Month: June 2012

I am getting a boost from Army: Dhoni

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Indian cricket team captain and goodwill ambassador of the Indian Army, Mahendra Singh Dhoni today reached Ladakh as a part of his two-day tour and inaugurated a newly-constructed Army ground here.

Dhoni was the chief guest of a friendly cricket match played between the Indian Army team and a team of ladakhi locals here and inaugurated the ground, which became the highest cricket ground in the world.

Hundreds of local fans waited outside the cricket venue to get a glimpse of Dhoni but the Army did not allow anyone to get into the venue and all had to return with dejected hearts.

Wary about US moves, China, Russia pledge to prioritise ties

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As US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in New Delhi to firm up military ties, a wary China today rolled out red-carpet for Russian President Vladimir Putin in a bid to court Moscow to counter the big US naval push into Asia Pacific to checkmate Beijing. |
Not since the 1961 Sino-Soviet spat which vertically split the Communist movements all around the world, the visit of a Russian leader made such a buzz in China as that Putin’s even though this is his eighth tour to Beijing ever since he first came to power in 2000.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta meets PM, NSA

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Ways to strengthen military relations besides the security situation in the region is understood to have come up for discussion as US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta on Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon.

The American Defence Secretary, who arrived here today, will hold detailed talks with Defence Minister AK Antony at a delegation-level meeting to be held tomorrow.

“During the meeting, the ongoing defence cooperation and regional security situation will figure prominently,” the Defence Ministry said in a release.

Amarinder opposes Operation Bluestar memorial

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Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Tuesday opposed the setting up of a memorial to those killed in the Operation Bluestar inside the Golden Temple complex here.

“Punjab cannot afford such things like a Bluestar memorial. The last three decades have only seen the state’s economic decline,” Amarinder Singh told media here, 250 from Chandigarh, Tuesday.

India can become a world power: US official

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The US has invested much of its time and energy to foster its relations with India because it believes India has the institutional capacity to become a world power, a top American official has said.

“It (India) does have the institutional capacity. That’s why we invested so much of our time and energy to this relationship,” Robert Blake, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, said Monday ahead of next week’s India-US strategic dialogue.

Girls top UP Class 12 exams

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Two girls from the same college jointly topped the Class 12 exams of the Uttar Pradesh Intermediate Board, results of which were announced Tuesday. Girls outperformed the boys by a margin of over 10 percent.

Overall 95.52 percent girls passed the exams while the pass percentage of boys was 84.73 percent.

According to board officials, two girls – Abhilasha Yagya Saini and Apoorva Verma – students of Maharani Laxmi Bai Memorial College in Barabanki, 30 km from here, scored 96.20 percent and stood the joint first.

CII moots 10-point agenda for reviving Indian economy

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Industry lobby, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Tuesday mooted a 10-point agenda, including an early introduction of the goods and services tax (GST), to revive economic growth through reforms and governance.

The CII national council, which met here, asked the government to act fast to avoid conditions getting worse and change the perception of the economy, which it said is one of the contributors to the depreciation of the rupee.

It said introduction of the GST would be the biggest fiscal stimulus which can improve GDP growth by one and half percentage points.

74-year-old Chinese woman jailed for graft

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A 74-year-old former woman executive of a state-owned company in Chinese business hub Shanghai was Tuesday sentenced to life in prison on corruption charges.

Wu Xiaoli, former general manager of the Shanghai Gongxin Project Construction Supervision Center Ltd from 1994 to 2010, was found to have embezzled 42 million yuan (around $6.6 million) of the company’s funds, Xinhua reported.

Monsoon hits Kerala, IMD says delay is ok

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The southwest monsoon, crucial for agriculture, hit Kerala Tuesday, with a senior official saying that the four-day delay was not a cause for worry.

Although moderate to heavy rains have been lashing most parts of Kerala for some days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) made the monsoon announcement only Tuesday.

Kottayam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Kasargode have been lashed by rains. The sea turned rough in Alappuzha, with sea waters encroaching into land at a few places.

But the dry weather continued in the southern districts of Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram.

Pakistan tests cruise missile Hatf-VII

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Pakistan Tuesday successfully test-fired the indigenously developed cruise missile Hatf-VII (Babur), having a range of 700 km, the military said.

According to a military statement, the missile is a “low flying, terrain hugging” one with “high manoeuverability, pin-point accuracy and radar avoidance features”, Geo News reported.

It can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads and has stealth capabilities.

Rupee will stabilise in around current range: Anand Sharma

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The Indian rupee, which hit a record low of 56.52 against the dollar last week, is likely to stabilise soon at around the current range, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said Tuesday.

“This is a transition phase. The rupee will stabilise soon at around the current level,” Sharma told reporters after announcing the annual supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 here.

Sharma said volatility in rupee was a matter of concern as it had adversely impacted India’s economic growth and foreign trade. He said: “It has adverse impact on the economy.”

Govt announces sops; eyes 20 percent exports growth

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The government Tuesday set a target of increasing exports by 20 percent in 2012-13 and announced a series of measures including interest subsidy and market diversification programmes to boost foreign trade.

In the annual supplement to the foreign trade policy, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma announced extension of interest subsidy scheme by one year till March 31, 2013 for labour intensive sectors.

Rehman Malik resigns as minister, made PM’s advisor

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The Pakistani government Tuesday appointed Rehman Malik as advisor on internal affairs to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani just after he resigned as interior minister following the suspension of his Senate membership by the Supreme Court.

According to Geo News, Malik was appointed advisor on internal affairs Tuesday, but the former minister later told Dawn News he has not been informed about his appointment.

The Supreme Court Monday suspended Malik’s Senate membership for holding dual nationality of Britain and Pakistan.

Ready to face CBI questioning, says Ponnala

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Information Technology Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah on Tuesday said that the he was ready to face the questioning by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the alleged disproportionate assets case involving Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.

Confirming that he was in receipt of summons to appear before the CBI on June 7, Ponnala said that he would cooperate with the CBI and provide the required information.

Cong leaders’ statements incoherent: YSRC

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YSR Congress Party on Tuesday said the sanity levels of Congress leaders have been shrinking with YS Vijaymma drawing huge crowds and they were issuing incoherent and diabolical speeches, all stemming out of frustration and fear of defeat in the June 12 by-polls.

“Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad statements have been sickening and his manipulative tactics and oratory skills failed to match as he tried to take back his words and blame the media and translators for the faux pas,” party spokesperson Jupudi Prabhakar Rao told reporters here.

Majority of polling stations in by-polls declared ‘sensitive’

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A majority of polling stations for the by-elections to be held on June 12 have been classified as sensitive.

Addressing a press conference at the State Secretariat on Tuesday, Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwarlal informed that of 5,413 polling stations in 18 assembly and one Lok Sabha seats, as many as 3,200 have been classified as ‘sensitive’. He said additional forces would be deployed in all the sensitive polling stations. Meanwhile, the officials have been asked to send updates about each polling station once in every two hours on the polling day.

Chidambaram promises modern hospital for gas victims

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A hospital built for the Bhopal gas disaster victims will be equipped with state-of-the-art
facilities, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said Tuesday.

Chidambaram said this at a media conference during a visit to take stock of the toxic chemicals still lying in the now shuttered Union Carbide factory here.

On May 11, the Supreme Court asked the Group of Ministers on Bhopal to decide expeditiously on the disposal of the toxic waste.

CBI quizzes Jagan for the third-day

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Hyderabad, June 5 (INN): The Central Bureau of Investigation continued questioning YSR Congress party president Jaganmohan Reddy in the disproportionate assets case on the third consecutive day on Tuesday.

Jagan was taken from Chanchalguda Central Jail, where he is presently lodged, to CBI’s office at Kendriya Sadan in Koti at around 10.30 am. Jagan was taken in a bullet proof vehicle under tight security.

533 Kerala Cops have criminal cases against them

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In a shocking revelation, at least 533 officials in Kerala Police have criminal cases lodged against them.

The officials from civil police officer to IGP are among those who are in the list, according to information collected from the police headquarters by advocate D B Binu, General Secretary of Human Rights Defence Forum, under the Right to Information Act.

The details of the police officers involved in criminal cases were submitted by DGP Jacob Punnoose in a sealed cover to the High Court on August 8, 2011. The contents were not disclosed so far.

Muslim girl can marry at 15 if she attains puberty: HC

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Ruling that a Muslim girl can marry as per her choice at the age of 15 years if she has attained puberty, the Delhi high court has held the marriage of a minor girl valid and allowed her to stay in her matrimonial house.

“This court notes that according to Mohammedan Law a girl
can marry without the consent of her parents once she attains the age of puberty and she has the right to reside with her husband even if she is below the age of 18….,” a bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and SP Garg said.

Pak’s 26/11 trial: Judge changed for 5th time

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The judge conducting the trial of LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other Pakistani suspects charged with involvement in the Mumbai attacks was today changed for the fifth time, raising questions about progress in the case.

Anti-terrorism court Judge Shahid Rafique, who was hearing the matter, was transferred and posted as district and
sessions judge in Jhang area of Punjab province, officials said.

No judge was named to replace Rafique.

Following the transfer, the case was adjourned till June 9.

2008 Malegaon blast accused gets bail

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A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here Tuesday granted bail to Lokesh Sharma in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast in Maharashtra that killed six people, a lawyer said.

“The NIA failed to file a charge sheet within the stipulated 90-day period. Hence, Special Judge Y.D. Shinde directed the accused to execute a bond of Rs.25,000, while granting him bail,” Sharma’s lawyer Aarti Bhide told IANS.

Sharma was first named by the NIA in the 2007 Samjhauta Express train bombing that killed 68 people, mainly Pakistanis. The probe agency said that he planted the bomb.

Posters batting for Joshi, critical of Modi appear in capital

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In another instance of the escalating fight between Sanjay Joshi and his bete noire Narendra Modi, posters batting for the former BJP general secretary and hitting out at the Gujarat Chief Minister today appeared here and in Ahmedabad.

Though the BJP leadership played down the incident and denied that there was any rift in the party, the fact that
this was part of the serious ongoing skirmishes between the supporters of the two leaders was not lost on anybody.

Salman, Hrithik, Rani to add starry glamour to IIFA

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A host of Bollywood stars including Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Rani Mukherjee would to add glamour to the IIFA Weekend this year. The three-day event beginning on Thursday in the Lion City of Singapore will see a bunch of stars gathering to attend the IIFA World premiere, music and
fashion event IIFA Rocks and the main awards gala among other events.