Top Stories of the Week
Samuels in match-fixing scandal
Indian police stunned the cricket world late Wednesday when they accused West Indian all-rounder
Marlon Samuels of dealing with an illegal bookmaker during a recent One-day series in India.
Indian cricket board vice-president Shashank Manohar said the report from the police in central Nagpur, where the alleged incident took place, had been passed on to the International Cricket Council (ICC).
"The ICC and its anti-corruption unit will deal with what is obviously a very serious accusation," Manohar told reporters. "It concerns a foreign player. The Indian board can't take any action."
There was no immediate reaction from the Dubai-based offices of the ICC, but Samuels, 26, denied any wrongdoing.
"I don't do such things man," Thursday's Times of India quoted Samuels as saying. "I have not done anything wrong. The West Indies Cricketers' Association will take up the matter if necessary."
Amitesh Kumar, deputy police commissioner of Nagpur, said Samuels released important team information to the bookmaker during the first One-day international, citing tapped telephone conversations between the pair.
Kumar told reporters on Wednesday that Samuels had five conversations with the bookmaker, identified in the calls as Mukesh Kochar, although there was no evidence money had changed hands.
India won the match against the West Indies on January 21 by 14 runs.
"We have recorded information that Samuels leaked important team information to Kochar from his hotel room in five telephone calls on January 20 and 21," Kumar said.
"We do not have evidence if any financial commitment was made. All I will say is the link between the player and the bookie is a violation of the ICC Code of Conduct for players."
Labels: breaking news, international, sports
Tata Steel bids for Corus acquisition
Jan 31 2007 :
Tata Steel is set to become the world's fifth-biggest steelmaker after winning a bid battle for Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus Group by agreeing to pay 6.2 billion pounds ($12 billion).
Britain's Takeover Panel said in an e-mailed statement that after an auction Tata Steel had agreed to offer Corus investors 608 pence per share in cash, topping a final bid of 603 pence from Brazilian Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN).
Both offers were right at the top end of what analysts had thought possible and will now be put to Corus investors, who have no reason not to accept the higher price.
Corus was not immediately available for comment.
The auction process, following a takeover tussle that began in earnest when Tata Steel offered 455 pence per share on Oct.
20, started at the close of trading in London on Tuesday when Corus shares ended 0.5 percent higher at 563 pence. CSN and Tata Steel were keen to buy Corus to become significant players in the consolidating steel industry, where Dutch-based Mittal Steel last year bought Luxembourg's Arcelor to create the world's biggest steelmaker, Arcelor Mittal.
The 608 pence Tata Steel is set to pay values Corus at around seven times its forecast earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for 2006, well above the multiple Mittal Steel paid for Arcelor which was 4.6 times historic EBITDA.
Ahead of the auction, called last week by the Takeover Panel to bring the bid battle to an end, CSN had the upper hand after it had made a bid worth 4.9 billion pounds ($9.6 billion) or 515 pence per share, accepted by Corus on Dec. 11, hours after it had accepted a 500 pence offer from Tata Steel.
The battle pushed Corus's share price to seven-year highs and pitted 70-year-old Tata group chairman Ratan Tata, from one of India's best-known business families, against Benjamin Steinbruch who at 52 is one of Brazil's most famous executives as chief executive and main owner of CSN.
Ratan Tata has transformed the once-staid Tata group since taking over as chairman in 1991. He has cut the number of companies in the group from over 300, and acquired new businesses with growth potential.
Tata Steel has spent more than $400 million in recent years to buy Singapore's NatSteel and Thailand's Millennium Steel, and other group companies have also made acquisitions outside India.
On Oct 17 2006 Tata Steel announced that it had made a ten billion dollars acquisition offer to Corus Group Plc, the largest steel maker of the UK.
In a statement, the company said it had made an ''indicative non -binding offer to acquire 100 per cent equity'' in Corus Group Plc and discussions in this regard were on with the Borad and Management of the UK company.
Labels: breaking news, international, others
Attack on Nithari Killers
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday produced Moninder Singh Pandher and Surendra Koli, prime accused in the Nithari serial killings, in a special court here.
The duo was severely beaten up by a group of lawyers and public in the premises of the court here, where they were produced by the CBI. Some lawyers caught Pandher by his hair and repeatedly punched him on his face and rained blows on him. Unable to withstand the attack, the businessman became unconscious and fell to the ground.
The policemen surrounding them had a tough time controlling the angry crowd. The CBI has registered 19 cases against them. Uttar Pradesh Police had on December 29 recovered skulls and human remains from a drain behind Pandher's D-5, Sector 31 residence in Noida, unearthing the serial killings of children and women allegedly killed by him and his domestic help Koli.
Asked if the lawyers claimed to have been named in the case were absconding, SP (city) Govind Agarwal said: "Well, not really. We have obtained lots of TV news footage and newspaper photos for identifying many more individuals guilty of thrashing Pandher and even roughing up policemen. Stern action will be taken." from
Times Of IndiaLabels: breaking news, national, terror attack
Reality Show Winners
Actor Rahul Roy has won Big Boss, one of India's biggest reality shows. Model Carol Gracias and Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishen were the last to be evicted.
All former contestants came together to celebrate the occasion. Rahul Roy walked away with Rs 50 lakh prize money after three months in the house.
Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty stormed to victory on Britain's ''Celebrity Big Brother'' after her treatment on the television show sparked fears of racist bullying that escalated into an international row.
Shetty, whose victory will be seen as a triumph for racial equality in Britain and India, beat 13 other contestants, including those who were accused of tormenting her.
But the 31-year-old was quick to play down allegations that she had been the victim of racial abuse on the show, unaware the spat had already drawn tens of thousands of complaints, dominated headlines and even prompted a sponsor to pull out.
''Things happen and people make mistakes and we are all human beings and we are all fallible,'' said Shetty after emerging victorious from the specially-designed Big Brother House, where she had been cooped up for 26 days under 24-hour surveillance.
''I know one thing for sure, Jade really didn't mean to be racist,'' she said, referring to shamed television star Jade Goody who was a central figure in the furore.
''I really don't want to leave England putting anyone in trouble,'' added Shetty in an interview on Channel 4, which broadcasts the controversial series .
Labels: breaking news, entertainment
Bangalore violence
Night curfew was clamped in part of the City even as a 12 year-old boy was killed in police firing and more than 30 people injured in fresh violence that broke out during a 'Shobha Yatra' taken out by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on 21st January 2007.
The curfew, clamped as precautionary measure, would be in force till morning in Bharatinagar area and depending upon the situation decision would be taken to withdraw.
Police said the boy was killed at Kamaraj road when the police opened fire after lobbing of tear gas shells and lathi charge was proved to be futile to disperse the mob which indulged in torching vehicles besides pelting stones on roadside shops.
More than 40 vehicles including buses, autorickshaws and two wheelers were damaged and torched and scores of shops were damaged in stone pelting.
More than 30 people, including six police personnel, who were injured in violence were admitted to various Hospitals.More than 300 people were taken into custody in connection with the violence.
In other two areas Shivajinagar and Halasur police limits Prohibitory Orders under section 144 were clamped. Large scale violence broke out during 'Shobha Yatra' taken out by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists.
No fresh incidents of violence was reported last night in the trouble hit areas where night curfew had been clamped.
Additional Police Commissioner Bipin Gopalakrishna said the curfew in Shivajinagar, Bharatinagar and Halsur, Tannery Road, K G Halli and Thimmaiah Road last night, was relaxed in the morning.
Labels: breaking news, national, politics, terror attack
Postmortem identifies 3 missing children
Three of the four
highly decomposed bodies found in an abandoned rice sheller of former
Congress MP Jagmeet Singh Brar last night, were today identified as those of children of the migrant Bawaria families who had been reported missing for almost two months.
Speaking to UNI, IG Bathinda Range Mr V K Bhawra, said three of the children were identified as Ashki (9), Ratni (13) and one boy Satbir (10) after the post mortem carried out at the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital at Faridkot this morning.
The fourth highly decomposed body could not be identified. As the bodies were half-burnt, the identification was extremely difficult, he said.
Mr Bhawra said a BDR was entered by the police on the complaint of the parents and the missing report was flashed on the local TV Channels and newspapers.
Some people, including a woman belonging to Bawaria tribe hailing from Rajasthan, named by the missing children's families were questioned by the police after raids carried out throughout last night and in the day, he said.
However, nobody has been arrested so far, Mr Bhawra said.
The bodies of children with their
hands tied were found by a police patrol party from the deserted rice sheller, which had not been in operation since the last few years. The patrol party had gone to the godown to make arrangements for the stay of police personnel during the coming 'Maghi' mela here.
The incident, coming close on the heels of Noida's Nithari serial killings, has sent shockwaves in the state poised for assembly polls next month.
The firebrand Congress campaigner, Mr Brar, when contacted stated that the rice mill owned by his family, had been closed for the last five years. He said the matter be thoroughly investigated adding that he would fully cooperate with the police.
Commenting on the political ramifications of the matter, Mr Brar admitted he even had rivals within the Congress party itself and stressed that he would like the truth to come out.
Labels: breaking news, national
CBI probe and Forensic tests for Noida killing
Stating that Uttar Pradesh government had ultimately bowed to public pressure by agreeing on a
CBI probe into the killing of innumerable children at Nithari village in Noida, the BJP today said the investigation should start immediately.
The two accused of Nithari killings,
Moninder Singh Pandher and
Surinder Koli were put through various psychological tests today at the Forensic Science Laboratory here.
Noida Deputy SP Dinesh Yadav, who accompanied the accused from Delhi, told newspersons near the FSL that they had requested the officials here to conduct three tests --
narco-analysis,
lie-detector and
brain mapping -- in order to probe the missing gaps.
''The tests are part of the investigations, and are being done on court orders,'' Mr Yadav said.
Asked about the possibility of a link to organ trade, the DSP said, ''The case would be probed from every possible angle.'' Refusing to to give a time-frame for completion of the tests, the FSL Director said it could take at least three to four days. ''It depends on the personality and the mental status of the accused.
They are human beings, nothing can be fixed. But it might take three to four days,'' he added.
He said the FSL here was recognized as number one in the country and declared as the national resource centre by the Centre.
''The laboratory has various facilities in narco-analysis, psychological profiling, and lie-detection, among others, of international standards,'' the Director said.
Several important cases like the
Madhumita murder case,
Anara CD analysis,
Telgi case, and others were brought here for investigations.
Labels: breaking news, national
Violence in Nandigram, West Bengal
The situation in Nandigram, West Bengal that witnessed a mob violence on Wednesday, remained under control even though tension simmered as villagers put up barricades to cut-off the area from rest of the state, official sources said today.
Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray said the situation in Nandigram, in East Midnapore district, was under control but tension still prevailed in the area.
A large contingent of police had been posted in the area after the mob fury in which 20 people, including 14 cops, were injured following a reported government move for acquisition of 22,500 acres of land for two proposed Special Economic Zones (SEZs) by the Indonesian Salim Group.
The incident took place even before the political situation in Singur over the land acquisition by Tatas cooled down.
However, the state government denied having issued any notification for land takeover in the area saying the violence was ''deliberate'' and it was made to happen on the basis of a rumour.
Labels: breaking news, national, terror attack
ULFA strikes Assam
Separatist militants gunned down 10 people in two attacks in restive Assam on Sunday, bringing the death toll in a wave of rebel violence since Friday night to 67, police said.
Hundreds of soldiers and police raided insurgent hideouts in jungles of the northeastern state after two days of coordinated rebel strikes.
Police blamed the attacks on the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), which has been fighting for the independence of Assamese people in a conflict that began almost three decades ago and has killed thousands of people.
"We are going all out against the ULFA," Tarun Gogoi, Assam's chief minister, told Reuters.
"Massive combing operations have started and additional troops are being rushed to the affected areas."
Rebel attacks have increased since September after the ULFA and New Delhi called off peace talks and government troops ended a truce. Since then, the rebels have bombed crowded markets and railway stations, killing dozens of civilians.
The weekend wave of violence started late on Friday with the gunning down of 48 labourers and traders. An explosion on Saturday killed seven people, including four policemen.
The attacks continued on Sunday with the rebels killing 12 people, including nine labourers at a brick kiln and two supporters of the ruling Congress party in the oil- and tea producing state, police said.
Security officials said the attackers had fled to the mountains of neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh.
Last week the ULFA warned non-Assamese businessmen and labourers of dire consequences if they continued to live in Assam, accusing New Delhi of flooding the state with outsiders to reduce the indigenous Assamese population to a minority.
Labels: breaking news, national, terror attack
Lathicharge on irate villagers - Noida
On January 1st 2007, Police claimed to have recovered arms and chemicals from the residence of the accused in the serial killing of children and women in Sector 31
Nithari village here.
Searches carried out Dec 31st, 2006 at the house of Mohinder Singh Pandher led to the recovery of a rifle, a revolver and some chemicals, said a police official.
''Some pornographic CDs and literature were also found during the overnight search operation.'' Blood stains were also found at two places inside the palatial house of
Pandher (60), a manufacturer and supplier of earth movers and bulldozers, said the official adding that the chemical and samples of blood stains sent for forensic examination.
Meanwhile, on Sunday (Dec 31st, 20060) police resorted to
lathicharge on irate villagers in Nithari village who pelted stones on forces deployed there after they tried to enter the 'killer house' at about 1500 hrs by breaking the barricading put there. The mob also vandalised Noida medical centre and broke a few ambulances.
In wake of mounting agitation against the brutal killings, the State government has announced a compensation of
Rs 2 lakh for the victims' families. The state government had ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident, fixing the responsibility of those guilty of laxity in conducting investigations, which would submit its reports in three days.
Former UP chief minister and Bahujan Samajwadi chief
Mayawati visited the Nithari village and demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident. "We will also write a letter to UP Governor. We also request Central Government to impose President's rule in the state,” she said.
Surendra was arrested on Friday and he allegedly
confessed to sexually abusing and murdering at least seven children after police found the skeletons following a tipoff. The remains of the children were found buried in plastic bags behind a water tank in the house of a businessman for whom Kohli worked in Noida.
The businessman,
Mohinder Singh, and a medical store owner were also arrested, but police have refused to say whether they had any direct involvement in the killings. The police say after the bodies, many of them in parts, were found, the alleged killer, a domestic servant at the house, confessed to luring at least seven children to the home and killing them.
Labels: breaking news, national
Serial Killing in Noida
The police here have arrested a serial killer and later dug out skeletal remains of several children from a 'nullah' in Nithari village area of the city.
City SSP R K S Rathore told UNI that a mobile was seized from the possession of the arrested accused -- 30-year-old Surender.
A sack containing clothes and slippers of children was also recovered from the place where the killer resided, said Superintendent of Police Soumitra Yadav adding that the entire 'nullah' was being searched.
Police also said that during interrogation, the accused admitted to raping and later killing several girls found missing from the area earlier. He later threw their bodies in the 'nullah'.
Meanwhile, a huge crowd gathered at the 'site' where police were digging out skeletons from the 'nullah' after news spread that the killer involved in the killing of several children had been arrested.
As many as 38 children have been missing in the last one-and-a-half years from the area.
The police has dug up the lawns of the 'killer house' in Nithari village as part of continuing efforts to probe the serial killings of women and children at the place. However, ''nothing suspicious'' was found in the night-long digging of the non built-up area at 'D-5 Nithari Gaon' in Noida's Sector 31, according to top police sources.
''Though nothing concrete has been found in the digging, the final word would be out only after laboratory tests are conducted on the unearthed substances.'' The digging was undertaken to find out if some bodies had been buried inside the house as well, the sources added.
Meanwhile, several members of the victims' families today met the two-member enquiry panel and asked for ''liberal assistance'' to begin life anew. They demanded that at least one member of each affected family be given a government job and a 25 sq metre plot for building a house.
Speaking to the affected families, after visiting the 'killer house' in Nithari Village this afternoon, Mr Katiyar empathised with them and regretted that a'' pittance'' was announced as compensation by the state government.
''At least Rs ten lakh should be given to all those who had suffered for so long at the hands of the killer,'' he said.
Labels: breaking news, national
Saddam Hussein executed
US-backed Iraqi television station Al Hurra said Saddam Hussein had been executed by hanging shortly before 6 a.m.(0830 hrs IST) on Dec 30th 2006.
The former Iraqi president ousted in April 2003 by a US-led invasion was convicted last month of crimes against humanity over the killings of 148 Shi'ite villagers from Dujail after a failed assassination bid in 1982.
An appeals court upheld the death penalty on Tuesday. Iraq's government has kept details of its plans to conduct the execution completely secret amid concerns it could spark a violent backlash from his former supporters.
Arabic satellite channel Arabiya said Saddam Hussein's half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and former judge Awad al-Bander were also executed by hanging today. Four car bombs targeting Shi'ites in Baghdad and a town south of the capital killed more than 70 people, hours after Saddam Hussein was hanged amid fears of revenge by his Sunni Arab supporters.
In Baghdad, three car bombs exploded in quick succession in the mainly Shi'ite neighbourhood of Hurriya, killing 36 people and wounding 77, an Interior Ministry source said. Police in Kufa, near the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf, said 36 people were killed and 58 wounded by the car bomb at a market packed with shoppers ahead of the week-long Eid al-Adha holiday.
They said a mob killed a man they accused of planting the bomb in the town about 160 km south of Baghdad. The attacks came the same day as Saddam was hanged for crimes against humanity, prompting fears of a violent backlash by his supporters among his fellow Sunni Arabs.
While the attacks may have been a swift response to the execution, such bombings are common in a country where at least 100 people die on average every day in bombings, mortar attacks and death squad killings. Though today's bombings may have been planned independently of the execution.
They were typical of the cycle of sectarian violence that is driving both Shi'ites, Sunni Arabs and others from their homes, increasingly dividing Baghdad and surrounding areas on sectarian grounds. Bombs frequently provoke reprisals from militias, whose practice is to kidnap, torture and shoot their victims, leaving the bodies dumped in places where they will intimidate.
A formerly mixed neighbourhood, Hurriya, where the three car bombs struck on Saturday, has become increasingly dominated by Shi'ites as Sunni Arabs have been driven out by threats and attacks.
Saddam's execution was welcome by Shi'ites and Kurds, who were oppressed under his rule, but many in the once dominant Sunni Arab minority were angry and all sides feared it could spark even more violence.
Labels: breaking news, international
Manu Sharma convicted for Jessica murder case
Setting aside his acquittal by the trial court, the Delhi High court today convicted
Manu Sharma for murdering model
Jessica Lall more than seven and a half years ago.
Besides, co-accused Vikas Yadav and Amardeep Singh were held guilty of destroying evidence.
All the three were directed to be taken into custody forthwith.
A Division Bench headed by Justice R S Sodhi and Justice P K Bhasin called ''positively perverse'' the judgment of the trial court acquitting Manu Sharma on February 21 this year.
They severely criticised the judge of the trial court for making an immature assessment of the material on record, which is self-contradictory, based on misreading of material.
The judges agreed with CBI counsel Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium that the trial court wrongly believed a case of the prosecution that two shots had been fired by two people from as many different pistols even as it was never the case of the prosecution.
The court disdainfully dismissed the two-gun theory, bolstered by senior counsel 
Ram Jethmalani trying to make Jessica, the victim, look like an accused provoking a tall Sikh man into firing a shot.
''Much was sought to be made of the report of the ballistic expert, Roop Singh, saying the empty cartridges recovered from the place of occurrence appear to have been fired from two weapons. His report cannot be relied upon, not evidenced under the law laid down by Code of Criminal Procedure,'' the judges said.
Second opinion of another ballistic expert, Prem Sagar Manocha, categorically stating it impossible to say whether the cartridges have been fired from two different weapons was also doubted by the judges, calling him unreliable.
''The two-weapon theory appears to be concoction of the defence and a manipulation of evidence, in particular of Shyan Munshi who for the first time in court introduced such a theory,'' the judgement said.
The Bench said the trial court had also erred in holding the three witnesses hostile. The trial court grossly erred in manner of appreciation of testimonies of the witnesses, the judges added.
The trial court arrived at a factually wrong finding, not borne out from the evidence on record to the effect that she thought that he had fired a shot at Jessica Lall and that she was not an eye witness, said the judges.
The court set aside the defence argument that Bina Ramani, owner of the Tamarind Cafe, where Jessica was killed on April 29, 1999, and a prime witness, had been under constant pressure from the police to toe their version.
The judges further showered praise on Ms Ramani, calling her, ''the only brave person present in that party to muster courage to face the shooter while others claiming to be socialites did not have the courage to raise a little finger to apprehend the culprit whom Bina was chasing and shouting that he had shot Jessica.'' The recovery of a Tata Safari from Noida further helped the court hold Manu guilty. Manu's allegation of being falsely implicated under a political design didn't convince the court wondering as to why on earth every body would conspire against him. More so, when Manu had not been able to name the politican he considered to be behind the scheme.
Another nailing evidence against Manu was the recovery of two empty cartridges from the place of crime that matched with the mutilated lead bullet recovered from the skull of Jessica. The court said Manu could not produce either a licensed pistol or 25 rounds to prove the prosecution wrong.
A hearing on the quantum of sentence has been posted for December 20.
December 20th, 2006 (Wednesday): Delhi high court sentenced manu sharma to life imprisonment in jessica lall murder case.
Delhi high court also sentenced vikas yadav and tony gill to four years rigorous imprisonment.
Labels: breaking news, national, others
Lalu-Rabri are accquited of charges
In the much-awaited judgment on the Disproportionate Asset case, the CBI special court today acquitted Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi, observing that the prosecution had failed to prove its charges.
In his voluminous judgment running into over 150 pages, special judge Munilal Paswan said the prosecution had failed to prove its allegations in the DA case.
The court said the judgement was mainly based on the findings of Income Tax Apellate Tribunal (ITAT) and the tax returns of the VIP couple were accepted by the ITAT. The judgment was also based on the findings of the Supreme Court in the writ petition filed by Lallan Singh, alleging tampering of trial evidence in the DA case by Mr Prasad.
Labels: breaking news, national, politics
AIIMS RDA on hunger strike
As soon as the Lok Sabha passed the controversial OBC reservation bill, twelve members of the AIIMS Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) went on flash hunger strike in protest.
However, services in the world renowned healthcare institution will not be affected and the doctors will continue to work. The angered doctors accused the government of ''betraying'' them and failing to secure the interest of the masses.
''The Government had assured us that the interest of the masses will not be compromised.... But neither recommendations of Moilly Committee have been included nor our demands considered,'' RDA member Dr Binod Patra said.
The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Bill, 2006, provides for 27 per cent quota for OBC students in elite educational institutions maintained and aided by the Central Government.
He said the Government did not even wait for courts to pronounce their verdict on the contentious issue. ''When the matter is subjudice what was the hurry to rush the bill. We are not against any section or society but only want merit to be given priority,'' he added.
The AIIMS RDA is holding talks with other organisations and colleges for support on the strike. It will hold its General Body Meeting (GBM) tomorrow to decide the future course of action.
The AIIMS RDA, under the banner of Youth for Equality, had started and spearheaded the anti-quota agitation since May.
The doctors have appealed the public to support the anti-quota agitation.
In the Lok Sabha, Union Human Resource and Development Minister Arjun Singh said a separate Bill was under preparation to provide reservation in unaided educational institutions also.
''The Bill is consistent with Constitutional provisions and will meet the goal of equity and social justice,'' he added.
The government would take further steps to provide reservation in private institutions of higher learning only after taking all political parties into confidence.
Labels: breaking news, national, politics
Trade Union strike paralyses life in Bengal
The 24-hour nationwide strike began in West Bengal this morning, paralysing normal life.
Official sources said no untoward incident had so far been reported from anywhere in the state and the strike was peaceful. All shops and markets, educational institutions and commercial establishments remained closed, while factories, coal mines and tea gardens recorded negligible attendance.
No vehicle rolled out on the street and train services from Howrah and Sealdah were severely affected. No flights had taken off from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport so far since morning following cancellation by authorities.
However, near normal functioning was reported from the state's IT hub in Salt Lake Sector Five as the authorities had made prior arrangements for overnight stay of the employees.
The strike was called by the National Platform of Mass Organisations (NPMO), a combine of 56 mass organisations in protest against the "anti-people" policies of the UPA Government and pressing for a 16-point charter of demands.
CPI(M)'s frontal wing CITU, a major constituent of the NPMO, worked overtime to make the strike a success with support from the Left Front Government. CITU, however, had claimed that no force would be used to ensure the strike's success by obstructing anybody from joining duty. But UNI car was stopped on the VIP road and the driver was heckled. Police had to intervene to bring the situation under control.
Though Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee ordered all arrangements to ensure that willing people could go to their work places, transport workers in the Government and private did not join duty making it impossible for anybody.
Labels: breaking news, national, politics
Shibu Soren gets life imprisonment
A Special CBI court today sentenced former Union Minister Shibu Soren to life imprisonment in the Shashinath Jha murder case.
Special CBI judge B R Kedia also asked the JMM chief to cough up Rs five lakh as compensation for Jha's family. Shashinath Jha was murdered in 1994 by Nandkishore Mehta on Shibu's instructions. The court also handed down life imprisonment to four other convicts, including Mehta, in the case. The court had held Soren guilty of Jha's murder on November 28.
The four other convicts were also asked to pay Rs 25,000 each as fine to the court. Soren is to pay Rs two lakh each as compensation to Jha's daughters, Preeti and Babita, besides Rs one lakh to his mother Priyambada Devi. Describing the sentence as unfair, Shibu's son Hemand Soren told sources that they would appeal against the sentence when they read the entire judgement.
He also added that Shibu would not resign from the Lok Sabha.
Defending Shibu, noted criminal lawyer R K Anand had pleaded before the court to take a lenient view while handing down the quantum of the sentence. His argument centered around Shibu's political career. Soren is ''good enough to earn probation'', he said.
Soren had to resign from the Union Cabinet after the CBI court held him guilty of conspiring to murder Jha. Shibu played a central role in the design blurring the distinction between a principal agent and a conspirator, CBI counsel A K Singh argued citing the judgments in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's murder and the Parliament attack cases.
The conspirators were given the same sentence as the actual perpetrators in both cases, according to the CBI.
The CBI alleged that Soren deprived Jha of customary last rites.
Jha's corpse had been thrown to dogs.
One of the convicts, Nandkishore Mehta, earned himself a JMM ticket to contest the assembly elections by killing Jha on Soren's instructions.
One of the reasons behind the murder, the CBI said, was that Soren and Jha fell out over sharing the kick-offs offered by the Congress to bail out the P V Narasimha Rao-led government during the no-trust vote in the Lok Sabha.
Labels: breaking news, national, politics
Ghaziabad ashram girls rescued
The Supreme Court has ordered special protection for 47 girls, after a Swami is accused of sexually abusing some of them at their orphanage near Delhi.
The children were rescued and sent to a safe shelter in Mathura after an undercover NDTV reporter discovered the abuse.
The court on Monday also sought a report from the District Magistrate of Mathura on the current status of the children.
The court said no one should meet them without the permission of the magistrate.
Baba Balnath who ran the orphanage in Ghaziabad has been placed in judicial custody for two weeks.
Labels: breaking news, national
Sanjay Dutt in court
Bollywood star
Sanjay Dutt, convicted for possessing illegal weapons, urged an Indian court on Thursday to be lenient in sentencing him, saying he had obeyed all the conditions of his bail so far. Dutt's plea came two days after he was cleared of charges of conspiracy in a series of bomb
blasts in Mumbai that killed 257 people in 1993.
Lawyers say his firearms offence could still carry a sentence of up to
10 years in jail. He has already served more than a year in prison during investigations.
"He pleaded before the court that he had not violated any condition, nor committed any crime during the bail period," public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told Reuters. "He said therefore he should be shown leniency." The court gave Dutt until December 19 to surrender after the actor sought time to sort out his personal and film commitments.
Dutt also requested the court to allow him to go abroad in connection with the work of a cancer trust started by his father, a former film star and federal minister who died last year.
"He told the court 'I love my nation. India is my country'," Nikam said quoting the burly actor, one of the most sought after in Bollywood after his film, "Lage Raho Munnabhai," (
Carry on Munnabhai), became the biggest hit of 2006.
The court, which is expected to begin sentencing the accused in the case next month, made no comment on Dutt's plea but asked him to surrender by December 19.
Labels: breaking news, national, terror attack
Sidhu found guilty for murder case
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday convicted cricketer-turned-MP
Navjot Singh Sidhu for causing the death of a Patiala resident following a scuffle in 1988.
A division bench, comprising Justices Mehtab Singh Gill and Baldev Singh, overturned his earlier acquittal by a lower court and found 43-year-old Sidhu guilty of culpable homicide, not amounting to murder, for the death of Gurnam Singh.
Gurnam Singh died on December 27, 1988 after Sidhu and his associate had allegedly beaten him at a Patiala market following a dispute. Gurman Singh had actually died of a heart attack on the spot after the incident.
The court will decide on the quantum of punishment for Sidhu on Wednesday, December 6.
Sidhu, who was in Parliament in Delhi when the verdict was pronounced and soon announced his intention to resign from Lok Sabha where he represents Amritsar.
In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, he said he was seeking permission of his party leaders to resign from the Lok Sabha maintianing that he always stood for truth and moral grounds.
Under Section 304 of IPC, the maximum sentence could be imprisonment for up to 10 years.
Labels: breaking news, national, navjot singh sidhu
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