.

Islamabad conveyed to New Delhi through diplomatic channels that the commission would not be able to come to India on its planned visit as part of the judicial process in the 26/11 case in Pakistan, government sources said.

BJP demands Chidambaram’s immediate resignation

by

New Delhi, February 02 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday demanded the immediate resignation of Home Minister P. Chidambaram after the Supreme Court in a verdict cancelled 122 telecom licences issued when he was the finance minister.

Top BJP leaders spoke out in chorus against Chidambaram, who was the finance minister when the 2G licences were allotted, and sought clarifications from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Rs 14 lakh cr needed to modernise railways: Trivedi

by

New Delhi, February 02: Aiming to take railways to the next generation, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi on Thursday said his department has prepared a blue print envisaging Rs 14 lakh crore investment in the next 10 years.

“The present railway system has outlived its utility. We are in some kind of Victorian age as far as the railways are concerned. Signalling is archaic. We have to embark upon a new generation,” Trivedi told reporters here.

SC order on 2G an indictment of the govt: CPI-M

by

New Delhi, February 02: The CPI(M) on Thursday said the Supreme Court order cancelling the 2G spectrum licences is a “strong indictment” of the government and asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take a call on its fallout as it has exposed the “bluff” on the UPA-II’s claims.