Month: March 2012

Bhatt questions Nanavati Commission on Modi

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Suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt on Friday criticised the Nanavati Commission saying that in its interim report it exonerated Chief Minister Narendra Modi by way of a “clear overreach” of its mandate.

In his submission before the Commission, Bhatt said, “It has come to my knowledge that the Commission, during the submission of its interim report, had by way of a clear overreach of the mandate, as provided under the original terms of reference, went on to exonerate the Chief Minister.”

Petrol price may hike by Rs 3 per litre from April 1

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State-owned oil firms are pushing for at least Rs 3 per litre hike in petrol price from April 1 to cover part of the spike in cost of raw material.

“We are losing Rs 6.43 per litre on petrol and after adding 20 per cent sales tax, the desired increase in rates in Delhi is Rs 7.72 per litre,” a senior oil company official said.

“We understand that it will be difficult to raise rates by Rs 7.72 per litre in one go but a Rs 3 or even Rs 4 a litre increase is feasible,” he said.

10 world’s longest flights

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As flight’s duration is much more important to travelers, US News Travel sought out the most painstakingly long journeys in the sky.
1. Los Angeles to Singapore, Singapore Airlines
• Miles: 9,500
• Scheduled Duration: 18 Hours 30 Minutes

‘Osama did not come up with the 9/11 plot’

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It was not Osama bin Laden who had come up with the 9/11 plot, a new book has claimed which also says that he had initially dismissed the plan.

When the strike was first proposed to him in 1996 the al Qaeda leader was ‘noncommittal’ and refused to give his backing.

It was not until three years later before he could be brought around and another five years before the deadliest attack on US soil since Pearl Harbour eventually took place.

Gilani’s son in Rs 7 bn drug scam?

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A Rs 7 billion (USD 77 million) “drug quota allotment” scam allegedly involving Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’ son has surfaced in Pakistan, Geo News reported.

A three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry heard a case on Thursday against the Health Ministry illegally allotting a quota of a bronchodilator drug “ephedrine” worth Rs 7 billion to two Multan-based companies.

4 Germans, 4 Indian Girls Held In Mumbai Pub Raid

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Four German and four Indian girls alongwith 22 customers were rounded up by Mumbai Police social service branch in a raid at Voodoo Pub near Radio club adjoining Taj Hotel on Friday night.

Vasant Dhoble, ACP, social service branch of Mumbai Police said, the pub owners were charging Rs 3,000 for an Indian girl and Rs 5,000-10,000 for a foreign girl from customers.

Six employees of the pub were also arrested.

—Courtesy:Indiatv

Man comes back to life after being declared dead

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Nir Gul Nasser, a 46-year-old expatriate worker, came back to life after being pronounced dead at King Fahd Hospital in Tabuk. Nasser was found unconscious on the street Wednesday morning and three individuals took him to the hospital. The doctor examined him and said he was dead because there was no detectable pulse and his lungs had stopped completely.

A specialist doctor and medical team performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Nasser one hour after he was pronounced dead and he came back to life.

Son kills father for opposing love affair

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In a tragic incident of patricide in an Uttar Pradesh village, a youth shot dead his father for refusing to let him marry the girl he loved.

The incident took place Thursday night in Firozabad district’s Karaura village, about 30 km from here, police said.

Anni fled after killing his father, Man Singh, who had castigated him for going around with a girl from the village. After a brief altercation, the young man shot his father and escaped.

Hyderabad to observe Earth Hour today

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The Planetary Society of India claimed that when ‘Earth Hour’ would be observed across the world between 8.30 pm and 9.30 pm on Saturday, four planets, including Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter, would be visible to the naked eye. Further, various constellations including the seven stars appearing in the pattern of a big Dipper and an Orion constellation in the south west and west can be seen.

Sirius, the brightest of all stars, would be visible in the south west direction followed by Canopous, the second brightest star, between the south and south west direction.

Congress mulling organisational changes in UP, Punjab

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Keen to put its house in order in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh after the assembly poll debacle, the Congress leadership is mulling organisational changes in the two states and contemplating ways to energise workers for upcoming electoral battles in Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka.

Congress sources said party president Sonia Gandhi was taking feedback from leaders in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh to galvanise the party but had not yet decided on a change of guard in the two states.

Woman doctor, priest get life for judge’s murder

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A woman doctor and a Sikh priest were Friday sentenced to life imprisonment by a court here for the gruesome murder of a sitting judge in Punjab’s Patiala town in October 2005.

Ravdeep Kaur, a gynaecologist, and the granthi Manjit Singh had earlier this week been convicted for the murder of Vijay Singh, a judge posted in Chandigarh’s labour court, on Oct 13, 2005.

Vijay Singh was attacked with sharp-edged weapons near the Polo grounds in Patiala town, 80 km from here, while he was taking an evening walk.

CBI files additional chargesheet in Obulapuram case

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday filed an additional chargesheet in the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) case, naming Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Y. Srilakhsmi as an accused.

The investigating agency, which filed the 39-page chargesheet in the special CBI court, has named the woman IAS official as the sixth accused.

The federal agency submitted to the court 14 documents in support of the allegations against the bureaucrat. It also produced the statements of 13 witnesses in the case.

UP jewellers protest duty hike

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Business across the state was crippled Friday as jewellers in Uttar Pradesh observed a shutdown in protest of the central government’s decision to hike excise, custom duty on gold jewellery and tax deduction on transaction of over Rs.2 lakhs.

In Lucknow, the jewellers showed solidarity and pulled down their shutters in busy markets like Chowk and Hazratganj and declared that they would fight to the finish and would only rest when union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee rolled back the hike in taxes.

Oil inches up on positive data

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US crude oil price inched up Friday as US consumer sentiment witnessed a boost and the dollar dropped to a one-month low against the euro.

According to the Reuter’s/University of Michigan’s survey, US consumer sentiment index for March rose to 76.2 from February’s 75.3, the best level since early 2008. This lifted the market sentiment, Xinhua reported.

Vanya Mishra wins Femina Miss India World title

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Jalandhar girl Vanya Mishra was Friday crowned Pantaloons Femina Miss India (PFMI) World 2012 title at a gala event here.

She will represent India at the global pageant later this year.

Rochelle Maria Rao from Chennai won the title of Miss India International, while Prachi Mishra from Pune is Miss India Earth.

South Africa beat India by 11 runs

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South Africa beat India by 11 runs via the Duckworth Lewis Method in the rain-marred one-off Twenty20 international at the Wanderers here Friday.

India, while chasing a target of 220, were cruising well at 71 for no loss in 7.5 overs with Gautam Gambhir batting on 49 and Robin Uthappa 18 when the showers came down heavily prompting the fans in the packed stadium to run for cover.

Cow urine sold for Rs 140 per litre

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Cow urine, said to contain medicinal properties, is being sold at around Rs 140 per litre at the Desi Cow Utsav.

Adding to the attraction was Punganur, a species of dwarf cattle from Chittoor in AP, said to be the smallest cow species, displayed on Thursday.

Around 6,000 people have been visiting the venue every day. Thursday being the auspicious day for Go Pradakshina, the spiritually-inclined were seen doing the ritual.

Indonesian jailed for preaching jehad

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An Indonesian court has sentenced an Islamic school principal to 17 years in prison for preaching on jehad that led to terrorism.

Abrory bin Al Ayub, alias Maskadov was the principal of Umar bin Khattab Islamic boarding school in the country’s Nusa Tenggara province, Xinhua reported citing local media.

According to the panel of judges, Al Ayub had misled his pupils with his teachings and even ordered one of them to kill a police officer during a raid on the school.

Kejriwal renews attack on ‘criminal’ MPs

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Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal, who faces a privilege motion from the Lok Sabha, reiterated Friday that parliament’s “tendency to induct criminal MPs” was increasing.

“A total of 522 criminal cases are being carried in the court against 162 MPs of which 76 are of heinous nature. The tendency to induct criminal MPs into the parliament is being increased,” he said while addressing a press conference at his home in Kaushambi in this town adjoining Delhi.

“In 2004, 128 MPS were from a criminal background… the strength reached 162 in 2009,” he said.

ISI spy Ghulam Nabi Fai gets 2 years jail

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Kashmiri separatist Ghulam Nabi Fai, charged with working for Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency to influence American policy on Kashmir, was Friday sentenced to two years in jail by a US court.

Fai, 62, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release after the end of his jail term by Judge Liam O’Grady of a court in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington DC.

Fai was also ordered not to maintain any contact with the officials and agents of the government of Pakistan and the ISI.

Dozens of Palestinians wounded in clashes with Israeli soldiers

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Palestinian demonstrators marking the 36-year-anniversary of Land Day on Friday in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip clashed with the Israeli security forces, leaving dozens wounded, reported Xinhua, citing medics.

Officials from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society told Xinhua that 85 Palestinians were injured by rubber-coasted metal bullets while hundreds others inhaled tear gas in a worst wave of violence the West Bank witnessed between the Palestinians and the Israeli army.

BJP Porngate :Laxman Savadi found watching Porn

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The panel headed by BJP MLA, Srishailappa V Bidarur in its report tabled in the state assembly has concluded that there is a prima facie evidence that former minister Laxman Savadi had watched sleazy clippings on a mobile that did not belong to him but said it was “unintentional”.

“There is no evidence to suggest that former minister C C Patil viewed porn clippings on mobile and Krishna Palemar was responsible for providing it”, the report said.

Global Blackout: Internet around the world to shut down tomorrow?

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Come Saturday and there is a strong possibility that you won’t be able to indulge in your favourite internet activities like shopping and surfing due to a hacking group – Anonymous – which has threatened to shut down the net.

“Operation Global Blackout 2012 looks to shut down the internet for a whole day tomorrow (Saturday) by disabling its core DNS servers, making websites inaccessible,” said Interpol’s Secretary General, Ronald K Noble.

Noble was speaking at the thirteenth DP Kohli memorial lecture on “Multijurisdictional Investigation: Operation Unmask” in the capital.

14 Shiv Sena, BJP legislators in Maharashtra suspended for year

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A total of 14 opposition legislators – 13 of the Shiv Sena and one of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – were Friday suspended from the Maharashtra legislative assembly for a year after they stalled proceedings.

The members were protesting the government’s failure to nab the culprits who stole a 1.50 kg gold idol of Lord Ganesh from the Diveagar temple in Raigad district last Saturday in which one security guard was killed.

Globalisation double-edged sword for India: Subbarao

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The increasing integration of India with the global economy poses a challenge and opportunity for the country as globalisation is a double-edged sword, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D. Subbarao said late Friday.

“In a globalised world, the challenge for us is to accelerate growth and make it inclusive, as we are a poor country in terms of per capital income and other social indicators though we have a large economy at an aggregate level,” Subbarao told business school graduates of the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B) at its 37th annual convocation address.