News-Analyse

Monday, May 24, 2010

RSS oppose caste-based census

RSS flag

Even as its political wing, the Bharatiya Janata Party, is rooting for counting of the other backward castes (OBC), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Sunday came out strongly against caste-based census.

Its general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi said here on Sunday that any move to classify people on caste lines would deal a blow to social harmony and fabric.

"Since its inception, the RSS is striving for establishing a casteless society. But the recent demand for identifying people on caste basis, especially with a view to ascertaining OBCs strength, will cause social friction and nullify all efforts of RSS and other social organisations to bring about social harmony in the country," said Joshi.

LCH model on display

The maiden flight of the indigenously manufactured Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) on Sunday heralded India's entry into the select group of countries capable of developing their own combat helicopters.

The LCH, manufactured by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, took to the skies on Sunday in the presence of the defence secretary R K Singh, vice-chief of air staff, air marshal P K Barbora, chairman HAL, Ashok Nayak and senior officials of defence ministry and the forces. Chief test pilots Unni Pillai and Hari Nair put up a spectacular flying display of the LCH at the HAL airport in the city.

Student Cheated in Anna University campus by a Person pretending to be a employee

student was allegedly relieved of Rs.2.5 lakh cash by a stranger who promised to get him an engineering seat in Anna University.

According to police sources, D. Deekshit (19) of Tiruchi came here on May 3 to purchase an application form for admissions to engineering courses in Anna University. The suspect, introducing himself as Rishi Kanth, picked a conversation with the student near the campus and offered to help in getting a seat.

When Deekshit said he preferred Aeronautical Engineering, he said it would cost him Rs.5 lakh. Pretending to be an employee of the varsity, the suspect said Deekshit had to give a token advance and then pay the full cash.

After consulting his parents, the student agreed to the offer.

The Chennai Corporation will soon launch a short messaging service (SMS) using which the residents could check if their names have been included in the electoral rolls.

Senior officials of the civic body said that voters could text message their EPIC (Elector's Photo Identity Card) number and they would get a reply SMS if their names are on the list or not. The mobile number and prescribed format for sending the text message are being worked out.

Kannel, an open source WAP and SMS gateway, which is used to send many text messages, is being currently tested. The civic body also upgraded its server recently.

The city has a total of 27,62,920 voters of which 13,85,789 are males and 13,77,122 females. The Corporation is currently conducting a 100 per cent verification of voters and 4,36,317 new voters have been listed. There have been a total of 3,01,214 deletions too. By July, the draft electoral rolls are expected to be published.

MGR medical university is like a Post office - TN Health Minister MRKP

In what was perhaps the biggest indictment of the MGR Medical University, Health Minister MRK Panneerselvam on Friday likened it to a post office where people go just to collect certificates.

He urged Vice Chancellor Dr Mayil Vahanan Natrajan to turn it into a vibrant university, taking inspiration from the Anna University and Madras University.

Speaking at the inauguration of the new entrance arch, new lift and remolded Senate Hall in the University, he said, " This university is now like a post office. People come here to collect certificates and other paperrelated work. I hope it soon becomes a fully functional university with classrooms full of students like the Anna University and the Madras University."

Thousands of lives could be saved every year if the US were to donate used pacemakers to developing countries instead of throwing them in the trash, doctors say.

The US Food and Drug Administration currently prohibits reuse of pacemakers from dead people, in part because of the risk of infection. According to experts, this policy is supported by manufacturers and many physicians.

But at a meeting on Thursday, doctors from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor presented pooled data from hundreds of patients showing there was no increase in infections, malfunctioning or overall complications when reusing pacemakers. "This is a potentially life-saving technology that we are just throwing away right now," said Dr Kim Eagle, a cardiologist who worked on the study.

Breath could tell about Diabetes

A nanotechnology-based sensor could soon tell whether someone has Type 1 diabetes — just by analysing their breath.

The sensor, which has been successfully tested by Swiss researchers, could also be used by emergency room doctors to determine whether a patient has developed diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially serious complication that happens when diabetics do not take enough insulin.

Even diabetics could use the technology in their homes, to determine whether they need more insulin. Sotiris Pratsinis and colleagues at ETH Zurich in Switzerland explain that everyone has a little bit of acetone in their breath.

But people with Type 1 diabetes release unusually high levels of the chemical when they exhale. If they have diabetic ketoacidosis, a dangerous buildup of acetone in the blood, they exhale even-larger amounts of acetone.

They built a sensitive acetone detector by directly depositing from a flame plume a thin film of semiconducting, mixed ceramic nanoparticles between a set of gold electrodes.

Abbott Labs acquired Piramal Healthcare for 3.7 Billion Dollars

US drug major Abbott Laboratories has acquired the domestic business of India-based Piramal Healthcare for about 3.7 billion dollars.

Fending off fight from other drug biggies such as Britain's GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi Aventis and Pfizer, Abbott bagged the auction bid for Piramal Healthcare.

The deal reflects the heightened interest Western firms have displayed in the speedily growing Indian drug market.

Miles White, CEO of Abbott, stated, "It's a race. These markets are so significant in the future growth sources for our industry that it's important for us to be there early and in a meaningful, strong way."

Piramal will keep hold of its manufacturing business thatsupplies other drug makers all over the world, as well as other operations including consumer products and bulk drugs manufacturing. (With Inputs from Agencies)

Tata motors launched Indigo e-CS with Fuel efficiency of 23 Kmpl

Tata Motors has launched its Indigo e-CS, claimed to be the most fuel efficient sedan in India. The sedan comes with a fuel efficiency of 23.03 kmpl, which has been certified with ARAI. It has a new 1.4 liter diesel engine.

It will also be provided with 1.2-litre petrol engine. Both the engine categories are BSIV and suitable enough to run the car freely in all the bigger cities with new environment regulations.

The luxury sedan comes equipped with a new grille, body colored bumpers, chrome inserts on rub rails and indicators on the rear view mirrors. The interiors comprise all the components of Indigo XL along with centre console and the steering wheel.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) looks set for a drastic change in format next season, with teams likely to be divided into two groups to prevent cramming too many matches in too few days.

With 10 teams instead of the current eight, continuing with the current format would have meant playing 94 matches instead of the current 60, a prospect that was giving organisers the jitters, given the fact that the tournament would still have to be restricted to about seven weeks.

To get over this problem, BCCI bigwigs have informally discussed two alternative two-group formats for the league stage in their last meeting on May 17 and sources said the board would discuss the issue with the IPL's governing council in June.

Ravi Shankaran may have sold Indian War Room secrets for past 20 Yrs

Ravi Shankaran, 46, a key accused in the sensational war room leak case, may have sold Indian Navy’s secret equipment purchase plans for the next 20 years, a probe has revealed.

The ex-navy commander and nephew of former naval chief Arun Prakash’s wife was arrested by UK Police on April 21 and could
be extradited to India soon.

Shankaran was granted conditional bail, but was soon taken back into custody as he failed to fulfill the conditions, it is learnt.

Dainik Bhaskar's expansion plans in Bihar and Jharkhand appear to have hit a roadblock with the co-owner of the Bhaskar title, Sanjay Agarwal, raising objections raised to the use of the Bhaskar brand name.

Taking cognisance of Agarwal's protest letters, the district magistrates in Patna and Ranchi — the authority for title verification in the state — have issued showcause notices to D B Corp — owned by the other wing of the family, now headed by Ramesh Chandra Agarwal, seeking an explanation within seven days.

Pakistani authorities have blocked 800 URLs that feature 'blasphemous' and 'sacrilegious' content in the wake of the ban on Facebook and YouTube, a representative of the country’s association of internet service providers said today.

Acting on an order of the Lahore high court, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority initially banned popular social networking website Facebook over a page featuring a contest for "blasphemous" cartoons of Prophet Mohammed.

The ban was later extended YouTube and other links.

The move also affected access to Wikipedia and Twitter, internet users said.

The government on Friday approved the provisional results for the 3G spectrum sale that fetched it a staggering Rs 67,719-crore bonanza, paving the way for starting the auction of the broadband wireless access (BWA) airwaves from May 24.

According to official sources, a committee headed by cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar, approved the 34-day long auction process, which concluded on May 19. Other members of the committee are finance secretary Ashok Chawla, telecom secretary PJ Thomas and Planning Commission member secretary Sudha Pillai.

With this, the 3G auction process comes to end and all the winners, including two telecom PSUs, have been asked to pay within 10 days from now. DoT officials said the last date for payment is May 31.

I missed the flight & survived -- Vasant shetty

Heavy workload prevented Dubai-based worker Vasant Shetty from taking the ill-fated flight to Mangalore and he thanks God for it.

"It's all God's grace.I missed the flight and survived", Shetty, booked to travel on the Air India Express, said.

"My friend had booked the ticket for me.But due to heavy workload I could not take the flight. Upon learning about the crash, I was shocked. I thank God for saving me" Shetty said.

"I don't know what to say about the ill-fated passengers who were killed. I pray for them", he said.

Cabin crew went through monsoon training

It's that time of the year when air travel becomes a bit frightening, even for frequent fliers. The monsoon means bad weather conditions across most of the country, and that often causes intense turbulence. Pilots, airports, and Air Traffic Control (ATC) personnel are periodically put through training sessions to handle bad weather conditions.

This year, airlines have already started pre-monsoon pilot training programmes. Even cabin crew personnel go through monsoon training as well as classes on how to deal with irate and scared passengers.

78 identified of 158 bodies recovered in the crash site

Bodies of all the 158 victims of the Air India Express plane crash near Bajpe airport here have been recovered from the wreckage site, a top police official said.

With all bodies extricated, authorities also ended search operations in and around the deep ravine, into which the aircraft had plunged after overshooting the runway soon after landing.

"Of the 158 bodies, 72 bodies have been identified," Commissioner of Police Seemanth Kumar Singh said.

Survivors of crashed Air India plane

159 people have been killed after an Air India Express aircraft from Dubai, carrying 173 passengers, overshot the runway and ploughed into the forest while landing at the Mangalore airport.

Seven people have survived the crash. Among the survivors are four children.

Putturismail Abdulla
Joel Pratap DSouza
G.K. Pradeep
Krishnan Koolikkunnu
Mayankutty K.P
Ummer Farook Mohammed
Sabrina Nasrinhuq.

List of Passengers On-Board Crashed Air India Flight

Following is the list of passengers who travelled on the Air India Express plane that crashed Saturday in Mangalore city.

1. Harshini Poonja	2. Aaron Joel Fernandes	3. Niha Imthiaz	4. Bhaskaran T.V.	5. Komalavally Alinkeel	6. Narayana Kanthav Rao	7. Vani Narayana Rao	8. Vaishnavi Narayana Rao	9. Mohammad Ishaque Rafique Ahmed	10 Hasanabba Abubakkar
11. Hiba Azeena (child)	12. Mushina (child)	13. Haifa Hasha (infant)	14. Joyanrichard Saldanha	15. Ummer Farook Mohammed	16. Shahida Nushrathar	17 Zeshan Abdul Rehman (child)	18. Kannur Zulekha Banu	19. Nazeema Muhammad Ashraf	20.Satyanarayana Ballakuraya
21. Sujatha Rao	22. Fathimamehzan Shafqat	23.Rashaad Shafqatmahmood (infant)	24. Khader Ammangod Mohammed Shafy	25. Suhaib Mohammed Naseer (child)	26. Bibi Sara (child)	27. Nabeeha Mohammed Nasir (child)	28. Mohammad Asraf	29. Maimoona Asraf	30. Ashaz Abdulla (child)
31. Ayesha Afsheen (child)	32.Plaviashakunthala Lobo	33. Venishanikola Lobo	34. Vishalfloid Lobo (child)	35. Abdullah K.M.	36. Rosly Shibu	37. Godwina Thomas (child)	38. Gloria Thomas (child)	39. Bhagali Prabhakar	40. Kammadam Kunhabdulla
41. Shashikanth Punja	42. Manirekha Punja	43. Abdulbarr Damudi (child)	44. Mahesh Shetty	45. Mohamed Naser	46. Anwar Sadiq	47. Hassan Kutty	48. JoelPratap DSouza	49. Arunkumar Shetty	50. Abdul Samad
51. Prasadand Manjrekar	52. Krishnan Koolikunnu	53. Mullachery Balakrishnan	54. Shanthi Olivera	55. Chethana Mukeshkumar	56. Ahmednaushad Abbu	57. Rajan Pulikodan	58. Jayaprakasha Devadiga	59. Jayaram Kotian	60. Chitra Jayaram
61. Rahul Jayaram (child)	62. Prabhavati Karkera	63. Ashitha Bolar	64. Akshay Bolar	65. Suresh Kunder	66. Soman Narayani	67. Pradeep G.K.	68. Kallingalabullah	69. Thalangara Ebrahimkhaleel	70. Naziya Afarin
71. Mohammed Abaanruknuddin (child)	72. MohammedRafi Beliyapura	73. Abdullah Mohammed	74. Ibrahim Saheb	75. Sameena Saheb	76. Issam Ibrahim	77. Rida Ibrahim (child)	78. Perumbalamohammed	79. Shivakumar Nagaraj	80. Meenu Gupta
81. Shetty K.K.	82. Gangadharan Nair	83. Prabathkumar Attavar	84.Sathisha Shetty	85. Irshad Ahmed	86. Neha Parveen	87. Affan Ahmed (infant)	88. Sameerbeerran Moideen	89. Abdunnazir Avinja	90. Riju John
91. Sabrina Nasrinhuq	92. Mahammooda Abdulla Kanyana	93. Althafahmed Moolana	94. Lokeshasadananda Belchada	95. Hameed Pookayam	96. Mayankutty K.P.	97. Vipin Kattoor	98. Kishorekumar Kudpapoojary	99. Chandukutty Nair K.	100. NM Bharatham
101. Abdulazeez Anchikatta	102. Umashan Vijayan	103. Cavin Sequuiera	104. Reshmasanthosh Rai	105. Nalandshaunsantosh Rai (child)	106. Vihasantosh Rai (infant)	107. Vamana Prabhu	108. Ganesh Prabhu	109. Qazi Abdulsalam	110. Qazizulekah Khuddus
111. Jackson Periera	112. Mahammed Ismail	113. Naveen Kumar	114. Sanjaykumar Mahabal	115. Mahendra Kodkany	116. Indumathi Nayak	117. Vijesh Kovval	118. Ramakrishna Nayak	119. Ajesh Mottathil	120. Navid Ibrahim
121. Ignatius DSouza	122. Sukumara Kuzhiyamkottuchal	123. Abdul Basheer KM	124. Mohiddin Farasusman	125. Mahim Mohammedpalli	126. Mohammedashraf KA	127. Mohamed Usman	128. Naveenwalter Fernandes	129. Saritaphilomena Dsouza	130. Ullas Dsilva
131. Mannapadupuashraf Abdul	132. Safdharali Sheik	133. Mahesh Shetty	134. Abdulharish Koppalamhouse	135. Abdul Jebran	136. Parambathkunhi Krishnan	137. Prabhakaran Pachikaran	138. Nekkareibrahim Ismail	139. Melwynkiran Menezes	140. Siddeeque Choorisulaiman
141. Putturismail Abdulla	142. Somashekhar Potyalsrinivasa	143. Lokesh Narayanan	144. Lolitta Dias	145. Lilly Dias	146. Praveena Sundar	147. Hilda Douza	148. Pradeep Deepanivas	149. Denis Saldanha	150. Ashton Saldanha (child)
151. Manthur Hassainar	152. Rama Satish	153. Mohammed Basheer	154. Aboobacker Siddeeq	155. Mohammed Usman	156. Shaileshrao Brahmavara	157. Mohammed Ziad	158. Sameena Abdul Karim	159. Zainab Mohammedziad (child)	160. Mohammed Subairzaid (child)

Enviroment Groups believe Faulty Runway Construction caused Mangalore Plane Crash

Did the faulty construction of the second runway result in the air crash at Mangalore airport? Some environmental and social groups strongly believe so.

"This was no accident, but apparently the failure of officials in ensuring proper construction of the second runway at the airport resulted in the tragedy," alleged Leo F Saldanha, coordinator of Environment Support Group (ESG).

He said the Director General of Civil Aviation, Airports Authority of India, Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Karnataka government had failed to ensure that the second runway design conform to national and international standards.

Income Dept still needs 30,000 Employees - Finance Ministry

The Income Tax Department needs to immediately add 30,000 more employees to carry out its existing operations, a senior Finance Ministry official said.

"To avoid affecting the overall revenue collection and delivery of tax payer services, the department immediately requires 22,000 additional employees apart from filling up the 8,000-odd vacant positions," the official said.

The department has 58,000 sanctioned positions and about 8,000 posts are lying vacant.

He said the department needs 4,000 officers (including 2,000 assessing officers), 4,000 inspectors, 12,000 tax assistants, data entry operators and other support staff, and about 2,000 as reserves.

Europe's largest computer consultancy company Capgemini is all set to expand its India workforce. The France-based company reportedly plans to hire 4,000 in India by June end.

In a report in Business Standard, company's executive chairman Salil Parekh said that India continues to develop in local and international business and is core to Capgemini's Rightshore approach. The company plans to see accelerating momentum in its headcount growth throughout the year.

Adobe Systems put aside its tiff with Apple and told thousands of software developers it is embracing the online video format preferred by the maker of iPhones, iPods and iPads.

Adobe chief technology officer Kevin Lynch endorsed the HTML5 video format that Apple chief executive Steve Jobs favors over Adobe's Flash software.

"HTML5 is great," Lynch said while Google executives touted the format as a key to rich online experiences to come.

HP and Sify Technologies Limited, a leading Data Center player jointly announced an agreement to power SIFY’s On-Demand cloud services using HP’s Converged Infrastructure. This will allow Sify to provide demand based computing services on a pay per use or flexible contract model. Customers using the new service will be able to accelerate time to market and reduce cost by leveraging IT services on the fly, without making substantial capital investments in technology.

Using HP’s Converged Infrastructure, Sify is now launching new cloud services including Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) for select applications under its On-Demand Hosting Platform. To enable this, the Blade System Matrix a product of HP’s converged infrastructure, pools together Sify’s IT resource into a highly automated and virtualized resource pool. Specific application templates have been developed to automatically provision resources for every new business requirement. Businesses users will be able to request IT services on the fly by using a self service portal powered by the HP Insight Orchestration tool, within the Blade System Matrix.

Flash 10.1 for Android to be released soon

Google used the announcement of the availability of Flash Player 10.1 for Android 2.2 to get in plenty of side swipes at Apple, but it didn't go into any detail about what you get in Flash 10.1 – or how you get it.

What Google showed at Google IO was a "pre-beta build, not the final product release," Adobe director of technology strategy for partner development Anup Muraka . "However it's a really solid technology base and it's going to play a lot of content."

"The goal for this release is that most existing Flash content should just work," says Muraka. "We acknowledge that not all content is going to behave the same; some content will work better than others. You can't expect high bit-rate HD video to work perfectly on a small screen smartphone over a 3Gnetwork- but we're still seeing good performance for video playback."

H-1B visa holders 8.9% more than Americans IT workers

H-1B visa has often received flak for fall in American salaries. In fact, anti-H-1B visa activists have often complained that say the programme depresses American IT workers' salaries and robs them of jobs.

However, a recent research from the University of Maryland claims that foreign IT professionals on H-1B visas earn more than their American counterparts.

The research which examined the IT salaries using data from online salary surveys conducted from 2000 to 2005, found that foreign IT professionals earned 8.9% more than American citizens.

Cattle manure to power Datacenters soon

Hey diddle diddle. Guess what the cow has done this time? America's dairy farmers could soon find themselves in the computer business, with the manure from their cows possibly powering the vast data centers of companies like Google and Microsoft.

While not immediately intuitive, the idea plays on two trends: the building of computing centers in more rural locales, and dairy farmers' efforts to deal with cattle waste by turning it into fuel. With the right skills, a dairy farmer could rent out land and power to technology companies and recoup an investment in the waste-to-fuel systems within two years, Hewlett-Packard engineers say in a new research paper.

It has emerged that the IP addresses used in helping to distinguish one computer from another are expected to run out in approximately 500 days.

The unique numbers, which are known as Internet Protocol addresses, help identify the world's networked devices. An IP address uses four numbers from 0 to 255 to mark a computer from another. As an example, computers around the world can recognise the IP address 203.26.51.71 as a server for fairfax.com.au, which publishes the Sydney Morning Herald, which carried the report, online.

Hinduja Group, a diversified global business conglomerate, today announced that it would acquire European private bank KBL epb for EUR 1.35 billion (about Rs 8,770 crore).

KBL epb, a subsidiary of Belgium-based KBC Group, is one of the largest onshore private banking groups with affiliated local banks in 55 locations across ten European countries.

Private banking refers to customised service, including wealth management, provided to high networth individuals.

Anil Ambani group firm Reliance MediaWorks Ltd, with two others, has raised their stake in multiplex chain Fame India Ltd to 14.51 percent, as it battles rival Inox in a takeover battle, according to a stock exchange filing.

Reliance MediaWorks, along with group firms Reliance Capital and Reliance Capital Partners, acquired an additional 2.37 percent equity in Fame through open market purchases between Feb 22 and May 20, according to a filing made to the NSE.

Political-Ethnic killng in Karachi Rises to 37, Tense up in the city

Karachi remained tense on Friday as the toll in three days of political—ethnic killings rose to 37 and at least eight vehicles were set ablaze overnight in various parts of the metropolis.

Shops in major markets as well as petrol pumps were closed and traffic suspended in the Nazimabad, North Nazimabad, Qasba, Pirabad, Orangi Town, Korangi, Landhi, Liaquatabad, Gulshan—e—Iqbal, Gulistan—e—Jauhar and Jackson neighbourhoods, Geo TV reported.

Symantec Corp.'s decision to pay $ 1.28 billion to buy a division of VeriSign Inc. that sells security technology to websites highlights how quickly the companies are moving in opposite directions.

Symantec, best known for its antivirus software for personal computers, wants to secure more things.

With the VeriSign deal, announced Wednesday, Symantec will have spent nearly $ 3 billion in two years acquiring technologies that make it a bigger player in other parts of the security market, such as protecting data on mobile phones and delivering software over the Internet.

Google Inc. believes it has come up with the technology to unite Web surfing with channel surfing on televisions.

To reach the long-elusive goal, Google has joined forces with Sony Corp., Intel Corp. and Logitech International. The companies unveiled their much-anticipated plan for a "smart" TV on Thursday during a Google conference for about 5,000 software programmers.

The TVs are expected to go on sale in the fall. Pricing wasn't immediately announced.

The auction of 12 paintings by Rabindra Nath Tagore on June 15 in London by Sotheby's will go ahead as planned.

"The sale of the paintings at public auction will be an unprecedented opportunity for broad competition and the initial response from collectors to the announcement of the sale has been positive. Both Sotheby's and Dartington would be delighted if the works were acquired by an Indian institution - and returned to India - as they are certainly of museum quality," Sotheby's said.

The 12 paintings were gifted to the Dartington Hall Trust 71 years ago and are now estimated to be worth £250,000.

Four poachers were killed in a gunfight with wildlife rangers at the famed Kaziranga National Park in Assam on Friday, three days after seven poachers were arrested on the fringe of the sanctuary, officials said.

A wildlife warden said a group of six poachers entered the park early on Friday and fired at an adult rhino near the Mihimukh range, although they failed to hit the target.

"A six-member team of forest guards upon hearing the gunshots gave the poachers a chase and soon there was a gunfight between the two sides." Park warden D. Gogoi said.

With the controversy surrounding a meeting that Lalit Modi had with three English cricket counties and IMG, the England Cricket Board (ECB) has warned its counties to not enter into any dialogue with 'suspended' Indian Cricket Board officials.

In a statement, the ECB said that the BCCI has asked it to avoid contact with suspended officials. "The BCCI has further reminded ECB that it does not authourise any discussions with suspended officials of its Board and should any person involved in English cricket receive any contact from a suspended official then ECB has been asked to immediately report this matter to BCCI."

The CBI has seized time-barred medicines from Central government hospitals in Chennai, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.

During a surprise check between May 15 and 18 in seven hospitals/dispensaries, it found expired drugs being supplied to patients. Disclosing this at a press conference here on Thursday, CBI Joint Director Ashok Kumar said: “Some were found expired and being issued to patients posing health hazards to them.” On a tip-off, special teams conducted checks at four pharmaceutical companies in Puducherry and a distributing firm in Chennai and took samples for investigation. It was found that the companies were manufacturing/distributing sub-standard drugs not permitted by the Drug Controller General of India. Some of these drugs were antibiotics and anaesthetics, Mr. Kumar said.

Oil racket unearthed

Mr. Kumar said on information that petroleum products were being pilfered, adulterated and sold to public, a CBI team went to Konerikuppam in Villuppuram and seized 45 keys of oil tankers from suspects. Four persons have been arrested.

Referring to cases against a Regional Passport Officer and the Protector of Emigrants in Chennai, Mr. Kumar said the investigation was nearing completion.

Pak netizens on protest against ban on Social Networking sites

Pakistan’s cybercitizens have strongly protested against their government’s ban on Facebook, YouTube and about 450 individual web pages across various websites.

Under the umbrella of ‘Defenders of Internet Freedom’, a meeting of concerned professionals, activists and internet users in Karachi noted on Thursday: "This action will have a very negative impact on Pakistan, especially considering that countless small businesses, nonprofit organizations, restaurants, art galleries, magazines, and media outlets use Facebook to conduct day-to-day business and share information with their stakeholders."

Pak Bans sites with Islamic offensive contents

Pakistan acknowledged the "suffering" caused by its bans on Facebook and YouTube, but said it would only consider restoring the websites if they take down pages considered offensive to Islam, the information technology ministry said Friday.

The government has asked both sites to block the offending pages and was expecting a reply soon, Najibullah Malik, the secretary at the ministry said. Facebook has said that may be a solution, but did not specify if it — or the Pakistani government — should restrict the content.

Other sites have also been affected in the country as officials scramble to block content related to a Facebook page called "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!" which encourages users to post images of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, purportedly in support of freedom of speech.

Next cyclone in Indian Ocean will be called 'BANDU'

It might not be known when the next cyclone will hit the northern Indian Ocean, but what is already known is its name - Bandu, an official said Thursday.

Cyclones derive their names through a systematic procedure laid down by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

Cyclone Laila, which developed in the Indian Ocean off the Andhra Pradesh coast creating much havoc in the state, was named by Pakistan. The next to hit countries in the north Indian Ocean region will be called Bandu - a name given by Sri Lanka, and the one after that will be Phet, named by Thailand.

After a lull, action is back in the compact car market. The auto turf may soon see rivalry intensifying between the Korean and American car makers, as Hyundai Motor is set to launch a diesel variant of its next-generation car, i10, to counter Ford’s Figo.

For the first time, Korean carmaker and India’s largest exporter, Hyundai, has conceded that Figo and not Nissan’s Micra will keep the company on its toes, a candid Hyundai Motor India (HMI) MD H W Park admitted to visiting journalists from India to the company headquarters here last week.

He was categorical that Hyundai was not duly concerned about Micra. However, it is directing efforts to counter competition challenges from Figo and domestic leader Maruti’s re-launched WagonR. He strongly hinted that Hyundai may launch the diesel variant of i10, though he did not specify the time-line.

Soumya murder case accused brings knife to court

Ravi Kapoor, key accused in the murder of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan, caused a stir in a court on Thursday by taking out a knife from his pocket and alleging that policemen gave it to him to attack undertrials in Tihar jail. The court asked the jail superintendent for an explanation on Kapoor's charge.

"Tihar jail superintendent (high risk cell) is hereby directed to file an explanation on the allegations of the accused by June 4 before the court," Metropolitan Magistrate Veena Rani said. The accused took the judge, lawyers and others in the court by surprise by taking out a knife from his pocket, saying it was provided to him by policemen to attack other undertrials in the lock-up at Patiala House courts complex.

China has launched a fleet of electric taxis in booming Shenzhen and is aiming to add more battery-operated vehicles in order to check the impact of global warming.

With the launch of 40 electric taxis Monday, Shenzhen city of southern Guangdong province has become the country's first city to have environment-friendly transport in operation, said Hu Jianping, president of Shenzhen Bus Group (SBG).

'The E6 cars' ET (environment technology) batteries give off zero emissions and cause no harm to the environment,' said Wang Chuanfu, chief executive of BYD, manufacturer of the electric taxis.

Aircel partners IBIBO to offer social gaming

Telecom service provider, Aircel has partnered ibibo. com to offer social gaming on mobile phones for the first time in the country.

The popular game "Great Indian Parking wars" from Ibibo will now be offered on the Aircel Pocket Internet. India's fifth largest GSM mobile service provider plans to add many more games to the offering soon.

The users will either require an ibibo. com ID or can access the games through facebook connect. The users can only access the game through WAP-enabled handsets. The offering also brings the micro-transactions to the mobile phones where users can purchase virtual items in the games and pay through the service provider.

Winners of 3G Bid

After 34 days of hectic bidding, the auction for the 3G spectrum allocation is over. The all-India licence was last bid for Rs 16,751 crore.

Bharti has paid the maximum amount of Rs 12,295.46 crore for 13 circles. Vodafone has got nine circles for Rs 11,618 crore. Reliance Communication has paid Rs 8,600 crore for 13 circles, Idea Cellular pocketed 13 circles for Rs 5769 crore and Tata Teleservices has got nine circles for 5864.29 crore.

In Mumbai and Delhi, R-Comm, Vodafone and Bharti are the winners. Aircel, Vodafone and R-comm are the winners in Kolkata.

It is learnt, the government is estimated to garner Rs 67,719 crore surpassing its earlier expectations.

Sources added that bids for broadband and WiMax are expected to start within two days.

The 3G auction started on 9 April and there were nine bidders in the fray for the slots of 3G spectrum on the block. The government auctioned three slots in 17 telecom service areas and four slots in the remaining five states of Punjab, Bihar, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

Nine leading mobile operators, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, RCOM, Tatas, are up against each other to grab spectrum. The government selling 3 blocks of spectrum in most of states with four slots in five states of Punjab, Bihar, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

Circle	Winners
Maharashtra	Tata, Idea, Vodafone
Gujarat	Tata, Idea, Vodafone
Andhra Pradesh	Bharti, Idea, Aircel
Karnataka	Bharti, Tata, Aircel
Tamil Nadu	Bharti, Aircel, Vodafone
Mumbai, Delhi	Rel Comm, Vodafone, Bharti
Kolkata	Aircel, Vodafone, Re comm
Kerala	Idea, Tata, Aircel
Punjab	Idea, Rel comm, Tata, Aircel
Haryana	Idea, Tata, Vodafone
UP (east)	Idea, Vodafone, Aircel
UP (west)	Idea, Tata, Bharti
Rajasthan	Rel Comm, Bharti, Tata
Madhya Pradesh	Idea, Rel comm, Tata
Himachal Pradesh	S-tel, Idea, Rel Comm
West Bengal	Bharti, Rel comm, Vodafone, Aircel
Bihar	S-tel, Bharti, Rel comm, Aircel
Orissa	S-tel, Aircel, Rel comm
Assam	Bharti, Rel comm, Aircel
Northeast	Bharti, Aircel, Rel comm
Jammu & Kashmir	Bharti, Idea, Aircel, Rel Comm

A K Antony prioritise Coastal security

Defence Minister A K Antony on Thursday asked the top brass of Navy and the Ministry to take immediate steps to ensure that proposals and assets approved by the government for Coastal Security are put in place at the earliest.

Addressing the Naval Commanders' Conference here today, Antony disclosed that the Government was equipping both Navy and Coast Guard for coastal surveillance and patrol both in terms of assets and manpower," said Antony addressing the Naval Commanders' Conference here today.

India's Twenty20 World Cup flop show notwithstanding, Mahendra Singh Dhoni remains one of the best skippers in international cricket and it is unfair to criticise him on the basis of just one bad tournament, said Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan.

World's highest Test wicket-taker both in Tests and ODIs, who plays under Dhoni in the Indian Premier League champion side Chennai Super Kings, said he was amused to see the outrage that greeted India's early exit from the showpiece event in the West Indies.

Goa to rope in Ex-Naval officers to guide Coastal security

The Goa government has decided to rope in former defence officers to guide its marine police force, armed with sophisticated boats to man the coast.

“We do not have trained manpower to handle such boats. We will have to be dependent on ex-officers of Indian Navy or Indian coast guard for the guidance,” chief secretary Sanjay Srivastava said.

“Officers can be employed with the special police unit for two to three years. The marine police will work in tandem with the Navy and coast guard to safeguard the state coastline, where vigil has been stepped up after 26/11 and recent terror alerts,” he said.

Food inflation raises to 16.49% for week ending May 8

India's annual food inflation edged up for the second week, rising to 16.49% for the week ended May 8 as shown by the official data released on Thursday.

The food inflation stood at 16.44% the previous week, up from 16.04% for the week ended April 24.

Data on the wholesale price index (WPI) released by the commerce and industry ministry showed that food inflation rose though the index for this group dropped marginally during the week under review.

Desai scandal widens as CBI investigation continues

Within a month of his arrest in a corruption case, the CBI has unearthed clinching evidence against former Medical Council of India (MCI) chief Ketan Desai and initiated the process to register half-a- dozen more cases against him.

Sources said Desai who was arrested by the CBI last month on charges of seeking a Rs 2-crore bribe to help Gyan Sagar Medical College in Patiala, has been found to be involved in showering favours on several other private medical institutions. Not only has the CBI unearthed his movable and immovable assets worth over Rs 50 crore so far, but it has received over 100 complaints from across India.

Bank of Rajasthan (BoR) will be merged with ICICI Bank. A decision to this regard was taken on Tuesday by both the banks. According to ICICI Bank, the share swap ratio has been fixed at 25 shares of ICICI Bank for 118 shares of Bank of rajasthan.

ICICI Bank has entered into an agreement with Tayal family of BoR to effect the amalgamation with a share exchange ratio of 25 shares of ICICI Bank for 118 shares of Bank of Rajasthan. This is based on an internal analysis of the strategic value of the proposed amalgamation, average market capitalization per branch of old private sector banks and relevant precedent transactions, ICICI Bank in a statement said. The proposed merger would substantially enhance ICICI Bank's branch network, already the largest among Indian private sector banks, and especially strengthen its presence in northern and western India.

Power tariff to be hiked by Re.1/unit

Power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Thursday said that power tariff would go up by about Re 1 per unit (kwh) owing to the government's decision to hike gas prices on Wednesday evening.

"The power tariff would go up. We have not worked out the details, but it is likely to be about Re 1 per unit," Shinde told reporters on the sidelines of a Ficci event.

Power tariff is regulated by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).

Allahabad HC refuses to revive Babri Masjid Demolition case

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani and 20 others got a reprieve on Thursday with the Allahabad High Court rejecting a plea to revive criminal cases against them in the 18-year-old Babri Mosque demolition case.

The Lucknow bench of the court dismissed a plea of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to revive criminal cases against the accused.

In his 44-page judgement, Justice Alok Kumar Singh of the Lucknow bench of the high court said, "...Nothing is found against the correctness, legality, propriety or regularity in respect of any of the findings of the lower court".

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will keep liquidity ready to support the banking system cope with huge cash outflows following the just-concluded third- generation spectrum auction, its top officials said on Thursday.

The auction, that lasted 34 days, will generate USD 14.6 billion for the government, nearly double what it had earlier expected.

"I want to assure you that we are taking into account... we are monitoring the liquidity situation," RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said after a central bank board meeting in Thiruvananthapuram.

BJP's forthright poster boy, Narendra Modi, today embarrassed his senior party leaders by calling Maoists "our own people" and urging the government to sit down for talks with them. His statement came as a surprise to the top brass of the party that has been insisting on dealing with the Maoists with an iron hand. While defending the Gujarat CM, the party spokesperson blamed the media for misquoting him and said the issue was unnecessarily being blown out of proportion.

BJP later clarified that Modi was just responding to a question posed by a student on what his message was for the youngsters who are picking up arms. The statement by the Gujarat government's spokesperson read: "Narendra Modi was not asked about what the government must do to tackle Maoism and he has not responded to any such question... However, he is of the view that the government should not bow to the Maoists and strong action should be taken against those who are involved in killing innocent civilians."

Popular social networking site Facebook can now be accessed through mobile devices for free or without any data charges in 45 countries, including India, on select mobile networks.

Facebook, which has over 400 million users worldwide, has tied up with Indian wireless operators -- Reliance Communications and Videocon -- to make the site available for cell phone users with zero data charges.

For this purpose, the entity has launched a new site ’0.facebook.com’ that includes all key features of Facebook but is optimised for speed.

A sessions court here on Thursday deferred the verdict on plea for enhancing sentence of former Haryana police chief SPS Rathore in a molestation case to May 25.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Gurbir Singh deferred the verdict to May 25 saying since the judgment is lengthy it is being postponed by five days to provide time to complete the process of writing the judgement.

The Judge had on May 11 last fixed the verdict for today on the three pleas — one by the former DGP challenging his six month rigorous imprisonment for “outraging the modesty” of 14-year-old tennis player and two appeals by the victim’s family and the CBI seeking enhancement of the sentence awarded to him by the trial court.

Ruchika case Verdict postponed till May 25

Cyclone Laila lashes Coastal Andhra

Heavy rains lashed all the nine districts of coastal Andhra Pradesh on Thursday inundating low lying areas and disrupting normal life as the severe cyclonic storm, `Laila', in the Bay of Bengal, threatens to cause devastation.

Although it showed signs of weakening, `Laila' continued to be severe and travelling steadly towards the direction of Bapatla in Guntur district. According to a bulliten issued by the Indian Meteorological Department at 7 am, "the system is weakening due to wind shear and land interaction".

A Lucknow-bound Kingfisher Airlines flight with 166 passengers on board was grounded here on Thursday after an anonymous phone call warning of a bomb planted in the plane.

The aircraft was taken to a remote bay and all the 166 passengers have been deplaned, a Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson said.

The flight, IT-3149 was scheduled to take off from the Mumbai's domestic airport at 1645 hrs when the call came.

Tropical cyclone could Hit India & Bangladesh

Officials have issued a cyclone alert at ports in the eastern state of Orissa and begun preparations for mass evacuations amid fears of flooding.

Authorities in Bangladesh have also warned fishing boats to stay close to shore and not to venture into deep water.

Early monsoon rains increase the prospect of better rice, corn and soybean crops but cyclones are a regular hazard through the summer months.

Blockade affests transportation to Manipur

India is flying in emergency supplies to the remote north-eastern state of Manipur after key roads were blocked by separatists from a neighbouring state.

Road links were cut off by supporters of Thuingaleng Muivah, a rebel leader from Nagaland who has been denied entry to Manipur by the state government.

Mr Muivah's home village is in Manipur, which says allowing him to visit would inflame ethnic tensions.

The road blockade has led to a severe shortage of fuel and medicines.

Delhi Govt want Afzal guru to be hanged

Delhi government has backed death for Afzal Guru, sentenced in the Parliament attack case, sources.

Earlier on Tuesday, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said that the file on Afzal Guru's mercy petition has been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

"The letter goes from one department to the other. Neither the ministry writes it nor do I receive it. Moreover, that file has already gone," said the chief minister.

Time to change tactics against Naxals

On a day when over 30 people were killed in a Maoist attack in Dantewada, Home Minister P Chidambaram spoke exclusively to NDTV on a range of issues, including the government's Maoist strategy, Mamata Banerjee's demand for early polls in West Bengal and the need for a caste census.

Here's the full transcript of the interview with Home Minister P Chidambaram
on NDTV.com

Thursday, May 6, 2010

BCCI issues one more notice to Modi

The Indian Cricket Board on Thursday slapped suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi with one more show-cause notice for activities "detrimental to Indian Cricket, English Cricket and World cricket at large".

In a rather cryptic statement which did not reveal details, BCCI secretary N Srinivasan said the board acted on an e-mail from England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke.

Clarke wrote a mail to BCCI President Shashank Manohar and informed him about the activities of Modi that he found detrimental to the game of cricket.

India's World Twenty20 campaign has been dealt a huge blow after pacer Praveen Kumar was ruled out of the championship with an abdominal injury on Thursday.

Vidarbha pacer Umesh Yadav will be flying to the Caribbean as his replacement.

Praveen had sustained the injury during a practice session at the 3Ws Oval and the Indian team management sent him for an MRI which revealed a tear in abdomen muscle.

His injury happened just a day before India play their first Super Eight match with Australia.

Yadav also plays for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL. The 22-year old bowler has so far played 11 first-class matches and has picked 42 wickets

Petrol & Diesel to cost more in 13 cities

Petrol and diesel prices will go up by up to 50 paise a litre from Wednesday midnight in 13 big cities, including Delhi and Mumbai, where cleaner Euro-IV grade fuel will be supplied from Wednesday, government official said.

Petrol price in Delhi will go up by Rs 0.50 per litre to Rs 47.93 a litre and diesel by Rs 0.26 to Rs 38.10 a litre on account of supply of cleaner Euro-IV fuel, the official said but did not wish to be identified.

Thirteen big cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Surat, Ahmedabad, Pune and Sholapur will move from Euro-III grade fuel to Euro-IV from April 1. Rates will vary from city to city depending upon local taxes.

44 Deemed Varsities allowed to admit students this year

The Supreme Court Thursday declined a plea by the Human Resource Development ministry to restrain 44 deemed universities - facing the prospect of being derecognised - from admitting students for academic session 2010-11 commencing July.

A bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra also declined a plea by the Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam that the admission for the coming academic year to these deemed universities should be subject to the final outcome of the hearing of the matter.

Japan to help India build 'SMART' city

Having provided funds and expertise for the metro rail, Japan will now help India build futuristic smart city with minimal pollution, maximum recycling and consumption-efficient public transport system.

The project, which will also include 11 investment regions and 13 industrial areas, is being touted as the next big thing in the country's urban infrastructure space.

After roads, ports and airports, now cities will be built via public private partnership.

After months of waiting, Vodafone as launched the much awaited Rs.700 phone in India starting May 5.

The phone, the cheaper one amongst the two low-cost handsets goes by the name Vodafone 150. The interesting thing about this launch is that the phone is not network locked - in spite of being sold by Vodafone. Vodafone, however, offers free connections and low calling rates for users who purchase the phone and use a Vodafone SIM.

25 Yr arrested on charges of raping his Friend's Mom

A 40-year-old woman was allegedly raped by her son's friend in Pune.

The 24-year-old accused was arrested following a complaint filed by the woman at Chinchwad police station.

According to the complaint, the accused called on the woman at her residence saying her son was lying in an inebriated condition on the nearby Ravet road. He then took the anxious woman in his car to get the boy and raped her by parking the vehicle at a remote spot.

Woman alleges Gangrape at her husband's behest on Dowry issue

A woman in her early 20s, today alleged she was gangraped by her husband's friends at his behest as she had not been able to meet his dowry demands.

The woman narrated her tale of woes to Director General (Administration) Swaranjit Singh, a police department spokesman said.

The woman, who belongs to an affluent Dalit family from Ahar village in Panipat district, alleged that her husband, a Jat from Naru-Kheri village in Karnal, had been harassing her to bring more dowry ever since the two got married in April 2009, the spokesman said.

2 Judgements on Ambanis case

The Supreme Court’s verdict on the Mukesh Vs Anil Ambani case is due on Friday, and it’s likely that there will be two judgements.

The Ambani dispute was heard by a three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, KG Balakrishnan.

The Supreme Court’s list of cases for Friday shows that Justice P Sathasivam and Justice B Sudershan Reddy will deliver separate judgements. If the two judgments don’t concur, the majority opinion will prevail.

Haratalu Halappa, who quit as Karnataka minister on Sunday following rape charges, seems to have gone into hiding prompting police to stick notices at his residences for appearance before them by May 10, an official said here Thursday.

Police did not find Halappa at his residences in Bangalore, his assembly constituency Sorab in Shimoga district, about 270 km from Karnataka's capital , and the room at the Legislators' Home in Bangalore.

Faisal shahzad still under investigation; arrested on Times Square failed car bombing case

U.S. officials say a Pakistani-American charged with an attempted car bombing in New York City is cooperating with investigators as they try to determine a motive for the planned attack. Faisal Shahzad was arrested late Monday and charged with trying to blow up a sports utility vehicle in crowded Times Square on Saturday. Meanwhile, authorities in Pakistan say they have made arrests in connection with the failed car bombing.

The man charged with numerous counts of terrorism was born in this tiny northwestern village known as Mohib Banda. Faisal Shahzad's father is a retired air vice marshal in the Pakistani military. He comes from an upper-middle class family. Neighbors in this town of 5,000 are saddened by the news.

Muivah postpones his visit in Manipur

Manipur is simmering after the state government banned T Muivah, a Naga separatist leader, from visiting his ancestral village in Manipur's Ukrul district.

Although the Nagas in Manipur were eager to receive him, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh stopped Muivah's homecoming, leading to a big standoff at the border.

Two women were killed in clashes with the police, and 50 people were injured, all of them Naga protestors, most of them women.

Ajmal Amir Kasab was convicted for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, India’s worst terror attack, on the basis of evidence gathered against him and not on the basis of his confession, Home Minister P.Chidmbaram said on Thursday.

“Kasab was convicted not on the basis of his confession but on the basis of the evidence gathered against him,” he said while replying to a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the functioning of the Home Ministry.

Plot to omb MNC in Hyderabad disrupted

Police have disrupted a Lashkar-e-Taiba plot to bomb the Hyderabad offices of multinational Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu — one of the four largest auditors in the world.

Hyderabad resident Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq, held over the weekend in the course of a National Investigation Agency-led operation, was planning to attack Deloitte's Hi-Tech City offices using grenades supplied by the Lashkar, police sources said.

30 physically challenged persons among 875 candidates passed in Civil services exam

Of the 875 candidates who cleared the Civil Services Exam, 30 are physically challenged, it was announced on Thursday.

Among the 30, 14 are orthopaedically challenged, five are visually-impaired and 11 are hearing-impaired, the Union Public Service Commission said.

A total of 680 male and 195 female candidates have been recommended for appointment to the prestigious Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service and other central services.

Shah Faesal, a doctor from Kashmir, has topped the civil services examination. Prakash Rajpurohit, a BTech from the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, has bagged the second position while Iva Sahay from the Jawaharlal Nehru University has secured the third position. Ms. Sahay is the topper among women candidates.

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