Month: August 2013

CBI gives clean chit to Raja Bhaiya in DSP Zia-ul Haq murder case

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CBI today filed a supplementary charge sheet in connection with the murder of Kunda DSP Zia-ul Haq before a special court in which it has given a clean chit to former UP Minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya.

The agency also filed a “technical” closure report in the FIR filed by Haq’s wife Parveen Azad in which she had accused Raja Bhaiya of conspiring to murder the officer.

CBI has requested the court to tag it along with the case registered by the state police after the incident which is also being probed by the agency.

Creation of new states will weaken the country: Anna Hazare

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Creation of a Telangana state will not only encourage demand for new states but also new districts and this will only weaken the country, social activist and anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare said here today.

“The process which has been started by the government would not just encourage the demands for different states but also of new districts and this would only weaken the country”, Hazare who was here in connection with his ‘Jantantra Yatra ‘ told newspersons.

Cong betrayed promises to remove backwardness in Telangana

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The “betrayal” of promises by Congress to eliminate backwardness of Telangana region over several decades has fanned the separate statehood movement which was now provoking similar demands in other parts of the country, CPI(M) said on Thursday.

“History of the last four decades is witness to the fact that all promises and assurances made to people of Telangana to eliminate their relative backwardness were, by and large, betrayed.

Seemandhra ministers, legislators to quit Thursday

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Ministers and legislators from Rayalaseema and Andhra regions of Andhra Pradesh Thursday decided to resign to protest Congress party’s decision to carve out Telangana state.

As many as 15 ministers and 26 legislators of the Congress party decided to submit resignations by the evening.

The ministers from Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and Andhra) met at the ministers’ quarters here to chalk out their future course of action.

Zimbabwe bowled out for 144

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India bowled out Zimbabwe for a paltry 144 in 42.4 overs in their fourth One-Day International (ODI) at the Queens Sports Club here Thursday.

Put in to bat, Zimbabwe batsmen did not put up a good show with only four batsmen getting into double figures. All-rounder Elton Chigumbura top scored with 50 not out while Malcolm Waller scored 35.

Leg spinner Amit Mishra bagged three wickets while debutant Mohit Sharma and left armer Ravindra Jadeja took two each.

India lead 3-0 in the five-match ODI series.

Five railway stations to get better tourist facilities

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Tourist infrastructure and amenities at five railway stations will be jointly developed by the railway and tourism ministries, an official statement said Thursday.

The stations are: Amritsar in Punjab, Rae Bareli and Agra Cantonment in Uttar Pradesh, Trivandrum Central in Kerala and Gaya in Bihar.

The central government would be providing Rs.25 crore for the project.

“As part of the joint initiative, the railways ministry will make land for the project available free of cost,” said the statement.

Scotland expecting growth in business partnerships with India

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With over 100 Scottish firms forging business partnerships with Indian companies last year, a Scottish governmental agency Thursday said it is expecting a surge of 30 percent in the number of such collaborations in the 2013-14 fiscal.

“With 116 Scottish companies establishing partnerships with Indian companies in FY 12-13, which is an increase of 30 percent over the previous year, we expect the same rate of growth in the number of such companies by the end of FY 13-14,” said Rooma Kumar Bassi, director-north and east India, Scottish Development International (SDI).

Iraq war logs in Bradley Manning case ‘hit us in the face’: US officer

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The US Army was overwhelmed when WikiLeaks published more than 700,000 secret diplomatic and war documents handed over by soldier Bradley Manning, a retired officer testified in the sentencing phase of the convicted private’s court-martial.

“The ones that hit us in the face were the Iraq logs,” retired Brigadier General Robert Carr said in a Fort Meade, Maryland court on Wednesday, a day after a military judge found Manning guilty of 19 charges over the leaks in 2010, the biggest breach of classified data in US history.

Akhilesh defends decision to suspend IAS officer

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UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today defended the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal claiming that action was taken against her for demolishing the wall of a mosque without consulting seniors and not for preventing illegal sand mining.

‘The issue was not mining…Even we are against illegal mining. The demolition of the wall of a mosque had vitiated the harmony. If an officer takes such an action, government is bound to take action,’ Yadav told reporters after a meeting of the state Cabinet.

Spy vs spy: Govt wants to snoop on snoopers

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For the first time in India, the government is planning to create an external oversight mechanism for its intelligence agencies by appointing inspectors general.

Worried about the abuse of the vast powers that intelligence agencies have, the government has started the process in a bid to protect the privacy and other fundamental rights of citizens.

Unified Andhra supporters protest for second day

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Protests against the decision to divide Andhra Pradesh rocked Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions for the second day today with united Andhra supporters taking out rallies and preventing public transport buses from plying.

Protests were reported in the districts of Krishna, East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Kadapa and Anantapur.

While the hunger strike launched by students in Visakhaptnam at Andhra university entered the third day today, lawyers refrained from attending courts today also as a part of their 72-hour boycott in Visakhapatnam and other districts as well.

Kerry, Pakistani PM agree to work for Afghan peace

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US Secretary of State John Kerry met Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif here Thursday and both sides agreed to work together for peace and stability in Afghanistan and move forward Afghan reconciliation process.

The two leaders held one-on-one meeting which was later on joined by the respective delegations, Xinhua quoted the state-run Radio Pakistan as saying.

“Both sides discussed in length the Afghan situation besides other regional issues including the post-2014 scenario,” the radio said.

HC directs college to readmit married girl student

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The Madras High Court Bench here has ruled that a college cannot expel a girl student just because she married without the consent of her father.

Passing the order, Justice N Kirubakaran directed the Dr Sivanthiadithanar college of Engineering at Tiruchendur to allow petitioner C Saraswathi (19), a first year B.Tech (IT) student to continue her education.

The judge said the petitioner was a major and had the right to choose her life partner. The action of the college was not acceptable, he said and directed the college to admit her and not harass her with regard to her marriage.

Hrithik and Kareena in Karan Johar’s “Shuddhi”

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Karan Johar is bringing his “Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham” co-stars Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor back in his next home production “Shuddhi”.

The film will also see Hrithik reunite with his “Agneepath” director Karan Malhotra.

“I’m excited to see Hrithik and Kareena back after 12 years. When Karan (Malhotra) came to me with Shuddhi, his desire was to cast Hrithik and Kareena. I spoke to both of them and they were happy to be on board,” Johar said in a statement.

Johar is confident that the winning trio of Malhotra, Kapoor and Roshan will work for the “intense love story.”

Advani skips BJP-RSS Coordination Committee meeting

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Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K Advani on Thursday skipped the BJP-RSS Coordination Committee meeting, to attend the condolence meeting of party’s Tamil Nadu General Secretary V Ramesh, who was killed in Salem on July 19.

“Advaniji had to leave for a condolence meet of our leader who was murdered in Tamil Nadu, this is why he won’t attend the meet,” BJP leader Sushma Swaraj told media here.

The top brass of BJP and RSS is meeting here today to brainstorm on their strategy for the upcoming general elections.

Anti-Telangana protests continue in Rayalaseema, Andhra for second day

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Anti-Telangana protests and shutdown continued in Rayalaseema and other Seemandhra areas for the second day on Thursday.

Shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed while buses were off the roads for the second consecutive day in all major towns of Seemandhra, as the two regions are called.

Protesters are calling on the Central Government to reverse their decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh and keep the state united.

Shakira to sell beach house

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Singer Shakira plans to sell her Miami beach house and the asking price is $14.95 million.

The 36-year-old purchased the house for $3.38 million and has remodelled it and the property now has an all-white modern Zen sanctuary, with spacious rooms, high ceilings, multiple glass walls and a large pool outside, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Shakira, who has six-month-old son Milan with her Barcelona soccer player boyfriend Gerard Pique, has a huge master bedroom, which also has a nursery.

No brokering on Kashmir, says US

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As Secretary of State John Kerry flew into Pakistan, American officials said the US was very supportive of recent moves by India and Pakistan to normalise relations, but there was no change in its hands off Kashmir policy.

“There’s no change in policy in terms of where we are on that,” a senior administration official accompanying Kerry told reporters on way to Islamabad Thursday when asked if he expected to have a conversation about Kashmir with the Pakistani government.

B’desh: Awami League youth leader killed in ‘crossfire’

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A youth leader of ruling Awami League was killed in a mysterious shootout between elite Rapid Action Battalion and a group of criminals here, hours after he murdered his fellow partyman.

Zahid Siddiki Tarek, a leader of the party’s youth front Jubo League, was killed hours after he murdered fellow partyman Riazul Haque Khan Milky, firing bullets from a close range in front of a shopping mall at Gulshan area on Tuesday.

Crime In Hyderabad (1.8.2013)

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Fake certificate racket busted
(Siasat News): Task force police has busted a four-member-gang involved in making fake educational certificates and recovered fake certificates and other items from their possession.

Additional Deputy Commissioner police Task force Mr. B Limba Reddy while explaining the details, said that the kingpin of the gang Mohd. Karar Ali Khan is an auto driver and resides at Yakutpura.

Protests, shutdown continue in Seemandhra

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Protests and shutdown continued for the second day on Thursday in Rayalaseema and Andhra against the Centre’s decision to divide Andhra Pradesh to carve out separate Telangana state.

Shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed while buses were off the roads for the second consecutive in all major towns of Seemandhra, as the two regions are called.

Narasimha Rao’s son Ranga Rao is dead

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Former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao’s eldest son P V Ranga Rao, a former minister in Andhra Pradesh, died here early Thursday. A bachelor, he was 75 and is survived by two brothers and five sisters.

Family sources said he died of heart-related ailment at his Himayatnagar home. He was not well for the past few months. The last rites will be performed later on Thursday.

A Congress leader, he served as education minister in the cabinet of Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy (1992-94).

‘Modi for PM’ pressure grows, key BJP-RSS meet begins

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A crucial meeting of the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) began here on Thursday to chalk out strategy for the upcoming Assembly elections in several states and the 2014 General Elections.

According to reports, all top leaders of both the BJP and the RSS are attending the meeting, including Rajnath Singh, Narendra Modi, Sushma Swaraj and Bhaiya Ji Joshi. However, BJP veteran LK Advani will not be attending the crucial meet, which will take place in the Parliament Library building.

Minor girl killed, one injured in firing in UP

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A 17-year-old Dalit girl was killed and a youth was injured when two groups opened fire at each other over a land dispute in Budha Saifi village in Bharthana area, police said Thursday.

Alka died on the spot while Indresh, of the other group was injured and rushed to a local hospital, they said.

His condition is stated to be stable, police said, adding an FIR has been lodged in this connection.

–PTI

BJP wants Telangana bill in Monsoon Session

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Keen to share credit for the formation of Telangana, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday demanded that the government bring a bill to create Telangana state in Monsoon Session of Parliament and pass it.

The BJP has long been a votary of a spate Telangana and promised to create the state within three months if it came to power in the Centre.

However, with the Congress biting the Telangana bullet after dillydallying for years, the BJP has reasons to be worried given its mission to win a majority of seats in Telangana in 2014.