Month: March 2013

Income Tax officer caught accepting bribe of Rs 30 lakhs

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An Income Tax officer was caught demanding and accepting a bribe in Gandhinagar on Monday.

Additional Commissioner of Income Tax CS Bharti was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) while accepting a bribe of Rs 30 lakhs.

Bharti has been taken into custody by the CBI. “CS Bharti, IRS 1994 batch, Additional Commissioner Income tax from Gandhinagar, was trapped this evening for the demand and acceptance of Rs 30 lakhs for scrutiny and assessment of income tax return of a construction firm,” a CBI official said.

Congress begins candidate screening for Karnataka poll

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The Congress on Monday began screening aspirants to contest the May 5 Karnataka assembly poll and hoped to release the first list by March end. While the Congress exercise began in New Delhi, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party leaders would meet in Bangalore on Tuesday to pick the party’s nominees.

The state assembly is 225-member strong – with 224 elected and one nominated member. Nominations for the 224 seats open on April 10 and close on April 17.

1993 Mumbai blasts: Mamata, NCP joins chorus for Sanjay Dutt’s pardon

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Demands for pardon for Mumbai blasts convict Sanjay Dutt grew louder on Monday with more politicians and filmstars joining the chorus though Congress virtually distanced itself from party leader Digvijay Singh’s remarks in strong support of the actor.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said Dutt has “already suffered a lot for the blunder”.

“I have received many requests from civil society and film personalities to see that Sanjay does not suffer more,” the Chief Minister said in a Facebook post.

Woman with one leg out to conquer Everest

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Arunima Sinha lost her one leg after she was thrown out of a moving train. Nearly two years after the tragedy struck, she is preparing to conquer Mount Everest – the world’s highest peak at 8,848 metres above sea level.

“When I was undergoing treatment at AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) for four months, I could not do anything on my own. But then one day I decided to climb the Everest,” Sinha told reporters here Monday.

If successful, Sinha would become the first differently-abled Indian woman to achieve the feat, which she plans to attempt with an artificial limb.

Son thrashes father for pension

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A 38-year-old man allegedly beat up his 68-year-old father when the latter refused to hand over his pension to him Monday afternoon, police said.

The incident was reported from east Delhi’s Mandawli area.

Pratap Mohan, a retired Central Public Works Department (CPWD) employee, was thrashed by his elder son Rajkumar at his Mandawli resident where he lives with his other three sons, police said.

Rajkumar, who lives in Ghaziabad, went to Pratap Mohan’s house and attacked him with a wooden stick. Pratap’s hand was fractured in the assault.

FDI in retail figures in Rajnath, US envoy meeting

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US Ambassador Nancy J. Powell met BJP president Rajnath Singh Monday and discussed wide range of issues including FDI in retail and security scenario in the region.

Informed sources said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president touched upon the security scenario in the south Asian region in the wake of the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan in 2014.

They said that the issue of foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail also figured in the discussions that lasted nearly an hour.

Agra district court’s heritage look restored

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Justice Rajesh Kumar of the Allahabad High Court Monday formally opened the main building of the district court here after its heritage look was restored.

Calling Agra a heritage city of India, he said: “It was our duty to restore and maintain heritage buildings.”

Justice Rajesh Kumar said this was perhaps the only judicial building in the world which was first a district court, then a high court, and now a district judge’s court again.

Made ‘Bombay Talkies’ under pressure on tight budget: Karan Johar

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Filmmaker Karan Johar, who is known to have lavish sets and larger than life and expensive films, says he was under pressure when he was asked to make the film “Bombay Talkies” on a tight budget.

“We have our own style of film making but we didn’t have much budget. First of all nobody gives me a budget because I have always made larger than life films. This is for the first time I have to work under a budget and it was difficult to make a film under a budget.

Man using stolen credit card data for online shopping arrested

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A 23-year-old man was arrested for cheating various people of Rs.5 lakh by using their credit card data for online shopping, said police Monday.

Sandeep Kumar Singh, of Madhubani in Bihar, was arrested from central Delhi’s Sadipur area Sunday.

Some electronic goods bought by him through online sites with stolen data of credit cards of some SBI customers were also recovered from him, police said.

Police acted on a complaint by Mukesh Giri, assistant manager, SBI Cards Fraud Control Unit, regarding the misuse of credit cards of some customers.

Centre working on special package for backward states

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The Centre is working on a special economic package for backward states including Bihar but virtually ruled out special status for the state.

Official sources said a package is being worked under which criteria for backwardness of a state are being framed.

Under these criteria, besides Bihar a number of other states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand and parts of Rajasthan would also qualify for aid from the Centre.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who has been campaigning for special status for his state held a ‘rights rally’ here last week to press his demand.

Beni again targets Mulayam, this time for praising Advani

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Union Minister Beni Prasad Varma on Monday continued to target Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, this time apparently over the latter’s praising of LK Advani, saying a leader, whose party itself does not stick to the principles of truth, cannot be a truthful one.

The fresh remarks of Beni came two days after Mulayam, referring to Advani’s comments on law and order in Uttar Pradesh, sought an improvement in governance saying Advani is a person who “never lies.”

Railway ticket checkers push passenger out of running train

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A sleeper class reserved coach passenger travelling on a general ticket in Varanasi-Rameshwaram Express train was allegedly thrown out of the train by ticket checkers near Katni railway station today, causing him grievous injuries.

The passenger identified as Kishore Sharma (38) was travelling from New Delhi to Jabalpur in a Sampark-Kranti train.

After reaching Katni, he changed the train in a hurry and got into Varanasi-Rameshwaram Express train’s sleeper class compartment for reaching Jabalpur, Government Railway Police (GRP) sources said.

NIA to probe ‘surrendered’ terrorist’s arrest (Lead)

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The home ministry Monday asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe the “controversial” arrest of suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militant Sayyed Liyaqat Shah following contradictions between the claims of Delhi Police and Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said he had asked the NIA to probe the case. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had earlier asked for an NIA probe into the issue.

Law to empower Indian street vendors soon: Maken

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Millions of street vendors in cities and towns across India will soon be empowered to run their micro level business by law, union Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Ajay Maken said Monday.

“The union government will re-introduce the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill in parliament to empower them by law and give micro-level business its due,” Maken said at a function here.

In Modi’s ‘dry’ Gujarat, liquor cheaper than water, says Congress

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Opposition Congress today alleged that liquor has become cheaper than water in parched Gujarat as Chief Minister Narendra Modi is busy chasing his “dream” to become prime minister and ignoring the plight of common people.

“Water is not easily available in drought-hit areas in the state but liquor is not only readily available but at the rate cheaper than water”, state unit Congress president Arjun Modhwadia told reporters here.

LK Advani a leader of weak character: Azam Khan

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Taking a line different from party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav who recently praised LK Advani, Uttar Pradesh minister Mohammad Azam Khan today termed the BJP veteran a leader of “weak character”.

“Advani was an accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case and he pays obeisance at the grave of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and terms himself as a secular.

“In reality, Advani is a leader of weak character,” Azam told reporters here after distributing cheques pertaining to Kanya Vidyadhan and other government schemes.

Vidya’s ‘Ghanchakkar’ fashion puts designer in dilemma

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Actress Vidya Balan, who is playing a Punjabi housewife in her next film “Ghanchakkar”, says her fashion sense in the romantic comedy is bizarre, and that her designer had a tough time trying to put together the look.

“I had great fun playing Nitu Bhatia in ‘Ghanchakkar’. She’s the hatti-katti (hefty) Punjabi housewife, who we all know, somehow! She is the cats’ whiskers, when it comes to fashion,” Vidya said here.

Son of local SP leader shot dead

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The son of a local Samajwadi Party leader was shot dead by some unidentified assailants in Fatehganj area here, police said on Monday.

22-year-old Dharmendra and his father, SP district vice president Badshah Singh Yadav, were shot at by the assailants last night when they were working in their computer shop, they said.

Both of them were rushed to a hospital, where Dharmendra died while condition of his father was stated to be critical.

Police have launched a manhunt to nab the assailants.

–PTI

Sonia Gandhi visits Rae Bareli, inaugurates FM radio station

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Congress President Sonia Gandhi visited her parliamentary constituency Rae Bareli on Monday during which she inaugurated an FM radio station of Aakashwani at Budhanpur. Gandhi, who is the chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), also inaugurated a post office at Malik Mau Motor Chowk. Besides laying the foundation stone of Balika Inter College at Kila Bazar, she also inaugurated a Solar Water Purifier plant provided by NTPC. Gandhi also laid the foundation stone of a girls” education institute.

Tibet glaciers melting due to South Asian pollution: China

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About 90 per cent of glaciers in Tibet are shrinking because of black carbon pollution “transferred from South Asia” to the ecologically fragile Tibetan plateau, a Chinese scientist has warned.

Known as the Roof of the World, the Tibetan Plateau concerns the interests of the surrounding countries and regions, covers more than five million square kilometres and has an average altitude of more than 4,000 metres.

Not fair to discuss about Sachin’s retirement: Srinivasan

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BCCI president N Srinivasan today refused to be drawn into a debate on whether it was time for Sachin Tendulkar to call it quits from Test cricket, saying he is the “greatest batsman India has produced” and it won’t be fair to the batsman to discuss about his retirement.

Asked whether the BCCI was giving special treatment to Tendulkar when compared to the likes of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, both of whom are presently out of the team due to non-performance, Srinivasan said, “I don’t think any one us can talk about Sachin (Tendulkar)”.

Addl I-T Commissioner trapped accepting Rs 30 lakh bribe: CBI

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An Additional Income Tax Commissioner in Gandhinagar was today caught by the Central Bureau of Investigation for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 30 lakh.

“CS Bharti, IRS 1994 batch, Additional Commissioner, Income tax, Gandhinagar was trapped this evening for demand and acceptance of Rs 30 lakh for scrutiny and assessment of income tax return of a construction firm,” a CBI official said.

“Delivery of bribe was taken by a third party in Ahmedabad as arranged by a middleman on the instructions of the accused,” he said.

Holi celebration by widows draws flak from some sections

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The breaking of traditions by widows in Vrindavan who participated in four-day Holi celebrations with gulal and flowers has drawn criticism from a section of religious leaders here.

“This is infringement of our ancient culture,” Mathura Prasad Kaushik, a priest at the Daan Ghati temple, said.

A veteran in the popular Ram Lila act, Shankar Lal Chaturvedi criticised the event, saying, “It would have been better if they (widows) had offered colour and gulal to Thakur ji (Lord Krishna). The manner in which they smeared face of each other with gulal is not good”.

Plot to kill Mahatma Gandhi subject of new film

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Chronicling the sinister plot by Nathuram Godse and his partners to kill the ‘Mahatma’, Manohar Malgonkar’s book ‘The Men Who Killed Gandhi’ would soon be made into a film.

Roli Books, the publishers of the book, today announced that Cinetek Films have bought the rights for the motion picture to be directed by Siddharth Sengupta.

The film is scheduled for release in January 2014 to mark the 66th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, they said in a statement.

–Agencies