Month: February 2013

Thousands of people lined up at Aadhar centres here Tuesday after the government said that LPG cylinders would be linked to Aadhar cards from Feb 15.

Police used force to quell protests at some Aadhar centres in the city. People complained that the centres did not have application forms.

A similar situation prevailed in Ranga Reddy district, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati and other towns across the state. Two women fell unconscious at a centre near Patancheru in Medak district.

The controversy over Kashmir’s first all-girl rock band ‘Pragaash’ has brought to fore differences among separatist groups in Jammu and Kashmir.

While Dukhtaran-e-Millat) warned the girls of social boycott, Muslim Khawateen Markaz (MKM) today denounced the fatwa of the Grand Mufti against their singing and termed the threat of ostracisation as “unwarranted”.

All set to stage a come back in Bollywood with ‘Dedh Ishqiya’ and ‘Gulab Gang’, Madhuri Dixit does not believe she has competition on hand with actresses like Karisma Kapoor and Sridevi returning to films after taking long breaks.

Almost after a gap of 15 years, Sridevi made a comeback with ‘English Vinglish’, which won her accolades while Karisma returned with Vikram Bhatt’s ‘Dangerous Ishq’ last year.

Tension prevailed in Warangal today after the last rites of Neeraj Bharadwaj (22), an engineering student who committed suicide by setting himself ablaze demanding that the Centre concede a separate Telangana state, was performed by his father. A large number of youths of the Telangana Joint Action Committee Student Action Committee came to MGM Hospital in a big procession as the body was taken from MGM hospital to Martias Memorial at Adalath.

Two Sri Lankan nationals have been arrested here on charges of submitting fake passports while applying for visa at the French Consul General Office, police said. The Sri Lankans – a man and a woman – were arrested yesterday and produced before a court here today which remanded them to 15 days’ judicial custody, Superintendent of Police S Ramaraju told PTI. The man was residing in Chennai for some years and the woman in Tiruchirappalli. They posed themselves as a married couple and changed their original names. They presented fake passports for visa to visit France.

A court here today posted to February 19 CPI-M veteran V S Achuthanandan’s petition seeking to be heard before it took a decision on the police report in a two-decades old sex scandal case exonerating Industry Minister P K Kunhalikutty of charges that he sabotaged the earlier probe. A special investigation team in its report filed in the Judicial Magistrate Court had stated that there was no evidence to substantiate the charges made by an estranged relative of Kunhalikutty that the probe into the ice cream parlour sex scandal case was sabotaged at the IUML leader’s behest.

A group of student agitators, stated to be members of pro-Congress Kerala Student Union, allegedly poured engine oil on an education department official during a protest against fees hike here today. A ten-member group of students, who picketed the Higher Secondary Directorate Office as part of their agitation, poured engine oil on Director Kesavendrakumar without any provocation after a brief meeting in his office, police said. A complaint in this regard has been lodged by the Director and based on that, action would be taken against guilty students, police said.

Former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today claimed that the Gorkha Territorial Administration agreement in Darjeeling was a ‘mistake’ as it compromised on Gorkhaland. “It is not so easy that the issue will be solved in one day. The mention of Gorkhaland in the GTA agreement itself was a mistake. This compromise was not right,” Bhattacharjee told a Bengali news channel referring to the GTA Accord where the Gorkhaland demand finds mention. “The hills are a bordering area. You have to understand the issues of Lepchas, Buddhists, plains and hills to solve it.

In a bid to put Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s government on mat, Gujarat Congress is launching a statewide ‘Jal Yatra’ on the eve of upcoming budget session to highlight water scarcity in the state and will raise issues concerning common people in the assembly. “As BJP government has never kept its past poll promises, we have decided to launch various agitational programmes on the issues of water scarcity, housing and employment which need urgent attention of the government,” said Leader of the Opposition Shankarsinh Vaghela at a press conference here today.

Cases were registered against a Sub-inspector of police and two constables for allegedly beating up and injuring a farm labourer near Pandalur, about 90 Kms from here. According to police, Thiruselvan had lodged a complaint that the SI and constables, attached to Erumadu station, had assaulted him, acting on a complaint by a shop owner in Aiyyankolli, with whom he had some tiff on January 21. He was admitted to the Gudalur Government Hospital on January 25 with internal and external injuries and shifted to Govenrment Hospital here last night for further treatment.

Armed Naxals allegedly set on fire four vehicles used in road construction work in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh today, police said. “A group of Naxals torched four vehicles of a private company engaged in construction of Dantewada-Katekalyan Road near Pandum village,” a senior official told PTI over phone. “The vehicles, including a road-roller, two tipper trucks and a JCB machine, were parked at the construction site where road widening work was going on,” the official said.

Lawyers for a French consular official charged with raping his daughter in India have been granted an audience at President Francois Hollande’s official residence, in a move met with angry disbelief by the mother of the alleged victim. Lawyers for Pascal Mazurier, who claims he has been framed by his Indian wife, confirmed that they had met with aides to Hollande on Monday to discuss the case and their client’s access to his three children, who are all French nationals and live with their mother.

A day after their decision to disband the Kashmir’s all-girls rock-band following the fatwa (decree) from the Grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir, a member of the band on Tuesday said that though they are feeling bad but will not sing in future.

“We have mutually agreed to call it quits because of the people of Kashmir and our Grand Mufti sahib. He is Islamic scholar and he might be right suggesting us not to sing, we respect him,” said one of the three band members.

A 45-year-old practitioner of Unani medicine was arrested for allegedly raping his minor daughter for nearly a year in the metropolis, police said today.

The accused, Mohammed Siddiqui, a resident of Vikhroli suburb in Mumbai, was arrested on Sunday night after his 15-year-old daughter informed about her ordeal to police.

The accused has nine children, including seven daughters. The victim is his third child.

In her statement, the girl alleged that her father raped her at least seven times for nearly one year, police said.

Pakistan’s Abbottabad town, where al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed in a US commando operation, will soon have an amusement park built at a cost of around $30 million, a British daily said.

The 500-acre development will include a zoo, heritage centre, restaurants and artificial waterfalls, The Sun reported.

US special forces shot dead Osama May 2, 2011, in the town, around 50 km from Islamabad.

However, the local government has denied it was a bid to clean the town’s tarnished image.

A man was arrested, along with other family members, for allegedly driving his wife to suicide, nearly two months after the incident, police said today.

Hemant Deokar (31), his brother Sanjay (27) and their sister Yogita Salunkhe (28) were apprehended yesterday for allegedly driving Hemant’s wife Madhuri to suicide last year, said Assistant Police Inspector B G Patil.

According to police, the accused used to harass Madhuri as she could not conceive even seven years after her marriage with Hemant.

A 36-year old man, father of two children, allegedly burnt to death a teenaged girl after rejected his proposal to marry him and attempted self-immolation at a village near Srivilliputhur on Tuesday, police said.

Kulandaivelu of Padikasu Vaithan Patti was madly in love with the 17-year-old school going girl and pestered her to marry him. He had followed her daily when she was on way to school, though she had warned him.

Governor and Chancellor E.S.L. Narsimhan has appointed Prof. Gottumukkala Suryanayana Raju, Professor in Electronics & Communications, Engineering Department of Andhra University as Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. (NSS)

Civil Supplies Minister D. Sridhar Babu today asked the citizens of Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts not to worry about the delay in issuance of Adhar cards.

A practicing advocate Somaraju has filed a petition in the State Human Rights Commission to direct the State government to open more Adhar card issuing centers in the twin cities for the convenience of the citizens.

Responding to the petition, the Human Rights Commission has directed the Commissioner of the Civil Supplies Department to submit a comprehensive report to the HRC by March 18.

The Congress High Command seemed to have zeroed on a possible solution to resolve the Telangana turmoil after prolonged consultations and discussions at various levels — political, non-political and official.

Accusing the Congress high command of enacting the tricky “Mayala Fakheer” type of dramas to indefinitely delay a decision on separate Telangana State issue, BJP national leader Bandaru Dattatreya has felt that unless the Telangana MPs and ministers resign from their posts and primary membership of the party and create Constitutional crisis in the State, the Centre would not concede the demand of the people of the region.

Social activist Swami Agnivesh today appealed to the President and the Prime Minister to abolish the practice of compulsory usage of English language in the higher courts.

He said only three per cent of population in India speak English and the government should make higher judiciary available in other regional language for the majority of the population.

“We recently celebrated 64th Republic Day and having English as a language in high courts and apex court’s proceedings, is a matter of shame,” Agnivesh said.

PCC chief and transport minister Botsa Satyanarayana said the government would bear the additional burden of Rs. 715 crore that fell on the APSRTC because of the hike in the rice of diesel.

Police today caned Telangana protagonists in retaliation to the stone pelting by them during K. Neeraj Bharadwaj’s funeral procession.

It may be recalled that yesterday Bharadwaj, a student of WITS College committed suicide as he was saddened over the inordinate delay on separate Telangana State.

Telangana Political JAC Chairman Prof. Kodandaram and Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao participated in Bharadwaj’s funeral procession paying last tributes to Neeraj at Mahathma Gandhi Memorial Hospital here.