Daily News: August 2010

30 hrs gunbattle ends in Kashmir's Uri district

Edited by Naved Khan Tuesday, August 31, 2010 11:14 AM 0 comments

Jammu: After more than 30 hours of fierce gunbattle, the Uri encounter ended. All nine infiltrators have been killed and the bodies have been handed over to the police. It is the biggest infiltration bid foiled this year.

Twelve AK rifles, five GPS units, two satellite phones, one mobile phone, eight radio sets, Rs 1 lakh and a computer hard disk were recovered from the infiltrators, sources said.

The major encounter started on Sunday evening. The army on Sunday foiled a major infiltration bid in the area late.

Chinese troops in PoK a matter of concern: India

Edited by Naved Khan 11:13 AM 0 comments

New Delhi: The Indian government on Monday said the presence of Chinese army troops in Pakistan-administered Kashmir would be a matter of "serious concern" if these media reports were proved to be authentic.

"If true, it would be a matter of serious concern and we would do all that is necessary to ensure safety and security of the nation," external affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said.

Match-fixing: will the ICC act tough now?

Edited by Naved Khan 10:34 AM 0 comments

New Delhi: With serious doubts raised over the ability of the International Cricket Council to snuff out the problems blighting the game, world cricket's governing body is under pressure to exhibit a "zero-tolerance approach" while dealing with the Pakistani players involved in the match-fixing row.

Dutch police arrest 2 terror suspects on flight

Edited by Naved Khan 10:34 AM 0 comments

Washington: Police in Amsterdam arrested two men who came in on a flight from Chicago. The two men have been charged with preparing a terror attack.

Reports said the men were arrested "at the request of American authorities," and the investigation is still going on.

Pachauri to stay despite IPCC report row

Edited by Naved Khan 10:33 AM 0 comments

New Delhi: After a string of scandals on "incorrect" reports - some respite for the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) chairman Rajendra Pachauri. He will stay on as the chairman of the UN Climate panel. An UN probe into the working of the IPCC called for a total review of the report.

Pachauri on Monday said he would not quit despite an independent review finding flaws in its structure and suggesting shortening the chair's 12-year term limit.

Eng-Pak ODI series will go on: ICC

Edited by Naved Khan Monday, August 30, 2010 9:10 PM 0 comments

Mumbai: International Cricket Council (ICC) president Sharad Pawar said on Monday that Pakistan will complete its England tour and the T20 and ODI series will go ahead as scheduled.

"It is the desire of the ICC, England and Pakistan that the game is continued," Pawar said after a teleconference with top ICC officials, PCB Chairman Ejaz Butt and ECB chairman Giles Clarke. Pakistan and England square off in two Twenty20 Internationals (September 5 and 7) before playing five ODIs from September 10-22.

Match-fixing net widens, more games 'rigged'?

Edited by Naved Khan 9:09 PM 0 comments

New Delhi: International Cricket Council president Sharad Pawar on Monday ruled out any action against Pakistani players over a match-fixing scandal until investigations are completed.

"We have discussed it within the ICC and have decided to wait for the police investigation report," Pawar told reporters. "After that we have to take a viewpoint of the two boards, in this case the Pakistan Cricket Board and the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Match Fixing: Cops recover cash from players

Edited by Naved Khan 9:08 PM 0 comments

London: The London police has recovered large quantities of cash from the rooms of Pakistani cricketers who are allegedly involved in match fixing in the fourth Test against England that ended on Sunday.

"Several Pakistani cricketers were found with large quantities of bank notes in their London hotel rooms by police investigating claims of a betting scam run by a middleman who boasted that he controlled up to seven players and could arrange for international matches to be fixed," according to a report in The Independent here on Monday.

Pres daughter's name dragged in Pune land row

Edited by Naved Khan 9:26 AM 0 comments

Pune: In Maharashtra, a new controversy is brewing and the name of the Indian President is being dragged into the allegations. Reports suggest that 37 acres of government controlled public land in a small village here is being quitely taken over for private use by Pratibha Patil's daughter.

Cartoonist RK Laxman suffers stroke, hospitalised

Edited by Naved Khan 9:25 AM 0 comments

Pune: Eminent cartoonist RK Laxman was admitted to the command hospital here on Sunday night after he suffered a stroke, hospital sources said.

Laxman, who is widely regarded as India's greatest-ever cartoonist and is best known for his creation The Common Man, was "responding" to the treatment, they said.

Pak Match Fixing: Players shown in sting video

Edited by Naved Khan 9:24 AM 0 comments

London: More video footage which could implicate two new players of the Pakistan cricket team in allegations of corruption was released by British tabloid News of the World on Sunday.

The video shows arrested bookie Mazhar Majeed taking cash from the undercover reporter of the tabloid and putting it in a jacket. Majeed is seen telling the undercover reporter that he needs to pay 10,000 pounds in advance before Pakistani players could be introduced to him.

Pranab backs Mamata's remark on Azad

Edited by Naved Khan Sunday, August 29, 2010 5:27 PM 0 comments

Kolkata: UPA's key trouble shooter, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, on Sunday backed the Trinamool Congress Chief and Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying she's not contradicting the government's position on the killing of Naxal leader Azad.

Mukherjee also said that Mamata is free to invite Naxals for talks, if she thinks the issue can be tackled through dialogue.

We will give a good CWG: Sheila Dikshit

Edited by Naved Khan 5:26 PM 0 comments

In 'Devil's Advocate', Karan Thapar talks with the Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, about the work progress for the Commonwealth Games.

Karan Thapar: Hello and welcome to 'Devil's Advocate'. With just 35 days to go, the residents of Delhi are scared that their city could be reduced to gridlock, chaos and confusion by the Commonwealth Games. Here to discuss that question is the Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit.

RTI activist found dead after exposing sand mafia

Edited by Naved Khan 5:24 PM 0 comments

Maharashtra: Ramdas Ghadegavkar, a Right to Information (RTI) activist from Nanded was found dead under mysterious circumstances.

Ghadegavkar was also a Shiv Sena leader and the head of the district Milk Sellers Association.

The Shiv Sena leader had exposed the thriving sand mafia in the region through the RTI act and had lodged a complaint reporting the same.

Naxals kill 5 security personnel in encounter

Edited by Naved Khan 12:03 PM 0 comments

Chhattisgarh: Five security personnel, including three BSF jawans, killed in an ambush by Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district.

The gun fight is taking place between the Border Security Force (BSF), State Police and the Naxals. The gunbattle has been going on since 5 am.

A joint team of BSF and district police was attacked by the rebels in Bhuski village under Durg Kondal police station in the district while they were conducting routine search operations in the wee hours, Superintendent of Police, Kanker, Ajay Yadav said.

Sohrabuddin case: Geeta alleges harassment

Edited by Naved Khan 12:02 PM 0 comments

New Delhi: In the latest turn of events in Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, IPS officer Geeta Johri has written to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) alleging harassment at the hands of investigators.

This comes after Geeta had filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court on Saturday.

PM to visit Commonwealth Games sites today

Edited by Naved Khan 12:01 PM 0 comments

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to visit the Commonwealth Games sites on Sunday, for an on-the-spot inspection of the facilities and state of preparedness.

The official said the Prime Minister had expressed his wish to visit the sites when he chaired the meeting of ministers and senior officials on August 14 -- just 50 days before the October 3 to October 14 mega events.

Tri-Series: SL take charge with Dilshan's 100

Edited by Naved Khan Saturday, August 28, 2010 5:35 PM 0 comments

Dammbulla: A twin strike by India didn't come in way of Tillakaratne Dilshan's century that stamped the hosts' authority on the final of the tri-series competition at Dambulla on Saturday, as they look to take the game away from India.

Openers Tillakratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene gave their team a dream start by adding 121 runs for the first wicket.

IPL: BCCI chief says Lalit Modi a liar

Edited by Naved Khan 5:35 PM 0 comments

Mumbai: The BCCI on Saturday threw its weight behind secretary N Srinivasan and rejected suspended IPL chairman Lalit Modi's allegations that the senior official fixed the 2009 players' auction.

BCCI president Shashank Manohar told reporters after the working committee meeting in Mumbai that Modi's accusations against Srinivasan, who owns the Chennai Super Kings team, were "blatant lies".

Army behind my son's death: Captain's mother

Edited by Naved Khan 5:34 PM 0 comments

New Delhi: The mystery behind the death of Indian Army officer Captain Sumit Kohli is yet to be solved. While Army claims that Captain Kohli committed suicide, his family has been maintaining that the young officer was murdered.

Captain Kohli's mother Veena Kohli met Defence Minister AK Antony on Saturday in New Delhi and insisted that her son didn't commit suicide but was murdered.

Firing outside US consulate in Peshawar

Edited by Naved Khan 11:39 AM 0 comments

Peshawar: Firing has been reported near the US consulate at Peshawar in Pakistan on Saturday morning and troops have surrounded the area.

But the police maintained the building was not the intended target. Local media claimed the firing that began at 5 am is still on between unidentified gunmen and security personnel.

False alarm on Jet Airways plane triggers panic

Edited by Naved Khan 11:38 AM 0 comments

Mumbai: Fifteen Jet passengers were injured at the Mumbai airport on Friday night when a Chennai-bound flight aborted takeoff due to a technical glitch.

Passengers on board were in for a scare when a fire alarm went off shortly before the plane took off. The alarm triggered a minor stampede as passengers rushed to evacuate. But now the airline says it was a false alarm.

Sohrabuddin case: Johri files curative petition

Edited by Naved Khan 11:37 AM 0 comments

Ahmedabad: In a dramatic twist to the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, IPS officer Geeta Johri has filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court alleging that policemen are being put under pressure to implicate Gujarat political heads involved in the case.

She has also demanded that special director of CBI Balwinder Singh be removed as a supervising officer citing conflict of interest.

Cong rebuffs PC, says terror has no colour

Edited by Naved Khan Friday, August 27, 2010 7:30 PM 0 comments

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday sought to distance itself from Home Minister P Chidambram's "saffron terror" remarks, saying that terror has no colour.

Congress General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi rebuffed Chidambaram after the BJP and Shiv Senademanded a withdrawal of Chidambaram's comments and stalled the Rajya Sabha over the issue.

Delhi will be debris-free by Sept 10: Sheila

Edited by Naved Khan 7:29 PM 0 comments

Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit has promised that the capital's roads would be cleared of all debris and construction material by September 10. Speaking to CNN-IBN's Karan Thapar, Dikshit said the deadline of September 10 to remove all the Commonwealth Games related construction debris will be met.

Talks with Pakistan must continue, says PM

Edited by Naved Khan 7:28 PM 0 comments

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said insisted that dialogue with Pakistan must continue even though elements in Pakistani establishment sanctioned attacks on Indians in Afghanistan.

The Prime Minister made the statement while addressing heads of Indian mission at a conference in New Delhi. He said despite difficulties and Pakistan's misbehaviour, India must learn to engage its neighbour.

"Pakistan has tried to block us in Afghanistan and elements in Pakistani establishment underwrote attacks on Indians in Afghanistan including the Kabul Embassy bombing. Despite all problems dialogue must continue," he said.

New tax code cleared, exemption slabs hiked

Edited by Naved Khan 8:54 AM 0 comments

New Delhi: Union Cabinet on Thursday cleared the new Direct Tax Code Bill that proposes to raise the basic exemption limit for individual tax payers from Rs 1.6 lakh to Rs 2 lakh. So there will be no tax on incomes below Rs 2 lakh. The exemption for senior citizens has been raised to Rs 2.5 lakh, up from 1.4 lakh at present.

US visa fee hike may hurt economic ties: India

Edited by Naved Khan 8:54 AM 0 comments

New Delhi: The hike in the US visa fee for foreign skilled workers could impact the wide-ranging bilateral economic relationship with India, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

"The government has expressed its strong concerns at the legislation, stating that such steps by the US government adversely affect the Indian software industry's interest in the USA and impact the broader bilateral economic relationship," External Affairs Minister SM Krishna told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

He admitted that while the provision is not country-specific, it would disproportionately "affect Indian software companies adversely as a large number of H-1B and L visas are availed by them".

Don't want to be separated from India: Farooq

Edited by Naved Khan 8:53 AM 0 comments

New Delhi: Union minister for new and renewable energy Farooq Abdullah on Thursday appealed to Parliament to listen to the heart of Kashmiris.

"Those who have died in the firing in Kashmir do not want money, they want justice," he said while admitting Kashmir was not a simple problem.

Rahul Gandhi backs tribals in Vedanta war

Edited by Naved Khan Thursday, August 26, 2010 3:06 PM 0 comments

Bhubaneswar: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has backed the tribals’ cause in Orissa’s Niyamgiri hills, which is the hotbed of the Vedanta controversy.

This is the place where UK-based Vedanta group has set up a refinery unit. Rahul’s visit comes two days after the Centre refused to give an environment clearance to Vedanta's bauxite mining project.

Cong's given 'supari' to CBI to finish me: Modi

Edited by Naved Khan 3:05 PM 0 comments

Gujarat: Narendra Modi has lashed out at the Congress once again.

Speaking at a public function in Ahmedabad, the Gujarat chief minister said the Congress has given a 'supari' to CBI to finish him politically and stop the progress of his state.

Satyam founder Raju appears in court