Month: July 2013

Sri Lankan cops arrested for murdering 5 Tamil students

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The Sri Lankan authorities have arrested 12 elite commandos on charges of executing five Tamil students in the eastern city of Trincomalee in 2006 after falsely accusing them to be LTTE terrorists.

Trincomalee Chief Magistrate ULM Azhar remanded the men from the Police Special Task Force, including an Assistant Superintendent, to custody until July 18.

The killing took place on January 02, 2006 when the students were playing at the city’s beach. They were detained briefly and then shot to death.

Elections to be held in Sri Lanka’s north in September

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The much-awaited provincial council election in Sri Lanka’s Tamil-dominated north will be held in September as planned with President Mahinda Rajapaksa giving his go ahead on Friday.

Rajapaksa signed an official proclamation enabling the Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya to hold the polls in September. Deshapriya said earlier this month that election could be held on either September 21 or 28.

MP minister forced to quit as servant accuses him of sodomy

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In a huge embarassment for Madhya Pradesh’s BJP government in an election year, a senior minister was today forced to resign after his male servant filed a police complaint accusing him of sexual exploitation.

The servant, Rajkumar Dangi, who was with Finance Minister Raghavji, 79, for the last 3-4 years, also submitted an affidavit, along with his complaint, claiming he was in possession of a CD containing an obscene video that purportedly showed him in a compromising position with a woman.

MAH Min’s kin told to demolish illegal bungalow in Navi Mumbai

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Observing that law was equal for all, including ministers and their relatives, the Bombay High Court today directed Maharashtra Excise Minister Ganesh Naik’s nephew to demolish his bungalow built illegally on a 301 square meter CIDCO plot in neighbouring Navi Mumbai.

A division bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and S C Gupte was hearing a public interest litigation filed by RTI activist Sandeep Thakur, alleging that the minister, his son Sandeep Naik and his nephew Santosh Tandel had usurped land measuring over 1.45 lakh square meters at Belapur.

No proof of Bansal’s role in bribery scam, say CBI officials

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday sought to justify its decision to make Pawan Kumar Bansal a witness in the alleged Rs.10 crore cash-for-post railway bribery scandal by saying that they had not found any evidence of the former railway minister’s involvement in the case.

A CBI official said Bansal was not present when suspended Railway Board member Mahesh Kumar and his nephew Vijay Singla met.

Pakistan warns of ‘direct standoff’ with US

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The Pakistan government has reportedly conveyed to the US authorities that if the drone strikes continued, it may lead to a ‘direct standoff’ between US and Pakistan.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that he has conveyed to US Ambassador Richard Olson that the drone attacks were not only violation of country’s sovereignty but were also resulting in ‘unacceptable’ collateral damage, The Nation reports.

Advani meets RSS chief, says very positive for BJP

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Sulking ever since the elevation of Narendra Modi last month, BJP leader L K Advani today made a significant visit to the RSS headquarters here and claimed his meeting with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat would be “very positive” for the party and the national polity.

Advani, who sat side by side with Modi for the first time in the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting in Delhi yesterday after the Gujarat Chief Minister’s elevation, discussed party matters and national politics with Bhagwat.

RBI may cut CRR by 0.25% on Jul 30, but no repo cut: BofA-ML

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RBI is likely to cut the cash reserve ratio by 0.25 percent in its bid to revive growth, but the continuing rupee volatility may prevent it from cutting short-term lending rate at its first quarter policy review, a Bank of America-Merrill Lynch report said today.

“We expect the RBI to cut CRR by 25 basis points (0.25 percent) to revive growth on July 30 even if the rupee volatility prevents it from cutting repo rate,” it said.

It also said despite some public sector banks responding to finance minister P Chidambaram’s call to cut base rate, tight liquidity remains a constraint.

‘India hopes Pak would respond to its immediate concerns’

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India is hoping that Pakistan’s new government will respond to its immediate concerns such as fixing accountability for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

‘It is important to let them (new Pakistan government) settle down, let them take stock of the situation. And hopefully start giving us signals that they mean business on those issues which are of immediate concern to us, and that includes accountability for the 2008 terror attack on Mumbai,’ External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said.

President Pranab Mukherjee clears ordinance on food security

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President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday signed the ordinance on food security to give nation’s two-thirds population the right to get 5kg of foodgrains every month at highly subsidized rates of Rs 1-3 per kg.

Mukherjee cleared the ordinance, which was received by the President’s secretariat last night, ending speculation that he may not be in a rush to give his nod in the wake of strong reservations over its present form expressed by BJP, Left and some other major parties.

India expanded at faster rate than China in June: HSBC

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India expanded at a faster rate than China during June, even as growth in emerging market economies during the month was the lowest since the global financial crisis in 2008/09, an HSBC survey said on Friday.

The HSBC Emerging Markets Index (EMI), a monthly indicator derived from the PMI surveys, sank to 50.6 in June from 51.3 in May, signalling the weakest increase in output since May, 2009.

The latest figure was the lowest in over four years as the Chinese manufacturing output witnessed a decline as did production in other Asian economies, HSBC said.

Eight Weekly Spl Trains between Vizag-Nanded

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In order to clear extra rush of passengers eight weekly special trains will run between Visakhapatnam and Nanded from 9TH July to 31st July.

As per the schedule, the Train No. 08509 Visakhapatnam-Nanded Special Train will depart Visakhapatnam at 19 30 hrs on 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th July (Tuesdays) and arrive Nanded at 14 35 hrs on the next day. In the return direction, Train No. 08510 Nanded – Visakhapatnam Special Train will depart Nanded at 16 15 hrs on 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st July (Wednesdays) and arrive Visakhapatnam at 10 15 hrs on the next day.

Mopidevi’s brother, son joins YSRCP

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Brother and son of former minister Mopidevi Venkataramana, who is jail in connection with the Disproportionate Assets Case of Jagan Mohan Reddy, joined the YRS Congress party here on Friday.

Naidu for revision of Gram Panchayat elections schedule

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Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday demanded that the Election Commission issue separate schedule for the second and third phase of Gram Panchayats’ elections.

In a letter written to the State Election Commissioner, the TDP chief said that the nomination process for the three phases of Gram Panchayat elections be notified separately duly fixing the period between publication of the list of contesting candidates and the polling day uniformly for all the three phases. He said a similar process was adopted in the Gram Panchayat elections held in 2006.

Digvijay meets leaders on Telangana issue

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AICC General Secretary and in-charge of State Congress affairs Digvijaya Singh indicated that the Congress Core Committee might discuss the possible solution to Telangana issue during its meeting to be held on Friday evening.

Talking to reporters here, Digvijay Singh said that he had asked Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC president Botsa Satyanaryana to prepare a roadmap to faciliate a decision on the Telangana issue. He said that he would submit a report to the CCC based on the roadmap.

City Police Commissioner issues prohibitory orders

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City Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma on Friday issued prohibitory orders imposing ban on any kind of public meetings and processions within the Hyderabad City, without obtaining prior permission of Zonal Dy. Commissioners of Police, Law and Order concerned, Addl. Commissioner of Police, Law and Order or Jt. Commissioner of Police, Co-ordination & Security or Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad.

Rasool in squad for Zimbabwe, Kohli will lead India

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Virat Kohli will lead India while Parvez Rasool becomes the first cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir to be included in the 15-member squad for the tour to Zimbabwe in July-August.

Regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is out with a hamstring injury which he suffered during India’s first tri-series match against the West Indies.

India will play five One-Day Internationals (ODIs) — three in Harare and two at Bulawayo — against Zimbabwe between July 24 and Aug 3.

Samsung posts disappointing earnings forecast for Q2

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Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest technology firm by revenue, Friday fuelled concerns about flagging demand for high-end smartphones with a weaker-than-expected earnings forecast for the second quarter.

The South Korean giant forecast of 9.5 trillion won (USD 8.3 billion) in operating profit for the April-June quarter would be a record. But analysts had expected a figure of more than 10 trillion won, and shares in the firm lost more than three percent in afternoon trade.

Videocon slashes 2G data charges by 90%

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Joining the bandwagon, Videocon Mobile Services has slashed its 2G data rates by 90 percent for its subscribers across the Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh telecom circles, the company said in a statement here Thursday.

“According to the new tariff, once the subscribers exhaust their free 2G Data Pack quota, they can continue to access high speed mobile internet by just paying 1 paise per 10kb, thereby enjoying a huge 90 percent discount,” the statement said.

Ishrat Jahan: CBI gets help from other agencies

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CBI director Ranjit Sinha said Friday that his agency was taking assistance from other agencies on the killing of Ishrat Jahan in Gujarat.

Sinha told the media here: “We have taken assistance from other agencies that includes NIA (National Investigation Agency), Intelligence Bureau (IB). We are investigating all angles. IB is cooperating with CBI.”

Ishrat Jahan was shot dead by Gujarat Police in an alleged shootout nine years ago on charges of being a terrorist.

China to focus more on handling cyber attacks

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China will pay more attention to cross-border cyber attacks while improving international cooperation, the country’s top cyber security watchdog said Thursday.

The internet is a valuable commercial tool. But on too many occasions users find their privacy violated through hacking or the stealing of data, reported China Daily citing Zhang Feng, chief engineer at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

If Telangana formed, YSR Congress will contest there too: Vijayamma

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If a separate Telangana state is carved out of Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress party will contest the elections in both the states, party’s honorary president Y. S. Vijayamma said Friday.

She, however, believes that assembly and Lok Sabha elections scheduled next year will be held in undivided Andhra Pradesh and is confident of her party bagging 225 assembly seats in 294-member house and 33 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats.

Hawkmoths use ultrasound to fight ‘predator’ bats

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Researchers have showed that hawkmoths use sonic pulses from their genitals to respond to bats producing the high-frequency sounds.

The scientists said that this could possibly be a self-defence mechanism to jam the echolocation ability of their predators.

Study co-author Akito Kawahara, assistant curator of Lepidoptera at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus, said that ultrasound has only been demonstrated in one other moth group.

Kawahara said that the echolocation research has been focused on porpoises, whales and dolphins.

Ranvir Shorey back as `Dilliwala` in `Bajatey Raho`

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After essaying a typical Dilliwala in ‘Khosla Ka Ghosla’, actor Ranvir Shorey was conscious about staying away from playing a Delhi-guy on the big screen. But he changed his mind for Shashant Shah`s ‘Bajatey Raho’.

“As much as I loved playing a Delhiite in `Khosla Ka Ghosla`, it was quite irritating to be offered so many roles where people wanted me to be known as a guy from the capital. I appreciate the fact that everyone liked me in that role, but I`ve always tried to do different roles,” Ranvir said in a statement.

Soon, nasal spray that could put an end to painful dentist injections

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American scientists have prepared a nasal spray that could help do away with painful anaesthetic injections for most dental procedures

According to researchers at the University of Buffalo, the spray- Kovacaine Mist – was as effective as standard anaesthetics in four out of five patients, the Independent reported.

Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation told the publication that patients anxious of the dentist are, in theory, likely to have poorer oral health than those who get regular check-ups.