Month: May 2012

Media members participates in Press Freedom Day Walk

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Members of the fourth estate today took an active part in the first ever World Press Freedom Day walk held to highlight the freedom of press here today.

The walk commenced at 0630 hrs from Lumbini Park and ended at NTR Garden.

Noted magicians Samala also participated in the Walk and said it’s a honour that he was able to participate in a event which was being held for the Press and also highlighted the importance of safeguarding the freedom of Press.

79 cases against 14 societies in AP: CID ADGP

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The Central Investigation Department (CID) have arrested Bharat Prem Sadan organisation Chairman Gonugunta Prasad accused in a criminal case relating to Money Circulation scheme at Vijayawada, today.

On credible information, a team of officials raided a flat located at Lotus Land Mark in Vijayawada and arrested the Chairman and seized cash about Rs 2.10 lakh, 70 gm of Gold ornaments and two Tata Safari Vehicles from him, CID (AP) Additional Director General of Police Ramanamurthy said in a release here.

Full moon to be called as Super Moon on May 5

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Sky gazers will have a unique opportunity to witness the brightest moon on the full moon day on May 5/6 when it is in its perigee, the closest point of earth.

Called the ‘super moon’ the radiance of moon would be more than a fourth of its usual brightness, according to B M Birla Science Centre Director B G Sidharth.

The moon would be fourteen per cent bigger than its normal size when viewed from earth, he said in a release here.

Mr Sidharth called upon the people not to miss the Super Moon, as it can be seen rising in the East when the sun sets in the west.

—UNI

SC tells CBI to give report on Azad’s killing

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The Supreme Court Thursday directed the CBI to submit before a magistrate in Andhra Pradesh its probe report on the alleged staged shootout killing of Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad and journalist H.C. Pandey in 2010.

The apex court bench of Justice Aftab Alam and Justice C.K. Prasad gave a direction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after it disposed of two petitions by not accepting plea seeking an independent probe into the shootout.

Indian-Americans caught in $450 mn Medicare fraud

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Several Indian-Americans are among 107 people charged in Medicare fraud schemes involving $450 million in false billings uncovered in an operation across seven cities in the largest US bust in recent history.

Top US law enforcement officials announced the charges were filed in seven metropolitan areas, capping an investigation of several months into efforts to defraud Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health programmes for senior citizens.

Congress ahead in presidential sweepstakes, BJP stuck

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The Congress seems to have taken a head-start over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presidential poll campaign as it deftly moves for a consensus among allies on probable candidates — Finance Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari — while the BJP is finding the going tough as its partners are yet to come on board.

Aamir Khan says no to politics

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Aamir has gone to every part of India for his issue based television show, Satyamev Jayate. He spent time with the people of India and got to know them better and more closely. One might feel that the actor has been doing what a politician should do. That brings us to the question: Will Aamir enter the political arena someday?

Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi shaves daughter’s head for Hindu ritual

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Something was definitely amiss when Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi stepped out for a party with her two-year-old daughter over the weekend – Krishna’s curly locks! At first glance, it would appear that the 41-year-old gave her little girl a very drastic buzz cut.

But according to Hindu tradition, the hair from birth is associated with undesirable traits from past lives. The TV presenter was simply observing the ritual called Mundan where a child is freshly shaven to signify freedom from the past and moving into the future, the Daily Mail reported.

Jagan flouting temple rules, charged with disturbing sanctity

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A day after YSR Congress party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy’s visit to Tirumala temple kicked up a row, leaders of the ruling Congress and the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Thursday demanded action against him for flouting temple rules.

The leaders of both the parties accused Jaganmohan Reddy, a Christian, of showing disrespect to other religions and disturbing the sanctity of the Balaji temple.

Aarushi case: Trial may be committed to sessions court on May 9

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Ghaziabad, A special CBI judge today fixed May 9 to decide on sending the sensational 2008 twin murder case of teenager Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj to the sessions court for trial.

Hearing the bail plea of 14-year-old slain teenager’s mother and dentist Nupur Talwar, special judicial magistrate Preeti Singh said that the case may be committed to an appropriate court as she did not have powers to try a murder case.

Osama buried off Gujarat coast, claims treasure hunter

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Melbourne: A Californian treasure hunter has claimed that he has found the body of Osama bin Laden 200 miles to the west of the city of Surat.

Bill Hunter revealed recent photos released by the US Navy depicting the burial at sea gave him the final clue to the terrorist leader’s final resting place. It hasn’t moved, he said, because it’s in a weighted bag.

“I’ve located where they threw him away,” News.com.au quoted him as telling Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

Barack Obama’s affair becomes a rave in Australia

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Melbourne, US President Barack Obama had a fling with an Australian woman in New York during 1980s and a new biography threatens to bare this torrid affair.

Secret diaries of Genevieve Cook, daughter of an Australian diplomat, who was one of young Obama’s girlfriends are being carried in the forthcoming book ‘Barack Obama: The Story’ that captures intimate details of his love life.

The Vanity Fair magazine carries the extracts of the diaries from the book in its latest issue and the biography has already become the talk of the town Down Under.

No decision yet on presidential candidate: Sonia

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Coming out in the open for the first time on the issue of presidential elections, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said on Thursday that no name had yet been decided upon by the party.

The UPA chairperson made this comment to the waiting media after her meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Trinamool Congress supremo however refused to comment on the contentious issue and divulge any details of her meeting with Sonia Gandhi. “It was a courtesy call. I have come to enquire about her (Gandhi’s) health,” she told reporters.

Mamata meets Sonia: Courtsey call or prez polls?

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and is believed to have discussed the coming Presidential election.

Emerging from the meeting at Gandhi’s residence, the Trinamool Congress declined to divulge the details of their discussion.

“It was a courtesy call. I have come to enquire about her (Gandhi’s) health,” she told reporters.

Asked if Trinamool Congress would support Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee or Vice President Hamid Ansari if Congress nominates them, Banerjee joked “I am the candidate”.

Pranab not ruled out from President race: Congress

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Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury created flutters on Thursday when she talked of how valuable Pranab Mukherjee is to the government but the party stepped in immediately to clear the air saying the Finance Minister is not ruled out from the presidential race.

The clarification by Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi came at the party briefing today when reporters plied him with questions about Chowdhury’s statement earlier in the day that Mukherjee is “very valued” leader for the party and the government, remarks which were interpreted as her ruling Mukherjee out from the race.

Police fear Delhi HC blast mastermind is dead

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A massive search operation has been launched to find whether Junaid Akram Malik, wanted by National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the Delhi High Court blast, and one of his uncle are alive.

Jammu and Kashmir Police teams have fanned out in Kishtwar town, 226 km from here, to verify source-based information that Junaid, on whom NIA announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh, has been killed by his own cadre of Hizbul Mujahideen fearing that he may surrender.

SC refuses judicial probe in Azad killing case

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The Supreme Court Thursday refused to order any judicial inquiry or a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the alleged fake encounter killings of top Naxalite leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad and a Delhi journalist Hemchandra Pandey.

A bench of justices Aftab Alam and C K Prasad said there was no reason to believe the allegation that the investigation conducted by the CBI into the encounter was not “honest”.

Jharkhand Rajya Sabha polls: Congress, JMM win, BJP loses

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The Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won a Rajya Sabha seat each from Jharkhand Thursday while the ruling BJP faced a humiliating defeat in the elections for two seats from the state.

Senior BJP leader S.S. Ahluwalia failed to retain his seat.

Sixty-eight legislators of the 81-member assembly cast their votes, with Congress, JMM and BJP candidates Pradeep Balmuchu, Sanjiv Kumar and Ahluwalia securing 25, 23 and 20 votes respectively.

The Congress, which has 13 legislators, sailed through by securing the votes of five RJD members and seven independents.

Gunmen kill 34 people in Nigerian cattle market

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At least 34 have been killed after gunmen armed with explosives attacked a cattle market in the northeast of Nigeria, burning it to the ground.

“A group of gunmen armed with around 20 explosives and assault rifles attacked the Potiskum cattle market,” police spokesman Toyin Gbadegesin said.

Local residents and officials said the late Wednesday attack in the city of Potiskum may be in revenge for an earlier incident, in which traders killed a man who tried to steal cattle.

Talks on controversial US missile system hit dead-end: Russia

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“We have not succeeded in finding mutually acceptable solutions,” Serdyukov said on Thursday. “The situation is practically close to a dead-end.”

His comments come as the US plans to announce the deployment of the first phase of the system at a NATO conference in Chicago next month.

Moscow has repeatedly objected the move, saying the deployment undermines Russia’s sovereignty.

Mexico drug-linked violence leaves 12 dead

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Men armed with grenades and high caliber weapons attacked several military patrol vehicles on a road in Guasave in the northwestern state of Sinaloa on Wednesday.

Schools and businesses in the area remained closed following the fighting.

According to Sinaloa state prosecutors, security forces seized vehicles and weapons, including a high-powered rifle capable of penetrating armored vehicles.

“An operation is under way to ensure that calm and security return to the Guasave area,” state governor Mario Lopez Valdez said.

60 pc of rural India lives on less than Rs 35 a day

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About 60 per cent of India’s rural population lives on less than Rs 35 a day and nearly as many in cities live on Rs 66 a day, reveals a government survey on income and expenditure.

“In terms of average per capita daily expenditure, it comes out to be about Rs 35 in rural and Rs 66 in urban India. About 60 per cent of the population live with these expenditures or less in rural and urban areas,” said Director General of National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) J Dash in his preface to the report.

Man punishes wife by shaving off her hair

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An Afghan man in Saudi Arabia tied his wife up and shaved her head off as a punishment for disobeying him, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

Police arrested the man, in his 50s, in the western town of Makkah after a hospital report showed his wife also suffered from bruises.

“Besides shaving all her hair off, he also punched her many times as she tried to resist…he also caused a cut in her scalp while shaving her head by the razor,” Alriyadh Arabic language daily said.

Euro Crisis Feeds Dutch Islam Hostility

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Europe’s financial crisis is helping far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders to take his hostile rhetoric against Muslims and their faith deeper into the mainstream, analysts believe.

“Wilders suddenly feels that he’s on the right side of history,” Jan Techau, director of the Brussels-based European Center of Endowment for International Peace, told Bloomberg in an interview.

“The crisis has given everybody a very good vent to let things out.”

UK court orders extradition of Dawood Ibrahim aide Tiger Hanif to India

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Tiger Hanif, an alleged terrorist wanted by Gujarat police for a bomb attack on a train in 1993, and absconding in Britain, was on Wednesday ordered by the Westminster magistrates’ court in London to be extradited to India. This is a significant victory for Indian authorities, who have in the past failed to get people suspected to have committed crimes in India to face justice on Indian soil.