Daily Latest News

Nityananda held in Himachal, to be flown to Bangalore Thursday
India to become largest DTH market by 2012: Study
I hope ‘Phoonk 3′ is never made: Karan Johar
MPs of BSP urged PM to sanction to develop international airport in Greater Noida
Fake Doctor Arrested in South Delhi
Pan-India 3-G licence price crosses Rs.6,500-cr mark
State Bank of Mysore net profit up 32% in 2010
Punjab and Haryana Wednesday moved closer to the 130 lakh tonnes wheat mark
Duhamel wants 7 Children with Fergie
Palace on Wheels, Royal Rajasthan on Wheels equipped with live TV
2 burnt alive in Haryana arson, 25 held
David Beckham offered rap lessons by hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg
BJP’s Show of Strength over Price Rise Cripples Delhi
BJP Apologises to Delhiites for Traffic Chaos
Delhi Assembly Says Ex-Speaker yet to Return Items
Sri Lanka’s Ruling Party wins Parliamentary Elections
Court issues notice to Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia
Cricket Teams to Follow Original Travel Schedule
Seven injured, 11 missing after oil rig blast in US
Swami Nityananda held in Himachal, to be Flown to Bangalore Thursday

Nityananda held in Himachal, to be flown to Bangalore Thursday

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 11:12 AM PDT

Self-styled godman Swami Nityananda, who was arrested Wednesday from a Himachal Pradesh village along with four others, would be flown to Bangalore Thursday and presented to a local court for remand, police said.

“Nityananda and his accomplice Nithya Bhaktananda alias Gopal Seelam Reddy will be brought to Bangalore Thursday and produced in the local court at Ramangara district, about 40 km from here,” Karnataka Corps of Detectives (CoD) Director General of Police (DGP) D.V. Guruprasad told IANS in Bangalore.

Nityananda, Reddy along with the three other accused were presented in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (Shimla) Yashwant Singh Chogal, who sent Nityananda and Reddy to four days’ transit remand to Bangalore, late Wednesday night.

Earlier in the day, a joint team of Karnataka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Himachal Pradesh police took Nityananda and Bhaktananda into custody from a village near Arki town in Solan district, about 50 km from Shimla.

“Nityananda was staying in a house for the past few days,” Himachal Additional Director General of Police I.D. Bhandari told IANS in Shimla.

Along with the godman and his accomplice, three other followers were also taken into custody.

“Himachal police got a fax from the Karnataka police April 17 that they had information that Nityananda was hiding in Himachal Pradesh. Subsequently, two deputy superintendents of police reached Shimla for investigation,” Bhandari said.

“The Karnataka police came to know about Nityananda’s whereabouts through a mobile call he had made,” Bhandari added.

The 32-year-old Nityananda alias Rajashekaran has been on the run since March 3 after video footage telecast showed Nityananda in bed with two women. He denied any wrongdoing and has not been seen in public since then.

“The godman is wanted in connection with two cases registered in Coimbatore and Chennai last month but transferred early this month to Bidadi, about 35 km from Bangalore, under various IPC (Indian Penal Code) sections,” Guruprasad said.

The charges include obscenity, criminal intimidation, rape and hurting religious sentiments.

Nityananda and Bhaktananda were presented before a local magistrate in Solan for a transit warrant and will be taken to Bangalore.

“A probe team searched the godman’s ashram ‘Dhaynapeetam’ at Bidadi again Tuesday and seized incriminating documents and 23 computer hard disks,” Guruprasad said.

In an earlier raid last month, the CID seized three laptops, eight mobiles, Rs.300,000 and $7,000 in cash and travellers’ cheques from the godman’s ashram premises.

In a related development, the Karnataka High Court Wednesday rejected Nityananada’s anticipatory bail plea and his petition to quash the criminal cases against him.

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India to become largest DTH market by 2012: Study

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 10:51 AM PDT

India will become the largest DTH (direct-to-home) market in the world in terms of subscribers by 2012, overtaking the United States, according to a recent study.

According to the report published by Media Partners Asia (MPA), DTH subscribers here will climb from a net installed base of 17 million in 2009 to reach 45 million by 2014 and 58 million by 2020.

MPA is a Hong Kong based leading provider of information services covering media and communications markets.

By 2009, 15 percent of India’s pay-TV homes had at least one set-top box. This will grow to 38 percent by 2014 and almost 50 percent by 2020 with HDTV gaining more traction after 2010, driven by DTH satellite networks, the study said.

The study predicts digital cable will grow to 17 million subscribers by 2014 and 29 million by 2020 while cable broadband, a key driver of future cable sector profits, will grow from 850,000 homes in 2009 to three million by 2014.

“We are more positive on India’s DTH opportunity than previously, especially when anchored to consolidation and improved pricing power with continued growth,” MPA executive director Vivek Couto, said in a statement.

~ Rest Continues Below ~

“We suspect the DTH market will consolidate from six to four platforms within three to five years, and estimate four will be making money at the EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) level by FYE March 2013… The major risk to all our growth assumptions is regulation, which continues to commoditise and destroy industry value,” he added.

Projections from the report suggest that pay-TV subscribers will grow from 105 million in 2009 to 149 million by 2014 and 173 million by 2020.

This means pay-TV penetration will grow from 78 percent in 2009 to more than 90 percent in the long-term. Cable will retain 70 percent market share by 2014, falling to 64 percent by 2020, while DTH will scale up to almost 35 percent share in the long-term.

Total pay-TV subscription revenues will grow at an average annual rate of 14 percent over the next five years and 10 percent over the next decade, reaching $8 billion by 2014 and more than US$12 billion by 2020.

Revenues from HDTV and VAS (including VOD, HDTV and PVR) will contribute more than $500 million by 2014, rising to $1.5 billion by 2020.

The report also suggests that a resurgent economy, an expanded pay-TV market and the growth of regional media should help bolster pay-TV advertising growth to an average annual rate of 14 percent over the next five years, and 10.5 percent over the next decade.

MPA sees the total pay-TV advertising market reaching US$3.2 billion in 2014 and US$5.1 billion by 2020.

Tags: India to become largest DTH market by 2012: Study

I hope ‘Phoonk 3′ is never made: Karan Johar

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 10:41 AM PDT

Bollywood director Karan Johar hit out at filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma here Wednesday, expressing hope that the latter’s third instalment in the scary franchise “Phoonk” is never made.

“I have heard that Ram Gopal Varma has said that the scariest movie he has ever watched is (my) ‘Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’… I haven’t watched ‘Phoonk’ and ‘Phoonk 2′ but I hope ‘Phoonk 3′ is never made,” Johar told reporters in his signature tongue-and-cheek fashion.

MPs of BSP urged PM to sanction to develop international airport in Greater Noida

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 10:32 AM PDT

A group of MPs of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Wednesday called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and urged the central government to give sanction to a proposal to develop a new international airport in Greater Noida.

“A delegation of MPs today (Wednesday) gave a memorandum to the prime minister, urging him to give due consideration to the state government’s proposal for setting up an international airport at Jewar (village), where sufficient land has already been identified and earmarked for the purpose,” an official spokesperson said here.

The two dozen MPs are believed to have impressed upon the prime minister that the proposed international airport could be the best alternative to the existing Indira Gandhi International Airport at New Delhi, which has been completely saturated with the increased flow of air traffic.

Earlier in February, a similar delegation of BSP MPs had submitted a memorandum with the same request to Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel but they failed elicit any assurance.

The Uttar Pradesh civil aviation department has reportedly prepared a blue-print to further expand the proposed airport into a full-fledged aviation hub in the long run.

The proposed Greater Noida airport is also expected to ease travel for international tourists heading to the Taj Mahal at Agra.

“With the Taj Expressway getting completed by the end of the year, the driving time between Greater Noida and Agra would be reduced to less than an hour,” the spokesman said.

Tags: bahujan samaj party bsp, civil aviation department, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Uttar Pradesh

Fake Doctor Arrested in South Delhi

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 10:29 AM PDT

A fake doctor was arrested in south Delhi for forging his certificate and practicing medicine without required qualifications , police said Wednesday.

J.K. Sharma, an active member of the Delhi Medical Association (DMA), used to practice at his dispensary at Mirpur in Lajpat Nagar area, police said.

The DMA received a complaint about Sharma and in subsequent investigations the association found that Sharma was not even a graduate.

“After we received a complaint by a patient named Uttam Singh, our investigations found that Sharma was not even a graduate, a police complaint was filed Friday,” a senior DMA official told IANS.

According to police, investigations were carried out and Sharma was arrested after his credentials were checked.

“We received a complaint about a fake doctor, our investigations found that he had forged his degree,” a senior police officer said.

Sharma was sent to judicial remand Wednesday.

Tags: fake doctor, south Delhi

Pan-India 3-G licence price crosses Rs.6,500-cr mark

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 10:27 AM PDT

India Wednesday completed 58 rounds of an auction to award radio frequency spectrum for third generation telecom services in the country, with the provisional winning price for a nationwide licence crossing Rs.6,500-crore mark.

At the end of the 10th day of the auction, which began April 9, the provisional winning price for a pan-India licence stood at Rs.6,634.31 crore, up 90 percent from Rs.3,500-crore reserve price fixed by the government.

According to latest data available on the website of Department of Telecommunications, Delhi remained the hot favourite amongst bidders attracting the highest bid at Rs.771.11 crore, followed by Mumbai receiving a price of Rs.708.81 crore, Tamil Nadu Rs.682.92 crore and Maharashtra Rs.663.15 crore.

The provisional winning price, at the end of 58th round, stood at Rs.607.52 crore for Karnataka, Rs.590.21 crore for Andhra Pradesh and Rs.571.85 crore for Gujarat, which had attracted the highest bid for three consecutive days last week.

Again, Orissa, Assam and Jammu and Kashmir could not attract even a single player.

The 3G services will facilitate much faster connectivity than what is available now and enable applications such as Internet TV, video-on-demand, audio-video calls and high-speed data exchange.

Slots for three-four players are available in each of the 22 circles into which the country has been geographically divided for these services.

The government has already given Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) spectrum for 3G services on the condition that they will pay the same licence fee as would be levied on private players after the auction.

Along with the fee that will be eventually paid by the two state-run enterprises for the licences, the government will provisionally get at least Rs.26,891.82 crore from the auction.

This is on the presumption that every available slot gets filled at the provisionally approved price.

Communications Minister A. Raja said the government hopes to get around Rs.45,000 crore from the ongoing auctions to award radio frequency spectrum for 3G telecom services and for rolling out broadband wireless internet services.

Nine telecom companies — Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices, Aircel, Etisalat, S Tel and Videocon Telecommunications –are participating in the online auction process.

It is a simultaneous auction for 22 circles over a secure website. At each round, the price is hiked from between 10-1 percent based on demand.

The auction is being held from 9 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. on all days, except Sundays and national holidays. The process will end only when the demand is equal to the number of slots available in each circle.

The bid data, including the winning companies’ names, will be made public after the auction’s completion and approval by the government. The winning firms will have to deposit the money within 10 days after the auction.

The successful bidders would be allowed to offer 3G services on a commercial basis from Sep 1

Tags: 3g services, BSNL, internet tv, radio frequency spectrum, third generation

State Bank of Mysore net profit up 32% in 2010

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 10:22 AM PDT

The State Bank of Mysore (SBM), an associate bank of the State Bank of India (SBI) in Karnataka, posted net profit of Rs.446 crore for fiscal 2009-10, registering 32 percent growth year-on-year (YoY), a top bank official said Wednesday.

“The net profit for the fiscal was bolstered by a whopping 148 percent growth in the fourth quarter (Jan-March) with Rs.124 crore as against Rs.50 crore in the same quarter in the previous fiscal (2008-09),” SBM managing director Dilip Marinkurve told reporters here.

Similarly, the bank’s operating profit for the fiscal under review shot up 43 percent YoY to Rs.937 crore on account of 48 percent YoY growth in net interest income to Rs.1,237 crore from Rs.398 crore year ago.

Net interest margin improved to 3.19 percent from 2.47 percent year ago.

“As interest income grew 9.6 percent YoY, we were able to reduce interest expense by 3.6 percent by retiring high cost bulk deposits and borrowings and by increasing low-cost current and savings deposits during the fiscal under review,” Marinkurve said.

Net worth increased by 24 percent YoY to Rs.2,022 crore from Rs.1,619 crore.

Aggregate deposits increased to Rs.38,440 crore, registering a growth of 19 percent YoY, while total advances grew 15 percent to Rs.29,874 crore.

“In the absence of strong demand for credit from the corporate sector, we focused on personal segment advances for its asset growth to lend Rs.760 crore more than in the previous fiscal (FY 2009), registering 19 percent YoY. Rs.400 crore were advanced towards vehicle loans and Rs.100 crore towards housing loans,” Marinkurve noted.

The bank’s gross and net non-performing assets (NPAs), however, increased substantially to Rs.595 crore from Rs.368 crore and to Rs.300 crore from Rs.129 crore respectively.

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Punjab and Haryana Wednesday moved closer to the 130 lakh tonnes wheat mark

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 10:20 AM PDT

Foodgrain states Punjab and Haryana Wednesday moved closer to the 130 lakh tonnes mark of wheat arrival this season in the first 20 days of the procurement this year, food and supplies department officials said here.

The total wheat arrival this season is six lakh tonnes higher than the arrival in the same period last year in both states.

Punjab and Haryana together contribute over 50 percent of the total foodgrain to the national kitty.

Food and supplies officials in Punjab said that government agencies and private millers procured more than 75.16 lakh tonnes of wheat till Tuesday evening compared to 71.31 lakh tonnes last year.

Wheat arrival in Haryana crossed the mark of 53.15 lakh tonnes till Tuesday evening compared to 50.75 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period last year.

Nearly 99.9 percent of the wheat arrival has been procured by government agencies.

Tags: HARYANA, punjab, wheat

Duhamel wants 7 Children with Fergie

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 10:18 AM PDT

American singer Fergie’s husband Josh Duhamel plans a big family as he wants to have seven children with her.

The “Transformers” star recently admitted the pair is planning to start a family and he doesn’t want to stop with one kid.

“I have always loved kids, I am happy with one, but I will take seven,” dailystar.co.uk quoted him as saying.

Duhamel also reveals the couple have contemplated adoption.

“I would love to adopt, especially the more you learn about the kids that are out there that need parents. I am a supporter of adoption,” he added.

Tags: american singer, dailystar, Fergie, Josh Duhamel

Palace on Wheels, Royal Rajasthan on Wheels equipped with live TV

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 10:15 AM PDT

Indian luxury trains – Palace on Wheels and Royal Rajasthan on Wheels – have been equipped with live TV with DishTV, a direct-to-home (DTH) service provider, using the latest technology for entertainment in trains for the first time.

“We started the pilot run about a year back and installed one antenna and the customers are very happy to be at ease even on the move in the train thanks to live TV whether it is the Indian Premier League (IPL) or the recent volcanic eruption,” Samir Juneja, project head – Mobile DTH, told IANS, before the departure of the Palace on Wheels from a station here Wednesday.

“A very thin electric antenna has been developed for the first time for the Indian market by high-end technology called phased-array. The train could be moving in any direction and at any speed, it auto tracks our satellite at all times and receives seamless digital signal,” he added.

Salil Kapoor, COO of DishTV, said that before “proposing our Mobile Train technology for these prestigious luxury trains we first got our technology approved from RDSO (Research Design and Standards Organisation)”.

The service offers 110 digital channels with a bouquet including news, entertainment, regional and sports.

Pramod Sharma, general manager, Rajasthan Tourism Development Corp. Ltd., shared positive response from the passengers.

“Our guests who expect the best in luxury are pleasantly surprised to see Live TV facility available on these trains. They are enjoying IPL and English Premier League matches on the move,” said Sharma.

“Being connected with the world with live news from both national and international channels is a great facility when one is travelling through a remote desert,” he added.

The second phase looks at live TV on each seat in these trains.

At the moment, there is one antenna on Palace on Wheels and two on Royal Rajasthan on Wheels. The transmission suffers only when a train passes through a tunnel.

“The idea after this is to go to Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains,” said Juneja.

DishTV is already providing the service to Kingfisher Airlines and Indian naval ships and private yachts.

Tags: indian luxury trains, palace on wheels, rajdhani, royal rajasthan, shatabdi, tv facility

2 burnt alive in Haryana arson, 25 held

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 10:13 AM PDT

An elderly Dalit man and his 18-year-old physically challenged daughter were Wednesday burnt alive after they were trapped in a house torched by members of a dominant community in an arson attack in Haryana’s Hisar district, a top police official said.

The victims were identified as 70-year-old Tara Chand and his daughter Suman. Police have arrested 25 people in connection with the incident allegedly linked to enmity between two communities.

“Some miscreants resorted to arson in village Mirchpur and damaged property. We have arrested 25 miscreants. The situation has been brought under control,” said Ranjiv Dalal, Haryana police chief, here Wednesday.

He added, “The incident occurred when youths belonging to two different communities started quarrelling with each other on some minor issue while bathing at a canal in the village. Anti-social elements exploited the situation and created a ruckus.”

Dalal confirmed that two persons – an elderly man and a physically challenged girl – were killed and some houses were torched by the miscreants.

“District superintendent of police has been camping in the village and extra force has been rushed to the spot. We would make sure that trial is conducted in a fast track court and the guilty get exemplary punishment,” stated Dalal.

Dalal also appealed to the people to maintain peace and calm.

Police sources said the incident was a result of an old enmity between the two communities.

“Some members of the Dalit community had beaten up youths from a dominant community after an altercation related to eve-teasing. The local panchayat (village council) intervened and got a compromise done between the two parties,” said a police official, on condition of anonymity.

“To take revenge on the Dalits, the youths from a dominant community burnt their houses after pouring kerosene,” the official said.

Tags: dalits, exemplary punishment, HARYANA, hisar

David Beckham offered rap lessons by hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 10:08 AM PDT

Football star David Beckham has been offered rap lessons by hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg after both became friends while shooting an Adidas advertisement together.

“Beckham and I go way back. He’s like a brother. I’m gonna show him to rap, for shizzle. He’s my boy. He was terrific with my kids and they had a great time as he taught them how to shoot and score the perfect goal,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted Snoop as saying.

Snoop has also promised the pair will star in more Adidas advertisements together.

“The Adidas ad was unbelievable. You had four classic brands – Snoop Dogg, David Beckham, ‘Star Wars’, Adidas. With a formula like that it’s gonna be off the chain. Be on the lookout for more of that in 2010 – we got more for yo a*s. We’ve spoken, yeah, it’s gonna be huge. Huge. I love soccer just as he loves hip-hop,” he added.

Tags: David Beckham, hip hop artist, snoop dogg, Soccer

BJP’s Show of Strength over Price Rise Cripples Delhi

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 09:34 AM PDT

Tens of thousands of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists laid siege to the capital Wednesday, nearly crippling it, to denounce rising food prices. It was the party’s first show of strength since president Nitin Gadkari took charge in December.

The scorching summer heat of the day, however, took its toll as Gadkari briefly feinted when he led a mammoth procession from the Ramlila Ground towards parliament, about four km away. Senior colleagues immediately held the 53-year-old and helped him take rest on the road.

The central parts of the capital were hit hard by traffic jams as police closed several roads for the BJP rally early in the day and the procession in the afternoon.

The BJP rally also disrupted parliament as its MPs trooped out of the Lok Sabha en masse. It drew supporters from many parts of the country, most of them from neighbouring states. Many came to the venue in buses.

Besides Gadkari, a string of BJP veterans, including its star leader L.K. Advani and former president Rajnath Singh, hit out at the government for what they said was its failure to check the spiralling prices of food and other essential commodities.

“Whenever Congress comes to power, prices of essential commodities shoot up,” Gadkari told the rally at Ramlila Ground, pointing out that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi had vowed to tame food prices within 100 days of taking office.

Instead, he said, poor people, farmers in particular, were committing suicides, unable to withstand the high cost of living.

Both he and Advani alleged that the government’s economic mismanagement and corruption were two key factors for the price rise.

“They have wrong economic policies and are providing bad governance,” Gadkari added, as boisterous activists waved the party’s saffron and green flags and chanted anti-government slogans.

Driven primarily by high food prices, India’s annual rate of inflation was 9.9 percent last week, up from 9.89 percent a month ago.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said that the party will unseat the ruling party if did not check escalating prices of essential commodities.

“Either check price rise or quit office,” she said.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said that the Congress-led government has failed on all fronts.

“Whether it is security or fighting terrorism, Maoism and corruption, the government has failed on all fronts,” he said.

Gadkari alleged that food stocks were rotting in warehouses and accused the government of not doing enough to preserve them so that these could be later sold to liquor makers cheaply.

Rajnath Singh was at his sarcastic best.

Referring to the ugly Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket row, he said that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was “worried about IPL and not BPL (Below Poverty Line) people”.

Former BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi accused Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, a key functionary in India’s cricket board, of paying more attention to cricket than food inflation and the farm economy.

“People are angry. The policies of the government are not in the interests of the common man,” he said, adding that the gulf between the rich and the poor was widening.

Both Singh and Joshi complimented Gadkari over Wednesday’s rally.

“This kind of successful rally… I could not organise as the president,” said Rajnath Singh, who headed the BJP when it lost the second consecutive Lok Sabha election in 2009.

Advani called it the biggest rally the party had organised in Delhi. “In one way, it has beaten the records of all previous (BJP) rallies.”

Senior BJP leaders including Gadkari, Advani, Swaraj and Jaitley were “arrested” and “immediately released” by the police while they were on their way to parliament as part of party’s march against price rise. A senior party leader said that police stopped the leaders midway and announced their symbolic arrest and release.

The rally hit traffic movement across central Delhi, disrupting traffic on Tilak Marg, Asaf Ali Road, Netaji Subhash Marg, Ranjit Singh Marg, Tolstoy Marg, Sikandra Road, Barakhamba Road, Parliament Street and Ashoka Road – most of which lie in the city’s heart. Also hit were Mathura Road and Ring Road, two of the capital’s busiest roads.

Tags: BJP's Show of Strength over Price Rise Cripples Delhi

BJP Apologises to Delhiites for Traffic Chaos

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 09:32 AM PDT

Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari Wednesday apologised to Delhiites for the “inconvenience” caused to them as the party’s massive rally against rising prices led to traffic jams on the city roads.

“I personally apologise on behalf of the BJP to the people of Delhi, NCR (National Capital Region) and the neighbouring states for the inconvenience caused to them due to the traffic disruptions during the rally,” Gadkari said in a statement released here.

Traffic crawled across central Delhi through Wednesday morning to evening as thousands of BJP workers gathered for the rally, the first show of strength for Gadkari.

The rally hit traffic movement across central Delhi, disrupting traffic on Tilak Marg, Asaf Ali Road, Netaji Subhash Marg, Ranjit Singh Marg, Tolstoy Marg, Sikandra Road, Barakhamba Road, Parliament Street and Ashoka Road — most of which lie in the city’s heart. Also hit were Mathura Road and Ring Road, two of the capital’s busiest roads.

Gadkari, who feinted briefly due to the scorching summer heat as he led a mammoth procession from the Ramlila Ground towards parliament, about four kilometres away, also thanked workers and party members for their contribution in having an “unprecedented turnout” at the rally.

Tags: Bharatiya Janta Party, Nitin Gadkari

Delhi Assembly Says Ex-Speaker yet to Return Items

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 09:28 AM PDT

Former Delhi speaker Chaudhary Prem Singh is yet to return some items, given to him when he was holding the office, an assembly reply to a Right to Information (RTI) application has revealed. An aide to Prem Singh, however, said the information was “untrue”.

According to the Delhi assembly’s reply to a query of RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal, items like computers, printer, scanner and others worth nearly Rs.191,920 have not been returned by the former speaker.

The reply stated that several items like VCR, tables and chairs, cooler, electric kettle, TV trolley, amplifier, vacuum cleaner, dinner set, room heater given to him when he held the speaker’s office have not been returned till Monday (April 19). The items are worth Rs.149,922.

It said that the ex-speaker, who at present is a legislator from Ambedkar Nagar constituency, has not returned two mobile phones, two cordless phones and a digital system worth Rs.331,047.

To Agrawal’s query if Singh’s monthly pension was stopped for recovery of cost for non-returned items, the assembly in its reply said: “The MLA is not eligible for pension but from December 2008 onwards no salary is being paid to him. No other steps have been taken except stoppage of his pay by the secretariat.”

The assembly also stated that the Indian consulate general in New York has demanded dues of $960 from Singh for accommodation of his son and daughter-in-law who accompanied him during his trip.

However, in his reply to the assembly over dues of $960, Prem Singh said his tour to the US was official and his expenditure towards accommodation was required to be paid by the assembly secretariat.

Singh is one of the senior most leaders of the Delhi Congress and has not lost an election in the last 50 years. He has won all elections on a Congress ticket from the Ambedkar Nagar constituency in south Delhi since 1958.

When contacted on his official mobile, an aide of Prem Singh said: “It is untrue and there is nothing like it. Can a person, who is winning election for last 50 years, do such a thing?”

Tags: Delhi Assembly Says Ex-Speaker yet to Return Items

Sri Lanka’s Ruling Party wins Parliamentary Elections

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 09:05 AM PDT

Sri Lanka’s ruling alliance secured a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections, according to official final results announced Wednesday after a re-vote in two districts.

The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa secured 4.8 million of the votes, or 60.3 percent. The United National Party (UNP) received 2.3 million or 29.3 percent, marking the worst defeat for the opposition since 1977.

The UPFA took 144 of the 225 seats in Parliament, falling six seats short of the two-thirds majority needed to make changes to the constitution.

The UNP led by former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe won 60 seats.

A Tamil minority party known as the ITAK took 14 seats, with the Marxist Democratic National Alliance winning seven.

The parliamentary elections were held April 8, but the final results awaited a re-vote in two electoral districts due to irregularities.

Of the 14 million registered voters, 8.6 million or 61 percent turned out in the April 8 election, the first since the military defeat of the separatist rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May.

Former plantation industries minister DM Jayaratna was sworn in as prime minister before President Rajapaksa Wednesday evening. The new cabinet is to be named Thursday or Friday.

A former Tamil rebel leader, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna, who was in the previous UPFA government, has been nominated to Parliament from the ruling UPFA.

Karuna in 2004 broke away from the rebels and helped the government security forces to fight the Tamil militants.

Meanwhile, former army commander General Sarath Fonseka, who was elected to parliament as a candidate of an opposition Marxist party, obtained the Defence Ministry’s clearance to attend the inaugural parliamentary session Thursday.

A military spokesman said that the ministry has informed the parliamentary secretary-general that Fonseka could attend the inaugural session.

Fonseka is facing court martial proceedings on allegations of conspiracy against the government and irregularities in contracting procedures while serving as the commander and is currently in military custody.

He spearheaded the army’s successful operation against the Tamil rebels last year, but later fell out with Rajapaksa and unsuccessfully ran against him in January’s presidential polls.

His party claims the accusations are a vendetta following the fall-out with Rajapaksa.

In the parliamentary elections, Fonseka ran as a candidate of the Democratic National Alliance and has been elected to parliament to represent the capital district of Colombo.

Tags: elections, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka

Court issues notice to Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 08:32 AM PDT

A local court Wednesday issued notice to Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, industrialist Ness Wadia and two others from a firm that owns Indian Premier League’s Kings XI Punjab team for not showing their balance sheet to officials.

Chief judicial magistrate Jasbir Singh Sidhu issued notice to the four KPH Dream Cricket Private Limited owners after the registrar of companies (ROC) for Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh filed a criminal suit against them under various sections as they were not sharing their balance sheets.

In its petition, the ROC alleged that the firm incorporated in March 2008 should have filed the annual return within 60 days from the day of its Annual General Meeting (AGM). The AGM was held in September 2009 but the company failed to file any return.

“The accused company did not provide us the copies of balance sheet and the details of profit and loss. The court has issued notice to the owners of this company and the next date of hearing is July 24,” the petitioner’s lawyer told reporters here Wednesday.

Tags: Kings XI Punjab team, Ness Wadia, Preity Zinta

Cricket Teams to Follow Original Travel Schedule

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 08:23 AM PDT

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Wednesday said the participating teams of World Twenty20 will travel to the Caribbean as per the original schedule following the relaxation of air travel restrictions across Europe.

ICC was ready with a contingency plans to airlift teams to the West Indies from Dubai with the ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano causing a huge backlog of flights across Europe.

The air travel restrictions eased in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe following the reduction of the ash cloud.

“I am delighted to say that the teams will now fly to the West Indies as originally scheduled. I want to thank both Emirates and the ICC executive for working so hard to ensure that we had a back-up plan to transport teams to the Caribbean,” ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.

The Afghanistan team, which was scheduled to travel to Trinidad via London last week, will now fly via London to the Caribbean in the next few days.

Tags: icc, World Twenty20

Seven injured, 11 missing after oil rig blast in US

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 08:04 AM PDT

At least seven people were critically injured and 11 were missing after an explosion at an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, the US Coast Guard said Wednesday.

The explosion took place about 11 p.m. EST Tuesday on the Deepwater Horizon rig, situated 52 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana, said Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Mike O’Berry.

At the time of the explosion, 126 people were on board the rig, O’Berry was quoted as saying by CNN.

Several people were hospitalised, including at least two, who were taken to a mobile trauma centre.

“A substantial majority of the 126-member crew is safe, but some crew members remain unaccounted for at this time,” said Transocean Ltd. which owns the drilling unit.

The company said its crisis teams were working with the Coast Guard and lease operator BP Exploration and Production Inc to “care for all rig personnel and search for missing rig personnel”.

The Coast Guard said it sent helicopters from New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, to help evacuate people from the rig and look for those missing. The Coast Guard also sent four cutters to the drilling platform.

“The names and home towns of injured persons are being withheld until family members can be notified,” the company said.

Tags: 11 missing after oil rig blast in US, Seven injured

Swami Nityananda held in Himachal, to be Flown to Bangalore Thursday

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 08:02 AM PDT

“Nityananda and his accomplice Nithya Bhaktananda alias Gopal Seelam Reddy will be brought to Bangalore from Solan via New Delhi Thursday by flight and produced in the local court at Ramangara district, about 40 km from here,” Karnataka Corps of Detectives (CoD) Director General of Police (DGP) D.V. Guruprasad told IANS in Bangalore.