New public involvement project on the anvil: Atomic Energy Regulatory Board chief

MUMBAI: Justice A M Thipsay of the Bombay high court on Saturday said while its true that Indian needs more energy, the important question when it comes to Nuclear power plants is how to ensure safety first. "Rules need to be very clear as safety of people is more important and there needs to be no ambiguity."The judge was present at a meet on India's Nuclear Energy sector held by the Nuclear Law...

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J&K assembly adjourned after furore over Afzal issue

JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir assembly was rocked by repeated disruptions on Friday, which ultimately led to the House being adjourned for the day, as various parties demanded that Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's mortal remains be handed over to his family. Cutting across party lines, members of the House from the ruling National Conference as well as opposition PDP and CPM had moved adjournment...

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Trinamool Congress minister wins assembly bypoll

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress minister Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury won the Assembly by-election from English Bazar constituency in Malda district on Thursday with a margin of 20,452 votes. Choudhary defeated his nearest CPM rival Kaushik Mishra. In the other two constituencies of Rejinagar and Nalhati, the Congress and Forward Bloc are leading respectively, State Election Commissioner Sunil Gupta...

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Babbar Khalsa terrorist arrested in Punjab

AMRITSAR: (IANS) A Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist with a reward of Rs.10 lakh on his head has been arrested in Punjab, police said Wednesday.Narain Singh Chaura was arrested Tuesday evening in Jalalabad village of the border district of Tarn Taran, some 300 km from Chandigarh. Chaura was booked under the provisions of the Explosives Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in Amritsar...

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Islamic scholars condemn killing of Shia Muslims in Pakistan

MUMBAI: A group of Islamic scholars today called upon international bodies like United Nations, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International and governments across the world to devise ways to put an end to killing of Shia Muslims in Pakistan. "It is extremely shameful," Islamic scholar Maulana Sayed Ahmedalo Abidi, Imam-e-Juma Khoja Jama Masjid Dongri and Principal of Houza Ilmiya Najifi House,...

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Ishrat case: Police officers' custody extended till Feb 28

AHMEDABAD: A local court today extended the custody of two police officers, Tarun Barot and Bharat Patel, arrested on Saturday by CBI in connection with alleged fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan, for three more days. Additional chief judicial magistrate H S Khutwad said "The accused police officers have been remanded to police custody till February 28 for further interrogation." The agency had earlier...

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LeT has sent threat letter claiming responsibility for blast: Andhra BJP

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh BJP chief G Kishan Reddy on Sunday said he has received a threat letter purportedly written by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in which it claimed responsibility for the Dilsukhnagar bomb blast. He received the letter by post on Saturday written in Urdu and English, he claimed at a press conference here. He, however, refused to give a copy of the letter saying he has handed it over...

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PM to visit Hyderabad tomorrow

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit Hyderabad tomorrow to take stock of the situation in the aftermath of twin bomb blasts there. Singh will visit the hospital where the injured are being treated besides taking a briefing from chief minister Kiran Reddy, sources said. Two bombs exploded within a span of minutes in Hyderabad on Thursday evening, killing 16 people and injuring 117....

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Afzal's family hasn't approached us: Tihar DG

NEW DELHI: The family of Afzal Guru, who was hanged two weeks ago at Tihar jail, has not yet approached the prison authorities to pray at his grave though the government has made the offer for his close relatives. "We have not received any letter from Guru's family in this regard," Director General of Tihar Prisons Vimla Mehra told reporters. The government has already said it will allow Guru's close...

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Trade unions warn of bigger agitation

NEW DELHI: Major trade unions on Thursday warned the central government of bigger agitation in the country, describing the two-day national strike as "the beginning of the chapter"."The two-day countrywide agitation has been successful but we will launch a bigger agitation and this is only a beginning of the chapter," All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) general secretary Gurudas Dasgupta told...

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Chopper scam: CBI engages two law firms in Italy

NEW DELHI: CBI has engaged two law firms in Italy for liaisoning with the authorities to get legal assistance in probing the role of Indians in connection with the alleged kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal. Official sources said on Wednesday that Chiomenti law firm and Grippo law firm have been asked to help in coordinating with the Italian authorities for getting documents and...

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Centre not releasing funds on time, alleges Akhilesh Yadav

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday accused the Union government of not releasing funds of the centrally-aided projects and schemes in time, thus slackening the development process in the state.Interacting with reporters after presenting the Budget for the financial year 2013-2014, Akhilesh Yadav said the Union government was delaying funds not only for Uttar Pradesh...

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Advani best PM for NDA, Modi could be home minister: Govindacharya

BHOPAL: Former BJP ideologue and RSS thinker KN Govindacharya said on Sunday night that veteran BJP leader LK Advani and the UPA government defence minister AK Antony would be the most suitable candidates to run for Prime Ministerial post. Amidst the clamour for Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's prime ministerial candidature within the BJP and allied saffron organisations, Govindacharya thought...

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Delay in justice a major challenge, Chief Justice of India Kabir says

AHMEDABAD: Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir said on Sunday a major problem being faced in delivery of criminal justice was delay "where the entire process takes almost 15-16 years". Delivering Justice P D Desai memorial lecture here on 'Administration of Criminal Justice', Justice Kabir said, "Today a major problem is delay where the entire process, from the time when an offence is registered...

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Veerappan's aides move SC against execution of death sentence

NEW DELHI: Four aides of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan on Saturday moved the Supreme Court against the execution of their death penalty in connection with a landmine blast that had killed 22 policemen in Karnataka nearly 20 years ago. Veerappan's elder brother Gnanaprakash, Simon, Meesekar Madaiah and Bilavendran were awarded death sentence in 2004 in connection with a landmine blast at Palar...

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Chopper scam: Govt warns of blacklisting Italy's Finmeccanica

NEW DELHI: With the VVIP choppers deal facing charges of kickbacks, government on Thursday formally asked Italian firm Finmeccanica to state whether any money was illegally paid to any Indian entity or individual amidst its warning of legal action including blacklisting of the firm. The ministry of defence, which is under attack on the issue, came out with a factsheet detailing the sequence of the...

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Helicopter scam: Congress fears BJP may disrupt budget session

NEW DELHI: Fearing disruptions in parliament, the Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP of politicising the allegations of graft in the VVIP chopper deal and 2G spectrum to raise them during the budget session from February 21."All these issues are being developed into a political issue to be raised in parliament...The BJP will not gain anything from this...It may raise the issues but we hope they...

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Will impound Yasin Malik's passport if requested, MEA says

NEW DELHI: Amid concerns over Kashmiri separatist leader YasinMalik sharing the dais with 26/11 mastermind HafizSaeed in Pakistan and demands for revoking his passport, the external affairs ministry on Tuesday said if it receives a request for impounding Malik's passport it would "act on it". The external affairs ministry said: "If we receive a request to impound his (Malik) passport, we will act...

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Suryanelli: Convict claims PJ Kurien was involved

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a new turn in the Suryanelli gangrape issue, the lone convict in the case on Monday alleged that Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P J Kurien was involved in it as claimed by the victim. Dharmarajan, the convict who is absconding after obtaining bail, told a television channel that the principal investigator in the case had pressured him not to mention about Kurien's alleged involvement...

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21 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants caught

MUMBAI: The Special Branch of the city police arrested 21 Bangladeshi illegal immigrants, including nine women, who were employed in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai as labourers, police said. The police conducted raids at Rey Road, Mankhurd and Navi Mumbai's Kalamboli areas and caught the illegal immigrants. "We have been working to trace the illegal immigrants. The accused have been arrested," said a...

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