Month: April 2015

2002 Godhra train burning case: HC reserves order on appeals

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The Gujarat High Court today reserved its order on the appeals filed in the 2002 Godhra train burning case.

Arguements of defence and the prosecution agency special investigation team before the division bench of Justices Anant Dave and G R Udhvani ended today.

On February 27, 2002, S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express was set on fire near Godhra station, killing 59 people, most of them karsevaks, and sparking state-wide riots in which over 1,200 persons, a majority of them Muslims, perished.

Rs 1000 Cr worth ‘Swatch Hyderabad’ campaign from May 16

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The Telangana Government will launch a five-day ‘Swach Hyderabad’ campaign on May 16 at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore.

The campaign, christened as “Swatch Telangana – Swatch Hyderabad”, will be held from 16th to 20th May and will be launched by Governor ESL Narasimhan. All ministers, elected representatives, officials, businessmen, industrialists, institutions and common people will participate in the campaign, claimed Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao during a review meeting held here on Wednesday.

PAC to review expenditures by all departments

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The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Telangana State Legislature on Wednesday decided to hold a detailed review of expenditures incurred by all departments in the last 10 years.

The PAC, chaired by Kishta Reddy, met in the Assembly’s Committee Hall and reviewed the accounts of different departments from 2004 to 2014. The members reportedly identified several accounting mistakes by the government departments during the last 10 years. Therefore, the PAC has decided to meet thrice a month to hold detailed review of each department.

KTR to visit US in May second week

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Telangana Information Technology Minister K Tarakarama Rao will visit the United States of America in the second week of May.

According to sources, during his US visit, KTR will participate in several programmes to highlight the investment potential of Telangana State, especially in the IT section. He will also interact with the Telugus living in the US. (INN)

Motor vehicles insurance awareness campaign begins in Cyberabad

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The Insurance Information Bureau of India (IIB), in association with the Cyberabad Police, has launched the “Motor Vehicles Insurance Awareness Campaign” in a function held at Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre here on Wednesday.

On the occasion, IRDAI Member M Ramaprasad, Cyberabad Police Commissioner CV Anand and other officials from the insurance industry, police and other dignitaries were present.

SIT takes over probe of Chittoor firing incident

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The Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Andhra Pradesh government today took over the probe of Chittoor firing incident in which 20 persons died.

The eight-member team led by senior IPS officer Ravishankar Ayyanar collected all the documents related to the April 7 incident from the Tirupati Urban Police.

“We have taken over the investigation….From today the probe has started. We have to scrutinise the documents. After verifying the documents, we will visit the scene of offence,” Ravishankar told PTI over phone.

Two Maoists held in Telangana

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Two militia members of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), wanted in several cases, were arrested in Khammam district of Telangana today, police said.

P Kamaiah, secretary of Revolutionary People’s Committee, along with R Bhimaiah alias Rebel, a militia commander, were arrested in Cherala mandal of Khammam by a police team, they said.

“Kamaiah was involved in 51 offences, including nine murders (during 2008-2015), while Bhimaiah was wanted with regard to 11 cases, including four murders (during the same period),” Cherala Sub-Inspector Ravinder said.

Naidu goes the whole hog to court industry

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Assuring “friendly business environment and unparallelled support”, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today called upon the industry to invest in the state on a large scale.

“Andhra Pradesh is rich with natural resources like gas, bauxite, limestone, coal, beach sand, granite, etc. Which is suitable for entrepreneurs to invest and set up their units here,” Naidu said at the launch of ‘Industry Mission and Industrial Development Policy 2015-20’ here today.

BJP graph steadily declining: Pawar

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NCP President Sharad Pawar today said BJP’s graph has drastically dipped in the last ten months since the time it strode to power promising “achhe din” and hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for targeting political opponents back home, on foreign soil.

Addressing the extended working committee of the state NCP unit in which Sunil Tatkare was re-elected president, Pawar said there was even unease in the BJP ranks.

Sushma Swaraj, MoS AYUSH unveils official logo of International Day of Yoga

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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik on Wednesday launched the official logo of the upcoming International Day of Yoga (IDY) in the national capital.

“The United Nations has declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga. There were three remarkable things about this declaration: first, that the declaration was made on India’s suggestion; second, that the declaration was made in a record 75 days; and third that 177 countries agreed to the proposal,” Swaraj told the gathering, while launching the logo.

Ranbir, Anushka campaign for donations for Nepal

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Bollywood celebrities Karan Johar, Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Preity Zinta are fronting a campaign, launched on Wednesday by media and entertainment conglomerate Star India in association with NGO CARE India, to collect donations for quake-hit Nepal.

They are driving a nationwide public service campaign ‘Ek Padosi hi Padosi ke Kaam Aata Hai’ (only a neighbour helps another neighbour) to mobilise relief for the victims of the natural disaster that struck Nepal and parts of northern India, claiming more than 5,000 lives.

Medical students, tourists return from quake hit Nepal

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A batch of Indian students studying in a medical college in Nepal has arrived in Rajkot after being rescued from the Himalayan nation.

They reached the border town of Gorakhpur in a bus arranged by the college authorities, and continued their journey to Rajkot by train.

“It was almost the same as the earthquake that hit Gujarat in 2001, and we were so scared. We ran down but there were still tremors. When the earthquake was over, we went out of our rooms and contacted our college authorities and they helped us a lot,” said Jeel Lalsania, a medical student.

J-K tourism department, IATO organise conclave to invite tourists to Valley

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Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department and Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) held a conclave to chalk out strategies to attract tourists to the state.

Around 1500 tour operators, hoteliers and members of IATO participated in the conclave held in Srinagar on Tuesday.

The state tourism department expressed concerns over the negative stories on Kashmir doing the rounds in the media.

Need to bring Mumbai terror attack culprits to justice: United States Department of State Assistant Secretary of State

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United States Department of State Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswal on Wednesday said that Washington DC shares New Delhi’s concern over the release of Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhavi, adding that there is a need to bring those responsible for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks to justice.

Collective team of doctors saving lives in Nepal

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A collective team of doctors from several nations including India and China are treating quake-affected people in Kathmandu’s government hospital.

Nepal’s government-run Bir Hospital has been accepting most of the trauma cases after the devastating earthquake.

Fractured arms and legs are most common injuries among the people. According to latest reports, the hospital has seen over 100 deaths so far. Most of the deaths have been a result of multiple organ injuries.

Dr. Bikesh, working at the hospital’s trauma centre, appreciated

help from foreign countries.

Royals opt to bowl against RCB

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Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to bowl against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Wednesday.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli (captain), AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Sarfaraz Khan, Daniel Wiese, Harshal Patel, Mitchell Starc, Varun Aaron, Yuzvendra Chahal

Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson (captain), Steven Smith, Karun Nair, Sanju Samson, Stuart Binny, Deepak Hooda, James Faulkner, Pravin Tambe, Ankit Sharma, Tim Southee.

–IANS

Saudi king appoints nephew as new crown prince

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Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has appointed his nephew deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef as the new crown prince, the state media reported on Wednesday.

The announced was made after current Crown Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al Saud stepped down, Saudi state TV Al Arabiya reported.

Prince Mohammed would also be deputy prime minister and continue to hold his position of interior minister and head of the political and security council.

Hafeez puts Pakistan in strong position against Bangladesh

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A scintillating, unbeaten century by Mohammad Hafeez helped Pakistan to a commanding position after their bowlers restricted Bangladesh to 332 in the first innings of the first cricket Test here on Wednesday.

Hafiz (137) paired with Azhar Ali (65) in a superb unbeaten 177-run second-wicket stand to power the tourists to 227 for one at stumps on Day Two at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, reports bdnews24.com.

Captain Mushfiqur Rahim dropped Azhar Ali twice, a lapse proving to be costly for them.

Blood donation camps held in India to help Nepal victims

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Blood donation camps were held across the country on Wednesday to help the victims of the devastating Nepal earthquake.

More than 100 policemen, including senior officers, donated blood at a camp in Dehradun.

“There can be no better contribution than donating blood. From soldiers to senior officers, Inspector General is also donating blood. We are sending the blood to help save lives of the victims there (Nepal)” said Deputy Inspector General, Pushpak Jyoti.

As they donated blood, policemen expressed their happiness in contributing to the large cause.

Modi govt to host ‘Buddha Poornima Diwas’

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The Narendra Modi government will host an international Buddhist function on the occasion of ‘Buddha Poornima’ on May 4 where a special prayer will be offered to express solidarity with the people of quake-hit Nepal, the birth place of the religion’s founder.

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, the only Buddhist minister in the Modi government, said the government function is being organised considering the fact that India is the birth place of Buddhism and the whole world look into the country as the spiritual centre of the religion.

Prayers pour in from several parts of India for Nepal earthquake victims

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Special prayers were held in several parts of India to pray for the thousands of people affected by massive earthquake which jolted Nepal last week.

The Tibetan government-in-exile organised a mass prayer in Dharamsala on Tuesday.

The prayer was attended by over 2,000 Tibetans including Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay along with several monks, nuns and school students.

Tibet’s Religion and Culture Minister-in-exile Pema Chonjor said that the prayers were held for those people who have suffered due to the earthquake.

Federer pleasantly ‘surprised’ by Istanbul’s ‘huge interest’ in him

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17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer said that he has been overwhelmed by the welcome he received in Turkey, where the Swiss maestro arrived for the first time in his life to play the inaugural Istanbul Open.

In a bid to refine his clay court game ahead of the French Open, Federer will square off against his Finnish opponent Jarkko Nieminen in the second round of the Istanbul Open.

Congress slams Delhi Police report on farmer’s suicide

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Expressing dissatisfaction with the Delhi Police investigation on farmer Gajendra Singh’s suicide at the Jantar Mantar, Congress leader Kiran Walia on Wednesday said the report does not answer all questions about the incident.

“Now, the issue is who provoked him. How did it trigger off? Who put the suicide note if the handwriting doesn’t match? All these questions are not answered by this report as yet. This report does not say anything, it has to be more substantial. It has to pinpoint how did it happen, who did it,” Walia told ANI.

Coal to remain important mainstay fuel for India and Japan’s energy plans

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India and Japan have emphasised that coal will continue to be the predominant fuel for energy production for both the Asian countries.

India, which has doubled its coal thermal capacity since 2007, is looking towards greater emphasis on clean coal technologies while Japan will add another 7200 mw of coal capacity in the next five to seven years.

Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said that India will keep in mind the environment concerns and look for technologies for clean coal.