No one is upset, Sushma says after meeting Advani
BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar and Balbir Punj on Saturday met LK Advani,in a bid to pacify the party patriarch, who is sulking after the elevation of Narendra Modi as party's prime ministerial candidate. Irked over party's decision on Narendra Modi, Advani had on Friday written a scathing letter to BJP president Rajnath Singh expressing disappointment over his style of functioning. Sources said the issue was discussed by Swaraj, Kumar and Punj with Advani who is...

Death verdict not under political pressure: Nirbhaya's father
The father of the Delhi gang-rape victim has taken strong exception to the defence counsel's contention that death penalty was awarded to the four convicts under political pressure and termed the statement as an insult to the judiciary. "The defence counsel is terming the death penalty awarded to those responsible for the ghastly act as taken under political pressure and it appears as if he is challenging the judiciary. This is an insult of the judiciary," the father of...

Sreesanth vows to overcome crisis, stage comeback
Describing the life ban imposed on him by the BCCI as the biggest setback in his life, disgraced India pacer S Sreesanth on Saturday maintained he had not done any wrong and would prove his innocence in the spot-fixing scandal. Stating that he felt very sad on hearing the BCCI's decision announced on Friday, Sreesanth said, "The BCCI action is the biggest setback in my life and I am disappointed. I will try to overcome the crisis and make a strong comeback." Sreesanth...

IOC’s negligence cited for shortage of cooking gas
The negligence of the Indian Oil Corporation plant at Parippalli following a strike there is believed to have caused the shortage of cooking gas. The IOC plant here is found to have taken no action against the truck owners who are taking part in the strike, according to sources. The plant has not bothered to taken action even after distribution of  cooking gas cylinders had been hindered. Even though the plant has been given the authority to cancel the contract in case of...

Judicial probe into Kishtwar violence begins
A judicial probe ordered into the August 9 communal clashes in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar town is set to begin on Saturday, a source said. Justice (retired) RC Gandhi "will operate from the tourist reception centre in Kishtwar town from today (Saturday)", a source told IANS. Justice Gandhi will visit the places where violence occurred and also ascertain whether there were any administrative lapses in the handling of the violence in Kishtwar that left three dead and...

Over 3,000 Syrians fled to Italy in 40 days
Around 3,300 Syrians have fled to Italy by boat in he past 40 days to escape the intensifying conflitct in their homeland, a UN spokesperson said. "The UN Refugee Agency is seeing a sharp increase in Syrians arriving by boat in southern Italy. Over the past 40 days, 3,300 Syrians, of whom more than 230 were unaccompanied children, have come ashore, mainly in Sicily," Xinhua quoted Farhan Haq, associate spokesperson for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, as...

Modi is BJP's PM nominee, says Shiv Sena leader
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's name has been finalised as the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate ahead of the 2014 general elections, a top Shiv Sena functionary indicated here on Friday. "BJP chief Rajnath Singh spoke to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray this afternoon and has conveyed the decision in the matter," a top party official told the news agency, declining to be named. Rajnath Singh also sought the support of Thackeray and the...

Vithura case: victim has turned hostile
The Special Court here ruled on Friday that the victim in the Vithura sex scandal case has turned hostile. The victim could not identify the accused in all the seven cases which came up before the court on Friday. Following, this the court observed that the girl has tuned hostile. Though all the accused in the  seven cases appeared before the court, the victim failed to recognise any one of them. A total of 23 cases have been registered in the scandal which took...

IPL spot-fixing: BCCI bans Sreesanth, Chavan for life
Cracking the whip on corrupt players, the BCCI slapped life bans on Indian Test pacer S Sreesanth and spinner Ankeet Chavan for being involved in the IPL spot-fixing scam while handing out lesser punishments to some others in the scandal which rocked the Twenty20 league this year. Amit Singh, a former Rajasthan Royals player, was handed a five-year ban while another RR cricketer Siddharth Trivedi got away with a lighter one-year suspension after the BCCI disciplinary committee met to...

Delhi gangrape: All four accused sentenced to death
Four convicts in the December 16 gangrape-cum-murder case were on Friday awarded death penalty by a Delhi court which said the gravity of the offence cannot be tolerated. “Death to all,” Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna said while delivering the verdict in the case that had evoked nationwide outrage and led the government to bring in a stringent anti-rape law. “Besides discussing others offences, I straightaway come to section 302 (murder) of IPC. This falls...

SC seeks clarifications from Centre on Coal block allocations
The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought several clarifications from the Centre relating to the policy and guidelines adopted in coal block allocations which was extended to private sector in the post-liberalisation era. A bench headed by justice R M Lodha is hearing PILs seeking cancellation of the coal block allocations in which the CBI has undertaken probe against each and every company allocated coal block since 1993 and "in particular during the period 2006 to 2008." The bench...

Kochi Metro to get financial assistance from France
Kochi Metro is to get  financial assistance worth about Rs 1500 crores from France. The 'no-strings' financial help has to be repaid in 25 years and carries a low interest rate of 2.5 per cent. A team from France is to visit the state on September 17 to discuss the terms of the loan. There would be no pre-conditions for the loan and Kochi Metro would not be obliged to use technology from French companies in lieu of the loan. Once the project is completed, there...

Bus owners given time till Oct 2
The state government has on Wednesday categorically maintained that there would be no relaxation in its directive to install speed governors in all buses. It was informed during a meeting with the bus owners' association here Wednesday. The government has allotted time till October 2 for the bus owners to install speed governors. The decision was taken after State transport minister, Aryadan Muhammed had held a meeting with bus owners in the state Wednesday. The government has...

Rahul Gandhi slams opposition over food security bill
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday accused the opposition of creating hurdles for the food security bill till it was eventually passed by parliament. Addressing a tribal and farmers rally here in Rajasthan, Gandhi said the opposition was creating obstacles whenever the Congress-led UPA government tried to bring welfare measures. The rally at Salumber came a day after Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi addressed a Bharatiya Janata Party rally in Jaipur. Gandhi...

Apple introduces 2 new iPhone models
The iPhone 5S— revealed alongside a low-cost iPhone model, the iPhone 5C — keeps the same overall physical design as the previous-generation iPhone 5 but it also has a number of upgrades. Image: AP Apple's latest iPhones will come in a bevy of colors and two distinct designs, a cheaper one made of plastic and another that aims to be "the gold standard of smartphones" and reads your fingerprint. Apple unveiled the latest iPhone models, available on...

Dec 16 gang rape: Police want death, convicts beg for mercy
Arguing that the December 16 gang rape and murder was "the rarest of rare" case, the police on Wednesday demanded death for the four convicts on the ground that there is no chance of their reformation as their behaviour was barbaric. But lawyers for the convicts Mukesh, 26, Vinay Sharma, 20, Pawan Gupta, 19, and Akshay Thakur, 28, pleaded before the fast track court which held them guilty on Tuesday for leniency citing Mahatma Gandhi's famous quote that "Only God can...

Sreedharan Nair not ready for lie test
Sreedharan Nair, who had come up with sensational allegations in the solar scam, has said that he was not ready for a lie test. Nair informed the High Court that he had informed the investigating officer looking into the case that he was not ready for the test. Nair also denied some of the information that ADGP Hemachandran had informed the court about the solar case. The High Court has asked Nair to submit an affidavit. Meanwhile, Biju Radhakrishnan and Saritha Nair were...

Syria crisis: Barack Obama wants to explore diplomatic route
Calling the US "the anchor of global security," Obama in a televised address offered moral, political and strategic arguments for being ready to launch limited military strikes while trying to negotiate a diplomatic solution. Obama termed the Russian proposal an "encouraging" sign to place Syria's chemical weapons under international control. Obama said that he has asked his military to continue maintaining its aggressive posture in the region pending a...

Delhi gang-rape case: we are innocent, shouted rapists on way into court
The four men convicted of the rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in Delhi were brought to court today where their sentence could be announced.    "We are innocent," they shouted to the legion of reporters while they were being escorted into the small and packed court-room by a large ring of security. The mother of the student they killed said this morning that they must hang. "They have shown no remorse," she said. The barbarous...

Pakistan violates ceasefire again at Poonch
Violating the ceasefire again, Pakistani troops opened small arms firing at two forward areas in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, drawing retaliation from Indian forces. "There was small arms firing by Pakistan Army on Indian forward posts in two sub-sectors along the Line of Control in Poonch district from last night," Defence Spokesman S N Acharya said on Tuesday. Pakistani troops fired with small arms at Gamdhir and Mendhar sub-sectors along the LoC from 9:15 pm...

Bus strike withdrawn
The bus strike called by the trade unions of bus crew on Saturday has been withdrawn. Conciliatory meeting The decision was taken at a conciliatory meeting convened by the Ernakulam District Collector Sheik Pareeth on Friday evening. The meeting was attended by the representatives of various trade unions. Revised salary It was also decided to revise the salary of the crew. By the agreement, a bus driver would get a revised daily wage of Rs.577, conductor Rs.420 and...

Kochi Metro is to be up and running in 1000 days
According to official deadlines, Kochi Metro is to be up and running in 1000 days. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had earlier announced the dates in the presence of the project's main consultant, E Sreedharan. Even though the DMRC had earlier claimed that the rail network would start functioning well before its announced start dates, work on the project has been slow and has not reached full capacity yet. Piling work is progressing on the three reaches between Aluva and Ernakulam...

Australia's John Coates to become IOC vice-president
Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) president John Coates will be elected as the new International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president after his Syrian rival Sami Moudallah withdrew from the vote. The Australian Olympic chief was due to face Moudallah in the ballot scheduled for Wednesday but Moudallah withdrew his bid Tuesday, reports Xinhua. The 63-year-old Coates, who has been with IOC since 2001, will be voted in at the 125th session of the IOC here Wednesday...

December 16 Delhi gang-rape case - Timeline
A fast-track court here on Tuesday will pronounce its judgement in the keenly-watched December 16 Delhi gang-rape case. Of the six accused, while one has committed suicide another was sentenced to three-year prison term in a special home by the Juvenile Justice Board.     Following is the chronology of the events in the brutal gang-rape-cum-murder case: # Dec 16, 2012: A paramedic student was gang-raped and brutally assaulted by six men...

Ripper Jayanandan in police custody
Notorious criminal Ripper Jayanandan, who escaped from the Poojappura Central Jail on June 10 was held from Nellayi, Puthukkad Thrissur on Monday while awaiting for a bus. Two convicts Jayanandan and Prakashan escaped from the Poojappura Central Jail on June 10.Prakashan was held from Kayamkulam on June 18. Jayanandan is an accused in 7 murder cases, including a double murder and 14 robbery cases. Jayanandan, who escaped from Kannur prison earlier, was nabbed from Ootty and was shifted...

RBI query on temples' gold stocks sparks protest in Keral
: A query issued by Reserve Bank of India to major temple boards in Kerala asking them to provide details of their gold stocks has evoked ire of Hindu outfits in the state. While confirming that they have received such a letter from the RBI, top officials of some of the major temples said they were not taking any hasty decision on the matter without consulting the government and authorities concerned.     When contacted in Mumbai, the RBI...

Aryadan hits out at Bus operators
Transport Minister Aryadan Muhammed Monday said that the government has not given any assurance to the bus owners' association for calling off the strike. The minister said that the private bus operators' strike has failed because it was completely against the people. He said the strike has not received even the opposition's support. The government will agree only to the clauses abiding with present laws and will not make any compromises, Aryadan said. However, the...

Kerala, Tamil Nadu join hands to fight 'killer spirit'
With liquor flowing freely as Onam draws near, Tamil Nadu and Kerala will join hands to ensure that "spirit" does not cross borders freely. Spirit, or extra neutral alcohol, the raw material for making what is curiously known as India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), is manufactured in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. A few days ago, authorities in Kerala seized about 5,500 litres of spirit brought into the state illegally from near Kollam, about 70 km from the state...

Private bus strike called off in Kerala
Private bus operators in Kerala who began an indefinite strike on Sunday midnight called off their agitation Monday morning after talks with union Minister K.V. Thomas, officials said. The Kerala government will have a discussion with the bus operators on Wednesday. The indefinite strike was called to protest the Motor Vehicles Department’s directive for installing speed governors on all heavy vehicles. Kerala Transport Minister Aryadan Mohammed, however, told reporters in...

Food bill: Experts seek proper selection, revamped PDS
Proper selection of beneficiaries by the states and a reformed mechanism of public distribution needs to be put in place if the ambitious food security bill has to achieve its target of mitigating hunger from the country, experts said. While NC Saxena, sitting member of National Advisory Council which had been instrumental in drafting of the bill, banked on schemes like Aadhar in plugging the PDS loopholes, former member Harsh Mander called for focusing on exclusion of the ineligible...