Month: June 2012

Man sentenced for uttering Darling, Jaan and Janeman while talking to woman

by

A man convited for “insulting the modesty” of a woman by making calls on her mobile phone and uttering “obscene words” has been sentenced 115 days imprisonment, a period already undergone by him.

Metropolitan Magistrate Kiran Gupta had convicted the man hailing from Andhra Pradesh, after the complainant woman
deposed before the court that he used to make repeated phone calls in 2008 from Hyderabad and used to harass her by
using “filthy and obscene words”.

Keeping in view that the man had remained in jail for around four months, the court sentenced him to a period

With pilots on strike, Air India losses mount to Rs.600 crore

by

Air India’s losses have mounted to Rs.600 crore with the pilots’ strike continuing for the 54th day Friday.

The pilots are demanding reinstatement of their 101 sacked colleagues and recognition of their union — Indian Pilots Guild (IPG).

Meanwhile, two of the 11 pilots who are on a hunger strike near the 18th century Jantar Mantar observatory in the city, were hospitalised.

Railways plan dedicated counters for tatkal tickets

by

New Delhi, June 29: Faced with mounting complaints of misuse of tatkal scheme, Railways are planning to have dedicated counters and separate time slots for selling tatkal tickets.

Plans are afoot to install CCTV cameras at the ticket counters to keep a close watch on tatkal ticket seekers and making e-reservation more fool-proof.

“Besides, we have decided to bar booking clerks from carrying mobile to reservation counters,” said Northern Railway General Manager V K Gupta, while other officers said the “character of the tatkal scheme will be changed”.

Curbs continue in Srinagar’s old city after shrine fire

by

Curfew-like restrictions continued in the old city areas of Srinagar for the fourth consecutive day Friday in the wake of tension after fire gutted the revered shrine of Muslim saint Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jeelani in the Khanyar area.

Contingents of police and paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were seen patrolling Nowhatta, M.R. Gunj, Rainawari, Khanyar, Safakadal and Kralkhud areas in the old city. The movement of pedestrians and vehicles was also restricted in these areas.

Growth to rebound from Oct: Basu

by

India’s economic growth, which dipped to 9-year low of 6.5 percent in 2011-12, is expected to rebound from October, Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu said Friday.

He also said the government was working to remove “trust problems” with the industry.

“We are hopeful that economy is going to bounce back within 4-5 months. I mean its October. Before that I can’t realistically say that there will be an improvement, but October onwards,” he told reporters at the ‘Statistics Day 2012’ meet organised by the government.

Govt invites comments on GAAR, PM to take final call

by

The government on Friday issued draft guidelines on the general anti-avoidance rules (GAAR), inviting comments from different stakeholders and clarified that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will take final call on the issue after receiving feedback.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) issued the draft guidelines inviting comments and suggestions from different stakeholders.

A clarificatory note released by the Prime Minister’s Office said that Manmohan Singh has not seen the draft guidelines and would take a final call on the issue after receiving feedback from the stakeholders.

Plane hijacking attempt foiled in China

by

The crew and passengers on Friday foiled an attempt to hijack an aircraft in China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, police said.

Six people tried to hijack Tianjin Airlines’ Flight GS 7554 just 10 minutes after it took off from the Hotan airport at 12.25 pm, reported Xinhua news agency.

The aircraft was en route to provincial capital Urumqi, said a statement from the region’s Public Security Bureau.

Crew members and passengers overpowered the hijackers and the plane then flew back and safely landed on the Hotan Airport, the statement added.

Hillary, Lavrov set for Syria showdown

by

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were heading for a face-to-face showdown over Syria on Friday as major powers prepared for a weekend conference to hash out a political transition plan for the country.

‘India wants to double tourist numbers by 2016’

by

India, which sees an average of six million tourists visiting the country every year, wants to double the number by the year 2016, by promoting wellness and medical tourism, Union Tourism Minister has said.

India gets just over six million tourists every year and the government wants to double this number by the year 2016, Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai said.

He said that outbound tourists from India are four times more than inbound tourists and the government has decided to take steps to improve these numbers.

26/11 control room had full Pak support: PC

by

At a time when probe is widening on key Mumbai terror attacks handler Abu Hamja, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday said that the 26/11 control room in Karachi had full support of Pakistan.

Google announces cloud-computing service

by

Google has announced Compute Engine, a cloud-computing service that allows businesses to run their applications on servers in the tech giant’s data center.

“We’re introducing Google Compute Engine, an infrastructure-as-a-service product that lets you run Linux Virtual Machines on the same infrastructure that powers Google,” said Google in its official blog Thursday.

According to the company, the economy of scale and efficiency of its data centers can provide users 50 percent more computing power than other leading cloud providers, reported Xinhua.

China’s astronaut trio returns to Earth

by

China’s first woman cosmonaut and two of her colleagues returned to Earth today after successfully accomplishing the country’s first-ever manual space docking during a two-week mission, giving a boost to Beijing’s efforts to build a space station by 2020.

The spacecraft Shenzhou-9 carrying the three astronauts landed at the designated spot at Inner Mongolia region.

The landing, which was shown live on the television was a bit bumpy as the module turned upside down as it hit the ground.

Half of inhaled diesel soot sticks to lungs

by

The exhaust from diesel-run vehicles, wood fires and coal fired power stations contains soot particles that not only pollute the air, but more dangerously, stick to human lungs, says a study.

Now for the first time, Lund University researchers have shown in a detailed study how more than half of all inhaled diesel soot particles remain in the body.

The figure is higher than for most other types of particles. For example, only 20 percent of another type of particle from wood smoke and other biomass combustion gets stuck in the lungs, the Journal of Aerosol Science reported.

Rajesh, Pancham and Kishore were a lethal combination: Anupam

by

Recalling the magic of Rajesh Khanna’s films, actor Anupam Kher says that other than the superstar’s charm, his teaming up with musical duo – composer R.D. Burman and singer Kishore Kumar – contributed in making them bigger and better.

“I think Rajesh Khanna’s films were not just his films but they also included R.D. Burman and Kishore Kumar. So it was a very lethal combination,” the 57-year-old said here Thursday at the launch of author Komal Mehta’s book “Nick of Time.”

Man booked for making threatening calls to Uma Bharti

by

Police have registered an FIR against a person for allegedly making threatening phone calls to senior BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti.

The caller was identified as one– Anuj Shrivastava, from Chakghat in Rewa district, who made at least six calls on Uma’s cellphone during the last three days, police said today.

The caller threatened saying “I will kill her in two days,” and dared Uma’s security personnel to save her, police said.

–PTi

Esha Deol, Bharat Takhtani tie the knot

by

Actress Esha Deol Friday married businessman Bharat Takhtani in a traditional South Indian ceremony at the Iskon temple in the Juhu suburb here. Her mother, Hema Malini, says she is “very happy” for her daughter.

Bride Esha was glowing in a red lehenga made of three Kanjivaram saris and gold jewellery, while Bharat looked dapper in white sherwani with zardozi work. The wedding outfits were designed by Neeta Lulla.

The decor at the temple was simple yet beautiful. It was heavily decorated with flowers.

Nikki Haley calls her accuser ‘racist, sexist bigot’

by

South Carolina’s Indian-American governor Nikki Haley has called a fellow Republican who has accused her of ethics violations “racist, sexist bigot who has tried everything in his power to hurt me and my family,” according to media reports.

In her surprise testimony before a House ethics panel Thursday, Haley said that at her only meeting with powerful fund raiser John Rainey, while she was running for governor, he was demanding and demeaning, and she told her staff she did not want any campaign contributions from him, South Carolina’s thestate.com reported.

Cash-for-Bail Scandal: Suspended judge sent to police custody

by

A special court in Andhra Pradesh Friday sent suspended judge T. Pattabhirama Rao to police custody for two days in connection with the cash-for-bail bribery scandal involving former Karanataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy.

The principal court for Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) directed the bureau to question the suspended judge between 11 a.m and 5 p.m. and conduct a medical examination after that as he had complained of ill-health. He would be sent back to Cherlapally jail after the questioning.

Chinese teacher sacked for sexual misconduct

by

A teacher has been fired from a Shanghai school after some of his former students took to the Internet to break their 15-year silence on his alleged acts of sexual misconduct.

Zhang Datong, 64, has been stripped of his post as vice principal of the No. 2 Middle School affiliated with East China Normal University, Xinhua reported.

He is under investigation for his alleged conduct that violated the teachers’ code of morality, school authorities said.

PM requested to ensure Muslim reservations

by

Chairman of the Masjid Committee of Gamhiraopet Mr. Syed Asif Ali Saadath in a press statement appealed to the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Sigh to ensure 4.5% reservation of the Muslims in IIT’s.

He requested the PM to present an appeal in the Supreme Court to issue interim orders. He also told that the Additional Solicitor General of India couldn’t procure sufficient documents and hence he couldn’t plead this case properly in the Supreme Court. This has caused a great damage to the Muslims of this country.

——–Siasat News

Muslims of Telangana oppose Rayal Telangana

by

Convener of Joint Action Committee of Old City of Hyderabad, Mr. Shahbaaz Ali Khan Amjad in a statement issued yesterday said that the Muslims of Telangana are unitedly oppose Rayal Telangana. If Rayal Telangana is formed, the people of Telangana would feel that the sacrifices of their lives and property have gone in vain. It is a well known fact that the capitalists of Andhra have played a major role in sabotaging the cause of Telangana. In the damage caused to Wakf properties in Telangana also Andhra capitalists are involved. If the Govt.

Presidential Elections – Role of Governor under discussion

by

The role of Mr. ESL Narasimhan, Govt. of AP has been the topic of discussion in the political circles of New Delhi in the wake of presidential election and the political scenario in AP. Constitutional experts in Delhi are debating the role of Governor. Congress High Command commissioned Mr. Narasimhan to elicit information on the defeat of Congress candidates in the recently held by elections. He met Congress president Ms. Sonia Gandhi and presented a detailed report to her. Mr. Narasimhan is basically a police officer associated with intelligence department.

To save Congress credibility, Rahul is active in AP

by

Rahul Gandhi is eleciting the opinions of the state leaders on the issue of Telangana. He met Mr. KVP Ramachandra Rao, V. Hanumantha Rao and other leaders. Rahul has jumped into AP Politics of AP. Telephone calls have been received to some important leaders of the state from Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s office.

CM meets Dr. Manmohan Sigh in New Delhi

by

CM of AP Mr. N. Kiran Kumar Reddy met the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh twice in New Delhi and discussed various issues pertaining to the State.

It is reported that the CM has apprised the PM about the political situation in the Stae and the appointments to the vacant positions of corporations and other administrative matters.