Pro-Telangana activists disrupt book launch

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Two policemen and some journalists were injured when pro-Telangana activists Wednesday disrupted a book release function organised here by a group opposed to the division of Andhra Pradesh.

The policemen and journalists were injured when the protestors ransacked the old Press Club at Basheerbagh, where the function was being held. The injured were shifted to a hospital.

Police escorted the speakers to safety when the protestors barged into the meeting hall, broke window panes and tried to attack those on the dais.

Aarushi murder: Sleuth unaware of surgical instrument’s use

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In the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder, a CBI investigation officer (IO) Wednesday admitted in a Ghaziabad court that he was not aware of any surgical instrument that could have been used to slit the throats of the victims.

CBI superintendent A.G.L. Kaul, during his cross-examination before Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge S. Lal, said the probe agency suspected that some surgical instrument was used in the 2008 murders but he was not aware of such an instrument being seen or found.

Three injured in Delhi cylinder blast

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A couple and their son were seriously injured after a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder caught fire and exploded here early Wednesday, police said.

The incident took place around 7.30 a.m. in Krishna Nagar colony of south Delhi’s Safdarjung Enclave area.

M.K. Sharma, 45, his wife Nura, 40, and their son Bhumnesh, 14, were rushed to the Safdarjung hospital after the blast.

Nura has sustained 50 percent burn injuries, while her husband and son are being treated for 20 and 15 percent burns, respectively. Both husband and wife work in private companies.

Nitish Kumar deferred Godhra probe to save Modi: Lalu

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Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Wednesday alleged that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the union railway minister in 2002 had deferred a probe into the setting on fire of Sabarmati Express at Godhra station to save Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

“Nitish Kumar deferred an inquiry into the Godhra incident after Narendra Modi approached him. Had Nitish ordered a probe, things would have been different,” Lalu Prasad told reporters here.

The Godhra incident had led to widespread riots in Gujarat in 2002.

Karnataka poll: Nominations close, Congressman richest candidate

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Nominations for the May 5 Karnataka assembly poll ended Wednesday with the highlight of the last day of filing papers being richest candidate, Priya Krishna of the Congress, entering the fray in a Bangalore constituency.

Prominent people to file papers Wednesday included Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar from Hubli-Dharwad Central in north Karnataka.

Priya Krishna, 29, seeking re-election from Govindarajanagara in west Bangalore, has moveable assets worth Rs.815.37 crore, immoveable assets of around Rs.95 crore and liability of Rs.777.79 crore, showed the affidavit filed by him.

Jail CCTV footage shows gang-rape accused not attacked

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A fast track court, hearing the Dec 16, 2012 gang-rape case, Wednesday said the CCTV recording provided by Tihar Jail authorities does not show that accused Vinay Sharma was beaten up by other inmates.

Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna, after examining the CCTV footage, said: “I have examined the CCTV footage provided by the jail superintendent of Tihar Jail qua allegation of beating of accused Vinay Sharma. No such alleged incident is seen in the said CCTV footage.”

The court’s order came after it saw the CD of CCTV footage of the barrack where Sharma is lodged at present.

Man, Class 12 student commit suicide in Delhi

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In two separate incidents, a 30-year-old man and a Class 12 student committed suicide by hanging themselves in the capital, police said Wednesday.

The body of Vishwajeet Sarkar was found hanging from a ceiling fan at his house in east Delhi’s Ganesh Nagar area Monday morning, a police officer said.

A suicide note has been found in which Sarkar has stated that he was depressed due to a family dispute. He is survived by wife and a five-year-old daughter.

Egyptian PM gets one-year jail

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An Egyptian court Wednesday sentenced Prime Minister Hesham Qandil, in absentia, to a jail term of one year over failing to enforce a judicial verdict to nationalise the Tanta Flax company, Xinhua reported.

State-run Al-Ahram online said Egypt’s Misdemeanour Dokki Court also ordered the removal of Qandil from his post, and imposed a fine of 2,000 Egyptian pounds ($290).

However, according the law, the rulings issued in absentia against serving state officials are primarily considered as merely symbolic, since the officials can pay the fine and challenge the ruling.

–IANS

Lalu refuses to give clean chit to Nitish in Godhra incident

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Refusing to buy Nitish Kumar’s argument absolving himself of the Godhra tragedy, RJD chief Lalu Prasad today accused him of closing the Railways’ probe in the train burning incident to suit the interest of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

“Nitish as Railway Minister had closed inquiry into the Sabarmati train burning incident to suit interest of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. This had triggered riots,” Prasad, who succeeded Kumar as Railway Minister in UPA-I, told reporters here.

Political instability may lead to early Lok Sabha polls: Mayawati

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Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati said the Lok Sabha elections could be preponed as the country is heading towards “political instability” due to corruption, inflation and unemployment.

The BSP chief on Wednesday asked the party workers here “to make all preparations” required for giving a better result in Uttar Pradesh this time.

Chopper deal: Accused firm moves court for defreezing account

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Aeromatrix Info Solutions private limited, an accused firm in the Rs3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal scam, has moved a Delhi court seeking defreezing of its bank account for paying salaries to its employees.

The Chandigarh-based firm, in its petition, has said that CBI has frozen its bank account having around Rs1.4 crore in it and they want money to pay their employees.

Special CBI Judge Ravinder Kaur on Wednesday directed the firm to furnish the details of the bank account and employees who are to be paid salary and fixed the matter for further hearing on April 20.

11 convicts of 1993 blast case surrender before TADA Court

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Eleven convicts of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, who were out on bail, on Wednesday surrendered before the designated TADA court here following the dismissal of their appeals by the Supreme Court.

Special TADA Judge GA Sanap directed that they be taken to the Central Prison at Arthur Road in central Mumbai. They would be transferred to various Central Prisons in the state.

Keeping NDA intact prime concern for BJP: Rajnath Singh

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In clear signs that BJP wants to continue its ties with ally JD-U, BJP President Rajnath Singh said keeping the NDA coalition intact is a prime concern for his party and attempts will be made to resolve all issues with partners.

In an interaction with journalists at the Indian Women’s Press Corps here, Singh praised and defended Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi but appeared to give primacy to keeping NDA partners together.

India has all qualities to protect foreign investment: Chidambaram

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On the second leg of his North American tour to woo investors, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said that India has all the qualities to guarantee that foreign investment is protected.

Chidambaram, while addressing students and faculty of Harvard University on ‘The Rise of the East Implications for the Global Economy’, said, India has all the qualities that provide guarantee to investors that their investment will be protected.

Chidambaram arrived in Boston after two days in Canada to project India as a viable investment destination.

Indian origin scientist thinks of ways to collide with asteroid for study

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Like many of his colleagues, Indian origin deep space navigator Shyam Bhaskaran devotes a great deal of time to crafting, and contemplating, computer-generated 3D models of asteroids.

But while many of his coworkers are calculating asteroids’ past, present and future locations in the cosmos, zapping them with the world’s most massive radar dishes, or considering how to rendezvous and perhaps even gently nudge an asteroid into lunar orbit, Bhaskaran thinks about how to collide with one.

BJP says Shakeel Ahmad”s Bangalore blast comment ”uncalled for”

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday termed Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad”s comment on the Bangalore blast as ”unwarranted”, and asked UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to reprimand her spokesperson.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said that it is extremely unfortunate that the Congress is playing politics on the issue of terrorism and blasts.

ICC reaction to CAS decisions

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International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executive David Richardson has issued the following statement after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected appeals by Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif against the decisions of the independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal, which had been imposed under the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Code in February 2011.

“The ICC notes and welcomes the decisions of the CAS as they vindicate and confirm the processes and procedures followed by the ICC over the past couple of years in respect of this important, sensitive and high-profile matter.

Lawyer of Delhi Rape accused files petition for transfer of case

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Defence counsel for Mukesh, one of the four adult accused in the brutal Delhi gang rape case, filed a petition for the transfer of the case on Wednesday as he believed that his client would not get justice in the national capital. Manohar Lal Sharma, who is the defence counsel for Mukesh said that he believed that his client is unlikely to get justice in New Delhi. “The kids are innocent and the police had spared the actual accused. We have filed a transfer petition in Supreme Court that we would not get justice in Delhi at any cost.

Early test on letter sent to Obama indicates poisonous ricin

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The FBI says preliminary tests on a letter sent to President Barack Obama indicate the presence of poisonous ricin. The letter is undergoing further testing because preliminary field tests can be unreliable, creating false positives.

The letter was intercepted at a facility away FBI sees no link between suspicious letters and Boston attack
from the White House. It comes the day after officials said a letter sent to a US senator contained poisonous ricin. That letter was intercepted at a Senate mail facility just outside Washington.

PM condoles the loss of lives in Iran earthquake

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Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Wednesday condoled the loss of lives and destruction in the earthquake in Iran. Manmohan Singh in a message, to the President Ahmadinejad of Iran, offered all possible assistance to Iran in their relief efforts. He said, “It is with deep sorrow that I learnt about the earthquake that struck the eastern region of Iran. Singh further said, “The people of India join me in conveying our deepest condolences for the the loss of life, injury and destruction of property as a result of this natural disaster.

Zardari in PoK; rakes up Afzal Guru’s execution

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Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday raked up the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in his address to the joint session of the legislature of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

He also threatened that Pakistan will continue to highlight the Kashmir “cause” at international forums.

“The hanging of Afzal Guru through the abuse of judicial process has further aggravated and angered the people of Kashmir,” he said.

Australia good place to work, study, say Indians

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Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr Wednesday welcomed findings of a survey that indicates Indians see Australia as a good place to visit, live, work and study.

The survey by the Lowy Institute for International Policy and the Australia India Institute indicated that Australia was viewed as a country that was friendly to India, with attractive values, strong educational institutions and a sound political system, said a statement.

Carr said the survey confirmed the strength of Australia-India ties.

Congress distances itself from leader’s tweet, BJP furious

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Any terror incident is a matter of concern and should not be seen as political gain, Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said Wednesday shortly after his colleague Shakeel Ahmad kicked up a storm with his remark that the blast near the BJP’s office in Bangalore would help the party in the Karnataka polls.

“Any terror incident is a matter of concern… it is a national and international problem… it is a challenge for the country… it should not be seen as political gain,” Dwivedi told reporters after the blast in Bangalore, in which 16 people were injured.

Bodies of slain Maoists returned to relatives

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Autopsies were performed on the bodies of nine Maoists who were killed in an encounter with security forces in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh yesterday, police said.

The bodies, earlier brought to Bhadrachalam in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh, were taken back to Kunta in Chhattisgarh where post-mortem procedures were conducted and they were then handed over to family members, a senior police officer said.

–Agencies