Month: November 2012

Continuing his tirade against the Trinamool Congress, Singur legislator Rabindranath Bhattacharya Wednesday accused West Bengal’s new Minister of State for Agriculture Becharam Manna of being close to a businessman who was against the party’s anti-Nano car factory agitation.

Manna, a peasant leader, who emerged as the grassroots level face of the Mamata Banerjee-led movement against Tata Motors’ small car plant in Hooghly district’s Singur village, was recently made minister of state for agriculture.

Andhra Pradesh government has decided not to permit opening of new engineering colleges or increase in the existing number of seats anymore. The state cabinet that met here this evening under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy accepted the recommendations of a high-powered expert committee appointed in 2010 to suggest modalities and remedial measures for strengthening un-aided (private) professional institutions.

Taking suo motu cognisance of newspaper reports on Sunday’s fire mishap during the shoot of a TV serial that claimed eight lives, Andhra Pradesh Lokayukta Justice B Subhashan Reddy today asked concerned authorities to file Action Taken Reports (ATRs) by November 30. Reddy said in his order that “the negligence of the production unit of TV serial is evident from the nature of accident”.

Prohibition and Excise Department’s special team, led by Deputy Commissioner Joseph and Assistant Commissioner D Sastry, today conducted a raid on a rice mill godown at G Mamidada village near here and seized Rs 20 lakh worth of liquor, the duty on which had not been paid. They also seized two lorries and arrested three persons allegedly involved in the clandestine transportation of liquor. The arrested persons were identified as Karri Siva Reddy, K Nageswerarao and S Siva. PTI

An affidavit filed by the police in a court in Surendranagar district says that a police team used AK-47 assault rifle, among other weapons, to fire on protesters from a Dalit community at Thangadh on September 23. Three youths had died in the incident. Inspector General of Police Anil Pratham told PTI that “one AK-47 rifle was used in the firing, in addition to a carbine gun, a revolver and a .303 rifle”. The weapons which the police carried at the time had been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Gandhinagar to ascertain if they were fired or not, he added.

The Pakistani Cabinet Wednesday approved a bill to set up a National Counter Terrorism Authority, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said.

The authority will be tasked with drawing up strategies to tackle the threat of terrorism, Xinhua reported.

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, who chaired the meeting, condemned the terror attacks on Shias in the country that left nearly 50 people dead in the past 10 days.

The NCTA will coordinate and complement the work of other law enforcement agencies in dealing with terrorism, Kaira said at a press conference.

In its affidavit submitted to the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, the Prime Minister’s Office has termed the land deals between Robert Vadra, Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, and real estate giant DLF as “a pure business transaction” and a “matter between two individuals”.

The affidavit, signed by joint secretary Dheeraj Gupta in the PMO, has been submitted in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a probe into alleged irregularities by Vadra in land deals in Haryana. It now looks likely to kick up another controversy.

A teenage boy was detained by police in neighbouring Thane district for questioning today in connection with an allegedly vulgar post on Facebook against MNS chief Raj Thackeray. However, police later said that a “fake account” was used by unidentified person or persons in the teenager’s name. “We have received a complaint against a person that he posted some objectionable comments against Raj Thackeray on Facebook. We are questioning him as we do not want to repeat the same mistakes committed a few days ago,” an officer at Palghar police station told PTI, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Congress leader and former Union minister Manishankar Aiyar today accused the BJP of being responsible for the stalemate in the Parliament over FDI in retail issue and said the opposition party which doesn’t have enough numbers, was “transgressing” norms of parliamentary propriety. “I think we should have a discussion on FDI in Parliament.

An 18-year-old girl, studying at a nursing institute in Kakinada in East Godvari district, allegedly tried to commit suicide because of harassment by senior students, police said. The girl, who hailed from Ganti village, was studying at Karuna School of Nursing and staying at the hostel in the college premises. Whenever her parents called on the hostel’s landline, senior students did not give her message, police said. This led to the girl attempting suicide by hanging herself from ceiling of her room on November 25. Her roommates intervened in time to save her.

Social activist Anna Hazare will visit Odisha for three days, beginning Thursday, and attend several programmes in the state, an India Against Corruption (IAC) member said here Wednesday.

“He (Anna Hazare) would be given a grand welcome here,” IAC’s national core committee member Akshay Kumar said.

He said Hazare would be escorted from the airport to the Odisha capital Bhubaneswar by a motorcycle procession.

Hazare is scheduled to address farmers Saturday in the coastal town of Jagatsinghpur, about 100 km from here.

The Siasat Daily and M S Education Academy are jointly conducting ‘The Siasat Talent Search Examination’ on December 2, 2012 between 2 and 3.40 pm at Hyderabad and the Districts of Adilabad, Mahaboobnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Warangal, Kurnool, Khammam, Karimnagar, Prakasham and Nizamabad.

Denying all allegations of extortion levelled against it by Congress MP Naveen Jindal, Zee News today said the arrest of its two senior journalists was ”illegal and a direct attack on the freedom of the press.”

Zee News CEO Alok Agrawal, at a news conference, accused Delhi Police of acting at the behest of Mr Jindal.
The channel accused Mr Jindal, also a steel tycoon, of trying to divert attention from Coalgate.

Seven Coptic Christians based in the US were on Wednesday sentenced to death in absentia by an Egyptian court for their role in producing an anti-Islam film that triggered violent protests across the Muslim world.

The Cairo Criminal Court handed down the death penalty to the seven Egyptian Christians.

They were sentenced for their role in producing the blasphemous movie, which led to widespread violent protests after being released on the Internet in September.

The seven convicts, who reside in the US, were declared fugitives by the court.

Andhra Pradesh government has decided not to permit opening of new engineering colleges or increase in the existing number of seats anymore.

The state cabinet that met here this evening under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy accepted the recommendations of a high-powered expert committee appointed in 2010 to suggest modalities and remedial measures for strengthening un-aided (private) professional institutions.

–Agencies

Eight persons died and equal number injured in two different accidents in the State on Wednesday.
In the first accident, six wage earners died when the tractor in which they were traveling slipped into Nagarjuna Sagar canal near Mupparam under Nidamaluru mandal of Nalgonda district. Eight others were injured in the accident.

The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital. Police suspect that overspeeding by the driver might be the reason for the accident.

Taking cognizance of reports in various newspapers on November 26 on the fire mishap in the Secretariat Colony at Puppalaguda under Rajendranagar Mandal of Ranga Reddy district in which six persons were charred to death, Lokayukta Justice B. Subhashan Reddy has taken up the matter Suo-Motu and passed an order on November 27.

TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, who is continuing his “Vastunna Meekosam Padayatra” in the Telangana region, may not attend the two-day session of the Assembly from November 30.

It is learnt that Naidu has decided not to attend the session as it was being called for the specific purpose of discussing the SC, ST sub-plan. As his party has reportedly taken a decision not to move a no-confidence motion in this all important session, he chose to continue his yatra, leaving the Assembly business to his colleagues.

At least 54 people were killed and 83 injured in four blasts that rocked the Syrian capital Wednesday, Xinhua reported.

The bombings took place in the Jaramana suburb of Damascus, an interior ministry source said.

The blasts were caused by two booby-trapped cars and two explosive devices that went off in swift succession.

Jaramana has witnessed a series of explosions over the past several months.

Labour Minister Danam Nagender here on Wednesday felt that medical services in private hospitals should be affordable and accessible to the common people.

Five contract killers out to eliminate two persons, including a former minister, were arrested in Kashipur area in Uttarakhand’s Udhamsingh Nagar district Wednesday.

The arrests were affected by a joint team of police and STF and a stengun, two magazines and four pistols were seized from them, Kashipur Circle Officer Devender Pincha said.

They had taken supari to kill former Uttarakhand minister Khajan Chand Guddu and Hitender Pal, a criminal, now in jail, the Circle Officer said.

–PTI

Telangana Jagruthi president Kalvakuntla Kavitha on Wednesday challenged Y S Jaganmohan Reddy’s sister Sharmila to come for an open debate on corrupt practices of YS Rajasekhara Reddy Government.

An 18-year-old girl, studying at a nursing institute in Kakinada in East Godvari district, allegedly tried to commit suicide because of harassment by senior students, police said.

The girl, who hailed from Ganti village, was studying at Karuna School of Nursing and staying at the hostel in the college premises.

Whenever her parents called on the hostel’s landline, senior students did not give her message, police said.

This led to the girl attempting suicide by hanging herself from ceiling of her room on November 25. Her roommates intervened in time to save her.

Heavy Industries Minister Dr J Geetha Reddy on Wednesday described the Sub-Plan for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as a major achievement of Kiran Kumar Reddy Government.

In an informal chat with reporters after the State Cabinet meeting at the State Secretariat, Geetha Reddy informed that the cabinet had seen a power-point presentation on the SC, ST Sub-Plan. It also discussed the strategy to be adopted during the special session to be convened from November 30 to provide statutory status to the sub-plan.

The State Cabinet on Wednesday approved the constitution of Minorities Commissionerate, which was announced by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar on the completion of his two years in office.

Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting, Minorities Welfare Minister SM Ahmadullah thanked the Chief Minister for taking cabinet’s nod for the Commissionerate. He said that the Commissionerate, the first of kind in the country, would ensure protection and development of Wakf properties and other matters which concerned with the minorities in the State.