Jagan Mohan Reddy's remand extended, to stay in jail till June 25

 Jagan Mohan Reddy's judicial remand in a disproportionate assets case has been extended till June 25, which means the YSR Congress chief will be in jail for two more weeks. The CBI, which continues to seek his custody, has also sought that Mr Reddy undergo a narco test.

This morning, Mr Reddy appeared before the Nampally special CBI court, which informed him that his judicial remand, which ended today, had been extended. Mr Reddy asked in court why he had not been brought from jail in a bullet-proof vehicle despite having Z category security and the court ordered that he be given a bullet-proof car. His wife and mother were in court; his sister Sharmila has reportedly left for Bangalore where she lives. Jagan has sought permission from the court to speak to his wife and mother.

Tomorrow, crucial by-elections will be held to 18 Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha constituency in Andhra Pradesh. A high-decibel campaign ended on Sunday evening; the by-polls are being described as the semi-finals ahead of the 2014 Assembly elections and Mr Reddy's party expects to make its mark.
 The 39-year-old MP was plucked out of an intense election campaign and interrogated over three days before being arrested in a disproportionate assets case by the CBI on May 27. He has spent the last 15 days in jail and his mother Vijayalakshmi had to take over and led the party's campaign in his stead.
 
Ms Vijayalakshmi has followed up her first letter to the Prime Minister with another one requesting again that the CBI "act according to the law." The YSR Congress contends that Mr Reddy was strategically arrested to ensure that he could not continue his campaign. The party fancies its chances in the bye-elections and has accused both the ruling Congress and the main opposition Telugu Desam Party of being afraid of the rise of a third force in Andhra Pradesh.  
 
Mr Reddy's arrest became the dominant issue in the party's campaign. Mr Reddy's mother, who is also the party's honorary president, was helped by her daughter Sharmila.
 
Campaigning across the 12 districts where polls would be held, the mother-daughter duo raised questions about the death of Mr Reddy's father and former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh YS Rajasekhara Reddy in the 2009 chopper crash and alleged that a conspiracy had been hatched against Mr Reddy.

Polling in the state will be held tomorrow, June 12 and votes will be counted on June 15.

Venus transits across the sun: A once-in-a-lifetime event

None of us will likely see Venus pass, like a moving beauty spot, across the face of the sun again.

From the U.S. to South Korea, people around the world turned their attention to the daytime sky on Tuesday and early Wednesday in Asia to make sure they caught the rare sight of the transit of Venus. The next one won't be for another 105 years.

"If you can see the mole on Cindy Crawford's face, you can see Venus," Van Webster, a member of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, told anyone who stopped by his telescope for a peek on Mount Hollywood.


For astronomers, the transit wasn't just a rare planetary spectacle. It was also one of those events they hoped would spark curiosity about the universe and our place in it.

Sul Ah Chim, a researcher at the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute in South Korea, said he hoped people see life from a larger perspective, and "not get caught up in their small, everyday problems."

"When you think about it from the context of the universe, 105 years is a very short period of time and the Earth is only a small, pale blue spot," he said.

While astronomers used the latest technology to document the transit, American astronaut Don Pettit aboard the International Space Station was planning to take photos of the event and post them online.

Meanwhile, terrestrial stargazers were warned to only look at the celestial event with a properly filtered telescope or cardboard eclipse glasses. If the sun is viewed directly, permanent eye damage could result.

In Los Angeles, throngs jammed Mount Hollywood where the Griffith Observatory rolled out the red carpet for Venus. The last time the city witnessed a Venus transit was 130 years ago in 1882. A 2004 transit was not visible from the western U.S.

Telescopes with special filters were set up next to the lawn and people took turns peering at the sun before and during the transit. Astronomers and volunteers lectured about the rarity of a Venus pass to anyone who would listen.

Minutes before Venus first touched the outer edge of the sun, Sousa's "Transit Of Venus March" blared through. The crowd turned their attention skyward. For nearly 18 minutes, Venus appeared as a black spot.

Jamie Jetton took the day off from work to bring her two nephews, 6 and 11, visiting from Arizona to the observatory. Sporting eclipse glasses, it took a little while before they spotted Venus.

"I'm still having fun. It's an experience. It's something we'll talk about for the rest of our lives," she said.

Bo Tan, a 32-year-old software engineer took a half day off from work and went with his co-workers to the observatory. He admitted he wasn't an astronomy buff but could not miss this opportunity.

He pointed his eclipse glasses at the sun and steadied his Nikon camera behind it to snap pictures.

"It makes you feel like a small speck in the universe," he said.

In Mexico, at least 100 people lined up two hours early to view the event through telescopes or one of the 150 special viewing glasses on hand, officials said. Observation points were also set up at a dozen locations.

Venus, which is extremely hot, is one of Earth's two neighbours and is so close in size to our planet that scientists at times call them near-twins. During the transit, it will appear as a small dot.

This will be the seventh transit visible since German astronomer Johannes Kepler first predicted the phenomenon in the 17th century. Because of the shape and speed of Venus' orbit around the sun and its relationship to Earth's annual trip, transits occur in pairs separated by more than a century.

It's nowhere near as dramatic and awe-inspiring as a total solar eclipse, which sweeps a shadow across the Earth, but there will be six more of those this decade.

In Hawaii, hundreds of tourists and locals passed through an area of Waikiki Beach where the University of Hawaii set up eight telescopes and two large screens showing webcasts of the transit as seen from telescopes at volcanoes on other Hawaiian islands.

But minutes after Venus crossed into the sun's path, clouds rolled overhead and blocked the direct view.

"It's always the challenge of being in Hawaii - are you going to be able to see through the clouds," said Greg Mansker, 49, of Pearl City, as he stood in line at a telescope.

The intermittent clouds didn't stop people from looking up through filters, but it did drive some to crowd the screens instead.

Jenny Kim, 39, of Honolulu, said she told her 11-year-old son the planet's crossing would be the only time he'd get to see the transit in person.

"I don't know what the future will be, so I think this will be good for him," Kim said as she snapped photos of the webcast with her smartphone.

Astronomers also planned viewings at Pearl Harbor and Ko Olina.

NASA planned a watch party at its Goddard Visitor Center in Maryland with solar telescopes, "Hubble-quality" images from its Solar Dynamics Observatory Mission and expert commentary and presentations.

Most people don't tend to gaze at the sun for long periods of time because it's painful and people instinctively look away. But there's the temptation to stare at it during sky shows like solar eclipses or transits of Venus.

The eye has a lens and if you stare at the sun, it concentrates sunlight on the retina and can burn a hole through it. It's similar to when you hold a magnifying glass under the blazing sun and light a piece of paper on fire.

It can take several hours for people to notice problems with their eyes but, by that time, the damage is done and, in some cases, irreversible.

During the 1970 solar eclipse visible from the eastern U.S., 145 burns of the retina were reported, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Experts from Hong Kong's Space Museum and local astronomical groups were organizing a viewing Wednesday outside the museum's building on the Kowloon waterfront overlooking the southern Chinese city's famed Victoria Harbour.

The transit is happening during a 6-hour, 40-minute span that began just after 6 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT) in the United States. What you can see and for how long depends on what the sun's doing in your region during that exact window, and the weather.

Those in most areas of North and Central America will see the start of the transit until the sun sets, while those in western Asia, the eastern half of Africa and most of Europe will catch the transit's end once the sun comes up.

Hawaii, Alaska, eastern Australia and eastern Asia including Japan, North and South Korea and eastern China will get the whole show since the entire transit will happen during daylight in those regions.


Source:ndtv

Jagan Mohan Reddy applies for bail, as parties guesstimate impact of his arrest

In a jail in Chanchalguda in Hyderabad, Jagan Mohan Reddy, as of last evening, is prisoner no 6093. A court has ordered that he will stay here till June 11, one day before by-elections are held for 18 assembly and one Lok Sabha seat. Mr Reddy has applied for bail today, but both his party and his political opponents are busy calculating the impact that his arrest will have on their performance in the elections on June 12.

If he is refused bail, Mr Reddy will not be able to campaign for his party, the YSR Congress, named after his father, who died as chief minister of the state in 2009. The case against Mr Reddy, being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), says that YSR misused his office to pressure companies to invest in Mr Reddy's expansive businesses. Mr Reddy has been accused of cheating, conspiracy and breach of trust by a public servant.

Mr Reddy's mother, Vijayamma, has said she will lead the party's campaign, starting Wednesday. But the party cadres are worried - Mr Reddy has proved himself to be a tour-de-force as a campaigner, able to harness the massive popularity his father enjoyed in areas like Guntur. The YSR Congress has no real face other than Mr Reddy. (Poll: How will Jagan Mohan Reddy's arrest affect his career?) His mother will appeal to voters to support him - the party has positioned his arrest as the ruling Congress' way of preventing his victory in the election. Mr Reddy exited the Congress in 2010, 14 months after his father's death and after repeated appeals to be given a larger role in the party were ignored by its leaders.



So his confinement may help both his former party, the Congress, and the Telugu Desam Party or TDP, headed by Chandrababu Naidu. The latter acknowledged today that he expects to gain from Mr Reddy's arrest. "The people will teach Jagan a lesson," he said. The corruption case against Mr Reddy was passed on a petition filed by a Congressman and supported by TDP members. "The Jagan/YSR scam was bigger than the 2G or Commonwealth Games scams," Mr Naidu said, referencing two swindles that allegedly operated as public-private partnerships between politicians and entrepreneurs, and have created political storms in recent months.

For Mr Reddy's party, the elections next month present the opportunity to prove that he is a true third force in Andhra Pradesh politics. While the Congress has the most to lose, Mr Naidu must protect the TDP's turf as the main opposition party in the state. In 2004 and then 2009, it was YSR who brought the Congress to power, earning him much goodwill and public recognition from his party. The fact that YSR and his son are now accused of corruption adds upto contretemps for the party. Moreover, several ministers in the current government are being investigated, upon the Supreme Court's orders, for allegedly colluding with YSR. The Congress has not dismissed them. One minister, who was arrested last week in connection with the case, resigned on the same day.

As chief minister, Kiran Kumar Reddy has been the second Congress candidate to head the state government since YSR died. He was preceded by K Rosaiah, who proved incapable of managing the Congress' stubborn internal dissent, as well as Mr Reddy's ability to needle that rebellion to his advantage. Kiran Kumar Reddy has not managed to serve as the glue that the Congress needs to keep its act together ahead of the general elections in 2014. The by-elections will be as much a test of his leadership as of the party's popularity.

Mumbai Police detains IPL players after rave party raid

Over 100 people, including 38 women and 19 foreign nationals were arrested by Mumbai Police, who claim to have busted an alleged rave party in city's Oakwood Hotel in Juhu last night.
Two IPL players, Rahul Sharma of India and Wayne Parnell of South Africa, both of who play for Pune Warriors India in the Indian Premier League (IPL), were detained and questioned. Doubts, however, remain whether they consumed drugs at the party.
The party organizer, Vishesh Vijay Handa, has been arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The police said they have recovered about 110 grams of cocaine, and maintained that a medical examination would confirm the guilty. All the detainees, including the cricketers, were taken to the Juhu police station and made to undergo medical tests, the results of which are awaited.
"Only after the blood and urine test results come, will we know who all are responsible," the police said.
The cricketers were later released on bonds. (ANI)

Paa actress Taruni Sachdev dies in Nepal crash

Child artiste Taruni Sachdev, who played the role of Amitabh Bachchan or Auro's friend in National Award winning film Paa, died in the Nepal plane crash that killed 13 Indians on Monday. 

Taruni, who became famous as the Rasna girl, was on the flight with her mother Geetha Sachdev. 

Taruni's co-star Amitabh Bachchan also tweeted: "Just reading that Tarini Sachdev the girl child artist in Paa, has perished in Nepal plane crash .. please God may this not be true."

Abhishek Bachchan also expressed shock at the untimely loss and he tweeted: "SHOCKED and very saddened to hear about the Nepal plane crash. Lost 1 of my cutest co-stars. Little Taruni Sachdev from PAA. Speechless....."

The airport authorities confirmed that Taruni and her mother were on the Dornier aircraft owned by private Agni Air company which was carrying 18 passengers and a crew of three from the resort town of Pokhara to Jomsom when it crashed while landing on the mountain airstrip.

Besides Paa, Taruni also appeared in two Malayam films, Vellinakshatram (2004) and Sathyam(2004) with Prithviraj and Priyamani. She also appeared on Shah Rukh Khan's reality quiz showKya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain? At 14, Taruni had already featured in almost 50 ads.

Sachin likely to take oath as Rajya Sabha MP today

He has never put a bottom amiss in the candid acreage or off it. But now, Sachin Tendulkar finds himself in the average of an altogether altered brawl bold as he is acceptable to activate his political innings by demography adjuration as a Rajya Sabha MP today.

On Thursday, the government had nominated Sachin forth with adept amateur Rekha and business baton Anu Aga to the Rajya Sabha, which was accustomed by the President of India, Smt. Pratibha Patil beneath Article 80 of the Constitution that allows the President to appoint 12 associates to the 250-member Upper House.

After birthday bash, boys rape class X girl in car

NOIDA: In yet another brutal assault on a girl in a moving car, a 17-year-old class X student of a city public school was allegedly gangrapedby five of her neighbours as they drove around Noida in their i10, police said.

As shocking as the rape, which took place on Friday night, was the appalling behaviour of the city police. They not only let out personal details about the minor victim at a press conference on Sunday, but also made tactless remarks about her character, declaring that she had been "willingly drinking vodka" with the boys to celebrate a birthday.

Four of the accused, identified as Himanshu Sharma, Rahul Arya, Sunil Singh, and Saurabh Chauhan, have been arrested while a fifth, Neeraj Singh, is absconding. All accused are 20 years old.

The incident took place around 8pm on February 24 when the five met the victim nearPriyadarshini Park in sector 12 and requested her to join them for the birthday celebrations of Rahul.

"They all went to a lodge in sector 53 for drinks after which the accused forced the girl into the car belonging to Chauhan. Inside, she was repeatedly raped by the five men while the car was being driven around the city," said Anant Dev Tiwari, SP City, Noida Police.

According to the police, the girl was then dumped outside Priyadarshini Park at around 9pm. The victim told TOI the accused threatened her not to report the crime. She said she went to a friend's house in the vicinity. The friend's mother, on seeing the girl's condition, called up her family.

The shocked parents then approached the police, who took her to the district hospital for a medical examination, which confirmed rape, police said.

"A case under relevant sections of IPC was registered and investigations initiated. We were able to arrest four of the accused, while the fifth will be caught soon," said Tiwari.

Police said the victim had known the accused for the past few months. In another shocking revelation, the victim told TOI that the same men had raped her on May 24 last year. There was no independent corroboration of this charge.

The victim lives with her parents and infant brother in Noida. Among the accused, Rahul Arya is an employee of a private city mall and Himanshu Sharma a student of ICWA in Delhi. Saurabh Chauhan owns an auto-parts dealership in the city, Sunil Singh is a mass-communication student while Neeraj Singh is studying management in Greater Noida.

When Manmohan Singh tried to heal Pakistan ties with Ayurveda

In the winter of 2005, when a chill had set in Indo-Pak relations following the Delhi blasts that killed 62 people, an unlikely avenue was explored as a form of Track-II diplomacy. A renowned Ayurveda physician from Kerala was dispatched across the border to treat various Pakistani luminaries, including then prime minister Shujaat Hussain.

In a top secret operation, the Indian government took Dr Ravindran, medical director of Coimbatore Arya Vaidya Pharmacy, who also served as physician to former President K R Narayanan, to Islamabad. It was an idea mooted by PM Manmohan Singh, implemented by Hormis Tharakan, then chief of R&AW, and facilitated by Shiv Shankar Menon, at that time the high commissioner to Pakistan.

During his stay at Punjab House, Dr Ravindran's initial list of "patients" included Gen Pervez Musharraf. Some contingency forced Musharraf to change his plan, but his secretary and a woman relative did brief Dr Ravindran about his health condition, especially a nagging spondylitis problem.

The idea of sending an Ayurveda expert stemmed from a meeting between Shujaat Hussain and Manmohan Singh. "The PM advised his counterpart to try Ayurveda. Later, Singh directed the R&AW chief to facilitate treatment," a person who was actively involved in the whole operation said. "It was a wonderful human gesture. And, of course, it is all the more special when the bonding is with Pakistan," Hormis Tharakan said.

Dr Ravindran arrived in Islamabad in the last week of December 2005 and stayed on till January 2006. During examination, it was found that Hussain was suffering from many ailments, including neurological problems. "An elaborate treatment regimen was prescribed. As a first step, Ayurvedic preparations needed for the first phase of the treatment was brought from Delhi by Menon," the source said. There was considerable improvement in Husain's health during the first phase itself.

"But something went wrong and India cancelled the programme. The team was told to stand down twice. We believe it was some border skirmish that forced India to cancel the initiative," the source said.

Dr Ravindran confirmed that he had gone to Islamabad. "For me it is karma to treat a patient, whoever he is. I am not bothered about anything beyond that."

Huge relief for Narendra Modi

Ahmedabad:  It's a case that has repeatedly threatened to confront Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi with whopping consequences for the riots in his state in 2002, in which 1200 people were killed, most of them Muslims. But a team that was studying Mr Modi's alleged role in the riots has allegedly concluded that he cannot be tried for complicity in those riots, the worst in independent India. Here are 10 big facts about the case:

1. Huge relief for Narendra Modi - a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has reportedly said there's no evidence to provoke his prosecution in a case that accuses him and other senior politicians of restraining the police from helping those being attacked during the 2002 riots. The SIT's report has been handed last night to a court in Gujarat.
   
2. The SIT was appointed by the Supreme Court in 2009. It is headed by RK Raghavan, who retired as the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation. The team questioned Mr Modi twice on March 25, 2010. He tweeted today, "The history of the world is the history of a few men who had faith in themselves."
   
3. The case against Mr Modi was moved by the Supreme Court in September last year to a trial court in Gujarat. This court will first give a copy of the SIT's report to the petitioner Zakiya Jafri, before passing its order. She said today that this is not the end of her legal battle against Mr Modi. Ms Jafri now seeks a copy of the Gujarat riots case report and has filed a fresh plea. 
   
4. The case was filed in 2008 in the Supreme Court by Mrs Jafri, whose husband and former Congress MP Ehsaan Jafri was set on fire during the 2002 riots near his home in Ahmedabad's Gulbarg Society. Nearly 69 people were killed here in 24 hours. Mr Jafri was trying to protect his neighbours from a mob of people.
   
5. The riots in Gujarat began when one coach of a train filled with karsevaks returning from Ayodhya was set on fire near the Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002. 59 people were killed. 
   
6. Mrs Jafri first took her case to the Gujarat High Court in 2007. Her petition said that Mr Modi and nearly 60 other politicians and police officers conspired to ignore calls from help, and decided not to interrupt the rioting mobs. She says her husband made several calls to the Chief Minister's Office and others, but was denied assistance. The High Court refused to accept her case, so she then appealed to the Supreme Court, which set up the SIT.
   
7. The SIT told the Supreme Court last year that it had not found evidence against Mr Modi. The court also asked senior advocate Raju Ramachandran to serve as an amicus curiae and interview key witnesses. Mr Ramachandran's report was allegedly different from the SIT's on several key points. So the Supreme Court sent both reports to the trial court in Gujarat and asked it to decide on whether Mr Modi should be tried.
   
8. The SIT has also not found evidence to support the claim of senior police officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who was suspended last year. Mr Bhatt had alleged that on February 27, 2002, the Chief Minister called a meeting of senior police officers where he said that it was imperative for Hindus to be allowed to "vent out their anger." The other policemen who attended that meeting say Mr Bhatt was not present. He was suspended in August last year for skipping work and using an official car when he was not on duty.
   
9. This is an election year for Gujarat and a verdict that absolves Mr Modi of any complicity in the riots will help his campaign, as well as the BJP, which has long argued that its leader has been made a target of political vendetta mainly by the opposition Congress.
   
10. Ahead of the elections, Mr Modi has been holding fasts in different parts of the state - part of what he calls his sadbhavana mission to promote communal harmony. Mr Modi has been trying to establish his secular credentials because the taint of the riots in his home state have kept him from entering the national political landscape.  

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/10-facts-on-todays-big-relief-for-narendra-modi-174672&cp

SMS will now be treated as train ticket

Booking an outstation train ticket is much easier now. All it requires is a few keystrokes on your cellphone. The ticket comes in th
e form of an SMS, which can be shown to the ticket checker instead of a paper ticket. 

Railway officials said there was good response to the Mobile Rail Ticket Booking Service, which has been introduced by the IRCTC. Tickets can be booked on the mobile website: www.irctc.co.in/mobile. 

The IRCTC mobile website is convenient and easy to use, and can be accessed from any browser enabled mobile having basic GPRSactivated on the phone. 

After initial registration and downloading the genuine IRCTC software on the mobile handsetwith internet facility, passengers can book a ticket through the mobile. 

After booking, the passenger will receive a reservation message with complete details of the ticket including PNR, Train No, date of journey, class, etc. This virtual message will be treated at par with the print-out of the e-ticket 

The simple authorised SMS will have all the vital details, and when displayed through laptops/palmtops/mobile phones combined with valid photo-id in original shall be treated as a valid ticket, an official said. This will take paperless ticketing to the next level, he stated. 

Apart from booking a ticket, users can also make an inquiry through a mobile phone about a reservation, check the booked ticket's history (tickets whose date of journey is due will be visible) or just cancel a ticket.

2G verdict: Chidambaram off the hook, government exhales

New Delhi:  A trial court in Delhi has ruled that Home Minister P Chidambaram will not be held criminally liable for the telecom scam that unfolded in India in 2008 when he was Finance Minister. Judge OP Saini rejected a petition by Subramanian Swamy to make the minister co-accused in the case. "Anybody and everybody associated with a decision in any degree cannot be roped as an accused," the verdict declared. Mr Chidambaram was at home when the judgement was delivered; he then left for a scheduled trip to Madurai. The government exhaled loudly after the verdict. (10 big facts about today's verdict)

"Of course this is a good judgement and it is a relief because unnecessarily somebody was prosecuted. Even in the judgement of the Supreme Court, on the main cases, clearly it was mentioned that the advice of the Finance Minister was not listened to...I welcome the judgement," Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.

Judge Saini's verdict helps bandage the government's credibility, which has been in free-fall in the last year courtesy a series of financial scandals, led by the telecom scam. The government's moral authority was also dented by the Supreme Court this week, when it cancelled 122 mobile network licenses issued in 2008. The Supreme Court blamed former telecom minister A Raja for the "arbitrary and unlawful" allocation of those licenses. (Chidambaram verdict: What happens next)

Mr Swamy has said that Mr Chidambaram's failure to curb Mr Raja amounts to dereliction of his duty as Finance Minister. "I am not disappointed, it is all part of the game," he said, adding that he will appeal to the Delhi High Court against today's decision. Perhaps he can eventually appeal to God, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said in response. (Am glad Kapil Sibal has started thinking about God: Subramanian Swamy)

Judge Saini has said, "A decision taken by a public servant does not become criminal for simple reason that it has caused loss to the public exchequer or resulted in pecuniary advantage to others. Merely attending meetings and taking decisions therein is not a criminal act...there is no material on record to suggest that Mr. Chidambaram was acting with corrupt or illegal motives or was in abuse of his official position." (Read court order here)

For the BJP, which has led a high-volume campaign for Mr Chidambaram's resignation, the verdict suggests the need for a new strategy. The party's Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the government cannot abandon accountability for the telecom scam, and that the BJP will continue to "boycott" Mr Chidambaram in Parliament. (Watch) In the winter session, the BJP refused to let the Home Minister speak in the House, forcing many adjournments. Arun Shourie, who has served as minister in the BJP-led NDA, said that decision is incorrect. Senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh agreed. "Parliament is not a forum to display your ability for non-speak." Both men said the BJP must use debates in Parliament to challenge the government.

The verdict comes at a crucial time for the Congress. Five states, including Uttar Pradesh, are voting for their next government. Rahul Gandhi's direction of the party's campaign in UP has doubled the stakes for the Congress, adding many points for prestige. The Congress has been attacking Chief Minister Mayawati over corruption. A verdict against Mr Chidambaram would have enervated the party's position.

Mr Raja is in prison for enabling companies who were ineligible to get mobile network licenses at clearance prices. Second-generation or 2G spectrum was thrown in for free. Mr Swamy says that Mr Chidambaram was privy to the decisions that Mr Raja took on issues like the pricing of spectrum. He also says that Mr Chidambaram wrongly allowed two companies who allegedly conspired with Mr Raja - Swan Telecom and Unitech Wireless - to dilute their equity for foreign investors. Norway-based Telenor bought 67% stake in Unitech Wireless; Etisalat from Dubai acquired 45 % stake in Swan. Both companies earned huge profits at the government's expense, according to Mr Swamy. "There is no material on record to show that Mr. P Chidambaram was acting malafide in fixing the price of spectrum at the 2001 level or in permitting dilution of equity by the two companies. These two acts are not per se illegal and there is no further material on record to show any other incriminating act on the part of Mr. P. Chidambaram," today's verdict countered.

Critics of Mr Chidambaram found their case vastly strengthened late last year when a note sent by the Finance Ministry to the Prime Minister's Office was exhumed by a Right to Information application. Written in March last year, the note post-mortemed the events of 2008, and was meant to serve as an inter-department backgrounder. But it made the point that the Finance Ministry should have done more to enforce an auction upon Mr Raja. The Prime Minister was forced to respond that Mr Chidambaram enjoyed his confidence as Finance Minister in 2008, and continues to do so now. But the damage was done.

Mr Chidambaram has in his defence said that he tried at various points to insist that Mr Raja hold an auction to ensure that this scarce resource was sold at market prices.


SOurce:NDTV

India a key source for future growth: Facebook

Washington: Social networking giant Facebook, which plans to raise USD five billion through an IPO, has said India is a key source for its future growth and its user base in the country has more than doubled in the past one year.
   
The growth of 132 percent in India has been higher than many other countries, including the home market of the US.
   
It has also acknowledges that Facebook platform faces competition from internet giant Google's social media platform Orkut in India, among other rivals in different countries.
   
The company plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange after its Initial Public Offer (IPO), which could value the company as high as USD 100 billion.
   
Facebook monitors its user base through the number of Monthly Active Users (MAUs), among other metrics. An MAU is a registered Facebook user who logs in and visits Facebook, shares content or indulges in other activities in the last 30 days as of the date of measurement.
  
"As of December 31, 2011, we had 845 million MAUs, an increase of 39 per cent from December 31, 2010," Facebook said in the regulatory documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its IPO.
   
"We experienced growth across different geographies, with users in Brazil and India representing a key source of growth," it said.
  
"... we had 46 million MAUs in India as of December 31, 2011, an increase of 132 per cent from the prior year," Facebook said, while adding that the growth in the US was 16 per cent and 268 per cent in Brazil for the same period.
   
It had 161 million MAUs in the US and 37 million in Brazil as of December 31, 2011.
  
Listing out its strategy, Facebook said it would "continue to focus on growing our user base across all geographies, including relatively less-penetrated, large markets such as Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, Russia, and South Korea."
   
"We compete broadly with Google?s social networking offerings, including Google+, and also with other, largely regional, social networks that have strong positions in particular countries, including Cyworld in Korea, Mixi in Japan, Orkut (owned by Google) in Brazil and India..."
  
It said there are estimated to be over two billion global Internet users and Facebook aimed to connect all of them.
   
"We have achieved varying levels of penetration within the population of Internet users in different countries," it said, while noting that its penetration rate in India was estimated to be 20-30 per cent.
   
"... in China, where Facebook access is restricted, we have near zero penetration. We continue to invest in growing our user base, particularly in markets where we are relatively less penetrated," it added.
  
Facebook said it has operations teams to provide support for users, developers, and advertisers in four regional centers, including one at Hyderabad in India.

Source:Znews

2G scam: Supreme Court details how Raja ignored all to help cronies

NEW DELHI: The SC order said quite clearly that then telecom minister A Raja "wanted to favour some companies at the cost of the public exchequer" and lists seven steps he took to ensure this happened. Here are the steps as the SC saw them:

1. After taking over as telecom minister, Raja directed that all applications received for UAS licences should be kept pending till receipt of the Trai's recommendations

2. The recommendations made by Trai on August 28, 2007, were not placed before the full Telecom Commission which would have included the finance secretary. The notice of the meeting of the Telecom Commission was not given to any of the non-permanent members though Trai's recommendations for allocation of 2G spectrum had serious financial implications and it was therefore necessary for DoT to take the finance ministry's opinion under the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961.

3. The DoT officers who attended the Telecom Commission meeting held on October 10, 2007, had no choice but to approve Trai's recommendations, since they would otherwise have "incurred" Raja's "wrath".

4. Since Cabinet had approved recommendations made by the Group of Ministers, the DoT had to discuss the issue of spectrum pricing with the finance ministry. But, since Raja knew that the finance secretary had objected to the allocation of 2G spectrum at rates fixed in 2001, he did not consult the finance minister or other officials.

5. Raja brushed aside the law minister's suggestion that the matter should be placed before the empowered group of ministers. Also, within hours of the receipt of the suggestion made by the PM in his letter dated November 2, 2007, that keeping in view the inadequacy of spectrum, transparency and fairness should be maintained in allocation of the spectrum, Raja rejected it saying that it would be unfair, discriminatory, arbitrary and capricious to auction spectrum to new applicants because it would not give them a level-playing field. He also introduced a cut-off date of September 25, 2007, for considering applications though only the previous day a DoT press release had said October 1, 2007, would be the last date. This arbitrary action of Raja "though appears to be innocuous was actually intended to benefit some of the real estate firms who did not have any experience in dealing with telecom services and who had made applications only on 24.9.2007, i.e. one day before the cut-off date fixed by the C&IT minister on his own".

6. The cut-off date of September 25, 2007, decided by Raja on November 2, 2007, was not made public till January 10, 2008, and the first-come-first-served principle followed since 2003 was changed by him at the last moment through a press release dated January 10, 2008. "This enabled some of the applicants, who had access either to the minister or DoT officers, get bank drafts prepared towards performance guarantee of about Rs 1,600 crore".

7. "The manner in which the exercise for grant of LoIs to the applicants was conducted on 10.1.2008 leaves no room for doubt that everything was stage managed to favour those who were able to know in advance change in the implementation of the first-come-first-served polcy." As a result, some firms which had submitted applications in 2004 or 2006 were pushed down in the priority and those who had applied between August and September 2007 succeeded. 

 

SOurce:TOI

India’s unwanted girls: Baby abandoned on train

Even as the nation remains shocked over the condition of Falak, the battered two-year-old girl battling for life in a Delhi hospital, a six-month-old baby girl was found abandoned on a Kolkata-bound train. 

As per reports Wednesday, the innocent angel was found lying unattended in a coach of the Udyan Abha Toofan Express when the train reached Chittaranjan station in West Bengal. 

She was handed over to the railway police at Asansol, which in turn took the baby to a local NGO. 

The baby would be produced in a local court today.


Source: Znews

Andhra Pradesh's Home Secretary arrested in Emaar scandal; CBI gets custody till Feb 1

One of Andhra Pradesh's most senior bureaucrats, IAS officer BP Acharya, has been arrested in Hyderabad on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and corruption. Mr Acharya is the Principal Home Secretary.

The case involves Emaar Properties, a real estate giant headquartered in Dubai, which was planning to build a high-end hotel, golf course and luxury villas on 535 acres in Gachibawli.

The township was to be built as a joint venture with the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) which was forged when Mr Acharya was the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the APIIC. The agreement was later revised, reducing the share of the APIIC, and the decision was approved by its board instead of the cabinet. Emaar-MGF is said to have benefitted by upto 2500 crore rupees. APIIC says the developer has cheated it of crores of profit by siphoning money to Dubai.

The villas, which were bought by politicians, film stars and A-list entrepreneurs were reportedly under-valued in documents, costing the government thousands of crores. Land was reportedly sold at Rs. 6,000 per square yard when the market rate was at least Rs. 60, 000 per square yard.

Mr Acharya is the fourth person arrested so far for this case; he will remain in the CBI's custody till February 1. In recent days, an industrialist named Koneru Prasad and Sunil Reddy, who is a close aide of politician Jagan Mohan Reddy, have also been jailed. Also arrested on Saturday was Vijay Raghavan, south India finance head of Emaar-MGF.

Jagan's father, YSR, was Chief Minister when the state's controversial partnership with Emaar was forged. YSR died in 2009 in a helicopter crash. It is alleged that people who benefitted from the land deal had invested in Sakshi publications, which is Jagan's newspaper. Those close to Jagan claim the case exemplifies political vendetta. They believe the Congress government is using it to undermine the popularity that Jagan enjoys among voters who swear allegiance to his father even today.  Jagan's mother, YS Vijayamma, has written today to the Prime Minister formally complaining that the CBI is being misused against her son.
The CBI's investigation has focused heavily on the role of Congress MP KVP Ramachandra Rao, who was known to be close to YSR.  Mr Rao's wife bought one of the plots in the controversial township; his brother-in-law, Parthasarathi, was a director of APIIC and has also been named in the FIR filed by the CBI.

The CBI probe in to the case was ordered on August 10 last year by the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Source:NDTV

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/andhra-pradeshs-home-secretary-arrested-in-emaar-scandal-cbi-gets-custody-till-feb-1-171664&cp

MS Dhoni might lose Test captaincy, Sehwag likely to replace him

India's whitewash in Australia - the second in a row overseas for the cricket team - has triggered a big debate in the cricket establishment, throwing up several ideas, some radical, many cosmetic.

An idea finding favour with the BCCI bosses is that MS Dhoni should be stripped of Test captaincy. The current front runner for the captain's position is Virender Sehwag.

This doesn't mean Dhoni would be stripped of all captaincy - he's expected to remain captain for the limited-overs versions of the game, ODI and T20.

For Test matches, though, his captaincy has been found wanting. Meanwhile, Sehwag has made plain that he hasn't got his due (and has begun to view Dhoni as the reason for that) and the cricket bosses think that perhaps he should be given a chance. It's another matter that Sehwag's record as captain, either of India or of Delhi Daredevils, hasn't been great.

While all the senior players, including VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, have clarified that they won't be retiring from cricket as yet, it doesn't mean that both or either will be selected to play Tests.

Did 'ego clash' with Sehwag affect MSD?

However, what is really disturbing is the talk of "an ego clash" between Dhoni and Sehwag. It's said that this affected Dhoni's captaincy and he couldn't quite assert his authority with Sehwag and a few others.

Dhoni also feels that Sehwag could have done better in Australia if had shown greater discipline while batting. The authorities are examining to what extent this dissension within the team contributed to its debacle in Australia.

Senior players like Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid or Laxman don't have had a problem playing under Dhoni (or under Sehwag, for that matter), but Sehwag has apparently made his opinions clear: he doesn't like Dhoni's way of handling things, be it in selecting the playing XI, field placements during Test matches or the issue of bringing in younger players. He feels that his views have not been heard.

Dhoni's emotional outburst that he was contemplating quitting Tests after 2013 has also not gone down well with BCCI bosses. "There is no point talking about 2013 in the middle of a Test series," an official said.

Incidentally, two senior pros who are under pressure to quit, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, may have decide not to call it a day yet but BCCI officials say that it's apparent that both are past their prime, and it would be wise to blood some youngsters in their place.

The names of Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Cheteshwar Pujara were mentioned in this context. It was also said that once Yuvraj Singh gets fit to play, he will be an "automatic choice".

Times View

Changing the Test captain or dropping a couple of seniors may be part of the solution to the crisis facing Indian cricket. But this isn't enough.

The rot is much more systemic and cannot be dealt with by mere changes in personnel in the playing XI. What is needed is a thorough, uncompromising review of a whole range of issues including the structure of domestic cricket, the cricket board and the selection panel.

Such an honest examination, conducted by professionals, can throw up more meaningful solutions. The board must then have the courage to act on those.

Else, we could see couple of seasons of success at home followed by another round of breast beating after a mauling on foreign soil.

Source:TOI

It's enough': Sharad Pawar mulls quitting politics

Having lost not even one election in the 45 years of his political career so far, union minister and veteran politician Sharad Pawar has said he wants to bid adieu to politics now to make way for the younger generation. 

"It's enough... It is the responsibility of people like me to encourage younger people and younger leadership to continue to work in (his) political party," Pawar, the union agriculture minister, said in a TV interview. 

Having won the Lok Sabha elections eight times since he first entered the Indian parliament in March 1985, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief said he won't be contesting in the next general polls scheduled in 2014. 

"I don't want to contest (the) next Lok Sabha elections because this year I will complete 45 years. I entered politics in 1967 since then continuously I am getting elected... Fortunately I never lost the elections," he told CNN-IBN. 

Pawar founded the NCP in 1999 after breaking away from the Congress. He has held the posts of defence minister and has been chief minister of Maharashtra thrice. 

His daughter Supriya Sule is already in active politics and is Lok Sabha MP from Maharashtra. 

His nephew Ajit Pawar is also a prominent politician in the state and is the deputy chief minister of the state. 

But the 72-year-old politician said it was unlikely that some one from his family will succeed him as the head of the NCP. 

"I don't believe in projecting anybody. The NCP does not believe in dynastic politics. We have a good team in the NCP. We'd like to encourage good team and ultimately they have to prove (themselves)," he said.


Source:TOI

Tennis fraternity hails 'veteran' Leander Paes for his superb show

The Indian tennis fraternity on Saturday lauded Leander Paes for winning a Grand Slam title at the age of 38 and describing him as a "born doubles player".

Paes on Saturday completed his career Grand Slam by winning the Australian Open men's doubles title with first-time partner Radek Stepanek as they outplayed world's top pair of Mike and Bob Bryan.

Former Davis Cup skipper Jaideep Mukherjea said the way Paes and Stepanek played, it won't be surprise if they win another Slam in the 2012 season.

"It's fantatstic for Indian tennis. We are all excited. All credit goes to Paes for winning a Grand Slam at the age of 38. To win with a new partner is even more amazing," Mukherjea said.

Mukherjea said Paes and Stepanek took their game few notches above their opponents in the title round.

"Their service return was fantastic. Even in the tie-breaker, they were so dominating. If they play like this, they could win another Grand Slam together. Doubles is all about reflexes and they were very agile," he said.

India's current Davis Cup captain SP Misra said Paes is a superb deuce court player and that's why he is so succesful with advantage court specialists.

"He can disturb the rhythm of any player in the world. Such is his repertiore of shots. This is a remarkable achievement. He is born doubles player," Misra said.

AP: Statue row to escalate Mala drift from Cong?

New Vande Mataram to mark 63rd Republic Day

To mark India's 63rd Republic day, 21 eminent singers and musicians have lent their voice to a new rendition of India's national song Vande Mataram composed by percussionist Bickram Ghosh.

The new version of the song, originally penned by Bankimchandra Chatterji in 1882, features vocals by Sonu Niigaam, Shankar Mahadevan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shubha Mudgal, Roop Kumar Rathod, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Indian Ocean and Palash Sen jamming together in a video.

"My version of Vande Mataram is introspective. It is the national song woven into a new melody after 64 years of Independence. It's a sojourn of all these years. I have created a fusion of contemporary and ethnic India through this song," Ghosh said at the launch of the album Vande Mataram here.

The six-minute-long video begins with a classical note by Niigaam and after capturing various folk notes it finally enters into the rock mode performed by the band Indian Ocean.

"The song is basically divided into three sections - Bollywood, classical and rock. The number tried to cover the whole spectrum of music in our country," said Niigam, who has sang many patriotic numbers in the past.

The video will be played across all the 60 airports of the country on Republic Day and will also be telecast on various news channels.

Shot by Girish Malik, the video beautifully juxtaposes the age-old traditions with modern thoughts.

"I have intentionally captured the quotation 'India is hot' written near a spice factory of Rajasthan to bring the original India to the viewers. These punch lines such as 'Bharat cool hai' and many more have become a part of our life," said Malik.