A deputy collector rank officer was today arrested by the Andhra Pradesh Anti Corruption Bureau while accepting a bribe of Rs 40,000 from a junior officer here. The accused, C Venkata Ramana, is a Revenue Divisional Officer. According to the ACB, Ramana had asked for the bribe to write a favourable report about the officer. PTI
A senior officer of World Bank today praised the high growth rate achieved by Bihar which indicates that an “encouraging” environment of progress has been created for faster economic development of the hitherto laggard state. Bihar clocked highest growth rate of 16.71 per cent during 2011-12, as per Economic Survey presented in Parliament today. Bihar’s growth rate was followed by Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra during the period, according to the report.
VHP leader Acharya Dharmendra warned the Madhya Pradesh government today that unless criminal cases filed against Bhojshala devotees since 2006 were withdrawn “unconditionally” by March 9, religious leaders would take nationwide action. He held Shivraj Singh Chouhan government responsible for police action against Bhojshala devotees on Basant Panchami, quoting his letter written to BJP president Rajnath Singh to intervene in the matter at a press conference here.
A 65-year-old woman was today found murdered in her house in Budhana gate area in the district, police said. According to Kotwali police, the deceased Savitri Devi was staying alone at her house in Prahlad vatika in Budhana gate area. Savitri was a widow and had no children, the spokesperson said, adding, that initial reports show that she was strangled to death. Savitri’s nephew, who stayed in the neighbourhood found her body in the house and informed the police, they said. The body has been sent for post mortem and investigation is on to ascertain the reason behind the crime, police said.
India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will set up missile test ranges in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Andhra Pradesh and the process has been initiated to acquire land, the government said on Wednesday.
Defence Minister AK Antony told the Rajya Sabha that the DRDO had proposed to set up a missile test range each at Rutland Island in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Nagayalanka in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh.
“Both the projects for setting up of the missile test ranges are at the initial planning stages and land acquisition process is on,” he said.
Decorated Vietnam veteran Chuck Hagel was sworn in as US defense secretary on Wednesday after a bruising Senate confirmation battle, promising to renew old US alliances and forge new ones without attempting to “dictate” to the world.
Addressing Pentagon employees shortly after a small, closed-door swearing-in ceremony, Hagel spoke optimistically, if vaguely, about global challenges ahead and the importance of American leadership abroad.
“We can’t dictate to the world. But we must engage the world. We must lead with our allies,” Hagel said in what appeared to be unscripted remarks.
A shooting at a wood-processing company in central Switzerland on Wednesday left several people dead and many wounded, some of them seriously, prosecutors said.
The shooting occurred shortly after 9 a.m. at the premises of Kronospan, a company in the small town of Menznau, west of Lucerne.
several people were killed, among them the suspected assailant, police in Lucerne said in a statement. Many were wounded, several of them seriously. Officials gave no further details.
Defence Minister AK Antony after the debate on the matter of VVIP chopper deal in the Rajya Sabha in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said the JPC would submit its report within three months of its first sitting.
A Joint Parliamentary Committee will probe the controversial chopper deal, with the government today asserting that there will be “no cover up” as it was determined to go to the root of the scam and give maximum punishment to the guilty.
Adding a new dimension to the blame game over terror strike alerts, it is learnt that the State Intelligence wing took the “general” alert on possible terror attacks so casually that it did not even bother to pass on the alert to the Hyderabad and Cyberabad police commissionerates.
And the reason being cited for the major lapse is: “The alert was too general to be passed on to the respective wings of the state police!”
The Lok Satta Party and the Federation of Independent Farmers’ Associations (FIFA) are organizing a round-table conference of political parties and farmers’ organizations on March 1 to discuss a plan of action on the future of Nizam Sugars.
Lok Satta Party national President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan will preside over the meeting being held at Sundaraiah Vignana Bhavan in Bagh Lingampalli at 10-00 a.m.
Demanding that the State government hike the pension for the disabled persons up to Rs 2,500 and also grant political reservation in the coming local body elections, Disabled Rights Forum (DRF) will organize “Chalo Hyderabad” under the banner of ‘Vikalangula Ranabheri’ at Indira Park here on February 28.
Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav today surprised everyone in Lok Sabha by saying that his party would change its view towards BJP, if it changes its “policy and mindset” towards Muslims and Kashmir.
In his speech on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, Yadav also attacked the government alleging that it has failed on issues like economy, internal security as well as foreign policy.
He said his party has “no differences” with the BJP on the issues of patriotism, language and border security, but stopped short of reaching out to the main opposition party.
Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik Wednesday demanded that India and Afghanistan clear their positions on the statement of Chuck Hagel, who took charge of the US Defense Department, that India finances troubles in Pakistan.
Malik told newsmen in Islamabad that he had asked Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and Indian authorities to clear their positions on the matter, Xinhua reported, quoting local media.
(Pervez Bari): Nineteen students of Delhi-based Crescent Academy have successfully cleared the Main Exam of IAS Examination, 2012, the results of which were announced recently. In the Prelims (first stage) 30 students were successful.
Till date the Crescent Academy, in spite of limited infrastructure and resources, but through its innovative-cum-interactive sessions and consistent test practices has been able to produce more than 80 IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, Judges and State Civil Servants throughout the country.
Apparently seeking to encash on the troubles in the BJP in Karnataka, Congress today gave signals of going it alone, ruling out an alliance with the H D Deve Gowda’s JD-S in the state where assembly polls are due soon.
Despite chief ministerial aspirants galore in Karnataka, the AICC would neither project any candidate in the assembly polls nor has it plans to field any MP in the polls, highly- placed party sources said.
India has lost about 10 per cent share of the global BPO market in the last five years to destinations like China, the Philippines and Brazil, raising concerns for the USD 20-billion Indian BPO industry.
The pre-budget Economic Survey 2012-13, which was tabled in Parliament today, said India faces stiff competition from several emerging countries in the BPO sector.
It called for information campaigns by the industry to dispel the myths and fears about outsourcing in the developed economies.
India moved up a rung to fourth in the ICC Test rankings for teams replacing Pakistan, while veteran Sachin Tendulkar jumped three places to be 17th in the batsmen’s chart announced here today.
Among the bowlers, off-spinner R Ashwin was rewarded for his match haul of 12 for 198 in the first Test as he rose to a career-best 11th.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni charged up 15 places to 21st courtesy his maiden double hundred at Chennai.
Other centurion of the Chennai Test Virat Kohli has gained 10 places and is now on a career-best 25th position.
Researchers have created a high-resolution atlas of the heart with 3D images taken from 138 people which can help to better plan treatment for cardiac patients.
The study by researchers at Pompeu Fabra University Spain demonstrates that an average image of an organ along with its variations can be obtained for the purposes of comparing individual cases and differentiating healthy forms from pathologies.
A Preliminary Enquiry (PE) was on Wednesday ordered by a Delhi court in a complaint seeking registration of FIR against city Transport Minister and others alleging that the December 16 gangrape incident had occurred due to their “corrupt” activities. Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal directed the crime branch of Delhi Police to conduct the enquiry within four weeks and and submit its report by April 4.
Washington, Feb. 27 (ANI): US congressman Representative Walter Jones has said there is probably a spot in hell for former Vice President Dick Cheney because of his responsibility for the Iraq conflict. Jones is the one, who voted for the Iraq war and even pushed for the U.S. House cafeteria to serve “freedom fries” rather than french fries to protest France”s opposition to war, reports CBS News.
Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh’s wife Asha Singh passed away Wednesday in a hospital here, party sources said.
Asha Singh, 60, was undergoing treatment since Feb 12 for an undisclosed ailment. She passed away around 7 p.m., the sources said.
The cremation will take place at her native place Raghavgarh in Madhya Pradesh Thursday.
The couple have four daughters and one son. While all their daughters are married, son Jaivardhan Singh is studying abroad.
—IANS
A fire broke out at a market place in Old Delhi’s Sadar Bazar area on Wednesday evening.
The fire reportedly erupted on the first floor of a building in Sadar Bazar. Twenty-five fire engines were immediately rushed to the site to douse the blaze.
While the cause of the fire is not known, no casualties have been reported as yet. More details are awaited.
–PTI
As many as 1,141 cases of rapes have been registered in Chhattisgarh during the past 13 months, state Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar informed the state assembly Wednesday.
In a written reply to Congress MLA Haridas Bhardwaj, the minister, while providing the crime record status, stated that 70 cases of dacoity and 1,102 cases of murder also were registered.
Between Jan 1, 2012, to Jan 31, 2013, there were 1,141 rape cases – the maximum were from Raipur (117), Durg (101), Jashpur (89) and Raigarh (86), he said.
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a senior journalist in Pakistan’s restive tribal region Wednesday, his family said.
Malik Mumtaz was working for Geo television and Jang group of newspapers in North Waziristan tribal region.
He was also filing reports for Pashto-language Khyber television. Geo TV reported that Mumtaz was returning home when the gunmen fired at his vehicle, killing him on the spot.
TV anchor Hamid Mir said that Mumtaz had been receiving threats. No group claimed responsibility and the family said that they do not have personal enmity with anyone.
In a shocking incident, an elderly woman was killed and her husband wounded when the couple was thrown out of a moving train by government railway police (GRP) personnel for boarding the wrong train, police said Wednesday.
The incident occurred around 10 am at Muzaffarnagar, when the elderly couple, by mistake, boarded the Shatabdi Express. Rajeshwar Tyagi and his wife Santosh were both above 70 years old.